#079
“What is this?”
“It’s a soundproof booth! We use it for surprise broadcasts.”
At Jinhyeong’s words, Lee Yeonwoo ran his hand over the thick door.
“You got a lot of new things after moving.”
Grace’s first dorm and their current dorm after moving were different from the square footage itself. Each member had their own room, and for those who had to share a two-person room due to insufficient rooms, they could be given a spacious room with an attached bathroom.
“But where are the other guys?”
“Hail hyung is sleeping, and the other members went out for schedules.”
“Sleeping?”
Lee Yeonwoo looked at his watch and immediately went to find Hail. It was past 12 PM. Although this was Seoul, it was something that couldn’t happen in the countryside.
Following Jinhyeong’s guidance, he threw open Hail’s room door. He had blackout curtains, an eye mask, and even orange earplugs in his ears.
“What time did this guy sleep yesterday?”
“Um… around 11?”
If he had stayed up all night, that would be understandable, but if he slept at 11, this was oversleeping. Lee Yeonwoo personally announced his presence and shook Hail without restraint.
“A guest came. Wake up.”
“Mmm, ugh.”
Hail groaned as if in distress, then curious about the hands waking him, lifted his eye mask up.
Hail squinted his eyes at the sudden light and took time to adjust. The first thing that came into his view was Lee Yeonwoo, who had come looking like a potato again.
“…Yeonwoo hyung? Why is your hair again…”
Lee Yeonwoo pulled his hair and looked at him with eyes asking what was wrong with it.
His hair wasn’t chewed up like a mouse had gotten to it, nor were the lengths uneven, but Hail, who had once learned hairstyling, immediately noticed it wasn’t a professional’s touch.
The messy hair needed some trimming.
“I’ll trim it for you.”
Hail got out of bed to look for his hairstyling scissors. Sleep instantly fled at the visit of a guest who had come looking like a potato.
“Don’t touch it.”
“What? But in that state…”
“It’s fine.”
Lee Yeonwoo lightly ruffled his hair and stopped Hail. It meant don’t interfere with his hyung’s handiwork.
“Hyungs, let’s eat lunch.”
Jinhyeong mediated between the two while rubbing his hungry stomach. Lee Yeonwoo looked around Hail’s room that he hadn’t properly seen before, and asked about something that kept catching his eye.
“But why are there so many tissues in the house? Are you running a business?”
In each room he toured out of curiosity, there was definitely a set of toilet paper rolls and tissue boxes.
“Ah, Gihyeon hyung gave them to us last time.”
“…Shin Gihyeon?”
That guy brought tissues when he came to Dojun hyung’s house last time too, so it must be an essential housewarming gift.
Lee Yeonwoo could tell immediately since he was still using the tissues Shin Gihyeon had given him. They were tissues from the same company as what he had given him.
‘Looking at it, he’s more sensitive than our hyung.’
He seemed to care about the texture against skin and how many layers the tissues had. He said he gave as gifts the items he tried himself and liked the most.
“But what should we eat for lunch?”
“Oh, I’ll make it.”
At Hail’s words, Lee Yeonwoo said confidently. Since making kimbap last time, he was gradually becoming interested in cooking.
“…Hyung will?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Yeonwoo clicked his tongue and stopped the two.
“I already went grocery shopping.”
He headed to the kitchen with confident steps.
He beat the eggs he bought and spread them wide like making egg crepes. Failure is the mother of success – it was a successful rolled egg dish he had accidentally learned from failing at egg crepes.
Next to it, he cooked seasoned meat over the fire.
“You’re really cooking.”
“Then should I fake it? Since you’re here, stir-fry some meat on the side.”
“Like this?”
“Yeah.”
It seemed still overwhelming to cook two things simultaneously.
Lee Yeonwoo moved his hands busily while looking inwardly pleased. There was some fun in taking care of others. He felt like he could understand Kang Dojun’s psychology a little.
He thought he should treat the countryside people to a meal later too.
Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he went to the countryside.
He should go within the near future, but he was worried that when he said he was going, Kang Dojun would offer to drive him there and back again.
“Do you guys have driver’s licenses?”
“I don’t, but Hail hyung does.”
“Hail does?”
“Yes.”
Lee Yeonwoo looked at Hail, who was setting the table. He was arranging the table with the 5 sets of utensils that he had bought as a housewarming gift according to the number of people.
“You have a driver’s license?”
At Lee Yeonwoo’s question, Hail nodded.
“Yes, but I don’t drive.”
The agency didn’t pressure him not to, but he didn’t know what kind of accident might happen, and since the manager drove for all schedules, there wasn’t really anything for him to do.
“Why? Are you going to learn to drive? Don’t you have a license?”
He was confident he would do well once he learned. Since he was practical, even when he first got his license, he scored high on the road test. But he didn’t have a car to practice with.
‘Should I buy a car…’
But he didn’t ride often enough for that. Thinking about the future, there were more and more things piling up that he needed to resolve.
‘I should have done some things in advance.’
Jinhyeong asked Lee Yeonwoo, who was lost in thought.
“But did you go to a driving school?”
“Yeah. After graduating high school.”
