Chapter 443: What Should We Do From Now On (7)

A few days later, the episode of Eden's first concert rehearsal where Goh Yoo-Joon filmed as a day manager was released on

UTube.

At the time of filming, this was Elated’s Goh Yoo-Joon, not Chronos’, so I watched the reactions, worried that Rings might feel a disconnect because of this.

- The way you guys talk when it’s just the two of you is so real lol. It’s funny because it shows you are genuine best friends haha

- Yoo-Joon seemed really happy there aww

- 7:38 Yoo-Joon's expression here... 😢

└ 😢He’s totally lost in Hyun-Woo’s song

- Surprisingly, Yoo-Joon seems really thoughtful, like, he chose a place to eat that wasn’t too crowded out of consideration for Hyun-Woo’s feelings

└Yeah, and it’s nice to see Yoo-Joon’s true personality come out when he’s with Hyun-Woo. He seems more calm and comfortable.

- Hyun-Woo 😂 He always grumbles only when Yoo-Joon says or does something

The reactions were better than I thought. I was worried that Goh Yoo-Joon might come off as more mature than usual, or that it would be obvious that he was being careful around me.

But Rings thought his calmer demeanor when alone with a friend was natural, and they seemed to find the reduced dialogue between me and Goh Yoo-Joon comfortable, thinking it meant there was no conversation needed between us.

In fact, it didn’t seem like he had changed much at all from the video. Was it because Elated’s Goh Yoo-Joon had more years of experience in front of the camera? Even to me, who knew everything, he just seemed like Chronos' Goh Yoo-Joon.

‘Thank goddess.’

This meant no one would worry that this video was a sign we had fought.

“Hey, I didn’t film this, did I?” The one feeling the disconnect from the uploaded video wasn’t me or the Rings, but Goh Yoo-Joon himself. He frowned deeply and frantically scrolled through the comments on the laptop screen, replaying the video. “It doesn’t look like me at all.”

“He did a pretty good job of imitating you, though.”

Goh Yoo-Joon’s frown deepened. It seemed he was not pleased with how Elated Goh Yoo-Joon had mimicked him.

“Do I act that frivolously?”

“Not frivolously, but...” I just laughed silently. He was not frivolous, more like mischievous.

In that sense, the way he occasionally cracked jokes was quite well replicated. He managed the progression of the shoot without any issues. Despite sometimes steering the conversation off track with his jests, the way he maintained control was well-received in the comments.

However, Chronos’ Goh Yoo-Joon didn’t seem happy about it.

‘I guess I’d feel weird too if someone else shot content using my body.’

Whether it had been done well or not, the act itself had to be upsetting.

Goh Yoo-Joon grumbled, “I was really looking forward to that day. It was supposed to be the day I got revenge.”

“Oof...”

Goh Yoo-Joon spoke as if it irked him, but he watched the video intently as if monitoring what Elated’s Goh Yoo-Joon had done in his absence.

“Well, he’s a bit different from you,” I said.

What would it feel like to find out that someone else had been possessing your body for a while? Of course, even if Elated Goh Yoo-Joon was still pretty much the same person as this Yoo-Joon, it was normal for this Yoo-Joon to be unsettled by the idea of another version of himself taking over his body.

“It's a pity. It would have been nice to do this together.” I eased his grumbling with comments of consolation and, after the video ended, his review was completely different from his earlier irritation.

“You really sing well.”

“...What?”

“Honestly, I look pretty mature in the video. It annoys me, though.”

...What? I reflexively grimaced and leaned back. He had been showing his displeasure earlier, but now he said this?

“The Rings will think I’m really that mature in real life. He was putting on a show, so I... I mean, he was just messing around, but in a very mature way.”

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

‘Really, what?’

“It annoys me, but I guess I should try to imitate this. Managing the schedule while joking around and having a mature attitude... Yeah, it was kind of cool.”

Elated’s Goh Yoo-Joon wasn’t just mature, but an adult. I sometimes didn’t understand Goh Yoo-Joon’s actions, and this was exactly one of those times. The way he recognized and liked what was good in a bad situation was very different from me.

“Well, if that’s what you think...”

“Why do you look a bit defeated?”

“No, that’s not really how I feel.” I shook my head, handed the laptop back to Goh Yoo-Joon, and stood up. “I should head out. Gotta practice.”

