“Hey, before we go, I just need to make a quick phone call.”
“Hm? What about your cell phone?”
“It’s broken.”
“Oh, really? Then use mine.”
“……It’s fine.”
I had to use a payphone. My body rejected leaving behind traces.
But once alcohol is involved, you won’t be able to resist either.
Hae-in was already giddy at the thought of outwitting her own body.
A headache struck, but she forced herself to ignore it.
I just want a drink, that’s all. Don’t get in my way!
Muttering self-hypnosis, she rushed toward the station to find a payphone. She needed to call Siyul.
________✧⑅˖♡∘˚˳°↝^._.^_________
[Hello?]
It seemed Siyul had assumed it was spam and hadn’t wanted to answer at first. But the persistent ringing had forced him to pick up, albeit reluctantly.
His voice carried a hint of annoyance, and he sounded ready to hang up after just one word.
“Kang! It’s me.”
[……What? That was you?]
Hae-in could feel the thorns immediately fall away from his tone.
[What’s going on?]
“So, I’m outside right now. A little far.”
[What? Where are you?]
“I’ll be back.”
[……Okay. Then when are you coming home?]
“Well…… it’ll probably be really late. I just didn’t want you to be surprised, that’s all. Got it?”
Even to herself, Hae-in felt like she sounded rather cute when she spoke to him. She wasn’t really that kind of woman, but still.
Seeing old acquaintances today had reminded her how dry and barren she’d become.
[How late?]
“I’ll be back before dawn.”
[……What about Taeil? What am I going to tell him?]
“Say I’m at the hospital with you. You’re on call tonight.”
[You…….]
“Please! It’s just…… I feel like I might be able to do something.”
Maybe it was because he saw her as cute. In front of him, she always felt younger, softer. Like she could ask him for anything, like she could even whine. He made her into someone unlike herself.
[……Is it dangerous?]
Was it because he was such a remarkable man, understanding her without her saying much at all?
“I don’t know. If it works, it works. If not, it doesn’t.”
[You’re not going to end up sick again, are you?]
“……Even so, I think it’s better than doing nothing.”
He stayed silent, perhaps because he sensed she was up to something uncertain.
But thinking of him gave her strength. Even if she hurt, even if the pain came back as bad as before…… she didn’t care.
She hated being in pain, yes—but doing nothing was far scarier.
“Kang, are you listening to me?”
[Yeah…… and it’s not like you’d actually stop just because I told you not to, anyway.]
“I love you.”
It felt like the first time she’d ever said it over the phone.
Truthfully, she hadn’t said it aloud even ten times before. But she wanted him to feel less anxious, wanted herself to be braver, so she let the words spill out.
Words that were embarrassingly uncharacteristic of her. If it weren’t him, would she even dare?
Perhaps because it came so suddenly, he was quiet for a long moment.
Then, finally, he answered. From the noise in the background, he seemed to be standing in the middle of the hospital.
[I love you too.]
His “I love you” carried the easy tone of a casual greeting. Unlike her trembling, sugary confession, his words were steady—making them land even deeper.
Haein couldn’t help but think,
Is there another couple as sappy as us?
“……Y-you’re at the hospital. Is it okay to say that there?”
[Did I say something I shouldn’t have?]
“Well, no, but…… people can hear you……”
[And you said it first.]
He was always that kind of man. One who left her speechless. One who made her blush.
[If you’re going to say things like that, at least give me a warning first.]
“Who gives warnings for things like that?!”
[So I can record it.]
“Wha—…… I’m hanging up!”
He was being serious.
Worried he might actually demand she repeat it, Haein hurriedly hung up. Out on the street, I-young and Sumo were waving her over.
“Perfect. I’ve got my strength back now……”
Time to borrow the power of alcohol!
She’d reported in to Siyul, set up her alibi. Hae-in was fully prepared to drink herself under.
Alright! Tonight, I’m breaking myself!
So she vowed, even as her headache pulsed oddly.
________✧⑅˖♡∘˚˳°↝^._.^_________
“Hey, Haein, I’ve been wondering since earlier…… why are your eyes like that all of a sudden?”
