It was time to head home after the live broadcast of Music Bomb. As TeSTAR walked out, they chatted about what had just happened on stage.
“Hey, Cheongryeo-sunbaenim definitely greeted you earlier, right?”
“Is it because you met him during the Casting Call?”
“Maybe,” Park Moondae brushed it off, throwing a quick glance at Won Hajun.
Moondae wasnât sure what Hajun’s deal was, but ever since Cheongryeo had smiled and waved at Moondae during the ending stage, Hajun had been wearing this creepy, twisted grin. Heâd been acting a bit out of it ever since. I mean, he was always weird, but right now he looked borderline manic. Moondae expected Hajun to throw a tantrum when the leader said they had to line up to greet the PD, but Hajun just quietly followed along. Then, he leaned in and murmured to Moondae.
“So youâve already met Cheongryeo? Mustâve been fun.”
“…Shouldnât you add ‘sunbaenim’ to that?” Moondae whispered back.
They were in the middle of a music show hallway, for god’s sake. He was terrified someone would overhear. Hajun scoffed, giving Moondae a look that said, You really nag about the dumbest things, before casually correcting himself.
“Fine, Cheongryeo sunbaenim. So, was it fun? Had a blast, did you? Whew.”
“…”
I wish you could have all that fun yourself. Moondae had no idea why this psycho was so obsessed with VTICâs leaderâdidn’t they say a different member was the one who made friends with him?âbut it felt incredibly ominous. TeSTAR had just debuted, and yet they had a literal lunatic running around among them while dealing with the nation’s top group. Since Moondae didn’t reply, Hajun just muttered to himself about how he wished he’d known Cheongryeo was coming to the Casting Call.
Listening from the side, Kim Raebin asked curiously, “Hajun-hyung, are you a fan of VTIC?”
“A fan? Yeah, close enough.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I actually decided to become an idol after seeing Cheongryeo… sunbaenim.”
“Ohh.”
Hajun smirked, totally ignoring whatever misunderstanding the others were cooking up. He was just dying of curiosity to find out what made this job so damn entertaining that someone would choose to repeat it over and over again. Well, I don’t really want to loop hundreds of times… but since he did, I guess I’ll play along for a bit. The thought of finally breaking that guyâs skull was getting closer, and it gave him a massive rush of adrenaline. Heâd temporarily forgotten about it during Idol Co-op, but this was the whole reason he joined the show in the first place! A baseball bat, a hammer, a monkey wrench… just thinking about it got his blood pumping.
Watching Hajun look as excited as a kid choosing a flavor at Baskin-Robbins, Ryu Cheongwoo smiled, genuinely believing Hajun was a huge fan. If Moondae knew what Hajun was actually thinking, he would have asked if he was out of his mind. If anything, Hajun looked less like a fan and more like a wild beast catching the scent of its prey and quietly holding back its excitement.
And of course, speak of the devil. The prey itself was currently walking down the hallway. Honestly, they could have just passed each other, but one of them stopped right in front of TeSTAR.
It was Cheongryeo. He suddenly spoke to Moondae.
“Ah, Moondae-ssi, we meet again. Congrats on the first-place win.”
“…!”
Behind Cheongryeo, Ju Dan gave Hajun a tiny wave, but Hajun completely ignored him. Thinking Hajun just couldn’t see him because of the other members, Ju Dan waved a bit harder. Quite the effort. Hajun just gave a lazy nod, and Ju Dan finally let his hand drop, satisfied.
Watching this interaction, Kim Raebin leaned over to Cha Eugene and whispered, “Is that senior the one…?”
Eugene nudged Raebin back and whispered loudly, “Yeah, thatâs him! The guy Hajun helped! You know, the one who got stuck in the bathroom because there was no toilet paper.”
“…Cha Eugene!!”
“What?”
Raebin had been trying his best to ignore that piece of information to preserve the dignified image of their respected senior, but Eugeneâs loud mouth ruined everything. Now, looking at Ju Dan, who had just performed a flawless, cool choreography on stage, Moondae couldn’t help but picture him sitting helplessly on a toilet with no paper. The illusion was completely shattered. Well, seniors were human too, but still… saying that right in front of him! What if he heard?!
Ju Dan, noticing the two of them whispering and nudging each other, quietly took a step away. Ryu Cheongwoo quickly stepped in to calm the younger ones down, telling them not to fight here. But that meant there was absolutely no one left to stop Hajun, who was now gliding toward Cheongryeo as the latter asked for Moondae’s number.
“Alright, Iâll call you then,” Cheongryeo said.
“Mind if I get your number too?” Hajun interjected.
“…Hm?”
A rookie with absolutely zero connection asking the leader of the top boy group in the country for his number right off the bat? It was completely unheard of. But Hajun didn’t give a single crap about unwritten social rules. If Cheongryeo didn’t like it, he could just say no.
Horrified by Hajun’s rude behavior, Moondae tugged hard on his sleeveâbut the guy didn’t budge an inch, like an absolute brick wall.
“Hyung,” Moondae hissed.
“What?” Hajun looked back. If he can get it, why can’t I? Of course, a senior asking first was completely different, but to Hajun, the end result of getting Cheongryeoâs number was exactly the same.
While Moondae was desperately trying to think of a way to drag him away, Cheongryeo smiled warmly and held out his hand for Hajun’s phone.
“Sure, give it here.”
“…!!”
Oh god, no. Moondaeâs head was already throbbing, imagining what kind of insane texts Hajun would send. But Hajun just smiled politely and offered a very normal thank you. At least he had some basic manners.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. You seem close with Ju Dan, so please take good care of him.”
