The Malicious Member Has Returned! Chapter 220
* * *
Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu had stood facing each other like this in front of a vending machine exactly once before.
Back during
“Do you want this one? Or the one below?”
“Ah, I’ll… take the one below….”
Back then, Jang Siu had been a little more sensitive and timid than he was now, and Bang Yuchan had been more impatient, treating others based more on the environment he had grown up in than on his position as someone in the entertainment industry.
Some things were different now compared to then, but still….
“Things have been a little tangled up lately, haven’t they?”
“…
Yes.”
“Let’s talk a little. Us.”
Some parts were the same.
In the hallway where people preparing for the year-end stage rushed past breathlessly, there was a vending machine on the opposite side from a waiting room in a secluded corner.
“…….”
Standing there facing each other, Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu waited for the other to speak first, despite how pointless that made the words “let’s talk” seem.
Even now, Bang Yuchan held green tea in his hand, while Jang Siu held an ion drink.
They really were different.
That was something neither of them could help but feel keenly, no matter how much they tried to pretend otherwise.
Bang Yuchan found Jang Siu difficult.
Unlike the school friends and people around him he had known all his life, whenever he dealt with Jang Siu, who had grown up sheltered and was sensitive and delicate, he felt as though he himself were becoming a bad person.
Jang Siu was jealous of Bang Yuchan.
Unlike himself, who had always been overshadowed by his older brother’s brilliance and told, no matter what he did, “Well, compared to your brother…,” Bang Yuchan shone brightly on the strength of his own talent alone, and seeing him made Siu feel shabby.
Even though they were in the same group, even though they had debuted together in the end.
“…
Siu.”
In that silence, the one who spoke first was, as expected, Bang Yuchan.
“Siu, can we talk for a bit? About our debut album pair shoot.”
“…
Yes. Sounds good.”
Because whenever the two of them had conversations like this, it had always been that way.
“…….”
Bang Yuchan rubbed a finger over the opening of the can of green tea he was holding, then withdrew the hearty smile that had always made the strengths of his face shine to the fullest and muttered in a low voice.
“I’m sorry that I, being so much older than you, have to start things off like this, but….”
“…….”
“Honestly, I… don’t know what else I’m supposed to do from here.”
That was the same thought Bang Yuchan had first had when Kim Chunyong fell ill.
Ah, I thought a relationship like this would be fine as long as Siu and I kept our stories straight and didn’t cause trouble for the members.
“…
Chunyong has a cold? No, seriously, I did think he was dressing way too lightly these days!”
“Mmm, I know. But somehow, I don’t think that’s really the reason….”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Well, it seemed like he had a lot on his mind lately. So I don’t think he’s been sleeping well at night, either. I think that affected him. After all, when you’re stressed, your immunity drops easily.”
“He has… a lot on his mind….”
In the end, someone found out, and now he’s worrying about it so much that he even got sick?…
Then what more am I supposed to do, and how?
Because Bang Yuchan was the eldest in the group, he had always tried hard to treat the younger ones warmly in a way different from Son Jaeha.
But if there was one important point….
“I really don’t know either….”
It was that Bang Yuchan, in the end, was only twenty-two years old.
He was young.
No matter how much he tried to dress it up with phrases like “back when I was in college” or “when I was preparing for entrance exams,” in the end, he was just a kid who had never properly experienced adult life.
Kim Chunyong hadn’t known, because the Bang Yuchan in his memories had always existed as the reliable eldest brother, but even that way of thinking in Bang Yuchan had only been equipped after countless trials and errors.
“Siu, Jang Siu. So if you don’t say anything, I have no idea at all.”
“…….”
“Do you always want to make yourself out to be the victim? Why, why are you so desperate to make me the bad guy?”
“W-what, when did I ever… You’re the one who… always corners me….”
Because of the huge trouble with Jang Siu around this time, which Kim Chunyong only came to realize much later—after he had returned like this.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that this time, their emotions had not intensified to that extent.
In any case, though they had not been able to have a proper conversation, they were at least standing properly beside each other and waiting.
“…….”
Bang Yuchan quietly looked at Jang Siu, who had his lips pressed together and was scratching at the cap of his ion drink with the tip of his nail.
“Won’t it open? Should I open it for you?”
“Ah, no. It’s not that….”
Jang Siu was always like this in front of Bang Yuchan.
