My first impression wasn’t great, and I thought we could never be members together.
There are still quite a few suspicious things about him, but Ka Jerim was such a kind and sunny child that I could overlook those things.
Of course, there are also things like how such a bright child sometimes has nightmares at night, how familiar names are heard in those nightmares, and various other incomprehensible things.
“Let’s wait.”
He will tell us.
Until then, it would be difficult to pretend not to know and not show curiosity, but the Abyss members chose silence.
The Abyss members didn’t talk to each other, lost in their own thoughts until Ka Jerim arrived. But the moment Ka Jerim knocked on the door, they softened their eyes and opened their mouths.
“Huh, everyone’s gathered here?”
“Yeah. We were just talking for a bit.”
Since we decided to wait, we’ll wait.
“Will you tell us more about school?”
That was the conclusion the Abyss members reached.
“School?”
“Yeah. Was it fun?”
It was the way to protect Ka Jerim.
* * *
– The night before going to school, 2 AM.
Abyss dorm.
[You’re going to school?]
“Yes.”
Hyung’s voice was mixed with bewilderment and absurdity. I imagined Yoon hyung scrunching up his face in bewilderment on the other end of the phone and let out a small laugh.
[Why on earth are you going to school.]
“I know, right. But anyway, it’s my first time at school so I don’t know what to do.”
When I was actively promoting with Fort, I was so busy with schedules that I never attended a full class, let alone properly interacted with my classmates.
So naturally, I thought that even if I went to school during this activity and practice period, I would leave early and return to my schedule, but Director Gye actually asked where a student was trying to skip school and told me to attend at least some classes.
[They… I mean, what do the members say?]
Why does it feel so awkward hearing Yoon hyung say “members”?
It was clear that hyung also felt awkward saying it as he hesitated, but I was grateful to see him trying to acknowledge the group Abyss.
“They all went out.”
[They left you home alone?]
It was almost 2 AM.
There didn’t seem to be any other schedules, but the members went out one by one saying they had appointments or sudden schedules, so I was left alone in the dorm.
“Where is there a child this big?”
When I shuddered saying it was gross, hyung laughed on the other end of the phone.
[Chabe?]
I also smiled and lowered my head at the nickname I hadn’t heard in a long time.
I was the youngest in Fort and sometimes acted childish, but since I had a big build, it seemed burdensome to call me a child, so fans started calling me ‘Giant Baby’ one by one. Later, they just shortened it to ‘Chabe.’
[Anyway, the members should be next to you helping you pack your supplies bag. They all left the house?]
“No, hyung. What supplies bag.”
I rolled up my blanket while talking on the phone with hyung and waddled to the veranda.
[Why. It’s a supplies bag because you put supplies in it.]
“What kind of logic is that.”
And as I sat down in the chair that Doun had recently bought and looked up at the sky beyond the veranda while grumbling, Yoon hyung laughed.
“What’s with the Seoul sky?”
[Why.]
“I can’t see a single star.”
[Are you outside?]
“On the veranda.”
I closed my eyes, using Yoon hyung’s voice asking why I wasn’t sleeping as an interlude.
Yesterday was hot, and tonight was cold again. I was troubled about which rhythm to match with this fluctuating weather, but I liked this fickle weather.
I seem to have fallen asleep for a moment as my eyes slowly closed in the slightly cool night air. And when I opened my eyes, looking at the living room clock, it was almost 3 o’clock.
“Ah.”
Oh no, I meant to just look outside for a bit but ended up falling asleep.
I hope I didn’t drool. As I touched my face with an embarrassed expression and tried to pick up the phone that had fallen on the floor, the phone still showed a screen that said “call in progress.”
“Huh?”
[Did… you… wake up…?]
“Yoon hyung?”
Seeing that the call time was approaching two hours, I hurriedly brought the phone to my ear.
“Hyung. No, I fell asleep for a bit… What were you doing?”
[…I was just listening because your sleep talking was spectacular.]
“Me? What kind of sleep talking?”
Then, after being silent for a moment, he finally opened his mouth as I kept pressing him.
[Never mind.]
I kept asking hyung to tell me the content of my sleep talking, but hyung just kept laughing it off.
“But anyway, hang up and rest. Where are you right now?”
[Hohyeon-ah.]
“…Yes.”
My heart felt like it dropped with a thud at my name being called suddenly. The members hadn’t come back to the dorm yet, but it was just because I suddenly felt the weight of the name ‘Cha Hohyeon.’
