Chapter 261

After that, I went back Pantheion’s dormitory first.

“Seungbeom-ssi, regardless of the situation, you can’t just cut off all contact. Everyone was really worried!”

And so, I had to spend my time sweating bullets, trying to make up an excuse for what had happened. Apparently, my disappearance had thrown the company into chaos, so I couldn’t just gloss over it.

Our manager, who was relatively weak-hearted, seemed to have been bedridden for almost two days straight due to stress after returning from the hotel. I felt quite guilty toward him and wanted to take care of him, but midway through, Han Seungbeom’s frail body also gave in to full-body muscle pain, leaving us both lying there—victim and perpetrator alike.

‘…I had a break of sorts, but my body is in terrible shape.’

It was true that I had been through so much that I hadn’t been able to get any real rest. However, in my original life, hadn’t I handled an even more grueling schedule? Even back then, I had rarely felt this physically drained, which once again made me realize just how weak Han Seungbeom’s body really was.

‘…Choi Jeokhyeon and the Prism members must have gone straight back to work as soon as they got back.’

The only saving grace was that it was just muscle pain, so at least my mind was working perfectly fine.

‘…If I can’t move my body, can’t I just work while lying down?’

Anyway, once I had started, my mind was completely occupied with the determination to end things beautifully. Unable to just lie still, I tried to crawl out of bed to grab my laptop.

But the moment I tried to lift myself like a zombie, I was effortlessly picked up like a bundle by Lee Hwayoung and mercilessly thrown back onto the bed.

“Stop doing unnecessary things and just stay still. Do you think I don’t know what’s going on in your head?”

I forgot to teach JackJack to respect his elders, and that turned out to be a very serious mistake.

“Hyung, at some point, I noticed that Nicholas-hyung stopped calling you ‘Han Seungbeom’ and started addressing you as ‘you’, so I thought something was weird … But I never imagined the two of you were having secret conversations behind our backs.”

“That’s chisapants, Mister Lee.” 1

“…Chisa, what?”

In the end, after being surrounded by Lee Hwayoung—who no longer seemed to have any intention of hiding that we had known each other before—and the whining Do Yuda and Zen, I focused on recovering. Only then was I finally able to start working.

‘…Heavy.’

As we lived together in the dorm again while preparing for the comeback, the fundamental question, “ So if you’re not Han Seungbeom, then who exactly are you? ”, was inevitably brought up. However, I firmly refused to answer.

“Don’t be curious. It’s obvious it’ll just make things uncomfortable for both of us.”

Putting aside my feelings, to be brutally honest, my identity was a story that ‘ wouldn’t benefit anyone by digging into it .’

If my age wasn’t much different from the Pantheion members or if Korea wasn’t so sensitive about seniority, it might have been fine. But that wasn’t the reality. If there was even the slightest chance that the members would feel uncomfortable with me, I had no intention of revealing my identity until the end of Pantheion’s contract, no matter what.

‘The members might not even believe my true identity, and unlike Prism, Pantheion has a bit of a naive side … my information could be leaked to Kang Hyukwoo or Lim Seunghoon.’

There was an underlying reason for my refusal to reveal my identity, but … well, since it would likely upset the Pantheion members quite a bit, I decided to just keep it to myself.

“…Prism-sunbaenims know your true identity, don’t they? And Nicholas’s uncle too?”

“So, doesn’t that mean you were someone who had a deep connection with them?”

The Pantheion members—especially the hyung line , Woo Kangwon and Baek Kiryang, who tended to overthink things—seemed to have mixed feelings about my identity. Because of that, those two appeared somewhat uneasy around me. But since I had chosen to keep my mouth shut, they could only suspect, not be certain.

“If I didn’t hear it directly from you, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything, hyung. I won’t jump to conclusions on my own either. After all, unless you’re the person in question, no amount of thinking will ever make things perfectly clear.”

“I believe that you cherish us, hyung. I’m sure there’s a reason you’re not telling us. So, I’ll wait until you’re ready.”

In a way, Lee Danbi seemed to be trying to trust me based on the strong bond of trust we had built so far. But at the same time, it also felt like he was shutting out any thoughts about things he couldn’t solve right now to avoid unnecessary stress.

