Chapter 14: A Reason I Really Like

He had always known that one day, the man would come looking for him.

“Oh? Answer me, you son of a bitch.”

Even if he had expected it, some things were just beyond his control.

Go Jeongeun didn’t have the guts to face him.

“You little…”

Smack!

Jo Jeongjae’s right hand struck Go Jeongeun’s left cheek.

His head barely turned a quarter before snapping right back into place.

Smack!

Without hesitation, Jo Jeongjae slapped the same cheek again.

It hurt. It really hurt. It hurt.

The metallic taste of blood quickly filled Go Jeongeun’s mouth.

He suddenly remembered how he used to chew food on one side of his mouth only.

No…

He didn’t want to get hit. He hated getting hit.

Even so, Jo Jeongjae’s hand had struck him again and again—

“I’m sorry!!!”

Go Jeongeun screamed, almost like a shriek.

His trembling hands slowly lifted and clasped together in front of him.

Only then did Jo Jeongjae’s hand freeze midair.

“Now you open that fucking mouth, huh?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”

Jo Jeongjae let go of his hair and lit a cigarette again.

“Keep it down, you little shit. You want people complaining?”

Hoo— He exhaled a puff of smoke.

Standing still with both hands behind his back, Go Jeongeun silently waited for Jo Jeongjae to finish his smoke.

“Jeongeun.”

After a moment, Jo Jeongjae finally spoke.

“Yes.”

Go Jeongeun replied quickly, prompting Jo Jeongjae to speak again with apparent satisfaction.

“I’ve taken care of you all this time, haven’t I? Huh? Your siblings in Incheon—aren’t they able to go to school because of me?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

At his response, Jo Jeongjae grabbed both of Go Jeongeun’s cheeks with one hand.

Blood seeped from the freshly split skin on the inside of his cheek.

“Then why the fuck did you handle this like a complete idiot?”

“I… I’m sorry…”

Jo Jeongjae sighed, sounding deeply annoyed.

“‘Sorry’ isn’t enough… You knew that fucking Kim Haram was going to be there, didn’t you? So why the fuck didn’t you say anything until now?”

The hand gripping his cheek tightened even more.

“Don’t tell me… Did that bastard Kim Haram offer you some kind of deal or something?”

For a brief second, the ten million won Kim Haram had mentioned flashed through Go Jeongeun’s mind.

“N-No… He didn’t…”

Why couldn’t he say it? He just couldn’t tell the truth.

“Then why the fuck didn’t you say anything!!!”

Still held by the face, Go Jeongeun’s back slammed into the wall.

“Ugh…!”

The pained groan didn’t stir a hint of sympathy from Jo Jeongjae.

“Get your shit together. Unless you really want to fucking die.”

Go Jeongeun couldn’t even speak. He just nodded repeatedly.

Hoo—

Jo Jeongjae finally let go of his head completely.

Still tense, Go Jeongeun sucked in a shallow breath.

“From tomorrow, you better start reporting properly. I’ll be watching.”

With that, Jo Jeongjae vanished. Go Jeongeun leaned against the wall for a long time, swallowed by the darkness.

“Sob… Hhkk… Huff…”

…He wasn’t just standing there.

*****

“Hurry up and get in. We’re gonna be late.”

It was the morning of Lee Jiwon’s second-round audition.

“That bastard Go Jeongeun hasn’t even shown his face… Where’s Jiwon? Tell him to come out already.”

Choi Woojin and Lee Hyunjae were both there, but strangely, Lee Jiwon was nowhere to be seen—

“I-I-I-I-I-I’m here.”

Jesus Christ.

Lee Jiwon suddenly popped up from behind. Nearly gave me a heart attack.

“…Huh?”

What the hell was up with this guy?

“Hyung, are you okay…?”

Choi Woojin asked in a worried tone.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You really don’t look okay. Do you know how many full stops you’re putting in just one sentence right now?”

