After archery practice, I immediately got into the manager’s car and headed to Lee Chise’s studio.
“Seungbeomie, hello!”
As soon as I entered the studio, Lee Chise sprang to his feet and approached me with a beaming smile. He shook my hand, pulled me into a hug, and firmly pressed the top of my head with his hand. It was something Lee Chise always did like a routine whenever he met people he was close to.
‘He’s really still the same.’
Everything Lee Chise wanted to do, he had to do.
If you don’t do it for him, Lee Chise will pester you until you do.
“…Hello.”
Having learned this fact through years of experience, I quickly gave up resisting and accepted his hug. He chuckled heartily, apparently pleased with my reaction, and then hugged me once more, so tightly it felt like he might crush my shoulders, before finally letting go.
‘…He smells like blueberries.’
I furrowed my eyebrows slightly at the cheap sweet smell of bubblegum and the strong espresso scent coming from Lee Chise’s arms.
Stupidly chewing sweet gum nonstop, washing away the sweetness with coffee, and then chewing gum again was a habit the guy showed every time he was stressed. Since he was someone who constantly snacked on things, I couldn’t outright assume he was stressed every time I caught a whiff of sweetness. However, judging by the haphazard pile of sticker sheets and wrappers stacked in one corner of his studio desk, it was clear he wasn’t exactly in normal state.
‘Back in the days with Prism, he never showed that side of himself while working on music. Could it be because he’s in a slump?’
Lee Chise was the type of person who was extremely opposed to letting his bad mood affect others. This behavior was likely his way of trying to deal with his stress on his own.
‘I guess I should be thankful it’s not cigarettes.’
While it was better than smoking like Jay, it was still unsettling. I spoke with a heavy heart as I thought of Jay, who carried the same pack of cigarettes I used to smoke.
“…Is your work still not going well?”
“Right? After meeting you, I thought things would finally work out, so I gave it another shot. But as soon as we split up, it mysteriously didn’t work out again. Isn’t that weird?”
Lee Chise laughed casually, as if my question was not a big deal, and gave a light response. Then, realizing at once that I was looking at the traces on the table, he dragged me to the sofa, sat me down, and with both hands, cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. He pretended to hold my head in place.
“Now, now, come and sit here, hubaenim. Don’t look at useless things, look here.”
He nodded once in satisfaction, pulled over a wheeled chair, sat down cross-legged, and then asked.
“Did you have any trouble getting here?”
“No, it’s fine. My manager gave me a ride, so there were no big issues. You don’t need to worry. Have you listened to the files I sent? If there’s nothing you like among them, I’ve prepared others as well, so listen to them and decide….”
“Congratulations, from what I see, your album is doing really well.”
I responded briefly to the casual greeting to save time, then cut to the chase in a business-like manner, but Lee Chise suddenly interrupted me. Then, with a smile as if nothing had happened, he casually started talking about trivial matters unrelated to work.
“Have you been really busy? I couldn’t get in touch with you at all, so I thought something had happened to you.”
His actions clearly conveyed the message, “
I still want to talk to you, so don’t rush things like that
“. I let out a little sigh and answered.
“…Yes. I was a bit busy, but I think I managed to wrap things up well.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Usually, everyone is dying to keep in touch with me, but Seungbeomie is the first person who avoids my calls like this, so I was surprised. I can only imagine how super busy you’ve been.”
His tone was soft as he spoke in a roundabout way, like he was talking to a child, but it had a strange prickle to it. Perhaps he was quite unhappy with the way I’d taken the longest possible time to respond to his personal messages, and had assumed an businesslike attitude by replying to them with mostly music files.
‘…As expected.’
I barely stifled the sigh that rose in my throat as soon as I read Lee Chise’s inner thoughts.
I had no desire to form a deep relationship with the members of Prism as
Han Seungbeom
. Of course, I missed them, but in a situation where I couldn’t reveal my true identity, expressing that feeling would only create a fake relationship and would just be my selfishness.
All I was aiming for in my relationship with Lee Chise was to give him a good song to help him overcome his slump. That was all.
But Lee Chise didn’t seem to share that sentiment.
I had a feeling from the time I saw that he kept trying to contact me during the promotion period.
“…I didn’t contact you much because I was afraid you might be busy.”
“Haha, don’t lie. Seungbeom, don’t you often get told that you can’t lie? You’re totally giving yourself away.”
The excuse I casually gave was immediately dismissed with a light-hearted chuckle.
Then Lee Chise continued in a calmer voice, all traces of playfulness gone.
“I’ve been gathering information on the company in my own way. But recently, I found out that the person I’ve been keeping an eye on has been constantly looking for information about you. It seems suspicious. Did something happen to you?”
The ‘
person I’ve been keeping an eye on
‘ was probably referring to Lim Seunghoon.
‘Lee Chise just quietly watched as Jay and Seo Yuseong hated Lim Seunghoon. He might have been suspicious of Lim Seunghoon from the very beginning.’
Lee Chise seemed to have noticed something had happened between Lim Seunghoon and me after seeing that Lim Seunghoon was showing me more interest than necessary.
“I told you to do it with me, didn’t I, Seungbeomie? Is it making you feel burdened?”
“…….”
“I appreciate you helping us, but since that video caught Inchan’s weakness and Cha Woon-hyung is being blackmailed with it, this is Prism’s business. Lim Seunghoon was the manager of Prism. So I don’t understand why you, who has nothing to do with this, are taking action all by yourself.”
‘What do you mean I have nothing to do with this? I am Seo Yutae.’
I suppressed the frustration that was rising in me, and began to answer calmly.
“I have my own reasons.”
