A Failed Idol’s Rise to Bottom

Sugyeom, who had been looking at the various community sites, wrinkled his forehead due to a throbbing headache.

After the dinner with Seonuk three days ago, he had been experiencing headaches ever since and now it had gotten considerably worse.

“Sugyeom-hyung, what’s wrong? Does your head still hurt?”

“Ehm…”

Hansol asked anxiously when he saw Sugyeom grabbing his head. He put his big hand on Sugyeom’s forehead and murmured, “It’s not a fever…”

“Let’s go to the hospital. It’s been several days and you’re still not well.”

“I don’t want to go to the hospital…”

“How can you say that? If you’re hurt, you should go whether you want to or not.”

Hansol said firmly. It was a blunt remark, but Sugyeom didn’t feel wronged because his expression was full of concern.

“Okay…I’ll go with Minseong-hyung when he comes.”

“Make sure you do. I’ll check later.”

Hansol’s voice softened only after hearing that Sugyeom had understood.

Sugyeom said he would go, but his visage became gloomy when he thought of going to the hospital.

In fact, he already knew what was causing the pain. It was because he had already experienced it in his previous life. Therefore, he didn’t want to go to the hospital despite it being so painful.

He breathed a long sigh that only he knew.

* * *

At the fans’ request, U-PITE was going to do a sudden live broadcast.

They had tried to avoid it today as much as possible, but it was a Friday evening and everyone had enthusiastically requested it on the fancafe, so they decided to proceed.

As soon as the broadcast began, the comment window began to flood as if everyone had been waiting.

[Hello, oppas!]
[Hi : ) ]
[Hello, guys~~~~~]
[Sugyeom?]
[Sugyeom got cold feet?]
[Where’s Pink-Gyeom?]
[Come on out, Little-Gyeom]

Little-Gyeom was Sugyeom’s nickname due to his height being shorter than Igyeom. Fans coming into the broadcast were busily looking for Sugyeom because he wasn’t on screen.

Taewon, seeing this, slowly opened his mouth with a sad expression.

“Sugyeom went to the hospital because he’s hurt.”

The comment window became pandemonium as soon as the viewers were told that Sugyeom was hurt. And because Sugyeom had the most enthusiastic fan base, the responses also became serious.

[Sugyeom is hurt???????????]
[Sugyeomㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[My babyㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜWhat’s wrong with my babyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[He’s hurt??????]
[Pink-Gyeom is hurt?]
[Gyeom is hurt????????????]
[I didn’t hear it because I just came inㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠWho’s hurt?]
[Sugyeomㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ]
[Sugyeom is hurt]
[OMG]

Shocked by the comments that were coming up so fast that it was hard to read, Taewon shook his hands and continued.

“Ah, it’s nothing serious. His wisdom tooth came out, so he went to get it pulled out.”

Fans were able to find some stability after hearing Taewon, but the comments were filled with mournful comments as if they were still heartbroken.

[Son of a…wisdom teethㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠHave some senseㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Aigo…Wisdom teeth hurt so much…ㅠㅠWoo~ Why Sugyeom?]
[Noona is heartbroken…Sugyeom…]
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠDamn wisdom teethㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

In the end, the live broadcast finished without Sugyeom.

About two hours after the live broadcast, Sugyeom, who had a swollen cheek from the extraction, returned to the accommodation with a bitter expression.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

“Mhmh.”

Sugyeom groaned when Yuchan asked worryingly. It was impossible to speak because he was biting a cotton pad.

This was why he didn’t want to go to the hospital. Although having headaches from a wisdom tooth was painful, the pain of extracting it and the pain afterwards was just as horrible.

Naturally there was also the fact that he didn’t want to go to the dentist.

He sniveled as he massaged his right cheek that was still numb from the anesthesia. He wanted to cry just imagining the hellish pain that would come after it wore off.

“Get some rest first.”

“Ehm.”

Sugyeom cupped his cheek with one hand while stumbling into his room. Sleeping was the only way to overcome pain in the current situation. After laying down and covering himself with a blanket, he curled up and closed his eyes.

“Go to sleep. I’ll turn off the lights.”

Yuchan, perhaps worried, had followed Sugyeom. He fixed the blanket, then turned off the lights and went out.

Along with the sound of the door closing, everything became quiet. Sugyeom fell asleep in the dark under the influence of painkillers.

* * *

Sugyeom didn’t know how long he had slept. Waking up in pain from time to time, he would force himself to close his eyes again. If not, it should have been three or four hours since he slept.

Perhaps the painkillers were losing their effectiveness, but he was feeling an unpleasant pain. Thinking he should immediately take more painkillers before it worsened, he hurried to the kitchen.

“You’re up.”

Igyeom, sitting in the living room, said. Having no power to respond, Sugyeom roughly answered with a wave of his hand and went on his way.

After Sugyeom took two painkillers with a cup of water, he pulled out a dining chair feebly and sat down as he held his swollen cheek.

“It’s Hobak-juk. Eat it.”

“Did you simmer it?”

“Yeah. It’s cooled, so you can eat it now.”

Igyeom served a delicious bowl of yellow Hobak-juk. It was lukewarm when Sugyeom touched the bowl, confirming what Igyeom had said.

