"Today was so much fun! Thank you, Minji. All of this was possible because of you. We went to a concert for the first time in our lives—and that too, a TBS concert! Oh my God!" Hana said dramatically before throwing herself onto her bed.
"Seriously, Minji, thank you so much," Ruhi added, hugging Minji, who was sitting on her bed.
Sophia looked toward the two quiet girls in the room. "Why are you both so silent?"
"When the three of us went outside looking for Zoya, everything seemed fine. What happened after that, Minji? And why is Zoya quiet too?" Hana asked thoughtfully.
After Jae had informed them that the couple had left and Zoya was outside, Hana, Sophia, and Ruhi had immediately rushed out. Minji had stayed behind to hear what Jeon.J wanted to say. The three girls searched around the stadium but couldn't find Zoya. When they finally returned toward the entrance, they found Minji and Zoya standing together.
Hana had glared at Zoya. They had spent so much time searching for her that they hadn't even gotten the chance to properly say goodbye to the TBS members or take pictures with them.
"Nothing happened. Go to sleep. I have a lot of work tomorrow," Zoya said casually before heading off to change.
A little while later, she lay down under her blanket.
Hana, Ruhi, and Sophia didn't think much about it. They quickly returned to discussing the concert, watching the reels they had recorded, and uploading some of them online.
Minji also changed into her night clothes and was about to lie down when she suddenly got up and sat beside Zoya's bed. She glanced back at the three girls, who were too busy chatting to notice them.
"Zoya..." Minji called softly.
"Minji, go to sleep. If you wake up late tomorrow, you'll start making noise again," Zoya replied from beneath her blanket.
Minji stared at her.
"How can you be acting normal? You're not normal."
She pulled the blanket away from Zoya.
"I'm fine, Minji. You're worrying for no reason," Zoya answered.
"You're pretending to be normal," Minji said quietly.
Zoya pulled the blanket aside and sat up.
"Minji, he's right. Ever since I came into your lives, I've only created problems for all of you. And every time, you all leave your own work behind just to solve those problems. That makes me feel bad."
"No, Zoya. That's not true. You're taking his words too seriously. I don't even know why he became so rude. He's never like that. I've never even seen him get angry before. I don't know what happened today." Minji tried to defend Jeon.J.
"Minji, he was right. He's an idol. He can't leave his own responsibilities just to solve the problems I create. You should understand him. I've already understood," Zoya said with a painful smile.
Every single word Jeon.J had spoken was still carved deeply into her heart.
Meanwhile, Sophia, Hana, and Ruhi were still sitting on Hana's bed, talking excitedly about the concert. They were watching their videos, laughing over memories, and uploading posts completely unaware of the conversation taking place between Zoya and Minji.
"I'm going to talk to him. He has no right to speak about my friend like that," Minji said angrily.
"And I have no right to disturb all of your lives either," Zoya replied immediately.
Minji looked at her gently.
"He wasn't like this before. That's the truth. You probably haven't watched many TBS videos, but if you had, you'd know Jeon.J is different from everyone else."
(I know he's different from everyone else.) Zoya silently thought.
"I seriously don't know why he's been getting so angry lately," Minji said in confusion.
(It's not anger. He's running away from himself. He's running away from the changes inside his own heart.)
Minji was about to get up when she suddenly froze and stared at Zoya.
For a moment, Zoya panicked. She was afraid Minji might somehow read everything written on her face.
Quickly forcing herself to act normal, she asked, "What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"He never used to get angry. He would never insult anyone either," Minji said slowly, carefully studying every expression on Zoya's face.
Then she finished quietly.
"But these past few days... he's only been angry with you. And every single time, he's insulted only you."
Zoya forced a smile.
"What's so surprising about that? I have no confidence. I create problems, not solutions. And somehow, every time, I end up becoming a problem specifically for him. So his behaviour toward me is completely normal."
She adjusted her blanket and spoke without looking at Minji.
