Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

A spotlight shone on a dimly lit stage, illuminating a dark velvet drapery. Attached on it was a 'LeTi Special Presentation' text displayed in a clear but elegant font, sewn with glistening black and white crystal beads and silver sequins. Somber chords played, coming from a black grand piano that was revealed when the guillotine curtain rose up. Which disrupted the mist that clung near the ground. The scattered low-laying fog machines smartly hidden on the stage helped shape the eerie but dreamlike quality of the music. Then, after several bars of the moody and atmospheric intro, a spotlight beamed down on the pianist and garnered a few cheers and welcoming claps from the live audience. The man who was wearing a sleek, midnight blue tailored suit raised his head. Cheongryeo opened his mouth to sing.

~All around me are familiar faces~

His voice was deep, rich, and soulful. His face and body expression perfectly fit the melancholic lyrics of the song which was translated into his mother tongue for this particular program.

~Worn-out places, worn-out faces~

Deep-toned bass notes drifted in from a cello which could be subtly seen being played by a musician in the back by its distinct silhouette, projected by the purple hues of the stage lighting.

~Bright and early for their daily races~

Cheongryeo gently stood up. His long elongated fingers abandoned the keys but the iconic piano notes continued on playing.

~Going nowhere, going nowhere~

He left his seat for the center of the stage, where an old vintage style microphone rose up from a hole that opened up from the ground. There were murmurs of speculations among the crowd when they saw it.

Cheongryeo's movements, an elegant mix of tight rotations and glides scattered the mist further, creating smoky curls of blues and purple like clouds around him. The bright spotlight followed his every movement, artfully highlighting Cheongryeo while providing the much needed distraction to conceal the rest of the stage.

~Their tears are filling up their glasses~

A head-worn microphone gave him the freedom to perform the simple dance steps and gestures he had been doing while singing live. The audience must have realized by now that the vintage microphone was not for him.

~No expression, no expression~

The mic on the stand was far too low for his height. He did not reach for it, instead, he encircled the stand until the equipment was hidden behind him.

~Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow~

As the fog machine created more mists as much as before, making the vapor thicker and higher, Cheongryeo's arms extended outwards with his head tilted a bit to the side, portraying sadness with a refined pose and body line.

~No tomorrow, no tomorrow~

He extended the last word of the lyric by design, and by the end of it, Cheongryeo quickly spun backwards, dispersing the mist surrounding him, revealing a smaller person behind the vintage microphone who wasn't there at the start, a nine year old child. There were a few delighted applause from the audience at that.

The kid, who wore a charcoal gray suit and a bowler hat, opened up his mouth towards the vintage mic to sing.

~I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad~

Gunwoo managed to sing the lyrics on time, vocalizing it clearly with no hint of hesitation. Cheongryeo was a little bit worried about it and subtly exhaled in relief. For some reason, the kid was bothered by the fog machine and had caused them problem previously at the blocking rehearsal when the staff wanted to test out the stage effects.

The few cheers became warmer as the boy continued to sing. Fortunately, whatever the problem was, the kid did not have stage fright to add to Cheongryeo's list of headaches.

~The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had~

The gloomy atmosphere was softly being replaced by the somewhat jaunty tune from the combination of plucked bass, the addition of the soft jazz drum brushes on the snare, and the smooth switching of the minor piano chords to major ones in a higher octave shift, giving the song a more pleasant and blissful sound despite the lyrics. The change was completed by warmer light tones coming from the stage lights and the now defused fog machine.

~I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take~

Both of them sang the line in a duet. Their contrasting voices, Cheongryeo's deep and rich full tone like melted dark chocolate, harmonized well enough with Gunwoo's bell-like voice quality. Which Cheongryeo amusedly recalled how the show's passionate director compared the listening experience to being wrapped in a warm blanket, while watching twinkling stars appear in a cold dark night.

Given the mounting list of problems that Cheongryeo was dealing with regarding the company, he wouldn't be surprised if drugs was a part of it, to be honest. Thankfully, their director wasn't high when he told them that interpretation. The man was just artistic and sleep deprived.

Cheongryeo already knew that they sounded good, but it was always nice to see how amazing they were from the faces of his fans.

~When people run in circles, it's a very, very~

They managed to perform a simple inner crossed leg step, then out, and ending with the heel down and their loafers pointed up, since the kid sang his first line. Teaching Gunwoo this simple footwork was bothersome. Not because the child was a novice at dancing, but because of the irritating incident that happened during practice.

~Mad world~

Their hands gestured in time, flowing with the music. The stage lights turned brighter, hinting at posed performers wearing stylish clothing and some of the absurd props and costumes here and there. Which the audience was thrilled to see judging from the sound of their yells.

~Mad world...~

Finally, with no remaining mists obscuring the rest of the set, several cameras showed alternating medium shots of the other performers waiting on the stage projected via giant LED screens behind the artists. Loud cheers had erupted while numerous banners and light sticks were waved around.

Most of the waiting idols were famous LeTi artists: which was MallangDalkom, who had disbanded as a group years ago, but was still very much involved in the entertainment industry as individual artists under LeTi's management; and the rest of VTIC members that was missing a member, because of a controversy. VTIC was supposedly on a break, but the members were invited to come, not that they had any choice in the matter because this was a LeTi produced reunion show for their senior.

The last group though was an anomaly. TeSTAR came from a different agency and VTIC's rival. But because of a silly extraneous circumstance, the idol group was trapped into an agreement to appear and perform here. Thankfully, no awkwardness showed on the rival members' faces as all of the idols braced themselves for the next part of the performance.

After the charming harmonized voices of Cheongryeo and Gunwoo rolled off with the last syllable from the old foreign song...

~(HEY!!!)~

The rest of the idols jumped and shouted as a collective.

Electronic music exploded, mashing another song with a dropped beat. The somber lighting of the stage instantly became brighter, draping the set with bright vivid colors using visual effects from the LED screens and stage lights, making the stage modern and pop.

A part that Cheongryeo somewhat disagreed at first because it could get jarring for the audience. But Kim Raebin somehow managed to mix the demo quite well by incorporating the foreign song's melody and some of the notes stylishly into the mix, which the LeTi music producers approved after listening to it.

Well, turns out the audience loved being shocked.

Back to the stage performance, MallangDalkom members moved forward, spotlight raining down on them as the rest of the lighting on stage grew dimmer, masking the rest of the performers that was moving elsewhere.

And because the kid had frequently tripped in practice, Cheongryeo decided to carry Gunwoo and the wireless mic stand off the stage, snatching the child by the waist, instead of letting the kid run off on his own.

~Don't think about tomorrow~

Even though the four-member girl group had retired from their idol careers, they still could sing and dance together as one, as if they haven't stopped performing as idols on stage.

~(Yoo hoo!)~

Performers not on the center stage yelled with their hands cupping their mouths as part of the choreography, while MallangDalkom continued with the dance routine that LeTi promoted and popularized ages ago.

~Your sparkle is still on

Gonna change at long last

Tears down my cheeks melting that ice~

All of the male idol group members on stage joined as back-up for the chorus, dancing and singing the once chart topper performed by the all female group senior. Everyone blended harmoniously as practiced.

~What a chill kill

I know you will

Bring me lightning like a w—

But before they could finish with the opening act, the performance video playing on the giant LED changed into something else.

The title for MallangDalkom's reunion charity program was supposed to show up. But instead, an old man's face, LeTi's current CEO, was displayed having a very weird expression not fitting to be seen by the public. From the camera's angle, the view seemed to be coming from a lopsided webcam.

The startled audience that started pointing it out, and the harsh curses of the production staff coming from everyone's in-ear, prompted the artists to stop the performance and to turn around to face the LED screens.

Slowly, the stage music lowered until the disgusting sound from the strange video could be heard. Several shocked gasp spread across the studio as everyone realized what the heck they were all watching. Jaehyun and Gunwoo could still see the giant LED screen where they stood off the stage, so Jaehyun immediately covered the kid's eyes and ears with both of his large hands.

“You've just opened up the pits of hell in your agency. Hope you and your friend are satisfied with the results, Cheongryeo-nim,” the child voiced out while trying to pull Jaehyun's large hands down.

His eyes widened. Seriously?! The boy did not had to have commented that!

Alarmed that somebody could have heard what the infuriating kid had said, Jaehyun's hand slid down while looking around, unconsciously squeezing the kid's face, which resulted in kicks aimed at his leg.

“What's the point of this? I've already seen it!” Gunwoo said with a muffled tone while struggling to free himself from Jaehyun's grasp. “I'm the one who got it after all!”

Jaehyun hastily unplugged the wire out of his bodypack transmitter and hushed the aggravating child. “For fuck's sake. I was wearing a mic connected to the mixer's booth.”

The child settled down. “Oh.”

After a moment of stunned silence, the two of them marched briskly towards the said booth. Upon opening the door, Jaehyun locked eyes with Kim Taein, and his friend gave Jaehyun a thumbs up.

He released a reassured chuckle and Jaehyun placed both his hands on his hips after closing the door with a sigh. “Where are the music producers?” He asked.

“With the other staff, running around like headless chickens outside, trying to do some damage control and contain the press leaks,” Kim Taein said after closing some of the applications and placing a headset back on its hook. “As if they could with an audience like that.”

“And here?”

The answer he got was accompanied with an excited grin. “Nothing to worry about. I've cleaned it all up!”

Jaehyun sighed once again, his tense shoulders loosened up.

“Congrats.” The child decided to butt in. “You get to be CEO now, board member-nim.”

Arms crossed and a seemingly bored look to his face, no one would suspect that the kid was panicking mere moments ago, if Jaehyun had not seen it. Though, he was confused by the boy's current temperament. Typically, this child was more cautious about his actions than this.

“Why are you chattier than usual? Are you throwing a temper tantrum?” He asked jokingly, feeling somewhat at ease now that the crucial part of their plan had been initiated. There was no turning back now. No second guessing on their part. If everything goes according to plan, then LeTi will be as good as theirs. “Do you need a nap?”

Laughing giddily, Kim Taein added, “Want some milk and cookie?” His friend, who was once a famous performer even before K-Pop idols as its own niche had exploded worldwide, and currently, LeTi's future CEO, after the man passed several evaluations launched by the board to remove him as a board member, had moved to tousle Gunwoo's hair. Jaehyun haven't noticed where the kid lost his hat. “You really helped us out there, kid. You can ask me anything you like. Anything at all!”

But the kid moved his head away. “I want to go home.” Gunwoo's bottom lip started to wobble. “I wanna go home.”

Suddenly, the door was kicked open. TeStar's Cha Eugene who was holding onto Gunwoo's hat pointed at Jaehyun and shouted, “AH! Sunbaenim! Bad influence!!!”

He couldn't help himself from answering back as the other Testar members followed. “It's not my fault. The kid's like that from the start!”

...

...

Several weeks earlier...

It was recess. Seated alone by the stairwell leading to the rooftop, Gunwoo was doing some homework for a lesson that wouldn't be tackled for the next couple of weeks if nothing changes with their teacher's lesson plans. He wasn't hiding, he just doesn't want to be bothered.

First, there was the PE teacher who would often drag him to the faculty office if he spotted Gunwoo around, assigning him class chores even though Gunwoo wasn't the class representative. Then the teacher would talk to the air about songs that would suit Gunwoo, how the music club misses him, or about a dance club he wanted Gunwoo to join. The guy even resorted to bribes, promising that Gunwoo would be exempted from some tests if he practiced for a contest or two. But Gunwoo always declined. Taking the tests was much easier and less of a hassle. Plus, practicing would just take away more of his free time to monitor the internet.

