The Photo
Even after the door had shut, I stared down at my phone for a while. The delivery text still sat on the cracked screen, unchanged. The buyer's name hadn't changed. Neither had the product.
"...No way."
Han Yerin had bought something like that.
I remembered the way she'd frozen while checking a notification. She was the type who usually stayed planted long after practice ended, but today she'd packed up and left at once. Had she really been rushing because of a package?
She might already have had plans. Even so, the package was what kept coming to mind first.
I glanced at the closed door, then dropped my eyes back to the screen. Whatever a grown adult did in her own home was none of my business. Being caught off guard, though, I couldn't help.
This was something bought by Han Yerin—the same Han Yerin who spent every day scowling and snapping at people.
Pink. A dildo.
A small laugh slipped out of me. If she knew I'd seen it, what face would she make? Would her eyes narrow the way they always did, or would she lunge to snatch the phone out of my hand? Just once, I wanted to see her flustered.
I read the text again, then pressed and held the screen. A small menu appeared.
So I could save it.
I tapped the first option, and a notice came up.
A folder icon appeared at the bottom of the screen. When I opened it, the delivery text I'd just been looking at was stored inside as an image. Sender, time received, the buyer's name, the product name—everything I'd been staring at remained exactly as it had been.
Beside it sat a familiar button.
Share.
The moment my finger touched it, the same screen I used for sending photos came up. The messaging app, mail, and my contact list appeared one after another. Apparently I could send it to someone else, too.
I scrolled a little way down the list, then pulled my hand back. I hadn't saved it because I meant to show anyone right away. For now, I'd just hold on to it. Even if Han Yerin deleted the text from her own phone, it would still be here with me.
I closed the share screen and opened the image again.
Reading the name made me laugh again. She herself probably didn't even imagine I was looking at this. Not long ago she'd walked out telling me to lock the door properly.
Still, I couldn't be sure yet. Her leaving in a hurry wasn't enough to go on. From the start, the idea that dropping my phone would show me someone else's records didn't make any sense.
I closed the saved folder.
Well. I'd know when I looked again tomorrow.
The next day I headed for the club room a little earlier than usual. On the way I opened the saved image more than once. I'd expected it to be gone when I woke up, but it was still there. So was the cracked screen.
When I opened the door, Han Yerin was sitting on the sofa. One earbud was in, and she was looking at her phone; she lifted her head.
"You're here, so shut the door. I can hear the whole hallway."
There wasn't even time for a hello. I closed the door and set my bass case down.
"Where is everyone else?"
"Seoa's in class. Daeun says she's on her way."
Han Yerin dropped her eyes back to her phone. Nothing about her was different from yesterday—except that she'd traded the checked shirt for a black zip-up hoodie. The way she spoke to me, the way she leaned crookedly into the sofa, all of it was exactly the same.
I found myself looking at her face more than I needed to. Almost at once, her gaze swung back to me.
"What."
"Nothing."
I unzipped the case and took the sheet music out first. When I pulled a chair over and sat, the sofa was barely two steps away. Well inside three meters. I turned my phone on and opened the function I'd found yesterday.
I stole a glance toward the sofa. Yerin had pulled her earbud out and was sending a message somewhere. I tapped the name on the screen.
A familiar menu unfolded. At the top of the message list was Jeong Daeun's name. The most recent message was from a little over ten seconds ago.
She'd just sent that.
Right then, Yerin looked my way.
"Daeun says she's at the convenience store. You want anything to drink?"
"...No. I'm fine."
"Okay."
She looked back down at the screen. Her fingers moved a few times, and a moment later another line attached itself to the conversation I was watching.
I'd been leaning back in the chair. Now I tipped forward. That was the answer I'd just given.
It wasn't even a group chat. It was a conversation between Han Yerin and Jeong Daeun that didn't exist in my own messenger. From where I sat, all I could see was the back of Yerin's phone—and yet I knew exactly what the two of them were saying.
I scrolled down a little, then back up. The sentences were still there.
Now I was sure. This function was real.
