Lee Sejin also speculated about the 'secret' of Park Moondae in his own way.
And some of them were unrealistic, but he thought they made a lot of sense.
'Is he Park Moondae's cousin?'
In fact, Park Moondae, whom he knew, was older than him, but it was speculated that he was using the identity of his dongsaeng due to the situation.
Of course, when he recalled the reason, the reasoning was fuzzy to an absurd level, so he quit right away.
'Because he said he'd tell me.'
While listening to those words, he accurately picked out Park Moondae's sense of incongruity and was recognized by him.
Still, because he had been guessing for a while, there was a time when even a spy from North Korea suddenly came up in his reasoning.
Amnesia, overdoing it to produce results, and even controlling public opinion fit perfectly.
Of course, he immediately laughed and passed it on.
'It's not a drama, so why would he be a spy?'
But now, Park Moondae said something more unrealistic than that.
-I am not Park Moondae, I've returned to the past.
It was a remark worthy of a pseudo-religious leader.
He broke out in a cold sweat.
'What?'
A dream… Weren't dreams usually like this?
Lee Sejin unknowingly turned his hand behind him and pinched his thigh.
'Ah, damn it.'
… It hurt.
In the meantime, Park Moondae continued to speak.
"… I was originally a civil servant named Ryu Gunwoo."
"… …"
"The video call you saw yesterday was with that body, and the original Park Moondae is in there now."
Lee Sejin tried to answer calmly.
"Ah… Really?"
Why did he say 'really'? He was about to freeze to death.
He had to think properly and react, but this was just what came out of his mouth.
Lee Sejin stood still and tried to figure out what Park Moondae meant…
"Yes. I can make a video call again right now if you want. Shall we check?"
He was going crazy.
"… Hmm."
Lee Sejin was confused. Now he was speechless.
At that moment, Park Moondae, who was looking at him in a daze, smiled bitterly.
"You don't believe me."
"… !"
"Well… I thought so."
Park Moondae said as if it was not a big deal.
"That's why I've been putting off talking until now, and there's no particular visible evidence. It is all testimony."
But the body language of the other person said otherwise.
His friend was in a cold sweat.
'Ah…'
Lee Sejin was completely dizzy. And contradictory, but at the same time, he woke up as if he had been electrocuted or iced.
Was Park Moondae, the person he knew, the kind of person who would say something that would not work in this situation?
'No.'
Absolutely not.
There was no way the guy who performed concerts without hesitation even with cracked ribs, and the guy who kept up his schedule even though he couldn't sleep as if his dreams were disturbed would do something like that.
He had never seen anyone who lived as fiercely as Park Moondae.
And if he wasn't mistaken, his friend was sincere now.
"I knew you would suspect it was a mental illness. But…"
"No."
"… …"
Lee Sejin moved his legs and walked towards him.
Then, with the table in between, he sat across from Park Moondae.
"I will listen, so speak slowly."
"… !"
Then, after a brief surprise, a faint expression passed on Park Moondae's face.
He smiled.
It was a brief relief.
"Is that so?"
And Park Moondae's words became a little more natural.
"Then… To start with, it was a few months before Idol Co started when I woke up as Park Moondae."
From then on, the story started to unfold from an unexpected perspective on a story that Lee Sejin knew well.
The circumstances of Park Moondae, who participated in
Of course, there were stories that were hard to understand.
"If I didn't become an idol, I would die."
"Mmm."
He said that some kind of instruction floated in the air, but Lee Sejin kept his mouth shut because the symptoms of psychosis really came to mind.
'That is… Is it schizophrenia?'
Of course, Lee Sejin was not interested in this field and had no intention of looking into it, so I couldn't be sure, but fortunately, he was able to soften the impression soon.
This was because Park Moondae did not appear to be suffering from delusions of persecution or going back and forth.
More than anything, he didn't want to question Park Moondae right now. He thought that he shouldn't.
So instead, he just listened.
With a light welcome.
"Okay."
"Hm, that's right."
He even made a joke like this.
"Then, is that why you became close with Ahyeon? Was he doing well in the future?"
Although, of course, there were hidden meanings.
At that time, Park Moondae looked at him with a slightly comfortable face and smiled.
"I had no intention of becoming friends, but somehow we ended up being tied up together."
Park Moondae said that some of the debutants he had heard of as a public official weren't Lee Sejin or Seon Ahyeon.
"Ah."
He didn't intend to do it in this situation, but it was a little pleasant.
In the end, whatever the truth, it meant that it was really Park Moondae's pure kindness that solved the photoshopped picture of his cigarette.
'It's funny, really.'
Even while listening to these unrealistic stories, he was immersed in the end and argued about these things.
In the meantime, the story of Park Moondae passed his debut and entered the TeStar activity period.
