The Dorm I Shouldn’t Have Entered

“Taeha, Shouldn’t we get going soon? If we’re too late for practice, we’ll be tired and it’ll be tough.”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

“And these are supplements. My brother buys and takes these separately these days. Cartilage is really important for people who move their bodies a lot, so make sure to take them.”

“Uh……”

The world was unfair.

If the world were fair, someone like Ji Taeha wouldn’t even exist.

Tall? Check.

Good at studying? Check.

Smart? Check.

Handsome face? Check.

Good at singing? Check.

They say tall people struggle with dancing at first, but they say he dances pretty well too.

Hanbyeol took the supplements from his bag and thrust them into Taeha’s arms.

“I heard your debut date is set. Is it scheduled for around the exam time? Or next year?”

At Hanbyeol’s encouraging words, Taeha’s pupils wavered.

Of course, Taeha was not a trainee directly under the same agency as Yooseong.

Where Taeha was wasn’t a major agency, but a small musician/management company that didn’t even have an idol debut team yet.

Although the success rate for idols from small-to-medium agencies was lower than from major ones, in Hanbyeol’s eyes, there was no way Taeha wouldn’t succeed, regardless of agency size.

‘That’s why you have to prepare early.’

Once schedules start piling up, you have to snatch sleep while traveling to schedules, while getting makeup done, and during waiting times.

There’s no way you can eat properly!

“Once debut preparations really get underway, you’ll have to manage your diet really well from the start……”

As he rattled on, Hanbyeol felt a chill at Taeha’s demeanor, which seemed unusually calmer and more subdued than usual.

Don’t tell me.

This is the kind of ‘don’t tell me’ that drives you crazy.

Recalling how Taeha had eaten everything on the menu at the snack shop they visited earlier, without picking or choosing, Hanbyeol asked in a trembling voice.

“Taeha, Don’t tell me, you… perhaps……”

“Sorry. Somehow… it ended up like that again.”

“……N-no, no. You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“You cheered for me so much, Hanbyeol-ah.”

They say ‘don’t tell me’ drives you crazy.

It seemed Taeha’s debut had fallen through again.

This was already the fourth time Hanbyeol knew of.

Hanbyeol was at a loss for words, feeling powerless to do anything for the friend who had noticed his hardship and cheered him on.

The trainee life without a clear end date had begun again.

Yet, Taeha still had to head to the practice room.

Five minutes before the next bus arrived.

Even though he himself was exhausted, Hanbyeol couldn’t grasp what to say to Taeha.

Taeha was the first to break the silence.

“I’m okay. There’s still plenty of time. You said my voice is good too, Hanbyeol-ah, and that I could definitely succeed. So, it’s okay.”

Moreover, the timing was right before the college entrance exam.

It was impossible not to be shaken.

Even he was this shaken and struggling!

He was smiling calmly, but it must be hard.

Despite that, Taeha was the one comforting Hanbyeol.

Watching Taeha run indefinitely toward the faint light of debut in pitch-black darkness, Hanbyeol felt suffocated.

It was a completely different situation from when he worried over Yooseong.

Now Hanbyeol knew.

Even after debut, the path an idol must walk is a thorny one, prettily packaged.

And all he could do for Taeha, heading down that path, was offer support and encouragement.

“Right. Go on. See you tomorrow, Taeha.”

He could see the bus in the distance.

Hanbyeol smiled and patted Taeha’s back.

Yeah, you can do it.

If the person involved doesn’t give up, all someone standing on the sidelines can do is believe in them and support them.

Having heard many stories from the colleagues who debuted with his brother, Hanbyeol did the same for Taeha.

Hesitantly, Taeha moved his feet and got on the bus.

Then, he sat in a window seat where Hanbyeol could see him best.

When Hanbyeol waved, Taeha smiled and waved back.

Then he pointed at his phone.

The bus drove away.

At the same time, Hanbyeol saw his phone vibrate Bzz, bzz, and pressed his lips together tightly.

Ji Taeha

I hope it’s not too big of a worry.

If it’s a worry you can set aside for a while, let’s forget about it for now so it doesn’t interfere with sleep.

If it’s a worry I can listen to, talk to me anytime.

Take care. See you tomorrow.

“……Who’s comforting whom here.”

Hanbyeol gripped his phone tightly at the message from his ever-so-kind friend.

****

Right now, Hanbyeol was glaring at the closed front door.

Once this door opened, the culprit who had made him come all the way here at this hour would be standing there.

“Are you sure no one else is coming?”

―Really, no one. Really, no one’s here yet. The members will take a while if they come. My little brother, you went through so much coming here. Hyung will buy you something really tasty. Okay? Just come for a bit. You’re almost here. Our Hanbyeol, you’re doing well coming here.

“What ‘doing well coming here’, what! Just open the door!”

