TFIU 30

Chapter 30

“What the—how did you get in?”

Seeing the broad frame that seemed even bigger than it had been two months ago, Eon’s brow furrowed automatically.

Isn’t he way too big for an idol? It ruins the group’s balance. I told him to stop bulking up so much.

How is it that not a single one of these guys ever listens? Eon clicked his tongue inwardly.

President Park really does have an eye for people.

“Don’t forget to call me ‘hyung.’”

“You want me to call you hyung over an eight-month difference? Try saying that in London.”

“Then why didn’t you just stay in London? Why crawl all the way back to Seoul?”

“You think I came because I wanted to?”

“Then why did you come?”

“……”

Eon couldn’t exactly say, ‘Because I was afraid that humiliating video would spread all over the world.’ So he shut his mouth.

As if he’d expected that, Yeonho didn’t wait for an answer and instead plopped down onto the sofa.

Noticing the ice bucket on the table and the already emptied wine bottles, Yeonho frowned.

“This bastard and that bastard… nothing but stuff that wrecks your body.”

With a sigh, he started picking up the bottles one by one. If he left them there, with Eon’s temper, they’d probably get kicked over and shattered.

“It’s my body. I’ll use it how I want. Stay out of it.”

“Then quit like Yoo Taeyoung did. Stop living the idol life.”

“I will. I’m quitting.”

The answer clearly wasn’t what Yeonho expected. His hand froze mid-motion.

“…Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Eon.”

“I met Lee Doha today.”

“……”

“That bastard hasn’t changed. And he never will.”

Yeonho knew Eon had been hurt. He knew why. So he kept quiet.

As for himself, he understood Doha to some extent, so instead of being hurt, he’d just called him a “pathetic bastard” and left it at that.

But Eon and Doha clashed in every possible way. Of course Eon would get hurt.

He acted like the sharpest of the four, but in truth, Eon was the most delicate and sensitive of them all—and therefore the easiest to break.

“If you keep staying on a sinking ship, your head’s got to be screwed up. You should escape too, hyung.”

“……”

“You know how that saying’s popular these days? ‘Even escaping is a matter of intelligence.’ Fits perfectly. Guess that Yoo Taeyoung bastard was the smartest out of all of us.”

After letting out a self-deprecating laugh, Eon shook his head as if disgusted and flopped onto the bed.

It was clear he didn’t want to talk anymore.

But Yeonho showed no sign of leaving. Silently, he cleaned up the wine bottles and scattered trash, then stood facing Eon.

Eon turned his back on him, as if he didn’t even want to look at him.

Why’s he acting so pathetic all of a sudden? That’s not like him.

“…I’m not saying I don’t understand how you feel.”

Speaking to Eon’s back, Yeonho lowered his voice.

“……”

“I think we should give ‘Glit’ one more chance. Not Lee Doha—Glit.”

At the word Glit, Eon’s eyes darkened.

Once, he’d believed that word would shine forever. Hearing it now only made his heart twist.

“And… Han Wooyeon said something.”

Unaware—or perhaps fully aware—of Eon’s turmoil, Yeonho continued.

“He said Lee Doha has changed.”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“He said his niece… changed him a bit.”

“You believe that? Are you missing a screw in your head too?”

The three of them had clung to him for ten years and couldn’t change him, and suddenly one kid shows up and he’s different?

At least make it believable.

If anything, it just meant Han Wooyeon must be that desperate.

“Well, whether you believe it or not, I know you don’t actually want to quit right this second.”

“……”

“So stop playing hard to get and come to the company. You know we’ve got a meeting soon.”

“Bullshit. I’m not going.”

“Lay off the alcohol.”

Without waiting for a response, Yeonho left the room.

Left alone in the large suite, Eon quietly gazed at the city lights shimmering beneath the bed.

The world still felt fake.

No different from ten years ago.

Lee Doha.

The fact that you’ve changed—

Why does that piss me off this much?

Eon closed his eyes.

A few days later, at the Time Entertainment headquarters meeting room.

President Park entered the brightly lit room with Yeonho and Youngoh.

“You’re already here? Well, Doha I expected, but Wooyeon too? Oh my.”

She burst out laughing.

“Yewon, you’re a total princess today, aren’t you?”

“……”

At her words, Yewon lowered her head.

