The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 228
To begin with, the reason why An Taei had singled out Sagong Yu as that friend when Gim Chunyong asked him, “Can you introduce me to a friend?”
The reason was incredibly simple.
Ah, wouldn’t it be nice if my best friend got close with a new friend?
I wish all my friends were friends with each other.
Just that.
“Ah, Manager. After this schedule, could you give me a ride to Yu’s place? If not, I’ll take a taxi.”
“Oh, Taei. You’re meeting Sagong Yu even on a day like this? At times like these, you should spend time with the members….”
“Mmm, that’d be nice too, but today I promised to introduce Chunyong to Yu. We talked about this since we were preparing for our collab stage. They’re probably already meeting….”
“…What?”
To the Wiz members who had experienced Sagong Yu’s personality early on thanks to An Taei, it was a shocking decision.
“…Hey, An Taei. Sagong Yu is super blunt and sensitive. He can’t stand being called anything but his full name. His personality shows all over his face.”
“Haha, Yu is like that. But Chunyong has such a good personality, so it should be fine, right?”
“No, forget that. You told the two of them to meet first? …Without you?”
“Mmm, yeah. I figured I’d need to remove my stage makeup first.”
“An Taei, you really… are hopeless.”
“Hoo, Danu. What’s with the harsh words? Before saying stuff like that, at least explain the context….”
“Context, my ass. Run there right now!”
Even as he was pushed from behind, An Taei kept saying things like, “Is there really a need to go this far?” and “Guys the same age can easily get along,” but it was no use.
What kind of personality did Sagong Yu have?
Thanks to the past An Taei, who would only pretend to listen to others’ opinions, Wiz had once faced Sagong Yu in the middle of their practice room, and the members vividly remembered the awkwardness of that time.
“Ah, would you like to sit here? Um, our practice room is a bit messy.”
“…No. It happens.”
“W-We’re younger than you. You can speak comfortably. We just call you Yu Hyung….”
“…Full name.”
“Huh?”
“With your full name… please call me that. Not Yu, just Sagong Yu. Not hyung, just Sagong Yu.”
A bluntness that made one wonder how on earth he was An Taei’s best friend.
And at the same time, a sensitivity that bared its thorns to keep others from approaching him.
Even Han Danu, who was known for being quite prickly within Wiz, couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
If one really had to draw a comparison, perhaps it would be Jang Siu, the maknae of T.O.J, whom they had gotten to know while preparing for the collab stage together.
In terms of sheer sensitivity, the two were similar….
Of course, Jang Siu was only a kitten when he got prickly because of his innate gentleness, but Sagong Yu was a problem because his bluntness and sensitivity combined made him akin to a jaguar.
Of course, Sagong Yu wasn’t the type to glare at people until they couldn’t speak, or to keep his mouth shut entirely.
But, you know, a person’s aura.
You know, an innate atmosphere.
With *I’m uncomfortable right now* written across his forehead, he looked at the other person with a face as sharp as a well-honed blade.
How could flexible communication possibly take place?
“No, Yu isn’t someone who can’t hold a conversation to that extent….”
A whimpering sound leaked from An Taei’s mouth.
Han Danu’s words of “Run there right now” were no joke, and thanks to that, An Taei was pushed by the Wiz members’ urging and ended up going to Sagong Yu’s villa with only half his makeup removed.
“No, guys. Haha, calm down a bit. It’s not like I’m setting them up to fight. I’m telling them to get along. What big deal is going to happen?”
“Oh, Taei. Let me be exact. This is a matter of manners. Goodness, you made me—a Canadian—mention manners, Taei.”
“Taei Hyung, Jaden is right today. You’re the intermediary, so how could you let the two of them meet separately without you? This isn’t even a blind date.”
“What was I supposed to do? Just hang out together, isn’t that it?”
“No. Introducing each of them, easing the atmosphere so it’s not awkward—that’s all the intermediary’s job. Otherwise, misunderstandings can happen.”
“…Misunderstanding?”
