MDQ Ch 20
by Lulu“What do you mean by that?”
Jung Yohan’s voice was cold and firm as he let go of me. I looked at his face and spoke, “Let’s stop the deal… whatever this is.”
“And what about your father?”
“I don’t know.”
“…”
I pushed myself up from where I had been sitting.
“I want to stop. You said you weren’t thinking about renewing your contract anyway. If you’re going to quit being a singer, then you don’t need me anymore.”
“…”
“Thanks for everything so far… let’s talk again tomorrow,” I added weakly and tried to brush past him.
But at that moment, Jung Yohan grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
“Did you know your father has a girlfriend?”
The words hit me like a blunt object to the back of my head.
Right. Jung Yohan had seemed to know about my father’s affairs. I had overlooked it while crying over my own self-pity.
For the first time, I felt betrayed by Jung Yohan.
“When did you know? When did you start to realize that my father pretended to be miserable in front of me even when he was happy?”
“…”
“You enjoyed watching me cater to your whims because of my father? Is that why you stayed silent? Huh? Yohan, answer me.”
“I hoped you wouldn’t find out.”
“So I had to stay ignorant just so I could keep catering to you?”
“…”
Jung Yohan didn’t answer, but I understood that his silence was confirmation.
The anger that had flared up inside me cooled instantly.
A hollow emptiness replaced the betrayal in my heart.
I was just exhausted from the whole situation. I didn’t even have the energy to be angry.
“I’m going.”
I roughly shook off his hand from my wrist and walked forward. This time, Jung Yohan didn’t stop me.
I felt a faint sense of regret, as if I had hoped he would hold me and explain that it had all been a misunderstanding.
The wish born from a foolish unrequited love had no chance of being fulfilled.
There was no reason for Jung Yohan to console me, someone he had only used as an outlet for his own desires.
I truly wanted to stop loving him.
When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view. I had entered a random motel nearby after parting with Jung Yohan in the early hours.
I hadn’t slept a wink all night. My body and mind were exhausted, yet I couldn’t fall asleep.
Whenever I closed my eyes, my father’s excited voice, treating me like a tool, echoed in my ears.
Unable to endure the pain, when I opened my eyes, the Given members, who had ignored and tormented me, appeared before me.
I wanted to submit my resignation today itself and start anew somewhere no one knew me.
But unfinished tasks weighed on my mind: Kang Junhyuk’s solo album, the new song I was preparing with Park Chungrim…
And I couldn’t be sure if the CEO would easily let me go before my contract ended.
‘Why am I still thinking about the company like an idiot? The only person there who doesn’t exploit me is Park Chungrim.’
Maybe I should take a day off to think things over.
If I rested a little, perhaps I could make a rational decision.
Although the CEO had asked me to handle the Given members’ contract renewals, I couldn’t deal with that in my depressed state.
I decided to call him right away.
― “Yes, Chief Lee. It’s unusual for you to call me first… is something wrong?”
“No, nothing like that. I’m just feeling too unwell and want to take a break. I’m too sick to come to the office, so I’m letting you know by phone. I’m sorry.”
― “Ah, you’ve been overworking with the album lyrics and taking care of the members. The members are on break now, so you should rest too.”
“Thank you.”
― “Even while resting, please keep an eye on the contract renewals I asked about.”
“Yes.”
Of course, I didn’t plan to focus on the renewals anymore, but I answered out of courtesy.
The call ended quickly. Since I had never taken leave before, it seemed the CEO accepted my request immediately.
Afterwards, I also informed Chulmin and Minsoo that I was on leave and asked them to take care of the members.
They worried about my worsening health.
Although I wasn’t close to them, I was relieved that at least someone treated me kindly.
At the same time, I felt disillusioned by the fact that the very people I gave my affection to only treated me with disdain and disregard.
I hung up, muttering only that I was fine. Even speaking felt exhausting.
Finishing company work felt like a brief liberation.
“What should I do now?”
There was no need to do anything immediately. I decided first to deal with the sleepiness hitting me suddenly.
The sun was high in the sky, but that no longer mattered.
Meanwhile, at the Given dorm, the first to wake was Seo Seoho.
In fact, Seo Seoho hadn’t slept at all the previous night, waiting for Lee Hyunseok to return.
