* * *
As Hyunsoo had guessed, the request was indeed D Team’s doing.
[Jung Minchan: I just wanted to be with you, Hyung. Sorry.]
‘It’s hard to get mad when they’re this apologetic…’
Honestly, Hyunsoo also wanted to be with D Team. He only pretended to scold them, saying, ‘A one-day response deadline is crossing the line.’
[Jiwon: We’re all going to your graduation ceremony. Is that okay?]
‘Graduation ceremony…’
Hyunsoo stroked his chin, recalling a recent phone conversation with Jaeyoon. When he asked about the request, Jaeyoon confirmed that SY knew about it.
“Since you’re part of a team that mainly operates at the frontlines, we were a bit worried. But we thought you’d be more comfortable with people you know rather than being in a team with complete strangers. So, we decided to leave the choice up to you, Hyunsoo. Above all, we trust your promise to take good care of Jaehee.”
With that, Jaehee’s family conveyed that they wouldn’t be able to attend the completion ceremony.
Ever since they acknowledged that Hyunsoo resided in Jaehee’s body, their relationship had become quite strained. Even Jaemin, who was unaware of the possession, said he was too busy to come.
Hyunsoo frequently called Jaehee’s family out of guilt, which only made the situation more uncomfortable.
Since both Jaehee’s family and Hyunsoo felt uneasy, it was somewhat a relief when they said they couldn’t attend. He decided not to worry about the ceremony.
However, he wasn’t expecting the congratulations.
[Aren’t you all busy?]
[Yoonie♡: We’re done being busy! We got a group vacation for a few days (laughing emoji)]
[Jiwon: Seems like you were hoping we were busy, but that’s just my imagination, right?]
Not once had he wished for them to be busy.
Despite their silly jokes and seemingly carefree demeanor, Hyunsoo knew better than anyone that they were burdened by heavy responsibilities when they went out into the field.
He slowly typed his response.
[You all better come. If you don’t, you won’t be forgiven.]
[Yoonie♡: Of course, we will (shy emoji)]
[Jung Minchan: Looking forward to it]
[Jiwon: I’ll bring flowers, hyung]
At Hyunsoo’s first completion ceremony, he returned home alone.
But for the second one, it looked like it would be lively, and he felt a bit excited.
* * *
“……There he is!”
As soon as the ceremony ended, Hyunsoo saw three people waving wildly and approaching. He couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
Each of them was holding an extravagant bouquet, as if they had uprooted an entire flowerbed.
“Congratulations on being the top graduate!”
Yoon beamed as he congratulated him.
‘This guy seems to be even more brazen with his informal speech?’
Though a bit annoyed, Hyunsoo smiled back, mindful of the surrounding eyes.
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
‘Jaehee’ had confidently taken the top spot. Given it was a competition between a 10-year veteran guide and a rookie, it was an expected outcome.
Honestly, he felt bad for discouraging the budding talents. But since it was Jaehee’s wish to become a “cool guide,” there was no helping it.
‘Sorry, guys. Just think of it as bad luck. These days, luck is a part of skill.’
While Hyunsoo was inwardly apologizing to his juniors, three flashy bouquets were simultaneously thrust into his arms.
The fragrance wafted from the armful of flowers. He wondered if these could even be called bouquets, considering their size.
Buried in the massive floral mound, he took pictures with the boisterous D team members.
“By the way……”
Hyunsoo whispered to Minchan, who had casually draped an arm over his shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“Never mind. I’ll tell you later.”
There were still too many listening ears. He forced a smile at the man taking the photo.
‘Deputy Manager Shin, I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to straighten these guys out.’
It turned out they had dragged the extremely busy senior deputy manager from the sub-unit to act as their photographer.
It was a mess the moment he took his eyes off them. Hyunsoo sighed inwardly.
* * *
Only a month after joining D team, Hyunsoo felt a sense of crisis.
‘This could be a big problem.’
