Chapter 5

Joohyun wakes up feeling lightheaded. Her vision is still swirling in circles. Joohyun touches her cheek with half her eyes closed. That’s odd. She thought she decided that she wouldn’t dress her wound. She hears someone chopping in the kitchen. She does not remember calling Mister Park to drive her home.

Joohyun is in her pajamas. Another strange thing she doesn’t remember doing. Ahjussi would never change her clothes. She finally decides to go outside. If it was Mister Park, then she’d eventually think of something to say. But her head is aching like as if it was hammered last night. She isn’t sure if she’s sober yet. At least she’d have some excuse if she says something stupid. Here goes nothing.

“You’re awake?” Seulgi has her back turned away from Joohyun. Seulgi must be tasting the dish she’s cooking.

What is this? Joohyun is baffled. Why would Seulgi be here?

Joohyun’s chest itches. She brings her hand to scratch it over her clothing. Her heart seems to be accelerating beats. Seulgi is in pajamas too. The pants seem too short for her. Joohyun tries to calm herself. Her heart’s not going to feel serene at any moment later, she knows. She cannot remember a thing from yesterday. She must have had five bottles of soju to herself. She hates the taste of soju but chose to drink as much. She just drank it because she needed the alcohol to feel distracted. She was jealous because of Seulgi’s undivided attention for Sooyoung last night.

Seulgi finally gets to turn around. She holds the pot transferring the contents into a bowl. She doesn’t look at Joohyun because she’s so focused trying hard not to spill anything.

“So, you’re wife material now?” Joohyun smirks. She still stands frozen near her room’s door.

“Then you’re the person my mom warned me not to fall for”, Seulgi says as she is finally looking at Joohyun.

“I’m not actually sure as I am still not sober. Did something happen between us last night?” Joohyun realizes that she now has a habit of saying sentences with badly chosen words. She crosses her arms over her chest. Thinking they would have done it. Internal panic on the loose.

Seulgi giggles. “No point in covering now! I’ve seen it all. It’s the least I can do to be compensated with that kiss. I mean peck. It seemed like a peck, did it?”

Joohyun runs to her bedroom, locking the door. Internal panic plus drumming heart. What did I do? She continually asks herself. She hears Seulgi banging on her door.

“I didn’t you, you know!” Seulgi shouts while suppressing her laughter.

Joohyun thinks Seulgi is back to Seulgi from before. She feels comfortable now.

Seulgi stops banging on the door, “Get out here, you need hangover soup so you can try and remember!”

Joohyun eventually gets out bearing a sulky face of a teenager. She’s more worried about Seulgi’s cooking. Joohyun takes a seat. She knows, she needs the hangover soup. The less she knows, the more she’s curious and vulnerable to Seulgi’s stare. Seulgi hands her a spoon.

“This is tolerable in my opinion”, Joohyun says sarcastically after tasting the soup.

“I was worried you left me because I can’t cook a decent meal”, Seulgi says casually.

“One of the reasons, yes.” Both Joohyun and Seulgi were exchanging glances while eating.

Joohyun finally remembers. Welcome party. Being jealous. Soju. Rooftop. Confession. Kiss. Or Peck? She tries to hold her composure but her head is shaking vigorously while staring into blankness. She would never actually try to confess to Seulgi if she’s sober. She guesses the alcohol served its purpose.

“I’ll do the dishes”, Joohyun announces.

“Pabo. I’ll do it. Your hand still has an open wound.” Seulgi gathers the dishes one by one. “Get ready, we have to go somewhere.”

Joohyun doesn’t know where they would go but she wants to wash away the alcohol smell. She wonders if Seulgi hates her for kissing with such a stench. It was their first. It’s just so wrong. She didn’t expect it to be like that. She didn’t plan on doing it like that.

She remembers the bandage. If she’s getting a shower, she should at least cover it with something. She goes out to the kitchen. She sees Seulgi smiling like never before.

