Ka Jerim tilted his head and asked back.
“Oh, Yeonun-ah. Long time no see. Why aren’t you replying to my KakaoTalk? No, what the hell is that video, why are you only contacting me now…”
[Jerim-ah, please. How many times do I have to tell you!!]
“Huh? What number?”
[Aaagh!!]
When Lee Yeonun screamed as if going crazy, Ka Jerim stared at his phone with an even more clueless expression. Just then, someone snatched the phone Lee Yeonun was holding and said,
[Hello. I’m Kim Seohyo, the leader of Retro, the same group as Lee Yeonun.]
“Ah… yes.”
At the phone call that Kim Seohyo suddenly answered, Ka Jerim replied with an uncomfortable expression, then soon looked at the TV screen. He had to go out soon, but he couldn’t hang up the phone either—what should he do? While he waited for them to speak with a troubled face, Kim Seohyo calmly continued.
[It’s nothing major, but you just did a live broadcast at <Music Bank>, right? What number do we need to vote for to vote for Abyss? We can’t watch TV right now.]
“Since you’re asking so suddenly…”
[It’s urgent. Our group’s survival depends on this… Ah, fuck.]
Kim Seohyo’s voice, which had been kind and calm, instantly dropped to below zero. Then, as if from beside him, Lee Yeonun said to Kim Seohyo in a trembling voice.
[Why, Seohyo-ya, what’s wrong.]
[Hey, Kang Juno sunbae-nim is calling me right now?]
[Huk… How long has it been since Go Yoon sunbae-nim called. We’re fucked. We need to send a proof shot quickly.]
“Jerim-ah! You need to go out soon!”
Ka Jerim, who had been listening blankly to the two whispering on the other end of the phone, soon heard the voices of members calling him and mumbled “Uh, uh…” before finally opening his mouth.
“I think I need to go now. Our voting number is press # then 1121.”
[Hey, hey, he said sharp one one two one! Send it quickly!! Huk, fuck. Seohyo-ya, where’s my phone?]
[Your phone is over there. Hey, wake up Jo Yugang! Yugaaang!! This isn’t the time to sleep!]
[Ah, why are you screaming and making a fuss… I’m going back to sleep…]
[We’re seriously screwed right now!!]
It seemed that not only Retro’s Kim Seohyo and Lee Yeonun but other members were also on the other end of the phone. They murmured among themselves, then shouted their thanks and hung up.
Ka Jerim, who had been staring at the disconnected call, scratched his head saying it was really strange, then soon followed his members.
“It’s your first time being a candidate for first place, right? Congratulations.”
He was receiving congratulations in an awkward posture while heading to the front seat.
However, Ka Jerim frowned because of a man who grabbed his shoulder so hard that his head jerked back sharply.
“Hey.”
He had flashy mint-colored hair and wore somewhat heavy makeup, but he was an extremely handsome man.
The man folded his big eyes into crescents and smiled like an angel, and that appearance was so familiar that for a moment Ka Jerim wondered if he was an idol who had promoted together when he was Cha Hohyeon, but that didn’t seem right either.
“It’s been so long, our Jerim. Right?”
“……”
“I thought you couldn’t become a singer. They say a quiet cat climbs on the stove first, but how did you debut before me? This is really amazing. Wow… gives me chills.”
Was this someone Ka Jerim knew from the past? Ka Jerim, who had been staring blankly at the man for a moment, was briefly startled by the distinctly felt malice, then blurted out something that bothered him more.
“Do you perhaps mean ‘a quiet cat climbs on the stove first’? A quiet stove? That’s a really cute expression.”
“…Huh?”
For Ka Jerim, he had really said it because he found it cute, but the man’s face flushed hot as if he felt humiliated. However, even with the man suppressing his anger out of embarrassment right in front of him, Ka Jerim was lost in his own thoughts.
‘Who is this? Which group?’
Judging from what this man was saying, he seemed to be from a group that debuted a month or two later than him. He should get his contact information first, and as soon as he got home, he’d have to look up who this person was.
“Jerim-ah, hurry up!”
However, Ka Jerim couldn’t ask for his contact information because Seon Hobeom grabbed him from the side.
“Why are you pretending not to know me?”
“…I don’t know who you are. Anyway, I’m a candidate for first place so I think I need to go. Goodbye.”
But even while being dragged away, Ka Jerim politely bowed his head and unintentionally scratched the pride of the man who couldn’t even get his name on the charts.
‘Since I feel malice, we’re not on good terms. And if he asks why I pretended not to know him, I’ll just say I didn’t recognize him because of his makeup. That’s better than pretending to know someone I don’t and causing trouble.’
Ka Jerim, who had been lost in thought for a moment, had all the tangled problems in his head instantly disappear because of the fans screaming as soon as he reached the front seat. His head, which had been complicated until just now, was now left only with amazement.
“This is really amazing.”
