Because of this shoot, Cheonghyeon grew noticeably closer to Seoan. Cheonghyeon would go over to Seoan’s house to hang out, and like they had said on V app, they would chat over messenger too.
He had already felt it last time while they were planning the shoot, but he and Seoan got along quite well.
Seoan took good care of him, but it never felt like he was being cared for one-sidedly.
That part was unfamiliar, and Cheonghyeon liked it very much. It felt as though he had really gained a friend in an equal relationship.
“Cheonghyeon-ah, today’s the day the reality show airs, want to watch it together? I’ll order pizza.” 09:17 AM
“Mm, Rich Gold.” 09:18 AM
After sending that message, Cheonghyeon clicked into an app out of habit.
It was a game app he had become deeply obsessed with these days. It was a casual game where you built a kingdom together with cute-looking jellies and even went to war.
The beginning had been trivial. One fan had used the decorating feature in the game and uploaded a screenshot of their kingdom, with the words “Strawberry Cheonghyeon” written large across it, onto social media.
That game became an issue and grew popular within East’s fandom, and after seeing it, Cheonghyeon too got curious and searched for the game.
At the introduction line saying that anyone could become the king of a kingdom just by installing the app, Cheonghyeon practically drooled as he downloaded the game.
The game really was like a whole country, with residents and production facilities in each kingdom, and with just a few taps, the kingdom grew quickly.
Rather than going out to war, Cheonghyeon became serious about decorating the kingdom.
Unlike in the past, when he would repair gardens and detached palaces with each season, there was nothing in this villa that Cheonghyeon could fix up, so he had been bored, and this game became an excellent substitute for that.
These days, it was Cheonghyeon’s only joy.
A message from Seoan popped up across the wide screen.
“Cheonghyeon-ah, they’re picking people who decorated their kingdoms well in that game you play. Want to enter this?” 12:15 PM
At Seoan’s message, Cheonghyeon looked at his kingdom for a moment. Even by his own eyes, his kingdom was very stylish.
Cheonghyeon took a screenshot so that the kingdom would be captured prettily.
“Hyung, do you have a social media account?” 12:18 PM
“Try posting it on East’s official account. The fans will like it too.” 12:19 PM
At the words that the fans would like it, Cheonghyeon uploaded the screenshot he had taken to East’s official account.
E.A.S.T @east_official
(Photo)
#TheGreatestJellyVillageBraggingContestUnderHeaven
Entering!!
19.8K Retweets 10.1K Quote Tweets 42K Likes
The photo Cheonghyeon uploaded spread quickly as the fans retweeted it.
Looking at the teddy bear jellies arranged just right, the garden given a sense of depth through an optical illusion, and the neatly decorated spacing between the production facilities along the paths, Cheonghyeon could not hide his pride.
It was such a perfect game for Cheonghyeon, who liked pretty things and liked decorating.
“Go on ahead to hyung’s house first. Your dad called me over for a bitㅜㅜ I’ll come earlyㅎㅎ If there’s anything you want to say, leave it in a text.” 01:14 PM
A crack ran across Cheonghyeon’s pleasantly smiling face. By “your dad,” he must mean Professor Gi Mujin.
And there was only one reason Seoan would mention it to him this directly. It was obvious that Professor Gi Mujin was calling Seoan over because of him.
After the real-time live broadcast went out, Ihwa had contacted him too. It was certain that after seeing that broadcast, something had come up that he wanted to say.
“Don’t talk about the memory thing.” 01:21 PM
At present, Cheonghyeon trusted Professor Gi even less than Seoan.
To begin with, he did not know why a man who had never been interested in his child before had suddenly become curious now, but Cheonghyeon had absolutely no intention at this point of getting along with this body’s parents.
All of a sudden, he lost his taste for decorating the jelly kingdom. Cheonghyeon dropped his head low. It felt like nothing would stay in his hands until Seoan came home.
A little later, perhaps it really was true that he would come early, Seoan soon came in through the door.
Curious about what they had talked about, Cheonghyeon stuck close to Seoan, but Seoan only smiled faintly and did not tell him clearly.
“What was it? Why won’t you tell me? Did you talk about me?”
“It wasn’t. It was just about a paper.”
The moment he heard that he had not been called there because of him, Cheonghyeon’s expression cleared right up, and he turned around and threw himself onto the sofa.
Watching Cheonghyeon immerse himself once more in decorating the jelly kingdom, Seoan recalled the meeting from just before.
‘Don’t think of using my son.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I know very well that you’re a grandson of Yeonggyeong. And I also know very well that you’re trying to drag even my son into the succession issue. Hyeonbaragi is probably some alias you use, isn’t it? Or is it not?’
He had not expected at all that a man who usually had no interest in either his son or himself would have grasped everything happening in a corner of the lab like this.
Looking at Seoan, who sat there silently sipping his tea with an expressionless face, Professor Gi spoke firmly.
‘I know I have no right to say something like this. Still, it is obvious that the chairman’s anger could at any moment come pouring down entirely on my son, so how could I, as his father, say nothing at all? Before I come to regret having entrusted you with the role of my son’s guardian, I mean for you to stop.’
‘Is that really all you regret?’
Professor Gi narrowed his eyes and looked at him as though trying to pry out what lay beneath. Seoan continued calmly.
‘I don’t know why you think I’m using your son, but… Cheonghyeon and I really are close. The reason I told you last time that I didn’t know him well was because Cheonghyeon dislikes it when you try to manage him like this.’
Seoan continued in a cold voice. As the way Professor Gi had treated Cheonghyeon before came back to mind, a mocking tone slipped out of him on its own.
‘When Cheonghyeon woke up, you were away at an academic conference, weren’t you. If Grandfather’s anger ends up turning toward Cheonghyeon, then I’ll stop it myself. If you are not going to help him even if something happens to Cheonghyeon, and you only called me here to throw out a warning along the lines of, “Don’t hang around with my son’s one and only friend”…. Then I suppose I should let you know that Cheonghyeon is twenty-five years old. I don’t know around what age the son you remember stopped in your mind, though. I’ll be going now.’
The sight of Cheonghyeon, focusing on his game with a cheerful expression, knowing nothing, kept getting his attention.
No news is not always good news.
If Professor Gi, to whom only his own research and achievements mattered, had called him over to say something like that, then he too must have foreseen something and given that warning because of it. It seemed that he would only feel at ease after meeting Grandfather soon and confirming what exactly he was thinking.
Before long, the pizza they had ordered arrived and the broadcast began, and Cheonghyeon suddenly grew embarrassed.
When he watched with the members, he felt nothing, but somehow watching it together with Seoan made him shy, so he focused only on the pizza and his phone.
[Talking about “soft rice-cake baby” and all that.. our baby is a genius of marksmanship and tactics. At age three he crossed the Han River riding a leaf and made grenades out of pinecones to throw. He is an omnipotent being of power.]
└ This is it, he’s showing the dignity of a military-service idol.
└ Him hitting the heart on the shooting board was insaneㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ wow I’m waiting for that gif.
└ The talent Taereung lost.. no, our baby would probably sweep even if he went to the Olympics.
[“We have to show that we are the protagonists of this reality.” Isn’t that basically a line from a blockbuster movie this year?]
└ In a totally fucked situation, the protagonist says this line, grins, and then wins like crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ I’m drunk on Gi Cheonghyeon;;; seriously, his brain is so damn good.
[Doesn’t it feel like Zhuge Liang reincarnation cooldown has filled back up? Zhuge Liang, please take off the mask and come out…!]
└ No but I’m an idiot so I don’t even understand the rules;; maybe in my previous life I was just a foot soldier.
└ I didn’t understand it either, I’m just going “lol for real”.. I don’t know, for now I’m just cheering, but it does seem like our baby did well.
At the fans’ heated reaction, Cheonghyeon’s cheeks turned red. He had learned military studies, but not deeply, and he had only thought the trick had worked well, but seeing the fans happy naturally made him feel good too.
Seoan was also watching the TV intently with an interested face. His shoulders rose on their own.
But at the scene that followed, Cheonghyeon’s expression went pale.
[Who was the one who said he was “the talent Taereung lost”?]
└ Entertainment world: what do you mean, give him back.
└ Taereung was never going to be that easygoing… guys, disperse.
└ Didn’t Cheonghyeon say he wanted to be a civil servant?? “Ah, long-distance running isn’t our department, toot toot toot-…” isn’t it basically that?
[Cheonghyeon-ah… you were in supplies, you were just playing around only pulling the trigger…]
└ Wasn’t it Yoonwoo and Hando and Sikyung who were the ones running up and down mountainsㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ The only thing he moved was his finger…
└ This is so funnyㅠㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ but then again the way he kept sipping the ion drink is so cute, he’s like a baby honeybeeㅜㅜㅜㅜ
└ Busy honeybees don’t have the stamina for long-distance running…
└ ㅅㅂ honeybeeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Baby, how did you carry Yeonhee?
└ The academic consensus is that Yeonhee basically walked through the air herself
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