“Hey, hey.”
Jiheon urgently interjected to stop Jaekyung. He was going to ask him why he was so curious about it, as well as to tell him to come down quickly if there was nothing to do here, but before he could speak, Dongjin and Wonmyung launched into an explanation.
“Ah, Jiheon wasn’t an actor. He handled general affairs, accounting, and casting.”
“Yeah. As soon as he joined, Yeop hyung actually tried to get him into acting, but he flatly refused.”
“That’s right. Yeop hyung even wrote a script with a swimmer as the main character, but he had to scrap it because Jiheon refused to act in it.”
Listening to their conversation, Inyeop stomped his feet and commented.
“Oh, now that you mentioned it! That scenario was absolutely amazing. If I had filmed it back then, I’d probably be in Chungmuro by now instead of doing this here.”
“Nope.”
“Hyung, thank god you’re settled down here.”
Inyeop put his cigarette back into his mouth, looking somewhat baffled by his juniors’ serious expressions.
“Anyway, we thought Jiheon might fall for it, but he never did. So Yeop hyung assigned him to accounting and general affairs to keep him from leaving. He thought that once Jiheon was tied up, he might agree to be in his movie one day.”
“Right, right! But Yeop hyung could never do that even after he graduated, so he ended up saying nonsense later. What did he say again? Oh yeah, ‘Since you don’t wanna act in my movie, bring someone who can do it for you.’ That’s what he said, right?”
“Yeah, and Jiheon eventually did it.”
“He even brought like four people and held auditions for the first time.”
Dongjin and Wonmyung laughed, finding it funny to reminisce about that memory now.
“Anyway, you’re really good at seducing people, Jiheon.”
Hearing Dongjin’s words, Jaekyung glanced at Jiheon with a meaningful look, but Jiheon avoided his gaze and remained silent. Jaekyung stared at him for a while longer, then lowered his head, pretending to look at the camcorder in his hand.
“I mean, I’ve seen Jiheon cast someone before, and he really didn’t say much. He just said, ‘You’re so handsome. Didn’t you hear that a lot? Do you wanna be in my club’s movie?’ and the other person would say yes on the spot.”
Jaekyung looked into the camcorder and suddenly began tapping the device with a frown.
“That’s why it’s even more interesting.”
“Jiheon must really have something going on.”
“Is it something like ‘having itching feet’?”
“More like ‘naturally-born charming’, isn’t it?”
“Oh right. That’s it.”
As Wonmyung and Dongjin chatted among themselves, Jaekyung’s hand tapping the camcorder became increasingly rough. It seemed like there was something wrong. Not with the camcorder, of course, but with Kwon Jaekyung.
“For real, every time I see him, his lover always changes. So I was like, ‘What the hell is he up to?’ ”
“And his lovers are all pretty and handsome.”
“He even dated a model once, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. And who was it again in our club? The guy who used to be an idol trainee?”
“Sejin, was it?”
“Oh, right. Choi Sejin. Jiheon dated him too. Yeop hyung tried to get him into acting, but as soon as he broke up with Jung Jiheon, he left the club.”
“But is it just him, though? Several kids joined the club because of Jung Jiheon, and left because of him. Maybe around a dozen.”
Jaekyung was now practically punching the camcorder. He probably thought about slamming it down at this point, but Inyeop quickly started to extinguish the fire.
“Hey, you’ve got it all wrooong. That’s how it is in college. People date and break up just like that. It’s normal! And when you grow up and meet your real partner, that’s when you start to settle down. Take Cho Wonmyung as an example.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Wonmyung chimed in, thankfully agreeing.
“So, Jiheon, do you think your current relationship will last long? Are you really thinking about getting married?”
Jiheon thought he had escaped the predicament, but Wonmyung had chosen questions he couldn’t answer in front of Jaekyung.
Sure enough. He could see Jaekyung pricking up his ears, pretending to be disinterested.
“No. From what I’ve seen, that’s just his nature. Guys like him are better off living alone. Don’t even dream about getting married, dude.”
Dongjin interjected. Jiheon couldn’t tell if he was an enemy or an ally. But Wonmyung shook his head and said:
“No-no. Guys like him surprisingly do well when they get married. So, Jiheon-ah, here—”
Wonmyung took an envelope from his coat pocket and handed it to Jiheon.
“Come, eat, and congratulate me with some cash.”
“Oh, what’s this? Did you come here just to give me this, sunbae?”
