"Huaaaam."
"Didn't you go to bed early? Why are you so tired?"
"It's probably the jet lag. I went to bed, but I couldn't shake off the fatigue. Am I getting old already?"
"Hey."
Gyeong-tae looked shocked at my words. At the age of 21, it's too early to say you're old, but he reacted that way.
Tsk, tsk, tsk! Being in your 20s is still so young. You'll understand when you reach your 30s. That's when you truly start to feel old.
"Yesterday was too short. Today, let's really enjoy ourselves!"
"Woohoo!"
"I heard the PD is taking us to a really delicious restaurant."
The name of the Michelin three-star restaurant is Jupeno Restaurant. Our members heard it was famous, so when they sang about it, the PD found out and secured a reservation for us. Sometimes, when you make a reservation and don't show up on the day, it's called a no-show.
The production team called the restaurant just in case, and luckily, there was a no-show, so we got a table. The restaurant also thought it would be positive to have a filming crew, as it would help with promotion.
"The reserved time due to the no-show is 3 PM. You can sightsee until then."
We had complete free time until 3 PM. Since there were many members, everyone wanted to go to different places. We didn't have much time, so we decided to split into groups of three and meet at the restaurant at 3 PM. Thanks to this, the security personnel were also halved, but with the additional security from yesterday, there were no issues.
The groups were divided as follows:
Group A: Woo-yeon, Jackie, Eungyu.
Group B: Gyeong-tae, Kang Jun, Hae-seol.
Group A planned to quickly move around and see the sights, while my group, Group B, planned to leisurely explore the Fladipen Museum and the nearby Wordpalton Park, enjoying the scenery of Marenchino.
"Make sure to take a picture of the famous ceiling at the Fladipen Museum!"
"Got it."
"Ugh! I want to go there too…."
Woo-yeon whined and asked us to take lots of pictures. Finally free from his nagging, we rejoiced.
"Jackie will take good care of Woo-yeon, right?"
Gyeong-tae worried because, as the oldest member, he felt responsible for managing the more challenging members.
"Woo-yeon can't help but listen to Jackie. He'll probably do better than you, Gyeong-tae."
"Still, the amusement park might be tough."
Kang Jun doesn't like rides, and I prefer enjoying a cup of coffee over any ride. Plus, Gyeong-tae, being the oldest in the group, shares my preference.
'Even though he's only 21.'
"Let's enjoy the warm sun of Marenchino!"
Our journey began, and we enjoyed sightseeing like ordinary tourists. Of course, the stares from women made us uncomfortable, but thanks to the increased security, no one approached us closely. We were so immersed in sightseeing that we almost forgot about the cameras and enjoyed ourselves fully. The museum was incredibly enjoyable and worth the visit. We were so engrossed that we only realized it was almost 3 PM when we finally came to our senses.
"Did we enjoy ourselves too much? Did we get any good footage?"
Nod, nod.
The VJ staff nodded with the camera, indicating that they got good shots. They seemed to have filmed a lot of scenery, which would probably fill the screen.
'I should have done something earlier. Otherwise, everything might get edited out.'
Fortunately, this reality show is produced by the company itself. However, the production team's expressions were surprisingly good.
"Really? We got good footage? I don't think we did much."
"Don't worry and keep doing what you're doing. The scenes are great."
"...."
It felt eerie, but since the production team was happy, I decided to go with it.
"I wonder how the kids are doing."
"I'm getting hungry. Let's go to the restaurant."
"Yeah."
After visiting the museum and Wordpalton Park, we arrived at the restaurant just before 3 PM. Due to the no-show, we couldn't wait outside and had to go in and secure our seats first. The problem was that Group A hadn't arrived even by 3:30 PM.
"Why aren't they here yet?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Should we call them?"
As we worried about the kids, the PD approached with a troubled expression. I immediately knew something was wrong.
"Is there a problem with Group A?"
The PD sighed and said, "There's a small problem with Group A."
"Is it serious?"
