“Or what, do you actually like him?”
Why was Unseong so desperate to confirm his feelings? Inhan didn’t have the confidence to dig up his heart that had already been buried in the ground. It was an emotion that would rot away anyway.
In the end, Inhan resorted to his last method and spilled his latest news that he’d never wanted to share even if it killed him.
“I got rejected by Yuho hyung.”
“What? But why are you telling me that…”
Of course. Inhan knew that Unseong wasn’t a bad enough person to betray their loyalty.
He’d hoped it might be otherwise, but he was vaguely aware that calling Yuho out separately was just a means to provoke him. That didn’t put his mind at ease though.
“When?”
“Not long ago. So don’t drag Yuho hyung into this because of me. It’s not like hyung is trash who’d lay hands on his close dongsaeng’s ex-boyfriend.”
“You even dated?”
“…Yes.”
Though it was a relationship that was nothing more than pretense. There was no need to invite misunderstanding with unnecessary words, so Inhan decided to secretly swallow his follow-up comment.
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“Then why would I have moved out of the dorm? When Yuho hyung is at the dorm.”
No wonder it seemed strange from when he suddenly said he was going independent. Unseong finally understood the distance he’d felt between the two at the variety show filming.
“How’d you get rejected so quickly?”
“I’m more of a shitty guy than you’d think.”
“Why do you go that far?”
Unseong had returned to his usual self. Inhan was relieved inside.
“I thought it was mutual just hearing from you, I didn’t know it was just your own flights of fancy.”
Still the same at saying things that dug at people’s insides without batting an eye, so Inhan had to suppress his anger internally.
“But that’s what one-sided love is like. You overanalyze every single word, get your hopes up alone and get disappointed, that’s how it goes.”
“You talk like you’ve experienced one-sided love before.”
“No. I haven’t?”
Unseong’s face as he said that held a warning not to ask further. There’s been something oddly contradictory in his words since last time. It bothered Inhan, but he decided to pretend not to notice as Unseong wanted.
“Why are you like this when you’re a perfectly decent-looking kid?”
“That’s why, don’t stir things up with Yuho hyung for no reason.”
“I really called him to jam together, you know?”
“Yes. I believe you, hyung.”
Though he said that, Inhan continued to keep his guard up.
Inhan left the recording studio first and bid Yuho farewell before heading outside.
“Hyung. I’m leaving.”
“Yeah. Get home safe.”
Yuho responded perfunctorily. Inhan barely moved his heavy feet and left the practice room.
“Cider. Orange juice. Tomato juice. What do you want to drink?”
Coming out of the recording studio, Unseong headed straight for the refrigerator. And surprisingly, he threw out the question while picking only drinks that Yuho liked.
“Tomato juice.”
Yuho answered at once without even thinking. It was surprising that there was tomato juice, which people either loved or hated, but since it was an item that could be received as a visiting gift, he didn’t particularly feel suspicious.
“Practice? Did you do some?”
Unseong sat on the sofa seat across from Yuho and asked while handing him the drink. Yuho nodded and gave a positive answer.
“Yes. There were also a few songs I already knew how to play. I memorized all the guitar chords.”
“Ah. Really? You memorized all that already? How admirable, Yuho.”
“I have a lot of time to practice.”
At Unseong’s praise, Yuho shyly looked for an excuse. Then he threw out the question he’d been wanting to ask ever since Unseong’s collaboration proposal.
“But, hyung.”
“Yeah. What?”
“Is it because of Inhan? You wanting to do a live broadcast with me.”
Yuho had wanted to just pass it over pretending not to know. He’d also tried to rationalize—so what if it’s thanks to Inhan. But he wanted to resolve this uncomfortable feeling.
“Well.”
Unseong gave an ambiguous answer. And he reversed the question back to Yuho.
“Why is Yuho curious about that?”
“Well, if Inhan asked you…”
“If he asked?”
To Yuho who hesitated to answer, Unseong presented several multiple choice options.
“Number 1, your pride is hurt. Number 2, it’s burdensome. Number 3, you’re touched. Now, what’s your choice?”
“…Number 3?”
“That seems the least likely.”
At Unseong’s uncompromising response, Yuho pressed his lips shut. He regretted asking an unnecessary question.
“There’s no way it was a request. Didn’t you see that kid’s reaction earlier?”
“That’s true.”
“That said, I can’t say there’s no influence at all. After all, it’s true that the reason I know about you well in the first place is because of Inhan.”
It was a question with a predetermined answer. If it weren’t for the connection with Inhan, there would be no reason for Unseong to propose jamming together to Yuho. Above all, he’d never even directly seen his guitar playing. However, Yuho was curious whether there’d been a request from Inhan. Judging from Inhan’s reaction, it definitely wasn’t, which was the conclusion in the end.
“So you don’t want to do it? Your pride is hurt at benefiting from Inhan?”
