KFL 1-2

“What the… hell!””

The hand holding my phone trembled.

“Sung Se-han! You crazy bastard…!”

Dance practice ended at 3 AM, leaving me completely drained. But it was Sung Se-han who managed to enrage me, stripping away even the last shred of my energy.

“Hah! You lunatic…”

I wish I hadn’t opened my phone.

If I hadn’t, I would have slept soundly, unaware that this crazy son of a— no, this abnormal bastard Sung Se-han had posted a video five hours ago that had already spread across every community.

The moment I checked ‘Dream,’ the app for private messages with fans, a chill ran down my spine.

[Tae-kyung Oppa! Did you fight with ‘Perfect’ Se-han oppa? Hahaha]

[Oppa. Please check Perfect Se-han-nim’s Dream Talk. It seems like he’s talking about you haha]

[Tae-kyung, did you fight with our Se-han again?]

[Tae-kyung, Se-han is tired and stressed from writing songs lately, please don’t bother him unnecessarily]

The ‘Dream’ chat window, with an endless stream of messages, seemed to have more of Sung Se-han’s fans than our team’s fans.

‘Perfect Puzzle’ was already a top idol group with an overwhelming fandom, and Sung Se-han, in particular, had an unrivaled fanbase. The sheer numbers made comparing my fans to his embarrassing.

[Tae-kyung-nim haha, just because Se-han always approaches you first, you’re not taking him lightly, are you? ㅠ]

Because of this, messages that invaded my privacy often popped up. To understand the situation, I quickly opened Sung Se-han’s Dream Talk.

[Hello?]

[Are you having a pleasant evening?]

I scrolled through Sung Se-han’s messages, which started with ordinary greetings.

[I feel a bit off today, maybe because the weather is gloomy. Oh, I made a track, want to hear it?]

I paused at the part where he said he felt off, but quickly checked the video that followed. Se-han seemed to have been in his personal studio at the time.

But the face of the guy working on the program looked unsettling.

I didn’t have time to marvel at the complex beat with the bassline layered over the snare. The guy suddenly stared at the screen, his eyes already wild.

“Fuck off!”

The moment the muffled words hit my ears, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Friendship forever, my ass. You only bring it up when it’s convenient.”

Don’t curse. Your image will plummet, you crazy bastard! Please…

“Betrayal and friendship, tripping me and still calling it friendship! You say it with such a shameless face. As I fall, I reach out to you. Slip, let go of my hand, even if I hit the ground again! I brush off the dirt, and laugh foolishly! I’m easy, aren’t I! Right?”

I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes open to keep from turning off the video. Cold sweat trickled down my back.

“The friendship you want, where was it when I wanted it? What were you doing while I scoured auction sites and used goods sites day and night for you? Oh, right. You had no interest in whatever I did! That pathetic friendship, affection, affection! Why don’t you just stab me in the back with that affection! Get your head straight after taking that hit!”

“Shit…!”

Watching that mere 50-second video, I endured an immense emotional rollercoaster.

My face, trembling as I clutched my phone, was probably pitifully pale.

It was past 3 AM, but without hesitation, I dialed a familiar speed dial number. Ring, ring, ring. After exactly three rings, his relaxed voice reached my ears.

―Hey, Lee Tae-kyung. You’re still up?

His greeting, as if nothing had happened, made me grind my teeth.

“Hey, Sung Se-han. Are you crazy?”

―Crazy? Tae-kyung, why start with curses? You’re surprising me.

His tone, feigning innocence, almost made me curse again. No, I shouldn’t become the same kind of person.

I paced the practice room, taking deep breaths. I had to stay sane.

“Hey, if we fought, we could have settled it between ourselves. Why spread rumors to the fans? Aren’t you ashamed of being called a genius idol? Even a grade-schooler wouldn’t do that! You’re really not normal, you know?”

―Tae-kyung.

Unlike me, grinding my teeth, Sung Se-han’s relaxed tone remained unchanged.

―I just made a fun track and wanted to let the fans hear it. What misunderstanding did you have?

“Hey!”

I finally lost my temper and yelled, but Sung Se-han remained unfazed.

―When did we fight? We just exchanged opinions. Didn’t we?

His voice, whispering in my ear, was laced with mockery. I felt like I could see his shameless, smirking face, and I swung my fist into the empty air.

“Hey! If you write rap like that, fans will think of me now. Don’t you know that? Don’t you know I’ll have to deal with the aftermath!”

Feeling my blood pressure surge, I pressed my hand to the back of my neck. Perhaps the heat I was emitting would dry my sweat-soaked t-shirt.

―Ah, I see.

He sighed, sounding regretful.

―It’s also ridiculous for me to explain every single misunderstanding the fans have.

His shameless voice continued leisurely.

―It would have been better if you had just listened to me from the start.

