“Ah, Hoyun! Good job.”
“…Yeah.”
Seong Jiwon acted as if nothing was unusual.
Whether it was on stage at a local event, or behind the scenes where the youngest members giggled, or even when I stared at him blatantly, Seong Jiwon maintained a serene smile.
Honestly, if I hadn’t watched his V-Live, I would have thought everything was normal. His acting was that convincing.
…But he’s not good at acting.
Or maybe he was just good at hiding things.
Deciding not to drag out this concern (giving him a day, which I considered a grace period), I chose to cut to the chase.
Blocking Seong Jiwon’s path, I crossed my arms.
“Seong Jiwon, I saw your V-Live yesterday.”
He flinched.
Realizing my intent, Seong Jiwon awkwardly avoided my gaze, trying to brush it off.
“You’ve been busy, and you still watched that? Ahaha, thanks… I didn’t say anything weird, did I?”
“No, you didn’t.”
But there was something else.
“Was the constant phone ringing from sasaengs?”
“…!”
Seong Jiwon’s eyes wavered as I brought up the main issue. He fidgeted with his lips, looking for the right words.
“…Hoyun, you really don’t hold back.”
“It’s one of my charms.”
“Ahaha…”
Seong Jiwon awkwardly laughed at my blatant comment and rubbed his neck. He glanced around subtly before admitting.
“Yeah, sasaengs. Amazing, right? They keep calling even after I change my number….”
“…”
I, too, had experienced my phone battery dying quickly and being woken up due to sasaengs’ calls. Now, if the caller ID shows “No Caller ID,” I don’t even bother to answer.
I regularly changed my phone number, and so did the other members.
That meant…
“Did you tell the company?”
…It was also something we were familiar with.
If Seong Jiwon labeled it as a sasaeng call, he would have just mentioned it and not acted like a guilty puppy.
I asked out of suspicion, but Seong Jiwon just nodded.
“Yeah, of course. I’m planning to change my number again.”
“…Okay.”
Seong Jiwon clearly drew the line, indicating he didn’t want to delve deeper. Was there really something more, or was it just my needless worry?
As I pondered, our eyes met.
“But Hoyun.”
“What?”
He faintly smiled and asked,
“Are you worried about me?”
“…What are you talking about?”
Of course, I wanted to be aware of any issues in the team.
But before I could finish, Seong Jiwon smiled, as if understanding.
“No, just… thanks.”
“…”
“Seong Jiwon, could you come here for a moment, please!”
“Ah, I should go? They’re calling me over there.”
Suddenly turned into a fidgety sub-vocalist and being anxious about a team member’s well-being, I was at a loss for words.
Ding!
[Wow, Seong Jiwon’s way of slipping out is so natural…]
“…I really got sucked in for a moment there.”
Impressed by Seong Jiwon’s advanced tactics, I was contemplating things when Jeong Dajun suddenly appeared beside me, holding a Pikachu tonkatsu in each hand.
“Hyung, we’re splitting into teams for filming later!”
For now… I decided to put the crafty Seong Jiwon aside and focus on the task at hand.
We were booked for local events for a few days, and it seemed like they wanted to make the most out of today’s schedule by filming our self-content. It was a famous tourist spot, but thankfully it wasn’t crowded since it wasn’t the tourist season.
Still, just in case, everyone wiped off their stage makeup and covered their faces with hats or masks.
The camera was already following us.
“That so? Two teams?”
“No. I heard we’re splitting into three teams?”
“…Ah.”
Concerned that Seong Jiwon might end up alone, I was about to turn to the production team when Kang Ichae, who also somehow acquired tteok kkochi, quickly intercepted.
“Ichae thinks~ it would be better with two teams?”
Wow…
“Why?”
“Aw~! What if Ichae gets left alone? He’s too pretty; someone might snatch him away. Why risk it?”
Kang Ichae is seriously sharp…
Ding!
[What’s with this group…?]
