"Huh, huh."
In the end, I burst into tears and couldn't take the bus or subway, so I chose to walk home from the park. I gave meaning to my crying, saying that it was natural for a person who used to cry and laugh just by seeing Seon-jae on TV in the living room to cry when he saw Seon-jae right in front of him, started talking to him, and made eye contact.
As I was walking and sniffling, a cigarette butt flew in front of my feet. When I frowned and turned my head, the man standing in front of the convenience store looked at me with wide eyes and a surprised face. It seemed as if a cigarette had been thrown out without any thought and landed in front of me.
"sorry."
The man bowed his head. 'Well, let's be careful,' I was about to say, but there was a familiar face. Cooking oil for potato pancakes, Woo Hyeon-seong.
When I sobbed and looked up, Woo Hyun-seong opened his eyes even wider, probably thinking that I was crying because of him, and asked, "Are you crying?" he asked. Then he came in front of me and picked up the cigarette butt at my feet.
"I didn't know anyone was coming."
Woo Hyun-seong was two years older than Seon-jae. He also had bad rumors about his past. It was all a women's problem.
When the woman he met around this time ended their relationship with Woo Hyun-seong after his debut, she shared a photo of them together on the Internet, causing fans to say, 'This is someone who looks like my brother, isn't he?' There was an uproar. In the end, it was concluded that it was a similar person. Looking at her face now, it's definitely Woo Hyeon-seong. In fact, all the fans knew it too. It's Woo Hyun-seong.
"hey."
"yes?"
Woo Hyun-sung always responded with polite language to me, who was wearing a school uniform.
Woo Hyun-seong was Seon-jae's roommate. He was an older brother that Seonjae followed well. The last photo of Seonjae posted on Instagram was also taken by Woo Hyunseong. Since we met like this, I thought it would be good to prevent Woo Hyun-seong's controversy. Because of that photo, many of Woo Hyun-sung's fans switched to other groups.
"I am, actually, serving General God."
"yes?"
Woo Hyun-seong raised his eyebrows as if he couldn't understand.
"God, God. General Shin said just now that she wants to quickly get rid of the woman she is seeing. "She will bring anger."
Woo Hyun-seong took a step back, as if he was a little scared.
"Really. "If you don't want to create noise in a celebrity's life, you have to sort it out."
This time, Woo Hyun-seong took a step closer with a brave face.
"I don't accept rewards."
I nodded, lowered my head, and walked away. Then she stopped in her tracks, unable to take a few steps. When I looked back, Woo Hyun-seong was frozen with a surprised face.
"There must be a good-looking dog dealer around you who is two years younger than you, and he's about 184 cm tall... ... Please take good care of it. "If you feel like you're having trouble sleeping, I'll just read a book next to you."
Woo Hyun-seong raised his shoulders, swept his arms, and looked around. It seemed like he was looking around to see if he could see the general. I nodded my head at him as if asking for a favor and turned around.
"Oppa" from behind. A voice was heard calling Woo Hyun-seong. I kept walking without looking back. It was Woo Hyun-seong's choice to end up with the woman I'm seeing now or not, but I hope that Woo Hyun-seong will remember my last words.
"Uh, but... ... ."
I stopped walking and looked back.
"What I just said also happened in the future. A voice came out. "Why can't I say this?"
Woo Hyun-seong was walking away with the woman.
□ ■ □
During cleaning time, several children took out pouches and gathered at the back of the classroom to decorate their faces. I drew eyeliner and applied mascara to my eyelashes. Everyone had hair rolls in their bangs. It looked busy as if there was an important event taking place.
As I put my foot in the garbage bag and stepped on it, I stopped listening to the children's conversation.
"Hey, if you go today, are you going to hang out with your brother's friends?"
"maybe?"
"Wow, Mr. "I heard the kids at Jagam High School are all good-looking, so I'm really looking forward to it."
Jagam High School? While holding the garbage bag with both hands and shoving my feet in, my head gradually tilted towards the children.
"There's a rumor that the girl watching the show today is really cute."
"What's your name?"
"Was it Heonjin?"
"omg. "Isn't he Kim Ja-eun's ex-boyfriend?"
The body was completely tilted along with the garbage bag. It wasn't even a whisper, but the reason I leaned in to listen more closely was because what I was curious about wasn't clearly stated.
"Hey, then the envelope will be punctured."
"uh?"
I straightened my heavily tilted body and turned my head. Eunhee came into the classroom holding a mop and glanced at my feet. "Oh, I see." He said and took his foot out of the garbage bag.
"Hey, is it Jagam High School's festival today?"
