Chapter 16
The expressions on the Luminous members’ faces as they got into the car were all heavy.
My heart felt heavy too.
Honestly, I could manage somehow no matter what happened.
But it was different for them.
I couldn’t help but worry.
Well, Luminous were already top stars, so maybe it wasn’t really my place to worry…
‘What’s the point of overthinking it now? It’s already over.’
Everything had already moved beyond my decision.
At least it was a relief that the members seemed to understand me.
“Oppa… why did you do that… You could’ve just gone along with it. We would’ve been okay… Well, maybe not okay, but we could’ve accepted it.”
I couldn’t start explaining everything again to Juha.
Instead, I let out a deep sigh as my answer.
“Couldn’t you at least keep working as a road manager? Why are you quitting everything too?”
This time Serin asked.
Well… she had a point.
Technically, I could have stayed on as a road manager.
But…
“Hey, after giving the CEO a punch like that, how could he keep working at the company? I was seriously trembling watching it.”
Miren answered for me.
Flatly refusing the public training and then continuing as a road manager afterward was realistically impossible.
Whether I wanted it or not.
That’s just how organizations work.
“How could you do that though? Just saying ‘This isn’t right!’ and quitting in one go… Oppa, that’s so extreme—no, maybe I should say bold. I could never imagine doing something like that. But honestly… hehe… somehow it looked really cool.”
Cool, huh…
Miren was still young.
“Cool? You’re still young…”
Gasp—Mujin…
How did she say exactly what I was thinking?
She had been promoted from Sharp Mujin to Mysterious Mujin.
Still, I felt something strange myself.
For people who were supposedly sad about this, they seemed too bright.
Which meant—
‘They’re definitely thinking something… hmm.’
“Honestly, the way people gathered around the training room like spectators was a problem even in my eyes. It wasn’t just one or two people either. Were you guys really okay with that?”
When Mujin asked, everyone answered at once.
“No way… I almost felt like I should just sing the way I used to. How could you even train in that atmosphere?”
“Right. I didn’t know what to do either. I can’t just change everything after one training session with you, Oppa… but I also don’t want to go back to singing the way I used to…”
“Exactly! That’s what I felt too. Are we still trainees or something? Ugh! How could anyone sing in that situation?”
Right.
I’d done the right thing.
Some things had to be protected.
Even if it meant taking a long detour.
That was the proper way.
And musicians needed to follow the proper path to truly succeed.
“Ah… after such a spectacular variety-show-level day, I suddenly feel like drinking.”
At Juha’s comment, Mujin replied immediately.
“Juha’s been quiet for a while and now this. We have a broadcast tomorrow night.”
“It’s tomorrow night. I’m not saying we should drink a lot… Besides, we’ll probably go with Live AR anyway.”
Live AR referred to a specially produced track separate from the original album recording.
It was designed to sound like a live performance—slightly rough in places but intentionally so, in a way that wouldn’t feel like a flaw.
The audio was carefully crafted so listeners wouldn’t realize it was AR—lip-sync.
“Ugh, what a thing to brag about.”
“Come on, we’re just among ourselves. And it’s not like we’re the only ones. Other teams do the same thing.”
As Mujin and Juha talked, Miren added,
“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since we all drank together.”
“Right… after that time…”
Serin started to continue Miren’s thought but trailed off.
I could roughly guess the story.
They used to be close and drink together often—that’s what Mujin had already told me.
After the incident with the previous manager, that kind of atmosphere must’ve disappeared.
“Oppa!”
Suddenly Juha called out to me.
“What?”
“Don’t you feel like drinking?”
What was this—was she trying to attack me?
Alcohol…
Of course I used to love drinking.
Very much.
But since the possession, I hadn’t even thought about alcohol.
Well… I hadn’t really had the time to think about it.
“I don’t know. Not really.”
Clap!
What—suddenly a loud clap.
Juha clapped once loudly and said in a voice an octave higher than usual,
“Let’s all drink some beer tonight! As a farewell party for Oppa!”
“Yeah, yeah! I’m in!”
Miren agreed.
“I like that too!”
Serin agreed.
“Well… as long as it doesn’t cause problems for tomorrow’s broadcast…”
Even Mujin agreed.
Everyone agreed.
But I should stay out of it.
“Alright then, have fun.”
“What? This is your farewell party. The main character is leaving?”
Juha kept trying to persuade me.
If I wasn’t careful, I’d get dragged along.
“I’m not in the mood to drink today.”
“No way. I can tell you totally want a drink. After flipping the table like that, your adrenaline must be pumping. That always makes people want alcohol even more!”
