Chapter 145:


    What I handed to Kyunghwa was a non-alcoholic drink with 0.0% alcohol. I had picked it up after seeing a lot of ads for ittely.


    He was the type who would get drunk and act silly even after drinking c, so I decided that regr beer was out of the question for him.


    “Drink up. It’ll cool you down a bit.”


    Maybe it was because winter wasing, but the can in his hand felt colder than an ice rink. Kyunghwa slowly opened his mouth.


    “Why does life seem so much harder for me than for others?”


    Thud, he slumped on the bench with a sigh, and his long breath sank to the ground.


    “Is there anything else bothering you besides the unit practice?”


    I asked him cautiously, and he lowered his head and pursed his lips, looking down at the night view in silence.


    “I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.”What’s with these kids these days? They have so many things they don’t want to talk about. I clicked my tongue lightly and answered.


    “How are we supposed to know if you don’t tell us? We need to at least know what’s going on to help you find a solution.”


    I remembered saying this a week ago. Guys, please tell me if you have any problems. There’s no point in suffering alone with your pride.


    “Nobody can find it. How can you help me if I can’t solve it myself?”


    I could tell by the conviction in Kyunghwa’s voice that something was wrong.


    Was it something to do with his family? I hesitated for a moment and then opened my mouth again.


    “If it’s a financial problem, I can help you…”


    But as soon as I said that, he snapped at me with a twisted expression.


    “Do you think I’m a beggar? Do you expect me to say thank you and take it?”


    What’s with the sudden outburst? I was reminded of the phone call I had overheard by ident. I meant to say that I would help him if he needed money urgently, like for hospital bills or something.


    But instead offorting him, I seemed to have made things worse.


    “Why are you saying that? I’m just saying that I have some spare money, so you can use it if you need it.”


    I replied with a slightly awkward expression, and he snorted softly and gulped down the contents of the can.


    “You’re really… Never mind.”


    A tense silence followed, and I had nothing to say. I emptied the can in my hand and put it on the bench. The 500mL can was light and crisp, unlike my heavy and stuffy heart.


    “Well… I know you can’t help it if I look like a naive and carefree lord to you. But you’re a great guy who works hard. No matter what the reason is, I still want to help you if you’re struggling.”


    If he thought his family situation was his weakness… He might feel deceived by Cheon Ise, who seemed to have been born with amazing luck.


    Of course, Cheon Ise had his own problems too, but they would look like trivialints to others.


    I didn’t want to make a scene by digging into Kyunghwa’s problems and making us both blush, so I decided to back off quietly.


    “Let me know if you need any help.”


    Kyunghwa, who had blurted out something sharp, seemed to regret it and mumbled a reply.


    “…What does that make me?”


    I shrugged it off.


    “What does it make you? You’re the big brother who held the center while the ipetent leader was whining.”


    “Ugh, you’re annoying. You always try to act cool by yourself.”


    Kyunghwa threw a punch in the air, as if he was embarrassed. I could easily dodge it, so I moved my body as if I was joking.


    “Huh…?”


    But contrary to my expectation that I had dodged it, a hardened fist hit me right in the sr plexus.


    “What? Wha…???”


    Boom-.


    It was a punch thatnded squarely, but neither Hardened nor I had any strength in our bodies.


    So even though the fist and my stomach collided head-on, there was no sound of impact. It was like he had lightly tapped my belly with his fist.


    “Hey, are you joking…? Ugh…?”


    Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit me and my legs gave way. What’s going on? Did I eat something bad? Did the drink I had earlier have some poison in it?


    As I tried to get up by leaning on the floor, I felt a dizzying sensation as if my head was spinning. I couldn’t control my body.


    “Hey, don’t fall asleep… I, something… I can’t feel anything….”


    To make matters worse, Hardened was lying quietly on the floor as if he had fallen asleep.


    Do you get drunk on 0.0%? I couldn’t believe it. My expression turned into a disaster as I realized I was in no better shape.


    ‘Come to think of it, I haven’t had a proper drink since I turned a thousand.’


    Maybe it was because I had gulped down a can on an empty stomach that made it worse.


    ‘This is screwed, really.’


    Even if I copsed and fell asleep like this, well… I wouldn’t be found as a cold corpse tomorrow morning, but I had to brace myself for the embarrassment.


    It would be better to be teased by our kids than to be caught by the securitypany and disgraced.


    I tried to ignore the spinning floor and looked for the phone I had put in my pocket.


    ‘Someone please answer, please.’


    I was slowly closing my eyes and it was hard to stay awake. Please. I hoped that one of the three guys was not on silent mode. I pressed the call button with a desperate wish.


    Did my earnest wish reach the sky? When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling of a cozy room. No matter how weak the alcohol was, I couldn’t have just drank it and….


    I staggered to get up, feeling incredulous, and my stomach churned.


