This World is too Cruel to Men

Flushed cheeks, unfocused, hazy eyes devoid of any strength…

The moment I noticed these two things, a sense of foreboding washed over me, and I glanced at my own paper cup.

The amber liquid that had been sloshing around, half-full when I last checked, had vanished without a trace.

I wanted to clutch my head in despair.

“Oh dear…”

I said vanished, but such a thing was impossible on a cold winter night, not in the middle of a summer day.

It was obvious where the contents had gone.

This was clearly my mistake.

I should have thrown it away when everyone else left… What am I supposed to do now?

Oblivious to my throbbing headache, our drunken would-be Hero was busy grinning up at me.

I had no idea what she found so amusing, or why she was in such high spirits.

“Right…”

Of course she’s in high spirits.

She guzzled down that strong stuff, so of course she’s feeling all floaty.

“Heehee…”

“Are you a dummy? Why do you keep smiling like a dummy?”

I said something because she kept giggling, and her lips immediately jutted out, her cheeks puffed up in Pufferfish mode.

“Hey… I’m not a dummy!”

“Of course, of course. Our Yun-Seo is smart, very smart.”

“You’re the dummy…! Dummy…”

Was she really that upset about being called a dummy?

“So, who drank what was in here?”

“Uuum…”

Wait, she didn’t drink it?

“…I did!”

See? I knew it.

I was the dummy for even considering otherwise.

Since things had already come to this, I decided to ask what I was curious about.

“Why did you drink it?”

“…Uuum, I was thirsty?”

Oh, right.

She was thirsty.

She was thirsty, so she drank it.

Alcohol does make you thirsty.

“Okay, sure. So, shall we go inside and rest now?”

“…No!”

Seriously, why is she doing this to me?

I couldn’t just forcibly stuff her into a room like I did with my friends.

Sh’d likely throw a fit, and who could handle that?

Certainly not me.

Honestly, I was grateful she was relatively calm for someone so drunk.

“Why don’t you want to go inside?”

“Uuum… Just because!”

Sh was making me feel like a Kindergarten Teacher.

Just because.

I never thought there could be another phrase as suffocating as “whatever.”

“Oh, for crying out loud…”

I give up.

It’s cold enough; she’ll want to go inside eventually.

I couldn’t leave a drunk person alone, so I sat back down in my original spot, intending to wait it out.

“Heheh…”

She giggled again.

“Good grief… Are you happy?”

“Yeah…”

She nodded her head, looking like a puppy, like a real dummy.

Honestly, at this point, did it even matter?

If she’s happy, then it’s all good.

I decided to eat the sweet potato I’d put in the fire earlier.

I poked it with chopsticks, pulled it out of the crackling embers, and used the grilling gloves to peel off the skin.

I blew on it to cool it down and took a bite.

Before I could even savor the sweetness, a protest erupted from beside me.

“Hey…! Why are you eating alone…!”

“You didn’t even ask…”

“Mean…! I want some… I want to eat sweet potato…!”

She shouted, then, like a dog snatching a frisbee, she sprang up and chomped down on the sweet potato in my hand… It all happened before I could even swallow my bite.

I honestly thought I was going to choke.

“Hot…!”

“…Are you an idiot? Of course it’s hot, did you expect it to be cold?”

“I’m not an idiot?! I’m not an idiot…”

“Then you’re drunk.”

“No I’m not… I’m not drunk…”

Not a dummy, and not drunk.

So what was she?

I was pondering this serious question when…

She seemed to have been holding on, but she’d reached her limit.

Yun-Seo slumped, curled up, and shivered, muttering softly.

“C-cold…”

Perhaps it was because the surroundings were so quiet, with only the whooshing wind and the crackling Firewood, not even the sound of a passing car.

That small murmur was particularly clear tonight.

“Right? It’s cold, right? So, shall we go in now?”

I said that, but she still refused.

“So what do you want me to do…?”