He had to admit though, his encounters with the PE teacher outside of class was a great way to train himself tuning in and out. The droning sound could be a buzzing from a bug, or better yet, school setting ASMR but the lofi music was all in his head.

Second, his ex-dance partner had taken to pouting at him whenever their eyes would meet. Unlike him, she wasn't able to say no. Last he heard, she embarrassed herself because her dance partner cried on the stage while she carried on dancing for the school program. Then the both of them stumbled off the stage, when her partner stepped on her dress. Was she trying to guilt-trip him or something? Anyway, one of their classmates said that Gunwoo's ex-dance partner's mom had enrolled her in a dance workshop for kids. Or was it modeling? He wasn't sure. But Gunwoo hoped that she would make friends from the workshop so that she'll forget to pout at him. 'Cuz it felt like he had accidentally stepped on her puppy's tail or something.

And last but not the least...

“There you are!”

Gunwoo sighed. Punchy, the classmate who had sent him to the infirmary, seemed to have the delusion that they were friends. Gunwoo wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point, Punchy began idolizing Tyler Durden from Fight Club after reading the poorly machine-translated novel that Gunwoo had accidentally left in the classroom. The kid even started wearing a red hoodie over their uniform, excitedly telling Gunwoo that his dad promised to buy him a leather jacket when he's older.

Gunwoo used the back of the manuscript to print some of the raw stock homework that he would then edit and manually copy the answer to their future homework, because he can't always bring his laptop to school. The teachers still haven't updated their lesson plans which was good for him. He doesn't like wasting paper so he reused the machine-translated printout, but it was a grave mistake to forget the damnable thing at school.

He tried to ignore Punchy to finish working on his homework.

“The first rule of Fight Club is?” Punchy asked in a quizzical manner.

Gunwoo's eye twitched. “You do not talk about fight club,” he murmured while he continued writing. His classmate would often ask this, giggle, then leave.

But Punchy didn't leave. Instead, the kid sat down beside Gunwoo then laid his head on top of the worksheet.

With a huge cheeky grin Punchy asked, “And the second rule of fight club is?”

Gunwoo gritted his teeth and exhaled through his nose before he answered, “You DO NOT talk about fight club.”

Punchy giggled, “Those rules were so silly.”

“Oooh! Iljoon, you're right! He's like that other Tyler, all moody and gloomy.” Another kid spoke up. The voice came from Gunwoo's back. It seemed Punchy had brought a friend, an older student. Were they here to bully him?

“Yeah, he's my other Tyler! He's really smart. He's ready to get punched to get out of stuff and everything, just like how Narrator got out of work,” Punchy replied, head still on Gunwoo's lap. “It's brilliant! Without pain, without sacrilege, we would have nothing!”

“That was one time,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “And its 'sacrifice' not sacrilege.” He didn't bother to reject being compared to Fight Club's narrator. That character was pretty cool. He destroyed banks and exploded buildings with soap!

The other student, who was way taller than them, sat on the other side of Gunwoo. “The kid here was you, right?”

A phone screen was shoved to his face, displaying a paused video of Testar's old viral vid. Gunwoo met the taller kid's eyes, ready to talk business.

“Which of the members you want to get an autograph from?” He asked. It was a common request he got from the student body who would seek him out. “It won't be for free, of course. Though for the payment, you can choose between prepaid balance, or your old school notes if you still have them.”

The kid blinked back at him in confusion. “What...?”

Punchy sat up straight. Finally freeing Gunwoo's leg. “Heeseung hyung, he's asking what you want from him!”

“Oh, um. Huh...” The taller kid alternated between looking back at the phone screen then at him. “So... it's really you then? Haaaah... Wow.”

“I told you. I have connections, hyung!”

Connections? What connections? Gunwoo was tempted to jokingly ask if it was when Punchy's fist connected to his face. Anyway, if they weren't asking for any Testar related topic, then it was time for Gunwoo to leave. He started packing his things.

“Wait-wait-wait, wait...” Punchy held on to him via his shirt and pulled him back down. “Hyung here is a YouTuber and he's going to be famous! He's got like a thousand subscribers now.”

The said YouTuber kid was blushing deep red and had glanced away when Gunwoo looked at him. “What do you do then?”

“Oh, uh... I play Minecraft.” The kid—who Gunwoo decided to call Minecraft in his head from then on—shyly rubbed the back of his head. “I play with Iljoon every now and then which started when his parents dropped him at my house.”

“You should play with us! It'll be fun!” Punchy pounced in like an eager dog.

“And you stream it live?” He asked.

“Nah. But I do record and edit out the boring parts on my own.”

“What do you say???”

Unfortunately, Gunwoo had to shut the excited Punchy and Minecraft down. “You two show your face?” He'll try to be gentle about it.

The two nodded. Minecraft was gaining confidence and reasonably answered, “It's much more engaging for the viewers if our reactions could be seen.”

That sounded like it came from watching tutorials on how to run a channel with that kind of answer. Was this the career he's banking on then?

“It's funnier whenever I kill hyung's character. The faces he makes should be in a compilation video!”

“Hey, I was just being nice by letting you win a few times.”

“Yeah, right. Anyway, hyung, if Gunwoo here show up in your vid, his fans will surely watch and subscribe!”

What did he meant by fans? The curious Loviewers of Testar? His presence could be equated to a novelty prop used from time to time. Of course there would be a few curious individuals because it was new to their eyes. Gunwoo doesn't have fans. Ugh. This nonsense had to stop. There was no way he'll ever show up in somebody's Let's Play video.

Gunwoo opened his mouth. "The Cinderella law--"

But Minecraft promptly interjected with a hand-chop. "Had been abolished!"

Gunwoo's eyebrow raised at the kid's preparedness. Minecraft did his homework.

Punchy piped up excitedly, but was more akin to a lost cheerleader. "Yeah!!! …Though I don't know what that is about though. Wasn't Cinderella a Disney movie for girls?"

These naive children were testing his patience. "Yes,” he said.

“I knew it was a Disney movie for girls!”

“I was agreeing that it had indeed been abolished, not the Disney movie. Though it is a Disney movie...” His thoughts were getting jumbled. “Anyway. That's not really the problem here." Gunwoo doesn't really know anything about that game aside from its blocky aesthetics. Nevertheless, because his eyes were often glued to the SNS, he had eventually encountered the protest about it. "Since that foreign software company acquired the game studio, the software company haven't changed the age requirement back down to its original minimum age. That game is still considered 'for adults' in this country."

Punchy dismissed his claim with a click of the tongue and a hand wave. "Pssh! It doesn't matter. Hyung's age is different online!"

Gunwoo groaned internally. He wanted recess to be over and done with. This conversation was drying up his brain cells. He addressed the older kid. "Let me guess. You pretended to be nineteen or so in your videos. But for you to be able to play, you're using your parents' account because the launcher needed to be connected to a registered phone that had a built-in age verification."

Minecraft blushed and shyly rubbed the back of his head again. "Foreigners do say that Asians have a baby face."

"Yeah! And no one would care if hyung's lying. It's just a game for kids after all. Even if our country says otherwise."

Gunwoo sighed in exasperation. "You do have a baby face, hyung." He crossed his arms. "Because you look like twelve."

"Excuse me, I'm fourteen years old." Both Minecraft's eyebrows rose up.

"And I'm ten!" Punchy chimed in.

With a nod, Gunwoo added, "Exactly." And the bell rang.

Sweet mercy. While the two were giving him confused expressions at his reply, Gunwoo hastily made his escape. But they soon followed him down, and they separated with him when they reached a corridor.

"I'll talk to you about survival strategies later, my other Tyler! Let's fight Gandhi!!" His classmate shouted at him with a somewhat heroic pose.

God. Punchy's so embarrassing. When will his classmate stop misrepresenting the quotes? He ignored them as he ran down another set of stairs. Unfortunately, Gunwoo would have to be late because his classroom was on the lower floors.

The voices of the two was still loud, echoing down the hall.

"You're not ten. You're nine."

"Hyung, it's called math. I rounded it up."

“And why are you following me? You're in the same class as Gunwoo right?”

“Oh shit!”

…

Afternoon.

After the boring classes, Minecraft and Punchy had somehow reached his table before he could get away. Even weirder, his pouty ex-dance partner was beside the two clowns.

“Do you need something?” He asked them all in general.

Her pout became much more pronounced as she played with the straps of her bag. “I-I wanna play. Iljoon invited me.”

“Yeong Ahrin would be perfect as Marla Singer! Dontcha think so?” Punchy beamed.

That's just sad. She got conned by their extroverted classmate. His ex-dance partner should learn how to say no. Seriously. Gunwoo looked up at the ceiling, asking the heavens for patience.

He sighed deeply then gestured at Minecraft who was busy texting someone. “And who's he then? Meat Loaf?”

“Nah, he's Angel Face. Hyung's popular enough with the girls. I keep hearing them say he has a pretty face.”

That statement made Gunwoo tilt his head in thought, as he stared at Minecraft in a different light. Hm... He stroked his chin. It would depend on the genes and proper care, but he could picture that the tall kid would grow even taller someday. He wondered if Minecraft would reach Keun Sejin's height in the future though. What's more, the kid doesn't look half bad. Just like Angel Face, a lighter hair color would probably suit Minecraft. At the very least, Minecraft do have the potential to become a model, even an idol if the kid wanted it enough.

“Does... Does that mean you want to destroy something beautiful?” Asked a meek voice.

Gunwoo snapped his head back at his ex-dance partner. It was a line said before the Narrator beat the shit out of Angel Face. “You've read Fight Club?”

Beside her, Punchy cued with both hands, accompanied with a very punchable facial expression, as if saying 'See?' in an insufferable way. Which was irrelevant in Gunwoo's opinion. Reciting a quote was not adequate to make a comparison. His ex-dance partner was nothing like Marla Singer. First of all, she's just a kid and cannot smoke a cigarette.

She shook her head with a small smile. “Not the novel, no. I... I watched the movie because I really like Helena Bonham Carter,” she shyly admitted. “I watch every movie she's in. She's like a different person every time. And-and her costumes were always so gorgeous.”

Horrifying. What kind of adult would let an innocent impressionable child like her, watch something like Fight Club and Sweeney Todd?!

“Alright. My house is just around here. Ready to go?” Minecraft asked them while pocketing a smartphone.

Punchy grinned teasingly at the older kid. “Was that your girlfriend, hyung?”

Minecraft blushed deep red. Wait. He blushed? He really do have a girlfriend? Gunwoo's eyebrows climbed higher and higher. Never mind the potential to be an idol then. That path would lead into a disaster for this guy.

“She was just saying hi!”

Punchy the gremlin pestered more. “That was a very-very-very, very long hi then, hyung.”

“Shut up!” Minecraft covered his tomato red face.

He was amazed that a little kid like Punchy was able to bully a tall fourteen year old. Not that any of it was his business.

“Well, good luck then,” Gunwoo said while strapping his backpack on his back. He was done trying to warn them. If Minecraft's channel grew, their bashers could use the age rule and the lie as a weapon in the future. It was not his problem anyway. “I'll be going now. Goodbye.”

“Wait! Where are you going?!” Punchy yelled as he pulled Gunwoo back by holding onto the backpack. “You're gonna be playing with us!”

“I never said I was going to.” Gunwoo pulled himself forward, struggling to reach the exit. “I have things I need to do today!”

“You're gonna make Marla sad!”

“No, she won't be sad!”

“H-hey, don't fight, you two!”

--riiiiiiiiiip!--

The bag's contents fell to the floor. All of the kids, including the spectators that haven't gone home yet, went silent.

