Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: 9. Even the Heavenly Demon Has to Do Fan Service (3)
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The Alliance Leader opened her mouth casually.
“The hot spring building must’ve been pretty rundown.”
“W-Well, I didn’t get a good look myself, but I remembered Taeguk hyung mentioning to Soi hyung earlier that he’d recommend the hot springs… so I figured I’d check if it was okay.”
“You came because you were worried? How sweet.”
The Alliance Leader was perfectly calm.
It was suspicious, but… she’d never been one for big emotional swings anyway.
She hadn’t even flinched when she saw the Heavenly Demon floating in midair.
Though if she was the rep’s subordinate, she would’ve known the Heavenly Demon was the real deal, so it wouldn’t be weird if she wasn’t surprised.
…This line of thinking could go on forever.
Maybe I should test the waters.
“Couldn’t go to the hot springs. Had to prep for U-Live. Good thing I didn’t.”
I glanced at the Alliance Leader as I said it, but her expression didn’t change.
Our eyes met, and she flashed a small smile.
She’d always been hard to read, but now it was impossible.
“Hyung, you’re safe because I said we should do U-Live, right?”
I could see Namgoong Joon relaxing next to the smug Jaha.
“That’s a relief. Oh, still, sorry for showing up so late.”
“Hey, if you’re sorry about the time, what does that make me for suggesting U-Live this late?”
“W-Well…”
Namgoong Joon looked a bit awkward as he replied cautiously.
“If we stream too late, won’t the fans have trouble sleeping…?”
Namgoong Joon was actually pushing back on Jaha for once.
Jaha blinked, clearly not expecting him to talk back.
I’d assumed he’d just start with an apology too.
“…Sorry.”
As Jaha’s silence dragged on, Namgoong Joon surrendered with those words.
After a beat, Jaha jolted a bit before waving it off grandly.
“Nah, nah. The fans need their sleep too. Didn’t think about the time difference.”
“Pardon? Japan and Korea have a time difference…? N-No, got it.”
Jaha seemed intrigued that Namgoong Joon had opened up to him and wanted to keep talking, but the Alliance Leader checked the time and spoke in a gentle tone.
“Yeah, it’s late. Everyone should head back to their rooms. Taeguk, take Jaha with you.”
Taeguk nodded and beckoned to Jaha.
Jaha nodded back as if he understood, then headed out of the room while waving both hands.
“Night, Soi hyung~ Tell Heavenly Demon hyung night-night too~”
“We’ll head up first. Good night, Soi hyung.”
“Yeah. Don’t forget the morning flight tomorrow.”
“Got it~”
Jaha paused on his way out and turned back to Namgoong Joon.
“Hey, you’re on the same floor. Hurry up.”
“O-Oh, right, got it.”
Namgoong Joon seemed surprised that Jaha was looking out for him and fumbled a bit.
He bowed quickly in my direction before chasing after the other two.
They still seemed pretty awkward around each other, but I guess that was progress.
The Alliance Leader watched the three of them quietly.
I turned to her and asked.
“You heading out too? Didn’t you come to talk about the fan meeting?”
“I came to check… in case the special guest surprised you.”
Oh. So she’d come because she was worried about Jaha because of Shin Taeul.
The Alliance Leader pulled her gaze from the three and looked at me with a faint smile.
“You seem fine.”
“Yeah, looked that way.”
“……”
The Alliance Leader stared at me with an oddly troubled expression.
“What’s up?”
“You seemed to think it was about Jaha.”
“If it’s not about Jaha?”
“I meant I’m glad you seem fine, hyung.”
…She’d come to check on me, not Jaha?
What did that mean?
Why would she think the special guest—a former member—would upset me?
Unless she was probing me on the rep’s behalf…
“Is there a reason I wouldn’t be okay?”
The Alliance Leader tilted her head slightly, as if wondering what I was talking about.
“You asked last time if we were in touch with the former members. And there was the Shin Taeul thing.”
Oh. Right, that happened.
