UAI Chapter 17

 Episode 17

Hajin continued speaking to Sejin.

“So, Sejin, now you won’t be surprised if someone takes a picture of you or talks to you, right?”

“Yes!”

“That’s good to hear. But if bad people bother you like last time, you need to shout and call for your uncle. Got it?”

“Yes! It’s okay if nice people do that. But if bad people do, I’ll shout and call the uncles.”

“Good. You’re such a good kid.”

Relieved by Sejin’s firm response, Hajin patted Sejin’s head and praised him. Then he turned to Cheolhwan and said.

“Hyung, let’s set up for a quick broadcast now. Anyway, Sejin won’t be appearing, so we’ll just greet briefly and wrap it up. We can thank everyone for waiting and tell them that Sejin will be discharged soon. That should be enough, right?”

“Yeah. The filming equipment is in the car, so I’ll call Minsu to come up for a moment. I should also inform the company. If we go live, reporters will probably bombard us with questions, and the PR team should be prepared. Let me make a quick call.”

As Cheolhwan stepped aside to make a phone call, Hajin turned back to Sejin with a gentle reminder.

“Sejin, soon the uncles will turn on the camera to greet the fans. During that time, you can wait with Cheolhwan uncle. Once we’re done, we’ll come back and play with you. Okay?”

“What about me?”

“Huh? What about you?”

“I want to join the broadcast too!”

“Oh? Uh... no, Sejin. Let’s do it another time after you’ve been discharged and things have settled down. For now, it’ll just be the uncles. Is that okay?”

‘What? You’re telling me to miss out on such a perfect opportunity to debut so naturally? Who knows when 'later' will be? I bet they’ll never let me show my face unless I accidentally get caught by a reporter or something. Just imagine how much the fans would love seeing a cute kid like me! Am I wrong?’

Sejin quietly nodded, deciding to seize the opportunity during the broadcast.

After finishing his call with the company, Cheolhwan returned.

While the members adjusted their hair and tidied themselves up, their road manager, Minsu, came in carrying the filming equipment.

“Hey, Minsu, welcome! Why do you keep staying downstairs? I told you to just come up.”

Hajin greeted him warmly.

“Hello, hyung. I just feel more comfortable waiting in the car. Don’t worry about me. Anyway, sir, I brought the filming equipment. Should I set it up?”

“Yeah, let’s get ready. You guys are broadcasting from the sofa, right?”

“Yeah, it looks like the best spot for all of us to sit together. Three of us can take the chairs, and two can perch on the sofa’s armrests. That should fit everyone into the frame.”

Jaewon estimated the sofa’s size and answered.

Cheolhwan moved one side of the sofa, and Minsu set up the camera in the cleared space before going to sit in a corner.

Watching this, Sejin quickly approached him.

“Uncle~~!”

“Huh? Hi, Sejin!”

“Yes! I have a request!”

“A request? What is it?”

Sejin gestured for Minsu to come closer.

As Minsu crouched down in front of him, Sejin brought his hand to Minsu’s ear and whispered.

“Uncle, keep this a secret from the others and do me a favor.”

Lowering his voice as well, Minsu asked, 

“What is it?”

“Bring that chair over there behind the sofa where the uncles will be broadcasting.”

Sejin pointed at a small stool nearby.

“That one? Why?”

“I’ll sit there while the uncles are broadcasting. I don’t want to be lonely.”

Sejin spoke with a sullen expression.

Minsu, caught off guard, tried to console him.

“I’ll play with you while the uncles are broadcasting. Wouldn’t that be better?”

“No, I want to stay near the uncles.”

Minsu couldn’t resist Sejin’s sad face.

“Alright... but I’ll put the chair there, and you have to stay quiet. You can’t disrupt the broadcast, okay?”

“Yes!”

Having gotten his way, Sejin quickly went to the bedroom, grabbed a hand mirror from the table, combed his hair, and adjusted the pin gifted to him by the caregiver grandma.

