Chapter 188: Chapter 188

Anyway, as per Seo Hojin’s request, I called for a Kakao Black and exited the parking lot.[1]

With the atmosphere now lighter, I took the opportunity to ask all the questions I had been curious about: How’s school life? Do you have friends? Any romantic interests?

At first, Seo Hojin answered casually, but he frowned deeply at the last question.

“Such an old-fashioned thing to say.”

“Fuck…”

After entering college and even becoming the class president, he’d gotten quite sharp and grown-up, managing to turn me into a clueless Paleozoic-era fossil of a returning student with just one sentence.

The funny thing was, I found some satisfaction in that.

At least Seo Hojin seemed to be living well with the common sense of today’s generation.

I spotted the taxi waiting at the requested spot, opened the door, and helped Seo Hojin inside.

I handed over the taxi fare for the second time that day and added,

“Please take him home safely. Drive carefully.”

“Hahaha, of course! Don’t worry.”

Perhaps embarrassed by my request, his ears turned slightly red.

“Hyung, how old do you think I am?”

“Fourteen?”

“No, I thought you were going to say four.”

I was about to send off the taxi with a chuckle when Seo Hojin grabbed my arm.

“Sorry for hitting you that day.”

“You’re quick to apologize, you little rebellious dongsaeng.”

“Hey, at least getting hit with a flower, isn’t that a first for you?”

“I’ve been hit with a flower before.”

“What?”

There was a time, once.

I averted my gaze, but Seo Hojin tilted his head and asked.

“By whom?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Trying to dig up the history of your hyung, huh?

He shrugged with an expression that said it was obvious and burst into laughter.

“Anyway, try to keep your temper in check, hyung.”

How much more could I suppress it?

At this rate, I would soon ascend to heaven as an angel.

I closed the taxi door with a small smile.

“Go.”

As I watched the taxi quickly disappear into the distance, I realized that the real Seo Hojin had grown much more than the Seo Hojin in my mind.

Making my way back to the dorm, I checked my phone and saw a flood of messages from Joo Woosung.

– Joo Woosung: Wow;;;

– Joo Woosung: Hey ㅇ, was that your dongsaeng or hyung?

– Joo Woosung: Ah, since he called you hyung, ㅓㅅㅅㅅ지he must be the dongsaeng.

– Joo Woosung: Amazing stuff, daebak

The messages reeked of alcohol.

I frowned instinctively.

The last thing I wanted to hear came from the person I least wanted to be caught by.

– Me: Bullshit

– Me: Go home, wash your feet, and sleep

– Joo Woosung: I can’t really see the face but ㅋ

– Joo Woosung: The look

– Joo Woosung: The eyes

– Joo Woosung: ㄱㅡㄱthe attitude

– Joo Woosung: Absolutely

– Joo Woosung: Seo Hoyun 2;;;;;

It was the most absurd thing I’d heard that day.

I had just confirmed that he was growing up normally, and now he was saying we resembled each other so much.

I didn’t even feel the need to reply, so I left him on read and entered the dorm where Jeong Dajun came rushing over.

“Hyung, c-c-could you call Hojin-hyung once…!”

“No.”

I gave both Kang Ichae and Jeong Dajun, who had schemed this plan, a light smack on the head.

I skipped Seong Jiwon.

Then I went into my room, lay on the bed, and looked at the photo Seo Hojin had given me for a long time.

Looking at 10-year-old Seo Hojin’s chubby cheeks, then our mom’s face, who he resembled a lot, and finally, my gaze landed on the face of our dad, who looked similar to me. ṝ𝘼

“Hmm…”

A part of my heart ached, yet there was a slight sense of fulfillment.

I considered carrying it in my wallet but worried about losing it or it being exposed, so I tucked it into a book by the bed.

For now, memories were the only things that kept me intact.

Sometimes, that fact terrified me.

Still, knowing there was a time when our family was together—like in this photo—occasionally comforted me.

I closed my eyes.

After tossing and turning a few times on the bed, I gradually fell into a deep sleep.

***

“Alright!!”

Jeong Dajun slammed the whiteboard.

“Let’s!! Cheer up and give it our all again!!”

“Wow…”

“W. O. W.”

Everyone responded like zombies, barely making an effort, while Jeong Dajun was the only lively one.

“Why is he so full of energy?”

“He scored full marks on the driving test.”

“What?! Jeong Dajun?!”

“He made such a fuss about getting it as soon as he became an adult.”

When I lifted my head off the table, where I’d been resting out of exhaustion, Jeong Dajun grinned confidently.

“Hyung, I’ll drive you with unwavering comfort!!”

“I don’t really need it.”

Ignoring my words, Jeong Dajun slapped his driver’s license onto the whiteboard and looked at the members with bright eyes.

“This is the 11th comeback meeting!!”

With the concert successfully concluded, The Dawn, now safely settled into the second team, began preparing for a comeback.

Even during Shining Star Season 2, Kang Ichae, who hadn’t skipped working, produced songs of various genres.

Among them, there was a song that was unique yet didn’t lose its mass appeal, receiving overwhelming praise from the A&R team and unanimously approved to be included in the album.

“No way, this actually works??”

It was a fresh yet sorrowful song with a distinctly unique vibe about unrequited love.

Knowing Kang Ichae’s usual style, I found myself increasingly shocked the more I listened to it.

“…Kang Ichae, you know.”

“What?”

“Umm…”

“…”

“Are you…”

“…”

“…in love?”

