Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

“There was a change in the schedule, and I was actually just about to tell you. Besides, some of the content has changed as well, so we only just finished sorting everything out... It's taken some time to notify everyone affected individually, so I'm sorry for the delay.”

The hallway of the studio building.

The assistant director he was seeing again after quite some time... Pyo Junseong looked somewhat more haggard than before.

It wasn't that Yuseong hadn't seen him at all during that time,

But Junseong had often been rushing around too busily to stop or had spent entire days shut away somewhere, so there had been few opportunities to speak with him directly.

“No, it's fine. I'm grateful that you're taking the time to inform me personally despite being so busy. Then my filming is on Tuesday rather than Wednesday, correct?”

“Yes, that's right. In your case, Yuseong, the location has also been changed from Seongsu to Hongdae. Everyone participating in the filming will gather first and travel together, so please come to the studio that day...”

Yuseong had expected to begin his vacation without even getting a chance to properly greet Pyo Junseong again.

But he was glad he'd decided to walk around and ask why he hadn't received the schedule.

After hearing from the staff he'd questioned that 'Soyuseong is going around checking the schedule,' Pyo Junseong himself had appeared.

“Yes, understood....Ah, and one more thing...”

“Y-yes?”

Yuseong gave a gentle smile to Junseong, who responded with a strangely startled expression.

“I don't think I've properly thanked you yet.”

“Me?”

“Who else but you, Assistant Director? It's thanks to you that I was able to appear on Play ON. I'm truly grateful that you didn't forget me and gave me such a valuable opportunity.”

When he lightly bowed and straightened up, he saw an awkward, embarrassed expression.

Why was he making that face?

It wasn't anything particularly surprising, but this was a greeting that contained a fair amount of sincerity.

'For both Soyuseong and me... a benefactor is a benefactor. Though repaying that kindness will be up to Soyuseong himself once he's become an idol in the future.'

If it hadn't been for this man, wouldn't he have wasted time worrying himself bald over how he could possibly become an idol at this age?

It was best to express gratitude for things like this early, before any trouble could arise later.

And someday, it might even be repaid with another favor.

Junseong waved his hands several times in bewilderment, saying, “Not at all, goodness, there's no need to thank me for that—” before finally clenching his fists tightly and lowering them.

“...I'm... rooting for you...!”

Phew. He let out a deep breath.

Then he placed both hands on Yuseong's shoulders.

“So,...don't lose.”

His hands gave Yuseong's shoulders a reassuring pat, as though emphasizing his request, before coming together politely.

Then Junseong bowed deeply and immediately fled.

Anyone who saw the exchange might have misunderstood it as favoritism, but fortunately, the hallway was empty.

...What did he mean by that?

Yuseong stared for a long while at the corner where Junseong had disappeared before moving on.

More slowly and deliberately than usual.

____________

Two days passed, and Tuesday arrived.

The only thing that had accumulated while he was away was dust in his room, so aside from spending a day cleaning, nothing particularly noteworthy happened.

At most, he replied whenever the group chats he'd been invited to by the trainees or the private messages from people who had exchanged contact information with him sent their notifications ringing loudly, checked social media and the news, went running around the neighborhood to exercise—and so on.

Ah, he'd also started keeping a diary.

The first sentence in the new one-thousand-won notebook was 'To Soyuseong.'

Though perhaps calling it a diary was inaccurate.

Since there was a specific person he hoped would read it, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a letter.

Over two days, the words he'd carefully written one by one filled eight pages.

Things that had happened, people he'd met, advice, and other things he wanted to say...

He filled it with instructions and reminders for Soyuseong, who would someday return to this body.

Perhaps Soyuseong was watching everything unfold from somewhere far away, but just in case.

After resting thoroughly in that manner, his condition was nothing short of perfect.

Wondering how he would describe the upcoming schedule in his letter, Yuseong headed to the studio first, then traveled with the other trainees to Hongdae, where filming would take place.

Perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon, the area wasn't particularly crowded, so preparing for filming was easy.

—Though all that preparation amounted to was listening to a few precautions and receiving a self-camera from the staff.

The moment he stretched out the arm holding the camera, the members joining him today hurriedly gathered around him.

Their heads huddled together, completely filling the small screen.

As soon as the red recording indicator appeared at the top, the viewer count displayed in one corner began climbing rapidly.

“Hello, I'm Soyuseong.”

“I'm Ma Rubin~!”

“I'm Kang Chan.”

“I'm Lee Ijun, with two twos.”

As six more members waved toward the camera, the live chat filled with colorful hearts, their names, and affectionate messages in all sorts of languages.

As you can see, this wasn't a prerecorded broadcast but a live stream.

They were broadcasting a carefully planned display of friendship to the entire world.

