#64. Size or Direction (4)
“Um, sunbae-nim.”
“It’ll just be a moment.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say that I should go in early since Jihan was waiting. Before I could even open my mouth, Bae Dojin had pulled me along.
The place he took me to was the underground parking garage. It seemed he had parked his car on the completely opposite side from where Na Jihan usually parked.
Was he going to give me a ride? That wouldn’t work. Bae Dojin wouldn’t be unaware of that either…
“Here, this.”
Bae Dojin took something out of the back seat and placed it in my arms.
“…Flowers?”
It was a bouquet with pale pink petals layered upon each other, boasting a unique yet cheerful appearance.
“A farewell party seemed too formal, so I prepared this to express my gratitude for everything. I’ve been waiting all day to give you this.”
Bae Dojin said in a voice tinged with laughter.
“Do you know what the flower’s name is?”
I don’t know. It was a flower I’d never seen before in my life. I shook my head back and forth.
“It’s called geranium. There are various varieties of geraniums, and among them, this one is called Dorothy Navarro.”
“Dorothy…”
“You said you liked it.”
That’s right. I had said I liked the song ‘Dear my Dorocy’ the most from our album. Since I had said I would perform that song live on his radio show, he had prepared a flower with a similar name as a farewell gift.
I could feel that he had put a lot of thought into ordering this hard-to-find flower. I quietly looked down at the fragrant petals and said sincerely.
“Thank you for taking care of this. This is the first time I’ve received flowers like these.”
“I’m glad you’re happy.”
I looked up at him as he smiled proudly and said.
“But the gift feels a bit… big, sunbae-nim. I haven’t done anything to deserve this much.”
Being a guest was already like a benefit to me. Not only did it make my name more widely known to people, but I even got to promote our album.
Rather, I should be the one giving him a return gift to thank him for giving me such a good opportunity.
Seeing me hesitate, Bae Dojin chuckled softly.
“You’ve done a lot of good things, but if you don’t know it yourself, there’s nothing I can do. If it’s really a burden… hmm. How about I also say something I want from this side?”
“…”
“Shall we be like brothers? Us.”
He took a big step closer to me.
“Next time we meet, I’d like to see you as a close hyung rather than sunbae and hubae.”
“…Sunbae-nim.”
“It would be even better if we dropped the formal speech with each other.”
He smiled beautifully with his eyes curving gently.
“It’s not a bad proposal, is it? This is a world where rumors spread fast.”
It was something that connected with what he had said before.
‘The more famous you are, the less you’re ignored, and people can’t treat you carelessly.’
Bae Dojin was already famous. His skills went without saying, and he was recognized for his clean private life without controversy. Despite his fame, not much was known about his private life, and he had few close relationships outside his members, giving him an almost mysterious image.
For him to deliberately offer an opportunity to be connected with him.
‘This is ultimately a good thing for me too.’
Bae Dojin was right. It was a proposal with no downsides. No, realistically speaking, it was something I should be begging him for first.
However, I couldn’t help but be curious about the reason. Why go out of his way? A friendship with me wouldn’t give Bae Dojin any advantages.
“This isn’t really something that would benefit you much, is it, sunbae-nim?”
It goes without saying, but I had no intention of causing trouble for anyone. I was also planning to manage my image for both the group and myself.
It wasn’t a difficult thing to begin with. Just don’t bully anyone, don’t date recklessly, don’t indulge in entertainment or openly do morally reprehensible things.
But even so.
“It’s not something I said after calculating gains and losses.”
Bae Dojin’s clean voice cut through my thoughts. Of course, it wasn’t a sufficient answer for me.
“Then why?”
“Well…”
When he lowered his head, the distance between us became even fainter. I casually worried that at this rate, our foreheads might touch.
“Because I want to become something to Yoon Seowoo-ssi?”
“Something…”
“Not just a sunbae who shares the same company, something other than that.”
I don’t know what to say. My insides were in turmoil, but I couldn’t find an expression to clearly define this confusion.
Standing still while holding the bouquet in my arms for a moment.
“Yoon Seowoo.”
Before I could react, my body was grabbed and pulled back sharply. My stumbling body touched someone’s chest with a thud, and was immediately pressed close by firm strength.
The familiar cypress scent tickled my nose. It was Na Jihan.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, sunbae-nim said he had something to give me for a moment…”
Na Jihan’s gaze lingered once on the bouquet I was holding, then once on Bae Dojin standing with his hands behind his back, before falling away. It was an attitude that felt not just displeased but even slightly hostile.
“If you received it, you should have come right away. Why are you doing this?”
“…Jihan.”
“It’s getting late, so we’ll be going in now. Let’s go.”
He turned my body around and firmly gripped my wrist. Then he began to practically drag me away.
“Jihan. Wait, Na Jihan!”
When I looked back in confusion, Bae Dojin waved at me with a smiling face. He didn’t forget to mouth “take care” with a slight smile.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem particularly displeased, but that didn’t mean there was no problem.
“Na Jihan. Listen to me!”
“I’ll listen after you get in the car.”
“Hey!”
I was dragged away in an instant and practically stuffed into the passenger seat. I almost dropped the bouquet, but Na Jihan didn’t even look at me.
I glared fiercely at him as he walked around the hood to the driver’s seat.
“What kind of manners is this?”
Na Jihan started the engine and answered halfheartedly.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s a sky-high industry sunbae and a company family member. Someone who took care of me every week while doing the same schedule. How can you treat someone like this when they prepared a gift and showed consideration because it was the last broadcast?”
It was fortunate that Bae Dojin wasn’t displeased, or it could have escalated into a troublesome problem. Even if it wasn’t in front of cameras, it wasn’t good to do things that others could find fault with.
I believed he wasn’t stupid enough to act recklessly without knowing such things. In fact, Na Jihan wasn’t particularly interested in other people, but he was bright and polite when it came to greetings. That’s how he was raised and taught.
This kind of rude and reckless behavior was completely unlike Na Jihan.
“Make sure to apologize to sunbae-nim next time we meet. No, I’ll just arrange a meeting myself. It’s fortunate that sunbae-nim didn’t get angry, but what were you trying to do…”
“Yoon Seowoo.”
Na Jihan cut off my nagging mid-sentence.
“Do you like Bae Dojin?”
I was too dumbfounded to even correct his form of address.
“It’s not one-sided but mutual? Right?”
“…What?”
How on earth could someone think this way?
Do I like Bae Dojin? Me? When I have Na Jihan?
Na Jihan, of all people, is asking me this?
“No…”
After a brief silence, I answered.
“It’s neither mutual nor one-sided. I don’t like Dojin sunbae, and Dojin sunbae didn’t give me these flowers to confess.”
I couldn’t understand at all why Na Jihan was having this misunderstanding.
“If you don’t like him, why are you taking Bae Dojin’s side in front of me?”
“Of course I’m not taking your side because you did something wrong!”
When I shouted back, my voice echoed loudly in the car.
“Don’t tell me you’re angry because of that? Because you think I like Bae Dojin sunbae?”
My clueless heart was pounding even in this situation.
I secretly wanted to ask. Do you hate it if I like someone else? Are you jealous of Bae Dojin sunbae?
Na Jihan. Would you like it if I liked you?
But his voice that came back was cold.
“You’re an idol, Yoon Seowoo. Do you want to quit just one year after debut?”
“…”
“Then, how could I not be angry right now? When you’re standing at a crossroads of whether or not to do something that would ruin your hard-earned debut?”
I was about to ask if he was really angry because of that, and whether my saying I didn’t like him resolved the issue.
“You’d rather like me instead.”
…What did you say?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
