TMWCL Ch 4 part 3

The next morning, when Yeoreum opened her eyes, she saw a ceiling that had become quite familiar to her.

As she groped around with both hands, she felt the soft and fluffy sheets. There was no sign of anyone else. Why am I here? Yeoreum recalled the events of last night. She had tossed and turned until she came up with the perfect excuse and called Haegun over, asking him to teach her how to drink. She finally met him and they shared drinks, and then her memories blacked out.

Yes, the film had snapped, just as Haegun said. The problem was that it stopped exactly after the second kiss. Everything before that was very vivid in her memory.

“Should I just go and die?”

It would have been better to completely black out and not remember at all. Or remember everything. The moments she could remember were vague, but the parts she couldn’t remember were even scarier. Yeoreum hurriedly checked her clothes. She took off her underwear, but she didn’t feel like her waist was going to snap off. She didn’t see any chafing between her legs either. The only thing that gave her discomfort was the stiffness of the fabric of the bottom part of her underwear, as if it had been wet and had dried overnight. But she didn’t mind it too much. This… So this came from me? Yeoreum’s face turned red. She didn’t think too deeply about it. Right now, her hangover was more important.

Her head was spinning. The area around her mouth felt uncomfortable. Was it because too much saliva had dripped out while they were kissing? It felt as if some liquid had dried up on her skin. Then she noticed a faint fishy smell in the room. It smelled like the chestnut flowers she had encountered when she went hiking during a high school field trip in the fall… But she had never smelled it at home before. Was it the smell of dried saliva? Or maybe it was because of the hangover.

“I don’t think I made any more mistakes after that.”

There were two bathrooms in the officetel. One in the bedroom and one in the living room. Except for the few pieces of furniture, the place was similar to an apartment. Yeoreum immediately headed to the bathroom that was attached to her bedroom and sighed when she saw her face in the mirror. Her lips were swollen, and there was even a scab in the middle. First, she washed her face to remove the stains, and the fishy smell almost disappeared completely. It seemed that the dried saliva was the cause.

“I hope Ahjussi didn’t come to his senses after he saw me sleeping with drool dripping down my face.”

Yeoreum returned to the blanket and hid underneath her pillow. If there was a mouse hole, she wanted to squeeze herself into it somehow. She was embarrassed and scared. What kinds of scenes were hidden within her broken memories?

This won’t do. Negative thoughts were bad for both her physical and mental health. She decided to spend time focusing on the good memories instead of the bad ones. Good memories… like kissing him.

Yes, last night was a huge success.

Was it because she was drunk? Or would it have been better if she wasn’t drunk? Haegun was a very, very good kisser. Although she’d never experienced it with another man, she felt like Haegun could make her climax with just a kiss. Maybe she had already experienced that last night.

Since everything else about him was great, she thought he would be a good kisser too. Honestly, she had imagined it a few times, but those imaginations were soft and heart-fluttering, not so sexual. Even though their clothing was between them, his shaft had touched her, so hadn’t they basically almost done it?

Yeoreum slowly brought her hand down and pressed her clitoris over her shorts. Was this what it felt like? As she pressed down and moved up and down, the feeling seemed quite similar. He had pressed up against her like this as they breathlessly tangled their tongues.

“Ah…”

A groan burst out of her lips. In the midst of her dazed state, his voice calling out her name continued to ring in her ears. Yeoreum, Yeoreum, Yeoreum, Han Yeoreum… How would it feel to become one with Haegun as his voice called her name? Would it feel as good as the kiss?

When her thoughts reached that point, Yeoreum froze.

“Wait, this…”

She pulled her hand away and drew in a slow breath.

“Why am I imagining that?”

No one answered her, but Yeoreum knew what the answer was. Gangster, thug, good-for-nothing. No matter what word she used, Yeoreum could not escape the thoughts of the sleek man who belonged to that profession.

“So, right now, I… like Ahjussi?”

Yeoreum then realized that the biggest crisis of her life had come to her. She rolled around on the bed and tried to fall asleep again, gulped down some cold water, and even took the hangover cure that Haegun had bought for her. But her conclusion did not go away.

Honestly, she had a vague idea. But she didn’t think her feelings would be big enough to do what she did last night. She just thought he was a likeable man. A very likeable man. There was a saying that when it came to drinking liquor at night, there was no such thing as friendship between men and women. She had only been worried about Haegun crossing the line, but who knew she’d be the one to cross that line?

