205: Let’s Live Kindly
The spot where Do Seohan had left.
Kim Woochan looked around the now-empty studio, mulling over the words he had just heard.
The remark from a bold junior who had smacked him right across the head.
As he recalled those words, Kim Woochan’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Because this is the reason I live, even if I die, I’ll die on stage.”
At first, he doubted his own ears, wondering if he’d heard correctly.
But that was the kid’s sincere truth.
From beginning to end.
Even though everything had been spoon-fed to him, he rejected it and chose to walk a thorny path.
Tap. Tap. Tap…
Kim Woochan absentmindedly tapped the desk in the studio with his fingers.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped him.
You want to be on stage so bad, but hate being holed up indoors?
If you just stayed quietly shut in for six years, you might actually live, you know?
Isn’t it better to cling to even the slimmest chance of survival?
No matter how many times he turned it over in his head, Kim Woochan just couldn’t understand Do Seohan’s words.
“Why on earth? Over something like that?”
The desire to live is basic human instinct.
Even so, the utterly calm look on his face made Kim Woochan feel disturbed.
A natural aversion toward someone so fundamentally different from himself.
Suddenly, he felt like he couldn’t breathe.
“Ugh…”
Cough, cough.
Kim Woochan coughed repeatedly, swallowing back the bitter bile rising from his throat.
The metallic taste suggested there was blood mixed in, too.
Even as his hands trembled, the mouse that kept brushing against his fingertips irritated him.
“So annoying.”
Thud!
With a snap, Kim Woochan threw the mouse in his hand.
The mouse, limp and powerless, hit the wall hard and spat out its battery.
He didn’t have the strength to pick it back up.
All he could do was sit with his head bowed, brow furrowed.
“Haa…”
Kim Woochan let out a rough breath and leaned his head against the wall.
Honestly, half of what he told Do Seohan the last time they met was a lie.
Those words he had uttered with a breezy smile.
“In this world, Kim Woochan makes a living as an idol, but in another world, he might be a shaman.”
“Oh, is that from experience?”
“I was mostly some kind of entertainer. I’ve always been full of talent.”
No.
There was no version of Kim Woochan in any world who’d ever been a shaman.
He was the main vocal of the successful group The Way.
Just a normal guy who never considered strange what-if scenarios.
In other words, he had never possessed any pointless power like foresight.
Which meant that in this world, Kim Woochan was a variable by his very existence.
“……”
And in return, Kim Woochan was dying.
Being thoroughly and painfully erased from the universe.
What’s the point of being a top-tier idol when your life could end at any moment?
“Fuck, I just want to live.”
Kim Woochan clenched his fists so tightly they bled and let out a heavy sigh.
If quitting as an idol was enough to save his life—
If staying holed up in a room and quietly holding his breath meant he could live—
Then he definitely would’ve done that.
He would’ve done anything to survive.
Even sold his soul to the devil if that meant he could live.
Sold his soul to the devil…
“……”
Suddenly, Kim Woochan’s eyes darkened as he slowly turned his gaze to the air.
And then he couldn’t help but laugh dryly.
Ironically, that last part had been true.
“Oh, I guess I already sold it.”
Because something that shouldn’t have been visible to him was now vividly floating in midair.
Kim Woochan gave a bitter smile as he stared into the air.
∗
∗
𝐴
𝑐
ℎ
𝑖
𝑒
𝑣
𝑒
𝑚
𝑒
𝑛
𝑡
∗
∗
:
𝑉
𝑎
𝑟
𝑖
𝑎
𝑏
𝑙
𝑒
𝑜
𝑓
𝑡
ℎ
𝑒
𝑈
𝑛
𝑖
𝑣
𝑒
𝑟
𝑠
𝑒
−
2
“
𝐷
𝑜
𝑆
𝑒
𝑜
ℎ
𝑎
𝑛
”
𝑀
𝑢
𝑠
𝑡
𝐵
𝑒
𝐾
𝑒
𝑝
𝑡
𝐴
𝑙
𝑖
𝑣
𝑒
∗∗Achievement∗∗:VariableoftheUniverse−2“DoSeohan”MustBeKeptAlive
-Variable of the Universe-2: Achievement can be completed if Do Seohan remains alive in any condition.
God is so unfair.
Isn’t the favoritism a bit much?
While some people desperately struggle to survive, others get an achievement just for staying alive?
Kim Woochan gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath.
“Mr. Seohan, may you live a long, long life…”
Because my life depends on it too.
After the concert ended, the break didn’t last long.
Two days after Do Seohan regained consciousness, their filming schedule was set.
April 27th.
It was for shooting content to celebrate Stardust’s first debut anniversary.
“After everything we’ve been through, it’s only been one year?”
“Wow. I seriously can’t believe it…”
The members entered the studio, which had been decorated for the shoot, sharing their thoughts.
