Chapter 10: Ten
"Hyung!" Yeojun clung to my arm. "I feel so blessed!"
"Blessed?" I chuckled. We had just gotten into our agency's black van after coming out of the airport.
"Yes, blessed." He nodded. "We can't expect our families to be at the airport to welcome us but we had so many True show up today just to welcome us!"
"I had considered the possibility when we were on the plane but to have actually been received like that…" I agreed. "A blessing, huh?"
"You could have lowered your hoodie, Jeongwoo. They were screaming for it. It wouldn't have hurt." Hanseol said.
"I… could have but…"
"Jeongwoo was too overwhelmed by it all to even react." Jaehyeon laughed. "Am I right?"
Did being roommates allow him the ability to peek into my head? "Not really…" I looked away. "The hair's just too bright so early in the morning."
"Was I the only one who saw that short-haired girl in a home-made 'To You' outfit with similar blue hair holding up a board with 'Jeongwoo Oppa' on it?" Mingyu enquired.
"I noticed that too." She was the first person that I really noticed. "At least she knows how to get my attention."
"It's still nice that they came out to greet us." Yeojun said.
"It's fine as long as the crowd's manageable." Manager Park said, his eyes on the road. "There have been plenty of incidents where Idols got mobbed by their fans at the airport. 04:00 am too had it happen once. They were unhurt but it really isn't a pleasant experience."
We had heard about that incident too.
"Let's just hope that that doesn't happen to us." Jaehyeon said. "Manager-nim, are we meeting Kim PD-nim?"
"Yes, just to report in. It will be a fairly short meeting. You can go back home after that. You have the rest of the day off so utilise it well and catch up on some sleep."
"Gladly." Hanseol looked out the window.
Mingyu had been distracted by his phone for a while in between. Just then, his face lit up and he literally jumped in his seat to turn and face us. "Guys, my sister just sent this to me!"
"What is it?" Yeojun asked and the four of us moved in closer to see what Mingyu was trying to show us on his phone.
"Is that…" Yeojun gaped.
"8… It says 8." Jaehyeon looked at Mingyu. "Is this legit?"
"It is!" Mingyu beamed. "S.T.A.Y, we- Manager-nim! 'To You' is 8th on the Top 100 list now!"
Manager Park briefly glanced at us, just as surprised. "Already?"
"Yes!" Mingyu nodded vigorously. "We've beaten 04:00 am too with this."
"I mean, a live performance abroad like that was bound to give us a boost but… this is a huge jump." I said, not quite able to figure out how that happened.
"My sister, you know, is a huge fan of various groups. She said that she had seen a Live by Park Jin Sunbae of OT7 and he had actually played 'To You' saying that he liked the song. He had played a couple of other songs too but… 'To You' got checked out quite a lot by their fans too."
"Also, since the Singapore concert was part of a fundraising event, it got good media coverage." Manager Park added. "Good things happened simultaneously."
This… was a really big thing for us- To get a song in Top 10.
"Congratulations, S.T.A.Y!" Manager Park smiled at the road. "You earned this."
Since I was the one sitting next to him, Yeojun hugged me again. "Hyung!"
"Mm. We did it." I nodded.
"Manager-nim, I want to be the one to tell Kim PD-nim about this." Yeojun announced.
"I'm pretty sure that he already knows but… sure. You can." He agreed.
Everyone must have come to know already but… I sat back and took out my phone as soon as Yeojun let go of me. He would obviously have gotten to know too but that did not matter to me. I wanted to tell him myself. Thinking so, I texted Yoo Changmin.
'Hyung, To You is at no. 8! XD'
I put my phone away after that and got involved in the conversations in the van again.
We were greeted warmly by everyone we came across in the DayBreak building as we made our way towards our CEO's office. All of us had managed to get some sleep on the plane, even if not much, so even though we were tired, we were able to maintain our smiles and thank everyone.
The CEO of DayBreak Entertainment, Kim PD-nim had been waiting for us ever since he got to know of our arrival at the airport. In his prime, now 47-year-old Kim Gitae PD-nim, was a world-renown Producer and Composer. He was also a known face in the South Korean film industry because of the many and varied movies and dramas that he had acted in, taking on different side and lead roles. He had a good eye for detail and a good ear for music. He was also a little bit of a perfectionist. It wasn't very easy to work with him but I felt that we always learnt something new almost every time that we interacted directly.
Manager Park knocked on Kim PD-nim's door and announced our arrival before opening it. "We're back."
"S.T.A.Y!" Kim PD-nim stood up from his chair and smiled at us. He was dressed formally, as he always was, and his hair had been gelled into place. Dyed black, it helped to maintain his youthful appearance. He had a likeable personality, to top it all off. "Welcome back!"
We bowed and Mingyu spoke. "We're happy to be back."
"I've been updated. Singapore was good so you can all give yourselves a big pat on the back. People know about you now."
As childish as it might have been, I mentally gave myself and everyone in S.T.A.Y, including Manager Park, pats on their backs. Everyone deserved it.
Kim PD-nim opened his mouth to speak again but Yeojun spoke up before he could. "I'm sorry for interrupting, Kim PD-nim. And… I know that you may already be aware of this but… 'To You', Blue Ink's title track, is now 8th on the Top 100 list."
He nodded. "As I am aware. Congratulations. This is a very big moment for S.T.A.Y. But I wan you to not get it into your head pre-maturely. Higher rankings come with huge responsibilities. If you're 8th now, they will expect you to release something worthy at least of an 8th next time as well. So, celebrate this big step but remember to prepare for what it actually means to you- to S.T.A.Y and to True."
We needed that. And I would be speaking for everyone else too when admitting that we had celebrated it without considering the flip-side of it.
"Of course, Kim PD-nim." Mingyu bowed.
"We'll be working extra hard from now on too." Jaehyeon added and the rest of us bowed as well.
Kim PD-nim walked over to this side of his desk and leaned back against it. "I'm looking forward to seeing what more you have to offer us. Now," He looked at Manager Park too. "Shall we talk about Singapore and what's coming next?"
The whole meeting lasted 20 minutes. We briefed him about how the whole trip had gone, what and all we had accomplished, what we had personally come to learn and also discussed about what we were planning to do next. Manager Park also revealed everything that he was working on for us, including Thailand, which was nearly confirmed. Kim PD-nim wished us luck after that, promised us all his support and asked us to rest well before sending us off. Thanking him, we left his office one behind the other.
"Oh. Were you waiting for us, Sunbae?" Hanseol, who had gone ahead of me with Mingyu, asked just as I stepped out of the office and saw whom he was talking to.
"Mm. I had heard that you were back." The black-haired young man wearing track pants and a T-shirt, who was leaning against the wall right outside Kim PD-nim's office, said. His black eyes then shifted to me as he offered up a smile that I returned inevitably.
"Hyung."
"Welcome back." He addressed everyone.
"Were you practicing?" Jaehyeon asked.
"Yup. I just ran away for a bit to say hello."
He really was taking effort. "Hyung, did you get my message?"
He nodded. "That's how I knew that you had landed safely. Congratulations for 'To You'. That song deserves every bit of the attention that it's getting."
"It was a lucky break." Mingyu said. "I mean, we did work hard but a lot of things fell in place to make this possible for us, including 04:00 am's publicity. So, thank you."
"Don't mention it." He shrugged. "Do you have tomorrow off?"
"No. Just the rest of today." Hanseol replied. "It's only around 10:00 am now anyway."
"Then you had better get going. I don't want to keep you." He kicked off the wall and stepped closer. "Get good rest."
"Yes, Sunbae. Thank you." Mingyu bowed. "Fighting."
"Fighting." He looked at me. "I'll be seeing you around."
For a minute? Like this? I didn't like that. "Ah."
Changmin left for the practice room immediately after that.
"I hadn't expected him to come greet us." Yeojun said, putting his hands up behind his neck as we started walking.
Mingyu nodded. "Neither had I. It was nice of him though."
"Jeongwoo-ya." Jaehyeon stepped closer, falling a little behind pace to slow me down as well. The others weren't paying attention to us anymore. "Don't you think he's starting to miss you a lot off-late?"
"We sort of had a heart-to-heart talk. We've been having heart-to-hearts a lot recently, starting from the letter." I admitted.
"What? Now that S.T.A.Y's gaining popularity, he has suddenly realised that you won't be where you have always been anymore?"
"Looks like it."
"That's unfair, isn't it?" He sighed, draping an arm over my shoulders.
"What?"
"No… I'm not trying to be rude but… he did not think so much about it when 04:00 am was rising. Now that you have started moving forward too, he's suddenly reminded of things?"
It did look like that, didn't it? "Hyung-ah." I called calmly.
"Eo?"
"I think you're tired."
He scoffed. "Of course, I am tired. That does not mean that I don't know what I'm saying."
"You like Changmin Hyung too, don't you?" I asked.
Jaehyeon nodded. "He's cool."
"Right? But he's also a little slow, apparently." I chuckled. "And unsure about what to do. And guilty. So, cut him some slack, won't you?"
"I hadn't meant anything much by it, Jeongwoo. I was just speaking what I thought momentarily. Don't get me wrong." He said sincerely.
"I know. And I'm just clarifying."
Initially, I had wanted to stay upset with Changmin because of how he had treated me but then I realised that neither of us really had the time for all that.
"It's all good though." Jaehyeon smiled and ruffled up my hair. "You seem happy."
"I have plenty of reasons to be happy." I shrugged. "We just got back from Singapore."
"Mm. We're traveling places together."
"A song I helped write is 8th on the Top 100 list."
"We're finally getting recognition."
"I can finally sleep all day and night."
"Ya! It's not all about you!" He knocked my head. "And everyone knows that you can't sleep like that."
I laughed. "True that."
"What are you two flirting at the back for?" Hanseol turned to face us and began walking backwards. "Keep up. You're slowing us down."
"Ah, sorry!" Jaehyeon responded and pulled me along faster to match the others' pace as we headed towards the basement parking lot.
I grunted. "We're not flirting."
"Yeah. Yeah. Let's go." Jaehyeon nodded. I said nothing more and just gave in.
While it was true that I was not the kind of person to sleep a lot, a day off like this really appealed to me. Even if I couldn't sleep much, I could at least just lie in bed and do nothing.
I was really looking forward to getting home.
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