They stopped by a snack shop near the school where they filmed their music video and got some gimbap and tteokbokki to go. In the car, Hajun slowly picked at a tteok-kochi, taking the tiniest bites imaginable. He had practically begged for food because he was starving, but now that he had some, he was barely even trying to eat it.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s awesome!” Cha Eugene chimed in excitedly when Hajun didn’t answer, happily digging into his character-shaped pork cutlet.
Seon Ahyun, on the other hand, barely touched anything oily or heavily seasoned. He was just occasionally nibbling on a piece of gimbap. Hajun stared at him for a moment before pushing his own gimbap over.
“Want some more?”
“H-Huh? Me?”
“You’re only eating gimbap.”
“Oh, no… I-I’m fine…!”
“Why are you so scared? Am I gonna eat you?”
“I-I’m sorry…!”
Hajun didn’t mean to bully him, but Ahyun was turning paler by the second. Hajun shrugged and passed the gimbap to Park Moondae instead. Moondae gave Hajun a sour look. Why me?
“Then you eat it.”
“…”
“Hajun, is that really enough? This is your dinner.” Ryu Cheongwoo asked gently, trying to coax him. “Just eat half of it, okay? You’ve been eating way too little lately.”
“I’m full.”
Despite the blunt, short answer, Cheongwoo kept his smile and kept trying to persuade him.
“You annoying nag. Are you Alex?”
“Who is Alex?”
“My friend.”
“…You actually have friends?”
“Don’t you?”
“!”
Lee Sejin, who had blurted that out in shock, immediately got hit with a massive counterattack and shut his mouth, completely defeated. Hajun laughed at him. Flustered, Sejin started rambling about how he had been a child actor since he was little, so making friends was really hard. But then he stopped himself, realizing he had overshared.
Even though the mood in the car turned a bit heavy, Hajun just chuckled and tossed out a casual offer.
“I’ll do you a favor and be your friend.”
“No thanks!”
“Alright, alright. No need to be shy.”
“Aaargh!”
Moondae threw a sympathetic look at Bae Sejin. Sigh, the curse of being the same age as a lunatic… Poor guy. It was impossible to argue with someone who didn’t listen to reason anyway.
Meanwhile, Ryu Cheongwoo watched the two members his age argue with the warm, fond smile of an old man watching his grandkids. Honestly, he seemed a bit strange himself.
“You guys get along so well.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Haha, of course.”
I’m glad Sejin found a friend he can open up to so quickly. While Cheongwoo was thinking that, watching Sejin argue and Hajun casually pick his ear, Moondae silently adjusted his opinion of Cheongwoo. I thought he was the only normal, nice guy here, but I guess he’s a bit weird too.
Eventually, Sejin ran out of energy. He was so drained that when Hajun offered to give him a nickname to celebrate their new friendship, he couldn’t even muster up the strength to fight back.
After mumbling a few words to himself, Hajun looked up.
“Okay, Shortcake. Let’s go with that.”
“Oh, sweet.”
“…”
“Shortcake… as in the cake with strawberries and whipped cream?”
“Yeah.”
But isn’t that a bit too sweet of a nickname for friends to use?
“Well, he’s short. So, Shortcake.”
“Oh…”
Sejin looked like he wanted to cry, but he gave up and sank deep into his seat. Moondae looked at him with pity. Compared to “Shortcake,” “Moony” felt like a blessing.
Feeling inspired, Hajun started brainstorming more weird nicknames. Watching this, Moondae leaned over and quietly asked Cha Eugene.
“Is this a normal American thing?”
“What is?”
“The… nicknames.”
“Aha. No, Hajun is just weird. Usually, we just shorten names. Shortcake? No one calls a friend that.”
“Yeah, I thought so.” Moondae felt relieved knowing Hajun was considered weird even by American standards.
Eugene added that unless there’s a special reason, nicknames like that are usually saved for really close friends, lovers, or little kids. “But there’s no strict rule! You can do whatever you want.”
“Oh? Who cares about rules anyway. If you don’t like it, you guys can call me whatever you want too.”
“Hajun-hyung, what do your family and friends back home call you?” Keun Sejin asked.
Hajun chewed on the empty wooden skewer from his fishcake, thought about it for a second, and answered.
“Dam, Dam-dam, Demon, Devil, Disaster…”
“Wow, they all start with D.”
“Oh, and my older brother calls me Little D. His name is David, so he’s Big D.”
Wait, aren’t those nicknames basically calling him a demon? Is that really okay? Moondae swallowed his urge to comment. Let’s just mind my own business.
“Hajun-hyung, aren’t you a bit too big to be called ‘Little’? I rarely see anyone taller than me, and I’m 187 cm.”
“My brother is taller.”
“No way.”
“Excuse me, but do you mind sharing your exact height?”
“Uh… I’m a bit under 6’3″ (around 189 cm). David is definitely over that.”
Cowering in the corner, “Shortcake” sent Hajun a murderous glare. Moondae also couldn’t hide his sour expression, thinking about how his sister was probably around that size. And there weren’t even any cameras filming this.