But she didn’t regret it. From the moment she asked him to teach her how to drink, she’d be lying if she hadn’t imagined the worst-case scenario. Although she was still fearful of the part where her memories cut off, she liked what she could remember. If she had known that kissing would be so heart-pounding, how the endorphins would flow through her body, she would have grabbed someone and tried it sooner. No, but she still didn’t think kissing someone else would be as good as last night.

Yeoreum thought for a long while before picking up her phone. There were no messages from anyone else except for Soojin and Seungwoo. Haegun wouldn’t contact her first anyway, so it would be better for her to do it first. She also had an excuse.

Yeoreum opened up her chat with him and was about to send him a text when…

「Make sure to drink some hangover cure.」

A short message appeared on the chat window, and the number ‘1’ next to the message disappeared in an instant. At this point, wasn’t this fate? Yeoreum thought to herself as she hit her head with her fist. Maybe it was because of the hangover, but she wasn’t in her right mind.

He was a gangster. A gangster! A gangster, a thug, a good-for-nothing that Yeoreum hated so much.

But Haegun was a bit… Wasn’t he a bit different from those guys? He was tall and handsome, had a good personality, and although he made his subordinates work on weekends, he was a good boss who bought them meat every day…

「Okay.」

She sent her reply right away as she grew lost in thought. Haegun must not have closed the chat yet because the number ‘1’ next to her message disappeared right away. The timing was good. Yeoreum continued talking.

「Ahjussi, my film snapped. I remember up to two bottles… I didn’t do anything I’d regret, did I?」

「You slept very well.」

His plain reply came back. She knew it was a lie, but she thought it wouldn’t feel awkward between them moving forward. She felt that it would be okay… but she grew upset again. Yeoreum pouted her swollen, fish-like lips even more. She didn’t do anything she’d regret? Was their kiss nothing to him? That deep, intense kiss? It was basically sex.

「Then can you please teach me one more time? Starting with soju again. I need to know my alcohol tolerance, and last night didn’t tell me anything. Since I only have a few days free before I start my part-time job again, I think it would be good to learn it right now.」

「Stop joking around.」

Yeoreum looked at her phone screen with a hurt expression. As expected, the executive director of Sungha Construction was different. He had noticed it right away.

「Okay. Then I’ll just drink with my friend today.」

She blurted out those words without realizing it. If she didn’t meet Haegun, she would have just stayed home and studied. The feelings had to be mutual for this back-and-forth to work. And he wasn’t the type of person who would take the bait over something like this.

But then her phone rang right away.

[Friend?]

For some reason, goosebumps ran down her spine when she heard his calm voice. Maybe it was because she was the only one who felt hurt, but Yeoreum began to lie.

“Yes. Seungwoo is the friend who lent me his room. I decided to meet up with him before he left for his military training. He didn’t just give me his room, he also gave me his blankets, some side dishes, and other things. So I decided to buy him some drinks.”

[…Okay. Drink moderately. You can drink up to three glasses, so don’t drink any more than that.]

“Three glasses is too little.”

[Do as I say.]

The call quickly ended. Well, what else did she expect? There was no way he’d fall for it.

Yeoreum was letting out a deep sigh when she received a message from Seungwoo.

“Yeoreum, do you want to grab dinner with me today whenever you have time?”

Was she being spied on these days? Why was everyone’s timing so impeccable?

* * *

She only planned on eating some spicy stir-fried chicken before heading home to study today.

But because she had a quick meal during the day, she wasn’t feeling well until dinnertime. However, after taking a couple of bites of the spicy stir-fried chicken wrapped in radish, her appetite returned. And with the salad on the side, the greasy aftertaste completely disappeared.

Seungwoo laughed cheerfully and opened his mouth.

“Aren’t you going to invite me to a housewarming party?”

“I will. But only if you promise to keep where I live a secret.”

“Of course. I won’t say a word.”

Yeoreum glanced at Seungwoo’s outfit. A loose-fitting black short-sleeved t-shirt and long, black pants that looked like they were tailored to his body. It was clearly an ordinary outfit that was seen everywhere out on the streets, but for some reason, it felt very put-together. Did he always wear a watch? Now that she thought about it, it looked like he had put some effort into his hair. He had an excited vibe about him. What was that round thing on his ear? Was it an earring?

“Why are you so dressed up today? Did you go on a blind date or something?”

“No! I don’t do things like that.”

Seungwoo strongly denied it, waving both his hands.

“Why are you denying it so much? Well, I guess that makes sense. What’s the point of going on a blind date when you’ll be going off to military training soon?”

“Right. I’m not that thoughtless.”

He laughed awkwardly.

