Chapter 234
Chapter 234
Bae Se-jin stared at his smartphone with hollow eyes.
Most of the articles intentionally fueling anxiety had been taken down by the company.
Or at least, that was what the company claimed, but Bae Se-jin thought differently.
‘Isn’t it just… because they’ve already milked it for all it’s worth?’
Since the company had completely blocked the details of the accident, there was nothing left to exploit, so the articles had simply fizzled out.
That was the reality. The company was desperately gagging the media regarding anything related to the former manager.
In the end, the reports merely stated it was an "accident caused by the negligent driving of a former manager whose resignation was imminent."
“This makes no sense.”
Bae Se-jin clenched his fists.
After some of the members had gritted their teeth and relentlessly interrogated the working-level staff, they had discovered how the former manager had managed to intrude.
—The performance company hadn't heard clearly about the manager change… They thought he’d just come back after handling other business during the day, so they let him through.
—……!!
So this accident… was partly the fault of the company for failing to properly notify the relevant parties that the former manager had been fired!
Bae Se-jin instinctively knew that because they were aware of this, they were even appealing to the parent company to desperately keep the press quiet.
Even now, the company was facing widespread criticism for negligent management.
However, if the facts became clearer, the blow would be catastrophic. Thus, they were stalling for time until the incident died down.
‘Instead of doing that… they should be focusing on Park Moon-dae’s recovery.’
Of course, he had no expectations.
If several members hadn't strongly protested to the company, they would have already started subtly mentioning activities as a six-member group.
“Disgusting….”
Bae Se-jin covered his mouth.
He knew it couldn't be helped, but he was utterly sick of the crass capitalistic view that saw the group as nothing more than business capital.
And the way they acted with such safety insensitivity toward their artists' schedules just because it wasn't their own lives on the line.
He had seen it too much since he was young; he was sick to death of it.
‘It’s not like these kinds of accidents are a rare occurrence in this industry…!’
Why did the same things keep repeating?
At this rate, aside from the fine-sounding pretext of being within the established system… they were no different from his previous agency.
Bae Se-jin gripped his hand over his mouth so hard his knuckles turned white.
‘…I have to find a more proper agency.’
Surely, there had to be an agency run by decent people who maintained their humanity.
There had to be.
‘If I can just endure for three more years….’
Bae Se-jin was about to fall into an endless stream of consciousness, but he barely managed to pull himself out.
It was because he thought of Park Moon-dae.
…Who still hadn't woken up.
“…….”
Bae Se-jin weakly let the hand holding his smartphone drop.
He knew that no matter what plans he made, things would only work properly if Park Moon-dae was there.
‘Because he handles things as if he’s spent his entire life doing nothing else.’
Bae Se-jin had never seen such a superhuman peer.
That brilliant talent, confidence, and boldness. Those alone made him look like a heaven-sent entertainer… but he was even skilled at social navigation.
During the idol audition program, Bae Se-jin had felt a sense of relative deprivation, but after debuting, even that vanished.
He didn't even feel the urge to compare himself anymore.
‘I’ve… received so much help from him, too.’
He had once boasted that he would definitely pay him back, but the truth was, it felt like a distant goal.
‘I wondered if a time would ever come when Park Moon-dae would actually need my help.’
In reality, Bae Se-jin judged himself coldly, thinking that everything he’d done to help had been clumsy and driven only by his eagerness.
But this time, Bae Se-jin really had to move. He had to achieve something.
Park Moon-dae couldn't wake up, and the other members were either injured or mentally exhausted, unable to perform at their usual capacity.
‘But… I’ve always been like this.’
In the past, he had always lived in a state of mental and physical exhaustion and sensitivity.
Therefore, the one who had to move more proactively in this situation was Bae Se-jin himself.
“…….”
Bae Se-jin took his hand away from his mouth. His eyes were flashing.
‘Let’s do it.’
Bae Se-jin picked up his smartphone and checked a contact.
Then, after taking a deep breath, he began to draft an email.
“…….”
His hands trembled violently.
‘Still, I’m the only one who can do this!’
Bae Se-jin gritted his teeth and pressed send.
He didn't know if this was an effective choice. But in his mind, it was the right one.
“……Whew.”
Bae Se-jin sat back down.
He toyed with the hamster-patterned case a fan had gifted him, trying to stay calm.
It was then.
[♫♪♩~ ♫♫♪♪♩]
“……!”
A call came in.
