Chapter 481
Chapter 481
This is the dorm.
Survivors… are practically non-existent.
“Ugh.”
“Sigh…”
It’s not like this is some disease apocalypse or anything.
We haven’t even had time to properly unpack in this new dorm because we’ve been so busy, and now, with no one even walking around normally, the place feels incredibly desolate.
‘Everyone’s just wasting away.’
Even him, of all people.
“Haha, a cold… I don’t even know how many years it’s been since I last had one.”
“…….”
Ryu Cheong-woo was also down for the count.
I looked back at the guy, who was smiling while taking fever reducers in the bed next to mine.
‘He did get hit by that relentless downpour of water.’
Of course, that’s probably not the only reason he’s out. This is a guy who remained perfectly fine without a hint of exhaustion even after three consecutive days of concerts.
Most likely, the accumulated stress and pressure from the company’s collapse, combined with the reckless forced march during the album preparation period and the Cha Yu-jin incident, all exploded at once.
‘It must have been even worse for him since he’s the leader.’
What’s impressive even in this state, however, is that he’s still in the best condition among us.
And the problem is that he knows it.
“Um, once the medicine kicks in, I’ll head over to the company for a bit…”
Good grief.
“Just rest. It’s not like we have a schedule.”
“…!”
“It won’t be too late to answer the company when they contact us first. It’s not like there’s anything urgent.”
“……Yeah. Okay.”
With a slightly bashful smile, Ryu Cheong-woo lay back down on the bed.
I also… just lay back down on top of my blankets for now.
‘Well… I guess there are days when we just need to rest like this.’
Now that the important things have been wrapped up.
I figured taking a day off wouldn’t hurt.
Whirrr.
A breeze blew along with the sound of the circulator running. That was enough.
It was actually quite funny that no one was complaining about the heat even though we hadn’t turned on the air conditioner on this summer day.
‘Hmm.’
But there was one exception.
[…It’s hot.]
“Turn on the AC.”
“I’m not a piece of trash.”
Standing at the threshold of the room with a sullen look in his eyes was… the sole survivor.
Cha Yu-jin.
“Why is everyone sick?”
Surprisingly energetic, the kid had been wandering around the living room since early morning.
It seemed like he couldn’t go into his own room because Bae Se-jin was groaning in there.
For the record, the funniest part was that the situation on social media was being reported as the exact opposite.
That’s right.
People firmly believed that Cha Yu-jin had shown fighting spirit while sick, flying across the stage and creating a legendary performance.
In reality, the only guy officially labeled as sick was the only one among us who was actually perfectly fine.
“Everyone will be back on their feet by evening, so don’t worry about it.”
“…….”
So, Steer Cha Yu-jin looked quite flustered, though he tried not to show it. He’d been unable to sit still in one place for a while now.
‘……I can’t exactly tell him to go out and play, either.’
Still, I didn’t think this brat would run away again, rambling about control or whatever.
In fact, Steer Cha Yu-jin had become strangely quiet right after yesterday’s stage, but he seemed lost in thought in a good way.
It meant he had become quite stable.
‘Good.’
In that case.
I calmly spoke while pressing the back of my hand against my burning forehead.
“Close the door. I don’t think it matters if you turn on the AC in the living room.”
“…….”
“Actually… just swap rooms with Big Sejin—Lee Se-jin. I’ll have it swapped for you right away.”
Yeah, I should have done this from the start. If I’d given him a single room and guaranteed his privacy, he might have softened up a bit.
‘I was too obsessed with eliminating variables.’
Now that I’m relaxing a bit, I can finally see it. Being sick actually has its benefits. I looked at Steer Cha Yu-jin.
‘The tension between us seems to have eased quite a bit after performing together this time.’
It’s a phenomenon similar to how, even if the process of a group project was total crap, your ill feelings toward a teammate vanish as long as they participated properly and the result is an A.
‘This guy did well.’
Cha Yu-jin.
Without him, a significant portion of the buzz would have been shaved off.
First, he drew attention by suddenly appearing in the middle of the show when it seemed like he wouldn’t show up at all, and then his Star Quality stat of EX devoured all sorts of popular video rankings, generating a lot of hype.
‘…The reaction when our Cha Yu-jin returns might be a bit of a problem, though.’
I really hope he has the memories.
Anyway, this meant that in a situation where we were building a friendly relationship, there was a high probability that a suggestion would be well-received.
‘I think it’ll work this time.’
I looked at him with quite a bit of confidence.
However.
“I have no intention of taking a sick person’s room.”
“…!”
[I told you. I’m not that much of a piece of trash.]
And with that, he left the doorway, flapping the collar of his T-shirt.
“…….”
No, wait….
‘Then what do you want me to do?’
He’s spitting out the solution I gave him.
