ABFR 04

Chapter 4…

For the first time in a while, I had a weekend with no assignments and no deadlines.

After melting into my bed and catching a good, long sleep, my mind finally felt a bit clear. The date was already shifting into the early hours of Saturday morning. Since I was awake anyway and it was early, I thought about enjoying a nice drink. Instead, surprisingly enough, I found myself calling Rayley.

Calling a guy the second I had some free time… I never thought my life would turn out like this, but it couldn’t be helped. Either way, I’m someone who waited four years only to welcome him back just six months ago. Isn’t a little bit of this allowed?

Still, I couldn’t figure it out. Why was I doing this just to hear that bastard’s voice?

Catching myself mid-thought, I hurriedly pressed the end call button. Come to think of it, it was the middle of the night.

Yet the moment I hit end, my phone started ringing right back.

“Uh, hello?”

—Why did you hang up before I could answer?

“Well, I realized how late it was… Did I wake you?”

—I wasn’t sleeping yet.

Rayley answered in his signature calm, low voice. I quietly slid out of bed, grabbed a can of beer from the fridge, and cracked it open as I sat back down.

“Hey, I’ve got nothing to do this weekend. So I just called.”

—Then will you be staying at my place?

The answer came back without a second of hesitation. I sat there blankly with the phone tilted against my cheek, taking a sip of beer first.

—I’ll give you three seconds.

“Ah, shit, hold on a second. Do you have zero patience? I need a moment to think or whatever!”

—Patience? Never had a single second of it. Shall I come pick you up tomorrow morning, then?

His temper was enough to make anyone choke on their beer. With a pained expression, I pulled the phone away to stare at the screen before bringing it back to my ear, piecing together an answer.

“I don’t think I can wake up in the morning… Come pick me up a bit late. Or I’ll just come over whenever I wake up and feel like heading out.”

—If you go to sleep now, won’t you wake up around noon at the latest?

“No, well, the thing is, I actually just woke up.”

Rayley went completely silent on the other end of the line. I awkwardly sipped a bit more beer, then calmly answered his follow-up question.

—Say that again.

“Yes, Sir. My sleep schedule is ruined again, so I just woke up.”

—It’s two in the morning.

“Hey, it happens…”

—Then I’d rather come pick you up right now.

“Now?”

Without waiting for my answer, the line went dead. Wait, what on earth was this guy talking about? Staring at the screen in annoyance, I chugged the rest of the beer, quickly crushed the can to throw it away, and called Rayley right back.

—What is it? What are you doing?

“Hey, asking ‘what are you doing’ is a question only I get to ask right now, you know?”

—If you’re asking, then to answer: I’m heading down to the parking lot.

The moment I heard that, a beep-beep sound came through—the sound of a car unlocking. Listening quietly to the sounds from his side, I eventually let out a heavy sigh and pulled out another can of beer.

“Hey, Rayley.”

—Yes.

A clattering sound came through, like a car door opening.

“I just finished my work and woke up in the early hours. Let me enjoy a bit of my own personal free time.”

—Can’t you just enjoy that free time by my side?

“You’re talking nonsense again.”

This time, there was no reply. Instead, a clear, sweet chime sounded as a crisp navigation system voice announced its power turning on. The call audio must have connected to the car now. I spoke up hurriedly.

“Even so, you crazy guy, why are you making a fuss about coming over in the middle of the night? Turn off the ignition and go back inside.”

—I turned off the ignition.

“You bastard, I can hear the navigation system turning on. Who do you think you’re fooling?”

—If I don’t go pick you up right now, won’t you be sitting shoulder-to-shoulder drinking with some other man again?

“Who would I call at this hour?! I’m drinking alone, so don’t worry and just go back up. Besides, whether I drink with a man or not, what does it matter to you? And if we drink together, of course we sit shoulder-to-shoulder. What, are we supposed to sit in a cross shape?”

—It doesn’t matter, but it makes me feel unpleasant, so I’m coming to pick you up. I need to drive, so I’m hanging up.

“Whether you feel unpleasant or not, what does that have to do with me?!”

—Pardon?

