A story about how my karaoke go-to song is the favorite of the mother of the guy I’ve been flirting with.pdf
Though his feelings were somewhat complicated, singing wasn’t difficult. What bothered him slightly was perhaps the seating arrangement. Having three adult men sitting in a cramped karaoke booth tended to lower oxygen saturation and violate personal space.
Jion sat further inside to avoid bumping knees with Ryu Geon sitting across from him, but as if advertising they’d slept together, Seonwoo Jin sat with his thigh pressed right against Jion’s, then even wrapped his arm around Jion’s waist. Isn’t the skinship a bit much? Jion glanced at Ryu Geon.
“It’s a bit cramped.”
“I know.”
When Jion mumbled an excuse, Ryu Geon responded appropriately. Ryu Geon didn’t pay much attention even when seeing Seonwoo Jin’s hand wrapped around Jion’s waist. Fortunately, they usually stuck together with about this much closeness anyway.
“Sing for me.”
Seonwoo Jin crumpled his large frame and leaned on Jion’s shoulder. Though it was burdensome how he showed affection without restraint as if treating Ryu Geon not just as insignificant but like a transparent person, Jion couldn’t bring himself to push him away in case Ryu Geon would find it even stranger, so he just pressed numbers. Soon a familiar intro flowed out and Seonwoo Jin leaned on Jion’s shoulder with his eyes closed.
After singing two songs in a row, the gloomy atmosphere in the booth changed to calm and gentle. It was thanks to both songs Seonwoo Jin selected being quiet, emotional ballads.
“As expected of Jion…….”
When Ryu Geon applauded generously, Seonwoo Jin proudly pulled Jion closer to his side.
“Jion sings well, right?”
“Yeah. He really does. Wow.”
“Hyung has a good vocal tone too, so if you practice vocalization a bit more, it’ll sound really good.”
“You think so?”
“Really.”
While encouraging the bashful Ryu Geon who received praise, Jion tried to praise Seonwoo Jin sitting next to him but shut his mouth. Though Seonwoo Jin’s vocal tone wasn’t bad either, honestly there was no expectation it would improve in the near future, making it difficult to give hasty praise.
Nothing is absolutely impossible, but on the other hand, when something seems hopeless no matter how much effort is put in, one should be able to say it won’t work. That’s the virtue of an entrance exam instructor. Recalling Seonwoo Jin’s voice that couldn’t maintain abdominal pressure for more than two measures, Jion briefly felt gloomy but soon recovered his energy looking at his handsome face.
“Should we get dinner now and head back?”
“Great! What should we eat?”
“How about shabu-shabu or something?”
“Sounds good. Where’s the closest place?”
“Just a moment. I’ll search.”
After answering himself, Jion tapped Seonwoo Jin. Meaning you search for it. Fortunately, Seonwoo Jin immediately understood Jion’s instruction and took out his phone. Just as the three of them were bending at the waist trying to exit the booth, embarrassingly, male students in casual clothes were waiting in front of the booth for them to come out.
“Oh? Kids, sorry. Let us pass.”
Middle school boys from hell that even North Korea would be too scared to invade. The members tensely tried to carefully push past them, but fortunately the male students weren’t trying to extort money from them.
“Hyungs! Are you celebrities? You’re fucking tall.”
“Huh?”
“We heard from outside, and wow, you sing fucking well. Fucking awesome. Crazy good.”
After being briefly flustered by the frivolous speech and exaggerated emotional expressions typical of boys that age, the members’ expressions relaxed when they realized the students didn’t harbor any ill will toward them. Originally, there was no age group that gave more objective evaluations to men than high school girls and middle school boys. Jion smiled and thanked them.
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“But hyungs, are you really not celebrities? You’re fucking super super super handsome.”
“Super super…… thanks.”
“Can you take a selfie with us?”
At the male students’ request, the members awkwardly looked at each other. It wasn’t that they had celebrity disease despite being nobodies, but rather the problem was decreased confidence due to their excessive bare faces. However, after alternately looking at Jion and Seonwoo Jin’s faces, Ryu Geon soon decided that being bare-faced wasn’t a problem at all.
“Sure, let’s take one.”
“Yes! Awesome! Hey, whose camera should we use? Who has an iPhone?”
“Me, me!”
It was insanely noisy, typical of middle schoolers. Having taken photos with the male students in a dazed state, the members half-fled from the wild male students, escaped the arcade, gave up on dinner, quickly returned to the dorm, and sprawled out spread-eagle in the living room.
“Wow, that was really chaotic.”
“Were we like that in middle school too?”
“Well, I wasn’t.”
“Me neither.”
