132. Is It Fun to Tease Me?
132. Is It Fun to Tease Me?
***
As Sua stepped into the living room and quietly set down the wine she'd brought, my eyes drifted toward it without thinking.
The elegant packaging was familiar, following the label on the bottle.
It looked like she'd bought it from the same place I'd gotten wine before.
"Sua, did you buy that from the wine bar I told you about?"
I spoke as I took wine glasses out from the kitchen, and Sua smiled brightly and nodded.
"Yes. I've been going there often lately. Turns out it's pretty nice for drinking alone, too?"
"Sua, so... how many bottles did you buy?"
I asked because the packaging looked a bit big.
"Hmm... a modest five bottles?"
Sua said "five bottles" so casually, like she was being cute about it, and I let out an involuntary laugh.
"Sua, weren't we supposed to have dinner? Why'd you buy so much wine?"
Five bottles—just how much was she planning to drink?
It seemed like she might be trying to fill up on alcohol instead of dinner.
"Oh, come on~ After dinner, I’m just going to drink with you. Right? It’d be such a shame to split up after just dinner~"
She smiled brightly and said it with a strangely playful pout, and I let out a small laugh as I set the wine glasses on the table.
She'd come all dressed up so elegantly, yet her behavior was exactly the same as usual—it was almost jarring.
"You're not going to chug straight from the bottle like last time, right...?"
"Ah, Serin! I don't do that anymore. It's not my first time drinking like back then."
"Alright, I'll take that to mean you know how to drink slowly now."
Rustle, rustle.
After that, Sua unpacked the things she'd brought like she was settling in, took a seat at the living room table, and I sat down facing her.
"So, what should we order for food?"
I'd thought about ordering in advance, but it still felt a bit early, so I'd decided to pick the menu together once Sua arrived.
"Just order whatever you like, Serin. I don't really care what we eat."
She gave the most unhelpful answer so casually that I stared at her and spoke.
"Sua, you don't like raw fish and stuff. If there's anything you don't like, tell me now."
At the mention of raw fish, Sua laughed awkwardly, looking a bit sheepish.
"Hmm... well, if we're excluding seafood? I eat most things fine. If I had to pick a preference, Korean food or meat?"
"Yeah? Then how about braised short ribs?"
She'd said Korean food and meat, so braised short ribs immediately came to mind. I asked, and Sua nodded like it sounded good.
"Braised short ribs sound great. Do you know a good place, Serin?"
"I don't know about a famous spot, but I know a decent place."
The braised short ribs I'd had there before were solidly good, so I figured it'd be fine.
After that, I placed an order for a large braised short ribs through the app, and naturally reached for the wine Sua had brought. I figured we could drink a little while waiting for the food, so I picked up the opener—and suddenly Sua held out her hand.
Just in case, I wiggled the opener in my hand, and Sua nodded.
"Let me do it!"
She said it confidently, like she was sure of herself, and I just let out a small laugh. It was like watching a little kid insisting she knew how to do something too.
I handed over the opener, and Sua clearly had used one before, but she handled it awkwardly and it took a while.
Then, after about five minutes of struggling, the cork came out with a pop!
Clap, clap, clap!
I clapped and praised Sua.
"Wow, Sua~ you're amazing!"
I grinned at her as I said it, and Sua smiled, looking a little embarrassed.
"Wow... you're really mean. Is it fun teasing people like that?"
"Yeah. It is fun."
She'd been so confident asking for the opener, and then she spent five minutes wrestling with the wine bottle, whimpering—if that wasn't fun, what was? Watching Sua struggle and sneak glances at me the whole time was genuinely adorable.
I laughed softly and held out my glass to Sua.
Glug, glug.
I watched Sua tilt the bottle and pour the wine, then reached out my hand too.
Snatch.
I took the wine bottle from her and poured wine into Sua's glass as well, then naturally clinked our glasses together.
—Cheers!
We both brought our glasses to our lips and took a sip.
When I glanced over, there were four more bottles with the same label on the table, and they caught my eye for some reason.
So I casually asked.
"By the way, why'd you buy five bottles of the same wine?"
"Oh, no particular reason. I just think this one's the tastiest...? Didn't you like this wine fine at the last drinking session, Serin? Why? Is it not to your taste?"
"No, it's not that I don't like it... I just thought it was interesting that you bought five bottles of the same wine."