[I’m starting to get scared… Let’s stop this….]
No wonder they have survived so much; their instincts were just crazy.
“I wish someone would really take him away…”
Muttering “he makes me want to leave him alone even more,” Jeong Dajun rubbed his neck while I exchanged a quick glance with Kang Ichae. Thankfully, Seong Jiwon, who missed our brief exchange, nodded with a smile.
“Yeah, then let’s go with two teams.”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
The staff readily agreed and shook the draw box. As the members gathered around the box, the camera closely focused on us. The drawing resulted in a pretty good team formation.
“Yay! I’m in the same team with Seonghyeon and Ichae.”
“Hyung, Hyung! Hoyun-hyung, you’re in the same team as me!”
“…”
“Why are you smiling like that?!”
Personally, I always wished our youngest member would remain clueless like this forever.
Patting his head dismissively, Jeong Dajun stopped glancing around and kept his mouth shut.
“…So, what should we do?”
“Can we do a mukbang content? We’ve prepared a list of restaurants we want to try!”
“Ah, you even thought of that?”
The staff immediately smiled and handed over an envelope.
“Today, personal card use is prohibited! Enjoy with the amount we provide.”
“…?”
This didn’t seem like something Lee Jihyeon would do.
Though it was mostly because of me, Daepaseong’s planning team was always grinding their teeth at The Dawn, constantly dumping work and forcing overtime on us just to get back at us.
With such a bitter planning team, Jeong Dajun seemed suspicious of the surprisingly mild content.
“…Are we really just supposed to enjoy ourselves?”
“Yes, of course!”
The staff beamed.
“Have a happy journey~. Now, go on!”
Excluding one VJ and one staff to report the situation for each team, the staff quickly dispersed.
We decided to open the envelope before splitting into teams.
“How much is in there?”
“…10,000 won.”
Three and two people with just 10,000 won…?[1]
“It’s ‘The Return of 10,000 Won of Happiness!'”[2]
Jeong Dajun’s jaw dropped at the ludicrous plan from the planning team, and he gave me a suspecting look, probably thinking I was the culprit. I quickly avoided his gaze.
Was this my fault?
“…For the three of us? Here?”
“In the countryside? Here?”
The teams of three looked dismayed, especially Kang Ichae, who had been chanting “My tail!” all day, insisting on eel for dinner, now seemed to barely hold back curses.
“Why? It’s not like you’re spending 10,000 won for a whole week.”
“Can’t we just use our own money?”
“…What about the main rapper’s energy recovery?”
Everyone’s spirits were down 200% after finishing the event on an empty stomach.
Meanwhile, Jeong Dajun, surprisingly sharp in such situations, quickly did the math (why can’t he be this smart all the time?) and chuckled.
“Hoyun-hyung, since we’re two, we can each have 5,000 won!”
“Oh, really? We’re three, so give us 5,000 won more!”
“No, you can’t.”
The staff’s firm response left the three looking gloomy.
Don’t worry.
It’s Lee Jihyeon from the planning team, after all.
Would she really make us film ‘The Return of 10,000 Won of Happiness’ with The Dawn, a group with me in it? Not just for us, but for idols, and especially for a group with me, the foodie?
Lee Jihyeon, despite being relatively new, had planned the “Hear-Thumping Salad Challenge” and the “Post-Apocalypse Trilogy.”
It seemed unlikely she’d pull out an old, boring program concept and make her oppas suffer, possibly angering the fans.
She’d surely add a mission.
I shrugged my shoulders and called Jeong Dajun.
“Let’s go, maknae!”
“Let’s go, baby!!”
“Am I a baby?”
“I’ll leave that position to you, Hyung.”
Nineteen-year-old Jeong Dajun, sassy as ever, followed me. As we exchanged banter like “Were you even born then?”, “I saw it in the maternity ward,” the other three stood there with despairing faces.
Not my problem.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah! I ate lots of snacks just now, so I’m fine!”
