Cruising Along Smoothly

Before Jong-woo could get a word out, Rembrary stepped toward the women first, flashing a radiant smile.

The women stamped their feet in excitement and astonishment at the sight of Rembrary walking right up to them.

"Oh my gosh, it's Woo Yeon-woo! What do I do!"

"He's coming right up to us!"

Wild Animal wasn't yet popular enough to attract sasaeng stalkers.

Which meant everyone gathered here was an ordinary fan.

When your favorite celebrity comes striding up with a smile, and this isn't even a fan meeting, you can hardly know what to do with yourself. All of them were beside themselves with joy.

Rembrary, on the other hand, was long accustomed to dealing with his believers, and so he naturally addressed Believer Number One.

"You were here before as well. You must come often."

According to his experience, believers are deeply moved when you remember their faces.

It was a question asked with full knowledge of the answer, and once again, the effect played out exactly as expected.

"Oppa, you remember me?"

"Are you not my Believer Number One?"

Another woman beside her raised her hand and stepped forward.

"Oppa, what about me? Do you remember me?"

"Did you not say you've been buying our songs since debut?"

The fan who'd claimed she'd bought every release since their debut let out a small shriek and cried out.

"I bought four more with my family's accounts!"

Not to be outdone, another fan shouted as well.

"Oppa, I bought the one you sang too—DonDonDonDon!"

"I even fought off all the haters in the comments for you!"

"I was heart number two hundred twenty-three!"

"What, no way, I tapped it second! DonDonDonDon, I mean!"

"I've been promoting you like crazy to everyone in my class!"

As boasts of their achievements rang out from every direction, Rembrary smiled with quiet satisfaction.

Truly, were there ever such exemplary believers?

That ambitious spirit of theirs suggested they had ample aptitude for holy knighthood as well.

"Well done. Gather more believers. We must grow our strength."

The women took his words entirely in stride as part of his concept and burst out laughing once again.

They asked to take photos with him, so he obliged; they asked to shake his hand, so he did that too.

But as he went around shaking hands, he noticed that one of them, outwardly perfectly fine, was in poor health.

Exactly what was wrong, he could not tell.

Yet it was certain that something ailed her body.

Rembrary quietly let a thread of Divine Power flow into that one woman alone.

It was no external wound, so the effect of the Divine Power did not show at once; the fan who received it, unaware that any miracle had just touched her, simply rejoiced at holding Rembrary's hand.

Only after shaking hands with every one of them did Rembrary return to the van.

Inside, Jong-woo gaped at him and asked.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually, but most people get all flustered the first time fans swarm them like that. How are you this unfazed?"

Only then did Rembrary notice that Cathy was hugging an enormous teddy bear.

"Where did that doll come from?"

At Rembrary's glance toward it, Jong-woo explained.

"One of Cathy's baby fans gave it to him before she left."

"A baby fan?"

Hye-gyeol snickered and chimed in.

"Yeah, she came holding her mom's hand and gave it over? Seven, maybe eight years old? She asked him to raise it in her place."

"Ahh."

Rembrary nodded slowly and looked at Cathy.

It was a curious sight—the member who snapped and barked at his bandmates was now happily cradling a giant doll simply because a fan had given it to him.

Just as Rembrary was sneaking glances at Cathy, Jong-woo offered a word of caution.

"Yeon-woo. And you too, Cathy."

"Why, might I ask?"

"What is it, hyung?"

"Next time individual fans come up, talk about the group too. Mention which members you're close with, that sort of thing. Try it."

"Yeah. Got it."

"Very well, then."

"You want to get paid properly, right? The group has to take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off for that. A song has to hit so we can tour and—"

Jong-woo was about to launch into another lecture when his phone rang.

He spread his palm in a 'one moment' gesture and answered.

"Yes, this is Lee Jong-woo, Wild Animal's manager. ...Yes. ......Yes, yes. Ah, ah...... ah, of course. Yes. Yes, yes. Wow! That's great. Yes. Mm-hmm. Yes, then let's talk about the schedule later. Right. Yes, of course."

Hanging up, Jong-woo grinned slyly.

"Yeon-woo, they want you for a photo shoot."

Rembrary recalled the photographer who had once out of nowhere ordered him to strip.

"You mean the kind like the one where I was put in a coffin before?"

"That was for his portfolio. This one's going in a magazine."

Jong-woo jotted down the call details on his phone, texting the same information to CEO Im as he spoke.

"The concept is supposed to be 'My Wicked Self and My Good Self.' We don't have any brand sponsorship to worry about, so it should go through without a hitch. Oh, right—and your new song concept. I haven't told you yet, have I? CEO Im picked it out himself."

Jong-woo lowered his phone and turned to look at the members—then froze.

The atmosphere among the members was stiff, perhaps because Rembrary was once again getting a solo photo shoot all to himself.

But Jong-woo deliberately ignored the mood and announced brightly.

"A demon disguised as an angel! What do you think? Cool, right?"

Fortunately, most of the members had enough sense to hide their envy quickly.

Tae-in's expression was none too pleasant, but the others all smiled and said it sounded fun.

There had even been talk of whether they'd get to release another album at all, so in truth, they were genuinely glad.

Yet the darkest expression in all of this commotion belonged not to Tae-in, but to Rembrary.

Jong-woo chattered on about the new concept for a while before raising an eyebrow.

"Yeon-woo? What's wrong?"

The members' gazes turned to Rembrary as well.

Rembrary asked honestly.

"Must we go with that concept?"

"You don't like it?"

"......I see that I do not care for it."

Jong-woo studied Rembrary with a puzzled look.

"Which part?"

"The demon part."

Jong-woo made an incredulous face.

The members, too, wore expressions of what's gotten into him?

