Inhan said to Yuho with a flustered look.
“It’s not like that.”
“Why? Are you afraid I’ll throw a fit because I’m jealous again?”
“Hyung. Why do you talk like that again? You know it’s not like that.”
Yuho turned his head away for a moment, avoiding Inhan, and squeezed his eyes shut. Then, as if he’d made a decision, he looked at Inhan again and spoke.
“Just date her. Inhan. I’ll date Soi too, so you date Eunseol-noona. I’ll give you permission.”
What could you expect from someone proposing a 60th birthday couple trip? Yuho found his own situation so absurd that he continued spouting nonsense.
“Should we just both start dating from today? Then our anniversaries will be the same too, that’d be nice.”
He even forced a smile and joked, but Inhan’s face remained stiff. Yuho hardened his face again and got up from the bed.
“If you don’t want to, forget it.”
When Yuho tried to leave, Inhan swung his legs out of the bed, sat down, and urgently grabbed Yuho’s hand.
And said something unexpected.
“I don’t like Eunseol-noona.”
“……”
“So don’t misunderstand.”
“I get it, so will you let go?”
“Sorry.”
Instead of letting go, Inhan apologized once more. It wasn’t clear what the apology was for.
“I’m sorry. Hyung. It’s unconditionally my fault.”
Without even knowing what he did wrong. Yuho was now sick of Inhan’s apologies.
At this point, it would be normal to just give up on him, but Inhan was stubbornly unable to let go of his relationship with Yuho.
“Hyung. Do you hate that I’m dating? Or… do you hate that I’m happy?”
At Inhan’s words, which were almost desperate, Yuho turned around in surprise. And his eyes met Inhan’s miserable expression.
Yuho swallowed the surging sadness and asked Inhan.
“What does that mean?”
“Why does it seem like you want me to be unhappy?”
“It’s not like that.”
“It doesn’t matter if it is. I’ll just be unhappy. Only I’ll be unhappy. So hyung, please don’t do this.”
Inhan pleaded with Yuho. Yuho made excuses to Inhan to salvage the situation.
“I just hated that you were watching my reactions.”
“Hyung.”
Even at Inhan’s call, Yuho kept his head down and didn’t meet his eyes. Inhan re-gripped Yuho’s hand and said in a powerless voice.
“Why am I so afraid of you, hyung? Why does it feel like the more I hold on, the further you get?”
At Inhan’s words that came out as if in agony, Yuho felt like he would stop breathing. He hurt Inhan again with words he couldn’t even follow through on. That’s why Yuho wanted Inhan to let him go first.
“Then why do you hold on? You could just let go.”
“When I can hold on, why should I let go?”
Meeting Inhan’s eyes again as he asked the question, Yuho realized.
The fact that Inhan couldn’t let him go because he himself kept letting himself be held.
“Hyung.”
Inhan called Yuho as if pleading and pulled Yuho’s hand toward himself. Yuho was led to Inhan just like that. In the end, everything stayed the same because he let himself be caught and dragged like this. He realized that unless one of them cut off this relationship, everything would repeat like a hamster wheel.
Before he knew it, Inhan had reached out to cup one side of Yuho’s cheek and was speaking as if pleading.
“Hyung, you can do whatever you want. If you hate me, just hate me. If you want to avoid me, you can avoid me, and if you want to distance yourself, you can distance yourself. But please don’t look so upset by yourself with that expression.”
If it was a love he’d hurt from alone, he thought he could endure it as much as needed. How could this feeling that gnaws at the other person too be called love?
Yuho held his breath for a long time, unable to shake off Inhan’s hands that pulled and embraced him.
And he made a decision. If such a moment came again, he would do his best to run away and absolutely not let himself be caught. He thought it was a relationship that had to end that way.
And finally, that moment arrived.
* * *
– 7SPOT Disbandment Discussion Day –
Until that morning, everything was perfect.
< V – LIVE | Broadcasting Live
Seven Spot (7SPOT)
Members 554,827
- LIVE | ONESPOTs Gather Around!
Taylor – Let me greet you. Don’t get lost!
All Together – Hello. We are 7SPOT.
Yeomin – How long has it been! Our ONESPOTs, you’ve all been doing well, right? I missed you so much.
Jueon – It feels like it’s been forever since a full group V LIVE. Right?
Inhan – Right. Since Yeomin-hyung’s birthday, it’s been almost two months.
Raulie – That’s right. We’ve all been so busy.
Inhan – Yes. We’ve all been busy with various things.
Taylor – Then shall our Yuho-ssi tell us why we’ve been so busy?
Yuho – Yes. In the first half of this year, we 7SPOT visited ONESPOTs with our concert and 8th mini album. Even after that, we’ve been preparing various things to show you new sides of us.