Even Jion, who was relatively used to students from working as an entrance exam instructor, had his mental state shaken before middle school boys attacking in a group. It was more tiring because it had been a while. While silently resting for a moment, Ryu Geon suddenly spoke.
“……But I guess we do look like celebrities to them.”
It was quite a proud voice. Jion also giggled in agreement.
“I guess so.”
Though they were currently nobodies without even one song registered at karaoke, it felt good that people seemed to recognize their potential. Though he didn’t say anything particular, Seonwoo Jin also seemed to be in a good mood as he slightly reached out his hand and clasped Jion’s. It was ticklish skinship with Ryu Geon right next to them. Embarrassed, Jion tried to shake off his hand but realized it wasn’t visible to Ryu Geon and stayed still.
The three of them lay silently staring at the ceiling. It was a silence that somehow felt warmly full of something. After lying like that for a while, Ryu Geon muttered.
“……This is nice.”
At the sincere voice, Jion and Seonwoo Jin laughed softly. Hearing the two’s laughter, Ryu Geon also laughed along and said:
“You guys probably wanted to rest today too, but thanks for hanging out with me.”
“……Come on, we’re spending time as members, so what’s this about hanging out with you.”
“Jion, your ankle hurts too, and you must be tired from walking a lot today.”
“Not at all.”
“Woojin too…….”
Ryu Geon—a servant-like PE student merchant who seemed like he’d only receive rice and meat side dishes from his lady—was surprisingly a delicate soul who was touched by small things. He wanted to express gratitude to his younger brothers who willingly accompanied him while he was depressed about his grandmother’s problem, and tried to earnestly convey his slightly overwhelming emotion. However, making Ryu Geon’s effort to set the mood meaningless, an extremely urgent beeping sound came from the entrance.
“Ah! Hyungs!”
It was Eungi. As soon as the door opened, Eungi burst in screaming, threw the bundles he was carrying in both hands onto the sofa, squeezed between the hyungs lying on the floor, and stomped his feet.
“Whatwhatwhatwhywhydidyouthreegoouttogetherwithouttellingmethatsmeancheapunfair!”
“Ahhh, Eungi-ya!”
The members jumped up in shock at Eungi whining without even taking a breath. Eungi threw a tantrum and flailed around, then found Ryu Geon’s knee to use as a pillow, lay down, and stomped his feet once more while whining.
“Ah, why did only you three go out without saying anything in the group chat? I was home too, I was in Seoul too!”
Feeling threatened by the extremely massive tantrum, Jion hurriedly pacified the youngest.
“No, Geon-i hyung came back earlier than expected…… to change the mood and eat and stuff…….”
“So why didn’t you call meeeee!”
“No, to spend time with your family…… wait.”
Jion, who had been frantically pacifying Eungi, suddenly realized something and stopped. Going out with Ryu Geon was decided hastily, and they hadn’t even mentioned in the group chat that only the three of them were going out. So how on earth did Eungi know? When the flustered Jion looked at Seonwoo Jin, Seonwoo Jin also realized the same thing and looked at Ryu Geon. Ryu Geon’s expression wasn’t much different from the two.
“……How did you know the three of us went out?”
“It’s all over SNS?”
Eungi stuck out his lips to show he was sulking and held out his phone.
“The three of you went to the arcade today and played basketball games and got prizes from the claw machine and went to the [NEW] kono (코노), right?”
On the screen Eungi held out, there were images of the three of them taken who knows when. They were photos by fans they hadn’t noticed.
Geon-nim Has Descended @only_gunryu
Crazy our Neu-Geon-nim’s self-made추 ㄹㅈㄷ
Neu-Geon shooting basketball with his crazy arms at the arcade
Demon of basketball Demon of arcades Demon of men
(Photo)(Photo)
Judging by the angle, it seemed to be one of the female students who’d been watching them from near the arcade entrance.
“Ah! If I’d known they were our fans, I would’ve given them autographs!”
While Ryu Geon sighed innocently, Jion snatched Eungi’s phone to check other reactions too.
Mungdeok @mu_ng_duuuk3
Hujwa oppa tried the claw machine
The crane eternally trolled oppa
But Hujwa overcame it
Jion got the prize
(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)
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Most relevant reply
Charcoal Going to Taiwan Next Month @woOdFIrrre_231
Hujwajin does the trick and the claw machine owner makes the money and Seong Jion takes the prize
“Huk…….”
Jion covered his mouth in surprise at the photos and videos that seemed to have observed them quite closely. He didn’t know where everyone had been hiding to watch like this, but quite a few photos taken from various angles had been uploaded.
