In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Biju felt a wave of bewilderment.

"Am I supposed to wear this?"

"Of course, my lady!"

Tears started to gather at the corners of Biju’s eyes as he looked at the dress the maids handed him.

Why!

Do I really have to put this on?

He was already worried it would air on TV and Minjun would text, "I don’t want to see hyung in a dress!"

No.

The members would definitely double over laughing right away.

"Whew."

After the maids left, Biju stood alone in the room, walked to the window, and gave a troubled smile.

He looked like the tragic lead of a melodrama.

Biju quickly shook his head.

"I shouldn’t complain. Be grateful for what you’re given."

He was bummed he couldn’t do something cooler, but he was the type to accept things quickly.

Just as Biju was smiling and stroking the gemstones set in the dress—

"Hm?"

Noisy sounds drifted in from outside the window.

The clashing ring of blades.

He parted the curtain and peered out to see knights swinging swords in the drill yard.

And someone familiar in the corner.

The main vocalist, sweating as he swung a staff with long, clean arcs.

"Ri Hyuk?"

Biju lifted a hand with an oh my at the sight of his younger member slashing sadly through the air.

"So I really am a celestial maiden by comparison."

Right when the dress in his hands suddenly looked adorable, the captain of the knights in the yard spotted him and waved.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! My lady! Good morning!"

Biju hesitated, then spotted the camera rigged toward the drill yard and dropped straight into role-play.

A shy smile and a gentle wave.

The actors gave a perfectly snappy reaction.

"My word! The lady just winked at me!"

"No, she was looking at me!"

"You louts! What kind of ruckus is this before a lady! Back to training at once!"

"Ho ho ho."

While Biju laughed and marveled at his own acting, his eyes met someone’s staring up at him from the yard with a sullen face.

"..."

Biju looked away.

"Mm. I’ve changed clothes, but..."

Biju glanced around and took the door handle.

"Huh?"

The door wouldn’t open.

It felt like it was designed to open only from the outside.

It also felt like they’d laid out a stage for him to hunt for clues. Biju started rummaging around the room.

"I guess they want me to find clues, right? Okay. Let’s find clues."

Muttering to himself, he looked around.

Start with the dresser.

"Nothing special."

A plain mirror and a dresser. Inside: clothes and accessories.

They were obviously stage props, but strangely, they fit him perfectly. Even the ring sizes were exact.

As he searched the room and bent to check under the bed—

"Oh?"

There was a clue.

A gemstone ring set with an emerald.

But...

"Why doesn’t this fit my finger?"

Did someone drop it?

No idea why it was under the bed. And there was a strand of hair, too.

"Blond."

Biju’s gaze shifted to the wig hanging farther away. It was the same pink as his, so the color didn’t match at all.

"Then whose hair is this from?"

Which means the real owner of this room is someone else?

"Mmmm."

Biju stroked his chin, thinking.

"Mmmmmm."

That was as far as his deduction got.

If he’d known, he would’ve scarfed down the chocolate bar Kim Junhyun was eating earlier. His blood sugar was crashing and his brain wouldn’t turn.

While he was mulling this and that, Biju murmured,

"What would Ri Hyuk do here?"

The leader excelled at situational judgment and brainwork, but puzzles like this were the main vocalist’s specialty.

"Ah! Is that why I became the princess? If Ri Hyuk were the princess he’d have found every clue already and escaped."

He didn’t know when the maids would return, but he needed to find as many clues as possible first.

Biju focused, imagining a mock conversation with the main vocalist in his head.

"Ri Hyuk."

—Why. I’m busy.

Thunk! The door in his head shut.

"Uh. Rejected."

That wasn’t it.

Biju focused again.

"Pretty. Our Seo Ri Hyuk."

—What are you... asking for this time. I’m only doing this because you’re Biju hyung.

"Right."

—Say it.

"I need to escape. Help me. How should I find the clues?"

—Mm. About that—

The Ri Hyuk in his head suddenly pulled off his mask.

