Ex vs. Childhood Friend: The Drinking Duel
First, it was Yerin's turn for a shot.
"If you're jealous, just say so already. Always butting in, always getting in the way—you know I can't stand you, right?"
Gulp.
Then Chaeyeon's turn.
"What a load of crap. Why the hell would I be jealous of you?"
Gulp.
They had only managed five shots so far, yet both girls' faces were already flushed as red as radishes.
The drinking contest between the two goddesses of the Tourism Management Department—both notorious lightweights, pure al-sseu—had drawn every classmate's eyes. Sihyun just smacked his forehead and braced for the fallout.
Yerin shoved the soju bottle forward again and declared boldly,
"One more. Scared? If you're scared, just drop dead already."
"Who's scared? Pour it already."
The sheer nerve of them talking about being "scared" after so little alcohol sent snickers rippling through the group.
Yerin knocked hers back and immediately started coughing, throat burning. Still wheezing, she turned to the equally suffering Chaeyeon and said in a tipsy, sing-song voice,
"I've known Sihyun for a whole fifteen years, you know... We've slept over together, huh! Gone to the sauna, huh! Even bathed—!"
"Shut your damn mouth! Are you trying to bury me alive?!"
That bathing remark set off screams of pure shock among the classmates.
Sihyun clamped a hand over Yerin's mouth; she thrashed and kicked, trying to pry it off, while Chaeyeon watched the whole spectacle with open contempt.
"Fifteen years and what do you have to show for it? I was the first one he dated. I took his first kiss."
"Mmph! Mmmph!!"
Chaeyeon's taunt sent Yerin into something close to a seizure.
If her mouth had been free, the air would have been thick with curses by now.
Sihyun kept a firm grip on her lips and called out,
"Sohee, take Chaeyeon somewhere. This is gonna end badly."
"Sorry, Sihyun... My stomach's killing me. Gonna hit the bathroom real quick."
Sohee, who had been half-heartedly poking at her pork belly just moments ago, rubbed her belly and slipped away.
Chaeyeon, this is your chance.
To Sohee, the situation looked perfect. She was hoping drunk Chaeyeon would finally spill her true feelings for Sihyun right here and now.
"What? Bathroom all of a sudden—?"
"Pwahh...!"
While Sihyun was still reeling, wild Yerin broke free of her restraints. Face scarlet, eyes bloodshot to match, she glared at Chaeyeon with pure murder in her gaze and jabbed a finger at her.
"That's only because you seduced him with that filthy body of yours!"
"Listen to this girl. The one who seduced him with her body was you, not me. You walking pile of fat!"
"Pile of fat...?"
Yerin blanked for a second, then looked down. She glanced back and forth between her own chest and Chaeyeon's...
"Pfft..."
The corner of her mouth curled into a victor's smile.
"What the hell was that laugh? It was seriously creepy..."
"Nothing. Just my shoulders are a little stiff."
Yerin rolled her arms in big circles, working out the kinks, then sneered at Chaeyeon.
"Must be nice. You'll never have to worry about sore shoulders your whole life."
"You... finished talking?"
Objectively, Chaeyeon was on the larger side herself—but next to Yerin she looked almost modest.
Already nursing an inferiority complex from the bikini incident, any comment about chests hit her like a knife.
With a triumphant little wriggle, Yerin latched onto Sihyun's right arm, leaned her upper body forward, and purred,
"Sihyun, you like 'em big too, right? The kind you can't even wrap one hand around."
Yerin's aggressive full-body assault made every guy in the pension swallow hard. Envious, jealous stares poured onto Sihyun.
He pried her off with difficulty, sighed, and pressed a paper cup of water to her lips.
"You're wasted. Stop talking nonsense and drink some water."
"Tch..."
Yerin looked thoroughly unsatisfied with his reaction but gulped the cold water down anyway.
Chaeyeon watched the whole thing, then held out her empty paper cup with both hands.
"I-I'm thirsty too. Give me some water."
"You got hands or feet? Here's the jug—pour it yourself."
Sihyun's voice was ice-cold. The same guy who used to refill her glass the second it emptied when they were dating no longer lifted a finger for her.
That lonely truth burned a hole in Chaeyeon's chest.
"Mmm... sleepy..."
After the water, Yerin started blinking slowly and steadily. Consciousness faded; her head drooped onto Sihyun's shoulder.
