“I’m traveling in comfort thanks to you, Oppa!”
Hyunseung watched Hyuna, who looked much more excited than she had a moment ago. He let out a short chuckle and shifted his gaze back to his phone screen.
Did she say he had no sense of tact?
‘As if.’
Hyunseung had actually known his younger sister would be heading out at dawn.
He also knew she was planning to go see the festival.
How did he know?
Even if he really lacked tact, he wouldn’t have survived in this industry without the resourcefulness and intuition to compensate for it.
There’s always a way.
Sshhh, ssshh.
How could he not know when she had left so much evidence while they were sharing a New Tube ID?
The search bar was filled with nothing but World Electric Music Festival or WEMF-related terms.
There were also occasional traces of searches for Jamal or JS.
Furthermore, just seeing that Jamal was included in the lineup for this World Electric Music Festival was enough to deduce that his sister was going to this festival to see him.
Moreover, if she was going to Las Vegas, which is more than four hours away from New York, she would have to leave early in the morning.
So.
He couldn’t exactly let his sister go all that way to such a crowded place alone, could he?
He had postponed his schedule, contacted Jamal to get invitation tickets, and hurriedly booked a private jet.
No.
But why him, of all people…?
Slide.
Hyunseung watched Hyuna, who was looking out the window in high spirits, and gave her a light nudge.
“Hey.”
He thought it was fine to like him as a fan.
“Ow, why’d you hit me?”
“The plane is tilting because all the weight is shifting toward you. Go to the center and sit still.”
Still, what’s annoying is annoying.
“Hmph!”
At his words, Hyuna glared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment.
“Fine, I’m going!”
She obediently went to the center seat and sat down.
“It’s not tilting anymore, right?”
Did she seriously believe the part about the plane tilting?
Since she’s so pure and easily fooled, he felt uneasy about whatever guy she might meet…
“Sigh.”
Hearing the sigh, Hyuna adjusted her posture, perhaps thinking it was because of her.
Chuckle.
A faint smile appeared on Hyunseung’s face at the sight.
Still, well…
Since he got to spend time with his sister thanks to Jamal, he decided to let it slide.
xxx
At this very moment, Hyuna felt something hot surging from deep within her core.
The passionate music, the experience booths, and even the food trucks wafting delicious smells and smoke.
On top of that, people of various ethnicities were gathered in one place.
As a ‘Capital E’ extrovert, there was no way she wouldn’t get fired up.
“Wow, there are so many people.”
“Close your mouth.”
The official performances were scheduled to start in the evening, but the festival grounds were already packed with crowds.
So she had worried about what would happen if someone recognized them.
But that was just a needless worry.
“But really, the helmet was all it took.”
“I told you so.”
“I don’t know what’s so cool about that helmet that they’re wearing it.”
Not only were several passersby wearing helmets with the flame logo, but they also walked around with black cloths tied around their upper arms or wrists.
Perhaps it was partly because the recognition of ‘HS’ had risen.
Additionally, it seemed to have become a trend as Jamal’s MV became famous.
In short…
Just because someone was wearing a flame-logo helmet, it wasn’t a situation where you could definitively conclude they were ‘HS.’
Grip.
Hyuna firmly grabbed onto her brother’s sleeve.
If she let go, she wouldn’t be able to find which one was her brother.
Just then.
Hyunseung looked down at Hyuna’s hand clutching his sleeve for a moment.
“You came to see Bap-al, didn’t you?”
He asked, making eye contact.
“Bap-al?”
“Yeah.”
“Who’s Bap-al?”
Hyuna tilted her head and asked back.
“Jamal… no, I mean JS.”
“Huh? Ah, that’s…”
“Did I say I was slow on the uptake?”
Hyunseung added with a triumphant smile.
“I could let my sister meet Jamal, whom she wants to see so badly, right now. But since I’m so ‘slow,’ I’m just going to stay still because I can’t possibly know my sister’s heart.”
“O-Oppa? Why are you being so twisted? When did I ever say you lacked tact? No, my brother has the sharpest intuition. Of course!”
However, that must have been bait.
“Oh? You really must want to see him?”
The moment she snapped up the bait, her brother’s expression began to contort strangely.
“Why did it suddenly jump from Kang Hajun to Bap-al? I’d understand if you said you liked the Colt instead.”
(T/N: HS’ nickname for Hajun is ‘colt’)
“Ah, it’s not like that!”
“If it’s not like that, then why did you come all the way here to see him?”
At that question, Hyuna’s lips parted as if to say something, but then she clamped them shut.
It was true she came all the way here to see Jamal.
‘But it’s not the same as the way I like Hajun oppa!’
She liked Jamal purely as a fan.
It wasn’t a heart-fluttering emotion, nothing romantic, physical, or instinctive.
It was just…
A sense of kinship.
As she always did, she listened to the song because her brother worked on it.
She kept listening because the song was good, and as she listened, she became curious about the person named JS who sang it.
As she looked into him out of curiosity, she learned many things.
Yes.
Including the fact that his mother was hearing-impaired.
Rather than the rumors or facts about him being Black, having a dark past, or being a gay man with a crush on HS.
The fact that he lived with and took care of his mother who had a hearing impairment, and his interview saying he wanted to do a concert for such a mother, kept lingering in her head.