After returning to the dorm, taking a shower, and finally getting some sleep, Hajun felt a hand shaking him awake. He muttered a quiet curse and sat up.
This felt very familiar.
“What… did someone get into a dating scandal again…?”
“No. Here.”
Moondae handed him his phone. Hajun frowned and read the headline.
TeSTAR Facing Unfair Contract Lawsuit… Member Lee Sejin’s Former Agency, Dream K, Files Suit Against Tnet…
“What is this now?”
“Come out to the living room. Everyone is gathered there.”
TeSTAR’s second emergency meeting had arrived much sooner than expected. This time, it was about the parting gift Lee Sejin’s former agency had thrown at them.
Yawning so wide his fangs showed, Hajun followed Moondae to the living room. He saw Sejin sitting there, his eyes slightly red as if he had been crying. The other members looked just as depressed.
Cheongwoo spoke up quietly.
“Let’s figure this out. So… your old agency is basically asking for you back.”
“…”
“Asking for him back? Please. Yawn. They should’ve read the contract properly before. Why throw a tantrum now?”
“…”
Well, I don’t really know how Korean laws work. Hajun scratched the back of his head and waited for Sejin to speak.
But before Sejin could say anything, Keun Sejin spoke up with a bright but tense smile.
“Hyung, say something. You know we only have a week left until debut, right?”
“…”
“Yeah, seriously. Say something. Do you want us to help you?”
“…”
“We’re running out of time. If we leave it like this, other agencies might jump on the bandwagon and start filing lawsuits too.”
“Keun Sejin,” Moondae tried to calm him down, but it was no use.
“If you stay quiet, you’re not the only one who’s going to get hurt. Whether you stay or leave, you need to talk to the agency right now.”
As Keun Sejin’s words grew faster and more heated, Hajun frowned at the heavy atmosphere. Either way, they needed to make a clear decision. Hajun was about to ask if Sejin actually wanted to stay, but before he could, Sejin bolted upright and ran back into his room, locking the door.
“Hey! Where are you going?!”
“Sigh…”
At Sejin’s defensive reaction, Keun Sejin’s face darkened.
Hajun walked over to the locked door.
“Is this your room? It’s my room too, you know. Be a good boy and open up.”
“Step aside, hyung.”
Moondae, the other roommate, stepped up and smashed the doorknob.
Crack!
Seeing Moondae literally break the lock, the other members froze in shock. Hajun let out a whistle.
“Wow. Pretty hot-tempered, aren’t you, Moony?”
“I’m going in.”
Ignoring Hajun, Moondae walked inside. Hajun casually followed him, not forgetting to shout back at the members in the living room.
“The rest of you go back to sleep.”
“Hajun.”
“What?”
“Don’t fight!”
“We won’t.”
Though worried, the remaining members cleaned up the living room and went back to their rooms.
Hajun walked up to Sejin, who was clutching his blanket in terror.
“D-Did you just break the doorknob? Are you crazy?”
“I didn’t break it.”
“What? Then…”
“It was me, hyung. You know the company is going to call you in for a meeting tomorrow anyway. You can’t run away from this, so wouldn’t it be better to organize your thoughts now?”
“Moony is right. Or, you can just give me your ex-CEO’s name, some basic info, and a photo. I’ll get this sorted out in three days.”
“???”
Sejin looked confused. Moondae, on the other hand, tried very hard not to think about why Hajun needed the Dream K CEO’s personal info and photo.
Well, obviously, dealing with the CEO using a simple curse would be much faster than a lawsuit. Once the CEO position became vacant, they’d be too busy dealing with that to care about a petty lawsuit.
But Sejin hesitated despite his roommates’ prompting. Hajun held back his temper. This was a special privilege he was offering as a new friend, so Sejin had better cooperate for his own sake.
“I… I don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?” Moondae asked.
“What I want to do…”
“…”
“Are you kidding me?”
Hajun finally lost his patience. The sudden existential crisis was really frustrating!
“You don’t know what you want? Let me decide for you. You want to ruin your ex-CEO’s life!”
“!”
Well, he’s not denying it.
Great. Now he just had to tell Thia to gather data on the Dream K CEO, make a voodoo doll, and get it over with.
Sensing something dangerous, Moondae quickly intervened.
“Hyung, calm down. So, Sejin-hyung, do you actually want to go back to your old agency and keep acting?”
“…I don’t want to go back.”
“But you still want to act?”
“…Isn’t that obvious?”
“Then just stay here and act! Problem solved!” Hajun barked.
Moondae pulled Hajun back by his shoulder. Please, calm down.
Sejin looked at them and whispered, “To be honest… I never even thought about becoming an idol.”
“Hah? So what?”
“I mean… I’m not even good at it.”
“You’re not bad. You actually have a lot of potential.”
“…You don’t have to lie to make me feel better. I know my own limits…”
Hajun slammed both hands onto Sejin’s shoulders, making him flinch. Moondae tensed up, ready to step in if Hajun did anything crazy, but Hajun just spoke.
