Things You Didn’t Tell Me

“Freedom!”

On the last day of the contract, Hanbyeol clenched both fists and savored his liberation.
Yuseong’s condition had recovered a month ago, so he didn’t need to come anymore.
But since he had signed the contract, he fulfilled the working period.

A month ago, as soon as Yuseong’s recovery was confirmed, Hanbyeol went to the agency.
He firmly refused their casting offer.
He said he couldn’t give up his dream of composing, so he had no choice.
He even deliberately bowed at the waist to apologize.

“You’re making me feel sad, Hanbyeol-ah……”
“Was it that bad being with hyung?”
“Hyung, you need to say things properly.”
“I’m the one who had my time wasted on all sorts of nonsense.”

While the agency was burning with desire to cast Hanbyeol, the rumors and controversies surrounding Cha.N had completely stopped.
And after Hanbyeol refused, the controversies that had died down, of course, did not resurface.

Of course, there were controversial topics brewing across social media.
They were all strange stories, but in the end, they didn’t gain any traction and never surfaced.

For rumors that would normally just circulate as gossip to gain power and become noisy, there need to be people strongly asserting them.
But Cha.N’s fans were keeping a sharp eye out, reporting everything, and piling up evidence in the agency’s email.
If they didn’t respond, they’d be facing official complaint letters from the fans.

Moreover, all these controversies were practically the same fabricated ones that had happened to Sehyun and Yechan before.
It seemed they realized that if they got exposed and backfired, they’d just end up being used as promotion, like with this album.

“Oh, by the way, hyung.”
“You said you’d contact Taeha.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
“You seemed like you were going to bring him in as a trainee.”
“But it looks like you never contacted him.”
“What are you talking about?”

Yuseong blinked.
At the reaction he got back, Hanbyeol’s face went blank instead.
No, why are you pretending not to know?

The brothers’ eyes met.

“What do you mean? We already talked about it back then.”
“……Huh?”
“I called him right after I talked to you that day.”
“By any chance, didn’t you hear from Taeha?”

Yes.
I didn’t hear anything.

Hanbyeol’s eyes grew round.

* * * *

On the bus ride home, Hanbyeol was deep in thought.

‘Taeha refused the offer.’
‘I thought you already knew?’
‘……No. I didn’t hear anything.’
‘Yeah? We thought maybe he didn’t want to get into the entertainment industry because of all this, so we didn’t ask further.’

The sun was setting in the distance.
The bus had turned on its interior lights to match, and the previously visible scenery outside quickly grew dark.
Only Hanbyeol’s face and the building lights began to show.

Was it because his mind was filled with Taeha?
Hanbyeol didn’t even feel the discomfort of the bumpy ride.
He even forgot he had to get off the bus at one point.

Hanbyeol, belatedly fighting his churning motion sickness, pressed the bell.

Until now, Taeha had acted as if he hadn’t given up on his dream of the entertainment industry.
He was the first to listen to Hanbyeol’s new songs.
They listened to and analyzed songs from groups that had comebacks or debuted together.

Even though it was their last vacation before graduation, Hanbyeol met his friends often.

Friends who visited Hanbyeol’s house almost every day would giggle listening to the songs he made.
Or they’d come next to him while he was working and deliberately spread out snacks to distract him.

Throughout all that, Taeha showed no signs.

Why didn’t I anticipate it?
Mid-January.
Cha.N had made their comeback at the beginning of the month, so it was their busiest time.
Naturally, there was a high probability they had finished discussions with Taeha before the comeback.

Hanbyeol had assumed Taeha would naturally join.
Over the two months with Cha.N, watching Yuseong’s actions right beside him, he had personally seen the solid foundation of the label they were building.

Yuseong was as seamless as if he had been preparing for this moment since Cha.N’s debut.
A company like that, at least the groups formed under it, wouldn’t hit rock bottom.

Hanbyeol felt a little hurt.
Truthfully, it wasn’t something he needed to be told about.
Joining an agency, quitting trainee life.
Everything was Taeha’s choice.

Just because he was one of the people cheering him on from the closest proximity didn’t mean he had the right to know everything about Taeha.
Conversely, Taeha had no obligation to tell Hanbyeol either.

But even knowing that, his stomach churned.
This was because of the bus.
He always felt unwell when riding in vehicles.
So that’s what it was.

[Are you busy right now?]

In the end, unable to bear the nausea, Hanbyeol got off the bus.
With the short winter days, darkness had fully surrounded him.
Warmth was nowhere to be found, only a chill lingered.

He didn’t have the courage to get back on another vehicle.
But he couldn’t walk either.
The distance home was considerable.
To soothe his stomach, Hanbyeol sent Taeha a message.

Ji Taeha
I was getting ready to eat dinner.
It’s the last day today, right?
Did it end well?
Are you on your way back by any chance?

I told him everything.

Hanbyeol had shared everything with Taeha—his situation, the conclusion of his contract with the company.
That’s probably why he felt this hurt.
Because he thought of him as such a close friend, Taeha now felt awkward and, yes, a little hurt.