“Then what about you, Yeoreum? Do you have something going on with anyone? It’s summer break.”

“Something?”

“Yeah, like flirting.”

Memories of last night came to mind. He had rubbed her lower abdomen and caressed her back while kissing her as if he were going to devour her. Was that considered flirting? Either way, Yeoreum wasn’t supposed to remember that, and Haegun acted as if nothing happened. Well, to a gangster, a one-night-stand was commonplace, so kissing would mean nothing to him.

“I don’t.”

Yeoreum was a bit annoyed as she put the cabbage salad into her mouth and ate it as if she were chewing on a piece of beef.

“What happened to your lips?”

“I used to chew on them a lot. But I’m going to stop doing that now.”

“You had a habit like that? I’ve never noticed it before.”

“It was only a brief habit. It won’t happen again.”

“It looks painful. I think you should put some Vaseline on it or something. Should I go out and buy some?”

“No, it’ll get better if I just lick it from time to time.”

She replied as she stirred her plate. Just sitting still made her think of last night, and it nearly killed her. But hearing something like ‘flirting’ made her feel even worse. She thought she’d feel better when she saw Seungwoo, but that wasn’t the case at all.

“Seungwoo.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to grab a drink with me?”

“Huh? I’d be down.”

Yeah, might as well. She already told him over the phone that she was going to drink anyway, so she was going to do it. It didn’t seem like she’d be able to focus on her studies in this state. Yeoreum, who had even finished eating her fried rice, got up from her seat with her tote bag. Seungwoo got up and took his wallet out of his bag.

“Yeoreum, I’ll pay for this.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the one who invited you out to eat.”

“Okay, fine. But since I invited you out for drinks, I’ll pay for that.”

“But I want to pay for that too.”

“No, I’ll do it. It’s not like I came out here to strip you of your money.”

“Strip what…?”

“…Nevermind, let’s go.”

The two of them headed to a bar near the downtown area. There were a lot of people, but the food was cheap and affordable. The music wasn’t loud, so they’d be able to talk easily. The tables were a little too close together, but it wasn’t a big deal.

“What should we eat?”

Seungwoo held up the menu and turned it to the side so that Yeoreum could look at it too. Yeoreum stared at the menu for a while before opening her mouth.

“Chutisul.”

“What about snacks?”

“Are there any shrimp chips?”

“Huh? No.”

“Then let’s just have some fish cake soup.”

Their order came out quickly. Yeoreum looked at the macaroni crackers that came as a basic side dish and thought about the shrimp chips from last night. The long and tasty crackers. Haegun had put them in her mouth himself.

“Seungoo, I’m going to tell you a story about my friend. She said that a guy who wasn’t even her boyfriend fed her snacks while they were drinking. He’s messing around with her, right?”

Seungwoo looked surprised after hearing her words.

“Of course. By any chance, does Cha Soojin have another guy? Did she do that?”

“No, this isn’t about Soojin.”

“Then do you have another friend besides Soojin?”

“…No.”

“Then did this happen to you?”

“Of course not. I met someone while working part-time. We’re not that close.”

“Ah, I see. That guy is totally messing with her. Only cunning guys do stuff like that. Do the two of them have something going on?”

“They’re not even flirting.”

“Then he’s trash. Tell her to block him. When those guys drink, they feed things like cuttlefish, honey chips, and macaroni crackers to all kinds of women.”

His conclusion was reasonable. Thanks to this, Yeoreum’s mood hit rock bottom. She poured soju into Seungwoo’s glass before pouring some into her own. Then she lifted her glass.

“Let’s drink.”

Clink. Their glasses clinked. One glass, two glasses, three glasses… The green bottle was empty just in time for the fourth glass. Yeoreum pressed on the bell to order more.

“Aren’t you drinking too quickly?”

“So what? I’m drinking with you.”

And she drank even faster last night. From Haegun’s perspective, he might have slowed down for her.

Could she think about this a little less? Yeoreum stuck out her lips and glared at the empty soju bottle with a grumpy expression. It was all Chutisul’s fault. And why was the server taking so long? All of these thoughts swirled in her head when…

“Excuse me, who are you?”

She heard Seungwoo’s voice. His voice was filled with an instinctive wariness. She looked up at Seungwoo and then followed his gaze and turned her head.

“Is this Seungwoo?”

The man was looking at Seungwoo. Jeong Haegun was wearing a black shirt today as well. Seungwoo was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, and Jeong Haegun was wearing a long dress shirt with the sleeves haphazardly folded up. Their black clothes were different, but because they were the same color, the differences between the two were even more prominent. The protruding clavicles on his neck, which were twisted above a couple of unbuttoned shirt buttons. His hair, carelessly slicked back, and his face, which looked like it had been delicately chiseled by a sculptor.