Initially, he was busy restoring the discipline that had slackened over time. Using his six years of accumulated know-how, he quickly whipped the D team into shape, but another issue arose.
He started making slips of the tongue when around others.
“So, Hyunsoo hyung yesterday……”
Yoon, chatting and smiling brightly, inadvertently mentioned Park Hyunsoo.
‘What is this guy saying… How could Park Hyunsoo, whose funeral we held, have done anything yesterday? People will look at us weirdly!’
Hyunsoo looked around in a panic.
Sure enough, the sub-unit members were all wide-eyed with shock. He rolled his eyes to think of a way to manage the situation.
“Did he appear in a dream?”
Hyunsoo gave Yoon a sharp nudge where others couldn’t see, prompting him to stammer an excuse.
“Oh? Uh, yeah. He said he’s doing well… haha.”
Such awkward cover-ups could only go so far.
As the frequency of these incidents increased, speculation started circulating in the sub-unit.
‘Isn’t it possible that the D team is projecting Park Hyunsoo onto Jaehee because they can’t cope with the grief of losing him?’
Though it wasn’t projection but actual possession, the speculation was understandable given how often Yoon called him Hyunsoo hyung or mentioned the deceased Park Hyunsoo.
Eventually, Hyunsoo had to outright ban the mention of his own name.
‘From now on, I’ll change the way I address myself. You all need to be careful too. We’re going to get labeled crazy if this continues. Let’s avoid ending up in a mental hospital, okay?’
Fortunately, the D team would do anything for Hyunsoo.
After Park Hyunsoo’s name was banned, the issue of confusing titles gradually subsided.
* * *
Afternoon, as the sun began to set.
Minchan looked at Park Hyunsoo, or rather, Jaehee, sitting on the dormitory sofa, and smiled.
“Jaehee, are you sleepy?”
“Yeah.”
Now living as Jaehee, he nodded off on the sofa. At first, he had reacted somewhat awkwardly to the name, but now he responded promptly when called Jaehee.
As Minchan quietly sat next to him, Hyunsoo naturally leaned on his shoulder, yawning.
“If you’re sleepy, go to your room and rest.”
“Yoonie isn’t back yet.”
“You should call him hyung.”
“Ah, whatever.”
Minchan chuckled at his grumbling. Having lived as the eldest for six years, it was difficult to change his habits overnight. He had gone from being the eldest of the team to the youngest.
After the team reunited, despite not intending to, a few title slips happened about three or four times.
Each time they were addressed, Hyunsoo decided he had to make a conscious effort to correct his speech, even in their four-person dorm, consistently calling his younger teammates hyung.
His determination to avoid mistakes was evident.
Though he occasionally made slip-ups in the dorm, he had yet to make a mistake in front of others, being very mindful.
“I’m back. Where’s our youngest?”
Yoon, thrilled to have finally escaped the youngest role, called Hyunsoo the youngest at every opportunity.
Each time, Hyunsoo’s brows would furrow, but Yoon seemed to enjoy it. Running over to lie on Hyunsoo’s lap, Yoon grinned sleepily as Hyunsoo patted his face.
“Do you like touching my face? Hm?”
“……Why are you being so cheeky?”
“What kind of attitude is that towards your hyung? Speak nicely.”
“If you keep this up, I won’t guide you…”
Despite his words, Hyunsoo began guiding.
“Ah, our youngest is the best.”
Yoon, feeling the calming waves from Hyunsoo’s guidance, closed his eyes. Since Hyunsoo had returned in Jaehee’s body, D team’s condition had noticeably improved.
Though he looked different, he was still their one and only guide.
“When is Jiwon… hyung coming?”
The awkwardly delayed hyung title was just endearing.
Honestly, it seemed unnecessary to act like this even in the dorms, where they only needed to worry about appearances in front of others.
However, no one stopped him because the way he addressed the elder members was quite different.
At first, it was awkward and sometimes embarrassing, like acting in a skit, but as they continued to hear it, everyone got used to it.