Why did he even say it was hot then? Was that just a build-up to say he wanted to eat ice cream or something?
I looked back at Ryu Cheong-woo for an objective confirmation, but I soon discovered that he had fallen fast asleep.
“…….”
Let’s just leave it.
‘…I don’t know anymore.’
Fine. Do whatever you want.
In the end, I decided to just guarantee Cha Yu-jin a reasonable amount of autonomy.
Meaning, I went as far as to crawl out of bed to say this:
“This is the manager’s number… it should be in your phone too. If you need anything, ask him to get you some ice cream or something.”
“…….”
“Just don’t go into detail about who’s sick or how.”
Seeing how word had leaked to another agency, I felt we needed to be careful until we could properly tighten security.
It’s hard to expect that much from this Cha Yu-jin, isn’t it?
‘This should be enough.’
However… Steer Cha Yu-jin let out a sigh.
What?
“OK. I get it now.”
“What…?”
“Go to bed, now.”
And I was pushed back into the room.
“……?”
Looking back, Cha Yu-jin was sitting on the sofa, holding his smartphone.
‘What is that guy doing?’
And this question was answered step by step.
First of all… less than an hour later, boxes of stuff arrived at the dorm.
Ding-dong.
‘Ice cream and… ice packs?’
And several daily necessities and food items.
Did I assume Cha Yu-jin had contacted the manager?
No. It wasn’t prepared by a company employee.
“You did this?”
“Yeah.”
He had ordered delivery from a mart himself.
“Mundae-hyung, you hated contacting the company. No?”
“…….”
“And any adult living in Korea can use this method.”
No, it’s not that I thought you couldn’t order delivery.
‘I just didn’t think you’d do it yourself because it seemed like too active a gesture for someone just passing through this life.’
“I should organize this….”
“Nope.”
However, Cha Yu-jin kicked Kim Rae-bin—who had stumbled out—in the butt to send him back to his room, and then he even organized the boxes he had ordered himself.
And surprisingly, Cha Yu-jin’s ‘do it yourself’ practice was only just beginning.
First, he went around giving everyone tumblers filled with warm and cold water.
“I-I’m fine….”
“Your face doesn’t look fine.”
After distributing ice packs wrapped in towels…
“Oh~? We had towels like this…?”
“I bought them.”
Eventually, he even reached the point of checking temperatures and confirming the timing for medication.
“Your fever hasn’t gone down yet. Use the ice pack.”
“…….”
I watched the guy leave after setting down the thermometer, suppressing a groan from the bed.
At this point, I was confused.
I’m… being nursed by Cha Yu-jin?
And by that guy?
‘Is this for real?’
I turned my head. Seeing Ryu Cheong-woo’s bewildered expression as he opened the towel of his ice pack, it seemed this was indeed reality.
However, we didn’t know that the pièce de résistance hadn’t even appeared yet.
An hour later.
“……Hyung.”
“What.”
“What is this smell?”
“…!”
I lifted my head and looked outside.
In the kitchen visible through the door, I could see a pot boiling.
The unique, savory scent of a rich broth was wafting from it.
“…??”
And standing in front of that pot was… Cha Yu-jin.
“…?!”
Cha Yu-jin is cooking?
I was curious as to what he had made, or rather, why he was bothering to make food for himself…
Surprisingly, the purpose of the cooking wasn’t self-sufficiency.
“Come out and eat.”
“…….”
He called the ailing guys to the dining table.
The members, who had been summoned in a daze, sat around the table and were able to identify the food he had made.
It was….
“Uh.”
“This is.”
It looked familiar.
—Chicken Soup for the Soul!
It was a recipe Cha Yu-jin had already attempted a few times.
‘Did he say his mother taught him?’
It seemed to be a flavor he had memories of. However, every time he had attempted this dish, the result was…
Once, he put in honey.
—Ack!
Once, he almost started a fire.
—Aaaaah!
In short, it had been a spectacular failure.
There wasn’t a single person here who didn’t remember that.
“…….”
“…….”
Bae Se-jin’s trembling voice was heard.
“…Why this, when ordering porridge was an option?”
I couldn’t even argue with that.
However… I looked up at Cha Yu-jin in the kitchen, who was still cleaning up.
Specifically, at his hand movements.
‘Hmm.’
Those were the movements of someone with experience.
It meant he hadn’t just tried it on a whim. He had been cooking regularly before.
In that case.
‘…Was there a period when the company didn’t take good care of him?’
In short, it was likely a case where his skills improved out of necessity.
I thought about it for a moment and then gave a short answer. Since I couldn’t explain everything, I just said:
“…We should be grateful, at least.”
“……Right.”
At those words, everyone sat up straight as if they had made a firm resolution in unison. They looked determined to eat whatever came out.
Soon, Cha Yu-jin sat at the table, bringing along something like soft white porridge, perhaps as a side dish.
