It was Friday, the day Unseong and he had made plans.
“Suhyung hyung. I really can just take a taxi.”
Yuho tried his own form of resistance toward Suhyung.
Yuho’s decision to set his meeting time with Unseong at 4 PM was clearly intentional.
It was to avoid the possibility of running into Inhan by taking Suhyung’s car for no reason.
But as luck would have it, Inhan’s filming schedule got pushed back to 5 PM, and things got perfectly tangled up. If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just set it for an early time. Yuho felt conflicted.
“Why bother? Because Inhan makes you uncomfortable?”
At Suhyung’s question thrown out without hesitation, Yuho was at a loss for words.
When you ask so directly like that, I can’t exactly say yes and confirm it. Yuho reluctantly answered.
“No.”
“Then finish getting ready. Let’s leave in 20 minutes.”
“……Yes.”
Yuho answered in a half-dead voice before heading back to his room to pack his things. With the acoustic guitar and sheet music, it was quite a load.
“When are you doing the live broadcast?”
“Next Wednesday evening at 7 PM.”
“Got it. Make sure you prepare well.”
“Yes.”
Suhyung’s car carrying Yuho stopped in front of the apartment building where Inhan lived. Inhan, who had been waiting outside, immediately got in the car.
“Hyung. Hello.”
Discovering Yuho sitting in the back seat, Inhan greeted Yuho calmly without showing any sign of surprise. Yuho also responded to the greeting indifferently.
“Yeah. Hi.”
He could have sat in the empty front seat, but Inhan deliberately went to sit in his regular seat behind Yuho. Inhan’s gaze lingered on the guitar case placed next to Yuho for quite a while. Inhan eventually couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked Yuho a question.
“Where are you going? With a guitar and everything?”
“Ah. Yeah. I have something to take care of.”
Yuho answered vaguely. He’d figure it out when they arrived anyway, but this was a choice considering the possibility that he might fall asleep in the car. There was no reason to keep it secret, but it also felt awkward to tell him everything. The two of them were now in that kind of relationship—no relationship at all.
“Are you meeting your band club friends?”
“No. That’s not it.”
“Then?”
“I’m just meeting someone I know.”
“Someone you know, who?”
The problem was Inhan’s reaction. Inhan, whom he’d thought would roughly accept it and keep quiet, persistently wanted to know who Yuho was meeting. The reason was unclear.
“Ah. Well……”
The situation was too awkward for Yuho to challenge Inhan asking why he was curious, and speaking the truth made his mouth reluctant to open. Why he felt self-conscious, he didn’t know.
“Inhan. We’ll drop Yuho off at Hapjeong and then head to the broadcasting station. That okay?”
“It’s fine, but why are you going to Hapjeong?”
Instead of answering, Suhyung looked at Yuho. Yuho had no choice but to speak up. He regretted not coming clean quickly since he’d be found out anyway.
“Unseong hyung asked me to come over.”
“What?”
“We’re doing a joint performance broadcast together next week.”
“But you didn’t tell me about that?”
Inhan said to Yuho with a hurt expression on his surprised face. Then, as if realizing something, he hastily added an excuse.
“Ah. I’m not saying that to hyung. I’m just surprised at Unseong hyung.”
Right. We’re not in a relationship where we’d feel hurt or anything. Yuho also wondered why Unseong hadn’t told Inhan. Were they not that close? That thought was somewhat reassuring. It made it clear that Inhan had no stake in the invitation.
“So, are you going alone, hyung?”
“Yeah.”
“Did Yeomin hyung give you his contact info?”
“No. We exchanged it during the last shoot.”
“When?”
“After filming was all done.”
“I see.”
Ha. Inhan let out a self-deprecating laugh as he ran his right hand through the back of his hair. Yuho asked Inhan, puzzled.
“Why?”
“No. I just feel like I did something stupid on my own.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s nothing. Have a good time.”
Inhan’s face looked so dejected as he said that, that Yuho found himself unnecessarily concerned.
“Could I possibly come along too?”
Inhan didn’t stop there and made an absurd suggestion to Yuho. Yuho was flustered and immediately expressed his refusal.
“Of course not. You have a schedule to go to.”
“I mean next time when I have time.”
“That’s even more impossible. I’m going to practice for the performance.”
“Still…… wouldn’t it be less uncomfortable if you went with me next time?”
That would be the most uncomfortable. Yuho couldn’t understand Inhan’s sudden change of stance, but he continued the conversation while hiding his true feelings.
“I’ll just become close with him when I get there.”
“But hyung, you’re really shy around strangers.”
“I’m working on overcoming it. I’m going to expand my network too now.”
At Yuho’s answer, which seemed to have a defensive wall as solid as an iron fortress, Inhan’s head throbbed.
He couldn’t think of any way to avoid this crisis.
