#083
Shin Gihyeon immediately tapped Lee Yeonwoo’s shoulder.
“Why are you a dragon? Not a tiger or an ox…”
Only then did Yeonwoo come to his senses at the touch calling him and turned toward Shin Gihyeon.
“Ah, that? I just bought whatever caught my eye.”
Then he rummaged through his pocket for a moment, confirmed that what Shin Gihyeon was holding was his, and quickly took it back. It seemed to have fallen out while he was sitting.
“Still… you should buy according to your zodiac sign.”
“I don’t believe in this stuff, so it doesn’t matter.”
The premiere had just ended, and worried he might lose it, he put the prayer beads back on his wrist.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
Yeonwoo dragged the dazed Shin Gihyeon out of the theater.
***
The two headed to a restaurant with private rooms.
Yeonwoo didn’t take his eyes off his phone. He seemed to be exchanging messages with Kang Dojun. When making the reservation, he had said there would be four people, but he didn’t know if they could actually come. Shin Gihyeon asked Yeonwoo again.
“Are they really coming?”
“Yeah, they’re on their way now.”
Don’t they usually have dinner with fellow actors after it ends? The director would come, the writer too – how could they skip out?
While Shin Gihyeon was lost in thought, Yeonwoo’s phone rang. Yeonwoo’s black eyes sparkled with light.
“Hyung! We’re in room 5. Yes, from the entrance turn right…”
It seemed they were lost at the entrance due to the restaurant’s maze-like complex structure. Instead of leaving the guidance to staff, Yeonwoo decided to go out and meet them himself.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
Shin Gihyeon nodded without taking his eyes off the menu even as Yeonwoo opened the door and left. Pasta, risotto, pilaf, steak.
‘What does sunbae like…’
In the making videos of a drama he filmed long ago, he said he liked Korean traditional meals. He hadn’t heard him mention Western food. First, no one dislikes meat, so he’d order steak… and if he likes Korean traditional meals, that means he likes rice, so he’d probably like pilaf too.
He carefully selected the menu while showing off his extraordinary fan dedication.
He thought he could choose the rest of the menu when he arrived, so he soon put down the menu. These days, thanks to Yeonwoo, he often encountered Kang Dojun, but before meeting him, his fan heart that he had always suppressed automatically stood at attention. Having just come from watching a movie he starred in made it sway even more violently.
When he heard gentle chattering beyond the door, Shin Gihyeon jumped up from his seat. The door opened, revealing Kang Dojun, Park Daeho, and Yeonwoo who had gone to fetch them.
“Hello!”
“Yes, hello.”
“Excuse us.”
Kang Dojun and Park Daeho greeted Shin Gihyeon.
Yeonwoo naturally pulled out the chair next to him and said to Kang Dojun.
“Hyung, sit here.”
Kang Dojun stroked his head and sat down.
“Yeah, sorry I couldn’t go with you.”
He had barely managed to escape after apologizing to the director, writer, and fellow actors that something urgent came up and he had to leave first.
He had felt disappointed at that moment… Yeonwoo also knew the situation, so he understood that going together was impossible.
“It’s okay. Do you want some water?”
After gathering four glasses, he filled them with water and handed them over.
“I’ll have steak. Since we’re going to share anyway, should I order a big one?”
Park Daeho suddenly said while looking at the menu. The others also picked up the menus in front of them and pondered.
“What will you have, hyung?”
“What about you?”
“I was going to order the same as you. I want to eat together with hyung.”
At Yeonwoo’s words mixed with aegyo, Kang Dojun showed a slight smile and looked at the menu.
‘Rice would probably be good.’
“Then one pork shoulder pilaf and…”
Hearing those words, the corners of Shin Gihyeon’s mouth twitched. Yes! He got it right. Although it was Park Daeho who chose steak, he got the pilaf right.
After each deciding what to order, they called staff and ordered food.
While waiting, Yeonwoo recalled the bloodied face from the movie and stared blankly at the smooth-faced Kang Dojun next to him.
“Hyung, didn’t it hurt when filming the action scenes?”
Out of curiosity, he raised his hand to poke his cheek and pinch it. Shin Gihyeon kicked Yeonwoo’s leg under the table at the affectionate display happening in front of him.
“Most of the time it’s pretending to get hit or they use stunt actors. Sunbae, I enjoyed this movie too. Thank you for inviting us!”
“Thank you. Was it difficult getting here?”
“No, I came with Gihyeon. But Gihyeon, why do you keep kicking?”
“…When did I.”
Shin Gihyeon played innocent and muttered while drinking water. I only kicked once.
Yeonwoo perked up his ears and didn’t miss Shin Gihyeon’s words. Then he ducked his head under the table to check the audacious foot that had kicked his leg.
“Once? I definitely got kicked twice. Was it a reflex? Should I kick back? Three times for the reflex?”
“Ah, one of those was probably me. My leg was sore so I was trying to stretch it… Sorry.”
Yeonwoo, who had straightened up at Park Daeho’s apology, replied.
“It’s okay.”
Seeing his generous attitude, Shin Gihyeon’s nose wrinkled. It was unfair.
“Why is your reaction different?”
“The manager works hard. He’s supporting our hyung, so his legs can get sore.”
When he lowered his posture to look under the table, he calmly answered while pressing down on the veins on the back of Kang Dojun’s hand, who had grabbed his hand to stop him.
