A Night Gone Sideways

"...Fucking bullshit..."

For a moment, I couldn't believe my ears.

"What did you just say?"

"Fuck! I said this is bullshit!"

Watching him sway on his feet as he raised his voice, I found ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my own anger getting harder and harder to hold back.

"Hey. Say that again."

My fists clenched tight and my face burned hot, but my head, if anything, went ice-cold. He couldn't have been more than five-seven, a scrawny frame without a shred of muscle on it, and he was so drunk he could barely stay upright. There was no way I could lose a fight against him.

If I beat the hell out of him right here?

Worst case, I'd be looking at a couple thousand bucks in settlement money. And right now, I had as much money as I needed.

Decision made.

I flicked my cigarette to the ground and was about to close the distance when the shop's back door flew open and Dongmin hyung came bursting out.

"What the hell are you two doing?!"

Behind him, in the doorway, I could see Lee Jieun standing there with a worried look on her face. The tension between me and Choi Seongyong must have been obvious enough that she'd gone and gotten Dongmin hyung.

I couldn't exactly throw a punch with the two of them watching, so all I could do was let out a long, heavy sigh.

Even the guy who could barely keep his wits about him lifted his head and looked back and forth between me and Dongmin hyung. Then, as if he couldn't contain the rage boiling over inside him, he kicked the styrofoam box next to him and bellowed.

The sheer violence of it left even Dongmin hyung speechless for a moment, his eyes gone wide. The guy started staggering off in the opposite direction from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the shop.

"Hey, Choi Seongyong! Where do you think you're going?!"

Dongmin hyung called after him a beat too late, but Seongyong didn't so much as glance back. He just kept walking. It was the unmistakable back of a man too drunk to know where he was headed. Dongmin hyung gave up on him and turned to look at me.

"What happened? What's his problem?"

I sighed.

"Hyung, let's go inside first. I'll explain."

Inside the shop, pieces of chicken that Choi Seongyong had knocked over earlier were still scattered across the floor. The sight of it sent a fresh spike of irritation through me.

I really should've gotten a few hits in...

I just stood there staring at the mess. Jieun caught the look on my face and started to clean it up, but Dongmin hyung stopped her and sat down at one of the tables.

I rubbed the back of my neck with my palm, trying to get a grip on myself, then opened the fridge next to me.

"I'll settle up for this in a bit."

I pulled out a bottle of beer and headed over to the table where Dongmin hyung and Jieun were sitting. I sat down, poured the beer into one of the glasses already on the table, and knocked it back in one go. I could feel the heat of my anger start to cool.

Once I'd drained the glass, Dongmin hyung, who'd been waiting quietly, finally spoke.

"Alright. Talk. What happened?"

This was why I liked Dongmin hyung. Just thinking about where to start made me sigh again.

"Honestly, I'm not even sure myself. You went into the kitchen first, right?"

"Yeah. So why'd you two start fighting after that?"

"He asked Jieun to go drinking with him tonight. She said no, so he asked her to meet tomorrow instead. When she turned that down too, he just started yelling."

I told it exactly as it happened, but Dongmin hyung tilted his head. Even as I said it, it sounded weird to me too.

"So I stepped in, grabbed his arm, and told him we should go get some air. That's when he got pissed and slammed the table — that's how the chicken ended up on the floor."

I glanced at the chicken still strewn across the floor and went on.

"After that I figured it wasn't going anywhere, so I took him outside — and he just started cussing me out."

"What? Out of nowhere?"

"Well, more precisely — I told him he looked wasted and should probably just go home. That's when he started swearing at me."

I left it there and poured myself another glass. Even if Drinking, Singing, and Dancing meant I couldn't get drunk, that cold swallow down my throat definitely took the edge off.

I'd just finished filling my glass when an empty one suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Oppa, I want some too."

I glanced at the glass she was holding out, then got up and headed for the fridge. I came back with a bottle in each hand to find Dongmin hyung frowning.

"So... you're saying he just went off like that because he was drunk?"

"Pretty much, yeah?"

And that really was all there was to it. There was no need to mention how the guy had been obsessing over Lee Jieun before this. Dongmin hyung already knew Choi Seongyong had a thing for her, so it wasn't an issue.

I'd just poured Jieun a drink and was taking a sip of my own when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked — Cha Heejung was calling.

