Chapter 25: Overflowing Heart(7)

Thud thud thud.

I kept banging my head on the bed.

The bed I used to use at my parent’s house was still in the room.

My shame gauge was at its limit.

“What a f*cking idiot… I’m an idiot… Ugh… Why… Why did you do that…!”

Li-pak-tong.

Pink Jang-doll.

That was the nickname viewers would give me when I did something stupid on TV.

I usually don’t think I’m that stupid, so I didn’t really like the nickname.

But today, I thought it fit me perfectly.

“Even Jang-dolls don’t have this Jang-doll… Ugh.”

I should have grabbed some clothes to change into before taking a shower and went into the bathroom.

I was cold and wanted to warm up quickly, so I just went in without thinking…

As a result, I had to go from the bathroom in the living room to my room naked.

I liked listening to music while showering, so I ended up taking my phone with me.

That was the point that made me feel even more stupid.

“You took your phone with you… why didn’t you take your clothes with you…”

This was the image of modern people who are truly slaves to their smartphones.

It was okay until I took a shower while happily listening to Lulu Lala, but I realized when it was time to go out.

I didn’t bring any clothes.

But I wasn’t that flustered at the time.

Since no one was home anyway, I thought I should just slowly dry myself with a towel and go into my room.

So I hummed the song, dried myself with a towel, and went out…

That’s when I made eye contact with my mom for the first time.

I think she didn’t hear the front door open because she had the song turned up so loud.

And Ji-bin naturally followed his mom in.

His gaze scanned my body, following his surprised mom.

I was so surprised at that time that my thoughts stopped for a few seconds.

And the moment I realized that Ji-bin was standing naked in front of me, I screamed and ran into the room.

I wanted to die, I wanted to die, I wanted to die, I wanted to die.

I felt like I was going to get a menhaden from the embarrassment.

I thought it would be less embarrassing to show my naked body to a stranger.

Showing my naked body to someone I liked was more embarrassing than I could have imagined.

That was when someone knocked on the door.

“Yu-ah. Stop it now and come out. I have to help Mom make kimchi.”

I had locked the door and was stuck inside.

Mom must have come because she was worried.

While I was kicking the blanket on the bed, she must have been preparing kimchi outside.

I could hear something clicking.

When I didn’t answer, Mom knocked on the door once more and said, “While you were doing that, the cabbage was pickled and I was dead. Now all I have to do is put on the seasoning?”

Mom seemed to have misunderstood.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to work so I didn’t go out.

It was just that I couldn’t go out because I didn’t have the confidence to see Yoon Ji-bin’s face.

I tried to make a deal with my mom who was trying to drag me out.

“Are you really not going to come out? Are you going to keep doing that?”

“I can’t go out…Mom…If you send me to Yoon Ji-bin’s house, I’ll go out…”

My mom responded as if she was dumbfounded by my suggestion.

“Ji-bin came all the way here to help us. How can you send him out now? You should at least finish making kimchi and feed him dinner before you send him off.”

“… Then you can’t go out…I won’t be able to see his face…”

When I let out a sullen voice from across the room, my mom sighed and said soothingly.

“Yu-ah. It’s okay. It’s embarrassing for a moment. Once you get used to it, you won’t care anymore?”

“How can you get used to it! You can’t do it! You absolutely can’t! You’d rather kill me!”

Get used to seeing me naked?

And you showed me all the important parts of your body without even a single piece of underwear?

It was clear that my mom was talking nonsense that wasn’t about her.

Showing off my underwear was already embarrassing, but this was nothing compared to that.

“Mom was embarrassed when she was a virgin, right, Yu-ah?”

“That’s why it took 30 minutes to take off one piece of clothing every time you slept with your dad. Your dad had such a hard time because of that.”

The story that was comforting her from across the room was shocking in itself.

… What are you talking about?

Ji-bin is probably still in the living room…

What on earth is this mom talking about!

“But even moms like that, after the third time, moms just took off their clothes first- “

“Ahhh! Mom! What are you talking about! Yoon Ji-bin is here too!!”

Does she really think Ji-bin is her child?

No, what parent would say something like that to their own child without hesitation?

Are you crazy?

As I listened, my breathing quickened in embarrassment.

