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Join the ServerThe roar of the crowd outside shook the air.
Shim Eunchan smiled faintly.
“Are you okay?”
It was Hyun Wooyoung.
“Yeees. I’m fine.”
He forced the corners of his mouth upward. If there was one thing he was confident in, it was smiling. He had practiced so he could always smile, no matter what.
“You really don’t look fine.”
“Really? I’m totally okay.”
Before Eunchan could finish answering, Wooyoung placed a hand on his forehead. Under normal circumstances, Eunchan would have dodged immediately, but the fever had slowed his reactions.
Damn.
By the time he tried to swat the hand away, it was already too late.
Wooyoung had noticed.
Eunchan quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled it down. Raising a finger to his lips, he signaled for silence.
Wooyoung lowered his voice.
“Your fever’s really high.”
“I’m okay.”
“Eunchan hyung.”
“Just keep it to yourself. Seriously, I’m fine.”
Eunchan looked at him expectantly, trying to get a promise out of him.
Wooyoung didn’t answer right away.
Eunchan hurriedly continued.
“It’s our comeback day. I can’t miss it, and I have no intention of missing it. I won’t make mistakes on stage, so just leave it alone.”
“That’s not what I’m saying—”
“To be honest, even talking is exhausting right now.”
Speaking frankly, Eunchan looked up at him.
“So can you not make this harder by arguing with me about it?”
“……”
Instead of stubbornly insisting he was fine, Eunchan had admitted the truth.
Wooyoung finally fell silent.
His neatly groomed brows furrowed slightly.
With a short sigh of defeat, he said,
“You’re unbelievably stubborn.”
“I get that a lot.”
“The moment the performance ends, you’re going straight to the hospital.”
“Of course. Want to make it a promise?”
Eunchan held out his pinky.
Wooyoung hooked his finger around it.
“Seal it, too.”
His expression remained as stoic as ever.
Eunchan obediently pressed their thumbs together.
It felt childish.
Wooyoung looked cool and intelligent—the kind of person who wouldn’t bother with something like this—but in reality, he paid attention to every little detail.
“Should I get you a cooling fever patch?”
“No, it’s fine. What excuse would I even use? Besides, it’ll ruin my makeup. The stylist paid special attention to my hair today. See? It moves with even the slightest motion.”
“……Honestly, hyung.”
“What? Because I’m stubborn?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sick, though. Let me win just this once.”
Looking down at Eunchan from above, Wooyoung wore an exasperated expression before finally nodding.
Then he sat down beside him.
“Why are you sitting here? Go away.”
“Lean on my shoulder. It’ll be better than leaning against the wall.”
That was undeniably true.
He’d been worried about messing up the back of his hair, too.
Eunchan nodded and immediately rested his head on Wooyoung’s shoulder.
“Your shoulders are nice and broad. Good height, too. Can you lean a little more this way?”
As he casually listed his requests, Wooyoung silently adjusted himself.
It was definitely more comfortable now.
Taking a deep breath, Eunchan slowly exhaled.
He was afraid to close his eyes.
What if he lost consciousness?
“What we prepared for today…” he muttered.
“Yes.”
“We worked really hard for this stage.”
“Yes.”
“I want us to do really well. I want people to watch and think, Wow, there was a team like this?”
“……”
Looking around at the members in the waiting room, Eunchan slowly continued.
“After Haemin left…”
His fever-clouded mind drifted as he spoke.
“PamPams worried about us a lot.”
PamPams—the fandom.
“I want to show them we’re okay. I want them to think we’re still a group worth supporting. A group worth continuing to love.”
His voice grew softer.
“I don’t want them to envy other idols. This is all I can do for them.”
After finishing, Eunchan let out another sigh.
Even speaking had become exhausting.
Wooyoung didn’t respond.
Honestly, that was for the best.
The moment he finished talking, Eunchan already regretted revealing so much.
This is why you should only say important things when you’re in your right mind.
Being sick made people emotional.
Thinking of his recently lowered Mental Rank, Eunchan bit down on his upper lip.
Voices drifted in from the hallway.
A team that had just finished performing was returning backstage.
“What the hell was that?”
“It was completely dark over there. I seriously thought they’d placed a stone statue in the audience. Even when I looked directly at them, they didn’t move at all.”
