As I barely finished a scuffle at the convenience store and sat under the parasol, inhaling cigarette smoke, someone grabbed my shoulder from behind with one hand.
The moment I felt my shoulder being grabbed, I instinctively turned around, ready to seize and twist the wrist of whoever it was.
Who grabs the shoulder of a guy drinking alone at night, wallowing in self-pity? Either it's some drunkard or a punk looking to start trouble. One of the two, most likely.
Either way, I had no intention of letting them off easy.
Sure, they might have a legitimate reason for grabbing me, but I didn't think that far.
My plan was to subdue them first and ask questions later. Isn't it their fault for startling someone in the first place?
(If it's some punk looking for a fight, I'll rough them up just enough not to break any bones. If not, I can just apologize for overreacting.)
Just as my brain was about to send the command to move, a voice came from behind me.
"…Excuse me."
A distinctly feminine, soft, and delicate voice. Not the ambiguous tone of a teenage boy going through puberty it was unmistakably a woman's voice.
(Holy shit, that was close.)
If she had spoken a second later, I might've snapped that delicate wrist, filling this quiet night street with a woman's scream.
Why would a woman grab a guy like me;a pathetic-looking dude drinking alone late at night from behind?
Thanks to her, I nearly ended up with my address changed to some prison in the middle of nowhere.
Of course, if that happened, I'd probably take a long solo trip before "moving in." Still, I didn't want my final chapter to be written so pathetically, so I was annoyed at the person who put me in this stupid situation.
Irritated, I exhaled cigarette smoke along with a sigh, about to say something without even glancing at her, when she spoke again.
"If you're alone, would it be okay if I joined you to talk? Oh, and sorry for touching you without permission."
…?
What's this? Am I being hit on by a woman right now?
And not at some pickup bar, but at a convenience store parasol table?
(Man, life's full of surprises.)
Normally, I'd have snapped at her for making me worry and told her to get lost, but I was starting to feel a bit buzzed, and the absurdity of being hit on at a convenience store was so funny that I nodded and let her join me.
Oh, but there was something I needed to clear up first.
Focusing, I spoke slowly in Korean.
"If you're a minor, go home. I don't want to put out my cigarette just because of you."
At my prickly words, she flinched slightly as she was about to sit across from me, then plopped down anyway and pulled a pack of cigarettes from her hoodie pocket to show me.
"No worries, I'm a smoker too."
She said with a grin, tucking the cigarettes back into her pocket.
Her face was mostly hidden by the hoodie, but… she kinda looked like a minor.
Her barely visible skin was smooth like a baby's, and her delicate, youthful features gave off a student-like vibe.
Still, I wasn't the kind of upstanding adult who checks IDs to confirm someone's age, so I just nodded slightly.
"Oppa why's a guy like you drinking alone at night like this? It's dangerous. And wow, you've already downed half a bottle without any snacks?"
…She didn't even know my age, so why was she calling me "oppa"? Whatever, I wasn't in the mood to nitpick, so I answered casually.
"And why's a woman like you wandering around alone at night? That's dangerous."
She froze for a moment at my words, then burst into giggles.
(What's so funny? Did I say something witty?)
"You seemed like the serious type, but you're kinda funny, oppa. Of course a woman's out at night, hehe."
(Is this girl nuts?)
Resisting the urge to lecture this naive girl who clearly didn't understand how scary the night could be, I stubbed out my cigarette, downed the rest of the soju on the table, and lit another cigarette.
She probably thought I was some kind of weirdo. Her expression was hard to read under the hoodie, but still.
Feeling a bit awkward, I continued the conversation.
"…Is that so? You seem pretty confident."
"Of course, oppa. I'm around 169 to 170 cm tall, so I can handle most situations. Didn't you see my height when I passed by earlier? Honestly, I asked to join you because you looked a bit vulnerable, hehe."
I seriously wanted to flick her forehead and tell her to snap out of it.
