He smelled blood.

Soule looked down at his hands. Thick globs of blood dripped from both of his hands.

Whose blood is this?

Is it mine? Or the others?

More blood gushed out from his already soaked body.

It did not hurt. Instead, his heart pounded furiously. Soule's lips quivered.

"Hah...haha."

He wanted to cry. Instead, the side of his lips curled up to form a smile.

Soule looked up, dazed.

He saw a huge figure in front of him. Black lumps shimmered and laughed at him.

Soule knew how this would end.

These things would swallow everything that he had and "consume the world."

It was futile to resist. It was like a story with a predestined ending.

As Soule was lost in his thoughts,

the black form swirled around him even more violently than before.

Swooosh!

The wind rushed against his cheeks. Despair was approaching.

Soule's vision went blurry against the fierce gust of wind. It was getting even harder to keep his eyes open. Soule tried to raise his arms to shield himself from the wind.

The respite was for but a brief moment.

The sharp wind cut into his skin and made it flap in the air like a rag. Soule could almost laugh at his own desperation against the fathomless chaos.

Nevertheless... he remained determined to protect everyone.

Soule recalled his memories as he hung onto his last shred of consciousness.

What he told the members countless times.

It's all right. I'll resolve it somehow...

That was what he had always said. The members would then smile brightly despite their bleak situation.

I have to think. I have to think.

What should I do? How can I change my predestined fate?

Soule choked back his hollow laughter and glared.

***

"Huh...!"

Soule sat up. He found himself breathless as a shiver ran down his spine.

He looked at his surroundings.

Gone was the wasteland and the black forms from before.

Just then, a low voice sounded from beside him.

"What kind of dream..."

Soule immediately whipped his head toward the direction of the voice.

"...were you having?"

He found himself staring at a slim face with long, single-lidded eyes.

It was Eugene.

He could hear cars passing by, Taho talking, and Viken rustling through his snacks.

Soule sighed deeply.

Mundanity rushed into his veins as he felt the familiar sensations one by one.

Oh, I'm in the van.

He finally felt relieved.

Soule relaxed his stiff shoulders.

As the tension broke, he found his lips curving into a faint smile.

Eugene's seat was always beside Soule's in the van. Eugene seldom smiled, but here he was, giving Soule a light and reassuring smile.

You don't even like smiling...

Grateful, Soule rested his head on Eugene's sturdy shoulders, which were well-sculpted thanks to his regular workout sessions.

Eugene grumbled as though he was annoyed.

"Hey. Your head is heavy. Move it."

"I don't want to."

"Hey."

Eugene sighed. Soule suppressed a smile.

If Eugene truly did not want it, he could have pushed him away. But he didn't.

That was how Eugene was.

He was like a big brother bear. Although Eugene looked rough and fierce on the outside, deep down inside he was actually extremely kind and soft-hearted.

Eugene had slapped Viken on the back when the latter had first made this observation. The former snorted as he asked why he was being compared to an animal.

Only the members knew this side of Eugene.

He was like a secret shared only amongst them.

Soule smiled, unable to contain his excitement.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Hehe. Your shoulder is so stiff."

"Then move it."

"But it's comfortable. Just the right height."

"Seriously..."

Despite his grumbling, Eugene did not push him off.

Soule grinned and leaned closer onto Eugene.

They stayed like this for a while. Eugene observed Soule for a while before he commented,

"Well, now you're smiling a little."

Soule blinked as though he did not understand. His head slid down slightly. Eugene slightly lifted Soule by his forehead and laid his head back onto his shoulder.

"You were really struggling, you know. You slept like a baby. And then you started groaning. I was about to wake you up when your eyes suddenly shot open. You scared the heck out of me."

"It was that bad? I see..."

Soule sighed. He had been having such nightmares quite often lately.

"I think it must be the stress. I've been having such weird nightmares."

"What kind of nightmares?

"Um. Well, I'm in the middle of deserted places."

Soule slowly began to explain his dream.

"I try to stop something, but I can't."

As he recalled the fading dream, the uneasiness began to creep in once again.

Soule looked down at his hands.

The sticky red blood that had stained them was now gone.

Nevertheless, Soule's eyes trembled at the sudden onslaught of uneasiness.

His vision began to blur.

The asphalt road beyond the van's windshield seemed to rise up to swallow him whole.

Soule clutched his arms and began to murmur.

"It's not the time for this. I have to think. Think..."

Just then, a firm but smooth hand touched Soule's cheeks.

"Hey, you. Are you seriously all right? Is it really just a nightmare?"

Soule snapped out of his trance as he was brought back to reality by Eugene's warm hands.

He shook his head vigorously.

"No. No. It's just a regular nightmare. Don't sweat it. Eugene."

Soule gave him an awkward smile.

He could feel the repeating nightmares draining him mentally.

He had lost a lot of weight in a short span of time and sometimes suffered hallucinations.

Soule could not admit it, not when everyone was listening.

Viken and Taho, who were less expressive, pretended not to care. But, Soule knew. Everyone's focus was on him.

Just looking a little closer told him so.

Taho's earbuds were out of his ear while Viken's phone had stayed on the same screen since a while ago. Avys, the youngest member, sat with his eyes closed, still pretending to be asleep even though he had woken up a moment ago. Soule found that rather endearing.

