Chapter 63
While one side was engaging in silent conversations and building friendships, on the other side, Cha Yoon was doing everything he could with the sole goal of attracting Ki Seo-jung’s attention.
“I keep having a dry cough.”
He would pretend to clutch his throat and make awkward, fake coughs, or…
“Ah, I’m going to die of thirst because no one’s giving me water.”
He would make empty threats like this.
Despite all his efforts, Cha Yoon once again failed to achieve what he wanted.
“Cha Yoon, there should be more water in the back, right?”
Soo-ho was right. As he turned his head, there was an untouched bottle of water sitting right next to him. Who put this here? As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the obvious face came to mind. Cha Yoon glared at Jung Soo-ho with sharp eyes.
“You put this here, didn’t you?”
“Wow, Cha Yoon, how did you know? I thought some people might want water while drinking, so I brought it.”
Jung Soo-ho, thinking he was being praised, scratched his cheek as if embarrassed. This guy really doesn’t help my life at all. Soo-ho’s shy, embarrassed expression made Cha Yoon feel even more frustrated.
Cha Yoon sighed deeply and gulped down the water. He wanted to clear his blocked chest somehow.
“Cha Yoon must have been really thirsty. I’ve never seen someone drink 500mL at once like that.” Ignorant of others’ feelings, someone spouted nonsense, and Cha Yoon was on the verge of throwing the water bottle about ten times, but he managed to restrain himself each time and emptied the bottle.
Wiping the moisture from his lips, Cha Yoon didn’t give up. He deliberately pushed away the fork neatly placed in front of him with his arm.
“Oh, the fork I was using fell on the floor.”
“Da-bin, if the air conditioning is too cold, should we switch seats?”
“It’s a bit chilly, but not enough to switch seats.”
“It would be nice if ‘someone’ could give me another new fork.”
“If you’re not switching seats, at least cover yourself with a blanket.”
“Thank you. It’s warm with this on.”
Despite his textbook-like acting tone, Ki Seo-jung paid no attention. He’s probably too preoccupied with his ex-girlfriend to even notice someone like me. Cha Yoon gritted his teeth and looked for snacks he could eat without a fork. His eyes fell on the canapés in front of Ki Seo-jung.
Cha Yoon slightly extended his long arm and then lowered it, sighing deeply.
“It’s so hard to eat canapés. Is this saying that people sitting far away shouldn’t eat at all?”
Cha Yoon turned the bowl that had contained pretzels upside down, emptying it completely.
“This time, I hope ‘someone’ won’t ignore me and put some canapés in this.”
“Min-ha, should I pass you the cheese plate? You like this, don’t you?”
But Ki Seo-jung, who was supposed to be the ‘someone’, wasn’t easily swayed. By this point, he should have handed over the snacks just to stop the nonsensical comments, but Ki Seo-jung consistently ignored them. He was being so cold that Ki Seo-jung’s previous behavior of doing everything Cha Yoon asked seemed like a past life.
Regardless of Cha Yoon’s mood, the drinking party continued. As empty beer cans piled up in front of the cast members, the topics of conversation gradually became heavier.
“Haah.”
With a thud, Soo-ho put down his phone. His expression, which had been smiling and chatting until just a moment ago, had suddenly turned gloomy. It was because of the notification announcing the ‘mailbox viewing time’.
Other cast members also naturally checked their phones and then picked up their glasses.
“Doesn’t your heart pound every time at this hour?”
“I’m not the only one. Even when I’m feeling good, I get nervous when I hear the notification.”
In response to Da-bin’s light question, Min-ha stroked her chest. The conversation that started with the topic of ‘mailbox viewing’ flowed and eventually reached the topic of ex-lovers.
Soo-ho bit his lip with a tearful expression.
“…I actually thought I’d be okay coming here. But now that I’m here, my heart feels so heavy… Haah, seeing my X getting along well with someone else, it’s so… I knew this would happen, but…”
Tears that had been welling up in Soo-ho’s eyes finally spilled over. Seo-jung pulled out a tissue from the box next to him and put it in Soo-ho’s hand. As if this kind gesture had triggered something, he let out a loud cry. His large body was leaning towards Seo-jung, who was sitting next to him.
Seo-jung blinked, seemingly flustered by the weight on his shoulder. Although he was a bit surprised by Soo-ho’s large frame suddenly leaning on him, he didn’t push him away. He felt sympathy for Soo-ho’s struggle with thoughts of his ex-lover.
Moreover, he was overcome by a strange feeling. Soo-ho’s crying seemed to validate that his own pain over thoughts of Cha Yoon wasn’t so strange after all.
Seo-jung raised his arm and patted Soo-ho, trying to comfort him. Contrary to his intention, every time his hand touched Soo-ho’s shoulder and lifted away, the crying became louder, but Seo-jung didn’t stop.
“Oh my, Soo-ho is such a crybaby, such a crybaby.”
“So this is when we use the phrase ‘shedding chicken-poop tears’. Can I take a picture?”
Da-bin, who had been watching the two with a warm expression, spoke in a playful voice. When Joo-ah joined in with Da-bin’s words, the atmosphere quickly became lively again. It was then, as Seo-jung was smiling at Soo-ho, who was still leaning on him.
