SOG Ch 43

Kim Geun-won grinned with his growing beard at Woo-jin’s clearly guarded attitude. Damn brat. Even his gaze when they met was chillingly devoid of affection.

“Okay, okay. I know you hate it when someone tries to look at your wallet.”

He drew his mischievous outstretched hand back. Go Woo-jin, who behaves normally in most things, had a tendency to react sensitively when it came to touching his wallet.

‘I wonder if there is a lump of gold in his wallet.’

Well. It could really contain gold. He’s such a sullen guy that Geun-won sometimes forgets that Woo-jin is the son of Go Young-chang, the chairman of a famous corporation.

He had been lost in useless thoughts for quite some time. As the bartender brought a fresh beer, the pub door opened, and a chill breeze rushed in.

“Look. He came.”

Kim Geun-won smiled as he pointed at Seon Jae-chan.

Jae-chan wore a thick field jacket because the weather was getting cold. Woo-jin recalled the events of two weeks ago as he looked at his slightly pale face, which appeared sluggish from the cold.

That day, the day when he had come face to face with Seon Jae-chan at the emergency guiding center.

At that time, Jae-chan also had a nonchalant expression. Given the unjust and unreasonable words he had heard from outside, it was not surprising to see his face as if it were natural for a cold wind to blow.

Even though he had used guiding as an excuse to take him out, the reason he didn’t receive guiding was that he didn’t want to demand anything more from the person who had experienced a situation akin to verbal abuse.

On the contrary, Seon Jae-chan, who seemed unaffected, had a more troubled expression when he was by his side. While Woo-jin didn’t dare to speculate about his inner thoughts, he remembered that Jae-chan was concerned enough to accompany him to the guide’s center.

“…Let’s go to give you guiding.”

Seon Jae-chan urged him to do so, but Go Woo-jin, as his pair Esper, followed the policy to protect the guide. It was the rule to receive guiding when the guide was in normal condition unless it was an unavoidable situation.

Anyway, since that day, he began to think that maybe his perception of Jae-chan as ‘a guy who grew up being loved and behaved like a careless person’ was wrong. Thinking of the guy who couldn’t take his eyes off his father and struggled to get even a little bit of love, it overlapped with a more bizarre sentiment.

“Hey! Here!”

While Woo-jin was lost in thought, Kim Geun-won waved his hand.

“Hello.”

Seon Jae-chan, who was approaching, greeted them happily. He exchanged a nod with Kim Geun-won and Ko Woo-jin, then took a few more steps and sat next to Go Woo-jin.

Woo-jin’s hand, which had been tilting a round glass of whiskey, stopped for a moment because he hadn’t expected Jae-chan, who had been avoiding him, to sit close to him.

“Come over here when you have something nice to say.”

Kim Geun-won’s voice was low. Seon Jae-chan smiled wryly, amused that he was the one who had called him, but when he sat down next to Woo-jin, his eyes became fierce.

He only briefly refreshed himself from Seon Eun-soo’s smell when he sat down next to Woo-jin. Jae-chan obediently got up from his seat. It was when he was about to take a few leisurely steps.

“-Wait.”

Woo-jin’s low voice caught him off guard. Bewildered, Jae-chan instantly noticed that Woo-jin’s gaze was fixed on his neck.

Ah. Damn you, Seon Eun-soo.

It was only for a brief moment, but it appeared that he had left handprints. Since the lights were not turned on in the dorm, neither he nor Jeong Noah noticed.

Jiik, Jae-chan hurriedly zipped up his jumper all the way to his neck. Seon Jae-chan pretended not to notice Go Woo-jin’s piercing gaze and rushed to take a seat next to Kim Geun-won. Geun-won seemed oblivious due to being in the noisy pub and was unaware of the strange atmosphere between the two.

“Come on, drink up.”

Kim Geun-won handed over a beer mug.

The bubbles, which looked refreshing just by looking at them, were swirling around. Seon Jae-chan’s calm eyebrows narrowed as if contemplating. He had been warning himself to refrain from drinking in front of Woo-jin. Maybe it was because he had met his older brother just before, but he felt a slight urge to drink.

Oh well, just one sip.

The hesitation was momentary. The invigorating liquid went down smoothly, coolly refreshing his throat.

“So, we were talking about the View Tube…”

Somehow, the beer seemed to taste better today. Of course, unlike the delicious beer, Kim Geun-won’s babble was bland in comparison to the delicious beer. Kim Geun-chattering won’s and Go Woo-jin’s listening silence was mixed in with the noisy pub noise. The direction of the conversation, as well as the purpose of this gathering, seemed clear. It was an atmosphere that suggested the three could form a casual friendship under Kim Geun-won’s leadership. 