Ka Jerim and the members’ eyes widened and they froze at the fact that the number of fans had grown quite a bit.
“Can we really stand here?”
“I think I’m going to cry.”
All the Abyss members seemed to wonder if they dared to stand in the candidate seat for first place. On the other hand, even though they had said they absolutely wouldn’t expect anything before going on stage, their faces were mixed with excitement.
‘Why am I so nervous?’
When Ka Jerim was in Fort, he had stood in this position often, so later he wasn’t nervous and was busy greeting the fans. But now, the best he could do was stare at the MC with a very tense face.
“This week’s first place is—!”
Along with majestic music, the celebrity hosting smiled broadly and first made eye contact with Ka Jerim standing on his right. Then he looked at the Abyss members in turn, and Ka Jerim tilted his head at that glance, then opened his eyes wide as if realizing something. Oh, that signal is…
“Writing a new legend of chart reversal! It’s Abyss!”
Confetti burst, and the microphone was passed to the Abyss members.
Their opponent was an idol group who they thought was too formidable to ever beat, who had gotten first place for two consecutive weeks and this week, their third week, was their last promotion period. They waved to their fans with regretful but relieved faces.
Taking in all those scenes with his eyes, Ka Jerim recalled.
This scene, this situation, receiving an award like this was all too familiar to him.
The leader receiving the microphone. While he gave his acceptance speech, the members standing in a line beside him smiling and waving, and then soon choking up and bursting into tears—watching them, Ka Jerim felt strange.
“Our maknae should say something too.”
Whispering like that, Ka Jerim quietly looked at Onseol’s face as he held out the microphone to him.
Ma Doun, who was standing beside him, tapped Ka Jerim to bring him to his senses in case time was delayed, and Ka Jerim, who came to his senses belatedly, received the microphone with a start.
“…Uh.”
What kind of acceptance speeches had he given in Fort, what kind of things had he said?
During 5 years of receiving all kinds of awards, there were few times when the microphone hadn’t been passed to him. So he should just naturally receive the microphone and speak as he always did before.
“I…”
His head turned completely white in an instant.
Who should he thank first? His parents, whose phone numbers weren’t even saved in Ka Jerim’s phone, were too distant to mention. Onseol had already mentioned all the agency family members earlier, so there was no need to say it again.
More than anything, his vision blurred.
Even though he could hear supportive cheers containing regret from the fans sitting right in front, Ka Jerim couldn’t stop his tears from flowing and kept rubbing his eyes.
It was such a strange feeling.
When was the last time he shed tears receiving an award on stage? It was probably about 3 or 4 years ago. He thought he had become so accustomed to this position, but strangely, he couldn’t control his emotions at all.
Seeing their maknae who couldn’t speak because he was crying, the members who had just seen Ka Jerim looking composed in the waiting room even when they were making all kinds of fuss were surprised and didn’t know what to do when he burst into tears.
However, soon even the members who hadn’t been crying became choked up at Ka Jerim’s crying face, and without anyone taking the lead, they hugged each other tightly with Ka Jerim at the center.
“Until now—”
In their ears, they heard the voices of the MCs wrapping up the broadcast, then gradually fading and becoming distant.
To them hugging each other, that voice couldn’t be heard. They just looked at each other’s faces reddened from crying, then repeatedly cried and laughed.
What words were needed at this moment?
‘First place for the first time.’
Thinking that, Ka Jerim wiped his tears and raised his head to quietly look at the members standing side by side next to him. And he recalled Fort’s first win, which was so long ago but still vivid.
Did he cry then? Yes. He probably cried.
Among them, the one who cried the loudest was Lee Robi, and there was Moon Hamoon who hugged that Lee Robi and teased him saying ‘Are you crying?’ There was Kang Juno playfully putting Moon Hamoon in a headlock, Cha Hohyeon holding the trophy and turning around to wipe his continuously flowing tears, and Go Yoon who steadfastly sang the encore song regardless of what the members were doing—it was so absurd.
“I miss you.”
Ironically, Ka Jerim of Abyss missed Fort very much.
* * *
Today, as it was the weekend again, Kang Juno, who naturally entered Go Yoon’s house, lay down on the sofa as if it were his own home and calmly turned on the TV.
“Yoon-ah, what order are they?”
Beside Kang Juno, Go Yoon sat side by side, lightly stretching his neck while watching TV together.
“Mm.”
On the music show that had just started, the MCs were introducing singers while making cute gestures.
“Probably fourth from the end.”
Actually, recently Go Yoon and Kang Juno hadn’t told Ka Jerim, but they had been watching Abyss’s live broadcast performances every weekend at Go Yoon’s house. Originally, until the week before last, they had comfortably watched music shows at the dorm, but Moon Hamoon had teased them saying, ‘What’s this, you guys watching music shows? Well, I guess you have an idol you’re interested in?’
