Chapter 141 : Neighborhood Back Mountain Omakase
Chapter 141: Neighborhood Back Mountain Omakase
At the same time.
Ding-
With the sound of the alarm, the phone screen lit up.
It was Do Seohan.
Ki
A short text popped up, and a hollow laugh escaped from Lee Dokyung’s lips.
Lee Dokyung swept his bangs back with his hand and muttered softly.
“Ha… this crazy bastard….”
He had already guessed during the Stardust Project that his younger brother wasn’t ordinary.
The guy never thought to say a single proper word.
Even so, Lee Dokyung didn’t dislike Do Seohan.
‘Did I develop a taste for being blackmailed?’
He was the one holding Lee Dokyung’s biggest weakness.
If he wanted to, he could use it anytime to shake him up.
Thinking of that, Lee Dokyung always chose one clean method—either persuading with words or burying it entirely.
And a guy like Do Seohan could never be persuaded with words….
To put it bluntly, he should have caught onto some excuse and buried him long ago.
But he was spotless.
He acted as if snakes crawled around inside him, yet he himself was cleaner than anyone.
That was what he liked.
‘Either way, I can’t crush him.’
Touching someone like that would only bring trouble.
So, he decided to give up on making him an enemy.
“Still, I’ll take his Ki.”
He’d put up a fight and take that Ki.
After thinking for a while, Lee Dokyung typed out the text that Seohan would hate the most.
Thanks for giving me good energy haha
When I debut, I’ll make sure to mention in my speech that I dedicate this honor to my most beloved younger brother, Stardust’s Seohan!
How many seconds would it take for a reply?
Lee Dokyung placed his phone on the table and counted to three in his head.
One.
Two.
“Three.”
Ding-
Not even three seconds had passed when the notification rang.
nnn
nnnnnn
Absolutely nnnnnn
The message seemed quite urgent.
Smiling at the corners of his lips, Lee Dokyung checked the next reply.
Unlike before, a long and sincere message of support was sent.
See, it worked, didn’t it?
Hyung, now only the live finale of Boy’s Dream is left ^^ Please pour out everything you’ve prepared on the final stage.
Since this is your second survival, I’m sure you’ll do greatㅎ You know I’m always cheering for you with all I have, right? I’ll give you all my Ki, so make your debut safely~
Ding-
By the way, please never mention me in your speech, I beg you.
Well then.
“How can he be this firm…. Too much.”
What’s wrong with mentioning your proud younger brother in your speech?
Lee Dokyung muttered complaints under his breath, shaking his head.
“Ah, Do Seohan really hates being tied to me~.”
Ahem.
He gave a short fake cough and shrugged his shoulders.
Of course, it wasn’t like he didn’t know the reason.
“Whoa, that startled me.”
Me, mentioned in the Boy’s Dream finale speech?
At this point, I was starting to suspect that the former Stardust members just liked me way too much.
First Lee Junhyeok, now Lee Dokyung mentioning me in their speeches?
Of course, unlike Lee Junhyeok, Lee Dokyung still had a relatively good public image…. But still, dislike was dislike.
I wanted to get along with people, not with spineless creatures.
Tentacles were absolutely a no for me.
“Wonder if he broke up lately.”
Judging from the lack of rumors, it seemed—for once—he had turned over a new leaf and was focusing on being an idol instead of girl problems.
People don’t change easily, but I’d find out with time.
We weren’t even in the same group, so it wasn’t something I needed to worry about anymore.
“Ugh.”
I stretched and let out a short groan.
After finishing the dinner shoot, I had been given a short break before bed.
It wasn’t an external reality show, so the cameras weren’t rolling 24/7 in an intense way.
It seemed like the older members had also gone off to rest for a bit.
“Should I go for a walk?”
Maybe because I had stiffened up too much in the Haunted House.
My body felt stiffer than I thought, so I was about to take a walk around.
But then.
Someone was on the phone in the backyard.
“Yes, Mother.”
I was about to just walk past.
But the voice sounded so familiar that my steps stopped on their own.
