Chapter 11

With Minji convinced Woojin and I would soon become a thing, our plans to go clubbing this weekend naturally got canceled. To be honest, having my friends ask about him every chance they got had been a bit overwhelming. I had barely even seen him throughout the rest of the week, and it didn’t seem like either of us had the courage to contact the other first. At least, that was how it was on my end.

Minji was currently having a blast at a club with her usual group of friends. She had met all of them during her many nights of going to those kinds of venues solo. Since none of her so-called day friends were much when it came to partying on a weekly basis (myself included), she had taken to befriending other regulars and even a few bartenders and club owners. Despite never having met any of her night friends, I had a feeling their personalities would be quite similar to Minji’s own in terms of wildness. It sure seemed that way on her social media, where she often posted pictures of them and herself posing with some kind of strong alcoholic beverage in hand.

As much as it made me anxious to consider going somewhere so loud and disorientating, I did envy Minji. I envied her freedom. The ease with which she let go on certain nights and acted with little moral judgement. While here I was staying home on a Saturday night working on a report that wasn’t even due for another two weeks.

After typing up the last few words, I closed my laptop and stretched out on my bed. A long yawn escaped me as I rubbed my tired eyes that begged to be charged with caffeine. But it was too late for coffee at this point.

I could have fallen asleep as I was if it wasn’t for this sudden craving in my stomach. It was the kind of craving that only came on a Saturday night when you were home alone with no more responsibilities left for the week. Giving in to the abrupt desire, I pulled myself out of the bedroom and walked into the kitchen. I took out a new bottle of soju from the refrigerator along with some dried squid to chew on in between shots. Before returning to my room, my eyes trailed off to Elsie’s bed. Elsie’s empty bed.

Ever the popular one, Elsie was rarely home on the weekends. Actually, she was rarely home in general, so much so that I often forgot that her main point in coming to Korea was to study. She was a foreign exchange student at a university near my own. Her original plan was to come to my school, but thank goodness she wasn’t accepted. I cringed thinking about the possibility of having had to commute with her. 

I sat on my bed and started up a movie on my laptop. After going through a few genres, I had settled on a mundane romantic comedy. It was a French film with no actors I recognized and the occasional greeting being the only thing to come familiarly to my ears. Bonjour!

The setting was in Paris. I had never been there, but just from the film alone, it was no surprise that the city was famous for its beauty. Narrow bricked passageways that seemed to lead to somewhere magical. Stylish cafés and boutiques on every corner. The Eiffel Tower standing tall amongst the other Parisian buildings in the background. The magnificent scenery wound up grabbing more of my attention than the film’s actual plot and characters. I was halfway through the movie and still didn’t know the heroine’s name.

“Elsie!”

I blinked a few times and leaned my ear closer to the laptop speaker to make sure I had heard that clearly.

“Élise!” the mother called once more.

So, I hadn’t heard clearly.

The mother and daughter proceeded to have a rapid French conversation about the man Elsie— Élise had met the other day. It came as a string of letters that flowed into one ear and right out the other. My eyes couldn’t focus on the subtitles. They were moving too fast.

I was getting dizzy. The soju bottle was nearly empty. My blanket had suffered a bit, darkened blotches here and there where the alcohol had dripped from carelessly overfilled shots. A squid leg had been dropped and forgotten at my feet. I picked it up and smelled it out of habit before chewing on it. If Woojin were to have seen me like this…

Instead of feeling embarrassed, I smiled at the drunken thought of him. He was so cute. Without a doubt the most attractive guy to ever take notice of me. And to believe that there was a chance he actually liked me—

I hugged my pillow tightly and rolled around on the bed squealing. The movie was long abandoned by now, and so was the soju bottle that had tipped over. Fortunately, there wasn’t enough liquid inside to be spilled onto the bed anymore. I soon reached for it and finished the last few drops, letting out a satisfied sigh followed by a hiccup.

I needed some water. Fast. It was like a desert suddenly formed inside my mouth. I ran—rather poorly—to the kitchen, holding onto the edge of the sink for stability. I took out the liter bottle of water from the fridge and gulped down mouthful after mouthful. I didn’t feel sick, but my vision had gotten quite blurry. It was hard to keep my eyes open, to which I giggled to keep my spirits high. It was Saturday night, and I was happily drunk. I did not want to end things prematurely by falling asleep.

Back in my room, I picked up my phone that was charging next to my bed and scrolled through my contacts. Even though I was rarely the type to make calls when sober, the soju’s influence was making me yearn for the voice of another human being. I considered calling Minji, only to realize she probably wouldn’t even hear her phone in the club. Then, there was Yena. But she was supposed to be on a date tonight with her boyfriend. I wondered if they had made it to home base already. However, the curiosity faded just as quickly as it had formed because it was an awkward topic to think about.

Woojin’s contact was on my phone. The only time he had messaged me was to give me his number right after I had given him mine. We had yet to ever call each other. Would it be weird for a seonbae and hubae to talk on the phone together on a Saturday night for no apparent reason? We didn’t have any group projects to work on for class, nor were there any events to plan for regarding our major, not that either of us was part of the English Department’s student council. And it wasn’t like we were dating either…

I figured the more I thought into this, the weirder it would get. My drunken mind was telling me to just go for it. What could possibly go wrong? I pressed the call button. The sound of the movie’s climax became matched by the rising of my heartbeat. I was already beginning to regret this after the second ring. Perhaps Woojin wouldn’t pick up. It was pretty late after all—

“Hello?” The voice was much lower than I recalled Woojin’s being. Maybe this was what he sounded like when he was tired. It was attractive, nonetheless.

“Woojin, hi. This is Yura.”

“Yu-a.” My name rolled softly off his tongue. “Woojin’s washin’ up in the shower righ’ now. He’ll be ou’ soon.”

“Oh…”

I got the gist of what he said even though it took a second to understand each word. Judging by the dialect he had, this person probably came from the same region as Woojin. Perhaps he was a visiting friend or relative. Woojin did say he lived alone before.

“So, wha’ business ya have with Woojin?”

“I’m his seonbae,” I said nervously, having no clue of the answer myself. “Um, you see, I wanted to ask him about something regarding school.”

“Seonbae, eh? Kind of late to be askin’ abou’ school stuff now, isn’ it?”

I gulped, seeing it was nearing midnight. “Well, I suppose it is. I’m sorry. I guess I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow.”

“Alrigh’, then. Goodnigh’, Woojin’s seonbae.”

“Goodnight, um—”

“Ya can call me Eun. Like the color silver.”

“Silver. Eun. Right. Goodnight, Eun.”

I hung up straight away, not knowing what was hotter, my face or my charging phone. Whatever drunken high I was on prior to this call was gone. I felt so stupid right now. I hid myself under my covers and called it a night.

(*Eun: Korean word for silver)