Chapter 327 ·Synchronization in Progress… (2)
Chapter 327: Synchronization in Progress… (2)
“What do you mean, one million people?”
At the words that came from behind me, I slowly turned my head.
There wasn't a mirror in front of me, but I didn't need one to know what my face looked like.
I had gone deathly pale and frozen in place.
Jin Sehyun's face had turned just as cold.
“……”
This was bad.
The person with the sharpest instincts in Stardust.
Even if I tried to brush it off as a joke, it would be useless.
I didn't know how much he had overheard.
But one thing was certain.
Jin Sehyun wasn't going to let this slide.
His icy voice alone made that clear.
“Overseas tour? One million people? What does that have to do with whether you live or die?”
“Th-that is….”
Hyung's gaze shifted to the phone in my hand.
I hurriedly pulled it behind my back, but Jin Sehyun had already grabbed my wrist.
“Give it to me. Who were you talking to?”
Snatch-.
My phone was taken away in an instant.
The call hadn't ended yet, and Kim Woochan's name was still displayed at the top.
…….
The other end of the line was silent. After hearing all this commotion, he probably couldn't find the words to say.
“Senior Kim Woochan?”
Jin Sehyun bit down hard on his lower lip.
“What kind of relationship do you have with him?”
He wasn't asking about our public relationship.
Jin Sehyun's voice trembled faintly with anger.
“What does our overseas tour schedule have to do with Senior Kim Woochan that you're reporting every single detail to him?”
“Hyung, it's just that….”
“Hey. Explain it properly.”
Anyone could see that he was confused.
Too much information had hit him all at once, and none of it fit together.
From the start, this wasn't something any reasonable person could accept.
Synchronization.
Parallel universes.
Regression.
Even I didn't know where to begin explaining.
“…I can't explain it.”
“What?”
Even if I told him, would he believe me?
More importantly, was this something anyone could accept normally?
I wasn't sure.
“Seohan.”
Jin Sehyun's voice dropped low.
I didn't need to hear him say it to know he was trying his hardest to stay calm.
With a deep frown, Jin Sehyun forced the words out.
“I don't understand.”
“…….”
“I heard what was said on that call. I should at least have some idea of what's going on… but I don't. None of it makes sense. It's like it all just bounces off me. I have no idea what anything you said means.”
Jin Sehyun let out a short sigh.
“Is this a situation where I should be angry? Or should I be worried?”
Both.
But I couldn't bring myself to answer.
Right then—
-You should be worried.
A voice finally came through the silent receiver.
Kim Woochan spoke again in an icy voice.
-The numbers aren't looking good right now.
“What?”
It was obvious he was looking at something.
Probably a warning window showing Synchronization rapidly increasing.
-Jin Sehyun! Listen to me carefully.
Jin Sehyun frowned at the urgent shout.
“Yes?”
-Whatever you're thinking, stop it.
-Those thoughts won't help at all right now. If you really want to help your member….
-Ah. Damn it.
Kim Woochan swallowed a groan.
-It's already too late.
“……!”
At the same time, Jin Sehyun's face turned completely white.
.
.
.
.
“Waaaaaaah!”
“Sehyun!! Congratulations on your debut!!!”
It was a concert hall filled with thunderous cheers.
Jin Sehyun stared blankly into space.
After swallowing hard with a reluctant expression, he slowly looked around.
He didn't need to think long to recognize where he was.
The venue where the final stage of the Stardust Project had taken place.
It wasn't that long ago, yet it felt impossibly distant.
The faint chill in the air.
His hands, cold from nervousness.
Back then, Jin Sehyun had been overwhelmed with the joy of debuting.
He had bowed over and over without stopping, greeting the fans who had supported him.
He had been happy.
But he hadn't been able to smile without reservation.
The people who had sweated alongside him for months.
At one corner of the stage… there were the final contestants who hadn't been chosen.
The world of survival shows was ruthless.
There were only seven debut spots, and everyone else standing there had to go home.
Some might have seen him as a perceptive kid who acted older than his age.
But back then, Jin Sehyun had still been young.
He didn't know what he should say to the eliminated trainees, so he avoided their eyes.
He knew how hard they had all worked.
Even making eye contact filled him with guilt.
Especially with the trainee who had missed debut by just a single rank.
Jin Sehyun looked toward Lee Dokyung, who had finished in eighth place….
“Hm?”
Only then did he realize something about this situation felt wrong.
The one smiling brightly with a hand resting on his shoulder was none other than eighth-place Lee Dokyung.
“Sehyun, congratulations on your debut. Let's do our best together!”
“Huh?”
Jin Sehyun rubbed both eyes with his sleeve.
If his eyes and ears weren't deceiving him, something was seriously wrong.
“Sehyun, let's work well together.”
“Congratulations on your debut.”
The people surrounding him were all smiling.
Among them was Lee Junhyuk, who had been eliminated at the first ranking announcement.
Even Kevin, who had withdrawn because of the drug controversy.
None of these people should have been standing on the final stage.
“Something's wrong….”
