Chapter 40
“…Are we sharing the same room?”
“Yeah.”
Jungwoo dragged his suitcase over and placed it next to the other bed.
“How are we in the same room?”
“I decided it.”
“What? How?”
“Since it’s two people per room, I divided up the PR team members and submitted it.”
Jungwoo held up his employee ID card. PR Team Leader.
“Without saying a word to me?”
“It’s my authority, isn’t it?”
“Still, even so…”
“If you’re really upset about it, you should have drawn lots to be team leader.”
Jaekyung looked at Jungwoo with bewildered eyes. It was already frustrating enough to coincidentally end up in the same group, but today he was really going crazy because of Lee Jungwoo. Even after all that hiding, he got caught and ended up in the same group, and now he had divided up the rooms as he pleased too.
Finally, Jaekyung couldn’t hold back and exploded.
“Do you like me that much!”
You’re really clingy, seriously.
At Jaekyung’s outburst, Jungwoo stopped in the middle of opening his suitcase. After briefly chewing over what Jaekyung had said, Jungwoo turned his head to meet his eyes and burst into laughter.
“Why are you laughing? Why?”
“Because it’s funny that you’re blatantly asking if I like you.”
“Funny? That’s funny?”
Jaekyung, sitting on the bed, pressed down hard on Jungwoo’s back with his foot.
“Why are you really acting like this toward me? Did some ghost that couldn’t form a team with me possess you? Huh? Should I get rid of it for you?”
Even though Jaekyung was stepping hard on Jungwoo’s broad back, he got more annoyed that his body wasn’t being pushed forward, so he gave up midway. Then he leaned back completely on the bed and lay down, feeling drowsy as his fatigue lifted.
Today had been unusually long with the announcement ceremony, forming teams, and having concept meetings. As he was slowly closing his drowsy eyes, he felt the bed tilt and someone’s movement.
“Eat before sleeping.”
“…It’s bothersome. I just want to sleep.”
As Jaekyung brought a pillow over to rest his head on, telling him not to worry about it, Jungwoo kept poking his stomach.
“Your stomach is growling right now.”
“It’s fine. I won’t die from skipping one meal.”
Jaekyung waved his hand dismissively, making all his earlier talk about hotel food seem meaningless. Right now, sleep was what he wanted most.
* * *
Jaekyung, who had fallen asleep early in the evening, stared at the ceiling with vacant eyes. Looking at the shadow cast by the indirect lighting, Jaekyung only moved his eyes to check the time. 2 AM.
“…I’m hungry.”
Maybe I should have eaten before sleeping. As he was rubbing his sunken stomach, he heard the door open and the mood lighting turned on.
Jaekyung only turned his head slightly to ask the person entering.
“Where have you been?”
“Practice.”
“Don’t tell me until this hour?”
Jungwoo nodded slightly, then pulled up his training top to wipe the sweat on his face. He felt sorry for sleeping when even with all that practice, it still wouldn’t be enough.
“I should practice too.”
At Jaekyung’s muttering, Jungwoo glanced at him briefly, then took a towel and clothes to change into and went into the bathroom. Wondering if he was angry because of his laziness, Jaekyung awkwardly scratched his head.
Meanwhile, Jungwoo came out after washing up, roughly drying his hair with a towel and taking out a black bag he had brought. As he went to the microwave and was doing something, Jaekyung debated whether to just pretend not to know and sleep, or take a peek since he was curious.
‘Cup noodles? Triangle kimbap?’
There were even 6 triangle kimbap. Just as he wondered if he had bought all that to eat by himself, Jungwoo gestured to Jaekyung.
“Come here.”
“Me too?”
“You didn’t eat dinner, so you’re hungry.”
Jungwoo gestured for him to sit in front and poured boiling water into the cup noodles. At that nonchalant behavior, Jaekyung rubbed his stomach and got up. If it was just skipping one meal, he could somehow endure it, but since he hadn’t been eating well even before, it was regrettable to push away Jungwoo’s offer.
Jaekyung hesitated for a moment, then picked up one triangle kimbap.
“I’ll pay you for what I eat.”
“Do whatever you want.”
Jungwoo opened his triangle kimbap as if it didn’t matter either way. Feeling burdened by that attitude, Jaekyung was also opening his triangle kimbap and was about to put it in his mouth when—
“Jaekyung.”
“Yeah?”
Jaekyung stopped trying to put the triangle kimbap in his mouth and looked at Jungwoo. After calling Jaekyung’s name, Jungwoo couldn’t meet his eyes, then soon opened his mouth with determination.
“Just one bite.”
* * *
After eating triangle kimbap at dawn and practicing, Jaekyung and Jungwoo, who ended up sleeping late, woke up to the alarm sound from the broadcast.
Jaekyung was tossing and turning while rubbing his eyes that wouldn’t open properly, when Jungwoo got up first and went into the bathroom.
“Ah… maybe I shouldn’t have eaten.”
Jaekyung buried his face in the pillow and let out a pained groan.
“Are you going out like that?”
