Side Story 2
November 14th, the day of the CSAT.
The members who had been preparing cheering placards until late last night for today woke up early, breaking my expectations.
"The sun rises in the west."
"Why are you looking at me like that, hyung!"
I woke up at 6am and leisurely ate cereal alone, and at 7am, I looked at Yoo Min-ha who woke up on his own when the alarm went off.
Although his head was like a magpie's nest, Yoo Min-ha pushed his chest forward as if he was very confident.
"I'm the type of person who does what I have to do. Unlike Eun-gyu hyung, it's easy to wake up early if you make up your mind."
"I was thinking about carrying you on my shoulders today because you stayed up late last night."
"That was the last, last, last resort! Why are you doing that to me!"
"I'm joking."
"It didn't seem like a joke at all?"
It might be a joke to say that I will carry Yoo Minha like a piece of luggage, but I thought that I might really have to do that to the Chae Eun-gyu he mentioned.
Chae Eun-gyu had a characteristic that he couldn't easily wake up no matter what he did, so I often did that when I shared a room with him.
"Oh, what? Are you all awake?"
"...Something is seriously wrong today."
I almost dropped the dishes I was washing when I saw Chae Eun-gyu wake up at around 7:30.
No, Chae Eun-gyu, who wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I tried to wake him up, what on earth made him wake up so early?
Except for Ji Yoon-chul, the other members also woke up long before 8 and prepared to greet the youngest.
"Since when have we been awake early as a group?"
"I don't know. I'm strangely not sleepy today."
"..."
"What's wrong, why is he breaking down so often today?"
Kang Si-yoon tilted his head as he looked at me standing there with my mouth open without saying anything.
As if he was trying to fix a broken robot, he poked my temple with his finger.
"......Everyone, be honest."
"Huh? What?"
"Everyone here is fake. They're all possessed by ghosts."
"What's really going on today?"
The outrageous things that happened this morning were so amazing that I couldn't help but say something ridiculous.
I, who always woke up the members while twisting my whole body, shook my head in disbelief.
"Does every morning have to be the CSAT?"
And a few minutes later, the long-awaited test taker appeared, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Yoonchul, did you sleep well? Are you feeling okay?"
"...I think it's good that I went to bed early yesterday."
"Okay, milk is rat poison for our test takers, so I prepared a special meal. You should eat quickly, wash up, and leave. If you're late, you'll be in big trouble."
Kang Si-yoon, who showed off his cooking skills after a long time, prepared easy-to-digest soybean paste stew and scrambled eggs.
On the day before an important exam, you should never eat heavy food.
Foods containing lactose, such as milk, can stimulate intestinal movement, so you should avoid them as much as possible.
That's why Kang Si-yoon planned breakfast only with Korean food that goes down smoothly and doesn't stimulate the digestive system.
Ji Yoon-chul, who was enjoying the soybean paste stew and rice, suddenly raised his head and looked at Kang Si-yoon.
"Huh? Why all of a sudden, Yoon-chul? Is it too salty? Or less salt?"
"...That's not it."
"Huh?"
"I don't know why my hyung's food tastes like mom's cooking."
"Hahaha!"
We burst out laughing as a group.
Kang Si-yoon, who often cooks for us at the Seleste dorm, sometimes hears people say that he has the mother's position.
It felt different when he was confirmed by the youngest who was about to take the college entrance exam.
"As a chef, that's a really special compliment. It's really hard to imitate the taste of your mother. Do you all know that?"
"You can appear on a cooking show later, Siyoon-ah."
"I definitely have thoughts. Oh, but I need to build up my skills a bit more to do that."
Kang Siyoon rubbed his hands and smiled at us.
"I'll have to do some clinical trials, is everyone okay?"
"Ahem! I'm off."
"I ate well~!"
"Oh, I need to go to the bathroom for a bit."
"I just remembered something I need to take care of. Excuse me."
"Seriously, at times like this, we all move as one."
I really had to pack what I had prepared.
The chapssal-tteok I brought from the rice cake shop yesterday to wish for a great college entrance exam.
I personally went to the rice cake shop near my dorm that was rated as the best.
"Here, take it, Yoonchul."
"...Is it rice cake?"
"I learned that the original Korean tradition is to give rice cakes on the day of the CSAT."
When I handed a neatly wrapped rice cake set to Ji Yoon-chul, who had finished eating breakfast, the rest of the members looked at me in surprise.
