Chapter 140

Chapter 140

I opened the banking app on my phone.

The money should have come in by now. I’d been informed yesterday that we were finally going to be paid. Our contract actually stated that we were supposed to be paid quarterly. Still, things had been a mess at the agency for the last year and our remuneration had been delayed on the condition that we would also receive statutory interest.

And so now, in April, last year’s pay would arrive together with the money owed to us for the first quarter of this year. This was a delay that would have warranted a lawsuit at any ordinary company, but none of us had been in that much of a hurry. That, coupled with the fact that our contract still had a long way to go before it expired, meant that this was glossed over without incident.

Honestly, nobody hates getting money. As a result, I wasn’t the only one checking my phone on Monday, April 22nd, in one of the first moments we had some free time on our hands in a while.

“Whoa!”

I heard a gasp from the next bed. It was Bae Sejin.

I guess it’s a lot of money. I’d expected as much. We were a very successful group and had even done a concert.

All of it has yet to sink in, though. I scrolled past my main bank account and checked the new one that had been set up below it. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

[Daehan Checking Account]

[1,146,193,520 won]

One billion won...? Seriously? You couldn’t even make that sort of money from human trafficking. I was utterly lost for words. Was it possible to earn that sort of money after only nine months of work? It was true that we’d constantly been stressed and often lost sleep. Looking at the bigger picture, this payment probably covered all the grueling effort we’d put in during Idol Inc. as well. It was almost scary how quickly one billion won made all that work seem worth it.

I mean, one billion? That’s just mind-blowing. I needed to go over the details, so I logged into the email account that had been made for communicating with the agency. The address had leaked somehow, and it had been bombarded with all kinds of strange emails.

I scrolled through them to find the statement of accounts and skimmed through it, sighing when I found what I was looking for. One billion was correct. And now I knew exactly why I was getting that much.

We don’t have to pay back any debt to the agency from the trainee period. The agency hadn’t needed to invest any money prior to our debut, and as a result, we received a share in all the profit from albums, events, ads, songs, the concert... everything. And what was more, we’d taken key roles in producing, which meant we got a hefty chunk of royalties.

Kim Raebin must have gotten more. I heard a scream from the next room, just as I thought this. Raebin seemed to be on the phone, probably because someone in his family had called him after the shocking news.

So noisy. But the amount of money we’d just received justified the ruckus. It still didn’t really feel like my money.

“D-did you see?” Bae Sejin said, his face red, no doubt referring to the money.

“Yes... Just now.”

“This is enough money to buy a home in Seoul, right? W-with a loan attached, of course...”

It depends on the home. Bae Sejin seemed elated at the thought that he was much closer to buying his own property, but he was overlooking something important.

“We haven’t paid taxes yet, remember?”

“Huh? What?”

“The tax percentage will be higher because it’s such a large sum. Don’t spend it all and be sure to discuss with an accountant before you submit your general income tax form in May.”

“R-right...” Bae Sejin stammered, then sank back onto his bed. He seemed to have come back down to earth. Reminding him about taxes shook me from my dazed state a little, too.

“I thought you’d be used to this sort of thing,” I remarked.

“I’ve never earned this sort of money before...” Bae Sejin buried his face in his hamster body pillow.

He’s been getting good use out of that little guy, huh?

“Wh-what’s going on?” Ahyeon said, poking his head out of the shower.

“We were checking our bank accounts.”

“Oh. Right.” He smiled, apparently relieved. He didn’t even seem all that interested in checking how much he’d received.

“Do your parents manage your money for you?”

“Y-yeah! Th-they give me p-pocket money, too...”

Given the way he’d handed me a sizable department store voucher for my birthday, this so-called pocket money was probably a considerable sum.

That reminds me, I haven’t used the voucher yet. I’d forgotten about it since as soon as the awards season was over, we’d had to prepare for the new album and the concert, followed by another promotional cycle.

Coincidentally, I have nothing to do tomorrow morning. Tomorrow was the only free time I would have during the day for the next two weeks, including the weekends. I confirmed this with the others first.

“We don’t have anything during the day tomorrow, right?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah! Why do you ask?”

“I thought I’d go out for a bit.”

“Shopping? Or the bank?” Bae Sejin asked. He had no doubt guessed my intentions since I was planning to go out right after I’d been paid.

I nodded. “Yes, shopping.”

“Want to go together? I have to go to the bank, too.”

“Uh... I don’t think we can.”

“What?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I was thinking of going to some dessert shops.”

“...?”

“About... seven of them.”

His confusion intensified.

***

And so the next day, on Tuesday, I ended up wandering freely about Seoul on my own. Or at least... that was the plan.

“M-Moondae, it’s th-that shop with the blue sign, right?” Ahyeon said.

“Please let us out at the first turn on the right, sir,” Raebin said to the driver.

As it turned out, Seon Ahyeon and Kim Raebin had cheerfully asked if they could come along.

“I-I want to go, too!”

“Dessert, you say? Next week is my sister’s birthday. This would be a great opportunity to pick up a gift for her.”

So that was how I found myself in a taxi with my bandmates. We’d dropped Bae Sejin off at the bank on our way here, since we could save money on fares that way.

Not that I have to worry about taxi fare anymore. It felt strange since it had been so long since I hadn’t had to worry about money.

The driver pulled up at our first destination. “Here we are!”

“Thank you.”

I got out of the car, and the two who’d been sitting bright-eyed in the back quickly followed suit.

“I-I hope the d-desserts are good.”

“I’m very excited,” Raebin replied.

It probably wasn’t all that common for three guys in masks and hats to enter a dessert shop together, but I supposed that was beside the point.

