ACTSV chapter 75

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Compared to other tables, theirs was producing a lot of smoke. Even though the vent was working hard, plenty of smoke escaped to the side.

The old barbecue restaurant was crowded, with tables close together. Many customers were already quite drunk, making the atmosphere loud.

The small space meant voices were often drowned out by the surrounding noise, so people had to shout or lean in close to talk.

It was far from Soohyuk and Wonbeom’s usual preference. They wouldn’t have even considered this place if not for Jingyeom.

“…”

Jingyeom gently lowered the tongs he had been holding.

“Burn it as much as you want. Grill as much as you like.”

“Burning the meat isn’t good for your health.”

“Just eat the meat that’s cooked.”

Soohyuk tried to cheer Jingyeom up, seeing him disheartened by the burnt meat.

But then, after Jinwoo added his comment, Soohyuk quickly changed his approach.

He took the tongs from Jingyeom and put them aside.

Burning the meat didn’t matter, but it wasn’t worth doing something bad for your health.

Jingyeom’s lips pouted out even more.

“Hyung, open wide.”

Jinwoo made a wrap and brought it to Jingyeom’s mouth. Even though he was upset, Jingyeom opened his mouth wide and ate it.

The wrap was small, but still big enough to puff up Jingyeom’s cheeks. As he chewed, Jingyeom’s eyes rolled around, noticing the focused gaze on him.

Since his mouth was full, he tilted his head to express his question: Why were they all staring at him instead of eating?

“That’s a lot to fit in such a small mouth.”

As Soohyuk spoke, he placed a bit of rice, well-grilled pork belly, and other wrap ingredients on a lettuce leaf. He rolled it up into a ball.

“…Is it too big?”

He had intended to give the wrap to Jingyeom, but realized it might be too large. Regretfully, he had to eat it himself.

Watching Jinwoo feed Jingyeom made Soohyuk want to do the same, but this time he couldn’t.

From earlier, Wonbeom, who had been quiet, briefly wondered why he was sitting there enduring the smell. He considered getting up, but seeing Jinwoo and Jingyeom eating happily, he held back.

Moreover, Jingyeom seemed so happy eating the meat that Wonbeom decided to stick around to watch him, anchoring himself to his seat with patience.

“Director Tak, ah.”

“…Are you crazy?”

“Let’s just look out for each other, like we used to.”

Wonbeom slightly frowned at the sudden actions of Soohyuk.

“There’s a limit to how much nonsense—ugh!”

Soohyuk, smirking, took advantage of the moment Wonbeom opened his mouth and forcefully shoved a lettuce wrap into it. No one else would dare to act like this.

Soohyuk stared at Wonbeom’s face with a smile. He knew he was one of the few who could get away with such behavior.

Normally, Wonbeom wouldn’t have been caught off guard like this. But with his senses temporarily elsewhere, he couldn’t react in time.

Remembering how Jingyeom had reacted awkwardly when he’d called something “nonsense” last time, Wonbeom refrained from swearing and reluctantly chewed on the wrap Soohyuk had given him.

Before long, Wonbeom’s brow furrowed as the sharp taste of garlic overwhelmed his mouth. The more he chewed, the stronger the flavor became, causing him to grimace deeply.

“Ahaha!”

Soohyuk burst out laughing, slapping his leg and nearly choking on his laughter, until he noticed Wonbeom’s fierce glare that could have killed.

He quickly shut his mouth, though he couldn’t hide his shaking shoulders.

Jinwoo and Jingyeom, who didn’t understand why Soohyuk was laughing, looked around in confusion until they noticed that half of the garlic in a small dish had disappeared, and then they understood the situation.

“Director, are you okay?”

Jingyeom hurriedly offered him water.

“…”

“Oh no…”

Whatever the strength of the garlic, Wonbeom’s scrunched-up face wouldn’t relax.

“Don’t chew, just spit it out!”

Jingyeom, looking around the table, handed Wonbeom an empty plate to spit into.

Wonbeom took the plate, but instead of spitting it out, he swallowed what was in his mouth. The spicy taste still lingered.

He was sure it would take several brushings at home to get rid of it.

Soohyuk was laughing so hard that tears formed in his eyes.

“That’s what you get for spacing out like that.”

“…Phew.”

Wonbeom downed the water in one gulp to cool his rising anger, hoping to dilute the garlic flavor, but it didn’t help.

“In return, let me make you a wrap.”

“No, thanks. I don’t like wraps. I’ll just eat.”

Although he politely declined, Wonbeom began piling the remaining garlic onto a lettuce leaf, adding some finely chopped chili peppers as well.

“Isn’t that a bit too much? At least I added rice and meat.”

“Eat those separately.”

