022 What Is Truly Real

When IZ*ONE arrived, they were already dressed in coordinated performance outfits featuring Yonsei’s signature blue.

The student council had provided all kinds of fan merchandise, including but not limited to T-shirts, tank tops, shirts, baseball jerseys, and printed silk scarves.

The stylists only needed to pair them with some basic trousers or skirts. They could simply reuse things they had worn before.

For an appearance fee of eight million won, what more could anyone ask for?

Kwon Eun-bi wore loose-fitting jeans on the bottom, so naturally her top had to reveal a little more: a denim bandeau top with a blue printed scarf sewn across it.

The word “Yonsei” sat right in the middle, its letters warped as though someone had applied a terrifying distortion-and-enlargement effect.

This couldn’t be real, could it?

A heavier person’s flesh dragged behind them when they ran, let alone danced. Wearing something like this really would restrict an idol’s movements.

“Ah, thank you, Captain Kwon.”

Lee Jun-ho took the water and, while he was at it, advertised IZ*ONE.

“Our IZ*ONE is making a comeback next month.”

“Then… shall I wish you great sales?”

Yoon Yun-hwi had no idea what Lee Jun-ho was talking about. Was he just spouting nonsense? What did IZ*ONE’s comeback have to do with him? He should worry about himself a little more.

“Ah~ Brother Hwi, that’s not quite right~”

Lee Jun-ho began showing off his literary flair.

“ITZY has five members, (G)I-DLE has six, but our IZ*ONE has a full twelve. How could you possibly charge us the same price?”

Lee Jun-ho looked utterly heartbroken.

“Once the performance is over, shouldn’t you treat all the IZ*ONE members to a proper meal, Brother Hwi?”

“Huh?”

Yoon Yun-hwi laughed.

“Sure, I have no objections. Though I wonder whether Captain Kwon and the others have time.”

Assistant Kim, who had just been robbed of her duties, suddenly discovered that she had work again. But she had only come to watch the performance today and hadn’t brought the van.

Would it really be safe for so many people to go to a hotel?

Without even realizing it, Assistant Kim had counted all twelve of them in. Of course, she meant for dinner.

“Some of the members still need to go back and get an early rest.”

Kwon Eun-bi froze for a moment, then immediately made it clear that there were minors among them. Only after that did her maternal instincts fully emerge.

“So we can’t stay out too late…”

“Haha, Brother Hwi, what did I tell you? Our Captain Kwon is the best at taking care of people. With her around, I don’t know how many problems I’ve been spared.”

“Isn’t it actually because you haven’t managed to find any new employees yet?”

Yoon Yun-hwi exposed Lee Jun-ho’s exaggeration without the slightest mercy. Kwon Eun-bi, however, spoke up on Lee Jun-ho’s behalf.

“Director Lee has been working very hard. The new managers and dance instructors have already started working, and our new dormitory even has air conditioning.”

Lee Jun-ho smiled, clearly pleased with himself.

In front of his wonderful big brother, he rarely had many chances to show what he could do. After finally managing to widen the gap during the period when Hwi had been serving in the military, he naturally wanted to prove himself a reliable junior.

Kwon Eun-bi was being very cooperative as well.

She came from Woollim Entertainment, a company that had never truly enjoyed glory and was now steadily declining. Once the contracts of its artists expired, every one of them had chosen to leave without hesitation.

It was difficult to say whether those artists would live better after leaving, but the fact that they wanted to escape said enough.

Kwon Eun-bi, however, did not want to leave. She was getting older, and no one else might want her. Once IZ*ONE disbanded, she would rather return to Woollim Entertainment and become its leading female artist. Surely they would sign her again then.

What kind of contract she could negotiate would depend on how great an opportunity she managed to seize now.

In fact, ever since IZ*ONE had transferred to OTR Entertainment and resumed activities, Director Lee had hinted at it to her several times.

But Kwon Eun-bi’s ambition was not to become something billed by the occasion. She wanted to earn money while keeping her clothes on.

The young man Director Lee had been describing, however, was someone she knew nothing about.

