Chapter 326 ·Synchronization in Progress
Chapter 326: Synchronization in Progress... (1)
The first broadcast of Challenge Tour came to an end.
The moment I stepped into the living room, I was greeted by a pack of hyenas looking at me with predatory eyes.
The hyungs were clearly thrilled at the prospect of teasing me.
Cha Seongbin flashed a sly grin as he spoke.
“So, Do Seohan. Did you say hello to the ghost?”
“What did the ghost say? Did it say it'll be in your care?”
Seo Haim's eyes sparkled.
That hyung was almost as timid as I was, yet because it wasn't happening to him, he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
There was no way I was going to suffer alone, so I grabbed Seo Haim by the shoulder and said,
“The ghost said it wants to meet you too, hyung. Want to come work there with me?”
“Hm? No, I'm good.”
Seo Haim brushed off his shoulder with his hand and shook his head.
“Ugh, I feel like something's sitting on my shoulder.”
“It might already be there...?”
“Aah! Don't say that!”
Meanwhile, Jin Sehyun tilted his head and added,
“Seriously, how did you keep your frame of reference fixed...?”
He kept sighing, saying it made no sense logically.
With a serious expression, Jin Sehyun proposed one possibility.
“Could it be that the PD was lying?”
“People normally don't lie about things like that. It's an official TV broadcast, not YouTube content. If they got caught fabricating things, it'd be a huge headache.”
“Ah, true.”
In the end, the incident reached one unanimous conclusion.
“It was a ghost.”
“It was a ghost.”
“Gasp! It really was a ghost!”
“...You're all doing this on purpose, aren't you?”
Letting out a deep sigh, I turned the video back on.
To be honest, I'd already replayed that scene several times after the broadcast.
Viewers could casually say it was fake or edited....
But my position was different.
Because I clearly remembered exactly where I'd been looking at that moment.
You could even see it in the footage.
I was definitely looking over there....
But aside from the dim darkness, there was nobody standing there.
“No matter how many times I watch it, there's nobody.”
“I heard people saying that if you pause it at 3:17, you can see a figure for just a second. Apparently something flashes by really fast.”
“Really?”
Ha Junseo asked curiously.
Cha Seongbin nodded and rewound the video ten seconds.
“Let's check it out~.”
The infamous 3:17 mark.
As Cha Seongbin fiddled with the tablet, his expression gradually became serious.
“Huh?”
“What? Is there really something there?”
“Didn't something just pass by right there?”
“KYAAAAAAAH!”
Following Cha Seongbin's gaze, Seo Haim looked at the screen and immediately screamed.
Kang Siwoo's eyes widened.
“Is that really a ghost?”
“Gasp....”
Beside him, Seo Ian quietly covered his mouth.
Seongbin-hyung crooked a finger at me.
“Do Seohan! Want to see?”
“N-No thanks.”
Sometimes there were truths better left unknown.
If I watched that too, I seriously wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
Shuddering, I muttered,
“I'm never going to another Haunted House for the rest of my life....”
“Honestly, I'm more surprised you ever thought about going there in the first place.”
“Seriously though, how did you end up appearing on that program?”
Ha Junseo asked with a faint smile.
“Because it's your brother's show? Or was there another reason?”
I couldn't answer that question.
If you thought about it...
The root cause of this entire mess was actually that hyung....
Rolling my eyes, I dodged the question.
“W-Well... I guess you could call it loyalty?”
“Loyalty?”
Ha Junseo looked puzzled but didn't press the matter any further.
“Haa....”
If he ever found out how much I'd suffered trying to get that script for him...
He'd probably cry buckets.
I silently vowed that one day I'd definitely make sure to remind him of it....
“Seohan! There's a ghost on your shoulder...!”
“AAAAAAAH!”
First things first.
I'm sprinkling salt everywhere today.
Our Figure Out promotions ended successfully.
We'd even finished promoting the follow-up track on all the music shows.
That officially concluded the promotions for our third full album.
The only thing left was the repackaged album.
There was still some time before then, but considering the overseas tour schedule, things were actually quite tight.
Naturally, I assumed today's meeting would be about the repackage.
Instead, the expression on Manager Song Jinha's face as he sat down looked unusually grim.
Third-floor conference room at Double즈.
Jin Sehyun widened his eyes and asked,
“What is it? Did something happen?”
“Ah... We've run into a bit of a problem with your concert tour.”
Our domestic concerts had already concluded.
This had to be about the overseas tour.
