translation by mourningmoor
We must have filmed the stage performance about four times.
By the end, Brian Tyler couldn’t contain his excitement and clapped so hard that his hands must have been on fire.
As soon as the performance filming ended, Brian approached us with a flushed face.
{My god, that was incredible. L.I.T? Or is it Lit? What should I call you?}
{Hello. You can call us L.I.T.}
{Nice to meet you. I’m Brian, the host of the show.}
{I’m Ichan.}
Shaking hands with Brian Tyler, I introduced the members.
One by one, they greeted him and exchanged handshakes.
By now, I’ve developed a habit of checking people’s fingers first whenever I meet a famous figure.
To see if they own a magic circle or not.
Thankfully, Brian Tyler wasn’t one of them.
Feeling much more at ease, we moved on to filming the talk show segment.
Naturally, the focus was on <Superstar Idol>.
{Last week, our guest was Anne Hayden. She practically dumped an entire bucket of stories about you guys here, and now I finally understand. You guys are amazing.}
He wasn’t just saying that to flatter us.
Brian Tyler was known for his blunt honesty as an MC. No matter how famous someone was, he never held back his sharp remarks. That was the charm of this talk show.
But today, he was providing entertainment in a different way.
The usually cynical Brian Tyler looked as if his eyes were literally sparkling in the shape of hearts.
From our debut process to the North American tour, he asked all sorts of questions, and every time we answered, he kept letting out exclamations.
“Great.”
“You guys, amazing.”
“Oh my god, it’s unbelievable.”
Back in the waiting room, Jaewon mimicked Brian Tyler’s exclamations.
“I couldn’t understand anything else, but I definitely caught that. ‘Oh my god. You guys. Genius. Amazing.’”
Roa burst into laughter.
“Yeah. He kept saying ‘amazing’ over and over again. I was kind of surprised.”
According to our research, Brian Tyler’s cynical nature usually made his guests struggle through the show, but for us, the broadcast was nothing but fun.
In the end, we even followed each other on SNS right on the spot—and even exchanged phone numbers.
“He was just like a nice uncle, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah. I got nervous for nothing. He’s actually a really good person.”
Yeah, he must have been a really good person.
Because from the very beginning, he was so overwhelmed by my magic that he couldn’t even sit up straight.
Anyway, thanks to this, we gained another strong ally.
He even asked us to come back to the Night Show if we ever visited LA again. And he said that, from what he could see, we’d be coming here a lot in the future.
VMAs, AMAs—they’re all held in LA, aren’t they?
Then he went on to declare that he’d personally take on the role of our official PR representative.
That evening, sure enough, a promotional post about us appeared on Brian Tyler’s official SNS.
In response, we also uploaded a picture with Brian in the waiting room on our official SNS.
#L.I.T #LIT #Bryan_Tyler #NIGHT_SHOW
#Thank_you_for_welcoming_us_Brian #You_are_truly_our_official_PR_rep #See_you_again
With so much support behind us, the two concerts in LA also wrapped up successfully.
And the members’ moods lifted significantly.
By now, we’ve gotten used to people’s enthusiasm, and more than anything, we finally had hope that we could return to Korea.
But I wasn’t the same.
Dallas, the last city of the tour. The place where that old magician was. My thoughts were all over the place.
And finally, we arrived in Dallas.
By this point, SS Group’s support strategy had reached its peak.
Even our accommodations had changed.
Instead of a hotel, we were set to spend a week at a villa owned by Timothy Gordon. But calling it a villa was an understatement—‘castle’ would be more accurate.
The members were happy.
It seemed they had forgotten that Timothy Gordon’s twin children were infamous akgae* fans. Well, in a way, it might be better to forget. I was the only one who needed to worry and stay on guard.
T.N.: Akgae refers to fans who support only one member of a group while actively criticizing or harassing the others.
The kids diligently relayed our updates to Filament through SNS, and every single one of them turned into news articles.
Then, the day before the Dallas concert—
Timothy Gordon came to the villa.
“Have you been getting some rest?”
Timothy Gordon had been deeply involved throughout this tour, but this was the first time we were meeting face to face.
“Thanks to you.”
Even though one of the world’s wealthiest figures had come all the way to the study where I was reading, I didn’t even spare him a glance and just answered. Timothy Gordon let out a small laugh.
“You really are bold.”
“And you’re reckless.”
I closed the book I was reading and finally stood up from my chair.
“After what I did to you, you still show up? That’s pretty reckless.”
I glanced at him, and Timothy Gordon flinched, his body stiffening.
The agreement with that old magician was for the last day of the concert. I figured I would see Timothy Gordon then, but for him to show up on his own like this? It must not have been his master’s will.
“You must have something to say. Hurry up and spit it out. Unless you want to start coughing up blood again.”
He must have come here regardless of his master’s intentions. That bastard couldn’t be completely devoid of emotions toward me.
