[ Cho Seungmin's POV ]
"There's something here," I noted as I pointed to the note on the first bathroom door.
We were walking through the rooms together as a group. I didn't like that there were cameras everywhere. It felt like another round of Idol Inc. after passing.
"I'll read it," Raebin volunteered. "Wait, hyung, what happened to your hand?"
Everyone looked at my outreached hand. The burn mark from my father's cigar was still there. It faded a lot, and I thought bandages would make it more visible. I didn't think someone would notice.
"Oh, I made a mistake while breakdancing. I'm more curious about the card," I smiled.
"Yeah! It's a mission!" Eugene shouted.
Pressured by the sparkles in Eugene's eyes, Raebin took the card and read out loud, "TeSTAR's first mini-game! The subject is choosing a room!"
"You sounded the same as the MC," Keun Sejin hyung shuddered jokingly.
"Y-yeah," Ahyun hyung agreed.
Everyone became solemn again with the PTSD of Idol Inc., but the game went on. We picked paper notes from a box in an order that was determined through several board games.
"This also has a strange sense of deja vu..."
"I know right..."
Moondae hyung ignored the mood and put his hand in the box after winning.
He picked number 1. That was the room with only two beds.
The games continued, and eventually, everyone pulled a card. The child actor was last.
He picked room 1.
But no one had anything to say to someone they weren't close to.
Keun Sejin hyung filled the potential awkward silence with his light words.
"Oh~ Moondae and Sejin hyung got the double room," he remarked.
"Both of them are the introverted types, so I think they'll get along well," Ryu Chungwoo added with a polite smile.
Moondae hyung looked satisfied.
Anyway, room 2 consisted of Kim Raebin, Seon Ahyun, and Cha Eugene. Room 3 had Keun Sejin, Ryu Chungwoo, and me.
"The room's bigger!" Cha Eugene boasted.
"P-please take care of me." Seon Ahyun became flustered.
"I look forward to your kind cooperation," Kim Raebin responded. They began another greeting battle while Cha Eugene went off into his own world.
Meanwhile, Chungwoo hyung looked relieved. I think it's because he hasn't gotten close to anyone else except for me. And Keun Sejin hyung has a friendly personality.
"Seungmin, let's room well together," Chungwoo hyung said, patting my shoulder.
I nodded my head.
"Yes, let's all get along," Keun Sejin hyung smiled widely.
Everyone went into their respective rooms to unpack.
I didn't have many things. The apartment was actually close to my own apartment, so if I needed anything, I could easily go back.
I left my work equipment there and only brought some clothes, a charger, and a small dagger just in case.
And my bike.
I changed the nameplate to a legal one in case fans would recognize the old name plate from the video from the doll-mask banner ad viewing.
After unpacking, we gathered back in the living room.
"Now then, is there anything you want to eat for dinner?" Chungwoo hyung asked, sitting on the couch.
"Galbi!" Eugene cheered.
"Jokbal!" Keun Sejin hyung added.
"We could do rock paper scissors," Moondae hyung suggested.
So we played a few rounds of that game, and Chungwoo hyung won. He decided that we would eat jjimdak tonight, and everyone looked content.
"Alright, then let's split up into two groups," the leader declared. "One team will go grocery shopping, and the other will cook. Who's good at cooking?"
I looked at Moondae hyung, who volunteered to cook right away. I wanted to say his food tastes good, but that would expose he stayed at my house in front of the cameras. I didn't mind, but I think he would.
"M-me too!" Ahyun hyung volunteered.
Raebin and Lee Sejin A also raised their hands.
I ended up joining the grocery shopping team with Keun Sejin hyung and Eugene.
"Hey Seungmin let's go!" Eugene shouted as he went to get a shopping cart. There were three large cameras following us around and people were whispering all around us. Some even followed.
"By the way, what's jjimdak?"
"Literally braised chicken," I translated to English.
"Oh!" Eugene smiled. "I can't wait to eat!"
I took the shopping cart from him.
"Hey, look," Sejin hyung called out further up the aisle, "I already see the chicken!"
Looking at the list I got from Moondae hyung, I muttered, "We also need potatoes, carrots, onions, chillies, glass noodles, mushrooms, green onion, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, honey, oyster sauce, minced garlic and ginger, sesame oil..."
"I can see Seungminnie's eyes swirling," hyung smirked.
We moved from the frozen meat section and into a sauce aisle.
People hastily moved out of the way for us when they saw our cameras.
"Soy sauce!"
"Here's the oyster sauce! And the sesame oil!"
I checked off the items on the list in my head one by one as they were thrown into the cart by the two others.
It took around 30 minutes to buy everything. The car ride back was also loud, but we safely dropped off the groceries in the apartment kitchen.
"I made sure we got everything," I smiled as I stood beside Moondae hyung. He rummaged through the bags and took out the chicken.
"Good job," he nodded, going on to the cutting board.
I lingered around in the living room with the two others as we waited, but there was a problem in the kitchen.
"S-s-sorry," Ahyun hyung hiccuped.
"...You have nothing to apologize for," Moondae hyung said monotonously.
In the end, Ahyun hyung ended up setting the table instead.
The cooking was almost done, so I helped him.
Apparently, he almost cut off his finger by using the knife incorrectly.
"T-thank you," Ahyun hyung muttered.
I nodded my head and sat down. Keun Sejin hyung and Eugene took the jjimdak from the kitchen to the table.
"It looks delicious," Raebin smiled.
"Right."
It was the first time I heard the child actor talk through the entire time.
We all scooped some jjimdak onto our plates, thanked Moondae hyung for the food, and began to eat.
I sipped the soup and smiled.
"It tastes good."
"The chicken is so soft," Ryu Chungwoo hyung also complimented.
"Should I learn how to cook, too?" Keun Sejin hyung grinned.
"I'm good at cooking," Eugene butted in.
"Oh, then you should've cooked!"
"But grocery shopping is better."
He smiled widely as others laughed. It was a good atmosphere.
When was the last time I sat at a full dinner table with happy people?
"That was good," the producer stated, bringing me back to the present. We were still eating.
The camera crew called a finish to their recording.
Everyone stood up and shouted, "Thank you for your hard work," as they packed their equipment.
I was glad we would have the apartment to ourselves now. It looked more spacious.
They left a claw machine in the living room as they withdrew, but no one looked at it until after dinner.
I washed the dishes with Chungwoo hyung in the kitchen.
"Hey, guys," he called out when Eugene and Raebin were nearing the machine, "don't touch the claw machine. They want us to pull one out tomorrow, not today."
At once, Eugene withdrew his hands from the controls with a hearty laugh and went into his room.
I put away the last cleaned dish onto the dishwasher rack to dry.
"Seungmin, do you want to wash up first?" Chungwoo hyung asked as he wiped his hands on a small towel.
Since there were 3 rooms and 3 bathrooms, those living in the same room would share the same bathroom. It was an unspoken rule that the oldest gets to wash up first unless he said otherwise.
I nodded my head and walked out the kitchen.
Moondae hyung came out of one of the other bathrooms.
"Oh, thanks for washing the dishes," he said.
"Are you going to sleep?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Alright, good night, Moondae hyung," I smiled as I went into my own bathroom.
And with that, day 1 of my idol life began.