In the end, somehow, Lee Hwayoung did manage to drive.
He kept knocking his elbows and knees against things as he drove, but there was no helping it; the car provided for PPL was a bit smaller than what Lee Hwayoung usually drove. There was even one point where the side mirrors suddenly folded in, which gave us quite a scare, but still, we made it to the destination without incident. So, wouldn’t it be fair to say he did a good job?
…I was really glad I could sit next to him and help with this and that.
“Baby1, no, what am I even saying? Hwayoung-ah, the side mirror!”
The moment I made a slip of the tongue in my flustered state, Lee Hwayoung’s body stiffened, and the wipers started scraping across the dry windshield. Thinking back on it, maybe I was more of a hindrance than a help, but at least I felt at ease.
‘That was a mistake, I panicked for a moment because of the side mirrors … I’ll have to ask them to edit that out.’
For the record, Do Yuda was sweating buckets the entire time he was in the car. By the latter half, he even started singing about his butt being on fire, but Lee Hwayoung never turned off the ‘seat warmer‘ until the very end.
“Huff, huff. Still, it means Hyung finally feels close enough to play pranks on me now, right? If that’s how it is, I’m okay even if my butt gets cooked. It took a full two years to get pranked by Nicholas Hwayoung Lee … I’m pretty sure taming a wild animal doesn’t take that long. I’m truly touched … I’ll happily accept Hyung’s love.”
“…….”
“Hyung?”
Do Yuda’s face slowly turned pale at the lack of a response, but I simply smiled as I watched them. Having seen Lee Hwayoung since he was young, I couldn’t help but feel proud. The moment he started acting like that was proof he was becoming more comfortable around the members.
‘Is that guy finally starting to open up to the members in his own way?‘
After arriving at the pool villa, we had to wait about an hour for Woo Kangwon’s car to show up.
Woo Kangwon, whom the members trusted so much, drove extremely slowly out of fear of getting into an accident, and on top of that, he took a wrong turn and had to go the long way around.
‘The PD has aged drastically in the meantime.’
I clicked my tongue as I watched the PD sluggishly crawl out of the production team’s car that had been trailing Woo Kangwon’s car. From the looks of it, he’d burned through a good deal of mental energy trying to steer Kangwon, who kept veering off track, back in the right direction.
‘See. Why are they making these guys with minimal driving experience do long-hour drives? Is PPL really that important?’
As that thought crossed my mind, I soon answered myself, ‘…Yeah. It is important‘. Then, I walked over to Woo Kangwon, who was slumped in a chair looking completely drained, and asked him a question.
“Didn’t you turn on the navigation? You just have to follow the directions.”
“…I did. I turned it on, but Zen was singing and dancing, and ended up knocking it over…….”
“Oh.”
I was starting to get a rough idea of what had happened. To think he’d even consider taking that chaotic guy in the passenger seat while still a novice driver himself … Woo Kangwon was truly brave.
“My bladder!”
I wasn’t sure if Zen even realized how hard Woo Kangwon had worked, but the moment he got out of the car, he showed off an impressive vocabulary and dashed straight to the bathroom. Baek Kiryang, the last to get out, stumbled into the living room and collapsed heavily onto the sofa.
“What’s wrong?”
His condition seemed quite bad, so I placed my palm on his forehead. Lee Danbi reassured me it was nothing to worry about, explaining that he was just exhausted from dealing with Zen the whole way here, then muttered to himself.
“It would’ve been better if Zen-hyung and Yuda-hyung had been in the same car…….”
An eye for an eye, and a fool for a fool. We separated the two fools for no good reason, and it seemed to cause a total disaster.
How could such a young kid have an expression like a father who’s completely drained by his reckless son?
“You should’ve just roasted him. That’s what we did.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Instead of answering the question, I gestured toward Do Yuda, who was sprawled out in front of the fan with his butt sticking out, practically melting. Lee Danbi let out an “Ah”, then smiled brightly.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll give it a try on the way back to the dorm. I’m looking forward to it.”