‘Friendship my ass.’

Jae-chan snorted as he accepted and drank the free beer for the third time, regardless of whether the mountain bear-like Kim Geun-won bought it for him.

For some reason, it was clear that Kim Geun-won had moved Jae-chan into a dichotomous category in his mind that he now labeled as a ‘good person^^’.

However, Jae-chan had no intention of getting close to Kim Geun-won. Not only did he have a personality that didn’t match well with people who were overly nosy, but he had already achieved his own purpose of infiltrating Mentosa Island. He didn’t feel the need to get closer to Kim Geun-won, whose matching compatibility was low.

Unlike Kim Geun-won, who easily put people in and out of his own circle like flipping a pancake, Jae-chan was not that simple of a human being.

And so, three hours later.

“Wow, hyung, you’re awesome!”

10 million subscribers, let’s go…! Seon Jae-chan, a self-proclaimed complex human figure, was shouting loudly while wrapping his arm around Kim Geun-won’s neck and raising his index finger to the ceiling. A necklace with an ID card was tightly wrapped around his head like a headband.

“Both of you, please stop.”

Go Woo-jin, who was relatively sober, stared at Kim Geun-won and Seon Jae-chan as they hugged each other tightly. He was particularly concerned about the name tag dangling from Jae-chan’s head. He couldn’t help but keep his eyes on it, worried that something might happen.

He hoped Jae-chan doesn’t get hurt. Deep down, Go Woo-jin concluded that his concern was only natural as a fair Esper.

“This punk, yes, 10 million subscribers, let’s gooo!”

Even Kim Geun-won’s speech was dragging at the end, indicating that he was quite drunk. He even chuckled as if it was funny and jabbed Jae-chan’s side with his elbow, displaying indications of being drunk.

Go Woo-jin stretched out his hand and silently separated the two people who were clinging together like wild beasts sharing warmth in winter. In the process, Seon Jae-chan could not stand alone and stumbled, so he had no choice but to support him. Firm yet lightweight bodies collided within his embrace.

He had been bothered by the ID card necklace dangling from the side of Jae-chan’s head, so he finally untied it. It was when he was struggling between his thin strands of hair and successfully untangled the tightly tied knot.

“Hey, Go Woo-jin!”

A sound erupted right in front of his nose. Even though the surroundings were noisy, the loud noise caught the attention of the people around them.

It was fortunate that they were inside a pub within the center, which made them exempt from being the target of filming. Putting the untied ID card back into his coat pocket for the time being, Go Woo-jin ignored the whining call of the drunkard, “Go Woo-jin! Go Woo-jin!” in his ear.

After wrapping his arms around the noisy guy’s waist to keep him steady, Go Woo-jin gestured to Kim Geun-won, who was slowly coming into focus, to go outside.

“Go Woo-jin! You’re handsome! Handsome…!”

Woo-jin’s eyes widened. He instinctively grabbed the remaining puffed rice. He stuffed it forcefully into the noisy guy’s mouth in the blink of an eye.

Seon Jae-chan’s small mouth couldn’t fit the puffed rice, so he clumsily grabbed it with his hand. He tasted it again and picked up one puffed rice after the other, looking incredibly foolish.

“You punk! You, I told you not to bother Woo-jin again!”

Kim Geun-won, who didn’t miss that moment, once again rushed toward Seon Jae-chan.

Seriously, so annoying.

Go Woo-jin sighed as he grabbed the backs of the two who were clinging to each other again. Already feeling sober himself, he couldn’t understand why neither of them showed signs of sobering up.

As the youngest among the three, Go Woo-jin silently took care of the two troublemakers. After settling the bill, they made their way out of the noisy tavern.

It was only when the chilly winter wind grazed their cheeks and the back of their necks that Kim Geun-won regained his senses.

“Oh… right… What should we do with this guy?”

Kim Geun-won, who was not particularly weak against alcohol, shook his head and muttered. He looked closely at Seon Jae-chan who had his head hanging down.

“Where do you live? Uh, if I leave you alone, you’ll freeze to death…”

Kim Geun-won stared at Seon Jae-chan with concerned eyes. The boy, who had been huddled so tightly with him and still had the line marks on his forehead and temples, was now dozing soundly. Seeing that he couldn’t even keep his head up, it was clear that he would have fallen asleep and frozen to death somewhere on the street.

“I’ll take him.”

Go Woo-jin said as he hoisted up Jae-chan’s staggering body with one arm. Kim Geun-won tried to support the other side, but Go Woo-jin assured him that it was fine. Certainly, Go Woo-jin could handle a fully grown adult male just as easily as a passing dog with his impressive S-class body. However, Kim Geun-won couldn’t help but feel somewhat dumbfounded.