Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 263 The One Thing I Can’t Let Go (1)

Seon-woo and Yi-jun, along with the other members, looked at me with worried eyes.

“Hyung, we thought you would never wake up. We were really scared.”

“I thought you had some terminal illness.”

“Hey, don’t say things like that.”

“You could have contacted us at least once if you had the strength to work.”

“That’s true. You were too harsh, honestly.”

The four of them surrounded me and nagged. What did they have so much to say? I couldn’t help but laugh at their noisy complaints.

And soon, I felt like tears would spill out any moment, so I clenched my teeth and endured.

I knew too well that this was not reality. What I really wanted. What I had given up to protect what Lim Hyunsung had built for over 40 years. The tears welled up in my eyes as it became clear to me.

‘But even if I could go back to that time, I would make the same choice.’

That was obvious. There was nothing more important than the livelihood of the people who trusted me. More than my personal happiness or satisfaction.

That was the responsibility I had to bear for the employees of Joyoung Food, who followed me with only faith.

Without them, there was no way that Joyoung Food, which was practically a hole-in-the-wall shop in the neighborhood, could grow into a large corporation with tens of billions of won in sales.

I also had to repay the store owners who trusted only the head office and signed contracts with us, and I couldn’t ignore them, especially since a significant number of employees had worked for more than seven years in the company.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t choose you.’

Even if I succeeded, I didn’t know when I could open my eyes with Cheon Ise’s body. It was impossible for me to gamble on such a low probability.

I couldn’t look at the members’ eyes, knowing that this was not real, and feeling a heavy guilt.

‘That might be a bit pitiful.’

I remembered Yu-geon’s reaction when I said I had no intention of revealing this unbelievable secret to the Climax members.

I was a coward who lied to them for almost a year, and didn’t even give them time to say goodbye.

‘But that’s the right thing to do.’

My choice was not wrong. It was meaningless to regret and assume what-ifs, now that things had turned out this way.

I couldn’t be with them as a colleague anymore. But now that my face was revealed and their talents were widely known to the world, they wouldn’t lose their light as they did before, when no one knew these talented guys.

They might live their whole lives without knowing who the person they were with when they made a successful comeback as Climax was.

But as long as their future changed because of me, that was enough for me.

‘Ah…’

Maybe it was because of the excessive strain, the short time left until the disappearance, and the severe bleeding. It was hard to even lift my eyelids.

‘Not yet… There’s still some time left…’

Before I could even regain consciousness, my vision went dark.

“What are you watching? Is there something interesting on TV?”

Yi-jun casually asked Yu-geon, who couldn’t take his eyes off the TV, and sat down on one side of the sofa.

Yu-geon glanced at Yi-jun for a moment and answered with a strange expression.

“It’s not… interesting, per se.”

Yi-jun turned his gaze to the screen that Yu-geon was watching and saw that a breaking news was being reported intensively.

[The murder case surrounding the death of Lim Hyunsung, the former representative of Joyoung Food, who died last year, has caused a huge uproar. The police launched an investigation based on the information reported this morning at 11 o’clock.]

[There is also a strong opinion that the local police, who hastily concluded the investigation of the former representative’s death scene, should be punished.]

Yu-geon clenched the remote control, looking at the person on TV who looked exactly like the one he knew, with the same name.

He kept introducing himself as just a person A who died unfairly, so he thought he was a normal person.

He looked much younger than the one he saw, but when he thought of his attitude of looking down on himself and his old-fashioned way of speaking, he wouldn’t doubt it even if he said he was a 40-year-old man.

‘Why didn’t he tell me more about who he was until the end… Was it because he was too old. Or…’

As he listened to the following reports, more shocking stories poured out. The discrimination that continued from his childhood, and the threats from his family that persisted even after the estrangement.

It was revealed that the deceased had been suffering from family problems for a long time, and the follow-up reports questioned how the former representative’s death could have been treated as an accidental fall.

Soon, an announcement was broadcasted that an investigative program was receiving related information.

‘Everyone’s going crazy.’

The whole world was in an uproar. Some said it was creepy, some said it was scary, some said it was interesting, and the rumors followed one after another.

Where was Hyunsung, the one he knew, and what was he doing? He said today was the last day, but he didn’t contact him.

He needed me when he needed help, but now that the truth of his death, which was his real goal, was revealed, did he not care about some idols?

Was he okay with disappearing forever without even saying goodbye?

“Wow… That’s crazy… How can they do that for money…”

Yi-jun clicked his tongue as he watched the police announcement followed by the data screen. Immediately, a man who was the current representative and the half-brother of the former representative appeared, shouting.

