Childhood Friend Who Sees the Future Utters Nonsense

108 – Paying the Price

Still feeling a little dazed, I left the president’s office with my sister Jiwon. The president’s words that they would discuss the details later still echoed in my ears.

Is this a dream or reality? I thought I could somehow convince the boss since I saw something in my precognitive dream, but I didn’t even think I would need to persuade him. This is a truly unexpected situation.

“ha….”

I pressed the elevator button again like before and waited, when I heard Jiwon sigh deeply next to me.

Feeling a little hurt for no reason, I glanced at my sister’s expression, which looked like she had been through all the hardships of the world, and hurriedly offered her an apple.

“I’m sorry, sis.”

“Do you know I’m sorry?”

“yes….”

I am not that unscrupulous. I fully recognize that this is wrong behavior and that it is a nuisance to the company and its members.

That’s why I was so embarrassed to look at my sister, so I lowered my head, but then I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. When I raised my head in surprise at the foreign feeling, there was my sister Jiwon’s hand.

“Okay, I know. Normally, I would have scolded you more, but… The boss already knew and said he was planning to do this all along, so I have nothing more to say.”

“Mom, are you very disappointed?”

Somehow, I felt like I was seeing a mother who had already given up on her child through the way my older sister spoke, so I asked her with a worried heart. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, and my older sister shook her head and patted my head.

“Not to that extent. Well, it’s true that I wish you had told me as your manager… But as the president said earlier, if you think about it from the other person’s perspective, I don’t think you could have ever told me.”

Anyway, since I am a member of the company, I think it would have been difficult for me to reveal these details or to tell them readily, and my older sister Jiwon seemed to understand.

Perhaps he is keeping in mind the fact that he had been vehemently opposed to me revealing my relationship to the public until just a moment ago, and that he had even tried to hide it from the boss in the elevator earlier.

“Anyway, it’s a shame that the vacation is gone, but you have to stay at your accommodations until the press conference, so keep that in mind.”

“Yes. Oh, but what about the members…?”

“Everyone should be here. Originally, I was going to call you only since I’m on vacation, listen to your situation, and then call it a day, but for some reason, they all said they’d come to the dorms.”

As expected, you gave up your vacation because of me. I feel doubly sorry. It’s because I haven’t even told the members yet.

I thought I had overcome one big mountain, but when I realized that there was another big mountain left, I felt a little heavy in my heart. In some ways, I was even more nervous than when I told my boss that I was going to go public with my relationship.

Especially, Yerin must have been very disappointed. Since they are the same age, they often shared their worries and secrets. It would be fortunate if they didn’t slap each other as soon as they met.

“Are there any members who know about your relationship?”

“No, no one will know.”

The moment the elevator door opened, I firmly shook my head at the question Jiwon asked me casually.

I’m sure no one knows because I’ve kept it a secret so thoroughly. The reason he said he’d come to my dorm might be to ask me if the scandal was true or not.

I hope you weren’t too surprised.

***

Beep beep.

“Guys, Yuna is here.”

“… … .”

As we unlocked the door and entered the accommodation, the lights in the house, which must have been turned off when we left for vacation, brightly greeted us.

Instead of me carefully taking off my shoes without saying anything, Jiwon unnie let me know that I was there, but no one’s voice was heard. This situation felt like it was telling me to stop being so noisy and to show my face first.

“Sister, I’ll go in alone. Please give me your luggage.”

I reached out to my sister Jiwon, who was carrying my luggage, and snatched the carrier away from me.

Then, my sister, who was suddenly empty-handed, looked down at her hands, then, dumbfounded, reached out her hands as if to take the luggage again.

“Uh, uh… But I still have to explain the situation to the kids….”

“I can do it. No, I want to do it.”

Of course, my sister has her own role as a manager, so I understand why she is trying to step in my place now. However, I have a duty to apologize to the members and explain the details of the situation.

That’s why I held the carrier’s handle tightly and showed my determination with my eyes. Only then did my sister realize my feelings and nodded, biting her lips.

“… Okay, if anything happens, call me right away. I’ll be waiting in the car.”

“No, you must be tired today too, so you should go in and rest right away. Don’t worry about me.”

Even so, given my sister’s personality, she’d probably want to wait in the car. But I thought it would at least make me feel a little better if I just said something like that.

Crunch.

As my sister left the dorm, the sound of the door locking rang out again. I took that sound as a signal, took a deep breath, and cautiously stepped inside.

Was the hallway to the living room this long? My palms are sweaty from the tension.

“I’m back… .”

From noble mtl dot com

I greeted him in a crawling voice and looked around the living room.

First, I saw Seungyeon sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed, and Soeun and Yerim sitting on either side of her. As soon as I entered the living room, the three of them looked at me with intense eyes.

