Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Issue Maker Yu Yeon-seo
Kim I-jun, a member of the boy group ‘One Seven’, got into a taxi after leaving Yu Yeon-seo’s hospital room, lost in thought.
He and Yu Yeon-seo weren’t close enough for him to be visiting. His trip to the hospital room had been an impulsive act.
He happened to be passing by, and since the news said Yeon-seo’s life was in danger, he decided to go, partly out of 0.3 grams of loyalty. In truth, besides that minuscule amount of loyalty, his main reason was to laugh at the sight of Yu Yeon-seo lying pathetically on a hospital bed.
‘I never thought he’d actually open the door for me…’
Not only was it a crazy coincidence that Yu Yeon-seo had just woken up after fifteen days, but I-jun had expected to be turned away at the door. Instead, when Yeon-seo heard he was there, he let him in without a fuss.
“So, why are you here? Without even calling.”
“You probably blocked my number.”
Yeon-seo’s head and one arm were wrapped in bandages, and his face was pale and dusky. He was in no state to be laughed at. Honestly, I-jun had thought the media was exaggerating minor injuries, but it seemed his condition was genuinely critical.
“...Are you in a lot of pain?”
At Kim I-jun’s reluctant question, Yu Yeon-seo smirked.
“Is that all you have to say after coming all this way? Be honest. You came to laugh at me.”
“Yeah, you’re right. To be honest, it’s pretty satisfying. Serves you right. I heard you’re such a bad actor you’re even getting overshadowed by the supporting cast?”
Kim I-jun answered promptly. But his heart had softened, so he added an explanation.
“...Still, I’m not such a scumbag that I’d say something to a patient in this state. Unlike some people.”
“Is that so? What a great saint you are.”
Yu Yeon-seo’s tone was sarcastic, but deep down, he was pleased. He had almost no friends who would come to visit him in the hospital.
He recalled the faces of his former teammates he’d run into at an awards ceremony. The deep hatred in their eyes, the way they moved away to avoid being in the same space. As if possessed, Yu Yeon-seo spoke.
“Do you guys still resent me?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“Has it been five, six years since I left? Even after all this time?”
“It might be a long time for you, but for me and the other members, it feels like yesterday.”
Kim I-jun felt a growing heat in his head. He’d come to provoke, but he was the one getting provoked.
“Hey, Kim I-jun.”
“What.”
“You and the other guys, stop being so pathetic.”
“What? Pathetic?”
“Stop worrying about me and live your own lives. Tsk, you look pathetic.”
Yu Yeon-seo looked genuinely baffled. Kim I-jun’s face contorted into a deep frown.
“You want to waste your energy on a deserter who was only with you for a few months, not even a few years?”
“Are you just any deserter? We went through a hiatus and a period of obscurity because of you.”
“Then you should’ve done some vocal training as a trainee. Idols are singers too… And why is it my fault you guys were unknown? That’s all on your lack of talent.”
Kim I-jun clenched his fists. If Yeon-seo weren’t a patient, he would have thrown a punch right then and there. I must be crazy. What was I thinking, coming all the way to the hospital room for a guy like this… I really shouldn’t have come. Just because we spent a few months as trainees together, shared the joy of debuting, my heart got weak…
“Still, that chart-climbing resurgence, I’ll give you that. It’s finally paying off.”
“What?”
Kim I-jun let out a disbelieving laugh. It had been a full two years since One Seven had left their unknown days behind and shot to fame with a viral comeback. It was strange for Yeon-seo to suddenly bring up something from two years ago.
‘Seriously, why? Was there something I didn’t know?’
Yu Yeon-seo paused, as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have. In fact, he’d been feeling strange ever since he regained consciousness. His body felt oddly disconnected, as if it weren’t his own. It felt like he was tying up loose ends before death, and his mouth moved on its own.
“I heard you renewed your contracts too. Anyway, that CEO isn’t the type to run off with the money, so don’t worry and just live your lives.”
“What? What does that even…”
What’s with the sudden non-sequitur? Just as Kim I-jun was about to ask, Yu Yeon-seo checked a message on his phone and shouted urgently.
“Ah, shit. Hey, my old man is on his way. Get out, quick!”
“What?”
“No, hide! Hurry!”
He shoved Kim I-jun under the bed and covered him with a blanket. Then he lay down and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. What Kim I-jun didn’t know was that this was the moment the ‘real’ Yu Yeon-seo closed his eyes for good.
