Chapter 50

Chapter 50. A or A

The private ambulance from the nearest hospital had been taken over by Min Gyu-chan because he was about to be late.

That meant my emergency call had been reassigned to a hospital farther away.

I slapped Min Gyu-chan across the face in front of everyone.

Then I loaded the unconscious fan onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.

The only medical worker present was the driver.

"I'll drive. Jin-seo and the ambulance driver can treat the patient in the back."

"What? Absolutely not! A civilian driving an ambulance violates the Emergency Medical Service Act..."

I ignored Jin-seo reciting laws and closed the transport compartment.

And just like that, I violated some article and clause of the Emergency Medical Service Act.

"I'm only a Level 2 emergency medical technician... but I'll do everything I can."

The ambulance driver said that once breathing stopped, the heart generally followed within four minutes.

From what he could tell, more than four minutes had already passed after the fan stopped breathing.

Whether the fan could come back would depend on continuing CPR.

While the driver and Jin-seo treated him, I switched on the siren and raced down the road.

The guards controlling traffic understood immediately and cleared a path.

On the way, we passed several ambulances.

They were probably the ones responding to my actual emergency call.

If we'd waited for them, the fan would've been fully dead already.

Fortunately, the fan regained consciousness before we reached the hospital.

Even while still barely conscious, he cried out from the pain in his arm.

I'd once cracked a bone and thought it hurt like hell.

This fan's bone had completely broken.

I couldn't imagine the pain.

"Don't ambulances carry anesthetic?"

I asked while the fan continued screaming.

Yoon Jin-seo immediately interrupted.

"Anesthesia can only be administered in the presence of a qualified anesthesiologist. Under the Medical Service Act..."

"We don't carry it anyway, so don't worry."

The driver cut him off.

Eventually, we reached the hospital and handed the fan over to actual professionals.

The emergency-room doctor checked him after his consciousness returned.

Then he asked detailed questions.

How long had the patient stopped breathing?

How much time had passed before he regained consciousness?

After hearing the answers, the doctor nodded.

"If he regained consciousness, it means the first aid was effective. You did well."

"Then he's healthy?"

"His arm is broken, and he stopped breathing for a significant amount of time, so we'll need detailed tests. But his life doesn't appear to be in danger."

Ah.

So this was what it felt like to save someone.

Jin-seo and I sat in the emergency-room waiting area and caught our breath.

The fan's blood covered both my hands.

We were so exhausted I didn't even have the strength to go wash.

"Ugh. I'm driving ninety kilometers an hour through residential streets, and you keep babbling about laws, laws, laws..."

"I wasn't saying you shouldn't do it. I was panicking too... I only meant that if you're going to break the law, at least know which law you're breaking."

"Go lecture Min Gyu-chan instead. What he did was illegal too, right?"

Jin-seo said he was already thinking about exactly how to ruin him.

I pulled out my phone and called Serin to check where the members were.

Just as I was preparing to leave, a nurse suddenly approached and held out her phone.

"You're not an emergency responder, right...? I don't think I've seen you before. Could I get your number?"

"What? My number? Ah, my resident-registration number?"

Maybe because I'd performed medical first aid, some procedure required my identification.

Then why not simply ask for my ID card?

The nurse's face turned red.

She shook her head.

"N-No. Your phone number. I'm not trying to flirt with you or anything. The patient specifically asked me to get it."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I don't have a boyfriend."

If he was a fan, he obviously knew who Do Jun-hyeok was.

If he wanted to thank me, he could even use a fan messenger.

Still, maybe he had a reason.

I wrote down my number.

The nurse left.

Yoon Jin-seo immediately began complaining.

"I'm the one walking around shirtless. Why is your number the one getting asked for...?"

"If taking your shirt off automatically got you numbers, every man would walk around naked."

I glanced at Yoon Jin-seo's bandit-like body.

Then I asked,

"By the way, doesn't this count as public indecency or something?"

Yoon Jin-seo quietly covered his nipples.

Then Serin called again.

She said they were still waiting for me in the waiting room.

I decided to check on the injured fan one last time before going back to pick them up.

"Ah. D-Do hyung..."

"Rest comfortably. They said you need absolute rest."

"The... afterlife exists..."

The fan weakly began describing his near-death experience in vivid detail.

Earlier, I'd heard that prolonged cardiac arrest could damage brain cells.

Even if the story sounded ridiculous, he was speaking coherently.

He seemed fine.

A few minutes later, the fan's guardian and fellow fans arrived at the hospital with pale faces.

They nearly collapsed when they saw him.

The arm had been temporarily realigned under local anesthesia.

Surgery for the fracture was scheduled for early the next morning.

"Do hyung saved me."

At the fan's statement, everyone's attention turned toward me.

