To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 157: Appreciate art when you see one

"Hwa," Kang-woo called softly and Chin-hwa squinted his eyes shut before slowly opening them. "Hwa, you have to wake up. It’s time for dinner."

"Byul?" Chin-hwa asked as he opened his eyes to find Kang-woo’s face very close to his. "What are you doing on my bed?"

"I slept here for a while after getting out of the car. But your dad knocked a few seconds ago and said that dinner was ready." He said. "Did I surprise you?"

"Hm-mm." He nodded. "I thought it was a dream that you were waking me so gently and softly," he raised his hand and touched Kang-woo’s face. "I thought it was all a dream."

Kang-woo held his hand and pushed it down to his lips.

"Well, it’s real. And so is everything else we found out today." He said. "If you still doubt it, you can check the place you got your blood drawn, haha."

"No, I believe it." Chin-hwa said, sat up, and yawned before stretching his arms to satisfaction. "I’ll change into something more comfortable before heading down."

"Your friends are downstairs too."

"Friends?"

Of course, since Hae-won had invited them for dinner, they would stay till it was time.

When Chin-hwa got down with Kang-woo, they saw their friends gathered at the dining table.

Since their dining table was naturally long, it would fit everyone but it was strangely empty. There were a lot of persons missing so there were a lot of empty seats.

Before they got there, they had quite the conversation such as this;

"You guys should eat to your fill, okay? It’s my first time treating Hwa’s friends so I’m not holding back." Hae-won said.

Dong-cha and the rest stared at the food in front of them and salivated. There was pork and chicken as well. There was even beef. Just how long did it take them to prepare all of that?

And it tasted so good. The chicken had this juicy taste as if it had been dipped in sugar syrup. It was so good.

"This is amazing, you’re such a good cook, Hwa’s mom."

"Oh, don’t mention it. Hwa’s sister joined me so you guys could taste a heavenly dish, don’t forget to thank her." He said, pointing to Si-woo, who was contemplating what to put on her plate first.

She noticed sparkles flying towards her and raised her head to see them staring at her with sparkling eyes.

"So cool," Dong-cha exclaimed.

"You’re so pretty, Unnie." Seoung-bo said.

"Uh, are we still talking about the food?" Beom asked and they laughed.

"Appreciate art when you see one," Dong-cha emphasized.

Si-woo looked at them and laughed.

"Well, I should appreciate you for your compliments." She said. "Being called an art is really the cream on top."

"Unnie, you’re so cool. I want to be like you when I’m older." Dong-cha said.

"How come? Aren’t you already cool?" Si-woo said and Dong-cha blushed but quickly raised her head in pride.

"You hear that, Seoung-bo? She said I’m cool." She said and Seoung-bo laughed.

"Yes, yes, you’re as cool as a refrigerator." She said, deflating Dong-cha’s pride. "Now, let’s eat."

Hae-won laughed at the spectacle and caught their attention.

"Please don’t mind me asking, Hwa’s mom, but is it true that you’re the author of AAB?" Seoung-bo asked.

"Why? Are you a fan?"

"I don’t think there’s anyone in our current generation who isn’t a fan." Dong-cha answered and put some rice in her mouth. Even the rice was delicious.

"Well, you’re in luck then." Hae-won smiled. "I’ll give each of you a copy of the original with my very own signature. How’s that?"

Their eyes widened.

"Oh my Gosh, that would be so amazing."

"I’ll keep it as a family heirloom,"

"Thank you so much."

"It’s okay, it’s okay." Hae-won said and then noticed Chin-hwa and Kang-woo coming towards the singing table. "Hwa, hurry come sit. You’re late for dinner."

"Sorry, mummy." Hwa said and sat on the empty seat next to Hae-won. "Byul just woke me up."

"You two must’ve been exhausted after your performance," Hae-won said, turning to Kang-woo who was about to take his seat next to Chin-hwa. "Where did you go anyway?"

As soon as he asked that, they both flinched.

"I’ll tell you later," Chin-hwa said, lowering his gaze. "I’ll tell you tomorrow so please don’t ask about it now."

Hae-won saw it as odd. Even Baek-Hyun and Woo-bin would not say anything about it. Well then, he would just wait for the next day to hear what Chin-hwa had to say.

"Well, let me fill your plates. You too, Kang-woo. It’s a celebration dinner so you need to eat your fill." Hae-won said and Kang-woo lightly bowed his head.

