Chapter 160: It Was a Negotiation
A full-fledged live broadcast to celebrate my birthday.
While the chat window was flying up, the members played the birthday song.
Main vocalist Seo Ian followed the melody line with a powerful vocal projection.
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Seohan~ Happy birthday to you!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Seohan, congrats!"
"Quick, blow out the candles!"
The second birthday party in front of fans. I quietly let out a gasp as I looked down at the wildly spinning cake.
They really make all sorts of fancy cakes these days.
I never received one in my past life, so I didn’t know.
How much did this thing cost?
That practical thought briefly flashed through my mind, but I quickly pushed it away.
Even getting two cakes is an honor. I smiled and enjoyed it.
"It looks seriously delicious…"
Whether the company had specially ordered it or not, there was a high-quality chocolate topping on the cake.
It was shaped like a hamster. I reached out and tapped the topping with my finger.
Am I allowed to eat this?
"Why? Are you thinking of trying it?"
"It looked a bit fascinating, so I thought I’d break off a piece…"
-Seohan likes it Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Our Seohanㅠㅠ his smile’s reaching his ears, must look yummyㅋㅋㅋ
-Eat lots, baby… I bet one of the chocolate shavings was funded by the album I bought
-That looks like an edible chocolate! Try it!!!
"I’ll try a bite."
At my words, Seo Ian got up from his seat and brought a fruit knife from the kitchen.
He came trotting back, sat down, and held the knife in his hand.
"It won’t fit in one bite, right? I’ll cut it for you."
"Ah, thank yo—"
Scrape, scrape—
Wait a minute.
I hastily stopped Seo Ian and covered the camera with my hand.
"You can’t cut it like that."
"Huh?"
The sound had been a bit too intense.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋWhy the neck, of all placesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Are you sawing wood, Ian?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Serious-faced Seo Ian is killing meㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The chat was starting to fill up with a flood of ‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋ’.
Next to us, Seo Haim, who had been watching silently, added in with a shocked face.
"Our live is for all ages, you know."
Seo Ian tilted his head and looked down at the half-sliced chocolate topping.
Cha Seongbin reached out, stifling his laughter.
"Ian, give it here."
"Why? Isn’t this fine?"
"Cut it vertically. Vertically."
"Isn’t it the same either way?"
"That chocolate is Seohan, you knooow. You can’t just chop it in half like thaaat…"
"Just cut it~ It won’t die~"
"It already did!"
"Chocolate isn’t alive."
-Five guys struggling over cutting one cakeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-This is peak high school boy vibeㅋㅋㅋ the maknae line is the loudest, never a moment of silence
-Meanwhile, Jin Sehyun’s as blunt as everㅋㅋㅋ true, chocolate has no life….
-Why not just grab it and eat it from the head?
"They’re saying to just grab it and eat it from the head."
While scanning the comments, Jin Sehyun casually spoke and pulled the chocolate off the cake.
Before I knew it, ‘what used to be a hamster’ was in my hand.
"Do you want to eat the tail first, or the head?"
"What is this, a fish-shaped bun?"
Speechless, I carefully bit into the tail end.
Immediately, my mouth was filled with a sweet flavor.
"…It’s good."
It tasted like premium chocolate.
I thought it was just some cheap chocolate stuck on the cake, but it turned out to be from a proper brand.
Glance—
I turned my head and saw Kang Siwoo sitting with a satisfied smile.
As soon as he noticed my gaze, he spoke.
"Oh, right. You should explain that post you made on the fan community too."
Ah, that.
[The cake is scary and the hyungs are tasty.]
It was a one-liner I posted on the fan community right after yesterday’s private birthday party with the members.
Originally, it was ‘The cake is tasty and the hyungs are scary,’ but meme genius Jin Sehyun told me to flip it around.
Anyway, to explain the whole bug cake incident… it was a long story.
Jin Sehyun summarized that dramatic story in one sentence.
"Seohan said he thought the whipped cream was a caterpillar."
-Huh? Whipped cream???
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋOMG how do you mistake whipped cream for a caterpillar? How’s that even possible?
-So that’s why he posted like a startled hamster? Ugh too cuteㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Breaking news: Mam-Seohan now gets startled by whipped cream
"Excuse me."
I think there’s been a misunderstanding.
"It’s not like I got scared by the cream itself, there were circumstances…"
"Still, you almost fainted from the cake~."
"Was it really that scary?"
"Cakes are designed scary these days!"
Huh?
Flustered, I jumped to my feet.
"I-I-I-I—!"
-Do Seohan desperately denying it
-What do we doㅋㅋㅋㅋ even his angry face isn’t threatening at all
-Trembling Do Hamjjiㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Ah damn he’s so cute I want to carry him in my pocket
Feeling wronged, my eyes turned toward Seo Ian.
