Chapter 16
Juha paced back and forth while gripping his mobile phone tightly.
It wasn’t even a text but a phone call. He’d only thought about how to reply if a text came, never expecting a phone call.
His heart was pounding so he couldn’t readily answer the phone, but he was scared it might hang up.
Juha cleared his throat with “Ahem” and answered the phone.
“…Hello?”
-I thought you weren’t going to answer.
There was a light laugh mixed in Taeri’s voice. What a big deal – his heart fluttered again at such ordinary words.
Juha leaned against the door and focused on the sounds coming through. Hearing his voice, he could picture Taeri’s face on the other end of the phone.
Usually a cold handsome guy, but when he smiled he looked playfully young. Thinking about it made him want to see him again.
“Ah… yeah. My phone was in my room.”
Why did his voice keep trembling like he was talking to someone important?
-What are you doing?
“I just came home and showered.”
-You must be clean.
“Well, I just showered so…”
When Juha fumbled his answer, Taeri’s laughter flowed through the phone. The moderate laughter was so pleasant to hear it tickled his ears.
Juha glanced down at his body while holding the mobile phone to his ear.
His shower robe had come undone from rushing into his room. His front was wide open, barely covered by just underwear over his naked body.
“…What are you doing?”
-I showered too.
“…”
This was the problem with Choi Taeri’s speech patterns. Every single word made him imagine and stimulated something.
Thinking that Taeri was dressed the same way as him, Juha’s face naturally heated up.
“You must be… clean.”
After answering, Juha bit his lips. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been caught up in Taeri’s pattern.
-If you’re free, want to come here and watch?
“…Watch what?”
Juha was startled by Taeri’s words. They were talking about clean bodies and suddenly he was asking him to come watch something?
-The first broadcast.
“Ah… the first broadcast…”
Crazy. What was I thinking?
He’d gone crazy from Choi Taeri’s voice and even forgotten about the first broadcast. Actually, that was also a big homework assignment for Juha.
There were TVs in both the living room and master bedroom at home, so he vaguely thought he’d watch in the living room, but he wondered if his parents would actually watch together. It would be awkward to watch together, but disappointing if they didn’t.
The thought of watching alone with his wild younger sister Lee Yunha was chilling – she’d tease him until the day he died.
Watching with Choi Taeri seemed better than awkwardly gathering with his family. After reaching this not-so-great conclusion, Juha spoke again.
“Where?”
-My house. Is that okay?
Hearing Taeri’s voice, Juha gulped down dry saliva.
-I live alone.
Taeri added the words as if placing emphasis.
Suddenly blood rushed rapidly throughout his body like pumping frantically. Could the words “a guy lives alone” really make his heart pound like this? His lips trembled in confusion about how to react.
Han Jaewan also lived alone. If he went to Jaewan’s place where he lived alone, he would have gone without a second thought, but why was he so hesitant about Choi Taeri living alone?
He was also scared about meeting Choi Taeri alone, especially at Taeri’s house. But today, Juha decided to be honest.
As much as he’d been waiting for contact, he wanted to see Choi Taeri.
He wanted to visit his house, watch the first broadcast together with him, and spend time alone together.
In a space with no cameras and no competitors.
“Sure.”
-I’ll send you the address. Since you’ve showered, you can come right away, right?
“Yeah.”
-I’ll be waiting.
Even after hanging up, Juha stared at the screen for a long time.
Call duration: 2 minutes 31 seconds.
How many times had Choi Taeri lifted and dropped him during this short time?
Perhaps because he was so nervous, his shoulders ached after hanging up.
While rolling his shoulders and scanning his closet, a text came with an address linked to a map. It was about 40 minutes by public transportation from Juha’s house.
[Choi Taeri: When you arrive, go to the visitor entrance on basement level 1 and say you’re going to 1702. Then an elevator that can go up to the 5th floor will come down. Take that and get assistance on the 5th floor.]
…Why is this so complicated?
It was a moment when Juha’s apartment built on a retaining wall, which you could enter just by opening the communal entrance, felt shabby.
* * *
Since he’d received generous spending money today, Juha took a taxi.
It would be embarrassing to show he’d dressed up, so he wore a white pique t-shirt and jeans rolled up to show his ankles slightly. Getting out of the taxi and seeing his reflection in the building windows, it seemed too plain again, which bothered him.
The building where Taeri’s house was located was much more magnificent than expected. From basement level 1 to the 2nd floor was a shopping mall with large bookstores, various restaurants, and a large mart, with residential floors of unknown height rising above.
It felt wrong to go empty-handed, so Juha stopped by the basement mart. He wasn’t particularly hungry since he’d eaten tteokbokki with Jaewan, and it was around 9 PM so it was ambiguous to eat anything heavy.
‘Should I buy beer?’
He suddenly remembered Youngin who had called Taeri asking to drink together.
Did the two meet afterward? Did they drink together or not?
Imagining Youngin and Taeri sitting close together with flushed faces from alcohol, exchanging jokes, his mood suddenly sank.
Though Juha didn’t particularly like alcohol, today he wanted to drink with Taeri.
After calculating a set of four cans of wheat beer with trendy bear drawings, nachos, and popcorn, it looked somewhat shabby. If they were close friends, he would have called to ask what to buy and chosen casually, but with Choi Taeri, everything mattered.
‘I don’t know.’
From his outfit to the food he was bringing, his head hurt before even arriving.
Following Taeri’s text instructions, he went down to the basement and walked following the [Visitor Entrance] sign, where a visitor call window appeared.
-Who are you visiting?
A polite man’s voice flowed from the call window speaker.
“1702.”
-Please take the elevator up to the 5th floor.
The locked glass door opened. Taking the elevator straight up to the 5th floor, a reception area as spacious and clean as a hotel appeared.