While Doha wore a simple white T-shirt and jeans and Wooyeon had on a tracksuit, Yewon stood out in a beautiful princess dress.

Seriously, I just wanted to wear something comfortable…!

Why did they have to dress me like this?!

She swallowed her frustration.

“Since it’s her first time meeting Eon, and her first impression with Yeonho hyung wasn’t great, we figured we’d refresh things a bit. Yup. We rushed to the department store and got this—Youngoh and I. What do you think? Isn’t it awesome? Ha! Pulling off a crazy attention-grabbing princess dress like this—legendary visuals. As expected of my niece.”

“Who’s your niece? Watch your mouth.”

“It does suit her. DNA doesn’t lie.”

At President Park’s comment, Doha nodded calmly.

“There’s no one prettier than Yewon.”

“……”

Even you too, Uncle Doha?

Yewon’s face burned with embarrassment.

“Have you been well, Yewon?”

“Yes! Uncle Doha and I played with dolls yesterday too.”

“…Mm. With Doha?”

President Park tried to imagine Doha playing with dolls—then immediately gave up.

Bad for mental health. Very bad.

“Seo Yeonho. Aren’t you going to greet them?”

“I already did.”

“A nod is not a greeting. Are you going to be that cold in front of a child?”

“……”

Something about that struck a chord; Yeonho’s shoulders twitched slightly.

Then he sighed.

“…Hi.”

Ignoring Doha and Wooyeon, he greeted Yewon directly.

“Hello!”

Yewon wasn’t flustered. She smiled brightly.

She’d spent nine years grinding as a child actress. This much was basic.

She knew exactly how to make adults find her cute.

Adults liked kids who were “quick-witted but not obviously so.”

If you showed you were too smart, they called you sly.

But if you acted foolish, they said you were dumb.

So Yewon was very confident in pretending not to notice any “adult circumstances” and simply smiling like a doll.

“……”

She couldn’t tell if it worked or not.

Meeting Yeonho’s strange gaze head-on, she maintained her sweet eye-smile.

With people like him, a smiling face usually kept them from spitting venom.

“…You look exactly the same.”

Now he says that?

It’s not like this is the first time we’ve met.

Only then did Yewon realize how frantically Yeonho must have barged in that day.

He didn’t even see me back then.

She beamed wider and looped her arm through Doha’s.

There was no need to ask who she looked like.

“Right? Uncle and I look alike, don’t we? I think so too!”

“…That’s disgusting.”

“?!”

At Yeonho’s shocking word choice, everyone in the room gasped.

Dis… disgusting?

“You shouldn’t look like that bastard—”

“Hyung, hyung, hyung!!!!!”

Youngoh hurriedly clamped a hand over Yeonho’s mouth.

“Y-you have to use all-ages language here, hyung!! Y-Yewon is only seven…!”

“Hmph.”

Yeonho tilted his head in dissatisfaction but obediently closed his mouth.

“…Disgusting…”

Even Doha seemed offended by that label, muttering it once more—but he didn’t argue.

“…Where’s Eon?”

Still thrown off by the situation, President Park changed the subject.

“Eon… well…”

Youngoh trailed off awkwardly.

Doha and Wooyeon’s faces darkened further.

“PD Hwang will be here in ten minutes. He’s really not coming? He’s the one who always begged me to get him on PD Hwang’s show.”

That’s right.

Today’s meeting was the first for the new childcare variety show Glit and Yewon would appear on—Glittering Baby House.

It was still in the discussion phase, not a formal meeting, but first impressions mattered.

And the producer was Hwang Jio PD, famous for turning everything he touched into a hit.

Even idols whose images had tanked could be rehabilitated through one of his reality shows. For any idol needing a comeback, this was a golden opportunity.

Even before Yoo Taeyoung’s departure, Eon had been eager to appear on a show like this and had constantly pressured President Park to win PD Hwang over.

And now he wasn’t coming?

That meant he was far angrier than usual.

President Park sighed and turned to Youngoh.

“Youngoh, call Eon. Tell him to stop being stubborn and—”

“Who’s being stubborn?”

“!!”

Everyone looked up in surprise.

Unlike the other members who dressed simply, someone had arrived radiating I am a celebrity from head to toe—

It was Eon.