LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 354
Chapter 354. Coming Soon! (2)
As Seo Taehyun and I stepped into the third-floor meeting room, we saw Jung Siwoo setting up a table full of chicken with Lee Doha.
“What? You’re here too, Doha?”
“Yeah. Got dragged in after my workout.”
“The youngest ones went back to the dorm after practice, exhausted. Yugeon’s going to his parents’ house and will be back tonight, so it’s just the four of us today.”
“Is hyung treating us?”
“Wanna split the bill?”
“Thanks for the food, hyung.”
I immediately rejected Jung Siwoo’s playful suggestion to go Dutch and sat down, grabbing a pair of chopsticks. As if he had expected it, Siwoo chuckled and pushed a bottle of water toward me instead of soda. Even the chicken was basic grilled without seasoning, a clear compromise since it was still our promotion period, and we had to be careful with our diet.
“What do you want to watch while we eat? This TV has YouTube.”
“Is there anything good to watch these days? Seo Taehyun, do you have anything in mind? If you do, let’s put that on.”
“Can I monitor our first-week music show fancams? I wanted to watch them yesterday but didn’t get the chance.”
“Put the remote down. Just eat your chicken.”
“You said I could watch what I want!”
“I said you could watch what you *want*, not what you *have* to. Now hand over the remote.”
Frustrated by Seo Taehyun’s unrelenting work ethic, I could only shake my head. He pouted, annoyed, but I wasn’t swayed. His pout might work on our fans, but not on me.
“Ah.”
“What is it, Doha? You want to watch something?”
As I scrolled through options with the mouse, Doha, who had been silently devouring chicken, suddenly seemed to remember something. Curious, I asked him, and he furrowed his brows as if recalling something important.
“Isn’t that today?”
“What is?”
“The new episode of *Today’s Kairos*.”
“The Dreamland episode? That won’t be out for a while. We just filmed it a few days ago.”
I answered casually, refreshing the page to update the algorithm.
Just as the page reloaded, Doha spoke again.
“No, not that one.”
Then, almost as if drawn by instinct, my eyes caught sight of a familiar, bizarre thumbnail at the top of the screen.
<*Today’s Kairos S2 || EP.01-2: First Love’s Disappearance (Part 2) || It’s Here! Your Dopamine Rush! A Mashup of Kairos’ Wild Multiverse World. Open for Business!☆٩(｡•ω<｡)و*>
“Oh… that ridiculous fanfic multiverse mashup thing.”
“……”
Right, *that* was still a thing.
With all the chaos lately, I had almost forgotten about the next part of that wild episode being uploaded today.
* * *
Accompanied by a song that had once been a popular background music for blogs 10 years ago, the first part of the episode was quickly summarized.
– *…To our stranded protagonists.*
– *…The punishment is a solo trip to Jeju Island.*
– *(Screams and chaos echoing in full-screen shots.)*
<*The story of Kairos, stranded in a parallel world with their memories wiped, battling it out for a golden couple’s ring and a one-day trip to Jeju Island.*>
White, transparent captions scrolled across the bottom of the screen. The highlight reel focused on scenes that had gone viral on social media, and then, the most crucial moment from the first part replayed.
– *Let’s be honest now.*
– *I’m the male lead’s first love.*
– *Wait, you’re the male lead?*
<*A shocking twist revealed at the end! The secret of this world is about to be unveiled.*>
The title logo for *Today’s Kairos* appeared, ending the recap on a cliffhanger shot of me and Jung Siwoo staring each other down.
I paused the video at that exact moment.
“……”
“……….”
“………….”
“…………….”
The atmosphere in the room grew solemn.
I, of course, remembered everything I did in the episode, but the other guys were quietly munching on their chicken, their souls seemingly left behind somewhere during filming. Even Jung Siwoo, normally immune to embarrassment, sat in silence.
Well, this was rare.
“What are you guys thinking?”
“I’m just wondering… who ended up with the punishment?”
So, it wasn’t embarrassment, huh? As expected.
I accepted it quickly and turned to the others. Seo Taehyun looked genuinely distressed, likely dreading the memory of his filming. Meanwhile, Doha, who had been spacing out, was chewing on his chopsticks instead of his chicken. Whatever they had done during the shoot, it must’ve been bad.
As much as I wanted to skip over it, the few bites of chicken I had softened me enough to offer mercy, handing over the choice.
“Should we keep watching or not?”
Seo Taehyun mumbled with an extremely troubled look on his face.
“…We have to monitor it anyway, right? But do we *really* have to? The production team probably edited it well enough. There’s no law that says I have to review everything I’ve ever been in, right? Right, hyung?”
“That’s a pretty irresponsible statement coming from someone who was about to monitor fancams earlier.”
Was he starting to take after me? He was talking a lot more when he got nervous.
At this point, I was curious enough about what those two had done, so I decided we had to keep watching. I gave Doha one last look before pressing play again. The guy who had been gnawing on his chopsticks had returned to his usual composed self, crunching on pickled radish now. Judging by his expression, curiosity about the episode had finally surpassed his embarrassment.
“Alright, let’s continue.”
