Chapter - 57화 (57/150)
Thump, thump. With the drums starting up, Dansol waited backstage for his turn, jittery and on edge.
"Joo Dansol—!"
A few audience members seated off to the side shouted toward Dansol as he waited. Dansol, who had been too busy trying to keep the revised blocking in his head, widened his eyes and looked around at the sound.
"You look amazing!"
It was a fan with insane volume. Even though they weren't even in the front row, the voice was so loud Dansol could tell exactly where it came from—and their eyes met.
Was that… cheering?
After joining R-Match Survival, Dansol had experienced boos and indifference on stage, but he could count on one hand the times he'd been cheered for. To him, every single fan who called his name was precious.
Dansol broke into a bright smile and waved at the fan who'd shouted his name. But as the Zeus members' shouts rose with the majestic music while they performed their sword dance, Dansol felt his cue approaching and had to move to a spot where the audience couldn't see him.
Boom.
With the final strike of the huge drum that signaled the end of the grand music, a piano line announced Dansol's entrance—and a daegeum's strong notes rang out over it.
When Dansol appeared as the gumiho who lured generals into danger, Taeohh—turned away so the audience couldn't see—winked at him. It was for Dansol, who looked visibly tense the moment he stepped on stage.
At that, Dansol had to fight not to cry.
As he focused on the mournful music, the members who were in the hospital, his life before the regression, and all the unexpected things that happened after he came back scattered through his mind like a panorama.
To keep himself from thinking about anything else, Dansol forced his focus deeper into the choreography.
In the full scope of the stage, he was only a supporting role, but Dansol acted as if the gumiho he played was the true lead.
In the climax—where the gumiho, once loved by all the generals, accidentally harmed a human being, turned everything that had loved her into enemies, and met her death at the hands of Taeohh, the one she loved most—a tear dropped from Dansol's eye as neatly as if it had been planned.
Until another idol group came onstage to portray the general's true love on the now-empty stage the wicked gumiho had left behind, the audience applauded Dansol so loudly it felt like the stadium might lift off the ground.
The staff, who didn't know what was going on, also looked genuinely shocked by Dansol's acting—but in truth, it wasn't acting. Those were his real tears.
He didn't even know how he made it back into the waiting-room corridor. Staff and performers on standby kept giving him thumbs-ups and clapping as he passed, but instead of basking in it, Dansol slipped into the silent restroom tucked into a corner of the corridor and cried for a long time before he could come out.
When Dansol returned to the waiting room, Jisu was still there, just like he'd promised.
"Sol, good job! You did great."
"Thanks, hyung. But where's Daesu sunbae-nim?"
"That guy watched your stage and left. Said he had another schedule."
"Ah... then what about you, hyung?"
Dansol worried Jisu might be waiting to go to an after-party. Right now, he had no headspace for a post-performance celebration. He wanted to rush to the hospital where the members were.
"I waited to take you. Let's go to the hospital."
"Ah... I'm fine. I can take a taxi... you must be busy too, hyung..."
But Jisu, as always, read his mind a step ahead.
"I'm not busy. And if you get in a taxi looking like that, the drivers will pass out."
Only then did Dansol notice himself in the mirror. The fine white wig was completely tangled from him burying his face in it and sobbing in the restroom, and his eyes—swollen behind red lenses—looked frightening.
It felt burdensome to use Jisu as a driver, but he didn't have a choice right now.
"Let's take the makeup off on the way. If we can't leave now, it'll be rush hour and the roads will jam."
"Uh... hyung!"
With one hand holding Dansol's bag and clothes, and the other gripping Dansol's wrist firmly, Jisu led him down to the parking garage. Dansol followed without resistance.
How many cars did this guy even have? Seeing a different car from yesterday, Dansol silently marveled. He'd thought what he saw in Jisu's home parking lot was all of them, but apparently not.
"Then I'm sorry. I'll impose on you a bit, hyung."
"Yeah, good. Use me as much as you want."
{R-Match Survival Island Portal}
Is that Joo Dansol? Did we just see a gumiho?
⤷ When the tear fell, I thought this was a musical… Joo Dansol
⤷ He showed up for the shortest time then vanished, but Joo Dansol ate the opening ceremony
⤷ The concept fits so perfectly, I'm losing it ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
⤷ No but it was way too short ㅠㅠㅠ Please make a version from the gumiho's POV too
⤷ 2222 right?? Our gumiho had reasons too!!
