Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 215

A moment later, after a knock, the hospital room door opened.

“These are Raon’s family members.”

At Gwak Sang-hyun’s introduction, the members, who had already stood up, bowed politely to those who were unmistakably On Raon’s family.

“We’d like to talk among ourselves. Could you step out for a bit?”

At Jang Haena’s request, spoken naturally in Korean, Kang Ji-woo unconsciously checked On Raon’s expression.

On Raon, meeting Kang Ji-woo’s gaze, gave a slight nod.

In fact, On Raon’s expression had been similarly stiff from the moment he woke up to now, right after Ban Yo-han had dropped a bombshell, so Kang Ji-woo didn’t sense anything particularly unusual and answered.

“Guys, let’s wait outside.”

He figured there was no reason to insist on staying when the family wanted to have a long-overdue conversation.

Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol lingered a little longer, casting looks at the tense family, but eventually, they also left the room.

In the corridor, Kang Ji-woo lowered his voice to scold Ban Yo-han.

“Couldn’t you have spoken more gently to someone who just went through a lot?”

Ban Yo-han, who thought he had chosen his words carefully, had his own grievances.

“Unless On Raon is classified as someone so cold, heartless, and unfeeling that he wouldn’t care if a member fell down the stairs, back off.”

Momentarily speechless at the precise retort, Kang Ji-woo gathered himself and responded.

“Still, do you have to lose your temper at the youngest even if you’re a real brother? That’s why I’m your only friend.”

“Ha… Your siblings must find you exhausting.”

“… Are you done talking?”

Normally, it would have ended with them giving each other a good-natured insult, but in the heightened tension, the exchange seemed likely to escalate into a real fight, so Gyun Seong-ha hurriedly intervened.

“Hyungs, you can’t fight here!”

Fortunately, both of them, knowing from long experience that saying one more word would lead to an actual fight, curbed their tempers.

“Seong-ha, do you also think my words were too harsh?”

“Yes, they were harsh.”

“Really?”

“If it were me, I’d have punched you in the face first, no matter if I felt sorry later.”

“You’ve always been harsh to me since we first met.”

“If On Raon wasn’t in such a bad state, he’d have snapped back at you for talking like that.”

“Do you… Seong-ha, do you hate me?”

“You’re the same. Even if he did something wrong, you shouldn’t react the same way. That makes you no better.”

Familiar with Seong-ha’s strong personality, Ban Yo-han furrowed his brow at his sharpness and shifted his approach.

“But I was right and he was wrong.”

Seong-ha frowned at the excessively confident assertion.

“How do you know that?”

“His expression said so. If what I said was complete nonsense, On Raon wouldn’t have just listened quietly.”

“Why do you think you’re right and On Raon is wrong? How can you be sure he acted that way just because he likes us? There could be other reasons we don’t know about.”

Maybe because he was finally letting out everything he had been holding in, Seong-ha’s unexpectedly calm and logical response made Ban Yo-han widen his eyes.

“Taking you on the schedule could have been because he trusted your ability. You felt deceived and used, but On Raon might have been trying to rely on you…”

Seong-ha’s words were logical and precise, even though Ban Yo-han’s were usually flawless. Realizing something as he spoke, Seong-ha’s cold expression softened a bit.

“….”

Holding back another blunder like “Isn’t that just what you want to believe?” Ban Yo-han found a more moderate rebuttal.

“For someone saying that, you didn’t hold back your words earlier either.”

“Did you hear everything outside?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what were you doing outside instead of coming in?”

“Calming myself with some deep breaths.”

It meant he needed time to cool his temper.

“Anyway, I got a bit emotional seeing him awake… I’m sorry.”

“You should apologize to Raon.”

Listening silently with a thoughtful expression, Kang Ji-woo gently corrected Seong-ha’s words.

Seong-ha calmly replied.

“I know. I will.”

And then he’d get the answers he hadn’t heard earlier.

Just then, Seo Moon-gyeol, who had been silently staring at the firmly closed hospital room door, spoke up.

“Will it be okay?”

“What?”

“His relationship with his family… It didn’t seem very good.”

* * *

After the members and Gwak Sang-hyun left, silence filled the single hospital room.

Considering this was almost like a reunion of separated family members, the atmosphere was far from touching.

It was more like they were quite unfamiliar with each other.

“….”

Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but this perfect face didn’t come out of nowhere.

Even a slight deviation would break this golden ratio, and a face destined to appear once in a millennium would be downgraded to a face appearing once in a century.

So, in a world where everything is different, my parents looked exactly as I remembered, leaving no room for doubt.

‘As I thought.’

How should I describe this feeling?

It was like putting a doll in a locked box, sealing the box, burying it deep in a closet, and then throwing the whole closet into an unknown sea.

One day, waking up with a bad feeling in the middle of the night, I found that doll I never expected to see again sitting right next to my pillow.

An inexplicable sense of déjà vu made my stomach churn a little.

How many years had it been since I last saw my parents?

I saw them briefly before I joined the army, and it’s been a year and a half since I came here, so almost five years?

My father was the first to break the silence.

“[I heard there were no major injuries. How do you feel?]”

“[I’m fine.]”

To be honest, I had no idea my family would come.

I wasn’t sure what kind of lives those people led, but in the world I came from, my family wouldn’t even flinch at the news that my father, who was on a business trip abroad, had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. If they heard he had come through the surgery fine, they’d nonchalantly make a call to check if he wasn’t in pain.

‘Well… If I were really badly injured, they might have come to visit me in the hospital.’

Anyway, despite the rough middle process, I was completely uninjured, which made me feel embarrassed for sitting here perfectly fine.

The only reason I looked worse than I was, was because I was hospitalized.

Those people must have heard that I wasn’t seriously injured.

‘Why did they really come?’

Or maybe their appearances were the same, but their personalities were different?

From the letter On Raon left, their dispositions seemed similar.

Oh, this was disconcerting.

Or perhaps, if my original family were in the same situation, would they have come to see me like these people did?

‘…This is truly a pointless thought.’

My mother tried to start a conversation again.

“[Those kids from earlier, are they your members? You seemed close. Are you friends?]”

She clearly didn’t know what to say either.

“[I’m not sure.]”

I wasn’t sure either.

I could have just said we were close.

It already felt like ages since they celebrated my birthday earlier this year.

Back then, I thought we were pretty close, but now, I wasn’t sure what would happen.

“[Raon, when you talk to someone, you need to make eye contact.]”

It was a fair point, so I slowly shifted my focus from the distant spot I had fixed my gaze on since confirming my family’s faces, to look at my father who had just spoken.

And then.

“!”

My chest felt like it was hit by an earthquake, thudding heavily.

My heart, which had been calm, suddenly began to beat fast and hard as if to make up for lost time.

Before I could do anything, hot tears filled my eyes and rolled down my dry cheeks, and my mouth moved on its own as if being controlled by someone else.

“Why… why are you only coming now….”

My voice trembled.

I could feel my usually stoic family being quite taken aback by the sudden flood of emotions, but the most shocked person here was me.

I wasn’t crying because I wanted to.

A part of that child’s longing heart still lingered somewhere in this body.

“[Damian, you…]”

If only you had come a little sooner when he needed you the most.

Now, it’s too—

“It’s too late….”

The child who most wanted to see you is no longer here, and the one left in his place is me, who isn’t ready to accept this new bond.

“Raon….”

My vision blurred.

I couldn’t clearly see the faces of my family, who always had dry expressions, as they called my name at this moment.