Chapter 164

Chapter 164

After we’d done everything for the day, including the W Live, we returned to the dorm by about eleven p.m. The members left one of the bedrooms free for the two Sejins to have their chat and gathered in the living room. The room they were in was the three-person room—the biggest one in the apartment.

Ahyeon, who’d left the kitchen scrubber he’d been crocheting behind in his hurry, muttered, “I-I hope they can w-work things out...”

“Yeah.”

I wondered if we should have sent Chungwoo in with them, but that posed the risk that they would never get into it as deep as they should because of the presence of a third party.

An all-out fistfight would be preferable to that. Now that they’d had some time to think, and they seemed more ready to talk, they should be capable of hearing each other out even if they ended up fighting.

As long as that happens, they should be able to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. The powerful emotions would fade away, while the facts remained. Both were thinkers, so it shouldn’t even take that long.

“Let’s watch NetFlux!”

“Okay. Pick whatever you want.”

With Chungwoo’s permission, Eugene easily selected an American sitcom. Now that the living room was filled with boisterous English, I took an opportunity to look down at my phone—the call log was still pulled up on the screen.

[Oh Seohyeong (Management Team)]

I had called the agency to complain about our two fighting members ending up on the same team during the W Live today despite all my requests to the contrary.

This has happened far too many times. I’d have to be a pushover if I wasn’t angry at this point. I could be understanding of most mistakes, given that work-life balance was unheard of in our industry, but this had been a huge one that should never have happened.

This whole thing could have easily spawned rumors of in-fighting in the group. How could they treat it so flippantly? Their excuse was that instructions not to choose the marked chopsticks had become distorted as they were carried from person to person, and that much I could understand. It was the man’s tone I had problems with.

“But there were no issues between them during filming, right? I understand it’s good to be careful and that we made a mistake, but maybe you shouldn’t be so sensitive about the issue...”

In a word, he’d accused us of overreacting.

These bastards have gotten too sloppy. There had been so many external incidents, and they’d focused all their energy on those so far. It seemed that they’d come to trust that we would just never have any internal strife. If something unexpected happened, I had a feeling the agency would respond far too slowly—I didn’t like knowing this about them.

I have to do something about it. Trying to think of the best way to deal with the problem, I eventually shrugged, putting down my phone.

But first... Those two have to work things out. Eugene was talking excitedly from his position sitting in front of the sofa about his favorite characters in the sitcom.

Raebin told him gravely, “But you might end up spoiling it for those of us who haven’t seen it yet—”

“I’m not spoiling anything!”

“Yes, you are!”

Their voices drowned out the actual sitcom. We probably wouldn’t be able to hear it if the two Sejins began screaming at one another in the next room.

The moment I had this thought, the door flew open and someone stormed out of the room. It was Bae Sejin, face extremely red.

“Park Moondae!”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say my full name before. Please don’t tell me they’re blaming me now? Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

“You... Come in here for a second.”

“What?”

“Come here.”

I had no idea what this was about. Not wanting to aggravate things further, I did as I was told, and Bae Sejin nudged me into the room.

“Oh! Wait, are they fighting—”

“Now, now, Eugene, focus on the TV.”

Bae Sejin shut the door behind him, and the noisy TV was muffled instantly. Big Sejin, sitting on the floor in the quiet room, looked quite composed. It seemed like no one would be engaging in a physical smackdown any time soon.

Things seem to be going well. Why’d you call me in? I sat down on the floor with a wry expression, and Big Sejin spoke up as if on cue.

“First of all... We’ve sorted things out for the most part.”

“Okay.”

“Listen up.”

Big Sejin calmly explained the situation. He was so composed, he even let Bae Sejin interrupt him here and there with no complaint.

So businesslike. The two of them seemed to have focused on how they were going to treat each other going forward, first of all.

“We’re going to do our best to avoid hurting each other’s feelings as best as we can from now on.”

Big Sejin had apologized for being cold to Bae Sejin because of his personal issues, and Bae Sejin had also apologized for suddenly lashing out after getting so mixed up in his own complicated feelings.

