26
𝙧𝙤𝙝 𝙝𝙮𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙖

"let's eat dinner." joohyuk said. "treat me to something, your mom said so." he smirked.

i rolled my eyes. "i don't want to."

"come onnnn let's go eat. you know what? i'll pay." joohyuk cleared his throat and took out his pocket, slowly counting his one dollar bills. in total, he had around $11. he waved the wad of money in my face. "i'm totally stacked right now, so i'll spend all my money on you."

i chuckled. "god, as if $11 is anything to bluff about." i cleared my throat and took out my wallet, counting my bills. "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten-"

i frowned, and re-counted. there's no way i only had ten dollars. but then again, i just spent all my money on the hospital fine. i don't understand why hospitals fine sick people staying in their hospital. i'll bet half the people staying there are only sick over worrying about hospital bills.

"haha, i win." joohyuk boasted, and then grabbed my hand, running off to who knows where.

"why the hell are we running??" i groaned. "i ran enough already-aH! i'm sorry!!" i had just ran into an middle aged guy on his bike, nearly bulldozing him over.

"here." joohyuk finally stopped in front of a convenience store.

i raised my eyebrow. "i'm truly shocked. what luxurious taste you
have-"

"i have a luxurious taste in women, too." joohyuk added, dragging me inside.

"that must be why you're single as fuck." i said.

"not for long." he muttered under his breath.

i raised my eyebrow. "wow, what is this? nam joohyuk isn't chasing away women for once??"

"hey! i didn't chase you away."

"do i really count as a woman though?"

"point proven." joohyuk said.

i kicked him in the shin. "yah, only i can diss myself, you fool."

|

"ramen and soju are the cures for everything." i said, with my mouth full.

joohyuk looked at me with disgust. "swallow before you talk, you fool."

i rolled my eyes. "since when did i care about that with you-"

"eek roh hyeona you pig-" joohyuk grabbed my napkin and wiped my mouth with it.

i raised my eyebrow, and grabbed it from him. "i can do it myself, i'm not a child."

"why?" he smirked. "did it make your heart race?"

"hah. no, if it was supposed to i must have no heart." i said. "oh! by the way, who's the girl? hm??"

"well...let's see." he said, thinking for a second. "she's really pretty."

"ah, that's obvious. every girl a guy likes is pretty to him. same for girls." i said.

"tsk. you act like you know everything about relationships." he said.

"well." i brushed my hair off my shoulder. "i'm quite popular, don't you know?" i bluffed. was it true? probably not. do i want to pretend it's true? obviously.

"no, i couldn't tell by seeing your borderline obsessive ex-boyfriend." joohyuk said sarcastically.

"he's not borderline obsessive. just a little clingy. a little."

"are you standing up for him or something now??"

"psh. no. i'd rather shove bricks down my throat." then i paused and grimaced, as the vision of doing so came to my mind. "actually, scratch that."

joohyuk chuckled. "i suppose i can see why guys like you. a little bit."

i raised my eyebrow and laughed. "are you into me too now? nam joohyuk you should've told me earlier-"

joohyuk slammed his palms against the table. "psh. am not!"

"you so are. i guess having male-friends is impossible for a queen like me." i flipped my hair dramatically. i didn't even know why the hell i was bluffing again.

"roh hyeona, are you drunk?" joohyuk asked.

"no." i said. "i drank, like two shots."

"i think you're drunk."

"am not! look, i'll drink even more to prove it to you-" i downed another shot, slamming the shot glass back down on the table.

joohyuk groaned. "that's not how it works, you idiot."

"idiot? you're the idiot for testing me." i said.

"stop drinking already. let's go home." he pestered on, grabbing the bottle of soju away from me.

i pouted. "i'm thirsty."

"then drink some water!!"

"it's the same thing, what are you talking about?? why would i spend a whole two dollars on a bottle of water-" i hiccuped loudly. "-when i have the equivalent of one right in front of me??"

joohyuk scowled. "stop it. get going, other way." he lightly pushed me to the exit.

i hmphed and stomped my way to the exit.

"let's go homeee." joohyuk sang to himself, swinging an arm around my shoulders tightly, so tight i felt like i was being choked.

"home? what's a home when there's no one to welcome you into it?" i muttered. i wasn't even the type to say those sentimental things out loud, but for some reason i just blurted the sentence. i swear i wasn't even drunk.

"i'll welcome you home." joohyuk said, getting on his bicycle and patting the seat behind him. "come on, hurry."

i'll welcome you home. who knew a small sentence would make me feel so happy. maybe it was because i was actually drunk, but god, i felt like i had won the lottery.

i smiled, and got on the bike.

"thanks."

• • •