But Lee Hyunseok had stayed out without any contact. Sometimes he stayed at his family home, so maybe he did the same yesterday.
‘Ah, why today of all days…’
At the edge of Seo Seoho’s gaze was a paper bag with the D Corporation logo.
It was something he had bought because of the incident where he cornered Lee Hyunseok on the day of the photoshoot.
Of course, it wasn’t an apology—it was just to lift Lee Hyunseok’s mood.
“Ah, damn… I took the time to get this myself because of him.”
Seo Seoho’s well-groomed eyebrows twitched.
If Lee Hyunseok didn’t return to the dorm today, Seo Seoho planned to throw the designer shirt he bought from D Corporation into the trash.
Seo Seoho went to the living room and ate the breakfast prepared by the staff at a leisurely pace. Soon, the other members sat down for a quick meal.
It was then that Kang Junhyuk slammed his spoon down.
“Ah, shit. What is this?”
Park Saebit looked at Kang Junhyuk, who couldn’t take his eyes off his phone, with disdain.
“Why? Did your game character die again? Stop playing in front of the table. Where did you pick up that habit?”
“No, I wasn’t playing a game. Minsoo hyung sent me a message, that’s what I was looking at.”
“Minsoo hyung? Why? We don’t have any official schedules today.”
Kang Junhyuk’s expression grew serious.
“Hyunseok hyung took a day off. So Minsoo hyung will be the general manager for now.”
The other members were startled by the unexpected news.
“Ah! He must have faked it because he didn’t want to film the challenge. This is so ridiculous.”
Kang Junhyuk ranted and stomped around, genuinely upset that he couldn’t film the challenge shorts with Lee Hyunseok.
“Really, is it because of you, Kang Junhyuk? Minsoo hyung didn’t give any other reason?”
At Seo Seoho’s question, Kang Junhyuk finally relayed the rest of the message.
“No, it didn’t say it was because of me. The challenge was just my guess.”
“So?”
“The message said Hyunseok hyung is sick. But how could someone who was perfectly fine yesterday suddenly be sick and take a day off? That’s bullshit.”
“…”
“Yohan, you got the message too, right?”
Without a word, Jung Yohan checked his phone and nodded. Kang Junhyuk didn’t ask him further.
‘I have no idea what he’s thinking.’
He knew there was no point in pressing Jung Yohan, who never spoke honestly about what he really felt.
It was clear that unless he wanted to, Jung Yohan would never reveal his true feelings.
“What? I’ll call him. We haven’t finished talking about the lyrics yet…”
For some reason, Park Saebit, who seemed quite shocked, anxiously fiddled with his phone.
He called immediately, but the voice said that Hyunseok’s phone was off.
“His phone’s off. Maybe he went home. Damn it, I’ll get up first, guys.”
Park Saebit stood up from the table, preparing to leave.
At that moment, the silent Jung Yohan looked at him.
“Where are you going?”
A chill passed between the two who hadn’t reconciled. Yet Park Saebit smiled and answered as usual, “To the company. Why? Are you coming?”
“No,” Jung Yohan rejected it immediately and also stood up, seeming to go somewhere.
Soon, Park Saebit and Jung Yohan left the dorm. Left alone, Kang Junhyuk and Seo Seoho looked at each other.
“What do we do now?”
Seo Seoho asked, and Kang Junhyuk shrugged.
“Do we really need to find someone on vacation? He’ll come back when it’s over.”
“That’s true.”
“Seoho, think about it. When has Hyunseok hyung ever had a proper break? I’m sure his condition will improve once he gets some real rest. After that, he’ll definitely film the challenge with me.”
“…”
Seo Seoho raised his middle finger instead of answering.
“Hey! I’ll break your finger, seriously.”
“Stop talking about the challenge, Kang Junhyuk. Even Manager hyung must be fed up.”
“Seoho, since when are you on his side? Tsk.”
“Forget it, let’s stop. I’m tired. I’ll go rest.”
Tired of arguing with Kang Junhyuk, Seo Seoho went into his room. Left alone, Kang Junhyuk sighed.
“Ah… but seriously what about my challenge?”
He even wrote on his personal Star account yesterday that he’d be posting a challenge with Hyunseo hyung.
“Hyunseok hyuuung…”
Kang Junhyuk muttered the name again, though no one answered.