Eventually, Doha’s turn came. The model microphone was handed to Doha. He clutched the mic with mixed feelings and stared at the camera.
What kind of thoughts could he have when he hadn’t even been active?
“……I.”
His throat choked up. Was the agency even in their right mind, suddenly putting someone with no memories in front of a camera? Suddenly, he resented the world.
“While being active……”
He hadn’t been. Active.
Doha’s gaze gradually lowered to the floor. The events from earlier in the day suddenly came to mind.
Who am I, and why am I here? Why did I dig potatoes so diligently? Why did I make baeksuk so earnestly? And why am I trembling in front of a camera?
“……Sniff.”
Suddenly, tears welled up a little. Doha raised his hands and pressed both eyes firmly with his palms.
[Chat Window]
Doha’s crying ㅠㅠ It must have been hard..
After all, there was an injury during this promotion;_; His heart must be hurting
Are you okay?
Doha don’t cry ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅠ
If you cry, I’ll cry too ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Ah, what should I do, my heart hurts
Honestly, wasn’t it true he caused trouble while drunk?
Baek Do Ha don’t cry!!!!!
He must have felt really sorry for not being able to be active at the end because of his leg injury ㅠ That was the leader role too
[This chat has been deleted by the administrator.]
Wiping away tears along with him
The weight of being a leader ㅠ
[This chat has been deleted by the administrator.]
Isn’t the agency working them too hard without considering the kids’ condition?
He looked precarious from the concert onwards ㅠㅠ Please prioritize health~~
The fans had the ability to interpret sudden tears however they wanted. Gradually, public opinion was leaning toward the idea that Baek Doha was upset about feeling sorry for the members having a hard time due to his injury at the end of their activities.
Of course, just because they were fans of one group didn’t mean there were only unconditional stans. There were also malicious comments from fans who didn’t view him favorably due to Baek Doha’s usual behavior, but those were immediately deleted by the administrator.
“I’m grateful that the members promoted well……”
When he raised his head, the densely packed chat window came into view again, so Doha quickly thanked the members to wrap things up. He knew that staying like this wouldn’t end the situation.
“I’ll show you… better sides of me… Yes, I will.”
Doha’s head bowed deeply again. This time it wasn’t tears, just embarrassment. Speaking like this in front of many people was the first time since his elementary school student council president election, which he’d been forced into by a friend’s prank. As soon as he finished speaking, the tips of his ears turned red.
“Ah, our Doha hyung had a really hard time emotionally, didn’t he.”
Sehyun leaned over and wrapped his arm around Doha’s shoulders, patting him. Sehyun’s final words became the finishing touch. The terrible speech transformed into an emotion-filled sentiment.
And so, the sharing of thoughts ended. Doha’s memory of how it concluded was hazy.
However, when the live stream ended, the fans’ reactions had become excessively warm. Of course, it was partly thanks to the line-crossing chats being quickly cleaned up, but Baek Doha’s tears—who had never shed a single tear of emotion even when getting their first music show win—caused a huge ripple. It was a reaction he himself hadn’t wanted at all.
Suddenly, Doha had become a leader with an F-type sensitivity who felt sorry toward the members—usually hidden but turns out to be warm-hearted.
* * *
Several days passed. Having finished their activities, the members had a brief rest period for once. However, even that short rest period was mostly a time focused on self-management.
Doha, the possessed powerful ordinary person, was dumbfounded after seeing the live stream summary and reactions from a few days ago. Why on earth did the fans embrace even the trash-like ‘Baek Doha’? Were they saints, bodhisattvas, Mother Teresa, or something like that?
The human being named Baek Doha was receiving undeserved love. Despite that, it was infuriating that he’d lived selfishly and ruined the team.
Why does everything he does work out so well?
That was the problem. Baek Doha, who should have reached a situation where he had no choice but to leave the team after becoming the center of some controversy and scandal, was instead thriving. It was a troublesome situation.
Moreover, what had to come finally came.
Doha, who had been sprawled on the sofa watching TV until the sun rose high in the sky for once, dozed off for a bit.
Had about ten minutes passed? His forehead felt ticklish, so he opened his eyes. He saw Lim Sehyun’s face perched on the sofa armrest.
‘What is this guy doing?’
