Chapter 16: Cold Truth and Responsibility

Being with him, or stepping away so he couldn’t hear the exact situation.

He thought about it for a moment, but in a situation where he didn’t know what sounds might come through, the latter seemed better.

Seo Ye-jun gestured to the remaining members seated around him. Instead of Hwi-young, who seemed flustered by the sudden situation and didn’t know what to do, Ha-hyeon took Jun’s left hand. Then he nodded at Ye-jun. It meant for him to hurry and take the call.

Ye-jun, who was about to turn and go outside, lowered the phone slightly from his ear and spoke.

“They said she should stabilize soon.”

He hadn’t heard anything like that yet, but he said it anyway. Part of it was to calm Jun down somehow, and he also believed it would soon be true. …At least, he had never heard news of a funeral before their fifth anniversary concert.

Ye-jun hurriedly closed the door to hide his trembling hands. Everything was flowing differently from the past, but he hoped it wouldn’t be this. He hadn’t even asked properly yet. Surely not.

In his life, Ye-jun had never felt anxiety so deeply. Not even when he crammed the day before an exam with a head empty because he’d slept through class did he feel like this.

His heart pounded as if it would burst, enough to make him doubt it was really his. Ye-jun pressed his large hand against the left side of his chest, where his heart was.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Ye-jun listened outside the door for a long while. He wasn’t sure whether he was allowed to hear the details, but in an urgent situation, someone had to keep a clear head. Jun couldn’t even breathe properly, so there was nothing he could handle. Ye-jun had to do it.

Listening to the doctor explain how serious Jun’s mother’s current condition was, Ye-jun moved a little farther from the door. He was worried Jun might follow him out and hear.

The more he heard of the situation, the more Ye-jun’s expression darkened. He’d vaguely guessed since Jun started acting anxious, but the situation was very bad.

“So you’re saying you can’t guarantee what will happen right now?”

– She is in a very unstable state, but if the surgery is completed successfully, she will likely stabilize.

“Then…”

Ye-jun pressed his throbbing forehead.

“For now, please take care of her. As soon as work is finished, I’ll come see you.”

Without Jun’s permission, he said he would visit the doctor in charge on his own, then hung up. He’d never thought of himself as someone who meddled in others’ business, but lately he felt like a completely different person.

As soon as Ye-jun opened the door and went back in, Jun rushed over, almost lunging at him. With an urgent expression, he rose on his heels and asked.

“What, what did they say?”

“They said she’ll stabilize once the surgery is over. Calm down.”

He wasn’t sure the surgery would end successfully. But at Ye-jun’s words, Jun seemed a little relieved; he let out a deep breath and stepped back slightly.

Ye-jun put the phone into Jun’s hand and looked at the empty dining table. By then, no one seemed to want to eat the food that had gone cold.

The music video shoot proceeded as originally planned. All the members looked uneasy, but because it was a scheduled commitment, they went along obediently.

Only the members knew that a call had come from the hospital. The manager, who knew nothing, asked why they were so down today and turned on upbeat music to cheer them up.

Since it was a one-take shoot, if one person made a mistake, they had to start over from the beginning. Finishing a song over four minutes long without a single mistake was difficult, so everyone was prepared to spend about half a day filming.

The country was already at a high altitude, and the filming location was even higher. Maybe because it was a highland area, breathing was quite difficult. This was already Ye-jun’s third shoot, so he took out the hot packs he’d packed in his carrier in advance and passed them around. It seemed they were in for a hard time.

“We’re starting!”

With a loud voice, Ha-hyeon, who had the opening part, jumped in front of the camera. As the member best at dancing, there was nothing worth pointing out. He finished his part, a little over ten seconds, and Jun went in right after. Less than five seconds passed before the shoot stopped.

“Jun!”

“Ah.”

At the sharp call, Jun stopped in place. His body was so stiff it could be felt even from here.

“What’s wrong with your dancing? Are you going to pull yourself together or not?”