“Hyung, hyung, the manager said we might get cast in a new program, but he won’t tell us what it is until the meeting. Can’t you just eavesdrop and let us know, hyung?”

“No. It’s not an ability I can use without limits.”

Ah, fools were just fools.

“It’s faster to just make the manager spill the info. Once he gets in the elevator, it’s over.”

“No, don’t do that. Don’t bother the manager. We have a comeback soon, you just have to be a little more patient.”

Sometimes, watching these excessively simple-minded guys made me worry, but at times like this, when their simplicity allowed them to adapt flexibly to situations, I realized it wasn’t so bad after all.

“…Aren’t you guys tired?”

“Nope. Hyung, I want to eat spicy stir-fried pork.”

“Nagi Zen likes sushi.”

“Ha…….”

Dealing with Do Yuda and Nagi Zen, who had followed me all the way to the studio and were chattering nonstop, made me feel utterly drained. With Choi Jeokhyeon or Prism, they would often cause trouble behind my back and then walk out with shameless expressions. But with Pantheion, I constantly had to say “ No ” with my mouth, so it seemed like I needed a little more time to get used to it.

Just as I was thinking that, I got a text from Choi Jeokhyeon.

[Young Master 1: I’m ready. I’ll come to pick you up soon.]

After sending back a ‘Got it ‘, I rubbed my face dry to combat the sudden wave of fatigue. Just then, Do Yuda, who had been sitting beside me on his phone, held out his phone to me with sparkling eyes.

“Hyung, have you seen this?”

What he showed me was a short video uploaded to an entertainment news channel on NeoTube.

[Han Seungbeom’s Younger Brother Who Looks Exactly Like Him WOW]

The title itself was a bad omen, and as expected, the video showed a series of images: a photo of Han Seungbeom’s face, Han Jaewoon’s profile picture, and a clip of Han Jaewoon from the final episode of Survive IDOL, all accompanied by a narration promoting Han Jaewoon’s debut project.

“SNS is already in an uproar! Everyone is talking about Han Seungbeom’s younger brother !”

‘It seems Han Jaewoon’s company is deliberately promoting him this way.’

My displeasure spread instantly at their obvious tactic.

“Our Jaewoon, Han Jaewoon. He’s Seungbeom’s younger brother. Say hello to your older brother.”

“I’ll work hard too, so that I can stand in front of the camera like you and achieve my dream. Congratulations on your debut, and let’s make sure our bond never changes.”

After all that desperate struggling to get his face on camera, it seemed like he finally got what he was after.

Well, Han Jaewoon neither had exceptional talent for academics nor the perseverance or determination to cling desperately to something he lacked talent in. So if he was going to change direction, perhaps the sooner, the better. But I couldn’t understand why, of all things, he had chosen to pursue a career as an entertainer.

…No, actually, I did understand.

‘He doesn’t want to study, probably thinks that he’s never going to be as successful as he or his parents want him to be, and after seeing me, he must’ve thought he could easily make it as a celebrity too. I guess you could say his head was filled with unrealistic expectations 2 because of me.’

“Oooh, Nagi, sushi. Mini udon.”

“Hyung, did you know about this too? You didn’t say a word, so I only found out through SNS! Whoa, amazing! He got cast in a project with really famous actors. I’ve been looking forward to this one since I’m a fan of Gong Ayeon-sunbaenim!”

While Zen, completely uninterested in Han Jaewoon, buried his head in his phone, scrolling through a delivery app, Do Yuda had already searched for the project’s title and let out a loud shriek. I glanced at his phone and saw that the cast was indeed full of prominent lead actors.

‘Han Jaewoon probably isn’t skilled enough yet to take on a proper role.’

It seemed like his role wasn’t significant enough for his acting skills hinder the production, but it was still useful for promotional purposes.

‘Did they cast him just to capitalize on my popularity?’

The casting team wasn’t stupid, so they probably calculated Han Jaewoon’s value before deciding to cast him. I doubt that Han Jaewoon himself was aware of that fact. Of course, unlike her indecisive and foolish husband or her lazy son, Han Jaewoon’s mother has a cunning side, so she most likely realized it.

