Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Raise Three Idols Well And They’ll Launch a Confession Attack.

Episode 82: Breaking News, Taeyang Hyung Got A Girlfriend.

“Haa, haa.”

In the early hours of the morning, while all the trainees were asleep in the Girl 100 dormitory, Gyeoul was breathing heavily, drenched in cold sweat.

She had a dream.

Or perhaps it was a memory, not a dream.

Maybe she had experienced some sort of time slip.

One thing was certain: she had seen Taeyang there.

The image of him staying by her side throughout the entire funeral, despite being busier than anyone else.

The image of him speaking of 100 years, promising their relationship would last forever.

And his death.

[‘Memory of Possibilities’ has been used successfully!]

As if to prove that those memories weren’t mere illusions, a message appeared in front of Gyeoul’s eyes.

No, even if someone insisted they were just illusions, Gyeoul would deny it.

The sharp reality of it, the chain of emotions crawling up like tentacles, was definitely not a hallucination.

“…Taeyang ssam.”

Gyeoul forced her trembling hands to steady as she roughly threw off the blanket and got out of bed.

“Uuuugh, what’s going on?”

The commotion seemed to wake Kim Yujin, who was sleeping next to her, but Gyeoul couldn’t pay her any attention.

Gyeoul punched her weakened legs to force some strength into them, then left the dorm wearing the white T-shirt and dolphin shorts she was given as pajamas.

A trainee appearing on Girl 100 leaving the dormitory without permission was a breach of contract.

Clearly, Gyeoul’s current actions would lead to definite disadvantages.

But rational judgment had no place in Gyeoul’s mind at the moment.

Instead, her mind was filled with only one thought.

“Taeyang ssam… Taeyang ssam.”

Gyeoul had to see Seon Taeyang’s face.

Right now.

Crawling down the stairs and opening the emergency exit, Gyeoul completely left the dorm, pulling out the 50,000 won emergency cash she had tucked into her sock to hail a taxi.

Slippers, dolphin shorts, a trembling body, cold sweat beading on her forehead, and a youthful appearance that made her look like a minor.

By any standard, it wasn’t a normal sight at this hour.

The taxi driver, seeing Gyeoul, asked with concern.

“Are you okay, miss? Should I take you to the hospital?”

“…No, I’m okay. Please take me somewhere else.”

Gyeoul gave the address of a place that had become so comforting after she had spent about a month there since coming up to Seoul.

It was Seon Taeyang’s house.

The negotiation with Kim Seon-ye took longer than expected.

Overall, we agreed on the content of the deal, but our opinions differed greatly on how to edit Gyeoul’s image.

“Ah, seriously, what’s wrong with that person’s mind?”

Among Seon-ye’s demands were some extreme opinions that made me wonder if she wanted to turn Gyeoul into a national villain.

She brazenly said, ‘Why? It’s just one word, isn’t it?’ as if it were no big deal, but I strongly opposed it, imagining how that word would get immortalized in memes and endlessly ridiculed in online communities.

What I told her was that Gyeoul should be someone who divides opinions, not a target for people to throw stones at.

Honestly, Kim Seon-ye probably knew exactly what it meant and understood that it would help the show. But she must have said it just to get under my skin.

The fact that her intention was purely malicious made it really vile.

Looking back, she was a very nasty woman.

Which is probably why she led the vote manipulation and such.

“Just you wait, Seon-ye. I’m going to make sure the show becomes a massive hit.”

And you’re going to get a massive backstab in the process.

Muttering to myself, I carefully parked the car in the narrow parking lot.

Sometimes, I worried if it was okay to use the company car like this, but our kind President Cheon said she’d buy another one, so I guess it’s fine.

“Thinking about it again, I’m really lucky to have met the President.”

She gives a good salary, promoted a guy with no experience to team leader, and gives out bonuses whenever there’s good performance—what more could I ask for?

Honestly, though, my work-life balance was shattered…

But I couldn’t complain because a lot of that was my fault for creating work out of nothing.

Muttering complaints to myself, I climbed the stairs to our old, shabby apartment.

I walked down the hallway, punched in the code on the malfunctioning door lock, and entered the house.

“I’m home.”

“Oh, Taeyang hyung! You’re late!”

It seemed noona had gone to bed early, as only Gahyeon greeted me.

“What are you doing up this late? Were you waiting for me?”

“No, I just woke up because I was craving ramen as a midnight snack.”

“…Well, enjoy it.”

Others might say something, but having experienced how your digestive system weakens and makes it hard to indulge in the luxury of midnight ramen as you get older, I didn’t want to stop him.

