“Jin Woobin, that bastard, again?”
Dohwa set her soju shot glass down with a sharp clack. Instead of answering, Yeonwoo held up her phone. The last KakaoTalk message was from two in the afternoon. It was eleven at night now.
“He’s been leaving me on read for nine hours.”
“Crazy bastard.”
Dohwa meant it. She’d been watching the human disaster named Jin Woobin beside Yeonwoo for over a year. Drinking every day, going to clubs every day, only getting in touch when he felt like it. And yet Yeonwoo never got angry. Even now, she simply set her phone facedown again and popped a piece of samgyeopsal into her mouth, looking completely unbothered.
“Aren’t you mad?”
“About what?”
“What do you mean, ‘about what’? Your boyfriend’s been ignoring you all day.”
“That’s just how he is.”
Dohwa shut her mouth. That’s just how he is. It was Yeonwoo’s go-to line whenever she talked about Jin Woobin. The one getting angry was Dohwa. It always was.
As she grilled the meat, Yeonwoo placed the first pieces onto Dohwa’s plate. She even dipped them in ssamjang for her. Since Dohwa couldn’t handle spicy food, she moved the Cheongyang chili over to her own side.
That was Yeonwoo. At least with Dohwa.
“Hey, you’re pretty drunk.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“Your face is red.”
“It’s always like this.”
That was another lie. They were nearly through their second bottle of soju, and Dohwa’s tongue had already gone loose. Yeonwoo’s face was blurry, appearing as two Yeonwoos. Both of them were beautiful. Even sitting there in nothing but a hoodie, her makeup-free face drew sidelong glances from the men at the next table.
Dohwa liked sitting beside Yeonwoo like that. She had ever since high school. When she was next to Yeonwoo, the world felt a little less frightening.
“Dohwa.”
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t you get a boyfriend?”
“Because it’s a hassle.”
Another lie. It wasn’t a hassle. She simply didn’t need one. She had Yeonwoo. She wasn’t lonely when she was beside Yeonwoo, a day felt okay when Yeonwoo smiled, and whenever Yeonwoo called, Dohwa picked up no matter what she was doing.
Dohwa knew what that feeling was. She just never gave it a name.
She emptied another soju shot glass. Her throat burned. Yeonwoo poured her some water.
“Hey, stop drinking.”
“Just one more.”
“You have work tomorrow.”
“I know, I know.”
Dohwa accepted the glass of water and looked at Yeonwoo. Maybe it was the alcohol—or maybe it was because of that piece of trash, Jin Woobin—but the words slipped out.
“If I…”
“Yeah?”
“If I were a man.”
Yeonwoo turned her head. Dohwa’s eyes were red and wet.
“If I were a man, I’d treat you so much better.”
Yeonwoo froze. Just for a moment, a very brief moment. Then she smiled.
“What was that all of a sudden? You really had a lot to drink.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know. Thank you.”
Yeonwoo reached over and stroked Dohwa’s hair once. Dohwa closed her eyes at the touch. It was warm. She wished that warmth could last forever.
That was how the two of them left the restaurant. They caught two separate taxis and went home. Dohwa fell asleep in the taxi, and only barely managed to unlock her front door after the driver woke her. Then she collapsed onto her bed.
Her head felt like it was splitting apart.
Dohwa groaned and opened her eyes. The ceiling spun in circles. The hangover weighed down her entire body. Her mouth was a desert. Water. She needed water.
She managed to sit up and staggered to the bathroom. Bracing one hand against the sink, she turned on the faucet and gulped down water.
Then she lifted her head.
A stranger was standing in the mirror.
Dohwa stared blankly at the mirror. She hadn’t fully woken up yet. That had to be it. She rubbed her eyes. Then she looked again.
The person in the mirror rubbed his eyes too.
It was a man.
He was so tall that the bathroom mirror couldn’t fit all of him. His shoulders were broad. His jawline was sharp, and his eyes were wolf-like. His forehead showed beneath his short hair. He was handsome. Terrifyingly handsome.
Dohwa raised a hand while staring at the man in the mirror. The man in the mirror raised his hand too. Dohwa opened her mouth. The man in the mirror opened his mouth too.
Her voice was low. It wasn’t her voice. A sound that wasn’t her voice had come from her throat.
Dohwa slowly lowered her gaze. A broad chest. Firm abs. Long, large hands.
It wasn’t her body.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The scream bounced off the bathroom walls and echoed. It was a man’s scream. It was Dohwa’s scream.