Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 46

‘That was easy. I guess he really was just a greenhorn.’

 

I had been slightly anxious, but he crumbled so easily that my worries felt hollow. I looked up at him with my right eye, and sure enough, my pupils reflected the image of Kim Haejun weeping uncontrollably.

 

‘He acted so tough… was his heart actually made of glass? He broke down over something like this?’

 

It was actually almost a shame that I didn’t get to use the other methods I’d prepared in case the JH imitation failed. Even if he acted like a man who had weathered all the storms of the world, he really was just a teenager.

 

The situation was settling so anticlimactically that I felt a bit dazed. 

 

JH, too, hadn’t expected this. He was babbling things like, 

 

— W-were you just imitating me? A-ah, no, Haejun hyung… I mean…

 

‘Well, you’re the one who asked me to fix this….’

 

— Eh? Uh… uh….

 

‘What’s with him now? Seriously’

 

Did he feel like I was usurping his place? Based on his flustered reaction, that seemed to be the case. I had agreed to calm Kim Haejun down, but it seemed he hadn’t agreed to this level of performance.

 

I wanted to ask what exactly was bothering him so much, but right now, I couldn’t spare any attention for JH. It was because of Trainee Number 12, Kim Haejun, who was crying in front of me like a leaky faucet.

 

“I’m sorry. I… I….”

 

“Ugh.”

 

“I’m s-sorry… I’m so sorry… I don’t know what to say… I… all of it….”

 

“Sniff.”

 

“I think I mis-misunderstood everything….”

 

He looked deeply traumatized. His reaction was so much more intense than I had anticipated that I wondered why he was going this far, but then again, considering Kim Haejun’s background, it made sense.

 

‘He probably feels like he’s doing the exact same thing to me that those bullies did to JH.’

 

The circumstances were a bit different, but in his head, he felt no better than them. Since Lee Unha, standing right here, was overlapping with JH in his mind, his emotions were bound to become even more volatile. It felt less like he was talking to me and more like he was addressing JH.

 

“I… to you….”

 

“…….”

 

“I have nothing but… apologies… I… have nothing else to… sob… sniff….”

 

Eventually, he actually started shedding tears too. With both of us standing at a distance and sobbing, it was Lee Unha who reached out first. 

 

As I approached cautiously and gave him a light hug, Kim Haejun hugged me back and began to wail. Maybe the stress he’d been carrying all this time had finally reached its limit, or maybe everything he’d bottled up inside had suddenly burst out all at once …he was practically howling.

 

To me, this was just a small event, but to him, this was clearly a monumental moment. It felt as if a dam had burst, releasing everything—from the incidents in TOP9 to the contract termination with YM, JH’s death, and everything leading up to Idol Classism

 

On the surface, it felt like an apology to Lee Unha, but it also felt like a long-overdue apology to JH. JH seemed to realize this as well, as he wiped his own tears while watching Kim Haejun.

 

“Waaaaahhhhh.”

 

“Hic… uugh….”

 

‘S-so… when are we letting go?’

 

“Sniff. I’m sorry.”

 

‘I think we should probably separate now?’

 

“No. It-it’s okay. Sniff. I’m sorry too.”

 

The scene, which looked like an embarrassing teen drama, made me even more flustered… but fortunately, Kim Haejun seemed to be the type of person who knew how to pull himself together.

 

While his emotions were still fluctuating, he stepped back and looked at me again. I cautiously predicted that he wanted to see the side of me that overlapped with JH one more time.

 

I scratched my cheek slightly, putting on a JH Moment. I looked like a man who was good-natured to a fault. Naturally, I showed no signs of resentment or discomfort toward Kim Haejun.

 

‘Because this is exactly how JH was.’

 

I simply let out a deep breath over and over, as though relieved that the misunderstanding had finally been cleared up. It was a JH moment—the kind of person who’d offer the other cheek after being slapped.

 

‘Yes. I’m so glad the misunderstanding was cleared.’

 

And.

 

‘I’m glad Haejun hyung doesn’t hate me anymore.’

 

Gaining further conviction from that performance, Kim Haejun nodded and opened his mouth. His crying had stopped, and his hostility had completely vanished.

 

“Um….”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

‘This is a bit… awkward.’

 

“…….”

 

‘Way too awkward.’

 

“I… I mis-misunderstood so much… I don’t know what to say…. First, I want to apologize for everything that happened. It might be hard for you to accept, but yes, this is all my fault… and I’ll… I’ll take responsibility and make it up to you, no matter what.”

