Living Together (1)
"You okay now?"
"Yeah......"
Yeonhee had cried for a long while. When she finally seemed to have settled, she pulled away from me. Whether she didn't want me to see her face, all puffy and strange from crying, or something else entirely, she kept her head bowed low and offered nothing more than answers to my questions.
"We should wrap this up now."
I led Yeonhee, who gave a small nod, out onto the crowded main street.
Not that wrapping up involved anything grand. The culprit was already in police custody, which meant Yeonhee's parents would be contacted sooner or later anyway. There was no point hiding it at this stage, so we were simply telling them ourselves first. Investigations, summons, all that complicated business — the adults would take care of it for us. For minors like us, this was as far as we could go.
"Yeah. I'm really okay. Sorry I didn't tell you."
"Uh. I'm right here, so now...?"
I'd been waiting beside her for the call to end when she suddenly came over and held out the phone she'd been holding.
"......?"
I raised one eyebrow, looking at her like, what is this supposed to mean? Apparently her mother wanted to talk to me.
The sudden proposal sent a chill down my spine — it wasn't as if I had nothing to feel uneasy about — but hesitating wouldn't change a thing, so I took the phone without delay.
"Ah, hello?"
"Well, hello there. You're Juyeong, aren't you?"
A gentle, soft voice flowed from the other end of the line.
"Yes. I'm Han Juyeong, Yeonhee's classmate. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"First of all, thank you so much for helping our Yeonhee."
"......No. I didn't really do anything that impressive."
"But if you hadn't helped her, it could have been really serious, couldn't it?"
Honestly, that was true. If I hadn't forced the issue the way I had, Yeonhee would have just suffered through it all alone until the end.
"But you know it was really dangerous, don't you?"
"Yes......"
A voice that sounded like she was gently scolding me. Yeonhee's mother was worried even about me, someone she'd never met. I felt ashamed of that. If things had gone wrong, I could just as easily have made the situation worse instead of better.
I was slumping my shoulders, feeling thoroughly deflated, when her voice came through again.
"Then I'm really sorry, but since you've already helped, could I ask you for one more favor?"
"Pardon?"
I reflexively asked back in surprise, but she continued as if she didn't mind at all.
"You know we're traveling right now, don't you?"
"......Yes."
I was already dreading whatever she was about to ask.
"We were actually going to fly back right away, but something came up, and it looks like we won't be able to get there until tomorrow."
"Ah... yes..."
That premonition of mine became reality with the voice coming through the phone.
"So I was wondering if you could let Yeonhee stay at your place just until tomorrow?"
"What?!"
What on earth was this? I was so startled I couldn't help raising my voice.
"After something like this happened, leaving her home alone is just too worrying. If there's someone by her side to look after her, we'd feel much more at ease."
Apparently Yeonhee's parents didn't know I lived alone, which was why they could say something like that right after an incident like this.
"Um... do you happen to know that I live by myself......?"
"Yep. We knew~"
......How?
More importantly — they knew, and they were still leaving her at a guy's house who lived alone......?
No matter how I turned it over, this wasn't right, so I had to spit out some excuse, any excuse at all.
"Wouldn't Yeonhee be against that?"
"When I asked her just now, she said it was fine?"
......What was this now?
I turned my gaze toward Yeonhee, but she was looking the other way, pretending this had nothing to do with her.
What on earth is she thinking......
I was glaring at her as if to say, are you serious? when a voice came from the phone again.
"Would it be too much to ask......?"
Even so, wrong was wrong. So I apologized once more, and then......
"I see...? This old lady asked for something ridiculous, didn't she... I guess I'll just have to tell her to stay home alone and be scared......"
She put on a dejected, sniffling voice, making a show of crying. Not realizing it was an act, I panicked and stammered until I reluctantly agreed.
Then, as if the previous moment had never happened, she answered in a bright, sunny voice.
"Really? Thank you. Then I'll leave her in your care until tomorrow."
And before I could even get a word in, she hung up.
I stared at the call-ended screen with a dazed expression, then turned my head to look at Yeonhee.
"......"
As I kept looking at her, she hung her head, looking thoroughly embarrassed. Apparently Yeonhee's mischievous streak was the spitting image of her mother's.
Now that it was already decided she'd be sleeping at my place, there was no point dragging things out. It was late as it was. We quickly stopped by Yeonhee's house, packed the bare minimum, and came to mine.
The electronic lock beeped a cheerful little melody as it unlatched.
"Let's go in."
"......Okay."
It had been a long day, full of one thing after another. We were both exhausted, body and mind. Mealtime had long since passed, so we decided to take care of our empty stomachs first.
"I'll get the food ready, so just sit somewhere and rest."
"Ah... I'll help too."
Apparently just sitting there and receiving wasn't in her nature. Even though she was exhausted and struggling, she offered to help. But I had no intention of putting a guest to work, so I told her it was fine.
