After getting ready to play in the water, we gathered in front of the pool. The unique outfits were quite a sight.

“But still, our Cheonghyeon stands out the most.”

“Because of my dazzling good looks?”

“Just look at your clothes.”

I pointed at his reflection in the pension’s glass window. Dressed in a straw hat and a green Hawaiian top and bottom set, he looked like someone who had come not just to enjoy summer, but to completely demolish it.

“Who wears flip-flops in a wet place like this?”

“Knowing you’d say that, the brilliant Cheonghyeon came prepared!”

Mid-sentence, Lee Cheonghyeon lifted his foot. Two palm-sized anti-slip tapes were stuck to the bottom of his flip-flop.

“I’ve taken precautions!”

“Impressive. Why aren’t you wearing sunglasses? I told you that long exposure to UV rays can damage your irises. Aren’t you worried about your alexandrite cat’s eyes?”

“I thought you’d be sad if I covered half my face. I am wearing a hat, so please let it slide.”

Lee Cheonghyeon abruptly left, saying he had to inflate his flamingo float. Kang Giyeon, who appeared a moment later, followed after him with floats on both his arms.

Right after the maknaes vanished, someone else opened the pension door and stepped out. It was Park Juu. He was wearing a thin cardigan over a white t-shirt, perhaps wanting to avoid the sun.

The kid squatted down in front of the pool and cautiously dipped the tip of his finger into the water.

“How’s the temperature?”

“...Lukewarm.”

Park Juu swirled the water a few times and then shook his hand. Having judged the water temperature to be safe, he sat on the edge of the pool, dipped his feet in, and started splashing.

While Jeong Seongbin was busy bringing out towels and snacks, another one was slowly making his way over from a distance.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected Choi Jeho to be fully clothed.

This was the kid who had stripped down in front of the camera and dived into a valley on a deserted island. How much more freely would he dress in an unofficial setting like this?

But still.

“What’s with the pants?”

“What?”

Did he not think it was too much to wear hideous fluorescent orange shorts on this glorious vacation day? If he was going to wear something like that, he could have at least worn a black shirt on top.

No, that would look crappy in its own way, too. A little bit of fluorescent orange as a highlight on a thick, rough, matte cyberpunk outfit was tolerable, but having fluorescent orange as the main color was a problem.

“Juu, what were you doing when Choi Jeho was packing his clothes?”

“...I didn’t just sit there. I really did ask him if he was only going to bring these pants.”

“And then?”

“He asked if he needed anything else...”

I was at a loss for words at the answer Park Juu relayed.

There was a time when Choi Jeho had drawn the ire of fans for constantly wearing an orange fluorescent vest of unknown origin. I had been relieved that I hadn’t seen that god-awful vest in this life.

Where in the world did that color chip come from? Was it my mistake not checking his closet after he moved?

“This color must be possessed by a demon.”

“What’s with the sudden fuss?”

“Or maybe you’re possessed by something. If not that, then this must be your destined color.”

“I don’t even like this color that much.”

If I could eliminate just one color from the face of the earth, I would, without a moment’s hesitation, point to #FF6600. Even if it meant I had to eat only red carrots or yellow hallabongs for the rest of my life.

“You’re the one who looks possessed.”

“Why me?”

“Everything’s black.”

Choi Jeho protested, but I ignored him. A black rash guard was the most basic of basic items. I might not be the best-dressed person, but I definitely didn’t want to be criticized by an orange maniac like Choi Jeho.

“The float is here!”

While I was bickering with Choi Jeho about whose clothes were worse, Lee Cheonghyeon’s booming voice caught my ear. A flamingo float as big as Lee Cheonghyeon himself was flaunting its enormous presence.

Just what kind of amazing water play was he planning to have, bringing something like that? I could practically see a future where we’d all end up looking like drowned rats.

Playing in the water was reasonably fun. Spark each enjoyed the private pool in their own unique ways.

There were the moderate conservatives, like me and Park Juu, who just circled the edge of the pool, barely getting wet. Then there were the centrists, like Jeong Seongbin and Choi Jeho, who floated around or swam properly...

“Who shoots twin water guns in a pool!”

“Don’t you know? He who walks the path no one has walked before obtains glory!”

...and there were the radical activists, who stood in the middle of the pool, shooting water, throwing floats, and screaming their heads off. It was to the point where I wondered if that was the reason they had inflated the floats in the first place.

“Seongbin hyung! Take away Lee Cheonghyeon’s water gun! He keeps picking fights with me!”

“Cheonghyeon, don’t shoot rapid-fire at Kiyeon. He doesn’t like it.”

“No, I mean tell him not to shoot at all! I don’t want to get hit even once!”

Kang Giyeon shouted, his heart full of indignation. But he couldn’t persuade Jeong Seongbin, an FPS game enthusiast. Our dear leader only managed to rile Kang Giyeon up further by saying, “Kiyeon, even the world’s top-ranked players can’t show you a performance ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) where they never get hit.”

At the same time, to ensure his dongsaeng wasn’t just taking hits, he handed him an “Ultra Jumbo Water Gun with an automatic rapid-fire function that requires no pumping.”

Towards the end, the two of them put on a water-play show that even elementary schoolers wouldn’t do, pouring buckets of water on each other. In the corner, Park Juu dragged over the abandoned flamingo float and enjoyed some luxurious sunbathing.

In the end, for the crime of being too loud, the two young lambs were punished by Choi Jeho, who forced them into chocolate and strawberry donut floats, respectively. Watching Kang Giyeon tremble with humiliation, Lee Cheonghyeon laughed until he cried.

“Ha, I’m hungry.”

