Chapter - 47화 (47/150)
"Where is everyone going...?"
Because Jisu hadn't woken Dansol until nearly noon, Dansol's face was puffy and swollen. Still half-asleep and dazed, he saw people walking around with luggage bags in front of him.
"Dansol! Didn't you hear?"
"Taeohh... where are we going?"
"They're postponing the elimination announcement by a week."
"Huh...? Why?"
A big hand rubbed the back of Dansol's head, which was a total mess. It was Jisu.
"The Asian Games."
"Ah...."
Even though it would be easier to air if they filmed in advance, PD Choi—sensitive about spoilers—never let edits pile up. Even though he'd already lived through it once, Dansol felt oddly embarrassed that he'd been the only one sleeping without a clue.
"If you look at it, Dansol, you're always the last to hear things."
"Huh?"
Taeohh frowned as he spoke.
"Isn't your manager just not doing his job? You're getting by on your natural beauty... but it feels like he's neglecting his artist too much. Since it's come to this, want to move to our agency?"
"Ah... I still have a lot of time left on my contract...."
"Look right now—everyone's waiting outside, but your car is the only one that isn't here. You know that?"
Taeohh wasn't wrong, but even though it wasn't his fault, Dansol somehow felt embarrassed.
The others had two or three people each—managers and stylists—attached to them. Even if they were off the island during filming, they stayed near Chunmonggak, or at least around Chunmongdo, so they could arrive within thirty minutes at the latest.
It was a completely different speed from Gilseong, who was also taking care of other members. On top of that, with how forgetful he was, he often forgot to tell Dansol about sudden schedule changes like this.
"Give him a piece of your mind! Make it sting!"
Taeohh was angry like his own manager was the one running late. Dansol understood he meant well, but he couldn't do what Taeohh said.
Ever since the first broadcast of R-Match, Dino Soul's schedule had long since outgrown what Gilseong could handle.
The problem wasn't Gilseong—it was the company that refused to properly add staff. It was true they'd gotten one more manager, but even so, with the increased schedule, Gilseong alone was still not enough.
"...No. Our manager-hyung is a good person... I'll just wait a bit at the dorm."
"Ehh... Dansol, did you forget we saw a ghost yesterday⁈ Even the staff are all leaving. Don't do that—ride out in my car."
At Taeohh's words, Dansol's pupils shook. Waiting at the dorm had happened often, but thinking about last night, he didn't want to be alone here for even a moment.
"Wouldn't my car be roomier than that one? I remodeled the back seat, so there are only two seats. How about it?"
"Uh... um... I...!"
Before Dansol could answer, Jisu cut in. As Dansol's eyes darted between them, a weight suddenly dropped onto his shoulder.
"Then you can stay with me."
"Huh?"
"I don't have a manager either."
"Uh... okay, th-then I'll... I'll wait with Minhyeok-hyung...."
Leaving behind Taeohh and Jisu, who were glaring hotly at each other, Dansol chose to stay at the dorm with Minhyeok. Having ended up alone with Dansol by sheer luck, Minhyeok showed a victorious smile.
Jisu—and even Daesu—tried to insist they weren't going, but their managers already knew about the cancellation and said they had to handle the piled-up schedules, practically dragging them away. On the other hand, Taeohh backed off surprisingly easily.
"Hyung, Dansol and I are a community of fate, so we'll meet again soon anyway—don't try anything weird."
On his way out the gate, Taeohh left Minhyeok, standing beside Dansol, with words Dansol couldn't understand. Minhyeok only shrugged.
After everyone flowed out like the tide, only Minhyeok and Dansol were left.
"But... why don't you have a manager, hyung? Come to think of it... I don't think I've really seen your manager much."
"I told him not to come. It's annoying having someone stuck to me and nagging. If nothing special is happening, I mostly go around alone."
"Someone nags you, hyung?"
With that taoist-like temperament, Minhyeok was the type to give advice, not get scolded. Sometimes he climbed mountains early in the morning, or tried to talk to animals. He was unpredictable, but far from breaking laws or doing bad things.
"Yes. Every time he sees me, he tells me to cut my hair, shave my beard. He even got a hairdresser's license. Just so he could shave my fur."
The beard he'd shaved for the serenade he'd prepared for Dansol last time had already come back, dark and stubbly.
