By Zephyria “There are beautiful people.”
In front of my eyes. I have a man who is more dazzlingly beautiful than anyone else trapped in my arms.
“After Grandmother left, Tae-kyung, I believed that beauty had disappeared from this world.”
I slowly released the arms that had been hugging his broad shoulders and looked up at Se-han. When I met his calmly sunken brown eyes, it felt like I was completely immersed in them.
“But it was still there. Lee Tae-kyung, it was you.”
What…? I looked at Se-han, who was saying incomprehensible words with incomprehensible emotions in my eyes, with a dazed look.
“Se-han, those words…”
Suddenly, my phone in my pocket rang loudly, making me jump in surprise. I hurriedly checked the screen and quickly accepted the call.
“Yes, Gun-woo Hyung!”
―Tae-kyung. Are you talking to Se-han?
“Ah… yes. I’m about to go in now.”
When I looked at him in embarrassment, Se-han shrugged and opened the locker room door.
―Okay. We’re going to eat sandwiches now, so come quickly and eat with us.
“Yes. I’ll be right there.”
I put my phone in my pocket and hurriedly left the locker room, but Se-han didn’t seem to want to hurry.
When I turned around because I was in a hurry, Se-han, with his hands in his training pants pockets, was walking leisurely.
“If you don’t come quickly, I’m going first?”
When I urged Se-han while walking backwards, he raised the corners of his mouth and chuckled.
“Tae-kyung.”
“Why.”
“I had the same dream again last night.”
Dream? What dream? When I tilted my head, Se-han strode closer and matched my pace.
“The dream you said was a dog dream.”
What…? In an instant, my head turned white, and I had no choice but to stop abruptly.
What did Se-han just say? He had that day’s dream again…?
Se-han, who had been walking ahead, turned to look at me.
“Isn’t it really strange that I had the same dream again?”
“Ah…”
After being dazed for a moment, I ruffled my hair with one hand.
“Well… wouldn’t that be possible? I sometimes do that too…”
I started walking again, pretending to be calm, but Se-han’s gaze followed me.
“You too?”
“Yeah, sometimes…”
The dream I have is not a dog dream.
The past that should not be repeated is being repeated in my dream. Every time, I wake up soaked in sweat and crying, but I can’t tell anyone about this.
But why is Se-han having such a dream? The nightmare is enough for me alone, so why is it tormenting even Se-han?
“Tae-kyung.”
When Se-han stopped walking, I had no choice but to stop too.
“You know.”
“Yeah…?”
I swallowed hard at Se-han’s gaze that seemed to see through me.
“Tae-kyung Hyung!”
I turned my head sharply at the sound of someone suddenly calling me. Jeong-min, who was peeking out from the practice room in the distance, was waving his hand.
“Hyungs, come quickly! We have to film us eating!”
Se-han tapped my shoulder, which had been stiff until then, and passed by.
“Let’s talk again later.”
Holding the shoulder that Se-han had tapped, I gritted my teeth.
Later or whatever, there’s nothing I can tell Se-han.
It’s not like a penalty is the problem. Even if the Status Window allows it, what can I say with this mouth?
Because of me, you ran out into the rain and had an accident. How can I say such a thing…?
The moment I saw his broad back heading towards the practice room, my heart suddenly sank.
What if Se-han’s dream doesn’t stop there and continues to expand…?
What if he ends up showing everything…?
No way. My legs slowly started to lose strength.
What if Se-han finds out everything…?
“Tae-kyung.”
Se-han was standing at the entrance of the practice room, waiting for me.
Inside the practice room, many people were eating sandwiches and having excited conversations. A dizzying feeling, as if perfectly separated from that world of noisy atmosphere, covered me.
With the fear that I would be eaten by all the confusion, I moved my feet with difficulty. Se-han wrapped his arm around my shoulder as I entered the practice room.
“It’s okay, Tae-kyung.”
I looked at Se-han with a puzzled face, not knowing what he meant by it was okay.
“Everything’s okay. Don’t worry about anything.”
The hand that had been around my shoulder ruffled my hair. I couldn’t even think of fixing my disheveled bangs and just widened my eyes.
“Se-han, is it really okay?”
Is everything really okay? Even if you find out about everything, even if you know what I’ve been through, is it really okay?
“Trust me.”
Se-han is trying to reassure me without even knowing the reason.
But even so, it was Se-han’s resolute eyes that could keep me in the safe world of now.
It was the power that made me move forward.