“—are you kidding?!”

Kang Ichae sharply retorted.

No, it was just that the song was surprisingly soft.

Never mind then.

“Ha… I got mad for a second.”

As I awkwardly averted my gaze, Kang Ichae glared at me and said,

“It’s not that, I’m just trying to challenge myself as much as possible with different things.”

Then he turned on his phone and showed me a chat.

It was a conversation with Cheongbeom.

Lim Hyeonsu had answered a question about how to create a love song.

– God-genius composer!!: My disciple

– God-genius composer!!: Love and all that is just an illusion…

– God-genius composer!!: Since people don’t really want to know reality, just watch about ten fucking sweet romantic comedies and let your brain marinate in them

– Me: As expected of the composer

Did Lim Hyeonsu get dumped?

I clicked my tongue as I looked at Lim Hyeonsu’s texts, which seemed to reflect how she had lost her California glow and turned cynical again.

“So, following my mentor’s advice, I selected masterpieces and crammed ten of them into my head to create this. It was actually fun.”

“Does it make your heart race?! You said you’d only put it in the album if it did!”

Kang Ichae gave a slightly bitter smile.

“As long as it makes someone else’s heart race…”

“…!!!”

Kang Ichae, who had been all about rock and hip-hop, seemed to have realized reality and decided to compromise a bit.

“Oh my little rapper…. What should we do, our hyung. You’ve become quite the human.”

The song was genuinely good.

Kang Ichae had great synergy when what he was good at and what he liked matched.

But his taste couldn’t always be accepted by the public.

“I can’t just stick to my taste and play it for the fans.”

“Yeah, just follow the scent of money.

“Haa…”

Even with my friendly advice, Kang Ichae sighed heavily and turned his head sharply.

At that moment, Lee Jihyeon entered, swinging the meeting room door open.

“What’s this? Why is a driver’s license stuck to the whiteboard?”

She seemed slightly flustered but quickly regained her composure and placed a planning document on the table.

“I’ve been watching the outputs you’re working on with the A&R team. The genres are incredible.”

“Yep, feel free to use them as you like.”

To Kang Ichae, who answered slickly, Lee Jihyeon gave a thumbs-up.

“I had a lot of thoughts. Whether to heighten the mass appeal or solidify the core. Then I suddenly thought: We can’t miss this moment when we’re in the spotlight. The right thing to do is to go with a concept that can draw in the soul as much as possible.”

Lee Jihyeon uncapped a marker and began to write on the whiteboard.

“Avocado and rib steak?”

“Stop talking about what you want to eat.”

Jeong Dajun, pondering over the scrawl of the century, muttered when he saw the word “apocalypse.”

Lee Jihyeon shook her finger side to side.

“‘Apocalypse Trilogy,’ ‘Pick whatever you like, surely there’s something you like here.'”

Then she took out a paper from under the plan and handed it to the members one by one.

“After about a year and a half, I finally realized what concepts are digestible.”

“What is it?”

Lee Jihyeon scanned us with sharp eyes.

“It’s the fresh-innocent-sexy-bastard moment.”

While I was dazed trying to figure out if it was even Korean, Lee Jihyeon wrote something else on the whiteboard again.

“What is that?”

Seong Jiwon tilted his head and asked, and Lee Jihyeon suddenly pointed at me.

“It’s this person. Especially the last part.”

“…Ah?!”

“Hey, how could you understand that?”

eong Jiwon snapped his fingers as if he understood.

How much better could I possibly treat Seong Jiwon?!

When I protested indignantly, Kang Ichae laughed from the other side.

To shut him up, I kicked him under the table, but he quickly dodged, and instead, Kim Seonghyeon let out a loud “Ack!”

I feigned ignorance and turned my attention to Lee Jihyeon.

“Do you think you can pull off the innocent sexy look?”

Lee Jihyeon concluded with a bang that the fans would love it, leaving no room for debate.

“I was even ready to go for a slave concept.”

“…Not a bad idea?”

As I pushed the idea further, Lee Jihyeon’s eyes sparkled, and she eagerly bit on the suggestion.

She was impressed by the mindset that, as long as it worked in the market, whether it was a slave concept or an ancient civilization myth concept, we should do whatever it takes.

Leaving her absorbed in that thought, I turned my attention to the other members.

“So, who wants to play the bastard? I’ll take on the refreshing innocent sexy one.”

“Can someone please teach Seo Hoyun how to be less shameless…?”

Seeing Kim Seonghyeon rub his shin and mutter, I chuckled, but Lee Jihyeon slammed the table with both hands.

“Before that! There’s something more important I need to convey.”

With a serious expression, she looked intently at the three of us: me, Kim Seonghyeon, and Kang Ichae.

“It’s summer, so I’m sure you’ve been taking good care of your bodies, right?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The three of us understood her meaning immediately and fell silent.

If it made money.

If the public liked it.

If the fans wanted it.

This time, they were really going to strip us bare.

.

.

.

After countless more meetings, the comeback teaser photos finally passed and were released to the world.

[Hey, what the fuck is this]

Very slowly, the photos were released one by one, day by day, and the Noeuls clung to them like crazy.

[Thud……

There was so much to say about the outfits, the concept, the faces, the faces, the faces, the faces, and the faces, but above all else, one thing stood out in the comeback teaser photos.

It was the fact that Kang Ichae—

[Just kill me no

—had black hair.

[1] Kakao Black is a luxury taxi service in S. Korea.