With a determined nod from Doha, the video resumed.
After the title logo flashed on-screen, the next scene appeared….
– *Hahaha.*
– *?*
– *This is fun. Really fun.*
Jung Siwoo was seen grinning like the villain in a shoujo manga, laughing at the message card he had just read.
* * *
<2 Hours Earlier>
The scene rewound to show Jung Siwoo right after the first impression pairing match, taking his time alone in the “Solo Room.”
– *So I just stay here while the others talk?*
Jung Siwoo looked around the well-decorated room, plucking a book from a shelf as he settled onto a plush purple sofa. The camera zoomed in on him, focusing intently.
– *Camera Director: Hey, I told you not to zoom in so close. Keep it at mid-range.*
– *Camera Operator: Sorry, I did it without thinking…*
Caught off guard by his unexpected beauty, the camera crew’s flustered conversation played briefly in the background.
Unbothered by the commotion, Siwoo calmly turned the pages of his book. While other members like Seo Taehyun or Kang Hajin would’ve made an effort to create content, Siwoo seemed indifferent, casually reading despite the chaos.
But it wasn’t that he didn’t care about screen time.
– *Wow, you’re so handsome.*
– *Thank you for existing.*
– *Oppa, please stay single forever. We need you as a national treasure.*
– *I finally understand why Hajin hyung always praises your looks.*
…Siwoo knew very well that just sitting there and reading was enough to create content on its own, thanks to his face. The production team knew this too, as they ran the scene with a caption that read, *
– *Producer: Red Magnolia?*
After the brief beauty appreciation time ended, Siwoo’s producer finally spoke. Siwoo, who had been engrossed in his book, looked up. His ruffled bangs partially covered his light brown eyes, which he brushed back smoothly, looking like a god in a mythological painting.
– *Producer: Since Red Magnolia failed to pair up, you now have the option to choose one of the other six participants for a one-on-one conversation.*
At this point, viewers were familiar with this process. Siwoo had failed to pair up once before and famously called out to Doha with the iconic line, *“Hey baby, let’s go!”* during the solo turn.
However, the producer wasn’t done explaining.
– *Producer: However, Red Magnolia, you also have the option to forfeit this opportunity.*
– *Siwoo: Forfeit? Does that mean there’s an additional benefit for forfeiting?*
– *Producer: That’s correct.*
In an instant, the romantic youth vibe of the show took a sharp turn into thriller territory.
Accompanied by ominous sound effects and mysterious background music, Siwoo’s alluring expression added a layer of intrigue, making it feel like a scene from a suspense movie.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Siwoo’s lips curled into a mischievous smile as he made his decision.
– *Siwoo: Then I’ll forfeit.*
– *Producer: …Are you sure you won’t regret it?*
– *Siwoo: I don’t have much to discuss with anyone just from first impressions. Not knowing what the benefit is would be more regrettable.*
True to his bulldozer nature, Siwoo shook his head, smiling as if regret was a foreign concept to him.
Siwoo’s decision caused viewers to reconsider the
previous part of the story. While it had been mentioned that solo participants could choose someone for a one-on-one conversation, we had never seen Siwoo in such a scene before.
Most people assumed it had been cut for time, but now it became clear that there was a hidden twist.
– *So the benefit he forfeited led to Hajin getting that message clue?*
└ *Seems like it.*
– *But wasn’t Siwoo the only other solo participant? Didn’t the older members keep giving up their turns so the younger ones could pair up?*
└ *Wait, so they were trying to monopolize the hints by pretending to look out for the younger members?*
└ *No way… were they just pretending to care while secretly plotting to take all the hints for themselves?*
– *Actually, they didn’t monopolize the clues. The winning pairs from the mini-games also got hints, remember?*
└ *Right, that’s why Siwoo said Hajin would probably choose between Doha and Haru. Those two got the most hints from the mini-games. It wasn’t shown, but the guys were probably already sharing hints with each other.*
– *The hints are intense… they’re practically giving away the roles.*
– *What kind of hint did Siwoo get that made him say it was so fun? I’m dying of curiosity…*
As viewers guessed, Siwoo’s benefit for forfeiting the solo conversation was the same message card that Hajin had received.
– *Siwoo: ……?*
– *Producer: It’s a hint about this world and your true identity.*
At that moment, the background music reached its crescendo, and the camera zoomed in on Siwoo’s villainous grin as he read the card.
* * *
The screen transitioned back to the present, where Siwoo and Hajin were seated in the *Solo Room*, with their hint cards laid out in front of them.
– *Siwoo: Hajin, do you believe this hint is 100% true?*
The camera focused on Hajin as he raised an eyebrow in confusion. Without a word, Siwoo pulled out his own hint card and placed it over Hajin’s card.
– *Siwoo: Actually, I should rephrase the question…*
The camera zoomed in on Siwoo’s hand, placing his card on top of Hajin’s. As Hajin slowly lowered his gaze to read the message, the camera captured a close-up of the text on the card.
– *Siwoo: In *this world*… are you really Kang Hajin?*
It was a powerful question, one that threatened to upend everything about this mysterious, secret-filled world.