"Hey, where on earth did you learn that you have to give rice cakes on the day of the CSAT?"
"Did Changmin hyung tell you?"
"No. I didn't ask anyone."
"I told you. He seems more Korean than us."
"I'm not the only one who prepared rice cakes, am I?"
Song Hyung-bin coughed as if he had been hit with my words.
Chae Eun-gyu gave me a thumbs up in a sarcastic way.
"I knew you were going to buy it, so I didn't!"
"Isn't that too sarcastic?"
"Actually, I was so busy making the placard yesterday that I didn't even think about rice cakes. Yoon-chul, I'm really sorry."
"...It's okay. Even if I receive a lot of rice cakes, I won't be able to eat them all anyway."
Ji Yoon-chul smiled and carefully picked up the rice cake.
"Thank you, hyung. Si-yoon hyung, thank you so much for making breakfast."
"You haven't seen what we prepared yet, so just wait a little bit!"
"We honestly prepared a lot. Are you excited?"
I saw a little bit of the cheering that Yoo Min-ha and Heo Yu-bin had worked hard to plan yesterday, and they definitely prepared a lot in a short amount of time.
I'm not sure how Ji Yoon-chul will react, though.
While we were feeding Ji Yoon-chul breakfast and preparing for the cheering match, the filming crew that came down from the Sigma Entertainment building had already prepared everything in front of the dorm.
It wasn't a huge number of cameras like when we usually film our own content, but at least five or six were set up.
"It's really amazing no matter how I see it."
"How could we not film something this fun?"
The manager hyung winked at me and smiled.
"Min-ha and Yu-bin, none of our kids took the CSAT. We didn't get any news photos, and we didn't get to film any related content. This is our last chance, so we have to work hard."
"Well......…."
"Other people can't take the CSAT to make CSAT content."
"Hmm. That's definitely a bit weird."
"Right?"
It's weird that I, a foreigner, am taking the CSAT at the age of 23.
It's even weirder that older members like Song Hyung-bin and Chae Eun-gyu are taking the CSAT for content.
So I can understand why the focus is on Ji Yoon-chul, the youngest.
But.......
"Is the carpet usually laid out in a straight line?"
"If it's like this, the shape will look weird."
"Should we start a bit further forward? I'd like it to start from the door."
Looking at Yoo Min-ha, Heo Yu-bin, and Kang Si-yoon personally laying out the red carpet, it seems like they are all being very sincere.
"You have to throw the confetti properly, hyung. You know that, right?"
"I just have to throw it over his head, right?"
"But you have to throw it harder than you think. Otherwise, Yoon-chul might get hit in the face."
"Oh, then it'd be a real disaster."
If you hit Yoon-chul in the face with the confetti at a place of congratulations and cheers...... I really don't want to imagine it.
Soon, everything was ready, and it was time for Ji Yoon-cheol to go to the test center.
I held up one of the placards we made yesterday and showed off a fancy twirl during the intermission.
"Hey, you're no joke. Why are you so flashy?"
"If you're as dexterous as me, you can do anything. Of course you can't, Si-yoon."
"Oh my, I didn't even think about trying."
Finally, Ji Yoon-chul opened the door and came out, and Chae Eun-gyu, who was in charge of the confetti, threw the confetti over his head with all his might.
Fortunately, the pollen fell on Ji Yoonchul's head as planned.
"Our youngest, fighting!"
"The college entrance exam is like gum. Gum!"
"......What the heck is that red carpet?"
"It's our youngest's college entrance exam, so we should at least lay out a red carpet to make it look real."
Ji Yoon-chul shook his head with a look of helplessness as he saw the red carpet that looked like it would appear at an award ceremony.
However, judging by the smile on his face, he seemed to be in a good mood.
"I'll be back."
"Don't be nervous, Yoon-chul! You have to solve all the problems. Okay?"
"Hey, if you don't know, answer 4! Answer 4 for difficult problems!"
"I'll take note."
Ji Yoon-chul, who decided not to give up on his second foreign language because it was a once-in-a-lifetime college entrance exam, left the testing center after 6 PM.
The manager who was waiting in front of the testing center uploaded a picture of Ji Yoon-chul who had just finished the college entrance exam to the group chat.
"Looking at it like this, he really is a high school student. Yoon-chul."
"Isn't this too baby-like?"
"How did Changmin hyung take such good pictures? This hyung isn't usually like this."
"It's just the subject."
