Chapter 111: The Unsettling Gaze
The moment I felt something strange, I turned around. Our eyes met with the Innos member who had done the same, just like me.
‘Hael.’
The instant I saw his face, the information I had memorized about the Innos member flashed into my mind.
His name was Hael. His age was the same as mine, and his position was main vocalist. That was all I knew. Since it was before debut, I didn’t know much more detailed information.
‘... It’s a strange feeling.’
Somehow, the way he was looking at me felt different from the other members.
Unlike the other tense Innos members trailing behind, Hael was staring straight at me.
That gaze was oddly unsettling.
‘Malice.’
I had always been good at sensing it.
In school, those who harbored malice toward me often sent such looks.
Eyes that seemed envious. Was it an emotion that couldn’t be hidden no matter how much you tried to conceal it? Or was it simply that I read people too well?
I didn’t know for sure, but...
‘Don’t jump to conclusions.’
Looking back, there had been many who harbored malice without reason.
There were cases where malice arose simply from the situation itself, and such feelings often couldn’t be controlled by one’s own will.
I, too, had once been envious of someone to the point of madness.
‘But...’
If that was true?
If the being who had tormented and harmed me until now was this person?
‘I don’t know.’
With complex emotions tightly reined in, I continued walking.
* * *
“Fresh energy that didn’t exist until now! A rookie bringing a fresh breeze to the music industry, let’s meet the stage of Starlight right now!”
With the MC’s introduction, Starlight’s first music broadcast stage began.
The members in their school uniforms—white shirts, blue jackets, and ties—changed their first formation as the intro choreography unfolded.
Starting from the large formation shaped like flames, the members extended their arms as if flames were rising, then moved in a scattering motion.
− Beneath the setting sun
The waves crashing blue
Blue lights illuminated the stage as the members’ dance continued.
− My brand-new blue tears, like Blue
When you dream
You forget how to breathe
The soft dance flowed, then shifted into rougher movements to match the music.
− No looking back
Just move ahead
Do Won-woo, who had stopped in place, extended his hand toward the front as if unfolding a flame.
− I burn blue
Forget about sadness
Even if gray tears flow
Soon Do Won-woo slowly folded the hand he had extended as if gripping flames.
− (Look, I’m just me)
Start over from the beginning
* * *
When the first stage ended and we returned to the waiting room, it was already filled with the members’ conversations.
“No mistakes, right?”
“It came out as well as we practiced.”
“Wow, we actually debuted. It’s hard to believe this is our first stage.”
The stage itself hadn’t been tense. After all, I had performed on stages many times during the survival show.
But there was one difference: this time it was our song.
The first stage with our group’s name, officially debuting. That situation definitely made it tense.
“Still, it ended well. That’s a relief.”
Han I-jae was monitoring the stage, his face much more relaxed than before.
As a perfectionist, he had looked uncomfortable before the stage, but now he looked at ease.
“Well done, everyone!”
Kwon Hak-jin clapped to lighten the mood. Only then did the tense atmosphere become a bit lighter.
The members who had successfully completed the first stage looked satisfied.
* * *
After leaving the waiting room into the hallway, a noticeable back view caught my eye.
The Innos member Hael I had met earlier.
‘... Should I follow?’
I didn’t have a hobby of chasing after people, but I followed Hael.
At this point, I only knew his name and age. To learn more about him, I had no choice but to confront him directly.
I followed Hael heading to the bathroom and entered.
Honestly, I hadn’t wanted to follow all the way to the bathroom, but...
‘If I don’t create some kind of contact like this, I won’t know what he’s like right away.’
When I followed in, Hael stood in front of the sink, adjusting his clothes, and looked at me as if asking what?
I naturally stood beside him. Originally making friends had been a disability, but after the massive survival life, I had gained some sociability.
“Hello, nice to meet you again.”
I naturally greeted.
Hael glanced at me and smiled. With just a glance, I could tell he had no goodwill toward me.
Still, I decided to speak.
“We’re same-generation, right?”
“Eh?”
“Debut peers who debuted on the same day. Right?”
Then Hael smiled again.
I didn’t know what kind of smile it was.
Was he laughing because he had nothing to say? Or was he responding with laughter because answering was bothersome? Or both?
“How old are you?”
Since the atmosphere was ambiguous, I decided to ask about age first to get in.
I knew Hael’s age, but I asked pretending not to know to draw out the answer.
“Well, don’t you already know?”
But the answer that came back was completely unexpected.
“...Eh?”
“My age.”
Confused, I looked at him, and after a moment of silence, Hael laughed sarcastically.
“Ahaha, I’m joking. When you see my face, you probably know what I mean, right?”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant.”
