Chapter 26: 21-1

"You can drink," Jaewook says while scanning through the karaoke's songs. "You don't want anything?" "No, drinking isn't my thing," he says. "Oh, okay. Then I don't need to drink either." "No, no, I know you're stressed out from school and need to wind down. You can drink, I'll take care of you." I stare at the boy who is sitting down with a sincere look on his face. "I've already taken care of you when drunk before anyway." "What do you mean?" I ask, my voice echoing in the mic that's in my hands. He lightly laughs. "Didn't Zen tell you I took you home that one time long ago? I not only took you home, but I took care of you as you fell into a child-like state of mind." My body sinks into the couch as I stare at the screen in bewilderment. I knew he took me home but taking care of me? "I'm so embarrassed right now. Please don't tell me I—" "Cuddled me? Yep. You sat on my lap like a kid and cooed at me." I groan and look up at the ceiling in despair. "Why didn't you say anything?" "At that time you still saw me as a little kid, and it was fun knowing your little secret without you even realizing." "Hey!" I scoot down the long couch so I can hit him. He covers his head in defence. "You brat!" "Noona, Noona! Ow—don't be so mad! It was adorable, and besides, we're dating now anyway. It's not embarrassing!" "You're the worst." "Whatever you say baby girl," the smirk on his face suggests something, and a memory briefly flashes before my eyes. "YOU TWAT! YOU CALLED ME THAT THAT NIGHT DIDN'T YOU!" I climb onto his lap and begin punching his chest. His hand tries to block me as he laughs hysterically, and eventually, when he catches my flailing arms, he leans in to kiss my nose. "You're so cute, do you know that? I know everyone sees you as this intimidating, hot girl, but in reality, you're just a soft baby." "Look who's talking," I mumble and pout my lips in annoyance. "Drink Noona, I've taken care of you once and I can do it again." My eyes scan both of his as I feel my body calm down—my combative stance now softening into his hold. "You choose the first song," I mumble as I get off him and open a bottle of Cass beer for myself. He gives me a sneaky smile as he chooses a song. Once the first note plays, my mouth opens wide. "You smooth criminal," I say as I shake my head at him. Soon enough, the room is full of him singing "누난 너무 예뻐 [Noona you're so pretty]" as I laugh hysterically. It doesn't help that he has a great voice, which literally makes me swoon and feel giddy. In comparison to him—in the words of my brother—I sound like a dying cow. But Jaewook has great fun giggling at me as I sing cute girl group songs the best I can. While I do try to be decent at first, after a while the alcohol takes away my pride and I begin belting out ballads terribly. Jaewook even steals the mic from me during one song, begging me not to ruin it as he takes over. "Jaewook," I whine as I climb over to him. "Why won't you let me sing anymore?" "Because your voice is so beautiful that one should only be blessed enough to hear it so many times. Baby, you've gifted me with it too much, I can't be greedy." I purse my lips together as I squint at him, too tipsy to understand that he's lying but not drunk enough to believe that I've miraculously improved my vocal skills. Soon enough, I grow sleepy and lean my head on him as he sings a soft ballad. My legs curl onto his lap and my hands clutch his arm. "Noona, don't fall asleep here. We can go home now if you're that tired." "I want to sleep here," I mumble. "No, time to get up." He stands up and pulls me up with him. I stumble a bit and lean against him as my eyes struggle to stay open. I'm in an in-between state of consciousness and sleep as he pays and walks out to the subway. I'm leaning against him the whole time, eyes opening and closing periodically. When we get on the subway train, we end up scrambling for room as it fills up. He holds onto the pole. "Hold onto me Noona," he says. As the train jerks into movement, I hold onto his jacket with two hands and lean my head against him. My eyes fall closed once again, and we sway back and forth as the train moves. Jaewook's free arm wraps around me like a shield as other people push against us. His eyes narrow at any man that looks at me and the arm that holds onto the pole strains as he grabs it as tightly as he can, balancing the both of us. Eventually, a bunch of other college students, drunk for the weekend, enter the train to stand beside us. Being intoxicated themselves, they try talking to me in their terrible English, but I ignore them. "Hey, I'm talking to you," one slurs in broken English. I open my eyes sleepily to look up at the strange men. "Yah! Shut up, I'm trying to sleep!" I say to them, tsking after. They scoff at me, then slur some comebacks that I can't decipher. When one gropes my butt, the world seems to spins around me for a split second. All of a sudden I'm behind Jaewook as he grabs the guy by the collar of his shirt. His height makes him more convincing as the older guys scramble in shock. His eyes are so big that they seem to engulf his whole face. He grits his teeth and says something to the guy, but I can't hear it. I just hold onto his shirt and lean against him. "Let's go, let's get off," one guy says. Jaewook pushes the guy back as he lets his collar go. The group gets off at the next stop. Jaewook quickly grabs the pole again. His other arm comes around to move me back in front of him. "Wookie, don't be scary." "Don't let guys touch you," he says between clenched teeth. "But I let you touch me." "Shush Noona, only I'm allowed to touch you," he says under his breath so others don't hear. I pout and stare at his jacket for the rest of the ride. When we get off, Jaewook holds my hand and walks rather quickly ahead. I end up falling behind as I struggle to catch up to him in my booties. "Jae, slow down," I whine. He stops abruptly and I stumble. I notice his nostrils flaring and the veins in his neck protruding more than usual. "Jaewook is mad." "Are you used to that?" He abruptly asks me.