His complexion was pale, and his lips were nearly purple—if he said he’d been stranded on a snowy mountain, people might believe him.

“Hmm… should I ask for that today? Hangover makeup?”

Is that something you should be saying right now?

“That trend’s ancient history.”

“Why? Nothing brings color back to the face like that stuff.”

Ugh. Ignore him.

I approached Lee Jiwon and spoke.

“Jiwon-ah, are you really nervous?”

“A-A-Ah no. I-I’m the same as usual.”

Suddenly, I realized how serious the situation was.

Jiwon can’t get through even one full sentence without stuttering… This is unprecedented.

Beside me, the anxious Soram suddenly popped up a window.

[A new sub-quest has been generated.]

[Sub-Quest – Calm Down (2)]

Goal: Help Lee Jiwon relax.
Reward: Random Box (Intermediate)
Failure Penalty: Lee Jiwon fails the audition.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that things kept getting dumped on me.

The more dramatic failure penalty stood out even more than the slightly improved reward.

This won’t do. It’s a little early, but…

“Hyunjae-hyung.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s bring that out now.”

“That?”

Hyunjae looked between me and Jiwon, then nodded in understanding and headed toward the car trunk.

“Ah, me too!”

Choi Woojin joined him, and together they pulled out a large rolled-up cloth.

“Jiwon-hyung, look at this!”

Standing at each end, Choi Woojin and Hyunjae stretched out the cloth with a dramatic flourish.

“This is…?”

<A true son of northern Gyeonggi, idol born from Uijeongbu, Gyeong-Gun-Eui-Ah! Lee Jiwon Fighting!!>

…Now that it was fully displayed, I couldn’t help but think—maybe this was a mistake.

It was Woojin’s idea, born from his envy of the many banners hung at the audition venue.

He came up with the slogan too, so don’t blame me.

“We made it after thinking it over with the hyungs!”

…And just like that, he dragged me into it too.

How did a seventeen-year-old even come up with the word “geon-ah”? That choice of vocabulary seriously made me worry about his usual preferences.

‘Let’s see… what’s the effect…?’

“Uh… uh…”

Hesitating, Lee Ji-won finally opened his mouth.

“Th-th-th-thank you s-s-so much, hyungs. W-Woojin, y-you too. R-really, th-thank you.”

The effect was… tremendous! In the worst way possible!

So-ram frantically hopped around and popped up a new system window.

*****

[Sub-Quest has been updated.]

[Sub-Quest – Stabilization (2-1)]

Objective: Please help Lee Ji-won calm down.

Reward: 1 Intermediate Random Box, 1 Basic Random Box

Failure Penalty: Lee Ji-won will definitely fail the evaluation.

Ah… no way!

*****

Still unable to calm Lee Ji-won down, we arrived at the filming location.

“Hoo… hoo…”

Lee Ji-won had been taking deep breaths non-stop for a while now.

‘What’s wrong with him today?’

Feeling frustrated, I pulled up Lee Ji-won’s stat window.

[<Character – Detailed Stats and Info>

Name: Lee Ji-won
Dance: C+ (C-)
Vocal: B (C+)
Visual: B- (C)
Charm: B- (C)
Luck: B-

A charming vocal tone with a distinctive low-mid voice!

His dancing needs some work, but there’s room for improvement!

• Due to excessive anxiety, all stats have temporarily dropped by 2 levels.]

Overall, his stats were decent—definitely within passing range.

‘Then why…’

Maybe he lacked self-awareness?

As I cautiously reviewed Lee Ji-won’s status screen, something caught my eye.

‘Could it be…?’

I selected one of his traits and brought it up separately.

[<Character – Detailed Stats and Info>

Trait Name: Career Exploration

Grade: Normal

Status: Active

Effect:

“What should I do with my life?” — the universal dilemma of all humanity.

• This trait will evolve into different traits depending on the career path chosen.

• Currently unstable due to being on the verge of evolution.]

