Sol left the basement practice room with the other members and got into the elevator. Other than going to the cafeteria or for individual lessons, Sol had never been to other parts of YC Entertainment building, so he followed the members, looking around curiously.
The third floor, which he was visiting for the first time, had a somewhat solemn atmosphere, resembling an ordinary workplace. As they walked down the hallway, Sol and the members politely bowed to everyone they passed. After several bows, they followed their leader, Tae-oh, into a room marked "Meeting Room."
Inside, a large whiteboard and a projector screen were set up, and Chae Min-ju, along with a few staff members who usually wrote evaluation reports on weekends, were waiting for the members. A row of desks was lined up, and a camera was positioned in front of Chae Min-ju.
When Sol mentioned it was his first time on the third floor, Deuk-yong shrugged and said it was nothing special. The other members, familiar with the space and its layout, quietly greeted everyone and took their seats. Sol hesitated, and Ga-ram pulled out the chair next to him, making eye contact with Sol.
Avoiding the gazes of the staff members who were observing the members, Sol lowered his head. He had become familiar with their faces after seeing them every week, but recent harsh criticisms during evaluations, which had even brought him to tears, made him nervous. Facing them in a formal setting like this, rather than in the practice room, only heightened his feeling of being reprimanded, making him feel small and intimidated.
Noticing Sol's tension, a woman referred to as the team leader smiled and greeted, "Hey, everyone, how are you?" Along with the other members, Sol responded in perfect unison, a sign of how well-coordinated they had become as a team. He then glanced sideways at the camera. The red light indicating recording was on, and with the camera firmly fixed on the tripod, it seemed clear that today would involve a lot of conversation.
"Did you all see the video uploaded on YouTube?"
"Yes."
"There were a lot of people cheering for you. I’m looking forward to what’s coming next."
"Thank you."
Like kindergarteners, they all responded in unison, which seemed to please the team leader as she nodded approvingly. After the small talk was over, Chae Min-ju stood up and handed each of the members a piece of paper.
"Today's recording is going to be important, so let's all do our best."
At that, the five men simultaneously checked the content of the papers handed out by Chae Min-ju. Several gray boxes were drawn on the page, and at the top was the word "Profile."
"Some of you have already filled this out before, right? Let’s update and organize them one by one. Once everything is finalized, you'll write them out by hand again."
Name, age, weight, height, birthday. As they filled out their profiles, the atmosphere oddly resembled a dictation class. Everyone held black pens in their hands, but no one was the first to start writing.
"First, your name. Just use your given name, no family names. So, Tae-oh, Ji-ho, Sol, like that. Ga-ram is still up for discussion, but for now, just write Ga-ram."
As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of pens scratching on paper filled the room. Sol also wrote his name, "Sol," in large letters in the blank space next to the "name" field. While everyone was writing their names, Deuk-yong raised his hand.
"Can't I use something other than DK?"
As expected, Deuk-yong, dissatisfied with his stage name, seized the moment to ask boldly, but the response he received left him disappointed.
"What else? Do you want to write Deuk-yong? It's what the Representative decided on. Go get permission from him first."
"Okay…."
Deuk-yong, who had a complex about his name, had already come up with several other stage name options before, but he complained that they were all rejected. Still, using "DK" was better than being called by his real name, so he'd been using it as a temporary stage name. When Sol asked what "DK" even meant, Deuk-yong just pouted, and Ji-ho, laughing beside him, explained that the names people in this industry come up with are usually made without much thought.
Ji-ho also shared some stories about how other groups got their names. Some were named after a favorite bar, while others were just random letters strung together, with the staff later forced to assign them meaning.
Hearing that, Sol couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about their own team name. Judging from Deuk-yong's stage name, it didn’t seem like Baek Yoo-chan, the CEO of YC Entertainment, had a particularly good sense for names.
After working so hard to debut, having a name like "Lucky Boys" would be a bit disheartening.
"Oh, and for now, you’ll be called TEAM ONE."
Almost as if reading Sol’s mind, the team leader announced the name "TEAM ONE." Feeling a bit uneasy about the future team name, Sol glanced at Tae-oh. Tae-oh, who had been staring ahead with a blank expression, also turned his head and met Sol’s eyes.
Though his face was calm, his gaze seemed to reflect the same thought as Sol’s. Even though it was a temporary name, having something to unite them under made it feel like the shape of their debut as one team was finally appearing. Deuk-yong raised his hand again, mischievously asking another question like a troublemaking student.
"Is there a TEAM TWO?"
“There isn’t one yet, but you never know, it might happen soon. Just keep writing, and let me know when you’re done.”
Though the team leader spoke kindly with a smile, her response had an oddly chilly and unsettling tone. Whether it was because he no longer felt like asking any more questions, Deuk-yong flattened himself onto his desk as if to bury his nose in it, silently scribbling with his pen. With all the members now focused on writing their profiles, the team leader and the other staff members left the room, saying they were going to grab a cup of coffee.
In the ensuing quiet, Sol continued to write his profile when he sensed someone’s gaze from beside him. He looked up, glancing from side to side. Though it wasn’t a test, Ji-ho and Ga-ram, seated on either side of him, were sneakily peeking at Sol’s profile as if they were trying to cheat.
