2
# Chapter 2
“You go on the variety show in my place tomorrow.”
“W-Were you out of your mind?!”
The words flew out of my mouth reflexively.
Apparently, my voice had been louder than I realized, because Park Songhoo frowned.
Gasp!
Even though he had the exact same face as me, he looked terrifying when he frowned!
“Ah, a-anyway, that's absolutely impossible.”
“Why?”
“There are, there are too many reasons! I don't even know which one to start with!”
I was the kind of person who ran out of oxygen just by standing in front of other people.
And he wanted me to stand in a TV studio? In front of countless cameras and countless people watching me?
I wasn't joking. I might actually faint.
“You said you were grateful earlier. You didn't say a word when you were taking my money.”
“T-That was compensation money because you wanted me to stay locked away in my room!”
Park Songhoo's expression became one of utter disbelief.
“What the hell are you talking about? Why would that be compensation money?”
“……?”
Wasn't it?
I had always interpreted it as meaning, Keep your mouth shut and stay holed up in your room.
“You really thought that?”
“……”
Park Songhoo seemed about to say something, but closed his mouth.
“Whatever. Just do as I say.”
“Y-You can do it yourself! You look completely fine right now, so why do I have to go in your place?”
“Shit!”
“!”
Even though it was just an exclamation, I instinctively took a step backward.
“I'm a terminal patient. Just because I look fine on the outside, does that mean I'm fine?”
“……”
“I don't know when my condition is going to hit rock bottom, and if I collapse during filming, it's over. It'll just create all kinds of weird rumors.”
“……”
“But why are you so damn scared of everything?”
“……N-No! Then can't we just cancel the variety show?”
I pulled out the last card I had.
We could just not go.
If he was sick, couldn't he take a break?
“You want me to cancel the day before filming? Forget the penalty fee. What if someone posts about it online? Maybe it wasn't like this in the old days, but in this day and age, doing that would send me straight into the abyss.”
“B-But you've already fallen into the abyss!”
“……Do you want to die?”
“Eeeek!”
I instinctively covered my face with both arms.
Park Songhoo was sitting all the way over there on the bed.
“Shh, keep your voice down. What if someone outside hears you?”
……Come to think of it, my very existence was classified information.
I swallowed hard.
If this got out, it would be a disaster.
Park Songhoo put his index finger to his lips and continued in a lowered voice.
“And if I die while my image is ruined because of the personality controversy, I'll be remembered as trash for the rest of my life.”
“……”
Ah.
I hadn't thought of that.
If he died with his image the way it was now, that would forever become the final chapter of Park Songhoo's life.
So…… my brother didn't want that to happen, which was why he was asking me to appear on the variety show even though he had to make this request.
“Just once. This appearance will be my first and last.”
“……Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah, but what does your manager say about all this?”
“My manager obviously doesn't know.”
……What?
“If he knew, he'd tell the CEO immediately, and there'd be hell to pay. There's no way the CEO would approve of this.”
“S-So you're telling me to deceive your manager too?”
“Yeah.”
“Is he a new manager?”
“No? He's been working with me for five years.”
“……! Then how am I supposed to deceive him?”
Park Songhoo shrugged.
“You'll have to act well on your own. Pretend to be me.”
……Seriously!
***
A stand-in for my twin brother.
What kind of ridiculous drama was this?
A drama this absurd would get criticized for having an unbelievable plot.
The moment I got home, I collapsed down in the entranceway.
I couldn't even take off my shoes. I simply leaned my back against the wall and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Meow.”
Louis came over and sat beside me.
It was as if he was asking how my first outing in a long time had gone……
“Louis.”
I hugged him tightly.
Louis twisted his body as if he hated it, but this time, I couldn't let him go.
“I think I have to go on a variety show tomorrow.”
“Meow?”
“And I'm going to have to pretend to be a top star while I'm there.”
Louis tilted his head.
You're confused too, right?
I'm confused too.
Someone who had spent his entire life inside his room suddenly had to stand in front of cameras and pretend to be a top star.
“Phew……”
I took off my shoes and went into my room.
Louis followed closely behind me.
I sprawled out on the bed, took out my phone, then put it back down.
Terminally ill.
I blinked while staring at the fluorescent light.
To be honest, I still wasn't sad.
It was just…… strange.
Ah, this isn't the time for this!
I shook my head from side to side.
There was something I needed to do right now.
I took out the script I'd received at the hospital.
<Our Hospital>
A famous long-running variety show representing JTBS.
The concept was that patients gathered in a hospital room, each pretending to have a fictional illness, with a new guest appearing as a new patient every week.
It was actually one of my favorite variety shows……
I'm actually going on there myself?
And tomorrow?!
It didn't feel real at all.
I turned another page of the script.
“……That's it?”
For a moment, I wondered if I was seeing things.
There were barely any lines.
It only listed the major flow of the show: guest entrance, revealing the diagnosis, conversation, mini-games, and so on.
There were no specific lines or reactions written at all.
In other words, almost everything was improvised!
“……”
I already felt like I was going to start foaming at the mouth.
If there were lines, at least I could memorize them.
Improvisation.
Improvisation for someone who couldn't even speak properly in front of other people!
I need to tell him I can't do this right now!
I quickly picked up my phone.
I searched for Park Songhoo in my contacts.
But my finger stopped just above the call button.
The expression on Park Songhoo's face when he had said, “Shit!” in the hospital flashed through my mind.
“……”
I quietly lowered my phone.
Then I remembered what Park Songhoo had said when he handed me the script.
It's reality, so you don't need to be nervous. The regular cast will take care of things.
……
Hey.
……
Are you listening?
……
Did you faint while standing up?
After that, I had barely been conscious enough to nod.
“Louis, apparently the manager is coming to pick me up at nine tomorrow morning……”
“Mraaow.”