“How? …Ah, sorry. I was just curious…”
Although he didn’t know the details of the environment Lee Yeonwoo grew up in, he knew that after his grandmother passed away, he boarded a deep-sea fishing vessel after graduating high school.
However, no one knew where the money came from for him to get his license.
At Jinhyeong’s question, Lee Yeonwoo was reminded of his aunt, whom he had forgotten about.
“My aunt paid for it.”
Still, as his nephew, as her mother, she used to make side dishes for every meal.
After his grandmother passed away, since he was an adult, she suggested he get a license and paid a large sum for the academy. And with that, as if she had fulfilled her duty, contact was cut off.
‘Well, it’s all in the past.’
She might have seen his face on screen through 〈Rural Conquest〉, but the fact that there wasn’t a single contact meant she had completely cut ties. He could be certain since he had never changed his number.
He just needed to be faithful to the people who remained by his side now.
For the past few years, he had lived however, thinking it didn’t matter when he died. But now he had to think about his future with Kang Dojun too.
From now on, he would regularly put money in savings, exercise, quit drinking to take care of his health… Ah, he was currently in the process of quitting drinking.
‘What else was there to do…’
He should go down to the countryside this week or next week to clean and organize various things.
The things to do felt like a mountain.
“But isn’t Dojun sunbae’s movie premiere soon?”
“His birthday comes first.”
Lee Yeonwoo calculated the dates in his head.
Today they went into variety show recording, the day after tomorrow was Kang Dojun’s birthday, and next week was the movie premiere.
“Are you going to the premiere too, hyung?”
“Yeah.”
At Hail’s question, Lee Yeonwoo answered while displaying the completed dishes on the table. He felt like a reliable hyung who had prepared a meal for his hard-working younger brothers.
“Are you going alone?”
“No, with Shin Gihyeon.”
Since Kang Dojun was the person involved in the movie premiere, he was busy with various things he had to do. He had received premiere tickets from him and decided to go watch with Shin Gihyeon.
First, he had to prepare for the birthday before that. That was also why he had come out under the pretense of touring Grace’s dorm.
Lee Yeonwoo hurriedly put on his hat and mask and finished preparing to leave.
“Huh? Are you leaving already? Aren’t you eating?”
“Yeah, I’m a bit busy today.”
There wasn’t much time left until Kang Dojun’s variety show recording ended. He had told him he didn’t need to come pick him up, so he had to hurry to buy a gift and get home first.
Jinhyeong and Hail, feeling sorry that he had come to visit and only received housewarming gifts and gotten fed, brought something from their room in a paper bag. It wasn’t much, but it was their merchandise.
Lee Yeonwoo stared at it.
“I’m not your fan though.”
“…This is all we have to give. Oh, this is a wristwatch with Grace lettering engraved inside. Still, isn’t it useful in real life?”
“Well…”
At Jinhyeong’s words, like a peddler unpacking his bundle and promoting his wares, Lee Yeonwoo took the paper bag.
Although he always wore prayer beads, sometimes wearing a wristwatch seemed fine too.
“Thanks, then I’m going.”
“Yes, hyung! See you again next time!”
“We’ll eat well.”
Lee Yeonwoo exchanged greetings and left through the front door.
Last night, he had looked up birthday gift lists for him online in advance. First, go to the department store to buy gifts, and it would be better to buy cake on the day itself. He also had to buy wine.
Of course, he wouldn’t drink since he was abstaining from alcohol. He was just curious. About Kang Dojun when drunk. And since it’s commemorative alcohol for birthdays.
When he slyly asked Park Daeho, who was his manager, about what Kang Dojun’s drunk behavior was like, he only shook his head with a deep sigh.
‘What could it be like?’
Curiosity swelled up desperately.
From barely prying it out of him, he heard that he spent excessively. What? Does he go online shopping? Does he pay for drinks? What kind of excessive spending?
While thinking about this, Kang Dojun called.
“Hello.”
– Where are you?
“I’m on my way in now. Did recording end?”
– Yeah. I’ll come pick you up. Where are you around?
“It’s fine. I can take a taxi.”
– …….
Kang Dojun on the other end of the call was silent. But he couldn’t let him find out about buying gifts. Since he had gone directly to the broadcasting station, it would probably take about an hour for Kang Dojun to get home too.
Lee Yeonwoo, who calculated the time, thought they would arrive at roughly the same time.
“How was the recording?”
– There was a little incident, but it was fine.
“An incident?”
– It’s nothing. Just my outer clothing briefly went to someone else due to a staff mistake.
Lee Yeonwoo nodded at his words. Then he looked up at the department store in front of him.
“Hyung, I’m going to take a taxi now so I’ll hang up. See you at home. I love you.”
– Can’t I come pick you up?
He could hear Kang Dojun’s voice sounding like he was whining over the phone.
– I want to see you.
Lee Yeonwoo steeled his heart and refused. It might have been almost the first time he refused Kang Dojun’s request. But he had to refuse this.
He wanted to see Kang Dojun’s drunk behavior. He couldn’t imagine how he would act.
Experiencing a different side of his lover was always exciting. Anticipation was already swelling.
Lee Yeonwoo entered the department store with light steps, stepping to a rhythm.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
