Let's Do It Together
Nothing special happened all the way until the weekend. The part-time boss was still locked up at the police station, and the manager noona seemed terrified after seeing every trace of our night together had completely vanished and that the boss had been arrested too. She never even contacted me to ask what the hell I’d done. I was able to completely shake off everything about those two. What mattered far more was my childhood friend of over twenty years, Park Nayoung.
“She’s still not picking up.”
It had already been four whole days. I’d sent her multiple messages, but the read receipts refused to disappear. She wouldn’t even answer my calls—just let them ring out. At this rate, am I never going to see her face again? I knew she was confused and angry with me, which was why she was avoiding me, but the continued radio silence was starting to worry me.
Then how about taking her a gift and going to see her in person?
“Should I? I do have the settlement money.”
Money this unlucky needed to be spent as fast as possible. Our studio apartments were so close that if you fell over you’d practically land on the other person’s doorstep. I couldn’t keep waiting forever, so I decided to go see her and started thinking about what gift to bring. A luxury bag came to mind first, but I had no idea what brands she liked, so I scrapped that idea. To figure out what she might want, I checked her SNS. Her most recent post was from about a month ago. It said she’d gotten a job as a restaurant cook and would start in March, and that she wanted to buy a laptop with her first paycheck.
“She got a job? Why didn’t she tell me?”
Unlike me—who had gone to the army and was now entering my third year of university—she had graduated from the culinary arts department and had been job-hunting. If she’d actually gotten hired, she definitely would have told me. Even on the day we went to karaoke together, she never mentioned it. Is there some kind of problem?
Anyway, since she wanted a laptop, it seemed like the perfect apology and celebration gift for landing a job. Strike while the iron is hot, they say. I immediately headed to the store and bought one of the laptops that women tended to prefer. Thinking that something sweet might help soothe her anger, I also grabbed a pack of strawberries—her favorite fruit.
She’s loved strawberries ever since we were kids.
You remember quite a lot about Miss Park Nayoung.
“I’ve known her for a long time.”
Even after ten years, details about Park Nayoung stayed fresh in my memory. Having spent twenty years together, even the trivial things buried in the back of my mind were slowly resurfacing. I infused the strawberries I’d bought at the mart with Sex Power. Unlike meat like chicken, fruits and vegetables consumed very little power. Even though I poured it into the entire pack, the amount used was negligible.
“Let’s see.”
Since I didn’t know how the taste would change, I opened the packaging and popped one strawberry into my mouth. The soft flesh gave way, filling my mouth with the fruit’s signature aroma and a luxurious, deep sweetness. Compared to a normal strawberry without Sex Power, the difference was so obvious it was hard to believe they were the same fruit. A success. At this level, Park Nayoung would be more than satisfied. With that thought, I headed to her one-room apartment, laptop in one hand and strawberries in the other. I knocked on her front door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Hyunjin.”
When I heard a woman’s voice from inside, I answered carefully. I’d expected her to be furious since she wasn’t answering my messages and to slam the door in my face, but surprisingly, she seemed willing to open it.
But the voice sounds off…?
It was bright and cheerful. Similar to Park Nayoung’s tone, yet different. Soon the door cracked open and a girl cautiously poked her head out. A tiny girl with yellow-dyed hair who looked like a baby chick smiled brightly the moment she saw my face and opened the door wide.
“…Who are you?”
Worried I’d come to the wrong room, I double-checked the unit number, but this was definitely it. She looked exactly like Park Nayoung back in middle school. I felt like I’d seen her before, but I didn’t know any yellow baby chicks. When the girl at the door realized I didn’t recognize her, she let out a little giggle and flashed a mischievous grin.
“Oppa, you saw me during Seollal just a few days ago and you already forgot me? Isn’t that too mean?”
“Seollal? Oh!”
A girl who looked like a younger version of Park Nayoung and was inside her apartment. It was Park Nayoung’s little sister, Park Naeun.
“It’s Naeun.”
“Hehe, correct!”
Her hair had been black during Seollal but was now a bright yellow, so I hadn’t recognized her right away. Park Nayoung herself was nowhere to be seen—probably out—so only Park Naeun was home.
“What brings you to Seoul?”
“What do you mean, what brings me? I’m here to attend school, obviously!”
I thought she meant high school, but she proudly shoved a university acceptance certificate at me instead.
Acceptance Certificate
Gukhan University
Department of Business Administration
“Please take good care of me from now on, sunbaenim!”
Park Naeun gave a playful little bow. “I was planning to surprise you at the entrance ceremony, but here we are. Were you surprised?”
