As soon as the pizza arrived at the table, I whipped out my phone. The hands that had been reaching for the pizza quickly withdrew. After hastily snapping a picture, I set down my phone. The two people with me stared inquisitively.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you take pictures of this kind of stuff?”

“Can’t I?”

“I don’t mean that. Well, are you on social media or something?”

“No, I just take them for no reason.”

I only took pictures because sometimes, Yeon Woojeong would be curious about what I ate. Feeling like I’d done something weird, I shoved my phone into my pocket, and they looked at me and laughed amongst themselves. I ignored them and brought a slice of pizza to my plate.

We devoured the pizza in silence. After my stomach was a little fuller, I finally began to relax.

Certainly, my worries lessened somewhat after a day. I was glad that I followed Yeon Woojeong’s words to sleep early and face the next day. If he hadn’t helped me to sleep the previous night, I would have wrestled with worries and likely wouldn’t have slept properly.

“Yoon Suyoung.”

“Yes.”

“When will you enlist?”

Yoon Suyoung opened his eyes wide, seemingly surprised by my question. I wondered if he could adapt well, though this was also a concern I had for myself. While pondering this, I sipped my coke, but Yoon Suyoung smiled and shook his head.

“I’m going for social services. Health issue.”

“Is that so?”

That was a relief. But is it truly a relief if it was due to a health issue? I nodded, and Ham Yoonah frowned.

“Are you going to the military?”

“Yeah.”

“Goodness! When?”

“Next year, I guess.”

My response brought about silence. When I noticed Yoon Suyoung looking more uneasy than I felt, though I didn’t understand why he did so, I felt a bit better.

“Hey, it’s okay. They say the military nowadays is practically like a camp. You’ll also get a lot of money.”

“T-That’s right!”

Yoon Suyoung immediately chimed in after Ham Yoonah. I wasn’t fond of camp either, but when I saw Ham Yoonah being uncharacteristically anxious and Yoon Suyoung worrying about me, I laughed. The faces of the two bloomed when they saw me laugh.

“Still, it’s a good thing you have no girlfriend.”

“…”

“An older boy I know had a girlfriend who waited for him during his military service, but he wanted to break up with her.” 

“Why?”

“He said he felt pressured, like he had to marry her. Isn’t he an asshole?”

What a crazy guy. I thought it’d be good if he went to the military again in my place, and then I suddenly thought of Yeon Woojeong. Actually, I didn’t care even if I would be an outcast, or how tough life might be there. After all, it would end. Yeon Woojeong told me to not worry about him, but I couldn’t help it. The first thing that worried me was whether he would eat properly.

But considering he had been living with me for a while, wouldn’t his habit change as well? He was an adult, and it wasn’t like his workplace would feed him directly. Anyway, I miss Yeon Woojeong now. While Ham Yoonah and Yoon Suyoung were talking about that crazy guy, I took out my phone and texted Yeon Woojeong.

[Willyoubelatetoday?]

His reply arrived when I had left the pizza place and parted ways with the other two.

[I have a company dinner. I’ll be late today, so don’t wait for me. Go to sleep first.]

A company dinner? I looked down at my phone, frowning, and then headed home.

The sun had completely set by the time I arrived. It seemed that I would soon need to wear my padding jacket since the day kept getting cold. Well, at least the home was warm. I scuffed my feet on the floor near the front door and went inside.

After washing myself, I took a look inside the fridge. Yeon Woojeong would surely go home drunk, and there were ingredients to make a hangover soup. Though I wasn’t sure if he would eat it tomorrow. For now, I just checked for the ingredients, closed the fridge, and went to the book room.

I picked up a volume of a mystery novel Yeon Woojeong said he had a good reading. When I asked him if this kind of novel was fun when he actually met criminals daily, he told me that he read it before he became a prosecutor. He also added that the fun didn’t change even if he read it again.

“It’s fun to read others’ stories. They catch the criminals by themselves without needing me to use my brain.”

He played with my hair as he said that. I touched my hair, reminiscing about that, and settled on the sofa in the living room.

I initially thought the story might be subpar as it involved a private detective, but the main character, an older man, had a flawed side. I hadn’t even reached the halfway mark, but it was fun. It made me feel good to know that I could feel the same way about a book that Yeon Woojeong enjoyed reading. So sometimes, even if I didn’t like a book, if he said he liked it, I would find my own reason to think it was good. 

As I reached the halfway point in the book, I grabbed some cookies and nibbled while flipping through the pages. Midway, I glanced at my phone, but there was no message from Yeon Woojeong. Setting the book aside, I rubbed my forearms, bent my legs, and stretched. While I was unsure about many things, I didn’t anticipate failing the physical assessment, given my good health. Nonetheless, being healthy was a blessing. Not long ago, Yeon Woojeong looked into insurance for me, and since I had only been to the dentist recently, I was able to sign up easily. 

For now, Yeon Woojeong was paying for the insurance, but in the future, I would like to pay for every little thing he spends. I wondered how many years would pass before I could do that. Placing the book on my face, I reclined on the sofa but soon got back up.

I brushed my teeth and went into my room. Although I felt sleepy, I fought it down because I wanted to see Yeon Woojeong coming home. It seemed like the prosecutors regarded company dinners as part of their work. I felt irritated that they detained Yeon Woojeong longer, especially when he didn’t wish to dine with two extra people besides himself.

It was hard to fight off the drowsiness that had begun to creep in. I kept nodding off before waking up when my head almost fell into my lap. Blinking to clear my head, I checked my phone; it was already past midnight, and Yeon Woojeong hadn’t returned. As I rubbed my stiff eyes, I heard some noise from the front door. 

I quickly left my room. Standing in the doorway, Yeon Woojeong leaned against the wall with one hand and pulled down his tie with the other. With his forehead furrowed, he stumbled as he tried to take off his shoes. I hurriedly approached him, but he raised his head and stretched his hand forward to stop me from coming.

“I drank a lot.”

“I can see it.”

Ignoring his attempt to stop me, I reached his side and supported him by the arms. Yeon Woojeong peered at me intently before smirking and managing to take off his shoes. He reeked of alcohol, an unfamiliar sight as I had never witnessed him drink so much.

“Why did you drink so much?”

“It couldn’t… It couldn’t be helped if I wanted to send the older folks home quickly.”

“You’re good at your social life.”

“What? Are you worried I’m bad at it?”

“No.”

Well, Yeon Woojeong excelled at everything, so even if he was bad at something, it wouldn’t be so bad. I led him, who couldn’t walk as he normally did, to the bathroom.