Paper Friendship Chapter 19

When I woke up in the morning, my parents were not home. So, I told my father over the phone that I would be studying at a friend’s house for the time being. My father told me to study hard and to call him if I needed money. My mother didn’t pick up, so I left her a text. When I checked my phone before leaving the house, a reply telling me to study hard was all there was. Are they both busy? It was much simpler than I had expected.

Entering Choi Juoon’s house, it was cool inside, as if he had the air conditioning on. I left the bag I brought in Choi Juoon’s room. Then, after taking out my books, I went out to the living room and sat at the desk. Watching Choi Juoon sit in the seat opposite me, I smiled and said:

“This is nice.”

Choi Juoon didn’t say much and opened his book. For lunch, we ordered hamburgers and ate them, and for dinner, we ate the leftover hamburgers from lunch. I was eating french fries while watching TV, and Choi Juoon was on his phone.

Suddenly, Choi Juoon put his phone down with a bit of a clatter. At that sound, I turned my head to look at Choi Juoon. It was the same face as usual, but for some reason, he looked angry. I wondered if something was wrong, but Choi Juoon swept his hair back and said:

“Do you want to drink tonight?”

My eyes sparkled as I nodded. Seeing that, Choi Juoon smiled a little and hit my head—not hard enough to hurt. Then, he picked up the outer jacket that had fallen on the floor and put it on. Watching that, I asked:

“Are you going out somewhere?”

“My friends said they’re drinking right now…. so I’m going there to bring some back.”

Choi Juoon checked his wallet and phone, glanced at the clock once, and said:

“I might be a little late. Keep watching TV.”

Then he changed the channel a few times, settled on a children’s channel, and left. I saw him off by showing him my middle finger.

Since there had been a few times before when Choi Juoon left me alone in the house, I jumped onto the sofa. I feel it every time I come here, but Choi Juoon’s sofa is truly fluffy. Also, my house’s TV doesn’t support Netflix, but Choi Juoon’s TV did. The house was spacious and nice, so it really felt like I had come to a movie theater. Our house should change our TV too, I thought, hugging a cushion.

∞ ∞ ∞

The movie was almost at its end. I heard the sound of the door passcode being typed from outside, and Choi Juoon came in. The male lead and female lead had cleared up their misunderstandings and were sharing love once again. It had been almost two hours since Choi Juoon left…. or, had it been longer? It felt a bit late, but I didn’t pay it any special mind. It felt weird to welcome the homeowner while lying down in someone else’s house, so I got up and headed toward the entrance.

“You’re back?”

Choi Juoon’s face was red. As soon as I got close, the smell of alcohol hit me. It was the first time I had seen him this drunk. Did he drink with the kids? Choi Juoon handed me a black plastic bag that made a clinking sound. When I took it and opened it, there were five bottles of soju and two cans of beer. I felt a strange sense of alcohol-related competitiveness kick in.

“Hey, isn’t this too little?”

Choi Juoon said as he took off his shoes.

“If it’s not enough, I’ll get more.”

“But why did you drink so much?”

Choi Juoon just laughed and passed by me without a word. I could vaguely picture the situation. I guess he got caught by the kids and ended up drinking with them. But Choi Juoon would have refused…. I watched the back of Choi Juoon as he walked into the bathroom for a moment.

I waited for Choi Juoon while watching the movie that hadn’t finished yet. Choi Juoon took a bit longer than I expected. Suddenly, I looked at the desk. It felt like only the alcohol was sitting there forlornly, so I headed to the kitchen. I took some dumplings out of the freezer and fried them. Perhaps because I fried them straight without defrosting, the oil started splattering harder and harder. I covered the pan with a lid and stood there blankly, holding a pair of tongs.

“What are you doing.”

Choi Juoon stood behind me, wafting the smell of mint. I turned around, surprised, and saw that Choi Juoon was wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Seeing the dampness still in his hair, it looked like he had washed up.

“Did you wash up?”

“Yeah, I threw up.”

“…You threw up? Are you okay? Hey, if you’re like that, shouldn’t you not be drinking?”

“I’m fine.”

