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He was sitting there in front of Jayoung, eating ice cream together. Looking at the dead clock on the wall in the shop, Minseok realized immediately he was in a dream. Jayoung seemed to not even notice him at all. The girl just focused on the view around her and her ice cream.
A car honk woke him up from the stoic dream. He could feel the sun on his skin - woke late again, he sighed deeply. Slowly, he squinted his eyes to see through the blurriness when something came into view.
"Oh, Jayoung-ah."
There was an instant relaxing feeling every time he saw her face. A person who didn't really care much about him but at the same time, seemed to care a lot about him. He felt like he didn't always have to explain himself to the girl. And to have her right beside him -
"Jayoung?! Oh!"
The small and frail body was lying next to him. No wonder why he felt warmer than usual. Her chestnut hair covered half of her face; her uncomfortable skirt and tight t-shirt she was wearing, meaning that she didn't get to change at all.
Minseok drew himself back to the edge of the bed, hugging a pillow in the meantime.
What's she doing in my bed?
Oh no... What happened...
Wait, last night... Did I -
"Oppa! Don't - Don't move too fast," The girl groggily told the man as she tried to sit up with a hand rubbing harshly against her forehead. "You'll -"
"ow."
"- get a headache..."
The world suddenly turned against him as his head began to spin in the worse way possible, nauseating his every thought. Minseok braced himself for the fall, but two small hands gripped firmly on his biceps trying to keep him balanced.
"Oppa, you had a lot to drink last night," There was ringing in his ears, but he managed to hear her speak through gritted teeth - the first time she sounded annoyed with him. "Now, it's a hangover."
He caught a glimpse of the disapproving look on her face as she picked up the meds on his nightstand and approached him with water ready.
While Minseok was downing two glasses of water, it dawned on him that they were going to have to talk about what'd happened last night. She helped him to the bathroom and he got into the shower letting the cold water clear his head.
Through shivering arms and chattering teeth, he pieced together the things he saw in his bedroom to form a full picture. Jayoung must have been cleaning him up, taking off his jacket and pants, and in the process fell asleep right beside him.
Her fingers were tapping against the glass table as she waited for him to finish up. Minseok had thrown a sleeveless tee and a blue dress shirt on, getting ready since it was almost time for him to leave for work. Gulping nervously at the messy hair she must have hastily tied into a bun, he readied himself for some talking.
"What were you doing last night?" She was still sluggish from the lack of sleep. Seeing the girl such a state, he felt the guilt gnawing at his heart. "I know there was a party - you wrote it down, but why did you drink so much?"
He couldn't believe he was being scolded for something he had frequently done for the past years - by a kid.
"I ... I don't know. This was a frequent thing back in the day for me. I tried to refuse the drinks, but they forced me." It was true. To all of a sudden stop drinking when he was known to go to these parties everywhere was unusual for his co-workers to grasp.
"Didn't you know I was waiting for you at home?"
For once, he noticed real worry in her eyes.
"If you're going to drink, at least make sure you won't be going to work the next day." He shouldn't be feeling special when a kid was talking down to him; he couldn't help his emotions going haywire from the attention he was getting. "You're lucky your friend was kind enough to bring you home. What if no one were there to help you? You know I can't go to you."
Wait, somebody brought me home?
"Oh, goodness? Why are you smiling? I'm about to blow up seeing you like this." Her fists banged against the table, making her coffee cup shake spilling tiny droplets.
He bit his lips, trying to repress his weird behavior. Looking up from the orange juice he was sipping, the man cleared his throat. "Um, who brought me home?"
"Don't change the subject."
Woah~ Where did the honorifics go?
The girl was staring him down in a way that wasn't that very scary but rather endearing and caring. This was the first time she showed him any overflowing emotions a teenager should be expressing; then again, this was the first time he showed her such a terrible side of him.
Well, drinking was part of the adult world. Jayoung shouldn't even be scolding him right now. However, watching her heaving heavily with furrowed brows got him reconsidering his actions. He had never done a thing for her to worry before. This must have probably caught her off guard.
Maybe, it was out of his character to do such a thing. Maybe. It must have scared her a lot.
"I'm sorry." He was reluctant to bow but did it anyway, seeing her flushed after finally realizing what she had said to the older man. "I normally didn't have anyone waiting for me."
"Well, you do now, so - from now on, please drink responsibly." The girl was stuttering through the sentence with proper honorifics.
His heart swelled at the thought of her waiting for him every night.
Jayoung tiredly rubbed her eyes when she took a peek at the clock. It was 7:15 am. "No breakfast today." She said it in a hoarse whisper.
Minseok was quick to be right next to her when she stumbled out of the kitchen. The orange juice really helped him sober up. The fact that he was used to the pain also helped. "When did you go to sleep last night?"
All she did was gave him a stink eye before walking upstairs to her bedroom.
"I'll give you a ride!" At this hour, the bus had already left.
On the way to school, he tried to have a chat with her about Yixing and her progress. Jayoung didn't talk as much about food as she would normally have; the girl just crossed her arms staring at the window the whole ride. It was cute that she couldn't resist answering some questions and forgot to hide her excitement about the cooking - trying hard to look angry.
Minseok expected awkwardness, but there was none. By the time, they arrived at the front gate, she was rambling on about dumplings and how adorable it was to see Yixing space out from time to time.
"There's no food left in the fridge. Umm, very little left..." She was about to leave the car when Minseok beat her to it, holding the door open for her.
"Let's eat at Yixing's tonight. I miss his dumb face." He fixed the collar for her. Her hair was sticking to it in a weird way. "I'll leave work early and pick you up at 5."
As he watched her hesitantly waving goodbye to him, he just smiled to himself and drove off - his hungover magically cured.