Because the Heavenly Demon blabbed that Shin Taeul almost strangled me, the members thought I was so scared of getting hurt that I was asking around about the ex-members.
Even so, Jaha seemed to have totally forgotten, but the Alliance Leader remembered.
“You’re okay with it, right, hyung?”
“Of course. I’d already forgotten about it.”
“Got it. But if it bothers you at all, you have to tell me.”
“Sure… But aren’t I the one who’s supposed to be looking out for you guys?”
The Alliance Leader gave a small laugh, her face free of shadows.
She’d always been like this. Always worrying about others before herself.
Remembering even the smallest things and caring.
She pulled some weird pranks sometimes, but…
It was impossible to imagine her wearing a bizarre mask and throwing throwing stars.
Suspecting a member was a no-go.
Maybe that’s why Shin Taeul never told Taeguk that one of the members was the Masked Expert.
“Then I’ll head back too.”
“Yeah. Gotta get up early, so go sleep.”
“Okay. Well then…”
The Alliance Leader didn’t leave right away. She peered into the room.
The Heavenly Demon turned his head to avoid her gaze.
“Heavenly Demon.”
When she called him in a cold voice, the Heavenly Demon let out a small sigh.
Then he exploded.
“Why do I have to share a room with this punk even here?! The monk and that Namgoong bastard get their own rooms!!”
“You lost rock-paper-scissors.”
Oh. That explained why I wasn’t sharing with the Heavenly Demon.
With Namgoong Joon getting his own room, one of us had to as well.
Jaha and Taeguk didn’t mind sharing, so we’d told the other three to figure it out.
Guess they’d gambled on it again.
I looked like I wouldn’t cheat, so they suckered me into it.
“Manager, rein this guy in. He wants to decide everything with rock-paper-scissors.”
“Better than the Heavenly Demon, who wants to settle everything with his fists.”
“What, still just throwing fists?”
“I meant it as an adult with wisdom. ‘He won’t throw a rock this time either’—that’s the psychology he exploited… What’s with that pathetic look?!”
How did he survive as the Heavenly Demon in the Central Plains like this?
* * *
“Aaaargh!!”
A noseless young man hurled his smartphone at the wall in a fit.
His face, which would’ve been handsome with a nose, was filled with rage.
But tears streamed down his cheeks pitifully.
The young man’s name was Demon Subduing Sword.
He was a former idol from Korea’s top-tier group, Gupailbang, where he’d handled the joint faction duties.
Demon Subduing Sword muttered endlessly, lost in a daze.
“I’m gonna kill that rep bastard. Gonna kill him. Kill that rep motherfucker…”
“Sword.”
The man next to him was missing one arm.
Another Gupailbang alum, the excommunicated disciple from the Acupuncture Faction, Munsail, called out to him soothingly.
But his own fingers were white from gripping his phone so hard.
“Calm down. We know it’s a provocation.”
Demon Subduing Sword lifted his tear-streaked face to look at Munsail.
His eyes had long lost their spark—dead fish eyes.
“Hyung, the fans aren’t blaming us. They miss the full Gupailbang lineup. They miss me, me.”
“…….”
“B-But they don’t want to see this face, right? I miss my fans too. I wanna, wanna stand in front of them too.”
“Demon Subduing Sword, enough.”
Shin Taeul came down to the underground hideout and spoke in a low voice.
“Sail hyung’s in an awkward spot.”
“You, you with your perfect face can’t understand this.”
Shin Taeul reached the bottom of the stairs and gave a crooked smile.
“Didn’t know you envied me. Want to switch if you’re so keen?”
“You wanna go?!”
“What are you two even doing?”
Munsail sighed and stood up.
“Do we have to tear each other down like this? We didn’t gather to compete over who got the worst deal.”
At that, Demon Subduing Sword flinched and softened his expression a bit.
Shin Taeul walked to the heater in the center of the hideout with a blank face, to dry his wet clothes.
“I always thought I was grateful…”
Shin Taeul didn’t respond to Demon Subduing Sword’s rambling.