“…Why?”
Sol, feeling he might have made a mistake under their blatant stares, glanced back and forth between the two and asked in a small voice. Ga-ram smiled and shook his head as if to say it was nothing. When Sol looked at Ji-ho, he responded with a wide, playful grin.
“Your birthday was last month?”
“Ah… yeah.”
Sol nodded at Ji-ho’s question, staring at the neatly written black ink where his birthday was recorded. His birthday was also the anniversary of his parents’ death. Ever since that accident, his birthday had ceased to exist. Likewise, the anniversary of his parents’ passing had disappeared from his life too.
“I should’ve asked earlier… We missed the chance to throw you a birthday party.”
“I don’t really celebrate my birthday. It’s fine.”
It had long slipped his mind, as it was a day erased from his memory. Some might criticize him for not even observing the anniversary of his parents’ passing, but for Sol, that day had become a day of suffering. Of all days, why did they have to suggest that trip on his birthday? Even if he had wanted to observe the anniversary, there was no one to tell him how to do it.
Whenever someone asked when his birthday was, he would always respond evasively, offering an awkward smile and saying, “It already passed.” Not that there were many people close enough to ask, anyway.
“I’ll make sure to cook you some seaweed soup next year.”
“It’s really okay, Ji-ho hyung.”
Sol forced out that familiar, awkward smile he hadn’t shown in a while. There wasn’t much else he could say. What else was there to add at this point? Should he say, “My birthday is the same day as my parents’ death?” Just because he felt bad didn’t mean he had to drag someone else down into the same pit of sorrow.
“What do you mean ‘it’s okay’? What were we doing that day, anyway?”
"That day, I got evaluated and harshly criticized."
"It's really fine. I don't usually care about things like birthdays…."
"No, so what if your birthday has passed? We just need to celebrate that Sol was born. How about we throw a party today?"
As Ji-ho pulled Sol close with his arm around Sol's shoulders, Sol, who was now resting limply in Ji-ho's embrace, made a confused expression, neither crying nor laughing. Sol had never thought about it the way Ji-ho said. Even if it’s not your birthday, you can still celebrate being born. His friends, Ju-hwan and Baek Yoo-chan, had also always hesitated to bring up anything about Sol's birthday, mostly because Sol would go off the grid around that time, making it hard to reach him. So, no one had ever dared mention even the word 'birthday.'
"Sounds good."
What part of this sounds good? Sol turned to look at the person who had answered. It was an unexpected figure. It was Tae-oh, sitting at the very front. When Sol gave him a perplexed look, Deuk-yong, who was still perpetually on a diet, whined.
"Ugh, but I can’t eat anything!"
"We’ll have cake, Deuk-yong, you just stick to your chicken breast."
"I'm always the only one who can't eat!"
As Ji-ho teased the whining Deuk-yong, he pulled Sol even closer. Not knowing what to say in this suddenly bizarre situation, Sol just blinked and let himself relax in Ji-ho's arms. In that moment, two pairs of sharp eyes bore into Sol.
Though Sol, flustered by Ji-ho, Deuk-yong, and this surprise birthday party, didn't notice it, Tae-oh and Ga-ram's gazes were fixed on Ji-ho's arms wrapped around Sol's shoulders and back. Whether or not Ji-ho felt the sting of those looks, he let out a strange laugh and loosened his grip around Sol naturally. Then Tae-oh bent down to make eye contact with Sol and spoke.
"Happy birthday, even if it’s late."
Following Tae-oh's lead, Ga-ram also sent his belated congratulations.
"Yeah, happy birthday, Sol."
For some reason, Ji-ho, stuck between them, clapped his hands and laughed loudly, his face lit up with a huge smile.
"Thank you for being born, Sol-ah! Oh, by the way, my birthday is March 27th, so you guys better remember."
"Aaaah! I didn’t hear anything! I heard nothing!"
At Ji-ho’s words, saying he was looking forward to his birthday while clapping his hands, Deuk-yong covered both ears and shook his head, making an "ahhh" sound. Sol, who was caught off guard by his childish prankster behavior, returned to reality.
“Sol hyung, it's late, but happy birthday.”
It was the first birthday greeting he had heard since the accident, even though it wasn’t on the actual day. As Ji-ho said, does it really matter if it wasn’t on his birthday? Just like he said, isn’t the point of a birthday to celebrate simply existing in this world, whether it’s the actual day or not? It wasn’t a big deal. Sol faintly smiled. The guilt of being congratulated and smiling on his birthday after losing his parents—he no longer felt it.
Sol touched his lips. A smile had replaced the expression of embarrassment that had been there before. At that moment, a system window appeared before his eyes.
[You are currently in a state of 'A Small Happiness'. Your fatigue is rapidly decreasing.]
“Thank you, everyone.”
Sol responded to the members’ birthday greetings, albeit a little late. Only then did he notice that, in contrast to his wide smile, the other two’s* expressions seemed somewhat complicated. (T/N: Most likely Tae-oh and Ga-ram.)
