Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 339

This hideout puts elementary school students’ makeshift tents made of two chairs and a blanket, or even empty lots discovered in the forest, to shame. Those barely qualify as hideouts.

“My father used to come here often to relax. He always said the air was good,” Chae Hamin said, seating Ryu Iden in the middle and me next to him at the table. “But lately, he’s been so busy he told me I could use it as I pleased, right? So, I completely renovated it.”

Looking closer, I noticed that most of the dishes were hors d’oeuvres, or appetizers. This meant that once we finished these, the next course would come out, implying he’d hired a personal chef. Or, perhaps Chae Hamin’s family simply had a chef on staff.

Either way, it was a display of wealth.

I could tell that Chae Hamin’s father was trying to take care of us. Chae Hamin, usually quite modest, wouldn’t have arranged something like this himself.

Of course, his casual familiarity with the scene was a bit jarring. Just last night, he was happily eating ramen with the younger members, praising how delicious it was.

I don’t particularly like ramen, and Ryu Iden doesn’t eat it at all, so Chae Hamin was the one who enjoyed it the most.

Chae Hamin was probably the only one among us accustomed to this kind of luxury. Even Lee Hyunjae, who comes from the second wealthiest family, didn’t seem particularly familiar with this kind of elaborate table setting.

After scrutinizing the food, Lee Hyunjae, sitting across from Chae Hamin, asked, “Renovated?”

“Yeah. I remodeled the entire second and third floors. It just finished, and I wanted to show you! Donghwa didn’t even know.”

“…I’m worried about what you’ve done.”

He was right. What would happen if this guy, who only needed to save his allowance for his bank account to swell, decided to spend serious money?

“Let’s eat first.”

There was a terrine [a French forcemeat loaf similar to pate] and a cheese platter, mainly featuring vegetables. These hors d’oeuvres, common in France, were all bite-sized – the epitome of inefficiency.

I picked up the outermost knife, holding it with the blade facing inward, according to proper etiquette.

Chae Hamin, sitting next to me, fiddled with the forks and grabbed the middle one. He then picked up the most ornate knife, holding it with the blade facing outward.

Goodness, Hamin.

“Hyung, which fork should I use?” Seokjun asked, flustered by the array of utensils.

“Anything,” I replied.

“Doryeonnim [Young Master]?” the secretary asked unconsciously, but Chae Hamin just winked and smiled without answering directly. Seokjun, following suit, picked up the knife meant for meat dishes and grinned.

“Hamin,” I whispered.

“Why?” Chae Hamin replied, chewing the terrine he’d just put in his mouth, covering his mouth as he spoke. It was clear he was mocking table manners, even for Ryu Iden.

“…Never mind.”

“Wow, this is delicious, isn’t it, Donghwa?”

After that, Chae Hamin startled me with each new dish.

He cut up the steak before eating it and used his hands to debone or flip the fish. Each trivial act was a clear statement that table manners were unimportant to him.

He clearly had a reason for acting this way, even though he knew the proper etiquette.

During the two-and-a-half-hour meal, Chae Hamin took the lead in eating haphazardly, encouraging the others to eat as they pleased.

Only I was trapped by my ingrained sense of propriety. I don’t think table manners matter as long as you don’t splatter food everywhere, but the remnants of my past, when I didn’t want to be seen as uneducated, were deeply ingrained.

Hmm.

“What’s wrong, Donghwa?”

Even though the meal was over, my fork and knife were still neatly placed on the plate. I smiled, looking at Chae Hamin’s plate.

“Just.”

I placed my knife and fork on the plate in a similar fashion.

Who cares? If this were a fancy restaurant, maybe, but what’s the point of manners when eating with friends?

As soon as Chae Hamin saw that, his eyes curved into crescents.

“Hehehe.”

A clean, satisfied laugh followed, not one of ridicule.

Then, Chae Hamin leaned towards me and whispered as if sharing a secret, “It was so suffocating when I was young.”

“Was it?”

“Yeah. My father has changed a lot now, but he used to be a bit….”

At that moment, the secretary, who had come to refill our water glasses, subtly interjected, “Doryeonnim, you shouldn’t speak ill of the current chairman to the next chairman.”

“More nonsense. I’ve asked you so many times not to call me that,” Chae Hamin frowned, clearly displeased. The secretary smiled, probably joking, and took a step back.

“Really….”

Chae Hamin quickly scanned the table, checking if he had left any food other than bread.

“I’ve never eaten anything like this before. It’s amazing,” Ryu Iden said, smacking his lips as he looked at his empty plate.

It was delicious, for sure. I wanted to share it with Mokhwa too.

“I’ve had it before, but this was incredibly delicious,” Lee Hyunjae added.

“I’m glad it was a hit!” Then, Chae Hamin smiled brightly, saying, “My father is so great at times like this!”

* * *

When you eat for two and a half hours, many conversations naturally take place. However, there are also topics that remain unspoken.

“…How influential is Hamin hyung’s family?” Lee Hyunjae asked.

“Somewhere below a chaebol family [a large South Korean business conglomerate, typically family-owned],” I replied.

It’s not quite a chaebol family because Elder Doosik built the company from the ground up, starting with trade and expanding into various areas. So, you can’t simply call it a president’s family; it’s somewhere in between.

“Why isn’t this being reported in the news?”

“The collaboration of two elders,” I said.

“…Two elders?”

