Chapter 290: Everything Will Turn Out Fine
“You should've seen the chaos after your parents called.”
I'd been unconscious for a full three days.
Officially, it had been reported that I was taking three days off to recover mentally after the attack by an assailant, but there was no way we could lie to my family.
Their son had been stabbed with an awl, and then collapsed for three whole days.
Even if the two incidents had nothing to do with each other, it was only natural for their thoughts to spiral toward every worst-case scenario imaginable.
The whole family must've been turned upside down.
“Hurry and call them to let them know you're okay. They must be worried.”
“Mhm.”
I nodded at Kang Siwoo's words and searched through my contacts.
Tap, tap, tap.
The moment I sent a simple message, my phone immediately rang.
I picked up the vibrating phone.
“Yes, Mom.”
—Seohan!
Exactly the reaction I'd expected.
I'd been out of contact for days, so of course she'd been worried sick.
Her frantic voice poured through the receiver.
How was my body?
Was I really alive?
She was coming to America immediately—
It was a flood of panicked questions.
“I'm really okay.... No, wait. Why have you already booked a flight? I told you that you don't have to come.”
Apparently, she'd already packed her luggage.
I desperately tried to stop my family from flying over to visit me in the hospital.
“The doctor said I'm perfectly fine.... He's a quack? No, he made an accurate diagnosis.”
—I don't believe it. He's a quack.
“You can hear that my voice is perfectly normal....”
—Come back to Korea and get examined again. This isn't the time to stay over there.
Mom apparently had complete faith in the power of Korean medicine as well and seemed determined to drag me back to Korea.
“The doctors here know what they're doing too. Besides, I still have the concert schedule....”
I have to perform at the concert.
Going back to Korea now would be a serious problem.
The moment I said so awkwardly, she answered firmly.
—What concert? You're practically dying, and you think you're going on stage just to collapse again?
“I'll check in every hour to let you know I'm alive....”
—I don't care. Here, talk to your father.
I heard the phone being passed over.
I'd thought he'd be easier to persuade,
but things got off to a rough start.
—...What kind of evil company is this?
“Huh?”
My father sharply grumbled that they were making a kid who had collapsed from illness perform on stage.
—I ought to head straight to Seoul and turn the whole company upside down....
“Please....”
I agreed to some extent that Doubles was beyond saving,
but this was my own decision.
The concert was tomorrow.
There was no way I could skip the performance.
If my condition truly made it impossible, then I would've had no choice but to give up....
But right now, my body was completely fine.
“I just need one day. You can't cancel something like this the day before the concert....”
I could feel my energy draining away in real time.
With a pitiful voice, I desperately tried to persuade my parents.
“I'll go straight to the hospital as soon as I get back to Korea.”
—They're not threatening you at the company, are they?
“...You've watched too many movies.”
From the other end of the line, I could hear my family muttering that they couldn't deal with me anymore.
“I'll call again as soon as it's over.”
—....
At least they didn't argue any further.
I supposed that meant I'd received their permission.
Clearing my throat, I changed the subject.
Do Seojun.
Come to think of it,
the person who should've caused the biggest commotion had been strangely quiet.
“But where's hyung?”
—Your brother? He probably went to work.
“Then that's a relief.”
I nodded at my father's answer.
If he'd gone to work as usual, then there probably wasn't a problem.
Still...
I couldn't shake this strange feeling of unease.
[Notice Regarding Stardust's Do Seohan's Health Condition and Schedule Absence]
We would like to provide an update regarding Stardust member Do Seohan's health condition and upcoming schedule.
Due to health reasons, our artist Do Seohan will be taking a temporary break to rest.
Accordingly, he will not be participating in Mystar Radio scheduled for Monday, March 11.
His participation in future schedules will be announced later depending on his recovery.
We sincerely apologize for causing concern to our fans.
The official website announced that Do Seohan would be absent from his scheduled activities.
It hadn't even been long since articles reported that he had nearly been injured after a sudden attack by a sasaeng who had been camping outside the dorm.
They had said he wasn't physically injured,
so it was likely that the emotional trauma was the greater issue....
But now that he was even missing scheduled activities,
it was impossible not to worry as a fan.
Dusty Yena let out a deep sigh, her shoulders slumped.
“Is our baby really okay?”
Doubles had tightly hidden one of their members away without offering any proper explanation.
They were obviously being cautious because the situation could become even bigger,
but from a fan's perspective,
it was beyond frustrating.
As a result,
Doubles had been receiving years' worth of insults over the past few days.
This is supposed to be a major agency??? What the fuck, THIS is a major agency??? You won't even tell us where our baby is, how badly he's hurt, or what he's doing, and you call yourselves a major agency?
└Seriously lol. Their big agency image is completely dead lol.
└I'm convinced the only department that's worked properly for years is the self-content team.
└2222 I'm so frustrated I could die.
└If you're going to work like this, then only take half your salary lol.
I'm so worried. ㅠㅠ I nearly had a heart attack when I read the article about our baby being attacked with a weapon, and now he's missing schedules too. I have no idea if he's really okay.
└I heard he's hurt somewhere.
└??? Was he seriously injured?
└No! ㅠㅠ Please stop spreading baseless rumors. ㅠㅠㅠ
└Doubles officially said Seohan wasn't injured. I don't think they'd lie about something like that.
Is everyone oblivious? Of course he's mentally shaken. They aren't even revealing the details.
