By Zephyria I quickly lifted my head and answered Bae Dong-yeon PD’s question.
“Yes. We’ve been close since we were twelve.”
Bae Dong-yeon PD nodded with a look that seemed to be searching for something.
“PD-nim, our kids are all close to Sung Se-han. We still think of them as one family. Hahaha!”
Bae Dong-yeon PD got up from his chair with a coffee in his hand.
“Your manager has a very good personality.”
“Yes, I hear that a lot. Hahaha.”
“Okay. Then prepare hard for the recording. See you later.”
The members bowed ninety degrees towards the PD, who waved his hand and left the conference room.
“Thank you, PD-nim!”
“We’ll see you on the recording day!”
As soon as the conference room door closed, I went straight to Doo-hyun Hyung and patted him on the back.
“Hyung, you worked hard.”
Doo-hyun Hyung, who glanced at me, shook his head.
“That PD, he seems to be looking down on me because I’m a rookie manager with no connections, right? Right?”
“No way, not at all. He seemed to like you because you have a good personality, Hyung?”
“Really?”
Doo-hyun Hyung nodded greatly, as if relieved.
“Guys, let’s go to the company for lunch. Our practice time is tight.”
“Okay, Hyung.”
We left the conference room in a rush and headed to the elevator down the long hallway.
We had only met Bae Dong-yeon PD for a short time, but the members looked like they had been drained of all their energy. It seemed they were discouraged by the PD’s attitude, which showed little interest in our team.
I patted my younger brothers on the back and walked ahead. I want to go back to the practice room quickly. In times like these, sweating in the practice room is the only answer.
As I passed the lounge located to the left of the elevator, I inadvertently turned my gaze.
“!”
My feet stopped abruptly. Ho-soo, who was coming right behind me, bumped into my shoulder, causing me to stagger.
“Tae-kyung Hyung, are you okay?”
Soo-in supported my back and asked with a puzzled look.
“Oh, yeah.”
I shook my head, pretending to be okay, but suddenly my heart started beating like crazy.
“Tae-kyung, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Gun-woo Hyung looked into my face from the side, so I quickly shook my head.
“No? Why would I be unwell?”
I quickly pressed the elevator button. I just wanted to get on the elevator and get out of here.
“You can stop pressing it, Tae-kyung Hyung.”
Jeong-min carefully grabbed my hand. I kept my mouth shut and stared straight ahead. The elevator doors opened soon, and the members started getting on.
“Tae-kyung, aren’t you getting on?”
The moment Gun-woo Hyung pushed my back, I took a step back. I looked around at the members who were already on the elevator and turned to Gun-woo Hyung.
“I think I saw someone I know. I’ll just say hello and go.”
“Okay.”
Doo-hyun Hyung answered first, and Gun-woo Hyung patted my back.
“I’ll wait in the parking lot. Take your time saying hello.”
It’s okay. Gun-woo Hyung didn’t ask any more questions and got on the elevator. I stared at the floor until the elevator doors closed, then slowly turned around.
My legs felt as heavy as if they had huge weights attached to them as I walked back to the lounge.
I barely stopped in front of the lounge, but I couldn’t go inside. I didn’t have the nerve.
The person sitting alone in the empty lounge, drinking canned coffee, was Chae Do-hyun, the leader of Pure Voice.
In the past, Pure Voice had participated in the survival show ‘Star Light’ and gained significant recognition.
However, when our Sky Blue confirmed its participation in Star Light, Pure Voice was pushed to the back.
It felt heavy and suffocating, like a stone was placed on my chest.
I had insisted on participating in the survival show, thinking that I couldn’t repeat the failure of the past, but I hadn’t even considered that my actions would harm other teams like this.
No, even if I had thought about it, I doubt I would have given up this opportunity. The thought of never wanting to experience such hellish failure again is still the same now….
“……!”
Chae Do-hyun, who recognized me, got up and bowed.
Ha… damn it. I opened the glass door and walked towards Chae Do-hyun. It was a short distance, but dozens of thoughts flashed through my mind.
“Hello, Sunbae-nim. I’m Lee Tae-kyung from Sky Blue.”
When I bowed, Chae Do-hyun patted my arm.
“I haven’t even debuted for a year, so please speak comfortably.”
“No, Sunbae-nim, you should be the one to speak comfortably….”
“Would you like a canned coffee? Or mango juice?”
Chae Do-hyun went to the vending machine, turned to me, and smiled brightly. Seeing his cute and harmless smile, I felt a pain like needles pricking my heart.
“I’ll have a canned coffee then….”
“Oh, good. This one is delicious.”
I had no choice but to accept the canned coffee that Chae Do-hyun handed me and sit down next to him. Chae Do-hyun, who was looking at me with shining eyes, seemed to have a good impression of our team.
