Jihoon looked in shocked amazement as Jieun continued to put one piece of cooked pork into after another. Her cheeks were starting to bulge from the activity.

“Yah, slow down. Haven’t you heard of chewing?”

Jieun gave him a side-eye and proceeded to eat. She responded but the words were garbled from too much food inside .

“Aish, fine. Stuff your face. I don’t care.”  He said dismissively, as he took a shot of soju.

Hyunseung and Miyeon kept on urging Jieun to down her shot quickly so they can give her some more but she politely refused, explaining that she’s not a very good drinker.

“We’re going to change that soon! Haha!” Miyeon exclaimed.

“Don’t mind her, Jieun-ssi. Just drink at your own pace.” Hyunseung reassured her, but Miyeon, who was sitting beside the older woman kept on winking.

“Haha, the pork here is the best, though. I haven’t had samgyupsal in so long, because I’m pretty careful of what I eat.”

Just when Jieun was about to reach for more, she glanced at her plate and saw a heap of cooked samgyupsal in it. She was pretty sure it was Jihoon, who was seated beside her who put all those food in her plate, but he was too busy laughing at Soobong and Changmo’s jokes for her to ask.

Jieun enjoyed the food and the cheerful chatter around her. It’s been so long since she’s had such a group of people who enjoyed simple pleasures and random topics over drinks and good old samgyupsal. For the last five years since her popularity grew, she was so bent on working hard that having a good time with her friends became so rare. Not to mention that finding sincere people within the industry was a challenge. Si Eon was one of the few people she can consider her "real" friend from the within the industry. For the first time in a long time, she felt happy and safe to be with people she met at ‘work’.

Glancing at the tall man beside her, she puzzled over a lot of things. Hongshi, Hyunseung and the dancers and staff who’ve been working with them for the Duality project are mostly people who have known him since his trainee days. From what she’s seen in the months of working together, they are not just coworkers – now employees (because Jihoon apparently took them under his wing when he started his own company) – but family. It’s evident in how Jihoon knows their kids’ names or how their moms are doing. Stuff you just don’t tell your boss or coworker.

“More samgyupsal?”

Jihoon asked in a joking manner, probably seeing her gaze fixed on him.

“Wow, you do read minds.” She answered. “What’s with all the food you heaped on my plate earlier?”

“Those two were busy convincing you to drink more that you didn’t notice Sooboong finishing all of the food.”

Jieun laughed.

“We wouldn’t want our princess throwing a fit because all the pork is gone.”

“Ha Ha Ha. Very funny. But you made a good decision.”

“I know.” He said, putting more pork on her plate with a big grin on his face. “It’s good that you’re eating well. You’re too skinny.”

“I’m not.” She couldn’t stop the eyeroll the that was starting to form with every word from Jihoon’s mouth. It’s enough that her mom nags her everyday about that. She didn’t want to hear it from another person outside her family.

“Fine, I’m not going to say it anymore. No fighting tonight.”

Probably sensing another one of Jieun’s ‘outbursts and wanting to escape it, Jihoon resumed talking to Changmo and the other guys who were asking him about Taehee.

“Honestly, Jihoon, you never bring her with you. Sometimes I think you’re making that relationship up.” Hongshi complained.

“Aish, it’s not that. You know how it is with the media and her family. It’s tough. I feel protective of her all the time.” Jihoon defended, taking another shot of soju.

“Just tell us, how pretty is she in person?” Sooboong asked with a very curious and intent expression painted on his face.

Jihoon hesitated, a small smile on his lips.

“Hyung! How about you, I’m sure you’ve seen her right?” Soobong redirected towards Changmo.

“Yah, how can a man be such a gossip?” Changmo tried to deflect the question but Sooboong was so persistent. It’s also probably the soju’s effects. “Of course she’s very pretty. It’s hard to describe – but it’s like there’s a halo on her head and the room automatically feels brighter when she’s around.” JIhoon’s manager said carefully, glancing at Jihoon.

The gaggle of guys were silent, a little transfixed when Changmo described Taehee, who was like a myth in the eyes of the men who’ve worked with Jihoon. They’ve never seen her except for Changmo, which made them even more curious.

Soobong started teasing Jihoon about winning the lottery, and how he should put a ring on Taehee’s finger before she even changes her mind. Jihoon didn’t say anything, and just responded with a smile.

“That’s the plan.” Was Jihoon’s short reply.

Both male and female dancers gushed at how cute their future babies would look like.

Jieun listened in, finding the conversation amusing and a little annoying. Jihoon may be a caveman in her opinion, but he’s a pretty decent guy, He’s a self-made man who’s become successful because of his hard-earned work. The man barely sleeps. Plus she can hate his guts all she wants, but she can’t hide the fact that she still finds him attractive. He takes good care of his physique, and it seems like he takes extreme care of protecting Taehee. Why does it seem like Jihoon has to worship the ground Taehee walks on? Just because she  graduated from the country’s top university, was raised by a rich family and is ridiculously beautiful?

Men can be really annoying and daft sometimes.

“Psssh, annoying.”

“What was that, Jieun-ssi?” Hyunseung asked her, as she poured her another shot.

Jieun didn’t notice that she said her thoughts out loud, so she made some lame excuse to divert the topic. Hyunseung proceeded to ask her  if she’d like another shot.

Oh well, it’s okay to drink every now and then.

“Sure, this is a night of celebration after all, hehe.”

“That’s our girl!” Miyeon cheered, as Hyunseung poured Jieun another shot.

Gori, another one of the male dancers from Jihoon’s team stood up and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.. Miyeon told Jieun that Gori was fond of playing games whenever they had drinks and it always makes for great stories the next day.

“Yeorobun, let’s play a game! Let’s call it…the round table of unpopular opinions.”

‘What exactly do we do?” Jihoon asked.

Gori explained that a bottle of soju will be passed around. The first person will sing the chorus of song of his or her choice and take a shot from the bottle and pass it on to the person next to him/her who wil do the same