“Yes. A misunderstanding.”
*We only knew back then because Taei Hyung told us that Sagong Yu’s default expression is just like that… Without Taei Hyung, Chunyong Hyung might not know. Both of them already look sharp as it is.*
In short, Jo Eun’s point was this.
Sagong Yu and Gim Chunyong both had sharp features, so they could easily misunderstand each other.
And the later An Taei arrived at Sagong Yu’s house, the more that misunderstanding would only fester.
“No, can’t you just clear up a misunderstanding? Isn’t that right, Manager?”
“Well, that’s true, but….”
Wiz’s manager, gently turning the steering wheel while placing a cleansing tissue in An Taei’s hand, shrugged once and continued.
“Well, both Chunyong and Sagong Yu have rather scary faces, in different ways.”
“That’s… true.”
“When two people like that are together, you never know what might happen. Well, of course, one is an idol and one is an actor, so they’ll restrain themselves.”
“Uh….”
“…Guys that age, you know, establishing the pecking order is instinct.”
Only after the manager’s meaningful words ended did a chill run down An Taei’s spine.
*…What if they fight?*
The word “fight” was an old trigger for An Taei.
His parents, Gim Chunyong, and the Wiz members were all like that.
Well, things had somewhat resolved now, but An Taei still worried about those things.
Actually, it would have been better if they were fighting.
It had already been an hour since Gim Chunyong sent An Taei a message saying *[I’ve arrived at Sagong Yu’s villa]*.
What if, during that time, the two hadn’t said a single word to each other?
In that silence and awkwardness, what if they were harboring resentment toward An Taei, thinking only *He’s dead when he gets here*?
An Taei, who was born naive and devoted to his own interests, was terrified of that.
Please don’t fight.
Please don’t let the sparks fly at me.
*Please, please don’t let the atmosphere be that bad!*
The van stopped softly in front of Sagong Yu’s villa, and An Taei hurriedly moved his steps, panting.
His grumbling of *What is this, I couldn’t even wash my face properly* was now all meaningless.
Because before that, his best friend and his recently close friend might kill him.
Beep, beep, beep, beep—
The password to Sagong Yu’s villa, which he knew by heart, was entered by An Taei’s fingers.
“…….”
His Adam’s apple bobbing slightly from nervousness, An Taei very carefully stepped into Sagong Yu’s villa.
The villa, rumored to be home to many celebrities, was spacious, and as spacious as it was, sounds didn’t echo well, and the soundproofing was good.
“Yu, Yu. Can I try this karaoke function just once?”
“If it’s that, I told you to just go to an actual karaoke….”
“Hey, don’t be like that. What if someone sees? What if rumors spread that the sons of An Myeonguk and Baek Yeonghyeon want to be idols?”
“You really…! Ah, do whatever. Just don’t include me… ugh!”
“Come on, it’s a duet. One, two, one two three!”
He knew well that the soundproofing was good from direct experience.
“——.”
“——!”
But that noise coming from the kitchen area right now.
Since Gim Chunyong first called him that, the spine of An Taei—who between T.O.J and Wiz was widely acknowledged as the “seven-year-old flower-brain”—went cold.
*A-are they fighting? No, they can’t. They’re an idol and an actor!*
Countless scenes flashed through his head.
The time he looked down on Gim Chunyong and got cocky, only to have the tables turned on him on *Kemikeyu*.
The time he was little and gave Sagong Yu a pine caterpillar as a gift at his parents’ movie set, only to end up putting it in his own mouth.
The reason none of those things blew up was because An Taei hadn’t made an issue out of them.
He hated fighting.
He hated falling out with people.
He hated causing problems.
So, it was because one of them had roughly let it slide that they had become friends.
“——?”
“——.”
But that faintly growing noise, and the two’s personalities.
The warnings Han Danu, Jo Eun, and the manager had given An Taei.
“…Establishing the pecking order is instinct, you know.”
A red siren started spinning in An Taei’s head.
Ah, something had definitely happened.
And the only one who could fix this right now was him!
