The Wrong Kind of Attachment

Danyeong had always thought there was no one as peculiar as Yuseong.
It was natural for idols to have quirks that set them apart from ordinary people, but Yuseong’s were particularly intense.

Even now, living together, he felt it.
Back when they were filming [Pick My Dol!], all the other contestants probably thought the same way.

Fans saw Yuseong remembering everything they wanted and showing it through his actions, cheering that he was a ‘born-to-be idol!’
But from the perspective of those around him, Yuseong wasn’t someone suited to being an idol.

Rather than a born-to-be idol, Yuseong was someone who knew how to gather people, organize opinions, and analyze patterns and variables that might arise.

His memory was so good and his mind so quick that it made you wonder, ‘Is this person even human?’
He prevented incidents that could have become controversies multiple times in advance.
He was also excellent at preparing for unforeseen events, to the point where he made recording a part of his daily life.

All Danyeong, as the leader, did was look after the members and lead practices.
Whether it was because he had finished analyzing the characters he had in mind just by doing that, Yuseong picked out exactly what to say on variety shows.

The most playful member of Cha.N, yet the scariest tiger-like leader.
The image of ‘Yoon Danyeong, the crazy guy who wants to be a producer’ that formed after the program ended had somehow become ‘Yoon Danyeong, the leader of Cha.N who is more serious about being an idol than anyone else.’

‘That leader image is pretty nice, you know? It’s cool.’

During the program, he had no trainee period, but he endlessly worked hard and even snatched first place.
Now, that person was being called a genius idol.

But Yuseong’s actions were clear.
He analyzed and found stories and data analyzed from somewhere, the behavior patterns of idols, and fans’ comments.

And that whole process looked strangely familiar.
It was exactly the route managers or company staff used to investigate an artist’s public response.

‘Hanbyeol used to be an idol fan back in the day.’

Danyeong had let the words, ‘That alone doesn’t explain all your actions, does it?’ reach the base of his throat, but he didn’t voice them.

A younger brother being an idol fan leading to the older brother being good at finding fan reactions is one thing.
But you planning out that kind of image is a different story altogether.

However, it was hard to criticize his actions.
Thanks to Yuseong’s opinions, they not only gained program buzz but entered the top tier through a surprisingly solid route.
The controversy at the end of last year was also suppressed relatively comfortably because of him.

‘……The controversy actually became promotion.’

With that promotion as their foundation, they made a comeback in January.
The new song successfully entered the charts.
Danyeong thought Yuseong, who had created this situation, was amazing, but occasionally, he also found him eerie.

That led him to want to see ‘that Choi Yuseong’s younger brother’ at least once.
The expressions Yuseong often used—a gentle appearance unlike his own, small and cute—remained a question for the members.

For you, isn’t the word ‘cute’ something you only use when there’s a cute, small animal in front of you, or when cameras are around, or when fans are present?

Later, when they finally saw ‘that Choi Yuseong’s younger brother,’ who had been like a mythical creature among the members, everyone’s expectations came crashing down.

‘You said he was cute?’
‘He is cute.’
‘……?’

They thought ‘small and cute’ meant he was in the early 170cm range.
But seeing Hanbyeol’s long limbs, just 2-3cm shy of 180cm, Yechan, the only Cha.N member in the mid-170s, was especially devastated.

Sehyun, who had imagined a tone full of the unique aegyo of a youngest sibling because Yuseong kept calling him cute, also had his pupils shaken by Hanbyeol’s expression, which was far more subdued than Yuseong’s.

Only the second oldest, Yunsoo, quietly nodded, saying he was indeed cute.
But that judgment was only possible because Yunsoo was a towering 186cm.

Danyeong also, at first, thought Hanbyeol would have a soft and delicate personality.
Hanbyeol had rounder features than Yuseong, relatively gentle-looking eyes, and overall lighter pigmentation compared to his dark-featured brother.

‘Hyung, that’s probably because you’re next tallest after Yunsoo hyung.’
‘I’m talking about Hanbyeol’s eyes, okay? I’ve never seen anyone with as much venom in them as Choi Yuseong.’

But Sehyun shook his head and refuted him.

And Sehyun’s assessment was accurate.
For Danyeong, the moment Hanbyeol’s soft image shattered was when he heard Hanbyeol’s scathing evaluations about the program.

Even though they had arranged for him to come to the dorm, it wasn’t his main living space, so he didn’t exchange personal words with the members.
He would leave without hesitation once his business was done.
It was them who subtly grabbed hold of Hanbyeol.

At Danyeong’s request to evaluate things from a viewer’s perspective, Hanbyeol made a strange expression for a moment.
Not long after, he opened his mouth without hesitation.

‘They’ll probably show it at the end anyway. If they said it would be in this episode, of course they would.’
‘That contestant earlier definitely had blue paint on their neck. But now it’s gone. That means they changed the order of events to suit themselves during editing.’
‘Just because they try to hide it doesn’t mean it’s hidden. That program, turning things upside down with editing isn’t exactly new.’
‘I saw it a few times during your season too. That kind of trolling, it definitely happened a few times last season as well.’