The two elders who indulge my whims are quietly taking care of it. I send gifts to Elder Hwayang every time, but it’s still not enough to repay the favor.

I didn’t finish answering Lee Hyunjae’s question and followed Chae Hamin up to the second floor. The second floor had a stylish living room and several rooms.

“This is the junk room where we keep things that were here before the remodeling!” Chae Hamin said, opening the door to a room filled with books.

“We also have our family albums here?” Thick photo albums were lined up on one bookshelf.

“Can I look?” Ryu Iden asked. As soon as Chae Hamin nodded, Ryu Iden took out an album labeled ‘Hamin.’ I became interested and sat next to him, peering in.

As soon as I opened the album, I thought, ‘If you shrink the current Chae Hamin and add some cheek fat, this is what you’d get.’ A naive-looking kid was wearing overalls and a short-sleeved shirt, pouting his lips.

“…Can you really be this unchanged?” I muttered unconsciously.

“Are you one to talk?” Ryu Iden immediately retorted.

Well, yeah. My childhood face has remained almost the same.

“Um, why are you pouting like that? A kid who doesn’t like taking pictures?” Chae Hamin grabbed his cheeks, seemingly embarrassed, and nodded.

“Ah, this is so embarrassing. I didn’t realize it when I received Donghwa’s old album from Mokhwa and looked at it, but it’s embarrassing for the person himself.”

“……Huh?” I said. I’m hearing this for the first time, Hamin.

“Ah, right,” Chae Hamin said, taking a step back and running out. I couldn’t run in someone else’s house, so I suppressed my annoyance.

After a moment of laughter, Ryu Iden habitually flipped through the pages.

“Wow, the clothes look really expensive.”

Maybe Chae Hamin’s family wasn’t very well-off when he was very young, but these photos must be from after his family had made their fortune.

I was quietly watching when I suddenly realized something strange. Why is there no one else in this photo album besides Chae Hamin? Except for his mother, who occasionally appears, there’s really no one.

Actually, I think I know the reason. Eight out of ten of Chae Hamin’s photos were formal portraits. It probably wasn’t a childhood where he could easily make friends.

Still, not having even one is a bit strange.

Ryu Iden, who is quick-witted, naturally closed the album with a thud.

“Oh, where’s our Hamin? This hyung needs to give him a hug; he’s so cute,” he said, quickly going outside and changing the subject. Lee Hyunjae and Seokjun also followed, leaving me alone to slowly look through the already closed album again.

Um, he has a very dissatisfied face. Honestly, I don’t see that face now. The photos were mostly taken in front of a desk, so they were surprisingly focused on education.

…But why the studies?

I shook my head to dismiss the impolite thought that crossed my mind. And then.

“I specialize in sneaking Doryeonnim away,” a voice said from behind. The secretary was looking at me with a gentle smile.

You haven’t left work yet. Why volunteer for extra work?

“If he said he didn’t want to study, I would help him run away.”

“…No offense, but it’s a relief that your employment has been maintained.”

“This is all the dark side of society,” the secretary said, coming to the side of the chair I was sitting on and opening a photo in the album.

A photo of Chae Hamin, who looks about twelve years old. One of the few photos taken with other people.

“This bastard was calling himself Doryeonnim’s friend but was backstabbing him.”

Oh dear. Yet, Chae Hamin in the photo is smiling brightly, which made my heart feel heavy. The secretary waited for a moment, then flipped to another page and pointed to another photo.

“This bastard also treated Doryeonnim like an underling, saying his company was bigger than the chairman’s.”

A vulgar bastard. How dare he treat my friend like that?

I felt a wave of physiological disgust. I felt the secretary’s gaze examining my face for a moment.

Maybe my expression wasn’t very good.

“If Donghwa-ssi was Hamin-ssi’s friend back then, he would have caught and killed them all.”

“Without evidence,” I replied, based on the know-how I learned from Elder Hwayang.

“……That’s a bit creepy,” the secretary said, smiling, thinking it was a joke at first, but then added, seeing that my aura seemed ominous, “Anyway, he’s someone who doesn’t have any cunning. But thanks to that, he was allowed to become a trainee. I kneeled in front of the office and protested that it would be good to let him loosen up a bit.”

It’s strange. Why did this person do that? How could he do such a thing for someone who wasn’t even related by blood?

“If you just look at the cause and effect, he didn’t have any friends when he was young, so he met a really good person as a friend now, so I honestly don’t know if I should be happy or not.”

Chae Hamin’s problem is that he has less wariness than a rabbit. Wild rabbits start to flee just by the ground shaking, but why is he….

Come to think of it, he didn’t have many friends during his trainee days either. He didn’t say it directly, but circumstantially, he implied he was being taken advantage of.

If he was taken advantage of to that extent, he would be justified in hating humans, but it seems that such a concept wasn’t installed in Chae Hamin’s head.

“However, I wanted to convey my gratitude someday.”

“…To me?”

“Yes, then who else would it be? Hamin’s grandmother said that you are a noble person. I can agree a hundred times over.”

I slowly took a breath. It’s not burdensome, but it’s a bit awkward. It was even more so because the trajectory of what Chae Hamin’s life must have been like was naturally drawn in my head.

“…I’ll keep a good eye on him so he doesn’t get scammed.”

“That’s right. Thanks to you, I’ve been sleeping soundly these days.”

I was a little curious as to why a child who was so daring as to run around everywhere and hate the stuffy studies couldn’t hate humans, but I kept my mouth shut.