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Me? Pointing to himself with both hands, Chayeon opened his mouth wide in bewilderment. The bag that was barely hanging on his arm now fell down with a thud.
Bunhong bent down to carefully pick up the bag rolling on the ground and said:
“You dropped the formal speech.”
“……”
“For reference, from now on you’ll have to commute with me. It’s a rule.”
The power of the word “rule” was strong. Especially for Chayeon, whose every day consisted of his own rules, it was a fatal blow. Should this be called a strategy? Flustered by Bunhong’s rather firm attitude, Han Chayeon hesitated and stepped back, thinking:
‘Does he really have amazing backing like the rumors say?’
It was puzzling. This small kid? Chayeon looked down at Bunhong with confusion. Even roughly estimating with his eyes, Bunhong was clearly much shorter than him. His round head somehow reminded him of his young sister Nayeon whom he left at home.
Though he spoke confidently in front of Chayeon, Kim Bunhong’s body was actually trembling more roughly than anyone’s.
‘What if I get rejected again?’
It’s okay. It wasn’t like he hadn’t expected this kind of response. Kim Bunhong already had a backup plan.
Initially, when trainees, confirmed debut members, or anyone decided to appear on the program, among the various clauses in the contract with AT Entertainment they had to sign, there was specifically this one:
It was just a confidentiality clause with the earnest request that ‘filming can proceed regardless of location and time, so please cooperate,’ but the meaning contained within wasn’t simply that.
In other words, the original meaning was: for filming purposes, cameras might film you outside the company building if necessary. That was it.
There were occasionally those who grasped this meaning early, but they passed it off thinking ‘what’s the big deal.’
‘Not knowing when or where cameras might film you’ – that vague fear became a good breakthrough for Kim Bunhong to defend himself at least minimally against potential bullying and similar situations. But there was a separate decisive reason why Kim Bunhong persuaded the company and Jeong Ido to include that clause.
‘It’s because of Han Chayeon.’
Kim Bunhong was certain. Anyone, once they learned the true value of the person called ‘Han Chayeon,’ wouldn’t be able to help but like him. If Lee Hanbit captivated the public with his unique affinity and natural brightness, the way Han Chayeon led those around him was completely different.
The charm of his that only some fans and colleagues who worked with Han Chayeon knew was Chayeon’s hidden thoughtfulness.
Though he hoped it wouldn’t come to that, Bunhong was even prepared to cleverly threaten by pulling out the confidentiality clause if necessary, but Han Chayeon accepted the bag Bunhong had picked up, gave a brief thanks, and began walking ahead.
When Bunhong looked up in surprise at Chayeon’s movement of turning around to wrap his waist, a motorcycle that suddenly cut into the sidewalk whizzed past in front of them.
Chayeon shouted:
“Hey, be careful!”
“……!”
Bunhong thought:
‘He dropped the formal speech again.’
I thought he was just walking looking ahead. When was he watching behind?
Because of that, the bag Chayeon was holding fell to the ground again in a pitiful state.
After hesitating briefly, Bunhong suggested:
“Shall I carry your bag for you?”
“I appreciate it, but from what I can see, your bag looks heavier right now.”
Then Han Chayeon frowned and gestured toward the bag Bunhong was carrying.
‘This is a camera bag. It’s completely expensive, so be careful!’
Recalling the staff member’s earnest request when lending him the camera, Bunhong quickly readjusted his bag to hide its existence somewhat. Something seemed about to come to mind, becoming puzzling again, so Han Chayeon stared intently at that bag, then turned his head away disinterestedly as soon as Bunhong hastily covered it.
And again Han Chayeon walked first, with Kim Bunhong continuing to follow behind…… Eventually, the moment this series of actions was judged ‘meaningless’ in Chayeon’s mind, he stopped firmly in place and said:
“But how long are you going to follow me?”
Bunhong’s steps also stopped. Fiddling with the camera bag in his hands once more, Kim Bunhong thought:
‘I wonder if I got caught.’
As Bunhong spoke hesitantly, Chayeon frowned again as if he couldn’t understand at all.
“Ah, so, that is……”
“……”
Seeing the cold back that now showed not even a sliver of an opening, it seemed like today would end here.
