Free Web NovelBesides the action school, there were a few minor events too. While I sat there staring at the setting sun, agonizing over what to do the next day...
Senior Gu Jahan
[You said Spark’s on break?]
...I suddenly got a completely random text. The sender was Gu Jahan. How he even knew about someone else’s vacation was beyond me.
Me
[That’s right.]
Senior Gu Jahan
[Want to come out tomorrow?]
[I’m meeting Woo Yoonjae.]
And Gu Jahan apparently wasn’t even going alone. At some point, the way he referred to him had changed from “Mr. Yoonjae” to “Woo Yoonjae.” Since when had the two of them gotten close enough for that? It was absurd.
Me
[I’m good. Please enjoy your romantic little outing together.]
Senior Gu Jahan
[I told Woo Yoonjae I was inviting you and he said he’s going to the fish market auction at dawn tomorrow]
These middle-aged men had seriously lost all sense of dignity. I had no idea why they were dragging me into their sashimi dinner. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of fish needed to be bought at the crack of dawn.
Senior Gu Jahan
[You really not coming?]
[Woo Yoonjae says he’s leaving at 3 a.m.]
Me
[If you send me the time and place, I’ll be there immediately tomorrow!]
Senior Gu Jahan
[ok]
The plans came together in an instant. I immediately reported the newly added schedule to our leader. Jeong Seongbin looked genuinely shocked.
“Sorry, it was really sudden, wasn’t it? Should I tell them I can’t make it after all?”
“No, it’s just... this is the first time I’ve seen you make personal plans, hyung.”
“Has it?”
Come to think of it, I really had never gone out to meet anyone for non-work reasons before. Honestly, even after crawling my way out of being a walking nuisance machine, it would’ve been stranger if I’d been happily running around having fun.
“Is it a dinner appointment?”
“Lunch. I don’t know when it’ll end, though.”
“Take your time and enjoy yourself. If not now, when else are you going to get the chance?”
Jeong Seongbin actively encouraged me to go out. At this point, I was starting to think leaving the house might actually be for these guys’ sake. Though there was no way these soft-hearted idiots were really as different inside as they acted.
When Spark heard the meeting place was Woo Yoonjae’s house, the members gathered together and started choosing a gift for me to bring.
“I think proper etiquette demands a gift equal in value to six boxes of fresh cabbage juice.”
Under Kang Giyeon’s lead, an intense discussion broke out under the topic of “recommended gifts for workplace seniors.” Even while wading through AI-generated posts and blatant advertisements, Spark somehow managed to dig up genuinely useful recommendation threads.
“‘Candidate number three: towels. Unlike tissues or other consumables, they last a long time, and people hesitate to buy expensive ones for themselves, so highly recommended. If you search hotel towels, you can find thick and fluffy options. Generally, the replacement cycle for towels is...’”
Whenever Park Juu found another candidate item, Choi Jeho diligently wrote it down beside him. Lee Cheonghyeon searched for nearby stores that carried the products.
“Hyung.”
Kang Giyeon, who had been carefully reviewing the rapidly filling spreadsheet, called out to me.
“How about a stylish home fire extinguisher for safety, and a whole pie for dessert?”
“Sounds good.”
Kang Giyeon even kindly handled the pie reservation.
Gift list-ups were originally part of my job. Usually, my work ended after purchasing the item, placing it on Director Nam’s desk, or shipping it out and tracking the delivery process.
“I’ll respect the fact that you guys wanted to repay the seniors’ kindness this time, but you don’t need to do this again. You know what I mean, right?”
I said it because I didn’t want these idiots getting saddled with menial tasks wherever they went. Kang Giyeon merely shrugged and walked away without answering.
“You made it?”
This was Woo Yoonjae’s house, but Gu Jahan was the one who opened the door. For a second, I thought I’d arrived late. This guy really must’ve had nothing to do since his drama shoot ended.
“Sunbaenim, I’m here—... what are you doing?”
“Oh, welcome.”
I hastily tossed the gift at Gu Jahan and sprinted into the kitchen. A gigantic piece of fish was lying across the island counter.
“You don’t need to do anything, so sit down over there. Want something to drink?”
“Please don’t say that. Give me something to do!”
“He said sit down. Want water? Woo Yoonjae, Iwol brought this.”
“A gift? ...Thank you.”
The two of them acted completely normal. I was the only one left dumbfounded. Gu Jahan pulled out a chair by the table, filled a mug with water, and handed it to me.
“You really went to the auction?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to get live croaker in Seoul.”
Woo Yoonjae politely asked if it would be okay to look at the gift after we ate the sashimi. Was that really the issue right now? They’d gone to the market at three in the morning to secure the fish first, left it in the tank afterward, and even timed the butchering specifically for right before our visit. I practically shouted for them to do whatever they wanted.
While Woo Yoonjae sliced the sashimi, we exchanged casual life updates. Most of the conversation centered around Gu Jahan, who had recently started over from supporting roles again.
“Woo Yoonjae helped me a lot.”
“Is it really enough to call it helping?”
Oh, come on. They’d even dropped formal speech with each other.
“You two got close fast. Guess your personalities matched well.”
“I don’t have any friends in the acting industry.”
“Even so.”
He’d managed to clear up the unpleasant incidents from the past and showed a surprisingly decent side of himself on variety programs, but I still hadn’t expected them to become this close.
