Chapter 295
"Oh my, why did you buy so much! You could have just come."
"This is my first time here, so I thought it would be rude to come empty-handed, so I bought some. Mother."
"It must be heavy. Please give it to me."
"Thank you."
When Ji Yoon-chul and I rang the doorbell with our hands full of gifts, Heo Yu-bin's mother opened the door and was surprised.
We awkwardly smiled and greeted each other before going inside.
The spacious, neatly organized living room really fit the description of being neat.
When we placed the apples and juice boxes on the spacious table in the living room, Mother spoke to us again.
"You must have had a hard time carrying these. Oh my, you're already sweating. I'll turn on the air conditioner, so wait a moment."
"Thank you. Is Yu-bin's room here?"
"You're here, hyung-nim?"
The moment I asked where Heo Yu-bin's room was, Heo Yu-bin staggered out of the room at the end of the hallway.
Heo Yu-bin, who usually had pale skin that made him look sickly, looked even paler when he caught a cold.
"Yu-bin, what if you come out without a mask? You shouldn't spread it to your friends."
"Oh, it's okay. Mother. We just have to wear our masks properly."
"...Hyung, how are you feeling?"
When Ji Yoon-chul looked worried, Heo Yu-bin smiled faintly and answered.
"I took medicine and slept yesterday, so I feel a lot better, cough, cough!"
"...I think you're still really sick."
"No, really. My fever went down a bit. Even though I look like this, I recover quickly."
Mother headed to the kitchen to peel the apples we bought.
We sat side by side on the living room sofa.
Ji Yoon-chul turned his head left and right as if he was curious.
"......You must be really diligent in cleaning."
"Yeah, because Mother is so neat."
"Yu-bin's unexpectedly neat side comes from Mom."
"What do you mean by unexpectedly neat, hyung-nim?"
Heo Yoo-bin playfully tapped my arm.
"By the way, it's been so long since anyone has been to our house; I feel strange."
"Long time? Didn't anyone come before?"
"I didn't really have any friends at school, and even when I was a trainee, I didn't have anyone I was close enough to invite to my house. To begin with, my agency was so small that there weren't many people, so hehe. Cough, cough!"
Heo Yu-bin's abnormal condition that caught my eye from the moment we first met, 'hikikomori.'
I think the various circumstances surrounding him contributed to creating this loner trait.
I was lost in thought as I watched Heo Yu-bin, who was still coughing a little.
'He's really active and charming when you get to know him. I don't know if he originally liked to be alone or if his personality has gradually become timid because of his surroundings.'
While we were chatting briefly, mother came over with an apple peeled in a delicious way.
"Come on, eat. Did it take you a long time to get here?"
"No. It took about 30 minutes."
"You must have come from nearby. That's fortunate."
."...And even if it was far, we would have come no matter what."
Ji Yoon-chul said calmly, poking a piece of apple with a fork.
"I think Yu-bin would be really lonely if he were alone."
"Oh my, thank you so much for saying that. Yoon-chul."
"...Do you know all our names?"
"Oh my, of course."
"When mother came to watch the final broadcast, she already memorized all the members' names."
Heo Yu-bin, who was taking a bite of an apple, said lightly as if it was nothing.
Then his mother nodded with a confident expression.
"It was so amazing when I first saw Karis, but it's even more amazing when I see him in person. He speaks Korean really well."
"Haha, thank you. I studied hard."
"You said you came from Estonia, right? Whenever Yu-bin came to our house, he would say that a lot, saying that Karis hyung-nim was so handsome."
"Oh, Mom! Cough, cough!"
Heo Yu-bin's face instantly turned red.
He hurriedly tried to stop his mother from talking by waving his arms, but his mother continued talking without even looking at her son.
"I really wanted to see you once because he said you were so dependable and that it was so nice to have a dependable older brother. If I had known you would come today, I would have cleaned up the house a bit."
"I think it's already so clean, Mother."
"Oh, no. Anyway, Yubin really talked about Karis a lot."
Ji Yoon-chul, who had been quietly listening to his mother's story, chewed on an apple and asked.
"...Yubin didn't talk about me, Mother?"
"Oh, of course he talked about Yoon-chul too!"
"What did he talk about?"
"Mom, Mom! Mom, please! Cough, cough!"
When Ji Yoon-chul's name was mentioned, Heo Yu-bin's face turned even redder than before.
Seeing her son's anxious expression, his mother shook her fork with a sly smile.
"Hmm, what should we do? Don't talk?"
"Please!"
"No, I really want to hear it."
"Since the story has come this far, I think we should listen to the end. Mother."
"That's right, Yubin. There's nothing you can do."
"Ahhhh..."
Heo Yubin realized that he had lost and lowered his face in shame.
"What about Yoon-chul? Um... Oh, right. At first, you two barely talked, right?"
"...... Yes. We had never been on the same team before the finals, so we didn't have a chance to talk to each other."
"That's right, that's right. So you were on the same team during the finals, and Yoon-chul taught how to dance."
"Yes."
"So Yubin."
"Mom! Please!"
What on earth did he say to his mother to make him react so desperately?
I listened intently to the exciting story and waited.
"Yubin said that he envied you because you were so mature and calm even though you were younger than him. You're handsome and danced well too-"
"Ugh! Stop, stop!"
"That's why he said he wanted to get closer to you, but he couldn't talk to you easily because it was so awkward. Now, I guess you're really close?"
His mother smiled brightly and ignored Heo Yubin's earnest request.
Ji Yoon-chul nodded without even looking at Heo Yubin, who was sprawled out on one side of the sofa.
