Chapter 123.1

[Bridge]

Hanje stood still and looked around the spacious house.

He had moved out of the dorm when the members of the Older Line enlisted in the military, and the place he had gotten was enormous for one person.

But the dorm, with fewer members left in it, had felt just as empty, so it made little difference.

After Young Ace became successful, he had at least gotten his own room, but this was the first time he had ever had a home entirely to himself.

It’s nice and quiet up on the top floor.

Ever since his mother had said that while helping him move, the house had gone a long time without the sound of anyone but him.

At first, he had considered inviting people over, but he soon changed his mind. Apparently, his fussiness made exceptions only for those closest to him; he had no desire to let outsiders into such an intensely private space.

And yet there was one guy he had brought home under the excuse that he couldn’t afford to let anything interfere with the quest.

You’re staying here for the time being. Don’t say anything. I’m not letting you leave no matter what you say.

The problem was, his troublesome junior did not seem to understand at all just how unprecedentedly extraordinary an offer that was.

At first, Gowon had been desperate to get out of the house.

Whenever Hanje dragged him back after he tried to run, Gowon would shut himself in his room, only to bolt out at dawn under the pretext of practicing.

That same evening, Hanje caught him trying to sneak out of the company building, so he pulled the car across Gowon’s path.

Looks like my timing for heading home happened to be perfect.

.......

You must have some incredible luck when it comes to rides. Get in.

After several days of keeping the guy confined to the house despite the expression on his face that said he hated every second of it—

Gowon, half resigned, sat at the dining table and ate whatever delivery food Hanje had picked without consulting him. After some more time passed, he started bringing home ingredients like vegetables and cooking for himself.

Around then, he also began leaving his room and claiming a corner of the living-room sofa, where he would sit looking at his phone.

What are you doing?

...Boggle.

Oh. After all that noise Grandma Won made on Boggle, I’m surprised the company still lets you roam free.

.......

“.......”

Hanje walked around the kitchen and into the living room. Then he stopped in front of the sofa, where no one sat anymore.

A hollow remained in the spot where Gowon used to fold his huge body up and press himself into the corner.

Boggle again today?

No. ...I was watching a video.

Of who?

At first, Hanje had sat at the opposite end of the sofa from Gowon.

What do you want for lunch?

I marinated some meat in the fridge. I was going to make spicy pork.

Sounds good. Make me a rolled omelet too.

...Where’s the frying pan?

How would I know? You’re the one who decided to make spicy pork.

That’ll more or less work in a pot, so... Never mind. I’ll find it later.

Gowon never moved from the territory he had claimed like a cat.

Hey, Gowon.

Yeah.

Instead, the place where Hanje dropped back against the sofa to talk to him—

What are you doing over there?

—shifted one seat closer at a time, gradually crossing the center of the sofa.

Look at this.

Why? Find something funny?

Before either of them knew it, they were sitting right next to each other.

Still looking at the empty sofa, Hanje followed the path his body had learned by habit.

He sank into his familiar spot on the right side of the sofa, leaving exactly enough room for one person by the armrest.

So that’s why this part sank so much.

No wonder the cushioning had struggled after supporting the weight of two grown men.

While Gowon had been opening his heart to him, Hanje had been moving closer to Gowon too.

“...That’s funny.”

He looked at the empty space beside him.

Tapping his fingers against the cold leather, he remembered the face that had once tried so clumsily to avoid him.

The face that would flush every now and then. The pitch-black eyes that had held Hanje beneath those sharp, prickly corners.

So Gowon likes me.

As for how Hanje felt about Gowon himself, naturally, the longer they had spent together, the fonder he had grown of him.

By now, even without the quest forcing his hand, he wanted Gowon to succeed as an idol. He wanted him to be compensated for the hardship of his childhood and finally be happy.

So what came after that?

“Hmm....”

Tap, tap, tap.

The problem was that they had been senior and junior from the moment they met until now, so when it came to imagining Gowon in a romantic sense, Hanje’s imagination simply ground to a halt.

Then I can just test it.

Wasn’t there a famous saying about romance?

Whether you could date someone or not came down to whether you could kiss them.

One day, after his junior had started hiding away in Hanje’s house like a cat—

Bang!

Hanje cornered him against the door when he tried to run away yet again.

“H-Hanje....”

The faint distance that usually remained between them even when they leaned together to look at the same phone screen shrank until Hanje’s face was barely half a handspan away.

Would it work?

The question lingered right until their lips were about to touch.

“Mmph...!”

But the moment his lips met the warm ones trembling faintly beneath them, the question vanished from his mind.

It felt much better than he had expected.

The scorching heat inside Gowon’s mouth. The enormous pounding Hanje could feel from the body pressed flat against the wall, shivering in tiny jolts.

When Hanje finally pulled his lips away, he looked at the face in front of him, flushed completely red, and reached his conclusion.

Fuck. Of course it was going to work.

How could he possibly reject such a pretty face when Gowon looked like he was dying from how much he liked him even after Hanje had done that to him?

***

Young Ace was making a comeback!

The teasers began with Hansel, the youngest member, then proceeded in reverse age order until they reached leader Kwon Taeyoung.

Text appeared over Kwon Taeyoung’s back in the final teaser.

7th Album <ACE of Spades>

A surprise comeback after a hiatus of several years would have been shocking enough, but this wasn’t some tiny one- or two-track release.

