Chapter 382

Epilogue (3)

Seeing Lee Hwayoung fuming beyond the cameras made me belatedly remember the phone that had been ringing nonstop for hours. He kept messaging me about when he would arrive, and I’m pretty sure I replied with the same “ Okay, travel safely ” about three times. No way, did he mean he actually wanted me to pick him up? His managers are there, and I’m sure our company staff went out to greet him properly, so why should I?

— LOL, the kitty’s absolutely furious. He’s like, what were you doing that you didn’t come pick me up, Uncle~~!~!

— He had quite a temper even as a kid, and it looks like he grew up just the same

└ How do you even know what he was like as a kid?

└ Seo Yutae showed it on a livestream

└ Wait, how does Seo Yutae even know that?

└ He’s really close with Nihwalee’s uncle. When he was little, his uncle would often bring him along to Prism concerts too ( Seo Yutae kissing little Nicholas on the cheek on stage.jpg ) He didn’t bring it up during the survival show, but when people asked, he confirmed that it was him

— I really hate seeing him call a great senior by their first name like that. It’s so rude

└ For real, keep cussing out Nicholas like thar and Seo Yutae might just kill you;;

└ Whether you like it or not, he doesn’t give a damn, so it’s better for your mental health if you just ignore it

It hadn’t even been long since the news came out, but countless clips of the earlier scene were flooding social media, dominating the trending keywords in real time. And that wasn’t all. Excited fans were digging up old photos and videos, like pictures of me holding Lee Hwayoung in the pool and a video of little Lee Hwayoung bursting into tears the moment any Prism member touched him in the waiting room. These were now everywhere on SNS and across various online communities.

— Absolutely terrifying facts:

1. Seo Yutae hasn’t aged at all.

2. That baby cat grew up into a huge, muscular guy over 180 cm tall.

3. And. Even. So. He’s. Still. Craving Seo Yutae’s affection.

└ The truly terrifying part is that Seo Yutae still sees him as a real baby

‘Ah, my goodness.’

Besides, Lee Hwayoung was so well-known overseas that the trending keywords seemed to have reached international audiences as well. Do foreigners … normally speak so bluntly? Reading some of their posts, which were a bit hard to follow, I started to question whether those people were truly all adults.

— Ah, if they start eye-tracking me, my social reputation would be ruined. But seriously, hear me out, the hamburger…

— I was looking at pictures of Seo Yutae’s photos for an hour, and then my mom came in and started watching a R-rated movie. Whew.

└ You crazy bastard LOLOLOLOL

— Anyone want to be mutuals on private account?

— Wow, look at those arms. Hell yeah, that’s real a man right there

No, domestic fans don’t seem to be all that different either.

My mind was spinning from reading the reactions, so I squeezed my eyes shut, and right then my phone buzzed with another notification. It was a message from the staff in charge of picking up Nicholas, saying that he would be arriving at the concert venue’s waiting room soon.

There was also a photo attached. When I clicked on it, I saw Lee Hwayoung sitting in the back seat of the car with a very, very annoyed expression. I showed it to Choi Jeokhyeon, but that guy just burst out laughing and didn’t offer any help. He said a ticking time bomb was heading my way.

“Ahaha!”

Is this fun for you?

“…Let’s go.”

…I’m scared to go back.

***

The moment I barged into Prism’s waiting room, I was met with an absurd scene: a suspiciously tall bear that jumped back in terror as soon as it saw me, a stupid dog covered in so much red sauce from a meal that it looked like he was soaked in blood, a gloomy rabbit huddled motionless under the table, a cat frozen in place holding a cake that said ‘ HBD SEO YUTAE ‘, and Nagi Zen, who apparently didn’t have enough time, still trying to cram his body into a dinosaur costume, leaving his unstuffed backside embarrassingly exposed right in my line of sight.

‘Butt…….’

I didn’t have time to even glance at anything else, like Cha Woon curling up in the corner to avoid Choi Jeokhyeon, Nam Yihwon and Lee Chise giggling while filming me on their phones, Jo Inchan belatedly rushing to cover my eyes, or even Seo Yuseong who was sound asleep with his headphones on.

I don’t know.

I just, I really don’t know…….

Why is there a … butt right in front of me?

As everyone in the room froze the moment I appeared, all that could be heard in the long silence was the ticking of the clock’s second hand.

“…….”

“…….”

