Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 355

On the way home after volunteering, Bongju felt a sudden sense of unease seeing the flood of messages.

He briefly scanned the messages, thinking his father might be ill, but then noticed that even his foreign friends had contacted him, so he cleared all the notifications.

If even his foreign friends were rushing to contact him, it meant that at least his father was healthy.

He had been too preoccupied during volunteering to check all those messages individually, so he planned to eat first and then look at them.

He connected his earphones to his phone.

Walking home while listening to music, he found his father wearing glasses and looking at his phone.

“I’m home!”

“Bongju, a video of you was uploaded.”

“Oh, really? Was it from a competition?”

“No, it’s a video of you playing the piano with your teacher sitting next to you.”

“Ah, that one.”

Oh? …Hmm, so those messages were perhaps about that.

Bongju took out his phone and scanned the messages. They were mostly along the lines of, ‘How do you know this person?’

So he was this popular, huh? It was fascinating. Of course, he knew it, but experiencing it firsthand was different.

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah. But how would I judge your playing?”

“No, it has to be good even to non-experts.”

The performance must be like that. Even people who aren’t interested should at least be able to listen and say, ‘Ah, it’s beautiful.’

“That’s a relief.”

Bongju smiled brightly and went into the soundproof room to sit at the piano.

He could ignore the phone calls, right? It would be resolved if he didn’t look at his phone for a week.

Bongju wasn’t someone who craved attention from others, and he didn’t want to gain popularity that way.

So, if he kept the sound on for important contacts and turned off the rest…

* * *

Jidonghwa was quite busy with the final stages of album production.

Chae Hamin sent a desperate plea over the phone, ‘Come home!’, but he didn’t even pay attention.

Quite some time had passed, and during his off-season, he lived in Silver Town, so traveling back and forth to the studio was quite cumbersome.

He felt that Bongju had really grown. Just like he had thought when he saw Lee Hyunjae.

Lee Hyunjae wrote his own lyrics, so the original working title ‘Ripe’ was discarded, but it had found a new owner like this.

Perhaps, as Gisaeng had said, teaching was his true calling. Otherwise, how could it be so pleasing to be called ‘teacher’ and respected?

Ding!

[Are you talking about doing it like me? Give it up, it’s not something a human should do.]

If possible, I’ll let you study early childhood education in your next life.

[It’s better than being an idol. But please, let me study philosophy or astrophysics.]

Talking with Gisaeng always brought a comfortable smile to his face. Although the certainty of whether that was possible was slowly fading.

[Well, you never know. You might develop some strange method.]

I should.

Jidonghwa saved his work and got up from his seat.

His stomach was burning because he hadn’t eaten anything all day. Chae Hamin or Ryu Ideun would try to kill him if they saw him.

The former with noise, the latter physically (locking him up so he couldn’t work was like death to Jidonghwa).

Should I eat something?

“…Donghwa.”

Hmm, why is Chae Hamin here? Of course, he’s free to be wherever he wants.

“I’m really worried to death, really. I came here from lunch and sat next to the door to surprise you when you came out, but how could you not come out even once?”

“…You’re out of your mind, Hamin.”

Humans don’t do such things, and neither do rabbits. It’s nothing short of pathological.

“What were you doing?”

“What do you mean? I was watching to see if you came out.”

So, he’s been staring at the empty space for over half a day, just watching for the door to open.

“Crazy person.”

Jidonghwa replied briefly and moved on.

“I was planning to go out to eat with you when you ate.”

That’s why he came around lunchtime.

“So, you gave up now because you were too hungry?”

“……Yeah. I didn’t know you ate lunch so early, Donghwa. Your meal times usually get later when you’re working.”

If I say I didn’t eat, it’ll get even louder.

“Don’t tell me, you didn’t eat?”

“I ate.”

He spat out coldly and grabbed his coat.

Chae Hamin’s lie detection ability clashed with Jidonghwa’s defense ability.

Whether it was the guy who was grasping even the most subtle reactions or the guy who was learning to control even his most minute muscles, they were both out of their minds.

Anyway, it was an undeniable fact that guessing Jidonghwa’s lies had become a kind of game within Blossence.

“……That’s a lie.”

It’s ruined.

Jidonghwa clicked his tongue inwardly.

Even if he said it wasn’t a lie here, it would only provide more evidence that it was a lie.

Jidonghwa quickly walked out.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Donghwa.”

“Shall we go eat mushroom cutlet?”

“……Ah, I’m, really.”

Chae Hamin got up from his seat and followed Jidonghwa without saying anything else.

“No matter how I think about it, you’re not right in the head either, Donghwa.”

“……What.”

That’s why you have a friend. He hated cheesy words.

* * *

The restaurant he visited after a long time had a quaint taste. Actually, ‘shabby’ would be a more accurate expression, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to use such a word for a store where one person’s life was embedded.

Jidonghwa sat down as a matter of course and ordered chicken cutlet.

It was the only dish that didn’t contain mushrooms here.

It was a store where one person’s life was embedded, but it was hard to accept their love for mushrooms.

“Oh my.”

The person serving recognized him and was startled, but calmed down for a moment when Jidonghwa greeted her politely.

Since it was near the entertainment building, celebrities occasionally came, so she politely greeted him back and went inside after placing the food.

“It’s mysterious, sometimes.”

Jidonghwa didn’t even ask the commonplace question, ‘What is?’ It wasn’t necessary.

“It feels like everything you say will come true.”

“…What is.”

But this time, he couldn’t stand it.

