"This is the residence that you'll stay at from today on. Don't fight, give way, and be nice to each other! The lock on the door will only open with your fingerprints, so you wouldn't need to worry about fans who don't respect your privacy."
"Whoa! Is this really our residence?!"
"We'll get along without fighting. Don't worry, Chief."
"Yes."
"Whoa, it's really big."
"Yeah. So you wanna put me down anytime soon?"
"No! You're sick, hyung. I'll tuck you into bed!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll get going, then. You guys can decide your rooms amongst yourselves. Rest well tomorrow!"
"Yes, get back safe!"
"Put me down."
I expressed my discomfort with all my might in Ryu Sunho's arms as I was held in a bridal carry position. I was ignored, however, and he didn't seem to plan to put me down at all.
Just put me down. I told you, I'm not sick.
The residence had a large living room with good natural light, and an adjacent kitchen. Chief left the residence after finishing her explanation.
"Hyung! How should we choose our rooms?"
"Do you want to decide through rock-scissors-paper? Since there are three rooms…"
"That doesn't sound bad."
"How about we make it so that two people use individual rooms, and three people share one?"
"Wow, Seo Yoon-hyung… Did you catch the beagle off Ryu Sunho?"
"Jitae-hyung! What do you mean by 'beagle'?!"
"You are a beagle. See? Even your friend agrees."
"Beagles are cute. I guess Jitae thought Sunho was cute. So, what do you say about having two individual rooms?"
"Rion! How could you be nodding?! Has our love ended?"
"There wasn't anything like that to begin with."
"Gahaha, did Ryu Sunho just get rejected by Oh Rion?"
I shook my head at the endless talk. Still in Ryu Sunho's arms, I was simultaneously uncomfortable and embarrassed. In the end, I decided that I couldn't bear it any longer and opened my mouth.
"So when do you plan to put me down?"
"Seems like Suan wants to rest quickly. Which room do you want to use, Suan?"
"Hm? You've got a room that you wanna use?"
Perhaps thinking that I must have just wanted to go and rest, Seo Yoon-hyung and Park Jitae turned towards me and asked.
"I wasn't rejected! You're so mean, Jitae-hyung!"
"Hyung, is it uncomfortable?"
Listening to Ryu Sunho's playful remarks and Oh Rion's question, I answered as I recalled the room closest to the entrance.
"I'd prefer a room that's close to the entrance."
"Yeah? Guess I'll use that one too, then. You three can decide your rooms by playing rock-scissors-paper."
"Is that so? Then I will, too. You two can have individual rooms."
Park Jitae and Seo Yoon-hyung nodded in approval as they subtly claimed the room that they wanted to use before Oh Rion and Ryu Sunho.
"Huh, didn't you two want to have individual rooms, hyung? And I also wanna share a room with Suan-hyung."
"I don't need a room to myself, either."
I want a room to myself… At least at home, I'd like to enjoy my lone healing time. Why don't I get a choice?
"Because I'm the leader? I have to look after Suan!"
"If you've got a problem, come back when you're a year older than me."
"Honestly, you're all so mean! I'm the one holding Suan-hyung to begin with!"
"Let's go eat rice cake soup."
"What about my opinion? If you really want to share rooms, then I'll take a room to myself. You guys can choose the rest amongst yourselves."
Really, you guys are in my way.
"You must be tired, Suan. Let's go and sleep."
"Yeah, you look really exhausted. You're even starting to say weird things. Ryu Sunho! Go lay him down on his bed."
"Good night, hyung."
"Hyungahhh, you must be really tired. I'll quickly lay you down!"
No, wait. I want a room to myself. To myself!!
I was rushed by Ryu Sunho into the room closest to the entrance. In the confusion of the moment, I was laid on the bed and too dumbfounded to speak.
"I want a room to myse—"
Before I could even finish my sentence, Ryu Sunho closed the door and left. I thought in a fit,
Just watch me terminate that contract, you frick-fracks!
—crash!
Ugh, it's so noisy.
Were they cleaning the house from so early in the morning? The whole place was echoing with loud noises that were coming from the other side of the door, from running commotion to what could either be hammering nails or completely destroying something. The noise made me wince in my sleep. My face scrunched up at the irritating noise..
Are they even familiar with the concept of sleep? Whatever, whatever. I'm gonna sleep some more.
I swallowed my grudge towards the members, who seemed to be running around the residence.
I pulled the blanket all the way up to my head and buried my face into the pillow. I was slowly getting used to the noise and sleep carried me away.
"Hey, Lee Suan."