“No…”
Honestly, we all know it. He hinted it was a caterpillar, so how could I not be startled?
“Hyung, say something. Anything.”
Just as I stared at him, hoping for some kind of explanation,
Seo Ian patted my shoulder and added,
“It’s okay, Seohan. I used to get scared of whipped cream when I was eighteen too…”
“…!”
You too, hyung?
“That’s right, that’s right. I still can’t eat fresh cream cakes. Too scary.”
There was not a single person I could trust in this world.
“You’ll become an adult. Fighting!”
“Hey, Seohan. Isn’t it almost ten o’clock? Time for bed!”
“Oh no, here comes the cake. Scary~”
What the hell?
Is this how they’re spinning it?
Right after the live ended, I felt like half my soul had left me.
I couldn’t tell how many tens of minutes I’d been ganged up on.
Shake shake—
I shook my head and headed to the practice room. I had a vocal lesson scheduled for the afternoon, but there was still some time before that.
I pulled out the phone I hadn’t been able to check during the live.
And then—
“Hm?”
There were three missed calls.
Frowning, I checked who it was from.
[Reporter Lee Doyeon]
The moment I saw the name, it felt like the blood in my fingertips turned cold.
A reflexive murmur left my mouth.
“What the…”
We weren’t in regular contact, and today wasn’t a holiday for polite formalities either.
The fact that she’d urgently called three times didn’t give me a good feeling.
“This… feels bad…”
Without hesitation, I called back.
Rrrr—
Even that short wait felt long.
Then, I heard a familiar voice through the receiver.
“…Yes, this is Reporter Lee Doyeon.”
Gulp—
I swallowed dryly and got straight to the point.
“What’s going on?”
There’s no way she’d call me without a reason.
Either she’d heard something or was about to break something.
Most likely, it was the former.
I tried to calm my racing heart and waited for Reporter Lee Doyeon to speak.
Her voice, subdued and calm, finally opened up.
“Well…”
“Yes.”
“It’s about Kang Siwoo. I think it’s about to blow. That’s why I called.”
What?
Just those words left my mind completely blank, like I’d been hit in the head.
I could already guess what kind of situation was unfolding.
Reporter Lee Doyeon cautiously continued.
“If you have time, could we meet now?”
Reporter Lee Doyeon’s tidy office.
It had been almost a year since I last came here voluntarily.
It was back when I was still appearing on the Stardust Project.
Same people, same kind of setup. And still an uncomfortable relationship—a three-way face-off.
“……”
Kang Siwoo swallowed dryly and stared at the empty table.
As soon as I informed him of the situation, he expressed his desire to come with me today.
He must be nervous, not knowing what kind of conversation would unfold.
I felt the same way.
Back in Starf.
Back then, he was just a passing acquaintance.
Whether the Kang Siwoo thing blew up or not, it would’ve been mildly bothersome—just another noisy episode in a survival show.
Now, it felt a bit different.
Because we were on the same team.
No way I could just sit still.
I nervously chewed on my lower lip and interlaced my fingers tightly.
Reporter Lee Doyeon brought out two glasses of water.
“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve had a three-way talk like this. Here, wet your throats first.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Kang Siwoo silently took a sip of water.
Even before I had a chance to tip off Manager Lee Jaeyoon, he came straight here. It seemed like he ran over right after I threw him the details the moment the call ended.
“I haven’t heard much yet, so I’d appreciate a full explanation.”
“Yes, of course.”
First, I was in a bit of a rush to figure out exactly what was going on.
If we couldn’t handle it on our own, I was planning to call for backup from the company.
Reporter Lee Doyeon scanned the two of us, then smiled faintly.
“Just so you know…! I wasn’t the one who leaked it.”
“I know that.”
Her younger brother was set to debut next month.
Reporter Lee Doyeon wouldn’t want trouble either. No way she’d drag this out now of all times.
I never thought she was the kind of person who’d be that unethical in the first place.
Which means—
This was the most important question.
“Who is it?”
If it was someone I knew, maybe I could try something.
There weren’t many reporters in this field that I was familiar with, but I hoped it was someone I could strike a deal with like last time.
“Who is it?”
At my blunt question, Reporter Lee Doyeon laughed awkwardly, as if caught off guard.
“What, so you can blackmail them too?”
“Ah, there’s no way Seohan could do something like that.”
“…?”
Kang Siwoo stepped up to defend me. I was just as flustered by his blunt words.
“Excuse me?”
As Reporter Lee Doyeon mulled over Kang Siwoo’s words for a moment,
Her eyes rolled around dramatically.
“That thing you did to me back then… wasn’t that blackmail?”
And with that one line, we both blurted out at once—
“It was a conversation.”
“It was a negotiation.”
Glance—
As soon as I made eye contact with Kang Siwoo, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.