Tomorrow’s #1: Lovely Runner

Chapter 1

Prologue

Potato Pancakes were a four-member group that created a new dance craze in the K-pop idol scene. Apparently, their CEO had decided to debut them while he was eating a potato pancake or something.

Critics unanimously agreed that the group held their own in the fiercely competitive idol scene due to two factors—first, their lyrics about peace and saving the environment, and second, their perfectly synchronized dancing.

However, the fans couldn’t look past their beautiful faces as the true key to their success. Potato Pancakes were fantastic dancers, but their good looks outshone everything else. That’s why they were so popular, and they had a massive fandom even before their debut.

The slogan that followed Potato Pancakes around since their debut was “4-1=0.” It meant that the group would be nothing without all of its members. The members were given nicknames that suited the slogan—Kwon Sungjoon was “Potato,” Baek Inhyuk was “Salt,” Woo Hyunsung was “Vegetable Oil,” and Seo Yoonjae was “Soy Sauce.” Without just one ingredient, you couldn’t have a potato pancake, and fans joked that the group’s agency was the frying pan they were combined in.

However, the group faced a crisis two years after their debut. They had finished their tour performing songs from two mini-albums and their first full-length album, and they were about to release their second full-length album. That’s when rumors of a fifth member joining began to spread.

[F*ck. Are you kidding me? The slogan is 4-1=0. Keunsoo, do you want us to blow up the world or something?]

Kang Keunsoo was the CEO of Potato Pancakes’ agency. Criticism about him filled various online communities, and one night of the many nights that fans were posting that they would cause mayhem if this was true, the second full-length album dropped.

Along with the album release, a photo was uploaded on Potato Pancakes’ website. In the photo, there was Potato, Salt, Vegetable Oil, Soy Sauce, and one more member. He had big eyes, a nice face, and looked bright. The addition of a new member was made official.

The problem was the second album. Potato Pancakes’ sound had changed entirely after adding a new member. Comments on the music video were full of question marks, stunned ellipses, curse words, and fake laughs. The album’s titular single was a calm ballad about innocent love that began with a piano intro. It was completely different from the first full album’s title song, which had a vuvuzela in its intro.

Comments like “WTF?” quickly spread throughout Tweeter. Members of Potato Legend, the name of the group’s fan club, adopted the names of “Potato War” and “Potato Battle” and vehemently opposed the addition of a new member. It was understandable, since their oppas who once danced in perfect synchronization now stood still and crooned things like, “Please love me, my beautiful angel!” The fandom had adored their unique dancing, but now it was gone.

“Therefore, Potato Pancakes is going to be an experimental idol group. Their last album’s performances displayed their passionate synchronized dancing, but I wanted them to showcase how perfectly they can sing live with their heavenly voices. And I’m thinking about making their next album heavily influenced by hip-hop.”

That’s what Keunsoo, the very successful CEO, said on a TV program. He even grinned widely and gave a thumbs-up as if everything was going according to plan—a plan that made Ryu Sunjae, the fifth member, its victim.

[Sunjae, leave the group if you have a conscience, you idiot.]

“Unbelievable. Who are they calling an idiot?” I muttered.

I dragged my cursor to the “dislike” button below that comment. While I knew that you could only dislike something once, I rapidly clicked the button. I stared at the monitor and scowled in annoyance.

From Potato Legend’s point of view, Sunjae was like a flaming projectile that dropped from the sky right onto Potato Pancakes. The fans cursed, cried, and said that the group wouldn’t be able to survive in the treacherous idol market by singing ordinary ballads. They hurled insults at the newcomer, saying this was all because the agency added him to the group and that he would ruin their oppas’ careers.

“Hate on Keunsoo if you want to blame someone. What did my precious Sunjae do?” I mumbled.

I turned to the poster on my wall and locked eyes with the person in it. He wore a beige sweater and had a big smile on his face.

I had heard that the more you’re cursed, the longer you’ll live. If that held true, then I had to bet Sunjae, the fifth member of Potato Pancakes, would be alive until the end of the world.

Sunjae was the reason I fell in love with the group. He was my number one.

The First Trip Through Time

Aw, damn! I’m late!

I sprinted to my bedroom and turned on the radio as soon as I got home. It hissed for a moment after I tuned it to the right station, but a hearty laugh soon flowed from the speakers. I sat in my chair and removed my jacket while listening to the laughter.

“Oh, Sunjae, you joined the agency around the time Inhyuk did. What was the most challenging moment during your trainee days?”

I paused while taking my socks off and turned up the volume. It was Sunjae’s turn to answer.

“Uh… I, um…” He sounded hesitant, as if he couldn’t remember very well.

Inhyuk’s voice interrupted Sunjae’s mumbling. “Wasn’t it when you went to Gamgam Bridge?”

“Ah, right. I lost my wallet that day. Practice ended at dawn, and when I checked my bag, only my wallet was missing. I must’ve dropped it somewhere. So I was completely broke, and I couldn’t call home because it was too early for anyone to pick up.”

Sunjae continued his story. “I had no choice but to walk. I think walking from the agency to my house took a little over two hours… Well, they say that when it rains, it pours. So of course, my phone battery died too. I couldn’t even listen to music. It was winter, and I was wearing sandals, so my toes totally froze as well.”

