The ride to the staff dinner was silent and deathly suffocating, with the two brooding actors glowering out the window. Glancing at the rearview mirror, Woo-jae’s manager, Eun-hyuk, gulped as he stepped on the gas pedal a bit harder, desperately wishing they would quickly arrive at the restaurant. He really didn’t get paid enough to deal with all this daily bullsh*t…

“How do you know Egghead?”

Soo-hyuk paused as he narrowed his eyes at Woo-jae. Why the hell was he so damn curious about Hyun? Rolling his eyes, Soo-hyuk crossed his arms and shifted his gaze towards the window again. He wasn’t going to tell this annoying prick anything!

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know anyone by the name ‘Egghead.’”

“Oh, come on! Fine; how do you know that guy from earlier? The one you were flirting with?”

“Why do you even want to know?”

“... He’s...” Woo-jae’s voice fizzled out until the only sound that could be heard was the soft rumble of the SUV.

“Why’d you stop talking? He’s what–” Soo-hyuk stopped mid-sentence as he stared at Woo-jae in disgust. 

Woo-jae was covering his slight grin with his hand while his eyes sparkled with subdued curiosity. He looked amused at the thought of the ruby-haired teen. Soo-hyuk raised a confused eyebrow at Woo-jae’s stupid face. How the hell did they even know each other…? Why did this jerk refer to Hyun as “Egghead”…? 

Wait. Where did he see that phrase before…? Checking his social media account, he typed in “egghead” and immediately saw Woo-jae’s post– which had garnered over 8 million likes. Then did that drawing Woo-jae posted on Mestagram Hyun’s?! Soo-hyuk couldn’t help but smirk at how cute Hyun’s drawing was. Clearing his throat, Soo-hyuk glanced back at Woo-jae again, who still had the same goofy expression on his face. 

“Ahem. Did you–”

“WE’RE HERE~! Hurry and get out, guys! We made it just in time!” Despite having a wide smile plastered on his face, it was clear that Eun-hyuk was desperate to kick out the two actors from the car. 

Rolling his eyes, Soo-hyuk jumped out of the vehicle. Whatever, it wasn’t like Hyun and Woo-jae were ever going to see each other again. Without a word of thanks, he aggressively slammed the door shut behind him. With his hands in his pockets, Soo-hyuk glanced at the SUV and smirked before sauntering into the KBBQ. Well, at least it was crystal clear that Woo-jae would never manage to win over Hyun after that stupid post.

“What a freakin’ idiot. Ha!”

~~~

“E-Er… Did I say something wrong…?” Woo-jae’s manager asked as he awkwardly scratched his head. Gosh, that temper of his…!

“Eh, he’s just being a freaking drama queen. Don’t worry about it, hyung! Thanks for the ride!”

“No problem, call me when you want me to pick you guys up!”

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Woo-jae asked as he worriedly glanced at his manager. His manager hyung hadn’t even gotten to eat his dinner since they had to pick up that a**hat earlier!

“Nah, I’m good. I’m going back to the hotel to rest a bit.”

“Hmm. Then, make sure to get something to eat. Order room service, all right? If not, just text me, and I’ll buy it on our way back.” Woo-jae slipped out of the car before glancing back at his manager, “Also, you don’t need to pick us up; we’ll just ask for a ride since many of our sunbaes* are staying at the same hotel.”

“Wait, Woo-jae! I can’t–”

“Just rest up, hyung! You deserve it! See you later!”

Quietly shutting the door, Woo-jae waved goodbye before darting into the restaurant. Gaaah! He was going to get nasty looks from his colleagues for being late…! Dammit, Soo-hyuk, that a**hole! 

~~~

“Oh, Woo-jae! You came~ Come, sit, sit! We’ve been waiting for you boys to come!” his colleague/ legendary actress, Kwon Hye-sook, warmly smiled, gesturing for the flustered young man to sit beside her.

“Ah, hello sunbae-nim*! I’m so sorry we were late; traffic was pretty bad coming here!”

Sheepishly smiling, he gave a slight wave to his best friends, Jae-hee and Do-hwan, who were sitting next to the empty seat at the table. He let out a small sigh of relief as he avoided the irritated look on the director’s face. Thank God his sunbaes doted on him– otherwise, he probably would have gotten an earful from the director! Quickly, he made his way over to his seat while glancing over at Soo-hyuk, who was grinning at him from the next table over. Ugh, what was up with that diva?

“Why were you so late? Did something happen with Soo-hyuk?”, Do-hwan whispered as he sneaked a peek at the gloating actor.

“...Later. I’ll explain later, hyung.”

“Hmm. Okay. For now, let’s eat!”

“‘Kay!”

“By the way….” Do-hwan glanced over at Woo-jae with a spark of curiosity in his eyes, “Did you find the drawing’s owner?”

“Hmm? Oh… Maybe.” Woo-jae grinned mischievously as he grabbed a piece of meat from the grill.  

“Oh? What’s with that smile?”

“I dunno.”

“Heh. Well, I guess I have my answer.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Do-hwan slid his striking yellow and blue eyes towards his hoobae*, “You only get that look when you’ve found a new crush.”

“Huh??? Oh, stop joking, hyung! I don’t have a crush on anyone!”

“Well~ You never know~”

Woo-jae rolled his eyes at his friend’s suggestion. Well, he wasn’t sure about having a crush, per se, but… The guy was pretty cute to look at, not to mention less annoying than that other kid. Covering his mouth with his slender fingers, Woo-jae felt a slight grin splay across his stoic face.

Crush, huh?

SIDE NOTE:

*Sunbae/ sunbae-nim: Sunbae= someone’s senior (think, upperclassmen at school or someone who has seniority over you at the workplace); Also, calling someone sunbae-nim shows respect towards the senior. 

*Hoobae: Someone who is younger (i.e., lowerclassmen at school or someone who’s a “junior” at the workplace)

**NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.**