The world is meaningful because things don’t go your way, what is this rabbit saying?

“When I listen to you talk, I feel like I want to listen.”

“That’s just you.”

No, more precisely, our members, or even that damn cult group, are like that.

“So, are you planning to go home today?”

“Sorry to say.”

“You’re not sorry. I won this time, and you’re lying again.”

Chae Hamin, the winner of the lie-guessing game, confidently cut the pork cutlet and put it in his mouth.

Like the Madeleine effect [a sensory experience that triggers a rush of memories], after chewing a few bites, he was reminded of the meals he had with Jidonghwa here.

“Come to think of it, we ate together here for the first time.”

And at that time, he naturally ordered two pork cutlets with mushrooms instead of Jidonghwa, who was there for the first time.

It was a time when he didn’t know that Jidonghwa didn’t like the texture of mushrooms; it was so long ago that he wondered if it even existed.

“Come to think of it, why didn’t you say anything back then?”

Even as he asked, Chae Hamin already knew the answer.

“You know.”

Because we weren’t close.

Chae Hamin was the human who approached the area called Jidonghwa’s friend the fastest, but not at that time.

He didn’t even say anything for a long time after stepping into that area, and only found out after the survival show ended.

“Really, it’s mysterious.”

“You’re more so in my eyes.”

Jidonghwa was sure.

Maybe even if they spent many more years together, Jidonghwa wouldn’t be able to live like Chae Hamin, and vice versa.

“It’s a relief that you’re going out to exercise with Ideun hyung [older brother or male friend] these days, or you’d collapse again.”

Very occasionally, Jidonghwa visited the hospital regularly.

Jidonghwa knew the limits of his body accurately, so he was good at pushing himself right up to that point, but if he got sick at that time, he was helpless.

Was this good self-management, or what?

Chae Hamin had realized this fact after spending a long time together, so he grasped where Jidonghwa’s limit was and made it his top priority to take him out of the studio before he reached that point.

Every time, Jidonghwa retorted with a short word, ‘I’m exercising these days.’

When will this bickering end?

It would end if one of them gave up, but they never let go of each other. Looking back, it seemed like they both enjoyed it a little.

“You used to listen well when I cried…….”

“I’d still listen if you cried now. I’d even watch Seokjoon crawling around like a bug again.”

Probably the busiest person these days is Chae Hamin.

Because he’s showing his face here and there to act. He also released a solo album.

“Ah, by the way, how’s the preparation for this album going?”

“Yeah. The final stage. It’ll be out in three weeks.”

“Wow, if I win the fan signing, I have to go.”

“Crazy talk.”

He didn’t actually intend to do it, but he wanted to hear that answer.

“Don’t take the fans’ seats.”

“Of course not.”

Chae Hamin smiled brightly. As time passed, it wasn’t the innocent smile that made it seem like his head was a flower garden, but a smile that exuded a slightly strange atmosphere.

“…If it wasn’t a joke, I would have handled it myself.”

“Wow, I’m curious to see what would happen. That’s a big deal.”

* * *

So he came.

Chae Hamin smiled, wearing a hat, mask, and sunglasses.

He asked a staff member to secretly add him to the end as an event.

He couldn’t take the fans’ seats. Also, since it was a solo album fan meeting, he planned to show his face only to Donghwa and sneak out.

This was a possible decision because Chae Hamin was a docile creature with the lowest level of danger to Jidonghwa.

In fact, he couldn’t wait with the fans because they would notice, but he secretly watched Jidonghwa’s fan meeting from the staff seats next to the stage.

What should I do? This is a bit thrilling. The thought of going back there and getting on the stage later made him excited.

Jidonghwa is calm.

He had an innocent face that didn’t know what would happen even an inch ahead (Chae Hamin is the only one among Jidonghwa’s acquaintances who uses this expression; his face is too far from the word innocence).

And when one person came up, Jidonghwa opened his eyes slightly and smiled.

“It’s been a while.”

A short sentence. Then the person across from him covered his mouth as if moved and slammed his face on the desk.

“I’ve read a lot of linguistics papers; should we talk about my bachelor’s thesis?”

The fan who had banged his head a couple of times raised his head.

“I’m embarrassed! Absolutely not. Just in case, I was wondering if you would really remember, so I took out my graduation thesis and read it before coming, but I couldn’t stand it!”

Jidonghwa smiled leisurely.

Long years in the entertainment industry had made Jidonghwa use his face as a weapon.

As if it was a reward for those who cherished him, he acted with meticulous calculation of every angle of his face and the position of his gaze.

Chae Hamin was always fascinated by his reddening ears.

Why doesn’t Donghwa get used to it? I think he’ll be ashamed like that for the rest of his life.

But the words ‘it was fun’ were not a lie, clearly, if he hadn’t lost today.

“Forget it, please. Absolutely not that kind of thesis. I was crazy; I should have given you a doctorate.”

Then he rummaged through his things and took out his thesis.

Of course, it looked like a thick book bound in hardcover to Chae Hamin.

“I don’t know if you’ll be able to understand it properly because the string is short.”

Even so, the way he held it preciously in his arms was not calculated.

Chae Hamin felt pleased.

“Actually, I was going to come as soon as I got my doctorate, but I came to apologize because I got a position as a full-time lecturer and was preparing for it.”

“It’s okay; I would have remembered even if it was a few years later.”

The fan was about to bang his head again, and Jidonghwa carefully, yet politely, put his hand underneath to prevent him from banging it.

“Please, be an idol forever.”

She murmured without realizing that she was shouting that.