When I heard Lee Chise say, “
I’ve been gathering information on the company in my own way
“, I instantly came to my senses.
Lee Chise was right.
Dealing with Kang Hyukwoo is dangerous
. But that wasn’t just true for me, it was true for Prism as well. In fact, Prism, with its weaknesses, would likely be in more danger than me, who wore the shell of a complete stranger.
‘I can’t drag the members of Prism into this after all. Let’s share the minimum amount of information, just enough so that they won’t be fooled by Lim Seunghoon anymore and to prevent misunderstandings among the members.’
After organizing my thoughts, I continued to explain in a composed manner.
“And this was just a casual meeting, where he approached me first, so telling you about it wouldn’t change the situation much. Nothing important happened. I can share the information I found out right now.”
“…….”
“On that day, Jo Inchan-sunbaenim didn’t go to that club of his own free will. He was tricked by Lim Seunghoon and Kang Hyukwoo. They told him, ‘
We’ll make it possible for you to talk to Seo Yutae
‘. So, please stay as far away from Lim Seunghoon as possible, and don’t give up on Inchan-sunbaenim.”
“Giving up Inchan was never an option in the first place. So, if we can prove that the video was forcibly recorded by Director Kang Hyukwoo to blackmail him, then Prism will be free, and we’ll be able to attack Kang Hyukwoo for his evil deeds.”
I pursed my lips in slight surprise as I watched Lee Chise recite the thoughts in my head, despite having heard only a small amount of information.
‘….Indeed, it’s impossible to hide the years we spent together, huh?’
Creak.
Just as I was thinking that, I suddenly heard the door’s handle turn and the creepy sound of the door’s hinges moving. The door to the studio, which had been firmly closed, had been opened.
I was certain there was no one else in the studio besides the two of us, but as I stiffened at the sound of the perfectly fine door opening, a tall figure slowly stepped out of the dark room.
“…What are you talking about?”
His gorgeous appearance was impossible to miss: somewhat tanned skin, stark white hair, languidly drooping dark eyes with yellow irises. His tall stature, nearly 190 centimeters, only made him even more noticeable.
“…….”
I looked at him and mentally cursed.
‘This XX, why is he here?’
It was Nam Yihwon.
Judging from his loosely worn clothes and unkempt, disheveled hair, it looked like he’d been sleeping in a bed just moments ago.
‘Why is he here? Because here is Lee Chise’s studio.’
Looking at Nam Yihwon, I realized I had asked a stupid question and followed it up with a pointless self-answer.
In fact, it wasn’t that surprising for Prism to have a member suddenly pop up out of nowhere at their house.
Since the members of Prism shared the passwords to each other’s studios and homes, this kind of situation was a daily occurrence. They had gotten so comfortable with each other that they would visit each other’s homes unannounced without feeling any discomfort. They didn’t even care if anyone was home or not.
‘There need to be at least a couple of rooms for someone to come and go without being noticed.’
Lee Chise’s studio was a remodeled spacious house, so there were several spare rooms. He must have been sleeping in one of them.
As he saw Nam Yihwon, Lee Chise seemed to have thought,
‘Oops!’
. He glanced at me once with wide eyes and then at Nam Yihwon, before quickly flashing his usual smile.
“When did you get here?”
In front of an actor who’d been hailed as a genius and had swept all sorts of awards since he’d first entered the acting industry, how good could a rapper possibly be at acting? Nam Yihwon silently stared at Lee Chise’s face, who was desperately trying to handle the situation, before letting out a small chuckle. Then, he replied in a dry tone.
“Yesterday.”
As soon as I heard that short answer, I sensed that I was f**ked up.
He knew he was deliberately changing the subject, but he just pretended not to notice and played along with it.
But that was something that only worked for Lee Chise of
Prism
, not for
Han Seungbeom
.
‘He’s planning to leave Lee Chise alone and beat the unknown guy next to him.’
It wasn’t unexpected, since even among the members of Prism, Nam Yihwon was notorious for his closed-off attitude towards those who weren’t the members.
And perhaps Lee Chise also realized it, as I could see a faint trace of regret flickered across his usual cheerful smile. It was obvious that thoughts like ‘
Oh no, what should I do about our Seungbeomie?
‘—thoughts that were of absolutely no help to me—were passing through his mind.
“Really? I didn’t even know you were here.”
“Hyung, your studio is close to the filming set. I filmed until morning, then I came here and slept the whole time.”
“…I see.”
Lee Chise who had raised his younger brothers by letting them run wild, but never had much of a knack for controlling them, retreated helplessly. Nam Yihwon, who immediately strode toward me, bent his tall frame and put his arms around my shoulders. He then leaned in close to my face, staring at me with a murderous gleam in his eyes.
“So, what is it?”
A tense silence filled the air, and after a moment, a deep voice, laced with undisguised displeasure, asked me.
“Hey, I asked you what you were talking about. Can’t you hear me?”
Let me introduce him.
The one who listened the least among our Prism’s members, the one who had pushed both cunningness and aggressiveness to their absolute limits, all at once. This was the lively 31-year-old,
Nam Yihwon-ssi
.
‘F**k, my dear Prism rascals, please stop.’
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Translator’s Corner:
HE’S HEREEEEEEE. EVERYONE, PLEASE WELCOME MY MAN !!!
I was listening to my usual 4 hours Red Velvet youtube playlist, and Russian Roulette followed by Cosmic were playing when I did the last part, and it really #MatchTheVibe
Among all “Prism meeting Han Seungbeom for the first time arc”, this one is personally my #1 favorite. You would absolutely #LOVEIT
If you’re confused by the phrase “The one who listened the least”, in simple english it would be “The most disobedient”. I like the rhyme of “listened the least” more.