TBE 06

chapter 06

Inside the taxi heading to Yoona’s house, Yeongwon was staring quietly at Yoona’s ID card. Asking a heavily intoxicated Yoona for her address had yielded only vague answers like “Chungcheongnam-do,” so he had no choice but to dig through her wallet in her eco-bag to find it.

The address on the card at the time of issuance was a village in Seokcheon-myeon, Gusan-si, Chungnam. A place he had never heard of. On the back, two address stickers were attached.

The first was Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul—relatively close to Yeongwon’s family home in Dogok-dong. The current address was written beneath that.

Yeongwon flipped the ID over again. He saw a photo of Yoona, who had just become an adult. Seeing her in her school uniform, smiling with a mix of excitement and nervousness, a faint smile tugged at Yeongwon’s lips.

“…Cute.”

He glanced sideways at Yoona, who had buried her head against the window and was fast asleep, unaware of the world. He knew she was a strong-willed woman, but not to this extent.

Lim Dohyun, a fourth-year who rarely participated in extracurricular activities, had always been a lost cause when it came to appearances. Because he had no interest in younger women, female classmates didn’t seem to know him well, but men could tell what kind of guy he was just by looking at his face. Yeongwon had long realized that Lim Dohyun was nothing more than nuclear waste that couldn’t even be recycled.

He had worried when he arrived late after trusting Kim Gitae. And as soon as he heard that Yoona had gone out with Lim Dohyun right after arriving, his head had gone hot. He dragged Kim Gitae along, and they split up to search.

Assuming, “If I were a stupid, petty, sex-obsessed beast,” moving with that mindset wasn’t as difficult as expected. Taking only secluded alleys, it wasn’t long before he heard Yoona’s voice. Yet the scene unfolding was completely different from what he had anxiously imagined, with rationality blurred by worry.

He understood where her fearless boldness came from, even against a man at least twice her size.

It was the first time he had seen Yoona’s ex-husband come to a café, even bringing along a lawyer.

• “So you’re determined to take me down properly, huh?”

• “Yes. I’m serious. Thank you for finally making me see reason!”

The exact situation could only be roughly guessed, but Yoona had spoken like this to Lee Seonghee, who seemed to be firmly compromised by his ex-wife.

Later, he realized that fighting a man of that social status would have made Lim Dohyun look like a passing child in comparison. Watching someone cower and take a beating was a hundred, no, a million times better. In that sense, being a good drinker helped.

Though she was drunk, anyone who had managed to drink over three bottles of soju in two hours would know how that felt.

Yeongwon caught Yoona as she leaned forward drunkenly, lifting her forehead and gently letting her rest back. The taxi finally arrived at their destination. Yeongwon carefully shook Yoona’s jacket at the shoulder.

“Ma’am, we’re here.”

“…Uh… where…?”

“This is your house. You can manage from here, right? I’ll just keep riding.”

“Ah… yes…! Yeongwon… goodbye…”

Struggling to lift herself, Yoona waved without properly meeting Yeongwon’s eyes and grabbed the door handle. She made it safely out of the car.

But then, staggering along, she perched herself on a flowerbed at the entrance of her officetel. Her disheveled hair fell over her face, and the eco-bag slipped from her hand with a soft thud.

“…”
“…”

The taxi driver, worried as if she were his own daughter, glanced at Yeongwon.

“Student, you just leaving her?”
“…I’ll get out.”
“Good call. It’s cold; leaving her like that would be dangerous. Just help her up—she’s the boss, right?”
“…Yes.”

Yeongwon stepped out as well. Though he had initially planned to avoid any scandal and simply leave, he couldn’t just abandon someone that drunk on the street.

He picked up the fallen eco-bag and bent toward Yoona’s drooping head.

“Ma’am, can you walk?”

Her head, bent almost to breaking, slowly lifted. Squinting through her half-closed eyes, Yoona recognized him and smiled sheepishly.

“Yeongwon… what brings you to my house…?”

Despite the overwhelming smell of soju and her nonsensical rambling, she smiled beautifully. Feeling a sudden warmth in his back, Yeongwon brushed his cold hand over his face.

“…This isn’t your house yet. We need to go inside.”

“It’s still not…? No wonder it feels cold… Come in, Yeongwon…”

After politely greeting him, Yoona lifted herself and climbed onto the flowerbed, lying down. Her slender arms and legs dangled over the edge, and she quickly fell asleep again.

“….”

Sleeping on the cold faux-marble could really twist her mouth. While Yeongwon wondered how to wake her, her weight shifted, and her body began tilting off the flowerbed.

“Ma-ma’am…!”

Yeongwon instinctively caught her. One of her arms swung around his neck; she was still half-asleep. Her nose crinkled slightly.

“…Cold…”

Her other arm wrapped around him as well, instinctively seeking warmth.

“….”

Yeongwon froze. Aside from his sister, he had never been in such prolonged contact with a woman, much less held someone this tightly. Cold sweat began forming on his back. Before he could react, Yoona pressed herself closer, still shivering.

Finally regaining focus, Yeongwon carried her into the officetel building. That’s when the real problem began.

A spark of rationality reminded him just how intimate the situation was. Her small, feather-light body fit perfectly in his arms. Her soft breathing tickled his ear; her lips were nearly touching it.

Then, a faint voice mixed with her breathing:

“Yeongwon…”

Only then did he realize he had been standing there holding her all this time. Sweat ran down his spine as he hurriedly pressed the elevator button for the 13th floor, where her home was, repeatedly hitting the close button. Though the doors were closing, it felt painfully slow.

Before the elevator fully opened, Yeongwon dashed out and headed toward the apartment number on Yoona’s ID—but ran into another problem: he didn’t know the password.

Shaking Yoona gently, he asked:

“Ma’am, what’s the password? How do I open the door?”

“Ah… my… head… hurts…”

“…We’re really at your front door. Should I put you down a bit?”

“Don’t… shake… me…!”

Annoyed, Yoona tightened her weak arms again, resting her face back on his shoulder. Her lips drew close to his ear again. His body responded immediately.

“Card.”

Yeongwon remembered the door card from her wallet. Squatting, he pulled it out, feeling her soft body pressed between his chest and thigh.

“Please… keep it together, you idiot…”

Before his lower body could fully react, he swiped the card. The door opened with a beep.

Yoona’s studio apartment revealed the bed along the opposite wall immediately upon entering. The finish line was in sight.

Yeongwon, in a panic, kicked off her sneakers, scooped up the sliding Yoona, and rushed toward the bed.

Nearly tossing her due to tightening jeans, he regained control.

‘I can do this. I can…!’

He wouldn’t let all his effort go to waste. Kneeling on one knee on the bed for support, he bent low and gently placed her down.

Carefully removing his hands from her back, and letting down her arm draped over his neck, he was about to finish when Yoona whispered:

“…Grandma… with me…”

At the same time, both her legs wrapped around his waist tightly.