Chapter 429: Goodbye and Promise (4)

On the day Goh Yoo-Joon stepped in as my day manager, the atmosphere changed the moment we reached the parking lot. He was fiddling with a camera, a hint of nostalgia in his movements.

“It has been ages since I've seen a camera like this. It used to be everyone's go-to in the past."

“It's the latest model at the moment."

He chuckled with a mix of disbelief and amusement. “Wow, YMM actually gives out the latest cams for self-recording? I still can't wrap my head around that."

It made sense because our label had only flourished because Chronos had paved the way. On the other hand, Elated had operated without a label under YMM until their disbandment. In-Hyun had been the one managing things.

Therefore, seeing us get top-tier equipment and VIP treatment must have been a surreal experience to Goh Yoo-Joon.

“We need to start filming now."

“Okay. Hey, remember how—"

“Man, the old me would've been bouncing off the walls with this." Goh Yoo-Joon waved at the camera with an easy smile spreading across his face.

“Hey there, everyone! It’s Yoo-Joon from Chronos. Wow!"

His energy was infectious, and his demeanor shifted dramatically. It was a far cry from just moments before. He was now completely embodying the vibrant spirit of Chronos' Yoo-Joon.

“What brings me and Suh Hyun-Woo here today?"

Elated's Goh Yoo-Joon mirrored every action, perfectly capturing the essence of Chronos' Goh Yoo-Joon.

‘Umm, this is too much.’

I was taken aback. The sudden shift was disorienting. His energy seemed almost too much, borderline cringeworthy, yet Goh Yoo-Joon navigated it with a shameless ease. It was a testament to his decade of broadcast experience.

His face beamed with the vigor of his days as a music show host by completely embodying the important traits of Chronos' Goh Yoo-Joon.

“Yes! Exactly! Today I’m working as Suh Hyun-Woo's manager for the day. How do you feel about that, Hyun-Woo?" He directed the question at me with a mischievous grin before suddenly thrusting the camera close to my face. I could only assume my eyes or nose were awkwardly filling the entire screen.

“About what?” I responded tersely because I was caught off guard. Before the camera rolled, he'd been almost cautious, but now he threw caution to the wind. This was just like Goh Yoo-Joon from Chronos, so it wasn’t unwelcome, although it was unexpected.

“I am your manager for today."

“So?"

“You must be thrilled, right? Aren't you grateful?"

“Not really." I masked my embarrassment by responding in my usual curt manner and climbed into the car first. “Just drive."

“Ugh, check this out, Rings. He tells the person who agreed to manage him from early morning to just drive!"

“Hey, seriously, get in the car. We’re going to be late."

Goh Yoo-Joon finally slid into the driver's seat after my sharp nudge. He passed me the camera, which I promptly turned off and stashed in my bag. There was no need for a self-cam with all the cameras rigged throughout the car.

Goh Yoo-Joon maneuvered the car out of the parking lot with surprising skill, then took a long gulp of his Americano.

“When did you get so good at driving?"

His driving was impressively smooth. Despite his youthful looks, his demeanor—clutching an Americano and frowning while he drove—resembled that of a weary office worker rather than the vibrant idol he was.

‘He’s basically acting like Elated's Yoo-Joon,’

I mused, half-expecting to see that old playful camaraderie spill out any second.

“I’m different from someone I know[1] since I have a lot of friends. I guess I got better at it since I go out a lot."

“Ugh.”

He was so much like Chronos' Goh Yoo-Joon that it was almost annoying.

Was I really with Elated's Goh Yoo-Joon, or had he switched places with Chronos' Goh Yoo-Joon? He was brazenly good at acting like him even though Elated's Goh Yoo-Joon wasn't really known for being a social butterfly.

Goh Yoo-Joon grinned and asked, “Today is the first rehearsal for Eden's concert, isn't it? How are you feeling?"

“How am I feeling? I’m thinking, 'I've got to do well.’"

“Nervous too?"

“Yes, especially since Senior Reina is here, I have to start strong. I’m feeling slightly pressured."

I placed my hand on my chest as I spoke. Ever since we started recording, Reina had been relentlessly demanding with her standards, which always amped up the tension for me.

