I had no idea how long I slept after that.

It felt like only an instant, but the moment I woke up, I figured it probably hadn’t been a short time.

Because my head felt refreshed.

“…….”

Fortunately, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was, unmistakably, a private hospital room.

Good.

Apparently, the guy who answered my call had handled everything properly—

“…! Moondae.”

“…!”

I turned my head and met Ryu Chungwoo’s eyes as he abruptly stood up from the chair he had been sitting in.

What the hell.

Why is this guy here?

“Wait, I’ll call them!”

But before I could say anything, Ryu Chungwoo immediately pressed a button and called the medical staff.

And a short while later.

“Yes. There don’t seem to be any other abnormal symptoms. Is the IV flow rate all right?”

“Yes…….”

“Then we’ll replace it again in an hour at this rate.”

Under the medical staff’s examination, it seemed I had once again been judged not to have any serious abnormalities.

I looked at the back of my hand, where the IV was inserted, with a complicated expression.

No wonder I feel refreshed.

Apparently it was because antibiotics and nutrients were being pumped straight into me.

“If anything feels wrong, just call us.”

“…Yes.”

“Thank you!”

Click.

And the moment the medical staff left, several grave-looking faces popped up beside the bed.

Not one.

Three.

Ryu Chungwoo seemed to fiddle with his smartphone for a moment, and then Big Sejin and Bae Sejin came rushing in from somewhere.

What is this?

Wasn’t this the sort of composition you only saw in gangster movies?

In the middle of that, Ryu Chungwoo spoke with a serious face.

“…Your wrists are sprained, three weeks to recover. Two of your ribs have hairline fractures, four weeks. They said the bruising on your arms and legs should disappear sooner than that.”

“…….”

The injuries were less severe than I expected.

Park Moondae’s body must have been surprisingly sturdy.

At least nothing actually broke.

But… looking at this situation, I’d better use my head carefully.

The person who had happened to call me right before I completely lost it finally opened his mouth.

“…For now, I’m glad you seem a little better.”

It was Big Sejin.

There was no other explanation for this situation except that he had contacted the other two.

“…Hey.”

“What? Why.”

Why the hell was his reply so uncooperative?

“How was I supposed to move you to a hospital by myself without even calling 119? What other option did I have besides calling hyung, who has his own car?”

“…….”

I hadn’t been trying to interrogate him, but I really had nothing to say to that.

Big Sejin didn’t stop there.

“Besides, when I called you… I was meeting Chungwoo hyung.”

“…….”

“Your messages were too weird.”

“…What?”

Big Sejin folded his arms.

“It was funny enough that Park Moondae would leave a perfectly good dorm and deliberately go to a hotel, but then you left just that message and stopped contacting us. That was even weirder.”

“…!”

“So I asked the others too… and every reply you sent them was strange.”

Big Sejin tilted his chin slightly toward Bae Sejin.

“That’s why this hyung was also contacting Chungwoo hyung.”

Bae Sejin slightly averted his gaze and muttered.

“……You’d even talked to me about filing comprehensive income tax, and then suddenly you said you didn’t know much about apartment floor plans. It was strange.”

“…….”

So he’d been testing me.

Big Sejin asked again with a hardened face.

“That wasn’t you, was it?”

“…….”

“So tell us something. Why the hell do you look like that? What happened?”

Yeah.

I knew this question was coming.

“I stopped Chungwoo hyung from reporting it immediately… but honestly, I don’t even know why I stopped him. All kinds of thoughts were going through my head….”

Big Sejin stared into empty space and sighed.

“If the reason is something ridiculous like you wanted to handle it alone, I’m reporting it right now, so just hurry up and tell us what happened.”

I gave a bitter smile.

“I’d rather avoid reporting it.”

“Then why!?”

“Moondae, whatever the reason, it’s better to leave an official record first. Let’s report it.”

“…Is it because of promotions?”

“No.”

I shook my head.

Then I answered seriously.

“Because I think they might treat it as mutual assault.”

“…!!”

“Wh-What?”

I clenched my free hand, the one without the IV, into a fist and waved it.

“Because I beat the fucking hell out of him.”

“…….”

“…….”

“I ran into some lunatic while I was out, knocked him down, and secured some evidence. But self-defense is defined way too narrowly under our laws… Even if I win, if it goes to court, it’ll just waste my time.”

“E-Even so, that bastard should face the iron hammer of the law…….”

“I already smashed his head with real iron, so it’s fine.”

“…….”

It had been handcuffs, but hey, they were iron.

Facing the three of them, who had gone rigid with their mouths open, I calmly continued explaining.

“Actually, most of my injuries happened while I was restraining him in return… I wasn’t exactly beaten while defenseless, so if an article comes out and people start dragging it around, I think it’ll just become annoying for me.”

“……Hmm.”

Their faces were going through quite a journey between dumbfounded and complicated.

But Bae Sejin’s face was still dark.

