Chapter 276 : Imperfect Memories (1)
Chapter 276: Imperfect Memories (1)
The meeting room at Doubles.
All the members had gathered for the meeting about the <Dream the Star> concert, which had been finalized last week.
This time, it would be a large-scale concert that included a world tour.
The first concert would be held in South Korea, after which they would travel through roughly ten countries, making it a long journey.
Chief Song Jinha smiled as he began speaking.
"So, we've released quite a few songs in the meantime. I'm sure there are plenty of things you all want to show. Have you thought of anything?"
"Whether it's a special segment or the setlist, anything's fine. Feel free to share!"
In his hand was a sheet containing the setlist prepared by the planning team.
"I think all the title tracks are included... It'd also be nice to add our fan song, Your Dust."
"The lineup looks good, doesn't it?"
Kang Siwoo nodded in satisfaction. Just then, Seo Haim shot his hand into the air.
"I've actually got an idea for a segment! How about we do an exposé battle?"
"Haim... isn't that just our everyday life...?"
"Ahem."
As expected of a survival show veteran who was already accustomed to throwing his fellow members into danger.
Seo Haim, who had always been the first to expose random TMI stories from the dorm, cleared his throat.
I clicked my tongue lightly and offered a different suggestion.
"I want to try switching parts."
"You mean switching rap parts and vocal parts?"
"I think he means everyone swaps parts with each other. Right?"
"Yeah. That's right."
Doing a short version for variety shows would be nice, but I also wanted to take the time to prepare properly and show everyone a polished performance.
Seo Haim shot his hand up again.
"I want to see Seohan and Ian-hyung switch parts!"
"Why? They're both vocalists."
"Seohan can do Ian-hyung's shirt-removal part!"
"...I've never taken my shirt off."
Seo Ian blinked in disbelief.
"If you showed your abs a little, it's basically the same thing."
"Taking your shirt off means taking it off completely..."
"What's the difference? Isn't it just whether you took it all off or only part of it?"
Don't hold meetings about things like that in the conference room!
Seo Haim pondered with an unusually serious expression before nodding as though he'd reached an understanding.
"I guess they're a little different."
"Not a little. They're very different."
Don't agree with weird things.
"Anyway, show us, Do Seohan!"
"N-No way."
"You're an adult now. You can do it!"
The arrow was aimed back at me again.
I frantically waved both hands, rejecting Seo Haim's proposal.
"I'm still not mentally prepared..."
"Your hyungs have been waiting for three whole years."
"Why would you even wait for something like that?"
Cha Seongbin's gentle muttering was even more absurd.
What was wrong with all of them?
Seo Ian shook his head vigorously.
"Seohan's a Confucian boy...."
"Yeah. I'm from the nation of Eastern etiquette."
Let's just switch parts.
I had absolutely no desire to switch outfits too.
One of the planning team staff clicked their pen while chuckling.
"For now, we'll save that suggestion!"
"Um... exactly how much of that is being saved?"
"Up to you taking your shirt off."
"Seo Haim, get out."
"You just said you're from the nation of Eastern etiquette, but look at you speaking informally to your hyung...."
"They say he's a selective Confucian boy."
Seo Haim and Cha Seongbin's relentless roasting continued.
Did the fans know?
That surviving as Stardust's youngest member was this difficult.
"Do Seohan suddenly looks exhausted...."
"I feel like my soul's slowly being worn away."
Seo Ian clicked his tongue and patted my shoulder.
Kang Siwoo let out a small laugh before continuing.
"I also think it'd be nice if we could show more variety performance-wise. Like last concert, how about including another stage with a musical-like feel?"
"Sounds good."
"Also, maybe we could reveal an unreleased song at the concert...."
"Should we announce our 3rd Full Album at the concert altogether?"
"With just one teaser verse? I don't think that's a bad idea."
As the leader shared the ideas he'd prepared, I belatedly sensed something subtly off.
Jin Sehyun hadn't said a single word this entire time.
Normally, he would've responded to Seo Haim's nonsense or enthusiastically thrown out ideas during the meeting more than anyone else....
"......"
He was absentmindedly staring into space, as though something else had completely occupied his thoughts.
"Are you really tired?"
Even Ha Junseo had ended up tapping Jin Sehyun's shoulder as he asked.
Startled, Jin Sehyun quickly shook his head.
"Ah, I'm fine."
It only lasted a moment, but it felt like Jin Sehyun's vacant gaze had briefly landed on me.
The meeting ended.
Kang Siwoo, who had been on his way to the company gym, spotted Jin Sehyun and stopped walking.
"Oh, Sehyun."
Jin Sehyun turned toward the voice calling him.
"Yeah? What's up?"
His calm reply didn't sound strange in particular.
Even so, the absentminded expression Kang Siwoo had seen throughout the meeting continued to bother him, leaving him no choice but to ask.
Kang Siwoo carefully spoke.
"Is something going on?"
"Ah, no. Nothing's wrong."
He said that, but Kang Siwoo already knew he wasn't the type to honestly pour everything out even if something was wrong.
He was the kind of person who kept most things to himself and quietly handled them on his own.
That was just the kind of person Jin Sehyun was.
So there was no point expecting him to spill everything willingly.
Recalling the atmosphere during the meeting, Kang Siwoo voiced what seemed like the most likely guess.
"You didn't have a fight with Seohan, did you?"
He had kept glancing over in Do Seohan's direction throughout the meeting, which was why Kang Siwoo asked.
Do Seohan hadn't shown any signs of it, but perhaps they'd had some minor disagreement.
However—
Perhaps the guess had been so ridiculous that Jin Sehyun burst into laughter.
"Me? Fight with Do Seohan?"
Well, neither of them really had personalities like that.
Kang Siwoo nodded.
"As long as that's not it."
"Yeah. We definitely didn't fight...."
The end of his sentence trailed off slightly.
"Hm?"
Kang Siwoo turned back to look at Jin Sehyun with widened eyes.
It sounded like there was more he wanted to say.
"Then what is it?"
"It's just... well...."
Jin Sehyun scratched the back of his head with a faint smile.
"I've been having really unsettling dreams."
"What?"
At Kang Siwoo's puzzled question, Jin Sehyun quickly waved his hands.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just... I guess it was a stupid dream."
"What kind of dream? Tell me."
"...A dream where I was sitting in an emergency room."
Jin Sehyun's complexion darkened.
"Ah... It was so vividly realistic that it just left me feeling uneasy...."
.
.
.
.
—Yeah, hyung. We just got to the emergency room.
—We're waiting, but we don't know when the surgery will be over.
"Hoo...."
A deep sigh echoed through the silent waiting room.
Jin Sehyun gripped his hair as he silently stared at the name displayed beside the operating room.
[Lee Junhyeok]
"Hoo...."
Beside him came the sound of someone breathing heavily.
The team's leader, Ha Junseo.
His trembling shoulders made his back look pitiful.
Only his reddened eyes reflected the storm of emotions inside him.
He had been like that throughout the several hours the surgery had been going on.
"Hyung, are you okay?"
"......"
He had always stood firmly as the team's leader, but Jin Sehyun, who had watched him closely all this time, knew the truth.
To endure a burden like this—
Ha Junseo actually had an incredibly fragile heart.
When news arrived that the former member who had left the team amid controversy had been in an accident, Ha Junseo had practically fallen into a panic.
That was both the vulnerable side of their leader...
...and the warm-hearted nature that made Ha Junseo who he was.
On the other hand, unlike Ha Junseo, Jin Sehyun remained surprisingly calm.
"They said he'll be okay once the surgery's done."
Or perhaps...
Maybe he simply wanted to appear calm.
"What we should really be worried about is... that bastard Choi Han. No... maybe not. I don't even know anymore, hyung. I don't know what we're supposed to worry about. Or where we're even supposed to begin."
He had always been someone who searched only for the most rational answer.
He had reached this point by choosing the most efficient and orthodox path.
But at some point, everything had gone wrong.
Before he could do anything.
Before he even had a chance to set things right.
By the time he came to his senses, he had drifted far too far away from the correct answer.
Jin Sehyun absentmindedly fidgeted with his innocent hands before weakly lifting his head.
Across from him, a man sat with his head hanging low.
It looked like he, too, was waiting for someone inside the operating room.
He hadn't had the luxury to pay attention to his surroundings until now, so only then did his gaze finally drift toward the man.
And then—
Sway.
His eyes caught a familiar phrase on the ID badge hanging around the man's neck.
[SBC Variety Department PD Do Seojun]
'He's someone from the industry....'
For a moment, Jin Sehyun wondered if the man might recognize his face.
But the other man didn't seem to have the presence of mind for that either.
There wasn't the slightest trace of life left in his pale face.
How could someone look so heartbreakingly sad without shedding a single tear?
Watching the despair that filled the man's expression, Jin Sehyun found himself thinking that.
Who was he waiting for?
Family?
A friend?
Whoever it was...
Surely it wasn't a former coworker who had caused a major scandal before leaving.
Jin Sehyun looked back up at the surgery waiting list.
Alongside the notification that the surgery was in progress, an unfamiliar name was lit up.
[Do Seohan]
He had to be family.
Swallowing dryly out of sympathy, Jin Sehyun nevertheless sank into thought.
How strange.
"...I've definitely heard that name somewhere before."
It was a name buried deep within his fading memories.