Seohui unni asked me with a bright smile.
“Yeonseo, what do you want to drink today?”
“Um… the one I had last time was pretty sweet and delicious. Could you make that again?”
At my request, unni tilted her head as if troubled for a moment.
“Hmm… which one are you talking about…”
Ah, it made sense—it had been nearly two weeks since I last came to the bar.
But to me, the memory of that day was still so vivid.
It was the drink that had created the mood where we got carried away and kissed. Had unni already forgotten?
I wondered if I was the only one who’d been worrying about it.
But I couldn’t remember the actual name of the drink, so after hesitating, I finally blushed and burst out.
“Th-that… k-kiss!”
At that, Seohui unni burst into laughter and answered.
“…Are you talking about a French Kiss?”
That definitely wasn’t it. Flustered, I waved my hands and desperately tried to recall what unni had said.
“N-no! Back then… the one you said was called a kiss!”
Only then did Seohui unni seem to realize something, clapping her hands with a bright smile.
“Ah~! You mean the Cassis Frappe? I had forgotten because I was looking after other customers too.”
The moment I heard that name, the memory came back vividly.
I nodded vigorously and said yes, and unni began making the cocktail with practiced hands.
Watching her shake the shaker quietly, I suddenly felt a strange sense of alienation.
Even though she had changed her appearance with makeup and a wig, the woman before me felt like a completely different person.
Even if she could mimic a similar tone, could she perfectly change even the laughter that slipped out mid-conversation?
The things that came out unintentionally felt different from Seohui unni.
Just as my head was filling with complicated doubts and falling deep into thought, the cocktail I ordered was placed before me.
“Here you go.”
I picked up the glass and took a sip.
An intense sweetness hit the tip of my tongue, followed by a sharp alcoholic scent.
It was definitely the same Cassis Frappe from that time, but for some reason the inexplicable sense of wrongness didn’t fade as it slid down my throat.
Unlike usual, Seohui unni didn’t make much conversation.
She simply stood silently, staring intently at me as I emptied my glass.
As the alcohol slowly crept up on me and my mind grew hazy, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Unni, why are you staring at me like that?”
To my question, unni answered with a cryptic smile at her lips.
“Just curious.”
It was a meaningful statement. Unni paused to choose her words, then added in a low murmur.
“But I think I know now.”
There was no chance to ask what it was she knew.
As I was nearly finished with my glass, unni picked up the shaker again and spoke.
“Since you came, shouldn’t you see it through to the end?”
Without waiting for my answer, unni began making a new drink.
Perhaps due to the intoxication, my sense of reality was slowly fading, so I just accepted it and watched blankly.
This time, instead of shaking a shaker, she poured various liquids directly into the glass and stirred slowly with a long spoon.
The liquids mixed between clear ice, completing an orange drink garnished with a lemon.
“Here, this is a Long Island Iced Tea. Try it.”
I took the glass she offered and drank a gulp.
It tasted like iced tea as the name suggested, but a strange sourness lingered in the aftertaste.
The alcohol scent was barely noticeable, making it feel as light as a soft drink.
‘This isn’t very strong…’
Thinking that, I sipped it casually without a second thought.
But that thought was a mistake.
The more I emptied the glass, a much stronger wave of drunkenness surged over me like waves.
My head spun, and I felt my center of balance collapsing.
Eventually losing even the strength to hold my head up, I dropped it forward, and with a thud, my forehead hit the hard counter.
Sprawled against the table with my forehead pressed to the surface and my mind hazy, a voice came from above.
“I wonder what would happen if Seohui saw this?”
The voice came with a faint smile, sounding like a mischievous prank.
I wanted to argue, ‘What nonsense is that,’ and ‘Aren’t you Seohui unni,’ but I wasn’t in a normal state, so the words wouldn’t come out properly.
Watching me gasp for breath without being able to respond, the woman with light purple hair quietly brushed my hair back.
The sensation from her fingertips was unfamiliar yet uncanny.
In my distorted vision, everything spun—who she really was, whether the person I was seeing was truly the unni I knew.
***
“Whew, now I just have to finish my bar shift and I’m done.”
