ALL NOVEL Chapter 82
Chapter 82. Bomb! (4)
[System Alert: ……. s(・｀ヘ´・ ;)ゞ]
“What.”
After finishing my conversation with Joo Eunchan, I watched Han Sungwoo leave from the second-floor railing. Thirteen kept trying to grab my attention like this for a while now.
It was too bothersome to address each one individually, so I ignored them a few times. Now, it was flashing all sorts of flowers and aurora effects.
“Making it pretty doesn’t make it a pretty message.”
[System Alert: But what if it’s an unerasable red one?]
This wicked bastard….
“Why. What’s your problem?”
[System Alert: (Reaction of choking to death on a sweet potato)]
“Is it because the votes disappeared?”
[System Alert: (Nods vehemently, neck bone bending reaction) (˃̣̣̣︿˂̣̣̣)]
I’ve felt it before, but this guy is getting overly immersed in my idol challenge. He’s not even looking for the chosen regressor.
[System Alert: But! I’m so frustrated!]
[System Alert: After covering everything up and losing votes! (ಠ‸ಠ )]
“You seem more upset than I am?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and then it spewed red steam as if to ask if this was the time to laugh.
Oh, come on?
“Alright, just don’t turn red. I have trauma with you turning red.”
[System Alert: ……. (Solemn)]
“And some things you only learn by watching.”
[System Alert: ……?]
I briefly looked at the revolving door of Miro Entertainment, where Han Sungwoo had completely disappeared.
Turning my head, I saw Joo Eunchan coming up the stairs. He seemed a bit surprised when he spotted me and approached.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah. Finished talking? Let’s go eat. The others have already left.”
“…Ah.”
At the mention of eating, Joo Eunchan’s expression darkened somewhat.
He hesitated for a moment, then asked me carefully.
“Hyung. …Would you like to eat out with me today? I’ll pay.”
“Why? The company cafeteria is serving braised chicken today.”
“I’ll buy you something tastier.”
I wanted the braised chicken. Does he not like it?
But from his expression, it seemed like the point was to eat out rather than the menu.
‘Well, no need to refuse when someone offers to treat.’
Unable to resist his gaze, I eventually took out my phone and called Seo Taehyun, who was likely waiting for us.
-Why aren’t you coming? Haru is about to faint from hunger. (Hyung… I see a mirage….)
“Yeah. Go ahead and eat first. I’m eating out with Eunchan today.”
-Suddenly? You said you’d definitely eat the braised chicken in the cafeteria today.
“Eunchan, who has lots of money, will buy something better. Hanging up.”
-What? No, hyung. Stop mooching off Eunchan―,
I ended the call.
There was a big misunderstanding in Seo Taehyun’s last words, but since it was true that I often mooched off Joo Eunchan, I didn’t feel the need to correct him.
“Can I choose the menu?”
“Yes, eat whatever you want, hyung.”
“Alright, let’s go then.”
In the gloomy weather, there was something I craved.
I led the way, and Joo Eunchan followed behind.
* * *
Eunchan stared blankly at the bubbling pot of pork bone soup.
The sound of the falling rain and the sight of the bubbling broth made him feel somewhat relaxed.
“On a rainy day, you need something hot like this to practice well.”
“Hyung, sometimes you really… sound like an old man.”
“You brat.”
Even if I’ve regressed a bit, I’m not an old man, punk.
I swallowed the words that rose to my throat. It felt weirdly unpleasant to be called an old man after rejuvenating by ten years.
“Just eat, you young rascal.”
I said, serving Eunchan a generous portion of the pork bone soup. Eunchan looked at the plate with a slightly awkward expression, then took a spoonful of the broth.
“……!”
“…What. Is this your first time eating pork bone soup?”
“I never really had a chance to. But this… is delicious.”
It seemed to suit his taste as Eunchan started eating faster. This isn’t some chaebol heir experiencing commoners’ food for the first time.
‘…No. He might really be a chaebol heir experiencing commoners’ food for the first time.’
After all, an 18-year-old trainee living alone might not have had a chance to eat pork bone soup.
I pushed the sauce and kimchi dish towards Eunchan and then started my meal.
“So.”
“…Yes?”
“Why didn’t you want to go to the company cafeteria? Tell me. It’s too noisy here for others to overhear.”
At those words, Eunchan stopped eating.
He couldn’t tell if his feelings were that obvious on his face, or if Hajin was just that perceptive.
“…….”
Eunchan looked around.
As Hajin said, the restaurant was filled with office workers having lunch, each engaged in their own conversations. The table they sat at was at the edge, so there weren’t many people passing by.
The warm broth made Eunchan feel comfortable, allowing him to open up a bit more honestly.
“I feel really weird.”
“Because of Sungwoo hyung?”
“I thought Sungwoo hyung might hate me. He was pushed out of the special class, he’s older, so debuting is more urgent for him, and I’m a parachute. It made sense.”
But he treated me kindly despite the suspicion of being a parachute, making me think he might be genuinely kind and understanding. I wondered if it was wrong for me to feel uncomfortable and troubled by him. I had moments of worrying and feeling guilty.
