39 Tea with Yuri

He was sitting across from Yuri at her apartment building along with Jiwoo and Ha-joon who were busy following Seokmin into his room. 

After Jiwoo had dropped the bomb on Yuri, Jungsu had rushed to explain the situation quietly so that Jiwoo would not hear what he was saying and start crying. 

"So what have you been doing lately? Have you gotten any work?" Yuri asked smilingly. 

Jungsu could finally see Yuri's face which gave him some comfort for some reason. While, yes, he did enjoy seeing her face from a purely aesthetic standpoint, he also admired the way she seemed to look at him, as if with no ulterior motives. It was quite refreshing. 

"Yes, actually, I'm shooting a movie at the moment." 

"Really? That's great! I'm not surprised though." She said as she placed her elbow on the table they were sitting in front of. 

"And what about you? I'm sure there are some projects lined up for you?" Jungsu said as he felt so sure to his bones that Yuri had at least two movies or dramas offered. 

"Well, I signed a drama actually, a romance drama, but we've already run into problems." Yuri sighed. 

"And what are these problems exactly?" Jungsu asked as he finished taking a sip of the tea Yuri had made for both of them. 

Yuri bit her lip as her eyes focussed on the cup in her hands. 

"The actor I'm supposed to be working with, he's... very hard to work with."

"In what way?" Jungsu asked. 

Yuri remained silent for a beat before slowly saying, "He... is very rude to staff members and..." She trailed off. 

"And...?" Jungsu completed.

Jungsu was then startled to see tears forming in Yuri's eyes. He panicked in his spot, not knowing what to do. 

"H-he... acts very inappropriately. I don't know what to do Jungsu." Yuri cried into her hands. 

Jungsu felt his blood go cold at that, wondering if Yuri meant what he was thinking. 

"Yuri, did he touch you?" He asked coldly, his black eyes piercing into Yuri's. 

Yuri shivered at the look in Jungsu's eyes, feeling a thread of fear enter her as she felt the stark change in Jungsu. 

Yuri rushed to say, "Only my waist or shoulders... but he did suggest some things." 

Somehow Yuri had made the situation worse as she saw Jungsu's hand close into a tight fist, the veins on his forearms shifting in place. 

Yuri remained silent as she watched Jungsu's eyes seeming to show his racing thoughts. Yuri could already tell that Jungsu was thinking of a way to handle the situation. Yuri hadn't asked him to, but as she sniffled, wiping away her tears, she thought to herself that she liked the fact that he'd thought to protect her. She especially liked how he looked while he was brooding, his brows handing low over his eyes, fingers splayed across his chin as he gazed off to the side. 

"Alright, how about this," Jungsu said suddenly. 

"Huh, yes?" Yuri said, afraid she might have been caught staring at Jungsu. 

"What if we simply demand the director replace the male lead? I'm sure if I were to also come there with you, you wouldn't be so easily ignored." Jungsu said, knowing that all industries, but especially media, were sexist. 

"Y-you really think it's that simple? I don't think the director would let go of him so easily. It's hard to find an actor on such short notice." 

"You said you haven't started filming yet, right?" 

"Well.. yes but-"

"Then I'm sure we can find a better male lead. I will convince the director." Jungsu said with confidence. 

Yuri smiled at him then, not knowing that Jungsu's way of convincing involved more than just words, if it got to that point. Of course, he would have to roughen him up in secret, but that would be quite easy for Jungsu. 

"Thank you, Jungsu. I don't know why I find myself believing you." Yuri laughed. 

Jungsu smiled back with a hidden meaning in his smile that Yuri could not grasp. All she knew was that it made her feel a bit nervous. 

"I'll be there for your next shoot then, just text me the details." Jungsu said. 

"But I should really inform the director if you are coming, I don't know if you'd be able to get in without-" 

"Don't worry about me getting inside, I'll find a way. And no need to inform him." That would always grant him an advantage over the other person. 

"O-okay, if you say so." Yuri said, but again, she believed that he would find a way to get inside. 

"You know Jungsu, I've been meaning to ask you..." Yuri said as she fixed her cat-like eyes on him. 

"Where in the world did you learn to spin fire?" She laughed, grinning. 

