‘The World’s Cutest Jae-hee Dream’—a card with such unnecessary words was read aloud after removing the embellishments, and then the gift was taken out.
“I chose this gift thinking of our leader who’s the most serious about taking care of his health.”
“Right, thank you.”
Multivitamins, Omega-3, a snapback, a piercing, and…
“What’s this?”
“It’s a germanium anion health bracelet.”
Seo Ye-hyun burst into laughter, clapping a hand over his mouth and turning away, though it wasn’t clear what exactly he found so funny.
“I added it to wish you good health and a long life.”
“Hey, this was debunked on the news. They said it’s pseudo-science.”
“Well, then it’s no longer for health but can be repurposed as a fashion accessory.”
What a load of nonsense. The urge to say how incredibly tacky it looked rose to the tip of my tongue, but I held it back, remembering the cameras.
And to top it off, those multivitamins and Omega-3 pills were identical to the large supply I had bought online a few months ago after coughing up blood, courtesy of this wretched system. The only difference was that these were smaller in quantity.
As for Ryu Jae-hee, I’m sorry to say, but the snapback and piercing were far from my taste.
I might have been better off choosing a gift for myself. I could have added the 50,000 won subsidy and bought a new headset.
Kim Do-bin, reaching out to push aside the piercing and snapback, chuckled as he pointed at the vitamins and the germanium bracelet.
“If you look at just these, it could be mistaken for a Mother’s Day gift.”
A guy who gave a mood lamp to someone who can’t sleep with light has no room to talk.
Once all the gifts had been revealed, I carefully closed the gift box and hugged it to my chest as we continued with small talk.
“But it’s funny and weird—how did everyone manage to prepare exactly two gifts each as if it were planned?”
“I didn’t prepare just two; I got five.”
Right, even though I ended up with zero good ones.
“Huh, didn’t I just give a wallet?”
“Oh, you don’t count the 100,000 won inside as a gift? Ye-hyun will be disappointed.”
“Ye-hyun, don’t misunderstand him. He’s saying that cash and the wallet are inseparable.”
After some light conversation and a few more scenes, the filming finally wrapped up.
Checking the final video, I was fairly satisfied. It had a distinct Christmas feel, and the members in the video seemed quite cheerful.
Once the final check was over, I finally threw off the animal onesie that provided zero ventilation.
Even in the middle of winter, my black T-shirt was soaked in sweat. As I fanned it, I noticed Ryu Jae-hee still sitting in his flying squirrel onesie, staring blankly ahead. I walked over to him.
“Maknae, what are you doing? Change out of those cl—… Are you crying?”
Hearing the occasional sniffle, I asked cautiously, and Ryu Jae-hee looked up at me with reddened eyes, trying to hold back his tears.
“Why? Did someone say something?”
“No, it’s just… My hyungs all chipped in more money to give cool and nice gifts, but suddenly I felt embarrassed and sorry about mine…”
As tears finally streamed down his cheeks, I sighed deeply and sat beside him, patting his back.
“Hey, do you think it’s the same for an adult and a minor? Look at Do-bin’s face, that guy doesn’t care at all. Learn to live like him, shamelessly. If you managed to stay within the 50,000 won limit without shortchanging anyone, then you did well.”
As I clicked my tongue and pointed at Kim Do-bin, the familiar notification window appeared, signaling that I had lost points.
[Detected a statement that encourages discord among members.]
[Initial Intention -1]
Why do I always lose points when I try to comfort someone? Is this the system’s way of telling me not to comfort people?
The pain caused by the loss of the initial intention seemed to make me unknowingly press harder on Ryu Jae-hee’s back.
His hiccups grew louder as he flinched under my hand.
Now I had become the jerk who made a crying kid cry even more by hitting him on the back. Feeling awkward, I turned my head and locked eyes with Kim Do-bin, whose nose and eyes were also red.
The moment our eyes met, Kim Do-bin instinctively apologized.
“Sorry for skimming off the support money, sniff.”
“Are you serious? Why are you crying too?”
“I was barely holding it in, but then you insulted me…! But really, I only skimmed 4,400 won, sniff.”
Kim Do-bin sniffled as he began to sob. So this guy was the reason my initial intention dropped.
How dare he cry after skimming money and making me lose points too?
As Seo Ye-hyun consoled Ryu Jae-hee and Gyeon Ha-jun comforted Kim Do-bin, I massaged my temples, staring at this mess with bleary eyes. That familiar stinging sensation returned, and an all-too-familiar notification window popped up.
[Detected dead-fish eyes.]
[Initial Intention -1]
Please, for the love of all things, update the system. How many times do I have to ask before they finally fix the issue of my initial intention dropping whenever I have dead-fish eyes during a schedule? Oh come on! Don’t penalize me for using curse words now!
* * *
The day before we were scheduled to fly out for the WAMA AWARDS in Hong Kong.
Ryu Jae-hee, holding a camcorder, suggested,
“Why don’t we film a content piece where we pick each other’s airport fashion?”
“Instead of picking for each other, how about the four of us team up to style one member, and we rotate through all five of us? How’s that?”
Everyone readily nodded in agreement with Seo Ye-hyun’s idea.
Since the rooms for the youngest line were too small, all our clothes, except for underwear and pajamas, were kept in the wardrobe in our room.
With no space for a proper wardrobe, I scanned the clothes hanging on the makeshift rack we had bought from Daiso.
All our summer clothes had been sent back home as soon as summer ended.
