CH53

"By the way, can I get an ice cream for myself?"

Woo-Jin had left immediately wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, and he did not have time to bring any cash with him. He felt his empty pockets as he asked the card owner for permission out of courtesy.

- Hmm? You can get more than one if you'd like. Buy everything you want to eat. If you want to get some snacks [1], feel free to buy them too.

After hearing what Ko Young-Hoon, who had been holding back his laughter, had said, Woo-Jin hung up the phone and looked at Lee Dan-Woo with a bright smile.

"Dan-Woo hyung, we just need to pick out the snacks [2]."

"Oh really? I'm sorry, I'll be back after I smoke this cigarette, can you pick them out yourself?"

Woo-Jin nodded when Lee Dan-Woo took out a cigarette and gestured toward the outside of the store. Woo-Jin told him it was not a big deal and patted the apologetic Lee Dan-Woo on the back before nudging him. Lee Dan-Woo passed along their co-workers' message and told Woo-Jin to buy one can of beer per person, instead of a whole bunch of beer. He also asked Woo-Jin to get a lot of snacks before hurrying outside.

Lee Dan-Woo had been putting up with nicotine withdrawal all day and it was about to drive him insane. Once again, it seemed like today was not the day for him to quit smoking. Even though Lee Dan-Woo declared that he would quit smoking daily, the fact that he carried a pack of cigarettes around signified his lack of willpower to quit. Woo-Jin had been aware of Lee Dan-Woo's struggle against nicotine withdrawal during shooting, so he happily let him leave and started picking out snacks.

- Catch me, catch me, now's the time~!

- Catch me, catch me, don't regret it later, and hurry, hold my hand~!

Everybody in the convenience store was startled by the sudden music. They had turned off the speakers to ensure the recording went smoothly, so they were extremely shocked to hear Berry Rose's song out of the blue. This was especially true for Da-Young and Cho-Hee, who instinctively wanted to dance to their parts. Luckily, they had managed to restrain themselves.

"Did you change my ringtone?"

- Catch me, catch me~ Catch me~! The song is great, right? It's my favorite song these days. Let that be the exclusive ringtone for my calls for the time being.

The source of the music that had resounded throughout the convenience store came from Woo-Jin's phone.

"I'm fine with you changing it but tell me first before you change it. I was confused for a moment because I'd never heard it before. Why are you calling me this late at night?"

Hyun-Min had been fiddling with his phone after class and it seemed like Hyun-Min had changed his ringtone. However, the most important thing right now was the reason why he had called in the middle of the night. Usually, there was nothing good about getting calls at this time.

- Woo-Jin~! We're screwed.

"You can be screwed by yourself. Why are you dragging me with you?"

- Because you're also in group 4. Ever since we got assigned to group 4, I've been smelling the scent of death in the air

"What's wrong? I've already finished my quota and sent it. Who hasn't completed their part?"

The moment Hyun-Min mentioned group 4, Woo-Jin realized what he had been talking about. Woo-Jin and Hyun-Min were in the same group for group assignments and presentations, which were compulsory. Both of them had completed their assigned parts, so there was nothing to worry about even if it was a group assignment. Any problems they have experienced were always because of somebody else.

- Hyung-Sik got into a car accident today.

"Today?" Woo-Jin had emphasized the word 'today' because it was past midnight.

- Yes, today! I just received a call telling me that he had been hit by a negligent driver when he was wandering around after getting drunk. The accident must have occurred before midnight, but I just received the call, so let's just take it as today.

"Did he call you personally? Did he say he was seriously injured? Hold up, Hyung-Sik is our group leader. It's not a problem since you are the one who will be presenting right?

- The presentation is not the issue right now. Hyung-Sik was supposed to gather the data and write the report before I could start the PowerPoint slides, but he hadn't done anything. Furthermore, he told me that he injured his right hand.

"Our presentation is due next Wednesday. Even though I had a busy schedule, I still managed to finish researching and compiling the data three days ago!"

- That's what I'm saying! Damn group assignment!

Hyun-Min cursed and complained about Hyung-Sik after hearing what Woo-Jin had said. Perhaps Hyung-Sik had not been in a rush to complete the assignment because he assumed that he could get it done over the weekend, but now that things had gotten to this point, what good was it?

In order to start working on the PowerPoint slides, the group members had to write a report using the data that they had collated. Since it was Hyun-Min's responsibility to do the PowerPoint slides, he was now burdened with the extra work.

"Are you sure you'll be fine doing everything by yourself? You're also the group leader in the other class. Send me the rest of the data. I'll collate everything this weekend and go over to your place on Sunday evening. It'll be better if we do it together."

