Chapter 49: A Reward Beyond Expectations

Shim Eunchan felt incredibly awkward.

Of course, when he had been under the status ailment, he had genuinely been sick.

But once the physical debuff wore off, his condition returned to normal so completely it was almost frightening. His stamina, strength, and overall stats had all recovered as well.

The problem was that nobody believed him.

The members took turns staying near him, fussing over him constantly.

It felt like he was receiving every bit of concern in the world.

“I’m really okay, hyung.”

“Stop saying that. Is there anything you want to eat? Get some more sleep.”

“I’ve already slept a lot.”

Seeing Jung Minyu looking at him with such concern made Eunchan feel guilty.

Thanks to the forced rest, he’d finally caught up on all the sleep he’d been missing.

Physically, he felt better than ever.

Unfortunately, nobody seemed convinced.

Then again, after someone ran a fever of 39.5°C and ended up on an IV drip, who would casually accept, “I’m fine now”?

Naturally, he couldn’t exactly explain:

“Actually, I failed a quest, got hit with a penalty, and that’s why I collapsed. Everything’s fine now.”

So Eunchan reluctantly settled into the role of “person recovering from an illness.”

Normally, if there weren’t any upcoming schedules, he would have happily accepted the situation and enjoyed the rest.

Sadly, that wasn’t possible.

A recording for a cable music program’s special cover dance stage was approaching, and practice was already underway.

The problem was—

Eunchan had been excluded from practice.

Since his dance-learning speed was merely average, he was secretly anxious.

Every time he tried to sneak into practice anyway, however, Hyun Wooyoung would appear from somewhere.

Without fail.

Then he’d look at Eunchan with a stern expression and say:

“You keep saying you’re okay, but you’re trying to overwork yourself again, aren’t you?”

The look in Wooyoung’s eyes was so severe that Eunchan found himself nodding before he realized it.

He wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but there was no way he could explain the truth.

The whole situation was frustrating.

Whenever he tried to prove he was healthy, Wooyoung would simply narrow his eyes suspiciously.

At first Eunchan thought he was being overly protective.

But Wooyoung never budged.

Eventually, he even produced a bizarre argument.

“If you’re worried because you’re the only one who can’t practice, then I won’t practice either.”

He’d said it with a bright smile.

“Would that make you feel better?”

After that, Eunchan couldn’t argue anymore.

So he sat down obediently.

“If I mess up the performance, it’s your fault, Wooyoung.”

That didn’t stop him from complaining.

“I’ll teach you separately afterward.”

Wooyoung answered calmly.

“As much as you want.”

“That means you’re planning to memorize all the choreography yourself first, doesn’t it? That’s cheating.”

Eunchan puffed out his cheeks and grumbled.

Wooyoung blinked in confusion.

“That’s not cheating.”

Then he sighed.

“You were sick yesterday, Eunchan hyung. Not weeks ago. Yesterday.”

“I’m reeaaally okay.”

“I don’t trust you when you say that.”

“…You’re so stubborn.”

Eunchan tried whining one more time.

No luck.

Permission was clearly not coming.

Eventually, he gave up and leaned against the mirror.

The moment he settled down, Wooyoung rushed over again, politely asked for a moment, and spread a blanket underneath him.

Apparently, Eunchan collapsing the other day had left quite an impression.

Thinking about it objectively, he couldn’t blame him.

Someone who had been jumping around energetically on stage suddenly dropping like a puppet the moment the performance ended would shock anyone.

Looking at it from Wooyoung’s perspective, the reaction made sense.

As for the comeback stage itself—

It had been a massive success.

The performance received overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Eunchan’s individual fancam, in particular, had exploded in popularity.

Fans were calling it a “gateway fancam” for new fans, and it had already surpassed 800,000 views on Nutube.

Even Eunchan found himself wondering:

How did I manage to perform like that in that condition?

The broadcasting station had also uploaded Wooyoung’s fancam.

A significant number of people claimed they’d become fans because of it.

Meanwhile, the fact that the Field Alpha fandom had broken their silence and cheered for another group became a small but noteworthy topic online.

Thinking about it now, Human Catnip might be far stronger than he’d originally assumed.

Then another thought surfaced.

Lee Saerim.

The idol who had constantly picked on him during Summer Night Sky Flowers Bloom Beneath the Crescent Moon.

Human Catnip had influenced even rival fandoms.

Yet it hadn’t worked on Lee Saerim at all.

What kind of person was he?

If Human Catnip had actually weakened Saerim’s hostility and that was the toned-down version—

Then without the effect, perhaps those petty acts of malice would’ve been impossible to laugh off.

Even if Lee Saerim was an exceptionally rare case, there was no guarantee similar people wouldn’t appear again.

“……”

Eunchan stopped himself.

There was no point worrying about things that hadn’t happened yet.

Instead, it would be more productive to watch the cover choreography one more time.

He straightened his posture.

He’d deliberately chosen a cold corner of the practice room rather than the warm area near the radiator.

If he sat too close, he’d end up confusing left and right while watching.

Rather than simply observing, he quietly practiced the arm movements from his seat.

Wooyoung stared at him for quite a while.

Clearly dissatisfied.