Gunwoo's hand reached for the ripped parts of the backpack, and unconsciously tried to connect the torn pieces together. It was a hand-me-down, but the bag was Chungwoo hyung's first gift to him. He always used it even though the Ryu family gave him a new one.

"I have an eco bag!" His ex-dance partner, Yeong Ahrin, knelt down and started to gather the scattered items. She pulled the folded cloth bag out from her own bag, then neatly slid Gunwoo's things inside.

"Ah, let me help you there!" Minecraft followed, picking up stray papers and pens that rolled away from them.

"I'm sorry! I'm really really sorry!!" Punchy looked ashamed with guilt. "I'll-I'll replace it!" Then the stupid kid took his own bag and upended it, spilling more stuff on the floor. "Here! You can have mine." Punchy presented the bag to him with a deep bow.

Stupid. So impulsively stupid.

But... Gunwoo appreciated the sentiment.

After a moment, he sighed and took the bag in hand. He then stoop down to take Ha Iljoon's books and notebooks, carefully arranging them inside.

"It's fine. The bag was old anyway," Gunwoo said, and after he was done, he handed the filled school bag back to its owner. "Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart."

His classmate let out a damp, shaky laugh while scrubbing away the tears that fell to his cheeks. "I can't believe you used that quote just for a bag. It's supposed to be deep and-and was to point out somebody's poor physical state. And that it was okay and normal. My mama said so. Not really for a literal object."

Punchy chose to be smart this time? Gunwoo's eyebrow twitched as he smiled. "I guess I'll be taking your bag then, after all."

Iljoon stopped. "Ryu Gunwoo... I just realized. A relative got it for me from abroad. My mom would kill me if I lost my bag."

"I don't care. Just suffer."

Minecraft stood beside the both of them and placed his hands on their shoulders. "Did you two finally become friends?"

“We're already friends!” Iljoon yelled.

And at the same time, Gunwoo said, “No.”

…

Minecraft was telling the truth, his house was near the school. They just had to cross the street to get there, actually. The convenient location eliminated more options for Gunwoo's escape.

According to Testar's schedule, Gunwoo's hyung didn't have any activity for today, so he sent a message to Chungwoo hyung to call him, instructing hyung to tell Gunwoo that he needed to come home right away. Preferably angry and shouting if possible, so that the other three kids with him would hear.

Instead, hyung replied with an odd question, asking if a friend had finally asked him out to play. Gunwoo replied honestly with a yes, and a no, they weren't his friends, just classmates. Gunwoo was sure hyung could understand wanting to escape unnecessary social proceedings like this. He was so sure... But on the contrary, after a few seconds had passed, Chungwoo hyung replied via text with, 'Don't come here. Just have fun!'

The traitor.

He didn't give up though. He tried with the other members as well, even some of the staff that interacted with him regularly. All of them basically said the same thing! Bunch of traitors colluding like apes. Ugh!

And so here he was. Minecraft just opened the front door to the apartment and welcomed them in. It was neat and tidy, quite spacious for a family of three.

“Not much but it's home,” the older kid said after waving them in and showing the cabinet where the slippers were kept.

“What do your parents do, oppa?” Ahrin asked after she finished arranging her shoes.

Minecraft took their bags, plus the eco bag that Gunwoo was temporarily using, and placed them on the coffee table in the living room. “My mom's upstairs. She's a freelance video editor. Dad's a salary man, working at the local district office.”

“Ooh, me!” Iljoon was raising his hand, punching the heavens with his uncontainable excitement. “My parents own a computer and phone repair shop. They also assemble desktops. Heeseung hyung's parents became friends with mine because they were regular customers, and we both attend the same school.”

It seemed Ahrin felt compelled to share as well after listening to the two boys. “My mom's a seamstress and we have our own small dress shop. She makes costumes for theater, and occasionally, she sews custom traditional clothing for different occasions.” Then her eagerness dried out. “I don't know where my dad is though.”

“...oh.”

An awkward silence had spread.

“Spiritually speaking,” Gunwoo tried to break the uneasy atmosphere and the three turned their heads to look at him. “I don't know where both my parents were either. Both of them are dead.”

He said it to break the tension. But judging from their pale faces, he probably made the atmosphere worse.

“To hyung's room!” Iljoon desperately shouted.

“Let's go!” Minecraft agreed.

The two raced toward the staircase. Their feet thundered on the steps upon reaching it, kicking the wooden flooring as hard and as fast as they could.

It wasn't surprising when a muffled shout of warning was heard. “Heeseung! Iljoon! Keep it down!”

“Shhhhhh!” Minecraft's hand held Iljoon's collar tight while miming at everyone to be quiet. “Yes, mom!”

Minecraft motioned at Gunwoo and Ahrin to follow, while the two quietly jogged sneakily up on the tips of their toes.

But before going up, Ahrin turned to face him. “Thank you and I'm sorry,” she said softly.

Gunwoo's eyebrows furrowed. “For what?”

The answer he got was a thinly pursed lip and a nasal sigh.

“Nevermind,” she said before heading up the stairs herself.

Gunwoo was genuinely lost on what that was about.

…

“Oh my gosh, these are awesome! Seriously. I've never imagined that Yeong Ahrin's a builder.”

“I wanna play in this world!”

“Only in adventure mode because you'll just end up destroying it.”

“No fun. Hyung, I'm not a barbarian. Besides, the original map file's safe in the cloud.”

“So you do want to destroy it.”

While the three kids were busy rummaging around the game, breaking the age rule, Gunwoo was busy snooping around the room. Minecraft was in the middle of setting up a LAN play earlier, but they got distracted when Ahrin told them about her latest creation.

The bedroom was typical for a teenager, like the several foreign bands and K-Pop idol posters mounted on the wall. What got him curious though was the numerous desktop and computer parts laying around. There were even several monitors on the shelf as well.

“What about you, Gunwoo? Do you like Ahrin's build?” Minecraft asked.

All of them were looking at him, waiting for his answer. Gunwoo moved closer and looked at the monitor. He doesn't even know what he's looking at exactly. He guessed that it's probably an ornate traditional Japanese wooden structure though.

“It's big. It's nice.” He settled with a simple compliment then gestured at the PCs. “Why do you have a lot of computers?”

Iljoon facepalmed for some reason and Ahrin's pouting again. Minecraft answered him with a chuckle.

“These are fewer than before actually. Mom tried all sorts of things: DIY render farm for 3D assets, to mining crypto. Though she stopped when our electric bill went astronomical and settled with video editing for now.”

“Oh. What about those monitors?”

“She's very meticulous about color grading and likes to switch different brands to see if the results were consistent enough. Those were the ones she doesn't use anymore, so she gave them to me.”

Lastly, Gunwoo pointed at the assortment of computer parts on a corner desk. “What about that?”

Minecraft answered with an embarrassed laugh. “It's a personal project. I'm trying to build a home server from mom's old computer and some of the discarded parts from dad's office. I'm still getting used to the operating system though.”

Gunwoo's posture tightened. His shoulders raised a bit, hands clenched tightly into small fists and was held close to his chest. He started to fidget, shifting from foot to foot. Gunwoo found it hard to choose what he could ask first: 'Was it a Linux?' 'Are you willing to loan or perhaps sell some of those monitors?' 'Do you want to see something cool in the Dark Web?'

But before he could open his mouth, Iljoon gripped him by the shoulders and pushed him to sit on one of the gaming chairs directly in front of the monitor they were using. “That's enough. And I think you need a tour to appreciate the details more.”

Gunwoo sighed and sullenly looked back at them.

Iljoon nudged him and pointed at the monitor. “Go on. Cross the bridge or turn around and explore the village if you want. The food shops are great.”

Gunwoo looked down at the keyboard. He didn't know how to make the character move. After some thought, he decided to press the arrow keys.

Nothing happened. Then Punchy and Minecraft laughed.

Ahrin was biting her lip, suppressing a smile, but at least she settled to help him unlike the two clowns. “Here... You press these keys to move … And you use the mouse to look around.”

As Gunwoo positioned his hands better on the keyboard, he realized that he was being a bit dismissive before. Ahrin worked hard to create this map for who knew how long. She was probably excited to share it, and was eagerly waiting to know what all of them thought about it. Gunwoo knew this place was based on something popular, but he really didn't know what it could be. Asking would just result in them laughing again, so he won't. He'll just have to make her tell him about it.

“What's the part that you're most proud of in this build?” He asked and her eyes lit up. “Do you want to show it to us?” He moved the wireless mouse closer to her.

“C-can I?”

“Sure.”

Gunwoo stood up and Ahrin took the seat.

“This map is still incomplete... But, what I'm proud of... It's-it's this way!”

While Ahrin moved the character about, Gunwoo felt a tap on his shoulder. A finger bumped his cheek as a prank when he had turned his head on reflex.

“That was real smooth for a noob,” Punchy whispered. The two clowns were grinning at him.

Ahrin excitedly spoke up. “Here! As you can see, this is where...”

…

They didn't play. Instead, they ended up touring the bathhouse and the ghost village that Ahrin built while they ate the store bought snacks that Minecraft's mom brought into the room. She was surprised to see additional guests and lightly berated her son for not informing her, before ordering Minecraft to bring up more cups and extra snacks from the pantry downstairs. Punchy giddily followed the older kid to help.

An oddly familiar situation occurred while Minecraft and Punchy were out of the room.

The mom pulled out her phone, showed them a video, then asked a question. “Weren't you two the kids from this vid? That little elfin prince and the magical girl who ran away?”

Elfin prince and magical girl? And, Minecraft's mom was probably referring to how the dress had transformed, similar to a magical girl transformation. The imagery of Tolkien and Sailor Moon clashed in his head. On another note, the video was a recording from the inter school field demo competition. It was done professionally and was way better than Chungwoo hyung's recording back at school. Gunwoo didn't know that there was an official post about it though.

Minecraft's mom congratulated them for the win, said they did great, and then retrieved two packs of assorted scented erasers that looked like fruits from her office. Gunwoo thanked her for the stationary tools, while Ahrin blushed and spluttered as she received it.

Shortly after, the two clowns were back. Gunwoo piled on questions after questions that made Ahrin talk more and more about her build. She seemed to like it though, and helped relaxed her further. Soon enough, the two clowns joined in, retelling scenes from the movie, while suggesting stuff to make the build more accurate, like mods and texture packs they found on some forum somewhere. The three was clearly enjoying themselves. They even started planning on how to construct a jukebox that could play the theme song of the movie if they manage to do it right.

Meanwhile, Gunwoo was relishing the almond biscuits and the fruit-infused tea, savoring each bite and sip. He also thought about what ingredients he could use to recreate it while he browsed different hashtags and anti hashtags related to Testar on the SNS.

There's nothing new on this side of the internet, except for bored bashers who was making fun of a Testar collaboration promo ad that was split-up per member, some fake news that Testar were currently partying at some hotel, and the poll about who among the idols on the list have the longest eyelashes.

Clicking on the retweet had brought him to the original poll thread. The light banter of the fans from different groups were hilarious. Some of them had posted several zoomed-in pictures and had shifted the topic from 'longest' to 'the one with the most dramatic eyelash curve'. Gunwoo was about to vote Seon Ahyeon, when Punchy shook his arm to get his attention. Gunwoo's hand slipped and he ended up voting for Cheongryeo, who was leading the votes, apparently. Ugh.

He didn't notice that the kids were throwing questions back at him about the movie itself. Gunwoo finally admitted that he haven't watched Spirited Away yet, just to get Punchy off of his arm.

And they were all shocked.

“You made us spill spoilers!”

Punchy was so dramatic. That movie was so old.

