The Message
"Whoa, hyung! You ranked number one on the celebrity buzz ranking voted by entertainment industry insiders."
Hye-gyeol suddenly piped up, having glanced away from his game for a moment.
Rembrary, who had been reading a dictionary while crunching through a green apple, skin and all, lifted his head at this out-of-the-blue remark.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said, hyung. You got first place. Im Yu-han's second, Maeng Woo-shin's fifth."
Jungseo chimed in from beside him, sounding impressed.
"I suppose it's because Dear God premiered to great ratings and just keeps climbing."
Hye-gyeol nodded too.
"That's what I think as well. I mean, look, the whole cast made the list. Wow. Yeon-woo hyung is basically the undisputed king of buzz now. Right?"
Rembrary gave a smug little shrug and went back to chewing his apple.
Apparently finding that insufficiently humble, Cathy snapped at him.
"Isn't it just because of that Im Yu-han suicide attempt thing?"
Hye-gyeol clicked his tongue.
"It wasn't a suicide attempt. And honestly, that's rich. Cathy hyung, you pick fights with Yeon-woo hyung over every little thing, so why do you want to live with him?"
Rembrary, having already heard the answer to this question before, remained focused entirely on his apple.
Cathy answered with an irritated scowl.
"It's not like I want to live with him because he's pretty or anything. The fans keep saying our chemistry is great, that's all."
"Jungseo hyung and Yeon-woo hyung are popular too, with the whole tomato care thing. There were tons of photos of Jungseo hyung bringing Yeon-woo hyung tomato juice."
"Anyway, officially our duo has the best chemistry. They call us the 'frenemies combo' or whatever."
"Maybe drop the 'enemies' part of the frenemies combo, though. Don't you think?"
At Hye-gyeol's tongue-clicking remark, Cathy pulled yet another annoyed face.
Rembrary, mid-bite, sighed along with him.
The truth was, the group's fans had largely started calling Rembrary and Cathy a "frenemies combo" because of Rembrary himself. He had declared outright on a broadcast that he and Cathy did not get along — and people had apparently taken it as irony.
The fans' logic went: *If they really hated each other, they'd never say it out loud. You can't say that kind of thing. Therefore, that statement means they're actually very close.* A remarkably optimistic mindset, truly.
But thanks to that, he hadn't expected Cathy to come out with that reaction…
Jungseo, who had been quietly observing the whole exchange, turned to Jong-woo.
"Hyung, what would you prefer?"
"The best outcome is if you guys agree among yourselves. The problem is you can't even agree on anything…"
"This is giving me a headache," Jong-woo muttered, and Rembrary offered his advice with perfect composure.
"Then simply pick for us, roughly as you see fit."
"I'd love to, believe me. But roommate assignments have to be handled carefully. If you guys fight over it, it could ripple out and affect the whole group. Even if three of you get along fine, if two of you hate each other, the whole mood sours in the end. And living together doesn't just make people closer — sometimes it turns them into outright enemies. I don't want to be the one who drew those lines."
Fair enough — but thanks to that, the matter of the dorm was once again left to drift unresolved.
Just then, a bright, cheerful ringtone sounded from Jong-woo's phone. He told them to hold on a moment and stepped outside the practice room, and Rembrary returned his attention to his apple.
About ten minutes passed like that before Jong-woo came back in.
But the expression on his face as he entered was very strange indeed. Not happy, not angry, not sad — it was complicated, subtle, and frankly bizarre.
"What's wrong, hyung?"
At Jungseo's question, Jong-woo coughed awkwardly — "Ah. Um." — and looked at Rembrary.
Rembrary bit into his apple and arched an eyebrow toward him, as if to ask, *what about me?*
Jong-woo scratched his cheek.
"Just got a call from PD Song Yoon-bi."
"Is that so."
"Not — not for real-real, it's for a show. She's asking what you'd think about living in one house with Jang Tae-ri-ssi and Shin Jo-woon-ssi. The three of you."
