Chapter 344
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 344
[You have been afflicted with a Status Effect.]
I spat out the remaining blood, the metallic tang stinging the inside of my mouth. After rinsing once more with water, I wiped my face with a towel.
[You have been afflicted with a Status Effect.]
[You have been afflicted with a Status Effect.]
[You have been afflicted with a Status Effect.]
[You have been afflicted with a Status Effect.]
“I know, I know. Fuck.”
My head was already spinning, and the system windows popping up so frantically only made my irritation spike.
I groped along the wall for support as I stepped out. Mallang-i, Min Ji-heon’s dog, began circling my feet with a series of whines.
“…You sure are energetic.”
Mallang-i had long, white, well-groomed fur that practically shimmered. Fearing I might get something on him, I waved a hand to keep him at a distance and collapsed onto the sofa.
Slowly, I pulled my phone from my pocket.
I skimmed through the pile of missed calls and texts before checking the online communities and social media.
– Is it just me, or has Seo Ho-yun been totally MIA lately?
– Did Seo Ho-yun move out of the dorm? Feels like he hasn’t been there lately, and there are barely any sightings.
– Kang Yi-chae was throwing a fit about leaving the dorm too. Guess they think they’re hot shit now that they’re under WH…
– Discord rumors? Fuck, I didn’t want to have them confirmed like this.
I’d expected this level of reaction, so it didn’t bother me.
Something else was more important. I searched for a combination of terms: ‘Emergency Room,’ ‘Hospital,’ and ‘Seo Ho-yun.’
[Title: I saw S.H.Y. at the ER.
Is this really him?
SHY_ER.jpg
The moment he walked through the entrance, everyone’s eyes were glued to him.
He passed by so fast I didn’t get a good look, but his aura was… I seriously thought they were filming a drama in real-time lol.
He looked incredibly calm.
Didn’t seem like he was the one hurt; looked like he was there to see someone he knew.
└ Take the photo down.
└└ Seconded.
└└ Are you insane? This isn’t a cafe sighting; it’s the ER. Take it down, you freak.
└ But I’m curious who he was there to see.
└└ Probably family if he rushed to the ER?
└└ ? His family is dead lol.
└└ (This comment has been reported.)
└└ Didn’t they say he has a younger brother?
└└ (This comment has been reported.)
└└ Wow, you’re a real piece of work. You really want to leave hate comments about someone’s family that badly?
└└ Someone report that comment.
└ OP, just take the post down already…]
Amidst the rampant speculation, I breathed a sigh of relief that no photos of Seo Ho-jin were circulating.
I closed the search portal. Just as I was about to close my eyes while my stomach felt momentarily settled, a loathsome contact name flashed on the screen.
Vrrr— Vrrrrr—.
“…….”
Vrrrrrr—.
I flipped the phone over to ignore it, but the vibration started up again just as it seemed about to stop. Clutching my head, which felt like it was vibrating in sync with the phone, I answered.
“Stop calling, for fuck’s sake.”
[“My, aren’t we sensitive today~?”]
Min Ji-heon drawled playfully.
[“Isn’t that a bit harsh to say to the kind Ji-heon who even lent you his house?”]
Kind Ji-heon, my ass.
I stared at the system window flickering in front of me.
[Status Effect Remaining Time: 27 days, 13 hours, 21 seconds]
Dammit, time was moving so slowly.
Through a deal with the system, I had agreed to take on the full weight of the penalty my brother had been receiving in installments for one month. I’d happened to hear about Min Ji-heon’s schedule while getting his signature—he was going to be away for a long time for an overseas shoot—so I borrowed his place in exchange for a favor later.
[“How are you feeling?”]
“Like I’m dying.”
[“Aha, so you’re still fine then.”]
If there was any silver lining, it was that we were currently in an off-period.
The problem was that the comeback wasn’t far off.
I’d left the dorm telling the members I was worried about Seo Ho-jin, and I’d told Ho-jin that I’d be hard to reach for a while because work was busy.
The only one who knew the truth was the road manager who accompanied me to schedules.
‘I can’t drive in this state, damn it.’