I was. The fact that the girl I’d thought looked like a middle-schooler was actually a university student surprised me. Her older sister, Park Nayoung, had a fairly tall, curvaceous figure full of mature feminine charm. But the younger sister must have had all the nutrients stolen by her sibling, because she was so petite she reminded me of how Park Nayoung had looked in middle school.
“…You just had some rude thought about me, didn’t you?”
“No way.”
“Your eyes look suspicious. Anyway, what are you holding in your hands?”
Her gaze had shifted to the gifts I was carrying. She swallowed hard when she saw the pack of strawberries in my left hand, then her eyes grew huge at the laptop wrapped as a gift in my right.
“This is my admission gift, right? It’s for me, right? Hurry up and say yes. I’m getting dizzy just thinking about it.”
“Well, that’s…”
I was hesitating, unsure how to answer, when a familiar voice cut in.
“What are you two doing in front of the house?”
Park Nayoung had returned.
I managed to get inside the apartment, but an awkward silence hung over us. The one person who could have lightened the mood—Park Naeun—was sulking with puffed-out cheeks after learning the laptop was an apology gift for her older sister. Nayoung and I couldn’t exactly talk about what had happened in front of her little sister, so we both kept our mouths shut. In the end, the yellow chick couldn’t stand the uncomfortable quiet any longer and spoke up, looking at me.
“What exactly did you do wrong that you’re giving her a laptop as an apology? Did you accidentally grope my sister’s chest or something?”
At those words, both of us stayed silent and slightly turned our heads away.
“Wait, for real? You bought a whole laptop just for touching her chest?”
“What do you mean, ‘just’!”
In reality it had been far more than just touching her chest, but Park Nayoung obviously couldn’t say we’d had sex right in front of her little sister, so she couldn’t explain properly.
“It’s not some random guy, it’s Hyunjin oppa. What’s the big deal? Want to touch mine too? I’d be okay with you, oppa.”
“Hey, Park Naeun!”
Park Nayoung glared at me with eyes that said she’d kill me if I even thought about it. Even if I wanted to, there’s not much there to touch. Realizing things wouldn’t progress while her sister was around, Park Nayoung shouted at Naeun.
“I’ll give you that, so get out right now!”
“Yes! Thanks, sis! I’ll use it well, oppa!”
Park Naeun vanished like lightning, terrified her sister might change her mind. Now that only the two of us remained, I decided to apologize first.
“I’m truly sorry for forcing myself on you!”
My direct apology made Park Nayoung frown. She let out a long sigh.
“Haa, forget it. You did it to save me, didn’t you?”
“Weren’t you mad at me? Isn’t that why you ignored my calls?”
“I wasn’t ignoring you because I was mad, okay?”
Surprisingly, she didn’t look upset at all.
“You said you’d take responsibility anyway.”
“What responsibility?”
“What do you mean, what responsibility? When you took my virginity that day, you clearly said you’d take responsibility no matter what.”
I recalled that moment. In the middle of the fire, I had sworn I would definitely take responsibility and save her using my Sex Power.
“That was me promising to take responsibility and save you…”
“…What?”
“Did you think I meant a different kind of responsibility?”
“Ugh, never mind! It’s nothing!”
Her face stiffened slightly and took on a complicated expression. Anyway, since I’d apologized, I quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, right. I saw on your SNS that you got a job.”
“It fell through. I thought I’d passed the final round, but they suddenly rejected me. I was so annoyed I forgot to delete the post.”
“Ah… sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? It’s already in the past. Right now I’m looking into opening a dessert café or coffee shop.”
She seemed reluctant to go into detail about what had happened, so I didn’t press her about the job any further. The mention of opening a café, however, gave me a great idea.
“Nayoung, want to try one of these?”
“Oh? Strawberries? Thanks, I’ll eat them.”
When I offered her favorite fruit, her expression softened a little as she reached out. Her pale fingers wrapped around a bright red strawberry and brought it to her mouth. The red flesh burst between her teeth. She closed her eyes, savoring even the tiny seeds. Once the red fruit disappeared, she immediately reached for another. After polishing off five strawberries in the blink of an eye, she exclaimed in amazement.
“Where on earth did you buy these? I’ve never tasted strawberries this good before.”
“From the mart right in front.”
They were ordinary strawberries that cost less than ten thousand won per pack. Even after I showed her the receipt, she still couldn’t believe it and ate one more. She asked how it was possible for strawberries to taste this amazing. I looked at her and said,
“Nayoung, do you want to do something with me?”