Taein, who had been mid-sip of water, overheard and started coughing violently.
Jungseo patted Taein on the back and asked,
"Is it really… going with that concept?"
"I don't know. I asked her the same thing."
"And what did she say?"
"PD-nim says the reaction to Three Roommates is better than expected."
Still steadily demolishing his apple, Rembrary found himself thinking: if the three of them lived together, would it be pizza for lunch and pizza for dinner?
"What did Jang Tae-ri-ssi say, Jong-woo?"
"Jang Tae-ri-ssi said it sounds fun and was all for it. Shin Jo-woon-ssi said he doesn't mind either."
"Then why do you look like that?"
Hye-gyeol explained on Jong-woo's behalf.
"Say whatever you want, CEO Shin is still a CEO in the same industry. From Jong-woo hyung's point of view, that's gotta sting a little, right?"
That did indeed seem to be it. Jong-woo sat blankly for a long moment, then finally said he'd have to consult CEO Im first and got up to leave.
"Leaving already?"
"You guys finish eating and start practicing soon. The dance teacher's almost here."
"Understood."
"Oh, and Yeon-woo?"
"What is it?"
"You know you have the Madeleine fansign tomorrow, right? Don't eat too much."
"Understood."
***
The fansign was hosted by Madeleine, the brand that had cast Rembrary and Oh Jung-shin as its advertising models. Fans who came with the product the two of them promoted would receive a signature.
It wasn't a buy-one-get-both deal — you got a signature from whichever model advertised the item you purchased.
With popularity so transparently on the line, Oh Jung-shin's fans fumed — *this is a setup, they're targeting us!* — but the moment her schedule was announced they had no choice but to flood over and buy up her All-One White Sun Cream.
Rembrary's fans, fully aware that they were outnumbered by Oh Jung-shin's, resolved to make up the difference in sheer volume, unanimously agreeing to buy at least two or three Black BBs each. After all, a fan's most basic wish is that the idol they support never be humiliated in front of a crowd.
Rembrary, blissfully ignorant of this overheated atmosphere, headed to the fansign feeling rather more lighthearted than his fans — and got the shock of his life. The fans approaching his table with their products in hand all looked absolutely dead serious. The Oh Jung-shin side was the same, but when Oh Jung-shin smiled professionally and eased the tension among her fans, Rembrary glanced fleetingly over at her, straightened his posture, and followed suit.
After that, the event itself flowed along smoothly. A fan would bring up a product, he would sign it, then offer a few words of blessing — a format he found quite familiar, since his original world had plenty of similar occasions.
"Be well."
"The blessing of God upon you."
"The blessing of God upon — ah, you're a Christian? I see. Amen, then."
"Your liver looks troubled. You should see a physician."
Then, partway through the event —
"Um… hello."
A couple stepped up hesitantly, easing a young child forward.
The child wore a thick hat out of season, with a pale complexion and faintly bluish lips.
The couple showed the products they had purchased and made their request.
"If it's not too much trouble — instead of a signature, could you offer a blessing? Wishing that our child gets better?"
It was a plea Rembrary had heard constantly in his original world. But never in this one. He blinked and studied the couple.
The child's mother spoke, embarrassed yet desperate.
"I'm so sorry for asking out of nowhere. But I read a post from a father whose child had a similar illness. He said his child got better thanks to Woo Yeon-woo-ssi…"
Rembrary answered in a sorrowful voice.
"That account was an exaggeration. I could do it, but I worry you would grieve if it had no effect."
Oh Jung-shin's fans, who had been sneaking glances at his side of the venue, and Rembrary's own fans lined up in the queue all flinched at the sudden change in his manner of speaking.
Ignoring them entirely, Rembrary looked at the sick child — genuinely stricken at heart. A tiny child, listlessly wheezing from the pain of illness, while the parents stood by wringing their hands in worry. It was heartbreaking to see.
