“What are you doing?”
Still clutching Chae Jungwoo tightly in both arms, Jung Dajun groaned as he glanced at me for guidance.
“I-I thought maybe I went a bit too far with you, hyung, so I came back! If you’re really a repairman, I wanted to stick with you....”
“What, and if not, you’d just report me right away?”
“N-no, not that!”
So I nailed it.
The maknae, caught red-handed, flushed bright red and shouted toward the staff.
“A-anyway, I’m reporting! I’ll report!”
Wouldn’t it have been better to just leave me and report straight away?
I wanted to retort, but since the situation wasn’t finished yet, I scanned my surroundings and slowly stepped back.
【A report has been filed. All repairmen and thugs, please gather at the meeting place.】
The announcement rang out from speakers installed throughout the park.
At that, Chae Jungwoo, who had been quiet, suddenly shook with laughter as if he could no longer hold it back.
“Haha, The Dawn really is close-knit.”
Then he effortlessly stood up, lifting Jung Dajun, who was still hanging onto him.
“But Dajun, you shouldn’t just throw your body around like that. What if you get hurt?”
“Y-yes? Y-yeah!”
Caught off guard, Jung Dajun blinked as Chae Jungwoo released him and even dusted off his clothes—then pressed the pointer.
“......!!!”
“And, sorry-sorry.”
【Jung Dajun out, Jung Dajun out.】
You idiot...
Patting the crestfallen maknae’s shoulder, Chae Jungwoo turned his eyes toward me.
“—It’s within five minutes after a report, so I can kill, right?”
I immediately searched for cover, spotted a side path nearby, and sprinted toward it like mad.
【...All repairmen and thugs, please gather at the meeting place.】
The sound of footsteps behind me told me Chae Jungwoo was giving chase.
Taking a cart would’ve been faster, but it would’ve restricted my movement—perfect for him to catch me. So I cut another corner, exaggerating my body’s swerves left and /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ right.
Just then, Kang Yeonhoo appeared from another corner, heading toward the meeting point. His eyes widened when he saw me barreling forward.
“Wh-what is this? Seo Hoyun-ssi, why are you running?”
“Chae Jungwoo-sunbaenim’s chasing me, huff... he killed Jung Dajun.”
I spat the words out without slowing, and Kang Yeonhoo quickly fell in step, glancing behind us.
“...There’s no one there, though?”
I turned at his words, and sure enough—no sign of pursuit.
Catching my breath, I reached the rose garden, the designated gathering point. Everyone was already there except for me, Yeonhoo, and Jungwoo.
Joo Woosung, chatting with Kim Sunghyun, frowned slightly.
“What’s this. Why’re you gasping like that?”
“Huuh... haah...”
“Cough, hah...”
I just waved my hand a few times and collapsed into an empty chair among the semicircle of seats. Yeonhoo also took a seat a few spots away, face pale from the run.
“Let’s vote quickly. Chae Jungwoo-sunbaenim is a thug.”
“What?”
All eyes turned to me. I was about to explain everything when Chae Jungwoo arrived—on an electric cart.
“Guys~, really, Seo Hoyun-ssi was so scary....”
The momentary attention that had shifted to him snapped right back to me. He even wiped fake tears, smoothly steering the mood.
“Seo Hoyun tricked his own teammate, Jung Dajun, killed him, then filed a report to frame me.”
Excuse me?
“Seriously, doesn’t that sound exactly like something Seo Hoyun would do?”
Joo Woosung stroked his chin, nodding. My words stuck in my throat, I turned my glare to him before swiveling to The Dawn members.
“You guys trust me, right?”
“This does sound pretty convincing, though...”
“My thoughts exactly...”
I was boiling inside, but if you had to weigh trust between “kind, personable” Chae Jungwoo and “mischievous, manipulative” Seo Hoyun, even I would side with the former.
Watching how things were going, Kang Yeonhoo cautiously spoke up.
“But just now, Seo Hoyun-ssi did look desperate, running like crazy... If we judge purely by the situation...”
“So you saw Jungwoo chasing him?”
“...Well, no, but... if Seo Hoyun-ssi were a thug, wouldn’t it be better to cut down one more number? In that case, shouldn’t he have killed me?”
