After all that drama, there was no way Moondae could skip checking the internet. On the surface, the articles were pretty nice, saying they handled the accident like pros. But fans who actually went to the showcase had a whole different take. Moondae started by scrolling through the overall reactions.
[Is he literally crazy?? Who could’ve guessed he’d catch the bottle and dump it on his head]
[A real lunatic, for real…]
[Honestly, I kinda love it]
[Seems like a real attention seeker, I hate it]
[I like it ♡]
[Won H.J.’s solo stans are famous for being out of their minds. Just block them.]
[I hope all eight of them get soaked next time… Am I allowed to look forward to that?]
[What if someone throws acid next? I wonder if he’d pour that on his head too lol]
[Are you crazy? Reporting this.]
[Go die~]
[Wait, wasn’t this a planned performance? I have a reasonable suspicion]
[A dripping wet, 189 cm American-made sexy tiger is the absolute best… ^^ (unbuttoning_shirt_Won_Hajun.gif)]
[Crazy]
[Thank you… Thank you…]
…Well. There were some nasty comments here and there, but in this industry, it would be weirder if there weren’t any. Besides that, people were mostly confused about whether Hajun’s stunt was planned or not, before the focus shifted elsewhere. Moondae scrolled past a gif he really didn’t want to see and checked on Hajun’s solo fans.
Different from Cha Eugene’s intense, aggressive stans, Hajun’s fans had very distinct, individual vibes. But they had one major thing in common… their mental state was rock-solid. As expected of fans who chose an idol with so much drama and attitude, they didn’t even blink at trolls.
[I heard Won Hajun is an illegitimate child lol. Gross, I don’t stan a kid from an affair~]
[As if Hajun was the one having the affair lol]
[Trolling because they have nothing else to drag him for. I mean, our Hajuny has the perfect height, face, talent, and he’s rich. What is he missing? Me? lol]
[A good personality]
[Shh, quiet]
[Lmao Won H.J.’s solo fans, nobody even tries to defend his personality, this is hilarious]
[For real, if you see someone claiming Hajuny is actually a sweet kid, it’s always someone whose bias is another member lol]
As he kept scrolling, the conversation shifted from the water bottle incident to [Magic Boy], [Hi-five], Hajun’s family background, the TeSTAR reality show, and [Idol Co-op].
[Isn’t he the number one male idol who looks like he’d look best holding a baseball bat?]
[How is his real name seriously >>>Damon<<<? If you change just one letter, it’s Demon. It fits him way too well, I want to surrender my soul]
[Ahhh, his laugh while watching the horror movie was crazy. Why does he laugh so happy? And Moondae shivering next to him is so cute]
[Park Moondae: Puppy / Won Hajun: Ssak-aji (Brat)]
[Ssak-aji, lmao]
…Moondae silently hoped everyone would forget about that soon. Clutching that hopeless wish in his heart, he put his phone down.
During the precious, short break they got after the showcase, Moondae wanted to sleep. He cut down his monitoring time to maximize his sleep. His roommate Bae Sejin had been sleeping soundly with earplugs on for a while. As for his other roommate, Hajun, he wasn’t around—maybe he went to the room next door. Honestly, Moondae didn’t care where that guy was. He just needed to sleep, fast.
Hajun stood by the head of the sleeping Moondae, scanning him with his spiritual eyes.
“Hmm.”
It was a living spirit. No matter how he looked at it, it was the soul of a living person. He had guessed that some curse had swallowed someone and evolved, but it felt like he could actually separate them if he tried.
Hajun gave a small wave of his hand and pulled it. The curse, which he thought would stick stubbornly, came off much easier than expected.
-Aaaargh!
“Oh, it worked.”
-H-How… Wait! Gunwoo-hyung!!
The soul vibrated, screaming in panic. It was a sound only Hajun could hear, since he had one foot in the spiritual world. The spirit clearly had a strong sense of self, confirming it was indeed a living soul.
Hajun’s eyes sharpened as he caught what the soul called Moondae.
“Gunwoo? Is that the real name of the guy using this body? You two know each other?”
-…Hiccup!
Wow. A soul could hiccup. That was new. Hajun turned the spirit around, inspecting it from different angles before coming to a conclusion.
“So you’re the real ‘Park Moondae.'”
-Y-Yeah, well…
The ghost stammered, which was as good as a confession. Hajun asked what he was most curious about.
“Where’s your body? Is that guy using it?”
-…Hiccup… Yes…
“Then why are you still clinging here? What’s this curse about? Spill it, or I’ll exorcise you right now.”
-Ack! I-I’ll tell you! Just hold on a second!!
Seeing Hajun raise his other hand, the real Moondae panicked and blurted out everything.
