# Chapter 47
“Why go out to drink? Let’s just drink comfortably here. There’s no need to worry about other people, and it’s more comfortable here. We have alcohol.”
Seo Irun scanned each member with his eyes.
The members immediately moved, preparing the space and bringing out the alcohol on their own.
They moved in perfect unison, as if they had done this many times before.
“You guys really work well together. You’d even be good at stealing together. You could clean a place out in no time.”
The members laughed at whatever I said.
Thinking that we didn’t have much time left like this made everything feel precious and bittersweet.
While drinking, we didn’t actually talk much.
We often looked at each other and frequently smiled.
Occasionally, we shared stories about when we first met.
How cold Seo Irun was when I went to meet him.
When I exaggerated about how hurt I felt, Seo Irun made an apologetic expression.
I talked about incidents with other members too, but the meeting with Han Sijin remained the most vivid in my memory.
“What about Sijin? How was he?”
Cha Yeonwoo asked, and I looked at Han Sijin and laughed.
“That guy was a fighter even back then. I was really worried. I wondered if this was really the right thing to do, and if recruiting him would be wronging the other kids in the long run. I was sure Sijin would cause problems. Not scandals, but fights that would end up in the social news section.”
The members burst into laughter at my words.
They said that they had also really worried about that at first.
Jeong Chan said that he had a feeling Han Sijin would be a celebrity whose face would appear more in the social section than the entertainment section, but fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Then Lee Dagyeong laughed and said that now he appears more in the business section.
Thinking about it, that was true.
“I might have been more drawn to him because I was into wuxia novels at the time. ‘Han Sijin’ kept coming to mind.”
In wuxia novels, “han sijin” referred to “two hours.”
That term appeared very frequently in novels, and after meeting Han Sijin, I don’t think there was a day when I read without thinking of him.
“What about me, Hyung? I’m like that too, right? ‘Lee Dagyeong’ also appears often.”
Dagyeong.
The time it takes to have a cup of tea.
I told him he was an exception because it usually appears as “il dagyeong” or “han dagyeong” rather than “lee dagyeong,” but he didn’t seem to believe me anyway.
“We should have changed all our stage names to that style. Though it would be a waste for Irun hyung to use a stage name. His name is so pretty.”
Cha Yeonwoo said this, then suddenly looked at Jeong Chan.
“But is it okay for you to be here now? Shouldn’t you be spending time with your girlfriend?”
At Cha Yeonwoo’s words, I looked at Jeong Chan, thinking that was probably true, and he smiled faintly.
“Why… do you ask?”
“We broke up.”
Jeong Chan spoke bitterly, as if he didn’t really want to talk about it, and I was surprised as I looked at him.
I thought they were doing well.
Thinking that a Crop Five member at the peak of popularity wouldn’t have been dumped and must have been the one to end things, I became curious about the reason.
It didn’t seem right to ask about such things out of curiosity, but Jeong Chan seemed to understand our curiosity and opened his mouth.
“We were really busy, you know. So I couldn’t always answer her calls on time, and there were many times when I couldn’t even shower before falling asleep after our schedule. As time passed, we communicated less frequently and couldn’t see each other, and eventually it ended up like that.”
“So that’s why you broke up with her.”
When Cha Yeonwoo spoke sympathetically, Jeong Chan smiled and shook his head.
“No, that wasn’t it. I had no intention of dating someone else. As long as we continue our activities and our popularity doesn’t plummet, this kind of lifestyle will likely continue similarly in the future, and even if I met someone else, this situation would continue. I was planning to keep seeing her as long as she understood. But she cheated.”
“…”
Silence fell.
No one had imagined hearing such a story.
“…What can we do, Jeong Chan.”
Cha Yeonwoo spoke apologetically, as if regretting bringing it up, and I wracked my brain on how to handle this atmosphere.
I wondered if it would be better to naturally move on to another topic, but that didn’t seem like the best solution either.
It seemed like something that needed to be addressed, but I also felt like I shouldn’t lead this conversation.
“Well… at first I felt confused and wondered what was going on, but nothing would change anyway. It’s not like anyone in the group is dating. Oh, that’s not true.”
