Seon Hobeom, who used to be afraid of Yoon-hyung and didn’t think much of him, was even asking me to pass on his thanks to Yoon-hyung, so he must have really felt deeply grateful about this matter. Just then, Park Eden suddenly raised his hand high.
“Let’s eat chicken after we finish practice today. I’ll buy.”
“Yes…! Wait a minute. Eden-hyung, it’s not samgyetang, is it? Last time you said chicken but ordered whole boiled chicken!”
“Shut up. When someone’s buying, you should just say thank you and eat it. It’s so good for your body.”
When Park Eden said that, Seon Hobeom looked disgusted, and Ma Doun, who was sitting right next to him, showed no change in expression but also seemed reluctant about the boiled chicken.
He pressed down on the complaining Seon Hobeom’s cheeks while explaining at length about how good samgyetang was for the body, but Seon Hobeom grumbled that it would be 2,000 times better to just pool their money and order chicken instead, as if to say “so what?”
‘Is Onseol really angry?’
I kept my gaze on the two bickering for a moment, then shifted it slightly to look at Onseol, who still hadn’t said anything. Onseol had an expressionless face that wasn’t smiling at all even though we were making this much noise.
As I quietly observed him, as if he felt my gaze, he slowly raised his head to look at me. And then he slowly opened his mouth.
“Honestly, it would be a lie if I said my pride wasn’t hurt…”
At Onseol’s words, the dorm that had been noisy until now became eerily quiet as if cold water had been poured over it.
“I’m sorry… This matter—”
“Thank you.”
What fell upon me as I hurried to apologize, feeling like I had to apologize in this atmosphere, wasn’t a reprimand. Seeing me with my eyes wide open at his unexpected words, Onseol smiled awkwardly.
“Honestly, for the past few days, I was shocked that we didn’t chart, and I never expected the results to be this bad.”
“……”
“More than anything, it was hard knowing that even though we worked so hard, no one was listening.”
Onseol smiled.
“This wasn’t a matter of pride. So, Jerim. I’m truly grateful that you made it so many people could listen to our song.”
At Onseol’s words, the Abyss members’ faces bloomed with smiles one by one.
“You’re better than me…”
I blinked in surprise at my own voice that came out without me realizing it, then burst into laughter.
The members tilted their heads, not understanding what I meant by what I said, but I just laughed.
If I had been in the same situation as them, I probably would have just been hurt in my pride. But they didn’t just stand on their pride—they acknowledged their shortcomings and chose the path forward. They were cool.
.
.
Behind> The Secret of the Cover Video
Lee Yeonun asked his manager several times in front of a meat restaurant in the middle of the street.
When he first entered the address, he didn’t know it was this place. Even when Manager-hyung asked several times if this was really the place, he thought it would be okay since it was a place the sunbaes had chosen.
‘No way, we’re eating in such an open place? And at a meat restaurant packed with people? With Fort’s Go Yoon and Kang Juno?’
In any case, Lee Yeonun, who had set foot in the meat restaurant, turned pale from a drunk ajusshi who bumped his shoulder hard right from the entrance.
“Oh my, what a handsome fellow~”
“Eek.”
“When I was young—”
“This guy’s drunk. I’m sorry.”
Seeing the man from the group hurriedly take the ajusshi away, Lee Yeonun clutched his startled heart and hastily pressed down the hat he had brought with him.
“How many people?”
“Hello. I have a party waiting.”
Because Go Yoon and Kang Juno were sitting so calmly in the corner, he searched for quite a while even after entering the meat restaurant. As soon as Lee Yeonun spotted them, his face brightened as if he’d found an oasis and he quickly approached.
“Hello, sunbae-nim!”
Since both of them were glowing, the young customers at the meat restaurant were already whispering and watching that table, and when Lee Yeonun, who exuded a celebrity aura that couldn’t be hidden even with a hat, bowed his head in greeting and sat down, even more eyes were drawn to them.
“What do you want to eat?”
However, as if it didn’t matter at all that people were staring, when Kang Juno saw Lee Yeonun, he casually and nonchalantly handed him the menu as if talking to a neighborhood friend he’d seen yesterday.
“I’ll have…”
Even though they were sunbaes from the same agency, even though he always said they were sunbaes he respected like it was a habit, Fort was too difficult and distant.
Especially since he was in front of two people famous for going wild like untamed horses even within Fort, his palms naturally became sweaty. While he was looking at the menu and agonizing over it for a while, Go Yoon ate the last piece of meat on the grill and said,
“I’ll have another order of jar samgyeopsal.”
“Go Yoon, you bastard. I was going to eat that—”
“You’re stingy about even giving me this? You’re really petty.”
“What? Petty? Pettyyy?”
Seeing his sunbaes who were like the sky fighting over a single piece of meat, Lee Yeonun couldn’t manage his expression and buried his face in the menu, mumbling.
“…I’ll have jar samgyeopsal too.”
