GIJS

Chapter 116 You're cute, so cute.

[···Thank you···.]

The moment he saw the message from the status window, Gunja froze in place. His eyes, which had remained unmoved even by Park Young-jae's punches, darted about in confusion.

"Chang-ya···!"

"Huh? Why suddenly Chang?"

"Shall we do a spear dance instead of a sword dance on the next stage?"

"Oh, that sounds good. How about naming the song [Spear Guys]?"

"I really want to hit Woong-hyung just once if given the chance."

"···I want to hit him twice···."

"Hah, you little brats are too much."

Even amidst the trivial jokes, Gunja's gaze remained fixed on the status window.

Chang-ya, why did you suddenly reach out like this?

It could be a brief error. However, Gunja felt that this greeting didn't seem like an error.

···Uuugh···.

The status window was shining brighter than ever, as if to announce its presence.

But the bright light didn't last long.

The glittering status window and the thank you message faded and disappeared. Instead, the members' loud laughter filled the void.

The after-party lasted until dawn. As soon as they returned to the dorm, the members collapsed as if they had fainted, but Gunja couldn't fall asleep.

"···Chang-ya···."

"Mmm, Chang··· Yes, Gunja··· Do you really not want to do a unit with me and the Spear Guys···?"

After stabbing Taewoong's vein and making him faint, Gunja sank deeply into the sofa, lost in thought.

Park Young-jae is like an old enemy of the former 'Yu Gunja'.

So, when he was punished by retribution, strangely, Chang thanked him.

Perhaps there was some connection between the former owner of this body and Chang.

Gunja entered his room and opened the laptop used by the former owner of this body, accessing SNS. Clicking on one of the many selfies, the old Yu Gunja began to move on the screen.

···If only I were from the Moonwon Yu family···.

···Even if I don't live long, if I were born with the talent of the Moonwon Yu family···.

The Yu Gunja on the video was clearly saying that.

What if the former owner of this body truly knew about the curse of the Moonwon Yu family?

What if, even after death, the soul did not disappear and instead approached a namesake from the 18th century Moonwon Yu family to bring his soul into the present world?

As this thought crossed his mind, a chilling sensation ran down his spine.

Perhaps, the former owner of this body had been with him much earlier than he thought.

The fact that only he could manage the family curse and the status window might also be due to his help.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he might finally learn the true identity of his long-time companion.

"Chang-ya."

···.

"Are you the previous owner of this body?"

···.

The status window remained silent. Perhaps it was unable to answer.

"That's alright, you can take your time to speak when you're ready."

Gunja did not press his old friend. Regardless of what the status window was, his future tasks remained unchanged.

On the contrary, he was more pleased that there was a connection between the former owner of this body and the status window. Since the former owner also wanted to be an idol, it meant he shared the same dream as Gunja.

"I will continue to spend more time with you as an idol."

···.

"So, please always stay by my side."

···Uuugh···.

As if in response, the status window resonated faintly.

* * *

The next day, the day for Seonbi-dol 7IN began with a refreshing headline.

["School violence controversy" Park Young-jae, 7IN – Riot at the Young-jaeong after-party venue··· Arrested at the scene for special assault.] [Park Young-jae, under investigation for sexual harassment, now facing additional charges of special assault?] [School violence – Sexual crimes – Drunken assault, Park Young-jae achieves a crime grand slam overnight.] [Yu Gunja, who subdued drunken Park Young-jae at the scene, truly a Seonbi with impressive strength!]

The articles quickly surfaced thanks to a video shared by a witness. The video, taken by someone in the bar, captured everything.

Park Young-jae causing a scene with a bottle of Soju, and Gunja gracefully subduing the chaos with elegant movements.

["Wow, Park Young-jae is really something;;;;"] ["This must be one of the worst idol incidents everㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"] ["Why is he making such a fuss? What's he so aggrieved about?"] ["Probably thinks Gunja ruined his idol career"] ["ㅋㅋㅋ It's funny, he's the one who brought this on himself"] ["Who said that?ㅋㅋㅋ"] ["I thought he was just a quiet guy, but turns out he's such a piece of trash"]

Naturally, mentions of Gunja in the video followed.

["But isn't Gunja too cool in this?ㅇㅅㅇ"] ["Even in a drunk video, our Gunja still manages to be a dorky point"] ["Wow, look at how he kicks the back of the knee and makes him kneel;;; so cool"] ["I want to collapse in front of Gunja too"] ["What kind of wish is thatㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"] ["I never thought I'd end up saving screenshots of the 9 o'clock news while being a fan^^;;;"] ["Will our Gunja end up doing politics too?"] ["He's a Joseon idol soaked in factional politics, so his political skills must be top-notch"] ["Since he hates jangdok, he must be a progressive?"] ["ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ] ["Progressive? What's that?"] ["Hey, friend, if you want to be a fan of Gunja, you should start studying Korean history"] ["Or get level 2 in classical Chinese"] ["Or shooting arrows would be fine too!"] ["If you don't have those qualities, you're not a true fanㅋㅋ"]

As the members who woke up late were preparing for the day with a wash, Gunja, who had awoken at 6 AM after the party, had just finished practicing calligraphy and painting.

