After the conversation ended, Do Yuda, seemingly exhausted, finally drifted off into a deep sleep.
He had been browsing some strange community for no good reason after just waking up from anesthesia, so it wasn’t surprising.
Like passing a baton, I let Do Yuda’s parents into the hospital room and headed to where the other members were. They must have been anxious, so I needed to properly explain the situation to them. I also had to tell them about our future activities.
I hurried to where the chairs were and saw the members, all with tired, disheveled faces, quickly lift their heads when they spotted me.
“Seungbeom-ah!”
“Leada!”
And Zen, the first to get up, rushed toward me.
“Ouch.”
I stumbled, making a rather undignified sound, as I tried to steady myself after Zen bumped into my scarecrow-like body. But Zen didn’t seem to pay any attention to my reaction, and immediately fired off a barrage of questions.
“What did Yu-chan say? Is his leg hurting a lot? Is that why he can’t do activities? … Leada, is Leada okay with that?”
He was so anxious that his pronunciation was far clumsier than usual.
I patted the guy on the shoulder to calm him down as he was barely pausing between words. He took a moment to catch his breath and then launched into another round of pouring out his thoughts.
“…I don’t like it. Even if it’s just a little activity, being together is better.”
After bombarding me with questions, he was now glancing around nervously. He seemed to be afraid of hearing something different from the answer he wanted. It made me wonder how he even managed to step out earlier when he was this anxious.
I had originally planned to explain everything step by step, but since this guy seemed so anxious, I decided to start with the conclusion.
“It’s fine. We won’t have any group activities without Do Yuda. A post about his condition and our future activities will be uploaded around this evening.”
At my words, the members’ faces brightened, and their tense expressions finally relaxed. It seemed that none of them wanted to go on with activities without Do Yuda. I smiled softly as I watched them and then continued.
“Do Yuda’s surgery went well, and he’s asleep now. It was abnormal for him to be awake earlier, but now he’s finally able to rest comfortably. His parents are in his room, so there’s no need to worry. Let’s just let him rest for now.”
“…Thank goodness.”
Baek Kiryang and Woo Kangwon, who had been listening to me with clenched fists the whole time, slumped down on the floor and mumbled to themselves. They had been extremely tense since Do Yuda got hurt, frantically moving around to follow my instructions. Now, it seemed like they had finally released their tension.
Lee Danbi was, as always, unusually calm. He simply placed a hand on Baek Kiryang’s shoulder and let out a soft sigh. He had once told me that he often had to rush to the emergency room alone whenever his younger siblings were sick, and it seemed that experience had made him accustomed to situations like this.
“…….”
And Lee Hwayoung, who was sitting with his legs crossed a little distance away, made a displeased face, but didn’t say anything. If it were in the past, by the time that expression appeared, a sharp “
Han Seungbeom
!” would have already escaped his lips, but it seemed he didn’t want to call me by someone else’s name this time.
I watched him for a moment, slowly blinking my heavy eyelids as I fell into deep thought.
‘…Indeed, does Lee Hwayoung dislike having his activities postponed?’
Since he didn’t have such a close relationship with the other members, I thought it might be the case. After all, idol activities were a form of business, and it would be a part of the members’ careers. Naturally, anyone would dislike it if their career was disrupted.
In reality, there were some groups that decided to continue with their comebacks with the exception of the injured member, and it would be unfair to say that they were wrong. Each group had different circumstances, and each person prioritized different values.
“Personally, I think it’s natural to feel dissatisfied about delays in comebacks and the impact it has on our performances. If there are any members who feel that way, I apologize.”
As I brought up the topic of activities while having those thoughts, his expression became even more irritated. He rarely gave me that kind of expression since I revealed my identity, so it felt strangely unfamiliar.
“A long hiatus can definitely be detrimental to a group’s popularity and fandom. Especially since Pantheion, as a project group, has a limited time, it’s even more so. But I want to prioritize our members over those concerns.”
I had a feeling something wasn’t right, but since I had already started speaking, I decided to explain to the end. However, Lee Hwayoung seemed completely uninterested in what I was saying and turned his head away abruptly.
‘What? Did I get it wrong?’
I looked at him curiously and continued explaining to the other members.
“Do Yuda also said he wants to continue working with the members. What he said earlier was just something he blurted out impulsively because he was tired, so don’t overthink it. Let him focus on recovering as quickly as possible, and then let’s work hard together so we can bring great music to our Muses.”
The members smiled and nodded. Then, Zen, who had been showing signs of impatience the entire time, suddenly scrunched up his face with a fierce expression and started sobbing uncontrollably while clinging tightly to my waist.
“Huhuhung, Leada, thank you so much.”
I felt my pants getting damp from the tears that were falling in a straight line. I thought to myself, ‘
This isn’t right
‘, but the child was crying so hard that I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
…It was a good thing I wasn’t wearing gray pants.
“Stop crying.”
“Tears won’t listen. Rebellious eyes. Eyes, open wide.”
At Zen’s reply, Woo Kangwon, who had been wearing a serious expression until then, tightly squeezed his eyes shut. He was desperately trying to hold back his laughter. However, betraying his effort, a sound occasionally burst from his tightly-sealed lips.
“Heh.”
‘…Even in the worst of situations, life gives you something to laugh about.’
With empty eyes, I muttered those words to myself, then calmly grabbed Zen’s head. Pretending to wipe his tears, I subtly moved my pelvis away from the heavy rain warning zone.
“You’re very handsome, very handsome. If you get photographed like this, you’re done for.”
“Visual.”
“What visual? Stop saying nonsense.”
‘Birds of a feather flock together, huh…..’