Blue Moon really had grown.

I didn't recognize any of these faces.

They thanked me on his behalf.

Then I spotted one face I did recognize.

The middle-aged man who had come as the fan's guardian.

The famous Director Go Won-jun.

"Huh...? Aren't you Director Go Won-jun?"

"Yes, that's me. But how could I possibly repay something like this? They said my son literally came back from death!"

Go Won-jun looked at the injured fan and explained that he was his son.

Then he burst into tears and hugged me.

I saved Go Won-jun's son?

No.

Go Won-jun's son was an Apollo member?!

Then didn't that mean the son of Writer Go Won-hee, who would create one of the future grand-prize-nominated versions of 〈Good Pro〉, was also Apollo?

Go Won-jun was a famous director in his own right.

But he was also well known as the husband of Writer Go Won-hee, whose drama 〈Good Pro〉 would become one of the two future grand-prize nominees shown by the spam message.

The two usually worked together as writer and director.

So there was a high chance Go Won-jun would directly film the broadcast version of 〈Good Pro〉.

For reference, although their names looked similar, Director Go Won-jun and Writer Go Won-hee weren't siblings.

They were married.

They were unrelated Go clans.

What was happening?

I looked toward Yoon Jin-seo, who stood nearby staring blankly.

Then I remembered the two 〈Good Pro〉 scripts.

Two different writers.

Two grand-prize nominees.

It couldn't be coincidence that a future GIF appeared, I got to read Yoon Jin-seo's script, and now I'd formed a connection with the Go couple.

At first, I thought the future was probably directing me toward Serin joining Yoon Jin-seo's project.

Go Won-hee was far too famous.

Getting Serin cast there would be difficult.

But now I'd given them a favor they could never forget.

It felt rewarding.

But my thoughts became even more complicated.

"Apollo? Apollo? You said Blue Moon, right? I swear I'll remember this and repay you properly someday!"

"Ah, I'm actually a huge fan of Director Go Won-jun. Could I at least get your contact information?"

"That hardly counts as repayment."

Go Won-jun took my phone and entered his number.

When he saw his son's blood on the device, he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

While he entered the contact information, my head was filled with thoughts about how to make the best use of this opportunity.

Now I had a connection with the Go couple too.

Not through some introduction where someone simply gave me their number.

Through saving their son.

Yoon Jin-seo's 〈Good Pro〉?

Or the Go couple's 〈Good Pro〉?

That was the question.

"Ah. And this half-naked gentleman sitting here also played a major role in saving your son."

"What? Ah! I see."

Go Won-jun bowed repeatedly to Yoon Jin-seo.

"Thank you so much. To think I owe a debt I could never repay in a lifetime to two different people."

"No, no! Please!"

Yoon Jin-seo looked extremely uncomfortable and hurriedly made him stand upright.

Then they briefly introduced themselves.

When Go Won-jun heard his name, he thought for a moment.

"Yoon Jin-seo...? Are you the person who adapted 〈Good Pro〉?"

"Huh? Yes! How did you know?"

Go Won-jun answered with genuine delight.

"I'm also producing the same work with Watflix this time! 〈Good Pro〉!"

"Ah, I'm really sorry. You waited a long time, right?"

I returned to the event waiting room and met the members.

The performance had ended ages ago.

With an accident that serious, the event had no choice but to be canceled.

I was an Apollo member too.

Only now did disappointment begin creeping in.

I'd wondered how two adaptations of the same work could happen at the same time.

Apparently, Watflix had purchased and was producing both versions.

The Go couple's adaptation.

And Yoon Jin-seo's adaptation.

Go Won-jun had separately been hired as a temporary director.

It looked like Watflix was determined to fully exploit the original 〈Good Pro〉 property and capture both theatrical and home audiences.

"Manager~!"

The members, who had been reading articles on their phones, rushed toward me.

"You're not hurt anywhere, right?"

Serin asked seriously.

Of course not.

I wasn't the one who got trapped beneath the panel.

Other than exhaustion, I was fine.

"I heard you fell from that high stage. How are your legs?"

Youngchae asked while pretending to remain calm.

Their eyes were examining me like drivers inspecting a car after a collision.

Who cared about missing their stage?

The members were this worried about me.

This was the real VIP seat.

"Are your palms okay?"

Aran asked.

"My palms? Why?"

They'd hurt while lifting the panel.

But I'd already forgotten.

"You slapped Senior Min Gyu-chan earlier! It's all over the internet!"

Aran showed me the news page.

[Shock! Temporary wall collapses during K-Culture Festival... multiple injuries]

[Solo singer Min Gyu-chan uses ambulance for personal schedule. Legal punishment?]

[Min Gyu-chan slapped by Blue Moon manager. Injured fan regains consciousness.]

