Chapter 200
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200
[The Dawn going on FNL is insane lololololol]
Known as Friday Night Live.
Airing every Friday at 10 PM, it was a variety show famous for inviting only those at the very forefront of the latest trends as hosts.
Normally, appearing on such a show would have been a distant dream for The Dawn, but thanks to the "Seo Ho-yun Syndrome" sweeping the nation, an unexpected opportunity had arrived.
[I'm so hyped for the skits]
[Are they gonna do the Apocalypse self-produced content again?? T_T 5-Minute Boyfriend?? T_T
└ 5-Minute Boyfriend lololol that would be freaking hilarious lol]
Ever since the FNL teaser and the articles confirming their appearance dropped, the Noeuls had been buzzing with anticipation over what the content would be.
However, even amidst the excitement, the topic of "Seo Ho-yun Syndrome" itself wasn't mentioned much.
Seo Ho-yun hadn't expressed whether he liked or disliked the trend, and even when such comments popped up during B-Lives, his expression remained unchanged.
But to the fans, his feelings were blindingly obvious through his actions.
[Seo Ho-yun lately lololol the number of times he calls Da-jun "Bangbang-i" has dropped drastically]
[Look at him suddenly wearing white clothes, this brat... his rebellious streak is insane...
└ And since he only owns black clothes, that’s actually Kim Seong-hyeon’s outfit. LMAO, I'm dying]
[He seriously seems to hate it lolololol
But I hate it too...
It was a plague that should never have existed...]
To simply laugh it off, the "Seo Ho-yun Syndrome" that had leaped off the screen and into reality was truly a calamity.
As the number of people imitating him grew, the backlash followed.
[He seems to be forcing those lines way too much... lol. He probably thinks he looks cool... He probably loves it when the other members hype him up T_T]
[And the general public is eating this crap up... Ugh, gross T_T makes me want to puke]
The Noeuls, who had already weathered countless storms, simply snorted at the inevitable negative posts.
[K~]
[Sure, sure~ whatever you say~]
[Sigh, yeah, yeah, you guys are totally right]
[Actually, it's true he did it on purpose lol. Pretty sure he just did it to tease Kang Yeon-hu]
Honestly, Ho-yun was only fundamentally sweet and kind to the Noeuls. To the fans who had even a vague grasp of his true personality, they figured he only dropped those "guilty" lines on Singing Variety Show for a specific reason, not just for the sake of it.
Furthermore, having watched Seo Ho-yun for over a year and a half, they didn't believe his entire persona was fabricated.
However, there was one thing the Noeuls agreed on.
[I'm screwed. My junior for this group project seems to have caught the Seo H-Y Syndrome.
He suddenly started unwrapping and eating a lollipop.
Then he rested his chin on his hand and looked at me all slyly. I wanted to punch him, f*ck.
Sigh... Ho-yun-ssi, did you really have to bring this disaster upon South Korea...??]
[Seo Ho-yun-ssi, if you're reading this, please stop this disease... It's horrific...]
The consensus was that this disaster needed to be contained.
As various posts flickered in and out of existence, the day of the FNL broadcast finally arrived.
Since the program was known for being blunt and occasionally crossing the line with its bold progression, a few fans were worried, but most were filled with anticipation.
【Mid-July 20XX, a hospital in XX】
After a long string of commercials, the show began.
Kim Seong-hyeon, wearing a white lab coat and silver-rimmed glasses, walked down a hallway alongside famous comedian Ji-yu.
Then, a narration flowed out.
【Elite among elites, Professor Kim Seong-hyeon meticulously checks on his patients today as well.】
"Follow me."
[Wait, is the concept a doctor???
└ Looks like a hospital documentary vibe
└ Oh... okay, okay]
"Professor Kim, it's time to examine the next patient."
"Yes, I understand."
[Our Seong-hyeon's lines are short, so he doesn't sound awkward, right?
└ It's a monumental improvement...]
[But why a hospital documentary all of a sudden??]
As they walked down the hallway again, there were an unusually high number of patients wrapped tightly in black from head to toe.
[Oh f*ck, please no]
When Kim Seong-hyeon bumped into a patient and turned around while clutching his shoulder, the actor playing the patient smirked.
"Hyung, sorry?"
The behavior and tone were eerily familiar.
"……I am a professor."
"Right, Professor. Just this once, for the last time, I'll call you hyung."
[Oh f*ck, please no]
"…Professor. Let's move on."
"……Yes."
Kim Seong-hyeon, looking truly exhausted, rubbed his brow and followed Ji-yu into a ward.
There were several beds surrounded by curtains. Ji-yu pulled one of the curtains open with a flourish.
"Patient, how are you feeling today?"
The camera slowly zoomed in from the bottom up.
Lying on the bed, in hospital gown dyed black—even his hair was pitch black—was...
"Hey, baby. You here?"
—Seong Ji-won.
He smiled brightly as he spoke to Kim Seong-hyeon.
