The Idol Who Returned from Hell – Chapter 208

Author: Dawn

A silence settled over the Gocheok Dome.

The thousands of paper airplanes drawing beautiful arcs as they flew toward us were nothing short of breathtaking.

“……”

“Wow.”

The other members just stood there with their mouths slightly agape, gazing up at the sky.

Only Yu Ha-woon let out a short, instinctive exclamation.

As the paper airplanes from the standing section B directly below the central stage began falling onto the stage, blue lights sparkled in the dark audience seats.

Our light stick, unanimously agreed upon by CENTIX and MILLENNIUM.

Twenty thousand clocks swayed quietly, all glowing with blue light.

And very slowly.

At first, it was just barely audible, but a song gradually grew louder.

「I’ve already turned another page of the calendar today

time goes too fast, I can’t catch it

Many things have changed

Both me and everyone around me

But I know

That there’s always a place to return to」

Sound made purely from fans’ voices, without any accompaniment.

Facing us who stood on stage gazing at the sky with blank eyes, MILLENNIUM began singing 〈Reminder〉 with voices filled with sincerity.

“……No, seriously, sniff. I was prepared, but this is pretty unfair.”

Seong-hwi let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.

His two eyes, which had always been filled with confidence and manic energy, were already brimming with tears.

Plop.

A neatly folded paper airplane landed in front of me and Kang Seon-woo.

Before I could react, Kang Seon-woo bent down and picked up the paper airplane.

“Look, look. There’s even a message written here.”

When Kang Seon-woo showed the airplane’s wing, the small text [To our eternal idols] came into view.

It was clearly handwriting that a fan had written by hand, one stroke at a time, not text printed from a printer.

‘Really, just like Seong-hwi said, it’s unfair.’

Why was this happening?

I had been deeply moved during the fan meeting too.

I had watched videos of everything we’d experienced up to now. The fans had sung fan songs for us, similar to now.

But something was rising in my chest that burned much hotter than back then.

“Is there something inside too?”

After saying those innocent words, Kang Seon-woo carefully unfolded the paper airplane.

The moment he checked the back of the paper.

His eyes, which had been sparkling brightly, shook violently.

“What’s wrong?”

“……”

No answer came to my question.

Kang Seon-woo just blinked rapidly and kept his mouth tightly shut.

Several paper airplanes had landed silently at my feet.

All the sky-blue paper wings had messages written on them.

I picked up the nearest airplane and silently checked the wing.

[To you who always shine]

Again, I felt my heart racing.

I slowly unfolded one paper airplane.

Then a lengthy letter hidden inside revealed itself.

“……!”

I could feel my pupils shaking greatly from encountering an unexpected situation.

Even as my fingers trembled slightly, my eyes began reading the letter filled with earnest feelings.

[Guys! Thank you so much for always being such great happiness to me with your unchanging appearance. I couldn’t possibly write down all the strength and emotion I’ve received in just one letter like this, but I still wanted to somehow convey these feelings. I was under so much stress while preparing for college entrance exams and it was difficult in many ways, but whenever that happened, I ended each day listening to your voices and hearing your laughter. Someone might think it’s just a short 3-minute song, but for me, it’s a song that changed my life. So I hope you’ll keep singing from now on. I’m sure it will be a source of strength for countless people, not just me. My idols, thank you so much for debuting and I love you. Whatever path you choose, I’ll always follow and cheer you on. You are my light]

The moment I silently recited the last words, I recognized that the thread of reason I had always maintained steadily was growing precarious.

My eyes grew warm in an instant.

‘……No, wait. Am I about to cry this easily? Really?’

Maybe it was because I’d been conscious of it from earlier.

I knew they must have prepared some incredible surprise event, but now that the existence of handwritten letters appeared before my eyes, my rationality was crumbling miserably.

“……Sniff.”

“Huh, what? What, what, what! I heard a weird sound from next to me just now!”

“Is Brother Si-hwan already crying?”

“Whoa, amazing!”

At Kang Seon-woo’s alarm-like shout, the younger members rushed over like a pack.

‘No, isn’t this way more moving than the fan meeting? Why aren’t you guys crying?’

It was unfair.

These were definitely the guys who had cried tears and snot during the fan meeting the moment the memory video started playing.

Why was I the only one perfectly ready to shed tears right now?

“Brother Si-hwan, lift your head.”

“……I don’t want to.”

Chae Ha-ru, who didn’t even pretend to listen to my refusal, gently touched around my eyes.

“Not yet.”

“What do you mean not yet?”

“I was planning to be the first to run over and wipe them when you cry.”

“……Why aren’t you crying?”

Chae Ha-ru had been the one who cried so hard during the fan meeting that he couldn’t even sing the chorus properly.

But now, for some reason, he was just smiling brightly at me.

