episode_0115

When everyone was asleep.

Three men and I gathered secretly in an empty room.

The members were Jihyeok Hyung, Dong-woo, Incheol, and myself.

We quietly reunited for a drinking session we had been looking forward to for a while.

“Hyung-nim. Is it okay if we use this place?”

“What’s the big deal? There are plenty of empty rooms. We’ll just use it and clean up.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Hyung. Dong-woo says he won’t eat. Let’s just make three servings.”

“No! No! I am going to eat!”

“Then stop complaining and set the plates.”

“Yes, sir!”

When I tossed out a playful jab, Dong-woo immediately changed his stance.

His smooth and good-natured response brought a light smile to my face.

A light and pleasant atmosphere was established.

Right now, we were preparing a late-night snack at this late hour.

The gathering place was an empty room on the 3rd floor of the shelter.

Though it accommodated twenty people, there were still many empty rooms left.

I wondered if it would be a problem to just casually use one of them.

I didn’t think CEO Choi would be that petty.

Anyway, there was a reason why four grown men were doing this.

‘…It was chaos.’

As I boiled the ramen, I recalled what had happened a few hours ago.

Due to an unexpected situation, we had significantly exceeded our planned return time.

It was only at night that we were able to return, looking disheveled.

Thanks to that, the others at the shelter had been waiting for us, their hearts pounding, their faces pale.

They seemed to have suppressed the rising unease and fear in their hearts, waiting for our return. I could tell from their somber faces.

Especially Halmeoni’s reaction was unusual.

Her reaction was so intense that my worry about being scolded and lectured felt foolish.

“Dea-dear…”

“Halmeoni…”

Halmeoni silently hugged Dong-woo and Harabeoji, shedding tears.

Greatly flustered by this, Harabeoji hugged Halmeoni back and poured all his efforts into comforting her.

‘…I was short-sighted.’

Seeing Halmeoni’s state, I realized my mistake.

It wasn’t a matter of them being angry that we caused worry.

Halmeoni had been trembling with fear that she might have lost her family all at once.

Watching Halmeoni stifle her emotions and quietly sob, I realized I had been too childish in my thinking.

Everyone was aware of the dangers outside.

For the past few days, there had been concern about our outings, but no one had opposed them.

I simply hadn’t known about their true feelings.

It seemed they had just been suppressing the creeping worry.

Unable to empathize with their feelings for family, I had realized this too late.

So I couldn’t say anything else.

Even then, all I could do was tell people checking on our injuries that we were okay.

I scratched my head, unaccustomed to the situation.

The fortunate thing, perhaps, was that the gloomy atmosphere had somewhat lightened.

In that moment, Harabeoji comforted Halmeoni and quietly went into their room.

After that, we just had a simple snack, postponing the detailed discussion for later, and ended the gathering early.

And everyone, mentally exhausted, went to bed early.

But.

‘How can I sleep when I’m so hungry?’

After performing a grand sword dance with the zombies, my starving stomach absolutely refused to settle. Thinking I needed to eat something, I went to the kitchen and ran into the three men.

The men were rummaging through the refrigerator, seemingly with the same idea as me.

We met each other’s gazes in silence.

“…Shall we get some late-night snacks?”

“…A drink too?”

“Deal.”

Having teamed up like that, we were now creating this ruckus with food in hand.

We even brought a portable burner and officially began preparing to eat.

It hadn’t been long since we’d overcome that heavy atmosphere, and here we were, getting excited over food.

The saying ‘men are just big kids’ doesn’t seem to be for nothing.

Anyway.

I generously boiled a large quantity of ramen.

Jihyeok Hyung was frying and grilling ham, dumplings, and other items.

Dong-woo and Incheol were setting the tableware and preparing to eat.

And then, the eagerly anticipated alcohol.

‘I’m benefiting from those thugs like this.’

A tremendous amount of alcohol was also dormant in my inventory.