I sorely missed the walk-in closet I had before my regression.
“This is insane. Why does this guy only have hoodies?”
“Because I love hoodies, obviously.”
I searched through Kim Do-bin’s area of the rack, which was filled with hoodies in every color, and found a plain black hoodie that seemed tame and simple.
“Wear this with a long padded jacket.”
“Isn’t that a bit too simple? It looks more like local neighborhood fashion than airport fashion.”
“Ever heard of ‘classic is best’? And it’s much better than that flashy hoodie you’re holding. So give it up and let go, quickly.”
Reluctantly, Kim Do-bin released his grip on the flashy hoodie, albeit with a lingering expression.
“Are you trying to freeze this guy to death? A shirt and a short coat in this freezing weather? What were you thinking?”
Next up was Seo Ye-hyun, who sighed deeply as he looked at the outfit Ryu Jae-hee had picked for him.
Ryu Jae-hee raised his index finger and waved it, adopting a solemn tone as he said,
“Hyung, the cold is temporary, but photos are forever.”
“Please, just add a scarf or something. I really don’t want to catch a cold overseas.”
Seo Ye-hyun finally managed to get a scarf added to his early winter outfit.
“Jun, you should wear a long coat… it’s going to be cold tomorrow, so wear a knit sweater underneath.”
Since Gyeon Ha-jun gets cold easily, I picked something warm that also considered fashion, but then Seo Ye-hyun, holding a shirt, commented,
“Can I swap the shirt for a knit sweater too?”
“But that would mean you two have matching outfits. Rejected.”
Seo Ye-hyun opened his mouth to argue, but with the camera rolling, he couldn’t say much and reluctantly backed down.
“You can wear a shearling jacket with a turtleneck.”
At least they picked a decent outfit for me without any bias, knowing the camera was on.
“Black jeans would go perfectly with this. By the way, Hyung, would you be open to sharing your clothes with me?”
“This feels like the tenth time I’m answering this, but my clothes wouldn’t suit you. Isn’t it time to give up?”
I messed up Ryu Jae-hee’s hair as I searched the rack for clothes and picked an outfit.
“It’s cold, so wear a warm sweatshirt with a padded jacket.”
“I’m not feeling the orange; could you pick a different color?”
“Then how about mint?”
I ruffled his hair again as I handed him a mint sweatshirt.
We managed to secure plenty of footage for our reality show while also picking out our outfits for the next day. I collapsed onto the mattress, and soon enough, the familiar notification sound rang in my ears.
By now, I was accustomed to the blue light that appeared before my eyes.
[Surprise QUEST★]
[▶Let’s Celebrate the Members’ Birthdays!
-Description: Relationships are just as important as music when it comes to points! How about celebrating the members’ birthdays to highlight the strong bonds within the group?
-Reward: Initial Intention +5, Random Ticket
-Deadline: Until Retirement
-Condition: Post on SNS (including a two-shot photo) or on the OA app LIVE (group broadcast also accepted) [Choose one]
※There are penalties if you don’t celebrate the birthdays!]
I’m going to lose my mind. I’m not a kindergarten teacher; do I really have to celebrate every birthday of these grown men?
But since there’s a penalty involved, I have no choice but to recall the members’ birthdays.
First, Seo Ye-hyun’s birthday… I have no idea because I don’t care.
Gyeon Ha-jun’s birthday is January 3rd.
My birthday is August 1st.
Kim Do-bin’s birthday… also don’t care enough to know.
Ryu Jae-hee’s birthday… I forgot.
Great, I know the birthdays of two out of five members. Though one of them is mine.
Even before the time reset, I never really cared about the members’ birthdays.
On Gyeon Ha-jun’s birthday, I posted a hand picture on Instagram with the hashtag #happybirthday, with both of us making a V-sign.
For the other members, I only realized it was their birthday when the birthday support arrived.
Ryu Jae-hee always made sure to take a selfie with me on my birthday, but he only posted it on the group’s official SNS account, which I never checked.
I only used Instagram, not the group’s official SNS.
Did we really never celebrate each other’s birthdays while living together in the same dorm?
Memories buried deep inside slowly started to resurface, fragments of memories that had been almost completely forgotten.
Yes, there was a time when we celebrated each other’s birthdays.
Back when our relationships hadn’t fallen apart yet, maybe in the very early days.
A hastily bought chocolate cake from a franchise bakery, 10 minutes from the dorm by foot.
Seo Ye-hyun, who complained about the calories but still ate a bite because it was his birthday.
Gyeon Ha-jun made seaweed soup on my birthday. Chicken breast instead of beef in the seaweed soup.
The morning after I got drunk with friends and came back late at night on my birthday, I found seaweed soup and a cream cake on the table along with a grumble about waiting too long for me to come home. A birthday celebration a day late.
Receiving curses when I mentioned that I preferred cheesecake over cream cake.
‘…Is it okay to romanticize this as a good memory?’
If I’m going to celebrate birthdays, I first need to know the members’ birthdays.
I tapped Seo Ye-hyun, who was lying on the mattress watching a rearranged version of our dance video.
“When’s your birthday?”
“December 17th.”
Oh, December means this month. And the 17th means…
“Isn’t that today…?”
“Yeah, it is.”
The current time is 10:33 PM.
If I don’t post a birthday message for Seo Ye-hyun on SNS with a two-shot photo within the next hour and 27 minutes, I’ll face a penalty.
***
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