Chapter 151:
Chapter 151
I’m fine, really.
The year 2020, which was full of various incidents and accidents, had passed and the new year of 2021 had dawned.
The members, who had made it a routine to cook and eat rice cake soup together on New Year’s morning, were busy setting up the table.
“Happy New Year, guys.”
“Happy New Year, hyung. Where’s our allowance?”
“Uh, no more nonsense~”
Lee Joo-hyuk laughed and pushed away his younger brothers who were clinging to him for money.
“Why not, hyung? You’re a copyright millionaire.”
“Nah, I’m not. The distribution company takes most of it… You guys know that.”
Lee Joo-hyuk winked. Kim Joo-young, who had become the unofficial chef of AWI, banged the sink with a ladle.
“It’s done. Everyone get your bowls.”
“Yes, chef!”
“There’s no one like Joo-young.”
The members lined up next to Kim Joo-young. They received their rice cake soup like rations and slurped it down.
“Oh, right. Congratulations on your graduation, hyung.”
“Thanks.”
Except for Ian, all the members were attending cyber university. Lee Joo-hyuk, who had diligently submitted his assignments even in his busy schedule, had fulfilled all the graduation requirements and was going to receive his degree.
“Are you going to the graduation ceremony?”
“I don’t know.”
“If you go, we’ll go with you to celebrate.”
Lee Joo-hyuk shook his head vigorously at the thought of the members making a fuss and shouting loudly.
“So you’re done with school?”
“I’ll go to cyber graduate school. It’s the best way to postpone enlistment.”
“Ah…”
Nowadays, college and graduate school were almost mandatory for male idols. It was because they had to delay their military service as much as possible.
“Just give us some allowance as a graduation gift.”
“Ah, really… Here, buy some dessert with this. Like ice cream or something.”
Lee Joo-hyuk took out his card and put it on the table. The members screamed loudly. Park Jin-hyuk looked at each member’s face and said.
“Who wants to go? It’s freezing outside. Rock-paper-scissors?”
“I’ll go.”
“Ian~ Choi Ian! Choi Ian!”
Ian got up quickly. He tapped Jo Tae-woong’s shoulder.
“Hey, Jo-tang, come with me to the roof.”
“When did that become a catchphrase?”
“Stop whining and get up. I can’t carry it by myself.”
It was just a simple dessert run, why couldn’t he carry it by himself… Jo Tae-woong’s eyes sparkled and he got up quickly.
“Let’s go.”
“…Ian, why can’t you carry it by yourself?”
Lee Joo-hyuk felt a bit uneasy. Ian smiled wickedly, and Jo Tae-woong also gave a sinister grin next to him.
“You think we’re just going to buy ice cream?”
“We’re going to raid the convenience store.”
“No way!”
Lee Joo-hyuk approached Ian to snatch his card back.
“Why did you give him your card? You should have given him cash.”
“Do you still trust us, hyung?”
“This hyung is so naive.”
Park Jin-hyuk and Kim Hyun grabbed Lee Joo-hyuk’s arms on each side. Kim Joo-young pushed Ian and Jo Tae-woong’s backs.
“Hey, hurry up. You know what I like, right?”
“Ian, I want potato chips.”
“I want roll cake.”
“Hyung, I want fruit pudding!”
Jo Tae-woong and Ian quickly put on their long padding coats and shoes.
“We’ll be back!”
“Don’t buy too much!”
Lee Joo-hyuk’s desperate shout was the last thing they heard before the door closed. As they stood side by side waiting for the elevator, Jo Tae-woong casually asked.
“So, why did you pick me out of all people?”
“Well, you probably know why.”
“Ah…”
Jo Tae-woong smiled bitterly.
The attitude controversy that had been quiet for a while flared up again after the year-end stage. On various communities, people dug up Jo Tae-woong’s trivial actions and expressions from AWI’s own content or Y app and made malicious posts that he was rude and arrogant even over nothing.
