The Lepro office building, whose rooftop view was on a completely different level from ordinary agencies—hardly what one would expect from an entertainment company.
“Seungbin, let’s head down now.”
Ju Seungbin, who had been carefully watching Seoul’s high-rises and the clear sky, moved off together with his manager at the man’s words.
His stride was calm, as usual.
When he reached the practice room, Ju Seungbin opened the door, gave an awkward smile, and bowed deeply.
“I should have been here first. I’m sorry I’m late.”
The first thing he saw upon entering was a man and a woman.
One was an ordinary man in his thirties, the kind you could run into anywhere on the streets of Korea.
“It’s all right~ If you’re busy, you can be late.”
Debonair’s manager, Team Leader Yu Yeongho.
And beside him, also waving her hand as if to say it was fine—
A girl standing at the complete opposite end of ordinary: Lee Dohee.
“It’s all right, sunbae-nim. These things happen.”
Lee Dohee’s formal speech, which he still couldn’t get used to at all, was clearly because she was conscious of his manager standing next to her.
“Yes, I went to the gym today, so…”
Normally, instead of waving her hand, she would have raised it and pretended to hit him.
—You think you’re busier than me? Hurry up and get back, punk.
As Ju Seungbin’s lips curled faintly at the simulation in his head, Lee Dohee, as if to render that smile pointless, finished the greeting and immediately sat down on the practice room floor to stretch.
“Let’s hurry up and practice, then go. I have plans with the members starting this evening.”
Judging from the conversation Dohee and the Debonair members had had when they came to the waiting room before, it seemed to be a small wrap party to celebrate the end of promotions.
And Ju Seungbin had long since gotten used to the atmosphere Dohee gave off, whether knowingly or not, that her members came first.
So, without any idle talk, he followed suit and finished preparing for practice, and the mechanical practice began without chatter.
Only the voices counting the beat, the music, and the squeaking friction between shoes and the practice room floor repeated.
“I’ll step out to take a call for a moment…”
“Ah, Manager, where are you going again? You’re trying to eat snacks by yourself, aren’t you? Dereliction of duty!!”
“Dohee, call me when you’re having lunch?”
Practice continued until, for their own respective reasons, both managers who had been watching stepped out of the room for a while.
“Want to take a short break?”
Ju Seungbin sat quietly on the sofa.
“Sure? Do that, then.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Lee Dohee was naturally rummaging through the refrigerator and taking out water, as if the practice room were her own.
Ju Seungbin deliberately fixed his gaze on the floor and spoke as if relieved.
“This thing with you is finally ending too.”
The retort came immediately.
“Hey, later on this might be drinking-party material. I was colleagues with that Lee Dohee, huh? You should think of it as a great honor.”
He was already used to Dohee’s tone, playful yet brimming with self-esteem.
The funny thing was that, at times, that way of speaking even felt humble.
‘Well, true.’
Ju Seungbin glanced at Lee Dohee and inwardly agreed.
“Yeah. Maybe so.”
“…What’s with that reaction? It gives me chills. What, are you feeling weirdly sad because you won’t get to see me anymore?”
Looking at the girl two years younger than him, who was being even more playful for no reason, Ju Seungbin stood up for no reason as well.
“A little. And when we meet from now on, call me sunbae.”
“What sunbae? Hey, I was on TV before you.”
“I debuted before you, though.”
Then he tried to leave, saying he was going to the bathroom.
If an unwelcome guest hadn’t arrived.
“Oh, what? Ju Seungbin, you were here…”
A member, Jo Seonghan, acting surprised even though he obviously knew Seungbin was here.
“Hey, you.”
“Ah…! You must be Dohee-nim! I’ve been listening to Debonair’s songs.”
Of all times, it was when the managers were gone. No, with this guy, he had probably come only after seeing both of them leave in the first place.
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Jo Seonghan showed Lee Dohee a pleasant smile, then pressed close to Ju Seungbin’s ear and whispered.
—What the hell, you said you weren’t close. Damn it, I told you to introduce me. Hey, don’t tell me you were trying to make a move on her yourself…
Words unpleasant even at a casual listen.
Ju Seungbin couldn’t understand it. How a guy who had been going to clubs since he was a minor in the debut team, boasting about it as if they were heroic tales, had managed to debut in the end.
