The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Yeon-Hoon ran toward the railing.

“Tae-Yoooon!”

“Noooo!”

All the rest of the members clenched their eyes shut and collapsed to the ground in shock. The only one moving was Yeon-Hoon. While time had slowed down with Insight, an idea on how to save Tae-Yoon clearly came to his mind. Of course, it wasn’t like he would be able to save Tae-Yoon unconditionally just because Insight provided him with the method. It was up to his physical abilities to carry out the method.

But regardless of the possibilities, there was no way Yeon-Hoon wouldn’t choose to act. After releasing his Insight, Yeon-Hoon rushed forward and picked up a life vest and tube placed near the railing. Without a hint of hesitation, he jumped into the Hangang river with the goods.

“Yeon-Hoon!”

“Hyung!”

Turning his back to his members' cries, Yeon-Hoon’s body fell. He couldn’t see clearly because he was falling at high speed. Still, he scanned the waters and searched for the place where Tae-Yoon and Kang Seok-Du fell. It wasn’t hard to find them since Kang Seok-Du was floundering and making a commotion in the waters. Besides him, Tae-Yoon was unconscious and slowly sinking.

Shaaaa—!

Yeon-Hoon pierced through the water’s surface and swam deep into Hangang. He was able to dive deep into the waters as high and quickly he had fallen. Yet, because of the life vest and tube he was holding in his hands, he quickly rose back up to the surface.

“Haaaa! Fuuuuck! Save me! Sace…kuh!” Kang Seok-Du was struggling his hardest to live. Because of his broken right leg, he was having difficulty keeping himself afloat and kept sinking. At this rate, it seemed clear that water would fill his lungs and he would die. Yeon-Hoon threw a life vest at Kang Seok-Du. It was now up to this man’s own efforts whether he would survive or die. This was the last act of mercy he was willing to offer this man.

Yeon-Hoon dived back under the waters again. Tae-Yoon was continuing to sink. It seemed air was escaping his lungs and bubbles of air were rising. Yeon-Hoon moved his feet faster and saw where Tae-Yoon was. It felt like Tae-Yoon was sinking faster than he was swimming.

‘…The tube!’ He had forgotten the obvious. Because he was holding a tube in the waters, it was only natural that the resistance would slow him down. Furthermore, Tae-Yoon weighed far more than Yeon-Hoon and would naturally sink faster than him. While gripping the tube’s strings tightly, Yeon-Hoon sent the tube up the surface.

While feeling that there was less resistance pulling him back, Yeon-Hoon swam deeper below. He just needed to go a bit more to grab Tae-Yoon. Yet, it seemed he would run out of air before he could grab Tae-Yoon. His lungs had already reached their limit and were screaming for air. As oxygen became deficient, his body rapidly lost its momentum; his muscles lost energy and the speed at which he pushed his body through the waters noticeably decreased. His vision gradually darkened.

‘…Tae-Yoon…!’ Yet, Yeon-Hoon couldn’t leave without Tea-Yoon even if his lungs burst here. He made one last big push, cut through the current, and reached Tae-Yoon.

Splash!

Yeon-Hoon managed to clutch the edge of Tae-Yoon’s clothes. Then, he placed his arms between Tae-Yoon’s armpits and kicked his legs toward the surface. Because he had one more body to carry, he needed more muscle strength. His body couldn’t showcase much power as it was lacking in air. Though Yeon-Hoon tried his best, he couldn’t surpass the limits of an ordinary person’s strength.

He just needed to go a bit more till he reached the surface. Yeon-Hoon extended his hands but couldn’t reach it. He began to sink again while clutching Tae-Yoon. Though Tae-Yoon had requested Yeon-Hoon to take care of his body, Yeon-Hoon lamented the fact that he had failed to even keep that promise.

He slowly lost his vision. He lost strength in his body and his heart began to beat at a slower rate. It was a sensation he had felt countless times now. Death often came so cozily like this. Tae-Yoon was about to leave his body to these sensations when—

Shaaaaa! Two figures swept through the currents and appeared in view. Though Yeon-Hoon was clutching hard onto Tae-Yoon’s body without letting him go, the figures separated the two. Then, they each took one person and rose to the surface.

Gasp!

“Haaaa!”

Siiigh.

His head ached because of the sudden increased in oxygen. He hurriedly spat out the water that had entered his nose and mouth, and all the senses in his body heightened its guard and signaled to his brain that he was still alive. Yeon-Hoon looked at the person who had pulled him up.

“…Woon…”

“Are you crazy Yeon-Hoon! Why would you just jump like that!”

“…Thank you…”

“Let’s talk later.”

Lee Woon saved Yeon-Hoon.

“Hey! Bong Tae-Yoon! Wake up! You damn…”

And Do-Seung saved Tae-Yoon. Then, as Do-Seung and Woon each carried Tae-Yoon and Yeon-Hoon on their backs, they swam to the nearest land. There, Dong-Jun was already waiting for them and calling 119.

“I’m at the riverside below Hannam Bridge. Two people fell into the waters!” Though he was on the phone, Dong-Jun didn’t snag the CPR. He simply waited and helped pull Yeon-Hoon and Tae-Yoon out of the waters. It was no easy task to pull up an unconscious and soaked full grown man, and after Tae-Yoon was brought ashore, they began to perform CPR. Though Yeon-Hoon tried to take the lead, Do-Seung and Woon took turns doing CPR.