That’s why.
She just wanted to know more.
Whether at a concert hall or an interview, that man who habitually said he would definitely win an award at the Grammys just to repay ‘HS’ for changing his life.
Whether he would actually receive an award…
What kind of stage he would present for his mother…
“Anyway, it’s not like that!”
She was just concerned and curious.
“Huh?”
After speaking, she looked around, sensing something strange.
“Hey, you just walk away after asking?!”
Hyunseung was already walking far ahead of her.
“Wait for me!”
Because Hyuna shouted toward her brother…
Click, click.
She didn’t hear the sound of shutters coming from nearby.
xxx
Harry was an elite security guard in charge of security for the Electric Music Festival.
He wasn’t a guard controlling people outside, but right here at the core.
As the person controlling the entrance to the waiting rooms, he was, in a way, performing the most heavy-duty task.
The main highlight of the Electric Music Festival was, of course, the performances.
Only those recognized as popular artists of the era could stand on that stage, and as it was the waiting room where such people rested comfortably, the control over outsiders was even more strict.
“Hey.”
Just then, a waiting room door at the end swung open and someone called out to him.
Harry felt offended by the situation, feeling like he had become a bellboy.
“I have a favor to ask.”
But because the man’s appearance was so intimidating, he couldn’t show his displeasure.
It was JS, a Black rapper who had recently started becoming very successful.
Was his real name Jamal?
He heard that the man not only had a menacing appearance but also a quite grim past.
That past might even be ongoing.
So much so that his fellow guards even advised him to be careful not to get on Jamal’s bad side if possible.
However, cowering before such a person was out of the question for Harry, who had received special training to become an elite guard.
“Yes, please speak.”
He responded in a way that was closer to being blunt than polite, while trying his best not to provoke him.
“Can you lend me your ear for a second?”
Then, Jamal asked in a low, ominous voice.
‘Wait a minute…’
Lend his ear? Did he mean he was going to cut it off and take it?
Is this why his colleagues all insisted he be careful not to provoke Jamal?
Thump, thump.
His heart raced as if it were about to jump out of his mouth, but he maintained a calm face and leaned his ear toward Jamal’s beckoning hand.
He flinched at the sudden scent of sweat, and glancing sideways, he saw that the man was drenched in sweat, though he didn’t know what he had been doing in the waiting room.
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
Jamal continued in a low but precise diction.
“If, by any chance, a man wearing a flame-logo helmet comes looking for Bap-al…”
At some point, Jamal stopped talking, and a terrible silence followed.
Soon after, an unknown chill crept up his spine.
Gulp.
A moment later.
“Don’t bother him and escort him politely to my waiting room immediately.”
Jamal added in a voice that carried a hint of something sinister.
Who on earth was this man in the flame-logo helmet for him to act like this?
And who was Bap-al?
Could it be…
Some kind of code between organizations?
Gulp.
An unknown energy flowed heavily in many ways.
Harry rolled his eyes and continued his deliberation.
Should he just say okay?
However, he couldn’t break his convictions, which were like a solid fortress.
“That will be difficult.”
Harry cut him off and elaborated.
“For security reasons, it is a principle to record the personal information of those who enter this area.”
At the same time, his eyes met Jamal’s in midair.
“Did you not understand what I said?”
Jamal’s expression froze rapidly.
“If you don’t want to see things get ugly, don’t bother that person.”
Had he ever felt such pressure in his life?
With a hint of murderous intent added to the low, ominous voice, Harry even forgot to breathe.
They said his past was quite grim…
Apparently, those words weren’t just rumors or bravado floating around.
“Ah, yes…”
Harry replied, keeping his eyes cast downward.
Right.
A person has to stay alive first.
“Good luck.”
With those final words, Jamal closed the waiting room door and went back inside.
“Phew…”
Only then did Harry exhale the breath he had been holding.
What on earth did ‘if a man in a flame-logo helmet comes looking for Bap-al’ mean?
No matter how much he thought about it, it sounded like a codename used in the underworld…
Should he report this in advance?
No.
Would such a person even show up?
Tap, tap, tap.
Harry prayed for time to pass quickly, tapping the floor rhythmically with the toe of his dress shoe.
“What, nobody’s coming.”
Even as the performance time approached, the ‘man wearing a helmet with a flame mark’ did not appear.
“Did he say that nonsense because he was high on drugs or something?”
Just as Harry was about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking it was just a strange incident.
Creaaaak.
The thick door marked ‘Authorized Personnel Only’ opened.
“W-what brings you here?”
A man wearing the very flame-marked helmet Jamal had mentioned walked inside leisurely.
‘He actually came?’
The tall man, who looked to be at least 183cm, didn’t have a menacing atmosphere like Jamal, but he possessed an aura that made him difficult to approach.
‘Is this man the b-boss…?’
Harry swallowed hard and waited for the man’s answer.
“Hmm…”
The man let out a low hum for a moment.
“I came to see Bap-al.”
He said as he pushed up his goggles, which were heavily tinted in a rainbow finish.
His voice was low, deep, and smooth, but for some reason, that felt even more ominous.
“We have been waiting for you.”
Harry was certain.
“P-please come this way.”
This man was definitely the boss of the organization Jamal belonged to.
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