# Chapter 78
“Does it make your heart flutter? Is that it?”
Hyung spoke as if he wasn’t sure about his own feelings, and I found that interesting.
I had never imagined hyung making such an expression, so it was quite fascinating.
“Do you like being with Hyunshin hyung?”
“It’s comfortable.”
“Do you feel sad, anxious, worried, and upset because the time might pass too quickly?”
“Yes. That seems exactly right. Everything you said seems right.”
“When you’re together, do you keep saying trivial things and argue about them?”
“Hey! How do you know that?”
Hyung looked at me with sparkling eyes, as if truly amazed.
How would I know?
Because that’s how I am when I’m with Han Sijin.
“Even though he doesn’t seem to like joking around much, you keep going to tease him. But it doesn’t seem like he actually dislikes it either. And it’s fun when you bicker with each other.”
“Do you like Hyunshin hyung’s smell?”
“Hey, shit! Am I a pervert?”
“You do, right?”
“Yes.”
I burst into laughter, and hyung covered his face with one hand and lowered his head.
“I guess I really am a pervert.”
I should ask Ki Hyunshin too.
But honestly, I didn’t find hyung’s behavior strange at all.
I never imagined that I would like a man either, but it happened because I somehow met Han Sijin and Crop Five.
Among Crop Five’s fans, there were many who said, ‘Although they’re men, they can’t help but fall for Crop Five.’
That’s why Crop Five earned the nickname ‘Magical Gay Awakeners,’ but Ki Hyunshin was actually the first person to earn that nickname.
While I was thinking to myself without saying anything, hyung anxiously glanced at me.
“Are you disgusted by me too?”
“Huh?”
“By the way I’m acting.”
Ah…
Hyung doesn’t know about my relationship with Sijin.
Did I never tell him?
I thought my uncle would have told him.
“Hyunshin hyung is charming. How can a person stop feelings from developing?”
“You really think so? That’s unexpected. You look so uptight.”
“Ha!”
He really was someone you couldn’t let your guard down around for even a moment.
What is an uptight person anyway?
We had arrived at Crop Five’s dorm, and I could understand what hyung had meant right there.
His face, which had been like a crumpled shirt until he was standing outside the door with me, brightened immeasurably the moment he spotted Ki Hyunshin.
It was utterly shameless to expect people around not to notice after showing such an obvious expression.
No, that’s not right. I didn’t realize it either until hyung told me.
But what was even more surprising was that hyung wasn’t the only one making such a face.
I could understand Crop Five since they’re attached to me, but why was Ki Hyunshin acting like that too?
Had Ki Hyunshin been influenced by being with Crop Five?
The only difference was that he was responding to hyung, not me.
“Hmm…”
This could definitely become a problem.
Crop Five members are good at controlling their expressions.
The proof is that such rumors have hardly ever emerged despite their countless broadcasts and performances.
But hyung and Ki Hyunshin seemed to need some education.
“This could definitely be a problem. It’s dangerous.”
Ki Hyunshin didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, but hyung grew worried after hearing me.
“Really? Is it that obvious?”
“Yes. It’s completely written all over your face. How much you like him.”
Crop Five agreed with me too.
“Now that you mention it, it’s really true, CEO. We can feel it even more clearly. You’ve never made such an expression looking at us until now. But now, wow… I never knew you were someone who could make such a face, CEO.”
When Sijin spoke, all the members agreed, saying it was absolutely true.
Ki Hyunshin awkwardly rubbed his forehead with his hand.
“I’m just comfortable with the CEO. And the CEO probably feels the same because we’re closer in age than you guys. You all still smell like babies.”
Baby smell.
Saying Crop Five smells like babies? That’s a novel attack.
“Still, hyung. You need to be careful. Even if a friendly CEO and singer meet, they don’t make their eyes shine like this. It’s dangerous.”
“Really?”
Ki Hyunshin, seeming to understand that I wasn’t saying this to pick a fight, quickly lowered his eyes with concern.
“It’s okay. We’ll teach you well. You just need to be a little careful.”
Dagyeong comforted Ki Hyunshin, and he nodded.
He seemed to have regained considerable stability while staying with Crop Five, and they talked about the work they had been doing in the meantime.
