Second Round at Karaoke

After a cigarette, I headed back inside with Choi Seongyong. Dongmin hyung was already at the table, working the grill.

"Hyung, I'll take over."

"Forget it. When smokers cook the meat, the nicotine soaks right into it. I'll handle the grill. You just sit there and eat."

Thanks to Dongmin hyung's completely baseless logic and his stubborn insistence on manning the grill himself, the rest of us were free to focus on enjoying the food. That, apparently, didn't sit well with him either.

"What's with everyone just eating meat without saying a word? Hey, order some soju. Soju."

Once we'd each knocked back a shot, conversation finally started to trickle in.

"But Dongmin oppa, why the sudden company dinner? You didn't even collect any money…"

"The owner said it's the end of the year, so I should take you guys out for some meat."

Cha Heejung, who'd been listening in on Jieun and Dongmin hyung, cut right in.

"The owner? Dongmin oppa, he hates it when part-timers at the shop start dating each other."

Looks like Choi Seongyong had already told Cha Heejung he was interested in Lee Jieun.

"Huh? Unnie, why are we suddenly talking about dating?"

"Whenever people get together like this, off the clock, they start catching feelings. Look at us right now — Dongmin oppa's the only one in a couple, and the rest of us are sitting here two and two, all single."

Or maybe not…?

Maybe she was just sharp.

"Come on~ You don't catch feelings just from drinking together once. If that were true, there'd be no singles left in the world~."

"Hmmm~ Is that so~?"

She swept a sultry look over me and Choi Seongyong. I couldn't quite tell what she meant by it.

"Heejung noona! Cut the weird talk and just drink! Come on, cheers!"

Choi Seongyong hurriedly raised his soju glass to shut Cha Heejung down, but it was no use. She downed hers in one go and turned right back to Lee Jieun.

"Jieun-ah, you don't have a boyfriend?"

"Unnie, what boyfriend? If you've got someone, introduce me."

"Why? There are two right here. Dongmin oppa has a girlfriend, so we'll leave him out — but Seongyong's single, and isn't Minseok oppa single too? Oppa, do you have a girlfriend?"

Suddenly the attack swung my way.

"Nope~ I'm not really looking to date anyone right now…"

I hesitated a second on how to answer, but given what I'd already told Dongmin hyung, I went with that.

"Really? 'Not looking to date' — is that the real reason~?"

Everyone snorted with laughter. The words themselves could have come off as rude, but the playful glint on her face was impossible to miss.

"Hey, Heejung. Minseok's a catch. If he actually wanted a girlfriend, he'd have had one ages ago."

Dongmin hyung jumped in to defend me, but honestly, it wasn't necessary. I mean, I'd gotten a confession just yesterday.

"Right? If I put my mind to it, they'd already be calling me Casanova."

"Pfft, oppa, that's going too far."

"Why, Jieun-ah? I'm pretty decent, aren't I? Tall, nice, and good-looking to boot."

"Hmm… I'll give you everything except that last one!"

Lee Jieun laughed, refusing to concede my face to the bitter end. I'd said it as a joke too, but then—

"Why? Minseok oppa's pretty handsome, actually."

Out of nowhere, Cha Heejung backed me up. Was that a green light, or was she just playing along? My mind kept spinning, but blushing and stammering over it here would have been amateur hour.

"Alright, this isn't working. Lee Jieun, if you won't admit it, let's settle this by majority vote. Seongyong, Dongmin hyung. How's my face?"

"Hyung, you're handsome, no question~."

There was no way Choi Seongyong was going to look at me and say I was ugly. He knew as well as I did that a comment like that would kill the whole mood. And Dongmin hyung—

"Yeah. With a face like Minseok's, he's on the handsome side."

He was the type to throw out empty compliments anyway, so I wasn't worried. In other words, the vote had been decided before it started.

"There you go, Lee Jieun. Three votes for handsome. You gonna admit it?"

"Hold on, Minseok oppa. I never said handsome. I said you look decent. If we're talking handsome, I'm voting against."

"Oppa, you heard her?"

Tch. The two girls suddenly teaming up. But we had three on this side.

"What are you talking about? Including my own vote, that's three. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I never even counted Heejung's in the first place."

The girls piled on with jeers, but I just laughed it off.

"Ah, we're out of soju. Should we order another round?"

At Dongmin hyung's words, Choi Seongyong ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— who'd been sitting there like a potted plant — jumped in like he'd been waiting for this exact moment.

"Hyung, we've finished the meat anyway. Let's move. How about karaoke? Karaoke?"

"I'm in!"

"Same here!"

He looked so desperate to go that everyone else agreed like it was the best idea they'd heard all night.

"Minseok, what about you? Karaoke?"

