《Save a Failed Idol’s Life》 Chapter : Prologue Chapter : Prologue Sess is sweet and life is bitter. I, Lim Hyunsung, who wrote the legendary sess of the Korean franchise with one restaurant business, was now sinking to the depth of the sea. Am I going to die like this? My breath was swallowed up by the waves, and I lost the sensation of my whole body. I thought about thest thing my stepmother said before pushing me off the cliff. Well, we didnt want to do this either! With all that money, its your fault for ignoring us! It was clearly an excuse. My mother passed away on her sickbed when I was a student. The woman, my stepmother, whom father brought back a few yearster, had always been the worst since her first impression. She tantly discriminated against me from her own son. I grew up in the bitter coldness of my family. Even her own son would not have been like this if he had opened his heart to me. It was toote, though. Raised by my stepmother in discrimination bordering on abuse, I disowned my family as soon as I became an adult. They didnt seem to desire anything from me either. Until I seed as a businessman, thats it. More than 20 years passed, and I became the hero of a sessful restaurant business legend. During that long period of time, they never gave me a hand. Those trash never did anything besides existing. My stepmother and half-brother borrowed money here and there under my name and started a business. Naturally, businesses couldnt leave such frauds alone and ended up filing aint. My father, who was already over 70 years old, was only dragged around by these frauds. He repeatedly said, Will you please drop the charges for moral reasons? Father also chose a new family over his own son. I ended up in a stand-off against all my family members. When I was young, I didnt feel ashamed of being treated as lower than humans and getting bullied. I was simply fed up with the disgusting greed those garbages had for money. With how many idents Id had, thewsuit had been prolonged until the end of the year. In the meantime, I was in a mess while managing my business and conducting a farewell speech. I needed time to rx away from everyone. I headed to the beach vi to cool off for a while And a new family who was sick and tired came to the vi. The moment I opened the door to kick out two people knocking at the door as if they were going to break it. Keuhook! I was kidnapped and thrown down a sheer cliff. If you just disappear like this! We can all be happy! If I die like this, all my wealth would go to my father, my only rtive. How can I bring Joyoung Food to this point In vain like this Swallowed by the strong waves dozens of times, I closed my eyes and felt the cold water seeping into my lungs. [You can start Special Quest Idol, Cheon Yise now] [Do you want to start the quest?] Chapter 1 Chapter 1 When I woke up, I was in some strange space. The whole area was filled with blue light. There was no ce to step on, but it wasnt affected by gravity and I floated in the air. I didnt understand what the hell this was about. When I looked around, a translucent window popped in front of me What is this? [Will you ept the special quest?] [Yes/No] I am not dead? This ce was too strange to be the afterlife. I doubted my eyes that couldnt see anything. Then I noticed a small puppy sitting under the status window. A dense coat of hair, fine white ears, short legs, and a pointed snout. Its a [tnote keyword=Welsh Corgi] Its so cute <3[/tnote] that you can only see on TV. Whats a special quest? Then the puppy replied as if it was waiting for me to speak. Wang-! As soon as the puppy barked-there was no sound. The message window got bigger like a handwritten poster, and a huge amount of text poured out. [Special quest: Idol, Cheon Yise] [CEO of Joyoung Food and a sessful restaurant owner, you were killed by your family without a drop of blood] Its not a dream or a lie. Im really dead. Senselessly I wanted to deny it, but it wouldnt make any difference. I nodded my head. [At this rate, all your wealth will be delivered to them through your biological father] [Here is another young man who is about to die] A beautiful man appeared on one side of the screen. I think Ive seen him somewhere Seeing that his name didnte to mind right away, he didnt seem to be an acquaintance. [Cheon Yise, an unknown idol who debuted 5 years ago, attempted tomit suicide at home, at the crossroads of life and death] What that does have to do with me? Idol Its not even a girl group. He has nothing to do with me, a man in his mid-40s. [Read the entire text, then ask questions] Arrr The puppy red at me from the screen. I hate animals that show their teeth to humans. However, unlike its expression, it did not seem to be really angry as its tail shook gently. I clicked my tongue and scrolled down. Lets see As I scrolled down a little more, the life of the character named Cheon Yise was recorded. Cheon Yise debuted as the main dancer of a boy idol group. He was the so-called crazy member who had never been on the top 100 of the music charts. Their highest-ranked song was the debut single, and since then, the new group lost its freshness. To make matters worse, he was seriously injured in a car ident. Fortunately, it didnt affect his daily life, but His body could no longer perform acrobatic violent movements. The problem started there. He couldnt perform vocal ambiguity, entertainment ambiguity, and intense choreography, so there was nowhere his body could be used right away. Cheon Yise, whose biggest weapon was dancing, was not confident to go back on stage. You didnt manage to get kicked out. Cheon Yise was informed by the head of his agency that he would be allowed to rest from group activities. It was because the agency was operated with Cheonsu Group as the center, where his father was the head. Otherwise, he would have talked about leaving the group right away. Being an idol who didnt make it was so miserable. But even the consideration was like [tnote keyword=giving a time break to a horse until it recovered]I didnt know this when I first tranted this, but I think this sentence refers to the fact that horses aremonly shot after breaking their legs because they have a small chance of sessful recovery.[/tnote] If you have a long break, youll be kicked out. At first nce, there were no goals other than being an Idol in Cheon Yises life. Losing your life goal at a young age, it would have been hard. I nodded and scrolled down. [The Human Happiness Praying System will make Lim Hyunsungs wishe true through Cheon Yises wish] [Client: Cheon Yise] [Wish: Sess as an idol] [Client: Lim Hyunsung] [Wish: Revenge to the fake family] [If youplete the special quest sessfully, we will give you a chance to realize your wish!] What nonsense is this? Wang-! With a light bark, the dog sent a congrattory message with its eyes. No. What does this mean? Chance? Will you revive me? [Resurrection is difficult due to the limitation of causality] Then how will you let me get revenge? [ Once you be Cheon Yise and fulfill his wish, a linked quest will be held for Lim Hyunsungs wish!] I doubted my eyes as I read the message. So If I be Cheon Yise and seed as a celebrity, youll give me a chance to get revenge? [Ding Dong Dang You understand it perfectly!] What kind of ding dong is that? I sighed at the totally iprehensible situation. Theres nothing to lose just by listening to it. But my 20th-year franchise representatives sentiment is speaking. I dont think youre giving me this opportunity for nothing. What the hell are you [10 minutes until the quest is forced to proceed] Even before I finished speaking, a status window appeared and blocked my eyes. 10 minutes? [9 8 7] Huh? Whats with this forced quest? Why did I believe you in the first ce! At that moment the numbers jumped over. [3 2] Why arent you counting 6 to 4? You fraud! [1] [Thank you for epting the request. The Human Happiness Praying System appreciates your effort in the future and we will do our best to make a more satisfying quest] Who said yes, you crazy! Before I could resist, the surroundings began to darken. I closed my eyes as I felt my consciousness slipping away. Wang-! The puppy was barking cheerfully somewhere. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 When I opened my eyes again, I saw a ceiling I had never seen before. Where am I? Lets get up first. I put strength into my arms, but my resolution couldnt be put into practice. Unable to resist the pain of a hard blow to my head, Iid back on the bed Somehow, I felt sick as if I had locked my body in a wheel and spun it around. I must have eaten something wrong that made my stomach feel twisted. Even if I curled up for a long time, I didnt think the nausea would disappear. Am I in Cheon Yises body? I calmed down a little as I stayed still Creeping through the covers, I lifted myself up. [ Hello, Lim Hyunsung! Congrattions on your first step as a member of the world] I havent even taken the first step yet. Even before I fully recovered my mind, the status window that I saw in the strange ce popped up as if teasing me. The embedded were not making fun of anyone, but the word stole my attention. And next to it was the puppy that I saw before the forced quest. With the ne Lv.01 , which I didnt see before. Am I really Cheon Yise right now? When I asked, the status window shook loudly and came forward with the flick of the puppys tail. [Thats right! As Cheon Yise, shall we start a tutorial to get used to it?] [Yes/No] I epted it as a forced quest, but that didnt mean I could understand the current situation. Wait, you need to exin it properly. Whats going on with my real body right now? It said in the strange ce that I was already dead a while ago. There was no hope of going back to the original body, but But I wanted to check at least. (Singing Sound of Love) Instead of changing the pop-up message in the status window, the TV was turned on even though I didnt touch it. Wang-! The puppy barked silently, pointing toward the TV screen. [The funeral procession of Lim Hyunsung, CEO of Joyoung Food, who is said to be ahead of the Korean food globalization due to various franchise operations, took ce this morning] [The chief mourner was Lim Sunghwan, the father of the deceased, and not onlypany officials but chain store owners across the country also continue to pay their respect] You did it I had thought I would be in this state because it said no resurrection was possible, but It felt strange to enter a persons body and watch my funeral. My father, who was holding a portrait of me with a dark face, and my stepmother who was sobbing beside him. Watching my younger brother raise his voice to support his brothers will made me shudder. You killed me. I want to chase him and grab him by the cor right away. [ You cannot intervene in events rted to [Lim Hyunsungs wish] until youplete the preceding quest.] As if reading my mind, a pop-up window written in a red and bold font was pushed in front of my eyes. Oh, it was just a thought! Just a thought! So I came back after taking over someone elses body. It seemed I couldnt achieve my revenge if I didntplete the quest. As expected, there was no such thing as a favor without a price. I took a breath and asked the puppy. Theres a lot I want to ask, do you guys have any other conditions? If I fail toplete the quest by the deadline, Ill have to pay a penalty or something like that. The seal was stamped against my will, but I had to check the terms and conditions first when I made a deal. Then, as if the dog had encountered an unexpected error, ity t on the floor and looked worried. Kkiing, kkeueueueung [Please wait a minute. Creating Terms and Conditions. Estimated waiting time: 3 minutes] Why are you so sloppy? I squinted my eyes and inadvertently turned to the mirror next to the bed. A young man with distinct features and white skin caught my eye. The moment I saw the face, I suddenly remembered where I had heard the name Cheon Yise. When I appeared on the restaurant coaching entertainment show, I met him as part of the cast. Of course, there were not many remarks from him, let alone solo shots, so there was nothing memorable about who he was. I thought it looks luxurious, but You live in a really nice house. It was a studio apartment that seemed too spacious for a young boy to live alone. Even at a nce, I could recognize the finest furniture that had been sshed with money. Lets take a look around first. I felt like I was still dreaming, but my whole bodys sense was as vivid as it was. Then, the moment I put strength in both hands and tried to raise my body. Ugh I fell t on my face. [The physical recovery is notplete yet. Hold on a minute, please.] [Current MC: 33%] You didnt even tell me about this! I clenched my teeth, staring at the percentage that changed from 33 to 34. Next to the small window, the puppy was fidgeting and fluttering as if trying to calm down. Kkiiing-. What, are you trying tofort me? My whole body, which lost its strength, was gradually recovering as the percentage went up. Soon I felt better enough to stumble and walk. It was still difficult to move smoothly, but I had to ask questions. I think this is enough When I got up without waiting for 100% achievement, the error message immediately blocked my eyes. In the corner of the screen, the dog barked silently again, this time as if in a warning. Then it blinked its round, ck eyes as if it were worried about me and stuck out its tongue. The pink tongue under the moist, ck nose was cute, but I was originally not vulnerable to cute animals. [The physical recovery is notplete yet. Hold on a minute, please.] [Current MC: 92%] Youre bothering me with everything! So I had to sit down for nearly 15 minutes and wait until I achieved 100%. The moment the number finally changed to 100. The dog circled around as if celebrating. [Recovery of abnormal addiction has beenpleted. Please note that conditions such as clearing linked quests will be given to recovery from abnormal conditions in the future.] Next to the bed, I could see scattered vomit and littered undissolved pills. Is this because of the addiction Lets put it aside forter. I had to check what kind of ce this is. As I got up and looked at the furniture one by one, I was amazed. From the dishwasher, refrigerator, and oven, though they didnt look like they had ever been used, I could see that the ce was filled with high-end equipment. When I opened the high-end refrigerator of a famous brand, I saw basic ingredients that seemed to be filled by someone. Did he ever touch this? It seemed to be waiting for the day it would go bad as it was in the first state it was put in. Lets see Kimchi, eggs, tofu, green onions, red pepper paste It was filled with the basics. The refrigerator was mostly empty. When I opened the drawer underneath, diet pack sds, chicken breasts, and a pack of fruits poured out. It seemed he had forgotten the sd and diet food that he had thrown into the lowerpartment. What did you do with the freezer? When I opened the freezer, there were frozen foods and ice cream that did not look good for the body. The fact that the refrigerator and freezer looked like this
  1. He barely managed to survive with diet food.
  2. He had repeated binge eating and extreme dietary restrictions with delivery food and diet food.
It was one of the two. I naturally reached for the veranda and checked the belly. The body looked soft on the outside, but I could feel a solid core muscle. Right, he was the main dancer. Even though he couldnt be on stage, he must have taken good care of his body shape. Even though it seemed like he couldnt move his body for quite a while after the traffic ident, he maintained a slender shape. I opened the veranda door that ran behind the kitchen. There was a lot of stic waste from delivery food. Howe theres no pattern of the kid ever leaving the house? He didnt know how to cook stew with his hands. Instead of putting seaweed on hot rice, he ordered delivery food. Filling meals with sds and getting dragged into a mire of dissatisfied meals I sighed and remembered the information I got from the strange ce a little while ago about Cheon Yise. The youngest member of the Cheonsu group was a child who didnt know the world. A huge amount of money was poured in for him, but he still didnt make it. A child who lost every opportunity without receiving much response due to his vague sense of entertainment and selfishness. I shook my head that could only think bad of Cheon Yise. Lets not think too negatively. Did he get cornered in the house due to some internal circumstances that outsiders do not know? I looked at the huge amount of sleeping pills and gastric juice that I turned away from cleaning up earlier My expression turned distorted. [Youve waited for a long time! Please check the terms and conditions below.] The confirmation of the terms and conditions came forward before I could clean up the vomit. I decided to stop bringing tissues and focused on the status window in front of me. You said 3 minutes. Why are 3 minutes so long? The puppy at the bottom of the status window jumped into the air with its short legs as if to soothe me with cute acts. It seemed a little cute, but that wasnt the point now. [Terms and conditions It is considered you have agreed to the quest in advance-] They really take it however they want. I want toin if they know this is against themercialw But I dont think it would work. First of all, I quietly shut my mouth. [1. The first test period for Lim Hyunsung to be Cheon Yise is about half a year] [2. If you pass the half-year test period, you are considered to have met the qualifications of Idol, Cheon Yise. The main quest will begin] [3. During the quest, you are not allowed to intervene in the case rted to Lim Hyunsung.] [4. If the final goal is not achieved within the duration of the quest or the test period is not passed, Cheon Yise will be considered to have exhausted his remaining life upon the expiration of the contract. The penalty for the failure of the quest will be applied immediately, so please do your best during the test period.] I dont know what the penalty is, but half a year It was too short, considering that Cheon Yise had not been able to rise for five years even with the support of the Cheonsu group on his back. Isnt half a year too short? How can you seed as a celebrity within half a year if you havent been on stage for five years? When Iined, a pop-up window with a beep and a warning sound came back. In addition, the dog also growled, crumpling its face like a human. [Half a year is a temporary deadline for the test period, and you can check the reason for the set period in the tutorial.] [In addition, after half a year of testing, a deadline will be assigned ording to the progress of the quest. The Human Happiness Praying System calctes the optimal customization period for each quest. We do not ept any objection to this.] In the end, it meant I could only ept OK, OK, OK. Even if Iined about it, this was better than having to leave for another world without a chance to get revenge. I scratched my head and epted the situation. [Shall we start the tutorial?]] [Yes/No] If things were like this anyway, it was better to adapt quickly and find out what I could do. I nodded as soon as I made up my mind. [Yes] [Before starting the tutorial, please name .] The puppy next to the small status window spun around in the same ce indicating were a word referring to it. Oh, what a mess. Just stay put. I muttered while nagging and the dog sat quietly as if it understood. Being pretty smart made it cute Well, its irrelevant anyway. Soon after, a keyboard-like input window appeared. I put together any words that came to mind. [Balbari] Wang-! The gentle puppy growled and shook its head in discontent. What, there were so manyints, you should just say OK and let me go. I wrote down a few more things that came to mind roughly, but they were all rejected. I finally raised my voice after my naming sense Yellow, White, and Tori were being denied one after another. Youre very picky! Since the fur is fluffy, lets try Fluffy for onest time. At that time, my hand that tapped slowly on the keyboard slipped and made a typo. [Posil] Then, as if the puppy was satisfied, a sh of light shone. Before I knew it, the keyboard melted underneath my fingertips and disappeared. Uung Then I heard the system boot up as if something was about to start. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 However, the SF boot sound soon stopped and nothing happened. What? I thought something big was going to happen. I thought something would go on right away, but I rubbed my eyes as the window disappeared and looked around. Is something wrong? I calmly brought a tissue to clean up the vomit and waited. However, 10 minutes after that, there was no news. While I was still waiting, I saw a mirror across the bed. The young mans face in the mirror looked so awkward. Handsome Hes really handsome. I thought my appearance wasnt so bad either, but celebrities are on a different level. Between me and myself in the mirror, my empty stomach growled and demanded food. Did he cook something? I moved lightly in the young body, which was notparable to my original body that aged over 40. I didnt think I was in a very healthy condition. As expected, it felt good to be young. For now, it seemed I had some basic ingredients. OK. Id seen the fridge. I opened the cupboard to see if there was anything healthy among the retort foods. Various canned cans, instant rice, and ramen were filling the cupboard. Lets see. Do you have tuna? After checking thebels of various cans, I found a tuna can and dried seaweed and I put them on the counter. Tofu, chili powder, kimchi, and garlic Do I have garlic? When I opened the door of the refrigerator, I found sliced garlic that probably came with delivery food. It was a little soft, but fortunately, it wasnt damaged. You must have bought kimchi at a good ce. Its nice. Looking at the deliciously cooked fresh kimchi in the refrigerator made my mouth water. Koreans need rice. Its natural that you have to eat first even if your nose gets broken. Eating hot rice with spicy and sour [tnote keyword=kimchi-jjigae] [/tnote] soup, theres nothing more appetizing than that. Even boiling ramen noodles for dessert doesnt look like a feast when youre hungry. Anyway, since weve decided on the menu, shall we start? Like other kitchen utensils, the kitchen knife and cutting board remained brand new. I lightly washed the tools with detergent and put them on the counter. My heart pounded as I looked at the kitchen utensils and food that I prepared on the counter. My rtionship with my family was worse than anyone else, and my ex-fiance ended up breaking up with me due to family interference. I had no other sess besides my business, but thanks to the spirit of rice, I was able to live with energy. When I opened the sealed container containing the kimchi, the smell of fresh kimchi poured out. It smells great. This well-cooked fresh kimchi was delicious even if I ate it with ramen or grilled it with pork belly. I was going to eat alone, so this was enough. Half a package of the fresh kimchi was cut into appropriate sizes and ced on a pot covered with tuna oil. The sizzling oiled kimchi was stir-fried in the pot, and a pleasant smell spread through the kitchen. Hmm Its a studio apartment, dont let it smell bad. I quickly turned on the fan. Thanks to the smelling out, the air became much fresher. As the kimchi was being cooked little by little, the sliced garlic I took out earlier was chopped well with a kitchen knife, and a very small amount of sugar was added. The true taste of kimchi-jjigae was sour, but I thought it would be a shame if it was too sour. Since water woulde out from the tofu, I didnt put much water. When the ingredients were put on top and cooked one by one, it started to boil and smell familiar. While watching the kimchi being cooked, I added tofu first and seasoned it with soy sauce. The noodle had be a whole vor on its own. Unfortunately, though there were pasta noodles in the cupboard, I couldnt find ss noodles. Noodles Ill have to buy themter. If I buy it, I can make [tnote keyword=japchae] [/tnote]. Lastly, I put the tuna, which had been lightly squeezed with oil, on top of it as a garnish, and it made my mouth water. While the soup was slightly boiled down, I heated the instant rice. Theres a way to survive even inside a tigers den as long as youe to your sense. If I fill my stomach and think about it, I cane up with anything. Lets eat first. The moment I tried to mix the shiny rice into the red spicy soup and put it in my mouth. Hey, open the door, Cheon Yise! Are you nning to drive me crazy?! He must have been a little over thirty. Naturally, the harsh voice of a man I heard for the first time echoed, banging on the door. What, whats going on? When I put down the spoon on the unexpected visit, the door shook once more Why dont you open the door? If you dont open it in 10 seconds, Ill call someone! Without knowing what was going on, I ran to the front door and grabbed the handle. The force from the other side was so strong that the recoil was transmitted through the iron gate. Do you really want to see me die out of stress?! If I open this, I will be the one who die. For a moment, a sense of crisis crossed my mind, and as I hesitated, the status window popped up again. [Tutorial 1. Melting perfectly into Cheon Yise Event > Get visited by the manager] [Would you like to start?] [Yes] This time there was only one option. I pressed the [Yes] button in a hurry because it wasnt a situation where I could argue why there wasnt a No. [For natural adjustment, well give you a tip without taking back points] What? Before I could prepare myself, the surroundings were suddenly colored in ck and white and time stopped. At the same time, I could hear the conversation that Cheon Yise of the past had with the man outside the door. Hey, did you eatte night snack again? Theeback is just around the corner, are you not going to manage it? But I threw it all up? I just chewed and spit it out? The only thing I swallowed was grass. Youll know if you check it tomorrow! I heard you ordered [tnote keyword=tteokbokki] [/tnote]st time, too! Ah, seriously. Just hearing your voice makes me want to eat less, so stop nagging. Its annoying when I live on my parents money. [Thats all for this tip. If you need additional information from now on, you can purchase it by paying points.] Point? It talked about payment all of a sudden. While I was wondering, the surroundings returned to their original colors. I told you to open it when I still say nice things, 10, 9, 8. Why does everyone like counting seconds so much? I gently grabbed the handle and pulled it inwards. ck-. As soon as the door opened, the man popped in. He was dressed casually in a hoodie and jeans. You punk! Really, because of you, I am going to die young! I couldnt say he looked handsome, but he wasnt ugly either. He was a man in his 30s, dressed in a neat appearance. From the conversation I heard a while ago, he seemed to be the manager of the group to which Cheon Yise belonged. And it was clear to me that Cheon Yise faced a huge amount of problems both with family and his diet. On top of that, Cheon Yise, who talked about his parents money, was really It was a great personality. What should I say? I answered in a hurry as my mind went nk. What, whats the matter? All of a sudden! [Congrattions! Points will be given tomemorate your first activity as a Cheon Yise. +10] Congrattions, my ass. Isnt this manager turning his eyes as if hes going to strangle me? There was no time to think about anything. I stepped back right away. What happened? Do you think I wouldnte to you if you texted me and turned off the phone? What? The manager immediately wriggled his eyebrows when I asked back as I didnt know what to say. And then he screamed out loud. Why are you still pretending? You sent this! The manager wriggled his big fingers, tapped the screen a few times, and held out the phone to me. On the spacious messenger screen, the message sent by the other party was zoomed in. [Im sorry. I also think Im beyond redemption. If I die, please tell the members that I am sorry.] Huh I couldnt tell much about people just by listening to a short story. From what I heard briefly, he was a sharp-headed man, but before the moment of death, it seemed his mind had weakened again. If it is someone elses business, you shouldve used your temper a little more carefully Its something I have to pick up now. Oh that, I just suddenly feel down Of course, I didnt think it was an easy message to pass on. The managers brow was crumpled as he pulled my clothes. Hey, youre saying that now! Do you know howme I was when I thought you were trying to kill yourself? The manager shut the front door and burst in. I backed away from him as if I were running away. What? Whats the matter? The manager began to look at every inch of the house with an angry look on his face. It seemed he was looking to see whether Cheon Yise had done something bad. Earlier, Cheon Yise had drunk poison, but I had removed all the residue that his whole body desperately vomited. Youre not going to go through the trash can, right? I followed the managers footsteps, looking around. I never thought Id get my house checked by a young man at this age Its ridiculous and absurd. However, I am not Lim Hyunsung, but Cheon Yise. While the manager was searching every corner like a drug-detecting dog, he opened his eyes wide at the glossy food. Did you call a girl in the meantime? What nonsense is this? I nced at the translucent window. Posil was tilting his head with his tongue out. Its not about you, so mind your own business. Anyway, it was a ridiculous misunderstanding. I couldnt understand what had led to that idea. No? Why are you suddenly talking about girls! Why? Are you determined to kill me with a question mark today? No! I quickly escaped the manager and hid behind the table. Dont you remember that you got caught ying with Miss Blue? Youve be weird since the ident Ah something happened. I didnt know the details, but the specific exnation made me guess there was some kind of incident. No wonder there were so many kitchen utensils that didnt seem to be used. The kitchen was in a state that would make sense if there was something going on, like asking a girlfriend to cook. Not this time. I was just going to cook it myself because I am hungry. Whether the manager suspected it or not, it was really Lim Hyunsung who was in Cheon Yises body. I know youre going to cook something with your own hands. Why are you so good at answering like everyone else today? Youre hiding something, arent you? The sentences that the manager spat out were strangely annoying. The cause for his action was the reputation that Cheon Yise himself built up so far, but I felt ufortable inside. Im serious. Do you want some? Iughed awkwardly as I watched the manager open the closet and bathroom, still in doubt. Huh No This guy cant afford to eat anything with his own hands Will the sun rise from the west tomorrow? I quickly brought the stew back to the induction pot and boiled it. Then I took out the instant rice, put it in the microwave, and heated it. Sit down there, Ill heat it up right away! If you dont believe it, well Its best to change the subject. Feeding them to keep their mouth shut is the best defense and attack. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Because the pork wasnt cut separately, it was somewhat insufficient for two adult men to eat. It didnt matter to me because I could cook something else. Am I really going to die soon Did you just cook rice with your own hands? Whats going on? Why is he doing something he has never done before? The manager still gave me a suspicious look. I took the boiling stew back to the table. Hurry up, blow out the soup first and eat. Kimchi-jjigae with the sour smell of fresh kimchi and the greasy, savory smell of tuna The visual alone looked salivating. It was cooked by me. I dont know, I might die after eating. The manager grumbled into his first drink, blew the soup, and put it in his mouth. The moment the soup touched his tongue, his eyes shook and shed open. Oh? This tastes good? Of course. There were no ingredients that could enhance the vor, it wasnt possible to just go out and buy them. Throughout my 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry, I was proud to be faithful to the original taste of kimchi-jjigae. I followed the recipe on the inte. Im tired of ordering food I smiled nonchntly as I felt sweat trickling down my back. The manager still red at me with a sharp look. At the same time, he ate the white rice greedily. I never thought the day youd cook woulde to my life. Its popr to cook by yourself these days. There are meal kits and stuff like that. You know how to point fingers at someone else to make it, who would have thought youd stand in front of the kitchen? I lifted my spoon cautiously, lightly smiling. For now, I only know a small part of what kind of life Cheon Yise has been living Although I know this guy has been in a mess. He did whatever he wanted, and whined when things didnt go his way. The diet must have been unhealthy, repeating binge eating and extreme dietary restrictions, and gradually dampening the body. Meanwhile, an ident happened and he couldnt even be on stage properly I know how it feels. It would have been better for him to live like a fool while devouring his own body. With the support of the Cheonsu group, you could have been anything other than an idol. I cant believe you tried to die with sleeping pills just because things go wrong I shouldnt talk about other peoples business. But he had a very weak and wretched ego. Hey, I Im embarrassed to say this because Ive been saying hateful things until now. My mind was wandering for a while and I suddenly came back to my senses when I heard the managers words. Do you have more rice? Before I knew it, the instant rice in front of the manager was cleanly emptied. *** First of all, Ive solved it for now The manager finished two bowls of instant rice. Not only that, he chewed on the stew as if he was running out of time and went back. I was worried because other members couldnt contact you. Especially Kyunghwa, he asked me to call to make sure youre okay. Talk to the kids on the phone, dont bete. Check the messenger or something. The vice president was really worried, too. Listen to your mother. Dont worry. Members My mind got lost imagining kids who I didnt even know. I was worried about you Anyway, keep in touch. When the manager went back and the tension was relieved, I felt hungry again. Ill cook first and callter. As soon as I took a breather, the status window blocked my eyes. What is it now [Congrattions on the sessfulpletion of the event! Points to celebrate achievement +20] Ah Yeah. There was something I was worried about earlier. Posil ran around in circles, happy to see the increase in points. I asked Posil. Come to think of it, youve been talking about points, deductions, and tips. Whats that? [ Let me exin briefly for Hyunsung who has a lot of questions!] Cant we get rid of that inequality sign? I held back my irritation and sighed. [What is a point? Its a prize given as a means of support for each sessful quest] [You can buy tips to help you carry out your quest by collecting points] If I can buy a tip, does it mean I can choose as if Im shopping? [Ill show you a list of tips that you can buy now!] Somehow, the status windows tone seemed strangely excited. Soon after, a shopping mall catalog-like screen opened in front of me. At the bottom of the status window, Posil wore a bow tie and straightened his head as if he had be a host of some show. [>Rey service 30 points per episode] [>Listening service 15 points per episode] [>Case Intervention service 100 points per episode] And below it, my status was listed as if it were a game status window. [Cheon Yise (Lim Hyunsung) 24 years old] [Current points: 30 points] [The tutorial is in progress, so you cant purchase the Case Intervention service yet.] Well Of course, none of what I have been going through feels realistic. However, a game development window popped up so earnestly that I had to rub my eyes. Whats a Case Intervention service? When I asked the status window, a small window popped up and added an exnation. [Case Intervention service Emergency provided when the quest is blocked or impossible due to unavoidable circumstances] I didnt know what it was, but it seemed to be a service that I could use in X situation. Wait. Lets get this straight. I dont know about you or you guys. Are you saying the half-year period as Cheon Yise includes the process of my natural adjustment? Then, the pop-up window shook its body and answered as if in remedy. [ You understand it perfectly!] What a very annoying answer. [Tutorial is currently in progress for Lim Hyunsung to adjust.] The manager that just came in is a part of the tutorial? [Thats right! Shall we start the second tutorial event?] Posil also nodded and expressed his affirmation. The ck nose at the end of the protruding bulge glowed. Didnt I just send out the manager? I became full of expectations with the intention of filling my hungry stomach. When does it start? I didnt know when I started starving, but I was very hungry as if it had been a long time since I had a proper meal. This guy should at least eat well. If he had, he wouldnt have been driven to the cliff and tried to kill himself. It should be aw that people have to solve their problems with meals. I had enough meals, but I got thrown off the cliff, literally. [Tutorial 1. Melting perfectly into Cheon Yise Event > Face-to-face with members] [Time remaining until the event starts. 10] No, you have to give people some time to get ready, I cant even eat the meal that I prepared. I rolled my brain to buy more time. Come to think of it, my manager told me to talk to my mother earlier [The Human Happiness Praying System is not human, so we dont respect moral principles] [Resuming the count] [8 7] Then, whether by chance or fate, the phone rang. The sweet time we spent together, back then The count stopped abruptly because the status window didnt know a call wasing at this time. When I hurriedly checked the phone screen, three letters [Mom] were shining. I just need to get this call, huh? If Cheon Yise sent suicide messages to his parents as he did to his manager, I had to deal with them as well. For a very short time, the System shook with a slight vibration as if it were in agony, and then a message popped up. [Good! Well give you 15 minutes because were moved by your positive attitude] Whoa I checked the count that barely stopped and swept my chest. I should at least get some information before picking it up. You said earlier that I cant use the Case Intervention service during the tutorial. I have experienced the Listening service for free. So can I use the Rey service using points? As I spun my head to think about it for a short time, the status window was updated in front of my eyes. [Tip Shop > Select Rey service] [Do you want to purchase the Rey service?] [Yes/No] I didnt even say anything, but you read my mind and say it. It sounded like a trap but I couldnt choose no. Yes. I dont think the point payment is too tight. It shouldnt matter if I use about 30 points now. Posil jumped in ce pretending to bark. [y the Rey service. You can rey the video you purchasedter on the Video Viewing service.] Fortunately, I could watch it more than once and it wasnt confiscated like before. [Video streaming starts] A small status window announced the reim and disappeared, and at the same time, the surrounding area was dyed ck for a moment. And pat, the light came back on as if it was turned off in the middle of the night. I stood alone in the living room of a rich house I had never seen before. And as if to prove this wasnt the reality, a real dog, not a t icon, was looking up at me. Are you ming others again? An elderly man sitting on a single sofa in the higher seat shouted at Cheon Yise. Then a middle-aged woman sitting next to him shouted. How can you be so hard on this little boy? Its not a solo activity, but a team effort, right? What do you want him to do when it doesnt work out? Then the man clicked his tongue and tantly dismissed it as pathetic. Thats not an excuse! You cant do it like this, you cant do it like that. How much money do you think was spent when you applied? What are the members doing? Theyre the ones who stick to the Cheonsu group like bedbugs and pay for their operational expense! Judging from the situation, the man sitting at the top screaming was Cheon Youngtae, the chairman of the Cheonsu group, and the woman sitting next to him seemed to be Ahn Junghee, the vice-chairman. It felt strange to see the face that I had only seen on the news so close. These two Are they the ones who raised him wrong? You can do well next time! They will show the results so you dont have to feel embarrassed! Unable to resist the series of insults, Cheon Yise stormed out of his seat and left. Soon after, the reaction like a scene from a morning drama continued. Aigoo, What I am going to do What to do with that Jihyung and others are all good, but hes the only one all over the ce Why were you provoking him again? If you trust him a little more, Yise will show you good results. The eldest son of Cheonsu Group What kind of people are the eldest daughters? I didnt remember anything because I wasnt that interested in factional fights of the third generation of chaebol. However, the memory was clear that Ahn Junghee, who was currently sitting as vice chairman, was not the chairmans first wife. I can roughly predict whats going on in the family. The indescribable performance of the elite third generation of the ordinary chaebol family. And, on the other hand, there was the pathetic son of a second wife who had never shown any insignificant results. If he had made his debut with the support of the Cheonsu group, he should have achieved something remarkable as a singer. The boy group Climax, which Cheon Yise belonged to, was an unknown idol group that had never even been in the top 100 of Ms real-time chart. Thats why he lost his mind. Soon, the surroundings shook and the lights blinked as I quickly returned to reality. Um [Rey service 20 years old, September 26th] Oh, you were 20 years old then? No wonder he looked younger than the reflection in the mirror. Its time for me to y the childish son, Cheon Yise. Then, I suddenly noticed a stopwatch floating in the status window. It seemed to be counting the 15-minute grace period. I have about 10 minutes left. The length of the video was shorter than I thought, so there was some time left. Wait, 10 minutes Should I fill my stomach with something simple to make? I am always serious when ites to food. Im sorry, Yises mother. Ill call you backter. I left my phone to ring and then walked back into the kitchen. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 In 10 minutes Toast sounds better. I quickly opened the overhead cupboard and took out a bag of bread. It was a little moist, but not inedible. Lets quickly put this in the oven. I set it to 2 minutes by turning the timer attached to the oven handle. It would be crispy and delicious if I baked it longer, but I couldnt afford to waste any more time. While heating up the bread, I opened the refrigerator and took out three types of cream cheese and jam. Since he was a son of a rich family with a picky taste, there were a lot of overseas products with popr food brands. I dont think he brought them with his own hands Anyway, thank you for the food. The bread, which turned slightly brown on the surface, was first thickened with cream cheese. The cream cheese melted gently when it touched the heated surface of the oven. Add a lot of blueberry jam on top of it, and it was done. Confirming that the time count at the bottom of the status window was decreasing, the status window protested as I cut off the edges of the toast. [ Please use the additional time for its intended purpose.] Wang-! Posil barked silently as if to attract my attention. Whose side are you on? Hes probably on the side of the system anyway. Instead of talking, I snorted, picked another piece of bread, and put cream cheese on the new bread. You didnt say I cant use it for food. [If you dont use the rest of the time for its original purpose, you may face penaltiester] Heung. Even then, it would have been enough to bite on prior agreements and notices. Okay. Dont you know that dogs dont bother people at mealtime? No answer this time. I checked that I had about five minutes left, and slowly picked up my cell phone again. [One missed call] [From: Mom] What does it feel like to call your mother Mom, instead of Mother? I wouldnt know because I lost my biological mother when I was young and grew up with my stepmother. Hyunsung, is there really no guardian who cane to see you? If Mom and Dad are having a hard time, at least your grandmother or grandfather From elementary school to high school dropout. For all those years, my family consisted of an irresponsible father, a tantly abusive stepmother, and an immature half-brother. It had been too long since I lost the existence of someone who pampered me and I could call Mom sweetly. The call button is Lets see I took a quick deep breath. Then, I chewed thest bite of the toast and swallowed it. As my stomach became stronger, I began to feel rxed little by little. As expected, people have to fill their stomachs first. What if she doesnt answer this time? I stammered and pressed the call button with a momentary sense of uneasiness. Ttureureureu- ttureureureu-. Has the signal been connected three times? A middle-aged womans low voice readily answered the phone. Oh my, Yise! Whats going on? My son calls me first? You called me first, though? I just pressed the outgoing button on the missed call. In other words, it was Ahn Junghee who called first. I have a missed call. Im sorry I missed your call, Mothe-Mom. I almost said Mother before I knew it. The word Mom made me speechless. Mrs. Ahn Jung-hee was unexpectedly touched when I narrowly made a mistake. My son, you should call back when Mom calls you. I know youre busy, but it would be nice if you keep in contact with me like today. No wonder, rather than a scolding The mother, who was unable to contact her son once, seemed toin lightly. Come to think of it, the title of the tutorial is Melting perfectly. Is it okay to do something Cheon Yise wouldnt do? Hmm. Theres no harm in checking carefully. This status window, it read my thought, right? If I dontpletely recreate Cheon Yises life, is there no problem in proceeding with the quest? Then, the status window, with the time count showing the remaining four minutes, popped up and answered. [Thats right. However, the System is not responsible for unexpected situations caused by your actions] Thats what I thought. I nodded lightly. Im sorry I should have called you more often. Ill pay more attention from now on. Oh, Im so happy to hear that, son. Our Yise says all these wonderful things, its like youre a new person! With a quick nce, it was obvious how much Cheon Yise would have behaved like a scumbag to his mother who was wrapped around his little fingers. Suicide was the result of such a heartfelt love. Unconditional affection doesnt seem to be a good direction for discipline. Ive been so indifferent all this time. What brings you to call me? Anyway, when the topic was changed naturally, Mrs. Ahn Junghee happily brought up the main topic. It was a rare urrence. Was it yesterday? Your group manager contacted me through the butler to ask if you were at home. Didnt you get a call from the manager? At that time, it would have been right before Cheon Yisemitted suicide without receiving any contact. His parents werent immediately informed about the suicide. Right. Thepany would go crazy if the chairman of the Cheonsu group heard about such a big incident. He was trying to fix it before he died. Oh, yes. Thank you for calling. Maybe its amunication problem, my phone hasnt been working welltely. Because I refused to ept calls and received attention, I gave out the usual excuse without biting my lips. Oh, change your phone whenever you feel ufortable. Ill have to ring it on time to hear my sons voice more often. Yes, Ill change it soon. Even if its not because of this excuse I want to transfer to Android right away because it feels ufortable writing on it. I dont know how kids nowadays use this. Okay. My son sounds like in good health today, so thats enough. Call me whenever you need anything. For a moment, Cheonsu Hotel, where Vice Chairman Ahn Junghee was sitting in the CEOs seat, passed by my head. Its not out of the blue that I think of the vacation hotel. I have a special grudge against Sky Aqua, a three-star Michelin restaurant that opened there. I tried to make a reservation there before I died Every time, I just got a message that the reservation was full. Its not the right time to bring it up, but one day! Ill use my parents for a chance to eat there. With that resolution, the time count was already less than two minutes away. Yes, Ill call you more often from now on. Take care. Yes, son~. Itste, so hurry up and sleep, lets talk again next time! The phone was cut off at the end. I looked down at the unfamiliar call-ended screen and swept my chest. And spoke triumphantly to the status window. Look, I finished it in time, right? Then, there was nothing more to say, but the System trembled strangely. [For smooth progress and cooperation, please refrain from unauthorized activities that are not discussed with the System] I settled it in time anyway. Instead of responding, the System scrolled down and mechanically raised a point notification. [Unexpected event > Points to celebrate parents call +20] [Additionally, inmemoration of your active activities as Cheon Yise, we will give you some points to cheer you on. Cheering point +20] In the midst of this, I felt so grateful for the support I almost cried. [Tutorial 1. Melting perfectly into Cheon Yise Event > Face-to-face with members] [Resume count until the start of the event.] [6 5 4] [3 2] This time, I no longer resisted and waited calmly for the count to pass. [1!] [Tutorial 1 The second event> You can only start meeting members during the day] [Time adjustment begins for smooth progress] At the same time, a great amount of drowsiness suddenly poured in, and my body naturallyy down on the bed. Then my eyes were forced to close. Oh, this [Time left until the end of the time adjustment 10 9 8 7 6 5, 4, 3, 2] [1!] As soon as the count was over, my eyes opened. I got up in bewilderment. The clock, which was supposed to point at 10 p.m., now pointed to 9 a.m. Then, next to the bed, the phone on the table turned on. Buuung, buuung My body reacted first to the loud vibrating call and bounced out. Yes, Ive received the call. Oh, Yise. The kids are asking me if you are okay because I met you yesterday. It was a little surprising, but I replied as if nothing had happened. Of course, you saw it yesterday. I am fine. Okay, thats a relief. Come and show your face to the kids for a second. Everyone was really worried. Looking at the signs of life It seemed like this guy had been stuck in the apartment all by himself. Then, it will be better to report this guys survival for the first time in a long time and check what kind of jerks they are. If I have time today, Ill go to the dorm. Yes. There are no group activities these days, so there will be some people who cant meet you when they go home or do individual activities, so make sure to set the time in our group chat. Yes, I wish I can meet the Hyungs too. The moment I was about to wrap up the call with a simple farewell. Oh, right. I dont know the address of the dorm. I asked the manager urgently. Hyung! Im sorry, but I havent been there for a long time, I am confused with the address. Can you tell me? Were in a hurry, so there wont be a time for rejection. For a long time, the young managers voice came out without hesitation. Once again, I admired my tongue and waited for the managers answer. Hey, how can you forget the address of the dorm even if youre not interested? You didnt bump your head into anything, did you? Ill text you, so go follow the navigation. There has to be a private car that Cheon Yise dragged around alone Right. Considering the wealth of the Cheonsu Group, it would be strange not to have it. But now I dont even know my car number. I have to take a taxi to the dorm. Yes, please text me. Take care. I looked for a long time at the text that arrived soon after I finished the phone call. It felt awkward to use thetest iPhone with a new flickering message screen. Ive been using the low-end Android only for messenger and phone calls for five years I need to get used to this now. First, I looked for the Back button to go to the main screen on the phone. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldnt see the Back key. Whats wrong with this machine? I was flustered for a long time, and after pressing the button recklessly, I was able to return to the main screen. At the same time, I noticed the notifications that had been pushed back. Why are there so many unchecked notifications? Messenger, advertisements, phone calls, all kinds of notifications. The problem was that I had no way of handling the notification through my phone right away. I pushed the notification to the side as I used to on my old Android smartphone, but it only showed a strange button and did not disappear. I I will have to check this outter. I decided to turn off the phone screen and started getting ready to go out. How do I turn off the screen? To live as Cheon Yise, I have to ovee this phones operation method first. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Eventually, I couldnt find a way to turn it off, so I flipped the phone over and started looking around the house again. Come to think of it, I have to wear a proper young child-like outfit, not a pajama to go out. What kind of clothes did Cheon Yise usually wear? I approached the closet and opened the door wide. It wasnt the familiar clothes that always greeted me consistently. These days, kids clothes were filled with shy clothes, not suits, pajamas, or sportswear. I closed the door again. And after taking a deep breath, I shook off my desire to turn away and opened the closet again. I cant handle this. But I have to do it even if it doesnt work. I had only worn shirts or cotton pants of the same design and color. I had never developed a sense of fashion. Still, Im an idol band member I cant just go out in casual clothes I brought my phone back to search for idol-like clothes. Then I clicked on an app, which I believed to be a browser. After thinking for a while, I entered the search term. Because I was not used to the keyboard, I was sweating as I had to keep writing and erasing it, unlike my usual self. [Search > Cheon Yises fashion] The search results were disastrous. There was a reason why Cheon Yise decided tomit suicide, he was pessimistic about his personal affairs. He had been working for five years, and I still cant find any information about him, just how obscure is he? There were only strange ounts and article photos that looked like belong to foreigners. Even that was mostly about stage costumes. It was not a reference to his everyday clothes. Eventually, I changed the search word. [Search > Male idols clothes] In the era of hundreds and thousands of idols, a huge amount of data was poured out. I stood in front of the mirror wearing something roughly simr to the one in the closet. Hm Its an unrealistically handsome face Even if others want to fix it like this, its going to be hard, but its not worth it. Its a face that you have seen a lot nowadays, but hes still too handsome. A handsome man with long horizontal, thick, neat eyebrows that made him look mentally strong. For a face to have that kind of impression Even though he was mentally weak, too weak. I would see that face a lot in the future, but I wasnt used to seeing it head-on, I ended up unable to open my eyes right away. But I have to get used to it. Its my face now. Finally, with firm determination, I looked up. But it was also embarrassing. How can you not seed as a celebrity when youre so handsome? At first nce, I felt stupid looking at myself in the mirror and sweating. Since I started browsing, I thought it would be good to know some rough information about Cheon Yise. I put some clothes together in my head, changed the search word, and pressed the search button. [Search > Cheon Yise] [Idol Star] Group: Climax (main dancer) Agency: W Entertainment ] Other than that There were only a few magazines and showcase photos that seemed to have been released by a third-rate entertainment media with viruses. Even when I went into the analysis results showing the amount of real-time buzz, I couldnt find anyone mentioning it. How many people here are middle or high school students? [Real-time search results ] [Anonymous: Do you know the cut fromst years fan signing event?] [Anonymous: If they win the lottery, its 100% confirmed. Last time, 200 people were picked and only 80 people came] Fan signing event Cut? I dont know what this means. But it was understandable that in a lottery event where 200 persons were selected, only 80 people applied. In short, Cheon Yise was a failed idol among failed idols that could not be saved even with capital wealth. This guy If he didnt seed as an idol, wouldnt it be better to use him as a supporting role in a movie? I searched more about Climax with a soulless tsk. The dance group Climax, where Cheon Yise debuted five years ago at the age of 19, was a group run by an old friend of the chairman of the Cheonsu group. [Center of the debut single: Cheon Yise] [ Center of second digital single: Cheon Yise] [Center of the third digital single: Cheon Yise] [Center of the first full album: Cheon Yise] [Center of the fourth digital single: Cheon Yise] I dont know how important the center position is because I dont know about idols well. In addition, videos, pictorials, and press releases were all stered around Cheon Yise. I could see at once why Climax was a mess without having to search it a few more times. Isnt this a group made toplete Cheon Yise, by Cheon Yise, for Cheon Yise? Even if it was apany operated with the wealth of the Cheonsu group, they went too far. Does it make sense to make a group for the sake of supporting the Chairmans son? Even an outsider could expect that favoring one person in public would not help the teams activities. Nevertheless, it must have been purely due to the wealth of the Cheonsu group that they had not disbanded yet. Ironically. Hmm what should I do about this? I called the System after some consideration. System,e on out. System. [Im listening. Go ahead!] Wang-! Posil wagged his tail excitedly upon being called. Are you lonely I asked calmly. Cheon Yises wish wasnt always to be sessful as an idol, right? Then, the status window vibrated and shook without any text. Posil suddenly turned around in a very anxious manner. What? Whats wrong? [Having a moment of adjustment. Hold on a minute, please.] I felt an unknown ominous feeling and recoiled away from the status window. My tearful attempt was unfortunately wasted as the status window crept along with me. What do you mean, adjustment? I folded my arms and red at the status window with a suspicious look. [Adjustmentpleted. Now ying ] What? The surrounding area was colored ck and white just like when the tip video was purchased, and a faint BGM came out from somewhere. Whats with this atmosphere? Creating a sad atmosphere on purpose, a strange piano sound rang in my ears. At the same time, a boy surrounded by friends appeared in front of me. Yise, buy me tteokkochi. He must be in the first grade of elementary school, a small boy who was just over one meter tall. It was Cheon Yises childhood. I want to eat hot bar. Children who seemed to be the same age were talking to Cheon Yise one by one about what they wanted to eat. Little Cheon Yise shook his head with a troubled look. I, I have to go to the Academy today! Im running out o-of time! When Cheon Yise, who stammered timidly, finally refused, the tallest of his friendsughed and answered. If you dont have time, you can just pay us and go. Not a single one of those sordid-looking guys next to him helped. Right, you said you have a lot of money at home, cant you buy food for your friends? Those brazen attitudes made it clear that this had happened more than once. I clicked my tongue and suppressed myself from hitting them, even though I couldnt reach them anyway. Hitting a child isnt very adult-like. Y-you cant! I have to go to the Academy now, Im leaving! Cheon Yise tried to escape from the crowd. Uuu, kids in the yellow frame blocked the small-sized Cheon Yise. But I ha-have to go. It was a human barricade made of low-grade elementary school students who were about the same height. However, young Cheon Yise had no power to shake them off and get out. It was only after the attendant discovered Cheon Yise that the children booed and dispersed one by one. Young Master, are you okay? Young Cheon Yise bit his lips and began to shed tears filled with sorrow. Just like in thest video, Posil was guarding a corner without me knowing. Kkiing, I cried as if to console young Cheon Yise, but it didnt seem to be conveyed. They keep ignoring me because I, I am small and not good at anything. The attendant stroked Cheon Yises head in the back seat and whispered with relief. Well, theyre bad friends. Why dont you make your own talent so that your friends cant ignore you? It would be a good idea to copy the person Young Master think is cool. He probably wouldnt even remember what he said. That seemed to be heart-touching advice for Cheon Yise. From that day on, Cheon Yise began to diligently copy the dances of dance singers on TV. The little boy, who wasnt even 10 years old yet and dancing to a music video on a monitor in a brilliant room, made me feel weird. You worked hard even at such a young age.. What was I doing when I was ten? When I was in my prime of elementary school age, I lived in an old house with bathrooms attached outside. It was a time when there were no entertainments, let aloneputer games ced in front of the local stationery stone. You have to go out to the downtown arcade. Our neighborhood didnt even have an arcade because it was a ce where people who ran away because they couldnt pay their debts every night lived. Although my mother died, my fathers business went well so the family situation improved. At that time, my fathers remarriage caused trouble with the family, so I could not expect support from them. Then I dropped out of high school and started working as a kitchen assistant As a result, I went straight down that road and seeded, so I thought it was a new beginning in my life. However, since I died like this, the new beginning ended with bloodless persecution. Anyway, Ill put off my sad childhood. What does it have to do with him being so absorbed in dancing Soon after, I saw Cheon Yise as a middle school student who didnt seem to have a brain to study, even though he was applying all his might at home. I thought he was going to sleep out of exhaustion from the private tutoring that ended after 1 a.m. While both parents were sleeping, he secretly yed a dance video alone in the room and copied it. Then, there was a scene where he was caught and quarreled with his father, and his head was almost shaved. You like it that much? While I was watching carelessly, time flew by and I could see Cheon Yise as a high school student. That school must be a good ce. The school uniform of a private high school, which once was boasted on the news as a school where only rich elites could enter, stood out. Cheon Yise was performing rough choreography at an audition hall. At the time, what his parents wanted was for him to study hard. Soon after, Chairman Cheons personal entourage came and took him out of the practice room of a certain agency. How can you get into apany thats rolling under him! Then why dont you let me debut? Why are you interrupting me when I went in on my own? Did Chairman Cheon think it was better for his son to work under the Cheonsu group rather than under someone else? Since then, he finally got his parents consent and joined the debut team. But Cheon Yises struggles didnt stop there. The trainees tantly ostracized Cheon Yise who was suddenly plugged into the team. At other times, it seemed that Cheon Yise, who begged his mom to do this and that for him, also have pride. Instead of reaching his parents, he was seen gritting his teeth and swallowing the resentment alone. I thought he was a guy who live with a flower garden inside his head He must have had his own passion and determination. Cheon Yise also practiced by reducing the amount of time he sleep. It was very touching to see him concentrating day by day until he reached the level where he could teach other trainees. However, like other idol trainees, the trainees who became attached in the midst of the bullying left thepany over time. Their positions were reced by a new debut team member. And soon, the face of Cheon Yise, who epted the disastrous result of his debut, appeared. A new hell was unfolding, which began right after the debut. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Cheon Yise was passionate about dancing more than anyone else. However, when the dream copsed, he wasnt strong enough to endure. If this was a movie, it would have been a very determined plot device to make the audience cry. Tsk No matter how many pairs of training sneakers you change in a month, you still end up running with blood and blisters on your feet. There were inevitable things in the world. The direction of the effort was wrong, so it was only natural that the results werent good. Due to poor performance, there was soon discord within the group. Cheon Yise, who had difficulties in interpersonal rtionships since childhood, had gradually changed with the members. Everyones like that I dont think you were bad The agency continued to pay attention to the Cheonsu group and tried to raise Cheon Yise. Even if Cheon Yise did nothing wrong, the membersints went to Cheon Yise. As the ruined albums piled up, the members fatigue increased, some of them even gave up and left. Then, Cheon Yise also became more sensitive. Its run by my familys money! He campaigned on every little thing, being condescending with his familys money. The remaining members openly treated Cheon Yise as a cash cow. I felt sorry for Cheon Yise, who wasnt cking off in practicing and was working harder than anyone else in the midst of this. It was because I knew clearly the oue of that effort. Soon, the disastrous results of the album, in which Cheon Yise also participated in the choreography, followed. I saw Cheon Yise burst into tears that had been suppressed. Wh-why cant I do it?! He couldnt do it no matter how hard he tried. The more he tried, the more money spent on idols, and the more he got ridiculed. Since he was more sincere about idols than anyone else, there was no worse result for Cheon Yise. [The Idol that Cheon Yise had been dreaming of. Are you going to turn away from it?] Is this some kind of anti-smoking public service advertisement? I frowned as I looked at the embossed white writing clearly floating above the ck background. Even Posil at the bottom of the status window looked up at me with sparkling eyes. All right, all right! As soon as I screamed at the status window, the surroundings were colored again and I returned to reality. There was still no such thing as a hot passion to devote myself to the idol industry in favor of Cheon Yises will. In any case, this was the only way I could get back at my family who was biting my legacy like a hyena. He was handsome, so it was faster to seed as an idol than trying to find another route. Sigh Ive only known a few girl groups for my entire life. What should I do now? [Why dont you think of it as a tribute to Cheon Yise who helped Lim Hyunsung get a chance for revenge?] This dog! It was an idea that I could only think of when I really seeded in revenge. Can Ican I do well? Although the fields were different, I was more confident than anyone else in terms of effort and strategy. Building apany worth hundreds of billions won was not done by luck alone. It should be fine. Just like how Ive done so far. Suddenly, the TV screen lit up with a chirp and a cheerful beep. Wang-! Posil barked silently at me as if asking to look over there. At 9 a.m. today, there is a funeral of Lim Hyunsung, CEO of Joyoung Food. A procession of condolences by mourners tomemorate the deceaseds repose continues into the night. I know Im dead. I narrowed my eyes, there was a reason why I got shown this again. Lim Sunghwan, the father of CEO Lim Hyunsung, bes a permanent resident and keeps the mortuary, and all the family members are present. Soon after, the scene of my stepmother sobbing as if she was about to faint was reflected on the screen. Next to her was my younger brother, and a murderer, who helped his stepmother and shed tears together. How dare those trash As I gritted my teeth, the status window popped up like a warning. [use 2: During the quest, you are not allowed to intervene in the case involving Lim Hyunsung.] I know, who doesnt know? The intention to provoke me is clear. As you say, theres nothing I can do now. Following the will of the deceased, who worked hard to provide child welfare and free school meals during his lifetime, the Joyoung Childrens Foundation announced that the mother, Heo Jinhwa, has decided to continue. I knew for sure why that woman was after the Foundation. Do you still have money to support other peoples kids? Then why cant you help your family for once? So I bit the bait and dragged it on. The building where the foundation center was located was a 10-story building that was built almost 20 years ago. At first, it was just a building built in the right ce. However, as three subway stations were built nearby, the price skyrocketed. The fact that the foundation center was in a position with good ess meant that it was also a good ce for the underprivileged to visit. I have no intention of selling it. Dont call me. I had always refused to sell it even though I had received several inquiries. If that woman remodeled the building, it was obvious that she would immediately relocate the building and sell it. If only the suicide note that I had written before was released I could prevent my entire fortune from falling to those garbages. As I clenched my fist, the status window popped out with a warning sound. [use 2: During the quest, you are not allowed to intervene in the case involving Lim Hyunsung.] I know! Damn it, I just have to seed as an idol! It was a verbal assurance. Now it had to be put into practice. Because of my personality, I couldnt allow myself to gloss over it. [Its a relief that youre motivated. Do you want to proceed with the second quest of Tutorial 1 right away?] [Yes/No] It wasnt a remedy. I pressed the [Yes] button. Posil acted cute while rubbing his body on the floor as if he was trying tofort me, but it didnt have much effect. Of course Well Its still cute, though. Youre just Are you a decoration? Do you have any other functions? I thought it would be better to check once a chance came up. [Before the second event, the system will be expanded] Whats Exp? Waiting for more details, I stiffened and looked down at the status window. [During the quest, you can collect that will help you in various situations] [Exp is automatically acquired when you interact with the person in question under more than certain conditions. You can use each of the targets special skills by paying points.] Oh thats good to hear. Do I have to use points to buy buff? This gave me a bit of a headache. Anyway, its good to have a lot of leeways. [The points gained while conducting the quest as Cheon Yise can be used for various other contents.] I couldnt believe there were more elements that use points other than this. It was not for no reason that I was given a generous amount of points. Is Experience something I have to build up from now on? Then, as if it had been waiting, the status window popped up a list of names [Exp in possession (9)] >Cheon Youngtae >Ahn Junghee >Cheon Jisoo >Cheon Ohsoo >Lee Jihyun >Oh Yejun >Son Sungwon >Ryu Kyunghwa >Na Sunwoo From what I could tell, Chen Ohsoo was my family, and Lee Jihyun was my manager. The four below him were likely the remaining Climax members. [For basic activities, weve registered the minimum starting Exp in advance!] I feel so grateful I want to cry. I checked each persons specialties one by one. In the end, in order to use Exp, points were required up to 10pts and 30pts at most. Yes, I am thankful, but Dont you think it uses too many points and there are too few chances to get them? [After finishing Tutorial 1, 100pt will be given to celebrate.] I thought you were going to give it to me right away. How long until Tutorial 1 ispleted? [2nd Event > The clear rewards for Tutorial 1 will be unlocked if you proceed to meet the members face-to-face] Facing the members Then the guys I would meet now: >Oh Yejun >Son Sungwon >Ryu Kyunghwa >Na Sunwoo Its going to be the four of them, of course. Okay, lets go. I changed into a less conspicuous outfit. Im not used to this overly handsome face Even the clothes looked awkward and my face burned. Thanks to the apartment located in the middle of the street, I was able to catch a taxi easily. Please go to this address. After confirming that the driver was entering the address in the navigation, I sat down properly on the passenger seat. Come to think of it, the manager told me to make time with the members Even if the time didnt match, I nned to look around the dorm to check. I opened the messenger after staring at the notification icon for a long time. Whoa Why are kids so talkative these days? So many messages were piled up while they didnt see each other. There was no end to various group chat rooms and conversation messages even if they were scrolled down. Among them, I looked for the one that looked like the members group chat room and checked. [YJ] Hyung didnt read it today? 8:12 a.m [One] You used to check it out, but whats going on these days? 8:14 a.m [Kyunghwa] Yise, pick up the phone if you see this. 8:19 a.m [Kyunghwa] Yejun and I have a radio show today, so well be back in the evening. 8:36 a.m There were so many umted messages that it was impossible to read them all. Still, looking at the recent ones, they seemed to be worrying about Cheon Yises health in their own way. Even though hes a cash cow. Does it mean they have their ownradeship? Then a new message notification popped up. [YJ] Huh? 9:15 a.m [YJ] Number 1 gone? Did Yise-hyung read the message? 9:15 a.m While I was scrolling all the way up, I was suddenly moved down by a new message. I need to reply quickly.. I was not used to the keyboard, so I kept making typos. [Me] For making you worried, I srry, 9:16 a.m I was in a hurry to make an excuse, but I had a bigger ident. [Me] Im; sorry 9:16 a.m Me] S;rry; 9:16 a.m [Me] No, Im sorry;;; 9:17 a.m [YJ] All right. Calm down. 9:18 a.m [YJ] Apologizing doesnt suit you, but it looks like spam because of the typo. 9:18 a.m This keyboard! Seriously! Ill set a date and practice or something. By the way, I wasnt typing fast on the phone, but because I wasnt used to the keyboard, I ended up sweating hard. [Kyunghwa] As I said before, Yejun and I are out because of the schedule right now. 9:18 a.m [Kyunghwa] About our future activities 9:19 a.m [Kyunghwa] I think we need to talk about it clearly. 9:19a.m [Kyunghwa] Can you wait until we go back to the dorm? 9:19 a.m Whoa, what kind of fingers are able to type this fast? I replied by clicking on the dreamy screen, sticking my tongue out at the speed of the kids typing these days. [Me] All right. 9:21 a.m [Me] See youter. 9:22 a.m [YJ] Did you hurt your finger while we didnt see each other; 9:22 a.m [Kyunghwa] Okay, see youter. 9:22 a.m Why is everyone replying so fast! I clenched my teeth as I erased and rewrote the typo dozens of times over and over again. It was only when it was barely recognizable that I could press the send button. [Me] h,just in the morning 9:24 a.m Fortunately Looking at the response to the message, it seemed the members didnt know about the suicide. I guessed the manager didnt say anything. If Ryu Kyunghwa and Oh Yejun are not at the dorm because of their schedules Does that mean Son Sungwon and Na Sunwoo are at the dorm? First, I called the status window once again to check the profiles of those two. Next to it, Posil was sticking out his fluffy chest proudly as if asking me to call him anytime. When I saw Cheon Yises life earlier, I should have matched the face and the name. There was some regret left, but it was toote. I read their profile with a little tension. Chapter 8 Chapter 8 [Name: Son Seongwon 22 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Stable vocal correction effect at the level of the music source when singing] The points used 30pt Oh I guess hes the best singer. There were clearly more points needed to use special skills than others. I wanted to hear how great his vocal was. Next is Na Sunwoo. [Name: Na Sunwoo 21 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Zero calories taken during a meal after activation] The points used 10pt Its the most intuitive specialty Ive ever seen. Are you the type that doesnt gain weight? I am reflexively envious of a guy I havent even met. In the meantime, the area where the dorm was located was getting closer. I nced at the navigation and looked out the window. Were here, sir. The taxi stopped right in front of the building that appeared to be the dorm. Money Lets use this first. The wallet from a luxury brand, which was taken out of the coat hanging in the closet, was filled with cards, bills, and checks. I should call the credit cardpanyter to check the limit, but its not urgent right now. I held out a card that looked like the newest out of them. Fortunately, the payment proceeded without any problems. After paying for it, I was about to get off, but the taxi driver returned the card and asked me. Wow, youre the most handsome young customer Ive ever had. Are you an aspiring celebrity or something? The taxi driver, who made eye contact, was amazed at Chen Yises, no, my face. Of course, I wasnt that ugly originally, but Its the first time in my over forty years of experience that a person I met for the first time said I am handsome. Oh, its simr, but Thank you. The problem is, instead of an aspiring celebrity, I am a singer who debuted 5 years ago. I was told I was handsome, so I didnt know whether to like it or feel sad. Shame is burning on my back. I carefully received my card back and looked up at the building. You said theyre using the 3rd floor as the dorm. Looking at the number of square meters per floor, it was a size that did not seem insufficient for four boys to live. Lets go up now. I had been busy replying to the chat and checking the specialties in the taxi. After getting off like this, there was something on my mind. Even if I confess with my mouth that Im not the Cheon Yise that they know, everyone will think I am crazy. Still, I was worried that I might hear a lot of strange things. How many points do I have left As soon as I thought about it, the store window for purchasing tips came forward. Posil, who was now used to it, barked at me. Wang-! [Cheon Yise (Lim Hyunsung) 24 years old] [Current points: 30 points] [>Rey service 30 points per episode] [>Listening service 15 points per episode] [>Case Intervention Service 100 points per episode] Even if Iplete the tutorial, I only get 100. The reward system has a lot of issues. [Even if youin, you wont get a point discount for each service] Dont read my mind. I chose the Listening service, swallowing meaninglessints. [Tip Shop > Select Listening service] [Do you want to purchase the Listening service?] [Yes/No] Yes. [Voice starts ying] Without fail, the surrounding area was dyed gray and the time stopped. Yise hyung is at the center anyway, right? Thats funny. I dont even need to ask. Seongwon, dont say that. Dont you know that its all thanks to Yise that weve been able to promote for years? Whats the point anyway, it sucks. Im sick and tired of it. Even if we make aeback, its a showcase full of reporters. Su, Seongwon Dont say that Are you still scared of me? How do you go up on stage if youre so scared? Stop fighting, you bullies! Hey, Yejun. Do you think youre not a bully? Arent you just as much as an asshole to Hyung? I Im going home now Sob, I dont want to fight anymore Hah Sunwoo, please dont cry, do you want to eat chicken? Yejun, please order chicken on the phone. Whos going to pay for the chicken? That Of course Yise. Whenever Seongwon spoke, Posil growled in dissatisfaction. Hah My eyes darkened because I didnt want to hear it anymore. Oh Yejun always screams and curses, Son Seongwonins whenever he opens his mouth, Ryu Kyunghwa knows that Cheon Yise is a pushover. Na Sunwoo seems to be crying every now and then and whining that he wanted to go home. No, arent these kids trash? No, arent they utter garbage? Isnt this all rubbish? Of course, the biggest trash was Cheon Yise who tried to do whatever he wanted with parental authority on his back. Its not that the remaining members didnt escape, but theres a reason why they couldnt. Because theyre not perfect enough to go out and be sessful. Its bleak. A brief thought shed through my mind. [Listening service Year 24, January 13th ends] On the bright side, I could clearly see what was the problem. And why he gave up all hope and chose tomit suicide. On year 24, January 13th It wasnt that long ago. It was hard to promote, and he got hurt when the members squeaked like this, enough to make him lose his mind. I went up to the 3rd floor, looking around as soon as the world returned to normal again. The password is Earlier, the manager He sent this. When I opened the cover of an unfamiliar lock and pressed the four-digit number, the lock turned and the door opened. The people here right now are Son Seongwon and Na Sunwoo. When I carefully opened the door and went inside, someone was sitting on arge sofa in the living room. Rustle, rustle, munch Are you eating something? I strode into the living room to see who was sitting on the sofa. Huh? No matter how much you look at it, hes a man with a body shape that doesnt look like an idol. The man was surprised to see me and dropped the bag of snacks he was holding. Cough, Yi, Yise hyung! You, you, youre here!? Shaking voice and big eyes, though buried in fat. I asked, frowning in wonder. No way, Na Sunwoo? Uh, huh? Did you eat all of this by yourself? I was astonished to see the mess of chicken boxes, pizza boxes, and countless bags of snacks around the sofa. Oh, this I ordered this for one person, so I didnt eat that much! What do you mean not that much? Oil on your lips and boxes piling up on the floor. Anyone could tell that he ate more than five servings alone in his seat. How much do you weigh now? Although I dont know much about idol groups. I can clearly predict what kind of ridicule I would get if I go on stage in this state. Im surprised Ive only seen this guy before hes like this. How astonished the few fans must be. Uh Eighty Six Since he is somewhat tall, his weight is not serious enough if he has muscles. The problem is, this guy only has fat and no muscle at all. Besides, no matter how you look at it, he looks much heavier than 86kg. When was thest time you take a measure? Then Na Sunwoo answered, hisrge body trembling. Two weeks, ago Then hell have three digits soon. Feeling my head throbbing, I muttered. The lunch I dont want to starve! Ill start working out today! At this rate, exercise alone isnt enough. I strode into the kitchen and answered, staring at the refrigerator. Who told you to starve? Wait. Ill make it for you. I opened the refrigerator first. The living room was not clean enough, so I was prepared Ugh- As soon as the door was opened, a disgusting smell from food that had been stored incorrectly for a long time spread out. Shaking my face at the earthenware, I asked. How long has it been since you cleaned the fridge? Sunwoo, who was standing next to me, replied in hesitation. I dont know Ive never cleaned it before Then, in the worst-case scenario, there is a possibility that the refrigerator has never been cleaned since the first time it was brought in. Did he throw away the leftovers? With the guys? Hah I pointed my eyebrows at the worst refrigerator Ive ever seen in my life, the mystery of new life and creation. Its not enough to just wipe it with water and a dishcloth Except for the drawer below where the packed sd was stored, the rest was like a cold food waste bin. From a side dish container that you cant tell when it was made to a dried sd and expired retorts. A new life was being born inside the unopened milk kit. You need to clean up your mess! I was determined to y the role of Cheon Yise. The moment I saw the dirty and disgusting refrigerator, all my resolutions were blown away. If my franchisee manages the refrigerator at this level? Its a heinous refrigerator that would have beaten the proof of contract termination immediately after self-investigation. N-no I dont know how to clean up Sob, I, Im sorry. Ill clean it up from now on In the future, I have to throw out everything in here right away. Before I knew it, I could smell a good scent along with the scent of greasy snacksing from Na Sunwoos body. Now I am really getting mad. Do you want to wash your body clean and then live with your refrigerator like this? The first mission for a restaurant owner. Hygiene. Living with those two sentences as the number one priority in my head all my life, I dont want to stay here for another half an hour. Ill clean this up for now. You go clean up the living room first. If theres a vacuum cleaner, use it, and if theres a steam cleaner, use that too! Uh, okay! First, I threw the food that Na Sunwoo was eating on the sofa into the sink. I cant wait to throw more food. Everything here had to be thrown out except for a few packs of sd. First of all Ill have to order something new to fill it up. From sd ingredients to basic seasoning and condiments. I ordered basic food materials needed for home cooking through a site I often used when I was Lim Hyunsung. An error message appeared several times because I was not familiar with the cell phone. I thought my stomach was going to explode, but I finally solved it on my own. I wasnt familiar with the payment method either, so I was at loss for a while, but thankfully. [ The payment password for Cheon Yise is cys0212.] The system popped up first and informed me. [The Human Happiness Praying System is willing to provide the minimum information for the quest in advance at any time] As if asking me to thank him, Posil barked wang! and twirled around in ce. Its long, fluffy tail fluttered and glistened, but that wasnt the point now. Huft Ill clean it up before my schedule turns up. I found pink rubber gloves tucked in the corner of the drawer and fastened them tightly to my hands. Then I started filling up the garbage bags one by one. In the living room, Na Sunwoo was busy cleaning the living room steadily just as I ordered. Those body fat is really What should I do? Being an idol in that state is too much. Looking at Na Sunwoo, who had a good sense of dieting, but gained extraordinary weight I felt a little tired. Its not something I can just take care of on my own. As I cleaned up the refrigerator, wiped the inside, and then went to the bathroom looking for a sanitizer to use. Click-. Someone opened the locked door and walked out into the living room. Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Whoa, when did you get here? Its really worth seeing Hyung. I crouched in the corner of the bathroom, rummaging for cleaners, and looked up. This young man is so rude. Fortunately, I could recognize who it was at a nce. Its obviously Son Seongwon. [Name: Son Seongwon 22 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Stable vocal correction effect at the level of the music source when singing] The points used 30pt Son Seongwon, the main vocalist of the boyband Climax. Notorious for his uncontroble horror. The others arent easy either, but this is the garbage that worried me the most. If you have time to pick a fight, help Sunwoo clean up. I dont have the energy to deal with this guy right now. Instead of making a big fuss, he turned his eyes to find cleaners again. Why? Im not here to clean up, am I? Sunwoo is a nobleman who obediently said Yes! when asked to do so. This guy is a tough one to talk to. The dorm is so dirty. Its a space we live together, so we have to clean it up together. Then Seongwon smiled with a disgusting face. The corner of his eyes lifted up simr to a cat. Its obviously a smiling face, but maybe because of the bleached hair, the impression he gives is too shabby. With a face that didnt look likeughing at all, Seongwon confidently pointed to the bed in his room. I dont use the living room. My beds clean on its own, so its okay, right? When I looked up following the stretched finger, only the spot to lie down was clean. Cant you just help Sunwoo clean it up? Why me? If I said more, it was obvious that time would be wasted with repeated words. Ill work harder. Dont fight Sunwoo, who came to our side all of a sudden, panicked, not knowing what to do. Its okay. Sunwoo, were not fighting, so go and finish what youve been doing. Ill make you lunch when I get the groceries Ive ordered. I headed to the kitchen, letting Seongwons aggro flow as it was. Everything inside was thrown away at once Even the sealed containers smelled so bad they couldnt be used, so I thought it would be better to throw them all away. Lets clean up here first. Soullessly, I wiped the refrigerator thoroughly with a dishcloth soaked in water and diluted with wax. Suddenly, Seongwon approached and looked down at me. Why? It was still a time of exploration, so I asked as carefully as possible. Can I be honest? What the hell are you going to say As this guy opened his mouth, I thought there would be no particr good wordsing out. No. If you say no, I really wont say it. I turned my head slightly. Thats funny. Did you take the wrong medicine? Why are you being so different? You werent normally that kind of character. You already said no, why do you still ask. I answered, continuing to wipe using the towel without much response. If you dont want to help, go to your room. Seongwon raised the corners of his pretty face as if he had caught some good case. Its weird. What kind of wind blows that Hyung is now cleaning up? I have nothing to say. But calling a professional cleaner to an idols dormitory. You shouldnt call out people as you likeyou know? Well, if I was Cheon Yise, I wouldnt have thought of cleaning. It would have been nice if he hadnt sat still and ordered this and that. Its just, we are going to discuss what to do next today. I just thought it would be nice to start anew with a fresher heart. Its just random sophistry. Of course, theres no way this picky bastard would just take it like that. You, Hyung? Were you that kind of character? He kept calling me Hyung and using honorifics, but it was a clear mocking tone. Saying more would be useless.I made up the words that Cheon Yise would have said. If you dont want to help, go away. Son Seongwon flinched. It was a little surprising. You sound like the usual Yise hyung now. I thought you had lost your mind. He licked his lips for a while and then went back to his room. Whats with that brat and hisck of manners? The other two guys said that they have work schedules, so on the surface, it seems going to be fine. Ive only met two people and Im already tired. I am a little worried about how much more hectic it will be if all five of us gathered. What should I do from now on? If its an individual y, I am confident that I can do it more perfectly than anyone else. However, group activities are essentially teamwork. I have to go with them unless Ie out solo. Just as I was about to clean out the refrigerator, Sunwoo timidly approached me. Hyung, Ive cleaned up the living room and everything Maybe I should thank this guy for being cooperative. I heaved up my back and sighed inwardly. Then the doorbell rang to announce the delivery. Lets take out all the trash here first. Yes! It seemed difficult to expect cooperation from Seongwon. I went up and down the stairs five times each with Sunwoo to clean up the garbage. Whoa, now its like a house where people live. When I filled the empty refrigerator with newly bought ingredients, I felt full satisfaction. Its so clean! Next to me, Sunwoo smiled brightly and looked proud of himself. This guy Hes pretty when he smiles even though hes fat. I looked through the fat all over Sunwoos body with disapproving eyes and said. Ill make you lunch. Do some home training and sweat your body. Yes! Sunwoos eyes twinkled at the word lunch. How did this guy who likes to eat be an idol I sympathized with Sunwoo inwardly, but I barely remembered what this guy looked like when he lost weight. I shook my head. With that face, you have to be a celebrity. Fans who liked his face would have been happier if Sunwoo was a little skinnier. What, you make your own lunch? Seongwon, who popped out, asked with his elbow on the kitchen doorstep. I immediately replied bluntly. Yeah. To not gain weight. Then do mine, too. I decided that it would be safe to return back what this guy said as much as possible. Why should I? Then a fair answer came back from him. Then howe you make one for him? Hes in a situation where he needs to lose weight quickly. I dont have to control my diet? Youre not in a serious condition right now. Why are you discriminating against the members? In an instant, I can lose control of my body. This kid is such a spoiled brat. The fact that Cheon Yise is young and strong and has no underlying diseases made me feel truly fortunate. Ill do yours too, so please shut up. Seongwon, who had achieved what he wanted, smirked and walked back to his room. Seongwon hyung is always like that, so dont worry too much, Hyung On the other hand, this kid is so gentle and kind I looked back at Sunwoo and felt grateful. But the impression didntst long. The moment I saw his triple-folded chin, my expression turned pale. You should lose weight. Yes Lets settle this first. I started making chicken breast sd step by step. I purposely bought vegetables in each bundle instead of mixing them up. Buying mixed vegetables is convenient. However, they contain all sorts of snobby and tasteless things to reduce the cost. In a word, it means that the taste is bad. I dont like sd Its probably because hed only been eating diet sds instead of delicious sds. Wait a minute. Ill make it delicious. Its time to show the recipe I was so proud of that I thought I would use to create a diet food brand someday. The dressing was prepared in advance with yuzu soy sauce, which has low calories and a refreshing taste. Okay, the sauce is well bnced between sweet and salty. Its a sauce that harmonized the unique sweet and sour taste of yuzu sauce with the salty taste of basic soy sauce. Even if you dont like sd very much, you can enjoy the sweet and salty taste. I added a little bit of water to remove the viscosity and sprinkled it with pepper so that I could eat it evenly with little dressing. It was seasoned a little salty on purpose, and the taste melted in my mouth when I adjusted the concentration with water. If I had time, I could make my own dressing, but The fat guy sat quietly at the table and stared at the counter. Before I knew it, he crawled out of the room again and looked at his cell phone with a sour look on his face as if he were protesting. It seemed I had to make something and put it in his mouth as quickly as possible. Now, lets prepare chicken breast. Chicken breast is naturally refrigerated when considering the taste, but the core of the diet is persistence. It means that the purpose of today is not just to finish eating healthy and happy. I ripped open the frozen chicken breast pack and put it into the pressure cooker. Then, I filled it with water until the meat was soaked just right Various spices, garlic, green onions, and bay leaves were added and the lid was closed. It smells good already. Even if you use the same chicken breast, the taste is different depending on whether the ingredients are seasoned or not when its boiled. If you have to eat it anyway, the delicious side, of course, will inevitably lead to higher satisfaction. I snorted lightly, set the timer, and put the pot on low heat. Do you have to go that far? Sunwoo, who hade down from the chair before I knew it, asked as he looked over my shoulder into the induction stove. It will taste better when cooked rather than eaten dry like cat food, right? Ive never met a person who seeded in dietingpared to someone who had lost weight and simmered chicken breast for the first time in his life. What a great influence a delicious meal has on human happiness! How long will it take? When the smell of chicken broth leaked out through the steam hole, Sunwoo became restless, smacking his lips. Itll be out in ten minutes, so you go back to the table. I waved Sunwoo out and started trimming the vegetables. The stem of leaf vegetables is highly nutritious and has a crispy texture. However, its also the biggest reason why young boys refuse to eat sd. Lets trim everything in advance. Its a bit of a waste to throw it away. I put it up beforehand and removed all the hard stems. Broli was dipped in baking water to remove impurities and then steamed slightly in the steam cooker. This is because its worthwhile to eat when the nutrients are maximized. The main ingredients are non-bitter-leaf vegetables, broli, and tenderly boiled chicken breast. I feel this every time I see it, but the taste of chicken really helps If you sprinkle some chickpeas and nuts on top of it to enhance the texture, the taste is perfect. I made sure the chicken breast was cooked and quickly nched the short pasta in boiling water. Lastly, the ting Done! Leafy greens and broli were spread underneath, just like in a famous sd shop. The moist chicken breast was sliced diagonally, and then when the short pasta was put in it, a usible visual came out. Lastly, I ground the whole pepper and put it in a small bowl so that we could eat it separately, then it was finished! I handed out a bowl the same size as Sunwoos to Seongwon, who had whats going on written all over his face. Wow, it looks delicious! Its like a sd from the store! Its a recipe that minimizes carbohydrates and allows you to eat plenty of protein and fiber. As soon as Sunwoo put down the bowl, he rushed with a fork first. On the other hand, Seongwon was still ring at the bowl as a suspicious target. Why? The food is definitely There shouldnt be a problem, but why do you keep looking like that? I looked at Seongwon with a disdainful look. As expected, its weird. Why are you picking a fight? I mumbled inner piece, inner piece inside and calmly straightened my back. Chapter 10 Chapter 10 #010. Cheon Yise and Trash (3) What. Seongwon looked at the sd bowl as if thinking about it for a long time before answering. Did you get struck by lightning during the ident? What? It wasnt a thunderbolt, but the contents of his words are still offensive to a person who has changed inside. You suddenly came into the dorm and cleaned the refrigerator. The hyung who made others cook because hes toozy to do it himself suddenly volunteered to cook? I answered,ining to myself what kind of life Id been living up to now. I told you earlier. While resting alone at home, I thought a lot about this and that. I just decided that I shouldnt live like this. So, the rude person who didnt answer my call even when the manager Hyung visited was training to cook. The mistake was made by Cheon Yise, I dont know why that karma keepsing back to me. I firmly bit my teeth, vowing, This guy is like my child, lets not fight with him. Anyway, I came! We talked about it today, so were waiting until the schedule is over. Its a loss on my part if I take this guy seriously. I raised my voice at the thought of going all out and shutting his mouth. If youre not going to eat it, Ill take it away. It can be stored in the refrigerator, so when Kyunghwa or Yejunes, tell them to eat it. When I tried to steal the sd bowl in front of Seongwon, he quickly removed the bowl out of my reach. You cant just give it then take it away. Only then, Seongwons fork dipped into the chicken breast and he took a piece into his mouth. Seongwons eyes, which had been stained with suspicion before putting it in his mouth, turned into a surprise. Why is it delicious? It seems to fit in your mouth just fine. Well, if you have a universal taste, its just natural It was refreshing to see the expression on the mans face, which had been hesitant to eat until a moment ago, softened. Its edible. At the same time, contradictory to his words, he took the amount that seemed difficult to put in one bite on the next fork. De, delicious! I didnt know chicken breasts could be this moist and soft! Dont worry too much about Seongwons words! If you enjoy it, you should know how to say thank you properly. People who are serious about eating also know how to keep basic manners. Sunwoo, who seemed to have already slurped a third of his portion in a hurry, blinked his big eyes. Eat slowly. Thats for lunch. I wont give you anything until dinner. Gasp! Sunwoos round eyes widened in shock. How can those big eyes get bigger? I am a little burdened by the surroundings that suddenly became dazzling after living my whole life looking at in faces. At first nce, Kyunghwa and Yejun also dont seemckingpared to the other members in terms of looks. So really Its not easy to take in these faces, but its great in its own way. I emptied the sd that I had set aside for myself. Whats good for dinner? Simple roasted tomatoes or cabbage? These days, many people eat fried tofu as well. Cabbage will be better if I want to avoid being burdened with calories even if you eat a lot. By the way, that guy What else are youining about? Seongwon still looked at me suspiciously every time he chewed and swallowed a bite. In the meantime, it was ridiculous to empty the sd bowl little by little. You eat well, tsk. It took about 20 minutes to boil chicken breast, nch broli, discard leftover dishes, and serve it in bowls. It felt like something was wrong with cleaning the kitchen. Especially if Cheon Yise was a guy who didnt usually cook and eat with his own hands. Well, whatever. Its hard for a normal person to think that the contents inside have changed. After finishing my meal, I headed to the sink and started cleaning up the remaining ingredients. If the ingredients were prepared this much, even if the monkeys came, there would still be some left to eat. Is, is there anything I can do to help? Before I knew it, the two people had emptied their sd bowls. The jerk went into his room, leaving his dishes intact. Sunwoo still seemed to have a conscience. After all of this is sorted out, will Kyunghwa and Yejune in soon? I nced down at the message Im leaving now that was uploaded to the group chat. Yeah, its just the right time! Then Ill have to make this guy work out after I meet the other two first. I made a simple n in my mind. *** Pipipipi- Huwa~. Im home~. After waiting for a while, I heard the door lock open. Soon after, the owner of the enormous voice pushed the door as if he was about to break it and entered. This guy must be Oh Yejun. I could tell without checking his face. Be quiet. I can hear your voice from the first floor. On the other hand, a voice calm enough to contrast with Yejun, but also sounded slightly older. This friend is definitely Ryu Kyunghwa. Youre here? How was your day? Sunwoo went out to the front door dragging his big body and greeted the two. Yeah~ That happened. He responded about DJs and song covers that he wants me to sing. Yejun is such a talented rapper that with a little search anyone could tell that its a waste for him to be in this group. In addition, hes also the guy with the highest probability of leaving the team. Recently, many hip-hopbels had been trying to get him on the line. It had to be stopped. I heard that two guys who initially joined as a 7-member group went out and reduced the number to five. We couldnt afford to lose more people here. Oh, Yise hyung is here? When I got out of the kitchen and headed to the front door, Yejun took off his shoes and went inside. Then he recognized me and winked. Havent you gotten a lot better? You ignored my phone calls and text messages for a while. I humbly endured the karma that Cheon Yise had built up and answered. Ive been feeling a little bad. Im sorry I couldnt contact you. Then Yejun looked disgusted and surprised. What? Did I hear it right? Why are you making a fuss again? If youve taken off your shoes, go inside. Yejun pointed at me with his round eyes, tapping Kyunghwas arm. Did you just hear that? Yise hyung said sorry to me, I didnt hear it wrong, right? Maybe because I had already experienced other members reactions. It was a predictable response. I answered without blinking. You heard it right. In the meantime, I I think I lived selfishly, thinking only of myself. I thought a lot about it during my disappearance. Argh, I got goosebumps! Kyunghwa hyung, hurry up and touch my forearm. I got goosebumps! It was a brief moment that we met face-to-face, but it was enough to understand what kind of personality Yejun and Kyunghwha had, respectively. [Name: Oh Yejun 22 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Confidence and efficiency in ad-libs and cheering on the stage] The points used 10pt Oh Yejun seems yful and too energetic. He seems to be the type of person who has to release his energy by shouting loudly while running on the stage. On the other hand, Ryu Kyunghwa is a typical model student, calm and quiet. [Name: Ryu Kyunghwa 24 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Reduces fear and nervousness in unexpected situations] The points used 15pt No wonder, even though Seongwon and Sunwoo were in a mess, they were told to calm down and order chicken first. This fellow is not an ordinary guy in this failed idol group either. Stop talking nonsense, and Seongwon, you too,e out and sit in the living room. We have to make sure of what were going to do in the future. Son Seongwon, who listened to Ryu Kyunghwa, came out of the room. Finally, all the members gathered. Although the nominal leader is Cheon Yise. Looking at it roughly, this guy seems to be taking on the real leadership role. Really Do you know how surprised I was when you texted me? All of a sudden, you said youd quit, you said you were sorry And then turned off the phone. After you finally turned it on, you didnt read it all. Words in the subject of discussion, in fact, were like a judge who had to write me and read Cheon Yise. Wow, did Yise hyung send such a message? Only to Kyunghwa hyung? As if in shock, Yejun screamed and made amotion. Cheon Yise, that guy. How far have you been in trouble? It seems that sooner orter, I have to check my cell phone records in detail. Oh I was out of my mind at the time Since I couldnt tell the truth, I avoided eye contact and blurted my words moderately. Still, everyone else is worried, there are some things that can be said. Do you know how worried everyone was because you suddenly lost contact? I answered calmly. Im reflecting on myself a lot, too. I think Ive been selfish, only thinking about myself. Ive had time to look back Then, Kyunghwas eyes narrowed like those of Seongwon when he first thought I was weird. Are you serious about that? My conscience is a little bit pricked. I survived that jungle-like restaurant business, but I am not chaotic enough to be caught up by these little kids. Oh, well Ive been thinking a lot about this and that Kyunghwa added with a stiff look. We even talked about disbanding seriously when we couldnt contact you, you know? Hmm? No, what are you talking about. Disbanding. I asked, giddy at the unexpected word. Disbanding? Who said that? If its the chairman of the Cheonsu group who spoke up, no matter how big the flying fish is, its helpless. I put on a bewildered expression as I recalled the Cheon Yise that the Human Happiness Praying System showed me. Well Its not decided anywhere. You were locked up on your own and didnt answer my call. The team wouldnt work without you. There was no answer, so we have to find a way to live. You cant keep holding on to a ruined team forever. Seongwon interjected at Kyunghwas logical words. Seongwon. Lets talk a little bit. Why, what did I say wrong? I dont think Ill be able to do more if Im ruined for five years Hey! Dont say such mean things. Didnt you see Hot Purple climbing the chartsst month? You never know what will happen in the entertainment industry. Yejun, who was furious because Seongwon made the atmosphere ugly, raised his voice. Right At this point, Sunwoo should be crying and saying, Dont fight~ I looked around to find Sunwoo, why this guy is so quiet. Just in time, Sunwoo was secretly reaching out to the bag of snacks without other members knowing. Na Sunwoo, I can see everything, so put down the snacks. Then, like a cat caught stealing fish, Sunwoos shoulder shook and he gently put down the snack. Urgh, I understand Im sorry How are you going to send that bastard up on stage with all that fat? Are we having another disc with Yise hyung as the center? Thats why I cant even dance properly anymore. Seongwon looked at Sunwoo with a look of contempt and ridiculed him. As long as Cheon Yises wish is to focus on idols. Even if this trash group disbanded, I have nothing to be sorry about. But I cant bear it when I think of Human Happiness Cheon Yise who tried to protect the group somehow. Everyone, be quiet for a second. The best of the best is the financial supporter. Cheon Yise is supposed to be quiet, so just what should I do with these trashes who have no blood in their heads. I decided to calmly throw the game. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 The system only gives me half a year anyway. If I dont seed as an idol within half a year, I dont know how the system will cook me Anyway, even if I maintain the group longer than that, its a waste of time for me. I know that were slowly reaching the limit. Lets do it for another half a year. I really want to try something different this time. Then, unexpectedly, Yejun, who had been talking about going in the opposite direction until a while ago, immediately expressed reluctance. Uh Well, I dont know if Ive been struck by lightning all of a sudden, but Im moved by the determination Half a year. You said that after thinking about the contract period, right? I dont know. Ive never heard of it before. What? I got a call from the ck Bullsbel. Kuh Well, I have to worry about the military now I cant just hold onto things that dont work. Thats undeniable. Ah. This is the test period. As if it had read my mind correctly, the status window that was invisible to the members appeared small. [Confirmation of the reason for calcting the test period has beenpleted] [Remaining period until the end of the test (contract expiration): 182 days] Looking at the numbers like this, it feels shorter. I have to do something during this time. I think its not bad to be a rapper, not an idol. I was seriously thinking about where to go after the contract period is over. Onest time, doing an album together Its okay, considering the feelings weve had... Seongwon, who had been listening, intervened even before Yejuns words were over. Wow, in front of this bastard, you pretend to be loyal to the group, and then youre thinking about not renewing the contract? Isnt the one who doesnt think like that stupid? Didnt you want to go to another agency as soon as your contract is over? No, is it that you cant go because theres no ce who calls you? Yejun was also not a person who could stand still after getting into a quarrel, so the fight caught fire in an instant. Are you done talking? No? I didnt, at all. You sound like you intended to stay, though? I barely resisted the momentary Stop fighting, scumbagsing out of the bottom of my throat. Its because Na Sunwoo was once again stretching out his beasts while everyones eyes were focused on the two of them. Na Sunwoo, if you try to eat one more snack, Ill really throw it away. Ugh, I, Im sorry.. All right, everyone, calm down for a second. While the three men were out of their minds, Ryu Kyunghwa calmly continued. To sum up. Finally, Ill try to change my mind just once, and if it doesnt work, Ill be on my own side. I nodded slowly as a sign of agreement. Ill have to check the contract properly as soon as I have time. I think its best to finish it like this now. Yes, next time is really thest time, so lets work really hard this time. I dont know how thepany will react to it, but The main investment destination is the Cheonsu group anyway, I want to push it in my favor. Time to prepare for a single album goes by so quickly. So stop fighting and do some cooperation. Kyunghwa sighed and alternately red at the two. What did I do? Yejun protested as if it was unfair, but the seeds didnt work. Seongwon was holding his arms crossed as if he didnt want to be with him. Then now The most urgent question is. As soon as Seongwon and Yejuns lip wrestling ended, attention was naturally drawn to the worst problem facing us now. Why Why are you looking at me? Sunwoo tried to sneak away from the rest of the members with trembling eyes. But it was quicker for Seongwon to stretch out his long legs to block him. Sunwoos innocent eyes were stained with fear. Arent I not eating anything right now? Its not about eating. At least this guy. Hes a little round, but cute, and he needs to level up so that he can be sent on stage without getting ridiculed. Youre on a diet from today! When I dered to Sunwoo, Yejun unexpectedly cooperated. Oh~ Im going to go work out right away. Then can I drag him along and let him run? Why do you ask my permission? Theres no reason to disagree. I have to keep an eye on him, so Ill go with you. Is there really nothing wrong? Im surprised. Hyung really looks like a different person. To say youre going to work out with me. At that time, I was just going to an ordinary gym and squatting on my back. Without noticing that Yejuns expression looked unusually happy. * * * Gasp, gasp! Yejun, how long did I run? Sunwoo, who was sweating while flying his heavy body on the treadmill, was crying with his eyes closed tightly. Ive only run for 20 minutes now. Ill slow you down, so walk fast and sweat more. Yejun, who was wearing protective gear and sparring with the director, answered without even looking at Sunwoo. I couldnt just sit still, so I got on the treadmill next to Sunwoo. Although there was an aftereffect of the ident, the condition was not so bad that I couldnt run normally. Its really good to be young. Rather, when I was Lim Hyunsung, I was so much thinner. I ran leisurely at my pace, taking turns watching the two of them. Yejun, who liked not having to exercise alone, brought us to the boxing arena. I wondered why he had such a dangerous hobby while making a living with his face. When I saw him sparring, he was wearing protective gear properly. Your face is precious because its the foundation. Even though we couldnt spar with each other, justing to exercise together like this made Yejun very excited. Ngh Its so, ha, hard However, considering that he wasining like that, Sunwoo was running in a form that was not disturbed at all. Even though he used a lot of leg muscles by jumping rope a while ago. He just gained weight quickly because he took a break from exercising and ate a lot. Originally, his body was on the slender side, so it looked like he had some muscle left in that dull fat. Dont cry and run more. A person doesnt die easily by running that much. I was sweating happily because my body was fresh and young for the first time in a long time. Being rejuvenated, it feels so good that I want to cry. This body that doesnt get tired even after running for 30 minutes. I hadnt felt any pain in my back yet. I watched Sunwoo carefully, speeding up. Hiks, o, okay! We made Sunwoo run for nearly an hour until Yejuns sparring waspletely over. It was within three months that he gained weight, so I just wanted him to lose it as quickly as he gained it. * * * Whoa, it feels good to sweat a lot! On the way home from an hour-and-a-half workout, Sunwoo kept crying because he wanted to eat dinner quickly. Should I make dinner right away? Im hungry. Ill make you dinner when I get home, so hang in there. Sunwoo, who returned after washing in the gym shower room, distorted his face at an unexpected situation. In the meantime, Kyunghwa had taken away all the snacks that had been scattered all over the house. Nice! Wh, where are all my snacks? Sunwoo noticed the change at once and cried, but no one fed him. I dont know, quickly eat your dinner and go to sleep. In the meantime, I quickly roasted the cabbage with olive oil and spices. In the air fryer, soft tofu, which is popr these days, was grilled with oil paste. Now, its low in calories, so you can eat as much as you want. I ate the sd I had for lunch earlier, except for the short pasta, and put it on the table with the dressing changed. Sunwoo lifted the spoon, crying. Theres no meat at all. Chicken breast is also meat. Next to him, Yejun, as if speechless, lifted the chicken breast with a fork and put it in his mouth. It was surprising to see him epting the sd so docilely, considering that he was at the peak of his life. Although there were many ups and downs, it was the beginning of mealtime to end the day. Whoa, this is so good. Kyunghwa hyung, hurry up ande and eat it! Of course, in the meantime, Seongwon thought it was really like Yejun to ignore him. Wheres mine? Before I knew it, Seongwon who came out of the room asked for his share without blinking. What, dont sit next to me. Yejun immediately protested, but Seongwon didnt care, pulled out an empty chair next to Yejun, and sat down. Hurry up and give it to me. Whoa Look at him ignoring me. Its the same for you, man. I gave Seongwon his share before it escted into a fight. Dont fight and eat. Yejun, stop arguing. What did I do wrong! Yejun protested, squeezing his lips. We all ended up eating diet food together, but there was noint about the menu because it was delicious. Ill try roasting beef tomorrow. Its low in fat and it has lean meat, so its not oily. Hyung, are youing tomorrow? Yeah. Because you shouldnt pick up weird things and eat them again. Oh, I dont pick up weird things Sunwoo, who was hesitating to answer, continued with a bright smile. But Im d that I can see you again tomorrow. Make me something delicious tomorrow too, Hyung. Hes definitely kind and gentle, but In todays harsh and cold-hearted modern society, kind followed by gentle could never be called apliment. I dont know if its a bad thing. Theres no choice but to take good care of them. At that moment, as soon as Sunwoo finished speaking, Seongwon threw a tantrum. Stop eating. Elephants are also vegetarian, do you want to eat the whole thing by yourself? Sunwoo, who was diligently chewing cabbage, immediately had darkened expression. But no one cared. Its a little It feels a bit like bullying, but Even in a midst of that dog fight, he only thought about eating He seems like a great man who would run for food, whether hes bullied or not. After finishing the meal, Sunwoo said he would move his body even a little and started washing the dishes. In the meantime, I went out and called Vice Chairman Ahn Junghee. It was about meeting the members after arriving at the dorm today. I told her that I decided to prepare for myst album. After hearing my story, Vice Chairman Ahn Junghee carefully brought up the story. Then do you want me to find a house nearby so that its easier to go to the dorm? The moment I heard that, oh. I admired it a little. Why didnt I think of that? The closer the distance, the more I can pay attention to them. But I dont think I have to find a separate house. No, there are a lot of rooms left in the dorm, so I think I can go in and live here. Oh my, is that okay? You said sharing a room with the members is ufortable. Because this is thest time. I want to do my best not to regret it. Yes, then do as you please. Im d that my son is getting along well with the members for the first time in a while. If you need anything else, ask Mom. This person certainly thinks positively when ites to Cheon Yise. After talking about the members, I didnt have anything else to continue Did you eat well? All-round Koreans greetings. After asking about meals, we continued the conversation moderately and then ended the call. Suddenly I felt strange. To take for granted a parent who generously pours out support, cheers, and loves What kind of feeling is it? As my thoughts were digging into my head, I opened the front door and went inside again. As soon as I entered the living room, I saw Sunwoo wandering around looking for snacks. I think Id better stay here for the rest of the six months. The dorm is quiterge for five people. I guess it was prepared to amodate all seven of us who were originally debut members. Sunwoo asked, blinking his eyes. Huh? Hyung is going to live here, too? If we live together, there is a higher chance that I will be treated as suspicious again, but I was an old man who only knew that idols were dancing while singing. I thought I would be able to adjust to the atmosphere if I watched what the kids were doing from side to side. Thats natural. Until now, I only know how to pass by and watch other peoples stages. I never have imagined I would do it as well. Yeah, Im going to pick up my luggage for a while. We only have half a year left, so I thought it would be better to live together as a team. The main purpose is to watch the others get along so I could benchmark. Ye, yeah! Its kind of unexpected, but You said you had a lot on your mind, too, Hyung I strode to Sunwoos room alone. On the other side of the bed that Sunwoo did not use, the first and second floors were empty. Is this the bed thats left? I asked, staring at the mattress stacked with clothes and stuff, without a single step. Yes, youre going to use it there? Un. Please clean it up by tomorrow. Then Sunwoo crept up and started to pack his clothes one by one. Since when has it been piled up There were also a lot of clothes that didnt seem to fit the current round body. There are some things that arent mine, so Ill ask the other members to clean them up. It was then that I remembered that this guy was just a young chick who had just turned 20. The rest of them were younger than Cheon Yise or about the same age. Its like a twenty-one-year-old is giving a sentence to a twenty-two-year-old. They are all young people who would be the same age as my children if I got married in my early 20s. I turned the suspicious circuit around, conscious of Sunwoo staring at me constantly. This guy He seems to be watching me too much Yeah, Ill talk to the next room for a while, so you dont have to tell them. With Sunwoos constant anxious gaze, I strode to the bed. No way. Ugh, n, no! As soon as Sunwoo screamed, I realized that my intuition was just right. Chapter 12 Chapter 12 When I caught the nket, there was a pile of snacks that Sunwoo had secretly stolen. Are you an animal? Instead of eggs, you hold sweets and tuck them under the nket? Sunwoo cried when I scraped the snack like a hook and took it away. Whats that, you talk like my dad. I havent opened any yet! Half-listening, I seized all the snacks and crossed the doorstep into the living room. Okay, so lets talk about losing weight first, starting with the weight. Actually, I Im not in a position to speak. I havent tested my body properly yet, so I dont know the extent. Cheon Yises body is no longer able to carry out violent movements as it used to be. Moreover, inside the body is a man in his 40s who only knows how to dance on a tour bus. Sunwoo isnt the only one who has to work hard. So even that guy has to look good first. If the most handsome member cant go on stage due to weight loss Theres no more answer. I mean, the disbandment really isnt anyones business right away. Sniff, hiks Sunwoo sniffed behind my back as if trying to stimte sympathy. I blindly entered the room shared by Kyunghwa and Yejun. Knock, knock. When I knocked on the closed door lightly with the back of my hand, Ye-jun answered dly. Oh,e on in~ When I went inside, Yejun and Kyungwha, who had been thoroughly washed, were lyingfortably in their respective beds. What kind of snack is it? Kyunghwa saw a pile of snacks in my arms and asked. I just confiscated it from Na Sunwoo. Take it away so that Sunwoo cant eat it. Eat this, or hide it somewhere. Yejun whistled lightly and took some snacks of his own taste. Kyunghwa didnt touch any. And from tomorrow, Im going to bring my luggage and live here. Im going to share the room with Sunwoo, so if you have anything on the bed next to Sunwoo, please clean it up. As soon as I spilled all the snacks on Yejuns bed, Kyunghwa opened his eyes wide and asked back. Youre going toe and live here? His face had a shocked expression, as if I had said I would shave my head. Yeah. We only have half a year left. The other members live in the dorm even though they dont have schedules. Only Cheon Yise lived on his own as if it were natural. Even if I didnt see how much Cheon Yise whined about living together, it was in a video. Whoa I didnt want to say this because I thought it would hurt your feelings While Yejun was amazed, I hit first. Did I get struck by lightning? I didnt, and I just want to make sure its thest one. I should just lie that Ive lost all my memories and be a new person. A slight regret shed through my mind. Anyway, put the stuff on the bed away. Im off for the day. Apart from the same worries, how am I going to live with these guys 24 hours from now on? All I want is to finish the quest quickly and get away from these noisy guys for a while. Okay, see you tomorrow. Kyunghwa saw me off with a trembling expression. As soon as I came out to the living room, the sound of whimpering began to leak out of Sunwoos room again. Why are you showing off your childishness? Although youre actually young. Are you an elementary school student I stood in front of Seongwons room with a sigh. I dont even want to say hello to this guy. I dont like this guy the most. Right. The more I talk with this guy, the more I cant hold back myposure. But anyway, this guy is also a family member in the same boat. Ill give you another rice cake. We should at least say hello. I knocked on the door. What. Instead of asking toe in, Seongwon asked what. I reflexively opened the door and stopped trying to answer. He didnt even tell me I could open it, but I didnt want to think about how annoying it would be if I opened it. If I had a teenage son, he would have been more cooperative than this guy. Im leaving now. From tomorrow, Ille here and live with you. Then Seongwon jumped out and opened the door. What? Im going to live here, too. From now on. Seong-won looked at me with a more startled expression than Kyunghwa. As if seeing a patient whos knocked out of his head. Hyung, why? I refuted it casually. Its better to be together than to live alone. I can adjust my schedule right away. Then Seongwon, who listened, scoffed and asked. Why didnt you think about it for the past 5 years? I raised my voice a little, thinking that I would be the only one in a corner if I said more. As expected, for this guy, the correct answer is to go out with an indifferent behavior that Cheon Yise would have originally done. If I havent done that for the past 5 years, I have to change for a different result! This time, he closed his lips and wriggled his eyebrows as if he had nothing to say. Anyway, I cant understand it all at once. Im going. Again, this is the correct answer. As it was, I could feel Seongwon staring at the back of my head through the living room anding out to the front door. I closed the front door and came out without paying any attention. Hoo Its a little cold. Maybe because it waste at night, it was chilly even though it was early summer. I would have to bring some light outerwear when I brought my summer clothes. I came out to the side of the road to catch a taxi, but sadly, no passerby recognized Cheon Yise. Hed been active for 5 years, howe among these many people no one recognizes him? Even when I lived as a real Lim Hyunsung, there were often one or two people who recognized me. It was thanks to my appearance in Omani cuisine programs and my ownmercials. This guy would have been on the show several times if he had been active for 5 years. A celebrity who doesnt get recognized by anyone even without a pair ofmon sunsses or a mask. I caught a taxi with a bitter appetite and came back to the apartment. Inside the solitary apartment, a handsome 24-year-old man was looking at me through a mirror. There are so many things to do. [ congrattions on the sessfulpletion of face-to-face with members! Achievementmemorative points +20] Subsequently, a new pop-up message of the same form appeared in the air. Now, as if its natural, Posil barked Wang-! excitedly and congratted me. [Congrattions on the sessfulpletion of Tutorial 1! Achievementmemorative points +100] I asked, ring at the points that had be quite reliable. By any chance, other than the special skill that can be used through collecting the Exp earlier, is there a system that permanently raises stats? It would be nice if I could see my condition as a concrete indicator or something. Since its a game-like system, I want to check if theres any stat window. [Tutorial 2. Use growth and reinforcement system > Distribution of growth points] [Do you want to start?] [Yes/No] If you have something like this, tell me earlier. Without any hesitation, I gestured in the air and pressed Yes. Like when the Tip Shop was first opened, arge screen opened in front of me. I stroked Posils head, who was sitting upright, with my fingertips. As I looked at it, it seemed to be getting a little sloppy.Im not sure what this thing really is. [Profile] [Name: Cheon Yise (Lim Hyun-sung) 24 years old] [Characteristics] Visual: S Vocal: D Dance: E Performance: E Attractiveness: A Speech: A Whats this? I asked with wide eyes at the two Es rather than the visual S. Isnt Cheon Yise the main dancer? Werent you in charge of dancing? Why is the dance and performance E? Then the pop-up window answered immediately. [ Currently, Cheon Yises status level is adjusted ording to Lim Hyunsungs skills] [I would like to inform you that this is different from the figure of Cheon Yise before his death] I asked the System with a sullen look. Then do you mean, except for the visuals, everything else is at the level of an uncle in his 40s who never learned? When I asked, hoping it wasnt me, the status window answered very quickly. [Your understanding is correct!] I felt my eyes dim for a moment. No matter how calm I was, it was a bit of a shock to recover. If I do this, wont I fail even if I make aeback? Do you think Ill be able to match the other guys level if Im learning for half a year from now? [The Human Happiness Praying System supports growth distribution system for Lim Hyunsungs smooth adaptation] The status window stretched all over again, and there was a new small phrase under the stats. [Distributable growth crystals: 2 (Currently umted Acquisition Points 200)] [Every time you get 100 points, youll get 1 crystal that you can use to grow your stats] [You can use crystals to grow your abilities one tier at a time. (However, when growing from A-ss to S-ss, 2 is consumed, and when growing from S-ss to SS, 3 is consumed.) [The grades are E, D, C, B, A, S, SS in descending order, and there are 7 grades in total without using crystals.] It feels like Im ying a game. When ites to games, I only watch other fellow entrepreneurs y. Ive never actively tried it myself. Should I invest two crystals in dance? I rolled my head thinking about the number of cases. First of all, when I clicked on the figures for each characteristic, an exnation of each characteristic value was posted like a subyer. [Visual] Its a measure of how close the appearance is to beauty. The higher the grade, the closer it is to the universal aesthetic. [Vocal] Its a measure of the ability to control speech, to load emotions, to urately tune. [Dance] Its a measure of the ability to control the movements, dynamics, and strength of the body. [Performance] Its a measure of the ability to dominate and enrich the stage. Natural ad-libs, loud voices, stage manners, and ident coping skills are affected by these characteristics. [Attractiveness] Its a measure of a persons ability to be liked. [Speech] Its a measure of the ability to articte and lead the atmosphere with contextualnguage activities. It seems that the talents needed as an entertainer as well as an idol are ssified like stats in the game. As expected, the dance is the most serious issue no matter how I look at it. Originally, dance was Cheon Yises biggest talent. No matter how bad your health gets Its because I thought it would look really strange if I dance to E-grade. Can you show what other guys stats are like? I already found out about the positions of each person in the group through some searching. But there was no harm in keeping details for reference. In a row, four windows shone side by side in front of me. [Profile] [Name: Ryu Kyunghwa 24 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Reduces fear and nervousness in unexpected situations] The points used 15pt [Characteristics] Visual: A Vocal: A Dance: B Performance: A Attractiveness: A Speech: S Whether the buff is determined ording to the characteristic value, the overall high grade, and the speech S are noticeable. Other than that, there seem to be fewer ups and downs overall. Im an extreme case, but I think hes the closest model student among the five. I nodded my head and moved on to the next profile. [Name: Oh Yejun 22 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Confidence and efficiency in ad-libs and cheering on the stage] The points used 10pt [Characteristics] Visual: A Vocal: D Dance: A Performance: S Attractiveness: A Speech: C When I saw the vocal D and the narration C in contrast to the performance S, I reflexivelyughed. How is it that nothing deviates even an inch from this image? Its a perfect fit for Yejuns image, who, when asked to give his impressions on stage, would spit it out without hesitation, saying, I cant remember anything. Next is Its Son Seongwons turn now. Feeling ominous just looking at the profile, I clicked on Seongwons attribute window. Chapter 13 Chapter 13 #013. Life Is Not A Game [Name: Son Seongwon 22 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: When singing, activates a stable vocal correction effect equal to the music source] The points used 30pt [Characteristic] Visual: S Vocal: S Dance: B Performance: A Attractiveness: B Speech: B As I can expect from his characteristic, Seongwon was the main vocalist specializing in vocals. And his face, wellHes pretty and handsome even if he speaks rudely. Seongwons hair was quite long, and his bleached blonde hair was tied in a half-up ponytail. It was a pretty stand-out hairstyle, but it was a beauty that didnt feel any greasy or awkward. His disaster mouth must have been a big reason why his charm couldnte out above grade A. Thats why they say one word can repay a thousand nyang debt. Hell kill his character with his word. (t/n: /nyang is old Korean currency) Still, the visual is S, so it went up to B. Even if his face was ugly, he was a guy who would have gotten an E grade because of his attractiveness. The reason why the speech skill was surprisingly B grade was probably. It seemed that it was because he had the ability to shake off a snout without any hesitation when arguing. Is Na Sunwoo the only one left now? I pulled up thest remaining profile and looked closely. [Name: Na Sunwoo 21 years old] [Specialty] [Buff: Zero calories taken during a meal after activation.] The points used 10pt [Characteristic] Visual: C *(SS) Vocal: A Dance: B Performance: B Attractiveness: B *(A) Speech: D [*The grade in parentheses is the grade before correction.] Hmm? Only Na Sunwoo had a unique exnation with parentheses that was difficult to understand at once. What do you mean correction? [Its a grade that reflects a temporary physical condition] Wang! Posil barked as if agreed with the exnation in the status window. Its not like that, ah. I shook my head, thinking of the thick lumps of fat all over Sunwoos body. Of course, being fat is not a sin. However, as long as there was an appearance that fans expected, it was necessary to live up to that expectation in order to stand on stage. Idols are human too, but they are basically jobs that provide the fantasies that fans want and make money. Im not going to talk like its someone elses business, Ill start with myself. Efforts were urgently needed to present a stage that reached a certain level that fans wanted. I have a question. What is the average level of the ordinary persons grade? I wonder if its about D. When I asked with a wildly generous dream, the system answered ruthlessly. [Grade C is a level that is slightly better than normal people.] Kiing! Posil expressed regret with his whole body by scratching the floor with his feet. It means It meant that the current me had terrible dancing skills that were not even average. Can I distribute the two crystals right away to the dance? As I decided without thinking further, a small pop-up window appeared. [Once a crystal has been used, it cant be returned.] [Shall we distribute two crystals to characteristics?] [Yes/No] I pressed the yes button without hesitation. Then the screen briefly shone, and my characteristics grade changed instantly. [Profile] [Name: Cheon Yise (Lim Hyunsung) 24 years old] [Characteristic] Visual: S Vocal: D Dance: C Attractiveness: E Charm: A Speech: A Ive barely risen two levels and its a C. Now, I came up to the level of an ordinary person who was a little good. Yes, an ordinary person would be better than a man who danced on a tour bus with his butt twitching. Even if its a long way to go, its too long. I needed a way to solve that punks vocals and performance. Theres nothing I can do right now So I should go to sleep. I washed up andy down on the bed. Even though I put my head on the pillow, I couldnt fall asleep right away, probably because my body was fresh. I need to go to sleep soon. When I was a man over 40, the work was difficult, and my physical strength was very weak. I habitually overworked and slept less than 4 hours. If I didnt do that, I couldnt manage the big business on my own. Thanks to this, I could snore and fall asleep right away as long as Iy my head down. Why cant I sleep? Even after tossing and turning for a long time, only a slight tired feeling followed like a shadow. I didnt feel the dullness of my brain soaked in fatigue. Not a body that has been used for forty years, but a body that is young and healthy. In the meantime, things were so hectic that I couldnt pay attention to them properly. As I was quietly alone like this, I started to feel it little by little. Lets search for somethingTheres nothing I can do right now. I quietly looked up at the ceiling and searched for three letters, Lim Hyunsung. There was a chrysanthemum sticker on the profile with my portrait picture on it. Even though it didnt make sense, it was clear that Lim Hyunsungs real body had physically died. As long as it happened in reality, what I had to do was decided. Why did this happen to me? Why did it have to be me? There was no time to knock on the stick, looking for an answer that wouldnte out even after thinking about it. What I need to do right now isto distinguish what can I do now. First of all. I should ask for dance lessons to improve my dance skills and stage sense. And helps Na Sunwoo with his diet. This was my short-term goal. In addition to that, I should also study the idol entertainment industry in general. Lets think of Joyoung Food as investing in the entertainment industry and seriously analyze it. As a businessman, I was good at analyzing the market with a cool head anding up with a realistic n. Great. Now that the direction is set, I really need to sleep. The sound of the waves seemed to being from afar. My body slowly sank toward the bottom. I had an unpleasant feeling of pressure all over me as if I couldnt breathe. But now Im alive. Even though this is another persons appearance, obviously, I was lucky to have survived this reality. I couldnt copse here, and I didnt want to copse. The moment I put my fingertips together and clenched my fists, my consciousness blurred, and I fell asleep. * * * The next morning, I contacted the management office and found out about Cheon Yises car number. Suddenly, the resident contacted me and asked me for the registered car number of the house. The security staff must have been puzzled by what this meant. Thanks to this, I could locate my car with the fancy logo of a foreign car. This car. Even when I was the CEO of Joyoung Food, I had never driven it. When I was a representative, I had no greed other than to grow thepany and support the foundation. An expensive house and a nice car were all ufortable, like clothes that didnt suit me. Although Ive heard someone trying to put hot air on me, asking that shouldnt I ride a hundred million car, but. An old Grandeur and a 21-pyeong apartment were enough. Even so, if the CEO rides an old sonata, the employees below feel ufortable, so I bought it. Because I spent most of my time at work anyway. The trip to the lodging, with all the clothes stuffed into the trunk, was not an enjoyable experience. I dont have to worry. There is nothing to be caught at all. I drove out of the parking lot while holding on to the steering wheel and muttering as if to reassure myself. It didnt take long to get to the house. When will thisIll make it to the level of the other kids. I couldnt help feeling faint. Its so nice to have a roommate! Since Junghyun Hyung left, Ive been using my room all by myselfI was pretty bored. Who is Junghyun Hyung? I tilted my head at the first name I heard. We debuted together as a 7-member group, but one of the members who left is a foreignerand the other one didnt have that name. Dont like it too much. I decided to share a room because I was afraid you might eat something secretly. I was embarrassed for nothing, so I couldnt say anything good and cleared my throat. Ung! Still, its good. I was very envious of Yejun Hyung and Kyunghwa Hyung sharing the same room. It seems that he didnt dare to ask Son Seongwon to share a room with him. Or maybe he already asked for it and got rejected. Thats how camp life, which I thought I would never do in my life, began. * * * OhIs this a new song update? Who wants Lets Dance after a long time? It must have been about a week since I joined the amodation. A lot has happened in the meantime. First of all, the amodation was made from a pigsty to a ce where people live. I told thepany that he wanted to participate in producing and preparing Sunwoos diet in earnest. If I think that there are only 180 days, it is difficult to waste a single day. Then one day, Yejun brought a game console and connected it to the TV in the living room. Ah, thats what Yise Hyung liked. Seongwon was away for a while because the agency asked for help. Kyunghwa was taken to an unknown sports entertainment the day before and was lying on his bed. They said he went mountain climbing with senior actors from the 80s all day long. He seemed to think he was lucky enough to have such a thing happen. Yise Hyung definitely does it. You do it, too. Its aerobic, so it helps you in your diet. I took the game console Yejun gave me while I was momentarily confused. It was an atmosphere where I couldnt bear to ask, What is this? O, okay! Ill do it, too! Sunwoo seemed to hesitate for a moment before picking up a console from the table in the living room. I dont know what it is, but Dance? Is that why you move your body? I quickly picked up my phone, which I was still unfamiliar with, and searched for Lets Dance on the Inte. Looking at the photos posted, it seemed like a game where you move your body ording to the movements shown on the screen, like DDR. Im in trouble. An emergency bell rang in my head. Id rather do anaerobic exercise. This type of dance game has been rat poison ever since I was Lim Hyunsung. If I had done it badly, would I have been kicked out by the person who waited for me to stop at the arcade when I couldnt do it anyway? Now that Ive raised my grade to C, its not as extreme as it was when I was Lim Hyunsung, but. Seeing that Sunwoo remembered it was Yise Hyungs favorite game, I expected the reaction. I I dont think Im in a good condition today When I tried to escape with an excuse for my health, Sunwoo immediately blocked me. What are you talking about, Hyung? You told me earlier that you have to go to the fitness center and exercise for three hours today. Hyung, how can you say something so weak? Is it something like you cant die alone? I ended up standing side by side in front of the screen due to Sunwoos water ghost operation. (T/n : water ghost means something like Its unfair that I suffered alone! Lets go together!) Well, lets start with the new update. If Yise Hyung learns the choreography and teaches me, I think Ill be able to shoot a fullbo soon? With Yejuns confident expectations, the prelude with a magnificent beat began. Im going crazy, how the hell am I doing this? It said I just have to follow the action mark that slowly flows from the right end of the screen to the left. Even if I understood it with my head, my body didnt follow me at all. What are you doing, Yise Hyung! It keeps saying Miss! While I was hesitant, five marks disappeared to the left of the screen in an instant. I looked around Sunwoo and Yejun how they do. The two were preparing to dance the next move even before the mark appeared. How is that possible?! Fortunately, my stamina was good, so I didnt get short of breath. But the creaking body was just barely good enough to get Nice. Hyung, do you hate to do it that much? The song is over before I know it. Then, seeing yer2 YS disastrous result table, Yejun asked in puzzlement. I nced at the other yers results table. Yejun was almost perfect, and Sunwoo seemed to be above average, except for missing about 5. Why are you both so good at dancing? You said you werent in charge of dancing! No, its been so long. Then Yejun answered with a frown as if it was strange. Is it because of your back pain? Even Sunwoos face began to be darker in an instant. Uh, oh. I had to figure out how to get out of this situation. Chapter 14 Chapter 14 #014. C-ss Main Dancer There were two ways. I forgot how to dance like a lie after the ident. Or that my movements have be stiff because of a herniated disc. The former was an awkward and strange excuse for anyone to see, and thetter is a health issue, so Im sure its understandable right now. What? Then wouldnt it be hard to prepare for theeback right now? Thinking about Sunwoo and Yejun, who were surprised, I couldnt readily make excuses for my body. ModeratelyWouldnt it be nice to mix the two? I put the console down on the table and said, pretending to be okay. I said I wasnt feeling very well today. Ive lost my touch after rehabilitation, so Im thinking of taking separate lessons and practicing. Then, as expected, Yejun responded with a shocked expression. But its not to the extent your condition dropped, right!? Missing all the beats, not understanding the movements at all, whats with that reaction speed? Manager Hyung is faster than that! I know youre surprised. But you talk too harshly, you punk. I answered, feeling that each word had turned into a dagger and flew coldly into the air. Ill put my feeling back on until I start practicing again in earnest. You dont need to worry. I felt a sense of crisis at the thought that I had to raise the dance level first by polishing the system. Of course, I expected them to be surprised. It wasnt quite as formidable an opponent as one that could be avoided. Yejun twitched his raised eyebrows, unaware that the sky was high. Isnt it because your waist hasnt healed yet? Then he shouted at Sunwoo. Hey, Na Sunwoo! Hold on to Hyungs arm. What? I backed away from the sudden development. What are you trying to hold on to? I tried to run straight to my room, but it was faster for Sunwoo to block in front of me. To be exact his massive physique naturally became a barrier and blocked me. Good job! Yejun stroked Sunwoos ck hair and suddenly rushed toward my waist. What are you doing! It was the first time I had made such a loud noise since living in the dorm. Are you really good enough to be active? While Suwoo held my arms, Yejun hit me in the back with his hand. Reflexively, the body bent to the other side. Crazy bastard, where is the person who doesnt move forward like this? I barely got up, resolving inwardly that this was a child and that I shouldnt try to fight like a child. All right! Ill be back in shape in two weeks and will be examined, so dont do anything weird! Then, Yejun stared at me with a suspicious expression. Theres no way Yise Hyung could end up like this just because of his physical condition! Are you really okay? Sunwoo rolled his eyes after eventually letting go of my arm because I struggled. I told you to focus on your diet and do well. I flicked Sunwoos forehead. Ouch! Because our center is Yise HyungThe choreography this time will also be centered around Yise Hyungs dance break I cant help but be worried, right. No. I was definitely going to stop that. If it were going to hit the jackpot by doing the same thing as before, it would have happened long ago. As part of Climaxs identity, it had to be cleaned up so that only its good points were left. Although I still have to learn a lot about the idol industry. It was simple to think of the center as the main promotion line. Of course Im an expert at this. Anyway, if a product that will be sold is not excluded from the promotion, it goes well even if it is removed as a sub-line. Therefore, Oh Yejun is excluded from the center for now. Ryu Kyunghwa is an exemry type, but he has no exceptional talent. Even if it is hung on the main page, it is difficult to expect the best effect without a shot that will catch customers attention at once. If its the visual of confidence, is it Na Sunwoo or Son Seongwon, a vocalist who cant be beaten with his skills, even if hes tough with his personality. First of all, Ill have to decide by seeing how far Na Sunwoo can pull out, thats it. It was not something to decide right away. Its a matter that needs to be discussed with thepanys nning department. Because its not toote to think and decide after finding out how far Cheon Yise can go. Thats something you dont have to worry about anymore. When did I ever worry you about something like this? Iforted Sunwoo, whose face was flushed as if he would cry if I touched him right away. And I said a word to Yejun. You too. Dont make a big deal. Well see if Im okay or not. I calmly cleaned up the mess and headed for the kitchen. W, where are you going? Sunwoo hurriedly followed me. To prepare lunch and dinner in advance. Today is the start of PT, so dont go through the other way. Sunwoo decided to take PT separately from me starting today. I searched carefully and chose a ce where there was no snack shop in the building. Because its meaningless to work out and go home after eating a lot of fried food at a hot dog restaurant on the first floor. I also decided to share the PT curriculum. The instructor is also famous as a male instructor, so I could trust him. Yes! I wont take any other route and just work out hard! Sunwoo barely nodded his head after getting over his shock at seeing something that looked more like a struggle than my dance. Are you going to do more of that? I looked back at Yejun in the living room and asked. Yejun shook his head. No. Even Hyung says he wont do it, Im tired, so Ill stop here. It was the next month when thepany said they would attach staff to prepare for a full-fledgedeback. It was still a grace period. Do you have a separate schedule for today? Son Seongwon said he woulde in after dinner, and Ryu Kyunghwa-. Can I have dinner properly in that state? I can just boil the stew and fill it up. Its not that Im sick. Its just muscle pain all over my body. Ah~. Im going to eat ande back. You dont have to worry about mine. Yejun went back into the room and set up the game console while he looked disappointed as if the steam had leaked. Where are you going? Without realizing it, the question popped up first as if I were a guardian. Then Yejun smiled, despite the worry that he might be in a bad mood. Secret What do you mean by a secret? Thats disgusting. I was dumbfounded, but I turned my head without showing it. Donte back toote. My sess as an idol andultimately, theyre essential for revenge. If something went wrong, it would be a big deal. You dont have to worry. I dont run into idents anywhere. Even if you dont get into an identI couldnt help but be worried if Iy down like that all day like Kyunghwa. Especially that guy because they say he is close with rappers. If the most recognizable member was caught up in a problem that could be seen in public, it was a disaster. Wake up or sleep, be careful of people! I patted Yejun on the shoulder and warned him. Yees, yees. anyone who sees it will think youre my parents. Even though I was not their parent, I was around the same age as them. Although I may be a bit younger than them. Soon after, Yejun went, and Sunwoo went out as it was. Only me and Kyunghwa were at home. Its quiet because the noisiest guys go out. I checked that the door to Kyunghwa and Yejuns room was firmly closed and entered my room. System,e out. A transparent status window appeared as I spoke with my arms crossed and looked up into the air. Wang! As if Posil had been waiting, he circled and greeted me. Can the level of a characteristic be raised only with crystals? Within two weeks, I had to raise my dance and performance levels to B-ss or higher. When preparations for a full-fledgedeback began, I could no longer make excuses because I was in poor condition. [Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest Do you want to start Dance Level Improvement Special Training?] [Yes/No] The answer was yes without further thought. With one simple gesture, the status window that had been flickering in front of my eyes disappeared. Then again, I think something will suddenly pop out. I couldnt shake my doubts, and while I was waiting with my arms crossed, the phone rang. This is Cheon Yise, I received your call. While bringing the phone close to my ear, I checked the callers name was [Manager Hyung]. Oh, Yise-ya. How are you doing with the kids? Are there any inconveniences? I said something that was kind of reassuring and then looked into what I was curious about. Yeah, Im okay. Its fun to be with the kids. I wish we could start theeback song concept meeting soon, but it still takes more time, right? Yeah, until this month, its Flos activity period, so its a situation where all the staff is attached. First, I asked the nning team toe up with a schedule quickly. Im not sure how much of a position Cheon Yise is within the agency. There was nopany that would prioritize the project to a group of people who didnt care about it. It was the same even if I was the head of thepany. Business is not childs y. Okay. Oh, and Hyung. From now on, it was actually the real main point. Could you personally attach a dance trainer to me? A calm and quiet person. What I needed now was someone who would teach me the basics, not a star trainer with a shy resume. And its best if its a quiet person who wont go anywhere unnecessarily. Well, thats not difficult. When do you need it? The sooner the better. The deadline that was made by mistake was two weeks, and it had to be raised to a level better than average. * * * Huh! The front digit, its changed! Sunwoo, like Sunwoo, and I, like mine, passed through the tough two weeks in an instant. For the past two weeks, Ive had to dance six hours a day listening to Climaxs past singles. Thanks to that, I became a dancing robot without a soul. Its not that I dance perfectly like a robot. Maybe my body moved faster than I thought because I listened to it, watched it, and danced to it so much. UhmI think this is a bit serious. Is it true that your physical condition has really recovered? On the first day of lessons, which I started without telling the members. I still cant forget the trainers shocked expression. The level of Yise-gun right now isAt this level, you cant go on My Idol Stage. You cant even get an F grade. My Idol Stage was a survival audition program that hit the jackpot on a cable program. Flows, a group where thepanys manpower is in full swing right now, was also a group that debuted through that program. Still, I took these two steps up and raised it to C. I didnt want to even think about the disaster that would have happened if I had stayed in E all along. I was able to see that the trainers sigh and the fact that I worked hard at the given task saved me. Great! Now that I seem to have memorized all the moves, lets learn little by little starting with show points. Even the trainer, who had only sighed at first, praised me little by little at the end of the two weeks. I thought I could easilyplete the sub-quest and raise the grade. It seemed that I had to learn by moving my body myself, as if I was told not to expect luck. The dance line has improved a lot. Dont forget to practice. Compared to the video when Yise-kun was in full condition, its still a long way off. The dance grade increased to B and the performance grade increased to D at the same moment the subquest ended. [Congrattions on clearing Sub Quest Special Training to Improve Your Dance Grade. Achievement Celebration Points +100] It wasnt a low point, butit was too cheap for two weeks of hard work. With the new crystal, I turned the performance grade without hesitation. [Profile] [Name: Chun Yise (Lim Hyunsung) 24 years old] [Characteristic] Visual: S Vocal: D Dance: B Performance: C Attractiveness: A Speech: A It still has a long way to go, but it has improved a lot since the beginning. Yise Hyung! I, front digit, now eight! If this guy loses about 10kg more I was able to reassure myself a little bit. So, whats left in the short term is. 2 weeks. It was until yesterday, remember? Yejun came out into the living room and was holding a game console in his arms. [The wild Oh Yejun has applied for a dance battle! What will you do?] What do you mean what do I do? It was time to prove the results of the two-week special training. Chapter 15 Chapter 15 #015. 100 wins in 100 battles Shake it! Shake it! Like popping bottle- My body moved reflexively, following the avatars movements on therge TV panel. Just how loud did you turn the TV volume up? Fortunately, Kyunghwa was away due to personal schedules, and there was no way Seongwon woulde out to a ce like this. Only Sunwoo sat on the sofa and watched the sacred dance battle while chewing carrots instead of popcorn. Surelyis it because the grade went up? Its not as urgent as before to follow the movements. I even have time to see how Yejun is doing in the meantime. Boom your face-! Blow your mind-! Its me thest one who steal your heart-! The fast beat of the pop song was said to have topped the Billboard charts. If it had been Lim Hyunsung, I would have hated even listening to the song. Even though Ive never heard the song or done the choreography, I found it amazing that the word Miss didnte up even once. Oh YejunLets see how much he scores. When I peeked at the real-time score, it was neck and neck. Its enoughstill, didnt I improve a lotpared tost time? I now stretched out my arms and legs, diligently copying the movements that reached the highlight. Then, something unexpected happened. Why are you so noisy in the morning? I cant sleep because of the noise. Seongwon walked out of his room alone. Then, he pulled out the TV cord plugged into the power strip. Hey! What are you doing,iIts almost over! Yejun jumped at Seongwon, pushed him to the other side, and plugged in the cord again. But it was after thest part had already passed. [Fail-! You need to practice some more! Do your best!] After that, the movement was judged to be a miss for both of us, and the clear failure screen came up. Arent you crazy? Is it hard to just say to lower the volume? Is it polite to turn it up loud enough to make the floor rumble in the morning at the dorm? Guess who isnt the kind of guy who doesnt fall for both tempers? Na Sunwoo, who was chewing carrots leisurely just a while ago, was flustered. Both of you, dont fight. I should have turned the volume down beforehand. I, its my fault Then Yejun firmly responded. Dont say nonsense that you keep looking at that kid. No matter who sees it, the one who pulled out the cord first is overreacting. He can ask to lower volume first! What did you do well in waking up someone in the morning? It would have been nice if there was Kyunghwa at a time like this. I headed to the kitchen, missing Kyunghwa, who had left in the morning because of some schedule. Then, holding two silver pots that seemed to have been bought for boiling ramen in both hands, I came out into the living room. What would you have done if this was broken? I can tell it if it breaks down. Since you watch TV the most, arent you actually the cause when it breaks down? In any case, the conversation slowly turned into smallints about who wasnt the kid between them. Both of them were distracted by each other and didnt notice what I was doing. Only Sunwoo covered his startled eyes as if he couldnt see the terrible scene. nk! Ack! Argh! The bottom of the pot collided with the two light heads that had nothing on them, making a clear and cheerful sound. Four eyes full of resentment red at me at the same time. Both of you, stop making noise and eat. When they woke up in the morning, they heard an announcement that the cooking was done. It was the beginning of a temporary ceasefire. * * * Maybe its because theyre boys in their prime. Putting a spoon in their mouths certainly did make them quiet. Where did they just expose their teeth and growl at each other? Both were busy chewing and swallowing the rice in their mouths now. Its been a while since I ate Gang Doenjang, so its really delicious. (t/n: Gang Doenjang () is a reduced and thickened fermented soybean paste stew, usually served as a dipping sauce for Korean lettuce wraps (ssam:).) Yejun drools as he pours a spoonful of soybean paste over barley rice, which has more barley than white rice. It was a delicious bibimbap wrapped in fragrant pumpkin leaves that had been steamed beforehand. After marinating it beforehand and then defrosting it, adding the grilled Bulbaek with only the smell of fire made it impossible not to taste it. (t/n: Bulbaek is an abbreciation for . Its the food which is set meal with (bulgogi), rice, lettuce, and so on.) Yise Hyung, I always say its delicious, so you might think Im just saying it out of politeness. I already knew that I was good at cooking even if he didnt say it. Enough, just empty your rice bowl. The lunch is a sd with no carbs. It was a little ironic to talk about sd while eating rice with a perfect bnce of soybean paste and snails. Ung! Ill eat it clean! Sunwoo, who ced the pumpkin leaves on the palm of his hand, took a handful of meat and bibimbap and put them in a bite. It looked like the face of an angel who was happy in the world. Dinner tooIll have to eat it with a sd with fewer carbs. It was my role to maintain that angelic face and figure. Seongwon, who emptied the bowl first, nced at Yejun and brought the finished bowl to the sink. Whats wrong with him? It was a big improvement, considering that he had been eating and suffocating himself in the room. Anyway, hes a really ignorant punk. Yum. Yejun, who still had something to eat, muttered into the back of Seongwons head. Will they fight like this again? I quickly pushed the Bulbaek te in front of Oh Yejun. Oh, thank you~. Yejun was really simple. As the meat came closer in front of him, he ate with a happy expression, as if he had never been in a bad mood. This guy might be good in many ways because he is easier to handle than Son Seongwon. I relieved myself and quietly asked Yejun. It was better thanst time, right? Then, Yejun replied with a smirk with eyes that went up in a bad way. Yeah. Still, Hyung, you werent as good as you used to be. Thats because Ive never seen someone who can dance as well as Hyung? Are you still receiving rehabilitation treatment? While I attended dance sses secretly from the members, on the surface, I pretended that I was undergoing rehabilitation treatment. I dont think theyll believe it because Cheon Yises dance and performance skills were A or better at the time. Then, it would be better to make an excuse for my physical condition in advance. It was my judgment. Yeah. Ill probably have to get it for a while. But dont worry, it wont interfere with your activities. ording to Manager Hyung, thepany nning teams concept meeting will be held next week. When I said that I really wanted to participate in the nning this time, he was happy to make the position. Then now it was time for me to umte minimal background knowledge about the idol industry. It was also necessary to closely analyze what kind of work Climax had released so far. Objectively look at what wasckingpared to other performance projects. Ill make your lunch, so you just have to mix the sd dressing and eat it. Serve it yourself. Yejun, watch Sunwoo to see if he eats anything weird or if he gets a proper PT. Then Yejun murmured. Yeah, Im going out after lunch too. I can watch him going to PT. Okay. What is this kid doing, running around all the time? Be careful of people. It bothered me because he was the one with the highest risk of escape among all the members. Its all the more because hes already receiving love calls from all over the ce. Why are you going out again? Just, I need to meet a friend. Haha What kind of friends do celebrities meet so often? Even though its called a failed idol. I nodded my head in doubt. Okay, Ill get ready and go out. Ill be back in the evening. Yes, Im going to eat outside, so with this guy All I need to do is watch him. Yeah. With thatst word, I cleaned up the breakfast table and prepared the lunch sd. It was already 11 oclock when I put each sd for three people in a lunch box. I quietly got out of the dorm and headed to the officetel. When I took out my own car parked in the private parking lot next to the dorm and arrived at the officetel, it was the time for lunch. Come to think of it, it feels like Im back home after almost 3 weeks. It should be called a house. Although Cheon Yise is familiar with it, I am not, and the dorm felt more like a home to me. Most likely, its not because no one lives here, and its a total mess, right? Contrary to what I was worried about, the house was clean because a person regrly came to clean and organize the refrigerator. Lets eat lunch first! Eatinges first at Mt. Geumgang. (T/n : used to suggest dying something until after eating.) I wouldnt have an idea if I starved myself to eat, no matter how important the task was. I took out the bread that had been reced with a new one and lightly toasted it in a buttered frying pan. HmmThe smell of butter is amazing. Crisply grilled bacon is ced between toasts coated with a butter vor that rises savory and salty. Herelets melt the cheese and put it in here. The heat from the frying pan made the cheese melt, giving off a delicious smell. Theres no sugar powder, but its better to eat it like this because theres raspberry jam. After soaking in the beaten egg and cooking the top like frying, the Monte Cristo was done. It was a bomb in calories and a bomb in taste. Its a taste that makes life worth living. Its good to eat a healthy meal, like eating for breakfast. As expected, people must live by eating unhealthy tastes that explode in calories. Because of Sunwoo, Ive had a healthy diet for a while, and my tongue felt greasy, and I was craving something sweet and salty. After eating four slices of bread in an instant, my head began to spin. Now lets analyze Climaxs works. Ive learned the song and choreography so I can focus on the concept and mass media reactions. I cleaned up the table, brought myptop, and sat down in front of the table. [Climax Debut Single: One Week with Your Man] The concept of the first album was wild beauty. Was this a trend back then? Everyone was wearing makeup like charcoal ck that didnt even fit. When I went to the most famous music site and checked thements, the few responses were also spectacr. [ The makeup doesnt look good. I know youre trying to follow the hit in the ck zone, but its a bit;;] [ Did CEO Hong lose his touch? Is this a rookie? You brought ck zone] [ I cant see a single We Award?] What is the We Award? I opened a new portal site window and searched. It sounded like a word meaning a contemtive appearance preferred by Climaxs agency, We. Even Lim Hyunsung knew who ck Zone was. It was a male idol group that swept the music industry 7 years ago with the concept of wild and dangerous men. Even if the two unknown faces are second. First of all, Seongwon and Sunwoo were beauties, however, theyre not tough-looking or masculine beauties. Rather, isnt it rare to see such pretty-looking kids? Why did they dress young kids in clothes that dont suit them? After summarizing the shorings, I moved on to the second single. [Climax Second Single: Beach BooM] As if to prove that the release date is in August. On the album cover, all seven members were just taking off their tops. A few members grabbed my eye wearing see-through or jackets as if it were impossible not to wear one. [ The is a bit ] [ I identally pressed the cover and my eyes met 14 How do YouDo. Everyone, do you think its right?] Of course, that thing ate the bestments, so all thements were embarrassing. Should I think its a relief that theres no harsh curse? The song itself was the best song to my ears. But that guysment. It was a moment when I felt that there were many things to pay attention to when selecting album covers. Then the third single and the first full-length album. Thements were also not good. The debut single had the most likes, and the controversial second single received the mostments. At the time of the fourth single, the number of members was reduced to five. Im wondering if there have been many protestments in response to the members departure? It was finally time to look at thest single. I opened thement section without letting go of the tension. Chapter 16 Chapter 16 #016. My Houses Kid Is Better (1) [ Is Flosseback dyed because of them? Floss makes the money, but why do they the ones who make aeback?] [ It was the group that debuted with a sucks fandom personality and cyberbullying, right? Why are you picking a fight with another group when theyre not making aeback?] [ Tempos, I know you feel sad, but we dont know if its because of them that they dyed their schedule. I hope it doesnt overheat too much] [ Isnt it embarrassing to talk about the cyberbullying fandom while pushing a failed idol that the album sales dont even count in the first week?] [But Im not these kids fan? I just hate the thoughtless Tempo ^^. Im just writingments. It seems your Oppas are the only ones who dont know that the anti-fans make the fandom.] [ Its ridiculous that they changed the filming schedule for the album million strike sales kidseback because of an album like this. I dont know if the upper heads of We have any thoughts.] [ If these peoples albums were good, I wouldnt be angry . How funny] [ CEO Hong, did you postpone the schedule of the members who are only promoting for 2 years to release this?] Tempo was probably the name of Floss Fanclub. I was briefly distracted by an unexpected situation. What is this? So, to sum up, the main point of thements that start with a swear word, it was like this.
  1. Floss has been preparing for aeback through variety shows and live broadcasts.
  2. The schedule was suddenly canceled 3 weeks before Flossseback, and Flosss activities were put on a break.
  3. After that, the senior group Climaxs fourth single was released without notice.
  4. Therefore, Climax is responsible for the sudden change in Floss schedule.
My brain stopped for a moment as I couldnt understand this logical leap. I dont know what the truth would be, but. No matter how much We was apany that received investment from the Cheonsu Group, there was a limit. Floss was a popr group that debuted through the survival audition program My Idol Stage. They were the ones I often saw on the panel when appearing on cooking variety shows. It wasnt just popr. They seeded in building a global fandom through simultaneous global airing of survival programs, boasting a level of loyaltyparable to that of the Republic of Floss. The difference in ie they earned would be 100 times. Theres no way they will dy Flossseback because of Climax. Even the Chairman of the Conglomerate couldnt control it that much. System. I had to find out what the hell was going on. I called the system in a firm tone. [Would you like to purchase the rey service?] [Yes/No] It looked like it was waiting for me to use the point. I think its okay to listen to it again, buttheres nothing bad with knowing the details. I nodded and pressed the yes button. Soon after, the surroundings turned gray and turned into another space. Wang! Posil told me as if it were not reality from now on. Im going crazy! That punk is not picking up my call right now? Its useless. I think he turned off his phone. When I looked around, CD packages of singers were disyed as if it were a record productionpany. Four young people were sitting on the sofa with nervous expressions. While one of the two managers kept calling someone from somewhere. The man in the office, who seemed to hold the highest position in thepany, threw the crystal ashtray to the floor. nk! The atmosphere was tumultuous with the sound of ss shattering[CEO of We, Hong Ohkwon]. The proudly shining namete swayed with a rattling sound. Old man, are you senile? Why are you mad at us? Among the young men who seemed to be in Floss, the one sitting farthest away was the one who wasining. Please be quiet. Because theres nothing good about upsetting the CEO. Among them, the most calm-looking member held back his membersints. What else is wrong with that brat? Its not like were going to stay together forever. Lets do well for just two years, but is that that difficult? Then, the manager looked at the CEO without even raising his head and answered. The break between the activities its too short Crazy punk. You should earn it while you can. What do you think will happen if the group disband? The CEO was yelling at the manager and repeating meaningless venting of anger. Meanwhile, the members didnt look good, as though their stress was piling up. Kang Yoogun, that crazy guy, thought he could do anything just because he had the most fans. Its true that he can do anything. If it were us, we would have been hit with a penalty right away and sued. The CEO and Manager Hyung only cares about that punk, and youll be happy when hees back, right? Look closely at the situation. It seemed that there was a member who controlled the fate of the group as much as Cheon Yise. His name is Kang Yoogun, hes a popr member even within Floss. He was certainly more familiar than other names. The faceI thought I would know who it was. As soon as I contact him, he say he will postpone the schedule. A crazy punk who doesnt even know that grace, how can I be happy? As soon as the CEOs permission was granted, the manager continued to thank and apologize. He bowed his head servilely. I dont know who Kang Yoogun is. But I was sure he would never fit me. I couldnt essentially get along with someone who was responsible for making others so miserable. Then will our schedule oveps with Climax scheduled for next month? Another manager who was listening quietly asked the CEO carefully. It wouldnt be okay to move up their schedule! If you turn it around for about two weeks, there wont be any more ces to ept it. The CEO threw objects on the desk randomly and then threw them to the floor to show his anger. They are also a problem. They dont even have money, so shouldnt they be disbanded quickly? What kind of trouble is this because I have to wipe the back of his son because of Chairman Cheon? Then the fire soon spread to the other Floss members. What were you guys doing? Did you just suck your finger while the person with whom you shared the room left? Then the member who hadined politely whispered again. What can I do if he leaves early in the morning. Chanhyung-ah, please I could see the other members trying hard to stop him from making a scene. [Rey Service End of September 2, 23 years old] The surroundings brightened again, and I returned to reality. This wasst year. Then it was about eight months ago. I thought the rey service was only for what Cheon Yises experience. So I never thought I could confirm things that Cheon Yise had never experienced. And this time, I got information that would be helpful in many ways.
