The Villainous Member Has Returned! Episode 211
* * *
At the same time.
Thanks to Kim Chunyong and Bang Yuchan leaving for the emergency stairs to talk among themselves, An Taei and Jang Siu were left alone in the practice room, if only for a very brief moment.
Under normal circumstances, Kim Chunyong's thorough vigilance and defense would have never allowed a situation where the two were left alone, but circumstances were what they were.
"Um, Siu. Want some water?"
"I'm fine, I…."
"Ah, I see. Uh… got it. I'll just drink all of this myself, then."
Fortunately, however, An Taei did not bring up any sensitive or delicate topics first, such as "So, about your brother or your member," or anything like that.
"Taei, come here for a sec before we start practice. I have something to say."
"Hm? What is it, Chunyong?"
"It's very important. Listen carefully and focus. This is like the core of the promise we made."
"Wow, it's like a secret conversation, I'm so nervous. What, is it something like? When you're not around, I mark the others so I can dig out stories then…."
"No, no. Save subtly probing Yuchan hyung and Siu for when I'm around. More than anything else, there's something I took to heart while doing idol activities and meeting you."
"Oh, words you took to heart after meeting me? What are they?"
"Silence is golden, and eloquence is silver."
"…
Huh?"
"Taei. Try to find out just how much better of a person you can become by keeping your mouth shut while I'm gone this time."
Perhaps because Kim Chunyong had spoken with such grim determination.
'Everyone tells me to shut up, but no one's ever explained it to me like this. What on earth is he talking about? Anyway, he said he hates it when promises are broken, but still….'
Recalling the conversation he'd had with Kim Chunyong in his mind, An Taei drained an entire bottle of water in one go, his neat and delicate face like porcelain etched with curiosity.
Quietly, without asking Jang Siu a single question.
"……."
Thanks to that, only the sound of An Taei drinking water and Jang Siu leaning against the wall rolling his eyes with an inscrutable expression echoed through the practice room.
"…
Hm."
Honestly, An Taei found this sort of silence uncomfortable.
"…
Mom. Aren't you going to talk to Dad today?"
"Talk to Dad? …
It worried you, didn't it, Taei. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to hear it."
"No. It's not that. Just… I thought it might be better if you talked to each other instead."
"…
Both Mom and Dad need some time, Taei. You'll understand what that means when you grow up."
'But even so, the two of you have no intention of seeing each other at all.'
Because whenever the relationship of his parents—who were called the love of the century—soured, this kind of uncomfortable silence always flowed between them.
It would have been better if they had fought noisily instead.
Because at least then, he could feel some emotions passing between them.
If they got along well, they should be able to keep talking noisily.
If they just stayed silent and merely waited for everything to settle, nothing would change.
Perhaps those kinds of experiences were what had made An Taei into a tactless blabbermouth.
However, people always learn.
An Taei, too, had to experience what silence did to a person's heart.
Even if the process was somewhat painful and difficult for a blabbermouth like himself.
"……."
Believing that the dud who he thought would immediately bombard him with questions once Kim Chunyong and Bang Yuchan disappeared had remained quiet the whole time, Jang Siu slightly raised his head to look at An Taei.
"…
Why?"
Seeing the appearance of someone who looked like he wanted to say something, to ask a question at any moment but was holding it back.
Facing An Taei, who faithfully kept his promise with Kim Chunyong and merely stayed by his side in silence, Jang Siu was able to let down some of his own sensitivity.
"No, I just thought you were standing the whole time… Please sit."
"Ah, should I? Then I'll sit next to you!"
Of course, having not yet fully learned the appropriate distance from Jang Siu, he plopped down right next to him, but oh well.
Considering his usual personality, this was quite restrained.
"……."
Jang Siu slightly scooted his body away from An Taei as he observed An Taei, who still silently alternated his gaze between his phone, the practice room door, and the water bottle.
Silence with good intentions puts people's hearts at ease more than one might think.
It is an unspoken promise that one has no intention of deliberately making the other uncomfortable, and that they will wait until the other opens their mouth.
And that held great meaning for Jang Siu, who was second to none in sensitivity within not only T.O.J but the entire AG agency.
'Mr. Taei, you have the face of someone with many questions. But you're staying quiet, unlike usual….'
The reason Kim Chunyong had told An Taei to "find out just how much better of a person you can become when you keep your mouth shut" was actually nothing special.
An Taei had no particular talent for comfort or communication other than relentlessly scratching at people's insides, so he was told to just stay still instead of picking at scabs.
As the son of a movie star couple who were called the love of the century, his face alone was like porcelain crafted with painstaking effort by a master artisan, so he was told to win with his face instead of words.
"Um, Tae… ei-ssi."
"Hm? Do you have something to say?"
"That's… that's not it."
"Aha. Then rest comfortably. I'll also… keep my mouth shut."
"……."
However, unintentionally, the snowball began rolling in a good direction.
Silence with good intentions puts people's hearts at ease.
Besides, isn't there a saying?
That there are things you can say more easily to someone you're not close with than to someone you are.
That was doubly true for someone sensitive, obsessively watching the reactions of those around them, and prone to overthinking.
"……."
Jang Siu glanced sideways at An Taei, who wanted to open his mouth but was holding back so much that his legs trembled like a dog that needed to relieve itself, then pouted his lips briefly and muttered in a small voice.
"…
I'm sorry."
It was a sentence An Taei had never expected.
"Huh? Wh-what?"
"I just… feel like you're a bit uncomfortable right now, Taei-ssi."
"No, not at all! What would be uncomfortable about coming to practice? Haha…."
"Even so. The atmosphere suddenly… flowed in an uncomfortable direction. I wanted to… apologize. Because I think it's… my fault…."
