Episode 59: Park Ha-ru Has Come
Episode 59: Park Ha-ru Has Come
Chapter 59: Park Haru Has Come
"Feel good?"
Eunhwi's voice came from above my back, pitched a little lower than usual.
Her weight and her hips pressed heavily against my waist.
"Yeah... right there, a little harder."
I felt her put more strength into it at my request. The pressure grew twice as strong as before.
A tingling pain and pleasure shot up my spine and hit my brain at the same time. A damp moan leaked out of my mouth before I knew it.
"Ohh..."
"What? Does it hurt? Should I go softer?"
She stopped moving and asked, sounding worried. But I shook my head, my face still buried in the sofa cushion.
"No, it's because it feels good. I say it every time, but your hand strength is no joke, Nuna."
"Really? I'm just pressing like I always do."
"No, you've got a natural gift for this. Maybe it's because you work out a lot?"
"I was like that even before I started working out."
"Were you..."
Eunhwi was thorough about self-care and did enjoy working out, but even taking that into account, her grip strength was well beyond the norm.
Sometimes, when we made love in bed, that strength revealed itself plainly.
When she reached her peak and clutched my back tight, the next day, clear fingerprint marks would remain on my back in the mirror like medals of honor.
Occasionally, the marks from her gripping my wrist lasted longer than the ones I left when I, a guy, grabbed hers.
"Maybe you're just being a big baby about it? I'm trying to control my strength, you know."
She laughed playfully and tapped lightly near my shoulder blade.
"Ack! Nuna, my bone! The bone!"
Even that playful tapping felt heavy.
While I got the massage, only the sound of the air conditioner's wind and our low breathing drifted through the room.
Maybe it was because Sieun wasn't here, but it was a peaceful, drowsy afternoon.
"You were just thinking it's peaceful because Sieun isn't here, weren't you?"
"H...How did you know?"
Eunhwi read my mind like a ghost and poked me with it.
"It was written all over your face. But what would happen if I told her?"
"What would happen? She might turn her plane around and come right back, for all I know."
I heard Eunhwi chuckle softly, and then she lay down completely on top of me and whispered in my ear.
"Though... I sympathize, actually. It is quiet without Sieun."
"Heh heh heh."
Feeling her weight and her warmth, with her holding me, we kept laughing for a good while.
"Ah, my stomach hurts."
She lifted her body slightly off my back and suddenly tossed out a comment.
"Ah, I want some ice cream."
At this abrupt development, I slowly opened my eyes, which had been closed.
"Did we finish everything we bought last time?"
"Mhm, we probably ate it all while watching that movie last time, right?"
"All of that..."
"It's not that many when you eat them one by one..."
Her voice carried a hint of regret. I fell into thought for a moment. Breaking this comfortable state and going outside was an act requiring considerable courage.
"Should we order in? Or should I go out and buy some?"
At my question, I felt her turn her body on my back to look down at me.
"Hm... you'd go buy it yourself?"
Her tone was laden with anticipation.
Honestly, my heart wanted to open a delivery app right that second.
Because I wanted to maintain this drowsy mood. To be frank, my true feeling was that I didn't want to move a single centimeter.
"Mm..."
As I hesitated to answer and dawdled, she seemed to read my expression of dilemma. She laughed and climbed off my body.
"Alright, let's just order. It's a bother, right?"
She went into the room to get her phone.
The cold air of the air conditioner seeped into the spot where her warmth had vanished.
"Hmm..."
Only then did I push myself up from the floor. She came back out to the living room from inside the room, fiddling with her phone.
"What do you want to eat? Yogurt ice cream? Baskin-Robbins?"
I didn't answer her question right away, mulling it over. Once I finished deliberating, I opened my mouth.
"Nuna, I'll just go out and get it."
Her eyes, looking at me, grew round and noticeably brightened with joy.
"Oh, really? For real?"
"Yeah. The time waiting for delivery and the time I'd take going and coming back are probably about the same. Plus, dealing with the delivery cleanup is a hassle."
She was so genuinely pleased that she bounced like a child and started pouring out all the things she wanted to eat. As if she'd been waiting, the list tumbled out smoothly like candy from a dispenser.
"Get me the one with cherries in it, and a Bbang OO! And if they have those corn-shaped ice bars, get those too... Ah, and the chocolate-coated ones!"
"Nuna, you'll get a stomachache eating that much."
When I let out a hollow laugh and put a stop to it, she placed her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest confidently, and declared:
"I'm not going to eat it all today! I'm stocking up to eat later!"
