Chapter 373. Searching for the Lost Younger Sibling (7)
In Miro’s underground recording studio, where the recording was in full swing.
Kang Hawon, sitting upright on the middle of the sofa, thought to himself.
‘Wow, they’re real celebrities.’
He had briefly seen their faces during the final gathering, and he’d seen them countless times on iTube, so by now, the members from his brother’s group felt like tentative meal buddies. But seeing Seo Taeil and Nam Daun of Utopia, whom he had watched on TV and in various media since childhood, right in front of him was truly a surreal experience.
On top of that…
“………”
“Wow… Your face is really small. The proportions are amazing. You look exactly like Hajin. But the atmosphere is totally different. It’s really fascinating.”
“Right? If no one said you were siblings, I wouldn’t guess. But that sharp gaze and those lips? Definitely inherited. What’s your name again? Hawon?”
“Oh yeah, Kang Hawon. But then, are you a student right now? If you’re the same age as Taehyun, you must be in college. Oh! You’re the one who appeared in the Miro Maze Final VCR, right? Right, that’s it, you were there.”
“Do you think the younger sibling is good at singing too? You’ve got a face with some talent. I overheard you talking earlier, and your voice tone is pretty good… You wouldn’t happen to be interested in idols, would you? If you were, Hajin would’ve already brought you in to debut.”
…Those celebrities were staring at him intensely, gossiping about him loud enough for him to hear.
If they were going to do this, it would’ve been better if they just spoke to him, but they didn’t. The two maintained a certain distance from Hawon, constantly voicing their curiosities about him.
Watching as the two transitioned from guessing his college major to quizzing each other on his birthday, Kang Hawon thought.
‘…Should I just bite my tongue and faint for a bit? Ah, but if I bite too hard, will I die?’
As expected of Kang Hajin’s younger brother, who had once seriously debated hitting himself over the head with a frying pan to avoid the awkwardness of sharing a room with Lee Doha. Though he seemed different from his older brother, Hawon shared the same somewhat extreme thought process, tied by blood.
But he couldn’t show up at his brother’s company for the first time only to faint with blood pouring from his mouth.
‘That would definitely make me a topic of conversation for a long, long time.’
For Kang Hawon, the attention and focus from others that would come from biting his tongue and bleeding out was more threatening than the blood loss itself.
In the end, faced with the balance game of ‘Bleed out by biting my tongue vs. Engage in a normal conversation and disappear quietly,’ Hawon chose the latter, opening his mouth as if volunteering for interrogation.
“…You can ask me anything you’re curious about.”
At that, the two who had been immersed in their Hawon quiz show—now on to guessing his birthday (which they didn’t know the answer to either)—shook their heads firmly.
“No, we can’t. Nephew told us not to bother you when he went into the recording booth. He was dead serious, his eyes all wide open.”
“Yeah, yeah. If we talked to you, he looked ready to storm out and cancel the whole recording.”
“Don’t mind us, go about your business. We’re just quietly chatting here.”
But that quiet chat was making him incredibly anxious.
Hawon, fiddling with his earlobe out of habit, glanced at his brother in the recording booth on the monitor and spoke again.
“…He only said that because he’s worried about me. I’m really shy, but if I seem okay, he won’t care. So you can really ask me anything.”
“Should we, then?”
“Is it really okay?”
“Yes.”
At that, the two hyenas’ eyes sparkled as if they had swallowed stars. The bigger hyena (Seo Taeil) revealed his excitement first, his voice bright.
“Then how about singing a song?”
“…Pardon?”
“No, I’m just really curious if your singing ability is genetic too. Your speaking tone seems deeper than Hajin’s, but I have a feeling your vocalization might be pretty good…”
“Sunbae-nim. Please, stop.”
From a short distance away, Taehyun, who had been quietly organizing his lyric sheets, gently chastised Taeil.
Interrupting a senior’s words and even scolding him?
Normally, this wouldn’t be acceptable in Seo Taehyun’s world, but as someone who knew better than anyone how draining these energy-drink-fueled conversations could be, the introverted idol couldn’t just sit back and watch.
But the real runaway train hadn’t even passed the station yet.
“Our younger brother’s name is Hawon? Hawon, right? What’s your major? Actually, are you even in college? These days, there are so many career paths. What brings you here today? To see your brother? Are you close with nephew? You must be, right? I barely see my own brother twice a year. Did you eat? Should I order something tasty?”
