Chapter 9

It was well past 1 AM.

Seok Heechan was once again enthusiastically livestreaming on the internet.

[(100,000 won donation) “Heechan-ah, sexy dance x3. Let’s go, tasty popsicle~”]

“Yeees, noona~! Sexy dance x3 coming right up!”

The moment the donation came in, Heechan dropped to his knees on the floor and flicked his tongue out obscenely.

He pumped his fist up and down while pretending to lick something in the air.

The sight should’ve looked grotesque— especially with how far he stuck his tongue out and rolled back his eyes— but the viewers only spammed laughing comments and egged him on even more.

Ever since Hexatonic stopped receiving event bookings, Heechan had been earning money through livestreaming sites.

During the afternoons or evenings, he mostly chatted casually with fans.

But once midnight passed, the broadcasts transformed into something closer to a provocative “reaction stream,” where he danced suggestively or even exposed skin depending on the amount of donations received.

Among Hexatonic’s fandom, Tonic Water, many fans found these sexual broadcasts embarrassing and distasteful.

But Heechan didn’t care in the slightest.

If anything, he felt immense satisfaction knowing he could earn large amounts of money with minimal effort.

No matter how hard he sweated practicing choreography or memorizing lyrics, getting onto music broadcasts was difficult.

And even if they did appear on music shows, it didn’t automatically make money.

But now?

One shake of his ass and donations poured in endlessly.

What an incredible job being a BJ was.

[(120,000 won donation) “Do the bunny dance.”]

“Yes sir~ Thank you so much again today~ Loyalty loyalty~ Bunny dance coming up!”

In front of the camera, Heechan performed movements that barely even qualified as dancing— just outright vulgar gestures.

To please one of his wealthy regular male donors, he even plastered on a pathetic, flattering smile.

Just today alone, he’d already earned enough money for an entire month’s meals.

His job satisfaction was at an all-time high.

Then suddenly, a comment appeared in chat.

[“Did you see Mugyeong’s livestream today? That shit was terrifyingㅋㅋ”]

[“You should collab with him. Aren’t you doing ghost-story streams lately too?”]

“……”

The moment those comments appeared, Heechan’s mood crashed straight to the floor.

These stupid idiots who knew nothing and still called themselves fans were becoming impossible to tolerate.

Suppressing his anger, Heechan forced a smile and warned them sweetly.

“Mentioning other streamers in my chatroom is prohibited. Sorry, but if you do it one more time, I’ll have to kick you out.”

[“Heechan’s jealousㅋㅋ”]

[“Triggered?”]

There were many things Heechan hated.

But if someone forced him to narrow it down to only two, he could answer immediately.

The first were the parasites sitting in his chatroom, watching his streams for free without donating a single won.

And the second—

was his fellow group member, Dan Mugyeong.

If he had to put a name to his feelings toward Mugyeong, honestly even the word jealousy felt too generous.

To Heechan, Mugyeong was beneath him in every possible way.

Even during group promotions, Mugyeong had only barely survived by clinging to him.

He was unpopular, country-looking, terrible at makeup, and had absolutely no talent in singing or dancing.

Despite arriving at the practice room earlier than anyone and leaving later than everyone else, his skills mysteriously never improved.

And yet—

Dan Mugyeong never gave up.

Even now, he still practiced dancing alone at the company.

Even after Daeseung’s indefinite hiatus had effectively destroyed Hexatonic, Mugyeong continued messaging the group chat asking how everyone was doing and making practice schedules.

Heechan hated exactly that part of him.

The fact that he stubbornly kept trying to remain an idol.

The fact that he never abandoned hope.

Once, feeling somewhere between pity and contempt, Heechan had generously suggested they stream together.

“Mugyeong-ah, you should do reaction streams too. This makes a ton of money.”

“Hyung, thank you for the offer, but I’m not very good at stuff like that. I can’t dance well and I’m not good at talking either. Sorry. I’ll just keep preparing for our comeback. Let’s definitely make a comeback together someday.”

Heechan hated the bright smile Mugyeong gave while saying that.

He wasn’t rich.