Joohyun goes for the drawers, wrapping it with plastic would be okay.

“Hyun, we need to stop by the apartment. I can’t go out in pajamas. You have to drive this time.” Seulgi speaks nonchalantly.

Hyun? Where did that come from? No one has ever called Joohyun “Hyun” before. The situation is escalating fast. There’s no stopping now. Joohyun feels like her heart’s going to burst from so much emotion.

“Uhm, okay.” Joohyun doesn’t actually know what to reply Seulgi. She rushes off to shower. Maybe it would clear her mind a bit. Or maybe calm her heart in the slightest.

---

Seulgi seems relaxed while watching television in the living room. She hears Joohyun’s door open. “We should go. It’s a good thing you asked Sooyoung and Seungwan to produce a script each for a week. We’re free to go.”

“I wanted to drive around alone and get the whole week set for lazy-ing around.”

Joohyun and Seulgi got inside the car. Out of impulse again, Joohyun pulls the seatbelt for Seulgi. Seulgi smiles like a crazy person. Joohyun drives them to Seulgi’s place.

“Do you want to stay here or go inside while you wait?” Seulgi asks tenderly.

Joohyun knows it’s been three years since she set foot in the apartment. She turns off the engine and gets out of the car. She wanted to see it for herself. When they enter, Joohyun sees a flower by the window. It looks like it was replaced two days ago. It’s a tulip. Wait. She remembers the last time she put a flower there, it was a tulip too.

Seulgi might take a while so Joohyun goes into her old room. Nothing is there. It’s as if it was the same as she left it before. The note by the study table is still there. Her heart suddenly drops speeding up. She felt a pang of disgust towards herself. She can’t stay there any longer. She goes out back to her car.

“Hyun, I thought you’re going to wait there”, Seulgi says as she climbs on her seat.

“I’m too much of a jerk, am I?” Joohyun almost whispers.

“You were. And I’ll make sure you make up for it. You can start now”, Seulgi says cheerfully.

“Where to?” Joohyun asks.

“To the home depot!” Seulgi says.

While driving.

“Hyun, I never got to give you your graduation present. You were gone when I was trying to find you at the end of the graduation ceremony.”

“As far as I can remember, I told you I didn’t need any.”

“I’ll give it to you later when we get home.”

“What? Do you mean you’re sleeping over again?”

“Am I getting the wrong idea that we’re a couple now?”

There it goes. Seulgi drops the bomb. Joohyun tries to focus on driving. But she keeps accelerating.

“You’re slow-witted for someone who got the highest honors in your batch!” Seulgi is a little irritated.

Just in time, they arrive at the home depot. This saved Joohyun from getting beat up with words. She feels like this is going too fast again.

Joohyun pushes the cart chasing where Seulgi goes.

“Can you give me two sets of this mug design?” Seulgi asks the saleslady.

“Are you moving into a new place? You look good together.” The saleslady compliments them.

Joohyun seems baffled again. Maybe the old Seulgi she knows is less chatty than she remembers. She decides she likes the silent Seulgi better.

“She hasn’t asked me yet.” Seulgi replies with a smile as the saleslady gives her the mugs.

Joohyun still can’t believe she’s with Seulgi right now. She stays quiet while Seulgi chooses what else to put into the cart. Seulgi’s smiles make her heart flutter a bit more. Joohyun also sees that Seulgi is really into set designing. It makes her think that Seulgi’s excited to decorate her house.

Joohyun’s phone rings. Caller id says Mister Park. She answers, “Yes, just put it anywhere in the living room.” And then hangs up.

“Who was that?” Seulgi acting like she’s jealous. She grabs Joohyun’s phone and types something.

Seulgi typed her number and saved it. Seul, it reads. She grabs Joohyun by the arm and says, “Kimchi!”, while taking a picture of them together. Joohyun was really startled.

“This is to commemorate our first date.” Seulgi gives back Joohyun’s phone.