—Actually I’m Kim Junhyun.

"Hey!"

Biju smacked imaginary Junhyun’s back—whap whap whap—and opened his eyes.

"Ah... I tried to picture Ri Hyuk and Kim Junhyun showed up instead. I failed, everyone."

Maybe because this kind of deduction wasn’t his thing, even the Ri Hyuk he imagined wasn’t much help.

Just then, he remembered.

—Think of it like spot-the-difference. If there’s one thing different among the same things, that’s your clue.

He thought he’d heard that from Ri Hyuk this morning.

With a feeling he’d found the thread, Biju went to the dresser and checked the drawers.

All the drawers slid in to the same depth, except one stuck out just a hair.

"This is it!"

Which meant something behind it was stopping it from going all the way in.

Biju yanked the drawer out and felt along the back. Thick leather.

"A book!"

A book and a walkie-talkie were taped there with clear tape.

Biju tucked the walkie into the bodice of the dress and rifled the book. He panicked for a second, afraid it would be in English, but it was written in Korean.

The initial H was scrawled on top of the book in marker.

The first page of the hardback, titled The Princess Is the Strongest, had various notes scribbled on it.

—When I opened my eyes, I was inside a book.

—Looks like I came to the castle of the male lead from the romance-fantasy The Princess Is the Strongest.

—A romance where the Northern Grand Duke Eric Wampir and Princess Seraphia Justin fall in love.

—I met the duke who owns the castle. He was even more handsome than I imagined. No wonder Seraphia fell for him.

There was more after that, but he got the gist of the setting.

It seemed someone had entered a romance novel world, and then things had gone off the rails.

—You must escape this castle before dawn the next day. If you fail...

Biju skimmed the book.

It must have been a prop: big type, a short summary of the early plot. But the book had been torn out from the middle onward.

"Only half. So I’m supposed to find the other half?"

He didn’t know for sure, but he had the setting down.

He slipped the book into the dress pocket, thinking he should tell the members when he met them later.

Then he clicked on the walkie-talkie.

[static]

"If we talk, it might trigger something."

Biju hummed Coin’s theme under his breath—mm hmm hmm—like a whisper.

Right then—

[What the—Biju, is that you?]

Biju’s eyes flew wide.

It was Kim Junhyun’s reply.

When Kim Junhyun’s blindfold came off, he was in a massive underground laundry.

"Wow."

Like the cave where a bat-suited hero would live.

Warm waterfall water poured out of the rock, and workers were doing laundry there.

Foreigners.

Before he could react, someone strode up.

"Hey! What are you dawdling for? If you’re new help, work like help!"

"What should I do?"

"Move those loads."

"Yes, sir."

There was a mountain of laundry.

The production team was probably making him work here a bit to pick up clues.

"Work first."

Smiling like a happy sweet potato, Junhyun walked to the baskets.

It was enough that even a grown man would have to make about ten trips.

Meanwhile, chatter drifted around him.

"That young lady they found unconscious in the forest—have you seen her face?"

"No."

"I hear the duke fell head over heels."

"The duke? No way. Our duke, famous for being cold even here in the harsh North?"

Clues slotted together in Junhyun’s head.

"Mm. The Northern duke picked up a girl in the forest. The duke doesn’t fall easily. But he fell."

He half-rapped the clues to memorize them.

"What about the lady who visited our castle last time? You know, that noble miss."

"Who knows. I heard she returned to her own lands."

Junhyun hefted a basket with a gentle smile.

Lighter than he thought.

"Maybe I’ll just take it all in one go."

Eyes gathered as he stacked baskets into a leaning Tower of Pisa. When it was piled high—

"Heave-ho."

Junhyun lifted the whole lot at once.

Silence spread across the washhouse.

A man who looked like a supervisor rushed over.

"H-hey! One at a time!"

"It’s fine."

And the moment Junhyun took a step, the actors’ lines started machine-gunning out like crazy.

"So, did you see the new knight trainee? Looked so frail he could barely hold a sword."