"Yes. Right before the final broadcast, the hyungs made space to talk to each other, saying that they wanted us to get closer, and I think things got a little easier after that."
"Um, um. It was really fun back then. I remember everyone being surprised when Yoon-chul called Yubin Hyung."
"Why are you like that, hyung...."
"Why are you so embarrassed, Yubin? We went through that process to become so close now, right?"
"That's true, but embarrassing is embarrassing."
Mother sat up straight.
Then she sent a longing look to Heo Yu-bin.
"When you first said you'd go on a survival program, I was really surprised....... I was so worried if you'd be able to survive in a place like that. But now that you've grown up so well and made such good friends, I'm so proud."
"Why are you suddenly like that again......."
While Heo Yu-bin was at a loss for what to do at his mother's sudden compliment, I smiled and said softly.
"It's all possible because Yu-bin was a good person. Thank you for raising Yu-bin well, mother."
"...Thank you."
At Ji Yoon-chul and I's words, mother seemed to feel a momentary sense of sadness.
But soon, she smiled again and waved her hand.
"Eat the apples, you two. Oh my, it's almost time for Yu-jin to come."
"Yu-bin's younger sister?"
"She just entered high school."
Heo Yu-bin quickly got up and started to push Ji Yoon-chul and me out of nowhere.
"What's wrong, Yu-bin?"
"Come into my room quickly, before she comes."
"...... shouldn't we greet your younger sister?"
"No, she really doesn't like me, but she likes all the other members, so she always asks me to get autograph. That's why it's a mess when she sees you and hyung-nim."
"Then I shouldn't even say hello-."
"No! Please hurry up and go into my room, hyung-nim!"
However, before we could take refuge in Heo Yu-bin's room, we heard someone opening the front door.
"Pounce, I'm gonna pounce on you...."
A young voice humming Jerene's
The sound of someone taking off their shoes followed.
"Oh, what is it? Mom, why are there so many shoes? Are there any guests-?"
Heo Yu-bin's younger sister strode into the living room and made eye contact with Heo Yu-bin, who was pulling me and Ji Yoon-chul.
Because she witnessed such an unexpected sight, Heo Yu-jin couldn't even scream and froze in place with her eyes wide open.
I greeted her with a smile and lightly joked.
"Hello. I heard you're a fan of ours, so why are you singing Jerene's song?"
"Ah, ah, no, it's a misunderstanding! No!"
"...I'm disappointed."
"Yes, yes? Yes? No, but it's really not! It's a misunderstanding! No, but, wait, why on earth?"
Ji Yoon-chul also noticed my joke and joined in.
Heo Yu-jin seemed to have no idea what was going on when she saw us appearing out of nowhere.
There were so many question marks floating in her eyes.
"I heard that Yubin is sick, so we came to visit him. Did you have a good day at school?"
"Yes? Oh, yes. I did have a good day, but....... Why are you two here?"
"We bought some apples and juice, so you can eat them later."
"Yes? Oh, yes. Yes...... No, but why?"
First, I sat Heo Yujin down on the sofa to calm her surprised heart.
Heo Yujin blinked several times, trying to understand the current situation, and soon slowly opened her mouth.
"Are you really here to see Heo Yubin?"
"Yes. I heard that his fever was worse than I thought, so we came to visit him."
"Hyung-nim, you don't have to be formal."
"Ah."
My playful side kicked in again after hearing Heo Yubin's words.
"Well, she likes Jerene more than us."
"No, no! My classmate told me to listen to it today, so I listened to it for the first time today! I really hadn't listened to it before."
"Why aren't you listening to
"I'm streaming
Heo Yu-jin hurriedly turned on the Grapefruit app on her phone and showed us the playlist.
Seeing this sharp reaction, I wanted to tease Heo Yu-bin's younger sister even more.
"Then, even if it's not Jerene, if it's okay with us, we can sign......."
"Oh, please, really, please!"
Ji Yoon-chul and I burst into laughter and signed a blank piece of paper.
"Unfortunately, we can't take a picture, and I'd appreciate it if you kept this signature instead of uploading it somewhere."
"Oh, of course. Anyway, I have nowhere to upload it, and my friends don't even know that my blood relative is Heo Yu-bin. Don't worry, I won't tell them."
"Huh? You, your friends don't know me?"
Heo Yu-bin was surprised when he heard his younger sister's words.
"You told me that since I was in Survival, you've been asking your classmates to vote for me. But they don't know? You didn't tell them?"
"Of course. I don't know if you'll debut or not, so why am I telling them? It'll be annoying if I tell them."
"Oh, yeah."
Heo Yu-bin slumped his shoulders as if he was slightly sullen.
Then Ji Yoon-chul patted his back and comforted him.
"...I think Yu-jin thinks a lot about hyung. She's trying to hide and cheer you on because she's worried that you'll get hurt."
"Oh, really? Is that really true?"
Heo Yu-bin instantly regained his energy after hearing Ji Yoon-chul's words.
He even smiled at Heo Yu-jin.
"Thank you, Yu-jin! Next time, I'll get Jerene's autograph!"
"No! Oh, really, what are you talking about!?"
At the sudden thanks, Heo Yu-jin looked extremely embarrassed.
Then she spoke openly to his mother, who was laughing and listening to our conversation.
"Mom, Heo Yu-bin must be crazy! He's saying weird things to me."
"Heo Yu-jin, I am still your oppa, so why are you saying Heo Yu-bin Heo Yu-bin in front of my friends!"
"I don't know! Go and get more sleep!"
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