The majority had already spoken, but Dongmin hyung still asked for my opinion. It wasn't the kind of atmosphere where I could refuse, and besides, I was down for karaoke too.

"Let's go!"

Whether it was coincidence or fate, the karaoke place we ended up at for the second round was the same one I'd gone to with Seong Gaeul yesterday. The moment we walked into the room, Choi Seongyong snatched up the remote and started booking songs. The first track he reserved was a rap.

Now I understood why he'd been so eager to come. His rap skills were actually pretty solid. That said, the bleached-yellow hair, the tattoos peeking out on both arms, and the way he swaggered around while rapping didn't exactly paint a great picture. Especially when—

The lyrics were packed with so much profanity I couldn't help but frown. We came here with the girls, and he wanted to sing something like that? Or did he actually think that was cool?

When his song ended, the girls clapped for him. I looked over, surprised they thought that deserved applause, only to find the words polite courtesy written all over their faces. Even so, he sat back down looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

Next up was Cha Heejung.

It was the same movie OST Seong Gaeul had sung yesterday. Hearing the same song in the same karaoke room left me feeling oddly unsettled, but it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a chart-topper, so it wasn't that strange. Her singing wasn't quite good enough to draw gasps of admiration, but her high notes came through clean and strong.

Watching Cha Heejung sing with her head slightly bowed, I kept having stupid thoughts. Is she good at hitting high notes because her chest is so big?

I hadn't noticed much at the meat restaurant, sitting across from her, but from the side her chest was no joke. Those D-cups looked ready to burst right through her tight sleeveless dress, and my eyes kept wanting to drift there.

Get a grip.

I'd heard that women can feel a man's gaze. No point staring at her chest here, getting caught, and taking a hit to my score. I was so busy worrying about it that her song ended before I knew it.

The next song was…

Thump-thump! Thump-thump!

An upbeat trot number blasted from the speakers.

"Alright, let's liven things up a bit!"

Dongmin hyung stood up with a mic in one hand and a tambourine in the other. The way he shook that tambourine along with the melody, this clearly wasn't his first rodeo.

He hunched his shoulders and sang in a slightly goofy voice, and it definitely got the energy up. My shoulders started bouncing on their own. Caught up in that lively heat, Cha Heejung grabbed a tambourine and jumped to her feet.

"Wooo~ Lee Dongmin! Lee Dongmin!"

She raised her arms over her head and started shaking the tambourine — and I nearly shot a nosebleed on the spot. The clean-shaven underarms on full display. That subtly hollowed curve had a sexiness I'd never felt before. And then there was her chest, bouncing right along every time she shook the tambourine. The reason big-chested women have a hard time running was unfolding right in front of my eyes.

If I just sat there, I was going to get hard without even realizing it, so I stood up too.

"Wooo~ Dongmin hyung, you're killing it~!"

I clapped and shouted, trying to redirect my attention as much as possible. Whether it worked or not, at least I managed to prevent the disaster of pitching a tent in my pants.

Once Dongmin hyung's dangerously close call of a song was over, Lee Jieun picked up the mic. The song she'd reserved was a legendary track from way back — one of those so-called masterpieces. It had come out over ten years ago and still never dropped off the karaoke favorites list, and it was the kind of song you couldn't pull off without real skill.

A ballad right after that hype…? Terrible song choice.

If this had come on after Cha Heejung's song, it would've been fine…

But the moment Lee Jieun sang the first line, every last one of those worries vanished.

A distinctive voice, completely different from how she normally sounded. With just a single phrase, her singing seized my ears and wouldn't let go.

"Jieun's an incredible singer, isn't she?"

Dongmin hyung whispered to me like he'd already known. I wasn't the only one stunned. Cha Heejung and Choi Seongyong both looked shocked.

"We came to karaoke once before and I was blown away."

I was blown away too. In contrast to her cute appearance, her singing overflowed with aching emotion. I was getting lost in the song when a thought suddenly struck me, and I checked my phone.

Right. I'd forgotten. Lee Jieun had a Singing ability to begin with. It was only worth 21, so it had completely slipped my mind…

When her song ended, applause burst out of me on its own. Not the polite courtesy clap we'd given everyone else — this was the real thing, coming straight from the gut.

"Whoa! Jieun, you're the best!"

Choi Seongyong threw up a thumbs-up.

"Wow… Minseok oppa, how are you supposed to sing after Jieun?"

Even Cha Heejung was worried for me. Under the weight of our over-the-top reaction, Lee Jieun sat back down, embarrassed.

Everyone — myself included — was still caught in the afterglow when the melody of the song I'd reserved started to play. It was the same OST I'd sung yesterday: I Walk Alone.

"Ahem, ahem…"

I cleared my throat as the intro rolled, shaking off the nerves. Jieun's singing had definitely thrown me, but—

I had Drinking, Singing, and Dancing on my side too.