Director Gye said that Onseol and Ma Doun slept at the agency yesterday, and while Onseol wasn’t in the conference room because he went to meet the CEO, Ma Doun was in the conference room right now.
“In the conference room?”
“Yeah. He’s a good kid, so you’ll get close quickly. Then I’ll see you later.”
“Yes, take care!”
There was about an hour left until the meeting time. I was just going to go eat, but I headed to the conference room to get acquainted before the meeting started.
“Ma Doun.”
Anyway, his name is kind of cute. Thinking that I could easily get close to a person named Ma Doun just like the director said, I stood in front of the door.
“……”
What is this chilling feeling?
The air coming through the crack of the door was somehow cold. The hand I placed on the doorknob reflexively stopped opening the door at that flow, but I gathered strength again and resolutely opened the door.
“Huh?”
All the lights in the conference room were off. Is there no one in the conference room? But didn’t they say a member named Ma Doun was in the conference room?
Thinking that, I groped the wall in the darkness and turned on the light, and for a moment I was so incredibly startled that I internally screamed, then fumbled and offered a greeting.
“H-hello!”
“……”
The reason I was startled was that as soon as I turned on the light, I made eye contact with a man sitting at the very end of the conference table with his arms crossed, looking at me. It seemed like there had been no sign of anyone, but since when had he been sitting there? The man, who had been staring blankly at my flustered self without a word, broke the silence and opened his mouth.
“Name.”
He asked as if interrogating me as soon as I discovered him. Even his voice tone was like a robot, so I, who was just utterly flustered by this situation, asked back in case I had heard wrong.
“What?”
“Name.”
I was so startled that my voice trembled, but if I didn’t answer, it seemed like the man would get angry, so I instinctively answered quickly.
“K-Ka Jerim.”
“Age.”
“Eighteen.”
“Height.”
“Height? Why height—”
I don’t know Jerim’s height…… It seems to be around mid-170cm, but I’ve never measured it exactly, so there’s no way I’d know.
“I don’t know.”
“……”
“I really don’t know.”
But the man looked at me with a face that said that didn’t make sense. Of course, where would there be a person who doesn’t know their own height, but what can I do when I don’t know? When I answered that I really didn’t know, he stared at me silently, then gestured with his chin toward a chair.
Is he angry because I don’t know my height? I stood there awkwardly, then sat in the chair furthest away from the man.
By the way, that person couldn’t possibly be Ma Doun, could he? Director Gye said he was kind and nice, so it wouldn’t be him. But that appearance is clearly an idol.
Lost in thought, I stared at the desk for a long while, and I felt a gaze drilling into the top of my head. Unable to bear the gaze, as soon as I raised my head, I made direct eye contact with the man who had been blatantly staring at me, and even though I was somewhat aware of it, I was startled.
‘What do I do?’
It felt like I should say something, but I wiggled my fingertips at the voice that wouldn’t come out. I couldn’t muster the courage to talk to that person who had ‘discomfort’ written all over his face and even froze the atmosphere coldly. But even while enduring, I had no choice but to open my mouth, succumbing to the man’s gaze that kept looking at me.
“Um, that— your name.”
“Ma Doun.”
As soon as I mustered the courage to speak, an answer came back quickly. The answer came so fast, as if he had been waiting for me to say that, that I was flustered and opened and closed my mouth.
‘So he is Ma Doun, a fellow member. His impression is completely scary. What do I do?’
I hesitated, thinking that if I said let’s get along, he’d say something like ‘How dare you?’ Then, unable to overcome his gaze, I carefully opened my mouth.
“Um, your age is……?”
“Twenty-one.”
“H……height.”
“185.”
Uncomfortable!
Inside the conference room full of silence, I observed the other person’s expression.
Ma Doun stared at me with an already cold impression crumpled up, and was even raising one eyebrow as if something displeased him. Also, he ceaselessly shook his leg as if dissatisfied with being in the same space as me. On the other hand, I felt like I would shake my leg from anxiety.
‘Seol-i hyung, please come quickly.’
At the cold impression reminiscent of a vampire, I trembled and barely opened my mouth.
“Did I do something wrong? If you tell me, I’ll fix it right away. Or are you uncomfortable with me? Should I leave?”
Ma Doun didn’t answer after hearing that. He just stared at me blankly without moving. His gaze felt like it was reproaching me with ‘You’re only realizing that now? If you know, why aren’t you leaving quickly?’ so I quickly got up from my seat and bowed my head.
“I was very rude! I’ll come back later for the meeting!”