“Listen up. First, I don’t lie. You used to dance like absolute trash, that’s true. But you’ve improved a lot, and you have the potential to keep getting better. You probably lost your confidence because you’re standing next to a genius like me, but you don’t need to feel that way.”
“…”
“…”
If only he hadn’t added that last part, it would’ve been really touching, Moondae thought, completely speechless. Sejin felt the same way.
Ignoring their blank stares, Hajun continued.
“You know why? Because this is an idol ‘group.’ There are some who dance well, and some who don’t. As long as you have the basic skills and the drive to improve, that’s enough. If you actually lacked talent and didn’t even try, I wouldn’t be your friend—I’d have kicked your butt out of here.”
“My… butt…?”
“Second, do you think I wanted to be an idol from the start? Life is full of mystery. The only thing that matters is whether it’s fun or not. For me, this is actually pretty fresh and not bad. What about you?”
“…”
“Do I have to ask twice? How is it for you?”
“For me…” Sejin looked down and mumbled in a tiny voice. “It was… fun.”
Moondae felt like he was watching a scene straight out of a shonen manga. He didn’t want to get involved. Besides, Hajun was already asking everything that needed to be asked (albeit in a very aggressive way).
“Then what the hell are you worrying about?!” Hajun yelled.
Moondae decided to chime in to help.
“You can just do both—idol activities and acting. I don’t get why you’re worrying so much, just like Hajun-hyung said. In two or three years, the agency will probably start giving you solo acting gigs anyway. And after five years, if you don’t want to renew, you can just focus on acting.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?!”
“You guys… don’t know what my old agency is like.”
Sejin complained about all the petty, dirty tricks Dream K pulled. Once Hajun heard they would do anything to bring him down, he thought, So they’re basically just annoying pests.
He was in a good mood, so he figured he’d help out as a special service.
[Thia.]
[Yes, sir.]
“…”
“Whoa! What was that?”
Hearing a mechanical female voice out of nowhere, Sejin jumped and looked around for the source. It was Hajun’s phone.
While Sejin was startled by the AI assistant, Moondae had a bad feeling about what Hajun was going to say next.
[Scrape everything you can find on the Dream K CEO.]
“Hyung, wait—”
[Understood. Starting search…]
“Wait a second.” Moondae quickly grabbed Hajun’s arm. No murder, you lunatic.
Still confused, Sejin asked, “W-What was that?”
“My secretary.”
“No, I didn’t mean that… Well, that too, but didn’t you just say Dream K?!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill him.”
“Kill…?!”
“Just a second, hyung. Don’t make things bigger than they are. Can you just listen to me for a moment?”
Making things bigger? Getting rid of the guy seems pretty clean to me, Hajun thought. But since he was being generous today, he decided to listen to Moony.
He nodded, and Moondae quickly explained his plan.
“You should expose your old agency first. Say they forced you to join Idol Co-op, but you found your true passion and didn’t want to go back. Frame it as the show saving you from them. Even if Dream K tries to spread rumors later, people won’t believe them because the frame is already set.”
“!”
“Hmm. Playing media politics? Not really my style.” Hajun muttered. I prefer just erasing the problem directly.
Hajun licked his lips, making Moondae very tense. Even if the CEO was trash, killing him was going too far. Besides, would just getting rid of the CEO even solve it? (Well, we could just get rid of everything else too!)
After thinking about it for a bit, Hajun decided to hold back from causing a massive scene since they were in Korea and not his home turf.
[Damon, data categorization is complete. Would you like to review it?]
[No. Just keep it on file for now.]
What is this guy’s deal? Moondae stared at Hajun with a look of pure disbelief. Sejin stared at Moondae with the exact same look.
An ordinary 21-year-old wouldn’t immediately come up with such a calculated media play.
“Did you drop out of school to do this?” Sejin asked Moondae.
“I just auditioned.” But why are you only questioning me? That guy over there is way weirder.
“Ah…”
Watching the two of them bicker like a comedy duo, Hajun yawned and checked the clock. It was 2:47 AM.
“Alright, Moony, you handle the rest. Let me know if you want the agency erased. I’m going to sleep.”
“Yeah, goodnight.” Please just go to sleep and don’t make a mess.
Moondae knew he couldn’t rely on Hajun to help write the letter. Good thing too, because if Hajun wrote it, the first sentence would probably be: ‘What kind of shameless bastards are you to tell me to come back? You idiots didn’t even read the contract.’
Sejin hesitated before speaking.
“Um, hey.”
“What? You want me to erase them after all?”
“No, not that… Thank you. Both of you.”
“Whatever.”
“If you’re thankful, treat me well.”
“…”
Having successfully ruined the touching moment, Hajun buried his face in his pillow.
He could hear the scratching sound of Sejin writing. Moony will handle it. He was a pretty useful guy.
Moondae, on the other hand, felt a strange chill and ended up checking Sejin’s handwritten draft several times. He had great instincts, but his suspicions were directed at the wrong person.
New Terms
- 떡꼬치 – Tteok-kkochi (Rice cake skewer)
- 쇼트케이크 – Shortcake (Bae Sejin’s nickname from Hajun)
- 드림K – Dream K (Bae Sejin’s former agency)
