READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 285
“Hey, sit down.”
As I tapped the floor, Pang-pang cautiously took her seat.
Ah, but come to think of it, we weren’t at home.
If I had to clarify, I was more like a resident of an orphanage than someone with a home. I could say it was home if I thought of it that way, but at least for me, it also meant I had no special place to go during holidays.
Well, if I married someone, that would change things… but then again, it’s probably not going to happen. My introverted tastes put me in a somewhat awkward position for marriage in this country.
Anyway, let’s stop with such nonsense.
Alright. Right now, it was Pang-pang.
It seemed like I hadn’t seen her in just about a week, yet her vibe had changed quite a bit.
“What’s going on?”
When I asked her like that, Ha-yoon poked my arm with her finger.
“Ji-eun, you shouldn’t just ask out of nowhere…”
Ah, right.
I had just gone through some rather unreasonable stuff myself, so I must have been a bit too heated.
Thinking of someone close to me going through something similarly absurd made me angry.
At this point, I might be more of an angry magical girl rather than one of hope, but at least my circuits were still running, so I was still in the realm of hope for now.
“What happened?”
I softened my tone a bit when I asked again, but it was ultimately still a hasty inquiry. I scratched my cheek.
“Well…”
Pang-pang seemed to fall into deep thought. It looked like she was debating whether to share her story.
I watched her for a moment before rummaging through the plastic bag I had brought.
To start off, I pulled out some snacks I bought to go with the drinks and then took out a can of energy drink with 100mg of caffeine in it and cracked it open.
“Here.”
I handed it over to Pang-pang.
Usually, people need to lose a little bit of reason to be honest. And that was true for Pang-pang as well.
Pang-pang, who had quickly become friends with us after we first met, had actually shown us her intoxicated state from the very beginning.
So maybe it could be considered a result of her letting go of something right from the start.
Even though Ha-yoon and I weren’t of drinking age, maybe that’s even better. It meant there were two people who could take responsibility.
Thinking about it, no matter how legal it was in other countries, drinking until you were plastered was a whole different story. Maybe Pang-pang had some worries even when we first met.
Some level of worry that required her to calm her heart with something akin to alcohol every day.
If that worry finally burst out, while I couldn’t solve it, I could at least listen. That’s what friends are for.
Pang-pang accepted the drink I offered and took a sip.
It takes a little while for the buzz to kick in. Ha-yoon and I stared at her face for a while.
…
Now that I think about it, we just came over to hang out, but it felt like we were interrogating Pang-pang.
I dug through the plastic bag again to pull out another energy drink. I handed that to Ha-yoon, who smiled as if she understood my intention.
She tore open a snack bag and laid it out on the floor while I opened a can of coffee for myself.
Yeah. No need to force an answer. Pang-pang would speak when she wanted to. They say that talking makes you feel better, but sometimes there are just certain facts that make you go “oops” when you let them out.
So, what should we talk about? I wanted to start with something trivial.
Nothing too serious, something light we could play around with.
That would be good, right?
I looked at Ha-yoon, and she nodded with a smile, as if she understood the meaning in my eyes.
“You know, I came here, and there was a nice-looking café that popped up…”
Ha-yoon gently guided the conversation. It was definitely something Pang-pang would enjoy, considering she liked cafés.
It wasn’t quite the café we had in mind; it was much closer to a bar. But anyway…
*
As we trotted out various stories, the atmosphere gradually warmed up, and finally, Pang-pang started to share a bit of what was on her mind.
“My boss—he’s really rude.”
Pang-pang said that.
I knew she didn’t have a fixed job. At least it wasn’t an office job. Last time, she mentioned that she hopped around different construction sites.
I didn’t think it was something suitable for someone our age, but then again, Pang-pang was an alien. She was definitely stronger than a human. But that was only when it came to humans who didn’t use circuits.
Then again, not every human carried circuits either. In fact, those who did were a small minority. Most of them were prototypes still under testing.
The alien strength translated into some sort of advantage in that regard.
“Last time, we ended up fighting—”
“Fighting?”