“We’ve decided to be a little more careful with each other,” Big Sejin explained. “But there’s still something we’re struggling to understand about each other.”

Though they had made great progress, it seemed like they had reached an impasse.

Bae Sejin nodded and said, “So please listen and tell us your objective opinion.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell them that they should have called in Ryu Chungwoo, their leader, instead of me to be the judge, but I held back.

If it weren’t for my status abnormality... They really should have been grateful for the sword of Damocles dangling over my head.

“What is it?”

Bae Sejin gulped and said, “Am I... Am I still really uncooperative?” He was pale, his hands balled into fists. “I know... I know that I’m not all that talented, and I can understand if you guys aren’t thrilled about that. But I’m doing my best. I mean it.”

“Listen, we all know you’re trying,” Big Sejin said with a tired sigh.

“It’s not that you’re not trying, as I already said. But you don’t pay attention to other things that are just as important...”

Bae Sejin’s voice dropped an octave. “I don’t... pay attention?”

Big Sejin sighed again. “Me saying that makes you angry, doesn’t it? It doesn’t occur to you that you should listen to what I have to say first? This is why I—”

“Hold up,” I said. I had a feeling I knew what this was about, so cut Big Sejin off before he could launch into a rant. “You need to explain yourself a bit more. What is he not paying attention to?”

“You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?” Big Sejin said, sounding a little calmer. “He doesn’t give a damn about what we look like as a group.”

“Wha...?”

“I know you have no interest in making our group look as though we’re all getting along well. But even if you don’t care about the group itself, I’d still like it if you tried when the cameras were on us,” Big Sejin said tiredly. “We’re an idol group. That sort of thing matters.”

Bae Sejin froze. Only moments later though, he turned his gaze to the floor, mouth clamped tightly shut. He eventually replied, “I understand… I didn’t know that sort of thing was important... I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

This time it was Big Sejin who was at a loss.

You weren’t expecting that, were you? Perhaps this was natural. Bae Sejin still wasn’t used to being in an idol group. And what made the situation more confusing for him was that he’d debuted on the back of a survival show. He’d probably never spared a thought for group chemistry or dynamics.

All the choreography practice was likely already more than he could really handle. Big Sejin might have not misunderstood him so badly if he hadn’t been set on disliking him from the very beginning. Unfortunately for the group, the trauma of being cut from his original debut team because of an actor had left him with a negative stereotype in his head, leading him to assume that Bae Sejin was only lying in wait until the chance to leave the team and debut as an actor came along.

More shocking for Big Sejin still, Bae Sejin wasn’t even done. “I think this is a really great team. I want to do well, and I don’t want to be an inconvenience to everyone else. And I... I’m happy to be on it.” It took him a while to say the next words, but he went on, all the same. “And I’m sorry... for accusing you of only acting friendly in front of the camera. I guess you were just trying to do your best.”

Big Sejin wore a complicated expression on his face. He thought for a while before finally saying, “No, I jumped to conclusions. I’m sorry.”

It was Bae Sejin’s turn to look surprised. He cleared his throat. “A-ahem! I-it’s okay!” It seemed as though he’d been conflicted about whether or not he should be angry, but he’d reigned it in and now they’d arrived at a good place. He’d made quite a bit of progress.

Big Sejin smiled faintly. “And it’s true I wanted to benefit from our unique situation. It’s nice to have another member with the same name!” He’d returned to his usual more playful way of speaking. It felt much more honest than his usual unenthusiastic conversations with Bae Sejin.

Bae Sejin averted his gaze and muttered, “W-well... yeah.” Denying Big Sejin’s self-effacing joke would have made for an even warmer reconciliation, but Bae Sejin seemed to have reached his social limit.

Big Sejin was already smiling wryly, not understanding why Bae Sejin had turned down his attempt to share a joke.

It’s fine. I already give this interaction five stars out of five. It had been proven without a doubt that neither of them had behaved with any malice for the other. They would now be able to remind themselves of this whenever the other person pissed them off again.

We can start again, with a clean slate. I felt like breathing a sigh of relief.

I did all I could. Suddenly craving for a beer, I decided I would go myself a nice cold one. “So Bae Sejin is a cooperative guy, after all. If you’ll excuse me...”

Bae Sejin jumped. “Huh? H-hold on.”

“Yo, we can leave together. Or do you have something more to say, Bae Sejin?”

“No...”

“Okay, all done then,” Big Sejin said, nodding and smiling.

Neither of them seemed to want to talk to the other any longer.

“Uh, right.”

It was probably best to leave things here since more hostility might erupt if I forced them to go any further. We left the bedroom together and, avoiding the relieved, welcoming voices in the living room, I headed straight to the fridge.

There should still be two cans left. One late-night drink wouldn’t hurt. I opened the fridge and then stared at its contents silently.

They’re gone...

“There were some beers here, right?”

“Right here!” Eugene yelled.

“Oh, sorry! Eugene drank them without knowing they were the last ones...”

Eugene was lying on the living room floor, waving a crushed beer can at me

Son of a...

“M-Moondae. I was given some liquor as a gift. W-would you like to—”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“D-don’t mention it!”

Ahyeon was the only one in this group keeping me sane sometimes. I went back to our shared room and ended the day by sharing a drink with him.

“Ch-cheers!”

Bae Sejin, our other roommate, seemed deeply relieved to be free of the stress of the last few days. He shared in some of the liquor himself and then fell dead asleep.

The next day, our manager brought up the original cause of the conflict as he drove us to the salon to get our hair and makeup done.

“Uh... An offer came in for Little Sejin. It’s a drama series, and apparently, the writer knows Little Sejin... Guys?”

You should have talked to Bae Sejin in private, you bastard. The manager was confused by the sudden tension between us, but Bae Sejin didn’t seem all that bothered where he was sitting in the back seat as he shook his head. He had dark circles under his eyes, clearly mildly hungover.

“No. I’m not doing it.”

“Y-yeah? It’s not a really big role...” Chungwoo spoke up, addressing Bae Sejin before the manager could say anything more. “Sejin, it might not interfere with promotions. Maybe you should look into it?”

Bae Sejin shrank back, perhaps embarrassed for being tempted by the offer. “No... I...”

“That’s a great idea, Chungwoo! You guys are all okay with it, right?” Our first manager, who hadn’t been in the van during the fight the day before, turned to the most sociable person in the car who also happened to be sitting toward the front—namely, Big Sejin.

“Uh...” Big Sejin said, looking at the manager with a mild expression. “I don’t think it matters either way, as long as it doesn’t interfere with promotions. It’s up to him to decide!” He’d made a concise, firm declaration of neutrality.

Bae Sejin didn’t seem to feel like he was being looked down on this time, instead looking toward Big Sejin’s seat with a surprised expression on his face. He gulped and said, “In that case... I’ll have a look at the synopsis.”

“Sounds good!”

The manager looked a little troubled, however, as he explained, “I don’t think you’ll need one, though...”

“Huh?”

“It’s basically a cameo appearance. Do you remember how you were a child shaman in that one movie before, Little Sejin? You’ll be appearing briefly as the same character... Sejin? Are you listening?”

Even the cause of the fight had been a huge misunderstanding. Big Sejin and Bae Sejin didn’t quite recover from the shock of that revelation the entire time we were at the salon that day.

A few days later, Bae Sejin finished filming for his role as a child shaman who’d grown into a nutjob in episodes one and two over the course of a single day.

“Whoa...”

“What the...”

We watched the episodes as they came out, and were deeply impressed. He actually looked possessed. The only thing was, his impressive acting seemed almost to be fueled by... rage.

“You’re an incredible actor,” Raebin complimented.

“Amazing!” Eugene said.

“Oh, this... this is nothing special.” Bae Sejin seemed happy as well.

The trailer that played immediately after the drama was a bit of a shock to us, however.

[Relisted! Idol Incorporated 2]

[Friday, 10 P.M.]

The fourth season of Idol Inc. was right around the corner.