Jaehyuk laughed exasperatedly at Junghyun’s advice that one should be careful about the terms when making bets.
He was sure that Jaehyuk was quite upset about yesterday’s credit card charges.
“…You scammer…”
“You should think about how you fleeced me yesterday. And I’m cold. And hungry.”
As Junghyun pulled his hood tight and hunched his shoulders, Jaehyuk ran his hand through his hair irritably, looking troubled.
He clearly didn’t like the situation, but he couldn’t delay any longer.
The sun was setting and the wind was getting stronger. The temperature had dropped suddenly.
Night was falling over the sea.
Unable to stall any longer, Jaehyuk finally nodded.
“…Let’s go for now.”
* * *
“Hey, seriously, a ramen shop?”
After entering a seafood ramen restaurant not far from the parking lot and placing their order, Sunghyun, the most talkative one, looked around in disbelief.
“I mean, we don’t mind, but ramen during a honeymoon doesn’t seem right?”
“We were just surfing.”
“I get that, but shouldn’t you eat something more elegant on your honeymoon?”
“When you’re cold and hungry, ramen is the answer.”
“Is that okay with you, Junghyun-ssi?”
At this question, Junghyun removed his hood and took out his chopsticks with an indifferent face.
“It’s fine. The group got bigger anyway.”
“You like crowded places?”
“No. I like using hyung’s card.”
Saying that the menu didn’t matter to him, Junghyun drank some warm water, and Sunghyun nodded in understanding.
“Card? Oh, a bet?”
“I need to make him pay as much as he charged my card.”
Junghyun was somewhat satisfied that although he couldn’t pay back yesterday’s lunch due to the sudden increase in people, he could at least get even for dinner.
But Jaehyuk wasn’t.
“If you’re upset, you should have won.”
“I plan to keep winning from now on.”
“Win at what?”
Sunghyun cut into their conversation.
“How about dawn surfing? We’re staying at the same hotel, so let’s go out together tomorrow morning. This time, let’s bet on height instead of time?”
As Sunghyun made a reasonable suggestion, saying he’d brought all his equipment, Jaehyuk immediately cut him off.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“This guy’s coming down with a cold. No surfing tomorrow morning.”
Jaehyuk brushed through Junghyun’s still slightly wet hair and gave an irritated look at the sensation left on his hand.
“You should dry your hair properly after surfing.”
“It’s too much trouble to dry it all.”
“You can get an infection if you stay wet.”
“Ah… yes…”
Junghyun avoided eye contact while drinking water, clearly bothered. Just as Jaehyuk was about to lecture him for his careless attitude, their food arrived.
“Here’s your ramen.”
With everyone ordering seafood ramen, and adding grilled cutlassfish and scallops as a gesture since friends had joined them, the 8-person table was soon full.
As the delicious smell of ramen filled the air, Junghyun suddenly felt hungry and immediately picked up his chopsticks to start eating.
Meanwhile, the men who had started eating began to chat.
“Wow, this place is still the same. Delicious.”
“Yeah. It’s exactly the same as 10 years ago. By the way, Junghyun-ssi, when did you start surfing?”
Instead of Junghyun, Jaehyuk answered the question.
“Seven years.”
“Then he should have come out with Jeonghoo. If he’s good enough to bet against Jaehyuk, it would have been fun to have him with us.”
“It’s a good thing he didn’t come out then. His personality was even more intense back then.”
As Jaehyuk continued to answer for Junghyun, who was focused on eating his ramen, another friend made a puzzled face.
“Why are you answering? Are you Junghyun-ssi’s spokesperson?”
“He bites if you bother him while he’s eating.”
At Jaehyuk’s response, which could have been a joke or serious, Junghyun looked up and growled, prompting Jaehyuk to immediately pat his head.
“Good boy.”
As Junghyun quietly returned to eating his ramen after that touch, everyone at the table looked at them in bewilderment.
“Hey, what kind of play is that?”
“If this guy bites you, you’ll die.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just eat. And after eating, go back to your own rooms, enjoy your surfing, and then go home.”
“Why? Now that we’re here? We should party tonight.”
“What kind of manners is it to chase after someone else’s honeymoon, even if you’re friends? I’m sure I warned Junyoung not to come.”
“It’s called a honeymoon, but you’re just here to surf anyway, so wouldn’t it be nice to hang out together? They say Junghyun-ssi surfs well too? Let us watch. And see you get kicked out. By the way, your bruises have all faded. We came to see those.”
The bruises had cleanly disappeared in five days, with almost no trace left.
Jaehyuk looked at them with disdain as they kept glancing at him, seemingly disappointed.
He had been rejecting their requests to meet during the week because he was too busy, but it was as he expected.
They all came to see the bruises.