To me, it was a wine that was just moderately sweet, so I hadn't expected Sua to like it best.
I'd thought Sua would prefer something sweeter.
"Ah, actually, you know me. Once I get into something... I go all in on it. Even with food, I usually eat the same thing often. Same goes for drinks."
Watching Sua explain her tastes, I asked on a whim.
"So you eat or drink one thing until you're sick of it, then find something else at the end?"
Like how people listen to a favorite song so much they get sick of it and barely listen to it later—I figured Sua was probably that type.
"Sometimes that happens, but... honestly, I don't get sick of things easily. Once I like something, I like it for a really long time, I guess...?"
Seeing Sua say that with a small smile, I thought she really was different.
No matter how good something tastes, I get tired of eating the same thing after just a few days, but Sua was the complete opposite of me in that regard.
Glug, glug.
Following Sua as she tilted her glass again, I tilted mine too and brought it to my lips.
The taste was incredibly easygoing, like drinking fruit wine.
The first sip was a little bitter, but the sweetness rose strongly at the end—it seemed like that kind of wine. There was a slight difference in flavor, but overall it went down smoothly without being polarizing. The alcohol content was relatively low too, so it was pretty nice to drink before a meal.
"So, tell me about the scrim today. How did the G1 players feel to you?"
Sua stopped mid-sip and asked with an interested look, and I answered without much thought.
"It was pretty fun. They're pros, so of course they were all good. And the players were all friendly, so the scrim itself was pretty comfortable."
Personally, it was a pretty satisfying scrim.
I summarized it simply like that, but Sua furrowed her brow like something was missing.
"Ah, seriously, Serin! Tell me more. You have to explain how the scrim was run, what the match results were, all of it. You know perfectly well I've been looking forward to this."
Sua said it like she was whining, so I laughed and opened my mouth to elaborate.
"The scrim format with G1 was ten 1v1 individual matches."
"Oh... you did 1v1s, not team matches?"
"Yeah, that was the format G1 wanted."
"...That’s a really unusual scrim format. So, how did the scrim results turn out?"
I tilted my glass without a word and let out a small laugh.
I was feeling good, so I drew it out a little.
I thought for a moment about how to answer, then just looked at Sua steadily and asked back.
"Sua, what do you think the scrim results were?"
"Hmm..."
Sua seemed to think about it for a moment, then stared at me.
I met her gaze and smiled, and Sua made a really peculiar expression and looked away.
"......Serin, do you know your face looks really interesting right now?"
"Huh?"
I wondered if my expression was weird and touched my face, and Sua burst out laughing.
"Suddenly... what? Why?"
I felt awkward and spoke again, and Sua laughed and shook her head.
"Ah, no, it's just... I didn't know you had this side to you, Serin. Do you know what you looked like just now? How should I put it... you looked like a kid who really wanted to show off."
I never expected to hear that from Sua. Heat rose to my face, but I opened my mouth anyway.
"S-so, what do you think the scrim results were?"
I pushed through the embarrassment and asked again.
My intention to brag about the scrim results had been caught, but since it had come to this, I still wanted to hear her answer.
"The scrim results... could it be that you won every match, Serin?"
Sua stopped mid-sip and asked with a no-way expression, and I nodded silently.
Saying anything here would just make me look lame.
Sure, I'd brought it up to brag at first, but now I just felt embarrassed, like I'd been stripped naked in front of Sua.
'...Seriously, what am I doing, trying to show off like a little kid.'
In Black Ark, some people had no shame and went around boasting about their achievements all the time... but when I actually tried to brag, I had no idea how they managed to do it.
"...Wow."
With a small exclamation, Sua set down her wine glass entirely and suddenly raised both hands.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!!!!
Sua clapped loudly and burst into laughter.
"Wow, Serin~ you're really amazing!!! Undefeated in the scrim!! Overwhelming skill that even crushes pro team players!!!"
As if getting revenge for how Serin had teased her just moments ago, Sua doubled down and exaggerated even more, and Serin couldn't say a word, just lowered her flushed face.
"Sua... is it fun teasing people?"
Serin spoke in a voice so small it was like an ant crawling.
Sua laughed and continued.
"Yes, it’s so, so~ fun. You’re a real genius, right? Like, a once-in-a-thousand-years genius! Isn’t that what you are, Serin?"
"...Stop it."