Chapter 36: The Awkward Dinner

“It’s a game; there’s no such thing as ‘taking it easy’,” the staff member with their hair half-up declared, siding with Han Tae-young. “Hyung, don’t go easy on them.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t butt in,” the bob-haired staff member retorted, shoving the other with their elbow in clear disgust.

“That’s right, it’s a game penalty. You can’t go easy on them.”

“You’re too much, Oppa! It really hurt, you know!”

Seo Yeon-ho watched the bob-haired staff member complain before casting his gaze towards the grill. On the charcoal-dark surface, oil sputtered and popped.

His stomach churned uncomfortably, as if he’d eaten something that disagreed with him, despite having eaten nothing at all. He drained his cola to the very last drop.

“Let’s clink glasses. It doesn’t taste right drinking alone.”

Park Chan-jong refilled Seo Yeon-ho’s empty cup with cola. Seo Yeon-ho nodded, then clinked his bubbling cup against the soju glass.

“Where do you go to school? Your acting style screams National University of Arts, but your face is pure Handong University. I can’t quite place it.”

Park Chan-jong scrutinized Seo Yeon-ho’s face as if reading his fortune.

“I don’t go to university.”

“You’re being transparent. Are you worried I might be a senior from your school? I’m not the type to enforce hierarchies, you know. Who even cares about seniority these days?”

Park Chan-jong seemed to think Seo Yeon-ho was lying to avoid revealing his university.

“Perhaps you’ve already graduated?”

“I really don’t attend one,” Seo Yeon-ho insisted, picking up the soju bottle to refill Park Chan-jong’s glass.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The only time Seo Yeon-ho had ever set foot on a university campus was when he was making a delivery. He had taken the Suneung, but he hadn’t applied to any universities, nor had he even checked his scores. Why bother checking when he’d simply marked random answers and slept through the entire exam?

“Why is there so much meat left over? Is it because there are only two mouths? It’s going to burn.”

PD Go Woo-seung, returning from the restroom, saw the piled-high grill and settled into the seat next to Park Chan-jong.

“Little Moon-gyu, hand me some chopsticks.”

PD Go Woo-seung gestured toward Seo Yeon-ho. Seo Yeon-ho found it odd that PD Go Woo-seung called him ‘Little Moon-gyu’, but he simply let it pass. He hadn’t told them his name, so what did it matter what they called him?

Seeing PD Go Woo-seung deftly snatch up a piece of meat with the chopsticks Seo Yeon-ho gave him, Park Chan-jong showed his displeasure.

“If you need more meat, you should order it. Why are you stealing from someone else’s table? Does Tae-young give you the side-eye for eating too much, Director?”

“I already ordered more. But this is pork, not beef, so it takes longer to cook. And this isn’t stealing; it’s helping, alright? Look. It’s getting overcooked, losing all its juices and drying out. We need to eat this quickly to grill fresh ones.”

PD Go Woo-seung wrapped a ssam, piling lettuce with chili, anchovy sauce, sliced garlic, and three pieces of pork jowl.

“Yes, yes, I understand, but let’s at least leave some for the kid.”

“I told you I’m helping, yet you don’t believe me. Honestly. Little Moon-gyu, which agency are you with?”

PD Go Woo-seung swallowed the ssam almost without chewing, then asked. Even as he swallowed, his hands were busy preparing a second ssam. Seo Yeon-ho, sensing the unspoken need, pushed the perfectly cooked meat toward PD Go Woo-seung’s side of the grill as he answered.

“I don’t have an agency.”

“Really? Why not?”

PD Go Woo-seung, looking perplexed, poured several drinks down his throat before asking with a sudden realization.

“Are your parents against you becoming an actor, by any chance?”

“Ah, so that was it!”

Park Chan-jong slapped his knee, as if PD Go Woo-seung’s outlandish guess had solved a great mystery.

“Hah, as expected of Director Go. So clever. I was wondering why this guy kept saying he didn’t go to university and didn’t have an agency. He meant he wasn’t studying acting!”

PD Go Woo-seung and Park Chan-jong exchanged words and drinks, deepening their misunderstanding. The two middle-aged men were so perfectly in sync that Seo Yeon-ho found no opening to correct their mistake.

PD Go Woo-seung, who had consumed alcohol and meat like a whale swallowing seawater, now flushed, posed another awkward question.

“How long have you been learning to act? It’s partly because Hee-jun supported you so well, but even considering that, you’re quite good.”

“I was surprised earlier too! At first, I thought he was just some pretty face, but then he started leading me!”

“Hee-jun, your acting today was truly excellent. Yesterday you were whining on the phone that you couldn’t get the ‘feel’ for it and needed help, but how did you manage to act as if you’d delved right into my heart? Let’s keep it exactly like that when we shoot.”

“I’ve got the feeling, but I wonder if the person I’m playing off will be good…”

“Why are you losing confidence again? Hee-jun, I’m telling you, you’re good. I believe in you, okay?”

Seo Yeon-ho, finding the sight of the two middle-aged men huddled together, whispering intimately, rather unsettling, averted his gaze. His eyes happened to land on the seat where Tae-young had been sitting.

However, Tae-young was no longer there. He had perhaps gone to the restroom, or perhaps stepped out for a smoke with the staff members. Given that the staff had also left their seats all at once, it seemed they had all gone out for a cigarette together.

‘They’re so close now, so why did their relationships with the staff sour in the future?’