“You shouldn’t pay attention to it. Like me.”
“Easy for you to say. They were sitting right in the center! If they were off to the side, fine, but dead center? Just sitting there expressionless. I don’t even know if I managed my facial expressions properly.”
“Seriously though, how did they even get those center seats?”
“My point exactly.”
Whether the walls were thin or they were simply loud, Eunchan couldn’t tell.
The Field Alpha fandom had certainly made an impact.
Anyone would find it difficult to ignore a group occupying the exact center of the audience.
Even though his body felt terrible, his Human Catnip trait seemed to be functioning perfectly.
Eunchan checked his status window once more and exhaled heavily.
Just then, Do Junseo approached them.
“What are you two doing?”
“Jealous because we look close?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“You want to come over too?”
As Eunchan teased him, Junseo shook his head vigorously and backed away.
Despite appearances, Junseo had spent the longest time sharing a room with Eunchan.
There was a high chance he’d notice something was wrong.
When Eunchan beckoned him over with a gesture, Junseo immediately turned around and fled toward Ryu Seo-oh.
Then a staff member called out:
“B the 1, please get ready!”
Finally.
Eunchan straightened up.
It was time.
As he stood, dizziness hit him.
His body swayed.
He grabbed Wooyoung’s shoulder for support.
After a moment, the spinning subsided.
Only then did he realize that Wooyoung’s arm had wrapped around his waist.
Feeling the worried gaze directed at him, Eunchan smiled.
“Sorry. I got dizzy for a second. Help me keep the others from noticing.”
“You’re using me as a shield?”
“Yes.”
Eunchan grinned.
“Just for today. My personal shield.”
Wooyoung stared at him briefly.
Then he nodded once and took his hand.
You really don’t need to go this far…
But after asking him to act as a shield, Eunchan couldn’t exactly complain anymore.
So he quietly followed.
While waiting near the stage entrance, they bowed politely to the team coming offstage.
“Next up is B the 1’s comeback performance!”
The MCs’ cheerful introduction echoed through the venue.
At last.
It was B the 1’s turn.
The moment they stepped onto the stage, the cheers sent a thrill through Eunchan’s body.
His gaze swept across the audience.
Field Alpha’s fans were easy to spot.
Right in the center sat a large group, expressionless and motionless, like students enduring a boring lecture.
Since the lights were off during stage preparation, he could clearly see their faces.
One by one, Eunchan looked directly at them and smiled.
His eyes throbbed.
His head pounded.
But there was no time to care.
The Human Catnip effect needed to work.
It was a great trait, but there was no way to tell whether it was actually doing anything.
At times like this, he wished there were some obvious indicator.
How was he supposed to know whether the trait was really activating or whether the system was just lying?
As he silently grumbled—
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the skeptical you!
Don’t miss this chance!
An exclusive offer just for ☆★YOU☆★!
Enjoy the effect to your heart’s content for 10 seconds!
Human Catnip Activated
(Points gained upon activation: 5–30)
Duration Remaining: 00:10
What the heck is this? Ten seconds? What am I supposed to do with—
Then it happened.
Eunchan began seeing something.
[Kim Bohwa – Human Catnip Success. Favorability +10]
[Kang Yeoneun – Human Catnip Success. Favorability +20]
[Joo Mian – Human Catnip Success. Favorability +9]
[Oh Suha – Human Catnip Success. Favorability +11]
[Choi Eunhyung – Human Catnip Success. Favorability +17]
[Lee Jeongyeon – Human Catnip Success. Favorability +23]
[Kim Jooyoung – Human Catnip Success. Favorability +19]
…
…
…
Pop-up windows appeared above dozens of people’s heads simultaneously.
Half a second later, they vanished.
Then more appeared.
And more.
Nearly everyone in the audience.
Even the people seated in Field Alpha’s fan section.
It took less than ten seconds to confirm.
So this was how Human Catnip worked.
A few people didn’t receive any pop-ups.
Narrowing his eyes, Eunchan looked more closely.
The difference became immediately obvious.
The people without notifications were individuals he already knew.
People who had been B the 1 fans from the very beginning.
Then he remembered the line from the card description when he had first drawn it.
[Existing relationships are excluded.]
Ah. So that’s what THAT phrase meant.
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Read : Illusionary Dream
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