The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 232
* * *
Kim Chunyong wasn't the only thing that had changed since his return.
The people around him had also begun doing things they wouldn't have before, thanks to his influence, and in some cases, even reset their own mindsets entirely.
And so….
[Jihwasung: Rogan, Rogan, look look
Jihwasung: I sneak~~ily overheard Hobin hyung on a call yesterday
Jihwasung: You know those KPCA staff tickets, right, right?
Jihwasung: I heard he's giving two to Yongyong hyung's sister and younger sibling??
Jihwasung: But Yongyong hyung seems to have forgotten lollll
Jihwasung: Shall we do a surprise for Hobin hyung and Yongyong hyung too, G?
Jihwasung: Before both sides are ready, we do a perfectly! timed tearful reunion half a beat faster!]
Jihwasung, who had already taken a blow to his ego through the 'Aiming' stage in
[Rogan Lee: Really? Oh, I've seen Chunyong hyung's sister before lol
Rogan Lee: I like surprises, I like that
Rogan Lee: But I don't understand one bit
Jihwasung: What don't you understand?
Rogan Lee: What does "G <" mean? (tears)(tears)
Jihwasung: Argh]
And Rogan, who would have inevitably returned to Liverpool had it not been for Kim Chunyong, would belong to the latter.
Though quite a few people had undergone such changes, these two were particularly so.
[Rogan Lee: But when did you hear that again, Hwaseong? What a Guesser
Jihwasung: I pretended to go to the bathroom and followed Hobin hyung to see what was up
Jihwasung: That call was with his sister
Jihwasung: This is win number one for keeping an eye on your surroundings, Rogan
Rogan Lee: Oh wow
Rogan Lee: Let's do a good surprise]
Originally quick to grasp situations and perceptive, Jihwasung had acquired 'shrewdness' through various incidents, and Rogan, freed from an oppressive family atmosphere, was able to fully enjoy what freedom meant.
But that wasn't all.
The two had also changed more because of each other's presence.
[Jihwasung: Since I'm making you do something fun
Jihwasung: When we get to the dorm today, let's do something other than card games
Jihwasung: RoR gg?
Rogan Lee: Hwaseong, you're so bad at that though
Jihwasung: No, I don't get what "G <" means, but where did you learn to say someone sucks?
Rogan Lee: From you, Hwaseong ;-)
Jihwasung: Please don't use that anywhere else]
Ah, see, when you live with a friend the same age, you can forget about the hard stuff and have even more fun.
Anyway.
[Jihwasung: Anyway, I think Yongyong hyung's been a bit down lately because of that
Jihwasung: After seeing what happened with Sunbae Jeong Yeonu and Sunbae Juyeong
Jihwasung: I think he has a lot on his mind?
Jihwasung: I mean, how shocking must it have been
Jihwasung: That he's still thinking about it after nearly a month…
Rogan Lee: God, that makes sense
Rogan Lee: Chunyong hyung was the only one who stayed behind and talked more then
Rogan Lee: We might have been threatened with something we don't know about
Rogan Lee: Omg all the puzzle pieces fit]
The two of them had slightly misunderstood.
Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu had hidden their problems so thoroughly that no matter how shrewd he had become, even Jihwasung hadn't noticed, and Rogan hadn't known about such issues from the start.
Moreover, the root of Kim Chunyong's worries was something they could never know.
[Jihwasung: Anyway, let's help him refresh
Jihwasung: Refresh
Rogan Lee: Fine, I can do it well
Rogan Lee: But how?
Jihwasung: So…]
Still, what mattered was that both wanted to do something fun while cheering up their member hyung.
And so….
"Really, where on earth are we going right now! Hobin hyung said earlier not to just go anywhere, you brats."
"Hey, Yongyong hyung is with us so what's the big deal. Hyung will help sort things out. Right?"
"Right. I believe in Chunyong hyung."
"You dragged me out all of a sudden, and now you're telling me to sort things out…?"
That's how the situation had become.
"Oh, excuse us! Passing through, passing through!"
"We'll get by for a moment! Yes, yes. Thank you."
"Hey, hey…!"
The three traversed the building corridor crowded with people in all directions, and this sudden turn of events was enough to confuse Kim Chunyong.
*Why on earth are they doing this? Did these kids fight too? No, that's not it. They look happy…!*
Kim Chunyong, utterly dazed, tried his best to guess what the two were up to, but unable to think of the 'tearful family reunion surprise' itself, he kept grasping at wrong straws.
*…Are they running? Are these kids scared of going up on stage at the awards ceremony and running away right now?*
And quite a bizarre wrong straw at that.
If he thought about it for even a moment, it was absurd, but to Kim Chunyong, who had grown sensitive due to recent events, it wasn't so.
His old drinking buddy might be living a second life just like him, and what he had to do was daunting.
Moreover, today was an important day when he might fulfill the contract conditions.
When things flowed like that, a person could think somewhat negatively.
*…If that's the case, I shouldn't be getting dragged around by these kids! I have to win the Rookie Award!*
Once his thoughts reached that point, Kim Chunyong put all his strength into his body, which had been dragged along like a sheet of paper by Jihwasung and Rogan.
No matter how tall Jihwasung and Rogan were, Kim Chunyong was undeniably Tioje's main dance member.
His compressed muscles were extraordinary.
"…Urk!"