When I asked, surprised, Pang-pang shook her head.
“No, I almost fought— I was about to dropkick him in the face. Like a pro wrestler.”
Dropkick, huh.
Usually, wouldn’t you just want to punch them? Grab them by the collar and hit them hard? To even consider dropkicking means you must be really angry.
“Well…”
Pang-pang seemed to want to say something but then shut her mouth.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
That sounded a bit tipsy and short.
“Why? Did you do something weird?”
“Weird? Uh, well, it’s kind of similar.”
I frowned.
If it was something weird that you couldn’t even tell a friend, then it could be considered a serious crime, right? Typically, such things are of a sexual nature.
“Well, they were bullying my… distant co-worker.”
“…Really?”
That was a bit… how should I put it? An ambiguous statement.
Distant co-worker? So not a friend?
It felt a bit weird to put it this way, but I had never thought of Pang-pang as someone with a strong sense of citizenship or a particularly righteous person. I mean, not that she was bad. Just ordinary.
If it were a close friend, then that’s understandable, but calling someone a distant co-worker felt a bit off in many ways.
As she said that, Pang-pang looked somewhat nervously at Ha-yoon and me.
“Are you not calling them a friend because we’re both here?”
I asked just in case.
You know, especially when you’re drunk, sometimes, words you can easily think of sober just fly out the window.
“Friend?”
“Yeah, friend. You can have friends at work too. Even if you have more friends on your side, we wouldn’t get mad.”
“Yeah, friend.”
Pang-pang said that with a rather absent smile.
“Is it okay to call her a friend?”
“Hmm?”
What was that all about?
“There’s something I’m hiding from her.”
“Hiding what?”
“Not anything major. I kinda should’ve told her from the start but forgot to mention something…”
“…Really?”
I glanced at Ha-yoon for a moment.
Ha-yoon was blinking, looking a little surprised as she stared at Pang-pang. But Pang-pang didn’t seem to have the luxury to notice Ha-yoon; she looked too tipsy and out of it to handle multiple conversations at once.
“Yeah, so there’s something I haven’t told her.”
“Having a couple of secrets doesn’t mean you’re not friends, right?”
I tilted my head and asked.
After all, it’s not unusual to have a secret, even among friends. I mean, I had hidden that I lived in an orphanage from Ha-yoon for quite a while.
Now that I think about it, that could have been something that shattered my hopes.
But even after Ha-yoon learned that, she treated me just fine, and later… well, let’s say someone startled me so much that it overshadowed the previous impact.
“…Is that so?”
“Isn’t it?”
Honestly, I doubt there’s anyone with more secrets than me.
“Yeah, I see…”
Pang-pang quickly returned to her absent smile. Seriously, if she wasn’t just tipsy, she’d probably look genuinely happy.
…
Suddenly, I wondered if it was okay to keep giving Pang-pang caffeine.
I guess it shouldn’t matter, right? Since she said she was fine with it.
“Yeah. So, I fought for my friend… yeah.”
“So, you’re worried about it? Afraid you’ll lose your job because you messed with your boss?”
“…”
For some reason, Pang-pang pondered that question for quite a while. Staring blankly at the can in her hand, she finally said,
“Yeah, well, something like that.”
She spoke vaguely again.
“…”
After a moment of reflection, I said, “Don’t worry too much. You can find something else anywhere.”
“Is that so?”
Pang-pang replied doubtfully.
“Yeah, yeah.”
I hesitated answering that question since I wasn’t entirely sure, but I had no choice but to respond that way. I couldn’t outright say it couldn’t possibly be true.
Not knowing what kind of workplace it was.
“Right.”
Pang-pang murmured absentmindedly again.
“Then it’s all settled?”
Pang-pang concluded.
“I’ll still be friends, and I can just move to a new job…”
“Exactly. Yeah.”
Suddenly, I thought about how changing jobs would affect her relationship with that friend, but given the situation, overthinking could complicate things.
…
Did Ha-yoon silently glance at Pang-pang, forgetting about her snacks and drinks out of concern?
…
What a mood killer.