 

“No, no. I’m fine. Rather, I’m glad we cleared it up now. I—I thought I had done something wrong to you. I’m a bit clumsy with social relationships… I don’t have many friends… so… I make mistakes often. I thought I’d made another mistake this time….”

 

“No. Even if you had made a mistake, I shouldn’t have judged you, evaluated you, and… jumped to conclusions about you like that….”

 

‘Seriously, how many times is he going to say sorry?’

 

It felt like the apologies would never end. Even though I kept saying I accepted the apology, he acted as if he were ready to get on his knees to confess his sins.

 

“O-okay, I get it. I’ll accept the apology. I really did suffer because of you, after all, hyung.”

 

“I….”

 

“But rather than me… wouldn’t it be better to apologize… to the people in the practice room?”

 

“Ah. Y-yes, I should. Right… I have to say I’m sorry to the people who were in the practice room too….”

 

He had suddenly become a gentle lamb.

 

“Come with me, hyung.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“If everyone sees that we’ve made up, everyone will look at it positively. They’re all good people, so I’m sure they’ll understand quickly. I mean… it’s not just you. Everyone is sensitive right now. Everyone is stressed… and they have nowhere to talk about it, so they have no choice but to bottle everything up.”

 

“Ah….”

 

“They’ll probably think you were in the same boat as them… so they’ll surely understand.”

 

“I was planning to apologize anyway… but I also feel like I should take responsibility somehow….”

 

“No. It’s not like you committed a great crime. Just in case, don’t go saying you’re quitting the show to ‘take responsibility’ or anything like that.”

 

Seeing him flinch, I knew I was right. Given his personality, I suspected he might try to withdraw from the show after making a public apology. For someone who looked so outgoing, he was surprisingly rigid, and he probably thought that was the proper way to take responsibility.

 

“If you’re truly sorry to me, you have to work even harder than you are now.”

 

“?”

 

“Yes. Because that’s what I want. You know why? Hyung. I… I told you at the very beginning.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“That I’m a fan. I’ve listened to your features. I watched all of TOP9. I even voted for you.”

 

“…….”

 

“And that’s not all. I….”

 

“Yeah….”

 

“I intended to use the benefit I got for 1st place in the follower mission on you.”

 

“Uh….”

 

“Really.”

 

“Really? On me?”

 

“I really wanted to be on the same team as you. So don’t even think about quitting… let’s work hard together.”

 

He didn’t answer immediately… so I gave him a beaming smile in response. Even I had to admit I looked stupidly kind.

 

‘Yeah. Where in the world would you ever find someone like this?’

 

Even JH probably wasn’t this much of a pushover. Helping someone who had been hostile for no reason and even clinging to them to be on the same team….

 

Sure enough, a deeply touched expression reflected in my eyes. He hadn’t explicitly declared that he wouldn’t quit yet, but he was already nodding. I had given him a different kind of faith.

 

I slowly pulled Kim Haejun by the hand. However, his steps seemed strangely lacking in confidence. Naturally, the walk back to the practice room must have felt unbearably long. Given what he had done, he must be terrified to face them.

 

“And….”

 

“Y… yes?”

 

“There’s one more thing I want to ask, Haejun hyung.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Aside from me… was there anyone else you suspected?”

 

“Huh? Th-that….”

 

“Don’t take this the wrong way.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“I think there might be someone who dislikes you.”

 

“…….”

 

“You said the thing you lost was your bracelet, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“And it’s something precious to you.”

 

“…….”

 

“I hope I’m not overstepping… but I think someone set this up because they wanted you to quit. It’s probably someone in the debut rank. Or maybe someone with a personal grudge. They knew that bracelet meant something to you, so… I think they expected you to act like that.”

 

“I mean, I did… suspect you, Unha, but that’s a bit….”

 

“Sounds like a stretch? Like a conspiracy theory… like I’m talking nonsense?”

 

“…….”

 

“I would have thought the same as you if that incident hadn’t been posted to the communities immediately.”

 

“…….”

 

“It was deleted after about 10 minutes, but that’s more than enough time for it to spread through all the communities. I don’t know what you think, but to me, it felt very deliberate.”

 

“But….”

 

“No ‘buts.’ Even if the possibility is small, we have to look into it.”

 

“…….”

 

“And we have to find it.”

 

“Uh… what?”

 

“Your bracelet. You’re not seriously going to leave it lost forever, are you?”

 

Only then did Kim Haejun look at me properly and nod.

 

“No. I’ll find it. Yes… I have to find it.”

 

“…….”

 

“But… how do we find it?”

 

At his question, I also nodded and opened my mouth.

 

“We have to report it to the police.”

 

“?”

 

— ?

 

Both of them stared at me with utterly bewildered expressions.