Then he smiled and looked at Han Sijin.
“Lucky bastard.”
“Sorry.”
Han Sijin didn’t deny it and Jeong Chan let out a more refreshing laugh.
“I think it would have been difficult without the members, but time passed just like before… I think it was good.”
Sensing no pretense in Jeong Chan’s words, the members gave small comforts by patting his shoulders and arms, and rubbing them.
“But you know, I might not have ended that well. Loving someone. It doesn’t seem easy. Look at me. Do I look like I’m just happy? Liking a man who’s too popular and too good is killing me. I just want to see him alone, but everyone’s eyes are shining for him.”
When Han Sijin suddenly spoke like that, it was as if I could see the members’ rage gauge rising in real-time.
“Then don’t! You bastard! That love!!”
When Seo Irun yelled loudly, Han Sijin giggled.
“I absolutely can’t do that. How could I give up on Seomin hyung?”
“That’s true. If Hyung had liked me, I wouldn’t have given up either.”
When Cha Yeonwoo sighed and said this, the others nodded as if they agreed.
I was relieved that at least Jeong Chan wasn’t part of that, but then Jeong Chan looked at me with a smirk.
He moved his lips as if he had something to say, but in the end didn’t say anything.
I felt a sense of relief for some reason, though I didn’t know why.
Surely he wasn’t going to say that he liked me too.
I kept my mouth shut because I thought I might hear something strange, but finally Jeong Chan spoke first.
“Actually, I was only going to tell this much, but there’s more to the story. When I told her I knew everything and wanted to break up, she got even angrier and said, ‘Did you think I didn’t know you had someone else? Why are you only doing this to me?'”
“Really? Jeong Chan, were you that kind of guy?”
When Cha Yeonwoo asked, Han Sijin shook his head and said this was completely unacceptable.
The atmosphere instantly changed to one of criticizing him, and I looked at Jeong Chan with an intrigued expression.
“At first, I thought she was talking nonsense, but she insisted that I definitely had someone I was seeing. She said she could tell by the expression on my face when I talked on the phone with someone. She asked if there wasn’t a woman I secretly talked to while lying that it was the manager hyung. But I really never did that.”
“…”
Lee Dagyeong stared at him for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
“That makes sense. I thought it was a bit strange too. What else could have happened to hyung? Hyung must have fallen for Seomin hyung’s charm as well. It’s just that since he had a girlfriend, he didn’t cross the line. If that noona said so, it seems pretty obvious?”
“I just like Hyung. When I say ‘like,’ I mean purely like. I’m normal.”
“So we’re abnormal?”
At Seo Irun’s single remark, Jeong Chan shut his mouth with a startled look.
It seemed like I’d received a confession, but I wasn’t grateful at all.
How did I…
But if someone asked if I disliked it, that wasn’t the case either.
Should I say I’m honored?
“Let’s drink.”
When I raised my glass and spoke, the members filled each other’s empty glasses.
And everyone raised their glasses high.
The atmosphere suggested I should make the toast.
What else could there be?
“Cheers!”
A loud sound rang in the air.
* * *
When I tried to clean up, the members pushed me, telling me to go in and rest, and I eventually went to the bathroom to brush my teeth after being urged by the guys.
While I was wondering where to go, Han Sijin approached and took my hand.
“Why are you taking so long?”
Then he took me to his room, closed the door, and seemed to head to the bathroom.
Not much had changed during that time.
I sat in a chair, waiting for Han Sijin.
The time spent waiting for him felt awkward.
I checked if there were any messages from work, but it was strangely quiet.
It was so quiet that I wondered if they were having meetings without me, trying not to disturb me.
There was no contact from Noona either, but she had probably checked in through Hyung.
While I was thinking about various things, Han Sijin came in.
He quietly approached and sat on the bed.
“Ah… I don’t want to go.”
“Then don’t go.”
“How can I do that? I want to shrink you down and put you in my pocket to take with me.”
“That would be nice. Let’s do that then.”
He smirked and then flopped down on the bed.