“Maybe the five-minute kill window after a report had just ended. Or maybe the meeting place was close enough he worried about being seen. So he held back.”
‘Joo Woosung, you might as well just announce you want me dead.’
“Still—”
“Uh-uh!”
Wagging his finger sharply, Joo Woosung muttered to Yeonhoo.
“You just haven’t been screwed over by Seo Hoyun enough yet.”
“....”
I’ll see you after filming.
The Hi-Five members (except Yeonhoo) seemed to believe Jungwoo’s excuse completely. The Dawn members exchanged glances and nodded as if they’d already decided.
“Anyway, if he droops his eyebrows and acts pitiful like that, it’s 98 percent fake. Let’s boot Hoyun-hyung first and see.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“Wait, guys! Isn’t this too much on Hoyun?”
Only Sung Jiwon stood up, face flushed with indignation.
“He’s our member—we should defend him.”
“....”
“Hoyun, even if you’re a thug, I won’t vote for you! Promise.”
So he was absolutely convinced I was a thug.
With the team’s distrust laid bare and my will to argue gone, I slumped back in my chair.
Since I didn’t even bother defending myself, the votes were quickly tallied, and Kim Heeyoung announced the result.
“Ah, in the historic first vote of ‘Repair the Amusement Park at Midnight!,’ Seo Hoyun has been eliminated. But, oh no——! Seo Hoyun was an innocent repairman!”
“What?!”
“Huh??”
Outrage exploded around us.
Lifting her hand to calm them, Kim Heeyoung continued in a bittersweet tone.
“...Repairman Seo Hoyun held precious memories of this amusement park. Whether celebrating happy times or needing strength in sad ones, he spent them here with close friends. But betrayed by colleagues and unemployed, he could no longer see this place as happy. Because of that bitter experience, he will never return to the amusement park again.”
“Ah...”
“Seo Hoyun-ssi...”
Honestly, what the hell was that speech? But seeing The Dawn members creeping sheepishly toward me, I crossed my legs and drawled.
“Guys, they said I can never come back to the amusement park. What do we do?”
“Ah, sorry, hyung.”
Blocking the others, Kang Ichae smirked shamelessly, not looking sorry at all.
Soon after, votes settled again, another ‘report’ was triggered, and Chae Jungwoo was eliminated. Yet he laughed heartily, saying it was worth it since he took down two repairmen, then offered me an apology.
“Sorry, Hoyun-ssi.”
When the game resumed, the participants scattered even faster than before.
Having been marked as ‘dead,’ Jung Dajun had spent the vote with no say, only fretting from the sidelines. Finally, he turned to the staff.
“Can dead repairmen still do missions? I’ll be reeeally quiet.”
“Uh, sorry, Dajun-ssi, but that won’t work. The rules don’t allow it.”
“Ugh, then can I at least just quietly follow my hyungs around? Please?!”
“Um, why would you even want to....”
“Because it’s suuuuper, suuuper rare for me to come here... I just wanna ride the rides......”
The staff looked awkward, but when Jung Dajun lowered his eyes and mumbled with such a pitiful face, they soon surrendered.
“Fine. But absolutely no talking! And don’t interfere with the game.”
“Waaah, thank youu! Hoyun-hyung, you wanna come too?!”
“I’m good. Go ahead.”
I ruffled his hair, which was sparkling with excitement, then pushed him on the back.
‘Youth, youth.’
Even playing required stamina, and as someone in his mid-thirties in truth, it was exhausting. Better to stand beside the staff and check out the current filming methods.
“Hoyun-ssi, I’ll remove your mic.”
“Okay.”
Since we couldn’t really talk while the game went on, I left the mic off until the wrap-up scene, both to save battery and avoid overlapping audio.
After that, I chatted with the staff assigned to the ‘report’ gathering point. I wanted to say it had only been a few years, but already so many new equipment and editing techniques had popped up that felt unfamiliar.
As one staffer explained, he glanced around and lowered his voice.
“...So the rumors were true. Seo Hoyun-ssi, you really are interested in broadcast work. Why so curious?”
“The more I know, the better. It’ll help me for sure, and I’ve gotta live long in this industry too.”
“Really? Hahaha! But you’re a successful idol already, what for?”
They laughed as if I’d told some amusing joke. I only smiled and brushed it off, pretending I was just curious.
