FLEX, Idol Manager 59

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# Chapter 59

“Thank you.”

When I said this as we were leaving, Han Sijin looked at me as if wondering what I meant.

“For being good to Mom.”

“I wasn’t being especially good to her. Your mother was good to me, so I should be the one thanking her.”

“Mom seemed to like you.”

“Do you think your mother knows about us?”

“You thought so too, right? Isn’t it strange? We’re not anything to each other. What could she be thinking?”

“What!”

But Han Sijin didn’t think long and just hummed a tune.

“Why are you in such a good mood?”

“I don’t know. I just feel good.”

But that was the same for me too.

Everyone was busy that day.

We went to the hospital, heard there was nothing wrong, watched Han Sijin get treatment for his ankle, and then tried to take him home but ended up going to my place together again.

We made love fiercely like a storm sweeping through, and the next day, which was a weekend, we went to Han Sijin’s house together.

There, they treated me like a hero, and his parents and grandparents thanked me for raising Han Sijin well, who they had worried might not be able to function properly as a person.

I was worried about the atmosphere becoming awkward, but nothing like that happened, and we were able to stay comfortably.

And news came that Crop Five had reduced their schedule and decided to return earlier than planned because of Han Sijin’s absence.

Fortunately, despite making a big deal out of it, Han Sijin’s ankle injury and neck condition weren’t bad, and all the news was good.

“I want to go pick up the kids.”

“Hold back. Even if you go, you won’t be able to see them. It’s better to give up quickly on things you can’t have even if you want them. You should know that by now.”

At first, we were just sitting in front of the TV to watch a program that had already aired.

But somehow we were entangled again, and after our bodies mingled, the guy lay next to me and caressed my cheeks and hair as if he never got tired of it.

His casual remarks made me laugh.

The feeling in his words about things you can’t have even if you want them resonated with me.

Somehow, even going to the airport to see off Crop Five had become an unattainable wish.

“I guess an ordinary daily life will be difficult for us now?”

“Difficult? If you really want it, I’ll make it happen for you.”

I laughed hearing those words.

The laughter just came naturally.

I wondered if it was like this when I first saw him too.

Thinking about that, I looked at Sijin, and he looked back at me.

He seemed anxious, as if trying to read all my thoughts and emotions by looking into my eyes.

“What… is it?”

“You seem different from the beginning.”

“Which time was better?”

“Now.”

There was no doubt about it.

Relief flashed across his face.

“That’s a relief. But why?”

“Back then, you were a person who was created and formed independently of me. But now, you are someone I’ve created.”

A big smile spread across his face.

“That’s right.”

I had been prepared to argue point by point if he denied it, but he agreed so quickly that it took the wind out of my sails.

“This isn’t like Han Sijin.”

“I was thinking that I might have made things too difficult for you all this time.”

“Hmm… Why are you acting like this? You’ve been making things difficult for me every moment without exception, but you never said such things other times.”

“I’ve grown up now.”

What’s going on with Han Sijin?

He doesn’t react even when I tease him lightly.

“Sijin, are you feeling sick or something?”

Suddenly worried, I sat up and looked directly at him as I asked, and a smile formed on Sijin’s face.

A face that remained intoxicatingly beautiful, something I couldn’t seem to develop a tolerance for no matter how much time passed.

In fact, I couldn’t even focus on his answer as I was thinking, ‘How handsome is this face, really?’

“No, it’s not that. I just realized that I don’t need to desperately try to win against you anymore.”

I tilted my head at his diligent answer.

“Were you doing that? Why?”

“Because I know that I’ll win in the end anyway.”

“You’re funny. What do you win? I’m the one who wins.”

We should have graduated from this kind of bickering a long time ago, but thinking about it, I had never properly experienced such things before.

So I was even more grateful to Sijin for responding to me like this.

“I’ll come often, so don’t worry and just come out when I visit.”

“That won’t do. You might understand my feelings even when I don’t show them explicitly, but the other kids might feel hurt.”

“Then I can’t help it. I understand.”

On that thought, I called Dagyeong.

I belatedly asked Sijin about the time difference there and tried to quickly hang up, but Dagyeong’s voice came through.

—Wow, Hyung! What brings you to call me? Calling someone as lowly as me?

There seemed to be some edge to his words.