Yeomin – First, my and our maknae Inhan’s unit album will be released on November 25th.
Inhan – And our 7SPOT’s pillar! Leader Taylor-hyung’s solo album will also be released at the end of this year. Our ONESPOTs! Please wait just a little longer.
Raulie – Yes. Even after that, we 7SPOT will continue activities in various ways, separately and together. So don’t be too sad that we’re apart!
Jueon – This time, Taylor is also in charge of producing Yeomin and Inhan’s unit album.
Taylor – Yes. It somehow ended up that way.
Yeomin – “Somehow ended up,” hyung?
Taylor – Still, I put my all into it, even cutting down on sleep, so you can look forward to it.
Raulie – Oh. Confidence.
Jueon – But the kids’ song is really good.
Inhan – Yes. It’s really no joke. >
After a long time, they did a live broadcast with the full members, and the fans’ reactions were intense.
Inhan and Yeomin took up the majority of the chat window, but since it was something they’d experienced for five years straight, everyone thought nothing of it.
But something that had to be considered significant finally happened.
“I think it’s time to make a decision, right? For all of our lives.”
The agency CEO said such a thing with a shameless face.
If they were going to do this, they shouldn’t have made them do V LIVE in the morning. It wasn’t something they’d experienced for just a day or two, but to handle things so unethically even on the day of the disbandment discussion. The 7SPOT members were disgusted.
“There are still 2 more years left on the contract, but I think it might be good to wrap things up around here.”
Among the members, only Yuho was thinking different thoughts while listening to the CEO’s words.
An opportunity. A golden moment that would never come again.
“I’m going to quit.”
The moment he uttered those words, Yuho couldn’t hear any sound. He didn’t want to know people’s expressions or intense reactions either.
“Whatever decision the company makes, I’ll follow it, but first, I want to stop now.”
So he was able to turn away from everything so easily.
Somehow it seemed like a decision where the gains were greater than the losses. Definitely, Yuho thought so.
“Hyung. Tell me everything. Okay? Why do you want to quit?”
“Because I’m sick of living as your supporting roles now.”
“……That’s a lie.”
“It’s not a lie. I’m tired of being your pedestal now. So now, you let go of me, hyung.”
While removing Inhan’s hand that was holding his, Yuho vowed. That he would never be caught by this hand again. That he would never go back into the hamster wheel and circle in place again.
So Yuho broke free from Inhan’s embrace and ran and ran.
Afraid that Inhan would change his mind and follow, he just ran recklessly only on unfamiliar roads. And he hid in a deserted building and cried for a long time.
It was the moment of the ending with Inhan that he’d so desperately wanted.
* * *
With Yuho leaving and Inhan following after him, the members left behind were literally tasting hell. In the sunken atmosphere, it wasn’t easy for anyone to open their mouth first.
“I want to continue group activities. Inhan will be the same.”
Even though he looked gentle, Yeomin, who always said what he needed to say clearly, was the first to speak this time too. Yeomin and Inhan had talked separately several times about the same problem. Each time, the conclusion was set. Their stance was that they would make any sacrifice for the team.
“If the CEO is going to decide on his own anyway, just notify us without asking. Don’t make a mess between us like this.”
“Raul.”
Raulie’s unrestrained remarks followed, and a surprised Jueon urgently called Raulie’s name. Raulie was boiling like a time bomb about to explode.
“What about you, Jueon?”
The CEO demanded an answer from Jueon as if nothing was wrong. Jueon spoke with difficulty with a completely stiffened face.
“I’ll also follow the company’s decision. I already know we’re operating at a loss as a group, and I feel bad about continuing to leech off the kids like this.”
“Hyung. What are you saying?”
Yeomin said in surprise at Jueon’s remark, and Taylor, who couldn’t stand it anymore, finally stepped up.
“You should have at least given us time to discuss among ourselves.”
“I wasn’t saying you had to decide today.”
“Then you shouldn’t have let Yuho and Inhan cause that scene and leave.”
“So what’s your position, Taeyoon?”
At the CEO’s question, Taylor irritably ruffled his hair once.
Taylor was just as essential to the company as Inhan or Yeomin. Thanks to his successful friends, his recognition was high among idol fandoms, and above all, his talent as a composer was exceptional.
Taylor said to the CEO with a firm attitude.
“If the members want to go, I’ll go, and if they don’t want to, I won’t. I’ll talk it over well with the members and tell you again.”
“Okay. No matter how it concludes, I’ll release your solo album, so don’t worry.”
The CEO’s mentality was nasty, mentioning the solo album in the midst of all this.
What was so trustworthy about that CEO that made me kick out of a major agency and choose this kind of company? Taylor also had his nine hundred and fifty-thousandth regret.
