Chapter 180

Chapter 180

I had no idea how long I slept after that. It felt like the blink of an eye, but as soon as I woke, I got the feeling it probably hadn’t been that short a time. My head felt clear. I was relieved to see that I was obviously in a private hospital room.

Good. Whoever took the call did as I asked—

“Moondae.”

I turned my head and locked eyes with Ryu Chungwoo, who’d shot upright in his chair.

The hell? Why is he here?

“Wait! Nurse!”

Before I could say anything, he pushed the button to summon a nurse. Someone appeared only moments later.

“Yes. You seem fine otherwise. Are you fine with the flow the IV is set at?”

“Yes…” I said.

“All right, then. I’ll be back in an hour to replace it.” The nurse confirmed that nothing else was the matter with me.

I stared at the back of my hand, where the needle was inserted, with a wry look on my face.

No wonder I feel so refreshed. It was probably the nutritional supplements and the antibiotics now coursing through my system.

“Press the bell if you need anything.”

“Right…”

“Thank you!”

As soon as the nurse left, shutting the door behind her, grave faces popped up next to the bed. There were no less than three of them. Chungwoo had been on his phone for a moment, and then Big Sejin and Bae Sejin had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

What the hell? I feel like I’ve seen this scene before in a gangster movie.

Chungwoo spoke with a serious look on his face. “Your wrists are sprained. They’ll take three weeks to recover. There are fine cracks in two of your ribs. Four weeks for those. The bloody bruises on your arms and legs will go away much faster.”

I was relieved.

“You were out for an entire day.”

My injuries weren’t as bad as I’d expected. I guessed Park Moondae’s body was sturdier than I’d given it credit for.

At least nothing’s broken. But the situation would require me to use my head a little.

The person who’d called me just as I was about to pass out finally spoke up. “Well… Looks like you’re feeling better now. That’s good.” It was Big Sejin. Obviously, he’d been the one who’d contacted the other two. There could be no other explanation.

“Hey…”

“What? Huh?”

Why do you sound so displeased right now?

“How was I supposed to move you to the hospital alone, without calling 911? What else could I do but call someone who has a car?”

I hadn’t had any intention of pressing him, so I didn’t have much to say to this.

Big Sejin wasn’t done. “And when I called you… I was with Chungwoo.”

I stared.

“There was something really strange about your messages.”

“What?” I asked.

He folded his arms. “It was odd that you’d go stay in a hotel when the dorm served well enough. And it was even stranger that you’d drop off the radar immediately afterward. So I asked the others as well... and they all said they’d gotten weird answers from you, too.”

Big Sejin pointed at Bae Sejin with his chin. “He was contacting Chungwoo for the same reason.”

Bae Sejin avoided my gaze slightly and muttered, “You even warned me about income tax before. It was strange, you suddenly saying you didn’t know which apartment size you liked better.”

So it had been a loaded question?

Big Sejin asked rigidly, “That wasn’t you, was it?”

I didn’t respond.

“Okay, so now that’s established, let me ask you this. What happened to you? Why do you look like that?”

Right. I’d been expecting this question.

“I stopped Chungwoo from reporting this to the police straight away… but to be honest with you, I’m not sure that I should have. I’ve been thinking all sorts of things…” He stared at the ceiling and sighed. “If you’re going to give me a silly reason, like you want to handle it alone or something, just tell us what’s going on already.”

I smiled bitterly. “I’d like to avoid reporting it to the police if I can.”

“Why the hell would you not report it?”

“Moondae, whatever the reason is, it’s best that we have this on record. Let’s just call the police,” Chungwoo said.

“Is it because you’re worried about our promotions?” Bae Sejin asked.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. Then I said gravely, “I think wrong-doing may be mutual in this case.”

“Wh-what?”

I balled the fist that wasn’t hooked to the IV and shook it in the air slowly. “I beat the sh*t out of him.”

They all stared silently.

“Some wacko grabbed me as I left the dorm, so I put him down and gathered evidence. But you know how hard it is to get a self-defense ruling in Korea. Even if we take it to court and win, it’ll take too long.”

“B-but we should still give him a taste of justice—” Bae Sejin began.

“I pummeled him with a bit of metal, so it’s fine.” It had been my handcuffs, but the distinction wasn’t important. I continued to explain as they listened with slack jaws. “Most of my injuries are the result of me trying to fight back... I wasn’t completely defenseless when he hit me, you see. If they start writing pesky articles about me, I think it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Hmm…”

There was an utterly chaotic assortment of expressions on their faces, ranging from shock to bewilderment.

