Chapter 242: Prohibited Food (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 242: Prohibited Food (1)
The comeback date was fast approaching. Naturally, Spark became slaves to practice and meetings.
“We scheduled the meeting to match our school dismissal time! See you in the conference room later!”
Jeong Seong-bin insisted so earnestly before leaving. Even though he was clearly wearing a school uniform, he seemed like a proper member of society. He truly was the talent I’d pegged as the perfect orientation lead from the moment I first saw him.
Checking my watch, I saw it was already the promised time. I turned off the music and spoke to the guys in the practice room.
“Shall we head up?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay...!”
Choi Je-ho and Park Ju-woo stretched their legs a few times and stood up.
As always, we headed for the emergency exit instead of the elevator to burn calories. Kang Gi-yeon was exempted, however, as it was mentioned that the stairs could be bad for his knee joints depending on his posture.
As we climbed the stairs, Choi Je-ho suddenly threw out a question.
“What did you say we’re talking about today?”
“I told you we’re fixing the comeback live schedule. Didn’t you see the notice?”
“I forgot.”
Choi Je-ho gave an answer that made my blood pressure rise.
It wasn't like we needed to prepare anything specific just to set a live broadcast schedule. It wasn't like we were picking an auspicious date from a fortune teller or anything.
But still! If a meeting has been scheduled! Shouldn't you at least prepare a minimal opinion?! Even just a topic for content!
Just as I felt a weight pressing on my chest, a conversation I’d had with Choi Je-ho in the emergency exit flashed through my mind.
‘Why are you the one doing that?’
On the day we had a conflict because I wanted to use family-related themes for self-produced content, Choi Je-ho had said that to me as I tried to stop him.
‘Coming up with ideas, planning album concepts, writing press releases, tracking album sales... Is that even your job in the first place?’
A typical idol wouldn't go this far. There might be differences in how actively they voice their opinions, but that was about it.
This overlapped with a question Lee Cheong-hyeon had tossed at me while I was preparing for an advertisement recently. He asked why we had to go this far.
His tone hadn't been sarcastic. However, it was enough to give me pause. The point Lee Cheong-hyeon raised was a question anyone could have.
‘Am I expecting too much from these guys?’
They probably just want to be normal idols. I’m the one who’s impatient, not them.
I’m the one struggling to hit our KPIs and pushing them, and because of my own bitterness, I’m grinding down kids who are already trying to do more.
I’ve already had one experience I regretted; why am I doing something that will make me feel guilty again?
Instead of finding an alternative, I’m just negatively affecting the team.
‘A human without the ability to learn from experience is truly helpless. And incompetent.’
My pace slowed down bit by bit.
My head was filled with idle thoughts. Suddenly, my mood plummeted to rock bottom. It was strange how fast it happened.
Why have I been having such mood swings lately? What’s the cause?
Did I mess with the negative emotion perception rate incorrectly? Should I have lowered the perception rate even more than I thought?
But I didn't have time to adjust that right now. It would be troublesome if I accidentally moved the scroll the wrong way and caused another misunderstanding.
Should I just send them back down to practice now?
Like right before the debut, I could handle most things myself and shield the Spark members from the company and the outside world as much as possible so they could focus on their main job...
“Hyung, why aren't you coming...?”
Park Ju-woo, who was walking ahead, turned back and asked.
It was strange. I kept feeling a surge of emotion. My feelings were all over the place.
And it wasn't just today.
When I found out Hong Un-seop smoked in the car and drove like a maniac, or when he forced his thoughts on others.
When thoughts of my older sister or Department Head Nam came to mind and a switch was flipped like just now, I felt myself sinking to the bottom. Even though I had been doing perfectly fine, it happened suddenly, without warning.
So, lately, I...
I don't think I can handle my emotions. Not since that time I completely lowered my negative emotion perception rate to the limit.
At first, I thought I was feeling emotions at a level similar to right after my regression, but I was wrong. Even if the numerical value of the emotion perception rate was similar, the degree to which it actually affected my body seemed different.
It’s like how after experiencing a four-day work week because of a public holiday, going back to a five-day week is agonizingly difficult. Even though you used to live a life where you went to work five times a week.
Where exactly am I getting this stress from?
Hong Un-seop? That man hasn't been around long enough for that.
Or is it because I think of my sister often? Because that bastard Hong Un-seop reminded me of her accident?
Or conversely, because I’m becoming increasingly unsure of how much I actually remember about her?
If not that, is it simply a side effect of returning to daily life after experiencing the "good old days" when I couldn't feel negative emotions? But if I was feeling chronically depressed like this, that was a problem in itself, wasn't it?
Above all, is it normal for my mood to swing from high to low like this without a moment's rest?
When I lifted my head, my eyes met the two who were watching me.
Not knowing how to answer, I stammered out a lie.
“I was wondering if I forgot something.”
“...Should we go back down?”
“No. I was mistaken.”
My head throbbed. I felt like I’d need to take some headache medicine once the meeting was over.
Jeong Seong-bin’s group had arrived first. As soon as we opened the conference room door, their faces brightened, and they jumped to their feet. I wondered how they could be so happy to see their members when they saw each other every single day. It was something hard to understand.
