Chapter 155: I'm Sleeping (2)
Ding—
The Yui App alarm rang out at quite a late hour.
University Dusty, who had been lying on the sofa without much thought, picked up their phone with wide eyes.
It was the first time our boys had turned on a Yui App live past 10 p.m., so I hurriedly opened the app to check.
[Lunchbox Sneak-Packing with Stardust]
"What is this?"
University Dusty tilted their head in confusion before finally realizing the meaning behind the title.
There were two nineteen-year-old members in the team.
They had forgotten that fact.
"Ah… Tomorrow’s the CSAT."
It had already come around again.
For University Dusty, who was now taking extra semesters, the CSAT had become a distant memory.
Yet it felt like just yesterday they’d trembled while walking through the school gates with a lunchbox packed by their mom.
Seeing this brought all those memories flooding back.
As soon as I joined, the number at the top quickly increased.
Even though it was late, the heart count was rising faster than last time.
-Lunchbox? CSAT lunchbox?
-Did they sneak on while the kids were asleep?
-where is seohan???
-Looks like the dorm background
As soon as the screen lit up, Kang Siwoo’s face appeared front and center.
He clearly wasn’t wearing any makeup, but his features still stood out confidently.
Kang Siwoo brought his index finger close to his lips and lowered his voice.
"The reason we turned on the stream today is… we’re going to try making lunchboxes for our third-year high schoolers."
"A full-on lunchbox live broadcast!"
Cha Seongbin added cheerfully with a big smile.
Kang Siwoo whispered in a near-ASMR tone.
"Sehyun and Haimi are asleep right now. Because of the CSAT tomorrow."
"We really… seriously turned this on secretly."
"Yes, we’re going to make the lunchboxes ourselves."
-Who?
-You guys?
Dusties’ confused comments poured in.
University Dusty also scratched their head with a reluctant expression.
'Will our same-age liners be okay?'
And no wonder, since there were a few here who had tanked every cooking content attempt they ever did.
Like the infamous carrot songpyeon pioneer, Teacher Seo Ian.
"Ian, sing us something."
"Need a cheer song? Then I shall sing the first verse of Mayday."
Seo Ian lifted a spoon like a mic and tried to show off the power of a main vocal, but…
The leader cut him off.
"Hey, the kids are sleeping. Are you advertising that we’re sneak-making lunchboxes?"
-LOL looks like Seo Ian was about to belt it out just now
-I love Seo Ian’s vocal pride so much—idols who are pros at their main job are the best
-He was ready to go all in live but the kids are asleep lolol
-Why was Seo Ian trying to sing for real 😭 he’s such a soft and pure Sundubu
Even Cha Seongbin, who had been egging on the main vocal, wasn’t all that reliable.
"Seongbin-hyung, you’re good at composing though."
"God doesn’t give two talents."
"Hmm… what should I do?"
"Just stay…"
"Stay still!"
Kang Siwoo and Ha Junseo whispered in unison.
They clearly wanted to urgently stop him but kept their voices low for the sake of the two sleeping inside the room.
That scene was just like…
'A shout in the silence?'
It sort of felt like that.
University Dusty was now sure that among them, the only reliable ones were Kang Siwoo and Ha Junseo.
Kang Siwoo brought out the marinated meat from the kitchen and held it up to the camera.
"We prepared soybean paste soup and bulgogi stir-fry."
"This is meat we marinated in advance."
"It’s time to get up~."
Meanwhile, comments were piling up asking about someone who wasn’t on screen.
Maknae Do Seohan.
Not even a hair of Seohan was visible on camera.
'Must be because it’s late.'
University Dusty knew the reason, but from the comments, it seemed like a few people didn’t.
Since it was past 10 p.m., the underage Seohan wasn’t allowed to appear on live broadcasts.
-Where’s Byo-Seohan?
-Where’s Seohan?
-What’s Do Seohan doing right now? Is he taking the CSAT too?
Upon reading the comments, Seo Ian opened his mouth.
"Seohan is currently…"
Right at that moment.
A rustling sound echoed from the living room.
"I’m sleeping right now!"
"…Hey! Why are you talking if you’re sleeping!"
Seo Ian freaked out and leapt up.
-LOL how is he talking if he’s asleep
-Do Seohan is killing me
-He just announced his own bedtime
-Honestly what kind of high schooler sleeps at 10 p.m. lol
-It’s because he’s a baby Hamjji going through a growth spurt 😂 go to sleep now
"Then I’ll go back to sleep now!"
With a cheerful shout, Seohan went quiet again.
"Pfft…"
Did Do Seohan lose it or what?
University Dusty couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
Kang Siwoo looked over toward where Do Seohan probably was, and chuckled in disbelief.
Ah, what is Do Seohan even doing over there.
This was the first time I’d ever been this curious about what’s happening off-screen.
"He’s really asleep now…."
Anyway, with the maknae safely back in bed, the older members quickly began pulling out the ingredients needed for the lunchbox.
Ha Junseo moved busily around the kitchen, bringing over the frying pan.
Cha Seongbin, watching one step behind, occasionally took out the necessary seasonings and kept interacting with fans.
"Shhh."
"Dusties… you know, right? You have to shhh too."
"Cha Seongbin, be quiet."
"Yes, hyung."
-Why is Seongbin calling Siwoo hyung? LOL
-They kinda do look like hyung and dongsaeng sometimes, those two are hilarious
Their heights were similar, but the build difference made it kind of understandable.
Cha Seongbin grinned as he stood next to Kang Siwoo.
"Hyungnim, here’s the sugar."
"Is this much okay?"
"Are you adding MSG? I feel like it’ll taste amazing."
"Don’t rely on such heretical powders."
Kang Siwoo stirred the well-simmered bulgogi with a wooden spoon.