As the heavy silence continued, Yerin got up from her seat and strode towards me. Her footsteps seemed to indicate, ‘I’m angry.’

“Hey, Han Yu-na. What’s going on with you? You heard everything from the boss. You were dating and keeping it a secret from us?”

“I, I’m sorry, Yerin. Let me explain first…”

Except for the occasional teasing or prank, this was the first time Yerin had called me by my last name, so I was so surprised that I couldn’t speak properly.

Still, I tried to open my mouth with gestures, thinking that I had to explain the situation somehow, but Yerin cut me off in a cold tone, as if even that wasn’t necessary.

“Do you think this is something that can be explained?”

“Yerin, calm down for now. Let’s listen to Yuna’s story first and then get angry.”

Seungyeon, who arrived late, reached out to stop Yerin, who was pouring out her emotions to me, but Yerin firmly pushed her shoulder away. It was an action that seemed to indicate that there was no room for negotiation.

“Ah, Sister, let go! I really can’t just let this go today.”

“Huh… Okay.”

Maybe because Seungyeon was just as angry at me, she couldn’t stop Yerin any longer and turned her head away. Meanwhile, behind her, I saw Soeun looking out the window and turning her gaze away from me.

Did she not even want to talk to me? Although she may seem like a cold beauty to others, she was always kind to us, the youngest, so the sense of disconnect was even greater.

I was so confused by the solemn scenery of the accommodation that I had never seen before that I couldn’t even think of the words I had prepared. No matter how much I prepared myself, I realized that experiencing the situation firsthand was on a whole other level.

“Huh? If you have a mouth, speak up. Are you saying that we weren’t worth talking to? To you, we’re just coworkers, or something like that?”

“No, that’s not true.”

I know it’s shameless to have such thoughts when I’ve done something wrong, but I just let the words out as if I was venting my frustration at being so wronged.

I can say this with my hand on my heart. To me, the members are very precious people in a different sense than Siyoon.

That’s why I never took this relationship lightly, hid my relationship with Shiyoon, and did this. Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t say something stupid like asking for you to know my true feelings, as a sinner.

“No, that’s not true. I’m sure you were suspicious because you thought they might tell your manager or boss if you told us. To you, we’re just people like that. Right?”

“Ugh, that’s not true… Really, that’s not true…”

It wasn’t because I felt wronged, but because I felt sad and sorry that they were belittling me by assuming that my existence was like that, and so I started to cry.

It’s not that the members weren’t precious. No, rather, they were precious, so I couldn’t say anything.

I was scared. The members always joked that people who date were traitors. I was scared that if I told them that I was dating alone, they would be so disappointed.

The fact that I have finally decided to reveal everything is thanks to the future I saw in my dream. If it weren’t for that, I would still be fidgeting and keeping this fact completely hidden from the members.

Of course, I don’t think this was a good thing. I just did it because I thought that if I were given the first and last chance to tell the people I’ve kept a secret from up until now, it would be now.

If I had only thought about my happiness with Siyoon, I might have hidden it more thoroughly. I thought this was the only way I could repent to the members, the fans who like me, and the people at the company.

But from the members’ perspective, it must not have been like that. I felt ashamed and helpless for not being able to understand their feelings, so I burst into tears. I was so sorry that I had nothing more to say.

“Hou-geuk, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you think that way… I’m really sorry…”

I shouldn’t be the one crying right now. Even though I knew that, I didn’t know what to do because I couldn’t stop the tears that had started to flow.

I thought that I had to apologize more somehow, that I had to show my sincerity. With that thought in mind, I barely managed to wipe away my tears and raise my head.

“Kuh, huff… .”

Then, I saw Yerin, who was desperately trying to block the sound of the wind from escaping without being able to look at me for some reason. The cold eyes from just a moment ago were nowhere to be found.

As I felt that the sharp air that seemed to cut my skin had become dull, I stared blankly for a while with my eyes wide open.

What is it? It looks like Yerin is holding back laughter… If you look closely, Seungyeon is also looking this way and covering her mouth, and the area around her temples is trembling. The other side is in a similar situation.

As I turned my gaze here and there again at the confusing sight, this time I saw So-eun, who had been staring blankly out the window, keeping her head still but glancing in this direction.

However, there was a difference. The hand that had been resting his chin on his hand as if he was deeply troubled had risen a little higher and was now covering the corner of his mouth. The muscles around his mouth were also busy twitching.

As I was trying to organize all the situations in my head, I suddenly felt like I lost consciousness.

No, right? It can’t be.

I looked at Yerin again, denying the reality and thinking, “Could it be?” Then, Yerin smiled brightly and spread her arms wide as if to say, “Did you notice?”

“Whoa! I succeeded in making Han Yuna cry!”

Only then did I realize the reality.

… Ah, this was a hidden camera.