“It’d be weird if you weren’t hungry after playing like that.”

Choi Jeho said, looking at Lee Cheonghyeon clutching his empty stomach. It was about time to prepare dinner.

We all wrapped ourselves in towels and went into the villa. I had washed up early and was checking the fridge when Jeong Seongbin approached, drying his hair with a towel.

“Seongbin, how much meat should I grill? The kids said they wanted to eat ramyeon, too.”

Jeong Seongbin said there was a separate job for me. Then he closed the fridge door and gently pushed my back, guiding me to the living room.

“When Cheonghyeon and Kiyeon are done washing up, please tell them to get some sleep. If you put them together, they’ll just talk instead of sleeping, so it would be even better if you could have them sleep in different rooms. I think it’ll be less of a burden on their stomachs to eat after they wake up, rather than sleeping right after eating.”

Those two definitely needed a comfortable, deep sleep, not just a nap scrunched up in the car. And a soft bed where they could stretch their legs out.

It seemed that Jeong Seongbin, who had been a high school student himself until last year, was mindful of the hardship of juggling promotions while maintaining school attendance. Though he now had a much more flexible schedule in college, it wasn’t the same for his younger members.

“Okay. Is there anything that needs to be thawed while the kids are sleeping?”

“I was about to check that now. When the kids go to sleep, you should go to an empty room and sleep too, hyung.”

“Huh?”

When I turned around, I met Jeong Seongbin’s innocent-looking eyes.

“You want me to sleep?”

“Yes.”

“Who’s going to cook?”

“Juu and I can do it. Jeho hyung said he’d help too.”

“When did you hatch such a cunning plan?”

Jeong Seongbin answered only with a smile. I’m sorry, but I’d like you to know that an angelic smile isn’t the answer to everything.

“What’s so difficult about preparing a meal that I’d just leave it to you guys? It’ll be done in no time.”

“Exactly. It’s not that difficult, so you should go take a nap, hyung.”

“Hah.”

A baffled laugh escaped my lips. Nevertheless, Jeong Seongbin was firm.

Following Jeong Seongbin’s instructions, I urged the maknaes, who came out of the first and second-floor bathrooms at almost the same time, to dry their hair quickly. After confirming that their hair was dry from scalp to tip, I put each of them into a room on the first floor.

“I’m going to grill the meat! I even pre-studied how to marinate meat on MeTube!”

“It’s no use telling me. The order came from above.”

“Weren’t you the fiery revolutionary of the idol world, hyung? When did you become such a meek citizen who can’t defy authority?”

“I can’t help it. I’ve decided not to let a single drop of pen ink stain our leader’s hands anymore.”

I said it like a joke, but I was serious. Even if Jeong Seongbin had used my ‘brand removal’ event as a two-episode self-produced content item, the situation itself, where his concern for a member had grown so large that it touched something deep inside, was not something to be laughed off.

“I condemn the eldest hyung’s unequal favoritism toward Seongbin hyung.”

Lee Cheonghyeon grumbled. But what other choice do I have? If you had seen how Seongbin smiled that night, you would want to retract your condemnation, too, Cheonghyeon.

Lee Cheonghyeon, who had wanted to decorate the table with ssambap, fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. It was a speed that made me wonder how he had managed to play so hard until now.

Kang Giyeon’s situation wasn’t much different. While Lee Cheonghyeon was working on music, this kid had been learning the electric guitar from scratch, without even a bass. Anyone would be exhausted.

Seeing Lee Cheonghyeon being easily subdued (verbally), Kang Giyeon obediently lay down in bed and pulled up the covers. His fingers, which had started to form calluses, twitched a few times, and then I heard the sound of even breathing.

When I closed the door and came out, the chatter from the kitchen stopped. Park Juu peeked his head out from around the corner.

“Are they all asleep...?”

“Yeah, they fell asleep quickly.”

“If you wear them out first, they fall asleep right away.”

Choi Jeho chimed in. It seems Ms. Choi Miho was quite a handful in her childhood.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

“Jeho hyung is tearing up all the lettuce, but we don’t need help...”

“Looks like Cheonghyeon’s dream of eating ssambap is over.”

Park Juu said something that made it sound like they definitely needed help. Choi Jeho didn’t even seem to have the will to correct him.

After receiving a final “sleep well” from Jeong Seongbin, I made my way to the second floor. Perhaps because there was no one else on the entire floor, the surroundings became quiet in an instant.

I went into the only empty room on the second floor and lay down on the bed. I wondered if I would be able to sleep with the sun streaming in so brightly from the window.

But maybe it was because of the recent experience of getting a deep sleep after a full day of luxurious treatment. Or maybe, as Choi Jeho said, it was because I had used up all my energy playing in the water.

“...I’m sleepy.”

Surrounded by the moderately cool air, the bedding that smelled of freshly laundered fabric softener, and the warm sunlight, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Still, I thought I shouldn’t be sleeping peacefully while others were working.

I thought I should force myself to do something even if people tried to stop me, and I had always been told that was the right thing to do.

But the way of living that I thought was right was making someone worry.

“I can’t trust you, hyung. I’m scared you’ll collapse somewhere and die.”

And with a small change from me, someone else became happy.

“You didn’t take any headache medicine today, hyung.”

Those kids, who just wanted me not to suffer.

“At least for today...”

My head didn’t hurt. So I didn’t need to take any medicine. The manager had given Jeong Seongbin some emergency medication, but it didn’t seem like I would need it today.

“...It’s peaceful.”

I felt drowsy. The world felt like it was being covered in a warm yellow color.

Without even remembering what my last thought was, I drifted softly into sleep.