Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Translator: Penny
Chapter 117
With our official activities concluded and plenty of time before the year-end award shows, Reve finally had a long-awaited break. Our agency granted us a generous two-week vacation.
Though the Chuseok holiday had long passed, I was glad the vacation wasn't during the festive season. It meant we could truly relax without the usual holiday pressures.
"I'm heading home, Hyungs!" Kim Dobin was the first to bolt out of the dorm.
You'd think his hometown was some remote province six hours away by car, but Dobin's family lived right in Incheon.
"I've made gomtang. Just heat it up and eat. Add salt and pepper if it's bland," Gyeon Hajun, whose hometown was Suwon, also left the dorm. That left me, Ryu Jaehee (both from Seoul), and Seo Yehyeon, who was from Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province.
As Ryu Jaehee closed the lid on the pot of bear bone soup that Gyeon Hajun had left simmering, he asked, "Aren't you guys going home?"
"I messed up the dates and booked my flight for four days from now," Seo Yehyeon replied calmly. "I'll be leaving then."
"What about Eden Hyung?"
"Me? I have a reason to stay at the dorm until the day after tomorrow, so I'll probably leave in three or four days too. But Jaehee, aren't you going home?"
Ryu Jaehee nodded and grumbled, "I'm just going to stay at the dorm. Even if I went home, I wouldn't have my own room anymore, and I'd have to take care of my younger siblings' dinner. Mom gave my room to my younger brother because I'm staying at the dorm. Ugh, why doesn't middle school provide dinner at school?"
"Ah, your younger siblings are in middle school?" Seo Yehyeon asked.
Ryu Jaehee nodded and trudged over to the sofa, leaning back against it.
"That's why I liked being the youngest here. Being the eldest is too exhausting..."
Is being the youngest really that easy? Seo Yehyeon thought, recalling his own time as the youngest member of the Underground Crew. He couldn't quite relate. In that world, being the youngest didn't mean being constantly coddled.
Seo Yehyeon turned to Ryu Jaehee with a worried expression. "So, if Yoon Eden and I move out of the dorm, you'll be all alone? Can you handle that?"
"Hey, I'm not a seven-year-old kid. Besides, Dobin Hyung will be back on weekends anyway. School hasn't let out for summer break yet."
That was right. Kim Dobin was a high school student who had to attend school even during vacation to meet his attendance requirements.
I was also worried about leaving Ryu Jaehee and Kim Dobin alone in the dorm. I figured I should drop by occasionally to check on them.
With a sigh, I got up. I went into my room, put on my coat, and carefully donned my hat and mask. As I emerged, Ryu Jaehee asked, "Hyung, where are you going?"
"A friend who's in the military is on leave."
"Whoa, Hyung, your friend's in the army?"
"Hey, I'm twenty-one years old, you know."
The only thing I was truly grateful for about this damn System was that it had allowed me to regress before I had to serve in the military.
I'm so thankful it spared me the tragedy of having to go to the army twice!
"I'm so sick of gomguk..." Ryu Jaehee muttered, sprawled across the breakfast table.
"Me too..." I agreed, stirring the milky broth with my spoon for no particular reason.
With all my high school friends busy with university, I was stuck eating breakfast and lunch at the dorm. As a result, I was now on my fifth consecutive meal of gomguk.
As I sipped the bland broth, I desperately craved a hangover soup. Damn this hangover.
"Still, Hajun made this for us out of consideration. We should at least finish it. It would be a waste to throw it away," Seo Yehyeon said, staring lifelessly at the gomguk. She had even abandoned her diet to honor Gyeon Hajun's thoughtfulness. Her expression suggested she wanted to dump it immediately.
"Jun wouldn't want us suffering like this either."
"Then call Hajun and ask if we can throw out the gomguk."
"You do it, Hyung. I can't."
After passing the buck back and forth, they finally gave up and reluctantly spooned down the gomtang.
"If we add ramen noodles, it'll be sarigomtang ramen..."
"Should we buy somyeon noodles and sliced beef to make seolleongtang instead?"
"Hey, you idiot! Seolleongtang and gomtang are basically the same thing!"
Except for Seo Yehyeon, who didn't eat dinner, Ryu Jaehee and I were trembling with dread as the evening mealtime approached, desperately brainstorming ways to use the gomguk. We were sick of just eating it with rice.
Just then, my phone rang.
Seeing the caller ID, I took a deep breath. The moment had come.
"Yoon Eden! You little bastard, get over here now!"
The moment I answered, a furious voice exploded from the phone. I held the device away from my ear and grumbled, "What's your problem?"
"Ugh, why?! I told you I wasn't going! You said I didn't have to come!"
"Shut up and hurry up! If you're not coming home, meet us at the hotel!"
The call abruptly ended, and I stuck my tongue out at the screen.
As if I'd go. I still hadn't forgotten the humiliation I suffered there before the regression.
Wait a minute... things are different now, aren't they?
Back then, I was just a flop idol. Now I'm Rising, free from that label. This could be the perfect chance to get revenge for what happened before the regression.
"Hyung, Jaehee, wanna grab dinner at the hotel buffet?"
"Out of the blue?"
"Yeah, my treat."
Seo Yehyeon, who had been refusing all along, finally relented after Ryu Jaehee whined that he wouldn't be able to swallow a bite if Hyung was left alone at the dorm.
"Yoon Eden, you crazy bastard..."
