By Zephyria “But whatever. It was hard to get, but I can give it to you if you want it.”
Ugh, that’s just like you. The excitement I had been feeling quickly subsided. I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“I actually quit collecting figures.”
“Oh, really?”
Sung Se-han said leisurely, looking at his fingernails.
“I see.”
“Yeah. I don’t have time to manage the collection I have, so what would I do with a new one? I’m going to get rid of all the ones I have at home.”
“Good thinking.”
Sung Se-han stroked my head as if praising me, but I avoided his hand. No matter how much I racked my brain, I was annoyed that there was no weakness of that damn bastard.
“Then I’ll have to give it to Robin Hyung. That Hyung has been eyeing it.”
What? Sung Se-han kept talking nonsense even though my expression was hardening.
“Tae-kyung, you should rest now. I’ll just watch you fall asleep and then leave.”
I pushed away the hand that was pressing on my shoulder to make me lie down.
“Give it to me. I’ll give you more. How much did you get it for?”
Sung Se-han scratched his head as if he was troubled.
“It’ll be hard for you to handle with your allowance.”
“Ha, you. You’re really making me want to swear.”
How much money have I saved? I thought about showing him my account right away, but I quickly stopped.
Get a grip, Lee Tae-kyung. I almost showed my account in front of this bastard without shame.
“Hey, Sung Se-han. How much do I…”
“I won’t take money.”
Even though I was trying to avoid his touch, Sung Se-han stubbornly stroked my hair. I’m too busy bargaining. It’s annoying, really.
“Then what do you want?”
The guy who was stroking my hair put his palm on my forehead.
“Your fever is getting higher? I should stop today and rest a bit.”
“Ugh! It’s because I’m getting angry because of you!”
“Yeah. I know, so rest for now.”
Sung Se-han, who forced me to lie down, put a pillow under my neck and even covered me with a blanket. As I sank into the bed, my will to get up disappeared without a trace.
My eyelids felt like lead and my whole body felt as heavy as lead, and I felt like I was sinking more and more.
“You don’t have much time to rest, do you? Don’t think about anything today and get some rest.”
I could hear Sung Se-han’s voice clearly, so I could rest assured. I felt like it would be okay to fall asleep like this.
Just before falling asleep, I felt him holding my hand tightly, so I didn’t think I would have any more nightmares.
The music video for the title song ‘Us Under the Sky’ has finished filming.
Only after the two days of filming were over did I begin to realize that our team was debuting.
A noteworthy event was that my inferiority score had dropped to 21 points over the past week.
“Hmm… of course.”
On the day that articles poured out saying that Sung Se-han’s solo album had recorded 900,000 pre-orders, I happily called him to congratulate him.
900,000 was the same number as Perfect Puzzle’s second full-length album’s pre-orders. I was happy that I was sincerely proud.
That day, the Status Window was probably busy calculating the decreasing inferiority score all day long.
In the meantime, the community’s reaction to the pre-order quantity was also enormous.
As many fans enthusiastically cheered, there were also quite a few barbed opinions.
It was only natural that there were more negative views of Sung Se-han, who had mentioned leaving without fear. That was also a problem that he had to deal with.
And the next day, articles followed one after another that ‘Best Berry’ had been decided as Sung Se-han’s first solo CF.
‘Best Berry’, a popular ice cream brand, had been modeled by actresses with a fresh image until now, so Sung Se-han’s selection as a model became a big topic.
I was able to congratulate him on this as well with a happy heart. I was even looking forward to his CF video, let alone being jealous.
The red letters of the Status Window that told me the inferiority score seemed to have lost their spirit.
I was convinced that I no longer had any inferiority complex.
So, I set March 15, the day of Sung Se-han’s solo debut, as the D-day for an inferiority score of 0.
I thought that Sung Se-han would be completely safe from the risk of accidents with his solo debut.
It would have been really nice if everything had gone as smoothly as I thought.
But I soon realized that I had underestimated my own inferiority complex.
It started on the day that an article was published about Sung Se-han giving a song to the world-famous girl group ‘Breeze’.
“Wow… Se-han Hyung must be happy!”
Jeong-min, who was checking the article, spat out the words as if he was lamenting. The reactions of the other members were no different. Everyone couldn’t hide their envy for the article that had just been uploaded.
“Sung Se-han Sunbae… is giving a song to ‘Breeze’?”