Even as Yua Mi came down the stairs, supported by Yuk Jong-nam, the muttering continued.
“Always grateful to the CEO… sincerely… sincerely…”
“Sword, who here isn’t like that?”
“But that rep bastard invited us to the Gupailbang fan meeting! Knowing we, we couldn’t show up. He knew with these looks, we can’t even go out for instant noodles!”
Yua Mi signed, asking why he was acting up.
Shin Taeul glanced at her signs briefly before speaking.
“I’m going to the fan meeting.”
“What?”
Munsail and even Demon Subduing Sword stopped muttering to stare at Shin Taeul.
Munsail asked incredulously.
“You serious? It’s obviously a trap.”
“I know. I’ll go alone.”
“Shin Taeul.”
“Like Demon Subduing Sword said, I’m the only one here who can go to a place like that.”
“You think he’s the only one who’s been like this for days? Why are you doing this too?”
“I’m gonna tell Soi hyung everything.”
Munsail frowned.
“What’s it change if Soi hyung knows? He’s a civilian. Has nothing to do with our stuff. We decided not to drag him in once we confirm the Heavenly Demon isn’t with the rep.”
Sure, Jeom Soi was a civilian.
Shin Taeul had no intention of dragging him in deep.
But this meeting had confirmed one thing.
“The Heavenly Demon follows Soi hyung pretty well.”
Even Munsail, who hadn’t wanted to involve Jeom Soi, paused at that.
“…That Heavenly Demon?”
“Last time, when we went to kidnap him, the Heavenly Demon protected Soi hyung. It’s certain. The Heavenly Demon’s cooperating with Soi hyung, not the rep.”
“Why Soi hyung and not the summoner, the rep?”
“Who knows. Maybe because he’s a powerless civilian he wants to protect. Or some other goal.”
The Heavenly Demon had said he planned to return to his original world.
But Shin Taeul didn’t buy it.
If he really meant to go back, he wouldn’t let the rep pull stunts like this.
“Then…”
“The rep laid out the board, so we use it. The fan meeting’s our chance to contact Soi hyung again.”
“…You think Soi hyung’ll step up after hearing all that? He’s got no power to fight the rep, no reason to either.”
“Why do you think he’s powerless? Soi hyung just lacks internal energy.”
If Jeom Soi heard everything and took our side, we could use the Heavenly Demon.
But it was true he had no reason to fight the rep.
How far would Jeom Soi go for complete strangers…?
How far would the rep have to cross the line before Jeom Soi turned on him?
Shin Taeul pondered for a moment before speaking to the excommunicated disciples.
“If I go to the fan meeting, I’ll probably die with high odds. No…”
He added in a grim tone.
“I have to die.”
* * *
The next morning, we returned to Korea.
The rep was waiting at the airport.
‘Doesn’t seem like he’s just here to greet us…’
I put the members in the van to the dorm first.
Sure enough, the rep walked over to me, like he had something to say.
The Heavenly Demon stood by my side with an indifferent face.
“No injuries?”
The rep’s greeting wasn’t his usual one.
It carried the clear nuance that he knew something had happened in Japan.
I stared at him silently for a moment before speaking.
“I figured you’d keep pretending not to know.”
“You too, Soi.”
The rep slid down his sunglasses and smiled brightly.
“I’m hurt, Soi. If you were curious, you could’ve just asked me directly.”
“Really? Then what’s the reason for inviting those kids as special guests?”
“You wanted to know how your old friends were doing, didn’t you?”
He invited them because I wanted to know?
Without even consulting them.
The rep, who’d been watching me, smiled faintly.
“You look like you want to ask what I plan to do to them…”
“I won’t deny it.”
Then the rep said something unexpected.
“I promise you, Soi. I won’t do anything at the fan meeting.”
“…….”
…What did that mean?
Whether I believed his promise or not was secondary.
Whether they showed up was their call anyway.
Telling me didn’t reassure me or change anything.
But the rep’s words didn’t end there.
“And if you want…”
The rep grinned.
“I’ll tell you everything.”