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Chapter 229: Again After Rainfall (5)

With the Director\'s toast, the sound of glasses clinking resonated from all corners.

“Man, well done."

“Kudos to you too, and you."

I exchanged cheers with my friends nearby and took a swig of the soju in my glass.

“Why settle for soda on such a great occasion, Hyun-Woo?"

“I\'m not much of a drinker. Just soaking up the vibe is enough for me."

It seemed that my young body was quite the lightweight, so I got anxious over just a drink or two. Given the way the night was shaping up, there would possibly be several toasts ahead, and Goh Yoo-Joon seemed eager to take this rare opportunity to indulge. So, I decided to stay sharp and keep an eye on him as the trusty sub-leader.

“Lee Cheol-Min, are you not drinking?"

At Hee-Su\'s question, I glanced over at Lee Cheol-Min. He hadn\'t touched his drink and was merely going for the side dishes.

“I have a part-time shift early in the morning tomorrow."

“How many jobs are you juggling, exactly? Not sure if I should be impressed or..."

“Gotta make ends meet. Don\'t worry about it."

“Then just focus on the meat."

Joon-Hwan was already used to Lee Cheol-Min\'s blunt way of speaking, so he piled a generous amount of grilled meat onto Lee Cheol-Min\'s plate.

“Cheol! Can\'t you be nice for once? You are always cursing. No wonder you don\'t have friends!"

“Daniele, enough with the brutal honesty."

While Daniele and Lee Cheol-Min had their minor skirmish, the cameras that had been circling us and capturing our interactions started to retreat.

“Alright! That\'s a wrap on filming! Cameras are off, so let\'s eat and enjoy ourselves to the fullest!"

“Yeaaaahhh!"

The Director\'s exuberant announcement confirmed the end of the shoot.

“What? The filming is done?" Daniele brightened up and addressed Lee Cheol-Min. “It\'s over! Now we can do whatever we want! You, swearing maniac!"

“Ahahaha. Shut up!" Daniele\'s comment sent Joon-Hwan into fits of laughter. It seemed like Joon-Hwan got giggly when he got tipsy.

“Alright, everyone, let\'s have a drink."

In a burst of bravado, Goh Yoo-Joon started filling up everyone\'s glasses. I simply laughed and grabbed his hand. “Hey, don\'t fill your own glass. Stick to soda."

However, Goh Yoo-Joon gave me a serious look, shook his head, and firmly grabbed my hand back. “Suh Hyun-Woo, that\'s not the point right now."

“Then what is?"

“The point is... I freaking adore you, man."

Ah, he was already tipsy. Goh Yoo-Joon started clinging to me.

“…Let\'s get some more soda."

The real party animal and lightweight of Chronos was none other than Goh Yoo-Joon. No sooner had he arrived than he was persuaded into a drink by friends, then another by the Director, and another for the toast.

After just three drinks and thirty minutes later, Goh Yoo-Joon\'s affections were overflowing. “Man, you know how much I cherish you, right? Ha, you get it, right?"

“I get it, I get it. Back off, man. You are getting annoying." I tried to shake off him, who was clinging like a leech, but I eventually gave up and just shoved his glass of soju away.

“Look at that. It is so nice having a friend who takes care of you, even when you are drunk. Is Yoo-Joon wasted?"

“Yeah. He is absolutely drunk. Avoid eye contact with him. He will latch onto you if you do."

“What\'s that about? Is he going to get clingy because he\'s drunk?"

As I was chatting with Hee-Su, someone shoved their body between us. “Make some room."

“…Oh, sure. Here, sit down. Uh, On Ki-Hoon..."

On Ki-Hoon suddenly appeared and startled Hee-Su into making space. Without a word of appreciation, On Ki-Hoon took a seat next to Lee Cheol-Min.

His arrival felt like a cold splash in the warm, lively atmosphere. Even Goh Yoo-Joon, who had been glued to me, snapped out of it and focused on On Ki-Hoon.

“…Why."

“What\'s up? I came for the meat too. Why is everyone looking so grim?"

Just look at On Ki-Hoon… pretending not to notice the obvious tension with that shameless attitude. Of course, he probably didn’t know that Lee Cheol-Min had spilled everything to us. So, he must have thought he could just show up at gatherings like this dinner without any issue.

“Seriously, what are you even—"

“Goh Yoo-Joon." Goh Yoo-Joon was about to let his frustration explode, but Lee Cheol-Min cut him off and shook his head to signal him to keep quiet.

‘Is he still wary of On Ki-Hoon, even after everything that\'s happened?’

The awkward dinner continued, causing me to lose my appetite.

“Daniele, could you pour me one too? Are you guys not drinking?" asked On Ki-Hoon.

“Pffft, you pour for yourself! I\'m all out of hands here!"

“..."

On Ki-Hoon ignored Daniele\'s glare and filled his own glass before offering me some. “What about you, Hyun-Woo?"

“I\'ve got a schedule to stick to tomorrow morning, and I have to take care of this guy," I replied, nodding toward Goh Yoo-Joon, who clearly wasn\'t in the best of moods.