"At first I thought, it's just a beard, maybe I should shave it. But because he kept saying it, I wanted to hold out even more. Like... a kind of resistance. I guess there's a rock spirit inside me too, right?"
"Uh... yes...."
"I knew you'd understand, Dansol. There's something that clicks between musicians."
If he could be considerate even of animals—no, even rocks and trees—why did he not understand his manager's feelings like this? Dansol felt sorry for Minhyeok's manager, whose face he didn't even know.
"I worry about these guys every time I leave the island. They've been handled by people since they were born... I wonder if they're doing okay without us."
"How about... you adopt them?"
"Hm...."
At Minhyeok's troubled expression, Dansol realized he'd said something careless. Taking responsibility for a life wasn't something easy.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean you have to take responsibility... I live in a dorm, so...."
"Ah, no. Actually, I wanted to adopt them and their mother too, so I looked into it. But they said I need permission from the island owner."
"Uh... but they're stray cats."
"Still, this is private property, so they said it could become an issue. But the island owner might be overseas or something... I can't reach him at all."
Any animal with legs could go wherever it wanted—what did it matter? But it was different when a famous celebrity like Minhyeok adopted them. Things a normal person would get praised for could sometimes get a celebrity criticized.
There were always people who would curse even if someone donated hundreds of millions, so Minhyeok hated hassle and had a habit of not doing anything that could become an issue in the first place.
"It's so petty... the island owner probably doesn't even know they came in and are living here...."
"Right? Still, before it gets colder, I'm going to take them somehow. What, am I going to get arrested for theft?"
"Hyung!"
"I'm kidding."
Minhyeok smiled mischievously as he petted the cats, and Dansol yelped. For a moment, he pictured Minhyeok locked up in a holding cell. He seemed like the kind of person who'd find the good points of a detention center even while stuck inside it.
"Sola! Joo Dansol!"
"Oh... I think that's my manager-hyung."
For once, it seemed Gilseong had arrived without being late. Dansol had expected to wait until evening, so he blinked, and Gilseong came jogging up from outside the door.
"Oh⁈ Jegal Minhyeok is here too!"
"Ah... hello."
As if he had something urgent to do, Gilseong grabbed Dansol by the wrist and hurriedly pulled him along.
"Hyung! Why are you here so early? I haven't even packed yet..."
"What⁈ Hey... you still haven't packed? What have you been doing? The others are waiting!"
"You didn't even tell me the broadcast got postponed! Do we have a schedule?"
"Ah... did I...? Just borrow what you need from the others and let's go. Jegal Minhyeok, nice to meet you!"
"Uh...! Minhyeok-hyung, see you next week!"
Dragged along by Gilseong, Dansol barely managed to say goodbye to Minhyeok.
In front of him was the old van Dino Soul had ridden since they were trainees. When Dansol opened the passenger door, the members were plastered against the windows in the back seat, waiting for him.
"Whoa... hyung! You're on 'hyung' terms with Jegal Minhyeok? Damn... that's insane...."
"Gilseong-hyung! Can't we get out and take just one picture with Senior Jegal Minhyeok? I'm a huge fan...."
"Later! Later! Right now every second counts!"
Leaving the members behind as they stared like they wanted to see even a single strand of Minhyeok's hair, Gilseong drove off roughly, pulling out of Chunmonggak.
Come to think of it, all the members were wearing stage outfits, like they'd just come back from some event.
"Did you have an event? Why did you bring the others?"
"Don't even start, hyung! We were at the gizzard shad festival until just now."
"Can't you smell grilled fish on me? Damn... we went all the way there just to breathe in the smell, and because we had no time, we couldn't even take a bite—we just came straight back up."
"Fall is gizzard shad, and gizzard shad is fall. Hyung, try stopping Gilseong-hyung—he's a total runaway train! Even on the way here, he kept going over a hundred kilometers an hour! This isn't a van, it's a jet."
Even with the members shouting, Gilseong only grinned, as if something good had happened.
"Hyung! What the hell is going on? What schedule do we have?"
"Don't be shocked, Sola. We... got booked for the Asian Games opening ceremony stage!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Read 104 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!
https://noveldex.io/series/why-am-i-stranded-in-this-shtty-island-again
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━