Ah, this was seriously an awkward position.
Kim Roksu wasn't the sort of person who liked to make things complicated. The best solution to any problem was the simplest one. If he could solve multiple problems in one go, that was even better. He didn't actually consider combining solutions to be complicating matters, he thought of it as simplifying it and decreasing his overall workload.
He was just one of those effortlessly complicated people who wouldn't know simplicity if it bit him in the ass.
But his sensibilities normally caused him to avoid complicated situations that might be bothersome. Anything that was awkward was labeled as complicated and therefore, not something he wanted to deal with.
His 'simple' solution to his current problem wasn't quite panning out though.
"Uncle Han! Over here!" Jungsu waved enthusiastically to his uncle with a wide grin on his face. Kim Roksu sipped his beer and didn't look up to see the approaching man. His mind's eye had already provided an image and he didn't need more.
Choi Han was a kind man in his mid-fifties. A few gray hairs just beginning to make their home on his head, crows feet wrinkles around the eyes, and a pure smile that made him look at least ten years younger just because of how sweet he appeared.
He was Choi Jungsu's uncle and Jungsu was Roksu's best friend. In an ideal world, Roksu would never spend much time at all with some uncle who was more than twice his age. What could they possibly have in common? Even if he was Jungsu's beloved uncle, that didn't mean that Roksu needed to spare him with even a passing greeting.
Ah, this would all be so much easier if Choi Han was some annoying old goat who treated age like a valid excuse for being a piece of shit. Kim Roksu was all about respecting his elders but people like that were hardly worth his time.
It would be easier if Choi Han didn't have a sweet smile that could light up a room.
Kim Roksu rested his cheek in the palm of his hand as he watched Choi Han take the seat beside his nephew, the pair exchanging enthusiastic and happy greetings before Choi Han turned his terminally adorable smile towards Roksu.
"It's been awhile." He said, looking for all the world like he was a little sad over the amount of time between meetings. Kim Roksu wanted to roll his eyes. It had only been about a month. "How are you doing?"
"Fine." Kim Roksu said shortly, turning his attention back to the cooking meat between them.
Really. It had only been about a month.
So why did Kim Roksu have to be so stupidly happy to meet with him again?
"How is your new novel going?"
Kim Roksu let out a ragged sigh. "Do me a favor and please inform your venerable grandfather that his deadlines are irrational and I want to quit."
It would also be a lot easier if Kim Roksu's career wasn't tied up with the Choi family.
There was just no escaping from this awkward mess.
Choi Jungsu was his best friend.
Choi Jung Gun was the chief editor at the publishing company that Kim Roksu reluctantly worked for.
And Choi Han...
Well, how exactly did he go about explaining his connection to Choi Han?
The middle aged man chuckled at his reply. "I'll be sure to pass along the message. Although, I can't guarantee that it will mean much to him."
Kim Roksu waved him off with a sigh. "Don't bother. The old goat–" Kim Roksu caught Choi Jungsu's pouting face and changed his words. "–your respectable grandfather–" he corrected, earning him a smile from his friend. "Is absolutely impervious to the complaints of us mere authors. 'It's not that hard' he says, 'I wrote my novels when I was only a teenager'." Roksu rolled his eyes, imitating the old man's crabby voice and earning him chuckles from the pair.
It would be so good if this was all there was to their connection.
If Kim Roksu could meet with Jungsu and Han and have absolutely no intrusive thoughts whatsoever. He could just have a coincidentally friendly relationship with his best friend's uncle. Unusual, that was for sure, but nothing worth getting agitated over.
"What's the plot of the new novel?" Han asked curiously, apparently unwilling to drop the topic now that he'd started it.
Roksu hated that about him. Han was like a dog with a bone when it came to finding the exact things that Roksu was avoiding talking about. He'd even purposefully been extra disrespectful about Jung Gun so that the dutiful grandchildren in front of him would derail the conversation by defending their beloved, and crabby, grandfather.