“Yeah. Everything’s okay.”
Se-han, I’ll protect you.
*
On the same day that the practice room filming ended, our team began preparing for the second competition.
Se-han insisted shamelessly that we should have dinner together, but that was out of the question.
Even if it wasn’t entirely Se-han’s fault, it was as if we had been hit by a bomb in the suddenly changed second competition. We didn’t have the luxury of leisurely having dinner.
“First of all, I think the song ‘You Are’ is the best for us. But honestly, I can’t see a solution.”
I started a countermeasures meeting with Hu-seon Hyung, who directs our team, but all I could do was sigh.
“Hyung, I’m honestly not confident either.”
Gun-woo Hyung, sitting on the recording studio sofa, glanced at me.
“Se-han filled the sound so tightly that there’s no room at all. If we touch it wrong, the quality will definitely drop.”
The younger members quietly started to read the room at Gun-woo Hyung’s gloomy expression. I gulped down cola, which I don’t usually drink.
Even if I drank ice-cold carbonation, it only stung my throat, and my stomach was still stuffy.
It was perhaps natural that Gun-woo Hyung, who had admired Se-han’s songs for a long time, was afraid of touching Se-han’s perfect sound.
“How about changing the arrangement direction?”
Hu-seon Hyung and the members’ gazes turned to me. I fiddled with the cola can and put it down on the table.
“Wouldn’t we be able to differentiate ourselves from Perfect Puzzle with our members’ vocals?”
At this rate, we could only waste time and lower the confidence of the younger members. Now was the time for a reasonable compromise.
“I want to try putting a melody to Se-han’s rap part and sing it.”
“Oh!”
Hu-seon Hyung exclaimed and jumped up from the director’s chair.
“Tae-kyung! That would be really fun, wouldn’t it?”
“Wow! I think that would be good too!”
Ho-soo raised his hand at Hu-seon Hyung and Jeong-min’s positive reactions.
“Are you going to sing all of Sung Se-han Sunbae’s rap parts? Then Soo-in will become ambiguous…”
“I think it would be really good if Tae-kyung Hyung sang it.”
Soo-in interrupted Ho-soo’s words and got up from the sofa.
“Sung Se-han Sunbae’s rap is so powerful in this song that I honestly can’t even imitate it. I think Tae-kyung Hyung’s vocals are the only ones who can compete with Sung Se-han Sunbae.”
I was naturally thinking of dividing the parts, but I was speechless when I saw Soo-in, who was so serious.
Even though his vocals and rap skills were a bit lacking, Soo-in had a wide understanding of music. The fact that Se-han’s rap was powerful in ‘You Are’ didn’t mean that he was powerfully hitting it.
It was because it contained pure sincerity rather than showing off.
Because the sincerity, like armor, was at the center of the song, the momentum that rushed in was inevitably high.
The reason why this song was high in the music charts and received a lot of love from fans even though it was the last track was precisely that.
“And since Sung Se-han Sunbae made the song thinking of Tae-kyung Hyung’s vocals… I think it will be more meaningful.”
I couldn’t stand still because Soo-in, who was subtly reading my mood, was so admirable.
“Soo-in, you admirable guy! Why do you only say such pretty things? Huh?”
When I stroked Soo-in’s head, Ho-soo and Jeong-min glared at me with sharp eyes.
“Tae-kyung Hyung really seems to favor Soo-in too much.”
“Soo-in is also a problem. He only pretends to be nice in front of Tae-kyung Hyung, right?”
“Hey, I’ve got some inspiration! I think we’ll have to stay up all night today.”
“I’ll do it with you, Hyung.”
Whether Ho-soo and Jeong-min grumbled or not, Hu-seon Hyung and Gun-woo Hyung busily started the work meeting. I took the phone that had started ringing just in time and left the recording studio.
“Yeah, Tae-min. It’s Hyung.”
I was happy to hear Tae-min’s voice because we hadn’t talked much recently. I came out to the stairs and looked at the road outside the window, which was starting to darken.
“I ate a lot of dinner and I’m in a meeting. Where are you? Academy?”
―Yeah, but Hyung.
I put my phone close to my ear because Tae-min seemed to have something to say.
―Is Se-han Hyung really a playboy?
“What? A playboy…! Tae-min, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
I couldn’t help but be flustered by Tae-min’s agitated tone. Why all of a sudden Tae-min…
―Se-han Hyung isn’t dating Breeze Hannah, is he?