“You’re right. He’s Seungwoo. Why are you here, Ahjussi?”

“Yeoreum, do you know this person?”

Seungwoo interjected.

“He’s my dad’s friend.”

“Ah, you’re her father’s friend. Hello, My name is Lee Seungwoo. I’m Yeoreum’s friend.”

Suengwoo stood up from his seat with a cheerful smile and greeted him. But Haegun ignored his greeting.

“I came to pick you up because of your curfew.”

“Curfew?”

Yeoreum asked back. Seungwoo also looked confused and murmured.

“Why is your dad’s friend…”

Then, when Seungwoo’s eyes met Haegun’s, he gulped. The man who was Yeoreum’s father’s friend seemed far from an ordinary office worker. The watch on his wrist was also expensive. It was a limited edition that was almost impossible to find in Korea. Come to think of it, wasn’t there a rumor going around in high school that Yeoreum’s father was a gangster? He thought it was only a rumor, but was it true after all?

“Remember to take your bag.”

“It’s eight-thirty right now.”

“Your curfew is at eight.”

Haegun lied with a surprisingly shameless face. Yeoreum responded with an expression of disbelief.

“…That’s too severe. If it’s at eight, I can’t do anything.”

“Then let’s just say it’s nine o’clock. So you should leave now to make it back in time.”

“Can’t I drink a little more?”

“No, you can’t. If you must drink more, should I just join you two?”

Have Haegun join them? If Haegun heard the conversation she just had with Seungwoo, it would be a big problem.

“Seungwoo, let’s just end things here for today. I’ll call you and Soojin for the housewarming party soon.”

“Yeah, I guess there’s nothing we can do.”

“I’ll pay for this.”

As Yeoreum took out her wallet, Haegun opened his mouth.

“I already paid. Come out, there isn’t much time.”

“I guess I have to go. See you next time, Seungwoo.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

Seungwoo waved his hand with a disappointed expression on his face.

* * *

Yeoreum followed Haegun out and stared at his side profile.

They took the elevator straight down to the underground parking lot. While walking, she thought, ‘Would it kill him to hold my hand? Or would that be weird? Or maybe he could just speak a little more gently…’ After everything that happened last night. She kept thinking about it, but she couldn’t be the first one to bring it up.

“I told you not to drink more than three glasses.”

His low voice sounded scary. She was startled, but she tried to act calm and opened her mouth.

“I still clearly remember everything after drinking half a bottle.”

“If you drink more than that, you’ll do something you regret.”

“I told you I won’t regret it. That wasn’t a mistake.”

“You said you don’t remember anything. Right?”

“……”

“Why does Yeoreum keep crossing the line like this? What, you want to have sex this time?”

He stopped walking and looked at Yeoreum with a blank face. His posture was awkward as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“Do you want this ahjussi to pop your cherry?”

“Pop… what?”

“Do you want me to sleep with you?”

“……”

“Yeoreum. You shouldn’t look at anyone younger than you or anyone who is more than five years older than you. You know that. You’re a smart girl.”

Yeoreum felt sorrow surge up inside her throat. Did he think she didn’t know?

“You’re right. Because you’re a criminal and a gangster, my dad’s friend, and an ahjussi who is more than ten years older than me. I know that too.”

“If you know, then why?”

“So why were you so nice to me?”

“What?”

“You got rid of the bad people, you told me to quit my bad part-time job, took care of me, gave me a place to live, paid my utilities, taught me how to drink, and ki—… All that stuff. Did you really not know what would happen if you treated a young girl who had nowhere to go and no one to rely on like that? How she would feel? You’re a bad person, Ahjussi.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Haegun was calm once again. It made her angrier.

“Then…!”

“So we should stop seeing each other now.”

“…What?”

“Because I’m trash, now that you’ve fallen for me, I’m kind of sick of you. If anything comes up, just contact Taehyuk. He’s going to take care of anything related to you from now on.”

“Ahjussi, what are you…”

“If you don’t keep your curfew from now on, Taehyuk will come and grab you.”

After saying those words, Haegun briskly walked to his car and drove out of the parking lot without looking back.

Yeoreum stood blankly in place. She went back up to the first floor and called a taxi. The whole situation felt unreal. When she got out of the taxi and walked up to her officetel, there was a bag hanging on the doorknob.

“Vaseline, lip balm…”

Tears welled up in her eyes.