She Says She Wants to Eat You
Everything needs a catalyst.
The same goes for people getting closer.
Here's what I mean.
"Nuna, have you seen this?"
"What is it?"
"It's a new one this season. I figured it might be your kind of thing. You like slice-of-life healing stories, right?"
It meant I'd gotten close enough to Saebyeok Nuna to be the one striking up a conversation. You really never know how things will turn out between people.
"Yeah, I saw it. But honestly, I'm more excited about the one coming out next season. The original was something I really loved reading, and it's getting an anime adaptation now."
Saebyeok Nuna, who used to give answers so curt they were almost awkward, was now talking in full sentences like this. Just as I'd figured, you really did have to keep working at a conversation to make progress with people.
And so, we'd become a pretty friendly sunbae-hoobae pair.
"I'm gonna go have a smoke real quick."
"See you when you get back."
That was the moment Saebyeok Nuna stepped out of the clubroom.
Udangtangtang!
A noisy clatter rang out, and someone came barreling straight at me. It was Pi Ah-reum, practically launching herself up and over a chair. A dull impact rammed into my gut.
"Kkuk! Wh—what the?!"
I shouted in alarm. Pi Ah-reum shoved her face right into mine and demanded, even louder.
"No—what the hell with you?!"
"Wh-what about what?"
"How did you suddenly get so close with Saebyeok Unni?! What?! What happened!"
"Uh, huh?"
"Don't 'huh' me—what happened that you got that close?! When I saw you two talking, I thought I was dreaming!"
Ah-reum wasn't the only one making a scene.
"Cheoljjin, I'm curious too!"
"Me too......."
"Whoa, I'm honestly really curious about this."
From Bam Nuna and Ju Hana, and even—on the rare occasion she actually showed up to the club—Seora Noona. Every single female member of the club had swarmed around me like they were mobbing me.
For the record, Seongju Hyung had stepped out for a cigarette even before Saebyeok Nuna did, and Ahn Seong-hyeon had already bailed saying he had a date. So it was just the rest of us left in the clubroom.
Pi Ah-reum even dragged a chair over, planted herself right in front of me, and started yelling while flailing her arms.
"Kkang-cheol, explain yourself! Explain yourself!"
"Explain yourself!"
"Ex—explain."
"Cheol-jin, spill the story."
Led by ringleader Pi Ah-reum, Bam Nuna and Seora Noona chimed in with faces full of excitement, and even sweet, timid Hana joined in to back them up.
I mean, it wasn't like I'd committed some crime—so what was there to explain?
It felt oddly like being interrogated, but since there wasn't anything to hide anyway, I decided to just tell them why.
"Bam Nuna, you kind of know already. Last week when we went shopping, a lot of the awkwardness between us sort of dissolved."
"Hmm. Well, that's true, but it wasn't exactly this much. Seems like there's more to it, don't you think?"
"Shopping? What's this about shopping?"
"You—you three went shopping together?"
"That's a weird combo. How'd you end up going? There's gotta be a story there."
Please, one at a time. Every time I said one thing, four people fired back at me—it was dizzying.
"Where do I even start... Well, first off, I'm working on a manhwa together with Bam Nuna, remember?"
"Oh? You actually accepted that? I thought you turned it down."
"Turns out Bam Nuna was a Trickster friend I've known for a long time. So we decided to do it together."
At my words, Bam Nuna flinched and watched me warily. I wasn't planning on saying it was Yusi, so she really didn't need to worry.
"What about the shopping, I said?!"
Ah-reum was pressing me with her eyes practically blazing. Why did she keep shoving her face at me like that... It was distractingly pretty.
I pushed Ah-reum's head back with the flat of my palm and spoke.
"Nuna bought me a few outfits as thanks for taking on the illustration work. She brought Saebyeok Nuna along because she's good with clothes. I mean, I suck at dressing myself, as you know."
"I could've helped you pick out clothes too, you know? Why didn't you call me? What, is this the fabled social ostracism I've only ever heard about?"
"Come on, how is something like that ostracism? Saebyeok Nuna's the top student in the whole Fashion Design department."
Her cheeks were puffed out, brimming with grievances for some reason. But it wasn't just Ah-reum. Hana was looking at me with a downcast expression, muttering too.
"I'm in the Fashion Design department too, why didn't you call me... Ah, is it 'cause my grades aren't great......?"
"Huh. Cheol-jin doesn't dress well? I thought he looks decent enough."
In the middle of all this, Seora Noona was revealing herself to be utterly clueless about fashion. She was the type who wore nothing but track suits or leggings everywhere, so her fashion sense seemed to be completely busted.
