Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Translator: Penny
Chapter 111
Yeah, that's not true.
It was clearly just trolling, and since I knew the truth, I tried to ignore it. But the problem was that Ryu Jaehee saw the message before it scrolled out of view.
For a fleeting moment, the expression on Ryu Jaehee's face vanished as he stared down at the chat window. It was so brief that I almost thought I'd imagined it.
What's with the assault claims up there?
Let's not feed the trolls~
I heard rumors about that a while back, but was it actually true?
Why are they stirring up drama on our debut anniversary?
The malicious troll message was quickly pushed up by the flood of other comments.
As if he'd never frozen up, Ryu Jaehee smiled again and began reading the questions in the chat.
"Eden Hyung got a question! 'If you had to take one member to a deserted island, who would it be?'"
Without hesitation, I answered immediately, "Hajun, of course."
"Why?"
"Why? Honestly, if any of you had to choose one member, you'd all pick Jun too, right?"
Seo Yehyeon and Kim Dobin nodded in agreement.
"That's true. He's a great cook, his survival skills are maxed out, and he always stays calm, so he wouldn't make me anxious."
Well, anyone would seem calm compared to Kim Dobin's constant fussing.
As everyone readily agreed, only Ryu Jaehee shook his head.
"I'm taking Eden Hyung with me."
Suddenly finding myself the star of Ryu Jaehee's desert island fantasy, I could only scratch my head.
"Aren't you a little too obsessed with me? Now you want to take me to a desert island?"
"Just look at how Eden Hyung single-handedly handled all the manual labor during our shipwreck special. He's clearly unmatched when it comes to physical tasks."
"Ah, so you're taking me as your worker?" I grinned crookedly, and Ryu Jaehee tilted his head.
"But isn't Hyung taking Hajun Hyung for the same reason?"
"Hey, I can handle everything myself. I just chose Jun because I know I'll feel most at peace with him."
"And what about with us?"
"It would be too noisy."
As I responded nonchalantly, Kim Dobin chimed in noisily from beside me, as if to prove my words true.
"What about food? Eden Hyung can only make Tornado Omelets and ramen, and we won't have any of that on a deserted island."
"Since there won't be any cooking equipment or seasonings anyway, cooking skills don't really matter, right? We'll just grill fish and pick fruit—that's all we can do. The real challenge will be how well we can catch fish and gather fruit."
Ryu Jaehee answered earnestly, flicking his fingers back and forth.
"And from our experience, this Hyung stays completely calm in survival situations. He's totally reliable."
"Come on, Hajun Hyung is the ultimate master of staying calm. And even grilling fish requires some cooking skill!"
"You have to catch the fish to eat it. Don't you remember when Eden Hyung caught all the fish on Jeju Island?"
"If that's the logic, even if Eden Hyung brought back fruit, we'd have to eat it with the peel because no one here knows how to peel it except Gyeon Hajun and Seo Yehyeon."
Fuck, only Gyeon Hajun and Seo Yehyeon can peel fruit here. Why are you guys picking on me when you can't even do it yourselves?
"My beloved Maknae Line, are we Pokémon? Are you measuring our combat power—no, survival skills?" I asked gently, forcing a wide smile to keep the sarcasm from slipping into my tone.
"Instead of learning how to peel fruit and grill fish to serve your hyungs, you're trying to boss us around?"
"No, but when you're picking someone to take to a deserted island, you don't usually think about who will take care of you! If that was the plan, I would have picked Yehyeon Hyung, who eats so little and only eats fruits and vegetables!"
Ryu Jaehee shouted urgently, trying to shake off the frame of being a wicked younger brother who only wanted to exploit his hyungs.
Gyeon Hajun, who had been reading the chat, asked with a serious expression, "Wait, how did we end up discussing deserted island member picks so seriously during our 1st anniversary talk?"
"Because I chose you."
My simple answer made Kim Dobin pause to consider before nodding.
"That's not wrong."
After that, I continued to respond appropriately to the members' comments while keeping an eye on the chat.
Thankfully, no more inflammatory messages targeting Ryu Jaehee appeared.
As it was time to wrap up, Ryu Jaehee subtly moved his body, which had been cleverly blocking the chat window.
"Ah, it's already time to wrap up. Did you all enjoy today's broadcast, Daydream?"
"Thank you so much for celebrating our 1st anniversary! Reve will continue to be with Daydream for our 10th and 20th anniversaries!"
I only made it to the 7th anniversary... My conscience is pricking me, haha.
"Dream of me! This has been Reve!"
"See you again, Ilmongs!"
With that, we successfully concluded our 1st anniversary live broadcast and returned to our dorm.
Sipping from the straw of my 1,500-won takeout iced Americano, I gazed through the balcony window at the sky, which had already darkened into evening.
I found Ryu Jaehee sitting on the veranda, blankly gazing up at the sky with a cup of chocolate latte in hand.
After hesitating between leaving him alone or striking up a conversation, I opened the veranda door and stepped inside. Ryu Jaehee turned his head at the sound, and I asked, "What do you want? Should I leave you alone, or would you like me to stay?"
"I'd appreciate it if you stayed," Ryu Jaehee replied, his usually round eyes softening.
I plopped down beside him and gazed up at the starless evening sky. The Americano I'd been sipping to quench my thirst was already empty.
Ryu Jaehee broke the silence first.
