Chapter 229

Chapter 229

We would be celebrating the second anniversary of our debut with a fan meeting. This was how idol groups typically celebrated anniversaries but was guaranteed to be fun regardless. Since the scale would be much smaller than a concert, to create a more intimate feel, a paid livestream would be available online.

Though it’s obvious there are going to be illegal streams all over WeTube. It had happened frequently enough that I was no longer surprised. The paid platform would no doubt do their best to report the illegal streams.

It’s better than not doing online streams at all and letting the scalpers run free, though. How many people were willing to pay for the fan meeting was a good gauge of just how much our fandom had increased thanks to our new wave of popularity. These people were the fans willing to pay for a stream even though they could just as easily access an illegal stream for free.

If I compare the money earned per hour to that of a VOD… I guess our fan meeting will have to be just as good as a concert. It was time to put aside useless thoughts about WeTube and focus on work. Thankfully, the fan meeting began without any hiccups.

No weather forecast is going to get in my way

I want to see you today

“Oh my god!”

Countless colorful balloons floated into the air during the opening performance for the night. The fan meeting, which began on a light, cheerful note with “Picnic,” was called “Daydream: TeSTAR Fan meeting.” This was meant to be in contrast to “Nightmare,” the name of our title track.

It’s also a link between our performances that gives us a theme to work with. Everything was more fun with a theme. The mood of the fan meeting was to be warm and fuzzy, as befitted the name. A lot had happened in the last year, so we figured it was befitting to make the fan meeting light-hearted. We’d chosen a fairytale-esque concept and tried to make even the talking and game portions of the event quite cute, but I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out.

Things took an unexpected turn at the midpoint of the fan meeting, despite everything going totally fine in the beginning.

“Hey everyone!”

“Today’s both TeSTAR and our Loviewer’s anniversary! The Tesversary! Thank you so much for coming.”

“Let’s have lots of fun together!”

A bit of time spent chatting and catching up, followed by reading post-it questions written by the fans was standard at any fan meeting, and we had already prepared our answers. One of our more confident members started going off script, however. I was referring to Big Sejin, of course.

“What? Who has the cutest charms, you ask? Well, we’ll have to see to find out! Now, members, please prepare yourself to show off how cute you are!”

This was not something we’d agreed upon ahead of time. You should be grateful this is live. The moment the cameras turned toward me, I executed a cute gesture that was popular these days. I heard gasps and screams from the audience in response.

Wait, screams?

“Wait, Moondae, when did you practice that?”

“I’m an idol. I hardly ever sleep. I practiced in my free time.”

“Oh, okay!”

The audience laughed. Now that I was in my third year in this job, I was slowly growing accustomed to the embarrassment of doing this sort of thing. My progress toward becoming the type of person who enjoyed attention was on track, apparently.

Big Sejin was ready to respond to my silly answer, suddenly grinning and slapping me on the back. He shared something with the audience that was actually true.

“But still, Moondae! You do need to sleep! Guys, did you know that Moondae really doesn’t sleep much at all these days?”

“Moondae works every night! He works too hard!” Eugene chimed in.

“The way I see it, he only sleeps once every two days,” Raebin added.

How did a tactless guy like you notice that? Though, Raebin is entirely correct. My new sleep schedule was all thanks to Energy Drink II. I’d been able to quickly put together a questionnaire for the interviews and had meddled in the creation of our dedicated management team in the way I wanted, so we now had new management staff. I was very satisfied with how things had turned out.

Still, I guess it must seem a little extreme to these guys since they don’t know about the status window. One thing was for certain. I didn’t have to take their comments seriously.

I can’t have people comparing me to the other members and criticizing them for sleeping more than me. I would gloss over the topic and treat it as a joke.

With a shrug, I said, “Well, as I said… idols don’t sleep.”

“Boo! Idols are human, too!”

“Aren’t we idols, too? Huh?”

Amid the playful catcalling, Bae Sejin muttered darkly, “I think it’s just a violation of labor laws…”

I avoided looking at the camera, very aware of the audience, who were making sounds that were a mix of laughter and concern.

I can’t very well show them my trait, now can I?

Big Sejin snickered and shoved his microphone toward Ahyeon. “And now, Moondae’s roommate, Ahyeon! What do you have to say about all this?”

“That’s right! Moondae… He sleeps too little!” Ahyeon continued with a serious expression, “Please tell him to sleep more for the sake of his health…”

Ugh, what the hell, you guys?

“Sleep!” “Moondae, get some sleep!”

“You need to sleep!”

Fine… you win. I knew I couldn’t deny the crowd, so I switched tactics.

“Of course… That was a joke. Everyone needs to sleep.”

“Swear it! Swear it!” the crowd chanted.

“I’ll sleep well and make sure I stay healthy.”

“Yeaaaah!”

I technically was not lying.

“Now, everyone! Since we’re talking about sleep. Aren’t you curious about what pajamas we like to wear?” Big Sejin asked.

“Yes!”

“Yes, we are!”

“We’re going to show you during the next performance!”

