Chapter 9: Moonlight Tears (Third Watch Seeking Collection)

  When a red glow appears in the sky, the sky will always look very bright. This brightness is not only dawn, but also dusk...

  Back home, Muzi Qiu sat on the sofa in the living room, staring at the large poster hanging on the wall, his mind constantly spinning with thoughts of how to keep the group going. It could be said that he and Kim Min-hee had brought it up together, and they also had to add their respect for the sisters. If this group were to disband, it would undoubtedly be the biggest blow to him!

  Time is like a car moving at a constant speed. When there's no reference point, it feels slow, but once a reference point appears, it becomes fast again. Unbeknownst to him, as the clock on the wall ticked away with a steady beat, night fell, and the room gradually sank into darkness, except for the occasional moonlight that filtered in through the window, making the room seem like it was shrouded in a black curtain. It wasn't until the evening breeze carrying a hint of chill blew into the house that Mu Ziqi, who had been lost in thought all afternoon without any leads, was startled awake.

  "It's late!" Looking out the window at the bright and white moon slowly rising, Muzi Qiu's eyes seemed dull.

  "Ring......" Suddenly, in the darkness, Mu Zi Qiu's phone rang, and in the dimly lit room, the screen of the phone flickered on and off.

  "Yuri no ne!" The one who called was Yuri's busy younger sister, Sung Yoo-ri, Mokja's youngest sister.

  "Ji Qiu, your sister got drunk, so I let her sleep over at my place tonight." On the other end of the phone, came Seong Yu-ri's signature slow and gentle voice.

  Muzi's eyebrows furrowed, and his dull eyes immediately regained a bit of brightness, but this brightness was accompanied by a thick layer of worry. He didn't say a word in response.

  "Zi Qiu, have you eaten yet? If not, go eat first! We'll take care of Xiao Li, you take care of yourself! Don't worry about your sister...... hey? Zi Qiu?"

  Muzi Autumn hung up the phone and ran out of the door as soon as she heard Lee Hyori was drunk! Only a faint light remained, still flickering inside the house.

  "Ji-ah is probably on her way...". Sung Yu-ri, holding the still-connected but silent phone, looked at Yoo Joo-eun and Lee Jin who were sitting on the couch.

  "I just told you not to tell Ziqiu, but you didn't listen! How does Ziqiu feel about Xiaoli, don't you know? Fortunately, she doesn't know that Xiaoli got drunk, if she knew, she would definitely come over!" Yuzhu wiped the sweat from her forehead and slumped onto the sofa, the sight of their team leader getting dead drunk was unbearable. The three of them had used a lot of effort to drag her back to Meng Nei Cheng Youli's house, which was relatively close by. At this point, all three of them were almost exhausted...

  "Come on, it's been a long time since I've seen Zi Qiu, he must have grown even more handsome! Sigh, if only I were six years older... no, four years older, I would fall in love with him!" Li Zhen said casually while tidying up her hair.

  "Jin-ah sister, you're at it again!" Sung Yu-li hung up the phone and sat down on the couch, exchanging a teasing remark with Lee Jin.

  "Can't she? If you had a mother like hers, you would too!"

  "Honestly, I have no idea what my mom is thinking. How old am I? Twenty-three, no, soon to be twenty-four! A twenty-four-year-old old maid, still being controlled by my mom with a curfew, it's so humiliating! I really don't know how much longer I can live like this!"

  "It's not necessary to wait for Zi Qiu either, Zi Qiu is only 14 years old, although he looks quite handsome, that's not possible!"

  "In the blink of an eye, six years have passed and Jichul has grown up too! Hyeori has a good younger brother!" Yu Zhen couldn't help but feel envious of Lee Hyori who was lying in the guest room.

  "Zi Qiu is also our little brother!"

  "What's wrong! Zhen'er sister, what are you thinking?"

  "Thinking that Jin-ah won't be able to find a boyfriend later, we should focus on making her become an actress like Lee Mi-sook sunbae!" Yoo-jin said with a grin, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt something was off. The two people in front of her fell silent immediately after hearing her words.

  The four of them are now developing in different fields, although the company has not officially announced its disbandment, but from the company's announcement, it is clear that they have reached the end. The four people, from the beginning of their gathering to standing at the top of Korea's entertainment circle, step by step, were hand in hand, and now they are about to go their separate ways, how can there not be a sense of loss? They all know that Lee Hyori got drunk tonight, mostly because of this reason, otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible for Lee Soo-young's one phone call to bring the three of them together at the bar.

  "Doesn't Zi Qiu know yet?" Yu Zhu Xian said after a long silence.

  "It's not like he knows, but Hyori won't say it, Jichul's obsession with Hyori has reached a crazy level, if he finds out they're breaking up, isn't that just asking him to take a kitchen knife and fight the president to the death?" At this time, Lee Jin added another cold joke.

  "Ding..."

  "Son Qiu is here! I'll go open the door." Cheng Youli had just heard the doorbell ring and knew who it was. He opened the door to find Muzi Qiu, drenched in sweat, leaning against the doorframe and panting heavily.

  "Zi Qiu, why are you running so anxiously? Didn't I tell you not to worry?" Cheng Youli immediately pulled out a towel from behind the door and wiped away the beads of sweat that kept forming on Mu Zi Qiu's forehead.

  "Yu Li jie, where's my sister?" After calming down and letting Cheng Yu Li wipe away her sweat, Muzi Qiu finally spoke up to ask.

  "He's drunk and resting in my guest room."

  "I'll go take a look! Sister Zhu Xuan, Sister Li Zhen." After entering the door, she asked Yu Zhu Xuan and Li Zhen who were sitting on the sofa, then hurriedly ran into the room.

  "If I had a brother like that, I'd be willing to die! Of course, it would be even better if he were my boyfriend! Zi Qiu is here, so I'll leave first. Otherwise, my mom will call me again with orders!" Li Zhen muttered as she watched Mu Zi Qiu rush into the room, then picked up her backpack that was thrown on the sofa and left first.

  "You can go first, Yuli. I'll also leave now that Ziqiu is here to take care of things." Then, Yu Zhuxian followed Li Zhen out of the house.

  The lights were already off in the room, and Mu Zi Qiu didn't turn them on when she entered. She felt her way to the bedside in the dark. The air inside was thick with the smell of alcohol and heavy perfume, making it hard to breathe. Through the moonlight filtering through the window, Li Hye-ri could be seen lying on the bed, clutching the quilt tightly and sprawling about with her hair disheveled. Her eyebrows were furrowed, as if she was still thinking about something.

  "Sister..." Even with a thousand words, Muzi Chuu doesn't know what to say now. Lee Hyori is enduring something alone, he understands that, and he wants to help her too, but he's also powerless. Although it was him and Kim Min-hee who planned this out, it's just planning after all. The higher-ups at DSP won't give up on disbanding the group because of him and Kim Min-hee. The income from a group activity and individual activities can reveal where the benefits lie, which is also why most groups are disbanded after they become popular (that's my guess).

  At this time, Muzi Qiu could only hold one of Lee Hyori's hands, gently tidy up her disheveled hair, and smooth out the frown between her eyebrows. He didn't know what else to do, and this powerlessness, this fear, had been deeply embedded in his bones since Kim Min-hee's conversation that afternoon, gnawing at him from the inside out, making him want to grasp something, but not knowing how to take action...

  "Sister, please, don't drink so much wine from now on!"

  A teardrop like a pearl, reflecting the bright moonlight outside the window, shimmering with dazzling light, slid down Mu Zi Qiu's cheek and fell into Cheng You Li's eyes as he stood at the door...