It was far too vicious for a reunion greeting. While Do Yeonjae froze in surprise, Kwon Isoo slowly turned his head. Eventually, their gazes met. Do Yeonjae saw that the eyes looking at him were tinged with disgust.
And he arrived at the answer to a long-held question.
He still hates me. Me.
It was a result he’d anticipated enough. He’d known it would be like this. But… wait, am I actually shocked right now?
It was ridiculous. After spewing sharp words first, after ending things that way, had he really expected a beautiful reunion? Even though he knew why Kwon Isoo was making that haughty expression looking at him, his mouth tasted bitter for no reason.
I should greet him…. Do Yeonjae rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, not knowing what to do. Either way, now that they’d met like this, he had a responsibility to ease the atmosphere. Even setting aside the fact that they were in front of a behind-the-scenes camera right now.
Since he was the one asking for the challenge.
He took a breath and squeezed his eyes shut before opening them. After pulling up the corners of his mouth as far as they’d go, he brought out a greeting.
“Hello. Kwon Isoo.”
“……”
“Um…. It’s been a while.”
It was strange. Even though it was an ordinary greeting, just because the listener was Kwon Isoo, his voice seemed to float emptily. It even felt a bit distant. And so Do Yeonjae prepared himself to receive Kwon Isoo’s sharp reaction. What kind of curse will it be this time….
“……”
But Kwon Isoo just remained silent without saying anything.
His faintly distorted face looked both like he couldn’t stand something irritating, and just expressionless as usual. Do Yeonjae quietly waited for his response, but even after dozens of seconds passed, his firmly closed lips showed no sign of opening. The staff around them were flustered by the bleak atmosphere and read the situation nervously. …Ah. Do Yeonjae realized the situation a bit belatedly.
I just got my greeting ignored. By Kwon Isoo.
Although much of the old rigid senior-junior culture among idols had disappeared, it hadn’t progressed far enough that ignoring a senior’s greeting and showing a displeased expression was acceptable. However, Kwon Isoo, a rookie who had only debuted a year ago, seemed to have absolutely no desire to greet his direct senior warmly.
It seemed he planned to faithfully keep his past words about not treating him like a senior.
Right. That’s his intention. Do Yeonjae scratched his cheek with an awkward expression and stubbornly continued speaking.
“I saw NEOS win the Daesang. It was cool. I’m envious too. I haven’t received one yet. I’ve been listening to all the songs you made too. Um, and.”
“……”
“I’m sorry for making things awkward for no reason. I didn’t know it would turn out like this either….”
He more than understood Kwon Isoo’s feelings. Having suddenly become best friends with someone he hated that much, how shitty must that be. But how exactly should I handle this…. Complicated thoughts came pouring out in a rush, when Kwon Isoo suddenly let out a hollow laugh. A voice filled with mockery flowed out low.
“You’ve eaten up broadcast content, so your face has gotten thick.”
Do Yeonjae stopped thinking and stared blankly at that scene.
The sharply raised corners of his mouth seemed to stab at his insides unexpectedly. Even in this situation, Do Yeonjae thought that frowning face was really handsome. Pretty guys shine no matter what expression they make.
Maybe that’s why he wasn’t really angry. No, actually, even if he had been angry, Do Yeonjae would never be able to scold that impudent junior.
Because he was clearly responsible for causing this mess.
Thinking about it, from Kwon Isoo’s perspective, it could feel like he’d been thrown away as unnecessary, and now that things were going well, he was pretending to be friendly. Imagining how shameless he must seem, Kwon Isoo’s words didn’t seem so harsh anymore.
“You said you wanted to grab a golden opportunity, but did you debut to shamelessly flap your tongue….”
“……”
“Do Yeonjae, tell me. Are we close? You and I?”
…It does seem a bit harsh.
Do Yeonjae raised the corners of his mouth awkwardly. We won’t be able to save even one behind-the-scenes clip.
“Well, since I was trying to promote NEOS.”
Then Kwon Isoo snorted.
“I don’t need your promotion or anything.”
Would it be an inferiority complex to feel like he was dissing RAYEON for having less recognition than NEOS? Of course, that is the truth. As he made an ambiguous expression, Kwon Isoo asked in an indifferent tone.
“Do you know why I agreed to film this?”
Do Yeonjae rolled his eyes around. He’d actually been curious about that. If he hated him that much, he could have easily changed it to a different member for just a challenge….
