When the members first heard that Seunghyun intended to stay on stage for the entire 13 minutes, they were all aghast.
Only Seunghyun thought of it lightly, figuring he’d just try and see what happened.
However, as he actually started, a sense of stubbornness and grit began to take hold.
The desire to succeed grew within him.
He had lived a life accustomed to resignation; he didn’t want to start this new life with surrender and compromise.
At first, he worried if he could even dance properly due to the sheer embarrassment, but that was a luxury he could only afford to fret over once the issue of physical stamina was resolved.
As soon as he regained some of his senses, Seunghyun pushed away Yijeong’s hands, which were massaging his legs.
The camera was rolling for the behind-the-scenes footage that would be uploaded after the performance.
The company’s content team was set to accompany them throughout this schedule to film the usual behind-the-scenes material for idol groups.
‘I have to be careful with this.’
Sifting through Joo Seunghyun’s memories… showing a vulnerable side to fans could be a selling point, but it could also have the side effect of making fans worry to a point of obsession.
Therefore, even in a behind-the-scenes video, he couldn’t afford to look frail.
Separately from that, even if he couldn’t show perfection, he didn’t want to show a pitiful side.
People might feel pity for the sick and infirm, but no one truly enjoys seeing it.
One of the few things Seunghyun and Joo Seunghyun had in common was a loathing for showing weakness.
Just then, the camera turned toward Yooju and Chiyoon as they entered the practice room.
“Alright, we’ll get an interview with Seunghyun-ssi last!”
The staff member called him over.
Seunghyun took Yijeong’s hand and pulled himself up.
He looked around his surroundings.
The endless practice, the cameras surrounding him, and the tight-knit teammates he never had before.
Perhaps because it was a life he had never even imagined, the reality that he had gained a chance to start over finally felt real.
Having halfway stepped out the door, Seunghyun poked his head back into the practice room.
He felt like it was the right time to say something leader-like.
“I’ll be back. Keep practicing.”
The camera zoomed in on him.
After the door closed, the sound of music once again filled the practice room.
Practice was proceeding smoothly.
Narration, which could easily become over-the-top, was always the responsibility of Seunghyun, who had clear pronunciation and a dry, restrained emotional delivery.
Naturally, he was tasked with it for this stage as well.
However, Seunghyun apparently hadn’t expected this; his eyes widened in surprise as he pointed at himself.
“Me? I am?”
His pupils shook violently.
He looked genuinely flustered.
Chiyoon nodded with a bit of amusement.
The opportunity to tease his always-perfect friend didn’t come often.
In the past, Seunghyun always wore a smile to soften his cold impression, yet he still exuded a somewhat secretive and mysterious aura.
His range of emotional shifts wasn’t large.
After the manifestation, he had been precarious, as if he would crumble at any moment.
Now, he would maintain a blank expression only to let his emotions leak out whenever he was prodded.
Which meant he had become easier to tease.
—Ah, ah.
Chiyoon laughed inwardly at the sight of Seunghyun tapping the microphone curiously, looking like a wary cat.
In reality, Seunghyun was just being materialistic, trying to estimate the price of the high-end microphone.
“Put on the headset.”
—What did you say?
Seunghyun raised an eyebrow, unable to hear.
Chiyoon tapped his ear and pointed to the headset hanging behind the glass window.
“Head. Set.”
As Chiyoon mouthed the words slowly, Seunghyun finally made an ‘OK’ sign with his fingers and pulled the headset over his head.
“Can you hear me now?”
—Yeah. I can hear my own voice, too.
“You’ve done this hundreds of times, and you forget something so basic?”
When Chiyoon teased him, Seunghyun—true to form—raised a fist toward the glass.
Chiyoon laughed heartily and held up both hands in mock surrender.
“Want to try right away?”
—Right now?
This time, Seunghyun lifted his eyebrows in disbelief.
After a brief moment of being startled by the unbridled expression of emotion, Chiyoon grinned.
Though he was a bit rougher, Seunghyun seemed much more honest and comfortable than before.
It was good to see as a friend.
“Ah, do you want to practice first?”
Seunghyun nodded.
As he watched Seunghyun mutter the lyrics with a furrowed brow, Chiyoon reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.
He felt a subtle sense of dissonance.
The diligent attitude and sense of responsibility were definitely the Seunghyun he knew, but there were distinct differences.
For example, he seemed awkward with the recording process.
—……!
Seunghyun fumbled with the microphone because the height was uncomfortable, causing a loud burst of static.
He flinched and pulled his hand back.
Chiyoon gave him a thumbs-up to show it was okay as Seunghyun looked toward the booth, seemingly checking if he’d made a mistake.
Rather than just being awkward, he seemed… embarrassed.
Chiyoon looked down at the paper in his hand.
It contained the narration for the intro.
—Sigh.
Chiyoon burst into laughter at the deep sigh that suddenly echoed through the speakers.
