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Join the Server“Seo Jun-jae, this is…”
The sneakers Seo Jun-jae gave me were exactly the same as the ones I saw every day at the dorm entrance, the ones he wore, except for the color of the logo.
Gifts alone were burdensome enough, but the fact that he gave me the same thing he owned made it even more overwhelming, and my head started to ache.
“It’s a popular design, no one will notice.”
He gently rubbed his finger over my slightly furrowed brow, then dropped his head down and looked up at me.
“They say if you give someone shoes, they’ll go somewhere wearing them.
Jae-seo, I hope you wear those and come to me.”
I was blankly watching his eyes curve down in a gentle arc along with his soft voice, when a low voice from the opposite side immediately snapped me back to my senses.
“No.
You can come to me too, Jae-seo.”
“Ha…”
At the same time, a sigh mixed with irritation came from Seo Jun-jae, a sound I had never heard from him before.
I shook my head as if to wake myself up, and then Yeo Hyun-tae’s gift was placed in front of me.
I carefully peeled off the wrapping paper that neatly covered the box, and a familiar logo came into view.
My head naturally turned toward Yeo Hyun-tae’s chest.
When I lifted the box lid, inside was a shirt with a brand logo embroidered in the same spot as the one Yeo Hyun-tae was wearing.
…How could their thinking be this identical?
“Thank you to both of you.
I appreciate it, but…”
I slowly pulled back my hands that had been resting near the two boxes.
The gifts themselves were burdensome, but their meaning was even more uncomfortable, and on top of that, both seemed quite expensive, which made my heart even heavier.
“I bought them in your size, so I can’t even wear them myself.
I threw away the receipt, so I can’t return them either.”
Seeming to have expected my reaction, Seo Jun-jae rattled off his prepared words.
I was just letting out small sighs when suddenly an arm reached out from beside me toward the inside of the box.
“Same for mine.
I didn’t take an exchange voucher.”
…If what you just took wasn’t an exchange voucher, then what was it?
At Yeo Hyun-tae’s absurdly fraudulent scheme, I ended up surrendering again.
“…Fine.
Thank you.
I’ll use them well.”
I obediently took the two boxes and moved them to the side.
Long, straight fingers reached out as if approving my decision and gently stroked the side of my hair.
At the same time, a large hand from the opposite side also wrapped around the back of my hand and patted it.
For a moment, the air in the room felt uncomfortably heavy.
Knock knock-
“Seo Jun-jae, Yeo Hyun-tae.
It’s your turn to shower.”
Park Seo-hu, who had knocked on our door, called out to both of them at once.
The two reluctantly let go of me and stepped out of the room.
I let out a long sigh of relief.
…Ha, I almost died of discomfort.
I watched the door through which the two had left for a moment, then turned my head back.
Two card envelopes had fallen in the spot where the gift boxes had been.
I thought that the cards they had written must have fallen out of the boxes, so I picked them up, placed them neatly on top of the boxes, and started opening the other members’ gifts one by one.
***
A little later, after my turn to shower, I came out and headed to the room.
As usual, I turned off the lights first, then gathered all the cards the members had written for me and climbed onto my bed.
Soon, I angled them under the dim light of my phone screen and began reading them one by one.
‘Jae-seo, happy birthday.
From the “July Snow” team until now, you’ve been holding us up with your strong heart – thank you, and I’m proud of you.
But don’t forget that you can lean on me or Jun-sung or Seo-hu anytime you’re having a hard time.
We’re debuting soon, so let’s work hard together and make a good team.
Happy birthday once again!
P.S. Just one thing – let’s be careful with the alcohol.’
‘To, Sim Jae-seo.
Sim Jae-seo, happy birthday.
Um, thank you for pushing for me as the main vocal for “Letter” before, and when we were practicing “Time Killer,” you came back to the practice room late at night to help me with my dancing, right?
I couldn’t say it then, but I was really grateful for that too.
Thanks to you, I gained a lot of strength and I think I was able to debut like this.
Thank you so much, and let’s keep getting along well!’
‘Hello, Jae-seo hyung.
There’s a good buffet in my neighborhood, let’s go eat together when you have time.
My treat.
Sincerely happy birthday.
-Chan-seo-’
‘Sim Jae-seo, happy birthday!
Eat lots of delicious things and have a happy day.
The gift is vitamins that are good for fatigue recovery, so take them whenever you get worn out from dealing with your roommates LOL.
JS’
‘To Jae-seo hyung.
Hyung, happy birthday.
The fact that we met on the same season of Not My Idol, debuted together, and thanks to you being born on July 10th, I get to celebrate your first birthday without missing it – today feels so fated.
Your next birthday, and the one after that.
I want to keep celebrating them for you.
I’ll definitely never forget and always celebrate for you!
Every day I spend with you is so precious and happy to me, and I hope it’s the same for you.
Jae-seo hyung, I hope you truly have a happy birthday today!
I love you!
From Han-ul.’
‘Dear.
Beloved Jae-seo hyung♥ Jae-seo hyung, I’m your loving Woo-rim!
This is a little embarrassing, but I’ve liked you since we were on the same team at the beginning!
And we even debuted together, which makes it even better!
I sometimes joke around and tease you, but you know that’s all because I love you, right, hyung?
Hyung, I really, really love you, and thank you for loving me just as much!
Ah, right!
I almost forgot the most important thing.
Hyung, fully happy 20th birthday!’
After reading Lee Woo-rim’s card, only the cards from Seo Jun-jae and Yeo Hyun-tae, which I had set aside first, remained.
When I pulled the cards out of the envelopes, I could see writing densely filling the cards between the brief glimpses.
I opened a card and started reading, but soon felt too embarrassed and quickly closed it and put it back in the envelope.
“…This won’t do.”
The two cards, which seemed to drip with declarations of affection, were closer to love letters than birthday wishes.
Embarrassed, I covered my ear, which felt hot as if heat had surged up, with my palm.
Then the loud, thumping sound of my heartbeat began to echo clearly.
…It probably wasn’t just because of Seo Jun-jae and Yeo Hyun-tae.
In recent years, no, in all my 27 years of living, did I ever remember so many people celebrating my birthday with such genuine sincerity?
I looked down at the stack of eight cards, which had grown quite thick, then pressed down firmly on my left chest, which was pounding loudly.
***
Thinking that the NUAVE members who had been celebrating me since the early morning of my birthday felt awkward and uncomfortable had been a big mistake.
From the moment I opened my eyes in the early morning, the day that unfolded was more burdensome than before falling asleep, not less.
First, it started with breakfast.
“Wow, seaweed soup!”
“Did Jun-jae hyung make it himself?”
Seo Jun-jae had personally prepared a birthday table despite being busy.
“Jae-seo-ssi, happy birthday!”
The employees I met at the company greeted me with congratulations the moment they saw me.
“It’s Jae-seo’s birthday, right?
Congratulations!”
Kwak Jinwoong, who said congratulations the moment he saw me when we opened the practice room door for dance lessons, did that.
There was also the messenger app filled with congratulatory messages from contestants I became close with on Not My Idol, but the biggest of all was…
‘Jae-seo happy birthday!’
‘Our Baekgu happy birthday’
‘Sim Jae-seo I love you!
Happy birthday!’
‘Jae-seo the tone fairy of NUAVE happy birthday’
‘Happy birthday to Jae-seo of NUAVE’
The flood of birthday wishes for me pouring in through the chat the moment we started NUAVE’s first live broadcast.
“One, two, three!
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Dear Jae-seo, happy birthday to you!”
As soon as the members finished singing the moment they confirmed fans had joined the broadcast, a cake shaped like a white dog, supposedly prepared by the company, was slid toward me.
I blew out the ‘20’ candles on top, and the manager standing by the door turned on the lights in the conference room.
In the meantime, Lee Woo-rim had quickly come over and placed a party hat on my head.
“Should we start with our greetings?”
Yoon Ji-heon, who had gotten the busily moving members to settle down and sit, soon counted “One, two, three.”
“Hello, we are NUAVE!”
After the group greeting, the chat window started scrolling even faster.
Messages – from greetings in Korean, various emoticons, and texts in different languages – mixed busily and disappeared quickly upward.
“Today we’re doing our first live broadcast!
And at the same time, it’s a very important day.
It’s our member Jae-seo’s birthday, so we’ve come to see you fans live to celebrate as well!”
“Jae-seo hyung, there are so many messages congratulating you.”
As Lee Chan-seo said, the tablet PC screen that several of them were huddled together watching showed congratulatory messages in various languages alongside my name.
“Thank you so much for celebrating with me.”
I bowed my head toward the phone mounted in front for the live broadcast and greeted.
Then Yoon Ji-heon, who had been watching the chat window on the tablet, started to steer the broadcast’s mood.
“Let’s talk more about Jae-seo’s birthday later and read some fan comments first?”
Negative comments like ‘Why are you only celebrating Sim Jae-seo’s birthday for your first live?’ had started appearing in the chat, so he seemed to want to change the subject for a moment.
Not long after Yoon Ji-heon finished speaking, comments greeting or asking questions to other members began to increase.
“Someone’s asking if we have any TMI today?”
Lee Chan-seo, looking down at the tablet, was the first to read out a broad question.
“Today’s TMI!
Ah, can I say this?”
Lee Woo-rim hesitated about to speak, then whispered to Yoon Ji-heon to check.
His actions, which unintentionally seemed to raise fans’ expectations, caused an uproar in the chat window.
“I think you can say that.”
“Right?
Oh, ah!
It’s that I got praised by Jinwoong teacher during dance lesson today!”
Only after getting Yoon Ji-heon’s confirmation did Lee Woo-rim check the fans’ reactions and hurriedly speak.
He immediately added that it was nothing special, but the chat window was already ablaze with the name ‘Kwak Jinwoong’ that Lee Woo-rim had brought up.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Eat Me, Sweetie! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Eat Me, Sweetie