‘It’s probably thanks to that woman Han Jaewoon was able to make his debut this quickly.’

“Hyung, I’m sorry, but honestly, I don’t think you and this guy look alike at all. I see some comments saying he’s handsome because he looks like you, but…….”

“Most of them are probably paid commenters. They’re just trying to ride on my fame, so don’t pay any attention to it.”

“Huuuuuh?”

Do Yuda, who had been confronted with the dark reality of Han Seungbeom’s home at an unexpected time, looked up at the ceiling with a dumbfounded expression. After a long pause, he mechanically muttered, “Oh … I see”, before curling up, burying his head against Zen’s back, and mumbling to himself like a madman.

“…Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Please tell me I didn’t. Are you not on good terms with your family, hyung? Am I the only one who didn’t know? Didn’t you just get angry last time because we contacted someone else’s family? Hyung, are you angry right now?”

“The delivery fee for the spicy stir-fried pork is 5,800 won.”

“Not that, you fool! … But why is it so expensive!”

I just shook my head and slowly leaned back in my chair as I silently watched the two idiots’ banter.

To be honest, the sharp reaction I showed in front of the members last time was because I wasn’t in the right state of mind at the time, and because I felt guilty toward Han Seungbeom’s aunt , who loved him. So, in reality, I didn’t particularly care about Han Seungbeom’s family.

‘If I were to react just because they mentioned my name, it’d be awkward in its own way. Given that this trick is commonplace, I guess I should give them credit for putting in the effort to be just subtle enough that it’s hard to call them out on it.’

So, I wasn’t insanely furious just because I was being used for their marketing.

But right now, I just felt a little bitter.

Because this incident made me realize just how insignificant Han Seungbeom was to that family.

“…….”

Han Jaewoon’s parents didn’t take any special action even after being notified that Han Seungbeom was missing. Their basic attitude was simply, ‘ If we leave him alone, he’ll come back eventually .’

‘They’re no different from Dalli’s parents … Han Seungbeom didn’t do anything wrong.’

Since I was already aware of that, I never bothered to contact Han Jaewoon’s father or mother even after returning to the dorm.

But look at the situation now.

They were busy trying to fill their own bowls, without properly checking on Han Seungbeom’s safety.

In the end, the only people in this world who truly worried about Han Seungbeom were his aunt and me.

“Ugh.”

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I felt a dull, aching pain in my chest.

At that, I hunched my shoulders slightly, then gently cupped Han Seungbeom’s neck with my palm and muttered under my breath.

‘…It’s okay. I’m here.’

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Translator’s Corner:

I remember someone commented wondering how could Seungbeom stay with Yutae without his family knowing … well, the correct answer: they didn’t know. They just let him ran away from home, and thought, “he will come back sooner or later”. Most likely with his power he stayed with Yutae most of the time, and came back from time to time to not make his aunt worry.

Ugh, I seriously dislike it when siblings of popular idols debut solely thanks to their siblings’ popularity …… like, of course it’s up to each other family. More celebrities, the better. But recently, there’s this case of Danielle of NJZ’s sister made a debut as a singer, and yes … her debut has an issue, and quite a serious one. And, of course all the attacks and malicious comments for it are directed at Danielle (since let’s be honest, the only reason people tune in to her sister debut is because her popularity) (Honestly, I’m still baffled about this. Your sister is currently battling a legal matter, but you decided to make a debut … and cause an additional trouble…….). This is why most of idol family are really acting lowkey. Because their fault will become the said popular celebrity’s fault too. Even if you don’t become a celebrity, if you became known to the fans, they will keep their eye on you too. I think ? most foreigner idols’s family is more open (?) to their child/sibling’s celebrity status. Maybe because they didn’t directly live in Korea so the culture is different … or maybe it’s the difference of having your sibling as your nation’s celebrity and other country’s celebrity.

Anyway, I experimented with my laptop today and ys, it’s 100% overheating issue

Ah, yes, we now wrapped up the very long previous arc and moved to a pretty funny new arc. No angst ^^ just happiness ^^

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