Everyone laughed when Sunjae mentioned his frozen toes.

“While I walked across Gamgam Bridge, the lights from the buildings reflected on the Han River looked sad for some reason.”

“Sunjae probably cried that day. Didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Were you crying on the inside, then?”

Inhyuk and the other members burst into laughter at Yoonjae’s playful question.

Though everyone was laughing, I couldn’t hear Sunjae’s voice among them. The radio show wasn’t filmed, so it was a shame I couldn’t see his face, but I was just as relieved not to see him looking sad.

Even two years after Sunjae joined Potato Pancakes, the fans still hated him. They left numerous comments on various websites and created multiple Tweeter accounts to post hate comments about him.

There was no way that he didn’t know the fans weren’t welcoming him and actually despised him for joining the group. Some with loud voices had shouted at the top of their lungs, “Get out, Ryu Sunjae,” “Ryu Sunjae, leave the group,” and other unpleasant remarks at public broadcasts and meet-and-greets.

Sunjae used to smile brightly and always do his best, but he looked exhausted these days. Tweeter accounts run by individuals who called themselves Potato Battle Machines made speculative posts, saying he would leave the group before the next album because he looked so depressed lately.

[Sunjae, I love you. You’re beautiful.]

I left a comment on a picture of Sunjae that Potato Pancakes posted on Instargram. Of course, I used my second account. It was a private account without any followers, and I only used it to follow Potato Pancakes’ account. I pressed “like” on the picture in the hopes that Sunjae would know that there were more people who liked him than those who didn’t.

□ ■ □

I furrowed my brow and opened my eyes at the buzzing of repeated vibrations. It was the middle of the night. I fumbled around for my phone and checked the notifications. They were all messages from my friend Hyunjoo.

[No way.]

[OMG.]

[Sol.]

[Sol!]

[Did you see the articles?]

[OMG. I can’t believe this is happening.]

I didn’t know what was going on, but I felt anxiety creeping up in my chest. I quickly closed the messaging app and tapped on the internet app.

[Breaking News: Ryu Sunjae, Member of Idol Group Potato Pancakes, Found Dead]

Ryu Sunjae, a member of the idol group Potato Pancakes, was presumed to have died near dawn on the 30th due to a drug overdose.

A media outlet reported that Ryu was discovered at 6 A.M. on the floor of a hotel room located in the Jung District of Seoul. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

[Breaking News: Ryu Sunjae’s Agency Says that Claim of Drug Overdose Death is Unfounded]

Ryu Sunjae was known to have been taking prescription sleeping pills to treat his insomnia. However, Ryu’s agency disputes the articles that claim the cause of his death was a drug overdose, saying these claims are unfounded.

On the 28th, Baek Inhyuk, another group member, said on Vee Live: “Sunjae has a cold right now. He’s been sick a lot these days.” There is speculation that Ryu died from a lethal drug combination caused by combining sleeping pills with other medication.

My heart raced and my hands shook.

I quickly sat up in bed and searched “Ryu Sunjae” online. My chest felt like it would explode and tears filled my eyes. Articles with “Breaking News” in their headlines, claiming ridiculous things, flooded my search.

My tears dropped onto the phone screen and my vision became blurry. I pressed “dislike” on hate comments and left replies, not even stopping to wipe the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand. Scumbags… What did Sunjae do wrong? He didn’t do anything!

The world seemed like it was falling apart. I left replies full of curse words on any hate comment that mentioned Sunjae. I eventually was blocked on Tweeter and kicked off the fan site. Why did they block me? How could they? Someone actually died!

I felt like the world had turned upside down. I stared at the Sunjae poster on my wall. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing from my eyes as if someone was pumping my tear glands nonstop.

“Unbelievable…” I stared at the photo of Sunjae, his eyes closed while standing in a dense forest. Then I fell face down on my bed and wailed.

□ ■ □

Potato Pancakes’ company revealed the cause of Sunjae’s death through an official announcement. They said he had died from complications caused by taking sleeping pills and cold medicine at the same time.

However, another article provided more details than the agency’s announcement. It was like a novel, going into detail as if the reporter had watched Sunjae last night.

The article said that Sunjae’s temperature suddenly dropped because of his cold, and he barely ate dinner. As soon as he got back to his hotel room, he took a shower. Since he didn’t like the texture of bathrobes, he put on an oversized hoodie and shorts. Then he quickly popped a cold pill into his mouth and drank a bottle of liquid medicine. He took five of the sleeping pills that he had been prescribed so he could fall asleep right away—and that was the last thing twenty-three-year-old Ryu Sunjae ever did.

Comments like: “Did you see him do that yourself, pap?” flooded the article’s comment section. Some ridiculed Sunjae for not liking the texture of hotel bathrobes, but it was a fact that all of his fans knew. He said once during a Vee Live that the texture gave him rashes because of his sensitive skin.

“This stop is City Hall. The doors are on your left. You can transfer to Line One to Cheonan, Incheon, or Soyosan…”

I covered my face with my scarf and lowered my head. I couldn’t stop crying, and my shoulders shook.

Pushing my phone into my pocket, I regretted reading an article about Sunjae while I was on the subway. I tightly shut my eyes, which had become puffy from crying all night, but my tears fell and drenched my scarf.