That day, Baki had a good sleep for the first time in a long while. Even though he didn't notice it, his body had been pushed to its limits. He slept for fourteen hours straight.
When he woke up, he found that the sky outside was dark. He groaned and slowly got up from his bed, his body feeling surprisingly refreshed.
Currently, they were using an apartment on the second floor. Seongji wasn't lying when he said that he'd converted the entire third and fourth floors into gyms.
Baki slowly walked out of his room and headed for the dining area. But when he reached it, he was met with a strange sight.
Twelve guys were lying on makeshift beds on the ground.
Baki stared at the twelve guys sprawled across the dining room floor. They were sleeping in the weirdest positions he'd ever seen. One guy had his leg up on another guy's face. Two of them were using each other's stomachs as pillows. Another one was curled up like a cat in the corner. One guy's arm was stretched out with his hand in someone else's mouth. The guy didn't even seem to care. Someone was snoring so loud it sounded like a broken motorcycle. Another one was sleeping sitting up against the wall with his mouth wide open, drool running down his chin. The whole scene looked like a pile of exhausted puppies after playing too hard.
Baki rubbed his eyes. What the hell happened while he was sleeping?
He reached over and flipped the light switch. The sudden brightness made him squint as he looked at the sleeping pile of bodies more carefully. His eyes widened when he recognized the faces. Olly was there, sleeping relatively normally compared to the others. Warren was the one with his leg on someone's face. Eli was curled up like a cat. Chuck and Justin were using each other as pillows. Max was the one snoring like a broken motorcycle. Derrick had his mouth open with drool everywhere. Vin Jin was sleeping sitting up. And then Baki spotted four faces he hadn't seen in years—Jewoo, Taebong, Wooseok, and Hyungjae.
The light woke everyone up. They groaned and moved around, rubbing their eyes and stretching.
Jewoo and Taebong suddenly jumped to their feet in weird fighting stances, still half asleep. Their fists were up and their eyes were barely open. "Who's there!" Jewoo yelled. "Intruder!" Taebong shouted, wobbling a bit.
Baki walked over and chopped both of them on the head—not hard, but enough to snap them out of it.
"Calm down, it's just me," he said. Jewoo and Taebong blinked a few times, then their eyes focused on Baki's face. Their expressions went from confused to shocked to happy in three seconds.
"Baki-hyung!" Jewoo, Taebong, Wooseok, and Hyungjae all shouted at once. They rushed over to him, talking over each other.
Warren grinned and gave him a nod. Max and Derrick looked happy to see him too. Vin Jin stretched and said, "Long time no see." Even Olly perked up a bit. Justin and Chuck just waved since they didn't know Baki that well. Eli stayed sitting, watching with a small smile.
"What are you guys doing here?" Baki asked, looking at the four Cheonliang guys. "I didn't know you came to Seoul." He genuinely looked surprised.
Jewoo scratched his head and laughed. "Yeah, we got here a few days ago. Vin Jin invited us."
"We're on holiday," Hyungjae added.
Wooseok yawned and stretched. "Teacher let us crash here since all the rooms are claimed by Mary, Sujin, and Sally."
Taebong nodded. "Yeah, you've been out for like fourteen hours, hyung. What happened to you?"
Baki shrugged. "Mission. Nothing big." He didn't want to talk about it. His body was hungry from how long he'd slept.
"You guys hungry?" he asked instead.
Everyone looked at each other. Derrick's stomach growled really loud. That answered the question.
"Barbecue?" Baki suggested.
"At midnight?" Chuck raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?" Baki said.
They all agreed. It had been a while since they'd had fun together. Just a few hours ago, they'd returned from the streets after fighting all day.
Baki went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was a lot of meat inside. Pork belly, beef, chicken. Seongji always kept the fridge stocked. Baki grabbed everything he could carry.
"Help me with this," he called out.
Warren, Max, and Derrick came over. They took the meat, vegetables, and some drinks. Jewoo found plates and chopsticks. Taebong grabbed cups.
"Where's the grill?" Eli asked.
"In the storage room," Baki said. "I bought it when I first moved here but never used it."
Eli and Wooseok went to get it. They came back carrying a big metal grill. It looked brand new.