The tense expression they had when we first arrived was gone, and Ki Hyunshin’s eyes shone like a completely different person.
Seeing that, I thought he was someone born to sing.
The same was true for Crop Five.
Because of this, I strengthened my resolve once again, thinking that I must be their shield so they could freely sing the songs they wanted until the end.
I thought hyung and I would protect them together.
But somehow hyung had ended up on the other side of the fence, so it seemed like I alone would have to protect not only Crop Five but also Ki Hyunshin and hyung, which was fine too.
‘Come on in, all of you. My enclosure is invincible!’
If I had said that out loud, many people would have glared at me with fierce eyes telling me to tone it down, but they probably wouldn’t care about what I was thinking inside.
“Listen to this. It’s really amazing.”
Sijin grabbed my arm and took me to where the piano was, and Ki Hyunshin was organizing the scattered sheet music.
He had mentioned that he liked drawing with a pen so he often worked that way, and I was finally seeing it firsthand.
Ki Hyunshin’s fingers ran smoothly across the keys.
The melody seemed to calm the storm brewing in our minds.
The boy who had once thought how grateful it was to live in the same era and breathe together with him was now listening to his new song.
* * *
The wildfire that would have continued to grow and devour hyung and Ki Hyunshin if not caught in time had subsided.
Meanwhile, a concept meeting for Crop Five and Ki Hyunshin’s album was in full swing in Grand Tamer’s main conference room.
Not only Ki Hyunshin and Crop Five members who would be participating in the album, but also those who would play key roles in various aspects were all present, listening to each other’s ideas.
This meeting was proceeding in a different order than usual.
Rather than setting the concept first and then developing the work direction, they were creating everything else according to the songs Ki Hyunshin had brought.
However, no one raised any objections or complaints about this approach.
The songs he created were that charming and beautiful, and while they were characteristically Ki Hyunshin’s, they were different from the music he had made until now.
Everyone who heard the music said they strangely thought of Crop Five.
There had been unexpected aspects of Crop Five members shown at the God Ki Hyunshin Cover Contest, and people expressed great anticipation, saying it reminded them of those performances.
Crop Five also showed their affection, saying the songs Ki Hyunshin created seemed to be made for them.
“Originally, both Hyunshin and Crop Five were planning to release full albums, but Hyunshin’s songs are so exceptional that they would overshadow other tracks no matter where they were placed.”
That was the background behind this album’s planning.
After the presentation ended, everyone pulled their chairs closer and sat tightly together.
The atmosphere was definitely different from usual.
Rather than just enduring the meeting time with the intention of leaving afterward, they seemed to recognize that they were present at the initial stage of what would become a legendary album and were inspired by that fact.
“This is really so good. It naturally comes to mind who should sing which part. The remaining section is the problem—it would be most stable if Ki Hyunshin-ssi did it, but then Crop Five might look like mere accessories, so I think we need to solve that problem first.”
“I think we’ll have to have each person try singing it and then decide together.”
“The choreography will also differ depending on who takes which part and what atmosphere we go for.”
Several people poured out words almost simultaneously, but everything was neatly input.
“Let’s have Crop Five take turns singing first. Don’t be too nervous. We’ll listen keeping in mind that you’re in front of God Ki Hyunshin.”
Crop Five laughed at the PD’s words.
“You really have to do that.”
When Sijin spoke, everyone nodded with smiles.
If I were Crop Five, I might have felt offended by such words, but the guys showed no sign of that.
“Seeing you say that, it seems you don’t really know Crop Five yet. Crop Five isn’t the kind of group that should hear such words. Right now, Crop Five hasn’t properly shown even 60% of what they have.”
When Ki Hyunshin, who had been quietly listening to everyone until then, spoke, the PD laughed awkwardly.
However, the PD still seemed to think Ki Hyunshin was saying that to boost Crop Five’s morale.
“I know Ki Hyunshin-ssi is fond of Crop Five. But this is a really important meeting where we need to make important decisions, so I think it would be better to speak more objectively.”
Judging by those words.
The usual Ki Hyunshin would have chosen to yield rather than confronting directly, but at that time, he didn’t do so.
