Chapter 83

The post, which had racked up a fairly high view count, was bombarded with comments like “No proof means it didn’t happen” and “Why are there so many people posting delusional crap today?”

The frustrated original poster even named the area while insisting it was true, but no one believed them.

Comments

Then why don’t you have a picture? lol

↳ He’s fucking sensitive about cameras. The second I pulled mine out, he looked straight at meㅡㅡ

Debut Chart! 100

Can People Stop Making Up Fake Gowon Sightings Already

Apparently he works at a café, a restaurant, a construction site—

How many jobs is this today?

Dude’s popping up everywhere at once lol

“.......”

It was a relief that everyone had dismissed the posts as nonsense... but I alone knew that every single sighting was actually pretty plausible.

This bastard. Everyone else was probably getting their head together, working on their hair, hitting the gym, and managing themselves like crazy for the next competition, and he was out here working part-time jobs?

...I guess he has to.

Audition programs were unpaid labor. There wasn’t so much as an appearance fee.

He had been locked in the dorm preparing for the competition for quite a while, so he was probably short on living expenses.

Not like I can help him with his family situation, either....

Do you have debt?

Especially considering how completely he had fallen apart at that one question.

“Hm?”

At that moment, an unfamiliar number appeared on the phone I had been staring blankly at.

“Hello?”

—Ah, Baek Hanje? This is Yoon Minjeong. I’m an assistant director on Debut Chart. Do you remember me?

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

—Sorry for calling out of nowhere, but has Gowon told you anything? You two seemed like you were the closest.

“I haven’t talked to him since the competition either.... What kind of thing?”

—He suddenly said he wants to drop out.... I told him he’ll start getting good reactions once the signal song evaluation airs, so he should just hang on a little longer, but he says he can’t.

Plausibility has decreased.

Current Plausibility: 35% (▼5)

I shot upright from where I had been lounging.

You little bastard!

***

Gowon’s family home was practically at the very edge of the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. I had to ride the subway forever, then transfer buses twice before I finally got there.

It had been a long time since I’d used public transportation after Young Ace became famous, but my head was far too chaotic to appreciate the novelty.

Why the hell?!

He had stuck it out to the end in reality, hadn’t he?

Could getting better results than before have somehow satisfied whatever longing he had for the stage?

With all kinds of thoughts churning through my head, I made my way through an old alley and finally arrived at the convenience store mentioned in the sighting posts.

Even through the store window, I could make out his tall figure.

When I opened the door and stepped inside, I heard a greeting.

“Welcome.”

Gowon wasn’t looking my way. He was stocking milk from a box into the refrigerator.

I deliberately reached for a carton of chocolate milk on the shelf above him. Gowon pulled his black cap lower and turned his head the other way.

“Excuse me, aren’t you that pretty guy who blew a kiss and winked while saying Merry Christmas?”

“That wasn’t m—”

The face that glanced toward me went from confusion, to recognition, to immediate irritation.

“Pretty sure it was.”

“...What are you doing here?”

“The competition hasn’t even aired yet, idiot. You seriously fell for that?”

I shrugged at Gowon as he glared daggers at me.

“You live insanely far away. Wasn’t getting to and from the studio exhausting?”

“Go.”

“I feel like we should be getting friendlier by now, but you’re still so cold.”

“.......”

Gowon ignored me, went into the stockroom, then came back carrying another crate of drinks.

“Want me to help?”

“I said go.”

Just then, the convenience store door opened and a customer walked in.

“Huh? Nobody here?”

“Welco—”

“Welcome!”

I cheerfully greeted the customer in Gowon’s place and hurried behind the counter.

He was a middle-aged man, probably on the older side.

“Give me a pack of Ice Blue.”

“You have to bring the merchandise up yourself.”

“No, behind you.”

“Sorry. I’ll get it right away.”

Gowon squeezed behind the counter and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

The customer glanced between the two of us, then added two pieces of candy to the counter.

After paying, he left the candy behind and took only the cigarettes.

“You kids are working hard. Brings back memories. Have one each.”

The customer waved casually and walked out.

“Friendly neighborhood you’ve got here.”

“...Ha.”

“Hey, it’s my first time. Anyone can make a mistake. Think back to when your eye used to twitch every time you tried to wink.”

