Chapter 198: Chapter 198

After finishing the stage performance, we tried to leave quickly out of habit, but the MC caught us with a smile.

“Please share a few words about how you feel!”

We were so engrossed that we almost skipped the part where we were supposed to share our thoughts.

The MC extended the microphone to Kang Ichae, who happened to be the closest.

However, he stepped back with a grin and joined the dancers.

This is his second life.

He knew that if the featured guest received too much attention, it might not be good for the broadcast, so he stepped back on his own.

“Team HoHu-HoHu! How was it preparing for the stage?”

“…Excuse me? Team HoHu-HoHu?”

HoHu-HoHu, what was that…?

What were they talking about?

Kang Yeonhu, surprised to be called by a team name he never created and never would, turned to the MC and then glanced at me.

When I nodded once, Kang Yeonhu hesitated for a moment before taking the microphone again.

“Ah… actually, I’m someone who worries a lot.”

I was slightly surprised by his unexpected honesty.

“This time too, I was really worried when I had to team up with Hoyun…”

“Hahaha!”

Thinking it was a joke, everyone from the audience to the MC burst into laughter, but I was sure of it.

That was 100% Kang Yeonhu’s genuine feeling.

“But later, I realized it was all unnecessary. Everything was just fun.”

Kang Yeonhu ended his words with thanks and waved to the audience, who seemed to be High Five’s fans.

As I took the microphone that was passed to me, I slowly began to speak.

“First of all, I’m aiming for the Best Couple Award at the year-end with Yeonhu-hyung.”

“Ahaha!!”

“Haa…”

Even though he should be used to it by now, Kang Yeonhu let out a deep sigh as usual.

Every time I teased him, the satisfying impact that came back showed that he was definitely in the same league as Kim Seonghyeon.

“It was an honor to work with someone I respect a lot. Going forward, we will continue to work hard in our respective places.”

I glanced at Kang Yeonhu and smiled slightly.

“This will be the last time. Next time, I’ll call you ‘sunbae’ again.”

It was a comment made with the leaked script in mind.

“Hyung, I had fun too.”

Everyone cheered enthusiastically, seemingly moved by the hot friendship of the two rivals.

Even though we didn’t win first place, we received an armful of bouquets.

I then went down from the stage with Kang Yeonhu.

Although more unit and event stages were prepared afterward, Kang Yeonhu and I could now relax and enjoy ourselves comfortably.

We moved to a place where cameras were set up to capture our reactions, and without talking to each other, we focused on reacting.

Even then, Kang Yeonhu seemed to still be lingering in the afterglow of the stage.

After a few more performances, the special music festival came to an end.

“Great job, everyone!”

When I heard the staff’s greeting signaling the end of the shoot, I dropped my business smile and got up from the chair.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

I nodded my chin and was about to leave when Kang Yeonhu grabbed my arm and whispered softly.

“I’m really confused. Seo Hoyun seems like a good person.”

“Sunbae, you’re surprisingly naïve.”

“…Yeah, it must be my mistake again.”

When I shrugged my shoulders, Kang Yeonhu let out a laugh.

“See you again.”

And then he disappeared first, waving his hand with a face full of laughter.

The WH Entertainment artists seemed to share a peculiar trait, much like the managers at Daepaseong—slightly clueless but genuinely kind-hearted.

They were surprisingly soft-hearted.

We won’t see each other much anymore, buddy.

Having fully repaid my debt to Chae Jeongwoo, I was now thinking of focusing on my own work again.

As I stepped into the hallway, I saw Kang Ichae, who had been waiting elsewhere, talking with Mars’ main vocal.

I thought I might as well change my clothes first and was about to head back to the waiting room when the maknae of Lea Purple ran toward me.

“Hoyun!!”

“Yes?”

I was slightly taken aback as she, unlike the usual Lea Purple members who strictly maintained their distance, approached me rather closely, but I decided to wait and see if something was up.

Since the filming was over, the atmosphere was bustling with everyone from the cast to the staff exchanging greetings.

A few words wouldn’t cause any trouble.

“Ah, I just wanted to say thank you…”

“Haha, for what?”