“Starting now, we're going to take a tour of Hongdae. Have you all been here often?”

When Yuseong, who had been assigned the leader's role here as well, asked the question, everyone answered at once.

“It's not my first time... I've been here a few times~!”

“In my case, you could say Hongdae is my home ground!”

“I don't really remember when I came here...”

“I was here a few months ago.”

...They're just like excited children on a field trip.

“We don't have a fixed route right now. So if any of you subscribers watching have recommendations for places to see or things to eat, we're planning to follow them... Ah, apparently there's a seven-story Daiso here.”

“Ah~ I know that place! It's really huge, like a dungeon. An actual dungeon.”

“It's over that way.”

Kang Chan pointed straight ahead.

“Where? I can't see it.”

“I saw it when we were coming here. You can't see it from here.”

“No, but why is it so funny that out of all those countless chat messages, Yuseong hyung picked out Daiso, of all places, and mentioned it so specifically?”

“Maybe he wanted to go...”

“Hyung, is there something you need to buy?”

The group, who had been bobbing their heads around like a flock of pigeons gathered together, suddenly turned their attention toward Yuseong.

There was a playful teasing tone in their voices.

He did have an experience of going there to buy a single notebook and ending up staying for over an hour...

But still, these little brats.

“Indeed... But am I the only one? I happen to know that someone among us spent fifty thousand won at Daiso yesterday.”

“Wow~ What did they buy to spend fifty thousand won? Who was it?”

“Rubin.”

The moment he revealed the culprit, he heard a protest of “Ah, hyung~!”

As the chat filled with delighted comments calling it funny and cute, Kang Chan, who was standing beside him, chuckled quietly.

The moment their eyes met, Chan rubbed his mouth as though pretending he hadn't laughed.

It's not as if anyone would complain about him laughing. He should just relax.

By the time six o'clock in the evening approached,

They had visited a total of three places, including Daiso, before making their way toward Hongdae Street.

Throughout their wandering, they kept spotting billboards and posters featuring illustrations from <​Knocking Reaper>, which Juan liked.

Apparently everyone was thinking of the same person, because his name repeatedly came up in conversation.

They kept saying that Juan really should have been the one to come here.

Meanwhile, the crowd gathering around them continued to grow.

Well, Yuseong hadn't expected a group of ten people walking around together to go unnoticed.

“Wah! Ah! Waaaah!!”

“Soyuseong! It's really Soyuseong... Oh my god, Soyuseong...”

“Ughhh, holy crap, he's so handsome...”

There were far more people who had simply happened to be in the same place and raised their phones,

But as people who seemed to have rushed over after hearing about the live broadcast began joining them, a human wall formed in an instant, making it difficult to take even a single step.

There were only two staff members available to restrain or organize the crowd.

Yuseong, who was leading the group, had an even harder time because he also needed to secure enough space to hold the self-camera.

'At this rate... will we even be able to get anywhere?'

Just then, a fan pushed through the crowd and rushed toward them.

The name she shouted was 'Ma Rubin.'

“Rubin—... Oh.”

While Rubin stood there looking bewildered and unsure what to do, the fan's eyes met Yuseong's.

Unexpectedly, a yellow light flashed above the fan's head, and at the same time—

“Oh... Ah...”

The fan lowered her eyes and stepped back of her own accord.

She even politely lowered the phone she'd been aggressively thrusting forward.

The sight gave Yuseong a sudden flash of inspiration.

“Hello, excuse us for a moment. Thank you. Ah, thank you. Yes, hello~”

Yuseong deliberately greeted every fan nearby individually, making eye contact and smiling at them.

Then, one after another, like falling dominoes, the people who fell under Enchantment took on the same dazed expressions and made way for them.

Those who were already watching with yellow lights above their heads moved aside on their own, allowing the group to pass without obstruction.

After repeating the process several times as they walked, the crowd was organized in no time, and the wide-open plaza came into view again.

After considering why people reacted that way, Yuseong concluded that Enchantment had temporarily left them dazed.

Their minds went blank for a moment, and when someone said they needed to pass, their bodies simply moved reflexively.

To think Enchantment could be useful for something like this too. How convenient.

He was so focused on the immediate results that he had no idea clips of the scene were already being posted on social media and spreading as a heartwarming story about 'the polite Soyuseong.'

________________

Seven o'clock.

They arrived at the busking zone, where music could be heard coming from various directions.

“Oh, it looks like they're doing something here.”

A four-member dance team happened to be performing an energetic cover dance nearby.

“That's it.”

Ijun suddenly exclaimed.

“You know this song?”

“C-c-completion.”

“So you do know it.”

“...Completion... Completion.”

Ijun stared at him so intently that it felt as though he were peering into the depths of his soul, making Yuseong uncomfortable.

