Chapter 414
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 414
In the end, I couldn't wait for Seo Ho-jin to return and prepared to head back to the dorm.
I tidied up the dining table, pulled whatever 50,000-won bills my hand caught from my wallet, and set them down. Then, I found a Post-it note, scribbled a short sentence, and stuck it next to the cash.
Buy yourself something delicious.
With that, I left the house, feeling a bit like I was running away.
'Shit, what the hell am I doing?'
The Grand Prize—if I didn't get it this year, I just had to win it next year somehow. My reason certainly judged it so, but in my heart, only the worst-case scenarios surfaced, and my anxiety soared endlessly.
Exhaling an irritated sigh, I entered the dorm and called out for Kang Yi-chae, who would have been left alone.
"Kang Yi-chae."
Only silence hung over the dorm.
I threw open his room door, but only the cold, empty air greeted me. I immediately turned on my phone and called him, but the call wouldn't go through.
He wasn't a child; I told myself he’d be fine on his own, yet before I knew it, I was shoving my feet into my shoes and heading toward WH Entertainment.
Standing in front of Kang Yi-chae’s studio, I brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen annoyingly over my eyes and punched in the passcode I knew by heart.
"Hey, I'm coming in."
A space saturated with Kang Yi-chae’s tastes revealed itself. Electric guitars were lined up in one corner, and an electronic piano sat beside them. The opposite wall was decorated with tattered posters of heavy metal bands, and empty jelly and candy wrappers rolled around the floor.
In the center of it all, a movie was projected onto a screen.
Yi-chae was sitting on the sofa, his gaze fixed on the dim light.
Leaning against the wide-open door with my arms crossed, I asked, "Kang Yi-chae, why aren't you picking up your phone?"
"Oh, Hyung."
He answered without even looking my way.
"Did you text?"
"Yeah. Want to go for some gukbap?"
"Can't we go after I finish watching this?"
Normally, I wouldn't have even looked for him. I would have assumed he was practicing alone.
But his strange attitude lately, and that subtly dejected face—so unlike him—had been grating on my nerves. That was why I’d intended to have a light chat.
I closed the door and plopped down next to him.
"Is the movie that good?"
"No, it's not that great—"
Yi-chae continued, holding out a bag of potato chips that had been tossed carelessly onto the coffee table.
"—but it's the one Da-jun recommended."
Ah, the one they were talking about this morning.
After that, Yi-chae became abruptly quiet.
Since I had nothing better to do, I turned my head toward the screen.
It was a typical American teen movie about a young boy who forms a band with his friends and works hard to win a Gramophone Award.
【You can never be famous! Fuck you!】
The protagonist screamed while smashing his guitar during a conflict with his bandmates.
【I’m sorry, I should have believed in you.】
They went through various trials, restored their trust, and eventually hugged each other while crying.
【This is, what we call, a family.】
The plausibility was a bit lacking, but it had a certain quality that stirred the audience's hearts, so I figured it must have been a hit. It didn't do much for me, though.
Imagining Jeong Da-jun bawling his eyes out at these scenes and lines was the only thing that made the time bearable.
Just as I was finishing my second bag of chips to stave off the boredom, I heard humming from beside me.
Glancing over, I saw Yi-chae singing softly along to the melody playing in the movie.
【This is the moment in our life
I will never forget what you’ve said to me
(Ah- Ah- I will never forget)】
Whether it was the OST or the title track, the song the protagonist had been belting out throughout the film echoed loudly as the ending credits began to roll.
I let out a wide yawn and gave a brief review.
"No fun."
"Wow, that's harsh."
As he spoke, Yi-chae let out a small chuckle.
It had been quite a while since I’d seen him with such a bright expression, so I smiled back and nudged his leg with my toe.
"I thought you didn't like this kind of stuff."
"I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me the more I watched it."
"Isn't this your first time seeing it?"
Yi-chae scratched his eyebrow with his thumb, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I've already seen it dozens of times since Da-jun recommended it."
"Huh?"
"...I didn't have much to do when I was alone."
Something about his answer felt slightly off-kilter. As I watched him blankly, Yi-chae glanced at me and picked up the projector remote.
"The title just popped into my head when I was bored... He still thinks I haven't seen it, though."
"...Ah, really? Da-jun would be happy to hear that. No wonder he’s been shouting 'Gramophone, Gramophone' for a while now."
"Right."
Then, as he turned off the screen, he spoke calmly.
"Just like how you wanted to win the Grand Prize, Hyung."
If you're going to make such a sharp turn in the conversation, could you please use a turn signal?
Pretending to be unfazed, I waited for him to continue. Yi-chae tilted his head slightly and asked.
"Does it bother you? Not winning the award?"
"...Well, you know. We can just win it next year."
It bothered me. It bothered me so, so much.
