After a quick, refreshing shower, I called Grandma and Minsung to check in. Minsung had finally decided to participate in a minor swimming competition following his quarter-year exams, and Grandma dutifully recounted everything that could possibly be told about a new historical romance drama. Honestly, I zoned out during ninety-nine percent of the drama talk, offering only murmurs of agreement.

I dressed in crisp jeans, a white shirt, and an oversized gray blazer, opting for my platform loafers. I didn't usually wear platform shoes due to my height, but I suspected I might be suffering from a slight inferiority complex next to a giant like JiaHao. I styled my hair carefully and applied a light layer of sunscreen to my face.

When I stepped out into the living room, JiaHao was just pulling on a simple hoodie and sweatpants. I immediately felt ridiculously overdressed for a casual Sunday lunch. The last time I had seriously cared about dressing up, everyone around me had cared about dressing up too. I had automatically reverted to a pattern I had dropped two years ago and felt incredibly stupid. But the desire to make a good impression on JiaHao, was still strong.

"Do you have a place in mind?" he asked as we put on our shoes by the entryway.

"How serious are you about the idol diet, Hyung?" I asked, testing the waters.

"I'm only serious about the diet when the food is paid with company money," he deadpanned.

"Perfect," I grinned. "Then lunch is paid by Minjae money."

"Bulgogi?"

"Bulgogi!"

"So you're not just the mom of the group, but the sugar mommy of the group?" he teased as we walked toward the nearby Korean BBQ restaurant, the smell of charcoal and marinated meat already faintly present in the air.

"Aren't you some heir or something?" I joked back, subtly trying to sniff around for information. "Then you're supposed to be the sugar daddy."

"Sort of, yeah. But my family is still nothing, compared to Renji's."

My heart skipped a beat just hearing his name mentioned so casually. My brain hadn't even processed the surprising piece of information yet.

"Wait... What?"

"You didn't know Renji was loaded?" he asked, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy my stunned reaction.

"I had no idea," I confessed, shaking my head. "We never talked about that stuff. Actually, Renji never really talked about his parents. The only thing he shared was that his mom is Korean and his dad is Japanese. And that they both live in Japan."

"To be fair," JiaHao said, pushing open the heavy glass door of the restaurant, "Renji didn't really talk about his family to us either. It was my uncle who blabbed about how powerful the Miyata family is."

"Oh, I see," I murmured, taking a seat at a table.

The initial stab of jealousy—that Renji had shared such personal information with others but not me—subsided, replaced by relief that it wasn't the case.

We had a pleasant lunch over the sizzling grill. My main conclusion was that JiaHao was an easygoing guy who absolutely loved to gossip. He spilled endless tea about various staff members, the other V1ne members, and influential people in the industry. None of it was actually useful, but it was definitely entertaining.

I learned that Boom was technically the youngest of the group, but Yujun was such a baby that everyone mistakenly thought he was the youngest. This only deepened my curiosity about how a twenty-three-year-old man could project such overwhelming childlike innocence.

JiaHao also talked more about Geon; he too was from a substantially wealthy family. Aside from myself and Yujun, technically every member was from a prestigious and wealthy background. It wasn't that my family could have been considered poor by any means—being a dentist meant comfortable living. But compared to corporate giants and celebrities, being a dentist felt incredibly humble. This discovery about everyone being filthy rich gave me an uncomfortable, weird feeling, like almost all the members were industry plants.

The idea wasn't entirely outrageous when I thought about it; nepo babies and kids with privileges due to their backgrounds had been a reality since civilization emerged. But it still gave me an unsettling gut feeling.

I tried to squeeze more concrete information out of JiaHao, but he just kept gossiping about things I didn't care about.

We got back to the dorms, and I went to my room, intending to relax for a little while. I tried to replay the events of the past few days. I realized I had been awfully chatty at times around the members, joking around and acting like I used to back then. I wasn't even sure if it was a facade or if it was genuine.

The possibility of it being genuine terrified me. It meant I was finding some level of comfort in the members, or in being back in the industry, in a very short amount of time. And that meant that working against SDR, and being underciver would become even more emotionally taxing.

I heard some sudden, loud noises from the living room, so I went out to check what was going on. The picture in front of my eyes was hard to describe with mere words.

The twins were enthusiastically clinging onto a short guy who, for some reason, gave the impression of a human cotton candy and a Pomeranian.

"Yujunnie Hyung, we missed you so much," Bang declared, clutching one of the guy's arms.

"Yujunnie Hyung, did you bring us something yummy from your hometown?" Boom whined, clinging to the other arm.

