KFL 147

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you!”

The familiar faces who came out to greet me at the front of the dozen or so trainees were Gun-woo Hyung and Jeong-min.

“His name is Lee Tae-kyung. Gun-woo, you’re in charge of helping Tae-kyung adapt well. Got it?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

“I’ll help too.”

“Yes, yes. Jeong-min, you help a lot too.”

Even while watching Gun-woo Hyung and young Jeong-min talking to the team leader, it didn’t feel real.

“Oh my? Tae-kyung, what’s wrong?”

The team leader, who was turning towards me, was surprised, so I reflexively covered my eyes.

“Ah… something got in my eye….”

Seeing that my palm was soaking wet, I must have been crying like an idiot.

“Oh my! Then you have to wash it quickly!”

Jeong-min, who hadn’t even graduated from elementary school yet, grabbed my arm with his small hand. I was led by Jeong-min and ran out of the practice room to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. But the tears didn’t stop, so I felt like I was going crazy.

I didn’t know why I was crying so much. I had been waiting so long to meet Gun-woo Hyung and Jeong-min. Now that I’ve finally met them today, I feel like I’ll be a little less lonely. But why am I so sad and feel like I’m about to die?

“Sob….”

Sniffling leaked out even while I was washing my face in the sink, so I was a little embarrassed for young Jeong-min to see.

“Does your eye hurt a lot? Should I take you to the hospital?”

I tried to look at Jeong-min, who was patting my back with his tiny hand, but I saw my ugly face crying in the mirror.

“Ah, shit. Why are you crying, damn it.”

“You’re not supposed to swear.”

I turned around at Gun-woo Hyung’s cautious words. Gun-woo Hyung looked younger and more fragile than me, who was unable to make eye contact with me. Gun-woo Hyung rolled his timid eyes from side to side, then blushed and looked at me.

“If you swear a lot… and your behavior isn’t good, the company might kick you out. There’s something like that in the contract too….”

I took the towel that Gun-woo Hyung handed me and scrubbed my face roughly.

“Are you worried that I’m going to swear a lot?”

“It’s not that….”

Gun-woo Hyung, who had just become a high school student, looked younger and more fragile than me. Gun-woo Hyung rolled his timid eyes from side to side, then blushed and looked at me.

“I think it would be nice if we debuted together, Lee Tae-kyung….”

Gun-woo Hyung, who always wanted to debut with me, must have liked me from the first meeting.

“I don’t like any of the current trainees… I think it would be really nice to do it with Tae-kyung….”

“Me too!”

Jeong-min, who had widened his eyes, stepped forward in front of Gun-woo Hyung.

“There has to be a rebellious image in the group, right? Hyung looks really cool… but, Hyung could go to a big agency, so why….”

“Jeong-min!”

Gun-woo Hyung hurriedly said, covering Jeong-min’s mouth from behind.

“I’m good at writing songs, you know? I can make a hit song and hit the jackpot! If you debut with me, you’ll get a lot of support from the company too. The dorm is also a new apartment, so it’s really clean and nice! Other companies aren’t like that, you know?”

My facial muscles gradually relaxed at the thought that Gun-woo Hyung, who was desperately speaking, was cute.

“I’m going to debut with Gun-woo Hyung and Jeong-min.”

Gun-woo Hyung and Jeong-min had bewildered expressions at my firm tone. I reached out and took both of their hands.

“I’m going to come to the company every day, so let’s get along well in the future.”

I could meet Gun-woo Hyung and Jeong-min as much as I wanted, just like I had expected, so I felt like the world had become a little brighter.

I could breathe to some extent after sweating in the practice room until I was exhausted all day. I felt like my emotions were being resolved by a speck as I could sing my heart out.

If I endured day by day like that, I might be able to sleep comfortably someday. Someday, this painful longing would naturally melt into my heart and the day would come when I would feel comfortable.

I had no choice but to spend my days with that expectation.

“Wow, this is crazy!”

Gun-woo Hyung, who was looking at his laptop in the conference room, made a loud noise.

Jeong-min and I had our mouths full of hamburgers, so we couldn’t ask what was going on right away.

“Wha ith it?”

Jeong-min kept stuffing hamburgers into his mouth, his eyes wide. I wiped Jeong-min’s mouth with a napkin and looked at Gun-woo Hyung. Gun-woo Hyung couldn’t take his eyes off the laptop, as if he had some great news.

