GBAS 42

“No, no. Wait a minute.”

Hyunwoo hastily put down his glass and waved both his head and his hands. Seeing his desperate attitude, Jooin quietly watched him, waiting to see what he would say.

But Hyunwoo didn’t start talking right away; instead, he glanced around.

‘Well, it’s true that there are way too many listening ears.’

Jooin stared blankly at the face that wanted to sort out the situation somehow but didn’t know how, and slowly sank into his chair.

Although he couldn’t stand being bothered, strangely, he didn’t feel particularly displeased right now. It was frustrating, but not to the point of being irritating. In fact, it was rather intriguing. Hyunwoo’s flustered state reminded him of a cornered puppy.

His gaze, looking down from under his dark eyelashes, wavered meaningfully. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and the corners of his mouth went up. He knew he shouldn’t, but he was curious to see how Hyunwoo would react to his teasing.

On the other hand, he felt a bit sorry for the face that looked like it would burst into tears if he prodded it just a little more, so he was just watching quietly.

“Well, it’s not that I’m not curious.”

Hyunwoo spoke cautiously, biting his lip hard. The situation was flowing in a completely different direction than what he had planned when he first arranged the meeting, and he was on the verge of tears.

‘How can things get this twisted?’

Not knowing what to do, Hyunwoo ruffled his hair and hastily added a reply.

“I wasn’t going to ask right now. I just, for now, wanted to see your face and have a cup of coffee or something…”

At the rambling answer, Jooin’s relaxed expression hardened again. If not now, then when on earth was he going to ask?

Frowning, Jooin picked up his glass and drained the remaining half of his drink in one go.

Thud.

Putting down the empty glass, Jooin spoke with an indifferent face.

“I’ve seen your face, I’ve finished the coffee we planned on, and you’re not going to ask now… so, should we part ways?”

It was a calm tone, devoid of emotion, but Hyunwoo reacted with unusual alarm and raised his voice.

“What? Why would you say something so ominous!”

“Ominous how?”

“Anyway.”

Hyunwoo’s gaze fell to the tabletop. After anxiously tapping the corner of the table with his fingers, Hyunwoo finally seemed to make up his mind, took a deep breath, and spoke.

“Coffee, would you like another cup?”

The tip of his finger, pointing at the empty glass Jooin had set down, trembled slightly.

At the unexpected suggestion, Jooin let out a hollow laugh. So, he was saying it’s hard to talk right now, but he wanted him to stick around for now. His efforts were really clumsy.

“So what, we’re just going to sit here like this all day?”

“No-.”

“Me, just keep pouring coffee into my empty stomach, and you just watch?”

As Jooin asked with the corners of his mouth lifted, Hyunwoo, who had been cautiously watching his expression, hesitantly offered a reply.

“…That’s not so bad, is it?”

“Good grief.”

It was so absurd that he couldn’t help but laugh. Hyunwoo, who had been stealing glances at Jooin, noticed the improved atmosphere and shrugged, awkwardly laughing along, “Haha.”

What should I do with him now? As he was pondering with his chin in his hand, a loud growling sound echoed from under the table.

“…Ah.”

At the same time, Hyunwoo ducked his head under the table. He had already heard everything, but the way he pretended to be looking for something was also incredibly clumsy. Jooin couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing with a snort.

“Then let’s go get some food instead of coffee. I haven’t eaten a single meal yet.”

“What? No, Hyung, are you hungry? I’m not hungry, actually, I think I might be a little hungry, no, anyway. If you want to go, of course I have to go with you.”

Noticing Jooin starting to reconsider his offer due to his loud reaction, Hyunwoo quickly added more words and shot up from his seat.

“Hurry, let’s go. Ah, I’m hungry.”

Hyunwoo hastily grabbed his bag and pulled on Jooin’s wrist.

👾🎮

It was too hasty.