Pat and Mat were late because of their Japan schedule, so now that they’ve finally arrived, they should just go straight to rehearsal. Why on earth were they here with their heads stuck inside the mascot costumes? And what on earth were the rest of these guys thinking, hiding this from me until now? I didn’t feel like I would understand even if they explained it. There was no way an average person could understand the minds of fools.

I looked at them with a hint of contempt in my eyes and then smacked Nagi Zen’s backside with my palm. In the awkward silence that followed, only the springy ‘ slap ‘ echoed emptily through the room.

“Ugh.”

I did my best to ignore the sight of Zen losing his footing and collapsing helplessly to the floor. I clenched the hand that had just smacked his butt into a tight fist, then slowly turned my head and fixed my gaze on the Prism members.

“Did you guys ask me to buy coffee just for this?”

“No, we don’t know anything about this?”

“…….”

When I asked in a slightly resigned tone, Nam Yihwon met my eyes with a completely confident look, while Jo Inchan awkwardly turned his head to the side, trying to hide the tremble in his gaze. But what’s the point of him turning his head anyway? All there was to see was a bunch of fools flailing on the floor.

“I can’t see, I can’t see anything. My head’s spinning. Help.”

“I’ve fallen down four times today just because of you. Nagi Zen, our persistent bond ends here. It was fun while it lasted, but let’s never meet again.”

“That’s not allowed. Our promise to reach the pinnacle of rock together, did you eat that for breakfast, pig? I’ll never let you go.”

“Argh! I fell again because you grabbed me, you fool! Inchan-hyung, this guy is bullying me!”

Jo Inchan glanced back and forth between the Pantheion guys, who were squirming inside their mascot suits and struggling to keep their balance, and me, carefully gauging the mood. Then he cautiously stretched out his hands, grabbed Do Yuda by the scruff with his left and Nagi Zen with his right, and hoisted them both straight up.

“Inchan-hyung is mine. Schemes are forbidden, you wicked snipe.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Then Yutae-hyung is mine.”

Then, as the two started fighting among themselves, Jo Inchan was knocked over by Zen’s flailing butt and fell to the floor with a loud thud . In the midst of it all, those two fools somehow still managed to pull him into a hug, probably to protect him from getting hurt.

“Eek! Hyung, are you okay? That fool is even trying to kill Inchan-hyung now!”

‘How can a person stay that consistent?’

Are those fools really among the most popular musicians in today’s J-POP market?

It was such an embarrassing sight to show others. Still, I suppose it’s fortunate that they’re all competent professionals when they’re in public.

“Not allowed. They’re all mine.”

“This guy is completely ridiculous.”

…They’re truly competent at their job.

They set a record for the fastest million-seller in Japan and even held a concert at the Tokyo Dome as just the two of them. Most recently, they released an OST for a popular anime, which is practically a rite of passage for top bands.…….

“Oh, I want to eat the cake.”

They write and compose all of their songs themselves…….

“Can you please pay attention when someone’s talking? Do you have the attention span of a three year old? The surprise is ruined because of you!”

And even a regular variety show…….

“I, Nagi Zen, am four years old. Please treat me kindly.”

…Never mind.

From the way he spoke, it seemed Zen’s Korean was still the same as ever.

“It’s natural for a foreigner to be bad at a foreign language. But if a native speaker can’t understand their own language, that person is a fool. Therefore, I win.”

I never thought that peculiar, strange way of speaking would ever change. He had told me something like that once before, after all. On the other hand, it was impressive that, even after focusing on Japanese promotions for so long, his Korean hadn’t regressed. Maybe there really is only a thin line between a fool and a genius.

After watching the fools for a while, I let out a deep sigh and then grabbed Nam Yihwon’s mouth tightly.

“Nothing but lies come out of this mouth. Every time it opens, it’s a lie.”

Then Nam Yihwon grinned, shrugged his shoulders, and shamelessly babbled away, “I had no choice. The kids said they wanted to celebrate your birthday when we were all together. What was I supposed to do? You’re the one who told me to be nice to Pantheion, weren’t you?”

“Stop with the excuses. I don’t know about the others, but it’s obvious you rushed to help because you thought it would be fun.”

“Ah, hyung, what do you take me for? I did it just to make you happy.”

His tone was full of aegyo , the kind that would probably end with a heart emoji if it were a chat message.

It’s infuriating.

“Are you angry? You’re angry, aren’t you? It’s not cool to get angry over something like this.”