Now, it was hard to believe that the person calling them “hyung” was the same tyrant who had been shouting “hey, you, this guy, that guy” for the past six years.
“Jiwon is expected to arrive tomorrow morning.”
“There was no mention of that.”
“They contacted me just a while ago. The situation suddenly took a bad turn.”
“…Really?”
“Our youngest. If you’re tired, come and sleep with hyung in his room.”
Yoon stretched out his arms and wrapped them around Hyunsoo’s waist.
Although they had been living in the dorm for quite some time, Hyunsoo still hadn’t gained any weight.
It seemed he had a body type that didn’t put on weight.
“What do you mean sleep together? I’ll sleep alone.”
Hyunsoo staggered as he got up and tried to go to his room but stopped.
“Oh, right. Chan… hyung.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
Minchan replied while trying to suppress a smile.
Every time Hyunsoo called him “hyung,” it tickled him so much he could hardly stand it.
“Rewrite the report for Zone 47. It’s a mess.”
What kind of youngest member orders the team leader around like this?
It would be shocking for outsiders to see. But Minchan nodded and said,
“If our youngest says so, we should do it that way.”
“Why make me do it multiple times when it can be done right in one go? Let’s do it properly, okay?”
“Oh, as expected from our youngest. So relentless.”
Yoon laughed as he hugged Hyunsoo and dragged him into the room.
Hyunsoo, who was overpowered, was pulled along unwillingly.
“Ah, come on… you’re heavy.”
“Alright. Let’s sleep. Hyung will sing you a lullaby.”
Yoon laid Hyunsoo down on the bed, covered him with a blanket, and patted his chest. Grumbling to get lost, Hyunsoo slowly closed his eyes, unable to resist the drowsiness.
“Good night. Sweet dreams.”
Yoon whispered softly and carefully watched Hyunsoo’s breathing.
Despite being tired, Hyunsoo fell asleep quickly, unaffected by Yoon’s gaze.
In truth, Yoon sometimes couldn’t believe that he was back. The memory of that day when he lay cold and lifeless haunted him if he looked away even for a moment.
After he came to the dorm, there was a time when side dishes without salt appeared on the table.
This was because someone read that ghosts would disappear if they were near red beans, salt, spicy food, peaches, or chicken blood.
Though after waking up in Jaehee’s body, he said he ate salty foods and even peaches just fine, the bland dishes disappeared quickly, showing how desperate D Team was.
“Stop staring and come out.”
Minchan pulled Yoon, who was watching Hyunsoo breathing beside the bed, out of the room. If he didn’t stop him, Yoon would watch until he woke up.
“…He’s not going to disappear again while sleeping, right?”
Yoon trembled with anxiety. He masked it with a bright facade, but he couldn’t hide his nervousness when he was with Minchan or Jiwon.
“What if he’s secretly seeing a shaman?”
“Yoon.”
“I thought being together would make things better, but it’s strange. I feel more anxious. Are you okay, hyung?”
Minchan didn’t answer. He was trying hard to stay calm, but he couldn’t be okay.
Having been the first to build a relationship with him and settle within his circle, Minchan felt a unique anxiety.
But he was also the team leader responsible for the members.
“I’m anxious too. But we have to trust. What else can we do?”
Hearing Minchan’s words about trust, Yoon murmured to himself as if making a vow.
“…Yeah. We have to trust. If we don’t, who will? Hyunsoo hyung has never betrayed our trust, right?”
Seeing the almost crazed look in his eyes, Minchan patted Yoon’s head.
“We have to hold on to him, even if he wants to go.”
As Minchan muttered this, the sun was setting outside the living room. Unaware of the meaningful conversation happening there, Hyunsoo mumbled in his sleep.
“I’m still hyung… call me hyung…”
The quiet room echoed with his sad murmur.
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
Nice
Haha😂
Sad. Cant see a solution where everyone will be happy.
Hehe
Good
the novel masks it well but this really is a tragedy in its own way