- I'm fine with it, but wouldn't you be overdoing yourself?

"It's not a big deal, I'll just have to sleep less."

Da-Young and Cho-Hee smiled awkwardly while trying to communicate through eye contact as they looked at Chae Woo-Jin, who was in the middle of a serious phone call while picking out snacks. Both of them had known it was Chae Woo-Jin even before the staff had told them about his identity via the earphones.

Initially, they had just been enchanted by his striking appearance, but soon after, there was no way they did not know who Woo-Jin was. They had already gotten used to seeing all kinds of good-looking celebrities in an agency that was filled with famous actors and singers. Even though it had only been three months, they had already done quite a fair bit of TV programs.

However, they had never seen anyone who exuded an aura like Woo-Jin at the agency or the broadcasting station. They could tell he wasn't an ordinary person the moment they laid eyes on him, and after connecting the dots, they realized that he was the celebrity that everyone was talking about.

"He looks so much better in person."

"I thought he looked really handsome when I was watching the movie… How can he look even better in person?"

Even though they were still in the middle of recording, the staff did not stop the two of them from ogling at Chae Woo-Jin. In fact, they welcomed it because it had indirectly made their program more interesting. However, the problem was that there were too many staff members who were busy ogling at Chae Woo-Jin.

"I'd like to pay for these." While Woo-Jin was still on the phone, he placed the beer and snacks on the counter, causing Da-Young and Cho-Hee to snap out of their trance.

- Are you also going out to drink now?

Perhaps Hyun-Min's sharp senses caught on to something, as his voice grew sharp over the phone. His reaction was only natural as their group leader had just gotten into an accident after drinking.

"I can't drink because I have a tight schedule later, and I have to wake up early. I'm running an errand now. I'm the maknae [3] here. Cute, right?"

Woo-Jin suddenly remembered he wanted to eat ice cream, so he grabbed a vanilla ice cream cone and placed it on the counter. Woo-Jin was unable to hide the joy in his actions after saying his last sentence. As the eldest in the family, Woo-Jin had always felt that it was his responsibility to take care of his mother and sister. Now that he was being treated as the youngest, it felt new and refreshing, and Woo-Jin enjoyed such treatment.

- You finally realized how cute it is to be the maknae. Of course, maknaes are the cutest!

Woo-Jin then called his friend 'The maknae of the family, Jung Hyun-Min' in response. After hearing his friend laugh out loud, Woo-Jin frowned slightly.

"I'm sorry. I must have lost my mind for a moment."

- Just like how drunk words reflect sober thoughts, there's truth in the words of a confused person too.

"Go to bed."

- I can't sleep. I have to burn the midnight oil tonight.

Even though Hyun-Min couldn't see him, Woo-Jin smiled sadly after listening to his words as Woo-Jin felt bad for Hyun-Min.

"Thanks for your hard work. I'll try to free up as much time as I can and head over on Sunday.

After he hung up, he acted like nothing had happened and looked calmly at Da-Young and Cho-Hee.

"Yes?"

"Is there an issue?"

When Da-Young and Cho-Hee had made eye contact with Woo-Jin, they looked at him with anticipation as they spoke simultaneously. [4] They thought that he might have recognized them.

"Are you going to ring me up?"

"Oh…" They sighed in disappointment when Woo-Jin pointed to the card that had not been swiped. The two girls processed the sale and stared blankly at Woo-Jin once again. Both parties stared blankly at each other for a moment, and Woo-Jin immediately understood the situation and tried to be considerate, so he told them, "You have to give me a receipt."

He had paid for the items using someone else's card, so he had to get the receipt. After getting the receipt from them, Woo-Jin said in a kind and understanding voice, "It must be your first part-time job."

"Ah, well…"

"I may look weird, but I'm not a bad person, so please rest assured."

Woo-Jin smiled brightly and tried to be as nice as possible. He had been acting as a killer all day, so he thought that he could have been emanating dark and dangerous vibes. Anybody would feel anxious if they encountered someone like that in the middle of the night.

"Initially, you might be flustered when new customers arrive as you don't know what to do. It's good that you have each other as working the night shift must be quite scary too." As someone with a younger sister, he felt proud of the two young girls who were working the night shift at a convenience store, and at the same time, he felt bad for them. Naturally, his voice was filled with kindness.

"Woo-Jin, did you buy everything? Sorry, after abstaining for the whole day, my body can't hold itself back any longer and is craving nicotine. You haven't started smoking yet, right? Don't ever start." Lee Dan-Woo went into the store after he finished smoking. He took the plastic bag that was filled with cans of beer from Woo-Jin and apologized to him.