Come to think of it… maybe she had a point.
No! Don’t fall for it.
Juha was a master.
Stay focused.
“Oppa really wants a drink. He really wants a drink. He wants an ice-cold beer. He wants to chug the first freezing glass. He really wants it. Wants it. Really wants it.”
What was this?
Now I really wanted a drink.
Was I being hypnotized?
Come to think of it, an ice-cold beer sounded amazing.
No—two beers.
Actually three.
Once the thought appeared, it was hard to shake.
Thinking about it, I’d gone through three unbelievably dramatic days since the possession—like ten years compressed into them.
I hadn’t even processed the stress of being betrayed and falling to my death.
Well… maybe “stress” wasn’t the right word.
Still, alcohol wasn’t right for this situation.
I’d soon part ways with these girls. It wasn’t good to build deeper emotional ties.
And I needed to think about my future.
Even though I was the one who quit, I was still unemployed now.
I needed to think about survival.
This was definitely not the time to drink.
Let’s refuse firmly.
“Alright, let’s drink! Why not!”
The words slipped out.
Was this another side effect of the possession?
I’d been conquered.
Juha.
Hypnosis Level 10.
Once I’d given in, the chaotic voices behind me started pouring out.
“Wow! Then let’s get chicken!”
Chicken.
That sounded good.
“You’ll gain weight!”
“It’s just one day!”
“Then just one chicken!”
“What? We need two!”
“Look how excited you are.”
“I’m not excited! I’m depressed! But that’s why we should cheer up!”
“Look at her. She’s definitely excited…”
“We didn’t even eat dinner yet!”
“That’s right! Kyahaha!”
It was total chaos.
But honestly, my mood started to lift too.
Luminous…
I couldn’t call them trainees anymore since I’d quit.
But they were all such bright, good kids.
‘I wish I could have helped them…’
For a moment my expression darkened again.
No. Let’s just smile for now.
You never know how people’s paths will cross again.
For the first time, I entered the Luminous dorm.
Sometimes girls’ places were even messier than guys’, but this dorm was exceptionally clean.
Probably because it was part of the shared building used by Reunion, where a caretaker handled cleaning and household tasks.
“Wow, come to think of it, Oppa, this is your first time here!”
Miren said excitedly, welcoming me.
It was ironic that I had never entered before—only doing so now that I’d quit.
“By the way… is it really okay for me to just come in like this?”
“Of course. Other teams have managers coming in and out all the time. For us it’s just because of Mujin unni…”
“Hey! Don’t bring that up again…”
Mujin hurriedly cut her off.
Miren awkwardly changed the subject.
“Oppa, sit comfortably here. Let’s order chicken!”
I nodded and sat on the sofa.
On one side of it was a huge pile of fan gifts—still unopened.
Each had different names written on them.
They hadn’t even been sorted yet.
‘Ah… this reminds me of the old days.’
My house used to be full of fan gifts too.
Ah right… these days they call them “tributes.”
Not a particularly nice term.
“Then I’ll go buy the beer. The beer from chicken shops always tastes flat.”
Juha, of course, volunteered for alcohol duty.
“Yeah, that sounds like you.”
While Miren teased her, Juha opened the big wardrobe in the living room and began gearing up.
Hat. Mask. Thick-rimmed glasses without lenses. Baggy tracksuit. A shabby oversized jumper.
This wasn’t just a no-makeup car ride.
It was practically a full disguise.
“Wow… that’s thorough.”
At my impressed comment, Juha made a playful fist and headed out.
“She looks like a total homeless person when she goes out to buy alcohol.”
“Right! Hahaha.”
Soon everyone changed into comfortable clothes, leaving me alone for a moment.
And immediately, my thoughts started rushing in.
Quitting the company today… in the grand scheme of life, it wasn’t a huge deal.
But what filled my mind was Sihyun.
Strangely, whenever things got cheerful with Luminous, thoughts of her appeared more strongly.
Thinking she might still be living in pain after my death made me feel guilty for adapting to this new life and laughing.
But why had contact been cut off?
Could something have happened?
And I felt sorry for Ilseon too.
From his perspective, he had suddenly trusted everything to a road manager he barely knew.
My unexpected action must have put him in a very awkward situation.
“Oppa, you’re making that super serious face again.”
Mujin came out of her room after changing clothes.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Hmm… what kind of person are you really, Oppa?”
She sat down on the floor across the table.
“What do you mean?”