I could only stagger, clutching the back of my neck. Who was making me suppress my anger and go through all this trouble!

“Sung Se-han, is me being close with Yeondu such a big deal that you have to throw a fit like this? Did someone say we were dating? No, even if we were dating, so what!”

―Lee Tae-kyung, you dare to date? Does that even make sense?

“What? Why, what doesn’t make sense?”

Could it be that Yeondu, being a top female idol, wasn’t on my level?

―You said you were sorry for ignoring me for 1 year and 5 months. You said you’d pay me back? To pay it all back, even if I dedicate all my free time to you, it’ll take another 10 years. Doesn’t the math add up?

“Ah, shit.”

So enraged that I felt dizzy, I leaned my forehead against the cold practice room mirror.

Why am I trying to make female friends? It’s because of you, you bastard!

What do you want me to do, messing up my relationships every single time…!

―Tae-kyung, if you just behaved yourself from the start, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about. Right?

Sung Se-han’s nonsensical remark was the last thing I heard before the one-sided call ended. Holding my phone, I slid down to the floor and sat cross-legged.

Then, I closed my eyes and recalled the day I went to Sung Se-han’s funeral. It was a method I used whenever I felt like I was going to explode from anger because of him.

As expected, it was effective. It confirmed that it was better for him to be alive beside me, no matter what outrageous things Sung Se-han did.

As my mind calmed, I felt like I might achieve enlightenment one day.

Ding dong.

Just then, a notification popped up on my status window. My eyes snapped open with a sense of foreboding, revealing a sentence I couldn’t possibly accept.

[Inferiority Complex Score has increased by +1.]

[Inferiority Complex Score has increased by +1.]

“Ah, why!”

I didn’t even have anything to feel inferior about today, what kind of nonsense is this! With despair clouding my vision, I turned on the status window I absolutely didn’t want to see.

[The risk of genius idol Sung Se-han’s accident has increased by +2.]

[To make Lee Tae-kyung’s inferiority complex 0 (zero) and escape the risk of death.]

“This is a lie! What inferiority did I feel today…”

[Wow, look at him churning out beats in an instant! Just how much of a genius is this guy? Look at that diction. Sigh… I really can’t compete.]

[Is he telling me to know my place before getting close to female idols?]

The inner thoughts I didn’t even know I had flowed out of the status window in my own voice, leaving my mouth agape in bewilderment.

“No, it’s okay to think that much. It’s not just me, right?”

Before my blood pressure could rise from the absurdly increased inferiority score, I sat cross-legged again. It seemed I might become a hermit soon.

It wasn’t like I had an inferiority complex towards Sung Se-han from the start.

I first met Sung Se-han at a piano academy when I was twelve. Back then, I just thought the kid they called a genius was cool.

When the girls at the academy gave me jelly to get close to him, I just happily thought, ‘Score!’

Because I had nothing to be ashamed of. I had already been scouted twice on the street by the time I was in fourth grade.

I found the girls who came to my classroom to see me bothersome, and popularity was just a nuisance.

All I needed was just one person to whom I could give my true feelings.

I met the woman I felt was my destiny in my first year of middle school.

I was happy to be assigned to the same middle school as Sung Se-han, but soon after, I faced a shocking situation I couldn’t handle.

The prettiest second-year student in our school, whom I fell in love with at first sight, publicly confessed to Sung Se-han.

It was a shocking event that shook my life, but I overcame it wisely without hating Sung Se-han.

When the two started dating, I even showed a magnanimous side by buying congratulatory ice cream.

Anyway, that incident was the moment I realized I was overshadowed when I was next to Sung Se-han.

Although I felt disgusted, I didn’t come to dislike Sung Se-han. He was such a precious friend that I couldn’t give up on my first love.

However.

If such a thing repeats itself twice, thrice, four, even five times, no matter how much I valued our friendship, resentment would inevitably build up.

How could every woman I fell for like Sung Se-han?

Could we be fated enemies?

Even after entering high school, the situation didn’t change much.

Despite my tall stature and masculine build, I remained a pathetic figure, overshadowed by Sung Se-han’s brilliance.

‘I’m sorry, Tae-kyung. Actually, Se-han and I decided to date.’

‘Tae-kyung, I want to remain good friends with you.’

The female students I thought would soon be dating me went to Sung Se-han as if by agreement.

As this repeated, I reached a point where I accepted the situation as natural and inevitable. After realizing this, I stopped even glancing at women around me.

If I didn’t like anyone, I wouldn’t have anyone to hate Sung Se-han for.

However, even if I didn’t hate Sung Se-han, it wasn’t easy to not feel jealous.

While we were trainees at the same entertainment company, I learned that his musical talent was beyond imagination.

Sung Se-han wasn’t just good at piano. He excelled in songwriting, composing, and arranging. He effortlessly produced albums as if he had memories from a past life.