“A problem?”
Swallowing nervously, I looked toward Manager Song Jinha.
The atmosphere among the staff wasn't normal.
Everyone's dark circles practically reached their chins.
Judging by that, they'd probably all worked overtime because of yesterday's events....
Seeing an emergency meeting being called only made me more anxious.
Finally, Manager Song Jinha spoke with a gloomy expression.
“It's about the Japan tour at the end of September. Just like we discussed before, we'd been preparing to rent Kyodera Dome, but... there was an earthquake there recently....”
“Right. The earthquake.”
I'd vaguely heard about it on the news.
It hadn't been severe enough to cause major casualties, so I'd never imagined it would interfere with our concert.
But the situation turned out to be more serious than I'd thought.
“They said part of one of the outer support pillars was damaged, so they're starting repair work.”
“...Then we can't use the dome?”
“Right. The construction period overlaps exactly with our scheduled dates.”
The atmosphere immediately became heavy.
It wasn't common for a concert venue reservation to be canceled in the middle of a tour.
Changing the schedule at the last minute only complicated things further.
I quietly listened to Manager Song Jinha's explanation.
“The options we've come up with so far are....”
The company had proposed two possibilities.
First, postpone the Japan concerts until next year.
Second, reduce the scale of the concerts and proceed on the originally scheduled dates.
Swallowing dryly, Manager Song Jinha continued,
“Completely canceling them is our last resort, so we'll probably do everything we can to hold them this year. The problem is... there just aren't many venues available for rent.”
Kyodera Dome had originally accommodated nearly 50,000 people.
The alternative venues Manager Song Jinha presented were certainly large enough.
But they could only hold around 20,000 people each.
Since the concerts were scheduled to run for three days, we'd lose a total of 90,000 audience members.
After doing the rough math in my head, my expression darkened.
We'd only barely expected to reach one million attendees by forcing ourselves through the Japan tour.
If 90,000 disappeared from the numbers I'd calculated back then....
We might not even reach one million.
“…….”
This was an emergency.
Ring... Ring...
The endless ringing finally stopped.
Gripping my phone tightly, I anxiously paced around in circles.
After slipping into a nearby lounge, I'd hurriedly called to pass on the news.
Kim Woochan answered a little while later.
—Oh, Seohan.
“Yes, sunbae.”
He must've noticed from the tone of my voice alone.
A concerned reply came through the receiver.
—What's wrong? Did something happen?
It would've been nice if we were close enough to chat casually.
Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding us weren't exactly positive.
When someone called unexpectedly, worrying came first.
Letting out a short sigh, I finally spoke.
“We've run into a problem with the overseas tour.”
—The overseas tour...?
“We were supposed to perform at Kyodera Dome, but it got canceled. The repair work overlaps with our schedule, so the venue isn't available anymore....”
—At this point, there's no way you'll find another one.
“Right. We can't secure another venue of a similar size.”
To begin with, even renting a venue that could hold 20,000 people meant Double즈 was paying a premium.
Concert venues weren't something you could rent as easily as an office building.
The real issue was still the numbers.
“We have to somehow reach one million attendees....”
—Have you calculated it?
“I don't think it's possible. No... it's nowhere close.”
—Haa....
Kim Woochan sighed.
That Achievement...
Counted attendance from a single tour.
Given the scale of it, our next tour wouldn't happen until at least next year.
If I missed this chance, there was no guarantee I'd still be alive by then.
I'd tried not to reduce people to numbers.
But when my own life was on the line, all those resolutions suddenly felt meaningless.
My fingertips had gone cold.
To be honest...
I'd completely lost my composure.
—When does the tour end?
“At the end of this year.”
Clutching my throbbing head, I let out a deep sigh.
“We have to somehow... make one million happen. No one wants this more than I do. But I don't even know what argument I should use to force it....”
My thoughts were in complete chaos.
Usually my mind worked fairly well.
But today, everything felt completely blank.
One million.
I'd come so unbelievably close to that impossible number.
I couldn't collapse here.
“I have to survive.
So I'll find a way.”
Swallowing hard, I spoke those words.
At that very moment—
I sensed a dark shadow behind me.
The chilling presence reached me a heartbeat later.
Maybe I'd been able to feel someone standing there for quite a while.
The problem was...
I'd realized it far too late.
I slowly lowered my phone as the shadow stopped directly behind me.
My entire body went cold.
“Hey.
What are you talking about?”
My heart dropped.
Seongbin Special Illustration