Noona's Friends Are Too Curious
"Ugh— I'm stuffed."
After boiling some ramen for dinner, Kim Yuyoung flopped down on the sofa. She pulled her T-shirt up and gave her slightly protruding belly a few playful slaps. The ramen tasted especially good after the exhausting task of cleaning up every trace of her friends' visit. At least Kim Yuon's room hadn't needed any work. Before leaving, he'd done the laundry, cleaned up, and even emptied the trash. For once, the little brother she'd always found annoying had actually been helpful.
"That kid's really picked up some sense since moving out."
He'd even gotten a girlfriend and started posting couple photos on SNS. Maybe that was why he'd turned into a decent human being. She didn't know who the girlfriend was, but she'd have to give her a good spanking later. Of course, Kim Yuon himself was the one who'd get the real kicking—literally, with her foot.
She turned on the TV while lying down and opened the group chat. Thankfully, everyone seemed to have gone to bed. They'd originally planned to hang out until lunch the next day, but one by one they'd made excuses and headed home. Even Han Yeonju had said the mood was gone and left.
"Tsk. Everyone's so busy these days."
She scratched her foot, then picked her nose with the same hand. A small booger was rolled into a ball between her thumb and index finger before she flicked it away.
Ding!
[Seo Hyeonji: Yeah]
A reply came from Seo Hyeonji, whom she'd caught snooping in the group chat. As usual, it was short and dry.
"Cute kid~"
She chuckled and set her phone down. She poked and prodded at her own stomach, but something felt missing. It wasn't fun. There wasn't enough flesh. Hyeonji's belly is the best… She wished she could touch Seo Hyeonji's belly more, but it was a shame. Normally Hyeonji kept up an ironclad defense and wouldn't let anyone touch it, but alcohol made her completely defenseless. If she wanted to get her hands on Seo Hyeonji's belly, she'd have to get her drunk.
"…Huh?"
Just as she was about to type some nonsense about missing Seo Hyeonji's belly, she noticed Hyeonji's profile picture had changed. Clicking the circle next to her last message in the chat…
"Whoa!!"
There was Seo Hyeonji, shyly glancing at the camera. Her ears, visible beneath hair tucked behind them, were bright red. She sat on a long sofa-like chair in front of a low table, with people visible in the background… a café. Someone sitting next to her must have taken the photo.
She asked someone to take it? Hyeonji?
Even when the rest of them offered to take pictures, Hyeonji always refused to be photographed alone. Yet here she was, looking completely natural. Normally, even in group shots, she'd only manage an awkward, stiff smile. But in this photo her face and ears were flushed, her eyes were smiling, and the corners of her mouth were naturally upturned.
Just who was sitting next to her to make her look like that?
…Wait.
That T-shirt wasn't one she recognized. It definitely wasn't Seo Hyeonji's. It was obviously a man's shirt.
A guy!!
So that's what it was. That expression was the face of a woman in love. Our Hyeonji had finally…! Twenty-one-year-old Seo Hyeonji was finally escaping her forever-single status.
This noona is so moved!!
The group chat had already exploded. Yang Minah and Han Yeonju were going crazy, and even Yoon Seona had joined in late, asking if there were more photos, who took it, and whether she had a boyfriend. Seo Hyeonji was still just reading the messages without replying. God, this girl is so frustrating.
"…But I've seen that shirt somewhere before."
Kim Yuyoung tilted her head as she stared at the photo. Where had she seen it?
"Huuu……"
Notifications kept flooding her silenced phone. Seo Hyeonji stared at it helplessly.
"Wh-what do I do……"
She looked at me with a pitiful expression, silently begging for help.
"What do you mean? Just say a guy took it."
"N-nooo……"
She shook her head vigorously.
"Why not?"
"I-it's embarrassing……"
"Then say a friend took it. Or an acquaintance."
"My friends all know each other, so they'd figure it out right away……"
Ah, right. She'd mentioned she didn't have many friends. What a picky girl.
"Hmm. Want me to reply for you?"
"……How?"
"Give it here."
I took the phone from Seo Hyeonji. She clung anxiously to my side, peering at the screen. I opened the group chat where notifications were popping up every few seconds.
Yang Minah was tagging Seo Hyeonji like crazy—once every two seconds. The unread count disappeared as soon as I entered the chat.
One gorilla and three noonas were in complete chaos. I typed out a reply and showed it to Seo Hyeonji.