“Are you kidding me? He’s not dead! Let go of me, just catch him and bring him here!”

[The representative of Jo Young Food was arrested and admitted to his crime, but suddenly claimed that the former representative Lim was still alive.]

[Let’s listen to the profiler interview right away.]

[The former representative Lim was already identified and cremated, so claiming that he is alive is suspicious and might be an act to fake his illness and plead insanity…]

[Everyone is appalled by the shameless attitude of the Jo family, who show no remorse.]

The man on the screen looked insane, his eyes completely gone. He was not in his right mind, as if he had crossed a river that he could never return from, even after a long treatment.

He screamed and shrieked, and suddenly looked at the police officer as if he saw the former representative Lim, and begged for forgiveness in a terrified manner.

The mother of the current representative, who was heading to the prison and was accused of murder accessory and embezzlement, also cried in front of the camera in a disheveled state.

The police were chasing the father, who was suspected to be an accomplice, but his whereabouts had been unknown since six months ago, and the report ended with the last interview of a resident.

‘…’

The former representative Lim died, and Cheon Ise became someone else, and everything went back to normal in less than a year.

Cheon Ise became a rude and irresponsible kid, and the people who did wrong paid for their sins, sooner or later.

‘Then what about me?’

And what about the Climax members? The Composition staff? Even if everything goes according to the natural order, the dead do not come back.

The remaining people would miss the person who disappeared, without even knowing where he left.

Yu-geon felt a bitter taste in his mouth and tried to get up from his seat.

“Huh…?”

The phone rang loudly.

As he lifted his closed eyelids, it was a peaceful and warm morning with the sun shining down.

The house was small and old, but the morning sun came in very well, and there was nothing lacking for the three of them to live.

‘Did you wake up?’

His mother, who was still too young to be called middle-aged, was packing her stuff in the living room.

‘Don’t skip meals even if I’m not here. I froze some soup and stew in the fridge, so just thaw them and boil them in the morning. Be careful not to get hurt when you use the fire.’

What his mother was packing was clothes, toiletries, and towels to wear when she was admitted.

‘I’ll be back after ten nights, so don’t worry too much. The doctor said it’s not a serious illness.’

A lie. She never came back home after that. She never got up from her bed after the surgery failed halfway, until she passed away. His mother was a person who never lost her posture.

‘It’s okay. I’m a little sick and I’ll get better soon.’

Before going into surgery, she tried to comfort herself by pretending not to be scared and acting like it was nothing. The young Hyun-seong stuttered to his mother.

‘When you come back from the hospital, I’ll prepare a discharge gift for you, so you have to come back home.’

His mother, who was pale in her patient gown, nodded weakly.

‘If I can’t come back home. Feed other sick people or poor people a lot of delicious food. I think I’ll be full just by that.’

The young Hyun-seong burst into tears and couldn’t answer properly.

He did his best in his short life that didn’t last a thousand days.

He made a place where no one would be left alone in the world, where they could rest for a while when they wandered, and he helped the children who were abandoned by the adults.

For some people, a meal might not be a big deal, but people can’t live without eating.

‘Someone might get hope and live on with a meal that is nothing to someone else.’

I hugged my mother, who was disappearing into the light, with a smile and no words, and begged her.

‘I’m sorry, don’t go! Please…! Take me with you!’

Then the light that wrapped around his body gradually shrank and became a small spark that he could hold in his hand.

‘You still have something to do.’

The moment the spark in his hand disappeared.

His eyes opened wide again.

“Huh…”

He gasped and looked around to see where he was. It was a hospital room he had never seen before. Was it another dream? He flailed his arms to check his body and saw some needles stuck in his familiar arm.

“Huh…?”

It didn’t make sense. What was this?

He instinctively brought his hand to his waist in the midst of his confusion.

“Huh…!?”

He felt the clear surgical scar on his fingertips.

What happened? He jumped out of bed and looked for a mirror, but a nurse who came into the room was startled and stopped him.

“Patient, you can’t get up suddenly! You might get dizzy, so you have to lie down and recover slowly!”

Uh, I couldn’t push her away and was dragged back to the bed, and I couldn’t understand what was going on, so I checked the name tag on the bed.

[Cheon Ise (23 years old)]

What? What happened? I lost consciousness next to my unconscious brother when there was about five hours left in the quest.

What happened after that? I tried to find out what happened by calling the system.

‘System!’

But no matter how much I called out, nothing happened. Not even the status window appeared.

‘System!’

I couldn’t stand the frustration and shouted out loud while the nurse was away to get the doctor.

“System!”

But this time too, there was no answer.