Published at 8th of January 2021 03:09:43 PM
Hyeonu’s life was now more relaxed . He slept two hours earlier and had regular meals . Naturally, the number of times he went to do PT in the gym also increased . As such, his body improved faster .
Hyeonu was currently standing in front of the mirror and tidying his hair for the outing . He wasn’t particularly adept with his hands, so it wasn’t that great . However, his appearance meant he looked nice even just by roughly touching his head, almost as if he had gone to a beauty salon to get it styled .
“Gang Hyeonu, has your face blossomed? Did you eat chicken breast for a week and see a good effect take place?” Yeongchan was jealous and stared at Hyeonu with burning eyes .
There had been a great change in Hyeonu . It was like he had taken a step forward .
‘It is like there is a light on his face . . . ’ Yeongchan thought .
Perhaps it was because Hyeonu smiled more often lately . There had been a smile on his face for some time now . It wasn’t that he didn’t smile originally but that the frequency had definitely increased .
‘Does he have a girlfriend?’ Yeongchan wondered . In his experience, guys usually only showed such an appearance when there was a woman involved .
“Girl . . . By the way, where are you going today?” Yeongchan suppressed the words in his throat and said something else .
“I’m going to meet my Hyung-nim . Do you want to go too? I’ll introduce you . He is a good hyung,” Hyeonu suggested in reverse .
Yeongchan shook his head at Hyeonu’s suggestion and said, “Later . . . There are unavoidable circumstances later, so I think we can meet then . ”
“Isn’t this gender discrimination? Hey, you can’t do this . ”
Hyeonu understood the meaning behind Yeongchan’s words: ‘He doesn’t want to go because it is a man . ’
Yeongchan had been strange these days . The number of his outings had sharply decreased, and he didn’t leave the house at all unless he had something scheduled . There was only one reason that explained Yeongchan’s situation .
“Hey, were you dumped again? Why haven’t you been leaving the house recently? Stop getting dumped . Why do you get dumped over and over again? Weren’t you running out a lot?” Hyeonu smiled as he stabbed a dagger in Yeongchan’s chest .
It wasn’t just one . He stabbed deeply several times .
“Hey! Gang Hyeonu, you bast . . . ”
Hyeonu left Yeongchan behind and quickly escaped the house with smooth movements .
“Just rot at home, Yeongchan!”
***
In Itaewon, the red Panamera was eye-catching at the place where Hyeonu arrived .
‘Why did he ask to meet here?’
It was a place that didn’t match the image of Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu . Those two . . .
They were more suitable for luxury hotels, rather than Itaewon . The two of them were older, so it was inevitable that Hyeonu felt this way .
‘I’m sorry . . . but it’s true . ’
Hyeonu left his car in the underground parking lot of Hamilton Hotel next to Itaewon Station and took to the streets . Itaewon on a Saturday night was gorgeous . People were gathered in groups of three or five, chattering and enjoying Itaewon together . Waking amidst them, Hyeonu stood out . He turned his head left and right like he was looking for someone, attracting the attention of others like a magnet .
‘Where are they?’
They definitely promised to meet at the subway exit . Yet no matter where he looked, he couldn’t see Gang Junggu and Kim Seokjung at all . Just then, a luxurious blue convertible appeared with a heavy exhaust sound, and a silver goddess showed her face shyly on the bonnet of the car .
Kim Seokjung, who wore black sunglasses, waved to Hyeonu and shouted, “Hey! Dongsaeng! Get in!”
The eyes of the crowd once again focused on Hyeonu .
“How did you get a car? How long have you been in South Korea…?” Hyeonu asked .
He knew about the car Kim Seokjung was in . Although he didn’t know the precise model, he knew its emblem well . It was a car that couldn’t be purchased with money alone .
“He brought over an old car he used to drive . I only knew about it at the airport parking lot . I should’ve noticed based on the way he was walking so confidently . . . ” Gang Junggu replied from the driver’s seat .