"They say he’s the one who found that young lady in the forest."

"The new scullion’s got a real knack for polishing dishes...!"

Junhyun tried to stride away.

But he couldn’t.

No!

Please slow down. Slow.

There are so many lines left!

He could feel the actors’ pleading eyes.

Junhyun took a single step.

Not that?

Still pleading eyes.

"Then like this?"

He shortened his stride and toddled along.

Only then did the actors relax, smiling as they chatted comfortably.

Listening to the clues, Junhyun organized the situation.

"Roughly: all our members are undercover workers, there’s a young lady, and we need to rescue her."

Finishing his tasks quickly, Junhyun kept picking up clues while doing whatever he was told, faster than anyone.

Given a short break, he looked toward the waterfall pouring down the cave wall.

There was a railroad under the water.

"What is that. Looks like rails are installed."

Would a flume ride come shooting out of that waterfall?

He studied it carefully, but from here there was no way to enter and explore behind the falls.

No.

He could easily climb that wall... but drawing attention seemed like a bad idea.

"Hmmm."

While Junhyun stroked his chin, thinking—

"You there!"

"Yes, sir."

The supervisor handed him a sheet he’d scribbled on.

"I’ve got an errand."

"Yes, leave it to me, sir."

"Take this to the third floor and you’ll find the butler. Deliver this to him."

"Yes."

"And while you’re at it, stop by the knights on the first floor and give these clothes to the new trainee, Kim Junhyun."

"...Pardon?"

That was him.

So there was another Junhyun?

He had questions, but the fellow actor’s eyes said, don’t ask... don’t ask.

"Yes."

With a warm face, Junhyun took the paper and headed up the stairs.

Oohhh, he thought, taking in the interior of the castle, then did as told and delivered the letter to the butler.

An elderly butler, seated in his study, took the letter.

"Good work. You may go."

"Yes, sir."

Junhyun bowed and left the room with his gentle smile.

He was about to head back down to the first floor when—

Creeeeak—

With a grim sound, the door to the room beside the butler’s study opened.

As if saying, Please do come in, he stepped straight inside.

"Excuse me."

A dark room without lights.

Like a luxurious storage space.

Old armor and weapons on display, a long tapestry on the wall with a black dragon painted on it.

"All dragons."

Every shield and cuirass was engraved with a dragon.

Letters on the tapestry caught his eye.

"Descended from dragon’s blood? Something like that. So it’s the same in the West."

He’d thought only in Korea you were born from an egg and descended from a heavenly ancestor, but apparently foreign countries were the same.

A Western Park Hyeokgeose, he thought.

"It would’ve been great if Ri Hyuk and Wooju hyung were here. I have no idea what’s what."

As he wandered the museum-like treasure room, his gaze stopped in a corner. A box that looked relatively new.

A padlock hung there.

A four-digit combination.

He could feel the cameras above watching him.

"If I just rip it open... I shouldn’t, right? Ripping is a last resort, right...? It’d be fun to rip it, but I shouldn’t, right?"

There was no answer, but he couldn’t ignore the crew’s hard work.

Junhyun looked at the box.

The lock felt like it would pry if he really forced it.

Like a pencil line on a desk saying don’t cross—he could break it, but he shouldn’t.

"Using my head is not my thing..."

What would the four digits be?

"0718... nope. 0619 either. 1109? Not Wooju hyung’s birthday either."

Thinking of member-related numbers, Junhyun went ah and searched around the box. A scrap of parchment lay there.

Words written in Korean:

[Baby octopus. Squid. Octopus.]

He thought for a long moment.

"...Delicious?"

He said that and looked up at the camera, but he could feel the reply: You think delicious is the answer?

Junhyun concentrated.

Ten minutes passed.

"There must be a reason they gave this to me. Use my specialty..."

After a long think, something clicked.

"Why three? The combo is four digits..."

He almost had it.

"Ah."

That was it.

Leg count.

"Baby octopus has eight legs. Squid has ten. Octopus has eight..."