But I shot back like someone who didn't care at all. It was in the past, after all.
Besides, Yi-chae’s condition had worsened since the Korea Music Awards in January, so I didn't think there was any need to add to his worries.
To change the subject, I asked the question I’d been curious about.
"What were you going to say to me at the awards ceremony?"
Yi-chae’s eyes widened slightly. He hesitated several times before finally opening his mouth cautiously.
"......Do you remember promising to grant me one favor?"
He was talking about the time I’d barged into Min Ji-heon’s apartment after taking a penalty on Seo Ho-jin’s behalf.
A chilling sensation washed over me, as if a formless anxiety was circling, waiting for a chance to strike.
In truth, things rarely went well when Yi-chae acted like this. Like when he’d brought up Seo Ho-jin and mentioned my editing.
"Let me hear what it is first."
"...Could you just answer me honestly for five minutes?"
I considered playing dumb and heading back to the dorm right then, but seeing him with his gaze lowered and his brow furrowed, I realized it was already too late.
Yi-chae had said I could refuse if it didn't feel right after hearing the favor.
But how could I just walk away when this kid, whose ID card ink was barely dry, was looking so dejected, with his usual confidence nowhere to be found?
A danger warning seemed to go off in a corner of my mind, but I tried to shake it off with a deep sigh. Taking that gesture as an affirmative, he soon spoke in a low, husky voice.
"...Are you planning to leave, Hyung?"
In an instant, it felt as if the warning light that had been hitting my brain moved to my chest, fluttering wildly.
"If that's true... can you tell me why?"
Behind Yi-chae, who had thrown a stone into my calm waters and created ripples, I could see the Polaroid photos the members of The Dawn had taken every New Year, organized by year.
Come to think of it, we hadn't taken one this year.
That fact felt particularly bothersome for some reason, but I turned my eyes back to look Yi-chae in the face and responded nonchalantly.
"Leave where?"
"......"
"What, for Lunar New Year? I'm not going anywhere."
And I was on high alert, worried that a system error might pop up.
After a moment of silence, one corner of Yi-chae’s mouth twisted.
"...You know. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
He let the sentences leak out like a sigh.
"I've had a vague idea for a long time. You were trying to make us famous as quickly as possible, no matter what... and yet, you acted as if you had no lingering attachments to any of it."
Yi-chae’s words, flowing like a monologue, made my heart beat in an ominous, off-beat rhythm.
"If you really said you were quitting being an idol... it would be a shame, but it's fine. I could understand."
Lowering his chin slightly, Yi-chae looked up at me from an angle.
"But it's strange, isn't it? For some reason, I'm anxious. I have a feeling that if that really happens, I'll never be able to see you again."
He continued speaking without pause, his voice trembling slightly. It was as if he had rehearsed and agonized over this countless times.
"...Since my mom died, I haven't been able to let someone go without being prepared. But still, if you would just tell me everything without hiding anything, Hyung..."
"Kang Yi-chae."
I cut him off and naturally put some distance between us.
"What are you talking about? I have no idea."
Yi-chae dropped his head and stared blankly at the gap between us.
He looked quite pitiful, and I felt sorry for him, but there was no truth I could offer him.
'I guess I made it too obvious.'
Since this was a fantasy-like reality, I’d assumed I would never be caught, but the fragments I’d carelessly dropped seemed to have appeared suspicious to Yi-chae.
He had no evidence, but he’d guessed that I would quit being an idol once I won the Grand Prize, and that was why he’d seemed so mentally unstable.
'To reach such a conclusion based on intuition alone...'
I was impressed, but at the same time, I felt a bit awkward that I’d made Yi-chae, who usually avoided mentioning his family, talk about such things.
Just as I was about to open my mouth to suggest we go get some food and head back to the dorm,
"Has something been bothering you late—"
"So, you're going to keep feigning ignorance until the very end?"
Yi-chae snapped his eyes up and glared at me, spitting the words through his teeth.
"—Are you going to abandon us while keeping it hidden forever? Is that why you said the members would do fine on their own even without you?"
He let out a harsh breath as if the situation wasn't even funny.
A headache began to form from the conversation that wasn't progressing, like we were stuck in a dead end.
"Becoming an idol, trying to win the Grand Prize! All of it was just—"
As I was agonizing over how to handle this situation,
"—to clear that damn game!"
A single word pierced through my ears.
'Game?'
For a moment, the world went silent, as if even my heart had stopped. I couldn't even hear Yi-chae’s voice anymore.
"...Kang Yi-chae."
I quickly gathered my wits, which were about to drift away, and spoke, pretending nothing was wrong. Hoping there was still a chance to fix this.
"You're too worked up right now. Just calm down for a second and—"
"I saw it."
But Yi-chae pushed harder, as if he wouldn't allow any hope.