We had already ordered food for all the members, so we were taken aback.
"They were pickpocketed."
"Oh no. Who was it?"
"Huh!"
"So what happened? Is anyone hurt? Was Woo-yeon pickpocketed?"
"Since he was running around, there's a high chance it was him."
As expected, Jackie alone wasn't enough to handle Woo-yeon.
"First, it wasn't Woo-yeon who was pickpocketed."
"That's even more surprising."
Since I think of the members as my little brothers, I was naturally worried about their safety.
"It was Eungyu who was pickpocketed, but Woo-yeon got a little hurt. He fell while chasing the pickpocket. It's not serious; he just scraped his knee."
"Huh!"
"?!"
"This kid is crazy."
Woo-yeon really messed up this time.
"Luckily, the security guard quickly followed and caught Woo-yeon. He fell and got hurt while chasing. It's better to lose your belongings than to get kidnapped."
"Wow, that guard saved Woo-yeon. That's scary. If he had let go, it would have been 100% kidnapping."
"He really doesn't know the dangers of the world. How could he think of chasing them?"
In a way, it's the security guard's fault for not preventing the pickpocketing. But how could they stop a split-second incident in a crowded tourist spot? The security guard did their job by not losing Woo-yeon.
"Should we get up? It doesn't seem like the time to be eating."
"No, they just left the hospital and are almost here. There was no signal, so they contacted us late. It's better for the shocked members to eat something delicious and calm down."
The food was indeed amazing. The fact that they were almost here was true, as the kids arrived a few minutes later. Only the members and VJ staff could enter the restaurant due to limited space, so we sat down at our seats.
Our main concern was, of course, Woo-yeon's knee and Eungyu's situation. As soon as Eungyu sat down, Kang Jun asked,
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"What did you lose? Anything important?"
"Some money and all the souvenirs I bought. Luckily, I still have my phone."
"Woo-yeon really chased the pickpocket?"
"Yeah. I was shocked because of that. If Jackie hadn't shouted to catch Woo-yeon, it could have been serious."
"…I'm sorry."
Woo-yeon had already been scolded and looked like a wet dog.
"How could you think of chasing them?"
"I just acted on impulse. I thought I had to catch them."
"Sigh, your knee?"
"It's fine. It's just a small scratch."
Woo-yeon rolled his eyes, anticipating our nagging. I smiled and put a plate in front of him.
"Eat this. Aren't you hungry?"
"…Is that it? Aren't you mad?"
"You've already been scolded a lot, and we can't make you feel worse."
Even though he did wrong, he's still our member and our kid.
"Thank yew~!"
Woo-yeon was so touched that he teared up.
'But I still need to scold him a bit.'
I gave him a new fork and water and said,
"Still, you did something really wrong. You must have been scared too, right?"
"I was so scared! What was I thinking?! I realized it too late!"
"You must have learned your lesson. If you don't want to get in trouble again, don't ever do that."
"Never, ever, ever again."
"Plus, there will be plenty of people to scold you. I don't need to do it too."
"…Yes?"
Wko-yeon's parents, the manager, the road manager, the PD, and the production team will all scold him. I just need to comfort him after he gets scolded.
"Jackie, thank you for your hard work."
"…This took 10 years off my life because of him."
"If it weren't for Jackie, what would have happened? You deserve a reward."
"What about me?"
"You should have been more careful! How careless do you have to be to get pickpocketed? With your attitude, you deserve to get robbed."
"That's too harsh. Am I the only one getting scolded?"
"Woo-yeon has been scolded enough and will continue to be scolded, so we'll focus on you."
"Let's start with how not to get pickpocketed."
The members glared at Eungyu. Between Jackie and Woo-yeon, who were enjoying their food, Eungyu was thoroughly scolded by us.
"This is really delicious."
Woo-yeon enjoyed his meal, but the next day, he had puffy eyes from his parents' phone calls. However, he didn't know what awaited him and enjoyed the present moment.
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