“No, I mean, well…”
“So, did you say hi to Taehyun and Doha? Oh, right, they’re your brother’s members, so you must have met before. By the way, your outfit today and everything, you really look like a different version of Hajin. Have you met our CEO yet? If you did, I bet he gave you his business card—no way he wouldn’t with that face…”
“Daun, stop. Stop. Cut it out.”
Nam Daun, who had moved so close that he was practically sitting next to Hawon, continued bombarding him with questions with a bright, innocent face. Only after Taeil patted him on the back and shoved a snack into his mouth did Daun finally quiet down.
‘…A dog?’
Hawon held back from voicing his impression aloud, his mouth closing. He had been bombarded with so many questions, he didn’t even know where to begin answering.
“Sunbae-nims.”
“Mm?”
“Hajin hyung is staring at you two through the recording booth monitor right now.”
“Oh no.”
“Yikes, we better run.”
Once again, Taehyun came to Hawon’s rescue.
As Taehyun said, Hajin was glaring daggers at them from inside the recording booth, his eyes flashing dangerously.
– Don’t bother my Hawon.
“Oh, come on, when did we? You’re hurting our feelings, nephew.”
“Let’s get back to recording. Time to work. So, where were we?”
Thanks to his brother’s intervention, Hawon was finally able to take a proper breath once the two seniors turned their attention away from him.
‘Talking to celebrities is exhausting. They really aren’t just called celebrities for nothing.’
In truth, it wasn’t because they were celebrities, but rather because he had encountered exhausting people. But having not met many celebrities before, Hawon just chalked it up to that.
And then, another celebrity approached and sat nearby.
“……?”
“Sorry about that. I guess the sunbae-nims were really curious since you’re Hajin’s brother. They always see the same people, so they get excited meeting someone new.”
It was Seo Taehyun, his brother’s group member, who had now rescued him twice from the two hyenas’ onslaught of questions.
‘Wow, he’s a celebrity too.’
In fact, he had briefly seen Taehyun’s face during the Miro Maze Final gathering and had exchanged light introductions. But that had been a very short moment, and Hajin had been with him, so this was the first time they were having a direct conversation alone.
Having faced many strangers through his idol career, Taehyun, who was more accustomed to these situations, spoke again.
“Ah, so… We agreed to speak casually back then… I guess you don’t remember? Did I come off too abrupt with casual speech? Well… uh…”
While Hawon wasn’t the type to feel the need to speak when there were too many unfamiliar faces, Taehyun was the type to talk more when nervous around strangers.
He had heard a lot about Hawon from Hajin, and after being in the entertainment industry for so long, he didn’t have many non-celebrity friends, so he really did want to befriend him.
But when it came time for them to talk one-on-one, the awkwardness was overwhelming.
‘Should’ve brought Yugeon with me…!’
Just as he was thinking it would have been nice if Lee Yugeon, who could’ve kept the conversation going, had been around—
Hawon, who had been quietly watching him, responded in a calm voice.
“I remember.”
“Huh?”
“You said we should talk casually since we’re the same age. I remember.”
“Oh, really?”
For some reason, those simple words made Taehyun feel much better. The two senior sunbaes, who had been pretending to work, were now genuinely engrossed in recording. Despite the commotion earlier, there was a quiet sense of calm surrounding the small sofa.
Taehyun, searching his mind for another conversation topic, finally found one common ground between them.
“Oh, how’s your aunt? I mean, um…”
### “My mom?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s doing well. She talks about you sometimes.”
“About me? Really? What does she say?”
“Just stuff about your performances. She says you’re doing well.”
At Hawon’s calm compliment, Taehyun smiled awkwardly but pleasantly. Although Hawon wasn’t the type to initiate conversation, he answered diligently whenever Taehyun asked him a question.
For Taehyun, who was always exhausted by the overly hyper behavior of his group members, it had been so long since he’d had a peaceful, quiet conversation like this that he felt deeply moved.
“……”
Hawon fell silent, quietly observing the scene in the recording studio.
Inside the recording booth, Hajin was joking around with the mic, while Taeil and Daun responded naturally but still gave serious feedback. The recording staff, standing nearby, joined in on the conversation with laughter. Hawon watched this scene for quite some time.
“………?”
Finally, his gaze settled on Taehyun.
Taehyun noticed Hawon looking at him and asked curiously when he saw Hawon give a faint smile.
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Hawon shook his head and pressed his fingers against his earlobes. After a brief pause, he spoke again.
