Chapter 164
Chapter 164
Translator: Penny
Chapter 164
Seeing Kim Dobin greet me like we were long-lost family members reuniting after years apart gave me a strange feeling.
Wow, even Badugi, my dog, never greeted me this enthusiastically.
"You didn't even go anywhere, you idiot. What's with the 'welcome back'?" I said, pushing him away with my hand as he tried to hug me with open arms.
"Hyung, you really don't remember?"
How could I not remember? I was perfectly sane the whole time.
Originally, my excuse to the members after the penalty ended was going to be, "I seriously resolved to become a new person, but I quit because I was heartbroken by your reactions."
But after I showed them my tears, I scrapped the plan. Crying while sober was just too embarrassing.
So, I had only one thing left to do:
Make the members firmly believe I was truly possessed.
"What?"
"Yesterday, a spirit who dreamed of being an idol in life possessed Hyung's body!"
They were even making up the ghost's backstory for me, leaving me nothing to do.
I couldn't just accept this calmly and start acting scared. That's the kind of amateur acting Seo Yehyeon would pull.
"Are you spouting nonsense again this morning? If you want me to believe you, at least make it sound plausible. Didn't I tell you to cut back on those webtoons or web novels? Why don't you just say you're possessed again?"
I frowned and pressed down on the crown of his head, just like I always did. Kim Dobin slapped his chest and shouted, "No, Hyung! You're really possessed!"
"Dobin, did you have a nightmare?"
I roughly ruffled his hair, scoffed, and left the room to sit at the dining table. As usual, the meal began as soon as I picked up my chopsticks.
"What time is our radio schedule today?" I asked, picking up a side dish with my chopsticks and trying to sound casual.
Ryu Jaehee stared blankly at me. "We don't have a radio schedule today."
"What do you mean? Moon's Letter, remember?"
At that, all the members' eyes turned to me. Ryu Jaehee said in a trembling voice, "Hyung... Moon's Letter was yesterday's schedule."
"What? Isn't today Monday?"
Gyeon Hajun raised an eyebrow and replied gravely, "Eden, today is Tuesday."
"Jun-a, don't mess with me too. Are you all in on this? Is this some kind of hidden camera prank?"
If I could just whip my head around dramatically, pretending to look for the camera, it would be perfect.
If this damn System hadn't forced me to suppress my tears, I wouldn't have to put on such a theatrical performance!
"Yoon Eden, you really don't remember anything? Wow, maybe you really are possessed by a ghost."
"See, Hyung! I told you Hyung was possessed! I swear on every web novel and manga in my purchase history, I'm not joking!"
"I thought I'd finally get closure and ascend after performing on a music show, but I guess just doing one schedule is enough to ascend on my own."
Was my acting so flawless that everyone believed the Yoon Eden Theory without a shred of doubt, or was my behavior yesterday so utterly absurd that they couldn't even bring themselves to question it?
After throwing a proper tantrum, I pretended to calm down and tidied up the narrative the members had conveniently assigned me.
"So... today's Tuesday, not Monday, and I was possessed by a ghost yesterday? Seriously, do you guys really think this makes any sense?"
"Then how do you explain the missing day, Hyung? We can't manipulate the dates on your laptop and phone."
"No, seriously, what ghost...?"
The price for denying myself and blaming a nonexistent ghost was...
"What the hell? At least warn me before you start throwing things! Jun-a, I don't know why you're throwing beans, but could you at least throw them gently?"
"It's salt, Hyung. Just in case."
"Those aren't beans, they're red beans. Red beans are supposed to ward off ghosts."
I returned home to a baptism of salt and red beans. Afraid of being caught, I couldn't even protest and meekly endured the shower of salt and beans.
"Hyung, can we stick these to the walls and doors? Should we put some on the windows too?"
"Jaehee... seriously? Do you really think a charm you bought online for five thousand won a piece is going to work?"
"It's better than nothing, right? Besides, it was delivered by express shipping."
And so, the room Kim Dobin and I shared now had a ghost-repelling charm as part of its decor.
I couldn't bring myself to say it was me, not a ghost, and swallowed my frustration.
"This talisman looks more like it'll summon ghosts than ward them off, don't you think, Hyung? It's always the same in novels—the talismans they buy to repel ghosts end up attracting them instead."
"Hey, you idiot! Haven't you ever heard that words have power? Stop saying such unlucky things. But Kim Dobin, you're surprisingly calm? I thought you'd be the first one to freak out about ghosts."
"Well, most possession stories feature souls, not ghosts... Wait a minute, now that I think about it, the opening scenes always show the protagonist getting hit by a reincarnation truck or dying somehow. So they are ghosts, aren't they...? Maybe I just didn't notice because I was seeing things from the protagonist's perspective?"
Muttering incomprehensible nonsense, Kim Dobin suddenly jumped up and bellowed for Ryu Jaehee to buy more talismans.
I knew he'd do this.
But beyond the sudden ghost-exorcism commotion in our dorm, there was another matter I had to endure: my behavior during yesterday's schedule.
I logged into the OA App, thinking I might do a live broadcast, but then I saw Ryu Jaehee doing a live broadcast with his roommate, Seo Yehyeon. I cleanly gave up and decided to postpone mine until tomorrow.
Just before hitting the back button, I caught a glimpse of my name in the chat. Scrolling through the rapidly scrolling messages, I noticed an unusually high number of comments specifically mentioning me.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a measure of my popularity, but rather the fans' desire to reconfirm my strange behavior from the previous day.
Suddenly, Ryu Jaehee disappeared from the screen, leaving only Seo Yehyeon, who continued the broadcast with a bright smile and lively chatter.
He used to be so awkward and shy during our debut days. This guy has really improved, I thought.
