Chapter 161:

Chapter 161:

Chapter 161

Just don’t be late.

“What the...”

Ian woke up from his sleep and opened his eyes. It felt strangely bright outside. When he pulled the curtain, everything was white.

“Was there a snow forecast?”

“No?”

“Oh, you startled me. Are you awake?”

Kim Joo-young, who had silently stood next to Ian, nodded his head while rubbing his eyes. The four days they spent together seemed to pass by faster.

Tomorrow was the day they would go back to Seoul.

“Thank you for the meal!”

The members quickly adapted to Shin Soon-ja’s early-to-bed early-to-rise lifestyle and ate breakfast at 8 a.m. They helped Shin Soon-ja with the housework.

“Thanks to my grandchildren, the cleaning is fast. I’ll be back soon.”

“Take care.”

While Shin Soon-ja went to the senior center, the members who stayed at home became one with the warm floor of the living room. They lazily moved around and peeled tangerines.

“I love playing.”

“I wish it could stay like this.”

The six of them covered themselves with a blanket up to their necks and giggled happily.

‘They look like some kind of worms.’

Ian looked at them and put down his water cup. He picked up his phone. The members flinched at the shutter sound.

“Wow, this is a legendary photo.”

“Hey, hyung! Don’t take pictures.”

“We’re in our natural state. Hey, Seo-dam, let’s snatch it.”

Park Seo-dam and Kim Joo-young, who got up slowly, tried to erase the photo by grabbing Ian’s phone. Ian raised his arm high. Even with two people clinging to him, he didn’t let go of his phone.

“Geez, you’re so strong! Did you grow taller, hyung?”

“No?”

“If you upload this to the fan cafe, you’re dead meat.”

“I won’t, I won’t.”

I’ll do it later. After cropping them out. Ian smiled as he watched Kim Joo-young and Park Seo-dam go back to lie down.

[Didn’t you say you wanted to see the stage there?]

‘Oh, right.’

He must have been lonely for being alone at the dorm for a long time. He had so much fun with the members that he forgot his original purpose. Ian casually talked to Jo Tae-woong.

“Hey, Jo-tang. Where’s the place where you saw Tae-woo hyung’s group?”Follow the latest novels on no/velbin(.)com

The members who had nothing to do also lifted their heads. Their faces were full of curiosity.

“Right, isn’t this the place of that story?”

“Should we go see it?”

“Let’s go.”

The members who finally found something to do quickly put on their clothes and went outside. The streets were empty of cars and people since the Lunar New Year holiday was over.

They passed the market and reached the village hall. A wide open space spread out.

“It’s over there.”

On one side of the open space, there was a stage about 1 meter high. Ian was the first to climb onto the stage. He couldn’t tell where the edge of the stage was because of the snow.

‘I can’t believe I’m here again.’

It was a nostalgic feeling.

Ian swept the snow with his foot, and the members who followed him did the same. Then, the shabby wooden deck floor was revealed.

“It’s small.”

Was it this small? Ian tilted his head.

We came from that side, finished preparing at the village hall, and came up here. It was a rare event schedule at that time. We couldn’t complain about the size of the stage.

[What, is this the stage?]

Jin said with a sullen tone. He remembered that someone among the Diamond members said the same thing back then.

The manager begged them to do the stage even if they cut the fee. It felt like confirming their pathetic position.

[Did you do the event here? Did you do it half-heartedly?]

‘I wanted to do it well...’

He wanted to dance and sing with passion and get a reaction from the uninterested elders. He clenched his teeth and did his best.

[So did you succeed?]

‘I failed.’

But the response was determined by popularity. He only remembered that two or three people clapped when Kim Yong-min hit the high note. That was it.

“It was so hard that I wanted to die at that time, but when I think about it now, it’s nothing.”

That made him think that maybe the saying that time heals everything was half true. Kim Hyun got up from his seat.

“Isn’t it cold?”

“Let’s take a picture of this and send it to Taewoo hyung before we go.”

“Good idea.”

The members got up from their seats.

***

“Taewoong, this is a fan letter that came to the company.”

“Wow... there are a lot.”

Bak Dong-su, who came to pick up the members, handed a big shopping bag to Jo Tae-ung.

“Wow, there’s even a doll.”

“This one looks a bit like you.”

Among the unofficial goods made by the fans, there was a character doll called Som-moong-chi. It was a small doll of about 15 or 20 centimeters, made by combining the features of their favorite idol. It was quite popular among the fans, who would take it with them to show their support at ads or concerts.

“Wait, there’s more.”

“More?”

Bak Dong-su took out the remaining luggage from the passenger seat. There was not one, but three shopping bags. They were so big and numerous that Jo Tae-ung had to borrow Shin Sun-ja’s hand to carry them. He sniffed as he saw the fan letters packed tightly in the shopping bags.

“Are you crying?”

“No? It’s just cold, okay?”

Jo Tae-ung widened his eyes. Bak Dong-su smiled softly as he saw his expression. He tapped Jo Tae-ung’s shoulder and opened the door of the driver’s seat.

“Rest well. Don’t be too anxious. You’ll be more helpful to them and the company if you recover well.”

“...Yes.”

“Hey, guys! Don’t keep the old lady waiting, let’s go quickly!”

The members, who exchanged greetings with Shin Sun-ja, gathered around Jo Tae-ung. They all patted his shoulder and back, saying a word or two.

“Tae-ung, we’re going. Have fun.”

“Hyung, don’t forget to contact us.”

“Let me know when you come for counseling. Let’s have a meal.”

“Hey, it’s okay to be late. Don’t worry.”

“I’ll call you later.”

Ian, who was about to get on the van, stopped and turned his head back. Jo Tae-ung tried to hide his regretful look by pretending to be indifferent.

“What, you’re not getting on?”

They all said it was okay to be late and to recover slowly. But Ian felt like he didn’t want to say those words that seemed scripted. He had a hunch that Jo Tae-ung wanted to hear something else.

“Hey, Tae-ung.”

“Huh?”

“Still, don’t be too late.”

“...Okay.”

Jo Tae-ung’s face brightened up a little.

The van carrying the members smoothly left the village entrance. As they looked at Shin Sun-ja’s house getting farther away, the members muttered blankly.

“That was fun.”

“Yeah. It felt like a school trip.”

“Let’s come again next time.”

“There were some things to fix in the house, maybe we can learn how to do that next time?”

“Grandma is already shedding tears of gratitude. I saw it.”

Bak Jin-hyuk and Kim Hyun chuckled. Kim Ju-young, who was sitting in the back seat, nudged Ian.

“How long do you think Jo-tang will take?”

“I don’t know, maybe three months? He didn’t look that serious. I don’t know about the inside, though.”

“I have a feeling he’ll be back soon.”

Kim Ju-young and Ian’s conversation was overheard by Bak Seo-dam, who leaned her forehead on the window and murmured.

“I hope he comes back soon.”

Jo Tae-ung watched the van carrying the members until it disappeared over the ridge, then went inside the house.

“Sigh.”

He smiled bitterly as he looked at the empty house where the members had gone.

He felt empty and hollow. It was like the feeling of lying on a small bed in a hotel room after a concert, with the fans’ cheers still ringing in his ears, and reminiscing about the past performance.

Shin Sun-ja, who was watching his face, asked him casually with a smile on her lips.

“Do you feel lonely?”

“...Yeah.”