"We're doing this upstairs?" Chuck asked.
"Rooftop," Baki said. "Less smoke inside."
They all headed up. The building had four floors total and a rooftop. The rooftop was flat with a low wall around the edges. It was very spacious.
Cold wind blew through the night. The moonlight faintly illuminated the sky. They turned on some warm, yellow lights.
They set up the grill in the middle. Baki turned it on. The coals started heating up. He threw some of the pork belly on first.
The meat sizzled. The smell was amazing. Everyone sat down around the grill in a circle.
"I'm starving," Max said.
"Me too," Derrick agreed.
Baki flipped the meat. Fat dripped down and made the fire flare up a bit. He cut the pork into smaller pieces with scissors.
"Done," he said.
Everyone grabbed pieces with their chopsticks. Derrick shoved three pieces in his mouth at once.
"Hot! Hot!" he said, but kept chewing.
Taebong laughed at him. Then he did the same thing and burned his tongue too.
Baki put more meat on. This time beef. He also added some vegetables on the side. Onions, peppers, mushrooms.
"How's Cheonliang?" Baki asked while cooking.
"Same as always," Jewoo said. "After that incident, people have gradually returned to normal."
"Yeah. We thought Taejin would continue his father's work as a shaman," Hyungjae added. "But strangely, he went missing."
"Is that so?" Vin Jin muttered. "I should give that bastard a good beating if I ever find him."
"Well, the past is past. What's more important is the future. But yours seems to be bleak," Wooseok said with a grin.
Vin Jin snorted. "Hmph! What do you mean, bastard?!"
Just then, music began to play. Vin Jin's face shifted. He recognized it.
He immediately jumped at Jewoo, who was playing the music. "Give it to me, bastard! Who gave it to you?!"
Sadly for him, Jewoo quickly moved away. Warren and Derrick grabbed Vin Jin from behind.
Vin Jin shouted, "Let me go, you bastards! Don't play it! Turn it off!"
Everyone froze. Then they heard it.
The music was rap. And the voice was definitely Vin Jin's.
"Yo yo yo, check it out, I'm the best rapper in town—"
The lyrics were terrible. The rhythm was all wrong. Vin Jin's voice cracked in the middle. He was completely off beat.
"My rhymes are so sick, they'll make you frown—"
Warren burst out laughing first. Then Derrick. Then everyone else joined in.
"HAHAHAHA!" Max fell over holding his stomach.
"That doesn't even rhyme!" Taebong shouted between laughs.
"Sick and frown?!" Jewoo was crying from laughing so hard.
Vin Jin's face turned bright red. "TURN IT OFF!"
But the song kept playing.
"I'm so cool, I'm so fly, watch me rap until I die—"
"Oh my god," Eli said, covering his mouth, though his shoulders were shaking.
"This is amazing," Warren said, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I walk down the street and everyone stares, because my rap skills give them nightmares—"
"That one actually kind of works," Wooseok said.
"NO IT DOESN'T!" Vin Jin screamed.
Hyungjae was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. He was just making wheezing sounds.
"My name is Vin Jin and I'm here to say—"
"Oh no," Derrick said.
"I can rap better than you any day—"
"THAT'S SO BAD!" Chuck yelled.
The beat dropped and Vin Jin tried to go fast but just stumbled over all the words. It sounded like he was choking.
"Is he dying in this?" Olly asked. Even he was smiling.
"Sounds like it," Justin said.
Baki was trying not to laugh but his lips kept twitching. He flipped the meat while shaking his head.
Vin Jin finally broke free from Warren and Derrick. He ran at Jewoo.
"GIVE ME THAT PHONE!"
Jewoo ran away around the grill. "No way! This is gold!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"You'll have to catch me first!"
They ran in circles. Vin Jin chased Jewoo around and around.
The rap kept playing from Jewoo's phone.
"My flow is so tight, my words are so right—"
"STOP IT!" Vin Jin shouted.
"I rap all day and I rap all night—"
Warren was literally rolling on the ground laughing now.
"Where did this gold come from?" Baki asked with a smile.