“Then, um, what Ghibli movie is your favorite?” Ahrin asked.

“None.”

“Why none?”

“Because I haven't watched any.”

Why were they looking at him strangely?

Minecraft raised a finger in inquiry. "Okay, different question. Clearly, you don't play Minecraft, so what kind of games do you play?"

Several guesses started pouring in, which Ahrin surprisingly started first before the two boys.

"RPG?"

"MMO?

"Farming sim?"

They didn't gave him a chance to answer.

"Does he look like someone who would play a farming simulator? What about card games?"

"Hero shooter?"

"Maybe mobile games? He's always on his phone even in class." Punchy explained to the others as if it was a naturally given fact that everyone knew, like how the sky was blue.

Ahrin even nodded solemnly at that.

Then Punchy continued, "He fits a casual gaming image. Like those easy puzzles my dad plays when he had to poop."

"You got it backwards, Iljoon. You've pegged him as the Narrator from Fight Club, so that'll be too boring for him."

"You're right! So... maybe strategy games?"

Gunwoo pondered if they would think he's weird if he told the truth that games were a waste of time and resources for someone like him. His guardians were already limiting his internet usage and he had to resort to other means so that he could stay connected.

But Gunwoo decided against telling them about those thoughts. He already brought up the age rule earlier. It might sound like he's too rigid and a stickler for regulations if he did, when he only wanted to find a way around most imposed rules that he thought was unnecessary.

And these kids like games. He'll be a pariah if he shared negative views about their favorite hobby. Gunwoo will just have to shift the topic away from himself a little bit.

"I'm not really good at them. Cha Eugene hyung would always beat me in Mario Kart, Fall Guys, and Tekken."

Their eyes went wide. The bait was successfully bitten.

"You, you go to Testar's dorm regularly just to play games?!"

He nodded. “We all played Among Us a long time ago.”

"Oh-oh my god..."
"That's insane!"
"You can play Mario Kart with Testar whenever you want!”

Minecraft was hammering his thighs with clenched fists in excitement. "Who else have you met that is also famous?!"

From the largest poster on the wall, Gunwoo knew exactly what he should say.

"I've talked to VTIC's Cheongryeo-nim."

Minecraft's jaw dropped.

"Ooh! Right! He was a judge at that field demo contest at that big venue where our class won, hyung." Punchy supplied. “I forgot to tell you about it.”

However, an unexpected answer came from Yeong Ahrin, who slightly raised her hand to get their attention. "He's... He's a great teacher."

"What do you mean, Ahriiiiiiin?" Minecraft begrudgingly asked, tone dripping with envy.

Ahrin fidgeted on her seat while she blushed and played with the points of her fingers. "After the contest... I-I got an invitation for a program. My mom thought it would be expensive, but it was free for those who were personally invited, so she allowed me to attend." Her eyes were shining. "I only go twice a week for now, one hour sessions each. But if I do well in the evaluations in the future, I might win a scholarship for a music and arts based high school or even in college."

"Woah!"

"That's awesome. I'm so glad for you. I... I wish it was me."

"There, there, Heeseung hyung."

While Punchy mockingly consoled the fourteen year old, Ahrin turned to face Gunwoo with a slight pout. "Cheongryeo seonsaengnim's a great dance teacher. He's the best."

Gunwoo's eyebrows furrowed. What was she upset about? And what's with the sudden defensiveness? Did he accidentally say something offensive about VTIC's leader?

He bit his lip in thought. He cannot recall anything he did that would upset her, who was apparently a student of that guy. Giving up, he sighed before responding, "I've never said that he wasn't."

"Then why do you keep refusing his invitation? He said that maybe-maybe you don't like him because you saw something bad about him," she said with a hint of accusatory inflection. "He was thinking that maybe he should get a different teacher for the workshop, so that you'll reconsider your spot."

He doubted that Cheongryeo would leave the position just for that. If anything else, the reason for the dance instructor replacement would have to be idol activities, career problems, or the guy just plainly got fed up teaching kids. Gunwoo could imagine that this workshop gig was all for publicity anyway. Something to keep Cheongryeo's name from vanishing altogether from the lack of idol activities.

But really. Cheongryeo-nim would seriously stoop this low? Wait... Cheongryeo was probably trolling him through her, because Gunwoo kept blocking Cheongryeo's number in his phone, in his guardians' devices, in Testar's managers' devices, and the Testar members' phones, whenever those people kept their phones unattended. It had become like a game of sorts for Cheongryeo and him.

"Wait, wait. What is this about? I think I'm lost." Punchy asked.

"Ryu Gunwoo was invited by Cheongryeo to become a student and he refused?!"

"For the love of god, Heeseung! Stop shouting!" Came the muffled yell of Minecraft's mom from the other room.

Minecraft slumped on the floor like a sad puddle while moaning, "Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy..."

Punchy copied the teen, laying down on the floor on his front while giggling. "Whhhhhy... Hehehe...whhhuuuuueeeiii..."

Ahrin sighed. "I-I really like him as a teacher. We're still in the basics but... He's kind, and patient, and-and could explain the steps really well. He's not like our PE teacher, Gunwoo. He won't hurt you, I promise."

Gunwoo realized his mistake. If only he could turn back time and suffer the questions about gaming instead. It would be better to be seen as the weird kid with a phone addiction who doesn't play games, than as the arrogant kid who feels too good to take advantage of handout opportunities.

He sighed and responded with one truth that he knew she would agree with. "But I'm bad at dancing. I'll just embarrass myself."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "And that's why it's a dance workshop."

Gunwoo's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'll think about it."

She beamed. "That's great! I'll tell seonsaengnim tomorrow!"

Ugh... That eldritch squid found a powerful ally in Yeong Ahrin.

Suddenly, a phone rang.

"Ah! I'm so glad I got my honey here to comfort me!"

Minecraft crawled away from them then locked himself inside the closet.

"We should go. Hyung makes strange noises whenever he's inside the closet while chatting with his girlfriend. Sometimes it would go for a very long time." Punchy warned. “I asked his mom about it once, but she told me a sleep paralysis demon will visit me often if I knew the truth about teenagers.”

Gunwoo did not want to unpack that too personal of a tidbit. Plus that paralysis demon sounded scary.

But Yeong Ahrin thought differently and curiously asked, “Where did they meet?”

His ex-dance partner had come a long way from once being a shy fragile little girl, to a nosy little kid.

“Oh, they met online,” Punchy offhandedly answered while they went out of Minecraft's bedroom. “Hyung's girlfriend was one of his very first fans that DMed him, sent him pictures and stuff. She's very pretty.”

They said their goodbyes to each other and Minecraft's mom. Punchy invited him again to 'really play, this time, for sure!' tomorrow after class, with a light jab at Gunwoo's stomach. It seemed like Punchy's channeling Tyler Durden again. Skipping tomorrow's classes sounded good in his mind.

Gunwoo's ex-dance partner poutily said that she won't be able to come because of the workshop, but she said she would start with the jukebox project at home after her session, so that they could work on it next time. Then she made Gunwoo promise to think really really hard about attending the said workshop.

He could only nod and sigh. Skipping class? Maybe transferring to another school would be preferable.

…

Gunwoo's guardians were away on a trip again, so he was a bit confused when he heard several voices inside the house when he got home.

“Hyung?” He called out while changing his shoes into slippers.

Chungwoo hyung and the rest of Testar were in the living room. They seemed to be busy doing something, all of them were on their phones or laptop. Weren't they supposed to be resting?

“Oh, Gunwoo. Welcome home.” His hyung sounded so tired.

Others began chiming in.

“You're home late young man~”

“Sorry for the intrusion...”

“Welcome home!”

Some of the less vocal members just nodded in greeting or waved at him.

Gunwoo could feel that they were forcing themselves to sound and look cheerful, but in reality, everyone looked stressed and weary.

“What happened?”

He saw how Kim Raebin hyung shudder when he asked.

Chungwoo hyung patted Kim Raebin on the back before answering Gunwoo. “There was a gas leak at the dorm.” Hyung seemed to be on the edge.

“Gas leak, huh,” He repeated while he placed the eco bag filled with his school stuff on the sofa beside Seon Ahyeon hyung. Kim Raebin looked really pale. Gunwoo took a mental note to dig further and monitor the posts about the youngest hyung.

“Yep~ the company is resolving it.” Keun Sejin hyung waved dismissively, but was failing to contain the anger he was hiding.

“The company? Not a plumber or a gas technician?” Gunwoo probed further.

“They called them, of course!” Cha Eugene hyung concurred. Gunwoo could also sense the rage that this normally sunny and upbeat hyung was masking.

“W-what happened to your bag?” Seon Ahyeon hyung asked worriedly, effectively changing the topic.

All their attention was then pointed at him.

Gunwoo's torn backpack was sticking out of the eco bag, and Bae Sejin hyung pulled it out after Ahyeon hyung had pointed it out. They all saw the sorry state of his old torn bag.

His very-much-on-the-edge hyung rushed at him, examining him closely, bodily turning him left and right.

“Did you got hurt? You look fine... so did they destroy your bag while you're away?” Chungwoo hyung's questions was starting to paint an ugly disturbing image in Gunwoo's mind.

“Hyung, you're not making any sense. Did something happened in the dorm?”

Bae Sejin hyung tried to calm his hyung down. “Chungwoo, your brother was at school. I think this is a separate incident. Gunwoo, could you tell us why your bag's torn apart?”

All of the members were looking at him in distress.

“It was just an accident. I was playing with a classmate who was holding onto it.”

Everyone visibly relaxed upon hearing his explanation, some of them even vocally sighed in relief.

"I think it's fine to tell him," Kim Raebin hyung said while restlessly bouncing a leg. "We all know that Gunwoo here will just look it up out of curiosity when our backs are turned."

"No." Chungwoo opposed. "He's too young to know something like that!"

"We won't tell the details, of course." Bae Sejin hyung said. "But Chungwoo, Kim Raebin's right. We all know how your brother's mind works. It'll be better to satiate his curiosity now, than let him see on his own what we don't want him to see."

Gunwoo's brows furrowed. That didn't sound nice. He's not a baby.

Chungwoo hyung sighed before standing up straight. "Fine. Let's sit down and talk."

They all found their seats, trying to be as comfortable as they could. Despite what Kim Raebin and Bae Sejin said though, everyone was delaying. It seemed, nobody really wanted to talk about it.

Gunwoo sighed. "I guess I'll just have to look it up myself then." He pulled his phone out from his pocket.

"Sasaeng got into the dorm. No one's hurt. That's all." Cha Eugene summarized before burying his face in his palm with a sob.

Gunwoo looked at Kim Raebin hyung. "They targeted you?"

The hyung he was referring to paled even further.

"Yes." Kim Raebin hyung gulped then covered his mouth. "They got into my room while all of us were asleep and left something."

By how the youngest hyung's shaky voice lost strength by the end, Gunwoo supposed that the item left by the crazy fan was something gruesome and nasty.

"The company decided to make it seem like we're in a hotel at the moment, while suppressing any posts about it." Chungwoo hyung added. "But that sasaeng might try something else. We agreed that it's best for everyone to stick together for now, and try not to involve our families, until further notice."

So, the culprit wasn't apprehended yet and the investigation was still ongoing. Gunwoo understood that much and nodded at hyung.

"Don't you get yourself involved, okay?" Chungwoo hyung cautioned in a serious tone. "I mean it, Gunwoo. Don't even look it up on the internet."

"Okay. I won't look it up on the internet." He lied and everybody groaned.

While everyone's minding their own business that late afternoon, Gunwoo found it a bit annoying how hyung warned him repeatedly to not look it up, like a broken record.

