The Way to Save the Crazy Returnees – Chapter 56 – Return of the Heavenly Demon: Ten Thousand Demons Bow (3)

Author: CleiZz

In the end, Han Yeong-won couldn’t leave Kang Ye-seong’s body.

“You said he hates doing aegyo?”

“I never said he hates it—just that he’s terrible at it.”

“Hm.”

Han Yeong-won rested her chin on one hand, looking troubled.

When she had performed that outdated ‘1 + 1 = cutie’ aegyo, Lee Man-deuk had instantly snapped a photo. Now, he said nonchalantly,

“Then show his abs instead.”

“What?”

“Muse hates showing skin.”

It was true—among all the Victory members, Kang Ye-seong was the one who disliked exposure the most. But for some reason, that damn magician looked like he was trying to use this chance to satisfy his own curiosity.

‘No way… that has to be my imagination.’

I was about to stop Han Yeong-won before she cluelessly lifted Kang Ye-seong’s shirt to reveal his abs when—

“Hey, you piece of shit,” she called out to me. “What should I do?”

“Well…”

It was true, as Lee Man-deuk had said, that Kang Ye-seong hated doing things like that. But that wouldn’t help in this situation. If Han Yeong-won did something foolish in public, it might shock Kang Ye-seong awake, but…

“For now, could you start by memorizing the choreography?”

It was clear that getting Han Yeong-won out of Kang Ye-seong’s body would take time. Until then, she had to act as Kang Ye-seong. No—she had to.

Considering today was Victory’s final performance on Show! Champion Music! and that there were still commercials and variety shows lined up afterward, she had no choice but to keep up the act. After all, this entire mess had started because of Han Yeong-won’s Soul Dominion Art.

“Choreography?”

Han Yeong-won tilted her head. I kindly pulled up Victory’s practice video to show her.

“Today’s their final stage for the follow-up song.”

“Oh, right!”

As if he’d momentarily forgotten, Lee Man-deuk clapped once, then shot Han Yeong-won a threatening glare.

“Hey, you. If you ruin their stage, you’re dead. It’s their last music show performance today!”

“And what exactly do you expect me to do about that? Also, do you seriously think I could be killed by the likes of you, Sapa?”

Han Yeong-won scoffed, her tone full of mockery.

“…What the hell is a Sapa, and why do you keep calling me that?”

Lee Man-deuk asked irritably, but I just shrugged, pretending not to know. If he found out that what she was calling him was basically an insult, things would definitely get ugly.

“You piece of shit, ignore what that Sapa man says and hurry up and show me already.”

“Sorry?”

“The choreography.”

Arms crossed, Han Yeong-won spoke with absolute confidence.

“I shall perform a sword dance so magnificent that you’ll never see its equal again in your lifetime. So it would be best for you to show me the choreography I must learn—quickly.”

“A sword dance?”

Lee Man-deuk furrowed his brow slightly.

“To put it simply, it’s a dance performed with a sword.”

“CEO Kwak, do you think I don’t know that much?”

Whoops.

I’d mistakenly treated Lee Man-deuk’s intelligence as being on the same level as Seo Do-hwan’s. But Lee Man-deuk, a returnee several times smarter than Seo Do-hwan, wasn’t someone to be underestimated. Though not as sharp as Lee Yoo-seong or Kang Ye-seong, the star mage—who possessed a reasonably clever mind—grumbled in a tone of discontent.

“What I’m saying is, there’s no place for a sword dance in Victory’s follow-up song, Cheol-i.”

“That’s true,” I admitted.

“So how the hell is she going to perform a sword dance?”

“That’s what I’m curious about too.”

Cheol-i was an electronic hip-hop track that, as its title implied, took direct aim at Kim Sang-cheol, the CEO of their former agency, KING.

Unlike U Know, this one featured sharp, synchronized choreography and a powerful stage presence that had gone viral for its intensity.

There was simply no room for a sword dance in Cheol-i. You could technically force one in—but it would clash horribly with the music.

Yet Han Yeong-won only looked triumphant, as if she had everything figured out.

“What are you waiting for, you piece of shit? Hurry and show me the choreography. I shall graciously perform a beautiful sword dance for you ignorant fools.”

“Fine, just the first verse then?”

With an openly annoyed look, Lee Man-deuk played the Cheol-i choreography video without another word.

Snap!

The mage snapped his fingers, and a hologram appeared before us. Inside it, Victory’s members were performing Cheol-i on stage.

“Hah. As expected of a Sapa bastard—using such cheap, lowly tricks.”

“The hell did she just say?” Lee Man-deuk scowled. “Watch the choreography you’re supposed to memorize. You—right there.”

“I suppose I’ll have to mimic the dance moves of that trash in the center.”

“Who are you calling trash?” Lee Man-deuk’s face twisted with anger.

Han Yeong-won only snorted, completely unfazed by the furious mage. The video ended.

“Should I play it again?” I asked.

“Why are you taking credit when I’m the one who played it, CEO Kwak?”

He was being so damn cranky. I was about to gently coax the ill-tempered mage when Han Yeong-won spoke up.

“No need.”

She shook her head and stepped into the center of the practice room.

“Piece of cake.”

Then, with a cocky expression, she crouched down and mimicked the opening pose.