Finishing my cafe part-time job, I rubbed my stiff shoulders and headed to the shop.
Yeonseo probably had fun with her friends and went home early, right?
My body was tired, but thinking that Yeonseo must have had a good time eased my mind.
With a ring of the bell, I opened the familiar bar door and stepped inside.
Standing behind the counter was my friend, the manager of this shop, with light purple hair.
But my gaze was immediately drawn to a girl slumped helplessly over the counter stool.
Familiar clothes and white hair. I was certain it was Yeonseo the moment I saw her.
My mind went blank wondering why she was here at this hour, collapsed as if unconscious.
“…Yeonseo?”
As if expecting my reaction, the manager stopped playing with Yeonseo’s hair and grinned at me.
“Oh my, Seohui’s here? Hurry up and change into your uniform. Today, well, it’s annoying, so don’t bother with the cross-dressing.”
At her relaxed tone as usual, I immediately strode up to the counter and snapped at the manager.
“Hey, what the hell did you give a kid who’s already weak with alcohol?”
Despite my urgent shout, the manager didn’t bat an eye and answered with a crooked smile.
“It’s nothing, I just gave her a Long Island Iced Tea, that’s all.”
“What? With how strong that is, and you gave it to her!”
I examined Yeonseo’s condition in shock.
Watching me fidget anxiously over Yeonseo, the manager rested her chin on her hand and looked at me, entertained.
“I was curious about this friend who came to see you because she missed you, and more than anything, I wanted to see your reaction, so I tried it.”
“There’s a time and place for jokes, seriously…!”
I glared at the manager once and headed to the back to change into my uniform.
My mind was entirely on Yeonseo, collapsed at the counter.
When I came out ready to work, the manager was walking toward the entrance and tossed words at me casually.
“Watch the store for a bit. You can’t take this friend until I get back. If you do something weird and get reported, it’s your responsibility?”
“Hey! Lee Yeonhui!”
I tried to stop her, but the manager had already opened the door and gone outside.
“Ha… Lee Yeonhui really… does whatever she wants.”
It was a situation that only called for sighs, but the biggest problem right now was Yeonseo slumped before me.
I went behind the counter and approached Yeonseo’s side.
Carefully patting Yeonseo’s back, I called out to her.
“Yeonseo, are you awake? It’s me, Seohui.”
Instead of answering, Yeonseo mumbled softly and shook her head.
For now, I prepared some cool ice water and placed it next to Yeonseo, falling into thought about how to handle this awkward situation.
It was then. Yeonseo suddenly lifted her head and stared at me with unfocused eyes.
Then, like a child, she grinned goofily and opened her mouth.
“Heehee… it’s really Seohui unni… the real one…”
I let out a sigh of relief and tidied Yeonseo’s disheveled hair.
“Yeah, I’m right here. Are you coming to your senses? Do you remember what that girl who gave you drinks did?”
In response, Yeonseo nodded with heavily slurred speech.
“Yesh… I rememmber… That purple-haired unni… was pretendiing to be Seohui unni… actiing…?”
“Ha, that Lee Yeonhui is impossible…”
I muttered to myself, dumbfounded.
“At firsht… unni is so good at cross-dressing… so I thought turniing into a different woman like that… was possible too? Wow, I thought it was amaziing…”
Yeonseo paused for a moment, then suddenly grabbed my hand and grinned goofily.
“But… after staying there, it wasn’t… Your laughter was different… And more than anything… the way she looked at me… wasn’t unni…”
Yeonseo chattering with a face full of drunkenness was cute yet pitiful.
I gently stroked the back of her captured hand and whispered.
“Still, thank you for recognizing me, Yeonseo.”
“Did I… do good…?”
How defenseless she looked, smiling slackly with unfocused eyes gazing up at me—just watching made a corner of my chest tingle.
“Yeah, Yeonseo did really well. I’m proud of you.”
I slowly stroked Yeonseo’s head.
“Heehee…”
The white hair under my fingertips and the laughter accepting my touch.
“Really… I’m going crazy.”
The string of reason was stretched taut to its limit, as if it might snap at any moment.