“But that still means you were attacked…! It can be handled quietly, so let’s coordinate things and report it. He might try to hurt you again.”

“Well, if we reported it, he’d lose anyway, so he wouldn’t be able to run his mouth about it. And I scared him properly so he won’t try anything useless.”

“S-Scared him?”

“Yes. Properly.”

I tilted my head to the side.

“Hmm. Do I… look like I would’ve handled something like this carelessly?”

“…….”

Apparently not.

The trust I had built up over time was shining at a useful moment.

“Was that explanation enough? That’s why I wasn’t planning to report it. I asked you not to call 119 either because I figured they’d immediately start tracing the cause of the injuries.”

“…Moondae. Hospitals do that even if you come in normally.”

“…!”

Ryu Chungwoo smiled bitterly.

“You were in really bad condition. You were burning up with fever, and there were marks that looked like you’d been beaten and restrained….”

“…….”

“I don’t know how badly you hit the other person, but regardless of how self-defense is defined, you’re the victim. Looking at you right now, there’s no way anyone would call this mutual assault.”

Ryu Chungwoo sighed.

“For now, we told the hospital you were sick and overexerted yourself, then got hurt during concert practice… But I’d still prefer it if you reported it. If that makes you uncomfortable, I can’t force you.”

“…….”

“Or at the very least, let’s share that person’s identifying information with the company, as much as you know. We have to make sure he can’t approach you again.”

“Hmm….”

I nodded.

I could just make up a rough composite description and tell them.

“Yes. I’ll contact the company.”

“…! Good choice.”

“Tell us too! Everyone needs to be careful around a lunatic like that.”

“Okay. Hmm, and.”

It was a little embarrassing, but it would be better to say this.

“Thanks.”

“…!”

“Hyungs too. Thank you. Honestly, if that call hadn’t come then, things would’ve been rough.”

I snorted softly.

“The messages he sent while impersonating me were honestly pretty convincing. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”

“…….”

For a moment, the hospital room warmed with a slight sense of emotion and accomplishment.

Come to think of it, even if I hadn’t escaped, they might’ve tracked me down before I got hit with a sledgehammer.

Just as I was beginning to feel even more impressed by them, Big Sejin nodded gravely.

“Exactly. So treat me better from now on. First, my personal photos—”

“I take it back.”

“Hey! That’s cruel!”

Big Sejin slapped the blanket.

Funny bastard.

“…Ahem, ahem! Get plenty of rest. Anyway! Take care of yourself!”

“Yeah. Still, I’m glad you got to the hospital in time.”

The remaining two looked pleased with themselves too.

Good.

The situation had been wrapped up nicely.

“Ah, should I go buy some drinks? What do you guys want?”

“Come on, hyung, I’ll go~”

“No. I wanted to walk around a little. Hmm, apple juice for Moondae?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

And if there was one more thing worth noting, it was this.

Hmm. I definitely feel a little more comfortable.

Ryu Chungwoo felt less awkward.

Apparently, my subconscious had properly shoved back into my brain the fact that this guy had helped me while I was sick.

You really have to experience something for it to sink in.

Since it benefited my body, my head started functioning properly again.

“Then get some rest.”

“Yes.”

I waved casually as Ryu Chungwoo left.

Click.

And the moment he stepped outside, Big Sejin suddenly asked in a low voice.

“Hey, leader hyung’s gone now.”

“…….”

“Is there anything you don’t want to tell the company but still want to get off your chest? Sejin hyung, if Moondae tells us something, you’ll just listen, right?”

“Wh-What? Ah, um… of course!”

Sharp bastard.

He noticed I’d roughly redirected the conversation with praise.

Well, I had planned to explain things to a few of them anyway, just in case.

It was so I could steer the mood within the team toward avoiding schedules that unnecessarily tangled us up with VTIC in the future.

No need to go looking for trouble.

For that, I needed people who weren’t close enough with each other to secretly coordinate something behind my back, and who had personalities that wouldn’t accidentally blab to the others.

Perfect.

I opened my mouth.

“The guy who attacked me is actually someone I know.”

“What?”

“Who!”

“Cheongryeo from VTIC.”

“……!!”

Bae Sejin’s face visibly froze.

“That bastard. I knew there was something weird about him.”

“…Really?”

“Y-Yeah, his eyes looked weird…!”

“Let’s report him.”

“…!!”

Big Sejin cut in with a hardened face.

“We’re going to keep seeing him at award shows and music shows. No. Let’s report him.”

“I told you there’s no need.”

“You might be fine right now, but if you actually see him again—”

I snorted.

“What’s that pathetic loser going to do?”

“…!”

“I told you. I’m the one who did the hitting.”

Careful of the arm with the IV, I stretched.

“That bastard got hit in the face too, so he probably won’t even be able to promote for a while.”

“……What if he reports you first—”

“I have recordings, photos, and I even got an apology from him at the end. He can’t.”

“……Haa.”

Big Sejin let out a long sigh but didn’t argue any further.