[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL oh f*ck lolololololol]
As Kim Seong-hyeon stared at him with a devastated expression, Ji-yu whispered from beside him.
"He's a Stage 3 Seo Ho-yun Syndrome patient."
"Sigh……."
[LOLOLOLOLOL please, I think I'm gonna die T_T lolololol]
"Patient, I'm going to examine you."
"Baby, I'm hurt."
"I said I'm examining you."
"Just call me Ji-won like you usually do."
[T_T T_T is this for real? T_T T_T lololol T_T T_T]
"Kim Seong-hyeon looks legitimately pissed, what do we do lolololol]
Kim Seong-hyeon's tightly set jaw trembled slightly.
Regardless, Seong Ji-won remained blissfully cheerful.
Moreover, he looked so relaxed that he seemed more natural than when he had played the role of Kang Yi-chae during the K-High Schooler self-produced content.
Perhaps because Kim Seong-hyeon was truly devastated and annoyed, his acting felt remarkably un-awkward.
"Patient, you need to snap out of it. Your will is the most important thing right now."
Kim Seong-hyeon tried his best to dissuade Seong Ji-won with a passionate performance, but Seong Ji-won only tilted his head slightly.
"Are you worried about me right now?"
"No."
"That's a shame. My heart skipped a beat."
Seeing Seong Ji-won smirk and sweep his hair back, Kim Seong-hyeon looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.
"Seong Ji-won-ssi, please calm down. One Seo Ho-yun in the group is enough. No, it's more than enough."
"Then what about Yi-chae?"
"…Excuse me?"
At that moment, the curtain next to them was yanked open!
"Hi, my love."
[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Jeong Da-jun, hey!!! Hey lolololol]
[Crazy f*ck lolololol T_T T_T I loved Kang Yi-chae's stage T_T
└ Every time I see Kang Yi-chae's stage now, it's gonna be a Laughter Suppression Challenge]
Jeong Da-jun appeared, wearing the exact hoodie Kang Yi-chae had worn when he showed up in a pineapple hat in the second episode of Singing Variety Show, swinging his feet.
"Was I not enough for you?"
Beside him, the real Kang Yi-chae sat on a folding chair, dabbing his dry eyes with a tissue as he waited on Jeong Da-jun hand and foot.
"Hing, what are we going to do with our Da-junie…?"
"Seriously, what am I going to do with myself……?"
Letting out a heavy groan, Kim Seong-hyeon retorted to Kang Yi-chae's words.
Ji-yu leaned in close to Kim Seong-hyeon and whispered.
"Professor, I hear that patients with Kang Yi-chae Syndrome have been coming in occasionally lately."
"This is truly serious. If more of them appear, the country will truly fall."
[I think I know why they gave the doctor role to Kim Seong-hyeon, the acting hole of The Dawn.
No one else in The Dawn could pull off that 'Please just stop' expression.
└ Agreed
└└ This desperation born from a soul-deep vibe...]
"Professor Kim Seong-hyeon, I heard you're also researching Kang Yi-chae Syndrome. How exactly is it transmitted?"
"Accurate results haven't been derived yet, but according to current research, catching it is almost random. It can only be seen as a coincidence."
At that, Jeong Da-jun made an amused face.
"Are you still naive enough to think it's a coincidence?"
"Kyaaa!"
Kang Yi-chae jumped up from his chair, covering his mouth with both hands and letting out a shriek.
"……."
[That brat Kang Yi-chae is definitely enjoying the Kang Yi-chae Syndrome 2000%]
[Kim Seong-hyeon is seriously f*cking pissed.
Can we just consider this 'method acting' now?
└ If they keep going, Seong-hyeon's gonna die of a stress-induced heart attack lolololololol]
As Kim Seong-hyeon bit his lower lip, the comedian asked worriedly.
"Doctor, what should we do?"
"…Whew, at least these patients still have some of their sanity left."
Kim Seong-hyeon took off his glasses and rubbed his now-darkened eyes as he stepped toward another room.
"Because their true self is fighting the disease, a portion of the patient's mind remains."
"Pardon? What does that mean…?"
"The most dangerous stage is when the true self and the disease become perfectly identical."
Just then, Kim Seong-hyeon's foot slipped on the perfectly smooth floor, and he began to fall backward.
As Kim Seong-hyeon was about to land on his butt in slow motion, someone's hand caught his back!
The screen filled with the two of them facing each other closely, like a scene from a romance movie.
"Hey, baby."
"……!"
The person was none other than Seo Ho-yun.
Jeong Da-jun, Kang Yi-chae, and Seong Ji-won all widened their eyes in horror.
"No, that's!"
"The real Seo Ho-yun, diagnosed with terminal, incurable Seo Ho-yun Syndrome?"
"The man who throws out groundless guilty lines every 0.5 seconds?"
[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Guys
Please
T_T]
[Like idol, like fans...
These brats throwing out lines without any context...]
"Gotta watch the floor."
