Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
54. Dongsaeng (5)
Cheon Dongha was a good senior.
Born with a brilliant brain and amazing superpowers, Cheon Dongha was competing with Yeom Junyeol for the 1st place in Eungwang School, which was overflowing with geniuses, talents and highly-gifted.
But Cheon Dongha never showed off his talents to the surrounding, or dismiss others using them.
Not only that, he was fair to anyone, considerate towards his juniors and had the tenacity to control Ma Jinseung and the corrupt version of Tao Wonu.
With this much, he was a person worthy of admiration, even if he wasn’t my Playable Character, so I didn’t understand what that dongsaeng, who was said to be my fan, was thinking.
‘I think he is a much better hyung than me.’
I was someone who didn’t answer my dongsaengs’ goodbyes to come back safely just before leaving the country.
Cheon Dongha, was someone, who worked hard to improve the relationship with his dongsaeng.
Among the two, it was obvious who was a better person.
How come such a good person wasn’t considered hyung?
Because I had a feeling I shouldn’t ask about other people’s family matters, I hesitated for a while, and then asked carefully.
“… What happened between You and Your Dongsaeng[1]?”
“Rather than something happening between me and my dongsaeng…”
Cheon Dongha’s words trailed off with a dark face.
“It’s a situation where it’s difficult for anything to happen.”
What did it mean it was a situation where it was difficult for anything to happen?
I couldn’t guess from those words only.
I abruptly recalled the conversation Cheon Dongha and Yeom Junyeol had about his dongsaeng:
— Dongha-ah, you have a dongsaeng? I thought you were an only child.
— … Just passing by.
In the current situation, when I recalled the conversation from that time, the feeling of incongruity I felt that day grew stronger.
‘Cheon Dongha and Yeom Junyeol are close. In PMH, the shock of Cheon Dongha throwing his life away was so shocking, Yeom Junyeol went into a runaway, so something is strange.’
There were two strange points at this time.
First, Yeom Junyeol didn’t know about Cheon Dongha’s dongsaeng.
Second, Cheon Dongha had an extremely bad expression and was very much trying to avoid mentioning his dongsaeng to Yeom Junyeol.
I felt it was strange, but thinking it was bad to dig into personal matters, I took a step back.
But Cheon Dongha mentioned his dongsaeng to me again.
Not only that, he offered me a position in the Guideline Club and research institute’s internship because of his dongsaeng.
‘… This may be Cheon Dongha’s rescue signal. I have to respond.’
I recalled everything Cheon Dongha mentioned about his dongsaeng.
— I was bothered because my dongsaeng is a fan of Unknown Supernova.
— Yeah. When I showed him an article about you, I got a good reaction.
— He is a year younger than you.
— I hope he will be able to take the entrance exam.
Cheon Dongha wasn’t very talkative, and he didn’t always talk about his dongsaeng, so there were few clues, but some information became known.
‘Cheon Dongha’s dongsaeng is a year younger than me and my fan. Moreover. He is probably in a situation where it can’t be guaranteed that he will be able to take entrance exam.’
In addition, I was bothered about the words ‘When I showed him an article about you, I got a good reaction.’
Because it seemed like there was no particular reaction if he didn’t show him an article about me.
‘Perhaps…’
It was still in the hypothesis territory, but I came up with a pessimistic idea.
As if my expression darkened, Cheon Dongha also made a bitter face.
“… When my dongsaeng ‘was discovered’, he was diagnosed with LIS(Lock-In Syndrome). Many things bother me about calling it Lock-in Syndrome, but currently my dongsaeng’s symptoms don’t diverge greatly from the symptoms shown by LIS patients.”
Lock-in Syndrome meant a state where consciousness, cognition abilities and mental functions are intact, but the physical functions are almost completely paralyzed.
Only eyes and eyelids could be moved.
There was a chance for it to be mistaken for coma, but unlike it, when consciousness was completely lost and one couldn’t react at all to outside stimulation, the mind of the person with Lock-in Syndrome was intact.
As its name, the person with Lock-in Syndrome was locked in their body.
