Arriving at the dorm with a slight limp in one foot, Lee Sejin carried a strange look on his face. Passing the members who crowded around asking if he was fine, he walked straight past them toward Won Hajun, who looked in perfect shape compared to this morning.
“Talk with me for a bit.”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
Noticing the mood, the members gave them space, telling them to call if anything happened. Sitting on the couch, Lee Sejin showed no sign of opening his mouth, so Hajun took the lead, pointing at Sejin’s foot.
“Heard you got hurt.”
“…It’s nothing.”
Reaching out to place a hand over Sejin’s ankle, Hajun realized his spiritual strength was drained at the moment and pulled his hand back. Lee Sejin gave Hajun a puzzled look before speaking.
“…On my way back, I ran into my father.”
“What? That bastard still hasn’t come to his—”
“Calm down and listen. …He didn’t harm me or anything. He spotted me from a distance, panicked, and ran away first.”
“Hmm… Guess he’s not without a brain.”
A sharp evaluation. After a moment of silence, Lee Sejin asked.
“…Even from afar, he looked pretty beat up. Did you do that?”
“His arms and face, perhaps? Ah, and his side.”
“…”
Recalling the memory, Won Hajun replied with a shrug, while Lee Sejin stared at him in silence before blurting out.
“…I was… scared of that man.”
As if those words broke a dam, the story poured out. Messy and rambling, but Hajun listened in silence to the resentment and confusion he vented.
“That guy got divorced when I was young and lost custody. He kept contacting my mom to extort money. Mom kept it a secret… but once I gained fame on Idol Co-op, he started contacting me out of nowhere…”
“…”
“At first, not knowing better, I lent him money. The amount grew larger, then he threatened me, and bit by bit…”
Lee Sejin took a deep breath before continuing.
“…It seems he even pulled scams using my name. In truth, I don’t even know how far that man reached… Heard he’s working at some gambling den now, so I’m looking into it. Ah, anyway. I wondered if I could ever escape this man… those thoughts kept popping up. I was gathering evidence, but if I reported him, you guys would get dragged down too…”
“Gathering evidence, now that’s good news.”
Okay, time to sue. Hajun held out his hand as if asking for the collected evidence. Lee Sejin glared at him.
“Do you think suing is easy?”
“I’ll make it easy for you.”
“B-But we have comeback promotions soon…”
“Nothing to worry about.”
For a second, tempted by the devil’s offer, Lee Sejin managed to shake off the temptation and stated in a firm tone.
“…Making it easy means you’re helping me. Forget it. I’ll solve it with my own strength. …This is my problem.”
“If that’s what you want, sure… but why take the hard way around? Let me know if you change your mind.”
Legal routes, routes bypassing the law, occult power solutions… There were plenty of options. Lee Sejin yelled back.
“I said I’ll handle it myself…! Just listen!”
“Now you sound like yourself.”
Hajun smiled, seeing Lee Sejin back to yelling with energy.
Smile? Lee Sejin wanted to grab the back of his neck. Such a shameless, carefree, insensitive guy…
Looking at Sejin’s face, Hajun muttered. “I thought you’d be madder at me.”
“What?”
“Because I crossed the line. He’s your father, after all.”
“…That kind of human isn’t a father.”
Well, that was true, since he cut ties for good. Muttering that to himself, Hajun shrugged and added. “Then since you wanted to hit him first, sorry for throwing the first punch.”
“…Not in particular.”
Truth be told, it felt refreshing. A fist closer than the law was pretty—ah, wait, no. Even if he was human trash, he should face judgment through proper legal procedures. Lee Sejin shook his head to drive away bad thoughts and steadied his shaking belief.
Watching him, Hajun felt a doubt and asked. “Wait, then why were you so angry this morning? I thought it was one of those two reasons.”
“That’s…”
Because I didn’t want your sympathy. And I didn’t want you getting hurt getting involved in my business…
As if he could ever say that out loud even if his mouth tore! Seeing Lee Sejin turn defensive again, Hajun recalled a hedgehog Angelina used to raise. Looked similar.
“A-Anyway! I’ll handle this myself! …But thanks to you, I don’t think that man will come near me again, so th-th…”
“Th?”
“…TH-THANK YOU!!!”
“My, no need for a formal thank you over something like this.”
“ANYWAY! I’m leaving!!”
As Lee Sejin leaped up to leave, Hajun grabbed him. “Calm down. You hurt your foot, just sit.”
“No, I’m…”
“Stay put, I said. I have something to say too.”
In the end, trembling, Lee Sejin sat back down. Hajun rested his head against his clasped hands, leaning deep into the sofa.
“You’re an impressive guy. Even when scared, you face it head-on, without clinging to the problem.”
Because I can’t do that. Maybe this incident was just his simple way of venting. Projecting his own issues onto someone else’s situation… replacing it with a father figure.
“You thanked me, but it’s proper for me to apologize instead. I’m sorry.”
“A-Ah, no. I said it’s fine!”
Apologies or thanks—Lee Sejin acted like he wanted to pass away from embarrassment in this strange, cringe-worthy moment.
Seeing that, Ryu Cheongwoo guessed their talk wrapped up well, poking his head out into the living room and asking. “Is the talk done? Can we come out?”