“It’s just… everything feels kind of surreal.”
“The recording studio? Yeah, I guess you don’t get to see places like this often.”
“Well, that’s true too, but…”
“……?”
“It’s just… I think it’s amazing that my brother works with people like this.”
These people are my brother’s “colleagues.”
That’s what Hawon thought.
Even though Hajin seemed full of energy and a bit immature, he was actually someone who felt lonely easily and loved being around people. And now, his brother was working with people he enjoyed being with.
– Hawon, hi.
– …What? Why are you home? Didn’t you go to the company? No practice today?
– Hawon.
– ……?
– I quit being a trainee.
– ……
– I just gave it up. I’m done with it.
Now, his brother was working with people like this.
Thinking about it made him feel relieved. The sense of resentment he’d harbored since Hajin debuted, feeling like “work” had stolen his brother away from him, slowly melted away.
At that moment, the door to the recording studio next to him opened.
“Oh, Doha hyung. Where did you go?”
“To buy some medicine.”
“Medicine?”
“Hajin’s still coughing. Just in case, I picked up a few things for him.”
Hawon had turned, thinking his brother had finished recording, but it was actually Doha who entered the room. Doha placed the bag of medicine on the table after Taehyun asked where he’d been.
Hawon stared blankly at the bag.
His brother, who often caught colds in the summer—ones even dogs wouldn’t get—and felt more pitiful about being left alone at home than actually being sick, now had colleagues who bought medicine and cared for his health.
Feeling relieved, Hawon stood up.
“Oh? Where are you going?”
“I came up to Seoul because I had plans, so I should head out.”
“Ah, wait a second. I’ll go tell Hajin hyung to step out of the booth for a minute.”
“No, it’s okay. He’s working, let him be. He’ll figure out I’m gone when time passes.”
Hawon stopped Taehyun from calling his brother. Seeing his brother so focused on work, acting mature, he didn’t want to break his concentration.
After all, he could see his brother again.
Instead of saying goodbye to Hajin, Hawon left Taehyun with one final request.
“Take care of my brother.”
The contestant from the survival show that his brother had once religiously followed, even asking Hawon to vote by text, was now his brother’s fellow member and colleague. Knowing how much that meant to Hajin, Hawon sincerely spoke to Taehyun.
“Even if he acts a bit childish sometimes, please be understanding. I know you’re always stuck in the middle, having to deal with everything.”
“Huh? Oh, no. It’s not like that…”
“I’m counting on you. Well, I’ll get going.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
Hawon gave a polite bow to Doha, who was standing nearby, and carefully exited the recording studio. He moved quickly, knowing that if his brother saw him, he’d definitely come running out, yelling, “Little bro!” He needed to escape as swiftly as possible.
With a lightened heart, Hawon hurried out of the recording studio and headed toward the elevator.
“Hawon!”
Someone called his name.
He thought it might be his brother chasing after him, but the voice wasn’t his brother’s. When he turned around, it was Taehyun, holding his phone as he approached.
“Uh, I was wondering…”
“……?”
“Could you give me your number? I’ve actually wanted to ask before, but I didn’t get the chance.”
“My number?”
“Yeah. I don’t have a lot of friends my age. …But if it makes you uncomfortable, feel free to say no.”
Taehyun held out his phone to Hawon.
Hawon had thought that a celebrity’s phone would be something special, but it turned out to be the exact same model as the one Hawon had recently gotten.
Just a regular phone, released a few years ago—affordable but with solid features.
“……”
It wasn’t exactly because of that, but…
Hawon didn’t hesitate for long and took the phone.
“Okay. But I’m not great at checking messages.”
“That’s fine. I’m busy too, so I get it. I’ll reach out once in a while. Maybe we can meet up with the other members sometime too.”
“…That might be a bit exhausting.”
“Haha, yeah, I get it. Sometimes it’s hard for me too.”
“You seem like it… I could never do it.”
“Haha!”
For the first time that day, Taehyun burst out laughing at Hawon’s honest response, now that the awkwardness between them had mostly disappeared.
“Well, I’m really leaving this time.”
“Yeah, take care. Let’s meet again.”
“Sure.”
With a final goodbye, Hawon stepped into the elevator. For a few minutes, he stared blankly at the newly saved phone number in his contacts.
‘…Once I get home.’
It seemed like he’d have to create a new messenger account.
Somehow, it felt like today, even after getting home, he wouldn’t immediately fall asleep out of exhaustion.