With the planning team arriving last, everyone was gathered. Ju-gyeong, who entered with the team leader, lightly shook a drink carrier.
“Chan-yeong left these for you guys to drink during the meeting. Everyone, grab your drink!”
Man, he must be the most distressed one right now, yet he still looked after something like this.
I went to grab my drink with my name on it as usual, but something was off.
My drink, which should have been a yogurt smoothie or chamomile tea, had been replaced by something unfamiliar.
It seemed they had run out of ingredients. At the franchise cafes in this neighborhood, it seemed no one drank yogurt smoothies, so they often said they couldn't take orders because they were out of stock.
Fortunately, the name of the menu was written on the seal.
“Barley Latte? Is this caffeine-free?”
“I’ll look it up.”
Kang Gi-yeon, who happened to have his laptop open, typed ‘Barley Latte caffeine’ into a search portal. Posts like ‘Barley Latte made of barley, so no caffeine!’ flooded the screen.
“Looks like it doesn't have any.”
“If you’re worried, do you want to swap...?”
Park Ju-woo, who had received his usual yogurt smoothie, held out his cup. For a guy who rarely touched food that wasn't his, it was a huge gesture of kindness.
“It’s okay. I like barley tea. Won't a latte taste similar?”
Fearing Park Ju-woo might insist on swapping again, I quickly took a sip of the barley latte. It tasted like nutty milk.
About twenty minutes after the meeting began in a relatively good atmosphere.
‘...I think something’s wrong.’
I was faced with a predicament that felt like my stomach was turning inside out. To use a metaphor, it was similar to the feeling I had before I knew green tea had a lot of caffeine—when I drank a cup of tea and felt so nauseous I couldn't pull myself together for three hours.
I kept feeling the urge to gag, so I had to cover my mouth with my hand throughout the meeting. Someone asked if there was a part of the proposal I was uncomfortable with, and I broke into a cold sweat trying to explain myself.
The sensation of nausea soon turned into the feeling that I was about to vomit. I also felt a pain as if something was pressing down on my chest. The sound of my heartbeat echoed in my skull.
Was I really under that much stress? Enough to vomit during a meeting? No matter how many worries I had because of UA lately, surely UA wasn't as bad as Hanpyeong Industry?
Still, I had my human dignity; I didn't want to throw up in the conference room. As the scheduling notices were wrapping up, I cautiously raised my hand.
“I’m sorry... I’m not feeling very well. Could we take a short break?”
“Huh? Iwol, are you sick?”
The eyes of everyone in the room fell on me. I wanted to just say let’s take a break if possible, but I felt like Kang Gi-yeon would give me another earful if I did.
Sure enough, Kang Gi-yeon was already watching me with narrowed eyes. I stood up, pressing the back of my hand against my mouth.
In that instant, the world spun. My chest ached as if something was crushing it, and I couldn't breathe.
As if I had experienced this once before.
Kim I-wol, who said he wasn't feeling well, stood up with a pale face.
But that only lasted a moment.
Kim I-wol collapsed to the floor, clutching his chest. Park Ju-woo, who was sitting right next to him, rushed to Kim I-wol, who was gasping for air.
At Park Ju-woo’s frantic questioning, Kim I-wol painfully opened his eyes. Then, he muttered in a faint, dying voice.
“...A bag.”
“What?”
“A bag, please...”
In that moment, everyone remembered Kang Gi-yeon suffering from hyperventilation in the waiting room.
‘Is Hyung having one too?’
With that thought, Jeong Seong-bin handed over a bag he had received from a staff member. Kim I-wol pulled the opening of the bag wide and buried his face in it.
While still clutching his clothes with one hand, Kim I-wol put his other fingers into his mouth and forced himself to throw up what he had consumed.
Jeong Seong-bin quickly took off his jacket to cover Kim I-wol’s upper body.
All he’d had before the meeting was about half a bowl of salad and a drink. Even the salad should have been mostly digested by now. A pale liquid mixed with saliva trickled down Kim I-wol’s chin.
Lee Cheong-hyeon quickly patted Kim I-wol’s back. Without even being able to open his eyes properly, Kim I-wol gripped the bag and vomited liquid.
“Ah...”
Kim I-wol, who couldn't seem to lift his body from the floor, groaned while clawing at the area around his heart. The sound of his breathing becoming more labored was audible.
“Move aside.”
Choi Je-ho pushed Jeong Seong-bin and Lee Cheong-hyeon away and laid Kim I-wol flat on the floor. He kept curling his body as if in pain, but his heart seemed to be beating.
“Kim I-wol, wake up.”
When he lightly shook his shoulder, Kim I-wol furrowed his brows. The surroundings were frantic with the sound of someone calling an ambulance and others looking for a blanket.
Turning Kim I-wol’s head to the side, Choi Je-ho asked.
“Where is the problem? Your stomach? Or somewhere else?”
Kim I-wol gasped for breath. It was visible that his focus was blurring.
Kim I-wol painfully moved his lips.
My heart hurts.
The sound was almost inaudible, but that was definitely what Kim I-wol said.