“Are you really not going to do activities?”
Siwoo looked at Yechan, who was asking him a question while snatching the tongs away as he was about to flip the meat.
“Aigo, this hyung-nim. Really trying to do everything himself. Just stay still for a bit. I’m really good at grilling meat.”
Siwoo, who had been trying to take the tongs back, smiled softly at his action of placing a glass of cola in his outstretched hand.
“Why aren’t you doing activities? There are lots of places looking for you now. There are quite a few people asking me about you too.”
“That’s true. I need to do broadcasts, but I just don’t really want to.”
At Hyunsu’s words, Siwoo brushed it off appropriately. When Taehoon asked, he made the ridiculous excuse that he was just scared. Even now, whenever Jinwook saw him, he subtly suggested they do broadcasts, saying “strike while the iron is hot.” He should shine at this opportunity, you’re hesitating because you’ve been a nobody for so long, you have talent—honestly, every time he heard these words, it was uncomfortable.
He knew what feelings he had when saying those things to him, but the one who was most upset and heartbroken was himself.
“Why? Why not?”
“First, I’ll go on ‘Journey’ and do things while watching how it goes.”
“Well, don’t just book schedules recklessly just because they come in. Look at them and appropriately filter out the bad ones, and just doing a few proper ones also helps raise your value.”
Unlike Ian, who kept asking, Hyunsu lightly clinked his glass against the one Siwoo was holding and wrapped up the situation. Next to them, Ian quickly clinked his glass too, saying they were making a toast with cola. If he had asked just a bit more, he might have answered, but in the end, Siwoo couldn’t say the words that had risen to his throat.
“How are they filming the commentary?”
When the topic changed from talk about Siwoo to talk about broadcasting, his body, which had been tense without realizing it, relaxed languidly. Siwoo leaned back in his chair and watched the three of them talk. If Evan hadn’t said those things at that time, he wouldn’t have come to this gathering.
“Hyung, shall we go for round two?”
Coming out of the restaurant, Siwoo nodded at Yechan’s words. Rather than the noisy, crowded meat restaurant, he wanted to have a drink in a quiet place. Who the person in front of him was didn’t really matter either. If Yechan said no, being alone would probably be fine too. He wanted to blow away his complicated thoughts while making jokes and casual conversation.
“Do you have a place you go often?”
“Just somewhere quiet and secluded would be nice. Do you know any place?”
Ian had filming, and Hyunsu said he couldn’t spare time because of his radio broadcast. At those words, as he saw them off, Siwoo playfully poked Yechan’s side.
“Yes. It’s a place I filmed before, and I think it would be really nice to have a drink there on a night like today.”
“Lead the way. Hyung will treat.”
“Why would hyung treat? I was the one who suggested eating, and Hyunsu-hyung just paid for the meat too. I’ll buy the drinks.”
“I was the one who suggested drinking.”
“I drink way more than you, hyung.”
At Yechan’s behavior of not backing down even a word, Siwoo shook his head. What’s so important about who pays?
“Tsk. You should come to a place like this with a lover.”
Since he said he was eating with Yechan and sent Jinwook ahead first, Siwoo, who had moved in Yechan’s car, clicked his tongue at the scenery unfolding before his eyes. Would two pitch-black guys want to come to a place like this?
“This hyung really has no sense of mood. Let’s consider it a rehearsal then.”
The night transitioning from late summer to early fall was full of cool breezes. The fabric hung between the sparsely placed tables fluttered and swayed.
“What do you want to drink? They have whiskey, cocktails, everything here.”
“Whatever you want to drink.”
Siwoo, who had completely leaned back into the plush two-person sofa, hugged the cushion next to him. It felt like he would fall asleep if he just stayed still like this.
“Hyung. You’re sleepy, right?”
Yechan, who ordered on his own without asking further questions, glanced once at Siwoo lying languidly, then shifted his gaze to his phone.
“I’m not sleeping yet. I’m going to drink and then sleep.”
Click—.
He heard the sound of a photo being taken with a phone, but Siwoo just stayed as he was.
“Wow, it came out really well. Can I post this on SNS?”
“No.”
This bastard, I thought he was taking a selfie, but when did he take a photo of me?
“I want to brag that I’m close with hyung.”
“Why?”
“Because I like hyung.”
“That’s so burdensome. Don’t like me.”
Siwoo, who frowned looking at the food set up in front of them, switched the cocktail placed in front of him with the beer glass in front of Yechan. And he called the staff to order soju too. What do you think I am, ordering a cocktail?
“I’m going to like you even if you don’t want me to.”
“Gross.”
Siwoo, who had appropriately mixed soju with beer, emptied the glass refreshingly. As expected, alcohol should be somaek. He hated whiskey that burned from the esophagus to the stomach the moment you drank it, or cocktails that were so sweet you kept drinking and then got knocked out in one shot.