“Man, even being a thug isn’t easy. I tried to catch Kim Sunghyun, but he was too fast—I lost him right in front of me.”
“No way, Beomhyeon-hyung missed?”
Time passed, and soon eliminations started rolling in. Every one of them was from Hi-Five or Black Call, so I decided to leave before I got dragged into something.
‘Looks like my members are holding out well.’
No wonder Noeul fans said they’d survive even if stranded on a deserted island.
After notifying the assistant director, I headed off. Not far away, there was a hill with a railing, giving a full view of the park. It wasn’t tall, but from there, you could see everything. Still, with parts of the power out, it was hard to spot people.
I was quietly looking down when a voice suddenly came.
“Ugh, hyung... I’m here....”
Of course, it was Min Jiheon.
“Good work, Min Jiheon-sunbaenim.”
“I’m not wearing a mic. Just talk comfortably.”
“What do you mean by that, sir?”
Even walls have ears, idiot.
I feigned ignorance, and he only shrugged and stepped closer.
The fact he was here meant he was eliminated, yet from head to toe he looked spotless, suspiciously so.
“Did you get knocked out?”
“Yeah, I was a thug. Tried to kill Jeon Saeyoung, but three people caught me red-handed, so I got hauled off. Haha.”
He didn’t seem disappointed at all. Jiheon even sliced his neck with his hand in jest, then leaned on the railing, staring off into the distance. Somewhere, a noisy ruckus echoed.
“...Looks like the game’s almost over.”
Watching the lights flicker across the park like Christmas decorations, he muttered. I followed his gaze until his laugh suddenly broke the silence.
“Look at that face, Seo Hoyun-ssi. Do you regret getting out early? Why’re you staring like you’re clinging to it?”
There he goes with his crap again.
Smirking like he’d found something juicy, he added:
“You know, Seo Hoyun-ssi, you’ve been kinda strange lately.”
“What do you mean, sunbaenim.”
“You don’t look tired, but somehow... softer. Like someone who’s glimpsed the end, and finally let go a little?”
Turning his back against the railing, Jiheon raised one corner of his lips.
“What, is it almost time to go back to your original world?”
...This bastard’s biggest problem was knowing far too much about me.
With Seo Hojin’s memories a wreck, it was ironic that the only person who objectively grasped my situation was this infuriating Min Jiheon.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and ignored him—
【Ah—ah—mic test.】
The dead streetlights crackled, and soon Kim Heeyoung’s voice poured out.
【Good work to all WH Entertainment artists. The Dawn’s Kang Ichae has successfully repaired the carousel, and now all the rides are running again.】
It was the broadcast announcing the end of the game.
Instantly, the dark park lit up everywhere.
【——Repairmen win!】
“Waaah—!”
Cheers from cast and applause from staff rang out together.
Bright lights sparkled, the giant Ferris wheel turned slowly, and the carousel spun as a hopeful theme park melody drifted out.
“Such a pretty place. Won’t you miss it?”
I quietly took in the sight and answered.
“...I will.”
Even though he had asked, Jiheon looked genuinely surprised at the reply. I lifted my hand from the railing and brushed my hair back.
“Let’s go, sunbaenim. We have to finish filming.”
Jiheon blinked a few times, then suddenly spread his arms wide and declaimed with theatrical tone:
“...Seo Hoyun-ssi, do you see these dazzling lights? I rented the park just for you.”
Fuck off.
I shot the curse with my eyes, and his laughter cackled behind me.
I strode quickly down the hill, back toward the staff. Just then, familiar figures spotted me and came running, waving big.
“Hyuuuung!!”
“Ah, Hoyun~!”
They must’ve had a blast—their carefully styled hair was all a mess.
First, Jung Dajun clung to me like a koala, chattering.
“Hyung, where were you!! Did you see?! Our repairman team won! We were all repairmen, wasn’t that awesome?!”
“Hoyun, you should’ve seen Kang Ichae. Honestly, he was so cool. I thought he was shooting a spy movie.”
“Ha, Ichae’s probably scared of his own power now...”
“Hoyun, you should’ve been there too! It was so much fun!”
“I’ll pass.”
The others chimed in one by one, noisy and excited.
I followed their chatter with just a smile.
“I had fun too.”