But the taste of alcohol won after defeating villains was sure to be special.

I brought beer and soju with the intention of just having a light drink, but well…

Looking at the amount of alcohol, it seemed possible to drink someone under the table tonight.

However, none of the members raised any objections.

With the food before us, we gradually started to get excited.

“Ahhh~ The smell is great! Hyung-nims!”

Incheol, with an enraptured expression at the rich aroma of the food, truly looked joyful.

“Earlier, I was so conscious of others that I couldn’t even taste it.”

“Oh? Me too.”

“Me too.”

“…So it wasn’t just me.”

Forming a trivial bond of empathy, we salivated.

Meanwhile, all the setting was complete.

“Alright, alright~ Let’s have a drink.”

Jihyeok Hyung, with perfect timing, passed out the glasses and picked up the soju bottle.

Glug-glug-glug~

The sound of soju pouring from the bottle was simply ethereal.

The transparency shimmering in the small glasses reflected a strange pleasure.

The alcohol was that appealing.

“…How long has it been since I last had soju…”

Incheol’s expression, overwhelmed with emotion, was quite something to behold.

He had been a soldier until recently and had self-discharged, so getting his hands on alcohol must have been a distant dream.

Incheol, with eyes more expectant than mine, constantly swallowed his saliva.

“A toast?”

“Since everyone’s asleep and we’re drinking secretly, let’s skip the toast and drink quietly.”

I shook my head slightly and brought my glass to my lips.

Everyone nodded and tipped their glasses.

“Ahhh~”

“Khh~”

The taste and aroma of the alcohol, smoothly coating the tongue, was simply sweet.

I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, as everyone let out deep exclamations of satisfaction.

Immediately after the first drink, I started eating ravenously.

One is bound to be hungry after a fight.

Especially on a day like today, when we fought so hard.

Though it had swelled considerably, the ramen slid down easily with a slurping sound.

The savory umami of the salty ham and the rich meaty flavor delighted my tongue.

The soju was sweet, and the beer was thrillingly cool.

Adding to that was the illicit thrill of secretly eating late at night, creating the illusion that the taste was enhanced, leaving no time for my chopsticks to rest.

“……”

“……”

“…Wow…”

Suddenly, when I came to my senses, the three men were staring at me, having forgotten to eat.

In the awkward situation, I let out an embarrassed laugh.

“Sorry. I tend to eat a lot.”

“Oh, no. Please eat slowly, Hyung-nim.”

“Yeah. There’s still plenty, so eat slowly.”

“Everyone, let’s eat together. Hyung, you eat too.”

Though I was hungry from moving so intensely, it was hard to control my occasional, uncontrolled gluttony.

Thanks to the three men’s consideration, we could all finally relax and enjoy after my stomach was somewhat full.

Conversation flowed with the passing glasses, and the atmosphere was comfortable.

We had experienced a hellish situation just that afternoon, but now it had become mere drinking fodder.

“Ahh… It feels amazing to drink after so long…”

“It’s the first time since I drank at school.”

“Really? It hasn’t been that long, but it feels like years…”

“…I know, right.”

As the atmosphere slowly became more tipsy, Hyung’s eyes grew a little wistful.

I felt similarly.

It definitely hadn’t been a month, but it felt like something from a long time ago.

When silence fell for a moment, Incheol chimed in.

“Oh? You drank at school too?”

“Were you not there then? Hyung, wasn’t Incheol there?”

“I think so.”

“Hul… Isn’t that too much?”

“You’re eating now, so it’s fine.”

“No, but still—”

I immediately refilled the glass for Incheol, who was whining uncharacteristically.

“Just drink a lot today, and we can drink again later.”

“Khahaha~ Got it.”

Incheol happily drank, his face flushed.

Dong-woo didn’t drink much, perhaps because he had a low alcohol tolerance.

Instead, he was diligently eating the ramen broth and side dishes.