“Yeah.”
The bedroom door opened and members poured out in a crowd. Some with smiling faces, some with awkward expressions. Ryu Cheongwoo smiled and spoke. “Glad you made up.”
“What do you mean made u…”
Realizing something, Lee Sejin turned his head to look at Ryu Cheongwoo. “…Did you hear?”
“Mm… No matter how decent the soundproofing is, yelling carries. Don’t worry, we couldn’t hear the details.”
Which meant they heard him screaming ‘THANK YOU’ at the top of his lungs. Standing dazed for a moment, Lee Sejin let out a strange shriek and fled into his room.
Looking at the slammed door, Hajun spoke. “My, how shy. Gratitude and love can never be overshared, no matter how much you express it.”
“…”
“Right? Moony.”
Is that something coming out of YOUR mouth?
Having lost his chance to enter his room, Park Moondae stared at Won Hajun with a Tibetan fox expression.
One insensitive guy, one sensitive guy… and himself stuck in the middle.
He wanted to change roommates.
Lee Sejin reported the gambling den where his birth father worked to the police. There was no denying this was a better method than suing for assault or extortion. Well, since he had repaid him plenty, there was nothing to regret.
And in the meantime, Lee Sejin changed his last name through official channels to his mother’s, becoming Bae Sejin.
Park Moondae’s recommendation and Won Hajun’s active support played a part in that process.
To Lee Sejin, who hesitated at changing his last name overnight, Park Moondae—whose first name, last name, and even body had been replaced—pushed him without hesitation.
‘But changing it right in the middle of comeback promotions is a bit…’
‘You can use it as a stage name first.’
‘What’s in a name anyway? I changed mine twice.’
‘What?’
‘From my mother’s name to my father’s, from Hajun to Damon. They say a name holds power or whatever, but in the end, it’s all up to how you handle it, so just take it easy.’
‘Ah, right. You said your real name is Damon now.’
Through a process much like this, Lee Sejin became Bae Sejin.
Along with Hajun’s massive hit W-Live video, it was a minor incident that drew even more attention to TeSTAR right before their comeback began.
The members adapted well to Bae Sejin’s new name as they launched their comeback.
If a recovered Hajun hadn’t gotten obsessed with making new nicknames, it would have been peaceful indeed.
“Bae Sejin, Bae Sejin. Hmm. Since it’s Bae, Baby cakes?”
“STOP! CALLING! ME!”
“Babe Sejin.”
“DON’T TEASE ME!!!”
Cha Eugene and Kim Raebin weren’t the only combination that dropped ten years off everyone’s mental age when together. Behind Park Moondae, who was unboxing the new album in the living room, cushions flew through the air.
Hajun, hiding behind Ryu Cheongwoo—if you could even call that hiding—stuck out his tongue to tease Bae Sejin. Reminiscent of the legendary ‘Per-vert’ moment, Bae Sejin screamed.
“Don’t stick your tongue out!”
“Don’t wanna.”
“Guys, stop. Doing this in front of the younger ones?”
But he started it…! Huffing with an aggrieved face, Bae Sejin pointed at Won Hajun behind Ryu Cheongwoo.
Hajun, who was sticking his tongue out, pulled his tongue back and beamed when Ryu Cheongwoo turned around. Sighing, Ryu Cheongwoo separated the two far apart.
Maintaining his composure in the middle of this chaos, Park Moondae finished unboxing and handed the cheer lightstick to an interested Cha Eugene, picking up the new album to inspect the print and finish.
A photocard slipped out from the album, fluttering down. Hajun snatched one of them. Ryu Cheongwoo caught the other.
“This is you.”
The photocard Hajun shoved in front of Ryu Cheongwoo showed Cheongwoo taking off a gas mask against a glowing neon graffiti background.
Looking at the photocard in his hand for a moment, Cheongwoo handed it to Hajun and spoke. “This is… you guys.”
What Cheongwoo caught was Hajun shaking his wet hair at a school drinking fountain. The notable feature… a thin, water-soaked summer school uniform shirt stuck to his body, revealing every outline.
“This was when we shot the MV. Did we shoot something like this?”
“Ah, ah~ I took that photo and submitted it, looks like it passed!”
Keun Sejin confessed. The members stared at him without a word.
Illegal filming, portrait rights violation… Bae Sejin muttered. Keun Sejin waved his hands in panic in excuse.
“No, no, hear me out! Hajun-hyungnim’s W-Live was SO hot, so shouldn’t we live up to expectations for this comeback? I couldn’t miss that shutter chance!”
“It’s not even shot well. The horizon isn’t straight.”
“Ayy, isn’t the subject what matters most?”
Even though it was his own photo, Hajun didn’t care much once he found out Keun Sejin took it, shifting his interest elsewhere. Taking the cheer lightstick back from Cha Eugene, Hajun fiddled with it. Park Moondae looked at him with a somewhat complicated feeling.
Not that he was criticizing, but valuing his own body a bit more… if only to prevent fans from being led down a path of crime… wouldn’t that be better…?
Ignoring Keun Sejin, who was winking with a ‘Didn’t I do well?’ face, Park Moondae vowed not to monitor social media for a while.
Forget photocard market prices, that felt much better for his own mental health.
