Netkama Punch!!!

In that miserable state, I came home and brushed my teeth about five times before finally crawling into bed. The bed, which for some reason felt way too big tonight, made me toss and turn endlessly, and of course, I started thinking about Shin Heejae again.

‘Fuck…’
Why the hell did I just let it happen?
I remembered how his hands had trembled while holding my neck and dug my nails into the skin there, scratching hard. But no matter how much I clawed at it, the feeling wouldn’t go away. I even tried pressing on my neck as if to strangle myself, but the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° suffocating sensation stayed put.

‘Haa…’
Eventually, I got out of bed again, grabbed my phone, and checked if I had any new messages.
But, of course, there was nothing from Shin Heejae. I kept sitting up and checking my phone like that over and over, until I finally managed to fall asleep late into the night.

“…Ugh.”
I barely fell asleep—and woke up sluggishly, feeling hot, like something was weighing down on me.
‘It’s heavy…’

I hadn’t been asleep long, so it took a while to fully open my eyes. But the moment I did, I couldn’t help but scream.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Shin Heejae was hugging me tightly in his sleep.

When the hell did this bastard sneak into my place? On top of that, he wasn’t even wearing a shirt, fully exposing his disgusting bare skin.
I smacked the forearm that was wrapped tightly around me, nearly choking me, but the more I hit him, the more he tightened his grip.
“Get off me! You asshole!”

I was sure he was awake. I thrashed around to break free, and then he pressed his chin into the top of my head and muttered in a groggy voice.
“Why’re you squirming so much…”
“You wanna die?”

“Haaam… I only got an hour of sleep…”
“Let. Go. Of. Your. Fucking. Arms!”
He didn’t even budge through all my flailing—but the moment I raised my knee to aim at his crotch, he immediately let go.
I sat up and glared at him like I was going to murder him. He propped himself up on one elbow, looked up at me, and smirked.

“Noona, your lips are all swollen…”
“……!”
I was about to curse like usual, but my mouth froze shut. It hadn’t even been a full day—only a few hours had passed. It was still too soon to forget.

Trembling, I looked around for something to kill him with, then grabbed the blanket and slammed it over his face, holding it down hard. I didn’t even want to see him.
But Shin Heejae stuck his face out through the gap and said something that shattered my already fragile sanity.
“How was it?”

“…What?”
“I’m good at it, huh?”
My blood pressure skyrocketed the instant I heard it. Rage exploded.

“DIE.”
I threw a punch, but he dodged it playfully. Then he jumped up and pulled me into another tight hug, laughing low near my ear. His breath sent chills crawling down my spine.
“Fuck off already!”

“I asked first, didn’t I?”
Once again, he ignored everything I said and cornered me against the wall. I punched him in the side, but he caught my hand right away.
Just like that, both of my hands were pinned, and we were face-to-face again. Unlike me, Heejae looked absolutely delighted. Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“You know what shocked me yesterday—”
“Don’t talk about yesterday! I’ll kill you!”
I thrashed wildly, wanting to hear nothing, but he carried on unfazed.

“Honestly, I was ready to get my tongue bitten off…”
He looked at me while saying it, and I suddenly felt humiliated. Right… I stayed still, and this bastard took it as an invitation.
And yet, despite how much I wanted to kill him, my face heated up. I had no choice but to yell at him.

“Next time I will bite your fucking tongue off!”
Shin Heejae responded to my warning with an irritating grin.
“Next time? So there’ll be a next time?”

“YOU FUCKING—!”
We bickered for a while until the alarm I had set went off. Surprisingly, the moment it rang, Heejae let go of my arms. But I was already drained of all energy.
With dark circles dragging under my eyes, I left the house for work in a daze. It was a horrible start to the day.

* * *
“Haa…”
Coming home from work, I sighed deeply in front of the front door. I already knew what was behind it: Shin Heejae. My apartment had long stopped being a place of comfort. It was more like a punishment box—open it, and who knew what would pop out?

