A Special Day
The new apartment had four bedrooms, and at Jongwoo's firm insistence, Rembrary and Jungseo ended up sharing the largest one while the remaining members each claimed one of the other three.
"Because you need at least one supervisor."
Rembrary grumbled about being denied a room of his own, but Jongwoo would not budge. Though he accepted the arrangement with visible displeasure, Rembrary told himself it could be worse — at least the man sharing his room was Jungseo.
"Had you ordered me to room with Taein or Cathy, I would have raged."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, look who's picking fights first these days."
Ignoring the grumbling Taein and Cathy, Rembrary turned to head into his room with Jungseo—
"Not yet."
—only for Jongwoo to catch him and march him right back out to the living room.
"Why so?"
What lecture was coming this time? Rembrary asked, making no effort to hide his annoyance. But Jongwoo's face was unexpectedly grave.
Drawing himself up in spite of himself, Rembrary listened as Jongwoo delivered his solemn warning, looking not just at Rembrary but studying every single member in turn.
"You know Big Master's boys live right next door, right?"
"What of it?"
"Oh Jung-shin's group!"
"Ah."
"Things have calmed down a little since you and Jung-shin started attending events together, so no more fighting. Never. Do not fight. Ever."
Taein scrunched up his face. "And if they start it first?"
"They won't. You saw how it went in the hallway earlier — awkward little hello and everyone moved on. Why would they even want a fight with you?"
The members nodded reluctantly. It wasn't exactly wrong. When they'd crossed paths in the corridor that day, the neighbors had been visibly startled, but they'd only managed a clumsy greeting before disappearing into their unit.
"Just gotta watch out for Jung-shin and Yeon-woo," Cathy declared flatly, and Jongwoo's eyes narrowed into a warning glare.
"And you keep that fist of yours in check. Understood?"
The single worst scenario Jongwoo could picture went like this: Yeon-woo and Oh Jung-shin got into a spat, and Cathy, watching from the sidelines, lost his temper and threw a punch at Jung-shin's jaw.
"I shall comply."
"Ugh, worrying over nothing... Fine, fine."
With the two troublemakers sorted out, Jongwoo flapped his hands and sent everyone off to finish unpacking — then stood there watching their retreating backs with a worried eye, Rembrary and Cathy in particular.
Contrary to his fears, however, no one brawled with Oh Jung-shin's group. The next day, Shin Jo-woon sent over an entire box of pudding and there was a brief uproar over how did he even get our address, but the matter settled peacefully once Jongwoo admitted he'd been the one to give it out.
The following days passed quietly.
September 22nd was a special day for Jungseo.
"Whose birthday?"
At Rembrary's bewildered question, Hye-gyeol stared back at him, somehow even more dumbfounded.
"Hyung, seriously? Unbelievable! You're closest with him and you don't even know that?"
"I have no memories, do I not?"
"I'd have asked way before now, even so."
"I know not even mine own birthday."
"...Oh. Then that's different. My bad."
September 22nd was Jungseo's birthday. It was also the day of his first script reading for his debut film.
Jongwoo arrived early that morning with an acting coach from LLL in tow.
"One more run-through before we leave. Practice!"
Are they not treating this rather differently from how I was treated? Rembrary found the sight of the two eager men more than a little absurd — until he remembered Jungseo's image within the company, and then it made perfect sense. Jungseo had built such a strong reputation as the dependable eldest brother who single-handedly raised a houseful of clueless youngsters that even acting instructors who despised idol-turned-actors would roll up their sleeves to help him like this.
"I suppose that would make me the gentle second-oldest."
"What are you talking about?"
"Our group."
"?"
"If Jungseo is our sturdy eldest, then I should be the gentle second son."
"More like an under-socialized dog?"
There was still pudding from the box Shin Jo-woon had sent yesterday. Rembrary pulled the box out of the fridge and a marker out of the drawer, and just as he began writing NOBODY TOUCHES THIS on the lid, Cathy snickered and jabbed him in the ribs, insisting he was joking.
"You're our precious maknae — ah, wait, Hye-gyeol's the maknae. You're our precious fourth, then."
While the two of them bickered, Jungseo gave the script one final read-through to check it over, and when the hour arrived, he left the dorm with Jongwoo.
"Anyone going to the office, ask Gam-jae for a ride. Yeon-woo, no fighting with Jung-shin. Cathy, keep those fists managed. Taein, the new song drops soon, so take care of that throat — don't strain it practicing right before the big moment. And Jungseo — oh, Jungseo, there you are. Let's go."
The door slammed shut, and the living room abruptly fell silent.
Rembrary crossed his arms and crouched down on the sofa. If today was Jungseo's birthday, then surely a gift was in order...
"Hye-gyeol."
"Yeah?"
"Didst thou buy Jungseo a gift?"
"Yep."
"Cathy."
"Nope."
"Taein?"
"Didn't buy one, but I made something."
"...How heartless."
How could there be four people in this room, and not one of them had thought to tell him about Jungseo's birthday?
