Cheon Dongha is a good sunbae.
He’s competing with Yeom Junyeol for the top position in Eungwang High, a school full of geniuses, gifted, and talented people.
Cheon Dongha has bragged about his talent, nor has he used it to harm others.
On top of that, he’s always been considerate of everyone and thoughtful of his juniors.
He has enough power and charisma to keep Ma Jinseung and Do Wonwoo in check.
He’s someone I respect even if he wasn’t my playable character, so I don’t understand why his younger brother, who he says is a fine of mine, thinks that way.
‘I think he’s a much better hyung than I am though.’
I didn’t even respond to my dongsaengs message when they bid me good luck before I left the country for my competition.
On the other hand, Cheon Dongha is trying his best to improve his relationship with his younger brother.
It’s obvious who’s the better person among us two.
Why wouldn’t anyone view this very kind person as a hyung?
I’m unsure if it’s okay to ask about other people’s family situations, so I hesitated for a long time before speaking again.
“…Did something happen between you and your brother?”
“Well, it’s not that something happened, rather…”
Cheon Dongha’s face looked down as he hesitated.
“It’s difficult to have something between us.”
I wonder what that means.
His words alone don’t give away anything.
But then it occurred to me that Cheon Dongha and Yeom Junyeol once briefly mentioned that brother.
– Dongha, you have a younger brother? I thought you were an only child.
– …He’s doing fine.
When I recalled the conversation that day, the unsettling feeling grew even more.
‘Cheon Dongha and Yeom Junyeol were close. It’s shocking that Cheon Dongha sacrificed his life for Yeom Junyeol in PMH, but something’s weird.’
Two things to be exact.
First was the fact that Yeom Junyeol didn’t know that Cheon Dongha had a younger brother.
Second, Cheon Dongha was very reluctant to mention that younger brother, and even his expression that day wasn’t so good.
I can feel something strange, but I decided to step back since it’s not so good to dig into another’s personal history.
However, Cheon Dongha has mentioned his brother to me several times now.
Not only that, he’s even offered me to be a part of the student council and even intern at the research institute he’s working at.
‘…This might be Cheon Dongha indirectly asking for help. I should respond to him.’
I recalled the times that Cheon Dongha talked to me about his brother.
– I took notice since my dongsaeng is a fan of the Nameless Supernova.
– He’ll like the article if it’s about you.
– He’s a year younger than you.
– I hope he can take the entrance exam.
Cheon Dongha is not a talkative type and he doesn’t always talk about his brother, but I could get a few pieces of information from the clues so far.
‘His brother is a year younger than me and yet he’s my fan. And it’s not guaranteed that he can take the entrance exam.’
The thing about the article was caught on my mind.
It sounded as if it wouldn’t matter much to him if it was an article about something else other than me.
‘Maybe…’
It’s just speculation, but I had a pessimistic guess.
Cheon Dongha had a dark expression, almost bitter.
“…My brother is diagnosed with LIS (Locked-In Syndrome) when he was found. I hesitate to call it that, but right now my brother shows symptoms of that disease.”
LIS refers to a state in which one’s consciousness, cognitive ability, and mental functions are intact, but the physical body is almost paralyzed.
The only thing they could move is their eyelids.
It’s sometimes mistaken for a coma, but unlike the complete loss of consciousness and little response to external stimuli, a person with LIS has significant brain activity.
A person with LIS is literally trapped in their body.
However, aside from that, there’s another thing I took notice of.
“What do you mean by ‘when he was found’?”
People don’t usually say that about their siblings.
It’s as if Cheon Dongha wasn’t aware of having a sibling before.
“He’s a child hidden by my late father. I found only found out after a while that I had a brother. I had him DNA tested with my father’s remains three times, and the results were all the same… He’s my half-brother.”
Cheon Dongha spoke calmly, but his words were surprisingly heavy.
I can’t imagine just how painful and shocking it must’ve been for Cheon Dongha to discover that his father hid another son, and that was his brother who had LIS.
‘…So that’s why Yeom Junyeol didn’t know.’
Cheon Dongha continued speaking calmly.
“He can communicate through eye movements. He can even blink. He can also use energy wave to a degree.”
“So when you said he liked the article about me, he…”
“Yeah. Newspaper articles, news, and famous broadcasts are regularly shown and read to him to maintain active cognitive and brain function.”
Cheon Dongha lowered his head a little.
“There’s no good reaction to almost anything we show him. He always reacted negatively when I say I’m his brother. His brain waves and energy wave show confusion. But…”
Cheon Dongha looked at me with a slightly confused face as I listened to his words silently.
“His response was very positive when we showed the article about you. He was especially happy when he was shown the article about you winning the Stalemate Chess Competition.”
“Why is your brother…”
“I don’t know the reason either. I guess he liked the idea of a middle school student one year older than him dramatically surviving the entrance exam.”
Cheon Dongha was speechless after that.
Perhaps he’s sorry for bringing up such a heavy topic to his junior, his eyelids lowered even more.