“Ah! Really, I’ll do love with someone else.”
“That’s welcome news.”
Siwoo, who picked up a biscuit and crunched on it, tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. In the bright Seoul sky, not a single star could be seen, and the only things shining were the round moon and the light emitted by airplanes flying in the sky.
“I’m telling you I have someone I love.”
“Okay.”
“Why aren’t you asking? Right now, Phoenix’s Kang Yechan is saying he has someone he loves.”
“Is it me?”
Siwoo didn’t move at all and just moved his mouth, tossing out the question halfheartedly.
“No. Wow, amazing. Hyung, your groundless confidence is crazy.”
The color completely drained from Yechan’s face, which had been grinning until now, and he crossed both arms in front of his chest to make an X.
“Then that’s fine. As long as it’s not me.”
“Hyung. You know you’re really no fun, right?”
At sulky Yechan’s words, Siwoo, who stopped looking at the sky, turned his head to look at him. Right now, Yechan needed someone to talk to. And it was clear he had chosen him as that conversation partner. For whatever reason, he couldn’t ignore his heart in choosing him.
“Unrequited love?”
Siwoo’s emptied beer glass had been filled with somaek that Yechan made in the meantime. In front of Yechan, who nodded his head, a whiskey bottle and glass were placed.
“Tell me. Even if I can’t give advice, I can listen.”
There are days like that. Days when you want to tell someone your story.
A subtle smile hung on the corners of Siwoo’s mouth as he listened to Yechan’s story. There was no need to say anything in particular. He just needed to nod at his words and add a bit of interjection.
“So what’s the problem?”
Unlike Yechan, who talked earnestly, Siwoo, who kept drinking, was almost lying down on the sofa in a tipsy mood. Still, he didn’t forget his duty and tossed out a question.
“It’s just that. That person is also an idol and so am I.”
“What are you whining about as a guy? Go and say ‘I like you. Do you like me? Deal?’ That’s it.”
“But Evan-hyung didn’t confess, right?”
“What nonsense are you talking?”
Yechan tossed a word at Siwoo, who had only been drinking the whole time he was rambling on and on. And at the cold answer that came back, he sighed. I thought Evan-hyung was totally aggressive, but he was a coward. He still couldn’t forget that strong pheromone that came from Siwoo at first.
“Evan-hyung likes hyung.”
“If you’re drunk, know when to stop. Just because you’re in love, does the whole world look pink?”
When Yechan thought about the aggressive pheromone he received today, he still got goosebumps all over his body. It surged for a moment, and then maybe realizing it, he quickly pulled it back so it was okay, but if he hadn’t done that, Yechan would have had to release his own pheromone to defend himself.
“No. It’s real. Evan-hyung likes hyung.”
At Yechan’s definite answer, the expression Siwoo made was indescribable. A bitter, lonely, cold feeling. He wasn’t happy or annoyed. Siwoo’s expression was extremely sad.
“Either keep drinking or go confess yourself.”
After saying that, Siwoo downed the somaek in one shot again.
“What if Evan-hyung confesses? A bet with me. Deal?”
That was good up until exactly that point.
What Siwoo chose in response to his question was to lean back deeply into the sofa and close his eyes. He urged him to answer several times, but whether he had fallen asleep from the alcohol, he didn’t move. And Yechan, who faced Siwoo when he woke up a little later, trembled. Even when he asked for his phone, he wouldn’t give it, and when he asked for his manager’s contact information, there was silent refusal.
Siwoo, who repeated incomprehensible words and staggered around, was literally horror itself.
“Hyung. Really, please give me the contact of your manager-hyung or anyone you can call.”
“So… my heart hurts.”
Instead of just sleeping on the sofa, he suddenly sat up from lying down nicely and mumbled. If he lived alone, he would take him, but for him living in a dorm, this was a truly awkward moment.
“My heart hurts more.”
The alcohol buzz that had been slowly rising completely flew away, and Yechan was going crazy because of the password that needed to be unlocked with a pattern, not fingerprint or pupil. After countless attempts, it got locked for 5 minutes. Who knew his drinking habit would be like this?
Since he couldn’t touch it for 5 minutes anyway, Yechan, who put Siwoo’s phone down on the table, leaned back on the sofa with a “whatever” feeling and watched.
Then, seeing his own phone suddenly ringing, a smile brighter than ever appeared on Yechan’s face.
“Hyung!”
“Where are you?”
“Did filming finish?”
“I asked where you are?”
If Yechan had a tail, it would have been wagging crazily with joy. And unlike his bright voice filled with hope, the other person’s voice was endlessly sunken, but that wasn’t important. Yechan, who quickly told him the location of where he was, hurriedly raised his hand to order ice water.
The person coming here now was both a savior and Satan.
