Chapter 237. When a Workaholic Leader Takes Power (6)
Kang Hajin and Jung Siwoo had fought.
And it wasn’t just a small quarrel.
True to their personalities, both of them strictly separated business from personal matters, so there was no outward sign of their conflict at work. However, the other members, who spent 24 hours a day together, could definitely tell that there was a rift between the two.
Naturally, the person who was most affected by this fact was Taehyun.
“……”
Early in the morning, after returning from practice.
Watching Siwoo and Hajin enter their respective rooms without even making eye contact, Taehyun collapsed onto the living room sofa, biting his lip. He knew it was a bad habit, but it wasn’t easy to break.
What stopped Taehyun from biting his lips while staring at the firmly closed doors was Yugeon, who entered the room a bit later.
“Don’t do it.”
“…It’s because of me.”
“Bullshit.”
Taehyun, whose eyes were already red, glared at Yugeon with a tearful expression at his blunt response. Despite Taehyun’s gaze, Yugeon maintained a nonchalant expression, as if to say, “So what?” He sighed with his hands in his pockets.
“It’s not like you told those hyungs to fight by offering them money, did you?”
“It’s the same thing. If I hadn’t pushed Hajin hyung so hard….”
“Bullshit. Do you really think that hyung would be pushed around just because you pressured him? If anything, you would’ve been the one to get kicked out.”
“…Are you trying to comfort me or pick a fight?”
“Neither.”
At Yugeon’s sarcastic reply, Taehyun’s eyes welled up with tears, and he made a frustrated face. He then tried to kick Yugeon in anger, but Yugeon, having anticipated the attack, easily dodged it by leaning back.
Throwing a soft sofa cushion to the seething Taehyun, Yugeon calmly turned on the TV with the remote.
“Stop digging yourself into a hole and clear your head. With those two hyungs acting like this, if your mental state breaks down too, our group will disband.”
What Yugeon played was a melodrama, Taehyun’s favorite movie genre, known for its deep and intense emotional lines, causing Taehyun to cry buckets every time he watched it.
Like a natural healing course, as if turning on a comforting cartoon for a crying 7-year-old, Yugeon set up the perfect mood and even changed the living room lighting to a soft, ambient glow.
Then, as Taehyun began sniffling—whether because of the movie or his hyungs—Yugeon handed him a tissue and retreated to the room he shared with the youngest members before Taehyun could say anything.
“That jerk….”
Despite grumbling, Taehyun obediently hugged the cushion and leaned back on the sofa.
After all, if he went into the room now, he’d have to be alone with Siwoo, and he didn’t have the courage for that.
Taehyun recalled the night when the two had first fought, and Siwoo had been the one to return to the dorm first.
“Taehyun.”
“Yes? Did you call me, hyung?”
“Does it bother you a lot that I don’t sleep much at night?”
“…What?”
“I heard you told Hajin about it. That you were worried about me.”
Siwoo and Taehyun had been relatively compatible roommates.
Although they hadn’t been particularly close since their time in the special class, if someone asked them to define their relationship, Taehyun would have said they were amicable towards each other.
“If something like that happens again, I’d prefer you tell me directly.”
However, the more Taehyun recalled Siwoo’s expression that day….
The more he felt a sense of sorrow.
Siwoo’s expression, as he looked at him, felt so unfamiliar and frightening.
“Please.”
What had gone wrong?
He was just worried about Siwoo, and it hurt him to see Hajin struggle with his difficulty in approaching Siwoo.
Having grown up as an only child and started his entertainment career early, Taehyun hadn’t experienced many typical peer relationships. He didn’t know how to deal with this kind of situation.
If someone told him to smile for hours in front of a camera, he could do that….
“…Damn it.”
Unable to hold back any longer, tears burst out of Taehyun’s eyes, and he buried his face in the cushion. The soft, squishy texture only made him feel more sorrowful. The deliberately loud movie drowned out the sound of Taehyun’s sobs.
And then…
“…Okay. We’ve isolated Seo Taehyun. He’s too busy crying to pay attention to us.”
At the same time.
In the largest room adjacent to the living room, the room of GeonJooDan (Yugeon, Joo Eunchan, and Dan Haru), another secret plot (?) was unfolding.
“Is Taehyun hyung crying? Hng…”
“Hey, hey. But Haru, you can’t cry too. It’s not like this is the first time he’s cried.”
“We really need to find a solution quickly… Doha hyung, what should we do?”
“Hmm. I’m not sure.”
In the room, where the bunk bed had been removed in favor of three mattresses lined up against one wall, the three members of GeonJooDan and the kidnapped(?) Doha were gathered in a circle.
In the center was a piece of white paper folded into a rough triangular nameplate, with the words **“Kairos Emergency Meeting #3: Project to Reconcile the Shadow Duo”** written on it. It was hastily made by tearing a page from Doha’s practice notebook.
As Eunchan read the words, a question mark appeared above his head.
“But what does ‘Shadow Duo’ mean? Weren’t Siwoo hyung and Hajin hyung originally called the KangSi Duo?”