Ryu Jaehee, who had disappeared from the screen, burst through my door.
"No knocking?"
"Hyung! The fans are looking for you! Okay, so yesterday you tried to change your image, but it was too exhausting, so you gave up. Got it? Absolutely no mention of ghosts!" Ryu Jaehee grabbed my shoulders, strongly urging me. His fabricated narrative was identical to the excuse I had planned to use, so there were no issues.
Seo Yehyeon, who had been talking into his phone camera, spotted Ryu Jaehee and me entering the room. His face visibly relaxed as he made way for us.
"Hello, Daydream. I rushed here as soon as I heard you were anxiously looking for me."
- You're back to your familiar self in just one day!
"Eden, don't smile like you usually do. Try smiling kindly, like you did yesterday."
"Yeah, and speak softly, like you did yesterday too."
"Don't force me! I much prefer the Eden of today to the Moon's Letter Eden from yesterday."
"It's not like I particularly like it either, but I want to see if our kid really has a thousand faces. We need to make him act."
Forcing a smile, I tried to speak in the softest tone I could manage.
"Softly... like this?"
"No, not that smile from yesterday. The one that was so kind it made me feel strangely uncomfortable."
"You're speaking softly, right...? You're not clenching your teeth, are you...?"
"What even happened yesterday? Did you get a penalty or something?"
Penalty and 벌칙 both mean punishment.
Thanks a lot for screwing me over for two days, you goddamn System!
"Hey, Hyung, hurry up and change the channel."
I nudged Seo Yehyeon's arm, which was holding the remote.
"Make up your mind—either call me 'Hey' or 'Hyung'," Seo Yehyeon grumbled, his hand hovering over the remote buttons.
"Wait, isn't that the survival show TK's doing this time? Wow, they're actually broadcasting it on TV? Guess the big agencies really do things differently."
Unable to see Ryu Jaehee's expression, Seo Yehyeon continued to marvel at the trainees on screen. I snatched the remote from his hand and immediately switched the channel.
Ryu Jaehee's expression visibly relaxed.
We had made a comeback with a reverse-charting hit and were nearing the end of our promotions when those jerks debuted.
On the very day we were knocked off the top spot on the charts by their new song, Ryu Jaehee ran into them.
But it was still early in the broadcast season, and Reve was scheduled to conclude their activities this Sunday with their final performance on Popular Music.
So, I probably won't have to run into those TK Rookie Group jerks on music shows this time, right?
Seeing the team's youngest member's confidence shattered by the perpetrators' mocking laughter right in his face was more than enough.
No, even if they avoided music shows, they'd inevitably cross paths at award ceremonies or year-end music festivals.
The solution was simple: sabotage their chances on the survival show to prevent their debut. That way, even if they encountered the rookie group, they wouldn't have to face the perpetrators themselves.
Which episode did the controversy surface in again?
In the past, it had taken three and a half years for the truth to come out. By then, the group had already debuted, so while they faced criticism, they weren't ultimately forced to withdraw.
This time, it would be different.
I searched for "The Song" on YouTube and started binge-watching all the episodes aired so far.
Is this the final song? No, definitely not the final song. It must be in the episode before the finale.
Initially, I watched to find that specific moment, but as I kept watching, I found myself increasingly invested in the survival show.
The resources of a major corporation really are something else.
Wow, I'm so glad I didn't debut through a survival show. Debuting without one at a dirt-poor agency and now being able to laugh at other companies' survival shows? I'm one lucky bastard!
As I was mentally playing judge, picking out the promising contestants, a head suddenly leaned over my shoulder. A sinister voice whispered in my ear.
"Hyung, are you enjoying it?"
"Uh-huh, it's totally hilarious... gasp Kid? No, it's not like this Hyung wanted to watch it or anything...!"
"Why are you explaining yourself to me? If you're enjoying it, just watch it."
Startled, I threw my phone down and desperately tried to explain myself. Ryu Jaehee smiled and firmly pressed the phone back into my hand. The screen still showed Come to My Universe.
That day, Ryu Jaehee was unusually prickly with me. Still, it was better than him clamming up and refusing to speak to me at all.
"Hey, Kid. Still sulking?"
"I'm not sulking! I'm not petty enough to care about Hyung's cultural activities, you know?"
"Come on, you're totally sulking. Admit it."
Chuckling, I casually draped my arm over Ryu Jaehee's shoulder. He grumbled but didn't shake me off.
Now Ryu Jaehee's shoulder was higher than mine. Time really flies. This little kid who used to be so small has already caught up to my height.
"Why are other broadcasting station cameras roaming the hallway? Who's filming a reality show?"
I took a long sip of my iced Americano as I walked down the broadcasting station hallway and bowed politely to a sunbae idol walking toward me from the opposite direction.
This sunbae was a member of a TK boy group who had recently made a solo comeback. Spotting us, he returned a casual greeting before heading into his dressing room.
The jerks who swarmed in after him were definitely the guys I'd been watching on that thrilling survival show last night.
They were probably using them as backup dancers for Ryu Jaehee's solo performance on the music show to get more screen time. Some of them seemed to know Ryu Jaehee, subtly waving to him.
Worried, I turned to check on him and saw Ryu Jaehee biting his lip so hard it was bleeding. He was staring intently at someone.
As if sensing his gaze, the person turned toward Ryu Jaehee. The person frowned slightly and nudged the person next to them.
The second jerk also turned to look at Ryu Jaehee, his eyes widening. Composing himself as if nothing had happened, he raised his hand.
"Hey, Jaehee! Long time no see?"
The jerk who greeted Ryu Jaehee with feigned enthusiasm had the same face I'd seen before the regression.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny