Chapter 110:
I’m a licensed teacher now.?? Thanks to galaxytl, translator community and readers for your support.?? You helped me pass my exam with confidence. As a token of gratitude, I’ll give 5 chapters each for my novels today. Enjoy??!
Chapter 110
He’s not like that.
Due to the coronavirus, Awi had no other schedules besides their comeback preparations.
So they had some personal time, and Kim Hyun went out of the dorm to meet his old trainee friends.
(Where are you?)
“I’m right in front. I’ll be there soon.”
Kim Hyun hung up the phone and headed to the corner booth of the restaurant.
There were already two people sitting there, who were Kim Hyun’s close friends from YANG Entertainment.
Kim Hyun sat down and looked around the restaurant.
“Where did you find this place? It’s nice and quiet.”
“The agency told me. We can’t go to crowded places and get branded as the first idol to catch the coronavirus.”
“That would be a disaster.”
I should come here with the members later. Kim Hyun thought as he opened the menu.
“How have you been?”
“We’re all the same, aren’t we? Doing music shows, going on tours… But how come we never overlap with you guys?”
“I know, we had a lot of comebacks too.”
The two, Han Jae-young and Go Jun-hoo, had refused the survival program and left YANG Entertainment unlike Kim Hyun. They joined the same agency and debuted as a group. And they debuted three years earlier than Awi.
“Awi is doing really well, huh?”
“Yeah. But I thought you would do well, Hyun.”
“Thanks.”
The food they ordered came out, and they clinked their glasses. Kim Hyun took a sip of beer and asked.
“You guys have been five years now?”
“Sixth year.”
“Then isn’t it time for contract renewal talks?”
It was a sensitive issue, but they had known each other for so long that they could ask without hesitation. Han Jae-young and Go Jun-hoo smiled bitterly.
“I don’t think we’ll all renew.”
“I think I’ll move to another agency too.”
“Really?”
Their group, Serenity, had not been very successful, but they had maintained their fandom well and had a smooth career.
“We have to do solo activities too. Our popularity will be halved, but still.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you have any complaints about being in a group?”
“Complaints? Not really… Do I have to?”
“You have someone in your group who’s overwhelmingly popular, right?”
“Oh, Ian.”
Kim Hyun felt a sour feeling, but he tried to ignore it.
“Yeah, Choi Ian, he had a short training period too.”
“He’s not rude just because he’s popular, right? How are you guys getting along?”
Han Jae-young and Go Jun-hoo might have been worried about Kim Hyun. But their behavior of judging people based on their popularity was very similar to Park Sung-hoon from YANG Entertainment, whom they had badmouthed so much.
“There’s a group in Eiwons too that has one handsome guy who’s doing well by himself. I heard their team atmosphere is ruined.”
“Oh, Yeon Jun-seo? He’s honestly not that talented. He can’t sing live, he can’t dance, he can’t act either. I don’t know why he got the lead role.”
“He thinks he’s so great that he skips practice without permission and goes around getting skin care and plastic surgery. That’s why his skills are like that.”
“He got plastic surgery too?”
“Well, not surgery, but procedures. He fixes them little by little.”
As Han Jae-young and Go Jun-hoo chatted excitedly, Kim Hyun quietly drank water.
He didn’t want to hear this kind of gossip after meeting them for a long time.
“How about you guys?”
The nuance of the question was strange. It was as if he was saying ‘Are you guys like that too? Are you the same as Yeon Jun-seo and Choi Ian?’ Kim Hyun frowned.
“Ian? He’s not like that.”
“Look at this Hyun, being nice and defending his fellow member.”
“It’s true. He practices the most among us. He’s learning how to compose these days too.”
When there was no group practice, Choi Ian would go straight to Kim Hyun and Kim Joo-young.
‘Can you watch me dance?’
He learned dance from Kim Hyun and Kim Joo-young and then went to the composing studio.
‘Can I watch you guys compose?’
