“Is that really enough?”
Seonchan asked Yuho, who had finished his meal with just 12 pieces of wagyu sushi at a sushi restaurant famous for its set menus.
“Yeah. I don’t really eat seafood.”
“Then why did you suggest sushi? You should have suggested something else.”
“Because I like this.”
Yuho said, pointing at the empty plate in front of him.
At first, he started eating wagyu sushi with the intention of eating together since Inhan liked sushi, but at some point, he ate it because it was delicious.
Still, he always told Inhan that he was going to the sushi restaurant because Inhan liked it. When he said that, Inhan would smile as if he couldn’t be happier. Yuho liked watching that.
“Do you want to eat udon or cold buckwheat noodles at least?”
“No. I’m full.”
“Why can’t you eat much today? Should I have fed you hanwoo beef after all?”
“That time I ate a lot. I’m not really the type to eat a lot originally.”
Yuho believed that, but it was purely from the perspective of comparing himself to the 7SPOT members.
The younger line of 7SPOT—Yeomin, Raulie, and Inhan—were big eaters who ate 5 servings of samgyeopsal per person as a baseline.
So Yuho and Jueon, who ate 3 servings, seemed like they were eating relatively little, but from the ONESPOTs’ perspective, except for Taylor who had no appetite, they were all classified as big eaters.
“Was it?”
“Yeah.”
Seonchan also seemed like he couldn’t believe Yuho’s words.
“But don’t you originally like hamburgers, pizza, things like that?”
“That’s true, but I’m not really craving them today.”
Yuho had gone through a period of binge eating due to the aftermath of his breakup with Inhan, and now he had entered a period of eating less. Especially greasy food seemed nauseating just to look at.
“But how did you know that?”
I don’t think I told you. Yuho asked Seonchan, showing his doubt.
“It came up when I searched.”
“Huh? Why did you look that up?”
“Because I was curious what you like. I’m your fan.”
Seonchan answered nonchalantly. Thanks to that, Yuho easily accepted it. Right. If you’re curious, you can look it up.
“But there’s really all sorts of information. I thought being a celebrity isn’t for just anyone.”
“So? What useful information did you get?”
“Debut process, food preferences, those are basic, but there was also information about your ideal type and first love?”
Ah. That damn first love story. Yuho squeezed his eyes shut at the past preserved on the internet.
Because Raulie kept teasing him about being forever single, he got worked up during an interview and mentioned it once, and it became a topic that kept being brought up.
“They say just holding hands doesn’t even count as dating.”
“Who?”
“The younger members.”
“Come on. If you truly loved them, that’s dating. Does the standard have to be physical contact?”
“I guess so.”
“Yeah.”
Then can my relationship with Inhan also count as dating? We did decide to date after all. Yuho’s thoughts kept bouncing to Inhan.
“After that?”
“Huh?”
“After that, was there anyone you dated?”
At Seonchan’s question, Yuho thought for a moment.
“Well.”
Yuho ended up giving an ambiguous answer. Even if they had decided to date, since he was the only one who loved, it was no different from unrequited love. He wondered if a relationship without love could really be called a relationship.
“I see.”
Seonchan thought Yuho was reluctant to answer and quickly changed the question.
“Then you’re not dating anyone right now?”
“Ah. Yeah.”
“That’s nice.”
“What is?”
“Just, since we’re both single, let’s rely on each other well.”
Yuho didn’t understand why friends would bother to bring up something like this, but he answered nonchalantly.
“Sure.”
At Yuho’s answer, Seonchan smiled with satisfaction.
“Seonchan-ah. Let me pay today.”
“This is supposed to be treating you for the movie’s box office success? Then the meaning would be diminished.”
After a brief tussle, Seonchan ended up paying.
Seonchan, who had brought his personal car out because it was a rare day off, showed the kindness of picking Yuho up from in front of the dorm and dropping him back off. This time too, Yuho adamantly refused but it didn’t work.
“You’re starting your next project from next week?”
Yuho asked Seonchan who was driving. Seonchan, who had been a military driver, showed off his driving skills to his heart’s content with stable handling and answered Yuho,
“Yeah. Script reading from Monday.”
“You must be nervous.”
“Yeah. Totally. I met Kim Seokjae sunbae-nim first at the director’s office the other day. And his gaze was no joke. I thought, an actor is indeed an actor.”
The movie Seonchan was newly joining was a noir film starring Kim Seokjae, Inhan’s close hyung.
“Oh. Really?”
Yuho responded simply. He had never met Seokjae, so he couldn’t add anything.
“But that person knew you?”
“Who? Actor Kim Seokjae?”
“Yeah. He said he knows you because Jung Inhan-ssi keeps saying Yuho hyung, Yuho hyung at the end of every sentence. And then he said if you’re a friend of Inhan’s close hyung, you’re his friend too, and he even got my number.”
It was the same repertoire as Domyeong. How much does this kid talk about me to his hyungs? When he didn’t even talk much about his hyungs to me. Yuho pouted his lips, feeling needlessly hurt.
“I don’t really know him.”
“He said let’s meet up, the four of us, next time?”
“Huh? With whom?”
“You, me, Jung Inhan-ssi, and sunbae-nim.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why would we meet up together?”
“Just, because we know each other through connections?”
Yuho was momentarily flustered but soon regained his composure. It was something that would be sorted out on Inhan’s end.
I guess he didn’t tell his hyungs about me. His feelings were complicated, unsure whether he was relieved or hurt, but Yuho also decided to try to smooth things over in his own way.