Following that smooth segue, we performed “Present” while wearing animal pajamas. It was a great success.

“Present!”

The fans were happy, and the rest of the scheduled events and performances unfolded without any accidents or injuries. As I’d imagined, the thrill of entertaining on stage was still there for me. I had no time to think about anything else.

Then came the final performance before the encore. Only after we completed a classical arrangement of “Nightmare,” our current title track, did I have some time to think.

“Encore!”

“Encore!”

The crowd’s now familiar shouts rang throughout the venue, reaching us backstage.

“VCR playing in three minutes!”

Panting, I checked over the outfit I’d just changed into. Only then did I think back to what had been said on stage, holding back a groan.

Everyone’s going to be demanding that I sleep every time we turn on the W App at night from now on… I guess I might not be able to take full advantage of Energy Drink II for some time… Then it suddenly hit me.

Hold on. Doesn’t this mean the fans will be watching me more closely from now on? And when I thought about who’d brought up the subject in the first place, it all became clear. Big Sejin was gunning for this from the start.

After I’d finished changing, I stared over at Big Sejin, who was having his make-up fixed. He winked at me.

“I know, I look handsome today, don’t I?”

I said nothing.

I’ll be seeing you after the fan meeting.

***

We ended with an exciting band-style arrangement of “You Are the Magic,” our fan song.

“Please wait in the van. I’ll be right back after I get the feedback!”

“Right.”

I wiped my sweaty face and then got into the van as the new manager had suggested. Then I took a moment to inspect the fans’ reactions online.

- It’s been a while since we got to see Bonus Book performed… Thank you so much, whoever did the costumes (screen capture)

- Moon Puppy, what’s this about sleep and being an idol? He’s saying it so casually, too! You cute apple rice cake! You need to get ten hours of sleep!

- The second-anniversary cake-cutting ceremony LOL. Cha Kitty got caught trying to steal some of the cake (GIF)

- Medley of songs from other idols_TeSTAR fan meeting (1)

Seems like there are no problems of note to report. The day’s event had wrapped up neatly. As for the more insidious communities… I’d decided to stay away from those, so that was what I would do.

I locked my phone and said, “Lee Sejin.”

“Huh?”

“You mentioned sleep on purpose, didn’t you?”

Big Sejin, who’d been chatting excitedly with Eugene in the front, immediately turned around with a grin. “Pointing out the obvious, are we? You’re not a robot, Moondae! You can’t work without sleep. If you keep that up, you’re going to end up found dead in your bed by your thirties!”

Hardly, you bastard. Instead, I was far more likely to end up dead because of a status abnormality next year.

Big Sejin looked around in the van, however, and raised his hand. “Who here thinks Moondae gets enough sleep?”

Nobody moved.

“Okay. Who thinks he needs more, then?”

Everyone raised their hands. The looks on their faces were varied, ranging from tense to casual, but they all seemed to agree that I’d been pushing myself too hard.

“The votes are in! We’re a team, you know. You need to sleep more, Moondae. We’re just trying to protect you!”

I resisted the urge to sigh deeply. I understood that they were just concerned for me.

“Fine,” I said.

“Good!”

Setting up our dedicated management team was finished with, so I supposed I could put the trait aside for the time being. I’ve made good use of it for the past few days.

With a shrug, I leaned back in my seat.

Chungwoo gently took control of the situation. “All of you have worked really hard for the past two years, including Moondae. I think we’re doing quite well.”

“I-I agree!” Ahyeon said.

“You’re right!” Big Sejin said.

Two years. Has it really been that long already?

“I like this team. Our teamwork is the best!” Eugene said.

“Thank you all for everything. Let’s uh, keep going.”

“Of course! I’ll continue to give it my all for the remaining three years of our contract!” Raebin said.

The members took turns saying a few words. I felt pretty good.

Yes… We have three years of the contract left. It was longer than the two years we’d already spent as a group.

It would be great if things between us remained this good… While I was thinking about what the future would look like if everything continued to go this well, I was interrupted by someone calling my name.

“Moondae,” Big Sejin said.

“What?”

“Don’t you have something you want to say?”

“Huh? No, not really.”

“Hmm. All right!” Big Sejin said with forced casualness. “Tell us if anything comes to mind.”

Wait… That sounds like he’s certain I have something to say. He wouldn’t just say something like that without a good reason. I sat up straight.

“What are you—”

That was when the driver’s door flew open, and a staff member wearing a hat climbed in. He was so quick that I wasn’t able to see his face, but there was only one person it could be.

The manager. But wait. He hadn’t been wearing a black staff uniform earlier.

Chungwoo said, “Uh, hello?”

The man said nothing and immediately started the car.

“…?”

What the hell? I craned my neck to look at the front again.

There’s no one sitting in the passenger seat. We’d put all the luggage in the passenger seat, so everyone was in the back. We couldn’t even see the staff’s face, and he’d already started the car without saying a word.

Goddamn it, don’t tell me…

I whispered to the members around me, “Everyone, get out of the van.”

“What?”

“Open the doors right now!”