└Seohan must've been really frightened. I think it's right for him to rest for a while. It's only some overseas radio schedule anyway.
└Everyone understands him resting lol. It's Doubles' handling of the situation that nobody understands.
I can wait forever until Mam-Seohan recovers mentally. I'm worried sick, but he can rest from promotions as long as he needs. But could you at least do a proper check-in so we know you're alive??
└Exactly. Is this really the situation we're supposed to be in while fans are panicking, you bastards at Doubles?
└Considering everything they've done, I'm not even surprised anymore.
└It's not like this is the first or second time....
One thing was certain.
“Doubles seriously deserves to get beaten....”
Dusty Yena ground her teeth as she muttered under her breath.
Of course, complaining like this wouldn't reach Doubles' headquarters anyway, so it was just pointless venting.
Still,
seeing comments saying they probably wouldn't lie about him not being injured gave her a little comfort.
“I don't care what it is. Just give us some content.”
Missing a few overseas schedules didn't really matter to domestic fans.
She just wanted to see his face at least once, even if he rested as much as he needed.
Just then—
her phone vibrated briefly.
“Gasp!”
Yena's eyes widened as she looked at the notification.
It was a Private Message alert from Do Seohan.
“Seohan!”
Ding—
Ding—
[Mam-Seohan: I'm okay now!]
[Mam-Seohan: Sorry for making all the Dustys worry. ㅠㅠ]
As expected of someone nicknamed the Dutiful Youngest.
He must've been worrying about all the concern from the fans.
Even so,
she couldn't stand seeing Do Seohan apologizing.
Dusty Yena frowned and muttered,
└Why are you apologizing? ㅠㅠ Doubles, you mothe—
She deleted it before finishing.
“Ah, I almost lost it....”
The poor kid had already been through enough.
He deserved to see only good things.
Dusty Yena barely swallowed the curses directed at Doubles and carefully chose warm words for her reply.
After sending all their worried encouragement to their youngest...
she was just about to close the Private Message app when—
a shocking reply arrived moments later.
“Huh? He's attending the concert...?”
Rehearsal was over.
From the sound system,
to the stage movements,
to the choreography—
there wasn't a single thing we hadn't checked thoroughly.
No mistakes were acceptable on stage,
so we'd double-checked everything we possibly could.
No matter how many performances I'd done,
there was never a stage that didn't make me nervous.
Still,
after gaining this much experience,
I felt like I should've become calmer by now.
My fingertips were cold.
“Seohan, you're not feeling sick or anything, are you?”
Even Seo Ian had cautiously asked after noticing something was off.
I gave an awkward smile and shook my head.
It wasn't a matter of my physical condition.
Rather...
“......”
I was afraid.
'Please check the lighting one more time.'
'Let's remove the lift. It could malfunction....'
'Yes. I'm afraid of heights.'
Most of the things I'd checked during rehearsal had been related to safety.
I hadn't been this bad even at our last concert.
So why...
was I worried the lighting would suddenly fall?
Why was I worried the lift would break while suspended in the air?
Why was I worried about falling off the back of the stage?
I didn't know.
But those thoughts refused to leave me.
They kept tearing through my mind.
If I became afraid of standing on stage,
then I shouldn't be doing this job.
That would truly be the worst outcome.
“Hoo....”
The more my heart refused to do what I wanted,
the more frightened I became.
Perhaps all the things I'd believed I could handle had piled up one after another,
gradually eating away at my mind.
I wasn't okay anymore.
I tightly clenched my pale hands.
Taking a short, deep breath,
I looked straight ahead.
There was nothing I could do except repeat an impossible spell.
“It'll be okay.”
Nothing would happen at this concert.
We'd finish the performance safely.
I had to believe that.
Otherwise,
I didn't think I could step onto the stage.
It was the desperate struggle of someone clinging to hope.
But then.
Right at that moment,
someone placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey. You okay?”
Cha Seongbin tilted his head as he stared at me.
The answer to that question was, as always, alrea—
“You're about to say you're okay, aren't you?”
“......”
“Come on. You don't look okay at all, so why do you keep saying you are?”
To think I'd hear that from Cha Seongbin of all people—the world's biggest scaredy-cat.
The absurdity of it made me laugh.
“Ha.”
“I know everything~. I've got amazing instincts. Quit trying to use that tiny little head of yours.”
What he said next was even more ridiculous.
“Unbelievable.”
I frowned at his nonsense.
Cha Seongbin only shrugged shamelessly.
After rummaging through his pocket, he held something out to me.
“Enough of that. Here.”
“What is this?”
It was a four-leaf clover laminated in a thin transparent film.
“......”
I swallowed hard at the unexpected gift.
“Where did you even get something like this....”
“You seemed anxious these past few days, so I prepared it.”
Cha Seongbin smiled awkwardly.
“Hey, I think these things actually work~. They aren't called four-leaf clovers for nothing. Even if they don't bring luck, they'll probably bring something close enough.”
There had been a time when I'd placed a four-leaf clover into Cha Seongbin's hand.
He secretly believed in things like this.
I'd only given it to him so he'd feel a little more at ease....
I never imagined he'd return the gesture like this.
“Hey, I didn't buy it somewhere. I searched the flower bed next to the company forever just to find one. You know how expensive that makes it, right?”
Cha Seongbin added with his usual playful grin.
Even those teasing words were filled with comfort.
That made me even more grateful.
“So....”
Nodding, Cha Seongbin finished,
“Everything will turn out fine.”