Half-Baked Hero, Lee Hayun (4)
Lee Hayun walked inside, her ponytail swaying side to side. I followed behind, burdened with eight cans of beer and not a single hint about what this meant. But could I take it as an invitation anyway? …Though she definitely said her sister Lee Jiyoon was home earlier.
"……."
My hesitation didn't last long. Clutching the convenience store bag, I trudged after her with heavy steps. If she lived alone in some spacious, luxurious place with great soundproofing, that'd be one thing—but this was a rickety old villa that could collapse any day, shared with her little sister. She probably just wanted to forget what happened earlier and have a casual drink, nothing more.
…Eight cans of beer. It was ambiguous whether that was enough for two people or three.
We climbed the dim villa hallway and stairs, and Hayun reached the second floor first. By the time I caught up to her side, there was a series of four beeps, and the door swung open. She hadn't taken the bag from me and had gone inside alone, so that must mean I was invited in too.
…Now that I was actually here, I felt a bit tense. I rolled my shoulders to loosen up, careful not to rush things too far ahead. Sure, part of me wanted to grab her wrist tight and drag her straight to the bedroom, but for now, keeping the distance of close underclassman was just right.
That way, eventually, she'd crumble on her own.
"Unnie's home."
"……."
"I'm home."
"……."
"Not even answering 'cause you're gaming."
Instead of paying me any mind, Hayun slipped straight into the one lit room. Soon after, a playful scream echoed from inside—"Kyaaah!"
I set the convenience store bag down on the floor for a moment and took off my shoes while listening to the sisters tussle. Now three pairs of shoes lined up at the entrance.
As expected, Hayun's place was incredibly cramped. Sure, it was bigger than my own 10-pyeong one-room, with two rooms and all. But for two people—Lee Jiyoon and Lee Hayun—it felt a little tight. If the living room were just 1.5 times bigger, it'd be so much better. Or they could toss out some of those unnecessary pieces of furniture taking up space.
Ah. Swapping that yellowish lamp for bright white lighting would liven the place up too.
As I straightened my shoes and scanned the apartment, the door to the room Hayun had entered burst open.
"Let's drink. Booze."
"What kinda… you can't even handle booze…."
Lee Jiyoon was dragged out, dressed in white polka-dot pajamas, a wireless headset still on her head. The moment our eyes met, her voice—which had been meowing all cute at her sister—shrank back in a flash.
Worried she might mistake me for a burglar, I pulled down my neck warmer to show my face quick, but her reaction was the same. She bolted from her sister's arms, hid behind the wall, and shot me a look that screamed, What the hell is this guy doing here?
Compared to the Lee Jiyoon from ten years later, who they called a witch, her emotions swung pretty wildly.
"…You? Why? No, uh…."
She looked like she had a ton to say, but sadly, she only had one mouth. Her lips flapped open and shut before turning to her sister instead. Rather than cussing out the guy who'd cured her headaches, it was easier to nag the sister she'd spent twenty years with.
"…Lee Hayun."
"Yeah?"
"Seo… Woojin, was it? Why's he here? You bring him? Is he stalking you?"
"Shopping cart."
"Shopping cart?"
"Over there. Convenience store bag. He carried it for me."
Hayun casually lifted the bag, and Jiyoon's eyes darted back and forth between me and it. Her furrowed brows made it clear she had a million questions.
But Hayun ignored her sister and headed to the kitchen, hauling out a tiny round table. The cheap kind that'd be a tight squeeze for three people sitting around it.
"Anyway, Jiyoon. Wanna drink?"
"Me? Booze? With Seo Woojin? And you?"
"Yup. Not charging you."
"Well, yeah, I know, but… suddenly? Why?"
"Just felt like it."
"Huh…?"
She clearly didn't want to spill the details from earlier to her sister. I stood quietly by the entrance, glancing warily at Jiyoon as I shuffled into the living room where Hayun was. The floor was cold—boiler must be off.
"What do you wanna drink? Ah. Should've grabbed something you like back at the store."
"I'm good. Not big on canned beer anyway."
"Not big on it? Never tried? Makes sense, you're only twenty now."
"…Yeah."
Yojora loves her booze, so I'd chugged plenty of soju and draft beer around her. But I couldn't exactly say that, so I played dumb.
The reasons might differ, but the result was the same.
