CHAPTER 102: THE UNEXPECTED LIVE BROADCAST

Joshua squeezed his eyes shut, then snapped them open again. His head throbbed as if someone were pounding on it with a hammer—but he was fine.

He lifted his hands to touch the corners of his eyes and asked softly, "Are my eyes swollen?"

Leonard brushed his fingers lightly against the reddish corners of Joshua’s eyes and murmured, "Not swollen."

The next second, Joshua suddenly sat up. Leonard’s eyes widened as he instinctively stepped back. "What are you doing?"

"I’m not crying." Joshua raised his hands as he spoke. Leonard looked at him, and for some reason, the image of Joshua from that morning—clinging to Henry and begging for a hug—flashed through his mind.

Without hesitation, Leonard lunged forward.

Before Joshua could even react, he was enveloped in a tight embrace. Startled, he blinked in confusion, but still patted Leonard’s back and asked, "What’s wrong with you?"

Leonard’s ears were bright red. He muttered under his breath, "It’s not like I wanted to hug you or anything... You just looked so pitiful..."

Joshua immediately punched him in the shoulder. "I wanted flowers."

Leonard: "..." He sulked as he pulled away, thrusting the bouquet toward Joshua.

Joshua lowered his gaze to the delicate flowers—each one shining like a star—and nodded with a smile. "They’re beautiful. Thank you, Leonard."

Leonard pressed his lips together, his hand unconsciously brushing against Joshua’s cheek, prompting Joshua to lift his head and meet his eyes.

At that exact moment, the door suddenly opened. Henry stood outside, his tone deep and calm. "Everyone’s ordering food. What do you two want?"

Joshua jumped off the bed. Henry frowned immediately, and Leonard panicked. "Hey! You just recovered, idiot—your legs are weak, you’ll fall flat on your face!"

Joshua waved his hand dismissively. "I’m fine."

Then he turned to Henry with a bright grin. "I want meat."

Henry looked at Joshua and nodded thoughtfully.

Joshua watched Henry’s retreating back for a long moment, then turned and walked into the bathroom.

There, he saw his reflection in the mirror. His complexion was still a little pale and sickly from the illness, but the corners of his eyes were tinged red, his slightly swollen eyes looking as though he might cry at any moment.

Instinctively, he lifted his hand to touch the corner of his reflection’s eye. It was precisely the same. He had always known that his appearance here was identical to his self in the previous world—but after that dream... no, after those memories returned, he finally understood just how similar.

To be precise, it was the same person, the same body, the same soul.

And Henry...

He couldn’t have seen it wrong—Henry looked way too similar! Were they the same person? Could they really be one and the same? Or was this Henry merely the Henry of this world?

And what about this world itself—did it have any connection to the previous one? A parallel world? Or something else entirely?

Then... would it share the same fate as his previous world?

Joshua stared blankly toward the door. This place... he didn’t want this place to turn into hell.

"Joshua, what’s wrong with you?"

A large hand suddenly waved in front of his face. He blinked, and when he looked up, Luther was pressing a palm against his forehead. "Why are you zoning out again? Are you still not fully recovered?"

No fever—clearly fine.

Joshua leaned weakly against Luther’s shoulder, eyes lowered, saying nothing.

Luther immediately pulled him into his arms and gave him a shake. "You scared me half to death today, you idiot."

He swore to himself that he would never let Joshua touch alcohol again.

Just then, Joshua’s phone buzzed.

He picked it up and saw Nine’s name flashing on the screen.

Joshua narrowed his eyes. There was something he wanted to ask Nine. He had a feeling Nine might know something—but now wasn’t the time.

He hung up, opened his messaging app, and was immediately greeted by 99+ unread messages from Nine. The man still hadn’t kicked his spamming habit.

[Joshua, congrats on your debut!!!]

[Make sure you rest well, okay? By the way, when are you going to hang out with me again?]

[Aren’t you going to come visit me?]

The newer messages were from that morning.

[Joshua, why aren’t you replying?]

[Don’t tell me you got drunk and haven’t woken up yet!]

[You always treat me with cold, cruel silence!]

By the end of it, Nine had somehow turned himself into the most pitiful person in the world—while Joshua was cast as the unforgivable villain.

Joshua’s lips curved slightly as he typed back:

[Then come pick me up tomorrow.]

Nine replied almost immediately:

[See? I knew I should’ve just called you instead of texting. Messaging you is useless!]

Joshua answered:

[It’s not that I was ignoring you. I had a fever this morning—I just woke up.]

There was a brief pause on the other end before Nine’s flood of messages came pouring in like a tidal wave.

[Sick again?! You’re so weak, Joshua. I honestly don’t get how someone can be this fragile.]

[When are you ever going to toughen up and be more like me?]

[Why were you sick? Too tired? Too happy? Don’t tell me you had another episode?]

Joshua:

[Not exactly...]

Nine: ["Not exactly," my ass! What the hell’s that supposed to mean?!]

Joshua: [I don’t want to text you anymore.]

Nine: [...]

Nine: [Fine, fine. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow. 9 a.m. sharp—don’t you dare sleep in!]

Joshua sent a heart emoji. Just then, he felt a poke at the corner of his lips. Turning his head, he saw Luther looking down at him, eyes half-lidded. "Who’re you texting that’s making you smile like that?"

Joshua quickly turned off his phone and replied softly, "A friend."

At that moment, Henry and Justin returned with the food. Henry was still holding his phone, and when he saw everyone gathered, he said, "Elly just told me she’s finished setting up our Idol-inter accounts. She wants us to do a short live broadcast later to greet the fans."

Justin stepped over to Joshua, worry written all over his face.

Joshua reached out and ruffled his hair. "I’m fine. It’s just a fever—who hasn’t been sick before?"

"Don’t insult other people like that," Luther chimed in immediately. "Take me for example—never been sick a day in my life."

"Then you’re not human."

Luther’s arm instantly hooked around Joshua’s face. "Shuaa, I’ll give you one chance to take that back! Your talent for insulting people is getting more terrifying by the day, you know that?"

Joshua: "...You’re the one who started it!"

He grabbed Luther’s arm and struggled to break free, face scrunched in mock annoyance.

Dinner passed peacefully enough—aside from Joshua being forced to eat vegetables, with the excuse that his poor diet was the reason he got sick.

It wasn’t until Joshua looked like he was about to vomit on the spot that Luther panicked and backed off. He only wanted the best for Joshua... but he couldn’t stand seeing him so miserable.

Either way, it was almost time for the live broadcast.

It wasn’t a scheduled one, just a surprise stream—a little bonus for fans who had registered early.

But the internet had already erupted.

[The Wolf Doesn’t Eat Meat]: Insider info says ShineOn will be doing a live broadcast tonight at 9 PM on Idol-inter! Joshua fans, log in and call out his name—make sure to shower him with your sweetest love!

Immediately, the comments exploded:

[Where’d you even get that insider info? There hasn’t been a single leak anywhere.]

[I suspect Wolf is the actual insider leaking stuff!]

[Suspicious +1 hahaha]

[Suspicious +11111]

[No doubt Wolf works in ShineOn’s management team.]

[Hey, I just saw the waiting room open! Anyone who hasn’t registered for ShineOn’s Idol-inter account, hurry up!]

Nine: "..."

If only they knew I got that info straight from Joshua himself—they’d lose their minds! Hmph.

Feeling a surge of smug satisfaction, Nine ignored the flood of comments and dove straight into the live broadcast waiting room.

There were still five minutes left before the stream officially started—but the room was already packed and buzzing with anticipation!