“Lastly, how did you feel about being NEOS’s manager for the day?”
In the individual interview space set up in the empty waiting room of the filming studio.
All of NEOS’s schedules were finished. At the PD’s question asking for his thoughts, Do Yeonjae slowly blinked his eyes as if recalling the long day. Quite a few emotions flickered through his quietly moving pupils. Thoughts. His thoughts…
“I feel like I did a lot today.”
“Haha, it looked that way from the sidelines too.”
Starting from vehicle pickup to convenience store errands and filming support… minor on-site tasks and even serving as a thigh pillow. He doubted there would be any shortage of footage.
“Still, watching him work up close, as expected…”
Do Yeonjae lowered his gaze slightly with a smile and murmured.
“He was cool. That guy.”
Much more so than what he’d seen through the screen.
PD Woo Jiyeon, who had been watching Do Yeonjae’s face, grinned.
After the interview ended, there was still a closing shot remaining. Do Yeonjae stood in front of the camera with Kwon Isoo and listened to instructions about the next filming.
“Through yesterday and today’s manager experience, you’ve seen various aspects of your best friend. At this point, I’m telling you this in case you forgot, but this is actually a program about creating songs.”
“Ah, I had no idea.”
At Kwon Isoo’s dry joke, Do Yeonjae laughed quietly beside him. Kwon Isoo glanced sideways at his relaxed eyes.
“Haha. Now, starting next week, we’ll begin working on the song in earnest. From today, for one week, please each think of song concepts and keywords that would suit you two.”
“Concepts and keywords…”
Do Yeonjae slowly repeated her words.
“Yes, it’s fine if you decide on the detailed genre too. Any ideas about the song are okay! The official meeting is in one week, and in the meantime, feel free to capture on this camera whatever you want—whether you’re searching for references, getting advice from members, or pondering alone.”
The PD distributed vlog cameras to Kwon Isoo and Do Yeonjae respectively. They were small cameras optimized for self-filming, with good portability and simple operation that could easily be used alone.
“If you really can’t get a sense of it and want to meet briefly before filming, you two can meet separately. Since this is a project requiring brilliant creativity, we’re trying not to impose too many restrictions. Ah, but you do know you have to capture it well on camera, right?”
The PD continued with a few more explanations after that. After filming was completely finished, Do Yeonjae went around bowing deeply to the staff. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for your hard work.
RAYEON’s manager stretched his stiff body and casually tossed out a joke.
“Ugh… I’m tired. Yeonjae, how was it trying out being a manager?”
“I came to keenly understand how precious you hyungs are… I’ll do better, hyung.”
The manager laughed out loud at Do Yeonjae’s whining.
“You’re already doing well though. Let’s go home. I’ll go to the parking lot and start the engine.”
“Yes.”
Do Yeonjae nodded and looked around. Among the staff cleaning up, he couldn’t see the person he was looking for.
Did he already leave?
He gathered his bag and headed to the outdoor parking lot. Ah. In the distance, he could see Kwon Isoo’s back turned away. Do Yeonjae, who had stopped for a moment, stretched his steps toward him. The pace of each step he took was unusually slow.
Actually, ever since hearing the explanation about the song work earlier, there had been a thought that wouldn’t leave his mind. It might be excessive greed, but perhaps…
“Do Yeonjae.”
That’s when it happened. When Kwon Isoo, who had been standing still, noticed him.
He moved his feet. There was no sign of hesitation in his large strides. Do Yeonjae stared blankly at the figure approaching him, then slowly closed and opened his eyes.
It was late at night. Moonlight poured abundantly behind his back. Like lighting prepared for just one person.
“……”
In the dazzling moonlight, the image of Kwon Isoo smiling brightly at him in the studio came to mind. His golden hair fluttering slightly in the night breeze reminded him of the peaceful face that had insisted he stroke his hair before falling asleep.
Moon Sunwoo had cleared up his misunderstanding about Kwon Isoo. Although Kwon Isoo had been a bit annoyed, he’d been quite generous to his junior. The murderous atmosphere of NEOS might gradually change from now on.
So Do Yeonjae had briefly deluded himself.
That maybe we could be like that too.
“Kwon Isoo. About our project song.”
Do Yeonjae’s Adam’s apple moved as he quietly looked down at the feet that had drawn close. The husky voice transmitting through the air felt strangely unreal.
Why was that—was it because this was a moment he’d longed for since long ago?
If he ever worked on a song with Kwon Isoo, there was something he’d always wanted to say.
“…How about we use that song? From before.”
He didn’t know what genre it was or what the title was, but the yearning from that time was still vivid. Because he couldn’t forget Kwon Isoo’s words that he would definitely like it too.