Jiheon asked as he retrieved a wedding invitation from the envelope. He’d been curious why Wonmyung kept talking about marriage, and it seemed that Wonmyung was getting married soon.
“Yes, and you can bring your lover as well. Please introduce them to me.”
‘He’s been standing right next to you all along, sunbae. You even took a picture with my lover.’
Jiheon muttered quietly to himself as he looked at the wedding invitation.
Inyeop, in the meantime, lit a fresh cigarette and said:
“Hey, by the way, did you quit smoking? You haven’t had a single puff for a while now. I can give you one if you want.”
When Inyeop mentioned this, Jiheon quickly shook his head.
“No, thank you. I’m cutting back on smoking these days.”
As soon as he made that statement, both Dongjin and Wonmyung chimed in simultaneously.
“Huh, what the hell? Are you really getting married?”
“Why? Your husband doesn’t want you to smoke?”
Jaekyung’s ears twitched again at the mention of ‘getting married’ and ‘husband’.
In the end, he even took his eyes off the camcorder he had been tormenting and looked at Jiheon with a slightly expectant look in his eyes.
It was clear what Jaekyung was thinking without him saying a word.
—Hyung, are you really going to quit smoking because I asked you to?? Are you going to marry me???
“No, that’s not it.”
Jiheon responded hastily, fearing Jaekyung might actually believe it.
“It’s just due to the office atmosphere these days. I’m trying to quit because people are getting more and more annoyed by smokers.”
In fact, the side effects of his medication had reduced his appetite for both food and smoking, but he decided to pretend it was due to the work environment.
“Oh, right. It’s no joke these days.”
“Yeah. Many people in my company are trying to quit for the same reason.”
Fortunately, he had found support among his fellow smokers, which made it relatively easy to escape.
He worried that Jaekyung might start tormenting the innocent camcorder again, but since it wasn’t even his own camcorder, he just let him be.
“Hey, when I quit smoking for a while, I started craving sweets like crazy and gained a lot of weight. You’re not like that?”
Jiheon shook his head in response to Wonmyung’s question.
“Not really. I don’t really like sweets.”
Instead, he had been craving some booze. Although he wasn’t a heavy drinker, these days he found himself yearning for a drink due to his hectic schedule.
“You actually seem to have lost some weight.”
Inyeop commented, exhaling cigarette smoke.
“We haven’t seen each other in almost three weeks, right? You’ve definitely lost some weight compared to before. Well, I think you look better on screen now.”
“That’s fine, then.”
Jiheon waved it off as if it were no big deal but also glanced at Jaekyung for no apparent reason. Jaekyung was still looking at the camcorder, his thoughts couldn’t be guessed from his expression.
After they successfully finished the afternoon training and additional filming, the two of them headed home together as usual. Normally, the training would have ended by 6, but due to the filming delays, it was already well past 9 when they arrived home.
“I’m going to the convenience store for a bit. It’s okay if you wanna head up first.”
Jiheon asked as he parked the car in the lot and got out. Jaekyung asked:
“Why the convenience store?”
“I need to buy something.”
“Let’s go together, then.”
Jaekyung readily followed Jiheon, and they went to the convenience store together. Once inside, Jiheon headed straight for the fridge. Jaekyung looked surprised upon seeing him selecting a drink.
“Are you here to buy a drink, hyung?”
“Yeah. You want something to drink too?”
Jiheon moved aside, telling Jaekyung to choose what he wanted. However, Jaekyung only shook his head.
“Just get something for yourself, hyung. I don’t drink.”
“Really? You’ve never had a drink before?”
“That’s not what I mean. I got drunk once and did something careless, so I’ve avoided alcohol since.”
“Huh, what happened? Care to share the story?”
Jiheon asked with a smile, but Jaekyung remained tight-lipped.
From his expression, it was clear he didn’t really want to talk about it further, so Jiheon refrained from pressing the matter.
“Sure, better not to drink anything if you can help it. That’s amazing.”
Jiheon said as he opened the fridge door.
“You made a decision to quit, and you’ve stuck to it. That’s quite something.”
“It’s already done anyway.”
Jaekyung said casually.
“That’s right, it’s already done.”
Jiheon said, bursting into laughter.
Jiheon took a shower once they arrived home. When he came out from the bathroom, he was surprised to find Jaekyung had already set up the drinks and snacks on the table. Well, all he did was open the package of six beer cans and arrange them neatly, and he also opened a package of popcorn and mixed nuts, pouring them onto a plate.
