Ex-Idol's Role Afterwards

Chapter 15: Redemption Arc

Damin stared at Taejin before slowly parting her lips. Letting out a slight sound, it immediately stopped with the sound of a door opening.

"Taejin! I'm back. Ah... Damin, you're still here? Do you need a ride as well? It is getting late. I didn't realize that your family lives so far away." His mother smiled as he walked towards them.

Before Damin could respond, Taejin spoke with a smile on his face and his posture upright. "Actually, she was just talking about how tired she was. She doesn't live far, so I was about to take her back. I have a few work related stuff to sort out with her. You should wash up and go to sleep. Everything's been cleaned up, so don't worry about anything."

"Ah, then, I really can't refuse my dear son's considerations!" She laughed slightly before turning to Damin. "It was really good meeting you, Damin. There's a lot of coincidences in our meeting and your relationship with everyone, but it only made it easier for us to meet. I wish the best of luck for you, and I hope that you will visit us again."

Damin smiled and spoke in a polite tone. "Of course! It's rather my pleasure to meet the mother of Taejin. He's a very good person and I can understand where he got that from. I will also love to see you soon. Then, thank you for having me over. I hope you have a good night."

As they walked out of the front gate in silence, Damin turned to Taejin. "Why did you lie?"

Taejin turned to her without any expression compared to Damin who was irked and spoke nonchalantly. "My mother likes talking a lot. It would end up with you ending up staying up late to talk. Work's still going for the rest of the week."

Damin frowned, unused to this Taejin. "Why cover for me then? I could easily say I have to go home. Rather than who are you to speak for me, why did you feel the need?"

Taejin who, although felt slightly ashamed for his reasonings, wanted to tell her. But, before he could open his mouth, his phone started buzzing. He looked at it and saw who it was and then looked up quickly.

"I'm sorry, let me just take this." Taejin apologized swiftly before turning around and answering with a bright tone. "Hey, what's up?"

"You're not busy or anything, it's okay to call?"

On the other line was Shin Hamin. A member from his group, and although not exactly the closest, especially after their disbandment, they were friends. However, it was difficult to manage the relationship because of their different jobs and work schedules. Hamin is a music producer under a small company for online creators and doesn't have specific times. He typically sleeps during the day and wakes up at night to do things.

His typical baritone lazy voice was more urgent on the phone and it concerned Taejin. Although no accidents ever occurred without them being able to react to them, they've heard plenty of horror stories of idols being stuck in uncomfortable or dangerous situations after being unable to contact other members for help. So, even since pre-debut, they made a pact to ensure everyone will answer the phone if it's from another member. Even now, everyone still honors that.

"It's fine, what is it? We haven't talked for quite some time." He spoke in a warm voice.

Hamin let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. It's been busy. There's a lot of songs I need to work on for some people. But, we can talk about me later. I wanted to ask you about your channel. I happened to come across it. So you decided to start singing again?"

"Ah... I didn't think that you would become aware of that. I was going to mention it once I had more than just one thing up, but I guess you saw it. Yeah, I'm going to become more serious about it. Was that all you're curious about?"