Chapter 144
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144
“Cough, cough! Ugh, retch…”
You should have told me it would hurt this much!
[That’s why I told you you’d regret it, but you didn’t listen….]
The system window, which had appeared with a look of pity and mild contempt, scattered like smoke.
“Stop popping up in front of me. You’re making me dizzy, I think I’m going to throw up…”
[You already did.]
Thirty minutes before the event was scheduled to begin.
I had been clutching the toilet, dry-heaving over and over, but nothing came up.
Except for stomach acid and blood.
“It hurts…”
I staggered to my feet, turned on the faucet, and gripped the sink, trying to get ahold of myself.
The face staring back at me in the mirror was deathly pale, far worse than when I had ignored the leaker quest.
It felt like my brain was melting, and I’d been short of breath for a while now. My legs kept giving out, and I had to clench my jaw just to remain standing.
“Ugh…”
[Oh, geez….]
On top of that, blood kept surging up my throat.
I spat another mouthful of bloody phlegm into the sink.
“…Did the item work on that bastard?”
[You’re really something else, worrying about that right now.]
I had turned the leaker’s dreams into nightmares.
That wasn’t a metaphor. It was the truth.
Whatever he dreamed, wherever it was, whoever was in it—
[How do you even imagine things like that?]
—every living being would point their fingers at him, accusing him of being the leaker.
The goal was to make his already frayed nerves, worn thin by public criticism and pressure from the company, even weaker and more fragile.
So that he would shatter at the slightest trigger.
“Well? Did it work?”
I went through all this pain to get the item. The bastard who caused all this trouble deserved to suffer until he was shitting blood, didn't he?
When I pressed the question, the system window recoiled in disgust before finally giving me an answer.
[…It worked. He hasn’t slept for even an hour in three days. He’s gaunt, looks half-dead. …Just like you do now, Ho-yun.]
“Well, that makes me feel a little better…”
[Oh, geez…….]
As I took a breath, a nosebleed started trickling down. I quickly cupped my hand over my nose to keep it from staining my outfit and roughly pulled out a tissue to wipe it away.
Wow, I really feel like I’m going to die.
Feeling the tissue grow damp in my hand, I seriously wondered if I could dance and sing in a few dozen minutes.
[How about you skip the performance? Don’t you realize you’re not in your right mind?]
“I know…”
My vision kept tilting.
But I couldn’t stop now, not after coming this far.
The quest would be over after this one performance.
It was more productive to think about how I would handle it if I coughed up blood while singing.
I threw the bloody tissue in the trash and pressed my fingers to my feverish eyes.
Just then,
Vzzzt.
[Asshole]
My phone rang.
I was in no state to answer, so I declined the call, but it immediately rang again, persistent.
“Fuck…”
Swallowing the taste of blood in my mouth, I finally answered.
[Hello? Hey, Seo Ho-yun! You hung up on me on purpose, didn't you?]
“…What is it?”
[……?]
I asked, desperately clinging to the fraying thread of my reason.
For once, his intuition was annoyingly sharp. Ju Woo-seong seemed to have noticed my condition. He fell silent for a moment before asking cautiously.
[…Are you sick?]
“I’m not.”
[Really? Your voice sounds awful.]
“I said I’m not. Just get to the point.”
[Uh, okay. You’re on edge today.]
Ju Woo-seong seemed to hesitate for a moment before he started talking.
‘Shining Star,’ ‘mentor,’ ‘Cheong-beom noona,’ something or other… It was probably good information that I should have been listening to, but honestly, I couldn't focus at all.
It felt like someone was grabbing me by the hair and slamming my head against a wall.
I clutched the phone and tried to breathe as slowly as possible.
My condition seemed to be getting worse.
This is actually dangerous.
I might really collapse during the event.
I started weighing my options, wondering if it would be better to just skip the event and focus on catching the leaker. But then, Ju Woo-seong stopped talking and called my name.
[Seo Ho-yun, if you’re sick, just go to the hospital. Being sick in a foreign country is fucking miserable.]
“Yeah…”
Whatever, just hang up already.
My head is pounding…
I tried to bear with it a little longer, but Ju Woo-seong’s rambling was endless, and my irritation was starting to build.
[Are you guys having a concert? Isn’t it better to tell the company beforehand than to collapse there?]
“…What?”
He wasn’t wrong, but one word grated on my nerves.
A co-on-cert?
Even after I’d spent a year grinding away with The Dawn, we still hadn’t held a concert in Korea, let alone Japan. There was no way we could be having a concert in Japan.
But Ju Woo-seong, the top-tier idol from a massive entertainment company, had apparently misplaced the intuition he’d had moments ago. Or maybe he was doing this on purpose. He just kept chattering.