“Hm?”
It was Seo Haim.
Gone was the cheerful energy I knew her for, replaced by a calm voice that surprised me.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t really heard much about Seo Haim’s family situation.
Her older sister, Seo Choco, was famous enough though.
But hearing her on the phone with her mother felt like the first time.
“He’s actually quite polite, huh.”
I thought she would be the type to speak with a lot of aegyo at home, so it felt unexpected.
I let out a small chuckle and was about to leave.
“…That was everything I sent you last time.”
Huh?
For a conversation between mother and child, there wasn’t a hint of laughter.
At first, I thought I misheard, but something felt off.
‘I can’t really afford it either.’
‘I did my best in my own way….’
Excuses without end, and her expression kept darkening.
I thought it wasn’t polite to keep eavesdropping, so I slipped away quickly….
But I had a bad feeling.
Was something wrong?
As I was half-asleep, worrying about that,
“What could it be… hmm….”
My thoughts were broken by—
Brrriiiiing!
The wake-up song blared along with the alarm.
Wake up and spread your dream
You can do it
Take me take me
Reach out your hand
“W-what the?”
Ha Junseo sat up, eyes barely open.
After hearing it too many times, I had developed PTSD from the intro alone, and now they were playing the Starf Signal Song at this timing?
The one who believes in me is you
So don’t hesitate
Catch me
“A wake-up mission?”
“Gah!”
The moment I figured it out, my body reacted faster than my brain and shot up instinctively.
Just like during Starf, speed was everything in these missions.
At the time, I had even placed second in a wake-up mission.
Cha Seongbin ran out too, hair completely tousled.
“A mission? Is it a mission?”
“They said this was a healing trip~. Let us rest already~.”
What kind of lightning strike was this, so early in the morning?
I hurriedly fixed my bangs and awkwardly stood in front of the camera.
The filming crew had clearly prepared in advance, waiting in a line since dawn.
My eyes still wouldn’t open properly, since I had just woken up, when—
“Why is this hyung here?”
Kang Siwoo was holding a script in his hands.
“Alright, everyone gather up!”
“…?”
“I’m your host, Kang Siwoo! Nice to meet you!”
It was obvious the self-filming PD had started something strange.
No wonder he had disappeared earlier—he had been waiting here with the other members.
Soon after, the drowsy members stumbled out one by one.
Sure, the fans liked seeing us like this, but still.
“Hey, Ian hyung.”
“……”
Sundubu hyung looked especially scruffy today.
He must’ve been really tired.
I pulled up his T-shirt, which had slipped down to his neck, and shook him awake.
“Uh… ugh….”
Then, leaving behind the half-asleep members, Kang Siwoo shouted loudly.
“Yes, this trip has been a healing time for us Stardust members to relax together after a while!”
“Heal…ing?”
“We had fun at the amusement park, grilled meat together! Wasn’t it fun, Do Seohan-ssi?”
I blinked at the sudden question.
“Leave out the amusement park part….”
“Yes, they say it was a very healing time.”
Stop reading straight from the script!
Kang Siwoo pressed on, forcing a smile.
“The Stardust Healing Trip! To wrap it all up, it’s time for the Wake-up Healing Mission.”
“Doing nothing is real healing though.”
“True that.”
Jin Sehyun and Seo Haim muttered together.
I turned my head slightly to check Seo Haim’s expression.
Unlike yesterday, nothing seemed wrong with her today.
That was a relief.
Just then, the self-filming crew brought in props to the yard.
Three massive wheels, each the size of a person, were rolled in front of us.
“Wow!”
What scale was this?
“This is the healing mission?”
“Yes. Your healing missions will be assigned randomly.”
Where, what, how.
Those were the words written on the wheels.
“Right here, these three wheels will decide how you’ll get your healing.”
“What’s written on them?”
“I want to see too!”
The “Where” wheel, the “What” wheel, and the “How” wheel.
Spin the three wheels in order, and then go on a healing trip according to the combined sentence.
The moment Kang Siwoo finished speaking, the other members rushed forward.
Cha Seongbin was the fastest to scan the sentences written on the wheels.
“Wait a second.”
Cha Seongbin, who noticed something first, had his face darken slightly.
I squeezed past the older members to check the reason.
“The mission location is the most important….”
The first wheel, “Where,” determined the difficulty of the mission.
But then.
“There’s the East Sea here?”
“Where are we right now?”
“Daecheon. That’s the West Sea.”
Thunk—
Seo Haim, who had been shaking her water bottle cheerfully, froze with wide eyes.
I was just as shocked.
Why was the East Sea even on there?
Ha Junseo pointed to the wheel with a flustered expression and spoke.
“Hey, the second wheel is a problem too. It says ‘watch the sunset’ here?”
“…We have to stay until the sun sets?”
“Watching the sunset at the East Sea? That’s insane.”
“Gyaaaah!”
Jin Sehyun had already pieced the sentence together and let out a worried scream.
The East Sea and sunset?
“When do we go home?”
“The day after tomorrow… in the morning?”
“Don’t say scary things like that!”
I had recording in two days, and this was sounding like some horror story.
In shock, I grabbed Seo Ian’s shoulder and shook him.
“Let’s make it tense and spin the last wheel first.”
“Honestly, the third wheel doesn’t really matter.”
Just looking at options like “sexily” or “cutely” showed that much.
In truth, our fate would be decided by the first and second wheels.
And I was already worried.
“Who wants to go first?”
“Me!”
Seo Haim shot her hand up.
“Better to take the hit first, so I’ll give it a try.”
Kang Siwoo smiled slyly and stepped back, making space so Seo Haim could spin the wheel freely.
“Why does this make me nervous?”
Grinning, Seo Haim swallowed nervously as she stood before the wheel.
I casually asked from the side.
“Hyung, what do you want to do right now?”
After thinking for a moment, Seo Haim picked an option from the wheel.
“I want to eat omakase at Gangnam Station. If possible, cutely!”
“Gangnam Station omakase, that’s crazy….”
It was close to the company too. Perfect.
I adjusted my own goal to be omakase at Gangnam Station as well.
The tension built.
Cha Seongbin added dramatic bgm with his mouth.
“Dugudugudugu.”
“Spin it hard!”
Whoosh—
Seo Haim spun the third wheel with all her strength.
Maybe because she was weaker than expected, the wheel spun aimlessly a few times before stopping quickly.
The result of the not-so-important third wheel was exactly what Seo Haim wanted.
“Cutely!”
Riding the momentum, she spun the second wheel.
“Waaaaa! It’s omakase!”
“No way, is this real?”
“Check if there’s a magnet behind the wheel.”
Already omakase was picked?
All our jaws dropped wide open.
Seo Haim screamed in joy and dashed forward.
“Let’s go eat omakase at Gangnam Stationnnn!”
Seo Haim shouted with a booming voice full of energy.
Gone was the dark look I saw last night—today, her tension was sky-high.
Jin Sehyun added a word on top of that.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s go for omakase at the East Sea.”
“That doesn’t sound bad.”
“That’d be romantic….”
“Don’t say that like it’s not your problem!”
Seo Haim grimaced as she grabbed the first wheel with her hand.
The die had already been cast.
Clatter clatter clatter—
The wheel spun past the East Sea safely and went a little further.
Ah, what a shame.
“East Sea, pass!”
Seo Haim clasped both hands together and cried out desperately.
“Please… Gangnam Station….”
The wheel almost stopped right in front of Gangnam Station.
Clatter clatter clatter—
But then.
The wheel suddenly lost momentum and slowed down.
And finally.
Creak—
The arrow landed on a completely unexpected “Where.”
It was probably the last place Seo Haim wanted.
After confirming the result, Seo Haim froze for a moment before a reluctant word slipped out of her mouth.
“The neighborhood back mountain?”
Neighborhood back mountain omakase, what even was that?
“Yes, please climb to the top of the back mountain and enjoy your omakase there!”
“Aaaaah! What even is this!”
I didn’t envy her one bit.