Idol Sports Festival (1)
After filling the dug-up hole back to its original state and descending the mountain, Yeon-woo headed to their usual rendezvous point and met Han Hae-un.
"Take this."
Han Hae-un accepted the case Yeon-woo held out and asked,
"Is this an identity you used during your active days, Team Leader?"
Yeon-woo shook his head.
"No. These are identities I've never used on any operation. And they're all Grade A. Completely handmade."
There was no official ranking system, but among operatives, identities were graded from A down to D. Grade A was the highest—meeting a long list of stringent conditions—and extremely rare.
"Excuse me? Grade A identities, plural?"
In his previous life, the highest-grade identity Han Hae-un had ever used was B, and even that had been issued by the National Intelligence Service. "Handmade" meant something else entirely: a secret identity an operative had built himself through dark channels and other unofficial routes, rather than one manufactured by the agency. Because even the NIS database was not immune to foreign hacking, high-ranking field agents were expected to maintain their own handmade identities as a matter of course.
"…Well, among field operatives, no one outranked you, Team Leader."
Han Hae-un gripped the handle with his fingertips as if opening a treasure chest and carefully lifted the lid.
"Ohhh. That pure yellow glow."
To any ordinary eye the envelopes looked shabby and yellowed with age, but among field agents the more faded the paper, the longer it had gone unopened—and the higher its value climbed.
He opened the first envelope, scanned the contents, and his eyes went wide.
"Team Leader. This is still being maintained exactly the same way even now…?"
Yeon-woo gave a quiet nod.
"Automatic transfers keep going out of the linked accounts. National pension, health insurance premiums—everything processes normally. The tax accountant handling it probably thinks his client is a deep-sea fishing vessel officer. We should be able to keep using it for another four years or so."
It was a completely fictitious person who did not exist in reality, yet whose academic record, financial activity, dental treatment history, and tax payment history had all been meticulously fabricated. With a little disguise to roughly match the appearance, an entirely new identity would be born.
"This is getting me way too excited."
Yeon-woo let out a short laugh at the words. Han Hae-un's expression right now was exactly the look of a man who had just found buried treasure.
"Most civilians would never understand that face of yours. And the one at the very bottom is a little different. Do you know how to handle entry and exit records?"
Han Hae-un nodded.
"Doing it without agency help costs a bit, but nothing's impossible."
"Then that one will be extremely useful. Korean-Canadian, CEO of paper companies—one in the Virgin Islands, one in Barbados."
Paper companies existed only on paper, with no real substance. The Virgin Islands and Barbados were classic tax havens; companies headquartered there on paper were virtually free of foreign exchange regulations and guaranteed anonymity in financial transactions, so even operations that moved large sums left no trail.
"Ohh. Beyond anything I imagined. I'm actually looking forward to work, Team Leader."
As if he had expected exactly that reaction, Yeon-woo nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Merry Christmas."
When it came to Christmas gifts, fake identities really were the best.
A few days later the new year dawned, and Yeon-woo turned twenty-two.
Then came the recording day for the Idol Sports Festival.
Yeon-woo prepared early in the morning and headed to the filming location.
"Dude, no way. Ryu Yeon-woo actually showed up."
"Shh. He's getting out. Keep it down."
The waiting staff came forward to greet him.
"We'll escort you, Actor."
Yeon-woo stepped out of the car, smiled, and nodded.
"Thank you."
He followed the staff to the waiting area. After a short wait the door opened and someone entered.
"Oh my, Actor. It's an honor to meet you."
PD Kim Hang-gon—who never so much as showed his face to the other idol cast members—had heard of Yeon-woo's arrival and rushed to the waiting room in a single breath, offering his hand.
"Hello. I'm Ryu Yeon-woo. I'm sorry for suddenly asking for audience tickets, but thank you for granting them so readily."
"Not at all. Of course we would."
Word that Ryu Yeon-woo would appear on this year's Idol Sports Festival had already spread from the internet like wildfire, and articles were still coming out daily. Holiday special programming usually pulled solid ratings no matter what, but that did not mean PD Kim Hang-gon was indifferent to the numbers. After receiving both praise and a special bonus from the director for landing Yeon-woo, the man could not have found Yeon-woo more beautiful if he tried.
"PD-nim, there's no real need for me to use a large private waiting room by myself. Would it be all right if I moved to the one Axis is using? If we're going to look good on camera, it would help to get friendly beforehand."
"Ah, is that so? Whatever makes you comfortable, Actor. I'll take care of it right away."
PD Kim Hang-gon stepped out, and soon a staff member arrived to guide Yeon-woo to the Axis waiting room.
When he opened the door, the Axis members who had arrived early and were resting all stood up.
"Yeon-woo hyung!"
Dong-ha shot forward first.
"Dong-ha, been well? Hello, everyone. I'm Ryu Yeon-woo, here as your mercenary for the day."
Yeon-woo gave a polite bow, and the rest of the Axis members hurriedly bowed in unison as well. Leader Do-jun spoke for the group.
"Thank you so much for stepping in to help us without hesitation."
"Not at all. I used to play futsal quite a bit myself."
Yeon-woo smiled and exchanged greetings with the other members. A knock came, the door opened, and a field staffer entered.
"We'll film the futsal first this morning at the outdoor pitch, then move indoors for the remaining events."
Following the staffer's lead, the Axis members and Yeon-woo headed outside.