At the back of the set, the title of the self-content video was written in large letters.
[We’ll Do Anything for You (feat. 1st Anniversary of Universe Dust)]
A sort of gift prepared by the self-content team for the hard-running members of Stardust.
Just as the title says, the team was supposed to do anything for them.
“We can really do anything we want?”
“Yes!”
Of course.
The trick was that even the choices were tossed to the members themselves…
…
…
…
The day before filming the self-content.
A thin tent was set up in a private corner of the Doubles office.
It was the same place they had used during the last self-content shoot.
The self-content team called the members in one by one into the tent.
“Hello there~.”
Just as expected, a familiar face greeted each member as they entered.
It was the staff member from the self-content team who always did the intros.
Cha Seongbin let out a small laugh as he walked in and opened the door.
“Ah, what have you guys prepared this time?”
“Tomorrow’s self-content interview!”
“Wow, you even have a camera set up.”
Cha Seongbin waved toward the camera and then took a seat.
There, he received a brief explanation about the concept of the self-content.
“You’re saying you’ll do anything because we’ve worked hard?”
We’ll Do Anything for You.
It was a chance for the members to do things they had always wanted but couldn’t because of their busy schedules.
Rest, activities—anything was fine.
As long as it stayed within budget, Doubles Entertainment promised to go big.
“Right. But you don’t have to go yourself. You can write down something you hope another member gets to do.”
The members’ suggestions would be gathered and then randomly assigned to someone.
The self-content staff added with a playful smile:
“Just make it fun. You know?”
“Oh, with a variety show vibe? Of course~.”
Though it was called a gift, just flipping your perspective a little would give you all sorts of different choices.
Cha Seongbin’s eyes sparkled as he smiled brightly.
“It’s kind of like a mission, huh?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
It reminded him of Do Seohan taking sunset photos at the East Sea.
What would be something similar?
Cha Seongbin stroked his chin and grinned.
He didn’t spend long thinking about it.
“Ah, I’ve got it.”
Cha Seongbin jotted down the first thing that came to mind without hesitation.
On the slip in his hand, there was a simple mission written.
Ta-da.
Cha Seongbin held up the paper to show the camera.
“Bungee jump.”
“Wow!”
Ah, that’s meaningful and nice.
It’s something worth doing at least once in a lifetime, right?
“Doesn’t it sound fun?”
Cha Seongbin looked at the camera with sparkling eyes.
“I hope Seohan gets picked, if possible.”
“Oh, by the way, it’s possible to pick your own!”
Crunch.
Cha Seongbin’s paper was suddenly crumpled.
The self-content staff couldn’t hold back their laughter and lowered their head.
“Pfft.”
“Haha. You should’ve said that first!”
Cha Seongbin let out a hearty laugh and waved his hand.
Even just thinking about the aftermath of a bungee jump coming back like a butterfly effect gave him chills.
Cha Seongbin decided to shift his train of thought a bit.
“Then what should I do now? How about a relaxing vacation in the Maldives?”
“Over budget.”
“Doubles is so stingy~.”
Ah.
Cha Seongbin chuckled awkwardly and wrote something else in its place.
At first, he really did consider writing something like a vacation.
But he was someone who truly cared about screen time.
From the start, Cha Seongbin couldn’t give up the fun of variety.
“…As long as I don’t get picked, right?”
A 1 in 7 chance.
Realistically, what are the odds of picking your own paper?
After a brief thought, Cha Seongbin held up the slip he had written to the camera.
𝐶
𝑙
𝑖
𝑚
𝑏
𝑡
𝑜
𝑡
ℎ
𝑒
𝑆
𝑢
𝑚
𝑚
𝑖
𝑡
𝑜
𝑓
𝐻
𝑎
𝑙
𝑙
𝑎
𝑠
𝑎
𝑛
(
𝐼
ℎ
𝑜
𝑝
𝑒
𝐽
𝑖
𝑛
𝑆
𝑒
ℎ
𝑦
𝑢
𝑛
𝑔
𝑒
𝑡
𝑠
𝑖
𝑡
!
)
ClimbtotheSummitofHallasan(IhopeJinSehyungetsit!)
“Hiking’s nice. I hope our squirrel, Sehyun, gets to go!”
Cha Seongbin smiled and dropped the mission slip into the box.
…
…
…
The butterfly effect of all those actions.
Now it was time to pay the price.
“……”
For some reason, a strange tension had been hanging in the air at the self-content filming site for a while now.
Kang Siwoo scratched his head as he blankly stared at the props the crew was setting up.
“This feels suspicious.”
A large plastic sphere had been prepared for the draw.
Inside, colorful balls containing slips written by the seven members were rolling around quickly.
It looked like if you pressed the red button, one would pop out from the air pressure.
That was enough for impressions.