Bunhong lingered for a moment as if reluctant to leave, then departed from that spot. Though Kim Bunhong’s ambitious plan had failed, the cameras installed here and there inside the company building faithfully captured Chayeon’s appearance.
In the early dawn, someone wearing black training clothes moved his steps and whenever he encountered someone, he politely bowed and greeted them.
“……Hello. Thank you for your hard work today too.”
When a discarded beverage can appeared on the ground in front of him, Chayeon stopped without a moment’s hesitation to pick up the trash and approached the appropriate recycling bin to throw it away. Then he dusted off his hands, turned around, and headed straight to the practice room.
Upon arriving at the practice room, he would first clean up what the trainees who practiced late the night before hadn’t cleaned up. After that, he would meticulously stretch alone in front of the mirror for dozens of minutes to warm up his body, then practice basic movements until he could hear the footsteps of other trainees coming to the practice room from far down the corridor.
All the physical work inside the practice room was Han Chayeon’s specialty,
“Hyung! Help me with this!”
“What now?”
Young trainees relied on Han Chayeon more than the trainer,
“I’m frustrated because this movement isn’t working well, how should I do it?”
“Try using your arms a bit more. Relax the strength.”
Even the choreographer would look for Han Chayeon when stuck on something,
“Hey, Chayeon. How’s this choreography? What aspects do you think need more improvement?”
“I think……”
He would lightly ignore Duho’s incomprehensible strange pranks.
“Look at this! It’s a leaf I acquired today. It received quite a lot of photosynthesis so it’s completely green, aren’t you curious what it would taste like if you took a bite, my friend?”
“……”
Though such trivial variables occasionally existed, his plan never went wrong.
No one watching, no one acknowledging – this had been Han Chayeon’s unchanged daily routine for 6 years now.
But from now on it would be different, Bunhong thought.
Now the cameras began to capture everything according to Kim Bunhong’s intention, so that Han Chayeon’s efforts all this time wouldn’t become meaningless.
* * *
‘Tomorrow this following hyung around will end too.’
Bunhong had hoped to become a bit closer to Chayeon since he was sticking around, but that seemed impossible. Except for the first day’s sudden motorcycle incident, Han Chayeon really cruelly didn’t spare him even a single glance.
He was thoroughly ignored. To the point where the malicious notes that trainees secretly threw into his shoe locker felt like gifts in comparison. Chayeon’s indifference really made him feel like he was being treated as an invisible person, so that was particularly draining, Kim Bunhong thought as he pouted secretly behind Chayeon, who was walking ahead as usual today.
When Chayeon entered the mart to see if there was anything to buy, he looked at Bunhong naturally pulling a cart beside him with bewilderment and asked:
“……You’re following me even here?”
When they lived together in the dorm, they had gone shopping at the mart together several times, so Kim Bunhong had unconsciously gone ahead to grab the cart handle before Chayeon. Flustered, Bunhong thought:
‘Oh no, what should I do? I acted too naturally without realizing it.’
Though Chayeon was standing next to him, he was still much shorter than himself, so as he watched Bunhong’s ears begin to turn red under his head that he had to look down at, he sighed briefly then silently began gathering various items from the shelves.
And Bunhong diligently dragged the cart along to match the brisk steps walking ahead, stopping and waiting each time Chayeon put items in, peeking around, occasionally sampling food, and
“Oh my, what a handsome student! Try this too~”
He also turned red as a beet at the sudden compliment from the employee at the sampling station.
“……”
Chayeon, who usually walked fast, just quietly watched him, then began to slow his steps little by little to match the speed of Kim Bunhong’s cart, which was much slower compared to himself. When the contents of the cart, gradually accumulating necessary items, eventually resembled the picture Han Chayeon had in mind, their shopping ended.
Then about two heavy plastic bags came out, and there was a brief struggle at the checkout. Since Kim Bunhong wanted to carry one of them, but the moment he reached for the plastic handle, Han Chayeon skillfully snatched it away and took both bags himself, Kim Bunhong, who couldn’t achieve his goal, looked at Chayeon’s hands with a helpless gaze and said:
“Isn’t it heavy? I’ll carry them for you!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
