Chapter - 53화 (53/150)
Joo Dansol eating compilation.
The moment Dansol saw the best post pinned at the very top, his breathing grew rapid.
'Even the way he eats is annoying as hell.'
'He really is obnoxious.'
'Joo Dansol's personality—picking only the squid out of the green onion pancake.'
'Getting pissy all of a sudden and saying he won't eat is seriously attention-seeker behavior.'
Even when he just ate like everyone else, they cursed at him no matter what, to the point he ended up with an eating disorder.
After filming the program, he'd feel sick even from the smell of food—so if he didn't eat, they cursed him, and if he stubbornly pretended to eat well, they called him gluttonous.
Was it even right to look at this?
Knowing he'd get hurt the moment he opened it, Dansol still clicked the post like someone deliberately ripping off a scab they were sitting on, then kept his eyes squeezed shut for a long time.
{RO-Match Survival in Island Portal}
Joo Dansol eating compilation.
(Joo Dansol eating compilation.gif)
⤷Nom nom, he's so cute—literally a little hamsterㅠㅠㅠ
⤷He looks like he'd do strict diet control, so it's so pretty how he eats well without being picky
⤷Please air just Joo Dansol mukbang for one hourㅠㅠ
⤷If Joo Dansol does vlogs, wouldn't it just be him going around to good restaurants every day? So cuteㅠㅠㅠ
⤷It's funny how he acts like he knows food but he's actually a total terrible cookㅋㅋㅋㅋ
⤷They said the members said it was delicious, so what the hell did the DinoSoul members even live on?
"Ha..."
He'd eaten the exact same way as before his regression, but the comments were nothing but praise. Dansol exhaled in shock.
Even after that, worried there might be posts dragging him, Dansol read through the thread—over ten pages—word for word.
It was different. Too different.
Maybe there was some other community that was trashing him. With eyes burning, Dansol spent hours using every "search-avoidance" term he'd learned before his regression—plus new ones—digging through every site he could find.
I don't really like Joo Dansol......
There it was.
He finally found a post title that looked like it had been written by someone who didn't like him.
So it's starting now?
He tried to open it right away, worried it might be some ridiculous malicious speculation—but the site had a members-only board, and a notice popped up saying only full members could view it.
"Ugh... why do I have to apply for full membership again... how did you even level up again...."
It was hazy, so he checked the announcements too.
To meet the requirement—10 posts and 30 comments—Dansol worked the community hard until his eyes felt like they'd fall out.
Even if he padded some of it with an intro post and attendance check-ins, he still didn't know what to write for the other eight. So he started posting old-man jokes Minhyeok had taught him, one by one, in the free board—only to get cursed at.
Yeah. It was a pretty brutal community.
[You have been promoted to full member.]
"Whew... okay. Don't get hurt, Joo Dansol. You're used to it. Right?"
Dansol took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and clicked the title.
Comments like "your face is ugly," "your tone is bad," "your eyes look creepy"—to a regressor like Dansol, those didn't even count as hate.
But cracks always started from small holes.
Even after seeing the portal full of praise, Dansol still couldn't believe this situation where so many people liked him.
It was a job where he could only live by wetting his throat with the public's and fans' attention, so he couldn't help remembering his past self—desperately wanting their interest, and their meaningless forgiveness.
Back then, he'd poured himself into it with nothing but the desire to do well. Was that "too much" what turned into poison?
In this life, he'd only wanted to survive quietly, but something bigger than he expected had come back to him.
Still, he couldn't relax.
Their affection wasn't forever. It was cruelly temporary.
{RO-Match Survival in Island Portal}
I don't really like Joo Dansol......
In my heart's ★ro...
⤷Knew it would be thisㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
⤷Sameㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
"What, what is this...? Is it 'don't like'... or not...?"
After getting himself worked up and opening it with courage, the bland comments drained all the strength out of Dansol's body.
He was hungry. He hadn't eaten anything today, and he'd practiced for hours.