“But knowing that Sungwoo hyung was actually the parachute… and seeing the other trainees’ attitudes change overnight… it makes me think too much.”
The hyungs who ostracized and mocked me until yesterday, approached me today with sympathetic eyes, saying I must have had a hard time alone.
When I said I wasn’t a parachute, no one believed me, but as soon as another rumor spread, everyone supported me, saying they thought it was strange.
Eunchan couldn’t understand the whole situation.
“I’m still the same… I don’t hate the hyungs, but it just feels weird. It’s uncomfortable to see their faces. We have to practice together.”
“…….”
“I want to understand the hyungs, but it’s hard. I wonder why they treated me like that all this time, why it had to be me….”
Hajin watched Eunchan, who eventually bowed his head.
He quietly chose his words. What should he say to him? It took a bit of thought.
Then Hajin started telling a very old story.
“I’ve been through that too.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been bullied too. At my previous agency.”
“…You?”
“Look at you. You’re making the same face as Kim Wonho.”
Can’t believe I was bullied, huh? Raising an eyebrow, I asked sarcastically, and Eunchan carefully nodded.
“Of course, in my case, well, how should I put it. It was partly my fault. Back then, I was… well.”
Hajin’s expression twisted slightly as he recalled fragmented but vivid scenes from the past.
“Back then, I was a bit selfish too. I mean, I’m not a perfectly altruistic person even now.”
“…….”
“I used to talk much harsher than now, and I tried to do everything alone.”
“…I can’t really imagine.”
“Really? But back then, I was really nasty, even by my own standards. I’ve mellowed out a lot since then.”
Hajin thought about ‘that incident.’
The first time he was rejected by people.
“One day, I went to the practice room, and no one was there. I thought they were running late, so I waited, but they never came. They didn’t answer my calls either.”
Back then, I just thought those jerks were slacking off somewhere.
Hajin scratched under his eye, vividly recalling one particularly clear memory.
“I went up to tell the manager, but then I heard the others’ voices. When I got there, everyone was gathered in another practice room. I could smell sweat, and music was playing.”
At first, I thought I had just gotten the room wrong.
I got mad when I realized no one had told me the new practice room and went to confront them. Then a trainee my age slowly approached me.
“He told me they decided not to practice with me anymore. And then he smiled at his friends.”
“…….”
“When I asked why, he listed all the reasons they disliked me.”
Even though it’s been a long time, thinking about it made my mouth taste bitter.
Hajin drank some water to calm his upset stomach and looked at Eunchan. Eunchan was frowning as if he had experienced it himself.
“That’s when I first realized. Ah, I speak harshly. I’m bad at considering others. I was unknowingly hurting people. I shouldn’t do that anymore.”
Hajin realized then how terrifying isolation was. How painful it was to breathe in a space where everyone hated him.
So from that day on, Hajin desperately tried to become a good person. He tried to say nice things, be considerate, and endlessly worked to be with others.
But even knowing his own faults back then, even knowing he might become a better person because of it.
“Eunchan.”
“…Yes.”
“It’s still hard even if you know the reasons.”
“…….”
“Even knowing it’s partly your fault, it’s still hard.”
The fear he once felt didn’t easily disappear.
“After that, I got scared whenever friends talked without me. For a while, I’d always check others’ expressions after I said something.”
“…….”
“I’d get anxious and my heart would race whenever someone called me out. Wondering if I did something wrong.”
Even recently, living through my fourth life, didn’t I still have nightmares about that day?
Hajin thought of his past nights and laughed bitterly.
“So it’s natural for you to feel wronged and hurt. How can you laugh and get along with them overnight? Even I took years to get over it, though it might sound easy now.”
“…Really?”
“Of course. Hey, those Shin Kyungho guys, right? I know all about them. Ugh, those jerks. They should apologize if they have any conscience. Just don’t deal with them until they apologize. Or should I make them apologize? Should I get an apology for you? Just say the word.”
Recalling my time in Team B, I got excited and passionately bit into a piece of meat. But Eunchan just seemed deep in thought.
I didn’t say more to Eunchan and continued my meal.
He was smarter and tougher than I expected, so I thought he could handle it well enough.
“…….”
Lost in thought, Eunchan eventually showed a much-relieved expression, nodding quietly. Hajin, as if he had expected this, smiled appreciatively and asked.
“Did you sort out your feelings?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then let’s add the noodles. They’ll dry out if we wait any longer.”
Returning to his usual self, Hajin’s words made Eunchan laugh. It was a very comfortable, relieved laugh.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
“…….”
“I really wanted to say it at least once.”
[System Alert: ‘Joo Eunchan’ responds to you. (Response rate 86%)]
[Joo Eunchan can be recruited.]
[Do you want to recruit? (Y/N)]
Along with Eunchan’s gratitude, the now familiar and even welcome ally recruitment window appeared.
But what pleased Hajin more than recruiting a strong candidate for the chosen regressor was that Eunchan trusted him this much.
“…Yeah. You’ve worked hard too.”
Hajin thus gained his fifth ally.
And Hajin was quite happy about that.