In Kwon Eun-bi’s simple way of thinking, Director Lee was the child of a chaebol family. Any friend of his who was around the same age had to be another chaebol heir—someone who could easily devour her whole.

But now, her attitude had changed. She had learned a little about Yoon Yun-hwi, especially after hearing that he had become an actor.

That instantly gave rise to a false sense of hope. He no longer seemed impossibly distant, and the boundaries between their social classes appeared faintly blurred.

Why not give it a try? What if she managed to make it? Even if she failed, she would surely gain something from it.

Kwon Eun-bi really ought to thank Lee Jun-ho. Having followed Yoon Yun-hwi for so long, Lee Jun-ho had no interest in making himself look too greedy.

“Heh.”

Yoon Yun-hwi looked at Kwon Eun-bi, and she suddenly felt a little guilty, as though he had seen straight through her small thoughts.

“Sister Kim, I’ve shared a contact with you. When you add them, mention my name and ask whether they have any tables available tonight.”

“Got it, got it.”

After giving the assistant her instructions, Yoon Yun-hwi turned to Kwon Eun-bi.

“It’s only a good meal. There’s no problem bringing the girls along. Once you’re done eating, you can return to the dorm early.”

“I understand.”

Kwon Eun-bi nodded. He seemed to be taking her feelings into consideration, generously treating the members to dinner. It made her feel that he valued them.

For some inexplicable reason, Lee Jun-ho was perfectly satisfied and kept smiling.

“Brother Hwi, where are you planning to take so many people?”

“Where else? We’re going to the club.”

“Tsk, isn’t that a little extravagant?”

Lee Jun-ho naturally knew which club his big brother meant—the one near their home in Jangchung-dong, where the two of them had eaten as though it were their school cafeteria when they were children.

“Come on. Do you want to keep standing out here in the sun?”

The moment Yoon Yun-hwi finished speaking, two vans arrived one after another. All the guest performers for the music festival had shown up.

After ITZY and (G)I-DLE got out, neither group noticed the two men standing beneath the trees by the roadside. Yoon Yun-hwi and Lee Jun-ho were wearing volunteer vests. They were no longer merely inconspicuous; they looked like nothing more than random passersby.

Instead, ITZY and (G)I-DLE greeted each other in the small parking area. They were friends who already knew one another.

“This way!”

Seeing that Miyeon and the others did not know where to go—the student council shuttle had yet to catch up—Yoon Yun-hwi could not help calling out a reminder.

“Ah, okay. Thank you.”

Miyeon turned around in a circle before finally finding the right direction. As she passed in front of Yoon Yun-hwi, she belatedly realized that the volunteer looked somewhat familiar.

She abruptly turned back.

“Yun-hwi!”

“Ah…”

Yoon Yun-hwi was defeated. He genuinely had nothing to say.

“Yun-hwi, you’re here too~ How wonderful~”

Miyeon was simply cheerful.

“You said last time that we’d meet again. Was today what you meant? Oh! You’re a student at Yonsei University!”

“…”

Yoon Yun-hwi was speechless.

Miyeon hadn’t known that he went to Yonsei University?

How had he ever mistaken someone like this for a rival when they were in elementary school?

So many days had passed, and Yoon Yun-hwi had assumed Miyeon would try to contact him.

Instead, this beautiful woman had genuinely been waiting for another chance to see him.

“Tell me your phone number! We agreed that we’d exchange contact information.”

This time, her performance outfit had pockets. With a triumphant air, Miyeon pulled out her phone, which was only half exposed. Her backside was impressively rounded, and the phone was wedged in tightly.

Judging by Miyeon’s familiarity, anyone who didn’t know better would have assumed they were extremely close.

Who could have imagined that, before this, they had been elementary-school classmates who had not seen each other for many years?

In the face of someone like her, Yoon Yun-hwi seemed to lose all his strength and every possible means of resistance. He could only go along with it.

Why bother arguing with an idiot?

Honestly…

“Did you miss me, Sister Miyeon?”