“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”

Sugyeom was still in pain, but in any case, he had to eat something. The dentist had also said that he could eat if the bleeding stopped in three to four hours, so it was possible for him to eat porridge by now.

He, who liked sweets, raised his spoon with sparkling eyes as if he had forgotten about the pain. Soon, as if he had realized something, he sprang up.

“What?”

“I’m going to add sugar.”

“…It’s a sweet Hobak-juk. It’s sweet even if you just eat it as is.”

“I don’t think so. It doesn’t taste sweet.”

“That’s why you had a toothache.”

“Oh my, wasn’t it from a wisdom tooth and not from eating sweets?”

Sugyeom said in protest of his injustice. Igyeom sighed deeply before bringing him some sugar.

“At any rate, Song Sugyeom. You’re not a kid anymore.”

“It’s narrow-minded to think only children love sweets.”

“Yes, yes. Think as you please.”

Igyeom’s rough way of speaking irritated Sugyeom, but he, who had gotten what he had wanted regardless, soon smiled contentedly as he scooped two big spoonfuls of sugar into his porridge. He heard the sound of Igyeom clicking his tongue as if to tell him to listen, but he pretended not to have heard it.

“Oh?”

“What now?”

“There’s no Saealsim…”

“You can’t even chew it because you just had a tooth extraction.”

“…Tsk.”

“I’ll put it in next time, so just eat this today.”

“Okay.”

It wasn’t until Sugyeom received a rain check that he picked up his spoon. The sweet taste of the yellow Hobak-juk spread through his mouth when he took a full bite.

He smiled, feeling happy from the high sugar content. Meanwhile, Igyeom glanced at him with a faint smile.

* * *

After the meal, Sugyeom looked in the mirror and examined his swollen cheek. He found an angle that looked as chubby as possible and took a picture.

Next, he posted the selfie on the official fancafe and the company’s public social media.

[Title: Hello! It’s Sugyeom!
Author: SongSugyeom
I had my wisdom tooth pulled out. It hurt so muchㅠ.ㅠBut I became much better after eating Hobak-juk made by Igyeom! You don’t have to worry about me! Though, Igyeom didn’t put in any Saealsim because I just had my wisdom tooth pulled out. Heuk~That’s too badㅠ.ㅠHe said he’ll add a lot of Saealsim next time~~~Yay~~~]

[Title: Wisdom Tooth, Out of 100 Points I’ll Give You 100 Points
Author: ThereAreTooManySameNicknames
I was worried when I heard you went to the hospital to have your wisdom tooth pulled out…ㅠㅠㅠㅠIt hurt so much when I had my wisdom tooth pulled out that I’m sad to think that you must have had a hard time… Looking at the picture, I think you did well…So cute I’m going to die…
└ This ㅇㅈ I was sad when I heard it was wisdom tooth, but then I saw the picture and it’s just too cute.
└ Author: Sugyeom’s wisdom tooth could grows quarterly…Am I Satan for wishing that?
└ Ehm…Nim, Satan lost his job because of you.
└ Author: But even for Satan, wouldn’t seeing Sugyeom have his wisdom teeth removed cute?ㅜㅜ
└ That’s true.]

[Title: Do You Want to See My Search Keywords..?
Author: ThisIsReal
How to make your wisdom teeth grow faster.
Wisdom teeth extraction places that hurt.
Maximum number of wisdom teeth.
How to grow more wisdom teeth.
How to swell cheeks after wisdom teeth extraction.
How to keep cheeks swollen after wisdom teeth extraction.
└ Hey, Satanㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋOMGㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋCrazy improvisionㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Meanwhile, I looked for teeth extraction places that didn’t hurtㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋSo Pink-Gyeom doesn’t get hurt next timeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Author: I hope our Gyeom isn’t hurt…ㅠ
└ How toㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋKeepㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋSwellingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋWho is searching for ways to keep the swelling?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIt’s not even how to reduce swellingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋThat kind of resultㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Today’s Best Satan Award and Best Improvise Award
└ Author: Thank you…Two awards in one go…]

[Title: So Cute It’s Crazy
Author: CheeseCookieSubCharacter
Ah what Song Sugyeom’s cheeks are swollenHe’s chubby How is he so cute
└ The reason why he’s so cute is because his birthday is May 9th……..]

[Title: I’ll Do Anything to Poke That Cheek With My Finger…
Author: PleaseLookAtOurDog
Once….just once………If I poke his cheek, he’ll be surprised Or would he smile embarrassingly?My heart really hurts
└ It’s so cute imagining it I guess Sugyeom would widen his eyes in surprise]

[Title: Am I the Only One Who’s Going Crazy When Black-Gyeom Made Pink-Gyeom Hobak-Juk?
Author: GyeomGyeomMarriageCommittee
It’s so tiresome to make pumpkin porridge Cooking it for Pink-Gyeom Ah, it’s true love. When my boyfriend had his baby wisdom tooth pulled out, I went to eat meat with my friends and sent a proof picture to my himㅎㅎ;;;;;;
└ Ah, is it normal to make porridge with sincerity?You can’t do it unless you’re in a loving relationship
└ They’re going to hide it now…there’s no way we can hide it ourselves.
└ Wasn’t your boyfriend disappointed?
└ Author: Not at all. Because he did the same thing when I had my wisdom tooth pulled out…^^
└ Wow…You guys are a match made in heaven like Gyeom-Gyeom….]