“What brings you here? You said you couldn’t come for a while.”
At Inhan’s unexpected appearance, Yuho reacted in surprise.
“I came to finish the conversation we were having earlier.”
“……Yeah. Go ahead.”
Yuho answered Inhan while lowering his gaze. At the same time, he resolved to endure whatever answer he heard.
Inhan stared intently at Yuho like that and spoke to him again.
“Where did you go?”
“I met with Seonchan and came back.”
“The prior engagement you had was with Seonchan hyung?”
Inhan asked in surprise. To think the reason he disappeared without a word was because of an appointment with Seonchan. Without realizing it, he clenched his molars.
“Yeah.”
“Then you didn’t see our stage.”
“……Sorry. I’ll go watch next time.”
“When? Tomorrow?”
“I’m trying to match schedules with the hyungs again.”
At Yuho’s indefinite promise, Inhan felt disappointed. He thought they would always be each other’s first priority. His circumstances of being pushed to last place before he knew it felt newly sorrowful.
“You and Seonchan hyung are just friends, right?”
“Huh?”
Yuho reacted in surprise. Even though he knew it couldn’t be, he first felt unnecessary worry that Inhan might have noticed Seonchan’s feelings. Yuho tried to act calm and said to Inhan.
“Of course we’re friends. Why do you keep asking things like that?”
“Just. Because you two seemed too close.”
“Of course. Because we’re friends.”
At Yuho’s answer, Inhan felt relieved. He had been bothered by Seonchan’s appearance of somehow being wary of him at the meal the three shared together.
Of course, even if they were in some kind of relationship, he had no intention of backing down at all.
“Hyung.”
At Inhan’s call, Yuho looked into Inhan’s eyes again. Inhan spoke to Yuho in a low, sunken voice.
“I don’t think I can go back to how we were before.”
In the end, words of rejection came back from Inhan. Yuho clenched his fists tightly to stay calm. And he asked Inhan.
“Then what do you want to do?”
“Let’s start over from the beginning.”
Inhan’s words were like a declaration of war.
Now Inhan wanted to take a path he had never taken before, relying on a small hope. Even if that path was lonely and one that would receive criticism from someone, he thought he didn’t care about any of it anymore.
“Okay.”
On the other hand, Yuho was thinking something different. He was thinking of making even the past when he had a one-sided love for Inhan as if it never happened and starting over from the beginning. So Yuho readily answered Inhan’s suggestion.
“Let’s do that.”
“I really don’t have to be careful around you anymore, right, hyung?”
“……Yeah.”
“It’s really okay for me to do whatever I want now, right?”
How far did “whatever he wants” mean? Yuho felt Inhan’s question was twisted somewhere, but it was awkward to point it out, so he nodded.
“Yeah.”
As soon as Yuho’s answer ended, Inhan moved his steps forward and headed toward Yuho. Before Yuho could react in surprise at that action, Inhan grabbed one of Yuho’s arms and pulled him fully into his embrace.
Only then did Inhan feel like the old emotions that had been pressing stuffily on his chest were being washed away. The time he had despaired at the fact that he couldn’t reach Yuho even when he was right in front of him had been truly long and long.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Hyung.”
“……Yeah.”
“Yuho hyung.”
“Why?”
“Just. Because I’m happy.”
At Inhan’s desperately continuing words, Yuho bit his lower lip to avoid being bewitched. He was afraid of himself in case he would reach out his hands and hug Inhan back.
“Can I ask why you suddenly changed your mind?”
Inhan asked the question while still holding Yuho. Yuho quickly found an appropriate answer and told Inhan.
“I want to protect our team too.”
It was a word spat out like an excuse, but it was one of the many reasons Yuho had made his decision.
“And I’ve never hated you even once.”
Yuho thought that resentment and disappointment both stemmed from his own twisted heart, so if he withdrew his love, there was no reason at all to hate Inhan.
Inhan’s eyes widened in surprise at hearing Yuho’s answer. Yuho continued speaking.
“My thinking was too immature and I kept shrinking because of anti-fans, so that’s why I took it out on you. Knowing you would accept it all.”
Being sulky because someone didn’t like him back was a childish feeling. As his fiery heart calmed down a level, Yuho felt like he could see everything properly.
Jung Inhan just expressed his affection with all his might to the hyung he liked, that’s all.
“Yeah. I can accept it all.”
The kind words Inhan gave and the kind smile he made were actually meaningless things.
“I know.”
Yuho thought he had finally found the right answer. If he considered it friendship, it was just friendship, but the one-sided love he felt had been added to distort how he saw everything. Yuho thought he needed to put everything back in its place now.
“So I was the one who was wrong. I’m sorry.”
At Yuho’s following words, Inhan smiled happily. It felt like the grievances of the past two years were being resolved all at once. Since even the defensive wall Yuho had put up himself was removed, there was no need to be careful anymore.
Inhan released the arms that had been holding Yuho, stepped back one step, and said to Yuho.
