# Chapter 50
“…Oh, you’re… still not finished with the cooking. Haha, sorry for… for interrupting, yes.”
Woojae, with a friendly smile, placed one hand next to his cheek and slowly backed away. Seowoo, who had been staring stupidly at him as he retreated, suddenly came to his senses.
“No, no. It’s done! It’s all done.”
When he turned his head toward Dohyun as if seeking agreement, Dohyun’s expression was clean, as though he had never worn that strange look. He was just smiling pleasantly, no different from the usual Seo Dohyun. That distorted face almost seemed like a dream.
“Yes, the setting is complete. You should eat.”
Following Dohyun’s guidance, Seowoo and Woojae sat down first.
Dishes like gambas, cheese salad, and tomato egg stir-fry were neatly arranged in elegant bowls. Thanks to the lavish table and clean plating, it really created a restaurant-like atmosphere.
For some reason, today’s menu selection was a bit more over-the-top than what Dohyun usually made for Seowoo. It even raised the reasonable suspicion that he might have added more dishes because Woojae was coming.
“…Do you always eat like this at home?”
Even Seowoo, who was already used to it, was somewhat surprised, but Woojae, seeing this scene for the first time, couldn’t stop marveling, his eyes wide with wonder.
“Not every time. I do have a job, after all.”
“Ah, of course. Since you’re the CEO, you must be busy. It must be tough to cook on top of that.”
“It becomes enjoyable when there’s someone to eat it.”
Dohyun’s playful smile naturally turned toward Seowoo. Their eyes met for a moment.
It wasn’t easy to treat Dohyun as usual because the expression reflected in the glass earlier kept coming to mind. It was also bothering him that they hadn’t properly finished their conversation.
He should have responded with a grumble, but he couldn’t easily open his mouth. Looking at Seowoo biting his lip, Dohyun glanced at him and deliberately spoke in a bright voice as he opened the wine cork with an opener.
“I chose the menu without knowing there would be alcohol, but it turned out to be very appropriate.”
After pouring drinks into three glasses, Dohyun sat down as well. Seowoo picked up one glass and pulled it in front of him. The aroma that tickled his nose was soft, befitting the wine that he and Woojae had chosen with considerable thought.
Dohyun gestured while holding the stem of his glass.
“Shall we make a toast?”
“Do we really need to toast too?”
“Let’s decide on a toast, a toast.”
Not just a toast but a toast speech. He should have known better from the moment they looked for alcohol. Sure enough, Jung Woojae was definitely the most excited one.
Seowoo wanted to scold him, saying he wasn’t in the mood for this, but since Woojae’s original purpose was to pretend to be friendly to ease Dohyun’s guard, there was no helping it. Besides, he had always been the type to enjoy drinking occasions.
Come to think of it, while Woojae had a clear purpose, hadn’t Dohyun openly shown his dislike for Woojae? Why was he accepting this pretense of friendliness so naturally? Though curious, Seowoo couldn’t bring himself to ask and merely pursed his lips.
“To the success of Seowoo-hyung’s next project?”
“What, it sounds like we met for my next project.”
“Then what should it be? You decide, hyung.”
“I said we don’t need one?”
“We don’t need one!”
Playfully imitating Seowoo’s words, Woojae raised his glass as if it were a toast speech.
Dohyun grinned and followed Woojae, raising his glass. Acting like that, no wonder he was the loudest at drinking parties, seriously. Seowoo raised his glass too, rolling his eyes.
When the glasses clinked together making a clear sound, Dohyun and Seowoo looked at each other simultaneously.
Although the cooking wasn’t done for the sake of drinking, no one tilted their glass slowly. The reasons were different for each person. Dohyun and Woojae were naturally good drinkers, while Seowoo, preoccupied with Dohyun, couldn’t help but drink quickly without realizing it.
As a result, before the food was even half gone, the wine bottle was completely empty. As if it were the natural course, they had to take out another bottle of alcohol that had been stored in the liquor cabinet.
“…So, at that time, Woojae suddenly came with a bouquet this big. Not something he prepared in advance, and the funny thing is, he said he ran out to buy it right after the performance ended.”
Seowoo nodded his head while stretching his arms out to both sides. The alcohol was evident in his every movement. Just from his slurred pronunciation, one could immediately tell he was drunk.
“And he gave me the bouquet like this, crying. He said, ‘I hope hyung will act for the rest of his life.'”
“Why do you tell this story every time you drink, hyung?”
“I was in such a deep slump at that time… But then he told me to do it for the rest of my life…”
Mumbling, he rested his arms on the table and leaned his cheek on them, looking every bit like a drunk no matter how generously one viewed him.
Woojae briefly caught Dohyun’s eye across the table. He made a slight gesture as if seeking agreement.
“Hyung seems drunk, right?”
As if it were an obvious question, Dohyun nodded.
“He’s drunk.”
With wine and two more bottles of whiskey already out, it would have been more strange if Seowoo, with his low alcohol tolerance, wasn’t drunk.
