Want to Come to My Place? [1]
The guild meetup had been a week ago. Even for a small gathering of people who just played games together, a lot had changed. For starters, the guild members were interacting way more than before. You could tell just from how often the previously quiet open chat was blowing up.
Excessive offline socializing was supposed to be discouraged, but seeing everyone having so much fun made me wonder if we should have done this sooner. Our guild wasn’t some hardcore one aiming for the top ranks. It had been created so we could all enjoy the game together. No matter what anyone said, I ran it in a pretty laid-back way.
But our sub-master seemed to have a different opinion.
It was a fair point. Still, even without an official guild meetup, I’d heard that some members were already hanging out offline. The guild couldn’t stop that from happening. It might look like some people were being left out of invitations. I’d simply figured that one big group meeting was better than letting cliques form and cause actual conflict.
ChimaekParty occasionally voiced opposing opinions like this, but I knew exactly where he was coming from. He was the one who cared about the guild the most. After all, he was a founding member just like me.
A sudden message popped up.
Cheriji and KongtteokPatji had started going out. They were the pair who had left the subway station together that day. It had only been a week since the guild meetup. Wasn’t this a little too fast…?
I sent back a slightly awkward message of congratulations at the sudden guild romance news. As the person running the guild, I couldn’t help worrying about what would happen if they broke up. But they obviously hadn’t started dating while thinking about that, so the worry was all mine.
“Haa…”
I leaned back in my computer chair with a sigh. My phone buzzed loudly with an incoming call. It was an unknown number.
“Hello?”
“Hello. This is the administrative office for the Business Administration department at Korea University.”
“Yes.”
Oh no. The exact phone call I least wanted to receive. It was the assignment I’d been putting off for years because I didn’t want to think about it.
“The reason I’m calling is that last semester was your final leave of absence, Mr. Kim Woojin. The course registration period has passed, but it appears you still haven’t registered for any classes?”
“What happens if I don’t register?”
“Well… it will be determined that you have no intention of returning, and you will likely be expelled.”
Of course. I already knew that. I had applied for a leave of absence right after turning twenty-one. I’d used every loophole to stretch it into four straight years, but this year really was the end. My head was already hurting from guild matters, and now this on top of it. Perfect.
“The additional registration period starts next Monday. If you’re interested in returning, please register then and pay your tuition during the designated payment window.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
When I hung up, forgotten memories came flooding back. There had been a reason I took the leave in the first place. University was the last place I wanted to return to…
There were countless people who lived perfectly fine without a college degree, but you never knew what life had in store. Besides, getting expelled would make all that brutal studying I did in high school completely pointless. That was why I had buried the issue. I just hadn’t wanted to think about it, so I kept putting it off.
“Haaaa…”
I had to let out the heavy feeling in my chest with a long sigh. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but if I was going to drink, today seemed like the perfect excuse.
When my phone rang a second time, it was from an unexpected person.
Come to think of it, she had mentioned getting dinner. I’d assumed it was just a polite thing to say, but apparently she was serious. In that case…
I made a suggestion I normally never would have.
A small, old-fashioned local diner tucked away in an alley near my house. It looked a bit rundown, but the elderly owner’s cooking was genuinely excellent. I’d stumbled upon it the day I moved in and had been coming back ever since. Sometimes you just get tired of eating home-cooked meals.
I’d suggested drinking instead of just dinner, and she had gladly agreed. That was how we ended up here.
“I didn’t know there was a place like this around here.”
She said she was coming straight from work, and it looked like she really had. She was wearing a navy suit jacket and skirt again. I couldn’t tell if they were actual designer pieces or if she just made everything look expensive, but it was obvious they weren’t cheap.
“I’m not sure if this is okay. I didn’t expect you to come right after work. The outfit and the location feel a bit… Maybe we should have just gone to that hamburger place I mentioned before.”
“You remembered that? But I like places like this too. It feels cozy, and it’s been a while since I’ve had a drink at a spot like this.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Actually, I was craving alcohol today too. Soju’s fine, right?”
