Chapter 415 |
Seo Yutae needs someone to take care of him.
He denies it himself, but since everyone around him says the same thing, his claim is practically ignored.
Those who don’t know Seo Yutae well might find that strange. After all, to the public, Seo Yutae has long been seen as ‘the one who created the legendary idol group Prism’, ‘the icon of idols’, and ‘a leader who perfectly handles everything from composing to choreography to directing’.
— How is Seo Yutae seriously this perfect? He’s handsome, tall, dances well, sings well, writes all his own songs, treats fans well, has great taste and aesthetics … he seriously feels like someone heaven sent to be an idol. Though his rapping is a bit of a no (Love you, Yutae-ya ♥)
└ At this point, I can’t tell if this is extreme fangirling or just a very sophisticated way of teasing Seo Yutae.
└ Isn’t that last part the main point?
A perfectionist who seems so flawless that not even a needle could get through him needing help from others? Does that even make sense?
— If you had someone like Seo Yutae around you, can you imagine how much of a loser you’d feel like?
— Let’s all work hard again today. Like Seo Yutae.
└ You should try living on four hours of sleep and doing nothing but work. LMAO. You’re really sitting there saying “life must be easy” to a guy who starved as a young breadwinner while raising his sibling and went through hell at a trash company before finally getting to where he is
└ Ah, haha but since Seo Yutae is such a Capital T, he’d probably just see the original comment and be like, “Thx thx!” and find it hilarious. It’s only us the F-Seras who are getting all worked up and upset for him ㅠㅠ…
But the more you get to know Seo Yutae, the more those preconceptions inevitably shatter.
Seo Yutae is bad at more things than you’d think, and there are even more things that he actually dislikes.
In short, he’s extremely picky and high-maintenance. If left alone, he can’t even properly make himself a simple meal.
[]
[“Seo Yutae.”] [“Yutae hyung…….”] [“Hehe, Seo Yutae.”] [“Isn’t it obvious? We don’t even let him into the kitchen at the dorm.”]
It’s already been revealed through multiple interviews that after losing his mother, Seo Yutae raised Seo Yuseong himself.
People who learned that tended to assume that that perfectionist, who dotes so much on Seo Yuseong, must have fed him perfectly balanced, healthy meals made with organic ingredients, ideal for growing children, three times a day.
But in reality, that wasn’t the case at all.
For starters, a lack of funds meant he had to settle for cheap ingredients. He ended up using way too much seasoning to hide the smell of frozen food and that weird, questionable taste that lingered no matter how he cooked it.
Most of the food Seo Yutae made was like that. And even the meals he didn’t cook himself were all cheap instant food, making them even more intense in flavor.
The reason Seo Yutae still seeks out cheap, heavily seasoned food is because his taste was shaped that way back then.
There were clearly problems, but at the time, Seo Yutae was far too young to fix them himself. For one, thanks to his youth, the issues didn’t immediately show up in his body, and there was no one around to point out that he should be eating with his health in mind.
[“The Seo brothers are famous for having such a close bond! So, Yuseong-ssi, did your brother cook for you a lot when you were young? If you had to describe his cooking skills in just one word, what would it be?”] [“…Intense.”]
For Seo Yutae, cooking was something he did only because he had no choice. If he could avoid it, he’d rather never do it again.
Back then, he somehow managed to force himself to make meals, even if they were unhealthy and overly seasoned. But after he gained enough financial stability to simply buy food, he stopped cooking altogether, and his skills deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t even properly make instant ramyeon anymore.
In this way, Seo Yutae’s life was full of flaws, much like a piece of cloth riddled with holes that had been stubbornly stitched back together.
To others, the absence of a guardian is painfully obvious, and yet, somehow, he tenaciously manages to keep on living—if that’s the right way to put it.
He eats unhealthy food every day, neglects sleep whenever he gets absorbed in work, and aside from performing on stage, the only way he relieves stress is by smoking. There’s no way the people around him could just leave such a dangerously unstable lifestyle alone.
The problem, however, was that Seo Yutae absolutely hated their interference.
It’s obvious he needs help, yet he absolutely refuses to admit it.
