Chapter 391 |
Side Story (8)
“Whew, that was tough. I was taken aback by how that hyung actually gave it his all.”
As Cha Woon and Yoo Jay headed out to the field, Nam Yihwon, whose turn had already ended, rolled his right shoulder in a circle and walked toward the tent. He came straight up behind me, where I was sitting, placed his head on my shoulder, and let out a long sigh. I guess going up against Lee Chise had really worn him out.
“Good job.”
When I patted his head a couple of times to indulge him, he opened one eye with a little glimmer, as if still pretending to be worn out. Our eyes met, and we both burst into quiet giggles. When I ruffled his hair, as if asking, ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’, Nam Yihwon suddenly straightened his back, probably because it tickled.
I turned my back and looked at him again, then soon realized that Lee Chise hadn’t come back with him. With a puzzled look, I asked, “Where’s Lee Chise?”
“He went to the convenience store with Jo Inchan. He said he’d buy ice cream for the juniors.”
“There are snacks everywhere, so why ice cream?”
“He said he wanted something cold.”
“That’s basically it.”
Maybe the thought of Lee Chise constantly munching on something came to mind, because Nam Yihwon shook his head like he’d given up on him. After smacking his lips for a moment, he tapped the chair I was sitting on with his knee.
When I silently mouthed “What?”, he made a smoking gesture with his hand, careful to keep it out of the camera’s view.
“Smoke?”
He meant we should go have one.
When I immediately rummaged through my pocket and stood up, he grinned like he’d expected it.
“Right this way, hyungnim.”
And with his arm still slung over my shoulder, he led the way to the smoking area. He had this habit of checking for the smoking room first whenever we go somewhere new, and apparently he’d already found it again this time.
As I trailed after him, I could feel someone’s eyes on me.
‘Oh, come on.’
I didn’t even have to turn to know.
That bright red thing was staring straight at me.
“…Hurry up. He’s staring at me.”
Feeling like my skull might get a hole burned into it, I lowered my head a little and whispered quietly, but Nam Yihwon, completely oblivious, replied in a loud voice.
“So what if someone’s staring? Everyone already knows you’re a heavy smoker.”
“It’s not everyone. It’s Choi Jeokhyeon who’s staring.”
Upon hearing me, Nam Yihwon spun around and exclaimed, “Oh, shit,” jolting in surprise. It seemed my guess had been right. I grabbed him by the collar and hurried my steps. I wasn’t running away, absolutely not. This was purely a strategic retreat.
“It’s not as if someone’s nagging me, so why am I having to be this wary every day?”
Once we finally reached the smoking area, I took out a cigarette, put it between my lips, and muttered. Nam Yihwon naturally held out his lit lighter in front of me.
“Shouldn’t you be watching yourself a bit? He’s staring so intensely it’s making my skin crawl. Honestly, I’d rather he just glared. You’re really impressive, hyung, staying so unbothered even when CEO-nim looks at you like that.”
Just as I was about to light my cigarette, I spotted Do Yuda in the distance returning to the tent with drinks and snacks. The moment he saw me, he shouted, “Waaah, it’s Yutae-hyung!” and came panting toward us.
I quickly took the cigarette from my mouth and hid it under my hand, then gave him a stern look and motioned for him to shoo away. He slumped his shoulders like a dejected puppy, and he trudged back to his spot with Zen.
After making sure he’d headed back, I finally lit my cigarette and let out a low chuckle.
“Look who’s talking. You don’t listen to Cha Woon either.”
As soon as he saw I’d lit mine, Nam Yihwon quickly lit his own. He inhaled so deeply it made him look insane, then stuck out his tongue as he exhaled dramatically.
“Ah, of course I don’t. What are you even saying?”
If Cha Woon had seen this, he definitely would’ve smacked the back of that guy’s head. With that thought in mind, I glanced at the field, which was visible even from the smoking area, and saw the teams playing rock–paper–scissors to pick their helper.
“The staff team won in rock-paper-scissors and chose Yoo Jay sunbaenim as their helper. Cha Woon sunbaenim, how do you feel right now?”
“I apologize to the staff team, but … I have to beat Yoo Jay. He’s been quite disrespectful these days.”