To think that without his knowledge, Unseong had gotten Yuho’s number and even made plans to meet alone. Just that fact alone made Inhan feel dizzy.
“Why? You don’t like me getting close with Unseong hyung?”
“Of course not.”
Inhan hurriedly denied Yuho’s words, worried Yuho might misunderstand. At the same time, he realized this wasn’t a problem that could be solved by persuading Yuho.
“It’s good, right? You always liked METEOR’s music anyway, hyung.”
“Yeah. I’ve been a fan since their indie days.”
“I know. You told me several times you wanted to see Unseong hyung.”
“Yeah. But you pretended not to hear.”
Yuho suddenly found Inhan irritating. What’s the big deal about meeting once with a close hyung? He even began to think, am I someone embarrassing to be seen with?
“Exactly. So it worked out well.”
Inhan said with a bitter expression.
Yuho couldn’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling at Inhan’s reaction, which somehow felt fishy.
After that, the conversation between the two cut off, and after about 30 minutes, the car arrived at Hapjeong Station.
“Hyung. Can I just go say hi to Unseong hyung real quick?”
It was the moment when Suhyung’s car stopped in front of Unseong’s Hapjeong studio and Yuho was about to get out. Inhan picked up the guitar case before Yuho and headed toward the car door.
“You need to be back within 10 minutes.”
“Yes.”
At Inhan’s momentum that suggested something terrible would happen if he said no, Suhyung obediently answered. Yuho hastily grabbed just his bag and followed behind Inhan.
“Yuho. Contact me before moving to the dorm. Practice well.”
“Yes, hyung. Have a good schedule.”
“Okay.”
Inhan was already going down to the building’s basement and pressing the doorbell.
Yuho also went down the stairs and stood behind Inhan. Soon the studio door opened and Unseong revealed himself.
“Hello.”
Yuho bent his waist ninety degrees and gave Unseong a respectful greeting.
“Hi, Yuho. I thought you’d come alone, but you brought something useless with you.”
Unseong greeted Yuho with a gentle smile. He decided not to care about the existence of Jung Inhan right in front of Yuho.
Inhan was holding the guitar case while hiding Yuho behind his back. Feeling sorry for Yuho who was barely peeking his face out, Unseong scolded Inhan.
“I don’t remember inviting you.”
“I only found out today how shallow our relationship is.”
“Really? You’ll keep finding out from now on, so you’d better prepare yourself, yeah?”
At Unseong’s wordplay that was impossible to beat, Inhan was at a loss for words.
“Yuho. Come in. Was it hard getting here?”
“No. I came in my manager hyung’s car.”
“So that’s how the uninvited guest tagged along.”
Unseong said while letting the two people inside the studio.
Inhan lightly ignored Unseong’s words and headed straight for the studio sofa. After putting Yuho’s guitar case next to the sofa seat and coming back, Inhan approached Unseong again and spoke to him.
“Hyung. Let’s talk for a bit. I have to go to my schedule right away.”
“If you’re busy, just go. Why’d you drop by?”
“Hyung.”
At Inhan’s call mixed with resentment, Unseong decided to back down a step.
“Yuho. Just sit on the sofa over there for a bit. If you’re thirsty, take something out of the fridge and drink it.”
“Ah. Okay.”
At Unseong’s words, Yuho obediently went and sat on the sofa where his guitar was placed. He didn’t understand what was happening, but he decided to watch the situation for now.
Leaving Yuho alone, Unseong and Inhan headed to the recording room inside. Yuho checked the lyrics on his phone while waiting for Unseong to return.
“Hyung. What are you trying to do right now?”
As soon as the recording room door closed, Inhan challenged Unseong. Unseong asked Inhan back with a shameless face.
“What?”
“Why are you calling Yuho hyung here?”
“Didn’t you hear? We’re doing a live broadcast together.”
“Why are you suddenly doing a live broadcast with Yuho hyung?”
“Then why shouldn’t I?”
At Unseong’s cold reaction, Inhan was blocked again. It was a good opportunity for Yuho too, so he couldn’t step forward to stop it. However, not knowing Unseong’s hidden intentions, he couldn’t easily back down.
“I told you not to mess with Yuho hyung.”
“How about getting qualified first before you say that?”
Unseong made an unusually cold face. Inhan knew that side of Unseong well too. He had memories of watching from the side how coldly Unseong treated people he made his enemies.
“Unseong hyung.”
“If Yuho likes me, there’s absolutely no reason for me to refuse. Plus, I have a talent for seducing people too.”
It was true. Inhan had never seen Unseong fail at getting close to someone he liked. He was a person with more than enough charm, which was why Inhan had also been drawn to become his close hyung and dongsaeng. But Inhan hadn’t thought that this point would come back to him as poison like this.