To think he’s at the point of throwing up…. And is it okay to drink again after throwing up? Should I stop him? As I looked at him seriously, Choi Juoon told me he would control it himself while he drank, and that I should just worry about myself.

Choi Juoon went out to the living room and put on a variety show. Sounds of boisterous laughter filled the house. I moved the dumplings, which were more or less finished frying, to a plate and headed to the living room.

Sitting next to Choi Juoon, we opened the alcohol with the sounds from the TV program as our background. I poured only a little for him because it seemed like Choi Juoon had already drunk a lot, but Choi Juoon poured his until it was overflowing. No, it actually did overflow.

“Hey!!”

I hurriedly lowered my head and drank it in one gulp, and Choi Juoon laughed. Then, he pulled a tissue from the box next to him and wiped the spill. Is this guy drunk? I thought seriously. Choi Juoon filled my glass again as soon as I emptied it.

“Hey…. Let’s drink slowly….”

“You can’t keep up?”

Choi Juoon mocked me, laughing. Then I had no choice but to keep drinking as Choi Juoon poured. My face turned hot in an instant. My head felt a bit—just a tiny bit—hard to hold up. I thought I should probably restrain myself a bit now. I wondered how much we had drunk, and four bottles of soju were already gone.

I couldn’t feel the temperature of my face anymore. It must have been incredibly red. Our gazes were toward the TV, but we weren’t actually watching it. I could hear the laughter of the audience on the TV.

“I’m thinking about not becoming a flight attendant.”

Choi Juoon said in a low voice. Even though I’d had quite a few serious conversations with Choi Juoon, this was the first time we’d talked about career paths like this.

“Why…?”

“Because my parents oppose it.”

I didn’t know how to answer, so I stayed still.

“Oh, well, yeah. Parents’ opinions are important, of course, yeah.”

When I spoke like a robot, Choi Juoon laughed loudly.

“I’m kidding. Well, of course, that’s part of it, too.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, just listen.”

“Yeah.”

“I wanted to become a flight attendant because of you, you know?”

“…What?”

“Ah, I said just listen.”

Choi Juoon got irritated. But how am I supposed to just listen to that? I thought to myself. A small beep alarm went off inside my head.

Choi Juoon opened a new bottle of soju and drank it straight from the bottle. Then he said while eating a dumpling with his hand:

“You like traveling, don’t you.”

“Yeah….”

“So I was going to become a flight attendant…. but there’s a lot of bullshit. It doesn’t suit me.”

What does me liking to travel have to do with your career path? My expression—no, my heart, no, no, both of them… felt strange. I was drunk, and Choi Juoon was drunk. So that’s probably why it felt strange, right? Choi Juoon saw my face, threw a tissue at me, and said:

“You asshole, don’t go thinking something weird.”

“Ah, I wasn’t, though.”

Choi Juoon scratched the back of his head and muttered, Ah, I shouldn’t have said that. A subtle atmosphere continued to flow, and perhaps because of that, we were silent for a moment.

Yeah, whatever, let’s not think it’s important. He could think something like that, I guess.

I thought about it simply and, picking up a dumpling to eat, said:

“So are you quitting being a flight attendant?”

“I’ll think about it…. Since I’ve already started.”

“I see.”

I looked at the TV again, then turned my gaze to look at Choi Juoon. Choi Juoon was, as always, drinking his beer expressionlessly with his chin resting on his hand. I watched him for a moment and said:

“…Hey, hang in there. Isn’t it tough?”

“What?”

“No, I mean, isn’t it tough…. hang in there. Honestly, I don’t know what I should say…. but you’re doing two things. It must be even harder, so hang in there.”

Because I felt slightly shy, I said it awkwardly, and Choi Juoon laughed, lifting only one corner of his lips. Then, he poured me a drink into my empty glass and said:

“Don’t you have any worries?”

“Me? I….”

I thought as I lifted the glass and drank. Hmm, honestly, I do have some. But I wondered if I could say this. I pondered for a moment, then said:

“You really can’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“First, you drink too.”

Choi Juoon looked at me and drank the soju straight from the bottle. I didn’t know he would drink it that fast…. I played with my fingers and cast my gaze downward.