But there was something else besides the LIS, which bothered me.
“What do You mean when Your dongsaeng ‘was discovered’?”
You usually don’t say that your dongsaeng was ‘discovered’.
It was as if Cheon Dongha didn’t know about his dongsaeng’s existence.
“He is a son hidden by my deceased father. I was late to learn and discover my dongsaeng’s existence. I made three tests with DNA left from my father’s remains[2] and… all results came out the same. That child is my half dongsaeng.”
Cheon Dongha spoke calmly, but those words were heavy enough to shock even me, who was listening.
Learning that his already deceased father had a hidden son and that son had LIS, I couldn’t imagine how shocked and pained Cheon Dongha was.
‘… So Yeom Junyeol didn’t know about Cheon Dongha’s dongsaeng’s existence, huh?’
Cheon Dongha kept talking calmly.
“I communicate with my dongsaeng through eye movements, blinking, and brain and superpower waves.”
“So when You said the reaction was good when You showed an article about me…”
“Yeah. It’s because I regularly show him newspaper articles, news and famous broadcasts to maintain his cognition functions and invigorate his brain functions.”
Cheon Dongha nodded slightly and continued.
“No matter what I say, there is no good reaction. Even when I revealed I was that child’s hyung, he always shows a negative reaction. Rather, his brain waves and superpower waves become chaotic. But…”
Cheon Dongha looked at me, who was wordlessly listening, with a bit of a complicated face.
“They were very good after I showed your article. Especially, when I showed the article about your victory in the Stalemate Chess Competition.”
“Why was Your Dongsaeng like this when You showed him my article…”
“I don’t know the reason either. I guess he liked the story of a year older middle school student’s dramatic survival during the practical exam.”
After those words, Cheon Dongha shut his mouth.
As if he was sorry for having an extremely heavy conversation with a junior in the morning, Cheon Dongha’s eyes were a bit downcast.
‘… Why is Cheon Dongha’s half dongsaeng my fan and not Cheon Dongha’s?’
It was possible that if there was a person of similar age, who left a somewhat heroic tale, one would idolize them.
Considering the situation Cheon Dongha’s dongsaeng faced, it wasn’t strange for him to be moved by the activities of, at the time, also a middle school student.
There was still something that bothered me about this conversation, but I decided to say something else, instead of pressing it.
“I wish to hear more details about Hwang Myeong Research Institute’s internship.”
At those words, Cheon Dongha’s face turned bright for the first time.
At the promise that I’d visit Hwang Myeong Research Institute in a while, Cheon Dongha’s face turned even brighter.
* * *
After confirming that Kwon Lena passed her retest, our class children were busy with preparing to watch Playlist.
The scene of Dokgo Miro receiving a new song from a composer for this week’s broadcast came out, and the very next day a teaser video including a part of the song was released on the official homepage, and the reaction was very good.
Our class children seemed to have even greater expectations to what kind of song Dokgo Miro would sing on the next week’s stage.
Kim Yuri, who perfectly coordinated the schedules and routes of the children, who were going to watch the live performance together, spoke with a bright voice.
“Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong-nim and teacher Yong Jegeon-nim said They would both come, so it solves the guardian problem!”
As the shooting went until late night, it was difficult for us, who were underage, to stay in the shooting venue until the end without guardians.
Luckily, because homeroom teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim and vice homeroom teacher Yong Jegeon were coming with us to the shooting venue, it was no problem.
As expected, my Playable Characters were extraordinarily considerate towards students.
“Isn’t Playlist shooting going until late? … Looking at all of it, I think I’ll come to school late, because I oversleep.”
“I’m fine with one night.”
“Can’t we just skip classes?”
“Teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim will be sad, so we can’t!”
Besides our class, Dokgo Miro was also the main topic of most of the school.
Even during the Newspaper Club’s activities, Dokgo Miro’s name kept being brought up.
On the Newspaper Club’s side, we planned to interview Dokgo Miro and Yeom Junyeol at the same time after the Playlist broadcast ends, and the two were said to gladly agree to it.
