.
Ouch! Eun Jiho jumped around in pain. Looking at his rambunctious act made me heave a sigh while scratching my head. I spoke to him with a gaze.
“Dude, okay, my bad. Eun Jiho, the fourth tenant in my house.”
“What?”
“Am I wrong? You’re like a half-family member since you’re going in and out of my house so often.”
“I…”
“Oh, where should we go?”
While I wondered while tapping the concrete floor with the tip of my shoe, Eun Jiho looked perplexed while perceiving the doubtful glances at him as if they were asking how frequently he came over to my house. ‘It serves you right, bastard.’ I decided to remain silent.
It was true that the one who came in and out of my house the most was none other than Eun Jiho. His house was near my place and when we were sophomores in middle school, the number of times he and Ban Yeo Ryung came over my house was almost the same.
As I spent a while trying to figure out where to go, Eun Jiho, who was spouting some nonsense, suddenly took out his phone from his pocket. Then his eyes widened after checking out the text.
He said to me, “Hey, Ham Donnie.”
“Huh?”
“Your parents told me to come over since they’re going outside.”
“What?”
I lifted my head to look around. As I did so, I found my parent’s half-sized sedan starting at a close distance from us, as it stood in front of the apartment entrance.
Oh, my god. While my mouth opened wide after hearing this mind-numbing revelation, the car reversed smoothly then left the parking lot in a flash.
As I gazed at the back of the car leaving with a dust cloud, I heard Eun Jiho murmuring mischievously.
“Dude, it seems like I’m more of relative to them than you since they texted me instead.”
As soon as he made that remark, I pulled out my phone and found out that they did not send me any messages.
‘Dang! I really hate you, mom and dad.’ While I showed a sad expression, someone flicked the top of Eun Jiho’s head with a bang. When I raised my head, I saw Eun Hyung with a strict face which I haven’t seen for quite a while.
Eun Jiho tried to respond as if he felt wronged; however, when our eyes met, he just shut his mouth. Then he walked ahead of us toward the apartment complex with a crooked expression. When I had eye contact with Eun Hyung, he smiled softly while bending his warm-hearted eyes.
I blinked my eyes, feeling puzzled but soon followed their pace.
* * *
Therefore, the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung came over to my house after a long time. It was more than a visit since they almost dominated our place: Eun Jiho was watching TV at my couch; Yoo Chun Young was sleeping at the corner; Woo Jooin was looking at my photo album; Eun Hyung was warning them to behave well.
When Eun Jiho came out of the bathroom, he stopped in front of our kitchen. I, who was sitting on the couch, wondered what he was doing right now. Then I soon figured out the object that Eun Jiho was curious about. He was gazing at the espresso machine that my mom recently bought.
He walked straight into the kitchen and stopped in front of the red machine. He then yelled while looking at our side.
“Hey! Ham Donnie! What is this?”
“Oh, hold on! Don’t touch that or my mom will kill you. She bought that new machine for herself!”
Soon as I responded, I hurried myself to get out of the couch and dashed into the kitchen. To be honest, I didn’t want to care about it and let him do whatever he wanted; however, it would cause me to take all the blame for his mistakes.
Yoo Chun Young, who fell asleep while squeezing himself at the corner of the couch, awakened slightly by the noise we made but soon dropped his head back after giving a glance. I heard he had a photoshoot the entirety of the night, so it might have made him drowsy. I strode toward the kitchen.
The always confident Eun Jiho was brewing coffee regardless of my words.
When my mouth opened wide after seeing the dumbfounding scene, he spoke to me with a glance as if showing his kindness.
“You want a cup of coffee, too?”
He then placed another cup on the machine. He took the other cup of coffee to his mouth.
After a sip, Eun Jiho spoke to me again after smacking his lips.
“Not bad.”
“Oh, yeah.”
I replied while stretching out my hand to pull the grip. Eun Jiho stood against the light-pouring kitchen window with one arm on the sink. He then sipped his coffee while leaning on the wall.