The sight was so adorable that before I knew it, I had reached out and gently stroked her head as she came and sat down beside me.
She scrunched her nose contentedly.
"Alrighty, I'm off."
"Okay."
I headed toward the front door and opened the memo app on my phone.
"Alright, tell me again. Cherries, Bbang OO, and what was the other one?"
She was so excited that she added a few more things. I meticulously wrote down everything she said, one by one. Before I opened the front door, she saw me off from behind, saying, "Be careful out there!"
The moment the apartment door opened and I stepped outside, I slightly regretted my choice.
Despite the sun having set a long time ago, the heat lingering in the atmosphere showed no signs of cooling down.
Rather, the heat radiating from the asphalt that had been baking all day smothered me, suffocatingly so.
"Hoooh..."
The hot air stabbed into my nostrils instantly, choking my breath.
I exhaled the hot breath through my mouth, trying to acclimate to the heat.
I hurried my steps and headed for the ice cream discount store in the apartment complex's shopping block.
The moment I opened the store door, the pouring chill finally made me feel alive.
"Ahh, this is it..."
I checked my memo and picked up a basket.
"This one... and I think she liked this one too..."
I grabbed the cherry ice cream and the Bbang OO she mentioned first. But as I did, things that looked tasty to me started catching my eye.
As I filled the basket in a daze, it soon became heavy.
I stood in front of the checkout counter and set the basket down.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The barcode scanner added up the prices with a cheerful sound.
The numbers flashing on the screen grew faster than I thought.
It zipped past 10,000 won, then 20,000 won, and before I knew it, it was racing toward the 50,000 won mark.
"Uh... did I pick too much?"
Momentarily flustered, I stopped right before pressing the payment button. Over 50,000 won on ice cream was too much, no matter how I looked at it. In the end, I sheepishly took out a few of the scoopable ice creams I'd meant to eat for myself.
"Hmm, I really did pick a lot."
A hollow laugh escaped me as I removed the ice cream. Just the other day I was regulating myself saying I was on a diet, but it seemed like lately, with the reins a little loose, I'd just been throwing things in.
Only after I'd appropriately adjusted the quantity did my mind feel at ease.
After finishing the payment, I stepped back outside, carrying the plastic bag that radiated a cold chill.
The air felt slightly softer than before, but the outside was still a steaming sauna.
Worried the ice cream would melt, I practically marched home at an alert pace.
I got off the elevator and stood in front of the front door. I punched in the door lock code and opened the door, as familiar as ever.
"I'm back... Huh?"
About to stride loudly into the living room with my greeting, my eyes stopped on the entrance floor.
There, next to Eunhwi's sneakers, was another pair of sneakers—familiar, yet unfamiliar. Before I could even confirm the owner of the shoes, two overlapping voices drifted out from inside.
"You're back?"
One was Eunhwi's bright voice, welcoming me as usual. And the other was a voice so familiar it sent chills down my spine, but one that absolutely should not be heard in this place right now.
"You're back, oppa?"
A shadow stood there, backlit by the living room lights, having come out to greet me. A face smiling brightly, standing next to Eunhwi.
"......Haru?"
"Yeah, it's me."
Park Haru, acting totally casual and as if she owned the place, stood side by side with Eunhwi, staring right at me.
For a moment, my brain shut down and I just stood there blankly. Meanwhile, Eunhwi, paying me no mind whatsoever, took the ice cream bag from my hand and started discussing with Haru what to eat.
"Haru, what do you want?"
"Unnie, I'll have this one."
"Oh, you've got decent taste."
The sight was so dumbfounding that I just laughed in disbelief and followed the two of them into the living room.
"Sijun-ah, what are you going to eat?"
"Me, the scoopable one."
"Ah, okay."
"But, um... you two?"
"Hm?"
"A little explanation, please..."
I was glad Haru was here, but I felt like my frozen brain wouldn't thaw out and start working again until I got at least a minimal explanation of why she was here.
"What do you mean? She just came to hang out."
Eunhwi gave a simple answer, but there was still a part I couldn't understand.
"At my place? Without me knowing?"
That's right. This is my home. Even if these women act and live like it's their own house so naturally, the registered owner and the resident is me, Choi Sijun.
"Does that matter?"
"Uh..."
Eunhwi's sharp rebuke snapped me back to my senses. That wasn't what was important. What was important was why Haru was here.
"She really did just come to hang out."
"For real?"
When I stared at them with a skeptical expression, feeling like something was being left out of the explanation, Haru finally confessed.
"Well... part of it is that I just came along since we're going to the shoot together tomorrow anyway."