It was a full album.

And then there was the title. They had pulled out the very origin of their fandom’s name, making their ambition clear: this time, they intended to show everyone what they were really capable of.

The K-Dom shareholders’ chat was livelier than it had been in years.

K-Dom Shareholders Group Chat

Notice: Young Ace has returned

Sentimental Puppy

DO YOU BELIEVE?!!!!!!!!

Sleepy Cat

I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe.

Excited Peach

THE LIGHT AND SALT OF THE UNIVERSE THE ENFORCERS OF K-POP KING GOD GREAT YOUNG ACE

Sleepy Cat

Amen.

The fans, too, were bewildered only briefly before throwing themselves wholeheartedly into celebration.

Though their joy came with a slightly tearful swell of emotion.

AgainHanjeStartedIt @Againheis

If anyone messes with Young Ace’s youngest, his older members race each other to come running.

I really love that saying.

Even the fansite master whose account had been suspended after getting into keyboard battles with people talking shit during the leak of Hansel’s work resurfaced under a new ID to scream in celebration of the comeback.

Young Ace Board

Hanje you really did

Anonymous Young Ace Girl

capture the missing Yunjin alive and drag him back.. good boy

Comments

· Ah but with Baek Hanje’s personality I can seriously picture him tying Yunjin up like some tribal chief who’d prepared a whole roast pig lmaoooo

? And even then he probably made the others carry him instead of doing it himself

· LMFAO of course he’s still forever the youngest-on-top??????

Young Ace Board

Kim Yeban personality controversy

Anonymous Young Ace Girl

I mean in this teaser;

(teaser sleeveless outfit side view.jpg)

Very angry biceps

(teaser sleeveless outfit back view 1.jpg)

Even angrier triceps

(teaser sleeveless outfit back view 2.jpg)

Even the lats are absolutely fucking furious

And you’re telling me this person stuffed all THAT inside a coat during Green Winter and kept it all to themself?

I thought Kim Yeban was the nicest member of Young Ace but wow what a selfish person

Comments

· No but you can’t exactly come out wearing a tank top in THAT setting though.. obviously

· Even in the behind-the-scenes cam for the snowy mountain scene they were filming while going I’m cooold waaahhh??????

? How does someone have a classic leading-actor face, a professional idol body, and then somehow the personality of Kim Yeban

Young Ace Board

wow I’m actually going to see a full-group comeback in my lifetime

Anonymous Young Ace Girl

still doesn’t feel real..

They said tons of Young Ace fans ended up getting jobs at the company???

How do those people feel right now, did they basically become successful fans??

Comments

· They probably helped prep the comeback too I’m so fucking jealous??

· If it were me my mouth would be itching so badly to spill everything I’d spend all day exercising my jaw

Young Ace Board

(To OP above) heard this from someone I know at K-Dom

Anonymous Young Ace Girl

Young Ace comeback? obviously I love it

BUT??? apparently Kwon Taeyoung has been working so damn hard as division head all this time that the entire staff is experiencing severe cognitive dissonance

Huh why did the director get his hair and makeup done?

Why isn’t the director wearing a suit today?

Ah~ I know Director Kwon is handsome but isn’t this casual-clothes concept a bit much??

Huh the director is DANCING??!

YO YO OUR COMPANY DIRECTOR IS RAPPING!!!

HOLY SHIT RIGHT KWON TAEYOUNG WAS A CELEBRITY...!

Wait the division head is a celebrity? Huh? Then why was he always working overtime? Huh?

Apparently they’re all like this??????

Comments

· Taeyoung how insanely hard have you been working all this time

· Glad I met you as a fan because I never want to meet you as my boss, my leader..

News of Young Ace’s comeback was a festival for every Spade.

But at the same time, they were desperately trying not to look at one uncomfortable fact.

Hansel.

Starting with Young Ace’s third album, he had produced every title track, every B-side, and even every member’s solo song.

And only a few weeks ago, his cloud storage had suffered a massive hacking incident.

How the hell?!

Dearplea @D_Earplea

guess they’re finally swallowing their pride about the exclusive-producer thing and importing songs this time??

not like they’ve got any material left anyway

? whatever @ahfotlqkf

So what if they buy a few songs? if you yelled I WANNA WORK WITH YOUNG ACE~ the composers would line up from K-Dom’s front gate all the way to the other side of the planet

Rumors and theories of every kind ran rampant around Young Ace’s comeback.

By now, it was about time they started dropping something—at least a highlight medley) or a comeback schedule.

And then, out of nowhere, self-produced content appeared!

Let’s Young Ace Season 3, Episode 0

<Let’s Young Ace> had once been excellent mealtime entertainment for Spades until a few years ago.

It was a self-produced series that usually came out between promotional periods, with formats involving things like physical games between the members or missions they had to complete.

But they had uploaded this now, just as they were starting up promotions for the new album?

What the hell is even happening...?!

Filled with confusion and anticipation, the fan pressed play.

The self-produced content began.

Hansel stood alone in the center of the screen.

Alongside his strangely hollow-looking profile, narration recorded in his own voice began to play.

—The cloud died.

—Today marks one week since its death.

You—fucking—K-Dom planning-team assholes! I don’t give a shit about “facing it head-on,” how dare you make the kid say this with his own mou—

—Now, it’s time to resurrect it.