There it is. This was the cause.

No wonder a banner wasn’t going to fix anything.

Why’s he suddenly stressing about this kind of stuff now? I tilted my head in confusion.

[Heh…]

…What? Why are you looking at me like that?

Soram crossed his arms and stared at me like he seriously couldn’t believe I didn’t get it.

Ah.

I remembered what Lee Ji-won said after the last evaluation.

“You should be disappointed you couldn’t watch your own stage, hyung…”

“I secretly filmed it with a phone I snuck in. You can watch it later…”

…Wait a minute.

“Is it because of me?”

I asked with my eyes, and Soram nodded his head enthusiastically.

So basically… Lee Ji-won saw my performance from a few days ago, and that’s when he seriously started wondering if becoming an idol was right for him.

And while he was wrestling with that… everyone else but him passed the evaluation?

Soram nodded even faster.

Holy crap, that’s way too much pressure.

I influenced someone else’s career path. What if he comes up to me someday and says, “If only I’d never met you back then…!” with those bitter, resentful eyes?

Yeah, okay. First, I needed to calm down that egg about to crack—his “Career Exploration” trait.

“Ji-won.”

“Y-yeah?”

“What do you want to do in the future?”

“Me? Well… become an idol…”

“Really?”

“I… I think so?”

Hmm. Is that really true? Your heart’s practically a battlefield of doubts.

“Do you think you’ll be good at it?”

“…I’m not sure.”

“Right? I’m honestly still figuring it out myself.”

“You are… hyung?”

Now I had Ji-won’s full attention. Good. Step one: pull him out of that anxiety spiral—success. Time to steer the mood gently.

“I’m always anxious. About how far I can really go.”

Things were all tangled in various ways, sure, but one fact was undeniable: Kim Haram was a successful idol.

So if even someone like Kim Haram felt insecure—that message would hit hard.

“I became an idol because I admired the people who shined so brightly on stage.”

And from here, it was Seo Jimin’s turn to speak.

“But at some point, I started thinking more about the people below the stage—the ones standing next to me. Their faces, their expressions…”

Lee Jiwon quietly listened to my story.

“This is something I talked about with Woojin before too… They just looked so genuinely happy, those people.”

Yeah. This was an extension of the conversation I had that day — the day I decided I wanted to stay with them.

“But lately, I’ve been thinking… what if, when I step on stage… I can’t give happiness? What if I become someone who gives it only halfway?”

This isn’t an easy thing.

Everything has a threshold, and people’s emotions — even more so.

“I have to keep doing better than before. But… I’m only human. What if I end up doing worse?”

That was the exact anxiety I felt the first time I checked my stats after the possession.

Could I really meet the threshold that Kim Haram had already set?

It was around that time that a thought crossed my mind.

“Wow… this job is really, insanely hard.”

I’d gotten a little too into the moment without realizing it, and a bitter smile crept onto my lips.

“To be honest, I think I’m pretty talented. What about you, Jiwon?”

Lee Jiwon, who had just been silently listening with tightly pressed lips, finally spoke slowly.

“…Of course. I think you’re really talented, hyung.”

“Right? I think so too, actually.”

The status window says as much, doesn’t it? I was lucky enough to inherit Kim Haram’s talent exactly as it was.

“But even I feel anxious. That’s how tough this is. So, Jiwon…”

I finally looked him in the eyes.

Time to wrap things up.

“Rather than deciding right this instant, I think it’s okay to take your time and think it through.”

If even I find this scary and difficult, then he doesn’t need to rush. He can take it slow.

I said a lot, but in the end, that was really all I wanted to say.

Que sera, sera. If he takes his time and keeps going, somehow, it’ll work out.

“…Then what about you, hyung? What do you do when it’s hard and scary like that?”

“Huh?”

Well… that’s… not something Seo Jimin could easily answer.

What had Kim Haram leaned on, day after day, before entrusting everything to me?