“Haha, fun, right?”
He made a joke that wasn’t even funny and laughed by himself.
“Haha, you’re really fun.”
But I laughed along without thinking.
‘Every time I talk, I feel like I’m being drawn into his face.’
Looking closely, he seemed to want to start a weird fight with me.
By not giving the answer I wanted, he interfered so that the conversation didn’t flow in the direction I wanted.
“So, how old do you think I am?”
“Eh?”
“My age, guess.”
Was he trying to set up a blind date with me?
Why was he asking this? He could have just said his age straightforwardly.
“Well, um...”
So I decided not to give the answer I wanted either.
“Twenty-three?”
I tried an experiment by adding four years to the known age and calling him. I was curious how it would turn out.
Then Hael, who had been staring at me expressionlessly, suddenly burst into wild laughter.
“Ha, hahaha, hahaha!”
It was like he was holding his stomach in a theatrical way, as if he had seen the climax scene of a comedy movie.
“Are you okay?”
“No, it’s too funny. Twenty-three, huh. Now you’re looking at me... puff puff!”
I almost took a step back in fear.
I had only been experimenting to see how he would react, but he reacted so intensely.
“I, hic, that is, you think I’m twenty-three?”
Before I could answer, Hael barely stopped laughing and said.
“My age is nineteen. Same as you, right?”
When he said my name, there was a very brief moment, but I saw Hael’s expression slightly distort.
The corners of his mouth were upturned, but the smile looked twisted somewhere. Since it was so obvious, it confirmed again that the malice I had seen earlier wasn’t a misunderstanding.
“You laugh a lot.”
“Me?”
“Yes. It’s nice to look at.”
“Hey, where is there a face as good as Won-woo’s. Look in the mirror!”
Hael pointed to the mirror in front of him.
“Wow, if you were born with such a face and lived, what kind of feeling would it be? I wonder how you’d feel every time you wake up and look in the mirror.”
“...Um.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I turned it into a compliment to the other person.
“You’re handsome too.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
From the first time I searched on the internet, I felt it, but he had a handsome face.
Of course, it wasn’t on the level of Do Won-woo, but he could be said to be the visual member position within the group.
A normal idol group visual member...
“Are you handsome?”
But Hael laughed as if he had heard some strange thing.
Then suddenly raised his voice.
“Hey, still, puff puff, not as much as Won-woo, hic, no!”
...This guy is weird?
‘What kind of personality is this?’
I hadn’t noticed earlier in the hallway, but up close, his eyes were half-turned.
He definitely seemed not normal. The conversation didn’t feel like a normal flow.
Not a particularly funny atmosphere, but suddenly laughing alone, then stopping as if nothing had happened.
‘Just an odd person, am I overreacting too much?’
Just when I was thinking that, the bathroom door suddenly opened.
“What are you doing?”
The person who opened the door and appeared was none other than Han I-jae.
“I came because you didn’t come for so long, wondering if something happened...”
Han I-jae looked at me and scanned Hael beside me for a moment.
“Are you making friends?”
“Ah, well...”
I hadn’t thought of him as a friend, but we were roughly getting to know each other.
“Hello.”
Hael looked at Han I-jae and gave another sarcastic smile.
“Wow, came to find his little brother? Envious. I don’t have anyone coming to me.”
With a random comment, Han I-jae looked at me as if asking what?
“Joke, joke. I just said it because I’m sad that no one comes to me. Hahaha!”
With such a reaction from Han I-jae, Hael started laughing to himself again.
And then silence flowed.
‘He’s crazy, just like that.’
Even after talking for a bit, I quickly realized he wasn’t normal.
He looked fine on the outside, but when he opened his mouth, he spouted crazy words as if another personality was coming out.
“...Let’s go.”
Han I-jae gestured toward the door as if telling me to hurry and looked at me.
Even Han I-jae who had a short conversation seemed to feel an unknown wall.
“Um... It was fun meeting you today.”
Just as I was about to turn around.
Suddenly, Hael grabbed my shoulder.
“?”
Hael came in front of me and handed me something: a smartphone.
“Take a picture.”
* * *
When I came out of the bathroom, Han I-jae looked at me as if to say what kind of guy is this.
Everyone would feel it. Even if the appearance is fine, there’s something twisted. In short, a handsome crazy guy.
A handsome crazy guy.
‘Indeed, is that guy that guy...’
The fact that he was crazy somewhere, it resembled the guy who appeared by switching bodies.
But if that guy is the one, would he really do suspicious actions that stand out like that? It’s true that there are many doubts.
After looking at the screen where the number given by that guy was saved, I added the name to the contacts.
‘Crazy Guy’.