    “Phew, you’re awake. Are you okay, bro?”


    Seon-woo, who was watching TV on the living room sofa, ran over to me with a startled look.


    “Uh….”


    I answered feebly, holding my throbbing temple. Seon-woo leaned in to check if I was really okay.


    “Do you want me to tell the manager that you can’t practice today if you’re not feeling well?”


    Seon-woo seemed to be trying to be considerate, but that was out of the question. I quickly shook my head.


    “No, I’m fine. How’s Hardened?”


    I asked, remembering Hardened who was writhing on the floor with me yesterday. Seon-woo cheerfully answered.


    “He left early today. He said he had some personal practice to do. He told me to thank you for waking him up. Seong-won also left early today. He said he was meeting Hwijin.”


    What did I do to deserve his thanks? I vaguely remembered that we both got stupidly drunk and did something stupid.


    “I don’t know what happened between you and Hardened, but. Do you know how surprised I was when Seong-won suddenly ran out yesterday? Everyone was so worried.”


    Tsk. I must have called him first because I randomly picked one of the members’ numbers. I guess I should thank himter.


    I checked the time and felt relieved that there was still plenty of time until practice. I flopped down on the bed.


    Meanwhile, Yi-jun, who seemed to have finished his morning exercise and showered, walked out of the bathroom with water dripping from his hair.


    “Oh, you’re awake, hyung?”


    I answered weakly, waving my hand.


    “Yeah. I’ll rest a bit and then go practice.”


    “Wow, yesterday was a sight I’ll never see again. It’s a shame you don’t know.”


    “What?”


    As I startled and got up, Yi-junughed mischievously.


    “I filmed it all~. It was the first time I saw you drunk in the five years I’ve known you. How can I just let go of this precious thing…”


    I jumped up and ran towards Yi-jun.


    “Give it to me. If you don’t want to starve for dinner.”


    “Wow, you’re mean!”


    After a long struggle with Yi-jun, the video I saw was terrible.


    “Do you know how your bean sprouts grow? Bean sprouts usually grow only 2cm a day. But I boiled bean sprout soup in the morning and came back in the evening, and the bean sprouts in the fridge grew 10cm. But those bean sprouts are already dead. Of course. Bean sprouts die when boiled. But if you keep stirring them with chopsticks, they grow. They’re not supposed to grow more than 2cm. Do you know how your bean sprouts grow?”


    “If you mention that damn bean sprout one more time, I’ll shut your mouth with a pillow.”


    “No, just listen once… Did you know that your bean sprouts don’t grow more than 2cm? I boiled bean sprout soup… Eugh…”


    “…”


    “I really thought you had some grudge against bean sprouts, hyung.”


    “No, it’s not like that.”


    It was a relief that I only made a fool of myself in front of the members, not outsiders. I washed my face with cold water and walked into the bathroom.


    “Be careful. I nted bean sprouts in the sink. They’re only 2cm long yet.”


    Yi-jun whispered teasingly and ran away where my arm couldn’t reach.


    I’m so embarrassed.


    I went into the bathroom and washed my face with cold water. Phew… Now it was time to focus and think about how to practice today.


    Of course, there was a limit to patience, and I had no reason to carry the burden of group project trolls who tried to pass on all the roles to one person who worked hard without any motivation or effort.


    ‘I have to get on the stage somehow and make my backup dancers do well.’


    I tried to erase the embarrassment ofst night’s disgrace with anger as I sshed cold water on my face.


    ‘Let’s see how it goes today.’


    As I clenched my teeth and went out to the practice room, as expected, only one member of Vesper B showed up about five minuteste.


    I couldn’t help but ask.


    “Is your schedule today really unavoidable and you can’teter for a while?”


    If it was a group variety show or something like an advertisement, an event, I could understand it.


    “Ah~. No, it’s not like that. I have to go to a friend’s store opening today.”


    At that moment, the string of patience that I was holding on to snapped.


    I could understand radio guest schedules, personal ad shootings, or other variety appearances.


    What? A friend’s opening? Was that what he was saying now? I doubted my ears.


    “Can’t you just go to the opening and congratte him and join us?”


    “Ah, well… That’s… If I go and help him with this and that, I might be tired and have trouble tomorrow, you know? Wouldn’t it be better to just send me the video and practice at home and join you tomorrow? Honestly, isn’t that right?”


    What the hell is this? Suddenly, the system popped up in front of me after a long time.


    [Sub-quest – ‘An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth’. Do you want to start?]


    [Achievement Goal: Win the Unit Battle]


    [Fate> Jo Eun-sung, Park Su-heon, Kwak Jae-woo, Eom Ki-woong to be acquired]


    [Special Item> ‘An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth’ to be acquired]


    [Yes/No]


    I don’t know what this is, but it’s giving me a chance to pay them back for what they did. I didn’t need to think twice and chose ‘Yes’.