The next day, Ina opened her eyes and frowned, clutching her throbbing head.

“Ow. My head.”

It felt like an earthquake was happening inside her skull.

Feeling simultaneous headaches on both sides of her head and the lingering taste of alcohol in her mouth making her nauseous, Ina quickly ran to the bathroom.

She immediately grabbed the toilet bowl, but fortunately didn’t throw up.

“Oh god, I’m dying.”

As Ina came out of the bathroom groaning, she smelled the spicy scent of bean sprout soup.

Holding her head, she went to the kitchen and saw three women sitting at the table.

“You’re up? Come sit down.”

Hyunju said, patting the chair and beckoning to Ina.

Ina walked over like she was crawling and sat down in the chair.

Not sure who made it, but the three women were eating a spicy bean sprout kimchi soup with green onions sprinkled in, along with rolled omelette and seaweed.

“Who made this?”

As Ina drank some water and asked, Yejin raised her hand.

“I just threw together what was in the fridge.”

Hyunju ladled a bowl of bean sprout soup and handed it to Ina.

“Here. Drink it while it’s hot. Want some rice too?”

Ina shook her head.

“No. I’ll just drink the broth. But wow, impressive. When did you wake up to make this?”

“I always have to eat breakfast no matter what. If I skip breakfast, I have no energy all day.”

Yejin said as she wrapped some rice in seaweed and put it in her mouth.

“To be able to eat after drinking that much… Amazing. Truly amazing.”

Ina shook her head and brought a spoonful of broth to her mouth.

The refreshing and spicy taste was perfect.

The three women stared intently at Ina as she slowly sipped the broth, as if observing her.

Ina looked up and glanced at the three women, asking:

“Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Hey. Seo Ina.”

Hayun picked up a piece of seaweed and called out to Ina.

“…What?”

Sensing something odd in the atmosphere, Ina asked cautiously as Hayun put the seaweed in her mouth and looked at Ina.

Then, with an expression like a cow chewing cud, she slowly chewed the seaweed.

“You were quite a sight yesterday, weren’t you?”

“…W-what do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“…Remember what?”

Hayun brushed the seaweed crumbs off her hands and nodded towards Yejin sitting across from her.

“Hey. Stand up.”

“Why?”

When Yejin asked reluctantly, Hayun stood up from her chair and said:

“Since she doesn’t remember, we should reenact it for her, right?”

Yejin glanced at Ina, then nodded and stood up.

Not understanding what they were talking about, Ina furrowed her brow as she watched the two, when suddenly Hayun jumped up and hugged Yejin.

As Yejin supported Hayun’s bottom, Hayun wrapped her arms around Yejin’s neck and said:

“Woni woni, our Woni! Did you come to see Ina?”

Making a terribly nasally voice that sent shivers down Ina’s spine, Hayun suddenly started planting kisses all over Yejin’s left and right cheeks.

And finally, she was about to kiss Yejin’s lips when she stopped abruptly.

“Hey. I can’t bring myself to do this part.”

“Me neither. Get down now.”

At Yejin’s words, Hayun quickly got down and sat back in her chair.

And there was someone covering their mouth in shock… none other than Ina.

“Hey… W-what are you talking about? This can’t be true, right?”

Ina asked, her face pale like the lead in a horror movie.

“Hey. We wish it was a lie too, you know? It was quite an eyesore.”

Hayun said with a twitching lip as she picked up another piece of seaweed.

“J-Juwon came here?”

At Ina’s words, Yejin nodded with a calm expression.

Ina covered both her cheeks and shook her head.

“Why… why did Juwon come here? Why?”

Then Hayun put her phone to her ear and started acting again.

“Hello? Woni woni, our Woni, did our handsome Woni call?”

Ina froze with her mouth open.

“Your boyfriend came running right over at this cringe-worthy aegyo of yours. Really… This damn love. Seriously.”

Ina started banging her head on the table with a despairing expression.

“I’m crazy. I’m insane. Why did I do that? I must have really lost my mind.”

“That’s right. You were crazy. How else could you rub your relationship in our single faces like that?”

“I’m sorry, friends. I’ve committed a grave sin.”

Ina raised both hands in apology, then made a despairing expression again.

“Hey. Don’t worry. Your boyfriend’s expression wasn’t that bad.”

At Yejin’s words that sounded like a ray of hope, Ina raised her head and looked at Yejin.

“Really? He didn’t look angry?”

“Yeah. He had an expression like he wanted to bite you to death because you were so cute.”

After a few seconds of silence, Ina started banging her head on the table again.

“He’s angry. He’s mad. What do I do? How can I face Juwon now…”

Hyunju, who had been watching this scene unfold, chuckled and said:

“Hey. Stop teasing Ina now. Seo Ina, lift your head. Juwon didn’t look angry.”

“Really?”

Ina raised her head again.

“Yeah. But drink less next time. Juwon asked us to make sure you don’t drink too much.”

Juwon made such a request…

Ah. I should just stay home today and say I’m resting.

I don’t have the courage to face Juwon…

Watching her friends leisurely brew and drink coffee after the meal, Ina clicked her tongue.

Seeing her friends eat rice and drink coffee after drinking so much alcohol, she felt like they lived in a different world than her.

After drinking coffee, her friends washed up briefly and got ready to leave. As Ina was about to change clothes too, Yejin grabbed her shoulder.

