Chapter 10: First Choice

It had been a while since he’d touched equipment like this, so it felt awkward.

Compared to the company machines four years later, this was such a shabby model that Seo Ye-jun ran into trouble from the start.

While he was installing the program and adjusting the initial settings, he clearly heard the studio door open.

“Hyung.”

“Grab what you came for and go.”

Ye-jun, who had been handling the equipment in a highly sensitive state, had his concentration broken by the voice entering.

He answered stiffly, out of character.

He naturally assumed it was Ji-gu coming to get something he’d left behind.

The person seemed to flinch slightly, then said nothing.

Ye-jun was about to finish what he was doing when he realized belatedly that the one who had called him was Jun.

He turned his head slightly.

“What?”

“Nothing… Are you busy, hyung?”

Then Jun grinned, and it did seem he’d come for some reason.

Ye-jun took off the headphone still on one ear, the one he’d just been using, and turned his chair around.

“They say a handmade burger place opened up in front.”

“…”

“If you haven’t had lunch, hyung, I was going to ask if you wanted to go eat… but…”

At Ye-jun’s silent stare down at him, Jun’s voice grew smaller.

Usually Ye-jun would have gotten up and grabbed his jacket, saying he’d specially eat with him.

Since there was no response, Jun smiled awkwardly, looking embarrassed.

“They have cheeseburgers and regular pasta too. If you don’t feel like it, something else…”

“Hey.”

“Are you really busy, hyung?”

“I’m not busy. How many people did you go to before me?”

“Huh?”

“The vocal line hyungs should be in the practice room. How many of them turned you down before you came?”

At the sudden incomprehensible question, Jun looked around, then confidently raised one finger.

“I came straight to you, hyung. First.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The dependable leader and eldest hyung of REVE quickly threw on his jacket, pleased at being the maknae’s first choice, and headed to the burger place.

‘Right, I’m the one who’s taken the best care of him. Who’s the one who’s always played along with his jokes? And who’s been looking after him for ten years?’

“What are you going to eat?”

“I’m debating between this one, this one, this one, and between this one and this one.”

Ye-jun lightly flicked Jun’s forehead as he agonized between five items, not even two, and ordered with an expression that said, why agonize over that?

“Give me all of these.”

“Whoa, hyung, how can you order all of that? Who’s going to eat it?”

“I think we can eat it all.”

“Do you have that much money to spare, hyung?”

“Hyung has a lot of money, though?”

“You always act like you have a ton of money, so why do you always say you’re broke when we go to the convenience store?”

“It’s a bit awkward to pay with a check.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

Jun blinked slowly and treated it as a joke.

Anyone with even a little interest in suits could easily tell what brand and price the suits hanging in Ye-jun’s closet were, but unfortunately, Jun didn’t know much about that kind of thing.

“You just got your settlement not long ago too. Treat me.”

“What should I buy?”

Jun fidgeted with his hands on the table, and Ye-jun lightly grabbed them and pushed them under the table.

“Hey, it’s here. Move your hands.”

“Thank you.”

The food came out at a good time.

Jun bowed once to the server carrying the many dishes to the table, then began moving his hands.

Ye-jun had thought about cutting it a bit with a knife so it’d be easier to eat, but after seeing Jun pick it up whole and eat it just fine, he started eating his own.

He really eats well.

Ye-jun, who had finished one and picked up another, admired Jun as he stuffed his cheeks full of burger and chewed busily.

Jun always ate well no matter when you saw him.

Whether first thing in the morning, when eating a late-night snack, or when he woke up from sleep and grabbed a jelly.

“See? What would we have done if we’d only ordered one?”

“…”

Jun had nothing to say to that, it seemed, and dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

Watching him, Ye-jun twirled pasta around his fork and pushed it into his mouth.

After paying 58,000 won at the burger place and coming out, Ye-jun smiled contentedly.

The practice room they returned to after eating burgers was giving off a very passionate atmosphere.

Ye-jun frowned as he looked one by one at the three who were deep in practice.

‘Jeong Jun. So this atmosphere is why you came to me.’

Only then did Ye-jun realize he hadn’t been chosen; he had been picked as the number one most pathetic hyung.

“What did you eat?”

“Burgers. I brought some for you hyungs too!”

Jun handed the bag in his hand to Hwi-young.

