〈Chapter 3〉

 

The Childhood Friend’s Love Advice

* * *

“Huh? Si-hyeon? What the hell are you doing here?”

The brown-haired woman picked up her food and sat down directly across from Si-hyeon.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a bright, beaming smile. At the sight of her, Si-hyeon’s eyes practically popped out of his head.

“Yerin…?”

The woman sitting opposite him was Han Yerin. She was his female friend of fifteen years—they’d known each other since kindergarten, back when Si-hyeon first moved to Daegu.

They had always gone to the same schools and even now were in the same department at the same university.

Though they’d always stuck together at school, things had grown awkward between them ever since Si-hyeon started dating Chaeyeon. So being alone together like this was actually a rare occasion.

Drip, drip

Yerin poured some soy sauce into a small dipping dish for her fish cakes and asked,

“Did something happen? For a guy who absolutely despises booze, what’s gotten into you to be sitting here getting wasted all by yourself?”

Faced with this unwanted encounter, Si-hyeon lowered his head, trying to hide his haggard appearance.

“Just… stuff. I’m not in a great mood today, so just eat your food and leave.”

Normally playful, she waved off his reaction with a laugh.

“Come on, we finally ran into each other! Why are you being so serious? Anyone would think you actually broke up with your girlfriend or something.”

The moment those words left her mouth, Si-hyeon’s face twisted into a grimace.

He didn’t know what kind of expression he was making, but seeing the smile fade from Yerin’s face, he guessed it must have looked pretty dark.

“…Don’t tell me… you actually broke up?”

“Yeah. So don’t bother me and just go on your way.”

“Oh… sorry.”

Yerin scratched the back of her head, looking awkward. Feeling stifled by her presence, Si-hyeon reached for the soju again.

“Stop drinking. You’re going to wreck your stomach.”

Seeing how drunk he already looked, Yerin snatched the bottle away. Then, to make sure he couldn’t drink more, she lifted it and took a swig herself.

“Ugh… bitter.”

Wiping her mouth with her sleeve, she continued with a faint, playful smile.

“Stop suffering in silence and just spill it. Out with it—how did you two end up breaking up?”

“You’re really something…”

Si-hyeon was about to tell her to stop being so damn nosy and go home, but then he suddenly remembered the Chat from earlier.

[Aloe Tea Bag: Eh? Why would that be a bother? When you break up, you’re supposed to meet friends, get some comfort, and talk shit about your ex. That’s how it works.]

If he followed his counselor’s advice and let it all out, would he actually feel better?

Feeling conflicted, Si-hyeon looked at Yerin, whose face had already turned flushed after barely half a bottle.

She was leaning forward, her head tilted toward him as if ready to hang on his every word.

‘Since we ran into each other anyway, should I just tell her everything…?’

He let out a deep sigh and rubbed his tired face with both hands.

After an agonizingly long silence, a decision was made. Glancing longingly at the empty soju bottle, he finally forced his mouth open.

“The truth is…”

Si-hyeon began to pour out everything that had happened that day.

How he’d received a tip from a friend and stormed the location of Chae-yeon’s blind date.

How she hadn’t just ghosted his calls, but had the audacity to lie straight to his face.

The resulting argument, and how Chae-yeon—insisting she had done absolutely nothing wrong—had the nerve to turn the tables on him.

And finally, how he’d accepted her demand to break up and ended up drinking alone at this roadside food tent until he ran into Yerin.

The longer Si-hyeon talked, the more Yerin’s expression shifted toward outright shock.

Her eyes widened, her hand covering her mouth in disbelief, she listened until…

“Lim Chae-yeon… is that bitch totally insane?!”

At the end of his story, she slammed her fist onto the table in a fit of rage.

Breathing heavily, her face as red as a tomato, Yerin ordered another bottle of soju.

“That crazy bitch… If I so much as run into her in the lecture hall, I’ll smash her skull right through with this.”

Drunkenly ranting about how she’d smash the girl’s head with a soju bottle, she took another massive swig.

While seeing her get so angry on his behalf felt incredibly refreshing, Si-hyeon realized that if he let her drink any more, he wouldn’t be able to handle her. He snatched away the soju bottle just as she was glugging it down.

“Why’d you take it? Give it baaack!”

Her face was bright red like she was embodying the statue Hongik Ingan itself, and Yerin reached out with unfocused eyes.

“You’re way more wasted than I am. That’s enough.”

“Fuuuuck…”

For some reason she seemed so upset that her clenched fists trembled, and tears welled at the corners of her eyes.

She looked like a child throwing a tantrum, causing Si-hyeon to burst into laughter despite himself. Seeing this, Yerin immediately snapped at him.