If the goal was to make Dusties hungry late at night, then it looked like they were succeeding.
University Dusty found themselves drooling and pressed their nose up to the screen.
"Ah… they’re actually doing well."
At least judging by visuals, it was a pass.
The way they carefully cooked to avoid waking the others was surprisingly high level too.
If the maknae line had been there?
-Good thing Haimi’s taking the CSAT tomorrow, she’d definitely be hopping around and flipping over the bulgogi stir-fry
-LOL Seo Haim the chaotic chick theory confirmed
-Next to him, Do Seohan was quietly about to cause trouble;; it seemed like flames were blazing up in the frying pan beside him like a campfire.
Maybe it was better if he just slept?
Perhaps the older members thought the same, because Ha Junseo opened his mouth.
“Thank goodness Seohan is sound asleep right now.”
“If he were awake, he would’ve burned something by now.”
“Right.”
But… was this guy really asleep?
“Cough! Cough!”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋSomeone’s coughing
-The one with more presence outside the screen than anyone else
-The youngest Hamjji expressed discomfort (new!)
Ha Junseo held back his laughter as he rummaged through the kitchen drawers again.
He seemed to be looking for something to stir the soybean paste soup with.
Tilting his head, Ha Junseo asked.
Right then, the answer came from an unexpected place.
“Where’s our ladle?”
“Over there, third drawer.”
“…!”
-You said the youngest was sleeping ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Why does he keep making voice cameos ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Just come in front of the camera already
With the supposed voice cameo of Seohan, who was “sleeping” on the sofa, the comment section scrolled rapidly.
The older members waved their hands in fluster, trying to calm the situation.
“Seohan is… anyway, he’s sleeping.”
“That’s right, these days kids talk even in their sleep.”
“He’s sleep-talking~.”
I was dumbfounded.
The day of the CSAT.
It was only in the late afternoon that students began walking out of the school gate one by one.
The older members, who had been waiting anxiously in front of the van, rushed forward.
“Oh, it’s Haim!”
Familiar faces appeared in the distance.
Seo Haim came running out of the school gate with small steps, and behind him walked Jin Sehyun with heavy strides.
Strange.
Their faces were way too bright for students who had just finished the CSAT.
When I took the CSAT…
I had nearly collapsed after finishing the last science subject.
As soon as I saw Seo Haim, I took his bag and asked.
“Hyung, did you sleep?”
“Hey, I didn’t sleep!”
So he didn’t sleep.
This time, Ha Junseo, who had stayed up late last night packing lunchboxes, asked.
“So, did you do well?”
“I looked at the questions well!”
“……”
Didn’t sleep, but still failed.
It wasn’t particularly surprising, so Ha Junseo shook his head.
“My eyesight is pretty good though.”
“Well, at least it’s a blessing you’ve got good eyes.”
Haim hyung was actually smarter than he seemed.
Especially when it came to memorizing routes—he had an incredible knack for it.
But, well, that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with studying.
The real hopeful was over here.
Ha Junseo’s gaze shifted to Jin Sehyun.
“How about you, Sehyun?”
“The lunchbox was really delicious.”
“You’re both avoiding the question…?”
“Honestly, question 30 was way too hard.”
You’re talking like you solved questions 1 through 29 just fine?
“Hyung?”
When my obvious stare turned toward him, Jin Sehyun cleared his throat.
“…There were a few other hard ones too.”
I heard that Jin Sehyun had been among the top students until middle school, but ever since becoming a trainee, he probably hadn’t had the proper environment to study.
Even I only entered university after I’d made up my mind to step away from the entertainment world.
As I was suddenly recalling memories from my past life….
Seo Haim cheerfully chimed in beside me.
“I even brought my self-grading sheet!”
“Seo Haim, you’re surprisingly diligent.”
“Hey, did you even solve the problems?”
“We have to check how well I guessed the answers!”
The members who had brought the two along piled into the van together.
Manager Lee Jaeyoon, who was waiting at the wheel, turned his head with a satisfied smile.
“Did you do well on the test?”
“They said they looked at the problems well~.”
“As long as you had a good look at the test paper, that’s fine. Let’s go eat, I’m starving.”
“Should we have jjajangmyeon?”
“Sounds good!”
Ah, it had been a while since we ate out.
.
.
.
.
A fairly upscale Chinese restaurant with a private room prepared.
I licked my lips and picked up my chopsticks, excited for jjajangmyeon I hadn’t had in a long time.
Just as I was about to boldly scoop up a bite, Manager Lee Jaeyoon spoke up.
“Guys, you’ve been scheduled for overseas.”
Overseas schedule?
“Where to?”
“Malaysia.”
According to Manager Lee Jaeyoon, Music Bank filming would be held in Malaysia.
Around ten teams would be appearing, most of them senior idols, so we were once again the rookies.
Ever since the survival program, overseas fans had been trickling in, and our promotions had gradually increased them.
It seemed the company was aiming for overseas expansion, so they accepted this opportunity.
But the departure date….
“It’s even the day after tomorrow?”
“What?”
Not much time left.
Upon hearing that, Kang Siwoo stopped eating and raised his head.
“That soon? That won’t do…”
“Why not?”
With a grave expression, the leader carefully spoke.
“We have to coordinate our airport fashion…”
Ah.
Right, he had that dream.
“Should we decide now?”
“Hey, throw out some ideas quickly.”
“If we order today, it’ll arrive before departure!”
Buzz buzz—
The older members urgently started throwing in suggestions.
The leader’s strong will to wear matching outfits for this departure was there, so all that was left was to decide what to wear, but…
Somehow.
The ideas coming out were a little strange.
“…How about this?”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“I agree too.”
Hmm.
“You really… want to go out wearing that?”
Should I just depart separately?