"It's okay. I got a call from my friend a while ago and we just finished talking. By the way, would you like to eat some ice cream?"

"My mouth feels dry but I don't like sweet things. Eating a whole ice cream to take away the aftertaste is too much for me to handle."

"In that case, just take a bite." Woo-Jin peeled off the wrapper of the vanilla ice cream cone and offered it to Lee Dan-Woo.

"Hey, I just smoked so it'll smell."

"Most of my friends are smokers, so it doesn't really bother me." Since Woo-Jin had already said he didn't mind and Lee Dan-Woo's mouth felt dry, he stopped turning him down and took a bite of the ice cream cone.

"It tastes good huh?"

"Yeah, it's delicious. But I still can't eat the entire thing."

"Should I tell Writer Yoo to change the script and turn Hyung-Chul into a character who loves eating sweet things?

"Hey!"

'Hyung-Chul' was the name of Lee Dan-Woo's character. Woo-Jin was just joking, but the writer, Yoo Su-Min, is particularly fond of Woo-Jin and would listen to his suggestion. Needless to say, it was nothing more than a joke, on the premise that Woo-Jin would never do such a thing.

"Writer Yoo will listen to me. I'm just joking. Anyway, have a good one you two." Woo-Jin, who was having fun teasing Lee Dan-Woo, could not hold back his laughter. He said goodbye to Da-Young and Cho-Hee, who had to work till dawn, with a bright smile and cheered them on with a clenched fist, telling them to hang in there.

Lee Dan-Woo had been focusing on Woo-Jin from start to end, and he did not look at the two cashiers behind the counter at all. As a self-proclaimed fan of Berry Rose, it was truly a pity.

After Chae Woo-Jin and Lee Dan-Woo had left the convenience store and vanished from sight, Da-Young and Cho-Hee stuttered as they looked at each other.

"Ah, I should have gotten his autograph."

"Should we go after him?"

So that was how it felt to meet a celebrity. At this moment, they had temporarily forgotten that they were celebrities too. By the time the both of them had regained their composure and were brought back to reality, Woo-Jin, who they thought had already left, entered the store once again. They thought he had recognized them and came back, but he had only returned to get two more bottles of warm soymilk. And this time, he had practically run out of the store.

The two idols felt disappointment and resentment when their hopes were dashed once again. They thought to themselves "We are quite famous now, why doesn't he recognize us?" However, apart from that, Chae Woo-Jin was extremely good-looking, so it was hard for them to come to their senses. They wanted to become fans the moment he made eye contact with them and cheered them on softly, with a deadly smile on his face.

Da-Young and Cho-Hee hesitated for a moment as they did not know what to do. A while after Woo-Jin left, the production crew came out of the storage room, but Da-Young and Cho-Hee did not notice them. After the recording was over and when they were alone, Da-Young asked Cho-Hee in a slightly gleeful tone, "Earlier on before we started shooting, A-Ra swung by for a bit and left. right?"

"Yeah, she laughed after seeing our getup and said it was a good thing she didn't participate in this program. And then she left."

"Didn't she say she's a fan of Chae Woo-Jin?"

"After seeing the character named A-Ra in Death Hill, A-Ra cursed at her for having the same name as her and called her an old woman, etc. She's a huge fan who gets extremely jealous over such things even though A-Ra is just her stage name."

"Her reaction is going to be interesting after this goes on air."

There was always bound to be someone who was mean and was disliked by everyone even though they were in the same idol group. Since the other party was younger than them and was extremely rude, and they were unable to retaliate or display their displeasure, their resentment towards A-Ra only grew stronger.

"But will that part even be aired? It was filmed without Chae Woo-Jin's permission. It might become problematic if they air it." It did not seem like the production crew was going after Chae Woo-Jin to ask him for permission. Just like them, the production crew seemed to have lost their composure too.

"The production crew will take care of it and come to an agreement with his agency. Even if it gets edited, all that matters is letting A-Ra know that it was Chae Woo-Jin. If I get to see her face turn sour, I'd feel so good. In A-Ra's eyes, she probably thinks we are worse than her cat."

The idol group which had debuted three months ago, had already started to rot within because of their internal strife.

TL/n - 

1. The word that's used here is 까까, which is baby talk for snacks. Ko Young-Hoon was talking to Woo-Jin like he was a child. 

2. It refers to drinking snacks (안주), which is different from the ones before.

3. 'Maknae' refers to the youngest person within a group, be it family, friends, idol groups, in the workplace, or any type of group or community. 

4. The last part of the sentence was added to make clear that it's Da-Young and Cho-Hee speaking over each other instead of Woo-Jin responding to one of the girls.