Chapter 128: Prison Break (4)

Later, the self-proclaimed second episode of <Dusty Prison> was uploaded.

I was hiding behind the stairs in the third-floor hallway, gasping for breath.

“Huff… huff.”

So in other words….

Living as the youngest member of Stardust was this exhausting.

[Young breadwinner Do Seohan, fighting!]

Maybe it was thanks to hearing Cha Seongbin’s discouraging cheer.

I somehow managed to break through the net set up by Kang Siwoo and Seo Ian, who had surrounded me, and succeeded in escaping.

The teaser had already revealed that I had sent off the only one I could rely on, Jin Sehyun, into prison, and then barely managed to find the golden ball all alone.

To briefly sum up the current situation, this was it.

I sighed as I looked at the camera.

“I found three green balls and two blue balls. But with this, I still have no clue at all about the hint.”

It meant I had a long way to go.

“Even if I put off the less urgent red balls, I still have to find nine more.”

Unless the other members distracted attention, it was quite difficult to conduct a full-fledged search as the only survivor.

Even walking around had to be done cautiously!

“Since I don’t know who’s out there… I’m being super careful right now….”

As I rambled on about such hardships to the camera, my eyes suddenly widened.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“…!”

I must have been that desperate to talk….

Because I had been making one-on-one eye contact with the cameraman.

The camera director had been awkwardly avoiding my burdensome gaze from earlier.

I gave a small smile to the camera and spoke.

“Anyway… I came here to use this golden ball.”

It was impossible to find all ten remaining hint balls alone.

It was a decision made in urgency, because I desperately needed a helping hand.

Step, step—

I boldly walked out toward the empty third-floor hallway.

At the same time, the members locked inside the glass conference room, which was assumed to be the prison, began screaming with joy.

Seo Haim pressed her face against the glass door in excitement.

“Ahhhh!”

“It’s Do Seohan!”

“Seohan, we’ve been waiting for youuu!”

Was this for real?

The childish older brothers welcomed me with bright smiles.

“Hah. I’m here.”

I gave a wry smile and lifted the golden ball high with one hand.

A cheer erupted immediately.

“Wow, we knew we could count on you!”

“Seohan hyung! I can’t even see you, only light shining in your place~!”

Cha Seongbin screamed out loud.

Not wanting to be treated like an elder brother by someone three years older, I grimaced and hid the golden ball behind me.

“Sadly, there are four of you trapped in there, but I only have one golden ball.”

“Ah, no way….”

Seo Haim let out a sentimental sigh.

But, it couldn’t be helped.

I made up my mind to use the golden ball.

“Now then, each of you should appeal why you deserve to be the one to get out.”

And so began the so-called ‘Escape Speech Contest.’

The first candidate was Cha Seongbin.

Cha Seongbin desperately waved his arms and shouted urgently.

“Please take me out! I need screen time~!”

Cha Seongbin, obsessed with screen time.

“Cut.”

I shook my head, saying there was no need to see more.

The next was Seo Haim.

Seo Haim clasped her hands together and spoke with a desperate expression.

“The reason I have to survive… is simply because I’m cute!”

“I’m cuter, so you’re out.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Seohan is cute, I admit it.”

…That wasn’t the reaction I wanted.

With a reluctant expression, I turned to the remaining two.

The third candidate, Jin Sehyun.

Jin Sehyun spoke boldly in his characteristically confident voice.

“Honestly, I think I’m the biggest brain here.”

“But you got caught, didn’t you?”

“So did you, hyung.”

Naturally, the last candidate, Ha Junseo, cut in.

“I want to get out too….”

—was as far as he got before speaking.

I beat him to it by a step.

“Junseo hyung.”

At my firm words, Ha Junseo’s eyes widened.

“I’ll use this golden ball on Junseo hyung.”

“Really? Me?”

“Yes, hyung. Please come out.”

At Do Seohan’s shocking decision, murmurs spread inside the prison.

Cha Seongbin covered his mouth and grumbled.

“What the~ what’s the reason~.”

“No one expected Junseo hyung?”

“Let’s hear the reason.”

The truth was….

“Junseo hyung… sees the world differently.”

“That’s not an insult, right?”

At those words, Ha Junseo stopped with a reluctant expression.

Was this really a compliment?

“Sometimes you can only see things if you look at the world like a slightly crazy person.”

“No matter how I hear it, that sounds like an insult.”

“It’s a compliment, hyung. Cut down on the caffeine.”

I patted Ha Junseo’s back and dragged him out of prison.

.

.

.

“I found a golden ball!”

Having one more person with me felt incomparably reassuring.

It just gave me a sense of calm?

Up until now, I had felt like a lone gazelle running across the African plains.

“Haah… those days when I was being chased alone…. I was so lonely.”

I sniffled with dry tears and muttered softly.

And.

As we went around together, I really felt it.

Ha Junseo saw the world differently.

He scanned places that anyone would think were impossible to hide something in from afar, and instantly spotted them.

“Hyung, are you crazy?”

“I’ve always been kinda good at treasure hunts.”

If only he hadn’t been caught while boiling water for instant noodles, he probably would’ve found a pile of hint balls already.

With golden hands, Ha Junseo instantly found two golden balls and succeeded in rescuing two people in front of the third-floor prison.

[Jin Sehyun has escaped.]

[Cha Seongbin has escaped.]

‘Guys, what about me! Me!’

Somehow, poor Choco Haim was melting down inside the prison, but it was truly unfortunate.

‘How could you guys… do this to me?’

‘Hyung, we’ll let you out soon!’

Of course, it seemed a bit faster to find the password before using the golden ball.

But I didn’t bother mentioning that.

Earlier, I had seen her filming <Seo Haim’s Prison V-log> diligently inside the cell.

It was a relief she was at least securing her screen time.

“Good to see you all alive!”

Finally, the four of us safely reunited in the seventh-floor hallway.

Ha Junseo beamed and waved toward Jin Sehyun and Cha Seongbin.

“So, did you find a lot of hint balls?”

“Feels like we almost found them all?”

“Let’s take everything out and put them together~.”

Jin Sehyun was the first to pull out a red ball.

“The last letter of the red ball hint was… ‘wol’ (month)!”

[Month of Yoo Yeong’s Release]

“The debut date is April 27, right?”

As expected, the first digit was confirmed to be 4.

Now all that was left were the green balls and blue balls.

As soon as we opened our pockets, plastic balls tumbled out in heaps.

First, the green balls.

“One… two… three… this is more than I thought?”

“Looks like seven?”

“It really is seven.”

When we counted them up, it turned out we had luckily found all seven.

Jin Sehyun began writing down the hints from his notebook one by one.

[Meon] [Ji] [Mem] [Woo] [Su] [Ju] [Beo]

The first word that caught my eye slipped out of my mouth.

“Universe Dust.”

“It’s the number of Universe Dust members.”

Ha Junseo instantly pieced the hints together.

That made the second digit 7.

Suddenly, one person came to mind.

“What about Haim hyung?”

“He really might figure out the password first.”

“Hey, isn’t there a golden ball left?”

“We used up everything we had to save those two.”

Would Seo Haim manage to escape from prison before the self-content ended?

[Here! Please help! Someone’s trapped in here!]

Somehow, I had been hearing a sentimental cry from the third floor since earlier….

[I told you I’m trapped here!]

Ah….

Seo Haim, fighting.

To be continued in Part 3

By the time the second self-content episode was set to upload.

I was in Doubles’ third-floor practice room, facing a rather awkward encounter.

Still, since last night’s dinner, we had gotten somewhat closer.

“Hello, sunbaenim!”

“Ah, nice to see you.”

After exchanging light greetings with Sung Jihoo sunbaenim, I smiled brightly.

“Let’s do our best today as well.”

Practicing with the senior I looked up to as my idol.

Even though we wouldn’t have much time to practice together due to his busy schedule, it was an honor just that he had made time for this.

I pulled out a water bottle, took a sip, then looked back at the practice room mirror.

Just as discussed in the last meeting, the direction we would take had already been decided.

Sung Jihoo asked brightly.

“It was an oriental-style concept, right?”

“Yes, since it’s a Chuseok special, I think it fits well.”

Oriental-style concept.

Though tricky in difficulty, the strength of the concept lay in being able to bring out a unique, mysterious atmosphere if executed well.

And since the timing was during Chuseok holidays, there might be some bonus points added as well.

So, for the first time, we were challenging an oriental-style concept.

Sung Jihoo gently asked me.

“This is your very first oriental concept?”

“Yes.”

I swallowed dryly and nodded.

“Then what have you usually done…?”

“We’ve always had spaceships flying around, time travel… things like that.”

“Ah, I see….”

Sorry, but Stardust’s genre leaned closer to sci-fi.

Even if I looked like this, I was supposed to be an alien, after all.

What should I do—should we act like a spaceship crash-landed in the Joseon era?

“But since the song and concept are already decided, let’s give it our all today.”

“Yes!”

Thanks to Doubles’ active support, the arrangement direction for the cover song had already been settled.

Even a choreographer had been secured to handle the stage concept and choreography.

Compared to when we were preparing for Starf’s performance, we now had full-scale support in multiple ways, and the schedule was relatively relaxed.

I thought I had no excuse to complain, since someone busier was still doing it.

Since we were starting this anyway, I would give it my best.

Sung Jihoo seemed to think the same.

“Seohan-ssi.”

“Yes, sunbaenim.”

Sung Jihoo looked at me and smiled warmly.

“Anyway, even though it’s just a short pilot program aired on one day during Chuseok holidays… it doesn’t mean we only practice for a day.”

“That’s true.”

“Every stage is like that. You suffer for days, even weeks, all for that one moment.”

Each word that Sung Jihoo spoke in his calm voice resonated with me.

With that mindset, one could have a long career—I smiled faintly, thinking so.

“So, let’s burn everything we’ve got for our one day.”

“Let’s make the best stage, sunbaenim.”

Thud—

Our fists lightly met in the air.

“Also, since you’re still a rookie, Seohan-ssi, this is a good chance to make your team known to the older generation too. Surprisingly, Chuseok programs are good for boosting recognition.”

“Yes!”

“Young breadwinner Do Seohan, fighting!”

“Yes, thank yo… huh?”

…Huh?

I froze just as I was about to nod without thinking.

Wait a second, sunbaenim.

How do you know about that meme?

If you know even the most recent Stardust self-content memes, that means you’ve actually watched them, right?

“No way, sunbaenim….”

At this point, he was basically an enthusiastic subscriber.

Don’t tell me he even had notifications turned on for Stardust’s official YouTube account?

“You didn’t watch our self-content, did you?”

No matter how I looked at it, he definitely kept up with it regularly, even though I had begged people not to watch!

“Again, with that other member?”

“Ahem.”

Sung Jihoo awkwardly averted his eyes and trailed off.

With an embarrassed face, he muttered softly.

“Young breadwinner Sung Jihoo… fighting?”

Ah, I told you, please don’t watch it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep