Chapter 316 : Gogh Girl (4)
Chapter 316: Gogh Girl (4)
Beep—beep—beep—.
As the ringing continued,
Cha Seongbin's heart burned away with every passing second.
Click.
At last,
his younger sister answered.
After taking a quick sip of water,
Cha Seongbin hurriedly blurted out,
“Hey, Cha Eunha! Why weren't you answering your phone?!”
No one knew what had been going on,
but the younger sister who hadn't answered any of his calls replied in a flat voice.
“—Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Didn't you see the article about you?”
—I did... Why?
Her reaction was impossible to read.
Just from her voice,
she sounded serious.
But at the same time,
she didn't.
Letting out a short sigh,
Cha Seongbin said,
“I'm in front of your school right now. Come out for a minute.”
“—Whaaat? Are you crazy?”
It didn't matter if she wasn't using polite words.
At the very least,
he felt like he'd only be at ease after seeing her face.
With one hand in his pocket,
Cha Seongbin looked out the window.
“I'm in front of the building where your class is. Hurry up and come out.”
Cha Eunha asked as if she couldn't believe him.
“—Oppa, isn't today your comeback?”
“Yeah. I don't have much time.”
“—You've seriously lost your mind....”
Fortunately,
it seemed he'd arrived at exactly the right time.
He spotted his younger sister looking around in the distance.
Lowering the car window slightly,
Cha Seongbin shouted,
“The car's over here!”
Wave, wave.
As soon as he waved,
she noticed him.
Her eyes widened,
and Cha Eunha hurried over.
Cha Seongbin quickly looked her over.
Unlike himself,
who had become pale and gaunt,
her complexion looked surprisingly healthy.
Relieved,
he quietly let out a sigh.
Watching her run over,
he shifted over to make room.
Stopping beside the car door,
Cha Eunha frowned and pouted.
“I seriously can't with you...!”
“Forget that. Just get in.”
He hadn't realized it when the members had practically shoved him out the door,
but now he understood.
Just seeing her face made him feel better....
.
.
.
“Have you gone crazy? Why would you come to my school? Now that you've been found out, you're just going all out?”
“……”
“And look at you. Did you seriously run away in the middle of your music show?”
The moment she sat down,
her words poured out like rapid-fire bullets.
Looking at Cha Eunha,
Cha Seongbin carefully asked,
“Are you okay?”
She was the same girl who used to hate hearing people talk about her more than anything.
Gogh Girl.
Every time posts related to it circulated online,
she'd become terrified enough to panic.
Even if time had helped her heal,
there was no way she'd welcome having her name dragged back into the spotlight.
That was why he'd asked.
Not whether she was pretending to be okay.
But whether she really,
truly,
was okay.
“I'm okay.”
Cha Eunha answered without hesitation.
When she noticed Cha Seongbin staring at her,
she awkwardly added,
“Well, I wouldn't say I'm one hundred percent okay... but it's not the absolute worst.”
“What isn't?”
“Being your younger sister.”
With a small grin,
Cha Eunha continued,
“More specifically... being the younger sister of Stardust's ridiculously successful main rapper?”
“Why are you acting so scary?”
This time,
it was Cha Seongbin who looked serious.
For a split second,
he genuinely wondered whether she'd been so shocked that she'd finally snapped.
Scratching the back of her head,
Cha Eunha continued,
“My classmates asked if I could get them some autographs. There are way too many of them, so I can't ask you for everyone.... Just take one picture with me before you leave. Let me enjoy having a celebrity brother for once.”
“…You didn't eat something weird, did you?”
At this point,
he was honestly getting scared.
Blinking repeatedly,
Cha Seongbin stared blankly at his sister.
It didn't seem like she was lying, either.
Smiling softly,
Cha Eunha spoke.
“A lot of time has passed.”
“……”
“Even if the memories never disappear,
they can at least fade.”
She meant it.
“I worked really hard to stop letting it bother me.
If I collapsed again now,
it'd honestly be kind of pathetic....
Oh, and honestly?
It actually felt nice.
Hearing my classmates compliment you.”
“Hey.
You absolutely can't go looking at online communities.”
“Why?
Were you worried I'd search for all that 'Gogh Girl' stuff?”
Honestly,
he had been.
There weren't only kind comments.
There were also countless posts dragging up her past just to insult her.
He simply hoped that his younger sister,
who had only just managed to gather the courage to live again,
wouldn't be broken all over again.
But.
Perhaps he'd underestimated his only sister.
Cha Eunha was much stronger—
and far more resilient—
than he'd thought.
“I'll never look them up.
Why would I?
I don't even have enough time to enjoy the good things.”
“……”
“You're the one who shouldn't be reading that stuff.
Looking at you,
it seems obvious you read some pointless comments, completely lost your mental composure, and came running straight to me.”
He had nothing to say.
Because it was true.
Feeling embarrassed,
Cha Seongbin avoided her gaze.
He was supposed to be an idol,
yet after reading only a few malicious comments,
he'd completely lost it and ruined the very first music show stage that morning.
He'd rushed over intending to comfort her,
yet now it felt as though he was the one receiving comfort.
Shrugging confidently,
Cha Eunha declared,
“Why does it matter what people on the internet say?
When they're actually standing in front of me,
they can't even say a word.”
“……”
“So stop worrying so much.
Whenever I look at you,
you always let yourself get swept up by every little thing.”
“You're right.”
With a faint smile,
Cha Seongbin nodded.
The little sister who had once been so young.
The girl who'd been hurt by people and completely broken.
Time had helped her grow into someone admirable.
Now,
she no longer crumbled.
Instead,
she confidently patted him on the shoulder.
Her eyes told him,
You don't have to worry anymore.
“…I'm glad.”
The corners of Cha Seongbin's lips slowly lifted.
“I'm glad you're okay now.”
For some reason,
a strange emotion welled up inside him.
After the music show recording ended,
I received a call from Do Seojun.
Apparently,
he'd heard about Cha Seongbin through the news articles.
He was the hyung who had supported Cha Seongbin in every possible way during <Boy's Dream>.
Since he knew the full story,
it was only natural that he'd been worried.
I briefly explained that Eunha had handled everything much better than expected,
and thanks to that,
Cha Seongbin had recovered as well.
Do Seojun answered calmly.
“Ah. I'm glad everything worked out. I started worrying the moment I heard about it.”
“About what?”
“Ah. Doyeon contacted me. Said that if we wanted, she'd blow up something huge.”
...No way.
“She gave me a whole lineup of articles we could release. I spent quite a while thinking about which one would make the biggest splash.”
What terrifying people.
Blinking,
I continued listening.
“Want to hear the lineup?”
“W-What kind of lineup...?”
It felt like we were about to open Pandora's Box together.
Sure enough.
The very first one was already an explosive entertainment headline.
“Kang Hangil and Yoo Mirae dating rumors.”
Legendary.
“What the... They're dating?”
Dating rumors involving two top actors.
They were talking about releasing something worthy of a New Year's Day headline just to bury the Gogh Girl issue.
The lineup was so unexpected that I was left speechless.
Clearing his throat,
Do Seojun hurriedly added,
“Ah, of course, I was planning to save that one until the very end. There were also a few smaller ones....”
The combination of Do Seojun and Lee Doyeon was far more powerful than I'd imagined.
Calmly,
Do Seojun listed one entertainment industry scandal after another.
“There's also the controversy over Venus's attitude on set....
Ah, and recently there was that advertising no-show too. The advertising company almost filed a lawsuit, but the agency covered it up with money before it blew up. Once something like that happens, word spreads all over the industry. Doyeon didn't uncover this one—I casually passed it to her.”
“Ah... I see....”
“Pretty amazing, right? Be grateful your brother's a PD.”
I wasn't sure about that.
But one thing was certain.
Closing my eyes tightly,
I said,
“I'm just glad you're my older brother....”
Hmm.
If he'd been on the other side,
that might've been the worst-case scenario.
Hearing that,
Do Seojun let out an amused scoff before calmly replying,
“Hey, why would I be your real brother? Your mom and dad picked you up from under a bridge.”
“Hyung, how old do you think I am? Do you seriously think that still works on me...?”
Counting my previous life,
I was twenty-eight this year.
“Ahem.”
Even Do Seojun seemed to realize how ridiculous that sounded,
clearing his throat awkwardly.
I let out a short sigh and changed the subject.
“Anyway, thanks for looking into it. But tell Reporter Lee to definitely keep those actors' dating rumors under wraps....”
“Yeah, releasing something like that just to bury this would've been a bit much.”
“As long as you know.”
Hyung had probably only called during a brief break from working overtime.
And I'd also just finished the first week of music show promotions,
so I was exhausted.
It was probably time to hang up.
Speaking in a tired voice,
I said,
“Then I'll head in.”
Right then,
Do Seojun stopped me.
“Ah, wait.”
Hm?
Apparently,
there was something else he wanted to say.
He dragged out his words.
“You know...
I suddenly got curious about something....”
“What?”
“Well...
Seeing Cha Seongbin this time,
he was so overprotective because he was worried people would criticize his younger sister....”
For some reason,
he kept hesitating.
Then,
he finally blurted out something absurd.
“But yooou...
you didn't seem very worried when I started appearing on TV?”
...What was that supposed to mean?
Frowning,
I adjusted my phone.
“Huh? What did you say?”
After coughing,
Do Seojun continued.
“I mean...
I'm technically an ordinary person too.
Still,
when I said I'd be appearing on television,
you could've worried at least once.
I'm a PD,
so people might talk behind my back too.
Well, I'm not saying you have to worry about me....
It's just... I'm a little disappointed.”
“Hyung,
you're just an attention seeker.”
“Huh?”
Silence fell over the line.
Apparently,
I'd hit him a little too hard.
But it was the truth.
Pressing my aching temple,
I let out a short sigh.
There was one thing I needed to correct.
“And, hyung.”
“…What.”
“You're not technically an ordinary person.
You're just an ordinary person.”
“Hey.”
“Don't tell me...
you actually think you're a celebrity....”
“Hey!”
If you asked me...
This hyung had terminal celebrity syndrome.
Although,
he clearly had no intention of admitting it.
A deep sigh came through the receiver.
“Haa. I raised you so well, and now you're stabbing your own brother in the back?”
Naturally,
I didn't lose either.
“That's because I was picked up from under a bridge.”
“…Seriously?”