Jihyeok Hyung seemed to have a high tolerance, enjoying himself leisurely.

This man was handsome even while drinking.

“Hyung. I’ve felt this for a while.”

“Hm?”

“It’s annoying.”

“…Suddenly?”

“You’re unnecessarily handsome.”

“What?! Puhahahahaha!”

“Do you like that?”

Hyung, laughing heartily, looked truly jovial.

I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Kim Jihyeok laugh so loudly.

He laughed for a long time, enough to make onlookers feel refreshed.

Perhaps because he’s an actor, I could feel the emotions being conveyed.

In this strange experience, I unknowingly blinked.

“Ah~ Sorry. I never thought you’d be thinking something like that.”

“Now that I think about it, I’ve thought it a few times.”

“You did?”

“Every time, I just thought ‘he’s really unnecessarily handsome’ and moved on.”

“Hahaha~ This is a new feeling.”

After laughing a little more, Hyung, with a faint smile, said calmly.

“I’m envious of you, Seonghan. And grateful too.”

“……”

“You fight well. And you’re strong.”

“Oh, that’s…”

“And I’m grateful for many other things too…”

“Hyung-nim. I’m also grateful.”

“I also feel grateful. Hyung-nim.”

“…Mhm.”

As I nodded slightly, Hyung continued speaking.

In his usual calm and collected tone.

“Being alive like this now, eating delicious food and drinking alcohol. It’s all thanks to you.”

“Well, I’ll get it all back later.”

At my words, the three men let out a snort of laughter.

“What? Why are you laughing like that?”

“It’s nothing. I just found myself laughing.”

“…Hm.”

“There’s a movie I saw a long time ago.”

As expected of an actor, he naturally shifted the conversation to a movie.

But it wasn’t bad to listen to.

The handsome actor’s tale was quite amusingly told, and the movie he mentioned was itself a zombie survival film.

“The protagonist was surviving alone in the forest. I still can’t forget the scene where he savored a single unripe cherry tomato. I thought, ‘How could he make an expression like that!’”

As I listened intently, Incheol interjected.

“Hyung-nim. Is that perhaps the movie where the protagonist is seen masturbating alone?”

“Oh, right. You know it too… No, why do you remember it like that?”

Hyung made a disgusted face at Incheol, who clearly remembered the same movie with completely different content, and was utterly dumbfounded.

“No, it’s just the scene that comes to mind—”

“…Incheol must be really ‘hungry’.”

“Ugh?! Oh, no! It’s a misunderstanding!”

I added another word to Incheol, who jumped up at the mention of being ‘hungry’.

“That’s a no-go, Kang Incheol.”

“Ack! Hyung-nim!!”

“Puhahahahaha!”

Incheol, with a red face that made it impossible to tell if he was drunk or embarrassed, was incredibly fun to tease.

Thanks to him, we laughed so hard we choked and rolled on the floor for a long time.

‘…Feeling good.’

Perhaps thanks to my physical abilities, I wasn’t completely drunk.

The buzz, maintained somewhere between ‘a little’ and ‘just right’, felt pleasant.

The comfortable joy of forgetting worries for a moment and foolishly chuckling was also good.

Crude jokes were exchanged, and brotherly terms came naturally.

The combination of solidarity from overcoming a life-or-death crisis together and the alcohol buzz created a good synergy in many ways.

As the atmosphere of the four of us laughing and chatting slowly began to calm down.

Jihyeok Hyung quietly spoke to me.

“Now that I think about it… we had something we needed to talk about, didn’t we?”

“……”

Hyung’s expression, having collected himself and leaving only a faint smile, became very serious.

And in response, as if by magic, the atmosphere slightly settled.

In that silence, Jihyeok Hyung and I gazed steadily at each other.

Wondering what Hyung would say, I brought my glass to my lips.

I took a mouthful of soju.

The soju, which had been only sweet until now, somehow had a bitter taste mixed in.