A man in a navy suit with neatly styled hair stood up to greet Juha. He wasn’t an elderly apartment manager but a man with a sturdy build.
“I’m here to visit 1702.”
“Just a moment.”
At Juha’s words, the man made an intercom call and had a brief conversation. He seemed to be confirming information like the visitor’s name.
It was a complex procedure as if visiting somewhere important. The man who finished the call picked up a card key and stood up.
“Mr. Lee Juha?”
“Yes.”
“Please come this way.”
The manager swiped the card key and held the elevator for him. While the elevator went up to the 17th floor, Juha discreetly examined the elevator interior.
From the gleaming gold marble floor to the subtle, luxurious lighting – frankly, this small elevator looked better than the house where Juha lived.
‘Did the company provide this?’
Though it wouldn’t suit Choi Taeri to live in a semi-basement studio, this level of residence was excessive for someone who was only 20 years old and still a trainee.
Only then did he remember that Taeri’s family was the Semun Medical Foundation.
Ding, the elevator stopped with a sound. Finally arrived.
He felt like he’d taken a long detour for such a simple visit. Juha stood in front of 1702, steadied his breathing, and stared at the doorbell.
He’d finally arrived. Don’t think complicated thoughts, he was just here for monitoring.
Just as he resolved this and raised his hand to the bell, the door suddenly burst open and Taeri popped out.
“Ah, you scared me!”
At his sudden appearance, Juha stepped back.
“You came?”
Taeri welcomed Juha like a restless dog that had been waiting for its owner.
“Oh, yeah. You came out early.”
“I heard the elevator stop.”
Choi Taeri was wearing a fluttering wine-colored shirt in pajama style. His chest muscles rose thickly over the shirt that was deeply cut below the neck.
Even though he’d seen him shirtless on the first day, seeing it covered like this made him inexplicably curious.
“Here, take this. It felt wrong to come empty-handed.”
When Juha held out the bag containing beer and snacks, Taeri’s expression brightened like a child receiving a gift.
“You can come empty-handed next time.”
Next time.
Why did he keep saying such heart-fluttering words?
“Your house… is nice.”
Juha changed the subject while looking around the house.
Taeri’s house was neatly spacious but somehow looked empty too. Rather than a 20-year-old guy’s house, it felt like a chairman’s weekend residence.
In the living room were a large TV and sofa. A noisy beverage commercial was playing on the already-turned-on TV.
“Oh right, do you like pizza? I ordered it beforehand in case it would be late if I ordered after you came.”
“Yeah. That’s fine.”
Juha nodded at Taeri’s question.
Choi Taeri had a different atmosphere than when they shared a room in the penthouse. When cameras were attached everywhere, he was natural, but now despite being in his own house, he seemed awkward. Rather, acting in front of cameras seemed more comfortable for Taeri.
Nevertheless, Juha thought he’d done well coming here. He felt a pointless sense of superiority knowing Choi Taeri’s secret place. Among the trainees in the same program, Juha would be the only one who’d come here.
While Juha washed his hands in the guest bathroom, Taeri received the pizza.
“Don’t stand there uncomfortable, sit down.”
Taeri, who was sitting on the sofa, gestured to the seat next to him.
“Okay.”
Juha slowly approached and sat on the floor leaning against the sofa. When nervous, it felt more stable to put his bottom on the floor.
Then Taeri came down from the sofa and sat next to Juha. The distance between him and Taeri was about two spans – close if you considered it close.
“The beer will get warm.”
Juha said something pointless while opening a beer.
With a pop sound, the sound of bubbles rising rang out refreshingly. Taking a sip, the carbonation prickled his throat sharply. His heart was pounding.
Next to him, Taeri smiled contentedly while drinking beer. They hadn’t done anything special but there were only 30 minutes left until the first episode started.
Episode 1 was scheduled for a whole 3 hours.
The pizza that had arrived early was drying up untouched. As the start time approached, Taeri took out glasses and put them on.
At his intellectual face contrasting with his sturdy body with prominent chest muscles, Juha stole glances at him.
“Eat the pizza.”
“No, not yet, no.”
When Taeri slid the pizza box over, Juha frantically waved his hands and spoke incoherently.
Having Choi Taeri beside him and the first broadcast starting after commercials – he was too nervous for greasy pizza to go down.
Only gulping down the innocent beer, the program logo on the upper right of the screen disappeared. Juha sat with his knees bent, gripping the beer can tightly with both hands.
In case their bodies might touch, Juha turned his gathered feet toward the opposite direction from where Taeri sat. The commercials ended and main master Lee Cheong’s narration began.
-We have dreams.
The dream of standing before many audiences someday and sharing our dance and song.
But people mock our dreams.
Saying they’re too unrealistic, to just study instead, that our dreams are too hard to achieve.
My dream was easily trampled by people like that.
But they don’t know.
That I came to have this dream not because I didn’t want to study or to escape reality,
but because I truly love the stage.
I’m proud of my dream.
Neither mockery nor prejudice can hurt me.
Now, I want to show you my sincerity about my dream.
Though it was just the opening narration, Juha and Taeri listened seriously.
It felt like their hearts had been read. Words that had always followed both of them.
Why would someone with a good head insist on being an entertainer?
If they could have given up, they would have. But even coming to the threshold of giving up, they ultimately had to turn back.
Because without this path, life would have no meaning.
The atmosphere changed immediately and bright lighting turned on the dark screen. The first stage of ‘My Job is Idol’ recorded in the studio began.
As the intro of ‘My Job is Idol’ played and Team 1’s faces appeared first on screen.
When Taeri’s face was brightly illuminated by the bright lighting, Juha stared at the screen transfixed while holding his beer.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