Bae Se-jin hurriedly checked the screen.
—Seon A-hyun’s Younger Brother
Bae Se-jin answered without even taking a breath.
“Yeah, what is it…….”
Several excited voices erupted from the other end of the line.
“…….”
Bae Se-jin, who had been waiting calmly, was eventually struck dumb by the completed sentence.
“……W-Wait, wait! Right now…!”
Bae Se-jin stammered, unable to even finish his sentence before sprinting out of the meeting room.
His heart was racing.
After activating Nectar (S).
Suddenly, my vision turned white, and before I knew it, my consciousness was floating in a void of nothingness.
No, rather than floating… it felt like I was being sucked in somewhere.
‘Is it the opposite of when I enter a dream?’
Back then, everything had turned pitch black.
To put my mind at ease, I wanted to guess that I was in the process of waking up.
I tried to cross my arms, only to realize I couldn't feel the shape of my body. And it had been like that for quite a while.
‘How much longer do I have to wait?’
At that moment.
Color bled into the pure white space.
‘……!’
No, rather than color, it was ripples.
From far away.
Strange impacts, as if abstract things like emotions or thoughts had been turned into sensations, approached and washed over me.
Piiiing—.
‘……!!’
An intense experience brushed past, as if my entire body were vibrating.
And then.
The first thing I perceived was Park Moon-dae’s fansite master looking at her smartphone.
She was someone who had been taking photos of Park Moon-dae since the pre-debut program days.
From the moment she heard the news of Park Moon-dae’s car accident, she had been in a near-delirious state, clutching her phone.
She couldn't even cry.
And at 3 AM.
After checking the article about Park Moon-dae’s surgery on her phone, she was posting on her social media.
—Please pray a lot, please.
Her trembling fingernails tapped against the screen.
What on earth is this?
Next to appear were a pair of siblings.
The older sister, whose eyes were already bloodshot and swollen, was fighting fiercely with people online who were gossiping about TeSTAR’s car accident.
Instead of picking a fight or playing pranks like usual, the younger brother sat beside her, agreeing with everything she said.
And, reciting absurd medical knowledge he’d picked up from the internet, he casually mentioned that the probability of Park Moon-dae being okay was much higher….
The ripples were warm.
A graduate student who saw the breaking news spilled coffee while getting a cup in the lab.
And without caring that the floor was a mess, they wailed at the top of their lungs.
The lab colleagues who rushed over were flustered, but they soon understood the situation and worried together.
There was someone who inwardly thought it was pathetic, but the grief was so intense that even they, though they might gossip later, found themselves offering comfort in the moment.
The stories didn't end.
An office worker fansite master who took photos of both Lee Se-jin and Park Moon-dae clicked her tongue at the industry practices, saying they "still haven't learned anything" upon hearing the news of TeSTAR’s accident.
But unable to hide her anxiety, she used her physical condition as an excuse to take a day off work the next day to wait for news of Park Moon-dae….
I didn't know… why these things were pouring in.
A person who had come to see an idol concert for the first time in their life.
Someone who had become interested in Park Moon-dae after going through various other idols; someone who liked the ‘May Groom.’
Someone who had cheered for Park Moon-dae during the audition program and then forgotten about him for a while. Someone who liked another member of TeSTAR but had come to view Park Moon-dae favorably as well.
Someone who didn't particularly like Park Moon-dae but was worried; someone who had bought albums in bulk to collect and decorate all of Park Moon-dae’s photo cards…….
Piiiing—.
The experiences and thoughts of all kinds of people who knew TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae sparkled everywhere like stars in a rural summer night sky.
Countless worries, sorrows, thoughts—those multifaceted hearts and simple, intense emotions filled my heart to the brim.
And then, they gently took hold.
‘…….’
I didn't know how I could feel such an intense sense of solidarity, of being connected to people I had never even met personally.
I thought instinctively.
‘Is Park Moon-dae me?’
No, that wasn't the right question.
‘Is that idol, TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae… truly me?’
How many celebrities were there who changed their real names, their backgrounds, and their appearances to promote?
Even so, would those celebrities look at themselves on TV and think they were someone else?
Was Park Moon-dae merely a character I created, like the ‘May Groom’?
‘…No.’
That wasn't it.
Park Moon-dae might not be my entire self, my everything.
But he was certainly a part of me.
All these emotions and thoughts… even if they weren't all directed at me exactly as I was, they certainly shared a part of me.
So, this definition was correct.
