Chapter 423

Side Story (40)

“First of all, I’m sorry ……. I also have quite a lot of things in my bag. Though it’s nowhere near as much as Woon-hyung.”

Jo Inchan bowed his head apologetically toward the production team before carefully placing his heavy satchel on the desk. Then, fiddling with the red-furred wolf keychain attached to the bag’s handle, he explained,

“This was given to me by the Pantheion members. They said they made it on their own content filming. I’m not really the type to wear accessories like this, but it’s so thoughtful of them to make it while thinking of me.That’s probably why I keep carrying it around. I never really understood the appeal of keychains or stuffed toys like this, but thanks to Pantheion, I think I’ve gotten a little into them.”

In his usual quiet tone, he concisely introduced his phone, wallet, earphones, in-ears, and other items that overlapped with the belongings of the other members. But upon spotting a particular item, his face lit up with a bright smile.

“This is a Polaroid album. The other members aren’t really interested in this sort of thing, so whenever we take pictures, there are always photos left over, and I take all of them every time and put them into the album so they don’t get crumpled. This is already my tenth album. The ones I used before are all completely full, so I keep them stored in my room.”

[There are so many photos. Please show us the one you like the most!]

“Hmm, most of my favorite photos are in the first album. I really love how fresh and youthful we looked when we first debuted. But if I had to pick one from the albums here … this one?”

Perhaps because there were some very explicit photos of the members wearing nothing but their underwear, Jo Inchan carefully flipped through the album while making sure nothing was visible on camera before taking out a particular photo and showing it.

It was a picture of me sleeping in the middle, with the other members squished tightly together into whatever gaps they could find between my limbs, the blanket, and the pillows. Someone could look at it and say, ‘What is this, some kind of wolf den? What on earth is going on there?‘. But because this was such a common occurrence for me, I had long since lost the ability to view it rationally.

“Cute, right? Our schedule ended really late that night, and when I quietly returned to the dorm, I found them sleeping like this. When we dress up nicely and go on broadcasts, everything gets recorded with much better cameras, but things like this are something only we get to see … so it feels special.”

[Why do you all sleep together on such a small bed?]

At the production team’s question, the members tilted their heads and gave different answers.

“…Because it’s warm? Quite a few of our members get cold easily.”

“Because some of the members have frequent nightmares or easily get sleep paralysis. If we’re close by, we can wake them up quickly.”

“Everyone sleeps together, so if I sleep separately by myself, I feel lonely.”

“Somehow … it just makes me feel safe.”

“I mean, the pile just looked too inviting not to jump in.”

It’s only because those guys keep coming to my bed.

“…….”

Perhaps none of the many answers they received were particularly convincing, because the production team gave an awkward laugh before throwing out another question.

[Yutae-ssi is frowning quite a lot. Is he really okay with that?]

“Yutae-hyung actually kind of likes it when we come over.”

“That hyung always sleeps with a frown on his face. He’s going to give himself wrinkles if he keeps that up.”

Hmph. Who said I liked it?

I had gotten used to having someone beside me because I had slept next to Seo Yuseong since he was young, so I did sleep better when someone was around. Ah, of course, not just anyone. They had to be people I was very close to. Anyway, since it wasn’t particularly bothersome, I had no intention of putting a stop to it going forward.

Besides, on days when the weather was bad and Jo Inchan couldn’t sleep because of his knee pain, or Cha Woon or Yoo Jay had nightmares, or Nam Yihwon got drunk and didn’t come home until late, or I was worried that Seo Yuseong might quietly disappear in the middle of the night, it was actually more efficient to just stay beside them and keep checking on them.

‘…Wait, is this separation anxiety?’

Not the kind where dogs become anxious whenever their owner is gone, but the kind where the owner becomes anxious whenever the dog isn’t around.

“Nonsense.”

I casually dismissed the possibility that had crossed my mind and lightly nudged Jo Inchan with my arm, telling him to hurry up and introduce the next item.

At that, Jo Inchan leaned back completely against my shoulder with a laugh, looking immensely amused by something. Once his laughter subsided, he began pulling out his belongings one after another.