He didn’t even make good money.

So why the hell did he act so morally superior rejecting Heechan’s offer?

Acting all noble by himself.

The truly baffling thing was that despite being few in number, there were still fans who genuinely liked Mugyeong.

He couldn’t understand that taste whatsoever.

Recently, Mugyeong had even become famous after telling some obviously fake ghost story involving an old grandmother spirit.

And today he’d done a livestream exploring ghosts alongside a real shaman.

Apparently, for a first stream, the viewer count had been pretty decent too.

Heechan gritted his teeth.

He genuinely despised people like that—

idiots with flowers blooming in their heads who somehow survived purely through luck.

People like that needed to fail properly at least once and experience harsh reality.

This wasn’t a curse.

It was education.

Eventually someone else would ruin him anyway.

Heechan would simply do it a little earlier.

“I should prepare a gift.”

He smiled sweetly toward the camera.

“My beloved little brother recently started broadcasting, you see.”

[“Look at this bastard’s eyesㅋㅋㅋㅋ”]

[“Take it easyㅋㅋ”]

Still smiling falsely, Heechan typed ‘how to curse someone’ into the internet search bar.

“Don’t worry everyone. Mugyeong is protected by his wonderful great-grandmother spirit, so he absolutely won’t get cursed.”

“This is just a harmless joke.”

[“Scary relationship between group membersㅋㅋ”]

[“If curses don’t work then why bother?”]

“Mugyeong’s doing those ghost-story broadcasts lately, right? So if something weird happens from the curse, wouldn’t that actually help his content?”

He grinned.

“See how kind I am? I’m even helping my little brother’s view count by giving him content ideas.”

[“Amazing logicㅋㅋㅋ”]

[“Just do sexy dances insteadㅋㅋ”]

[“Heechan fighting♡”]

“Actually, I already tried one before, but it didn’t really work.”

“Nothing bad happened at all.”

“Honestly, probably nothing’ll happen this time either.”

[“You mean when you made that weird rectangle with your fingers and muttered stuff? THAT was a curse?ㅋㅋ You looked pathetic.”]

[“You’re the pathetic one. Then stop watching his stream.”]

[“Nah I’ll keep watching though~”]

Last time, Heechan had tried an online curse ritual on Mugyeong too, but absolutely nothing happened.

Honestly, he’d hoped for at least something like a traffic accident that would stop Mugyeong from broadcasting.

Unfortunately, nothing occurred.

Scrolling downward through curse methods—

bad luck curses,

breakup curses,

injury curses—

Heechan suddenly froze upon seeing one titled:

“A Curse That Invites Possession by Ghosts.”

His lips slowly curled upward.

If Mugyeong got possessed and started saying crazy nonsense during broadcasts, humiliating himself publicly—

that would be perfect.

And if he never fully regained his sanity afterward?

Even better.

[“Look at his expression.”]

[“Bro looks like Yagami Lightㅋㅋ”]

[“Noona supports you☆ Everything Heechan says is right!”]

[“When’s the sexy dance?”]

“There are quite a lot of materials needed.”

“First, you tear a piece of clothing worn by the target. Then tie it to raw meat using silk thread and throw it onto a nearby mountain.”

“Afterward, you bow twice like you would to a dead person. But on your way home, you must never look back.”

There was already raw meat and thread at home.

Which meant the only thing he needed was Mugyeong’s clothing.

Guess I’ll steal one of his T-shirts.

Leaving the stream running, Heechan casually informed the viewers.

“Guys, I’m gonna go borrow one of Mugyeong’s clothes real quick. We share a room.”

[“Borrow? You mean stealㅋㅋ”]

[“Live broadcast crime hourㅋㅋ”]

Heechan stopped in front of the bedroom he shared with Mugyeong.

But the moment he grabbed the doorknob—

he heard rustling noises from inside.

Every now and then, it even sounded like someone whispering softly.

Mugyeong had left Gangneung after midnight, so there was no way he’d returned to Seoul yet.

And currently, only Im Daeseung and Heechan should’ve been inside the dorm.

