Drunken Confessions

It seemed the Believer had sent it.

While waiting in the meeting room for CEO Im to arrive, Rembrary unwrapped the gift.

It was a brown bottle full of little yellow pebbles, along with a letter.

"What is this?"

When Rembrary asked, Jong-woo answered,

"Looks like vitamins."

"Probably to give you energy. They put vitamins in."

"Vitamins?"

"They make you strong when you eat them. Relieves fatigue."

Rembrary gave an "Ah..." and nodded, then opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

The stationery, studded with little hearts here and there, was covered in tiny, cramped handwriting.

Rembrary burst out laughing as he reached the final part of the letter.

It continued that she would remain Yeon-woo's fan for the rest of her life, and that no matter what anyone else said, she would keep believing in him.

At the very bottom, it was signed, From your number one believer who loves you, oppa.

"Sounds like a good letter?"

As Rembrary chuckled, Hye-gyeol, seated beside him, asked teasingly.

Rembrary nodded and slipped the letter back into its envelope.

"It is a good one."

"What did it say?"

"It appears Believer 2 has set her sights on Believer 1's position."

"Huh?"

Hye-gyeol tilted his head, having no idea what that meant.

Rembrary tucked the letter into his pocket and fiddled with the vitamin bottle.

Believer 2 said her illness had been cured thanks to Rembrary, but she didn't seem to truly believe it had been his doing.

Well, fair enough. All he'd done was shake her hand once as he passed by. How could she possibly know?

But if something like this kept happening, someone might eventually catch on to the divine power.

Rembrary absently opened the lid of the vitamin container and popped it off.

What would happen if someone did sense the power?

Lost in thought, Rembrary fished a yellow tablet out of the bottle, put it in his mouth, and chewed it up with a crunch-crunch-crunch.

Beside him, Hye-gyeol stared at the sight with eyes gone wide, but Rembrary was too deep in thought to even register the taste.

"Ugh."

Only belatedly did Rembrary grimace at the foul taste.

"What manner of thing is this?"

"Who chews a pill and swallows it? You're supposed to swallow it with water."

As Rembrary shook his head, spluttering and gagging, the door opened and CEO Im walked in.

"What's wrong with him?"

Pointing at Rembrary the moment he entered, CEO Im went straight to the head of the table and sat down.

"He chewed a pill raw and ate it."

"What?"

CEO Im stared at Rembrary in sheer disbelief.

"Why would you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do that?"

Meanwhile, the other staff members were filing into the meeting room one after another.

All told, nine people had gathered.

That made fourteen in total, counting Rembrary and the members.

CEO Im had rounded up every employee he could, steeling himself with the conviction that this would truly be their last album.

He'd even brought in the acting team to help wring out ideas.

Once everyone had assembled, CEO Im had the door closed and began to speak.

"You've all been given a heads-up already, but Wild Animal's concept this time is 'a demon disguised as an angel.' We've already commissioned three composers to write songs in that vein."

Having said his piece, CEO Im swept his gaze around the room.

"Give me detailed opinions with this concept as the main frame. Music videos, styling, specific sub-concepts — anything goes. You guys too."

The "you guys" CEO Im jabbed his chin toward were the members of Wild Animal.

Rembrary figured that although this was nominally a meeting, only a handful of people would actually do the talking.

The temple held meetings from time to time as well, and it had always been that way there.

But unexpectedly, all thirteen of them opened their mouths.

Startled by how the room instantly buzzed into a hive of chatter, Rembrary jumped.

"What if we tear our clothes off at the end of the song? You know, like the Hulk transforming."

"The Hulk and a demon aren't exactly far apart image-wise."

"Besides, if you tear clothes these days, it gets cut from broadcast."

"How about angel wings with demon horns?"

"What are you, trying to go to an amusement park?"

"Ugh, why do you keep picking fights? Stop just shooting things down and actually offer an idea, Mr. Park."

"Let's go modern demon. Sleek black suit, dressed to the nines, red contact lenses. What do you think?"

"Ooh, I like that."

"Red contacts done wrong turn into horror."

"Isn't horror part of the concept?"

Opinions erupted from every direction, all at once.

Listening to the suit idea, Rembrary pictured what real demons actually looked like and snorted.

The demons — male and female alike — went around practically half-naked. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ Because they reveled in battle at every opportunity, their clothes were forever being reduced to rags or soaked in blood, so at some point they'd simply given up wearing them.

Some demons had horns and some didn't, and their eye colors were, if anything, even more varied than humans'.

And surprisingly many of them wore the very "angel wings" people kept talking about.

Well, to be fair, those demons ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really are demons disguised as angels.

That was when it happened.

Jungseo, the leader, who had been listening quietly all this while, spoke up. "How about this?"

Astonishingly, the room fell silent the instant Jungseo opened his mouth.

Everyone leaned in, intent on catching whatever Jungseo was about to say.

Rembrary hadn't noticed when it was just the members hanging out together, but among the staff, trust in Jungseo seemed to run remarkably deep.

"Go ahead, Jungseo."

"Visually, we go angel. Then the lyrics express the demonic side."

"The lyrics?"

"Yes. You know — a sharp-tongued character who says cruel things with a smile? I think that could work nicely."

The staff murmured their approval.

"Oh, that's good."

"Not bad."

Since the overwhelming majority agreed with Jungseo, CEO Im moved the discussion on to the next topic.

"It's a first attempt at this concept, so let's play it safe and release a digital single first."