—Wow, but isn’t Lee Dohee eighteen? Seriously, wow… She really is fucking pretty. I get why you don’t want to hand her over, man.
It wasn’t as if this was the first or second day he had thought the guy was trash.
“Hey. Get out.”
As if he felt nothing, Jo Seonghan naturally slung an arm around his shoulders and used him as an excuse to keep talking to Lee Dohee.
“Ah! I’m Seungbin’s groupmate, Jo Seonghan! Thank you for getting along so well with our Seungbin.”
Lee Dohee nodded with a somewhat reluctant expression.
“Ah, yes, well… We are MCs together.”
“You’re always leading him so well as an MC too. Honestly, Seungbin here doesn’t talk much and is totally no fun.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, he’s really nice, but he’s boring. How should I put it? The type of model student who thinks he’s the only one who’s great?”
“Hmm… I’ve never heard him act like he’s great…”
Unable to stand watching Lee Dohee respond to him, Ju Seungbin stepped forward.
“Hey—.”
“Ah, is it because I’m too great for him to act great in front of me? …Makes sense.”
For a moment, Lee Dohee’s mutter left him dumbfounded.
First, he grabbed Jo Seonghan’s arm and pulled.
“Ah, why are you being so creepy~”
But Jo Seonghan shamelessly shrugged him off.
Unbothered, Jo Seonghan took out his phone as if he had been waiting.
“Dohee-nim, I’m sorry, but could I have your number?”
“…Pardon?”
“Ah, it’s not out of nowhere. I’ve been composing lately, and I’ve listened to all the songs you’ve made so far and liked them so much, so I wanted to get some advice—.”
* * *
‘Haa, here we go again.’
I knew he was trying something.
Even aside from the strange current flowing between the two of them.
It wasn’t as if there were only one or two guys who came up with all sorts of excuses to get close.
And that wasn’t limited to men.
Girls were the same.
Personality wasn’t bound by gender.
People who tried to get close somehow so they could sell my name.
‘Is it because I’m a minor? Do I look easy?’
There was a reason I only hung out with people I knew.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was close with everyone I knew.
Anyway, I was used to handling situations like this.
I was going to brush it off like usual.
Except—
‘Oh.’
Jo… Jo what was it again, rolling on the floor.
Anyway, I just hadn’t expected Ju Seungbin to throw a punch.
‘Wow… I guess this team is strict about dating?’
* * *
In a conference room at the Lepro office building. Separately from Jo Seonghan, who had been taken away to get treated for what amounted to bruises, Ju Seungbin bowed his head to the two people across from him.
“In any case, if Top East could refrain from speaking about this as well… I would truly appreciate it.”
“Of course. We understand.”
“Thank you. Once again, I sincerely apologize to Dohee-ssi and everyone at Top East for causing trouble. We’ll manage the kids properly from now on.”
“Yes, understood. It’s all right.”
That was the conversation wrapped up together with the managers. Since the atmosphere was no longer one where they could continue practicing, Lee Dohee was also set to leave.
She smiled and said they had more or less matched everything anyway, so practicing separately would be fine, then gave her goodbye.
But discomfort had taken over his entire heart.
He couldn’t help but be conscious of what Lee Dohee thought.
“That… I’m sorry. For getting you dragged into this for no reason. I have nothing to say.”
“Is that so?”
After a silence, Lee Dohee stopped while leaving the practice room and turned her head.
As always, she was full of laughter.
“Damn, that was intense. Hey, I just thought, wow, that team must be really strict about dating.”
He knew that was Lee Dohee’s way of handling things, making it even more playful out of consideration for the other person, even when she had every right to be displeased.
A playful kind of maturity.
That was simply Lee Dohee’s personality.
Rather than a serious, deep color, she was a playful, pale one.
Rather than a firm, stubborn straight line, she was a flexible curve.
Rather than sharp, sensitive edges, she was a soft, pliant surface.
“We have Chiyo unnie at home, who specializes in cosplaying as a UFC champion, but wow, you laid him out better than her.”
But at times, because she hid her inner self like a mask, it felt even more complicated to guess what emotions she was holding inside right now.
“Hey, but if our unnies say they’re dating too, should I just throw punches first later? Sounds fun. Lay them down and line them up for a beating.”
‘…Though maybe her inside and outside match. Purely.’
In truth, no matter how Ju Seungbin thought it over, it wasn’t something worth throwing a punch over at all.
It was, of course, true that a member’s dating would have an enormous impact on group activities.
But getting angry now would be pointless, since there wasn’t a single member who hadn’t known Jo Seonghan’s true nature since debut. They were used to it.
If anything, perhaps thanks to Jo Seonghan, Ju Seungbin, though only twenty, had been able to be even more careful with his own conduct.
And in the entertainment industry, it wasn’t as if people like that were rare enough to call it meddling.
“Ah, I should get going now too. See you at the broadcasting station.”
So for him to ruin the group atmosphere and make things awkward by going as far as getting into a fistfight with a member—
No matter how one weighed the gains and losses, it was clearly a loss.
But Ju Seungbin knew.
“…Lee Dohee.”
That the act of behaving impulsively even while taking a loss was always a realm of emotion that logic and reason could not understand.
“You’re the only one who loses.”
Lee Dohee, who had been leaving, turned around again when he called her. Her eyes were still full of curiosity, sparkling with mischief.
“You’re the only one who loses.”
Paradoxically, she wore a calm smile, as if she knew everything in the world.
“…What do you mean?”
Lee Dohee extended her fist cutely, as if she were boxing.
“If you fight with a member, you’re the only one who loses. Hey, make up with him soon. Just tell him to at least try to get along until you’ve built up some seniority. What can you do? Like it or not, he’s a coworker. The contract is seven years.”
“…Yeah.”
And then, as always, it led back to praising herself.
“Haa, honestly. You have to meet a good member like me for the group atmosphere to always be good like ours, right?”
“……”
“Right or not? Answer.”
He had no choice but to nod lightly.
“Yeah.”
“Exactly.”
Just like that, Lee Dohee lifted a drink from the refrigerator—when she had grabbed it, he had no idea—and said goodbye.
“Still, it didn’t feel bad having a friend fight for me. I’m off.”
This time too, Ju Seungbin had no choice but to nod lightly.
* * *
With all sorts of thoughts on my mind, I only returned to the dorm in the evening.
As soon as I stepped through the front door, Uah unnie’s booming voice rang out, followed immediately by the sound of a whistle.
“Oh! Looks like Dohee’s here?”
—Fweeeeet!
And from far off in the kitchen, cute cone hats began peeking out one by one.
I could have shown my pointless discomfort by saying we should start after I changed clothes and washed my hands, but—
“DJ Do is here!!”
“Dohee-yaa~”
Seoyun unnie, practically charging toward the entrance to put a party cone hat on me, and Naeun unnie, bringing over a pair of momppe pants, looked far too cheerful.
“Haa~ I guess there’s no helping it. To think you were waiting for me that much.”
“What do you mean, no helping it? Hey, we’ve already set out all the food!”
Without a word, I grabbed the sunglasses by the entrance and walked into the living room.
The concept for today’s party was an ’70s–’80s roller rink style that I’d only ever seen through media.
“He has returned!”
In the middle of the living room was the disco ball I had ordered not long ago for the party.
The first song choice was “London Night.”
The kind of song that was exciting even if you didn’t know it.
Calmly putting on the sunglasses, I went straight to stand in front of the speaker.
And when I pressed the disco ball’s button, it naturally changed to dazzling lights in time with the four-beat rhythm.
The intro began calmly.
—EVERYBODY!
“Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready!”
I wildly shook my long straight hair and clapped alternately to either side.
—Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
“Welcome! This is Debonair Night!”
If this were a variety show, that was probably the caption they would run.
—Give a little love!
Unfortunately, Seoyun unnie was already shaking her head along with me.
“Shake it!”
As if to prove they were a couple, Chiyo unnie and Uah unnie were doing club-style grinding.
—Fweee fweee fweee fweee.
“Take the whistle out before you talk.”
“Ah… Where might the young lady be from?”
“Me? Same room as you.”
Naeun unnie was… clapping with the refreshing smile of a newlywed wife?
“Wow~ Haha.”
—Give a little love!
Anyway, my unnies were always smiling.
As long as it was fun, that was enough.