The neatly packaged burgers were rolling around inside the bag.

Because Jun, happy from being full, had forgotten the hyungs’ food as they were leaving the shop and dragged Ye-jun back in, Ye-jun had paid an additional 35,000 won.

Jun carefully checked the wrappers with labels to see which burger was which, picked out two, placed them in Ji-gu’s and Hwi-young’s hands, and handed the remaining one to Ha-hyeon.

“This one’s for Ha-hyeon hyung. I asked them to take out all the lettuce and onions.”

“You didn’t have to go that far. Thanks.”

While Ye-jun was looking for his card in his wallet again, he had wondered why Jun took so long choosing and chattered to the part-timer, but it seemed he had ordered quite carefully.

Ye-jun scanned the burgers held in the other three’s hands, then stroked Jun’s head.

He bought them exactly to their tastes.

“Why?”

Feeling the hand stroking his head, Jun looked up and asked.

“Because you’re admirable.”

His hair wasn’t styled in any special way, but the calm, settled hair turned frizzy the moment the large hand ruffled through it.

Ye-jun watched the strands floating in the air for a moment, then pressed them down again to fix them and said,

“Eat quickly before it gets cold. Then practice. If you don’t want to get chewed out at the recording.”

At leader Ye-jun suddenly acting like a leader again, the members silently exchanged looks.

Ha-hyeon drew a zigzag in the air with his index finger.

Did he get struck by lightning or something?

This time Hwi-young opened his palm and smacked his own head.

Did he hit his head?

Ji-gu shook his head.

We were prepared for him to go weird someday.

Everyone nodded at the same time.

“You’re all talking nonsense.”

Ye-jun, who had been watching all of that in real time, shook his head to himself.

Practice continued until 6.

Since tomorrow was the title track recording, they decided to leave a little early following Ye-jun’s opinion that they should take care of their throats.

Unlike the members packing their bags and saying they’d boil ramen at the dorm, Jun sat still, marking the sheet music with a ballpoint pen.

“Hey. Get up, we have to go.”

“I want to practice a little more.”

“Can you get to the dorm alone?”

“I’ll wear a mask and a hat! I can just take a taxi.”

When Ha-hyeon asked with a worried expression, Jun quickly nodded.

No matter how he thought about it, if he went home like this, he’d ruin the mood in the recording studio tomorrow.

Even singing one line of his few parts left him short of breath and his throat tight.

He was sick and tired of killing the mood every time they recorded.

“What do you mean he’ll go alone? It’s dangerous. I’ll go with him.”

Just then Ye-jun slightly raised his hand and stepped in.

Jun shook his head quickly at Ye-jun, who suddenly said he’d stay too, as if wondering what was dangerous when he wasn’t even walking and was taking a taxi.

“No, hyung. I’ll just practice and leave quickly.”

“Who said anything? I couldn’t even touch my work earlier, so I’m going to do that.”

“Ah.”

Jun brushed his bangs aside, embarrassed.

The other members said they’d go home and sleep early, and left the practice room first.

Ji-gu and Ha-hyeon’s faces looked especially happy, so Ye-jun tapped Ji-gu’s leg with his toe.

‘Hey, you know about throat care, right?’

He said it with his eyes, and Ji-gu nodded as if it were obvious.

No matter how crazy they were about each other, they weren’t unprofessional enough to do anything wild the day before a song recording.

Only then did Ye-jun wave his large hand and give a casual goodbye.

Only Jun and Ye-jun remained in the practice room after all the members had gone.

Breaking the silence that had settled over the practice room, Ye-jun spoke first.

“Which part isn’t working? Do you know all the b-sides?”

“Aren’t you going to your studio, hyung?”

Jun, who had planned to practice quietly alone, looked puzzled at Ye-jun asking about the part he was stuck on instead of going to the studio he’d said he’d go to.

Ye-jun snatched the sheet music Jun was holding and opened the pen cap with his teeth.

“I told you to ask me if there’s something you don’t know. If you don’t ask quickly, I’m really leaving.”

Only then did Jun nod, and Ye-jun taught him to the end as he practiced without stopping.

With the skill he’d built up over ten years, Ye-jun had even upgraded his ability to make others understand what he said.

‘What exactly am I lacking?’

Seeing Jun nod eagerly at his explanation, Ye-jun couldn’t help but feel his self-esteem rise again.

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