Eunsol and Lee Naye — Part 1

Morning sunlight spilled into my room — and onto my bed.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Eunsol's face, nestled against my arm.

"Sunwoo… did you sleep well…?"

"Sol…"

"Sunwoo…"

She murmured my name and gently closed her eyes. I leaned in slowly.

"Mmm…"

She puckered her lips into a soft little pout. Her mouth was close enough to touch ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠—

But what made contact first was…

Thud!!

My forehead.

"Kyaah!!!"

"What the hell are you doing in this bed?!"

"Hiiing… that hurts… Kyaah!! S-Sunwoo!!"

I scooped Eunsol under one arm and strode out of the room. Before dumping her onto the sofa, I gave her backside a couple of firm swats.

Smack!! Smack!!

Honestly, it was half punishment and half pure ulterior motive. Eunsol's rear was just that satisfying to hit.

"Kyaah!! Sunwoo, that really hurts..!!"

"That's the point! How many times have I told you not to come into my room?!"

"Hiiing… but I sleep so well when I use your arm as a pillow…"

"……"

"Kyaah!!"

I tossed her onto the sofa. From the bathroom came the sound of a toilet flushing, followed by an irritated voice.

"Haa… can't you two get up a little more quietly?"

"……"

"And why are you marking your territory in someone else's house first thing in the morning?"

"Someone else's house? Excuse me — I pay rent. I'm a legitimate tenant."

"Who asked you to pay rent?! You two just showed up and moved in!!"

"If you're going to yell in my face like that, go brush your teeth. Your breath stinks."

"Ah… sorry."

"What the hell do you even eat before bed?"

"You ate it with me! Braised chicken!!"

Eunsol and Lee Naye, both now fully eighteen, had left the orphanage and set up house with me. One day they'd simply packed their bags, shown up at my door, handed me an envelope with six hundred thousand won in it, and started living here.

"Uweh… eipiahgo..!"

"Finish brushing before you talk. And yes, I know this is your house."

"Guoh aah!"

"Sol, what's she saying?"

"She's telling you to get out."

"Haa… don't you ever get tired of this? And today's acceptance day, remember? Aren't you going to check?"

"Ptew ptew! Today's already that day?"

"Where do you think you're spitting that!!"

She was so rattled she'd spat toothpaste foam straight onto the floor. That was how important today was.

It was already February 2018 — the day the regular-admission results for the universities we'd applied to would be posted.

"But you're not even going to this school. Do you really need to check?"

"I might go."

"Why?"

"Shut up and just check already."

Eunsol had applied to the same university as me, probably because of the promise we'd made two years ago. Naye applying here, though — that was a surprise. Sure, it could have been a safety school, but she'd already gotten into both S University and Y University. Even if she got in here, she had zero reason to come.

My school was a well-regarded one too — the place I'd chosen with a perfect CSAT score, thanks to my memories of the future. Still, stacked against the prestige of S and Y, it fell a little short. That much was true.

"Please…! Please…! Please..!!!"

I decided to check Eunsol's result first. Over the past two years, no one had worked harder than she had. And this was the highlight of the day.

Naye was a free pass. I'd scored a perfect CSAT and kept my grades solid enough that I wasn't worried either. If Eunsol got in, today would be a happy day for everyone.

"Ready to click?"

"Yeah!"

"One, two, three!"

Click—

The page refreshed with the soft sound of the mouse.

Maybe it was only natural. She'd studied harder than anyone, sitting right next to Naye — who never once surrendered first place in the entire school. Her scores hadn't always matched the effort, which had been a little heartbreaking. But she'd gotten the result she wanted. She had to be satisfied.

"You got in."

"Congratulations! Sol! I'm so happ—"

"……"

What? I'd expected her to light up. Instead, Eunsol looked strangely calm. Had she already seen it coming?

"Sol…?"

"Hic..! N-Naye…"

"What's wrong…"

"I got iiiin!!! Hwaaaaaaang!!!!!!!!"

"Aigoo…"

"Sol, don't cry… It's a good day. Why are you crying…"

"Hwaaaaaaang!! I'm just so happy! So happy..!! Hwaaaaaaaaaang!!!!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

She was always smiling, so I'd never realized how much she'd been carrying inside. She buried herself in Naye's arms and sobbed for a long while, then scrubbed her face against Naye's shoulder to wipe away the tears and shouted,

"Hurry, let's check! Naye too! Sunwoo too!"

