Chapter 4: Spend a night(4)

“Uh …”

Of course, it was the feeling of human flesh, warm to the touch.

As my mind came back to the surface, goosebumps began to form.

…Who is next to me now?

I turn my head like a broken robot.

A baby-like, white face comes into view.

A familiar face, eyes closed softly, sleeping like an angel.

Closely arranged facial features.

Moist, healthy, crimson lips.

And she is sharing a blanket with me, completely naked.

There was no way I could have confused this face with one I had seen for over 10 years.

“…Yu-ah?”

What could it be?

Why is she sleeping naked next to me?

And sharing a blanket with me?

This isn’t even my house; it looks like a motel.

I suddenly feel a desire to escape reality.

I close my eyes for a moment and open them again, wondering if it’s a dream.

I wonder if I’m having a strange dream because of the shock of breaking up with Lee Chung-ha.

I think that and close my eyes again.

Please… please…. please when I open my eyes, tell me this is my house… tell me there’s no one next to me…

And then I slowly open my eyes again.

“…”

The cute face I saw earlier appears again.

Reality is always cold.

There was a slightly musty smell coming from the bed.

The smell of sweat and the scent of night flowers that I sometimes smell in my room.

The mysterious scents mixed together and tickled my nose.

In the meantime, Yu-ah, who was sleeping next to me, smelled good for some reason.

I looked around the bed and saw a condom that was stretched out, probably from yesterday.

And there were wet tissues and toilet paper scattered here and there.

If Conan was there, he would have pointed at me and said, “You’re the culprit!”

“…I’m screwed.”

I felt the end, having taken in all the circumstances.

I couldn’t deny it anymore.

I definitely spent the night with the girl lying next to me.

….Yoon Ji-bin’s eyes went dark.

He hurriedly tried to recall yesterday’s memories.

He clearly remembers going to a cocktail bar, drinking with Yu-ah, and cursing at Lee Chung-ha a bit…

But then…

Then…

What did we do…?

I remember drinking a lot of strong alcohol.

That must have been why I blacked out.

I couldn’t remember the actual conversation.

I forced my aching head to think of only a few scenes.

One scene where she stares at me while drunk, and then presses her lips to mine.

And then a long gap in between.

One scene where we arrive at the hotel, continue our awkward kiss, take off each other’s clothes, and continue our caresses on the bed without washing.

Another big gap in memory.

After the s*x, the two of us fall on the bed, looking at each other lovingly.

I couldn’t grasp the exact situation.

But just recalling those few scenes was enough.

“Whatever it is, I slept with her… right now…”

My first thought was embarrassment.

I remember a conversation I had with Dong-hyun before.

When he asked me if I thought there were friends between men and women while drinking, I said yes.

That’s because Yu-ah and I are like that.

“Are you really so naive? If you sleep with her after drinking, you’re not friends from that day on.”

At that time, I told him not to be a jerk.

I told him that even if I drank with her, there would never be a time when we would sleep together.

I remember confidently telling Dong-hyun back then….

Today, Dong-hyun’s words became true.

Are you crazy? Are you crazy? Are you really crazy?

What did you do? What the hell.

As I accept the situation, I feel guilty and regretful.

Even though I’m drunk, and even though I’m weak-hearted because I broke up with my girlfriend.

But still, Na Yu-ah.

I shouldn’t sleep with her. We’re like family. Family shouldn’t do this!

“…f*ck. How am I going to see her face from now on.”

Yu-ah had never even had a boyfriend. So I had spent the night with a virgin.

“Um…”

Even though I muttered, I was so tired from my first experience.

Yu-ah was sleeping soundly without moving.

I panicked, not knowing what to do about this new experience.

For a moment, I had a strong desire to escape.

…Shouldn’t I just get out before she wakes up?

That was the first thought that came to my mind.

It might be an irresponsible act, but I just couldn’t face her in this situation.

I wanted to go home and spend some time alone to sort out my thoughts.

And when I was ready, I would contact her and wrap things up.

Okay… let’s go for now…

I made up my mind and quietly pulled away from her.

I slowly got out of bed so as not to wake Yu-ah and carefully covered her with the blanket.

Then I looked for some paper and a pen in the motel and wrote a message for her when she woke up, so that she would be surprised.

It was the moment when I hurriedly put on my panties and clothes and stuffed my phone into my pants.

Woof. Woof.

A phone vibrated from somewhere.

Of course, it wasn’t my phone.

…Where is it? Where the hell is it?

It was obvious that it was Yu-ah’s phone.

As I looked around, I saw her cell phone on the side table next to the bed.

I quickly ran over to grab the phone in case she woke up.

And I was about to press the call rejection button…

“Ah.”

I was so anxious that my hand slipped and pressed the answer button.

A man’s voice flowed out from her cell phone that I was holding.

[Hello. Rikyuel.]

My hand, which was about to press the call end button, stopped right there because of one word.

The name Rikyuel, so familiar to me.

For a moment, I strongly thought that I had heard it wrong.

While I hesitated for a moment, the man continued talking.

[This is the Starlight Collaboration Cafe Planning Team. I’m contacting you about the drink change you requested this time… Is this a good time for you?]

“… What is this? My head is getting complicated. Starlight. Rikyuel. And the collaboration cafe.”

Familiar words swirl around in my head, creating an even bigger whirlpool.

The conversation from the Just Chat broadcast a few days ago flashed through my mind.

[That’s right, you guys. There was an important announcement, but I forgot. Why, aren’t we having a collaboration cafe soon? Us. I’ve already tried a drink, so let’s go?]

[But this is kind of weird. What was the drink? It was originally peach ade. When I first tried it, it was too sweet, and it didn’t taste like something Baemon would like.]

[And most importantly, it wasn’t pink enough. It was peach, but it was more like a plum color, should I say? But my hair feels like hot pink. Yeah.]

[So I ended up changing it. What did I change it to? That pink honey grapefruit ade? I changed it to that. It was much pinker and tasted better.]

Yes. That’s exactly what it was.

When I didn’t say anything, the man spoke again.

[Rikyuel? Hello?]

I hung up the phone without saying anything.

And I pressed the end button to turn off my phone.

Without realizing it, I turned my head to look at Yu-ah’s face, who was fast asleep on the bed.

I thought about her job as a freelance illustrator.

Is she really an illustrator?

No way… No…

Is it right to deny it after hearing this far?

There can’t be another Rikyuel besides that one.

There’s no way it was a mistake calling.

I heard it clearly as Starlight, and the change in collaboration cafe drinks was something only Rikyuel herself or those who watched her broadcast would know…

Then… Then…

Really?

I thought that sometimes.

That Yu-ah’s laughter and Rikyuel’s laughter were similar.

That the games they were both good at overlapped as FPS games.

That black was Rikyuel’s favorite color, and Yu-ah liked black too.

But I had never thought of her as Rikyuel.

Of course.

“… So you’re Rikyuel?”

My mumbling into the air went unanswered, of course.