Is memory and analytical ability a family genetic trait?
At the words Hanbyeol casually spat out while holding the snack Yunsoo had given him, everyone froze.

Danyeong broke out in a cold sweat.
Hey, Choi Yuseong. Don’t make that impressed face at your brother’s analytical skills, you doting fool.

But he hadn’t shown the ability to notice editing sequences from his past idol fan activities.
Nor had he shown behavior like picking out potential debut members after watching recent episodes of a program he’d never properly watched before.

‘By any chance, did you watch the audition programs that came out before us like this too?’
‘No? I never did that. I didn’t watch them at all.’

However, his intuition was remarkable.
While Hanbyeol was at the dorm receiving private tutoring from Yuseong, Danyeong occasionally ordered snacks and asked him fragmented questions.

He asked because Hanbyeol said he watched the official videos uploaded on YouTube, even though he had distanced himself from the internet since Yuseong’s debut.

‘Then, in the next worldview, Sehyun hyung would become the main character.’
‘Yeah? We haven’t even filmed the MV yet, how do you think it’ll turn out?’
‘In Yechan hyung’s follow-up song MV, it ended with him picking up the ring and bringing it closer. The archenemy running through the worldview has consistently been Yuseong hyung, and Sehyun hyung and Yechan hyung have been appearing almost like twins.’
‘……Uh, uh? Is that right?’
‘As that concept continued, those two kept using homonyms, connecting them like wordplay. Same words, but creating differences with the Chinese character meanings, or swapping words that sound the same in Korean and a foreign language. But, in the story, from the debut MV onwards, it was Sehyun hyung who tried to call and stop the incident.’
‘Yeah.’
‘A ring is Ring, and when used as a verb, it means to call, right? It’ll probably start with him answering the phone. With content where he intervenes properly to stop the incident. Last time was a relatively light song, so there must have been talk of going with a deep song this time. I don’t know exactly how the concept will turn out though…….’

This kid is seriously amazing.

At Hanbyeol’s prediction, which matched the mood of the song they were preparing and even the story planned for the next MV, Danyeong’s mouth fell wide open.

At that moment, Danyeong felt fate.
A kid like this becoming an idol could communicate with fans, interpret things for them—wasn’t it killing two birds with one stone!

Actually, it was Danyeong who had excitedly intervened in Cha.N’s worldview story until now.
But the members weren’t as serious about building the world as Danyeong thought, and Yuseong, with his reality-oriented mindset, was the same.

A picture formed in his head.

Unlike Yuseong, who, despite being extremely realistic, calculated and analyzed everything to become an idol, Hanbyeol possessed something called intuition.

‘I want to make this kid an idol and keep him by my side.’

But after seeing Hanbyeol’s skills, Danyeong gave up on the idea of making him an idol.

However, he developed another thought: at least he wanted to create a place for Hanbyeol in the label they would establish.
How rewarding would it be to have someone who immediately understood what he was thinking?

That’s why, albeit briefly, he had no objection to Hanbyeol working with them.

If Hanbyeol joined the label they established, instead of putting up walls like now, they could comfortably share opinions and expand the artists’ worldview together.
It was a perfect environment for getting close.

And although they used the excuse of temporary manager or filming staff assistant, the company really wanted to put Hanbyeol into the next debut lineup.

Hanbyeol had even obtained a written pledge from the agency stating, ‘If after observing together he truly doesn’t want it, he doesn’t have to sign.’
After that, he was able to move around with the members very comfortably.

Knowing Yuseong was worried about Hanbyeol’s health, Danyeong actually thought it worked out well.

But upon closer inspection, the situation was completely opposite.

‘He’s the one who’s unwell……?’

Watching carefully, it was Hanbyeol looking after Yuseong.
Wasn’t Yuseong the one getting scolded?

There were days Hanbyeol left work early, saying he had to go to the hospital.
Whenever that happened, Yuseong went with him.
Even then, he heard that he was cured and not to worry.

Even if he’s worried about his younger brother, that’s too much.
Is it necessary to care for a younger brother who’s now an adult to that extent?

Watching Yuseong, who usually maintained an appropriate level of closeness when not in front of the camera, immediately put on his older brother face whenever Hanbyeol appeared and cling to him, Danyeong grew serious.

‘He has no interest in celebrities walking around, he puts up walls with the members…… That close friend too, he said they’re not lovers.’

Please, let me be thinking wrong.

Danyeong wanted to deny it as much as possible.
The sight of Yuseong hugging Hanbyeol from behind and talking with a smile.
Or the faint but refreshing pheromones occasionally sensed, presumed to be Hanbyeol’s.

‘No way, towards his own brother……?’

And so, Danyeong’s misunderstanding deepened.