Chapter 575
Chapter 575
Big Moon was gone.
Ryu Gun-woo was missing... The call said—
-Sir! Please stay calm. You need to stay calm so we can talk.
The voice over the smartphone echoed in my head. They told me to stay calm.
Just like bad news always did.
"Yes."
-So you weren't aware of his absence from work?
"Yes."
-When was the last time you contacted your brother?
I reflexively searched my memory.
The last contact with Big Moon.
After the broadcast of TeSTAR’s joint concert in Singapore, he had reached out to say he enjoyed it.
-The ending was really wonderful.
He said he enjoyed seeing me in the ending and gave his regards, saying he was doing well.
That was...
"Three days ago."
A hint of urgency entered the voice on the other end.
-At that time, did your brother mention anything unusual? Like wanting to go somewhere specific, or wanting to see the sunrise... anything like that?
"..."
There was nothing.
He just... asked about TeSTAR Park Moon-dae’s recent activities and simply replied that he was doing fine.
-I’m doing well, of course.
That was all.
The bastard hadn't said a single thing about himself. Not one thing.
Fucking hell.
"...No."
A heavy silence settled in.
The voice on the phone spoke again, sounding as if it were trying to soothe me while suppressing its own anxious irritation.
-...Sir, your brother has been absent without leave for five days now.
Five days.
-We only found his smartphone today through location tracking. And since we received a witness report that he headed toward the mountains yesterday, we are currently searching.
-We’re a bit past the stage of thinking nothing could happen to a grown man.
"..."
-Sir, you said you contacted your brother three days ago? That means he contacted you while he was already missing from work.
He was already missing back then.
And in this winter... he went into the mountains alone.
Why on earth?
-Sir, you are currently the only person with a record of contact from that time.
"..."
-You need to think calmly right now. The temperature drops as night falls, making the search difficult. It’s already been a day since the last sighting, so finding him quickly is our best bet right now.
I had to figure out why he went there and where he was headed.
...Right now.
I looked up.
I saw a massive electronic wall clock with red LED lights against a black background.
[17:04]
5:04 PM.
Early February, mid-winter during a cold snap, just before sunset.
And...
56 minutes before the start of the TeSTAR concert.
Tick.
The time was slipping away.
-You are the only family member saved on this phone.
-The specific mountain hasn't been identified. We need to narrow down where Ryu Gun-woo might have intended to go to speed up the search.
Tick.
So... within the 56 minutes left until the concert—no, 55 minutes now—I had to say something.
-Or is there anyone else he was close to, like family? Anyone he met recently?
Tick.
"As far as I know, there is no one."
Big Moon had no immediate biological family. Not as Park Moon-dae, and not as Ryu Gun-woo.
Furthermore, because he had lived as the System for so long, he hadn't been particularly interested in building friendships with others.
Therefore, I was the closest person to him.
Right. If there was anyone who could find a hint in his words or guess his thought process, it was only me.
I had to find a hint.
-Then... Sir, for now, just tell me anything you can remember from that conversation.
But.
Tick.
"He seemed... calmer than before."
-And?
There was nothing else.
That was... the end of it.
I hadn't heard a single word from him regarding mountains.
"..."
Why don't I know anything?
Why?
I wasn't late this time.
It wasn't like I was checking missed calls hours after everything was over. I thought I’d picked up the phone in time, but if nothing changed even after answering...
No.
The smartphone tapped against my jaw.
I realized my hands were shaking.
Fuck.
My brain simply wouldn't work.
I tried to rack my brain for clues about what Big Moon was thinking or where he might have gone, but at the very moment I needed it most, it refused to cooperate.
You’re usually good at this shit.
Hey.
There’s no time, you son of a bitch.
Still, it didn't move.
The sound of my heart thumping echoed all the way up to my head.
My brain's efficiency hit rock bottom. It wouldn't budge.
Tick.
But time wouldn't wait.
So... what if I’m late again?
What if my head only starts thinking after the concert has already begun?
Tick.
Would I have time to contact them during the show? No, there was no such gap. There was no way a normal call could happen during the five-minute windows spent changing costumes, hydrating, and using oxygen masks. There wasn't a single moment to hold a phone during such a tight schedule.
Then... I...
Tick.
I—
-Sir? Please calm down.
"Huuu."
I took a sharp breath.
-Now, breathe out. Listen to me. We can continue the search through the night, so don't think too pessimistically...