The way he repeated the same phrase while raising his intonation at the end

Made it feel as though he were asking, 'Do you really not know this song?' while also exerting some inexplicable pressure.

Tsk. Ijun clicked his tongue as though swallowing his disappointment.

He seemed to have hoped they could join in and dance, but perhaps he was even more disappointed because it wasn't a participatory performance.

“...They're singing over there.”

Kang Chan muttered almost to himself.

In the direction he was looking, there was one place where the sound carried particularly loudly, and it had a somewhat larger audience than the other busking spots.

The group's interest immediately shifted in that direction.

“It's a street singing contest.”

Just as he said, a student who had been singing passionately was finishing up and leaving.

“I participated in something like that a long time ago. It's really fun!”

“Did you win a prize?”

“I did! What was it again? Ah, a gift certificate, a gift certificate. I got thirty thousand won.”

“Now, we're looking for our next contestant! Is there anyone out there?”

Ijun and Rubin's conversation was soon drowned out by the YouTuber's voice.

Yuseong, who had been reading the chat along with the others, turned his head.

“Our next contestant, is there anyone who'd like to go next~... Oh, hold on a second. You handsome guy over there, wait a moment!”

The YouTuber was pointing at Yuseong.

When Yuseong widened his eyes and pointed at himself, asking, “Me?” the response was an enthusiastic nod and a wave of the hand.

“That person is filming something too. Could you come over here for a moment... Ah, but you look familiar...”

After staring at Yuseong for a moment, the YouTuber suddenly gasped.

“...Oh!! Wait, wait, aren't you someone famous...? Sorry, but aren't you famous? No, I'm not joking. I seriously think I know you. Everyone?”

At that, all the scattered gazes suddenly snapped toward Yuseong,

And before long, the people who recognized him covered their mouths and swallowed their screams.

Just as the three syllables of Soyuseong's name began spreading through the crowd, Yuseong called out loudly.

“Play ON! I'm a contestant on Top Play ON! We're doing a live broadcast!”

“Ah~ Play ON! Oh! I did watch that, the Chicken Soup cover! Uh, but... Oh! Ah! The person beside you was in Chicken Soup too... Oh! Wait.”

The YouTuber looked at Ma Rubin beside Yuseong and the other trainees before continuing.

“One, two, three, four... Hold on, how many of you are broadcasting right now?”

“Ten!”

The YouTuber roughly swept his hair back.

His excited expression clearly showed that he felt he'd struck gold.

“If it's all right with you, I'd like to invite you onto our stage...”

At that moment, Ijun quickly recited the YouTuber's background from behind.

“...He's a singer-songwriter and a YouTuber with around 1.2 million subscribers. He's also invited celebrities to film with him... quite a few times.”

His precise diction, befitting a rapper, made every word reach Yuseong's ears clearly.

In fact, even without that information, Yuseong had already been considering suggesting that they all participate as a form of fan service.

However, the other party was filming as well, and there was a one-hundred-percent chance their faces would end up prominently displayed on the YouTuber's channel. He hadn't been sure whether that would be allowed, so he had hesitated to step forward.

He quietly glanced toward the staff member standing by to ask for permission.

The staff member, who had been busily tapping away at his phone, silently formed a circle with his thumb and index finger.

It was an okay sign.

Then the staff member stepped forward, discussed something with the YouTuber, and returned.

“You can go ahead. Please hand over the camera.”

That was quick.

Everyone broke into broad smiles and hurried toward the center of the busking area.

“To briefly explain what we're doing here, we're recruiting contestants on the spot and holding a singing contest, just as the name suggests~”

The YouTuber continued somewhat awkwardly, addressing Yuseong and the trainees.

“Now that we've been lucky enough to welcome such special guests, I'd love to give each of you a microphone~...But unfortunately, this is all we have...”

He held out three microphones in total, including the one he had been holding.

It wasn't enough even if two or three people shared each one.

“So I think you'll have to decide which of you will sing. Would that be all right?”

Wouldn't it be better to split into two groups and sing two songs in total?

There seemed to be enough time, and it would roughly coincide with when their live broadcast was scheduled to end.

—Yuseong was just about to open his mouth to make that suggestion when an unexpected cold sensation in his hand stopped him in his tracks.

What had been placed in Yuseong's hand was a microphone.

What might this be...?

“Oh, it looks like one person has already been chosen?”

Surprisingly, the person responsible for this sudden action was Ijun.

He had swiftly taken one of the microphones from the YouTuber's hand and given it to Yuseong.

Having been chosen before he knew what was happening, Yuseong stood awkwardly holding the microphone until his eyes met Ijun's wide-open gaze.

Despite his expressionless face, intense emotion was conveyed through his eyes.

Something's not right.

That look...

Hadn't he received that exact same look before?