TWELVE 58

“I am Gi Seoin.”

It was unexpected for Gi Seoin to reach out his hand first.

“I am Yoon Kijun. It is not our first time meeting, but I haven’t been able to greet you properly.”

Yoon Kijun also smiled broadly and exchanged greetings with Gi Seoin.

The starting atmosphere was quite good. Everything was fine except for my heart, which was on pins and needles worrying if Gi Seoin might make a bombshell remark or if Yoon Kijun might feel uncomfortable.

“This is a restaurant I visit often, but I don’t know if it will suit your taste.”

“I think it will be delicious.”

Gi Seoin, who responded warmly to Yoon Kijun’s words and opened the menu, leaned his upper body toward me.

“Seungkyung. What do you want to eat?”

I looked into the menu, which was filled with names of dishes that were not very familiar.

If it had been just Yoon Kijun and me meeting, we probably would have gone to a decent meat restaurant, but perhaps because he was conscious of Gi Seoin, Yoon Kijun had reserved a fairly expensive Western restaurant. It was a relief because it was a place that fit Gi Seoin’s tastes.

“Everything looks delicious… . Is there anything you can recommend?”

I asked because I tended to trust Gi Seoin’s choices more than my own when coming to places like this. Gi Seoin seemed to deliberate for a moment, then picked two dishes and closed the menu. For drinks, I chose a Cola and he chose an orange juice.

Yoon Kijun looked at Gi Seoin with surprised eyes.

“By any chance, do you not enjoy alcohol? The wine here is also decent.”

“I brought my car.”

Gi Seoin lied gentlemanly. It is not because of driving; he originally does not drink alcohol. The reason was unknown, but whenever someone asked about alcohol, Gi Seoin did not speak honestly and made excuses in this way.

“I should also order a drink then.”

“You can drink if you want to.”

At my words, Yoon Kijun smiled while scowling.

“It’s okay. After the staff dinner, I felt that I should cut back now. No matter what I drink, the hangover is too severe.”

“Meaning you’re almost in your 30s.”

“It’s unfair. What have I even done to be this age already? Ah, Mr. Seoin, if I may ask, what is your age… .”

“I am the same age as Seungkyung.”

“Then you are the same age as me too. If you want, you can feel free to speak comfortably.”

Hmm, from what I could see, Gi Seoin would absolutely not drop his honorifics… .

“Shall I do that, then.”

I was wrong. He just dropped them.

I felt a sense of novelty from this Gi Seoin who was different from my expectations. Since it had been a long time since we were in a setting meeting someone together, it was understandable that his appearance while dealing with another person felt unfamiliar. It was also interesting.

“How did you two become close?”

While exchanging uninteresting stories while waiting for the food to come out, Yoon Kijun asked abruptly. I let Gi Seoin answer.

“When we were ten, Seungkyung came to play in my neighborhood and we became close.”

Hmm. I had gone to Gi Seoin’s neighborhood to post flyers. It seemed he said I came to play out of consideration for me. I just nodded my head.

“Wow, ten years old means it’s been quite a while since you became friends.”

Yoon Kijun already knew the fact that Gi Seoin and I were long-time friends, but he cleverly pretended it was his first time hearing it. As expected, an aspiring actor was different.

“Did you not go to school together?”

“Only high school.”

“If you two went to the same school, it must have been a mess. You were both popular, right?”

I had many friends, but I couldn’t say I was popular. Gi Seoin was an object of avoidance for classmates who knew his personality, but he was quite popular with students in other grades or from other schools.

Even from what I remember, there were sunbae who waited for our class to end because of Gi Seoin, and there were kids who hung around our school’s main gate just to see his face once.

Was that all? Encountering talent agency business cards while wandering around Seoul with Gi Seoin was so common it wasn’t even worth mentioning as a story.

“I wasn’t. Seungkyung had many.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

At those words, Yoon Kijun and I fired off question marks at the same time.

“I thought Seoin’s popularity would have been immense?”

“Kijun, your thought is right. It’s because Seoin is being humble. But Seoin, do you know?”

I propped up my chin and gazed at Gi Seoin.

“Excessive humility is arrogance.”

“What are you talking about? I really wasn’t popular.”

It was absurd because Gi Seoin made a face as if he truly didn’t know the reason.

“What are you talking about? Don’t you remember? There were sunbae and hoobae who followed you around, and there were kids who waited in front of our school after hearing rumors from other schools. On Valentine’s Day, you received, like, building-sized amounts of chocolate.”

“That was all about you. They weren’t waiting for me. They were waiting for you.”

“No, do you really not remember? I heard it all, them saying Seoin-ah, Seoin-ah. They even came to me and asked me to deliver letters instead.”

“Was it so.”

Gi Seoin muttered while brushing the end of his eyebrow. It was an attitude of sincerely not remembering. Wow, it wasn’t just a day or two, and he forgets that? I couldn’t understand.

“I only remember the kids who were like that toward you.”

“I told you I wasn’t popular!”

“You’ve received a letter before.”

“You don’t say someone is popular just because of a single time.”