Seo Yehyeon trembled violently as he read the large banner at the hotel banquet hall, muttering in a chilling voice, "What are you thinking, bringing us to your grandfather's eightieth birthday party?!"
Beside him, Ryu Jaehee let out a hollow, detached laugh.
"It's okay, it's okay," I reassured him. "I asked my mom, and she said two extra guests are fine. My grandfather will be happy to see more people celebrating with him."
I winked at Seo Yehyeon, who was gritting his teeth and massaging the back of his neck. He couldn't bring himself to raise his voice.
"But didn't you say you were treating?"
"Since my parents are paying too, it's basically the same as me treating, right?"
"Hyung, you're a real madman."
Ryu Jaehee shook his head, sighing in exasperation.
My mother, dressed in a hanbok, spotted me and strode over.
Before I could even register the emotion of seeing her face, which looked younger than my last memory of her before the regression, she smacked me hard on the back.
"You're unbelievable! Coming to Grandfather's eightieth birthday celebration in a tracksuit? A tracksuit?! Aigoo, I can't take this anymore, really!"
"Ow! It's not a tracksuit, it's a sports jersey!"
"And what's all that dangling from your ears? Take it off, now!"
"Ah, it's fashion! Fashion!"
Now targeted by the piercing-shaped arrow, I desperately defended my ears.
"You, take out those piercings and take off your jacket right now. People will criticize your mother if they see you like this. At least dress appropriately for the occasion!"
"But I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt underneath. Wouldn't it look even stranger to ignore the season?"
Noticing my mother's brow furrow, I quickly pushed Ryu Jaehee and Seo Yehyeon forward.
"Mom, these are my group members. This is Seo Yehyeon, and this is our youngest member, Ryu Jaehee."
"Didn't Hajun come?"
"He went home."
As I watched the awkward greetings between my mother and the two members, I scanned the already crowded tables, quickly searching for any available seats.
Leading the members toward the least occupied table, I was spotted by my cousins at the adjacent table, who greeted me warmly.
"Oh, Eden! Long time no see?"
This was my cousin Hyung, who had been accepted into law school.
"Jeonga told me you debuted? A friend of hers is a fan of your group. Where did you debut? TK?"
This was my cousin Nuna, a medical student. She must be in her second year of pre-med by now.
Since this nuna only knew TK, the biggest of the three major entertainment agencies, there was a 100% chance she wouldn't recognize LnL, a Dirt-Poor Agency. I simply shook my head in response.
"Isn't Yoon Jeonga coming?"
"She's coming straight from the academy. Jeonga's already a high school senior, you know. If another high school dropout comes from here, Grandfather will be furious."
My cousin, who treated acceptance to S University like winning the civil service examination, chuckled as he answered my question.
Ever since we were kids, he'd been endlessly compared to me based on our grades during family gatherings.
Of course, he harbored his own resentment toward me—because he was only 171 cm tall.
"What was that? I can't hear you over your height."
I flicked my pinky in my ear and turned back to Ryu Jaehee and Seo Yehyeon, who were still sitting awkwardly.
I heard Seo Yehyeon huffing behind me, but I ignored him. Serves him right for starting trouble.
"Seriously, of all the things I've done in my life, crashing someone else's grandfather's eightieth birthday party for a free meal is a new one."
I patted Seo Yehyeon's back lightly at his exasperated muttering.
"It's fine. It's just one meal, right? Even Mom doesn't mind."
"But Hyung, you call her 'Mom' when you talk to her, but 'Mother' when you talk to us."
"It's a bit embarrassing to call her 'Mom' in front of others at my age, you know?"
As we exchanged these meaningless words, the eightieth birthday celebration soon began.
I was yawning through the mind-numbingly tedious formalities when the emcee announced it was time for the grandchildren to pay their respects. My cousins and I sluggishly rose to our feet.
I walked toward the chair where Grandfather sat, blinking slowly.
Before the regression, his words and expression would have wounded me deeply, causing me to storm out immediately. But having experienced it once already, I doubted they would sting as much this time.
Grandfather's kind face, which had been sweeping over his cousins, hardened into a scowl the moment our eyes met.
As a former judge who had ensured all his children and grandchildren attended prestigious universities and secured professions ending in "-sa" (lawyer, doctor, etc.), Grandfather saw me—who hadn't even gone to college and had chosen a "stone"-related profession—as his greatest disappointment.
Despite the fact that, before the regression, I had become the most famous and wealthiest of all his grandchildren.
"I told you not to show your face until you quit this showman nonsense. Eden, I have no intention of accepting your New Year's bow. Go back inside."
Before the regression, I was already a flop idol, and the whispers of my relatives were enough to crush me. When Grandfather issued his eviction order, I couldn't contain my emotions and stormed out.
But I'm not the Yoon Eden of the past, the one who would be hurt by such words.
I glared at my grandfather, who was staring daggers at me, and retorted nonchalantly, "What's wrong? I'm doing work that involves the '사' character, you know."
"What? What kind of work?"
"Songwriting."
I could hear my cousin sister beside me desperately trying to stifle her laughter.
"And I'm not a 'showman,' I'm an artist. Please refrain from making derogatory remarks about my profession. Family scandals can end up on the list of celebrity controversies, you know."
As I spoke, adopting a prayer-like posture, Grandfather's face flushed crimson. I bowed at lightning speed and darted back to my seat.
I couldn't afford to be kicked out now, not before I'd even finished the finale.
📝 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