"You guys are waking up late."

"Wow, even after the party, you're up at dawn?"

"You're really something."

"Ha-ha, you guys are just lazy."

"Oh, Seonbi hyung, your face looks so much better now?"

"Huh, really. You look better today?"

"R-Really? Haha."

Seeing Gunja awkwardly smile, Ji Hyun-su casually remarked.

"Of course. Gunja was never ugly."

"Ugh, it's cringeworthy. How long are you going to stay in that follower mode, Ji Hyun-su?"

"Hmm, until Woong becomes smart?"

"Hehe, that's a bit too harsh of a condition."

"These guys are really something."

"And Gunja's face is definitely looking better. After all, you sent that bastard to jail yesterday."

"That's true."

"Ah, so that's why Seonbi hyung's face is so bright today."

"Wow, if I also sent someone as terrible as Ji Hyun-su to jail, would my face also brighten up?"

"That wouldn't work."

"Why?"

"Because you actually like me."

"Bullshit···."

While the colleagues reached their own conclusions, Gunja secretly sighed in relief.

The reason his face looked better was actually because of a special reward of 1 point from the status window to improve his appearance.

[User: Yu Gunja] [Appearance: S] [Singing: B] [Dance: B+] [Charm: A+]

Gunja's appearance had risen from S- to S. While he could have improved his singing or dancing skills, strangely, whenever he got points, he always wanted to improve his appearance.

"···They say appearance is the most logical thing···."

Anyway, the S-rated appearance he gained was exhilarating to see. The words of an actor who said, 'It's thrilling, always new, being handsome is the best' were definitely not a lie.

"By the way, now that NoDyu is over, we'll have some free time."

As it was, the hectic activities for the mini-album were coming to an end. There would be a brief rest until the next album.

"Hyung, did you think about what Team Leader Seo Eun-woo asked?"

"What kind of ads you want to do?"

"Yes."

"Well, something general?"

As the album activities approached their end, Team Leader Seo Eun-woo had given the members a homework assignment. They were asked to think about what kind of advertisement they would like to shoot if given the chance.

Although it had been a short time since their debut, 7IN was already receiving numerous advertising offers. They could choose from many offers with good conditions, making them in a superior position compared to the advertisers.

Thus, Team Leader Seo Eun-woo conducted a preliminary survey to reflect the members' opinions as much as possible.

In the late afternoon, during the homework presentation time in the Solar system conference room with the members and management team, the first to raise his hand was Ki Yu-chan.

"···I want to shoot a Neverland advertisement···."

"Neverland? You mean the amusement park? Isn't that the Samjeong Group's?"

"Oh, you want to be a model for Samjeong Group."

"Ki Yu-chan is unexpectedly ambitious."

"···That's not exactly it. I just... want to advertise a place where families can have happy, peaceful times together."

"You really love your family, huh?"

"Yeah. It's not common for a high school student to be so focused on family."

Starting with Yu-chan, the members began to present their homework one by one.

The electronics enthusiast, Ji-hyun-su, expressed his aspiration to become the main model for Apple in South Korea, surprising Team Leader Seo Eun-woo.

Next, Hyun-jae wanted to shoot an ad for a mobile game, where he could dress up in various fantasy costumes.

In-hyuk, feeling shy about speaking in front of everyone, accidentally referred to his "drug tteokbokki ad" as "drug ad," causing some confusion.

"Ha, so you're really from a Mexican gang."

"···That's not it at all."

Unexpectedly, Hyun-siwoo chose a camera for his preference.

"Oh, Si-woo likes cameras?"

"Haha, I really enjoy shooting~"

"I see. I thought you'd only take selfies for your whole life."

"Hahaha, why would I take selfies? Other people take my photos~"

"Oh, is that so..."

Now only Gun-ja and Tae-woong were left. Tae-woong eagerly raised his hand and declared his wish.

"I want to model for underwear! I'd love to be an underwear model!"

"Pfft."

"I've worked hard on my physique, so it's a shame!"

"Are you crazy, man?"

"What? Ji-hyun-su, don't you wear underwear? Underwear is very important in our lives."

"No, if you're modeling for underwear, you have to only wear panties."

"So what? Are you insecure?"

"No, no such rude talk. You're really surprising me."

"Really? Really? Are you sure?"

"What is this, man?"

"I think it'd be more cute than surprising."

"You don't understand. People with my body type..."

"Okay, okay, that's enough."

Team Leader Seo Eun-woo intervened, trying to calm the members. Gun-ja also smiled softly, finding his colleagues' quarrel cute.

"Ha-ha, it's cute, it really is."

"Cute? I don't think so."

"Well then, how about Gun-ja's opinion?"

Gun-ja, as if he had been waiting for this moment, took out a blank sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. The paper had three large Chinese characters written on it:

"Who."