Spotting the Sick
Only belatedly did Rembrary realize his mistake — and by then, the contestant had already gone off to fetch drinks.
Chasing after him now would only make things look more ridiculous. From this point on, his only option was to avoid stirring up any trouble whatsoever.
"When he comes back, you smile at him and be nice to him. No exceptions," Jong-woo whispered, very quietly, at his side. "You smile. Keep smiling, wait for your chance, then throw in one compliment."
"Understood."
Rembrary answered, then hurriedly picked up his phone and searched for information on the last-place contestant. He had already looked him up the moment the contestant list had arrived, but this time he combed through it far more thoroughly.
The moment he searched the name 'Oh Jung-shin,' several facts surfaced at once. He was a member of a famous boy group — and going by his debut date, he had debuted a full six months earlier than Wild Animal.
And then...
Rembrary frowned.
With his limited skill at navigating the internet, digging up more information in a short time proved difficult. Plenty of people were chattering about the man, but posts like 'Oh Jung-shin photoshoot,' 'Oh Jung-shin gifs please,' and 'Can someone post the original of this Oh Jung-shin photo T_T' hardly qualified as information.
He was still scrutinizing the screen when Jong-woo nudged him with a low, "Hey."
Rembrary looked up to find today's slave, Oh Jung-shin, approaching — carrying a basket that hadn't been with him when he left, thoughtfully loaded with nine drinks.
"I figured everyone else might be thirsty too."
Oh Jung-shin beamed charmingly, handed the first drink to Sunwoo Sil, then went around distributing the rest to the others one by one.
As a slave, he earned a perfect zero — but if he weren't a slave, he'd have been a remarkably obliging young man. If only he didn't drag that million-strong anti brigade around with him everywhere, Rembrary thought to himself, smiling away diligently just as Jong-woo had instructed.
It wasn't especially difficult. All he had to do was behave as though no penalty existed at all. Rembrary hardly had a prickly personality to begin with, and since Oh Jung-shin gave him no further cause for complaint, the three hours passed without incident.
"Your penalty time is over now."
When Oh Jung-shin's manager made the announcement, Jong-woo smiled with visible relief.
But once Sunwoo Sil departed for his schedule, and Eun-seo — with no filming to do — left as well, he pulled Rembrary into the car and delivered a firm warning.
"Even if the next person doing the slave role shows up, do not actually send them on real errands."
"Is that not the point of the penalty?"
"It's the penalty, sure. But you're not supposed to actually make them do it."
"Wherefore not?"
"Because everyone on this show is more popular than you!"
Having laid out reality so coldly, Jong-woo seemed to feel a bit guilty, and added awkwardly, "I mean, even if you get more popular someday, it'd still be bad."
"And wherefore would that be?"
"Because it'd look like you're throwing your weight around either way — unpopular or not. That's why you've got to manage your image even when you're famous."
"Then would folk not think twice before handing out penalties at all? Where would the fun lie in that?"
At Yeon-woo's question, Jong-woo nodded with a grave face. "Yeah, that's the worry."
It was a good hour of waiting in the car before Cathy finally returned.
Something was off, though. The moment he climbed in, his face looked oddly flushed — more color in it than usual.
Did he enjoy the singing that much?
Puzzled, Rembrary studied him. Knowing Cathy's temperament, he should have been seething over ranking lower than someone else. The thought struck him as strange, but Rembrary didn't press, and they headed back to the dorm.
It was nearly evening by then — late enough that even the trainers would have gone home by the time they reached the agency anyway.
"How'd it go?"
"Hyung, did their results come out?"
"As long as they're not last, right?"
The moment they stepped inside, the remaining members swarmed over with questions.
"You both ranked high," Jong-woo announced, practically puffing with pride.
Avoiding last place meant no elimination — but scraping by on middle-of-the-road or bottom-tier scores wasn't a good look. Better to place dead last, honestly; at least then you'd get broadcast time. A bad ranking meant no attention, and no attention meant the editors would cut your footage until you practically ceased to exist on screen.
That was why, for Jong-woo, Cathy taking eighth and Yeon-woo taking first was nothing short of thrilling.
"The results episode airs tomorrow, so watch it together, you guys."
"It airs tomorrow?"
"Yep. And Yeon-woo, Cathy — you two are watching it as a monitoring session too."
