Chapter 380.A Dream of a Hot Summer Day(2)
Although there was a bit of commotion when the youngest ones set off birthday candles like it was a firework show, in the end, Jung Siwoo’s birthday party was a success.
At first, Siwoo looked flustered by our clumsy efforts, but soon, he smiled and blew out the candles. We all gathered in the living room to prepare the birthday feast. The lone cheesecake, starkly contrasting the overly healthy dishes on the table due to our recent diet management, looked unusually out of place.
“…With seven guys attacking it, a cheesecake like this is gone in ten minutes.”
There was a cake. And now, it’s gone.
It didn’t even seem like we ate much, but in no time, seven spoons lay abandoned on the empty cake plate, without a single crumb in sight.
The reason we used spoons instead of forks or chopsticks was, first of all, because no one in a house of seven men thought to buy forks. And second, using chopsticks would double the number of dishes to wash compared to spoons.
As I fiddled with the end of my spoon, feeling a bit regretful, Jung Siwoo, the birthday boy, took something out from beside him.
“If you’re still hungry, want to eat this? The magazine shoot I did today prepared it for me.”
What Siwoo pulled out was another cake box, about the same size as the one we had bought.
I peeked inside, and there was a custom-made cake with white whipped cream, decorated with purple petal designs, and the message “Congratulations to Kairos’ Sculpture-like Jung Siwoo♡” written on top.
As Joo Eunchan, who loves sweets, and Dan Haru, who secretly craves these ‘luxurious treats,’ quickly grabbed their spoons, Seo Taehyun swiftly closed the cake box, shaking his head.
“No, you can’t. Do you know how many calories are in this cake alone?”
“We can’t…?”
“…”
“No, even if you look at me like that, it’s really not happening! Do you know how many calories are in whipped cream…?”
“Really, we can’t…?”
“…”
“Fine! We’ll cut just one piece and share it. But no more than that, seriously. We’re about to make a comeback. And besides, this is a cake Siwoo hyung received.”
Even though he’s strict with himself, Seo Taehyun, soft-hearted as ever, couldn’t withstand the puppy eyes of the youngest members and ended up surrendering once again.
But the mention of “Siwoo hyung received it” seemed to prick the consciences of the youngest ones, as their hands, which had been poised to dig into the cake with their spoons, hesitated for a moment. That’s when Jung Siwoo, who had already eaten his fill and put down his spoon, personally took the cake out of the box.
“It’s fine. I don’t really eat whipped cream cakes anyway. And the youngest ones have been trying hard to help me sleep these days. It’s okay to indulge for a day.”
With those words, Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru, reassured, grabbed their spoons again. But even then, the two of them spent a while huddled together, deliberating about how big a single slice should be. Finally, Yugeon, who had been watching from the side, cut off about a quarter of the cake and handed it over, bringing the situation to a close.
I stood up, gently pressing Haru’s plump cheek with my hand as he gleefully took a big spoonful of the whipped cream cake.
“Well then, let the youngest ones finish off the rest. Let’s start cleaning up. Hyung, go wash up. Your makeup must feel suffocating.”
“Yeah, hyung, go shower quickly. We’ll take care of the cleaning.”
“Alright, I will… but…”
Siwoo, rising from his seat without hesitation, looked around the living room with a faintly forlorn expression. I could tell he was searching for something, but I pretended not to notice and urged him to go wash up quickly, giving him a little push.
‘He’s probably wondering where all the mattresses went.’
Just last night, the living room had been filled with a banner that read Operation: Put Jung Siwoo to Sleep (courtesy of Content Team 3), a mattress (courtesy of Joo Eunseok) for Siwoo to sleep on, and all sorts of sleep-inducing tools set up for a live broadcast.
But today, before Siwoo arrived, I had cleared everything out.
The banner had been retrieved by the content team, the mattress was moved to our new dorm where we’d soon be relocating, and the broadcast setup was shoved into my room, ready to be pulled out again later. The important thing, though, was that our attitude today was slightly different from yesterday.
‘We’ve already tried every possible method to help him sleep. Now, we just need to wrap things up with something special.’
I made sure Siwoo had completely gone into the bathroom and closed the door before turning around. Glancing around the now-clean living room, I exchanged a knowing look with Lee Doha.
“Shall we start setting it up now that everything’s cleaned?”
“Yeah.”
* * *
‘Are they not doing it today?’
It had only been a week, but not having any herbal sleeping aids forced on me, or bath bombs handed to me in the name of half-baths, made tonight feel strangely unfamiliar.
Though I had already felt a warm, fuzzy emotion earlier during the birthday celebration, making tonight feel a bit different from usual…
Still, the thought that the Put the Eldest to Sleep Challenge might just fizzle out like this left me feeling a little disappointed in its own way.
“Oh, Siwoo hyung is out! Hyung, come here quickly!”
“I don’t want to be in the middle. Can’t I sleep at the edge?”
