ACTSV chapter 76

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“Are we going to watch the movie in the theater?”

“Do you want to go?”

Jingyeom nodded enthusiastically.

“If you want to go, we should. It’s not that hard. We can go right now if you want.”

“Right now… maybe not.”

The strong smell of meat clung to their clothes, making it a bit uncomfortable to go immediately.

Understanding this, Soohyuk nodded with a smile.

“When do you want to go? Tomorrow? The day after?”

“I’m fine with whenever!”

Jingyeom answered quickly but then hesitated, glancing shyly at Jinwoo.

He suddenly realized that in all the time they’d spent together, he hadn’t seen Jinwoo get a proper rest.

‘It’s probably because of me…’

Even after work, Jinwoo was busy with household chores, never getting a break.

Whenever Jingyeom tried to help with the cooking, Jinwoo would firmly refuse and send him away.

After Jingyeom cut his finger while trying to make tteokbokki last time, Jinwoo had completely banned him from the kitchen.

Jinwoo always did the cooking, while Jingyeom’s role was limited to setting the table.

This had always weighed on his mind.

Next Monday, Jingyeom would be hospitalized for surgery and wouldn’t be able to go out for a while during recovery.

Tomorrow and the day after were the only chances they had left to do things together, and he wanted to make up for lost time.

Jingyeom looked at Jinwoo with moist, earnest eyes. Jinwoo, after pursing his lips for a moment, finally spoke.

“…Nothing scary, though.”

Jinwoo wanted to refuse firmly again, but Jingyeom’s pleading eyes made it impossible to say no.

Seeing Jinwoo give in, Jingyeom’s face lit up with a broad smile, which made Jinwoo smile too.

If he had known Jingyeom would be this happy, he would have agreed to go out and have fun sooner.

Excited, Jingyeom chatted with Soohyuk about which movie to watch as they walked ahead.

When he asked Wonbeom if he wanted to join them, Wonbeom nodded lightly.

Jinwoo’s pace slowed down. Watching the three from a step behind, a short sigh escaped his lips.

At some point, the four of them had started spending more time together, and the atmosphere had become more relaxed than before.

‘Is it because Jingyeom has changed…?’

Jinwoo had also started to put up fewer barriers between himself and the other two.

‘They must have noticed.’

There was no way the other two didn’t notice something Jinwoo himself had realized. That’s probably why they kept trying to do things together.

Jinwoo’s gaze fell on Jingyeom. Jingyeom often watched movie reviews on NutView. He would occasionally mention wanting to watch those movies together someday.

That was why Jinwoo couldn’t coldly refuse Soohyuk’s suggestion.

‘…Aren’t they getting too close?’

Jingyeom, wedged between the two large men, seemed unusually small.

Just as Jinwoo was about to catch up before they got too far ahead, Jingyeom turned around.

Jingyeom, after popping the last of his corn chips into his mouth, brushed off his hands and reached out his arm.

“Jinwoo.”

Jinwoo looked at the outstretched arm, inviting him to grab it, and with a soft smile, he took Jingyeom’s small hand. The complicated feelings he had melted away in an instant.

‘As long as Jingyeom can keep smiling…’

Nothing else mattered anymore.

---

Standing in front of the mirror, Jingyeom swept his now long hair away from his neck. It had grown so much that it was probably time for a trim.

“Hyung, I’m going out first.”

“Huh? Let’s go together!”

Jingyeom snatched his bag off the bed and rushed out of the room. He quickly shoved his feet into his sneakers at the entrance.

Then, noticing the large bag by the shoe rack, he wrinkled his nose slightly.

‘It’s already tomorrow.’

He had to be admitted to the hospital next week, so he and Jinwoo had gone shopping yesterday.

They’d planned to watch the movie on Sunday, so they had decided to stay in yesterday, but Jinwoo suggested going out, and Jingyeom quickly agreed.

He’d wanted to buy Jinwoo a few things, and it was the perfect opportunity.

Jinwoo followed Jingyeom wherever he led.

Whatever Jingyeom picked out for him, Jinwoo tried on and bought.

They ended up with quite a few shopping bags.

They bought a suit and quite a few casual clothes for everyday wear.

Besides clothes, they also picked out shoes, bags, and other things that would suit Jinwoo well without hesitation.

Jinwoo had originally come out to help Jingyeom buy the things he needed for his upcoming hospital stay, but he ended up receiving a lot of gifts instead.

Jingyeom paid for everything. Even when Jinwoo tried to pay, Jingyeom wouldn’t let him.

Although he had to spend most of the money he had saved in his bank account, it was a very satisfying and pleasant expenditure.

After that, they packed everything Jingyeom would need for the hospital stay.

Jinwoo did most of the packing. Jingyeom, not knowing what to pack, just sat on the bed and watched.

‘Everything will be okay, right?’

At first, Jingyeom hadn’t taken his illness too seriously, but now that he had experienced the pain, he was a little worried about going through it again.

But he wasn’t afraid of dying.

In the novel, if Baek Jingyeom’s death had been due to his illness, he might have been terrified, but since it was because he was buried alive by Tak Wonbeom’s subordinates, Jingyeom had a strong belief that the surgery would go well.