However, considering Jaekyung’s life where he had never even washed a cup with his own hands since he received help from others all his life (so he claimed that he did everything for the first time at Jiheon’s house, including washing dishes, vacuuming, and using the washing machine), this was surely a huge improvement.
“Hey, you’ve really become a human being.”
Jiheon said genuinely impressed, and Jaekyung looked dumbfounded. He opened a beer can, poured it into a glass without creating any foam, and offered it to Jiheon.
Jiheon took a sip and, to his surprise, Jaekyung even fed him a pistachio he had peeled himself.
In fact, both the popcorn and mixed nuts were selected by Jaekyung. Jiheon wasn’t someone who typically needed snacks while drinking, so he had only bought the beers. However, Jaekyung later brought the snacks and paid for them separately, so Jiheon thought he might want to eat that.
But that wasn’t the case. Jiheon guessed this guy bought it specifically for this purpose from the beginning. To feed Jiheon.
“What is this? Why are you choosing such cute things today? It doesn’t suit you.”
Jiheon smiled, holding his glass of beer.
In the past, Jaekyung might have thrown away what he was holding and gotten upset if someone called him cute, but now he just sat obediently. Jiheon thought Jaekyung must’ve been quite satisfied with his life of being loved for the past few days.
Of course, he still scowled as if saying, “What the heck are you saying, hyung?” but he still didn’t get up from his seat. Instead, he just picked up some popcorn and fed it to Jiheon while talking.
“Why the sudden craving for a drink today?”
“Nothing. I just felt like having a drink.”
After saying that, Jiheon finished the beer in his glass in one go.
As soon as he placed the empty glass down, Jaekyung narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Why? Did you happen to like that senior?”
“Senior? Who?”
“The senior who gave you the wedding invitation.”
Jiheon burst out laughing at the unexpected question.
“Hey, are you crazy?”
“Then why are you drinking?”
Jaekyung said, still with a hint of suspicion.
Jiheon hadn’t had a drink for the past few months, but he suddenly said he was going to drink today.
Well, to be honest, that suspicion was reasonable enough.
“Hey, hey.”
Jiheon urgently interjected to stop Jaekyung. He was going to ask him why he was so curious about it, as well as to tell him to come down quickly if there was nothing to do here, but before he could speak, Dongjin and Wonmyung launched into an explanation.
“Ah, Jiheon wasn’t an actor. He handled general affairs, accounting, and casting.”
“Yeah. As soon as he joined, Yeop hyung actually tried to get him into acting, but he flatly refused.”
“That’s right. Yeop hyung even wrote a script with a swimmer as the main character, but he had to scrap it because Jiheon refused to act in it.”
Listening to their conversation, Inyeop stomped his feet and commented.
“Oh, now that you mentioned it! That scenario was absolutely amazing. If I had filmed it back then, I’d probably be in Chungmuro by now instead of doing this here.”
“Nope.”
“Hyung, thank god you’re settled down here.”
Inyeop put his cigarette back into his mouth, looking somewhat baffled by his juniors’ serious expressions.
“Anyway, we thought Jiheon might fall for it, but he never did. So Yeop hyung assigned him to accounting and general affairs to keep him from leaving. He thought that once Jiheon was tied up, he might agree to be in his movie one day.”
“Right, right! But Yeop hyung could never do that even after he graduated, so he ended up saying nonsense later. What did he say again? Oh yeah, ‘Since you don’t wanna act in my movie, bring someone who can do it for you.’ That’s what he said, right?”
“Yeah, and Jiheon eventually did it.”
“He even brought like four people and held auditions for the first time.”
Dongjin and Wonmyung laughed, finding it funny to reminisce about that memory now.
“Anyway, you’re really good at seducing people, Jiheon.”
Hearing Dongjin’s words, Jaekyung glanced at Jiheon with a meaningful look, but Jiheon avoided his gaze and remained silent. Jaekyung stared at him for a while longer, then lowered his head, pretending to look at the camcorder in his hand.
“I mean, I’ve seen Jiheon cast someone before, and he really didn’t say much. He just said, ‘You’re so handsome. Didn’t you hear that a lot? Do you wanna be in my club’s movie?’ and the other person would say yes on the spot.”
Jaekyung looked into the camcorder and suddenly began tapping the device with a frown.