"You've had booze before, though? Like at a bar or something."
"A little."
"What's your limit?"
"Uh…."
…Come to think of it, I didn't remember ever getting so wasted I staggered. Yojora always passed out first, then started picking fights with everyone, and I'd have to pin her down and stop her….
But thinking back, there'd always be six or seven soju bottles on the table by then. I must've downed more than half myself. She'd fill my glass insisting we cheers first, spilling half of it everywhere.
"Two bottles of soju."
"Two? Of soju?"
"Yeah. Probably around there."
I downplayed it to sound moderately tolerant—didn't want to come off as bragging. Worst case here, eight beers combined wouldn't even hit two bottles of soju.
"So you won't turn red after just one can, right?"
"Doubt it."
"…For real?"
"Yeah. I've had some before."
"Then these won't get you drunk at all?"
"Probably not. …Why do you keep asking that?"
"…Nah. Forget it."
She placed a can of beer in front of each of us on the table, then squirmed out of her seat toward the kitchen corner. She was pulling out a few packs of instant ramen from the cupboard, crumbling them up and dumping them into a big bowl before shoving it in the microwave. As the humming started, she plopped back down beside me.
"Lee Jiyoon."
"…W-Why?"
"Not drinking?"
"……."
"Then just us?"
A brief silence. She stared holes through the table where we sat, then vanished into her room.
Hayun scratched her cheek, muttering "Guess not," and reached for a beer tab—but then the door reopened. Out stepped Jiyoon, looking noticeably different.
"……."
…Well, "different" just meant she'd ditched the headset and thrown a thin windbreaker over her polka-dot pajamas. Unlike Hayun, who was glued slightly to my side, Jiyoon planted herself much closer to her sister.
Not quite an equilateral triangle—more like a right triangle with Hayun in the middle.
"Unnie."
"Yeah?"
"Just one can, okay? You suck at booze—why'd you buy so much?"
"…Watch."
Among the assorted canned beers on the table, Jiyoon grabbed what seemed to be her flavor—an apple one.
"And, Mr. Seo Woojin."
"Yes."
"If you're thinking anything weird, give up now."
"……."
"…! Hey, Lee Jiyoon. Woojin's just here 'cause I called him."
Ignoring Hayun's flinch and protest, Jiyoon kept going.
"You've had zero dating experience in your twenty-one years, so one guy treats you a little nice and boom—you're head over heels."
"What bullshit. That's not…."
"…I'll be watching today."
"……."
Her eyes made her reason for joining clear: bewilderment, suspicion, something off, vagueness. And dirty thoughts. A cocktail of emotions pounding at me and Hayun in turns.
…This was kinda fun.
"Anyway, just drink and go home. Got it?"
"…Sure."
I nodded, cracked open a can like them, and slowly extended it forward. A clunky, cold clink tingled through my fingertips.
*****
It wasn't long before we were munching on the crisped-up instant ramen and sipping beers.
"……Haaah…."
"……."
"……."
The lively living room chatter faded bit by bit. Hayun, who'd been spinning tales from the convenience store (skipping the intensity part), started nodding off and swaying. Jiyoon, who'd joined to keep an eye on me, suddenly just stared blankly while nursing her beer. And I was simply matching Jiyoon, sipping quietly.
The only sound was the soft clunk of Jiyoon's empty cans hitting the table.
She'd ragged on her sister for not handling booze, but Jiyoon didn't know her own limit either. Makes sense—she'd just turned twenty. If she hadn't snuck drinks as a minor, she might not know.
…About a can and a half of beer. I thought her eyes and erogenous zones were the only things like her sister's, but her tolerance matched too. If she thought she wasn't drunk yet, she was probably in worse shape than Hayun.
"…Hey."
"Yes."
"Trash… ugh… take out the trash…."
"Trash?"
"Empty beer cans… rolling everywhere…."
"I'll collect 'em when I leave at the end."
"…Yeeah… thanks…."
"……."
This was the fourth time she'd said it. She'd started chiming in quietly during Hayun's story about accidentally ordering 500 triangle kimbaps, and now it'd been a solid twenty minutes of this.
Meaning alcohol had been melting Jiyoon's brain sweetly for about twenty minutes. Left alone, she'd polished off another can by herself, so both sisters were properly wasted.
