“Shall I bring out the wine right away, or would you prefer it with the start of the meal?”
At the manager’s question, Han Jooyoung eagerly stepped in.
“How about we open it now and sip while we wait? If we let it breathe a bit, it’ll taste better by the time the main comes out.”
Corkage, ratatouille, breathing wine.
Did one really need to hear such complicated terms just to eat a meal?
They had only just finished ordering, but Song Hyunsoo already felt tired.
He just wanted a cold glass of draft beer.
Why did it have to be an Italian restaurant?
If they had gone to a cocktail bar, he could’ve shown off in front of Han Jooyoung to his heart’s content.
Wine— which he neither knew much about nor drank often— was poured into his glass.
Hyunsoo simply mimicked what the others were doing to keep up appearances.
Jooyoung sniffed the wine both before and after swirling it, while Yoon Jooho gave his glass a few quick spins, took a short whiff, and then poured the wine smoothly into his mouth.
“So, what did you all do for Christmas? You were busy, weren’t you, sunbae?”
Shin Hyojin set her glass down and addressed Yoon Jooho first.
“Pretty much just ran around showing my face here and there. Hit four or five places in a day— it was rough.”
Jooho rubbed his eyelids, as if he still hadn’t fully shaken off the fatigue.
“I figured as much. You must get invited all over the place. For me, it just felt like a regular workday.”
“A party in name only—it’s all work, really.”
Jooho pressed his fingertip against the base of his wine glass, still resting on the table, and slowly spun it.
The deep red wine swirled languidly inside the transparent glass, forming a slow, mesmerizing vortex.
Hyunsoo wasn’t especially interested in wine, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Jooho’s deft swirling.
Like the way his older brothers used to whistle, or their flashy finger snaps— it all felt like part of what made someone seem grown-up.
Something worth imitating.
“What about you, Hyunsoo?”
“Sorry?”
Hyunsoo, who had been watching Jooho’s hand on the table, looked up at Hyojin’s question.
“You’re the youngest of us, so I imagine you did something fun.”
“You probably partied all night! Or had a romantic night in with your girlfriend,”
Jooyoung added, eyes sparkling with anticipation.
“I just drank with some coworkers at my place.”
“No girlfriend?”
“Nope. Haven’t had a girlfriend in quite a while.”
That alone would’ve sufficed, but Hyunsoo glanced at Jooho beside him and added with emphasis:
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a girlfriend.”
“Ah…”
“Still, I treated myself to a nice bottle of whiskey, grilled up some pork belly, and had cake… It was a pretty good night.”
They’d worn the Rudolph headbands and Santa hats Chaeyoung had brought, taken pictures, and even went up to the rooftop with sparklers Jeongho had bought, trying to snap a shot with the Christmas tree in the background.
They’d skipped script practice, and though Hyunsoo occasionally wondered what Jooho might’ve been doing that night, his friends had kept him smiling and laughing.
“Yeah… when you’re in your twenties, nothing beats hanging out with friends.”
Jooyoung’s response wasn’t exactly enthusiastic.
To him, a bottle of whiskey, pork belly, and cake might’ve seemed like a lackluster Christmas.
But that didn’t matter.
Hyunsoo could tell now— it wasn’t that Jooyoung was dismissive, just that it was a world unfamiliar to him. He didn’t get it, and that was okay.
“My skin’s a mess from drinking all the time, going out everywhere. This always happens at year-end.”
Grumbling, Hyojin gave her cheek a light pat and leaned in toward Yoon Jooho.
“Sunbae-nim, where do you really go for dermatology treatments?”
“……”
“There’s this clinic I’ve been going to at my company that referred me but I think I need to switch. All they do is try to upsell me stuff.”
Yoon Jooho raised his wine glass to his lips and feigned distraction.
“It’s a trade secret.”
“Come on…”
Shin Hyojin, half-pouting, turned her gaze to Song Hyunsoo.
“Hyunsoo, your skin is amazing too.”
“Me?”
Hyunsoo rubbed his cheek with the palm of his hand.
“Not a single blackhead on your nose. Your pores are super tight too. What did you do? PDT laser? Pore injections? Neither worked for me. You have to share your clinic.”
“I don’t really go to a dermatologist. I just use sheet masks sometimes. I stock up when they’re on sale at Olive Young.”
“Your company doesn’t take care of you at all, huh? I should have a word with them.”
“Actually, I don’t have a company.”
“You’re independent? That’s cool, Hyunsoo.”
“No, it’s nothing that fancy. I just work without a company.”
“Do you even drive yourself around? That must be exhausting.”
“I don’t even have a car yet…”
He hadn’t meant it that way— he was just answering honestly.
But each time Hyunsoo responded, the atmosphere grew more awkward.
Hyojin’s effort to keep the conversation going was kind, but the differences in their situations kept dragging the talk away from her intentions.
“Isn’t it a hassle to take taxis everywhere when you move between places?”
This time, Han Jooyoung chimed in.
It was just like Jooyoung to assume he’d be taking taxis if he didn’t have a car— more amusing than offensive.
