CH 21

“Minseong, order some drinks. Different kinds.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Minseong quickly rang a bell to order liquor. As it was a high-end beef restaurant that served Korean beef, there were varied liquors and quite a few high-end ones.

“Wah, I’ve never seen these drinks before.”

Even though Sugyeom had never drank liquor before, he had seen beer and soju not only in advertisements here and there but also on his way to and from. It could also be spotted in almost every restaurant.

He had naturally thought the drinks ordered this time would be as such, but what the employee had brought were liquors he was seeing for the first time.

There was liquor with a round ice and lemon in a glass, and also a luxurious-designed liquor bottle.

“It’s your first time drinking, so I ordered you something good.”

Seonuk grinned and held out the glass containing the round ice. Sugyeom quickly picked up his own glass with a look of excitement. Following him, the other members took their share one by one.

“What’s this called?”

“Highball. It’s usually called that.”

Sugyeom nodded after hearing Seonuk’s explanation. Like a puppy waiting for a treat, he looked at Seonuk with sparkling eyes. Seonuk smiled, having understood the meaning behind it.

Seonuk raised his glass and held it forward. Although the members had never drank liquor before, they who had seen it somewhere, imitated Seonuk and held up their glasses.

Except for Yuchan, a minor, the other four members of U-PITE, Minseong, and Seonuk, clashed their glasses in the air.

As soon as the plain toast that couldn’t even be called a toast ended, Seonuk spoke.

“Drink. But don’t drink too fast. I don’t know how much you can handle.”

“Yep!”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Will do.”

“Yes!”

The members readily answered. Meanwhile, Yuchan simply watched silently with a calm expression.

Since it was everyone’s first time drinking, they carefully held the glasses to their lips. Except for Sugyeom.

Sugyeom was full of excitement drinking for the first time.

There was also some groundless confidence of a beginner drinking for the first time. The sort of confidence that although he hadn’t tried yet, he was going to drink a lot.

Therefore, unlike the other members who only took one or two sips, Sugyeom ignored Seonuk’s warning and emptied half of his glass at once.

“You’ll get drunk.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s like a normal drink. It doesn’t taste like alcohol at all.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Wah, it’s really good. Right, Taewon-hyung?!”

“Yeah. It’s good. It’s like a normal drink.”

Sugyeom admired the liquor’s taste as he poked Taewon’s side next to him to acknowledge.

Taewon, quickly noticing the half-empty glass, alternately looked at Sugyeom’s face and the glass.

“Drink slowly. You don’t even know how much you can drink.”

“Eh, even if I don’t know, I can drink at least one. No way am I going to get drunk on this?”

“Ehm, for some reason, I think you would.”

“I-I won’t!”

Sugyeom’s unfounded self confidence was damaged by Taewon’s remark. He couldn’t stay still. He deliberately emptied the remaining liquor in a flash.

“Kya, see. I’m fine.”

“I have an ominous feeling…”

Hansol, who was watching, intervened.

“What? What do you mean ominous?”

Sugyeom asked sharply. Hansol hid his worried look as if he had never done so and smiled brightly.

“Nothing, I’m just talking to myself.”

“Gosh. Come on, Director! Can I have another drink?”

“Drink as much as you like. But if you get drunk, I’ll dump you on the street, so be careful.”

“Eh, that won’t happen.”

Sugyeom replied nonchalantly despite Seonuk’s warning.

Contrary to the concerns from the other members, he was really fine. He didn’t even feel like he was drinking.

AD

Although he felt as if his mood had gotten better, he didn’t think it was from being drunk. Perhaps it was just from the excitement and joy of drinking for the first time.

He thought as such as he began to eye the other liquor.

“Do you want me to mix the Bokbunja with Sprite?”

“Eh, I want to drink it alone. If you mix it with Sprite, could it still be called alcohol?”

“Ehm…Okay, of course.”

Seonuk thought for a moment and then nodded after hearing Sugyeom’s confident remark.

Although he was worried, he didn’t want to awkwardly impose restrictions when he himself had given them permission. And, Sugyeom’s tolerance was surprisingly high, so he didn’t think he needed to stop him when he liked drinking so much.

And even if Sugyeom became drunk, what could he do when drunk?

