Chapter 174: The Worst Family
Showing your weakness to someone was never a wise choice.
Especially not in this industry, where even trivial issues could be exposed to the public and instantly become gossip.
Han Gabin turned to look at Seohan, who was standing quietly, waiting for him to speak.
“…….”
It couldn’t be called a harmonious meeting, not even as a pleasantry.
The first time he ran into Stardust in the waiting room, he’d felt quite displeased that a much younger junior had been nominated for first place alongside him.
But now—
Seeing him up close, he didn’t seem like a junior with a bad personality.
That said, they still couldn’t fully trust each other yet, which was the current state of their relationship.
Han Gabin parted his lower lip slightly before finally speaking.
“I don’t gamble. In case you misunderstood.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I don’t have any debt either. Personally speaking….”
Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie.
It was his father who went around racking up debt, enthusiastically using his name to do it.
Swallowing a bitter lump in his throat, Han Gabin cautiously offered another excuse.
“It’s just, there’s someone in my family who’s unwell… medical bills. I needed money for hospital bills. You know how, when someone’s sick, you suddenly need a lot of money?”
“Uh, yeah….”
“So I ended up having no choice but to borrow money from someone I knew…. Yeah.”
Seohan didn’t really understand why Han Gabin was making these excuses to him, but he nodded along, reading the mood.
Han Gabin visibly hesitated, unsure how to wrap up this sudden confession.
“Yes, that’s how it went.”
At that, Seohan more or less figured out his intention.
Was he worried this would become a rumor in the industry?
“I think I understand what you’re worried about, but I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“Ah.”
“There’s no reason for me to spread it either.”
Han Gabin’s complexion brightened slightly at Seohan’s firm words.
After hesitating over what to say next, Seohan carefully opened his mouth.
“I hope your family member gets well soon.”
“…Yeah.”
There was no sick family member to begin with.
Han Gabin trailed off, bowing his head deeply.
.
.
.
.
It was almost dawn.
He woke up feeling a chill on his back, probably because the campfire had died down.
“Ugh… what time is it?”
Groaning, he slowly sat up. It was definitely cold enough to wake him—meaning the fire must have gone out.
He’d probably have to go out and add more firewood. Rubbing his eyes, he shook off the sleep.
“Is he sleeping?”
Naturally, his gaze turned to the spot beside him.
“Hm?”
Where’d he go?
Han Gabin’s sleeping bag was empty—he’d expected him to still be lying there.
Still half-asleep, he looked around, and soon spotted Han Gabin.
He thought he’d gone outside, but Han Gabin was crouched in a corner of the greenhouse.
He didn’t seem to be asleep, so Seohan carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you awake?”
Tremble, tremble—
He could feel the shaking through his fingertips.
“Uh… are you cold?”
If it was this cold, he should’ve either rekindled the fire or woken him up.
Why was he just sitting there, trembling like that?
When there was no response, Seohan tilted his head and asked again.
“Han Gabin-ssi?”
“…….”
What the—?
A strange feeling hit him, and he quickly turned Han Gabin’s body around.
“Are you hurt?”
The moment he turned his head, he saw a face pale as a ghost. His hands were cold as ice.
More than that—
He just didn’t look well at all, no matter how you looked at it.
“Haa… ha.”
“…I’ll go get the staff.”
Han Gabin was breathing heavily.
The fortunate part was, since it was an outdoor survival variety show, the medical team had been on standby not far away.
Thanks to the staff doing their best late into the night, Han Gabin was back to normal the next day as if nothing had happened.
Apparently, it wasn’t something he ate—it was diagnosed as stress-induced gastritis.
‘Guess he couldn’t adjust to sleeping in an unfamiliar place.’
‘Oh dear, Gabin-ssi. Are you alright?’
The cast members looked after Han Gabin with concern from the morning, and even the production team seemed pretty startled by the sudden situation.
And then—
The remaining 1 night and 2 days of filming became a bit more relaxed.
Originally, it seemed they’d planned to run everyone around the beach with wake-up missions and such starting the second day, but since someone had nearly been taken away with gastritis last night, those plans were scrapped.
The PD had suggested halting filming and returning to the mainland since it could be dangerous, but Han Gabin firmly refused.
He insisted he was fine, practically gritting his teeth…. And he really did seem okay on the surface, so they let it slide.
No telling how the broadcast edit would come out,
but unlike what he’d feared, it turned out to be a pretty decent first outdoor variety shoot.
The people were alright.
The staff were kind.
If he had one wish…
he hoped his cool house-building scene would be edited to look awesome on screen.
“Seohan, let’s go in.”
Together with Manager Lee Jaeyoon, I arrived at the dorm, holding three days’ worth of luggage in both hands.
Unlike the clean-cut version of me who’d stopped by the shop on day one, my reflection in the glass door looked pretty worn-out.
Beep—
The moment I unlocked the door and stepped inside, the members, whom I thought would still be sleeping this early in the morning, came crawling out one by one.
Ha Junseo stood in front of the entrance, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve.
“Oh, what? You just got back?”
“Maknae! Did you do well~?”
