The Night Heats Up
The Night Heats Up
The inside of the barbecue restaurant was thick with smoke from grilling meat.
Amidst the boisterous noise, the female streamers sat around clinking glasses.
I naturally took a seat in the corner and picked up the tongs.
"Wolha-ya, you worked hard today. Here, a drink to celebrate your return!"
"Take this too! Our crew has no affection if you can't drink~."
"This one's from me~"
As if they had conspired, drinks were pushed toward me incessantly from all over the table.
Bomb shots mixed with beer and soju lined up in front of me.
Everyone was smiling, but a deep hostility swirled in their eyes.
I silently emptied the glass.
I could feel the harsh alcohol burning down my throat.
"Hoo."
"Are you getting drunk already?"
"Don't be such a baby."
There's no way I'd get drunk from this much.
I should just play along appropriately.
"Just a little, please."
"Aish, with just this little?"
"No way, come on!"
Pretending to be drunk, I swayed appropriately and grilled the meat.
"Alright, everyone! Pay attention!"
Then, suddenly, Suyeon stood up from her seat and clapped her hands.
Her face was already wearing the friendly mask she used for broadcasts.
"Our Wolha not only returned today but also immediately got 2nd place in the rankings, right?
Since we're in a good mood, how about a drinking game?
The person who gets caught does a one-shot of this bomb shot!"
Suyeon picked up a beer glass that seemed to be mixed with hard liquor and soju, giving off a harsh alcoholic smell.
"Sounds good!"
"Suyeon-ah, what game should we play then?"
The other female streamers eagerly responded to Suyeon's words.
Unless you were a fool, you couldn't not know.
...So this is why they wanted a company dinner.
But I had no excuse to avoid it.
The game started, and as expected, Lee Suyeon blatantly targeted me.
"Wolha got caught? Here, drink!"
"One-shot!"
I silently downed the hard liquor.
My throat felt like it was on fire.
Three glasses, four glasses, five glasses.
After downing hard liquor one after another, even this body, which hadn't gotten drunk at all, began to feel the intoxication rising.
But I never lost my reason.
It was Suyeon and the other female streamers who became flustered.
"Wolha-ya, are you okay?"
"It's a bit tough, but I'm fine."
Now... let's change the direction.
Pretending to be drunk, I swayed as I put down the empty glass and subtly changed the tempo of the game.
Fortunately, this level of drunkenness couldn't dull my reason.
"Ah, it's not me this time. I think Arin unnie got caught?"
"Wh-what? Why me!"
"That's the rule."
I smoothly pushed the hard liquor Suyeon had poured right under Arin's nose.
Arin's face turned pale.
She looked up at Suyeon, but Suyeon avoided her gaze.
In the end, Arin forced the bomb shot down her throat.
After that, due to my clever maneuvering, Arin had to drink hard liquor one after another, even my share.
"Kgh, hoo..."
Thanks to that, it was Arin, not me, who was on the verge of passing out.
"Arin unnie, have some of this."
With a calm face, I placed a well-grilled piece of pork belly on Arin's plate.
I spoke quietly to her, who was on the brink of losing her senses.
"Chew the meat and sober up a bit."
Perhaps that one remark was the trigger.
The focus finally left Arin's pupils.
"Ha! Who the hell do you think you are..."
"Arin-ah, what's wrong."
"Did I say something I shouldn't have!"
I tried hard to ignore Arin's words, but.
"Hey."
Bang!
Arin slammed the table, and a soju bottle toppled over weakly.
"You think I'm a joke?"
"Huh?"
"That's it, isn't it?
Otherwise, how could you say that to me?
'Be careful this time too?'
...You fucking bitch!"
Arin shot up from her seat.
"Who the hell are you to steal my top donor?"
"Arin-ah! Calm down!"
"Let go of me!"
Even the other customers beyond the partition started whispering.
"You Hunter bitch, does money taste sweet because you flash your tits on stream and make cash?
Don't think you got that money because you're actually good, you whore!"
At the ringing, abusive language.
The noisy barbecue restaurant fell into silence in an instant.
"Arin-ah, please stop! People are watching!"
The other pale-faced female streamers hurriedly grabbed and pulled Arin's arm, but
she had already lost her reason and struggled violently.
"I'm a senior in this field!
And you, some bitch who crawled out of nowhere!"
...Did I go too far?
But I had no choice if I wanted to survive.
"I didn't know it was so hard for you, unnie."
"Y-you..!"
"I'll go to the restroom for a moment."
"Y-yeah. Go ahead."
"Arin-ah, sit down."
"Let go!"
***
While washing my hands at the restroom sink.
Zzzz-
A vibration rang from inside my pocket.
It was a call from Lee Yul.
Just as I was about to answer without thinking, I stopped my finger.
I can't answer the phone with this voice, in this state.
I quietly pressed the reject call button.
At that moment, the inner stall door opened and Suyeon came out.
She glanced at me once,
then stood in front of the mirror, irritably rummaging through her pouch to pull out a lipstick.
The tip of her hand applying the lipstick to her lips was trembling.
Eventually, the lipstick smeared outside her lip line.
Suyeon stared at my eyes in the mirror and opened her mouth.
"Today's broadcast was very entertaining, Wolha-ya."
It was a low, icy voice, completely opposite to the bright one from earlier.
"Does it taste sweet pulling Balloons after selling your tits?"
I turned off the faucet.
"You started it first, unnie."
Cold water trickled down my hands.
"I just gave it back to you as it was."
Suyeon irritably placed the lipstick on the sink.
"Fine, I'll admit it. I let my guard down."
"..."
"I didn't know you harbored such venom."
Suyeon turned her body toward me.
