Chapter 75
That evening, after the afterparty was over, Lee Seo-ah decided to stay at Ian's place for a day instead of heading straight back to Busan. She still hadn't found the luggage she left on the cruise, and she didn't have any urgent plans, so there was no reason to rush back.
Still, Ian said it was a little odd for a man and woman to be alone together, but she reacted more casually than he'd expected.
“What if my guardian spirit keeps an eye on me? And from what I've seen so far, you're not that kind of person.”
“......I really don't know what you're basing that on.”
“Instinct. A mage's instinct is pretty reliable, you know.”
When she was that set on it, Ian gave in and let Lee Seo-ah into his home.
A tiny studio apartment. A cramped place with nothing in it but a rough mattress, a table, and some boxes.
The faint scent of Ian lingering in the air mixed with the diffuser fragrance, scattering a rather pleasant aroma. To Ian it was an everyday smell, but to Lee Seo-ah, who had never once been to a man's home in her life, it was quite stimulating.
‘Do all men smell like this?’
Lee Seo-ah found herself sniffing unconsciously as she looked around the living room. Ian left her to it and opened the window.
Winter's cold air pushed through the screen and seeped deep into the room. It brushed her nose, and winter's distinctive scent faintly spread through the air.
Ian stared for a moment at the cold cityscape beyond the window, then let out a sigh when he realized he was out of cigarettes.
“I'm going to buy some cigarettes. Wait here.”
At Ian's words, Lee Seo-ah, who had been sitting still and sniffing the air, got to her feet.
“You mean the convenience store, right? I'll go with you.”
“Are you planning to buy anything?”
“We'll see when we get there. Come on, let's go.”
There was no need to refuse, so Ian took Lee Seo-ah to the convenience store near his home.
“Welcome.”
The part-timer with a tired look greeted the two of them, and Ian casually bought his usual cigarettes. Lee Seo-ah stood with her hands behind her back and looked around the convenience store.
“Huh?”
Then a small liquor fridge caught her eye.
A fridge filled with soju, beer, and all kinds of alcohol. Just a few months ago, when she was still a high school student, they had been things she didn't need to care about at all, but now things were different. She was old enough to drink legally.
‘Come to think of it, I haven't even had a drink since I became an adult.’
The New Year had already come and gone, and two months had passed. Her classmates had already been going to clubs and drinking, but she hadn't been interested in that sort of thing, so she hadn't even tried it.
If she had family, that would be one thing, but unfortunately, she was an orphan. There wasn't a single person to teach her how to drink.
Since it had come to this, it didn't seem like a bad idea to try it today. She was also curious what alcohol tasted like.
Drinking alone with a man did look a little strange, but once you added the premise that they were both mages, it honestly didn't mean much.
It was a bit inappropriate to say this as a mage, but all mages were basically lunatics. It's not like they lacked sex drive, but at least very few of them turned into beasts after drinking. Lee Seo-ah had no doubt that she herself belonged to that group.
Clink.
Her deliberation was long, and her action was short. Lee Seo-ah picked up two bottles of soju and two cans of beer and carried them to the register. Ian, who had been tearing open a cigarette pack without much thought, frowned when he saw what she brought.
“......Alcohol?”
“I wanted to try it. Don't worry, I'm an adult now.”
“No, that's not it...... Hah, forget it. I'm sure you'll manage just fine on your own.”
Ian gave that answer and added as he stepped out of the convenience store.
“If you're buying something, get some snacks too. Whatever you feel like eating.”
“Let's not buy them here. We'll order chicken at home.”
“Well, that works too.”
Ian left Lee Seo-ah, who was paying, and sat at the table by the ashtray to smoke a cigarette. Faint smoke rose into the air and quickly scattered.
A little later, after paying, Lee Seo-ah came out carrying the bag with the alcohol. Ian finished his cigarette and got to his feet.
“Let's go.”
“Yeah. But what does smoking even taste like?”
“Like cigarettes. Don't do stuff like this......”
“Even if you told me to, I wouldn't. You should quit too.”
“I'll think about it.”
He said that, but Ian still had no plans to quit smoking. Lee Seo-ah shook her head.
The two of them didn't detour anywhere else and headed straight home. Lee Seo-ah set out the alcohol she had bought, and Ian opened a delivery app and ordered chicken.
The food they ordered arrived thirty minutes later.
When he brought the bag over and set the boxes on the table, the savory smell of oil and seasoning spread thickly through the room. They'd ordered boneless chicken, so there were no drumsticks, but it seemed they'd used thigh meat, because there were no dry, stringy pieces. It tasted pretty good too.
And so the two of them tore into the chicken while chatting away. At some point, they each picked up a can of beer and started drinking.
For Ian, it was a familiar taste. Even if he wasn't the type to drink often, he'd still take an occasional sip when he was bored. But to Lee Seo-ah, it seemed to be an unfamiliar taste she still hadn't gotten used to.
“Ugh.”
Her face twisted up the moment the barley juice touched her lips.
“This tastes disgustingly bad. Why would anyone drink this?”
“Because of that taste. You're still young, so you don't know better.”
“We're not even that far apart in age, what are you talking about? Besides, this really does taste awful. Ugh, I shouldn't have bought it.”
Lee Seo-ah grumbled and set the beer can on the table. Her gaze shifted to the green bottle of soju.