“What did you do to Natalie?”
I knew it.
After meeting me, Natalie Grace had abandoned her nest. And I had even gifted her freedom, so Timothy Gordon must have been troubled.
“If you want an answer to that, you’ll have to give me some information in return. How about it? Deal?”
“That depends on the question.”
“It’s a simple one.”
Then, I threw out the most basic question.
“You have your magic circle on your ring, and Natalie Grace has hers on her wrist. Why is the location different?”
Most magic circle owners I had encountered so far had rings. The only exceptions were Natalie Grace and Go Dajin, who had them directly inscribed on their bodies.
“That’s a difficult question.”
“Difficult? It’s easier than you think.”
I needed to know this to decide my next steps.
Whether Natalie Grace’s cooperation was genuine or not.
Whether I should erase Go Dajin’s magic circle or not.
“It’s a simple question. It’s not even about you.”
But apparently, it wasn’t so simple. Timothy Gordon hesitated for a long time before finally speaking.
“Do you know how long my master has existed?”
I had a rough guess.
“What, around 300 years?”
“Exactly 312 years.”
That confirmed one of my theories.
“So?”
“A long time ago, my master had a wife and child.”
That was unexpected.
Normally, magicians marry other magicians.
“As you know, my master governs time, so he aged very slowly. But his wife and child didn’t.”
That was exactly the problem.
The stronger a magician’s power, the slower time flows for them compared to ordinary people.
That’s why magicians who marry non-magicians are destined for painful farewells.
But it seemed that the old magician had chosen the wrong way to avoid that.
“In the end, he transplanted their souls into new bodies.”
That’s something fallen puppeteers do.
Even anchoring a soul into a puppet’s body is considered a grave sin, but transferring a soul into someone else’s body?
“In that way, my master’s wife and child kept on living.”
My head spun for a moment.
How did I end up crossing paths with such a lunatic?
No, someone like that shouldn’t even exist. What happened to a magician’s sense of ethics?
“The problem was that after several repetitions, side effects began to appear. The memories started to blur and mix. The emotions dulled. In various ways…”
“Wait, so you’re saying Natalie Grace is your master’s wife? Not yours?”
Natalie Grace was thirty-eight this year, Timothy Gordon’s fifth wife. They had heavily pushed the ‘love of the century’ narrative in the media, but it was all fake?
“My master does not legally exist in this world and cannot have a wife.”
“How loyal.”
I scoffed and stared directly at Timothy Gordon’s face.
Abandoning his own perfectly fine wife to marry another woman—no, a woman carrying another man’s wife’s soul? There wasn’t a bigger dog than this guy.
“What did you get in return? Wealth? Immortality?”
“I have no interest in immortality. Just looking at Natalie, it’s obvious how foolish that is.”
Avoiding my question, Timothy Gordon straightened his posture and asked,
“Now it’s your turn, Kang Ichan-ssi. What did you do to Natalie?”
“What did I do?”
I tilted one corner of my lips and stepped closer to Timothy Gordon.
“She wanted freedom, so I gave her freedom.”
Then, in a low whisper, I added,
“If you want, I can give it to you too. Freedom.”
* * *
The Dallas concert was a success as well.
Now, there was no one left to criticize our skills.
Honestly, there is nothing as rigorous as the idol training process in South Korea. And idols who survive that rigorous process have no choice but to deliver a perfect performance. The fact that they survived it is already proof of perfection.
We added something special to that perfection and delivered the best performance.
We gauged how successful it was by looking at PD Pyo’s expression, and as soon as the concert ended, we started an N Live.
Even though we couldn’t drink alcohol, PD Pyo said we should at least set the mood, and he popped open a bottle of champagne during the live.
Pouring champagne into five glasses and raising them one by one, we celebrated a successful conclusion.
“Filament, you guys know this is all thanks to you, right?”
“You really are the best fans.”
Filament congratulated us through the comments.
Jaewon posted a photo on SNS of us clinking glasses, and beneath it, countless comments from Filament joined in, celebrating with us.
After wrapping up the short live, we hurried to prepare for our departure.
“Wow. We’re really off work now.”
“We’re finally going back to Korea.”
Roa and Jaewon were overjoyed in unison. Meanwhile, Hanjoon and Siu reflected on the shortcomings of today’s performance with some regret.
“I think we can do even better for the next performance.”
“Of course. Let’s completely destroy the stage for the South American tour.”
Seeing the members like this made my heart swell with pride.
This tour didn’t just wear them down. They had grown so much and gained so many realizations.
If they keep growing like this, surpassing Arche will only be a matter of time.
“You all worked hard. Let’s take a few days to rest.”
I didn’t say much more.
These kids are already enough as they are, and now, even without being pushed, they will run straight to the top.
Is it time for me to disappear?
For some reason, that thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.
At that moment—
“Kang Ichan-ssi?”
Timothy Gordon has arrived.