Chapter 439: What Should We Do From Now On (3)

I was playing a game with Chronos members, and I was the host, so I never thought they would slip this as merely a fun and ordinary time. I didn't expect the script to go off course from the very beginning. When they suddenly forced me to join the game, I was a bit taken aback, yet I soon immersed myself in it.

"Hyung, take this as an honor. You have a match with the top-ranked Cold Blade of our hierarchy, gosh."

"Ah, that damn hierarchy."

"Stop... I’m so embarrassed."

"We

are embarrassing you?"

It seemed Yoon-Chan was really embarrassed. His face and even the back of his neck turned red as he threw the match and ran far away. For someone who usually just laughed off anything, to run away like that... It seemed Yoon-Chan had reached his limit by playing along with this concept.

"Look, he ran away. Let’s stop with this concept of Joo-Han High and Gori High after today..."

"Hmm... Let’s ask the Rings, then. Now, calm down and take your place, please."

Goh Yoo-Joon pretended to check his watch and shouted as he tapped his wrist. "We have a lot to do! There's no time! Mr. Host, hurry and proceed with the game!"

Oops, I forgot there were more games left. I immediately snapped back to reality and pulled Yoon-Chan back to continue the game. Once he settled down, the game proceeded normally.

Honestly, Yoon-Chan and I were the no-fun members in Chronos, so the game was just ordinary when it finally started. There were more interjections and strict judging criteria when the other members played.

But neither Yoon-Chan nor I bowed to their criticisms, and Goh Yoo-Joon eventually returned the cue card with a completely cooled interest as we continued with a boring twenty syllable poem.

"Mr. Host, the fun has disappeared. The phrases like 'Dinner is delicious' and 'Dessert after eating a meal is also a good idea' are lame as heck."

"This is a disgrace to you as celebrities, really."

"Both of you, please explain yourselves."

"Hyun-Woo, just focus on hosting for a while."

"Why is everyone being rude to me? Come on~ You guys told me to do it, though!"

Yoon-Chan and I were overwhelmed by the members' comments, so we stepped in front of the camera to give a boring explanation and apology before we could end the game.

The next game immediately followed. Despite everyone saying how boring I was, I ended up participating in the final round of every game. Somehow, I always ended up representing Joo-Han High.

The more they teased, the louder my protests became, but I honestly still felt good. The familiar, noisy atmosphere continued. It had been a while since such chaos, and I probably had missed it.

The Rings, who felt something odd about our vibe in recent days, would think we had dealt with whatever conflicts we had. Thinking about it, it felt like it had been a long time since I had encountered Chronos like this, though the Elated members weren't around that long. It seemed those times subconsciously felt longer.

After the twenty-syllable poem game, there was a sudden pillow fight, followed by revelations and debates about each other. And then the shooting ended.

"Good work everyone!"

The members quickly quieted down after leaving the set. Not because something happened, but because they were just exhausted from playing so hard.

"Ah, my throat hurts."

"That's what you get for shouting so much. My ears hurt."

"Wow, you’re acting as if you weren't shouting too."

On the way back to the dorm in the car, a quiet and childish argument passed between Goh Yoo-Joon and Jin-Sung. Then, a brief silence followed.

'This kind of silence is okay.'

It was the same kind of silence as before, but it felt so comforting.

I leaned my head against the window, basking in the return of Chronos once again. I planned to casually ask Joo-Han how the last few days had been for him once we got to the dorm.

We soon arrived at the dorm, and most of the members got out of the car half asleep. I took care of the half-asleep Jin-Sung and entered the dorm when Joo-Han suddenly grabbed me.

"Hyun-Woo, come see me after you get ready for bed."

"Uh? Okay."

Perhaps there was something to discuss related to the next album? Since I had something to ask Joo-Han anyway, the timing was good.

"Lee Jin-Sung, wake up and walk straight. How can Hyun-Woo carry you like that?" Joo-Han gently hit Jin-Sung's back and let go of me. Then he gestured toward me, beckoning. "Come to the studio."

"...Okay."

Why did he look so serious? It made me anxious... Calling me over with that serious expression on his face made me worry that this was related to what I had been pondering on.

"...Lee Jin-Sung, go straight to the dorm." I hurriedly straightened up the still-drowsy Jin-Sung and quickly headed to my room.