(I'm someone who could take on ten people and win. Me, vulnerable? Do you even know what I used to do for a living?)
Memories of the past suddenly flooded back, making me irritated again.
Between the convenience store clerk who mistook me for a foreigner or a Korean earlier and this overly confident young girl, it felt like I hadn't met a single sane woman tonight.
Had the world gone mad while I was avoiding human interaction?
Or maybe this girl was the crazy one, banging her head against a wall until there was a hole in her brain, in need of some physical therapy via a forehead flick and a lecture. As I mulled this over, she spoke again.
"By the way, oppa, I have a question."
"Go ahead."
What weird thing was she going to say now?
I downed the rest of the soju bottle in one go, already regretting letting her join me and just wanting to end this conversation so I could crash at home.
"Did you get dumped or something? You don't look like the type to get dumped you seem more like the one breaking hearts."
Me, breaking hearts? That's ridiculous.
I know my body's in decent shape, but I'm well aware my face isn't that great. Flattering me won't get her anywhere.
"Just say what you want. I'm getting tired and need to head home."
"Wow, you're as aloof as you look. I still have so many questions! Okay, fine. How did you know I speak Russian? My face is mostly covered by this hoodie."
…What's she talking about? Know what? Is she bragging about speaking Russian now?
The alcohol was starting to hit harder, and my head was spinning. I really needed to get going before I ended up passed out on the street with the police waking me up like some kind of morning call service.
So, I decided to humor her, wrap up the conversation, and head home to collapse on my tiny, worn-out bed in my cramped studio apartment.
"…You speak Russian too? Quite the talent."
"Yeah! My mom's Russian. But why are you pretending not to know? You've been understanding me this whole time and responding in Korean."
Me, speaking Russian? Come to think of it… after focusing to speak Korean initially, I stopped paying attention to how I was talking.
I was confused. I thought my drunk brain was making me hear things.
But the strange sounds coming out of my mouth were Russian?
As I tried to recall if I'd ever had any connection to Russian, I suddenly imagined my old students, drunk and vomiting on the streets, passed out here and there, probably listening to English test prep audio through earphones.
A random, unfunny image popped into my head.
The alcohol was clearly messing with my ability to think straight.
Normally, I'd be freaking out in this situation.
Realizing my brain was under alcohol's control, I found the bizarre conversation oddly amusing and said calmly, without filtering my words since she seemed to understand me anyway.
"So, your dad's Korean?"
"Yeah. Wow, I thought you might be mixed just by looking at you, but I didn't expect you to be half-Russian like me! So, which of your parents is Korean?"
That's the second person tonight mistaking me for a foreigner.
"Both my parents are Korean."
"Hehe, come on, stop joking. Your eye color doesn't exactly scream Korean, you know? And with that face, who'd believe you're full Korean? Plus, your skin's super pale."
I'm telling you, I don't look like that. This girl's got something wrong with her eyes too, but I stuck to the truth.
"…I'm serious, both my parents are Korean. It's dark out, so you probably saw something wrong."
"Wow, that's getting old. You don't go around without looking in mirrors, do you? Hold on, let's see if you can keep up that excuse after this."
She pulled out her phone, placed it on the table, opened the selfie camera, and pointed the screen toward me.
(She's the one going overboard with this… How far is she gonna take this?)
Sighing lightly, I glanced at the phone screen she'd set up on the table.
And the moment I saw what was on it, I couldn't believe my eyes.
(…What the hell is that?l
Instead of my usual dead, black eyes, I saw golden eyes gleaming under the light from the convenience store nearby.
As I stared at those golden eyes, they stared back at me.
It was like seeing Medusa i felt my entire body freeze.
My breathing quickened, my eyes widened, and my legs trembled uncontrollably. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
My rational mind told me to accept that this was me, but my instincts Ryu Sehwa refused to acknowledge that I was the owner of those glowing golden eyes.
_________________________________________
Translated by Reversalmanhwa.web.id
/ Reversalnovel.web.id