-55-
“Boys. Let’s start with greetings first.”
The manager who had been watching them from behind whispered briefly. As if that was the signal, all the BLACK members gave a loud greeting together.
“Good afternoon. Sunbae-nims, we are the rookie group BLACK!”
Even during this, Bunhong, who kept stealing glances, thought that not only Hangeul’s appearance but also the atmosphere he gave off had changed. Unlike before, he seemed somehow indifferent and cold.
With one hand supporting his chin, eyes downcast as he stared at his phone screen, his quiet face emanated an aura that was hard to read. However, as soon as the camera turned on, as if nothing had happened, life quickly returned to his previously cool profile. Between bowing his head in greeting, it was bewildering enough to wonder if it had all been a dream.
After the brief filming ended somewhat carelessly, they scattered for a moment to prepare for the pre-recording of the music show stage that would happen shortly after.
Bzzing, checking the ringing phone placed on the shelf in front of the waiting room mirror, it was a call from his grandmother.
“I’ll just take this call for a moment.”
Come to think of it, it seemed like it had been a long time since he’d called to check in, so Bunhong, who had finished preparing to go on stage first among the members, briefly asked for understanding and left his spot. Perhaps because it was such a busy time, staff were using the stairs instead of the elevator to move around near the emergency exit area. They glanced at Bunhong in his stage costume as they passed by.
‘This is quite burdensome, I should move to a different location.’
Remembering that the rooftop door wasn’t locked, Bunhong turned his steps in that direction. The phone rang several times before cutting off. Hurriedly turning the handle, the door was open as expected.
“Hello. Yes. Grandmother.”
After talking about this and that, he finished the short call. Standing against a nearby wall to catch his breath for a moment, what he immediately saw was hazy smoke surrounding him.
‘I can’t let the cigarette smell get on my clothes…’
Bunhong had that thought and stepped back several paces. And frowning as he looked in the direction the smoke had drifted from, it was the space right behind the wall. There were two people there.
Suddenly a strong wind blew, so he couldn’t properly see who they were and quickly raised his hand to cover his face. The hair that the coordi noonas had spent quite a long time applying wax to fix was scattered and split like corn stalks. Just as Bunhong was about to turn around, thinking he’d get properly scolded by the coordi if he stayed here any longer,
“We’ve spent quite a long time together, but I just don’t understand you at all. Hangeul-ah.”
At the familiar name he heard, he blinked both eyes and instinctively hid his body behind the wall. One of the two who had been leaning slouched against the railing raised his previously lowered upper body, and Bunhong realized that the long golden hair shining in the sunlight was similar in color to Hangeul’s hair that he’d seen in OORA’s waiting room earlier. It seemed like the person with Hangeul was one of OORA’s members.
And so Bunhong unintentionally ended up eavesdropping on their conversation. A voice full of regret was pressuring the other person.
“…If it were really me, I would have jumped at the chance. Do you know who you turned down? How pretty she is and what a great figure she has. There are a lot of people around who have their eye on her these days too.”
At the heated reaction, Hangeul, who hadn’t been responding, ran his hand through his hair and answered indifferently.
“Is that so? What an amazing friend. That’s really too bad.”
Perhaps he yawned while speaking, as his pronunciation was unclearly slurred, but the last three syllables were heard crystal clear. The voice reacted irritably to Hangeul’s consistent emotional line that didn’t lose composure unlike himself.
“This bastard here, since you’re so popular you don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything, huh? How annoying. Really.”
Hangeul corrected him as if it was unfair.
“She just asked if I wanted to grab a meal once, so I just answered that I wasn’t interested, that’s all?”
“……”
“And originally I’m comfortable eating alone anyway. It’s not like I was trying to reject her specifically.”
“That’s the same thing! I’m asking because I’m really concerned, but then are you planning to never date and grow old and die single for your whole life?”
“Well… I’ll probably do it when the time comes, right? Rather than forcing myself to date someone I don’t even like just based on looks, that’s the right way. I think what’s most important is having hearts that connect, more than anything else.”
“Who in the world could match the heart of a fickle person like you? Someone who runs off to the studio the moment you lose even a little interest!”
“Forget it. Before worrying about me, take care of your health. Quit smoking as soon as possible, hyung. You’ll really damage your throat at this rate.”