My heart picked up. Even knowing Yerin couldn't see the screen, I tilted the phone toward myself anyway. I went back to the list and found yesterday's text. A full day hadn't passed, so the delivery notice was still there. Beneath it was a notification I hadn't seen before.
The product name written underneath was the same as yesterday. I looked back and forth between the image I'd saved and the newly loaded text. Buyer, product name, even the option—all of it matched.
So it really was something Yerin had bought.
When I looked up, she was getting off the sofa. I switched back to the messenger I normally used. She picked a pick up off the desk and glanced at the sheet music spread in front of me.
"Did you practice the part you messed up yesterday?"
"Yes."
"Then let's not waste time on it today."
I took the bass out and set it across my lap. I'd gone over that section at home, too. But the moment she said it, the practice itself slipped away, and all I could remember was the instant I'd gotten it wrong. What would she say if I slipped again?
I was thinking that when I looked at her. She had no idea what I knew.
"Are you listening?"
"I heard you."
Yerin looked at me for a second, then picked up her guitar. My phone was right beside my hand. A few taps and I could open the saved text. Turn the screen just a little, and I could show it to her, too.
Should I test her?
"Sunbae, why did you leave early yesterday?"
Yerin answered while plugging a cable into her guitar.
"I had something to take care of."
"You usually stay a bit longer."
"And?"
The hand tidying the cable stopped. She lifted her head.
"Why do you care?"
Of course she never answered nicely. I pressed lightly on the bass strings.
"I was just asking."
"People go home early sometimes. Do I have to tell you before I leave?"
I hadn't asked for that much.
"No. I was curious."
Yerin didn't answer any further. She looked down at her guitar. I looked at the phone on the desk.
Something to take care of. It probably wasn't a lie. Picking up a package left outside your door counted.
"Why are you smiling?"
I looked up.
"I was thinking about something else."
"About what?"
A minute ago she'd been asking what business it was of mine. Instead of answering, I picked up my phone.
"What are you doing?"
With her eyes on me, I opened the saved folder. I tapped the share button under the delivery text, and my contact list came up. From it, I chose Guitar Sunbae.
Before it sent, the photo blew up on the screen one more time. The buyer's name, and the product name. I checked the photo and hit send.
"I asked you a question."
The moment the words ended, Yerin's phone went off. She looked back and forth between the phone on the desk and me.
"What did you just send, with me standing right here?"
"Look."
Yerin picked up her phone. At first she seemed to be checking only the notification. Then she tapped the photo and drew the screen a little closer. I watched her face.
The finger that had been zooming in stopped. The eyes that had been sitting low, as if everything bored her, changed.
"...What is this?"
"A photo."
Yerin lifted her head. I didn't look away.
She was someone who always shot back the instant anyone said anything, but this time her lips only twitched. Watching her check the screen again, I could tell she wanted to believe she'd seen it wrong.
"That's not what I'm asking."
"Then what is?"
"This... where did you get it?"
The hand gripping the phone rose a little. Her voice, if anything, dropped. She glanced once toward the door, then looked back at me. I leaned back in the chair.
"Looks like it really did reach you, sunbae."
"No. I'm asking where you got it."
"If you're going to interrogate me like that, I don't feel like answering."
Saying it loosened something in my chest. It had always been the other way around. Whenever I asked something, Yerin answered like it was a nuisance, and I checked her mood before I dared ask anything more. Now she was the one waiting on my answer.
She set her guitar on the stand beside her and flipped her phone face-down on the desk.
"Did you touch my phone?"
"No."
"Then how..."
The end of the sentence trailed off. I didn't bother adding anything. It was true I hadn't touched her phone. I had no reason to explain the rest.
Yerin's eyes moved between my face and my phone. She seemed to be trying to guess where it had come from. Did she think someone had sent it to me? Or did she actually suspect I'd gone through her phone? Either way, she didn't look like she'd find an easy answer. A moment ago she'd been saying whatever came to mind without a hitch.
I rested a hand on the bass and waited.
"Dohyun."
Yerin pressed her lips together for a second, then opened them again.