“Hey. You just rest at home.”

Ina replied with round eyes:

“Huh? No, I’ll take you to the bus terminal.”

“Who’s taking who? It’s fine, just rest. Your face looks completely wrecked right now.”

“But I’m fine…”

“Fine my foot. Haven’t you looked in a mirror? You look like a ghost. We’ll manage on our own, so get some more sleep.”

Patting Ina’s shoulder apologetically, Hyunju also said:

“Yeah. Do that. That would be best. Just get some good rest.”

With even Hyunju saying that, Ina had no choice but to put her clothes back down.

“Then we’ll be going now, see you next time. Take good care of your handsome boyfriend until then. He’s so good-looking even our eyes were dazzled, so imagine how other women must see him.”

Hayun left those words of caution before going out, followed by Yejin and Hyunju, and then the front door closed.

Standing blankly alone in the quiet living room, Ina flopped down on the sofa.

Sigh, why did I drink so much yesterday…

It’s been a while since I drank enough to black out, but why did it have to happen so soon after starting to date Juwon.

I really need to stay quietly at home today like I’m dead.

Lying on the sofa with her eyes closed like that, about an hour passed without her realizing she had fallen asleep.

Suddenly startled by the ringing of her phone, Ina bolted upright.

Looking at the clock, it had just passed 12 o’clock.

She could guess who the caller was without looking.

As Ina quietly held her phone and looked at it, sure enough, Juwon’s name appeared on the screen.

After debating whether to answer or not, Ina took a deep breath and picked up the call.

“H-hello?”

−Are you up?

“Yeah… I just woke up.”

−How’s your stomach?

“Oh. I-I’m fine.”

−You’re fine? But you drank so much yesterday?

Ina gulped.

Is it time for Lee Juwon to get angry now…

−Don’t drink that much next time. It’s bad for your stomach. Okay?

Unlike Ina’s worries, Juwon’s voice was so gentle that Ina tilted her head.

Is he really not angry? Or… is he suppressing his emotions because he’s too angry?

Unable to figure out Juwon’s feelings, Ina furrowed her brow when Juwon’s voice came through again.

−Why aren’t you saying anything?

“Huh? Oh. I got it. I promise I won’t drink that much again.”

−Okay. I understand. Our Ina is so good.

…Hm? ‘Our Ina’?

Since he even said ‘our Ina’, it seems he’s not really angry, Ina thought with relief.

−You haven’t had lunch yet, right? How about going out to eat?

“Huh? Lunch?”

−Yeah.

“Um… I want to just rest at home today…”

−Really?

“…Yeah.”

As she answered, Ina worried a little that Juwon might feel disappointed.

−Okay. I understand. Then I’ll come over.

“Huh?”

−Woni will come.

“…What?”

Ina asked again, thinking she must have heard wrong.

−Woni will come, so you rest.

A few seconds later, Ina’s face flushed bright red.

Even though Juwon wasn’t standing in front of her, Ina rolled her eyes around looking for a mouse hole to hide in.

And when Ina didn’t say anything, the sound of Juwon laughing came through the phone.

At that laughter, refreshing like waves on a summer beach, Ina’s lips twitched.

“Ugh… Lee Juwon. Are you making fun of me right now?”

−I’m not? Why would Woni make fun of Ina?

“Aish, really!”

Then Juwon laughed again on the other end of the phone, and Ina’s face turned even redder.

−Did all your friends go home?

“Yeah. They left.”

Ina answered in a sulky voice.

−Then I’ll be there soon, so wait for Woni. Okay?

“Ah geez! You really!”

Juwon said he’d come quickly in a voice full of laughter and hung up.

Ina clutched her head with her face red as a ripe persimmon.

“Ah, really! What on earth did I do yesterday? Seriously!”

Ina, who had been writhing on the sofa, suddenly jumped up and looked around the living room.

Thankfully, her friends had cleaned up everything before leaving, so the living room was tidy.

Ina quickly ran the vacuum cleaner one more time before going to the bathroom.

After showering and drying her hair, the doorbell rang.

Carefully walking to the entrance, she looked through the peephole and saw Juwon standing there.

Taking a deep breath, Ina slowly opened the door.

Juwon, standing outside, smiled brightly when he saw Ina.

“C-come in.”

As Ina spoke awkwardly and quickly turned around, Juwon grabbed her arm.

Startled, Ina turned back to see Juwon smiling with his arms outstretched.

“No jumping today?”

“Huh?”

Not understanding what he meant, Ina suddenly remembered the scene Hayun and Yejin had kindly reenacted that morning.

As that scene came to mind, Ina’s face flushed red and she quickly turned around.

“Ah geez! Really!”

Watching Ina stride into the living room with a red face, Juwon followed behind laughing.

Juwon, who came up to the living room, held out something in front of Ina, who was sitting on the sofa huffing.

Seeing the shopping bag with a savory smell wafting from it, Ina looked up at Juwon.

“What’s this?”

“Dried pollack soup. Your stomach must be upset. I bought it for you to eat as hangover food. Let’s eat together.”

Ah, really, such a thoughtful man…

How can I be angry when he’s like this.

No, wait, the one who should be angry right now isn’t me, but Juwon, right?

Gathering her almost reversed emotions, Ina accepted the shopping bag.

“Thank you.”