Idol of the Heavenly One - vanish into fiction

The moment I saw the bewildered faces of the members and staff, I realized it. Baek Jae-heon had deliberately gone to Joo I-rip, got caught, and surrendered on purpose because he knew I would end up being the one to clean up the mess afterward.

And I also instinctively knew. I couldn’t let the situation become awkward.

“Baek Jae-heon.”

So I made up my mind.

“How much do you like me?”

A head-on approach.

Until this morning, I had decided I should stop getting entangled with Baek Jae-heon in front of the cameras, but now it seemed like a bad idea to just gloss over things. If I did, fans would definitely start saying something suspicious was going on. Well, technically, there was something suspicious, but if we showed our so-called ‘love line’ openly, maybe they’d think, “Oh, so it’s not actually real.”

“Myeong-hyeon hyung, you’re crazy!”

“Ah, Ji Myeong-hyeon!”

The members burst into laughter at my joke, and the staff followed suit. The chilly atmosphere instantly turned around. Even Baek Jae-heon was smiling faintly as he looked at me.

We lay side by side on the platform we had just finished clearing. The countryside air felt vast and empty, and the stars glittered as though they might spill across the sky. Perhaps because it was such a rare sight compared to the city, I found myself breathing deeper. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen a sky like this.

As I quietly gazed at the stars, I began to think.

Of all the countless stars in the universe, why was I born on this one, to live a life, die, and then reincarnate just to become an idol alongside Baek Jae-heon? How did an ordinary person like me end up here?

‘Someone who lived such an ordinary life.’

That’s what I had always believed. That I was just a plain, unremarkable person. If anything, my life has been less than average. But now, I was born into a normal family and living a life beyond ordinary—a special one. I stood beneath dazzling lights, hearing fans shout my name. Was that a miracle or a mistake?

A mistake seemed more believable. If this were truly reincarnation, I would have been born in the future, not at the same time as my previous life.

Maybe that’s why this feels less like reincarnation and more like possession. Like I’m living inside someone else’s body. Of course, I’ve been “me” since birth, so it must be me… yet sometimes it feels foreign. There are moments when I wonder if I’m really myself, or just a misplaced puzzle piece forced into the wrong spot.

‘…Could it really be a mistake?’

Lost in that thought, I heard Jae-heon suddenly speak beside me.

“I like you a lot.”

I reflexively turned my head.

“Huh?”

A sudden confession. On top of that, we were still wearing microphones, and the staff were filming us. My mind went blank for a second.

“You asked how much I liked you.”

Baek Jae-heon wasn’t even looking at me. His gaze stayed fixed on the stars.

“I like you a lot.”

…This was a broadcasting disaster. I bit my tongue to keep my expression steady. Jae-heon had just tangled things up again, right after I’d managed to smooth them over. What would the fans think if they saw this? And the staff filming us—what about them?

As I debated whether I should cover his mouth, Jae-heon continued.

“I’m really thankful.”

“……”

“For the fact that I can’t imagine this group without you.”

Ah, that’s what he meant. I exhaled a breath of relief. For a second there, I had pictured us holding hands and announcing our love before retiring from the industry.

Maybe he heard my sigh, because Jae-heon chuckled softly and turned to look at me. Then he spoke again.

“Really, I like you a lot.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Mischievous Baek Jae-heon.

“Thanks. For liking me.”

I replied to his confession sincerely. Thanking him for being glad I was part of the group, and for his words of affection.

The starlight above seemed even brighter.

***

Immersed in preparations for the comeback, we gradually managed to shake off the lingering traces of that gray-hooded figure. There were still moments when the memories crept up and made my skin crawl, but fortunately, the company had strengthened security so much that outside access was nearly impossible.

More importantly, each day had become so busy that we barely had time to breathe, and the anxieties of the past slowly faded away.