As a web novel editor, I have edited and corrected the sentence structures that are suitable for web novels. I have also translated it into English. Here is the edited and translated text:
“It’s getting pretty serious lately. It’s no joke.”
Someone even brought out Jo Tae-woong’s middle school graduation album as proof and posted a rumor that he was bullied by Jo Tae-woong, which was not true. They deleted the post right away after receiving a warning message from the agency.
Jo Tae-woong, who was good at browsing the internet, could not miss this situation.
“You’re not showing it, but you’re worried a lot.”
“I’m really fine… Who among us hasn’t received hate comments? You get a lot of them too. There are so many people who get angry at you.”
“I’m fine because I’m handsome.”
“Oh, really?”
Ian pressed the first floor button and looked closely at Jo Tae-woong’s face behind him. Jo Tae-woong’s expression in the mirror looked normal.
“…Should we all go to counseling together? The director said he would arrange it if we asked.”
“Nah, it’s not that bad. We can’t avoid that level of hate comments at our level.”
The elevator stopped at the first floor with them inside. As they walked side by side, Ian stared at Jo Tae-woong with a suspicious eye.
“I’ve been getting them since I was young. Hey, do you know what’s scarier? I’m someone who got hate comments in front of me when I was in elementary school.”
“…Really?”
“I’m really fine. Thanks for caring, though.”
It was awkward to keep pushing him when he said he was fine. Ian sighed softly.
Jo Tae-woong and Ian entered the convenience store and each picked up a basket at the entrance and scattered in different directions.
“Hey, grab this too.”
“Wouldn’t Joo-hyuk hyung faint when he sees the payment message?”
“Why did he give us his card then…”
They had an evil smile on their lips as they spoke. It was when Jo Tae-woong and Ian came out with their hands full of food and headed to their dorm.
Meow.
Jo Tae-woong turned his head sharply.
“Did you hear a cat sound?”
“Yeah.”
They headed towards where the sound came from. A chubby cheese cat that had been hiding in the bushes came out and rubbed its head against Jo Tae-woong’s leg without any hesitation.
“Wow, it’s so cute.”
“It’s tame, huh? Does someone feed it?”
“We bought sausages, didn’t we?”
“Wait a minute.”
Ian spilled the bag as he rummaged through it and broke a yellow sausage.
He cut it into small pieces and put it on the ground. The cat sniffed the smell. Ian put the remaining sausage in his mouth and said.
“They say you shouldn’t give this stuff to them randomly.”
“Isn’t it better than not eating anything?”
While Jo Tae-woong gently stroked the cat, Ian picked up the food that had fallen on the ground again.
The cat ate a small piece of sausage and did not eat any more.
“It’s not eating.”
“It looks like the residents here feed it, judging by its fatness.”
“It has a high-class taste that only eats cat food. Oh, it’s so cute.”
Jo Tae-woong groaned in agony. The cat licked its body as if to show off itself.
“…Should we take it and raise it?”
“No way.”
“Right?”
Ian immediately answered Jo Tae-woong’s question and Jo Tae-woong smiled awkwardly. His ears were red from being outside for a long time. Ian put the hood of his long padding on him.
“Why did you suddenly say that? You didn’t seem interested.”
“I thought maybe we could raise something too.”
“Who’s going to raise it?”
“A1S is raising a dog, right?”
“Didn’t they say they’re going to Japan this year?”
Ian exhaled. A1S also had a good response in Japan, so they would have a lot of days when they left their house empty. Who would take care of them then? Besides, dogs are animals that need to be walked regularly.
“What if we raise an animal, we have to go on tour too. Who’s going to take care of it then?”
“That’s true…”
Jo Tae-woong muttered blankly. He sounded like he still had some regrets.
“We can’t send it to our parents either. They would be shocked too if they suddenly got a pet without any plan.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s better not to raise it if you can’t take responsibility for life. Let’s go, Joo-hyuk hyung is calling.”
Ian also had a pet cat at his home in America, so he felt sorry for the cheese cat that was acting cute in front of him.