  1. CEO Hong, aka President Hong, the CEO of We, considers Climax as a headache.
  2. Floss is a cash cow and a representative product of We, but there are risks due to uncontroble members.
  3. Just like what fans know, its not Climax who changes the schedule. It was Floss who changed Climaxs schedule.
Then shouldnt I at least give an exnation? To be honest, Climax side was in quite a ridiculous situation. It was that side who did something wrong, but were the one who gets all the curses. How dare a failed idol to stand in the way of the best group? Thements were very uproar over the same offense. I searched Floss Climax on the Inte to see the public opinion among idol fans. When I looked through it, I saw that it was to cover up the wrongdoings of the member Kang Yoogun in question. It seemed to have been subtly leaked during Flosss live broadcast or self-made content. The schedule change is not our fault. Thanks to this, people cursed at Climax a lot, but thepany didnt care. A group that doesnt make money, it just wastes the budget. They seemed to think it was fortunate that they could use us in this way. Its hard to let this slide. What if. What if Lim Hyunsungs project went wrong because of the antis who dont even know what business is? Honestly, its none of my business that kids act childish because of their favorite celebrity. However, I had to block everything that got in my way, for my revenge. At that moment, the sense of businessman days began toe back sharply. Floss or something. I will definitely pay you back. When I looked deeper into all of these badments, I didnt see any feedback that would help. I decided to stop checking the results of thest project and now look for the superior Floss. Lets see how good they are. If there was anything to learn, it had to be taken from the enemy. [My Idol Stage > A collection of clips centered on Floss debut members] I couldnt sit down and watch more than 12 episodes of the program for more than an hour per episode. I quickly skimmed through the summary video. Definitely Our kids arent that behind in terms of skills. Judging from the experience of learning the choreography while watching the past activity videos of Climax. Climaxs failure to rise was not due to ack of skill. To put it mildly, our kids were better in some areas. First, I feel a little sorry for Kyunghwa, but. Yejun, Seongwon, and Sunwoo each had an outstanding talent that made it impossible for other idols to beat them. The more I skimmed through the highlights, the more certain I became. What fans want is not a perfect idol. RatherI felt like they were cheering more enthusiastically when there was a part that wascking. It was clear from the fact that the member who debuted as the final No. 1 received a D grade in the first grade evaluation and cried. Entertainment that uses idols who were inexperienced at first, polished them like gemstones as they pass through the stage. It was truly the peak of showmanship. That meansIn the end, what they show on the air determines whether you win or lose. The editing of evil or angel. While going through various entertainment appearances, I also experienced situations where the tone of the scene and the tone of the broadcast were different several times. There was a high probability that only the members who were decided by the production team and being pushed for storytelling were on the debut line. However, Kang Yoogun was a special case among them. At first, it didnt matter much, but around the middle, it started to be a factor of conflict in group assignments. It was to the extent that it seemed as if the production team was deliberately harassing them to swear. [ Whats wrong with the kid? Wow, group A is really kind.] [ Ah Its a personality that can be liked or disliked. Still, entertainment seems to have be a bit more fun since he came out, but I hope you dont curse too much.] [ I think he did it on purpose because if he only tried to y good roles, it would be boring.] Yoogun, who drew attention with his outstanding words and actions, captivated viewers with his thoughtless and light-hearted tone. He looks like he has bad personality but he also has good looks. Big voice, hot stage manners, solid body. When the other participants were embarrassed, Yoogun confidently threw off his top. Fans who were older than him thought all of his problems were cute and were enthusiastic. This is my kid can do it! I pped my hands, thinking of Oh Yejun. Of course, I wont let him do anything unexpected. If its a fool with healthy beauty supported by skills and a little bit of badness, my kid had enough potential. All rightlets get rid of the trouble maker from this guy anduse it as Yejuns benchmarking partner. Personally, I dont like it when I dont like it. However, if there was something to learn there, I had to bring anything. I started watching the broadcast to see if there were any other members I could look up to. And just in time. The main vocalist caught my eyethe one who sighs the most among the four members and is uncooperative in everything. It was the position of Son Seongwon. Chapter 17 Chapter 17 #017. My Houses Kid Is Better (2) If its the main vocalhes probably the best singer among the members. When Ipared the members names by the position I had memorized a little while ago, I could immediately recognize who they were. I listened in anticipation of the level of singing ability of the talented singers I had listened to. I always smiled hoping for the ce next to you- But unexpectedlyit was very disappointing when the tune was not as good as I expected. Even after hearing a few words, the screen switched immediately. Its as if they didnt want to show it for a long time on purpose. They couldnt even sing this properly on set? It was quickly passed on to the next participant, so the reaction of the audience couldnt be confirmed. But the participants who stayed in the corner without blurring never looked bright. Moreover, the result of the show was an overwhelming victory due to the number of points scored by viewers votes. Feeling puzzled, I searched for the name of the main vocalist. [Shim Naru [Search Result]] [Appearance] [Entertainment] [Teenager Singer Star] [My Idol Stage] [Nine Flows Music] etc. Teenage Singer Star was a singing audition show that was popr all over the country a few years ago. At that time, everyone in Korea really liked Teenager Singer Star, and there was a lot of talk about the show everywhere. I tried clicking on the article by moving the mouse a few more times. ording to an interview, he didnt make it to the semifinals, but he was in the top 10. I guess the fans who supported him from then on helped him during the My Idol stage. And at that time, there seemed to be a controversy over his ability once. Originally, hes not enough to make it to the top 10, but it seems like he rose with stardom or something. Is it because he is a performer whose face has already been known through variety shows? Even after that, I could clearly feel that the camera continued to show Shim Naru often. They keep showing it to the point where it doesnt bother me. It would be helpful to show your face wherever you can. If that punk could cooperate, they would send him anywhere. Ive never actually heard him sing. Looking at the music broadcast video that was conducted live, his skills were as good as those of most talented singers. His vocal stat was also the only S grade. It would be nice if there were an opportunity to properly wrap it up and let people know hes talented. I pursed my lips regretfully and decided to put it off untilter. I want to deliver a message of hope to many viewers with songs! Shim Naru, on the screen, smiled, waving his hand at the fans below the stage. Come to think of it, Im curious. Son Seongwon, how did that kid end up being an idol? No matter how much I look at it, it is unlikely that he would have chosen the path of an idol by his own will with that cooperation. Each person has a goal or direction they want, so Ill have to check it out someday. There was nothing to be expected at the moment. Well, I can askter. In addition, it was noticeable that each member adjusted their roles not to ovep. This member is often sent out so that he can be active mainly in variety shows. And another member deliberately focused on the microphone when he had a chance to say something. It seemed good to me that each person emphasized their own roles and shared them. Of course, I dont know whats going on behind that. Lets stop watching My Idol Stage and move on to collecting item references. From My Idol stage clips to Flosss debut video. After skimming through dozens of them, I decided to move on to the next subject. Because its June nowif we started gearing up for aeback three or four months early from now on, it would be September at the earliest or November at thetest. Its toote for summer, too early for winter. Then, it was better toe up with a concept that would work safely in autumn or follow a route that doesnt take much of the season. I think summer is definitely easier to set a concept and show a more colorful side. Even if we had to look at the progress in August, it was too early. I drew a refreshing and bright image in my head for a while, then erased it all. Lets take a look at what concepts other popr idols came out within the fall. The most important thing when nning a new product was not a new and original idea. The original taste is scarier. I like to go a little further than weve tried once because it was easy to fail if I put out somethingpletely new. It was safer to properly digest the previously popr concept and interpret it with our members colors. FirstThe most popr male idol group right now seems to be Floss. Other than that, Day After andHow do I read this? P2CK? When I searched, it seemed to read peak. I targeted a few popr groups and looked for activities from September to Novemberst year. I didnt have an item that I wanted to be like this yet, but I got an outline little by little. It shouldnt be too bright, and it shouldnt be too dark, either. Basically, Climax was a performance group that featured dance. It was necessary to choose a concept that was good for dancing. After excluding this and that, the remaining items were drastically reduced. Lets check the one from two years ago. Two years was enough time for the trend to change, but there was nothing wrong with collecting various references. After finally summarizing and organizing about three or four, the time had already passed. Should I go back? After sitting and staring at the monitor screen for hours, my shoulders were stiff. After eating I should warm up before washing up and go to bed. I stretched all the way, did some simple stretching, and headed to the parking lot. There were still a lot of things I still needed to learn about the idol world. However, I approached it from the perspective of nning a new product, so there was nothing he couldnt do. What people have already experienced, in a way that will not be objectionable, adds only a little bit of my originality. As long as this form was followed, there was no way to fail. It will be like that this time, and it must be like that again. What else should I do for dinner. I was driving back to the dorm from the parking lot, but my mind was elsewhere the whole time. From dinner right now to the first meeting a week from now, and eventually to activities. When my head wasplicated, I had to quickly put something in my mouth to get rid of the random thoughts. There is nothing good about worrying too much. Only my hair falls out quickly. Hmm! After taking a deep breath, I got out of the car and entered the dorm. Sunwoo, who had just finished exercising, greeted me. Water dripped from the ends of his ck hair that clung to his head. Yise Hyung, youre back? Even though he was wearing a simple short-sleeved shirt and shorts, his lines were better than when I first saw him. I, is there something on me? As I slowly scanned him from head to toe, Sunwoo seemed a little embarrassed. No. I feel like youve lost weight. ! Sunwoos face instantly turned red at the unintentionalpliment. I worked really hard today too! PT Ssaem said that if I do this, I will be able to change the first digit one more time within this month! UhmIm afraid thats a little too much to wish for. Well, if short-term goals motivate him, it was good anyway. So be careful about eating so that it doesnte, and cheer up a little more. I tried to stroke his hair like a child out of habit, but I stopped. Ive already stroked it a few times, but. I thought the difference in age was like the age of a son, but Sunwoo and Cheon Yise were only 3 years apart. In some cases, it could be seen as unpleasant. .? When I returned my hand, Sunwoo, who had been slightly lowering his head, looked up at me. Why, what, why. When I answered bluntly, Sunwoo mumbled regretfully. I was wondering if you wouldnt stroke me. Are you a child? When I stroked his ck hair, I gave him a weak scolding, and my palm was wet with water. Im preparing dinner, so hurry up and dry your hair. I wiped my wet hand on the towel Sunwoo was putting on his neck before heading to the kitchen. Sunwoos powerful reply came from behind. Ung! * * * Fortunately, the dinner was peaceful, perhaps because Yejun was away. Sunwooined as if he was disappointed at the sd table following lunch, but he became quiet due to Seongwons sarcastic remarks. I dont know if I should say thank you for this or not. There were many things I wanted to ask as soon as I had a chance to talk with Seongwon alone. From why he wanted to be an idol to what he really wants to do right now. I need to know what hes thinking to decide whether or not to entrust him as the center. I dont know if he knows Im thinking about that, but as soon as Seongwon finished his meal, he locked the door and locked himself in his room. SeriouslyHes not a 14-year-old middle school student. I dont really like the crowded atmosphere. But wouldnt it be a little lonely to lock the door alone like that? While looking at the visit for a while, Yejun returned home, and amotion broke out. Ill go out around lunchtime tomorrow too ande back around the same time as today! Why is he looks so powerful? It seems strangely bitterYejun gave off a fishy smell and smiled broadly. Are you going to see your friend again? Huh? Ung. Yejun gave a vague answer and went into the bathroom. I think hes hiding something. When we first met, it was the same way, and I already knew that he was receiving love calls from all over without the other members knowing. Isnt this punk preparing to stand out before the contract period ends? It was a highly probable suspicion. No way. It would be a really big deal if there were more departures from the current members. Feeling anxious, I kept staring at the bathroom door without realizing it. Hyung? Sunwoo, who was sitting across from my bed through the gap in the open door, tilted his head and called me. Its nothing. It would be nice if it was really nothingand since I dont have a very urgent schedule right now. Ill have to secretly follow him tomorrow. With that in mind, I entered the room as well. Lets do a simple stretch before going to bed. I started nagging Sunwoo to get rid of my nervousness. Oh? Yes! Sunwoo, who had been caught, followed me withoutining, which made me feel better. ReallyIt would be nice if everyone could do just this much Thats what I think for a while. I could see the belly fat that was still firmly attached. Uhm Nevermind. After the night. The next day came quickly. Im going out today because I have work to do. Huh? Yise Hyung, where are you going? Sunwoo, who was eating lunch with a happy expression, asked. Yes, I might bete. I put dinner in the refrigerator, so dont eat snacks. That punk Oh Yejun, it was time to check what the hell he was doing outside. Chapter 18 Chapter 18 #018. Biting the tail to the tail In order to catch up from the beginning where Oh Yejun was going, I quickly finished preparing to go out and left the dorm first. I was sitting in the cafe across from the dorms entrance when Yejun came out of the building about 30 minutester. Whats with that bag again? I didnt know until now because I wasnt interested in how he was going out. But when I looked closely at him today, I saw that he was carrying a big, unidentified backpack behind him. Considering that my body isfortable, I could use the rey service, butthe rey service usually only showed fragmentary situations of about 10 to 20 minutes. I have to waste points like water to find out what happened before and after that. Even though Im not in need of points right nowtheres nothing wrong about saving it. When a full-scale practice or activity begins, it may be necessary to use the skill actively. In preparation for that time, I thought it would be better for my body to suffer a little now. After confirming that Oh Yejun was moving, I slowly left the cafe and followed him, maintaining a distance of about 50 meters. Still, as a celebrity, he thoroughly covered his face. ck mask, ck hat, and sunsses. Dressed like an armed robber, the ce Yejun headed was a shady area scheduled for redevelopment. There is an empty house with a red X drawn on it. Do kids these days meet their friends in ces like this? Graffiti was painted all over the walls of a house that was to be demolished soon. It seems to fit well with hip-hop. Looking around carefully, I followed Yejun, and soon a building with no vacancy sign appeared. Looks like hes going in there. Did his friend wait for him in the building? After hiding behind an old fence, Yejun climbed the stairs to the second floor. Kiik. The iron door opened with an intrusive metal sound, then closed with a thud. I thought that he would meet his friends somewhere in the cafe. If he goes into that tightly closed room, I cant see what hes doing inside, right? Iined to myself and sat down under the fence. If it had been Lim Hyunsungs body before I died, my body would have been sore. Anyway, being young is as good as it gets. Maybe 10 minutes passed like that. As I waited for Yejun toe out, the unpleasant metal sound rang out again. Kiik. It came out. Yejun opened the iron door and came out again and was changing the bag he had carried in the front. Like he was carrying a baby seat forwardhe was holding something else in his hand, like a spoon or a big stic bowl, but I didnt know what it was for. What is that outfit? It looks like hes going to do something weird. Now, it didnt matter which friend he went to see anymore. Its a matter of what he will do with that suspicious and shady outfit. I raised my body, which I had carefully bent down. Meanwhile, Yejun was walking toward a secluded alley. I cant figure out what the hell hes trying to do. If what he was holding in his hand was oil instead of a spoon, he would have been used of being an arsonist. Ah! Finally, Yejun, who entered through a crack in the wall, opened the bag and poured something into the spoon. Is it liquid? Are you going to start a real fire? As I watched with a furrowed brow in astonishment, I heard the sound of something like grains pouring. I dont think its like gasoline what is that. After pouring the grains from the spoon into a t bowl on the floor, Yejun left again. I followed, holding my breath to avoid being noticed. After getting out of the alleyway, Yejun walked for a long time and, this time, entered what seemed to be a parking lot. What are you going to do over there. At that moment, there was a sudden, high-pitched cat cry. Meow! Meow! Meow! And not just one, but several cries that sound like sirens at the same time. Wait a minute! Dont you have to give me time to unpack? Ahaha, ugh, wait a minute! Meow! Four cats with their long tails standing high in the sky surrounded Yejun instantly. With no time to escape, Yejun, who was surrounded, stumbled as he received the cats headbutt. Soon, there was the sound of grains pouring, as I had heard earlier. The cats rushed over to the food bowl in an instant. Eat slowly, slowly. Youre going to throw up. The careful stroking of the cats backs was not something he usually did. I moved closer to Yejun as if possessed by something in an unexpected scene that I had never thought of. What are you doing here? Huh?! Surprised by my sudden appearance, Yejun dropped the spoon he was holding in his hand. The cats at Yejuns feet stepped back, wary of me as if they were surprised, but. In the meantime, some cats were chewing on the food as if they couldnt give up eating. Hyung, what are you doing here!? It was an appropriate question, but I persevered and continued with my words. Youre the one who keeps wandering around, and youre wearing such a suspicious outfit. Then, Yejun fumbled over his clothes and took off his sunsses and hat. Maybe its because he wore a hat tightly in this heat. His reddish hair, which was dimly pressed down, stretched out wildly. Whats wrong with me! What do you mean? I thought you were going around setting fire somewhere. Yejun looked at me with an enlightened look, as if he hadnt even thought about it. Ah? Its not Ah. What are you doing here? I didnt miss the opportunity to push. What do you mean? I was feeding the cat. The answer was so good and natural that it made me raise an eyebrow right away. Why do you feed the cat? Ugh Yejun scratched his cheek as if his mouth was shut. The red hair, which had just sprung out, fluttered in the wind. Sweat dripped down his temples, his eyebrows rebelliously stretched out. As expected, if it is an image of an unhateable troublemaker, it is more like Kang Yoogun or Kang Yookwon. There are some circumstances. What circumstances? It was a conversation that would sound like an interrogation to anyone. In the meantime, the cats, who had filled their stomachs satisfactorily, flocked to Yejuns feet. Meow! Wahaha, w, wait! One of the cats hit Yejuns leg with a heavy body. The ck jeans had a lot of fur on them, but Yejun didnt care. Thatster! There are a lot of ces to feed, so I have to go around quickly. The kids are starving and waiting. What? I raised my voice and asked again, but Yejun didnt care and dragged me. Since youre here, help me! I was dragged away by Yejuns hand, and I headed to the next ce. Three cats were also waiting for Yejun toe. Now there are four left! The redevelopment area looked pretty small from the outside but was quite big when I went all over to feed them. Every time I moved to another ce, new cats were meowing while waiting for Yejun. Yeah, I know youre doing a good job. But is it okay to feed the cat in a neighborhood, not in front of their house? At the time of such doubt, Yejun stopped walking. I turned everything around. Whoo Its not Whoo. Just what are you thinking of doing this? Hes the most well-known guy in this damn group. It would be a big deal if he fought with the residents of the neighborhood. Yejun held the cat in his arms and held it out to me with a face that showed no sign of concern. Hyung, do you want to hug the cat? Dont change the subject. I reached out my hand and swept away the fluffy fur. The short, soft fur touched the fingertips with warmth. I reached out my hand and swept away the fluffy fur. The short, soft fur touched the fingertips with warmth. Just what the hell is the circumstances? My grandmother is sick and is in the hospital right now. Originally, she went here and neutered, rescued, adopted, and fed them. Grandmother? When I touched itit didnt feel as bad as I thought. I asked again with an unresolved expression. Yeah, shes in the hospital until this week for knee surgery. She say its okay because theyre looking for volunteers toe on a temporary basis from next week. But I kept worrying that the kids would starve this week. WellIts fortunate that he didnt have an ident with the secret meeting (?) who tried to get this guy out of nowhere. Are you sure its only until this week? Ung. Now Im going to take the rest of the feed and go in as apanion to grandmother. In the meantime, he wont eat with us and will just eat with his grandmother. While I was immersed in emotion for a while, Yejun suddenly urged me. Ah. With the price for today, Hyung should also go to see my grandmother. She irritates me so much because she wants to see the faces of my friends who I sing together. It just so happened. All of a sudden? Empty hands? What do you mean empty-handed? Shell like it just by looking at a new face! I was dragged to the building where Yejun entered and exited earlier, and I opened my eyes wide at the neater interior than I thought. This is my grandmothers building. Originally, the basement was a studio, the first floor was a practice room, and the second floor was a rented house. As you can see, everyone else has left, so Im the only one using it now. His grandmotherI guess shes doing well financially. Are the grandchildren usually this close to their grandmother? Or is this guy especially close to his grandmother? I didnt know because I grew up without knowing any of my rtives. Looking inside, it was clear that someone was managing it. The practice room, which would have once been full of people practicing choreography, was filled with food bags and no furnishings. I sometimese to the studio to work. They said it would take a year before the demolition could begin. What do you have so much to say? The chattering Yejun was just like the cat that rushed at him earlier. Hyung can use it if you need a ce to practice. Because its a ce that my grandmother leaves for me anyway. Yejun put the food back where it belonged and smiled happily as he pulled the corners of his lips up to his ears. What, I dont need it. Unknowingly, a reflexive blunt remark came out first. Why? Is he not used to hearing stories like this? Hyungsung-ssi iscold hearted man. I dont even know what he likeShould I say that I dont know what to say when I stand in front of Hyunsung-ssi I, who had been dumped after hearing such words from a woman I believed to be in love with. It felt strange to be invited freely by a child who would never have mixed words if I hadnt be Cheon Yise. Well, Hyung, you can find a practice room anywhere, but. Anyway, keep this a secret from the other members. Why? If Kyunghwa Hyung finds out, its obvious that hell be very upset, right? Do you have an idea or not? That was true. I didnt answer but turned my head lightly. And I didnt open my mouth until it was time to open the door. If you bring a cat to the dorm, I know he will kick you out together. Then Yejun burst outughing, saying he really liked it. Are you crazyor are you just an immature fool? I put on the hat I had brought with me when I left the house and turned my head away. It was my turn to be taken to the hospital as a price for stepping on his back. Chapter 19 Chapter 19 #019. Guardians Heart Youre here? Srrk, when I opened the door to the single room, which was maintained at the standard of a hotel, an elderly woman in her 70s opened her eyes. In front of the old woman, there was a caregiver who was peeling fruits. Ung~. Grandma, this is our team leader. Its your first time meeting in person, right? Weve worked together for 5 years, but this is the first time weve met a family that lives together. Even if their rtionship isnt anything special, I was surprised Cheon Yise could maintain the rtionship with such a random behavior unexpectedly like this. Hello, Im Cheon Yise. I naturally nodded to say hello and held out a mango I had bought at the fruit shop in front of the hospital. The quality is not bad, but the price is filthy expensive, so it was a product that I would never have bought when I was Lim Hyunsung. Since she was an old woman, I thought apples or grapes would be better, but Oh Yejun picked up a mango casually. My grandmother likes expensive fruits~. I was embarrassed when he said that, like it was nothing. However, when I came to the hospital room, I understood. No matter how much insurance money came out, it was a high-ss hospital room that would have been too much to pay for a weeks hospitalization in an ordinary house. Why did you bring all your friends without contacting me today? He helps feed the kids. I thought Grandma would like it if I showed it to you while were together. Aigoo, why did you bother to ask for help with that again? Then Oh Yejun replied with a bright smile. I didnt forcefully bring him out to help! It was because my Hyung really likes cats. Yejuns lies made my eyebrows twitch reflexively. Me? I dont particrly hate animals, but I hated having a furry animale close to me. Wang! Even though the status window wasnt floating, were you listening to everything I thought? I could hear Posil barking like a ghost after reading my mind, but it didnt matter. Is that so? I didnt know that Chairman Cheons youngest son was a cat lover. Hmm? I was going to sit still and say hello and go, but I heard a word that popped out of my ear. Do you know my father? When I was living as Lim Hyunsung, I used to click my tongue when I saw Chairman Cheon getting involved in various political scandals. People who have a lot of things are so greedy that when theyre old, they keep going back and forth to court. It was heartbreaking to call such a person a father. Because hes my father now, anyway. When I asked with a somewhat bewildered expression, the old womanughed lightly. Of course, I knew. Its been a while since I retired, so I dont see each other these days. Until about 10 years ago, we probably should have run into each other once or twice. I reflexively recalled Oh Yejuns behavior at the dorm. Come to think of it, the things and clothes that this guy also uses. None of them was cheap. When I was in the dorm, I thought he would get sponsored because hes a celebrity. Looking at the sleek I felt from his grandmother, it seemed highly likely that they were just made with her own money. (t/n: describe someone as sleek, which means that they look rich and stylish. She is as sleek and elegant as any other millionaire businessman.) Ah I see How nice to see your face and say hello like this. Come hang out with Yejun often. Yes, I will visit often. While searching for Climax at the time, ament I saw first came to me. [Theyre a golden spoon group, so you dont have to worry if they fail.] At that time, I thought that such a word came out because of the background of Cheon Yise. It seemed that the words didnte out simply because of Cheon Yise. Its okay, Grandma. Were busy. Were going to start preparing for oureback soon. Then his grandmother threw a dagger with a smile. Yeah, no matter what, even these failed idol kids have a reason to make a fuss for nothing. Tsk tsk. Dont pretend to be cute only when your grandmother is sick, be good at normal times! The word failed idoling out of her mouth as an elderly person was unrealistic. It looked like her caretaker, who shrugged her shoulders, was also trying not tough. Ah, were not a failed idol, you know? Were going to make it big this time. How many times have you blown an empty promise like that? Its not like Grandma cant support you in whatever you want to do, so what if youre a failed idol? It must have been a funny and kind way to cheer up his grandmother, but when she heard the word failed idol, it broke her heart. This time will be very different. I will prepare hard so as not to be ashamed in front of the elders. When I helped him out, Yejun quickly shrugged and continued. Did you hear that? Please look forward to it. Aigoo, yeah, yeah. Do well so you dont humiliated your Grandma. I was a little envious of seeing him fighting and acting like a fool. I realized thats what a family is like. Time passed as we ate fruits and talked about this and that until dinner. Grandma, I will go now. Dont worry about the kids starving because Ill be back tomorrow too. I bowed my head to her as I watched the sunset turn yellow outside the window, and the old woman grabbed my hand tightly. Inseok has lived with me since he was young without his parents, so hes a bit immature. I know youve had a hard time so far, but Ill have to ask for it in the future. Only then did I feel that I could understand the close rtionship between Oh Yejun and his grandmother. Either his parents died in an ident, or they got divorced. Or maybe they didnt have time to take care of him because they were working two jobs. Its one of the three. In fact, I dont think Cheon Yise has put much effort into it. I naturally nodded and smiled. Its nothing. Ill ask Yejun to take good care of me. We will do our best to show good results until the end. With a bowed head, the visit of the guardian (?), which was short or long, came to an end. Slowly, as the door closed and I came out into the hallway, Yejun grinned at me. What do you think? My grandmother is a funny person, right? I only heard curse words. I was dumbfounded and swallowed what I was about tough and replied. Just because. I think your personality didnt just fall out of the sky. What do you mean! Yejun put his arms around the back of my neck and my shoulders and smiled casually. After my mom and dad left in an ident, it must have been hard for my grandma, too. She is the one who raised me and never let me feel alone when I was young. Sometimes she speaks a little harshly, but you can just think of her as that kind of person. Yejun didnt have a shadow on his face as he talked about his dark family history. WellIt must have been hard for you too. Its hard. But I dont even remember it anymore, so it doesnt matter. I didnt grow up alone without a guardian at all. Lastly, Yejun added as he bravely walked out of the hospital lobby. Growing up in Korean society, I knew very well how harsh the environment is when the primary caregiver is not the biological parent. Even though he said that a lot of difficult things must have happened in many ways, its fortunate that they seem to be doing well financially, butthere are things in the world that cannot be solved with money alone. Ah. Im hungry. Were going to go back after eating, right? My stomach will stick to my back. I ended up bursting intoughter at the lightness that popped up again in an instant before the atmosphere had a chance to get darker again. Yeah. Instead, what we eat is a secret to Sunwoo. I felt as if the distance between me and the type I thought I would never get close to had diminished just a little bit. * * * The sun was setting when Yejun and I came out of a famous pork cutlet restaurant near the hospital after filling our stomachs. I wanted to get a taxi right away, but Yejun suggested we walk to help our stomachs digest the food. Even if I walked, it wouldnt take too long, so I nodded my head willingly. Hyung, it sure seems like a person has changed a bit. Of course, since the contents have changed. People cant figure out what it is if its not me, so I answered appropriately. Maybe it feels that way now that Ive changed my mindset. What should I sayDoes it feel like we canmunicate well more than before? Should I say that you draw less lines? This? I walked ahead pretending to be okay, but inside, a hundred question marks were floating around. If I had known I would be able to talk to Hyung so openly, I should have gotten closer to you earlier. Yejuns voice, mixed with regret, gave me a strange feeling. Still, its fortunate that the two of us have the opportunity to y separately like this before the grouppletely disbands. The original Chen Yise was already dead. Even if he became close with Cheon Yise, who changed to Lim Hyunsung, I was a fundamentally different person from the original Cheon Yise. This secret probably wont be revealed even after Cheon Yises quest is over. Then all I could do was adjust it properly. I answered, trying not to hesitate in awkwardness. Dont talk nonsense. When preparations for aeback begin in earnest, I will torment you so that you cante out with such words. He was excluded from the center candidate, but that didnt mean he wouldnt be used. It was more unrealistic that the members who can produce their own songs have never been used properly so far. My revenge will be in vain if I dont perform well here. Everything that was avable had to be used thoroughly. You scare me because youre shy for no reason. I told you not to talk nonsense. Yejun smiled, showing his white teeth. Anyway, it was not to the extent of Seongwon or Sunwoo, but he had a handsome face that made him look cheeky. Then, he jumped and took a few light steps to get to the entrance of the dorm before I did. Is it because its summer now? The night air was damp and humid, as if it had been soaked. The season of Climax and my revenge was about to begin. * * * Time passed, and on the day of the first concept meeting. In the meantime, Sunwoo seeded in losing another 2kg, and I was on my way to the agencys office with Kyunghwa. About Sunwoohow much more does he have to lose in the future? Kyunghwa, sitting in the back seat of the taxi, asked with a nervous look. I think he will be in his early 70s if he loses about 15 kg. Considering how fast hes losing weight, he can do it in a month and a half, right? HmmKyunghwas expression was very uneasy as if he was feeling the pressure of thinking this was thest time. I decided to give a positive answer as much as possible tofort him. As long as it doesnte out, he can pull it off. Dont worry too much because Im definitely controlling his diet so that it doesnte out. Sunwoo, who lost weight in a month, has definitely changed his outline. Its still far from a slim look, but. Still, thanks to his sess in losing more than 10kg, his body fat percentage went down, and he looked healthier on the outside. At this level, it seemed that he could definitely regain his original appearance before theeback. Because Sunwoo is also working hard in his own way. We just have to work hard at what we do. It was the right thing to say, but there was nofort to give other than that right now. Whoo, whoo. When I saw Kyunghwa take a deep breath and get his thoughts under control, I thought I had to be careful. At that moment. It urred to me that I should have asked before entering the meeting. By the way, how did you end up being an idol? When I asked to get to the basics without blinking, I heard something rattle and drop from behind. Chapter 20 Chapter 20 #020. Dead end (1) When I nced back, Kyunghwa bent over, picking up a cell phone that had fallen on the floor. Did you drop your phone? When I looked back and asked, Kyunghwa replied in a panic. Oh, I will look for it. You dont have to worry about it! At the same time, it seemed like I should be worried about how he kept fumbling with his fingers on the floor. Wasnt he originally have a bit calm personality? Why is he so restless? It might have been like that for Sunwoo or Yejun, but I only had a few chances to talk to Kyunghwa one-on-one. I thought he was the most calm Keun Hyung among all the trash because he usually yed the role of a leader. (t/n: is like a big brother.) I answered while hiding my doubts. There is some time to arrive, so find it slowly. Originally, there was a simple reason why Kyunghwa came with me to the concept meeting, which was supposed to be just me. I still cant fully trust myself. Ive been looking for information and studying it for a while, but I was still an outsider in my 40s. It was a shortcut to fail to be 100% sure of the eye of a man in his 40s who was not originally working in the entertainment industry. I thought I was a calm investor and researched, so my intuition wouldnt be too bad. However, it cant be the same as what kids see these days. I needed an indicator to determine how many points I made were the correct answers. Ryu Kyunghwa lifted his head and sat down immediately as if he had found his phone. But his face was still stiff. Dont be too nervous. Man, you say you have a strong heart on stage. Are you strong-hearted only on stage? What I wanted to say came up to the inside of my throat, but I tried to swallow it. I wasnt nervous. It looks like he did it from the outside, but he was too stubborn to admit it. That doesnt help anything. He said that while hiding his face, which looked more pale than usual. I clicked my tongue lightly. After driving for another 15 minutes, the office I arrived at was a 7-story building. It seemed that the entire office building, which seemed to have been built quite a while ago, was divided and used by several business units. I arrived at the entrance and called the manager Hyung. After a while, I was told toe up to Room 502. 5th floor Then I should take the elevator. While I was walking, I quickly looked through the office building. Doesnt this kind of celebrity agency usually check for a pass on the first floor? Im not sure if they recognize me first and let me in because Im a celebrity. The security guard, who was dozing off at the entrance, lifted his head roughly once and let Kyunghwa in. Were the expectations too high because this agency worked with Floss, the most popr group of this generation? When I was Lim Hyunsung, I received several offers from arge agency. I thought it would be a luxurious office building like the agencies I visited back then. It might be natural considering that the entertainment industry is an affiliate that doesnt generate arge surpluspared to what it looks like on the outside. I convinced myself and pressed the elevator button to go up to the 5th floor. There was no significant difference in the food industry. Of course, not as much as the cultural industry. Basically, since there is a sales scale, the ounting alone is hundreds of billions of won. In fact, only one or twopanies have such a low operating profit ratio that they dont make much operating profit. Oh, youre here? When I opened the door to the meeting room lightly and entered, the manager saw me. Aside from the manager, there were about three other employees who looked to be in their mid-twenties or early thirties. Everyonearent they too young? When I entered the new product nning meeting, I felt a sense of ipatibility when I recalled the days when the basics started in myte 30s. Of course, the industry as a whole has to be young. This is the head of the nning team, and these two are Assistant Manager Lee Jinjoo of the nning team. Manager Lee Sejun. Did you meet Manager Lee Sejun for the first time? It was my first time meeting everyone, not just Sejun. Yes, I look forward to your kind cooperation. A man in his mid-twenties, with his khaki hair dyed, waved his hand lightly. I was expecting the usual bow, so I was surprised by the casual attitude and flinched without realizing it. When I thought about it, it was natural. Because now I am not a representative in my 40s, but a 24-year-old idol. First of all, we have a schedule to start our activities from the fourth week of October. Since today is the second week of June, we dont have enough preparation time, so I think well just release the song first and release it as a second full-length album during the next activity. It was important considering that discussions on the contracts expiration will be possible from December this year. You know it wont make money anyway, so theyre saying that as thest activity, we should release a single and finish it. If its a second full-length album, there should be three or four months between the release of the single. Doesnt that mean that it will actually be pushed beyond the contract renewal period? Ryu Kyunghwa also pointed out the part that bothered him as if he had exactly the same thoughts as I did. The head of the nning team, who seemed to be the most experienced among the three nning team members, answered with a smile as if he wouldnt bleed even if he stabbed him. Its a shame that the preparation period is too short, but I think we should do that. Lets do our best this time and cheer up to get good results! To interpret it, No. Go back. You cant release a full-length album. Considering the time, I thought it probably wouldnt be a full-length album and that a mini-album would be fine. What a hopeful twist of the word no. I clicked my tongue lightly inside. Arguing here would only lead to an emotional fight. If it were Cheon Yise, he would have insisted on not doing that. Did hein to Chairman Cheon to let him do something he couldnt, or. It was a meaningless assumption. I hurriedly got my head together and returned to the main topic. Then the timing is fixed. Are the other parts undecided? When I asked, recalling the album preparation process I had been looking for on YouTube, the youngest manager raised his hand. First of all, I picked out about three demo songs and received them. Three are things: A, B, and C. One of the three will be a discard card with a high probability. It would have been fortunate if either of the remaining two had a good one in it. You As soon as I tried to change the subject, Kyunghwa clenched his fist under the desk as if he couldnt understand. How could you give up so easily? What if youre angry? Anyway, theyre people we work with, so youre trying to threaten them? I looked into Kyunghwas eyes with a cold look. Lets talkter. Kyunghwas gaze shook. I continued without giving Kyunghwa an opportunity to intervene and cause trouble. Shall we listen right away? Ah, yes! Ill y the first song for you. The youngest employee immediately turned theptop in a direction that everyone could see and yed a music file. ~~ It was a reggae-style song with English lyrics that were hard to understand. I dont think the quality itself is that bad, but. Isnt the atmosphere too bad to bet in the autumn? It felt like it had been prepared for another groups summer album, and then it was sent here. Shall we listen to the second song right away? Looking at Kyunghwas expression, said that all people are alike. His expression lookedplicated as if he couldnt just cut it off and say he didnt like it. Yes! Ill y it right away. --~ As soon as I heard the second song, I knew it right away. This is a discard card. Likewise, it was a digital pop song with English lyrics. It was such a hectic song that I heard, too. Looking to the side, it seemed that Kyunghwa was also embarrassed. I think 20 years is too soon for the world to ept. Kyunghwa quietly left aint. Uh Usually, songs that are a little ahead of the generation are a hit. Kyunghwa and I looked at each other with stiff expressions, so the team leader made a joke to lighten the mood. I do my best to solve it as a joke. There is a possibility that it can be improved by adding lyrics and going through arrangements, but this was not the case. At this level, I didnt expect the next song. Wouldnt it be better for Cheon Yise to buy songs from outsideposers or remake songs from overseas with his wealth? The second song ended while I was trying hard to squeeze out a way to survive. Now Ill tell you thest draft. Maybe because I was so disappointed with the second song, Kyunghwa seemed to be thinking about how to keep the first song alive to fit the atmosphere of October. Click, thest draft was yed with the sound of clicking the mouse. ~- What? This time, the demo song lyrics were not in English. Its Korean where have I heard this voice? Kyunghwa opened his mouth a moment before I tilted my head. Did Seongwon record the guide for this? Then Assistant Manager Lee Jinjoo nodded immediately. Oh yes. Seongwon often helps the exclusive producer record when he has time. Even though I had high hopes for the only vocalist S, the sound of his voice and his ability to sing were notcking in the sound sources that had already been released. Its really a waste of skill to be buried in obscurity like this. Thats why they would have given him a lot more opportunities here and there if he had just corrected his temper. Even in the middle of it, I med Seongwon inside and puckered my lips. The songis good. If there is a trap, does it sound like its good because Seongwon sings well? Or is it really good? I couldnt distinguish it with my ordinary level ears. The beat, which seemed light but not too shy, resonated rhythmically and matched well with Seongwons sweet voice. When he talks normally, its not like his voice never sounds low, but at first nce, it sounds high. At other times, his low voice brushed the floor. I think this is the best. Kyunghwa dered it first before the song was finished. Maybe its because its a demo guide lyrics, but meaningless words are often repeated, and the same lyrics are used repeatedly. Even though it seemed like the lyrics should have been worked on again from the start. I feel the same way. As soon as they gathered their opinions for thest song, the team leader looked at the other team members. Actually, it was the first song I yed for you that we were pushing for This is a song I got from a really famous overseas producer. You know Dr. Reggie, right? I dont know. I dont even know Korean singers, so how do I know foreign producers? I replied reflexively, squinting my eyes. But the season feels so out of sync. If its going to go out in the fall, I think thest draft would be the best. Then, as if to ask Kyunghwa to throw out a card, a group of people from the nning team came out and tried to persuade him. WelWell, you might think so. Reggae style doesnt juste out in summer. The end ofte summer! Why dont you try to grasp the concept with the same feeling? Why are you so desperate? Putting aside the things I dont understand, the expression on his face clearly showed that we were in trouble because he was stubborn. No, even if you insist, you should do it. Would it work forte summer, even though its the fourth week of October? At this time of year, it was the weather to take out the wool coat. I twitched my eyebrows at the attitude as if he wasnt pushing anything away but trying to hand over a specific n to us. No. I think the third one is the best. The sound of Kyunghwa swallowing dry saliva resonated as the tension ran between me and the team leader. Chapter 21 Chapter 21 #021. Dead end (2) I know they want to get rid of their stock of an idol group they cant use next year. If the person being pushed is me, thats another story. This was also thest project to be prepared after betting on everything. That side might just be a budget cut, but this side is life-and-death revenge. It was something I couldnt give in to just because I was looking out for someone elses circumstances. Im sorry, but by any chance, did you say anything about the first draft in advance? It looked like he didnt know how to hold on so stubbornly on the other side, but his face was quiet, which made it even more worried. I was more concerned because he looked perplexed, as if he didnt know I would hold out so stubbornly. No, its not like that. First of all, quality is the best. The manager, who was in charge of the role of reconciliation in the middle, hurriedly shook his hand and tried to evoke the atmosphere. Then lets go to number three. As for the quality, its enough to upload it through arrangement or recording. In response to my strong reaction, the team leader responded as if it were difficult. Yise-ssi, actually, we found a ce that was perfect for concept art and music video sets. If we go to draft 1, I think it would be good to reduce the preparation period as much as possible Do we really have to go to the draft 3? At this point, it was the moment when the vague possibility in my head turned into certainty. They even arranged a discussion for another group, and then when I rejected it, saying I didnt like it, so they tried to block it this way. Anyway, if it was summer, it might have been a decent proposal. The quality should be good. It must have been more borate than preparing for Climax. But its October, October! I cant believe were making aeback with a midsummer concept in October. I couldnt quite understand it. Then shall we do this? Instead of going to draft 3, I will do as much as possible with my teams internal staff or my own money for nning, arranging, and writing lyrics, except for hiring staff. So there are no extra costs or manpower pay. What? Kyunghwas eyes widened at my unexpected suggestion. What are you talking about? The embarrassed Kyunghwa went out to settle the situation. Wait a minute, lets talk. We dont have to. And as much as I am investing my own money, I would like you to temporarily adjust the share of profits generated from this activity. When things didnt go as they had hoped, the two staff members put on puzzled faces as if they were in trouble. Ohthats I think it will be possible only after I talk to the director and get approval. At that moment, the team leader quickly pounded the calctor in his head and smiled broadly. Perhaps the director will allow it. Then lets do that. Yes? From thepanys point of view, its a group that doesnt make money anyway. There was no reason to stop the kid from the rich family from saying that he would spend his money for thest time. While only Kyunghwa and the manager Hyung stamped their feet in panic, I calmly sorted out the situation. Then I understand that we will proceed with the third draft. Yes The atmosphere, which had been cold and frozen for an instant, finally rxed. You said earlier that you wanted to n the concept within the team, but what do you n to do? As soon as the argument was over, the team leader asked with a wicked smile as if he wanted to shake off his mouth. His mouth was clearly curved, but his eyes were not smiling. Since I didnt do what he wanted, he asked me to prove what a great idea I had. Without hesitation, I held out the USB containing the presentation file I had made at Officetel. Can I use the beam projector? It would be nice to have aser pointer or a clicker, but I didnt want that much. [2019-2020 autumn male idol concept analysis and nning proposal] Design is also a skill. Everyone seemed surprised by the full-fledged presentation of a simple design that uses readability and moderation. I will begin the presentation. As the stats prove, my ability as an idol was just slightly better than the average persons. But what about my skills as a businessman, strategist, and negotiator? Having said it twice, it only made my mouth hurt. From an analysis that summarizes the response of loyal groups (fandom) and non-loyal groups (ordinary people) by a group to an analysis of the sess graph. When I presented the data thoroughly analyzed from the investors point of view, everyone in the conference room was speechless. Of course it would be perfect. I analyzed it thinking that I was investing 30 billion won of my own money. Of course, to put it bluntly, I wasnt one to invest in such an uncertain industry. Im the type of person who cares too much about stability to invest in a stock that can cut you in half if you buy one of the members. I think the 3rd album of Day After and the peak debut single concept series would be the best match for 3rd draft song. Day Afters 3rd album had the concept of rebellious young people gathered in an abandoned factory. The peak debut single was a concept that used the sci-fi sense by adding a futuristic feel to it. I thought it would be good to adjust the strength and weaknesses so that Yejuns rough rapping could be hit while taking advantage of Seongwons unique voice. Wow Manager Sejun, did you see it? This is how the analysis data is made. When everyone was staring with their mouths open, the team leader, who was the first toe to his senses, called the manager. Yise-ssi didnt strongly rmend 3rd draft for nothing. And then I naturally finished it as if it went well. Since it was number one that we wanted to push hard onhaha. I dont have any regrets though. Since you have prepared it so reliably, I will trust you with the future progress. Hmm? I reflexively asked back at the ominous ending. Yes? Then, the team leader softened a little but still gave an ominous smile. Didnt you say you would try to do your best with the teams internal staff? Its good. After a year and a half, this single shows the members doing their best. Dont you think the fans would like it? This? I thought the presentation persuaded him. But he recognizes my skills. There seemed to be still resentment for not being able to use internal inventory. Coincidentally, Oh Yejun is also famous for producing his own songs. Great. Ill give you the draft song, so make a demo with the lyrics. All of a sudden? While I was hesitant about the progress beyond my expectations, Kyunghwa, who had been hardened, intervened. Yes, well try. No, werent you usually the one to stop it at times like this today? Ryu Kyunghwa, who continues to act unexpectedly today, was quite embarrassed. Yeah, its great to see you confident. I swallowed dry saliva at the sentence, questioning whether it was a genuinepliment. * * * Haa After the first concept meeting, Kyunghwa let out a long sigh of relief the moment he got into the taxi. Then why did you say you would try it there? When I asked with a puzzled expression, Kyunghwa answered right away. You prepared so hard there, how can I say I cant do it? Its an excuse. Kyunghwa shook his head when I gave a short answer. Its not an excuse. Looking at you again. I also wanted to reflect and regain my senses. I was very nervous because this was thest time I had been to this ce. Are you all nervous? I did. Its okay because Im used to it on stage. Im also nervous about something I havent experienced before. He was surprised, of course. He would have never thought that Cheon Yise could give such a professional-level analysis presentation. Originally, it was an area that Cheon Yise couldnt do, so there was no particr prejudice. Dont float it. There is no such thing as getting on a ne. It was said as a joke, but I noticed that Kyunghwas body stopped for a moment. Its a very short time, so a normal person wouldnt have noticed. Im not flying a ne. To be honest, I was surprised when you asked me toe into the meeting. What is there to be surprised about? This guy was also about the age of a son by the mental age difference, but on the surface, he was the same age. Thats what it means. It meant that I could have a rtively equal conversation with him, unlike the other guys I had to take care of as an older brother. I wondered if I could enter such a ce. I responded bluntly. What do you think? We are the ones who go on stage to sing and dance. We should be able to see and decide for ourselves what to do. That Kyunghwa seemed to think for a moment about what to say, and then he sighed and replied. You have a different background from us. That was true. Since he opened it up, Ill talk about it. I said with my arms crossed and my back on the seat. If you know, use it. What? Use it. Whether its the manager Hyung or the nning team leader, I dont think thats going to work, but do something else, do something like this. If you keep pushing something thats obvious to fail, use my excuse and refuse. Kyunghwas answer did not return immediately. I cant act rashly like Cheon Yise, whether its an excuse or a justification, Ill take care of it. Just think about what can be sessful. . While there was no answer, I added one more word. Do you know why I said I woulde with you today? Only then did Kyunghwa finally open his mouth. No. I honestly dont understand. Rather than me, Oh Yejun He cant. Why? Kyunghwas eyes in the rearview mirror were shaking. He doesnt have the eyes to objectively see what will be sessful. If its fun, he will stop. Even if our group fails, he wont think that the group is ruined and that he himself is ruined, right? To be honest, I felt a little sorry for Yejun because it was close to a blunt remark, butthe truth was the truth. So it is you. Like a person who somehow repairs broken pieces of porcin to make a bowl when the kids fight. You dont know what to do, but you feel responsible and try to solve it. What does that have to do with this? Kyunghwa frowned at the vague words, not knowing if they were insults orpliments. I mean, as the most desperate and worth leader, I needed your opinion in order not to ruin this group. Tell me to understand. As we talked about this and that, before I knew it, familiar scenery was unfolding outside the car window. It was time to get off in front of the amodation soon. I believe in you. Of course, it was a lie. Although I need it for reference because I am not confident in my practical business as an idol yet. If thiseback was sessful, there was no need to hang on while floating it like this. Kyunghwas face seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then changed to a determined expression. You said you need to reflect on yourself and get back to your senses, right? Go and help me persuade Oh Yejun and Son Seongwon. How did it happen? Why did the two of us decide it arbitrarily? What happened was going to be noisy. Sunwootheres a part where he gets poked. Yes, yes, okay! He cant say anything but that. Ill ask Oh Yejun to arrange the song first. As for the lyrics, I think it would be better to listen to the song sent by e-mail, decide on a part, and write them separately. I also agreed. If Yejun and Seongwon had an argument over a part issue, this guy would act as a buffer. I nodded and pointed to the alley opposite the taxi driver. Driver, please drop me off over there. The weather was steamy as if the rainy season would soon arrive. As soon as I got out of the taxi, raindrops fell to the ground. Its raining. Your hair is going to fall out. Come in quickly. I heard that the ominous feeling doesnt go away. Now it was time to deliver what we heard at the meeting to these trashes. I barely passed one and was walking into the eye of another typhoon. Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Oh Yejun was sitting in front of the TV in the living room and ying with a game console when I opened the door and entered. Sunwoo, who was quietly sitting next to Yejun and staring at the screen, turned around when he heard the door lock sound. Were back. Kyunghwa greeted with a well-organized expression as if he had made up his mind to ovee the painful things in the future. I dont know exactly what hes thinking. Anyway, it was fortunate that a sense of owner spirit was nted in the team, saying, This team needs me. Its the same for anypany. When is the most representative moment when a member loses motivation and decides to leave? Thats when they got the impression that they werent needed for this job. In other words, theres no motivation other than to make them feel like they were needed for the position. Its true that its difficult if you dont actually have it. There was no other business that could give Kyunghwa a sense of responsibility with just a few words. As I said, I was still an outsider and was in a position where there was still a lot left to learn. It was close to impossible to lead the project while controlling these guys who gave me a headache just by looking at them. Lets turn off the TV and gather in the living room. I have something to tell you about what came out of the meeting. While Kyunghwaid the board first, I quickly added. Sunwoo, please go and get Son Seongwon. I opened theptop I had brought to the meeting to y the file I had emailed earlier. In the meantime, Sunwoo nodded. Yes, Ill knock and call him! Even though Sunwoo is not very quick-witted, he cant open Son Seongwons room. I rolled my head and stared at the closed door to see how to solve that picky tyrant. Seongwon Hyung, Yise Hyung and Kyunghwa Hyung want to say about todays meeting. Sunwoo hesitantly knocked on the door with the back of his hand for a while. Seongwon, wearing a headset around his neck, walked out with a frown. Yejun pouted his lips at the high-handed attitude of looking down at the members while sitting or standing on the sofa. You sit down too. Because it doesnt seem like it will be a short story. What do you know? Of course, I cant finish it short. I thought Oh Yejun, who was sharp in every case rted to Son Seongwon, was also really great. Thats possible because hes 22 years old and at the peak of his life. As you got older, you couldnt do that because dealing with each person you didnt like was energy-consuming. Yeah, just sit down. I dont think were going to stand and talk. When Kyunghwa pointed at the seat next to him with his hand, Seongwon snorted once with a disapproving expression. Then he sat down with his arms crossed tightly as if he couldnt help it. They were dumbfounded at his attitude, but everyone knew it would do no good to be touched further. So what was the result? Oh Yejun asked, stretching his long legs outward as if he couldnt wait any longer. Kyunghwa first calmly opened his mouth. First of all, theeback schedule is the fourth week of October. So far, this is what everyone was expecting. ording to the rey video I watchedst time, the average active period of Climax is 2 weeks. It meant that if the same procedure were followed this time, everything would be arranged as promised within the promised six months. It was a situation where we had two weeks to show results that were different from the previous ones. It means that everything will be sorted out in November. Seongwon spat out in a voice that didnt feel the slightest bit warm. In summary, whether it will work or notWe dont know yet. Sunwoo tried hard to correct it, but it was useless. For now, thats what happened. I dont think you need to worry about the preparation period because its going to be a digital single without a physical album release. What? Yejun immediately raised his eyebrows when he heard that the actual album wasnting out. What will happen to the album score if the album doesnte out? 0 points. Because there are no CD sales to count. I naturally nodded my head at Kyunghwas words as if I knew, even though I didnt know. Then practicallyShouldnt we give up the music show rankings? Kyunghwa hesitated a little before answering Yejuns question. Were actuallyhad never been nominated for the first ce, so I didnt know what the album score was. Come to think of it, there was a story like this in the badments from thest album. Its hard to even count the first week sales of the failed idol. First week sales. I knew it was the total of albums sold the week after release. Even sales during that period represent a loyal customer base. I did a search and found that Floss is also carrying outrge-scale joint purchases by fans to increase first-week sales. Unfortunately, I couldnt find a single person who would purchase Climaxs album jointly. Its already difficult, butpared to other groups, you have to bear the penalty. Yejun tantly showed disappointment. Sunwoo and Seongwon didnt openly distort their expressions, but they couldnt be happy. Because there are many groups that won first ce even without an album score. Do you think it would be us? While Kyunghwa was trying to relieve the stiff atmosphere, Seongwon made things go wrong. It was my turn to intervene, having been listening all along. Anyway, thats how it happened. I heard about 3 sample songs, but one seems to have been rejected while preparing for another group. The other one was too low quality, so I picked the best one. I turned the screen of the brightly litptop so that everyone could see it. As soon as the meeting was over, the e-mail sent by the nning team staff opened with a few clicks, and the download started. I dont think the song is bad. I think Seongwon knows this song, too. Then, in an instant, Seongwons handsome face frowned in question. What? I pressed the y button at the right time and put my index finger over my lips as I did it. ~- Listening to Seongwons voice a little while ago, it was clear that he was slightly younger than now. Has it been some time since he recorded it? As soon as a short reasoning came to mind, Seongwons expression distorted. Where did you get this? Where did you get this? Of course, I got it from the nning team. I couldnt understand why he was so sensitive right now. The nning team gave it to me. The other sample didnt seem right, so I chose this one.. Then, Seongwon bit his lip with a veryplicated expression. This This what? Shouldnt you finish what youre saying? As I waited for his next words with my eyebrows raised, Seongwon closed theptop with his hand. What are you doing. Yejun shouted nervously before me. I cant sing this. What? What? Everyone was bewildered by Seongwons sudden boycott deration. Seongwon stood up as everyone looked up at him in shock, like a dog chasing chickens. If youre going to do this, Ill leave. Hey what nonsense are you talking about? Is group activity a joke? You have to exin it, you suddenly sat down with bullshit. Yejun got up and growled like he was going to grab Seongwon by the cor right away. Fortunately, he didnt really grab his cor, so I could breathe a sigh of relief on my own. Im going crazy. Why is this b*stard suddenly like this? I read the atmosphere around me to figure out what the hell this was all about, and then I said in a low voice. System. Wang! Posil waggled its tail happily as if it had been waiting for a long time. As expected, dogs are cuter than cats. I didnt mean to do it in this situation, but it suddenly came to mind since Yejun was in front of my eyes. Rey service, can I use it now? [Would you like to purchase the rey service?] [Yes/No] It was a yes without looking further. The surroundings instantly turned ck and white, stained with darkness. When my eyes brightened again, I was in a space that looked like a recording studio. Wang! When I lifted up Posil, who happily barked at me, I felt a solid frame, unlike the cat. Hehehe. Is it because I hugged it? Posil lifted its snout as if excited and tried to lick my chin. Stay still. The service is ying. As I was hugging Posil, who had be quiet after being scolded, I heard the sound of something being thrown in the recording studio. I dont understand what the manager is saying. It was Seongwon with a young face that made me wonder if he had just graduated from middle school. I know you are upset. Since the CEOs instructions came out like that, theres nothing we can do about it. I am sorry. Then, Seongwon strongly protested as if he couldnt understand. You said I passed the preliminaries. You said I would go on air from September. I said you could go on air. You know that we dont have control over broadcast editing, so its not something that can be confirmed. What kind of broadcast are you talking about? When I wondered about it for a moment, Posil barked and turned my attention to the wall with its snout. [Teenager Singer Star] [Scheduled to air from September] What should I think if you say that when Ive done all the preparation for the music but cant appear on the broadcast? Since you are still young, there will be many opportunities, and you can go out next season instead of this season. Dont make me look bad because you said something you dont like when adultseter. Im saying this because I want you to do well. Teenager Singer Star was a program where the guy who was the main vocalist of Floss went out and gained poprity. Looking at the situation, I dont know what season Seongwon was in, but it seemed like he was preparing to appear. However, it failed due to some kind of issues between adults, and the prepared song was eventually discarded. I guess thats the story. I put Posil down on the floor gently and looked at the file name in the editing program. [Drink me] Yeah. The file name was like this before. Since the first one was reused, I thought the second and third were still new drafts. Rather, it was a much older rehash than the first. The CEO is making ns for you to debut sooner orter. Dont be too disappointed and wait a little longer. Seongwon, who still couldnt let go of his anger, was left alone in the studio. Is it because hes young? He couldnt control his anger, and soon I heard a sobbing sound. If only there were things that could be solved by crying, life wouldnt be this hard. Tsk, I clicked my tongue lightly while leaning against the wall. If its a song with this background story, I didnt understand why he acted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. But you punk. You have to tell everyone what the story is so they will understand. And even if there was a story, I couldnt change the song now. No more, no less, because I had been arguing with the team leader about what to do with this an hour ago. It was the same that we couldnt back down either. How am I going to convince him of this now. [Rey Service End of July 29, 18 years old] I whistled lightly and returned to reality. Chapter 23 Chapter 23 #023. Negotiation and Persuasion When I returned to reality, the cold atmosphere of courtesy greeted me. That crazy punk ran away after talking about himself again. Yejun red at Seongwons back as if he was about to grab him by the cor. Shouldnt we talk more? Sunwoo walked back and forth nervously. If we cant talk to him, what should we do? But it is difficult to change the songI had a hard time talking with the team leader. They kept trying to bring in a reggae style that didnt match the season. He sighed and messed up his hair as if he was in trouble. His slightly curly light brown hair was disheveled. Ive raised my sense of responsibility at best, but I cant let it go down because of something like this. I got up from my seat. Wait a minute. Ill talk to Son Seongwon ande back. Then Sunwoo looked at me with sad eyes. Will Seongwon Hyung open the door? What if he doesnt open it? Ill have to call a locksmith and get it in. For such a guy, the answer was to go strong as a counterattack. Whether or not he locks himself in a room as narrow as a cowhide. I had to show him a lesson that I wouldnt let him live up to his stubbornness. First, all three of you stay here. I will talk to him. I calmed down and stood in front of Seongwons room alone. I tried turning the handle, but of course, it was locked. Son Seongwon. Lets talk for a minute. . No answer came from the other side of the door. I knocked on the door once more with the back of my hand. Is he crying? No, he wont cry, right? If he had grown up for six years. Dont ignore it. If you dont answer, Ill open the door and go in. Then I could just barely hear the sound of the nket moving inside. Do you want to see me scream loudly and embarrass you in front of all the kids? Do you think I cant? From what Ive seen so far, this guy hates being embarrassed in front of other people the most. He was a guy who always held his chin up high and lived for his good taste, so it was natural in a way. He wouldnt even want me to counterattack by shouting, making a big scene, or breaking in after the door was opened. I said I wouldnt sing that song earlier. Only then did the answer return from beyond the door. So lets talk a little bit. Dont just say no. I have nothing to say. What would you do if I were there? Whoo. In that case, I had no choice but to use the trump card on this side as well. Are you bothered because its a song you prepared for Teenager Singer Star? I whispered between the cracks in the door, and a surprise sound leaked from inside as if a fire had been lit. Did the nning team leader tell you all of that? I guess hes starting to talk about it now. I answered with a slight click of tongue. No. The other kids dont know. So if you dont want to get caught, open the door. Kiik! The poor maintenance made the hinges spin and made a loud noise. Seongwon was staring at me through the narrow gap in the door. Come in. It was a time of negotiation and persuasion. As soon as I stepped into the room, Seongwon immediately closed the door. There was a strange damp smell in the room. Its not that its unpleasant. The unique smell of aqua remained light. How did you know? Seongwon immediately grabbed my cor. My back automatically hit the wall, causing a tingling pain down my back. I didnt want to confirm like this that my back wasnt normal. I gritted my teeth and answered with pain. I know more than that. Even the things you dont want to tell other guys. It was bluffing. Well, if I use the system, I can dig up as much as I want. I wasnt hot-headed enough to waste my money on the damn kid. You wanted to be a singer, right? Not an idol. Instead of answering, Seongwon flinched his big body. Hes not a kid. I couldnt ept a grown mans whining. No matter what the oue is, youre on the same boat until thiseback. Do you think you can ruin yourst group activities like this and do well as a solo artist in the future? As if those words were like setting fire to a fuse, Seongwon grabbed my cor again. Even though Im never pushed by my physique. Seongwons hands gripped the cor tightly, and my toes moved away from the ground. So what, are you threatening me? He looks at me with his eyes open. Youre going to catch someone with your expression. But if I were scared here, I wouldnt have said anything at all about opening the door. I answered without the slightest hesitation. If you follow this activity without a word, Ill make you appear in Star Discovery. What? Seongwons eyes widened at the unexpected words, and his hands rxed. Thanks to that, I could put my feet on the ground again ande down. What is Star Discovery? It was a program in which unknown singers took off their rank badges and onlypeted with their singing so that only their skills would show. The winner was invited to various contests or music programs hosted by the channel, as well as prize money. It was famous for its fiercepetition because it was a program aired as a special feature only on holidays. This must be pretty tasty bait. Theyve already done the third round, so now theyre about to do the fourth round. There was no way that anyone didnt want to go to a position where the topic and profitability were guaranteed. WellI dont know if he can actually win it. If the Cheonsu Group joins as a sponsor, it wont be difficult to include at least one member. If the Cheonsu group is difficult, at least the Cheonsu Hotel will fully support me. If you think about how normal program casting works, the casting for Star Discovery would have happened around the beginning of September. The broadcast will be ALL live anyway, so what to do when I go out ande back Its up to me. Seongwons eyes were shaking because of the negotiations he hadnt even thought of. Think carefully. Do you want to live in obscurity for the rest of your life and be forgotten? Or take thest chance. I could hear Seongwons teeth grinding. You want to continue singing. Seongwons hand trembled at the sentence that seemed to drive a wedge. Then you should listen carefully to what Hyung has to say. Seongwon turned his head away from me and clenched his teeth. Negotiation principle number one. Make the other party clearly aware of the other partys condition and position. Second. Make an offer where the penalty is clearly perceived if the other party refuses. Andstly. Lets go out. We have a lot of work to do. We have to make it work this time. Everyone knows youre the kind of guy who would do it. Ugh, I felt sick to my stomach, but I was an adult. It was nothing like standing upright and stroking the hair of a kid who couldnt say anything but hateful words. I will thoroughly reward and punish the other persons reaction. Now that Seongwon had broken his stubbornness, it was my turn to feed him carrots. When Seongwon was dragged into the living room while forcibly maintaining a smile on the face, the expressions on the members faces were very good to see. Seongwon Hyung, are you okay? Sunwoo hesitated and wandered in front of Seongwon. I blocked Sunwoo with one hand and put Seongwon on the sofa. First of all, were running out of time, so Ill quickly organize the things that came up during the meeting. Y, yeah Yejun also had a confused look on his face, but I continued talking without even giving him time to turn on a local TV station. Editing and writing lyrics, we have to do it ourselves. Because I rejected the song that the team leader was pushing, it seemed that the aim was entirely misled. What? Where is such a thing? If thepany doesnt do that, why do they take themission? Of course, I had the same thought. Thats it.I think it was meant to be Flosss new summer song, but it sounded like they were trying to recycle the old ones on us instead. If its summer, its not the right season at all. Yes, thats the problem, so we refused. He said that they would prepare as much as possible so that we wouldnt have to spend extra money. Kyunghwa didnt miss the timing and summarized the main points well. I said while looking at Yejun so that the flow wouldnt be interrupted. So what Im saying is. Can I ask you to arrange it? Me? Well, why do you look so surprised when you say that you are good at writing your own songs? Ive never worked on a song for business before. Try it this time. The fact that the member participated in the production will be a good promotion. Its thest one. When I added a cheat-key remark at the end, Yejun nodded slowly. Okay. Ill give it a try. After that, I took a deep breath and continued. For the time being, we try to solve the lyrics within ourselves. Im going to leave the final review and sensible refinement to the experts. Lastly, think of it as a window where we can say what we want to say to our fans and use it. When I quoted an interview with a producer idol that I had seen while searching for data at first nce, everyone looked quite convinced. Last Sunwoo murmured softly, but I didnt feel the need tofort him. Then what about the concept and choreography? I answered quickly, drawing in hard currency. The detailed concept and nning will be done by me and Kyunghwa. Ill look for a professional choreographer. As long as you have money, there will be nothing you cant do. Ah. Theres something you cant dothe float. I corrected myself and checked the members expressions. If you all understand, Ill send you a file, so organize the images or lyrics thate to mind. Kyunghwa, you should start the meeting again with me from now on. Okay, would you like to go to the table? I think it would be better to keep your notes in a notebook and put them in order. Yes. First, Ill send it to the chat room for music files via messenger and move it there. After the specific roles each of us had to y were subdivided, it felt like we could see a little bit of a path. Seongwon still didnt seem to feel refreshed, but. Well have to talk about that one more timeter. Once we seeded in drawing cooperation for now. What can I do? Seongwon went back to his room. Yejun went into a room where there was aputer and lightly touched it. Sunwoo, who was left alone in the living room, looked at me awkwardly, not knowing what to do. As you listen to the sample song, organize keywords or lyrics that you think would suit something like this. Yes! Ill do my best! Sunwoo nodded his head desperately. Lets start. When Kyunghwa put the notebook on the table where he was sitting first, he felt his head clear. You. Youre so reliable today. Kyunghwa smiled andughed lightly. Of course. How long has it been since I endured as a businessman and overcame it? Stop talking nonsense and focus. If we produce results quickly, thepany says they will show us something this time. Unknowingly, a sharp sentence came out again, but it didnt matter. [Remaining period until test end (contract expiration): 161 days] The full-fledged journey to survive as an idol has now begun. Chapter 24 Chapter 24 When I woke up the next day, my whole body hurt. It was a little ufortable, but it was not too much to move if I stretched properly. Lets look at the draft again before going to bed. When I took the mouse from Kyunghwas hand, who was sleeping in front of the table, and moved it, the monitor screen that was in sleep mode turned on. I was worried about what to do if there were a lot of things to fix because we were both works made in situations where sleepiness was pushed to the limit. It was a pretty usible n, perhaps because I hadnt reviewed it alone. It would have to be a little more specific bybining the keywords and lyrics that the other members chose during the night. The key keyword is Rescue. A dystopia with a near-future atmosphere contains a situation in which a lover is trapped in ruins. The lyrics for the sample recording seemed more tant and decadent than saying that they made me feel sweet pain or that I wasnt satisfied with just one shot. Wait. If Chen Yise was 18, isnt Son Seongwon 16? Can they make a kid sing those lyrics? Aside from the part where my forehead frowns. It was reckless because Climax had already failed once when they came out with a decadent concept at this time. To be ruined is to be ruined. It must look like were trying to do some unconventional noise marketing to attract attention. Its not that I dont understand the desperate feeling of choosing such a method, but I didnt want to do it. Climaxs goal this time is to attract a small number of loyal customers and increase the unfavourable impression to a favorable impression. There was no point in making noise marketing a hot topic. It wasnt even a strategy that could work as a male idol strategy. The theme of Drink me itself goes well with the sample song, so I want to take it as it is. While I was fiddling with the page where I had scrapped the data beforehand, Sunwoo rubbed his eyes and walked out. You woke up so early? Its been a long time since the sun came outit was only nine oclock, but I nced out the window as if it were noon. Because we dont have time. Have you add the lyrics? When I held out his hand as if I was checking my homework, Sunwoo hurried into the room, brought a notebook, and answered. Yes, Im not confident, butI tried it. Did you sleep wellst night? I dont think you came into the room. I worked through the night in my 40s, but cant I do it at 24? I answered lightly and epted the notebook Sunwoo held out. I slept on the sofa for a while. Can you move Kyunghwa to his room? I peeked at him and saw that he was in a deep sleep, as if he had almost passed out because he had never worked so hard without sleep. Yes! Sunwoo nodded happily. I was amazed when I saw Kyunghwas body lifted out of Sunwoos arms as if it were being carried on a stretcher. Hes also tall, so hes probably over mid-60s, but hes just holding it as if it was nothing. Sunwoo, who supported Kyunghwas weight with only one arm, pulled the room knob with his right hand. And a scream followed immediately. Argh!! U, ugh! What else? I stuck my head out and looked around to see what was happening. Yejun, who seemed to have not slept sincest night until now, was ring at Sunwoo with wide eyes. I, I mean knock when youe in! Im sorry, I thought you were sleeping, uhI was worried that I might wake you. It was not unreasonable for Sunwoo to think so. Because Oh Yejun was someone I had never seen woke up at this time on days when he didnt have a schedule. AhI thought I would have to do a little more, so I kept working on it, but the time was like this. Close your eyes. Hyungs face really looks like a panda. Sunwoo mumbled in a low voice as if he was worried. I want to go to the studio right away and touch the equipment while its bright. While Sunwoo carefully moved the Kyunghwa and put him down on the bed, Yejun talked to himself and organized theputer. Go to sleep. I dont want to hear the leader who abused the members without sleeping. As I turned off myptop to give a break after working hard all night and leaned against the doorframe, Yejun looked up at me with sleepy eyes. ThenIll just sleep for an hour and go to the studio. Yejun slipped out of his chair and headed for the bed. It was faster for me to snatch Yejuns wrist than for Yejuns butt to touch the seat. Before that, give some of the files youve edited so far. Ah, right. Yejun nodded and uploaded an MP3 file to the group chat room. y it. The keywords and lyrics Ivepiled are there, so you can refer to them if necessary. When I let go of his wrist, Yejun took a small breath andy down on the bed. Wake me up in an hour, by all means. Ung! Sunwoo nodded furiously and covered him with a nket over the sleeping Kyunghwa. Is Son Seongwon all thats left? I didnt feelfortable yesterday because I didnt finish it in a very pleasant way. What do I do if he feelsplicated and upset? What do you think would make me feel good? Standing in front of the door that Seongwon uses alone with a twisted mind, it was already hurt. Are you awake? I lightly knocked on the door with the back of my hand, and there was the sound of a chair turning inside. Then, with the sound of footsteps, the lock opened. Lyrics. Just select the parts that are usable and discard the parts that are not. Did you wake up? Did you sleep well? How are the preparations going? It was natural to say this kind of greeting. However, Son Seongwon just put down the sheet of paper that he said was lyrics. Fortunately, I could reach out quickly and not drop it on the floor. Anyway, with this guys personality. Yeah. Yejunie posted a temporary arrangement on the chat room, so listen to that too. Instead of answering in words, Seongwon nodded once. Then, he closed the door as if he were in a hurry. What do I expect from him? Its just a relief that I dont have chores. As I lightly caught my breath and opened the note in my hand, keywords simr to what Kyunghwa and I were thinking ovepped quite a bit. [You hurt me again] [Were going to get further away] [I cant stop] [I keep lingering in the same spot for you] What kind of unrequited love? The stone-hearted bully didnt deserve to write such desperate lyrics. However, apart from the fact that it didnt suit him, it looked sophisticated even to my eyes, who had no sense in this area yet. Can I see it, too? Yeah. When I showed the lyrics written by Seongwon to Sunwoo, who was snooping around, Sunwoo panicked. What is it? Whats wrong with you? When I stepped back in surprise, Sunwoo rushed for the notebook in my hand. What are you doing! G, give me back what I wrote! What again! Lets run away and open the notebook before its taken away, rather than lyrics. Hmm Ill save my words to protect Sunwoos human rights. In many ways, I was convinced that he had no talent as a lyricist. No, putting yours together would be helpful. I took a picture of the notebook with a cell phone camera with soulless encouragement. Its totally a public execution! Well, thats true. Because its cute in its own way. I was certain that some of his fans would want to see something like this. Im going to keep it on record in advance. Do you call this ck history? I hope that the fact that you are better at being an idol than a poet or lyricist will make you feel better. Sunwooined for a long time about how my words were close to turning around, but it didnt matter. Ipletely ignored Seonwoo and sat down at the table again to y the music edited by Yejun. -~ Seongwons vocals disappeared, so I couldnt feel what he was singing about, but it was much cleaner. The old feeling was removed, and it was definitely closer to thetest trend. It was a sophisticated arrangementparable to most idol hit songs. With this level of skill, its definitely worth trying to recruit here and there. This is enough for me to briefly touch at a safe point. Wow Yejun Hyung is really amazing. Sunwoo must have had the same thought, and his expression turned sullen. Why do you look like that again? Where are you disappointed? When I asked directly, Sunwoo answered without looking at me. Everyone is capable, but only meI seems useless. What nonsense. I grabbed Sunwoos cheeks at once with my right hand. U, ugh what are you doing! Sunwoo struggled and tried to escape, but it was useless. Because you show off your best abilities just by being there, so just work hard to control your weight before filming begins. You are already doing your part with that face alone. I couldnt bear to say that the face was enough, so I said it back. Sunwoo nodded his head while holding his lips like a crucian carp. Dont cry because your face will be ruined. You can cry only when you win first ce on a music show. Sunwoos head shook up and down once again. Yeah, good boy. There was no more time to wasteforting him. After lightly stroking his hair, I returned to theptop again. Now it was time to add lyrics to the arranged song. Thebination of what Kyunghwa wrote before going to bed, what Yejun wrote, and what Seongwon wrote was worth using several peoples heads. Before picking out the 1st finished version, I should refer to the atmosphere of other hit songs. When I entered the music charts, I saw Floss, who was still holding the number one spot even though it had already been 3 weeks since theireback. I pressed the y button with a disapproving look. [Spark, I burn more] [Blow away all the heat, Burn it!] [Hey there, as if its just you and me this summer] English is in every line. All the other songs felt the same. Is it because the beat is cut short when a short English word is entered, and it seems to be moderate? When I clicked on the album art one more time to end the yback, a guy with a refreshing smile caught my eye in the pictorial. Is this guy Kang Yoogun? Looking back, the kids in my house were better. I snorted lightly and divided the verse and chorus, making three candidates for each section. Whoo. After taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door and went in just as Yejun said an hour had passed. Yejun suddenly came to his senses after being startled like a fish pulled out of the water. I sent you the concept material via personal chat, so go to the studio and check it out before you work on it. Okay. Ill open it on my phone and look at it as I go. Yejun, who barely regained consciousness, started preparing to leave. Time passed in an instant as I sent Yejun to the studio and prepared breakfast and lunch. Im going to go work out! Compared to the first time I saw him, Sunwoo, who had be slimmer, greeted me with a bright voice and left the door. How did I get past the crisis with this? It wasnt a positive situation, but it wasnt a time to despair either. If I had followed what thepany told me to do like before, I wouldnt have been able to check what everyone was capable of. Real baseball starts with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning. Driven to the cliff, now was the turn to show a twist to those who ignored Climax. Even though we had strengthened our will, an unexpected disaster was still waiting for us. Chapter 25 Chapter 25 #025. Unexpected Opportunity A week has passed since they started to elerate preparations for a specificeback. In the meantime, Yejun finished all the arrangements, and I collected points by targeting small sub-quests. I didnt forget to raise the dance and performance characteristics with the crystals obtained from the points collected. Its been about a month since I lived as Cheon Yise. It wasnt as serious as when I first possessed it, but it was still at a level where I couldnt rx. [Profile] [Name: Cheon Yise (Lim Hyunseong) 24 years old] [Characteristic] Visual: S Vocal: D Dance: A Performance: B Attractiveness: A Speech: A Now hmm. The only thing thats wed is the vocals. I wondered if I should ask the system for special vocal training, but my position was the main dancer and sub-rapper. I think my rap skills have improved a little since my performance has improved. I didnt have a chance to check it, so I just thought that it would be better first. Sunwoo also seeded in losing an additional 4kg in the meantime. Is he in the early 80kg now? The first jacket shooting was a monthter, and even this was pushed back as much as possible because of Sunwoo. Should I rather say thanks to Sunwoo There were so many problems to solve that I thought I needed a break before starting filming. Hell be able to lose about 10kg more by then. Hes still pretty tall, and I didnt think he was that fat. This could be because he lost weight and built muscle during that time. But it was as if to prove that standing in front of a camera needs hard work. Wow Doesnt this make some sense? Just in case, Seonwoo stood in front of the camera for a while and showed a 1.3 times bigger body. He needs to keep his diet a little longer. If you get tired of the food, tell me. Its better for me to do it for you than for you to secretly pick up and eat strange things. I suggested it as a way to encourage Sunwoo to continue the diet, but an unexpected response came back. Wasnt I also still eating well? What do you mean when you keep eating nothing but sd? I wondered, and there was a reason for that. When I saw what Sunwoo and the other idols he knew when they were still trainees ate, I was speechless. Isnt this child abuse? Even at their highest peak, middle school and high school students are the size of half an apple and an egg. I couldnt believe the reality of offering something like this as a diet. (t/n: I dont really understand what this means;;) This is why youre ruining your body. Obviously, you cant keep up with such an extreme diet. When a persons body bnce fell apart because of an unbnced diet, they were bound to get stuck in a cycle of fasting and binge restriction. In my mind, I wanted to make something and feed them. Low calorie, high satiety, and taste, I cant miss anything. But for now, it was clearly meddlesome. I have to take good care of myself, for now. * * * Meanwhile, an unexpected opportunity came. Oh? Whats this? I suddenly have 800 more followers. Kyunghwa, who was touching his cell phone, came out to the living room with wide-open eyes. Climax was a group that wasnt even chosen by foreign K-pop fandoms. Even the number of followers on official social media didnt exceed 10K. It was natural. If we had a few foreign members, we would have been able to do patriotic marketing. Except for one, everyone debuted as a Korean. The foreign member who was there left at the end of the preparation for the debut album. If it were another group, it wouldnt have been obvious if it increased by 800, but. It was a very noticeable numerical change among Climaxs followers. What? Did we post something wrong? Yejun, who had been exhausted after receiving PT to build his body, jumped up. If the number of followers increases, the first thing to worry about is whether or not you made a mistake. It was disastrous, but that was the position of Climax now. The first time we got the attention was when we were used of ruining Flosss schedule, but. The experience at that time seemed to be imprinted as a painful memory until now. I dont think theres anything? Oh Yejun, did you make a mistake? When I reflexively suspected Yejun, who had the most external activities, Yejun, who was eating the cucumber I sliced for Sunwoo to eat, jumped up. Why are you doing this to me all of a sudden? I didnt do anything. Although he was stealing and eating cucumbers prepared for others to eat, yes, this was not an incident that would be an external issue. Then everyones eyes immediately shifted to Seongwon. Do you think Im that guy? Seongwon shook his head in disgust. He didnt have to say who that guy was for me to know who he was talking about. What, dont pick a fight. I knew this would happen. I intervened between the two with ghostly timing and stopped the fight. Both of you, keep quiet and look at the reaction if there are anyments. Thest post posted was a selfie posted by Seongwon. It doesnt seem like much of a problem. When I pressed the explodingments with a lot of anxiety, they were making almost the same sound. [- Could you please post the sd recipe?] [- Please share the sd recipe Na Sunyoung ate] [- Is this the group where Na Sunyoungs brother is the main vocalist?] [- Can you tell me the sd pasta dressing that Sunyoung ate?] [- Na Sunyoungs promotional effect is amazing] There was no doubt that Sunwoo had something to do with it. Sunwoo was away from the dorm yesterday because he would visit his parents for a day. If they try to feed him at home because they feel bad for him, he probably tells them he wont eat it with that face. Sunwoo nodded vigorously at my request. Even then, I was not relieved. This punkwhen he first came, even in that dogfight, he reached for the snack with the intention of eating it, right? To alleviate my anxiety, I prepared a meal to eat at his parents house like a boxed lunch, but what is this? When I entered the main screen of SNS, [Na Sunyoung Sd] and [Na Sunyoung Instagram] were around fifth ce in the real-time trend. Someone hurry up and go to Na Sunyoungs Instagram. When I was Lim Hyunseong, I managed several Instagram ounts forpany marketing purposes. But Ive never essed it as a Chen Yise. Ive never felt the need. Let me see. Ryu Kyunghwa, with a rather nervous expression, opened the app. I could hear Kyunghwas heartbeat even in my ear next to me. He seems very nervous, but on the outside hes quite calm. Its something Ivee to know while living my life. Contrary to its usible skill name, Kyunghwa was not the type to have the courage to call it a strong heart. But that doesnt mean hes a coward. Originally, he is not very courageous, but should I say that he is the type to prepare perfectly by beating even a stone bridge until it breaks? On top of that, it has to be me. He was a guy who never backed down the moment a sense of responsibility was exerted. In the eyes of others, hell look like hes not trembling normally and is bold. In fact, he was actually a hard worker who tried very hard behind the scenes. I lowered my head and looked at the screen that Kyunghwa had put out. [Hello everyone, Aurora! Today, my younger brother Sunwoo came to y at our parents house for the first time in a while! Did you bring this much sd for diet management on your way home? The member made him do his best to manage his diet. Will this weak-willed, pure kid be able to seed in his diet ande back with a great look? Its so delicious. How can a diet meal be so delicious? I wont get tired even if I eat this for a month. #All of these_homemade recipes #I didnt buy it_I made it #Its my brothers_but Noona ate it all #Pris #Dailylife #Selfie #Communication #Climax #Sunyoung #NaSunwoo] Pris was a girl group that I had heard of quite a bit. A selfie taken by Sunwoo with his sister was posted along with a short daily text. Sunwoo, who had worked hard with the correction app, was smiling brightly, with a much slimmer face than he actually was. Look at the reaction in thements. At my request, Kyunghwa scrolled down to scan peoples reactions. I think its good! [- Heol Unnie, it looks so delicious ] [- Unnie where do you need to diet? You only eat sd ] [- Wow, the handsome brothers and sisters faces are amazing] [- The two of them are siblings, so their facial expressions are the same, so its veryfortable for the eyes to see-] [- Ha I just ate Braised Spicy Chicken, but Unnie ate sd for dinner. Does that make me trash?] 70% of thements praised Na Sunyoung, 15% liked Sunwoo, and the remaining 15% said, It looks delicious, I want to eat it too. If he had a family that could be used for publicity like this, he should have said it earlier! Of course, I didnt even ask. AhI shouldve taken care of him more. It was toote to regret it now. Anyway I dont think it went up as a bad thing. Then should we just leave it like this? Yejun scratched his cheek and asked. What are you talking about? Do you know how much it takes to run an hour of a real-time trend ad? I almost spat out a sound that I couldnt understand, but I managed to hold it in. Do you have an ount that can turn on our live broadcast? You row when the wateres in. I had to pluck the horns of the iron as well. There was no n, and as an idol, it was the first time in my life to appear in front of the public in real-time, but I was not afraid. Even when Lim Hyunseong was on the show, I knew more than anyone else what to do when I went on a cooking show. Thats only for the authority Manager Hyung. Ha Its time to put something on the rice cake right now! (t/n: rice cake means a metaphor to describe something popr and hot like a hot topic, hot issue, or hot information that will catch peoples interest.) It was annoying that I couldnt get to the tform where I could broadcast in real-time. All I could do now was ess the Climax notice ount and post a selfie. Everyone, hurry up and put on nice clothes ande out. Then I have to upload a video or a picture. Everyone looked a little bewildered by my sudden instruction, but went into the room and changed their clothes without much resistance. Then everyone changed out of the loose clothes they had been wearing inside for a while and into clothes for moderately active outings clothes. Ha First of all, I have to burn the bridge so that thepany cant ignore it. (t/n: burning ones bridges means ones determination and attitude that one will not step back anymore in doing something.) Originally, today was the day Sunwoo was away from home, so I was going to have a slightly high-calorie dinner. But now, it was the timing for everyone to be obsessed with So what is that sd that Na Sunyoung ate? The dinner is a sd. Clear the table and sit quietly. People over 180cm tall sat at the table with faces that showed they didnt understand what was going on. From the picture that Na Sunyoung posted earlier, it looked like a modified Cobb sd with a lower calorie. It was my turn to show off an appetizing visual that couldnt bepared to a lunch box with the ting polished in the actual battle. It took only 15 minutes toplete a table for 4 people, including low-calorie side menus. Now I just need to take decent pictures. Since were going to take a picture, lets all pretend to be friends and get together nicely. When I forcibly put Yejun and Seongwons shoulders together, Seongwon twisted his expression and met my eyes. Arent you going to smile? When I red at him with my eyes that didnt seem to smile, Seongwon raised the corners of his mouth timidly while feeling awkward. Now, one, two, three. Kimchi~. Click. With a click and a shutter sound, the first step to lead Climaxs reversal began. Chapter 26 Chapter 26 #026. From Opportunity to Crisis After taking a picture, I first turned on the editing app. At this age, you might say that I know how to do everything, but. It was my theory that the CEO of the food division, who lives on marketing, doesnt know how to do this much. Originally, there was a separate department in charge of this kind of thing. Is it because I came up from the bottom when there was nothing? If I didnt know how to do even this little thing on my own, I wouldnt be satisfied. Its called perfectionism in a good way, and tired style in a bad way. Thats how I wrote the myth of the restaurant industry and survived, so I could say that my judgment was correct in the end. With a few clicks, the color temperature was raised with a few clicks to make the food look as appetizing as possible. The colors of the faces were adjusted so that the skin didnt appear too yellow or red. Okay, they all came out pretty. Yejun screamed when I showed the screen to everyone to check before uploading it. Hyung, are you crazy? Are you going to post it like this? Lets take another picture again, I dont think this is right. People who had never disagreed about my opinion before were suddenly shaking their heads in groups. Is this so strange? Everyones face came out neatly with no cuts, and the food came out looking really delicious. I didnt expect much, but I showed it to Seongwon, hoping that even this guy would take my side. I I dont know. Seongwon replied in a voice that looked really unsure. Hey, you dont have eagerness in selfies, so thats why, eagerness! I couldnt figure out what the hell he was talking about. Tell me to understand. Because I dont know what youre talking about. Then, Kyunghwa replied with a genuinely embarrassed expression. Do you really think this picture is okay? Yeah. So, could you please exin? I was quite surprised as I had never seen Kyunghwa look so serious. What if you only took pictures of the food to make it look delicious! Seongwon and I came out very strangely. His chin sticks out, his eyes wide open. What do you mean ugly? If the eyes, nose, and mouthe out well without any cuts, thats a good shot. When I narrowed my eyes as if it was a joke, Kyunghwa took away my cell phone. Im going to take the picture again, so you stand at my ce. I was momentarily confused, but then I did what Kyunghwa told me to do and moved and changed ces. Raise your head a little more, put a light in your eyes toe out well. If you cast shadows in your pupils, you might be ridiculed for looking gloomy. As Kyunghwa told me, I changed my position, and the picture was taken as if it were a pictorial. Do I have to go this far? Rather, the food was taken out of focus and looked less appetizing than before. When I licked my lips in regret, Kyunghwa replied in an unprecedentedly stern voice. Anyway, theres no eagerness in this good-looking things. Eagerness. Who will write thement? Ill write it, Yise, I cant entrust you with something like an old man. What do you mean by kimchi? What am I? Who is the one who keeps saying things I cant understand? The one inside is in his 40s, what should I do? Do you think you will never age? I swallowed theint that was building up inside me. Then, I edited the photo again to make it taste good and sent it to my manager. [Me] Hello, manager hyung. You should be taking a break, Im sorry. Right now, Sunwoo seems to have be a hot topic when he posts the lunch box I packed for him on his sisters SNS. Even our SNS followers have increased, so Im going to take a picture like this and post what weve been up to. Is it okay? 7:13 pm. Even though it wasnt thatte, I didnt get a reply, as if he was doing something else. We shouldnt miss a golden time like this. We should row when the attention is at its peak. We decided to upload it right away because theres nothing that could hurt our image, which is already bad because were failed idols anyway. If something goes wrong with this, theyll say its done, put off aeback or something, and think about disbanding it. [The number of followers has increased a lot! Thank you for your interest. Im sure everyone is curious about who made the sd, so Im revealing the answer. Cheon Yise, who is known as Climaxs sexy brain, will soone back with a recipe that anyone can easily follow. #Climax #NaSunyoungSd #Pris #Thank_you_for_eating_deliciously #Sunwoo #Yise #Seongwon #Kyunghwa #Yejun] When Kyunghwa uploaded a picture with a carefully writtenment, the number of shares soared instantly. The response didnte this fast, even when I paid and advertised. In an instant, shared numbers went from single to double digits and from double to triple digits. Wow, there are so many quotes andments! I didnt know there were so many people watching. Yejun was surprised to find out each and every reaction people left, and his eyebrows wriggled dramatically. Most of the responses were about who these guys are, what they do, and what group they are in. Whattheir mouth is watering? I saw quite a bit of such talk. It must look delicious no matter what on someone elses table. What, why are you talking like this? Yejun was frowning, so I looked into what he saw, and it wassomeone trying to make a hot topic about a failed idol who was sticking to his sister. Thats what it was about. It was enough to ignore such things. Its not like anyone asked me to make it. It was foolish to throw away an opportunity that came without a hitch. Has it been like that for 30 minutes? As the share number broke through the four digits, then I got a call from Manager Hyung. Yes, Hyung. I sent it via chat earlier. Then Manager Hyung was surprised and asked. Whats happening? What is Na Sunyoung sd? I answered calmly. Thats how things turned out. Sunwoo slept at his home for the night and I brought him a lunch box to eat. Sunyoung Noona ate it and posted a proof shot on Instagram. What? That kid? Yeah. Thanks to that, our group also got a little publicity and the number of followers increased a bit Looking at it earlier, it was about 800. When I asked Kyunghwa to check the exact figure with a gesture, Kyunghwas eyes opened with surprise. What? Whats wrong with your face? Then Kyunghwa replied with an expression that looked like he would cry at any moment. We have more than 10,000 followers! What? The manager, who was listening on the phone, was surprised to hear Kyunghwas shout and asked loudly. I put the phone back on speakerphone for a moment so he could hear what we were saying. You didnt see it wrong? No, it finally changed to 10K. The number of shares is now over 4,000. Fortunately, taking pictures and posting them seemed to be an appropriate action to take when the tide came in. Hyung? Are you listening? I first drew attention to addressing the areas that needed the help of a manager. Then it switched back to normal mode. Y, yeah, sorry. I was surprised to see if what Kyunghwa said was true, so I went to check it out. Fortunately, I think the publicity went well. So thats what I mean. Could we do a live broadcast right away, like tomorrow? Then the Manager answered after hesitating a little. I think it will be around 9 oclock tomorrow night. Are 2 hours enough? If its 2 hours Ive never done an idol live broadcast, so Ill have to try it. It was a perfect time to show who we were. Yes, thats enough. Yes, its time for Floss regr live show from 11 oclock, so you only have to finish it within that time. Ill tell Kyunghwa how to turn on the broadcast, so prepare what to do in advance. Originally, this is an area that we need to take care of. There was unexpected good news, so they would give permission, but it was obvious that they couldnt support it. Yes, I understand. Yeah, wellyou have to think that there are all sorts of special things in life. Id like to help with something, but Im busy with work right now, so theres nothing I can do. No, it cant be helped. Well do well on our own. It cant be helped. It would have been distasteful as apany to waste dedicated manpower on a group that didnt make money. It was heartbreaking that we couldnt get help when we really needed the staff. Yeah, you guys are the ones who do it. Theeback isnt too far away, so take advantage of this opportunity. The situation was inevitable, but I didnt even feel grateful for the verbal support. When I finished the call and put down my phone, Yejun continued to refresh the SNS page. What? Stop it. Its not stereotypical behavior. When I took Yejuns phone as if I were taking it away, Yejun raised his head. Hyung, the number of followers increases every time I keep refreshing. Looking at the screen at Yejuns words, the number that had just passed 10,000 just before had changed to 13k. The number of shares also doubled. Is this something to react to? When I went into the notification window in bewilderment, there was one tab that kept getting notifications as well as posts. What is this As I read the grayed-out text, a notification message popped up saying, Kang Yoogun tagged me in my post. What, why is this brat here? Click. When I clicked on the notification area with my finger, a short word was added. [ Please invite me too!] When I clicked on the profile of the ount that wrote the post, there was an official ount mark next to it. Our ount didnt have an official mark. More than that, werent idols who just debuted banned on their personal SNS these days? Feeling a bit resentful, I looked at his ount some more. Whats good about posts that are only eight letters, including exmation points? Less than 20 minutes after it was uploaded, the number of shares exceeded 40K. Looking at the posts that even posted selfies, it had more than 100,000 shares. Their poprity is really overwhelming. The groups own announcement ount alone has 8 million followers. Each member had 2 million followers. It would be a lie if I said I wasnt jealous. However, it was my theory that apart from individual annoyances, nothinges for free. In his own way, this guy would have been dealing with the pressure of having millions of people watch him. I dont know why he suddenly asked me to invite him. Anyway, after Kang Yooguns post, I could see that the number of followers increased tremendously. ThisAre we supposed to respond this? Kyunghwa swallowed dry saliva and looked at me. We couldnt pretend we didnt know when we were getting attention, as if we suddenly opened a portal. L, lets press like for now. Yejun wiggled his fingers and pressed the empty heart to fill it with red. Then, Kang Yoogun immediately posted a new post with a messy selfie that seemed to have been taken roughly. [If you press like, does it mean youll invite me?] [Picture] This time, people started sharing it faster than before, probably because it had a selfie attached to it. What should we do? The bewildered eyes of the three handsome men were instantly pierced by me. No matter how many trials and tribtions I went through and how tall I stood as a businessman, this was the first time. What should we do if an overwhelming top star who has once given us shit suddenly shows a beneficial interest? My head hurt like a storm wasing in. Chapter 27 Chapter 27 #027. I dont need that help First, I had to figure out why Kang Yoogun was doing this. Did he realize that Climax was terrorized by his fandom due to a scheduling issue? So he felt a sense of debt and wanted to give a chance to floatwas the most rational reasoning so far. But I dont think this bully would have such an praiseworthy thought. Did Kang Yoogun have a separate rtionship with Cheon Yise? I called the system inwardly. System. Can I use the rey service? Then, a translucent window, visible only to my eyes, appeared in front of me, and a short word was disyed. [NOW LOADING] Its not that anyone is offended. Posil sat quietly with its tongue sticking out next to the spinning waiting icon. Do it quickly. Dont mess around. When I urged myself in an urgent situation, the system window vibrated loudly once. Dont make a fuss. I dont expect much from these guys who took several minutes toe up with a contract. The members urged me from the side while the time passed as if one minute was one hour. W, what should we do, Yise Hyung? I couldnt even ask why he was asking me. Because Climax has actually been operated as a group for Cheon Yise by Cheon Yise of Cheon Yise. This is something we can reply to, right? Usually, the agency would be in charge of it, just like with a live broadcasting app ount. They seemed to think that it wasnt important enough to manage a failed idol like Climax by following these rules one by one. WellIt wasnt even a bad judgment. What kind of ident will these guys have to be a hot topic? It is the job of well-known groups to make a fuss over social media. They would not have known about Climax if it hadnt been for the conflict with the Floss fandom. Even if they posted gambling or adult advertisements through real hacking, not a single line of articles would have been posted. Do it quickly. Why does it take longer today? Kyunghwa kept ncing at me as if he was frustrated when I couldnte forward right away. Just then, the message in the status window changed. [There is no rey service avable.] What? After making people wait for a long time, it was making noises that made me lose my patience. What nonsense is that? I protested inwardly, keeping a poker face to avoid looking suspicious to the members around me. The message in the status window has changed again. [As a result of reviewing all the records of the current causal line, it is judged that there is no meaningful exchange experience between Cheon Yise and Kang Yoogun.] What does this mean? I struggled to resist the frown on my face. So these two are meeting for the first time? This time, the status window answered right away, without any waiting. [Your understanding is correct.] Then at least there must be some reason why Kang Yoogun is doing this. The status window vibrated once again. [The video records currently avable do not show clear motives and intentions] [It is impossible to search for independent records of people who have had no meaningful interactions experience with the user (Cheon Yise).] Its answering in many ways, but the conclusion is one. The system couldnt tell me why Kang Yoogun was doing that right now. It is said, It is impossible to search... It showed me things Cheon Yise had never experienced, so I thought it had infinite value. I cant help but rely on my experience and intuition for the parts that I cant get help from the system. WhooIve never met this kind of bully very often in my life. How old is Kang Yoogun? The system answered as soon as I threw the question in my head. [He is 23 years old ording to Korean age as of this year.] Usually, at the age of 23, he wouldnt have taken his first steps in society yet. Is it possible for me, the king of the restaurant industry, to be swung around by this brat? I stared at the phone in my hand and typed with my fingertips. [If you press like, does it mean youll invite me?] [Picture] When I looked at the post that Kang Yoogun sent, I felt stressed again. I put up with a headache and took a picture of the sd glistening in the dressing. Then, using Kang Yooguns post, I posted a new post. [It would be an honor if theres an opportunity ^^] [Picture] And the moment I was about to press the send button, Kyunghwa blocked it with a shocked expression. What, why? I couldnt figure out why, so I looked foolish, which made Kyunghwa wonder if I truly didnt know. Are you serious? Is it because you dont know how his fans will react if you start a fight with Kang Yoogun? No, whats the problem? I just added ^^. It was a polite and kind emoticon. Okay, I can fix it. Im not picky anyway. I typed with a snort inside. [If I have the opportunity,,, Id be honored,,, ^^~~] [Picture] Then this time, Kyunghwa took away the cell phone in my hand. Ah, what else is the problem! When I asked as if I really didnt understand, Kyunghwa immediately replied back. You, just what kind of concept is that? What about me? I sincerely couldnt understand what the problem was. I added waves because I was afraid it would look too hard. Then, Kyunghwas eyes narrowed fiercely. Why did you put in thema? It just looks softer. If youre going to do the concept, do it on your personal ountter. Kyunghwas eyes seemed to look at me with a little bit of contempt. I was shocked because I had never been treated like this before. Lets see how trendy he writes. Kyunghwa, holding the cellphone tightly with both hands, entered with a special text message and added a few yellow head and firecracker emojis. Theres nothing particrly special about it. Its just crazy. WhooIt must have been about 30 seconds after Kyunghwa took a deep breath. Ting, the cell phone vibrated, and a lot of notification pop-ups popped up at the top again. [Im going to ask Manager Hyung. Keep your promise ] Everyone who checked the new post was speechless and hardened. Why are you doing this? The favor (?), whose intention was unknown, only amplified the anxiety. Yejun, who recovered first among the four, opened his mouth. Well, I guess we should consider this an opportunityright? It was a tone that gradually lost its certainty as it went backwards. Yeah, we couldnt step back from here, whether it was porridge or rice. That would be better. Its not something we can avoid anyway. At some point, Climaxs followers exceeded 50,000. How high is this going to go? Everyone swallowed a sigh in silence as Kyunghwa turned off the phone screen and put it down. At that moment, the status window popped up. [Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest Do you want to start Those who wish to wear the crown must bear its weight?] [Yes/No] In this situation, it seems that there is no room for rejection. I asked in my head so that the other members wouldnt find out. What is the reward for sess? [Strange Opportunity > Obtain Kang Yoogun] That wasnt enough. I calmly took a deep breath and bounced. Only that? Then, the status window vibrated once and a new phrase was added. [Special Item > Unbreakable Streaming Payment n] Hmm I dont know the details, but I thought it would be nice to have it even if I didnt use it once. Should I bounce one more time here or. While I was thinking about it for a while, the members around me were observing me, pondering what I was thinking. What are you looking at? When I asked in a rather blunt voice, everyone answered in unison. What do we do with our live broadcast tomorrow? First of all, I had to solve this. The status window appeared before my eyes again and flickered. [Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest Do you want to start Those who wish to wear the crown must bear its weight?] [Yes/No] Without waiting any longer, I shout out inwardly. Yes! Then the status window glowed brightly once and then disappeared. I answered, rubbing my chest lightly. We have to make it out now. At the sentence that seemed to have no countermeasure, Kyunghwa red at me with a suspicious look for a moment, but it didnt matter anyway. * * * In the end, Climax reached 300,000 followers that night and then stopped. Although it was an extremely small numberpared to the number of followers of Floss and Kang Yoogun. Considering the fact that the previous number of followers was around 6,000, it was a huge improvement. Its still too early to like it. I created a new ount, so it wont hurt if I click something wrong, and I went through the new followers. About two-thirds were fans of Floss. The remaining 1/3 of them are fans of other groups, and it seems that they came here after following Kang Yoogun out of curiosity. In a word, it means that they are not our fans. Well, Im sure they have a little bit of a liking, but. This meant that if we made a mistake, they would immediately react with hostility. The publicity has been quite a while, but it might work like poison. My head becameplicated and I couldnt sleep easily. I sneaked up to find Sunwoo who was sleeping on the bed across from me, but only an empty bed greeted me. Thats right. He went to his parents house. He stayed with them the whole time and felt bad for not seeing them for several days. No, its not. It was an emotion close to anxiety if he was coveting something high-calorie that he shouldnt eat. I made Na Sunwoo diet until hiseback and made his own content, including live broadcasts. Before that, there were many things to do, such as recording the sound source, finalizing the choreography, and filming a cover album. Doing this all the time could feel like pressure, but. Rather, it was good. I could forget my situation as long as I focused on my work and pushed myself. My life as Lim Hyunseong is now over. I muttered to myself in a low voice and closed my eyes. * * * When I opened my eyes again, it was early morning when the sun had just begun to rise. Maybe its because my body is full of energy, but as soon as the morning dawned, my eyes opened automatically. After I got up, I immediately began to write the script for the evening live broadcast. It wasnt as easy as I thought. If it was an easy thing for anyone to do because they kept looking over their shoulders, they would have made money from it. It was past 10:00 when I made a cue sheet by organizing the flow and roles without having to give directions to specific lines. With this level, even a monkey can follow it without any problems. Sunwoo said that he would stay at his parents house until lunch today ande back before dinner, so there shouldnt be a problem with this n. In the meantime, Ive experienced a few times when ites to various entertainment appearances, but this was my first live broadcast. Ah Ive done live home shopping before. However, it was different from idol live broadcasts, which had tomunicate with viewers in real-time. Im a little worried, but. Even if Im not confident, I have to do well. Besides, even though this kind of broadcasting would be awkward, the material was what I was most confident about. I went to the kitchen refrigerator and opened the door to look inside. I saw a pile of cooking ingredients. Im confident in cooking broadcasts. It was time to show off a new look from the failed-idol, who was good at dancing but had no chance to show it properly, to cooking idol Cheon Yise. Chapter 28 Chapter 28 #028. The weight of a crown the size of a rats tail (1) Ugh My back As I kept bending down to check the ingredients onest time, I felt pain in my lower back. I was fine when I just woke up. Its a bad day, so I can feel it throbbing right from the waist. I thought I should have had real physical therapy instead of just saying that I went to the hospital every day and got rehabilitation treatment. When I gently pulled back the curtains on the window facing the outside, I could see that it was raining. It was an ominous sign since the sky was dark from the morning, but I decided not to care. The manager said hed give us lighting equipment and live broadcasting equipmentter in the afternoon. The simple script was sufficiently prepared, and now it was time to prepare the mind. [Search > Rookie Idol Live Broadcast Mistake] Of course, Climax is not a rookie, but its because Im a rookie. I wanted to see what kinds of mistakes these idols made when making live broadcasts for the first time. All sorts of web posts came pouring out as if it wasnt called the age of hundreds of thousands of idols for nothing. [Title: A disaster that happened because the mouth was faster than the head] Whats this? I just clicked on the post without much thought. I think hes in his early 20s? It was a video of an unidentified male idol reading what was posted on the viewer chat. Oppa has a very handsome face and I support your skills, but why do you do such a thing when you are in school Ah. It seemed that there was only goodment in the front, so he read along, but he couldnt get enough of the content behind it and read it line by mouth. Silence came within the video for a moment, and the main character of the video hesitated without being able to speak anymore. Thats I think youre a little misunderstood. Its a rumor without proof. Then, chats started popping up like crazy, as if they were waiting for the main character in the video to make a mistake. [Admin: Controversial and nderous chats will be deleted immediately.] [You know there is no evidence, so you mean to talk? ] [This message has been deleted by the administrator.] [Please take care of thements] [Oh, this is a mess] [This message has been deleted by the administrator.] [This message has been deleted by the administrator.] [Admin: Controversial and nderous chats will be deleted immediately.] A staff member who appears to be an administrator posted a notice that nderous/controversial chats will be deleted. However, the fire didnt know how to extinguish itself once it sparked. Continuing to point out the controversy over school violence, and deleted chat messages were repeated. What a mess. The video ended in a hurry to end the live broadcast. I nced through thements on the post. [Why did he read that out of all thements?] [The case of Georges life with his own mouth] [The agency was working hard to get the controversy posted on the anonymousmunity, but he ignited it] The situation seemedplicated in many ways, butanyway, it seemed clear that the situation was twisted due to a mistake on his part. Aside from that, I was able to point out several cases of mistakes made during live broadcasts.
