Don't Use My Face for Anything Weird

Standing awkwardly face-to-face with him in the middle of the living room, Yusom felt her pounding heart echoing through the entire hallway.

"Oppa. Uh, when did you get here? Just now? Or earlier?"

Flustered, Yusom began to stutter.

Meanwhile, Eun-geon's gaze had locked precisely onto the magazine photo in Yusom's hand.

"What's that in your hand?"

"Huh? Ah, this… I found it in your room."

"Found it in my room, and then what?"

"I was going to throw it away."

Yusom was startled by the lie that had tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop it. Anyone could tell it was just a flimsy excuse thrown together on the spot.

"Throw it away?"

Eun-geon's habit was unchanged — latching onto the end of someone's sentence and pressing back with a pointed question. Whatever it was that bothered him so much, he furrowed his brow and strode toward Yusom in one long step.

The sheer presence radiating from his height of over 190 centimeters made Yusom shrink back without meaning to. With a height difference of more than 25 centimeters, just looking up at Eun-geon already made her neck ache.

He must have just showered — a faint body wash scent clung to him. Now that she thought about it, his hair looked slightly damp. He'd probably washed up while she was cleaning.

"Why would you throw away my photo?"

"No, it's just… it was lying on the floor… I thought it was trash."

"Trash?"

One of Eun-geon's eyebrows twitched. He'd closed the distance until he was right in front of her, looking down. A dark shadow fell over Yusom's face.

He snatched the magazine photo from Yusom's hand. The photo she'd been holding so carefully, afraid of crumpling it, was gone in an instant.

So this is how I lose my research material so pathetically, she thought.

"I was wondering what was drawn on your face."

Was he talking about something like a beauty mark or black paint on her teeth? She wasn't some elementary school kid who'd do something like that — Yusom was baffled. And he'd scrumpled up his face like that just to check something so trivial.

For a moment, Yusom felt pathetic — trembling like a deer before a predator.

"This."

Eun-geon waved his magazine photo in front of Yusom's face. A soft breeze stirred, and her hair fluttered.

"Don't use me for anything inappropriate."

"...Huh?"

Yusom found herself asking back without meaning to. Inappropriate? What did that mean in this context? She couldn't make sense of Eun-geon's out-of-nowhere remark.

"I'm saying don't do weird stuff while looking at my face."

Only then did Yusom faintly grasp what Eun-geon meant by "inappropriate." Her face flushed hot in an instant, as if it might burst.

With those final words, Eun-geon brushed past Yusom. Their shoulders bumped with a soft thud.

The magazine photo Eun-geon had been holding had somehow ended up on the floor.

Frozen where she stood, Yusom could only stare blankly at Eun-geon's retreating back as he headed toward his room.

The door slammed shut, and Yusom's heart dropped once more.

"Unbelievable. If it wasn't for the research material, why would I have taken my oppa's photo?"

Her pride stung, but Yusom tucked Eun-geon's magazine photo into her eco bag.

Heading for the front door to escape this terrible place as quickly as possible, familiar voices reached her ears.

"Huh? It's Lee Yusom!"

Gang-bin was the first to greet her, running over with a bright, beaming smile. His reaction was so faithfully dog-like that she wondered if he'd hidden a tail behind him. Yusom felt that Gang-bin's people-loving nature reminded her of a golden retriever.

"Hi, Lee Yusom. Did you say you were coming over starting today?"

Teo tilted his head as if he couldn't quite remember. Gang-bin and Teo were both dressed in athletic wear, as if they'd just returned from training.

"Yeah, I finished cleaning the house. I'm heading out now."

Yusom forced herself to act like nothing was wrong as she passed them. She wanted to forget her awkward encounter with Eun-geon as quickly as possible.

"But Yusom, why are you dressed like that?"

Teo, who had just pulled a sports drink from the fridge, blurted out the question. His gaze was fixed on Yusom's pink uniform, worn under a white apron.

"...Ah, this is my cafe part-time uniform. I figured my clothes would get dirty from cleaning anyway."

Embarrassed, Yusom fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, her face burning. Of all the times to run into Eun-geon, it had to be when she was wearing this. Eun-geon hadn't said much, but the thought that she'd probably looked like an actual housekeeper made her bristle.

"A cafe? You work part-time at a cafe?"

Gang-bin's eyes went wide as he asked. He looked genuinely curious about whether any cafe had staff dressed like that.

"Yeah. A place that sells cakes."

"Send me the address. Can we come visit sometime?"

"Huh? Well..."

Yusom found herself nodding before she could think. Just imagining the chaos these oppas would cause if they showed up at the cafe was terrifying. With customers who recognized them, the already-busy cafe might become even more chaotic.

"Lee Yusom's all grown up. Wearing clothes like that."

Teo chuckled.

Clothes like that. The uniform wasn't exactly a maid outfit, but to an ordinary person, it probably looked pretty much the same.

"Oppa, this isn't like a maid outfit! It's just a cute-style uniform!?"

"If you went straight to a club in that, you probably wouldn't get stopped at the door."

Not getting stopped at the club door? Did she look that sexy? Yusom had never thought of her uniform as sexy, but maybe her outfit really was a bit... If I'd known I'd run into them like this, I should've stopped by home to change into regular clothes. Damn it. It made her regret it even more since it had been so long since she'd seen the oppas after they graduated high school.

"Well then, I'll be heading out."

"Hey, Yusom. We haven't seen each other in ages, why are you leaving so fast? Have a meal first. The oppas will buy you something good."

Gang-bin naturally took Yusom's hand. He'd always been so comfortable with physical contact since they were kids that it was almost overwhelming.

"No, it's fine. I'm tired... I really need to get going."

Yusom waved her hands and desperately refused. She had no idea when Eun-geon might burst out of his room again to pick a fight. Besides, eating dinner at this overwhelming, luxurious penthouse she was still struggling to adjust to would make her feel guilty.

"No way. Sit down. You're not leaving today."

As if he'd made up his mind, Teo plopped Yusom down on the sofa. The soft, expensive fabric of the plush sofa enveloped her body.

"Today's Friday, right? Let's hang out, let's hang out. If you just leave, we'll be really sad?"

Gang-bin squeezed right up beside Yusom and opened a delivery app. Teo had already settled on the opposite side.

In an instant, Yusom was completely surrounded by two men who boasted among the best physiques in South Korea. She was thoroughly trapped.

"Let's crack open that liquor we got as a gift last time while we're drinking beer."

"Valentine 30-year-old?"

"Oh, that one!"

Gang-bin and Teo had always been in sync. Without even asking for Yusom's opinion, Gang-bin started ordering all sorts of food.

"I'll order raw beef and salmon. Oh, I want pizza too. Since there are four of us, adding duck meat would be perfect."

"Oppa, I can't drink alcohol. I'll just have a soda or something."

She had no idea who they were trying to kill with that high-proof liquor. The oppas had no idea that Yusom was an alcohol waste who got drunk after just three shots of soju.

"Yeah. There's fruit soju too. Yusom, you can just drink that."

"Or would Yusom like this? It's a highball — sweet and low in alcohol."

Brushing off Yusom's answer, Gang-bin suddenly opened the fridge and pressed a can of highball into her hand.

Holding the can she'd accepted without thinking, Yusom let out a deep sigh.

She had a bad feeling that going home peacefully tonight was a lost cause.