I huffed and huffed and gave my mom a harsh reaction.

“Why are you getting excited over something like that? It’s a story about how hard mom suffered to give birth to you.”

“Come on! Have some shame! Mom, please!”

It made me a weird person, as if nothing happened.

I was proud of myself for growing up normally under such a crazy person.

Me, who had a normal sense of dignity and shame as a human being.

“Anyway, so it’s okay? It’s nothing. Ji-bin wouldn’t care that much either?”

“…How would Mom know that. I don’t know if he cares or not.”

“Ji-bin, right? You don’t care that much, do you?”

It seemed like Ji-bin was nearby.

Ji-bin’s familiar, sweet voice could be heard from across the room.

“Of course. I’m okay. It wouldn’t matter if Yu-ah came out of that room naked right now.”

“Hahaha! That’s right, Yu-ah.”

My mom bursts out laughing at those words.

She laughs out loud at Ji-bin’s joke.

…Why are there only such weird people around me?

At this point, I was starting to wonder if I was the weird one.

You could say I was a two-eyed person in a one-eyed village.

I shout outside the room, my anger rising.

“Even if you don’t care, I care! You son of a b*tch!”

Then, the outside becomes quiet for a moment, and Ji-bin’s voice returns, grumbling.

“What are you fussing about? What difference does seeing me naked make when you’ve already done everything?”

And at those words, my heart sinks.

The room and the living room become silent without any sound.

All you can hear is the ticking of the clock and the buzzing of the refrigerator.

Time passes uncomfortably and quietly.

…What did I just hear?

I feel dizzy and feel like I’m going to collapse from dizziness.

And then I hear my mother’s voice mumbling very quietly.

“……When you’ve already done everything?”

At that moment, I clear my head of all shame and everything else.

I open the locked door and quickly run into the living room, covering Yoon Ji-bin’s mouth.

I have to stop him from talking nonsense.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

I cover Yoon Ji-bin’s mouth as he mutters something.

Judging from his wide eyes, he must have been a little surprised after saying it.

Maybe, if it were just the two of us, it would have been easy to say, but the situation here was different.

I’ve never told my mom that I slept with Yoon Ji-bin.

It would have been a problem even if I told him in the first place…

How can I explain it…?

I just slept with him for one night because I was drunk.

But Yoon Ji-bin doesn’t take responsibility for me.

We’re not even dating.

It was just a one-night stand.

I couldn’t possibly tell my mom like this.

Jeez.

I send him a signal with my eyes that I’ll kill him if he opens his mouth again.

Ji-bin realizes that he made a mistake and stops resisting.

My mom’s suspicious gaze turns to me and Ji-bin…

“….. What did you two do?”

I feel my lips go dry at my mom’s question.

It was because I felt the question was a little creepy.

Even though my mom is an open-minded person, if she found out that her daughter had spent a night with a guy she wasn’t dating…

I don’t think anything good would happen.

“No! Mom. It’s just that we’ve been together since we were little… We’re best friends who’ve done everything together! Is that what you mean?”

“… Hmm. Really?”

My mom asked me with a look of disbelief at my rambling explanation.

I nodded repeatedly and asked Ji-bin for agreement.

“Right? That’s what you meant, right? Yoon Ji-bin?”

Ji-bin nodded quickly as if he were some kind of head-shaking doll.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

I couldn’t tell what she was saying because her mouth was covered, but it sounded like she made a slip of the tongue.

Her intonation was like a misspelling of a word.

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah! That’s right. Mom, it’s nothing. She was just talking nonsense.”

“Something feels off…Yeah…I guess I’ll believe you since you say so. Since the baby is here, let’s start with making kimchi.”

As she said that, Mom headed towards the living room where there was a basin of pickled cabbage.

Phew…

I let out an inward sigh of relief.

And so as not to bring up that topic any further, I quickly followed Mom.

“Phwaaaa…I thought I was going to die…phew.”

Ji-bin, freed from my gag, let out a ragged breath.

I followed Mom and sent him a text message on my phone.

[You thought I saved your life. Is this a debt?]

Ji-bin, startled by the vibration sound, took out his phone and said.

[Thank you thank you thank you thank you for saving me, sis]

He sent me a text message along with an emoticon of someone kneeling and bowing.