Foot Worship Chapter 33

A call came from downstairs, likely the delivery. I pressed the button to unlock the door and walked to the entryway. However, along with my shoes, which I had kicked off messily in front of the door, there was a hangover cure and an unfamiliar handkerchief lying on the floor. I bent down to pick up the hangover cure and the handkerchief. What on earth is this? A short, frustrated breath escaped me.

I never carried cash. I always used a card when buying things, but there was no record of me buying anything and swiping a card. Ah… I was starting to get scared of the me from yesterday.

Just then, the doorbell rang, so I opened the door and took the food. I brought the food bag and the handkerchief into the kitchen. I spread the handkerchief out on the dining table and fell into thought for a moment. Did Goo Jihoon or Kwon Raewon give it to me? It could be that they gave it to me to wipe my tears when I was crying. No, the owner of the handkerchief absolutely had to be one of them.

Ugh, my head hurts.

I decided to start with a meal and opened the bag. My appetite spiked at the spicy scent. Whether I had to vomit it back up or not, putting food in my stomach was the priority. I was munching on bean sprouts when Goo Jihoon called. I pulled out a tissue, wiped my mouth, and answered.

“Jihoon.”

―W-what, what is it. Why are you calling me so tenderly?

“Do you know how I got home yesterday?”

―Yeah, I know.

“You know?”

―You admitted you were a dog yesterday. Since you’re a dog, you must have crawled home on all fours.

The curse words rose to my throat before subsiding. I’m the idiot for expecting anything else, even for a moment. I was about to hang up, but I grabbed onto a sliver of hope and started to coax Goo Jihoon gently. Since the last person I talked to was Goo Jihoon, he surely knew something. After suppressing the anger rising to the top of my head and coaxing him for a while, I heard something unexpected.

―When I called, you were with someone.

“Who?”

―I don’t want to. I’m not going to tell you.

Annoyance surged. I would have preferred it to be Kwon Raewon, who would have just told me he didn’t have time and gave me a rough explanation, but this bastard Goo Jihoon was definitely not that kind of guy. I pondered what item Goo Jihoon had been eyeing lately and remembered the watch I had bought a while ago.

“I’ll give you the watch. You said you wanted that classic line one I bought, right?”

―Really? No backsies on this. Okay, deal! But I don’t know who it was either. Some man answered your phone, and he asked if he could take you to a hotel because he was in front of your house but you wouldn’t tell him the password, so I just told him.

“You crazy bastard! How could you just call out the password to someone you don’t even know?”

―Isn’t that your ex? I naturally assumed that. Hey, to be brutally honest, a regular person would have sent you to the police station; they wouldn’t have taken you home.

I was about to yell, but I clamped my mouth shut. It was infuriating, but it was an undeniable truth. In fact, I had a history of waking up at a local police station a few times after someone reported me for being passed out drunk on the street.

Could the person who took me home really have been Jerome? If that were the case, there would be no more desperate development in my life than this. I rested my forehead on the cold glass of the dining table and exhaled through my nose.

“Then what about the handkerchief?”

―What handkerchief.

“Did I happen to cry yesterday?”

―What? You cried?

At the sound of his surprised voice, I pressed the end-call button without hesitation. There was nothing more to hear. Goo Jihoon called back immediately, but I rejected the call. I was frustrated because I couldn’t remember anything about what happened yesterday.

I clicked my tongue and finished the bean sprout soup with its bloated, soggy rice grains. After eating, I showered and tidied up my messy house. I lay on the sofa, pressing the buttons on the remote until I dozed off, and when I opened my eyes again, it was past 4:00 PM. My throat kept stinging as if I had a cold, and my body felt chilly and shivering.

I rubbed my hair, which was sticking out in every direction, and wandered around the kitchen. I drank some warm water and rummaged through the shelves to find the cold medicine Goo Jihoon had prescribed for me once. I managed to find the pharmacy packet with the name on it, but the envelope was gone, so I had no clue what medicine it was. Scratching my head, I took a picture and sent it to Goo Jihoon. He called back immediately.