Rembrary sulked and hugged his knees. Jungseo was the member he cherished most — and above all, the man was his Believer. He received a steady trickle of small kindnesses from him every day, and he truly wanted to give something back.
But with what...
He'd heard the settlement money was coming, but it hadn't actually arrived yet. In other words: broke. Even if he'd had money, he'd still be at a loss what to buy — but no matter. The point was, he had nothing.
After long deliberation, Rembrary texted his acquaintances to ask what one ought to give a group leader as a gift.
The first reply, from Sunwoo Sil, was of no help whatsoever.
The second reply, from Lim Yu-han, was also of no help whatsoever.
The third reply, from Jang Tae-ri, was barely any help either. Not one of the three seemed to register that Rembrary was flat, utter penniless.
Maeng Woo-shin, having grasped the state of Rembrary's finances, did at least reply accordingly — but his answer was no more useful than the rest.
That leaves only the whale, does it not.
But Shin Jo-woon, for whatever he was doing, didn't send a reply right away, and Rembrary eventually gave up waiting, carried his phone into his room, and fell asleep with a sigh. When he woke some twenty minutes later, a reply was finally waiting.
The whale, of all people, turned out to be surprisingly helpful. Rembrary leapt to his feet, struck by a moment of great enlightenment. Something with tomatoes in it — was that not pizza?
But... buying pizza required money.
After Rembrary sent the message, contact went silent for about ten minutes before a reply came.
Did the man take him for a fool...? Rembrary clicked his tongue and made his request anyway.
Anyone from the world Rembrary came from would have bowed to the ground in gratitude at the chance to hear a song laced with Divine Power in exchange for a mere three flat disks of dough. But this was not Rembrary's world, and Shin Jo-woon, who believed his singing was just singing, replied only with a string of laughing texts.
It was mockery, unmistakably — and yet Rembrary pressed the negotiation once more.
Settled! Giddy with triumph, Rembrary did a little shoulder dance before bounding up onto his bed. He could already picture exactly how happy Jungseo would be when he received his gift.
"How satisfying."
Jungseo came home later than expected, and Rembrary briefly fretted that he'd have to push back the nine o'clock delivery he'd arranged with Shin Jo-woon — but mercifully, Jungseo walked in at 8:50 PM.
Rembrary, along with every member who'd been standing by with their gifts at the ready, all came bounding out to the entryway at the sound of the door unlocking.
But Jungseo's expression was not good.
Granted, he was usually expressionless anyway — but today, his face was unusually rigid.
While the members traded uneasy glances, Jongwoo came in behind him and shut the door. He was carrying a cake box in one hand, and his face looked every bit as bad as Jungseo's.
Something had clearly happened at the script reading.
"What befell thee?"
Worried, Rembrary stepped closer and asked. Jungseo answered as if nothing were wrong.
"Huh? No, nothing. Just tired, is all."
But if it were mere tiredness, there was no way Jongwoo would be wearing that expression too.
Just as Rembrary opened his mouth to press the question again—
ding-dong — the doorbell rang behind the front door.
Jongwoo, who had only just closed it, opened it once more, and in walked a person in a full mascot costume, blowing into some strange contraption that let out a long, warbling beeeeeee.
What in the world is that thing, at a time like this...
Zero tact. Who on earth ordered that?
Sweeping his gaze over the stunned members, the costumed figure called out in a loud voice, "And who, might I ask, is today's star of honor?"
Rembrary still hadn't grasped what the thing was. Only when Cathy pointed a finger at Jungseo, and the mascot came wiggling and swaying over to drape an arm around his shoulders and holler, "Hee hee hee hee! Today's the happiest day of the year, isn't it? I'm a gift sent from Mr. Woo Yeon-woo to Mr. Jungseo!" — only then did Rembrary realize it was the event host Shin Jo-woon had dispatched.
That tactless bastard...
Every member, thinking something along those exact same lines, turned to look at Rembrary in perfect unison.
It wasn't as if Rembrary had known things would play out this way when he placed the order — the timing had simply been catastrophic. And so Rembrary found himself feeling terribly wronged. What he had requested from Shin Jo-woon was three pizzas, not one magnificently tone-deaf mascot costume.
But the mascot truly, genuinely could not read a room. Utterly oblivious to the leaden atmosphere hanging over the living room, it danced circles around the guest of honor, Jungseo, burst into song for good measure, and only then set down the pizzas from its enormous sack before finally shuffling out the door.
There were ten pizzas. Not a single person looked happy about it.
Everyone was too busy watching Jungseo's face.
Jungseo smiled faintly, said, "Thanks," patted Rembrary on the back a few times, and then practically fled into the bathroom.
Every gaze in the room swung around to Jongwoo at once.
"What happened, hyung?"
"Hyung, why's Jungseo-hyung like that?"
"Did something happen?"
"Did something bad occur?"
As four questions rained down on him simultaneously, Jongwoo let out a long sigh.
"It's... from the script reading. Something did happen."