“You, you’ve been avoiding me.”
…He froze at the words that followed.
“You thought I wouldn’t know? I’m not an idiot.”
“……”
“And then going on the radio and running your mouth like that was funny, so I was curious how you’d react when you saw my face….”
“……”
“Not very entertaining. Too exactly as expected.”
Just hurry up and finish filming. Facing a face clearly bored, an inexplicable tingling sensation brushed his fingertips. Do Yeonjae gaped like a fool.
Those words were right. After Kwon Isoo debuted, Do Yeonjae had done his best to avoid him. No, rather than avoiding him… I just didn’t go out of my way to create occasions to meet. Because there was no way a genius producer receiving the world’s attention would keep an old friend or whatever in mind. Because belated regret was enough to keep to himself alone. That’s what he thought.
But that wasn’t it. The truth was… he seemed to have been inwardly afraid to look into those eyes. To face the disgust thickly embedded in that indifferent gaze.
Kwon Isoo’s hurt eyes had stayed in his heart for so long, and if he received an even more negative look than that, it seemed he couldn’t possibly be okay. So he had fled from that fear. Cowardly, even knowing he should apologize.
Silence descended. From Kwon Isoo’s back as he moved toward the mirror, he could read a refusal that wouldn’t allow any more small talk. Do Yeonjae clenched his fist tightly and followed him.
The only thing he could do right now was to finish filming quickly, as Kwon Isoo wanted.
“The choreography….”
“I didn’t learn it, so just explain roughly.”
When he asked carefully, Kwon Isoo answered with an apathetic face.
When filming challenges, it was normal to learn the other person’s choreography in advance to save time. If the choreography was simple, they learned it directly, and if it was difficult, a choreography teacher would learn it instead and teach them.
But… maybe there wasn’t time because it was scheduled suddenly.
Do Yeonjae began earnestly explaining the challenge portion choreography for the title song ‘U’ in the bleak atmosphere.
“On one-two, step and move your arms like this… that’s right. And next, similar to NEOS’s last title chorus, you bend your waist like….”
“……”
Kwon Isoo followed along little by little while memorizing Do Yeonjae’s movements with his eyes. Even though he seemed to be dancing half-heartedly, he’d memorize it quickly. Because he’d always been like that. He tried not to think about old times, but looking in the mirror and practicing together, he couldn’t help feeling strange.
…Was Kwon Isoo the same? For a moment, their eyes met exactly through the mirror. Do Yeonjae almost stopped the choreography without realizing it.
A gaze staring intently at him. That clarity pulled out a scene from the past. It was beyond his control. Eyes that obsessively followed the body’s movements when learning a dance. Even though he knew it was just to learn the movements, memories of being flustered for no reason…….
“That’s it. Is there any part that’s difficult or confusing?”
He asked after forcibly shoving those memories into his head. Kwon Isoo, who had been learning the choreography, wore a sneer on his face as if to show off.
“It’s fucking easy. Did you make it this way on purpose to do it live?”
It was something that would anger Sian-hyung who participated in the choreography if he heard it, but Do Yeonjae wasn’t foolish enough to take such blatantly picked fights.
Actually, dealing with Kwon Isoo’s rude personality was already familiar to him.
“That’s fortunate. Then let’s try it with the music on.”
Honestly, Do Yeonjae didn’t have high expectations for his challenge partner. How perfectly could someone digest choreography learned in such a short time? It would be the same for him when filming challenges with other groups.
But Kwon Isoo… was good. Good enough that he thought he brought out the feeling better than anyone he’d filmed with so far. It wasn’t simply rushing to follow complex movements, but he seemed to perfectly understand why the choreography was that way and danced accordingly.
Moreover, after repeating the rehearsal a couple of times, it got even better. For a moment, Do Yeonjae forgot even the cold atmosphere until now and muttered without realizing it.
“Really good.”
He was actually a bit moved. Because it always felt good to see other people cover their dance.
That’s why he ended up pointing out details he would have normally let slide.
“But when doing this movement, if you completely bend your wrist, it looks prettier. Like this….”
He grabbed Kwon Isoo’s wrist. The moment their bodies got close, an unfamiliar body scent sharply rushed in. A cool yet pungent fragrance subtly mixed together…. A feeling somehow different from before. He lifted his head blankly and saw Kwon Isoo’s face fiercely frowning.
Only then did he think oh no.
