Chapter 284
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 284
To me, Jeong Da-jun had always been a very simple and easy existence.
He was the kind of gentle kid who, even if he was pouting because he was angry, would eventually put on his clothes and trot along after some coaxing and an offer of beef instead of an apology—only to ask if he could order some cold noodles too.
"Hey, Jeong Da-jun..."
But this time, his feelings must have been truly hurt. Ever since he’d stormed out and come back, he’d been dodging me the moment I even breathed a syllable of his name.
Whenever I tried to talk to him to clear the air, he would blatantly avoid me by calling out to the other members or immediately starting practice.
"Bangbang-i~."
"Jeong Da-jun."
"Da-jun-ah."
No matter how much I poked and prodded, I couldn't get a single word out of him. If I wanted to convey anything to him, I had to go through the other members.
"Sh-shall we try practicing?!"
That said, he didn't neglect his duties.
He participated in every practice session without fail.
Of course, the moment it ended and I tried to sidle up to him, he would bolt away.
Two days passed like that.
Eventually, my patience reached its limit.
As Da-jun was leaving the hotel to head to the practice room—a morning habit—I snatched him by the shoulder and slammed the opening door shut.
Bang!
"Hey."
"……!"
Seeing the youngest member fidgeting nervously, trapped between me and the door, the anger that had been surging within me subsided slightly.
Calm down, Seo Ho-yun. Be kind, be kind…
"Da-jun-ah, where did you learn the habit of ignoring your hyung?"
Ding!
[He’s scared!!!]
Ah, I changed my tone, but the way I used to speak to Seo Ho-jin just slipped out.
I composed myself as much as possible, trying my best to look gentle. I plastered a smile over my twitching lips and spoke to the maknae.
"If you have a grievance with me, feel free to speak up. I'll listen."
Da-jun hesitated, his eyes darting all over the place. He finally looked like he was about to meet my gaze, but then he suddenly jerked his head away.
"…Let’s not make eye contact."
"What kind of bullshit is that?"
"……If we make eye contact, I feel like my anger will just melt away."
Aha, is that so?
I asked in an even softer voice on purpose.
"Why? Do you hate looking at my face?"
"Th-that’s not it…."
Da-jun, who was about to answer instinctively, froze with his eyes wide and his mouth clamped shut. Then, he suddenly reached out with both hands and completely covered my face.
"Yes!!!"
"……."
"I hate looking at it!!"
And then, as if afraid of being caught, he scurried away and vanished into his room.
The thin thread of my patience finally snapped. Casting aside all pretenses, I pounded on the door Da-jun had disappeared behind.
"Jeong Da-jun!! Stop talking nonsense and get out here right now!!"
"Don't be so scary!!"
"Get out here, now!"
But Da-jun didn't budge.
I tried to replace my surging irritation with a sigh and swept back my annoying bangs.
"I’m a~ little dung-rabbit-bug~."
"Ha……."
"The maknae~ is gone~."
Kang Yi-chae, who had been watching this whole scene from a single-person sofa, was strumming a ukulele he’d found somewhere and singing loudly.
When I glared at him, Yi-chae approached me with a sly grin.
"Looks like practice is out of the question. Why don't we all take today off to reset? You should go out and cool your head too, Hyung."
"……."
Why should I be the one to cool my head?
Just as I clicked my tongue in disapproval, my phone vibrated.
[Ju Woo-seong: Hey, wanna grab food?]
I hesitated for a moment, but after one last look at the firmly shut door, I left the hotel.
At a nearby cafe, Ju Woo-seong, who was leisurely sipping coffee while wearing sunglasses, spotted me and gave a casual wave.
"What's with that look on your face?"
"It's nothing."
He tilted his head, then soon wore a meaningful smirk.
"You fought with a member, didn't you?"
"……."
"Let me guess. Hmm…… Da-jun!?"
This sharp bastard….
Usually, he’s useless even when you ask him for something, but he’s incredibly quick-witted about things like this.
