Chapter 256 : A Dating Rumor Only the Person Involved Doesn’t Know About (1)
Chapter 256: A Dating Rumor Only the Person Involved Doesn’t Know About (1)
The weather had grown cold enough to make the tip of one’s nose sting.
On days like this, the unspoken rule was to stay curled up at home, watch the snow outside the window, and sip a warm cup of hot chocolate.
Dusty Kim Hyuna stretched leisurely and leaned back against the sofa.
Humming to herself, she grabbed the remote control.
Today was the day Stardust appeared on the Music Broadcast lineup with the included track “The Way.”
“In times like this, I should praise Doubles….”
The kids must be exhausted, but she was grateful they prepared such high-quality stages not only for the title track but also for the follow-up promotions.
After all, there were only a few more weeks left to see the kids’ faces on Music Broadcast shows.
Bang.
With the sound of the door opening, her younger brother came out of his room. The moment he saw the TV screen, his brows immediately furrowed.
“What is this, watching Music Broadcast again?”
Apparently it wasn’t Stardust’s turn yet. On the TV screen, rookie idols she had never seen before were performing a powerful dance.
Unfortunately, the concept was somewhat excessive, which only deepened the crease in his brow.
“…You watch stuff like this every day?”
“Get lost.”
Naturally, no kind words came out. Dusty Kim Hyuna waved her hand dismissively as if he were noisy, trying to shoo him back into his room.
“I need to watch my kids, so shut up for a bit.”
“Did you rent the TV?”
“It’s their final broadcast this week!”
As siblings born a year apart, neither of them ever backed down from an argument.
In the end, she failed to chase him back to his room, and they ended up sitting side by side on the sofa.
Naturally, they sat far apart as if the Red Sea had split between them.
Kim Hyuna scrolled through her phone while waiting for Stardust to appear. Her eyes sparkled once when Universe Dust’s interview came on, and only after another thirty minutes did a familiar MR sound finally play.
“Gasp.”
Finally, my kids are coming out.
Her eyes sparkled more than a human’s possibly could.
Her younger brother glanced at her with a bored face before turning his gaze away again.
At the same time, an exclamation burst from Kim Hyuna’s mouth.
“Holy—what are those outfits?”
Clean outfits consisting of overalls pulled up to the waist with white T-shirts underneath.
On top of their heads, they were even wearing the trendy rabbit hats.
It was the same outfit she had seen in the music video. She had been chanting like a mantra wondering when they’d wear it—so it was for the Music Bank stage.
“So freaking cute. This is insane….”
Did Do Seohan know he was cute? Surely he had enough self-awareness to realize that much.
Seohan came trotting forward and opened his mouth with a bright smile.
It’s OK
When I quietly look at you
I feel like I’ll understand this trembling
I want to slowly get closer
They had said to look forward to the cute follow-up track, but if the cuteness was at this level, it was practically a lethal dose.
At first, she had hoped they’d perform the powerful performance song “The Way” on Music Broadcast, but the stage unfolding before her erased that thought from her mind entirely.
Main vocal Seo Ian walked forward while fiddling with the rabbit ears attached to his hat.
To be honest, I thought about it a lot
Even if everything was OK
I thought it would never happen to me
Off stage, he was always shy and awkward, but on stage he showed not even the slightest embarrassment, pulling out every ounce of charm he had.
“AAAAAH! Rabbit Ian!”
She could say with certainty that the audience members in the front row must have lost half their sanity by now.
With that face flirting right in front of them, how could anyone endure it? She found herself resenting the fact that she hadn’t gone to the recording.
It was definitely a song that suited the Maknae Line well.
Jin Sehyun, too, had turned into a gray baby kitten today and was rampaging across the stage.
“Wow, today’s stage is insane.”
She had been waiting a long time for a concept like this, but she never imagined they would pull it off this well.
Watching the maknae hamster running around the stage in overalls, he looked like such a youthful boy that his earlier claims about soon becoming an adult felt meaningless.
“Do Seohan fits this concept perfectly….”
Babies really needed to do concepts like this.
“Ah, he’s so cute. This is crazy. He’s freaking adorable!”
At some point, she had become completely immersed in the stage. She had even forgotten that someone else was in the living room.
“AAAAAAAH!”
While she continued to burst out with exclamations—
She suddenly felt an uncomfortably obvious gaze from the seat beside her.
“……”
When she turned her head, her younger brother was clicking his tongue.
“You seem a little too immersed.”
“Hey, get out.”
Honestly, he was completely useless.
---
[Is Do Seohan in overalls seriously real?]
Seeing Do Seohan in overalls before I die… what a happy life.
He looked like the real-life version of Seochi, I wanted to put him in my pocket and run away.
-How can a human be cuter than a doll?
└It seriously felt like the overalls version of Seochi came to lifeㅋㅋㅋ Ah ㅠㅠ too cute
└(Scene where Seohan’s job satisfaction is 100% jpg)
└What is thisㅋㅋㅋㅋ why are you so excitedㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Apparently he was overflowing with excitement on stage because it’s been a while since they did a bright concept….
-The maknae babies definitely pull off “It’s OK” so well
└Yeah yeah, I thought so when I saw the music video but the stage almost moved me to tears
└They were seriously too cute ㅠㅠ This is why I’m a Dusty….
└Doubles please give us refreshing concepts ㅠㅠ Give us refreshingㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└Refreshing please
-Is the probability zero that they bring back refreshing for the next Full Album?
└It’ll probably be hard as the title track but maybe as a follow-up track
└But this time it was more cute than refreshing so it was even better
└Our kids are still only second-year rookies, please let them do lots of cute things. This is something they can only do while they’re still babies
└Or Do Seohan will still be cute even in ten years
[This mini album promotion was so packed]
Self-content, outside variety shows, three weeks of Music Broadcast….
The kids must have been exhausted but Dusties were happy.
-Sorry but Dusties were exhausted too (offline events + fan signing event full attendance)
└Uh…how did you survive…?
└Is that even possible?
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ At this point aren’t you the eighth member of Stardust?
└This is hilariousㅋㅋㅋㅋ You should debut too
-Finally it’s the hiatus period now… I have no confidence in waiting but you guys need to rest wellㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└They probably won’t rest and will prepare for their Japan debut but stillㅠㅠ
└Is that official?
└It seems likelyㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└Let the Doubles kids rest a little…
.
.
.
.
Finally, the promotions for the Mini 3rd Album “Universe Dust” had ended.
They were given an official vacation of one week—short if you thought about it that way, long if you thought about it another—but none of them had really planned what to do.
‘Should we go camping?’
With that single sentence, their vacation plans were decided.
They had never gone on a trip together as members except for self-content filming, so when someone suggested taking two days, no one opposed it.
Inside Ha Junseo’s car heading toward the campsite, Jin Sehyun looked out the window and smiled.
“We’re pretty amazing too.”
“I know, right? We’re actually doing this…?”
It wasn’t like they had much spare time in the middle of promotions, yet the camping trip had been decided instantly.
Ha Junseo, holding the steering wheel, said with a laugh.
“Sehyun was the one who first suggested the campsite, and Siwoo booked it right on the spot.”
“That decisiveness is crazy….”
There had been a small incident with a sasaeng in the parking lot early that morning, but still, it was a pretty refreshing start.
The campsite wasn’t far away, so it took less than an hour to arrive.
“We’re here…!”
After completing the check-in for their reserved spot, everyone busily started preparing breakfast.
It was the first time they had gone camping with people other than family.
“Wow, the scenery here is nice.”
“There’s a river flowing behind us. This is perfect.”
Since it was a weekday morning, there were no people around. After taking off his hat to enjoy the cool air, someone brought firewood from the back.
It was too cold to just sit around doing nothing. Cha Seongbin spoke with a bright grin.