  1. Bringing up the existence of a girlfriend or ex-girlfriend while talking about daily life
  1. Discarding gifts given by fans or showing scenes of treating them carelessly
  1. In the background of the dorm, underwear or other items that should not be exposed appear
  1. Mistakes of speech (speech with a sexual connotation, swear words, etc.)
Etc. It was a problem that I didnt have to worry about if I organized the background that could be caught on the screen in advance. Wellits been 5 years since our debut, but if these guys were going to have a big ident, they would have done it long ago. Right now, it would be enough to keep the mouth closed before the live broadcast started. Hmm For idols, it would be better to be single anyway for marketing purposes. In the position of providing romance and fantasy, having a real lover would be a definite disadvantage. Ill have to check it out when we all get together. I dont think its okay if they meet someone unknowingly. It was none of my business by the time I seeded as an idol and took full revenge, but before that, not a chance. Ah. I cant. Anyway. I nodded to myself and stood up. I have to prepare all the ingredients in the morning and finish cleaning them. When I washed my face in the bathroom and stood in front of the refrigerator, my mind sparkled. First of all, lets think about finishing the live broadcast that will be held in the evening safely. I had a feeling that today would be so long that it would be hard topare it to other days. * * * Since Kyungwwa has done it before, I dont have to tell you separately, right? When it was time to announce the live broadcast in thete afternoon, Manager Hyung showed up with an old cell phone. He says hes sorry that he cant keep watching from the side, but. I dont know if its sincere. I didnt even know if there was another trouble behind the scenes with the rejection of draft A. Since Kang Yoogun took his anger out on the managers there when he was mad, thepany deserved what happened. This It looks like its older than the one Im using. The manager handed out an old cell phone that made it questionable whether the camera was working properly. What are you looking at so closely? Manager Hyung looked up at me nervously as if he had no time. The Manager looked up at me nervously as if he had no time. The model is a little I thought it was a long time ago? Of course, I used to save things, butto give something this old to use for filming It wasnt about saving money; it was more like being irresponsible. If you have a cell phone you dont use, would you like to donate it? Flosss regr live broadcast starts at 11:00, so dont forget to finish at 10:30. What? I asked, raising my eyebrows for a moment. Didnt you say we could do it for two hours yesterday? Then Manager Hyung answered with a smile. Think about your most recent live. You couldnt even talk for 30 minutes because you ran out of things to say, and it went quiet. Just give it a try first and tell me. The manager turned his head and said, Well, its already been half a year. I turned my gaze to check the members expressions. Everyone couldnt be in a good mood because they were openly ignored. Sunwoo, who was always at a loss and couldnt say anything right away, even if he didnt like something, was hardening his expression. Im upset, but this treatment now was at a level suitable for Climax. A nameless person who luckily gained attention after being buffed by a popr idol, but people still couldnt tell who we were. Everyones expressions are bound to be bad. Now that things have gotten to this point, the most important thing was to get the water flowing in a good direction. All right. Well take care of it. Yes, contact me anytime if you have a problem while doing something. Even if we contact him, will the managere back right away and help? In a cluttered atmosphere, the manager left, saying that there was something he had to do to support other groups schedules. Certainlyhe said he was Climaxs manager. As the time without schedules got longer, he seemed more attracted to support from other teams. This, too, must have been treated as natural for Climax until now. Instead of just being depressed like this, I had to work hard to change so that I wouldnt be treated the same in the future. Okay now, because the manager has gone. Lets make sure to read the cue sheet carefully. I started first because Kyunghwa was fiddling with the mobile phone for the live broadcast with a sullen expression. Oh, yes! Can I wear the apron over there? Kyunghwa shrugged his shoulders in surprise and put down the cell phone. The scheduled time for the live broadcast was 9:00. It was now 7:30 PM. I will bring it. With a slightly brighter expression, Sunwoo came to the table carrying aprons for five people. They looked like a waiter because they wore the most basic apron that could be bought on a website to order food supplies. I thought about dressing them in a cooking suit as well. As expected, if its too much, it will look burdensome. I thought an apron would be enough for now. Kyunghwa, please organize the strings behind me. Whats so hard about wearing an apron? Yejun whimpered and turned his back to Kyunghwa. Why are you so clumsy? Wear it slowly. While Kyunghwained, he even fixed Yejuns hair so it didnt fall on his neck and tied a beautiful ribbon around it. The way it looksit looked like a guardian who tied a ribbon around the dogs neck. He was watching it with an unknown look on his face. Do you want me to tie your hair, too? What? When I asked, Seongwon asked back in a nervous tone. Ribbon. Looking at the knot Seongwon had tied, it was just a tight knot that would have some trouble untyingter. Seongwon Hyung is pretty, so I think a ribbon would suit him well! Sunwoo said something that scratched my inside without noticing, so I breathed in to hold back myughter. What? Does it mean I dont look good because Im not pretty? Yejun intervened without missing the timing. No, its not that Since Seongwon Hyung looks a bit prettier. Sunwoo panicked at the suddenint. It was a bit paradoxical for a guy who no one in the entire entertainment industry would push to say that he was a beautiful person. You are prettier, you punk. Sunwoo shouted shyly as I messed up his hair as if to stop talking nonsense. Yise Hyung is also very handsome! Why dont you tell me Im handsome! Yejun hyung is handsome too! Not very much? Kyunghwa raised his hands and said as if tired of the sudden praise ry and begging forpliments. Its all noisy, so be quiet. What do I do? Yejun pouted his lips. That was exactly what I wanted to say. Even though it was messy and loud, at least one tension seemed to have been eased. Lets turn off the local broadcasts. Kyunghwa will set up the camera and check each others seats in advance. I have to see how ites out on the screen. Sunwoo, the most important person among the five, nodded quickly. Now, if I look at it in real life, its pretty cute and even has a slightly round impression. The biggest problem was how to appear on the screen of the live broadcast. Even if you use an app to edit selfies, its hard to edit videos at our level. Filters have gotten better these days, so its possible to apply a real-time correction filter, but. I didnt want to imagine what kind of uproar the chat would be if it was cut off in the middle by mistake. Okay, then Ill turn it into a camera recording. Kyunghwa hardly took his hands off the camera while he worked hard on the tripod across the kitchen and adjusted the angle. Sunwoo, donte to the middle. You should stay as far back as possible behind the other members so you dont show your body. Ung! Im good at hiding. Everyone gasped at the unexpected nonsense, and here and there the sound of holding their breath was heard. Sunwoo may not have meant it at all, but it helped him to keep his mind together. Everyone quickly recovered as if it hadnt been when the atmosphere was down because of the friction with the manager a while ago. Being young is definitely a good thing. Good. The mood of our kids is not bad. I put my apron on again and stood in front of the camera. Chapter 29 Chapter 29 #029. The weight of a crown the size of a rats tail (2) 8:50. Seeing the numbers flickering on the screen of my cell phone made me realize that I was going to appear in front of the public as a Cheon Yise for the first time. Thest person to go to the bathroom should go. Kyunghwa looked around the members again, checking the timing of the camera shooting. What am I? Do you want me to call you Father~ from now on? Yejun grumbled yfully, but Kyunghwa didnt even listen. Thats right. Its been almost five months since I turned it on, so we shouldnt be relieved. Dont say anything strange, just do whats on the cue sheet. So they did a live broadcast, too? It felt a little surprising, even though it was a matter of course. I wonder how many viewers are watching the Climax live broadcast at that time? I suddenly remembered the results of searching the Inte for failed idol live broadcasts and the number of failed idol live broadcast viewers. [Wasnt there about 3,000 people in the failed idol live broadcast?] I didnt know what the standard of failed idols they thought was. Considering that Climax had about 6,000 subscribers before, it was impossible for 3,000 toe in at a time. Still, wouldnt about 500 people wille? I cant ask the other members about this. Thats why I use the rey service out of curiosity. Its ambiguous. I looked at the cue sheet again,ining to myself. I just have to do it like this. I divided 1 hour and 30 minutes into part 1 and part 2. Originally, I was going to split 2 hours into 1 hour, so it was a bit different from the n, but. In the first part, I was going to make sd and cold pasta, and for dessert I was going to bake cookies using cookie dough. Its fortunate this house managed to have an oven attached as a full option. It wasnt easy to do cooking content without an oven. If there were a lot of tools, we would have done something together. The induction that I nced at had only three burners. Next time, when I started doing full-scale cooking content, I thought it would be better to rent a studio. Ill talk about it at the next opportunity. There will be opportunities. No, it had to be. Five minutes passed while I controlled my mind. I started looking after the children for thest time. Since they are all those guys who dont know where theyre going, I thought Id be relieved to see if they were okay. Son Seongwon is expressionless as always. Yejun was looking at his cell phone with a face that wasnt nervous. Kyunghwa let out a deep breath, as if he were trembling. He seemed to be a strong guy in the actual fight, so there was no need to worry. Now the problem is this guy. Sunwoo, who covered his body in the most loose clothes he had, was fiddling with his fingertips in the corner of the kitchen. As the broadcast was approaching, he was worried, and his expression was rather pale. The reason was obvious. Na Sunwoo. When I called in a low voice, Sunwoo jumped up as if he hadmitted some crime. Huh? Y, yeah, Hyung He seems uncertain, and his face is pale. I clicked my tongue lightly. The guy whose rosy cheeks were his weapon was not the color of his face right now. Why were you so nervous? When I approached and asked as if I were interrogating him, Sunwoo started to step back. I didnt mean to scare him. I wanted to give it a go, but it was already spilled water. I, Im not nervous?! Tuk. Sunwoos voice cracked subtly. Theres nothing I can do for him since the live broadcast is starting soon. All I could do wasfort him with words. Are you worried about anything? No. Certainly Sunwoo avoided my gaze and blurted out his words. What a bullshit. I pinched Sunwoos soft cheeks with enough strength to leave no fingerprints. It hurts! Of course it hurts, doesnt it? I pinched it to hurt. Sunwoos eyes filled with tears in an instant. Just This is the first time Ive been in front of fans since I gained weight Are you afraid that someone will curse at you for gaining weight? . Sunwoo stopped answering whether he was stabbed to the point and avoided my eyes. Its worth worrying about. In the meantime, all the members sang, You just need to lose weight. He was afraid to stand in front of the camera without reaching his target weight yet. Youre dressed as carefully as you can anyway, and even though your face is a little chubby, it wonte out that badly. I showed you how Kyunghwa was photographed earlier. Could it be because he ced Sunwoo far behind the other members? The baby fat is a littleit seems too much, but it wasnt a very noticeable impression. What if someone makes fun of me as a pig in the chat room? Sunwoo mumbled for a while before finally answering. Thats a personal insult. It was the fault of the person who went around poking others as they liked, saying that they had no more to look at. Do you want to ask the manager to block it? I wanted to say that. But will our manager take care of that in real time? Honestly, its hard to expect that far. I couldnt say anything that I couldnt take responsibility for. You, dont read whates up in the chat, but work hard on responding from the side. Or isnt it not bad to hold the character as a cute little pig? A strategic idea popped into my head. However, if I told Sunwoo now, it would be like sticking a dagger in his chest. Lets talk about itter, when hes recovered mentally. If I said it now, it would be like blowing it up even more. Sunwoo barely nodded at my encouragement. Weve been doing well so far, so lets do our best. When I tapped Sunwoo on the shoulder, his posture seemed to have changed very slightlypared to a moment ago. I nced at the clock and it was 59 minutes. Now it was time to press the start broadcast button. Lets start. After looking back to see if Kyunghwa was all in ce, he stood in front of theptop connected to his cell phone and pressed the start button. The standby mark at the top of the screen spun around and an eye shape appeared next to it. Its an interface Ive never experienced before, but naturally, I felt that it was because of the number of users who ess it. Just as the roles were set in advance, Kyunghwa calmly started making an announcement. He was so nervous until the camera officially started rolling. When the screen turned on, he had nothing but a shameless look on my face. I wonder if hes still trembling inside. Even if its like this. Basically, people who tried hard couldnt be disliked. He is also the type closest to the model student out of the four members, excluding Cheon Yise. In a way, I would say that he is the most typical boy type. What should I say about him I have to make an effort here! Should I say that I can see clearly what he think? It was helpful for me, so there was nothing wrong with it. However, if I think from the point of view of a good adult, not as Lim Hyunseong, who dreams of revenge. Theres no need for a guy whos only twenty-four to feel this heavy responsibility. I had no desire to offer constion or encouragement. Originally, this rtionship was someone elses, not mine. Hello, Rise! Were Climax, and its been a while since west said hello. Where did Risee from? Among the 5-act structure of beginning-development-crisis-peak-end, we are Climax (peak) and the fandom was named after the previous stage, Rise (crisis). Why I didnt understand why it contained a philosophy that the general public would not be interested in and wouldnt want to know much about.1 Its a crisis if you interpret it Where are the fans who want to be called a crisis? It was useless for me toin, since it was already established. Everyone was worried because its been so long, right? We still have a lot ofeback schedules left, so we would appreciate it if you could keep your interest and support us. In the chat I nced at, nothing came up other than a simple greeting. I didnt even write a separate line, but Kyunghwa led the progress with a smooth speech that didnt have a single mistake. Thats right, I think you must have been curious because we posted a bunch of delicious photos yesterday! Yejun will briefly introduce what kind of content we will have with Rise today! Yejun captivated viewers with his unique wide smile as soon as Kyunghwa passed his turn. In an instant, the chat started to grow. I couldnt see it well, but I could see the chatting saying Yejun-ah and being happy. O, oh? I should do it? I thought I could just eat it when I came here? While preparing everything in advance, Yejun casually joked. Just kidding. Today, were going to make sd and cold pasta that everyone was so curious about yesterday! Im going to show you how to bake cookies using Yo Meal Kit. Sentences such as [Youre going to eat it eventually] [Im already excited about the thought of eating it] rushed up quickly between the chatter that went up in slurp. Well I think this is a good response I checked the number of viewers with high expectations when I heard that the failed idol, which I had seen at a nce on the Inte, had about 3,000 views. [View : 910] Huh? The number was much lower than what was expected. No, no. We had 300,000 followers only yesterday. Shouldnt even 10% of theme in and watch it? I struggled to lift the corner of my mouth that was about to copse in shock. Now then, todays chef! Let me introduce you to Yise Hyung~. Wow~. Yejun finished his turn before I realized it, pped like a seal, and then turned the spotlight on me. I couldnt stay still. Even though it wasnt what I expected, the eyes that saw it were the eyes that saw it. Because of the Inte, evente-night home shopping with few people watching could be made fun of in an instant if something went wrong during a broadcast. Everyone is being so nice again. Hello, Im Cheon Yise. I apologize for causing you concern for a long time due to health problems. Now, I am recovering well and preparing to return to you on a better stage! They say that they hide things like this from the outside. But sadly, Climax wasnt well-managed enough to hide the schedule. I showed the cue sheet to my manager Hyung first, and I got the same answer, It would be nice if I could publicize it at least that way. Despite the fact that my mind had hardened from disappointment, my tongue still moved freely. Calm down, Lim Hyunseong. Ive been through countless worse things than this in my life. I smiled and casually spoke to Sunwoo. Im into cooking these days, so I was helping Sunwoos diet. I was d that it helped Sunwoos taste! I was very surprised because it seemed to have hit not only Sunwoos but also other peoples tastes. Sunwoo nodded as if he agreed. It was a loveliness that would automatically make fans smile. Hyungs cooking is really good. Today, the recipe will be released so that Rise can easily follow it, so please follow it step by step! Sunwoos bright smile led to a lot of positivements. Looking at the number of viewers, it was still a low number even though the number of viewers surpassed 1,000. Popr idols are said to have up to 300,000 users at the same time I didnt expect such a response, butthanks to Kang Yoogun, I was deeply looking forward to the skyrocketing interest, so I was left with quite a bit of regret. If youre going to promote it, you shoulde out at a time like this. I skimmed the chat one more time,ining to the guy Id never met face-to-face. At that time, a sentence that shouldnt have caught my eye stood out. Chapter 30 Chapter 30 #030. The weight of a crown the size of a rats tail (3) [Dont you think Na Sunwoo is a bit fat?] Although it was quickly pushed to another chat, the sentence was strongly embedded in my mind. [Looking at the pictorial he took before, he was skinny] [Now Have you given up on the diet?] [I think there was a reason for eating sd?] There seemed to be one or two people who persistently talked about Sunwoos weight. Its not that many in number, but. The chatting didnte up that quickly, so it stayed on the screen for a long time. I pretended to proceed naturally and looked back at the members. Well, Kyunghwa was calm and looked like he was asking what had happened in a trusting way. Yejun didnt seem too excited and Seongwon was calm. His reaction is the biggest problem Sunwoos eyes were noticeably shaking. I think this will cause a problem? What should I do In a situation where every moment was broadcast live, we couldnt show off that we had seen maliciousments. It was rather like throwing food. The answer was to change the topic by inducing a different story as much as possible. Now then, lets start from now, shall we? First, lets start with the ingredients. Sunwoo and Kyunghwa brought leafy vegetables that were divided by type ording to their predetermined roles. Unfortunately or fortunately, the quality of the camera wasnt good enough to capture it properly, but Sunwoos hand was shaking slightly. When washing leafy vegetables, they say its better to spread them out one by one instead of soaking them in in water because its troublesome. Fortunately, the chat was pushed up when they saw the ribbons tied behind each others back as we used water at the sink. [The ribbon so cute ] [Are you tying a ribbon at the back?] [Only yellow hair dont have a ribbon] [Its not yellow hair, its Seongwon!] Maybe its because there are a lot of people who dont know about Climax. There were many people who referred to the members by their hair color or appearance characteristics. Among them, I was a handsome boy with ck hair. [Whats the name of the handsome guy with ck hair?] [Hes the main dancer, Cheon Yise! Hes the main character who made the sd!] Really a handful of Climaxs fans were answering the countless questions instead. In the end, Kyunghwa stopped the progress for a while and made an introduction time. We washed all the ingredients like this, so lets take a moment to introduce ourselves before exining each vegetable. Thats right, I think everyone keeps wondering who is who. Yejun slyly smiled at the screen. Then, he pulled a chicory out of the tray and bit it in his mouth. [Hes eating it so naturally ] [The timing is so natural that I cant even point it out ] As if that seemed attractive, the speed of chatting went up tremendously. The number of hearts that came up whenever viewers clicked Like also increased rapidly. As expected Even if I dont put this guy in the main role, helle out when the opportunity arises. Relieved by the rxed atmosphere, I took over the hardening process. First of all, Im Cheon Yise, Climaxs leader and the main dancer. These days, Im obsessed with cooking, so Im helping the members manage their diets. Wow~. Hyung is really good at cooking. It tastes better than going out and buying it. Thats right. Its really good! As soon as Yejun and Sunwoo epted it at the right time, another seed of troublemaker appeared in the chat. [Did he get fat because he kept eating?] What the hell are you doing? In my mind, I wanted to block it immediately with the administrator function, but there was no manpower to do so. I hoped that Sunwoo wouldnt see it, but unfortunately, he had already seen it. Sunwoos cheeks, which had barely calmed down, were stained bright red. Maybe we should have said that Sunwoo couldnte because he had other schedules today? First, I passed the introduction to Yejun and started to roll my head. Im Climaxs main rapper, uh Im a sub dancer in my profile too, right? How do I remember that? Kyunghwa Hyung, youre an MC whos not prepared~. I cant believe it. You should remember that! Yes~. Im not sure about the sub dancer, but Im sure Oh Yejun is the main rapper! The chat windows attention was focused on whether it was fun for Kyunghwa and Yejun to exchange bickering. Then a good idea shed in my head. Please do it Then I called the system. System,e out. As if it had been waiting, Pposil and the translucent status window came to mind. A buff that can be used with the skill, can this be used on other members besides me? [If you apply the skill buff to someone other than yourself, side effects may ur when someone other than the system user uses the system function.] It said side effect that means it works. What level of side effects? [Its not at a level that interferes with the main quest, but there may be minor changes in the progress of the quest.] Ah Ill give up if it says its fatal. As it spoke in such an ambiguous way, my mind leaned toward using it. Fortunately, it seems that the next turn went to Seongwon, but. If Sunwoo trembled or cried in Sunwoos turn, it would have been a big problem. Ill use it! Then, as if waiting, a confirmation message appeared. [Whose skill will you apply to Na Sunwoo?] [Selectable skill (10)] It was decided without further consideration. Ryu Kyunghwa I will use the strong heart on stage. [Confirmation of use. 15 points will be deducted.] The status window shed once, shook, and then vanished, leaving behind a small sound effect. I am Son Seongwon, and I am in charge of the main vocal. Kyunghwa quickly noticed Seongwons insincere introduction. Do you have anything you want to say to your fans? Then, Seongwon looked down at Kyunghwa nkly. Nothing in Yejun stepped on Seongwons foot before I dont have one came out. Because it was in a direction that was not captured by the camera, only the members could notice it. Seongwon tried to hide his irritation by giving a smile. He was smiling, but it felt like he had written it on his forehead, saying, Okay, you punks. Im looking forward to the day when Ille back with a good performance and a good song. I will prepare to show you my skills. Suddenly, it became a ce to talk about FM-like aspirations, but it was a hundred times better than nothing in particr. Now it was Sunwoos turn, thest one. Ive endured the side effects, so it will go well, right//? Everyone looked at Sunwoo with a nervous heart. In the midst of everyones tense expectations, Sunwoo opened his mouth. Hello, Im Na Sunwoo! The cute maknae of Climax, and Im in charge of sub vocals! Chatting flooded into the clear and lovely greeting without a single tremble. [Wow, so handsome] [Look at his eyshes. He doesnt have any hair and makeup on, but his curls are no joke] [I thought I gained some weight when it was caught from afar, but it looks like baby fat up close up?] If he had been hesitant to get a solo shot for no reason, his body shape would have been more highlighted. Is it because Sunwoo paralyzed the viewers mind with a bright smile without the slightest hesitation? No one could find fault with Sunwoos body shape. [He looks prettier than his sister, but he didnt get a picture] [I think you can proudly say that you are in charge of visuals ] Sunwoo read the chat that came up leisurely with his eyes and replied with a smile. Ive been on a diet for a while now because I go out to eat a lot of delicious things during my break. Thanks to Yise Hyungs help, I think Ill be able to see you with a better image for the uingeback. Please look forward to it! Contrary to his usual vocabry of a ten-year-old without any surroundings, his speech was very clear. [No; your face is everything. Why do you go on a diet?] [Dont even lose 1 gram from the world, baby.] Sunwoo smiled softly without being pushed back a bit. They cant spit on his smiling face. The chat that kept criticizing Sunwoos body shape was no longer visible. Now, finally, is it my turn? Im Ryu Kyunghwa, the lead vocalist. As you can see, Im the eldest brother on the team. Today, I am hosting a live broadcast as the eldest person. Then Yejun intervened without missing a gap. Hyung, you are the same age as Yise Hyung. My birthday is earlier. Thanks to Kyunghwas quick refutation, a burst ofughter swept through the chat window. Should I say that Kyunghwa Hyung takes on the role of our big brother? Its really helpful. Of course, Im not saying that Yise Hyung is not reliable! I must say that the feeling is slightly different Yise Hyung is like a father, and Kyunghwa Hyung is like an older brother? But when Kyunghwa Hyung is nagging, he is like a father. Yejun took over Sunwoos fluent sentences naturally. Ah, thats right. Yise Hyung keeps feeding us, and Kyunghwa Hyung always nags us. When did I nag you all the time? If the sound seemed even a little empty, Sunwoo intervened with good timing and continued the conversation. The normally hesitant guy received the effect of the buff and drew attention like a fish in water. Although his body shape still looks quite bloated, his face is so pretty that he wants to believe, Thats why he looks like that because of the screen. The youngest with good surroundings. In fact, it was a fake sale, but now I have to be grateful for this situation. Come on, everyone, stop talking. Ill start by exining the vegetables and dressing types. When I stopped talking for a while and started exining the recipe in earnest, the chat slowed down a bit. However, the number of views was maintained at a higher level than at the beginning of the broadcast. [View: 2,135 people] Its still far short of what I was hoping for however, I couldnt show my disappointment. Its the time when you cant be full after the first drink and theeback activities havent even started yet. After sessfully exining the recipe and practicing, about 40 minutes had passed since the allotted time. Only 50 minutes left. It seemed a little risky considering the time it took to make and bake the cookies. As expected, I had to take the whole two hours. Unfortunately, it was an area I couldnt do anything about. I shook off my lingering feelings and raked in cold pasta to feed the members. [Is he a father who is looking after a child to feed the members directly ] [Oh Yejun, why do you take it and eat it naturally ] Fortunately, the chat window response was not bad either. The number of viewers was also little by little, but it continued to rise. [View: 2,587] Just a little I wish they would increase it more. For a while, I felt sad. The chat window exploded once more as Oh Yejun made cookie dough that looked like food waste no matter how you look at it. [Can you eat that? ] [Ah, its a bit, please put a mosaic ] [Youre eating what you made, right?] No, everyone is so mean! How can you say that~ Its a bit I dont want to see it either, so put it away. When Yejun held the dough in one hand and held it up high, Seongwon, who hadnt said much the whole time, was genuinely disgusted. It seemed like it was a fun scene again, so even if I lowered the chat window, it was full of peopleughing. After waiting for the time to pass like that, the allowed time ended before I could even take out all the prepared content. Ah~ everyone, we still have more things prepared But unfortunately, the live broadcast time scheduled for today has passed. Kyunghwa, who checked the time, naturally continued the closing remarks. Now, Its too bad about today, but its better to say that its a little disappointing We will work harder to prepare! Lets meet again next time! While Kyunghwa took a half-tempo break to catch his breath, Sunwoo interrupted and intercepted his words. The buff is a little too much. It was an action that he would never have done if it had been Sunwoos usual personality. Kyunghwa was unable to speak for a moment as if he was embarrassed, but he quickly regained hisposure and continued the closing remarks. Yes! I hope to see you again soon. Now everyone, say bye to our Rise! Ill organize it~ The most hectic hour and a half these days wasing to an end. Chapter 31 Chapter 31 #031. Something that is not natural After the live broadcast, everyone was exhausted, and thanks to the diligent cleaning of the kitchen during the broadcast, there was nothing to clean up. Ugh~. Its been a while, so Im very nervous. Yejun stretched out his long limbs and made a strange noise. Normally, Seongwon would have uttered vicious remarks such as Do you talk about tension with a single cell-like intelligence?. However, Seongwon seemed tired as well, and his mouth was tightly closed as if it had been zipped up. I had a lot of fun! Its been a while since I talked with the fans. It wasnt something that a guy could have said who didnt know what to do with meanments before I used the buff skill. Hey, you Thats enough. It would be enough if it went well. Its a relief that you look fine, too. Seongwon was about to say something but was stopped by Kyunghwa. I had the same thought. There was no need to tell this guy how much I was worried about the side effects. Its up to me to decide whether to ept the side effects. It was enough for this guy to have only good memories and positive experiences. Its just a little Hes so excited that other guys might think he was eating something wrong? Anyway, if youre satisfied, thats all that matters. Everyone knew the insensitive words poured out at Sunwoo were not entirely aimed at Sunwoo. Anyone could enter the position of Sunwoo. What if Sunwoo didnt have a striking body shape? Seongwons not positive attitude, Yejuns lightness, Kyunghwas consciousness of progress, and my past (a car ident, to say the least) should have been caught. Its fortunate that the atmosphere changed quickly. Haters gonna hate. No matter what we do, they hate those who hate. Even those who like us say advice or joking and say hurtful words. First of all, I should be grateful that more tant and direct insults about body shape havent been posted. No. Is this something to be thankful for? The fever spread without my knowledge, but it was already past. It was unavoidable since it was a job that made a living through showmanship. Even if it cant be helped, I dont want to take it for granted. I sighed and backed up my chat logs. But it hit 5,000 at the end. Kyunghwa sighed in relief as he captured the recorded broadcast screen. Considering the increased number of followers and interest, it was regrettable, but about Climax, it wasnt the time to discuss it now. How many viewers did we turn on the live broadcastst time? I should have asked in advance. When I asked Kyunghwa briefly, Kyunghwa answered by removing the camera phone from the tripod. I think there were about 720 people. If I think about it, it really improved a lot. It was a really disastrous number considering that other idols live broadcasts reached 30,000 or 100,000 even if they werent good enough. There is no proper performance, and even that is on a downward trend as the years passfailed idol. It was a level where you couldnt tell someone that if they worked hard like this and had hope, one day they would see the light. The day wille when you will rise too. Its enough to make it feel sorry for even cheering on. A person who has tasted sess properly can stand up again after a few failures. I was like that when I was Lim Hyunseong. The members who endured this far without even having a proper experience of achievement suddenly seemed amazing. Of course, to put it bluntly, theyre still cowards because they dont have the confidence to do better just because theyre kicked out of here. But at the same time, they were also gems that could shine even brighter if polished and polished well. Even for my revenge, you guys should cheer up. I smiled lightly and proposed to the members. Im going to order delivery food. Is there anything you want to eat? Then everyones eyes were wide open. Are we going to order delivery food? Hyung is not going to do it? First of all, Sunwoo looked at me brightly with a drooling expression. My face is going to get pierced. I am exhausted and have no energy to do anything. And chicken and pizza are better to order than to make them at home. Then I am chicken! Sunwoos eyes lit up like a whining puppy with a snack in front of him. You only eat oven-baked. Peel off the skin and only the flesh. Yes! After removing all the oily parts, isnt it pretty simr to the chicken breast? It was hard to understand why he was so excited, but I didnt eat chicken, and this guy couldnt. Of course, the desire for chicken was bound to be different. Think of today as a cheat day. Even though they might think its a bit too tight for a cheat day. I asked Kyunghwa to order two chickens, tworge pizzas, and two pastas. I had been full for quite some time when I finally pushed the junk food down my throat and pulled the cookie dough out of the oven. It was a visual that didnt have much expectation of who put it in or made it. Some were even like charcoal. Wow, this is really a food waste. Yejuns strangely excited voice made me nag. What do you like? It will go into your mouth from now on. What? If I eat something like this, I will get sick! Even though hes not a child, hes eating pizza and chicken and making a fuss, which is just embarrassing. Enough. Ill wash up and go to bed early. You guys should clean it quickly and go to sleep too. Sunwoo, stop eating now. Eung! Ill go with you and brush my teeth. Sunwoo, who was eating the chicken Kyunghwa and I gave him, nodded as he ate the leftover sd to fill his stomach. I will let Lim Hyunseong think about what happenedter. Lim Hyunseong now had only a desire to rest his head. Standing side by side with Seonwoo, I brushed my teeth, took a light shower in turn, and each of usy down on the bed. When I turned off the light, I saw a stain on the ceiling wall that I hadnt seen before. Looking closely, it was a star-shaped glow-in-the-dark sticker mark. Is it a trace left by the previous owner of the house, or Cheon Yise had never lived in this house since the beginning. Then the two members who leftwas it Junghyun? It is possible that it was a trace left by that person. Either way, its none of my business, but. Falling asleep while looking at a star that seemed out of reach wasnt much different from my current situation. A distant goal that I dont know whether its a trap or hope, which I think Ill be caught if I stretch out a little more. If I seed as an idol, can I get revenge? Perhaps, the system only ys with me. For a while, worry rushes in. Woof! Somewhere, I heard the barking of Pposil. Dont be suspicious? When Iughed in a loud, choppy way, Pposil barked again with just the sound. Yeah, for now, there is no other way but to believe. Then Sunwoo came into the bedroom. As I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, Sunwoo tossed and turned for a long time, touching my nerves. Ugh, please go to sleep! I was about to get up and nag, but I stopped because I thought that guy would be in aplicated state of mind today too. Does he think its a miracle to ovee the negativements today? Or did he gain the courage to believe that he could ovee it by working hard like this in the future? Since I am not Sunwoo, it was an area that I would never know unless I asked myself. As I forced myself to close my eyes, I soon fell asleep. It was the end of a long day. * * * As soon as the first live broadcast was over, things like idol started to happen in earnest. Chun Yise was invited to make an appearance for the first time. Of course, it was a short 20-minute guest appearance at the invitation of all members of the Climax, but that alone was a good thing. Its just a radio interview Even when I was Lim Hyunseong, I appeared several times. Its not like I dont know the broadcasting ecosystem well, and its not my first time doing it, so I didnt worry much. Until I heard who the host of the program was. It seems that Yoogun really likes you. He wants you to be invited as a guest at least once. What? Was it that guy? Everyone had high hopes for the group schedule, which came after a long time, but it turned out to be like a balloon that had been popped. No, there is one. Where is it? I came to my senses with a p on the cheek. After the storm-like interest that seemed like a midsummer nights dream subsided, the number of followers remaining was around 320,000. When there were a lot of people, I even took pictures of 330,000. Was it not as exciting as you expected? After unfollowing and unfollowing continued to fight, it settled at 320,000 people. Even if not all of these people were our fans, there would have been a possibility of bing a fan. So lets not be so happy. I swept my heart thinking about the reaction to the live broadcast, which wasnt as good as I thought. In order to attract fans in earnest, I had to keep showing something. What kind of charms do we have, and what sense of aplishment can we get if they continue to watch over us? If I think so, well a radio appearance would be a good promotion, too. Even though it wasnt a ce I was interested in, I had to be thankful that they called me anyway. But what are we doing? No new songs have been released yet. Yejun yawned so hard that his mouth was about to split open. He then asked with an innocent look on his face. Well, they must have talked about sds and cooking live broadcasts that have been a hot topic. The live broadcast clip appeared to be popr and was widely circted. I knew that too. There werent that many viewers at the moment, so I didnt expect it to spread again. The scene where Yejun and Kyunghwa fight or Yejun makes a mess of dough bes a hot topic. Now, all thats left to do is turn the people who follow us into fans since were good at what we do and people are interested in what we do. The radio appearance is next week. Until then, I had toe up with ideas for what to do on the radio. Of course, confirming the lyrics for the single for theeback was something that had to be done at the same time. I finished arranging and writing the lyrics within this week. I need to find a choreographer soon and outsource it. It was to the point where even ten bodies were not enough to handle the work that I had been an outsider to. ording to the original procedure, thepany should have taken care of it, but. Since I said I would do it myself, there were a pile of things that I had to do with my own hands. I can do well. Ill do well. After wrapping it up in my head for a few days and repeating it to myself like a mantra, I seeded in finalizing the lyrics with three days left before appearing on the radio. Its done! It was the best result that the members and I came up with after wrapping our heads through countless rounds of voting and editing. This is honestly as good as most professional lyricists. Is it because you put too much time and energy into it? Confidence welled up. Not sure whether there was a basis or not. Then came the moment to ovee another hurdle. Now that the lyrics work is over. Ill have to split the part. Seongwon intervened like a ghost. The guy who never spoke first, except when fighting, didnt miss the timing. Its natural for the main vocalist to take the most difficult and attention-grabbing part, but. The problem was me. Son Seongwon or Na Sunwoo? It was because I hadnt decided who to put in the center yet. Chapter 32 Chapter 32 #032. An apple to who received the most attention The center this time, I heard Yise Hyung wont do it? While all five members huddled in the living room, Yejun brought up a topic with his eyes shining. Everyone knew that the position that had received the most attention so far was Cheon Yises, so it seemed quite unexpected. Who will be the center of the single this time? Since I was the general nner, their eyes naturally turned to me. To tell the truth, I havent decided yet. Sunwoo is still in an ambiguous condition, and I havent had a chance to talk openly with Son Seongwon. Even though he seeded in losing weight, Sunwoo was still in thete 70kg range. Considering the height in the early 180s, the weight is not that burdensome. Yejun, who is about 4cm taller than Sunwoo, is in his mid-70s with a muscr body built through boxing. While the slightly taller Seongwon was in the early 70s. Considering that Kyunghwa, which is slightly smaller than Sunwoo, was in thete 60s, Sunwoo also had to get down to the early 70s. He lost a lotpared to the time when he almost hit three digits, but. If you stand in the center, people cant help but notice you. And if a member who was once talked about because of his body shape during a live broadcast showed up looking bloated during broadcast editing. I hated thinking about Sunwoo, who would be hurt, and the storms aftermath. I couldnt even continue to rely on skill buffs from the beginning because I didnt know where the side effects would bounce. Considering that, it was safe to put Seongwon, who is scheduled to appear in thepetition program, in the center just before theeback. I think he thinks hes the center too. Sunwoo seemed to have no thoughts. Yejun was half expecting and half curious. Kyunghwa didnt openly say he wanted to go for the center, but he didnt seem to hate it. This is totally that. An apple dedicated to the most beautiful goddess. It was a structure in which, regardless of who was picked, the person who wasnt chosen would be resentful. They wont be jealous or hate me because I didnt give them the center position. But they cant help but feel disappointed. When I thought about it, sweat broke out on my back. Considering the rtionship between Seongwon and Yejun, it was a catastrophe. Yejun has been removed from the center candidate, so there is no need to look at Seongwon. The problem was when Seongwon was given the center position. Yejun must hate it a lot. In order to give Seongwon the center position, I needed a reason to persuade Yejun. It wasnt enough just to say, Hes good at singing, so let him be the center~. But Im good at rapping too? One word will refute me. I couldnt open my mouth and mumbled. Oh Stop pressuring him. Hyung isnt that kind of character. If I was in the position of CEO Lim Hyunseong, I could have made this decision at my own discretion. Because no matter who was appointed as the center, I would have had the confidence to wrap it up as a product that could be sold. But apart from that, the pity for the big-bodied children made it difficult to make a decision. Im weak to kids. I dont even need to feel a sense of fellowship, I use everything rationally. Even with a strong will. As expected, as soon as I saw their stubborn or tender appearance, I felt they were children, and my strong will crumbled like a sand castle in front of the waves. Everyone was still immature, maybe because their entertainment lives took them out of the normal flow of social life. No matter which one I choose, there will be a guy who gets hurt, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. A guy whos the same age as ones father and never married is thinking of ying Dad, Lim Hyunseong. I tapped my cheek lightly to wake up. I havent decided yet. Today, we have to split our parts. Pick one person, quickly. Even Kyunghwa spat it out as if he was frustrated. Of course, considering the future schedule, that was correct, but I felt cornered right now. Lets divide the parts first. Since making choreography for the center is more important, wouldnt it be better to talk to the choreographer before deciding? In the meantime, I looked around for choreographers, referencing what I had seen on a YouTube channel run by a famous choreography team. It wasnt wrong, so the refutation didnte back immediately. Its right that Seongwon takes the high notes for the highlights. Yejunie can go into the chorus in the main rap part that goes into the chorus variation. The lyrics were a total of six parts in the structure of ABABCB. Groups with arge number of members divide parts even within a word, but. Cimax didnt have to go that far. Because the members who were originally seven were reduced to five. I heard that there were some abandoned settings as the number of members decreased, but now that I think about it, it was ridiculous. [Unusual boys whoe every day!] Therefore, it was a worldview in which members were designated for each day of the week. It bothered me a little because there was a story that said the older the idol, the more important the worldview is. Can we not worry about setting our worldview for thiseback? In the end, when I asked Kyunghwa, Kyunghwa looked at me with the eyes of a person from the Joseon Dynasty. The weekend is out in the middle of the week, so how do you use it Thats right. It was Saturday for a foreign member and Sunday for a Korean member, but both of them left side by side. If we keep the setting that only weekdays are left, people willugh at us. Its better to just treat the settings that disappeared naturally. I also nodded to Kyunghwas cold-hearted conclusion. Anyway, lets think that the distribution of parts has be a little simpler by reducing it to five. I turned off the mind circuit and came back to reality. Is there a part that you want to do? Seongwon and Yejun, who received the vocal and rap parts of the variation C part, had nothing more to say. I can go anywhere. I meant it. Seongwon already took over the parts that were difficult to sing anyway, and Cheon Yise wasnt a member with strong vocals. Then can I take the introduction? As soon as Sunwoo asked carefully, Kyunghwa was delighted. I wanted to do that part, too. Ah. Sunwoo couldnt argue strongly and was hesitant. I also understood Kyunghwas position about not willingly giving up his part. As this could be thest activity, everyone must be desperate for attention. I knew how he felt, so I couldnt readily take anyones side. Kyunghwa was worried as he had been excluded from the center candidate earlier. Personal sympathy shouldnt be mixed with business decisions. Lets get it together, Lim Hyunseong. After a brief silence, Kyunghwa eventually raised his hand first. Its what you want to do after a long time, so you do it. Instead, promise me that youll lose weight to 74 by the day of the jacket photoshoot. He would have wanted to do an intro too. But it was the attitude of a responsible big brother to try to take care of his youngest, even though he was the recognized eldest. Is that really okay? Sunwoos pretty face instantly turned bright. Yeah. But that doesnt mean Ill just let you do it. Now, since there really isnt much left, youll have to work hard. Yes! Ill do my best! Seeing Sunwoo, the youngest, smiling with his face, warmed my heart. It would be nice if it goes on like this in a warm and easy way. But that wont be easy, right? I nced at Kyunghwas expression. He pretended to be resolute, but his expression wasnt very bright. Anyway, since the two agreed, this must be it. After the parts were all divided and Yejun sent the final music file that had been arranged to thepany, I felt relieved. Then the most important problem is After going through a lot of fuss, the big crisis that I had forgotten for a while came back to mind. A radio appearance with Kang Yoogun. Ah honestly, I have no idea what hes thinking, and Im very reluctant. Kyunghwa looks more cautious than me. It was natural. It was to the point of being terrorized by the Floss fandom to me, but. It must have been a nightmare that Kyunghwa experienced in person. If he hade separately to apologize or give an exnation, the emotion wouldnt have been this deep. He didnt say a word, as if he hadnt done anything wrong, and pretended to be a victim. It was a situation where I had no choice but to grind my teeth. Well, Im sure hes not ying around with malice now. Its true that we got help. Climax was in a state where we didnt have regr activities, like a failed idol. It was fortunate that I was able to give fans something to consume. It would be nice if we could create our own content as long as we secure the minimum number of fans who will consume the content. Even if we film something now, thepany will not be willing to invest because the minimal demand for consumption is not guaranteed. I guess Ill have to think about this some moreter. Back to the radio show again. I still cant believe it. Kang Yoogun, whether its in entertainment or not, there must be one or two going around behind his back. I didnt believe it because I wanted to believe it. I didnt even believe it at first. However, at the moment, there was no way I could refuse at this point, so I did my best to face it. Well, we cant say were not going, so well use it as much as we can. Who, Kang Yoogun? I didnt answer. *** As I was busy preparing for theeback after the distribution of parts, it was the day of my radio appearance. We only appeared for less than an hour, but they already made a fuss in the morning. The radio broadcasts at 3 pm, but I was tired from preparing at 10 am. His snout has been full of energy since morning. Kyunghwa suddenly looked somewhere and sighed. At the end of Kyunghwas gaze, there was Yejun, who chatted with the staff. Anyway, it must be good to have a thick-skinned. I didnt even know his mouth would stop even when he was wearing makeup on his face. Whoever sees it, is there a female staff member he is interested in? It was a scene that deserved to be misunderstood. But no one had such a misunderstanding. The stylist was a man a while ago and had to suffer more than the makeup staff. Then I bluff to calm Kyunghwa. Thats also I think its a talent. If you are an idol, you should be brazen enough to hold onto someone youve never seen before and talk all day long. Even though its too much for me. Maybe talking to Kang Yoogun alone for 30 minutes is possible. Well, if Kyunghwa, who is in charge of the host position in Climax, is so shocked by Kang Yoogun. It might have been a safer option. Then Kyunghwa said something unexpected. Isnt Kang Yoogun interested in you? Hmm? It was the first time I heard about it. I looked at Kyunghwa with a somewhat puzzled expression. What do you mean by that? Why is Kang Yoo-gun interested in me? It sounded like nonsense. You know, the messages he sent when you got attention for sd. I wonder if hes doing that because he wants to eat the food you cook. Does he bother me so much just for food? I narrowed my eyes for a moment. Of course, if it were me, it would remain that way. However, I am a person who likes to eat, so I even started a business with it, and it became a jackpot! He doesnt usually do that, does he? While I was lightly raising a question mark, the makeup staff called me. I wondered if I really needed to do it if it was real makeup and not just a simple skin correction. I was also the type that didnt get along well. I walked slowly like a cat with a lot of fur. Ha I guess this is something I have to get used to as an idol. It was time to put aside the question of Kang Yoogun for a while and dress up nicely as an idol. Chapter 33: An Apology for the Most Eye-catching One Chapter 33: An Apology for the Most Eye-catching One Didnt you say that Ise-hyung is not doing the center this time? As the five members gathered in the living room, Ye-jun threw the topic with a gleam in his eyes. They were all surprised, since they had thought that the most eye-catching spot belonged to Cheon Ise. Then who are you thinking of as the center for this single? Since I was the overall nner, the eyes naturally turned to me. To cut to the chase, I hadnt decided yet. Seon-woos condition was still vague, and I didnt have a chance to talk frankly with Son Seongwon. He had lost a lot of weight, but Seon-woo was still in thete 70s. Considering his height of over 180, it wasnt too burdensome, but Ye-jun, who was about 4cm taller than Seon-woo, had a muscr body from boxing and weighed in the mid-70s. Seongwon, who was slightly bigger, was in the early 70s. Kyunghwa, who was slightly smaller than Seon-woo, was in thete 60s. Seon-woo had to go down to the early 70s at least. He did lose a lotpared to when he almost hit three digits But if he became the center, he would inevitably catch the eyes of many people. He had already been talked about for his body shape once during a live broadcast. If he appeared on TV with the editing that made him look fatter I didnt want to think about Seon-woo getting hurt, or the aftermath. I couldnt rely on the skill buff all the time, since I didnt know where the side effects would go. Considering that, it was safer to put Seongwon, who was scheduled to appear on apetition program before theeback, in the center. He seems to think he has the center vibe too Seon-woo looked like he had no thoughts, Ye-jun was half hopeful and half curious. Kyunghwa didnt openly say he wanted to be the center, but he didnt look displeased either. This is totally that. An apology to the most beautiful goddess. No matter who I chose, I would be resented by the ones who werent chosen. They wouldnt be jealous or hate me for not giving them the center spot. But they would be disappointed deep down. I thought so and broke out in a cold sweat on my back. It would be a disaster if I thought about Seongwon and Ye-juns rtionship. Ye-jun was already eliminated from the center candidates, so he didnt need to care about Seongwon. The problem was when I gave Seongwon the center spot. Ye-jun would hate it so much. I needed a justification to persuade Ye-jun if I wanted to give Seongwon the center spot. It wouldnt work to just say, lets give him the center because he sings well. What about me? I rap really well too. He would refute me in one word. I couldnt open my mouth and just mumbled. Uh Dont drag it out. Youre not that kind of character, hyung. If I were in the position of the CEO Lim Hyeonsung, I could have made the decision on my own. I would have been confident to package whoever was the center into a seble product. But apart from that, mypassion for the big kids who didnt grow up made me hesitate to make a decision. Im weak for the kids. I didnt need to feel any sense of camaraderie, and I used them all rationally. Even if I had a firm will As soon as I saw their stubborn or fragile sides, I thought, oh, theyre still kids. And my firm will crumbled like a sandcastle in front of the waves. They were all immature, because they had deviated from the normal course of social life due to their entertainment career. No matter which side I chose, there would be someone who got hurt, and they all had their pros and cons. Are you thinking of ying daddy, Lim Hyeon-sung, who hasnt even married at your fathers age? I pped my cheek lightly to clear my mind. I havent decided yet. We have to divide our parts today. Just pick one quickly. Even Kyunghwa snapped impatiently. Of course, it was right considering the future schedule, but I felt cornered right now. Lets divide the parts first. Anyway, the center is more important when we make the choreography, so why dont we talk to the choreographer and decide? I dodged the question by referring to the content I had seen on the YouTube channel run by a famous choreography team, while I was looking for their portfolios. It wasnt a wrong answer, so there was no immediate rebuttal. The highlight high note should go to Seongwon. Ye-jun can take the main rap part in the chorus variation and join the chorus. The lyrics had a total of six parts in the ABABCB structure. Groups with many members would split the parts even within a line But we didnt need to do that for the climax. We had five members now, when we used to have seven. There were also some settings that were discarded as the members decreased, and it was ridiculous to think about it now. [Every day, new and different boyse to you!] That was the worldview where the members were assigned to each day of the week. There was a saying that the older idols valued the worldview more, so I was a bit concerned. Do we have to worry about our worldview setting for thiseback? When I asked Kyunghwa casually, he looked at me with the eyes of someone from the ancient Joseon era. Weekends are gone, what can we do with them That was right. The foreign member was Saturday, and the Korean member was Sunday, but they both left at the same time. It was only a matter of ridicule to try to continue the setting with only the weekdays left. Its better to treat it as a setting that disappeared naturally. I nodded along with Kyunghwas cold conclusion. Anyway, the part distribution became simpler as we became five, I thought. I turned my circuit of mental victory and returned to reality. Anyone has a part they want? Seongwon and Ye-jun, who had each taken the vocal and rap parts of the C part variation, had nothing more to say. I can go anywhere. This was sincere. Seongwon had already taken the difficult part, and Cheon Ise was not a member with a strong vocal anyway. Then can I take the intro? Seon-woo asked cautiously, and Kyunghwa frowned. I wanted that part too. Ah. Seon-woo couldnt assert himself and shrank back. I understood Kyunghwas position of not giving up the part easily. They all wanted the spot that caught attention, since this could be theirst activity. I knew their feelings, so I couldnt easily raise anyones hand. I felt sorry for Kyunghwa, who was excluded from the center candidates early on. I shouldnt let my personal sympathy interfere with my business decisions. Get a grip, Lim Hyeon-sung. After a brief silence, Kyunghwa was the first to raise his hand. Since you rarely want something, you can do it. But you have to promise to lose weight below 74 by the day we take the jacket photos. He must have wanted to do the intro part too. He was the oldest and the most responsible one, trying to take care of the youngest. Really? Can I? Seon-woos pretty face turned rosy in an instant. Yeah. But dont think Im just giving it to you. You dont have much time left, so work hard to avoid yo-yoing. Yes! Ill really work hard! Seeing the youngest Seon-woo smile brightly, I felt warm in my heart. It would be nice if things went smoothly and warmly like this. But that wouldnt be easy. I nced at Kyunghwas expression. He was acting calm, but he didnt look very happy. Hopefully, they agreed on this, so its settled. We had divided the parts, and I sent the final audio file that Ye-jun had arranged to thepany, and I felt relieved. Then the most pressing problem now is The big obstacle that I had temporarily forgotten came to my mind again. The radio appearance with Kang Yugeon. Ah I honestly dont know what hes thinking, and Im really ufortable. Kyunghwa was more wary than me, bristling his fur. It was understandable. The terror from Flosss fandom was just a minor incident to me, but For Kyunghwa, it must have been a nightmare that he experienced painfully. If he hade to apologize or exin, the emotional gap wouldnt have been so deep. But he just kept his mouth shut, acting like we did nothing wrong, subtly ying the victim. I had no choice but to grind my teeth. Well, he wouldnt be ying tricks with malice now. We did get some help from him. Climax was like a stray stone, without any regr activities. It was a relief that we could at least give the fans something to consume. If we could secure the minimum fans who would consume our content, we could make our own content too. Right now, there was no guarantee of the minimum demand even if we filmed it, so thepany wouldnt invest in it. I had to think about itter. Back to the radio appearance. But I still dont trust him. Kang Yugeon, that bastard, hes always stabbing people in the back, whether its entertainment or anywhere else. I didnt believe him because I wanted to. I didnt even believe him in the first ce. But I had no choice but to refuse, so I did my best to face him. Well, we cant say no, so we have to use him as much as we can. Who, Kang Yugeon? I didnt answer. *** After dividing the parts, I was busy preparing for theeback, and the day of the radio appearance came. It was only an hour-long appearance, but it was a mess from the morning. The radio was broadcast at 3 p.m., but I had to prepare from 10 a.m., and I was exhausted. His mouth is so energetic from the morning. Kyunghwa sighed as he looked somewhere. At the end of Kyunghwas gaze, Ye-jun was chatting with the staff. He was so easygoing. He didnt stop talking even while getting his makeup done. Anyone would think he was interested in the female staff. It was a scene that could be misunderstood. But no one misunderstood. The stylist who came earlier was a man, and he had a harder time than the makeup staff. I made a white noise to calm Kyunghwa down. I think thats his his own talent. If youre an idol, you should be able to talk to strangers all day long. Not me, though. Maybe he and Kang Yugeon could talk for 30 minutes by themselves. Kyunghwa, who was the host in Climax, was so scared of Kang Yugeon. That might be a safer choice. Then Kyunghwa said something unexpected. Isnt Kang Yugeon interested in you, Ise? Huh? I was taken aback. I looked at Kyunghwa with a puzzled expression. What do you mean by that? Why would Kang Yugeon be interested in me? That was a ridiculous thing to say. You know. The messages he sent when you got attention for the sd. I thought he was doing that because he wanted to eat the food you made. Just for the food? I narrowed my eyes for a moment. Of course, I would do that and more. But I was someone who loved eating and made a business out of it and hit the jackpot! Dont most people not do that? I casually raised a question mark, and the makeup staff called me. If it was real makeup, not just skin correction, why did I have to do it? I wasnt the type who suited it anyway. I walked slowly like a cat with its fur raised. Ah I have to get used to this as an idol. I put aside the question about Kang Yugeon, and it was time to dress up nicely as an idol. Chapter 34: The One Who Can Do It Chapter 34: The One Who Can Do It Chapter 34 The One Who Can Do It It was just a light makeup. I had done it a few times when I was Lim Hyun-seong. For a middle-aged man who had suffered from overwork andck of sleep, he had good skin. I had heard that there was not much to fix. I sat down with a careless thought like What more can Cheonise do? Hes young and handsome. Mr. Ise, Im going to wipe your face lightly before applying the base. Can you close your eyes? A warm steam towel covered my face once and then wiped it with a cold towel. Is this enough? As soon as I thought that, my face was rubbed like a fish being cleaned. Ouch. I made a strange sound at the unexpected pain and the makeup staffughed. Mr. Ise~. Dont use your face so much just because youre handsome. You dont take care of it at home, do you? It might be okay now, but it will peel off soon. What? I asked in confusion and Ye-jun exined next to me. Yeah, hyung doesnt even use lotion at home. Oh, no, you cant do that! Moisturizing is so important even in summer. In the end, I had to listen to a lecture on how important self-care is throughout the makeup. It felt like blood wasing out of my ears. When I got off the chair with a shiny face, I saw Ye-jun. You, you bastard He must have been nagging me all the time. Its more annoying to have a sibling who tells you what to do than a parent who scolds you. As I approached Ye-jun with a re, he screamed and hid behind Kyunghwa. Get a grip. Were doing a group activity for the first time in a while. Just stay still. Unlike what I expected, Kyunghwa didnt protect him and Ye-jun whined. Ah, thats too much. Is this all you care about your roommate, hyung? What do you mean care? You should just shut your mouth. Im afraid youll cause trouble. Kyunghwa lightly pinched Ye-juns mouth with a clip on his clothes. It wasnt a very strong thing, so it wouldnt hurt, but it looked very ridiculous. Ugh, what is this! Ye-jun struggled to remove the clip and ran away to the air conditioner. Seong-won, who had been watching all along, sighed as if he was pathetic. The pre-meeting starts at 1:30, right? After finishing the makeup, we were going to have lunch in the car and go straight to the broadcasting station office. I packed the sd lunch box I had prepared in advance in an ice box behind the car so it wouldnt go bad. We were going to take a minivan, so I thought we had a dedicated van, but even that wasnt a dedicated one Dont eat smelly food because you have to use it for another schedule in the evening. Even if the entertainmentpanys operation was difficult, Floss was doing so well. They should invest some money I shook my head as I thought that far. They must have invested billions by now. They couldnt even recover half of it, so thats why the treatment was so low. I waited with a bitter taste in my mouth while Seon-woo finished his makeup. That Its been a long time Arent you a little awkward? The makeup teacher also did the taping for you Seon-woo walked out of the dressing room with a shy smile, his hair lightly styled with volume. Maybe it was because of the skill (?) that covered even the slight baby fat left. He looked like a doll walking around. He didnt even need to wear a wig, and at a nce, he looked like a girl group member. He was that beautiful. Wow, thats crazy. Ye-jun, who had been teasing us all the time and getting the members angry eyes, whistled lightly. The other guys didnt express it as openly as Ye-jun, but they seemed to agree. He was always noticeable even when he didnt do anything at home. It was natural that he became a unique face at the level of a non-human when he dressed up. Maybe I should check his stats at this point. As soon as I thought of it in my head, the status window popped up. [Name: Na Seon-woo Age 21] [Skills] [Buff: <0 Calories If You Eat Deliciously> 0 calorie intake effect for one meal after activation]
