Chapter 36

The laziness hanging over his naturally fierce, sharp features made him look gentler than usual.

He continued tossing and turning as if he did not want to get up, then practically melted out of bed. To the fans, the sight looked like this.

Lonely Hanzel Chat

Where did our strong-willed giant gangster youngest member go and why is there some scruffy little puppy here

Fuck, Baek Hanje’s younger-man charm is insane

That T-shirt he’s wearing as pajamas is merch from their first concertㅠㅠ Look how stretched out the collar is

Must be the puppy’s comfort shirt,,

“Oh, right. I need to bring this.”

He turned on the camera he had been given and left the bedroom. By the time he emerged, lights were already on throughout the house, making it bright.

His voice, still heavy with sleep, began a slow briefing.

“Mm, today... I don’t have any special schedules, so I’ll probably go to the company and work. Exercise in between, eat something, things like that.”

He looked perfectly natural talking to himself in a vlog composition. He walked over to the coffee machine and pulled a strong shot, then went out onto the terrace and continued talking naturally to the camera while drinking his coffee, keeping viewers from looking away from the screen.

“Make sure you all eat breakfast... Mm, if this is airing during <Under the Same Sky>, would it be evening? Then you should eat something delicious for dinner. Ah, I should start getting ready. I’m really going to be late.”

Then he naturally placed the camera in a suitable spot and waved again.

“I’m going to wash up.”

Lonely Hanzel Chat

Hanje, take the camera with you. The law says you have to film yourself washing too

↑Your Honor, this is the unilateral statement of an individual with a dancing peach profile picture

Fuck, so I’m the only one who has to die like this?

Why does our youngest member seem so grown-up today? Is it okay for me, an unmarried woman, to feel empty-nest syndrome while watching Hanzel?

Baek Hanje, who had seemed to be walking away, suddenly spun around and added one more thing.

“Please enjoy the show with my baby junior artist. Now I’m really going. Bye.”

The mischievous smile that wrinkled the bridge of his nose was exactly the youngest member the fans remembered.

Watching her favorite move naturally between smooth confidence and loveliness, the fan punched a cushion, then urgently began tapping at her phone and laptop.

The moment Baek Hanje appeared, the rate at which new posts appeared changed not only in the fan chat but across every community.

The appearance of two people in the same profession, but separated by a full twelve years—an extremely senior artist and a rookie junior—was a fairly fresh pairing within a familiar format.

Now that both guests had appeared, the screen transitioned to introduce the day’s guests.

Baek Hanje, the youngest member of a group that needed no explanation, Young Ace.

And Gowon, who had made his name by taking first place on an audition program before making a spectacular solo debut.

Their contrasting preparations for work came to an end.

Afterward, Gowon went to the practice room, while Baek Hanje went to his studio. The program showed them spending time in their respective spaces.

Thud, thud.

Gowon came first.

Having shut himself inside the practice room from early in the morning, he first practiced his two title tracks, then danced to another song, and then another.

Lonely Hanzel Chat

Wow, he practices like he’s trying to destroy his body

Is this the sheer venom of a rookie in his first year?

Since Baek Hanje had personally asked viewers to look fondly on his junior, Young Ace fans also began reacting more kindly.

Those who had already been passing their affection down to Gowon began speaking up more actively as well. The atmosphere in each community soon grew lively again.

Of course, the fact that the chat administrator had mercilessly removed the people who had crossed the line earlier also played a large part.

Before long, the screen reversed perspectives.

Baek Hanje quietly slipped out of his studio.

“Hello, I’m here.”

He visited the A&R team carrying snacks and chatted with them for a while.

“Taeyoung, what are you doing?”

“Why?”

“I’m bored.”

“Go bother someone else.”

Then, for no particular reason, he opened Kwon Taeyoung’s door and wandered inside to poke at him.

Afterward, he looked at his phone and began writing something with deep concentration.

Soon, he rushed back to the studio and moved his hands rapidly while staring so intently at the monitor that he looked ready to bore through it.

His interview voice played over the footage of him immersed in his work.

—When my mind gets stuck, I do like wandering around instead. Especially when I need an idea.

The mischievous, relaxed appearance from earlier had vanished without a trace, replaced by the face of a demanding artist.

Lonely Hanzel Chat

Hanje, that’s your song, right? Say it’s your song

But is that really how you write music? Hahahaha, I thought he was just loafing around until a minute ago

Yes. If you shut yourself in a room to write, you only produce [N O V E L I G H T] work that feels like it was written by someone shut inside a room

That is an extremely personal statementㅠ

As the two continued through their mornings, a message arrived for Baek Hanje, who was engrossed in his work.

[Mission] Have a conversation with your colleague under the same sky!

Time Limit: 2 hours

“Ugh.”

Baek Hanje’s shoulders shuddered as though a freezing wind had suddenly struck him.

