The 19+ Hand Signal Game
"Come on, everyone! Haru’s going to give the toast!"
"What? Me? All of a sudden?"
"Of course the host has to give the first toast, right?"
"No, if we’re going by that logic, Jisu should do it. She’s the real owner of this place."
"What are you talking about, Haru~? I belong to you, so you’re the owner!"
"Ooh~. Jisu’s going that far—aren’t you going to do it, Mr. Owner?"
"Ha, fine. I’ll do it, okay…."
Once the delivery food arrived and the bottles started emptying one by one, the room quickly grew loud and lively.
This was only the third time we’d all gathered since graduating high school, yet the energy had never once dipped.
If it was already this high before we even started, tonight was going to be ridiculously rowdy.
When I raised my glass for the toast, everyone else lifted theirs as well.
What should I say this time?
After a moment’s hesitation, I just went for it.
"If I say ‘our friendship,’ everyone shout ‘forever.’ Got it?"
"Boo, that’s so cliché!!"
"Is that all a writer can come up with?"
"Then you guys do it! Anyway, just repeat after me already."
I brushed off Geonwoo and Soeun’s jeers and recited the line I’d prepared.
"Our friendship."
"“Forever!!!”"
At least they followed along without complaint. I appreciated that.
With the opening toast done, everyone split into small groups, chatting over food and drinks.
It was tradition in our circle to talk like this before diving into any group activity.
Since all seven of us were close with one another, there weren’t any obvious cliques forming.
"Ugh, I really want to quit my part-time job. The manager’s been riding my ass about cleaning the floor again."
"That’s nothing. I almost died doing that bodyguard gig."
"Bodyguard part-time? That’s a thing?"
"Yeah, something like that. It’s insanely hard."
"Anything physical would be tough. Sounds perfect for Taehyun, though?"
"Nope. It’s not something you can just do because you’re strong."
On one side, Geonwoo and Juyoung were heatedly debating part-time jobs. On the other, the girls had gathered together.
Normally I’d have tried to eavesdrop out of curiosity, but today I had a pretty good idea what they were talking about—and I wasn’t brave enough to approach.
That girls’ talk was going to be spicy.
"What’s up, Haru? Not sitting with Jisu?"
"Ah, yeah. I figured I’d be out of place over there today."
"Why? Is the topic especially spicy?"
"Extremely."
"Hmm?"
"N-no, never mind."
I waved my hands quickly and dodged the question.
No need to spark more curiosity and drag even more people into it.
Luckily, Taehyun didn’t press further and simply sipped his drink.
To completely change the subject, I refilled his glass and shifted topics.
"By the way, how are things going with Jihye?"
"Hmm, pretty well? Honestly, I still don’t know."
"That’s just how dating is. Don’t rush it."
"Maybe. If you say so, then I guess that’s how it is?"
"Exactly. You two should move things along a little more boldly."
"Hmm, maybe."
Taehyun stared blankly at Jihye for a moment before chuckling and refilling my glass.
After a light clink, I downed the soju in one gulp.
Taehyun and Jihye had been dating for a month now. They’d met through our gatherings, hit it off, and started going out.
Having other people to talk about relationships with was genuinely nice. Before, whenever I shared stories about Jisu and me, the others would just complain that I was rubbing it in.
"Then, Haru, mind if I ask you something?"
"Huh? What is it?"
"Jihye and I… we had our first kiss last week?"
"Oh, really? Wow~ First kiss after a month is pretty fast, huh?"
"You think so? Anyway, so… I feel like Jihye wants to move things forward faster."
"So you don’t know what to do?"
"Yeah. I want to go faster too, but I don’t know how fast is okay."
So that was the problem.
Even without knowing exactly what Jihye was thinking, if she wanted to move forward, there was no real reason to hesitate.
Couldn’t they just head straight to a motel and let their bodies talk?
After all, nothing strengthens the bond between a man and a woman like a good tumble in the sheets.
Probably shouldn’t say that out loud.
"That’s a tough one. Just talk it out and figure it out together slowly. Communication is key for stuff like this."
"Ah, okay. I’ll take it slow like you said."
"Good. You better fill me in later."
"Obviously."
After refilling our glasses and toasting again, I glanced over at Jisu.
We’d gone through the same worries about physical progress once.
Holding hands for the first time, our first kiss, gradually touching more sensitive places…
And that moment we had sex for the very first time.
It had felt like I owned the entire world.
These days we chased stronger thrills through all kinds of play, so that initial excitement had faded—but the memory still surfaced whenever Jisu and I spent the night together.
"Guys, we’re all splitting off too much. Let’s play a drinking game!"
