Chapter 85: What Are You Doing?

“Jae-seo?”

Yeo Hyun-tae, suddenly pulled into an embrace, called my name with a flustered voice.

I knew it was wrong to act this way toward someone who had confessed to me just a few days ago, and whom I had subsequently rejected, but right now, I felt like I needed to put out the fire right in front of me.

“Hyun-tae, I’m really sorry, but could you just stay like this for a moment?”

Soon, a large hand touched my back and began patting it slowly.

He must have noticed from Randy Kim’s actions—looking for me again shortly after I left the booth—that something was wrong with me, and was trying to comfort me.

He probably thought me holding him was also because I was upset about that.

Without bothering to correct Hyun-tae’s assumption, which was partly right and partly wrong, I stayed in his arms for a while longer.

Around now, the status abnormality should have cleared, I thought.

Ding-

Creak-

Along with the game notification sound, I heard the bathroom door open.

Lifting my head from Hyun-tae’s shoulder, I saw Seo Jun-jae standing by the door with a cold expression I had never seen before.

“…What are you doing?”

Startled by his low, subdued voice, I quickly pulled myself away from Hyun-tae.

Hyun-tae, released from me, turned toward Jun-jae.

The moment their eyes met, a strange tension began to fill the air.

I felt like I had been caught cheating.

Strictly speaking, since I had rejected both of them, it wasn’t cheating.

But I had slept with Jun-jae and talked as if we might continue, and then just three days later slept with Hyun-tae without Jun-jae knowing—that was also true, and it oddly pricked my conscience.

“Jae-seo, you need to go record.

Let’s go.”

Jun-jae approached, speaking quietly, then reached out and wrapped his hand around my wrist.

He began pulling me toward him.

The force made me step forward.

As we left the bathroom and headed to the recording studio, Jun-jae’s face was cold.

I could only move my lips silently.

…Should I apologize first?

If so, for what?

For sleeping with Hyun-tae without Jun-jae knowing?

I subtly shook my lowered head so Jun-jae wouldn’t see.

I couldn’t talk about that kind of thing in this hallway.

“…Seo Jun-jae, I’ll tell you everything when we get to the dorm.”

No sooner had I spoken than the hand pulling my arm released it.

With a short sigh, he roughly swept his hair back, then finally spoke.

“Sorry, Jae-seo.

I was too…”

Trailing off, he bit his lip hard.

His crumpling face was utterly unfamiliar.

His gaze fell on my wrist, which he had just been holding.

There was a faint reddish mark left behind.

“…Did it hurt?

I’m sorry.”

His voice, which followed, had softened, almost to a drawl.

“It’s fine.

I bruise easily.”

It wasn’t just to comfort him; it was true.

I had always been prone to marks.

Even just kneading like a massage would easily redden my skin.

And…

…The mark Jun-jae had left five days ago was still there on the inside of my wrist.

Feeling oddly embarrassed, I cupped my hand over my wrist as if to hide it, then pointed to the door of Randy Kim’s studio, which we had now reached.

“Let’s go in.

You said I need to record.”

At my words, Jun-jae slowly nodded and reached for the door handle.

He opened the door and gestured for me to go in first.

Creak-

Hearing the door close behind me, I hurried into the booth.

***

“That’s it!”

Fortunately, the embrace with Hyun-tae seemed to have worked, and on the first attempt of the resumed recording, I got the OK sign.

“Guess your throat wasn’t quite warmed up earlier.”

I quietly watched Randy nod with an excited face, then turned away from the microphone and let out a low sigh.

After a little more time had passed, thinking back on what I had done, belated regret came.

…I shouldn’t have done that to Hyun-tae.

I used his feelings because I needed him, even though I had no intention of accepting his heart—it was truly the lowest of low acts.

“Jae-seo, can you do ‘DAYDREAM’ right away too?”

…But still, I had my reasons earlier.

“Yes, just a moment.”

Answering Randy, I opened the lyric sheet file for ‘DAYDREAM’ that I had saved on my phone.

NUAVE’s debut album would contain a total of six songs.