[“…—And you have to brush Mallang-i’s fur regularly… Don’t give him too many dried sweet potatoes. He won’t eat his meals if you do.”]
“Your dog is built like a tank…”
[“I’ve always liked kids with a bit of spirit.”]
After that, he rambled on about missing his favorite gamja-tang place or wanting to smell Mallang-i’s paws.
I was letting his useless chatter drift through my fading consciousness when a name suddenly pierced my eardrums.
[“…—Yun-ie hyung, Seo Ho-yun!!”]
“…….”
[“Hey, hey, you’re still conscious, right?”]
My vision blurred for a moment. Feeling my ear grow hot against the phone, I muttered.
“…Hey, my head is throbbing. I’m hanging up.”
[“Ah, wait, wait.”]
Min Ji-heon, who had been spouting nothing but unproductive nonsense until now, hurriedly stopped me.
[“—So, who was it? The person who was sharing your burden.”]
“…….”
[“I figured it out, that’s why you’re suddenly sick now.”]
Perceptive bastard.
I suppressed the urge to vomit. Even though I knew Min Ji-heon wasn’t the root cause of this nausea.
It felt like I’d just received confirmation of something wretched.
Why Seo Ho-jin had been bearing the weight of the ‘inevitability’ that was shattering due to the system’s instability.
Why ‘parts of his memory’ had been severed.
What had been sacrificed for my sake.
The truths I had tried to ignore began to rear their heads, and endless hypotheses began to torture me.
‘…Not right now.’
I pressed my fingers firmly against my throbbing temples, trying to shake off the complicated thoughts for the time being.
Without proof, a hypothesis was just a hypothesis.
“Hey.”
Instead of digging a hole by dwelling on questions with no answers, it was more profitable to find something to gain from the reality I was facing.
[“Yeah?”]
“I’m going to do an acrostic poem with ‘Ttuk-baegi.’ Give me the first syllable.”
[“Suddenly?”]
“Yeah.”
[“Hmm, alright. Ttuk!”]
Ttuk. I hung up.
“Sly bastard.”
I turned off the phone and tossed it aside.
I sprawled back out on the sofa. Below me, Mallang-i whimpered and struggled, wanting to climb up.
“Ugh……”
I caught the rising blood in my hand again and swallowed another painkiller—I’d lost track of how many I’d taken. The constant nosebleeds and the fever that made it hard to think were definitely not normal.
However,
[Quest Arrived!
Successfully complete the music video filming for The Dawn’s September comeback.
Reward: 10,000 Points
Failure: Status Effect extended by 1 week]
The points were suspiciously high, just like in ‘Unknown Actor Tycoon,’ and the task was too simple, which made me wary. Regardless, seeing the quest sitting in the corner of my vision gave me a small sense of relief that at least part of the system had been restored.
‘Will everything go back to normal once this pain ends…?’
I placed an arm over my forehead and let all the strength drain from my body.
There were still parts I hadn’t fully grasped, and my body was a wreck.
Even so, I felt much more at ease knowing that nothing was happening behind my back anymore.
‘Enduring is the easiest thing in the world.’
As long as I didn’t get caught.
No matter how much I practiced, it never felt like enough, and the upcoming music video shoot was bound to be difficult, but I was more confident than anyone. Since my days as a PD, I was as used to being put through the wringer as I was to enduring.
I muttered curses under my breath as another headache, sharp as a piercing awl, struck me.
“Fuck, it really hurts… Gack!”
Mallang-i, who had finally succeeded in climbing the sofa, landed squarely on my stomach, forcing me to spray a fresh mouthful of dark red liquid.
* * *
“Rise and shine!!”
Jeong Da-jun, who had bolted awake and stretched his arms before the alarm even went off, pouted when he saw Seo Ho-yun’s still-empty bed.
‘He didn’t come back today either?’
He’d thought Ho-yun would at least sleep at the dorm…
Perhaps because it was the first time they’d been apart for over a week since their debut, the vacancy felt even larger.
“Geez, making people worry.”
Though it couldn’t be helped if his only family member was sick.
Da-jun grumbled as he got up, brushed his teeth, and changed. When he went out to the living room, the other members were already gathered and ready.