On top of everything, because Hanbyeol was wearing a mask and a black cap pulled down low, he had already been stopped and questioned by a security guard.

Why do I have to suffer like this!

As if to soothe the furious Hanbyeol, Yooseong’s voice was incredibly gentle.

At Hanbyeol’s voice, frantic footsteps were heard from inside, and then the front door swung open.

“Hah……”

A deep sigh escaped Hanbyeol.

Cha.N moved frequently due to sasaeng fans, stalkers, etc.

Because the sasaeng issue had been severe since pre-debut, even parents rarely visited the dorm, and visits from members’ siblings were almost nonexistent.

Even this current dorm had such tight security that getting in was a huge hassle, so Hanbyeol hadn’t bothered to visit.

“Is this the second time?”

“Third!”

“Ah……”

Even though it was just the two of them because the members were out on schedules, Yooseong shook his head with a shocked expression.

Actually, originally it would be the second time.

Hanbyeol’s visit was the first since Cha.N first moved into this secure, expensive dorm when he came to deliver side dishes.

Back then, members weren’t there either, and only his brother Yooseong and the manager greeted Hanbyeol at the dorm.

But now, since they had decided to create a situation, they had to align their stories.

The pheromones that had slightly clung to the dorm, which the members encountered, were because Hanbyeol had stopped by briefly.

No matter how close a sibling, it wasn’t a good look for a member’s family to frequently come and go from the dorm.

Especially if it was when members weren’t there, it was even less of a good look.

Nevertheless, Hanbyeol came here for Yooseong.

They needed just enough reason for someone to think, ‘Ah, so that’s why a little bit was left,’ even if the idea of a ‘pheromone shower’ was disgusting.

“Hyung, what about the hospital?”

“I went. It’s fine.”

“Are you really fine?”

“Really fine. It happened because my body was a bit fatigued. They said I’ll be fine if I just keep taking my medication. But, the problem is they said I have to take a weaker version of the pheromone suppressants.”

If the suppressants’ effects were mild, it meant Yooseong’s pheromones would frequently seep out a little.

Hanbyeol had no idea how they were supposed to hide this.

“Okay, when you take them, but what about during my heat cycle……”

Pheromone suppressants, which forcefully block what should occur naturally, were already known to have many side effects.

Yooseong, a recessive omega, had almost no side effects, but Hanbyeol, a dominant omega—an even smaller group within the already small omega population—suffered so much from the suppressants’ side effects that he would be bedridden every time he took them.

They probably told the members it happened due to the suppressants’ side effects, but if his physical condition differed between when pheromones clung and when he took suppressants, wouldn’t that be hard to explain?

When Hanbyeol pressed him with that thought, Yooseong quickly shook his head.

“No, that’s not it. I didn’t say it was because of the suppressants.”

“……So you really made me out to be a guy who can’t even control his pheromones?”

“Ah, no!”

As Yooseong shook his head in panic, Hanbyeol’s fierce expression subsided.

“Then, how did you explain it?”

“I said it was because of exam prep.”

“Huh?”

“It’s actually because of my stress too.”

Hanbyeol blinked, then went “Ah—!” in realization.

While it also happened because his body’s balance was disrupted by the heavy schedule, the precise cause was stress.

Hormonal imbalance from accumulated stress.

He had subtly linked that reason to Hanbyeol, saying Hanbyeol was struggling because of the upcoming exam.

“Then it’s easier to use the excuse of tutoring you too. I explained it well to the members, so you don’t have to worry about coming to the dorm.”

If it was exam prep, it made sense for Hanbyeol to visit Yooseong at the dorm.

Others might ask, ‘How is that a reason?’ but…

[Cha.N’s Yooseong, Secret to a Perfect Exam Score? No Time for Tutoring.]

[Yooseong, Ascends to ‘Mom’s Friend’s Son’ Ranks with Perfect Exam Score!]

[Cha.N’s Yooseong. Caught Both Rabbits: A Perfect Score and a Million Seller!]

If the person in question is that Choi Yooseong, who got a perfect score on the exam in his second year as an idol, it makes sense.

Hanbyeol realized anew just what a cheat character Yooseong was.

What idol takes the exam in the middle of activities and gets a perfect score?

“Also, I still have the workbooks from when I took the exam. They have the solutions too.”

Yooseong handed Hanbyeol the workbooks stacked on one side of his room.

As Hanbyeol looked at the solution methods written inside the exam prep books in admiration, he furrowed his brow.

“……Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“What is this. This is this year’s exam prep book. Why did you solve it?”

“The past exam questions change a little every year. In case you asked, so I could teach you……”

“You’re supposed to rest on your days off!”

What on earth is someone who says they’re not feeling well doing?!

Hanbyeol raised his voice in shock, yelling at Yooseong.

Yooseong clasped his hands together, begging earnestly, but Hanbyeol’s anger didn’t subside.