Because if she looked into Minji's eyes, she knew she wouldn't be able to say those words.
Minji watched her carefully. Zoya's answer didn't satisfy her at all.
Still, she finally stood up, returned to her own bed, and lay down.
After some time, everyone fell asleep.
Everyone except Zoya.
Hidden beneath her blanket, she remained awake.
Because Minji's question had disturbed her far more than she wanted to admit.
"Jeon.J, what's wrong with you? How could you say something like that?
And don't try to deny it—I saw it with my own eyes. You used harsh words even after seeing that Zoya was standing near the door. You said those things knowing she would hear them.
What I don't understand is why."
Kim Joon finally spoke, his voice calm but heavy.
"If you didn't like her, you could have simply told Minji. Any one of us would have found another solution ourselves. But what you've been doing lately... none of it makes sense."
The room fell completely silent.
Everyone had returned to the hotel after the concert, and at Kim Joon's request, all the members had gathered in his room.
"In Seoul, you let them stay at your house," Kim Joon continued.
"You even allowed them to remain there when the security code worked only with your fingerprint. Minji wanted to go back to her own place, yet you added her fingerprints to the system so they could stay."
Nobody interrupted him.
"If your concern was Zoya's safety, Minji's house was secure, too. Ji-Won couldn't have gotten in there either. But despite that, you still kept Minji and her friends at your house."
Kim Joon's gaze sharpened.
"And after coming here, you've been checking your phone constantly to watch the house cameras."
He paused.
"Or should I say... you've only been checking the cameras where Zoya was most likely to be."
The room froze.
Jeon.J looked up at Kim Joon in disbelief.
The others exchanged shocked glances before looking back at him.
When Jeon.J noticed everyone staring, he lowered his head.
Like a secret had finally been exposed.
And he had no way to deny it.
"You like her."
Kim Joon's voice was firm.
But Jeon.J remained silent.
"You really think none of us has noticed where your attention has been these past few days?"
Kim Joon continued while everyone listened quietly.
No one dared to interrupt when Kim Joon was in this mood.
"If your silence means yes, then explain something to me."
His eyes remained fixed on Jeon.J.
"Why did you propose to Minji?"
The question struck the room like lightning.
"And if your silence means no, then explain all of this."
"Why is your attention always on her?"
"Why are you worried about her?"
"Why don't you like seeing her talking to Ji-Ho?"
"Why does every little thing involving her affect you?"
Jeon.J sat motionless with his head lowered.
The others were shocked too.
They had noticed many things themselves.
Yomin, especially, had started figuring things out over the past few days.
But no one had dared say anything in front of Kim Joon.
"And I know someone here understands a lot more than he's willing to admit."
Kim Joon looked toward Jinhun.
Yomin silently thanked the heavens that Kim Joon didn't know about his own suspicions.
Jinhun immediately avoided eye contact.
Kim Joon stared at him for a moment before turning back to Jeon.J.
"People call us one soul."
His voice softened.
"But I believe all of us helped shape your soul as you grew."
A painful smile crossed his face.
"The age difference between us isn't that great. Still, we've always looked at you like our youngest."
The room remained silent.
"But today, after seeing you like this..."
Kim Joon took a slow breath.
"It makes me feel that maybe we failed somewhere."
Jeon.J's head snapped up.
"Maybe we never became the kind of people you could truly trust."
The words shattered something inside him.
Without warning, Jeon.J stood and dropped to the floor beside Kim Joon.
He rested his head in Kim Joon's lap and hid his face.
His shoulders trembled violently.
For a second, everyone froze.
Then they realized he was crying.
The sight instantly filled the room with worry.
Kim Joon quickly pulled him upright and wrapped his arms around him.
Jeon.J buried his face against Kim Joon's chest and finally broke down completely.
After a while, Jeon.J was sitting beside Kim Joon again.
He looked calmer now, though his eyes were still slightly red.
Kim Joon glanced at Jinhun before speaking.
"Jinhun, do I need to personally invite you to start talking?"