As Soohyuk tried to back away, Wonbeom quickly grabbed him by the collar, determined to stuff the wrap into his mouth. Soohyuk resisted, grabbing onto Wonbeom’s arm.

Jingyeom, whose eyes widened at Wonbeom’s uncharacteristic behavior, was surprised. Soohyuk’s teasing was expected, but Wonbeom’s reaction was unexpected.

The wrap eventually made its way into Soohyuk’s mouth, never to come out again, as Wonbeom firmly held his jaw to prevent him from spitting it out.

Amid the chaos, Jinwoo diligently grilled meat and offered a small wrap to Jingyeom.

“Hyung, eat.”

“Huh? Oh… okay…”

Jingyeom worried about leaving the two as they were, fearing that with their strong personalities, this could escalate into a big fight.

Watching the two wrestle with anxious eyes, Jingyeom saw Jinwoo sigh. Though he wasn’t inclined to intervene, seeing Jingyeom worried, he reluctantly inserted the tongs between the two.

“Both of you, stop it. You’re not kids; what are you doing?”

With Jinwoo’s intervention, Wonbeom released his grip. Soohyuk, who had nearly fallen backward, finally sat upright.

“Ha, I thought I was going to die. You should’ve stopped us sooner.”

“I would have, but hyung was getting scared, so I had to.”

Jinwoo emphasized the word “scared,” causing Wonbeom to pause.

He thought Jingyeom was finally comfortable around him, but it seemed he had scared him again.

This was entirely Soohyuk’s fault for provoking him.

From the beginning of their acquaintance, he had always ignored Soohyuk’s teasing, but the noise and crowd must have gotten on his nerves, causing him to act impulsively.

Soohyuk, sensing Wonbeom’s brief sigh, chuckled.

“Ah, that was fun.”

“…Are you okay?”

Jingyeom asked cautiously, and Soohyuk nodded with a smile.

Despite having eaten the entire spicy wrap, he showed no sign of discomfort.

“I’m good with spicy food. This is nothing.”

At those words, Wonbeom’s brow furrowed again, annoyed by Soohyuk’s smug grin.

Despite the minor commotion, it was a relatively peaceful meal.

Jingyeom, who had already set down the tongs, gave up on grilling meat and enjoyed what Jinwoo cooked for him.

Wonbeom, who hadn’t planned on eating much, was forced to continue due to the garlic-laden wrap Soohyuk had fed him.

The lingering taste of garlic still hadn’t faded.

Feeling full, Jingyeom walked over to the ice cream freezer he had eyed earlier.

Standing confidently in front of it, he grabbed a cone in one hand and a scoop in the other.

No one had asked for ice cream, but he wanted to try scooping it, just because he never had before. However, the hard ice cream didn’t scoop easily.

After struggling for a while, the restaurant owner came over and helped him, which he accepted with a grateful smile.

“Thank you.”

He didn’t forget to bow in gratitude.

The four of them, having left the restaurant, decided to walk a bit to get rid of the lingering smell on their clothes.

Being a Friday night, the streets were crowded.

The alley was narrow, so they walked with some distance between them, with Jingyeom carefully ensuring he didn’t bump into anyone.

Each of them was holding an ice cream that Jingyeom had scooped, so even if they didn’t want to eat it, they accepted it without complaint.

Soohyuk, having finished his ice cream, tossed the cone wrapper into a trash can.

He didn’t really want to eat it after seeing the owner handle it, though it would’ve been fine if only Jingyeom had touched it.

He didn’t even like ice cream, but he forced himself to eat it because he couldn’t discard it in front of Jingyeom.

Jinwoo and Soohyuk ate theirs, while Wonbeom still held onto his.

Watching Jingyeom nibble on his cone, Soohyuk casually asked, “What are you doing this weekend?”

“Hmm… cleaning up, getting ready for my hospital visit…”

“That’ll take a day. How about spending the other day with me?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

As usual, Jinwoo cut in sharply before Jingyeom could answer. He didn’t have any grand plans, but he intended to spend the weekend alone with Jingyeom.

After being bothered by Soohyuk, Wonbeom, and Secretary Yang for nearly two weeks, he needed some time alone with him.

Undeterred, Soohyuk pressed on, “You don’t have anything to do anyway. If you don’t want to hang out with just me, we can bring Baek Secretary along.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Jingyeom clapped his hands, trying to change the atmosphere as he wondered why they were arguing over him.

“Director, is there something you want to do?”

“Yeah, let’s watch a movie. It’s not like we can do much else, and since you watch a lot of YouTube, I figured you’d enjoy it.”

At the mention of a movie, Jingyeom’s eyes lit up.

He did enjoy watching movie reviews on YouTube and even kept a list of movies to watch later.

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