Ah, I could hear it.
I could hear the sound of those two fools’ human rights plummeting.
Unable to shake off a pang of guilt, I tried to distract myself by taking a look around the inside of the pool villa.
‘Not bad.’
It was a spacious accommodation with a shallow swimming pool and more rooms than the number of people staying.
‘When the idea first came up, they said we were going to the beach, but it looks like it changed in the end.’
I wasn’t really going to care much about where the production team chose to go, but later I heard that Woo Kangwon had gone to the PD in private and flat-out declared, “The beach is out of the question”. I was a little curious about what kind of excuse he made, since ‘Why can’t we go to the beach?‘ must have definitely been asked in return.
‘He’s pretty bad at lying, too.’
With that on my mind, I glanced at Woo Kangwon and noticed that he had somehow already recovered and was now diligently picking up dumbbells and working out. It seemed he wanted to get in shape for the upcoming Water Festival scheduled during our promotion season.
‘Who drives for hours and then jumps straight into working out like that?’
Come to think of it, Prism was also invited to that festival and will be performing for the first time since their long hiatus. I wondered if they had all been hitting the gym just as hard.
‘Wasn’t it always around this time that the wailing starts?’
“Ah, I’m seriously dying. We’re not even slow, but trying to keep up with Yutae-hyung is just too hard.”
“Whenever that hyung goes to the gym, the owner always sighs about having missed out on a great talent. Muscle-spoon is really the worst.”
Since Prism had such a strong image as a ‘group with great physiques‘, expectations were always high, and they had to endure intense training routines every time. In contrast, Pantheion had more of a youthful and conceptual vibe, so there was no real need to push themselves to bulk up.
‘I’ll probably go up there with all sorts of clothes on. I have to make sure I don’t look too skinny…….’
Honestly, it felt weird. I used to be met with expectant gazes every time I participated in the Water Festival before, but now I had to make an effort just to avoid looking pitiful. I never imagined I’d be the one fluttering around like a twig while everyone else was gritting their teeth and confidently going shirtless.
‘No, Han Seungbeom has muscles too … but that’s just because he’s so thin that even the bare minimum muscle shows.’
Still in denial about reality, I quietly picked up one of the dumbbells Woo Kangwon had brought; weights I used to lift with ease. The moment I lifted it, my arm started trembling like a newborn Chihuahua.
‘…I’m screwed.’
In hindsight, it was only natural. Forget muscles, I barely have any body fat. What on earth was I expecting?
‘Don’t look at me like that.’
A harsh reality check hit me as Woo Kangwon and the camera director’s pitying gazes landed on Han Seungbeom’s scrawny arm. Without a word, I set the dumbbell back down and started mindlessly chewing on a banana from the fridge.
And as I admitted that I’d looked a little pathetic just now, I made a quiet vow to myself.
‘Let’s work out when there are no cameras around.’
***
While the drained members took a short break, the two fools—culprits behind the energy drain—were busy having fun in the pool. The water level clearly wasn’t that high, but I still found myself unable to relax and kept a watchful eye on them.
Woo Kangwon, who couldn’t stand to see me like that, offered to take over, but I refused. After all, Woo Kangwon himself was also someone I had to keep an eye on.
But that didn’t mean I intended to just keep watch the whole time.
At first, I brought my laptop to a table near the pool and tried to work or practice dancing or singing, but the PD told me to stop working and confiscated my laptop.
“No. Seungbeom-ssi! I’m confiscating this. You need to rest today.”
Left with no other option, I tried to read the book I’d brought along, but even that was taken away with a “Please, just go have fun”. They hadn’t said a word when Do Yuda, Nagi Zen, and Lee Danbi were going wild over some game, insisting that being real was what mattered most, so what was their issue with me?
‘It’s hard…….’
In the end, I just zoned out, letting my body float aimlessly on a giant flamingo-shaped tube.
I had no idea what exactly I was supposed to do to enjoy my free time properly.
…I also felt somewhat restless just sitting around doing nothing.
‘Why is Prism’s chatroom so quiet? Usually by this time, they’d have messaged asking what I’ve eaten.’
After spending our free time like that, we gathered once again around the outdoor table for dinner. Well, since the table was full of green bottles, it would have been more fitting to call it a drinking party rather than just dinner.
“Ramyeon2 again?”
“Yes, I’m just going to cook one pack for a light serving. Ramyeon after swimming is practically an unwritten rule.”
“One pack, my foot. That’s a whole bundle of five packs.”
“Yup, there are five packs inside. So?”
“…Eat a lot.”
Going on an MT usually meant getting wasted playing drinking games, but just look at our group’s members. Did they look like the type to go wild like that?
I wasn’t a fan of drinking in the first place, Woo Kangwon was avoiding alcohol to prevent muscle loss, and Baek Kiryang was terrified of it because his hangovers were so bad. The only one who actually liked drinking was Lee Hwayoung, and even he drank quietly like a scholar.
Having fun was a skill too. People who had never really played didn’t suddenly know how just because you told them to ‘have fun from now on‘. You couldn’t expect guys who had lived their whole lives quietly and dutifully to start partying just like that.
“A random game that Mister Lee likeees! What kiiind of game! Game start!”
“…Be quiet.”
“Be quiet, that’s a no no. Nagi Zen can’t be the only one to suffer. You’re doing it too. Learniing as you drinkiing random game!”
“Come to your senses.”
The foolish Nagi Zen went off with some bizarrely Korean-sounding intro he must’ve picked up God knows where, but went quiet the moment Lee Hwayoung gave him that frosty look of contempt.
“Heehee, heeheek, Zen five.”
“Zen zen zen zen zen. Yuda three.”
“Yudayudayuda, Zen four.”
It was around then that the miserable drinking game started, with no one but Yuda and Zen participating.
‘At this rate, we won’t even get enough decent screen time.’
Nothing else could be expected except reactions like, “This is the most boring MT I’ve ever seen“. On the bright side, at least the fans might find some comfort thinking, “Ah, our kids won’t ruin their lives partying” or “They’re really well-behaved boys”.
The first thought that crossed my mind as I took sips to keep up with the fools, thinking we should at least drink a couple of shots to have something to use for the preview, was this.
‘…Han Seungbeom shouldn’t be drinking, huh?’
Just how many glasses did I even drink to make my face this flushed and my head so hazy? I wasn’t someone who couldn’t drink—I just usually didn’t—so it surprised me that I could get tipsy this quickly.
‘Is this what they mean by an ‘alcohol trash’ body?’
“Once Pantheion’s activities are over, I’m planning to go on an overseas trip with my parents…….”
“Ah, as for me, I decided to try collaborating with my brother…….”
I could hear the members chatting amongst themselves.
‘It’s probably best not to discuss post-disbandment plans in front of the camera yet.’
With such worries, I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids and saw that the spot where the production team had been was now empty. They must have left after seeing how drunk the members were. I had been so out of it that I didn’t even notice them leaving. It had been a long time since I’d gotten this drunk.
“Mmm…….”
When I curled up and let out a faint groan, Do Yuda, whose face still looked surprisingly fine despite having already emptied three green bottles, patted me on the back.
“Hyuuuung, did you hear what I said?”
“…What?”
“What do you want to do after Pantheion disbands, hyung? It’s your turn to answer now.”
His question left me sitting in a daze for a good while. Then, with blurry eyes, I slowly looked up at the sky. As I spotted a tiny, twinkling star, I muttered something softly to myself, and then drifted off to sleep.
“…I want to see Yuseong.”
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Translator’s Corner:
Oh, I really really really love this arc …. you guys will like it too
M song recommendation for this arc….
(I finally listened properly to the whole album, and it’s ridiculous how good every song is ??? I guess they robbed EXO and NCT’s vaults … my favorite is Show Me Love, they should’ve picked it as promoted b-side on mushow on the music show instead of your usual tough-looking boygroup concept……)
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