Chapter 183. The Earth is Round (7)
The handwritten letter from Kang Hajin began like this:
First of all, I apologize that the first letter I’m sending to all of you is about my shameful past.
Destis, upon seeing Hajin’s handwriting in the letter, could easily guess how much effort he had put into writing it.
Kang Hajin’s handwriting had already been revealed through Miro Maze, and he usually wrote in a style close to cursive. He always added a brief explanation, which sounded more like an excuse, saying that he could write neatly if he wanted to, but he usually scribbled because he was tired and lazy.
However, I felt that it was my responsibility to personally address everything that had happened to the Destis who have believed in and waited for me until the end, which is why I took up the pen.
But the handwriting in the letter that Kang Hajin posted this time was neater and more upright than ever.
It was a clean letter, so neatly written that it was clear that he had carefully penned each word. Even without reading the typed text, one could understand the contents just from his handwritten letter.
Kang Hajin conveyed his story through his writing.
…I won’t deny that I was someone who hurt others.
There were times when I wanted to escape, using my youth and inexperience as an excuse, but I know very well that I had no right to wield that inexperience and inadequacy like a weapon.
To those friends, I think I was a person with rough edges.
I didn’t realize that someone was being worn down by my sharp edges.
I acknowledge and reflect on the fact that I caused great harm to others and made the friends I practiced with feel pressured and humiliated.
Hajin calmly acknowledged his flawed past and apologized. He never denied that he was at fault.
But no one reading the letter could throw stones at Hajin.
Just because the Earth is round doesn’t mean we were born rounded from the start.
All stones are originally born with rough edges. It’s just that they become smoother as they roll and roll.
When I first learned about the post that exposed me, I was deeply troubled by many things. However, I ultimately decided to tell the truth because of you, Destis.
I wanted to clear up everything and set the record straight, especially for the Destis who have supported and believed in me, and thanks to the help of those around me, I was able to share more detailed circumstances from that time.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who stepped forward to help me.
From apologies to reflections, and even gratitude.
Hajin’s letter was so clean and to the point that there was no room for unnecessary details.
The Destis, who had been engrossed in reading the lengthy letter, soon realized they had reached the final page.
Desti.
I confess that my time at KD Entertainment was a series of unbearably difficult days for me back then.
But I took that time as nourishment to become a better person, and I have grown since then.
Even though there was no one by my side at that time, I am now infinitely happy and joyful to have so many Destis, kind members, and good people with me.
I am no longer lonely. So please don’t worry too much.
Don’t be sad, and don’t let your hearts ache. If you do, it will only make me feel worse.
“Ah, this is really driving me crazy….”
Park Sanga, who was sitting at her desk in her room, reading Hajin’s post on her phone, furrowed her brow, trying her best to hold back tears for some unknown reason. In front of her desk was a fake photo card of Hajin’s first autograph, stored in a holder and displayed.
Park Sanga quickly grabbed a tissue from beside her desk, wiped her tears, and refocused her eyes to finish reading the letter.
My promise to become a proud Kang Hajin for you all remains unchanged.
I will continue to strive to grow and develop into a better person.
Once again, I thank the Destis who believed in me and waited for me, and with this, I will conclude my letter.
In the not-too-distant future.
I will return with good news under the name of Kairos.
Thank you for reading until the end.
Sincerely, Kairos’ Kang Hajin.
P.S. You are still proud Destis to me. My parents, the Kairos members, and our company have all decided to join in your wonderful journey.
I also want to extend my gratitude to the members and company staff who readily came together for this cause.
So, this is really goodbye.
And at the end of the letter, a donation receipt was attached, showing a total of 10 million won donated to a youth violence prevention foundation under the names of Desti and Kairos, with 5 million won from each. Considering that they had not even received their first settlement as pre-debut idols, this was an enormous amount.
“Ah, this is just the best. I have to share this with Yoon Hyeji right away, this is insane, seriously.”
After saving her favorite Kang Hajin’s letter to her phone, Park Sanga sent it to her friend who was a fan of Seo Taehyun and secondarily a fan of Kang Hajin in the same class. Along with it came her resolve that those who badmouthed Kairos were done for.