Today and tomorrow, recording schedules for three of them were lined up consecutively, so I had to resolve the status abnormality as quickly as possible.

“I’m ready.”

“Then let’s try verse 1, from the intro.”

Not long after Randy finished speaking, the intro of ‘DAYDREAM’, the first track of NUAVE’s first mini album, began to play through my headphones.

***

“You worked hard!”

As Lee Chan-seo, the last to record, came out of the booth with Randy Kim, all the members, including me, stood up.

Randy, gesturing for us to sit as we bowed, said everyone had done well.

“Then, let’s listen to the ‘Me and Me’ recording.”

Soon, the newly recorded ‘Me and Me (NUAVE.Ver)’ began playing through the studio speakers.

Despite the short recording time and no post-production yet, the song sounded quite good.

As I was enjoying listening, a sudden sob came from beside me.

Startled, I turned my head to see Lee Woo-rim, sitting next to me, his face buried in his arm, shoulders heaving.

“Woo-rim!

Why are you crying?”

Randy, also surprised, jumped up and urgently grabbed a box of tissues from the shelf behind him.

“Huhng, it’s just, hmph, we really seem to be debuting.”

At Woo-rim’s sniffling words, Randy slumped back into his chair as if deflated.

Saying he was surprised, he placed his hand over his chest and let out a long sigh.

Soon, the song playing through the speakers ended, and Randy spoke.

“This will be your first song as ‘NUAVE’.

Congratulations.

I’m also very honored.”

“Thank you.”

No sooner had leader Yoon Ji-heon expressed thanks for Randy’s congratulations than louder sobs started coming from Woo-rim.

Randy, looking at him with wide eyes, soon laughed and shook his head.

“Woo-rim, if you cry so much and lose your voice tomorrow, you’re in trouble!”

“Yes, huhng…”

At the joke, which seemed partly sincere, Woo-rim nodded with his now red face, and kept sucking in air as if trying to hold back his tears.

“Tomorrow, we’ll do a little more recording of the chorus and ad-lib parts for ‘DAYDREAM’, then immediately start recording ‘Awake’.”

As Randy finished, the manager standing beside Yoon Ji-heon added that a recording behind-the-scenes video for their own content would also be filmed.

“Then, let’s see you tomorrow.”

Randy stood up as he finished speaking, and we also stood and bowed, expressing our thanks.

After exchanging goodbyes with Randy, we followed the manager out of the building and approached the two parked cars.

“Ji-heon and Hyun-tae need to stop by the company for a bit, so get in the front car.”

“Yes, sir.”

Following the manager’s instructions, Yoon Ji-heon and Yeo Hyun-tae got into the car parked in front, and the rest of us climbed into either car at random.

I got into the car parked behind with Kwak Jun-sung, Lee Woo-rim, Lee Chan-seo, and Chae Han-ul.

“Manager-nim, can we do some grocery shopping on the way?”

As the manager who got into our car started the engine and prepared to depart, Woo-rim quickly asked.

It was a question we had discussed among ourselves while waiting for our recording turns.

“There was nothing in the fridge.”

Chan-seo added in support of Woo-rim, but that was a lie.

The managers, who hadn’t come inside because they were busy on work calls after arriving at the dorm, wouldn’t know, but the fridge, cupboards, and shelves in the kitchen had already been filled with food items each of us had brought.

“Can’t have everyone go, it’s too conspicuous.

Just two of you go.”

“Then I’ll go with Jae-seo.”

Kwak Jun-sung, sitting in the passenger seat, answered quickly.

The back of Chae Han-ul’s head, sitting in front of me, kept shifting, looking somehow aggrieved.

…He probably wanted to go with me, like at the previous dinner gathering.

But this time, with the manager present, he couldn’t insist further, and just slumped his shoulders.

KakaoTalk-

KakaoTalk-

KakaoTalk-

KakaoTalk-

Just then, messenger notification sounds exploded simultaneously from all around the car.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Male Body, Female Soul

DramaFemale ProtagonistGender Bender

Read Now →
Not interested