Rayley questioned me softly, his tone sounding like he was reciting an obvious truth.

—If I feel unpleasant, it has a lot to do with you. Who else but you, Ah-jin, would bear the aftermath?

“Why should I be the one bearing it?”

—Who knows.

Finally, the engine started up. I let out a yelp, quickly making a racket as I began frantically tidying up the state of my apartment—a mess that would surely draw a long lecture from Rayley. From across the line, Rayley clicked his tongue.

—Sounds like you’re frantically cleaning up your apartment.

“Ah, you bastard, are you really coming?”

—Is there anywhere you’d like to go?

“Where would anyone go at this hour?”

—Think about it. Hanging up now.

And after dropping that line, he hung up once again without even waiting for my answer. I tossed my phone onto the bedding, venting my frustration, before setting to work tidying up the room. Truthfully, Rayley Kraha was a stubborn bastard—then and now—who was possessive, loved meddling in every little detail of other people’s business, and pushed his way through without looking back. That trait hadn’t changed a bit.

Yet once again, he had left our relationship in this vague, ambiguous state, hadn’t he?

Collecting the stacked beer cans and cheap wine bottles into a box to quickly throw them out, I sank onto the floor, lost in thought. Honestly, even now, Rayley and I were acting pretty much like a couple. The reason I felt so disillusioned was, if I had to pinpoint it, his subtle shift in attitude.

Of course, even between lovers, you don’t need to be kissing every single day or sleeping together constantly. But Rayley Kraha was that kind of guy. Even if every other human on earth was modest and wholesome, Rayley Kraha was not.

What kind of guy was he? Before we even started dating, he’d kiss me out of nowhere just because he wanted to, coaxing me with kisses at every turn, and ended up taking me to bed before we were even officially together.

I went along with it, sure, but his nature pushed things that way—it was never me making the first move. But now my body had changed… Or rather, instead of the ideal body from the novel, I was back in my realistic, real-world body. I was just an ordinary person with average looks, no special abilities, and a personality that wasn’t particularly great.

After meeting this Kim Ah-jin, I hadn’t seen a single trace of Rayley Kraha’s signature, heavy-handed clinginess or his reckless, bulldozing charm.

Originally, the reason he held deep affection for me was because I was a completely ordinary modern person—someone who talked about values he had never encountered in his entire life in that dystopian world.

So what was I naturally supposed to think?

Dammit, do I really have to think like this?

I felt deeply disgusted by the very fact that I had to entertain these thoughts, and by the current situation forcing them on me. It was stressful in itself. After cycling through a million thoughts, I hurriedly scraped together the empty bottles and cans, threw them into a box, and stepped out of the apartment before Rayley could arrive. I intended to sort them out at the recycling area beforehand.

After taking care of the urgent trash, I tidied up the messy apartment a bit and tossed the laundry into the basket. Only then did I open the closet to pick out a top and bottom that looked somewhat presentable. But right as I was about to put them on, I sniffed the back of my hand and caught a faint, musty smell.

“Is this really something I need to go this far for…?”

Checking the time of my last call with Rayley Kraha, I hurriedly rinsed my body with just water, filled a basin, and washed my hair. Since it was an hour when the other residents were sleeping, I couldn’t do a full, noisy shower, planning to dump the water later.

Having washed up in a rush, I sprayed perfume a couple of times just in case, then returned to stand in front of the closet.

“This is like a middle schooler going on her first date… What am I doing…”

Grumbling again, I quickly pulled out a blouse and put it on. Since I usually dressed like a total slob, a white blouse with jeans was practically top-tier fashion for me.

Dressed like this, it felt as though I was the only one clinging to past emotions, acting pathetic. For all I knew, Rayley Kraha had simply decided to spend his life by my side like this out of politeness and loyalty to someone who waited four years for him. Since he was a guy who never had any interest in romance or marriage anyway, keeping one person by his side was something he’d willingly take on out of duty and obligation.

“Ah, fuck, I’m so disillusioned with life…”

Grumbling all the while, I put on decent clothes, sat quietly on the bedding, and chewed once again on how utterly unnatural this relationship had become.