But too many eyes were watching here. If he treated the child, word would spread that a miracle had occurred. And a rumor spreading was trouble enough on its own — was there not also that organization called Nakru, the one that tried to kill Saints?
After agonizing over it, Rembrary used no divine power and offered only a blessing.
"…The blessing of God upon you."
The child's parents thanked him over and over, then took the child and slipped away.
But it had gotten under his skin after all. After signing for a few more fans, Rembrary excused himself with a sudden urgent need for the restroom and went after the couple.
Fortunately, he spotted the child's mother right near the restroom — apparently waiting for the father, who had gone inside.
"Woo Yeon-woo-ssi?"
As Rembrary strode toward them, the mother called out to him, bewildered.
Rembrary approached the child, bent one knee so that his eyes were level with the child's, and said,
"There were too many people just now. I could not offer a blessing with my whole heart."
"I'm sorry — you came here because of that?"
"This time, I shall do it with my whole heart."
The child's mother still looked utterly lost.
"But —"
Rembrary raised his head, met the mother's eyes, and made her a solemn request.
"Even if this child's body recovers, it must never be said that I healed him. This matter must be kept secret, without exception. Can you promise me that?"
The mother nodded hurriedly. Expectation that some miracle might truly occur, disbelief that any such thing could exist, and a fragile hope that maybe — just maybe — churned together across her face.
Only the child, oblivious to all of it, stared blankly up at Rembrary's face.
Rembrary held out his hand, offering a handshake.
When the child reached out a small hand, Rembrary took it, gave it a few gentle shakes, and murmured, divine power flowing into his words:
"May you never be sick again. The blessing of God upon you."
At the strangely sacred sight, the child's mother felt tears welling up instinctively. She had brought the child here clutching at straws, without any real expectation at all. And yet the sight of him taking her child so seriously, worrying over him so sincerely, made her heart ache.
Once he had poured in enough divine power, Rembrary ended the handshake, rose, and patted the child on the back.
"Huh? Woo Yeon-woo-ssi?"
The child's father, who had just come out of the restroom, spotted Rembrary and cried out in surprise all over again.
Rembrary fobbed him off with the excuse that he was headed to the restroom himself, then slipped quickly into the very stall the father had vacated. He counted out three minutes before returning to the event hall and resuming signings.
He had signed for perhaps six more people when it happened.
When his turn came, a very tall man set a large envelope down on the table in front of Rembrary and asked,
"Do you sign one for each item purchased?"
"I do."
Rembrary answered and looked up at him. The man's hair was pure white, and his presence was cold as ice.
"Twenty," the man said, and began taking the cosmetics out of the envelope one by one, arranging them on the table.
Perhaps he had bought enough to earn three bonus ones. There were twenty-three in all.
Rembrary said he would sign all twenty-three, picked up his pen, unfolded the first sheet of paper, and asked,
"What shall I write?"
"You must be busy."
What is this supposed to mean? Puzzled, Rembrary wrote it down anyway. When he unfolded the next sheet and looked up, the man spoke again.
"I have been waiting a long time."
He wrote that down too.
When he pulled out the third sheet, the man spoke again.
"Do you know who I am?"
It was an ambiguous remark — was he getting a signature or making conversation? Still, Rembrary wrote it down as spoken, and had just drawn out the fourth sheet of paper when —
"I saw you heal the child."
The man murmured it in a voice pitched low enough that no one else could possibly hear.
Rembrary flinched and looked up at him. Had he seen earlier? There had certainly been no one nearby, and Rembrary had deliberately lowered his voice. From even a moderate distance, it would have looked like nothing more than a kindly extra handshake for a pitiable child.
And yet — he had seen the healing?
When their eyes met, the corners of the man's eyes curved long and slow.
"Don't worry. I am on your side."
"Must I write that down as well?"
The man rolled his shoulders, leaned forward slightly, and whispered in a small voice.
"I came ahead and waited here to protect you. There is a message from Lady Redrin."
End of Chapter 103. The Divine Message.