Chapter 38: The Price of Bravado

“What regret?”

“You boasted about your drinking capacity in front of me, so I’m going to verify if it’s true. What, are you scared?”

Han Tae-young gazed down at Seo Yeon-ho, his eyes promising to make him regret his bravado.

When he first arrived in Korea, there were quite a few people who tried to challenge him in drinking. Yet, not a single one of those who boasted about their alcohol tolerance had ever managed to defeat him.

Every single one of them who dared to challenge him ended up either crawling out on all fours or being carried away by their friends.

To be frank, Han Tae-young didn’t actually want to reduce Seo Yeon-ho to such a state. He sincerely hoped Seo Yeon-ho would have the good sense to back down now.

‘He’s incredibly stubborn in the strangest ways. I can’t for the life of me figure him out. He’s an utterly incomprehensible character.’

All the delinquents Han Tae-young had encountered until now, whether cunning or dim-witted, had their thoughts plainly visible. In fact, if they weren’t simple-minded to begin with, they wouldn’t survive as delinquents.

However, Seo Yeon-ho was different. He was like a character from an abstruse classical play, making people confused as to what he was truly thinking. It was frustrating, infuriating, and yet, Han Tae-young was undeniably curious.

“No. If you want to verify, go ahead.”

Seo Yeon-ho idly toyed with his glass, responding as if Han Tae-young’s challenge was of no consequence.

‘So, he really wants to do this, huh?’

The prominent masseter muscle along Han Tae-young’s jawline twitched. He had intended to give Seo Yeon-ho just a taste of his ‘spicy’ side and end it there, but Seo Yeon-ho’s nonchalant attitude changed his mind.

Han Tae-young resolved to properly crush Seo Yeon-ho tonight, swiftly downing his drink.

“Alright, your turn.”

****

However, an hour and a half later, it wasn’t Seo Yeon-ho who was crushed, but Han Tae-young himself, the very man who prided himself on his legendary drinking capacity.

“…Are you sure you drank properly? You weren’t just pretending, tricking me, and secretly pouring out your drinks, were you?”

*Thud!*

Han Tae-young, thoroughly inebriated, pointed an accusing finger at Seo Yeon-ho before collapsing face-first onto the table.

A sound like a bear hit by a tranquilizer dart echoed, yet Seo Yeon-ho, showing no concern for Han Tae-young, calmly righted the overturned glass. This was because, moments earlier, Han Tae-young had seemed to pass out only to suddenly spring up, spouting nonsense about ‘fixing his mindset’ and how ‘tattooed punks are a blight on society.’

“You truly are a person I could never, ever like.”

Seo Yeon-ho had grown accustomed to Han Tae-young behaving like an incorrigible old grump. Nevertheless, he found himself newly irritated by Han Tae-young, realizing that his ‘꼰대’ (boomer-like) attitude wasn’t consistently applied.

Earlier, a staff member had approached Han Tae-young, eager to show off a new tattoo. Seo Yeon-ho had fully expected Han Tae-young to complain or frown. But to his surprise, Han Tae-young had beamed, praising the staff member’s tattoo as beautiful.

The words, ‘Are you discriminating against people?’ had risen to Seo Yeon-ho’s throat.

He understood that a delivery rider and a drama staff member would naturally be treated differently. Unless Han Tae-young had severe social issues, it was only natural for him not to say anything displeasing to a staff member.

However, that’s just how the human heart worked. Having witnessed him being generous to others about the same issue while being relentlessly harsh on Seo Yeon-ho himself, he simply couldn’t remain indifferent.

‘What am I going to do if I can’t be indifferent?’

Seo Yeon-ho quietly looked down at Han Tae-young, who was sprawled on the table, before deciding to finish his drink. Yet, he found not a single drop of alcohol remained. It felt oddly bothersome to fetch a new bottle of soju. He shook another bottle just in case, but it, too, was empty.

‘I thought I hadn’t drunk much, but I guess I had quite a bit.’

Seo Yeon-ho used his finger to count each bottle crowded on the table, leaving no empty space. Nine bottles of soju, three beers, and one bottle of Yantaigao-liang liquor. He had certainly sampled a wide variety of drinks.

Feeling a pleasant buzz, Seo Yeon-ho decided it was time to stop drinking and leave. While he could certainly drink more, Han Tae-young had a shoot scheduled for the afternoon. If he made him drink any more, it might affect his work.

“Hey, wake up. I’m leaving.”

Seo Yeon-ho gently tapped Han Tae-young’s shoulder to rouse him. They weren’t close enough to exchange formal goodbyes. However, he was waking him up because he knew if he left while Han Tae-young was unconscious, the man would surely complain later, accusing him of running away or something similar.

But Han Tae-young, whom he expected to wake instantly, remained sprawled on the table, unmoving.

“I said, wake up! I know you’re pretending to sleep. Surely you didn’t pass out after just this much, did you?”

He even tried to needle Han Tae-young’s pride, but Han Tae-young’s back remained steadfast.

‘Did he really pass out?’

Seo Yeon-ho rose from his seat and scanned the bottles forming a skyline on the table once more. While it was an amount that would typically cause someone to pass out, by Seo Yeon-ho’s standards, it was merely ‘a bit short.’ This situation was perplexing because he had naturally assumed Han Tae-young could drink just as much as him.

