Chapter 33: Suddenly Craving Ramen (Please Follow for Updates)

"Oppa, are you talking about last night?"

"I was sleeping at my group's dorm last night. I didn't go out at all."

In a coffee shop on the street corner, Kim Ryu-won, dressed in a pale pink dress and wearing cherry-blossom-themed makeup, sat by the window. Her gentle eyes were fixed on the man who had arrived in a hurry.

Speaking of last night, she was actually filled with her own suspicions. She really wanted to ask why a woman's voice had come through Lin Shou-xia's phone, and she was desperate to know who the girl he mentioned—the one who helped him home—really was.

She wanted to ask, but she didn't quite dare. She was afraid of hearing another person's name from his lips, and she was equally afraid of seeing the tenderness that would appear on his face when he mentioned that name.

"Who could it be?"

The man rubbed his face. The dizzying sensation of his hangover still hadn't faded, and his memory cut off right before Bang Chan had left. He didn't know how he had made it home, nor was he clear on who had sent him back. He had checked his call logs, locking onto the suspicious call from Kim Ryu-won, but now she was saying it wasn't her.

"Oppa, can you really not remember anything?"

"Yeah, my head is a mess. It feels like I've lost all my memory."

The man nodded, feeling a headache coming on. But what gave him a worse headache wasn't the fact that he’d been drunk—it was Yoo Ji-min's attitude toward him.

*He is my friend's younger brother, and I treat him as a younger brother.*

Even after a night of heavy drinking, the man could still clearly remember those words that had caused him such agony. He only had one sister, Lin Ying-lu, and he never wanted to be a younger brother to Yoo Ji-min.

"Do you need to rest a bit more? Maybe I can help you get back?"

"No need." The man declined Kim Ryu-won's kindness and took out his phone. A message had just arrived.

[How is it? Are you feeling any better?]

[?]

[I mean, you were drunk and slept all night. Is your body feeling any more comfortable?]

Shin Yuna was lounging on the sofa, her nimble fingers tapping on her phone to send her concern. She had heard from her leader that her partner had been extremely drunk yesterday—to the point where he couldn't even speak. She had timed her message for when she thought Lin Shou-xia would be awake.

She heard that he had troubled the other person's sister yesterday. If she had been there, perhaps there would have been no need to bother anyone else.

[Thanks, I'm feeling much better.]

So, was it Shin Yuna who took him home yesterday? But he clearly remembered a fierce voice ringing in his ears, constantly lecturing him not to drink like that in the future. Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was his memory wrong? Or... was Yoo Ji-min's voice just a dream he’d had?

[Do you have to be so formal?]

[We are partners, after all.]

Shin Yuna tilted her head, not quite understanding why he was thanking her. She had just sent a greeting; at most, it was just something a friend should do.

[But...]

[What's with the "but"? If you really want to thank me, buy me a meal. Consider it a celebration of the perfect end to our first collaboration. I'll pick the place, you pay. How about that?]

Shin Yuna always had that cheerful, lively personality. Rather than listening to this man ramble on about things she didn't understand, it was better to have him treat her to a meal. Delicious food was clearly more tempting to her.

[No problem.]

He was genuinely grateful for Shin Yuna’s sudden helping hand. Without her, he would have likely spent the whole night sleeping in the restaurant, and he would surely be waking up with a raw, painful throat.

The man closed his phone after replying and let out a sigh. He didn't know whether he should feel happy or... regretful.

Happy that he hadn't let that girl see his vulnerable, embarrassing side. Regretful that Yoo Ji-min hadn't actually been by his side, but had only appeared briefly in his dreams.

***

"So annoying!"

"What are you angry about?" Facing her good friend who started throwing a tantrum the moment she saw her, Lin Ying-lu was full of question marks. She couldn't understand Yoo Ji-min's strange train of thought at all.

Had she... done something wrong? Lin Ying-lu mentally reviewed her recent actions. Other than sneaking out to eat Korean BBQ behind her friend's back, she didn't seem to have done anything guilty.

"I don't know. Just seeing you makes me annoyed."

Clearly, Yoo Ji-min had transferred her frustration toward Lin Shou-xia onto Lin Ying-lu. Her brother could receive a call from a girl in the middle of the night, and it was likely because this sister hadn't fulfilled her duties. Besides... what kind of good sister would leave things for others to handle when she knew her brother was drunk? This sister was completely incompetent.

"I..." Lin Ying-lu felt a bit wronged, but she remembered the groggy phone call she had received last night. As if realizing something, her face filled with apology.

"Is this about Shou-xia?"

"I fell asleep after watching the Gayo Daejeon last night, so I was a bit out of it. If Shou-xia bullied you, tell me. I'll go back and make him apologize."

"Do you think I'm the kind of fool who would get bullied by your idiot brother?"

Yoo Ji-min brandished her small fists in front of Lin Ying-lu, putting on a show of bravado. She didn't want her friend to see what she was really thinking.

"Now that you mention it, I guess that's true..." Lin Ying-lu nodded thoughtfully.

Although Yoo Ji-min occasionally did abstract things she couldn't understand and often mimicked those mindless, repetitive videos on TikTok, compared to that idiot brother at home... her friend was clearly much smarter.

But who could ever predict matters of the heart? The fact that the "King of Mountain Bamboo" had fallen for the idiot brother was something that had truly happened to Yoo Ji-min. She was confused and quite perplexed. She didn't understand what had happened to her.

She had clearly hated this idiot who flirted with everyone yesterday, but... now, she was exceptionally worried about the boy who had hung over all night. She wanted to know if he had slept well. She wanted to know if he had fallen off the sofa onto the floor.

Most of all, she wanted to know his attitude. Why did he disappear without a word after the performance ended? Why, after getting drunk, did he call her name over and over, clinging to her, not wanting her to leave? And... that girl who claimed to be his "best partner," Shin Yuna—what position did she hold in his heart?

Lin Shou-xia... just what kind of person are you?

"How about this? To thank you for saving Shou-xia, and to make you feel a bit better, how about I treat you to Haidilao?"

"With all the Korean beef you can eat!"

"I..."

"I suddenly feel like eating ramen."

"Huh?"