Chapter 9
“What’s there left to drink in an empty glass? Why do you keep tipping it back?”
The cocktail glass Danbi was gripping so tightly was already completely empty.
Too absorbed in watching Doyoung to notice, she had continued gnawing at the rim with her teeth, grinding them against the glass.
At Hyunseo’s pointed remark, Danbi jolted and straightened her back. Pretending nothing had happened, she turned her attention back to her classmates.
But the looks they were giving her were anything but ordinary.
“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?”
“So, how does it feel to reunite with your first love?”
“Ugh, I’m getting butterflies just watching this.”
Her classmates sitting at the same table were watching Danbi’s ever-changing expressions with sparkling eyes.
“You used to like Senior Doyoung, remember? Come to think of it, you never even confessed to him, did you?”
“Don’t tell me you couldn’t date all these years because you never got over Senior Doyoung?”
“Well, after liking someone like Moon Doyoung, could any other man possibly catch your eye?”
Danbi’s eyes widened as she clenched her molars.
“Let’s get one thing straight. It’s not that I couldn’t date. I just didn’t.”
“Why?”
The question came flying at her so suddenly that she was left speechless.
Besides, she saw no reason to answer.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at her curious classmates, silently warning them that it would be best if they stopped talking about it.
Noticing the dark aura emanating from Danbi, Hyunseo hurriedly changed the subject.
“Mirim, weren’t you getting married next month?”
“Oh my gosh! I completely forgot!”
Mirim clapped her hands and opened her bag, pulling out a handful of wedding invitations.
She made eye contact with each person one by one, earnestly begging them to come.
The conversation naturally shifted to marriage.
Mirim went on at length about how she had broken up with her longtime boyfriend, immediately met someone else, and eventually decided to marry him.
Meanwhile, Hyunwoo, who had broken up with his longtime girlfriend just a few days ago, kept drinking in an attempt to soothe his troubled heart.
Before long, one group was enthusiastically debating how to find them someone to marry because they wanted to get married, while another group of proudly unmarried people argued that marriage was simply the fastest route to hell.
Danbi took neither side, letting their conversation go in one ear and out the other.
Her eyes were focused solely on Moon Doyoung.
Watching him laugh and converse with people among the crowd made her feel as though she had been transported back to when she was twenty-two and hopelessly in love with him.
“……!”
At that moment, her eyes met Doyoung’s.
They were sitting at tables far apart, but the instant their gazes collided, there was no mistaking the slight upward curl of his lips.
Danbi flushed and hurriedly looked away.
“It’s painfully obvious that you’re staring at Senior Doyoung.”
Hyunseo rested her chin on Danbi’s shoulder and whispered into her ear.
“Who’s staring? I was just looking around to see who had come.”
“Why don’t you go over and say hello?”
Did she really need to greet him?
She was going to see him again as soon as they went home anyway.
“Hey, hey! Senior Doyoung got up. Come on, hurry up and follow me.”
Before Danbi could stop her, Hyunseo linked her arm through Danbi’s and pulled her to her feet.
Then she hurried toward where Doyoung was standing.
It was only after she had been dragged along that Danbi realized the familiar scent of him was drifting across the tip of her nose.
“Hello, Senior Moon Doyoung. Do you happen to remember me?”
Hyunseo greeted him with impeccable manners, yet in her usual easygoing manner.
Danbi slowly tilted her head back and looked up at Doyoung.
With his hands tucked into his trouser pockets, Doyoung flashed a grin.
“Of course I remember. You’re Hyunseo.”
He even remembered that she had worn her hair in a bob throughout her entire time at university.
Danbi wanted to subtly tell her that, but if she did, Hyunseo would inevitably bombard her with questions about how she could possibly know that.
So Danbi kept her mouth firmly shut.
Hyunseo twitched her lips, urging Danbi to greet him too.
Danbi forcibly pulled up the corners of her mouth, which felt as though they were about to cramp.
“Hello, Senior. It’s been…… a long…… time.”
And with an intense look in her eyes, she silently pleaded:
Please, just pretend we haven’t seen each other in a long time.
As though he understood perfectly, Doyoung smiled with his eyes and held out his hand.
“Long time no see, Danbi. I’m glad you came.”
Danbi stared blankly at his large hand.
Hyunseo poked her in the side.
Her lips mouthed, What are you doing? Hurry up and take his hand.
Danbi flinched and shuddered before hurriedly taking his hand.
“How have you been?”
How could he play along so effortlessly?
Not only was he naturally handsome, but his acting skills were good enough that he could make his debut as an actor right this instant.
“I-I’ve been fine. Hahaha.”
“Oh my! Of all times, I just got a phone call. I’m going to take this. You two catch up.”
Hyunseo waved around a phone that had not even rung and walked away.
Her awkward movements and tone of voice made it painfully obvious what she was doing, and Danbi’s face clearly said, What on earth is she doing?
“Nothing happened to you? Like, say, getting scammed in a real estate deal…….”
“……Stop it. You’re not funny.”
Even after Hyunseo left, Doyoung remained committed to the role he had slipped into.
The role of Danbi’s first love, whom she was supposedly meeting again after all these years.
Danbi stared at him helplessly, mortified.
“I think it’s funny.”