    • Usage point 10pt
[Stats] Visual: A *(SS) Vocal: A Dance: B Performance: B Charm: B *(A) Speech: D [*The grade in parentheses is the grade before correction.] I thought he would be at least S. If this is A, what level is SS? I couldnt even guess. Even with the stats, I and Seong-won were higher than A. I wondered what the criteria for the stat grade was. If I recover to the final SS condition, will I be able to make him fall for me with my beauty? Its a good thing were on a radio show that you can see. The radio broadcast was only voice, but the studio scene was broadcast live on YouTube. I had to sit in the most visible seat. He must have been recognized as a member who was pretty and good at talking in thest live broadcast, so he must have been getting some attention. Dont tter him too much. He didnt look pathetic even when he was awkward. He showed his unique charm. He looked like he knew he was handsome with that face. I couldnt help but wonder why he was so shy. Anyway, we were going to talk about what we were going to say at the pre-meeting. The only thing left was to wait until the time came. I hope Kang Yu-geon doesnt do anything weird. The broadcasting job was a long one, even though it looked short on the outside. I looked over Kang Yu-geons personal information again to see if there was anything I could refer to when talking to him. I calmly fiddled with my phone and spent time. *** A littleter, around 12:30, we started to move, thinking it would be better to go to the broadcasting station early. We ate carefully, nervous that we might drop some crumbs in the car. Soon, a tall skyscraper came into view. This is the NBS Broadcasting Station headquarters. When I was Im Hyun-seong, I had only visited the old building a few times. I had never been here before. Come on, lets go to the office on the seventh floor and wait there. Hurry up, everyone. We were already treated like outcasts, and we didnt need to ruin our image by beingte. We quickly got out of the van and entered the building. Maybe it was because it was still daytime. There were only PDs and staff working in the office, and not many celebrities. As we headed to the seventh floor, tension filled the air among the members. We hadnt beenpletely inactive, but we hadnt done any group activities for almost half a year. I wasnt the type to lighten the mood with someme jokes. I looked out the elevator window with a nk expression, and saw Seong-won. What a jerk. I muttered to myself and looked away. If he was nervous, I would have found him cute, but he was calm and expressionless. The elevator arrived at the seventh floor soon. Was it room 703? But when we got there, there was no one. Huh? The manager looked confused and searched for his phone to make a call. Yeah, yeah, Seung-cheol hyung. Do you know where Yugeon is? Yeah? No, were at the Yoo-nu-ra meeting room right now. Yoo-nu-ra was the abbreviation for Yugeons Eye Radio, the program we were going to appear on. Theres no one here. Yugeon must have left for a moment, but theres no sign of his stuff or materials. All there was were a table that could seat eight people, a sofa that was big enough for someone over 180cm to lie down on, and a whiteboard. Something must have gone wrong. Yejun casually leaned back on the sofa and sat down. Well, we came a bit early anyway. I guess hell show up when its time for the meeting. We had no choice but to wait. We waited for 30 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half, but Yugeon didnt show up. Damn, hes not answering his phone again. The manager scratched his head and sighed. His hair was already thinning. Its already past two, is this okay? Kyunghwa, who had been staring at his phone screen anxiously, asked the manager. Theyll be super busy from 2:30, so this is not okay. The meeting is probably impossible, so you guys should at least discuss what youre going to talk about. But how could we do that, when they didnt even tell us how they were going to run the show? While we were at a loss, the PD in charge came in, panting. Im sorry. Yugeon just left his house and hes on his way. Hell probably arrive just in time for the broadcast, but the meeting is unlikely. It wasnt unlikely, it was gone. Did something happen to Yugeon? Kyunghwa asked cautiously, and the PD answered with a very embarrassed expression. No, he just messed up his schedule. The manager might have lied for him, but the PD had no reason to defend him. We all looked unhappy. We should have known since he messed up oureback schedule with his disappearance. He was not a normal guy. Okay. Can you at least share the materials for todays show? Or a cue sheet? I calmed down and asked for the materials, and the PD handed me a file he had tucked under his arm. I dont know how Yugeon will handle this, but our usual procedure is like this. Youll sit down at 2:15 and well do a camera test right away. Okay, lets go together. I nced at Kyunghwas face, and he looked furious. He was angry, but I had to do my job. We couldnt fight fire with fire just because Yugeon was irresponsible. Lets go, Kyunghwa. I scanned the cue sheet in my hand and entered the studio with the others. There were cameras and microphones everywhere. I had never been on a radio show before, let alone one that was broadcast live. Where do you want to sit? The staff asked us as they guided us to the guest seats. Wheres the best spot for the camera? Over here. The third seat is the best. Then Seon-woo can sit there. Okay! Seon-woo nodded obediently. Kyunghwa took the farthest seat from the host without saying anything. Where do you want to sit? I asked Yejun and Seong-won, and Yejun beat him to it. Ill sit next to the host! A seat thats not next to him. So my seat was naturally between Seon-woo and Yejun. They both talked a lot, and my ears were going to explode. We finished a simple screen test and had less than 10 minutes left to standby, when someone opened the studio door and came in. Ah~. Im sorry. I turned off the rm and fell asleep. He was apologizing, but he didnt sound sorry at all. He was casual and light-hearted. He was the star of the day. Chapter 35: Where the Hell Is That, You Bastard Chapter 35: Where the Hell Is That, You Bastard Chapter 35 Where the Hell Is That, You Bastard Everyones eyes turned to one ce at the same time. Are you crazy? You slept in and skipped the meeting, and you came in 10 minutes before the live broadcast? Mr. Yugeon, please sit down at the hosts seat right away. We cant do the screen test, so well just check if the mic works. Yes, Im sorry. Surprisingly, he didnt look sorry at all. He acted as if we were all invisible and sat down at the hosts seat. Only then did he meet my eyes. Aha. Mic test. It works well. Seon-woo was slightly different from me in terms of genre, but he was a scary-looking jerk. He was so handsome that I lost my words as soon as I saw his face. Who wouldnt be annoyed by this guy here? No matter who he passed the mic to, the answer was the same. The picture I saw online was a neat brown hair style that was not messy. But he had bleached his hair in the meantime, and his bright blonde hair stood out. In terms of his face, body, and star quality, Yugeon was at the top that no one could deny. Imte for the first time meeting you. Hello, senior. Im Yugeon. Yugeon smiled softly and looked down at me. He was sitting on a chair, but I could tell he was very tall. About 180cm? His physique was as good as Ye-juns in our group. He had his own exercise routine. With that much muscle mass, he must weigh over 80kg. I reflexively thought of Seon-woo when he was at a simr weight and held back augh. He was far from having a solid physique terribly It wasnt a state that could be called well-built even as a joke. Im meeting you in person for the first time too. I look forward to working with you. He was 23, right? He was older than Seon-woo, Seong-won, and Ye-jun, and younger than me and Kyung Hwa. But it was only a difference of one or two years, a trivial heightparison. Yugeon skipped Ye-jun in the middle and asked me for a handshake. I blinked and opened my eyes, and grabbed his hand. The feeling at the end of his palm was cold like touching raw fish. It wasnt an expression that could be used for a person. Wow, can I shake hands with you too? Ye-jun, who was in between, pushed his hand toward Yugeon with a bright smile. Yugeons eyes moved to Ye-jun for a moment, and he responded with a lightugh. Youre Oh Ye-jun, right? Ive heard a lot about you. Huh? Everyones ears perked up at the unexpected remark. Huh? You heard about me? Yes. Jung Yo Seop hyung talked a lot about you. He said theres one friend in the same agency that hes envious of. Whos Jung Yo Seop? They all have wide connections. I need to expand mywork in the entertainment industry too. I felt the need to find a way. Ah~. Did you work with Yo Seop hyung? Ye-jun tried to stir up the conversation, but the staff caught his attention. Were going on screen now. Wait for the opening and everyone, please stand by. Yes. Yup~. Yes. Short answers burst out from here and there, and a live chat screen appeared next to the monitor screen. Hello, this is Yugeons radio that you listen to with your eyes. I hope you have a great afternoon and lets start. Yugeon read the script that he must have seen for the first time without any hesitation. He ended the opening with a simple greeting that seemed to be sent by the viewers. And then he yed the first song and smiled naturally in front of the camera. The viewers only know the smooth progress and his arrogant face. In front of the members, there were chat monitoring screens for each of them, and the chat was full of Yugeons fans. I didnt expect a great response, but my heart sank a little. Then he introduced the sponsor and the story rted to the first song, and the real progress began. While the ads were running, they all looked nervously at the cue sheet in front of them. He doesnt get nervous and ruins everyones schedule I nced at Yugeon while the guests camera was still off. It was about 20 minutes after the radio started. It was finally time to introduce the guest. Todays guest is, chosen by Yoo Nul, the idol that I wish woulde to my house and cook for me in 2021. Lets bring in Climax! Wow~. The chat room went up with the cheers that Yugeon and Ye-jun made themselves. Then, can you please introduce yourself one by one? With Yugeons lead, the introduction began, and some chats about Climax came up. There were repeated questions asking if they were rookies. Some people were annoyed and kept correcting that they debuted five years ago. Hello~ Im Oh Ye-jun, the youngest but not the youngest, in charge of energy in Climax. What do you mean by the youngest but not the youngest? The youngest is determined by age, isnt it? Ah~. Actually, we have a separate youngest. Over here, can you see our flower-like youngest? So theres a real youngest, then what about you, Ye-jun? I usually act like the youngest, causing trouble and being noisy and cute! Thats my role, so Im the youngest but not the youngest. Their voices were not high and had a moderate tone, so the conversation was pleasant to hear. The viewers also seemed to think the same, and there were some simr chats. [Todays guests look nice lol lol lol] [Did he lose his youngest position lol lol lol lol] [Wow, the youngest is really amazing visuals] Then it was my turn to introduce myself, and I spit out the words I had been thinking in my head. Im the main dancer of Climax, and Im in charge of everyones diet Maybe it was because I had rarely introduced myself as someone in my life as a thousand-year-old. I made a mistake that I didnt make in thest live broadcast. Im Fortunately, I managed to recover quickly before I made a stupid mistake. Cheonise. I wondered if he had caught me almost saying nonsense, and my heartbeat quickened. I took a deep breath inside and looked at Yugeon. Wow~. I Se. Im following Seon Young noona. Thest time, she posted something that looked so delicious on her feed, I almost DMed her. Oh, were you curious about where she got it from? Yes. Im worried that our fans might be surprised if they hear this, but Im not contacting you personally or showing any personal interest. Its just that it looks so delicious. So thats why you posted a separate article that time. The conversation flowed naturally as we talked about Yeuis diet. He said he wanted to be invited someday to taste it, and that there were three more members behind him I wondered if he was spending too much time on me, when the turn finally passed to Seon-woo. Sunbae-nim, you promised to make me something delicious next time, right? Yugeon repeatedly made him swear in public and turned the turn to Seon-woo. As soon as Seon-woo appeared on the main screen, the chat window rose up at an incredible speed. Hello, Im Na Seon-woo, the visual of Climax, the real maknae. Youre the one, Seon-woo-ssi, the main character of Climaxs amazing buzz, right? Ah, yes. I didnt know that being robbed of my lunch box by my sister would be such a hot topic. Aww, the K-POP fans all over the country will remember you as the brother who got his lunch box stolen by his sister. Are you on good terms with Sunyoung sunbae-nim? Good I guess? Wow, the courage to answer a question with a question! I like it. Since you brought it up, how about showing us some aegyo that will strike the hearts of the national sisters? He suddenly got a lot of attention and his worries about stuttering likest time were gone. The conversation was not very fluent, but it was not awkward either. Maybe it was because he had makeup and taping today, and he was much more confident than usual. His speech was much more natural than usual. The other members seemed to be surprised as well. Ah aegyo? Seon-woos shy reaction made Ye-jun lift the mood right away. Ah, aegyo is my specialty! Really? Then how about we see Ye-jun-ssis aegyo first? In a light atmosphere, Ye-jun made a heart with both hands and made a cute expression of biting it. He didnt show any hesitation or hesitation. Ye-jun is a cute kkungkkotto. So~ much, so much cute. This is a pro. Kang Yugeon hid his face with the script and hid his body under the desk, sobbing. Why are you running away? Dont run away if you asked for it, watch it properly, is my aegyo too burdensome for you? Aww~ of course not. I understand. Im sorry, Ye-jun-ssi. Wow, Im wide awake now. Ye-jun and Yugeons banter was so funny that the chat window was in chaos. [Im going crazy] [Pros spicy aegyo of male idols] [Look at the veins on the back of his hand, even if a ghostes in my dream, Ill beat it up by myself] [Is that a bite heart or a bite apple?] Yugeon, who finally came to his senses, finished the short introductions of Kyunghwa and Sungwon. Because they had used up too much energy before, the twos turns went by smoothly. After finishing the member introductions, Yugeon yed thetest title song of Climax. Then, lets listen to Climaxs fourth single Heat your wave. As the intro of the song flowed, everyone sighed with relief as if they had passed without any problems. Usually, when the microphone goes down, the host and the guests have a brief conversation, but The studio was silent. It couldnt be helped. The first button was wrong because of that guy. Now that the song is over, lets start the talk. Ise-ssi, when did you start taking care of the diet? Did you cook before? It was a perfect progression that was annoying. I thought it would be a disaster if I read the prepared script and missed the timing. I felt like I knew the source of his confidence that he came in just before the standby. Im good and I dont make mistakes and even if I do, I can cover it with aegyo. Is that what you think? It was more annoying because he had a reason. I wish it would end soon. I tried to make the spotlight go to all the members and continued the talk. *** Finally, the short or long appearance was over and sighs of relief burst out everywhere. Yugeon-ssi, you did well this time, but donte sote next time, okay? Yugeon smiled sheepishly and answered with a face that clearly showed he was listening with one ear and letting it out with the other. Yes, Im sorry. PD-nim. Ill wake up on time next time. Youre going to wake up on time, note on time? I muttered to myself not to hate him like a mantra and got up from my seat. Are you just going to leave? We didnt make a promise when youre going to make me food. Give me your number. If you dont want to hear from the manager hyung. Are you crazy, why do you want a guys number? I reflexively frowned and said. Ugh, look at your face. Anyone would think youre holding a gun. Ye-jun chuckled and shrugged his shoulders next to me. Ye-jun-ssi agrees, right? Right. I want to know Ye-jun-ssis number too. Can you give it to me? He asked me for it and asked Ye-jun for it?. Of course! Ive been wondering if I could ask for your number when the mic was off. Wow, Ye-jun-ssi and I have a good personality. Ah, can I say that? They were having fun with each other, and I felt like my intelligence was dropping. Can I get out of here then? As I tried to slip away, Ye-jun and Yugeon each grabbed my left and right arms. They were useless guys who got along well. Oh, nice catch. What catch. I was finally able to get away after giving Yugeon my number. Ah~. I wish I could invite you to my ce today if the schedule was okay. Ye-juns nonsense made all the members share the same thought with their eyes. What is this kid talking about. Um, unfortunately. I have another schedule today. Ill contact you when I have a chance. I wish that chance never came. I muttered to myself and went back to the van to move to the dorm. It was time to check the feedback from todays activities. Chapter 36: A Late Realization of Crisis Chapter 36: A Late Realization of Crisis As soon as we got back to the van and closed the door, Kyunghwa opened his mouth. I dont like Kang Yugeon. It was obvious to anyone who saw him. I didnt bother toment and red at my phone screen. [Kang Yugeon] [010-XXXX-XXXX] The neatly printed phone number made me feel hot. The basics of being a professional are to keep time and have a sincere attitude. No matter how good the results were, it was as good as nothing if we couldnt coordinate our schedules. Why? He seemed better than I thought when we talked. Ye-jun leaned back and reclined his seat, answering casually. Sit up and move your seat forward. Youre making it cramped for me. Seong-won, who was sitting right behind Ye-jun, red at him with his long legs crossed. Then do you want to switch seats with me? Seon-woo, who was sitting in front of me, offered to Ye-jun first. Uh, thanks. Are you okay? Yeah. Whatever. We switched seats in the minivan and the topic went back to Kang Yugeon. You two seem to get along well. I get along well with most people~. He said that as if he hadnt just argued with Seong-won a minute ago. Ye-jun was the most open-minded among the five of us. But why did he always snarl with Seong-won? I had given up on that area to some extent. And theres nothing wrong with being friendly. If theres anything we can get help with, we should use it as much as possible. He said that without batting an eysh, showing his usual nerve. You have a good appetite, dont you? Just say youre desperate. I want to keep working as Climax too. Isnt it just that you met the type you want to be friends with? We all seemed to have simr thoughts in our heads, but we didnt bother to say them out loud. Anyway, you all worked hard. Ill make dinner when we get home, so eat and rest well. As the first external activity as Cheonise, I was also quite tired. Ah~ Im hungry! Ye-jun stretched out on the backrest. Seong-won looked at him with a disdainful eye. Of course, Ye-jun didnt care at all. Weve taken the first step, so we have to do well from now on! It was hard to think positively all the time. But anyway, todays reward was to finish the group schedule without any trouble. I should check the chats onest time. Compared to the hasty start, the reviews were surprisingly positive. [Im looking forward to Climaxs nexteback] [The visual members face did everything] [Is Ryu Kyunghwa the main host? He would do well as an MC. He has a good voice] [The member sitting next to Yugeon was hrious] [Is it Oh Ye-jun? His sound is not bad at all] [The visual members name is Seon-woo! How is his name so pretty] I had to admit that Kang Yugeon did a good job as the host. But I didnt want to give him credit for that. This is a useless stubbornness. Or I was lost in thought when the van arrived at the lodging. I felt like making some rice for dinner. I had bought some fresh sliced fish yesterday. I should cook some rice with godre greens in a pot. It was a seasonal dish with plump carp on top. I should prepare some anchovy broth to pour over it like ochazuke. I nned the menu and the work order in my head and headed straight to the kitchen to start. The members who expected another sd were surprised by the rice and emptied their bowls. Do you think Im starving you? Its so good, thats why. Can I have one more bowl? Ye-jun pushed his empty bowl forward and twinkled his eyes. I wanted to refuse him coldly. But he also worked hard today. I reluctantly gave him half a bowl of the remaining rice. Me too. Seong-won, who was watching Ye-juns bowl being filled, held out his bowl. He hadnt spoken much since the persuasion (?) in the roomst time. What was going on? Here you go. One more rice cake for the ugly one. I put all the remaining rice in Seong-wons bowl. Ah Seon-woo also let out a weak sigh, as if he wanted to eat more. You cant. Youre the pretty one. Okay! Seon-woo nodded quickly and took his bowl to the sink. We were finally starting the recording tomorrow. I was still worried about not finding a choreographer. But we still have about two weeks left Most of the famous choreographers I found online were already booked and rejected me. If we were more famous top idols A meaningless assumption popped into my head. They would try to fit their schedule and ept us, I thought. But if we were famous idols in the first ce, thepany wouldnt have left us to find it ourselves. So theres no point in making that assumption. I have to do my best with what I can do now. The members who had a noisy meal scattered to their rooms to rest. I let Seon-woo go to his room first and searched for Cheonise on the portal site. [Search > Cheonise] [Title: Cheonise something I felt uneasy and thought about it] I frowned at the first post. Uneasy? Did I feel like a different person? I clicked quickly and the main page loaded. [Main text] [He takes care of the members meals, and he exins the recipes like a chef on the live broadcast. I wondered if he was trying to create a vibe of a sexy man, a domestic man, or something like that. But he doesnt seem to sell himself as a simr husband, so I wondered what kind of vibe this was. I listened to the radio today and I got it. This is it. He is a member of our family, but not my husband more like my moms spouse] [Comments] [-This description is perfect. He really feels like a dad] [-When Ie home drunk the night before, he makes me bean sprout soup the next day. Its not Honey, I made you a hangover soup, but Anonymous,e out and eat] [-He looks really delicious when hes in the kitchen. He doesnt have the vibe of a twenty-four-year-old] Fortunately, it didnt seem like a very negative story. But what is the vibe of a twenty-four-year-old? I scratched my cheek with a flustered expression and turned off my phone. How am I like a dad? I was a bit unhappy. But considering the average age of idol fandoms I was the same age as their fathers. Id rather be ufortable with being sold as a boyfriend or a husband. I wondered if I should go for a dad-like image. But there was a big difference between a dad concept and a grumpy old man. I knew that much, even though I had just stepped into the world of idols. Well, Ill figure out the details of the conceptter. Thats when a status window appeared in front of me. [Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest He Who Wears the Crown, Endures Its Weight has been cleared. Congrattions. Achievement Reward Points +30] The points werent that important. The real reward was something else. [Quest Completion Reward] [Fate > You have acquired Kang Yugeon.] [Special Item > You have acquired Unbreakable Streaming.] Show me Kang Yugeons profile. I had to check his stats and skills right away. [Name: Kang Yugeon Age 23] [Skills] [Buff 1: It instantly silences theints of anti-fans. It temporarily neutralizes cyberbullying and maliciousments.] -Usage Points 40pt [Buff 2: It temporarily raises the favorability of multiple people who have a negative impression of the target.] -Usage Points 20pt Why did he have two buffs? I felt a bit unfair, but I was the user. The more skills I could steal and use, the better. If I had to I could use them on the members too. But Im a bit worried about the side effects. Now, lets see his stats. [Attributes] Visual: S Vocal: A Dance: S Performance: S Charm: S Eloquence: A It was faster to count the ones that werent S than the ones that were S. Yeah He looked like that. I felt my confidence shrink, thinking that our kid wouldnt lose to him. But our kid doesnt do things like meeting pranks! In that respect, Ye-jun was a hundred times better. He was also somewhat uncontroble and self-willed, but he had a sense of being on our side. As Ye-jun said, we had to use what we could and discard what we couldnt. I dont even know what hes thinking, anyway I was sure that it wasnt something like a sense of atonement or debt. Was it just a simple interest, or did he really just want to eat sd? I scratched my head furiously. Let me check the item description now. As I gently stroked Pposilis head in the air and asked, a new window popped up. [Special Item > Unbreakable Streaming] [Item Description: It maintains the current ranking of streaming for 48 hours.] Wow It looked like I needed some strategy to use it, but it was definitely good. If I could get to the first ce, I had to use it right away. These days, it was hard to stay in the first ce for a week, unlike the days when a song would stay in the first ce for dozens of weeks. That means thepetition is fierce. After checking the fate and item I had acquired, I felt a wave of fatigue wash over me. I had been on edge all day, so it was understandable. I better get some sleep. As I opened the door and entered, I heard Seon-woo tossing and turning. I ignored him and went to sleep. My eyelids weighed heavily on my body. *** The next morning. Maybe it was because I was conscious of the first day of recording. I woke up earlier than usual. It was an awkward time to go back to sleep. Should I go out and warm up my throat? I left the lodging to check my condition secretly from the members. Because of the time, I ran into a group of students on their way to school. Wow, isnt that the person who came out with Kang Yugeon? Hey, do you think an idol would be wandering around like that at this time? What do you mean by like that? I retorted in my mind and quickly flipped my hood over. No one recognized me when I just walked around with my bare face until now. But it seemed like people started to recognize me as the face of Floss fans. I have to tell the other guys to be careful when they go out. Anyway, I was grateful that I wasnt caught and went to a coin karaoke that was a bit away from the lodging. I wanted to warm up my throat before recording, and see how good Vocal Ds skills were. I had been humming along with the lyrics, but this was the first time I sang with a microphone in front of me. Until now, Cheonise was a dance member, so I was distracted by improving my dance. None of them seemed to have high expectations of me anyway. I couldnt ruin the recording by showing my poor skills. I took out a ten thousand won bill from my wallet and changed it to a thousand won and entered the booth. There was no one else who came to the coin karaoke at this time. I took the darkest spot and pressed the song number of my favorite song Love of a Thousand Years. Chapter 37: What’s Wrong with My Taste Chapter 37: What¡¯s Wrong with My Taste Chapter 37 Whats Wrong with My Taste Even after ten thousand years~ My love for you will never fade-. This burning passion is like my life~ I have to pray every day-. As soon as the first verse ended, I had a gut feeling. I was doomed. They said the dance and performance would be adjusted ording to the possession level, but why was the vocal so bad? The result was 75 points. I learned for the first time today that you could get less than 80 points in a karaoke room. How can I be off-key when Ive been singing this for decades? I couldnt believe it, but it was reality. How much money did I pay to theposer for the karaoke royalties? At this rate, the recording would be a disaster. But I couldnt just use Son Seong-wons buff skill. If I raised the expectations once, I would have to maintain the same level every time. Maybe I should have raised my vocal stat a bit I felt regretful now that I tried to record with a level worse than a normal person. But since my performance was higher, maybe I had a chance with rap? Then lets try rap this time. I pressed the number of a song with a lot of rap parts from the 7080 hit list. Yo! Im in the same daily routine, but I fell for your intellectual eyes-. My friends and teacher point fingers at me, but I can feel it in your gaze! Your love for me! This time, it was a bit better with 88 points. It was definitely better than singing. The singing was fine until the rhythm, but the pitch was the problem. If I rxed, the sound was too small, and if I put some force, it inevitably went out of tune. The good thing was that my part was the easiest and the rap parts were mixed well. Lets try singing with the apaniment on. No one would leak the song of an idol group that no one had ever heard of. Just in case, I took out the wireless earphones and plugged them in my ears. It seemed like Cheonise had been using them all the time, but they were quitefortable. ~~ Maybe it was because I kept humming and singing along with the lyrics. It was much easier to sing than My Eternal Love. Then, a status window popped up. [New song Drink me has been registered in your song list. The first registration is free of charge without any point deduction. For subsequent song registrations, 10pt will be deducted per song.] Huh? I looked at the bottom of the status window and saw a sheet of music in my mouth. What is this song list? People passing by would think I was a weirdo talking to the air, but I had a phone in my hand. There was no one, but they would think I was making a call or something. [Song list is a correction system that guarantees a certain level of quality after you go through the training process.] [Currently registered songs (1)] [- Drink me: 3.33% (1st stage)] They divided the proficiency level by two decimal ces. They were vicious bastards who wouldnt let me get away with anything. [Currently, Cheonise (Lim Hyun-seong) can improve his proficiency by repeating practice and get a B-grade (1st stage) vocal skill correction.] [When you achieve the 2nd stage proficiency, you can also get an additional grade correction, so please strive for a higher level.] There was a hole to survive even if the sky fell. They seemed to be trying to help me not get kicked out of the recording studio. Of course, not for free. Then Ill keep practicing this from now on. I put in a coin and turned on the microphone, and yed the apaniment again. Thanks to Ye-juns cool arrangement with electronic instruments, it was at a level that even a topposer would envy. It would be nice if Oh Ye-jun participated as the main producer for the nexteback. That was only if we seeded in thiseback, though. I quietly followed the lyrics along with the beat. [Drink me, swallow me] [Once more, like a whirlwind] [Dont let go of our hands] [Rescue you, hold on to this moment] [I call your name like a prayer every day] This was my part. The rest was chorus, so I wasnt too worried about ovepping with other members. I sang along from the beginning to the end and the proficiency level increased by 3%. It meant that I couldnt fill half of it even if I sang it ten times. I have to go and make lunchter I dont have time for anything else. I was busy. I didnt have time to breathe and hummed the lyrics diligently. *** [Drink me Proficiency 100% achieved. You get a +2 grade correction effect as a proficiency reward.] [2nd stage proficiency gauge opened.] [- Drink me: 0.01% (2nd stage)] [When you achieve the 2nd stage proficiency, you get a correction effect of +3 grade level of the original grade.] The gauge didnt budge as if to prove that the 2nd stage proficiency was an extra difficulty they provided. It increased by 0.05 every time I sang, so it seemed impossible to fill it today. Lets stop here for now. Huff huff. My throat was dry as if it was burning from singing non-stop. I hurried out of the booth and grabbed a bottle of water from the vending machine. I was exhausted from using my throat for almost two hours. But Im d I made a hole to survive. They should have told me sooner if they had something like this. They were supposed to help me with the quest, but they never prepared anything for me. I grumbled and left the coin karaoke and returned to the dorm. The guys who were sleeping when I left were getting up one by one and starting their day. Wheres Seon-woo? When I entered the room, the nket was rolled up like a caterpir and Seon-woo was nowhere to be seen. I asked as I came out to the living room and Kyunghwa answered. He went to the gym to exercise on an empty stomach. He said hell be back before lunch. He got motivated after appearing in front of the public. It made sense since he was not far from the goal. If he hit the early 70s, he could lower the intensity a bit and aim for maintenance. Then, I could allow him a little bit of snacking. Hows your condition today? All I could do for them was to make them a hearty lunch, even if they said they were not feeling well. I looked around at the other members as well as Kyunghwa and Ye-jun shouted out loud. Awesome! When were you ever not happy? I chuckled lightly and went into the kitchen. Seong-won and Kyunghwa didnt even budge. I didnt expect anything from you guys. Why did I feel like I was raising kids who werent even mine? I wiped the sweat off my forehead and started preparing lunch. *** Im so nervous. Its been too long. Seon-woo clenched his fingers and tapped his feet as he sat on the sofa inside the studio, facing the recording booth. What are you nervous about? Im doing all the recording and mixing anyway. Ye-jun pped Seon-woos shoulder and reassured him. He seemed to be trying tofort him, but it didnt look very effective. Its not your first time. Youll do fine. I gave him some constion as a senior. But this guy was a vocal A-grade. Who was worried about whom? Im B-grade with two levels of correction. I couldnt me anyone else for my low grade. Seon-woo, who took the first part, asked me for support. Cant you cheer me up, hyung? It wasnt hard to say a word. I gently stroked Seon-woos head with both palms and let go. You can do it. Youll do well. Yeah! Seon-woo nodded vigorously and opened the door to the recording booth. Inside, he did a simple mic test and exchanged signals with Ye-jun, and then the recording began. Do you want me to turn on the speaker so you can hear everything? After giving and receiving instructions with Seon-woo a few times, Ye-jun took off his headset and looked at the members. To be honest, I was curious. I had heard him humming casually a few times, but it was the first time I heard him sing with all his strength. Let me hear it. Kyunghwa nodded before me. The power came on the external speaker and Seon-woos voice rang out. He sings well. He proved that he wasnt an A-grade for nothing. His pitch was urate. If A-grade was this good, how well did Son Seong-won, an S-grade, sing? I was looking forward to the next order. Seon-woo, well, you would have been a main vocal if you were in another group. He had such a pretty face and sang well. He was a talent that would have been coveted by the industry, regardless of his cursed constitution. He was either well prepared, or Ye-juns standards were loose. Seon-woos recording ended much faster than expected. Is this really okay? Seon-woo came out with a surprised expression. Yeah! Perfect! This producer Can I trust him? We all seemed to have simr thoughts in our heads. Next is Ise hyung, right? Seon-woo remembered my part and sparkled his eyes. My part was shorter than his. I hoped it wouldnt be too different. I prayed inwardly and entered the recording booth. Wow Its so quiet. I thought it wouldnt be much different from being an idol, since I had done some broadcasts before. But when I entered the realm of a real singer, I felt the difference. Okay, focus~ Ill y the prelude right away so you can get the feel. Raise your hand when youre ready. In the midst of the silence, only Ye-juns instructions sounded faintly. It felt like only me and Ye-jun were left in the world. I didnt want to feel this way with this guy. I put aside the random thoughts in my head. The prelude progressed and my part began. Drink me, swallow me-. Wait, hyung~ You got the beat wrong, lets do it again. I thought it would be easy after hearing Seon-woo, but I couldnt even get past the first verse. Drink me, na, reul sam-ki-go. Hyung, youre bending too much at na-reul, lets try again. Why are you being so picky? I suppressed the blood rising to my forehead and waited for the prelude to start again. Drink- me, na-reul sam-ki-go. This time, drink me was good, but youre too slow at sam. Lets adjust it a bit. What kind of craftsmanship do you want? Recording was always this difficult, and I had no idea that Seon-woo was so skilled. It took me more than an hour and a half to finish my part. Huh, huff Even though I was B-grade, it took so long. If I had stayed at D-grade, I would have been in big trouble. As I gasped for breath, Ye-jun patted my shoulder. Good job, hyung~. The first thing that came to my mind was that saying good job was for elders. He was only two years younger than me, but still. Next is my turn, right? Kyunghwa touched the baton with me, looking tense. He was also a vocal A. He should have raised his vocal instead of his useless S-grade appearance. I felt lucky and went back to the sofa. Good job, hyung. Seon-woo greeted me with a bright smile. I couldnt erase the feeling that he was being mean. I crossed my arms and opened my ears, wondering how good the other A-grade Kyunghwa was. Chapter 38: Signs of a Crack Chapter 38: Signs of a Crack Drink me, you can use me. Right now, I feel like youre breaking me, poison, this feeling is even sweeter. Lets start over from now. It felt like a miracle that Seon-woo finished so quickly, since there was no big difference between him and me. Kyunghwa frowned as he got tired of the repeated NG derations. Well I objectively saw that I wasckingpared to Seon-woo. But wasnt Kyunghwa good enough? I didnt understand why he was so strict about it. Its not like I was trying to feed him. Lets try one more time. You can do better, hyung. Thetter sentence was meant to be encouraging, but it didnt feel that way to the person involved. In the end, we had to record the same part not once, but three more times, until Ye-jun spat out an angry sound. Um Ill just use the version I kept earlier. Lets move on to the next one. He made us suffer like this for a re-recording. I understood that he wanted to do well, but. It was inevitable that the person who suffered would be annoyed. Besides, Ye-jun was not a verified professional PD, but a member of the same team, so that made it worse. Besides, Seon-woo finished too early as the first batter. And Kyunghwa got a part that he didnt really want to do, so he was twisted from the first button. I should have done the first part instead of giving it up, as long as he didnt think the same thing. Thats how Kyunghwa also spent a simr amount of time as me, and then it was Seong-wons turn. Start. Unlike us, who waited for Ye-juns standby sign before entering the booth, Seong-won took the lead in recording. And he proved that vocal S was not a vain grade. Its so annoying that he sings so well. It was a childish emotion for an adult to feel. Rather than jealousy, what can I say, when theres such a difference, I cant help but envy him. He was perfect, even with the high notes he screamed with ad-libs. At this rate, hes iparable to Naru or Noru. If Seong-won had seeded in appearing on Teenager Singer Star, he wouldnt have had any reason to be mixed up with these members. Seong-won hyung sings really well Seon-woo uttered a long sigh of admiration. Even those who didnt like Seong-won had to admit it. Seong-wons recording ended in less than 20 minutes. It was such a fast progress that it made me worry about what if Ye-jun nitpicked him childishly. You you didnt finish it quickly because you didnt want to hear it anymore, did you? Kyunghwa asked with narrowed eyes, and Ye-jun snapped back as if he was wronged. What do you think of me, hyung? I know how to separate work and personal matters. Well, thats good, but it ended too soon. Theres nothing toin about. I have ears to listen, too. You brat, then did you make us suffer so much because our mouths were bad? I didntin openly, but instead gulped down the water that was on the table. How are you going to do your part? I have a way to do it all. Ye-jun stuck out his tongue and went into the recording studio. I was sleepy from listening to the same part of the rap for almost an hour. Hey, you guys, the staff. Dont fall asleep there. Ye-junined with a dissatisfied voice, but no one could listen to him. We had dinner early and started recording at 6 p.m., but it was already past midnight. Solo singers who sing the whole song by themselves sometimes have to digest more than four hours of recording alone. That must be really hard to talk after that. I waited for Ye-juns recording to end while holding back my sleep. Soon, he finished the recording and came out, and I gave him a half-hearted apuse. Wow. Theres no soul, no soul. Of course not. Ye-jun grumbled and sat down in front of the equipment again. You guys go ahead. This is the real work from now on. Then why did you hold us for more than an hour? Ye-jun looked at me and smirked as if he saw through me. Of course. You need at least one audience to get energized. Anyway, he said whatever he wanted. I didnt have the energy to argue, so I just nodded. The manager checked the studio entrance earlier and left for another schedule. We had to take a taxi to go home. There are four of us do you want one person to sit in the front and three in the back, or do you want to call two cars? I asked, thinking of the cost reduction when I was Lim Hyun-seong, and the three of them twisted their faces at the same time. Two of them openly red, and one of them didnt know what to do. Isnt it too narrow? Im against one car unless I sit in the front. Who wants to squeeze in with three people? So we settled on calling two cars. Donte toote. Making the sound source is not that urgent. More than the sound source finding the choreography was the biggest problem right now. We left Ye-jun in the studio and went outside the building, and two taxis were waiting for us side by side. Well go together. Seon-woo and Kyunghwa, who came down the stairs first, grabbed the back seat and the passenger seat respectively and waved their hands. Naturally, Seong-won and I got in the same car. Which side is morefortable? As I asked, looking back and forth between the passenger seat and the back seat, Seong-won didnt answer and opened the passenger seat door. Anyway, with that personality. Tsk. I snorted lightly and sat in the back seat. Was it because I sang the same song over and over? Thud, the car door closed and nothing but the engine sound was heard, and the melody was spinning in my head. I want to sing. I thought I wouldnt think about it anymore after singing it out, but. Instead of recording separately like this, piecing together the pieces of the wound. I want to sing together on stage. My heart was pounding already, thinking about how cool it would be when the result I nned all night was revealed to the world. It was the same feeling as when I was working as a nning staff. The day before participating in various exhibitions, or the day beforeunching a new product for arge project. Even though theres still a long way to go before we actually stand in front of the public. I wondered what it would feel like to sing not in the recording studio, where nothing but my breathing and the apaniment could be heard, but in front of hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of people. It was a sensation that businessman Lim Hyun-seong would never have known until he died. In the awkward air with Seong-won, I returned to the dorm, immersed in a strange sentiment. Take a shower and go to bed. As I entered the room after leaving a brief greeting, Seon-woo, who had arrived a little earlier, was taking out his pajamas. Did you not talk much with Kyunghwa in the car? I was worried about Kyunghwas expression, which was not very good after he finished recording his part. Yeah, he said he was going to use the bathroom in the living room first, so I just said okay. Good job. I had no energy to move any more, so I buried my head in the pillow first. There were two bathrooms in the dorm. One was upied by Kyunghwa, so the bathroom in our room was empty. Go and take a shower quickly. Dont let Seong-won take your turn. I dont mind if Seong-won hyung showers first. He was too naive. But he had the ambition to take care of his part, so that was fine. I closed my eyes while waiting for my turn in the bathroom. Theres nothing urgent to do tomorrow Theres still some time left until the cover shoot. Then I could sleep in a little. I nced at the phone screen and it was already almost 2 oclock. I should have brought Ye-jun back without overdoing it. Producing was also a work that required inspiration. I couldnt stop him from doing it quickly when he felt the need. Its his life, his business. What can I do? I stopped thinking and emptied my mind. It was enough to enjoy a rare day off. *** The next morning. I skipped breakfast and woke up at 11 oclock, and Seon-woo and Kyunghwa were nowhere to be seen. Ye-jun must havee home after the sun rose, as he was lying dead in his clothes. Ill have to ask him. I tried not to show my dislike and knocked on Seong-wons door. Are you awake? There was a sound of him tossing and turning for a moment, and then a voice. Come in. I turned the handle and pulled it in. Seong-won greeted me with a neat face that looked like he hadnt even washed it. Why? He was so curt. I dont see Seon-woo and Kyunghwa. They went to the gym. Kyunghwa? Howe? Kyunghwa was also receiving PT to take care of his body, but he didnt bother to go unless it was PT time. How should I know? If you have nothing else to ask, get out. Tsk, Seong-won spat out his tongue and fiddled with his phone. Ill go out even if you dont tell me to. I snapped back and closed the door. It was an attitude that had nothing to do with adult dignity, but I didnt care. Attitudees from status. I felt that I was changing a little bit as I became a twenty-four-year-old kid after living as a business tycoon that others looked up to. After finishing the rude conversation, I got a call from the manager. He should know that today is a day off. Whats going on? I answered the phone with a question. Yes, hyung. Whats up? As I answered the phone in a rxed tempo, the manager gasped and asked me. -Are all the kids in the dorm? Why isnt Kyunghwa answering the phone? Well, he might not notice the phone if hes concentrating on working out. I answered in a dry tone. Kyunghwa and Seon-woo went to work out. Whats going on? -Then the ones in the dorm are you, Ye-jun, and Seong-won, right? Yes, but Ye-jun is still asleep because he overdid it yesterday. Then I heard a groan from the other side of the phone. -Im going to pick you up right now. You and Seong-won get ready to go out. Well use a regr shop near the broadcasting station for hair and makeup. I couldnt understand what he was saying with the sudden call. Hyung, it sounds like we have some schedule booked or something. -Kang Yu-geon, that bastard, ran away from his variety show schedule without saying anything. We have to find a guest recement urgently, but theres no one avable right now. You guys have to go, so get ready. What? I had just woken up and I didnt know what was going on. -Im having a hard time driving while talking, so hurry up and get ready! And then he hung up the phone without listening to the answer. This is crazy I knocked on Seong-wons door again with a dumbfounded expression. It wasnt that I wanted to do it. Get dressed ande out. What is it? Seong-won opened the door and looked at me with a crooked expression. Manager hyung said we have to go out as a guest recement for a variety show. Just the two of us? I dont know. Maybe two is enough. Hell be here soon, so get dressed. Seong-won showed his reluctance and dragged his body. Then he shouted like a teenage son. Get out, I have to change! He was a guy who had no trouble at all. Chapter 39: On the Same Boat (1) Chapter 39: On the Same Boat (1) I was kicked out of Seong-wons room, so I started to get ready to leave on my own. As I entered the room that I shared with Seon-woo, I saw the cosmetics on the dresser. I used to wonder why these guys put on so much makeup I remembered the scolding I got from the makeup staff when I appeared on the radiost time. Lotion I should at least find some lotion and apply it. I recalled that Seon-woo said it was okay to use his cosmetics until he bought new ones, so I looked for some lotion. Emulsion, skin, cleansing water, night pack. They all looked simr, but had different names. Which one is lotion? I had never used anything other than an all-in-one product, so I didnt know what to apply. This one looks harmless I found a cream that said it was for the basic step of skin care on the back, and squeezed some on the back of my hand. What is this? The cream was not white or transparent, but had a pinkish hue. [Waterful Tone Up Base Cream] Can I apply this? Is this not something weird that I have to wipe offter? I had never put anything on my face except for this one thing that was the end! The mens cosmetic! That was advertised, or sunscreen. This was an unknown territory for me. I had no choice but to ask Seong-won for help, even though I knew I would look stupid. Come out for a second. I knocked on the door with the hand that didnt squeeze the cream, and Seong-won red at me with a neat outfit. Why? He was the kind of guy who would hover around me when he wanted to pick a fight, but wouldnt do the opposite. He was so biased. Can I put this on my face and go? I showed him the tube-shaped product that I took from Seon-woos dresser, and Seong-won frowned. Why are you asking me that? Well, Im going to do makeup againter, and I dont know if I can apply this. This is a base. Do you need it? Isnt it a basic? Cant I apply it? Whats the difference between basic and base? Basic = Base, right? Seong-won looked suspicious, as if he had eaten something wrong, but I couldnt help it. I couldnt understand what they were saying even if I searched it. Just apply some lotion. Anyway, it was clear that this was not lotion. Okay. I nodded and went back to my room. I threw away the cream that I had squeezed on the back of my hand in the trash can, feeling sorry. Then what should I apply? Should I call Seon-woo and ask him? I was wondering when bang bang bang, the manager knocked on the door. Come out quickly! I had no choice. Ill have to ask Seon-woo what to buy and learn from him next time. I hurried to the front door. Yes, Im going! Hurry up ande down. Ive got a car waiting for you downstairs. I grabbed my phone and followed the manager outside. What kind of show is this? Are we going to the salon? No, the staff wille to the cast waiting room right away. We dont have time to stop by the salon. I havent even received the script yet. Ill give it to you as soon as I get it at the station. Seong-won clicked his tongue and sat in the inner seat of the minivan, looking displeased. I had been to the cast waiting room a few times, too. Its my first time going there as Cheonise. When I was a food business owner, Lim Hyun-seong, my appearance was not that important. Its not like I was a celebrity, but I had a decent face for a general expert. Thanks to that, I received only the basic level of care from the expert panels and headed straight to the set. This time, Im an idol who needs to care about my appearance I had to be alert, because I didnt know when and where a hidden trouble would pop up. If I was apanied by someone like Kyunghwa, who was experienced in improvising, or Yejun, who was good-natured, it would be different. But with someone like Son Seong-won, who was hardly cooperative, it was even more so. Ill park ande, so you guys go to the security first and ask them to guide you to the waiting room. As soon as Seong-won and I got off the car at the entrance of the station, I looked at him. What are you doing, hurry up. Seong-won didnt seem familiar with this either, as it was his first timeing here without a manager. It was not much different from when I was Lim Hyun-seong, until I got to the waiting room. I walked briskly inside and got a visitors ne. You put it on, too. I handed one of the two I received to Seong-won and looked for the number I was told, and took the elevator up. There were more familiar faces today than when I was on the radio, maybe because it was a busy day for broadcasting. Of course, I didnt have any real acquaintance. They were celebrities that I had seen a few times on TV. There it is. I was talking to myself, saying do this, do that, there it is, while following Seong-won, who was silent. It was a bit awkward. Seong-won nodded his head and read the name tag that said . Does that mean there are also non-celebrity cast members, if its a celebrity panel waiting room? I was thrown into this situation without even hearing what kind of program I was going to be on. Is School Kitchen Attack a cooking show? I would have known if it was any cooking show. I was the most famous among the food business owners who also did broadcasting. If they were nning to do a new cooking show, they would have contacted me before I died. Ill search it in detail when I have time. I knocked lightly on the door and entered, and there was only one young-looking makeup staff who was unpacking. Are you the cast members of Climax? Please sit here. She looked like she was in college. She looked too young to carry that heavy makeup box by herself. Are we the only two celebrities today? I asked the makeup staff as I looked down at her, and she nodded cheerfully. Yes! The rest are preparing in the non-celebrity waiting room. Huh? I still couldnt figure out what kind of show they were trying to do. Are you Seong-won and Ise? There are costumes hanging over there, so change behind that curtain ande out. The staff who had set up the tools on the shelf in front of the mirror pointed to the hangers. There were our names on each of the hangers covered with vinyl. You go change first. It would have been easier to just go in and change together, but that sensitive brat wouldnt allow it. Seong-won turned his head briefly and answered