I pushed Nam Yihwon, who was lingering near me with cute gestures that didn’t match his big frame, aside and handed the coffee carrier I was holding to Lee Chise. After giving it, the thought finally occurred to me, could that ridiculously long coffee order have just been a way to stall for time?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, my eyes met Lee Chise, who was crumpling marshmallows into his drink. As if he were a ghost who could read my mind, that rascal answered like this.

“No, that’s just the recipe I usually order. Since you were going anyway, I might as well get something tasty, right? Don’t you know Chise Mocha ? It’s really popular these days.”

“I don’t know. What’s that?”

“You should check the internet more often, hyung. It’s spreading not just among Seras, but regular people too. Recipes named after idols always become trends. Anyway, thanks! I’ll enjoy it.”

He then took a long slurp of the drink and, letting out a sound of admiration, spoke.

“Oh, you got quite a few right this time? The Seo Yutae who used to put coconut chips on my cafe latte is gone now.”

‘…Quite a few?’

I thought I must have gotten everything 100% right this time thanks to the staff’s help, but seeing him say “ quite a few ”, it seemed I had gotten something wrong. When I raised one eyebrow, Lee Chise tapped the cup and said, “Syrup. Hazelnut, not vanilla”. Well, it was all the same anyway.

“Kangwon, do you want to try this? I already ordered your drinks and had them sent to your waiting room, though.”

“Ah, sunbaenim, thank you, but I’m currently managing my weight because of filming…….”

“Hey, just call me hyung. Hyung. You already have a great body, yet you’re trying to build it up even more?”

“Don’t even get me started. I run into him at the company gym every day, and he works out like a maniac. As expected, guys who used to be pro athletes are different. For me, as long as I just look good on the outside, I’m satisfied.”

“I don’t go there ……. I ran into the CEO-nim there once before…….”

The small waiting room was packed with people, and all of them were just talking about themselves, making it way too distracting. Normally, if I, as the overall leader, said a word, everyone would quiet down quickly, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like doing that.

‘Still, it’s a relief that everyone seems to get along pretty well.’

I was a little worried about what would happen if the Prism guys treated the Pantheion kids with the same coldness they show other junior groups. But seeing with my own eyes that they had always maintained a good relationship left me with a strange feeling.

It was a peculiar feeling, as if a little warmth were spreading in a corner of my heart.

How should I put it?

…It felt like the family had gathered together for the holidays.

A laugh escaped me as a memory of a holiday spent with just Seo Yuseong and me briefly flashed through my mind.

“Alright, alright, let’s get back in the mood and light the candles again! We have a birthday song to sing!”

“Wait a second, Danbi and Jack … and Yoo Jay aren’t here yet either? Wake Yuseong up too. He’s still asleep even though it’s so loud in here.”

“Oh no, I’ve already lit the candles. What should I do? Should I blow them out and redo it?”

At that moment, the door suddenly swung open and someone walked in. The person took in the party-like atmosphere of the waiting room, saw me at the center of it, and his bright blond hair shook with a sense of betrayal.

“…Seo Yutae!”

Ah, this is giving me deja vu .

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Translator’s Corner:

I really wish the author would post the characters birthday … this chapter was published on 19 Agustus, maybe that’s Yutae’s birthday ubut then again, technically, previous chapter and next chapter also shared the same day….. well, please listen to Red Velvet – Celebrate. Very nice birthday song.

Shout out to Anonymous in Chapter 374 who recommended me “The Brightest Star Sent by God” (or Top Star Sent by God as NU title I think). It was fun read, though I think the story will be much better if the author just turned it into full-fledged BL. They have a possesive, clingy gong over there, and I like his relationship with MC (like it too much that I hate every other characters who tried to steal MC btw, the others became like a pest in my eyes now). For the plot … hmm, actually, if you love well-crafted plot, this might be not for you because I noticed the author made a major blunder early on (I think they literally forgot a very important plot). But it’s fun to read for me. I’m very interested in shamanism or traditional folklore thing, and this novel made a good use of it, explained a lot of things too. Believe it or not this is quite rare because other celebrity MC novels tend to have shaman MC but then disregard the traditional aspect fast and replaced the whole shaman ability with modern status window (that Shaman Idol novel really a waste of my time). Meanwhile Top Star Sent By God MC, despite too OP in every field, at least still deep in his shamanism art. Sadly, the entertainment thing got glossed over a lot, like, MC is an actor but we never got detailed plot of his project/acting. The shaman part is much more detailed, I guess the author is from that industry….

Oh that’s long. I can’t believe it’s already nearing the end of September … the passing of time is really scary….

Thank you Karyn for the lightsticks! ❤︎

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