The Question
Following Kim Naeun's lead, we arrived at a restaurant with a wooden signboard written in Japanese. The interior was wood through and through, with stretches of exposed brick along the walls.
"Something smells amazing..."
Of course a restaurant would smell good — but Kang Hanbyeol kept sniffing the air like a bloodhound, while Kim Naeun had already planted herself in front of the ordering kiosk. I waited for her to finish, then reached for the screen myself.
More options than I expected.
It was all rice bowls and noodles, but even so, the variety was impressive. I tapped gyudon, paid, took my number ticket and receipt, and stepped aside.
Where'd Kim Naeun go?
We needed to sit down, and since she'd ordered before me, I figured she'd already claimed a table. I looked around. Sure enough, she was sitting not far from where I stood, watching me. I headed over and sat across from her, waiting for Yeonhee and Hanbyeol.
A moment later, Yeonhee arrived first and slid into the seat beside me, with Hanbyeol taking the one across from her.
"Where should we go after we eat?"
"I know a good karaoke place around here. Wanna hit that?"
"Sounds good. Once we're done, let's go with Hanbyeol's pick."
We talked about what to do with the rest of the day, compared midterm scores, and I even gave Hanbyeol a hard time for no particular reason. And before we knew it, the food started coming out.
They arrived in the order we'd placed them, so Kim Naeun's katsu-don came first. She'd even been talking about dieting, so I'd assumed she'd ordered a lot — but it was just the one bowl.
"Whoa, that's a huge portion."
"No kidding."
Hanbyeol and Yeonhee marveled at how generous the serving was. They really did pile it on for the price.
"I ordered the mini udon too... that'll be okay, right...?"
Yeonhee murmured beside me, so quietly she clearly thought no one would hear. Unfortunately for her, I caught every word. I didn't think she'd fail to finish, but just in case, I glanced around. At a nearby table, someone had ordered the mini udon, and—
...That's supposed to be mini?
Yeonhee's worries might not have been unfounded. Not long after, my gyudon came out, and I went to collect it.
I shouldn't have been worrying about anyone else.
I was starting to wonder if I could even finish my own.
Just as I'd suspected, that really had been the mini udon. On Yeonhee's tray sat a bowl of "mini" udon that looked anything but mini, plus an ebi-don absolutely loaded with fried shrimp. Hanbyeol's tray held a Nagasaki champon in a milky white broth.
Portions aside, I took a bite to see how it tasted.
This is really good.
I'd figured every restaurant like this tasted more or less the same, but this was different enough that my eyes widened a little. Not too salty, not too bland — the seasoning was just right. The rice-to-meat ratio was so generous it felt like a fifty-fifty split, if I was stretching it a bit. Even the side dishes were a cut above — homemade, not the imported stuff.
I let out a small sound of delight, and Kim Naeun and Yeonhee both looked over at me, thoroughly pleased.
"Ahem. Ahem."
Had I been that obvious? Embarrassed, I cleared my throat a few times and ducked my head. But the fond, you're so cute looks didn't go away. I did my best to ignore them and focused on the food. Once I lost myself in eating, I felt those gazes finally slip away.
I savored each bite — sweet and savory all at once — until the silence started to feel a little too quiet, and I snuck a glance around.
Guess everyone's enjoying it.
Hanbyeol's eyes reflected nothing but his food. He'd always been dead serious about meals at school, and today was no different. Kim Naeun's cheeks were puffed out around her small mouth as she chewed. And Yeonhee...
Is she doing this on purpose?
She was eating with the expression of someone who owned the entire world. With fried crumbs plastered all over the corners of her mouth. Even that looked cute, somehow.
"You've got crumbs on your face."
"Hm?"
She hadn't quite caught that, so she looked at me — and I pulled out a napkin and wiped the corner of her mouth. Her eyes went wide.
Ah.
I'd just been looking at her, and my body had moved on its own. Was it because of something that had happened before? I realized for the first time today just how terrifying the unconscious mind could be. I hadn't noticed while I was doing it, but looking at how flustered Yeonhee was, it finally sank in.
I stared blankly at my own hand, then looked up — and Kim Naeun was watching us with a sly, knowing smile.