“We’re on our honeymoon. Don’t interfere and just enjoy yourselves. And absolutely no drinking.”
At Jaehyuk’s firm statement, Junghyun, with his mouth full of ramen, asked in surprise.
“Why not?”
“…Because you’re about to become an alcoholic.”
“I keep telling you I’m not yet.”
“‘Not yet,’ meaning you will be.”
“Wow, you’re really nagging. Was this hyung always like this? I wanted to get divorced on the first day of marriage.”
“He’s not usually this nagging, but he doesn’t really like alcohol.”
As Sunghyun naturally dropped the formal speech while eating and chatting, Jaehyuk’s stern gaze flew to his face.
Under that strict gaze, Sunghyun immediately added respectful endings to his words.
“…sir. But they say fate brings people together, how did you end up with a surfer when you met while drinking?”
At his comment about how difficult it is to even meet someone who doesn’t dislike surfing, let alone a surfer, Jaehyuk moved his chopsticks and smiled.
As if he also found it curious.
“I know, right.”
“If I’d known this would happen, I should have told all the girls who had crushes on you to go surfing.”
“If they surfed as well as this guy, I might have considered it.”
At his ambiguous answer that all conditions are similar anyway, so it’s good to at least have matching hobbies, Sunghyun laughed loudly.
“You’re really funny. Jeonghoo, is it okay to entrust your brother to a guy like this?”
At the sudden shift in conversation toward Jeonghoo, he looked at Jaehyuk with an embarrassed face before awkwardly changing the subject.
“He just talks like that, you know he’s not really like that.”
“He seems serious to me. Junghyun-ssi, doesn’t this guy always ask you to exercise or go surfing?”
When the question came back to him, Junghyun nodded while eating his ramen.
“It definitely feels more like a training camp than a honeymoon.”
“See? I knew it.”
While the conversation continued cheerfully on this side, another friend spoke to Jeonghoo in an insinuating tone.
“But how do you feel about your younger brother getting married first? Come to think of it, both of you are the youngest of three brothers. How did the youngest ones get married first?”
“I’m preparing too. I’ve been getting pressure lately, so I’m going on a lot of blind dates.”
“I heard you’re seeing someone?”
“That’s for dating. Not a marriage prospect.”
Despite Jeonghoo’s provocative glances at Junghyun as he answered, Junghyun seemed unfazed and drank all the broth in one go. He then reached for the grilled scallops when his phone in his pocket flashed.
Only now remembering his phone, which he had put on silent and hadn’t checked until now, Junghyun casually took it out to check the screen.
“It’s the lawyer hyung.”
Showing the screen to Jaehyuk and asking what he should do, Jaehyuk nodded as if he roughly understood what it was about.
“Answer it.”
“I’ll take the call and come back.”
Though he wasn’t enthusiastic about it, Junghyun pressed the call button and stood up, figuring that if Junyoung was calling him, something must be up.
The restaurant was too noisy after sunset, but also not knowing what the conversation would be about, he headed toward the exit as he started the call.
“Hello.”
– Why aren’t you answering your phones? The guys have crashed your place.
At Junyoung’s belated warning, Junghyun opened the restaurant door and stepped out, informing him of the current situation.
“You’re too late. We’ve already met.”
At his brief answer, Junyoung shouted loudly.
– Already?
“Yes. We’re eating dinner.”
– Ah, I see. Hey, tell Jaehyuk. I tried to stop them, I desperately tried, but they wouldn’t listen.
“It’s fine. It’s actually fun.”
The timing was perfect as the atmosphere was getting a bit awkward, and those people coming saved the situation.
With his mind in such a complex state, if it had been just the two of them, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hide his expression. And if that had happened, that person, being quite perceptive, would have noticed something was off. So it was lucky.
Right now, having interlopers was better.
– It might be fun for you, but Jaehyuk doesn’t like this kind of thing.
“Well, that’s not something I can control.”
He did seem to genuinely dislike it.
Despite always being with friends and seeming to like people, he was also the type to strictly maintain his personal time.
That was refreshing to him. Not that he disliked people altogether, but rather that he liked people yet knew how to clearly draw boundaries, maintain manners, and protect himself.
That person knew how to value himself. And because of that, he seemed to know how to value the things he liked as well.
That was refreshing and enviable.
– Ah, those damn guys. They never listen. They came down because they couldn’t resist after hearing you guys got kicked out of the climbing center yesterday, so make those guys watch what they say. Jaehyuk will get angry again.
“How far has that rumor spread?”
– Throughout the entire club there.
“Oh dear…”
Though it didn’t matter since people wouldn’t recognize my face, it seemed like Jaehyuk would have a hard time showing his face for a while.
Saying it was a bit pitiful and laughing, Junyoung clicked his tongue.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
