Is This the Right Hole?
“Yeoni, is this the right hole?”
“Y-yeah. Probably?”
“Then… I’m putting it in?”
With trembling hands I gripped the thread and pushed it through the buttonhole. Luckily the hole I’d spotted was the correct one, so I was able to sew the button back onto the shirt it had fallen from.
I’ve always been pretty handy, so I used to handle these little tasks quickly. It looked like my skills hadn’t rusted after all.
“Thanks, babe.”
“The button suddenly popped off and scared me.”
“Me too. It was loose when I put the shirt on, but I didn’t expect it to actually fall.”
“Still, it’s a relief it didn’t happen while you were out walking.”
As the days grew colder, the number of our indoor dates shot up. Today, escaping the freezing wind, we decided to spend time at Chae-yeon’s house.
“I really hate winter. But I hate summer just as much.”
“Everything lately is either record-breaking heat or record-breaking cold.”
“Every year sets a new record.”
Sitting on the warm floor with a blanket draped over us, I couldn’t imagine a greater paradise. Going outside would let us do more things together, but I had zero confidence I could endure that kind of cold.
Fortunately Chae-yeon was perfectly happy with indoor dates too, so both of us were enjoying ourselves without a single complaint.
“Yeoni, ah.”
I placed an apple slice Mom had peeled into Chae-yeon’s mouth, then ate the piece she held out to me.
Before she left the house for a bit, Mom had heard I was coming over and peeled them for us. Thanks to her we got to enjoy delicious apples.
“I don’t know what we were thinking, having snowball fights in weather like this when we were kids.”
“Exactly. On cold days, nothing beats staying home.”
“Oh, right, babe.”
“Yeah, Yeoni?”
“Did you bring that?”
“Of course I brought it.”
Chae-yeon had said she wanted to look through my accessory case, so I brought the whole thing. She’d originally suggested we do it at my house, but since we’d met there last time, we decided on her place this time.
“There’s so many. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, piercings…”
“I spent quite a lot of money back when I was obsessed with accessories.”
“Why don’t you wear any these days?”
“Hmm… I guess it got annoying?”
“Annoying?”
“Aside from piercings, they all got in the way while I was wearing them, so I stopped.”
“That’s such an old-person thing to say.”
“Sorry, but if you call me old, Yeoni, you’re throwing yourself under the bus too.”
“My birthday is a whole six months after yours, you know.”
Her drawing the line at months instead of years made me burst out laughing.
Wait a second. With a comment like that, couldn’t I create a pretty fun situation?
“Oh? So my Yeoni is younger than me?”
“Obviously.”
“Then you’ll have to start calling me oppa, right?”
“Bullshit.”
Chae-yeon let out a single sigh and went back to browsing the accessories. According to my calculations a completely different atmosphere should have unfolded, but it got cut off here and left me speechless.
I’d just been completely ignored. Not just ignored—thoroughly ignored.
Judging it was impossible to steer the mood where I wanted in this atmosphere, I simply looked at the accessories together with her.
“Whoa, what is this? It’s insanely flashy.”
“Ah, that one? I was really into flashy stuff when I wore them all the time.”
“Two rings connected by a single chain. That’s cool.”
“Want to try it on?”
“Yes!!”
It was a ring I’d thought was over-the-top even when I bought it back then. Seeing it on Chae-yeon’s finger looked different, but it didn’t really suit her.
“Yeah, no. It doesn’t look good on me.”
“I felt the same, so I didn’t wear it much.”
“Anyway, why don’t you wear piercings anymore?”
“It’s annoying to put them in every time I leave the house or come home.”
“Has the hole closed up?”
I carefully touched my earlobe. The spot where the hole used to be was hard to feel. From the way it felt, the piercing hole had probably closed.
“Looks like it has.”
“So you’d have to pierce it again?”
“You can just press the piercing against the hole with some force. It’s only a thin layer of skin.”
“Really? I want to try!!”
“Try what…?”
“Piercing the closed hole!!”
With those words Chae-yeon walked toward me holding the piercing. It was just a tiny earring, yet the thing in her hand felt like a knife.
Is this what it feels like to stare at an approaching killer?
The smile she wore as she drew closer gave me goosebumps.
“Uh… I don’t wear them anymore, so there’s really no need.”
“I think piercings would look good on you. I’ll do it for you.”
“No, that’s—”
“It’s fine. I’ll pierce it without hurting you at all.”
I tried to escape, but Chae-yeon grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. With no way out, I resigned myself and quietly got into position.
“Is it here?”
“Y-yeah. That’s it.”