"huh. "They said so."
Eunhee went to the window with a mop and turned the mop upside down. I saw water droplets dripping onto the classroom floor. I almost missed this important day. Eunhee taps my shoulder.
"Quickly leave it behind. "The bell will ring soon."
"Thank you, Eunhee. "I'll throw it away quickly."
I grabbed a trash bag and left the classroom. On my way to throw away the trash, have my steps ever been so light?
Seonjae's festival video had a high number of views. It was a famous video of a good-looking kid raising his high notes, but the notes were smooth and never out of tune. The downside was that the person filming the video kept muttering to himself.
Anyone can go to the festival and it is a place where many people gather, so I didn't think I would have to worry about running into Seonjae. I was excited to sit down in a place that wasn't cluttered and listen to Seonjae's song. She jumped up and down, thinking that she should buy binoculars at the stationery store in front of the school.
As I put down the trash bag and turned around, my cell phone in my pocket vibrated. It wasn't a saved number, but I could tell it was Seonjae just by looking at the last digit.
[Sol.]
For a moment, my heart sank. 'Sol.' Even though it was my name, it felt unfamiliar, as if it was someone else's name.
[hi. what's the matter?]
[what are you doing? Are you thinking about your brother?]
... ... what. This unexpected and incongruous line.
My face was increasingly filled with questions as I held my cell phone and read the incoming messages over and over again. No matter how you look at it, this is not Seonjae's speaking style. Seonjae did not say things like oppa or older brother to his young fans. I always told Seo Yoon-jae, "I'll do it for you, I did it, but please listen to me," but I didn't say, "My brother did the same."
However, there was one member who said something like that. Yoonjae, what did your brother say? Didn't he tell you not to take your socks off upside down and put them out? I think my brother always said that it would be difficult to clean if he ate snacks on the sofa. The person who did it.
[Baek Inhyuk?]
I sent a message and waited for a reply. I saw some students bring garbage bags, and others leave them behind and leave empty-handed. My cell phone vibrated.
[no. I am Seonjae. Why does Inhyuk's name appear? Does Inhyuk like it?]
My face suddenly crumpled. Anyone can see that it's Baek In-hyuk. Are you kidding me? There's someone who guesses Seonjae's part even before each member's part is revealed. Just by looking at the picture of the clouds uploaded to Instagram and the sentence 'Have a nice day, everyone' left below it, I can guess that the person who posted this post is Seonjae.
[Ryu Seon-jae's favorite Deb show.]
I put my phone in my pocket and walked away. As I entered the building and climbed the stairs, I received a reply.
[Wow, that's hot. Do you have any plans today?]
[No, there isn't one. What's going on? Why do you have Seonjae's cell phone? How much does Seonjae value batteries? Why don't you give it back quickly?]
[LOL, how did you know that?]
How to know. I know because I'm a fan. Seon-jae had a lot of secrets, and he once said that he always carried an auxiliary battery with him and turned on low-power mode as soon as he left the dorm in the morning.
[Today is our school festival. Seonjae is singing a song. This is an opportunity to jump on my back.]
I already knew that it was a festival through conversations among the kids in the class. I was already planning to go secretly, but since Baek In-hyuk personally told me, I think I'm done with going without Seon-jae knowing.
[Oh, is it a festival?]
[huh. See you later. I'm going to return the phone to Seonjae, so don't reply.]
I haven't told you I'm going yet. Of course I will go. But why do I have to see you later?
I closed the message window, thinking about the phone that would have been returned to Seonjae. The stage that I had only seen on video was taking place today. A real stage that you can see with your own eyes, not through a monitor.
The video was ruined because someone kept muttering something during filming, but now you can listen to the song without that muttering sound. A stage where you can adjust the angle and zoom out, using your own eyes as a lens. Without realizing it, the corners of my mouth went up and I smiled and entered the classroom.
□ ■ □
On the way to Jagam High School, there were many students on the bus today. It seemed like they were all students going to see the festival.
I opened my bag and checked the binoculars I bought at the stationery store. I wanted to take it out and see how well it could be seen, but I couldn't bring myself to take it out because I thought he would look at it and say, "Hey, he's going to some school festival with binoculars." I wondered why I didn't bring a ladder, but since this was the stage of student Seonjae, not celebrity Seonjae, binoculars were too much.
I dabbed my dry lips and looked at the students on the bus. Everyone had heavy makeup like a new bride. I saw my face reflected in the window. I searched my pockets, wondering if I should have put something on my lips. All I could put on my mouth was lip balm.
... ... Tsk.
I looked out the window with a sad face.