“That’s why it’s even more interesting.”
“Jiheon must really have something going on.”
“Is it something like ‘having itching feet’?”
“More like ‘naturally-born charming’, isn’t it?”
“Oh right. That’s it.”
As Wonmyung and Dongjin chatted among themselves, Jaekyung’s hand tapping the camcorder became increasingly rough. It seemed like there was something wrong. Not with the camcorder, of course, but with Kwon Jaekyung.
“For real, every time I see him, his lover always changes. So I was like, ‘What the hell is he up to?’ ”
“And his lovers are all pretty and handsome.”
“He even dated a model once, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. And who was it again in our club? The guy who used to be an idol trainee?”
“Sejin, was it?”
“Oh, right. Choi Sejin. Jiheon dated him too. Yeop hyung tried to get him into acting, but as soon as he broke up with Jung Jiheon, he left the club.”
“But is it just him, though? Several kids joined the club because of Jung Jiheon, and left because of him. Maybe around a dozen.”
Jaekyung was now practically punching the camcorder. He probably thought about slamming it down at this point, but Inyeop quickly started to extinguish the fire.
“Hey, you’ve got it all wrooong. That’s how it is in college. People date and break up just like that. It’s normal! And when you grow up and meet your real partner, that’s when you start to settle down. Take Cho Wonmyung as an example.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Wonmyung chimed in, thankfully agreeing.
“So, Jiheon, do you think your current relationship will last long? Are you really thinking about getting married?”
Jiheon thought he had escaped the predicament, but Wonmyung had chosen questions he couldn’t answer in front of Jaekyung.
Sure enough. He could see Jaekyung pricking up his ears, pretending to be disinterested.
“No. From what I’ve seen, that’s just his nature. Guys like him are better off living alone. Don’t even dream about getting married, dude.”
Dongjin interjected. Jiheon couldn’t tell if he was an enemy or an ally. But Wonmyung shook his head and said:
“No-no. Guys like him surprisingly do well when they get married. So, Jiheon-ah, here—”
Wonmyung took an envelope from his coat pocket and handed it to Jiheon.
“Come, eat, and congratulate me with some cash.”
“Oh, what’s this? Did you come here just to give me this, sunbae?”
Jiheon asked as he retrieved a wedding invitation from the envelope. He’d been curious why Wonmyung kept talking about marriage, and it seemed that Wonmyung was getting married soon.
“Yes, and you can bring your lover as well. Please introduce them to me.”
‘He’s been standing right next to you all along, sunbae. You even took a picture with my lover.’
Jiheon muttered quietly to himself as he looked at the wedding invitation.
Inyeop, in the meantime, lit a fresh cigarette and said:
“Hey, by the way, did you quit smoking? You haven’t had a single puff for a while now. I can give you one if you want.”
When Inyeop mentioned this, Jiheon quickly shook his head.
“No, thank you. I’m cutting back on smoking these days.”
As soon as he made that statement, both Dongjin and Wonmyung chimed in simultaneously.
“Huh, what the hell? Are you really getting married?”
“Why? Your husband doesn’t want you to smoke?”
Jaekyung’s ears twitched again at the mention of ‘getting married’ and ‘husband’.
In the end, he even took his eyes off the camcorder he had been tormenting and looked at Jiheon with a slightly expectant look in his eyes.
It was clear what Jaekyung was thinking without him saying a word.
—Hyung, are you really going to quit smoking because I asked you to?? Are you going to marry me???
“No, that’s not it.”
Jiheon responded hastily, fearing Jaekyung might actually believe it.
“It’s just due to the office atmosphere these days. I’m trying to quit because people are getting more and more annoyed by smokers.”
In fact, the side effects of his medication had reduced his appetite for both food and smoking, but he decided to pretend it was due to the work environment.
“Oh, right. It’s no joke these days.”
“Yeah. Many people in my company are trying to quit for the same reason.”
Fortunately, he had found support among his fellow smokers, which made it relatively easy to escape.
He worried that Jaekyung might start tormenting the innocent camcorder again, but since it wasn’t even his own camcorder, he just let him be.
“Hey, when I quit smoking for a while, I started craving sweets like crazy and gained a lot of weight. You’re not like that?”
Jiheon shook his head in response to Wonmyung’s question.
“Not really. I don’t really like sweets.”
Instead, he had been craving some booze. Although he wasn’t a heavy drinker, these days he found himself yearning for a drink due to his hectic schedule.