Ji Yoon-chul, who came out wrapped up in padding and carrying a bag on his shoulder, looked no different from other high school students his age.
Of course, his flashy appearance was different from others, but he felt like a student who hasn't become an adult yet.
This cute maknae will be twenty in a little over a month...….
Time really seems to pass too quickly.
Ji Yoon-chul, who returned to the dorm, left a short and intense review of the CSAT.
He solved all the problems without regret.
He chose number 4 as his hyungs said.
He did his best until the end, so he has no regrets, and he feels like he's grown a step.
"You've worked hard, our youngest."
"Did you eat the lunch we packed? You didn't get sick, did you?"
"Yes. Thanks to hyung, I felt better."
We all told Ji Yoon-chul that he had suffered with one heart.
Today, the youngest who took a step forward was simply amazing.
***
January 1st, the beginning of the new year.
January 1st always had a deep meaning for Seleste.
That another year had passed since they started group activities.
That they had gotten a year older.
That the younger brothers who seemed so young had become adults.
And that it was Ji Yoon-chul's birthday every year.
"Happy birthday Ji Yoon-chul!"
"Hyung-bin hyung, grab his shoulder quickly! Quickly!"
"I got it, I got it! Hey, hurry up!"
"Why, why are you doing this! Why my arm!"
"Okay, stay still, my cute brother."
To celebrate the end of the past year and the beginning of the new year, we held a company dinner every year with the members and Sigma Entertainment staff.
This year, we celebrated at a restaurant that all the members liked, regardless of their preferences.
Kang Si-yoon and Song Hyung-bin, who had agreed on a plan in advance, moved quickly.
Song Hyung-bin grabbed Ji Yoon-chul by the shoulder to prevent him from running away.
Kang Si-yoon took out the whipped cream cake and scooped up a handful of whipped cream.
"Let go! Let go!"
"Yeah, no, no. Stay still."
Ji Yoon-chul, who knew something was going to happen to him, desperately struggled and tried to run away.
However, Ji Yoon-chul's strength, which was inversely proportional to his height, was not enough to shake off Song Hyung-bin's hand.
Originally, we didn't often do birthday cakes like this among ourselves, but for some reason, we all tacitly agreed that this was what we should do for the youngest's twentieth birthday.
It was the last time we would celebrate turning twenty.
In the end, Ji Yoon-chul, who could not escape his fate, quietly raised his glass with whipped cream smeared on both cheeks and the tip of his nose.
"...I'll do whatever I want to do today."
He felt a sense of inexplicable tragedy.
Ji Yoon-chul still had whipped cream on his face and took something out of the mysterious shopping bag that the manager had brought earlier.
It was a fairly large bottle, and it was filled with clear liquid.
It looked like soju, but it wasn't the soju bottle we usually know.
As soon as he saw the unidentified bottle, Chae Eun-gyu was shocked.
"This is vodka."
"Yes."
"Vodka? The vodka I know?"
"If it's vodka, isn't it very strong?"
"Y, Yoon-chul."
Song Hyung-bin stuttered and asked Ji Yoon-chul.
"You really wanted to drink vodka when you became an adult?"
"...I've always wanted to drink alcohol properly when I became an adult. But I thought it wouldn't be fun to drink soju or beer, so I thought about it and asked Chang-min hyung for vodka."
"You really are scarier than I thought."
I had vaguely heard about the high alcohol content of vodka.
Usually, it is said that you should mix it with tonic water to make it taste better.
Ji Yoon-chul, who still had whipped cream on his face, smiled wickedly.
"It's my birthday today, so can I use a wish?"
"No, Yoon-chul. I don't know what you're thinking, but think about it again—!"
"Let's all drink vodka today without tonic water."
"The youngest is crazy!"
"...Huh? What?"
"Hey, that's really not possible! Yoo Minha is really going to die!"
"That's right, I'm going to die!"
The members who were weak to alcohol, especially Yoo Minha, waved their hands and asked Ji Yoon-cheol to please let them go, but did he dream of revenge for the birthday punch?
Ji Yoon-chul, the main character of today, showed no mercy to his brothers.
So we drank raw vodka for the first time in our lives with the highest quality Korean beef ribs......….
Well, even without looking, the result was obvious.
I shook my head at Ji Yoon-chul, who had knocked out four members in 20 minutes.
"You are a drinker too, Yoon-chul."
"The other hyungs are weak."
It seems that the rumor that the youngest member is the best has been going around among fans for a long time for a reason.
—