It was another beastly Music Bank performance made by none other than Beast and as usual, the audience cheered heavenly for them. The cheers and noises made by the audience were like Beast’s staple food and the more it roared, the fuller the Beast members felt. They ran backstage, faces filled with pride because of another successful stage presence and hi-fived each other, congratulating each other.

“Yah… that was real awesome!” Yoseob punched the air and whistled, “See how they cheered for my cap dance!”

Everyone laughed and messed up his hair in affection. They were being as loud as usual, always talking and cheering for themselves, even if they hadn’t won first place, they still looked as if they were on top of the world. Now, that’s Beast for you. They won’t let anything dampened their mood. They knew they had worked hard and that’s all that matters.

At home, it was nearing dinnertime so Doojoon called up all his kids to hurry to the dinner table and eat their hearts out. He then told one of them to bring the Umma of the band to the dinner table because Junhyung was still in the room and must have lost the track of time.

“Yeah yeah… I’m coming, I’m coming…” Junhyung dragged his lazy feet to the dining table as Yoseob pulled his arm gently towards the rest, excited that dinnertime has already arrived.

“Hey Junhyung, you don’t look so well…” the Appa of the band commented at Junhyung’s state and quickly put down the rice-cooker he was holding onto. Doojoon quickly rushed over to Junhyung and grabbed his arm, but Junhyung jerked away and mumbled, “I’m all right.”

But as soon as he said that and at the same time Doojoon let go of him, Junhyung’s body went limp and darkness overwhelmed his mind, leaving his body falling unconscious to the floor. Everyone turned their heads and rushed to him before his head hits the solid ground.

“Hyung!”

+++

That whole night, the Beast members proved how tight they were by taking turns to take care of Junhyung. They made sure a wet cloth would always be on Junhyung’s burning forehead and a pail of cold water nearby. Everyone, even the maknae, Dongwoon, gave up their mattress to cover up Junhyung while they slept in the cold themselves.

The first shift was Doojoon, then it was Ki Kwang, then it was Hyunseung, then it was Dongwoon and finally it was Yoseob’s turn to make sure Junhyung gets plenty of rest and fulfill his needs. Well, Junhyung didn’t have much needs because he was knock out cold since last night. The rest were so worried about him, but at the same time they knew Junhyung had the willpower to recover and as hard as they could, they tried believing that he would be better by the next morning.

+++

Junhyung woke up feeling so refreshed as he stretched out his arms and yawned. ‘Oh wow, what happened last night? And what’s this?’ he picked up a wet towel which had fallen from somewhere and onto his lap.

“You should be resting…” Junhyung heard a voice mumbling near him. Oh, it’s just Yoseob talking in his sleep again. ‘Wait, how come he’s sleeping here? Shouldn’t he be sleeping up there?’ Junhyung glanced at Yoseob’s bed and found it to be empty, the rest of the beds were empty too. Had he slept in? The clock showed 1pm… 1pm?!!!!

‘Oh ! It’s so late. What the hell was I doing sleeping in so late? Gah, now half of my day is wasted…’ Junhyung quickly got up, leaving Yoseob drooling all over his mattress, showered and changed clothes, and took his jacket. It’s too fine a day to not go out and have a walk alone, with no one bothering you, or tailing after you. But he was wrong… the weather today was so cold, his nose was getting frostbites though it’s not even winter yet.

Junhyung pulled the collar of his jacket closer to his ears. His breath was spewing out warm air, making fine white clouds appear out of nowhere. ‘Oh man, I wished I had worn thicker clothes. And great. Just great.’ Junhyung’s stomach was grumbling, he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. Luckily he brought his wallet along with him. ‘Ahhh… there’s a food stand. Lucky day Junhyung, you’re about to eat steaming hot and delicious bokkeumbap today.’

He smiled to himself as he made his way to the stand but first he would have to cross the main road. ‘Ah what the heck,’ the traffic light was so far away, Junhyung thought he would just jay walk. Before he could take the first step onto the road, he felt his body being pulled backwards. Someone or something was grabbing him back with so much force, Junhyung almost tripped backwards and fell.

Luckily there was a streetlight nearby and he held on to it as if his dear life depended on it. It was happening so fast and before he could blink, a huge car sped by and it honked thunderously as if Junhyung had been there blocking its way and about to get smashed by its front trunk. Wait, what just happened?

Then it sank into Junhyung’s brain. Someone had just saved him. Someone had actually grabbed him back and saved him seconds from his death. He looked around for the person who ‘saved’ him, but in return, everyone stared at him as if he was crazy. Some knew Junhyung had just escaped death and a few Ahjummas asked if he was all right. He was all right physically but mentally, no, not a single bit. The strangest thing was happening to him and now, there were the numbers on everyone’s head.

‘What the hell…’ Junhyung stared at the lady in front of him who was talking on her phone. No, he was actually staring on top of her head. The numbers were moving so fast but it kept decreasing slowly. It was like a scientific digital clock, showing the hours, the minutes, the seconds and even the milliseconds. Junhyung felt like he was wearing some science fiction goggles.

He then found his arm reaching out for the numbers and the lady gave him a suspicious look and quickly ran away. She wasn’t the only one who had it. All the passer bys looked at Junhyung incredulously as his eyes followed their heads. Numbers. Lots of it. Everyone had a different set of numbers. Some were beyond millions of hours, while some barely passed a few thousands. He didn’t get it. What did the numbers mean?

Junhyung rubbed his eyes but the numbers were still there…

‘Am I going crazy?’ He still hadn’t found the person who ‘saved’ him or even gave him this power. He walked on further from the site, forgetting about the food stand, and into the park. The children were playing merrily even in the cold and again, Junhyung could see all the numbers on their heads. His head was throbbing in pain now. ‘What’s happening to you Junhyung?’

He walked past an obese woman who was plucking some apples in the park. He saw the numbers again, but this time, two sets of it. One on top of the woman’s head and one on top of her belly. ‘Wait, what?’

He did a double take and she smiled at him. He smiled back awkwardly while taking a few steps back, then he ran out of the park. While he was running, a few drops of sweat trickled down his forehead.

‘I think I know it now. I think I know what these numbers mean.’