NOVEL FROG Chapter 35
Chapter 35: Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Kiwook wondered loudly, “Do you think Hyoyoung will get here soon?”
“Yes, sir. I am actually right here.”
“AHHAAAAA!”
When Hyoyoung suddenly appeared from a dark corner, Jiwoo jumped in shock.
Hyoyoung asked curiously, “Jiwoo Oppa, why do you keep freaking out whenever I show up?”
“Why do you keep scaring me?!”
“You are such a chicken.”
“No! I am a brave man, but… you are so freaky!”
Hyoyoung grinned at him as Hyojun started to set up the camera for their live show. Hyoyoung helped the members fix up their clothes and makeup. Afterward, she announced, “I will stay inside the changing room. We need to make sure that I don’t appear on this show.”
Hyojun replied, “Yeah, that sounds good. There is a bed and a water cooler inside the changing room, so you might get bored but it won’t be uncomfortable.”
Hyoyoung nodded and checked all the members one more time. Strangely, the guys looked different here than when they were at home, laughing and joking around.
Here, they were The M. They looked charismatic and professional despite having their faces hidden behind masks. In fact, the masks seemed to make them look even better.
They looked enticingly mysterious.
The guys no longer looked like dumb oppas to Hyoyoung and her heart began to beat faster. After all, she used to be and still was one of their biggest fans.
Before going into the private changing room, she stammered, “J-just don’t say anything stupid again, ok? And please… be careful when you all are dancing.”
She addressed everyone, but the last words were more for Kiwook. He seemed to know this because he grinned at her and waved.
Hyoyoung thought to herself, ‘Phew… I feel like a parent sending my kids away to college. How odd.’
Hyoyoung sat down on the bed and took out her cell phone. As she expected, there were numerous texts from Mikyung. The messages were about how Mikyung was worried that Hyoyoung wasn’t replying, and how excited she was about The M’s upcoming live show.
‘She will never believe me if I tell her that I am actually here, where the live show is being filmed!’
Hyoyoung grinned and texted Mikyung back.
[Me too. I’m all ready for the show.]
When Hyoyoung finally responded, Mikyung began to text her back right away.
[Hey! Did you read that online post written by Red M’s cousin? It was amazing! I mean, those details! Do you think The M members will mention it on the show tonight?]
[Of course, they have to. I’m sure they will. Probably.]
[Oh, you sound super sure! I’m so excited about this.]
[Me too.]
[Do you think they will mention that stylist too? Myunghee, right?]
[I think so. I mean, this all started because of her, right?]
[Yup. Oh, hey, it’s starting.]
“Hello. The M here!”
***
She closed her eyes gently.
Even with her eyes closed, she felt like she could see the bright beam of light.
She opened her eyes again.
And what she saw was… it felt like she was watching a movie in slow motion.
The M members were lying on the floor like corpses.
And her phone was vibrating. It had been doing so for a while now, but she couldn’t answer it.
Her eyes were wet with tears, and her hands were trembling slightly.
The M’s show was completed an hour ago.
Outside the practice room, several reporters were waiting for the members to come out, so none of them could leave just yet. Hyoyoung remained sitting on the bed in the changing room, watching the members resting on the floor for an hour.
The first guy to sit up was Kiwook.
He grabbed his head with his hands for a minute before wiping drops of sweat from his forehead. Then, he stood up and walked to Hyoyoung.
“Good job, my lady Hyoyoung.”
He hugged her gently.
His shirt was wet with his sweat. Kiwook caressed her neck and her back gently up and down to soothe her.
Hyoyoung replied, “No, I didn’t do much. It was you guys who did everything. You must be really tired now.”
Kiwook grinned at her and sat down in front of Hyoyoung.
“Were you scared?”
She nodded and then, suddenly, Hyoyoung burst into tears.
When the other guys heard her cry, they all came into the changing room.
“Why are you crying? Don’t. There is no need.”
Hyojun offered her his handkerchief and awkwardly patted her head. This seemed to make Hyoyoung even more emotional. She started to cry louder as she leaned on Hyojun.
“Th… those trolls! They left such nasty comments… I… I’m gonna kill them all!”
Hyoyoung sobbed uncontrollably as Hyojun patted her back to comfort her. He replied, “It’s all fine. Those comments weren’t directed at us.”
“W… what are you talking about? Of course, they were about you guys. I don’t understand…”
“The trolls were attacking The M characters, not us. Not Hyojun Ahn, not Kiwook Noh, not Hyunsuk Lee, and not Jiwoo Kang. All the bad things they said online, it doesn’t matter. Besides, there were more encouraging and positive comments than the bad ones, right? This isn’t something to cry about, Hyoyoung, so don’t worry.”
When Hyojun explained patiently, Hyoyoung began to calm down. Seeing that his words were working, Hyojun continued, “The M… As the members of this group, we will continue to hear awful things. People will talk about us constantly; both good and bad things. But we don’t care, because as long as we wear our masks, we are playing characters; the members of The M. Just characters, not real people. Not us. And when we take our masks off… As you know very well, Hyoyoung, we are just idiot oppas. So please, don’t take these things personally. When the guys go out, no one even recognizes us, right? So we are all fine.”
“But still… I can’t help feeling upset. They don’t even know you, yet they wrote such awful things about you.”