“Already? Wow, time flew by.” Goh Yoo-Joon checked the time, then shut the laptop and threw it on the bed. “I should get back to work too.”

“Good luck.”

“You too.”

Goh Yoo-Joon and I said our goodbyes in the room and headed to our respective destinations. He decided to write lyrics for our next album. Since the company just started working on it, he seemed to be troubled by thoughts.

Well, I shouldn’t worry about others but myself. I had to be more concerned about myself than my friend, who was doing his job properly.

I called Tae-Seong after getting ready. “Hyung, I’m good to go."

- Okay, come down. I’m waiting.

I sighed without realizing it. I hung up the phone and went down to the parking lot. Eden's first concert rehearsal was going somewhat well.

‘...Is it really going well? I’m not sure.’

The first rehearsal ended chaotically due to some complicated situations within the group, but now things seemed a bit more relaxed.

As we continued to practice, Eden's shortcomings were becoming more apparent. No, there weren't any glaring issues on the surface. Things were progressing according to the initial plan, but the real challenge started when we began practicing unreleased songs.

It had been revealed that Eden was actually me, and a few choreographed songs were included in the unreleased tracks, which I found extremely difficult. The delicate vocals unique to Eden and the emotional depth of Reina's songs were already hard enough to handle just by standing still and singing. On top of that, including choreography just didn't feel right.

On the first day we practiced a choreographed song, Reina said, “Hmm, this doesn’t feel like Eden. It just sounds like a solo song for Chronos' Suh Hyun-Woo.”

Eden's unique emotional expression wasn't coming through when I danced. I was Suh Hyun-Woo of Chronos, but there was supposed to be a slight difference for Eden. Eden's concert had to showcase Eden, but when I danced, I became too idol-like. The vibe wasn’t right.

'I've thought of a possible solution.'

Reina had asked me to think about how I could express being Eden better and gave me homework, but I was not sure it would work.

“Hey~ hyung, you got this."

As I went down to the parking lot, Jin-Sung and Yoon-Chan, who had just finished filming a variety show, greeted me from their car. They knew I was coming down and waited in the car instead of going up to the dorm.

“See you later."

I opened the car door for the younger members to get out and waved. Jin-Sung clung to me as soon as he got out. “I want to see you practice live, just like Goh Yoo-Joon hyung."

“We watched the video uploaded on

UTube

on the way back to the dorm."

It seemed they had watched the episode featuring Goh Yoo-Joon as my day manager. But Chronos’ Goh Yoo-Joon hadn’t seen my practice in person either. Oh well.

“I will ask if you can join next time. Go inside. Good job today." I bid farewell to the members and got into the car. Jin-Sung waved goodbye enthusiastically as he was dragged back to the dorm by Yoon-Chan.

The car started toward the practice studio.

'But what’s going on with him?'

I still had many questions about Jin-Sung. Goh Yoo-Joon and Joo-Han occasionally showed signs of vague memories, and Goh Yoo-Joon had even deduced my secret after piecing things together on his own.

But what about Jin-Sung? Surely his memories had to be somewhat vague too, no?

Yet Jin-Sung showed no signs of going through anything strange. He didn't seem to be pondering anything on his own, nor did it appear he was hiding anything. It would be easy to let it go if nothing seemed odd, but due to my nature, I kept worrying about it.

'Should I ask Yoon-Chan?'

Since Yoon-Chan spent a lot of time with Jin-Sung, it might be good to ask if he had noticed anything unusual.

'Or should I discuss this with Goh Yoo-Joon?'

That was a good idea too. Goh Yoo-Joon usually provided clear solutions quickly.

I laughed to myself. I had a lot of people to consult with now. Not everything the creator god did was to my liking, but this was a good thing.

I felt Tae-Seong’s gaze through the rearview mirror. I thought I was just smiling coolly, but it turned out I was grinning. I quickly composed myself and cleared my head of thoughts about the members.

At the moment, I had to prioritize my schedule. I needed to think about how to resolve the issue of Eden being too idol-like during songs with choreographies.

Soon, the car arrived at the practice studio where Reina was waiting. I got out of the car while organizing my plan.

If I tried too hard to dance well, they would say I was too idol-like for Eden, who was supposed to be a separate artist. Therefore, my plan for now was to follow the concept of the ballad singer who couldn’t dance.

...If that didn't work, I would need to consult with Su-Hwan and Joo-Han.