The red light on the camera slowly turned on.
Kang Siwoo clapped his hands and opened his mouth.
“Yes. To celebrate our first anniversary, we’ve prepared a small gift for the members. Our Stardust members have been really busy, haven’t we?”
“Yesss!”
Sincere responses came back.
“I almost collapsed from exhaustion.”
“But the concert made me happy…”
“I burned myself out completely!”
“Yes, that’s right. Now it’s time to take a bit of a breather! So we’re going to take this break and try doing things we’ve always wanted to.”
Kang Siwoo turned to the camera and amped up his energy.
Now used to hosting, the leader gave a broad grin and continued.
“Also, it’d be boring if we just did it normally.”
Cha Seongbin nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Of course it’d be boring. Life’s all about randomness~.”
“Yes. So our members have written down what they wanted to do on slips in advance.”
“Whoosh—. Is it showing on the screen below?”
“Yes! That’s what we wrote!”
A line meant to mark the editing point.
Kang Siwoo soon nodded and looked over at the bouncing balls.
Air had already been pumped in, making the plastic sphere’s balls bounce wildly inside.
“If you press that red button, one of the slips written by the members will be drawn at random. Whoever draws it must complete the mission—no exceptions.”
“That’s right!”
“Alright, let’s now begin our 1st anniversary gift draw!”
Whether it was a gift or a punishment would only be known once it was revealed.
Jin Sehyun glanced around at the standing members and clicked his tongue briefly.
“Feels like it’s not a gift.”
“Ahahaha! No way!”
Cha Seongbin waved his hands and laughed lightly.
But Jin Sehyun shook his head firmly at those words.
“I’m one hundred percent sure. More than half of them probably wrote weird stuff.”
“Ahem.”
Seeing a few members avert their eyes only made him more certain.
Jin Sehyun kept a close watch on Seo Haim, who had been giggling suspiciously for a while now.
And then—
“Ian-hyung.”
“Mm… huh?”
“The ones who stay quiet are always the scariest, you know~.”
Ever since the last betrayal content, he couldn’t trust any of the members anymore.
Jin Sehyun clicked his tongue and scanned the others.
“Come clean. Who wrote something weird?”
“Since no one’s raising their hand, it seems like everyone wrote something weird.”
“So cold… a Bichon just flew into my chest and stabbed me.”
Seo Haim mumbled something serious while making an incomprehensible impression.
Kang Siwoo turned to Do Seohan and asked casually.
“What did you write?”
“I really wrote something nice.”
“Do Seohan’s lying has leveled up~.”
While the members were bickering, the first person to draw was decided.
Seo Haim clapped to get everyone excited.
“First up, our eldest! Cha Seongbin will do the draw.”
“Sssup. I’ll pick something amazing!”
Cha Seongbin smirked as he stepped confidently toward the red button.
Without hesitation, he pressed the button.
Honestly, up until that moment, Cha Seongbin didn’t think much of it.
“You guys didn’t write anything weird, right?”
“I’m telling you, we didn’t!”
“It’s weird, but doable.”
“Jin Sehyun is acting suspicious…!”
Pop—.
As the button was pressed, the balls spun rapidly.
Colorful balls bounced madly in the air before one was pushed through the exit.
Thunk.
A green ball rolled out of the plastic sphere.
Cha Seongbin split it open and took out the slip inside.
The so-called “gift” Cha Seongbin would be completing.
That was…
The moment he unfolded the paper, Cha Seongbin’s expression turned cold.
𝐶
𝑙
𝑖
𝑚
𝑏
𝑡
𝑜
𝑡
ℎ
𝑒
𝑆
𝑢
𝑚
𝑚
𝑖
𝑡
𝑜
𝑓
𝐻
𝑎
𝑙
𝑙
𝑎
𝑠
𝑎
𝑛
(
𝐼
ℎ
𝑜
𝑝
𝑒
𝐽
𝑖
𝑛
𝑆
𝑒
ℎ
𝑦
𝑢
𝑛
𝑔
𝑒
𝑡
𝑠
𝑖
𝑡
!
)
ClimbtotheSummitofHallasan(IhopeJinSehyungetsit!)
“Ah… aaaack!”
“What? What is it?”
Cha Seongbin let out a sudden scream and collapsed on the spot.
The other members ran over and burst into laughter after seeing the slip.
“Puhahahah!”
“It’s Hallasan? Wow, that’s crazy.”
“Who wrote something so evil?”
Jin Sehyun looked at the slip in genuine admiration and gave heartfelt praise.
“Wow. That’s total garbage.”
“Hallasan, ahahah! Climb… hahah!”
“……”
Cha Seongbin had nothing to complain about.
Because it was that tiny ball he had tossed that started all of this.
“I… I wrote it…”
“Karma.”
“Good luck on your hike.”