The moment he pressed, the vein moved in the opposite direction, and even though it was nothing, it felt fun for no reason. Was it because it was hyung’s hand? Even just playing with his hand was enjoyable.
Then another small pain came to his leg. It was bearable pain, but thinking that he had deliberately kicked him made him feel indignant.
When Yeonwoo immediately glared at Shin Gihyeon, he made eye contact and blinked nonchalantly as if asking what the problem was.
“You kicked again.”
“My leg? I didn’t kick. Was it the manager?”
“It wasn’t me?”
Momentarily fooled by Shin Gihyeon’s shameless acting, Yeonwoo looked at Park Daeho. Park Daeho shook his head in confusion.
Although Shin Gihyeon had followed every work Kang Dojun did and fangirled over him without becoming close to him, coincidentally he had become close enough with Park Daeho to exchange jokes.
When Park Daeho secretly gestured to point at Shin Gihyeon to give Yeonwoo a hint, his expression became fierce like a small tiger.
“Try it one more time?”
Yeonwoo took off his shoes and prepared to kick Shin Gihyeon’s leg while growling a warning. But literally, the small tiger wasn’t scary at all in appearance or expression.
Shin Gihyeon laughed it off and hid his legs back so Yeonwoo couldn’t reach them.
Unable to watch anymore, Kang Dojun pulled Yeonwoo’s chair back toward himself. Even though it wasn’t a chair with wheels, whether the floor was smooth or he was strong, the chair moved in the direction he wanted.
Seeing Yeonwoo giving him only small attention while having fun playing with Shin Gihyeon made anger slowly rise in him.
He hadn’t been keen on coming to the premiere, worried it would draw attention, but he liked even less the idea of Yeonwoo moving around alone. As a compromise, when he said he’d go with Shin Gihyeon, he had barely nodded, but seeing this situation now made him want to abandon everything and quickly go home where only the two of them could be together.
Earlier too, when Yeonwoo had been cutely playing by pressing his hand, his attention was stolen by someone else again.
‘Where is there even a place to hit.’
Since he was the type to immediately retaliate when hit, he wasn’t particularly worried, but ever since going to the countryside with Shin Gihyeon, they seemed to have gotten closer, and now even during fights, he would let him off several times.
Even now, action should have come before words, but he stopped at asking Shin Gihyeon why he hit him or giving warnings.
Kang Dojun both liked and disliked this change. He was reluctant about more people entering the line Yeonwoo had drawn. He thought he alone was sufficient.
‘Daeho seems a bit awkward…’
It seemed better for him to sit facing Shin Gihyeon instead.
“Let’s switch seats.”
Yeonwoo blinked. Rather than understanding his words, he seemed to be pondering what to do. Only after finishing his thoughts did he answer.
“It’s okay.”
Kang Dojun’s expression hardened slightly, and Shin Gihyeon and Park Daeho, whose intuition was particularly sharp when it came to Kang Dojun, noticed his displeased psychological state.
Yeonwoo pulled his chair close to the table again and sat down. Shin Gihyeon might have kicked him playfully, but considering that Park Daeho had also hit him while stretching his legs, his seat seemed to get hit unusually often.
“I’d rather be the one getting hit.”
“I didn’t even hit hard.”
Soon Shin Gihyeon’s grumbling came, but he just stuck his tongue out slightly.
“Tell me if you’re uncomfortable.”
Kang Dojun, who said this, looked the most uncomfortable among them. On the other hand, Yeonwoo seemed to be in a good mood, even humming. While staff brought food and placed it on the table, he touched his phone and called Kang Dojun.
“Hyung, premiere reviews are already up.”
In the photo of Kang Dojun, the tie pin given as a birthday gift was subtly shining. Kang Dojun proudly touched the tie pin he was currently wearing. It was worth insisting to the stylist that he absolutely had to wear it.
“Look at this. Isn’t it totally pretty?”
Yeonwoo showed the photo to Shin Gihyeon and Park Daeho in front of him to brag. With the subject missing from the sentence, the two looked at Kang Dojun’s face in the photo rather than the tie pin and objected.
“Rather than pretty, isn’t it more handsome?”
“Both are correct.”
Whether it was praise for the tie pin or praise for Kang Dojun, Yeonwoo was happy with everything and smiled proudly at their words before retrieving his phone and putting it down on the table.
Since staff had placed the steak in front of Yeonwoo, he naturally ended up holding the knife. Yeonwoo skillfully cut the meat. The thickest piece was naturally for Kang Dojun.
“Hyung, here.”
“I’ll cut it. You eat quickly.”
“It’s okay.”
The two bickered over one knife, saying it would only take a few minutes to cut. Shin Gihyeon, who was eating, finally chimed in.
“Just cut and eat your own.”
Yeonwoo sucked air through his teeth making a “tsk!” sound and glared fiercely at Shin Gihyeon.
‘I told you it’s not scary.’
Yeonwoo paid no attention and cut the next piece to put on Park Daeho’s plate. Kang Dojun’s eyes quickly followed.
“Gihyeon, you’re third.”
Then finely cut meat was placed on Shin Gihyeon’s deeply dented plate.
Shin Gihyeon looked at him with somewhat tired eyes. Well… it is proper etiquette, but.
Is the distribution also by age order?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