And so, he ended up overhearing the entire conversation between Yu Yeon-seo and the Chairman.
‘The Chairman pressured the agency to make him leave the group?’
Kim I-jun paused for a moment before opening the door to the dorm.
Yu Yeon-seo wasn’t forced out. He walked out on his own. Everyone had thought that the chaebol heir, who had enough money to fill the entire hospital and still have some left over, had simply gotten bored of his little idol hobby. But it was because of his grandfather’s pressure?
‘No way. Was it… for us?’
What would have happened if he had stayed with One Seven? Yu Yeon-seo’s family might have blocked all of One Seven’s activities and even threatened them. The Juseong Group certainly had the power to do so. But…
‘That can’t be right.’
Kim I-jun shook his head violently. That selfish bastard who only ever thought of himself?
As Kim I-jun stood lost in thought, his fellow group member, Park Ju-won, walked up to him, looking at his phone.
“Don’t tell me you went to see him at the hospital.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Then what’s this picture?”
Park Ju-won held out his phone screen.
One Seven’s I-jun Spotted at Korea University Hospital… Did He Come to See His Former Member?
Loyalty to a Former Member? One Seven’s I-jun Seen Leaving Korea University Hospital
Kim Bok-soon @93_one7
Looks like Yeon-seo and I-jun are still in touch ㅠㅠㅠ Our boys get along so well ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ Bring back the ’93 line ㅠㅠㅠ
BEBE @BEBEBEBEBEBE
Ah, fucking hell!!!!! Why would you go there!!
└ IKR ㅠㅠㅠ Does he have no pride ㅠㅠ Why the hell would he go there ㅠㅠㅜㅠ
└ That YS guy isn’t a member anymore, I wish people would stop linking them
└ It’s been years since YYS bailed on One Seven, why are they still milking this?
“Dammit…”
“Way to go, getting your picture taken there. Real smart.”
“What did the manager say?”
“He said to just spin it that you weren’t visiting Yu Yeon-seo, you were there for a health check-up.”
Getting involved with a member who left on bad terms would never go over well with the fandom, so the agency was playing it safe.
At the sound of Kim I-jun’s voice, the other members came out of their rooms one by one and gathered around him. Their expressions were more accusatory than curious.
“Why did you go?”
“Probably to check if he finally croaked. He hated that bastard Yu Yeon-seo the most.”
The six members of One Seven didn’t just dislike Yu Yeon-seo; they hated him. If they ever happened to cross paths, they would shoot him looks of pure disgust.
“So, did he look okay?”
“He wasn’t dead, but he didn’t look good. He was even having a nosebleed.”
“Really? The son of a bitch has a tough life line.”
One Seven, a group whose name meant ‘Seven are one,’ had been forced to fabricate a new origin story for their name after Yu Yeon-seo’s sudden departure—that the six members and their fandom were one.
“But I heard the car accident wasn’t Yu Yeon-seo’s fault.”
“A drug dealer, high on his own supply, crashed into him. Right in the middle of Gangnam, too.”
“Tsk. I just feel bad for the manager.”
Kim I-jun stared blankly at the members who were tearing Yu Yeon-seo to shreds, and then, as if possessed, he spoke.
“What if, just what if.”
“Yeah?”
“What if Yeon-seo had… an unspoken reason for leaving our team?”
“Hyung, you’re good at writing fiction.”
Part of the reason their dislike for Yu Yeon-seo had festered into hatred was his own vicious tongue.
“What if he quit because of family pressure?”
“Him?”
When Yu Yeon-seo left, he had run his mouth off, saying he couldn’t stand being with them because they were so pathetic, and that if he was going to be a celebrity, being a great ‘Actor’ was obviously better than being an idol. Then he abruptly packed his things and left the dorm.
“Did Yu Yeon-seo tell you to say that? How much did he pay you?”
“No, that’s not it…”
“Then why are you defending him?”
The members of One Seven couldn’t understand what Kim I-jun was saying.
“...I-jun, what good would that do now anyway?”
One Seven’s leader, Yoon Yu-chan, said with a deep sigh.
It wasn’t just the meaning of their group name that had changed. After Yu Yeon-seo, their main vocalist and visual, left the team, One Seven had a year-long hiatus—a long time for a rookie group.
After that came three years of obscurity. It took a total of seven years of grueling training before they finally sparked a chart-climbing resurgence and reached their current stability. What difference would it make now if Yu Yeon-seo had left for the team’s sake?
“You’re right.”