Did you hear DinoSoul got into a pileup?
They were all supposed to practice for today's stage, but the other members got into a three-car crash while coming up from Busan. That's why they changed it right before the performance.
⤷ And he still did that well? Is Joo Dansol actually a genius? But then didn't Zeus's choreography change too? What the hell… scary… why are they so good...
⤷ Wait then was Dansol's crying not acting but real? Did everyone get hurt badly?
⤷ If you check the news link it doesn't look like there are major severe injuries, but seeing how smashed the car is… I have no words…
Joo Dansol's lines are insane
⤷ Best gumiho I've ever seen
⤷ Waiting for year-end award shows ㅠㅠㅠ But did you know? This music was made by Jegal Minhyeok
⤷ Yeah yeah I saw the caption too and freaked out. Is it all staged whenever something trends?
⤷ The island's that small—of course they knew what everyone was doing.
⤷ Maybe not. If you want to guess, fine, but don't spout bullshit like it's fact.
⤷ Isn't it obvious? Have you never had a job? Put a bunch of people together living and working in that kind of setup—of course it becomes "I'm doing this lately, you want to do this?" That's normal.
⤷ Why are you dragging "work life" into this argument… no matter what kind of life you lived, that's what we call illegal solicitation.
Joo Dansol's tear skill is better than most actors'.
Sorry for the clickbait title. That last part where he cried was so pretty I made a gif. I know DinoSoul got into a car accident and that's why he was teary, but the concept fit so well that just hearing the music makes me want to cry too ㅠㅠ
(Dansol tear skill.gif)
⤷ Yeah ㅠㅠ Joo Dansol absolutely needs to do a historical drama
⤷ If he does a historical drama he'd fit so well—one tear and he already built a whole backstory
⤷ Honestly I never understood why everyone kept chanting "Joo Dansol" so much, but now I kind of get it…
At that same time, in the hospital the members had been brought to, the broadcast showed Dansol's stage.
Woo Hyun had told him he wasn't hurt, but his leg was broken. Even while they were resetting his shattered right leg bone, Woo Hyun never let go of the video playing Dansol's stage.
The other members were the same.
"Ahhh, wait! Hold on! Time out! It hurts so much, doctor!"
When they'd been on the phone with Dansol, they'd endured it without even letting out a groan in case he worried—but once they got to the hospital, they all started whining dramatically.
"I haven't even touched you yet, sir."
"Ah... ahhh... it hurts even if you don't touch me! But still, you have to tell me when you are going to touch me! I'm not mentally ready yet—ughk!"
By the time Dansol arrived at the hospital, the members and Gilseong had already been moved into an inpatient room.
Thanks to the hospital's consideration, they'd been packed into a full eight-person room, but Gilseong suspected the real reason was that the hospital staff saw how loud the members were and isolated them.
"Hey! I'm watching that—why are you changing channels?!"
"I need to watch my drama!"
"Watch it on your phone!"
"I don't have data!"
Even the manager himself, after actually sharing a room with them, felt like he wanted to get discharged immediately. Gilseong suddenly found Dansol impressive.
When Dansol entered the room, the members went quiet like they'd never fought at all.
"Hyung! Are you okay?"
"Uh... I'm fine. Just bruises."
"You said you weren't hurt! Is this 'not hurt'?!"
Dansol pointed at the members lying there, each with a cast or two on.
It looked like tears would spill from his eyes any second. He'd gone on stage alone without even knowing it was this bad.
Even though it was a stage he'd climbed while dreaming of the day he'd stand as a main with his members, he couldn't shake the feeling he'd left his injured members behind and gone up there alone to enjoy it—like some selfish person.
"Hyung! Your stage was seriously amazing!"
Minjae was trying to soothe Dansol, knowing he was about to blame himself.
Dansol was about to yell that this wasn't the time for that, but all at once, the members' gazes snapped to something behind him.
They looked like they'd seen a ghost, frozen, only their eyes moving—when Minjae murmured quietly,
"H-Han Jisu... it's Han Jisu!"
"Han Jisu? Am I your friend?"
Minjae pointed at Jisu, too shocked to think, and Jisu—like he'd prepared it somewhere—set down a fruit basket and said flatly.
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