...

It was dinner, but nobody had any appetite. Worse than that, Kim Raebin hyung ran to the toilet and vomited after he saw the pot of seonji haejang-guk that Gunwoo reheated.

The food was perfectly fine. But Chungwoo hyung helped put it away, out of everyone's sight, when some of the members started heaving and gagging. Hyung as well, doesn't look like he'll last long before getting sick.

"You should eat, Gunwoo. Don't mind us," hyung said weakly.

How could he eat when everyone's like this?

"I'm not really hungry. I ate a lot at my schoolmate's house." Gunwoo looked around the kitchen. "Toasts are bland. Hyung, why don't we make some for everyone?"

Chungwoo blinked in thought for a bit then agreed, ruffling Gunwoo's hair. "That's a great idea."

Bae Sejin hyung added bananas and grapes next to the platter of toasts, while Keun Sejin hyung helped boil some eggs.

Ahyeon hyung and Cha Eugene hyung were helping Kim Raebin hyung who doesn't want to leave the toilet in case he became nauseous again.

Next, Gunwoo needed to get their minds distracted, even just for a little bit.

At the dining table, while everyone was somberly nibbling on their meal, Gunwoo tried one of his diversion tactics.

"Chungwoo hyung, if you ever get a girlfriend when you're done being an idol, don't tell me what you do inside the closet. I don't want a demon to come and visit me while I'm asleep."

After a moment, several of them ended up spewing their food and it wasn't because of nausea. One of them almost choked on a banana.

"Where the hell did that come from~" Keun Sejin said, after he recovered from coughing so hard.

"My classmate," he simply said.

“Wait, Gunwoo,” Chungwoo hyung tried to calm his breathing.

“Children says the darndest things,” A shaking Cha Eugene muttered in English while wiping his eyes with a sleeve.

Chungwoo hyung continued. “I think none of us is following. Can you walk us into your thought process?”

Oh. Hyung had a point. They don't have the context. “Minecraft—I mean, Kwon Heeseung from school have a girlfriend. They often chat inside the closet.”

Cha Eugene hyung tensed up for some reason but just smiled sheepishly when Gunwoo looked at his direction.

Bae Sejin hyung cleared his throat to ask, “A nine year old already have a girlfriend?” He sounded a bit revolted.

Gunwoo shook his head. “He's older than me. Kwon Heeseung's fourteen.” Though, it just occurred to him, with all those lies, how old was Minecraft's girlfriend if they had met online?

Chungwoo hyung sighed. “Gunwoo, honorifics.”

His hyung reminded him, and when he scrunched up his nose at that, Chungwoo raised an eyebrow.

Gunwoo internally sighed. “Sorry. Kwon Heeseung hyung's fourteen. Anyway, my classmate, Ha Iljoon—“

Cha Eugene hyung started coughing and Kim Raebin hyung started slapping the other's back.

“Carry on~” Keun Sejin amusedly encouraged Gunwoo to continue.

Gunwoo continued, “Ha Iljoon said that he would often hear Kwon Heeseung hyung making strange noises inside the closet.”

“Ah, a l-literal closet...” Ahyeon hyung muttered absentmindedly.

“And when Ha Iljoon asked Minecraft's—I mean, Kwon Heeseung's mom about it, she told him that a demon will come visit if the truth was spilled.”

Keun Sejin hyung stopped him for a bit. “Does this demon have red skin and horns? Or is it the goblin-ish type version? 'Cuz I'm trying to paint a picture in my head~” He finished with a grin.

Gunwoo felt like this hyung was making fun of him again just because he's a kid. “No. Kwon Heeseung's mom was talking about a sleep paralysis demon. It's psychological.”

“Ahh...” Several hyungs slowly nodded their understanding.

Gunwoo briefly glanced at Bae Sejin hyung before continuing, while looking down at his hands, “And I know there are endless types of demons out there. Some exists inside several bottles of alcohol, or wrapped around bundles of money, some even lived inside syringes and pills, for example... They change people, lives spiraling out of control, if those kinds of demons ever get a hold of you.”

The table became solemn, a contemplative silence settling over the group, but without the painful trauma that Gunwoo felt worryingly thick when he had gotten home earlier.

Though, he could also see that everyone had successfully finished their meager supper without the need to run off to the toilet. Maybe he could distract them more, at least for tonight.

“So yeah, hyung. I just don't want any kind of demons visiting me before bed.”

Oddly, most of them snickered at what he had said, some of them even facepalmed.

“Yeah~ Hormones. Tsk.” Keun Sejin clicked his tongue. “That's one very dangerous demon alright!”

He was very much surprised when Chungwoo hyung threw a banana peel at Keun Sejin because of that comment. Though Keun Sejin apologetically gestured at his hyung soon after.

Gunwoo didn't like where this one was headed. His hyung was even starting to act crazy. Time to steer the boat towards another kind of distraction. “Anyway, another classmate, Yeong Ahrin, was building something in Minecraft, and it's based on a Ghibli movie...”

He trailed off, because Cha Eugene began saying his classmate's name repeatedly in deep thought.

“Yeong Ahrin. Yeong Ahrin. Yeong Ahrin... Hmmm.”

Was this a variant of 'Bloody Mary'?

Then suddenly, Cha Eugene hyung hastily pushed himself up and shouted, “Youngrin!” To everyone's surprise.

Youngrin? Why did Cha Eugene hyung felt the need to give his classmate a nickname?

The energetic hyung locked eyes with Gunwoo and asked, “Was she that girl, your partner? At that school dance?”

Gunwoo tilted his head in confusion, but shortly nodded in response.

Cha Eugene hyung laughed hysterically. “Oh my god! A little Youngrin dumped a little Gunwoo in front of a lot of people!”

This hyung fell to the floor and was literally rolling while giggling uncontrollably.

“I can't—hahaha—what kind of terrible cosmic joke is this?! The whole universe is out to kill me! This is too much, too much!!!”

“Ah... why is Cha Eugene like this...?” Bae Sejin hyung asked in bewilderment.

Seon Ahyeon hyung guessed, “P-probably because of the stress.”

It seemed that whatever happened at the dorm made Cha Eugene hyung very loopy. Seriously, Testar needed some break. They're all starting to get nutty.

Gunwoo turned to Chungwoo hyung. “What I was trying to get at was... Can we watch a Ghibli movie with everyone, hyung? If you're not busy, of course.”

Chungwoo hyung's smile became softer as he patted Gunwoo's head. Hyung glanced at everyone, and they all nodded their agreement. “We'd be glad to.”

…

After dinner, Cha Eugene hyung and Kim Raebin hyung got tangled in a debate on what Ghibli movie to watch while Chungwoo hyung made some popcorn.

Gunwoo was minding his own business in a corner, scrolling through his phone when his device was suddenly pulled out of his grasp by Bae Sejin hyung.

“If you're going to watch a movie with us, then you really have to watch it, Pochi,” Bae Sejin hyung whispered to him with a flat expression.

Gunwoo gave him the same flat look. “Sure, hyung.” Then with a palm up grabby motion, he gestured for his phone to be returned to him and silently asked, “Have you decided what to do with the money?”

Bae Sejin groaned, then instead of handing his phone back, Bae Sejin hyung threw it towards Chungwoo hyung, who caught it with his free hand—his other hand was holding a huge bowl overflowing with cheese flavored popcorn!—and immediately threw it towards Seon Ahyeon hyung, who was startled by the action and passed it towards Keun Sejin hyung, who then grinned at Gunwoo's frown.

Keun Sejin hyung teasingly waved his cellphone in the air. “Ah~ you know Gunwoo-Gunwoo, this could be another form of a demon~”

“It-it has taken hold of you.”

“Yeah. We need to call a priest.”

“Not a priest!”

They were all laughing and had used his words against him.

He sighed. “Fine.”

They ended up watching My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo. However, Gunwoo could barely remember what happened in Ponyo because he fell asleep, and had somehow woken up in his bedroom in the middle of the night.

He quietly sneaked downstairs to peek at Testar. Except for Chungwoo hyung, the rest of the members had used sleeping mats and had slept in the living room. Gunwoo could hear a light snoring, he doesn't know who was doing it though.

He easily spotted his phone on a side table and took it with him. Back in his room, the first thing he did was to search for whatever happened at the dorm.

The company did a good job at suppressing it. There was nothing unusual in the regular SNS at the moment, so Gunwoo switched to forums, image boards, and fan pages. Using keywords related to Kim Raebin, Gunwoo found some clues from recent conversations and joined in. He was able to convince someone to give him a link and Gunwoo found what he was looking for.

And he immediately regretted it.

...

...

Kim Raebin was having a nightmare.

Cha Eugene was talking to him about something very confusing. His friend was missing someone that was him, but at the same time, not Raebin. When he asked if his friend had hit his head at practice, Cha Eugene just smiled sadly. But that smile soon became wider, bigger. Before long, his friend had turned into a giant cat.

The cat's eyes turned on like blinding headlights. The body was shaped like a bus and had many legs instead of tires. There's already someone inside the catbus, although, he couldn't recognize who the person was. Raebin saw an opening and he moved closer to get in. The cat shook its huge head and refused.

Raebin glanced at their surrounding with mounting dread.

“But the flood is rising!” He cried out in panic. “You have to let me in, Eugene!”

And it was true, even if it wasn't mere moments ago. The tide was about to swallow them whole. Glowing schools of juvenile fishes with human shaped faces were inside the rising waves, watching him, turning their heads, following his every move. They all wanted to drown him.

A colossal, gigantic lady emerged from the water, spraying water everywhere. She was way bigger than the cat or even the buildings in the distance. Most frightening of all, she had no face. The lady was hugging a rounded glass tank that was as big as a house, filled with unsettling substances. She was bringing it towards them.

'I love you, Kim Raebin!' Her mouthless face bellowed. 'I love youuuuuuuuu...'

Looming over him, the giant lady tipped the contents of the glass tank.

“No! Please, Eugene!”

Raebin turned to face the giant cat beside him. His friend wasn't there anymore. The waves crashed, coming from different directions, washing him away.

Raebin tried to swim but his arms were getting tired. The water had become thick, syrupy, and congealed, mixed with the ruined flesh of the unborn. The heavy and dense consistency was making it difficult to move. But he had to survive, so he pushed his arms and legs hard to propel him upwards. Soon enough, he finally broke the surface of the dirty water.

And Raebin found himself in the living room of their leader's house, gasping for air. He covered his mouth with his shaking hands. He did not want to puke, but he desperately wanted to scream.

Raebin closed his eyes and took a moment to collect himself. With the ordeal they had experienced recently, a nightmare was expected. He'll probably have it for a while. Raebin forced himself to control his breathing, stop his thoughts from spiraling, let his emotions run its course, telling himself that he'll be fine. There was no reason to trouble anyone about this. In fact, he had already forgotten most of what the nightmare was all about.

He opened his eyes and furrowed his brows.

Aside from the snores and usual ambient house sounds, the Ryu residence was very quiet. But Raebin always had sensitive hearing since he was young, and currently, he could hear someone regurgitating somewhere, someone trying their hardest not to make a sound.

He pushed himself up to sit.

The sound came from upstairs. The only people occupying that floor would be the Ryu brothers. Raebin had been living with their leader at the dorm for quite some time now, and although their leader wasn't particularly loud with his movements, Chungwoo hyung did not conceal them. He had no reason to.

So, Raebin concluded that this must be the younger Ryu... He jolted. Oh no! Was the kid sick? Did Gunwoo need some medicine?

He stood up and quietly moved towards the bottom of the stairs, listening carefully. The child won't be able to conceal the sound of a flush...