"Sujin recorded it when he was practicing for that guy named Duke," Wooseok said. "She sent it to all of us."
"That Duke guy must have had a terrible time if he heard Vin Jin rap like that all the time," Max said.
"Duke is just too kind," Eli said. "That's why."
"That explains everything," Derrick said.
Vin Jin finally caught Jewoo. He tackled him to the ground.
"DELETE IT!"
"NO!"
They wrestled on the rooftop floor. Jewoo held the phone up high.
"Someone help me!" Jewoo yelled.
Taebong grabbed the phone and ran away.
"TRAITOR!" Vin Jin yelled at Jewoo.
He got up and chased Taebong now.
The rap was still playing.
"I'm the king of rap, I'm number one—"
"You're number one at being bad!" Warren shouted.
"Watch me rap and have some fun—"
"This is torture!" Hyungjae said, still laughing.
Vin Jin caught Taebong and snatched the phone. He immediately paused the music.
Everyone booed.
"Play it again!" Max said.
"Never!" Vin Jin held the phone close to his chest.
"Come on, it wasn't that bad," Wooseok said, grinning.
"Yes it was," Vin Jin said flatly.
"It was pretty bad," Olly agreed.
"WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!"
"The truth," Olly said.
Baki finally laughed. Just a small laugh, but everyone heard it.
Vin Jin glared at him. "You too, hyung?"
"Sorry," Baki said, but he was still smiling. "It was quite... sophisticated?"
Vin Jin groaned and sat down heavily. He put his face in his hands.
"I was just starting to learn back then. I'm better now."
"Sure," Chuck said.
"We believe you," Justin added.
"The world thanks you for this masterpiece," Derrick said.
Vin Jin threw a piece of meat at Derrick. Derrick caught it with his chopsticks and ate it.
"Thanks," Derrick said.
Everyone laughed again.
The beef was ready. Everyone grabbed more. This time they blew on it first before eating.
Baki opened a can of soda and drank. The cold felt good. He put more pork on the grill.
"How long are you guys staying?" he asked.
"Two weeks," Jewoo said.
"We're training here too," Taebong added. "Teacher said he wants to test us."
"It's okay as long as Baki-hyung isn't the one training us," Wooseok said.
Baki raised his eyebrow. "I only trained you guys once in Cheonliang. You guys are still getting PTSD from that?"
The Cheonliang guys' faces darkened. "We are never doing that again!"
Baki shook his head exasperatedly.
The meat kept cooking. They kept eating. Chuck and Justin were quiet but ate a lot. Olly ate slowly, chewing carefully, since eating hard food was very difficult in his condition.
"Pass the vegetables," Warren said.
Max threw a pepper at his face instead of handing it to him.
"Hey!" Warren caught it and threw it back.
"Children," Vin Jin said, shaking his head.
Derrick laughed so hard he almost choked on his meat. Hyungjae had to pat his back.
Baki kept grilling. The pile of cooked meat grew. Everyone kept eating.
"This is good," Jewoo said.
"We never actually got to eat Baki-hyung's cooking before since Teacher was the one who always cooked," Taebong agreed.
"I'm just grilling," Baki said. "The meat is good quality."
"Still counts," Wooseok said.
They ate until the meat ran out. Everyone was full. Some were lying back on the rooftop floor, looking at the sky.
"I can't move," Max groaned.
"Same," Derrick said.
Taebong burped really loud. Everyone looked at him.
"What?" he said. "I'm comfortable."
Vin Jin threw a napkin at him.
Baki leaned back. The night air was cool. The city lights were bright below. Seoul never really slept.
"Thanks for the food," Jewoo said.
"Yeah, thanks, hyung," the other three Cheonliang guys said together.
"No problem," Baki said.
They stayed on the rooftop for a while longer. Some talked quietly. Others just rested. It was peaceful.
Eventually they started cleaning up. They threw away the trash and brought the grill back down. The plates and chopsticks went to the kitchen.
"I'm going back to sleep," Max said.
"Me too," Derrick agreed.
Everyone headed back to the apartment. The dining room was still their bedroom.
"Night," Baki said.
"Good night," everyone else replied.
Baki went back to his room. His body felt better now. His stomach was full. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.