Episode 55: Cha Na-ra Throws a Tantrum
Episode 55: Cha Na-ra Throws a Tantrum
55 Cha Nara Whines
"Oppa, hi."
"Hey."
The Department 4 office sat in that quiet-before-the-storm stillness, with the fall semester just around the corner.
I was rubbing my tired eyes, swiveling between a mountain of paperwork and the monitor, when I heard it.
A familiar, bouncy voice.
When I looked up, there was Cha Nara, striding straight into the office looking as dazzling as if she'd just stepped off a music show stage.
"Ugh, it's so hot. Aren't you hot, Oppa? It's a total sauna out there. A sauna."
Nara fanned herself with her hand and naturally made her way over to my desk.
It had been ages since polite speech had disappeared from this kid's vocabulary.
She's a full ten years younger than me, so the first time she dropped honorifics, I bristled and thought, 'Oh, look at this one?'
But when I stopped to think about it, wasn't I casually tossing around banmal with Sieun-nuna and Eunhwi-nuna, both of whom were much older than me?
I couldn't exactly pull a double standard, calling it romance when I did it but bad manners when someone else did. So, at some point, I just started clicking my tongue and letting it slide.
"I've been holed up in an office with the AC blasting, so I'm not hot at all."
"Tch, must be nice...."
The way she pushed her lips out in a pout was exactly like a little kid.
"So, what brings you here? Do you need something?"
"Do I need a reason to come? I just came because I missed you."
Nara leaned lightly against the edge of my desk and smiled.
It was always a little jarring to see this gap — the charismatic idol on stage acting like such an affectionate little sister around me.
But today, I didn't have the luxury of indulging her cute whining.
"Yeah? Then stand there and look all you want. I'm going to get back to work."
I fired the words off, turning my gaze back to the monitor.
After dealing with all these major incidents lately, I guess I'd gotten pretty shameless myself.
Before, I would have gotten flustered and blushed, but now I could bat away this kind of cheesy line without flinching.
"Tch~ That's so unfair. You're embarrassing me."
Nara glared and grumbled, but I genuinely didn't have the time to deal with her affectionate fussing.
With the new semester breathing down my neck, there was a mountain of administrative paperwork to process.
I'd been clocking in nearly every single day — so much so that I had no time to see anyone else, let alone go on dates.
The only sound was the click-clack of my keyboard as a bored Nara, hands clasped behind her back, started wandering around the empty office.
She made her way to the break room in the back and jiggled the door handle. It was firmly locked, and she tilted her head.
"What's this? Storage?"
"Ah, there? It's the break room the department just remodeled."
"Really? Ah, I heard all the other department offices got their break rooms completely redone too, but they absolutely refused to let me see them since I'm a student. So unfair."
"Of course. It's a private space made for the faculty to rest. Why would we open it up to just any student?"
At my words, Nara's eyes started to sparkle with curiosity. I had a bad feeling about this.
"Then, Oppa. Can I see it? Just once! Please?"
"Don't you have a schedule? How is an idol this free?"
"I finished everything for today!"
Cha Nara had ambitiously staged a comeback right before summer break and had just safely wrapped up two months of a jam-packed promotional cycle.
Not long ago, she'd even bounced into my office bragging that she'd won first place on a music show for the first time since her debut.
"Ugh, I! Wanna! Look! Open the doorrr."
"Alright, fine, fine. I'll open it, so don't break the door down."
Honestly, I didn't really want to show her.
Knowing her personality, once I let her into the space, she'd be in and out of here like it was her own living room.
But faced with her bright, sparkling eyes and her whining as she grabbed the handle, I didn't have the heart to refuse her coldly.
In the end, I fished the key out of my drawer and opened the break room door.
"Whoa... No way... This is insane...."
The moment the door opened, a gasp of admiration burst out of Nara.
"Oppa."
"What now."
"Can I just rest here for a little bit? The bed looks really soft."
From the way she subtly watched for my reaction, she was already informing me rather than asking permission.
"Do whatever you want. Just don't make a mess."
It wasn't like she'd quietly leave even if I told her no.
I nodded coolly, pulled the door nearly shut, and went back to my desk to bury myself in paperwork.
"Graaah—."
Some time must have passed.
I wrapped up my grueling battle with the text on the monitor and stretched, twisting my stiff neck and shoulders this way and that.