“Uh…”

Honestly, my answer wasn’t going to be that different from what I’d been saying this whole time.

“When I think about… the day we’ll stand on stage together… it gives me strength.”

“Stand on stage together…?”

“Yeah. Together.”

Just then, I spotted Lee Hyunjae and Choi Woojin in the distance, returning from their drink run.

Lee Jiwon turned his head to look at the two as well.

“Thinking about standing on stage with them… and giving, and receiving even more happiness — that’s what keeps me going.”

Lee Jiwon quietly gazed at the two who were chatting away as they approached.

“So that’s it… That’s the direction you’ve found, hyung…”

As he finished his sentence, a faint halo of light began to form around his body.

[The Trait is entering a stable phase.]

Good. That means the immediate instability is resolved—

[The Trait is evolving to the next stage.]

Huh? Wait, what? If it’s in a stable phase, shouldn’t it keep exploring? Why’s it evolving?

The halo around Lee Jiwon grew brighter, then disappeared as if absorbed into his body.

[<Trait Evolution>

Trait Name: Life’s Compass – Idol
Rarity: Rare
Status: Activated
Effect & Description:
Having found his dream but still unsure of the direction, he has now obtained a compass.

• This quiet explorer will now have no hesitation in wandering the vast sea to find his path.
• When he fully determines his direction, the trait will undergo one more evolution.]**

“…Huh?”

Ah. So in other words—

He had already decided to become an idol…

But the part he was struggling with was what kind of idol he wanted to be?

Hmm… huh? Wait. This is kinda embarrassing?

So basically, he didn’t decide on his career because of me, right? He was going to do it anyway? Idol?

‘Kim Soram!!’

I glared around, looking for Soram.

You dare spread false information?! You’re not a real system, are you?!

‘Where did you go…!’

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

Still watching Lee Hyunjae and Choi Woojin, who had gotten much closer now, Jiwon spoke up.

“I think that’s what I’ve been worried about all this time. What kind of idol I want to be. I was scared that if I failed today, I’d lose one of the possible paths I could’ve taken.”

This time, Lee Jiwon turned to look at me.

“After hearing you speak, I realized something. That choosing a direction is something I define. And that it’s natural to move forward even with uncertainty.”

He smiled sheepishly.

“Thank you.”

Oh… seeing you smile like that feels kinda refreshing.

While I was briefly dazed, Lee Hyunjae and Choi Woojin arrived.

“What were you guys talking about?”

“Oh! Jiwon-hyung looks way better now!”

“Right? You looked so pale I went out to get some warm honey water.”

“Yeah. After talking to Haram-hyung, things became a bit clearer.”

[You have cleared ‘Sub Quest – Stabilization (2-1)’.]

[“Random Box (Intermediate)”, “Random Box (Low Grade)” acquired.]

Oh. You’re back. Kim So-ram, you little—where are you. Where’d you go—

“So, really? What did Hyung say to you?”

Ah. Hmm? I’d prefer if you didn’t ask that, Woojin.

“Uh, well, that’s…”

Hm? Jiwon?

For a moment, the corner of Lee Jiwon’s mouth twitched—just barely curving up and then falling again.

“If I were to tell you… honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was the most defining part of Haram-hyung. Really, the essence of Haram-hyung… The reason he wants to become an idol, the direction he’s headed…

And the future he envisions with us… His driving force… his power… the light itself… Bit Haram*….”

(*Translator’s note: “빛하람 (Bit Haram)” — a pun combining “빛 (bit/light)” and Haram’s name, also sounding like “shining Haram” or “radiant Haram.”)

So-ram? So-ram!! Get out here and open the boxes! Power Punch! Give me the Power Punch already!

“Hey—!!”

“Ahaha…!”

As I lunged to cover his mouth with an “Uwahhh!”, Jiwon chuckled, as if he’d planned it all.

“Anyway… I’ll do my best.”