Siwoo fiddled with his phone and then lifted his head. Seeing Hyunsu walking from a little distance away, he raised one hand and waved. He couldn’t forget the expression on Evan’s face as he stood there blankly after the staring game ended.
When he was young, he had obediently listened to his parents and diligently collected 100 star stickers to receive his favorite chocolate cake as a gift. But it was exactly that expression—the expression of having the cake confiscated right after receiving it.
“Strawberry? Vanilla?”
When Hyunsu showed him the ice cream in both his hands, Siwoo smiled and chose the vanilla ice cream. Late afternoon. Walking slowly down a street full of people enjoying their travels, Siwoo ate ice cream with Hyunsu.
After lunch ended, they naturally moved in the teams they had originally decided on. Hyunsu and Siwoo decided to wander wherever their feet took them and then eat dinner wherever they felt like it.
“Hyung. They say if you keep going straight down this road, there’s a river.”
While Hyunsu had gone to buy ice cream, Siwoo searched for places worth visiting and mentioned what he had confirmed by opening the map app.
“A river? Is that the river we saw when we came here yesterday?”
“Yes. That river. They say there are benches in front of the river, lots of trees, and many spaces where you can rest like a park.”
“Really, then should we get takeout food and eat outside? Can we drink beer?”
Walking backward, Hyunsu looked at the writer next to the cameraman who was filming them. At Hyunsu’s words, she urgently waved her hands, and when the writer mouthed that she would check, Siwoo grinned. Since she didn’t flatly refuse right away, wasn’t there a possibility?
“Chimaek by the Han River is the best.”
“Do you eat chimaek at the Han River too, hyung?”
Siwoo was looking at Hyunsu, who was walking on the road side, and asking a question when he spotted an approaching motorcycle, grabbed Hyunsu’s collar, and pulled him toward himself. Then he casually switched places with him and stood on the road side himself.
After all, the inside was better for looking at the shops lined up in a row and was safer.
“Of course. When I’m working at night and inspiration strikes, I go out for a drive and have a beer with chicken. There are no people at dawn and no people’s gazes, so it’s comfortable to eat. That’s why I always have a picnic mat in my car.”
“Huh? Alone?”
“How do you drink beer if you go alone? Would I drink and drive? There is someone in Kaiser who can’t drink alcohol. What about you?”
“My house is in front of the Han River, so I often go out for a walk and drink alone.”
“Hey! Why would you drink alcohol alone, so pitifully. Call hyung from now on. Hyung will drink with you anytime!”
“What’s the fun in that? Beer at the Han River is best drunk not by making plans but, as hyung said, exactly when the feeling hits, at that moment.”
“Oh my. You seem to drink quite a bit?”
“I’m not unable to drink.”
While having a truly personal conversation and walking toward the river, light smiles hung on Siwoo and Hyunsu’s faces. The writer, who had come back after talking on the phone with PD Lee from a little distance away, made a circle with her hands.
It was the moment it was decided that tonight’s dinner would be takeout eaten while viewing the river.
* * *
Siwoo entered the room with a bottle of water and lightly swayed his body to the song flowing from the Bluetooth speaker. Humming along to the song, he took out the laptop he had brought and placed it on the table. Then he accessed the live app he always used. It was time to meet his Coco-moms.
Yesterday, the PD had said he could do a personal broadcast as long as he didn’t reveal the program. And since he had decided to do it today, now that all official schedules were over was appropriate.
He hadn’t known when drinking with Hyunsu. He ate as much as he usually enjoyed, but he thought it was fine since he didn’t feel the effects of the alcohol. However, after returning to the lodging and even showering in warm water, the tipsy feeling belatedly came and his mood improved.
“Ah. Is it okay to do this after drinking?”
Siwoo rubbed his face once with both hands and adjusted the room’s lighting. The yellowish lighting hid his slightly flushed-looking cheeks.
Sitting comfortably in the chair, he moved the camera around to adjust it so his face showed well and pressed the live button.
“Hello. It’s Siwoo.”
Usually, the broadcasts Siwoo did started with one or two participants. Even when many came in, it rarely exceeded 50 people, so rather than waiting for people to enter, he tended to start right away. After a short greeting, he hummed along to the song that was still playing.
“It’s night here, but it must be daytime there now. My Coco-moms must be busy.”
When he saw the familiar ID he always saw asking if he’d been well, Siwoo grinned broadly.
“I drank alcohol. In a really wonderful place with a really, really wonderful hyung. If I told you who it was, my Coco-moms would be really surprised.”
Siwoo leaned in slightly and whispered as if telling a secret. Then messages asking who it was immediately appeared, but he answered, “Secret.”