‘…Why did his brother become my fan and not his?’
Well, considering the environment that Cheon Dongha’s brother was in, it wasn’t really that strange that he’d be moved by the performance of someone close in age to him.
Although there were still some things that bothered me, I decided to say something else instead of asking.
“I’d like to hear more about the internship at the Hwangmyeong Research Institute.”
Those words made Cheon Dongha lighten up after a while.
His face became even brighter with my promise that I’d visit the institute soon.
* * *
Since Kwon Lena was confirmed to have passed the re-test, our classmates have been busy preparing for the final stage of Playlist.
Dokgo Miro received a new song from the composer on this week’s broadcast, and a teaser video of some of the songs was released on the official website the next day.
It would suffice to say that the response to it was very good.
Our class was already looking forward to what Dokgo Miro would perform next week.
Kim Yuri perfectly coordinated our schedule and transportation for the live broadcast, and she excitedly announced something.
“Professors Ham Geunhyung and Yong Jegun are coming, so that solves our problem with having a legal guardian!”
The filming will be until late at night so it would’ve been difficult for our class who are all minors to stay until the end if we didn’t have guardians.
Thankfully, our homeroom teachers would attend too.
As expected, my playable characters are considerate even to their students.
“Wouldn’t the filming be until midnight? …I think I’ll oversleep and be late for class the next day.”
“It’s okay, it’s just one night.”
“Can’t we just skip class?”
“Professor Ham Geunhyung will be disappointed, so no!”
Aside from our class, most of the students on campus were talking about Dokgo Miro.
While doing activities with the newspaper department, Dokgo Miro’s name was mentioned more than a few times.
“It’s going to be difficult to interview them both since it’s almost the end of the program, but maybe we can interview them together after the show ends!”
Moon Saeron interviewed Dokgo Miro long ago when I introduced her.
At that time, Dokgo Miro was still in a critical position since she was on the verge of being eliminated because she was unable to showcase her talent properly in front of cameras.
Nevertheless, Moon Saeron interviewed Dokgo Miro politely and sincerely wrote an article about her.
The interview article showcasing Dokgo Miro’s character and charm contributed to her gaining attention from within the school.
‘Thanks to Moon Saeron’s excellent interviewing skills, the article was even mentioned on the show.’
After talking about Dokgo Miro and Playlist for a while, the topic of our conversation changed.
Moon Saeron spoke to Hwang Jiho.
“Ah, Hwang Jiho-ssi, I read the article well! Are you going to reveal your face at the official event now?”
“Hahaha! I see you’ve read the article.”
“Heol, you appear in the article?”
“Ah, I think I’ve seen you. I thought it was just someone who looks like you.”
While the other kids questioned Hwang Jiho, Moon Saeron showed us an article.
In the article, a photo of a groundbreaking launching ceremony of an air hotel division of Hwangmyeong Group’s tourism affiliate was attached.
In the photo, Hwang Jiho in a suit sitting in the VIP section was seen.
I wondered where the high-school version of him was during the weekend, but I see he’s been busy.
‘…But is the Hwangmyeong Group planning to build an air hotel? That never happened in the game.’
There’s something different about Hwang Jiho.
Moon Saeron explained something.
“Reporters aren’t usually invited to official events of Hwangmyeong Group. VIPs rarely show their faces so I was surprised to see Hwang Jiho.”
“I thought I should slowly let the world know of my existence. Perhaps I would continue doing business with this face.”
Hwang Jiho’s words made the newspaper department kids shocked.
“Heol, you really look like the heir of a large company.”
“Yeah, it’s obvious from your way of talking.”
“Hahaha!”
Don’t tell me Hwang Jiho is among the candidates for the foundation’s next president.
‘Well, the president now is still Hwang Jiho. This bastard is that bastard.’
Shortly after the chaotic and turbulent newspaper department activities.
I was about to leave the general club hall and head to the Jiikhoe Hall.
“Ah, Euishin! Thank goodness. I have something to tell you.”
The one who called me was the title hero and playable character Joo Soohyuk.
He’s the one who truly looks like the son of a large company.
“The Korean Series is starting this week. I got a ticket for myself, but I’m too busy to go so…”
The postseason is currently underway in this world’s Korean baseball league.
The only thing left after the wild card game is the semi-playoffs, and then the playoffs, the Korean Series, will begin.
The competing teams are the SZ Stars whose parent company is a huge game company.
They passed the KBO regular league race first and went straight to the Korean Series.
Their opposing team is the Joo-Oh Dragons who won the playoffs.
Joo Soohyuk seemed to have secured tickets since the Joo-Oh Dragons would be playing.
He offered me a ticket to the third round of the game at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium, the home arena of the Joo-Oh Dragons.
“And I think it would be more meaningful for the Class Zero kids to go.”
“Our class?”
Joo Soohyuk offered a gentle smile.
“Yeah. The Playlist cast will come to sing the national anthem. Miro will sing.”
