29 - Haiyu's Surprise Visit
A knock echoed through the recording studio, and a beautiful woman with a slender, delicate figure and an air of fragility stepped cautiously inside. The BBG members spotted her and let out startled shrieks.
"Heck. Haiyu? Is that really her?"
"It's Haiyu! First time seeing her in person."
"Whoa. Senior Haiyu..."
"Wow... Her face is so tiny."
"She looks like she'd blow away in the wind..."
Suhyeon, too, jumped to his feet in surprise at Haiyu's sudden appearance, greeting her politely while a question bubbled up in his mind.
'Why the hell is Haiyu here all of a sudden?'
"Hello, Senior Haiyu."
"Hello. It's great to meet you all like this."
After the BBG members' boisterous introductions and greetings wrapped up, Suhyeon and Haiyu chatted alone.
"What brings you here, Senior?"
"I came to see you, Suhyeon."
"Me?"
"Yes. I actually tried to meet you yesterday, but my schedule was packed, so I couldn't make it to the company. Today I had some time, so I came to see you—and heard you were in the recording studio."
"But, Senior... you don't have to speak so formally. I'm younger than you."
"I'm still young too. We're only two or three years apart, right? And honestly, formal speech makes me uncomfortable."
"Got it. So, what can I do for you?"
As he asked, Suhyeon racked his brains, searching his memories.
'Did I mess around with Senior Haiyu too? I don't recall anything specific about her... Or maybe it's something else?'
"Park Sil-jang told me about you not long ago."
"Park Sil-jang... You mean Actor Team 1's Park Dongju, right?"
"Yes. I'm with Singer Team 2, but when I appeared in KBC's drama Producer, he helped me out a lot. We've gotten close since then."
"Ah, I see. So what did Park Sil-jang say that brought you here?"
"He told me to appear on Problematic Human recently. Said we need to boost YK artists' images. I said no, but he kept insisting I had to."
Haiyu bit her lip briefly before continuing.
"I kept refusing, so he made a deal. Someone else from our company would go first. If they did well and raised the company's image enough, I wouldn't have to. But if they bombed, then I'd step in..."
Suhyeon listened, dumbfounded, cursing Park Sil-jang inwardly.
'He stirs up the mess himself, then dumps the cleanup on someone else with a bullshit excuse. Did he pull the same crap on Senior Kim Seong-hui? This feels off...'
"So I cheered for you super hard watching Problematic Human on Sunday. But you did way better than I expected... Monday morning, I called Park Sil-jang, and he said I was off the hook. I owe you big time, so I wanted to at least buy you lunch or coffee."
"Hah. You really don't have to, Senior."
"No, I insist. Just imagining myself sitting there like an idiot, blank-faced and not solving a single problem... Ugh, it's horrifying."
"If you insist... alright."
"By the way, I overheard something outside earlier... That music sounded great. A new song? Who composed it?"
Gyeongbin jumped in eagerly from the side.
"Suhyeon hyung composed it. He's a total genius."
"Gyeongbin! Shut it for once."
Suhyeon glared at Gyeongbin's sulky face, then turned back to Haiyu.
"Yeah, I composed it... but why do you ask?"
"They called you a genius for a reason—you're great at composing too. Could I hear it properly one more time?"
A good while later, the BBG members and Haiyu headed to their usual barbecue spot near the company for lunch. As Suhyeon entered the restaurant, he heightened his senses to the max, scanning meticulously for any hitmen or fixers targeting Marvin.
'At my current end-stage Meridian Washing level, if I can't detect them, they're top-tier. No way pros like that are crawling around everywhere. Good—no suspects in sight.'
Feeling some relief, Suhyeon followed the server into a private room. Moments later, two female servers entered the room where BBG and Haiyu sat to take orders. Suhyeon sighed deeply at the sight of them.
"Hah. Hand it over. But just this once."
The older-looking server hesitated, then approached with an apologetic expression. Gyeongbin blinked in surprise.