Hajun sat cross-legged on the floor, listening to the wild story. Since it involved some pretty personal stuff, the real Moondae hesitated a bit, but Hajun was just too terrifying. Every time he tried to skip a detail, Hajun would tilt his head with a chilling look, forcing him to spill everything. (Sorry, Gunwoo-hyung!)
The story jumped back and forth across different timelines, but Hajun wasn’t too bothered. The world was full of supernatural nonsense anyway.
As he finished his tale, the real Moondae peeked at Hajun’s expression.
-So… I watched [Idol Co-op] too… and you were amazing! You’re so cool!
“Cut the flattery. What do you want to do now?”
-Huh?
“His body. Want me to kick him out?” Hajun pointed at Moondae’s sleeping body.
Understanding his meaning a second too late, the real Moondae went pale.
-Like this!! I like it exactly the way it is now!!!
Hajun narrowed his eyes at how desperate he was. He got his body stolen and he’s happy about it? What a weirdo.
Even though spirits shouldn’t be able to sweat, the real Moondae looked like he was breaking out in a cold sweat.
-Um, can I go back now? Like I said, I’m basically his Status Window… It’ll be bad if I’m not there when he wakes up…
“Everything you said is true, right?”
-What? Yes, of course…!
“And you really don’t know anything about this curse? Honestly, that sounds fishy. If you don’t know, then how come you’re synced with it like this?”
-I really don’t know about that! Please believe me…
“Hmm… fine.”
It’s not like not believing him would change anything anyway. If a problem popped up later, he’d just deal with it then.
Seeing Moondae toss and turn as he started to wake up, the real Moondae begged to be sent back. Getting annoyed, Hajun shoved the living spirit back into the curse.
As he watched the bizarre fusion settle, Moondae opened his eyes.
“…!!”
“Oh. You’re awake.”
Moondae, who almost had a heart attack seeing Hajun’s face the second he opened his eyes, silently gasped for air. Hajun frowned at his dumbfounded face.
A thirty-year-old guy is inside this body? A suicide attempt? He doesn’t look like the type.
Hajun clicked his tongue, which immediately made Moondae feel annoyed.
“…What… why…”
“Tsk.”
“……?”
Wait, shouldn’t I be the one who’s annoyed here? Moondae swallowed the words rising to his throat.
Hajun lost interest in Moondae and walked over to the deep sleeping Bae Sejin. He yanked the blanket off him.
“Rise and shine, shortcake! Time to wake up!”
“…Ugh!”
Bae Sejin woke up, looking very miserable. Hajun delivered the greeting as if it were a bright, sunny morning, but the current time was actually 11:55 PM.
They had no choice. TeSTAR’s reaction to [Magic Boy], which was dropping at midnight on music streaming sites, had to be captured on the reality show cameras.
When they went out to the living room, Ryu Cheongwoo and a few others were already there. Soon, the rest of the members dragged themselves out of their rooms. Cha Eugene had snack crumbs smudged around his mouth. He must’ve had a great snack time.
“Looks like everyone got some good rest.”
“Hehe.”
“Rest? I had a very productive time.”
“What did you do during your break, Hyung?” Keun Sejin asked, teasing him lightly.
Staring at your sleeping roommate, which is very creepy… Moondae thought, staring blankly. He had no idea how that counted as “productive.”
“Oh! It changed!”
[00:00]
Hajun peeked over Ryu Cheongwoo’s shoulder at his phone. It was midnight.
It was the perfect time for the ghost world to get active. Midnight to 4:00 AM was always when spirits loved to run wild. Regular living people should be sound asleep by now, but this idol job was clearly not meant for normal hours.
It makes sense why Cheongryeo ended up with that kind of curse. And Ryu Gunwoo was a civil service exam student, right? Staying awake at night, studying, working… when you pile up all that dark, gloomy energy, this is what happens.
Hajun thought they all needed to be dragged to California to get sterilized under the hot sun.
While Hajun was lost in thought, scanning the house to make sure there were no ghosts (yep, all clear), the members chatted excitements, waiting for the song release.
“Are we watching it now?”
“It takes over an hour for the data to show up on the 24Hits chart.”
“That takes forever.”
“For…”
“Haha~ Why don’t we watch the [Magic Boy] music video first?”
“Great!!”
They took a break from checking the charts. To film the MV reaction requested by the staff, they moved away from Ryu Cheongwoo and sat down in the living room.
Bae Sejin, who had gone to the kitchen to grab some water, walked back and gulped as he saw Hajun sprawling all over the sofa.
“M-Move.”
“Sure.”
“……!”
Hajun raised an eyebrow as Sejin’s eyes went wide. Why is he surprised when he’s the one who asked? Did he think I wouldn’t move?
“Aren’t you going to sit? You told me to move.”
“I’m sitting…!”
As Bae Sejin stiffly sat down, Hajun slid over to give him more room. The shift squished Park Moondae a bit.