“Excuse me! We’ll have 6 more servings of jar samgyeopsal here.”
Even after sitting down, Lee Yeonun kept watching the two. After bickering with each other, they soon gulped down the cider in front of them like soju, then stared at Lee Yeonun simultaneously.
Lee Yeonun gulped and squeezed his eyes shut. Were they finally getting to the main point? Like a flashback, Lee Yeonun recalled the conversation he’d had with the Retro members before coming here.
‘They asked you to eat with them? Did you mess up with Yoon sunbae-nim?’
‘Hey, come on. It’s probably not just a mistake but practically a crime, isn’t it?’
‘So today is Yeonun’s last supper?’
‘Hey. Everyone just get out. I want to be alone.’
“…Un-ah. Lee Yeonun.”
“Huk, I’m sorry!”
Lee Yeonun, who had been lost in thought with his head bowed as if about to slam it on the table, answered slowly. Kang Juno and Go Yoon had strange expressions watching him apologize as if he’d committed a grave crime when he’d only answered late.
‘Are all the juniors like this these days?’
Actually, they didn’t have any juniors they were particularly close with. Their interactions were limited to brief conversations in passing at events or variety shows, right? But even then, the juniors mostly reacted like this.
‘We didn’t do anything. Why is he like that? Are idols these days well-mannered?’
Since Go Yoon and Kang Juno didn’t particularly show tremendous courtesy to their sunbaes, they felt a bit curious seeing Lee Yeonun so strictly disciplined. However, the reality was that it wasn’t just because Go Yoon and Kang Juno were simply sunbaes that he was being so respectful.
‘Be careful, the sunbaes are scary.’
‘Ah, please.’
‘Come back alive, Yeonun-ah. Ugh, I couldn’t go even if I died.’
In fact, all the juniors had heard their rumors and were scared in advance. However, since the two themselves had no idea about this, the misunderstanding that juniors these days were well-behaved deepened day by day.
“Ah, the reason I called you today is because I have a favor to ask. Do you know Ka Jerim?”
“Huh? Yes. Yes.”
“Do you keep in touch?”
“Sometimes.”
At the completely unexpected topic, Lee Yeonun answered while tilting his head.
“How is he?”
The faces of the two asking this looked cold. So Lee Yeonun tried to catch the mood based on his clumsily learned social experience.
‘They must dislike Ka Jerim. As expected, I have good intuition.’
Their faces looked like they would get angry for some reason if he said Ka Jerim was too nice and they were close. So Lee Yeonun squeezed his eyes shut and apologized to Ka Jerim in his heart.
‘Jerim-ah. You’re kind and such a good person, but if I defend you here, I might die. I’m sorry.’
And he opened his mouth.
“As you know, his personality is worse than you’d think…”
‘Is this not it?’
But as soon as he said his personality was bad, seeing the two become menacing, he instinctively changed direction.
“Is not… Uh. I misspoke. Bright as a star. Yes, bright as a star.”
Even though he wasn’t a rapper, words poured out like rapid fire. But as if that was the right answer, the two’s menacing faces instantly relaxed completely. And Lee Yeonun heard bizarre questions with a dazed expression.
“He’s kind, right?”
“Right. And isn’t he kind of cute?”
What is this. These doting lines.
Flustered, Lee Yeonun stuttered and looked at his sunbaes. But unlike the cute dialogue, their expressions and atmosphere weren’t cute. Feeling like they’d kill him if he said no, Lee Yeonun eventually nodded frantically and answered.
“He’s kind and so cute. Really.”
“Really?”
“Yes, yes. He’s so cute the Earth almost exploded.”
Seeing Go Yoon and Kang Juno’s proud expressions of ‘you know Jerim’s cuteness too?’, Lee Yeonun felt relieved that he’d passed the first crisis. But as soon as he thought that, a second crisis quickly arrived.
“And when we eat together, he gives me his sausage…”
“Don’t tell me you took Jerim’s food?”
“No, no! That—”
Crazy. This is bad.
At the gaze looking at him like he was the most disgusting bug in the world, Lee Yeonun squeezed his eyes shut.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
He was sweating so much from the tension that his back was already soaked, and even though he was wearing a hat, it felt like sweat was pooling heavily on his forehead. The meat restaurant was clearly cool, but Lee Yeonun alone felt like he was dying from the heat.
“Your food is here.”
Fortunately, the food they’d ordered came out with good timing. Lee Yeonun thought the gods had helped him and gave a robotic reaction to somehow handle the brief silence that had arrived.
“Haha. Looks delicious.”
What is that. Seeing him creak like a robot while quickly grilling meat, Go Yoon and Kang Juno looked at Lee Yeonun subtly and whispered.
“Isn’t he unreliable?”
“A little.”
‘I can hear you, you know.’
Lee Yeonun silently grilled meat with a sad face.
Watching him quietly, Go Yoon soon said “I’ll grill it” and readily took the tongs from Lee Yeonun and started grilling the meat.