He also observed the work of Lee Joo-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk. Besides that, he practiced scripts with Jo Tae-woong and taught Park Seo-dam how to sing.
He had natural talent and worked hard, but he wasn’t neglectful of his group just because he was popular.
Seeing him like that made them unable to feel jealous.
They thought that he was popular because he worked hard like that, and the other members were also motivated by him.
‘He’s doing that much. I can’t fall behind.’
Kim Hyun suddenly wondered. Choi Ian really practices a lot, huh? What does he do in his free time?
“Thanks to him, we practice a lot too. We even have our own study group.”
“Wow, you guys have a study group? That’s awesome. You must have a good atmosphere.”
Han Jae-young exclaimed. Go Jun-hoo still looked at Kim Hyun with a doubtful gaze.
“I think there’s something going on between him and Kim Joo-yeon…”
“Hyung, he doesn’t have many friends in Korea since he came from America. He always says he’s bored and tags along with us wherever we go. He even showed me his chat history. No, really.”
“Really?”
Kim Hyun felt a surge of anger as if he had been insulted.
“Can’t we talk about something else?”
The two who noticed Kim Hyun’s bad mood changed the topic.
“By the way, I heard they debuted Park Sung-hoon.”
“YANG Entertainment?”
“Who else would it be? The Park Sung-hoon we know.”
“I thought he would be stuck in the practice room forever, but he finally made it.”
Park Sung-hoon had participated in another survival show after his ‘rigging’ diss track. Kim Hyun, who had debuted more than two years ago, was no longer interested in Park Sung-hoon’s news.
***
“Are you done eating?”
“Sorry, I have practice tomorrow.”
“Okay, see you later.”
Kim Hyun was tormented by the gossip that Han Jae-young and Go Joon-hoo told him afterwards.
‘People do change…’
He didn’t used to be like that… Kim Hyun sighed regretfully and lost his appetite.
Awi’s van was already parked in front of the restaurant.
“You finished early? Don’t you want to hang out more?”
“I’m fine.”
Or maybe that’s what happens when you’re in the entertainment industry. Kim Hyun chuckled. His laughter caught Park Dong-soo’s attention through the rearview mirror.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just, I miss you and the guys.”
“You guys are lucky to get along so well.”
“We are unusually close, aren’t we?”
Park Dong-soo waved his hand and said, don’t even say that.
“I haven’t seen many celebrities, but you guys are like angels. You don’t cause trouble, you’re a bit noisy but you listen well.”
“Hyung, we’re not noisy.”
“Myung-jin was asking where his earplugs were.”
“That’s an exaggeration.”
Kim Hyun leaned back on the seat and laughed.
The distance between the meeting place and the dormitory was not that long.
He felt a vibration in his hand and turned on his phone.
(Ian4) Hyung, are you coming? – 20:26
(Hyunhyun2) Yeah, almost there – 20:26
(Ian4) I’m at the convenience store in front of the dorm – 20:27
(Hyunhyun2) Ask them to drop me off there – 20:27
“Hyung, drop me off at the convenience store. Ian is there.”
“Was Ian at the dorm all this time? Everyone else went to meet their friends.”
“I don’t know, maybe he didn’t go out?”
He stayed at the dorm by himself on his free time?
Kim Hyun wondered as the van stopped at the convenience store in front of the dorm.
“Thanks, hyung.”
“Go in early. I have to pick up Tae-woong.”
We could have just taken a taxi ourselves. Kim Hyun didn’t voice his inner thoughts and entered the convenience store.
“Did Dong-soo hyung leave?”
“Yeah.”
“Darn, I wanted to give this to Dong-soo hyung.”
Ian showed Kim Hyun the bag he was holding.
It contained drinks and patches that were good for fatigue recovery.
“He’ll be back soon anyway. He went to pick up the others.”
“They’re not kids, they can come back on their own.”
“There’s also corona, and the company is trying to take care of us.”
