I am overthinking

She scrunches her brows. "Stop poking me."

"Though I don't mind this..." Mun Soyoon pokes her forehead again. "I am sure that you would mind it a lot if I start painting your naked body."

"Sunbae, I am not..." Her eyes snap open. Mun Soyoon's grinning face is right above her head. Chang Seol pats her chest and realizes that there's no piece of clothing in there. She reaches for something and finds a pillow. Covering her torso, she asks Mun Soyoon with a blushing face, "Why am I naked?"

"My guess is that you got drunk and stripped yourself in the room." Mun Soyoon sighs, "I should have just painted your body. It's beautiful… it gave me an urge to kiss you in those places…"

"Sunbae." Chang Seol wrinkles her nose, quickly wearing the clothes that she found on the floor. "Don't say scary things!!!"

"Right, it's not your thing." Mun Soyoon glances at a black feather on the bed. "What were you doing with black feathers? I can't help but imagine kinky things. Am I horny?"

Feathers? Chang Seol frowns. There are a few black long feathers on the bed. She picks up a black feather. "I don't remember."

Did she let in a bird when she was drunk?

"You black out after you get drunk." Mun Soyoon scratches her chin. "We need to work on your drinking tolerance. How much did you drink?"

"I don't remember." Chang Seol sniffs her clothes. She reeks of alcohol. "I need to take a bath."

"Hmm…" Mun Soyoon looks at the window. "Interesting things happened while I was away."

Not minding her, Chang Seol walks out of the room, toward the bathroom. There's one on the first floor and another one on the ground floor. She leans on the railing, glancing down to see what's going on. The house is quiet. Have they gone to sleep?

"Damn it!" A loud yell comes out of the kitchen. "I hate this!"

"What is he doing in there?" She heads toward the kitchen.

***

Sin Jeong-Hyuk, despite having three glasses of whiskey with chicken feet and fish sticks, has his stomach grumbling for more food. He's too sober to fall asleep and too drunk to not stop thinking about what his eyes saw earlier.

"Damn it!" He stabs the onion. "I hate this!"

He hates vegetables. Why is he making fried vegetable rice? It's so difficult to live with one working arm. Other one is inside a cast.

"That chicken!" He keeps stabbing the onion. "I want to chop her into pieces and stir her with spices. After that, I want to feed her to dogs."

"You are voicing your murderous thoughts out loud." Chang Seol's chilling voice makes him jump. His back hits the refrigerator as he points the knife in her direction.

"You!" He looks at her from head to toe. Thank goodness, she's not drunk naked. "Why are you here?"

"You really hate me, don't you?" Chang Seol steps closer to him, watching the fear in his eyes with satisfaction. She has no idea why he's reacting like this. "Mister, I will leave this house after I find a new place. I will pay your 'medical bills'. Don't worry, okay?"

Hearing that adds to his worries. He scowls at her. "Don't come close to me."

"Fine." She meets his gaze. "What are you trying to cook?"

Her clear eyes remind him of her intoxicating eyes. Bothered by the memory, he puts the knife on the kitchen counter and starts rubbing his eyes to shatter the image from his mind.

"Aaaaah!" He screams. "My eyes, my eyes."

"Such an idiot." Chang Seol stares at him. "He stabs onions instead of chopping them and forgets to wash hands before touching his eyes."

He reaches for something on the table, grabbing the blade of the knife. "My hand… hurts."

"Mister, I see you in a new light now. I am sure that there's no one like you on this planet." She grabs his wrist and drags him to the sink. When he tries to get free of her hold, she warns him, "Don't move."

"My eyes are hurting." He snivels. "Chicken, do something."

"You are lucky that you were not chopping chillies." She chuckles as she turns the knob and washes his hand first. "The knife wound is shallow."

His eyes hurt him more. Sin Jeong-Hyuk purses his lips when she grabs his collar and pulls him down. She splashes some water on his face and wipes it with her warm hand.

"Your hands are warmer," He mutters with his eyes closed. "Do you still feel hot?"

"What the hell are you saying?" She grimaces at him, releases his collar. "If you weren't hurt, I would have slapped your face."

"You were the one…" complaining about feeling hot! He opens his eyes and looks at her with a straight face. She's… Just a kid! Just a kid! "I got hurt because of you. You don't have to pay my medical bills. Just cook my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners until I get better."

Chang Seol crosses her arms and stares at him for a long time. There are deep lines on her forehead and he wants to smoothen them out. However, he stops himself from touching her face.

"Only breakfasts and dinners." She squints at him. "I need to attend classes and find a part-time job."

A job, huh? He straightens his back, stepping away from her. "What kind of job are you looking for, and why?"

"You already know why." She cleans the kitchen counter first. "My parents think that I am married. So I can't ask for support."

"You just need to tell the truth."