At Jungwoo’s question, Jaekyung shook his head. Jaekyung looked at Jungwoo’s wet bangs, as if he had washed his face, with half-open eyes. There were no cameras installed in the room, but it was different from the moment they went out into the corridor. It wouldn’t be good to show that men are different before and after grooming.
“I’ll just brush my teeth and go out.”
Of course, Jaekyung wasn’t interested. When he sluggishly got up, brushed his teeth and came out, Jungwoo was already waiting for Jaekyung, looking as neat as usual.
“Let’s go.”
“You’re going out like that?”
“Why?”
When Jaekyung wiped the water remaining on his chin with the back of his hand and asked, Jungwoo looked at him silently for a moment. Then he reached out and ruffled Jaekyung’s hair.
At the sudden touch, Jaekyung pulled his head back and discovered his sticking-up hair in the mirror. Was it because of this?
As Jaekyung was roughly smoothing down his hair, Jungwoo went outside first. Jaekyung followed behind such Jungwoo while pulling his hood down low.
It was the start of the day.
* * *
In the hall with soft rugs laid out, trainees gathered one by one. With his hood pulled down low, he hugged his knees and listened carefully.
“There’s something we’ve been voting on for a week targeting all of you.”
It wasn’t the PD who always came forward to explain various things, but someone else. It was that woman who had asked to be called Writer Kim.
“We asked you to upload fashion that you think would suit each trainee well, and we compiled them to select the 3 most popular ones. We’ll give you three cards here. You can flip over the one you want and wear the clothes that come out. We’ll only do it for half a day.”
After hearing the explanation, Jaekyung nodded. He thought it was simple since he just needed to change clothes, not take separate time.
“Now, please enter that small booth one by one and flip over one card. After changing clothes, you’re free to move around.”
With Writer Kim’s excited shout, they entered the booth in number order. Someone screamed, and someone else let out a short “Eek!” scream. And when receiving the clothes to change into, they made various expressions without fail.
When it was finally his turn, Jaekyung lifted the booth’s curtain with an indifferent face. Just before entering, he discovered a camera inside and entered. Looking at the three cards with fancy patterns like tarot cards, Jaekyung flipped one over without showing any signs of deliberation.
“Ah…”
It wasn’t text but a picture. Round t-shirt and shorts. Since it was ordinary clothing, Jaekyung came out holding that card.
“This one.”
When he showed the card, the staff immediately handed over neatly folded clothes. Though bright, it was an achromatic t-shirt with black cotton training material, so Jaekyung accepted it satisfactorily. It was fortunate it wasn’t the green or leather he had glimpsed when other trainees received theirs.
* * *
After changing clothes, Jaekyung entered the practice room. As expected, there were staff positioned inside, so Jaekyung gave a slight nod and sat down appropriately in one spot. Since one wall was mirrored, Jaekyung stared blankly at his own appearance.
Since it was achromatic clothing, it wasn’t bad. Moreover, it was comfortable enough to wear all day today. He wondered if he had good lottery luck or if casual clothes suited him best. However, there was one thing that bothered him.
‘The clothes are quite big.’
Jaekyung awkwardly touched his exposed collarbone. The t-shirt was so big it covered his hips. Whether it was meant to be worn completely baggy, the shorts that only came down to above his knees were barely visible by a hand’s width.
On top of that, the sleeves were long, so half his hands were covered. After lifting his hands and turning them this way and that, Jaekyung shrugged once and left it. What’s good is good.
Though his shoulder was slightly exposed, it was bothersome to pull it up, so he left it alone.
“Oh? There’s someone who came first.”
Jaekyung checked through the mirror to see who had entered, then turned his head in surprise. There, Choi Wooju, who had become part of the same team, was entering while fidgeting awkwardly. The mechanic uniform suited his manly handsome face well.
“You’re trainee Seo Jaekyung, right?”
“Yes.”
Jaekyung answered somewhat dazedly while glancing at Choi Wooju’s outfit. It was precarious whether the bust point would show or not because of the zipper. Would practice be possible in those clothes today?
“I came too.”
Jaekyung and Choi Wooju reflexively turned their heads to check the other person. Taeyeon, wearing a one-piece animal costume that looked like a flying squirrel or something, was walking in.
“Ah…”
He had to dance, but it looked like his legs would give out. As Jaekyung was looking at his legs, Taeyeon cutely hopped in place.
“I’m cute, right?”
“Well, yes, but…”
What about practice?
Jaekyung couldn’t continue his words and just averted his gaze. At this point, he began to wonder what clothes the next trainees to enter would be wearing.
‘I’m really grateful to be so ordinary.’
Jaekyung secretly patted his chest. These clothes won’t stand out.
White skin, a slender neck, straight collarbones extending in a line, and shoulders that fell in lines that weren’t entirely soft. Sometimes seeming like a boy, sometimes considered to have prettier collarbones than a woman, sometimes seeming to have masculine shoulder lines – the mysterious charm that couldn’t be defined was being captured on camera completely, while Jaekyung was satisfied with his outfit without knowing it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
