Kang Yeonhoo, caught off guard, couldn’t get a word out before Seo Hoyun scanned their surroundings, tugged on the arm he was holding, and pulled him toward a deserted corner. He shoved his shoulder against him, pressing him against the wall, then bent down and sprayed something from the can he held in his other hand onto Yeonhoo’s left ankle.
Chiieeek.
“W-what are you doing?”
The spray was so strong it made him cough. Smoke rose thickly, stinging his throat. Frowning, Yeonhoo covered his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Mr. Seo Hoyun, cough, thanks, but I already put on plenty of patches. Don’t waste time—”
“Don’t raise your voice and draw attention.”
Who was the one drawing attention now?
Even in the chaos of people rushing around, staff glanced over, curious about what was happening.
The Seo Hoyun Yeonhoo knew was a man who wouldn’t budge unless there was something in it for him. He wanted to demand what the hell this bizarre act was supposed to mean, but Hoyun only stared irritably at his ankle, so the words wouldn’t leave his mouth.
“Forget it. Move aside....”
“Stand straight.”
“Now you’re giving me orders?”
Letting out a deep sigh at Seo Hoyun blatantly ignoring him, Yeonhoo decided he’d just avoid him. He stepped past, putting weight on his left foot—
“...Huh?”
The stabbing pain, like an ice pick driven into his ankle, was gone.
“What the... huh...?”
In disbelief, he stomped again. Just then, a staffer called out almost shouting.
“Kang Yeonhoo, standby!”
Moving as instinct told him, Yeonhoo still couldn’t tear his gaze away from Seo Hoyun, as if he’d been bewitched. Hoyun just waved his hand dismissively, looking annoyed.
“Hurry up and go.”
“...What?”
Then he turned and left first. Yeonhoo watched until he was out of sight, then finally boarded the lift.
“Hi-Five going up. 3, 2, 1...!”
As the vibration like his pounding heart shook him, Yeonhoo closed his eyes and slowly exhaled.
Whatever Seo Hoyun had just done, right now was the moment he had to meet the fans in perfect form.
When his eyelids lifted again, he was back to being the idol Kang Yeonhoo.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, entering the restroom past the backstage, Seo Hoyun clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Dding!
[Don’t regret it?]
“What.”
[You used an item that’s been sitting in your inventory half a year, covered in cobwebs, for someone else, just to save your points.]
Hoyun rolled his eyes toward the floating blue window.
[Item: Give Me Strength, World!
In this tumultuous entertainment world, your body is your greatest asset!
Spraying this restores an injured part of the body to its original condition.
Maintain a sturdy body for safe, fulfilling idol activities!
※ Effect lasts 15 minutes after spraying.
※ Can be used repeatedly.
※ Unlike temporary items, this one actually relieves pain.
Cost per use: 4,500 points.]
It was the full version of the temporary item he’d used back at The Dawn’s solo concert.
[You were stingy enough to use the pain-maintaining version on yourself, but for someone else you gave the real deal....]
[That one’s three times more expensive.......]
Yeah, why had he done that?
He wasn’t the kind of man to take a loss.
Helping without immediate benefit had his temper spiking, yet leaving it alone had his nerves crawling uncomfortably.
“Whatever.”
Seo Hoyun wasn’t the type to stew in regret over what was already done.
“The kid was hurt.”
And besides, Kang Yeonhoo would be useful someday.
As he ran the faucet to wash the medicinal smell off his hands, the system window added a comment.
[...This is why I like you so much, Mr. Seo Hoyun.]
“You seriously need to shut up.”
***
[The national treasure has finally returned.]
The Dawn wrapped up their Japan activities and returned home.
The K-POP concert had ignited not only the local scene but Korea as well. Among the full-length performances quickly uploaded to YouTube, the most replayed was The Dawn’s cover of Revi’s hit Can’t Be Mature.
[kpop_dawn_ing.jpg
Are the coordis geniuses or insane?
└└With all the flashy outfits around, this one stood out even more lolol]
[Kim Sunghyun’s physique is insanely sexy.. those moves are unreal.. With that build he should look stiff, but damn...]
[But Seo Hoyun... I know with my head he’s an idol, but maybe because I know his personality, why does he suit that worn-out office worker vibe so well?
└He’s younger than me but the moment he took off the glasses I legit felt like I was about to get scolded by my boss.]
As Noeul buzzed over The Dawn’s outfits and concept, clips from their Japan schedule began surfacing across platforms.
【We’ll try a surprise interview with The Dawn as they pass by the broadcast station!】
“Hello! Surprised by the sudden interview request?!”
“Ah, no! Our manager told us ahead, so it’s fine!”
【This Korean idol is way too honest....】
From Sung Dajun’s overly candid network interview—likely a miscommunication in delivery—
[Ahhh!!! The kids went to karaoke in Japan TT_TT]
—To the self-produced vlog content on their official channel.
[They actually recorded the whole karaoke session and uploaded it??
Dajun’s like ‘No tambourine? Where’s the tambourine?!’
It’s so high school K-boy I’m dying, how old are you guys~~~!!!!]
Kang Ichae was happily belting Christmas carols already, while the drained Kim Sunghyun crouched in the corner clapping weakly.