-This is the 119 Mountain Rescue Team of the Incheon Ganghwa Fire Station. If you search the address, it’ll come up right away, so you can keep talking to us while you head over. Stay calm, stay composed.
"..."
The rescue worker explained the way as if it were a given.
The underlying assumption was the certainty that I had forgotten to ask for the address in my state of panic.
The natural expectation that the moment I heard it, I would rush out, catch a taxi, and head to the search site.
But.
I...
I have to do the concert.
TeSTAR had poured ideas and investment into this tour on the level of a full-length album. It was a precarious time that could determine whether the team would decline or soar.
And this was the first performance, the one that would set the tone for the entire tour.
If I stepped out of this waiting room right now, there were people sitting in the audience. People expecting a show, people who had prepared for today, were filling that space out there.
Furthermore, this concert emphasized the individual characters of the members, adopting a story that organically linked each of their stages.
If I were to go missing...
What about my solo stage? The formations? How on earth would my parts be handled? Who would fill that void? No discussions or preparations had been made.
The quality of the performance would be shattered.
The reviews of the tour would be ruined.
And so would the fans' reputation of TeSTAR.
-Wow, even when his bones were breaking, Gom-meo did the concert...
-He really lost his rookie mindset.
-I'm so disappointed. Seriously, no matter what, a concert... What's the team atmosphere like that this is even possible?
So, if I only had at least three days, no, even just one day...
I looked down at my hands.
My clenched knuckles were white.
I couldn't even break a cold sweat.
I opened my mouth.
"I'm... in the middle of work right now."
-Pardon?
The response was one of sheer absurdity.
A tone that suggested they were certain they had misheard.
Of course. Who would say some bullshit about it being hard to talk because they were working when they were told a family member was missing?
When someone... because they couldn't pick up that one call, would feel like shit every year on that day, and would see it in their dreams every night.
Me.
Just like... I did.
"..."
Suddenly, a sense of reality returned.
Am I... really worrying about my goal achievement rates while receiving a call that a family member might be dead?
What... is this?
"Moon-dae...!"
I... but, if I think rationally.
"Park Moon-dae!"
"...!"
I looked up at the hands gripping both my shoulders.
It was Seon A-hyun.
Strangely, I reflexively felt that where he gripped me was hot, only to realize it wasn't that—it was that I had turned pale as if the blood had been drained from me.
In this state, it was no wonder my head wasn't working.
"..."
Seon A-hyun seemed to scrutinize my complexion thoroughly before letting go.
But his voice was firm.
"Moon-dae, I think he's sick."
"What?"
The surroundings were noisy.
Only then did I manage to shift my entire focus from the smartphone back to my surroundings.
It was time to head out and stand by. But when I stayed stuck here on the phone, it seemed people had flocked over to watch.
And their eyes gathered on the smartphone in my hand.
"The call, who is it?"
I didn't even have to answer Seon A-hyun's question.
Because a reluctant voice was already coming from the smartphone.
-...Yes. Well, for now, we'll assume the family member is busy and continue the search.
"...Search?"
The atmosphere shifted again at the ominous word.
"Excuse me, but who are you searching for right now?"
-Pardon?
I watched the guys who had snatched my smartphone and started talking amongst themselves.
The members of this group.
Seeing those faces before the concert, my breathing and my head finally began to settle.
"..."
As I broke through the panic, a clear answer emerged in my mind.
It was obvious.
There's nothing I can do anyway.
Whether it was trauma or whatever, my brain wasn't working properly. There was no way I could be of help in finding Big Moon—Ryu Gun-woo—by assisting in the search in this state.
But if I didn't do the concert, things would definitely be fucked.
So, the answer was already clear, wasn't it?
"...Yes. Thank you."
The members, who had finished the conversation on their own, pulled their faces away from my smartphone. Judging by their grim expressions, they seemed to have heard the whole explanation.
"..."
I looked up.
38 minutes... no, 37 minutes before the concert.
It was truly time to hang up and prepare, or there would be a problem with the opening.
Let's hang up and get ready.
I had to say that.
But damn it, I couldn't get the words out.
Do it.
If I didn't, these guys would have to say it. I couldn't dump that burden on them.
I bit my tongue and barely managed to open my mouth again.
"...So."
Before I could even finish the sentence.
Ryu Cheong-woo spoke first.
"Moon-dae, go."
"...!"
"If you take a taxi, you'll be there in two hours. Talk quietly on the way without being disturbed."
The suggestion to throw away half the concert time on travel came out of his mouth as if it were nothing.
