Chapter 70: Dinner at Jun-jae’s Place

“How about we just order delivery and eat at my place instead?”

Suddenly, Seo Jun-jae chimed in.

I recalled him mentioning during ‘July Snow’ practice that he lived alone near the agency.

And earlier, he’d said that agency was close to here, so his place probably wasn’t far either.

He must have suggested it with that in mind, and Yoon Ji-heon clearly understood it the same way, nodding as if it wasn’t a bad idea.

“Wow, I really want to see Jun-jae hyung’s house!”

Woo-rim was openly excited, and Chan-seo and Han-ul also said yes.

Only Seo-hu looked a bit uncomfortable, but when everyone’s eyes turned to him, he turned his head away and agreed.

I also nodded reflexively, following the others, but inside, I felt oddly skeptical.

“Why?”

I must have been staring without realizing it, because Jun-jae came closer and asked.

I said it was nothing and turned my head.

A low laugh escaped from beside me.

He’d probably seen right through me again.

“Curious?”

If the answer to Jun-jae’s question was only ‘curious’ or ‘not curious’, then obviously I was curious.

Given his personality as I’d seen over the past few months, he didn’t seem like the type to volunteer his place for a gathering.

So why?

“Because my legs hurt.”

…What on earth does that mean?

At the absurd answer, I whipped my head around.

The corners of his mouth were curled up in a broad smile.

His deliberately smiling face somehow felt like it was telling me to figure it out myself.

The comment about his legs probably wasn’t the real reason, but since he brought it up, it seemed like a hint…

Rather than just standing there waiting for Yoon Ji-heon to finish deciding, he’s offering his place?

It seemed possible, but also completely off the mark, so I just gave up thinking about it.

Come to think of it, I didn’t need to fully understand his intentions.

No, knowing might make me feel more unsettled and complicated, so not knowing was probably better.

I shifted my train of thought away from Jun-jae.

If the gathering was at someone’s house with delivery food…

Suddenly remembering a thought I’d had earlier, Jun-jae stared at my face, then smiled with his eyes curving down.

“Now that it’s come to this, it’d probably be most convenient to have the gathering after we move into the dorm, wouldn’t it?”

…Seriously, there’s no fooling him.

***

Following Jun-jae for a short walk, his house was located not far from the ‘K-Dream Entertainment’ building.

“…Doesn’t that mean you don’t even need to move into the dorm?”

Seo-hu spoke as if he’d been hesitating.

Jun-jae laughed, “Ha ha,” and opened the front door.

It was a fairly spacious apartment for someone living alone.

As we all filed in, Chan-seo, coming in behind me, suddenly asked, “I thought you said you lived alone too, hyung?”

“Ah, right!

Next time I want to go to Jae-seo hyung’s house too!”

…Not that I mind, but having everyone over like this might be hard.

All nine of them were above the average male height in Korea.

For all of them to fit and sit down, someone might have to sit on the toilet lid.

“What do you guys want to eat?”

At Yoon Ji-heon’s question, after searching on our phones, we decided to just order chicken and pizza.

Woo-rim, who took Yoon Ji-heon’s phone and placed the order, suddenly knelt on one knee in front of him, holding the phone up with both hands as if presenting it.

“I am eternally grateful!”

“Indeed.”

“…Hey, is Lee Woo-rim always like that?”

Seo-hu, who had come to sit next to me, made a fed-up face and asked quietly.

He’d probably been wanting to ask since Woo-rim suddenly hugged him in the office.

“You’ll get used to it soon.

That’s how everyone was during ‘July Snow’.”

I relayed my earlier thoughts to him.

Seo-hu flinched and leaned his back against the wall.

Given my experience, their personalities were polar opposites.

Still, he’d probably get used to it over time.

“Hyungs, we’re going to play ladder climbing, so hurry up!”

Suddenly, Woo-rim whipped his head towards us and waved his arm widely.

Why ladder climbing all of a sudden?

As I approached, the ladder game was already in progress on the phone screen on the floor.

“Jun-jae hyung passes.”

Below the names listed in the order of the final rankings, the character representing number 2, Yeo Hyun-tae, was descending the ladder.

“So why are we doing this?”

“Ah, we thought it might be uncomfortable sitting on the floor, so we’re picking who will go buy a folding table.”

As Yoon Ji-heon finished his answer, Hyun-tae’s character reached the end of the ladder.