"Whew... finally some peace and quiet."
Sihyun let out a long breath of relief. He gazed down at Yerin, already snoring softly against him, with the gentlest eyes.
Softly, he brushed her messy bangs aside and steadied her with one arm.
"You should ease up and head in too."
He offered Chaeyeon a sincere piece of advice, then scooped Yerin up in a princess carry.
And walked farther and farther away from her.
"Ah..."
There was a time when Sihyun used to piggyback her home whenever she got drunk... That broad back. The soft scent of fabric softener. The way he would gently tuck the blanket around her once they got there.
All of it had been stolen by Yerin.
Sihyun...
Without realizing it, Chaeyeon reached out a hand. Clinging to the faint hope that maybe—just maybe—he would come back for her too, she stayed put and kept drinking to the bitter end.
"Chaeyeon, time to go in..."
"Don't wanna..."
Sihyun never left the room again. Getting her back to bed fell entirely to Sohee.
Sihyun carried Yerin into the room. The drinking party was still in full swing, so the place was empty. He laid her down on the bedding that had already been spread out.
"I told you a hundred times not to drink..."
He heaved a deep sigh and pulled the blanket over her. Then, carefully lowering his head to free the arm she had looped around his neck—
"Huh?"
Something suddenly wrapped around his back. Realizing it was both of Yerin's legs, he let out a helpless laugh.
"Honestly, your sleeping habits are the worst."
Yerin had a habit of teleporting to his side the second she dozed off. He had experienced that terrible sleep-cling enough times that it no longer surprised him.
Better get free before someone gets the wrong idea.
Right now his entire body was trapped by Yerin. He ducked his head to slip the arm off his neck, then reached between her thighs to lift the legs pinning him from behind.
Just as he was about to free himself—
"Oh..."
He realized Yerin's eyes were open and watching him with pure interest.
"What the—when did you wake up?!"
"Just now. Felt someone touching me and was about to teach them a lesson, but..."
She shot him a sidelong glance, sounding almost disappointed.
"If I'd known it was you, I would've kept pretending to sleep."
"Hey—don't get any weird ideas. This is all because of your sleeping habits—"
"It's fine. You don't have to explain... I already know."
"Know what?"
"What else? Your preferences, of course."
Yerin avoided his eyes, cheeks blooming pink as she continued,
"I wouldn't even mind if you did it while I was asleep, you know? But for the first time... I want to be awake."
"Hearing you joke like that, you're clearly still drunk."
Flustered, Sihyun grabbed her lips and gave them a little shake. He was about to stand and head back to the party when—
Whoosh—!
Yerin locked her arms around his neck and pulled his face right up to hers. In a deadly serious voice she said,
"I'm not joking. I mean it. It's okay."
"Yerin, you..."
She tugged harder; their noses brushed. Swallowing hard with the person she loved right there, she spoke in a trembling voice.
"Kim Sihyun, I like you. I've liked you since before you ever dated Im Chaeyeon. I love you more than anyone else ever could..."
A faint scent of alcohol drifted from her lips. But Sihyun knew this wasn't drunken nonsense—it was the pure truth pouring straight from her heart.
Because the Yerin in front of him looked exactly like his past self.
The version of him that had been completely head-over-heels for Chaeyeon.
So this is what it feels like to be loved by someone...
For Sihyun, who had only ever given love, Yerin's confession filled an empty place inside him.
Her sincere affection warmed his chest. Moved, he was about to answer when—
"...You asleep?"
Alcohol-soaked Yerin had said everything she needed to say and promptly passed out again.
After getting him all worked up, this was how she left him?
Sihyun almost flicked her forehead for sleeping so peacefully, then carefully extracted himself from her embrace. He smoothed her hair and murmured,
"You always lecture me about having no taste in people... but falling for a guy like me just proves you've got zero taste yourself."
With her hair neatened, her face came into clear view. Looking at her sleeping so peacefully brought back the memory of the day he had given her CPR.
"Anyway... thank you for coming back safe."
The hand stroking her cheek eventually brushed her lips. The same lips he had kissed several times already today.
Without meaning to, Sihyun swallowed hard and stared at those soft pink lips as if entranced.
And then...
Peck.
He stole a secret kiss from the sleeping Yerin. Afterward he lay down beside her and sank into a long, deep sleep.