Chapter 57

“Waiting for what?”

I sighed.

Considering that he had said with determination not to drop out and wait, Seon Ahyeon looked like was about to cry at any moment

Anyone who saw it would know that I was dropping out.

Conversely, my brain was getting colder.

‘There is a common saying… It is not something that can be solved by standing around.’

If I were an idol who already debuted, I might have the option of waiting while doing a self-reflection.

However, it was an impossible approach for an audition participant with the final just right around the corner.

Seeing a guy who people thought didn’t deserve to be successful at the audition was still holding on only added to the resentment.

It wasn’t just an audition, it was more of a suicide in this program, which was cable but currently had over 10% viewer ratings and dominated real-time search terms.

‘If I am going to fall out of the final anyway, the next best thing is to resign quickly and figure out the situation.’

For now, let’s pretend I don’t know anything with vague words like ‘health problems’.

That would have the least damage. If it was truly an unfair case as Park Moondae thought, explaining it would be easy.

And if I found out it was really this bastard’s fault… Go to the party involved and apologize…

Damn it, that girl even dropped out, there was no way she would let Park Moondae be active.

But there was no other way.

“If there is no evidence that it is not Park Moondae, waiting will only make the situation worse.”

“B-But… S-Sejin, too.”

“At that time, I found out it was photoshopped right away. I also had a smartphone.”

“…”

It was rare to be so lucky.

Seon Ahyeon bowed his head.

A brief silence fell again at the dorm. It was then.

“…Are you there?”

Once again, someone knocked on the door of the dorm.

“…”

“Yes.”

After hearing Keun Sejin’s short answer, the door opened. Kim Raebin came in.

And after that, Cha Eugene followed suit.

I didn’t know why he followed to someone else’s dorm, but if he came on purpose, he was a really tactless guy.

Kim Raebin immediately noticed that the atmosphere in the room was quite trashy.

“…Personal practice, it’s now over…”

“…”

The two of them must have missed practice.

They didn’t help much, but honestly… I was thankful.

I squeezed out my last patience.

“Go and practice.”

“…! N-No…”

“There are only a few days left, so don’t regret it.”

“…What about you?”

I answered calmly.

“I need to consult about dropping out.”

“…!!”

“N-No…”

Lastly, I would check the public opinion one more time, and If it went as expected, I would have to make up a reason for dropping out.

“Yes? Hyung, why all of a sudden….”

Kim Raebin was taken aback. It seemed this unsociable fellow still hadn’t heard the rumor.

‘I’m tired.’

I didn’t want to talk about anything else. They’d heard it all by tomorrow anyway.

I just passed Kim Rabin and headed for the door. I was thinking of meeting the writer right away.

Then, my shoulders were grabbed from both sides.

“Come on, Moondae. Take a rest first then get up and think about it.”

“T-That’s right. F-First of all… R-Rest. Rest your head.”

As the two clung to me, I was momentarily pushed back in hand-to-hand combat.

Thanks to this, I was dragged back to bed like a dog being subdued. Are these bastards crazy?

“Are you crazy?”

“Pull yourself together. It hasn’t even been 30 minutes since I confirmed your outburst. You’re going to throw away your months of hard work in 30 minutes?”

“The longer I wait, the worse the situation gets…”

“Even if you drop out now, the article won’t come out until tomorrow morning. It doesn’t change even if you’re in bed.”

Keun Sejin and Seon Ahyeon drove me back to bed.

“You have to decide everything with a clear mind so that you won’t regret it! Do you know that you’re losing it right now because you’re scared?”

“What?”

I tried to get myself out of bed and stopped. What kind of nonsense are you saying now?

“I am sane.”

“Hn. No. You’re flustered and frightened right now.”

Keun Sejin added a little.

“…I was the same before.”

“…”

“Or you would have known before I told you. There’s no difference whether you drop out now or tomorrow morning.”

“…!”

That…

Damn it. He was right. I couldn’t refute it.

‘I’m panicking.’

I sighed. I kept thinking I shouldn’t have abandoned that damn Unmoving Heart.

First of all, I lay down on the bed as these guys pushed me.

I could clearly hear Seon Ahyeon’s relief.

“What on earth is going on…”

“Come on, let’s get out.”

I heard Keun Sejin driving Kim Raebin and Cha Eugene out of the room. Seon Ahyeon followed him and said to me, swallowing his saliva.

“R-Rest.”

Screech.

And the door was closed very carefully.

‘…Even if they go out, their beds are here.’

Well, whether they came in awkwardly after three hours or slept in the practice room, they would take care of it themselves. I wasn’t in a situation where I could afford to care that much.

I closed my eyes and crossed my arms.

And I tried to look at Park Moondae’s case objectively…how could I suddenly be able to do that? I would suffer sudden death and real social death.

‘Status window.’

When I called the unchanged status window, only one thing caught my eye.

[!Status abnormality: Debut or die]

“Why are you doing this to me?”

Why me of all people?

Why Park Moondae?

It was grossly annoying that I knew nothing about the situation and had no way to find out.

Of course, I didn’t think I would suddenly think of a good move until morning.

Things were not going to get better all of a sudden.

‘It’s foolish to wish for good luck.’

Although astonishingly bad things could come into life without warning, the opposite was, of course, extremely rare.

Compare the odds of winning a lottery with the odds of getting into a car accident on the road. The latter was overwhelmingly more likely to happen.

Look at me. A supernatural miracle changed my whole life, but I had never expected that my life was already ruined.

“…Huh.”

Damn it. It just made me more anxious. If I was going to do it anyway, I wanted to drop out right away.

‘…But let’s skip tonight.’

I couldn’t expect anything.