So spirited, such a good sight.
I patted his head affectionately, but then…
“…Hyung.”
“What.”
“I’m hungry…”
Jeong Dajun crumbled in just 3 minutes and 17 seconds.
“Just one hotteok, please…!!”
As he succumbed to the line of flashy cafes and restaurants targeting tourists, I smacked his back with a slap.
“You should eat a proper meal instead.”
Watching this, the planning team member who was assigned to us bought a hotteok, then suddenly became self-conscious and backed away. Dajun, who had been clinging to me, immediately switched targets and pounced on him.
“Jeong Dajun clinging attack activated!! Just once…! Just one bite of that…!”
“…Eh, haha. Sorry, Dajun. That’s not in the plan~.”
…Maybe the planning team really wanted to torment us like this?
I began to find this theory increasingly convincing.
As Dajun faked sobbing next to me, I crossed my arms and sneered.
“Let’s go, maknae.”
“…I’m seriously pissed off.”
Finally accepting he couldn’t eat, Dajun’s shoulders slumped.
“I’m hungry, hyung…”
“Didn’t I tell you to eat a meal?”
“I’d prefer hotteok.”
“You—just don’t eat it.”
“How can you be so cold to the maknae?”
As I was about to drag Dajun away, the planning team member, still with hotteok syrup on his lips, smirked.
“Let’s start the mission here. Dajun, have you heard of the Prisoner’s Dilemma?”
The planning team member explained excitedly, and Dajun, although seemingly clueless, nodded along.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma.
It’s a scenario where two suspected accomplices of a crime were arrested. If one confessed while the other denied or remained silent, the confessor was released while the denier or silent one got the maximum sentence.
If both denied or confessed, they received the same sentence, albeit lighter than if one betrayed the other. In essence, it’s a non-zero-sum game involving two players, where cooperation benefited both, but thinking selfishly lead to bad outcomes for everyone as rounds progressed.
Why’s this getting so dramatic?
While I was feeling skeptical, the planning team member gave a thumbs up.
“Let’s play the TMI game. If both teams keep each other’s secrets for just 5 minutes, we’ll add 50,000 won.”
“…!”
“Not bad.”
Though I spoke nonchalantly, the next condition was even more sensational.
“However, if one exposes the other’s secret, we’ll add 100,000 won.”
“Even better?”
I muttered under my breath, and Dajun, who valued team friendship, glared at me.
No… I just meant it was okay.
“What if both exposed at the same time?”
“Then it’s a 50% forfeiture of your entire assets.”
“…And if only the other side exposes?”
“Everything except 1,000 won will be forfeited.”
It was obvious how this would play out.
Among us, only Dajun was seriously concerned. The camera crew quickly focused on our expressions.
“Hyung, honestly… I think it’s best if we both just stay quiet!”
“Why?”
“Honestly, I’m a bit uneasy about Ichae-hyung. But if we both stay quiet, we can each get 50,000 won! Then we can have a nice dinner!”
Dajun, perhaps motivated by the chance to eat the food he missed, spoke fluently.
“The best choice for us is to remain silent and get 50,000 won each! I trust you guys!!”
“Hey, you really studied hard.”
“Of course! Hyung, didn’t I tell you not to disturb me?”
Yeah, Dajun had been a bit sensitive lately due to studying. Meanwhile, the planning team member chuckled as if amused by our decision.
“Well, shall we speed it up a bit? How about 1 minute?”
“Yes! Our trust won’t change!”
So be it.
Of course, I knew that trust, unless documented, was no different from old emotional baggage. I just waited.
And sure enough.
“Time.”
After a minute, Dajun, with a proud face as if to declare “Our friendship is forever,” stretched his arms up high. The staff member then extended his hand.
“Please pay up.”
[1] A little bit less than $8.
[2] Apparently this was a Korean variety show from 2003, “Happiness In ￦10,000.”
