Chapter 195: The Future of CLOSER
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 195: The Future of CLOSER
[The final decision will probably be made sometime today.]
The announcement channel on CLOSER’s Voicecord server.
Manager unnie’s final notice kept us all on edge.
[Guys... thank you so much for everything... I was so happy.]
Fumurin freaked out at Clover unnie’s words, which sounded like she was holding back tears.
[Ah! What are you doing, Unnie! No one said we’re finished yet, right? We might be able to keep going!]
[Right, right. Why would you say something so awful, Unnie?]
We said that, but honestly, we were just as nervous.
Sigh... What in the world is going to happen to us?
[But... well... you all know...]
It was an explanation we had heard bits and pieces of several times already.
That we had to graduate to make way for the second-generation members.
[Then can’t we just do collabs on our own?]
[Hmm... I think it would be difficult to get together and stream under the CLOSER name.]
Manager unnie’s words made my spirits sink.
It was because we had all grown so attached.
The bond between the members had grown even stronger after the wrap-up party for our third album recording.
They were no longer just avatars screaming and laughing on screen, but my actual sisters, younger and older.
That day, we hung out until very late before I went home, and Oppa had waited up for me until dawn.
He’d offered to come pick me up, but I refused.
Leah was there, and I didn’t want the other members to keep seeing Oppa’s face.
Han Taemin... is mine...
I felt a little pathetic for being so possessive, but it was all his fault for being so ridiculously handsome.
Whenever I brought it up, he’d ask if I wasn’t the one who had hundreds of thousands of men calling me cute, but that was Luka.
In reality, I was just Kim Doah, a pathetic student on a leave of absence.
[Ah. Looks like the official notice is out. One moment. I’ll read it and be right back?]
Once Manager unnie was gone, the conversation between us dwindled.
The atmosphere was similar to waiting for college acceptance results.
If we were next to each other, we would have been holding hands.
[First... yes... to get straight to the point, it seems there will be no major changes.]
The last, gossamer thread of hope snapped.
[Then... are we... disbanding... in November...?]
[Yes. The decision has been made to hold a formal graduation ceremony after the final concert.]
As the last bit of hope vanished, the first to burst into tears was the youngest, Fumurin.
[Hiiiing... Ah... Unnie... can’t you let us do it... just a little longer?]
The other unnies didn’t seem to be crying, but I felt a lump forming in my own throat.
[Ahaah... I can’t lose CLOSER. For real. Hwaaah.]
Fumurin wailed her heart out like a child.
Clover unnie soothed her in a calm voice.
[Fumurin. Hey. We still have a few months left.]
[We don’t even have twooo months left... What do you mean a few months... Hwaaaah...]
Maybe it was because she hadn’t been out of high school for long, or maybe she was just that honest with her feelings.
We comforted the sobbing girl with kind words.
[It’s okay. We can still do collabs as streamers, right?]
[We can still hang out and go eat delicious food together. It’s not like we’re going to become strangers overnight.]
Even as everyone offered words of comfort, I wondered if they didn’t all feel the same as Fumurin on the inside.
As I tried to soothe her, I found it difficult to endure the wave of depression washing over me.
It felt like just yesterday that I’d passed the audition.
But time, in its infinite rush, was already about to flip over the twelfth page of the calendar.
[Still, if you all do your best in the time you have left, I think it will become a good memory for the fans.]
A bitter smile formed on my lips at Manager unnie’s words.
She probably didn’t want to say that either.
She was the one who had been right beside us, supporting us all this time.
We had talked a lot, and she was someone we could always count on for help.
Fumurin poured out her pleas to the poor manager, but we all knew the decision wasn't hers to make.
[And please don’t forget to keep this a secret from the fans until the very end.]
Do not inform the Pink Army of my graduation.
It sounded like a line from a famous quote I’d seen somewhere.
She was the most down I had ever seen her since we started dating.
“Doah.”
My girlfriend was lying face down, her head buried in a pillow.
I moved closer and gently touched her shoulder, but there was no response.
“Should we get something delicious for dinner?”
“...No.”
“Then how about we go to the Han River for a change of pace?”
“...It’s cold outside.”
Normally, I might have nagged her, asking what was wrong with her today, but this wasn’t the time.
