Two Kinds of Deals
That damn Sloth…… if he keeps strutting around like some big deal, what exactly am I supposed to do when I take my body back?
Yeon-woo heaved an inward sigh and hugged his knees to his chest.
Strictly speaking, he should have been worrying about whether he could get his body back at all in his current situation — but the moment he started thinking that deeply, things just got too painful.
So dwelling on a slightly less painful, slightly more realistic worry instead was his way of coping.
Still…….
I think that Sloth does intend to give my body back. He keeps sniffing around here and there asking about it.
The problem was…… Yeon-woo curled himself up tighter and tilted his head to the side.
There, sprawled across a one-seater recliner, was a man whistling to himself.
His pale, curly hair was gathered up and swept carelessly over one shoulder, and he had something clamped between his lips.
Yeon-woo stole a glare at him.
The man had Egyptian-mural levels of heavy eye makeup ringing his violet eyes, and he wore the sort of lavish robes an emperor in a Western period film might don on coronation day. He was wearing them right now, in fact. Where on earth he applied that eye makeup, or where he'd scrounged up those clothes, Yeon-woo had no idea…….
And that wasn't even the strangest part. Around the recliner where the man lounged, gorgeous roses of every color bloomed in full splendor. They looked as vivid and alive as real roses — and where they'd come from was equally beyond him.
Yeon-woo cursed under his breath.
At a glance, the man looked like some peace-loving king of a faraway land who adored flowers.
But he was a lunatic who could act perfectly tranquil one moment, and no one could ever predict when or how he'd lash out the next the moment something displeased him.
When the Sloth had pulled his blood-fueled stunts, Yeon-woo had been seized by this man and used as a human shield; once, out of nowhere, he'd found himself strangled on a stage.
And yet he wasn't always like that. When the man was in a good mood, he could be surprisingly generous.
In other words: wildly capricious. Extremely so.
From the conversations drifting in from the 'outside,' Yeon-woo had come to suspect that this king-robed man might be the Demon King.
And right now, what terrified Yeon-woo most wasn't the Sloth who had stolen his body — it was that Demon King, crouching behind him and using him as a shield.
"Gonna keep sniveling? You're giving me a headache."
Yeon-woo cut off his sniffling mid-hiccup. Here we go again. Another provocation, another attempt to pick a fight.
Who was sniveling, exactly? Sure, he'd shed a few tears, but they'd been quieter than the sound of that man's whistling.
"And stop grumbling in there while you're at it, you idiot."
"!"
As the Demon King pulled the 'something' out of his mouth to speak, Yeon-woo quickly squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to think of nothing at all.
Because he'd just realized that what the Demon King had been chewing on all this while was a shard of bone. Where that had come from, he couldn't begin to guess either.
Fine — if he was told to shut up, he'd shut up. Yeon-woo sulked and stared down at the floor. Though calling it a floor was generous; with no up or down in this place, he couldn't even be sure it was a floor.
He was standing there blankly contemplating the tips of his own feet when it happened.
A shadow of sorts fell over him from above.
Yeon-woo looked up in alarm to find the Demon King had come right up to him and was staring down at him like he was some kind of insect. The bone shard was already back between his lips.
What terrified him most was the way the roses sprouting anew at the Demon King's feet swayed among themselves in a place with not a breath of wind.
"Wh-what is it?"
When Yeon-woo stammered out the question, the Demon King peered down at him for a long moment, seeming to consider something — then broke into a smirk.
"Want your body back?"
"Excuse me? No. I mean — yes. Yes. Obviously……."
"Shall I help you?"
Disbelief flashed across Yeon-woo's face before he could stop it. You? Helping me?
Could anyone blame him? The Demon King was trapped in this space too. So who was supposed to be helping whom, exactly…….
Apparently that reaction had offended him, because the Demon King's expression darkened in an instant.
Yeon-woo scrambled to walk back his words.
"I'd be very grateful if you did."
But the Demon King's face remained grim as he issued a warning.
"Watch your mouth around me. Your thoughts too."
Like I can control what I think. Yeon-woo grumbled inwardly yet again, but he obediently nodded.
The Demon King gave a derisive snort — then vanished before Yeon-woo's eyes. In the blink of an eye, he was lounging back on his recliner.
From there, the Demon King spoke.
"To be precise, it's a trade."
"What…… kind of trade?"
"What took you so long?"
The moment Rembrary arrived at the dormitory, someone among the members huddled together in the living room shouted at him.
All four of them had their heads bowed, so it was hard to tell who'd yelled.
Rembrary asked, kicking off his shoes at the front door with a couple of taps.
"What are you all doing?"
"The single drops at six!"
Cathy snapped at him as if he couldn't believe he'd forgotten, then buried himself in his phone again, gripping it with both hands. He was apparently checking the digital charts.
Becoming a star was important work, but staring at the charts wouldn't move the rankings a single notch either way. Rembrary decided that rather than joining them in monitoring the chart positions down to the second, he would wash up and go to sleep.
Dealing with Shin Jo-woon and his endless stream of nonsense had left him thoroughly exhausted. Even the warmth he'd felt eating the steamed shrimp had melted away somewhere between checking on the injured and here.
"How was the shoot today?"
Rembrary gave Jungseo a half-hearted answer, gathered his pajamas, and headed for the bathroom.
At that very moment.
Shin Jo-woon stood at the edge of a pond, watching the fish paddle about with their mouths bobbing at the surface.
He had just scattered a fresh batch of feed evenly across the pond, yet his expression was grave.
His secretary came out carrying a thin lap blanket and held it out to him.
"Is everything all right, sir? You don't look well."
"I'm confused."
Shin Jo-woon accepted the blanket, draped it over his shoulders, and scooped more feed from the pail, scattering it across the water.