You should enjoy it at that age. Once you’re past thirty, it gets tough because you worry about the next day.

“Taeyang hyung, should I cook some for you too? Don’t worry about it. Anyone can cook one serving of ramen, but cooking two servings is a matter of skill. And I happen to be really good at it.”

Oh, I thought Gahyeon was only talented at art and cat-like cuteness, but he’s skilled at cooking ramen too?

Taking care of you is rewarding in more ways than one.

“Then, I’ll have a little.”

“Do you want the egg beaten in, or not?”

“Don’t mix it in with the broth, please.”

“Al dente noodles? Or fully cooked?”

“Al dente.”

“As expected, Taeyang hyung knows his stuff! Just wait a bit, hyung.”

Gahyeon began to hum Gaeul’s favorite song, “Memories of the Sea and Leaves,” as he tore open the ramen packet.

I thought I should change out of my suit into something more comfortable, so I opened my door and walked in.

Maybe I caught it from Gahyeon, because I started to hum “Memories of the Sea and Leaves” too.

As I remembered the memories from our past street performances, I casually took off my clothes.

Then I noticed Gyeoul, curled up and fast asleep in the corner between the bed and the closet.

…Huh?

I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was seeing things, and looked again at the gap between the bed and the closet.

Even after looking again, it was still Gyeoul.

Why are you here?

“…This is bad, isn’t it?”

The situation, which felt like a dream, began to sink in as reality.

Thinking about how Girl 100’s rules prohibit leaving the dorm without permission, Gyeoul definitely shouldn’t be here.

Especially not now, while I was in the middle of negotiating a tug-of-war with PD Kim Seon-ye.

This was no time to be eating ramen.

I had to do something to fix this situation.

“…Gyeoul?”

I carefully walked over and gently shook her awake.

“Gyeoul, wake up. You can’t be here.”

As I gently shook her, Gyeoul slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes a little.

She looked at me with groggy eyes, just waking from sleep, and spoke in a voice as fragile as if it would break.

“…Taeyang ssam?”

“Yeah, it’s Team Leader Seon. Let’s get up, Gyeoul.”

Please help me out here, Gyeoul. I’m so flustered I’m sweating bullets.

Gyeoul’s gaze gradually became clearer, and life returned to her eyes.

At the same time, tears welled up, ready to burst.

She called my name with desperate urgency.

“Taeyang ssam!”

And then Gyeoul threw herself into my arms.

“Taeyang ssam, Taeyang ssam!”

The way she called my name sounded so precarious.

It didn’t seem like she was in a normal emotional state.

Then again, if she were in a normal state, Gyeoul, who hates causing trouble, wouldn’t have ignored Girl 100’s rules and come all the way here.

“What’s wrong, Gyeoul? Did something happen?”

“Taeyang ssam… sniff… huaah.”

Gyeoul couldn’t answer my question and just burst into tears like a child.

I didn’t know what she had gone through, but she looked like she was struggling a lot.

Hoping to calm her down, I held her tightly and gently patted her back.

“It’s okay. Gyeoul. Everything’s okay.”

When I ran into Lee Hyerin at the company before and heard she was a tough instructor, I told her,

“Gyeoul has a sensitive side, so please be gentle even if she makes a mistake. Otherwise, she might break down in tears.”

But Lee Hyerin seemed puzzled by my words.

“Gyeoul crying? That can’t be.”

When I expressed my confusion, she explained that during lessons, even when she pressured Gyeoul harshly, Gyeoul completed all tasks without wavering. She even assessed that among TwoBear’s three trainees, Gyeoul had the strongest mental fortitude.

When I responded that this couldn’t be true and explained how often Gyeoul cried, Lee Hyerin laughed and said,

“Maybe that’s a side she only shows to you, Team Leader Seon.”

That remark still stuck with me.

“If something difficult happens, or if you find yourself in a situation you can’t handle, I’ll take care of it. So please, try to relax a bit.”

If this vulnerable side of hers was something she showed because she trusted me, then I wanted to live up to that trust.

So I held her in my arms and quietly comforted her.

At that moment, the door suddenly burst open.

Bam!

“Taeyang hyung! This is amazing! The ramen turned out perfect! Come eat it before it gets soggy—it’s seriously awesome!”

It was Gahyeon, holding a bowl of steaming ramen.

He saw me holding Gyeoul and said,

“…Ah, sorry for interrupting.”

Then he pulled out his smartphone from his pocket, made a call, and excitedly said,

“Breaking news, Taeyang hyung got a girlfriend!”

That’s not it, you idiot!