“Just for everything. Thanks to you, we were able to finish the shoot safely. Thank you… And, um… I feel like I’m being a bit nosy, but…”

She swallowed nervously and looked around before lowering her voice.

“…Be careful.”

“Sorry?”

“Ah, not you, Seo Hoyun! Um… There are some bad rumors going around about Seong Jiwon. It’s about his former agency. There’s no evidence, and it’s just a rumor, so it died down quickly, but…”

Lea Purple’s maknae tried to be as indirect as possible, but it seemed to be about sponsorship.

She nervously darted eyes and spoke cautiously.

“…I’m not entirely sure, but it seems like Yoon Heeun from Prove is deliberately spreading rumors.”

Only then did I understand why the maknae of Lea Purple went out of her way to relay this information to me.

It seemed she was worried that, having been wronged by Yoon Heeun, there might be more victims like her.

“I heard that Yoon Heeun has already tried to contact Seong Jiwon several times.”

“Contact?”

“Yes. Ha, he should focus on doing well themselves… even though he has plenty of things to be ashamed of, too.”

I sent a kind of cute warning, but perhaps because he didn’t know I was behind it, he was adorably meddling with Seong Jiwon again.[1]

“…”

The corners of my mouth unconsciously twitched, and Lea Purple’s maknae cautiously observed my reaction.

“Thanks for telling me.”

“…No problem. I’m the one who should be thankful this time.”

I quickly composed my expression and expressed my gratitude.

She awkwardly scratched her head, bowed slightly, and then quickly disappeared.

As I organized the complex information in my head and was about to way away, Kang Ichae, having finished his conversation with Mars’ main vocal, approached me with a bright expression.

“Hyung!”

The smiling guy paused for a moment when he saw my expression up close, then tilted his head.

“What?”

“Are you mad?”

His unnecessary perceptiveness was annoying.

“No, I’m not.”

I decided not to ask Kang Ichae about Seong Jiwon, thinking it might just make him worry unnecessarily.

However, Kang Ichae seemed to have no intention of letting it go.

“Tell me.”

“…”

“I’m curious.”

Normally, he would have pretended not to know, but now he was being direct.

After choosing my words for a moment, I decided it wasn’t something to keep secret, so I pressed my throbbing temple and spoke quietly.

“I just heard some annoying stuff. There’s a weird rumor going around about Seong Jiwon.”

“Ahh.”

“What is it? Do you know?”

“Well, sort of…”

Kang Ichae shrugged his shoulders and scratched his neck, glancing at me.

“I do know, but you don’t need to worry about it, hyung.”

“Why?”

“I saw it while I was running a game event on Jiwon-hyung’s phone.”

Kang Ichae’s lips curled into a grin.

“It seems like they’re trying all sorts of things to lure him out. But have you ever seen Jiwon-hyung leave the dorm except for schedules or practice?”

“No, never.”

“He ignores all messages, but just the other day, he replied for the first time.”

Even as we reached the waiting room, Kang Ichae spun around instead of opening the door, wearing a mischievous expression.

“He said he can’t go out because he has a 5 PM curfew.”

“…”

Even elementary school kids didn’t have a 5 PM curfew these days.

“When they asked if it’s reasonable for an idol to have a 5 PM curfew, he said it’s because his roommate is strict.”

Me?

“…And then?”

“That was the end of it.”

I unknowingly became a strict person, but in the end, I was satisfied.

The easiest way to block attention was to consistently ignore it.

Though they judged that they couldn’t completely ignore the fact that Probe was a senior group, they did send a response.

I pushed Kang Ichae aside and opened the waiting room door to enter.

“Did you get any messages?”

“…Oh, me? I didn’t get any. I’ve blocked everyone except The Dawn and Ms. Composer.”

“Good job.”

I thought there was absolutely no chance of getting involved in anything unnecessary, but I hesitated a bit about whether it was right to encourage Kang Ichae’s closed-off attitude.

As I tried to shake off Ichae, who quickly clung to me, asking if I was worried about him, I racked my brain to figure out what to do.

Looks like some cleaning is needed.

I had been busy and didn’t see any benefit in tidying things up, so I left it alone, but Yoon Heeun kept crossing the line.