As a leader, he did not want his other members to worry.

"It's all right. A dream is a dream. To be honest, for all of us in Star One, reality is scarier than a nightmare, isn't it?"

Taho flinched while Viken almost let go of his smartphone at Soule's comment. Avys's eyelids twitched slightly.

"We're walking on a tightrope here. Everything's on the edge."

Eugene sighed.

"That's true."

"No matter how hard we sing and dance, today's market is all for magic idols."

Soule smiled bitterly. They were truly at a loss.

Magic idol.

A new kind of occupation that had not existed before.

Soule rested his chin on top of his hand as he stared out of the window.

Beyond the shaded glass, he could see the road that was as jammed as their frustration.

***

The world had turned upside down 10 years ago.

Earth repeatedly split and re-merged.

The shock sent the ground reeling and many lost their memories.

Soule was one of them. Soule had no memory of what happened. It was almost as though someone had deleted it from his memory bank.

Nobody could pinpoint the reason for the change. What was clear, however, was that the world could never go back to what it once was.

One of the biggest changes that had come about was "the magic."

People could perform magic just as they had once seen in movies or novels. Everyone was ecstatic.

The scholars had declared, "Magic shall be the beginning of the new age. With magic, humanity would reach a space that nobody had ever ventured to."

The entrepreneurs had asked thereafter, "Do you conduct research on magic? Do you need money? We'll pay for it. In exchange, give us the rights to use your findings."

And so, with the funding, the scholars did all kinds of studies. But, reality was less magical.

Magic remained no more than a simple cantrip. Most of those who invested in it nearly went bankrupt.

While most of them failed, a few large magic research institutions still remained open.

That gave rise to conspiracy theories,

One of them being that "There's a mysterious organization that trains in magic, and they rule the Black Water. Humanity exists only under their surveillance" and more.

But those were merely rumors.

A few years had passed since the research boom died down, when magic had first given rise to a new culture in an unexpected place.

Magic had entered the entertainment business.

Though it had lost its former glory as "a hope for humanity" and "the epitome of human civilization," it had found its niche.

***

Soule smiled bitterly.

Magic idol.

They were on top. Soule couldn't possibly reach where they were. As they were flying across the stage in the shower of sparkling starlight.

The magic idols could sing in extraordinarily high tones and adjust their appearances to make themselves look even more beautiful.

The world went wild at the first appearance of the magic idols, who swiftly replaced traditional entertainers who could not use magic.

While one could still find non-magic idols, this became very rare.

Magic-less idols in the world of magic idols. Idols with limits.

That was Star One, which Soule was a part of.

"Soule."

Eugene called out to him.

Soule shifted his eyes from the window.

"I saw this sticker at the corner of a convenience store. They said that they would teach you magic for just 3 million won."

"Eugene, that's just a scam."

"I know. But with our situation like this, it just kind of came to mind."

Everyone was desperate.

If they could use magic, all of the discrimination and condescension that they faced would go away.

Eugene scratched his head as he asked.

"We the only idols who can't use magic now, aren't we?"

"Yes. There were a few when we first made our debut. They're all gone now."

Just then, Soule could not help but feel frustrated. He asked Eugene,

"Eugene. Doesn't it feel like we're from ancient times?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just... We're like fossils of what idols were like in the old times."

Soule sighed.

"People were criticizing our performance for not using magic."

What? No magic effects? Do you know how much this ticket costs? Is this a joke?

Can you even call them idols? Sheesh...

Can't groups like these just disband on their own? Does their management company even think about making money?

The Star One members became more and more disheartened by the murmurs of the TV staff.

"It's not like it's illegal for not having magic..."

Eugene nodded at Soule's comment.

"They treat it like one though."

"Yeah."

With the public growing colder and colder towards them, the younger members began to go rogue, while Soule began to suffer from endless nightmares.

He was frustrated with the reality where despite their whole-hearted singing and dancing performance, people turned them away because they lacked magic.

Perhaps all would be more bearable if he could at least not have the nightmare. But, the horribly lucid dream persisted.

Or is it even really a dream...?

Ugh, crap.

Soule rested his head against the window. Perhaps it was the chill of the glass. But his head began to clear up.

I should be thinking about what's important.

Right now, what's important is Star One's success.

Soule let out a labored sigh as he leaned against the window. He felt like he was being pressured from all sides.

Soule spoke to Eugene as though he was reassuring himself.

"Eugene, we should do only what we can do. If magic idols are like airplanes, we're like cars. We might be slow, but we should just go as quickly as we can."

Eugene remained silent.

Soule unclenched his fists. Eugene could see small blood drops on his palm from his nails.

Soule quickly wiped the blood away. He could feel the dull pain throbbing in his palms. He did not care.

If things didn't work out, he would make things work out. The filthy world. He would show them what he was capable of.

"Just like this car right now..."

Soule murmured as he looked up.

How strange. He suddenly got goosebumps.

What is this?

He did not have time to think. The car had stopped. Soule immediately grabbed his seatbelt.

Screeeech.

He could hear a shriek of a break. Everyone lurched forward in the car.

Original story: HYBE

Co-planning: HYBE / NAVER WEBTOON