Seo Yeon-ho sighed, placing a piece of meat on the grill with tongs.

‘What am I even doing here?’

Earlier, he had decided to attend the dinner because he wanted to see Tae-young get annoyed. For some reason, Tae-young had barely managed to hide his displeasure when Seo Yeon-ho wavered at Kim Jin-woo’s suggestion to attend the dinner.

Observing this, Seo Yeon-ho had thought, ‘This could be a big blow to Han Tae-young.’ He felt that if he attended the dinner at Kim Jin-woo’s suggestion, rather than Tae-young’s, he could really upset Tae-young.

It wasn’t a place he wanted to be, but Seo Yeon-ho didn’t want to miss the chance to get under Tae-young’s skin. So, he closed his eyes and decided to attend the dinner, but…

Once he got on the bus, Tae-young seemed to be enjoying himself, as if he had never been annoyed at all. Seo Yeon-ho’s expectation that Tae-young would glare at him like a thorn in his side and seethe with resentment had been completely off the mark.

He wondered if Tae-young was intentionally ignoring him, but seeing him busy laughing and joking with the other staff members his age, that possibility seemed low.

If that was the case, why had Tae-young been so displeased when Kim Jin-woo suggested he join the dinner? No, his biggest question was why Tae-young had been so desperate to keep him from attending the dinner in the first place.

A sudden suspicion crept into his mind: ‘Did Tae-young want me to just sit alone and feel uncomfortable, like an outcast, at the barbecue restaurant?’ It was a malicious thought, but considering Tae-young’s rotten personality, it was entirely plausible. He could vividly picture Tae-young enjoying the sight of Seo Yeon-ho cowering like a stray dog.

When his thoughts reached that point, he suddenly understood why Tae-young had been angry with Kim Jin-woo at Moonlight Flower earlier. Tae-young had been annoyed because he wanted Seo Yeon-ho to be isolated, but Kim Jin-woo might have looked out for him at the dinner.

“Little Moon-gyu.”

*Sizzle.*

He was flipping a piece of meat that had turned white on the bottom when PD Go Woo-seung called his name, his voice thick with the smell of alcohol.

“Yes?”

“Have the waiter grill the meat, and you, take a drink.”

PD Go Woo-seung picked up the soju bottle, motioning for Seo Yeon-ho to take a glass. Seo Yeon-ho repeated what he had told Park Chan-jong earlier.

“I apologize. I have to drive. If I don’t have to drink, I’ll accept it.”

“Oh, come on, no way. What’s that about? I’ll pay for your taxi, just drink.”

PD Go Woo-seung, evidently quite tipsy, pulled out his wallet with slightly unfocused eyes. He tossed two ten-thousand-won bills onto the table and then filled a soju glass to overflowing, pushing it towards Seo Yeon-ho. While not completely drunk, his self-control and judgment were clearly impaired, even to Seo Yeon-ho, who barely knew him.

‘If I refuse completely, the atmosphere will become awkward.’

To be frank, whether the dinner atmosphere turned sour or not was none of Seo Yeon-ho’s concern. After all, these were people he would never see again once he left the restaurant. However, Seo Yeon-ho changed his mind and decided to simply accept the drink PD Go Woo-seung had poured.

‘I can pick up the scooter in the morning.’

It wasn’t that Seo Yeon-ho didn’t want to drink; he was actively holding himself back from drinking. He felt that if he touched alcohol now, he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

Seo Yeon-ho had always been starved for alcohol and meat. During his idol days, it was due to dieting, and in recent years, tight finances meant he had never been able to eat meat or drink alcohol to his heart’s content. Bang Hyo-jun occasionally bought him drinks and meat, but it was nowhere near enough.

He didn’t want Tae-young to see him lose control and greedily indulge in alcohol and meat. He imagined Tae-young would mock him, saying something like, ‘Look at him, he said he didn’t want to come to the dinner, but now he’s drinking more enthusiastically than anyone.’

But all his worries were pointless. Since arriving at the barbecue restaurant, Tae-young hadn’t made eye contact with him once. If Tae-young wasn’t going to pick a fight, there was no reason to refuse the drink.

The moment Seo Yeon-ho reached out to take the soju glass from PD Go Woo-seung’s hand, another hand snatched it first. Seo Yeon-ho’s gaze followed the hand. Tae-young, whom he had thought had gone out for a cigarette, was now downing the drink.

“…You?”

Seo Yeon-ho looked up at Tae-young, who had appeared out of nowhere and snatched his drink, with a look of utter disbelief.

Tae-young placed the empty soju glass down with a *clink* and then helped PD Go Woo-seung to his feet.

“Director, it’s about time you head off to edit. Filming was canceled because of Baek Hwi-kyung, so how long are you going to keep playing around?”

“No. Why should I leave already?”

PD Go Woo-seung seemed truly drunk. Even if Tae-young was the lead actor, a fresh-faced young actor telling him to stop playing around and go to work would normally provoke a strong reaction. But now, he was simply whining about not wanting to go home.

“Seong-yoon Hyung, Jin-woo Hyung isn’t here right now, so can you take the Director to the staff sleeping quarters?”

“…Uh, okay!”

Tae-young handed PD Go Woo-seung off to the youngest member of the production team. While Tae-young was supporting him, PD Go Woo-seung hadn’t seemed particularly heavy, but as soon as the production team’s youngest took over, both their bodies swayed as if suddenly affected by an intense gravity.