Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 338

“Morning still valid, maknae [youngest member]?”

“I’m getting so annoyed watching you, should I put a muzzle on you for being like a vicious dog?”

“What are you talking about, maknae!”

“Shut up.”

Lee Hyunjae had yet to escape the curse’s hold since that day.

“That’s right, Eden.”

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], you’re the same! What kind of person does that!”

Even with someone taking his side, the maknae shot up. As if recalling something, his anger slowly escalated, laced with heavy breaths.

“Certainly… I didn’t know you’d make something like that with it.”

“You asked me to make it.”

“That much.”

Lee Hyunjae’s statement that night, the comment ‘The curse, it’s still valid, right,’ was so cute that we planned to extract the sound from the video, adjust the pitch, correct the noise, and use it as a messenger notification sound.

Ryu Eden planned it, and I executed it. With the spirit of a craftsman, even taking a day off from tutoring a student from the Department of Intelligent Systems, I created curse notification sounds for both messenger and phone calls.

The messenger sound played the phrase ‘still valid, right’ after a cut-off sound effect, and the call sound adjusted the pitch of the sentence ‘The curse, it’s still valid, right’ to create a repetitive melody.

Lee Hyunjae’s argument seems reasonable at first glance. It’s common sense to see the instigator and the perpetrator as equally wrong, to the point where there are legal clauses equating the punishment of a killer instructor with that of the person who actually committed the act.

However, this is a bit different.

If an artist hires an art student and instructs them on how to paint everything without painting themselves, whose work should the completed piece be considered?

There’s room for debate, but it’s generally seen as the artist’s work (in fact, that kind of setup is an idea in itself, so there’s a greater tendency to see it that way, but I’ll omit that).

Therefore…….

“Shut up! You’re the worst, hyung! You crazy person!”

“Hyunjae……”

His eyes tightly shut, a voice erupting like a bursting bomb.

Really, all I can say is cute. He usually tries to refine his language even when swearing, but to this extent, really.

“Revenge, I’ll get my revenge.”

He’s glaring at me, this is new too.

“Okay.”

How fun.

“I’ll help you too, maknae!”

“Shut up, hyung too!”

Then he collapsed and caught his breath. Exhausted, his body seemed to have lost all strength, like a sprinter collapsing after a full sprint.

‘Still valid, right?’

As if on cue, a small notification sound rang in the quiet room where Lee Hyunjae had collapsed, exhausted. It wouldn’t be my phone, as I’m in the habit of keeping it on silent.

“Ah, they want me to come down.”

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Change it to silent right now.”

“Hey, I’m the leader, I need to keep getting calls?”

“Then change it! Before I stab you in the stomach with my own hands! I’ll prove that the muscles you’ve built up your whole life can become useless in an instant!”

Oh my, such elegant language.

“Our maknae, you really hate it that much?”

Ryu Eden asked seriously. Actually, he had been asking since I started making it.

“…No, I just hate hearing that kind of awful sound in public places.”

Every time, Lee Hyunjae subtly turned the conversation with slightly red cheeks. His answers were along the lines of ‘It’s not that I hate it, but can’t we just keep it between us, not share it?’ I guess he’s both embarrassed and pleased that all his hyungs are using his voice as a notification sound.

Really, how can he be so cute?

This is impossible to put into words.

If I were Shakespeare, I would have created a new word to write it down, but all I can do is spew out a long sentence: ‘The relaxation that comes from the primal sense of security of a human desiring emotional bonds, triggered by the awareness of the dualistic perception of reality and the gap between them, and the pleasure that comes from comparing it to frozen history.’

In fact, it would be enough to summarize it as, ‘Our maknae is so cute because he’s proud of being close to us.’

Ding!

[The Lee Hyunjae I know wasn’t like that, he’s changed a lot.]

Perhaps it’s because he’s much younger.

[Such changes happen because you met him early. Oh my, I’m getting proud again.]

Indeed.

I smiled and got up from my seat.

As I went out to go downstairs to the hotel, Chae Hamin and Seokjun were waiting outside the room, fully dressed.

“Hyunjae, morning still valid?”

Valid, it’s becoming a greeting within Blossoms.

“Hamin hyung, I’m, really… so thankful, but.”

Lee Hyunjae is picky about people.

Unlike Ryu Eden, who is sly on the inside and derives pleasure from teasing others, Lee Hyunjae knows that Chae Hamin is sincerely using those words because he finds them so lovely, so he couldn’t bring himself to tell him to shut up.

In other words, my treatment is similar to Ryu Eden’s.

Wow, after organizing my thoughts, it’s ridiculous. Not as much as Chae Hamin or Seokjun, but to be treated the same as Ryu Eden.

“Ha…, it’s valid. How about you, hyung?”

“Me too!”

Chae Hamin grinning optimistically at the morning greeting with the maknae, Lee Hyunjae covering his face with his hands and stomping on the floor as if dissatisfied, and Ryu Eden next to him watching and taking pictures of it.

“Did you sleep well, hyungnim [term of respect]?”

“Yeah, Jun. You?”

“I’m valid too─.”

And even Seokjun, who noticed that Lee Hyunjae genuinely likes these words and is deliberately using them.

The start of the morning, with us scheduled to set foot on Korean soil, began so refreshingly.

* * *

The achievement of a tour is, in fact, capital.