But Bae Sejin still didn’t look convinced. “But someone attacked you! We could handle it quietly, so let’s look into how we can report it. What if they attack you again?”

“Well, they can’t cause any more trouble. I’ll win if they take this to court. I also scared them thoroughly, so they won’t try anything stupid.”

“Y-you scared them?”

“Yes. I scared them good.” I bowed my head to the side. “Do you think I’m the sort of person who’d leave loose ends?”

Nobody spoke. It didn’t seem to be the case. The trust I’d built up with them over time was proving useful.

“Was that a good enough explanation? That was why I didn’t want to report anyone. I asked you not to call 911 because they’d start investigating the reasons for my injury right away.”

“Moondae, they do that even if you come to the hospital without calling an ambulance.” Chungwoo smiled wryly. “You were in a terrible condition. You had a bad fever, and someone had obviously tied you up and beaten you. I have no idea what you did to this other person, but the limits of a self-defense plea aside, you’re the victim here. Who would look at you right now and say the violence was mutual?”

Chungwoo sighed. “I’ve told the hospital that you were ill and working yourself too hard when an accident happened on the practice set for the concert… but I’d still rather you told the police. Though, I can’t do anything if that’s not what you want. Or tell the agency what you know about the attacker, at the very least. We need to try to keep them away from you.”

“Hmm...” I nodded. I would give them a fake description. “Yes. I’ll tell the agency.”

“Good choice!”

“Tell us, too! We need to be on our guard against lunatics like that.”

“All right. Oh, one more thing.” It was a bit embarrassing, but I knew I had to say it. “Thanks, all of you. Who knows what could have happened if you hadn’t called me at just the right time?” I grinned. “The messages pretending to be me were pretty well done. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”

The air in the room was warm with a shared feeling of having accomplished something, our friendship feeling strong.

Maybe they’d have tracked me down before I took a sledgehammer to the head even if I hadn’t escaped. My feelings of appreciation for them were growing stronger when Big Sejin nodded gravely.

“Yes. That’s why you need to treat me better from now on. First, you should take more photos of me and—”

“Forget I said anything.”

“Hey! No fair!” Big Sejin said, slapping the bed.

He was as hilarious as ever.

“Ahem! In any case, rest well. Recover quickly!”

“Yeah. At least we got you to the hospital in time,” Chungwoo said.

The other two seemed proud of themselves, too.

Looks like the situation’s handled.

“Why don’t we get some drinks? You want anything, guys?” Chungwoo asked.

“Don’t say that! I’ll go!” Big Sejin said.

“Nah. I’d like to take a walk. Apple juice for you, Moondae?”

“Yes, thank you.”

And there was one other thing that had come from this mess.

I feel a lot more comfortable with him now. Chungwoo wasn’t as hard for me to be around. It seemed my subconscious accepted him more now after he’d helped me while I was sick.

Nothing like being rescued to warm you up to someone, I guess. My body had benefited from his actions, and my brain was finally cooperating.

“You get some rest, now.”

“Okay.” I waved as Chungwoo left.

The door closed, and Big Sejin suddenly asked in a quiet voice, “Hey, our leader just left.”

I looked at him without a word.

“Is there anything you’d like to tell us, but keep a secret from the agency? Sejin, you’re going to keep his secret, right?”

“Wh-what? Oh, uh… Yeah, of course!”

Perceptive bastard. He noticed I changed the subject by being sweet to them. I’d been planning to explain to a few of them anyway, just in case. I would have to keep the team from getting involved with VTIC in any way possible during our future activities.

It’s best to let sleeping dogs lie. I needed to choose members who weren’t close enough to plot something together in secret and wouldn’t accidentally let anything slip.

These two are perfect.

I spoke. “The person who attacked me? I know him.”

“What?”

“Who?”

“VTIC’s Cheongryeo.”

Bae Sejin’s face instantly went rigid. “No wonder. I never liked that bastard.”

“Yeah...?”

“Yeah, I never liked the look in his eyes—”

“Let’s report him,” Big Sejin interrupted, a frown on his face. “We’re going to keep running into him at awards ceremonies and music shows. That’s unacceptable. We have to report him.”

“I told you, it’s not necessary.”

“You might think so now, but when you meet him—”

I grinned. “That piece of sh*t doesn’t worry me. I told you, didn’t I? I’m the one who beat him up.” Careful of the needle in my hand, I stretched my hand. “That bastard will have to go on hiatus for a while. I hit him in the face, too.”

“But what if he reports you first?” Big Sejin asked.

“I have a recording of him, photo evidence, and he even apologized toward the end. He can’t.”

