Chapter 128. Serin's Circumstances
"Huh? Unni, you're going home this time? That's rare."
On Friday morning, Youngchae asked when she saw Serin packing.
Serin lived in an old house on the outskirts of Seoul, but she rarely went back home after joining Universe.
She didn't have any immediate family there anyway, and the only relatives she had left, her maternal grandmother and uncle, lived outside Seoul.
"Yeah. I have to go back once in a while and clean things up. One time I didn't go for too long and a water pipe burst."
"Whoa, then hurry and check it... I guess I'll go home this time too."
"Huh? You too, unni? Weren't we supposed to have a drinking-and-singing party today?"
Things like this lost all their excitement the moment even one person backed out.
In truth, Serin wasn't going home just to check some water pipe.
It wasn't even winter.
Her uncle from the countryside had said he was coming up to Seoul.
Her uncle was kind-hearted.
Whenever he met the members, he treated them warmly, and although his work was physically demanding, he earned a decent amount and often bought them good food.
Still, Serin simply didn't like talking about her family.
Her survival strategy had been to think of herself as someone who'd never had a family to begin with.
Even small mentions of them interfered with that.
She packed only some basic toiletries and clothes, then headed to Hapjeong, where she'd agreed to meet her uncle.
"Serin~! Your uncle's over here!"
When she came out through the agreed station exit, her uncle waved with a smile.
There was a large scar on his hand.
It ran from the palm between his ring and middle fingers all the way down to his wrist.
He'd gotten it when Serin was in high school.
He had bumped into a passing worker at a job site, causing his hand to be shoved vertically into a cutting machine.
Fortunately, the hand had been successfully reattached.
But the torn muscles never fully recovered, so it still shook easily.
"Where's your car? Did you take public transportation all the way from Seosan?"
"Gas costs more. Anyway, want to go to a café? It's been a while. Wow... come to think of it, Serin, you've gotten a lot prettier."
Serin usually told people she was a native Seoulite because explaining everything was complicated.
But she was actually from Seosan.
She had been born there and lived there until she was five before moving to Seoul and spending the rest of her life there.
So she was at least half a native Seoulite.
Serin's father had been a construction worker.
From the earliest point Serin could remember, he'd already been very sick.
But the person who ended up becoming seriously ill was her mother.
She went to the hospital because of stomach pain, and the doctor told her she had stomach cancer.
Shocked by the diagnosis, Serin's father began traveling around the country to earn money.
As far as Serin knew, he went anywhere there was a major construction project.
For several months, he only sent money home.
Her uncle received that money and used it to pay for her mother's surgery.
The money stopped coming after three months.
Her father had collapsed at a construction site in Busan in the middle of winter and was left there unattended.
He died of hypothermia.
After that, her uncle began working at a shipyard in Seosan that built small vessels.
But a few months later, Serin's mother passed away too.
Until the moment she died, her mother never learned what had happened to her husband.
After that, Serin somehow managed to endure thanks to her uncle.
Because of him, she hadn't needed to sell the house she'd lived in with her parents.
And whenever he had enough money, he would gather all the members and buy them a good meal.
Apparently, he'd come today because he had something personal to discuss.
The moment they sat down at a café, her uncle spoke.
"You know that new CEO at your company, Do Jun-hyeok? What's he like?"
"CEO Do Jun-hyeok? He's really good. He's kind as a person, and he's capable too."
"Really?"
Even after that, her uncle kept questioning her about Do Jun-hyeok.
Why had her activities slowed down recently?
Had she received any scouting offers from elsewhere?
Things like that.
"Why are you suddenly so curious about all this?"
"It's nothing. Hmm..."
Her uncle silently thought for a while before speaking.
"Serin. I'm telling you this because I'm sure about it, so don't get hurt, okay?"
"Huh?"
Something was wrong.
The instant he said that, Serin felt her heart drop.
Ever since what had happened to her parents, her uncle had carried a certain emotional weight in her mind.
Because of that, he was someone who could say something serious at any time.
"Serin, you could be doing much better than you are now, but apparently that Do Jun-hyeok guy is holding you back."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"I heard it from someone at an agency called Cheonhwa. Better directors and major overseas broadcasters have been asking for you girls, but he's afraid another agency will steal you if you become too famous, so he's restricting your activities until the company gets bigger."
Even if it was coming from her uncle, that was ridiculous.
Better directors.
Overseas broadcasters.
Do Jun-hyeok had already told them all about those things.
That was why they'd agreed to limit individual activities and prioritize their domestic fans.
And they'd already reached number one on the charts multiple times.
If other agencies had intended to steal Serin and the members, they would've tried long ago.
"It's true. Apparently everyone in the entertainment industry knows about it. You're already earning a lot now, but if you move to this company called Cheonhwa, you could earn twice as much. Maybe you could even succeed as a Hollywood actress. You remember what you promised yourself when you first entered an arts high school because you wanted to become a celebrity, right?"
She remembered.
After what happened to her parents, her grandmother had fallen apart mentally, and her uncle had worked himself nearly to death.
Now that Serin was earning money, she'd told him repeatedly that he could finally rest.
It never worked.
His reason was simple.
If Serin ever failed again, he needed to remain capable of supporting people so they could all keep living.
"That's not true! I'm already earning plenty, aren't I? CEO is such a good person. There must be reasons for everything he does. I'm really close with the members now, and I've found things that are more important than money."
"Do Jun-hyeok may have incredible instincts, but isn't all of that just his luck? And I heard the company itself used to be different. How long do you think that luck and instinct will last? Of course, even if you failed tomorrow, I'd still make sure you had food to eat. But you have your own dream, don't you? What if Do Jun-hyeok suddenly disappears? What if he dies, or suddenly changes his mind? Could you keep doing as well as you are now?"
"...I'm leaving."
It was the first time Serin had ever fought with her uncle.
She abruptly stood up and left the café entirely.
She considered going home.
But her uncle would probably follow her, so she decided to return to the dorm instead.
When she opened the dorm door, Anna, who had been writing something, jumped and hurriedly covered her notebook.
"H-Huh? Unni, why are you back?"
Serin carefully set her bag beside the bed and answered.
"Ah. Just because. My uncle went to Jeju with Grandma, so there was no reason for me to go home anymore."
"Really? I was already getting bored. Good."
Maybe because she'd fought with her uncle, Serin felt as though she'd been abandoned alone in the world.
Perhaps that was exactly why she'd returned to the dorm.
Not that it would've mattered.
Most of the members had gone back to their own homes anyway.
"Come to think of it, Anna, going all the way to Thailand would be a bit much for you too."
"Yeah. And even if I went, my mom and dad wouldn't be that happy to see me."
"There's no way."
They didn't do it often, but once or twice they'd all gone back to their own homes like this.