The back seat where Hyeonu now sat was full of beer . It wasn’t just stacked on the seats but also under his feet . As Hyeonu didn’t know anything about it, he asked, “Why is there so much beer?”
Hyeonu really didn’t know anything because Kim Seokjung hadn’t told him anything . He just knew they were going to be eating and drinking .
“We just stopped by Itaewon to buy beer . As you can see . . . I like it . ” Kim Seokjung pointed to the pile of beer . Looking closely, there were many types of beer that Hyeonu was seeing for the first time . There wasn’t a single bottle of common domestic beer . All of them were unfamiliar imported and bottled beers .
“I also called the chicken restaurant . Let’s grab it and go to Han River . Chicken and beer is fashionable these days, chicken and beer!” Kim Seokjung exclaimed cheerfully .
***
The place that Kim Seokjung arrived at with his bottled beer and chicken didn’t match the luxurious car at all . It was Banpo Hangang Park . They parked in the parking lot and moved to the park with their hands full of beer and chicken . After placing down the bag of beer and chicken onto the grass of the park, Hyeonu opened up the blanket that had been tucked under his armpits .
“Please sit here . ”
The moment Hyeonu’s words were over, Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu put down their bags and sat down . Kim Seokjung quickly opened the box of chicken the moment he sat down . He took a big bite of a golden chicken drumstick and marveled, “Kuek . . . As expected, South Korea is about chicken . . . Delicious!”
The combination of crispy texture and perfect amount of seasoning was amazing . Sure enough, Korean fried chicken was worthy of its reputation .
“It would be icing on the cake to drink beer with this,” Kim Seokjung said . Then he put down the chicken leg, grabbed the beer bottle, and raised it directly to his mouth .
“By the way, has something good happened these days? Your face is a lot better than when you came to America,” Gang Junggu asked as he watched Hyeonu diligently eating chicken .
Hyeonu hadn’t properly heard Gang Junggu’s words and asked, “Huh?”
He had been too focused on eating the chicken and couldn’t figure out what the other two were saying .
“What is the reason for the oil flowing on your face? Is it this?” Kim Seokjung rubbed his thumb and index finger together with a sly smile .
It was the common Korean heart symbol . Hyeonu saw Kim Seokjung’s disgusting gesture and shook his head . He explained, “It isn’t like that . Things are just working out well . Personally, there have been many tough issues . . . But everything is going well now . ”
There was no such reason at all . There wasn’t even the common ambiguous relationship, let alone love .
‘Is there a woman I met recently?’
Looking back, there were some women . His blood mother, Yuri who was like a relative, Sunny who was his teammate, and Reina—there were only these four people at most . He couldn’t think of anyone else .
“Why are you living so hard when you’re young . . . ?” Gang Junggu looked at Kim Seokjung’s heart gesture and clicked his tongue .
Gang Junggu could barely understand Hyeonu, who had a tall height and handsome face as well as a lot of money . He simply couldn’t understand why a person who didn’t lack anything was living such an ascetic life .
‘He should enjoy it while it is good,’ Gang Junggu thought .
After all, there were many things you couldn’t do once you got older .
He went on to say, “Arena is good, but why not enjoy life? If you work too hard now, you will regret it later . Look carefully at me . I spent my youth following Hyung-nim, and now what? You will regret it when you get older . Don’t you think so? I’m telling you this clearly . ”
Hearing Gang Junggu’s sincere advice, Hyeonu’s expression stiffened . It was something he had never thought of before . The bankruptcy of his family, the army, and then his current self . . .
Due to the successive events, there had been no room for relaxation . It was only recently that his father’s condition improved and he had some economic leeway .
“I still think it is too early . I still have a situation to deal with . ” Hyeonu smiled bitterly .
Seeing this scene, Kim Seokjung struck Gang Junggu on the back, and an intense sound rang through the park .