These people… were this.
—The people who want me to wake up.
‘…….’
I felt like I was going to be overwhelmed.
All those emotions and thoughts covered my head like a wave, leaving wet traces as they passed.
The pure white space was soon stained with all sorts of colors, which began to drip down.
It tasted salty, like tears.
It was ecstatic.
It was the sweet taste of life.
I was sucked into the colors and ascended.
From above, light seemed to be leaking out.
[Nectar (S)]
—Activation Successful!
“Gasp!”
I exhaled as if spitting out my breath.
My limbs were sluggish, as if I were stuck in mud.
But the air was deathly sweet.
‘…Is it daytime?’
Perhaps because I hadn't opened my eyes for so long, my vision was blurry.
But my ears seemed to be fine.
“Park Moon-dae!!”
“Mu-Moon-dae…!!”
I recognized these voices well.
These punks should be getting their own treatment; what on earth were they doing in someone else's hospital room?
‘…Still, I am grateful.’
I endured the hands pouring over my shoulders and head while they shouted loud enough to make my ears fall off.
I was quite pleased.
It was a moment later, after I regained my vision, that the medical staff removed the devices attached to my body.
Surprisingly, all six of them were in the hospital room.
‘A private room really is nice.’
It was amazing that there was still room to move even with seven grown men inside.
And the reason for this situation… it seemed the guys who happened to be visiting had witnessed something.
“I-I thought Moon-dae o-opened his eyes for a second… s-so I called them just in case. Y-Yeah, I also contacted, contacted the medical staff….”
“Right…. Thanks.”
“N-No, it’s nothing…!”
The thought occurred to me: what would they have done if I hadn't woken up? But I didn't say it out loud.
‘I have a brain, too.’
I couldn't exactly spoil the mood in this melting pot of tears, snot, and celebration.
…And since it had been a while, it was good to see them.
Instead, I was in the middle of expressing my gratitude to the members as gently as possible.
The guy with the bright red nose shouted.
“Moon-dae Moon-dae, do you want some melon?? It’s super sweet~”
“Uh, sure.”
His eyes really are different. I scanned Keun Se-jin anew.
“…Uh, Moon-dae, are you perhaps marveling at the fact that you have such a truly sincere friend~?”
“Something like that.”
“……!”
Hearing that bullshit makes it finally feel real.
The feeling of having returned to reality.
Keun Se-jin looked at me with a dazed face, then dramatically raised one arm to cover his face and made sobbing sounds.
“This is so touching!”
It looked like he was intentionally pretending to cry while actually crying, so my condition must have been really serious.
‘First, considering the scenes I saw earlier, surgery is a given….’
I thought there might be a cliché scene where the medical staff calls it a miracle, but there was no such talk.
In fact, my body doesn't feel that much like trash. So I wondered if I was this fine thanks to activating ‘Nectar.’
‘…Wait, were these injuries that would have healed even if I’d just stayed still?’
Maybe I overreacted for nothing.
But anyway, I’m back, so I’m satisfied with that.
I liked myself right now.
I rolled my brain to grasp the situation while eating the melon I received first as a patient's special treat.
Perhaps because it hadn't been long since I regained consciousness, I was a bit slow.
Then I saw him. Cha Yu-jin, who looked like he was about to drool looking at the melon.
“……Want some?”
“I’m okay! Hyung, you have to eat a lot and gain strength!”
He’s energetic. He’d welcomed me by almost strangling my neck at first, and he seemed the same as ever.
And Kim Rae-bin had an expression that said he had a lot to say, but since he seemed busy crying for now, I left him alone.
The one to talk to now was….
“Come to think of it, what day is it today? And what happened to the former manager who caused the accident?”
“…!”
He was the one to answer this.
“…Park Moon-dae.”
“Ah, yes.”
Surprisingly, Bae Se-jin spoke to me with a stiff face.
“First… listen to this story before that.”
“Yes.”
Bae Se-jin took a deep breath and slowly began his explanation.
“The company… they, about the former manager… they tried not to speak properly about it.”
“Ah.”
I had roughly expected that much.
‘I think I can use that for something later.’
The important thing was whether that bastard who sat behind the wheel was ready to eat prison food.
However, Bae Se-jin, clenching one hand into a fist, brought up something I never could have imagined.
“So I sent an anonymous report to the Human Rights Commission…!”
“…??”
“Everything that’s happened until now!”
“…?!”
Wh… What?