Moondae took the remote from Cha Eugene, skipped the thumbnail screen, and hit play on the MV. Trying his best to hide how uncomfortable he felt, Moondae slid off the couch and sat on the floor, keeping his distance from Hajun.
“What, am I making you uncomfortable?”
“…No, not really.”
“Then come back up.”
“…….”
Ignoring Moondae, who was screaming curses with his eyes, Hajun focused on the MV. The student ghost was caught in the corner of the screen. Good, she moved on safely.
Hajun chatted and fit in casually as the members threw in their own comments. The MV rolled on to the second verse.
♬♪♩♪–♬♪♬♪–♪♩
“The makeup was new, so everyone worked really hard.”
“The glitter looks good on you.”
“…Thanks.” Moondae accepted the compliment, feeling a bit awkward.
After throwing out the random compliment, Hajun turned his attention back to the screen.
On screen, Kim Raebin threw a compass high into the air, and a pale hand reached out to catch it. The camera whipped around, revealing Hajun’s face.
–If the dream continues, we will meet. Blue shining tomorrow, yesterday, and today.
Hajun, who slammed a compass down onto the piano keys, stood up and walked toward the window. The moment he pulled back the curtain, the screen flipped.
Bae Sejin was now looking out at the schoolyard through a glass door.
–What can’t be hidden even if we hide is probably magic. A dream that is breathless and trembling.
Bae Sejin broke through the door. The screen rewound rapidly, and Moondae appeared, locking the school gate as the final chorus exploded. The group danced their hearts out on the rooftop.
–Cast a spell make a wish come true true true
The ghost spinning around in the sky looked very happy. Listening to the easily scared members talking about how amazing the MV looked made Hajun chuckle.
“Wow!! It turned out so well!”
“Right?”
“It’s really deep and interesting.”
“Hmm.”
“I think fans will have a lot of fun looking for all the little hidden details.”
“Definitely.”
Hajun nodded along, agreeing with the overlapping voices. Anyone who could ‘see’ would definitely find it very entertaining. He doubted there had ever been an MV with a ghost featured from start to finish like this. He almost felt like they should pay the ghost an acting fee. But since he helped her move on, they were probably even.
On the day of their first music show pre-recording, TeSTAR had been waiting at the broadcasting station since 3:25 AM. Everyone was completely exhausted.
Hajun glanced at Cha Eugene, who had passed out on the sofa, and stood up. Ryu Cheongwoo, who was walking in with the reality show cameras and lunch boxes sent by fans, called out to him.
“Where are you going?”
“Restroom.”
Telling him to make it quick, Cheongwoo let him go.
Hajun walked down the hall and entered the restroom on the waiting room floor, but the lights wouldn’t turn on. Great, is the sensor broken?
The conditions were terrible. It was the hour of the Ox, pitch black, a restroom, and a remote spot in a building where a lot of people gathered.
Not wanting to deal with any annoying spiritual trouble, Hajun turned to leave, but he bumped into someone coming in.
“Ah.”
“Huh?”
A sliver of moonlight slipped through the tiny window, illuminating the stranger’s face. It was one of the VTIC members he had seen next to Cheongryeo.
Hajun nodded slightly in apology and tried to step past, but the guy didn’t budge.
“Excuse m—”
“…….”
The guy’s breathing sounded bizarre. His entire body was stiff as a board.
Hajun’s instincts screamed that something was very wrong. He slowly looked into the guy’s eyes, realized it was already too late, and cursed under his breath.
A strange, sucking sensation swept over his body.
When he snapped out of it, he looked up to see two moons floating in the sky. Beside him, the VTIC member was sprawled on the ground, looking completely dazed.
“…Where… is this…?”
“Quiet.”
The restroom mirror warped, distorting the moonlight. But the mirror only showed one moon. They had crossed over using the mirror as a portal.
“If the living make noise, they will come to catch us. So keep your mouth shut.”
“What on earth is…”
“I said, shut up.”
—Squeeeak
Damn. Was it already too late?
Hajun scanned the area for anything he could use as a weapon, grabbed the guy, and bolted out of the restroom. Luckily, a storage room was nearby.
Spotting a cleaning closet inside, Hajun threw out all the brooms, shoved the guy inside, and shut the door. He braced himself for a fight.
“You’re…”
“Shut it.”
“…….”
If the guy kept talking, it would only delay their escape. Fucking hell, we have a stage to perform soon. This was turning into a major, uninvited warm-up.
Thankfully, the guy wasn’t completely stupid and kept his mouth shut.
This was the “Midworld”—a creepy space between the living world and the afterlife where living souls occasionally got dragged into.
New Terms
- 생령 = Seangryeong (Living spirit, the soul of a living person)
- 중간계 = Midworld (The space between the living world and the afterlife)
- 축시 = Hour of the Ox (Traditional Asian time system, 1 AM – 3 AM)