Jong-woo gave the instruction in high spirits, told them he'd see them tomorrow, and headed out of the dorm.
That expression of his lasted clear until the following evening.
But the next day, he showed up at the dorm looking as if he'd been hit head-on by a squall, his face bone-pale.
"You have returned."
Rembrary greeted Jong-woo without looking up from the bottle of sparkling water he was drinking.
Jong-woo, however, marched straight over with his face all twisted up and made a strange shape with his hand.
It looked like a pincer claw.
"What ails thee?"
When Rembrary asked, Jong-woo let out a strangled ngggh and lowered his hand. The pincer shape didn't relax, though.
"Yesterday. The results broadcast. Did you — do the monitoring? Did you?"
"Aye. I watched it."
"And your thoughts?"
"?"
When Rembrary pulled a what on earth are you on about? face, Jong-woo made a quiet string of argh argh argh noises, then sighed. "Fine. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose. I'm learning that about you lately."
"Wherefore art thou troubled?"
Rembrary cast his mind back over yesterday's broadcast.
Up through the middle, it had shown last week's competition preparations. Then came a brief recap of the contest, followed by the rankings announcement — the announcement had dragged on absurdly long, granted — and then the contestants' reactions. After that came the post-results interviews, and finally footage of Oh Jung-shin, the last-place finisher, running his errands.
Nothing remarkable about it. Although the sequence had been a little odd — Rembrary giving Oh Jung-shin an errand and then, out of nowhere, breaking into a smile.
What Rembrary didn't know was that that out-of-nowhere smile was the work of the Devil's Editing.
Nor did he know that Oh Jung-shin's notoriously terrifying fans were at that very moment arming their fingers with knives and guns.
"Never mind, then. Better you don't know."
Rather than informing him of the fact that you are now a dead man, Jong-woo simply shook his head. Ignorance was the best medicine in a situation like this — was it not?
"More importantly — don't wear something comfortable today. Dress properly."
"Whither go we?"
"Prep for the next round, obviously. We're going to Sunwoo Sil's agency."
Rembrary, in the middle of capping the sparkling water and putting it back in the fridge, jolted.
"Whose agency?"
As for why they had to go to Sunwoo Sil's agency of all places, Jong-woo explained it this way:
"He's the senior, he's more popular, and his agency's bigger."
Three unassailable reasons. Even setting aside the showbiz angle, this was just basic social etiquette — so Rembrary accepted it without complaint.
"And Cathy?"
"His partner's manager came and picked him up."
"His partner?"
"For Cathy's next duet. The contestant who placed seventh this time. Yuli O. Ring a bell?"
Rembrary rummaged through his memory, then nodded. "Ah, aye. Thou meanst the one resembling an emperor penguin."
At the words 'emperor penguin,' Jong-woo jerked the wheel, and Rembrary — in the passenger seat — cracked the side of his head against the window. Holding his throbbing skull, he looked over to find Jong-woo howling with laughter.
"Emperor penguin? Out of nowhere?"
"His posture... the head tilted up at forty-five degrees, both arms hanging down at forty-five degrees, all knock-kneed as he walked."
Jong-woo burst out laughing all over again at the description. Yuli O was already famous for moving stiffly, like her limbs didn't belong to her — not that a world-class hopeless dancer like Rembrary was in any position to point fingers.
"Look who's talking, you little punk. Look who's talking."
"Do I truly walk thus?"
"Thank god you two aren't doing a duet together."
The mental image sent Jong-woo into another fit, and he barely strangled his laughter back down. "Well, Cathy probably had it easy picking a song, since his partner's a girl. There are tons of duets written for a man and a woman. What about you? Got anything in mind?"
"Hmm..."
By the time the conversation wound down, the car had already pulled up in front of Sunwoo Sil's agency.
"Here we are."
Rembrary gazed through the window at the building Jong-woo pointed out and marveled. He'd been told the agency was bigger — but this wasn't just bigger; it was easily triple the size. A massive electronic billboard ran down its face, cycling through the faces of the actors and singers on its roster.
Stepping inside astonished him further. The interior of LLL Entertainment was clean enough, but Sunwoo Sil's agency was clean and elegant, with an old-world refinement to it.