“Hello.”

―That’s a painkiller and a sleeping pill.

“Oh, it’s not cold medicine.”

―Hey, what are you doing today?

“I’m not feeling well. I’m going to stay home.”

―Let’s have dinner. This Mister will buy you a meal.

“What’s with the meal?”

―I booked a restaurant a month ago to go with my Queen, but she said her filming in the provinces just finished.

I scratched my cheek and rubbed my throat, which felt uncomfortable. I wondered why anyone would book a restaurant a month in advance, but I didn’t say anything. Goo Jihoon was a guy who was so interested in cooking that he didn’t feel satisfied unless he visited a famous restaurant at least once.

―I’ll send you the address, so come by 6:30.

“I have a cold. Go with Kwon Raewon.”

―Do you know how much flak I got from Haeyi over the last three days because of you? Just come out without complaining. I also don’t like eating with you on Christmas Eve, which only comes once a year. Just come, shove the food in your mouth, and leave.

Has it already been that long? I rubbed my stuffy nose and said I would. It was a bit of a bother, but he was the guy who had been my drinking buddy and put up with my drunken behavior for the past few days, so I couldn’t refuse.

―What are your cold symptoms?

“My throat hurts, my nose is stuffy, and I’m shivering.”

―I’ll get some cold medicine and bring it. Traffic is bad, so leave a bit early. If you’re late, it’s death for you.

∞ ∞ ∞

Traffic was already bad during the commute, and with Christmas Eve on top of it, road conditions were the worst. Thanks to Goo Jihoon pestering me to leave early, it looked like I wouldn’t be late for the appointment, but my physical condition was worse than before. Now I was even running a fever. I let out a dry laugh at what I was doing.

Drinking warm water from my tumbler, I watched the people passing by on the street. People out with their lovers or families, office workers hurrying along while pulling their collars tight, merchants setting up stalls to sell roses—a vitality I hadn’t felt before filled the street.

If my relationship with Jerome hadn’t ended like that, I might have been among those people, too. My mouth tasted bitter at the thought.

“Why are you crying?”

I blinked quickly at the voice that suddenly popped into my head. What is this now? I covered my face with both hands and tried to recall the thought. As I did, the figure of a person vaguely appeared in my mind. However, I couldn’t remember his face.

Honk honk!

Startled by the sound of the car behind me honking, I regained my focus and gripped the steering wheel. The memories, scattered like small puzzle pieces, made my insides feel even dizzier. I’d rather not remember anything at all. I tapped my head and turned the steering wheel according to the navigation’s directions.

“Ha, what is this.”

The restaurant Goo Jihoon had booked was the very same one Jerome had taken me to. A dry laugh escaped me. I bit my lip, thinking of that object that had been digging through my insides so recklessly. Goo Jihoon, having spotted my car entering the parking lot, ran over and tapped on the window. I rolled the window down and met his eyes.

“This is the place you booked?”

“Yeah, if you say something stupid after coming all the way here, I’m really going to chop you into pieces. Shut your mouth and just eat your food.”

He seemed ready to chop me to pieces if I said I didn’t want to go in, so I parked the car quietly and got out. I stared at the flashy Christmas tree placed in front of the restaurant entrance and frowned. Back then, I had been so out of it that I didn’t even know it was there.

As I sat in the seat the server showed me, my mood sank even further. Since it was the day it was, most of the guests in the restaurant were couples. I wondered what two men were doing here on Christmas Eve. I glanced at Goo Jihoon, who was choosing the menu with an excited face, and stood up.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m going to go get my tumbler from the car.”

“Oh, right. Your cold medicine.”

Goo Jihoon pulled the medicine packet out of his pocket and held it out to me. I took the medicine packet and walked toward the entrance. Of all the restaurants in Seoul, why did it have to be this one? It was absurd no matter how I thought about it. I wanted to just leave and not come back, but I knew for sure that I’d get cursed out like a dog if I did, so I braced myself and tried to pull myself together.