Chapter 131:


    “Um…”


    I raised my hand awkwardly in the silence, and Chanhyung was startled and screamed.


    “Wow! What are you listening to so gloomily over there!?”


    Gloomily, that’s too harsh. I looked back and forth between Hwijin and the manager of Floss, and Hwijin quickly apologized.


    “I’m sorry, Chanhyung seems to be very excited right now, and he always speaks a bit…”


    “Did I say something wrong? It’s not like you’re here to watch, you’re so annoying…”


    Chanhyung snapped his neck as if to tell me to leave him alone and disappeared to the other side.


    “I’m really sorry. He’s a friend who usually speaks roughly, but he must be in a bad mood because he fought with Yu-geon. I’ll make him apologize properly next time.”


    Hwijin didn’t know what to do and kept apologizing to me.He’s not some wild animal that gets distracted by his size… I felt like he was making me miserable for no reason.


    “Oh, no. Don’t worry about it.”


    Of course, I was naturally upset. I wanted to pay him back someday, but that wasn’t important right now.


    “We’re also on standby until the main shooting, so I’ll look for him once inside the broadcasting station.”


    Maybe I could use the rey service now? I told Hwijin with a faint hope.


    “Really? I’m sorry to bother you.”


    Judging by Chanhyung’s attitude, it seemed impossible to get help from the members. He must have wanted to borrow a cat’s paw.


    I nodded cheerfully and answered.


    “I’ll see if he’s hiding somewhere like the stairs or an empty waiting room.”


    I looked around briefly and left the shooting set. As I sat on a sofa in a quiet corner of the hallway, I heard a buzzing sound from a set on an unknown floor.


    Of course, I couldn’t hear Kang Yu-geon’s voice.


    ‘What the hell are you thinking about?’


    Even though Chanhyung or whoever was injured so badly that he could barely walk, Yu-geon didn’t seem to be hurt that much.


    I took a breath and called the system.


    ‘System.’


    [Do you want to buy the rey service?]


    [Yes/No]


    I pressed the yes button without hesitation. The surroundings darkened in an instant and I returned to the rehearsal scene.


    It was a rehearsal with costumes and recordings ready, so it was iparable to the pre-rehearsal in terms of scale.


    ‘Our stage… they said we couldn’t have this kind of props…’


    The iron gate and gs that decorated the entire stage, and the lights that depicted the rain pouring from the sky.


    My desire forbel separation grew stronger. If we could do this, they should have done it for us at once!


    I was momentarily shaken by the betrayal. A huge light hanging in the sky popped with a nasty explosion and fell towards the stage.


    Bang-!


    “Ahh-!”


    “Are you okay!?”


    “Is anyone hit in the head?”


    As the staffs were startled and tried to jump onto the stage, someone stopped them.


    “It’s dangerous! Don’te up until it’s demolished above!”


    Chanhyung, was it? He was the member who snapped at me earlier and got a shard in his ankle. Yu-geon seemed to have fallen while trying to dodge a falling part from above.


    I thought it was lucky that they weren’t seriously injured, but only for a moment. The light made a weird creaking sound again and then…


    Bang!


    It dropped right next to Yu-geon’s head, who was lying on the floor. If he had leaned a little more to the side, it would have been his head, not the stage floor, that shattered.


    “Yu-geon!”


    “Yu-geon hyung! Are you okay?”


    Hwijin and Naru, who were in the same group and rtively close to him, called his name, but he didn’t seem to hear them.


    “…”


    “Come down quickly! Hurry!”


    Yu-geon looked pale and terrified, as if he had seen a ghost. He didn’t move at all. His lips seemed to tremble slightly.


    The other members dragged him down from the stage, ignoring his resistance.


    And then, the staff came and took Yu-geon and Chanhyung to the infirmary.


    “Damn, a fracture? How annoying.”


    Chanhyung scratched his head and was about to throw his phone on the hospital bed, but he barely held back and crossed his arms, looking down at Yugun.


    “You can go back on stage right away, right? You only have a sprain. The manager said you should join us as soon as possible. It’s not like you’re badly hurt.”


    But until then, Yu-geon was still silent, like a doll, with his empty eyes and hisrge body curled up.


    “…I can’t.”


    Just then, a staff member rushed in, opening the door as if the car to take Chanhyung to a nearby orthopedic clinic was ready.


    “Chanhyung? Come this way!”


    “What are you doing? Help me up.”


    Chanhyung called his manager nervously, and the manager gestured to the staff to take care of Yu-geon as he took Chanhyung out of the infirmary.


    “Uh, Yu-geon…”


    As the staff cautiously called Yu-geon, his body copsed to the side with a thud.


    “Ah, what do we do? Should we call 119, 119?”


    The staff left behind ran out to call another superior, and Yu-geon closed his eyes as hey on the floor.


    He faintly heard someone say, ‘Do you have an article to write? He just looks exhausted, so move him to the break room. Don’t make a big deal out of it.’


    They were thinking of covering up the incident instead of taking him to the hospital and letting him rest properly.


    He was an idol, but still a human being.


    He was angry at the attitude of treating him like a part, not a living person, but it was already a past event.


    Right after that, the screen switched to a ce that looked like a dormitory.


    ‘Where is this…’


    There were broadcasting-rted props scattered around, so it seemed like a broadcasting station dormitory.


    ‘They brought me here because the waiting room was too noisy.’


    They should have taken him to the hospital or the dorm. He had shown his will to get on the stage somehow, even though it wasn’t a serious injury.


    ‘Do I need to be stubborn here?’


    I looked down at Yu-geon, who was asleep, and clicked my tongue.


    Gasp-.


    As if he had noticed that I was watching him, Yu-geon shuddered and slowly opened and closed his eyes.


    Then he moved his trembling legs and barely got up. His face was still pale as if he couldn’t breathe.


    ‘It looks like he had a panic attack or something…’


    Yu-geon moved his body with difficulty, leaning on the wall, and covered his ears several times as if the noise that couldn’t be heard was loud.


    He barely opened the door and went out, and a dead-end corridor appeared.


    [Under construction – No entry except for rted personnel -]


    The stairs leading to the left had a sign saying they were under repair. Yu-geon didn’t care and opened the door to the stairs.


    There were chairs piled up between the stair floors, as if they had been brought from somewhere. Yu-geon crouched down and hid his body next to them, then closed his eyes again.


    The scene that was shown to me ended as if it was over, and the world turned to color mode and brightened.


    No… Is this situation okay? I went out to the hallway to find the dormitory where Yu-geon was sleeping.


    “Excuse me, I’ll just pass by!”


    The set was in full swing with lighting repairs and cleanup, and there were still many people running around.


    It was natural that they were busy, trying to do the recording and rehearsal of the other groups in this situation…


    I looked around the wall hard, trying to find the dead-end road that I had seen in the rey service.


    After running around for a while, panting, I finally found the dormitory on the top floor where no one wasing and going.


    “Why did they make the dormitory in such a ce!”


    I clenched my teeth and calmed my rough breath, and opened the door to the stairs.


    “…”


    Yu-geon was shivering and crouching, curling up his whole body. I quickly took off the bomber jacket I was wearing and covered him with it.


    Even in this situation, he was barely covering his ears with his hands. I felt more pity than contempt for him.


    Yu-geon looked up at me with his dull eyes, and as his face was hidden by the thick and warm coat, he slowly breathed out as if he was feeling a bit relieved.


    I checked that Yu-geon had calmed down a little and asked him cautiously.


    “What are you so afraid of, when you’re bigger and stronger than him?”


    I realized that I was speaking to him politely. I hastily added a suffix.


    “Yo.”


    Yu-geon still had a pale face like a nk sheet of paper, and he let out a hollowugh as if he couldn’t believe it.


    “Is that, that… your concept, yo?”


    His voice was trembling, but he wasn’t as bad as before, when he couldn’t breathe properly while covering his ears.


    “Ah, I don’t know. I’ll just speak casually, yo.”


    I was used to being defiant in my mind, like I was with our kids, so I couldn’t easily speak politely. Why was that? Did I feel some sympathy for him after seeing his weak side?


    He had always seemed like a jerk who did whatever he wanted, a thug who I couldn’t understand. But for the first time, he looked like a young kid his age.


    “Why are you so scared, when you can easily beat up someone who’s smaller than you? What’s the reason for that?”


    I didn’t beat around the bush and threw a straight question at him. Of course, anyone would be terrified in this situation.


    What was he so afraid of, that he would risk getting punched by the mean members? What made him copse like this and hide alone, crouching?


    “…If you know, will you do something… for me?”


    What can I do for you? I have enough on my te. Helping you with your schedule was only possible when we had no schedule of our own.


    Now, even if I wanted to help you, we’re too busy to spare any time.


    “Well… I don’t think I can do it.”


    He ignored my vague answer and hissed, barely regaining his energy.


    “What the hell…”


    I quickly replied.


    “Still, I can at least listen to you.”


    Like I did for your leader. But if you say you don’t want to talk unless you die, there’s nothing I can do…


    I stared at him quietly, waiting for him to open his mouth.