We checked Naye first — the one with the least suspense — then mine.

Maybe because the results had been all but guaranteed, Naye and I didn't celebrate much. Eunsol made up for it by celebrating harder than either of us. And the congratulations poured in from everywhere.

"Director~~ We all got in~!!"

"Oh my!!"

Starting with the director — who gave the most dramatic reaction I'd ever seen from her — the kids we'd grown up with, and even the older brothers and sisters who'd already graduated from the orphanage, all called to congratulate us.

"Cheers!!!"

"Is she seriously going to keep drinking like that? That's already her third somaek."

"Then you try stopping her."

"What are you doing~~ Sunwoo, Naye — bottoms up! Bottoms up~!!"

We'd only stayed at the orphanage through dinner. Now the three of us were out drinking on our own. We were all adults now, after all.

And tonight was Eunsol and Naye's first time drinking. Both of them had sworn they wouldn't touch a drop until they got into university — and they'd kept that promise.

"Uuughh..!!!!"

"If it's that bitter, just stop drinking."

"But..! Uugh..!! We got in!"

"That has nothing to do with the alcohol."

"No! It's the same! It's a celebration drink!"

"Haha… fine. Just pace yourself, okay?"

"Mmmph..!!"

Whether she was already tipsy or just annoyed that I kept trying to rein her in, Eunsol puffed her cheeks out and glared at me.

"What? I'm just worried about you."

"That's not it..! Sol… thinks she's gonna throw up..! Uuugh..!!"

"Hey..! Hey!!!"

"H-hurry, the bathroom!!"

"Uuup!!! Uup!!!"

"Swallow it!! Swallow!!!"

Eunsol's first night of drinking had thoroughly established her limit.

Three glasses of somaek. Just three mixed drinks, and she was this far gone.

"Hellooo~~~ Sol got into university today!!!!"

"Stop it already..!! I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.."

"Aww~ Congratulations~"

"Thank you~!!! Mister! Sol got into university!!"

"Haha… yeah…"

"I'm so sorry…"

"Your boyfriend's got his hands full… Get her home safe."

"Yes… good night…"

Eunsol, draped over my back, bragged to every stranger we passed. I kept bowing and apologizing. And trailing behind us, face buried in her scarf, pretending she had nothing to do with either of us — Lee Naye.

"You could at least come support her back..! She's about to fall off..!!"

"Hello? You're already there? Yeah, I'm on my way too. Be there soon."

"……"

She suddenly pulled out her phone, launched into a fake conversation with some imaginary person, and breezed right past me.

Wow. All that talk about how much she cared about Sol — was that just an act?

Beep beep beep beep— brrring~

Click!

Home. We'd finally made it.

"Huff..! Huff..! Lee Naye..!! You venomous little— no, you bat-hearted bitch..!!"

"You're back?"

She greeted me like nothing had happened, an apron tied around her waist. How could she look at me with that face?

"Haa… 'You're back'? 'You're back'?! I asked you to help hold her up and you just walked off!!"

"Sorry. Put Sol to bed first. I made something for the hangover instead."

"Hangover…?"

"Sunwoo~ Sunwoooo~~~ Are you gonna poke Sol with the water gun again tonight?"

"…I'll put her to bed first."

I finally managed to peel the clingy Eunsol off me and get her into bed. Then that smell hit me…

"Dried pollack soup. I put some bean sprouts in too. If you want it spicier, toss in some of these cheongyang peppers."

"……"

"I said I was sorry! But… in that situation, I didn't have a choice…"

"You abandon your friend because you're embarrassed?"

"A-abandon? Who abandoned anyone! You were right there!"

"……"

"I messed up, okay? Just eat… before it gets cold…"

"Haa… it better not taste like crap."

I sat down and took a spoonful of the soup Naye had made.

This was…!

"Auntie, one bottle of soju over here!"

The soup was so good it practically demanded a bottle. Naye and I sat across from each other and poured drinks. Without Eunsol's giddy energy filling the room, the conversation turned a little more serious.

"Which school are you going to? S University, right?"

"Still thinking. They're all good schools."

"What about housing? Dorm?"