Yet he said nothing.

That probably meant this much was acceptable.

Surely even Wooyoung couldn’t stop him from doing that.

During a short break, Wooyoung approached.

“You’ll get cold sitting there.”

Eunchan understood the concern.

But wasn’t this getting excessive?

It was embarrassing.

The way Wooyoung treated him was almost as though he were something precious.

Then, to make matters worse, Wooyoung draped his own jacket over Eunchan’s shoulders.

The oversized jacket swallowed him whole.

The sleeves hung past his hands.

It practically functioned as a blanket.

Eunchan knew Wooyoung was taller than him.

Still.

This much difference stung his pride a little.

“You really don’t have to do this.”

“Just in case.”

The answer came in a firm voice.

At this point, it was hard to tell who was actually older.

Watching from behind, Do Junseo burst out laughing.

“Hey, Shim Eunchan.”

He grinned.

“You’re totally the maknae now.”

Still, Junseo was worried too.

He told Eunchan to stay put and take it easy for a while.

It sounded like a joke.

But it definitely wasn’t.

At moments like this, Eunchan briefly wondered whether he should’ve simply stayed back at the dorm.

Then again, even if someone had suggested it, he would’ve refused.

Since he wasn’t actually sick anymore, skipping practice felt wrong.

Watching from the sidelines and joining once he “recovered” seemed far better.

This cover stage was part of a special cable music program project called:

“Shining Memories of Those Days.”

Multiple idol groups would perform famous songs from several years ago.

B the 1’s assigned song was:

“Shooting Star.”

A hit from three years ago.

A song by Max Upin—the same artist Eunchan had seen during the Idol Athletics Competition.

The original choreography was already familiar to him.

Unfortunately, they weren’t using the original version.

The dance had been modified to fit B the 1’s style.

Which made it more difficult.

His body remembered the old choreography.

There was always a chance he’d unconsciously perform the wrong version.

And that wasn’t something he could solve by watching.

His body needed practice.

If only he’d succeeded in that quest.

Then none of this would’ve happened.

As Eunchan watched practice with lingering regret—

A notification suddenly appeared.

[Mission Activated]

Check Quest?

Y / N

Now?

Eunchan almost laughed.

At the same time, he found himself thinking:

If I fail again, maybe getting sick twice in a row is better than having the penalties spread out.

Having already experienced failure once, he selected Yes without hesitation.

[Quest]

Target: Ryu Seo-oh

Receive a lap pillow.

※ Must succeed on the first attempt.

※ You must never directly ask for it.

They’re really reusing the rule explanations now, huh?

Trying to save resources?

And why is “don’t directly ask” even relevant to getting a lap pillow?

Eunchan immediately began nitpicking.

Honestly, obtaining a lap pillow wasn’t difficult.

He could just lie down during a break.

There wasn’t even a requirement about maintaining it for a certain amount of time.

Even a brief contact would probably count.

The issue was Ryu Seo-oh.

An only child.

Not particularly fond of physical contact.

Eunchan had no idea how he’d react afterward.

Still—

No matter what happened, he’d succeed.

He waited for a break.

Unfortunately, every time the song ended, the members only paused briefly while standing.

Moon Sebyeol was incredibly serious about performing.

And equally serious about practice.

Eventually, after what felt like forever, Sebyeol finally called for a short rest.

The others dropped onto the floor.

Seo-oh, however, walked over to a chair and sat down.

Naturally.

Even then, he maintained perfect posture.

Eunchan clicked his tongue.

How could someone stay that proper after such intense practice?

If a cat were transformed into a human, it would probably look exactly like Ryu Seo-oh.

Approaching someone sitting in a chair for a lap pillow wasn’t exactly natural.

But this wasn’t the time to worry about logic.

Seo-oh, wiping sweat away with a towel, looked up as Eunchan approached.

“What?”

“I’m tired.”

“Then sit over there.”

A perfectly Seo-oh response.

Straight to the point.

Ignoring it, Eunchan sat beside him.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m exhausted, hyung.”

Then Eunchan lowered his head onto Seo-oh’s lap.

Honestly, under normal circumstances, Seo-oh would’ve moved his legs before Eunchan even touched him.

Instead—

He stayed still.

To Eunchan’s surprise, he even patted his head.

“Mm.”

Then he began stroking Eunchan’s hair.

That reaction was far beyond anything Eunchan had expected.

Normally, Seo-oh would’ve asked what he was doing.

Or moved away.

Or stood up entirely.

Though Seo-oh wasn’t the type to say affectionate things, his concern was obvious.

And then—

The quest notification appeared.

[Quest Success]

Reward granted to target <Ryu Seo-oh>.

Mental Rank +1

“……”

Eunchan suppressed a trace of disappointment.

The reward had gone to Seo-oh again.

Just as he was about to check Seo-oh’s status window—

Another notification appeared.

[▶ Due to Mental Rank Increase, other stats have improved.]

Performance: B+ → A

Star Quality: B → B+

Eunchan’s eyes widened.

For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

A Mental Rank increase didn’t just strengthen mental resilience.

It boosted other abilities too.

And the improvements weren’t small.

Not at all.

This was far more valuable than he had imagined.

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