Chapter 62
Seo-jung forgot that he needed to manage his expression and frowned. Cha Yoon hesitated for a moment at the crumpled face but soon raised the corners of his mouth. Although it irked him that his mere appearance made Seo-jung frown, it was what he wanted anyway. As long as he could ruin Ki Seo-jung’s mood just the same, anything would do.
“What are you doing? Give me some alcohol too.”
Cha Yoon waved his arms up and down to urge Seo-jung. Despite the frantic movement, Seo-jung showed little reaction.
Seeing Seo-jung’s silent response, Cha Yoon felt frustrated. What’s wrong with him? Just as he was about to say something again, Joo-ah spoke first.
“Hey, Cha Yoon, there’s beer here, so drink this.”
At the same time, a cold beer can touched his arm and fell away. Cha Yoon raised one eyebrow. His eyes were full of wariness as he looked at the extended beer can.
Although she had been pushed down the ranking with Shin Da-bin’s appearance, Song Joo-ah had been the number one person to watch out for until then. It was unlikely that he would feel good about her intervening between him and Ki Seo-jung. Cha Yoon, who had made a simple judgment about his friend of 20 years, nervously brushed back his fallen hair.
He waved his hand and spoke in a firm voice.
“I don’t want it.”
“Pardon?”
“I said I don’t want it. I want to drink the beer next to Ki Seo-jung. You can drink that one, Song Joo-ah.”
At those words, Joo-ah couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.
“The one I’m holding and the one next to Ki Seo-jung are the same brand of beer, you know?”
“What does that matter? I’m saying it looks more delicious to me, is there a problem with that?”
Cha Yoon didn’t care about Song Joo-ah’s point. Crazy bastard… Joo-ah shook her head at his face that showed no sign of embarrassment. Right, Cha Yoon was a guy who didn’t understand common sense. It was clear that if she tried to argue more with such a guy, she’d only end up frustrated. Clicking her tongue, Joo-ah opened her beer while internally expressing condolences to Ki Seo-jung for being stuck with Cha Yoon.
As the crisp sound of the can opening was heard, Cha Yoon turned his head as if finding his place.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to give it to me?”
The urging that had been temporarily put off started again. Watching Cha Yoon’s hand waving in his field of vision, Seo-jung rubbed the corner of his mouth with his tongue.
Seo-jung knew Cha Yoon’s pride better than anyone. What he had said in the morning was enough to scratch that pride, and because of that, he felt relief apart from the bitterness. It came from the expectation that he might not have to clash with him anymore until the end of this program.
But Cha Yoon overturned expectations this time too. Not even a full day had passed before he appeared in front of him and spoke to him. Although surprised, Seo-jung quickly regained his composure.
Ki Seo-jung had experienced various part-time jobs since he was young. If you put aside the fact that his appearance was Cha Yoon, the title was simple.
‘Young troublemaker’.
And Seo-jung knew better than anyone how to deal with this type of person.
After organizing his thoughts, Seo-jung slowly closed and opened his eyes. He moved his gaze, which had been fixed on Cha Yoon’s hand, upward.
As soon as their eyes met, Cha Yoon jerked his chin as if to say “what are you doing?” Watching this, Seo-jung picked up the beer placed next to him. Cha Yoon raised one corner of his mouth as if he knew this would happen. As a bonus, he wiggled his fingers as if showing the leisure of a winner.
“Ah, I thought my arm was going to fall off because of some…”
There was a thud, the sound of something hitting. Cha Yoon couldn’t finish his sentence and turned his eyes to the source of the sound. Where his gaze stopped, a single can of beer was sitting alone.
Cha Yoon’s empty hand and the beer can on the floor. The information that came through his optic nerve was clear.
Ki Seo-jung had ignored him.
Along with this thought, the water droplets that had formed along Seo-jung’s fingerprints on the beer can trickled down. As the droplets left their trail, a snort of laughter escaped from between Cha Yoon’s lips.
Are you trying to pick a fight now? Cha Yoon clenched and unclenched his fist unnecessarily as he opened his mouth.
“…Wow, this is fun.”
It was a face that anyone could see was not enjoying it at all. At his rather loud voice, the other cast members glanced at Cha Yoon. Once again, Ki Seo-jung, the culprit who had caused the problematic remarks, was conspicuously absent among them.
“Min-ha, there’s sauce on your clothes. Use this to wipe it off.”
“Oh, thank you…”
Seeing Seo-jung kindly handing a wet wipe to Min-ha, Cha Yoon’s masseter muscle tensed. While he wouldn’t even pretend to listen to his words, seeing him so busy taking care of other cast members made his blood boil.
So my words aren’t even worth acknowledging, is that it? It wasn’t polite to pretend not to know when someone was deliberately picking a fight like this. Cha Yoon rubbed the back of his neck, loosening it. Then he began to properly provoke Seo-jung.
Cha Yoon took a sip of the beer Ki Seo-jung had put down and immediately frowned.