“How can you even laugh after what she did to you? Wake the hell up… You know you’re gonna run into them again soon, right?”

Si-hyeon, Chae-yeon, Yerin, and Sohee. All four of them were in the same department. It was a setup where no matter how much he tried to avoid them, they were bound to cross paths eventually.

‘Right… I forgot about that.’

He’d been so consumed thinking about the breakup that he’d pushed aside the fact that he’d have to see them again at school…

Just the thought of having to face those two again, a headache already began creeping in.

Tap. Tap.

Si-hyeon drummed his fingers against the soju bottle he had snatched from Yerin and muttered.

“I never want to be tangled up with them again… Maybe I should just take a leave of absence from school?”

Yerin retorted, pointing her fish cake skewer at him.

“Why the hell should you take a leave when you didn’t do anything wrong? If anyone’s going to do it, it should be them.”

“It’s just… it’s going to be so awkward running into them.”

Yerin clicked her tongue like he was pathetic. Then, she thumped her chest confidently and said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay by your side and block them so they can’t come near you.”

She said it while hiccuping, which didn’t exactly inspire confidence…

Still, just having his friend by his side made Si-hyeon feel reassured.

“Look at you, being all reliable.”

“Hehehe… right?”

With a bashful grin, Yerin blinked her glazed eyes repeatedly.

Glancing at his watch, Si-hyeon realized it was already past midnight, and he stood up for Yerin’s sake when he saw how tired she looked.

“Let’s get going.”

“Huh? But I want to talk more…”

“I’m sleepy.”

“Really..? Well, I guess it can’t be helped then.”

After paying the bill, Si-hyeon left the tent bar while supporting a staggering Yerin.

Luckily, the rain had stopped, so they didn’t need to buy an umbrella.

“I didn’t let you go just for it to end up like this…”

Yerin whined some unintelligible words as she leaned her weight against his’s shoulder.

At first she matched his pace, but before long she fell asleep while clutching his arm. Because of that, every time Si-hyeon moved forward, her shoes dragged across the pavement.

“You really are a piece of work…”

She’d acted like she was going to comfort him, only to pass out drunk—Si-hyeon let out a chuckle at the sheer absurdity of it.

She was sliding down so far that her shins were about to scrape the ground; unable to watch any longer, Si-hyeon lifted her legs and hoisted her onto his back.

‘Making a “patient” do this kind of labor.’

Though she was light, a sharp, stinging sensation shot through him with every step due to the wound on his shin.

The only saving grace was that Yerin’s house was only five minutes away.

Deciding to endure it a little longer, Si-hyeon limped forward.

“Ss… haa…”

The smell of alcohol drifted from Yerin’s breath.

Feeling the familiar weight and body warmth against him, Si-hyeon suddenly thought of Chae-yeon’s face.

‘Whenever Chae-yeon got totally wasted, I always ended up carrying her home just like this.’

If she drank too much and passed out, Si-hyeon would rush out as soon as he heard. With Sohee telling him “I’m counting on you,” he’d carry the unconscious Chae-yeon on his back all the way home.

‘She doesn’t even like alcohol, so why does she drink until she was blacked out every chance she got…?’

Si-hyeon shook his head, thinking about how he could never truly figure her out.

‘Well, not like I’ll ever have to walk her home again.’

As he walked, mentally talking shit about Chae-yeon, he arrived at Yerin’s house.

Turning his head slightly toward the girl on his back, he asked.

“Hey. We’re at your place. I’m opening the door, okay?”

“Sure… Si-hyeon, do whatever you wanna dooo…”

For someone who was supposed to be asleep, she sure was quick to talk back.

he hoisted her up again just as she was about to slide off, then entered the code into the digital door lock.

‘1017. In a world as scary as this, her birthday is her passcode.’

At Yerin’s complete lack of caution about safety, let out a sigh and opened the door. Inside, the place looked surprisingly dull for a woman’s home.

There were no flashy decorations; it was a home with only the bare essentials.

Most noticeable of all was the unusually large fridge, covered all over with takeout menus from various restaurants.

‘It hasn’t changed a bit, even though it’s been a while since I was last here.’

After glancing around, Si-hyeon walked into Yerin’s bedroom and flipped on the light.

Then, breathing in the faint scent of cosmetics, he tossed her onto the sky-blue bed.

Roll, roll… Thump!

But maybe he misjudged his strength.

Yerin rolled across the mattress and smacked her head against the bedpost. Letting out a low groan, she finally blinked awake.

“You okay?”

Sitting up on the bed, Yerin rubbed the top of her head as she answered.

“Fuuuck… Why would you just throw a person like that?”

“My bad.”

It must have really hurt, because Yerin’s eyes were welling with tears as she nursed her head.

