Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 68.1
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
After the promise with Baek Jae-heon, a few days passed as if nothing had happened. At least on the surface.
I went through my schedule as usual. When the cameras rolled, I sang on stage, waved my hand amid the loud cheers, and smiled the familiar smile. Whenever I met the fans’ eyes, I made an effort to appear a little warmer on purpose. That was what I was supposed to do.
But even as I smiled, part of my heart stayed rigid. When the stage ended and I returned to the waiting room, what weighed on my shoulders was not exhaustion but a heavy feeling that would not leave. What remained after the laughter faded was a cold aftertaste and gray memories that refused to leave my mind.
Still, we went on as if nothing was wrong. In front of the members, we exchanged jokes as always, and in front of the fans, we covered our emotions with smiles. Yet somewhere deep inside, I was waiting for the moment when we would face it again someday.
Then, one afternoon after the morning schedule ended.
Instead of taking the car, Baek Jae-heon and I carefully spoke to our manager. It was an excuse, saying, “We’ll just go clear our heads.” When we said we just wanted to take a breather, the manager sighed briefly and nodded.
With permission granted, we quickly walked off and got into a taxi. As the door closed, a quiet stillness filled the narrow space inside.
Sunlight streamed softly through the driver’s side window. The light swayed faintly across the road, tickling my eyes, but my gaze stayed on Baek Jae-heon beside me rather than the scenery outside. His side profile looked somehow firm, yet at the same time, worn out. It was not the same Baek Jae-heon who shone brightly on stage, but the quiet face of a twenty-year-old young man lost in thought.
Several times I almost opened my mouth but swallowed the words back. I wanted to ask, “Where are we going?” but I could not bring myself to say it. Wherever it was, it felt as though he had already decided long ago in his heart. Asking might shatter the moment.
The scenery outside the window slowly shifted from the city to the outskirts. The tall buildings thinned out one by one, replaced by old houses and crumbling walls. Faded signs, peeling paint, the sunlight tilting toward evening. Everything beyond the window felt strangely familiar. As if long-buried memories were slowly surfacing, something in my chest was lightly stirred.
I unconsciously clenched my hands. The memories were blurry, but an inexplicable familiarity surged like a wave.
And finally, the taxi came to a stop. The moment the brakes were pressed, I knew at once.
Where we were.
It was the elementary school where I, in my past life, had sat with that child.
The street, covered in sunset light, no longer echoed with children’s laughter. Only an empty chair and an old poster flapping in the wind in front of the stationery store remained.
As I took in the scene, my eyes met Baek Jae-heon’s beside me. In his gaze, deep and heavy, it felt as if an old, long memory was moving once again.
“I never thought of myself as an unhappy kid. I just thought I was a little pitiful.”
His voice was low and calm, but as soon as his words reached me, my heart sank with a thud.
“Even when that man hit me, when my mom ran away, when my friends avoided me.”
I blinked, catching my breath. He recited it as if it were nothing, but the shadows leaking through his words were painfully vivid.
“I didn’t know what happiness was, so I didn’t know what unhappiness was either.”
“…”
“Then I learned.”
As he spoke, his gaze deepened, as though his memories were drawing him somewhere far away.
“I was unhappy.”
“…”
“I was unhappy.”
The place Baek Jae-heon’s formal tone drifted into was the past. Our shared past.
“You didn’t have to come save me.”
“…”
“I just wanted to see you.”
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