Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 118
Woojoo felt his body stiffen as if he had locked eyes with Medusa.
“…”
Mrs. Kim Deoksoon was standing with her smartphone in her hand, and the families of Bijoo, Junghyun, Jiho, and Rihyuk’s brother were there.
They all had faces that wondered how to react.
This was so embarrassing.
Woojoo didn’t know whether to act like nothing happened or to laugh.
Then Bijoo came into the practice room with a light step and a sense of humor.Jiho and Junghyun followed suit.
Bijoo said to the families who were laughing at Rihyuk dancing a dance of unknown nationality, “You must be surprised. We play like this every day.”
The awkward atmosphere quickly turned into a friendly one.
When Woojoo mouthed a thank you to Bijoo, he gave him a light smile. Rihyuk, who had turned red, whispered to Woojoo, “You owe me one.”
“I’ll buy you a good vacuum cleaner.”
Woojoo decided as he watched him leave with a chic expression.
Woojoo should buy him the Hello Kitty vacuum cleaner he saw on the internet.
“Mom! Dad!”
“Sister!”
Meanwhile, family reunions were taking place in the practice room.
Woojoo also ran up to Mrs. Kim Deoksoon and hugged her tightly.
“Grandma!”
“Oh my, I can’t breathe. How long have you been away that you’re making such a fuss?”
“Ah, I missed you so much, Grandma.”
“Baloney. If you missed me, you would have contacted me. Lately, you’ve been…”
She went on and on, but Woojoo didn’t care.
Woojoo curled up and hugged her tightly, feeling warm and fuzzy.
A warm energy flowed through his body.
He felt his tear ducts moisten without realizing it.
Woojoo hadn’t gone through any big hardships, but it felt like the emotional barriers he had built up melted away with one hug.
“Grandma, I missed you so much.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, I’m so happy. Grandma smells good and is warm.”
“Oh, I forgot about this. I was going to take this off and throw it away, but I forgot because of that weird dance.”
“…”
Woojoo blinked as he watched her slip her hand under her clothes and peel off a hot pack from her stomach, then he quickly covered her with his body so no one else could see.
“Why are you wearing a hot pack?”
“Last time I saw, Seoul people have no middle ground between cold and hot. On the way here, the bus was blasting cold air, and if it weren’t for this, my stomach would have frozen solid.”
She asked Woojoo if he wanted one, but he declined.
Woojoo hugged her again, finding her chirping adorable.
“Are you mad at me for hugging you?”
“Yes, I’m very mad. I’ve been waiting for months to hug you, Grandma.”
“…Oh, you’re crazy.”
She said that, but she patted his back.
Woojoo felt good.
Woojoo was bigger now, but it felt like he had gone back to his childhood when he hugged her.
He fit snugly in her arms, just like he did back then.
Woojoo closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling.
He felt it again, he loved his grandma more than anyone in the world.
***
The members’ families had planned to visit for Chuseok two weeks ago.
It was a special order from the boss for them who couldn’t go home.
The barbecue restaurant they were going to eat together in the evening, and the hotel room Woojoo was going to sleep with his grandma later.
He felt a surge of gratitude.
While Seokhwan Hyung left to make a reservation for the barbecue restaurant, Woojoo showed the members’ families around the company facilities.
“This is our studio.”
The families were amazed by the recording booth and various devices that only appeared on TV.
Junghyun’s father, who was bulky, tapped on the glass.
“This is sturdy, is it bulletproof?”
“…Dad, don’t ask that,” Junghyun said with a stern face, holding his mother’s hand.
“Of course it’s bulletproof.”
“Is that so? As expected, the entertainment company that leads the cutting-edge IT era is different. Hahaha!”
He used to be a wrestler, but now he was a cooperative leader in the region.
He had a potbelly like the ones you saw in old paintings of the richest merchants, but it had been a long time since Woojoo felt such a pressure from someone.
His voice was so pleasant that the glass shook every time he laughed heartily.
“Hey, don’t be so rude.”
“Hmph.”
But he seemed to be helpless against Junghyun’s mother.
“Mom, this is the thing that comes out on TV. It’s amazing. Honey, I’m going in there, so take a picture for me.”
“Do you want to stand with Biyeon?”
Bijoo’s family was as usual.
His mother was friendly and had a warm conversation with Woojoo’s grandmother, and his father was still sweet.
