By Zephyria I was restless, wondering if Kang Robin-nim would see us, but Sung Se-han even gave a leisurely eye smile.
“What reason would we have to fight? As long as Tae-kyung doesn’t insist on useless things.”
“Sung Se-han, I wish you’d be quiet.”
When I glared at him, Kang Robin-nim glanced back.
“See? They’re already fighting?”
The moment I opened my mouth to protest, a low chuckle escaped from Sung Se-han’s lips. Then the strength drained from my shoulders.
Sung Se-han’s comfortable smile seemed to touch something inside me. I felt an unbearable urge and quickly turned my gaze out the window.
Sung Se-han probably knew my face was red. Because his beautiful eyes were constantly on me.
The first news I heard when I arrived at the company was that today’s schedule had been canceled.
“Why was it suddenly canceled?”
My manager, Doo-hyun Hyung, gave an awkward smile to my question.
“Tae-kyung, it happens sometimes. Don’t think too sensitively about it.”
I looked around at the members sitting in the conference room. They all had gloomy faces and couldn’t meet my eyes.
Is it because of me…? Because I couldn’t please Director Park Jin-seok?
Because I didn’t accept his offer….
I felt like I’d been hit over the head by something I thought was just a past happening.
I thought it was something I could forget, but it was still ongoing. My vision darkened, and my fingertips turned cold.
“Sorry, because of me….”
The moment the words left my mouth, the members snapped their heads up.
“Tae-kyung, don’t say useless things!”
“Tae-kyung Hyung-nim! What are you talking about!”
“Tae-kyung Hyung, what’s really wrong?”
Jeong-min shouted, jumping up.
“Hyung! Is that schedule the problem? We all couldn’t sleep a wink. When I think about how hard it must have been for Tae-kyung Hyung alone, how could I sleep?”
“Tae-kyung Hyung! If it’s a schedule that’s going to be canceled like that, it’s better for us not to do it. Isn’t that right?”
I couldn’t say anything and lowered my gaze.
Thinking positively won’t solve anything. If schedules keep getting canceled like this, it was obvious that team activities would be restricted in the future.
“Tae-kyung.”
Gun-woo Hyung, who had gotten up from his chair, approached me.
“Don’t worry about the schedule. Anyway, even if we do that interview, it’ll be edited down to about a minute.”
Still, it was an interview that the members were looking forward to because it was a fairly popular talk show on MNS cable.
What… what did I do wrong to interfere with even the scheduled activities?
A sudden sense of helplessness made my chest feel stuffy.
“I met my little uncle, no, the CEO last night, and he seemed to know nothing about it. I also got a promise that this won’t happen again, so don’t worry anymore.”
“Yes….”
I wanted to thank Gun-woo Hyung, but the words didn’t come out easily.
Because Sung Se-han had told me in the car on the way to the company that the CEO of Global was an incompetent person who delegated the practical work to General manager Kim and went golfing.
Kang Robin-nim’s words that Sky Blue’s debut would have been difficult without meeting an investor weighed heavily on my heart.
“Gun-woo Hyung, maybe…!”
I grabbed Gun-woo Hyung’s arm as a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Our appearance on ‘Star Light’ hasn’t changed, right? There’s no problem with that, right?”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Doo-hyun Hyung patted my back.
“That’s already been arranged, and the recording will start soon. It’s hard to change our minds now.”
Unlike his firm words, Doo-hyun Hyung’s face lacked conviction. I clenched my fists tightly and looked around at the members.
“No one can stop us from going on Star Light.”
The members looked bewildered at my determined appearance. The members didn’t know, but I had my own conviction.
How could anyone block the opportunity that Status Window gave me, no matter what dirty tricks they used?
“Our debut activities are over, so we need to pull ourselves together and prepare for Star Light starting today.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Soo-in jumped up from his seat.
“Yes, Tae-kyung Hyung-nim.”
“Okay, Tae-kyung Hyung.”
Based on the content already received from the production team, there was so much to prepare, including arrangements, concepts, and choreography costumes.
So, there was no room to waste time blankly.
“First of all, we need to decide on the concept up to the second competition. Let’s get a picture of it ourselves before meeting with the content team.”
As I sat down in my chair, Soo-in pulled the whiteboard over.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
Gun-woo Hyung waved his hand and drew attention.
“Have you guys forgotten that you haven’t eaten breakfast yet? Let’s eat first.”
“Huh? You haven’t eaten yet?”
When I asked in surprise, Jeong-min raised his eyes as if it were obvious.