Blue tents had been set up along one side of the outdoor field, and other idol teams were waiting beneath them.
"Only four teams? Fewer than I expected. So just the semifinals and finals—two matches?"
At Yeon-woo's question, Leader Do-jun nodded.
"There were preliminaries too, but somehow we made it through. Dong-ha's surprisingly good."
"Nah, it's because Do-jun hyung is a solid goalkeeper."
They had fully expected to be eliminated; the unexpected advancement was the real problem. Unlike the briefly edited prelims, the main rounds got substantial airtime, and the last thing they wanted was to get thoroughly dismantled on camera.
Axis had six members, but futsal required five players. Even one or two injuries would make continuing impossible, so the event allowed mercenaries. They had been planning to recruit some friendly idol from another group when Dong-ha reeled in a catch no one had seen coming.
No—at this point it's not a big catch. It's a whale.
Yeon-woo's appearance sent a visible ripple through the idols waiting under the tents.
"Holy crap. It really is Ryu Yeon-woo."
"I think this is the first time I've seen him in person."
It was not only the idols. In the stands, the murmur among the fans grew louder the moment they spotted Ryu Yeon-woo walking out with Axis. Most of the people gathered were fans of other idols, so there were no screams or cheers—yet the reaction was still that of people who had just glimpsed a legendary creature.
The Woo's fans, for their part, simply waved at Yeon-woo with composed expressions. Compared to the mostly teenage idol fans sitting nearby, their average age was higher, so the mere sight of Yeon-woo did not send them shrieking or jumping up and down.
Ah. There they are.
Confirming the seats where the Woo's were sitting, Yeon-woo walked closer, waved, and spoke.
"You all came early—must have been rough. Not too cold?"
Average age or not, that was the limit. The Woo's in the stands erupted in cheers.
"We're fine!"
"Just don't get hurt today!"
Yeon-woo grinned, pulled out his phone, and called Manager Kim Min-su.
"Min-su hyung. Looks like all the fans are in. Go ahead and hand out what we prepared."
Kim Min-su and the LN Entertainment staff appeared carrying boxes and began distributing them to the attending Woo's.
"Please take these, everyone. The actor prepared long padding coats, blankets, and hand warmers because he was worried you'd be cold."
The fans who accepted the items from Kim Min-su looked moved.
"Huk, no way…"
"C-can we really keep these?"
Kim Min-su smiled warmly at them.
"Of course. These are gifts the actor prepared himself."
A few fans peeled off the packaging and pulled out the long padding coats. Embroidered neatly across the chest was the English logo [Woo's].
"Wow, it's so pretty. It doesn't feel like merch—it looks like an actual brand."
"Past me for joining Woo's: good job."
Meanwhile, the other fandoms watching the scene looked on with a mixture of envy and jealousy.
"Ryu Yeon-woo's agency even hands out stuff like that to fans. Insane."
"We're cold too…? We also have bodies and arms that would fit inside padding…?"
Soon the staff cleared the area and recording began.
Of the four participating teams, Yeon-woo's Axis side was scheduled second. If they won, they would face the winner of the first match in the final.
The futsal matches were being live-streamed on YouTube starting that morning, and thanks to the idols' solid fanbases the real-time viewer count swelled quickly.
The first match ended in a victory for N-Boys over FNX.
"We'll begin the second match. Axis and Q-Nine, please prepare."
Hearing the field announcer, Yeon-woo stood.
"Let's give it everything we've got. Once we're on the pitch, quick communication matters, so I'll just drop the formal speech and call you by name."
"Yes! Actually, could you just speak casually to us all the time, Yeon-woo hyung?"
Do-jun's request made Dong-ha stare at him in disbelief.
"Hyung, you're the same age as Do-jun."
"Exactly. If you're handsome and successful, you automatically become hyung."
Yeon-woo gave an awkward laugh at the two of them.
"All right. Do-jun, let's be friends then."
"Yes!"
As they walked out onto the futsal pitch, Yeon-woo's senses picked up hostility.
"Hm?"
At first he assumed it was coming from the opposing team. But the source of the hostility was not simple competitive spirit. And it was not coming from the other side of the field either.
One of the N-Boys members who had just won the first match and were leaving the pitch was openly glaring at Dong-ha and Yeon-woo.
"Dong-ha."
"Yes?"
"Who's that guy over there? Why is he staring us down?"
Dong-ha looked where Yeon-woo indicated with a slight tilt of his chin, and his face twisted.
Standing at the end of that line of sight was Jae-yun of N-Boys.
"Hah. Just ignore him. Last time hyung appeared on a music show he was sniping about people stealing his rice bowl, and then he went and auditioned for White Blood himself—only to get rejected."
"Hmm. Is that so?"
Hostility could spring from many sources: anger, revenge, rivalry—and jealousy. Where the other emotions burned a relatively clear red, jealousy was a murky, contaminated dark crimson. Hostility born of jealousy was the ugliest and filthiest of all.
And Yeon-woo was not soft enough to leave alone anyone who directed such dirty, ugly feelings at him.
Look at this cute little thing. I'll have to pull the sprout out by the root. First we win this match so we meet them in the final.
Yeon-woo gave a short laugh, walked to midfield, exchanged greetings with the opposing team, and then the whistle signaling the start of the match rang out.
And the YouTube live-stream chat exploded.