"Huh? Chunyong hyung, why all of a sudden…."
When Kim Chunyong, who had been following along obediently, stopped in his tracks and wouldn't budge, bewilderment and confusion rose on the faces of the two who had been running excitedly.
Huh? They couldn't do this here.
Huh? Just one more floor down and it was the tearful family reunion.
"Hah… Kids. Listen to me for a sec."
On top of that, Kim Chunyong suddenly hardened his expression completely and began speaking words full of hidden meaning.
"Let's go to the waiting room. Kids. If your heart is troubled, you should lean on your hyungs and think of a solution. If you do this, it causes no small harm to others too."
And with that, he began dragging the two back toward the waiting room.
"No matter how scary this awards ceremony is, this attitude won't do. Hey, you survived a survival show and debuted. This is really nothing. There are so many more ceremonies we'll have to go up for. You can't run away."
"Wait! Chunyong hyung, just a moment. Lean on? R-run? That's not what this is…."
"Ugh, why is Yongyong hyung so strong, really!"
"Yeah. It's because I exercise hard, unlike you. Be quiet and follow me."
Jihwasung and Rogan pulled to the left, Kim Chunyong pulled to the right.
However, gradually the two began getting pulled to the right.
"U-urgh…."
Desperate faces appeared on Jihwasung and Rogan's faces.
No, we were just trying to do a surprise to cheer hyung up.
If we go back to the waiting room now, he'll only see his family much later when his nerves are completely shot!
But if they said "No, hyung, you have to go see your family" right now, it would ruin the meaning of the surprise.
Completely oblivious, Kim Chunyong's strength was monstrous, and they were steadily getting dragged away.
So what should they do?
"…Hwaseong."
"Uh, Rogan."
They exchanged glances and nodded with determined expressions.
Regardless of nationality or age, there was only one thing the younger ones could do in such a moment.
…Throw a tantrum.
Having shot up past 180 centimeters, they never thought they'd be doing such things at a time like this, but the two had no choice.
They couldn't quietly return to the waiting room this time.
The moment that judgment ended, a brief scuffle began.
"F-first, can't you just come with us for a second, Yongyong hyung? We're not running away! We wouldn't do that!"
"Then why are you suddenly going to the underground parking lot? There's not even another snack bar here."
"God, th-that's… I can't say! Anyway, just come with us for now."
"I knew it would be like this. Seeing as you can't talk, that's that. You two are each getting a knuckle flick when we get to the waiting room."
"Urgh, that's not it, really!"
"Fine. Chunyong hyung, I'm lying down right here. I'm really lying down. I'm not going to the waiting room!"
"You're not getting up? Rogan, are you seven? Even Taei doesn't act like this!"
Bang Yuchan and Jang Siu had at least known what embarrassment was, so they hid things.
These kids didn't even have the judgment to do that.
"What is this? A new challenge?"
"Short-form videos these days, really, they'll call anything a challenge… They just look like little kids throwing tantrums."
"Oh my, it's the Tioje kids. Cute… they're cute? But they're really big, the kids."
Three men with an average height of 180 centimeters, lying down and refusing to go in the backstage corridor of the live hall where a music awards ceremony was about to take place, drew people's attention.
Other celebrities who had come to present awards, staff passing by carrying equipment and shouting loudly.
And….
"Hey, isn't that in front of our waiting room? Can we even get in like that?"
"Who are they…?"
"…I'll go ask."
Other fellow singers who had just arrived to participate in this ceremony.
"Why are you doing this? You should at least tell me. What's the problem, huh?"
"I can't say… If I say it, everything's ruined."
"Seriously, I agree with Hwaseong today. Chunyong hyung. Are we that unreliable? This is too much…."
"Believing you and this are different things, you brat."
Kim Chunyong sighed as he looked at his two dongsaengs who had ended up sitting in the corridor, unable to tell him directly because it was for his sake, then someone slowly approached from behind.
"Excuse me, just a moment."
"…Hmm?"
Someone closer to the latter if asked to choose between noticeable and ordinary….
"This is in front of our waiting room, so I was wondering if you could move somewhere else…."
Someone who would definitely choose the latter between noisy and quiet.
*…Wait. This is one hundred percent a sunbae.*
In a flash, Kim Chunyong came to his senses and without even checking the other person's face, bowed his head deeply and spat out apologies repeatedly.
"Ah, hah. I'm truly sorry. I'm sorry. Haha, we're new to this kind of awards ceremony. I was wandering around with my dongsaengs."
"Hey, we weren't wandering… Yongyong hyung, that's too much…."
"Quiet, you."
"Aha, you're from Tioje. Nice to meet you. Our promotion periods didn't overlap at all, unfortunately."
"Ah, yes. Please allow us to greet you. We are Tioje's…."
Kim Chunyong's head, which had been bowed deeply, rose again, and his eyes met those of the person before him.
And Kim Chunyong couldn't finish what he was saying.
"……"
Because the other person was staring at him with an indecipherable expression.
And because that person was none other than….
"Ah, I'm Nate from 2OCD."
"……"
That person he had been trying to meet personally earlier.
A somewhat subtle feeling.
A feeling as if he knew but didn't know, as if it was right but wasn't.
However, in that subtle moment, Kim Chunyong was able to gain a certain conviction.
"Is this our first time… seeing each other?"
Because what the other person had said happened to be words.