For Awi members, Park Dong-soo and Kim Myung-jin had moved their houses near the dormitory.
“So he’ll be back soon. Should we sit over there?”
“Yeah.”
Ian and Kim Hyun paid for their snacks and drinks and sat at the plastic table in front of the convenience store.
“Were you at the dorm all this time? What did you eat?”
“Oh, I heated up some of Joo-young’s New Year’s food. Wow, Joo-young’s mom has a big hand. I ate and ate but there was no end.”
Ian shook his head vigorously. Kim Hyun was curious about Ian’s inner thoughts after hearing what Han Jae-young and Go Joon-hoo said.
“Why did you want to be an idol?”
“What are you talking about out of nowhere?”
“Just, you could have done well as a solo artist from the start.”
Where did he hear that from? Ian laughed dryly. Kim Hyun’s face was red from drinking a little.
“It’s all about groups these days. Don’t you want to do some solo activities? You get a lot of offers for dramas and movies.”
It would be a lie to say that he didn’t have any calculative reasons for starting solo rather than in a group. He knew that popularity and recognition would be different depending on his choice.
“Hmm… Well.”
When he was Kim Yong-min, he had started his trainee life by being pushed into his friend’s audition. But still, being an idol was his ultimate goal in life.
“Being an idol was always my dream. I just wanted to dance and sing on stage.”
And looking back, it was nothing but the worst moments of his life. But he still had some attachment to Diamond. Or maybe it was his attachment to the group activities.
“But what if I want to ditch the group and do solo activities? Would you let me do that?”
“No? I’ll kill you.”
“Crazy.”
Ian clapped and laughed. Kim Hyun muttered under his breath, “He might not be American after all.”
He had always wanted to be famous, and he still did.
In fact, if the members of Awi were similar to the former members of Diamond, Ian might have followed Jin’s plan and focused on his solo activities to become famous.
“I’ll do solo activities someday. Don’t worry about it now. We’re doing well right now. When the group becomes popular, each individual will also become popular.”
“Really?”
“The company will arrange our activities well. Mydia went to the army, so wouldn’t it be nice if we become more popular than Mydia?”
But now he couldn’t do that. BHL Entertainment had somehow gathered these people who were all kind and without any flaws.
They all had strong ambitions, and even though Ian had most of the individual popularity, they never envied or ostracized him.
“My goal is actually to make our group so famous that we can perform at the Super Bowl together.”
“Crazy.”
Ian wanted to reach the top with these people.
Kim Hyun tilted his head back at Ian’s grandiose dream. He felt relieved inside. Kim Hyun relaxed his expression and smiled faintly.
“What are you doing there?”
Just then, Jo Tae-woong got out of the van and spotted Ian and Kim Hyun sitting in front of the convenience store. He stopped in his tracks.
“I waited for you.”
“You waited for me? Really?”
Jo Tae-woong jumped excitedly and sat down in an empty seat. Ian stared at Jo Tae-woong’s face. He didn’t seem like he had been drinking.
“You came early? You said you’d be late.”
“It wasn’t that fun. It’s more fun when we’re together.”
“Huh? What are you guys doing there?”
Park Seo-dam, who had stopped by her grandmother’s house nearby, walked over.
“We waited for our youngest.”
“Really?”
“Hey, you said you waited for me earlier.”
Park Seo-dam joined Kim Hyun’s side. Then Kim Joo-young, Park Jin-hyuk, and Lee Joo-hyuk arrived one by one and sat down in empty seats.
“Why did you all come here?”
“It was boring.”
“I actually didn’t eat properly either. Do you want to go to a chicken place?”
“Sure.”
***
“AC did nothing today. Ah, go meet some girls.”
“They’re always together.”
“Tsk… Just take a picture, it might come in handy someday. Let’s go take pictures of A1s tomorrow.”
The reporters from the media who were lurking in front of the dorm clicked their tongues and pressed the shutter with regret.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com