The memory of Do Yuda making tear stains on my clothes during Survive IDOL came to mind. He acted exactly like his friend. I roughly wiped Zen’s face to make it somewhat presentable and then said,
“I have to deal with people who came to visit Do Yuda, so go and have a meal. I told you to go out and get something to eat earlier, but you don’t even listen to me.”
“…When I hear Seungbeom telling me to take care of my meals, it doesn’t really strike a chord.…”
It was a rare instance of Baek Kiryang speaking up courageously.
I silenced him with a single glance and walked away.
***
“I’m sorry.”
“Didn’t I tell you that you don’t have to come anymore? Your groupmate didn’t do it on purpose, and Taeui-ssi, you weren’t directly involved in the accident, so you don’t have to keep coming here to apologize.”
I pressed my hand on my throbbing temples as I watched the guy in front of me bow at a 90-degree angle, unable to raise his head.
The identity of the “
people who came to visit
” I mentioned to the members was Taeui.
He wasn’t the one who caused the accident, yet he kept visiting the hospital multiple times, both yesterday and today, trying to apologize. Even though I told him that Do Yuda was too tired from the injuries and surgery to meet with him for the time being, he stubbornly refused to give up.
‘Is he saying that if he can’t apologize to Do Yuda, he’ll at least apologize to me?’
“…As you said, it’s true that my member didn’t intentionally try to hurt Do Yuda. But it’s also true that Director Kang Hyukwoo told us, ‘
If you lose to the members of Pantheion, I won’t let you off easy
‘, which put pressure on them, and that’s why the match became violent. If I had told you that earlier and paid more attention, this wouldn’t have happened……”
To feel this much guilt even though it wasn’t something he did … what a really foolish and sincere guy. In that moment, I couldn’t help but feel a bit dumb for ever considering that he might leak information.
“We couldn’t touch our phones because we were filming, and it was hard to approach me with cameras around. It couldn’t be helped, and Taeui has already done enough. So, this should be enough. From now on, please help your groupmate so he doesn’t get hurt by people’s comments. He’s probably under as much stress as Do Yuda.”
When I replied in a slightly gentler tone, Taeui’s expression became even more distressed, and he asked in a choked voice.
“….Why aren’t you blaming us?”
“…….”
I stood still for a moment, staring into his face at those words. Then, I began to answer quietly.
“I’m not a very good person, I’m just a person who’s focused on protecting the people in my arms. If you’re asking why I’m maintaining this attitude, I would have to say it’s not for COMA-1, but for Do Yuda. Do Yuda is weak-hearted, so if your groupmate is negatively affected by this incident, it’s obvious he would feel a lot of pressure and guilt.”
“…….”
“And Taeui-ssi … I hope you don’t hurt yourself any further.”
At my final words, Taeui widened his eyes, and he lifted his face from where it had been on the floor to look at me. I gave nothing away and continued speaking in a flat tone.
“I know very well how that man pushes people into corners and tricks them into making mistakes. I also know how much someone as good-hearted as Taeui-ssi must be suffering in that situation … That’s why, at the very least, I don’t want to make you suffer any more than you already are, Taeui-ssi.”
I thought about the members of Prism as I spoke, and when I was done, I gave a long blink as a subtle hint that it was time for him to go. But Taeui remained rooted to the spot, standing there like a statue.
Sensing something was wrong with him, I approached him to check his condition. Then, I noticed Taeui’s face turn ashen, his limbs shaking as he broke into a cold sweat.
He looked like he was going to collapse any second, so I quickly supported his body and said urgently.
“Taeui-ssi, didn’t I tell you that you don’t need to feel guilty anymore? It’s alright.”
“…No. I, I’m not as good a person as you say, Han Seungbeom-nim. So……”
Watching him muttering like a madman, like he was confessing some terrible sin, I was taken aback. In that moment, someone brushed past me, and time seemed to freeze in that instant.
‘…What is this?’
I lifted my head as if entranced, forgetting to even breathe as my eyes took in the man.
From the back, he looked like a patient you’d commonly see at an orthopedic clinic—wearing a knee brace and moving slowly with a limping gait.
But his face, thoroughly concealed by a hat, glasses, and a mask, along with a stature much taller than ordinary people and the naturally attention-grabbing aura of a celebrity, felt so familiar that it sent chills down my skin.
The nurse, who had confirmed his face from the front, greeted him with a bright smile and spoke to him.
“Oh my, Inchan-ssi is here. Are you not feeling well again?”
The man stopped walking, pulling his hat down further on his head in response to the nurse’s words.
Then, he replied in a small voice,
“…The pain gets worse when it rains.”
A glimpse of red hair and green eyes peeked out from beneath the hat.
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Translator’s Corner:
Day 10 …. I’m freezing
Please give a round of applause to welcome our Prism’s sunshine~
This is 6/7 now. As they said, you need to save the best for the last. Tbh, if you excluded Jay who was the first in everything, the pattern is there. They appeared according to age order … this is why I explained the age order before.
I want to get over with this arc fast but sadly … the weather is turning me into a frozen meat asdfhjkl IT’S SO COLD. In coastal area … when it’s hot, it’s really hot … and when it’s cold … it’s coldest than ever … I’ve been spending the last 12 hours under thick blanket but my whole skin still cold to touch asdfghjkl at this point I’m no longer a human but a fish ….
Sometimes I read you guys comments asking about the logic of MC’s actions … and I really really want to answer, but if I explained it, it would be a spoiler … but there’s always another of you who did a good job explaining based on your own deduction, and I’m so proud of you guys T_T I really like this kind of reading atmosphere … where you can discuss with others what you’ve read
Thank You hamster-mom for Supporting The Wishlist!