The Faulty Faucet
Today my oppa was coming over to the house. That was why I had been in a total frenzy since morning. I was busy scanning every corner of the house, checking for anything out of place.
“This should be enough, right…?”
No matter how many times I looked around, I couldn’t find anything else that needed cleaning. My laziness runs deep, but I can’t stand anything dirty. I usually keep the house spotless anyway, so honestly there hadn’t been much to tidy.
“Then I just need to hide this properly~. Hehe.”
Humming to myself, I tucked the gift I’d prepared into a spot inside the closet where oppa would never think to look.
I hadn’t originally planned to buy a present. Cooking for him was supposed to be part of the birthday gift on its own. But just that felt too plain, like something was missing. In the end I went and bought a proper gift too.
...I hope oppa likes it?
Honestly, for a gamer like him there was no way he wouldn’t like it. I’d bought it because I knew I would have loved receiving it myself.
It was a little expensive, but this level of spending wasn’t a serious blow to my wallet.
...Compared to buying that beef, it was nothing.
I’d pretended to be fine after buying that meat, but the truth was my finances had taken a real hit. Mostly my wallet’s condition.
I had already bought all the ingredients for the dishes I planned to make and stored them in the fridge ahead of time. Battle preparations were fully complete.
Looking forward to it, Woohyuk oppa.
All that remained now was the real fight.
Even though I was only going there to study, I dressed with some care before heading to Yuna’s place. Looking up at the villa where she lived brought back a flood of memories. Most of them involved Yuna’s dark history, though.
When I buzzed her apartment number at the shared entrance, the door opened almost immediately. I rode the elevator up to the fourth floor where she was waiting.
UNIT 402
Seeing the entrance to Unit 402 again felt strangely welcoming. I pressed the doorbell. Hurried footsteps pattered toward me, and the door swung open.
“Ah. Oppa. You’re early?”
“Yeah. I didn’t have anything else to do. Figured I might as well study.”
To be honest, now that exam season had arrived everything else suddenly seemed fun. Even editing Uni’s clips—which normally made my head hurt—felt enjoyable. Was this the miracle of exam period?
If every day was like this, I was pretty sure I could grow the Uni_clip channel all the way to a million subscribers.
Anyway, if I stayed home I’d just end up wasting time on random things. Coming straight to Yuna’s place like this was the smarter choice.
“Come in first, anyway.”
“Okay.”
I stepped inside through the door Yuna held open. The interior looked mostly the same as last time. A pleasant scent, something like fresh fruit, drifted gently through the air. The décor was cute and cozy, and the floor didn’t have a single speck of dust.
...So this is what a girl’s house looks like.
It definitely felt different from my own place. Clean, fragrant, and comforting. Kind of like stepping into a department store bathroom for the first time.
I stood there dazed by the pointless tension creeping up on me until Yuna called out.
“Oppa. What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming in?”
“Ah. Right. I’m coming.”
Her words snapped me out of it. I quickly took off my shoes and stepped inside, embarrassed at showing her how nervous I was for no reason.
“Put your stuff here for now, oppa. We’ll be studying in the living room anyway.”
The small table in the living room looked like it could seat three people at most. I set my bag down on the chair across from where Yuna was sitting.
“How is it outside? Is it really hot?”
“Yeah. Summer’s officially started, I think. Ugh. Terrible.”
It was a blessing her house was only a five-minute walk away. If it had been a thirty-minute trek, my discomfort level would have already hit the ceiling.
“If you’re hot, oppa, should I turn on the fan? The air conditioner’s only in the bedroom.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just wash my face in the bathroom real quick.”
Apparently Yuna only had an air conditioner in her room. Since she lived alone, there was no real need to install one that reached the kitchen. She didn’t cook that often anyway.
It was only a little stuffy, so there was no point dragging out a heavy fan. A refreshing splash of cold water on my face would fix it.
“The bathroom’s over there. That door.”
“Got it.”
I walked slowly toward the bathroom she’d pointed out, opened the door, and stood in front of the sink. My reflection in the mirror didn’t look too strange.
I’ve been staring at myself in mirrors way too often lately. Seriously. I never used to care this much.
[...Oppa!]
A tiny voice called to me from outside the door.
Was that Yuna?
Without thinking, I turned on the faucet.