“After what Hyung did yesterday, how could we eat?”
I felt so sorry that I couldn’t say anything. I was so busy with Se-han that I didn’t worry about the members at all. I slept comfortably in the hospital and ate delicious porridge….
“Let’s go out. I’ll buy you something delicious.”
Before I could finish speaking, Doo-hyun Hyung shouted loudly.
“Why is Tae-kyung buying us food? You can eat something delicious today without thinking about the amount. Hyung will pay.”
“Wow! Really?”
“Thank you!”
As the members rushed out of the conference room, Gun-woo Hyung grabbed my shoulder.
“Tae-kyung.”
Gun-woo Hyung, with a solemn expression, gritted his teeth.
“I really am sorry to you, but I’m not going to let Se-han go.”
“Hyung, I’m sorry. Se-han sometimes goes astray, but he’s a good kid, okay? I’ll make sure he apologizes to Hyung. Please understand him just once.”
I asked, but Gun-woo Hyung shook his head firmly.
“Tae-kyung, you can’t understand. You’ve never been treated like an inanimate object or trash by Sung Se-han.”
“No, Hyung. There’s no need to go that far….”
It seemed that Gun-woo Hyung had been hurt a lot. I had to make sure Sung Se-han apologized properly.
“Hyung, I’ll set up a meeting so you can meet Se-han separately….”
“Just you wait, Tae-kyung.”
Gun-woo Hyung, with a glint in his eyes, wasn’t even listening to me.
“I have a plan too. I’m going to use a very dirty method to make sure I see Se-han cry.”
“Ah… hahaha….”
Making Sung Se-han cry. That would probably be impossible. Even I have never seen Sung Se-han cry.
As I followed Gun-woo Hyung out of the conference room, I unknowingly grabbed my chest.
Because I remembered twelve-year-old Sung Se-han, who was sweating from the pain.
“Sigh….”
I never want to see Sung Se-han cry like that again in the future. Never.
Starting at 2 PM, articles about ‘Star Light’ began to pour out.
Sky Blue to Taste Harsh Survival Just Two Weeks After Debut. Joins ‘Star Light’!”
Perfect Puzzle’s Sung Se-han. Reacts Favorably to Sky Blue’s Joining News. ‘Hope It’s a Good Competition!’”
From Friends to Rivals. Perfect Puzzle’s Sung Se-han and Sky Blue’s Tae-kyung ― ‘Star Light’ Encounter”
“This is really helpful?”
Team leader Jang Ju-mi couldn’t take her eyes off her phone. The concept meeting had been suspended for 30 minutes due to the news of the article.
“Actually, PD Bae Dong-yeon was showing us a somewhat ambiguous attitude.”
Team leader Jang Ju-mi put down her phone and looked around at the members.
“It’s a situation where we could be dropped at any time. I really didn’t expect Baeknyeon Entertainment to release this kind of article.”
“Se-han Hyung thinks a lot about our team. Right? Tae-kyung Hyung?”
An excited Jeong-min hit my arm painfully. Team leader Jang Ju-mi nodded, looking at me with a pleased expression.
“Yeah. Thanks to Se-han doing the interview himself, the fandom reaction is already hot. Of course, there are more reactions cursing us. Hehe! Anyway, I really like this atmosphere.”
Seeing the members’ faces brighten, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Thanks to Sung Se-han….
Uuung. The vibration started in the pocket of my hoodie. I was about to take out my phone and check the screen when Gun-woo Hyung stuck his face in first. And he raised his hand to Team leader Jang Ju-mi and said.
“Team leader-nim! Is it okay for Tae-kyung to go talk to Se-han for a bit?”
“Sure. Take your time on the phone, Tae-kyung.”
“Yes… thank you.”
Gun-woo Hyung gave me a spiteful smile as I got up from my seat.
Gun-woo Hyung, who was burning with revenge, was cute and, on the other hand, worrying, but I was grateful for now.
Because I wanted to hear Sung Se-han’s voice quickly too.
“Yeah, Se-han.”
As soon as I came out of the conference room, I accepted the call and looked around. It was difficult to talk in the hallway, so I looked for an empty conference room.
―What time does the meeting end?
The moment I heard the low, husky voice, my heart fluttered. I was definitely with him until this morning, but I don’t know why I’m like this.
“It seems like it’ll be a bit late….”
I couldn’t finish my sentence because I was suddenly out of breath. It felt like my heart couldn’t handle the excitement I was experiencing for the first time.
―I’ll pick you up even if it’s late.