The huge fish leapt and shoved at one another, scrambling for the food.
"Did something happen?"
"There are 'Eyes' involved, but I don't think it's Nakru."
"?"
"Though sometimes I think maybe it is Nakru."
"I'm sorry?"
Has the 'Eyes.' Has the power to slay youkai. His brother is so deeply entrenched in Nakru there's no pulling him out. Rescued his brother's comrades, who are presumably Nakru as well. Treats youkai as evil, no exceptions…….
He couldn't say for certain whether the man was actually Nakru, but didn't he hold a philosophy nearly identical to theirs?
His habit of helping people without a second thought for himself almost made him seem like a Saint — and yet even Nakru had a genuine streak of goodness, so long as you didn't cross their creed.
They led the charge in volunteer work, donated to every cause imaginable, and strove to help as many people as they could.
They were, after all, an organization bound together by the conviction that they would bring peace to the world — and in that respect they were undeniably virtuous. As long as nothing supernatural got tangled up in it.
That was why he couldn't make up his mind.
"I'd rather he wasn't."
Since the music show broadcast fell on Halloween, Wild Animal arrived at the broadcasting station wearing unusually distinctive makeup.
Down in the waiting room, it turned out that most of the other singers were in costume as well, Wild Animal aside.
Even the teams that hadn't gone full costume had at least changed up their usual look with makeup.
After exchanging greetings here and there while waiting for rehearsal, Rembrary pulled Sa Gam-jae aside and quietly brought up the story of the tree-branch youkai.
Sa Gam-jae marked the location Rembrary described on his phone's map, then immediately called someone and instructed them to check the area.
After hanging up, Sa Gam-jae let out a low sigh.
"It seems their numbers are growing."
"Their numbers?"
"Those things that wake up and start roaming about. Youkai, demon beasts, that sort."
"It was never this many before, was it?"
"Not to my knowledge."
They got through two rehearsals, then the main stage and the rankings announcement. Rembrary was standing in line in the corridor with the other idols, waiting to exchange farewell greetings before heading out, when it happened.
His phone buzzed. He pulled it out to find an incoming call from Woo Sung-woo.
"I'll be right back, just over there."
Rembrary told Jong-woo, then slipped away to a spot where people weren't passing through so much.
Woo Sung-woo had a history of unleashing call after call whenever his went unanswered. Better to pick up and find out what he wanted quickly, even if the call ended fast.
"Hello?"
[It's me.]
"I know it's you just from the name on the screen."
[…….]
"Why are you calling?"
A crackling hooo of wind came through the receiver — the sound of the other man exhaling a sigh with the phone still clutched in his hand.
"Hello?"
When Rembrary called out again, Woo Sung-woo finally got to the point in a weary voice.
[I heard you saved one of my comrades yesterday. Thanks.]
"You may marvel at my benevolence."
[I'll pass along their wishes for your speedy recovery.]
Woo Sung-woo had invented a polite response on someone else's behalf, and Rembrary's brow creased. But it didn't actually sound bad, so he didn't bother demanding a correction.
"Was that all you called to say?"
Still, this part he needed to confirm.
In answer to Rembrary's question, Woo Sung-woo said,
"No."
"Then what? I'm busy right now. I have to go say my goodbyes. Don't ask me why that's even a thing."
The long, crackling phooooo of another sigh came through the phone.
[I heard you chased off a youkai in style yesterday?]
"Your comrade tell you that?"
[Yeah.]
"You've come to worship my magnificence, then?"
[No.]
"Then why ask?"
[The others heard about what you did, and they're completely sold on you.]
"You mean they wish to become my believers?"
[They all want you to join us here.]
"No."
The instant Rembrary cut him off flatly, Woo Sung-woo sighed for the third time. From the sound of it, he was no more thrilled about Rembrary joining Nakru than Rembrary was.
[The Team Leader…….]
The Team Leader?
[Offered that if you join us, she'll pull every connection she has and make you a star within three months.]
"Three months?"
[Yeah.]
"How?"
[Beats me.]
This time, even Rembrary couldn't immediately say 'no.'
He needed to gather many believers for Redrin in this world. And becoming a star was the easiest road to gathering them.
Wasn't he already climbing that road — dancing against his will, appearing on variety shows, even wearing demon makeup as they spoke?
And now they were saying he could be a star in just three months?
"Still no."
But after a moment's thought, Rembrary refused yet again.
[Why?]
Apparently he hadn't expected to be turned down on this one too, because Woo Sung-woo asked back in surprise.
Rembrary didn't answer. To be precise, he couldn't. How was he supposed to put it? That he was a Saint, and that they were an organization that captured and killed Saints, so he could hardly get close to them?
That was exactly why he'd made sure even the gravely injured man from yesterday got proper care rather than simply leaving him be.
"No, regardless."
"He says no?"
Hanging up, Woo Sung-woo muttered glumly and shoved his phone into his pocket.
The Nakru members, who had all been listening to the call on speaker, hurled their protests at him. 'You can't talk to people like that in the first place!''How was that supposed to convince anyone?''No wonder he said no on the spot, the way you put it!'
The very man Rembrary had once dubbed 'the strong, silent type' kept his mouth shut too, drumming his casted arm against the bed rail in protest — tap, tap, tap.
"I'm telling you, this guy can't do it. Bad attitude and a soft heart."
Woo Sung-woo declared flatly and turned to go.
But the Team Leader turned him back around.
"No, no. You've got the order backwards."
What is she— Woo Sung-woo turned back with a scowl, and the Team Leader smiled warmly as she offered her advice.
"First you make him a star. Then you ask him — whether he wants to fall back down to the bottom or not. When you're making a deal over a reward, you see, dangling it and snatching it back works far better than giving it up front?"