— Shaaaaaaa
Suddenly something ice-cold poured straight down over me.
“Whoa! What the— it’s freezing!”
An icy stream of water was cascading from above my head in a graceful arc.
What the hell? Why was the shower turning on when I only touched the sink faucet?
I frantically twisted the handle shut. Only then did the shower stop spraying.
...Is the faucet in this house not the one I think it is?
The bathroom door burst open.
“Oppa… did you turn on the water… ah.”
I turned to face Yuna, who was staring at me blankly. But water was already dripping steadily from my hair onto the floor. My clothes were completely soaked through.
“Yuna. What is going on with this thing?”
Her face flushed bright red as she looked at me. She whipped her head to the side.
“You’re too late… that faucet’s been broken…”
Her words made me burst into hollow laughter.
Why are you only telling me now…!
She must have been trying to warn me when she called from outside earlier. But I was already drenched—what was there to do about it now?
If this had been a live chat, the screen would already be flooded with fire emojis and messages like [Why are you telling us now?!]. It was one of those moments where I desperately wished a real-life chat window existed.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine. Really.”
Yuna watched me towel my hair like she had committed a grave sin. It wasn’t like she’d done it on purpose. Everyone forgets things sometimes.
“But you’ve been using it like that this whole time?”
“Ah, it only broke recently. If you press the top part one more time it works properly, so I kept thinking I’d fix it later because it was annoying…”
“So I became the victim, huh?”
“Yes. I have no excuse.”
It was the natural consequence of Yuna’s laziness. Honestly, I couldn’t even blame her. It wasn’t that inconvenient, and calling a repairman would cost money. If it had been me, I probably would have kept using it the same way unless it completely stopped working.
I had wrung out my wet clothes in the bathroom earlier, so at least water wasn’t dripping anymore. There was nothing I could do about the clothes themselves, but I figured I should at least dry my hair.
“Do you have a hair dryer?”
“Yes, I do. Just a second.”
She dashed into her room and quickly returned with a cute pink hair dryer. It was completely different from my big, clunky black one. Ours at home looked like something you’d find in a public bathhouse.
Still, how long would it even take to dry hair with that tiny thing?
“Oppa, I feel bad, so let me dry it for you. Just stay still.”
“...Huh? You really don’t have to—”
“No. I want to.”
I could have dried it myself. When was the last time someone had dried my hair for me? Aside from when I was very little, this was the first time anyone had ever done it with a hair dryer. That made it even more awkward.
Yuna stood behind my chair and plugged the dryer into the outlet beneath the table.
— Whirrrrr
The hair dryer hummed softly as it began blowing a gentle stream of air. Warm wind gradually touched my head.
“Um… is it okay if I touch your hair?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
It wasn’t like we were at a salon.
Yuna seemed to feel genuinely guilty. I had gotten completely soaked, after all. If our positions were reversed I probably would have felt sorry too. Still, her going this far to help made me feel a little burdened.
“Is it too hot?”
“...No.”
With her small, soft hands, she began gently stroking through my hair. The warm air met my scalp as her kind touch slowly brushed away the moisture. It really did feel like getting a blowout at a proper salon.
“...”
The whole time she dried my hair was incredibly peaceful. It warmed something inside my chest.
Neither of us spoke much. Only the quiet whir of the hair dryer echoed through Yuna’s house.
“It reminds me of drying my cousin’s hair when I was younger,” Yuna said with a small laugh.
“There must be a pretty big age gap.”
“She’s in her third year of middle school now. She was really little back then. Tiny and adorable.”
“What’s she like these days?”
“Hmm. I’d say she’s become a little terrifying?”
Isn’t that a bit harsh when she’s not even here? The poor girl would be hurt. She’s a person too, you know.
Maybe because I was distracted by our conversation, Yuna’s hand suddenly brushed against my ear. I flinched at the soft, ticklish sensation.
My ears felt like they were turning red, so I let out a slow breath.
“Was it too hot?”
Yuna didn’t seem to understand why I’d reacted that way. It wasn’t like I was an elementary school kid getting flustered over a single touch.
To hide my embarrassment, I had no choice but to play along.
“...Yeah. A little.”
I prayed she wouldn’t see through my lie. And I wished this moment could last just a little longer.