"Thank you,"

"Hwa, you were awesome on stage," Seoung-bo said. "We wanted to tell you as soon as we saw you but you had vanished."

"I didn’t know you could sing like that but now that I know who your father is, I’m not that surprised anymore. But still, you were fantastic." Dong-cha said, giving a thumbs up.

"Ah, thank you." Chin-hwa nodded his head while blushing lightly. "I guess my efforts didn’t go to waste," 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"With a voice like that, I doubt you’d need to put a lot of effort. You probably focused more on your instrument play, right?" Beom asked. "Your hand says it all."

Chin-hwa looked at his fingers. They were a little reddened from pressing the keys continuously for the last week, and in between his fingers were a bit sore.

He didn’t notice it before but now that he did, it was as if it was burning.

’I should probably put some ointment on it later,’ he thought. ’I wonder if Kang-woo’s fingers burn as well. Compared to mine, he had little blisters threatening to ruin his pretty hands.’

"What is it Hwa?" Kang-woo asked. "I told you I was fine, didn’t I?"

"Well, it’s nothing." Chin-hwa said and turned to his friends. "Where’s Yun-tae?"

"Oh, his ’friend’ pulled me away for a while and we haven’t seen them since then." Seoung-bo answered.

"Myung-woo Hyung did?"

"Oh, so his name is Myung-woo." Seoung-bo nodded, keeping it at the back of his head. "Anyway, since they went upstairs, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about."

Chin-hwa nodded. It seemed like they were closer now than he thought. He hoped it was a good thing. He hoped Yun-tae had found the right person to take care of his heart and later start a family with.

"What about Daddy and Dad?" Chin-hwa asked Hae-won. "The table is very empty right now."

Hae-won sighed.

"I don’t know what they’re up to, but your fathers went out just before dinner was served, and Lee Ga-ram hadn’t shown up either. But don’t worry, I’m sure it’s nothing."

A few minutes into their meal, the lights suddenly went off.

"Oh no, what’s going on?"

"Did the lights go out?"

"Hold on," Si-woo spoke up. "I’ll go check."

She turned on the torch on her phone, and just when she was about to stand up, her torch went off, and the lights came back on, revealing Woo-bin, Baek-Hyun, Lee Ga-ram, and Tae-won who looked rather awkward with this strong.

"Surprise!" They cheered.

Woo-bin was holding a cake.

"What’s this?" Chin-hwa asked, nearly dumbfounded.

"It’s apparently the surprise they prepared for you," Hae-won answered. Though he hadn’t been involved, he could tell just by looking at the cake.

He had lived with them long enough to know the kind of things they were capable of. But how the hell did they rope in Tae-won to join the surprise?

"Congrats on a successful performance?" Woo-bin said and Chin-hwa sighed.

"It was just one performance and it was for a school festival. Did you have to make a big deal out of it?" Chin-hwa asked.

"Of course," Baek-Hyun answered and took the cake from Woo-bin, placing it on the empty space on the dining table. "You did so great." He kissed the top of Chin-hwa’s head.

Chin-hwa sighed. He knew they were capable of the unexpected but doing this in front of his friends? They were literally striping him naked right now.

"The cake is a mixture of both your favorite flavors," Lee Ga-ram said, kissing the top of Kang-woo’s head and then Chin-hwa’s head. "I hope your friends enjoy it too." He smiled at Chin-hwa’s friends who were at a loss for words at this sudden occurrence.

"Well, I guess dessert is served, I guess." Chin-hwa said. "But first, you all have to sit and have dinner. And..." He looked around. "Where is Yun-tae and my Hyung?"

"Si-Si," Hae-won called. "Do you know where your brother is?"

Si-woo shifted her gaze away and mumbled to herself with a tone of disappointment,

"Probably frolicking in bed with Nari."

Meanwhile, in Deok-ryu’s room, Yun-tae stood next to Myung-woo, his eyes fixed on the floor as he scurried lightly in awkwardness.

’What is this situation?’

Myung-woo smirked, looking like he’d discovered a treasure, as he stared at the two who had just scurried out of the bed in front of them.

"Wow, I never thought you’d get the hint, you unromantic blockhead who only thinks about his baby brother," Myung-woo said and tilted his head. "Or did He-Nari do all the work... again?"

He-Nari glared at him with his sharp eyes that were capable of enchanting even an Eunuch and Deok-ryu clicked his tongue.

"What do you want?"