“My knees are in pretty bad shape, so I carry several things to take care of my joints. Pain relief patches, spray patches, painkillers, knee braces, heating pads, athletic tape … and this is supposed to be a pain-relieving massage gel containing Devil’s Claw¹? It was recommended by the orthopedic clinic, and it definitely seems to have a cooling effect that temporarily reduces the pain. Of course, on days when I’m not feeling well, these things don’t work as well either, but they’re a hundred times better than having nothing.”

[Wow, you carry even more medical supplies than Cha Woon-ssi?]

“Once you injure a joint, it follows you for the rest of your life … so you really have to take care of it like this. So, Seras, please be careful not to get hurt.”

[It must be difficult having to carry so many things around with you every time.]

“Not necessarily. The staff on-site also take really good care of me ……. Besides, since the members dance so often, they basically live with constant muscle or joint soreness. So when they occasionally tell me something hurts, I can lend them what I have. Every time that happens, I’m glad I brought all this stuff with me.”

[Which member borrows them most often?]

“…….”

At the production team’s question, Jo Inchan’s wavering eyes swept across the members before trembling even more violently and settling on me.

‘Why. What.’

As I stared back at him with a sullen expression, Jo Inchan couldn’t hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing before answering.

“Heh-heh. Hyung, I’m sorry ……. It’s Yutae-hyung.”

What is he sorry for?

Just as I was thinking that, the production team—with expressions half sympathetic and half mischievous—displayed a text on the monitor.

[As expected of the eldest hyung…….]

Hearing that, the Prism members couldn’t hold back their snickers for even a second and hung their heads low.

Meanwhile, Nam Yihwon and Lee Chise, who made zero effort to hide their laughter, clung to my shoulders and wheezed.

“This hyung has been asking us to massage his shoulders and step on his back every day lately. He really looks like an old man, right?”

“Guess you really can’t beat age ……. pfft, fighting.”

One word was enough to shut those insolent mouths.

“Mouth.”

The two immediately clamped their mouths shut so tightly that their lips curled inward, then looked toward the camera as if tattling, their eyes saying, ‘Look what this hyung is doing to us.‘

‘Come to think of it, I really have been working them pretty hard lately.’

I don’t know why my body feels less and less like it used to with every passing year.

Should I say that the fatigue building up in my muscles after exercising is on an entirely different level now?

People might say I should just buy a massage chair, but I hated massage chairs; the way they pound on you feels so aggressive and rude.

And as for going out to get a professional massage, I don’t have the time, plus I feel uncomfortable having strangers touch me. So, aside from the bare minimum physical therapy, I had been putting the Prism guys to work instead.

I’d wondered why they were so willing to massage me without complaint. Was it because they were showing respect to an elder?

“You guys will all end up like this when you get older too.”

“I’ll still be massaging your shoulders even when I’m old. Either way, you’ll still be the oldest one then, won’t you?”

“Ah, I suddenly feel so sad. Hyung, don’t get old.”

They’re literally burying me alive here, aren’t they?

I should tell them to have those bastards buried with me when I die.

Prism is one forever.

While the other members were busy messing with me, Jo Inchan quickly tried to shove a ziplock bag back into his backpack, but the production team stopped him with a laugh.

[What did you just hide? You know our show is all about being honest, right? haha]

“Ah, it’s hangover cure.”

[Do you drink often, Inchan-ssi?]

“…Sometimes. When you’re out socializing for work, there are times when you have to drink. I take it then.”

Liar.

Prism was so well-known and had been around for so many years that we were hardly in a position where anyone could force us to drink. Jo Inchan didn’t drink at all unless he occasionally felt like having a drink himself. But since he couldn’t just answer, “It’s Nam Yihwon’s”, he was covering for him like this instead.

“Ah, Jo Inchaaan. You won’t drink with me, so who the hell are you drinking with?”

Nam Yihwon, who probably knew better than anyone that there was no truth to that, shamelessly blurted out those words with a straight face.

Perhaps finding Nam Yihwon annoying for that reason, Jo Inchan pinched him on the side.

“Ow.”

He didn’t even pinch him that hard, what a crybaby. If I were the one who pinched him, his ribs would’ve been shattered to pieces.