“Phew…” Big Sejin exhaled but said no more.

He’s starting to understand the hot mess it’ll cause if we make this public. Still, it was touching that he’d wanted to turn to the police. I knew how much the success of our group mattered to him.

“Why would he…” Bae Sejin began.

“Who knows? Maybe he just didn’t like the sight of me.”

“He’s a total loony.” Bae Sejin accepted my silly reasoning with surprising ease. Perhaps he’d seen worse people in the industry. He asked after some hesitation, “Is there a reason you’re telling only us two?”

“Well, I was going to ask that you help me avoid working with VTIC, should anything come up.” A bit of flattery couldn’t hurt. “You always seem to say the right things.”

“Uh, y-yeah. All right.”

Instilling a sense of responsibility in him was the right answer. Good.

“You should still hold on to the evidence, just in case!”

“Of course.”

And that was the end of my explanation of what had happened to me.

That was harder than I thought. But I decided to think of it as a good thing, since things had turned out okay in the end.

“Guys, your drinks.”

“Wow! Thanks!”

“Thank you…”

Chungwoo came back soon after, and I drank some pretty expensive convenience store apple juice as I turned my mind to other things.

First of all… it’ll take me at least four weeks to recover to the point of moving about without pain. That would be in time for the concert, but just barely.

If I don’t have enough time, I’ll just push myself a little harder for the Seoul concert. The problem was that I wouldn’t be able to take part in the final practice sessions. I’d memorized our group choreography before the vacation, so I could probably manage just fine barring any changes. But the solo performance worried me. Another section we’d included as fan service would require new choreography as well.

I guess my best bet is to just be careful while memorizing the moves. That was my only choice for the time being.

I shrugged and picked up my phone. I planned to tell the others about my injuries and ask the agency to prepare some articles in advance.

That way everyone will understand even if I don’t recover in time for the concert. I’d have considered delaying telling everyone a little longer, had I known how much of an impact it would have, though.

[Me: Some unhinged stalker attacked me, and I got hurt in the process of subduing him. All the messages from me during the vacation were actually sent by him, so please ignore them. (Face exhaling emoji)]

The moment Ahyeon saw this, he ended his trip and came to see me. It seemed he’d been quite shocked by the mention of a stalker because he’d witnessed the assholes who’d invaded my studio apartment in the past.

“M-Moondae!”

“Oh, hey.”

I gave him a bewildered look, but he shouted at me instantly, “Hey! Those aren’t just light injuries!”

Well… I’m not wearing a cast or anything. I was forced to reassure him, since he looked to be seconds away from bursting into tears.

Then he handed me a gift set full of different bread. It was apparently from a famous bakery in Sokcho, though I didn’t know the place. The bread tasted good, though.

I also exchanged awkward pleasantries with his parents, who’d brought him here. I was embarrassed because they seemed to feel so bad for me.

“Come with Ahyeon next time. There are so many weird people out there nowadays… Goodness, me.”

“It’s all right. I won, you see,” I said.

“I-is that right? Even so…” Their sad looks were identical to the ones Ahyeon was giving me. I supposed it was in the genes.

“C-call me if you need me!” he said as he left.

“All right.”

Ahyeon kept visiting my hospital room until our vacation was over. He was an incredibly patient friend. I’d never have done the same for anybody during my vacation. Maybe he’s just a better person than I am.

The other members contacted me as well, of course, one among them I’d been meaning to contact anyway.

“Hey! Are you all right?”

It was Kim Raebin.

“Yes. Good thing you called. I had something to say to you.”

“What…?”

Then I made good on what I’d sworn to myself I would do.

“Hello, Ma’am. I’m Park Moondae.”

“Oh, good heavens!”

I tried to sing a trot song to lighten the mood, but Kim Raebin’s grandmother was firm.

“I like that song you did as the groom! ‘Winter Night!’”

“I-I’ll sing it for you, then.”

“My goodness, how lovely!”

In any case, that was quite an interesting experience.

And as for Cha Eugene… Shockingly, he didn’t get in touch until two days before the vacation ended. The first message he sent was a short video of himself that he uploaded to the group chat.

“Hahaha!”

“Watch out!”

It was a shaky video of Eugene diving into the sea.

You went diving? It’s almost winter.

[Cha Eugene: My mom filmed it for me! :D]

I guess he’ll never change. He did seem to notice my message a while later, and he called me late at night to ask me how I was.

“Hey! You beat up a stalker? Did you punch him?”

This was also very in character for him.

I exhaled. It was around this time that the agency began releasing articles about my injuries.