Jihoon stared at the sleeping face beside him. He covered his face with both of his hands and sighed. He remembered that last night, they didn’t even use any protections. Hyunsuk did keep telling him that it's okay because he’s on a contraceptive. Jihoon recalled that Hyunsuk said that he looked like Park Jihoon from T5. At least he knows Park Jihoon from T5. Jihoon gets out of bed slowly. Not waking up the older Omega. He looked around the Omega’s place. It’s a nice condominium.
The interior design of this condominium screams Choi Hyunsuk. Very elegant and classy. Jihoon decided to clean up the mess they made and wipe Hyunsuk’s body clean. Jihoon took out his phone. It’s already past midnight. He should be back to his dorm before 3 because their manager will be furious if they know that he’s out for the whole night. He has a schedule too to attend together with Doyoung at 5 am.
The program they’re going to attend is a live show. They will have a simple briefing before they shoot the actual live. Jihoon jotted down his phone number on a piece of receipt that he had in his pocket with a message to call him. Jihoon put that receipt on the table right beside the bed. Well. They’re going to meet again soon. Jihoon walked out from the condominium, making sure that the line was clear and walked his way to his group’s dorm.
“Where the hell have you been?” Jihoon heard that question as soon as he closed the front door of their dorm. Jihoon swallowed his saliva. He took a deep breath and put on a calm expression before he turned to face one of his group’s members, Kim Junkyu. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“Eh. Kim Junkyu. Why aren’t you sleeping yet?” Jihoon asked.
“I was about to sleep. But when I checked the other rooms, you were not there. And you’re not even answering your phone. I have no choice but to wait until you back or else Woohyun hyung will furious if he know that you’re not back yet,” Junkyu said. “Didn’t you have a schedule and need to leave at 4am? Where have you been? There’s no way you went all the way to Busan and back here so you can’t use the ‘go back to my family's house’ excuse. You’re not causing any trouble, right? Remember, you are a public figure,”
“Even though I’m not well known?” Jihoon asked.
“What? Who the hell is telling you that you’re not well-known?” Junkyu asked.
“No one. I don’t need anyone to tell me that. I can see it. There’s nothing special about it for me anyway. I don’t have any high expectations anymore ever since our first comeback. I really thought that I was special. But even in T5, I was just here. My position can be replaced by anyone. I’m not that good looking either. Even if I’m not around, they probably won’t notice it,” Jihoon said. “But you don’t have to worry. I’m not planning to cause any problem that can affect any of us,”
“Who the hell are you? Where is Park Jihoon? Tell Park Jihoon to come back home already,” Junkyu said.
“What?”
“I don’t know where you got this idea. And I’ve noticed that you’ve been talking less these days. If you have something that’s bothering you, please. Talk to me at least,” Junkyu said. “When we just debuted, I was the one who felt like I was just here. That the CEO picked me just to fill in the blank space. But you keep trying so hard to cheer me up. I don’t know what makes you suddenly be like this. But if you’re not around, there’s me who will notice it. If no one around me who notice that you're not around, I’ll tell the other and announced that you're not around and making sure that they cheering for you as well,”
“Are you Kim Junkyu?” Jihoon asked after pausing for a moment.
“Park Jihoon!”
“Okay. Okay. I get it. Don’t get mad. You’re scary,” Jihoon said.
‘What is happening?” Doyoung suddenly walked out from his room while rubbing his eyes. He looked at Jihoon. “Oh! Hyung. You just came back. You’re not in your room when I arrived from the company. Are you just back or are you already back and going out again and just got back again?”
“You sit there. I’m going to lecture you on you’re not someone who easily gets replaced,” Junkyu said while pointing at the couch. Doyoung put his hand on Jihoon’s forehead. To check if he has a fever.
“He didn’t have a fever but something is wrong about Jihoon hyung. Should I wake the other kids?” Doyoung asked.
“No. We need to settle this fast,” Junkyu said. Junkyu suddenly remembered something. Jihoon probably not just changed like this out of the blue. He remembered something that happened during their last comeback’s promotion. There’s a so-called fan calling out Jihoon on their SNS, saying that he’s being greedy even though he’s not that talented. The fan even said that everything about Jihoon is common and he shouldn’t even be in T5. That fan got bashed by the other fans and even got their account suspended. The other fans sent Jihoon a lot of beautiful and encouraging messages after that. The other members and the company know about the situation.
Even though the situation got resolved, Jihoon probably still got affected by those words. He probably started to doubt everything that he did up till now.
“Park Jihoon. Let’s do this. What about you start to think about one person? Only one. Who can always remember you. The person you want them to remember you the way you are. And ignore that one person who doesn’t want to remember you at all,” Junkyu said. “It doesn't matter who that person is. Just find at least one person that you want to show the best of you. It can be anyone, anything. Even a character. Just put yourself in a delusional state for a bit. Try to push yourself to the max. That way, you can shine even brighter,”
One person? If it’s his family, they keep on telling him that they will always be proud of him. Junkyu? He will always try to find nice words to tell him. Suddenly, the Omega’s face popped up in his mind. Choi Hyunsuk.
“Wow. Junkyu hyung. You’re the best," Doyoung showed both of his thumbs up. "What about you? What's the person you want to make them proud of you?"
