Vol 3 Chapter 49

"Hahahahaha. Pal-deung, I mean, Jeong-woo, that bastard, says he can't come today because he's busy with work. Bastard... It's nonsense to say that work is more important than today's gathering. Anyway, it's fortunate that we have one less person."

'I don't think that's right.'

Kapros thought this but didn't say it out loud. As he turned his gaze, Min-hoo, wearing blue sunglasses, smiled nicely and spoke.

"I liked wearing sunglasses for the disguise last time, so I decided to wear them today. Does it look okay?"

"Hey, man. The sun's already set, what's with the sunglasses? You look like you're advertising that you're a host."

Min-hoo had asked Kapros, but it was Ju-yeol-hyung who answered. Although Min-hoo dressed well and it suited him overall, as hyung said, wearing sunglasses after sunset looked a bit unbalanced.

"Ugh. Really? I put a lot of effort into this..."

"There's effort you put in when meeting guys, and effort you put in when meeting a lover. Are they the same for you?"

"..."

Min-hoo grumbled something about the sun still being up when he left home. Ju-yeol-hyung turned to look at Kapros, his nerves relaxed.

"Well... Have you thought about where we should go now?"

"I thought anywhere we could drink comfortably would be fine."

In truth, although Kapros had wanted to drink, he had never been to such places and didn't know where to go. Feeling awkward about just going somewhere casually, he lowered his gaze as he answered. Hyung went "Hmm..." and then casually approached and patted Kapros's shoulder.

"Really? Then we don't need to worry about class. For three guys to go, it's gotta be... that place."

'That place?'

While Kapros was wondering about this, hyung dragged him and Min-hoo along, searching the area before entering a place draped with orange cloth, small twinkling lights, and misty vinyl.

"Hyung-nim, are we going to drink at a pojangmacha?"

It was a pojangmacha (street food tent).

In this place mostly occupied by middle-aged men, hyung in his suit and Kapros in his coat were fine, but Min-hoo, who had dressed up for the occasion, looked like he was from a completely different world. However, Min-hoo's face as he asked if they were really going to drink at a pojangmacha showed only slight interest, with no sign of concern.

"Yeah. To be honest, I don't have much money left after payday. Let's just eat here."

"Mu-heon. Is this okay?"

When Kapros nodded to Min-hoo who turned to ask, hyung said "Then it's settled" and approached a seat in the corner, pulling out a chair to sit down.

"Ahjussi. Five bottles of soju here, please!"

"Yes, sir."

While hyung, who had shouted familiarly, quickly scanned the menu and ordered side dishes, Kapros and Min-hoo took their seats at the round plastic table.

"Oh, come to think of it, I heard a bit from that guy and was really curious. Mu-heon. Is it true that you saw those guys?"

Hyung asked with serious eyes after finishing the order.

"Ah..."

Although he had referred to them as 'those guys', Kapros thought he could guess exactly who he meant. Looking to the side, he saw that Min-hoo, who had come here without hearing the full story from Kapros, also had intensity in his eyes.

'Well. He must have been curious too.'

"Yeah."

"Tsk... I thought it might be, but to think it was really true."

"I told you it was true!"

As Ju-yeol-hyung's expression mixed with frustration and worry upon hearing Kapros's answer, and Min-hoo chimed in with an exasperated attitude as if wondering when they had met, Kapros looked at them incredulously. Just then, the five bottles of soju they had ordered arrived.

"I thought this guy was lying when he said you came back alive without any trouble. So, exactly when, where, and how did you meet them?"

Hyung asked as he opened the bottle caps and Min-hoo poured drinks into the glasses placed in front of each of them.

"I met them in Bala Monyak. At first... I only met Caesar, but later when Caesar was about to leave, Yu-wan appeared and I saw him too."

Kapros unintentionally paused a bit when saying Caesar's name, but the other two didn't seem to notice.

"Damn, that Dark bastard. Pretending to be dead and then completely backstabbing us. Come on, let's have a drink first."

"Hyung-nim. But isn't this too much to order?"

As Ju-yeol-hyung expressed his anger and raised his glass as soon as Yu-wan's name was mentioned, Min-hoo pointed at the five soju bottles lined up with a suddenly sour expression. Hyung firmly shook his head.

"No. A man should finish a whole box in one sitting."

"We didn't do that with the beer we drank last time, did we?"

"Man, that was beer. This is soju."

"That might make sense if it was the other way around, but this doesn't!"

"You punk? Are you talking back to your hyung-nim now?"

At hyung's words, spoken as if it were obvious, Min-hoo and Kapros's faces suddenly turned pale. Kapros had learned in MIST that he was weak to alcohol.

In the case of the beer they had drunk when they met last time, it had been a mild one, and they had spent more time talking than drinking, so it had been fine without drinking enough to get drunk. But this looked a bit dangerous. The thought of having to drink all of that made Kapros wish he had stopped hyung when he was ordering earlier.

"Hyung-nim. I might be okay with beer, but soju is a bit..."

"Shut up. Our cute Kar said he wanted to drink, so we're drinking until we die. Ah, not Kar. Right, Mu-heon?"

Hyung's eyes as he turned around laughing heartily seemed to not even consider the possibility of refusal. The pressure could be felt from his expectant eyes.

Min-hoo, whose face had turned even paler upon hearing Kapros's name, said "Mu... Mu-heon is even more..." but in the end, Kapros slowly nodded.

"See! It's fine!"

"No, no... Mu-heon is even more..."

"Ah, enough. Drink up! One shot! That damn Dark bastard! Let's drink first and then continue talking!"

As they finally downed their drinks, Kapros communicated with his eyes to Min-hoo.

'It should be fine if we drink moderately.'

'...'