Hyunwoo’s face twisted badly as he reached the front of the restaurant. Inside the glass door hung a large sign, on which the words ‘Temporarily Closed’ were clearly written.

Hyunwoo let out a sigh as soon as he saw the sign.

“Oh, come on.”

He felt ashamed of himself for getting so excited and rushing over at Baek Jooin’s suggestion for a meal. Even if he couldn’t make a reservation, he should have at least checked if they were open. His face, already warmed by the hot summer air, turned an even deeper shade of red.

But he couldn’t give up like this.

‘The indomitable gambler, I am Jeon Hyunwoo!’

His eyes shining, Hyunwoo pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Jooin, who was watching the busily fidgeting Hyunwoo, looked around the familiar alley.

The place the two had chosen for their meeting was, strictly speaking, near Jooin’s house. The location had been chosen considering the band practice schedule that was originally supposed to be in the evening.

In any case, he was the one who had invited him over, so his conscience wouldn’t allow him to let Hyunwoo struggle alone. Plus, a place did come to mind.

The only problem was that the place was a regular haunt for him and his band members, a place they visited at least once every three days.

When he thought about it, Hyunwoo wasn’t a friend, but not a stranger either; it was ambiguous to even call him an acquaintance. The thought that it might not be right to reveal such a place to him kept holding him back. Jooin couldn’t help but worry, as he had once introduced a favorite spot to someone he had known for a short while, only to experience something akin to being stalked.

As he was contemplating, Jooin glanced at Hyunwoo.

“Is this place better? Or here?”

If left alone, he looked like he might just enter the phone itself. There was no particular sinister vibe coming from Hyunwoo, who was exploring the map app with fiery eyes.

‘Well, it should be fine.’

It’s not like he’d actually come looking for me.

Having made up his mind, Jooin tapped Hyunwoo’s shoulder and said.

“That’s enough. You can stop looking.”

“No, Hyung. We decided to eat. No take-backs. I’m really hungry. Oh, here! This place looks really good. I’ve put five places on a list for now, take a look and decide-.”

“I think you forgot. This is the neighborhood I live in.”

“Aha.”

Hyunwoo, who hadn’t taken his eyes off his phone screen despite Jooin’s attempts to stop him, finally straightened his hunched posture.

“It’s just that I know a place nearby. It’s a bar, but they sell food too.”

A bar was even better. As Hyunwoo nodded without a hint of hesitation, Jooin pointed behind Hyunwoo and said.

“That way.”

👾🎮

The place Jooin took Hyunwoo to was an izakaya with a cozy atmosphere. As soon as they opened the wooden sliding door, a booming greeting was heard.

“Welcome!”

Hyunwoo unknowingly turned to Jooin and blinked in surprise. Jooin gave a slight shrug and pushed Hyunwoo’s back.

“What are you doing? Go in.”

After pushing Hyunwoo into the restaurant, Jooin closed the door behind him. The place, with its walls packed full of trinkets, smelled more of faint wood than food.

Just then, an employee who was busy moving around behind the bar looked up.

“Huh? Jooin!”

“Hello.”

The owner, having identified the customer, smiled brightly and came out from the kitchen.

Wiping his wet hands on the apron tied around his waist, the owner walked past Hyunwoo with a friendly smile. Then he rushed straight to Jooin and greeted him warmly.

“What brings you here alone?”

“I’m not alone.”

“What?”

At the owner’s reaction, Hyunwoo awkwardly scratched his cheek.

No wonder he was looking at him like he was a strange person for not coming inside. It seemed he thought Jooin and he were separate customers.

The owner’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Jooin and the tall young man standing next to him.

“What the!”

“What about it?”

Already feeling displeased by the owner’s reaction, Jooin retorted in a blunt tone. The owner, who was no stranger to Jooin being like this, wasn’t fazed at all and offered Hyunwoo a handshake with a sly grin.

“I thought our Jooin had no-o-o friends other than the band kids. Guess I was wrong?”