‘Come to think of it…. Isn’t there someone like that in our class? The one being ostracized.’
While continuing her lively chatter with Yoon Hyeji about Hajin and their classmates, Park Sanga suddenly recalled a classmate who was quiet and had little presence. After being left out of the group she initially hung out with at the beginning of the semester, she lost her chance to join another group and had since been alone.
“Hmmm….”
Park Sanga pondered for a moment.
She then looked back and forth between Hajin’s letter, the donation receipt on her phone, and the autograph photo card carefully preserved in front of her.
She wanted to be the ‘proud Desti’ that Hajin mentioned.
‘Should I ask her to have lunch together tomorrow? Ah, but what if she refuses? That would be so embarrassing.’
But still, why not ask! If she refuses, well, nothing I can do about that!
With that resolve, Park Sanga lay down on her bed, feeling proud.
She had initially sat down to study, but after reading Hajin’s letter, she felt such an overwhelming surge of fangirl energy that she just had to rewatch Miro Maze performances.
Searching for Hajin’s legendary stage performances on iTube, Park Sanga smiled contentedly for the first time in a while.
* * *
That evening, when Kang Hajin’s letter was uploaded to the official fan cafe.
At the Kairos dormitory, a belated welcome party was in full swing.
“Can we not call it a welcome party?”
“Why? It’s the day we moved into the dorm, so it’s a welcome party, isn’t it?”
“…It just doesn’t sound right.”
Looking at the A4 paper stuck to the living room wall, Kang Hajin felt a strange chill run down his spine.
No, but isn’t the phrase *‘Congratulations on your entry to Kairos’* something that would freak out any man in Korea who is about to enlist, has enlisted, or has been discharged? It really felt like entering a boot camp.
“Hey, no matter how you look at it, this isn’t a welcome party. Let’s call it something else. Let’s just say it’s a debut party.”
“We’re still far from debuting.”
“Ah, but we will eventually.”
“Then let’s celebrate that when the time comes.”
“Tsk! You damn brat! Are you going to keep disobeying your grandpa!?”
“Ah, here comes Grandpa again, seriously.”
When Hajin snapped at Seo Taehyun, who was retorting to his every word, Taehyun shook his head with a resigned look. In the end, Hajin took down all the A4 papers, filled the back of them with other words using a marker, and only then did he sit quietly, seemingly satisfied.
Yugeon, who was carrying food from the kitchen to the living room, mumbled as he watched the scene.
“It seems like he’s really enjoying this Grandpa role.”
“What did you say, you punk?”
“Oh, and his hearing is sharp too.”
Despite Hajin’s scolding, Lee Yugeon nonchalantly replied. Then, he placed the tray he was holding on the table and quickly slipped back into the kitchen.
Seeing this, Hajin grumbled that everyone seemed to be taking him lightly, but Taehyun, who was sitting next to him, quietly handed him some balloons and a hand pump.
“Grandpa, focus and start blowing up the balloons quickly. You’ve only done three in the last thirty minutes because you’ve been grumbling.”
“Tsk…. Making an old man work so hard….”
“Yes, next up is the twenty-year-old old man.”
As Taehyun naturally blocked Hajin’s complaints, Hajin had no choice but to diligently start pumping up the balloons. In fact, since the party had been delayed because of Hajin, he didn’t complain about anything else the members asked him to do.
It’s just that the words on that paper…. They were so dreadful that he had to resist for a moment.
In the end, Hajin stopped his Grandpa act, quietly curled up on the living room sofa, and switched into balloon-blowing machine mode.
“Hyung, hyung. If it’s too hard to blow up the balloons, should I do it?”
“Eunchan hyung and I can handle the decorations. We’re really good at blowing up balloons!”
“Really? You want to do
it?”
As Hajin grumbled and picked up a balloon, Eunchan and Haru, who had been running errands between the kitchen and the living room, approached with bright eyes.
Seeing the two eagerly offering to handle the annoying decorations, Hajin was about to hand over the balloons and hand pump to the youngest members. But just then, Taehyun, who was hanging the balloons that Hajin had made, firmly shouted from the other side.