An Taei rushed to the kitchen, squeezed his eyes shut, and shouted in a trembling voice.
“G-guys? Sorry I’m late! Don’t fight!”
However.
“No, that’s what I’m saying! I hate it when people who aren’t close to me call my name casually. Saying my last name is unique, like it’s some kind of joke. But that bastard Jeong Yeonu acts like we’re super close….”
Sagong Yu, his face flushed from drinking….
“Ah, I know what you mean. He subtly pressured me through messages before too. Asking if I had something to give him. No, I know. I know, but does he have to be like that? How many years’ difference is there between me and that hyung…!”
Gim Chunyong, who had hair a similar color to that flushed face….
“Chunyong. You really know your stuff. Not many people know how shady Jeong Yeonu is. I’m touched.”
“I’m the one who’s really happy I can listen to this kind of story from you, Yu….”
Because after nearly ten years of friendship, they were now gossiping about Jeong Yeonu in real time.
“…Huh?”
And the fact that An Taei made an expression that didn’t suit him at all—like *What the hell is this?*—didn’t even register in those two’s awareness.
“Ah, Taei’s here? You’re late.”
“Ch… Chunyong, you….”
Well, he belatedly caught on.
* * *
And so, after the final member, An Taei, joined the after-party for *Sound Stage the Final*.
“Ah, shall we toast? An Taei, sit down too. I’ll pour you a glass.”
“Uh, okay. But I just ran here, so drinking right away is a bit….”
“Drink juice. I bought some because Chunyong said he doesn’t drink alcohol.”
“Oh, thanks. Then I’ll have….”
“Come on, one, two.”
“—Cheers!”
Sagong Yu’s house was livelier than the three of them had expected.
“You two get along well? No, well. I did think it’d be nice if my friends got close, but I didn’t know you’d get this close….”
“An Taei, you tend to push people. Isn’t it natural for Chunyong to be more comfortable?”
“You shouldn’t say that. Yu, you know how many years we’ve been friends? You should still build me up in front of my friend!”
“No.”
An Taei and Sagong Yu, who had been friends for over ten years, bickered very naturally.
“…Haha. Yu and I turned out to have similar worries.”
Gim Chunyong smiled kindly between them and nodded.
To anyone watching, they were good-looking young men in their early twenties who had just started to become friends.
*Good. Taei is drinking now too. Yu seems a bit drunk already. I wonder what Taei’s tolerance is like…*
Though there was someone thinking different thoughts during that process.
“…….”
Gim Chunyong’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“No, that guy. He lives in a different building in our villa, you know? Ever since he found out I live here, he’s been tormenting me so much….”
“…Me too. Ever since *Targeting Star*, he’s been messaging me every day, nagging me.”
“Right! His damn messages! Saying it’s fun because I’m different from my image? Not funny at all.”
Through the common ground of “both being uncomfortable with Jeong Yeonu,” Sagong Yu and he had opened up to each other.
As for An Taei, well.
“Chunyong… thank you for being my friend….”
“Hey, An Taei. Are you drunk? From one can of beer? Your tolerance isn’t that low….”
“No, I wasn’t drunk, but I pretended to be. I wanted to say this, but when I’m sober, the other person gets really embarrassed.”
“You really….”
No need to even say it.
“…Haha.”
Gim Chunyong ran his hand through his hair and smiled brightly.
Gatherings like this were enjoyable.
Gim Chunyong’s drinking experiences before had all been the worst, except for the ones with T.O.J members, and he had never enjoyed himself this much with non-members.
But he couldn’t simply be drunk on joy.
The reason he came here wasn’t just to make a friend.
Gim Chunyong took a sip of the juice in his glass and swallowed, his eyes shifting for a moment.
And then.
“Hey, Yu. Taei.”
“Uh? What?”
“Yeah, Chunyong….”
“There’s something I want to ask you guys….”
Pocketing the phone with the **[Overlap]** skill activated and flickering, he began to heat up this drinking session in earnest.
…In the direction he desired.