Yuu and Yujia's Encounter
I wasn't much of a drinker in the first place, so I didn't know all the ins and outs, but I could tell this kind of drinking party wasn't exactly commonplace. I mean, it wasn't normal for a bunch of regular adults to get together, watch anime, and chat about underground Japanese manga.
'Not like I'd ever heard of anything like this before in my life.' Sure, plenty of people watched anime, but the number who devoured ongoing hentai manga straight from Japan was pretty damn small. That's why this gathering felt so surreal.
"Lately, Iron Blood Priest has been off its game. Kinda disappointing, honestly."
"...Really? I think it's picking up steam."
"Personally, I can't stand parts with so much exposition. I prefer the fight scenes."
"Hmm..."
Yujia looked seriously uncomfortable. It wouldn't have mattered with some other manga, but Iron Blood Priest was one she truly loved.
'From what I knew, she even went to fan meets in Japan all the time.' For people whose tastes aligned, it was the kind of manga you got obsessed with. It had a massive toxic fandom too. Some fans treated it less like comics and more like 'literature.'
Anyway.
"Hey, Yujia, where are the Iron Blood Priest books? I heard you had them collected somewhere."
"Oh, perfect timing. Let me show you."
With that, Yujia opened a suspiciously locked door in her room. Inside was a sight to behold.
"Holy shit."
"You've got this in your house..?"
Seo Haneul crouched in front of the display case, muttering in awe. Lee Seungwoo glanced at the manufacturer label on a figure's base and let out a hollow laugh.
"Yujia, isn't each one of these worth a whole semester's tuition? This is insane."
Yujia leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, quietly watching our reactions.
"I just collected what I liked, and it piled up like that. It's like how you collect limited-edition uniforms, Seungwoo sunbae."
Her response was straightforward, but I caught a hint of pride. She pointed to the deepest part of the display case, where soft indirect lighting glowed.
"That's the limited edition of Iron Blood Priest. The author personally supervised the coloring, so the quality's worlds apart from the mass-market version."
Even Yujia, who rarely showed emotion, sounded noticeably excited compared to her usual tone. You could really feel how much she loved Iron Blood Priest.
By the way.
"But Yujia, isn't this one... a bit too explicit?"
Seo Haneul was pointing at something seriously high-level. The cover was in a pretty bold pose, and the interior was packed with illustrations that captured the essence of Japan's underground culture. Even I didn't know where to look and ended up scratching the back of my head.
But Yujia didn't bat an eye.
"Art and obscenity are a fine line. Once you see how this artist draws lines, you won't say that. Check it out properly once you're sober, sunbae. I bet you'll like it."
It had been a while since I'd heard Yujia speak with that much passion. It showed just how serious she was about Iron Blood Priest.
As we wandered around the room full of manga and figures, a thought crossed my mind.
"Kinda a lot of the explicit stuff, huh?"
"The artist draws that side really well. More precisely, they excel at drawing people. I collected them because I learn something from that aspect."
"Ah, makes sense."
Yujia wasn't the type to be super into that kind of thing. She stayed expressionless and hid her feelings in most situations anyway. I could imagine her reading hentai with zero reaction, like, 'Oh, so that's how you draw nudes.'
With those thoughts, we finished browsing the manga and got back to drinking.
"-So I just threw out those expensive Converse. Still can't believe it."
"That's wild."
It had been about three hours since we started drinking. Maybe we'd all gotten comfortable enough, because we were sharing stories we hadn't touched last time.
"Your place must be super noisy, though. How do you sleep?"
"Ah... I wear an eye mask and earplugs. Makes it quiet enough."
That's why I always kept spare earplugs and an eye mask at home. Without them, falling asleep was a nightmare.
"No thoughts on moving somewhere else? It's cheap, sure, but not great for long-term."
"Eh, not really. It's the best fit for my situation anyway."
I'd love to move somewhere nicer, but there was a reason I didn't. The rent was ridiculously low. No matter how noisy, a place this close to the subway station for just 300,000 won a month? Unreal.
'No matter how I think about it, it doesn't add up.' The landlord might as well be running a charity. So, no real need to force a move.
"Yeah, it is super close to the station."
We kept chatting like that, dipping into more personal topics than before.
"Personally, mala tang isn't my thing."
"What? How can you hate something that delicious? Put some Chinese glass noodles in it—it's amazing."
Mala tang was... I'd tried it once when Suihwa dragged me along, but it wasn't my taste at all. Yujia, sitting next to me, nodded cautiously.
"It's decent, I guess."
"Yujia really knows her food..!"
"...Is liking mala tang really 'knowing your food'..?"
"Sigh."
She just didn't get it.
*
Scratch scratch.
"Urgh..."
It was tough. Even if I loved drawing, holing up in Korea just drawing was wearing my body down.
That aside.
'When's Sino coming back..?'
I was curious when Sino would show up. I'd heard he was coming back after drinks.
Hmm. I didn't like this.
'I hate sleeping alone feeling lonely..'
Asking him to come home early to the guy whose place I was borrowing felt rude. Might make him think I was clingy. So, I just sat at the computer, drawing to pass the time.
Squeeze.
I fiddled with the capybara-shaped stress ball.
He'd said he'd be back early. But—
'...It's 3 a.m. now.'
It was already 3 a.m. If he'd just said he might be late, fine—but he'd said early and showed up this late? I felt a little hurt.
Of course, I knew I had no right to complain. I was already freeloading shamelessly at Sino's place.
As I grumbled to myself and finished my deadline manuscript, the sound of a keypad beeping came from the entrance.
Beep beep beep beep.
The door opened.
"Sino-san...!"
For some reason, the one person I'd gotten close to in nearly five years stuck in my mind, no matter how much I tried to ignore it. I rushed happily to the door—and froze.
A woman was supporting Sino, who was too drunk to stand on his own.
"Who...?"
A sharp edge crept into my voice without me realizing. The woman scanned me head to toe with a blank expression, like she was sizing up an intruder. Cold eyes.
Instead of answering, she strode confidently inside and gently laid Sino on the mattress.
"Sunbae got too wasted. You must be the guest staying here?"
She put extra emphasis on "guest." The silence in the cramped apartment felt oppressively heavy.
"Don't stay too long. Sunbae finds it uncomfortable."
She brushed Sino's hair back, then turned and left with the door clicking shut.
*
"Urghhh..."
My head throbbed as I barely pried my eyes open. Familiar ceiling.
"Hm..?"
What the hell? I was drinking at Yujia's place. What happened? Panicking about any screw-ups, I grabbed my phone.
Yujia had sent one message.
Yuu and Yujia met? What did that even mean? A chill ran down my spine as I looked around.
"Ah, Sino-san..!"
Yuu was working away with her usual smile. Oh right. Not time for drinks yet.
'Still got a ton of work left.'
Head still fuzzy from the booze, but work came first. As I got up from the mattress to sit at the computer—
"Here..!"
Yuu handed me a lemon candy from the convenience store.
"Ah, thanks."
After all that drinking last night, the sweet treat tasted better than ever.