While they waited for appetizers, I-young gestured toward her eyes. Hae-in touched her swollen lids.
They looked like the eyes of someone who’d been crying buckets. Which, of course, was true.
“……I was cleaning the studio for the first time in a while…… so much dust. I think it got to me.”
“Ohh, allergies?”
“More like the room was filthy.”
“That’s why I keep telling you to ventilate more. Once mold starts, it never stops.”
I-young seemed convinced.
Hae-in liked people who were so easy to fool. She also liked people who lacked suspicion.
So why was it, then, that she loved Siyul—the one person she could never fool?
Nibbling on seaweed chips, she pondered why she couldn’t stop thinking of that man, not for even a single day.
“But you know, I’ve been wondering something too.”
“……What is it?”
Sumo raised his hand and asked, even though it wasn’t really Q&A time.
“Haein…… you seem different somehow.”
“Oh, I thought the same thing.”
“Right? There’s something about your vibe……”
Their sharp gazes made her tense up. Artists—of course they had such keen eyes.
She thought her face looked exactly the same, but maybe the Reaper’s mask had changed her in subtle ways.
“R-really? Did I…… gain a little weight?”
Stammering, she tried to cover her face, but it was useless.
“No, not that. You look the same, but the aura is different, somehow.”
“You look more mature. Your expressions have changed too.”
“Yeah, and your hair looks nicer…… your skin was always great, but it’s even better now.”
“The biggest change is…… you look kind of sexy, I guess? Oh, I know! Do you have a boyfriend?”
I-young nailed it like a fortune teller. Haein’s only option was silence—the best answer she could give.
“Oh my god, really? I knew it!”
“Hey, that’s harassment.”
“Between women, it’s fine!”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.”
As the two bickered, the drinks arrived. Hae-in gulped nervously.
Would alcohol really help her, or not? She still couldn’t be sure.
________✧⑅˖♡∘˚˳°↝^._.^_________
“You filthy bastard! Uuuugh!”
“……Who are you talking about?”
“That rotten son of a……! I won’t forgive you! Sniff sniff…… you’ll see!”
That bastard! I’ll skewer you alive!
Hae-in collapsed onto the table, crying. Barely thirty minutes had passed. The trigger? The sight of the skewered chicken on the plate.
“W-who made her drink that much?”
“She did!”
“You should’ve stopped her!”
“How was I supposed to know? She always handled her drinks fine! Who knew she’d get plastered off that much?”
“I’ve never seen her this drunk before…… her boyfriend must be a real jerk.”
Not knowing it was the Reaper she was cursing, I-young and Sumo could only whisper to each other.
Haein wasn’t eating the food, only pouring drink after drink down her throat like someone hell-bent on revenge.
And for some reason, she kept yelling at the skewers.
“You think you’re so great just ‘cause you’ve got wings?!”
“Um, Haein…… did something bad happen? Don’t overdo it.”
I-young tried to intervene, but Haein’s passion for alcohol tonight was unmatched.
“……I’m fine. I want more.”
“Uh…… maybe you should stop now?”
“I have to drink! If I don’t…… urk.”
And with that, Hae-in bolted—for the bathroom.
Her plan wasn’t going the way she’d hoped. Alcohol wasn’t so easy to tame.
________✧⑅˖♡∘˚˳°↝^._.^_________
From that night on, I-young and Sumo silently vowed never to casually offer Haein alcohol again.
“Did I…… tell you about him?”
“Hm?”
“That man. He’s really, really blue. And he’s so much like a cat. And…… I think he was a king in his past life. Probably. If not…… I’d still love him anyway. Because I’ll forget everything, so please remember it for me. Okay?”
She had been rambling for a while now, but her words were so slurred they could barely understand half of it.
And most of it didn’t make sense at all.
She repeated herself, again and again, but…… what exactly was she trying to say?
“Later…… later, you have to tell me, okay? Promise?”
“……You mean about your drunken rambling tonight?”
“Yes! You must!”
“Alright, fine.”
She’ll be mortified later…… should we really tell her all the nonsense she mumbled?