“Is this any good?”
“It'll probably taste even worse than beer. I don't personally like soju either.”
“You should've told me earlier!”
“You bought it because you said you wanted to drink it, so why is that my fault?”
“Anyway, it's not my fault.”
That was truly behavior befitting a mage. Ian snorted softly, ate a piece of chicken, and sipped his beer. Since Lee Seo-ah apparently intended to finish the can she'd opened, she grimaced and drank the beer and cola down together. Then, without thinking, she let out a small burp and turned bright red.
“......Did you hear that?”
“I only heard your stomach growling.”
“Die!”
The drinking session went on for quite a while. The only drinks they had were the cans of beer in their hands, but neither of them drank especially fast, so compared to how much they talked, the amount of alcohol disappearing was remarkably small.
Still, neither of them saw that as a bad thing.
The two of them naturally settled into a comfortable atmosphere and sipped their drinks at their own pace. At some point, Lee Seo-ah had gotten used to the taste too, and she was drinking the beer without any change in expression.
And so, amid the perfect trio of chicken, beer, and conversation, they were deep in their drinking when one moment passed.
Lee Seo-ah suddenly seemed to remember something and tilted her head with a slightly tipsy face.
“Come to think of it, Lunar New Year is almost here. Are you heading back home?”
“I'm an orphan.”
Ian answered immediately. Lee Seo-ah let out a short puff of breath, surprised.
“Oh, really? I'm an orphan too. A voluntary orphan.”
“......What the heck is a voluntary orphan?”
“An orphan who lost her parents, lived with her grandma, and then ran away from home. I didn't want to be a shaman, so I switched to being a mage.”
“Still, you did have parents. You're different from an ordinary orphan like me, so I'll specially call you a premium orphan.”
“Yay, thanks.”
Lee Seo-ah giggled and bobbed her head up and down. Her black bob cut swayed with the motion.
“Anyway, then you're not going anywhere for Lunar New Year either, right? Good. Then there won't be any need to shake you down for pocket money.”
Since they were both orphans, it was black comedy they could make. Ian snickered and drained the last sip of beer.
Unlike the half-drunk Lee Seo-ah, his mind was no different from before. His face wasn't even flushed.
By contrast, Lee Seo-ah's face had a fairly clear flush, though not quite red yet. She seemed to be weak to alcohol.
Well, I guess that was why she was suddenly talking about her family history after getting drunk.
It wasn't really something he was curious about, so Ian brushed her words aside and tossed the empty can into the bag. Lee Seo-ah also took her last sip and put her trash into the bag. The two cans clinked together with a rattling sound.
“Phew! That was good. I definitely shouldn't drink alcohol ever again......”
“Once you get to college, you'll end up drinking even if you hate it.”
“Why would I go to college? What a waste of time. Now that I have plenty of free time, I should start my real activities as a mage.”
As she said that, Lee Seo-ah looked at Ian.
“Once graduation's over, I'm heading straight up to Seoul. I have enough money, so I'll get a place and a workshop right away, and I should buy a car too. Ah, or maybe I need a license first.”
“Have you picked out a place yet?”
“Nope.”
She grinned.
“I'll just get something around here. If there's a decent listing, I'll sign the contract right away. Let's get along well as neighbors.”
“Hoo, a neighborhood where a necromancer moves in. Property values are going to drop.”
“Ah, real-estate rigging. That's the sort of thing I'm good at.”
“......”
“I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Don't get so serious. I only did it once.”
Lee Seo-ah flopped backward, giggling. Ian looked down at her, then let out a long sigh and cleaned up the drinking session.
“Ah, I'll help too—ugh!”
Lee Seo-ah tried to get up and help him, but the alcohol made her stagger and flop face-first onto the bed. With her face buried in the pillow, she wriggled around until she settled into a comfortable position.
“What perfume are you wearing? It smells nice......”
“I don't wear perfume. And if you're drunk, go wash up and sleep already. Don't lie on my bed in sweat-soaked clothes.”
“No thanks. I'm just going to sleep here. Good night.”
“What are you even sayin...... Hah.”
Ian tried to drag her back up, but after confirming she was really asleep, he let out a dry laugh.
She was just like a beast, sleeping whenever she wanted and lying down whenever she felt like it. It was ridiculous that she was acting like this over just one can of beer.
“Haah......”
Ian shook his head and, after roughly tidying the table, spread a blanket on the floor. Then he washed up and lay down on it.
It was still too early to sleep, so he turned off all the lights, took out his phone, and logged onto the community. Familiar bullshit greeted him like an old friend.
There wasn't anything especially useful there. Ian thoroughly read through the few top posts, then wrote one himself.
[Guys, a lot happened to me today.]
Yeah.
I'm going to sleep now, so please drop a goodnight emote.
[Upvotes 0][Downvotes 0]
[Comments]
-TamingMaster: (Get out of our village! emote)
-DeepSeaAngler: Good night.
-★Godmother: (Mage goodnight emote)
Ian smiled at the rapidly piling-up comments from the community wraiths, set his phone down beside him, and went to sleep with his eyes closed.
And then, the next day.
“The world is spinning around and around......! Eek!”
Lee Seo-ah, swaying from her hangover, stubbed her little toe on the corner.
Served her right.