Seo Haim came running over, fussing loudly.
I let out a small laugh and dropped my heavy bag onto the floor with a thud.
“Yeah, I totally tore up that deserted island.”
“Whoa~ A deserted island isn’t a curtain, so how did you tear it~.”
Cha Seongbin exclaimed and shook his head.
Next to him, Kang Siwoo chimed in with a worried face.
“He looks so frail—did he starve for three days? Want some protein?”
“What are you talking about? He needs carbs.”
Recently into working out, Kang Siwoo rummaged through the drawer for protein powder.
This was the worst. I quickly replied, worried I might actually be given a protein shake as a welcome drink.
“I want ramyeon with kimchi.”
Watching the cast eat while I stood at a distance, I had drooled so much.
The red seabream Mr. Lee Beomjin had caught himself was delicious, but I’d really started craving the taste of instant food.
Kang Siwoo cooked the ramyeon for me.
“Eat slowly, or you’ll choke.”
Slurp—
I was eating like someone who hadn’t eaten in days, drawing pitying stares from all directions.
It wasn’t that I was starving.
“They did give you food there, right?”
“Mm….”
“They gave you dessert too.”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to make excuses.”
“There’s nothing on a deserted island~. Probably a crab teased you and ran away.”
You don’t have to look at me with such sentimental eyes.
Did I just come back from Jungle or something?
I debated how to even begin explaining this and gave up.
Slurp—
I downed the warm broth in one go and looked up.
“Did anything happen while I was gone?”
“Uh….”
I meant it as a casual greeting, but the atmosphere suddenly turned strange.
Jin Sehyun scratched his head and trailed off.
“Nothing really happened…”
“There was one weird thing, though.”
“What was it?”
Ha Junseo, who had been quietly listening, widened his eyes.
Wait, why that reaction?
“You don’t know either?”
“Junseo-hyung was asleep then, so he didn’t see it.”
“Why? What happened?”
It was an incident unfamiliar to both me and Ha Junseo.
“Just tell us. Now I’m curious.”
“It really wasn’t a big deal, but it was kind of creepy.”
The story I listened to with open ears sounded like something straight out of a horror movie.
Jin Sehyun’s serious face and lowered voice made it feel even more so.
“Was it the night before last? I was in the living room with Haim eating late-night snacks. Around midnight, maybe? She said she ordered delivery, so we paid and got the food…”
“And?”
“Then suddenly, the veranda window over there just slid open.”
“Huh?”
Jin Sehyun pointed at the veranda window, now firmly shut.
It was the side without a screen, so we normally kept it locked to avoid bugs coming in.
Why was it open?
I tilted my head and asked.
“Didn’t you lock it from the inside?”
“That’s the thing. I thought I did.”
“Of course you did. Hey, bugs come in!”
What the hell, that’s creepy.
So that window just slid open on its own?
Seo Haim opened her eyes wide and raised a suspicious question.
“Maybe a ghost opened it~?”
“Oh, come on.”
“Why is this turning into a ghost story all of a sudden? Maybe it was the wind?”
“Hyung, not even a typhoon could open that. Unless it broke.”
He’d seen the veranda door open in real time and freaked out, locking it again.
The worse part was… what happened the next morning.
“But then, the next morning, when Siwoo-hyung went out to water the cherry tree, the door was open again.”
“I seriously don’t get it. Hyung, we definitely, like absolutely locked it before bed that night.”
“Wasn’t it you guys who opened it?”
Kang Siwoo asked back, confused.
Jin Sehyun waved his hands and turned to Seo Haim.
“Hey, didn’t we even lock the door that night?”
“Oh, totally. It was so creepy, we locked it. I couldn’t forget something like that.”
“So nobody says they opened it… and it was open two days in a row?”
“Hey, Seohan’s getting scared.”
Honestly, I was scared.
What kind of summer special horror episode was this, right after I got back?
With a reluctant expression, I parted my lips.
“Do ghosts come out even in the middle of winter…?”
“Seohan, what are you even saying.”
“It’s cold.”
I tried to deny reality but only got scolded for acting like ghosts were mosquitoes.
I wished the topic would end there, but Cha Seongbin lowered his voice and continued.
“You know that story about the practice room ghost? They say a ghost lives on the third floor of the Doubles practice room. Maybe it followed someone back to the dorm?”
“Ugh!”
“Fess up. Who was practicing late the other night…?”
“Me.”
Seo Ian rolled his eyes nervously, looking tense.
“It’s clinging to Seo Ian’s shoulder.”
“Aaaah! Don’t say things like that!”
Seo Ian raised a clenched fist.
That soft-as-sundubu sweetheart looked like he might actually punch Cha Seongbin.
Even Jin Sehyun, who didn’t believe in ghosts, was pressing on his temples with an uneasy look.
“This is weird. Just a coincidence, right…?”
“Come on, no way.”
“Yeah, someone probably opened it and forgot.”
As I sat there listening, a sudden ominous thought passed through my mind.
The worst-case scenario wasn’t impossible.
“Hmm.”
A ghost might actually be better.
No way…
“It’s not… a person, right?”