The mothers who saw that asked their husbands to take pictures for them, but they frowned at the response that they didn’t need to take such things.
Woojoo could see the fathers getting into trouble later.
“Hello, Minjun.”
“Hello, Woojoo Hyung.”
Woojoo bent his knees and looked into the eyes of Kim Minjun, who greeted him with his belly.
Then Woojoo asked with a smile, “Are you ready to go to school this year?”
“Um. No. My body is recovering slower than I thought, so I have to wait until next year.”
“Oh, dear…”
Oh, no. He got it from Maxi.
Woojoo corrected himself by tapping his mouth.
“That’s too bad. You must have been looking forward to it.”
“But I’ll get healthier and go. By then, my hair will grow more and I’ll escape from being bald.”
“Yeah, Minjun’s hair will grow well.”
“But, Woojoo Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
Kim Minjun whispered with his hand over his mouth, “I saw a picture in the hallway earlier, but is the President here sick too?”
“The President? Oh…”
Woojoo burst into laughter at the sight of Kim Minjun pointing to his head.
Then Woojoo heard a voice.
Oh, really.
He shouldn’t laugh at things like this, but he let it slip in a moment of carelessness.
“Well, the President is not like that. He’s naturally losing his… Oh, what am I saying, Woojoo. Minjun, forget what I said.”
“Oh, he’s just bald.”
“Minjun, you shouldn’t say that.”
It was a soft but stern voice that Woojoo thought was Bijoo’s, but it wasn’t.
It was his sister, who had the same eyes as him.
Woojoo greeted her politely right away.
Her name was Kim Biyeon. She was Bijoo’s older sister who was much older than him, and she was working as a tutor at an academy.
“We met once at the year-end evaluation, right?”
“Yes, it’s been a while.”
“I often hear from my brother how great you are. Thank you so much for what you did last time.”
“It’s nothing.”
She bowed her head slightly.
Woojoo had a feeling he knew where Bijoo got his polite manners from.
“Oh, the interior here is so beautiful.”
Jiho’s mother, who came dressed elegantly, looked around with sparkling eyes like a girl.
Then she asked Woojoo, “Who did this? It’s so pretty.”
“From the wallpaper to the cushions, Bijoo did everything.”
“Oh my, I thought you hired a professional company, but it was done by a member. Amazing.”
“Yes, and…”
“Hyung!”
His explanation was cut off by the youngest who suddenly barged in. Jiho, who hugged his mother from behind, smiled brightly.
“Isn’t our mom pretty?”
“Uh, she’s very graceful…”
“Really? You think mom is pretty? I think my son is the prettiest in the world.”
Then they giggled and chatted away, while Woojoo just blinked his eyes.
After clinging to his mother for a while, the youngest introduced Woojoo to his sisters.
“Hyung! These are our sisters.”
“Hello.”
Woojoo had an awkward conversation with the three sisters who kept brushing their hair.
Then Jiho introduced Woojoo to his father.
“This is our dad. What do you think? Am I more handsome?”
“You little…”
“Still, I love my dad the most in our family. He has a lot of money, and he’s cool when he yells at work on the phone.”
“Don’t go around swearing, you brat.”
His father said that, but he looked like he didn’t know what to do with his cute son.
“Anyway, nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He handed Woojoo a business card that said ‘(CEO) Wang Hyuntak of HC’.
HC stood for HoHo Chicken.
His father whispered to Woojoo, “I have a knack for spotting people who will become famous, and I have a good feeling about you. Do you have any interest in shooting an ad?”
“Dad, don’t say weird things! Ugh, Woojoo Hyung, don’t listen to him.”
His father reluctantly followed their youngest with a disappointed face.
This was crazy.
Woojoo looked around the studio filled with people, looking for someone who was not visible.
Then someone tapped his arm from behind.
It was Rihyuk and his sister.
“This is my sister, Seo Yein.”
“Hello.”
She looked remarkably similar to Rihyuk in her facial features.
She said she was in middle school, but she was almost as tall as Rihyuk…
‘If you mention height, I’ll kill you.’
…said the angry parrot behind him.
As Seo Yein turned her head away from his gaze, Rihyuk smiled brightly.
What was that smile?
It was a sight Woojoo had never seen before, and the other siblings looked dumbfounded.
Woojoo soon found out the reason.
While they were chatting about Rihyuk, the other person grabbed his arm and flashed a bright smile.