“The one you first asked me to do a guide for…”
However, when he raised his head, Do Yeonjae realized like a lightning strike—
What kind of expression lay hidden in the backlight.
The camera was off and no one was around. The moment Kwon Isoo finally didn’t need to pretend anything, the raw emotion in his eyes stabbed his chest.
“……”
His breath seemed to constrict unconsciously.
Do Yeonjae froze, unable to continue with any words. So foolishly. Even though he knew. Even though he’d roughly sensed what kind of feelings, what kind of thoughts Kwon Isoo had when approaching the filming. Even though he clearly, distinctly knew the fact that Kwon Isoo hated him…
Even though he knew everything, feeling disappointed was quite a strange sensation.
It was hard to face those eyes—muddily entangled with hatred and distrust, looking like they were dying of irritation. He wanted to say something, but the surging sensation was so unfamiliar that Do Yeonjae bit down on his teeth.
Kwon Isoo, who had been dispassionately observing Do Yeonjae’s fall, twisted his lips.
“Ah. That?”
That flat tone dropped his heart with a thud.
“I deleted that shit ages ago.”
At the cold face that seemed to say ‘you don’t have the right,’ Do Yeonjae felt like he’d been doused with cold water. Kwon Isoo made a face like he was dying of boredom at this moment… then soon loosely raised the corners of his mouth. A sneer laden with mockery and ridicule appeared languidly. Just like—
‘I wanted to be close. With you. …I still do.’
‘Ah, really? What should I do about that. Because I don’t.’
That day.
Gazing at the face he couldn’t look away from, Do Yeonjae thought distantly. In fact, when he’d heard those words, he must have been quite shocked.
“So don’t even dream, Do Yeonjae.”
And it was the same now.
* * *
He’d ruined the live performance.
After the regional event ended, RAYEON members got into the car heading back to Seoul. Kang Ihyun and Ha Hayun moved to a different van, and three of the younger line rode in this car.
Do Yeonjae, his body deeply buried in the seat, thought as he rubbed his tired eyes.
Ah, the worst.
He rested the back of his head against the headrest and let out a languid breath. The jaw muscles on his angular lower face bulged up and then subsided. Blue veins intermittently showed on the back of his hand holding an iced Americano with two extra shots.
Gulping down the strong coffee made him feel somewhat better.
“Yeonjae, give me this for a sec.”
Then he quickly turned his head at the call from Yeo Minsung sitting diagonally in front.
Do Yeonjae looked pretty when he smiled, but had a cool impression when he didn’t. Though he denied it himself, it wasn’t for nothing that he was grouped with the similarly sharp-looking Yeo Minsung as the “Refund Duo.” Just by setting his lips firmly and furrowing his brow slightly, he exuded an unapproachable atmosphere.
It was just that there had been no particular reason to get serious while being treated preciously as the group’s maknae.
When even Do Yeonjae’s “subtle smile for social life” that he usually wore outside the dorm disappeared, even Yeo Minsung, who had been treating his younger brother comfortably, momentarily flinched. Even though the person in question answered “Yes, hyung” and straightened his back as soon as he was called.
“Uh…”
Facing Do Yeonjae’s dry expression, Yeo Minsung unconsciously stopped what he was going to say.
He’d been about to ask Yeonjae to look at a photo to upload on InByeol. Ever since confidently posting a testosterone-filled photo on his feed only to have it spread to some community and receive a barrage of hate comments, Yeo Minsung had lost just a tiny bit of confidence in InByeol.
– Wow legs spread; is this male confidence?
– Ah Minsung..
– Doesn’t the person in charge work? Please stop him from posting photos like this
– The composition is ㄴㅁ burdensome ㅠ Now I’m stuck on the floor looking up at spread-legs guy ㅠ
– Sorry but can I get up now?
– I didn’t know RAYEON had a member like this,.,
– Overflowing with arrogance + inflated ego
– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Close the personal InByeol no just confiscate his phone too ㅅㅂ
– This guy will probably leave the group later and go solo with two or three beauties on each side
Yeo Minsung had been very aggrieved. Don’t all girls like this kind of thing? My girlfriend said it was cool…
But for some reason, the photos the maknae would quickly look at and pick out saying “This one, and this one” would get particularly many hearts. Anyway… he seemed to be in a bad mood, so he’d have to ask again later. Yeo Minsung withdrew the phone he’d been holding out to Yeonjae.
“…Never mind, it’s okay.”
While doing so, he felt proud of himself for being a hyung who considered his younger brother’s mood. He had absolutely no intention of admitting that he’d momentarily been intimidated by a younger brother three years his junior.
“?”
Why is he acting like that. Do Yeonjae, who had been looking at his hyung with puzzlement, turned his gaze to the phone in his hand. The incoming call screen was appearing.
[Do Yeonu]
