It’s a joke~ You’re the only one for me. I’m your number one fan, haha.
I miss you.
I love you.
Can’t you come to see me?
The messages piled up endlessly while Ga-ram was asleep. Occasionally, there were photos mixed in, as if following Sol and Ji-ho.
Sometimes the photos were very close and clear, as if taken right next to them, and sometimes they were blurry and unstable, as if taken secretly from a distance. Looking at the out-of-focus photos, Ga-ram felt indescribable anxiety and anger. Every time Sol was mentioned, his blood would boil and feel like it was about to explode.
If you keep doing this, I’ll really start liking someone else.
Ji-ho, DK, Sol, Tae-oh. Ga-ram, you were closest with Tae-oh, but now it’s Sol?
I know all the numbers, but I only contacted Ga-ram because I always like you the most.
Should I sell the other guys’ numbers?
I want to upload all the photos.
It was a threat because she knew what Ga-ram feared the most. She already knew from past experiences that pressuring Ga-ram by using friends, unrelated acquaintances, or family as leverage was the best way to make him act according to her wishes. Ga-ram roughly wiped his heated eyes with the back of his hand.
Sorry, it’s a joke. Don’t get mad, please ã…
I miss you so much, Ga-ram.
Ga-ram gritted his teeth and could no longer read the messages. He forcefully threw his phone. With a loud ‘thud,’ the phone hit the floor and shattered. The screen completely broke, and glass fragments scattered around the fallen phone. Ga-ram crouched down, clutching his head with his arms. The broken phone continued to vibrate, spinning on the floor.
***
[Today’s photos of the male trainees taken by a foreign stalker in front of YC’s headquarters.
ㅇㅇ(123.123) | 15:28:01
(Ji-ho, Deuk-yong, and Sol are walking away, seen from the back.jpg)
(A zoom-in photo of Sol, who is deeply pressing down his hat and looking back.jpg)
(A photo of the three standing in a circle and talking.jpg)
(A close-up of Sol’s face wearing a hat.jpg The shadow from the hat and the photo taken from a distance make the quality poor.)
It was bustling at the company building and because of EG, there were many outsiders today. They were going somewhere by van.
Source: ㅌㅇㅌ]
└ Try running a high-quality app on it
└ They are all tall
└ Brown hair DJH
└ Right, it’s JH
└ Are they the next trainees? When are they debuting?
└ Is it today?
└ Yes
└ He’s handsome
└ What do you see?
└ Even from a glance, they look like trainees
└ Looking at the last photo, the eye hollows are deep, and the nose is high, he must be handsome
└ Yes, they seem tall and have long limbs
└ The pictures are of low quality
└ Even if the quality is poor, you can tell if someone is not good-looking
└ Who is the tallest one?
└ The one wearing the bucket hat is the one who collapsed last time
[Dreaming of Mong @moo_ng0619
Today, I went to buy clothes (at a store near the YC building), and I saw three guys who looked like idols talking amongst themselves about evaluations and practice.
They were tall with long legs, and although they were wearing hats so I couldn’t see their faces clearly, they looked handsome. They definitely looked like trainees. Are they male trainees from YC?
[A2K♡ @AAAATOK
Where is this store?ã… ã…œã…œã…œã…œã…œ]
[시월 @OCT_10
YC 18-year-old male trainee leaked photo
(A picture of Deuk-yong wearing a school uniform and taking a big bite of a hot dog.png)
[시월 @OCT_10
YC trainee, 22 years old [Do XX]
(A picture of Ji-ho walking and talking with Deuk-yong.png)]
[시월 @OCT_10
YC trainee, 20 years old [Sung X]
(A picture of someone walking and talking between Deuk-yong and Ji-ho.png)]
[YC male trainees 42 | (KPOP)
Views 1808
(A zoomed-in image of Sol walking between Deuk-yong and Ji-ho.jpg)
They are very pretty and handsome
Source: twiti.com/OCT_10]
└ Fix your hair a bit... it’s messy
└ That fairy-like friend... what could be his position?
└ Wow, amazing... Even though his face is almost hidden in the shadows, he’s handsome.
└ For real, amazing.
└ I’m so excited...
└ Ahhh, I’m so curious. Isn’t there a high-resolution photo? ã… ã… ã…œã…œ
└ I love him already.
└ So, when is he debuting?
└ Just seeing his face makes my heart flutter.
└ Ahã… ã… ã… ã… He’s really my typeã… ã… ã… When is he debutingã… ã… ã… Please
└ Exactlyã… ã… ã… ã… ã… ã… ã… ã… When is he debutingã… ã… ã…
└ This is amazing... for real.
└ Wow, he doesn’t have the YC look, but he’s definitely worth bringing in.
***
“Hey, Sol is rolling around.”
“The snowman is going home.”