After a minute or two, a flush was heard. Raebin used it as a cue to silently go up the stairs.

Their leader's little brother was hunched as he crept out of the toilet, closing the door slowly, and then tiptoeing back down the hall.

"Are you alright?" Raebin asked.

The child jumped and flinched so bad that he fell to his bottom, facing Raebin with wide shaky eyes and a pale complexion.

Ah... Raebin did not meant to scare him.

"O-oh. It's just you, hyung."

Raebin offered a hand. Gunwoo was still shaking as the child stood up and fixed himself.

"Do you need some medicine, or a glass of water? Should we go wake up your brother?"

"No, I'm fine, hyung." Then the child narrowed his eyes at Raebin. "But what about you?"

"Me?"

The child was restless. Gunwoo fidgeted for a bit before deciding to answer Raebin with a grimace. "That crazy fan who snuck in the dorm loved you so much that she literally showered you with her dead first born while you were sleeping."

Raebin froze. Oh... the kid searched what happened at the dorm despite their warnings.

He sighed, running fingers through his hair. "Chungwoo hyung would be so mad." Then something nudged at his thoughts. "Wait a sec, first born?" That was news to him.

“Well, it haven't really been born, technically.”

"And how did you know that the gunk was all over me?"

All they knew was that a fetus was dumped over him, Cha Eugene's loud shriek waking everyone up while looking at him in shock, and a Testar banner with the repeated declarations of love for Kim Raebin that was written in blood, which was left hanging by the foot of his bed.

Gunwoo bit his lip before answering. "It doesn't matter, hyung."

"Yes it does." Chungwoo hyung's door opened a few steps down the hall. Their leader looked so disappointed and tired. "Now what do you have to say for yourself?" The question was directed at the little boy.

The child didn't waste a breath. "It's a cult. They made a church in the name of Kim Raebin hyung as their lord and savior. The fetus was a sacrifice."

...what?

It took a moment for those words to register in Raebin's head. Was he still having a nightmare?

Glancing at his leader, it seemed like hyung was also finding it hard to comprehend.

...

Kim Raebin and the Testar's leader followed the kid to his bedroom. Ryu Gunwoo motioned for them to take a seat on the bed, as the child set the opened laptop on a chair and brought it closer to them.

The loaded website was disturbing. Aside from the terrible coding, the visuals displayed were full of satanic symbolism and imagery. In the middle was several edited pictures of him, and some kind of introduction about the church of Raebin.

"A bit cheesy, I know. They were even using a horned goat as a mouse cursor. By itself, there's nothing much on this landing page aside from clues on how to contact them, which were these codes written on the pictures." The child pulled out his cellphone and opened an unknown app. "They think they were being edgy by using a Lucifer cipher... And here is their chatroom."

Raebin took the phone and angled it a bit to let his leader read it with him.

The scrolled up conversation displayed several congratulatory messages on their member's success, that as the non-virgin in their group, they were grateful for her huge contribution and sacrifice for furthering their group's vision and mission. The post following that was a photo of Raebin in the dorm after the deed was done. Several sleeping photos of him, in fact, were taken by the perpetrator and was uploaded as a set. He could even see a sleeping Eugene on the other side of the room in a corner of one of the pictures.

In a cult like text chant, several messages of vows and pledges followed, basically saying to not to leak it out to normies or they'll be cursed. Then regular talks about teenage angst, worries about some person's cat's diet, and speculations about where Raebin get his piercings had commenced.

Raebin shuddered as he leaned away from it, dropping the phone on the bed.

“I'm sorry you had to see it. But if we resolve this fast, as soon as possible, then you only have to think about taking care of yourself and moving on from this, hyung,” the child explained.

Thinking about the contents of those high definition pictures made Raebin very queasy. He stood up, Ryu Chungwoo hyung followed. Then, both Raebin and the Testar's leader raced for the bathroom to throw up.

...

"This group uses a script that automatically strips the metadata off of their posts. But, no matter. I can still—"

"No, Gunwoo. You won't be doing anything anymore. Let us adults handle this."

Their leader was the first one to come back to the child's room. Raebin had used the toilet downstairs. It was probably a mistake to come back here, Raebin felt like he was intruding.

"But hyung!"

Ryu Chungwoo hyung was angrily packing up the kid's laptop and cellphone. Gunwoo looked as if he was about to cry.

"I told you before not to do this alone."

"That's why I showed it to you...”

"And I've just told you, how many times now, not to involve yourself in this mess! Why do you keep disobeying me?!!"

Their leader saw Raebin standing by the doorway, stepped towards him, and shoved the kid's stuff into his arms.

"Bring this downstairs, Raebin. I'll have to talk to my brother."

Raebin was pushed out of the room and the door was slammed shut on his face.

Muffled voices of the two brothers could be heard out in the hall.

"I only wanted to help!"

"NO! This had gone too far, Gunwoo! Don't you understand that you're endangering yourself?"

"I'm not! I know what I'm doing, hyung."

"Then tell me, how did you gain access to their website?"

"I... messaged someone for a link."

"You talked to a cult member?!"

"No, I didn't. They weren't a cult member."

“How do you know that?! You're a child! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE A NORMAL CHILD?!"

Raebin noticed the other worried Testar members hovering by the staircase.

"...I'm just... I just wanted to help Raebin hyung. I wanted to help you. I wanted to help Testar." The child never sounded so defeated since Raebin had met him.

Raebin stiffly moved towards the other Testar members with the gadgets but froze on the spot as their leader dropped the next words.

"Stop being so obsessed with us! What is wrong with you?! GOD! You're driving me INSANE!"

They all exchanged shocked glances.

Cha Eugene ran and stormed the door, repeatedly knocking on it.

Raebin hissed, "Cha Eugene, what are you doing?"

His friend didn't answer and just continued to pound on the door until their leader opened up. The others went near but Raebin didn't know if they were there to stop Eugene or to help.

"What." Their leader seethed with gritted teeth.

"Stop. Stop before you regret it, hyung." Cha Eugene said quietly, before trying to force his way into the child's bedroom.

Their leader blocked Eugene with a hand to the chest. Hyung went out of the room himself and gently closed the door behind him.

Their leader took a deep breath before speaking. "My brother needs to think hard about his actions. He'll only think that what he did was okay if you console him now, Eugene."

Cha Eugene didn't look happy about it but respected their leader's decision and stepped away from hyung.

...

A few hours later that morning, Ryu Gunwoo didn't eat breakfast with them. The child muttered he wasn't hungry, and ignored their leader when hyung asked if Gunwoo wanted some juice with the pancakes, as if their leader did not hear that his brother said he wasn't going to eat.

Their wavelengths were so out of tune with each other. Which in turn affected the group's vibe like a chord that had an out of place note, held on for far too long, steadily building up tension.

Oh, it was just the sound from the kettle, which Bae Sejin hyung had taken off from the stove to make some tea.

Still, Raebin found this situation very uncomfortable.

The child just went out of the house with a different bag, before their leader could force the kid to sit down and eat. Ryu Gunwoo headed on to school, not talking a word to the rest of the Testar members, not even looking at them, as if they didn't exist.

Raebin felt bad. This was his fault.

"Hyung, should I...?" He didn't exactly know what to do. Should he follow and bring the kid back? Should he apologize? Should he ask his fans to please not love him, so much so that they felt the need to make a cult?

Cha Eugene placed an arm around his shoulder and whispered so softly that Raebin could barely here it. "If you blame yourself for this mess, then I'll kick your ass until you get your common sense back." Then his friend pushed him away and found a seat.

Raebin blinked in confusion as he too sat down. Since when did Eugene know how to speak a Korean sentence that long and articulate?

"Ah. Burnt. Burnt... All burnt. Leader's pancakes sucks!" Cha Eugene moaned at their meal.

Huh... Raebin probably just imagined it then. Or that his friend learned it from local TV dramas. He glanced down at his own stack of pancakes. They looked half-cooked, different from the crispy-looking dark brown pancakes of his friend.

Was this safe to eat? Anyways. Raebin shook his head. “That's not nice, Eugene! You're the one who requested pancakes!”

His friend just stuck out a tongue at Raebin. He's like a child! Honestly!

"A cult?" Both Sejins asked at the same time, then one huffed, and one rolled his eyes afterwards.

"Yes. Apparently." Their leader doesn't look well. "Gunwoo..." Hyung sighed heavily before continuing. "Managed to find the sasaeng that trespassed the dorm, and she's a part of a cult that worships Kim Raebin. I'll be giving my brother's laptop and phone to the company after we've all eaten."

The rest of the members then glanced at Raebin incredulously which made him blush.

Lee Sejin hyung stood up and bowed down at Raebin. The kind of bow that ended up kneeling with a forehead touching the floor.

"Behold~ The mighty Lord Kim Raebin walks upon us!" Chanted their tallest Testar member.

Shamefully, Cha Eugene followed. "Oh! Praise be thy rabbit!"

And their troll hyung liked the phrase.

"Oooooh~ Praise be thy rabbit!!!"

Raebin hid his face in his palms.

"Praise be thy rabbit!" The two chanted, and all throughout that morning whenever they see him.

...

...

Gunwoo wasn't mad. He was a firm rock, enduring, sturdy, and calm. A boulder trying to contain the fire inside the inferno that was scorching his soul black. Though a passing thought of coating hyung's soap with clear nail polish so that it wouldn't lather, had crossed his mind for a brief second. He let it go. Because Gunwoo. Wasn't. Mad.

"Why are you mad?" Asked Ahrin.

Gunwoo almost blew up at her. He forced a smile instead as his fist clenched at his side.

"I'm not. Here. Thank you for this. It was a great help." He said as he returned the eco bag to its owner.

"Um, you're welcome.” She fiddled on her desk before continuing. “Have you... have you thought about attending?"

He smothered a sigh. “I'm kind of in the middle of something.”

“Oh.” Ahrin's shoulder drooped and she looked down on her desk in disappointment.

How troublesome.

“But maybe in a few days,” he said as an afterthought. “We also have that jukebox project you wanted to do, right?”

That brightened her up a bit even though Gunwoo wasn't agreeing that he would attend, or that in truth, Gunwoo really had no contribution to her project in the first place.

She nodded and said, “Tell me if you need some help with-with... whatever it is you're busy with.”

Gunwoo returned to his seat and arranged his desk. He kept his notes and textbook aligned with the pencil case just at the right place. After a moment, he rearranged them again including the inside of his pencil case. Without his phone, he didn't know what to do with himself.

Obsessed with Testar? Him? He wasn't obsessed. Was he? He was just... solving problems in front of him like usual. That's what he did ever since his grandparents treated him as the chajongson. They put problems in front of him to solve. Well, those were mostly thought exercises back then. But even his parents, who rejected the jongga tradition, were pleased by the results and would consult him about theirs, while guiding him through it.

However, Chungwoo hyung wanted him to be a normal kid, who attends classes normally, and who would have normal hobbies. Gunwoo breathed in deeply and sighed. It felt like he was being shoved into a very tiny box that he would have to cut parts of himself just to fit in it. How small would he have to be?

"Hey... quite moody today, huh." Punchy, who had just arrived, greeted him as if they were friends.

"Good morning to you too," he said with false cheer. Seeing his classmate, made him recall the blocky colorful game. He was about to pull out his phone by habit to re-check something, but stopped when he remembered it was taken by hyung. Nevertheless, he had the teacher's schedule memorized. "Iljoon, can you teach me how to play Minecraft?"

Punchy's eyes lit up.

…

It was recess. With their bags strapped on their backs, Gunwoo and Punchy had just entered the computer lab, located inside the high school building.