“I’m sorry.”

His arm extensions were too short, and he even hesitated when stepping back. He wasn’t a good dancer to begin with, and now his mind had gone completely blank, so there was no way he’d remember the choreography. With a pained expression, Ye-jun watched the criticism continue.

In the end, they couldn’t even get past Jun’s part before a break was called. Ye-jun, who had been staring at Jun’s restless legs, called him over and opened a bottle of water.

“Come here.”

At the voice calling him with a blank face, Jun hurried over to Ye-jun. He stood meekly in front of Ye-jun, shoulders slumped.

To Jun, Ye-jun was always a soft and easygoing older brother, but because he looked fierce, his blank expression was three times as scary as other people’s. Besides, Jun had probably never seen Ye-jun get angry, so it was only natural he’d be startled and frightened.

To let Jun know he wasn’t planning to scold him, Ye-jun kindly placed the opened water bottle in his hand. After watching him take a sip, he finally spoke.

“I know you’re worried about your mother. But this is work. You signed the contract.”

“You’re right.”

Jun nodded with his eyes fixed on the floor. Normally, he’d be promising to work harder and acting cute with the staff to apologize. He had so little energy that scolding him felt pointless.

In the previous life’s shoot, whenever Jun made a mistake, he had been busy teasing him and laughing. Maybe it was because Jun got angry when teased but couldn’t argue since his skills really were lacking, and his tearful face was cute.

Ye-jun didn’t want to push him either. Telling someone who’d just gotten a call that his mother was critically ill to immediately put on an unaffected face and film? No matter how much it was business, it was a cruel thing to do.

But because it was unavoidable for the shoot, he deliberately lowered his voice. Finishing as quickly as possible and returning to Korea was better for Jun too.

“If you keep making mistakes, we’ll never finish. How many staff members are here? And because you keep messing up the front part, Park Ha-hyeon is doing the same section over twenty times now.”

He glanced at Ha-hyeon, who was drinking water with an unaffected expression. It seemed Ha-hyeon had come expecting the shoot to run long. At Ye-jun’s sharp criticism, Jun’s face went pale. Guilt seemed to wash over him at the thought of causing trouble.

“Go practice. Hurry.”

Perhaps the cold tone snapped him to attention, because Jun hurried back to his spot and started checking the choreography. Maybe because he was anxious, his movements became more accurate than before.

He had no luck. Of all days, a one-take shoot had to be today. He felt oddly sorry toward Ha-hyeon. Ye-jun approached Ha-hyeon with the heart of a parent apologizing for a child’s mistake.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, so don’t be too hard on Jun.”

“He needs to pull himself together first. Are we going to pitch a tent and sleep here?”

“Not that, but.”

Ha-hyeon was prone to minor illnesses. In Ye-jun’s memory, even after finishing this shoot and returning to Korea, he had been sick for a day. This time, he’d probably be sick for at least three days. Ye-jun turned his gaze from Ha-hyeon to Ji-gu. Ha-hyeon’s lover would take care of him, probably.

“All right, let’s start again!”

Jun had pulled himself together, but as time passed, there was no helping everyone’s stamina dropping. The declining quality of the choreography was a problem, but the biggest problem was that the sun was setting.

In the end, because the surroundings grew dark, they decided to come back tomorrow and film again. Even the filming date was flowing differently from the past. With a complicated expression, Ye-jun got into the car returning to the lodging.

The second day of filming was even more of a struggle because the wind was so strong. Fortunately, thanks to Jun staying up all night practicing the dance, things went fairly smoothly, and they barely finished filming before sunset.

“Good work, everyone.”

After greeting the staff, everyone got into the car half-dead. Ha-hyeon, who had danced the opening part hundreds of times, closed his eyes as if collapsing the moment he got in.

Hwi-young was already slumped back too. After looking at the two of them dying one after another, Ye-jun turned his gaze to Jun.

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