"No, this isn't— that's not what—"
I had to say something, anything, but I didn't have a single excuse. I looked to Yeonhee for backup, but her spoon had frozen mid-air, and she was staring a hole through the table.
What about Hanbyeol...?
What if Kim Naeun wasn't the only one who'd seen that? I whipped around to check on him, but luckily he was too busy slurping noodles to notice a thing.
Not that it matters. Kim Naeun already saw everything.
If I so much as glanced to the side, there she was, still smiling that little smile. This wasn't an atmosphere where excuses would land.
Just give up...
Beside me, Yeonhee kept staring at the table like it owed her money. I forced my eyes away and chewed in silence. An awkward current hung in the air, confined entirely to our side of the table.
It had been a while since I'd been to a karaoke place. I couldn't even remember how many months it had been. I didn't go often to begin with, but it still felt like a long time. This time we hadn't come after school, and it wasn't a coin karaoke booth — we'd gone to a timed Karaoke Room.
"Welcome. How many?"
"Four."
"Alright. I'll get you checked in."
They charged the adult rate — about twelve dollars a person. I'd never done timed karaoke before, so I wasn't sure if that was even the going price.
We're high schoolers, legally minors, but they still charge us adult prices for this. Typical.
I was grumbling about something that didn't even matter when Yeonhee came back, having finished paying.
"We're all set. Room five."
Before going in, we stashed our shoes in the cubbies and slipped on the house slippers. I opened the door marked 5. A sofa ran along the wall, a table sat in the middle, and the karaoke machine was mounted at the far end.
"Hey. You know the drill."
Hanbyeol thrust out a fist without warning. I'd fallen for that once before. No way I'd forget.
"I'm winning this time."
"Love the attitude. Here we go! Rock, paper—!"
...Shit.
I stared down at my own hand, still clenched in a fist.
"Juyeong hasn't changed a bit~"
"Lmao, thanks to you I get to sit this one out~"
Kim Naeun and Hanbyeol were having a field day.
I lost, so whatever. I'll just knock out a short one and pass it on.
"I'll be done in a second, so pick the next song."
I hit the remote and searched by English pop title. I pressed start, and an upbeat instrumental kicked in.
I do the same thing I told you that I never would~
I sang a song that, intro included, didn't even hit two and a half minutes, then set the mic down as fast as I could.
"This is only the second time I've heard you sing, but you're really good."
"...Thanks."
Her eyes on me had been distracting enough while I was singing. Getting a compliment on top of that — of course my heart skipped.
"Could I request a song?"
"Sure... if I know it."
"This one. Can you do it?"
A ballad that had come out as a webtoon OST. I hadn't read the webtoon, but the song was famous enough that I knew it. But weren't these just... confession lyrics? I couldn't exactly refuse on the grounds that the words made me too self-conscious. So I said yes.
"I'll give it a shot."
I queued up the song Yeonhee had picked, then sat back and watched Hanbyeol's one-man show. He sang, he danced, he was having a blast all by himself. Kim Naeun's bright, fresh voice on an idol track was surprisingly good too.
Even as you brush the tears from my cheeks~
Yeonhee's honeyed voice filled the room with a song that sounded like it belonged in a historical drama. I couldn't even begin to count how many guys must have fallen for that voice. I was definitely one of them.
I listened with my full attention, and when the song ended, Yeonhee set down the mic.
"Hah... feels like all that exam stress just flew away."
"That was amazing."
"Thanks."
I meant every word, and she answered with a small, soft smile.
"I'll be looking forward to yours, then~"
The rotation came back around to me. This time I put on the song Yeonhee had requested. It started quiet. Line by line, the lyrics felt like they were speaking for me.
I'm in love with you~
What had she wanted to hear? The one who'd requested it was just staring at me, dazed.
"Ah, that was fun."
"It was fun, but weren't we in there way too long?"
"Yeah, I didn't think it'd go like that."
By the time we stepped out of the karaoke room, the sky had gone dark — nothing like what we'd planned. Probably because of all the bonus time. We'd already eaten lunch late thanks to Hanbyeol, then loaded three hours on the clock, plus the extra minutes that kept cloning themselves. We could have just left in the middle. Instead we got stubborn about using every last second and couldn't bring ourselves to walk out.