Not long after I fell back asleep, a husky voice echoed in the room. The owner of that voice pulled down the blanket that was pulled over my head. I felt a cool breeze wash over my face.
"Lee Suan?"
I sleepily whined under my breath in response to the voice that tried to wake me up again. I wanted to sleep more, and didn't want to wake up. Even in my sleep, I felt a slight spite towards Park Jitae who was waking me up.
"Mmmmh, nnh."
"Are you that sleepy?"
He stuck his hands under my arms and sat me up by force. My upper body flung into the air against my will.
"You have to wake up now."
"Nnnnh, five more minutes. Wake me up in five minutes."
I felt warmth against me cheek. Sleep encroached on my helpless self, controlling my exhausted body and blank mind. In the end, I buried and rubbed my face against Park Jitae's neck as he sat in front of me in an attempt to wake me up.
"Hahh, can't be helped. Don't blame me when you wake up later."
"Nnh."
I won't blame you, so let me sleep for five more minutes.
The blanket that was keeping my body warm was pushed away. As cold air embraced my body, I felt myself be lifted up as if somebody was moving me in their arms.
—click!
I heard the door close. I could feel my body being moved, along with a floating and rocking sensation.
"Hmm? Jitae, why are you holding Suan?"
"Hyunggg! Are we really doing this by ourselves?!"
"You're here, hyung."
"He's still sleepy, so I think we'd have to carry on like this. I'll hold him."
"Would you be alright doing that? It's going to be hard participating like that. How about we start this while sitting on the couch?"
"Gah, my heart is pounding! I can't believe that we have our own reality show!"
"Hyung, sit over here. Suan-hyung looks like an angel when he's sleeping."
"Thanks. He must be exhausted after filming that music video all night. Since he pulled an all-nighter in the cold winter rain…"
Seems like I've been moved out of my room and into the living room…
The bustling noise around me didn't process in my brain properly. Park Jitae seemed to have sat down on the couch, judging by the warmth that I felt underneath my thighs.
"Since everyone's seated, shall we turn the camera on and say hello?"
"Yes, yes! I'll go and turn it on!"
"Yes."
"Let's do that. I'll introduce him."
"Hyung, hyung! It's on!"
—two, three!
""""Nice to meet you. This is iridescent.""""
"Hello. I'm the leader, Seo Yoon. I'm the of iridescent."
"It's filming properly, right? Nnh, it feels weird."
"It is filming properly. Don't be too nervous. See the light over there? It looks like our youngest kid is getting nervous. Mr. Youngest? Would you like to introduce yourself again?"
"Nnnh, Yoon-hyungg… H-H-Hello! I'm the youngest, Sunho!"
"Good job. Our little one seems to be really nervous. Next up, the other Mr. Youngest!"
"Yes, hello. I'm the other youngest, Oh Rion."
"Hello. I'm the main rapper and the middle child of the group, Jitae. The one sleeping in my arms right now is the same age as me and also my roommate, Lee Suan. I'm sorry that he couldn't show his face properly for our first greeting. He looked too tired, so I just dragged him here while he was still asleep."
I felt a light vibration travelling from the nape of his neck onto my buried face. It seemed like he was continuously producing noises. I began to hear the commotion of talking noises around me. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was enough to make my consciousness gradually return.
"It's a great pleasure to film our very first reality show. Our debut date has been decided, but we're still trainees. I heard that we'll be debuting on the day this reality show gets released. Lots of people would be watching this, so I'm a little embarrassed and whatnot."
"Apparently our debut stage will be broadcast live on that day! After that, it will be segued into this scene that we're filming right now!"
"We'll show you our best."
"There are twelve days left until our debut. We'll be filming this reality show until then, so we'll be in your care for those twelve days."
"Nnh, it's cold."
Cold air had settled in the living room and was now taking over my body. I shivered slightly and frowned.
"Are you that cold?"
I felt Park Jitae's embrace as warmth and weight pressed down onto a portion of my back.
"I'll bring a blanket."
"Suan-hyung, are you cold? You were coughing yesterday! He must be catching a cold after all."
"It's winter, so I guess the house was quite cold."
"Yoon-hyung! I'll go get some warm water!"
The scratchy sensation that I felt on the tips of my toes all the way up to my neck felt strange.
Ugh, it's loud and it's cold. I can't sleep anymore.
As I raised my head, rubbed my face, and opened my eyes, I squinted at the bright sunlight that shone through the living room window. I shook my head side-to-side to wake myself up and looked to my side.
"Wah! Why am I sitting on your lap?!"
"I told you that you better not regret it when I was waking you up."