But no, Han always knew exactly what scab to pick at. Sometimes Roksu really had to wonder if the punk was as oblivious as he looked. He wouldn't be surprised if Han was secretly a sly old fox, it would explain the number of times he'd gotten Roksu to admit to something that he'd planned to keep to himself.
Roksu sighed and accepted his fate. "It's a love story this time. Publishers request."
"Oh?" Both Han and Jungsu brightened up curiously. Roksu had quite purposefully kept the project a secret from his friend, given the character models that Roksu had succumbed to using.
Jungsu looked particularly interested and pouted openly. "You know I like romance novels! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Tell me everything!"
Han nodded along with his nephew, clearly intending to make Roksu spill the beans about this particular novel even more than ever in order to appease his nephew's interest.
'Goddamn Choi's with their stupid dedication and familial love, ugh. This is the worst.' Roksu feigned nonchalance as he poked at his meat and dipped it in sauce. "Some medieval romance about a knight and a commoner." He shrugged as though the whole thing wasn't very interesting at all. "Commoner rescues knight when he's in trouble, they bond, fall in love, the end."
Of course he was skipping how many of the scenes were repurposed interactions he'd had with Choi Han. How there was a significant age gap between the knight and commoner. How in every single way feasible, this stupid novel was a ridiculous act in wish fulfillment.
What was Kim Roksu supposed to do? He didn't normally write romance and he didn't really know where to begin. He'd had crippling writers block right up until the moment he'd given in and used his own miserable experience with unrequited love as a source of material.
Kim Roksu had fallen for his best friend's uncle.
It didn't make sense. It ought not to have happened. But he hadn't been able to help it. He hadn't planned to catch feelings for him. Kim Roksu wasn't even the type of person to develop crushes on others. He was normally quite satisfied with his life if he was just surrounded by friends.
And then Choi Han had appeared in his life, just a casual existence that Choi Jungsu sometimes invited to join them on outings or visited alongside Kim Roksu and at some point or another, Kim Roksu found that he couldn't get the man out of his head.
Five years. For five stupid years Kim Roksu carried a torch for a man who was old enough to be his dad. Now he was in his mid-twenties and he would very much like to be over him and so Kim Roksu did the smart thing and attempted to avoid meeting with Choi Han.
He couldn't get helplessly wrapped up in unrequited feelings if he never met with the man.
The annoying part, the absolutely most annoying part, was that Choi Han would probably be really nice about turning him down should he learn about Kim Roksu's feelings. He'd wear a troubled smile and probably say something like 'I'm really flattered but it'd be better for you to pursue someone your own age' and that would be the end of it because the possibility of being considered as a viable love interest was in the negatives.
Because Kim Roksu wasn't just significantly younger, he was the exact same age as Choi Jungsu. The obnoxious age difference meant that Choi Han was incapable of looking at him without comparing him to someone who he literally changed diapers for. It was obvious in the way that Choi Han sometimes babied them. He couldn't help but view them as children despite them all being adults.
It was frustrating.
So damn frustrating.
Kim Roksu took another swig of his beer.
"Sounds interesting!" Jungsu was saying enthusiastically. "You'll have to let me read it when you're done!"
'...over my dead body.' Kim Roksu thought with a shudder. Enough of the information was close enough to reality that it wouldn't be impossible for Jungsu to realize just who Kim Roksu's character models were and that was a mortification that he would rather die than endure.
Kim Roksu caught Choi Han's eye and saw something strange reflected there. He gave him a flat look in return. "What? Did the novel sound that bad?"
"No." Choi Han said, smiling softly before taking a sip of his own drink. "I was just wondering what sorts of things you find romantic."
One day. One day Kim Roksu was really going to lose his shit with this bastard.
Or he wasn't. That would make things too complicated.
It was a lot simpler to avoid the issue altogether, even if it got a bit awkward.