[Where is it? Yokohama?]
“……”
[…Ah, no? Sorry. I’ve only been to Tokyo and Osaka lately, so I don’t really know.]
My hand started to tremble.
Not from the pain, but from rage.
My hazy eyes instantly blazed with fury. Gripping the sink with one hand, I spoke in a soft voice.
“—Ju Woo-seong. Let me ask you one thing.”
[……Uh, yeah?]
“How many minutes did it take for Black Call’s Tokyo Dome concert to sell out?”
[…Huh?? Why all of a sudden?]
“It’s fine, just tell me.”
[Uh, well….]
Sensing something off in my voice, Ju Woo-seong muttered that I was being fucking scary and hesitated before finally giving me an answer.
[…Fi-five minutes, I think?]
Hah…
“Hang up, you bastard.”
I immediately ended the call and spat more blood into the sink.
“I’ll, fuck…”
In the mirror, a man with the appearance of a sick patient glared back, his eyes alone burning with a fierce light.
“I will, I will make it.”
Thanks, Woo-seong.
You helped me make up my mind again.
* * *
“Whoa! A fancam is up??”
The exam period, which she had barely survived while sensing the bitter sting of having to retake every single course, was finally over. University student Noeul, who had been enjoying a few leisurely days, frantically clicked the link at the news of a new Seo Ho-yun fancam.
“Whoa, awesome~!”
While videos from their Japanese activities were more common than from other overseas promotions, fancams were still relatively rare compared to their activities in Korea. Noeul felt like she had received an unexpected gift.
She turned on her laptop to watch the fancam on a bigger, clearer screen. On her phone, she opened her private SNS account and habitually refreshed the feed.
[omfg wtf wtf wtf]
[Holy shit]
“……?”
Everyone’s reactions were strange.
Is it because of the leak?
A chill went down her spine as she wondered if something else had blown up.
Just then, the MC’s voice introducing Second Chance came from the video playing on her laptop. The screen slowly zoomed in on Seo Ho-yun, who was waiting offstage.
“……What the?”
Noeul’s jaw dropped.
He looked sick. In a spot that wouldn’t be easily visible to the audience, he was leaning on Seong Ji-won’s shoulder, his face pale as he gasped for breath.
“Oh my god, is he sick??”
Noeul’s expression grew serious. The MC’s introduction ended, and The Dawn walked onto the stage.
The song hadn’t even started yet, but tiny beads of sweat were already forming on Seo Ho-yun’s forehead.
But when they got into formation and the intro began to play,
“……!”
His gaze changed in an instant.
【This ringing sensation in my head
Let me say it again, I’m back】
It was an intro she had heard thousands of times, but something about Seo Ho-yun was different today.
His damp bangs covered his forehead slightly. As he flawlessly controlled his expression and delivered the live vocals, he radiated something beyond grit—it was madness.
“What, what is this?!”
【The future I see is clearer now
You’re anxious about the low probability】
Having seen countless fancams of Seo Ho-yun performing “Second Chance,” Noeul had a premonition.
[hoooly shitttt what is this????]
This fancam was going to go down in history.
[Hey what is this??]
Noeul couldn’t take her eyes off Seo Ho-yun for a second.
Lately, Seo Ho-yun had always looked relaxed on stage. It wasn’t that he wasn’t trying hard; it was just that with experience, the raw, desperate energy of his Ttukttak-i days was gone.
But in this video, whenever his path took him to the outer edges of the stage or he turned his back, his expression would falter, or he’d bite his lip. Then, as soon as he moved to the center or his part came up, his eyes would fill with emotion as he sang and threw himself into the choreography with all his might.
“Crazy… This is crazy!!”
Noeul’s eyes widened as she watched Seo Ho-yun sweep his hair back while moving to the rear after his part.
[Ah.. hey... I...
I know I shouldn't be like this about someone who's sick
I feel so bad but]
The Noeuls of the world…
[I’m so fucking thrilled]
…had no conscience. Especially Seo Ho-yun’s fans.
Her private account was in an uproar.
[Ahhhh it feels like we’re back to the super early days of Second Chance Ho-yun.. Kkyaaaak ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
He seemed like a total psycho and so on edge back then]
[So many people fell for him seeing that fierce determination in his pure-looking face.. I was thinking he’d gotten all relaxed and soft again lately but ahhhhhh]
[Ah, it breaks my heart that he’s sick but at the same time I’m smiling from ear to ear
I’m sorry for being such trash...
└Don’t worry, we’re all doing it
└The trash can is warm in winter lol
└└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋomfg]
“Seo Ho-yun, what the hell is he?”
