DASH-Chapter 162

“Hey, you should never say that in front of my parents.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t go saying things like, ‘You should be proud of having a son like Jiheon hyung’ or something.”

“But it’s true.”

Jaekyoung stated bluntly.

“And your parents probably think the same, so why can’t I say that?”

Jiheon couldn’t help but laugh because the way Jaekyoung pouted and made a face went beyond being incomprehensible, making him feel like he’d been hit with a very unreasonable demand.

“Hey, what’s true about that? Besides, even if it’s really true, you can’t say that. In such a situation, all credit must be given to the parents.”

“Why?”

“It’s an implicit rule and agreement between people based on the long-standing wisdom of our ancestors.”

“What......?”

“Sorry. It meant custom. You don’t have to understand it, so just know it roughly.”

When Jiheon suggested it wouldn’t hurt to know, Jaekyoung replied with a “Okay...,” with an upset expression.

“But how am I supposed to give credit to your parents?”

“Every time you talk about me, just subtly say that it’s all thanks to my parents.”

“Is it all because of your parents that I fell in love with you? Isn’t that weird?”

“Of course it’s weird.”

Jiheon set the ice cream aside and rested his arms on the table. Leaning forward as much as possible, he calmly explained.

“I’m not suggesting you state it outright like that; just give them some subtle compliments. For instance, if my parents asked what you like about me, what’d you say?”

“How can I say it all one by one?”

“Just give a rough overview. Keep it short and simple.”

“Well... because you’re handsome, great at swimming, smart, kind, gives a lot of compliments, pretty when you smi—”

“Alright, let’s say you fell in love with my personality. Then add this: ‘But after seeing you two today, I understand why Jiheon hyung is so kind and gentle to others.’”

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“......It’s too hard.”

A serious expression darkened Jaekyoung’s face. His pupils were shaking like never before, and he looked like he never thought such a difficult situation would come up in his life.

“I’m not good at saying things like that. I mean, I can do it if I have to, but it might come off as forced if someone looks at it closely.”

‘Well, I guess that could happen.’

Only belatedly did Jiheon realize he had made too many demands.

One needed to practice words to get used to it, but Jaekyoung had no knack for it. Regardless of the praise he received, he always responded with a simple “Yes”. Because of that, a lot of people said that he was being rude.

Mrs. Shim then advised him to smile while speaking, and in the end, Jaekyoung awkwardly twitched one side of his lips and said in a sharp tone, “Yes, thanks to you, I can focus on training without worrying about anything else. Thank you very much.” Yet, he faced even more criticism, with people thinking he was a sarcastic jerk.

“And sometimes, even if I mean it sincerely, people misunderstand because of the way I say it. I’m a bit worried your parents might think the same.”

“Well, no. My parents won’t judge you based on the way you speak. It’s the heart that matters.”

As he spoke, the contradiction in his actions became evident. If the heart was what mattered, why was he trying so hard with public relations? Jiheon could see Jaekyoung’s sincerity just by looking at his actions.

“Okay, let’s just call it quits then.”

Jiheon gave up entirely.

“Anyway, my parents watch TV and know how blunt you can be. If you suddenly say something like that, they might find it even weirder.”

Jiheon said, grinning, and brought back the ice cream that had been pushed aside.

“Don’t worry about it; just be yourself. I’ll cover for you as best as I can, so don’t be too nervous.”

“If being myself means not saying anything, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“That’s fine.”

Jiheon said, scooping a big spoonful of his half-melted ice cream.

“My parents actually prefer quiet over someone who talks too loud.”

“I see. They’re not wrong when they say silence is golden.”

Jaekyoung tapped the table, as if he’d been waiting.

“It’s even worse if I blabber nonsense and then mess up, right? They’d probably prefer their son bringing someone who stays quiet over someone who talks nonsense. Right? That’s the case for you too, right, hyung?”

Jaekyoung must’ve been very worried, so much that he spoke passionately, which was rare, even in a brief moment. If only he talked this much regularly, you could hear him anywhere you went.

“That’s right.”

Jiheon readily agreed. Then, he said, naturally handing the spoon with the ice cream to Jaekyoung.

“But first, let me give you a tip. If someone in my family tells you that you’re handsome.......”

****

｢If you’re going to do this, you might as well announce your wedding, Mr. Jeong.｣

Hearing Team Leader Lee’s words, Jiheon held his cell phone and bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, ma’am....”