***

Suddenly, the leisure in my mind disappeared. I even gave up my turn to shower to Yoon-Chan so I could head to Joo-Han's studio. When I arrived, Joo-Han turned his chair around with a stoic face and looked at me.

"Have a seat."

"Why did you call me here?"

"This is about work, and there's something I need to check."

I hoped it wasn't what I was thinking. Surely, the memories of Elated Joo-Han couldn't have surfaced in Chronos Joo-Han. I was confident about this because the look in Elated Joo-Han’s eyes was entirely different.

The apologetic look that was hard to come by whenever I faced the members of Elated was absent in this Joo-Han. But if it wasn't about that, there would be no other reason for Joo-Han to call me over like this. Could it be something completely unrelated?

Joo-Han's serious expression broke into a slight smile. "Why are you so serious?"

"Ah, do I look serious?"

"Yeah, extremely serious. Did you somehow wrong me?"

I just shook my head without a word. There were things I was hiding, but it was ambiguous to call them wrong. No, I decided not to beat around the bush and ask directly. I thought it would ease my mind.

"Why did you call me here? What's the matter?"

Joo-Han frowned and remained silent, seeming to ponder for a while before asking, "Did we have a fight?"

"...What?"

What was he talking about? I expected to hear something like, 'There's something wrong with my memories,' 'I don’t remember how I passed the time recently,' or 'I've lost some memories from the past few days.' But asking if we had fought? Where did this come from?

I looked at him dumbfounded, but Joo-Han still had a serious fac,e and his head was tilted to the side. "Did we fight?"

Was this typical of Joo-Han? It seemed he was genuinely asking. I was speechless for a moment before I managed to respond.

"No, we didn't fight. Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?"

"But why have I been keeping a distance from you these past few days?"

"What..."

"Haven’t you been slightly off lately?"

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Instead of relaxing, I felt a part of me go cold.

‘Oh, come on, if you’re going to manipulate memories, at least do it properly.’

It appeared like there was no complete recollection of his time as Elated. However, the problem seemed to be that my downcast demeanor, as remembered by Joo-Han, was still intact in his memory.

"Uh, have I? I’m not sure."

‘Let's listen to Joo-Han hyung's side first and see how he remembers those days.’

I continued feigning ignorance. "Did I seem upset? I didn’t mean to."

Joo-Han seemed to have been waiting to spill everything he remembered.

***

"A few days ago, you and Jin-Sung were acting a bit strange. I thought you guys had fought and I was worried about you two."

Joo-Han's story began in a rather mysterious way. It was as if he was editing a broadcast by keeping parts of his memories that were usable and oddly blurring out or completely replacing the parts that seemed unusable. To summarize Joo-Han's words...

One day, there was a weird tension between me and Jin-Sung. He thought we had a serious fight, so he was about to discuss it with Tae-Seong and Goh Yoo-Joon.

"Do we need to worry about it ourselves? We could just ask Suh Hyun-Woo."

Goh Yoo-Joon had come looking for me with Joo-Han, who was seriously concerned.

"Jin-Sung and you were having a very serious conversation, and I thought it wasn't the right time to interfere. And then!" Joo-Han widened his eyes as if he was about to reveal a dramatic twist, but then he relaxed. "What happened after that? I can't really remember. Did I make things worse?"

Joo-Han spoke as casually as if he was wondering, 'Where did I put my phone?' and continued evasively.

"At some point, your expression seemed off to me. Yoo-Joon thought that too. Did something happen between us?"

I shrugged as if I didn’t know anything. "I don’t think anything happened, right? We have never fought before. Why would I fight with you?"

"Right? But it's strange..."

"I don't know either." I felt a bit guilty for deceiving Joo-Han. But what could I do? I was the only one from this world who still knew what had happened.

'Ah, Yoon-Chan knows now, too.'

Anyway, I couldn't just say, 'Another Joo-Han, not you, took control of your body for a few days.'

Luckily, it seemed he didn’t remember much of that time, and I was thinking about glossing over it.

From the direction of the open studio door, a very low voice asked, "What do you mean you don’t know anything?"

Both Joo-Han and I turned our heads toward the source of the voice. Goh Yoo-Joon was leaning against the door, looking at me with an expression that was hard to read. He seemed either indifferent or upset.