I sighed and stretched out my arms, purely out of consideration for those guys’ sincerity.

My thoughts turned chaotic. The more I calculated what should be reasonable.

‘There’s no answer anywhere…’

I fell asleep just like that.

* * *

Pop!

The noise brought me back to my sense.

‘…The sound of wood breaking?’

When I turned my eyes half awake, I saw Seon Ahyeon storming through the door.

“M-Moondae.”

Seon Ahyeon’s face was red.

‘Someone else has broken down.’

If someone other than me had broken down, I hoped I could hide away thanks to that.

Seon Ahyeon suddenly shoved something into my face.

It was a smartphone with a screen turned on.

“L-Look at this…!”

The light from the screen stung my eyes. I frowned and grabbed the smartphone.

p1ease visit n0ve1b(in).ne)t

‘Where did you get it?’

Holding an item that shouldn’t be brought into the filming set, I read the screen reluctantly.

“…!”

A miracle had happened.

[(2nd place!) Park Moondae, a cast member of Idol Inc who is recently involved in a controversy. (632)]

: I’m still very afraid to write this in public. But I don’t want to see innocent people suffer anymore, so I write.

It was true that I dropped out after my sanitary pad was stolen.

But it wasn’t Park Moondae who stole the sanitary pad.

…

The article began to explain the situation at the time in great detail.

The writer had continuously been bullied by her bad classmates since the beginning of the semester for no special reason.

The bullying that started with gossip gradually escalated, and in the end, it got to the point where it became unbearable. However, due to family circumstances, she had no choice but to endure it even if it was difficult to cope.

Then her sanitary pad was stolen.

It seemed that they tried to double the fun by putting the blame on Park Moondae who had no close friends in the class.

[I didn’t want to live]

It was not specifically mentioned between the lines, but it seemed that this ridicule was sexual harassment. The writer was completely mentally shattered under extreme stress and was absent without notice for 10 days.

And during this period, Park Moondae dropped out.

Although the writer herself was a victim, she tried to contact Park Moondae after dropping out because it bothered her that Park Moondae was falsely accused.

However, it was said that Park Moondae’s answer to her apology text was this.

[‘You didn’t do anything wrong, so of course, you don’t have to apologize, and it’s fine because I was going to drop out anyway. But if you’re having a hard time and want to accuse the perpetrators who harassed you, I’ll help.’ That was his long answer.]

The writer was taking antidepressants at the time and was unable to proceed with the accusation because just going near school made her hyperventilate.

So, she ended the conversation with Park Moondae, but It was said that even after she got away from the incident to some extent, she continued to care and tried to contact him.

However, it turned out his number didn’t exist anymore.

‘…Park Moondae canceled his cell phone.’

[When I saw Moondae on the audition program, I couldn’t recognize him because his style and impression had changed so much. It was only after this controversy that I realized this Park Moondae was my friend.

He was quiet when he was in school, but he wasn’t strange or a nuisance. After dropping out, I realized that he was a thoughtful and kind friend.

I hope Moondae doesn’t get hurt by this incident]

The writing was based on the recording of the main character in high school against the perpetrators and it ended with an exhilarating sentence that she would proceed with the lawsuit. There were several verification photos attached below.

In the latest comments, people who denied reality were either being beaten up, deleting their comments, or running away.

And switching opinions occupied top comments.

– Crazy, no wonder it felt weird, Moondae looks so clean there’s no way he would do such a shady thingㅠㅠ

– Prepare the settlement money, the self-proclaimed alumni who spread rumors about Park Moondae and the writer without knowing the full story~ㅎㅎ

– Ah…ㅠㅠThank you for writing this… Thank you so much…. Moondae, you worked hard

“…”

I felt nauseous.

‘It wasn’t Park Moondae.’

The person directly involved even showed up and proved it through verification.

A day after the incident at that.

“…”

“N-Never mind!”

Seon Ahyeon started to talk about something, but it was hard to hear him properly.

Because my head was spinning.

‘This… Is it possible?’

I didn’t do anything, but the situation suddenly got better?

Can this just be solved like this?

Rather than relief and joy, I felt strange.

It was strange that something like this could happen in life.

I thought I had learned from experience that if my life changed when I hadn’t done anything, it usually wasn’t a good thing.

I never thought I’d come into someone’s body and experience the opposite.

“Hey!!”

The door was kicked open and a stampede of people rushed in. I saw the faces of the team members, starting with Keun Sejin.

‘Come to think of it… I am the leader.’

We were not that close so I thought it was strange. Since the leader was in a state of Schrödinger’s resignation, they must have felt uncertain to change the practice.

It seemed these guys had been thinking a lot last night.

“Hey! What did I say? I told you to wait, didn’t I?”

Keun Sejin looked at Seon Ahyeon and grasped the situation, then shouted loudly. It seemed he already knew everything.

“…Right.”

I meekly agreed.

“Thank you.”

“…!”

If it weren’t for these guys, I would have already quit last night, taken out my luggage, and regretted it in the morning.

“Thanks to you, I can continue with the broadcast.”

I laughed.

Seon Ahyeon was happy, repeating ‘No’ and ‘I am glad’. Keun Sejin grinned.

“If you’re grateful, buy me a cow.”

“…Let’s pretend this never happened.”

“Hey!”

I didn’t have money.

Only then I was relieved, listening to Keun Sejin’s grumbling and congratulatory words of the team members.

‘Now I can practice quietly until the final.’

“Thank you for bringing this. How did you get it?”

“I-I asked for it!”

Seon Ahyeon took his phone with a bright smile. Now I hope I didn’t see anything until the finals.

But I didn’t know things would start to turn out even stranger the moment I took my eyes off the smartphone.

The first flame was posted by Gold 1.