Even without seeing him, I felt extremely guilty as if he knew all about the lovey-dovey time I was spending with Sijin here.

But all those thoughts running through my head were voiced by the guy.

—Hyung. We’re struggling with performances and practice, and can’t even sleep, while Sijin-hyung is having a happy time beside you, right?

“That’s… right. When you come back, I’ll torture him.”

—Oh! That’s a good idea! You’ll hold him down so he can’t resist, right?

“Of course. Let’s work on team bonding this time.”

Dagyeong got excited and talked loudly about it, and I could hear the members’ voices mixing from here and there.

Listening to them all talking about plans to torture Han Sijin, I felt relieved that the guys’ condition seemed not bad.

“Just take it easy, guys. Don’t try too hard. If you do well, they’ll ask you to come again. Other places will look for you too. Fans from other countries are already asking for concerts. Looking at you guys, it seems like you’re going out of your way to suffer.”

—Uh, Hyung. Shouldn’t you not say things like that?

Suddenly, Cha Yeonwoo asked with a voice tinged with laughter.

“I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t, but I’m saying it because it’s you guys. Don’t you miss me?”

—We do miss you… So should we really mess up completely this time, Hyung?

Jeong Chan asked seriously, and fearing they might actually do it if I went further, I encouraged them to do well just this time and to come back safely.

“I wonder if I called when you were sleeping.”

—It’s fine. You can call anytime, Hyung. We’ll adjust our time. As long as we’re not performing, you can call anytime, even if we have to answer while sleeping. Just call whenever it’s convenient for you. It’s hard enough to make even one phone call when trying to match schedules.

It was Seo Irun’s voice.

It was sad that I had to be content with just hearing the voices of the guys I wanted to see, and when I said that, they laughed.

As we were ending the call, Sijin searched for Crop Five and showed me their news.

Even just the news about celebrities appearing at their concert venues had become a huge issue in the local area and was being covered in articles.

Even stars with countless fans had shown up en masse, competing to prove they were passionate fans of Crop Five.

“Sijin, aren’t you disappointed that you’re the only one not there?”

I asked while looking at the photos of seemingly unreachable stars with the Crop Five members, and Sijin shook his head.

“It’s not like I skipped out on purpose. It couldn’t be helped, so it doesn’t matter. And when else could we have time like this? Once we return to Korea, the schedule will be packed again. Actually, it seems like requests are coming in from various places even now. They’re declining by saying I need to recover, but I’ve become too healthy being with you, so I’m not sure how long that excuse will work.”

“Oh my God!! It’s Ki Hyunshin!!”

While Sijin was talking, I was scrolling through articles and let out a scream when I saw a familiar face at the concert venue.

He was a ballad singer known for his mysteriousness, and I got overly excited thinking he happened to be there, but then I felt a heated gaze.

He was a singer who was called a “mysterious artist” because he rarely appeared on broadcasts, and he was someone I had liked for a long time before knowing Crop Five, known for his unique emotional tone, explosive volume, and vocal techniques.

Of course, I said it because I was happy as a fan, but that’s not how Han Sijin seemed to see it, as his gaze grew increasingly heated with what seemed like interrogation.

“Hey… Don’t you like Ki Hyunshin too? He’s good.”

“What’s good about him? How do you know if Hyunshin-sunbae is good or not?”

Leaving out the object in the sentence made me imagine something strange, and even though Han Sijin was probably just joking, my face became hot as if I had done something wrong.

For people not in this industry, such conversations would be strange to begin with, but since Sijin is a hot member of Crop Five, just a single remark about Ki Hyunshin made the atmosphere like this.

“But haven’t you ever seen Ki Hyunshin? I really liked him. If you meet him, please make sure to get his autograph for me.”

“Why do you need someone else’s autograph? Just look at me, only me.”

“Oh my… How can a person live on just bread al—”

No, that’s not what I should say at this timing.

Because of that, Sijin narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

“No, Sijin. This is just something I said as a fan. You understand, right?”

“I don’t understand.”

Let’s not say anything more. Just stop talking.

I sighed and glanced at him.

By now he should be saying it was just a joke, but he was still sulking.

“Hey, Sijin. You can’t be like this outside. You know that, right? Do I really need to say this?”

When I spoke in a serious tone, Han Sijin seemed to be taken aback and backed down.