Looking at the clock, it was already evening, well past quitting time. The summer days were so long I hadn't even noticed the time fly by.
I stood up, gathered my things, and was just about to leave the office when my eyes caught the light spilling through the slightly open break room door.
"Ah, right. Cha Nara."
I'd completely forgotten. Quietly, I stepped into the break room.
Under the soft lighting, Nara was sleeping soundly.
Gone was the idol bathed in flashing lights and roaring cheers; all that remained was the face of a vulnerable, defenseless twenty-year-old girl.
"Nara."
I called her name softly, but she was dead to the world.
"Mnnn...."
I walked closer and accidentally brushed the back of her hand as she stirred. Her hand was shockingly cold.
Seemed like the air conditioning was too strong. Or maybe women just had poor circulation? Thinking about it, Sieun-nuna, Eunhwi-nuna, and even Haru all got icy hands and feet the moment they sat under an AC vent.
Worried she'd catch a cold like this, I looked for a blanket.
"The blanket is... ah, shit..."
I nearly cursed out of sheer frustration when I saw the blanket I'd been looking for was tucked underneath her.
I leaned over the bed, carefully lifting her shoulders and back to pull the thin summer blanket out from under her.
A sweet, fragrant scent wafted off her small frame, gently cradled in my arms.
Keeping her body slightly lifted, I fished the blanket out and tucked it snugly up to her chin.
"Mnnn... Oppa... cold...."
Half-awakened by my touch, Nara whined without even properly opening her eyes.
"That's why I told you it's cold sleeping here. Look, I'm covering you with a blanket right now."
"Hold me...."
Nara stretched both arms out from under the blanket and wrapped them tightly around my waist.
It was probably just sleepy clinginess, but the body heat seeping through her thin clothes was so pathetically cold that I couldn't bring myself to push her away.
"Good grief... Fine, okay."
I sighed in surrender.
Before, I would have jumped and pushed her away, but ever since I held her once in the practice room, we'd had occasional physical contact whenever she got the chance — enough that I'd subconsciously gotten used to this level of touch.
Familiarity is a terrifying thing.
Still, I had to prepare for any potential misunderstandings.
I gently peeled Nara off of me and stood up to double-check the main office door.
Only after I'd clicked the break room door shut as well did I feel safe enough to return to the bed.
If anyone walked in on this, it was a sure recipe for an irreversible misunderstanding. Though, it's not really a misunderstanding, is it...
I neatly slipped Nara's pretty sneakers off and set them on the floor, took my own shoes off, and carefully climbed onto the bed.
On the bed, I slowly pulled her blanket-covered body into my arms and held her tight, with no space between us.
The moment her cool body touched my broad chest, I felt the chill melt away rapidly.
"Mmm... so warm... your arms are the best, Oppa...."
Nara rubbed her face against my chest like a cat sharing warmth and exhaled a pleased sigh.
Feeling her chilly body fit perfectly into my arms, I gently stroked her long, trademark intricately braided hair with my large hand.
The smooth strands slipped pleasantly through my fingers.
Was it an idol's fate to maintain such a complicated hairstyle every single day? Suddenly curious, I whispered.
"Doesn't doing your hair like this get annoying? You're always wearing it braided."
As her eyes slowly closed again at my gentle touch, Nara murmured in a drowsy voice.
"It's annoying... braiding it every single morning, it's seriously annoying as hell...."
Nara wriggled, seeming uncomfortable all wrapped up in the blanket and held by me.
"Stuffy..."
"Stay still."
Instead of letting her go, I swung a leg over her, binding her a little more snugly.
"Mmnn... heavyyy..."
I cupped her whining face and met her eyes.
"Nara."
"Hmm?"
"I heard you met my sister."
"..."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You would've known anyway, even if I didn't say anything, Oppa."
She wasn't wrong about that. Sieun-nuna had met Haru one day and called Nara the very next day to meet up, along with Eunhwi-nuna.
"Are you okay?"
"Is there any reason I wouldn't be? I was just a little surprised."
"Sorry, I was going to tell you."
"I am a little hurt about that... You'll treat me better from now on, right?"
"Yeah."
I softly held Nara's cheek and gently pressed my lips to hers.
"Smack. Smack. Tchurp... churp."
As we kissed, my arms and legs that had been holding her captive loosened. Nara kicked the blanket off, wrapped her arms around me, and pushed her tongue in deeper.