“That’s what I thought! But these days, fans are frequently calling them the ‘Shadow Duo.’ I’m not really sure why….”
“Do you know, Yugeon hyung?”
“Would I?”
The term ‘Shadow Duo’ had emerged recently, referring to Siwoo and Hajin’s roles as behind-the-scenes strategists or the jokers who were always drawing up plans since the days of Maze.
Doha’s lips twitched in amusement as he watched the puzzled GeonJooDan members trying to figure out what ‘Shadow Duo’ meant. He cleared his throat softly, bringing Yugeon back to his senses, who then waved his hand to focus Eunchan and Haru’s attention.
“Anyway, that’s not the important thing right now, is it?”
“Oh, right. Hyungs! What should we do about the hyungs?”
“Siwoo hyung and Hajin hyung aren’t talking to each other at all…. And they won’t tell us exactly what happened….”
“From what Taehyun said, it seems to be related to Jung Siwoo hyung’s insomnia. Does he really have trouble sleeping?”
“…Siwoo hyung was always a light sleeper, even as a trainee. But honestly, he spent more time living in a studio apartment than in the trainee dorm, so it’s hard to say for sure.”
Doha’s words made Haru and Eunchan both nod somberly.
Especially Dan Haru, who had initially convened this meeting, seemed weighed down by the burden, looking more dejected than usual. If Kang Hajin had seen him, he would have described him as ‘a rookie bunny warrior bewildered by the first encounter with a splintered party.’
Yugeon, who had been deep in thought, scratched his head in frustration.
“Aren’t they grown men? Just because they had a fight, they close their doors and stop talking…. Even our tigers wouldn’t do that. Why can’t they just get over it and reconcile already?”
Yugeon’s comment, unaware of the implications of his own past, made the others silently stare at him.
Even though no one said a word, Yugeon could read from their eyes the unspoken words, “You, of all people, should know…?”
“Still…. It’s kind of shocking that they’re not even talking.”
It was Eunchan who broke the silence.
He murmured softly, resting his chin on his knees.
“Siwoo hyung and Hajin hyung… they’re always the ones who act first whenever there’s a problem…. Honestly, I thought they would reconcile a few days after the fight. Just coolly, you know?”
In fact, Eunchan was a bit shocked that the cold war between the two had lasted this long.
He understood that conflicts were inevitable when very different people lived together 24 hours a day. However, Eunchan had never worried about such conflicts before.
As long as Siwoo and Hajin were in Kairos, he had always believed that any conflict would be resolved in a mature and kind manner.
“But instead of making up, or even butting heads like when Taehyun hyung and Yugeon hyung fought, they’re not even hiding the fact that they fought; they’re just ignoring each other… What if they decide never to make up? What if they just remain like this, as colleagues?”
If their work had been affected, he could have used that as an excuse to talk things out, but when it came to work, the two acted as if nothing had happened.
Of course, that was just their attitude. In reality, the amount of time they spent talking or facing each other had significantly decreased compared to before.
However, they were both so good at hiding it that it was impossible to tell from the outside.
That made Eunchan anxious.
He was worried that the two hyungs might end up becoming worse than strangers, and the thought had even given him nightmares lately. Unlike Taehyun and Yugeon, whom he was inexplicably certain would reconcile, he couldn’t shake the unease he felt about Siwoo and Hajin.
Eunchan’s words filled the room with a solemn atmosphere. Even Yugeon seemed deep in thought, and Haru was pondering something as well.
In that heavy mood, Doha, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
“I think.”
“……?”
“It’s actually a good thing that the two aren’t talking.”
Everyone’s attention turned to Doha at his unexpected words.
Sitting in perfect posture, Doha calmly continued.
“They don’t want to let this slide easily. They don’t want to reconcile half-heartedly.”
“……”
“At least, that’s what I think Siwoo hyung is like. If he really didn’t want to reconcile with Hajin, he might be smiling and acting more casually towards him right now. Or he might have even apologized first. Siwoo hyung is the type who has to deal with anything that bothers him right away.”
“……”
“Hajin… I don’t know him as well, but I think he’s contemplating. He probably believes that it’s not good to face someone with heightened emotions. But Hajin also hates ‘conflict.’ The fact that he’s enduring this discomfort without taking action means he must have his reasons.”
Doha was the member who had known Siwoo the longest and closest among the Kairos members.
At the same time, he was the only member who was the same age as Hajin and spent the most time with him as his roommate.
Doha’s words, based on his close observation of the two from a rational perspective, carried more weight than mere logic.
“So maybe it’s better to give them some space right now, to let their emotions cool down and give them time to think. If they really decide not to see each other again, then we might have to step in….”
Doha trailed off, frowning slightly.
He seemed to be considering what to do if that situation arose.
However, it didn’t take long for the frown on his face to relax back into its usual calm expression.
“I think they’ll be okay.”
Doha smiled reassuringly, a smile that made his younger members feel at ease.
“Because it’s Siwoo hyung and Hajin.”
It wasn’t just a simple hope or blind faith,
but a rational judgment based on the information he had gathered and analyzed.
With that one line from Doha, the tense expressions on his younger members’ faces finally relaxed into smiles.