“You actually seem to have lost some weight.”
Inyeop commented, exhaling cigarette smoke.
“We haven’t seen each other in almost three weeks, right? You’ve definitely lost some weight compared to before. Well, I think you look better on screen now.”
“That’s fine, then.”
Jiheon waved it off as if it were no big deal but also glanced at Jaekyung for no apparent reason. Jaekyung was still looking at the camcorder, his thoughts couldn’t be guessed from his expression.
After they successfully finished the afternoon training and additional filming, the two of them headed home together as usual. Normally, the training would have ended by 6, but due to the filming delays, it was already well past 9 when they arrived home.
“I’m going to the convenience store for a bit. It’s okay if you wanna head up first.”
Jiheon asked as he parked the car in the lot and got out. Jaekyung asked:
“Why the convenience store?”
“I need to buy something.”
“Let’s go together, then.”
Jaekyung readily followed Jiheon, and they went to the convenience store together. Once inside, Jiheon headed straight for the fridge. Jaekyung looked surprised upon seeing him selecting a drink.
“Are you here to buy a drink, hyung?”
“Yeah. You want something to drink too?”
Jiheon moved aside, telling Jaekyung to choose what he wanted. However, Jaekyung only shook his head.
“Just get something for yourself, hyung. I don’t drink.”
“Really? You’ve never had a drink before?”
“That’s not what I mean. I got drunk once and did something careless, so I’ve avoided alcohol since.”
“Huh, what happened? Care to share the story?”
Jiheon asked with a smile, but Jaekyung remained tight-lipped.
From his expression, it was clear he didn’t really want to talk about it further, so Jiheon refrained from pressing the matter.
“Sure, better not to drink anything if you can help it. That’s amazing.”
Jiheon said as he opened the fridge door.
“You made a decision to quit, and you’ve stuck to it. That’s quite something.”
“It’s already done anyway.”
Jaekyung said casually.
“That’s right, it’s already done.”
Jiheon said, bursting into laughter.
Jiheon took a shower once they arrived home. When he came out from the bathroom, he was surprised to find Jaekyung had already set up the drinks and snacks on the table. Well, all he did was open the package of six beer cans and arrange them neatly, and he also opened a package of popcorn and mixed nuts, pouring them onto a plate.
However, considering Jaekyung’s life where he had never even washed a cup with his own hands since he received help from others all his life (so he claimed that he did everything for the first time at Jiheon’s house, including washing dishes, vacuuming, and using the washing machine), this was surely a huge improvement.
“Hey, you’ve really become a human being.”
Jiheon said genuinely impressed, and Jaekyung looked dumbfounded. He opened a beer can, poured it into a glass without creating any foam, and offered it to Jiheon.
Jiheon took a sip and, to his surprise, Jaekyung even fed him a pistachio he had peeled himself.
In fact, both the popcorn and mixed nuts were selected by Jaekyung. Jiheon wasn’t someone who typically needed snacks while drinking, so he had only bought the beers. However, Jaekyung later brought the snacks and paid for them separately, so Jiheon thought he might want to eat that.
But that wasn’t the case. Jiheon guessed this guy bought it specifically for this purpose from the beginning. To feed Jiheon.
“What is this? Why are you choosing such cute things today? It doesn’t suit you.”
Jiheon smiled, holding his glass of beer.
In the past, Jaekyung might have thrown away what he was holding and gotten upset if someone called him cute, but now he just sat obediently. Jiheon thought Jaekyung must’ve been quite satisfied with his life of being loved for the past few days.
Of course, he still scowled as if saying, “What the heck are you saying, hyung?” but he still didn’t get up from his seat. Instead, he just picked up some popcorn and fed it to Jiheon while talking.
“Why the sudden craving for a drink today?”
“Nothing. I just felt like having a drink.”
After saying that, Jiheon finished the beer in his glass in one go.
As soon as he placed the empty glass down, Jaekyung narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Why? Did you happen to like that senior?”
“Senior? Who?”
“The senior who gave you the wedding invitation.”
Jiheon burst out laughing at the unexpected question.
“Hey, are you crazy?”
“Then why are you drinking?”
Jaekyung said, still with a hint of suspicion.
Jiheon hadn’t had a drink for the past few months, but he suddenly said he was going to drink today.
Well, to be honest, that suspicion was reasonable enough.