· 

Crazy bastard. Is an ambulance your private car?

· 

· 

If the patient died, Min Gyu-chan should've been next.

· 

· 

Once again, slaps prove more effective than the law.

· 

· 

Fine, he took the ambulance. But why is he just standing there afterward? If it were me, I'd punch him in the solar plexus, not slap him.

· 

┗ Looks like he was confused because no fans welcomed him LOL.

I'd lost my temper the moment he stepped out of the ambulance.

Judging by the reaction, I could've hit him a few more times.

Even Yoon Jin-seo, who loved the law so much, hadn't said a word about assault charges at the time.

"Did he really ride the ambulance because he thought he'd be late? Ambulances agree to requests like that?"

"Apparently. I don't know either. No idea what he was thinking."

Min Gyu-chan.

The event staff continuing the show during an accident.

There were too many things that were difficult to explain.

"Should we head back now? The performance is over. Why are you still wearing your stage outfits?"

"Ah. Wait a second."

Serin gave the other members a look.

They quickly moved the waiting-room chairs aside and lined up in the middle.

Aran played something on her phone.

The 〈N.Dolphin〉 instrumental.

"What are you doing?"

"You didn't get to see our K-Culture Festival stage, Manager. So we're going to show you."

The members smiled and began dancing.

How...

How could anyone come up with something this sweet?

There was an old saying that you shouldn't take in a black-haired beast.

Apparently, black-haired angels were fine.

I covered my mouth with both hands.

A private royal-seat performance from the members.

Thanks to Leader Serin's leadership and sense of responsibility, we'd managed to get the fan safely to the hospital.

And at the hospital, I formed a connection with the Go couple.

My head was still spinning.

Yoon Jin-seo kept working on the Janggun Bodhisattva case while continuing the broader investigation, digging up every speck of dirt he could find.

That lunatic persistence was also why Won-woo was still eating warm prison food.

〈N.Dolphin〉 gradually began giving up the number-one position.

But there was nothing to regret.

While it had been solidly at number one, Director Moon Pil-su had shamelessly used it to promote 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉.

Every time a new drama episode went up on Nutube, it consistently received hundreds of thousands of views.

Our busy schedules continued.

Whenever I had a spare moment to breathe, I repeatedly reviewed the future GIF from the upgraded spam system.

Normally, placing Serin in the version of 〈Good Pro〉 written by Korea's most famous commercial writer, Go Won-hee, would obviously be smarter than choosing some unknown rookie writer named Yoon Jin-seo.

We couldn't do both.

Anyone would choose Go Won-hee.

But if Yoon Jin-seo's film became a grand-prize nominee, then that alone meant a monster rookie had appeared.

And conventional evaluations didn't really matter when dealing with monster rookies.

Even a masterpiece like 〈Harry Potter〉 had probably once been distrusted because its author was unknown.

Watflix would handle casting themselves.

Still, if I somehow persuaded Yoon Jin-seo, I could probably get Serin into his version.

I'd also given Go Won-hee an enormous personal favor.

If I asked her, she would probably listen.

Serin wasn't lacking in acting skill or public recognition anymore.

So which one should I choose?

While I kept worrying about that question, a new variable appeared during the broadcast run of 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉.

[Pure girl-group Blue Moon member Kim Serin makes successful acting debut through 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉! Acting praised.]

[Blue Moon's Kim Serin becomes the "Nation's First Love" through role of Gyeong-a in 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉!]

["Nation's First Love" Kim Serin's past singing performance on radio channel draws attention.]

She had gained the nickname:

The Nation's First Love.

It happened because of a recently uploaded episode.

In the drama, Gyeong-a finally confessed her love to Hyun-su.

Actor Bae Jeong-hwan, playing Hyun-su, rejected her confession with a beautifully written line.

He said he lacked the courage to make his first love come true.

In truth, Hyun-su had also loved Gyeong-a for a long time.

But while neither of them understood the other's feelings, time passed and their paths crossed incorrectly.

Now that they finally knew how each other felt, they could technically start dating even this late.

But following the classic romance rule that first love doesn't come true, and for the sake of realism, Hyun-su made a careful choice.

The story from then on would show Serin's Gyeong-a gradually accepting her place as that first love.

How important were nicknames for celebrities?

It wasn't an exaggeration to say one powerful nickname could feed a celebrity for life.

But Serin couldn't be said to have fully secured the title Nation's First Love yet.

Her next role also needed to match that image perfectly.

Only then could the label become fixed.

For my purposes, the next project should be romance.

So which version of 〈Good Pro〉 was more likely to contain a traditional romance?

Probably the one written by Go Won-hee, who specialized in romance.

I turned on my phone.

Then I called Director Go Won-jun using the number he'd given me.