Rembrary and Jong-woo made their way over to Eun-seo, who had arrived ahead of them and was waiting. She was craning her neck at her surroundings — evidently her first time here too — and when she spotted Rembrary, she smiled and said, a little sheepishly, "This place is huge. It's like a department store."
Jong-woo said, "One sec," stepped aside, and dialed Sunwoo Sil's manager. "Hello? Yes, this is Lee Jong-woop, Wild Animal's manager. Right, we've just arrived downstai—"
It was while he stood there next to Eun-seo, waiting for the call to end, that Rembrary's eyes met those of a woman who had just stepped out of the elevator.
'Woo Yeon-woo' was on the tall side — quite tall — and this woman looked to be nearly eye-level with him. She was wearing heels, granted, but considering that the other members came up short even in heels of similar height, she was unmistakably tall.
At first, Rembrary thought nothing of it. Ah, our eyes met. That was the full extent of the thought.
But then the woman tilted her head, went "Oh," and broke into a look of recognition aimed at him. And with brisk, clicking steps, she came over and spoke to him.
"You're Woo Yeon-woo, right? The one doing the survival show with Sil."
"Yes," Rembrary answered before he could think.
The woman's eyes curved into a smile. "Loved the song."
Then she lowered her voice and whispered, "I bought your digital single too," before throwing her head back with a hearty laugh. "Don't tell Sil."
Rembrary had no idea who she was, but judging by the atmosphere, she had to be from the same agency as Sunwoo Sil. Having her say so openly lifted his spirits, and he returned a warm, grateful smile.
"Thank you."
"You've got a gorgeous voice. Next time, make them beg you to put out a solo."
"I shall certainly beg."
"Haha, you'd seriously ask?"
And it was just as they were about to part, exchanging a natural handshake—
that Rembrary flinched.
Because he had found a bad aura about the woman's body.
It was the same sensation as back when he had shaken hands with the believer waiting outside the broadcasting station. He couldn't tell precisely what illness it was, but there was sickness in her body.
The woman, however, had already finished her farewell and was turning away toward somewhere else.
Rembrary hesitated a moment, glancing between Jong-woo and Eun-seo. Jong-woo was still on his call, and Eun-seo was mid-yawn.
"Eun-seo, one moment, please."
Rembrary improvised an excuse and went after the woman.
"Excuse me — sunbae-nim."
He caught up to her just as she was passing through a stretch where foot traffic thinned out. She was halfway to pulling her car keys from her handbag; she turned, smiling. "Oh, Woo Yeon-woo. What is it? Something you wanted to say?"
Rembrary deliberated briefly over how to put it, and decided once again not to mention her illness outright. Instead, recalling what his believers had once asked of him, he did as they had done.
"Might I trouble you for a handshake? I am your fan, sunbae-nim."
Just as he had healed that believer, he could swiftly heal this woman with his Divine Power, and all would be well.
The woman tilted her head, but still smiling, extended her hand.
And just before their hands could meet—
"Yeon-woo!"
Jong-woo came sprinting over with a bark, and both their hands froze in midair.
Arriving breathless, Jong-woo turned to the woman with his most personable smile. "I'm so sorry. I have to take him now. Terribly sorry for the inconvenience." He bowed his apologies again and again.
The woman laughed, said it was no trouble, and turned to go on her way.
Only after she was gone did Jong-woo drop his voice and scold him. "You're not ready to be dating yet, kid. You want to lose the handful of fans you've got on top of everything else?"
He had apparently assumed Rembrary had chased after the woman because he'd fallen for her.
Rembrary waved his hands. "Nay, 'tis not that. That sunbae from before — her color was poor. She did not seem well."
He couldn't exactly tell the woman herself, you are ill, but he figured there was no harm in telling Jong-woo she merely looked unwell.
"Unhealthy, my foot. She looked the picture of health. And even if her health really were bad, that's not your problem to worry about. Do you have any idea how good this agency's health-care system is?"
Jong-woo said it flatly, then took Rembrary by the arm. "Come on. Sunwoo Sil's coming down to meet us himself."
"......"
"Lucky you asked in a spot with nobody around. Be more careful next time."
But what Jong-woo failed to notice was that Sunwoo Sil's cameraman, fresh off the elevator, had just captured the entire scene.
Nor that — quite contrary to his worries — this moment was about to become a topic of conversation in an entirely different direction.