My head throbbed, but since she was cold, I reached into my pocket for a hand warmer.

“Coooold…”

She mumbled again, and then—

“…Huh?”

Yun-Seo slowly got up.

I paused, thinking she was finally going inside, and watched her with bated breath.

She stood there for a moment, dazed, then slowly turned her head towards me.

The problem was… what happened next.

Sh made eye contact with me, and before I could react, she just snuggled into my arms.

“Hey, hey…”

Honestly?

I was a bit flustered.

I never expected her to suddenly hug me like this.

Was it because I was flustered?

I could feel my heart pounding.

That was probably why I froze, unable to react strongly at first.

And perhaps, from Yun-Seo’s perspective, my body, warmed by the hand warmers, felt quite comfortable.

As if unwilling to let go of the warmth she’d found in the bitter cold, she hugged me tightly.

Feeling her grip, I half-heartedly gave up on trying to push her away.

I didn’t know where this small body hid such strength, but I didn’t think she would let go even if I tried.

“Heehee…”

“Sigh…”

She seemed to be enjoying himself.

I didn’t know what to do anymore.

If I left her like this, she’d either sober up or pass out from the alcohol.

If she sobered up, it would be incredibly embarrassing for her, but… that was her problem to deal with.

And if she passed out, I could just carry her to her room then.

Thinking this, I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky.

Was it because we were in the countryside with clear air?

Or maybe because the only light around was the dying Bonfire?

The night sky, which I’d looked up at for the first time in a while, was full of twinkling stars.

Those twinkling stars were awfully bright.

*****

“Mmm…”

What happened…?

I couldn’t figure it out.

One thing was for sure: I was incredibly thirsty.

And… my head was pounding.

My stomach also felt like it hadn’t eaten in two days.

How did I end up in this state?

I racked my brain, trying to remember, but nothing came to mind.

I carefully opened my eyes, hoping to quench my thirst, which felt like I’d swallowed a handful of sand—

“…Ah.”

The familiar sleeve that came into view jogged my memory.

Last night… what happened last night.

Or rather, the memories came flooding back.

Among the memories that poured in were those of Plan B, which Sanga and I had ambitiously launched.

“Right…”

I was going to get Dokgun drunk and make him confess his true feelings.

The plan, centered around this single goal, had gone smoothly up to a point.

We’d successfully created an atmosphere where he couldn’t refuse a drink, and Dokgun had taken a sip.

“And then what happened…?”

Clutching my throbbing head, I slowly retraced the incoming memories one by one.

And I remembered.

That was the last time Dokgun touched the alcohol.

And I remembered emptying my cup repeatedly, feeling anxious as I watched him.

And… and…

The memories that followed… I wished I could erase them from my mind.

What was I thinking, doing such… absurd things last night?

Even if I was drunk… the nonsensical whining, and in the end, snuggling into Dokgun’s arms, using him as a human heater…

Perhaps it was because I remembered things I shouldn’t have.

The thirst that had been bothering me no longer mattered.

Instead… I just wanted to die.

I wanted to die of embarrassment.

“What do I do…”

Every time the embarrassing things I did to Dokgun last night flashed through my mind, my face burned.

How could I face him now?

“Maybe…”

Should I pretend I don’t remember anything that happened last night, like I drank too much?

People say they have blackouts when they’re drunk.

If I used that as an excuse…

The thought crossed my mind out of sheer embarrassment, but… I didn’t have the confidence.

I couldn’t act like nothing happened, like I didn’t remember anything, in front of Dokgun.

How could I?

I even… hugged him.

…I needed time.

I needed time to somehow recover.

So, whether my throat screamed for water or my stomach ached, I tried to pretend to be asleep, staying under the Blanket…

Knock, knock—

“…Hey, come out and eat if you’re awake.”

The voice that followed the knock stopped me from pretending to be asleep under the covers.

“Aaagh…!”

I swallowed the scream that threatened to escape my lips, afraid Dokgun would hear me from beyond the door.