I could feel her shoulders slumping behind me, looking thoroughly dejected. After thinking it over, I decided to go with a method that might get me hit, even if it made her a little mad.
I lifted my hand and slowly stroked her hair. The dejected look on her face gradually melted away, and a flush crept into her cheeks.
What kind of reaction is this......?
I'd been prepared to take a punch, but this unexpected response left me wondering. After stroking her hair a little longer, I took my hand away. A small, disappointed "Ah..." slipped out from behind me, but I pretended not to hear it and started pulling ingredients from the fridge to cook.
Yeonhee sat quietly in a chair, watching me cook. There was nothing particularly impressive going on, yet she watched with rapt attention.
This is a bit much.
I'd never been stared at like this for so long. It was uncomfortable. Under that persistent gaze, I cooked quickly and set the food on the table, then said something — anything — to break the awkwardness.
"Hope it suits your taste."
The moment I finished speaking, she picked up a side dish and ate it, her eyes growing wider and wider. Judging by her reaction, it seemed to have suited her taste, thankfully.
Seeing her enjoy it makes cooking it worthwhile.
We finished the meal without much conversation.
"I'll do the dishes, so you go wash up first."
Now we needed to get ready for bed. It was already late evening. Just eating and showering would bring us close to midnight. And even if we didn't sleep, there wasn't anything to do, and it would only get more awkward. So I sent her to wash first and did the dishes.
The dishes weren't much — just a few plates — so it didn't take long. After finishing everything, I sat in a chair to rest for a moment. Then I heard the bathroom door open, and she came out.
Her cheeks were faintly flushed, her hair still damp and not fully dry, and a pleasant scent drifted from her. Even standing still, there was something sensual about her that kept drawing my eyes, unbidden.
For a moment the scent made my mind go hazy, but I quickly snapped out of it. This wouldn't do. I decided to flee to the bathroom.
"Just rest. I'll go wash up too."
"Okay......"
Her voice was more flushed than usual, and I felt like I might get swept away, so I moved my feet even faster and escaped into the bathroom.
The moment I entered, I locked the door, leaned against it, and let out a sigh that felt like it would sink into the floor.
"Haa... until tomorrow......"
Just now had been a truly dizzying moment, even to think about. It felt like I was testing the limits of how long my reason could hold out. But I'd agreed to this, so I had no choice but to endure.
The fake relationship had been going just fine without any problems so far, hadn't it? Just do it like usual. I only had to hold out for one more day, so I steeled myself and turned on the shower.
When I came out of the shower, she had already changed — sitting demurely in her pajamas. Everything was ready. Now we just needed to sleep. But sleeping in the same room didn't make any sense, so I was going to go sleep in another room.
"I'll sleep in the empty room, so you take my bed."
"......"
"Good night, then."
The moment I was about to leave her sitting there in silence — she clutched my sleeve, stopping me in my tracks.
I turned around, looking at her like, what is this supposed to mean?
"......"
I wondered what she was doing, then I saw that the hand gripping my sleeve was trembling slightly. Until just now she'd seemed okay, so I'd thought she was fine. Apparently not.
If I left her like this, today's events would probably become a trauma for Yeonhee. I knew better than anyone how hard that was, so I was going to take responsibility until the end — so that she wouldn't be left with a bad memory.
"......Alright."
When I answered, she finally let go of my sleeve.
I'd do my best, but there was still a line I had to keep, so I brought a spare blanket for guests and came back to my room.
"I'll sleep on the floor, so you take the bed."
She quietly nodded at my words.
"I'm turning off the light, then."
After turning off the light, I pulled the blanket over myself, closed my eyes, and replayed the day's events. Today had been a really hard day. There'd been a moment when I wondered how any of this would turn out, but it seemed like things had wrapped up well enough.
I'd have to tell Kang Hanbyeol and Kim Naeun too. But that was a problem for later-me to figure out......
I'd only closed my eyes and been lost in thought for a moment when a voice from behind reached my ears.
"Juyeong, you asleep...?"
"......"
I was actually exhausted today, and really tired, so I was pretending to sleep. Then I heard rustling behind me, along with footsteps. The footsteps stopped right behind me, and her voice came again.
"You are asleep, right......?"
When I didn't respond, she lifted the edge of the blanket I was under and crawled inside. Then she slipped her arm around my waist, pulling me into a back hug.
The soft press of her against my back, the faint lingering scent filling my nose — it all sent my reason reeling.
......!
This impulsive act had crossed the line by a mile. I was about to stop pretending to sleep and say something, when her voice froze me in place.
Having said that, Yeonhee immediately fell asleep. The genuine sincerity in her voice wiped every stray thought from my mind.
......Just for tonight.
Without even considering the aftermath waiting for us when we woke up in the morning, I fell asleep wrapped in Yeonhee's arms.
It was the coziest night's sleep of my entire life.