But Daeseung never left his room whenever others were home.

Then—

who was inside?

“Haha… I probably heard wrong.”

Although his legs trembled, Heechan forced himself to act casual and swung the door open.

Inside, a black shape crouched in front of the closet.

“W-what the hell?! Who are you?!”

Heechan shouted with a shaking voice.

“Hyung?”

A familiar face slowly emerged from the darkness.

“Im Daeseung? It’s you?”

“Ah, hyung. Long time no see.”

In reality, Heechan had nearly pissed himself from fear, but he quickly turned on the lights and pretended to stay calm.

Dressed in black sweatpants, Daeseung slowly rose from where he’d been crouching in front of the closet.

“You’re seriously Im Daeseung? Wow…. It really is you.”

Even though they lived in the same dorm, this was the first time Heechan had properly seen Daeseung in nearly two years.

After the traffic accident, Daeseung only left his room after everyone else had fallen asleep, usually just to eat or shower.

Even then, nobody ever actually saw him.

At most, they occasionally noticed packages delivered under his name and realized:

Ah. So he’s still alive.

“Yeah. It’s me.”

But the Daeseung standing before him now felt like a completely different person.

Even accounting for his weight loss and pale skin from staying indoors so long—

his overall aura had changed entirely.

Before the accident, Daeseung had the image of a hardworking honor student with puppy-like features.

But now, licking his dry lips while quietly observing Heechan—

he looked eerie.

Sinister.

Like a reptile.

More specifically—

a snake waiting to strike prey.

Can someone getting sick really change their entire atmosphere this much?

Heechan tilted his head uneasily.

“But why are you suddenly speaking casually to me?”

“I used honorifics before?”

“Obviously. Damn, were you sick because your brain got damaged or something?”

Mocking him, Heechan lifted a hand intending to smack the back of Daeseung’s head.

But Daeseung didn’t even pretend to be scared.

He simply stared directly into Heechan’s eyes.

Originally, Daeseung had always been easy prey.

With his timid personality, old Daeseung would’ve already apologized nervously by now.

But this Daeseung only stared silently back at him.

Almost like he was waiting for Heechan to attack first.

Instinctively, Heechan realized:

I shouldn’t provoke him right now.

Slowly, he lowered his hand.

“A-anyway… what are you doing in our room? Why’s the closet such a mess?”

“I came looking for something I need from Dan Mugyeong, but I can’t find it.”

Daeseung tilted his head slightly.

“Why are you here?”

The continued casual speech irritated Heechan, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to demand honorifics anymore.

“I’m trying to curse Dan Mugyeong. Apparently I need some of his clothes.”

“A curse?”

“Ah, it’s just some joke ritual online. It’s not like it actually works or anything.”

Laughing awkwardly, Heechan added defensively,

“I mean… no matter what, I wouldn’t really curse a fellow member.”

But Daeseung didn’t seem bothered at all.

“How are you doing it?”

“You tear clothes the target wore and tie them to raw meat with thread. Then you throw it onto a mountain.”

“That won’t work.”

“…Daeseung, since when do you know stuff like this?”

Originally, Daeseung had been a complete coward.

Back then, if the members even jokingly started ghost stories, he’d cover his ears saying he wouldn’t be able to sleep later.

There was no way someone like him should know how to curse people.

And yet—

Daeseung continued speaking as though explaining something perfectly ordinary he’d known forever.

“If you use clothes, it’s useless.”

“Then what should I use?”

“Pull out strands of Dan Mugyeong’s hair while he’s sleeping.”

“…And then?”

“Tying the hair to raw meat is the same.”

“But the direction and timing matter.”

Daeseung’s unfocused eyes stared directly into Heechan’s.

“You don’t want to fail, right?”

“I’ll help you.”

“Want to try it together?”

For some reason, Heechan slowly nodded as though hypnotized.

He didn’t understand why—

but it felt like he absolutely had to listen to Daeseung.

1. Excel Broadcast (엑셀 방송) A type of livestream where multiple streamers compete for viewer donations through provocative dancing, singing, or revealing outfits, often ranking participants based on earnings.