Chapter 75: What Kind of House?
TL: looloo
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Since New Year's Day, there had been a lot of gatherings involving alcohol. I made a promise to Heena, though. Except when she was around, I vowed never to drink excessively again.
So, I ended up drinking with some friends I hadn't had the chance to drink with before, including Suhwang and Yoonsung. This time, without Heena.
Luckily, these guys didn't record any videos of me completely wasted, but they never missed an opportunity to bring up my embarrassing antics whenever we met, as if it were some kind of appetizer to our drinks.
It pissed me off.
And, when I drank while I was completely sober, I realized I could hold my liquor better than anyone else in our group. Maybe I had just been too hammered that dawn to even function properly.
I spent about a fortnight like that, drowning in alcohol. Despite that, I never completely abandoned my studies, preparing for the re-examination, but I did spend most of my time tagging along with friends who had been freed from the long, grueling exam preparations.
During this time, I also met with Juhyun, a friend from middle school. Before meeting up, I had to soothe Heena, who was glaring daggers at me.
"Kang Juhyun? Who's that? I don't recall such a name among your friends... A girl? A friend from middle school? Or is it that girl you briefly dated?"
"No, he's a guy I used to hang out with in middle school... And for the last time, that wasn't dating... Ah, Yoonsung and his unnecessary gossip..."
"Weren't you two eating out and going to movies together?"
"That was all we did. Seriously. Holding hands, kissing, that was only with you. Calm down."
"I'm not mad, okay? I'm not suspicious or anything. Just curious."
"......"
Even if she said she wasn't mad, her furrowed brows told a different story.
Back then, I wondered if that meant we were dating, but looking back, there really wasn't much to it. After the class split, we drifted apart.
To call that dating seemed a bit much.
Especially when I compare it to what I'm doing with Heena now. It makes my previous experiences feel insignificant. Before meeting Heena, I guess I was just a complete single.
Despite these minor issues, I thoroughly enjoyed my newfound adulthood.
Then, my friends suggested we all take a short-term job together. The plan was to earn some money and take a trip to Japan, a nearby country.
"A trip? Yeah, that sounds good. Although I wanted my first trip abroad to be with you, Yeonho, but if you really want to go, I don't mind. Have fun."
Heena said with a bright smile, making me instantly drop the idea. The pressure of "go ahead if you dare" was palpable.
Thinking about it, Heena and I have been abroad before. I went to Saipan with my family when I was in middle school, and Heena had been to Hong Kong around the same time.
I wondered if by saying it was a trip just for us, he meant a trip without our families involved. Was he insisting that we had to go together, no matter what?
"Then, how about we go on a hot springs trip to Japan later? I saw some pictures online last time, and they looked really great. Oh, and I'm kinda tempted by Disneyland too."
"I'd love to! I could even go right now!"
"We can't exactly go right now... we're broke."
I had to calm Heena down, who was practically bouncing off the walls at the idea, as excited as if we were leaving that very moment. After spending too much on booze lately, we were nearly out of allowance, let alone affording an international trip.
I figured our parents would probably agree to send us if we asked just this once. But now that I'm twenty, and with re-examination on the horizon, I didn't want to come off as irresponsible by asking for something like that.
Nor did I feel right about working part-time jobs to fund the trip, as some friends suggested. It would take at least a month to save up enough for the travel expenses, and by then, Heena would be busy too, with college preparations to handle.
I wanted our landmark first trip abroad to be under more relaxed circumstances, after I'd finished my re-examination period.
Besides, if it came to just the two of us going on the trip, it would unleash all we'd been holding back, and there were certain... preparations to be made first.
After all, we had less than a month until that day.
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Raei Translations
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It had been a while since I found myself alone at home on the computer. Usually, I spent nearly every day with Heena, but today, she said she had errands and we didn't meet up. She mentioned going out with her uncle, and since our KakaoTalk messages had stopped a while ago, she was busy.
I studied until 12 PM, then spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying some gaming for the first time in a while. Since I've been glued to Heena during the vacation seasons since last year, my gaming time had significantly decreased. Maybe that's why, on the rare occasions I did play, it felt much more fun than usual.
Even when Heena was around, we played games. But it was hard to concentrate when she would sit on my lap, burrowing into me, and distract me by kissing my neck whenever I got too absorbed in the game.
The first attempt was a complete disaster, but the subsequent ones managed to maintain their shape decently.
As for the taste, well, if one doesn't dislike eggs, how could it not be tasty? Heena could probably make a decent fried egg too.
So there I was, basking in the praise from Sunhoo and Jeongwoo, who had returned home, feeling quite pleased with myself when Heena showed up at the house.
She wasn't alone; she came with her uncle, who apparently hadn't gone to work today and drove her over.
She had mentioned she would stop by, but I hadn't expected her uncle to come as well, which left me somewhat baffled.
Then, with a bright smile, she said, "Yeonho! Let's go look at houses~"
"...??"
Houses?