If the caregiver were still around, he would’ve asked her to tie his hair, but since she had already gone home, this was the best he could do.

After sprucing himself up, Sejin quietly slipped onto the stool behind the sofa while the uncles were preoccupied.

He hugged his teddy bear and played quietly as the preparations for the broadcast were completed.

“Guys, sit down. We’re about to start the broadcast.”

“Okay!”

When all five were seated on the sofa and ready, Cheolhwan turned on the camera.

<Hello! It’s been a while since B-One is greeting you as a complete group~!!>

As the broadcast titled with this greeting went live on the app, fans started entering one by one after receiving the alert.

- OMG!! I rushed over as soon as I got the notification!!

- Oppa!!

- It's been so long…. 😭  

- Hajin oppa, are you okay? 😭😭😭😭😭  

- Guys!!! Oh no, I missed you so much 😭😭😭  

The fans were ecstatic to see B-One again after such a long time.  

Once a decent number of fans had joined, Jaewon began speaking on behalf of the group.

“Hello, our Genies! We’ve missed you so much, too. It’s been a while since we could meet because our youngest, Hajin, went through a difficult time. How have you all been?”

- No, we’ve been so sad without you, sob sob

- How could we be okay when we couldn’t see you? 😭  

- Don’t worry about us. Are you all okay? 😭😭😭😭  

Hearing Jaewon’s greeting, the fans couldn’t hold back their tears. Smiling at their reaction, Jaewon turned to Hajin.

“Hajin, you should say hello yourself. Everyone’s crying because they’re so worried about you.”

“Ahaha. Hello, Genies! You’ve been worried about me all this time, haven’t you? I’m doing so much better now. Seven months ago, something really difficult happened, but thanks to my members, everyone around me, and you fans, I was able to endure it. I should’ve come back sooner, but I was so overwhelmed that I’m only now able to greet you all. I’m so grateful for your support and encouragement during that time.  

As you might have read in the recent news, my nephew regained consciousness and has been recovering well. It looks like he’ll be discharged next week. It’s truly a miracle, and I believe it’s all thanks to you. So, before it got any later, I wanted to come here and thank you personally. I considered writing a letter on the fan café, but I thought showing my face and greeting you would ease your worries more.  

I’m really okay now, so you don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’ll be living happily with my nephew and the brothers from now on, so I hope all of you stay happy, too. Thank you so, so much.”  

Tears unconsciously fell as Hajin expressed his gratitude to the fans. Seeing this, the other members, with teary eyes, embraced Hajin.  

This emotional moment caused the fans to cry as well.  

- Oh no! I’m so glad you’re okay, oppa.  

- 😭😭  

- Don’t cry, oppas! If you cry, I’ll cry too 😭😭😭😭😭  

- From now on, walk only on flower paths. 😭😭  

- I was so worried, but you look okay, so I feel relieved, sob sob

As B-One members and fans shared this heartfelt moment, suddenly, the tone in the chat shifted.  

- Wait!! LOL  

- Oh, what is this?! LOL  

- So cute!!!  

- Oppas! This is not the time to cry. LOL  

- Look behind you. LOL  

- Wait, what?! LOL  

- We were all crying, and now it’s suddenly a comedy. LOL  

- This is crazy. LOL  

- Is that thing on their head ears? So cute~~!!! LOL  

While the fans were in chaos, Cheolhwan and Minsu were flustered and didn’t know what to do.  

The B-One members, still oblivious to what was happening, were crying, and Cheolhwan was helplessly waving his arms without intervening in the broadcast.  

The culprit behind this scene was Sejin.  

Having hidden behind the sofa, Sejin had been listening to his uncles cry, and he decided he couldn’t just sit there. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason for his action…  

Wearing a yellow hoodie he’d had on since earlier, Sejin pulled the hoodie strings tight, leaving only his face visible. He stood up on the stool behind the sofa, showing just his face to the camera, and waved his little hand like a maple leaf.  