Seeing the answer on my face, Ju Woo-seong burst into fits of laughter.
"Aww, is our Ho-yun-ie upset because his member won't listen to him?"
I’m out here in California taking care of them, and my kid has hit a rebellious phase—how could I not be upset?
"How did you know?"
"Hey, I can tell just by looking at your face."
As if enjoying my discomfort, Ju Woo-seong acted even more like a brat than usual.
"I knew it. Man, even the great Seo Ho-yun has moments like this. Just eat something and cheer up."
Chuckling, Ju Woo-seong suddenly leaned in and threw an arm around my shoulder. He pressed his lips close to my ear and whispered.
"And take a look behind your left shoulder."
I brushed off his arm and adjusted my clothes as an excuse to glance back. I saw a man with a black hat pulled low, pretending to be busy while hiding a camera inside a large bag.
A paparazzi.
No matter how popular The Dawn had become, in this situation, it was more likely he was following Ju Woo-seong than me.
"Wouldn't it be better to just eat and head back before rumors start?"
Seeing how skillfully he picked a spot out of the public eye and how he habitually pressed the shutter without even checking the angle, it was clear he was an experienced paparazzi looking for a major scoop.
I looked at him indifferently, but then a spike of rebelliousness rose in my prickly heart.
"No, let's make today absolutely legendary."
"Huh?"
I snatched Ju Woo-seong's sunglasses, put them on, and gave a beaming smile.
"He picked the wrong day to follow us."
*
‘Ju Woo-seong and Seo Ho-yun are in America together.’
The paparazzi’s eyes gleamed.
It made sense for The Dawn to be here for the launch of IRIX’s new season, and he’d heard they had various filming schedules lined up.
But not Ju Woo-seong. No matter how many times he checked, there were no scheduled activities for him.
The fact that he’d come to LA secretly, without even a manager, smelled incredibly suspicious.
Even though it was only early April, he was certain he would land the biggest scoop of the year right here.
‘In most cases like this….’
It involved a romantic interest.
They used friends as shields to enjoy secret dates.
‘There are rumors that Ju Woo-seong has dated a lot of women, too.’
Excited, the paparazzi cautiously followed Ju Woo-seong and Seo Ho-yun.
The two roamed the streets of LA in casual clothes—T-shirts, jeans, and slacks.
‘There’s definitely something!’
He kept his distance and fired off bursts of photos.
When he checked the shots in between, their bare faces glowed as if they had a filter on them.
"I want to go here."
"Okay."
Just when he thought they were finally getting to the main event, they entered a building.
"Ah?!"
He hurried after them, but when he looked inside, it was just a common gift shop.
‘No, they might have agreed to meet here.’
The paparazzi even turned on a voice recorder and hovered around them.
"—Are you a shadow or something?"
"Black is pretty."
"It’s gloomy. Wear some bright colors for once."
But Ju Woo-seong and Seo Ho-yun were merely bickering over the color of a T-shirt that had "Los Angeles" written next to a palm tree.
‘…Fine, they have to buy souvenirs since they’re in LA.’
The two left the shop with armfuls of T-shirts and bought a banana smoothie each. They sipped them while discussing where to go next.
"How about an art museum?"
"Not really."
"You have no sense of mood, kid."
Several places were mentioned, but because their tastes were polar opposites, Ju Woo-seong and Seo Ho-yun bickered again before deciding to just visit every single one.
By the time he’d been following them for about two more hours.
"I’m telling you, this is the right way! Why are you being so stubborn and talking nonsense?"
"Yeah, like your dancing skills."
"Like your photography skills."
"Yeah, I’ll crack your— wait. What’s wrong with my photography skills?!"
‘Why are they fighting so childishly?’
This was already the seventh time he’d witnessed it.
The smallest things escalated into arguments in an instant.
He considered writing an article with a sensational title like ‘Ju Woo-seong and Seo Ho-yun at Odds?! Their Paths Diverge…,’ but he knew that even if it drew attention, the public would just curse him out after reading the content.