As Jingyeom moved his gaze from the bag to the front door, he made eye contact with Jinwoo, who was standing there.

Jinwoo’s eyes quickly scanned Jingyeom’s body.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Aren’t you dressed up a bit too much?”

“This?”

Jingyeom stepped outside and looked over his outfit.

He was wearing a slightly oversized Sprite T-shirt and white cotton shorts.

If he had wanted to dress up, he would have chosen something else.

To Jingyeom, Jinwoo was the one who seemed dressed up. It was a style Jingyeom hadn’t seen on Jinwoo before, which made it stand out more.

When you opened Jinwoo’s closet, his clothes were neatly organized by color, making it easy to find what you wanted.

White, gray, navy, black. That’s why they had bought a wider variety of clothes yesterday.

Today, Jinwoo was wearing something Jingyeom had coordinated for him.

“Jinwoo, you look great.”

“Really? Someone helped me put this together last night.”

Jinwoo’s answer made Jingyeom nod in satisfaction, feeling proud.

Jinwoo didn’t want to spoil Jingyeom’s mood, but he couldn’t help but point out that Jingyeom’s outfit left too much skin exposed.

“Wear long pants. The UV index is high today.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“At least wear a hat. I’ll go get one.”

“No need. Don’t go back in!”

Jingyeom quickly closed the front door and locked it.

After making sure it was securely locked, he turned around again.

The clear, dust-free sky made him even more excited for the day.

“We’re going to be late. Let’s go.”

---

Last night, Soohyuk had texted Jingyeom, offering to pick him up, but Jingyeom had declined, which left Soohyuk feeling a bit down.

To make matters worse, Wonbeom had insisted Soohyuk pick him up, so they were now on their way to the meeting place together.

According to the original plan, Jingyeom should have been sitting in the passenger seat, but with Wonbeom sitting there instead, Soohyuk was even more displeased.

“Do you never consider taking a taxi?”

“Not really.”

“Then you should have called Mr. Kim to drive you.”

“I did call a driver. You, Director Sun.”

Wonbeom’s response made Soohyuk stifle a laugh. It would have been nice if Wonbeom’s tone changed when he was joking, but his voice remained the same as always.

As Soohyuk casually turned the steering wheel, he spoke.

“I thought I got fired when you kicked me out of your house. I figured I was out of a job.”

“I kicked you out, but I didn’t fire you.”

Wonbeom’s casual response left no room for argument.

---

Jingyeom and Jinwoo, who had arrived at the meeting place early, headed to the floor where the movie theater was located.

The weekend crowds were overwhelming, and Jinwoo held onto Jingyeom tightly, ensuring he wouldn’t get jostled.

“Look, pamphlets.”

Jingyeom picked up a pamphlet for the movie they were about to watch and read through it.

“This should be fun, right?”

“The ratings are good, and the reviews are positive. Besides, the other movies are a bit…”

“…Yeah, I guess.”

Last night, Jingyeom had excitedly searched for currently showing movies.

Despite his worries that he might want to watch them all, the choices turned out to be limited.

Since it was summer, horror movies made up more than half of the selection.

When Soohyuk had offered to book the tickets, telling Jingyeom to pick whatever he

wanted, Jingyeom chose the safest option: a family comedy.

Jingyeom looked around with anticipation.

“I hope it’s fun.”

“It’ll be fun.”

Jinwoo checked the time. It was getting close to their meeting time.

‘I hope they don’t show up…’

He hoped something would suddenly come up for both of them, preventing them from arriving, but soon enough, they approached with an aura that was impossible to miss, even from a distance.

Not only was their head slightly higher than those around them, but the surrounding buzz was too loud to ignore.

“They must be here.”

“…Looks like it.”

Jingyeom, seemingly noticing them too, tiptoed and waved eagerly when their eyes met with Soohyuk’s.

Jingyeom couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration, just like he had done with Jinwoo, as he took a step back to admire their outfits.

Having always seen them in suits, their casual attire felt refreshing, and surprisingly, it suited them well.

Although he had seen Soohyuk in casual clothes before, it had been at night, and he hadn’t had a good look.

“What are you doing as soon as we meet?”

“Oh, nothing… you both look really good.”

“You look good too.”

“I know!”

“…Right. Hard to not know.”

Although sincere, Soohyuk had hoped his comment would make Jingyeom blush, but Jingyeom was all too aware of his own good looks.

Jinwoo, who had been standing a step behind, also approached.

“You really came.”

“Would we have come as fakes? You were the one who stopped us from picking you up, right?”

“No way. I just said I wanted to take the bus, and you just agreed to go with me.”

Soohyuk clicked his tongue slightly at Jinwoo’s expressionless response.

After all, if he wanted to develop a deeper relationship with Jingyeom, he’d need to get closer to Jinwoo too.

If Jinwoo continued to oppose him, even if he won Jingyeom’s heart, he would hit a major roadblock and wouldn’t be able to move forward.

Before, it might have been different.

But now, looking at their relationship, it was clear they were close.

Moreover, it seemed Jinwoo had already taken a disliking to him, so he wasn’t sure where to start fixing things.

That didn’t mean he was in a rush.

He still had plenty of time.

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