I Don't Think They Heard Us... Right?
I turned to Jisu after we'd properly washed up in the bathroom, trying to soothe her obvious anxiety.
"You don't think they heard us, do you?"
"Probably not? The master bedroom is pretty far from where they're sitting on the sofa."
"You think so? God, if they heard us I won't be able to look Jihye or Soeun in the eye today…."
"They didn't hear anything. Don't worry."
Honestly, the sounds had been so loud that I had a bad feeling they might have been caught, but I pushed those ominous thoughts aside for now. Like I'd told Jisu, the master bedroom was quite a distance from the sofa, and it was entirely possible they'd been distracted by something else and hadn't heard us at all.
After changing clothes, we stepped back into the living room as if nothing had happened. Jihye and Soeun, who had been chatting, both turned their heads toward us at the same time.
Jihye wore a bright, innocent smile, while Soeun had a faint smile on her lips and was squinting at us with narrowed eyes.
...Had we been caught?
"Ah, sorry for keeping you waiting. We were just freshening up…."
"It's fine~. The guys aren't here yet either, so we were going to have to wait anyway~."
"Really? They're still not here?"
"Yep~. They said they'd be a bit late because they were picking up drinks and some other stuff."
"Oh, I see."
I nodded casually on the outside, but inside I let out a huge sigh of relief. Even if the sounds had leaked out, at least only Soeun and Jihye would have heard them. That was something to be grateful for.
To check whether they'd actually heard anything, I decided to subtly probe them.
"By the way, you two didn't happen to hear any weird noises, did you?"
"Weird noises~?"
"Yeah. Lately I've been hearing these strange moans coming from the neighbor's place."
"Ah~."
If they said they hadn't heard anything, great. And even if they had, I figured I could just brush it off as the neighbors. Jisu and I waited with tense expressions for Jihye's answer. Soon, she smiled and opened her mouth.
"Hmm, I didn't hear anything like that~? No weird noises at all."
"Oh, really…?"
"But Soeun said she heard something really interesting~."
I'd been about to breathe a sigh of relief when Jihye's next words sent a cold sweat running down my back.
It couldn't be... right?
Soeun looked at us with a smile, then pulled her phone out of her pocket and played a video. The intro music for a news broadcast started playing, and the video showed Soeun sitting on our sofa, staring at the screen.
At first I had no idea what this video was, but when I saw the part where Soeun in the video stood in front of the master bedroom door and continued speaking, it hit me immediately.
As the camera moved closer to the master bedroom, a certain sound slowly began to fill the video.
Hearing our voices—Jisu's and mine—coming from beyond the door, the two of us froze solid.
The camera slowly pulled back from the door, eventually capturing Soeun standing beside the master bedroom.
The video ended with Soeun bowing politely toward the camera.
I stared silently at the phone screen until Soeun slipped it back into her pocket, then looked up at her face. She met my gaze and flashed a sly grin.
"I went to eavesdrop just in case, and wow, did I ever hear something incredible~."
"You…."
"I always wondered how Haru had you wrapped around his finger, Jisu. So this is how you've been relieving stress. I guess the daytime innocent, nighttime beast couple really is the trend these days~."
"…."
"What do you two think? You perverted couple who brings friends home and secretly has sex right under their noses."
The way she asked so blatantly, teasing us, left both of us speechless. The only thought in my head was that I needed to snatch that phone and delete the video immediately. It seemed Jisu had the same idea, because she acted first.
"Give me your phone, you crazy bitch!!"
"Ah-ah, no can do. This is important footage that must be preserved for all eternity…."
"Cut the bullshit and hand it over right now!!!"
After Jisu and I teamed up and barely managed to snatch the phone and delete the video, we couldn't escape the relentless teasing that followed from the two of them.
"So who was the one who seduced the other first~? It was probably Haru, right~?"
"No, I think it was definitely Jisu."
"Jisu~?"
"She was already wearing the maid outfit, so she probably went into the room saying she'd serve him and then just…."
