#6

As soon as the Idol Development Information window disappeared, the only thing left for me to check was the Applied Package Information. The floating, semi-transparent window hung in the air, completely indifferent to the chaos in my mind. I let out a deep sigh and clicked on the last remaining option.

Please, let this one be normal.

I desperately hoped for that. I’d already been through enough shocks, and my mental state was hanging by a thread.

[Player Goo Won’s Applied Package Information

High-Level Player Package – Active

─ Premium-grade company, house, and villa

─ Exclusive secretary: Sung Yoojun

─ Exclusive manager: Ahn Siwon

─ Monthly (Beep—) billion payout

─ Unlimited weight inventory

─ Exclusive premium shop for High-Level Players]

By some miracle, the contents of this window were…… fine. Well, not just fine—actually useful.

So that’s why I started with all those ridiculous perks. This High-Level Player Package thing must be the reason. Whatever it was, it seemed I’d gotten insanely lucky. Having something like this applied from the very start? Not bad at all.

As I absentmindedly skimmed through the details, my little sister’s voice echoed in my head.

“Yeah, good thinking. Instead of moping around the house all day, just play the game or something. There’s a premium package coupon code inside too, so use it.”

Premium package coupon……

Wait. Was this what Cheon was talking about? But I never entered any coupon code. Could it have been applied automatically? The curiosity gnawed at me, and I absentmindedly played with my lips while tilting my head.

……Well, since it’s already applied, it doesn’t really matter. No need to overthink it.

It was a question without an answer, so I decided to just let it go. After taking a deep breath, I dismissed all the floating windows.

The instant I closed the last one, time resumed. The Tartarus members, who had been frozen in unnatural positions, moved again as if nothing had happened. Jung Hosu spoke first, his expression calm.

“There’s nothing.”

I blinked in surprise. He didn’t notice time stopping? That was…… interesting.

Then, a second thought hit me. Wait. Nothing? My last question before everything froze was about how much stuff they needed to pack. That meant his response was answering that. They don’t have anything to bring? At all?

“……Did you just say there’s nothing?”

“Yes.”

His answer was firm, leaving no room for doubt. But this time, I couldn’t just nod and move on. It made sense if they had no personal belongings at the company—maybe they just didn’t leave stuff there. But at home? The place they had been living in?

“Wait…… Are you seriously saying you have nothing to bring?”

A hesitant voice chimed in from behind Hosu.

“Um…… sir. I’m sorry, but it’s true. We really don’t have anything to pack.”

I turned to look at the speaker—Lee Gaon.

His large, round eyes and soft features made him look like a golden retriever caught doing something wrong. The way he hesitated only strengthened that impression.

……A retriever, huh? Yeah, he definitely had a puppy face.

“……Really? Nothing at all?”

Gaon fidgeted, unable to answer right away.

“……Yes…… We really have nothing……”

“Why do you keep asking when we said no? It’s freaking annoying.”

I waited patiently without pressing the child who couldn’t answer, and finally, Lee Gaon parted his lips. A trembling voice leaked out, but before he could finish speaking, Lee Daon’s harsh words poured out.

I shifted my gaze from Lee Gaon to Lee Daon. His face, which resembled Gaon’s, was scrunched up in a deep frown. Unlike Gaon’s round, gentle eyes, Daon’s were sharp, and the creases between his brows made him look like a rebellious teenager.

They clearly have similar faces, so why does Gaon feel like a golden retriever while Daon feels like a Doberman? They’re both ‘puppy-faced’, but how can they give off such different impressions?

Momentarily distracted from the serious situation, I found myself alternating my gaze between the two, indulging in such a trivial thought.

“I said there’s nothing. There’s not a single thing to take from that shitty place. How many times do I have to say it before you get it? Are your ears blocked?”

Wow, that’s some attitude.

I quietly marveled at the aggressive words spilling from Lee Daon’s mouth. Damn, he’s got a sharp tongue. Never did I expect to be talked to like this by someone I had just met.

“Daon!”

“Shut up. Don’t talk to me. You piss me off.”

“You can’t talk like that to the president! The president is the president, and he’s older than us!”

“Shut up! Don’t order me around!”

While I was debating whether to call Lee Daon out on his behavior, he and Lee Gaon started raising their voices at each other.

Their similar names and matching faces made them undeniably look like siblings, but their relationship didn’t seem very good. More accurately, it looked like Lee Daon was the one unilaterally rejecting Lee Gaon.

“Daon, please……!”

“I said shut up!!”

BANG—!!

Fuming from his clash with Lee Gaon, Lee Daon slammed his fist violently against the wall. I raised an eyebrow at the reckless act. Daon’s hand, which had struck the hard wall, was already swelling and turning bright red.

“Who do you think you are to boss me around?! What the hell do you think you are?!”

Despite already having hurt himself once, Lee Daon’s anger showed no signs of subsiding. His voice, twisted with rage, grew louder as he swung his fist again, aiming for the wall.

I couldn’t just stand by and watch. Just before his fist could collide with the wall again, I quickly moved, grabbing his hand mid-air, stopping him in his tracks.

“Ugh, what the hell are you?!”

Lee Daon, whose wrist I had grabbed, struggled desperately to free himself from my grasp, but I refused to let go. At least, not until he calmed down enough to stop the kind of self-destructive behavior he had just displayed.

“Let go!! Let me go!!”

“Please calm down, Daon-ssi. I’ll release you once you’ve calmed down enough.”

“Who the hell are you to tell me to calm down or not?! Let go of me! You wanna die?!”

Hmm…… His way of speaking is quite something.

I looked at Lee Daon with an exasperated expression. Why does this guy, an idol of all things, have such a foul mouth? What if he ends up in a controversy about his personality one day? The thought made me worry.

I subtly twisted his wrist. Immediately, I felt his body stiffen through the contact. It was a familiar reaction.

It was an instinctive display of defense and fear, something I had often seen in people who had been exposed to prolonged violence. The moment I realized that, I spoke without thinking.

“It’s okay. I have no intention of harming you. I just want to check if you’re hurt.”

I deliberately kept my tone calm, as if I were merely stating a fact, hoping to reassure Lee Daon, who was pretending not to be scared.

“……Shut up.”

Ah, another harsh response. But I didn’t mind.

His wrist, still in my grasp, was no longer rigid with tension. That was enough. A few rough words were nothing compared to that. I gently rotated his wrist further and carefully examined the side of his hand, which was red and swollen. Fortunately, aside from the swelling, there were no visible wounds.

“Your hand is really swollen.”

“This is nothing, so mind your own business.”

Lee Daon responded irritably to my concern and tried to pull his wrist free. Since he seemed significantly calmer than before, I let go without resistance. Rubbing his freed wrist with his other hand, Daon glared at me.

“Daon-ssi, it’s fine to get angry, but you shouldn’t use your fists.”

“Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do? If you don’t want to get hurt, you better shut your—”

“If you really have to, kick instead. It’s less likely to injure you than using your fists.”

Lee Daon’s expression turned strange at my remark.

……What’s with that look? Why does he seem like he’s staring at a lunatic? With his personality, I figured he wouldn’t listen if I told him not to hit things at all or to stop getting angry. So I thought I was offering a reasonable compromise……

“Uh… President.”

“Yes, Gaon-ssi?”

“Shouldn’t you be telling him not to use violence at all instead of suggesting he kick instead of punch……?”