One of Doyoung’s hands was still holding hers.
Danbi tried twisting her hand free, but he showed no intention of letting go.
He even began gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, making the already stuffy heat around them feel even more intense.
“Have you had a lot to drink? Your cheeks are red.”
“I-I’m not drunk enough to be drunk…….”
Only then did Doyoung let out a low chuckle and release her hand.
Now that her hand was free, why did she feel strangely disappointed?
It felt as though the lively noise around them was deliberately avoiding the space between the two of them.
Everything around her gradually blurred until the only thing sharply reflected on her retinas was Moon Doyoung standing right in front of her.
“When are you going home?”
“I’m not sure. I thought I’d stay a little longer. It’s nice seeing everyone again after so long. What about you, Senior?”
“I’m going when you go.”
Danbi’s eyes widened.
Doyoung simply smiled, his eyes crinkling.
“I’ll take you home.”
“What do you mean, take me home……? You’re going home anyway.”
“My house.”
“What?”
“You’re going to our house.”
“Ah…….”
I’m pretty sure I’m not the one who’s drunk here.
Why is he being so provocative today? My heart can’t take this.
Danbi pressed her heated cheeks with both palms, trying to hide the fluttering excitement written all over her face.
“I’m going home once I’m completely wasted.”
“You can’t do that. The person you live with will worry.”
What is wrong with him? He really must be drunk.
She was about to tell him off for constantly making jokes, but at some point, the smile had disappeared from Doyoung’s lips.
He had been serious.
Her train of thought came to a complete halt.
Before she could even begin to figure out what Doyoung meant by saying something like that, a cheerful greeting came flying toward them.
“Well, look who it is! Moon Doyoung! I heard you came back to Korea, but you never even called. I’m hurt, Doyoung.”
Doyoung turned toward the voice and smiled brightly.
Soon, several distant seniors whom Danbi did not even know squeezed themselves between the two of them, and Doyoung was swallowed back into the crowd.
Feeling embarrassed, Danbi returned to the table where Hyunseo and her classmates were sitting.
“So, did you make a good impression on Senior Doyoung? Did you get his number?”
Hyunseo wore a sly grin as she welcomed Danbi back with both arms spread wide.
She was so innocent.
Danbi didn’t want to pour cold water on Hyunseo’s sweet intentions and all the effort she had put in.
So she bit her lip and nodded.
“Good job. Now the real thing starts tomorrow. The moment you wake up, send him a message. Something like, ‘Did you get home safely last night? Is your stomach okay? Mine is a complete mess. Want to get some hangover soup together?’ You know what I mean, right?”
No.
I have absolutely no idea what you mean.
Why would I send him a message when I’m going to see him the moment I walk into the living room tomorrow morning?
She desperately needed a bamboo forest where she could shout, “The king has donkey ears!” without consequence.
One thing was certain: if she treated Hyunseo as that bamboo forest, the fact that she was living under the same roof as Doyoung would spread across the entire world before long.
The alcohol was beginning to take effect.
She wasn’t twenty anymore, living as though there were no tomorrow. She had to think about the hangover that would come crashing down on her the following morning.
Taking advantage of the noisy conversation around her classmates, Danbi quietly grabbed her bag and slipped outside.
She took a deep breath, and the crisp night air rushed deep into her lungs.
She pulled out the hangover remedy she had prepared in advance and downed it in one gulp.
That was when—
“Drinking alone?”
“Ah! You scared me!”
At the sudden voice from behind her, Danbi hunched her shoulders.
“I told you I’d take you home. Why did you sneak out?”
Doyoung stood beside her, tilting his head curiously.
“Are you going home now too, Senior?”
“I have to.”
“Why? You should stay a little longer.”
“The fun’s gone now that everyone’s out of steam.”
Doyoung was holding two bottles of hangover remedy.
He opened one and, just as Danbi had done, downed it in a single gulp.
Then he handed the unopened bottle to Danbi.
“Just in case, drink this tomorrow morning.”
“Didn’t you buy that for yourself?”
“One is enough for me.”
Before Danbi could ask why he had bought two, a black sedan smoothly came to a stop in front of the hotel entrance.
“I called a designated driver. Get in.”
“Is that your car, Senior?”
Doyoung opened the rear door and jerked his chin toward it.
A man who was barely thirty, yet already owned both a house and a car.
Even though he was unemployed and spent all day at home taking care of his live-in partner……
He really must be a good-hearted rich guy.
Besides, all the public transportation that would take her near home had already stopped running, so she had been planning to take a taxi.
She had been racking her brain calculating the taxi fare, which would be subject to the late-night surcharge.
“Then I’ll take you up on that.”
Danbi climbed into the back seat of the sedan.
A moment later, Doyoung got in beside her.
The designated driver pressed the accelerator and sped down the quiet predawn streets.
The cityscape slid past the car windows.
“Do you mind if I roll down the window?”
“Of course not.”
Once Danbi gave her permission, Doyoung lowered the window slightly.
A breeze carrying the full scent of spring slipped through the opening.
The strands of hair falling across Doyoung’s forehead fluttered gently in the wind.
He looked so beautiful and fresh, almost like a spirit of spring presiding over the season itself.
Danbi couldn’t take her eyes off him for a long while.