Seonuk thought lightly as he poured the Bokbunja and held it to Sugyeom. Sugyeom happily accepted the Bokbunja and emptied it soon after.

Pouring, drinking, and ordering more. It was when everyone thought U-PITE’s first drinking session was going smoothly.

“…Hyung, are you okay?”

Yuchan looked at Sugyeom and said worryingly.

AD

He had noticed the frequency of Sugyeom smiling had increased. He hadn’t been worried because the other members were also gradually getting louder and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. However, he thought Sugyeom wasn’t fine the more he watched.

Sugyeom instantly threw away the liquor he was drinking and covered his face with his hands.

“Hey, Sugyeom. Are you okay?”

Igyeom, who had been drinking all this time, put down his glass when he saw Sugyeom’s sudden behavior.

While the same was happening all around, Sugyeom, the cause of this, remained silent. Soon, his shoulders shook.

“What, are you crying…?”

Igyeom asked cautiously. Sugyeom’s hands still covered his face as his small shoulders shook.

“Sugyeom, Sugyeom?”

Even Seonuk worriedly called out to Sugyeom. Although he knew there were people who cried when drunk, he was quite shocked because he didn’t imagine Sugyeom was that kind.

He wouldn’t have let Sugyeom continue drinking if he knew this would happen, but now it was too late. Sugyeom’s shoulders shook harder and harder.

“Hyung, hyuung. Are you okay? Hyuung.”

Hansol’s pronunciation was quite crushed, perhaps because he was drunk. However, he wasn’t so intoxicated that he didn’t know Sugyeom was crying. He looked at Sugyeom with a slightly flushed face.

“Heuk…”

“Sugyeom, Gyeom, what’s wrong?”

Taewon sitting next to Sugyeom patted his small shoulders when he heard a cry leaked out.

A cold silence filled the room.

As soon as Minseong nervously gulped,

“Heuk, hahahaha, hahahahahaha!”

Sugyeom started laughing like a madman.

His hands, which had been covering his face, busily wiped away the tears around his eyes. When the others saw it, they knew Sugyeom’s tears weren’t because he was sad.

“I feel so good, wah. This is the best!”

Sugyeom clapped and shouted, even laughing so hard that he found it hard to breathe.

Although Seonuk was relieved that Sugyeom wasn’t crying, he shook his head in disbelief at the fact that he was smiling all this time while everyone was worried.

“Sugyeom, why are you so happy?”

“Just, everything is good. It’s nice to drink with the Director like this…It’s good to eat meat with the Director…Also…It’s nice to drink with the Director…It’s good to eat meat with the Director…D-did I already say that? Then, it’s nice to drink with the Director…”

Seonuk covered his mouth with the back of his hand when he heard Sugyeom repeating the same words and giggling.

“Sugyeom, do you like drinking and eating meat with me that much?”

“Yes! I love it. Awesome, really, the most, the best.”

Sugyeom nodded his head to the point where his pink hair shook. Seonuk stared at him and slowly opened his mouth.

“Sugyeom. If you like drinking and eating meat with me, then do you like me?”

“Heuk, is that how it works?”

“Of course, that’s how it works.”

Sugyeom widened his eyes as if he was surprised. His expression was like that of a rabbit caught by surprise. Seonuk laughed and waited for Sugyeom’s next words.

“A-ah, I see…I guess so, then. I like the Director, that’s right.”

Sugyeom talked to himself and nodded his head as if he had gained a deep realization. Seonuk couldn’t hold back his smile when he heard his response.

Meanwhile, the other members looked at Sugyeom with strange expressions.

AD

“I see, so Sugyeom likes me.”

After Seonuk responded in a playful voice, Sugyeom nodded enthusiastically several times.

“Right, it’s like that. I like the Director. That’s right.”

“Hahaha, Sugyeom. What am I going to do with you?”

“By the way, Director.”

“Ehm, tell me.”

Seonuk tilted his head, looking into Sugyeom’s eyes that had become very serious for an instant. Sugyeom was drunk, so his eyes that were half-open naturally looked cute.

“I like Taewon-hyung and Cha Igyeom…He’s kind of annoying, but I like him too…? And our Sol…I like our Sol too…What should I do, I like Yuchan too?”

“Huh…?”

“Hehe. Shall we just live together?”