Chapter 135: Not a Goodbye

“Good work today~”

“Good work!”

After finishing today’s filming portion, I quickly got into the car.

“Hyung! Drop me off at the station right away!”

“You must be tired from pulling all-nighters yesterday and today. I’ll take you home.”

“No! I’m fine!”

I hurriedly refused Hayoon’s offer to give me a ride.

“You pulled all-nighters too~ I can just take the train and go comfortably.”

“No. It’s fine…….!”

“I’m more fine! Hurry and go rest. Hahat.”

I kept Aina’s situation a secret from Hayoon too. 

I trusted him, but explaining it would involve her personal matters, so I left it as my secret alone.

“Ah.”

“Hyunjae, by any chance…… is something going on at home?”

“Huh, what?”

I was startled by Hayoon’s words. Did it show?

“Yeah! Lately, you head straight home right after filming ends—it’s suspicious.”

Yerin, sitting in the back, said the same thing.

“Me? Wh-what are you talking about? I always go home after filming ends. Hahaha…….”

Spending every day together, even small changes stand out right away.

“What’s with that awkward laugh? And even after filming, you used to hang out at the set or go to the company sometimes.”

“That was before. But lately, I’ve been strangely tired…….”

I pretended to be tired, blinking slowly and clutching my head with my thumb and index finger.

“What are you talking about? You were flying around the set just now.”

“I’m the type with a clear on-off switch. Hahahat.”

“You’re not having any issues, right?”

Hayoon’s question was full of concern, and it really pricked my conscience.

“No issues at all. You don’t have to worry one bit.”

“Huh? What’s with that face?”

“Wh-what face?”

I’m bad at lying, so I thought I’d been caught and froze for a moment.

“Puhaha! Just kidding. Kidding. Why so tense~ Like someone with a guilty conscience.”

“Ahaha! Guilty? Not me.”

I somehow brushed it off with laughter.

“But next week is your last day as music show MC, and what about without Aina?”

“It’s fine. I can handle it alone.”

“But it’s the last one…… And Aina chooses now of all times to halt activities.”

A week had passed since Aina announced a one-week activity halt, and her agency extended it by another week.

“If she’s not feeling well, it happens. No big deal.”

“It’s just a shame. A lot of people liked your sibling chemistry with Aina.”

“Me and Aina?”

Do I have a mature side? 

I always hear I’m young, but hearing I seem like an oppa made my shoulders puff up a bit.

“I do take good care of her…….”

“Yeah, the sharp little sister and the carefree, sunny oppa concept.”

“Carefree?”

“You don’t know this meme?”

Yerin rummaged through her smartphone and showed me a meme.

“This is…… why?”

It was a shot of me smiling brightly and happily at the falling confetti during the first-place announcement, and Aina staring straight ahead with intense, venomous eyes, unmoving, all in one frame.

‘So that’s how she looked.’

It was just a captured moment, but it showed she was giving her all to endure each day.

“Funny, right? The extremes make the chemistry even better.”

“I’m the chemistry fairy, after all.”

“Ha, can’t even deny it—annoying. But about Aina…… I heard rumors it’s not because she’s sick that she halted activities.”

“Huh?”

I turned my body at Yerin’s words.

‘Where did that rumor come from?’

With her staying at Chaechae’s place, no one should know the details, so I was curious about the rumor’s source.

“No, a friend of mine works with A.Enjel. They said she’s not at the dorm.”

“What?”

How did they know she’s not at the dorm? People’s info-gathering skills were insane.

“No way.”

“It’s known her parents are abroad, so nowhere to go, but not at the dorm? Weird.”

“She could be at a friend’s house…….”

“A friend from her trainee days in Korea? They basically live locked up—that doesn’t make sense.”

So she really had no one.

“That’s not all. The company called everyone even remotely close to Aina?”

If they’re showing it this much, they must be desperate too.

“Ahaha, really?”

“Anyway, it’s just rumors now, but my gut says something’s gonna blow up soon.”

Yerin spoke like she’d possessed Sherlock Holmes, pretending to adjust nonexistent glasses. And her hunch was spot on.

-Is the rumor about Aina going MIA true?

ㄴNo one here knows

-Sightings in LA—maybe visiting parents?

-Huh? LA what? Pics of her dating a boyfriend in Tokyo surfaced.

ㄴThat doesn’t look like Aina

ㄴㄴHair style and bag are dead giveaways hahaha Shield a bit less

-Is this Roa from A.Enjel shading Aina on her Bubble?

ㄴObviously talking to a sasaeng—why shade Aina?

ㄴㄴHahaha You really think that?

Everyone accepted the one-week halt, but as it extended, all sorts of rumors spread.

“They wrote a whole novel?”

Boyfriend overseas escape rumor, hospital admission rumor, member discord rumor, kidnapping rumor—absurd stuff popped up.

***

“Hyunjae~”

“Hello!”

After finishing work, I headed to Chaechae’s house.

“Did you bring what I asked for?”

“I grabbed one from our house, but…….”