If asked to do something, he would say, Sounds good, let’s do that, I like that too.
“It’s nothing….”
…
And in the end, he would give the answer Bang Yuchan hated hearing most.
Well.
If asked whether the problem really began there, there were far too many surrounding factors.
But certainly, what made Jang Siu most difficult for Bang Yuchan was this.
“…
Haha, all right. You do it yourself, Siu. I won’t touch it. I guess things like this are a bit much, huh?”
“…….”
Jang Siu had circumstances of his own.
No matter how much he saw other members in other groups getting along despite not fitting together, people had their own innate natures.
If you suddenly sent someone who had spent their whole life inside a room out into a plaza and asked, “Isn’t it fun? Isn’t it enjoyable? Don’t you feel free?” that person would only fall into panic.
He could see, feel, and understand.
But for someone who had never done that before to suddenly say to someone who seemed to dislike him, “I’m jealous of you”?
It was impossible.
Even if he tried to do something about it, the words would catch in his throat, sink right back down, and an excuse like “It’s nothing” would pop out instead.
Just as Jang Siu could not understand Bang Yuchan’s discomfort toward him, Bang Yuchan could not understand the oppression Jang Siu had carried for a long time.
So they had no choice but to keep circling in place.
Because of that, the two of them tried to repeat what had happened before once again.
“…
Should we just tell Chunyong we made up?”
“…….”
“Tell him we talked things out and that we’ll get along. Should we say that?”
“I’m… fine with that.”
Fine, his foot.
It was not fine at all.
Both of them knew perfectly well that this conversation should not end like this.
But what could they do?
They were still kids who did not know how to move in another direction.
Kim Chunyong had thought about wanting to follow the two of them partly because the affection he had felt for the members had grown noticeably stronger since his return, but it had also been based on a certain instinct.
If he did not go, the two of them would end up returning without properly sorting out their feelings.
If one could call it the experience of a malicious member, then perhaps it was that.
The sense he had acquired after the fact, through constantly attending drinking gatherings that were, if one had to sort them into likes or dislikes, closer to the latter, was sharper than expected.
Of course, the two people here had no idea about such thoughts.
“Phew, fine. Let’s do it your way. Haha, man. Saying it like this makes me feel embarrassed all over again. With you, somehow….”
“…….”
“It always feels like we miss each other a lot. Strange, isn’t it?”
“…….”
If they had known, they would never have thought to wrap up the situation like this.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes….”
And so, just as Kim Chunyong had expected, the two people who had managed to exchange nothing like a proper conversation except for those final two sentences were about to return to the waiting room.
“…
Ah, I told you, I have to go alone.”
“You? Us? Let you go alone? Say something that makes sense, you bastard. Who knows what kind of trouble you’ll cause again.”
From far down the hallway, noisy voices began to be heard.
“…
Hm? What’s that?”
“I think… they’re other performers.”
Both Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu.
At first, they simply thought, “They must just be people passing by,” and tried to return quickly to the waiting room.
After all, running into a few singers at the live hall where the year-end stage was taking place was common enough.
However.
“Mmm, what, is it some important conversation you guys can’t come along for? It’s a secret between me and Chunyong.”
“That’s what makes it even weirder. Why have you been so obsessed with Kim Chunyong since Catch Me Catch You? Is tormenting us not enough for you anymore?”
“When did I ever torment you guys? And Chunyong and I are just friends, okay? Friends who can talk openly about problems, okay?”
“An Taei, as if you could make friends somewhere else.”
…
Once they realized who the owners of those voices were, they had no choice but to hurriedly hide behind the vending machine.
“Mmm, listen, I’m really sorry, but… could you guys go back to the waiting room first? I have to hurry and find Siu and Yuchan. Chunyong asked me to.”
And on top of that, the words that followed were what they were.
“…….”
Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu, who pointlessly met each other’s eyes, grasped what kind of situation this was in an instant.
Kim Chunyong had asked him to check on their situation.
Not anyone else, but An Taei!
If they were caught here right now, together, by the officially acknowledged flower garden of Tioje and WIZ, An Taei?
And in front of WIZ, with whom they had to perform a collaboration stage later?
No one could imagine what words might come out of An Taei’s mouth.
If luck was bad, this could become known to twelve people as “Tioje’s eldest and youngest had trouble, and An Taei discovered it.”
“…….”
Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu’s faces became colored with embarrassment, bewilderment, and sheer mortification.
‘…
When we get back to the waiting room later, let’s scold Chunyong. He really doesn’t trust people.’
‘Yes… Please… do it for my share too.’
Mixed in there was also a faint anger that, once they returned to the waiting room, they would be sure to give Kim Chunyong one good smack.
Their hearts aligning for the first time in a very long while, they whispered to each other, hoping that WIZ, who had approached the area around the vending machine they were hiding behind, would quickly pass by.
Go, go.
Please, hurry up and go.
…
So we can go back to the waiting room too!
However, their footsteps only grew closer and closer, and soon they stopped right in front of the vending machine where Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu were hiding.
The fear at that moment was, well.
It was a special and chilling sensation that only Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu would be able to share later on.
“Ah, they’re not here either. I told you, there are too many vending machines. Chunyong too, seriously. How am I supposed to know if he just suddenly says ‘the vending machine’?”
“Enough, let’s just go. Why do you care so much about another group’s business? We’re just worried you’ll cause some trouble again….”
“Mmm, I won’t cause trouble. If anything, I might help this time. I learned a lot of good things thanks to Chunyong and Siu too.”
“Who did you learn what from? You, An Taei?”
“Yeah. I learned that listening to other people is pretty fun.”
“And yet a bastard like you isn’t listening to a single word we’re saying right now….”
“Oh, let’s have a drink. What do you want, Danu? Seonho?”
“I’ll have… orange?”
“Mm, let’s all get zero cider. We should cut down on liquid fructose.”
“See, you’re not listening!”
A comedic exchange that contrasted sharply with WIZ’s public image—cold, polished, and strongly monochrome—echoed through the hallway, and the vending machine rattled as it spat out several drinks.
“Khh, that’s refreshing… I thought I was going to die from the heat on stage.”
“Now that we’ve even had drinks, I suggest we really go back.”
“What are you talking about? I told you, I have to do Chunyong’s favor. I promised him. And that’s not all.”
The voices of WIZ, who had just finished rehearsal and returned, were quite heated from the effects of the stage, and the same was true of An Taei.
“I mean Siu. I thought his personality would be similar to mine because his family environment is similar to mine… but he’s much more delicate. I feel like I’ll only feel better once I see that he’s okay. I keep worrying about him.”
“When have you ever not felt good, exactly? You keep making excuses because you don’t want to go back to the waiting room….”
“Danu. I’m telling you, that’s not it. Do you know what kind of kid Siu is?”
An Taei’s voice, worked up with excitement, grew a little louder, and in that instant, Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu’s eyes met.
No, somehow.
Right now, of all times….
“He’s really suppressed. Is it because he’s worked too hard? He envies someone and wants to be like them, but he thinks of that as jealousy himself. Hm, hm. I’ve never done that before, though.”
“No, sorry, but that’s information I’m not curious about at all. Isn’t that just you bragging in the end? And you shouldn’t say things like that where the person in question isn’t present, you punk….”
Words the two of them desperately needed seemed about to flow from An Taei’s mouth.
‘That person is right here, though….’
Bang Yuchan, who heard An Taei’s words from the other side of the vending machine, at first frowned, thinking, “What on earth is he talking about?”
However.
“Ah, ah….”
The moment he saw Jang Siu, his face dyed bright red, covering his mouth like a cat whose tail had puffed out with a pop, he understood.
Ah, it started from here.
We had been missing each other from here.
And Bang Yuchan’s face also soon began to flush red.
“I realized it while talking to Chunyong, but it seems like people who want to get along with each other are the ones who find the other person more difficult. It was my first time seeing something like that, so it was fascinating.”
“Please, let’s go to the waiting room. I’m telling you, my legs are going to give out and I’m going to collapse….”
An Taei, our unexploded bomb, showed no sign of stopping his mouth.
Well, normally, even if he were called a chatterbox and got smacked on the back several times, it would not have been enough….
“No, guys. Listen to me, will you? This will ultimately be useful for our team too. Speaking honestly, I mean. You guys should tell me anything honestly too. Don’t try to hide it like that Chunyong issue you were keeping among yourselves last time.”
“I’ll speak honestly. If we really don’t go now, I’m dragging you.”
This time, it was certainly headed in a good direction.
Thanks to the unexpected arrangement brought about by Kim Chunyong’s desperation.