Seunghyun seemed to be trying not to show it, but his grumpy expression subtly revealed that he was unhappy about something.
It seemed the sigh had escaped in spite of himself.
“What’s the matter?”
Chiyoon asked, finally stopping his laughter.
Seunghyun gestured toward him with his chin.
—You. You’re the biggest problem.
“Me?”
—I’m trying to do a good job, why are you laughing? Don’t laugh.
Seunghyun wiped his face roughly.
The tips of his ears were burning red.
Hoping he had misread it, Seunghyun looked back down at the sheet.
‘I’m drowning, drowning, drowning….’
For some reason, since entering Joo Seunghyun’s body, he had become fluent in English and Japanese.
The feeling of getting a free pass at life was short-lived; his expression soured as he looked at the narration filled with English.
Good god, he had never said anything this cringeworthy in his entire life.
To make matters worse, he had to record it with a low, cool voice.
When he was dancing, he didn’t have the mental capacity to be embarrassed, but during recording, his body was at ease, leaving plenty of room for humiliation.
Suppressed giggling leaked through his headset again.
Chiyoon, who had followed him in under the pretext of directing the recording, was undoubtedly laughing at him for some reason.
Telling him to stop was getting old; at this point, ignoring him was the only answer.
Seunghyun adjusted the headset and squeezed his eyes shut.
“I’m starting now.”
Since he had become an idol, he was going to do it right.
“…….”
Han Kangwoo stared silently at his phone screen.
-[Seunghyun-ssi, hello. This is Han Kangwoo.
-I heard you were scheduled for discharge. Did you get home safe?]
A text window was open on the brightly lit screen.
The message he had sent to Seunghyun a week ago still had no reply.
The tip of his high-end dress shoe tapped the floor.
Kangwoo thought of the headline he had seen a few hours ago.
[Exclusive!] Times Square New Year’s Eve Performance Lineup Revealed… Halo to Headline, a First for K-pop!
The article was empty of details.
So, was Seunghyun performing in the U.S. or not?
‘The company is good at their jobs,’ Kangwoo thought.
That was exactly why the country was buzzing.
DW Entertainment would likely keep Seunghyun’s return shrouded in mystery until the very last moment.
Will Joo Seunghyun actually stand on stage?
He caused a national stir, yet he remains silent to my messages.
A slight sense of pique and interest sprouted simultaneously.
He considered reaching out again, but remembering how the man had stayed on guard even during two emergencies, he figured it would only serve to provoke him.
What was the relationship between those two?
That bratty idol, who had been panting and helpless under the pressure of pheromones yet kept a defiant spark in his eyes until the end… did he know where Seunghyun was?
At first, he had suspected a romantic link.
Seunghyun, who was an Alpha, and the idol ‘Joo Seunghyun,’ who manifested as an Omega.
Did the two late-manifesting individuals fall for each other?
“…….”
But he soon realized they weren’t in that kind of relationship.
According to his internet searches, ‘Joo Seunghyun’ was his own kind.
Real recognizes real; he only had to watch a few videos of the man to know.
Joo Seunghyun was also someone who hid a pitch-black void inside, showing only a masked version of himself to the world.
He didn’t seem like the type to enter a relationship that carried such massive risks.
He recalled that the rest of Halo were all Alphas.
Kangwoo tapped his thigh with his finger.
Ever since he encountered the man at Seunghyun’s house, he kept picturing Seunghyun smelling of Omega pheromones—despite knowing perfectly well that Seunghyun was an Alpha.
Was it because ‘Joo Seunghyun’s’ pheromones smelled exactly like Seunghyun?
An uncontrollable rage boiled within him as he imagined Seunghyun in an Omega’s body, surrounded by Alphas.
The face of Seunghyun in his imagination soon shifted into Halo’s Joo Seunghyun. He thought the anger would subside, but it remained.
At that moment, a text arrived on Kangwoo’s phone.
[Confirmed: Two days before his disappearance, he was at OO Hospital at the same time as Halo’s Joo Seunghyun.]
He had people tracking Seunghyun’s movements and Halo’s Joo Seunghyun’s movements simultaneously.
When Joo Seunghyun first vanished, as if he had evaporated, there hadn’t been a single clue.
Yet, strangely, he felt like a lead was constantly within reach.
Halo’s Joo Seunghyun.
Excluding the fact that they shared a name, he was becoming certain there was a connection to Seunghyun.
The Alpha instincts that had flared up even when he didn’t want them to were finally finding their purpose.
“Kangwoo-ssi, we’re ready for filming.”
Kangwoo smoothed his hardened expression and put on a pleasant, friendly smile.
He set down his phone, stood up, and turned around.
Just then, the main lights clicked on.
It was bright enough to be blinding, but Kangwoo simply gave a slight smile and stepped onto the set.
“This is the final scene!”
Han Kangwoo walked into the light.
‘Seunghyun-ah, you can’t escape me. No matter when it is, you’ll come back to me.’