But this was the right thing to do. If they took it, they would surely neglect it because of their busy schedule.
“Bye.”
Jo Tae-woong gently stroked the cat’s nape and turned away with a regretful expression.
***
Awi had a busy schedule even after the new year. There were various award ceremonies, but they had something they were looking forward to the most. It was an online concert.
They had prepared special stages for this day since before their activities. Awi made a fuss when they saw the crowd at the parking lot entrance.
“Ah, what is this?”
“Is there a spy in our company or something?”
“What do you think, Dong-soo hyung?”
Park Dong-soo’s face hardened.
“We need to check the concert hall staff as well, don’t we?”
“Right?”
“Thank goodness Myung-jin hired some guards.”
Kim Myung-jin, who had experienced Awi’s unofficial schedule before, had hired a security company in preparation for this occasion. Lee Ju-hyuk’s face stiffened.
“But can the guards handle that many people?”
The guards who got off the car first opened the door of Awi’s van. The guard frowned when he saw the people running towards them with cameras. He didn’t know where it leaked from, but there were too many people.
“Stay close to me.”
“Yes.”
The members got off one by one with tense expressions. In the meantime, another guard pushed a burly man with a camera as if he was throwing him.
“Don’t take pictures!”
“Don’t touch them! Hey! Don’t rush in!”
The guard shouted, and the members entered the concert hall one by one.
They had hired too few guards, thinking that it was an unofficial schedule and there wouldn’t be many people. That was the problem.
“Uh… wait a minute. Uh?”
The guard who was attached to Jo Tae-woong was busy pushing away the people who were pushing in. Jo Tae-woong lost his balance as he was pushed by the people. Someone pressed against him and shoved a camera in his face. He couldn’t resist the force and fell to the side.
“Wait, Ian, I need to talk to you.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Tae-woong!”
Park Dong-soo, who was next to Park Seo-dam and pushing away the people, hurriedly headed towards Jo Tae-woong. Park Seo-dam was pulled to his side by Ian and the guard.
“These bastards…!”
Park Dong-soo was furious, but he didn’t rush at them. He didn’t forget his duty to support Jo Tae-woong and take him inside the concert hall.
“Tae-woong hyung!”
“Hey, are you okay?”
The members gathered around Jo Tae-woong. Park Dong-soo dusted off Jo Tae-woong’s body and asked anxiously.
“Tae-woong, are you okay? Do you have any sprains?”
“Huh? I’m fine. I was just surprised.”
Jo Tae-woong nodded with a blank expression. His face was pale as he lost his color in an instant.
“Hey, rotate your ankle once. Are you really okay?”
“Huh…”
Jo Tae-woong rotated his ankle as Kim Hyun instructed. His palm was scraped from touching the ground as he fell. Park Seo-dam grabbed his wrist.
“Huh? Hyung, your palm is bleeding!”
“Oh, I thought it was a bit sore.”
Jo Tae-woong looked at his own palm and smiled faintly. He felt his heart pounding hard as if he was startled.
Jo Tae-woong himself was still, but the members made more of a fuss.
“Ugh, crazy…”
“Let’s go and disinfect it quickly.”
“Wow, isn’t this crazy?”
The members who entered the waiting room quickly looked for a first aid kit.
“We’ll do it for you, hyung. Please take care of that.”
“Okay.”
Lee Ju-hyuk took the first aid kit that Kim Myung-jin brought.
“Check your wrist too.”
“Yeah.”
The members who stuck close to Jo Tae-woong looked at him with worried expressions.
Normally, they would have shrugged off such an incident and been proud of receiving too much attention from the members. But Jo Tae-woong’s expression was not normal even though he had been attacked. Kim Myung-jin said seriously to Park Dong-soo.
“Tae-woong seems to be very shocked… We need to deal with this quickly.”
“…Yeah. Ah, I feel uneasy…”
Park Dong-soo observed Jo Tae-woong’s expression closely. Something was wrong.
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