Watching Dohyun refill the empty glasses, Woojae let out a fresh exclamation.
“Wow, CEO-nim, you’re really not getting drunk. How many glasses of whiskey have you had already?”
“I’ve built up tolerance. From drinking often. But Reporter Jung, you don’t show any signs of being drunk either?”
“I’m in the same situation, aren’t I? Built up tolerance. That’s how life as a reporter is, but…”
When Dohyun brought the bottle opening to Woojae’s glass, Woojae received it with a fairly respectful posture.
“Has Seowoo-ssi always gotten drunk easily?”
“If hyung wanted to end without getting drunk, we should have stopped two hours ago.”
“My ears aren’t stuffed, you know.”
Though clearly annoyed, his voice was sluggish with intoxication. Practically slumped over the table, Seowoo looked back and forth between the two of them.
“Why are you two getting along so well?”
When he grumbled as if displeased, Dohyun playfully raised his lips.
“Is it Seowoo-ssi who’s jealous this time?”
“Ugh…”
I should have kept my mouth shut. Seowoo slowly waved his hand, raising just his arm.
At the same time, a buzzing vibration sound filled the table. Everyone’s gaze naturally converged on one spot. It was Woojae’s phone.
“Ah, who’s calling…”
His hand, which was about to flip the phone over as if it were bothersome, stopped the moment he saw the name on the screen. His expression as he looked down was noticeably unusual.
“…I’ll just take this call and be right back.”
Woojae left the seat and disappeared into Seowoo’s room, only to return to the table not long after. However, his expression was much more seriously distorted than when he had risen.
“Wow, I really can’t believe it.”
“What? Who was it?”
“My team leader. Says it’s an emergency call and to come right away. What time is it now, seriously… I don’t know what kind of accident happened that they’re gathering everyone.”
Ruffling his hair and constantly showing irritation, Woojae then turned to Dohyun and dropped his eyebrows in a worried expression.
“I really enjoyed the delicious meal. I should help clean up, but, sigh, as you know, reporters like me are in a position where we have to jump when they say jump.”
“As long as guests come with their hands full, it doesn’t matter if they don’t lift a finger.”
Responding with a light joke, Dohyun stood up. Seowoo also got up with his heavy body. Woojae, who had quickly put on his coat, grabbed Seowoo’s staggering shoulders and seated him back in his chair.
“Hyung, why are you getting up when you’re drunk? You two just continue. I can go alone.”
“Hey, I’m fine, okay? People always say I’m drunk when I drink.”
“Okay, hyung, don’t get up from the chair. You’ll fall. CEO-nim, I’ll visit again next time with my hands full, generously?”
He put on all the smooth talk he could up until the moment he left. Responding to the sound of the front door opening, Seowoo slowly got up again. But before he could even stand on his two legs, he had to lean back against the chair, caught by Dohyun’s hand.
“Are you trying to collapse like last time?”
“I didn’t collapse back then either.”
“Ah, you certainly didn’t collapse. Should I say you fell into my arms?”
“There you go again with the nonsense…”
Listening to the grumbling voice, Dohyun sat down again. Even with one person gone, the dreamy and languid atmosphere characteristic of a drinking session showed no sign of breaking.
Seowoo glared at Dohyun through narrowed eyes, resting his chin on his palm. Having downed the remaining whiskey in one go, Dohyun was again filling his empty glass.
“It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“You seem like a different person from earlier.”
“Earlier?”
“Earlier, when we were cooking.”
Of course, he hadn’t been strange from the beginning then either. If anything, the current Seo Dohyun was closer to the ‘usual’ Dohyun that Seowoo knew, but he instinctively knew. That expression that was briefly revealed, that voice, that reaction—it was Dohyun’s true self.
“Your expression was a bit subtle too. And you didn’t speak crisply as usual.”
“Did I do that?”
The ambiguous tone and lingering smile once again grated on Seowoo’s nerves. Again denying, pretending not to know. His irritation rose automatically, sharpening his gaze.
“Can you try being honest for once?”
“It’s extremely rare for someone to ask that of me.”
Dohyun laughed with a sound like air escaping, then rested his chin on his hand, mirroring Seowoo’s action. As he leaned his upper body forward, their gazes naturally came closer.
The distance suddenly narrowed without warning. The normal Seowoo would have backed away in horror, but not now. He didn’t want to, and he couldn’t.
Looking straight ahead with force in his eyes, Dohyun responded by not avoiding the gaze either. Eyes like those of a beast that seemed about to devour the other. Those sharp amber eyes no longer felt frightening, whether because of the alcohol or his mood.
“It’s because you always lie.”
Dohyun smiled, crinkling the corners of his eyes. The glass in his hand was abruptly placed on Seowoo’s lips.
“What are you curious about?”
The sensation of cold glass, the pungent smell of alcohol. But there was no time to be distracted by such things.
“Is there anyone who could know me better than you right now?”
The man before him seemed to have grasped all of Seowoo’s senses.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