“Just lie down already. You always roll off when you sleep at the edge.”
“Whose pillow is this?”
“Oh, it’s mine. Haru, do you have a blanket?”
“Yes, I have this.”
“…?”
Siwoo, who had come out in his usual pajamas, stopped in his tracks, bewildered by the commotion coming from the living room.
Curious, he headed toward the source of the noise and found the living room floor, which had been empty just moments ago, now covered with several blankets of unknown origin. The members had each claimed a spot and were lying on them.
“What is this…?”
“What do you think? It’s today’s challenge.”
Siwoo, still confused by the situation, was approached by Hajin, who popped up from behind, hugging his own pillow and grinning playfully.
“Put the eldest to sleep, the grand finale.”
“…?”
“Also known as the military… no, school trip meta. Hyung, lie down already. Your spot is in the middle.”
With that, Hajin casually plopped down in the remaining spot at the far end!
I thought the living room felt spacious after we cleared everything out, but now, with six tall and broad-shouldered guys lying down side by side, it suddenly felt cramped.
Siwoo silently stared at the empty space in the middle, supposedly reserved for him.
He had never, not once in his life, slept in this way with anyone. Even when we went to Taehyun’s pension in Gangwon-do, we hadn’t slept like this.
“Ah… Since we’re moving, we had to send all the beds from our room over to the new dorm or put them up for sale. So Hajin hyung said, ‘Since it’s come to this, let’s all sleep together tonight,’” explained Taehyun, who was lying next to Siwoo, noticing his hesitance.
Finally, Siwoo cautiously made his way forward. Passing Doha at the far end and stepping over Haru and Eunchan, he eventually reached his spot. Once he settled in under the blanket, it turned out there was more space than he had expected.
“Well then, turning off the lights now? Is everyone settled?”
“Aren’t we going live tonight?”
“Forget it. The mood lamp got taken by the content team, so it’s not here. I already posted a notice earlier saying we wouldn’t go live today. Turning off the lights now.”
Darkness fell over the dorm again. Without even the usual mood lamp, it felt especially dark.
Siwoo quietly closed his eyes. Whether they were open or closed, the same darkness enveloped him, and for some reason, it felt a little suffocating.
“…Hyungs, are you really going to sleep already?”
Just then, a candle flickered to life.
It was Eunchan’s voice from beside him.
“I’m not sleepy yet… I kinda want to chat before bed.”
“What should we talk about? Something scary?”
“…No, not that.”
Hajin responded naturally to Eunchan’s words, and then, from the other side, Taehyun suddenly clapped his hands as if he had remembered something.
“Oh, right. We might be able to appear on that.”
“On what?”
“Achede. Yesterday, during filming, I heard it from another PD.”
“…That’s still a thing?”
“…It never died, so what are you talking about?”
“…Ah, right. It hasn’t been canceled yet. Damn.”
At Taehyun’s puzzled tone, Hajin groaned as if realizing something unfortunate. Then, Yugeon’s random voice cut through the conversation.
“What’s Achede?”
“Yugeon, you don’t know?”
“No, what is it?”
“The broadcasting station doesn’t want to bother with new holiday specials, so they gather all the idols and make them do stunts—it’s the epitome of broadcasting station exploitation.”
“…What’s that?”
“Idol Athletics Championship. They just gather idols and make them do all kinds of sports.”
“Then Doha hyung should go. He’ll sweep everything, right?”
“That’s absolutely not happening. They don’t even pay us, and what if someone gets injured before the comeback? Who’s going to take responsibility? Doha, for that day, you’re a klutz. You better make sure to lose all your athletic ability. Got it?”
“Okay.”
The pillow talk, which had started with Achede, continued without end. The topics of conversation, flowing from one to the next, were as random as a dream.
From Yugeon’s part-time job stories, Doha’s experiences with exercising, to Taehyun’s feelings while filming Boyhood 2… All the trivial, yet strangely interesting, stories that they hadn’t had the time to share filled the dark night.
“Siwoo hyung.”
“…Yeah.”
At some point, the sparkling lights of the night turned toward Siwoo.
The one who called him was the youngest, Dan Haru.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“…Why do you hate the piano?”
Was it because he was sleepy, or because he was drunk on the atmosphere?
Dan Haru asked in a dry, but not cold, voice. Under normal circumstances, it might have been a sensitive question, but perhaps because Siwoo, too, was drunk on the early morning air, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
Maybe it was because he had already thought about his mother earlier, like a preemptive emotional vaccine.
“Well…”
As Siwoo trailed off, the noisy chatter from the other members fell silent, as if they were all holding their breath.
But even in this silence, Siwoo didn’t feel uncomfortable.
He could clearly tell the difference between people being cautious, afraid of stepping on his nerves, and people who knew him and were considerate.
“I don’t hate it.”
“Then?”
“Actually…”
“…”
Actually, I loved it too much.