“Stop getting in the way and leave.”

“You’re dropping out of Debut Chart?”

“.......”

The silence told me it was true.

“Why?”

“I clearly told you I’m not in a situation where I can become an entertainer.”

“Yeah. It’s difficult. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”

“.......”

“Our team came first in the live vote, so everyone survived. Why quit now? Did something happen?”

The instant I asked about his personal circumstances, his eyes sharpened.

Yeah, I wasn’t planning to pry into that part either, you bastard.

“Don’t quit. You’re good at this.”

“What am I even good at....”

“And you had fun performing.”

“...You spoon-fed me the whole thing.”

Gowon went back toward the refrigerator and resumed arranging the drinks.

“So why are you quitting?”

“.......”

“If you keep refusing to answer, I’m staying here.”

“Go ahead. I’m working until dawn.”

“What?”

Gowon immediately looked like he regretted saying it, but I had already heard everything.

It was barely past noon, and he was working until dawn? Was that even okay?

“No, if you’re going to do that, you could at least get a higher-paying job—”

“I did...!”

Gowon snapped as though something had finally burst, then simply turned his head away with a sigh.

He looked so unfairly aggrieved that you’d think he had been wrongfully fired or something....

Wait.

Don’t tell me this bastard lost his jobs because Debut Chart got too popular.

The signal song evaluation and first competition still hadn’t aired.

In reality, Gowon had barely had any presence at this point.

But because of my interference, Gowon’s judges’ evaluation and PR video had gotten a little more attention.

From an employer’s perspective, it would be hard to keep putting an eighteen-year-old minor to work after his age had been openly broadcast on television.

So maybe that had left convenience store work as his only option.

“...Anyway, I don’t have time to practice like everyone else, and I don’t have money to prepare properly. So I can’t do it. Happy?”

“.......”

Gowon looked like his pride had taken a serious beating.

And yet it felt a little different from when I had dug into his circumstances in reality.

Was it because instead of some distant senior whose own misfortunes probably seemed trivial by comparison, I was now a friend his own age who had rolled around on the same practice room floor with him?

His reaction was more candid.

Or maybe the twenty-year-old Gowon I had met had simply been exhausted after getting kicked around by adults too many times.

“Okay.”

“.......”

“I won’t do anything that hurts your pride either. Besides, I’m even younger than you here.”

“...?”

There was only one way to let Gowon keep supporting himself while also using his time efficiently.

“Instead..., urgh!”

What?

My airway suddenly slammed shut as though someone had grabbed me by the throat.

The taste of blood filled my mouth. The sudden pain quickly spread across my entire body.

What I had been about to say was—

I was going to tell him the songs for the next competition in advance....

That way, Gowon could practice efficiently even with very little time.

“...What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

“Kh—ugh....”

Apparently opening my mouth was out of the question.

Ah.

My vision spun white as my body tilted toward the counter.

That was when I noticed a notepad and pen.

...and Gowon’s phone, playing a boy group’s dance practice video.

See? You don’t want to give up either.

I grabbed the pen and hurriedly scribbled several titles onto the notepad.

Throb!

“Ha....”

A moment ago, it had felt like someone was strangling me hard enough to burst my skull. Now my arm felt like it was being ripped off.

“Baek Hanje, are you okay?”

I managed to write down a few songs in handwriting that was at least vaguely legible.

“These.”

“What?”

“Listen to them. A lot.”

While you’re working....

Before I could finish, a shock tore through my entire body and my vision went black.

Ah. Now I understood why Yunjin had suddenly looked like he was in pain halfway through talking that time.

Actions or words that deviated too far from the laws of this world simply weren’t allowed.

Like revealing the future....

What does it matter? I already did it.

Plausibility has increased.

Current Plausibility: 38% (▲3)

Apparently, even if I cheated, the system would still recognize it as long as it helped Gowon reach first place.

Ah, but this really fucking hurts....

Gowon wasn’t a bad guy, at least. He’d call an ambulance for me, right...?

“What’s wrong with you?! Hey!”

“...Don’t give up. Let’s... do this together.”

Right before I completely lost consciousness, I thought I saw one more window appear.

But before I could check it, everything went completely dark.