[You are afflicted with a status condition.]
I spat out the metallic taste lingering in my mouth, rinsed with water, and wiped my face with a towel.
[You are afflicted with a status condition.]
[You are afflicted with a status condition.]
[You are afflicted with a status condition.]
[You are afflicted with a status condition.]
“I know, I know. Fuck.”
My vision was already spinning, and now the system windows flashing before my eyes made my nerves flare.
I steadied myself against the wall and stumbled out. Min Jiheon’s dog, Malang, circled my feet with whines.
“...You’re loud as hell.”
I waved a hand to keep the long, glossy-haired dog from brushing against me, then flopped down onto the sofa. Slowly, I pulled my phone from my pocket.
Missed calls, unread messages—I skimmed past them, opened the community boards and SNS.
[Doesn’t Seo Hoyun look totally MIA lately?]
[Did Seo Hoyun leave the dorm? Haven’t seen him around.]
[Kang Ichae also bitched about leaving the dorm when they moved to WH, now they act like they’re somebody...]
[So the discord rumors... damn, I didn’t want to confirm them like this.]
This kind of noise was expected. It didn’t bother me.
What mattered more—
I searched with “ER,” “hospital,” “Seo Hoyun.”
[Title: Saw SHY at the ER
It was SHY , right?
pic_SHY?_ER.jpg
The moment he walked in, every single head turned.
He passed by too fast, couldn’t see clearly, but the aura—like a live drama scene lol.
Looked calm as hell.
Didn’t seem like he was sick, probably came for someone?
└Take the pic down.
└└2222
└└Bro, who posts ER sightings? Insane.
└Still curious tho. Who’d he be visiting?
└└If he rushed to the ER, must be family?
└└? His family’s dead lol
└└(This comment has been reported)
└└Didn’t they say he had a younger brother?
└└(This comment has been reported)
└└Holy shit, do you assholes have to spit on someone’s family like that?
└└Report that comment.
└OP, just delete this «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» already..]
The speculation was endless, but thankfully, no photo of Seo Hojin surfaced. I let out a breath.
Closing the portal, I let my stomach settle, about to doze off—when the screen lit with an obnoxious saved name.
Bzzz— bzzz—.
“......”
Bzzzzzz—.
I flipped the phone face down, ignored it, but the vibration came again and again. Clutching my throbbing skull, I answered.
“Stop fucking calling me.”
[Why so sensitive today~?]
Min Jiheon’s teasing voice drawled.
[Is that any way to talk to sweet Jiheon, the guy who lent you his house?]
Sweet my ass.
I stared at the system window hovering before me.
[Status condition remaining time: 27 days, 13 hours, 21 seconds]
Fucking hell, time crawled.
The deal was simple: I’d shoulder the penalty my brother had been splitting for a month. Jiheon had mentioned his overseas filming schedule when signing autographs, so I knew he’d be gone long. In exchange for a future favor, I borrowed his house.
[How’s your body?]
“Feels like I’m dying.”
[See, still fine.]
The only silver lining: hiatus.
The problem: comeback was close.
I’d told the members I was staying away for Hojin’s sake, and told Hojin I was too busy with company work. Only the road manager, who handled schedules with me, knew the truth.
‘No way I can drive like this. Damn it.’
[...And don’t forget to brush Malang every day... but not too many dried sweet potatoes or he’ll skip his meals.]
“Your Malang’s a damn general.”
[I like the feisty ones.]
He rambled about craving gamjatang, missing Malang’s paw smell. Half-asleep, I let it wash over me—until suddenly, a name slammed into my ears.
[...—Hyung, Seo Hoyun!!]
“......”
[Hey, hey, you still conscious?]
My vision darkened. My ears burned.
“...Shut up. You’re echoing in my skull. Hanging up.”
[Wait, wait.]
The idiot who’d only spewed nonsense suddenly asked in a rush:
[So who was it? The one sharing your burden.]
“......”
[Figured it out—this is why you’re sick now, right?]
Bastard’s too sharp.
I swallowed back bile, even though it wasn’t Jiheon’s fault.
Still felt like I’d been shot point-blank.
Why had the system’s instability, its broken inevitabilities, been dumped on Seo Hojin?
Why were his memories being cut away?
What exactly had been sacrificed for me?
The truths I’d tried to ignore clawed up, tormenting me with endless what-ifs.
‘...Not now.’
I pressed my temple hard, forcing the thoughts down.
Without proof, speculation was only speculation.
“Hey.”
Better to dig for gains in reality than waste time spiraling.
[Yeah?]
“I’ll do a three-line poem with ‘skull.’ Give me the cue.”
[Out of nowhere?]
“Yeah.”
[Alright then—Skull!]
Click. I hung up.
“Slippery bastard.”
I shut off the phone and tossed it aside, then sprawled back. Below me, Malang whined, pawing to climb up.
“Ugh...”
I caught another mouthful of blood in my hand, popped more painkillers. My nose wouldn’t stop bleeding, my fever raged, my mind barely worked.
Still—
[Quest arrival!
Complete The Dawn’s September comeback music video shoot without incident.
Success: 10,000 points
Failure: Status condition extended 1 week]
The reward was suspiciously high, the task oddly simple. But the quest’s appearance at least meant part of the system was back online. That eased me.
‘When this pain ends, will everything return...?’
I rested an arm over my forehead and let my body go slack.
Unanswered questions lingered. My body was wrecked.
But even so, at least nothing else was happening behind my back.
‘Nothing easier than enduring.’
As long as I hid it.
Practice was never enough, and the MV shoot wouldn’t be easy. But I had confidence—endurance was my specialty, ever since my PD days.
The sharp, stabbing headache returned. I cursed through clenched teeth.
“Shit, hurts like a motherf—urk!”
Malang finally scrambled up onto the sofa, landing on my stomach. I coughed up fresh, dark blood.
***
“Rise and shine!!”
Even before the alarm, Jung Dajun stretched his arms and sat up. Seeing Seo Hoyun’s bed still empty, he pouted.
‘Didn’t come back again?’
He thought at least he’d sleep at the dorm.
It had been over a week since debut that they’d been apart this long. The emptiness felt bigger.
“Geez, making people worry.”
He couldn’t blame him if it was for family.
Muttering, Dajun washed up and changed, then joined the others in the living room. They were already ready to leave.
“Is Hoyun-hyung really okay? Why won’t he answer? Nothing happened, right?”
“Where’s your morning greeting, brat?”
Kim Sunghyun pressed down on his head, ruffling his hair before slinging an arm around his shoulders and steering him to the door. Sung Jiwon and Kang Ichae followed.
“What would happen to Seo Hoyun? It was Hojin who was sick.”
“Still... it’s weird he hasn’t contacted us for so long...”
“He’s the type who has to see and handle everything himself. He’s just busy taking care of his brother.”
“Hmm...”
Everyone knew how much Hoyun cared about his brother.
Even so, as they got into the van with the manager and headed to the shoot, Dajun’s lips stayed puffy with worry.
“Hey, he’ll be fine.”
“But I can’t shake this bad feeling...”
Even getting out at the filming site, he muttered. Then he spotted someone a little ways off, talking with the road manager.
“Ah!!”
Felt like ten years since he’d seen him. Dajun dashed forward—
“Hoyun-hyung!”
“Hey, Jung Dajun!!”
Three steps before colliding, Kim Sunghyun grabbed him by the scruff.
Hoyun blinked slowly, looking surprised. Sunghyun clamped Dajun’s mouth shut and turned to Hoyun.
“Seo Hoyun, you okay?”
“...Yeah. Yeah, long time no see.”
Dajun shrank back between the members, and Sung Jiwon rubbed his back.
“How’s Hojin?”
“He’s much better.”
“Good. And you?”
“Me? So-so.”
Dajun’s round eyes narrowed.
Hoyun’s sharp tongue was dulled, his replies subdued, his energy flat.
His cheeks flushed, but his complexion was ashen. Dark circles dragged to his chin. In just a week, he looked thinner.
Like he was the patient.
“Mm, okay. You’ve worked hard. Rest a bit.”
The others had noticed too. Sung Jiwon just smiled, patting his shoulder gently.
Dajun tilted his head in confusion, but the rest avoided his gaze. Soon after, the members held a quick huddle without Hoyun.
“What’s up with Seo Hoyun today?”
“Don’t poke him now. Not the right time.”
“Isn’t he the one sick? Not Hojin?”
“Did he catch it? A cold?”
The four whispered together. Dajun kept glancing at Kang Ichae. Usually, when Hoyun was unwell, Ichae’s worry turned into anger, sparking fights. Dajun always took the worst of it. He was nervous. But Ichae stayed expressionless.
“The Dawn, over here!”
On the long rectangular table, stacks of printed papers awaited. They thought it would be scene outlines, but the content was all about safety training.
Reading through, Sunghyun asked a staff member:
“Weren’t we filming the music video today?”
“Ah! Because our shoot involves safety risks, training is mandatory. We moved it up.”
Ichae’s brow twitched.
The staff flipped through a tablet, then pointed.
“We have an underwater shoot scheduled!”
At once, every gaze turned to Seo Hoyun’s pale face.
But Hoyun looked unfazed.