“Our Oppa is really nice, right?” she asked.
“Uh… yes.” Woojoo replied.
In more ways than one.
“Really, I’ve never seen anyone as nice as our Oppa,” she continued.
“Oh, yes…” Woojoo agreed.
From afar, Junghyun rubbed his ears as if he had heard something wrong.
Then he got scolded by his mom for not letting go of his finger.
“Rihyuk is really nice,” Woojoo said.
As Woojoo did, something came to his mind. He approached Rihyuk with a grin, making him flinch.
Then Woojoo gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Normally, he would have glared at Woojoo and slapped him away, saying ‘don’t touch me’. But now he was trembling at the corners of his mouth.
Yes, this was it.
Woojoo smiled brightly and said, “He really accepts whatever we do. He’s really nice. He doesn’t even act like he hates anything. Right?”
“…Uh, yes.” He nodded.
“That’s right. Rihyuk Hyung is the world’s strongest with his kindness,” the youngest chimed in.
“When I went out a few days ago, I borrowed a T-shirt from Rihyuk Hyung’s closet and wore it,” he added.
“Uh, I didn’t know that. It’s the first time I hear it,” Woojoo said.
“But this Hyung is really too generous. If he were a bad-tempered and prickly person, he would have cursed and made a fuss. Right?” he asked.
“Yes. Our Oppa is really nice,” she agreed.
She said she couldn’t see him often because she lived in America. Was that why she thought of him as a unicorn-like being?
Woojoo thought Rihyuk hated it when his siblings talked about him, but he was just a normal guy.
Junghyun also joined in. “Yes. Rihyuk is really nice. I once lay down on Rihyuk’s bed as soon as I came back from going out,” he confessed.
“…What, what did you say?” Rihyuk gasped.
“But he forgave me,” Junghyun said.
As they took this opportunity to confess their sins, Bijoo also joined in.
“It would be perfect if he ate well here,” he said.
“Our Oppa doesn’t eat?” she asked.
“No, he eats so little that I worry sometimes. Look at him now, his bones are so thin,” he said.
“My bones are naturally thin. Hyung,” Rihyuk protested.
“…You should eat more to grow taller. Ah, what a pity,” he sighed.
Seo Yein’s eyes turned to Rihyuk. Rihyuk laughed and said, “I didn’t have an appetite. I’ll eat well.”
“Yeah? You’ll eat well?” he asked.
“…Uh, yes, Hyung,” he said.
Bijoo gave him a sly smile and held out his pinky finger to Rihyuk.
“Should we make a promise then?”
“…Hyung, I’m eighteen.”
“Promise me you’ll eat well from now on.”
Woojoo swallowed a laugh as he saw him trembling his lips and hooking his finger with his.
Jiho whispered to Woojoo, “I have to get that kid’s number later.”
“I totally agree.”
Woojoo smiled as he looked at Rihyuk, who was shivering.
***
They had some personal time until dinner, so Woojoo went to a department store near Mrs. Kim Deoksoon’s place.
A bright women’s clothing store.
Woojoo walked around the place full of mannequins and looked for some decent shops.
“Oh my, you’re so absent-minded.”
“Grandma, this is just the beginning. After buying clothes, I’ll buy shoes, and after shoes, I’ll buy cosmetics. There’s a lot to buy.”
“Isn’t that too much?”
“I’m rich now.”
Woojoo hadn’t received the income from the Fireworks and the Night Sea songs yet, but he could afford this much with Something alone.
He entered a shop and pointed at a hanger with a luxury coat on it.
“I can buy everything from here to the end. So, see if there’s anything you like.”
As Mrs. Kim Deoksoon carefully rummaged through the coats, Woojoo asked the clerk next to him with a confident face, “That coat in the middle is pretty, how much is it?”
“We’re having a promotion right now because of the event. If you get a 30% discount from there…”
The other person tapped the calculator in her head.
“Eight hundred and ninety… You can think of it as 900,000 won.”
“Oh, really?”
Woojoo called Mrs. Kim Deoksoon.
“…Grandma, the plan has changed. I can’t do it from the end to the end, but I can do about four in the middle part.”
The clerk covered her mouth and laughed.
As his grandmother was choosing clothes, the other person seemed curious about who he was.
“Are you a model?”
“No, I’m a singer.”
“Oh.”
“I’m an idol, and if you type ‘Woojoo’ there, you’ll see the real universe with stars flying around. You have to search for ‘New Black’.”
Woojoo also promoted our group.
He told her to watch them on Around the World With Dice later that night, and then he looked for his grandmother.
She was hesitating in a corner of the hanger.
“You like that one, don’t you?”
“No, it’s not that I like it, but it seems to have some functionality, and the fur is a bit luxurious… Oh, never mind. I can’t do this. I’m an old granny living off my grandson’s blood.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Woojoo took out the coat she was looking at.
It was light, and the material and lining were good.
As expected.
It was the most expensive outfit in the store.
But he didn’t want to make her feel pressured by the price, so he handed the clothes to the clerk without saying anything.
Then Woojoo grabbed her hand.
“Don’t you like anything else? You need at least two sets for the winter. Otherwise, people will say, ‘Oh, poor grandma, she only has one outfit.’”
“No.”
“This is your last chance, Grandma.”
“Well… I liked that one over there.”
She spoke in a voice that was barely audible, like an ant crawling in. Woojoo smiled as he looked at her.
Then he told the clerk, “Please give me this one and that one.”
“Hey, Woojoo.”
“Hmm?”
“Can I have that hat too…?”
“The fur hat? You’ll look like General Kim Jwajin if you wear that.”
“…”
“I’ll buy it for you. I’ll buy it for you.”
In the end, two coats and a hat were packed in a shopping bag.
Woojoo felt happy.
She looked so happy holding that heavy bag.
Something rose up in his chest without him noticing.
He bought expensive things for Grandma. He made it.
It would be perfect if he gave her the travel voucher later.
That was what he was thinking, when as soon as they left the store, a dark cloud settled on Kim Deoksoon’s face.
It was as if it started raining in the garden that was full of sunshine until a moment ago.
Maybe she came to her senses after splurging for the first time in decades, she asked Woojoo with a face full of guilt, “But Woojoo.”
“Yeah.”
“Is this okay for me to do?”
“What?”
“I mean, this is the money you earned by working your ass off… If I spend it all like this, this is… Oh, I’m crazy. I should return this right now.”
“You can’t return it in Seoul, Grandma.”
“Who do you think you’re fooling? You’re talking nonsense. Stop it and return this quickly…”
“Grandma.”
Woojoo grabbed her shoulder and said, “You can buy this.”
“…”
“Why are you crying all of a sudden?”
Kim Deoksoon wiped her eyes that were filled with tears with her hand.
His heart ached. What was money for?
“I’m sorry…”
“Stop crying, Grandma. Okay?”
Woojoo felt like crying too, but he held it in and comforted her for a long time.
She nodded at the question of whether she would stop crying, and took his grandmother to the elevator with a sigh.
“Let’s go look for some shoes now.”
“…Uh, Woojoo.”
“Yeah?”
“My feet have been hurting lately…”
“I’ll buy you some with good cushioning, very expensive ones.”
His grandmother coughed and looked away.
She seemed embarrassed by her own words.
Woojoo’s eyes had been fixed on her shoes for a while.
Shoes that were covered in dirt and worn out.
“Wait a minute.”
They had been rattling since earlier, so Woojoo crouched down and fastened the buckles properly.
“Stop wearing these shoes.”
“They say it’s not good to change shoes often.”
“Who says that? Some health show on TV?”
“The monk.”
“…I told you that temple is weird.”
“No. The monk is wise.”
That was a strange thing to say from the start.
When the topic of superstition came up, their superstitious enthusiast spoke up.
“By the way, didn’t I tell you I had my fortune read by the monk again? He asked me how you were doing.”
“What?”
“He said you have great luck coming.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, he said a huge dragon has entered. You’ve been doing well so far, but you’ll do much better from now on. He said you’ll be very lucky from now on. Didn’t you say you were making a song?”
“Yeah, I’m releasing an album in November.”
“November?”
“Why?”
“That’s strange, he said your luck would start from this month.”
“Really? I don’t have anything like that.”
Maybe some good opportunity would come.
His grandmother kept talking about this and that, but he didn’t feel much interest as he didn’t believe in superstitions.
It wasn’t that important anyway.
There was something else that filled his mind.
Success.
It was no longer just a wishful thinking that their next album would do well, but a craving for material success.
Woojoo made up his mind as he looked at those worn-out shoes.
Their next album.
He had to make it properly and make it a success.