The room immediately became quiet.
"What exactly is going on here? I don't want to see any more distractions. There was already enough disturbance during today's concert. Tomorrow, I don't want any of this happening again."
His gaze moved across the room.
"That's why all of you are here. Whatever has been happening between you and Jeon.J these past few days, I want everything explained, unless all of you are secretly working together and hiding things from me."
The members exchanged looks.
"We don't know anything. We're hearing all of this from you too," Minjo replied quickly.
"I did notice something during the performance," Hosu admitted. "But I thought he was looking at Minji."
He shook his head.
"How was I supposed to know he was actually searching for someone sitting in the guest section?"
"And searching for the same person who blackmailed me into giving away my ticket and another extra ticket to that couple," Teahun complained dramatically.
The room finally relaxed a little.
"Why does this always happen to you whenever she's around?" Hosu teased.
"Because I'm the innocent one in this group, and I can never understand her tricks," Teahun replied with a pout.
"Oh, please. Innocent?" Yomin mocked immediately.
A few chuckles spread through the room.
"What happened? Why didn't everyone go quiet?" Kim Joon asked, narrowing his eyes.
The laughter instantly disappeared.
"So, Jinhun..."
Kim Joon crossed his arms.
"Are you going to explain, or will Jeon.J do it himself?"
Jinhun opened his mouth.
But before he could continue, Jeon.J interrupted him.
Everyone turned toward him.
Taking a deep breath, Jeon.J slowly began telling them everything.
About hearing strange words in his dreams.
About waking up frightened because of them.
About visiting the Central Mosque in Seoul.
About hearing the exact same words from Zoya's lips that he had been hearing in his sleep.
About finding the letter inside Bamson's sweater.
About discovering the bracelet.
About finding an identical bracelet with Zoya.
About the initials "MJ" and their connection to the letter.
Even the details about Spring Song.
Everything.
The room remained completely silent as he spoke.
No one interrupted him.
And when he finally finished, a strange calm settled over the room.
For several moments, nobody said anything.
Then Hosu asked the first question that came to his mind.
"Why did you propose to Minji?"
Jeon.J looked down.
"I don't know."
The answer made everyone stare at him.
"I felt like she was beginning to notice the feelings growing inside me."
He rubbed his face awkwardly.
"That day, after the stalker incident, she had returned and was resting in her room. Minji went to call her for dinner."
His expression softened.
"I was angry because she had called Ji-Ho for help."
A few members exchanged knowing looks.
"But even then... I wanted to see her."
His voice grew quieter.
"I was confused. I couldn't understand why her tears bothered me so much."
He paused.
"When I was about to enter the room, I heard her voice."
Everyone listened carefully.
"She had already seen me standing at the door."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"And while looking directly at me, she started advising Minji."
"She told Minji that she should confess to me."
The room froze.
"She knew Minji liked me."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"But what hurt was that she said it while looking straight at me."
His eyes lowered again.
"I couldn't understand how she could knowingly say something like that."
"So before Minji could say anything..."
He let out a slow breath.
"I proposed first."
Silence filled the room again.
Kim Joon watched him carefully.
"You're confused."
Jeon.J looked up.
"You don't even know what you're feeling or what you actually want."
For once, Jeon.J couldn't argue.
"I don't know," he admitted quietly.
Kim Joon sighed.
"You're confusing all of us too. Nothing about this makes sense."
A faint smile appeared on Jeon.J's lips.
"Nothing makes sense to me either."
The room became quiet again.
After a moment, he spoke softly.
"I only know one thing."
Everyone looked at him.
"Her tears put me in difficult situations."
A sad smile appeared on his face.
"It's like she somehow knows when I'm struggling."
He lowered his head.
"And maybe that's why she cries so much... just to make my life harder."
The words were meant as a joke.
But the pain hidden behind them was impossible to miss.
And for the first time that night, everyone understood just how lost Jeon.J truly was.
To be continued...
Regards,
ZK