“But is Ho-yun hyung really okay? Why isn’t he answering his phone? Nothing else happened, right?”
“Jeong Da-jun, where’d your morning greeting go?”
Kim Seong-hyeon pressed a hand onto the top of Da-jun’s head and ruffled his hair before hooking an arm around his shoulders and leading him toward the door. Seong Ji-won and Kang Yi-chae followed leisurely behind them.
“What could happen to Seo Ho-yun? It was Ho-jin who had something happen.”
“But still… he hasn’t been in touch for this long…”
“He’s the type who has to see and take care of everything himself to be satisfied. He’s probably just busy looking after his brother.”
“Hmph.”
There wasn’t a single member who didn’t know how much Seo Ho-yun doted on his brother.
Nevertheless, Da-jun’s lips remained stuck out in a pout the entire time they greeted the manager, got into the van, and headed to the filming site.
“Now, now. I told you everything will be fine.”
“But I just feel uneasy for some reason…”
Da-jun was still grumbling as he stepped out of the vehicle after they finished parking. He looked around and spotted Seo Ho-yun talking to the road manager a short distance away.
“Oh!!”
It felt like he hadn’t seen him in ten years. Overjoyed, he started sprinting toward him.
“Ho-yun hyung!”
“Hey, Jeong Da-jun!!”
Exactly three steps before impact, he was caught by the scruff of his neck by Kim Seong-hyeon.
Seo Ho-yun, looking uncharacteristically startled, blinked slowly. Kim Seong-hyeon gave Da-jun’s pouting lips a firm pinch with his thumb and forefinger as a scolding before looking at Ho-yun.
“Seo Ho-yun, you okay?”
“…Yeah. Yeah, long time no see, everyone.”
As Da-jun slunk back to hide among the members, Seong Ji-won patted his back and asked, “Ho-yun, how is Ho-jin doing?”
“Yeah, he’s much better.”
“I see. That’s good. And you?”
“Me? I’m fine. Just the usual.”
Da-jun’s round eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Seo Ho-yun’s sharp way of speaking had softened significantly, and the fact that he seemed lethargic and was answering so compliantly felt incredibly strange.
Furthermore, while his cheeks were flushed, his complexion was so haggard it was almost ashen. The dark circles under his eyes reached his chin, and he looked like he’d lost a lot of weight in just one week.
It was as if Seo Ho-yun himself was the patient.
“Well, alright. You’ve worked hard. Get some rest for now.”
There was no way the other members hadn’t noticed what even Da-jun had picked up on, yet Seong Ji-won simply smiled brightly and patted Ho-yun’s shoulder.
Da-jun tilted his head in confusion, but everyone else subtly avoided his gaze. A moment later, the members—minus Seo Ho-yun—held an emergency meeting.
“What’s up with Seo Ho-yun today?”
“Let’s not mess with him for now. Doesn’t seem like the right day.”
“Do you think he’s unwell? Wasn’t it Ho-jin hyung who was sick?”
“Did he catch it? A cold?”
While the four of them huddled together and whispered, Da-jun kept glancing at Kang Yi-chae. Usually, when Seo Ho-yun was sick, Yi-chae’s worry turned into anger, which led to a fight. And in that process, Da-jun, the weakest link, usually got caught in the crossfire, so he was extremely on edge. Kang Yi-chae remained expressionless, lost in thought.
“The Dawn, please gather over here!”
Several printed sheets of paper were already copied and laid out on a long rectangular table. They had expected an overview of the scenes they were filming today, but the content was actually about safety training.
Kim Seong-hyeon, who was reading through the text, asked a staff member a question.
“Weren’t we supposed to film the music video today?”
“Ah! Safety training is mandatory for this shoot. We decided to move the schedule up a bit just in case.”
Kang Yi-chae’s eyebrows twitched.
The staff member pulled out a tablet PC, swiped through the concept book, and pointed to a specific section.
“We have underwater filming scheduled!”
At that moment, the members’ eyes all darted toward Seo Ho-yun’s pale face.
But Seo Ho-yun remained calm.