The Best of Tomorrow [ 내일의 으뜸]

Chapter 37

I was resting my chin, but my hands kept slipping. The combination of her hands and chin was not very good, I thought, and let out a long, frustrated breath. I came in thinking I should have a bottle of soju with kimchi udon at a small bar in the neighborhood, but I was already downing my second bottle of soju.

I used to only use swear words at people who said bad things about Seon-jae, but every time I kept tipping my glass of soju, my double-breasted clothes came out. The store owner looked at me strangely as I raised my eyes and cursed and cried, and when my tears dried, I swore again and cried. Even though there were no customers, he seemed to want them to stop leaving.

"Boss, please give me a nogari here."

"paddle... ... "Nogari?"

"yes."

The store owner said, "Ugh." He sighed and went to grill the nogari. I think I'm pretty drunk at this level, but I'm being too rude, I thought to myself as I filled my empty glass.

So, this was a really funny feeling, but after returning to the original time, I felt sad, as if I had been dumped by Seonjae. Even though nothing like that had happened, I felt distressed and had a hard time with those feelings. The present Seonjae was not someone you could meet just by looking for him. He could not be prevented from joining as a fifth member, so he was still criticized for being a potato pancake, but he was still a celebrity.

"miss you... ... miss you... ... ."

By chance, Beomsu Kim's 'I Miss You' came out of the speaker installed at the store's counter. The owner of the nogari restaurant must have heard me sing, so he turned off the song and turned on the radio. It seemed like a signal to stop singing along.

Boss, it's bad... ... .

I put my arms crossed on the table and looked down at the glass in front of me. Seonjae's face was floating in the transparent soju.

"It's really good... ... I'm so glad you're alive... ... ."

I think it's gotten harder. Seonjae.

I let out a long sigh, fiddled with the glass, and was about to lift the soju to my lips when a familiar voice came from the radio.

― But how long does everyone practice? Who is the oldest?

- Uh, Seongjun joined the company first. The order in which they joined the company was Seongjun hyung, Hyunseong hyung, and I, and the next year, Inhyuk hyung and Seonjae hyung joined.

- But Seonjae joined in the middle. So the practice period will be the longest?

Yes, that's right, I heard Seonjae's voice smiling. At that moment, his hand shook and the soju filled in the glass overflowed. He put down the glass and wiped the soju from his hands on his pants.

― Seonjae, when was the most difficult time during your time as a trainee?

Seonjae said, "Hmm," and raised his voice. Her heart sank as she heard a familiar voice with a different feel. An episode of Seonjae's Gamgam Bridge that I often heard on the radio. The scenery she saw with Seonjae that day flashed through her mind. I even listened to a song while wearing earphones one by one.

- I don't think there was one.

- Really?

- no. Seonjae had a really hard time during his senior year of high school. At that time, he had an old-fashioned MP3, and he would go around with it in his ears and make a face like he lived in the world.