But the vocal trainer objected to this.

"CEO, what do you think about putting a Yeon-woo solo track on this one?"

She'd been having him sing solo after solo all through vocal training, so it seemed she'd meant it sincerely.

Rembrary flinched, but even a staff member whose face he didn't know chimed in to agree.

"The choir arrangement worked, and so did the duet with Sunwoo Sil. Right, a solo would suit him fine."

"One group title track plus one Yeon-woo solo — or what if we add a Cathy or Taein solo on top and go with a two-or-three-track EP?"

Other staff members joined in as well.

Rembrary noticed Taein, sitting across the table, clenching his fist.

He was smiling, but his hand was white-knuckled.

"After the title track 'A Demon Disguised as an Angel,' we put in a Yeon-woo version that reads like a continuing story."

This time, remarkably, it was Jungseo who offered the idea.

"A continuing story?"

When CEO Im leaned in eagerly, Jungseo answered,

"Yes."

and continued.

"Yeon-woo's verse would go something like, 'People fall for anything if you just act nice, apparently?'—"

"Like a monologue?"

"Yes. Yeon-woo's concept would be a demon talking to himself. The demon's inner thoughts, that kind of thing."

CEO Im nodded.

"Not bad."

At that, the other staff perked up again and threw out more ideas.

"The choir reaction was great, wasn't it? What about a concept where they sing grandly, all together like a choir, and the demon conducts them?"

The meeting sprawled onward from the solo concept into the music video, the lyrics, the overall styling, the album jacket, and beyond.

By the time every topic had been covered, it was somehow already evening.

The staff rose from their chairs, rolling their stiff shoulders, and the members stood up as well, rubbing the backs of their sore necks as they bowed their goodbyes.

Rembrary picked up the vitamin bottle he'd been clutching the entire time.

"I'll drop the kids off and head home, then."

But just as Jong-woo was about to herd the members out—

"Jong-woo. Hold on a second."

CEO Im called him back.

"Yes?"

"The kids have been working so hard lately. Dinner's on me tonight."

"Oh? Really?"

"Yeah. Once we start preparing the new song, they'll all have to go on diets anyway."

Rembrary had been listening quietly to all this when he nearly choked in shock.

They were already down to salad with a sliver of chicken breast and an egg or two.

And now they were supposed to diet more?

Was he being told to starve to death?

But Jong-woo simply nodded along.

"That's true."

"Which is exactly why we should let them eat their fill one last time. Drinks too."

CEO Im turned to the members.

"You're all okay with that?"

There was no chance the perpetually starving members would turn down food.

* * *

The place CEO Im took the members was a barbecue restaurant.

Everything about the unfamiliar eatery struck Rembrary as novel, and he looked around curiously.

"Private room, please."

CEO Im had even reserved a separate room so the members could eat in comfort.

Inside, a table of strange design had been set up.

Then out came trays piled with fresh, glistening raw meat, and Taein stepped forward and began grilling.

"Ah-ah, put that down, put it down. Today, you kids just eat."

CEO Im waved Taein off and seized the tongs and scissors himself.

Rembrary stared blankly at the scene, then hesitantly put a piece of the meat CEO Im had cut for him into his mouth — and was bowled over.

'Delicious!'

A stomach sick to death of chicken breast let out a cheer.

Beer bottles arrived next, and the atmosphere turned rowdy in no time.

Rembrary only made a show of drinking in moderation, and without uttering a single word, devoted himself entirely to the meat.

How long did he carry on like that?

By the third change of the grill pan, Taein had apparently gotten drunk and started nodding off.

Hye-gyeol leapt to his feet declaring he would breakdance, got a scolding from Jong-woo, and sat back down.

The only person entirely sober was CEO Im, who had to drive.

"Yeon-woo. You're not drinking?"

"I do not drink."

At Rembrary's words, Jong-woo ordered him a cider instead, and after drinking it, Rembrary received his second shock of the night.

'Delicious!'

Thereafter, Rembrary hugged the cider bottle to his chest and demolished the meat at a rapid pace.

He was in the middle of it when—

The moment he spotted drunken Hye-gyeol attempting a second breakdance—

a truly excellent idea popped into his head.

'When their guard is down and their tongues loosen, won't they all start talking freely?'

Woo Yeon-woo's mother had said that someone among the members had threatened him.

Ordinarily, they would all keep their walls up sharp and their mouths shut tight — but alcohol would wear that wariness away.

If he probed skillfully enough, he might just dig up the past.

With that thought, now was hardly the time to be drinking cider.

From then on, while eating his meat, Rembrary studied the members closely.

The drunkest of them all was... Hye-gyeol, as expected.

Rembrary waited for Hye-gyeol to sit back down in his seat, then slid casually closer.

"Yeon-woo hyung. You absolute jerk, Yeon-woo hyung."

When their eyes met, Hye-gyeol grinned sloppily and swore at him.

Completely, thoroughly drunk.

Once he was certain, Rembrary asked, keeping his tone casual.

"Hye-gyeol. If you're willing, would you tell me about myself?"

"About you?"

"About me."

"Hyung's story? What about hyung?"

"I feel like if I hear old stories, the memories might come back. So — got any tales like that for me?"

Hye-gyeol tilted his head, then opened his mouth.

"Hyung is..."

"Yes? I am?"

"A total..."

"A total...?"

He wouldn't be about to curse at him here, would he?

Rembrary frowned.

But the words that followed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were entirely unexpected.

"...said he'd stop him."