Chapter 116: Overnight Stay
I breathed in the chilly spring night breeze. It was refreshing. An indescribable sense of liberation. Maybe it was because I was holding your hand.
We're alone right now, but we won't have to lick each other's wounds just the two of us forever.
"...I never imagined this, Gyeo-ul."
"Me neither... I had no clue."
"Well, at least it all worked out pretty well in the end. Right?"
"Yeah... did it really...?"
"...Better than I expected."
That joke from my colleague about wanting to drown in the Han River didn't feel like just a joke in hindsight. Honestly... in that insane situation. When we told everyone who wanted to leave to just fold. If all six of them had folded...
...Yeah. Let's call it.
I'd have said that and dragged you out with me, right? We'd have gone home feeling empty right then, sure. But if we'd given up completely there... I might really have ended up like that.
"I should buy them all food later and apologize. They kinda get it anyway. The rest just got swept up."
"...Yeah. I'll text Nael tomorrow too..."
"Good. You're closer to her than I am..."
So it seemed doable in this situation. One person who understood no matter what. Two people worrying about us even after seeing that mess. No matter how I thought about it, we were lucky. If we played our cards right, our luck might get even better.
That's why... I didn't want to let go of the hand I was holding. I wanted to share this stroke of heaven-sent luck skin to skin. At least until we got home together.
"Oh, oppa. ...Aren't we late?"
"...What time is it now?"
Maybe lost in sentiment, or just drunk, I'd lost track of time. I glanced at the watch you'd given me—somehow, it was already past 9.
...Come to think of it. I might not have said anything, but you told someone you were going out, right? I checked my phone, but no calls or texts from Mom yet.
"Gyeo-ul. Any missed calls from Mom?"
"Probably not... oh, there are."
"Call her back. Or should I?"
"Ah, um... you do it, oppa. There are five missed calls... it's kinda scary."
...Haa. More excuses, more lies. But hey, this is normal stuff. Forgot to pick up while out having fun, phone died later—that's not really a lie...? Sure, I'd get smacked when I got home.
"You said you were coming to find me when you left, right? Phone battery died..."
"Ah, I said I was meeting a friend..."
"A friend?"
"Nael called me, so I said I was going to see a friend."
"Come on... Mom's not gonna buy that. I'll call."
Her daughter bolts out without changing clothes, says she's grabbing dinner and seeing a friend, then doesn't pick up till this late? No way Mom would swallow that whole.
...Gotta call quick. She's probably worried sick.
Just as I was dialing Mom in a hurry, you grabbed my wrist.
"Ah, wait, oppa."
"What?"
"Well, I said I was meeting a friend..."
"Yeah, so Mom'll worry..."
"...I wanna sleep over..."
...Haa. Did we drink too much beer? Weird. I swear I drank more.
"Gyeo-ul, I'm pretty wasted today..."
"It's not that... pervert. I just wanna talk and fall asleep together..."
"We can sleep together at home."
"Better to just say I'm staying out..."
One hand stopping my phone hand, the other interlocking fingers and kneading gently. ...Honestly. No reason to say no. I could convince Mom. But after all that back there, this felt a bit...
"You want me to say it?"
"Haneul unnie's kinda your friend too? And mine? So, friend's house..."
"...Hold on."
"...Okay."
But I couldn't refuse my little sister begging like that, cheeks faintly flushed, words stumbling a bit. Of course not. If I could, I'd have shut it down earlier. Once I'd mustered the guts to suggest a drinking game in that atmosphere, nothing scared me anymore.
...Except getting caught in a lie.
"...Hello, Mom?"
"Son! Where are you?"
"Uh, near the station. With Gyeo-ul. Hey, Kim Gyeo-ul, say something."
"Mom..."
"Gyeo-ul! You there?"
"Yeah, with oppa..."
"Why didn't you pick up!"
The second I let you speak, Mom laid into you sharply. You glared at me in panic, but it wasn't scary. Mom was scarier.
"Mom, Mom. Talk to me. Me. Didn't Gyeo-ul say where she was going?"
"She said meeting a friend and then ghosts me? What's going on?"
"Ah... that. Her friend's my junior?"
"That after-party thing you mentioned?"
"Yeah. Guess she told Gyeo-ul to come get me 'cause I was drunk... But I wanted to drink more, so I dragged her along."
Lying straight-faced was beyond me anymore. Once you start, they pile up endlessly. Even the sturdiest tower crumbles if you poke it once it's too high.
"Sigh... Son, you drunk?"
"Nah? Drank a lot, but I'm fine..."
"Drunk enough your own junior calls my daughter! Sigh... Put Gyeo-ul on."
"Wait, Mom."
"Yeah, son."
"Can we crash out tonight?"
"...Crash out?"
So... I'll just be honest. ...Not everything, of course.
"Gyeo-ul drank too and she's acting weird..."
"Mercy, she's drunk too? Both of you, get home already at this hour..."
"...Hear me out. She looks like she has a lot to say..."
"...Something happen?"
"Not nothing... it's about someone we know..."
Honest... right? No lies. Something did happen. It's about someone we know. Unless she asks directly...
"...Fine. Where you staying?"
"...Her friend's place, talk and crash."
...Couldn't be that honest. Not ready. Maybe never.
"Sigh... okay. If you gotta talk, what can I do. ...Put Gyeo-ul on. Gotta scold her."
"Yep."
Ambiguous negotiation—plea or notice?—done, I tossed the phone to you. Even without speaker, Mom's voice boomed as she reamed you out; after dozens of apologies, you barely got forgiven.
...What? Easier than I thought? If I'd known staying out was this simple, we'd have done it sooner. Kinda regret it.
"...Oppa."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. What, Gyeo-ul."
"You didn't have to say... everything, did you?"
"I said I can't lie. ...Earlier lies snowballed and blew up. How else?"
"...You lied about friend's house. Why spill the rest? Idiot."
"That's not a lie? Regulars there are basically friends. No one knows our faces better."
"What're you even saying, pervert."
Couldn't hide my smile spinning that shameless logic. ...Honestly, the relationship stuff was secondary. Rubbing skin till we slept, sharing breaths—that was everything. Waking up with you felt like owning the world. If I woke first, I could steal glances at your sleeping face. If you did, that mischievous grin right away. See? Already full of happiness. You and me both.
"You begged, I delivered. Huh?"
"What? You hugged me the second we met today, how embarrassed was I..."
"No, that was... diminished capacity, cut me slack? Blame the booze..."
"That's why I told you drink less! Seriously... no more."
"Won't, won't. Won't touch a drop unless it's just us."
"Not drinking. ...No naughty stuff."
"...What?"
"Why the shocked face? I just wanna talk and sleep... perverrrt."
You brazenly played innocent this time, but the stumbles gave you away completely. One or two days, huh? "No naughty," then tempt me over the line. Banned a hundred, a thousand times? No problem. Each ban's a temptation. If anything, better.
"...Anyway, got it. Let's go sleep. Drank too much, getting sleepy."
"Really sleepy...?"
"Might perk up after washing."
"No. Shower alone. I'll do mine separate."
"Why? Showering together's so easy. I can scrub your back."
"You 'scrub backs' and always... dirty it up! Pervert. Dog-pervert."
We knew exactly what the other was thinking, yet played along with the skit—made the hours ahead so damn anticipated. Bedside banter. You clinging before sleep, so hot. Frustrating for sure, but waking to you burrowed in my arms? Adorable.
Oh, almost forgot. Exam next week? Whatever. You're more important, Gyeo-ul. Grades I can fix. But this version of you? Irreplaceable. Wanted one more day crammed with memories together.