Don't Insult Cheoljin
Deep in the dead of night.
I headed to the laundromat with Areum. The bed cover was completely soaked in piss, and I couldn't just leave it like that.
The person walking beside me spoke up.
"Ugh, my pussy hurts."
I flinched and frantically looked around before scolding her with a sigh.
"Your, your words! Please, watch your mouth!"
But when had Pi Areum ever listened to a word I said? She just shot back with a shameless face.
"What do you want me to do about it hurting? It's all because of you!"
"...You little runt, seriously. I let you off easy and didn't even go all the way because you were struggling, and this is the thanks I get. Come here."
When I reached out my hand as if I were about to go again, Areum jumped back with a yelp.
"I-I'm sorry! I'll only use nice words!"
"That's what you should've done from the start."
I grabbed tiny little Areum's head and spun it around in circles, showering her with unfinished nagging.
"When it's just the two of us, you say whatever you want. Please, I'm begging you, be more careful outside. Huh? Someone who looks as innocent as you do on the outside, and the things that come out of your mouth."
"Tch. Judging me by my looks."
"If only that were what this is."
"I said I get it, so stop spinning my head. I'm dizzy."
While we were bickering halfheartedly, we arrived at the laundromat.
I let go of Areum's head and stuffed the laundry into the washing machine. Then I sat down on one of the chairs set up to the side and let out a sigh.
"What the hell kind of errand is this in the middle of the night. All because of some bedwetter."
"...Hey!"
Areum's face turned bright red.
I giggled and kept teasing her.
"So you do get embarrassed, huh?"
"It's because of you!"
"Everything is because of me, apparently."
Truth be told, it really was because of me. And that made me feel oddly proud, too. Anyway, didn't it mean it was so good she lost control?
I took Areum's cottony-soft punches and asked.
"Anyway, when exactly are you moving out?"
"Hmm. It's almost the end of May now, so maybe early June?"
"So you're doing it before finals."
If I remembered right, finals ended around the fourth week of June, and then the first semester wrapped up. Fortunately, that wasn't too hectic a time. I should help her move her stuff.
"Have you checked out the place?"
"Only online. I'm planning to go see it in person soon."
"Hmm. But if you're moving out because of streaming, aren't there a lot of things you need to consider?"
"That's true, but... well, I'm a virtual streamer, so."
"Fair enough."
Areum streamed with a virtual avatar without turning on her cam. That alone made things considerably easier from a streamer's standpoint. No need to set up chroma key or lighting, so it freed up space.
But for a comfortable streaming environment, there was still one thing to consider. Soundproofing.
"What're you gonna do about soundproofing? It'd be uncomfortable in a studio apartment."
At my question, Areum grinned like she had it all figured out.
"No worries there. I looked into it, and there's this super tiny two-room place. I'm thinking I can use the small room as the streaming room."
"Oh, that's pretty good. Separating your sleeping space and streaming room is probably best."
"Right? And you know what's even more amazing? The person who lived there before did soundproofing construction for streaming!"
"For real? The landlord didn't clear it out? No, wait, normally the tenant's supposed to clean that up before moving out."
"Seems like the landlord just left it as-is, thinking there'd be demand for it. I guess they used it as bait since there's kind of a lot of streamers these days."
"Damn, I've only ever heard about cases like that. You totally hit the jackpot."
"Right?"
Apparently, cases like this do crop up once in a while. Whether it's a soundproof booth or soundproofing work, it costs a fair bit, so they just leave it in as a built-in option.
"So I'm gonna sign the contract soon before someone snatches it up."
"Do your research first. Don't get scammed. Make sure you check the building register. Look into how much is left on the loan, too."
"Nag, nag, nag. I'm going with monthly rent anyway, so I'm not too worried. I'll sign for a year for now, save up money, and switch to a jeonse deposit lease if things look good."
That was what we were talking about.
Ttallang-
A small bell chimed, and someone walked into the laundromat. Blue-black hair, a cold impression. A familiar face.
"Oh, Saebyeok unni!"
Areum sprang up and ran over, throwing herself into Han Saebyeok's arms. Han Saebyeok looked briefly startled, then stroked Areum's head with a practiced familiarity.
Areum beamed brightly and said.
"Seeing Saebyeok unni at this dawn hour."
"......."
Han Saebyeok's eyebrow twitched. Maybe it was just my imagination that she seemed dumbfounded. Areum looked like the type who wouldn't crack dumb jokes, but she actually dropped some pretty unfunny ones.
"What happened to Pi Areum's sense of humor......."
"What's that supposed to mean, I'm better than you, you know?"
"I absolutely refuse to acknowledge that."
As I was firmly denying it, Han Saebyeok glanced at me with a strange look and murmured.
"You two together again."
At those words, I thought, 'Ah, crap.' Come to think of it, Hana had told Han Saebyeok that Areum and I were dating. Looking at the situation now, anyone would think that.
I smiled awkwardly and greeted her.
"We saw each other here last time too, right? You must live nearby."
Han Saebyeok answered with a silent nod.
She really did have a chilly attitude no matter when you saw her. We were in the same club, so I'd tried to get closer, but her cold responses made her hard to deal with.
'It's not like she dislikes me... I don't think.
At first, I'd seriously wondered if I'd done something to get on her bad side. But that wasn't it.
Surprisingly, compared to how she treated other guys, she was actually relatively gentle with me. With Seongju hyung or Seong-hyeon, she pretty much didn't have conversations at all. I'd at least managed to exchange a few words with her, probably because I was always lumped together with Areum.