Since the chair was hard and uncomfortable, he fidgeted and eventually pulled both legs toward his chest and sat crouched.
“The chair here is uncomfortable. As you can see, this isn’t my room but a lodging. Right now I’m using this spacious room alone, but I don’t know how it might change tomorrow.”
When the conversation broke off intermittently, Siwoo sang along to whatever song was playing at that moment. Then requests came in for him to sing properly, and he grinned broadly again. Normally he would never sing, but whether it was the power of alcohol or not, saying “Shall I?” Siwoo lowered the volume of the music he had playing.
“What song would be good? Since it’s night here, I think a calm song would be good.”
Since he had placed the water bottle he brought on the table before starting the live, he poured from the bottle while carefully observing the chat window. Seeing the songs people wanted to hear being posted, Siwoo chose one he could sing now.
“What lullaby? It’s midday there right now.”
After taking a sip of water, Siwoo spotted “lullaby” in the chat and laughed out loud. With his eye corners slightly raised, when still, Siwoo looked sharp and fierce. But when he smiled like this, his raised eye corners gently folded and he became cuter than anyone. His cheeks rose roundly and his mouth became cute too. That appearance was really like a quokka.
“Coco. Do this for me.”
Still, posts requesting a lullaby and calm pop songs alternated. Watching that, Siwoo’s pupils rolled around.
There was definitely no way, but when he heard a voice calling him, Siwoo’s head whipped around backward.
To do the live, after showering he went out to get permission from the PD and brought water in case he got thirsty. He had even locked his room door when entering. No one would come in, but he did it just in case.
So right now, he shouldn’t be hearing someone’s voice calling him.
Why. Are you. Now. Here looking like that?
Unable to easily understand the scene unfolding before his eyes, Siwoo stared with his mouth hanging open blankly.
Evan entered his view wearing comfortable pajama pants and a top carelessly draped on, drying his hair with a towel.
“You. You… Why are you here?”
While still looking at him, Siwoo instinctively reached out and quickly ended the live. While talking with the PD, they had decided he would broadcast alone today. Did they see by any chance? Although his Coco-moms were tight-lipped.
“The bathroom here was empty. But do this for me.”
Siwoo, who had jumped up from his seat, wanted to step back at Evan’s actions as he walked toward him, but he couldn’t because of the table.
“What?”
With the towel placed on his head and wearing his pajama top, not understanding Evan’s words again, Siwoo just rolled his pupils around. Since this was his first time in such a situation, his brain seemed to have stopped, not knowing where to put his eyes or what actions to take.
“Buttons.”
“You can do it yourself.”
“Can’t you see this?”
How old are you asking someone to button you up? At Siwoo’s words, Evan showed his left hand. Bandages were wrapped around his third and fourth fingers.
“Then. Just… just wear a t-shirt.”
Until they scattered by teams after lunch earlier, he had been fine, so why did he suddenly have bandages on his fingers? He should ask if he was okay, but Siwoo’s mouth was saying something else.
“They told me to wear this.”
Responding to each of Siwoo’s words, Evan pulled at his clothes and wriggled, trying to button from the bottom by himself.
“Why?”
Standing in a defensive posture, Siwoo couldn’t stand watching Evan’s fumbling hands and grabbed the end of his clothes.
“Couple look? Anyway, they said to wear it today.”
It was truly comfortable like a trip, but still, broadcasting was broadcasting, so they had to do everything the cast suggested. Whoever it was, what Evan had to do tonight seemed to be wearing couple pajamas. Only a day had passed, but Evan had quite a lot of minor things to do. From sponsored outfits to accessories. Since there were also PPLs for the CF products he shot, in some parts he had no freedom.
Siwoo silently buttoned his buttons one by one from the bottom. It seemed he had probably come in while Siwoo went out to talk with the PD. On top of that, he had the music playing loudly in this room. Because of that, he hadn’t heard at all the natural sound of water that would occur while Evan was washing. It wasn’t a situation where fault could be assigned to determine who was right or wrong.
It seemed more his own fault for starting the broadcast without properly checking.
Meanwhile, the Coco-moms didn’t know how to accept this situation and blankly watched what was visible to their eyes. As if everyone had made a promise, not a single person even thought to let it be known they were watching.
Coco had clearly been in a good mood and was about to sing a song? Why was a half-naked Evan coming out of Coco’s room bathroom? He called our Coco so naturally, and why was he asking him to button his clothes? A situation where they couldn’t help but have tremendous misunderstandings suddenly unfolded.
For a moment, Coco’s flustered hand blocked the front, and he clearly seemed to try to turn off the live. However, what cute Coco’s hand pressed wasn’t the ESC key but the number 1.