“It’s difficult to interview both of them right now just before the last broadcast, but they plan to give an interview together when it ends, sirs~!”
Mun Saeron met and interviewed Dokgo Miro, who I introduced to her.
At the time, Dokgo Miro was a strong candidate for the elimination, because she wasn’t able to reveal her skills in front of the camera unlike now, so her position was pretty subtle.
Even so, Mun Saeron took a polite and friendly interview with Dokgo Miro and put her heart into writing the article.
The interview instilled with Dokgo Miro’s personality and charm contributed to making her existence known at school.
‘Thanks to Mun Saeron writing the interview so well, it was even quoted in Playlist.’
After talking about Playlist and Dokgo Miro for a while, the conversation’s topic changed.
Mun Saeron spoke up to Hwang Jiho.
“Ah, Hwang Jiho-ssi. I enjoyed the article, sir~! Do you plan to show your face on official events from now on~?”
“Hahaha! I guess you saw that article, eh?”
“What? You appeared in an article?”
“Ah, I think I saw it. I thought he resembled him, but I guess it was really that guy.”
When the Newspaper Club’s children expressed their doubts, Mun Saeron floated up an article.
A photo of the announcement ceremony about Hwang Myeong Group Tourism department’s hotel business’ air hotel was attached to the article.
In the picture was Hwang Jiho sitting in the VIP seat and in a suit.
I guess this is what the highschool student version of the alter-ego was doing during the weekend.
‘… But is Hwang Myeong Group planning to create an air hotel? There was no such development in the game.’
It seemed that as Hwang Jiho was working, another thing changed.
Mun Saeron’s explanation continued.
“Hwang Myeong Group rarely invites reporters to official events. The VIPs almost never show their faces, so I was surprised that Hwang Jiho-ssi appeared, sir~”
“The thought was that ‘this one’s face should become well-known’, so I’ll slowly appear in official events. Because I may inherit the company[3] with this face.”
At Hwang Jiho’s words, the Newspaper Club’s children opened their mouths wide.
“Wow, Nim, you really look like a great company’s kid from this, sir~”
“Just from the tone, it’s already the next chairman.”
“Hahahaha!”
No way, was Jiho among the next chairman candidates?
‘Well, the current chairman is also Hwang Jiho so, that bastard is still that bastard, right?’
After the chaotic and turbulent Newspaper Club activities ended.
When I left the General Club Hall and headed to the Earthly Wings Hall for personal training.
“Ah, Uisin-ah! Good thing. I have something to talk about with you.”
The person who called me was the title hero Ju Su-heyok, my Playable Character who was worthy to be the real son of chaebeol.
“Korean Series starts this week, and I received my tickets. But it seems I won’t be able to go, as I’m busy, so…”
Currently, the Republic of Korea’s baseball world was in the post season.
After the wild card finals, semi-finals and playoffs, all that remained was the Korean Series.
The fighting team was ‘SZ Stars’ with the game company as their mother company, who advanced non-stop to the Korean Series, passing through the KBO regular league pennant race with the 1st place.
The team competing with them was ‘Ju-Oh Dragons’, who won and advanced from the playoffs.
It seemed that Ju Su-hyeok obtained tickets, as it was Ju-Oh Dragon’s match.
Ju Su-hyeok handed me tickets for the central seats during Korean Series 3rd game held in the home of Ju-Oh Dragons’ Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
“And I think it would be more meaningful for the class 0’s children to go rather than me.”
“Our class children?”
Ju Su-hyeok smiled softly as he spoke.
“Ye, the Playlist team was decided to come as the national anthem pitchman. And Miro will sing that national anthem.”
*~*~*
[1] Dongsaeng — capitalized, because a polite version is used.
[2] remains — 유품 (yupum) usually refers to a keepsake, memento after the dead.
[3] inherent company — probably nothing, as it’s a very normal phrase, but it’s literally ‘link (as in connect something or make a line) company’.
Translator’s note: Look at those two idiots thinking they’re unworthy of being hyung. I suppose that’s why the other has to be so shameless. To balance it out.
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