The members flinched, but Steer Cha Yu-jin opened his mouth without much reaction.
“It might be a bit unfamiliar. But this is the only dish I know how to make for when someone is sick.”
“…….”
Instead of the words ‘Then you should have ordered porridge,’ Seon A-hyun’s joyful lead came out.
“I-I’ll eat well…!”
“Thanks.”
And a moment after they picked up their spoons with quite a bit of solemnity…
“…!”
“It’s delicious…?”
“It has a unique flavor!”
Surprisingly, Cha Yu-jin’s chicken soup tasted quite good.
‘No, it’s actually really good.’
If it suited the palate of a sick person from another country, it meant it was truly delicious.
Steer Cha Yu-jin gave a small smile.
“Good.”
The meal began in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
And as the sick guys filled their stomachs, they seemed to regain some energy and slowly began to open their mouths and chatter.
“Yesterday’s Waterbomb… was fun.”
“Ah~ seriously. We all ended up like this because we enjoyed it too much, though!”
“Right. But Yu-jin had the best reaction, yet he’s the healthiest.”
Ryu Cheong-woo probably intended to smoothly lead the conversation toward ‘And I’m really grateful that you even took care of us like this.’
However, Cha Yu-jin reacted like this, smiling while slightly furrowing his brows.
“That reaction was also for ‘this’ TeSTAR Cha Yu-jin.”
“…!”
I didn’t step in.
‘It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to pick a fight.’
If anything, it felt like respect.
And now, there were others besides me who would counter him.
“S-Still… the stage people saw yesterday was done by you.”
“Right~ There were probably more people who just came for the event than our fans!”
“…….”
“E-Ehem, our Cha Yu-jin is also really good… but you were really good too. That’s why people liked it, because you did well.”
Cha Yu-jin was silent for a moment. Then he answered readily.
“I know.”
“……!”
He adjusted his posture at the table with a calm demeanor. It was a somewhat polite attitude.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity. And I apologize for my initial rude behavior. I’m sorry.”
Steer Cha Yu-jin bowed his head, and several startled members began to stagger as they nearly face-planted into the table.
Goodness.
“N-No. Yeah, it was good performing together…! I-I’m the one who’s sorry for not understanding well….”
“Uh-huh, right….”
The atmosphere relaxed even further.
It was a complete mood of reconciliation.
“Yeah~ We just have to get along well from now on!”
Well, I think this guy feels like he deserved the apology.
Anyway, the atmosphere of having built basic mutual trust… was really not bad.
“Good job.”
“I know.”
I chuckled after hearing the small exchange between Kim Rae-bin and Cha Yu-jin, then continued my meal.
And I don’t know if it was really thanks to Cha Yu-jin’s nursing, but a few hours later, in the evening…
All of TeSTAR had mostly recovered their strength.
“Go!”
“Se-jin is being rough.”
So, right now, it meant we were gathered in the living room, sniffing and playing games.
Tantatara tantarang!
I sat behind Bae Se-jin, who was roughly turning the controller, and a cautious Ryu Cheong-woo, watching the moving screen without a thought.
‘My head is still a bit dizzy.’
Surprisingly, Cha Yu-jin hadn’t gone into his room either and was sitting next to the sofa.
“Are you feeling a bit more comfortable?”
[I suppose so. Thanks to my friend and my fan.]
Yeah, Kim Rae-bin and… no, I told you I’m not a fan.
Well, setting that aside.
I asked casually.
“What about Cheong-woo hyung?”
Bae Se-jin is one thing because of the drug issue, but shouldn’t Ryu Cheong-woo be fine? He would have been active until the end.
However, Cha Yu-jin suddenly shut his mouth and scanned me.
What?
[Sometimes, it’s an artist’s duty to protect a fan’s dreams.]
“…?”
What are you talking about?
[Nothing.]
Cha Yu-jin backed off, but I roughly caught the vibe from his tone.
‘Nothing, my foot.’
It was clear that Steer Ryu Cheong-woo’s mental state had also shattered. I guess he was a bit of a different person than he is now.
‘Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.’
Anyway, Steer Cha Yu-jin seemed to have adapted quite well here, and he didn’t seem as uncomfortable or on edge as before.
Even now, Seon A-hyun, who had brought peaches, was talking to him just fine.
“I, still, for the remaining time… I hope we get along well. I-If there’s anything you want to try, we can try doing it together.”
“Yeah. Just say the word!”
Steer Cha Yu-jin was silent for a moment, but soon shrugged his shoulders.
“OK.”
“Ooh!”
A brief cheer of welcome erupted in the living room. It was an atmosphere as if we were recruiting a new teammate.
‘Hmm.’
Not bad.
I chuckled.
It was then.
[Update Complete!]
…Huh?