Chapter 8: Friends and Brothers (Second Update)

  "I thought it was nothing... " Park Jeong-soo's face was covered in cold sweat, but he still managed to force a smile. "The weather warmed up, and I thought it wouldn't relapse so easily, but it seems it doesn't want to leave me."

  A small joke, but it didn't have any effect, Jin Yunyun's eyes reddened and she lowered her head.

  He knew it was all because of him.

  From the day they first met and had a meal together in the cafeteria, time flew by quickly as An Junhe and the three of them went from being strangers to gradually becoming familiar with each other, deepening their feelings for one another over the course of more than ten days, and it was already May.

  During this time, the four of them practiced together. At first, it was decided that Park Jung-soo and the other two would help rookie Ahn Jun-hee, but in the process of practice, they found that although Ahn's dance foundation was weak, his physical fitness was very good, and many movements could be easily performed. Moreover, he had a strong sense of rhythm and could unconsciously follow the beat. His weak foundation didn't matter in the face of these advantages.

  Later, Lee Hye-jae suggested that the four form a group and participate in the end-of-April evaluation.

  As mentioned earlier, the company encourages this kind of spontaneous combination, which allows judges to intuitively see from a combined perspective whether candidates fit the company's style or where their strengths lie. The trainees also like this approach, especially when it comes to dance assessments. No matter what, solo dances can't compare to combinations in terms of shock and eye-catching appeal. As long as you put your heart into choreographing, showcasing a part of group dance and adding some solo elements, you can attract the judges' attention while also displaying your personal characteristics, achieving multiple goals at once.

  Before An Jun-hyeok arrived, the three of them had never done this before. Mainly because there were fewer people, Park Jeong-soo and Lee Hyeok-jae were both slender types. Suddenly, a sturdy man squeezed in between two thin men, which immediately made Kim Yeong-ung stand out. However, Kim Yeong-ung's dance skills were weak, and this kind of prominence would not only fail to bring him benefits but also lower the judges' evaluation of him.

  Now that An Jun-hyeok, who is even taller and more robust than Kim Young-ung, has joined, it perfectly offsets the sense of incongruity.

  The four of them immediately clicked and got along well.

  Unfortunately, at the end of April's assessment, they only received a C grade evaluation...

  Jin Yingyun was clear that the failure of this combination, the one who dragged his feet was not An Junhe as a newcomer, but rather him, a senior who had been practicing for several years.

  Although he was evaluated, neither Park Jung-soo and Lee Hyeok-jae as old friends nor Ahn Joon-hee as a new friend said anything to him, but he wasn't an idiot, of course, he knew the reason was himself, it was his stiff movements during group dance, untimely position changes and other mistakes that caused the chaotic rhythm of the dance and lowered the evaluation.

  He didn't want to be a burden on others, so after the evaluation, he practiced desperately, and as friends, Ahn Jun-hee and the three of them naturally accompanied him, repeating the dull physical exhaustion over and over again until Park Jung-soo fell ill this time.

  Jin Yingyun, you idiot!

  He wiped his face and forced himself not to let his tears flow out.

  The dim light and severe pain made Park Jeong-soo unaware of Kim Yeong-yeon's abnormality, but he, who was usually sensitive, still sensed the subtle atmosphere and forced a smile to make a joke-like remark to Ahn Jun-hee: "Hey, you know this is arthritis just by rubbing my hand, are you from a traditional Korean medicine family?"

  An Junhe half-knelt in front of him, quickly rubbing his hands together. Upon hearing this, he stopped moving and replied calmly: "No! It's just that my sister is paralyzed and can't move her legs, so I learned some massage techniques on my own to help her exercise and then give her a massage afterwards. Someone said it could stimulate the nerves and aid in recovery... although we haven't seen any effects!" He shrugged his shoulders, "After a long time, I ended up mastering this technique instead. If someone has a problem with their leg, I can find out just by touching it."

  After finishing speaking, the preparatory action was also done, and the two palms were rubbed to a bright red heat. He raised his head, ready to say something, but found that Park Jeong-soo, Kim Yeong-yeon, and Lee Hyeok-jae were all staring at him blankly.

  "What's wrong?" An Junhe looked himself up and down, asking in puzzlement.

  "This kind of thing..." Park Jeong-soo's throat rolled, his voice was dry and hoarse, his eyes were complex, "Why didn't you tell us before?"

  Thinking of himself sometimes secretly resenting Ahn Jun-hee, whenever he had free time, he would run home and never participate in group activities. In response to what Ahn was saying at the moment, Park Jeong-soo felt a wave of discomfort in his heart, as if the pain in his knee had radiated to his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

  An Junhe suddenly realized that he had been pitied all along.

  He smiled wryly and shook his head, without explaining much. In fact, he had yearned for sympathy before, but that was the him in his dreams.

  In a future that is now walking on a completely different road, Ji-soo's mental state was very poor in the early days. The young man also had no experience. Outside, he had to wear a fake mask to socialize, and his fledgling career was difficult at every step. At home, he still had to face his sister who suddenly lost control of her emotions from time to time, with disgust for the repressed situation, fear of an uncertain future, and even the strong-willed him showed a weak side.