“How did you know I have trauma involving missions and time limits?”

His face twisted in horror, but he soon let out a faint laugh.

“Of course, I’d have nothing to complain about if they were always this easy.”

Baek Hanje immediately rose from his seat.

“Then I’ll get started right away.”

The place he headed next was Gowon’s practice room.

At this point, the fans began to wonder.

They knew the two had worked together.

They also knew Baek Hanje’s appearance on the show was closer to a favor for his junior.

In that case—

How close are they?

No matter how they looked at it, the two had completely different personalities. Naturally, the fans wanted to know exactly what kind of relationship they had.

Faint music leaked through the practice-room door.

Baek Hanje’s eyes narrowed when he recognized the song.

“Hmm.”

The song was <What a Waste>, which had shaken the charts when Young Ace came out with a concept they had fully committed to.

It was a song about how every moment spent anywhere but beside you felt like a waste, driven by sexy tension.

Baek Hanje knocked on the practice-room door.

There was no chance the knocking could be heard over the loud music inside, so after observing only the formality of courtesy, he went in.

Gowon turned around, his face drenched in sweat.

“Ah....”

“Hello, junior.”

“Hello.”

The two exchanged perfectly formal greetings.

They did not seem as close as expected.

“I received a mission. Did you get one too?”

“Ah, I’ll check. ...No. I didn’t.”

“Then maybe only I got it. Hmm, it’s a mission I’ll need some help from you with.”

“What? Ah, then right away....”

“The time limit looks generous, so I don’t think we need to rush. But what were you doing? I heard one of our songs.”

“Ah, yes. There’s a lot to learn from the choreography for <What a Waste>, so I was trying to work it out.”

“I see.”

“May I ask you something?”

“Oh, what is it?”

“In the pre-chorus, what is the hand movement for the line, ‘Cross the breath rising from below’?”

“.......”

Baek Hanje was smiling peacefully.

But the fans knew him well enough to notice the meaning hidden within that smile.

Anonymous Lady 23 Hanje hahahahaha fuck, that’s the face of someone hit with crushing self-awareness after hearing his own lyrics come out of the mouth of a baby who just took off his school uniform

Anonymous Lady 71 He danced to this himself when he was twenty-three, though, hahahaha

“Junior.”

“Yes.”

“What is sexiness?”

“What?”

“What do you think sexiness is?”

The junior was rendered speechless by his senior’s sudden question.

Baek Hanje stared at him with a somewhat burdensome intensity as he waited for an answer.

“Well... I think sexiness is the members of Young Ace.”

The junior gave an answer chosen with workplace survival in mind.

“So you seek sexiness externally.”

“.......”

“Until you find sexiness within yourself, I cannot teach you.”

“What...?”

“That line belongs to Kwon Taeyoung, a man overflowing with inner sexiness. The reason you were unable to awaken to the dance on your own is the same.”

“......! I see.”

Gowon nodded as though entranced.

“Then, for the sake of junior Gowon’s development, shall we go eat together? That is actually the real mission.”

“Ah...! Yes, understood.”

Anonymous Lady 47 No, Gowon, is that it?? How can you just accept that?

Anonymous Lady 33 Hahahahaha, is Hanje really fit to be a senior like this?

Anonymous Lady 89 Look at Baek Hanje smoothly talking his way out of it. He hasn’t changed at all, hahahaha

The two headed to a restaurant together.

Remaining faithful to an idol’s duties, they chose a barbecue restaurant that was good for protein intake.

Baek Hanje took the menu and did not show it to Gowon. Instead, he asked casually.

“Beef, pork, or half of each. Pick one of the three.”

“What?”

“Those are your only options. If you prefer random chance, would you rather choose between one, two, and three?”

“Ah, no....”

Gowon began deliberating.

“Junior, did you know there are restaurants with a time limit for choosing from the menu?”

“Places like that exist?”

“Yes. Closer than you might think.”

“Ah... It really is Seoul. Do they throw you out if you can’t choose?”

“No. Not that, but twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven, twenty-six... If the time limit runs out, my mission ends in failure.”

“What?”

“Twenty, nineteen....”

Uh...!

Gowon’s eyes darted frantically before he finally blurted out in a panic.

“H-half of each?”

Baek Hanje nodded and pressed the call bell.

“This, this, and this. Two servings of each, please.”

The menu was never shown to Gowon even at the very end.

Once the order had been placed, Gowon asked anxiously.

“How much time do you have left?”

“Now five....”

“Ah, that’s a relief. That was close.”

“Fifty minutes. Looks like we’ll have plenty of time to eat.”

“What...?”

“Enjoy. Ah, earlier, I was saying fifty-one minutes and twenty-nine seconds. This is the problem with people who write lyrics. We end up speaking too concisely.”