“……”
“Noona, you’re back?”
Of course, the moment I opened the door, there he was—lying sprawled across my bed like he owned the place. And just to make it worse, he was wearing that T-shirt with his face printed on it—the one he tried to get me to wear.

‘Is he actually insane?’
I glared at him with the deadest eyes possible, and he raised his head to check my expression. Then, grinning, he stood up and started walking toward me.
I reflexively stepped back and muttered from the depths of my soul,

“Disgusting…”
“Out of nowhere?”
Of course, he didn’t care about my disgust and kept approaching. I smacked away his outstretched hand, but I was too tired to keep up a full fight—so I only managed to fend off the other hand that tried to cling to me.

I slipped past him and snapped,
“Why the hell are you wearing that shirt?”
“You left it behind, so I figured you forgot about it.”

“Forgot, my ass.”
I grumbled and shoved his arm away again, but he kept following me around like a fly.
“Then why don’t you ever wear it?”

“I wore it once!”
He finally backed off a few steps when I snapped, but he was being extra clingy today.
‘What’s with him?’

While I stared at him suspiciously, he suddenly grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the dining table. I freaked out and twisted my arm away in panic.
“What the hell?! What are you trying to do this time?!”
He looked down at me with a smug expression, completely unfazed by my reaction.

“I prepped a surprise.”
“…What?”
What the hell is he saying? Right as I thought that, he slipped behind me and guided my arm to the table—manipulating it like a doll.

Annoyed, I looked at the table—and found dishes of rice, soup, and side dishes laid out. Half in disbelief, I turned to face him. He let go of my arm and motioned for me to sit.
Up close, I saw steam rising from the soup like it had just been cooked. I stared at the seaweed soup with beef, then looked up at Heejae, bewildered.
“Wait… hey. Did you make this?”

And the side dishes looked pretty legit, too. Especially the big platter of steamed fish—it made my eyes go wide.
Heejae puffed up proudly at my stunned reaction.
“I bought it and plated it, so yeah—I made it.”

“…Are you stupid?”
So yeah, obviously he didn’t cook it. But still… it felt weird. No one had made dinner for me after work in years. It felt so foreign.
“But… why did you even set this up?”

“For you, noona. To eat.”
‘Okay, but like… why?’
Somehow, that totally logical answer just made it more awkward.

Still, Heejae didn’t care about my weird reaction—he just shrugged and sat in the chair across from me. I wanted to bolt, but his expectant gaze made me sit down too, almost against my will.
The glossy tabletop, the familiar dishes—it all felt surreal. These were the plates I’d bought years ago when I first moved out, full of ambition.
‘Back then, I thought I’d actually cook at home…’

I ended up using them maybe once or twice for ramen before tossing them in the back of the cupboard. And now, he had found them and laid them out like this. It was uncanny.
Heejae, seeing me frozen stiff with my hands on my lap, picked up his spoon and asked,
“Not gonna eat?”

I looked up at that nonchalant tone.
“…It’s not like… today’s my birthday or anything.”
“Do you only eat seaweed soup on birthdays?”

“No, but…”
“This place is good. I thought of you, so I got it.”
“……”

Then he picked up one of the side dishes and placed it on my rice. My face twisted at how cringe it was—but I picked up my spoon anyway.
I wasn’t even that hungry. But I couldn’t get up and walk away. Even if it was Shin Heejae—having someone to eat dinner with after work, properly… it had just been too long.
‘Why did it have to be him…’

I stared down at the spoonful of rice with a conflicted heart. But in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse. I slowly opened my mouth and took a bite.
Heejae watched me eat, then suddenly grinned and asked,
“Good, right?”

“…It’s edible.”
I replied curtly—but it really was good. And maybe it was just me, but it felt a little warm.
After one bite of rice, I picked up the glass of water next to me and drank it all in one go. Heejae watched me drink, eyes laser-focused.

‘Stop staring, you freak…’
I grumbled inwardly and quietly kept eating. The only sound in the apartment was the quiet clinking of spoon against bowl.