With Hangeul’s words as the finale, they seemed to end their long conversation and walked side by side toward where Bunhong was standing. Bunhong, who had been absorbed in the content of their conversation for a while, couldn’t even think to avoid them and had to face the situation defenseless.
Those jet-black eyes were frightening to look at no matter when. As if they had absorbed all the world’s tranquility, it felt certain that the periods of sentences left unfinished were embedded in Hangeul’s eyes like shooting stars.
Bunhong, who had been staring at Hangeul’s face as if bewitched the moment their eyes met, belatedly stammered.
“…Ah, hello.”
The beautiful face that would draw out all sorts of amusing and childish sentiments from the viewer really seemed, just as those unrealistic expressions described, as if it might be preserved in this moment, unrealistically beautiful as if it would stop forever without flowing, never moving.
At the end of the silence where even breathing felt noisy, the setting sun somehow tinted the sky, and light seeped between those motionless, quiet eyes.
Only then did the heavy air around Hangeul loosen and gradually lose its tension. Bunhong, startled as if waking from a dream, moved his lips slightly, then left that spot completely deflated. In other words, he ran away before Hangeul could show any reaction.
The man who had been watching Bunhong quickly distance himself after giving that inexplicable greeting tilted his head and said nonchalantly to the person standing beside him.
“That kid, wasn’t he the junior who came to greet us in our waiting room earlier?”
“……”
“……Oh Hangeul!?”
Even though he poked Hangeul’s body, which was strangely stiff, with his finger, the man who would normally have played along showed no reaction at all.
* * *
Bunhong, who had encountered Hangeul and quickly escaped from there to avoid the situation, unconsciously raised his hand to wipe around his eyes. Roughly, very hard. Not caring that the makeup that had been carefully applied was getting smudged. Because the black paint that rubbed off on his palm had never been as embarrassing as it was right now, in this moment.
That was only for a moment, as he walked trudgingly while feeling along the walls as if finding his way through a maze. As soon as he arrived at the waiting room, he was immediately dragged into the bustling scene as if being captured. As if to say, your place is here. He felt relieved as if he had been lost and returned to reality.
“Bunhong-ah! What on earth happened to you?”
The coordi’s screams scolding him, and the staff gathering around him to fix his makeup—these were all inescapable parts of his daily life.
‘Right. This is how it should be.’
Entrusting his face to familiar hands, Bunhong closed his eyes. He had quite a hard time making excuses when they persistently asked where he’d been bullied.
When all preparations were finished, the manager, who had been hard to see since dawn because he’d been busy running around greeting people here and there, came running toward the BLACK members from afar. He looked more excited than they did, who were about to go on stage.
“…Are you all ready?”
At the manager hyung’s question, everyone nodded or gave affirmative answers, but Bunhong was the exception.
He knew that coming early in the morning to rehearse in advance, checking positions according to the camera, the time invested in such efforts wouldn’t easily evaporate somewhere.
Even knowing that couldn’t be the case, when it was time to go on stage, his mind going blank was unavoidable.
In this state, even if he went up on stage, it seemed like he wouldn’t be any different from his clueless appearance before regression, making him feel pathetic about himself.
Then, seeing Bunhong’s face turn so pale, the manager asked worriedly.
“If you’re that nervous, would you like to drink some water?”
“I’m really fine.”
He slightly raised his hand to push away the water bottle that was instantly offered and shook his head.
“Unlike rehearsal, the actual recording will have some audience members, so don’t be nervous and let’s do well.”
Hearing the manager’s words made him even more worried. Since this had happened before regression too, Kim Bunhong knew about this situation all too well.
Most of those ‘few audience members’ were people who hadn’t been able to participate in senior singer OORA’s main stage.
It was only natural that OORA’s fandom would look upon them unfavorably, and indifference and cynicism were among the things one could never get used to no matter how much one experienced them.
Sure enough, the gazes reaching him were… cold.
It was standby time just before going on stage. As soon as he made eye contact with one of the gathered audience members, Bunhong hurriedly turned his head away. His tense palms were slick with sweat.
Even with a rough look, there seemed to be about ten or so people.
‘Maybe I should have drunk some water like manager hyung said earlier.’
If he went down below the stage and confessed this feeling, he could clearly picture him being triumphant, saying ‘that’s why you should have listened to my advice.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
