Chapter 54: 40-1

What have I gotten myself into? I chew on a piece of pork belly, hand holding my head up as I zone out on the table in front of us. To my left, Hansoo is slurring some nonsense as he wags his finger at Jaewook, apparently lecturing him about something. Jaewook finds this to be the most amusing thing on the planet as he plays along with him. Me? I'm just annoyed that our celebration date turned out this way, with Hansoo becoming the centre of attention. "You understand Jaewookie? You got it?" His eyes are half covered by his lids. "Yeah, yeah I got it," Jaewook snorts with laughter. "This isn't enough, I need more," Hansoo mumbles. "Waiter!" "Wait, no Hansoo you've already had way too much. There's no way I'm paying for all of this." I gesture to the empty bottles surrounding him. He just never seems to stop. "Oh don't worry, Hansoo will pay. That's what the eldest should do right?" He extends his arms out with a smile as he says this to Jaewook. "But I'm—" the oldest... oh well. At least he'll pay. I roll my eyes and sip my beer. After seeing bottle by bottle empty, I decided to take things slow. Jaewook's stuck to just one bottle so far, and he seems perfectly fine. He was worried at first, but he seems more confident in himself now. "Me too," he says when the waiter comes. "Wait, Jaewook." My worry grows because—despite him being fine after one beer and seemingly having a high tolerance—it doesn't take much for someone who's never drunk alcohol before to get wasted. "It's fine Noona, I've only had one bottle so far. Hansoo's had like 7 and he's still not even that drunk." "Are you kidding me? He tried to eat a napkin a while ago." I'm doomed. After Jaewook's second bottle, I begin to notice the slowness of his movements. His eyelids seem to stutter as they close with each blink. His eyes themselves are no longer clear and sparkly but blurred over, and his speech is growing sporadic, random thoughts leaving his mouth with no filter. And if I thought Hansoo was drunk before, I was seriously mistaken. He seems to have forgotten that it's not normal to speak in the third person, as that's strictly how he talks now. And he'll start talking only to burst into a giggling fit like a toddler and squeeze himself into a hug. "Noona, he's cute, isn't he? He's like a puppy," Jaewook's arm comes around my chair as he slurs his words at me. Hansoo's ears seem to perk up like a dog from the mention of him being cute. He sure feeds off of attention like a dog. "Can we keep him?" "What?" I ask the boy beside me whose eyes are now closed. "Puppy," he replies. Hansoo all of a sudden drags his chair over. His arm clutches mine as he stares at me intently. "Keep Han-ie?" "God save me, please," I mumble. "Hansoo—" "That's me!" He says excitedly. "Where do you live, it's time to go home." "Han-ie don't wanna go home," he pouts. "My god if you start acting like a toddler I will leave you on the street." "Noona's getting mad," Jaewook informs Hansoo. "No throw Dannie out." Hansoo's speech seems to be getting worse by the second. If I do leave him alone there's no doubt he'll end up in some stranger's house by the morning. He's like a needy puppy, anyone would want to take him home. Gathering all the remaining energy I have and downing the last of my drink, I grab the wrists of both boys and stand up. "Up, both of you." "Ooh Noona's getting aggressive, I love it when you're aggressive," Jaewook leans into me to huskily say this in my ear before biting my lobe. "Hey! This is a public space, back off." This just makes the dark twinkle in his eyes shine even brighter, his smirk only growing from my scolding words. "You're such a weird guy," I mutter as I pull both men and walk to the counter to pay. "Okay, give me your card." I hold my hand out to Hansoo. "Card? Didn't buy a card. Was Dannie supposed to? Did Dannie forget to get a graduation card?" His eyes widen as he grows anxious. "Credit card you idiot." He smiles as he realizes this and digs through his pant pockets. Meanwhile, Jaewook stands behind me, hands on my hips as he moves dangerously close to me, mouth near my ear as he murmurs against me, vibrations almost making me shiver. I swat him back as I wait for Hansoo—or now apparently Dannie. When he finally finds the card I quickly pay, eager to leave the restaurant before they embarrass me further. The employee isn't phased though, almost everyone in here now is drunk. "Okay, there's going to be rules here," I say as soon as we get outside. Hansoo's eyes round again and his lips part as he listens intently.