“Just push hard?”
“If you push too hard it might go through the wrong spot and cause a bloody mess.”
“Come on, would I really do that to you, Jung-woo?”
Looking at Yeoni’s face right now, it seemed entirely possible!! Why had she been smiling like that since earlier?
“Okay, here I go?”
“Gulp.”
Before I knew it I’d swallowed hard and turned into a trembling rabbit before a lion. Chae-yeon held my earlobe, located the hole, and pressed the piercing against it.
There was a small sting, then the needle came out cleanly on the other side. Thankfully there was no bloody disaster.
“Now the other side.”
“I-I’ll do it myself.”
“Nope, I’m doing it. You stay still.”
“Yes, ma’am…”
Having succeeded once, Chae-yeon’s confidence had shot through the roof.
Right, it was only a thin membrane. What could possibly go wrong?
The needle went into the hole cleanly. Now it just had to come out the other side properly…
Something felt off. The needle wasn’t coming out right away, as if it had caught on something.
“This side seems more closed. It’s not going through.”
“Y-Yeoni, wait a second…”
“I’ll just push a little harder.”
“No, wait—aaaack!!”
My uneasy premonition became reality. Sharp pain flared from my earlobe. At least it had come out the proper exit.
If it had torn through the wrong place, the bleeding would have been much worse.
“A-are you okay?”
“Hiss… I’m fine. It throbs a little, but it doesn’t hurt that badly.”
“I-I’m sorry… Jung-woo, blood!”
I felt hot liquid running down my face from my earlobe. When I touched my cheek, the back of my hand came away red.
“Ah, I must have nicked the skin. It’ll stop if we leave it alone, so don’t worry.”
“I should have stopped when you said to wait…”
“It happens. It’s okay, Yeoni.”
“I got stubborn and insisted on doing it…”
While stroking her head to calm a badly shaken Chae-yeon, I noticed the tears pooling in her eyes. They kept gathering, then spilled down her cheeks.
“Y-Yeoni? Are you… crying?!”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“I told you I’m fine. I said it doesn’t hurt, so why are you crying?”
“I was just so curious… Does it hurt a lot?”
“Not even a little. So stop crying, okay?”
My words seemed to have the opposite effect. The tears that had been falling one by one now poured down even harder.
I had never seen Chae-yeon cry before. Not even once during childhood when she used to cry at the drop of a hat.
The memory from the ice rink suddenly came back to me, and I had no idea what to do. My hand just hovered uselessly in the air.
That hand eventually pulled Chae-yeon into my arms.
“It’s okay, Yeoni. Anyone can make a mistake like that.”
“I’m sorry…”
Even as she cried, Chae-yeon gently wiped the blood from my earlobe. I wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“You got really scared, huh?”
“Y-yeah…”
“It’s really fine, so stop crying.”
“You’re the one who got scared.”
“I wasn’t that surprised. You were more surprised, Yeoni.”
After a few more strokes while she stayed in my arms, the tears finally stopped.
She suddenly cried and it shocked me to the core. So that’s the face Chae-yeon makes when she cries.
It was unfortunate that she’d ended up crying, but seeing an expression I’d never seen before made me curious. A part of me even wanted to see it again someday.
“There’s still a lot of blood.”
“It’ll stop soon.”
“Shouldn’t we disinfect it?”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Still…”
“I’m fine, my Yeoni. This has happened plenty of times. I’m used to it.”
“Why has it happened plenty of times?!”
“When I first got the piercing I had no idea how to take care of it, so I bled a lot.”
Nobody’s perfect from the start. I was the same.
Excited about my very first piercing, I hadn’t taken proper care of it. I was told not to sleep on that side, but I did. I was told not to take it out, but I did. It was a complete mess.
— Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Ding-ding!! —
With the sound of the electronic lock, Aunt came in, followed by Uncle.
Having piled up quite a bit of bad karma with Uncle, I felt nervous and couldn’t quite meet his eyes.
“Looks like you two are having fun.”
“Mom, you’re back? Dad too?”
“Work finished early, and I ran into your mom on the way home.”
“Hello, Aunt. Hello, Uncle.”
“Hi, Jung-woo.”
“What were you two doing… Chae-yeon, have you been crying?”
“N-no. I wasn’t crying.”
“What do you mean you weren’t? Your eyes are all red.”
When I heard Aunt’s words, I instantly understood the situation.
A boyfriend and girlfriend alone together. Then the parents come home and see that the girlfriend has been crying.
In that case…
“What?! She cried?”
With a fierce voice, Uncle strode toward us.
Yeah… I’m screwed.