Deuk-yong and Ji-ho teased Sol, who had spent all his money to buy a long padded coat. He hadn’t planned to bundle up this much, but he couldn’t resist Ji-ho’s nagging and ended up buying it. Sol originally wanted to go with a plain black one, but Deuk-yong stopped him, and now he was completely wrapped up in a pure white padded coat.
With his hands deep in his pockets and his body enveloped in the thick padding, he looked like a snowman, as Ji-ho said, or like something rolling around. Sol laughed along with them as they teased him, and he seemed relaxed. They weren’t kids, but they had become close, just like kids do by playing and teasing each other. After only a few hours of hanging out together, they felt much closer than before they went out.
“Ha, I’m so full. That was the taste of sin.”
“The taste of sin, huh? Since we’ve sinned, we’ll have to pay for it tonight.”
“Ji-ho hyung, you’ve been saying weird things since last time, you know that, right?”
“I’m full too, so should we head out together?”
“Sol hyung ate something? And if you have time for that, you should rest! You look like you’d collapse if someone just nudged you.”
“It’s not that bad. I have some strength, you know.”
When Sol said this, Deuk-yong lightly bumped him with his shoulder. Sol, who had been bragging to Deuk-yong with a thoughtless smile, nearly stumbled and fell when their shoulders collided. If Deuk-yong hadn’t quickly caught him as he staggered and lost his balance, Sol would have sprawled out on the floor in his brand-new, white clothes.
“Put some strength into your steps when you walk!”
“Oh... I fell down after bumping into something just a while ago.”
“Huh, when?”
“That day when I came back late alone? I bumped into someone around here and completely rolled over.”
Unlike Sol, who spoke as if it was nothing, Ji-ho looked at him with wide eyes. Deuk-yong was the same. Feeling awkward under their burdensome gazes, Sol fiddled with his bangs that had fallen down.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, but I seem to have dropped something. I haven’t seen my phone since then.”
“You lost your phone?”
“Seems like it... It was around here.”
“You should have said earlier. Wait, I’ll call it.”
As Sol bent down slightly to look around the nearby floor, Ji-ho took out his phone. A nondescript ringing sound continued, indicating the phone wasn’t off or out of battery. Ji-ho kept calling, hoping someone might pick up. Sol searched his bag once more. He hadn’t really taken anything out since organizing it that day, so he wondered if it might be buried somewhere in his bag.
“The signal is going through...”
“Are you sure you lost it?”
“I’m not really sure. I couldn’t find it after I got home...”
“If you dropped it here, wouldn’t it have been found by now? Maybe someone picked it up and turned it into the police or something.”
“Was there anything important in it?”
“Not really.”
“Did you back up your contacts?”
“Not really. I didn’t have many saved anyway….”
“Hmm…”
When Sol nodded, Ji-ho ended the call. The dial tone that had been sounding continuously stopped, and it had been a while since the voicemail message began.
“Keep trying. Ji-ho hyung. If it’s at the dorm, Tae-oh hyung or Ga-ram hyung will answer, right? Did you set it to vibrate?”
“Yes.”
“Never mind. Let’s just go back to the dorm and look for it together.”
The dorm was close by. At Deuk-yong’s suggestion, the three of them looked towards the dorm. The two who had gone in early were probably busy preparing or moving around for dinner, but from a distance, it looked like all the windows were dark, as if the place was empty.
“Are Ga-ram and Tae-oh asleep? There isn’t a single light on.”
“Did they go out?”
“Ah, you don’t think they went out for dinner, do you?”
“I doubt it.”
Even if they were both exhausted and still sleeping, at least the dim lights in the living room should have been on. But from afar, the dorm looked completely dark, as if someone had intentionally turned off all the lights. Noticing the unusual scene, Sol tilted his head and walked quickly. Deuk-yong, who was next to him, held up a plastic bag.
On the way, they had stopped by the snack bar that Deuk-yong had enthusiastically recommended as a must-try, and had packed some food for Ga-ram and Tae-oh. When Deuk-yong asked, Ji-ho shook his head. Especially if it was the two of them. They wouldn’t have gone out together like that. Moreover, they had seemed quite exhausted lately, so it was more realistic to assume they were still fast asleep.
Sol put his hands in his pockets and walked ahead. The shopping bags dangling from his elbows rustled against each other with every step. The sensor light in the hallway seemed to be out, and today, even the stairs of the dorm building were dark. It seemed like there might have been a power outage. Taking long strides, Sol quickly climbed the stairs and paused in the hallway where their dorm was located.
“Hyung, why aren’t you coming up?”
Deuk-yong, who had followed, bumped slightly into Sol as he was blocked by him.
“...Who are you?”
In the dark hallway, Sol looked towards the front door of the dormitory and asked with a slightly trembling voice into the shadows. At Sol’s question, Deuk-yong and Ji-ho, who were standing behind him, stretched their necks to check the hallway. Someone dressed entirely in black from head to toe was standing in front of the door, with their hand on the lock.