Anyway, because of that she was kind of a hard person to approach, but seeing her hang out with Areum and the other female club members, she didn't seem like a bad person.
'I heard she went to an all-girls middle school and high school.'
That was something I'd heard from Mina nuna, a fourth-year ghost member. All-girls middle school and high school, and never had a boyfriend. So she apparently had a hard time dealing with the opposite sex.
I was sitting there with those thoughts running through my head.
Areum, who'd been chattering away, was led out of the laundromat by Han Saebyeok's hand.
"...Huh."
Suddenly I was left alone.
Somehow it felt a bit lonely.......
*
The parking lot next to the laundromat.
Han Saebyeok glanced sidelong at the laundromat with its light spilling out, then turned back to Pi Areum.
Pi Areum, her large eyes brimming with curiosity, asked.
"Unni, what's going on?"
"Well, it's......."
Han Saebyeok paused to choose her words, but unfortunately, she didn't have much of a way with them. In the end, there was no choice but to ask directly.
"Areum-ah, are you dating him?"
"Huh? Cheol-jin?"
"Yeah."
This was already the second time Han Saebyeok had seen the two of them at the laundromat. A man and woman coming to do laundry together at this late hour? Of course, if they both lived nearby it wasn't entirely impossible, but as far as she knew, Pi Areum commuted from her family home.
In other words, it meant Kang Cheol-jin and Pi Areum had been together this whole time. The question about whether they were dating was practically just a formality.
But Pi Areum, unexpectedly, shook her head. Though her expression was somewhat inscrutable.
"We're not dating."
"...You're not dating?"
Han Saebyeok's eyes went wide. A rare sight of her taken aback.
"Th-then why are you together at this hour?"
"Well, you know... ehehe."
Pi Areum, her face flushed, glanced toward the laundromat. She didn't explicitly mention it, but it was enough to convey the meaning.
In the first place, what else would a man and woman be doing together until this dark hour of the night? Especially since they'd been caught twice already, there was no point in hiding it further.
"We're not dating, I'm the one trying to seduce him. Heuheu."
But Han Saebyeok's reaction upon hearing those words was more intense than expected. She staggered slightly, then her expression turned serious, and she grabbed Pi Areum by both shoulders.
"N-no, Areum-ah!"
"Ngyak?!"
Pi Areum staggered from the sudden shaking.
With eyes half-wild, Han Saebyeok shook Pi Areum and began spilling out words.
"Areum-ah, you have to value your body more. Especially you can't be seeing some piece of trash who does everything with you and doesn't even date you! No, in the first place, men are all......."
"W-wait a second. Let go of me and then let's talk."
"Ah... sorry."
Only then did Han Saebyeok release Pi Areum. But her expression was still serious, and the look she cast at the laundromat was sharp, almost murderous.
"You're not being threatened, are you? Ah, back then, when he took you away...? I really should've walked you home that day."
"Saebyeok unni, calm down. It's not like that."
"But......."
"I said it's not."
Pi Areum spoke with a frown. The cutesy, chirpy tone she usually used was nowhere to be found — her voice was firm.
At that, Han Saebyeok regained her composure with a slightly startled face.
Pi Areum calmly began to speak.
"First of all, the time I fucked Cheol-jin wasn't that day. It was way before that."
"Fu-fucked......?"
Han Saebyeok was flustered by the word choice that didn't match that cute appearance at all, but Pi Areum continued on without a care.
"Well, it's true that we've done everything and aren't dating."
"...That piece of trash."
"Ah, seriously! Don't badmouth Cheol-jin and at least hear me out to the end!"
Pi Areum spoke in annoyance and swept her hair back. With this attitude completely unlike her usual self, the bewilderment on Han Saebyeok's face grew deeper and deeper.
"In the first place, Cheol-jin turned me down saying he had no intention of dating, so I'm the one who came onto him first, saying let's just fuck. So if you want to get technical, I'm the one who tapped Cheol-jin, okay?"
"Tapped......?"
"And that day you mentioned, Cheol-jin took crazy good care of me. He went through hell cleaning up after me when I was puking my guts out in the bathroom and causing a whole scene."
"Ah......."
Han Saebyeok's mind went blank at the brazen words.
Pi Areum let out a small laugh and continued.
"No, actually, now that I think about it, I'm the one who tapped Cheol-jin while he was asleep that day too. Threatened? Cheol-jin? He's not the kind of kid who knows how to do that. How's a guy who can't even get a girlfriend because of trauma gonna threaten someone... oops."
"...Trauma? From school violence?"
"Ugh. Let's just skip over that."
Pi Areum clicked her tongue at her own slip of the tongue. The comic Kang Cheol-jin had submitted to the club a while back only showed that he'd suffered school violence, but the part about his ex-girlfriend had been glossed over. Naturally, it was something Han Saebyeok didn't know.
"Ah, anyway! This guy, he's done all that licking and sucking and everything with me, and he's still a pathetic loser who can't even bring himself to say he wants to do it first, okay?"
Han Saebyeok now seemed to be having a hard time even reacting, just standing there with her mouth hanging open. How could she have ever imagined that a string of vulgar words like fucking, tapping, licking and sucking would come pouring out of that cute face.
In any case, Pi Areum had finished her story.
She fixed her gaze on Han Saebyeok with a coldly settled expression. It seemed mismatched but was quite a sharp look all the same.
"So, don't you dare badmouth Cheol-jin."
"......."
"Because he's not the kind of person who deserves to be treated like trash by anyone."