13. So You Got Drunk After All
The silence had stretched on for a long while, and a strange air drifted between us.
Whether she liked the stillness, or was still picking through her words, Baek Serin said nothing at all and only sipped her beer, over and over.
I stayed sunk in the afterglow a moment, just watching her, and only belatedly saw what was actually happening.
"Hey. Stop drinking."
"...Whyyy— beer's fine, isn't it."
I couldn't tell whether that softness came from shyness or from the drink. As if it were nothing, she took another mouthful and, pupils swimming, barely managed to glare at me.
...She's not planning to listen.
"......I said stop, so stop."
"Ugh, I'm in a good mood. Why do you keep doing that."
Serin twitched her lips and let out a small puff of breath. I really did think I ought to cut her off. Getting in her way, though, left a bitter little taste.
...Maybe I should just leave her be.
"...Ah. Drinking's fine. Just pace yourself, then."
"Huh? For real?"
Only then did Serin set the beer can she'd been clutching like something precious down on the table.
Not long after, her face filled with doubt, and her voice slipped out.
"What, you... don't tell me... if I get drunk—"
"I'll just leave you like that?"
"......No way."
I'd answered on reflex, figuring she was about to say something stupid again. Putting hands on someone so drunk they couldn't even hold themselves up... morally, that was a little off, wasn't it.
"...Even so, isn't that way too harsh a way to treat me?"
"I'd at least lay you on the bed."
Serin's gaze dropped to the table, as if she'd fallen into thought. Then, glancing this way with a look that seemed to be hoping for something, she quietly added a question.
"...If you lay me down... ...then what?"
"You sleep."
"......Ugh."
"Hey, common sense. Who puts their hands on a drunk person?"
"My mom."
"......Hold on. That's cheating."
A moment ago it had only been a suspicion. Now I knew for certain. How Serin's mother had gotten her father wrapped around her finger...... So she'd gone and made it a done deal? That was a little terrifying.
As if none of it had happened, Serin grinned, dumped a handful of snacks into her mouth, and started in again.
"They say these days kids do everything there is to do, starting in high school. So what are we?"
"We're not high schoolers."
"That's not what I asked."
"...Have you always only talked like this?"
"......Mm, that's... uh......"
Only then did she seem to realize something had gone wrong. Her lips kept parting and closing, and she suddenly chugged the beer.
That was a terrible habit. Drinking because things weren't going her way.
She kept the can at her mouth for a long while, then set the empty one down on the table with a clunk and added, late:
"Hey—! If you like someone, you can do it, can't you—?!"
...Her voice had gone awkwardly high. Was she trying to charge straight through?
...More than that, she didn't look well.
"Don't overdo it. It only makes your heart race if you keep it moderate."
"......Wh-what, your heart raced...?"
"Yeah, you're done drinking."
Did she even know what she was saying? Then again, it hadn't even been thirty minutes, and that was two beers... wait. Three.
I had no idea when she'd opened it. There was another empty can in front of Serin. I must have missed it earlier, when I told her I liked her and my head was somewhere else.
...Even so, drinking that fast, of course she'd get drunk.
"Would you be happy if I made sex jokes all day?"
"......Then try it, mmph, why don't you."
"......"
She was definitely drunk. She wasn't going to remember any of this properly anyway. Maybe I'd use the chance to mess with her a little.
I quietly straightened the snacks and cans strewn over the table, casual enough that it wouldn't show, and said,
"What size are your breasts."
"......Uh, huh?"
The eyes that had been hazily half-shut slowly found their light again. I wasn't sure "found their light" was the right way to put it, but they were certainly wide and round.
Serin tipped her head up and down, again and again, sneaking looks at her own chest. Before long a voice crawled out of her.
"Hey, uh, do you... maybe... want to touch them?"
"......No. Hey, let's go in and sleep."
...I thought she'd just tell me the size and we'd be done. I hadn't expected the conversation to turn like this.
"Heeeey... I really worked up the courage to say that..."
"Let's just go in and sleep. I'm tired."
"......Tired? Mmmmm......"
Maybe the drunkenness was creeping up; both of Serin's cheeks had flushed red by now. Even her ears were red. Watching that, I figured it was better to end the night here.
I shoved the trash into the convenience-store bag, pushed the empty cans aside, and stood.
Baek Serin watched me without a word. Her lips wouldn't settle, like someone who had something she needed to say.
"What, something you want to say?"
Her eyes wavered once. She hesitated, lips twitching, and only just got it out.