No, wait, this isn’t a personal fight between you two. It’s a match between the Staff Team and the Solo Team. Furthermore, whole purpose of this event is to promote camaraderie among the affiliated artists, yet evidently they missed that memo.
“Oh! Then Yoo Jay sunbaenim, do you have anything you’d like to say?”
“How could I possibly be disrespectful? You hyungs raised me to be exactly this way.”
“Ooooh! Isn’t he basically roasting himself? That’s really bold!”
Cha Woon’s expression turned subtle at Yoo Jay’s answer.
Was he annoyed, or was he actually happy? Pick one already.
“The tension is already intense. Alright! We’ll now begin the match between the Staff Team and the Solo Team! Both teams, please take your positions! Ready! Start!”
As soon as the match began, Cha Woon and Yoo Jay were clenching their teeth as they pulled on the rope. Their faces turned red, and the veins on their forearms bulged so much it was almost grotesque. It looked like they were pulling out and using every last bit of strength they had.
Seriously, they’re guys you’d be embarrassed to present in public.
“Pull! Pull! Aaaah! It’s a tight match! The helpers are putting up an incredible fight right now! At this point, it feels like the Staff Team and the Solo Team barely even matter!”
‘If their opponents weren’t each other, they wouldn’t be going this hard.’
Those two probably would’ve never become close if they hadn’t met through Prism. With how often and how fiercely they fight, it’s clear their personalities just don’t match.
What amazed me the most when I watched them was that even after all that bickering, if one of them put on water for ramyeon during a truce, he always boiled two servings. Seeing the sight of them sitting side-by-side, sharing the noodles cooked by one of them, their faces swollen from clawing at each other, was utterly hilarious.
“They fight like that, but they still stick together all the time. It’s not like they’re filming a sitcom.”
Sure enough, Nam Yihwon, who was watching the two with me, let out a sigh and voiced exactly the same thought I had.
“True. Aside from that one misunderstanding caused by Kang Hyukwoo, I don’t think they’ve ever had a fight that lasted that long…….”
Nam Yihwon, who had been taking long drags of his cigarette while casually agreeing just to keep the conversation going, suddenly stopped breathing for a moment. I found it strange that I couldn’t hear his breath, so I turned my head toward him. He then exhaled the smoke naturally, as if nothing had happened.
“Why.”
An ordinary person probably wouldn’t have noticed anything and would’ve just let it pass, but I wasn’t someone that trick worked on. When I pressed him for an answer, Nam Yihwon lifted his cigarette again, covered his mouth with his palm, and rolled his dry eyes to the side. He seemed to hesitate, debating whether or not he should tell me.
“Tell me.”
“…There was another time when things got seriously messy. It was when Yoo Jay first started this.”
Nam Yihwon tapped his cigarette over the ashtray as he said the word ‘this’. Then, without meeting my eyes, he kept speaking while staring straight ahead at the field.
“Honestly, we raised that kid with so much care because he’s the youngest. So when he first came in smelling like that, it startled me too. But it felt wrong to scold an adult over something like that, and I’m not exactly in a position to nag about it anyway … He didn’t look well either, so I just kept my mouth shut for the time being.”
“…….”
“But then Woon-hyung suddenly snapped and went after him like his life depended on it. And at the time, Jay didn’t have the best feelings toward Cha Woon-hyung either, so he reacted sharply … and, well, the fight just escalated. With you not there, how were we supposed to stop it?”
“…That happened, huh.”
“Yeah. That was the first time I ever saw Woon-hyung yell until his voice nearly gave out.”
He even went on with extra details like, “Back then Woon-hyung’s hair was long enough to tie into a little ponytail, but they fought so hard, grabbing and beating each other, that his hair ended up completely dishevelled“, but honestly, none of it really reached me.
Countless words churned inside me.
But what right did I have to say anything about something that happened when I wasn’t around, when I was the one who left them? Suppressing the bitterness rising in my chest and inhaling the acrid smoke, I forced myself to speak in my usual tone.
“I don’t recall Woon reacting that strongly when you started smoking. He didn’t act like that with me, either.”
At those words, Nam Yihwon stubbed out the cigarette he had finished too quickly into the ashtray and cleared his throat loudly, as if something was caught in it. After falling into thought for a moment, he seemed troubled, so he took out another cigarette, lit it, and finally spoke in a low voice.