Kim I-jun shook his head vigorously. It was a ridiculous fantasy. Right. Yu Yeon-seo? He’s not that kind of person.
They had endured a long period of being unknown, and they wanted compensation for that time. They needed someone to blame. It was only natural that Yu Yeon-seo became that target.
What surprised Kang Jin-hu most upon entering Yu Yeon-seo’s body was the ‘surface.’
“The sky is… so clear.”
The news was blaring about the year’s worst fine dust levels, but to the current Yu Yeon-seo, the air felt nothing but refreshing. In the year 2207, where he had lived, humanity was cooped up underground, so there were few opportunities to even look up at the sky.
“How do you work this thing?”
He was turning a palm-sized, rectangular device over and over in his hands when Beta-9’s voice emerged.
<Good afternoon, Master.>
<Would you like to synchronize the Basic Living Guide for the year 2018?>
Perfect timing. Yu Yeon-seo nodded.
<However, the excessive influx of information may cause strain on Master’s body.>
What? Why are you telling me that now?
Yu Yeon-seo frantically tried to shout “cancel,” but what came out wasn’t words, but blood.
“Cough…!”
His head rang as if struck by a hammer. A gut-wrenching pain twisted his insides, and he clutched his stomach. As if vomiting blood wasn’t enough, it started pouring from his nose and ears as well.
<It’s because Master consented too quickly…>
Come to think of it, Alpha is already at 13, but Beta is only at 9. Those bastards from the future… they gave me an outdated model… That was Yu Yeon-seo’s last thought as he lost consciousness.
The news that Yu Yeon-seo had lost consciousness again sent the VIP ward of Korea University Hospital into an uproar. The medical staff checked on him whenever they had a spare moment, and an employee from Juseong Group was stationed outside his room at all times.
If Yu Yeon-seo so much as lifted a finger, someone would somehow know and open the door from the outside, asking if he needed anything. Did they install a camera in here or something?
In any case, under this devoted care, Yu Yeon-seo steadily recovered his health.
“Wow, my ancestors lived interesting lives.”
Yu Yeon-seo excitedly surfed the internet on the ancient artifact known as a smartphone. In 2207, where he was from, artificial intelligence would read a person’s thoughts and produce results instantly, but there was a certain charm to searching manually in this era.
He decided to take this opportunity to look into this body’s reputation.
-[Male Actors] Yeon-seo ㅜ What gives you the confidence to be an actor? ㅠ Is it your face? Is that it? +569
The original poster deleted the post, scared of Yu Yeon-seo’s fandom, Love Letter, but the screenshot remained.
└ You really had to dig up that ancient copypasta?
└ Stop hyping up that old post ㄴㄴ
└ Honestly, if it wasn’t that specific post, wouldn’t it be a masterpiece of a critique?
└└ Wow, so many defenders of that post lol
└ But honestly, the content is spot on
└└ +1
└└└ +11111
-Let’s learn about the human hot topic, Yu Yeon-seo
-Yu Yeon-seo again? An update to the list of Yu Yeon-seo’s scumbag quotes (02.27.18)
-‘Our Moment’ lead role confirmed for Yu Yeon-seo (Official)
└ Ah fuck, he got another lead role with his connections
└ Is this country a joke
└ Ah, I was looking forward to this, but I’m dropping it. Bye.
-Yu Yeon-seo trying his hand at musicals?… Posts ‘Jealousy’ script on SNS, “Creating a Buzz”
└ He should focus on his actual job instead of posting this stuff
└└ Isn’t he just campaigning to be cast lol
└└└ In that Jealousy?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ The one that even top musical actors have been rejected from?
Human Scumbag Yu Yeon-seo, Issue Maker Yu Yeon-seo—there wasn’t a single positive reaction. Any positive comments came from his fan club, Love Letter.
Despite Controversy over Lead Actor’s Performance, ‘Our Moment’ Ratings Soar
Yu Yeon-seo on ‘Our Moment’s’ rating increase: “Because I chose it.” On acting controversy: “What’s wrong with my acting? I did my best.”
Yu Yeon-seo on ‘Our Moment’ writer’s second lead syndrome controversy: “It’s extremely unpleasant… I will never forget this humiliation until the day I die.”
└ Ooh, so scary
└ If you,,,,weren’t a chaebol heir..do you think you could’ve been cast in Our Moment. Know,,,,your place.
└ Yeon-seo’s head really is in the clouds^^
“Hah…”
…He decided he’d seen enough.