After he orders the somaek, I try to calm down a bit. It was just a coincidence. Nothing more. I wait for the drinks while overthinking everything. Is God playing a joke on me? Most likely. Han Tae-ho looks at me, and seeing that I've cooled off, goes back to chatting with Choi Mi-rae. That bastard... he led me right into a trap. Now the only question is whether he knew about it or if it was unintentional.
I see Yeong-su approaching with a tray in hand, carrying it skillfully without spilling absolutely anything. For some reason, both glasses are filled to the brim, and yet, she doesn't drop a single tear. But, as soon as she notices me watching, she starts walking unsteadily. As if following a script, Han Tae-ho dodges, and the entire contents of one glass splash all over me.
She looks at me in a way that almost makes me think she's concerned.
"That didn't go quite as expected," she says.
I think she's going to grab a cloth so I can dry off, but she simply picks up the other glass and pours it right over my head. A deathly silence falls over the bar. Tae-ho looks from me to her in disbelief, waving his hands around like he's swatting a mosquito. He tries to calm me down, but I get up from the stool and head for the street. The bar remains dead silent, and I can feel their eyes following me. Seriously, I feel like a circus animal.
I reach my car, get in, shut the door, and start the engine. Tae-ho knocks on the window. I roll it down, and he pleads:
"Dude, open the door!" He leans against the glass.
I look at him with a cynical smile and say:
"Just move your hand off the glass for a sec so I can open it."
As soon as he does, I roll up the window and speed off. I take a deep breath and send a simple text to the idiot: "Traitor." Honestly, I wonder why I still hang out with him. Since our school days, he's always gotten me into trouble. In elementary school, he told the teacher I had a crush on her daughter. The result? I got suspended for supposedly "disrespecting" the teachers, and after that, I spent the rest of the year suffering unfair punishments. In high school, he lied to the boyfriend of the girl he liked, saying I was the one into her. The result? I got beat up. And then I got beat up by him again later. In college, he said he'd do the written part of our International Relations project. He didn't. I lost a year of my life because of him.
I stop at a red light and check my phone. A text from him saying: "Dude, come back here." Two missed calls. He calls me again, and I just turn off the device. I drive to my building and park in my spot. While debating whether I should torture him or report him, I end up falling asleep in the car.
I dream I'm facing a demon. It has Yeong-su's face. Great, she haunts me even in my sleep. Just as I'm about to be killed by her, someone bangs on my car window, waking me up. Apparently, my car has become the local meeting spot. I roll down the window, rubbing my eyes, and hear that voice:
"You parked in my spot. Get out. Now."
I don't even bother saying anything. I roll up the window without even checking who it is, because this is starting to get creepy. She starts pounding on the glass violently, and I pull out, nearly running her over. I look in the rearview mirror and see that, yeah, I really did park in spot 2B; mine is 2A. I head to my spot, but she stands right in front of my car. I lean on the horn to get her to move. She steps aside, opens her purse, and throws an egg at my car.
I open the door to cuss her out, but she's already sprinting up the garage stairs. I don't even waste time chasing her. I clean my windshield and smear all the egg she threw at me right onto her car. I grab some baby powder and dump it on top. There. She's going to have a great surprise tomorrow.