Is he shooting an ad? I glanced at him indignantly and sipped the dark coffee inside the mug. I then almost spat out the whole thing out of my mouth.
When I suddenly coughed hard while holding the sink, Eun Jiho asked me in surprise.
“Dude, what’s wrong? Is there something in the coffee?”
“Gosh, it’s so bitter.”
It took a while for me to gather my senses back and respond. Eun Jiho then muttered, ‘Jesus, you almost freaked out,’ with a frown on his face.
He soon chilled out again and spat out a few words while sipping his coffee.
“Such a baby.”
“Dude, it’s really bitter?”
“You’re too used to sweets. You and Yoo Chun Young are both addicted to sugar.”
“No, I’m not.”
At that very moment, I heard the voice of a half-awakened man above my head. It surprised me so much that I almost spilled the coffee. However, what great timing! Someone’s hand from behind held my hand to grab the mug tightly.
When I turned back to see who it was, there stood Yoo Chun Young who was knitting his brows in drowsiness.
He then said while dropping his glance at me, “Watch out.”
“Gosh, make some noise.”
“Do I have to say, ‘Hey, get ready. I’m going to the kitchen,’ from the living room before going here?”
Yoo Chun Young answered indifferently and took the white mug from my hand. Since Eun Jiho was laughing naughtily at Yoo Chun Young’s response, it looked as though he knew Yoo Chun Young was standing behind me.
Yoo Chun Young looked within the mug and showed a sign of wonder on his face.
Eun Jiho said, “Dude, try it.”
“What is this?”
“Something that babies like you guys can’t drink.”
“An herbal medicine?”
Yoo Chun Young brought the cup near his mouth after a murmur. It surprised me to find Yoo Chun Young, who hated the bitter taste, trying out something like that.
Soon he showed a frown. He wiped his mouth and stared at Eun Jiho.
“What is this? Coffee?”
“It’s just a black coffee. You guys just suck like babies.”
After teasing us, Eun Jiho enjoyed another sip of his drink provokingly.
Yoo Chun Young and I scowled at Eun Jiho for a moment then heaved a sigh when our eyes met. Yoo Chun Young then poured my coffee into Eun Jiho’s cup without hesitation.
Eun Jiho said in confusion, “Dude, what are you doing?”
“Have it all.”
“Gosh, do you think I’m a beggar”
Regardless of what Eun Jiho said, Yoo Chun Young filled the empty mug with water and gulped it out. He then signaled me to go to the living room with him using his chin. At that moment, Woo Jooin came to us.
“Hey, mama. I just found a funny picture… Huh? What is that?”
Woo Jooin ran into Eun Jiho, who was smiling nastily. He then handed out the cup to Jooin and said to him with his eyes on me.
“Oh, Jooin. This is only fun for grown-ups.”
“Alcohol? Kaoliang liquor? It smells like coffee though.”
“…”
A weird silence loomed around us. Woo Jooin gulped the coffee at once. Then he returned the cup with an intact face.
“It’s coffee; it tastes good, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, really?”
“Mama, I want one of that, too.”
Woo Jooin said, putting his arms around me from behind. I replied with a nod and pressed the machine, but a sign appeared on the small screen. It was written in English, and it seemed to indicate that the machine was out of something.
What was it exactly saying? When I put my brain to work in order to interpret the words, Eun Jiho answered from my side.
“It’s out of coffee beans.”
“Oh, really? You’re so good at English.”
“I am.”
“Don’t you have any modesty?”
“I don’t have that word in my vocabulary.”
Yeah, good for him. I replied shortly before stepping out of the kitchen with a smile. Jooin called me from behind as if what I was doing puzzled him.
“Mama, where are you going? Outside?”
I wore the jacket while lying on the living room and checked my wallet inside the pocket. Then I responded to the voice coming from the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’ll go get some coffee beans. Do you guys want anything else?”
“No, I don’t need to drink coffee…”
Jooin slurred the end of his words.