"I'd appreciate it if you'd take your hands off me right now."
"Prickly, aren't we?"
Giving Kim Seong-hyeon a shove and straightening his back, Seo Ho-yun swept his hair back every five seconds as if he were trying to pull it all out.
Then, turning his gaze away from Kim Seong-hyeon, who had scurried back a few steps, he looked at Jeong Da-jun with eyes dripping with honey.
"Bangbang-i."
"Bangbang-i? I'm a fly, sharp-tongued, my-pace genius, though?"
The one called Bangbang-i tilted his head and denied it, but Seo Ho-yun didn't care at all as he strode over and stroked Jeong Da-jun's hair.
Simultaneously, Kim Seong-hyeon's sharp gaze was magnified as his narration played.
【That is... the groundless hair-stroking that only someone in the terminal stages of Seo Ho-yun Syndrome can perform!】
[LOLOLOLOL Seong-hyeon's narration, f*ck T_T I'm seriously gonna die]
"Hyung misses your natural comedy gold."
"……!"
【Is he really throwing that out as a guilty line?】
The screen captured Kim Seong-hyeon's bewildered eyes alongside a shot of Seo Ho-yun letting out a smirk.
Jeong Da-jun, covering his mouth, hopped off the bed and tried to jump into Seo Ho-yun's arms, but the man himself simply tilted his body slightly to avoid him as if it were second nature.
Ji-yu, who ended up hugging Jeong Da-jun instead, pressed a stethoscope to his chest and looked shocked.
"Wait, Professor! Jeong Da-jun's blood-Yi-chae levels are dropping!"
"What?! How is that possible?"
[Blood-Yi-chae-yun levels, dammit lolololololol]
[There's no way you can tell blood-Yi-chae levels just by listening with a stethoscope]
Ignoring the comments from Kim Seong-hyeon and the comedian, Seo Ho-yun swept his hair back again and approached Seong Ji-won.
"Seong Ji-won."
He called his name in an incredibly sweet voice.
"I'll wait for you. Until your Seo Ho-yun Syndrome is cured."
"Don't wait. Just forget me completely."
"I'm going to wait."
Seong Ji-won, perfectly mimicking the way Seo Ho-yun habitually flopped onto the sofa at the dorm, sprawled out on the bed and put on a cold expression.
"How long can you wait?"
"A year."
"Liar."
"Half a year."
"Ho-yun-ah, do you think I'm a fool? Exactly how long are you going to wait?!"
If a stranger had happened to flip the channel to this scene, the lines sounded like a conversation between lovers who had broken up and reunited.
Beside their back-and-forth, Kim Seong-hyeon (who looked like he was having a slight existential crisis) and Ji-yu made a fuss.
"He called him 'Ho-yun-ah'!"
"Seong Ji-won's Seo Ho-yun Syndrome is improving in the face of Seo Ho-yun's overwhelming guilty lines!"
Then, Seo Ho-yun casually sat on the edge of the bed and gently brushed aside Seong Ji-won's black bangs that had fallen over his eyes.
"How long will I wait?"
Seong Ji-won's eyes shook in every direction.
"Until the traffic light changes 200 times."
[That's short]
[LOLOLOLOL f*ck, 200 times isn't even a full day lolololololol]
[Seo Ho-yun, you brat lololololol]
At the same time, an alarm went off behind Seong Ji-won—beep beep beep beep!
The machine shown on camera had "Blood-Ho-yun Level" written on the top right, and the graph could be seen dropping sharply.
Everyone clapped with touched expressions, except for Kim Seong-hyeon, who furrowed his brows.
【What is this? All the patients are being cured, yet I have this unsettling feeling.】
Afterward, the scene transitioned to an office filled with stacks of data and bookshelves packed with books on both sides.
The camera slowly zoomed in on a computer where a word processor was open with a blinking cursor.
〔—In conclusion, there is a high possibility that Seo Ho-yun Syndrome or Kang Yi-chae Syndrome could recur at any time. Furthermore, the virus could evolve, leading to new outbreaks of Kim Seong-hyeon Syndrome, Jeong Da-jun Syndrome, or Seong Ji-won Syndrome.〕
The text was captured in a large font for emphasis as the screen faded to black.
Following that, several other skits like "5-Minute Boyfriend" and "When You're Targeted by The Dawn" continued. Every member of The Dawn performed their roles with absolute dedication.
[Well, guys...]
The Noeuls, who watched until the very end, were silent on social media for a long time before they finally began to post their reviews.
[As long as they're living happy and fun lives, that's all that matters, right? h]
The sentiment was: As long as my kids are happy.
Following the self-produced role-reversal content, it was a bit pitiful to see only Kim Seong-hyeon looking particularly tormented, but the fans' happiness levels were at 1000%.
For a while after the broadcast, the "plague" continued to rage, but after being thoroughly transformed into humor, the Seo Ho-yun Syndrome gradually subsided and faded into the background of passing trends.