“You know I have a history of causing trouble when I’m drunk. Once, I got so wasted that I fell down the stairs, and I almost got seriously hurt.”
“…Great, real impressive. Do you want to die?”
“That day was pretty rough. I went to Gong Ayeon-ssi’s house, and something happened there. I’ll admit that much. You understand, don’t you, hyung?”
Nam Yihwon spoke his mother’s name with an utterly expressionless face, but a moment later he was acting cute toward me as if nothing had happened. As I silently continued to just watch him, the guy subtly avoided my gaze and resumed speaking.
“But even after all that, I still didn’t come to my senses. I kept laughing and tried to go out drinking again, so Jo Inchan beat me to a pulp.”
“…Jo Inchan?”
“Yeah, with his fists. Honestly, I think I got hurt worse from Jo Inchan hitting me than from falling over. That guy doesn’t have an in-between, not at all. People always say you shouldn’t mess with normally quiet kids because once they snap, it’s over ……. hyung, you don’t realize how terrifying that guy is, do you?”
As far as I know, Jo Inchan had almost never gotten into any physical fights with the members. He’s so mild-tempered that he usually just puts up with things or gently tells people not to do something. Lee Chise might occasionally snaps when someone really crosses the line, but Jo Inchan, at least toward the members, was someone whose aggression was almost nonexistent.
“It’s also true that I simply didn’t want to stop him, though…….”
But that very Jo Inchan supposedly charged at Nam Yihwon, genuinely challenging him to a fight.
He must’ve been incredibly furious. Or maybe he was just completely eaten up inside.
“Jo Inchan might get annoyed and nag me when I smoke, but he doesn’t try to kill me like he did that time I was drinking too much.”
Alcohol or cigarettes, they’re both bad for your health, so what exactly was the difference for him? As I was wondering that to myself, Nam Yihwon fiddled with the lighter in his hand and spoke.
“For me, cigarettes are something I smoke because they taste good. I do chain-smoke when I’m stressed, but it’s not like I go through several packs a day or reek of smoke all the time. But with alcohol, I can’t control myself like that.”
Come to think of it, that was true. Even the things Nam Yihwon did while drunk on the day I got hit by that stalker’s car were nothing compared to how he’d been before. During the period he was suffering intense mental distress because of family conflicts, that guy was a complete wreck to anyone who saw him.
“You’ve seen it too, hyung, so you know what I mean. I just completely give up on everything. I don’t care what happens to my situation or my health, so I just let go of myself and let my feelings tear me apart. Because it makes the pain feel a little less in the moment. That’s what Jo Inchan saw in my eyes. That’s why he got so angry. Yoo Jay must be the same.”
“…….”
“Who in the world would smoke the cigarettes a dead person used to smoke with a good intention? You only do it because you can’t bear it otherwise.”
“…You said you wouldn’t smoke to protect your throat, but it looks like you ended up starting.”
“It just sort of happened.”
When I lowered my gaze to the blue cigarette pack in my hand, I remembered Jay’s face, smiling faintly as he’d once given me that answer.
“From an outsider’s perspective, there’s nothing more foolish than that. Right?”
My insides felt like they were burning black.
“…But that was the only way we could survive.”
I see. So, that’s how you made it through; by licking each other’s wounds.
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Translator’s Corner:
Hi … reporting my survival … haha …
I spent a whole week reading Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School (it has 1400+ chapters). It was one of the earliest works, so you might wonder why I just read it now … well, I tried to read it years ago ? when it was still considered new, but the translation in the ancient times were not … understandable, so I gave up and deleted it from my mind. Lately I ran out of things to read I even finished some male-orientated fake harem series, that’s why I decided to read it again … and surprisingly … it really fits my taste ? I like academia story. I ended up reading to chapter 1400+.
You know, usually in webnovel, when the chapter count reached 1000, the quality drops … it’s like how author just do whatever to prolong the story (coughs, Cale, coughs), but this one surprisingly doesn’t ? The plot is really solid, and the world-building is top-tier. It’s really slow pacing, though. For example, the christmas day (first year) arc consisted of 70 chapters … can you imagine one day getting 70 chapters …. but it really concluded in the most satisfying way. I’m happy I read it late since I can read it all in one sitting … imagine reading it when it was still ongoing
Anyway, happy December, everyone! 2025 ended soon, haha….