Same here. True to the old-school diner vibe, there was only one item on the menu: spicy braised chicken. I had ordered it before she arrived, so the owner brought out the food and drinks at the perfect time.
We filled our glasses to the brim with soju and clinked them together. The alcohol slid down my throat, bringing a refreshing yet sharp burn.
Bitter.
I still wasn’t used to drinking, but the feeling wasn’t bad. It had been a long time since I’d sat down for drinks alone with someone like this.
“Looks like something tough happened at work.”
“That’s life, isn’t it? Don’t you have things like that too, Woojin? I was pretty surprised. I didn’t expect you to suggest we drink alone. You’re more forward than you look, huh?”
“That’s not exactly what I meant… I’ve just got a lot on my mind. The whole returning-to-school thing is bothering me.”
“You said you’re a university student, right? Isn’t that the perfect age for worrying about stuff like that? Shouldn’t you go while you still can?”
“We’re only a year apart.”
“You do know that even a one-year difference still makes me your noona, right?”
Her name was Jeong Yeonhui. She was twenty-six. I’d learned during our previous conversation that she worked as an assistant manager in the legal department of a major corporation. For someone I’d met in a game, her real-life specs were impressive.
“Such a boomer thing to say.”
“Oh please. Have you ever seen a boomer this pretty?”
She wasn’t wrong, and I had nothing to say to that, so I just poured myself another drink. It tasted less bitter than before. She puffed out one cheek in response. I’d expected a woman who worked at a big company to be more stiff and formal, but she was surprisingly playful. She also looked younger than her age. It would be a lie to say her behavior wasn’t cute.
“Hey! You can’t just drink by yourself!”
“You’re right here.”
“Now I see why you don’t have a girlfriend.”
That was also true, but I’d never really felt the urge to date anyone, so it didn’t sting much.
“Are you interested in dating?”
“It seems nice. Youth and all that. Love stories.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“When do I have time when overtime is basically mandatory? It’s not like someone who’d understand that is just going to fall out of the sky. Honestly… it’s just annoying.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
My girlfriend back when I was twenty had said something similar. That dating me didn’t even feel like we were dating. I couldn’t blame her. Back then I was going to school and working late-night part-time jobs, so I genuinely had no time. After realizing I wasn’t cut out for relationships, I hadn’t even tried. In that sense, we were on the same page.
“Shall we just drink?”
“Sounds good.”
One glass, then another. By the time the thick potatoes in the braised chicken had become so tender they were falling apart, the table was covered with empty green bottles.
Ah… my head hurts. I hadn’t meant to drink this much.
“Shouldn’t we head out soon?”
“…Don’ wanna. I have to go to work tomorrow. Let’s drink moreee.”
How did it come to this? Her speech had gotten as sloppy as her tongue. On the outside she still looked pale and composed. I was the one whose face had turned bright red… I’d gone to the bathroom, and when I came back she was like this.
“You can just sleep in tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re just like back then…”
Just like back then…? I had no idea what she was talking about, but I could tell Jeong Yeonhui was drunk and starting to ramble. The way she was throwing a tantrum about not wanting to go home made her seem like a little kid who didn’t want to leave the toy store.
“Check please.”
I sent her outside first so she could get some fresh air while I paid. When I stepped out after settling the bill, she was squatting right in front of the restaurant.
“Come on, stand up.”
Her slender, delicate hand brushed my messy bangs aside. Jeong Yeonhui’s face filled my vision. Her rose-tinted lips, her straight nose, her gentle, smiling eyes. Our gazes met as her dark pupils looked up at me. Before I could even react to her sudden touch, her fingers slid down to my chin. A soft, powdery scent tickled my nose.
“Now I can finally see your face properly.”
“What are you suddenly…”
My face, already flushed from the alcohol, burned even hotter. But what really threw me off was what she said next.
“Hey…”
“……?”
“Want to come to my place?”