  Many times I wanted to find someone to pour out my pain and exhaustion, wanting someone to care about me and comfort me, so that I can continue to persevere.

  But that dream process was too long, so long that he was affected by the dream world. Now he takes everything he has endured for granted and has never thought that there is anything special about himself.

  "Are you worried about me or yourself? You'll be crippled by arthritis, don't you know?" An Junhe said irritably, re-warming his hands and pressing them onto Park Jeong-soo's swollen knee. "Bear with it, shout out if it hurts!"

  Park Jeong-soo felt a scorching heat spreading from Ahn Jun-hyuk's hands on his knees, and shouted in panic: "Hey, what are you doing?!"

  Massage!

  With that, An Junhe exerted force with both hands.

  "Ah———"

  A blood-curdling scream suddenly echoed through the room, and a sharp stinging pain spread rapidly from his knee. In that instant, Park Jeong-soo's feeling of guilt towards Ahn Jun-hee vanished into thin air...

  The shouting continued for nearly half an hour before stopping, and Park Jeong-soo, who was almost exhausted, was taken to the infirmary by a teacher who had come running at the sound of the commotion, along with Lee Hyeok-jae. After the disturbance, the dance studio returned to its usual quiet state, leaving only Ahn Jun-hee and Kim Yeong-yun behind.

  Park Jeong-soo was injured, so he couldn't practice dance anymore. Ahn Jun-hyuk packed his things and prepared to study vocal music, while Kim Yeong-yeon accompanied him in silence as they cleaned up together.

  Time slipped away in silence, Ahn Jun-hee got up to leave after finishing tidying up, Kim Yeong-yeon saw him off at the door and was about to go back to clean the dance studio before taking care of Park Jeong-su. But Ahn Jun-hee suddenly spoke up as he hadn't left yet: "Actually, you don't have to be so concerned."

  "Huh?" Jin Yingyun was taken aback, but then looked over nonchalantly.

  "Haha, did you think I didn't notice that you almost cried just now?" An Junhe chuckled lightly.

  Jin Yun's thoughts were exposed, and her cheeks suddenly turned bright red.

  An Junhe patted his sturdy shoulder, "No need to have a psychological burden, everyone is friends, helping each other out is only natural, just like when you guys first met me, you wanted to bring me along to practice together without considering whether I would hold back your progress. Same logic, we practice with you, and we don't think about that much either, because we are friends."

  "Not the same..."

  Since his thoughts had been seen through, Jin Yun decided not to pretend anymore. The calmness he had forced himself to show collapsed in An Junhe's words. He shook his head and remained silent for a while before sighing and saying: "It's different... at least Zheng Su didn't get exhausted and relapse into his old illness when helping you... it's all my fault, I'm just too stupid!"

  The more he said, the more agitated he became, clenching his fists as if wanting to punch himself.

  But the expected pain did not come, in a muffled sound, his fist swung towards himself was tightly grasped by An Junhe, with tremendous force, even making it difficult for him to move his arm.

  An Junhe frowned at him, "You need to change this impulsive personality of yours, can't you solve problems with just a punch?"

  After trying a few times, I found that my strength was completely unable to match Ahn Jun-hee's. Kim Yeong-yeon had no choice but to give up struggling and said dejectedly: "What else can I do? I've worked hard to practice, but the stage presence just won't improve. Before, we hadn't coordinated well, and Joongsu didn't understand, but now he knows... Does that mean I have to exhaust him again?"

  "Oh, so you just want to give up?" An Junhe loosened his grip, asking in a cold tone.

  "I... " The slightly sarcastic tone made Jin Yunyun excitedly raise her head, but the next moment, it fell again, "I... I have no other choice..."

  Looking at him completely collapsing, An Junhe slowed down his tone, not wanting to stimulate him further, and said: "Isn't there another way? You have to remember that this is S·M company, a place where artists are trained, not a dance training school. Can't you think of anything else besides dancing? If your dance isn't good, you can practice singing. Your voice is thick and powerful, with high recognition value. Try hard to study it, and when the company next launches a group, you may be able to compete for a main vocalist position. In a group, not everyone needs to be a dance machine."

  In his forceful analysis, Jin Yunyun's originally gloomy mood finally became slightly more lively, and he stood there in a daze, deep in thought.

  Being able to think is good enough!

  Seeing him like this, An Junhe finally let out a sigh of relief.

  Compared to introverted and taciturn people, someone like Jin Yingyun with an outgoing and impulsive personality is actually more terrifying when they get worked up. They usually act on impulse, either choosing to escape or directly destroying themselves. The strong willpower to withstand setbacks can only be grasped through the accumulation of years.

  But now, this robust and seemingly mature young man in front of me is just a big boy after all!

  He rubbed Jinyun Cloud's hair with his hand, "Think about it carefully! I'll go first and see Zhengsu brother at night."

  "Oh..." Jin Yingyun murmured in response, gazing at An Junhe's tall and straight back as he walked away. After a while, she smiled wryly and scratched her disheveled hair, muttering to herself:

  "......Although you're older than me, somehow I feel like you're more like an older brother......Sigh!"

  ;