Chapter 123. The Reason for Action (10)
Park Jaeyoung had never witnessed such a contradictory situation in his life.
“How on earth did this happen? Why did you do it? Did you fight with someone? Did you win?”
“No, Mom, it’s not like that…”
“I bragged so much about how beautifully you were born with such delicate hands, and now you’ve scratched them, scratched them! How many times have I told you to be careful? What is this now? Are you okay? Does it hurt? It looks painful. I hope it doesn’t leave a scar… How could you be so careless about your body when you’re an idol?”
“Mom, my little brother is here too, so could you calm down a bit…”
“And you’re the one who whined about being in pain in front of your younger brother!?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Are you not going to take care of yourself properly!?”
“…I will.”
Watching Hajin, who stood over 180 cm tall, being verbally reprimanded by his mother, who looked at least two palms shorter than him, was quite a rare sight.
No, wait.
**Kang Hajin**? Getting scolded? Verbally? And not even able to move?
‘He did get scolded by Siwoo hyung last time, but… I’ve never seen him shrink like this before.’
Hajin’s mother seemed like a warm and straightforward woman with a strong character. She looked like any other middle-aged woman you’d see in the neighborhood, but her eyes were incredibly large and round.
‘Hajin hyung’s eyes are sharp and have no double eyelids. Maybe he takes after his father?’
Feeling awkward, Jaeyoung sat in a corner, quietly observing the reunion between mother and son.
As he continued to watch, he found it oddly entertaining and interesting.
“Mom, if you’re going to do this, just hit me instead.”
“Why would I hit my precious child?”
“…What? Why are you suddenly being so touching?”
“You like it when your mom worries about you, don’t you? But I’m really upset looking at your hand right now.”
“…My mom shouldn’t be upset. Oh no, Kang Hajin did something wrong. Very wrong.”
Oh? The mood suddenly became heartwarming again.
Jaeyoung hadn’t known Hajin for very long, but it was the first time he’d seen him laugh so comfortably and cuddle up to someone like that. And for the first time, Jaeyoung noticed a resemblance between Hajin and his mother.
“…Geez, you’re trying to gloss over it with cuteness.”
‘They smile exactly the same!’
The reluctant smile on Young-in’s face was identical to Hajin’s.
That bright, easy-going smile of Hajin’s was definitely inherited from his mother!
Feeling oddly proud, as if he’d discovered something important, Jaeyoung continued to observe Hajin and Young-in.
“But is it okay to be snuggling like this in front of your little brother?”
“What’s the big deal? While you’re at it, why don’t you give him a hug too? This is our team’s youngest, One.”
“One? Is there a Two? Who’s Two? Haru?”
“Yeah. He’s still recording. Park Jaeyoung, come here. This is my mom, say hello.”
“…Huh? Oh, hello. I’m Park Jaeyoung.”
Feeling bashful, Jaeyoung greeted Hajin’s mother. Young-in returned the greeting with a kind smile, complimenting his wonderful voice when he sings.
“But Mom, how did you really get here?”
“I came to bring you your school uniform. But Team Leader Suho asked if I wanted to watch your stage for a bit, so I ended up touring the broadcast station.”
“You saw our stage? Were you there during the pre-recording?”
“Yeah. You did well, my son.”
“Of course. Whose son do you think I am?”
“Ah, when you hit that high note at the end, it was really impressive. You did great, I’m so proud.”
As Young-in tidied Hajin’s hair, she patted his back fondly.
After complimenting the stage for a while longer, Young-in checked the time and started gathering her things.
“Well, I’ve seen you now, so I should get going.”
“Already?”
“Yes, I should. What am I going to do here? You have your work, and I have mine.”
“Where did you park the car? Let me walk you out. You can’t take the elevator without an access card.”
…He must be really close with his mother.
As the eldest in his family, Jaeyoung wasn’t used to seeing someone like Hajin, who interacted so comfortably with his mother, but he thought it suited Hajin. So when Hajin looked at him while he was about to escort his mother out, Jaeyoung flopped onto the sofa and closed his eyes.
“I’m going to lie here with a headache. I won’t move a step until the manager comes.”
“…Okay, well. I’ll be back soon. Just rest.”
“Thanks, Jaeyoung’s friend~ Fighting~!”
Jaeyoung slightly opened his tightly closed eyes as he heard the sound of Hajin and Young-in leaving the waiting room.
Once he was sure they were completely gone, Jaeyoung quickly grabbed his phone and opened his messenger.
**[Miro’s Maknae Chatroom V_V (5)]**
– **OMG I just saw Hajin hyung’s mom!**
– **She smiles exactly like Hajin hyung!!!!**
– **Shocking!! In front of his mom, he’s like a gentle lamb!!!!**
He had to share this amusing gossip with everyone as soon as possible!
* * *
“Huh? Hajin, where are you coming from?”
“Oh, Team Leader.”
Hajin, who was returning to the waiting room after escorting his mother outside the broadcast station, ran into Suho.
When he told him he had just seen his mother off, Suho looked at Hajin with a warm expression.
“You really look just like her.”
“I get that a lot.”
“Your mother seems like a really great person.”
“I hear that a lot too.”
Suho clicked his tongue, amused at Hajin’s expression, which seemed more proud than when he was being praised himself.
