Chapter 171. Penalty (2)
Three hours before the incident.
“I’m about to head out.”
-We met Kwon-woong hyung too. Can you come straight to Eunchan’s place? How are you coming?
“By Dad’s car.”
-Ah, okay. See you later.
“Yeah. Is Dan Haru there too?”
-Yeah. He was chattering away as soon as we got in the car, but now he’s tired and sleeping. Since we’re going to play a lot later, I thought it’d be better to let him sleep now.
“Good thinking. See you later then. I’m hanging up.”
I hung up the call with Seo Taehyun as I climbed into the passenger seat of the car.
When two grown men squeezed into the small and precious compact car, the car’s body nearly touched the ground, making it feel like we were riding a stroller. I naturally glanced at my dad, who was adjusting the driver’s seat, and said resolutely.
“Maybe I should change the car first when I start earning money?”
“…Yeah, it’s about time.”
Haha, Dad let out a slightly embarrassed laugh as he smoothly started the car.
Originally, I had planned to take the subway. But after meeting Sangyul’s sister at the neighborhood playground last time and becoming the “Subway Story Guy” after crying in front of the station, I figured it might not be a good idea to roam around carelessly, so I used my “Dad card.”
“So, are you staying the night today?”
“I think so. We didn’t feel like going anywhere, so we decided to just gather at Eunchan’s place.”
“Who all is coming?”
“Me, Dan Haru, Joo Eunchan, Seo Taehyun… and Lee Doha. The five of us.”
Jung Siwoo was absent due to a class MT, and Lee Yugeon was helping out at his grandfather’s shop.
I expected the two of them to be absent, but I was a bit surprised when I saw that Lee Doha had voted to attend.
‘Well, it’s better to have one more person, so it’s fine.’
When my phone vibrated, I checked it and saw a private message from Seo Taehyun.
**<Miro_Kairos_Seo Taehyun: Hyung, Kwon-woong hyung said to make sure you take a selfie video when you leave~ The video team insisted that we absolutely have to film it.>**
**<Miro_Kairos_Seo Taehyun: Haru and I already filmed ours!>**
**<Miro_Kairos_Seo Taehyun: (Annoying cheering cat emoji)>**
Yeah. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but…
The problem was that today’s outing had gotten a bit complicated.
“Dad. Hold on a second….”
“Hm?”
“…Just pretend you don’t know what I’m doing.”
“What?”
Ignoring my dad’s puzzled gaze, I turned on my phone’s camera and adjusted the angle. I pressed the recording button, but when I made eye contact with myself in the front-facing camera, the reality of the situation hit me again.
“Sigh. This isn’t easy.”
Even if it’s just hanging out at home, I still had to report it to the company, so I mentioned it to Ji Suho. After hearing about it, he made a very workaholic suggestion: ‘Since you’re going to hang out, why not turn it into content?’
Thanks to that, while Jung Siwoo was at his class MT, and Lee Yugeon was helping at his grandfather’s shop, we had to film today’s gathering with selfie cams. The content team had stressed over and over how important it was to film the departure, like a VLOG.
‘Honestly, I could just say I forgot and record the opening when we get to Eunchan’s place, but…’
But the thought of the poor content team staff who would have to edit this kept popping into my mind!
It’s already tough enough to turn someone’s dull daily life into a super fun YouTube video!
At least with some footage of us leaving, they could work something out for the opening!
And since Seo Taehyun and Dan Haru already filmed theirs, and Lee Doha and Joo Eunchan are good at following instructions, they probably filmed theirs carefully too. I couldn’t be the only one without a video!
If the fans misunderstand and think it’s a case of “discrimination against Kang Hajin,” just because I didn’t film my part…
‘…Damn job-related habits.’
In the end, I was defeated by my inner self. I cleared my throat, picked up my phone again, switched to the highest resolution for better cropping later, and set the size to 1080p. After taking a deep breath and relaxing my facial muscles, I pressed the record button again and made eye contact with myself on the screen.
“Hello, Destiny.”
“…Pfft.”
I pretended not to hear my dad’s sudden chuckle at my unexpected “business” mode.
Since I started, I might as well power through it and finish in one go.
“It’s 4:20 PM right now. I’m on my way to Eunchan’s place. Today is the first Kairos Friendship Day.”
For any opening, following the 5Ws and 1H (who, what, where, when, why, how) takes care of half the job.
I spoke diligently, adhering to that basic principle. Even though I hadn’t planned it, once I saw the camera rolling, the words flowed easily.
“Siwoo hyung and Yugeon are spending time with their families, so only five of us will be gathering today. It might be a bit awkward since it’s our first time meeting after the final… but once we get together, it should be fun.”
Come to think of it, this video I’m shooting now will be the first bit of content since the final, right?
Considering the quiet SNS feed since the final due to the lack of new content, it felt a bit embarrassing and bothersome, but I also felt like it was good to have filmed this.
“Um… I’ll turn the camera back on when we meet up later. We’ll try to capture some fun moments today. I hope you all enjoy it.”
Goodbye.
After a small wave with my free hand, I ended the recording.
As soon as I heard the notification sound, a sense of reality hit me hard, but I felt better, thinking it was something I needed to get used to anyway.
“Son. Your ears are bright red.”
“That’s not my ears. It’s my hair. The dye is fading.”
“Your face is red too, though. Did you wash your face with hair dye?”
…Of course, enduring my dad’s teasing the entire way was a different story.
—
By the time we finished chatting, we were already in Seoul.