Because I had also heard the reason for her mood.
The date for CLOSER’s graduation had been set, and Doah’s disappointment seemed immense.
In the end, I chose to stay by her side rather than drag her outside.
“Scoot over a little.”
As she shifted her body to the side, her face, which had been hidden by the pillow, was revealed.
Her eyes were bright red.
It seemed she had been crying alone.
“Aigoo...”
I opened my arms and pulled her into a hug. Doah pressed herself against my chest and buried her face.
“...I’m so sad.”
Nodding in understanding, I began to pat her back slowly.
“I... no... we... made them so... much money...”
Sniffling, Doah began to earnestly explain from within my arms just how amazing they were.
“We even charted... at number six this time... why are they abandoning usss... sob...”
“I know. Your results are better than most actual singers.”
It was a level of success that most mediocre singers could only dream of achieving once in their lifetime.
“Hic...”
Finding her sniffling cute even in this situation, I reached over, pulled a few tissues from the box, and handed them to her.
After blowing her nose forcefully, Doah finally seemed to calm down and looked at me properly.
“...I’m hungry.”
“You said you didn’t want to eat.”
“But I’m hungry now.”
See. I knew she’d eat eventually.
Still, she didn’t want to go out, so I ordered her favorite tteokbokki.
She wasn’t great with spicy food, so I always ordered the mild version, but today, for her gloomy sake, I specially ordered the spicy one.
Ah, my stomach is probably going to be a wreck tomorrow morning.
Just the spicy aroma, which seemed to have been dragged straight out of hell, was enough to make sweat trickle down my back.
“...Thank you.”
She snapped her wooden chopsticks in half and began to eat.
“Yeah. Eat up and get your energy back so you can stream tomorrow.”
I put a rice cake in my mouth and immediately poured a full glass of juice.
Ah, fuck. It’s so spicy.
I knew it would be, but it was still ridiculously spicy.
“Here.”
This time, Doah was the one to offer me a tissue.
“Hm?”
“Oppa. You’re sweating a lot.”
Isn’t this all for the love of you, Doah?
In contrast, Doah’s pale face remained unchanged as she chewed on the rice cakes, her small mouth moving steadily.
“Isn’t it spicy?”
“Nope.”
In the end, I barely ate anything besides a few rice balls. Doah closed the lid on the plastic container, saying she’d use the leftovers to make fried rice tomorrow.
Still, she seemed more lively than before she ate, which was a relief.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“If I kiss you now, will it be spicy?”
Now with enough energy to joke around, Doah blinked as she looked up at me.
“It would be, right...? Probably...?”
“Then can I try?”
“...No. Don’t.”
My mouth just escaped hell; how could she ask me to go back in?
“I want to try.”
“I said no.”
“Aah~ I want to kiss you, why are you stopping me!”
“Then at least go rinse your mouth out first.”
“You don’t love me?”
Why are you bringing love into this, Doah?
“You acted like you’d give me the world... but in the end, you too... sob... sob...”
Sighing as if I couldn’t win, I watched as Doah puckered her lips into a circle and stuck them out.
“Hurry up!”
Seeing no sign of her backing down, I had no choice but to give in.
Fine. I’d already dedicated my body to her today anyway.
It would be easier if I just emptied my mind.
I slowly bent down, bringing my mouth toward her face, but Doah stretched her arms out and pressed her lips firmly against mine.
“Mmph...!”
My eyes, which had been closed, flew wide open.
Unlike mine, the corners of Doah’s eyes were curved into a smile.
The tingling spice in my mouth and her refreshing eye-smile created a strange chemistry.
“Bleh.”
In the end, the pain that had just subsided spread across my tongue once more. I looked at Doah with narrowed eyes.
“Thanks for worrying about me. Hehe.”
“If you laugh while crying, you’ll grow a horn on your butt, Kim Doah.”
“What are you talking about? Idols don’t grow things like that on their butts, you know?”
As if to prove her point, she spun around and stuck her butt out slightly in my direction.
I gave it a light smack with my palm.
“You’re getting fired soon, so maybe you will?”
“Ugh... How can you say something so mean.”
Still, I was relieved to see that her expression still held a trace of a smile as she said it.