“…Aren’t you going to separate?”
A chilling voice, unlike anything they had heard before, struck their ears. It was a tone that didn’t fit at all with the cheerful atmosphere.
The cast members, who had been laughing and chatting, reflexively turned their heads towards the source of the voice. There stood Cha Yoon, with an expression that wouldn’t have been out of place if a murder were about to occur.
Everyone who saw him had the same thought: ‘What has upset Cha Yoon this time?’ It was possible because they knew him to cause a scene more than a dozen times a day.
As those who didn’t know the reason quietly watched Cha Yoon, an even more enraged voice echoed throughout the living room.
“I said, aren’t you going to separate?!”
Despite the thunderous voice, no one dared to move. They just looked at each other’s faces with bewildered expressions.
…Who is he talking to? Is he talking about me and Da-bin? Isn’t he talking about Seo-jung and Soo-ho? The cast members huddled together engaged in silent conversation.
Are my words not clear enough? When there was no follow-up action even after two warnings, Cha Yoon couldn’t hold back anymore and abruptly stood up. He rose so quickly that the large table in front of him was pushed.
Is this what they call the butterfly effect? With the sound of table legs scraping the floor, the table swayed greatly, and the dishes and bottles on top of it lost balance and rolled onto the floor.
With a crash, the living room instantly turned into chaos. This situation unfolded just because Cha Yoon, who had been sitting, stood up. The cast members, surprised by the plates and bottles rolling on the floor, screamed in shock.
It was utter pandemonium. Even in this chaotic situation, Cha Yoon, the one responsible, couldn’t see anything else. He had no thought other than separating the two who were stuck together like Siamese twins. Cha Yoon turned around and stood exactly between Soo-ho and Seo-jung.
Soo-ho felt his vision darken as a shadow fell over his head. When he looked up, his eyes met Cha Yoon’s, who was looking down at him with a fierce expression. Startled, Soo-ho hiccupped.
“W-w-why are you doing this?”
Soo-ho stammered as he asked Cha Yoon. Without replying, Cha Yoon stretched out his arm. He inserted his arm between Soo-ho and Seo-jung and pushed Soo-ho’s body.
“I told you to separate. Are my words not clear?”
Under Cha Yoon’s rough force, Soo-ho fell over as if bouncing to the opposite side of Seo-jung. Even with Soo-ho sprawled on the floor, Cha Yoon was still not satisfied.
You ignored all my requests throughout the drinking session, but you let that dimwit lean on your shoulder? After organizing his thoughts like this, his anger grew even more. Cha Yoon asked Ki Seo-jung in an exasperated voice.
“Are you a wall? Are you a sofa?”
“……”
“Why were you just letting someone lean on you?”
Cha Yoon pointed at Seo-jung’s shoulder with an expression as if he had seen something terrible. The very spot where Soo-ho had been leaning.
Ki Seo-jung glanced at his shoulder where Cha Yoon was pointing, then looked around. The overturned snack bowls, spilled bottles, Jung Soo-ho sprawled on the floor, and the faces of the cast members watching him and Cha Yoon with open mouths. It couldn’t have been worse.
He could tolerate being annoyed and inconvenienced. He had long since grown accustomed to such things. But he couldn’t accept Cha Yoon taking out his anger on him by harming others.
Seo-jung, who had been trying to endure Cha Yoon’s irritating behavior throughout the drinking session, finally exploded. He stood up from his seat.
“Soo-ho, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ah, no… I’m fine.”
Normally, Soo-ho would have whined and dragged out his words, but even he, tactless as he was, knew this wasn’t the time for that.
“I think you might have hit your arm on the sofa leg. If it hurts when you wake up, let me know.”
“I-I will.”
Soo-ho nodded slightly while glancing at Cha Yoon. Ki Seo-jung wore his usual smile and spoke to the still stunned drinking party members.
“I think it’s best if we wrap up for today. Leave the living room as it is. Cha Yoon will clean up and go to bed.”
“Is Seo-jung going to clean up? It’s too much of a mess to do alone…”
“That’s right. Like Min-ha said, don’t overdo it, let’s do it together.”
“Yeah, how can you clean all this up alone?”
Min-ha, who had been listening quietly, expressed her concern. It was because the state of the living room was too messy for one person to clean up. Following Min-ha’s words, the cast members who had been quietly observing the situation also agreed. Seo-jung shook his head lightly.
“Why should others clean this up? The person who made this mess should clean it.”
“……”
“Don’t worry, everyone. Go to bed comfortably.”
At Seo-jung’s firm answer, the cast members found it difficult to add any more words and stood up as if they had no choice. “Good night, everyone.” Careful greetings were exchanged, and soon everyone headed to their rooms. Seo-jung, who had been watching their retreating figures, slowly turned around. As if his smile from just moments ago had been a lie, Seo-jung’s face was now expressionless.
Perhaps because Ki Seo-jung had straightened his back, the eye levels of the two were almost even. Seo-jung, not taking his eyes off Cha Yoon’s, opened his mouth.
“Cha Yoon, follow me.”