His classmate nervously tugged the back of his shirt.

“What are we doing here?”

“You said you're going to teach me Minecraft.” Gunwoo removed his classmate's hand off of him.

“Right now?!”

“Yes.”

“How? Do they... do high schoolers have Minecraft in their computers here?”

Gunwoo tapped his chin and shrugged. “Maybe.” He did stumble upon articles before that said that the game was used for educational purposes in some schools before the mishap with the age rule happened.

Punchy's mouth gaped at him.

“What?” He was confused about the gobsmacked look of his classmate.

Then Punchy closed his mouth with a snap and gave Gunwoo a contemplative look. “You're acting weird. Did one of the teachers say something bad to you again?”

Huh. Of course, he shouldn't be surprised that what happened to him before in the faculty had become a part of the student gossip mill.
Gunwoo rolled his eyes. “Nothing happened.” He continued his trek towards the teacher's aide who was supervising the place.

Because of Gunwoo's side hustle to acquire old school notes in exchange for favors, deals, and signed Testar merchandise, he had learned about and met interesting people around the school. One of them was the teacher's aide, a senior high school student who was technically repeating a year to complete missing credits for a couple of subjects so that he could graduate.

The guy looked like the stereotypical delinquent with cauliflower ears. But he's actually a Seon Ahyeon fan with a growing poca album collection.

The aide's bulldog-frown melted and was replaced by a 1000-watt smile when he saw Gunwoo approach his desk.

To be honest, Gunwoo didn't trade with this one because this student barely made any class notes, and if he did it was illegible. So instead, Gunwoo traded photocards with something else.

He pulled out a signed winking Seon Ahyeon card from his pocket, which was inside a plastic sleeve, and gently slid it in front of the aide. It was a rare one, part of a limited fifty-print run released during an event. Gunwoo had three.

The aide was very pleased with the card. He leaned in towards Gunwoo and whispered, “Here for the faculty members' schedule?”

Punchy gasped beside him which Gunwoo ignored.

“I don't think they changed it from last week. The teachers have a scheduled meeting later on, right?” He asked.

The aide answered dejectedly, “Yeah.” The glum was understandable. It was the only data he could trade with Gunwoo and the photocard was highly sought after.

The auction price for this particular one was still rising last time Gunwoo had checked online.

Gunwoo pushed the card a bit. “It's still yours. I just need two computers for maybe about two hours.”

The aide raised a cut eyebrow. “This is the high school comp lab. I can't create a student profile for you so that you can log in with your student ID. I don't have access to that.”

Gunwoo shrugged. “I don't need it.”

The aide grinned and gently pocketed the card. “If you're sure.”

Gunwoo gestured with his head for Punchy to follow him. “Come on.”

Punchy cupped his mouth and whisper-shouted as they walked. “Two hours? Gunwoo, we have classes!”

“No we won't. It will be a study period because of the meeting,” he said while selecting computers that were facing away from each other, so that Punchy won't be able to see what he's actually doing.

“We're really gonna play Minecraft here?” His classmate's excitement was amping up.

“Yes.”

Another piece of information that he learned when he found out that the teachers were using an old curriculum for their lessons, was that the school had an archaic database system, which was vulnerable to simple SQL injection tricks.

Punchy giggled beside him while Gunwoo made the system believe that what he had typed in the user ID and password boxes were always true.

“Why are you laughing?” He asked while manipulating admin and network restrictions next.

“This is just like the scene in where Tyler and the narrator were secretly stealing fat from the liposuction clinic!”

Gunwoo groaned. That was so not true.

Punchy's smile widened. “Little by little, you're letting yourself become...” His classmate paused for dramatic effect. “Tyler Durden!”

Gunwoo's expression was as flat as a sheet of paper as he looked back at his excited classmate. He had brought Punchy with him so that he could have a kiddy alibi, just in case. 'I didn't have anything to do with it, hyung! I was busy playing with a friend. You can even ask him!' But he kind of regretted it now. Oh well, better push on with this hasty plan.

“They don't have the game.” As expected. “So I'll be sailing the seven seas to get it. Anyway, it would also be easier with this approach.” He explained. This way, if Punchy ever peeked on his side, he'll just say that what he was doing was all part of the process.

But Punchy was confused. “Why do you have to be a sailor?”

Gunwoo tilted his head. “I was talking about pirating the game.”

His classmate's eyes widened and gasped. “But that's bad!”

Ugh... Gunwoo wanted to drop his head repeatedly on the keyboard out of frustration.

…

There was a bit of a complication, but Gunwoo managed to install a pirated version of the game with a different launcher on the two computers, and was able to set it up for multiplayer after speed reading some guides a few seconds after recess had ended.

Punchy seemed conflicted. It'll be bothersome if his classmate bail on him now and blabbed.

“You'll only experience this once. Intentionally missing a study period because you're secretly playing a game you love in a place where it's not allowed, without anyone knowing but us,” Gunwoo said nonchalantly at his classmate. “The exhilaration you get would be one of the proofs that we're alive.”

His classmate chuckled at the altered Fight Club quote. Punchy then taught him the basics of the basics of Minecraft. Clearly, his classmate's love for the game had won.

Aside from the occasional grumbling that this one was less vibrant, had missing mods, and 'crappy speaker, it's not the same without a headset!', his classmate was thrilled to be here.

“What should we do first? What should we do first??” Punchy was vibrating in his seat as his character fidgeted in the game as well.

“I dunno, you just taught me how to move, sneak, jump, and how to open the inventory. So, what should we do?” Gunwoo threw the question back while making the window smaller so that he could set up other stuff that his classmate doesn't need to know about.

“I know! Let's collect wood!”

“How do we collect wood?”

“You punch a tree!”

“...of course.”

“Yup!”

Gunwoo finished setting up an auto-clicker he found in github for the game's window that would make his character walk without needing his input.

“Where are you going?”

“I want to explore for a bit.”

“Oh, okay. I will make an awesome house for us!”

“Sure.”

Logging into the PC version of the encrypted messaging app, Gunwoo was happy to find that he could still use his account to enter the cult's chat group. He was tempted to change his password and log it out of his phone, but that won't be necessary after today, or tomorrow... well, hopefully, this problem would end as soon as possible.

He sighed, subtly taking out an external drive from his bag then plugging it in. He'll probably lose this one too.

Looking through community forums and message boards for helpful backup tools for the messaging app, Gunwoo was able to decrypt the chat group's key, and upon acquiring it, he was able to run an export application to save their conversations as well as the photos and other media. He loaded the transfer directly to his drive.

"I made you a bed." Punchy suddenly said something ridiculous.

"A bed?" He asked in mild confusion.

"Yeah! You should come back and sleep on it so that it'll become your respawn point."

"Oh... okay."

Gunwoo looked at the tiny game window. Because he was multitasking and was using the mouse and the keyboard for something else, while the auto-clicker was on, his character in the game hasn't been walking in a straight line. In other words, he was lost.

He turned the auto-clicker off, maximized the window and played for a bit. Then he made his character fall off a cliff.

-GunwooGunwoo hit the ground too hard-

"Oh no! You died!"

He furrowed his brows. The place where his character appeared looked different. "I thought I would appear where I started."

"You died on purpose?! Quick, get your things. They should be around the place you died. Then come back. It's almost night time!"

Gunwoo didn't have anything in his inventory... Or at least he knew he didn't. He wasn't paying attention nor was he actually playing, so there was no need for him to go back to the area where he died.

"I might be too far," he said. Honestly, he didn't know how to go back at all. "I guess, I'll try to set up camp here for now."

"Okay. When you get back here, I'll teach you other cool stuff you can do. Good luck then!"

Gunwoo shrunk the window and turned the auto-clicker on again, making his newly respawned character walk automatically to who knows where, while he continued on with his business.

He sighed then pressed his lips tight. Exporting was still ongoing. He felt uncertain. Although he might get a hint here and there if he examined their conversations closely later on, these chat logs might not be enough to unmask the culprit. He sat up straight when he remembered the eyelash poll from yesterday, and gained an idea for a possible trap.

He was in the middle of typing up the content for a meme-ish quiz survey using another throwaway email, when he heard a chilling, guttural moan.

Gunwoo stiffened. "What was that?"

He couldn't see anything in the game's window. Slightly apprehensive about the sound, Gunwoo took control of his character. He didn't know where he ended up and it was very dark.

"Ah. That sounded like a zombie. It's easy enough to kill." Punchy said. He seemed to be preoccupied with something.

"Zombie?” Gunwoo asked hesitantly. “Is this a horror game?"

"No! Silly." His classmate giggled.

-GunwooGunwoo was slain by a zombie-

"You died! Again!” Punchy exclaimed in disbelief. “I can't believe it. Killed by the easiest mob to boot too!"

Gunwoo hid the other windows when Punchy started rolling his chair closer.

Somehow, Gunwoo's character had spawned near a cave's entrance.

"Woah, you were in a cave! How did you get there?"

He didn't know how to answer so he just told the truth. "I walked."

Punchy sighed after staring at him hard with intense scrutiny. "I think I understand it when you said you're not good at playing games."

...

Frustratingly, Punchy stayed by his side to coach him.

While watching him collect and craft basic tools and weapons, his classmate figured out that Gunwoo's character wasn't eating and had kept his health at one while moving around. That's why he was killed by a single punch from a zombie.

Punchy pointed at a cow in the distance and made Gunwoo go near it. He thought it looked cute.

"You have to kill it for the meat."

Gunwoo froze. "I don't want to." He liked eating beef in real life, but that's because he wasn't the one butchering it!

"Look. Killing this pixel cow won't define you as a person. If you wanna make some omelet, you have to break some eggs."

He really... really... shouldn't have left that Fight Club copy.

"I hate you," he mumbled while pulling out a wooden sword.

"There, there."

Punchy instructed him on what to collect and how to craft better stuff. His classmate also made him murder every cute animal they encountered.

"You'll get used to it. It's how you survive in this game!" Punchy reasoned.

Gunwoo could only sigh in response.

When Gunwoo had an adequate lit up hiding box as a temporary shelter and a lot of meat to cook, that was the time Punchy rolled back away to get back to his own game.

"Just stay there and have some fun crafting! I'll come and find you."

Oh. He could've just enclosed his character from the start!

As soon as his classmate was away, Gunwoo shrunk the game's window. The exporting process was almost done. He continued to work on the meme quiz form sheet by googling up some facts from different blogs and question-and-answer platforms, then decorating the page a little with grunge-cute and goth aesthetics he saw from the chat. The inspiration for the quiz's topic came from the cult members' conversation about piercings, but Gunwoo worked in a twist of 'what Kim Raebin would think about them if they have this piercing' kind of theme. A survey type quiz that anyone could do where it required an email or social media account for them to answer. It's a gamble but at least it was something.

Gunwoo let out a sigh. Judging from hyung's panic and disgust about the situation, hyung won't be looking into this himself. Chungwoo hyung would probably let the company handle it, like always. But Gunwoo doubted that the company would report it to the authorities, they were already prioritizing censoring or deleting posts about it, rather than trying to apprehend the criminal. At most, they'll probably just increase the security detail on Testar later on, hoping that the sasaeng was satisfied and would never try anything funny again.

Clearly, the company's afraid that the blame would fall onto them and would then be criticized by the public. Their stocks and sales would be affected. Investors might back out. For example, the neglect for the safety of their artists would be put into question. Even though the dorm technically had security guards, it was still an apartment style dormitory. Testar resided in one of the largest available units. But they still have neighbors, strangers living in the other units, who could easily sneak in and out of the place.