Like that, I immediately got up from my seat and tried to open the door and leave, but as soon as I turned around, I couldn’t open the door because of the crashing sound heard from behind.
Clatter— Crash—!
When I turned around at the loud noise, Ma Doun, who had been sitting in his seat, had disappeared.
Don’t tell me…… did he fall? As I hesitantly approached, Ma Doun was lying face down on the floor as if he had fallen with the chair while trying to get up from his seat. To make matters worse, seeing him crushed under the chair, I was shocked and ran over to grab and set up the chair.
“Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere? I’ll go call Director-nim—”
Ma Doun didn’t get up. The sound was quite loud, so worried that he might be seriously hurt somewhere and unable to get up, I tried to quickly go call Director Gye, but I couldn’t leave because of the hand grabbing my wrist.
“Wait a moment.”
He seemed to have something to say to me. As I looked at him with my wrist grabbed, Ma Doun, who had been hesitating for a long while, spoke as if whispering softly.
“……I wanted to get close.”
“What?”
“I wanted to get close…… but I ruined everything. I’m so embarrassed right now.”
Surprised by the unexpected words, I unknowingly looked straight at his face, and he avoided my gaze. His ears, revealed when he turned his head, were burning bright red.
When I was dumbfounded by the unexpected situation and was blankly speechless, the longer the silence went on, the more he seemed embarrassed by this situation, sitting slumped on the floor and covering his face.
Just then. A crumpled note caught the end of my gaze. The note that fell from his hand—as soon as I saw the content written there, the tension I’d felt until now was instantly released, making me lose all strength.
[How to get close to a younger sibling:]
I quickly read the note with my eyes, pretending not to know so he wouldn’t be embarrassed, and gradually a smile appeared on my face. Since the person who probably wrote that note was right in front of me, even though I knew I had to manage my expression, my cheeks kept trying to rise, so I bowed my head deeply several times.
‘What should I say?’
But I hadn’t encountered this type much before, so I didn’t know how to deal with it. After thinking for a moment, I cleared my throat several times for no reason in front of Ma Doun, who was still covering his face and crouching, then opened my mouth.
“D-Doun-i…… hyung?”
What if he finds it rude? But contrary to my worry, his face became even redder, and rather, when I made eye contact with his round eyes as if he’d heard something amazing, I too was at a loss for words. He seemed really happy that I called him, and watching me like that, he.
“Yeah.”
He didn’t miss his answer to my call.
.
.
>Behind
“Doun-ah. I have to go meet the CEO, do you want to come with me?”
Onseol and Ma Doun finished their song work and came out of the studio. Onseol wanted to sleep even a little more, but because the CEO said he had something to say to Onseol and wanted to see him, he had to drag his tired body to the CEO’s office.
Ma Doun was in the same situation as Onseol, so he had nothing to do or anywhere to go right now. Nevertheless, Ma Doun shook his head at Onseol’s words and indicated his refusal.
“Doun-ah, then where are you going?”
“Conference room.”
“Why? There are still three hours left until the meeting starts.”
But Ma Doun rather said “Only three hours left” and made an anxious expression. When Onseol wondered at this and tilted his head, Ma Doun finally opened his mouth.
“……I have something to practice before the meeting starts.”
“Practice?”
Onseol stared at Ma Doun with a face that needed an explanation, but Ma Doun just reddened his ears without answering. In his hand was a memo he’d simply written after scouring the portal’s knowledge section last night, and there in squiggly handwriting it said:
[How to get close to a younger sibling: Approach friendly. Speak first.
‘What’s your name? How old are you? Where do you live? Height? What are your hobbies?’
And if the younger sibling answers everything, then with appropriate responses, wait for them to speak to you. What’s important here is to speak so the younger sibling doesn’t feel the age difference……]
* * *
With latecomer Seon Hobeom taking his seat last, the lights in the conference room turned off as if they’d been waiting.
“Seon Hobeom, are you late again today? Anyway, everyone’s gathered. Then let’s start the meeting.”
Today was the day to decide the name and concept of O-All Entertainment’s first male group, and staff members, Director Gye, and the members gathered and started the meeting with somewhat tense faces.
“The CEO is too busy, so I’m in charge of you guys. You trust me, right?”
Actually, the O-All Entertainment CEO should have come to this place, but he was busy handling a girl group called ‘Lily,’ so Director Gye ended up taking charge of everything. And anyway, since Director Gye, who had a career of successfully debuting a male group at another agency before, was better than the CEO who had only debuted girl groups, no one had any complaints.