I was curious about how much time was left, so I checked the navigation on my dad’s phone, but then I got a call from Seo Taehyun. Wondering what it was about, I answered, only to hear some commotion and then a scream from Seo Taehyun.
“Hey, Seo Taehyun. What’s going on? Is something wrong?”
Fearing the worst, I quickly sat up straight. I opened the system window just in case, but apart from the penalty notice, there were no other alerts. Lately, that damn penalty had made me overly sensitive to even the smallest things.
Luckily, after a few seconds of silence, Seo Taehyun answered in a calm voice.
-Oh, hyung. Sorry, sorry. Haru and Eunchan were trying to hang a garland and broke the curtain rod.
…What exactly were they doing to break that?
And why does Seo Taehyun sound so casual about it, like this is normal?
At least I felt relieved knowing it wasn’t anything serious, so I relaxed my tense shoulders.
“You scared me… Why did you call? I’ll be there in about 30 minutes.”
-Hyung, have you been in touch with Doha hyung?
“…? No. I haven’t contacted him separately.”
-He was supposed to arrive by now, but we haven’t been able to reach him. Since he was supposed to come on his own, Haru and I just came straight to Eunchan’s place with Kwon-woong hyung.
“Maybe he’s just sleeping? He often naps when he finishes work late at night.”
-Maybe… but still, he’s not the type to go AWOL when he has an appointment….
Now that I thought about it, Seo Taehyun had a point.
I glanced at the penalty window still floating in front of me. The incident where the damned regressor suddenly made Park Jaeyoung sick during the first round of the Miro Maze overlapped in my mind.
If it’s just oversleeping, then fine, but if it’s something else…
-Anyway, could you stop by the dorm on your way?
“The dorm? Our dorm?”
-Yeah. Doha hyung is staying there right now. Didn’t you know?
“…Oh. Yeah. Okay, I’ll check it out.”
We gave him two weeks off, so why is he holed up alone in the dorm?
Feeling puzzled, I agreed to check on him and hung up the call.
“Dad. Just drop me off at our dorm. I’ll give you the address.”
“The dorm?”
“Yeah. One of the members is there, so I’ll go get him. Just drop me off, and you can go. Don’t you have a meeting today?”
Dad had a meeting in Seoul today, which was why he was driving me, so he didn’t have time to drop me off at Eunchan’s place after the dorm. I reassured him it was fine as I entered our dorm’s address into the GPS.
Fortunately, the dorm was closer
than Eunchan’s place, so we arrived at the dorm soon after.
“How will you get to Eunchan’s later?”
“I’ll either call a taxi or something. There’s also our manager.”
“Okay. Have fun today.”
“Yeah. Hurry up and go~”
After making sure Dad’s car had left, I went upstairs.
I entered the apartment opposite to the one I used to stay in. Both apartments used the same code.
“I should get these changed soon…”
There haven’t been any stalker issues yet, but who knows what might happen in the future?
Thinking that security is crucial, I entered Lee Doha’s dorm. As soon as I stepped in, I saw a pair of sneakers that Doha often wore.
“What? He’s home?”
His shoes were here, but there was no sign of anyone in the living room.
Where did he go?
When I called Doha, I heard his phone vibrate from the corner of the living room sofa.
“What the… His phone is here, but…”
Everything’s here, except for the person.
That thought made a creeping unease crawl up the back of my neck.
If that damned regressor pulled something…
**Thud, thud—**
“Whoa, geez! Ah, come on!”
While my mind raced through all possible scenarios, a thudding sound came from the corner room at the back of the house. I was so startled that I nearly collapsed, clutching Doha’s phone.
“…Lee Doha?”
If his shoes are here and his phone is here, then there’s a 99% chance that it’s Lee Doha knocking on that door. But I couldn’t shake the inexplicable anxiety, so I quickly scanned the dorm.
What if it really was an intruder or something like that? Huh?
What if Doha was tied up by some bad guy, and he was banging on the door with his head to signal for help…
‘Ah, Kang Hajin. Stop overthinking.’
I snapped out of my imagination, which was something Thirteen would’ve scolded me for if he were here. Still, just in case, I grabbed a frying pan from the kitchen and cautiously approached the room.
“…Lee Doha?”
**Thud, thud!**
When I called out to him, the knocking sound came again. As I got closer, I could hear someone talking inside, but the soundproofing was so good that I could only make out some mumbling.
“Hey, I can’t hear you! It’s you, Lee Doha, right?”
But why is he like this inside the room? Is he locked in?
I grabbed the doorknob to open it, but my paranoia was put to rest as the door handle turned easily, and the door clicked open.
Inside was Lee Doha, fully dressed in outdoor clothes, staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, well…”
Wondering what on earth he had been doing, I looked around the room. I saw that he had moved all his work equipment into the room during the break and even soundproofed the walls.
“No wonder I couldn’t hear anything from outside.”
“I was all ready to go, but I came into the room to grab my wallet and got locked in.”
“The door? The door opened just fine.”
“Ah. It opens easily from the outside, but strangely, when the door closes from the inside….”
**Creak, click.**
“…It won’t open.”
So I had simply let go of the door without thinking while listening to Doha’s words as I entered the room.
“……”
“……”
“……Did I just close the door?”
“…Yeah.”
You came to rescue me!
No, now we’re both trapped.
‘Ah, today’s not going to be easy.’
The first content of Kairos’ debut…
Lee Doha and Kang Hajin’s impromptu room escape challenge.