Chapter 232: Octopus Legs Fighting

A relationship that’s close yet distant.

That was the phrase that best described the connection between Lee Dokyung and me.

Since it all started with blackmail, it felt odd to say we were close, but Lee Dokyung still spoke to me with a very friendly tone.

“Ah, Seohan-ssi~.”

I’d heard that FLYB’s last mini album had done well, and maybe that’s why Lee Dokyung’s face looked so bright, even early in the morning.

His energy was unusually high, and I let out a small laugh.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Well, I’ve had a lot of happy things going on lately. But not as much as you, Seohan-ssi. It’s a bit late, but congratulations on charting on Billboard.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, and. Actually, I’ve got some new information to share…”

We were waiting in the first-floor lobby before the Base School shoot, since we had some time left.

There was a stir coming from the café area.

“Wow, it’s Do Seohan.”

“Isn’t that Lee Dokyung?”

“Holy…”

This wasn’t going to work here.

Maybe Lee Dokyung was thinking the same, as he signaled with his eyes.

We quietly left the lobby and headed to a temporary waiting room.

We’d left the manager hyung behind for a bit.

Creak.

Only after the door shut firmly did Lee Dokyung’s face brighten up again.

“It’s not a big deal, but I’ve got an update on Senior Kim Woochan. And you know I can’t keep fresh news like this to myself, right?”

“What is it?”

Kim Woochan?

There had been a deal, where he asked me to look into him in exchange for covering up his dating situation.

The last update I had was from a couple of years ago—how Kim Woochan had halted his activities for a few months due to health issues.

Apparently, now he’d heard more details about that time.

“It’s just a rumor floating around among his company’s employees… Since he’s such a bigshot, there are bound to be false rumors too, so take it with a grain of salt. But what I heard was, the reason he was sick back then wasn’t exactly physical.”

“…Then mental?”

“Yeah. They said he seemed kind of crazy.”

Kim Woochan’s condition had been unstable enough to make him unable to handle idol schedules temporarily.

“He said he was seeing things or something… Luckily, he’s back to normal now, but at the time, they were really worried.”

Apparently, he’d been mumbling to himself about it, which flipped the company upside down.

Rumors had even circulated among the staff that Kim Woochan might have been possessed.

I had a guess.

He said he could see the possibilities… So it must’ve been related to that.

So he wasn’t born with it after all.

The fact that it was from a couple of years ago left a strange feeling in my gut, but I nodded and continued listening to Lee Dokyung.

Then he said—

“Oh. He apparently said he could see writing in the air.”

“Sorry, what?”

“He was muttering stuff like he had to achieve certain accomplishments… Don’t look at me like that. I don’t get it either.”

I was flustered.

“Ah… right.”

Was that really a status window?

Base School 2018. A YouTube talk show set in a school-themed studio.

As soon as we entered the set, a guy in a school jacket raised his hand and welcomed us.

“Yo, long time no see!”

It was my first time meeting him.

“Ah. Look who it is~.”

The reason for that way of speaking was because of his Korean-American concept.

Bay was a comedian who came from SBC’s open recruitment and was enjoying a second golden age thanks to his witty talk.

I’d seen a few episodes of Base School, and he was definitely entertaining with his ad-libs. No wonder the view counts were good.

It ranked in the upper middle tier among YouTube content, so many celebrities appeared on it to promote their albums.

He had his bangs slicked back with mousse.

Bay rolled his words in a cheesy tone as he greeted the viewers.

“Hello, viewers. This is Baaaay.”

“Nice to see you, Bay.”

Lee Dokyung answered reflexively but then flinched.

It was a casual-speech concept variety show, so we weren’t supposed to use honorifics with each other.

“…Good to see you.”

Lee Dokyung gave a sheepish smile, and I chimed in.

“Been a while, Bay.”

“Right, Seohan~.”

Bay glanced at the script and then fixed his gaze on the camera.

“But for our viewers, this is our first meeting, right? So before we do the self-introductions…”

He gulped.

“Doing it the normal way is kinda boring.”

“Yeah, self-intros can be a bit predictable.”

“So I did a little digging on you two myself.”

Bay flapped a few sheets of paper dramatically and spoke in a serious tone that echoed through the studio.

“To properly introduce you both, I first searched through the encyclopedia.”

“Sorry?”

“I… I’m in there?”

Of course not.

“First, our rising star! I looked up FlyB’s Dokyung!”

“Oh…”

“…He wasn’t in it.”

“Well then.”

“Try harder next time.”

Bay added that a true rising star should at least make it to the first page of the encyclopedia.

“Ah…”

Lee Dokyung nodded solemnly, as if he genuinely regretted it.

“I’ll aim for a biography next year.”

“Let’s work hard, Dokyung.”

Nod.

The occasional silence was a signature humor point of this show.

With perfect timing, Bay continued in a fitting tone.

“Then tell our viewers something the encyclopedia couldn’t. Go ahead.”

“I’m Lee Dokyung, vocalist of FLYB. Please take good care of me!”

“Nice. And next…”

Now it was my turn.

Gulp.

I nervously waited for Bay’s next line.

“Seohan-ssi.”

“Mhm.”

“I searched for your info on ChatGPT.”

“…Excuse me?”

I swallowed a breath at the unexpected source.

Lee Dokyung was already holding back laughter.

Even though some of it was scripted, the cast wasn’t told everything to preserve natural reactions.

Why was ChatGPT a reference source?

“W-What did it say?”