"?!?!?"
Seo Hyeonji flinched and tried to snatch the phone back. I stretched my arm in the opposite direction to dodge her. This girl could move surprisingly fast sometimes.
"Ah, fine. It was just a joke."
I laughed and deleted the message in front of her. While deleting it… my hand was still wet from holding the iced Americano, so my finger slipped off the delete button and hit send instead.
"Huuu……"
Seo Hyeonji took the phone back with a miserable expression.
"What do I do…… What do I do……"
"Uh… sorry."
"Hnn…… Yuon-ssi isn't even named Ju……"
"……?!"
Wait, that was the problem?
"Haa……"
Seo Hyeonji eventually left the group chat without offering any explanation. She just kept sighing.
"Cheer up. Ah, I'll buy you cake on the way. There's a place nearby famous for their slice cakes."
"……Really?"
"Yeah. Look, this place… lots of reviews, and it shows up on YouTube a lot."
"Hee…… Sounds delicious."
When I showed her the store on my phone, she stared at it intently. In the end, I had to pay an extra 32,000 won for a four-piece cake set. The price of that accidental message was steep.
Monday morning's first class was always rough. Tired, annoying… Even though my place was only a fifteen-minute walk from campus, I still hated it.
"Hey, hi."
"Oh. Hi."
Yoon Suhyeon greeted me when I reached the lecture hall.
"Yo, so did you two make up?"
While I opened my bag and took out my tablet, Yoon Suhyeon leaned in and asked in a low voice.
"Make up? With who?"
"Who do you think? Your girlfriend."
"Ah… No, she hasn't contacted me since then."
"What?"
"No messages at all. I guess she dumped me."
"Ugh. Idiot."
"What the fuck, man."
Starting an argument first thing in the morning.
"Oh, it's Park Jiyeon."
I turned toward where Yoon Suhyeon was pointing—the back door of the lecture hall. But there was no one there.
"Just kidding."
"……"
He burst out laughing. Crazy bastard.
"That's childish. So childish."
"Dude, you've still got feelings. Just message her first, man."
"Forget it. She wanted to break up just because I couldn't get it up once. I lost interest too."
"Come on, you can't lose interest over something like that."
"I don't know. Stop talking about it."
"Oh, it's Park Jiyeon."
This asshole. He pointed at the back door again and started messing around. I was genuinely getting annoyed now, so I spoke seriously.
"Seriously, stop it. You want to die?"
"It's real though."
"I said I have no lingering feelings. I lost interest and don't even think about her."
"Me neither."
When I turned toward the voice, Park Jiyeon was smiling down at me.
"So all your feelings are completely gone and you don't even think about me?"
"……"
After saying that, she glared at me like she wanted to kill me, then abruptly turned and sat with her friends.
"I told you it was real, you idiot."
"Shit……"
Nothing was going right on a Monday morning. This sucked.
Yoon Suhyeon tried to make up for earlier by offering to buy lunch, but I told him to buy me drinks instead that evening. So now we were sitting across from each other, drinking.
"Hey, it's fine. There are plenty of girls in the world. Pretty ones, nice ones, ones with great bodies."
He wasn't wrong. And I'd already embraced all three types. But I was still pretending to be mad at Yoon Suhyeon. That way he'd be the one paying for the drinks.
"Of course Park Jiyeon is insanely pretty and has a killer body, so it might be hard to find someone better than her!"
"……"
"Well, you might run into her again someday!"
He held out his soju glass. I clinked mine against it half-heartedly. I downed the shot and ate some side dishes. Oh, these are good.
"Good, right? I found this place because I wanted to bring my girlfriend here, but I ended up bringing you first."
He said it like he was doing me a huge favor just by taking me to a decent bar.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Hey, but those girls over there are really pretty, right? They've been staring at us for a while."
Following Yoon Suhyeon's gaze, I looked over. Two women sitting across from each other at a table. They were right next to us, though there was some distance. Oh, two guys just walked up to their table. They were holding out their phones, probably asking for numbers. The smaller woman with short black hair held out her left hand. A silver ring on her ring finger sparkled. The guys bowed and returned to their seats. The women laughed and talked to each other again, then the smaller one glanced our way. Our eyes met.
Wait, that face looked familiar…
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"It is Yuon!"
"Minah noona?"
It was Yang Minah. What was noona doing here?