“One, two, three, four, five…” Though they did artificial ventilation and massaged his chest, Tae-Yoon showed no response.

“Tae-Yoon!”

“Tae-Yoon…”

Woon and Do-Seung’s faces darkened.

“Gaaasp!”

“Tae-Yoon?”

“Bong Tae-Yoon!”

Tae-Yoon spurred out a heap of water from his mouth, and Do-Seung quickly brought his ear to Tae-Yoon’s chest.

“It’s beating! His heart is beating!”

Tae-Yoon’s heart was pumping much stronger than before.

“Haaaa.”

“He’s alive.”

Do-Seung and Woon collapsed to the floor and breathed a sigh of relief. Yet, they soon found something strange.

“…Tae-Yoon.”

“Bong Tae-Yoon?”

“…Why isn’t Tae-Yoon waking up, you guys…?”

“…”

Though Tae-Yoon’s chest was moving up and down and his complexion improved, Tae-Yoon didn’t open his eyes.

“Tae-Yoon!”

“Wake up…I told you to wake up!”

“Ha…haha…”

Do-Seung and Woon shook Tae-Yoon’s body hard and Dong-Jun slumped to the ground like someone who had lost everything.

“Wait, you guys,” Yeon-Hoon said while approaching Tae-Yoon. Do-Seung, Woon, and Dong-Jun sensed that something changed about Yeon-Hoon’s eyes and focused on him.

“Yeon-Hoon, are you a regress…”

“Yeah, I am a regressor now.” Though it was one sentence, this was enough information to explain everything. The three people looked at Yeon-Hoon with wide eyes, and Yeon-Hoon explained.

“Tae-Yoon… won’t wake up no matter what you guys do right now. In the first place, his soul isn’t in this place.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“His body is here but his consciousness has recently become the system and is wandering somewhere in the universe.”

“What?”

“What did you say…?”

“Tae-Yoon became the system?”

“Yeah…I used to be the system but Tae-Yoon became one instead of me and sent me here.”

Do-Seung, Woon, and Dong-Jun looked back at Yeon-Hoon like they still couldn’t understand. Yet, it would take a while for Yeon-Hoon to explain everything from beginning to end.

“The most important thing is that Tae-Yoon is working to come back here on his own terms. Though I couldn’t find the method, there could be another way for him to also exist here.”

“…”

“…Haa. This is so complicated.”

“…In the end, Tae-Yoon sacrificed himself again.”

“…Yeah.”

A heavy silence befell all the members. Then, after organizing their thoughts, they asked themselves what they needed to do right now.

“Then, I suppose we should protect Tae-Yoon’s body for now.”

“We don’t know when and how he will come back…but he can.”

“Then, let’s lift Tae-Yoon’s body first. We can’t just let him lie on the cold dirt floor for so long.”

“The ambulance car is coming soon. Let’s go to the hospital first. Then, we can have Tae-Yoon’s body examined and treated for his other injuries.”

Though the situation couldn’t be seen in a very positive light, they had to do what was necessary. They first raised Tae-Yoon’s body and made him lean against one of the pillar legs of the Hangang bridge. Then, they carefully wiped the dirt and sand grains on his face. They all lamented that the fact that this was the limit of what they could.

“Wait you guys.” Yeon-Hoon suddenly said while standing tall.

“Yes?”

“Yeon-Hoon?”

“Why…?”

Yeon-Hoon looked at the sky and quickly scanned his surroundings. It was a strange sensation he only felt. Because he had spent a long time in the universe after becoming part of the system, he was familiar with this feeling.

“Get Tae-Yoon and quickly gather here!”

“What?”

“Sorry?”

“Huh?”

“Gather!”

Though the members were stunned, they followed Yeon-Hoon’s order. Dong-Jun, Do-Seung, and Woon supported Tae-Yoon and approached Yeon-Hoon. And when all five Siren members were gathered, Yeon-Hoon looked up to the sky once again.

“The world lines… are twisting right now.”

“What did you say?”

“The world lines are twisting?”

“I…don’t know where we will be thrown off too, so we have to stay as close together as possible.”

“What?”

Craaaack!

It was then, giant cracks began to form in the sky.

“…What in the world?”

“What…the hell…”

“Are my eyes playing tricks on me…?”

They all stood stunned from seeing such a surreal and supernatural activity and the phenomena that Yeon-Hoon told them about began to occur.

Ziiiiing—!

Like the times when one used Insight, the world flowed at a slower rate. The only unusual occurrence this time was that all four of the members were equally perceiving this change. They looked each other in the eyes to share what they were also seeing. Then, their surroundings began to change with Siren in the center. Eventually, they reached one place.

“…?”

“…What?”

“This is… crazy.”

The new place they arrived at was very familiar to all the members. It was The Showcase 2’s final performance—the moment they heard the results.

“…No.” The most memorable part about that scene was Do-Seung. He was crying while clutching Tae-Yoon who had suddenly collapsed on stage. After regressing a total of fifteen times, Do-Seung was all too well aware of what this scene was.

“Bong Tae-Yoooon!” It was the moment when he failed his first mission and Tae-Yoon died. Do-Seung who had regressed fifteen times looked at Do-Seung who regressed only one time. It was then, Do-Seung and the other members realized what Yeon-Hoon had meant when he said all the worldlines were twisted. All the worlds they had lived in were becoming mixed up.