IKC C4

by berry

Chapter 4

“I’m fine. My mom’s healthy, and Taemin’s doing great in school. He even gets good grades, so what problem could there be? He’s doing just fine…”

“But.”

Seong Sehan glared at me, wiping the sweat rolling down his chin with the back of his hand. I swallowed hard. Usually, when he was pissed off, he had the habit of showing too much of the whites of his eyes like that.

“Why the hell did you come here this morning? No—if you were going to come, you could at least have called first! Why do something out of nowhere that you’ve never done before?!”

His furious shout shook the quiet neighborhood. My mind went blank.

“I mean… yeah, sorry. I came without warning, I know…”

“I’m barely at the dorm these days because I’m so busy! What if I hadn’t checked my phone? You’d have been waiting here all this time, and I would’ve gone straight to my schedule!”

The way he kept yelling made me feel like I really had done something wrong. Without realizing it, I found myself shrinking into a meek posture.

“I didn’t think it through… I was just rushing—”

“You ignored me all this time, never answering, and now suddenly you show up? Is this just so you can resent me to my face? To fuck with me right now?”

What… what the hell? His insane words stunned me so badly that my jaw just dropped open.

“Seong Sehan! Why’s your head twisted like that? I came all the way here, and that’s all you’ve got to say to me?”

“You’re calling me twisted?”

He smirked, resting both hands on his hips.

“Oh, right. Guess ignoring me for one year, five months, and thirteen days really did leave me twisted up inside.”

Holy shit! He’d actually been counting the days? Ice cold air around us, yet my face flushed hot red.

“You think I ignored you for no reason? It’s because you—”

You walked out of the company. You debuted with another team, not ours. You left me behind, went far away all by yourself!

The resentment I’d been suppressing burst out, choking me.

You went to a place I could never reach! And I’m not even allowed to hold a grudge? Just because you’re a genius?

“You’re the one who made me ignore you! You betrayed us and left!”

Ding-dong.

The status window I had completely forgotten about flashed open.

[Inferiority Score has increased by +1.]

“!”

It was like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head. My whole body went clammy. What was I doing? Sehan, I…

[Now displaying Lee Taegyeong’s current Inferiority Score.]

My eyes nearly bulged out. My inferiority score…? Right. I’d been told to reduce it to zero, but I’d never once heard the actual number.

[Congratulations! 95 points!]

What?! A strangled groan slipped past my lips as I clamped my hand over my mouth. Ninety-five points? Fuck me… what the hell was there to congratulate?

[Days remaining until the fatal accident of Seong Sehan: 365. Reduce Lee Taegyeong’s inferiority to 0 (zero) to eliminate the risk of death.]

My legs trembled helplessly under the weight of the shock.

“And us…?”

Meanwhile, Sehan’s eyes gleamed like blades as he glared at me.

“Oh, I see. Park Geonwoo and Kang Jeongmin are on your side, and I’m the traitor and the enemy, huh?”

I should’ve hated the bitter twist of his lips, but instead, silence clamped my throat shut. Who was he to look at me with wounded eyes, like he was the victim here?

“That’s not what I meant.”

My fists clenched tight. I hadn’t come here to fight. If my inferiority was at freaking 95, then I needed to focus, or I’d lose him for good.

“Hey, Lee Taegyeong.”

He ran a hand through his hair, gaze sharp as knives.

“Don’t say ‘us’ anymore. The one I betrayed was you, not them. I don’t owe Park Geonwoo or Kang Jeongmin a damn thing.”

He was on edge, ready to snap. Treating him like a wild beast, I waved my hand gently as if to soothe him.

“I know, I know! You only joined Global because of me in the first place…”

And yet here I was, having to coax someone who openly admitted to betraying me. Three words could sum this up: Fuck my life.

“Sehan, I honestly just came to check if you were doing okay. That’s all. So let’s not fight over pointless things.”

He arched an eyebrow, towering over me.

“Lee Taegyeong, don’t you remember what you told me on Christmas? You said you never wanted to see me again.”

“Ah, that…!”

God damn it, why bring *that* up right now? He had no idea how furious I had been back then—

I dragged a hand down my face, then reflexively turned my head away.

“!”

Sasaeng fans. While we’d been snarling at each other, they’d gathered around, inching closer.

“Sehan—!”

On instinct, I stepped in front of him to shield him. But he caught my wrist in a sudden grip.