“I saw it in the news. Sky Blue is also participating in the survival show.”
“Yes… that’s right.”
I couldn’t look at Chae Do-hyun and gulped down the canned coffee.
“I’m jealous that you got such a good opportunity. I hope you do well.”
“Yes… thank you.”
“But well, Sky Blue seems like they’ll do well even without the survival show. You guys are so charming and handsome.”
I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t find the words to answer. I touched my forehead with the back of my hand, and it seemed like I was already sweating.
“Oh, no. Sunbae-nim is much more handsome….”
“Hehe. I have a puppy-like face, so I’m cute.”
Seeing him up close, I understood. Chae Do-hyun wasn’t just acting the concept, but was actually a harmless and cute person like a puppy.
Did I steal the precious opportunity of such a person…?
“Ha….”
A sigh and a groan came out at the same time due to the confusing thoughts.
“Oh? What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, Sunbae-nim. I’m….”
My jacket pocket vibrated. It was such a loud vibration that Chae Do-hyun noticed.
“You should answer the phone.”
“It’s okay.”
I pressed down on my jacket pocket with my hand and shook my head.
“It might be an urgent call? You should answer it quickly.”
“Then… excuse me for a moment.”
I got up from my seat, went to the entrance, and took out my phone. I felt like I knew who it was without even checking the screen. I was about to reject the call, but I changed my mind and accepted it.
He makes such a fuss if I don’t answer the phone a few times. It seems I’ve developed a habit of answering the phone quickly because I don’t want to see that.
“Se-han, I’ll call you back later.”
―Why?
Sigh, he’s really being a pain again.
“Se-han? I’m in the middle of a conversation right now. I said I’ll call you later, okay?”
―The meeting’s over. Who are you talking to?
Ha, really. I squeezed my phone tightly and forced the corners of my lips up.
“Hey, listen to what I’m saying.”
Even though I put strength into my voice, I could hear a low laugh from the other side of the phone.
I stared at the phone and slowly put it back in my jacket pocket. The call was over, but I felt strangely dazed because of the sound that had been piercing my ears.
“Wow… you’re really close to Sung Se-han?”
Chae Do-hyun was looking at me with round eyes. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and composed my expression.
“Yes. We’ve been friends since we were young….”
When I sat back down, Chae Do-hyun pulled his chair closer.
“Wow! Then, Lee Tae-kyung can also receive songs from Sung Se-han? Right? That’s so great….”
“No… our leader Hyung also writes songs, so there’s no need for that….”
“Still, if you receive a song from Sung Se-han, the music is guaranteed to be a hit. Lee Tae-kyung is lucky, and he has everything: looks and connections. I’m really jealous.”
Seeing his excited face and sparkling eyes, it didn’t seem like he was being sarcastic at all. Chae Do-hyun was really honestly jealous of me.
Really… my conscience was pricking me so much that I couldn’t bear it.
“Do you want to receive a song from Se-han?”
Chae Do-hyun widened his already large eyes even more and moved his lips.
“It’s just a wish. Our company doesn’t have that much money… only someone on Breeze Sunbae-nim’s level can commission a song from Sung Se-han.”
“Se-han didn’t give a song to Breeze Sunbae-nim because he considers levels…”
I wanted to point out the part that Chae Do-hyun was misunderstanding.
“I heard that Kang Robin Sunbae-nim had a connection with him, so he gave him the song.”
“That’s right. It’s hard for us to make such a connection. Hehehe….”
I inadvertently imagined sneaking into Sung Se-han’s studio and secretly taking out a USB. Wouldn’t it be okay if I just stole one song? What could Sung Se-han do even if he found out later? He wouldn’t kill me, would he…?
“Ah! It’s already time…!”
Chae Do-hyun quickly got up and threw the canned coffee into the recycling bin.
“I have to go because it’s time for my meeting! We have a recording for ‘Sleeping with the Enemy’ today.”
I was happy to hear that he was appearing on a popular entertainment program like ‘Sleeping with the Enemy,’ and a smile naturally came to my face.
“Sunbae-nim, do well on the recording. I’ll look forward to the broadcast!”
“Oh, don’t expect too much. I only have two lines! Then Tae-kyung, let’s greet each other happily when we meet next time!”
Even after Chae Do-hyun hurriedly left the lounge, I stood there blankly.
I felt like I had been hit in the back of the head by a sudden thought.
“You said there’s nothing to be gained for free.”
I had to pay a price, big and small, to find out even one small piece of information about Sung Se-han.
But there’s no way it’s possible to snatch someone else’s precious opportunity without any compensation.
There’s no way this is okay.
“Ah, this is a headache.”
I touched my forehead and slumped back into the chair.