He was debating whether to give up since nothing was coming of it, when Ju Woo-seong literally lay down on the street to take photos of Seo Ho-yun.
"A waste of memory."
"Wow, that pisses me off. You try taking one."
Ju Woo-seong confidently handed over his phone, but Seo Ho-yun just furrowed his brows and let out a sigh.
He then gestured for Ju Woo-seong to pose and half-heartedly pressed the camera button.
"……Whoa. Hey, why didn't you become a photographer instead of an idol?"
Ju Woo-seong let out a low exclamation of awe as he swiped through the photos Seo Ho-yun had taken.
"Post them on Starstagram or whatever."
"I guess you are useful for something."
"Is that how you say thank you, Hyung?"
It was incredibly peaceful…….
……And there was absolutely nothing to use.
‘What are these guys even doing?’
If you took away the fact that they were celebrities, they just looked like high schoolers on a field trip.
Just as the paparazzi was about to give up on his scoop and head back, Ju Woo-seong looked at his phone, startled, and started walking quickly.
"Hey, hey! There's somewhere I have to go urgently."
"Where?"
‘Ju Woo-seong, I knew I could count on you!’
The paparazzi quickly pulled his camera back out of his bag and followed them.
Filled with dreams and hopes of a scoop bonus, the place he arrived at was…
"Ta-da."
A Korean restaurant in LA.
Ju Woo-seong beamed as he held a bowl of kimchi fried rice topped with a perfectly fried egg.
"The best place for kimchi fried rice."
To come all the way to LA just to find a good kimchi fried rice place.
Faced with Ju Woo-seong’s madness for kimchi fried rice, the paparazzi lost all will to fight.
At that moment, Seo Ho-yun, sitting across from Ju Woo-seong, took a spoonful of sundae gukbap and said nonchalantly.
"I like that you’re still the same, Hyung."
"Are you really saying that while I'm eating kimchi fried rice?"
The paparazzi quietly left the restaurant.
"……Why did I even follow them?"
With nothing to show for it except photos of Ju Woo-seong and Seo Ho-yun that sparkled as much as any fansite master’s shots, he muttered with a hollow expression.
* * *
[Title: Paparazzi shots of Ju Woo-seong and Seo Ho-yun in California]
Idols_drinking_banana_smoothies.jpg
Seo_Ho-yun_taking_photos_of_Ju_Woo-seong.jpg
Idols_eating_kimchi_fried_rice_and_sundae_gukbap_in_LA.jpg
They say the only thing the paparazzi got was a photo of kimchi fried rice.
└ Are these two a comedy duo? LOL
└ The paparazzi clearly went there to catch a scandal, but the best output being a photo of Ju Woo-seong eating kimchi fried rice is too funny.
└ Woo-seong, why are you even in LA?
└ Looks like Woo-seong is on vacation. The other Black Call members are on vacation too, so they went home.
└ Ah, he said he was going for dance training last time, and this time it overlapped with The Dawn. What a coincidence.
└ LMAO, I totally acknowledge these two as best friends.
└ Look at Seo Ho-yun’s fed-up expression while watching Ju Woo-seong eat kimchi fried rice. LOL.
I chuckled as I looked at the community post my manager back in Korea had sent me via link.
[Manager Kim: Ho-yun, what on earth are you doing over there?]
I was replying that I’d decided to take the day off with the members when Ju Woo-seong walked over with beer and dried squid.
We were on the terrace of the hotel suite where Ju Woo-seong was staying. I propped my feet up on an empty chair and slumped back.
"Hey, beer?"
Ju Woo-seong shook the bottle he was sipping from. When I reached out, he handed me a fresh one.
"Look at you, looking all pleased with yourself. Do you have a hobby of periodically screwing people over?"
"Of course."
I gave a bright smile.
"Can't you tell from the fact that I'm hanging out with you, Hyung?"
"……."
What? So what?
What are you going to do about it, even if you glare?