Unseong asked with a smile. From Yuho’s position, it was a problem not even worth worrying about.
“No. I want to do it. Please let me do it.”
“Good. That’s the spirit.”
At Yuho’s answer, Unseong offered a high-five and Yuho also clapped hands with him unexpectedly.
“Opportunities don’t always come by the book. You have to use what you can use.”
“Still. I feel like I’m always riding on Inhan or Yeomin’s coattails.”
“What are you talking about? You’re on an upswing these days. Don’t you think I’m using that buzz?”
It was true that Yuho’s position had improved from before, but his recognition had been so rock-bottom that even if it rose, it couldn’t follow Unseong’s footsteps. Yuho decided not to pry further into the hidden intentions behind the collaboration proposal at Unseong’s considerate words.
Unseong continued speaking.
“And what’s wrong with riding your members’ coattails? If I go back to the past, right? Then I’ll set up another kid as vocal and earnestly ride their coattails. I want no recognition but lots of money.”
“I have no recognition and no money either.”
At Yuho’s innocent answer, Unseong was momentarily flustered.
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yes. Our group is in the red.”
“You’re still young. It’s okay.”
Unseong pretended not to be flustered and hurriedly went to get the guitar.
“Then shall we try matching from the first song?”
“Yes. Sounds good.”
Unseong and Yuho were in a situation where they’d agreed to do a live broadcast together the following Wednesday, four days later.
The song selection consisted of three hit songs from METEOR, the group Unseong belonged to, two songs from 7SPOT, and two pop songs. Though time was tight with more songs than expected, to Yuho who was desperate for opportunities to sing, even that burden felt joyful.
“Should we go with one note for this part and should I stack harmonies from here?”
“Yes. Sounds good.”
“Then Yuho, think of some ad-libs for this part. I’ll sing the basic melody.”
“Yes. Got it.”
“Yuho has a wide vocal range. You hit high notes well too.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
Thanks to Yuho being cooperative with Unseong throughout practice, the part distribution ended smoothly.
“Hyung’s voice is really the best too. Your guitar playing is the best too.”
Yuho raised both thumbs and praised Unseong. Finding that cute, Unseong reached out his hand to pat Yuho’s head then quickly withdrew it again. Somehow he felt like Inhan was watching.
“Yuho prepared well so we can stop practice here.”
“But I haven’t memorized all the lyrics yet.”
“If it really doesn’t work, you can do it while looking at the sheet music.”
“Still.”
“Then try it, and if it still doesn’t work, look at it while doing it.”
“Yes. Sounds good.”
Practice ended in three hours. Yuho was in a thoroughly excited state from the jamming session after so long.
Unseong didn’t stop there and made yet another tremendous proposal.
“There’s a famous wood-fired pizza place near here, you know? How about we order delivery from there for dinner?”
“Yes. That sounds great!”
Yuho answered with sparkling eyes.
Junk food was truly the pleasure and ray of light in Yuho’s life. It felt even more so because he couldn’t eat it often due to dieting and health issues.
Now Unseong had become more than just a senior Yuho respected. It was a development Inhan would never have wanted.
Having broken down his defensive walls with the wood-fired pizza as a catalyst, Yuho chattered away and spilled personal stories to Unseong. Of course, with stories related to Inhan neatly excluded.
“So what are you going to do from now on?”
“For now I’m going around auditioning for dramas.”
“Trying to be an actor?”
“If the opportunity comes, I should continue being an actor too.”
“What about music?”
“Music… that too if the opportunity comes.”
“Yuho’s surprisingly lacking in decisiveness.”
“Ah. Does it seem that way?”
Yuho realized anew and nodded. So I was lacking in decisiveness. Though it was sorry to say to Raulie, since it was coming from Unseong who was relatively more adult, everything seemed right.
“If only I could fly higher and reach you~ Could I convey my heart that I’ve secretly hidden away back then~”
“The song’s not bad?”
Yuho was even playing for Unseong a song he’d written and composed himself. It was a song he’d never played for anyone.
“Really?”
“The melody line is really good? The lyrics are good too. Polish it well. Hyung will help you arrange it later.”
“Really?”
Yuho’s eyes sparkled once again as he bounced his shoulders. If he had a tail, he’d be wagging it.
Seeing that, Unseong laughed along and continued speaking.
“As expected, a person has to break up…”
“Pardon?”
“Huh?”
“What did you just…”
Even though he hadn’t been drinking, Unseong uncharacteristically made a slip of the tongue. Unseong urgently began to cover it up.
“No, when I break up, songs write themselves well. Most of my songs were like that. So you too, when you want to die from breaking up, don’t just let it pass by then, make sure to leave it behind as lyrics.”
“Ah. Yes! I’ll do that.”
Yuho accepted the senior’s teaching with a nod. That was close to causing trouble. Unseong was relieved at having overcome the crisis.