Hyung also noticed that I hesitated and was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
[Can you see the stars? They’re pretty.]
“Stars? That’s strange. There weren’t any earlier.”
[No. Look. They’re really pretty.]
At hyung’s sudden star talk, I was puzzled but stood close to the veranda.
Since it’s very rare for hyung to say something is pretty, I imagined stars embroidered all over the night sky and looked up. But in the sky.
“Huh? I don’t see anything?”
Rather, it was murkier than usual, so I couldn’t even see the moon properly, let alone stars. When I grumbled asking if he was teasing me, hyung laughed softly.
“By any chance, hyung, are you abroad? Somewhere like an island?”
[What are you talking about.]
“Really, there’s not a single star in Seoul.”
The thought suddenly occurred to me that even if we were under the same sky, we might not be on the same continent.
I squinted and tried hard to find stars or the moon, but even though I complained that I couldn’t see anything, hyung just laughed quietly for a while, listening to me.
[Why. The moon is so bright that I can see everything clearly below.]
Hearing those words, I tilted my head and moved closer to the window. Is it because the ceiling is blocked here? Then it would be better to open the veranda door and look, so I opened the door and stretched my neck outside.
“Ugh… Huh?”
But still, there was no moon, no stars. Nothing.
But at the words that he could see everything clearly below, I casually looked down and discovered Yoon hyung leaning against a car.
In a dark place with no people around, hyung was just leisurely leaning against the car looking in my direction. Standing there in comfortable clothes while on the phone, he seemed to have been looking in my direction the whole time, and when our eyes met, he leisurely took the phone away from his cheek for a moment and waved his hand.
[Hello.]
Is it because the night air is cold?
Why does Yoon hyung’s appearance feel so strange?
“Just how long have you been…”
[Cha Hohyeon. You were sleeping well?]
Can he see me sitting from that far away? Toward me thinking all kinds of thoughts, hyung brought the phone back to his ear and spoke. After a moment of silence, somehow this atmosphere felt strange, so I started talking nonsense.
“Um… you know I originally don’t know even if someone carries me away when I’m asleep. Last time on the variety show too. And when I went fishing with Juno hyung-“
[Hohyeon-ah.]
He who had been quietly listening to my rambling voice suddenly called my name. I was startled like someone who was caught doing something wrong, and he looked at me quietly and then said.
[I like listening to your stories.]
“…”
[But my arm really hurts?]
His arm hurts?
Wondering what that meant, I looked at hyung closely and only then noticed that in the hand not holding the phone, hyung was holding a shopping bag, and I tilted my head.
“Huh? Hyung, what’s that?”
[Are you clueless, or are you pretending not to know?]
“…Pardon?”
He put the phone on the car for a moment, took the contents out of the shopping bag and waved it while playfully scrunching his nose, then picked up the phone with one hand again.
At first, I wondered what that was, but at the following words, I slowly opened my eyes wide and somehow felt choked up and bit my lip slightly.
[You should hurry down to receive your supplies bag.]
“…”
[Congratulations on going to school for the first time, our youngest.]
As if trying to do what he couldn’t do when I was Cha Hohyeon, hyung’s effort to fiercely fill my days makes me feel sad rather than happy.
I really don’t know why.
**Episode 10**
“Anyone notice why I called you today?”
At the sudden summons, the Abyss members all just sat in the conference room with puzzled faces, seeming not to know what was going on.
“You really don’t know?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“What? Ahaha. It’s not that!”
Eventually, Director Gye, who heard Doun mumbling while watching the situation, laughed as if the kids who couldn’t catch on were too cute, then looked at each of the Abyss members one by one before opening his mouth.
“Guys, your first full album has been approved.”
Finally, the Abyss members would finish two months of activities and begin preparing for a new album.
Moreover, at the fact that they would return not with just two songs like before, but with an album called a full album, the members opened their eyes wide and asked loudly at the same time.
“A full album?!”
“Yeah. After discussing with the CEO, your response last activity was better than expected, so instead of coming back with just a title track like before, we decided to make a comeback with a full album.”
Since everyone hadn’t imagined that this album would be a full album, they couldn’t hide their surprised expressions and just opened their mouths with dumb faces, looking at each other’s faces repeatedly as if they couldn’t believe it.
And while the kids were whispering among themselves, Director Gye wrote numbers from 1 to 10 on the whiteboard along with the names of the Abyss members.