“It\'s a shame. Dinners like this are always more fun with a bit of alcohol. At the dinners after my dramas, everyone loved to drink, and we had a great time."

His attempt to keep the conversation going, despite our clear lack of interest, made me wonder if it might seem like we were the ones giving On Ki-Hoon a hard time. Thankfully, no one outside the filming crew was here to witness this.

As we uncomfortably muddled through the dinner, On Ki-Hoon, who had been quiet for a bit, suddenly flashed a big smile at Lee Cheol-Min. “But Cheol-Min, why haven\'t you been responding to my texts lately?"

‘Is this guy for real?’

“I’ve been busy."

“Too busy to even reply to my texts, but you had time to go to Suh Hyun-Woo and Yoo-Joon\'s fan meeting? That\'s a bit troubling, isn\'t it?"

“..."

“No matter how many shifts you are taking, I must be much busier than you are. Why don\'t we step outside for a chat?"

“Hey, what are you doing?" I asked.

As the atmosphere had turned incredibly awkward, I threw my chopsticks at On Ki-Hoon with frustration, causing them to fall to the floor. That was when On Ki-Hoon finally looked at me with a frown. “What did you just throw at me?"

“Chopsticks. Look, Cheol-Min definitely seems uncomfortable. What\'s this \'let\'s talk outside\' business? Just say it here."

“..."

In the noisy room, nobody paid us any attention, with the cameras off and no mics in sight. It was a moment where I could act without thinking too much about the consequences.

“What are you trying to do, acting like this?" On Ki-Hoon asked.

“What do you mean?"

“Where there\'s smoke, there\'s fire. How long do you think you can keep threatening people for screen time? Read the room and back off," I remarked.

“..."

On Ki-Hoon was cunning. He would pick on someone without power or money, but he was infinitely weak against real celebrities, especially those more popular than him. This guy might be sneaky, but he didn\'t have the guts to publicly discuss our little spat, especially in an industry where popularity was power.

“Lee Cheol-Min, if you\'ve blocked On Ki-Hoon, keep it that way. If he calls, record everything," I said.

“What?"

“Let\'s see how long a rookie actor can last doing this kind of thing."

“Suh Hyun-Woo, this doesn\'t really concern you. It’s none of your business."

“If you don\'t like it, stop bothering him and leave. Who is watching whom here? On Ki-Hoon, you should be the one cautious around Lee Cheol-Min."

Lee Cheol-Min had a trove of messages from On Ki-Hoon. How arrogant must On Ki-Hoon have been to not consider that he might be exposed? In many ways, he was an annoying and incredibly foolish guy.

On Ki-Hoon looked offended and got up after a moment of just staring at the floor. “I\'m leaving. See you around."

It was frustrating how only the powerless ended up as victims. For now, the most I could do was argue on behalf of Lee Cheol-Min. In the end, On Ki-Hoon would probably be portrayed as a somewhat nice rookie actor in Graduating and Lee Cheol-Min as a socially awkward participant.

Perhaps this would prevent Lee Cheol-Min from impulsively responding to On Ki-Hoon\'s contacts after filming, and hopefully, it wouldn’t spiral into a series of retaliatory exposures, ultimately causing all the cast to become overly cautious. However, I couldn\'t help but feel it was not exactly the ideal conclusion.

Just like the saying, where there was fire, there was smoke. In one way or another, On Ki-Hoon was bound to vanish from the industry, either quietly or with a bang. Yet, it was sad to think we would run into each other on various shows for the time being, given we were both entertainers and alumni of Memory High.

“Sigh... What a life. Lee Cheol-Min, keep him blocked from your contacts. And can you get me some new chopsticks…?" I asked.

“Huh? Oh." Lee Cheol-Min awkwardly put away his phone he\'d been fiddling with.

“Suh Hyun-Woo, didn\'t you have a couple of drinks earlier? Does he usually get rough when he\'s drunk?"

“No, last time he was drunk, he was actually kind of cute. You know, all the cooing and stuff?"

Just like that, Goh Yoo-Joon\'s drunken behavior kicked off again. I grimaced and smacked him on the back. “Please stop. You are going to regret this when you sober up and reflect on it."

I didn’t have much thought last time, but listening to him sober made me want to run away.

“For someone who usually keeps his cool, you must have really been fed up... Don\'t worry. Next time, I will take care of it. Suh Hyun-Woo, only focus on the good stuff from now on, okay? I got you, I got you,” said Goh Yoo-Joon.

“Yeah, yeah. That\'s just your way of saying you love Chronos, right?"

“You got it. Where is Su-Hwan hyung?"

“Su-Hwan hyung is over there."

‘Go talk to him and get scolded, dude.’

As I pointed, Goh Yoo-Joon dashed over to Su-Hwan with a meat wrap in hand. It looked like Su-Hwan had become his next target for affection.

While I was incredulously watching Goh Yoo-Joon feeding Su-Hwan, someone tapped my shoulder.

“...Whoa, you startled me," I said.

It was Lee Cheol-Min.

“Hey, let\'s step outside for a sec."

“To fight?" I asked half-jokingly, but Lee Cheol-Min shook his head to indicate he had something on his mind. So, I got up and followed him without hesitation.