“ is definitely shooting out of town, right? Should I introduce you to a dealer, Hyunsoo?”
“If I end up buying a car, I’ll let you know. Please do introduce me then.”
“You really have to say something! He’s a great dealer. Got me that AMG model they said would take six months in less than one. If not for him, I’d still be stuck calling taxis.”
“Haha… you’re really looking out for Hyunsoo, huh?”
Shin Hyojin gave Jooyoung’s shoulder a firm press, her awkward laugh betraying the subtle signal to stop.
But of course, Jooyoung didn’t pick up on it.
“When I first came back to Korea, I had to start over from scratch. It was a mess. I’d left all my cars back in the U.S., had to buy new ones here, none of the boutique sellers knew my taste, and I had to try out three or four hair salons before I found one I liked… It was a whole ordeal.”
He’d left behind not just one but all of his cars in the States, and now this was the hardship he’d endured to start fresh in Korea.
Hyunsoo almost laughed again.
To keep it in, he just kept sipping the wine he didn’t even really enjoy.
“Yeah. Sounds like a hell of a struggle.”
Whether to himself or to the group, Yoon Jooho muttered, with particular emphasis on hell.
This time, both Shin Hyojin and Song Hyunsoo couldn’t help it.
Krhm—
They swallowed their laughter.
Just as Jooyoung jumped up in protest, aiming to go after Jooho, the appetizers arrived.
After that came a swirl of pasta twirled into a single bite-sized portion on a large plate.
Not even close to filling.
Ah, I should’ve gone with the meat for the main.
The regret hit, but meat dishes were 50,000 won more expensive than the fish.
I might as well cook ramen at home.
For 50,000 won, I could get a whole plate of sashimi.
The pasta was cleared, and their wine glasses were refilled.
Then came the main course.
Predictably, the seabass steak portion was pitiful.
Just a couple of bites and it’d be gone.
No sooner had Hyunsoo’s fish been placed on the table than Jooyoung frowned.
“Oh my god, Hyunsoo! Who orders fish with red wine?”
It was practically a scream.
Before he could feel offended, Song Hyunsoo just felt caught off guard.
“Why? Is that not allowed?”
“Red wine with fish steak is way too astringent you can’t eat it.”
“I don’t really know much about wine…”
“Even if you don’t, that’s basic. Not even basic, just common sense. I’ll order a glass of white wine for you.”
Han Jooyoung pressed the call button hidden beneath the table.
His usual whip/carrot method: criticize first, then offer help.
Hyunsoo had brushed it off until now, chalking it up to the clueless ramblings of a privileged guy with no malice.
But this time, even he struggled to keep a neutral face.
He felt like some kind of horrible criminal— ordering fish steak with red wine.
Chewing on his lower lip, Hyunsoo instinctively glanced at Yoon Jooho.
Jooho usually chimed in whenever Jooyoung said something unintentionally annoying.
Maybe this time too.
But Jooho stayed silent.
Even more so than before.
He just cut his meat and sipped his wine, seemingly uninterested in the commotion on this side of the table.
A polite manager soon appeared, smiling warmly, and Jooyoung prepared to order a glass of white for Hyunsoo—
But Hyunsoo stopped him.
“No, hyung. It’s fine.”
“Why? You really won’t be able to eat that with red.”
“Honestly, I can’t really tell wines apart anyway. I’ll just have a beer.”
“Alright… sure.”
Was Jooho thinking the same thing too?
That someone who ordered fish after red wine had arrived was clueless?
Uncouth?
Worse than Jooyoung’s jab was Jooho’s silence.
Hyunsoo didn’t touch his supposedly bite-sized seabass steak.
Instead, he downed the 12,000-won beer in quick gulps.
Jooho left half his steak, gently placed his fork and knife down, then elegantly dabbed at his lips with the napkin on his lap before reaching for his wine glass.
“So, what’s everyone doing on the 10th next month?”
“Oh! That’s your birthday, isn’t it, sunbae-nim?”
Shin Hyojin lit up, clearly glad for the change of subject.
“Hyojin, do you even remember Yoon Jooho sunbae’s birthday?”
“His birthday party’s kind of famous. It’s like a big entertainment industry event.”
“You flatter me.”
Jooho arched an eyebrow as he replied.
Then, picking up the wine bottle, he refilled the glasses of the two across from him.
“This year it’ll just be something small. If you’re free, come by.”
“Getting invited to your birthday party makes me feel like I’ve really made it. Ugh, what am I gonna wear?”
Shin Hyojin was already giddy, while Han Jooyoung didn’t quite understand what the fuss was about.
“Is it really that big a deal?”
“What’s the big deal? It’s just… Yoon Jooho’s birthday party.”
Just like when he’d emphasized the word ‘drastically’, Jooho now stressed his own name— Yoon Jooho— as he raised his glass for a toast.
He slung an arm over Hyunsoo’s shoulder and turned to him with a sly grin, the kind you’d expect from a cartoon villain.
“You’ll come, won’t you, junior?”
It was a fake smile— no doubt hiding some kind of scheme.