Rather than explain further, Rembrary gave a weak smile and waved his hand.

"No matter. It is settled. Pay it no mind."

It wasn't as though he were being asked to become a real demon—merely to imitate one.

Had anyone dared make such ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a demand of him, the High Priest, the other priests would have flown into a rage on his behalf. But this was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not that world.

Whatever his heart might say, was he not, for now, the idol called Woo Yeon-woo?

It was far from ideal, but he had no choice but to go along.

Having set out early Saturday morning and finished the day's schedule by afternoon, Rembrary stayed at the agency until evening, waiting for Woo Yeon-woo's mother to call.

The other members had already gone back to the dormitory, leaving Rembrary the only one remaining at the company.

He was wandering the agency's halls, poking around here and there, when his phone rang.

He tapped the screen, and the word Mom appeared.

Woo Yeon-woo's mother was calling.

When Rembrary stepped out of the building, he spotted a woman standing near the main entrance.

As he approached, before he could say a word, she pulled him into an embrace first.

"Yeon-woo!"

So this is Woo Yeon-woo's real mother.

Woo Yeon-woo's mother hugged Rembrary and beamed; when he stiffened awkwardly, she started in surprise; and at last, she broke down in tears.

After half an hour of that at the front doors, Rembrary went with Woo Yeon-woo's mother to a restaurant nearby.

It was a place Jong-woo had booked in advance for the amnesiac Rembrary's sake.

Since the restaurant had private rooms, he and Woo Yeon-woo's mother were able to talk more comfortably inside.

"I heard about what happened. But you really don't remember...... anything at all?"

"I'm afraid that's right."

"......"

"I'm sorry."

When Woo Yeon-woo's mother began to weep, Rembrary, flustered, offered her the damp hand towel sitting in front of him.

Woo Yeon-woo's mother said,

"It's real, isn't it,"

and laughed through her tears.

"Do you remember your father? Your brother?"

"I have a brother?"

"Is there really nothing that comes back to you?"

"Nothing at all."

"I see."

Woo Yeon-woo's mother gripped Rembrary's hand where it rested on the table and comforted him.

"Your body's fine, so it'll all come back slowly. Don't be anxious. You hear me?"

"I understand."

Even after the food arrived, Woo Yeon-woo's mother fussed over her son the entire time.

She barely touched her own plate, tending to him instead—a devotion that made Rembrary more uncomfortable than grateful.

By the time the meal was nearly finished, Woo Yeon-woo's mother spoke with sudden gravity.

"And...... I've been going back and forth on whether I should even bring this up."

It was a far cry from the gentle tone with which she had soothed him earlier.

Her face had grown darker still.

True to her word, she hesitated a long while more before finally speaking.

"Your father is in the hospital right now."

That much, Rembrary had already heard from Jong-woo.

But what came next was unexpected.

"He was caught up in a shooting."

"A gun—do you mean the kind that goes bang and knocks a person over?"

Rembrary asked, recalling a scene from a movie Hye-gyeol had been watching.

He had mistaken the weapon for a magic implement and asked, "What manner of sorcery is this?"—and been treated like an idiot for it, so the memory was firmly engraved in his mind.

There were no magic weapons here, but there was something called a gun, which could strike down a person from far away.

But he'd been told that ordinary people in Korea were hardly ever shot.

How on earth had it happened......

Rembrary—still unaware that America was a separate country—asked in astonishment.

"How did he get caught up in such a thing?"

"I don't know. The shooter just opened fire out of nowhere and ran."

Woo Yeon-woo's mother's voice trembled, the sorrow returning at the mere thought of it.

"They haven't caught him yet either. The police keep asking whether your father had any grudges, but where would an ordinary office worker find himself a grudge worth a bullet?"

"Ah......"

"After the surgery, I kept going back and forth on whether to tell you—but then your boss called and said you'd lost your memory, and......"

Her heart had been through too much; Woo Yeon-woo's mother burst into tears once more.

Rembrary reached out, took her hand, and gently pressed a measure of Divine Power into it.

He pushed in a little more than usual, and gradually, as her heart began to ease, Woo Yeon-woo's mother's tears subsided.

"Oh, listen to me, what a fool I am. You're the one going through so much."

Woo Yeon-woo's mother wiped her eyes with a smile.

Rembrary smiled along, but something struck him as strange.

Could a father and a son truly meet with such misfortune ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at nearly the same time?

"Might it be possible that your husband's shooting and my memory loss are somehow connected?"

At last, unable to shake the unease, he asked—and Woo Yeon-woo's mother laughed as though it were absurd.

"How far apart are the two of them? What a thing to say."

"Is America far?"

"It's a country across the ocean, not next door. Of course it's far."

Only now grasping that America was a foreign land, Rembrary went,

"Ah,"

and accepted it.

It was true. A suspicious coincidence, certainly—but such coincidences were not unheard of.

The world was full of genuinely bizarre happenings, from time to time.

Struggling to convince himself, Rembrary recalled one more oddity and asked.

"Come to think of it, Mother. Did I, perhaps, quarrel with you or Father before I lost my memory?"

"No. Why?"

"It never happened?"

"No."

Rembrary frowned.

Then why on earth had Woo Yeon-woo blocked his own parents' calls?

"Ah—it's not that you fought. But you did say something strange. You took it back halfway through, said it was a joke."

"Yeon-woo did?"

"Mm?"

"I did?"

"Yes. One of your members......"

Woo Yeon-woo's mother stopped mid-sentence and shook her head.

"Ah, never mind. It would only make things worse between you if I go saying strange things."

"It's quite all right. Please tell me."

"Well...... if you two are on good terms now, don't go stirring up trouble for nothing. You hear me?"

"Yes."

"He said one of your members was blackmailing you. Something like that."