Thanks to Jang Siu suddenly opening up and starting a conversation with him, An Taei began breaking out in cold sweat on the back of his neck.
'Chunyong, you never told me what to do when the person left alone with me talks to me first!'
An Taei wanted to keep his promise with Kim Chunyong well and secure what he desired.
So, no matter how much he wanted to speak right now, he had to hold it in.
'He looks like he wants to tell me something. What should I do at a time like this? Usually, I'm always the one who speaks first and gets scolded for it, so I don't know what to do….'
Overwhelmed by the rising confusion and bewilderment, An Taei could only let out stupid, empty "haha" sounds when he suddenly remembered a member of his own team, Wiz.
A member who, despite Wiz being full of strong individual identities, was the only one in charge of kindness, listening to every word of the tactless blabbermouth who was only handsome.
"Hawon. I don't get why you guys keep hiding things about that friend Chunyong? You could just tell me. What would I do with that information? I'd just be the only one who knows."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Huh, are you actually listening to me? You're not just answering half-heartedly, are you?"
"I'm listening to everything, Taei. Just say everything you want to say. I'll just listen from beside you. That's more comfortable for me."
"Hmm… Listening is comfortable? How fascinating."
"…
I like listening to you talk. It's fun."
In truth, Park Hawon had told An Taei to talk to him because he was afraid An Taei might go to another member and start a fight over something useless.
An Taei, not knowing his true intentions, had simply brushed it off with "So he really likes listening, huh."
But right now, that wasn't important.
Right now, An Taei couldn't say useless things because of his promise with Kim Chunyong.
However, regardless of An Taei's intentions, Jang Siu had spoken to him.
In this situation, the choice An Taei could make was….
"Siu, Siu."
"Ah, ah. S-sorry. I suddenly started talking, and I just went off on my own…."
"No, you can keep talking. It's fine."
"…
Huh?"
…Benchmarking Park Hawon.
'Good. Luck is on my side. Then….'
At Jang Siu's bewildered reaction, An Taei secretly took a deep breath.
And a smile that resembled exactly that of the actress who had been the first love of all Korean boys at the time—his mother, Baek Yeonghyeon—was painted on An Taei's face like a picture.
A tactless blabbermouth who was only handsome, a flower garden in his head who couldn't read the room.
A second-generation celebrity who was secretly smart but selfishly used his brain only where it suited him.
"…
Contrary to how I look, I actually like listening. Say everything you want to say. I'm not going to tell anyone."
It was a historic moment when An Taei appointed himself the role of a listening stone.
"Uh…."
Jang Siu, momentarily dazed by An Taei's 180-degree different appearance from usual, rolled his eyes around before hanging his head low.
Then, a small voice flowed from his twitching lips.
"Um, then just for a moment… I find it a bit… hard to say this to my members. Just for a bit… please."
It was critical.
"……."
An Taei, playing the role of a listening stone who said nothing and just listened quietly as Kim Chunyong had ordered, nodded in silence, and Jang Siu's story began.
"Truthfully, I know you don't really like practice, Taei-ssi… but I knew from the moment you came to our practice room. That Chunyong hyung and you know there's a problem between me… and Yuchan hyung."
"…
Yeah."
"…
Chunyong hyung called you here, right?"
"……."
"Sigh…."
As An Taei listened with a bright, sparkling face without answering, Jang Siu ran his fingers through his black, glossy hair and let out a hollow sigh.
In contrast, An Taei was honestly having the time of his life.
'This is insane, really. Because I'm doing what Chunyong told me to, I'm hearing things I'd never hear normally….'
Listening to people talk is fun, too.
The other person trusts me and is telling me things he'd absolutely never say normally!
'Isn't it me, not Chunyong, who's benefiting from this? Somehow, I feel like I know what to do when something like this happens from now on!'
And so, just as An Taei was vividly recalling the unintended meaning of Kim Chunyong's words, "find out just how much better of a person you can become by keeping your mouth shut," and holding back a smile.
At the following words from Jang Siu, An Taei truly lost his smile.
He realized anew that in this situation, it wasn't him receiving help, but Kim Chunyong who needed help.
"Um, Taei-ssi. You are listening, right?"
"Ah, uh. Of course. You can keep talking. Yeah. I'll just listen quietly."
It was only natural.
The youngest of T.O.J, a black cat who seemed to have a lot on his mind.
What Jang Siu was saying right now was none other than….
"Yes. I think it's because my insides… are all twisted up. Whenever I see Yuchan hyung…."
"……."
"I just… feel jealous."
…Because it was a story about the petty jealousy he felt toward his own member.
'…This is no joke.'
And so, while An Taei was vividly realizing the weight of listening to a person's deep inner thoughts.
Bang Yuchan and Kim Chunyong, who had headed to the emergency stairs, were also having a heated conversation about this.
"Haha… Well, that's how it happened. It was like this during
"Hoo…."
"…I'm sorry. And I'm… a bit embarrassed."
Kim Chunyong clicked his tongue as he looked at Bang Yuchan's face, filled with embarrassment and hollowness.
He now finally understood why Bang Yuchan was so ashamed of himself.
That cheerful, refreshing person who seemed to have no worries in the world….
"So, you're saying you set rules between the two of you? So the members wouldn't worry about your relationship? …Even though neither of you really likes the other?"
"I guess… you could say that. Whew, I don't know what else to call it…."
"Yuchan hyung…."
To think he'd set rules because he felt awkward with the group's youngest, who was much younger than him, so that it wouldn't become a problem for their activities or daily life.
"……."
Whether it was An Taei listening to Jang Siu's words in the practice room, or Kim Chunyong maintaining a still expression at Bang Yuchan's silence.
They simply lent their ears to the other person's words and thought inwardly.
This… doesn't seem like something that will be resolved quickly.