“Wh—hey!”

He tugged me along, breaking into a run toward the van. Still breathless, I stumbled behind him, struggling to match his pace.

“Sehan, wait, hold on—”

“Talk in the car.”

No, damn it. My head was too much of a mess to be holding hands with him like this, running side by side.

“Go on ahead without me! Why do I—”

Ding-dong.

The status window chimed again. My hair stood on end. What now…

[How to Prevent the Death of Genius Idol Seong Sehan!]

Its glowing letters expanded dramatically, bursting with neon fireworks around them. I stared in disbelief.

[Grand Opening Event!]

Opening… what?

[Right now, you can lower your Inferiority Score to 90!]

Drop it by five? That easy? How?

[Simple. Hug Sehan and say: ‘I missed you!’ Ease his heart.]

…The fuck? My eyes narrowed to slits. Whose heart was I supposed to be easing here? Mine or his?

[This event doesn’t come every day!]

[Time Limit: 5 minutes!]

I froze in place, feet like lead. Sehan jerked to a halt, staring back at me.

“Lee Taegyeong…?”

Ha… ha ha. This was ridiculous.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I shook my head in disbelief, and Sehan frowned.

“Come on. I’ve got a lot to say, too.”

His iron grip tightened on my wrist until it hurt. Forcing myself to stay calm, I plastered on a smile.

“Of course, Sehan. We’ve both got a lot to get off our chests, don’t we?”

The pressure on my wrist eased slightly.

[3 minutes left!]

Hah. This was going to be easy. Just hug him, say “I missed you,” and boom—points down. We’d held each other all the time before. Nothing hard about that. Practically free points.

“Sehan, listen—”

But why did this feel so damn awkward?

“Taegyeong, I’m already late. Can’t we talk on the way?”

[2 minutes left!]

Wait. If I suddenly hugged him, wouldn’t it freak him out? Did I really have to rattle him like that?

[This event doesn’t come every day!]

“Sehan, hold on. You’re going to catch cold like this.”

I’d been bothered for a while about him running around in just a T-shirt anyway. I slowly shrugged off my padded jacket.

The way I kept stalling with excuses annoyed even myself.

“Hey, you wear it. I’m fine—”

“Stay still already!”

I forced the jacket around his shoulders.

[1 minute left!]

My heart dropped into my stomach. No more hesitation. I reached out, seized him by the back of the neck, and yanked him hard against me.

This boy bigger than me stumbled forward helplessly with a startled “Oh?” pressed against my shoulder, body stiff.

Yeah. I was awkward too, bastard.

If I was going to do it, I’d do it properly. Wrapping my arms around his broad back, I squeezed him tight.

“Sehan.”

He half-lifted his head, trying to look at me. I pushed his face back to my shoulder.

“I missed you!”

[Inferiority Score has decreased by 5.]

With a triumphant grin, I flicked my eyes to the status window.

[Now displaying Lee Taegyeong’s current Inferiority Score.]

[Congratulations! 90 points!]

Ha ha ha! I patted his back, laughter bursting out. At this rate, hitting zero would be way too easy.

“Taegyeong.”

He pried free, straightening up. As his gaze leveled down at me, he gestured toward something behind me.

I turned to look—and froze.

The constant crack of camera shutters surrounded us like fireworks.

I was in a taxi heading back to the dorm when Jeongmin called.

“Phew… Geonwoo-hyung’s probably pissed and telling me to hurry back.”

I wanted time to gather my thoughts in peace, but I couldn’t ignore him. I answered.

“Yeah, maknae.”

―Hyung, can you get back soon? Geonwoo-hyung’s really pissed…

“Yeah, I’m in a taxi now. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

―What? You already split up with Sehan-hyung?

His voice rose, surprised.

“Yeah. He had a photoshoot today. We didn’t get to talk for long.”

I was suddenly reminded of the assistant manager who had come rushing up to collect Sehan. The way he’d glared at me—it had felt like I was at fault. I worried whether Sehan had been scolded because I called him out.

―Oh, I see! Wow… Sehan-hyung really pulls it off, even wearing just a T-shirt in this weather!

“Huh? How do you know what he was wearing?”

―What—don’t tell me you didn’t know? Hyung, you got photographed!

Ah. Photos… Of course I knew the sasaengs were taking them. But I didn’t think they’d upload them *immediately*.

―Right now the pictures and videos are all over social media and the community boards!