Therefore the code was 8108.

He keyed it in and pressed; click, the box opened.

"Fun fact, everyone. Octopus species generally have eight legs, while squid species have ten. Since baby octopus looks like an octopus, it’s eight—that’s an easy way to remember."

Grinning toward the camera, Junhyun opened the box.

"Oh."

There was a walkie-talkie inside.

He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

[static]

The walkie hissed and someone’s humming # Nоvеlight # came through. Junhyun’s eyes lit with happy surprise.

"What the—Biju, is that you?"

"[Hey!]"

"Where are you? You okay?"

"[I’m fine. You?]"

"I’m good."

Maybe because he’d been jostling among strangers, Biju’s voice sounded unbelievably pleasant and warm.

Feeling a vague, fizzy fondness, he explained the situation.

"...Anyway, looks like our goal is to rescue the young lady. Do we need to find the tower where the princess is locked up to get out?"

"[So, about that...]"

"Hm?"

"[The young lady is me.]"

"..."

A chilly breeze seemed to whistle past.

Junhyun, who had been imagining a tragic princess trapped in a tower, felt his mood go flat.

"Why are you the young lady?"

"[I don’t know. People here keep calling me that. They look at me and say it.]"

"Ah. Right. I heard at the washhouse—the duke who picked you up in the forest fell for you."

"[Why?]"

"No idea. Maybe you’re his type. Weird guy when you think about it."

"[But I look really pretty right now.]"

"..."

"[After the makeup, when I looked in the mirror I really did look like a young lady. It’s different from the cross-dressing we do at retreats. It’s insane.]"

Junhyun shuddered.

He didn’t even want to imagine his best friend in drag.

Either way, they had important info, so they agreed to meet up soon and talk it through.

"[Oh, right. Ri Hyuk was out in the yard swinging a stick.]"

"Yeah?"

"[Uh-huh.]"

"Why is Ri Hyuk there—ah. Right. I’ve got an errand to run. I’ll call again later."

"[Okay.]"

He was about to switch the walkie off when his friend’s voice came again.

"[Hey, Kim Junhyun.]"

"Yes, Kim Biju."

"[I love you, brother~]"

"Yes. I love you too~ bro~"

They ended the call on a warm note, and he headed out to rescue Seo Ri Hyuk, who was probably already picking a fight with this world.

"Ri Hyuk! Hyung is coming to save you!"

By now, Ri Hyuk might be in trouble.

He could be speaking faux Middle English to match the setting and annoying everyone into throwing him in jail.

Or raising a ruckus that it wasn’t the historical longsword style he knew.

Junhyun pounded down the stairs—papapapat!—and sprinted for the drill yard.

"Oh. Sunlight."

The bright morning sun lifted his mood—briefly.

There was Ri Hyuk, lips pouty and face grumpy, slashing a sword among the knights.

A smile tugged at Junhyun’s eyes.

"Good. He’s alive and hasn’t started a feud!"

Their eyes met and Ri Hyuk flashed a look of delight.

He was about to talk fast when—

The burly captain of the knights strode up to him.

"So. What’s your business?"

"I’ve brought clothes for the trainee Junhyun."

"I see."

As he handed over clothes a bit too big for Ri Hyuk, the captain smiled and asked,

"Don’t think I’ve seen you before, errand boy. You look fit. What’s your name?"

"Yes, sir! Kim Junhyun!"

Clank.

"Mm?"

I was plotting how to escape the underground cell when the door opened and someone new was pushed in.

What now.

"Hey."

I asked Ri Hyuk, who came in with damp eyes,

"Why did you come here?"

"...Because of a certain idiot."

"An idiot? We’ve got more than one on our team."

"The big idiot."

Junhyun, then.

Whatever the story was, I patted the gloomy-eyed "I was just about to do something!" Ri Hyuk on the shoulder.

"It’s okay. Jail isn’t bad. The floor’s heated."

"Kh-hh-hhk!"

Seo Ri Hyuk, Prisoner No. 2, confirmed.