"When you came back to this world from the one where you were an actor, the words about the 'clear' conditions appeared before my eyes."
"......What?"
Yi-chae saw the system window? And even the clear conditions?
'How much does he know?'
Did he see all the clear conditions?
Setting aside the fact that he found out about the Grand Prize, what about the Main Scenario?
If Yi-chae knew about that too, I had to assume that the quests I needed to achieve in the future were nearly impossible to complete.
"The text was a bit garbled, but I didn't have much trouble reading it. It said one of the conditions was that you had to win the Grand Prize in January."
My Main Quest didn't have a time limit.
It was just to become a first-tier idol, and one of the conditions for that was winning a Grand Prize at one of the top three awards ceremonies.
At the time, the system was full of errors and unstable, so it seemed Yi-chae had somehow gotten dragged into the mess, but he hadn't found out everything.
"I've been worried all month. Because if we won the Grand Prize, you would disappear, Hyung."
"......"
"...I don't know if I should say it's a relief that we didn't win when I thought we would... Well, you've been walking around with a face like you're dying ever since, though."
I had every right to.
Because I’d ruined everything.
"Hyung, please be honest with me now."
His usual relaxed demeanor was nowhere to be found; Yi-chae was acting irritable and anxious.
So, I judged that there was still a chance to gloss over it.
"Kang Yi-chae, I..."
However, Yi-chae’s sharp, piercing gaze fixed on me.
"—What exactly is my Main Scenario?"
And with that, my faint hope that he wouldn't know about the Main Scenario died.
"The names of the members, excluding me, were listed one after another. You've already completed the other scenarios, haven't you?"
It was a statement full of conviction.
"...Do you get it now?"
Yi-chae wiped his face, which had turned pale after pouring everything out.
"Even knowing all this, I've been waiting. Waiting for you to reveal it yourself."
"......"
"But in the end, you didn't."
I couldn't.
Even though I couldn't even convey that much honestly.
I stared blankly at Yi-chae, who was watching me as if gauging my reaction, then let out a hollow laugh and slumped onto the sofa.
'...How am I supposed to complete the quest in this state?'
This was a situation on a completely different level from whether or not I won the Grand Prize.
The Main Scenario quest wasn't something that could be finished just by knowing the past.
I needed Yi-chae’s genuine trust.
But now that Yi-chae was aware of the concept of a Main Scenario and harbored suspicions, I would never be able to satisfy that condition.
The more I dodged and played dumb, the more Yi-chae would lose faith in me.
'Is this a dead end?'
Yi-chae, who had looked away from me to scan the Polaroid photos, spoke again.
"...If you have to give something up to leave for somewhere else, you're a really unlucky person, Hyung. So admit it. Everything depends on me now."
I thought I’d been doing reasonably well, but when I came to my senses, I was at the edge of a cliff.
The fatigue I’d been trying to ignore surged over me like a tidal wave. I didn't even have the mental capacity to wonder why no errors were popping up even though Yi-chae was talking about the system like that.
I was just so tired and exhausted.
"......So, what do you want from me?"
I gave up on trying to infer from his words or gauge his thoughts.
Instead, I asked simply, my voice thick and raspy.
"What do you want?"
And yet, when Yi-chae’s silence stretched on, I felt like a prisoner waiting for a death sentence. I just stared at the floor.
For a moment, Jeong Cheong-yeon’s curse—that it wouldn't matter even if I begged and cried—flashed through my mind.
Perhaps this, too, was my karma.
Yi-chae might declare that he would 'never let things happen the way I wanted.'
A self-deprecating smile formed on my lips.
"......I..."
Breaking the heavy silence, Yi-chae spoke his first words in a low voice.
"...I already know that we aren't your top priority, Hyung."
I’d heard those words somewhere before.
"You clearly have another goal, but I don't know how important it could possibly be for you to act like this."
I slowly raised my head to look at Yi-chae.
"...I put on all that bravado just because I wanted to know the reason why you're pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion, and now I'm saying all this. Fuck. You're incredibly stubborn and good at playing dumb, Hyung, but I guess I've really lost my mind, too."
Despite the profanity, Yi-chae continued in a calm tone.
"I don't know if I'm a pushover, an idiot, or both, but I can't stand to see you dying like this on your own anymore."
The playful smile I’d seen in that small studio at Daepasung Entertainment after Shining Star Season 2 ended was nowhere to be found.
Nevertheless, Yi-chae told me the exact same thing he had back then.
"—Hyung, run with me."
"Then we should run together."
With a desperation bordering on anger and an affection bordering on obsession.
"Trust me and ask for help."
"Does it hurt?"
"No."
"Can you breathe okay?"
"Of course."
I couldn't say a single word in response.
"That's what I really want."
Yi-chae was reaching out his hand to help me.