“Who bought this beer?”
“That’s the one Seo-jung bought last time.”
“No wonder it tastes weird. Who would pay money for this crap?”
“…Cha Yoon, what are you saying? That’s the beer we’ve been drinking all along.”
And you’re the one who asked for that beer, right? Even with Song Joo-ah’s following words, Cha Yoon clicked his tongue as if he had tasted something bad.
“Cha Yoon, there’s wine too, should I give you that? Give me the beer.”
“No need.”
“Don’t you dislike it?”
“It tastes bad, but since I’ve already put my mouth on it, I’ll just endure and drink it.”
“Come on, don’t force yourself to drink it. I don’t mind that you’ve already drunk from it, so I’ll drink it instead…”
“Ah, how many times do I have to say it? I said no.”
As Soo-ho, with his mild-mannered personality, naturally tried to reach for the beer can, Cha Yoon hurriedly hid the can behind his back. He had no intention of giving the beer Ki Seo-jung had handed to him to someone else.
After that, every time Cha Yoon put the beer to his lips and took it away, he would say the same thing: “This tastes like crap, really.” He didn’t forget to glare at Seo-jung with his eyes.
After drinking every last drop, Cha Yoon crumpled the can and threw it. With a crunch, the crushed can bounced and rolled on the floor. At this moment, Cha Yoon’s mood was like that beer can lying there. In other words, it meant he felt like shit. The reason was, of course, because of Ki Seo-jung. He was annoyed that there had been no notable reaction from him even after he finished drinking the beer.
But Cha Yoon wasn’t one to back down like this. He drew up tenacity and perseverance from strange places.
Starting with how only his seat was particularly cramped, then why only his fork was so small, it’s not like they were ostracizing him but why was only his side plate blue, and eventually even bringing up the temperature and humidity of the living room, he blamed everything on Ki Seo-jung.
Despite these efforts, it was all Cha Yoon’s share to have his breathing become rough and his body heat up.
Cha Yoon grabbed and fluttered the t-shirt he was wearing, trying to cool down. It was enough to be irritated by Ki Seo-jung’s calm expression of complete ignorance, but he couldn’t help but get annoyed at the voices of the cast members who seemed to be taking Ki Seo-jung’s side every time he said something.
Damn. Cha Yoon muttered quietly, almost to himself, looking at the side of Ki Seo-jung’s face. It had already been an hour since he had sat down in a place he never intended to be. During that long hour, Ki Seo-jung hadn’t even cast a single glance his way.
As the intentional ignoring continued, Cha Yoon started to feel his insides burning. How could he draw Ki Seo-jung’s attention? Cha Yoon pondered on this. He had long since forgotten why he had initially joined this drinking party.
What should I do? Just as he was busily racking his brains, there was a crash, and along with the noise assaulting his ears, Seo-jung’s voice was heard.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Ah, I’m fine. The bottle was slippery because of the moisture. But didn’t the wine splash towards you, Seo-jung?”
“If Joo-ah isn’t hurt, I’m fine too. Wait a moment. I’ll bring something to wipe it up.”
Seo-jung got up, dusting off his seat, and returned from the kitchen with a cloth. One side of his clothes was stained with red wine. He quickly cleaned up the spilled wine that Joo-ah had knocked over.
“I should have cleaned it up…”
“It doesn’t matter who cleaned it. I’ll just go put this away.”
Cha Yoon’s eyes fixed on Seo-jung’s back as he disappeared, carrying the damp cloth. Cha Yoon’s face, which had been sullen until just now, suddenly brightened, and a strange light shone in his eyes.
He had finally found it. A way to get Ki Seo-jung’s attention.
Why had he forgotten that helping others was this guy’s hobby and specialty? Cha Yoon, berating himself, eyed Seo-jung as he returned with a red stain on one side of his t-shirt.
Soon, Ki Seo-jung found his seat and sat down. Song Joo-ah’s voice thanking him was heard again. Cha Yoon opened his mouth, using this sound as a signal for his second plan.
“Suddenly I’m feeling a bit thirsty. Is there any water around…”
Cha Yoon spoke in a voice that was too loud to be a self-mutter. The first to catch his request was Min-ha.
“Cha Yoon, should I get you some water?”
But what Cha Yoon wanted wasn’t water. It was Ki Seo-jung’s attention. He deliberately pretended not to hear Min-ha’s words and rubbed around his neck.
“I’d be grateful if someone could pass me a water bottle.”
Especially on the word ‘someone’, he looked at Ki Seo-jung, and his gaze was so intense that one might think Ki Seo-jung had changed his name.
His voice, which was very tense and awkward, succeeded in drawing the attention of the other cast members. ‘Why is Cha Yoon acting like that again?’, ‘Who knows what’s going on in his mind. Let’s just ignore him and drink.’ The others, who had learned to communicate with their eyes due to Cha Yoon’s frequent outbursts of anger, clinked their glasses.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