Even so, Suho had expected his mother would at least suggest having a meal together after reuniting with her son after so long. But leaving so coolly like this—Hajin’s mother seemed to be no ordinary person either.
‘…Though I guess they wouldn’t have been able to eat together anyway.’
Suho recalled his conversation with the main PD of *A Countdown* just a moment ago. Anyway, nothing in this industry ever went according to plan.
“Actually, I had something to ask you, so this is perfect.”
“…? What is it?”
“Would you like to perform in the live broadcast too? All the way to the 1st place announcement ending.”
“Huh…? Why all of a sudden?”
“…Well, it turns out Utopia is a candidate for 1st place today. We just found out too. But the Utopia members are currently all overseas for a location shoot. They’re filming the concert VCR.”
…What? That group of ruthless first-class brats?
Hajin’s face was filled with disbelief.
* * *
The request from *A Countdown* was simple.
– We really didn’t expect this song to become a 1st place candidate. But what can we do? It’s already a candidate! If it doesn’t win, no problem, but if it does? We could just gloss over it with the MC’s remarks, but coincidentally! Just today! Just today, Miro’s next-generation trainees did a special stage?
– But they’re not even officially debuted…
– Exactly! We’re not asking them to give an acceptance speech or do an encore stage. Just to accept the award on behalf of Utopia~ That’s all. And if they don’t win 1st place, it’ll just be a brief camera shot, right!? It’s a good opportunity for rookies.
– But they’re not even rookies yet, they’re just trainees…
– Well, today’s stage lineup is great, right? It’s all pre-recorded, so it’s fine to have them on stage during the live broadcast. The kids came all the way to a music show; shouldn’t they sing in front of the audience? They’re good at live performances too!
They were asking them to perform during the live broadcast and, if Utopia won 1st place, to accept the trophy on their behalf.
It wasn’t a difficult request, but Hajin was hesitant to accept it for several reasons.
‘First of all, the risk of alienating Idea, who we’ve just managed to befriend.’
Having juniors to celebrate an award ‘together’ was one thing, but using that award as an opportunity to promote themselves would not sit well with the senior fandom.
Moreover, the song that was nominated for 1st place was Utopia’s digital single released for their 13th anniversary, **“I Love Idea”**.
It was a love song dedicated entirely to Idea, whispering their love for 3 minutes and 31 seconds straight.
Given that Idea’s fan club was founded on March 31st, interfering with this insane love affair would certainly result in being criticized, no matter who you were.
And secondly…
“…Who’s the other 1st place candidate?”
“……Believer.”
Of all things, the ones competing against them were Believer—the ones he had prayed he would never cross paths with!
“…How can you not know until the day of that one of your artists is a candidate for 1st place?”
“Well… Originally, the 1st place candidate was supposed to be Shintae-pal, but he suddenly got arrested
this morning…? He was removed from the competition due to social controversy.”
“Shintae-pal? The trot singer? Why was he suddenly arrested?”
“Apparently, he committed some fraud… But when they went to arrest him, he was also doing drugs… So now they’re investigating the drug charges as well….”
“…That guy is a piece of work.”
“Yeah, and then he tried to run away to avoid being arrested and crashed his car into a utility pole. So they charged him with drunk driving too…”
“He was drinking while on drugs? How is he even still alive?”
“Well, he’s in the hospital right now…”
“…….”
It seemed like the world was conspiring to give Utopia a 1st place win.
Of course, that was an absurd thought, but Hajin genuinely believed it. What kind of fate did Utopia have that they could become 1st place candidates in such a ridiculous way?
‘Could it be the work of the Chosen Regressor, Seo Taeil? This is a legitimate suspicion.’
**[System Alarm: But Seo Taeil isn’t really that closely related to the incidents of this regression…]**
‘Then what on earth are Utopia?’
**[System Alarm: What do you mean, what are they…]**
**[System Alarm: They’re just senior idols who have been holding their ground for 13 years without a single member leaving….]**
Yeah, I’m insanely jealous.
“I think I need to think about this. The situation doesn’t look too good from various angles.”
“…So I told them we’d think about the acceptance on your behalf. But performing in the live broadcast could be a good opportunity.”
“The kids would enjoy performing in front of an audience… Let me ask them first.”
If the other 1st place candidate weren’t Believer, he might have been more positive about it.
No matter how he thought about it, there was something off about Believer. The idea of having an undeclared debut trainee like Seo Taehyun stand alongside them as a proxy for the 1st place award didn’t sit well with him.
‘If Believer ends up winning 1st place, the situation gets even weirder.’
Deciding to ask them about it first, Hajin opened the door.
The remaining trainees had all gathered inside, having finished their recording. At the center of it all, Dan Haru was fuming with anger, shouting with a puffed-up face.
“Those guys are really cowards! Bad guys!”
“No, Haru, calm down first… Anyway, it’s all in the past now…”
“How can I calm down! I saw them doing that, just like, to our precious Taehyun hyung!”
“…Haru, you…!”
“Hey, Seo Taehyun. What are you going to do if you suddenly get emotional at this point?”
Huh? Sparkling, are you upset again?
A question mark appeared above Hajin’s head as he sensed something unusual in the conversation.