That was when Big Sejin spoke calmly from his seat in front of me. “Hey, is that you, Kim Jun?”

Big Sejin was telling us this guy was our former manager—the same guy who’d been fired thanks to a recorded call only a few days ago.

F*ck. No matter how you thought about it, this guy couldn’t have come here with good intentions. The van took off. The bastard was now careening through the car park at a terrifying speed.

“Oof!”

“Hey! Hey! Wait a second… calm down.”

“What do you mean calm down? Damn it!” The former manager shrieked, suddenly letting go of the steering wheel and spinning around.

The car skidded to a stop in the middle of the road outside the parking lot. It was late at night, and we were smack in the middle of the road.

This bastard has lost his mind! A car that had been driving right behind us gave a deafening honk before flying past.

Wait… I felt a cold sweat break out on my back. The engine was still running. If we tried to get out and he suddenly stepped on the gas, we would end up hospitalized. I looked around the back seat, searching for something to throw at him. We needed to get rid of the bastard as quickly as possible.

“Y-you bastards. You threatened me with a recording. Did you have a good time? Was it fun? Huh?” the former manager spat, spittle flying. “I want to hear your answer, so talk. Is this my fault? Huh? Is it fair to fire a person for a single misspoken word—”

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault,” I said.

For now, we needed this asshole to calm down.

I adopted a docile voice, “There was a hacking attempt on my cloud account, and I handed the issue over to the agency. My guess is they found one of the recorded calls…”

The manager said nothing.

“We didn’t want you fired. Why would we? I think the agency… just told you that because it was more convenient for them to fire you after they put the dedicated management team together.”

He was clearly shaken by my explanation—it was a good thing he was stupid.

Big Sejin spoke as well. “Hey, we’re sorry we didn’t intervene for you. We thought you’d been scouted by some other company. We’ll speak with the agency as soon as we get back. What do you say?”

Seated beside Big Sejin, Chungwoo said nothing. He was probably well aware that he’d been the last person to rile the guy up. He had a book clutched in his hand, however, and was probably ready to throw it if necessary.

If this doesn’t work, he’ll have to. I carefully tried to read the expression the lunatic in the driver’s seat was wearing. He sat there breathing hard for a moment, then took the bait.

“You’ll ask them... to reinstate me?”

“Of course!”

“We’ll demand it from the company.”

The members all joined in reassuring the man, seeming to think the situation was reaching a resolution. On the other side of the van was Bae Sejin, his silenced phone hidden from view as he texted the police.

The former manager was slowly reaching for the steering wheel.

There. It’s done. We just needed to get him to pull over to the side of the road and let us call the agency. Then it happened.

“Huh?”

There was a deafening crash, accompanied by violent shaking.

Can I even call this shaking? The violent impact sent my body shooting forward.

Goddamn it! Someone had collided with the van. In that fleeting moment, I saw the seats splitting apart, and the airbags deploying. I could see a broken fragment of metal flying toward someone’s head, huge, sharp, and deadly.

Without thinking, I tried to launch myself at it, to push it off course, sure I could do it. Of course, this was foolish of me. I failed to grab hold of it. Instead, it plunged into my chest as I sat trapped by my seatbelt. It felt like a shockwave had hit me square in the chest. I gasped.

Everything went dark.

***

When I came to, I saw a small point of light in the darkness, loud noises reverberating around in my brain. Something was hovering in the air, something round and golden. As it sank toward me, I could make out what it was. It was a golden coin.

[Insert Coin]

The status window appeared and, forming a coin slot, swallowed the coin. Then I woke up, staring up at a moldy motel ceiling, gasping for breath. It was like I’d traveled two and a half years into the past. I knew this ceiling. How could I forget it?

No. This couldn’t be happening. I sat up and looked around. The musty blankets draped over me fell to the floor. It was a familiar scene—or was it?

Am I hallucinating? There had to be some other explanation. Some other way to contextualize what was happening.

“Yes,” I told myself, stumbling out of bed. I all but crawled to the dressing table, and then stared at my reflection in the mirror.

It wasn’t Park Moondae who was looking back at me. It was me—Ryu Gunwoo. I hadn’t seen this once familiar face in two and a half years. An incredulous laugh escaped me.

“No.”

Even if I’d been returned to the past, I should have been returned as Moondae. Why would I wake up as Gunwoo in the motel room Moondae had once occupied? It made no sense. It wasn’t natural.

Does it make any sense for a status window to appear, or for me to enter someone else’s body?

“Shut up.”

I banged my head against the dressing table and muttered, “Status window.”

Nothing happened. I tried again.

“Status… window. Status. Status window!”

Come on, give me something!

There was a ding.

A window appeared, but not the one I knew.

[Name: Ryu Gunwoo (Park Moondae)]

- Enjoy your daydream :)

That was it. Silently, I collapsed down on the bed, leaning back. Trying to remain as level-headed and unbiased as possible, I did my best to evaluate my situation. Then I came to the only logical conclusion.

This… must be a dream. I had to be in a coma.