Chapter Text
Ding!
[Why are you doing this?]
Ding!
[Seriously. It's stupid.]
Ding!
[You know this isn't the only path.]
Ding!
[Do I need to give you a bunch of rewards?]
Ding!
[Please, I'd rather hear that it's just another one of your schemes.]
Ding!
[Nothing will come out of it.]
Ding!
[They can't do this without you.]
Ding!
[You can become the top idol.]
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
...
By the time the system's messages had died down, the only thing Hoyun could muster was a dry chuckle. It was the sort of sound that would come from sandpaper, grating in such a way even he flinched at the own sound. He covered his eyes with the back of his hand, leaning back, mind silent. Too silent, honestly, he wished there would be something going on up there–even an annoying, repetitive song.
Ding!
[New quest has arrived!]
[Quest: Survival.
Seo Hoyun is an essential member of The Dawn.
Goal: Don't die.
Reward: ???
Punishment: ???]
"... Would punishment even matter if I'm dead?" He asks, barely sparing a glance before he's looking at the ceiling again, dully. He sighs quietly, some quiet corner of his mind thanking whatever deity exists for the lack of members in the dorm at that moment. "What's even the point of it all?" He blinks slowly, in every one of his qualities, the rest of The Dawn would be able to handle his position seamlessly. Kang Ichae was smart enough for controversies, Kim Sunghyun was good enough at dancing, and Seong Jiwon was able at singing. Even Jeong Dajun's presence onstage could cover for his missing one.
At this point, he'd only be a burden with endless controversies and a lack of care. Damn it, maybe Noeuls would also stop caring if he created a big enough scandal for himself. Slowly, he got up, a wave of fatigue washing over in the sort of way it could only happen to someone who's exhausted with more than just their body. He clenched his fists, mind drifting back to the first times he'd had these plans. It wasn't a week ago, no.
It was when he was in the car crash, when he thought he should've been the one to die instead of his parents, when he hated his own self for being weak and human, when even glancing at his scar would make it burn ragefully. It was the times he'd secretly self harm to ignore the urges to hurt himself more fatally, the time self harm was his biggest addiction, the time all he could do was stare off the edge of a roof and wonder how hard it would be to clean his body. The times he'd forced all those thoughts down because he was the only person there for his own brother, and because he was the only person he could trust to move forward.
He must have looked pathetic in the moment, even more expressionless than he'd usually be. Maybe he was like a listless doll, one with its own strings cut and no one to use it as frequently because he'd spend most of his time staring off into space and nothing else. Fuck, he really felt like hurting himself again.
And as he stood still, he stood straight. He caught himself staring out again and brought himself to reality where he walked to a calendar and looked at the date. A special day? A normal one?
Slowly, he reached up and marked for a month later, circling the date with a pen laying beside the calendar as if taunting him. As if it was telling him to do it within the week. He was temped, fingers twitching with that urge, but he couldn't. He needed to prepare the groundwork.
Seo Hoyun was tired, that was all he could answer with if you asked why he wanted to do this. His answer could also be, do you really need a reason to die? After all, his parents had died for no reason, and he was sure many had also died for no reason. He didn't care about when it would happen, but he did want to know how. He knew he shouldn't do anything within the dorm, it would spook Dajun, maybe he could jump into a river, maybe step onto the highway and die to a car just as his parents had and he almost had.
Vaguely, he considers how utterly pitiful he must seem, so he steps away from the calendar and flops onto his bed, face down into a pillow, almost suffocating before he lets himself breathe with a turn and a cough. Not yet, he thinks. Not here.
Seo Hoyun
If it isn't one of my closest friends!!!
Joo Woosung
I genuinely shuddered.
Never say that again
Seo Hoyun
Anyways!
I have a favour to ask of you
Joo Woosung
No way, never.
Seo Hoyun
Can you take care of The Dawn?
Like, take care of the others. I know you wouldn't look after me if I begged.
Joo Woosung
????
Seo Hoyun
You do have your own things to take care of, but do this last thing for me.
If you promise this, I'll delete all the dirt I've got on you.
Joo Woosung
No need, I've got you covered.
But seriously, stop treating me like a slave.
I'm not doing this cause you're my friend or anything.
It's just cause the kids are good guys.
Seo Hoyun
Ahaha sure.
Anyways thanks, gotta go
[A/N: Her names Hyunsu but Hyunsung is so comfortable to me so I just named her that accidentally]
Seo Hoyun
Composer!!!!!
I've missed you...
Lim Hyunsung
sigh
What is it this time....
Seo Hoyun
So hurt... Anyways!
Just wanted to ask you to look after The Dawn for me.
Obviously you can let me burn, but just make sure they don't go through anything.
You'd do it for Kang Ichae, right??
Lim Hyunsung
I do that anyways, Bastard.
you're surprisingly human sometimes.
Hoyun mulls for moments, and continues to contact specific people he knows he can trust to look after The Dawn in his stead. He doesn't know when, but at some point, despite all his communicating, his thoughts are filled with a fated day he can't seem to wait for. In the distance, he can hear the door open, and the bustle of the other four entering the dorm.