The smell of ramen around him made him smack his lips.
He only had ten thousand won.
It wasn't enough to last in the PC bang until morning and still take the subway to the venue.
Should he swallow his pride and go back to the dorm?
He'd been staring at his phone—turned off since earlier—until his head started pounding. He closed his eyes.
At some point, he started nodding off.
"Right!"
"Hey! Keep it down!"
Click, click.
"Wow... for real, Joo Dansol... close coverage!"
How much time passed?
When Dansol opened his eyes, two phones were right in front of him—and two high schoolers were taking pictures nonstop, not even realizing he'd woken up.
"What... what is this."
"Wow... he looks even better when he opens his eyes! Excuse me! You're Joo Dansol, right?"
"Huh?"
"It is Joo Dansol! Hey! Why are you asking the obvious! Did you come to see Ma Taeohh? Hyung! Why are you here? Can we take one photo?"
They'd either forgotten how to control their volume—or never intended to.
The boy snapped at the girl who'd asked carefully, then shouted Dansol's name.
Even people gaming nearby craned their necks, peeking toward where Dansol sat.
"Ah... no?"
"Huh?"
"I'm not Joo Dansol."
"Huh?"
Having lived his entire life in Seoul, Dansol answered in a clumsy Gyeongsang-do dialect he'd barely learned, then sprang to his feet.
Whether the kids believed him or not, he had to get out of here.
But they were relentless.
As Dansol hurried out of the PC bang, they chased him hard.
"Hyung! Why are you saying you're not! You are Joo Dansol!"
"Hey! Why are you calling an older oppa by his name like that! Right, oppa!"
"Ugh! I'm telling you I'm not!"
"Hyung! Denying it won't work! Your dialect is so fake!"
Dansol started running.
He was so exhausted he felt like he might die, but seeing the two high schoolers chase him like hyenas made his legs move on their own.
Not even knowing where he was, Dansol ran into the alley behind a convenience store.
"Huh?! He disappeared! Hey, I'll go this way! You go that way!"
"Got it!"
They moved like detectives chasing an escaped convict. Getting caught was only a matter of time.
"Wait... why am I even running?"
Crouched in a deserted corner of the alley, Dansol suddenly had that fundamental question.
It was just two high schoolers. They weren't going to kidnap him.
If he just let them take a picture and gave an autograph, that would be it.
Maybe he really was losing his judgment because he was hungry.
Dansol started edging out of the alley, scanning quickly for the students—
Thud.
Focused on his sides, he hadn't looked forward. He slammed into a car parked in front of the convenience store.
It was a big, black car.
He banged his forehead hard, but his first thought was whether the expensive-looking car had dented.
"Dansol! What are you doing here!"
A scratch seemed to be there—maybe it was already there, maybe he'd caused it. He couldn't tell.
Thinking no one had seen, he was about to slip away—
But the window of the car he'd assumed was empty rolled down, and Taeohh popped out.
"Taeohh?"
"Dansol? Why... are you like this?"
"Uh... well...."
It must've been Zeus's van after practice.
Only then did Dansol realize—because it was dark, he hadn't noticed, but it was the kind of van celebrities rode all the time.
Taeohh's gaze dropped to Dansol's hand, rubbing the car with his sleeve.
"Wh-who...?"
Zeus's manager came out of the convenience store carrying a ton of food, staring at Dansol with a face full of questions.
Embarrassed, Dansol squeezed his eyes shut.
"Taeohh... are you going home?"
"Yeah. Where are you going at this hour?"
"I... Taeohh. Um... I..."
Dansol couldn't get the words out.
Should he go back to the PC bang? Go back to the dorm?
In a few seconds, a lot of thoughts churned through his head.
"Dansol, is it... something hard to say? It's okay, just tell me."
Seeing Dansol struggling to speak like someone about to borrow a huge sum of money, Taeohh spoke first.
"...Me... if you have a spare room, or... even the living room or the shoe rack is fine... could you let me sleep somewhere just for tonight?"
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