And among them, there were contents that were so unrealistic that they seemed to fit one empty spot in a puzzle.
"He's the guy who came back to the past before me."
"… !"
VTIC's Cheongryeo.
"… … Cheongryeo."
"I guess sunbaenim didn't want to be stuck with me."
"What kind of sunbaenim is he? Really…"
After all, he was a real madman.
Park Moondae only informed him that Cheongryeo had returned to the past in moderation. And he drew himself to the point of intimidation to know about the future, but Lee Sejin read between the lines.
The nonsense of Cheongryeo.
'… Isn't he a psychopath?'
If Park Moondae did not properly inform him of his future knowledge, he might have really tried to kill him out of anger.
Goosebumps ran up his spine.
However, Park Moondae's attitude was bizarrely gentle.
"Don't worry, he's managed to get his act together."
It wasn't a simple 'reporting it, we'll lose too, so let's move on'.
Park Moondae's unique generosity in close human relationships.
'… They shared the same experience.'
Lee Sejin hit it short and suppressed the rising antipathy.
In fact, even now, his sense of reality had long since exceeded the permissible limit, so it was a moment to go over it instead of arguing.
Besides, the next bomb was waiting.
"And speaking of Chungwoo hyung… He is my relative."
"… !"
"We're in the same Pungsan Ryu clan. It was closer than I thought."
As if putting another puzzle together, the situation became clearer.
Why Park Moondae was reluctant towards Ryu Chungwoo, and after becoming roommates recently, they quickly became close.
And when the two of them went out.
"… We went out to meet Ryu Gunwoo."
"… …"
Park Moondae did not bother to mention the accidents of his parents and Ryu Chungwoo, but the structure was sufficiently completed with just that.
'So, Chungwoo hyung…'
Oddly enough, has his attitude toward Park Moondae changed recently?
All circumstances fit. In the end, Lee Sejin emotionally acknowledged Park Moondae's excuse that he was 'caught'.
In addition, Park Moondae also took care of the explanation for the next person.
"Bae Sejin hyung knew during Chuseok. I was at hyung's house. He doesn't know the details at all."
"… …"
Having gone there, Lee Sejin began to feel even a slight sense of shame.
'It wasn't anything special, but… …'
The explanation of Park Moondae he had heard so far was unrealistic enough to doubt his ears, but there was a neatness that came out of agony.
Lee Sejin could easily picture how nervous he must have been to tell this nonsense to him.
'I shouldn't have done that.'
He murmured frankly.
"… I'm sorry. I rushed you."
Park Moondae laughed.
"You deserve it. When else would I get to tell you?"
Even after that, Park Moondae's experience was organized through his mouth.
In fact, Park Moondae omitted daydreaming in his coma and some truth-checking that didn't need to be said, but the content was still extensive.
And Park Moondae was always sincere, and it could be seen that he tried to answer Lee Sejin's questions truthfully without evasive words.
Often seen when bluffing or lying… There was no obsession with useless details or repeating the same words.
"… …"
Thanks to this, Lee Sejin found himself completely immersed in this unrealistic story.
And the story has flowed to the most recent incident.
Park Moondae, who briefly returned to Ryu Gunwoo's body.
"… So, I came back to the point where we won the grand prize and gave my acceptance speech. That's why I suddenly forgot the choreography."
Park Moondae, who should have arranged the end like that, finished his speech as if he was relieved.
"This… It's my 'situation'."
"… …"
Lee Sejin looked at Park Moondae.
Then he got up and brought him water. Park Moondae did not hesitate and took the plastic bottle and put it to his mouth.
And until Park Moondae almost emptied half of the water, Lee Sejin silently organized his thoughts.
'How is it?'
He was dying of confusion. He couldn't quite understand… He wondered how unrealistic it could be.
'I don't think a movie would sound like this either.'
He was immersed in it because of the speaker's attitude, but his head was saying something else.
As Park Moondae said, there was no visible evidence.
But…
"Now I see. Did you put it off because you thought I wouldn't believe this?"
"… …"
"Certainly, Moondae knows me well. But… you should have known this as well."
Lee Sejin smiled.
"I really believe in what Moondae says~"
"… … !"
How realistic was it that Lee Sejin, who debuted successfully and was touring and performing concerts in front of tens of thousands of people as a popular first-tier idol?
If he had known the future half a year before
But he didn't.
'I did it with him.'
Perhaps that was more unrealistic for Lee Sejin.
So he stopped laughing and answered seriously.
"I've always done that, so I will continue to do the same. I believe in you, Park Moondae."
"… …"
Lee Sejin added a joke.
"Again, if I believe you, the results are always good. Wouldn't all the members think so? Park Moondae should have done better."
