Seonchan had parked his car right in front of the apartment building and was waiting for the two of them.
Yuho ran straight to Seonchan in one breath, and Inhan watched Yuho’s retreating figure while slowly making his way over.
“Have you been well?”
Seonchan greeted Yuho warmly and asked how he’d been. Yuho answered with a smiling face.
“Yeah. I’ve been well.”
“Good. Our Yuho’s been so busy while I haven’t seen you—appearing on variety shows and doing live broadcasts.”
“What about you, Seonchan? How’s the project you joined?”
“It’s totally brutal. I’ve been going to action school these days, you know? I thought I’d catch on quickly since I usually work out, but it’s on a completely different level. It’s so hard.”
“Hello.”
Inhan bowed first and greeted Seonchan. Only then did Seonchan notice Inhan and politely returned his greeting.
“Yes. Hello. Jung Inhan-ssi.”
Although Seonchan was older, since Inhan had debuted earlier, it was proper to treat him as a senior.
“Would it be okay to call you hyung?”
“Of course. Nice to meet you.”
At Inhan’s question, Seonchan readily answered and offered a handshake. Inhan immediately grasped Seonchan’s hand.
“Yes. Nice to meet you too.”
Inhan’s first impression of Seonchan was ‘a good person.’ As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, so Yuho’s friend couldn’t be a bad person.
“Hyung, feel free to speak comfortably too.”
“Should I?”
Just like that, the hierarchy between the two was quickly settled. Career came first in the workplace, but in private settings, it was natural to go by age. Unless one was going to needlessly engage in a power struggle, that is.
“Then shall we get going?”
“Yes.”
Inhan readily answered Seonchan’s question.
Yuho naturally climbed into the passenger seat, and Inhan ended up sitting in the back.
It was a natural seating arrangement, so Inhan didn’t mind. They were friends, after all. Yuho hyung had clearly said so. There was absolutely no reason to be dissatisfied.
“I told you we could just meet at the location.”
Yuho felt sorry toward Seonchan, who kept coming to pick him up every time.
“It’s fine for me to come pick you up, so why bother.”
But Seonchan didn’t care at all.
“It’s inconvenient for you though.”
“No. Not at all.”
“Maybe I should get my license while I’m at it.”
“You want to? Should I teach you?”
“No. I’ll go to a driving school. I don’t want to become enemies with you.”
“Why? I teach well. You know I was a driver in the military, right?”
All the way to Itaewon, Yuho and Seonchan continued their friendly conversation. It was as if they’d completely forgotten that Inhan was in the back seat.
Well, they’re sitting apart, so I guess that’s why. Inhan rationalized it to himself and simply waited to arrive at their destination as soon as possible.
The three who arrived at an Italian restaurant in Itaewon took their seats and were looking at the menu. To be precise, only Seonchan and Yuho were looking.
“How about ordering three dishes—one pizza, one pasta, and one risotto?”
“Oh. Sounds good. Should we get a salad too?”
Yuho asked back while welcoming Seonchan’s suggestion. Seonchan gave a positive answer.
“Sure. Then what should we get for pizza?”
“Pepperoni?”
“Then for pasta?”
“Vongole?”
“Ah. Perfect.”
Seonchan showed a satisfied reaction and offered Yuho a high five. Yuho slapped his palm with an excited face.
Inhan looked at the two of them with a displeased expression.
Inhan had naturally assumed Yuho would sit next to him. Or at least sit across from him.
But he couldn’t understand why Seonchan was now sitting across from him with Yuho sitting next to Seonchan.
Inhan felt strangely like an uninvited guest who’d intruded on the two’s date, and his mood became subtle.
“What about you, Inhan? Are pepperoni pizza and vongole pasta okay?”
Seonchan belatedly turned the menu toward Inhan and asked. Inhan answered while trying to appear nonchalant.
“Yes. I eat everything well.”
“Right. Inhan eats everything well.”
Yuho agreed with Inhan’s words with a smiling face.
Was it just his imagination? Inhan shook off his unnecessary worries at Yuho’s attitude, which felt even more friendly.
“Then do you want to choose what you’d like for the risotto and salad, Inhan?”
“Yes. I will.”
At Seonchan’s words, Inhan took the menu and started examining it carefully.
At the same time, as if they’d been waiting, Seonchan and Yuho’s conversation started again.
“Yuho. Do you eat pineapple pizza?”
“Yeah. I like sweet things, so I eat it well.”
“But why did you choose all salty things?”
“I like salty things too.”
“Then what don’t you like?”
“Bitter things.”
“And?”
“And? Um……”
“Hyung. You can’t eat spicy things either.”
Inhan, who had been looking at the menu, suddenly added to the conversation. This time too, Yuho responded casually.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Right. Yuho, you really can’t eat spicy things.”
Seonchan reacted immediately as if he’d known. Inhan didn’t stop there and began reciting information about Yuho’s dietary preferences.