“Inhan probably won’t like it?”
“Why?”
“Just, I think he doesn’t like sharing acquaintances.”
To be precise, Inhan was reluctant to introduce acquaintances to Yuho.
Among the members, Taylor was the only one who had met all of Inhan’s close friends. Yeomin only knew Unseong, whom he did variety shows with, and the other members only knew of their existence through words.
Once Yuho had casually mentioned that he was a fan of the band ‘METEOR,’ but Inhan only said he would pass on the message and ended the conversation.
Being close didn’t necessarily mean you had to share acquaintances, but it was a bit hurtful that he didn’t introduce him even though he knew he was a fan.
At the same time, he was curious about Inhan’s time that he didn’t know about.
Though now they had become people who didn’t even know if the other was eating well and living well.
“Really? I wanted to know what kind of person Jung Inhan-ssi is.”
“Why? Inhan is just Inhan.”
“Just. Because it seems like he thinks of you as very special.”
Why would that be a reason to want to know Inhan? Yuho was puzzled but didn’t bother to ask again. It was all in the past anyway.
“He doesn’t really.”
“No?”
“Yeah.”
At Yuho’s expression that had quickly become sullen, Seonchan traced back to see if he had said something wrong. He couldn’t find the answer in the end.
Seonchan’s car stopped near the apartment building where Yuho lived.
Yuho got out of the passenger seat and said goodbye.
“Take care. Get home safely.”
“Yeah. You too, Yuho. I had fun today.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
It was the moment when Yuho got out of the car and was about to head to the apartment building entrance.
“Yuho-ya!”
Seonchan seemed reluctant to part and rolled down the window to call Yuho’s name. Yuho turned around in surprise.
“Huh? Seonchan-ah. What?”
“Next time we’re definitely going to eat hamburgers.”
“I told you we don’t have to.”
“Let’s go eat. Okay? Promise.”
“Alright. I promise. Hurry and go.”
“Yeah. I’m really going now.”
Seonchan only started the car after getting a definite answer from Yuho. After confirming that the car had left, Yuho moved again. But soon he spotted a familiar vehicle and stopped walking.
“Oh. Yuho. You really came back before 10.”
Without Yuho needing to acknowledge him, the passenger window opened and Suhyung spoke to Yuho. Yuho smiled and greeted Suhyung.
“Suhyung hyung.”
“Are you going to go eat hamburgers with Seonchan too?”
Ah. He heard our conversation. Yuho answered Suhyung, feeling embarrassed.
“Later.”
“You keep going out these days. Making hyung anxious?”
“When did I? I don’t make you anxious, hyung.”
“Well. I’m in a state where some distrust has built up.”
“I’ll try to build up trust again.”
“Okay. Hurry and go in.”
At Yuho’s aegyo-filled answer, Suhyung decided to be fooled one more time and was about to send Yuho in. Instead of going in obediently, Yuho threw a question at Suhyung.
“Why are you here, hyung? Do you have a schedule at this hour?”
“Yeah. Late-night radio schedule.”
“Who? Yeomin?”
“Yeah. Min and Han.”
Suhyung pointed to the backseat of the vehicle as he answered. That meant someone was sitting in the car. Yuho froze on the spot.
“Yuho hyung!”
“Oh. Yeomin-ah.”
Thanks to Yeomin’s appearance, Yuho fortunately came to his senses. Yeomin had spotted Yuho from the building entrance and ran at full speed.
“You were cheating again, right? I saw everything.”
Yeomin narrowed his eyes while shoving his phone screen at Yuho. It was a photo of Yuho uploaded on Seonchan’s SNS. Yuho also narrowed his eyes and said to Yeomin,
“You were stalking me again?”
“If you’re going to cheat, at least don’t get caught. How could you do this to me, hyung?”
“Yeomin-ah. Stop and get in. There’s no time.”
“Yes, hyung.”
At Suhyung’s single word urging Yeomin, Yeomin’s roleplay quickly ended. Yeomin stopped interrogating Yuho and hugged him. And he began his usual farewell.
“Yuho hyung. I’ll be back by 1, so don’t sleep and wait for me.”
“Yeah. No.”
“You’re going to stay up and listen to the radio. Right?”
“No. Not at all.”
“As expected, our Yuho hyung. You really love me.”
“Yeomin-ah?”
Suhyung gave Yeomin another look, and Yeomin quickly separated from Yuho and waved goodbye.
“Hyung. Bye. I’ll be back.”
Yuho waved back too.
“Yeah. Yeomin-ah. Have a good trip. Do well on the radio.”
“Yeah. Sleep well too, hyung.”
“Yeah.”
Yeomin soon headed to the back door, and Yuho said the rest of his goodbyes to Suhyung.
“Take care on your way too, Suhyung hyung.”
“Okay. Go to bed early.”
“Yes.”
After finishing his goodbyes, Yuho headed to the apartment entrance again. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at the open back door. Inhan was quiet without a sound, as if he was sleeping.
“What. Inhan. You were there?”
“Yeah.”
“But why didn’t you make any sound?”
Inhan didn’t answer Yeomin’s second question. Yeah. That short word was Inhan’s voice that Yuho heard for the first time in two weeks.
Wondering if Inhan would say something more, Yuho deliberately entered the wrong password for the building entrance once.
Thanks to that, Suhyung’s car started moving before Yuho entered through the entrance.
Inhan’s voice didn’t come anymore.