"Oh my~, that could totally happen. So naughty~."
"Would you two shut up, you crazy bitches!! It wasn't like that…."
While the two hyenas tore into Jisu, I quietly sat beside her, desperately praying that none of the sparks would fly my way. I usually didn't get involved when the girls were messing with each other anyway, and in this particular situation, saying anything would only make things worse for me.
"Then was it Haru who suggested it~?"
"Hmm, maybe it was?"
"…Yeah. Actually, I was the one who suggested it…."
Still, to protect Jisu, I decided to sacrifice myself. It was better for me to become the sly wolf than to let Jisu be painted as the seductive vixen.
"Really? You were the one who initiated it, Haru?"
"Yeah…. I saw Jisu changing clothes and just couldn't hold back…."
"You're such a total wolf, Haru~. We sent our Jisu off with you thinking you'd take good care of her, but it looks like you just threw her straight into the wolf's mouth."
"Th-that's not it…!"
At that moment, Jisu grabbed my arm and glared at Soeun and Jihye. When everyone turned to look at her in surprise, she blushed slightly and spoke carefully.
"I-I wanted it too, that's why I suggested it…! S-so Haru didn't do anything wrong."
"Jisu…."
I was supposed to be the only one who died here, but she was covering for me like this…. Feeling her willingness to shoulder this ordeal together with me made my chest tighten with emotion. She was so incredibly lovable that I immediately pulled her into my arms, and she hugged me back just as fiercely.
"Ugh, gross. Even in this situation they're being all lovey-dovey."
"Why~? I think it's cute~?"
"Cute? I feel like I'm going to die from how sickening it is."
"Isn't that because you haven't dated anyone, Soeun~?"
"Even you, Jihye? Seriously, being single is too painful to bear."
"Hehe~."
The woman who could laugh so casually while delivering such heavy blows. You're scary, Jihye…. Soeun seemed unable to recover from the sudden factual strike and could only laugh in disbelief.
- Ding-dong~
Just then, the doorbell rang, signaling that the guys had arrived. Jisu and I used the excuse of greeting our friends to escape the situation.
"Thanks, Jisu…."
"No problem~. I couldn't just let them turn my Haru into the only pervert!"
Jisu smiled brightly as she said this. How could she look so lovable? I kissed her lips gently, pouring all my love into it. I wanted to make it longer, but with our friends waiting, I had to keep it short. I'd do it properly later after everyone went home.
"Then I'll go open the door."
"Okay. Thanks~."
I opened the front door to welcome the guys.
And froze right there on the spot.
"…What the hell is all this?"
"What do you mean, what is it? It's the alcohol we're drinking tonight."
"All of this…?"
Taehyun, the muscle-headed guy at the very front of the three friends, answered with a refreshing smile instead of words. He was carrying a case of beer on each shoulder.
His massive build made me momentarily think they weren't beer cases, but when I looked closer, they were indeed the paper boxes that held twelve cans each, just like I'd thought.
"Wait, are we seriously just drinking beer until we die tonight?"
"Of course not. There's more in the back."
"More?"
As Taehyun smiled and stepped inside, Juyoung and Geonwoo came into view behind him. Juyoung, carrying cases of soju in both hands, grinned at me the moment he saw me.
"We're not just going to drink beer and die, are we?"
"…This looks like we're going to die just from carrying it."
"Come on, you won't die. You're not chickening out over this much, are you, Haru?"
"No, it's not that…."
Yeah, it was my mistake for thinking things would stay normal just because friends were gathering. I nodded and stepped aside to let them in.
"Ugh, fuck, this is so heavy."
"Hey, how is that heavy? It's light as a feather."
"Agreed."
"No, I don't work out like you guys, so it's heavy for me."
"Then you should start working out."
"Agreed."
While Taehyun and Juyoung were giving Geonwoo a hard time for complaining about how heavy the shopping bags were, I took another look at all the alcohol they'd brought.
Twenty-four cans of beer. Twenty bottles of soju.
They couldn't possibly be planning to drink all of this… right?