When the company becomes wealthy and achieves results relative to its investment, it can then attract larger funds and create albums and stages of better quality.

Even articles with clickbait headlines like [Blossoms, Returns After World Tour, The Results Are……] and then filled with complimentary sentences like ‘Recorded a complete sell-out’ or ‘The size of the venue and local reactions were……’ actually help to raise their reputation and solidify their position.

However, that’s a capitalist perspective, and from an individual’s point of view, all that matters is the short sentiment of feeling proud to meet fans and show them a good performance.

In that sense, I actually prefer direct communication channels like fan signing events or W App [fan communication app].

“They say we’re a top-tier group now.”

“Is it valid?”

“Yes, it’s valid. Of course, there’s a lot of arguing saying it’s nonsense. But I wonder what it all means. Classifications without objective criteria or quantifiable formulas. I think only the fans get stressed. If these titles are attached, it only increases conflict……. Among those who vent like this, I think 90% are trying to stir up trouble……”

Perhaps it’s because he’s become desensitized from repetition, Lee Hyunjae only bit his lip slightly in the car heading to the dorm, continuing his chatter calmly.

As Lee Hyunjae said, even if there were such criteria or formulas in the first place, it would be meaningless. Furthermore, it’s unethical.

If someone claims to be top-tier, how rude is that to those who aren’t? It’s the same principle as how meticulously writing down the standards of a desirable life is violent.

And honestly, it’s just a natural generational shift.

It’s like sticking our heads into the void created by Blue Jack and TOT reducing group activities and focusing on individual activities.

“Hey, let’s just keep doing what we’re doing. Don’t worry about that, maknae. That’s not valid.”

“I told you to shut up.”

“That’s too much! I let the fairy tale thing slide!”

“I can’t let it slide because your eyes are too annoying. Or should I cause some problems with your optic nerves myself?”

“Sorry!”

Even if Ryu Eden is like that, what he’s saying is right. No matter what others call us, we just need to keep doing what we’re doing.

“We have a week off, what are you guys going to do now?”

“Undecided except for going to see Mokhwa [play/performance] on the last day of the holiday.”

Following my brief answer to Chae Hamin’s question, the members also answered one by one. Everyone had no proper plans.

Could it be that these guys have become so focused on work that they can’t even think of the simple option of meeting friends? If that’s really the case, it’ll be difficult for me to avoid responsibility.

“Then shall we go to our villa in three days? My father is throwing a welcome-back party.”

You bourgeois guy. Of course, I’m also a petit bourgeois now, so I have no right to speak.

“……Wow, hold on. A party?”

I’m more surprised by the villa. One house is all a person needs.

“It’s just a small party.”

Lee Hyunjae frowned.

The subjectivity of language is sometimes astonishing. The word ‘small’ that was just used wouldn’t meet our standards.

My idea of a party is four family members gathering to eat a small cake, but Chae Hamin’s party is…, honestly, I have no idea what it would be like.

“Do we have to wear suits or something?”

“I guess so. I had one made a long time ago, so I don’t know if it’ll fit in the chest area now……”

Lee Hyunjae and Ryu Eden seem to be thinking the same thing as me. I also stared at Chae Hamin with agreement. Only Seokjun muttered, ‘Food…….’

“We’re just gathering to eat together, why?”

“No, hyung’s standards for parties are a bit different.”

“I’m a person too, how am I different?”

You’re a rabbit, how can you tell such an obvious lie?

“…Can we go comfortably?”

“Yeah!”

“Are you sure we can go really comfortably?”

“Yeah! Come comfortably. It’s chilly so you probably won’t wear it, but a tank top and dolphin shorts are fine too!”

Well, I have some doubts about whether dolphin shorts are comfortable clothes, but anyway.

* * *

When I got in and out of the car, I was a little surprised that there was a garden.

A detached house located on the outskirts of Seoul. An exterior that looks like a wealthy person would live in, or a lodging that a large company would choose for executive training.

Even with that visual, the fact that people don’t actually live there was even more shocking.

Maintaining it like this, even though people don’t usually live there.

“This is my hideout, actually.”

Yeah, I knew it would be different, damn it. Even the word ‘hideout’ has different standards for Chae Hamin.

It’s amazing that he didn’t show any discomfort when he first saw the dorm, saying, ‘How can we all live here?’

Ryu Eden and Lee Hyunjae, dressed comfortably as if they were really going to a villa in the countryside, stared at the three-story ‘hideout.’

“…Is this perhaps a hideout used by a revolutionary army?”

“Huh?”

“…No. I feel an aura that says no unrefined humans allowed.”

I praised myself for choosing a formal fashion and opened the door and stepped inside.

“This is where guests hang out when they come to visit.”

Numerous dishes placed on a long table and champagne in ice.

What kind of waste is this.

I covered my mouth. The secretary who guided us when we went to the art museum before approached us.

“Was the journey comfortable? I was going to drive you myself, but preparing here took precedence.”

“It’s okay!”

Chae Hamin, dressed in casual clothes that he might wear to go to the convenience store in front of his house, immediately stepped into a place where he would have no excuse even if he was turned away for not wearing a suit.

“Come on in, guys! Let’s tour my hideout!”

We entered Chae Hamin’s dream hideout, his own paradise where all of Chae Hamin’s hobbies are imbued everywhere.