"That's—"
I tried to argue that it made no sense, but.
"No, I'm not listening to your judgment, so just do as I say."
"..."
"Got it? Go and do everything you can."
I asked back like an idiot.
"What about the concert?"
"We'll handle it."
"No..."
Ryu Cheong-woo looked at me and pulled me to my feet.
Then he held out the smartphone, which was still connected.
"Don't ask. I have no intention of persuading you."
"..."
"Don't waste time. Go now."
I gripped the smartphone he handed me.
No rebuttal came.
I can't.
I turned my gaze to the other members.
I thought someone like Keun Se-jin or Cha Yu-jin would surely argue rationally.
I thought it would at least show on their faces. I thought that would help me speak up.
"..."
But no one stopped me.
Amidst their quiet cooperation, I moved.
"Please hurry."
In an instant, I was inside a called taxi.
"Don't worry about anything else."
The door closed with Seon A-hyun's final words.
Thud.
And so, I began to move, sitting in the back seat of a strange car.
"..."
30 minutes before the concert, the singer had deserted the venue.
It was an act of madness that felt surreal.
So it was only right to be more anxious. Because it was certain that I had personally ruined the first day of a concert that the group's future depended on.
Because the audience... would surely be disappointed.
"..."
My hands shook.
But do you know what's funny? I was no longer in that godawful state of panic.
As if by magic, blood began to circulate in my brain again.
Fuck.
Because it was already too late to go back to the concert.
There was no longer any room for hesitation. I could pour all my focus into Big Moon's safety.
Maybe I wouldn't be late this time.
Thinking that, strangely enough, my head began to work even in this extreme anxiety.
"Ha."
It was absurd that my brain was so readily accepting this bit of peace despite the situation being so fucked. Mocking my own brain, I closed my eyes.
Then I called the rescue worker who had called earlier and asked for a detailed explanation of the situation again.
Let's think.
A place Big Moon would go.
About his whereabouts over the past few days.
He had been absent without leave for five days.
Eventually, it seemed a report was filed by his workplace this morning. They don't usually accept missing person reports for adult males, but since he was a civil servant, it must have been relatively smooth.
And as a result of tracking his smartphone... it was found at a supermarket on Ganghwa Island.
Ryu Gun-woo had left a trace at a supermarket on Ganghwa Island yesterday, saying he was 'heading to the mountains,' and then the trail went cold.
The search is slow because they don't know which mountain it is... right.
There were many mountains worth hiking on Ganghwa Island.
If he had been in the mountains for two days in winter, he had to be found quickly. In the worst case, he could freeze to death.
...However, I knew the rescue worker was worried about something else as well.
If he suddenly climbed a winter mountain in this weather, while absent from work, and even left his smartphone behind...
The kind of worry that he might not have intended to come down from the mountain in the first place.
No.
I gripped the smartphone with both hands.
...He wouldn't have done that.
There was no reason for him to do that. He was the guy who had even gone on a trip to Sokcho, saying he would look for what he wanted to do...
But at that moment, his recent messages suddenly flashed through my mind.
-Thank you.
-Of course, you'll do great.
"..."
Was that calmness of his... perhaps born of depression?
I didn't know. We hadn't shared a conversation that deep recently.
But.
If I start getting swayed by this kind of logic, it's over.
It was a thought that was of no help in a deduction aimed at his survival.
I grit my teeth and cut off that thought.
And returned to the keywords.
His destination.
Why specifically a mountain on Ganghwa Island?
If it was just a mountain, there were many similar places in Seoul. There was no reason to go all the way to Incheon...
"..."
This body.
Park Moon-dae is from Incheon.
Feeling like I’d found a connection somewhere, I pushed my brain even harder.
Are there any other connections? Ganghwa Island, Ganghwa Island...
And then I suddenly remembered.
-Ah, um. It is Ganghwa Island, but...
"...!"
I had been to Ganghwa Island with him.
I even remembered the reason clearly. It was...
-He's at the sea. He said he'd wanted to do that for a long time...
"..."
I immediately opened a map app and checked the geography of Ganghwa Island.
Then I called the rescue worker.
"I've found a place you should search first."
-Pardon?
"Manisan Mountain."
I pointed out one mountain.
"On the south side of that mountain... in a direction where the sea is clearly visible and close."
From atop that mountain, looking at the sea, one would be able to see the waters off Ganghwa Island where he said he had scattered his parents' ashes.