“Why do you hate it so much? Anyone else would be thrilled and call it a sweet deal if people helped them out!” “What if I get used to relying on others and become lazy? With a weak mindset like that, you won’t be able to do anything when a real crisis hits.” “Oh, come on! What are you, some wild animal? Humans don’t live like that!”
This is where Yoo Jay’s misfortune begins.
Isn’t it natural to want to help someone the more you care about them, the more you owe them?
But every time Yoo Jay tried to do something for him, Seo Yutae Seo Yutae would freak out and firmly refuse. To be fair, it wasn’t only Yoo Jay; every member of Prism had gone through the same thing, but with Yoo Jay, it was especially extreme.
[A man who’s been a big brother his entire life; he refuses to accept any kind of help] [The youngest who never stops pestering, and the eldest brother who never stops ignoring him] [“Life is a solo journey (trudge trudge)” by Seo Yutae]
At one point, fans even compiled clips of Seo Yutae rejecting Yoo Jay’s help into a video that ran for over 20 minutes. Yoo Jay secretly wished those high-view videos would just be taken down. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing.
From Yoo Jay’s perspective, the phrases Seo Yutae said to him most often were: “I’m busy“, “I don’t need it“, and “It’s fine“. Even if that wasn’t technically true, that’s exactly how it felt to Yoo Jay, whose heart had been worn ragged by Seo Yutae’s constant rejections.
“Hyung, is there anything you want to eat? I’ll treat you today.” “Treat me to what? Don’t say things that’ll never happen and just eat what you’re given.” “You have a schedule later, right? Want to take a nap? I can wake you up when it’s time to head out.” “I can just set an alarm. Why wait around so inefficiently? Go do your own thing.” “…….”
Yoo Jay once sent a coffee truck to Seo Yutae’s solo schedule location, and even slipped snacks to the staff while asking them to “please take good care of our hyung.”
In response, Seo Yutae let out a small “pfft” and gave a subtle smile, then casually remarked in a tone that meant he was grateful, but asked him not to do it again.
“…Am I actually just annoying to him?” “Hey, you’re actually on the better side. I went in to feed Hyung once, and he smacked me on the butt and kicked me out for disturbing his work?”
In Nam Yihwon’s case, even if he gets rejected, he just yells things like, “Hyung, are you seriously going to work yourself to death like this? Fine, I’m going to eat something really good without you, okay? Don’t come asking for a bite later. Wow, it’s going to be so good. My stomach is already growling!“, and then just brushes it off and moves on.
But unfortunately, Yoo Jay wasn’t the kind of person who could do that.
As always, he thought too much.
‘I checked that he wasn’t busy before asking.’
He was trying to convince himself that Seo Yutae simply found other people’s interference bothersome, but then Lee Saehwa appeared, and that’s when the problem really began.
That Seo Yutae was actually accepting Lee Saehwa’s help fairly easily.
At first, he seemed a bit irritated, but at some point, his resistance noticeably decreased. He even started asking him to bring things first.
Every time Yoo Jay saw that, he felt … really, really complicated emotions.
At one point, Jo Inchan even asked Yoo Jay, who was sitting off in a corner.
“Why do you get so sharp whenever you see the CEO? You’re usually the most tactful person in the world.” “I’ve never gotten along with him to begin with. Didn’t everyone already know that?” “Be honest, Jay-ya……” “…I think I’m going to go crazy from how jealous I am.” “Right.”
It wasn’t just Lee Saehwa he was jealous of.
Whenever Seo Yutae’s mental state hit extreme exhaustion, there were times when, from a pitch-black room, a thick, muscular arm would suddenly reach out and drag Jo Inchan inside alive.
“Ugh, hyung? Huh?!”
To be completely honest, Yoo Jay was so jealous of even that that it felt like he could cry blood. He almost felt like shaking Han Seungbeom, pulling Jo Inchan’s soul out, and taking his place instead.
Because of that, Yoo Jay once tried asking Jo Inchan for advice.
“…What do I have to do to be like you, hyung? What am I lacking?”
Even in this situation, Yoo Jay refused to say he wanted to be like Lee Saehwa, even if it killed him. Finding this amusing, Jo Inchan let out a loud laugh and then spoke in a sing-song voice, as if he were trying to comfort a child.
“Hmm, I think it’ll probably be difficult for you, even in the future.” “Why?” “You can’t be reborn, can you?”
‘So what, it’s a lost cause for this lifetime, so I should just give up? Is it something innate?’
When Yoo Jay made a face like he’d lost his entire country, Jo Inchan barely held back his laughter and gently asked,
“Jay-ya, do you know what Hyung does when he drags me into his room?” “…Ask for advice? Or vents?” “He doesn’t say anything. He just makes me sit on the bed and leans his head on me. Then I just sit there quietly too. We stay like that for hours, and when he eventually falls asleep, I leave.” “……”
“I think it’s because I don’t ask anything. The other members would 100% ask what happened …… and you know Yutae-hyung’s favorite saying that he repeats every single day. If you share your sadness, you just end up with two sad people.” “But still … wouldn’t it be better to open up at least once instead of bottling it all up alone?” “Yutae-hyung has a lot of pride … it can’t be helped. He even mentioned once that relying on his dongsaengs hurts his pride. Even the other members seem to try harder to keep up appearances in front of you too, so of course Yutae-hyung would be even more like that.”
What’s the big deal about age, anyway?
Yoo Jay couldn’t really understand Jo Inchan’s words.
“Stop doing useless things and just sit down. I’m not an elementary school kid……”
But even now, seeing Seo Yutae frown as he snatched Seo Yuseong’s towel and Yoo Jay’s hair dryer away, it felt like that might actually be true.
Yoo Jay ended up being grabbed by Seo Yutae and forcibly seated, a donut stuffed into his mouth.
‘The donut … I specifically bought a less sweet one for him to eat.’
…The donut Seo Yutae hadn’t even glanced at was plain, and Yoo Jay felt hurt.
Still, he knew it was an embarrassing feeling to admit out loud, so he kept quiet. Instead, he shot a glare at the enviable genius—Lee Saehwa—who had the one thing he coveted most: being older than Seo Yutae.
‘There’s no way I’ll still be treated like this when I’m Lee Saehwa’s age … right?’
That assumption was wrong.
In truth, Seo Yutae didn’t tell Lee Saehwa anything either, but there was no way Yoo Jay could know that. He couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams that Lee Saehwa was tracking everything that happened to Seo Yutae through what was essentially 24-hour surveillance.
It would’ve been better if Yoo Jay had even the presence of mind to notice that the towel in Seo Yuseong’s hand had also been taken away, but he didn’t.
“Then dry your hair properly. Don’t catch a cold.”
“…Got it.”
The difference between Seo Yuseong and Yoo Jay was this: Seo Yuseong knew that Seo Yutae’s sharp tone was actually just him being embarrassed.
Then again, Seo Yuseong didn’t really care much about other people’s feelings, whether they were irritated or not.
“We’re already busy enough talking about personal stuff on top of work-related things.”
“That’s good. Since your comeback is soon, make sure to communicate a lot. Though I doubt it’ll actually help.”
“You guys should seriously give it a rest now……”
“…Haha, there are a lot of things idols can only understand among themselves. I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry about it, CEO-nim.”
“Stop……”
“Right. Even if I ‘can’t be of any help’, I can handle any problems myself, so don’t worry.”
But what was the point of any of that?
Bang!
“If you’re going to keep this sh*t up, both of you get out! There are cameras coming in, if you act like this again, you’re dead!”
In the end, once Seo Yutae snapped, it didn’t matter who was older or younger—he just kicked everyone out.
After that, the Prism members quietly gathered around to coddle and comfort a dejected Yoo Jay curled up in a corner.
That part remained a secret from Seo Yutae.
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Translator’s Corner:
Sorry for the long inactivity T_T There was so many crazy thing happening at my workplace I think I really am cursed ,,, it will be too long to put it here, so if you’re curious what happened, please check the comment section 3
It felt like we’re really in the middle of World War, and we just didn’t know it yet because we’re still living in it. Hope everyone is safe and well. And be happy too.
Thank you Kristen Nicole Faustina & Sisters for supporting the wishlist! ♡
I’m actually very touched reading the and sisters part … wow, you guys read this novel with your family and close people T_T Thank you for liking my translation enough to tell your closest people about it … I hope everyone enjoy your brief stay in this cabin …