There’s hardly anyone on the street. It was probably because it was only nine-thirty on a weekday. The two members and I were the first customers for the day, the shop having just opened its doors.

“Welcome— Oh!”

“Hello.”

We were recognized the moment we made eye contact. I’d noticed this before, but the face masks seemed to do very little to disguise us.

“Oh my gosh... Wow... We love your music... Oh gosh...”

“Thank you. We’d like one of each flavor of dacquoise for takeout, please.”

“Uh… I’m sorry?”

“One of each flavor. Takeout, please.”

“Oh, right! Yes!”

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to spare. I exchanged the packaged dacquoises for a handshake and an autograph.

“Oh my god!”

It’s great that they’re happy, I guess. I turned to the two others, who were standing there looking confused.

“Aren’t you going to choose, guys?”

“Oh!”

The others clumsily picked out their own dacquoises and offered the worker handshakes. I went to the counter while they were distracted.

“I’d like to pay for them as well please.”

“Oh, yes!”

Both of them looked shocked.

“H-hey, it’s fine!”

“I got the most pay, so I should be the one to— Not that I mean to brag or anything...”

I smirked. “It’s fine. It was my idea to come out here today.”

“Moondae...”

“M-Moondae...”

Eugene or Big Sejin would have accepted without another thought, but the two accompanying me actually looked touched. They grinned as they accepted their desserts.

“Th-thanks!”

“Thank you.”

The moment we stepped out of the shop, Raebin remembered something. “Oh. I need to buy my sister’s birthday present.”

“I think you can take your time choosing one. We’ve got lots of shops left to go to.”

“Huh?”

The two blinked.

“W-we bought s-something here. D-doesn’t that mean you’re done?”

“I thought you had several candidates in mind, just in case you didn’t like what you saw...”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “I’m buying desserts at all seven places.”

And that’s exactly what I did.

By the time noon rolled around, both of them trudged into the next taxi, completely drained. I organized the boxes at my feet. There were a total of seven of them, all of them successful purchases. I’d already tasted each one as well.

Someone had run up to us waving an album, and another person had unexpectedly hugged us, but things had been mostly smooth sailing.

Things got a little sketchy toward the end, though. Someone had hollered at the top of their lungs when we made eye contact with them at the counter, so we’d had to slink out of the shop like thieves as soon as we got our macarons.

“Th-that’s it, right?”

“Yeah. I’m done.”

Ahyeon sighed deeply, melting into his seat. He looked tired from meeting so many people in one day. I’d told him he should go back to the dorm midway, but he’d insisted on staying even though he didn’t eat many sweets in general, trying to stay in shape.

Maybe he didn’t want to feel left out? Given his personality, I suspected he didn’t want to drop out of a group activity. In any case, that they’d followed me around using their rare free time was something I was grateful for.

“Are we going back now?” Raebin asked.

“Yes. Let’s go.” I directed the taxi driver toward the dorm. Instead of going up with them when we arrived, I had them take my desserts upstairs. “Tell everyone in the dorm to eat these.”

“Huh? What?”

“I just remembered something I have to do.” Sending the two on their way, I got back in the taxi and entered a destination into the navigation app.

“The department store?” the driver asked.

“Yes.”

After I’d done what I needed to, I arrived back at the dorm about an hour later.

I opened the door and found Eugene with his cheeks full of dacquoise. I stared.

“It’s delicious! Thank you!” he said.

“Oh, you’re welcome.”

He didn’t put on weight easily and loved sweets. The snacks were perfect for him.

“Which one tastes the best?” I asked.

“This one.”

A strawberry macaron. I committed the name of the shop to memory.

“Thanks for the desserts, Moondae,” Chungwoo said.

“Don’t mention it.”

“Moondae, don’t tell me this is to cover up a new girlfriend? I trust that isn’t the case!” Big Sejin said.

“Are you crazy?”

After saying hello to Chungwoo, I slapped a snickering Big Sejin on the back and returned to my room. Bae Sejin was reading on his bed, and Ahyeon was behind him, crocheting a loofah at the desk.

“M-Moondae, did you get everything you needed done?”

“Yes. Here.”

“H-huh?”

I held out something in my hand. “It’s a bit early, but... happy birthday.”

“Huh? What?” Ahyeon looked stunned.

Bae Sejin instantly sat up. “It’s your birthday, Ahyeon?”

“N-no...”

Their confusion was worthy of a comedic skit.

“It’s a while until his birthday, but I’m giving it to him in advance since I won’t have time to buy a gift before then.”

“Oh...” Bae Sejin sank back onto his bed, relieved.

Ahyeon nodded eagerly. “I-I see! Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it.” I wouldn’t tell him that I’d used the voucher he’d given me to buy his present.

“C-can I open it?”

“Sure thing.”

He immediately opened the packaging and froze when he saw the coat. “W-wait, isn’t this t-too expensive?”

“Nope.”

That was hardly something he should be saying since he’d been the one to give me the voucher I’d used to pay for it. I pushed a second shopping bag from the department store under the bed. It was a bit big, and it took a while to get it shoved all the way in.

I think I chose well, though... I briefly regretted not just taking Ahyeon with me, but it was too late.

Bae Sejin glanced in my direction. “What’s that?”

“A present.”

***

That Sunday, TeSTAR’s final music show appearance for that promotional cycle was being pre-recorded at one of the broadcast stations early in the morning. The TeSTAR fans who came to serve as the audience were each presented with a large box.

[TeSTAR presents]

[Midnight and Loviewers ♡]

Their confusion intensified.