"... I went everywhere with Little Hwa, so wherever he got attention, I got equal attention. Like I said, we were inseparable."
"Whoa, I'm so jealous." Yun-Tae said. "Chin-hwa, how come you never talked about Kang-woo-ssi? He practically took up most of your life."
Chin-hwa suddenly dragged down his beanie. He never wanted to talk about himself, so why would he start talking about Kang-woo out of the blue?
Besides, he was mad at him and wanted to forget him. So he had no reason to bring him up.
Kang-woo watched Chin-hwa with a little crinkled gaze. He was slightly worried that he still kept the resentment even till now.
They moved on with the topic and started talking about other things.
As they finished up there and prepared to leave, Kang-woo offered to pay the bills as a gift for their first meeting.
"Now that's an Alpha Male," Seoung-bo yelled out, the alcohol getting to her head and making her excited.
"You're so generous, Keke." Dong-cha said, smirking mischievously but no one thought much of it and laughed along with her.
As they headed out of the restaurant, they turned to Kang-woo, and Yun-Tae, who wanted to get close to him, asked in a tiny bit of excitement.
"Would you like to come with us for round two?" Kang-woo looked at him skeptically asking with his eyebrows.
'Round two?'
"Hey, yeah, you should come with us!" Dong-cha exclaimed and then snickered as an idea hit her mind. "You can be the first to hold the mic!"
Kang-woo chuckled and declined in a friendly manner, "I'm not much of a singer," he said and shifted his gaze to Chin-hwa. "But little Hwa here has the voice of an angel. I believe he should be the one holding the mic first."
Chin-hwa's eyes widened, and he turned to look at his friends, who were looking at him in surprise, and Seoung-bo asked, "Really? We've never heard you sing before!"
Kang-woo's eyes warmed as he gazed at Chin-hwa. "He used to sing me birthday songs every year. They were always so soothing to the soul."
Chin-hwa felt a pang in his chest as he met Kang-woo's gaze. He was taken aback that Kang-woo still remembered those small details. He had sung to Kang-woo every year on his birthday, without fail because he wanted to. And because he knew it made Kang-woo happy.
He pursed his lips.
Chin-hwa's friends exchanged knowing glances, and Dong-cha said, "Wow, you guys must have been really close growing up. I'm just starting to realize it after hearing all that."
Kang-woo nodded, a smile still plastered on his face. "Our families are tight friends, so we always hung out together. His mother would..."
Chin-hwa cleared his throat loudly, intentionally interrupting Kang-woo. He didn't want to be the center of attention, and he definitely didn't want his friends to start asking more questions about his family.
Kang-woo had already done more than enough filling them in on his childhood days. Their childhood days.
Kang-woo's eyes flicked to Chin-hwa's, a hint of concern etched on his face. But he didn't push the issue, instead choosing to fall into step beside Chin-hwa's friends as they walked to the karaoke bar.
As they walked, Chin-hwa suddenly pulled Kang-woo aside, his voice was low as he asked, "Hey, why don't you just head home? You don't have to stick around."
Kang-woo watched his expression. Was he seriously trying to drive him away?
He looked up at Chin-hwa's friends who were walking on, not knowing they had paused from the group.
He brought his gaze back to Chin-hwa.
"I know you're just doing this to be polite but you don't have to if you don't want to." Chin-hwa said but Kang-woo shook his head, his expression slightly turning serious as he said,
"I feel I'm making you uncomfortable."
"You feel?"
"Yes, but sorry," he reached out his hands to adjust Chin-hwa's beanie properly. "I can't leave even if you want me to since I promised your mom I'd look out for you till you got home. That's why she let you stay out late."
'Ah, so that's why she suddenly let me stay out late.'
Chin-hwa's eyes narrowed, a mix of emotions swirling inside him. He didn't expect Kang-woo to be looking out for him, especially not at his mother's request.
But why would his mother send Kang-woo in the first place? He was an adult. He was an omega but still... He could take care of himself. They had to stop treating him like he was a child.
He pouted, fuming at the thought of it all.
Kang-woo stared at Chin-hwa's serious face and all he could do was gush at his bundle of cuteness.
It was clear he was fuming but why did his serious fuming face look so... Adorable?
His eyes fell on his chubby cheeks. He could definitely pinch them but he knew it wasn't the time to be having such thoughts.
But... Chin-hwa was just so cute.
"Fine," Chin-hwa said as he sighed. "I guess there's nothing we can do about it." He said and looked up at Kang-woo. "Let's just go. But..." He twisted his lips sparingly and said, "...I would appreciate it if you don't try to put me in the spotlight. I," he slowly lowered his gaze and muttered. "...like things the way they are."
Kang-woo watched Chin-hwa walk away, while surprised.
He used to think, no, he knew for a fact that Chin-hwa loved being under the spotlight. Did something happen while he was away?