"Anyway, I'm disappointed in you, Kkang-cheol. If you needed someone to pick out clothes, you should've called me first."
"I could've even made you stuff myself......."
I was sweating bullets as I looked back and forth between the two of them, when I spotted Bam Nuna laughing like it was all wonderfully entertaining. This is funny to you right now? You're done for.
I pointed at Bam Nuna and spoke.
"If you've got complaints, take it up with Bam Nuna. She's the one who only called Saebyeok Nuna."
"What? Bam Unni, for real? Why didn't you call me? I thought I was close with you, Unni!"
"Why only Saebyeok Unni......."
Okay. The two of them had turned their fire onto Bam Nuna.
Just when I thought I'd finally bought myself a breather.
"Ahaha... Cheoljjin, so how exactly did you get close with Saebyeok? When we were shopping, you two weren't THIS close, you know!"
It was Bam Nuna, immediately redirecting the attention back to me. Her Korean was damnably good.......
"Oh, right. How did you get close with Saebyeok Unni?"
"That's right. Weren't we on that topic?"
"Did you maybe meet up separately, outside the shopping trip...?"
I let out a sigh and explained.
"So, thing is, I went to a department blind date a little while ago......."
"A department blind date?!"
Before I could even finish my sentence, Ah-reum shrieked like she was having a seizure. Her voice was so loud it rang through my skull.
When I covered my ears and didn't answer, Ah-reum demanded again.
"A department blind daaate~?!"
"Ugh, stop shoving your face in mine like that! Seora Noona, please restrain this kid. I can't get a word out because she keeps cutting me off."
"Ah-reum-ah, shall we sit still for just a little bit? Let's hear him out."
Seora Noona scooped up Ah-reum wholesale and plunked her down on her own lap. Held from behind like that, Ah-reum must have felt the threat, because she froze dead still.
"If you don't sit still, I'm gonna do this~."
Kwajijik—
"Eugaak! I'm—I'm breaking! Getting cruuushed!"
"You're gonna sit still, right?"
"Nyeheek! I'll be still, okaaay!"
"There we go. Good girl."
Seora Noona smiled brightly and thumped the top of Ah-reum's head. I was pretty sure she was just playing around, but Ah-reum looked like she was in genuine mortal peril.
I gave them a quick summary of what had happened the week before.
"...So that's what happened. And thanks to that, I got a bit closer with Saebyeok Nuna."
At my words, Ah-reum's mouth fell open.
"So what you're saying is, Seong-hyeon got himself a girlfriend?"
"I think they're still in that 'talking' stage, but... I figure they'll probably start going out soon. He's on a date today, after all."
"So that's why he didn't show up to the clubroom today. Everyone else is working their butts off and he's off on a date by himself?"
Ah-reum's big eyes flashed. Though, since she was still captured in Seora Noona's arms like a doll, it just looked funny... but the others seemed equally disgruntled.
"Our maknae bailing on us. And we've even got a fourth-year sunbae here."
Seora Noona, who was Ahn Seong-hyeon's actual relative, cracked her knuckles as she flexed and relaxed her fists.
These days, our club 'Toons' had been incredibly busy. With the early-stage conti finished so quickly, we had gradually started on animation production work. On top of that, we were making goods to sell at the Comics booth over summer break.
Maybe because of that, Bam Nuna pursed her lips and issued this threat.
"Seong-hyeon—I'm gonna load him up with more work. Going off to date all shamelessly by himself. He's probably gonna do naughty stuff too, right? I'm jealous."
"...Unni? What did you just say...?"
At Bam Nuna's words—her true feelings just slipping out—Hana's expression turned shocked. It seemed Hana still had no idea about the inner workings of that pervert.
Anyway, with this, it seemed like the matter was settled. Fortunately, the target of attention appeared to have shifted onto Ahn Seong-hyeon in the end.
Right at that moment, the clubroom door opened and Seongju Hyung and Saebyeok Nuna walked in side by side. They must have run into each other at the smoking area and come back together.
Ah-reum shook off Seora Noona's loosened arms and dashed out in a flash.
"Seong-ju Oppa, is it true you went to a department blind date with Kkang-cheol?! And Saebyeok Unni, too!"
"Huh? Oh, you heard from Cheol-jin?"
"That was unavoidable because of a friend......."
"Saebyeok-ah, come over here and spill the story too. You got close with Cheol-jin, I hear?"
"Uh, huh?"
Drop your guard for a second and you'd get bitten. The spotlight had already shifted over to those two in no time at all.