Siwoo intended to say that, but unfortunately, that confession never reached the members.
“…?”
“Siwoo hyung?”
When no answer came for a long time, the first to react were Taehyun, who lay beside him, and Haru, who had asked the question. They called out to Siwoo, wondering if something was wrong, but all they heard in return was the steady, peaceful sound of his breathing.
“What the—hyung fell asleep? Seriously?”
“Shh! What if he wakes up…?”
“Oh, sorry. But is he really asleep?”
“He seems to be.”
Hajin jumped up at the mention of Siwoo sleeping but quickly lay back down after receiving glares from both Taehyun and Yugeon. Everyone lowered their voices and carefully raised themselves from their spots, worried that they might accidentally wake Siwoo.
Until all the members had gotten up and confirmed that Siwoo, lying in the middle, was still asleep.
Siwoo was fast asleep and didn’t wake up.
“Damn, he’s really asleep. I knew it. The only solution was the military… no, no, the school trip meta.”
“He might wake up again, so let’s stop talking and go to sleep.”
“…? Joo Eunchan, are you crying?”
“…I’m not crying. I just yawned.”
“Hey, hey. Just be quiet for a second. I’m going to turn on the light, just a little.”
Click.
At Hajin’s signal, a faint light softly illuminated one corner of the room. The moon-shaped mood lamp, which had supposedly been taken by the content team earlier, was now sitting in Hajin’s hand.
“What? Didn’t you say the company took that earlier?”
“Lies. For a good night’s sleep, even the slightest light can be a disturbance.”
“So that’s why hyung didn’t turn on the live broadcast today? To avoid the lights?”
“Hey, Doha. Grab the Polaroid camera quickly. We need to leave evidence before this guy denies it later.”
This was their only chance.
Despite Hajin’s mischievous grin, none of the members opposed him this time. They simply waited quietly for Doha to fetch the camera.
In the dark night, the moon-shaped lamp was the only source of light. Worried it might disturb Siwoo’s sleep, Dan Haru gently placed his hand over Siwoo’s eyes, looking at the peacefully sleeping Jung Siwoo as he whispered softly.
“…Good night, hyung.”
Just as I had hoped for, I prayed that, at least for tonight, hyung would escape from the nightmare called guilt.
That small whisper covered Siwoo’s sleep like a blanket.
“Siwoo, I think our live broadcast will start in about 20 minutes. Before that, can we take a few pictures to send as gifts to the fans?”
Jung Siwoo, who had been stirring a cup of warm yulmu tea with a spoon, nodded as he stood up, responding to the staff calling him.
His violet-colored eyes, made even more striking by the colored lenses under his flowing silver hair, moved beautifully. It was an appearance that would cause trouble if any ordinary person attempted it, but all this ‘excessiveness’ only served to enhance the beauty of the man named Jung Siwoo.
“Wow… But, Siwoo. Can I just say one thing?”
“Yes.”
“You look absolutely stunning today.”
It wasn’t just a compliment but an awe-struck exclamation from the heart. Siwoo, adjusting the collar of his white silk shirt, gave a light smile in response.
“Really? …Maybe it’s because I slept well last night?”
“Oh? You slept? Did you finally manage to get some good rest?”
“Yes. I did.”
The Kairos Put the Eldest to Sleep Challenge had become quite a hot topic even within the fan community, Miro. Hearing that Siwoo had finally succeeded in getting a good night’s sleep, the staff around him all congratulated him, as if it was their own achievement.
Siwoo, recalling how he had no memory of when he fell asleep and simply woke up to find it was morning, thought about this morning’s situation.
—Hyung.
—…?
—Did you sleep well?
He couldn’t decide whether Hajin’s smug smile was infuriating or heartwarming.
After experiencing such a comfortable night for the first time in ages, Siwoo realized that the headaches and migraines that had been tormenting him were all due to his lack of sleep.
And he had learned this thanks to the ‘light’ he had discovered last night.
“Oh, we should take some pictures then… Should we do it in the studio next door?”
“Ah, Hyesun. But…”
As the staff pointed to the studio next door as a possible location, Kwon Wook, who had been standing nearby with a satisfied smile, flinched and stepped forward.
“That place might not be the best… Is there anywhere else?”
“Oh, really? If not there, then… hmm…”
Siwoo’s gaze turned toward the next studio.
The studio was decorated to look like a luxurious European castle, and it would have matched perfectly with the outfit Siwoo was wearing. But he soon realized why Kwon Wook had hesitated.
“It’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
At the center of the set stood a beautiful grand piano.
Siwoo knew Kwon Wook’s concern was because of his sensitivity regarding the piano…
“Let’s shoot here. The piano looks cool.”
But now, he was okay with it.
He felt like he would be fine.
“Aren’t we taking pictures?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, we’ll take them. Just a moment.”
He was no longer afraid of facing his loneliness.
Even now, the beautiful melody from the black and white keys echoed in his fingers.