I opened the shopping bag and showed the hair dryer inside.

“Wow~ What a relief! One isn’t enough, and one suddenly broke, so I was worried.”

“You need two hair dryers?”

I’d been worried since leaving Aina there, so I visited whenever I had time.

“You’ll see later. It’ll be like snow falling.”

“Woof! Woof!”

“We were in the middle of bathing Chaechae.”

That explained the cries for help echoing outside.

“Um, where’s Ai…… I mean, Jina?”

“Jina…….”

“Eek!”

No sooner said than a high-pitched scream rang out, and I rushed over.

“Hahaha! Hey! You can’t just shake all over me like that!”

Aina was laughing, a complete 180 from when she first came to me.

“Woof! Woof!”

‘I hate water!’

Chaechae, hating the bath, shook water onto Aina, but even soaked, she smiled brightly.

“Jina, block her so she can’t get out—if she escapes, I’ll get nagged by unnie and have to deep clean.”

“Okay.”

“Who’s nagging?”

“Huh? H-honey, when did you…… huh?”

In just a week, Chaechae’s family and Aina had grown close like old friends.

“Oh! Hyunjae! Perfect timing. Hahat.”

He greeted me warmly, seeing me at the bathroom door.

“One hair dryer broke, so on your way, I asked to borrow one.”

“My honey’s so smart. How to dry this big guy with one?”

“You’re here?”

“Yeah.”

She changed day by day, but now her expression, complexion, vibe—everything was so different, it was unbelievable.

‘This must be how she really is.’

It was bittersweet that such a bright kid had been shaped by circumstances.

“Stay still~ You’re not fully rinsed yet.”

“Whine— whine—”

When resistance failed, Chaechae switched to cuteness, rubbing against Aina’s clothes, and she busily washed him, wet clothes or not.

“Let’s leave them to it and have some tea?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

I gladly accepted the wife’s suggestion. Leaving them to their bath battle with sleeves and pants rolled up, we sat facing each other at the kitchen table.

“I made warm tea.”

“I’ll enjoy it.”

As soon as I took a sip of the tea in front of me, she got straight to the point.

“Hyunjae, isn’t it time to send her back slowly?”

“You saw?”

She seemed aware of the absurd rumors circulating.

“Of course. I’ve been watching. Nip it in the bud while it’s small to avoid backlash. She held out this long for a reason—we have to protect that.”

“Will she…… be okay if we send her?”

I worried about pushing her back into the fire.

“She’ll be fine.”

She looked me in the eyes, nodded, and said confidently.

“Take it from experience—you can trust me.”

“Having someone who looks only at you, relies on you, believes in you. That’s all you need.”

That was our dogs’ trait. Looking only at their owners. Foolish in a way, but for some, it’s life’s driving force.

“Then I’ll tell her it’s time to go.”

“I already did. Jina knows. So this is her last bath for him.”

“Ah…….”

They’d prepared without me knowing.

“I even scripted it all, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

***

“A script?”

I wondered what script she meant, but trusting her, I didn’t ask more.

“Then I’ll say goodbye later.”

“It won’t be goodbye?”

“Huh?”

“It won’t be the last. So eat dinner comfortably, hang out, then go.”

And exactly the next day, Aina returned to her place.

-?? Just uploaded vlog on Chae-woon TV—this is Aina, right?

ㄴWhere?

ㄴㄴ2:46 Long straight hair woman, voice sounds like Aina too?

ㄴ ㄴDead ringer for my babyㅠㅠ Said sick but was at relative’s house.

-Were they friends with Chae-woon TV? Didn’t know

ㄴDistant connection, parents asked to look after her

Not 1.2 million subscribers for nothing.

They exposed Aina mosaic-style in passing, and people found her in the video like a needle in a haystack.

-Where’d all the overseas trip with bf talkers go? Seriously pathetic

-Agency only gave a week, so couldn’t go to parents—went there instead.

-Why kidnapping rumor? Lol

ㄴKids’ imagination lol 

ㄴㄴOld school internet novel vibes?

-Saved PDFs of all the absurd discord rumor writers

Naturally exposed, no one knew it was on purpose, and as her whereabouts during the halt came out, rumors died down naturally.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hello.”

Aina was still under agency watch, but unlike before, her face had life.

“I…… adopted a dog.”

During music show recording, Aina whispered like ventriloquism.

“A dog?”

“An abandoned one—it kept haunting me.”

“I’ll make some dog treats for you next time.”

“Thanks. And I moved out to my own place. I’ll invite unnie and oppa over sometime.”

Seeing her not giving up her dream, moving forward—it looked good, and I felt proud to have helped.

“Though it was a short time, I’m truly grateful to have met you all, and please give lots of love to Jung Hyunjae going forward~”

And I ended my three-month music show MC gig, and at the same time, heard unexpected news.

[Your First Love is Coming.]

[In Search of That Heart-Pounding First Love.]

[‘Love Some’ Premieres April 8th] 

The premiere date for my first lead role, ‘Love Some,’ was set.