I took out the note with my brother's home address and the entrance password written on it.
A luxury apartment located in Gangnam.
He told me to go there early in the morning and wait.
I had to wear my brother's clothes, wait at my brother's house, and greet his manager while pretending to be him.
What time do I even have to wake up if I have to be there by nine?
I usually went to sleep around five in the morning.
In other words, nine in the morning was basically the middle of the night to me.
I should set an alarm for seven and go to sleep quickly……
Ah, right.
I don't have any chapters in reserve.
If I don't write today, there won't be anything to upload tomorrow.
Tomorrow's schedule started in the morning.
It's a promise I made to my readers……
I hurriedly sat down in front of my computer.
The cursor blinked in the empty window.
I placed my fingers on the keyboard.
“……”
Not a single word came out.
Normally, if I squeezed my brain hard enough, something would eventually come out.
I could always revise it after writing something down.
But today, really, truly, literally, all I could do was watch the cursor blink.
Then someone started projecting images onto my brain.
A camera turning on.
Lights coming on.
People staring at me.
Then me stammering, my face turning red, being unable to say anything and freezing up!
And then the manager realizing it and saying, “You're not Park Songhoo, are you?”
“……”
When I came to my senses, I had actually written something.
[Park Songhoo, you crazy bastard]
I couldn't possibly write like this.
In the end, I opened the announcement board.
=====
[Hiatus Notice]
Hello, this is author MiniSong.
Due to personal circumstances, tomorrow's chapter will be taking a one-day break.
I'm sorry.
=====
That personal circumstance was on a somewhat larger scale than usual……
Still, who would care about a hiatus notice from an author with only three-digit subscribers?
Even so, I felt sorry.
There must definitely be people waiting impatiently for my novel to be uploaded……
……There are, right? At least one person?
I turned off the monitor and leaned back in my chair.
I looked up at the ceiling.
At some point, Louis had climbed onto the desk and was staring blankly at his own reflection in the turned-off monitor.
Bzzzzzz—
A phone call suddenly came in.
[Park Songhoo]
The moment I saw the name on the screen, my back instinctively straightened.
Surely he wasn't about to ask me for another favor.
“H-Hello.”
Are you sleeping?
“……No, I'm not.”
As if I could sleep.
I told you at the hospital earlier, but don't force yourself to do anything just because you're trying to imitate me.
“……What?”
You don't know anything about me.
“……”
……That sounded a little hurtful.
But it was true.
Even though we were twins, we'd lived as strangers since we were six.
The expressions my brother normally made, the way he spoke, the gestures he used.
The only Park Songhoo I knew was the one I'd seen on TV, just like everyone else.
First of all, don't try to talk too much. Whether it's with my manager or at the salon. I don't normally talk much anyway.
Thank goodness.
I was someone who fumbled and stumbled whenever I was around other people, so at least I would have less trouble if I kept my mouth shut.
And don't forget to speak casually to my manager.
“……”
He had emphasized that at the hospital too.
From my perspective, it was basically telling me to speak informally to someone I was meeting for the first time, but…… if I didn't want to get caught, I had no choice.
“Ah, okay.”
Fix that too.
“……What?”
Just say “Yeah” and move on, or don't answer.
“……”
Hey.
“……”
Don't tell me you're not answering because I just told you not to answer?
“……Yes!”
Good job.
……Why was he suddenly praising me?
Then I'll hang up.
Beep, beep, beep—
The call ended.
***
Jo Yonggi had become Park Songhoo's road manager five years ago.
At the time, he had only been with the company for six months and was the youngest manager.
He had been stuck with an assignment that all the senior managers avoided.
The reason they avoided it was simple.
……Because his personality was a complete nightmare!
The senior managers openly warned him.
You know what? No manager has lasted more than a year working under Park Songhoo. How long do you think you can last, Yonggi?
Yonggi, you've got courage, right?
They say that after working as Park Songhoo's manager even once, you can sing about how beautiful the world is.
In reality, all three of his previous managers had left before completing a year.
But.
Jo Yonggi had been here for five years.
If someone asked him why, honestly, he couldn't give a neat explanation himself.
It was just…… every once in a while.
Really, very rarely.
Something would happen.
It was a shoot that had run late into the night.
It was past two in the morning, and Jo Yonggi was alone in the car waiting for Park Songhoo.
Then, through the open window, a canned coffee suddenly appeared.
Drink this.
That was all he said.
When Jo Yonggi turned his head, Park Songhoo was already sitting in the back seat with his eyes closed.
When Yonggi tried to thank him, Park Songhoo spoke first without even turning around.
Aren't you going to leave?
Before he knew it, five years had passed, and he was the only one who had survived.
There had even been times when his seniors seriously asked him, “You don't happen to have Stockholm syndrome, do you?”
I really hope he can make a good comeback.
After the personality controversy, Park Songhoo's image had hit rock bottom.
His appearance on <Our Hospital> wouldn't suddenly turn his image around, but perhaps it could slowly help him recover……
……Could it?
Honestly, if you only watched the video, Park Songhoo looked like a complete lunatic who had acted out for no reason, but Jo Yonggi saw things a little differently.
He had been by his side for five years.
He knew that something must have happened for Park Songhoo to explode like that.
But Park Songhoo hadn't said a word about the incident, so Yonggi couldn't ask.
The navigation system announced that they had arrived.
8:50.
As always, he had arrived ten minutes before the scheduled time.
Huh?
For a moment, he thought his eyes were deceiving him.
Because Park Songhoo was already outside waiting.
Songhoo usually came out exactly at the appointed time.
He was occasionally late, but this was the first time he'd ever come out early and waited.
But this wasn't the time to be surprised about that.
Because……
“……Hyung, what are you doing over there right now?”