He was at a loss for words. He did mention not wanting to stir up personal stuff until the Olympics, but they were photographed going on a date that very day. Well, technically, it wasn’t a date; they were just out buying things they needed. But who would believe that? Especially when over half the photos were taken in a cafe, and with not one, not two, but three photos of Jiheon feeding Jaekyoung ice cream, that excuse became useless.

When Jiheon first saw the photos on social media, he thought they were photoshopped. Until then, he wasn’t even aware that he had done such a thing.

He was baffled and asked:

‘What’s this? What kind of editing program did they use?’

But Jaekyoung was surprised and told him.

‘What do you mean? You fed me ice cream, hyung.’

‘I fed you ice cream?’

‘Yes.’

‘In broad daylight? At a department store cafe? Where there were a lot of people?’

‘Yes. You fed me twice.’

Jiheon was in shock. What shocked him wasn’t that he couldn’t remember; it was that he fed Jaekyoung without realizing it.

｢You didn’t do anything wrong, so no need to apologize. Just be careful from now on. Remember, photos can be taken anytime, anywhere.｣

“Yes, ma’am....”

Once again, he thought he’d successfully prevented Jaekyoung from entering the baby goods store. If not, there would’ve been dozens of pictures of them looking at baby clothes and holding fluffy dolls. Instead of rumors about an impending marriage today, the internet would be flooded with articles about impending childbirth.

Considering that, he had thought it would be okay to go to a cafe and feed him ice cream, but it turned out to be a mistake anyway.

“I’ll «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» make sure things like this won’t happen again.”

Jiheon said with a heavy heart.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

｢Alright, just handle that. That’s not why I’m calling you, so don’t act like a sinner.｣

Team Leader Lee spoke in a soothing manner before getting to the real business.

｢The article hasn’t come out yet, but it looks like Han Yuseong will be moving to the KoSF label soon.｣

“KoSF?”

Jiheon asked, surprised at this unexpected turn of events.

KoSF was a sports event agency that had a business agreement with Kavva and eventually merged with it. After the merger, they established a separate agency label called KoSF-A, mainly filled with athletes from Kavva’s other labels. These athletes, who hadn’t achieved significant results, were handed over under the guise of consignment management, so it actually felt like a second-team gathering place under Kavva. But to think they eventually sent Han Yuseong there....

“It might be Kavva’s strategy to grow KoSF-A, but... given the current situation, it seems like Han Yuseong is in some big trouble.”

｢You’re right. Why send Han Yuseong if they want to grow KoSF-A? They could just transfer some of their big names there and switch to a premium label.｣

That made sense. Han Yuseong had been gaining attention lately, but compared to Kavva’s star athletes, he was still relatively unknown.

“But just recently, the comments about him were no joke. Does it make sense to drop him so quickly?”

｢They don’t spare athletes who don’t bring in money. Han Yuseong wasn’t a blue chip in the advertising industry to begin with, and all he did was intercept a few commercials for Kwon Jaekyoung as a collateral for his participation in the Olympics, but that ended when he passed the Olympics, right? Why would they be willing to spend money on taking care of him?｣

Maybe that explained why there wasn’t a single article about the first selection round right away. Usually, there would’ve been sensational articles questioning his recent low condition and performance compared to Kwon Jaekyoung.

｢And, I’m not certain, but it seems to have something to do with the internal conflict in the company. You know, there are baseball players who used to be JFX’s main source of income.｣

“I know, those brothers.”

｢Yes. Lee Suho and Lee Suhwan. They’ve moved directly to Kavva. Manager Song, who’s in charge of them, got transferred to the headquarters, and Kim Giseok was sent to KoSF-A with Han Yuseong.｣

“Ah.”

｢Aren’t they pretty much the same?｣

“Yes....”

｢So, it’s just my take, but if it’s clear that Kavva has thrown away Han Yuseong, I don’t think they’ll pick a fight with Kwon Jaekyoung anymore. Initially, they kept targeting Kwon Jaekyoung not just to damage his image but to replace him with Han Yuseong. They planned to sell him as Kwon Jaekyoung’s replacement.｣

“Yes, that’s true.”

｢Yeah, so don’t worry too much for now. Get some rest, then focus on preparing for the second selection round with the time you have left.｣

Team Leader Lee probably called on purpose because she wanted to talk about this.