It looked like they were overgrown baby koalas. The whole scene felt utterly surreal, considering the twins were almost six feet tall with muscular builds, and Yujun seemed perhaps five-foot-six with a very dainty, delicate body type. His clothes were all pastel, and his hair was light, an almost silver blonde.

But the most surreal thing about this whole phenomenon was Yujun's expression. At first, he looked cute, but I could then see a swelling, fuming anger beneath the surface.

"Hey! Monkeys!" he yelled, shaking the twins off his arms violently.

"Sorry, Yujunnie Hyung," the twins immediately said, bowing dramatically, not looking sorry at all.

"Don't mind them. They're lunatics. Just pretend you're dead when any of those three approach you. They give up eventually," said a new voice from behind me. I spun around and took a quick glance. He was short, but not as short as Yujun. He had sharp, defined features, deadpan eyes, jet-black, shoulder-length hair, and many ear piercings.

"Geon, right?" I held my hand out to shake his. "I'm Minjae." Geon simply nodded once, his expression unreadable.

"I can already see the devastating future of V1ne," Geon drawled, looking bored. "We will be arrested for illegal drug use. For using ketamine on those animals." He pointed dismissively at the twins and Yujun, who were still bickering loudly.

I chuckled—a genuine laugh. I already liked Geon.

"I need some time for self-care, while those three need some time for self-reflection. See you later, Minjae."

Geon spoke casually, but I didn't mind; he was the same age as me and Renji.

Yujun eventually got rid of the twins and came over to introduce himself.

"Sorry about the fuss earlier. I'm normally not this loud and violent—HEY, BOOM. PUT THAT DOWN. THAT WAS A GIFT FROM MY MOM!" Yujun screamed, but somehow it sounded like agressive barking, and another micro-war instantly broke out in the living room.

I retired to my room, seeking refuge from the chaos. After a few hours of reading, I wanted to take a quick nap before dinner, but it turned into a deep, long sleep of four hours. This meant I missed dinner, and it also meant Renji was likely already back and fast asleep.

My eyes scanned the dark room. I heard his characteristic, slightly ragged breathing before I could make out the faint outlines of his face in the gloom. As much as Renji hated me, it gave me a profound, irrational comfort that he was there, nearby. I just desperately wished I could talk to him.

I truly felt like a creep at that point because, yet again, I wobbled out of my bed and cautiously walked over to his side.

I felt this overwhelming urge to be close to him. I lost him once, and I didn't know if I would lose him once more when this whole thing ended. I didn't want to waste my time on distance and coldness, even if that was probably what he wanted.

As I studied his face in the dark, bathed only in the distant glow of the city through the window, I remembered the first time I had introduced him to my parents and Minsung. It was the hottest July I had ever suffered. We were fifteen, and he was living with his nanny then, as his parents stayed in Japan. He was bored and lonely. I took him home for lunch, but we had such a good time he stayed for dinner, and after staying the night, even for breakfast. My parents loved him. Even Minsung loved him, because Renji listened to his long venting sessions about dinosaurs and shared his interest in sports.

"I wish we all could be together like that once more," I mumbled, the words heavy and moist. Maybe the darkness made me hazy, or the surge of memories was too strong, but it felt like I was in a lucid dream.

"Mom and Dad would have been so proud of us now. Haa... Renji, do you think when people die... they can still see us from where they are?" I whispered. I was sure he was sleeping; his slow, steady breathing hadn't changed a bit. So I grew bolder with my confessions. All the guilt and pain I had bottled up for the past two years began leaking to the surface.

"I'm really sorry, Renji. I didn't mean to hurt you," my voice cracked. "I was just... so scared. I didn't know what to do. Honestly, I just wanted to die. But then what would have happened to Minsung, you know? I can't just die." I went on and on with my incoherent tangent until hot tears started running down my face, silently dripping onto my clothes.

"Haa... This sucks. I wish things wouldn't suck this bad. Everything is so complicated. And all the kids from back then, who knows what happened to them? Do you remember Bo, the Chinese kid when we were sixteen? He trained with us for almost a month. He was only thirteen at the time. Who knows what those old, slimy bastards did to him? I was so clueless. We were all so fucking clueless..."

Through my tears, I saw something moving in the dark. Warm, strong arms suddenly wrapped around me and gently pulled me off the chair and under the blanket.

"Shh. Calm down," came Renji's deep, freshly woken voice. He didn't speak another word, just kept silently holding me, hugging me tightly until we both eventually fell asleep.