At my question, Woo Yoonjae answered plainly.
“My situation wasn’t all that different either...”
Apparently it was a symbiotic relationship. I’d thought adults only drifted apart over trivial things, but maybe trivial similarities could bring people closer too.
The sashimi Woo Yoonjae prepared was unbelievably good. People said croaker was in season, and they were absolutely right.
Naturally, soju followed.
When I informed the worried Woo Yoonjae that my gastric ulcer had completely healed, Gu Jahan immediately came back from the veranda carrying green bottles.
“You said you went traveling?”
Gu Jahan filled my glass as he spoke.
“Yeah. To celebrate the break.”
“Was it fun?”
“It was loud.” freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Without anyone asking, the middle-aged men searched up photos of the vivid flower shirt themselves and burst into delighted laughter. The soju tasted bitter.
No, maybe the bitter thing was my heart...
“What do you usually do during breaks, sunbaenim?”
“I usually go help with farming back home. Farms always have work to do.”
“Isn’t farming still work?”
Gu Jahan looked exhausted just hearing it. It was closer to admiration than contempt.
“What about you?”
“Go for drives. Golf.”
The conversation drifted from hobbies to daily routines to recent interests. A few times, we even brushed against the abyss that was the internal workings of the drama industry. I just laughed along and kept drinking.
Empty bottles gradually piled up on the table. Once the pie came out as both dessert and drinking snack, the atmosphere grew even more lively.
“The members picked this out themselves?”
“They really wanted to thank you personally, sunbaenim. I came as their representative because I thought it might be troublesome if all six of them contacted you separately.”
“The kids are nice.”
For proper pairing, we even switched alcohols. The subtle scent of wine filled the room. Once Spark got mentioned, they quickly became the main topic of conversation.
“All the members of Spark are tall. Are kids these days just taller in general?”
“They say average height keeps increasing every year.”
“When I look at rookie actors these days, there are guys over 190 centimeters too.”
Gu Jahan let out an impressed sound at Woo Yoonjae’s and my comments.
“I’ve been thinking lately... if I didn’t have height privilege, I probably never would’ve made it as a lead actor.”
He emptied his glass with a self-deprecating laugh. It really wasn’t uncommon for male leads to be chosen based on height and visuals.
“Having any kind of strength is a good thing in the end.”
Woo Yoonjae refilled Gu Jahan’s glass.
Woo Yoonjae had spent years drifting between supporting roles because his face was far from the conventional male lead look. He simply never got the right opportunities.
But his unique atmosphere and charm shined brilliantly in certain genres. The reason Woo Yoonjae had lasted so long was because there was nobody who suited those specific genres and characters quite as perfectly as Woo Yoonjae did.
“In the end, isn’t it about how you use your strengths?”
“Exactly.”
The two clinked glasses. I joined in too.
“Did you always want to become an actor, sunbaenim?”
“Me?”
Gu Jahan repeated.
“I liked acting. I can’t say I never wanted to be a lead.”
“Is there any aspiring actor who doesn’t want leading roles?”
“You didn’t seem like it. Even before.”
“I was just trying to look at things realistically.”
Woo Yoonjae smiled softly. I couldn’t begin to imagine how much time it must have taken for him to talk about those thoughts so calmly.
“What about you, Iwol 씨? Why did you want to become an idol?”
The question about what led me to choose this profession was passed to me as well. I answered that while I hadn’t been confident when I first took the challenge on, I started finding fulfillment after debuting.
“As long as you enjoy it. Especially if you’re going to do it for a long time.”
Gu Jahan said it casually in passing.
If not for the system, maybe I would’ve enjoyed it. Though if not for the system, I never would’ve become an idol in the first place.
I didn’t know whether I’d be able to do this for long. Back then, I’d been too overwhelmed to realize it, but the Synchronization rate had already reached 90%.
There hadn’t been any obvious physical side effects. I could only guess that the impulsive urge toward an extreme decision had been the penalty tied to the remaining 10%.
How many percent had the Synchronization rate risen just this year alone? If stocks climbed this aggressively, trading would’ve been halted for abnormal volatility. Thinking about having to carefully ration the remaining 10% until I cleared the final KPI gave me a headache.
I was quietly sipping wine to calm my complicated thoughts when Gu Jahan muttered to himself.
“Why does this feel like drinking with people my own age?”
“Are you saying I look old?”
“Can you not socially bury me alive in an instant?”
Gu Jahan rubbed at his chest in relief.
Honestly, I was the one who should’ve been startled. I’d almost exposed the age of my soul.
“I meant you seem mature. Sometimes I still can’t believe Iwol 씨 is only in his early twenties.”
“Thank you. Though I’m in the mid twenties now.”
Woo Yoonjae’s attempt to phrase it nicely barely saved me. Considering I’d already been warned before not to talk like an old man, it seemed impossible to completely hide the years I’d lived.
Still, separate from the fact that my soul was in its thirties, something suddenly came to mind that I’d wanted to ask these two actual men in their thirties.
“Sunbaenim. There’s something I’d like to ask. Is that okay?”
“What is it?”
Gu Jahan rested his chin on his hand as he asked.
“If you commit a very serious offense against a man in his mid thirties and want to seek forgiveness at least materially... what kind of gift would be good?”