I watched the flustered Saebyeok Nuna and let out a pfft of a laugh. Right then, our eyes met, and her gaze looked like she was practically pleading with me to save her.
'Sorry.'
I subtly averted my eyes and turned away from her.
*
Once I got back home, I stripped off my clothes right away and stepped into the bathroom. I felt incredibly gross and sticky from sweat. It was June now, so the weather was pretty hot even after the sun went down.
"Ugh, so hot."
Shwaaaa—!
I adjusted the water temperature to lukewarm-cool and let the stream hit me starting from my head. The dust and sweat that had been clinging to me unpleasantly washed away, and my body relaxed into a pleasant languor.
But the pleasant feeling lasted only a moment.
Jjiiiik— Jjik.
When I peeled off my cover sheet to shower, a grisly scar was revealed. A burn scar stretching long from the base of my neck down to my collarbone. The instant I saw that mark, the pleasant languor fled in the space of a breath.
"......."
I curled my nails and scratched at the scar. Sensation there should have been dulled from the burn, yet there were times when this scar would become unbearably itchy for no reason.
It wasn't pruritus. Medicine or ointment wouldn't make the itching subside. Seeing how easily it dried out, it was probably a moisture issue. Unlike normal skin, if you didn't pay attention to keeping burn scars moisturized, they would get itchy like this. On top of that, I was constantly putting on and taking off the cover sheet, so it was even more vulnerable.
Jjiiiik— Jureuk.
"Ah."
I must've scratched too much, because a wound opened on the skin.
"Tch. Gotta put some ointment on."
Still, it was a relief I'd stopped myself so quickly today. In the old days, I used to space out and scratch until the blood ran down. That behavior seemed to have calmed down a lot after I enrolled in university.
'I really did the right thing coming to college.'
I stopped my absentmindedly scratching hand and resumed the shower. I squeezed out a little shampoo and washed my hair—the lather rose right up. The best part about cutting my shaggy hair short was that washing it had gotten so much easier.
'If I got a tattoo, would I stop scratching?'
I still hadn't decided whether to get a tattoo or not. Honestly, I was leaning heavily toward it, but the thought that once it was etched in it couldn't be undone made me exercise a bit more caution.
'If I do go through with it, I'd have to tell Mother and Father too.......'
I wasn't sure how they'd react if I said I was getting a tattoo. They'd probably both dislike it. They were people who were worlds apart from this kind of thing, after all.
That was right when, having finished my shower while mulling over the tattoo like that,
Jiiing.
The phone I'd left on the table started vibrating. I looked at the screen and saw it was Seora Noona calling.
"Oh, Nuna. What's up?"
— You haven't eaten dinner yet, right?
"No. Just got back and finished washing up."
— Don't eat anything. I'm coming over.
"Huh? All of a sudden... And she hung up."
Not long after, I heard a knock on the door. When I opened the front door, there was Seora Noona with her hair tied into one as usual.
I forgot to even greet her and turned my gaze toward the plastic bag she was holding. An irresistibly delicious smell was wafting out, softly tickling my senses.
"Hey, you could at least say hello!"
"Ah, sorry... But what's that?"
Seora Noona gave a pfft of a laugh like I was just too much. Even so, my eyes were fixed on the plastic bag. Saliva pooled at the corners of my mouth.
"Chicken. Let's have a cheat day today."
"F-for real? I can eat chicken?"
I asked, my eyes going wide. It was because I hadn't so much as laid eyes on chicken lately, what with the brutal weight cut I'd been on.
Seora Noona grinned and spoke.
"Yep. You've been working hard lately. And you've lost a lot of weight, so today's special."
"Are you an angel......."
"Ahahah. What's he saying. Can I come in?"
"Of course! Come on in, quick!"
"Eeey, so is it me you're happy to see, or the chicken?"
"The chicken, obviously!"
"What?! You little!"
Once she was inside, Nuna put me in a headlock. As she did, the plastic bag with the chicken came right up next to my face, sending up an intense aroma.
"Oof, that chicken smell."
"You like that, huh. I brought zero cola too, so let's eat fast before it gets cold."
"Yep!"
I quickly took the chicken and set the table.
"Kkeu, looks so good. But you came all the way here just to bring me chicken? This is honestly touching."
"Well, that, and I kind of wanted some too."
"You like chicken too, Nuna?"
"Nah, I don't really like chicken that much."
"Huh? Then what did you feel like eating? Honestly, I'm more of a pizza person than chicken myself."
As I poured the cola and asked, Seora Noona raised a finger and pointed at me.
"You."
"...Excuse me?"
"Said I wanted to eat you."