Ah, right! Heejung!

The shop's closing time had come and gone without a word from me, so she'd called. I scratched the back of my head and stood up.

"I'm gonna step out for a smoke."

They both nodded, and I headed out the back door to take the call.

"Hey, Heejung."

"Ah, sorry. I should've texted you earlier. I don't think I can meet up tonight."

I had no idea when this would wrap up, and honestly, I wasn't in any state to see her right now. If I ended up taking my irritation out on Heejung, that would be a disaster.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you tomorrow. You free?"

"Sorry. Really sorry. I'll call you tomorrow."

The lifeless tone in her voice right before I hung up left me feeling guilty for no good reason.

"That asshole just had to show up drunk..."

My ordinary evening, the plans I'd made just a little while ago — all of it, wrecked. Did he even have a clue what the ordinary day I'd just lost was actually worth?

I was dying for a cigarette.

Ah, I just had one not that long ago...

I pulled a cigarette from my pocket, stuck it between my lips, and lit it. I exhaled slowly, and the smoke vanished into the dark night sky along with my sigh. The more vacant breaths I let out, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the better I started to feel, little by little.

"Alright, back inside!"

I muttered it to myself, even throwing in a stretch to pump myself back up. What was done was done. No point sitting around scowling forever.

After taking a moment, I went back inside to find more bottles on the table than when I'd left. Among the brown beer bottles, I could even see a green soju bottle.

"Huh? Dongmin hyung, what's with the soju?"

"Jieun brought it. I haven't had a drop."

Ah, right — Dongmin hyung had driven here. I looked at Lee Jieun. Her face was already a little flushed.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine! Tomorrow's my day off anyway, so I might as well drink as much as I want tonight!"

"Drinking as much as you want is fine, but aren't you going a little fast?"

In the short time I'd been gone, she'd already finished another beer and half a bottle of soju. I watched her mix soju and beer into my glass and found myself thinking back to last time.

How much can Jieun actually handle again?

Last time we'd each had a bottle of soju, and she'd seemed pretty tipsy.

As I sat down, Dongmin hyung stood up.

"I ordered a few snacks for you. Drink in moderation, Minseok — just lock up when you're done and head out. I'll clean up on Monday. You know where to leave the key, right?"

"Huh? Where are you going, hyung?"

"Home. I've got church in the morning. You two drink."

When had he even ordered the food...? He must have already talked it over with Jieun, because she was smiling as she held her glass out to me.

"Oppa~ Cheers!"

Our glasses clinked, and as I watched Dongmin hyung's back disappear out the door, I got a serious case of déjà vu.

I feel like he's pulled this exact disappearing act before...

And just like that, I'd ended up drinking alone with Jieun — whether I'd planned to or not.

After Dongmin hyung left, Lee Jieun and I both steered clear of the subject of Choi Seongyong. I held my tongue because I didn't want it to look like I was talking behind the guy's back. Why she wasn't bringing it up, though, I couldn't figure out.

But you can only dodge a subject for so long. A few more empty bottles had piled up. I figured it was time to settle this and opened my mouth.

"Jieun. Are you going to keep talking to Choi Seongyong?"

"You know he's the one who keeps texting me. I never start it."

I knew. I knew that perfectly well. But if we left it at that, something like tonight was bound to happen again.

"Why don't you just block him? It's not like you're going to date the guy. Every time you reply, even just once in a while, he..."

I chose my words carefully, because depending on how you heard it, it could sound like I was saying this was partly her fault. Needless to say, Lee Jieun was the victim here. Choi Seongyong was the asshole, full stop. But it was also true that if she changed how she handled him, she could keep something like this from happening again.

If she'd just blocked him instead of answering every now and then, maybe he would've given up. Not that I was trying to put this on the victim. I was pretty sure this was the same instinct that made adults tell kids to come home early and never follow a stranger.

That was when Lee Jieun looked at me, her eyes welling up just a little.

"But Oppa, you talk to Heejung unnie every single day~!"

I froze ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a second at that, then casually knocked back the rest of my drink.

"Heejung and I are close. That's why we talk to each other."

What I was really saying, in a roundabout way, was that Heejung and I actually liked talking to each other — unlike her and Choi Seongyong.

"Hmph..."

She couldn't come up with a comeback, so she just puffed out her cheeks.