As expected, experience could not be ignored. Unlike me who had almost memorized past questions, Goh Yoo-Joon skillfully found topics to ask questions about on the spot and continued the conversation.

What would I want him to do while I practice? Come to think of it, I had been Goh Yoo-Joon's daily manager before... How did he treat me back then?

After pondering for a moment, I burst out laughing. “I’ll ask you to do everything for me. I’m going to make you run all sorts of errands, too.”

“You’re really mean, you know.”

“Wasn’t today supposed to be the day you do everything I ask?” I joked.

Goh Yoo-Joon chuckled and shook his head. “Why would I do everything you tell me when you’re being mean to me? Focus on your practice. Today, my concept is a Spartan-style manager.”

“You think you’re funny, right? Everyone, what do you think?” I asked the camera in front of me.

I could feel the atmosphere becoming quite relaxed. I wasn’t like this just with Chronos. We used to always have fun talking.

It seemed I could hold such conversations with the Elated Goh Yoo-Joon too. The conversation flowed surprisingly naturally. Goh Yoo-Joon surely felt it too, and even his business-like demeanor had completely disappeared by the time we arrived. He comfortably joked and played around with me.

We arrived at Eden's concert rehearsal studio. As expected of an MN Entertainment rehearsal room, many MN staff were present, including Reina.

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you!”

As Reina and the staff were talking, their gazes simultaneously turned toward us. The staff quickly stepped out of the camera's view after greeting us, and Reina stood up briskly to welcome me and Goh Yoo-Joon.

“Hyun-Woo, Yoo-Joon, long time no see! How have you been?”

“Hello, Senior. How have you been?”

“Great~ It's been tough working on Eden’s song, though.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Reina smiled broadly and patted my back to greet me. “But why did Yoo-Joon bring a camera today?”

“Ah, Senior. Today, I’m working as Suh Hyun-Woo’s daily manager.”

“Daily manager? You guys are doing something really fun.”

“But this guy doesn’t do much.” I jokingly pointed at Goh Yoo-Joon, who clicked his tongue as if in disbelief and glared at me.

“Who drove you here? Who bought the coffee?”

“What the... Tae-Seong hyung bought it!”

“Oh, how did you know? I was going to say I bought it.”

Invariably arguing over trivial matters, Reina burst out laughing and calmed us down before pointing at a mirror. “You guys are as childish as ever. Now, let’s start practicing. Manager Goh Yoo-Joon, just watch from there.”

“Yes.” Goh Yoo-Joon obediently headed to the chair Reina pointed to and filmed me with his camera.

Elated Goh Yoo-Joon was quite mature and thoughtful. Ah, not that Chronos’ Goh Yoo-Joon wasn’t, but their personalities were really different. That was why I hadn’t actually enjoyed talking with Elated Goh Yoo-Joon since he came here.

But now, maybe because he was acting as his Chronos version, or maybe because he was unconsciously slipping back into his old way of talking to me, I found these childish conversations quite amusing.

I sat in the spot Reina had designated while looking at Goh Yoo-Joon. He was looking at me through the camera screen. He noticed me glancing his way and looked up. As soon as our eyes met, he smiled playfully.

Despite being off-camera, he still smiled so mischievously. Feeling something strange, I stayed expressionless and quiet. This caused Goh Yoo-Joon to flinch and change his expression back to his mature expression.

It was such a weird feeling. I felt immense longing, heartache, and also joy and awkwardness.

Goh Yoo-Joon might have sensed this from my expression, but he turned his gaze away from me and started focusing the camera on himself.

“Shall we start practicing now?”

At Reina’s words, everyone in the rehearsal room dispersed to the corners. I picked up the microphone connected by a cable and looked at the mirror.

“The setlist hasn’t been released yet, so we will start with the songs that have been released.”

“Yes.”

“We won’t practice all day, but take care of your throat. Okay?”

“Yes! I will be careful.”

“Let’s start then. Please warm up with something light.” Reina patted my shoulder encouragingly and headed toward the mirror.

As I warmed up my voice, the intro of Eden’s first album title track began to play through the speakers.

1. Hyun-Woo lol ☜