Jungsu felt his lips twitch at that. "Well... if I tell you, I'd have to kill you." 

Yuri rolled her eyes as she got up to pick up Jungsu's cup. He stopped her hands as he stood up with her and walked to the kitchen sink. 

"Jungsu, I can take that!" 

Jungsu simply shook his head as he turned on the tap and washed his cup, gently grabbing the cup in her hands and washing it as well. 

Yuri leaned against the counter, smiling as she looked at Jungsu, so comfortable with washing the dishes. 

"Do you also wash the dishes for your parents?" Yuri asked lightheartedly. 

She quickly realized her mistake however when she noticed Jungsu freezing for a millisecond before returning to dry the cups. 

She stood in the silence with him for a minute before she heard him simply say, "I don't have parents." 

Yuri's heart broke as she felt pain for him. It all made sense now, why he seemed so cold and distant. She wondered who had raised him then.

"Do you have any aunts, uncles, cousins..." she trailed off as she only received a blank stare from him as he turned around to face her. 

"Then..." She whispered. 

"I grew up in what you might call an... orphanage. I did have parents at one point once I'd been adopted, but that also came to an end eventually. So I do know what it feels to have parents." Jungsu mumbled on.

He didn't know why he was saying all this, perhaps because he felt the need to explain to Yuri that he was not so different from her. But still, looking at the picture frames in her house with her parents and brother in it, he knew that even the parents he'd had were a vastly different experience from Yuri's. 

Yuri looked at him with an inscrutable face. 

"I'm sorry." She said, reaching out with her hands towards him, then stopping as if unsure. 

Jungsu watched her hands warily as they fell back against her side. 

"It's okay, I grew up fine." And he was fine, at least he had food. He knew his circumstances could have been far worse. 

Yuri smiled then, locking eyes with Jungsu before clearing her throat. 

Jungsu glanced away then, feeling the need to fill the silence between them with words. 

"I'm going to be participating in a soccer tournament in a couple of days if you would like to watch..." Jungsu then trailed off, feeling like slamming his head against the wall. Why would she want to watch him running around on a field?

Yuri's on the other hand had her eyes widened at the prospect of getting to see Jungsu playing soccer. 

"I didn't know you were so good at soccer!" Yuri had of course seen him mention soccer in the interview with Silvi, but she would die before she let Jungsu know that.

"I'm not that good actually. It's nothing professional, it's just a simple tournament." Jungsu was speaking the truth as he knew that he'd only been selected because he happened to be decent enough to catch the recruiter's eyes. 

"Jungsu, even a simple tournament is still a tournament!" Yuri said as she shook her head at Jungsu. 

Jungsu simply shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck as Yuri looked at him in exasperation. 

Yuri bit back a smile at the thought of Jungsu running around with sweat running down him, lifting his shirt up to fan himself. Yuri blushed then, wondering how her thoughts had run so wild. 

"Is there anything you can't do Jungsu?" She asked jokingly. 

Her smile fell however when he considered it seriously. 

"Cooking, solo dancing, drawing, golf, not because I can't play it, but simply because I don't like that sport. Far too much standing around than actually playing, and the people there are often quite obnoxi-" He stopped talking once he saw the look on Yuri'd face as she raised her eyebrows in surprise. 

"Well... it's good to know that I'm better than you at something. But I have a feeling when you say you can't do something, it really means that you are not exceptionally well at it." 

"No Yuri, I truly cannot cook. I mean I can, but it is not delicious. And I can't draw, it's something that I have always struggled with." 

Yuri laughed loudly at the thought of Jungsu struggling with a pencil and paper in his hands. 

"Okay, I'll believe you for now. Tell me where is your tournament taking place?" Yuri asked, desperate to gather as much information as possible about the tournament. 

"I think it's taking place in the Sangam stadium."

Yuri blinked at his words. 

"What kind of small tournament takes place in Sangam stadium?!" She shouted at Jungsu. 

Then her mind fell to one option as she slowly came to a realization. 

"Jungsu... what is the name of this tournament?" 

"I think it's called the Unity Kickoff." Jungsu answered. 

Yuri's mouth fell open as she stared blankly at Jungsu.