"Yeah. Living off-campus costs too much."

"What if I find you a place? Would you live there?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Leaning on you even more than I already have… that would just be shameless…"

"You're not shameless."

"Huh..?"

"You're just broke."

"Hey."

"Pfft!!"

The way she went from startled to dead serious in half a second cracked me up.

"Don't laugh!"

"Haha~ Sorry. That was kind of cute just now."

"W-what did you just say..!"

"Pay me back later."

"For what now!"

"If it bothers you that much, pay me back slowly. Zero interest, lifetime installment plan."

"Forget it! I can take care of myself now. I'm all grown up."

"Stubborn as ever… Fine. Do whatever you want. It's your life — me telling you what to do is pretty ridiculous anyway."

Everyone had their own path. I couldn't look after her forever. And if it was Naye, she'd be fine on her own.

"Khh..! Bitter."

"What about you…?"

"What about me?"

"Are you really going to live with Sol…?"

"Who knows~"

"You promised…"

"That was just me going along with it."

"Sol's going to be disappointed…"

"I'll try not to disappoint her too much."

"How…?"

I'd said we'd live together. I never said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it would be just the two of us. And conveniently, there was a place near the university we'd be attending.

In my last life, when I'd had nowhere to go, a boarding house had taken me in. The landlady had shown me more care and kindness than I deserved, even if only for a short time. Honestly, she'd been beautiful enough that calling her "noona" wouldn't have been a stretch.

Eventually the house had gone to auction, and I'd had to leave. A house going to auction meant hard times. Her daughter would go on to become someone famous, and money would stop being a problem — but I still wanted to repay the kindness I'd received in that life.

Spending about a year as a boarder there again didn't sound half bad. Wait — would there even be a room open? I'd have to check first thing tomorrow.

"Hey! Cha Sunwoo!"

"……"

I'd drifted off into old memories, and somehow she'd gotten this close. Why had she come all the way over here?

Naye's face — which had been across the table a moment ago — was now close enough that I could hear her breathing.

"Are you okay??"

"About what…?"

"I called you and you didn't answer! You scared me!"

"Ah… did I? Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

"Haa… you're drunk too, aren't you. Go to bed. I'll clean up here…"

Grab—

Before I knew what I was doing, I covered her hand on the table with mine. I just didn't want her face to pull away. I wanted to look at her a little longer.

I didn't fully understand why. Why I hated watching this venomous girl's face get farther away. Why I wanted to keep looking at her.

If I had to name a reason, it was probably the thought that I might not see her again. Once university started, meeting up would get hard. She wasn't the type to come running just because I asked.

She'd refused my help right to the end. Maybe she wanted to cut things off here. So I figured it was okay to be honest, just once.

"What are you doing? Let go of my hand!"

"Did I ever tell you?"

"Tell me what!"

"That you're pretty."

"……"

"I'm sorry for always sniping at you and being a jerk. But you know I like you a lot, right?"

"…You idiot…!!"

"What? Are you crying? Even a snake can cr— mmph…"

What the hell was happening right now?

Lee Naye had kissed me.

Why? Why all of a sudden??

Had she been drunker than I thought?

My head was a mess. But even in the middle of that mess, one thing was clear.

This clumsy kiss… wasn't bad at all.

Clatter-clatter-clatter!!

Crash!! Crash!!

Plates and bowls tumbled off the table and shattered on the floor. The floor was a disaster — but the tabletop was clear.

"Haa..! Haa..!"

"Huff..! Huff..!"

"Mmph..!!"

I laid Naye across the table like a meal set out just for me and claimed her mouth. I didn't know what I was doing. I felt like an animal reduced to pure instinct.

Desire I'd been holding down for so long. Alcohol dulling every rational thought. And this magnetic girl on top of it all.

I became a beast. I devoured Naye's lips, toyed with her tongue, and sucked at her neck and collarbone like they belonged to me.

And that was as far as it went.

The second my impatient hand slipped past the waistband of her pants and underwear—

"Not there!!!"

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"Guhhk!!!!"

"S-Sunwoo!!"

A knee shot up like a missile and drove straight into my temple.

I blacked out. And when I opened my eyes the next day…

"Mmm… mmm…"

"……"

Soft~ soft~

I was kneading Eunsol's breasts as she slept curled up in my arms.