He didn’t know since when, but Baek Doha’s disheveled hair was tangled in Lim Sehyun’s fingers. Had he been inscribing some kind of curse on his forehead? The scene he encountered after waking up from a good sleep wasn’t very welcome.
“What are you doing?”
“Hyung, you talk in your sleep when you dream.”
He was anxious not knowing what he might have said while sleeping. Recently, his head had been full of nothing but Lim Sehyun, which made it worse. He hadn’t cursed at Lim Sehyun, had he?
Doha irritably blocked the hand still tapping his bangs like a toy. Then Sehyun opened his mouth.
“Hyung, try singing our song.”
After holing himself up in the studio for two whole days concentrating on working on a track, he suddenly appeared and told him to try singing a song.
“Huh?”
“What’s the extent of your lost memories, hyung?”
“Huh huh?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t even remember your parts?”
He was at a loss for how to explain this. The answer was ‘I don’t remember’ anyway, but how could he make this look more dramatic? Would they believe him if he said his IQ had actually dropped by about 50 points from hitting his head?
While Doha was racking his brain on what trick he could pull to avoid this annoying situation, Sehyun remained motionless in his burdensome posture.
“There’s no need to even ask about dancing.”
Under Sehyun’s sharp eyes that were subtly probing, dark circles were deeply settled—evidence of pulling all-nighters for several nights. One look was enough to tell it wouldn’t be good to provoke him for no reason.
“Will your memory never come back?”
At Sehyun’s words, Doha quickly nodded his head.
“How about shock therapy? In movies and dramas, memories sometimes come back when you get hit or bump into something.”
“I’m telling you, dramas ruin people. I think that’s a very dangerous idea.”
“Hmm.”
“Isn’t ‘there’s no hope’ a phrase that fits situations like this? How about we discuss leaving the team with Manager hyung even now?”
“Why go that far again?”
He wanted to get there as quickly as possible.
“I know so well how much hyung wanted to become an idol, how could I make such a heinous decision?”
“In this state, I’m a nuisance to the members, the company, and the fans too.”
“I didn’t know hyung was someone who thinks about others like that.”
This bastard?
But it was true. All these decisions were conclusions made thinking only of his own safety.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“What you’ve done once, you can do twice.”
“Uh……?”
“Starting from zero isn’t bad. It’d be good to solidify the basics while we’re at it, right? We can also correct hyung’s bad habits when dancing.”
Humans sometimes have an excessively positive and optimistic tendency. Did he not know the seriousness of the situation, or had some part of his frontal lobe definitely melted from that damn passion?
“Where do you want to start?”
“What?”
“Well, is there even a need to think about it? Let’s go to the practice room.”
Lim Sehyun got up from his seat and headed to the kitchen. Doha twisted his face as he followed Sehyun’s movements with his eyes. The freezer opened, and Sehyun took out several packs of chicken breast. One, two, three…… six.
“Today’s food supply.”
Feeling Doha’s gaze, Sehyun grinned and shook the chicken breast packs. Then he also grabbed protein shake packs that were stocked by the box. It was a declaration of intent to stick to the practice room all day eating and drinking.
“Why……”
So why! Why does it have to be like this!
Dark clouds gathered over the face of Doha, who had made perfect plans to waste time rolling around on the sofa all day watching outdated variety shows.
“Let’s hurry and go.”
When there was no sign of Doha’s butt leaving the sofa, Sehyun, having gathered everything he needed, grabbed Doha’s arm and pulled. Drag drag drag.
“We’re a bit pressed for time right now, you know? There’s quite a bit to memorize at high speed before the survival show starts. I don’t think hyung’s memory was particularly good, but you have good sense, so you’ll pick it up quickly.”
“Whyyy……”
Doha’s pathetic resistance bowed before the overwhelming difference in muscle strength.
* * *
Not even 0.1% of his own will—dragged out by 100% others’ will. Just as they took the elevator and arrived at the underground parking lot.
A noisy sound came from one corner of the parking lot.
“Hyung is dying and you’re going to pretend not to know?”
Wondering if something was happening, he turned his gaze and saw a familiar head of hair.
“Haram?”
Humans are truly fascinating. Just living in the same house for a few days makes them feel familiar. Doha frowned as he looked at Haram’s pitiful back. In front of him were a middle-aged woman who seemed to be his parents’ age and a large man whose eyes somewhat resembled Haram’s.