I had been a trainee for several years, but the only people with the power to eat snacks and rest in this conference room were me and Jeong-min, whom Gun-woo Hyung favored.

“Guys! You know that Kang Robin from Baeknyeon Entertainment is creating an idol group, right?”

Baeknyeon Entertainment. Kang Robin. Every time the name Perfect Puzzle came up, I had this old symptom of my heart aching, but I pretended not to know.

“Hey, Hyung. Who doesn’t know Perfect Puzzle?”

“They’re debuting in May, right? They’re setting their debut around the same time as us…”

What’s so great about Perfect Puzzle without Sung Se-han? I didn’t care when they debuted, but I just pretended to grumble. It was also a kind of way to hide my feelings.

“Right! But there’s a hidden member besides the members that have been revealed so far!”

Thud. I didn’t even notice the napkin falling from my hand, and I looked at Gun-woo Hyung.

“What did you say…?”

“Hyung! What does that mean?”

While Jeong-min, who had jumped up, ran around the desk to Gun-woo Hyung, I could only sit there blankly.

“Here, a picture has just been uploaded to Perfect Puzzle’s official account. Look!”

“Wow! Oh…!”

Jeong-min, who was looking at the laptop over Gun-woo Hyung’s shoulder, exclaimed in admiration.

“Crazy! Just looking at his physique, he’s from another world, isn’t he?”

For a moment, I felt like my brain wasn’t working, and I blinked rapidly.

Calm down. There’s no way. Sung Se-han only came to Global following me. He had no thoughts about becoming an idol before that. There’s no way he would suddenly become an idol without any context.

If I cooled my head, the answer would come easily. So, heart, please don’t race.

“Wow, Perfect Puzzle has been a sensation every time a member is revealed, but it looks like the last member is the final boss!”

Creak. The chair was pushed back roughly as I got up in a hurry. I knew there was no way, but my legs trembled severely as I approached the laptop.

“Tae-kyung, do you want to see?”

Gun-woo Hyung, who glanced at me, turned the laptop screen towards me.

Ah. I couldn’t approach any further and stopped in my place.

A man standing in the center of a full screen with a spaceship as the background.

It was a concept photo where only a black silhouette was revealed, with no face visible at all, but I could tell without having to look any closer.

I could tell at once just by the long, firm body line and the tilted posture.

The bad guy who never left my head and made me suffer from insomnia. My pride. My self-esteem.

It was Sung Se-han.

“Sung Se-han.”

The moment I called out his name, a dull shock spread throughout my chest. The name that I had always swallowed down inside my throat finally came out without hesitation.

“Se-han…!”

I wanted to see him a little closer, so I strode forward. And as I picked up the laptop, Gun-woo Hyung got up in a hurry.

“Wait, wait! Tae-kyung, this is charging…”

I couldn’t hear Gun-woo Hyung’s flustered words. I picked up the laptop to see Sung Se-han properly, but something was caught and it wouldn’t pull properly.

“Wait, I’ll unplug the cord…”

Thanks to Gun-woo Hyung quickly unplugging the cord, I was able to lift the laptop in front of my eyes. I could see Sung Se-han’s silhouette a little closer, but a sigh came out first due to the unresolved frustration.

“Why, why… won’t they show his face!”

Sung Se-han was right in front of me, but I couldn’t see his face. I couldn’t stand this unreasonable situation, so I stamped my feet.

“The other members showed their faces first!”

“Tae-kyung Hyung, what’s wrong?”

“Tae-kyung! Do you know him?”

Do I know him? I turned my head sharply and looked at Gun-woo Hyung.

Are you asking that now? Ah, you don’t know. That this guy, Sung Se-han, is the reason I work so hard.

The reason I come to the practice room every day and sweat. The reason I can’t waste time. The reason I have to endure today.

The reason my heart hurts. The reason I’m lonely and in pain.

And also the reason I’m so unbelievably happy.

“Tae-kyung? Why, why are you looking like that…?”

“Tae-kyung Hyung?”

Gun-woo Hyung and Jeong-min called me hesitantly. I don’t know what kind of expression I’m making right now, but looking at the corners of my lips turned up, I was a little worried that I might be smiling like a crazy person.

“There’s no way I wouldn’t know Sung Se-han.”