Looks like he’s finally getting a sense of what a swamp this would become if we actually reported it.

Still, considering how obsessed he was with the group’s results, it was impressive that he had been the one to insist on reporting it.

“Why the hell did he…….”

“Who knows. Guess he just hated the sight of me.”

“What a lunatic.”

Having apparently seen even stranger people in the industry, Bae Sejin surprisingly accepted that flimsy explanation quite easily.

Then, after hesitating, he asked,

“…Is there a reason you’re only telling him and me?”

“Hmm. If there’s ever a schedule where we might unnecessarily meet VTIC in the future, I wanted to ask you to help avoid it tactfully.”

Might as well add a little flattery too.

“You speak up well whenever we’re working.”

“…! Y-Yeah. Got it.”

Giving him a little sense of mission worked much better.

Good.

“But just in case, make sure you keep the evidence!”

“Of course.”

And so the explanation and acceptance of ‘Why did Park Moondae end up looking like that?’ was complete.

That was harder than I expected.

Well, still.

I thought it had been hard in a good way.

Read only on MUGEX

“Guys, drinks.”

“Oh~ Thank you!”

“…Thanks.”

A short while later, Ryu Chungwoo came back, and I drank the rather expensive convenience-store apple juice while turning my thoughts in another direction.

For now… if I give myself plenty of margin, four weeks until the injuries recover enough that moving around is comfortable.

It looked like I could just barely make it in time for the start of the concert.

If I have to, I can just push myself a little for the Seoul concert.

The problem was that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the final rehearsals in the meantime.

We’d already learned the group choreography before the vacation, so if there were no changes, I could probably manage somehow.

But the solo stage bothered me.

And we also needed to learn new choreography for the fan-service segment we had added.

I guess the best option is memorizing the movements while being careful.

There was no helping it now.

I shrugged and picked up my smartphone.

For now, I planned to ask the others for some understanding about my injury and contact the company so they could put out an article in advance.

If we get it out now, everyone will probably understand even if I’m not fully recovered by the concert.

…But if I had known this action would cause a much stronger ripple than I expected, I might have considered waiting a little longer.

[Me: Got caught by some crazy stalker and got slightly injured while subduing them. Every message sent after the vacation started was that person impersonating me, so please pretend none of it happened. (sighing emoji)]

The moment Seon Ahyeon saw this, he abandoned his trip and came straight to the hospital.

Apparently, because he had personally seen those lunatics who broke into my one-room apartment, the excuse of a ‘stalker’ had scared him even more.

“M-Moondae!”

“…? Hi.”

Before I could even properly look at the expression on his face that seemed to say, Why are you here?, Seon Ahyeon recoiled and shouted.

“Th-That’s not ‘slightly injured’!”

“…….”

Well…

I wasn’t even in a cast.

Didn’t this count as slight?

I ended up calming down a Seon Ahyeon who looked almost ready to cry, then received a gift box packed full of bread.

Apparently it was from a famous bakery in Sokcho.

Anyway, it tasted good.

I also exchanged awkward greetings with his parents, who had driven him all the way here.

They felt so sorry for me that I actually ended up feeling a little awkward instead.

“Next time, make sure you come with Ahyeon. There are so many strange people these days…… Oh dear, what are we going to do.”

“It’s fine. I won.”

“D-Did you? Still…….”

The distressed expression on their face looked exactly like Seon Ahyeon’s.

Was that hereditary?

“C-Call me if you need anything!”

“Okay.”

After that, Seon Ahyeon kept coming and going from the hospital room until the vacation ended.

Impressive perseverance.

I would never visit someone in the hospital every single day during my vacation.

Difference in character, I guess.

Ah, of course the other members contacted me too.

Among them was someone I had already meant to contact.

-Hyungnim! Are you feeling all right?

Kim Raebin.

“Yeah. Hmm, good timing. I had something I wanted to say to you anyway.”

-Yes…?

And I did what I had to do.

“Hello, grandmother. This is Park Moondae.”

[Oh my goodness!]

I had initially planned to sing trot to lighten the mood, but Kim Raebin’s grandmother had very definite tastes.

[That~ song you sang when you were our groom! I like that one! Winter Night!]

“I-I’ll sing it for you.”

[Oh, how lovely~]

Hmm.

Anyway, it was a pretty entertaining experience.

And lastly, Cha Eugene…

Surprisingly, there was no contact from him until the day before the end of the vacation.

Then his proof of life came in the form of a short video posted to the group chat.

[Wahahaha!]

[Watch out!]

…It was a wildly filmed video of Cha Eugene charging straight into the sea.

In late autumn.

[Cha Eugene: Mom filmed it!:D]

He really was consistent.

Still, apparently he saw my post late, because he called me in the middle of the night to ask how I was.

-Hyung!! You beat stalker?? You hit them!?

That was also incredibly consistent.

“Haa.”

And around this point, the company finally started putting out articles about my injury.