The fans went wild over his cuteness, while Cheolhwan and Minsu were at a loss, shocked by Sejin’s unexpected appearance.  

The members, who had been crying and hugging each other, sensed something unusual and looked up to see what was going on.  

Cheolhwan and Minsu were frantically signaling with their whole bodies, while the chat was flooded with laughter from the fans.  

“Cheolhwan hyung? What? What’s going on? Everyone, what’s happening?”  

When Jaewon asked, Cheolhwan pointed behind them with his finger.  

Following the gesture, the members all turned around and locked eyes with Sejin, who had his face resting on the back of the sofa.  

“Wha–?!!”  

“What’s this?”  

“Sejin-ah!”  

“Why are you back there?”  

The members were all flustered, but Hajin was the most shocked.  

Hajin sprang up from the sofa, startled, and asked Sejin, 

“Why are you there?!”  

“Uncle! I heard the uncles crying and wondered why.”  

“What? Then why were you hiding behind the sofa?”  

“I felt lonely being away from the uncles…”  

Sejin answered with a sullen expression, and Hajin, who was about to scold him, softened immediately.  

“Even so, you can’t be here while we’re working. Go stay with Cheolhwan uncle.”  

“No! I want to stay with the uncles!”  

When Sejin stubbornly refused, Hajin realized it wouldn’t work and quickly went behind the sofa to pick him up and carry him out of the camera frame.  

The fans were disappointed by this.  

- Oppa!! Why are you taking the cutie away~~!!!  

- Give us back our squishy little dumpling!!!  

- He said he wants to stay with the uncles. So cute!  

- I want to see the kid more!! Bring him back immediately!! LOL  

- Uh, is nobody thinking about this? Is it okay to reveal the nephew’s face like this?  

- Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.  

- Honestly, reporters are going to have a field day with this.  

The fans’ concerns finally brought Jaewon back to his senses, and he spoke to address the situation.

“Uh… everyone, I know this is unexpected, but Hajin’s nephew suddenly popped in. Um, give me a moment.”

But even Jaewon didn’t know what to do and stopped mid-sentence, turning to look at Hajin.  

Hajin was off to the side, talking to Sejin.

“Lee Sejin! Didn’t I tell you to stay quiet earlier? So why did you interrupt while the uncles were working? If you keep this up, I’m going to get really mad!”  

At Hajin’s scolding, Sejin’s eyebrows drooped, and he made a sad face.  

“But I just wanted to be with the uncles. That’s why I asked Minsu uncle to help me sit quietly behind the sofa. But when the uncles started crying, I couldn’t help standing up. I’m sorry, uncle.”  

“Still, you can’t interrupt like that. You made all the adults confused and startled. From now on, go sit quietly with Cheolhwan uncle. After we’re done, we’ll play with you, okay?”  

Hajin sighed and gently explained.  

“Uncle, but I want to greet them too! Together with the uncles! Please?”  

“No.”  

“Pleeease~~! I just want to say thank you like the uncles.”  

“What kind of thank you?”  

“I want to thank the fans for being so nice to the uncles, and I want to ask them to take good care of me too from now on.”  

While they were arguing, Cheolhwan approached and said to Hajin.

“Hajin, since Sejin’s face is already on camera, let’s just introduce him properly. If we leave things as they are, speculative articles will start popping up. In fact, there are already articles saying Sejin appeared on the broadcast.”  

“Already? Ugh, they’re so fast with things like this….”  

Hajin felt his head throb at Cheolhwan’s words.  

Originally, Hajin had planned to only mention Sejin during the broadcast and reveal his face later when it felt natural.  

Though he didn’t want to reveal his nephew’s face at all, he knew that was just wishful thinking.  

With the public and media always following them, it was inevitable that Sejin would be photographed if he stayed around the members.  

Hajin had wanted to delay that moment for as long as possible, but Sejin’s unexpected actions made it unavoidable.  

Since the situation had already escalated, Hajin finally decided to formally introduce Sejin to the fans.  

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