"Drinking game? I’m in!"
"Alright, everyone gather around the table!"
At Soeun’s suggestion and Geonwoo’s agreement, a drinking game circle suddenly formed.
Even I, lost in thought, naturally moved to sit beside Jisu.
She looked at me and gave a soft smile.
"Haru, you were chatting with Taehyun. What were you two talking about?"
"Ah, he asked for relationship advice, so I gave him some."
"Really? Look at you, giving dating advice to your friends. You’ve grown up~"
"Of course. What did you think of me before?"
Jisu leaned in at my words and whispered in a sultry voice right against my ear.
"A perverted boyfriend who only thinks about devouring his girlfriend?"
I stared at her in surprise.
No wonder her voice had sounded a little nasal—her face told me she was halfway drunk.
Our Jisu wouldn’t say something like that unless she was drunk on alcohol… or on dick.
Since she’d started it, I decided to fire back.
"You know me well."
"Hnn…?"
I leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"Get ready to be devoured once the others leave."
Watching her face turn bright red, I smiled in satisfaction.
She’d provoked me first—now she was done for.
Tonight I’d make sure she drowned in pleasure and couldn’t escape.
"…Hello?"
"Huh?"
"Excuse me, you two lovebirds? Could you focus a little?"
When I turned toward the voice, Soeun was staring at us with clear annoyance.
Guess I’d missed her explanation while thinking about devouring Jisu.
"Ah, sorry."
"Seriously, this is why we need to separate you two."
"Sorry. I’ll focus now."
"Please do. Okay, let me explain again."
Soeun looked around the circle and continued.
"Before the drinking game, we’re going to play something light to warm up the mood. It’s called the Hand Signal Game!"
"Hand Signal Game?"
Jisu asked from beside me, and Soeun turned toward her.
"Yep. And it’s not the normal version either. This one’s the 19+ Hand Signal Game!"
"19+?"
At the mention of “19+,” everyone’s attention snapped to Soeun.
Enjoying the spotlight, she smiled and kept explaining.
It worked the same as the usual version—someone would describe a situation, and anyone who’d experienced it would put a finger down—but with two twists: you couldn’t show how many fingers you had left, and every prompt had to be 19+ rated.
"So the person who runs out of fingers doesn’t drink. Instead, the person whose question makes someone run out of fingers has to drink. Got it?"
"Then how do we know who’s putting fingers down? Couldn’t someone lie to make others drink?"
"Exactly. So you’d better ask good questions if you don’t want to get caught."
The key was to watch carefully and throw out a question that would stop someone from putting their last finger down right when they were about to.
That meant the questions were guaranteed to be hardcore and spicy.
Sounded pretty fun.
"Alright, everyone understands the rules? Then I’ll ask first."
"Go ahead."
After I answered on behalf of the guys, Soeun glanced around with a mischievous grin.
"Since it’s 19+, we should start light, right? Everyone who’s had sex, put a finger down!"
Of course that question had to come up.
I put one finger down where no one could see, then looked at the others’ faces.
Taehyun and Jihye definitely hadn’t. Soeun definitely hadn’t either.
Juyoung… his expression was a little ambiguous.
The only thing I was sure of was that both Jisu and I had put a finger down—and everyone else probably knew it too.
"My turn~. Hmm… Everyone who’s had sex in the past week, put a finger down~."
Following Soeun, Jihye threw out the next question.
Sex from a week ago? That question was basically meaningless.
A week ago? We’d done it an hour ago.
"Come on, that overlaps too much. If you’re gonna do that, make it spicy—everyone who’s had sex in the past day, put a finger down."
"Then Jisu, you definitely put one down, right? You did it in the room earlier."
"S-shut up! What the hell are you saying, you bitch!!"
"Guys, Jisu’s got three fingers left."
"Okay, noted."
Everyone else nodded and laughed, probably thinking it was just a joke.
I wondered what their faces would look like if they knew it was true.
Still, I had no desire to satisfy that curiosity.
The game continued, and after one full round I had only one finger left.
"Hmm~. We should be seeing someone drop out soon."
When it was her turn again, Soeun narrowed her eyes and scanned the circle.
Typical Soeun—quick on the uptake.
Honestly, every question so far had applied to me, so the game should’ve ended ages ago.
But I’d deliberately left one finger up because I wanted to give Soeun a penalty drink for peeking at us earlier.
Alright, Soeun. Throw your question.
Whatever it is, I’ll accept it gracefully and put my finger down.
"Then…"
Soeun seemed to notice something. She looked straight at me and grinned wickedly.
"Everyone who had sex an hour ago, put a finger down."
She’d called my bluff perfectly.