After punishing Nam Yihwon, Jo Inchan took out a bottle of fabric refresher featuring a cartoon sun and teddy bear on the label.

“I actually really like perfume too, but since I always smell like massage gel or pain patches, I only spray something light like this fabric refresher. I don’t want the scents to mix and make other people uncomfortable.”

Come to think of it, before he injured his knee, he used to wear heavier perfumes with woody scents quite often. These days, though, he seemed to stick almost exclusively to light and soft fragrances.

‘So it was because of the smell of the pain patches. He really doesn’t need to worry about something like that.’

It was yet another detail I hadn’t known until now.

“This is my practice journal. I’ve been writing in it every single day since I was a trainee. Ah, I did take a break for about a year somewhere in the middle, though.”

It had already been years since our debut, yet he was still keeping a practice journal. I could only say it was truly impressive. As for why someone as diligent as him had taken a year off in the middle, I couldn’t bring myself to ask. It was obvious, wasn’t it? What had happened during that missing year of his.

Perhaps noticing the Prism members’ expressions stiffen ever so slightly, Jo Inchan became somewhat restless and hurriedly changed the subject.

“Oh, Nam Yihwon’s highlighter is in my pencil case. He asked me to keep it for him when he was memorizing his script, and it’s been in my bag for two months now.”

At that, Yihwon, who had been looking down with subdued eyes, deliberately put on a playful tone and played along with Jo Inchan.

“…Did it? Ah, I completely forgot.”

“And this … is also Nam Yihwon’s card. He left it behind at our last company dinner, so I picked it up for him. Come get it already.”

[You have quite a lot of Nam Yihwon-ssi’s things in your bag.]

At the production team’s amused remark,, Jo Inchan answered while tugging on Nam Yihwon’s ear.

“This guy goes through life with half his mind somewhere else. If you leave him alone, he’s constantly getting into trouble, losing things, hurting himself ……. I have no choice but to keep an eye on him.”

[Isn’t he acting like that with total peace of mind precisely he knows you’ll always take care of him, Inchan-ssi?]

“I’ve tried not taking care of him before because I thought it would teach him a lesson, but he just kept living his life without a care in the world. I was an idiot too. Thinking I could reform Nam Yihwon…….”

“Aaaaaah, use your words. Ow, my ear. My handsome ear is gonna tear off.”

“Ah, this is Yuseong’s sleep mask. Yuseong hates bright places, so he really needs it. It has a cat pattern on it. Cute, right? I think he got it from a fan.”

“Hey, why is your reaction to me so different from your reaction to Seo Yuseong?”

“You should have some conscience.”

“…….”

As Jo Inchan pulled out the remaining items one by one, grabbing whatever his hand happened to find, he came across an old gold ring strung through a necklace chain. His lips moved slightly.

Even after some time had passed, Jo Inchan still couldn’t easily bring himself to speak. Eventually, he let out a deep sigh.

I placed a hand on his back and silently waited for him.

“It’s my grandmother’s wedding ring.”

After a while, Jo Inchan spoke again, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

“It had been quite a while since my grandmother passed away, but I couldn’t bring myself to carry this around. I put away everything that reminded me of her, whether it was her belongings or anything else, at my family home and tried to live as if I’d forgotten about it as much as possible. I couldn’t even bring myself to visit the memorial hall ……. I thought I was okay, but I guess I really wasn’t.”

“…….”

“I lived like that for a while, but then not long ago, I went to pay my respects to my grandmother. The members were busy, but they somehow made time to come with me, and I think having them there gave me the courage to go. I went there and told her, ‘I’m doing well’ and … ‘Please don’t worry about me’. I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it if the members hadn’t been there. And after that, I realized it all over again. Ah, I wasn’t alone.I have such a dependable family by my side.”

After saying that, he slowly looked around at all of us and silently whispered,

Thank you.

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Translator’s Corner:

1. Harpagophytum, also called grapple plant, wood spider, and most commonly devil’s claw, is a genus of plants in the sesame family, native to southern Africa. Plants of the genus owe their common name “devil’s claw” to the peculiar appearance of their hooked fruit. It is known for its natural anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, commonly used in creams/gels for joint and arthritis relief. ↩︎

T_T