“You don’t have to be sorry at all, hyung. It’s all my fault.”
Because he was the one who pushed Yuho to the point of being overwhelmed, Inhan thought all the fault was his.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Even if you say you hate me, I can wait until the end.”
“……Yeah. I know.”
“So even if you come to hate me again, you just have to come back to me like this, hyung.”
At Inhan’s words that were delivered like a confession, Yuho tried hard to steady his heart to not be swayed. And he created a smiling face and said to Inhan.
“Yeah. Because we’re one team.”
Yuho’s following answer struck Inhan’s chest with a thud. Those words were what Inhan used to say like a habit in the past. Inhan hadn’t anticipated that those words would come back to him as such a painful meaning.
In the end, all the words he had spat out were coming back like arrows.
“That’s right.”
“It’s late, so hurry and sleep. You have to leave at dawn again tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
After finishing their conversation, Yuho turned and headed back to his room. Inhan quietly watched Yuho moving away from him.
“Hyung. Sleep well.”
Then Inhan gave his usual kind greeting, and Yuho answered with a smile.
“Yeah. You sleep well too. Have good dreams.”
It really felt like everything had found its place.
As soon as Yuho entered his room, he stood in front of the door and waited for a moment for his surging heart to calm down. Strangely, he was neither sad nor happy.
That’s when his phone vibrated. Looking at the screen, a message had arrived from Seonchan.
Seonchan – [Yuho you worked hard today have good dreams]
Yuho immediately sent a reply.
Yuho – [You worked hard too] [Did you get home?]
Seonchan – [Yeah I just arrived]
Yuho – [Yeah hurry and wash up and sleep well too]
Seonchan – [Yeah thanks I’ll contact you again tomorrow]
Yuho – [Yeah you have good dreams too]
Seonchan – [Yeah]
Even after finishing his conversation with Seonchan, Yuho stared at his phone screen for a long time. Before he knew it, his idle thoughts had disappeared.
As Yuho headed to bed, he thought it was strange that the heart that had always felt empty because of Inhan was being filled by someone else.
He felt that way even though it was natural.
***
It was the next day.
Yeomin and Inhan left the dorm from dawn for music broadcast schedules, and Yuho woke up late and headed to the living room.
The other members had already left the dorm for their respective schedules.
Seonchan – [Did you sleep well? It’s supposed to be really cold today so dress warmly]
Now Yuho’s day started with Seonchan’s morning greeting. Yuho replaced his meal with a glass of milk and sent a reply to Seonchan.
Yuho – [Thanks for worrying about me Seonchan you don’t overdo it either and fighting]
Perhaps because he was busy, a reply from Seonchan didn’t come back. Yuho left the chat window and checked entertainment news first.
[Comprehensive] Seven Spot Yeomin·Inhan, first unit ‘To The Top’ radical debut…’A bit cooler and more intense.’
‘Seven Spot Yeomin & Inhan, show different charm from the group… Heart-fluttering comeback stage showing off masculinity.’
As expected, Inhan and Yeomin’s unit debut was successful.
With the success of the drama Inhan had recently finished, the influx of overseas fans was increasing like crazy, so it was a fully predictable result.
Even the album’s first-week sales were higher than when they were a group.
[Jung Inhan totally different feeling from the drama ㄷㄷ like born to be idol]
[Our Inhan’s main job isn’t actor but idolㅠㅠㅠ crazy really]
[What’s with Lee Yeomin’s styling today ㅜㅜ Today he’s not Yeom-gging but Yeom-oppaㅠㅜㅜ]
[Outfit is crazy ChilSpot coordinator is serious about YeomNan’s bodies as expected perverts who learned are different]
[Wow these guys’ main job is also super handsome ㄷㄷ]
Perhaps because they were public picks, reactions were coming even from ordinary people and other group fans.
Yuho was happy but also anxious. At this rate, it seemed the natural course would be for the contract to end without a group album. Yuho wanted to somehow change that reality.
Next, Yuho accessed YouTube and checked the stage video of the Yeomin & Inhan unit.
The two’s stage was incomparably more splendid and intense than what he had seen in the practice room.
Yuho thought Inhan and Yeomin dancing fiercely for the entire 3 minutes felt newly big. He also thought it was admirable how they had become adults like this.
Yeomin – [Hyung not coming today either?]
Yuho was momentarily flustered by Yeomin’s message that suddenly appeared on his phone screen.
Inhan wasn’t the only one who was disappointed that Yuho had disappeared without watching the unit debut stage. Yeomin was thoroughly upset and wasn’t even accepting Yuho’s apologies.
Yuho – [I’m going with Jueon hyung on Saturdayㅜㅜ]
Yeomin – [I hate you]
Yuho – [Huh but I like our Yeominㅜㅜ]
Yeomin – [I hate hyung]
Yuho – [ㅜㅜ]
Sulking Yeomin’s heart showed no signs of softening at all. In the end, Yuho hurriedly finished preparing to go out and left the dorm.
