Chapter 101: The Whisper Game Continues
The four of them emptied two glasses of somaek while chatting casually before the drinking game. Both women seemed to drink quite well—they drank quickly without hesitation yet appeared perfectly fine.
"The question goes in clockwise order starting from whoever the chopsticks point to. Okay?"
"Okie."
"Okay!"
"Got it."
The chopsticks spun around.
The tip of the chopsticks pointed to Lee Junghoon.
Lee Junghoon chuckled and got up from his seat, approaching Min Gahe to whisper. Seo Juhwan had thought he'd decided to focus on Seulgi, but did he have interest in Min Gahe instead?
Min Gahe burst out laughing after hearing the whisper.
"Pfft. Should I point someone out now?"
"Yeah. Point whoever you want."
"Really?"
What did he say to her?
Soon Min Gahe's finger shot out and pointed at someone.
Seo Juhwan, the one being pointed at, asked while pointing at himself.
"Me? Uh... is the answer to the question yes?"
Or was it a question about him? He was confused which it was.
"What? What was the question?"
"Ew. Oppa, if you're curious, drink! Will you drink?"
"Tsk. I can't skip the first question, right? I'll drink."
Min Gahe made the somaek for him personally.
The ratio was 5 parts soju to 5 parts beer.
A pretty brutal ratio for a penalty drink.
Seo Juhwan raised the glass and poured it down his throat.
"Phew. Okay, now tell me."
"Oppa, you drink well, don't you? Hehe. The question I received was..."
"Oh, Gahe, you should only tell Juhwan. Seulgi didn't drink, after all. Or would Seulgi like to drink too?"
"No, that's okay for me."
"Hehe. Then Juhwan oppa, lend me your ear."
"Uh, sure."
What could the question have been?
It was nothing special, yet he found himself anticipating it.
Min Gahe leaned across the table, bringing her mouth close to his ear. His ear tickled from her breath.
"The question Junghoon oppa asked was..."
Min Gahe dragged out the suspense.
Soon she spoke with laughter in her voice.
"Who here would you like to kiss? Hehe."
He was startled and looked at her, and she smiled sheepishly. It was surprising that he'd asked such a question from the start, but what was more surprising was that she'd pointed at him right away. Now that he thought about it, she had applied the Attractive Rise Lip Balm earlier.
Glancing at Lee Junghoon, he was giving a thumbs up under the table.
Seo Juhwan immediately raised his own thumbs up once he sat back down.
All that sacrifice of the Chief of Staff Award commendation was worth it.
*
Seo Juhwan had never really liked drinking games. His only experience with drinking games was sneaking into his college friends' games before regression, and not knowing the rules, he kept getting caught while messing up the atmosphere.
He'd eventually drunk so many penalty drinks that he realized he didn't belong there and quietly slipped away. All that remained was a memory of smoking cigarettes alone outside, feeling lonely and quiet before heading to bed.
"Ugh, what was the question!"
"Puhaha! You have to drink if you want to know."
But this was different now.
Had drinking games always been this fun?
What he'd done before hadn't been a real drinking game. Drinking games at university were just about getting someone drunk or literally drinking for the sake of drinking. Here, alcohol was just a means to an end—a means to create an enticing atmosphere.
"This time it's my turn!"
Seulgi whispered to Lee Junghoon. After hearing the question, Lee Junghoon gave a playful smile and pointed at Seulgi, the one who'd asked.
Seulgi's eyes widened slightly and her face reddened. Seo Juhwan teased her with a mischievous smile.
"Why's your face turning red? What kind of question did you ask? Huh?"
"Ah. What? What did you ask, Seulgi?"
Min Gahe joined in, poking Seulgi in the ribs.
Seulgi evaded the question by drinking.
"If you want to know, drink."
"How stingy."
"You didn't tell me either."
"Tch. So you're going to drink?"
Min Gahe raised her glass, and Seo Juhwan subtly followed suit and drank as well. Even though she hadn't pointed at him, he was curious about the question.
As everyone drank, Seulgi scrunched up her nose and spoke.
"I said who I'd like to stay up all night with."
What did staying up all night together mean?
It surely didn't mean they'd stay up drinking together all night.
Min Gahe twisted her blue hair with her fingers, puckering her lips as she spoke.
"Ohoho. Our Seulgi wants to stay up all night with Junghoon oppa, right?"
"No, it wasn't me, it was Junghoon oppa who—"
"Pft. Look at Seulgi getting embarrassed~."
"Be quiet..."
"Hic. S-so Junghoon oppa wants to stay up all night with Seulgi?"
Seulgi's sharp glare made Min Gahe quickly change targets.
Lee Junghoon answered with an easy-going laugh.
"Yeah. I want to stay up with her?"
"Kyaa. He's being bold!"
"Oh. Hyung, are you coming on strong?"
Seulgi's face reddened even more. Lee Junghoon shrugged off-handedly as if asking what she meant.
"What? I meant drinking all night. Why? Is there something else?"
The three of them giggled and teased Seulgi.
Lee Junghoon probably pointed at Seulgi to balance things out. Seo Juhwan paired with Min Gahe, and Lee Junghoon paired with Seulgi. After several rounds of the game, the dynamic was already clearly established.
Seo Juhwan glanced at the embarrassed Seulgi and thought.
'She seems sincere about this.'
At first, he thought she was holding back, but she actually asked questions actively and coquettishly engaged with Lee Junghoon. He wouldn't have noticed this before, but recently his perception had sharpened. From what he could see, Seulgi had quite a bit of affection for Lee Junghoon. He was worried about the aftermath if they just burned through one night carelessly.
But such thoughts were brief—Seo Juhwan decided to stop worrying about it.
'He'll handle it on his own.'
Why should he be concerned about someone else's business? Experienced Lee Junghoon would surely handle things well.
He clinked glasses with Min Gahe separately and toasted. The atmosphere was already ripe, and the drinking game took a backseat as they chatted and sipped their drinks.
By the time the alcohol ran out, Min Gahe spoke with a bright, cheerful face.
"Let's go to karaoke! Karaoke!"
Naturally, everyone except Min Gahe's face turned sour.