“Wait, why me all of a sudden…? Ah, never mind,” Ju Dan wanted to protest the “take care of him” part, but backed down when he saw Cheongryeoâs warning smile.
Hajun nodded readily, then suddenly reached his hand out toward Cheongryeo. Moondaeâs body tensed up, ready to tackle Hajun if needed. Cheongryeo instinctively tried to pull back, but Hajunâs reflexes were on a whole different level. Before Cheongryeo could even register the movement, Hajun had already pulled his hand back, lightly waving a single strand of hair between his fingers.
“It was on your shoulder.”
“……Oh.”
“…Thank you.”
As Hajun slipped the strand of hair into his pocket instead of throwing it on the floor, Cheongryeoâs expression turned incredibly weird. Ju Dan and Seon Ahyun just stared with giant question marks practically floating over their heads. Moondae stood there, utterly speechless, silently adding a few more tags to Hajun’s mental profile: lunatic, psycho, weirdo… pervert stalker?
Keun Sejin, who was busy playing the social butterfly with the other VTIC members, didn’t seem to notice. But Lee Sejin, who had been quietly watching from the corner, was trembling so hard his pupils were shaking. When he made eye contact with Moondae, he immediately whipped his head away.
Ryu Cheongwoo, having finally separated Eugene and Raebin, walked over. “Ah, Hajun, wait a sec.”
“? What.”
“Hold on. Sorry about that, sunbaenim,” Cheongwoo apologized quickly, giving Moondae a look that said keep things under control before dragging Hajun down the hallway.
Moondae, deeply grateful for Cheongwooâs timely rescue, cleaned up the mess. “…Iâm really sorry. Our member is a bit… unconventional.”
“Itâs fine. You meet all kinds of people in this industry,” Cheongryeo replied smoothly.
“Jaehyun-hyung! We gotta go now!” another member called out.
Cheongryeo nodded, waved goodbye to Moondae, and disappeared down the hallway.
A little while later, Cheongwoo and Hajun returned. Hajun looked incredibly grumpy, his face twisted in a massive scowl as if heâd just been chewed out.
“Seriously, why is it fine for him but not for me!” Hajun grumbled.
“Moondae-ya, did the seniors leave?”
“…Yes,” Moondae answered.
He looked at Cheongwoo, who looked more exhausted than if heâd just practiced a high-intensity choreography for five hours straight. Moondae then directed a deadpan stare at Hajun. The guy was a giant, nearly 190cm, acting like a whiny brat. It was embarrassing, especially with people in the hallway staring at them. Honestly, Moondae just wanted to trigger his penalty and drop dead right then and there. But if he went down, he was definitely taking this shameless bastard with him.
Hajun, who clearly didn’t know the meaning of embarrassment, grabbed Cheongwooâs arm and started shaking it. (If it were anyone else but Cheongwoo, their arm probably wouldâve been dislocated by now).
“How was I rude? I have great manners!”
“Hajun-ah… I explained this to you like five times already,” Cheongwoo sighed.
“Itâs not fair!”
Moondae was starting to wonder if Hajun was doing this on purpose just to watch them squirm. Either way, they had to stop this giant from throwing a tantrum in the middle of a broadcasting station. Sucking in a breath, Moondae spoke up.
“What exactly are you so upset about?”
“Would you like it if someone you didnât even know texted you out of nowhere?” Hajun shot back.
“……?”
Moondae didn’t want to agree, but saying no felt like losing. While he was trying to formulate a response, Hajun let go of Cheongwoo and kept talking.
“Itâs better to ask directly. Itâs way more impolite to go behind someoneâs back to get their number. And if the person actually had any decency, they wouldn’t just give out someone else’s number without permission anyway.”
“Well…”
He actually makes a point, Moondae thought reluctantly.
“Plus, if you ask face-to-face, it’s way easier for them to reject you if they want to.”
“……”
Also true. That was probably why Cheongryeo had asked for Moondae’s number directly in a busy hallway instead of going through a manager. Or maybe Cheongryeo was just a massive attention seeker.
Moondae shook his head. “Fine, but how does that connect to what you did? You didn’t even have his number. How were you planning to text him…?”
“I only need to see something once to remember it,” Hajun said, tapping his temple with his index finger. “Though I usually forget useless junk. My brain is too valuable to fill with trash.”
“…You weren’t even looking at his screen.”
“I read his finger movements while he was typing.”
“……”
What an absolute waste of a genius talent. He had incredible dynamic vision and a photographic memory, yet he used it to misread Ju Dan’s name as ‘Ju-dang’ (Alcoholic)? Which meant… he just didn’t think Ju Dan was worth remembering at all.
At this point, the members weren’t even surprised by Hajun’s freakish abilities anymore. Instead, they just shook their heads at his complete lack of social etiquette. Well, except for Cha Eugene.
[Whoa, is that a photographic memory? Like, you remember everything? That’s so cool! Do you have any other powers?]
[None of your business.]
[Hmm? That sounds like a yes! Like in those hero movies… wait. Knowing Hajun, you’d definitely be the villain.]
[Are you picking a fight? I never back down from a fight.]
[Wait, wait, wait!!]
Eugene bolted down the hallway with Hajun hot on his heels at a terrifying speed. Cheongwoo could only watch them go with a weary, resigned smile. Seon Ahyun nervously looked back and forth between the empty hallway and Cheongwoo, trying his best to offer some awkward comfort.
New Terms
- 뎤ě§ë°¤ = Music Bomb (Music show)
- ěŁźëš = Ju-dang (Wordplay on Ju Dan’s name, meaning drunkard/heavy drinker)