“No! Don’t give it to them.”
“…? Why not? The kids want to do it.”
“No, no. Joo Eunchan, Dan Haru. Just go to the kitchen and help Siwoo hyung.”
“The kitchen’s too small, there’s nothing to do!”
“We did the decorations during the team bonding party!”
“Yeah, they want to do it, so why are you stopping them?”
Even with Eunchan and Haru’s protests, who were siding with Hajin, Seo Taehyun resolutely shook his head.
Then, crossing his arms, he threw out a single comment.
“Don’t you remember breaking the curtain rod while hanging balloons last time?”
“Ah.”
Ah, that.
The memory vaguely resurfaced in Hajin’s mind as he had vaguely heard about it before.
But Seo Taehyun’s rebuttal didn’t end there.
“Eunchan, do you not remember how you almost passed out from lack of oxygen because you had a contest to see who could blow up balloons faster? Kwon Wook hyung almost called 119.”
“Well…. But we have this pump now!”
“So after giving you the pump, you started a contest to see who could blow up the biggest balloon, and Haru popped eight of them. I had to go out and buy new balloons because of that.”
“T-this time we won’t do that! We’ll quietly blow up the balloons… won’t we? Ah, Taehyun hyung.”
“When we left you two alone to blow up the balloons quietly, you ended up kicking them around like soccer balls, bumping into each other, and falling over.”
At that point, Kang Hajin couldn’t tell who was scarier: Seo Taehyun or the youngest members.
Seo Taehyun, who mercilessly tore into them with his words, was terrifying, but the youngest members, who managed to create so many incidents with just a few balloons, were even scarier.
“Th-that… I’ll just blow up the balloons. I’ll do it diligently. S-see? Grandpa ties balloons really well, doesn’t he?”
Kang Hajin decided to diligently blow up the balloons.
He firmly believed that it was the only way to maintain peace.
“This is the last one. Let’s eat now.”
“Doha hyung. Siwoo hyung says he’ll clean up and come over.”
“Oh, I’ll just finish cleaning this up and join you.”
A little while later, with the hundred thousand balloons (exaggeration) that Kang Hajin had diligently produced, Kairos’s first dorm entry… no, housewarming party began.
Even just reheating the side dishes in the refrigerator made it feel like a feast. Kang Hajin was sincerely glad that Miro wasn’t a company obsessed with weight control.
“Doha hyung! Come quickly.”
“Yeah, I’m done.”
Once Lee Doha, who had been busy cleaning up after the chaos in the kitchen, joined them in the living room, all seven members were finally gathered. Hajin glanced around and quietly spoke to Jung Siwoo, who was seated at the head of the table.
“Hyung, why don’t you say a few words?”
“Me?”
“Yes, after all, you’re our oldest hyung.”
Since Hajin thought that Jung Siwoo might become the leader of Kairos, he felt that it would be ideal for him to deliver a brief opening speech.
However, the dazzlingly handsome Jung Siwoo seemed to have a slightly different idea.
“Alright. Since I’m the oldest hyung, I’ll toss it over to you, Hajin. You say a few words.”
“…What? Me? Why me?”
“Need me to come up with reasons? I could probably come up with about ten.”
“No. I’ll just do it.”
Right, I had forgotten for a moment, but this was another scary hyung.
Guesstimating what those ten reasons could be, Hajin opened his mouth, hiding the slightly awkward and unfamiliar feeling.
“Um. Well. First of all, I’m sorry for causing such an unfortunate incident just before our debut.”
Even as he habitually tapped his fingers on his thigh, Hajin spoke sincerely.
“To be honest, we haven’t known each other that long, but I’m grateful that you all readily said you believe in me.”
Relaxing his shoulders, Hajin looked into the warm eyes of the six members who were gazing at him and smiled brightly.
“Let’s stick together for a long time, Kairos, fighting!”
“Fighting!!”
Although we may never be able to see the round shape of the Earth with our own eyes, I have rolled and rolled on this round Earth, and I’ve finally found my people.
Hajin suddenly thought that, even after a very long time has passed, it would be nice if we could still smile at each other.