"Unnie… why'd you drink two cans…."
"…Haaah……. Pfhaah…."
I grabbed another piece of leftover ramen, gazing at Jiyoon's snow-white hair as I pondered.
…Both drunk. Should I make a move?
…Or wait—let them remember tonight tomorrow and leave a good impression for next time?
"Trash…. Take it out…."
"……."
My instincts screamed for the former, but my lingering reason calmly picked the latter. If I'd been drunk too, I'd have probably dragged Jiyoon or Hayun by the wrist to a bedroom.
Hell, I'd have raped them in their stupor, snapped pics for blackmail material. They'd come crying to me the next day in despair, and I'd use those photos to coerce them into a secret relationship.
Or flip it—rape Hayun while she could barely move, then blackmail Jiyoon with the pics.
…Neither appealed.
Forget the risk of them calling the cops right away. What I wanted was heroes abandoning even their cheering fans, sneaking to kneel at my feet on their own….
Forced by blackmail? That'd dull the conquest I craved. Fans chanting hero names. Heroes shutting them out, coming to my quiet one-room of their own volition.
…Inside that one-room, barking like bitches behind fans' backs, falling apart in blissful ruin.
Things weren't going wrong, so no need to rush and cheapen the payoff. Better to keep building goodwill for now.
No point sticking around longer—use tonight as groundwork for later….
"…Wait. Hold on…."
"…?"
"Bathroom……."
She set down her empty can and squirmed up, shuffling to the corner of the living room. Click. The door shut.
Just me and Hayun now.
Was it the poor soundproofing? Soon, the quiet trickle of water started from the bathroom.
Quietly. Quietly. The dripping continued until….
Hayun, dozing against me, wriggled closer to my shoulder. But it felt too deliberate for sleep.
The woman who'd been swaying like her head might hit the table moments ago suddenly leaned her head fully against me the instant Jiyoon was gone.
"……."
"……."
In other words, Hayun was awake.
In other words, Hayun was pretending to sleep while sticking to me.
In other words, Hayun wanted something from me while Jiyoon was away.
The water from the bathroom kept running. Probably something she couldn't say in front of her sister—she'd held it forever. Must've been watching me the whole time.
Did she think I hadn't noticed? Now she was rubbing her cheek against my shoulder like sleep-talking, slow and deliberate.
My impulses, held back by reason, boiled over noisily. If Hayun wanted it too, why not do it while Jiyoon's gone? I knew her most sensitive spots anyway.
Someday… wouldn't I love to see a sister jealous of her sibling?
A sister jealous of her unnie?
Slowly. I lowered my head.
At the same time, I gripped Hayun's slightly lolling chin, forcing her gaze up. Was it because I'd touched her so suddenly? Her body twitched, screaming she was awake.
Ignoring her cute reaction, I carefully pressed my lips to hers. The beer from moments ago mingled in her breath.
Plain and malty—nothing like the sweet candy taste from somewhere. Savoring it, I took a step further. Slipping my tongue between her lips.
Not deep. Just lightly. Brushing the soaked lips wet with our saliva.
…Eyelashes trembling with each tongue graze. Hips flinching, arching at just a kiss. Instead of her shameful spots, I slowly stroked her vulnerably exposed thighs.
Above, steadily feeding her globs of my saliva to swallow. Below, nothing but gentle thigh caresses.
I knew all her erogenous zones anyway. Even guessed her favorite plays.
The moment Hayun started squirming to do something—
The bathroom water stopped.
"……."
"……."
I pulled back my lips quick, snapping the clear threads connecting us. But unlike me, Hayun was still out of it—mouth agape, panting hard.
Wished I could record every bit, but no time. After a quick think, I eased her sideways onto the floor, hiding her from the bathroom door.
Right on cue, the noisy flush echoed through.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, grabbed an empty can—and Jiyoon emerged.
If she'd been a second faster, she'd have seen me wiping my lips.
"…Going? Home?"
"Yeah. Beers are done."
"Yeeah… Unniee…."
"……."
Jiyoon went straight for her sister first. As she wedged hands under Hayun's armpits to haul her up, I spotted Hayun—tucked under the table.
"What'd you eat to get this heavy…."
"……."
…Booze? Or something else?
Her ears and cheeks flushed bright red. Pretending to sleep as Jiyoon dragged her away.