Swoosh.

Bay pulled up a panel and continued.

“Okay, ChatGPT! Tell me who Stardust Do Seohan is!”

—And this was the answer:

[Stardust Bookstore is a well-known independent bookstore owned by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It features a collection of books related to Murakami’s works and preferences…]

“Pfft.”

Lee Dokyung’s shoulders were trembling.

With a serious expression, Bay handed me the mic.

“So, Mr. Bookstore. Are you a bookstore, by any chance?”

“…What?”

“What’s your relationship with Mr. Haruki?”

“Is this for real?”

“I looked it up. That’s what came up!”

Lee Dokyung burst out laughing as he read the panel.

“Do-bookstore… Aha-haha-hak!”

“It didn’t even classify you as a human…”

“Oh, you’re a person? I didn’t know.”

“No, I’m actually a library.”

I was going to look it up again once I got back to the dorm.

Though a bit flustered, I brushed it off as naturally as I could.

Bay patted my shoulder and continued the segment.

“Mr. Library, give us a proper introduction.”

“I’m the youngest of Stardust, Do-bookstore. Nice to meet you.”

Laughter echoed from the writers.

Lee Dokyung burst out laughing like he was about to pass out.

“Dokyung-ssi, stop laughing. You’re not even in the encyclopedia.”

“Ah. I’ll reflect.”

While Lee Dokyung scratched his head sheepishly, Bay smoothly moved on to the next topic.

“Even though our Dokyung-ssi isn’t listed in the encyclopedia yet… he’s pretty hot, right?”

FLYB’s last mini album.

It was good enough to make a run for Rookie of the Year.

Since Boy’s Dream was a fairly popular audition show, there had been a lot of buzz even at debut.

Bay pointed that out.

“Do you feel any pressure as a rising rookie?”

“I feel more gratitude than pressure.”

Lee Dokyung chuckled heartily as he answered.

“It’s not like that was my first audition program.”

“You two were Starf-era trainees! Right?”

“Right. It was my second try, and I’d already been eliminated once, so I’d let go of a lot. When my debut was confirmed, I was so happy that I think I’ve just been enjoying it rather than feeling pressure.”

That probably wasn’t just empty words.

In every moment I’d seen of him, Lee Dokyung had always been sincere about his dream.

Though I don’t understand why he’s that sincere about romance, too.

Bay nodded at Lee Dokyung’s words, agreeing along.

“The current me is very exciting… got it.”

“But hey, Bay. I’m curious about something.”

“What?”

“You’re supposed to be Korean-American, but your English sounds really lightweight.”

“Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sudden jab from Lee Dokyung.

Bay frowned and shook his head.

“Dokyung-ssi, true natives don’t use difficult English.”

“Oh. It’s just that your pronunciation sounds kinda light, too.”

“That’s just your imagination.”

“Mm.”

“It’s kinda hot, isn’t it?”

Bay mimed wiping sweat off and cleared his throat.

“Anyway, back to the main point. Dokyung-ssi, I heard you’re really close with your fellow FLYB members.”

“Oh, we get along great.”

“What do you guys usually do in the dorm?”

This part had some script mixed in.

There was a panel behind Bay, a lead-in to the upcoming balance game.

Lee Dokyung smoothly delivered his prepared line.

“We do a lot of balance games on livestream. We’re always asking stuff like, tomato that tastes like vomit vs. vomit that tastes like tomato.”

“Does Stardust do balance games too?”

“We’re more of a non-game team.”

“……”

He added with a grin.

“We prefer tearing each other apart.”

“As expected of survival show graduates…”

As the mood turned quietly solemn, Bay held back laughter and lifted the panel.

“Anyway, since Dokyung-ssi said he likes balance games, I brought one.”

“Oh.”

Swoosh.

The topic Bay revealed was a question like fire to idols.

Love vs. Friendship.

“Huh?”

“Let me pull off the rest.”

The question wasn’t over. When Bay removed the covering, the full balance game prompt appeared.

[Love for fans vs. Friendship with members]

Just for a moment, I saw Lee Dokyung flinch in hesitation.

“That’s a tough one…”

“You’re actually thinking about it?”

“No matter what I pick, you’re going to twist it!”

That’s true.

Still, Lee Dokyung didn’t hesitate for long and chose the former.

“I really love the members too, but my love for the fans is more intense…”

“Seohan-ssi! What do you think?”

“Sorry?”

The question suddenly turned toward me.

“We’ve heard you two are really close. From your perspective, what do you think Dokyung-ssi would choose between love and friendship? Give us the third-party view.”

Well…

‘You’d better answer well.’

A silent pressure came my way.

Ignoring Lee Dokyung’s gaze, I shrugged.

“Dokyung-hyung would choose love.”

“Oh, really?”

“He’s a man obsessed with love.”

He’s more sincere about love than anyone else.

Lee Dokyung’s eyelids trembled slightly at my pointed tone, but I found it amusing in its own way.

He gave a slightly awkward smile and added:

“Because infinite love for fans is a good thing…!”

“But there are so many fans. Can Dokyung-ssi really love them all?”

Bay teased him by clinging to the wording, and I nodded confidently.

“Of course.”

Our proud octopus legs.

“Because Dokyung-hyung’s love can embrace a lot of people…”

“Such a big heart!”

“He’s like the ocean.”

Lee Dokyung is swearing at me with his eyes.

What?

It’s still a compliment.

“He’s a very remarkable person.”

Octopus Legs Fighting!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep