6 p.m.The welcoming party was going on full-swing. The facilitators had even brought out the alcohol. Thankfully, everyone in attendance were of the age of majority so the seniors could legally get the freshmen drunk.
Gun was sitting on the edge of his seat, tapping his foot impatiently. He was waiting for a check-in from Yeo Ri, but she was not answering her phone.
As another low-quality impromptu performance by a freshman ended, Ha Jun turned to look at Gun, nudging him as he gave a pity-clap for the poor guy who had just practically embarra.s.sed himself.
"Hey, Gun, you okay?"
Gun abruptly raised his head, "Hm?" He glanced around the room, noticing that everyone was still having fun. Still no signs of the party ending. He frowned, sighing. He should"ve left before the party started.
"Yeo Ri isn"t answering my texts or my calls," Gun lamented.
"Isn"t she at home? Maybe she"s sleeping?"
"No, it"s too early. Yeo Ri doesn"t sleep this early—and she was still responding an hour ago. Something must"ve hap—"
"Wait—an hour ago? Don"t tell me you"ve been checking up on her every hour?"
"I was worried. I don"t feel safe letting Yeo Ri be by herself."
"..." Ha Jun was speechless. Gun"s helicopter-mom personality was in full blast and if he didn"t know any better, he would have thought Gun was her boyfriend; not that being so obsessive is a good trait for a boyfriend—or anybody—to have.
"I"m going to go out and get some fresh air," Gun said. Perhaps he was being overly sensitive. Perhaps the smell of alcohol was making him more jittery.
"Don"t run away~" Ha Jun said as he waved his hand. "I"ll go check up on Da Na. And be her knight in shining armour or something."
The two, one standing and one still sitting, glanced at the place where Da Na sat. She was placed on a different table and several seniors were crowding her, urging her to drink more.
"Let"s take care of our girls, shall we?" Ha Jun said, winking with a wry grin. Gun responded with a tight smile, nodding at him.
Seeing the most good-looking guy in the batch leaving, some of the people"s eyes drifted his way. A few girls even looked as if they wanted to get up and follow him.
Gun left the room, looking for a place quiet enough to have a private phone call.
Finally, after trying to call her again twice, she finally picked up.
"Yeo Ri! Why didn"t you pick up my call?! I was worried sick!"
"Oh, Oppa... sorry..." Yeo Ri yawned, "I was napping and had the phone on silent. Sorry."
"...Oh."
Gun inhaled deeply, feeling a burden lifted off his chest. "Sorry, Yeo Ri-ah. I didn"t mean to raise my voice at you; I was just so worried that you might be hurt or in danger or something."
"Mm. I know, Oppa," Yeo Ri said. He could see her smiling gently, as she always does, through her tone. "When are you coming home?"
"Hm... in a little bit? I"ll see if I can slip out soon."
"Oppa, did you have a drink?" Yeo Ri asked. From the lightness of her voice, he could tell that she was jokingly asking him that.
Gun smiled to himself, "No. I don"t like it."
"Why? Aren"t you legal now?" Yeo Ri asked, her tone trailing off. Gun a.s.sumed that she was on the verge of falling asleep again.
"Yes, but that doesn"t mean I should or want to," Gun reasoned.
"Hmm..." Yeo Ri hummed. "But Hyuk-oppa still drinks even though he says he doesn"t like it in the beginning," Yeo Ri muttered.
Gun snorted. "The cheap beers he"s been drinking barely counts as alcohol," Gun said mockingly. Those drinks couldn"t get anybody drunk, and in some countries, they were even considered as soft drinks.
Yeo Ri giggled softly. "Oppa, don"t be mean."
"I"m not being mean," he sulkily replied.
"Whatever you say, Oppa," Yeo Ri yawned again, "Come home soon."
"Mm."
After telling her to watch out for intruders, Gun hung up. Then, he returned to the room and hung around for a few more minutes before finally deciding to go home.
Meanwhile, on Yeo Ri"s side.
Yeo Ri walked over to the bed, throwing her phone down.
She was still dressed in the clothes she had worn when she went out. It looked as if she had just came back. Contrary to the way she had talked to Gun, no trace of sleepiness could be detected from her gait. Though, she looked tired.
Knowing that Gun was coming back anytime soon, she quickly took a short shower and changed into comfortable home-wear, throwing her previously worn clothes into the laundry.
As she walked past the bed, she noticed her phone buzzing again. Yeo Ri picked it up, a.s.suming it was Gun telling her that he was on her way home.
However, it was not Gun.
She read the message silently before frowning. "I only wanted to make sure you were safe," it wrote.
Yeo Ri snorted before deleting it from her history.
"There he goes again, doing unnecessary things," she muttered under her breath.