"If I... get any drunker here, will you... piggyback me all the way to the bed...?"
"......Just get up and walk."
"...Don't wanna."
"......Ha."
She propped an arm on the table, laid one cheek against it, and answered in a slur.
She clearly had no intention of getting up nicely and walking on her own.
"You're really drunk, huh."
"Mmm... dunno. I feel good. ...No, bad."
"...You're not a kid. Do I have to carry you?"
"Heeey... just for today. Yeah?"
I watched her hiccup now and then. In the end, the loser this round was me again.
Without a word I went to Serin and quietly bent down.
"Hey. Relax your body."
"...Ugh, ah, hyaa—?!"
I slid one arm beneath her thighs and worked the other in behind her back. We were close enough that the sharp smell of alcohol and the scent of Baek Serin's skin tickled the tip of my nose.
I braced, hauled her up in one go, and she started thrashing every which way, as if she had no idea what was happening.
"Hey, hey, this is hard. Hold still."
"Hhk, ha... wh-who asked you to piggyback me, I asked you to hold me—?!"
"You don't like it? Want me to put you down, then."
"......Nnnno, not that......"
Only then did Baek Serin go quiet and duck her head. She kept stealing glances this way, and somehow she looked like a bad-tempered cat.
Part of me wanted to just toss her onto the bed, but I walked a little farther and stepped into the bathroom instead. Right away a shout packed with questions stabbed into my ear.
"Hey, hey—?! Why, why the bathroom?!"
"Brush your teeth, then sleep. If you've got something to take care of, finish it."
"......Ugh, ick... you're not even my parents..."
"Then don't."
"Shii... fine, put me down... no, maybe I'll just brush like this......"
"......"
I wasn't sure it was even worth an answer. I bent and set her lower half down on the floor.
I hadn't worked out for this. Still... if it was fine, it was fine.
In the end Serin got to her feet in an awkward half-stand and threw me a thoroughly sour look.
"You... bastard......"
"I didn't do anything worth getting cursed out for."
"Hey—!! You get a person all fluttery and then it's the bathroom, the bathroom......"
...I had no idea what went on in her head.
Even that didn't seem to cool her off. She thumped a fist lightly against my chest.
......Honestly, I wasn't even sure she'd hit me. It barely rose above acting spoiled.
"I'm mad, so... brush my teeth for me."
"......Are you serious."
"...Yeah. Hurryyy—"
She pushed her face forward and parted her lips, just a little.
For a second I had the illusion I was already raising a child. A parenting simulator, at my age? Really? And on a kid the same age as me?
"...Please. Why are you like this."
"Ah, I'm dizzy, I can't do anything."
"Your way of talking is extremely normal right now."
Only then did the gaze that had been fixed so clearly on me go soft and watery. She rolled her eyes a little, then abruptly put a hand to her own head.
"......Dizzzzzzy..."
"......Have you actually lost it."
She went a step further and started to sway. The acting, though, was really—
Skriiik—
Her foot slipped on the still-damp floor, and Baek Serin lost her balance.
I barely threw an arm out in time to catch her, but my heart dropped straight through me.
"...Hey. You almost actually got hurt."
"......Uh, ah, uh......"
Even so, wobbling around barefoot in a slippery bathroom was not all right.
I glared at the floor for a second, then belatedly registered the position we were in. Because I'd wrapped an arm around Serin's back as she tipped over, her face was right in front of mine.
I kept hold of her so she could find her balance, but she didn't move at all. She only stared straight into my eyes, blinking at odd, irregular intervals.
"What are you doing. Get up."
"......This position... might be... really nice......"
"Goddammit, quit messing around. I told you you almost got hurt just now."
"Mmm... okay...... don't be maaad..."
Face flushed scarlet, Serin finally stirred. Afraid she might slip again, I braced her back, and she grabbed the sink and barely made it upright.
I watched her profile as she let out a short breath—puu——then turned away.
...Maybe it was the alcohol. My face felt strangely hot.
"......Brush your teeth and come out. I'll finish cleaning up."
I was trying to escape the bathroom like a man fleeing, and from behind me, as if to catch me at it, came Baek Serin's voice.
"Hey... uh, wait......"
Wondering what it was, I turned back, and all at once there was a weight against my collarbone. Like someone about to topple any second, Serin reached for me and only then caught her balance.
Then, as if telling me not to go, she clutched my collar tight and barely managed to get the words out.
"My legs, my legs... gave out... don't gooo......"