At that moment, Park Moondae laughed.
"… Thanks."
Park Moondae emptied half of the remaining water.
Lee Sejin pretended not to know that the hand holding the plastic bottle was shaking slightly.
Instead, he realized again how ridiculous he was being convinced by what he heard.
'I'm not sleeping.'
All sorts of thoughts and reasoning seemed to be going on all night, but Lee Sejin didn't show it.
Then, it seemed that Park Moondae started to tell all kinds of thoughts.
"You must have known it when you heard it."
His friend, who had crumpled a plastic bottle, muttered hesitantly.
"I didn't originally intend to become an idol. You may be disappointed."
What the hell was he talking about?
"Park Moondae, are you an idiot?"
"What?"
"You love being an idol so much, but you're saying something like, 'I didn't mean to do it originally~'."
"… !"
"There's no one here who has wanted to be an idol from the very beginning… If you're trying to live, it's fine, it's fine."
Park Moondae's expression became a bit bewildered.
"Anyway, what should I call you? Should I call you Gunwoo? Gunwoogunwoo?"
As if he deliberately told Park Moondae to make him hate it, Park Moondae was actually a bit fed up.
The atmosphere lightened a bit.
"It's okay. I've lived like this for years."
"Okay. It's because we're from a survival show, but everyone uses stage names these days. Park Moondae is also your name."
"… …"
"Isn't that right, Moondaemoondae?"
"… Yes."
Lee Sejin smiled.
In fact, he suddenly had the urge to ask if he really hadn't heard anything about him before returning to the past, but he held back.
'It wouldn't have been nice.'
If it hadn't been for Park Moondae, he would have voluntarily dropped out due to controversy over school violence… Even if Park Moondae knew about him, it would not have been very good news.
So instead, he said this.
"Thank you. It must have been hard to tell, but you still told me."
"… …"
"Honestly, it was dizzy to say something like 'There are words that only I can see in this world', right? I could see that you were completely embarrassed… Ow!"
"You're noisy."
"Haha!"
Avoiding Park Moondae's hand, Keun Sejin smiled coolly.
That day, Park Moondae and Lee Sejin had a long conversation before going to bed to get in shape for the concert.
"Then how old were you originally?"
"… Before I returned, I was 29 years old."
"Oh, how should I address you? Hyung?"
"It's okay."
"Wow… Okay. After all, you're a professional idol. It's best to be young than to be treated like an elder… Wow! You dodged it this time!"
"Stop."
It was mostly nonsense. However, it was a strange feeling to have a personal story that he had never heard before subtly unravel.
"… You're from a very prestigious university, Moondaemoondae! Isn't it a waste?"
"It's not a waste. Not even money."
Park Moondae seemed comfortable.
So Lee Sejin didn't have to regret getting angry with his friend over useless things.
There wasn't a drop of alcohol, but the conversation flowed well and ended with a deep foundation.
It was a new layer of trust.
And the next day…
Unlike yesterday, Lee Sejin recovered his original sense on the stage where he went up without any awkwardness.
'Good, good!'
He put Cha Eugene and Seon Ahyeon on both sides to show off a nice ad-lib, then came down humming after a splendid encore.
And the moment he tried to find Park Moondae…
"Looks like you guys did a good job reconciling."
"… !"
Lee Sejin looked back at the leader of the group who briefly tapped his shoulder.
Ryu Chungwoo smiled lightly.
'It must have looked obvious.'
Lee Sejin immediately lowered his head.
"Hyung, I am so sorry! Have I been like that these past few days?"
"No. It's fine. Since I saw it… I tried to move some things around a bit in case it would be difficult for the two of you."
"… …"
Moving things around?
Come to think of it, suddenly last night the meeting time the next day was delayed by about three hours.
He thought it was because of the schedule adjustment.
"Did you delay the meeting time…"
"Yeah, well… Everyone did that to recover their stamina."
It was a consideration that made it easy for the two of them to talk.
"… Thank you."
"We're in the same group. Of course, we have to get along with each other for a long time. Everyone said yes right away."
Ryu Chungwoo laughed. Lee Sejin was speechless for a moment.
It was because he thought that there would be no one as sincere as he was in doing his best to ensure that this group would be maintained well until the maximum possible lifespan.
'… No matter how much, I was worried that I would lose all of them due to individual activities after our annual leave.'
That… It may have been a bit conceited, Lee Sejin admitted.
In the meantime, Ryu Chungwoo's words continued.
"Sejin, Bae Sejin, suggested it first. He was very worried about you two."
"I'm glad it worked out well. Oh, there he is."
When he turned his head following Ryu Chungwoo's chin gesture, he saw Bae Sejin talking with Park Moondae holding a towel next to the steel structure.