A bomb exploded on the screen and the word ‘Loser!’ appeared.

“Wow!

Hyun-tae hyung wins!”

Seeing Woo-rim even clench his fist, they were probably going to pick two people.

Chan-seo, sitting in front of the phone, touched and started Yoon Ji-heon’s character, number 3.

Yoon Ji-heon, seeming nervous, kept glancing at the screen.

“Ji-heon hyung passed.”

At Chan-seo’s words, Yoon Ji-heon reflexively let out, “Oh!” then cleared his throat, looking embarrassed.

“But why pick two people?”

“Since you’re going out, we figured you could buy drinks and snacks too.

We’re short on hands, and if only one person gets picked, he can’t carry drinks.”

At Yoon Ji-heon’s answer, Seo-hu frowned deeply and subtly brought his hands together.

He seemed to be silently praying not to get picked.

Meanwhile, number 4, Chan-seo, made it safely to the bottom.

Then the next participant, number 5, my character, started moving.

And at that moment, I completely understood Yoon Ji-heon’s reaction.

…This is nerve-wracking!

It wasn’t that going to buy things was hard, but a folding table and drinks would definitely be heavy.

Plus, it was quite hot outside, so going out felt like a hassle.

So I hoped it wouldn’t be me.

As I looked down at the phone, my character touched the bottom.

Poof-

Along with the bomb sound, the word ‘Loser!’ appeared.

Woo-rim, whose turn came right after me, raised both arms.

“Wow!

I’m alive!”

I could feel Seo-hu next to me also sigh in relief.

I had the worst luck.

Going out to buy things was one thing, but of all people…

It had to be with Yeo Hyun-tae.

I subtly glanced at Hyun-tae.

Our eyes met for a second and then quickly darted away.

Since the accident early morning on the day of the final stage check-up, things had been quite awkward between us.

“If it’s too hard, shall I go?”

Chae Han-ul even came over and asked.

“Hyun-tae hyung.”

Addressing Hyun-tae, not me.

“No way!

This is the result of waiting through five rounds of this slow ladder game.

You can’t change it!”

Woo-rim immediately stepped between Hyun-tae and Han-ul, shaking his head.

Han-ul looked deflated for a moment, then straightened up to protest, but was cut off by Seo-hu’s question.

“If you’re going, shouldn’t you go with Sim Jae-seo instead of Yeo Hyun-tae?

You want to go with Jae-seo instead of the tallest, most athletic guy?”

It wasn’t pleasant being suddenly used for comparison, but everything he said was true.

Besides, Hyun-tae used to be a swimmer, so I couldn’t even use my usually high stamina stat as an advantage.

I nodded vigorously, agreeing with Seo-hu, but Woo-rim was unmoved.

“No way!

It has to be Hyun-tae hyung and Jae-seo hyung, the two of you!”

Then he grabbed our arms and dragged us all the way to the front door.

When Woo-rim was like this, no one could stop him.

Obediently putting on our shoes as Woo-rim ordered, Yoon Ji-heon came over as if to see us off.

He suddenly turned his head and looked for Jun-jae.

“Jun-jae, if you have a baseball cap, lend one to Jae-seo.”

As if he’d had the same thought, Jun-jae appeared with a black cap before Yoon Ji-heon even finished speaking.

He took the cap and tried to put it on, but it got stuck.

Then someone let out a snort of laughter.

“Jae-seo hyung’s head seems small, but Jun-jae hyung, how small is yours?”

He took off the ill-fitting cap and looked at the size adjuster at the back.

It was in a configuration he’d never seen.

As he awkwardly fumbled with it, Jun-jae reached out and expertly fiddled with the back of the cap.

Soon, the adjusted cap was placed on his head.

He pressed the brim down firmly, then took out a mask from his pocket and put it on.

Yoon Ji-heon and Jun-jae nodded at the same time.

…I felt like a little kid.

“Ah!

Hyungs, buy me chocolate mushrooms, Fighting Cones, and bear gummies, please!”

“Then I’d like some zero cola and salted potato chips.”

As they were about to step out the door, Hyun-tae, also ready with a cap and mask, got a stream of requests starting with Woo-rim.

“Can you two manage?”

At Yoon Ji-heon’s worried question, Jae-seo mentally organized the shopping list and nodded.

It would be a lot to carry, but not enough to need a third person.

“We’ll be back.”

Saying that, he pressed the button Jun-jae had shown him and opened the door.