"We were gonna hit other places too, but that's not happening now."
"...Yeah."
Yeonhee and I were both exhausted. We'd been singing nonstop from lunch until the sky went dark. Of course we were wiped.
"Can't be helped. It's not like today was our only chance."
Disappointing as it was, we decided to call it a day. On the way home, we split into pairs the same way we had coming out. Kim Naeun and Hanbyeol had to catch a different bus — their houses were in the opposite direction.
"Naeun, Hanbyeol — we're heading out. See you next week~"
"I'll get going too. Get home safe."
Our bus came first, so we said our goodbyes.
"Today was so fun~ Let's hang out again. Bye~"
"Bye~ See you next week."
Kim Naeun and Hanbyeol sat side by side by the window, waving, and then the scenery started to move. The ride home would take about thirty minutes. Yeonhee was fighting to keep her eyes open.
"If you're sleepy, just rest. I'll wake you when we get there."
"You sure that's okay?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"Then... sorry, but I'm gonna take you up on that..."
"Go ahead."
The second I said yes, she closed her eyes, her breathing already going soft and even. Her head kept bobbing with the sway of the bus, so I guided it onto my shoulder. I sat there praying we'd arrive soon, terrified she'd hear how hard my heart was pounding.
"Lee Yeonhee. Wake up. We're here."
"Mmh... okay..."
"Watch your step getting off."
I steered a half-asleep Yeonhee to the door, waited for the bus to come to a full stop, and got off first. Then I waited for her to follow.
"...Ah—!"
A swallowed cry of pain came from behind me. I spun around and found Yeonhee crouched on the ground.
"Are you okay?!"
"Yeah... I'm fine."
"What happened?"
"I missed the step getting off..."
That's exactly why I'd told her to be careful. Standing around wasn't going to help. I got an arm under her and helped her up.
"Can you walk?"
"...Nngh."
She'd twisted her ankle, by the look of it. Walking was clearly a struggle.
...Guess there's no other way.
I was standing there awkwardly, barely able to put weight on my foot, when Juyeong crouched down in front of me.
"Get on."
"N-no, that's too much, just let me lean on you—"
"It's fine. Get on. It'll be faster."
"I'm really okay..."
"Then I'll just leave you here?"
"Okay, okay, don't leave me..."
For a second I actually thought he might, and the fear of it made me take him up on the offer. I leaned my upper body against his back and let him lift me. I reached over his shoulders and wrapped my arms around his neck.
I felt a small flinch travel through his back and into me, and then my view started to rise, and I heard his voice.
"We're going. Tell me if anything's uncomfortable."
"...Okay."
Then came the sound of his footsteps, and the scenery began to move. A few minutes passed like that. Neither of us said a word — the situation wouldn't let us — and an awkward silence settled in.
But awkward didn't mean my mind was empty. If anything, the quiet made every other sense sharper.
He's so warm...
Juyeong's back was genuinely warm, and it felt so good. It was the kind of warmth that made me wonder if some happiness hormone was seeping out of him, meant for whoever was on his back.
He helped me again.
That back, again. Last time, and this time too. That broad, solid back that always appeared whenever I collapsed or couldn't go on. Maybe I still wasn't fully awake. I was drowning in the feeling of it, and I couldn't get a grip. The sweet orange scent coming off his body soaked into me.
Ah... I can't hold it in anymore...
His warm body heat, that sweet scent, the sound of his footsteps under the dim streetlights, our breathing mixing together — it all tangled up inside my head and tore it apart. My head told me to hold back. Asked me if I wasn't afraid of losing what we had.
I was. I was terrified. But I couldn't contain what was spilling over.
I hadn't planned to use it for something like this.
"...Juyeong."
"What's up? Is something hurting?"
"Nnh, it's not that. Do you remember the Wish Ticket?"
"Oh. The one from the library?"
"Yeah."
"I remember. Why?"
Even if the words I was about to say ended everything between us.
"I'm using it. Right now."
"Right now...?"
"Is that not okay?"
"I mean, I don't mind."
"Then all you have to do is answer me honestly."
"That's all? For a Wish Ticket?"
"Yeah. Okay. I'm going to say it now."
I didn't think I could last another second without saying it.