"Did I ever tell you? I liked it here because even though there were some old-fashioned types, there wasn't any real bullying or cliques."
I did it once before, before the regression. Crying my eyes out, then laughing through the tears.
"Yehyeon Hyung can be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, though. His old-fashioned ways pissed me off so much that I just started speaking informally to him."
To be precise, it wasn't so much that he pissed me off, but that he seemed so ridiculous.
As I nodded to myself in agreement, Ryu Jaehee narrowed his eyes and said, "You know, Hyung? Old-timers never realize they're being old-fashioned."
"Yeah, yeah, Seo Yehyeon doesn't seem to get it either. Oh, now that you mention it, that makes sense."
I replied casually, nodding my head. Ryu Jaehee let out a deflated-sounding laugh, repeatedly opening and closing his mouth as if trying to find the right words.
"So... what happened at my previous agency was..."
Ryu Jaehee paused mid-sentence and lowered his head, his voice barely audible as he mumbled, "I'm sorry, Hyung. I can't talk about it right now. Just thinking about it makes it hard to breathe."
Watching him, I felt a sudden craving for a cigarette, something I'd quit long ago. I sighed and chewed on a straw instead, a poor substitute.
"What do you have to apologize for?" I asked. "Those trashy bastards are the ones who should be apologizing."
As I chewed on the straw, contemplating how to deal with them this time, I gently patted Ryu Jaehee's head.
"Don't talk about it if you don't want to."
With Kim Dobin, I'd needed to hear the story firsthand because I hadn't known what had happened. But Ryu Jaehee had already had his breakdown before the regression, so I had a rough idea of what had occurred.
There was no need to force him to relive it.
"Would I trust some anonymous troll over my own teammate, you?" I teased Ryu Jaehee, who remained stubbornly silent.
"Even if it were true, your punches wouldn't hurt much. At most, they'd split my lip."
"Huh? But Hyung, I've never even hit you before. How do you know?"
Well, your punch machine score is in the 700s.
I knew because we'd all taken a turn on the punch machine during a variety show shoot at an arcade before my regression.
For the record, I scored the highest. I even broke the arcade's record and got another chance.
Of course, the team atmosphere back then wasn't as warm as it is now, so I didn't get much of a reaction.
"Hey, I can tell just by looking at you."
I roughly ruffled Ryu Jaehee's hair. Normally, he would have shaken his head and wriggled out of my grasp, but today he willingly accepted my touch.
"Kid."
At my call, Ryu Jaehee turned to look at me.
Before his growth spurt, Ryu Jaehee looked much younger than the last image I had of him in my memory.
That's why I couldn't help but feel vulnerable toward him now.
Even if it was just to repay the twenty-four-year-old Ryu Jaehee who had clung to me until the very end.
"Even if you want to ignore it, the day will come when you have to face that past."
"I know... They'll probably debut soon too."
Muttering to himself, Ryu Jaehee buried his face in his knees.
"So, uh..."
The words felt too embarrassing to say, and he struggled to get them out. He tossed aside the straw he'd been chewing on, raked his fingers through his hair, and blurted out, "I just hope you weren't too hurt back then."
Back then, I was too focused on my own wounds to care about anyone else's. But now, even if I can't heal those old scars, I can at least stay by your side and hold your hand through the pain. So...
"When we go back, if things get tough, tell Hyung."
Ryu Jaehee stared at me blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"I never thought Hyung would say something like that. It's really unexpected."
"It's just experience, you know?"
"You're only three years older than me."
"Shut up, you brat."
My grumbling only made Ryu Jaehee laugh harder. He then pointed at the straw I had tossed aside.
"Hyung, you should probably pick that up and throw it away before Hajun Hyung sees it."
I obediently picked up the straw. Ugh, it's dusty. Who's on balcony cleaning duty?
Oh, right. Me.
"Ah, the day we've all been waiting for is finally here!" Kim Dobin shouted, holding a pen like a microphone as he stood in the middle of the living room.
"It's... Room Swap Day!"
For someone who had finally gotten his coveted single room, he seemed awfully excited about swapping.
"You were so desperate for a single room before," I said from the sofa, clicking my tongue. "You wouldn't budge even when I offered you a deal."
Kim Dobin scratched his head sheepishly. "I was happy for about a week. But after that, I got too lonely."
"If you get a single room again this time, you have to swap with Hyung."
"No, swap with me, Dobin!" Seo Yehyeon chimed in immediately, shamelessly staking his claim. I crossed my arms and glared at him before smoothly shifting my gaze to Kim Dobin.
"I already pre-booked him, Dobin. Life's first-come, first-served, you know?"
"Life's about connections, not speed. This Hyung believes Dobin wouldn't easily betray the bond between master and disciple."
"Someone who didn't even give his student a carnation on Teacher's Day has the nerve to talk? Hey, Dobin! I'm not kidding! 100,000 won and a solo track!"
"Then I'll offer 200,000 won!"
Not wanting to be outdone, Seo Yehyeon raised the stakes. I immediately countered with another 100,000 won.
"Seriously, are you guys having an auction?" Ryu Jaehee asked, clicking his tongue as he watched Kim Dobin grinning ear to ear beside him.
It was Gyeon Hajun who finally stopped the fierce bidding war, where the stakes were skyrocketing by 100,000 won each round.
"We haven't even decided on rooms yet. The auction can wait until after that."
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny