Now Bae Hoon came down. Ji Woo's game was loaded onto the computer screen. On being asked about the game, he started speaking-
"Hello everyone, I am Kang Ji Woo from YERIN"...audience started cheering
"Otherwise known as Mightydragon0301"...he continued.
Bae Hoon was drinking water, he spit it out in shock. Everyone gasped at the shocking revelation of the fact that Ji Woo is Mightydragon0301.
"Thank you Mr Hwang for the dedication. I really enjoyed the game. I feel honored."
After a short pause, he continued, "Alright, everyone, let me paint you a picture. Imagine a world where a mysterious, glittery pandemic—we call it the 'Beat Drop Virus'—has swept across the globe. And its victims? The most beloved K-Pop idols on the planet.
(He paused, masterfully orchestrating the audience's reaction—a unified, sharp intake of breath.)
"That's right. Gone are the perfect high notes and the intricate dance routines. Instead, our idols are now a horde of the most stylish, rhythmically shuffling zombies you've ever seen! They don't scream... they groan. They don't run... they do a hungry, lurching fanchant with the fandom's name.
"But here's the twist—your mission isn't to destroy them. It's to save them.
(His voice becomes more dramatic, painting the scene.)
"Armed only with your 'Cure-Light' synthesizer, you'll have to dart through neon-soaked backstage corridors and massive concert halls, dodging the beseeching grasps of your former idols. It's a race against the beat! Get too close, and you might get bitten—succumbing to the feverish fanaticism of the horde yourself.
And to fully cure an idol? You can't just zap them. You have to identify their song while avoiding their glamorous grab—team up with another player online, coordinate your moves, and bring back the star you love!
So. Who's ready to save their bias?
The crowd cheered and shouted on top of their lungs hearing this. It was deafening. The event managers had to calm the public down.
As to why we developed it?...well, someone I knew from my past used to tell me that I could be a Kpop idol. But I could not because the diet would kill me. Everyone laughed.
So this is my way of living my old dream through the video game. I hope you enjoy it.
Claps and cheers poured in. Ji Woo's funny and bright personality would make anyone fall instantly in love with him. The audience today was no exception.
The game started. Everyone was in awe at how beautifully the idols have been created. Some male idols even were shirtless (Ji Woo's idea) sending the female audience into a frenzy of delighted cheers. Ji Woo explained how the idols could be saved. Like Bae Hoon, he played the game with the testers.
The audience was following the game as if in a trance. At the end, Ji Woo revealed that the top scorer will get a concert ticket to a randomly selected Kpop idol's show. The girls in the audience shrieked. This was the mic drop moment.
All knew who won. The victory was undeniable: Zombie Idol Savior had won. After the final scores were announced, both Ji Woo and Bae Hoon were called to the stage. The announcer offered congratulations to each, but the difference was clear. Ji Woo was handed the massive, gleaming championship cup, while Bae Hoon received only a small consolation trophy for the runner-up. Yet, to Bae Hoon, the prize meant nothing. Unexpectedly, he stumbled upon the greatest prize he could even imagine.
He was stuck on the name Startrooper0103 with whom he played back in childhood, the only ray of hope in the midst of a sordid life he was living. Could it be? Was the boy he'd gamed with in the dim light of his room—the only escape standing right here on this stage?
A thought, sharp and sudden as lightning, struck him: Kang Ji Woo. Is he my Ji Woo?
No... it couldn't be.
But if it was... it would be the first true joy he'd felt since the day he was torn from the orphanage—since the day he was stolen and forced into this golden cage of the Hwangs.
Then, just as quickly, joy curdled into cold fear.
If this is really him... Ji Woo is in danger.
Chairman Hwang would never allow this connection. He'd snuff out anything that threatened his control—anything that reminded Joo Won of who he used to be. What if he has him killed?
Bae Hoon's eyes swept over Ji Woo—his bright smile, his easy confidence. He looked so happy. So... free. He must have a happy family, Bae Hoon thought. A real one. He must have a life untouched by the shadows Joo Won lived in.
But then, he remembered: Ji Woo had always been that way. Even back then, when Ji Woo would fall and scrape his knees bloody in the orphanage garden, it was Joo Won who would cry. Ji Woo would just smile, wipe his own wound, and say, "It's okay, Joo Won-ah. It's just a little blood. See? It already stopped."
He had always been the strong one. The wiser one. The brave one.
And now... he might be walking right into a danger he couldn't even see.
The roar of the crowd faded into a distant hum. The glittering lights, the flashing cameras, the massive cup—it all blurred into nothingness. Bae Hoon's entire world had narrowed to a single point: the man standing beside him.
His eyes were locked on Ji Woo, a silent, desperate plea ongoing in his mind. His mind swirled with questions- Ask him if he is your Ji Woo. Ask him about the orphanage. Ask him if he remembers you. Just... hug him.
As the whirlwind of these thoughts threatened to overwhelm him, he felt a familiar, electric grip on his wrist.
Ji Woo grabbed his hand.
Without a word, beaming with a victory smile meant for the cameras, Ji Woo pulled him forward into the center of the celebration. It was an instinctive act of inclusion, a sharing of the spotlight.
And in that single gesture, Bae Hoon's heart shattered and soared at once. It's him.
It was the exact same way Ji Woo would grab a hesitant, shy Joo Won all those years ago, pulling him onto their makeshift orphanage stage to take a bow together after a silly skit. Ji Woo, born for the limelight, but always refusing to stand in it alone.
Suddenly, the sprawling arena, the thousands of faces—they all melted away. In Bae Hoon's eyes, there was only the stage. And a single, blindingly white circle of light illuminating just the two of them as kids, as if no time had passed at all.
Overcome by a wave of emotion he had spent a lifetime suppressing, a silent tear traced a path down Bae Hoon's cheek. Then another. He didn't try to stop them. For the first time in years, he was not Bae Hoon of the Hwang family.
In that white circle of light, he was just Joo Won, finally found.
Everyone thought he was crying because he did not win. The crowd sympathized in harmony as people rarely see someone so handsome and manly cry in front of people; his tears made him seem like a sensitive gentleman. But Hana never saw him like this. Since the accident, Bae Hoon had completely changed, an exact opposite of what he used to be, earlier he used to be much like this guy -Ji Woo. She thought Wahh! If she did not know what Bae Hoon looked like, she would think Ji Woo is actually Bae Hoon based on the personality. She was taken aback by the tears of Bae Hoon's eyes. For the first time ever, she saw Bae Hoon show some kind of emotion- maybe losing the competition was a big deal to him since everything is handed to him basically from childhood. So he never had to see defeat, this was probably the first.
Ji Woo on the other hand was happy that he found his online gaming friend. He saw Bae Hoon standing aloof, so he pulled him into the celebration. He wanted to invite him and his team over a celebratory meal. It's true that Bae Hoon lost the competition but his game was featured on a global stage. So it reached a global audience. A gaming company who's just starting could use that. Although, Bae Hoon was from the Hwang group, it did not bother Ji Woo, since he found his online gaming friend.
A man in the black suit approached Bae Hoon and whispered something in his ears. From a face of emotional vulnerability, his expression changed to a grim one as if he was reminded of something, something very serious.
Handing the small trophy of consolation and congratulatory flowers to Hana and his team, Bae Hoon surrounded by a phalanx of suited men turned and marched stiffly toward the exit. A black BMW sedan glided to the curb, its door held open. Bae Hoon slid inside without a backward glance.
Ji Won followed shortly after only to see Bae Hoon getting in the car, "Hey! Wait!," he called out, starting to run after the car. But he was too late. He could only watch as the black sedan merged into traffic and sped away, leaving him standing alone on the curb.
He pursed his lips into a downward curve of disdain.
"Of course," he muttered to himself, the words laced with a fresh, old resentment. "You're from Hwang Group."