Gunwoo stopped typing. The crazy sasaeng could be renting the place next to Testar! He bit his lip and silently admonished himself for jumping into conclusions. That's just obsessive mindset talk... And Gunwoo's not obsessed. He's not. Besides, the group was staying at the Ryu house at the moment. It surely occurred to them already, hence the fake leads that Testar was at a hotel. He wondered how he could get info on the residents. He also wracked his brain if he could remember meeting anyone weird and sinister whenever he visited the dorm.

Exporting the chat was finished. He removed the hard drive and secured it into his bag. Gunwoo reviewed his survey's settings for the last time, making sure everything was correct. With his username changed and with a profile pic that matched their aesthetic, hopefully fitting right in with the others, he answered his own quiz.

Then Gunwoo posted the screenshot of the result with a message that said, 'You guys, Kim Raebin thinks I'm a messed up ajumma, who would willingly just be an ATM for him!' He paired it up with a crying emoji. He didn't post the link to the survey quiz himself, the link could be read on the screenshot. With an encrypted chat like this, these people might be allergic to clicking randomly posted links. Therefore, it would be better if they type it out themselves, making his mule account appear harmless, seemingly just there to share a funny meme result that might tempt them into answering themselves.

If only he had enough time and resources, he could collect their data from their first visit. But he doesn't, so he needed them to willingly provide him with their email addresses or SNS accounts that he could look into later on... When he finds the chance to do so... He sighed. Not having access to his laptop sucked.

After that, he uninstalled everything he placed except for the game because they were still playing.

Punchy had found Gunwoo's character and surprised him by destroying his temporary shelter with several TNT. Then his classmate laughed triumphantly like a villain.

-GunwooGunwoo was blown up by Tyler_Durden-

“Was that the real reason why you really want me to go to your house?” He asked in a monotone.

“Your face! Hahahaha!”

He sighed again. The laughter was answer enough.

…

Through lunch and even during their afternoon classes, Gunwoo could only think about how many cult members had taken the bait by now. There was also the venue to think about for later, given that he can't access a computer easily at the moment. It'll be useless to come home right away. Better push his curfew as much as he could and get things done. He was so distracted that he almost answered the math equation incorrectly on the board but was able to correct it last minute. Unfortunately, their class was doing a group relay activity, and his delay had caused his team's lost.

While they applauded the winning team, who were getting their reward candy from the teacher, Ahrin suddenly asked, “Are you okay?”

Gunwoo blinked in confusion. “I'm fine.” His reply ended in an awkward lilt that one might mistook for a question.

Ahrin's expression looked unsure. “I don't think you are. It's okay though. That question you got was really really hard, but you still managed to answer it correctly in the end.”

He turned his head back towards the winning group. “Yeah, it was really hard.” Gunwoo vocally agreed. There was no need to tell her that it was actually fairly easy, since it was one of the questions he got a practice on when doing his stocked homework. His mind was just preoccupied. Then he remembered something else.

“I watched some Ghibli film,” he told her as they returned to their seats.

“That's great!” She was delighted. It seemed she wanted to ask more but there was no time to talk further as their lesson resumed.

Recalling what happened last night made him feel a pang of sadness. There was Keun Sejin hyung who kept saying the opposite of what was going to happen in Totoro, that made the other Testar members accidentally spoil the story when they refuted that tall hyung. Then there was Bae Sejin hyung who shared intriguing theories about the movie that spooked Gunwoo a little bit. Chungwoo hyung reassured him that those theories were false since there was a short sequel that showed they were alive and well. Then it became scary again when Kim Raebin started copying the kodama head quiver and the others followed suit. And all he could remember about Ponyo was fishes. Lots and lots of fishes.

Gunwoo missed the hyung and the rest of Testar before they got mad at him. From now on, he'll just keep his mouth shut.

…

After classes...

Gunwoo waved goodbye at Ahrin who was waving back and who would be driven to the dance workshop by her mom.

“You're still gonna play with us, right?” Punchy asked, then whispered the last bit, “Even if we've played already for today?”

The both of them were waiting for Minecraft to finish talking with his girlfriend.

Gunwoo had weighed in on his choices earlier. He could rent a PC, but that would be too public. Same with going to the library and borrowing a computer there. He could visit the old couple living next door the Ryu household, but they might engage him in conversations that would go on for hours. All that was left was going with these two clowns. Maybe Gunwoo could ask Minecraft if he could check something in the computer, while the fourteen year old was busy chatting with the girlfriend. He'll just think of a distraction for Punchy while on the way.

Gunwoo replied, “Sure. But only after we're done with homework.”

And Gunwoo was done with his.

Punchy groaned. “Why do you have to remind me!”

“I'll help you if you want.”

Punchy smiled brightly at his offer. “Really?”

He nodded. “Sure.”

“Are you guys ready?” Minecraft asked.

They nodded. Punchy even affirmed out loud, “YES!” while punching the air.

As they walked down the street, Minecraft kept looking back on his phone with a lovestruck smile.

Gunwoo couldn't help but ask, “Hyung, how old is your girlfriend?”

Minecraft chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. “Oh, uh... It's a secret!”

That... doesn't sound good.

“Anyway, I've thought about what you've brought up yesterday,” Minecraft segued. “And I decided we could try it once in a while. My mom even helped with setting up the computers. It could be fun.”

He furrowed his brows. It seemed that something happened, or was happening, that he wasn't aware of... Gunwoo didn't like it. “Trying out what?”

Punchy grabbed his arm and shook it. “We're gonna be streaming live!”

...

...

Testar was in the van, on their way back to their leader's house. Raebin was exhausted, both physically and mentally. The others encouraged him to sleep in the car but he was afraid that he'll just have nightmares about gore and viscera, so he settled to just relax, lightly listening to his favorite playlist. Though, without the music, the silence in the van was deafening. All of them were drained after their meeting with their PR team.

The staff briefly examined what hyung's little brother had dug up, barely looking at it, before returning the devices to Chungwoo hyung. Basically, their conclusion to it was that it was all just a badly executed prank, likening the 'cult thing's stunt' to one of those silly TikTok trends, and they shouldn't worry too much about it.

"Yeeting dead babies at idols is not the same as eating tidepods!" Eugene exploded at their PR manager in English.

Kim Raebin hushed his agitated friend. Although, internally, he agreed with Eugene's anger. It felt like the staff wasn't on their side.

At least, the agency promised to tighten the security at the dorm, and would give them extra bodyguards whenever they go out for work. They also said that they'll consider about consulting their lawyers, but they don't see any concrete crime that was done to Testar.

“Oh Yeah? What about trespassing, harassment, invasion of privacy, emotional distress, and stalking?!” It was Bae Sejin hyung's turn to explode.

But the staff also pointed out that attaching the group's name to a sensitive topic, like abortion, would be damaging to their image if they pushed to file a lawsuit. The details would become public after all. Besides, they don't know who the culprit was.

After yesterday's panicked screams and paranoia, Testar immediately left the mess to their company. Raebin didn't go back to examine the fetus after it rolled off of him down to the floor.

“Was the fetus real?”

All of them were startled by his question. He asked, because, if what the staff insinuated earlier were true, and the 'cult thing' was just a group of edgy fans who performed a stunt for attention, maybe the fetus was just a really good prop? It would make him sleep easier...

“Why are you asking that question, Raebin?” Their leader asked.

“Um, I just... want to know if we need to offer a prayer for it or not.” He settled on saying instead, since he cannot forget the foul smell of iron that had clung in his lungs, even if he try to delude himself that it was all fake. “You know, for lost wandering souls.” He added as an afterthought.

“Ah Lord Kim Raebin~ are you just that strong, or are you still in shock?” Lee Sejin hyung asked him next.

“I don't...” He was confused. Was that supposed to be rhetorical, a compliment, or sarcasm?

“Aside from puking. You're very calm. Hyung was wandering. Me too. All of us, probably.” Eugene tried to explain in broken Korean. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, I'm fine.”

The members stared at him with doubt clearly displayed in their expressions. It's not like there was anything else he could do.

“May-maybe you should see someone. It-it could help with the nightmares,” Seon Ahyeon hyung suggested.

“That's actually a good idea, and I think we all could benefit from it.” Ryu Chungwoo hyung added which led into talks about counseling and extending their break into an official paid vacation, pushing some of their scheduled activities to a later date. The staff was very accommodating with the rescheduling, and was very happy to shift the topic from this incident, into proposals for relaxing vacation venues.

At the end of it though, before they left the conference room, Raebin asked them again. “So, was it real?”

The staff looked at each other before admitting with a nervous laugh, “Yes, unfortunately. Don't worry though! We got rid of it. Out of sight, out of mind!”

Another staff had kindly offered, “We'll deal with the prayer and offering if that would make you more at ease.”

Back at the van, as Raebin stared outside the window, he thought how humorous it was that a child, their leader's younger brother, seemed to have more compassion for them than their agency.

They were stuck in traffic when their leader's phone rang. Hyung answered the phone quietly while keeping the other hand on the wheel. There was a bit of a confused chuckle mixed in with the greetings, akin to polite small talks that Raebin was used to do himself whenever he was talking to a stranger who recognized him as a member of the idol group Testar.

“Sleepover?” Their leader had blurted out next.

That got their attention. Raebin slid his headset off.

“Oh, uh, sure... I guess. It's the weekend so I'm fine with my brother staying with his friends for the night.”

A few polite exchanges of info later, the call had ended.

“Who's that?” Bae Sejin hyung asked.

“Mrs Kwon, the mother of Gunwoo's schoolmate.”

“Aishhh~ Gunwoo didn't ask you himself? Hyung, it's official. Your brother's avoiding you.” Lee Sejin hyung commented while casually browsing on the phone. “Just yesterday, he wanted some lame excuse to not spend time with them, asking us for help~ Now, he's going to a sleepover?”

“F-friends would be good for him.” Seon Ahyeon hyung added with a sigh.

Their leader groaned while shifting the gears of the van, slowly driving forwards through the traffic. “I know I hurt his feelings. It can't be helped. It's for his own good.”

“Chungwoo, you took his devices away,” Bae Sejin hyung said with a lace of doubt. “Are you sure its just a simple sleepover?”

“What are you saying?” Their leader asked back, glancing up at the rear-view mirror.

“If I may be so bold~ hyung,” Lee Sejin hyung spoke up once more. “I don't think it's your brother's obsession with us, per se, that you should be worried about. I think it's his fixation on solving our problems right away that should be addressed.”

Their leader released a heavy sigh as he gently stepped on the break. “And that's why I told him to stop and not involve himself further. I won't be returning his phone and laptop too for a while.”

“Really? You think that would stop him?” Bae Sejin hyung skeptically asked next.

The van was quiet for a moment, all of them pondering. The question had sent them into a spiral of speculations, their past experiences with the kid conflicted with the image of how a punished child should normally behave.

Ryu Chungwoo hyung slumped over the stirring wheel with a loud painful sounding groan. “You're right. Gunwoo will look for a way to continue what he's doing.”

“And that's why~ regardless of what the agency told us to do, at the very least, we should continue to monitor and see if any kind of development occurs, for our sake and your brother,” Lee Sejin hyung said while going back to browsing on his phone.

The rest of them followed, monitoring the SNS on their own way, except for their leader who was busy with driving.

Raebin felt powerless.

Though he heard a soft muttered sigh in English from Cha Eugene, seated next to him, that he couldn't quite decipher, “Because you pushed him away, now you're all wondering what's he's up to.”

When he furrowed his brows at his friend questioningly, Eugene promptly said, “Raebin, give me food. I'm hungry.”

“I don't have any.”

“Lies!”