Jin Sehyun frowned and swept his gaze around.
Something was off.
No, there were far too many things that were wrong.
“Ian-hyung. Siwoo-hyung.”
For starters, the two people who absolutely should have been here were nowhere to be seen, while Lee Dokyung, who should have been eliminated in eighth place, was smiling brightly.
Jin Sehyun slowly scanned the area with puzzled eyes.
At that moment—
His gaze met someone standing there in a daze.
“…….”
It was Do Seohan.
The youngest member of our team, who had cried tears of joy during the final ranking announcement…
For some reason, he was silently crying.
“Hey, Seohan.”
Those weren't tears of happiness.
No.
They were tears so sorrowful that words couldn't describe them.
With a vacant expression, Seohan stared into empty space.
Jin Sehyun wanted to call out to him.
But he was too far away.
He couldn't bring himself to approach.
“Seohan, why are you….”
Right then—
“Ugh!”
A splitting pain tore through Jin Sehyun's head, and he groaned.
“What the hell is this….”
An overwhelming flood of information crashed into his mind all at once.
The scene before his eyes suddenly distorted.
Like a hologram made of zeros and ones, everything disintegrated and crumbled apart.
“Hah…!”
Jin Sehyun trembled violently as he gasped for breath.
When he came to his senses again, the location had changed.
It was a hospital.
.
.
.
“Do Seohan…. Could it be him?”
“Huh?”
With his fingers interlocked, Jin Sehyun muttered quietly.
Ha Junseo, looking half out of his mind, asked back.
“The name from the operating room?”
“Yeah. It's a pretty unusual name.”
The kid who had stood with them on the final stage of the Stardust Project.
They hadn't been especially close, but they knew each other.
He had no idea what happened to him after the audition program.
Judging by how quiet things had been since then, it seemed he hadn't continued down this path.
They hadn't spent much time together, but if he had to sum up his impression of him…
He had been a genuinely good kid.
Polite, quick-witted, and kind.
Of course, that was all there was to it.
Even if that kid really was the one inside the operating room…
So much time had passed that all he could feel was pity.
The miserable years had hardened Jin Sehyun.
Sometimes he had become sharp enough to seem cold.
Sometimes he had become almost excessively rational.
The members, who constantly caused trouble, had turned him into that kind of person.
He had become someone who no longer wavered over ordinary things.
Unlike him, however, Stardust's leader had never changed.
To the point where it was almost strange how someone like him had survived in this brutal entertainment industry.
The leader was unbearably soft-hearted.
And that was exactly why he was such a good person.
Even now, Ha Junseo was still worrying about Lee Junhyuk lying inside the operating room.
And—
“I hope it's not Do Seohan.”
He was worried about someone from long ago, someone he hadn't even been close with.
Lowering his head, Ha Junseo murmured softly.
“I liked that kid. He was kind.”
“…….”
“I wish we'd debuted together….”
The trainee who had finished eighth.
Jin Sehyun didn't answer.
It was an assumption that could never have come true in the first place.
And—
“…What a lousy team.”
Even if he had debuted here, so what?
It would have fallen apart like dust anyway.
Jin Sehyun let out a bitter laugh.
“I just hope he's living well somewhere.”
He agreed with Ha Junseo.
He hoped the person with that unusual name lying in the operating room wasn't him.
From what he'd heard…
The person who had been brought to the hospital together with Lee Junhyuk wasn't expected to survive the night.
But—
It kept bothering him.
The man sitting in front of the operating room.
He looked remarkably similar to someone Jin Sehyun knew.
Trying to shake off the complicated thoughts, Jin Sehyun shook his head.
“…….”
The predawn air was cold.
Perhaps, for someone…
It was the last night of their life.
---
“Do Seohan….”
Jin Sehyun quietly whispered the name.
Without a doubt.
For the first time, that name felt unfamiliar.
So he rolled it around slowly in his mouth before finally speaking it.
Do Seohan.
“…What are you?”
Damn it.
He came back to his senses too late.
Jin Sehyun pushed himself upright and gasped for breath.
“Hah… Hah.”
The horrifying memories had crashed over him all at once, and for a moment he had almost lost consciousness.
It felt like a dream.
No.
Maybe it had been some kind of hallucination.
But—
An indescribable sense of discomfort welled up inside him.
As if those memories had truly been real.
That overwhelming intuition gripped him.
“Ghk!”
His thoughts were interrupted the very next moment.
-Seohan!
Kim Woochan's urgent voice rang out from the phone.
-Seohan! Are you okay?
Only then did Jin Sehyun finally notice Do Seohan, whose face had gone deathly pale.
Jin Sehyun's eyes widened.
“Ugh….”
“Seohan!”
Clutching his chest, Seohan struggled to breathe.
He was in so much pain that one of his hands trembled violently as he staggered.
At that moment—
Everything that had felt so unfamiliar came crashing down in an instant.
Jin Sehyun's face turned completely white.
Instinctively, he reached out.
“Hey, Do Seohan!”
Stagger—
Do Seohan's body pitched forward.