Sung Jiwon and Seo Hoyun huddled together, repeatedly refilling the free ice cream, alternating between chocolate and melon syrup.
[Look at Sung Jiwon singing Japanese songs there... I’m dying....]
[Kim Sunghyun kept refusing when they asked him to dance, but in the end he did it... Meanwhile Hoyun stuffed ice cream and teased until Sunghyun smacked him on the back AHAHA
└They’re seriously close. Even after getting smacked Hoyun was laughing, so cute.]
With official schedules already posted on WH Entertainment’s website, channel, and SNS, fans had seen most of it. They scrolled aimlessly, hungry for new content, when suddenly one clip on Twitter spread like wildfire.
【The Dawn on Japanese network variety show Tokyo Warai】
[??? The Dawn was on another variety show?]
[Was that on the schedule?
└No? Not that I saw.]
[Isn’t that a pretty famous show? If they were on it, we’d have known.]
Someone quickly translated and quoted the original, and it spread even faster.
【Today we’ll try pretending to be a model.】
The premise was simple: cast a not-so-famous middle-aged comedian as a world-class model and see if people in the broadcast building believed it—a kind of social experiment.
The comedian, nowhere near a typical model’s physique, wore pink teddy bear sunglasses and tied a blue lunchcloth scarf around his neck, striking poses at the camera with a dead-serious face.
Huge captions blared behind him.
【Global Super Model – O. J. S!!】
[Is O.J.S supposed to be ‘Ojisan’ (old man)? lololol]
[LMAO this show is hilarious]
The studio panel cheered the comedian on.
【The experiment begins immediately!】
“Wow... is this for Tokyo Warai?”
“You work really hard, huh....”
But when they asked people who actually encountered him, everyone just gave faint smiles and clenched fists for awkward fighting poses.
【A warm society... but experiment failed?】
At this rate, no one would believe it. The staff were already discussing changing the guest or outfit when a man in plain clothes and a black cap pulled low passed behind them.
“Excuse me, you can’t come in here.”
An actor playing the manager, quick on his feet, rushed to block his path.
【Acting skills sharpened by a tough world!】
The man turned his head with a surprised look, then frowned faintly, as if he didn’t understand Japanese. The panel and viewers alike gasped.
“What?”
The close-up showed Seo Hoyun.
[???]
Captions rolled under his spotless bare face.
【Hoyun, lead vocal of Korean idol group THE DAWN!】
【The star who gathered tens of thousands at the K-POP concert!】
Footage of Hoyun playing bass with a fierce stare at the K-POP concert cut in.
【Will a real global star be fooled...?】
The group’s interpreter came over and translated «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» for Hoyun. As he listened, Kang Ichae walked up and leaned his chin on his shoulder. Hoyun shoved Ichae’s forehead away with his finger.
“Hey, let’s go. They’re filming a model shoot.”
【He bought it!】
[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]
[My boy Hoyun seriously has no prejudices lolol]
[Why does he look so soft and gullible lololol]
Ichae blinked wide, then chirped “Arigato~!” before they left.
The program then showed staff rushing to The Dawn’s road manager.
【A Korean idol had no prejudice!】
【Thank you for protecting O.J.S’s dream, ARIGATO!!】
[HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ARIGATO!!]
[This show is insane]
[The panel cheering for O.J.S getting emotional thanks to The Dawn is killing me]
Debates flew over whether it was staged or real, but the majority settled on: It’s real, just a candid, unstyled Seo Hoyun. Look at his middle-aged hike-walker gait, you can’t fake that.
[The key points of this video..
Unstyled ajusshi steps Hoyun
But his face goes 4K the second he appears
Hoyun gullibly falls for it
└+Rapper Kang Ichae’s perfect ARIGATO English diction
└└But is Arigato the only Japanese he knows?
└└Did he forget Konnichiwa?
└└Ah, makes sense
└└Noeul are merciless lolololol]
.
.
.
“What the hell?”
And so, Seo Hoyun had accidentally cleared the network broadcast quest. He stared dumbfounded at the system window floating in front of him.
[Quest Complete!
You have appeared on network variety shows 3 times.
Reward: 30,000 points.]
[Quest Complete!
Among all K-POP concert clips filmed in Tokyo, The Dawn’s performance video has achieved the highest views.
Reward: 10,000 points.]
[Current Points: 239,500]
With these two added to what he had scrimped and saved from past missions, his points had suddenly surged into the mid-200,000s.
Seizing the chance, Seo Hoyun asked quickly,
“So just appearing as an extra on a show counts too?”
[Trying to freeload again? It has to generate buzz.]
“Tch.”
Hoyun scowled at the system clinging to him again, pretending to be friendly after he’d helped Kang Yeonhoo. He flopped back on the bed.
‘Well, this is what happens when you live a decent life—luck comes your way.’
He closed his eyes calmly with that thought.
Dding!
Then an unpleasant alert chimed.
[New Quest!
Appear in the blockbuster Letflix drama Before the Moon Wanes as a cameo and achieve 1 million YouTube clip views within 2 weeks!
Success: 10,000 points.
Failure: Rumors of conflict with a famous actor M, drastic drop in recognition, 1-year ban from broadcast media.
※ The timer starts from the day the clip is uploaded.]
“.......”
Looked like Seo Hoyun hadn’t lived quite that decently after all.