“Well… there are so many strange things about you. You sing like that but don’t seem interested in becoming a singer. Earlier it sounded like you were suddenly offered some big team leader position, but then you just threw everything away because of one public training issue…”
Yeah.
From the outside, I must seem very strange.
“I don’t even know what kind of person I am.”
A fourth singer’s life… dying… and then suddenly possessing someone to start a fifth life…
See?
Even thinking about it myself was complicated.
“Such an Oppa-like answer.”
Mujin looked away thoughtfully.
“Still… thank you, Oppa. You did that because you were thinking about us. Even though things turned out like this…”
“Thanks for understanding, Mujin.”
“And Luminous too… after everything these past few days, I think we can go back to how things used to be… like I said before, it’s been really hard for us.”
She lowered her head and slowly closed her eyes.
Without saying more, I could easily guess what she was thinking.
As the leader of Luminous, she must be worrying about the next album and their future.
Just then Serin and Miren came out, and the front door opened as Juha returned.
“Hey! You!”
Mujin shouted.
Juha’s bag clearly held more than ten large cans of beer.
As if she had expected the reaction, Juha calmly placed four cans on the table and quietly stored the rest in the freezer.
“You should buy a reasonable amount!”
“This is reasonable! Look—ten cans of beer equals about four bottles of soju in alcohol content. That’s not even one bottle per person… Actually… wait. That might be too little.”
Calculating alcohol quantity by alcohol percentage…
That was new.
“Well, whatever! Just don’t overdo it.”
Soon the chicken arrived.
Serin unpacked it neatly and placed two boxes on the table.
Even the packaging looked different from the chicken I remembered.
When the lid opened, pieces of chicken appeared.
One box was fried chicken, but the other had some strange powder all over it.
Even in Yoon Jung-hoo’s memories, there was no information about this.
“You always order the most fattening things.”
Mujin continued grumbling.
“Unni, stop! If we’re eating, let’s enjoy it properly. If you eat, you gain weight anyway! Kyahaha!”
Miren had a point.
If we were eating, we might as well enjoy it.
But the strange appearance made me unsure about the taste.
“Here! This leg with tons of cheese powder is yours, Oppa!”
Miren handed me a drumstick covered in powder.
This powder was cheese?
Back in my day we didn’t eat chicken like this…
“Wait! No eating before the drinks!”
Juha, serious about alcohol, quickly opened the beer cans.
“Alright everyone, hold your beer. Cheers!”
Somehow I ended up opening my beer while holding a chicken leg.
We were about to toast when—
“It feels strange.”
Serin spoke.
“When we were working together we barely talked… but now that it’s the end, the atmosphere is so warm.”
She probably meant that beyond enjoying the moment, it was actually sad and regretful.
For a moment everyone grew quiet.
Then Mujin said,
“That’s just life. Who knows what’ll happen next.”
You’re only twenty-two talking like that.
But… she wasn’t wrong.
Life really is unpredictable.
I never imagined I’d be killed by a friend.
Or possess someone thirty years later.
Or work at the company owned by the man who killed me.
Or start giving vocal training—
“Oppa!”
Miren called me.
“Huh?”
“What are you thinking about now?”
Mujin smiled like it was my chronic habit.
Serin and Juha looked amused.
“No, nothing.”
“Alright! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Wooo!”
Ah, whatever.
Let’s just drink.
The moment I tilted the can, an unbelievable refreshing sensation flowed down my throat.
Whoa!
This was incredible.
So sharp and cool.
My mood instantly lifted.
I must have finished half the can in one go.
“Wow, look at Oppa drinking! See? I told you he wanted alcohol today!”
You’re right, Juha.
I admit it.
Now… the chicken.
It looked strange… but let’s try it.
I hesitantly took a bite.
And—
Whoa…
It was delicious.
Salty, sweet, savory, oily…
The world had advanced.
Chicken had evolved.
Alcohol and greasy snacks after thirty years…
I was glad Miren hypnotized me.
About an hour passed as we talked about all sorts of things while drinking beer.
Then suddenly my phone rang.
There shouldn’t be anyone calling me now.
Looking at the screen—
It was Director Choi.
‘Why is Ilseon calling…?’
I should answer.
There might still be things to sort out.
“Yes, Director.”
—Hey, Team Leader Yoon. We’ll talk in detail later. For now, everything worked out. Let’s continue starting tomorrow.
“What? What do you mean?”
—I spoke with the CEO and secured full authority over Luminous’s next album. And I’ll be leaving everything to you. In simple terms, all authority regarding Luminous and the new album now belongs to you.
What?
How did things turn out like this?
I had just quit… so why was everything going this way…?