"What's this? You know her, hyung? Wantting an autograph?"
"Sigh. Just watch."
Suhyeon extended his hand to the approaching server. She carefully handed over a thin book and pencil tucked under her arm.
As he took it, Suhyeon glanced at the other server by the door.
"You'll time me?"
"Yes, on my phone. Sorry—I'm just so curious..."
"It's fine. Not your first time either... But no more after this."
Seongbin, sitting beside him, peered at the book's title.
"Su~do~ku?"
Ignoring him, Suhyeon asked the server who'd brought the book.
"Which page?"
"Page 23. I've been stuck on it for three days..."
"Got it. Page 23... 9x9 grid. Starting now. Time me."
Minutes later, Suhyeon, scribbling numbers furiously, called out.
"Done."
The server timing him with her phone video yelped in excitement.
"41 seconds? Oh my god, no way! You really are a genius!"
"6x6 takes me under 20... 9x9 definitely takes longer."
"Suhyeon, can I post this on my SNS?"
"Post away, but say nice things, yeah?"
"Of course!"
"Then go for it."
Maybe because Haiyu was there, Suhyeon's tone had a touch of swagger. He slotted the pencil into the book and handed it back; the other server took it with reverent eyes.
After they finished ordering and the servers left, the ever-curious Gyeongbin spoke up.
"Hyung, does this happen a lot?"
"Sixth time in two days since Problematic Human aired. People keep shoving puzzles at me whenever they see me. I'm dying here. Guess they can't believe what they saw on TV."
"Whoa, really? I thought you were just talking nonsense at first."
"Spotted it the second she walked in with the book under her arm. It'll die down eventually. Even now, every quiz show PD's calling to book me."
"Then just go on more."
"Dude, one appearance and it's this bad. You think I'll do more? Hell no."
Haiyu asked timidly then.
"Um, Suhyeon."
"Yes, Senior?"
"What do you think about what I asked earlier?"
"It caught your eye that much?"
"Yes. It's not perfect yet, like you said, but with some arrangement, it'll be an amazing song. What do you think about me singing it?"
Robin, who'd been listening, hesitated before speaking.
"We haven't even decided if it'll be our comeback track... Isn't it a bit early to say?"
Suhyeon shook his head.
"Nah. This song's meant for a woman. Doesn't fit our comeback."
To organize his thoughts, Suhyeon reached for the spoon in front of him but paused.
'Haiyu's watching—tapping my palm with a spoon might look weird. I'm an idol now, after all...'
Moments later, thoughts sorted, he looked at Haiyu.
"Senior, one question first."
"What?"
"I know you're a singer-songwriter... Would you write the lyrics yourself?"
"Yes. If you'll allow it."
"Then my conditions are simple. Write lyrics that capture the title's vibe: 'Moonlight filling the night sky pours into my heart and shines.' And one more: I want to produce it myself."
"You'll produce it?"
"Yeah. I've been studying production lately. It's my song—I wanna try producing it."
"Hm. Alright. But..."
"But?"
"If your skills suck, I'll hand it to another producer. The song's too good to waste. Deal?"
Suhyeon met the gaze of Haiyu's huge, round eyes staring intently and grinned.
"Fine. If you think I'm not up to it, go ahead. But! No one else understands this song like I do."
Haiyu beamed and extended her pinky.
"Deal. So, that song's mine?"
He hooked his pinky with hers.
"Yeah. Promise."
After a free lunch courtesy of Haiyu, Suhyeon returned to the practice room with the others for a break. Sitting cross-legged in one corner, scrolling his phone, he pondered.
'Internet says hair DNA tests take max 12 hours. We've had plenty of time for ten tests... So why no word? Weird. Doesn't add up...'
After wrestling with it, he muttered so low no one could hear.
"Are they stalling? Or the results showed no blood tie? Or... someone's blocking it? Too little info to judge..."
Then the practice room door burst open with a high-pitched shout.
"Oppa!"