Then, her gaze drifted downward, and she began to stammer, pointing at the lower half of Si-hyeon’s body.

“What the… Your leg! What happened to your leg…?”

“Hm?”

Following her finger, Si-hyeon looked down. His shin was stained red.

‘Now that I’m seeing it in the light, it looks pretty bad.’

Visible through the tear in his jeans was a wound so gruesome it made one want to look away.

Si-hyeon already knew it was there, so he was fine—but Yerin, seeing it for the first time, froze with her hand over her mouth.

Hoping to ease her shock, Si-hyeon spoke nonchalantly.

“This? I just tripped while walking…”

“Is this because of Lim Chae-yeon?”

Si-hyeon was cut off mid-sentence. When he shifted his gaze from the wound to Yerin, he was met with her expressionless face.

“I’m asking if you got hurt because of her.”

At her repeated question, Si-hyeon scratched the back of his head.

‘Is it right to say this was Chae-yeon’s fault?’

She was technically the reason things happened, but since he was the one who tripped and fell on his own, he felt it was awkward to blame her directly.

Yerin took his silence as an admission of guilt. She brushed her bangs back, looking absolutely dumbfounded.

“So it is. What the hell was that crazy bitch doing while her boyfriend ended up in this state?”

Yerin shot to her feet, stomping loudly as she went to grab the first-aid kit.

“Just give me the medicine. I’ll apply it myself.”

Yerin bit her lower lip hard, flatly ignoring his request.

“Shut your mouth and stay still.”

Si-hyeon’s body shrank back instinctively. As he nodded meekly, she dabbed the red antiseptic to a cotton swab and began to gently stroke the wounded area.

“Sss…”

“It’ll be over soon, so just bear with it for a second.”

He clenched his fist to hold back the groan trying to escape.

After disinfecting it, Yerin took a fresh swab and started applying ointment, speaking with a troubled look.

“What if this leaves a scar…?”

Her medical treatment concluded with the application of a large, square adhesive bandage.

She stared at the injury for a while, then let out a long sigh and sat on the edge of the bed.

“This won’t do. You’re sleeping at my place tonight.”

“Forget it. My house is close by; I can just walk…”

“Absolutely not. Stop overworking that injured leg for no reason. In the morning, we’re going to the clinic together before we head to class.”

Seeing how resolute Yerin had become, Si-hyeon felt a headache coming on.

He knew from experience just how stubborn Yerin could be.

‘If I ignore her and walk out now, she’ll just keep nagging me forever, won’t she?’

She’d hover around him making it obvious she was pouting, or act all hysterical as if every single day was “that time of the month.”

Si-hyeon knew what kind of negative consequences his choice could have in the future.

“Fine… I’ll stay.”

Because of that, he gave in with a weak nod.

Honestly, he wanted to lie down as soon as possible anyway, so it wasn’t a bad offer. Since he viewed Yerin as family rather than a romantic interest, the idea of sleeping in the same place didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“I’ll get you some clothes to change into.”

With the corners of her mouth curled up, Yerin began rummaging through her closet, humming to herself.

One by one, men’s clothes started coming out. They were all Si-hyeon’s.

“I thought I’d lost all those clothes. They were at your place the whole time?”

“Yeah. You’re the one who left them here… remember?”

“I did?”

Si-hyeon tilted his head in confusion.

‘Did I ever come over to Yerin’s wearing those…?’

He tried recalling his memories for a while, then quickly reached a conclusion because it was too much effort to think about.

‘I guess I just left them here a long time ago.’

Not thinking much of it, Si-hyeon took a shower and changed into the clothes she had handed him.

When he returned to the room, Yerin—who was already lying in bed—lifted half of the blanket she was covered with and spoke.

“Come here. Let’s sleep together, for old time’s sake.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Seriously, how have you not changed at all even as you’ve gotten older?”

At Yerin’s complete lack of caution, Si-hyeon shook his head.

He thought to himself that it was a good thing it was him hearing those words; if it had been any other guy, she’d be in deep shit by now. With that thought, he spread a fresh blanket out on the floor.

“I’m sleeping down here, so you go to sleep too. You looked really drowsy earlier.”

Yerin watched his actions with a displeased glint in her eyes, then…

“Hah.”

She let out a scoff and pulled the blanket all the way up over her head.

“I’m turning off the lights. Goodnight.”

“…Yeah, you too.”

The moment Si-hyeon lay down, he passed out before he even had the chance to dwell on the pain of the breakup.

Exhausted both mentally and physically, it wasn’t long before he began to snore.

Rustle.

Only Yerin poked her head out from under the covers, staring at his defenseless, sleeping form with an unreadable, meaningful gaze.

* * *