Ho-soo repeated the article that everyone had already read.
“‘Hanna’, a member of the best idol group ‘Breeze’, which is gaining worldwide popularity beyond Asia, is a fan of Perfect Puzzle and Sung Se-han, and is honored to receive a song as a gift….”
I closed my phone and raised my head.
“Is there any water left?”
Soo-in, who was sitting on the practice room floor, jumped up and handed me a bottle of water.
“Here, have this. I haven’t touched it yet.”
“Thanks.”
Even though I took the water bottle and drank it, I didn’t feel refreshed.
“Se-han Hyung is really crazy. ‘Hanna’ is a fan! Wow, really! The fairy of the idol world revealed that she’s a fan, how can there be such an honor?”
Jeong-min’s words, who had no tact, were getting longer.
“Tae-kyung Hyung! Hyung was also a fan of Hanna, right? You used to watch fancams all the time…”
“Jeong-min.”
Jeong-min stopped talking because my atmosphere was unusual. I had never let anyone know that I was a fan of Hanna, but somehow Jeong-min found out.
“I’m not a fan of Hanna Sunbae, I’m just a fan of Breeze.”
“Ah… I see. Tae-kyung Hyung was just a fan of Breeze…”
Jeong-min, who squinted his eyes, nodded. I drank the water a few more times and got up from my seat.
Perhaps because I had never actually met Hanna until now, even after debuting, she still remained a non-existent mystery to me.
But… Sung Se-han is working with that fairy…? Seriously, why is that bastard’s life so rosy?
Thump. After putting down the water bottle, I walked to the center of the practice room.
“Let’s practice the choreography a few more times. We need to completely learn the changed formation before the dancers come.”
“Tae-kyung Hyung? There’s still 20 minutes left of our break, though?”
Ho-soo protested as he stood up awkwardly, but I didn’t look back.
“Then rest. I’ll do it alone.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the maknaes ran over and made the formation. Yeah. Debuting is just around the corner, so resting is a luxury. Just searching for articles unnecessarily makes me feel complicated.
“Guys!”
Gun-woo Hyung hurriedly opened the practice room door and came in.
“Guys, I just came from talking to my little uncle… no, the CEO…”
Gun-woo Hyung’s excited appearance, which was unlike him, made me nervous. Could something bad have happened…?
“Our debut album has 20,000 pre-orders! 20,000!”
“!”
My feet stopped right there. I wanted to say something, but I could only open and close my mouth like an idiot.
20,000. 20,000 copies. Surely this isn’t a dream…?
“Gun-woo Hyung! Is it real? Is it true?”
Jeong-min grabbed Gun-woo Hyung’s hands and asked him urgently. Gun-woo Hyung, with a flushed face, nodded his head greatly.
“They conservatively estimated 20,000 copies! Our fans keep protesting that the pre-order quantity should be higher, though? They said that they can handle all the quantity, so trust them and order…!”
“Gun-woo Hyung…!”
My heart was so full that it was hard to breathe. Our debut album has 20,000 copies…!
“Guys! We really need to work harder. The fans…”
I turned to look at my younger brothers with joy. But they didn’t seem as happy as Gun-woo Hyung and I. Their expressions were all ambiguous.
“What’s wrong, you guys. You don’t seem happy about 20,000 copies?”
I only asked jokingly, but Jeong-min’s answer was surprising.
“No… it’s good, but it seems a little less than I thought…”
“What…?”
What is he talking about? Without knowing that my face was hardening, Jeong-min still had a dissatisfied face.
“The company is promoting us a lot, and the reaction to our content was really good, right? So I was actually expecting a lot of pre-orders…”
“Tae-kyung Hyung, we were actually expecting a lot of pre-orders when we were talking among ourselves…”
While listening to Jeong-min and Ho-soo’s words, my gaze gradually went down.
The floor of the practice room, stained with sweat, came into view.
Back then, when we were holding fan signs, we couldn’t sell even 2,000 pre-ordered copies, so we were watching the company’s reaction. We didn’t stop practicing even while being ridiculed by our Sunbaes for not being able to sell even those 2,000 copies.
Maybe those stains are the tears we shed back then.
“You guys…”
I raised my gaze and looked around at my younger brothers. I could feel the members being startled and nervous when they saw my face, but I didn’t care.
“That’s really funny. Does 20,000 copies seem easy?”