“There’s a special charm to winter camping.”
Phew. He blew warm breath onto his hands.
The weather was so cold that their bodies trembled if they sat still, so the only thing they could rely on was the blazing campfire.
Kang Siwoo stood up.
“We’re cooking ramen, right?”
“Yes! Sounds good!”
Seo Haim came trotting over from the corner holding three packs of ramen.
Food always tasted good outdoors, but today’s breakfast menu was pork belly and ramen.
It was a bit heavy, but they decided to treat it as both breakfast and lunch.
“Ah, this is going to be delicious.”
Ha Junseo picked up the tongs and placed the pork belly onto the properly heated grill.
Sssizzle.
The oil crackled pleasantly. As they waited for the pork belly to cook over the charcoal, they swallowed their saliva.
They had been so busy running nonstop for the past month that they often didn’t even have time to wait for meat to cook, settling for quick meals instead.
Cha Seongbin stretched and spoke.
“It’s been forever since we’ve been this relaxed~ right?”
“…Yeah.”
He hesitated briefly at Cha Seongbin’s words, but soon let out a small laugh.
It was relaxed, yes—but not exactly peaceful.
Still, his once-urgent heart had calmed down quite a bit.
He had been worried when some of his brother’s memories returned, but since the person himself thought it was just a weird dream, it seemed safe to relax now.
There were still many problems ahead to overcome, but there was no need to worry about them right now.
He picked up a glistening piece of pork belly dripping with juices and popped it into his mouth.
“Mmm.”
Meat grilled over charcoal really did taste different.
“Haim, eat this.”
“Wow, it’s really good!”
“Junseo-hyung, stop grilling and eat too.”
“Oh, this one cooked well.”
The moment the juicy meat filled his mouth, an involuntary exclamation escaped.
Kang Siwoo wrapped a large lettuce ssam and shoved it into Ha Junseo’s mouth. Ha Junseo jumped in place, flailing.
“Ah, hot—!”
“Siwoo-hyung just attempted assassination.”
“Why, it’s delicious.”
“It is delicious. Haha!”
How long had it been since they traveled somewhere without cameras?
Watching everyone laugh comfortably made him feel strangely happy.
In the meantime, he slurped a bite of the ramen Kang Siwoo had cooked.
Up until that moment, things couldn’t have been more peaceful….
Right then—
“What’s this?”
Jin Sehyun, who had been searching something on his phone, frowned.
It was a familiar community screen.
Like any online community, it didn’t only contain nice comments, so Cha Seongbin clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Hey, someone stop Jin Sehyun from searching.”
“Yeah. Looking at that stuff isn’t good for your mental health…!”
“No, it’s not that….”
Jin Sehyun waved his hand and held out his phone.
Since he was sitting right next to him, he glanced at the screen.
“Huh?”
[Something huge is about to explode in the idol scene soon]
The subject is ㅅㅌㄷㅅㅌ
-What nonsense is thisㅋㅋㅋㅋ You can just write anything as long as it’s your imagination?
└Let’s ignore the troll….
└Don’t feed the bait
-A passing Dusty whose mood just got ruinedㅋㅋㅋ Delete the post
└But this actually seems to have some basis
└Then show us the evidence~
└A new post just went up
└????
Rumors popped up like daily meals on these communities.
If everything posted on those communities were true, they would have already retired as a group long ago.
However, the next post contained news shocking enough to make their eyes pop out.
[Is Stardust ㅈㅅㅎ dating?]
Isn’t that what the troll post earlier was about?
I heard about it too
Apparently a sasaeng homepage master found evidence and plans to expose it
“…Huh?”
“What is this?”
Kang Siwoo, who checked the post, slowly rolled his eyes.
So basically…
“Jin Sehyun, are you dating?”
“Yeah… I know, right….”
Jin Sehyun tilted his head and pointed at himself.
“No way. I’m dating?”
The person involved was completely dumbfounded….