"Buriburizaemon," Junkyu said. His answer made Doyoung dumbfounded and Jihoon chuckled. "What? I'm trying, okay? You two, just make sure to do your best. Doyoung, don't be too awkward. Park Jihoon. I know you can show people that you deserve what you're getting. And I know you understand my words. Go take a rest and good luck. I'm going to sleep,"
"Looking at the guests we got here. Wah. It's a very interesting line up," the MC, Kwanghee said. "We have from the Idol team, T5 members, Jihoonie and Doyoungie. The Actors team, Our Fall's actors, Bona, Lee Jinhyuk and Cha Eunwoo. And the Entertainer team, Runtastic casts, Mijoo and Kai,"
"Ease up, Kim Doyoung," Jihoon whispered when he noticed that Doyoung had been tense since the filming started.
"I feel like Junkyu hyung is watching right now," Doyoung said. Jihoon chuckled hearing Doyoung's words.
"Calm down. The more you look like this, the more he'll be mad," Jihoon said.
"You guys probably won't be worried about your popularity, right. You guys are specialists in your respective work. People definitely will give your name as an example if we ask them on the street about an actor, idol or celebrity," Kwanghee said. "Do you have an episode of meeting someone who doesn't recognize you on the street?"
The guests tell their stories as what they already told the crews before the filming started. Doyoung also shared the story of him as per what was agreed with the company. For some reason, Jihoon feels like it's a little lacking.
"Park Jihoon looks like you have something to say," Kwanghee said.
Jihoon is a little shocked hearing that. Does he look too obvious? He looked around and the other guests were looking at him. Kwanghee is well known for being a spontaneous MC. He always asked things that's not in the cue list if he found something that might make the show more interesting. But it's a scary thing for idols because their image is not 100% their own on the screen. The company has things they want or don't want the idols to do as long as they are still in the contract period. Jihoon knows. He needs to be wise.
"I actually have a recent story. Should I tell it now?" Jihoon asked and turned to Woohyun who's standing behind the filming crew. He gave him a sign that he'll take care of this and Woohyun nodded. Because Woohyun knows Jihoon's potential and skill. He knows that Jihoon's entertainment attitude is actually very brilliant because the CEO himself trusts him a lot if it's entertainment and variety show related schedules.
"How recent is it?" Kwanghee asked.
"Very recent," Jihoon said. The main camera zoomed into Jihoon's face while some other filming the other guests' reaction. "I was taking my night stroll when suddenly I felt something hitting my back. When I turned back, someone kicked their shoes and accidentally hit my back. Those shoes are not just some random shoes. It's a limited edition shoe. I took the shoes, bring it to the owner who's standing a few steps behind me and put on that person's shoes back on,"
"You took the shoes and put them back on the owner's foot?" Kwanghee asked.
"You're like a prince with a Cinderella," Mijoo stated. Oh? Jihoon never thought about it. Cinderella, huh?
"This is getting interesting. What happened next?" Kwanghee asked. Jihoon knew that he got all the attention from everyone in the studio. Even Doyoung looked interested in his story.
"That person said that I look like Park Jihoon from T5," Jihoon said. The whole studio gasped and some laughed. "That person even asked which doctor that I see to make my face look like Park Jihoon from T5,"
"To that extent?" Kai asked.
"You're telling me that this Cinderella knows what Park Jihoon from T5 looks like but didn't recognize you?" Kwanghee asked.
"Is it a fan?" Bona asked.
"I'm not sure,"
"Well. They probably didn't expect that they'll have this fairy tale scene with a famous guy," Lee Jinhyuk said.
"We only heard that the public didn't recognize them. But this one. I'm not sure if it falls into the category where the public recognizes him or not," Kwanghee said.
"Do you have something to say to Cinderella-nim?"
"Um.. Cinderella-nim. Now you know who I am. Please remember me," Jihoon said while looking straight to the camera.
°
"You're here, hyung?" Jeongwoo asked as soon as Hyunsuk entered the studio. The company asked him to record a demo version for a song and Jeongwoo is the only one who he feels can sing it well and is currently available. That's why Jeongwoo is now in his studio. "Did you get home safely last night?"
"Yeah. I guess," Hyunsuk said. He put his bag on the chair and prepared himself for the recording. Before he could talk to Jeongwoo about the recording, suddenly he heard Jihoon's voice. It's from this morning show where he shared a story about someone who told him that he looks like Park Jihoon from T5. And that someone is Choi Hyunsuk himself. Hyunsuk just remembered that Jeongwoo and Jihoon are cousins. "Monitoring your cousin, huh?"
"This? No. For some reason his clip from a live show is getting viral. A video where he talked about Cinderella who told him that he looks like Park Jihoon from T5. Everyone said that it's so unreal but wanted to watch something like that sometimes. There are some people tagging some scriptwriter to make a scene based on his story," Jeongwoo said.
"Really?" Hyunsuk asked. He just hopes no one will actually make a script based on that. It will just make him embarrassed recalling what happened last night.
"I can see that this will become a trend on TikTok someday," Jeongwoo said.
"I hope not,"
"Why?"
"Let's start recording, Park Jeongwoo," Hyunsuk said. They get recording after Hyunsuk tells Jeongwoo what direction for the song they're going to record. It took them about 3 hours before Hyunsuk was satisfied with everything.
"I'll leave first, hyung. I have a schedule after this," Jeongwoo said.
"Okay. Thank you. Good work," Hyunsuk said. Hyunsuk continued his work after Jeongwoo left. After a few minutes, he stopped. Hyunsuk took out his phone, taking a break. But the first thing he saw was an article about Park Jihoon and his Cinderella story. It's been a trending topic for a few hours already. Is Park Jihoon always this famous?