“You also don’t like things that are too fishy or have strong spices. And you absolutely won’t eat things with weird textures.”
“Ah. Really? That’s a great tip. I’ll have to keep that in mind when I go eat with Yuho from now on.”
Although he hadn’t said it with any particular intention, Inhan felt uncomfortable at Seonchan’s following reaction. This way, he’d unnecessarily stepped forward only to inform Seonchan of Yuho’s food preferences.
“Is there anything else?”
Seonchan obliviously demanded more new information from Inhan.
Strangely irritated by that behavior, Inhan quickly wrapped up the conversation.
“Yes. That’s all I can think of right now.”
“Really? Then I’ll have to learn directly from now on.”
Inhan’s feelings became complicated at Seonchan’s following words.
Along with that, the existence of this person called Seonchan didn’t feel entirely positive to him either.
Inhan thought he should hurry up and finish selecting the menu.
“How about bacon rosé risotto and steak pasta?”
“Ah. I’m fine with that. Yuho?”
“I don’t mind either.”
He’d naturally expected them to be pleased. He’d deliberately chosen menu items that matched Yuho’s tastes, but the response was different from his expectations, so Inhan was a bit disappointed.
Am I really this petty? He even had unnecessary thoughts.
While the food was being prepared, the drinks they’d ordered came out to the table first. Inhan immediately picked up the cider and poured it into a glass. And just as he was about to hand the glass to Yuho.
“Hyung. Here.”
“Yuho. Here.”
Seonchan was also handing Yuho a glass of cider.
Looking at the two glasses thrust before his eyes, Yuho wondered what kind of situation this was.
But he soon picked one glass. Naturally, it was Seonchan’s glass.
“Thanks.”
Yuho even expressed his gratitude to Seonchan. Inhan quietly put down the glass of cider.
At that moment, Inhan recalled Yuho’s warning not to be nice to him or act close with him.
He wondered if this was the punishment for arbitrarily breaking those words.
“Give it here. I’ll do it for you.”
Inhan quietly watched Seonchan serving pizza onto Yuho’s side plate.
It was the same pattern repeated throughout the entire meal. Seonchan seemed to think Yuho didn’t have hands, as he took care of everything from food to tissues.
These were all things that used to be Inhan’s role.
Inhan clenched his fists for no reason and stared intently at Yuho. Each time, Yuho didn’t even glance at Inhan.
“You eat. Why do you keep giving it to me?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll eat too.”
Seonchan lightly brushed off Yuho’s question and reached for Inhan’s side plate as well. Inhan immediately stopped that action.
“I’ll serve my own. Hyung, please eat first.”
“You will? Alright.”
After Seonchan took pizza onto his own plate, Inhan also served himself a slice of pizza onto his side plate.
At the same time, Yuho spoke to Inhan with an affectionate face.
“Inhan. Enjoy your food.”
“Yes. You too, hyung.”
Inhan answered while smiling back.
“Yuho hyung doesn’t eat clams.”
It was when the vongole pasta that Seonchan had served onto a side plate was being passed to Yuho. Inhan unknowingly stopped Seonchan’s action, and Seonchan reacted with surprise.
“Really?”
“No. I eat the ones in vongole pasta.”
But Yuho denied Inhan’s words and accepted the plate Seonchan was handing him. Seonchan asked Yuho with a smile.
“Then what don’t you eat?”
“Blood clams or clams in soup.”
“What’s the difference between those and this?”
“There’s a big difference. They’re much fishier.”
“Right, right. You’re absolutely right.”
As if to prove the words he’d spoken, Yuho picked up a clam and brought it to his mouth. And he chewed it thoroughly.
Inhan quietly watched that scene before soon averting his gaze.
I didn’t know. That he discriminated among clams too.
Inhan mourned for the countless clams that had been rejected by Yuho until now. He hadn’t anticipated that he’d end up in the same situation.
“The martial arts director praised you a lot, Inhan. He said there’s no one among the kids in their twenties who compares to you.”
“It’s not that much.”
At the sudden praise from Seonchan, Inhan answered awkwardly. But Seonchan continued speaking.
“Why not? Seokjae hyung also gave you high praise, saying you set the bar too high for idol kids.”
“Seokjae hyung originally likes praising others. He told me several times that he likes me too.”
“Ah. Really? That feels good.”
During the meal, the conversation between Seonchan and Inhan flowed naturally. Since they had acting in common, there was no need to search for conversation topics.
“Yuho, you said you’ve never met Seokjae hyung, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then next time we can all meet together. He said he felt left out when I told him the three of us were meeting today.”
At Seokjae’s words, Yuho hesitated with his answer. He didn’t have the confidence to face another uncomfortable situation like this one. But he couldn’t think of any particular excuse to refuse.
“I probably won’t be able to make it.”
Fortunately, Inhan rejected Seonchan’s suggestion first. Yuho looked at Inhan in surprise, but Inhan didn’t bother to turn his gaze.