What troubled me most, however, was Sung Se-han’s voice.

His unrestrained vocals instantly made me, who was confident that I was second to none in singing, feel pathetic.

Still.

Still, I resolved not to hate or be jealous of Sung Se-han.

He was my most precious friend.

Nevertheless, all these efforts ultimately proved futile.

Sung Se-han, who had already been set to debut, kicked away the opportunity and left the company.

And I, without even dreaming of it, joined a major agency and debuted as an idol group within a few months.

Moreover, I rose to the top in a short period, earning the title of a genius idol who wrote, composed, and produced his debut album himself.

In contrast, VOB, the group I belonged to, received a dismal performance report with no indicators and quietly went down the path of a failed group.

How could I not feel inferior? How could I not hate Sung Se-han?

Shit, I’m not a saint. The fact that that damn ‘Status Window’ drags out such depths and assigns scores is just playing with me. It means it has no intention of saving Sung Se-han in the first place.

Ding dong.

While sitting cross-legged and sighing heavily, the status window chimed again.

[Do you wish to abandon ‘Method to Prevent Genius Idol Sung Se-han’s Death’?]

I froze.

[Please choose. YES / NO]

Cold sweat trickled down my stiffening back, and the day I went to Sung Se-han’s funeral flashed vividly in my mind.

His aunt, dressed in mourning clothes, collapsing and weeping. And Sung Se-han’s portrait, adorned with a black ribbon diagonally across it.

I stumbled towards him, who was smiling his signature eye-smile. I think I fainted then.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my bed at the dorm.

[Method to Prevent Genius Idol Sung Se-han’s Death.]

[365 days remaining until Sung Se-han’s fatal accident. Make Lee Tae-kyung’s inferiority complex 0 (zero) to escape the risk of accident.]

The ‘Status Window’ that appeared then informed me that I had returned to one year before Sung Se-han’s death.

[Do you wish to abandon ‘Method to Prevent Genius Idol Sung Se-han’s Death’?]

[Please choose. YES / NO]

My tense fingers tightened, my heart constricting lest they accidentally press YES. Only after safely selecting NO could I finally breathe.

“Hah! It’s all my fault, please don’t ask me things like this.”

All the strength left my body, but I politely knelt and bowed my head.

“I promise, I will never go to Se-han’s funeral again. I will save Se-han!”

Heat rushed to my head, and my eyes burned. I would never lose Sung Se-han again.

Ding dong.

[Kneeling is not good for blood circulation. lol]

Shit.

Restart.

I had definitely lost consciousness at Sung Se-han’s funeral.

But when I woke up, I was in my bed.

Was it all a nightmare? Did Sung Se-han’s accident, and me going to his funeral, all happen in a dream?

[Method to Prevent Genius Idol Sung Se-han’s Death.]

There was no way.

Without even blinking, I stared at the red screen in front of me.

[Do you wish to start? YES / NO]

With the status window so clear and distinct, there was no way it was a dream. It couldn’t be a dream.

My finger, which selected YES without hesitation, trembled severely.

[365 days remaining until Sung Se-han’s fatal accident. Make Lee Tae-kyung’s inferiority complex 0 (zero) to escape the risk of accident.]

The moment the status window disappeared, I leaped out of bed.

I had to confirm whether this was reality or if I was still in a dream. As I rushed out of the room, something caught my eye. It was the electronic calendar hanging on the wall.

January 8, 20XX.

Hah! A gasp escaped my lips. The clearly visible numbers confirmed that it was exactly one year ago today.

Just then, the door suddenly opened, startling me so much I flinched.

“Ah, you scared me…!”

“Hyung, why are you so surprised?”

As I looked at Jeongmin, who entered the room, I flinched back. Jeongmin, the maknae of our team, had always maintained red hair since our debut concept photos. This natural black hair was only seen during our trainee days.

“Tae-kyung hyung, we’re having ramen to cure our hangovers, are you joining us?”

“Maknae!”

I grabbed Jeongmin’s shoulder and looked into his youthful face.

“Maknae, we haven’t debuted yet, right? We’re… still trainees, aren’t we?”

“Huuu… Hyung, seriously, don’t drink so much from now on.”

Leaving me with the words to go wash my face quickly, Jeongmin left the room.

There was no time to stand around in a daze. I threw myself onto the bed and rolled all the way to the other side, grabbing my phone on the side table.

“Se-han-ah…!”

My frantic fingers opened the search bar. When I searched for Sung Se-han first, the titles that appeared were consistent.

<'Sung Se-han' receiving the Grand Prize at the Gayo Daejeon and being cheered>

<'Perfect Puzzle' winning both the Rookie Award and the Grand Prize>

<'Perfect Puzzle,' the massive rookie group that swept the music awards>