Seeing him perform while sick made her sad and worried, and she wanted to tear the bastards at Daepasung to shreds.
But apart from that, the Seo Ho-yun on screen was insanely, breathtakingly good.
【Come to me, Come to me
Don’t be afraid, come to me】
The members, who obviously knew about his condition, could be seen subtly looking out for him, but he himself didn’t spare them a single glance.
Of course, the fansite master, knowing this was a crucial point, captured every single one of those moments perfectly.
【Let me say it one more time
This is our beginning】
Just then, as he moved to the edge of the stage, Seo Ho-yun spotted the camera filming him and his lips moved.
“What… what was that?”
She frantically hit the spacebar and replayed it a few times until she could clearly see it.
It was a greeting.
‘Hi.’
A greeting for a fan.
His eyelashes trembled, and sweat dripped from his chin, yet he was still taking care of his fan.
The greeting, devoid of his usual smooth smile or any hint of laughter, made Noeul even more excited.
Bang!
Bang, bang, bang!!
“Hey!! You bastard!!”
It was a greeting anyone could see was delivered while barely clinging to his sanity.
【This time, this life, I will definitely
I will Save You (Save You)】
The song ended. Ho-yun swayed slightly, and the members quickly gathered around him. They bowed and descended from the stage, and with that, the video ended.
“…Isn’t this insane??”
Noeul kept muttering curses as she replayed the fancam over and over.
[Wow... there’s no way he isn’t a popular member....]
[Sickness aside, Seo Ho-yun is really intense.. Honestly, I’m usually indifferent when I see gifs of idols greeting fansite masters... but you can feel Ho-yun is sick and really holding onto his last thread of reason.]
[The fact that he greeted without smiling is the best part, fuck.. It really looks like he barely managed to get the word out.]
Finally calming down a bit, Noeul switched to her public account to check the general reaction.
[#Daepasung_Protect_Your_Artists]
[#Cancel_The_Japan_Events]
As expected, everyone was roasting Daepasung for making a sick kid perform.
The leaker incident hadn’t even been resolved, and now one of their artists was performing overseas while sick?
It was a total disaster.
Leaning back quietly in her chair, Noeul scrolled through her friends’ posts, then swiped her finger down the screen to refresh.
“…I’m sorry, Ho-yun.”
Her enjoyment aside, what was wrong was wrong.
But what could she do? It was her preference.
After posting with the hashtag, Noeul played the fancam one more time.
.
.
.
[Quest Complete!
You have successfully completed 10 events in Japan.
You truly are a tenacious person….
5,000 Points have been awarded.]
[The penalty will also end soon. You will recover slowly over the next half-day, so please hang in there a little longer.]
Yeah, thanks a whole lot.
But this wasn’t exactly the kind of news I wanted to hear in a bathroom.
The members, who thought I just had a bad cold, were nagging me to go to the hospital, but I didn’t think it was necessary since I wasn’t actually sick.
When we got back to the hotel, the members kept hovering around and trying to talk to me, so I kicked them out in annoyance.
After watching Kang Yi-chae leave with them, I burrowed under the covers and writhed in pain.
But then a sudden wave of nausea hit me, and I had to run to the bathroom again.
“Uuugh…”
The only light was a faint sliver coming through the crack of the unlit bathroom door, but the bright red blood was seared vividly into my vision.
[Ughhh…….]
“Wow, this really fucking sucks…”
I could still taste the metallic tang of blood. My nose was still bleeding, I had chills, my whole body ached as if it had been beaten with fists, and I was nauseous. I was truly experiencing every single symptom the system window had listed.
“Ah, the leaker… need to deal with the planning team…”
[You’re crazy! You’re crazy!]
[Is that what’s important right now?!]
[Do it later! Just rest for now!! ㅠㅠ]
With a trembling hand, I pushed myself up against the wall and turned on the sink to rinse my mouth.
I was about to flush the toilet to get rid of the evidence before the members came back, when—
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!!
The system window started flashing warnings like crazy.
“……?”
Before I could even read what the frantic system was saying, my vision was flooded with light.
The bathroom light had been turned on. A sense of foreboding washed over me, and goosebumps rose on my skin.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness, but a voice reached my ears first.
“I just came to rub your back, thinking your stomach was upset and you were throwing up…”
…Shit.
I slowly lifted my head. Through the mirror, I saw a face completely wiped clean of its usual smile.
“But what do you know.”
It was Kang Yi-chae.
He stood with his arms crossed, his eyelashes lowered. His cold gaze drifted to the toilet and sink, both stained red with blood.
“…It’s red, isn’t it?”