“I’m planning to cry after seeing you cry.”

“I raised my younger brother wrong.”

“Who did I learn it from?”

Seeing that he wouldn’t back down from arguments either showed that he’d really grown a lot.

Just then, paper airplanes that shot up high from the right section of the central stage came flying toward us.

Ma Si-hyeok, who had been diligently collecting the precious airplanes, ran quickly to the right like a puppy seeing snow.

“Th-the written messages are different.”

With a trembling voice, he showed us the airplane’s wing.

The first batch of airplanes had been consistent with messages like [To my precious idols], [To CENTIX who always shine].

But the airplanes from the right side had different messages written on both wings.

[Always remember, we’re here beside CENTIX]

[We’ll tell you for life, who you are]

These were familiar words.

Something seemed about to emerge in my hazy mind.

The moment MILLENNIUM’s 〈Reminder〉 chorus brushed past my ears, I snapped to attention.

“Th-they wrote our song lyrics exactly.”

“Really. Ah, what do we do.”

Upon hearing Kang Seon-woo’s words, Yu Ha-woon hugged his knees and plopped down.

True to the youngest who always tears up easily, he was taking the lead in being ready to cry first, but suddenly he shook his head and stood up again.

“I absolutely won’t cry first today! I won’t cry, sniff! I won’t!”

Saying that, he stared intently at my face.

“Ha-ru said the same thing earlier, and now you too. Why do you all keep not crying?”

“Because I made a resolution that until Brother Si-hwan cries, I absolutely won’t cry first today!”

“Hey, you shouldn’t have said that.”

So that was it.

The fans were like that, and the members were like that too.

Everyone had been waiting for me, who hadn’t shed tears until now.

When we debuted.

When we received our first trophy.

When we won the Rookie Award.

When we won Artist of the Year.

They had been continuously waiting for me, who had always maintained composure.

An empty laugh escaped my mouth without me realizing it.

“Did I really not cry that much?”

“Of course! Honestly, when we were all crying at the fan meeting and only you were sniffling a little, I thought ‘Wow, Brother Si-hwan is really tough.'”

“Agreed. I was the first to start crying back then.”

Seong-hwi, who had been preciously holding five or six paper airplanes in his arms, patted my shoulder firmly.

“How long are you going to hold it in?”

“……”

How long, he asks.

I had definitely thought about it before. If there ever came a moment when I cried for the first time, it would definitely be at a concert.

Right now was exactly that moment.

The solo concert I had longed for so much.

This time spent with precious people was unfolding before my eyes right now.

I closed my eyes and raised my head high.

What had I wanted to do?

After becoming an idol, after achieving the dream of debut, what had I wanted to do?

After enduring that long time in hell, what had I wanted to obtain?

「You’re my reminder」

Our song rings out louder, like a sweet whisper.

I can hear the voices of the members laughing with overflowing emotion beside me.

I can feel the presence of precious fans filling this vast stage with tremendous love more than ever before.

Standing on stage with comrades who look at the same place.

Breathing together with people who always support that dream.

‘Because that’s finally proof that my dream has truly come to fruition.’

Thanks to this dream that I held in my heart even when I was about to end my life, I was able to get another chance.

And the magical conclusion of that story, the final destination of that dream, was now enveloping my entire being.

“……Guys.”

When I opened my mouth, a very stifled voice leaked out.

The younger members, who heard my uncharacteristic tone, turned their heads toward me with amazing reaction speed.

Seeing that somehow made me smile involuntarily.

“I have so many more things I want to say, but I’m sorry my head is fuzzy right now.”

Usually around this time, Kang Seon-woo’s cheeky comment should come in to break the emotion.

For some reason, that silver hairtail guy was also listening to my words with tears slightly welling up.

“I’m so grateful that you’ve been dreaming the same dream beside me until now. There were definitely times when I wasn’t a good leader, but thank you for always following me so well.”

“You were always the best.”

Ma Si-hyeok nodded his head very vigorously, and his face was so different from when I first met him.

That look in his eyes with no confidence whatsoever was nowhere to be found, and now he was just looking at me with eyes filled with emotion.

“There were many difficult moments and there’s no guarantee it will always be smooth from now on either.”

I smiled while making eye contact with each member one by one.

Not just the kind of smile where only the corners of your mouth turn up, but the biggest grin I’d ever made in my life.

“I want to keep standing on stage together until we can’t dance and sing anymore.”

Since I had lowered my microphone, MILLENNIUM couldn’t hear what I was saying.

But as if they knew I was conveying these sincere feelings, they were singing the final chorus of 〈Reminder〉 with their loudest voices.

“So, um. This is quite an embarrassing thing to say, but.”

The moment I tried to let the last sentence out of my mouth.

The emotions I had been firmly suppressing leaked out without me knowing.