“Play the music.”

She ordered flatly.

“This chick, seriously…”

“Calm down.”

After calming Lee Man-deuk, I did as she said and played Cheol-i. The hybrid trap track with its divided EDM beats kicked off with a burst of energy.

―♩♬♪

Still crouched, Han Yeong-won rose smoothly with the beat. And as she had boasted, a sword dance unfolded. Though she held no sword, it felt as if she did. True to her confident words, Han Yeong-won performed a breathtakingly beautiful dance.

Finally, the ending hit.

Gae— Cheol-i, Cheol-i, Cheol-i

Ge— Seorit, Seorit, Seorit

Our Cheol-i, in the end (shh)

Got Caught?

The song closed with the signature pose that had gained so many fans. Han Young-won’s dance ended right along with it.

Silence filled the practice room. I quietly asked Lee Man-deuk, “What did you think?”

“…Muse really does have beautiful lines when he dances,” Lee Man-deuk murmured, dazed.

It was true—Kang Ye-seong’s dance lines were famously beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that even Lee Nak-hwa, Victory’s main dancer and a dance major, was impressed whenever he worked on new choreography.

Among Victory’s individual member fancams, Kang Ye-seong’s always drew the strongest reactions. Of course, the other members’ fancams did well too, but the praise for his dance lines always stood out above the rest.

Anyway—

“Mr. Lee Man-deuk, the dance Ms. Han Young-won just showed is very different from Kang Ye-seong’s.”

“But it was still pretty.”

“Ms. Han Young-won? Or Kang Ye-seong?”

“Muse, obviously! Who cares about this Han Young-won or whoever!” Lee Man-deuk shouted, his eyes sparkling. “She could go on stage like that—she’s already memorized the choreography!”

To Lee Man-deuk, it seemed simply beautiful. Kang Ye-seong’s face alone was probably a source of light and energy for him. Even so, I was worried.

“What are you so worried about?”

“The thing is…”

As mentioned, Kang Ye-seong’s dance lines had a flowing elegance, like water in motion. Even in the electronic hip-hop track Cheol-i, that quality stood out.

But what Han Young-won had just performed was different. Her dance was, quite literally, a sword dance. Of course, a sword dance, as a form of court dance, had its own beauty—but still…

“Didn’t he look like a maniac swinging a blade?”

“Who? Muse?”

Lee Man-deuk’s eyes widened. I quickly corrected myself before the crazy mage misunderstood.

“I mean, the dance Ms. Han Young-won performed while inside Kang Ye-seong’s body.”

Lee Man-deuk shot me a glare that said, Keep talking and you’re dead. It was the look of someone who would not tolerate a single insult toward Kang Ye-seong. Honestly, I wanted to pull out the stun gun in my coat pocket and zap the mage right then and there.

‘Calm down.’

Lee Man-deuk was a patient.

‘Though it seems he’s healed some of those injuries from Ji Geon-hyuk with magic.’

Even so, he was still a patient, so I swallowed my irritation and continued.

“Cheol-i is a song about Kim Sang-cheol dodging his crimes and running away, only to get caught by the police and face punishment, right?”

“So?”

“The dance Ms. Han Young-won showed… how should I put it…”

It didn’t feel like she was expressing Kim Sang-cheol getting caught and punished by the police. Instead, it felt like she was personally taking him down with her own hands—

like a mad executioner swinging a blade.

“Anyway, I’m worried.”

“What you should be worrying about, CEO Kwak, is getting that damned thing out of Muse’s body.”

“Well, that too.”

I sighed and glanced at Han Young-won. For some reason, she was grinning ear to ear, looking ridiculously proud of herself.

‘It’ll be fine, right?’

After today, Victory was supposed to go on break—to rest and prepare for their year-end concert. Each member was finally getting time to recharge. But if Han Young-won ruined their final stage before the break…

Kang Ye-seong would be furious.

Who knows—

“Is it strange that I’m okay? Shouldn’t you be relieved that at least I’m fine?”

His personality could end up completely wrecked. That absolutely could not happen. I shook my head and played the music again.

“Ms. Han Young-won, please—just one more time.”

“Hmm.”

She looked at me with visible annoyance.

—♩♬♪

As soon as the music started, she bent her knees and sat in the center of the stage. It seemed she had taken a liking to Cheol-i’s choreography.

Gae— Cheol-i, Cheol-i, Cheol-i

Ge— Seorit, Seorit, Seorit

Our Cheol-i, in the end (shh)

Got Caught?

Han Young-won crossed her arms as if she were bound, reenacting the choreography. She hadn’t practiced with the other members, which worried me a little—but her dancing itself was flawless.

‘Aside from still looking like a maniac executioner.’

Even so, I reassured myself.

‘It’ll be fine.’

But I had no idea.

On the final Cheol-i stage of Show! Champion Music!, Han Young-won performed in Kang Ye-seong’s body—

“Waaaahhhh!”

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Mommyyyy!”

—and ended the stage by randomly revealing the abs Kang Ye-seong had been secretly hiding.

And after Victory even took 1st place—

“Congratulations! Today’s Show! Champion Music! No.1 goes to Victory! Let’s hear a comment from the leader, Muse!”

“The Heavenly Demon has returned, and all demons shall bow!”