Episode 27: Ji Eun-hwi Wants to Make a Bet
Episode 27: Ji Eun-hwi Wants to Make a Bet
27 Ji Eunhwi Wants to Make a Bet
During the meeting in the Acting Department TA office, I kept an eye on Park Haru.
'Siiigh... no, that's not it...'
Eunhwi-nuna's words came back to me.
- That girl seemed to like you too, didn't she?
With Nara, honestly, it showed. She probably thought she was being careful, but the way she pushed and the whole atmosphere around me was just too different from how she treated everyone else.
'Or maybe she wasn't being careful? Honestly, it felt like she was doing it on purpose...'
But Park Haru was different. She was always bright and cheerful, and she treated me exactly the same as she treated everyone else.
Even the TA teacher who had asked after the team dinner if there was something going on between me and Park Haru later apologized, saying she'd jumped to conclusions and it didn't seem like anything was going on after all.
'What did Eunhwi-nuna even see...'
Eunhwi-nuna's word wasn't absolute truth, but she had an uncanny sense for things.
Especially when it came to relationships. Quarrels, affairs, marriages, breakups, even divorces — she picked up on all of it.
The meeting ended without any new revelations.
"Hm..."
Back in my office, I thought it over once more, trying to figure out if I had missed something.
"Nothing..."
I quickly shook off thoughts of Park Haru and focused on work. Finals would be over soon, and the heavy administrative season was about to hit.
Still, once finals were over, things would get a lot more relaxed.
Unlike a regular university, we don't have many courses with written exams here. Aside from a few liberal arts courses and some special classes, the semester was basically finished.
"Haah..."
Until last year, when I was just a regular TA, I'd come in at ten and leave in the afternoon. Even got away with coming in just two days a week.
But this year, as Department Manager, even though the hours were the same, I had to be here at least four days a week.
And once vacation started, unlike Department 5, which practically went dormant, Department 4 stayed active, so I'd have to report there — and since it stayed active, the hours would be long and the workload heavy.
"This is why I wanted to wrap things up fast..."
But the conversation with my Aunt a few days ago had made it clear. There was absolutely no hope.
"Yes, come in."
I was deep in work when the office intercom buzzed.
"Manager?"
"Yes, Haru-ssi."
"You haven't had lunch?"
"Lunch... ah..."
I glanced at the clock, and it was already past two.
I'd been rushing to finish up so I could at least get a little rest before the vacation started, and I'd completely lost track of time.
"Here, have this."
"Ah, thank you."
It was a sandwich I'd seen somewhere before.
"Huh...? This is..."
And then I remembered. Back when I was insanely drowsy, I'd cut a meeting short, fallen asleep in the office, and found a sandwich on the desk when I woke up. This sandwich.
"Haru-ssi, you were the one who left this?"
"Yes..."
Park Haru's face went red, seemingly out of embarrassment.
"Thank you. Last time, I didn't know who gave it to me, so I couldn't say thanks properly."
"Ah... no, it's nothing."
"I'll enjoy it."
"..."
Park Haru was acting strange. Her face was way too red to be just simple embarrassment.
"Haru-ssi?"
"..."
No answer, even when I called her name. I slowly stood up, reached out, and pressed the back of my hand to her forehead.
"Haru-ssi? Are you okay? You've got a fever."
"Huh? Huh? Ah... no, I'm... I'm fine."
Park Haru looked up at me as I stepped closer, then hurriedly took a step back.
"H-hup! I'm fine. Enjoy your food! Ack—!"
"Whoa! Careful!"
Flustered, Park Haru rushed out of the office and nearly tripped over her own feet.
"What was that?"
She wasn't the clumsy type. Given that, it did seem like Eunhwi-nuna might have been right — that she liked me.
"But her reaction is sort of..."
It was intensely over-the-top, like a boy or girl in the throes of a first crush.
If it were Cha Nara, who'd just turned twenty, I might understand. But Park Haru had been out in the real world for a while. This didn't make sense.
"Why?"
One mystery was solved, but another took its place in my head. And then another piece of information slotted in alongside it.
"Well, fuck me. Park Haru too?"
Cha Nara by herself was already a headache. And now Park Haru was added to the list.
After that, work was surprisingly busy, and I hardly saw Cha Nara or Park Haru.
Or more precisely, it wasn't me — Cha Nara and Park Haru were the ones who were busy.
Nara mentioned she was gradually resuming her activities, and Park Haru had started shooting, so she'd only been coming in a few days a week.
---
"Great work, everyone."
"Thank you for your hard work."
It was the last Friday in June. Finals were over, and most of the work — grades included — was done.
The first, and last, full departmental meeting for Department 5 of the first semester had wrapped up.
Honestly, there wasn't much to talk about. It was basically over after a few words from Eunhwi-nuna, the Department Head, thanking everyone for their hard work in the first semester and asking for their continued support in the second.
The rest of the time was just light conversation over snacks.
"Manager."
"Ah, yes, Professor."
"To my office, for a moment."
Eunhwi-nuna came up beside me, tapped me on the shoulder, and gestured outside. I gave a quick nod to the others before leaving the meeting room and following her.
"What gives? We're not going to your office?"
"Why bother? I just needed somewhere quiet."
Nuna plopped down on the sofa, kicked off her shoes, and sprawled out completely.
"Want me to set up the bed?"
"No. I'm only staying a little while."
Maybe she really did just need somewhere quiet, because she said nothing else, just covered her eyes with her arm and stayed like that.
Quietly, I lowered the blinds to block out the light, then turned off the lamp.
'Am I going to wreck my eyes like this...'
My eyesight wasn't amazing, but I'd kept it steady at 0.8 to 1.1 for years. Lately, though, I was spending more and more time staring at a monitor in a dark room.
Just thinking about it made my eyes ache for no reason.
"Sijun-ah."
"Yeah."
"I'm cold."
It was only early June, but the temperatures were already pushing past thirty degrees, so the AC was blasting at full power.
"I'll turn off the AC."
"No, come here."
At Eunhwi-nuna's words, I let out a small laugh and walked over.
I stood beside the sofa and looked down at her. She scooted herself inward, telling me to hurry up and lie down.
Carefully, I picked her up and set her down on the other sofa.
"Hold on."
I once again turned the sofa — which hadn't been used as a sofa at all lately — into a makeshift bed, then lifted Nuna and laid her down.
"Phew... nice..."
As soon as I lay down beside her, she burrowed into my arms. Though she was extremely careful not to get her makeup on my shirt.
We pulled a blanket over ourselves, and I touched her braided hair.
"That's pretty."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. It's been a really long time since you braided your hair."
"Thought I'd try it once before cutting it."
I had no idea that braiding required your hair to be longer than you'd think — a fact I'd only learned later, courtesy of my noonas.
"Cutting a lot?"
"Yeah. About... this much?"
Nuna answered by touching the space between my upper chest and collarbone.
"Isn't that too much to cut?"
I was shocked. Roughly estimating, that had to be at least twenty centimeters.
"Well, if I need to, I can always put extensions in..."
Female celebrities often had hair taken off and put back on so frequently, it was sometimes hard to tell what was real.
"And honestly, I might get there and change my mind and barely cut anything at all."
"Is that so."
I honestly had no clue about women's hair. All I had to do was admire it.
"Sijun-ah."
"Yeah."
"Haru seemed to really, really like you, didn't she?"
"Huh?"
I'd been too busy to think about it since we hadn't seen much of each other lately, but today's meeting had made me realize it all over again.
"She couldn't take her eyes off you."
"I guess so..."
"What a sinful man you are, our Sijunnie. Two noonas, an idol, and now a rookie actress?"
Nuna, who'd been teasing me for a while, suddenly shuddered.
"Brrr."
She was still trembling even though I'd turned up the AC temperature and covered her with the blanket.
"Seriously, how can someone like this be so sensitive to heat?"
Her body ran hot, so she wasn't the type to overheat easily. It genuinely baffled me.
"The doctor told you last year, didn't he?"
Last summer, she'd been so unusually sensitive to the heat that I took her to the hospital for a checkup, worried it might be some kind of illness.
The test results came back normal, thank goodness.
— However, Ms. Ji Eunhwi's nervous system is a bit on the sensitive side, so it seems likely she feels heat more acutely than others.
— When others feel heat at a level of 5, Ms. Ji Eunhwi probably feels it at about a 7 or 8. And her body cools down slowly. The surface cools quickly, but internally it cools a bit more slowly, which seems to make her feel even hotter.
— You may also experience times where your internal temperature drops slowly, causing a temperature difference that makes your skin feel cold.
After that, the doctor explained ways to regulate it, like drinking lukewarm water.
"Ugh..."
I pulled Nuna tight into my arms as she shivered, even rubbing her own arms with her hands.
"Your makeup will get on my shirt..."
"What does it matter? I'll just change when I leave. I don't have anywhere to go anyway."
"No..."
For someone saying no, she stayed right where she was, pulled against me.
"Well, if you're cold, want to exercise and warm up a bit?"
"..."
Nuna tilted her head up and stared at me, saying nothing.
"Choi Sijun, are you feeling a little too confident lately?"
It had barely been three months since I started working out, but I definitely felt a change. Nuna smiled at me, as if I were ridiculous, and asked:
"What kind of exercise?"
"Mm..."
I didn't particularly want to exercise in the office, but if she came at me like that, I had to win. If I lost, I couldn't even imagine the things she'd say. She'd probably rope in Sieun-nuna too and give me an earful.
"Sijun-ah."
"Hm?"
While I was deep in thought over which sport to pick, Eunhwi-nuna called my name.
"The sport is..."
"Mm."
"Let's make it a grown-up sport."
"Whmmpf!"
Nuna covered my mouth, and our sport was decided just like that.
"Smack! Smooch! Slurp... Sluuurp."
"Smooch! Smack! Haahp."
The unabashed sounds of kissing echoed through the office.
"Nuna."
"Mm-hm?"
Lips still pressed together, I called her name. Nuna answered, her breath ragged.
"You think you can keep quiet?"
The office was soundproofed, but only the bare minimum.
If we had sex, her moans and the sound of skin slapping would leak out.
"No..."
"Wanna go home, then?"
"What about your work?"
"All done."
Truth was, I had a little left, but nothing that couldn't wait until next week after the weekend. Right now, exercise came first.
"Just a little more kissing first."
"Okay."
We traded kisses so fierce it felt like we were trying to devour each other.