“And you called me boastful.”

‘Honestly,’ Seo Yeon-ho thought, lightly tapping Han Tae-young’s baseball cap. He had touched the brim hoping he might stir, but there was no reaction.

‘I guess I’ll have to tell the assistant director to send him home.’

Since the two seemed close, the assistant director would surely handle it, whether by taking him home personally or calling Han Tae-young’s manager.

Thinking this, Seo Yeon-ho turned around, only to be swept by dismay. When he and Han Tae-young had started drinking, the barbecue restaurant had been bustling with staff, but now the place was as deserted as a shop past closing hours.

“Excuse me, do you know where everyone else went?”

“They left about thirty minutes ago. Only the customer table is left.”

The restaurant employee answered Seo Yeon-ho’s question, their voice tinged with sleepiness and annoyance.

“What? Then the bill is…”

“The gentleman with glasses paid in advance, so you can just leave when you’re done.”

The employee added, their eyes silently pleading for them to leave the restaurant so they could finally close up.

Seo Yeon-ho offered an apologetic expression to the employee and returned to his seat.

However, returning to his seat didn’t conjure any brilliant solutions. The business card he’d received from Kim Jin-woo was nowhere to be found, having slipped out of his pocket somewhere, and Han Tae-young still showed no signs of waking up.

“I thought I wasn’t drunk, but it seems I was.”

Seo Yeon-ho gently bumped his forehead on the table. Even if he had been drinking heavily, it was absurd that he hadn’t noticed all those people leaving.

Come to think of it, Kim Jin-woo was also incredibly thoughtless. Even if he had to leave, he should have taken care of Han Tae-young. What on earth was he thinking, leaving them both behind?

Could he have possibly thought they were bonding and forging a deep friendship? If so, Kim Jin-woo definitely had eyes for decoration. He and Han Tae-young had merely been competitively drinking, trying to get the better of each other, not because they found each other particularly endearing.

“Can I clear the empty bottles?”

The employee, perhaps uneasy seeing Seo Yeon-ho also slumped on the table, approached and asked.

“…Ah, yes. Please do.”

Seo Yeon-ho quickly sat up to help the employee, then picked up Han Tae-young’s phone. He intended to find someone to call to take Han Tae-young away. Unfortunately, the phone was locked with a password.

“Nothing’s going right.”

Seo Yeon-ho decided to figure out what to do with Han Tae-young once they were outside. The employee kept giving him pointed looks, pretending to clean, making it uncomfortable to remain in the restaurant.

‘Ugh, he’s heavy.’

Seo Yeon-ho’s expression darkened as he slung Han Tae-young’s arm over his shoulder to support him. He had anticipated Han Tae-young would be heavy due to his build, but this felt beyond what he could manage. A vivid image of the struggle he would face if he rashly took Han Tae-young outside flashed through his mind, and Seo Yeon-ho carefully lowered him back into his seat.

Seeing Seo Yeon-ho give way under Han Tae-young’s weight, the employee scurried over.

“Shall I call a taxi for you? We have a contracted driver who arrives very quickly if called. I can help you support your friend.”

The employee’s demeanor was slyly helpful, a stark contrast to earlier. They seemed to dislike bothersome tasks, so the offer to help with support indicated they had accurately grasped why Seo Yeon-ho was lingering in the restaurant.

After some deliberation, Seo Yeon-ho decided to take a taxi. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t dare to take one, but he had the 20,000 won that Producer Go Woo-seung had tossed him earlier in his pocket. He had planned to return it through Han Tae-young or Kim Jin-woo, but now he had no choice but to spend the money.

A taxi arrived shortly. Seo Yeon-ho and the employee grunted and strained as they pushed the unconscious Han Tae-young into the back seat.

“Where to, sir?”

Only after the taxi driver asked for the destination did Seo Yeon-ho begin to ponder where to go. He had been so flustered by the employee pushing him into the taxi that he hadn’t decided on a destination.

‘Should I go to his place?’

He knew Han Tae-young’s address, but the problem was he didn’t know his apartment password. Leaving an unconscious person in the hallway felt rather unsettling. Besides, getting through the communal entrance of Elysium was a hurdle in itself.

Reluctantly, Seo Yeon-ho decided to take Han Tae-young to his rooftop apartment. It was a decision made because he felt he bore some responsibility for Han Tae-young passing out.

However, when they got out of the taxi, Seo Yeon-ho realized he had made a grave error. The villa where Seo Yeon-ho lived had no elevator. That meant he would have to carry the unconscious Han Tae-young up the stairs all the way to the rooftop apartment.

“Damn it. *Huff*, I must be insane…!”

After a grueling struggle, Seo Yeon-ho finally reached his rooftop apartment and dropped Han Tae-young onto the floor like a sack of cement. Sweat poured off him as if he had been hauling cement bags at a construction site. Moreover, he hadn’t noticed it until now, but the smell of grilled meat was emanating strongly from his body.

‘I need to shower.’

Once he became aware of it, the sticky feeling was unbearable. Seo Yeon-ho immediately went into the bathroom and turned on the cold water.

“Oh? He’s awake.”

When he emerged from his shower, Han Tae-young, who had been unconscious moments before, was now sitting up, his cap removed. Seo Yeon-ho started to explain where they were, but then remembered his own state and quickly wrapped a towel around his waist to cover his private parts.