"But don't get cocky just because you got one over on me today."
The sound of her high heels sharply struck the tile floor.
"Bitches like you, who flash in and pretend to be pretty, are a dime a dozen.
So why do you think I've stayed number one here?
It's because I'll do anything to survive."
"So?"
"Look forward to it from the next broadcast.
I'll shake you down to the very bottom, see how long you can last."
Leaving that icy warning, Suyeon left the restroom.
I looked at the door once, and then at my face in the mirror once, alternating.
Suddenly, the phone screen I saw Suyeon looking at two weeks ago came to mind.
Was it a student loan text message.
...So you're desperate too, huh?
I dried the water off my hands with a paper towel.
A laugh leaked out.
Staring straight at myself in the mirror, I muttered.
"...I'm desperate too."
***
When I returned to the room, Arin had already lost consciousness and was passed out in the corner.
Suyeon was smiling warmly again, her mask back on over that cold face from earlier,
and the other female streamers were poking at the meat with awkward expressions.
I sat down as if nothing had happened and ate the remaining food.
As time passed, people started getting up from their seats one by one.
"I'll be going now!"
"Thank you, President!"
"Everyone get home safely, and please keep up the tension by turning on your personal streams even when we're not doing Haneul Company broadcasts.
Don't go MIA like a certain someone."
How petty.
Park Haneul started calling taxis.
I also got up and gathered my outerwear.
"Ms. Wolha, are you not drunk?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"Then please help me a bit."
"Yes."
I helped the drunk people into taxis one by one.
As Suyeon got into the car, she spoke in a cold voice.
"You worked hard today. See you next time."
"Yes, unnie.
Get home safely."
Finally, I was left alone, isolated on the night street.
"Haa... I'm tired."
Even though the wind was blowing, my face felt strangely hot.
Is the alcohol hitting me now?
At that moment, a call came from an unknown number.
I tried to ignore it, but the calls kept coming, so I had no choice but to answer.
"Hello?"
"Wolha-ya, it's Keunson Gom oppa."
Fuck.
I pulled the phone away from my ear.
"Oppa sent 500 today, how about we meet up separately sometime?"
How did you get my number?
"How did you get my number?"
The cheek touching the phone was burning.
"Got it from Haneul.
Ah, is this your first time with something like this?"
A wave of nausea surged up from within.
Park Haneul, you sold my number without saying a word to me?
Heat rose from within.
A disgusting itchiness began to creep up from around my lower abdomen.
I forced myself to take a deep breath and lowered my voice.
"I'm just too busy.
I was in the hospital for a long time and have some things to sort out...
And I need to start going into Dungeons again soon."
Goosebumps rose on my thighs brushed by the wind.
"What? You got hurt going into a Dungeon!
And you're going back there?"
"The reason I'm doing this job is because of that."
My body flinched every time my clothes touched my skin.
"I'm really sorry."
***
"I'll make sure you're not disappointed.
Just a meal, okay?"
"I'll see you on the broadcast later."
This feels awful.
Gently brushing off the clingy Keunson Gom, I ended the call.
"Haa..."
After hanging up, I let out a sigh.
But at that moment, a vicious heat surged up from my lower abdomen, which had been itchy since earlier.
Suddenly, I caught a whiff of a floral scent.
A sweet, sticky Evening Primrose smell.
"Haa, hahk."
My breathing became ragged.
Just the thin clothes swaying in the wind sent a tingling sensation across the skin of my entire body.
No way.
Even though it was a cool night, my face felt burning hot, as if it would burst.
Is this?
It wasn't because of the alcohol I drank at the dinner.
...Fuck!
I had forgotten.
That becoming Wolha again meant
that the vicious heat that drove me crazy every night had also returned.
At this time...?
I'm still outside!
My legs went weak, and I almost collapsed on the spot.
The pleasure and heat, as if my whole body were burning up, began to gnaw at my reason.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Biting my lip tightly, I looked up.
Some passing men were approaching me.
"I'm, fine."
Get lost.
I barely swallowed the curse back into my mouth.
Staggering to avoid the approaching person, I ran down the street.
Beyond the noisy night street, I saw the flashing neon sign of a hotel.
***
I pushed the door open with difficulty and entered the lobby.
The hotel front desk employee's eyes widened.
"...A room, please."
"Ah, yes. One moment."
Leaning against the counter, I struggled desperately to maintain my consciousness.
But I was gradually reaching my limit.
I could feel the secret place touching my underwear already becoming damp.
"Here you are."
The hand receiving the key card was trembling violently.
The employee's finger holding the card brushed ever so slightly against my fingertip.
"Hh...!"
That tiny contact alone sent a tingling electric shock up my spine.
My back stiffened rigidly, and a moan leaked out.
"Are you hurt somewhere? Should I call 119—"
"It's just... I'm feeling a bit unwell.
Don't, worry about it."
Covering my mouth with my hand, I fled into the elevator.
Ding.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, I slumped down onto the floor.
"Hahk, hahk."
I forced my hand, which wanted to go lower, to move and tightly clutched my chest instead.
"Huk."
Hurry, hurry!
The ten seconds going up felt like an eternity.
Ding.
As soon as the doors opened, I practically crawled along the floor to reach the room.
> With trembling hands, I tagged the key card.
Click.
I opened the door and threw my body inside.
Squeezing out the last of my reason, I closed the door, slid the latch, and locked it.
"Haa, haaht...! Ugh, uuuh..."
Any more was impossible.
I couldn't hold back.
Lying on the tile floor,
with trembling hands, I undid the button of my hot pants and pulled them down.
The sweet floral scent began to fill the small room.
I can't take it anymore.