"Even if I tell the truth, I don't want their support." She sighs and washes the knife in the sink. "You won't understand. They would rather have me married."

Can't he? "If you want, I can --"

"I don't need your help." She interrupts him before he could finish his words. "Besides, I am an adult. I need to learn how to support myself."

She says this and that. Sin Jeong-Hyuk frowns at her little back. But she needs help. If he leaves her alone, she's likely to end up in a scary situation. "I told you that I keep my promises. You are my goddaughter. If you rely on me, I will rely on you. You can't live in this world alone."

"Why do you still think of me as your goddaughter?" Chang Seol doesn't turn around to look at him. Her voice is low and casual. "I lied to you and made use of you."

"That…"

"And yes, I have no intention of telling you who Daydream is."

A long silence...

He leans against the wall, watching her in silence. She quickly chops some vegetables and adds them in the rice. She's quiet and nimble. Though she's a kid, he can't guess what's going inside her head.

"Mister, if you continue to stare at me, I will gouge your eyes out," She warns him with a flat tone.

Where did his soft-spoken stammering chicken go? "I am not staring at you."

"Your eyes are just on my face while I cook." She furrows her little brows. "That's not creepy at all."

"Technically, my eyes are in my eye sockets." It's amusing that she's bothered. "Will you really gouge my eyes out?"

"I am not in a good mood today." She covers the pot and sighs. "I won't be in a good mood tomorrow or the day after. I don't think that I will be in a good mood for the rest of my life."

Even when she's sober, she talks nonsense. "You are being pessimistic."

"At least, I am not blinded by the light like you, Mister Optimist." She gives him a dark look. "I am still mad at you, Mister."

"I should be mad at you." He clicks his tongue. "I forgot that I am just a rude bastard. I don't care about their feelings. I do whatever I want."

"I don't remember calling you a bastard." Chang Seol looks straight at him. "Mister, are you a lowly man just because I told you so?"

"Ah, right." He rolls his eyes. "I am a cold wall."

"Cold wall?" She stops chopping the vegetables. "What do you mean?"

If she could remember what she did, she wouldn't be talking to him calmly. Then again, why is he embarrassed for her? Sin Jeong-Hyuk's head is clear. In the end, she's a kid who made a drunk mistake. He should still treat her carefully.

"Chicken, do you like Yeon-Sik?" He has noticed how she acts around his friend. It's not unusual. Yeon-Sik has always been popular among girl, although he doesn't wallow in that popularity.

"What?" She croaks. Her cheeks flame up. "I-I don't..."

"Don't have feelings for him." He tells her, "He loves Eun Bi more than his life. Nothing can shake his feelings."

After some silence, she replies in a grave tone, "I already heard it from Sunbae. I am not sure if I like him. I do feel some things around him but Soyoon Sunbae told me that I would want to kiss, hug, and do other things if I like that person. I can't even imagine kissing him."

"That's good." He is relieved to hear her say that. "Don't fall for me either."

"Are you drunk?" She barks at him. "I will never ever fall for you."

He doesn't know why but the certainty in her tone is rather prickling. Sin Jeong-Hyuk sighs, not saying a word. There's only the sound of the spoon stirring the fried rice, hitting the corner of the metallic pot, and her footsteps around the kitchen. She stands on her toes, grabbing the spices from the shelf.

There's a certain rhythm in the way her body moves. A certain belief in her eyes that seek what she wants. A certain determination in her actions. Though she's naive… though she appears too innocent for the world… This chicken is self-sufficient despite the way she looks.

If he's not in her life, she will meet obstacles for sure. But she will manage it in her own way.

Probably, she's right. He's been clinging to Daydream's voice. Now, he's clinging to her.

He's the one who needs her -- not the other way around.

With such thoughts, he finishes the meal that she made for him. As usual, it tastes just right. He wonders how she knows what he likes.

Maybe she doesn't. She's only making what she knows.

Then again, maybe he likes it because it's been a while since he ate something good.

"I am overthinking," He concludes.

"What are you overthinking about?" Sitting on the kitchen counter, Chang Seol takes a sip from the whiskey bottle that she found a while ago. She shoves a spoonful of fried rice in her mouth.

This chicken… He grabs the bottle away from her. "Why are you drinking… No! Don't tell me that you still can't tell the difference between alcohol and water, you thief."

"I was just rewarding myself." She climbs off the kitchen counter. "I only had three sips."

"Yeon-Sik brought this." He glowers at her. "He will kill you if you drink his treasured whiskey without his permission."

"Oh." She scratches her head. "Mister, let's keep this a secret between us."

"Y-You…" He stares at her figure languidly climbing up the stairs. "Why is she not drunk?"

He sniffs the whiskey bottle and realizes that there's only soft drink inside it.

"That Yeon-Sik!" He laughs. "He got me."