I-young and Sumo nodded. If they didn’t, Hae-in looked ready to keep rambling on with her incomprehensible story forever.
“I really, really like him. Enough that he shows up in my dreams. Enough that I wish I could see him, even if only in a dream… That’s why.”
At least one or two sentences were clear enough to understand.
________✧⑅˖♡∘˚˳°↝^._.^_________
How much time had passed?
Hae-in realized she had dozed off. She also realized she was now inside a moving car.
Blinking her eyes open, she quickly recognized it as a taxi.
“…Huh?”
Her limbs were heavy, her throat dry. From somewhere nearby came the sound of a late-night radio broadcast, and through her blurry vision she caught sight of the Han River outside the window.
Out of habit, she must have taken a taxi after drinking.
She tried to piece together her memory. Her pockets had been light, and she remembered emptying the last of her coins into I-young’s hand, insisting it was her share of the bill.
In truth… she’d spotted a taxi pulling up while Sumo was settling the check, and she had simply hopped in.
Meanwhile, I-young had been busy gathering up the coins Haein had dropped all over the ground.
Right now, they were probably wondering where on earth she had vanished.
“Driver… where are we going?”
“Hm? Miss, you just woke up?”
Haein’s drinking habit had always been the same—disappearing without a word. Her homing instinct was so strong that she would slip away alone and head home without telling anyone.
“You said to go to the animal hospital.”
“…Ah.”
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
The taxi driver seemed uneasy, asking her more than once. But once she heard the destination, Haein relaxed and drifted back into sleep.
Ah, I’m going to Siyul. Then it’s fine.
“Eh? Miss! You’re falling asleep again? Miss?!”
________✧⑅˖♡∘˚˳°↝^._.^_________
Siyul had no idea what to make of this situation.
“This young lady told me to come here… You know her, right?”
From the backseat of the taxi, Hae-in was completely passed out. Siyul couldn’t help but sigh.
This troublemaker.
“She got in the taxi and insisted on coming here, you see.”
“…Ha.”
She had spoken as if she had some serious plan in mind, so he had been worried. Yet in the end… she returned drunk, by taxi no less.
It was so ordinary, so anticlimactic, that Siyul almost laughed.
“I thought it was strange, but she kept insisting this was the place. You don’t know her?”
The driver sounded nervous, probably worried he wouldn’t get paid.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
“Ah, well that’s a relief!”
Siyul climbed into the backseat to wake her.
But she refused to budge, her body limp as ever. In the end, he had no choice but to lift her up. She resisted, trying to push him away, though her resistance was feeble at best.
“Hey, it’s me. It’s me.”
“…Ungh?”
She squirmed against his arms, half-protesting, until her eyes half-opened and recognized him. Then, as if she had never resisted at all, she wrapped herself around him and began to nuzzle closer.
Apparently, her drunken clinginess hadn’t gone anywhere.
“Kang.”
Her voice trembled happily as she called his name.
“…How much did you drink?”
“…It didn’t work.”
“What didn’t?”
“The restraints… they’re too strong.”
At his question, she pouted instead of answering clearly. Her tongue was so heavy with drink that her words came out slurred. Even so, Siyul managed to carry her out of the taxi.
Like a koala, she clung tightly, as if she wouldn’t let go even if he tried to set her down.
Looking at the way her arms were locked around him, Siyul had no doubt she wouldn’t release him.
“The fare is 41,340 won… Who’s paying?”
“….”
“You can pay from her wallet, or you can settle it yourself.”
The driver glanced at Siyul’s veterinarian coat, adding explanation after explanation as if the price were suspicious.
“It’s the night surcharge. Plus, it’s a long distance outside the city. I charged exactly what the meter said—honest.”
“…That’s not the issue.”
“Oh? Then you’ll pay?”
“Where did she get in the taxi?”
Siyul suddenly realized the most important thing and asked with a serious expression. Where had she come from?
Haein, oblivious to everything, kept rubbing her cheek against him.
Without realizing it, she had brought him a vital clue.
Holding her drunken weight and enduring her clingy antics, Siyul asked again:
“The place she got in. Was it an alley? A shop? There must be something.”