Kim Seokjung said, “Don’t be like this . Moreover, you’re saying it’s because you followed me? That’s only because your popularity has decreased . ”
Stars momentarily appeared in front of Gang Junggu’s eyes, and it definitely wasn’t just one but several .
“Ah! Hyung-nim!” Gang Junggu cried out .
The atmosphere that could’ve become stiff was lightened due to Kim Seokjung’s wit .
“Our dongsaeng still has that thing—Pro League . ” Kim Seokjung took a sip of beer and shook the beer bottle .
There was a strange sense of reluctance from the way his eyes curved . Hyeonu didn’t know Kim Seokjung’s intentions and responded with a nod: “Yes, there isn’t much time left . A month? Well . . . it might be postponed a bit because of the territory . Regardless, I will still debut around that time . ”
“How about consolidating teamwuk? Isn’t it okay?”
“Teamwuk?”
“Team-wu-k . Team-wu-k . Teamwuk . ”
Pfft . The beer spilled from Hyeonu’s mouth . He barely suppressed the laughter that wanted to burst out .
“Yes, teamwork . It is good to build it up . But why are you suddenly mentioning it . . . ?” Hyeonu asked while wiping the beer with a paper towel .
“Why not? I want to go to a nice place with you . Hyung-nim is okay with it . I will handle everything,” Kim Seokjung said while pounding on his chest .
‘A trip . . . ’ Hyeonu thought it was a good idea . In any case, his schedule had room for a trip that would last one night and two days .
‘There is still a lot of time left with the quest anyway . ’
“I think it should be fine next week . I don't know about after that . ” Hyeonu gave a positive answer .
It was due to the emotions he felt after hearing Gang Junggu’s previous advice .
‘I should relax and enjoy myself while I have spare time . ’
In this way, he could recharge and become more passionate about Arena . It was a adjustment of his priorities .
“Good, good . I’ll go to the bathroom for a bit, so you finish up the details . ”
“I understand, Hyung-nim . ”
Kim Seokjung rose from his seat after hearing Gang Junggu’s answer and started to walk . He quickly disappeared from Hyeonu’s view .
“Then let’s set it for next week . ” Gang Junggu clapped his hands, causing fried chicken skin crumbs to fall from his hands .
“Is there a place you have in mind? You can just decide casually . . . ”
“The place is obvious . It’s near Australia . There is an island owned by Seokjung Hyung-nim . It’s on the Tuvalu side . ”
Hyeonu’s eyes widened and became so large they couldn’t enlarge any further . He asked, “It’s Hyung-nim’s island?”
“Yes, his own island . He bought it a few years ago . It cost him some money . . . Well . . . it’s a place only we can use . To tell you the truth, if Seokjung Hyung-nim wants to buy it, who can stop him?”
Hearing Gang Junggu’s words, Hyeonu nodded . It was indeed like that . Who could overturn Kim Seokjung’s decisions?
‘It would be great not to get hit . ’
“That’s true . It feels like something big would’ve happened if you stopped him . ”
Just then, Kim Seokjung appeared like a ghost and shoved his head beside Hyeonu’s .
“Something big? What would’ve happened? What is it? Tell me quickly,” Kim Seokjung said .
It was like the whisper of a messenger of the underworld . Hyeonu couldn’t answer, and his lips pressed together tightly . It was Gang Junggu who saved Hyeonu . Gang Junggu naturally spoke to Kim Seokjung, “Hyeonu will go next week . We have to take him at any cost . ”
“Really? What? Aren’t you grabbing the bottle? One shot, one shot!” Kim Seokjung smiled brightly and raised his beer bottle high into the sky . He opened the bottle at once . Soon after, he was placing down the emptied bottle and turning to look at Hyeonu .
“Now, I have to listen to your love history . . . Junggu has said it before, but you are too rigid,” Kim Seokjung stated . He opened a new beer bottle and continued, “Don’t be too serious about everything . It is about focusing lightly on the moment . Don’t be too tangled up in worries . ”