At this rate, it might be better to quickly nip the problem in the bud.

I had a rough idea of where to start working, but—

I’m conflicted.

I wondered if it might be better to just leave it alone and let it sort itself out.

I changed the subject while holding the clothes I was going to change into.

“Anyway, thanks to you, the stage went well.”

“Really? I had fun too.”

He grinned as he unbuttoned his shirt one by one.

“Oh, Guchan-hyung said something. He said you’re really something. He thought you would have done well even if you started with a major agency from the beginning.”

“Did he say that?”

“Yeah.”

He slipped his arms out of the black short-sleeved T-shirt.

Honestly, I was curious too.

Why did Kang Ichae come to Daepaseong?

As I brushed back my tousled hair, Kang Ichae tilted his head.

“It’s really curious. Knowing how talented you are, why would you join Daepaseong?”

“To do The Dawn.”

“…Why?”

I had no choice because of the system.

“I can’t do it without you guys.”

Otherwise, the quest wouldn’t progress.

His eyebrows twitched at my words.

Pretending not to notice, I opened the waiting room door.

“Let’s just go home.”

Kang Ichae followed a half-beat later, chattering that he wanted to tell Jeong Dajun too.

Walking cheerfully in step, the chatterbox asked,

“How long do you have to practice to have those lines come out so smoothly?”

“It’s just natural talent.”

He seemed to mistake it for a compliment, but I was too lazy to explain, so I let it be.

***

[Wanna Sing With Me?

God-tier program, no arguments accepted]

[Kang Ichae is seriously amazing, how could they create such songs?]

[Yeonhu came up with the American bar concept and wrote the lyrics so passionately ㅠㅠ And then Kang Ichae added the ex-lover concept, instantly giving it a storyline… sigh…]

Even after the program Wanna Sing With Me? ended, it continued to receive rave reviews.

The solo stage released on YouTube also garnered a high number of views.

Most reactions were about how heartwarming and healing it was to see everyone working hard in their own spaces and helping each other rather than competing.

[Yeonhu seems to genuinely enjoy it so much, it makes me happy watching ㅠㅠ]

[1:41 Why does Seo Hoyun smile in such a heart-fluttering way…]

[“Hyung, I had fun too,” the timing of the comments was insane………]

Moreover, while it was true that Seo Hoyun brought Kang Ichae on board with the expectation of gaining some popularity, the attention he received far exceeded that.

[2:52 Kang Ichae is seriously something elseㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└When the featured part came on, I was blown away]

[The guy who chews gum like ‘Eh~ Wheh~ Neh Hehe’ = The guy who raps, “Still thinking it’s just a coincidence, your naivety stays the same”

Yes… Amazingly, they are the same person…]

[A genius at his main job, driving me insaneㅠ I love how he’s so playful off stage too, aaah]

The stark contrast between his usual demeanor and his stage presence garnered immense appeal.

And this was the same for Seo Hoyun.

His actions, done thoughtlessly as always, but when combined with a smile full of charm and some guilty remarks, struck people’s hearts directly.

[Seo Hoyun’s Forbidden List

No smirking

No eye smiles

No guilty remarks

No wearing black clothes to look cool

No calling the maknae “Bang Bang”

No teasing people in a heart-fluttering way

No staring intently with your arms crossed

No liking sweet things when you look like you only drink Americanos

No being sweet if you’re not going to date me.

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIsn’t the last one just what you wanted to say?]

Initially, it was just something fans laughed about, enjoying Seo Hoyun’s actions and the way he spoke.

[What clothes was Seo Hoyun wearing at this time??]

[Where are their training suits from?]

[The cap ㅠㅠ so cuteㅠㅠ]

However, gradually, various people began to mimic his clothes, his accessories, his way of speaking, his every action.

[Wait a minute]

Especially during a special broadcast music festival, people began to closely mimic Seo Hoyun’s words, gestures, and the way he smiled.

[Wait a minute, fuck, hold on]

Had they truly known his genuine character, such things wouldn’t have happened so easily.

[Is there a Seo Hoyun Syndrome going around…]

A small disaster occurred in South Korea.

[1] Reminder that the warning was the Anti-Love Doll.

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