“……He’s allowed to have secrets.”

Hanbyeol forced himself to calm his churning stomach.

Still, it didn’t change that he was someone who belonged in the most shining place.
If Taeha ever dreamed of standing on stage again, Hanbyeol hoped that then, at least, he would tell him first.

Yeah. I’m heading home now.

Ji Taeha
Hanbyeol-ah.
Are you in a car by any chance?

No, I’m outside.

Ji Taeha
Where are you?

At the sudden question, Hanbyeol looked around.
It wasn’t far from his old school.
Hanbyeol gave the name of a familiar building and sat down at the bus stop.

Because he thought Taeha might come.
Since he asked for his location, he probably intended to come.

Hanbyeol’s guess was correct.
This place wasn’t far from Taeha’s house.
Before long, he saw Taeha running from afar.
His face was slightly flushed, as if he had run out as soon as he got Hanbyeol’s message.

“Why did you run like that?”

What if you fell?

Voicing the same worry Taeha had once expressed to him, Taeha, who had sprinted at full speed, stopped in front of Hanbyeol and caught his breath.

Despite the cold weather, the tips of Taeha’s hair were damp.
He must have just washed up.
He hadn’t even dried his hair properly.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

Should we go inside somewhere?

Reading the concern on Hanbyeol’s face, Taeha spoke.

“I thought you might have taken the bus.”
“If your hyung was giving you a ride, I figured you would have messaged after getting home because of your motion sickness.”

‘Heading home now,’ the reply to his message.
That meant he had pictured Hanbyeol’s situation.
Taeha knew Hanbyeol that well.

As Hanbyeol’s eyes widened in surprise, Taeha broke into a wide grin.
Was he that happy that his guess was correct?
Happy enough to run out without even properly drying his hair?

But then, why……?

Hanbyeol stared at Taeha with a somewhat ambiguous expression.

“Why? Is there a spot I didn’t dry properly?”

Taeha touched his own cheek, looking embarrassed.

“I told you, if you don’t dry your hair properly, you’ll catch a cold, Taeha-ya.”
“Haha……”
“Let’s go inside for a bit.”

He couldn’t go home anyway.
A sudden visit would be rude to Taeha’s family.
But heading home himself wasn’t an option with his upset stomach, and he couldn’t do that to Taeha who had just run over.

Turning his head, Hanbyeol spotted a large café and tugged on Taeha’s coat.

As they stepped inside from the place where their breath had been fogging, warmth enveloped them.
It must have been colder outside than he thought.
He had been so lost in thought he hadn’t even noticed the cold.

“What do you want to drink?”
“Ah, I’ll have an Americano…… I’ll buy it, Hanbyeol-ah.”
“No way. You ran all the way here, and you want to pay?”

I, uh, extorted some allowance from my brother, you know?

Hanbyeol smiled and ordered a sweet yuja tea and an Americano.
He planned to spend some time, both to let Taeha dry his hair and to soothe his own stomach.

There was a lot he wanted to ask Taeha.
But wondering if everything he asked had become a burden on Taeha, Hanbyeol forced himself to swallow his words.

“Does it feel weird now that it’s all over?”
“I guess so. It wasn’t like I was filming self-content every week, but I did quite a bit of prep and research with the staff. Thinking I don’t have to do that anymore feels a bit strange.”
“You’re not going to the Cha.N dorm anymore either?”
“Yeah. Hyung’s condition is fine now, and he’s really busy. Hyung said awards prep is really tough, but honestly, that was good for me. I had nothing to do there. Just helped out with drinks occasionally.”
“Is that so? Well, I’m glad it’s over now.”

The café was crowded, but no one was listening to their conversation.
They had moved to the least crowded spot they could find.

Occasionally, they felt glances from afar directed their way.
But this happened whenever he was with Taeha, so he could easily ignore it.

“Don’t you need to go home? You said you were getting ready for dinner.”
“My parents aren’t home today, so I was alone anyway. It’s okay. Want to have dinner together? I can prepare a bit more if we go.”
“Suddenly?”
“Eating together is better than eating alone, isn’t it?”

During vacation, he often ate all three meals alone.
If he got absorbed in working on a song, he’d even miss meal times.

Right now, Taeha was trying to take care of Hanbyeol’s meals.
It was the same behavior as always.
He felt he shouldn’t feel hurt by a Taeha like this.

“He bought me coffee, so it’s only right that I make him dinner, isn’t it?”
“You’re going to get scolded big time by your hyung.”
“Why?”
“For going to an Alpha friend’s house.”

Normally, he would have just laughed it off.
It was a joke he playfully used when talking with friends.
When they came over to his house, the same joke would pop up among friends, and they’d giggle, saying they needed to be careful not to get their backs smashed.

Hanbyeol had just repeated a joke his friends made when they came over with snacks the other day.
But for some reason, there was no reaction from Taeha.