“It wouldn’t have been just once.”

“No, look. There’s no comparison between you and me. When it hadn’t been long since we entered school… .”

While I was pouring out an enthusiastic speech to restore Gi Seoin’s memory, Yoon Kijun, who had been staying quiet, slid in a comment.

“It sounds like both were popular? I’m jealous, so let’s stop.”

“It’s because I’m truly wronged. Kijun, in your view, who do you think would have been more popular?”

“Hmm… .”

Yoon Kijun looked back and forth between Gi Seoin and me with narrowed eyes.

“The styles of the two are so different that I don’t know. But probably… Seungkyung?”

“Ah, seriously. You’re doing that to tease me.”

“Listen. If Seungkyung gives off a feeling where you can actually approach him, Seoin gives off a feeling where you have to watch from afar? Is that understandable?”

It was an explanation that was understandable at once. While I was not particularly outstanding and was so clumsy that I had an image that could be approached without burden, Gi Seoin was perfect without any lacking parts and didn’t laugh much, so it must have been a feeling that it wasn’t easy to get close.

“Indeed, if I had seen Gi Seoin for the first time at school, I think it would have been difficult to talk to him.”

“Really?”

Gi Seoin asked with a surprised face. That was also unexpected to me.

“Of course. You didn’t talk first, you didn’t play pranks, and even during break time, you almost only studied… . If I talked to you a bit, the atmosphere was like you would find me annoying.”

“If you, Woo Seungkyung, talked to me, I wouldn’t have found it annoying.”

It wasn’t much, but for a moment I observed Yoon Kijun’s reaction. Somehow it feels ominous. I should change the subject.

“Kijun, I think you would have been popular too?”

At that, Yoon Kijun shrugged his shoulders.

“I constantly had a girlfriend, but there was never a time when someone followed me around.”

“If you constantly had a girlfriend, you were popular. What is this, everyone here is annoying.”

“Indeed. I’m afraid someone might hear us.”

“Let’s behave ourselves.”

Fortunately, it seems to have passed naturally.

From then on, Yoon Kijun and I threw jokes back and forth, and Gi Seoin mostly just laughed quietly while adding a word or two. Then, food came out around the time we ran out of things to joke about.

“Since I’m buying today, enjoy the food.”

“Yes, we will eat well.”

Yoon Kijun had already stepped forward to say he was buying since we set the appointment. However, it felt apologetic to receive a free meal when I had even brought Gi Seoin along, so I intended to eat well first and then secretly pay.

“I’ll eat well.”

I picked up the knife thinking I should try the meat first, but Gi Seoin suddenly took away the steak plate placed in front of me.

I wondered what he was doing… he placed neatly sliced meat on my empty plate. If it had been just the two of us, it wouldn’t have mattered, but since we were sitting with Yoon Kijun right now, it was awkward.

“It’s fine. I’ll slice and eat it myself. Eat yours, Gi Seoin.”

“I’ll do it for you.”

“I know how to use a knife too, hey.”

“You said it’s delicious when I slice it for you.”

No, why are you saying that now, it’s embarrassing!

Without realizing it, I observed Yoon Kijun’s reaction, and for a moment our gazes collided. Yoon Kijun turned his gaze toward the table while wearing the most awkward smile I had ever seen.

This is crazy.

He might have already noticed, but it was before I had confessed the fact that there had been a change in the relationship between Gi Seoin and me. Embarrassment aside, it felt like a discourtesy to give off a strange atmosphere when we hadn’t officially revealed what kind of relationship we were.

The only action I could do to shake off the embarrassing feeling in this spot was to cram food into my mouth. Perhaps because it was a restaurant Yoon Kijun visited often, the meat melted in my mouth and the other dishes were also delicious. However, I hated myself for not being able to fully enjoy this taste.

I’m jealous of a shameless personality. Like Gi Seoin.

“Seungkyung.”

Without even knowing my thoughts, Gi Seoin wiped the corner of my mouth with a napkin. That wasn’t all. He attended to every little thing for me.

“Should I give you water?”

No, please just don’t do anything… .

He seems particularly excessive today. Come to think of it, when eating with Jeon Juseok, he kept a proper distance and acted plainly. So speaking of which, a doubt arose whether Gi Seoin was doing this more on purpose because he was conscious of Yoon Kijun.

While putting a small piece of potato into my mouth, I glanced up at Gi Seoin.

He had already been looking at me. While wearing a kind smile, he suddenly gripped my thigh under the table. With his other hand, he fiddled with his cup as if nothing were wrong, and then his touch gradually became more blatant as he groped the inside of my thigh, before turning his gaze to Yoon Kijun.

“The meat here is decent.”

“Right? If you want to eat steak, come here. I’m glad it suits your taste. Seungkyung, are you okay too? How is it?”

“Ugh, uh?”

The moment I tried to answer, Gi Seoin gripped my thigh as if he were going to burst it.

“Uh-huh, it’s good. It’s very delicious. Haha… .”

At this moment, I was certain.

That in front of Yoon Kijun, Gi Seoin was kind from beginning to end on purpose.