for me, then took his share of the hanger and went behind the curtain. There was a rustling sound for a while, as if he was removing the vinyl cover, and then it became quiet. Whats wrong, is something wrong? I called out from outside, feeling curious, and Seong-won answered in a shaky voice. No, nothing! What do you mean nothing? It seemed like something was wrong. There was a sound of clothes brushing against each other, and soon Seong-won came out with a flushed face like a ripe ruby. Why is he so embarrassed? I scanned Seong-wons outfit from head to toe and began to understand. The outfit was a mix of a sky-blue checkered uniform and ace apron, which looked like something elementary students would wear for a contest. Sigh. Dontugh. You have to wear it too. Seong-won snorted and turned his head. Seong-won, please sit here after you change. The staffughed lightly and took Seong-won to the mirror. Meanwhile, the manager came in and opened the door. Oh, you started preparing? The manager looked more exhausted than usual, as if he was busy. Yes. Seong-won changed first and is getting ready. You change quickly ande out too. You study the script while Seong-won is getting ready. Okay. I obediently took the hanger and went behind the curtain. When I removed the cover, I saw the same design of the outfit that Seong-won had received. Is this some kind of punishment outfit? I touched the frill on the sky-blue checkered jacket with a stiff expression. I didnt understand why this outfit was necessary for a cooking show. But as Cheonise, I had to do things that I didnt understand. I had no choice but to do it even if I didnt understand. When I changed and looked in the mirror, I saw myself in a dress that would be embarrassing anywhere. Give me the script. I shamelessly asked the manager for the script. Just skim through it. Its not going to be exactly as it is, and you and Seong-won will split it anyway. When I looked at the script that the manager handed me, it was written with Kang Yugeon in mind. [School Kitchen Attack] K-POP stars challenge to develop school meal menus! My stars menu is on our school tray? A delicious coboration between stars and student fans! K-POP makes money, huh. They do everything. As with any food development show, the general menu was already decided. The rest was a n where the cast would just add a little bit of their own ideas and make it in time. [Todays nned menu] [Samgyetang] Samgyetang in school meals Usually, samgyetang means pouring chicken broth over pre-cooked chicken legs. A proper samgyetang would have glutinous rice inside, but It was too hard to do that with mass cooking. The basic recipe that wasmonly used in school meals was provided, and the rest of the ingredients were prepared for the cast to add their own ideas andplete it in time. The expert judges and the invited student evaluators would decide the final pass or fail. Thats pretty serious, huh? I went back to the cover of the script and checked the number of episodes. [Episode 1] That makes sense. I wondered why I didnt hear any news. I died before they started the serious casting. When I was Lim Hyun-seong, I never thought I would appear as a challenger, not a judge or a teacher, on a cooking show. I should think of this as a good experience and do my best. I made up my mind and skimmed through the script. Now, Ise, please sit here. By then, Seong-won had finished his simple makeup and hair styling and got up from his seat. His clothes were quite childish, but his face was so handsome that he still looked infuriating. Give it to me, the script. Ill give it to you even if you dont say that. I made a cking sound as I handed the script to Seong-wons palm and sat in his seat. Thank you. I applied the thing that Seon-woo gave mest night before bed, though I didnt know what it was. I hope I dont get scolded likest time. As I was nervous, the staff dabbed a wet sponge on my face. Ise, you should pay more attention to your exfoliation. Its not serious, but if you dont moisturize enough, your skin will get wrinkled. Ah, yes I finally heard another remark. Ill have to ask Seon-woo to buy me something when hees back today. I nodded lightly and coughed. *** About 30 minutester, the staff who had finished everything tapped my shoulder. Done! Wow, you two are idols, so youre like eye candy. Ill go to the set first. See you soon! With a heartyugh, all the preparations were over. Now it was time to stand in front of the camera with nowhere to hide. Chapter 40: In the Same Boat (2) Chapter 40: In the Same Boat (2) I waited in the waiting room for about twenty more minutes. Then a man who looked like a floor director opened the door and came in. Lets move to the set. Come on, lets go and get ready. My manager pushed me and Seong-won lightly on the back. I took a short breath and headed to the studio. Move a little more to the side of the chair! Dont block the screen! Someone sit there and check how high it is! I saw various people preparing diligently in their own positions. Instead of feeling intimidated, I felt something else. Even though I was pushed into this situation unexpectedly, I realized how precious this opportunity was. Then I heard a buzz from the students who were sitting together in the distance, waiting for their turn. What? I thought Kang Yugeon wasing today? Unnie, wasnt Kang Yugeon the guest? When is Kang Yugeoning? They looked like they had just graduated from middle school yesterday. They asked the staff while looking at us. Yugeon couldnt appear today due to a schedule problem, so another group from the same agency came instead. Thenints erupted from everywhere. Aw,e on I bragged to my friends that Kang Yugeon wasing. I skipped my academy to see Yugeon oppa, but how can they change the guest all of a sudden? I want to go home I was so excited to go to the show where the Floss members wereing today. The students who had prepared various cards to show to Kang Yugeon showed their disappointment tantly. Its not like we wanted to be Kang Yugeons substitutes. Seong-won must have heard the studentsints, because he frowned. I secretly grabbed his sleeve and pulled it down. Cheer up. Do you want me to hit you? He nced at me with a re and turned his head away without answering. Fine, just keep your face away from them. I asked the staff around me awkwardly. Did you recruit all those students as Kang Yugeons fans? The staff who came close to attach the microphone to me answered with an awkward expression. Not all of them. I think they selected the participants by lottery from the sses that applied for the appearance. The guest was announced after the audience list was confirmed, but Yugeon is so popr that So there were a lot of Yugeons fans among the ones who were chosen by lottery. I guess so. Dont worry too much. Theyre not doing that out of malice. Whether they had malice or not. Youre not needed. Anyone who has to face that kind of gaze directly will inevitably suffer psychological damage. This is work. Im a pro, and a pro is someone who gets paid and does their assigned job faithfully. Even someone who had firmly pressed that into their mind would be shaken. If they received such a gaze full of disappointment. Are you bothered? I covered the microphone with my hand and asked Seong-won. No? Why would I be? Seong-won acted as if nothing was wrong, but his breathing was slightly faster than usual. I could tell the difference because we were so close. If he was far away, I might not have noticed. Just admit it if youre bothered. I turned my gaze to the opposite side of where the students were sitting and asked. Seong-won snorted. What difference does it make if I admit it? It doesnt make any difference. Then why are you asking? I can at least cheer you up. Seong-won looked down at me with a cold eye. Who? Me. Seong-won turned his head away as if it wasnt worth answering. Theres no one else we can rely on here but us two. Who else is there? Of course, I Even if I was left alone with this guy, I couldnt trust himpletely. That was partly because of my personality that didnt trust people easily. I would rather have Kyunghwa than this guy. He was too immature to expect that level of responsibility from him. It was also because Seong-won whined too much. Just look at the music issue. Whether I trusted Seong-won sincerely or not, now was the time to make him my ally. Ograd would have given us dozens of lines, whats one line? Since this is how it is, lets do our best. Youre good when you do it. Lets show them a good side and go back. I patted Seong-wons shoulder. The staff who was checking the counter on the stage gestured to us. Guests,e over here and do a screen test! I answered without hesitation. Yes! Seong-won looked at me suspiciously for a while, then followed me with a small sigh. ** Thirty minutester, the real shooting began. Now, lets start the challenge of Climaxs Ise & Seong-won! The time limit was one hour. We had to make twenty servings of samgyetang for the professional judges and the students who came as the audience. This is going to be pretty tight. If it was just three or four servings, it would be fine. But this kind of mass cooking took a long time. The production team seemed to worry about that too, because the script said to start with the time-consuming tasks of trimming and boiling the chicken. The manual was detailed, but it wasnt a friendly recipe for beginners. Didnt a professional check it? I didnt think Kang Yugeon was good at cooking. If the cast wasnt me, I could easily imagine what kind of disaster would have happened with this menu. You go over there and get some water in the pot, until its about six hops full. Then wash the green onions well and cut off the root part. I first poured the chicken legs that were piled up like a mountain on the counter. Even though I had already memorized the recipe once, I didnt know what to touch first when I stood in front of the counter. Seong-won nodded his head as he was flustered. Look at this. Beginners forget what to do when they are overwhelmed by the huge amount of ingredients. Got it. Speed was life in group meals. There was no time to waste even a second. I cut the meat so that it would cook quickly inside and put the pot that Seong-won had filled with water on the high heat. Samgyetang was best eaten with sticky rice porridge. I racked my brain to somehow reproduce the sticky rice porridge. The chicken in my hand was a product that was specially boned and delivered only with leg meat. Thanks to that, the size wasrge and the meat was much more plentiful than ordinary chicken legs. If the meat is this thick maybe I can slit it open and stuff it? I quickly sliced the thigh part of the chicken leg and tried to fill the inside. It was impossible to put in the medicinal herbs, but there was enough space for a tablespoon of soaked rice. This is it. I wrapped the slit with thread to prevent it from opening and showed one to Seong-won. Ill make the slits, so you fill them with a tablespoon of rice each. When youre done, wrap the thread around twice and tie it. Seong-won nodded. Instead of answering, I secretly stepped on his foot and winked with my mouth. Say something, dont be silent. When we were on the radio, Sunwoo or Yejun talked so much that Seong-won could get away with being quiet. But now it was just the two of us. What do you want me to do? He looked at me with a look that said that, but I just casually talked to Seong-won. Did you ever have samgyetang for school lunch when you were in school? He kept nodding and doing what I told him to do, but he finally opened his mouth. Maybe once in middle school Doesnt it usuallye out every year on the first day of summer? I think I couldnt go to school on those days. Just then, the assistant directors prompted the audience to react. I responded with a thick skin to the sighs of pity that burst out. Its okay, you must have eaten enough anyway. Look at your height, you must have snatched other peoples food and grown that much. The assistant director inducedughter again with my natural response. Seong-won was not the type to talk much unless he was picking a fight. Most of the audience members were angry that Kang Yugeon didnt show up, and we couldnt go home in an awkward atmosphere after just doing our job. Do you guys like roasted chicken? I asked as I spread the boiled chicken legs on the iron te. The kids who liked to participate answered. We love it! We cant eat it because we dont have it! Thank you, you guys are the hope and the future of this generation of high school students. I sincerely thanked the fact that there were students who answered and smiled. Please look forward to it, its going to be really delicious. The staff induced cheers again at the right timing. Thanks to that, we were able to pull off a friendly atmosphere until the end. I immediately applied the secret sauce based on salt, pepper, and other seasonings to the cooked chicken skin and put it in the oven. Meanwhile, Seong-won diligently divided the boiling broth into twenty bowls. Now we have ten minutes left! The male host who was the MC came close to the counter and fidgeted. Wow, whats this? Its supposed to be samgyetang, but why did the chicken legs go into the oven? Seong-won, can you exin? Seong-wons eyes wavered for a moment. He had been following what I told him to do all along, so he had no idea how to exin. Ah, you cant ask such a difficult question to the assistant. I threw a teasing joke and the kids burst intoughter without being prompted. I dont know what theyugh at and what they dont. I couldnt figure out the standards of these kids these days. Ah, Seong-won is the assistant, and the main chef today is Ise? Thats right. I think our assistant did his best with his face, dont you think? Thinking that I had to say something, Iughed and squeezed Seong-wons cheeks with both hands as if they were ingredients. Seong-won twitched his eyebrows. Hey, smile. As soon as I stepped on his foot, Seong-won barely pulled up the corners of his mouth and smiled. I patted his head as if he did well and checked the chicken through the window. The sauce-coated skin was perfectly browned. Get the chopped green onions ready. Seong-won quickly brought the container with the green onions from the end of the counter. As I put one chicken leg in each bowl, the delicious smell filled the studio. All the audience members who came today didnt know what kind of group Climax was, but they would remember that the food was delicious. Now, lets start the judging time! First, lets hear from Chef Nahyehee, who has been waiting with a very excited look! The middle-aged woman with a gentle expression raised her hand and responded to the cheers. She was someone I knew well from working together several times. She was the first Korean to be the head chef of a famous overseas hotel after graduating from a prestigious European culinary school. Unlike me, who had risen from the bottom of the Korean market, she was a person who had followed the overseas elite course. She doesnt like being called chef or teacher, its too stiff. Just call her sister. I remembered being surprised by her friendly and hearty image when I had a chance to meet her off the record. Well, now shes just a difficult teacher Im meeting for the first time. Then, lets hear from Chef Nahyehee! I waited for Nahyehees evaluation with a confident expression. There was no way I would get a bad review for my cooking. I felt a strong confidence. Chapter 41: The Person Who Remembers Me Chapter 41: The Person Who Remembers Me Chapter 41 The Person Who Remembers Me A steaming bowl of soup was ced in front of the judges. Chef Na Hye-hee made a light gesture and sniffed the aroma. She nodded her head. The smell is very good. Its a bit troublesome, but the oven-baking process makes the smell appetizing. Then she carefully peeled off the chicken leg meat with her gloved hand and put it in her mouth with the skin. The skin is salty and crispy, and the flesh is moist and well-hydrated with glutinous rice inside. Finally, she slurped a big spoonful of broth and put down the spoon as if there was nothing more to see. She quickly stuffed arge amount of food into her mouth, which was too much for tasting for the judging. Everyone was nervous, thinking that the judging would be good, and wondering how delicious it was that a professional chef ate it so deliciously. The smell is crazy My mouth is watering, just The audience, who had been moring for Kang Yugeon toe out at the beginning of the shooting, were looking at the chicken legs like hungry dogs. Was the oven-baking your idea, Ise? Finally, Chef Na Hye-hee wiped her mouth with a napkin and sat down on the judges seat. Yes, it was. I met eyes with Chef Na Hye-hee across the counter. She had a piercing look in her eyes, even though it was already past the time limit. You must be very interested in cooking, huh? I was very interested. I made a living with it and met the chef often. I hid what I couldnt say and smiled modestly. Im learning it as a hobby these days. Thats not a hobby level, what are you talking about. Thanks to you, I ate very well. This is something I feel sorry toment on. Its amazing that a non-professional can prepare this in such a short time for a group meal. Thats because Im not a non-professional I kept a poker face and sweated inwardly. And I was wondering whether to tell you this or not The broth has a unique savory taste that reminds me of someone. Huh? I looked at Chef Na Hye-hee with a doubtful thought. Many cameras were waiting for her to continue. I had a chance to get chicken broth from Lim Hyun-seong when I was shooting Battle Kitchen five years ago. Howe it tastes exactly the same. It makes me nostalgic and all that. It had to taste the same because it was made by the same person. There was no point in telling the truth, I would only look like a crazy person. All I could do was nod my head. Thats too much praise. Thank you. Then it was time for the student audience to taste. I was amazed by the sight of them tearing the meat like piranhas. Being young is really amazing. They seemed to swallow without chewing, and I was amazed at how well they ate. Okay, then well announce the judging results. 3, 2, 1! I smiled as I watched the obvious result. *** I need to go home and eat, wash, and sleep right away. On the way back to the dorm, I looked at the time on my phone and it was already evening. It was definitely morning when I left. I repeated preparing, waiting, shooting, and waiting again, and the time disappeared like melting snow. You worked hard too. I reflexively tried to pat his head like I did to Seon-woo, but I was startled and pulled my hand back. Seong-won didnt answer and stared at me quietly. What, why. Whats wrong with you. I gave him the same childish behavior that he usually did, and Seong-won pursed his lips. Who said what. I didnt say anything. Your expression says it all. Seong-won had nothing to say and looked out the window and bit his tongue. Today, you did the leader role for the first time in a long time. Ugh. Dont say that. You sound like an old man. I thought he was finally saying something nice, but it turned out to be a fight. Whats wrong with ugh. Mind your own business. I gave Seong-won a moderate level of pushback and quickly turned the topic to the manager. Hyung, why did we suddenly get a job today? There must have been a lot of other people to fill in for the other cast members. It was the first time I had ever done this, rushing to act as a substitute for another cast member. Ah, Yugeon asked me to contact you guys. He said you would want to go, unlike other people. What, where did that confidencee from? Of course, I wouldnt miss it if the opportunity came to me. Especially this time, when I could show off my skills in cooking. Ill tell him to thank you guys when he has time. No, were d we could get our faces out there before we start preparing for our activities. At least to the audience today, we were nothing more than unknown stones until then. From today on, they would remember us as the Climax members who gave them a delicious chicken soup in the studio. Lets think of it as a good thing. I closed my eyes for a moment on the way back to the dorm. I opened my eyes as soon as I heard the sound of arriving soon and checked the phone screen. The time was 7:20. I went into the phone book and memorized the new number I registered. [PD Pyo Joo-yeon] [010-XXXX-XXXX] As soon as I finished shooting sessfully, I was called from all over. Can you please take a picture with me? Let me take a proof shot! Please take a picture! Most of them were requests for proof shots from students. I dly dragged Seong-won by the hand and pretended to be close, smiling with my face full of smiles. Arent you two close? Theres nothing as innocent, pure, and cruel as kids. The kids teased Seong-wons awkward gestures and asked if we werent close, if we had a fight, and so on. No, were totally best friends. Im the closest to him in the group. I showed off my friendship and wrapped my arm around Seong-wons shoulder, making him flounder like a fish out of water. You think I like it? I smiled brightly, suppressing my irritation. It was natural that I stepped on Seong-wons foot again. After finishing the fan service that was made with a lot of hard work, this time the shooting staff were waiting for me. Ise, can you give me your contact information? There arent many idols who can cook well, so youre a rare talent. Ill contact you if theres a good opportunity to work together again. I just did my best for todays job. I had no reason or need to refuse, so I gave the PD my number. I wonder if hell contact me soon. I dont know, but I made an unexpected connection in the broadcasting industry, so that was a good thing. Of course, even if they didnt ask me first, I was thinking of subtly pushing them. But I wasnt in a position like Kang Yugeon, who had established himself I was worried that it wouldnt look good for a young and unknown person to ask for a number. I wish the choreography problem would be solved as easily. Tsk. I tried hard toe up with an idea to ask for help from the system. Then, the phone screen that was turned off lit up. A message from someone popped up. Who is it? Kyunghwa or Seon-woo? Maybe its a message from the members asking if it went well. I casually turned on the screen and was surprised by the appearance of an unexpected person. No, it wasnt unexpected. Todays event was all because of him. [YOU] Did you finish the shooting well? 7:23 PM He didnt have to exin who he was. I could tell who he was by his arrogant nickname. Climax debuted five years ago, so the senior by debut order was Cheon I-se. But the entertainment industry is not a field where you are evaluated by your seniority. Kang Yugeon, who was sitting at the top of the first-tier, first-ss male idols, had the power to shake the whole industry, not to mention his agency. The whole idol system is watching him. It was not only the nominal senior, but also the inferior follower of Floss, Climax, who had to watch out for Floss. The fact that I had to go against his will bothered my pride. I quickly typed a reply before getting off the van. [Me] Yes, I did well. 7:26 PM Then, in less than a minute, a read confirmation mark appeared and a reply came back. [YOU] Arent you curious who I am? 7:26 PM Who else would you be? There was only one person who came to mind, even though the profile picture was not registered. [Me] Arent you Kang Yugeon? 7:28 PM By then, the manager had arrived at the dorm parking lot and opened the sliding door. You did a lot of work today. Go in and rest. Yes, you too, hyung. As I was holding my phone and staring at it, Seong-won quickly greeted the manager and went up first. Ise? The manager called my name as if he was curious when I kept looking at my phone. Oh. Its nothing. Ill go up too. I hurriedly got out of the van and followed Seong-won up the stairs. Ding, as soon as I opened the door lock and entered, Seon-woo jumped out of the sofa where he was sitting. Did you do well? He wasnt a guardian who was waiting for me toe home. Kyunghwa was also standing next to him, looking at me and Seong-won with worried eyes. Yeah. I did well. The atmosphere wasnt bad either. There was no need to say that the students who were expecting Kang Yugeon before the shooting started were ready to boycott. Was Seong-won okay? Whats the problem? I did well. I said it nicely before Seong-won answered. Im d. I was worried because you two went in on short notice. Whats there to worry about me? I greeted him reflexively and fell into silence. Everyone looked at Seong-won with their eyes as if there was another problem, not me. Why are you looking at me? Seong-won snapped and went into his room, separating Seon-woo and Kyunghwa. Anyway, I did well. Lets have cold pasta and sd for dinner. Yeah! Ill wash the sd. Seon-woo ran to the kitchen first. He must have been hungry. It waste, so it was understandable. I should have told him to eat first. I was scared to think of the small regret in my head when I remembered Kang Yugeons message. Oh. I have to check if he replied. I went into the room and plopped down on the bed and checked my phone. [YOU] What if youre wrong? 7:30 PM What the hell. I frowned and red at the screen. Chapter 42: The Negotiation Between the Lion and the Mouse Chapter 42: The Negotiation Between the Lion and the Mouse Chapter 42 The Negotiation Between the Lion and the Mouse I felt my eyes sore after cooking arge amount of food and volunteering to y the clown in front of the people. All I wanted to do was to fill my stomach, wash up, andy my head on the pillow. I quickly moved my fingers. [Me] What do you mean? 7:43 PM Did he have nothing better to do? I received another message from an ID that I assumed was Kang Yugeon. [YOU] What if Im not Kang Yugeon? 7:44 PM What nonsense was he talking about? I immediately activated the voice talk function and called him. I didnt like to text like a kid. It was not my style. After a few rings, someone picked up the phone. Hello? Is this Kang Yugeons phone? - There was no answer right away. I wondered if something was wrong with the connection and took the phone away from my ear and red at the screen. Its Kang Yugeon, right? Only when I called him with confidence, a snort ofughter came from the other side of the line. -Wow~. I didnt expect you to call right away. Yes, its me. Kang Yugeon. What do you mean, its me, Kang Yugeon? I remembered the disappointed faces of the students who were staring at the entrance because of his sudden cancetion. I got the opportunity because of his no-show. Thanks to him, I had the chance to talk to the student fans for the first time in my life. It was not a bad thing for me. Is Kang Yugeon really noting? The eyes that couldnt let go of the hope and kept peeking at the entrance lingered in front of me. I didnt know much about the entertainment industry. But I knew that the poprity and star quality of celebrities were made by the fans efforts and support. I couldnt help it. I was in the body of an idol who failed even after spending money without the voluntary support of the fans. You shouldnt betray the hearts of the people who came to see you. I answered with a sour tone from the beginning. What happened today? How did you miss the schedule and why did you suddenly tell us to contact you? Of course, I had no right to me Kang Yugeon. He was the young emperor who was firmly seated at the top of the industry. And I was a mouse who was at the bottom of the pyramid. -Hmm. The first question is an industry secret. The second is that I wanted to turn the opportunity to the right ce, Ill say that. The right ce? What does it mean to put something in the right ce? I asked back with a pout. -Dont you need a ce to appear anywhere? I did. But it didnt have to be someone elses substitute. It would have been nice if you had told us in advance, junior. -You dont have to be so stiff and polite. Just call me Yugeon. You debuted earlier anyway. Should I say he had a good temper or he was shameless? I thought again that he was not the type of person I could work well with. Then, Kang Yugeon. I appreciate the opportunity you gave me, but your fans were very disappointed today. -So you dont want me to do the same thing again? Damn. I couldnt say that even if I had multiple mouths. As he said, Climax had been ying around without a proper group schedule for a month. I couldnt refuse any kind of appearance that could raise my awareness. No, thats not it. -Thats good. Then Ill ask you a favor in the future. Thank you for finishing the job today. A favor in the future? I tilted my head and asked back. Youll ask me a favor in the future? -Yes. Well Ill try not to notify you on the same day like this time. There might be some schedules that I dont know about for Climax in the future. What kind of reckless kid was he? I forgot that the members were waiting for me toe out and raised my voice. Do you want to use us as your cancetion squad? -Well, to be honest, it would be something like that. What if we dont want to ept it? We were in no position to say that to Kang Yugeon. If it were another group, they would have been grateful for the opportunity he gave them. It was an irrational attitude to try to reject the opportunity that came rolling in because of one person I didnt like. But Kang Yugeons professionalism touched the deepest part of my values. -You seem to be very unhappy with todays event. What can I do to make you feel better? He sounded polite, but there was a hint of mockery and amusement in every word. I wanted to say one more thing to him. But suddenly, a translucent status window popped up and Pposil spun around nervously. It would have been better if I were a senior in my thirties. It was a pathetic sight to act like this when I was only a year younger than him. I just want to hang up and rest anyway. I was about to wrap up and ask him to let me know in advance next time. But at that moment, a sh of idea crossed my mind. No, actually, I think I was a bit rude because I was out of my mind today. If you really feel bad, can I ask you one favor? My change of attitude made Kang Yugeon swallow hisughter and answer from the other side of the line. -Sure, tell me. I didnt expect to handle it this way. But I had to grab Kang Yugeon, whether he was a rotten or a golden rope. For the sake of Climax. *** Ha As soon as I opened the door and came out, I felt everyone tense up. They must have been surprised that I locked myself in for 30 minutes to talk on the phone after saying I would eat. Hyung, is something wrong? Ye-jun, who wasnt there when I just entered the living room, asked me while chewing on his sd. He sounded worried, but he was too busy stabbing his sd with a fork and putting it in his mouth. Hu I deliberately hesitated. My meaningful attitude made them all gulp down their saliva. What is it, tell me quickly! Kyunghwa, who couldnt handle this kind of tension well, raised his voice first. He was the kind of guy who could ovee anything worse than this in front of the camera. But when he wasnt, he was as timid as a bean. I bowed my head as if something serious had happened and tapped my forehead with the back of my hand, then shouted. We got a choreographer. What!? At the unexpected good news, even Seon-woo put down the fork he was holding and his eyes widened. Who? Who did you get? To be honest, I didnt know the person very well. But from what Kang Yugeon said, he seemed to be very famous. MyType? He asked me to send him a demo right away by phone. MyType has a schedule now? Kyunghwa asked in surprise. And I couldnt answer that, well, he does, but Kang Yugeon must have hooked us up. Well, he said hell send us a draft within this week if we send him a demo. He said it might be hard to make big changes because hes short on time. Who cares if he cant make changes? Of course we have to say okay! We had already agreed to it. We werent in a position to refuse. I didnt know who he was, but Kang Yugeon bragged that he had done us a huge favor. It seemed to be true. When I thanked him dryly but politely for getting us a choreographer, I remembered the answer he gave me. Senior, I made an impossible thing possible for you. You owe me for this, for sure. Hmph. Hes all talk. He should be careful not to mess up his schedule with his meticulousness of owing people. I hung up the phone with a dismissive snort. Thats one urgent problem solved. I quickly sent a demo to MyType and started preparing for dinner. I felt ufortable in a corner of my mind as I stuffed food into my stomach. But it was delicious, since someone made it. After finishing the meal, I called him to check if he had received the sound source, and he was so stiff. He had as much confidence as Kang Yugeon. I was booked until next year, but I epted it because Yugeon asked me a special favor. I wanted to say, yeah, right. But I knew I wasnt in a position to argue. Yes, thank you. I appreciate it. After sending the sound source, the long day wasing to an end. The other guys had gone to bed early. I was thirsty, maybe because I had done some proper work for once. Ah This is when I should crack open a can ofger and drink it. I opened the fridge, but of course there was no beer can to be found even if I washed my eyes. I settled for a soda and sat on the sofa with a feeling of being seven years old. Before I knew it, Seong-won came out of the living room and looked down at me with his arms crossed. Why. I asked him briefly and put the can on the table. Thank you. What kind of attitude is that for a grateful person? Seong-won shouted his thanks as if he was angry and went into his room. He should be grateful. He went in with just a script, but he didnt know what to do and just fiddled around. I told him to do this and that and made sure he didnt mess up the editing. His thank-you waste. He can say thank you. I guess hes improved. After Seong-won went into his room, the living room was quiet. I logged into the fake ount I had created before and checked to see if there was anything new among the fans today. I took a picture with several people today, but it was still before the first promotion, so it seemed to be under embargo. The entertainmentmunity side There were only a few questions rted to the radio I appeared onst time, and nothing else. I searched for Kang Yugeon out of curiosity and stuck out my tongue at the buzz that was hard to count properly. Hes so annoying. I turned off the phone screen and went into the room where Seon-woo was already asleep. Tomorrow was the same as today, a day with no external schedule. Ye-jun was going to finish editing the sound source, Kyunghwa was going to visit his hometown, and Seon-woo was going to focus on his diet. I think Seong-won said he was going somewhere to take a vocal lesson. He needed a lesson even though he sang so well. I couldnt just sit still, so I nned to borrow Ye-juns secret practice room and practice my vocals. I got through today somehow. It was time to recharge. I slept well, and worked hard on preparing the album. Thats how I had to do it. I thought I had solved the choreography problem and returned to a peaceful life, but soon after. Ise, how have you been? I have a favor to ask you. Peace was bullshit. A series of crises or opportunities, I didnt know what they were, were pouring out. Chapter 43: Heading to the First Stage (1) Chapter 43: Heading to the First Stage (1) Chapter 43 Heading to the First Stage (1) It was less than a week after I appeared on as Kang Yugeons substitute. [Sender: PD Pyo Juyeon] What did this person want from me? I wondered as I answered the phone call in thete afternoon. I picked up the phone. This is Cheonise. -Yeah~, long time no see, Ise. How have you been? PD Pyo didnt call me just to ask how I was doing. Was it a casting offer? I answered with a hopeful expectation. Yes, thanks to your concern, Ive been doing well. The broadcast is not far away either. I only found out the scheduled air date after I finished filming. It was about two weeks after the shooting day. In about a week, I would be able to see the reactions on the entertainmentmunity or SNS and check whether I did well or not. It would be like getting a report card. -Im d youre doing well. I have a favor to ask you, if you dont mind. A favor? What was he talking about? The only thing people would ask Cheonise for was a connection with his parents. But that would be too difficult Unless it was Vice President Ahn Jung-hee. If the purpose was to get a line to Cheon, the chairman of Cheon Soo Group who held the real power, Cheonise was a wrong choice. Oh, what is it? As I asked for a specific answer, PD Pyo let out a slightly awkwardugh. -Well, theres a program PD I know who needs a male singer cast. He said it would be better if it was an idol or a group. Its not a very urgent schedule, its next Thursday. There must have been plenty of groups to cast even if it wasnt Climax. Why did he choose Mangdol, who had low poprity like Climax? I felt a bit puzzled and asked. Can I know what kind of program it is? -Uh Well He hesitated to tell me the program name confidently. It was suspicious. Was it something like a dangerous encounter with richdies? It wasnt anything illegal, was it? I sharpened my intuition and decided not to follow any wrong actions. I waited for PD Pyos answer. -Live Todays Hometown, do you know it, Ise? You might not know it since you were young. Its the lifestyle broadcast thates on at 6 oclock. Cheonise might not know it, but Lim Hyun-seong couldnt forget it. It was the first program he appeared on as Lim Hyun-seong. Looking for the best beef kimchi stew in Gyeonggi Province! At the next table, fresh pork belly is sizzling, and at the other table, theres a sour and savory kimchi stew thats bubbling! Where is this ce? Surprisingly, its run by a young boss in his twenties! It was the restaurant he opened after leaving the meat shop where he worked as an employee. It became a hit after being on the broadcast. It was already famous as a local specialty. It wasnt well-known enough to attract people from all over the country, but it was good enough to have no problem getting married. I got a promotional call and they begged me to let them film without paying any fees. It was a good opportunity because it was a new program that had a hard time casting. There was no money involved, and there was no harm in going out, so I agreed to film and became famous. Not long after the broadcast, apany offered me a franchise partnership. Thanks to that, I started my first franchise. But it wasnt all good. The old man who partnered with me to start thepany hit me in the back of the head when I was 26. It wasnt just a betrayal. He embezzled nearly 3 billion won and I had to go to the Han River ande back at the age of not even 30. Sess was never easy. It was a moment of painful learning. It was a story that left a lot of marks, but anyway, there was a separate conclusion. Its the program that helped me, but why would I refuse it just because its not a program that young people would like. Ah, yes, I know. Are you going there as a daily reporter or something? -Oh, you know? Thats good. No, you just have to help the rural elders and sing a song at the vige festival ande back. I roughly saw what kind of picture he wanted. Yeah. That was something that only the really famous K-POP stars wouldnt do. They would go to some rural corner and be exploited to death until they ate the fresh food. It was a tough journey that required me to endure the hard farm work that could dislocate my joints and make the elders shoulders bounce. Do I have to go with the other members too? -Well, you dont need all five, but I guess it would be better if it was all of them. Then I couldnt do this alone! I couldnt force them. I had to listen to what the other guys had to say. I also had to talk to the manager and the agency. Let me talk to them. Can I get back to you by tomorrow morning after consulting with the agency? As I cautiously asked for confirmation, PD Pyo dly answered. -Sure, please contact me by tomorrow morning! If not, I have to look for another team right away. Yes, I understand. Thank you for contacting me first. -No, thank you for talking to me nicely, Ise. Todays Hometown wasnt a program that had a hard time casting. I finished the call with a bit of curiosity. Then I went to the living room and called the members who were doing their own things at the dorm. We got a program offer. All five of us? Seon-woo, who was munching on a cucumber he had sliced in advance to ease his hunger, peeked his head out and asked. Thanks to losing almost 6kg in two weeks, his jawline was visible even without taping. This is also a human victory. I swallowed the words that broke the mood and continued to exin. Yeah, he said hed prefer if all five of us appeared. But theres a problem. The shadow fell over their eyes that were filled with anticipation. The program is Live Todays Hometown. They all looked at me with puzzled expressions on their faces. Isnt that the program that grandmas and grandpas watch? What are we supposed to do there? Yejoon asked, sounding more like a statement than a question. We have to help the rural elders with their chores and perform at the vige festival at the end. I think hell tell us more details if we agree. Seon-woo and Kyunghwas faces turned sour as they had hoped for something shy and morous. Well, we cant help it. Isnt it better to go anyway? It might help our poprity since the elders watch it too Kyunghwa sighed and looked at Seongwon. Then Yejoons eyes lit up. I think itll be fun. Weve never done anything like that before, so why not take the opportunity? Seon-woo nodded a little, persuaded by Yejoons positive reaction. Im not confident, but its better than having no schedule. We didnt have any choreography yet, and we had nothing else to do except practice our parts if we didnt have any individual offers. It didnt sh with the jacket shooting that wasing up soon. What do you think, Seongwon hyung? Seon-woo looked at Seongwon with his eyes sparkling. Seongwon, who seemed like he would say why should I go there, backed away. Why are you asking me? Because it seems like the other members are all in favor except for you. He couldnt say he would drop out here. Seongwon turned his head away instead of answering. Just do whatever you want. Wow!! Seon-woo pped his hands and smiled brightly as he got the permission that wasnt really a permission. Then we have to prepare for the stage in advance, right? Thats right, were going to perform in front of the elders anyway. I finally started to feel the reality of the problem ahead. I had learned the choreography of the previous songs as the main dancer. The problem was I didnt pay any attention to the vocals! I was so distracted by the new song that I had to record that I didnt even think about the old singles. Anyone have a schedule this afternoon? Seon-woo hade back from PT in the morning and it was the perfect timing when we were all gathered with nothing to do. Then lets rent a practice room and match it up. We have to check the changes in the line-up and the movements, and we might have forgotten some things since we havent danced for a long time. Kyunghwa decided and proceeded with the preparation step by step. Matching up meant choreography first, right? I tried not to be nervous and stood up with my shoulders straight. Ill talk to the manager hyung right away. I pointed at my phone and slipped into the room. And I immediately looked for the system. System! The system appeared as if it had been waiting for me. [What can I help you with?] Hehe, Pposil licked his tongue and wagged his tail as he looked up at me. Give me the vocal training quest, Give me, do you have it? Pposil tilted his head curiously as if he didnt understand the imperative. Dont pretend you dont know. [Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest Vocal Grade Improvement Training Expand Your Songs Do you want to start?] [Yes/No] Of course it was YES. I pressed the yes button hard. The status window disappeared as soon as it lit up and Kyunghwa knocked on the door. Can Ie in? Huh? Yeah. Kyunghwa wouldnt see the status window, but I felt guilty and spoke with a force on my face. Come in. Kyunghwa turned the doorknob and came in. Lets talk to the manager hyung together. I think it would be better if we talked to him as a pair. Well. I didnt think it was necessary, but. It wouldnt hurt to share the responsibility. Okay. Lets do that. I searched for the managers number in the phone book and pressed the call button. The cheerful ringing sounded and the manager soon answered. -Hey, whats up? There was no need to beat around the bush. I went straight to the point. Hyung, we got a lifestyle program offer from PD Pyo Juyeon. Its not his program, though. He said he knows the person in charge. -Huh? A lifestyle program? The manager seemed to be surprised as well and racked his brain. -What are you guys going to do there? We have to help the rural elders with their vige work and then perform at a simple vige festival or something. I think hell tell us more details if we agree. -Where is the location? I havent asked him yet. We cant just say well appear, so Im contacting you first. It would have been better if he gave us a quick permission. I waited for him to say okay. But unfortunately, not everything in the world went the way I wanted. -Thats a bit tricky Kyunghwa and I looked at each other. His eyes were shaking with tension. Chapter 44: Heading to the First Stage (2) Chapter 44: Heading to the First Stage (2) Chapter 44 Heading to the First Stage (2) What the hell? Whats so difficult about it? I urged the manager to hurry up and tell me. -You guys, if you go there once, your image might be fixed as some rural idol or dance idol or something like that. Are you okay with that? Oh. I was speechless at the unexpected and arrogant remark. Even if we got some image, it would be better than having no image at all. Right now, the most urgent task was to show our hard work and make ourselves known. Are we in a position to care about our image now? But then the manager continued with an unexpectedment. -Especially you, Ise. You always refused to do that kind of stuff because you hated it. What? Excuse me? The manager clicked his tongue as if he was annoyed. -What do you mean, excuse me? Hey. I came to you two years ago with a great opportunity and you kicked me away saying it was crap. Dont you remember what you did? It was a mess that the previous Ise had caused. From the managers perspective, it must have been unbelievable. Ah Well, Ive changed a lot since then. We hadnt told the manager yet that we were thinking of this activity as ourst. If this activity failed, thepany would be more cold-hearted than us and consider disbanding us. We thought there was no need to tell him that. -If you say youll do it and then back outter, I wont be able to cover for you. I understood that he didnt trust me. But I couldnt just say, okay, Ill tell them I cant do it. Yes. Ill really do my best this time. -Sigh The manager didnt answer right away, as if he was weighing whether to believe me or not. You saw me doing the School Kitchen Attack, right? Ill really do my best. Kyunghwa, who had been listening nervously all along, finally chimed in. Hyung, Ill also do my best this time so that it wont be a flop. -Oh? Kyunghwa, are you there too? Yes, we were just thinking that we should practice the performance in advance ording to the changed route. -Ah Okay, sigh, Ill trust Kyunghwa and give it a try. So he didnt trust me? I felt a vein pop on my forehead. But I had to endure it. To the manager, Ise was the spoiled and immature heir of a chaebol who had made a fuss about dying a month ago. Yes, then Ill let PD Pyo know that we can contact the agency directly. -Sigh, do well this time. Yes. I barely finished the call and stretched out. My face felt hot, but it was nothing. I asked Kyunghwa with a calm expression. Where are we going for the practice room? We could have used the one in thepany building, but I had another ce in mind. Um Anywhere thats avable right now. Its not like we have a lot of people anyway. Then let me talk to Ye-jun for a moment. Okay. If not, well have to go to the office. I nodded and opened the door to the living room. The three pairs of eyes that were waiting for the result looked up at me. The manager said its okay. We need to find a practice room now. I nced at Ye-jun and he pointed at himself with his thumb and tilted his head. Who else would it be? Then Ye-jun eximed as if he realized something. Oh. Okay, okay. Ive handed over the cat feeding to grandma again, so you can use it there. There wont be anyoneing to bother you or ask you to vacate it. Okay, lets go there then. Seon-woo blinked at the iprehensible conversation. Ah, my grandma has an unused practice room in her building. The electricity and water are still on. Theres no heating, though. I wondered how he could say that there was no heating so cheerfully. Shall we go there then? How are we going to get there? If it was just the two of us, we could walk with our faces covered. But now that there were some people who recognized us, we couldnt walk around in a group of five. Ye-jun and I will walk, and the rest can take a taxi. I went into the room to change my clothes. Then I called PD Pyo right away. PD Pyo was happy with the faster than expected approval. The shooting location was Goseong in Gyeongnam. From Seoul to the south coast It seemed better to spend the night ande back, considering the fatigue. Popr idols sometimese back in a day because of their schedule. Well, were not. I smiled wryly at the advantage of being unpopr idols. PD Pyo didnt stop there. He added another condition that I hadnt expected. *** A littleter, all the members arrived at the practice room and stood at their starting points. I had no trouble with the choreography since I had learned it based on the five-member route from the dance trainingst time. Seon-woo, not there. The problem was the other guys. Seon-woo was the worst, and Kyunghwa was the best. Seong-won and Ye-jun were barely passable at best. As the other three kept messing up, even Kyunghwa started to stumble and stutter. Howe you never make a mistake, Ise-hyung? Youre so sneaky. What are you talking about, Oh Ye-jun? Youre the one who keeps making mistakes and dragging Kyunghwa down with you. I brushed off Ye-juns nonsense with a sullen tone and he made a sound of clicking his tongue. Are you a kid? Twenty-two was definitely younger than my real age, but still. Son Seong-won, you need to focus too. Youve already messed up three times in the same spot. Got it? I wanted to perfect ourst single today, but mistakes kept popping up everywhere. When was thest time we performed that we became this bad? I frowned and pped my hands to get their attention. Ill check each one of you, so Seon-woo, you go first. The rest of you sit down. Okay! Seon-woo, who had been the biggest hole in the group, nodded and jumped up. Sigh Well, at least hes cute. Even if he made a mistake, his good looks would cover it up somehow. I nodded and looked in the same direction as Seon-woo. We stood in front of the mirror and Seon-woo and I were side by side. Okay, one, two, three, four, ta-ta, ta-ta-ta. As I showed him the example and set the direction, he followed along well. Maybe it was because his dance level wasnt that low. One, two, three, four, ta-a, ta, ta-ta-ta! Good, like that. The others werent just ying around, they were checking their routes on the stages where they had stood as five. Five, six, seven, eight, ta-ta, ta-ta-ta. Five, six, seven, eight, ta-a, ta, ta-ta, ta-a. I finished teaching Seon-woo and immediately pointed to the next batter. Next, Oh Ye-jun,e out. Huh, me? Ye-jun, who was confident in his dance part as much as his performance, looked at me with a puzzled expression. Who else would it be? You need to check from the beginning too. You kept messing up in the same ce. That, thats Why, are you going to make an excuse that you couldnt concentrate? I pointed out sharply and Ye-jun pursed his lips and nodded. Fine, I trust you, hyung. Youre the best among us, so Ill just follow you. It took me five times to teach Seon-woo, but luckily Ye-jun had just forgotten, not lost his skills. He caught up to the perfect level in no time after repeating it twice. Next, Son Seong-won. Seong-won snorted but didntin and got up from his seat and stood next to me. As we stood side by side, the difference between me and Cheon Ise was clear. Seong-won had a softer and more handsome look than Cheon Ise, who had rtively thick lines and a pretty face. It also affected his dance line. Cheon Ise pulled the choreography with a powerful and sharp force that cut through. One, two, three, four, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. Seong-won had a smooth feeling of connecting the lines. It was the moment when my prejudice that if you dance well, you all dance the same way, crumbled. He would have looked good doing ballet or something. Of course, Seong-wons vocal talent was overwhelming, so it would have been a waste if he had danced. Done? He raised his level to the point where no one could say anything and sat down in his seat before I gave him permission. Sigh Really. I had a lot to say, but it was better to find peace of mind than to waste time picking a fight. It was time to match the five of us for thest time. We still had a long way to go, so we needed to finish our choreography quickly. Everyone, get up, Im going to y the song, so lets do it together. They smoothed out noticeably after checking each one of them. Seon-woo still almost made a mistake, but. He almost did, not really. Yeah, I could forgive him that much with a generous heart. I sighed and brushed my chest and moved on to the next task. Lets practice Your Pick My Idol. I put theptop I had brought in front of the mirror. The following phrase was on theptop screen. [Your Pick My Idol: Perfect Conquest in One Hour] This was rted to PD Pyos additional condition. The elders might only know the My Doll stage when ites to idols. Just in case, can you practice Your Pick My Idol too ande? Hmm I didnt feel like it, but that was something I could ept. I nced at Seong-wons expression. He was openly dissatisfied with why he had to learn this. Rx your face. Are you going to pout in front of the elders too? I pressed the y button and moved my body slowly as the instructor in the video did. They all had basic sense, so they were much faster than ordinary people. [Im the star who will steal your heart today!] [Your Pick My Idol~!] [Brand new me born from your fingertips~.] Anyway, they all liked English lyrics so much. As I moved my body to the song, I quickly got used to it. Its not that hard, since its a choreography that involves moving with several people. This show was such a hit. I moved my body along with the video with a soulless expression and suddenly thought of Kang Yugeon. He must have been working hard on this too, hoping to debut. Anyway, that wasnt important. It was our first stage, so we had to be perfect even if the audience wasnt what we expected. I clenched my teeth and lifted my head to focus on the choreography. Chapter 45: Heading to the First Stage (3) Chapter 45: Heading to the First Stage (3) Chapter 45 Heading to the First Stage (3) By the time the one-hour video was over, everyone was more or less familiar with it. Seon-woo wiped the sweat that was dripping from his forehead. They were all better than most of the cast members who appeared in the first episode of My Doll Stage. Isnt this good enough? Ye-jun let out a weird scream and grabbed the water bottle that he had left next to the mirror. He didnt care about the eyes around him and gulped down the water. He looked like a kid. Dont make that noise anywhere else. Itll go viral as a clip. Then its good publicity. Its not like I did anything wrong. He was an idol, but he had no sense of distance. The more I looked at him, the more he seemed simr but different from Kang Yugeon. Kang Yugeon was clearly a troublemaker, but he had a charm that made people like him. But he also had a cheap side to him This guy doesnt seem to have a shadow of a sinister scheme. He was like a moth that followed his impulses, just wagging his tail at anything fun or anyone he liked. If he only had a good face, he would have been hard to use. But he also had talent, so he naturally attracted people. The kids these days call this a big dog syndrome. I hummed and narrowed my eyes as I looked down at him. He was lying on the floor and blinked his eyes. What, why are you looking at me like that? Ye-jun tilted his head as if he was puzzled. It looked like his invisible ears were twitching on his messy hair. Hand. I held out my hand with my palm up and he obediently put his hand on it. Ah, me too. Seon-woo, who was watching from the side, put his hand on the remaining gap on my palm. Because I feel energetic. Im always energetic. Ye-jun smiled and nodded quietly. Kyunghwa, who was watching with me, shook his head. Yeah, if thats something to be proud of, then be proud of it. Yeah! Its totally something to be proud of! If you look closely, this guy wasnt bad at understanding what people said. He just had an excellent ability to let go of any harsh words without getting hurt. On the other hand This guy has no tact. I saw Seong-won, who was sweating profusely like the other members. Seon-woo was trying to find the right timing to hand him a sports towel. Just talk to him. He was only a year older than him. I couldnt stand the frustration and called Seong-won. Hey. Seong-won, who was leaning against the mirror and staring nkly at the wall, turned to me. Why. Over there. I pointed to Seong-wons right with my finger and he looked puzzled. But he obediently moved his eyes to the side. Oh, I think I sweated a lot! Seon-woo handed him the towel with a shy smile. Seong-won took the towel with a nervous expression. Why are you so scared of me? You dont know why hes asking that? You always look at him like youre going to catch him. I closed my mouth instead of speaking. Im not scared Then what. He frowned as if he was scared to say he wasnt scared. I feel like youre frustrated with me, Seong-won hyung, so Im a bit careful. Do you really need to worry about that? Seong-won was a guy who was frustrated with most people except himself, not just Seon-woo. Dont worry too much. I finally intervened and cut off his words. Seong-won twitched his eyebrows. Well, what are you going to do if youre unhappy? Why are you saying that, hyung? Whats wrong with that? I sat down for a while to cool down my heated body. Grrr, was it because I moved too much? Someones stomach, I didnt know whose, demanded energy and growled. Ahaha, Im hungry too. Seon-wooughed and fixed his disheveled hair. I nced at the time and answered. Lets go over everything we learned today and then head home. Ugh Kyunghwa stretched out from his seat. Get up already. I want to wash up quickly. There was no bathroom attached to the practice room, so they had to endure being soaked in sweat until they got home. At Kyunghwas urging, Ye-jun, who had been slouching on his butt, sprang up from the floor of the practice room. That was good enough. Seon-woo almost made a mistake once, but it wasnt a big deal. I should tell him to keep practicing by himself at home. The living room is not too small. They somehow managed to get through the day. After splitting into groups of two or three and taking a taxi back, they ate their meals with a sigh of relief. There was no time to feel excited about their first stage, as time flew by. Hyung, look at this! Ye-jun, who was sitting in the inner seat of the ne, ran around and shoved his phone camera at me. People would think were going on an overseas location shoot. Im just trying to have some fun. Its still a ne, even if its a domestic flight! The destination, Goseong in Gyeongnam, was too far away from Seoul. It would take at least 10 to 12 hours round trip by car. There was no way they could avoid being exhausted if they were stuck in a minivan for that long. I, who didnt have many local trips, came up with an idea. How about we take a domestic flight to Busan airport and move from there? It might seem unnecessary, but it only took about 40 minutes from Gimpo airport to Busan airport. Of course, they couldnt ignore the time it took to get from the amodation to Gimpo. But it was iparable to going straight from Seoul to Gyeongnam. The problem was that there was no separate business ss and they had to sit among the general public. No one will recognize us if we just cover our faces a bit. You mean ugly. Even if someone recognizes us, they wont act like they do, honestly. As Ye-jun pointed out painfully, we didnt have much recognition. The buzz had increased a little bit after the broadcast of School Kitchen Attack. [Title: School Kitchen Attack Audience Review] [Body] I got lucky and got to go to the audience with my friends from school. This was the first episode, and if there are any anonymous people who are thinking of applying for the audience, I wrote this for reference. (Application link) You can submit a form here, and I got a phone call about two weeks after I submitted the form. They told me the guest by text a week before the shooting, but it changed suddenly on the day and I was a bit disappointed. Everyone was a bit disappointed because it was different from the original guest, but as soon as the ck-haired member stood in front of the counter and got ready, their minds changed. He was just like a professional Na Hye-hee chef was also stunned and stared at him. He made 20 servings and gave one to the judge and the rest to the audience for judging. There were a lot of people who were on a diet among the friends I went with, but no one left anything It was funny how the blonde member kept tinkering with the whole thing, but when he came over to take a picture with uster, I thought I was going to stop breathing;;; His face was really small and unrealistically pretty But he was also tall He looked like he was over 180 and in his mid-twenties. Anyway, the program was fun and I got to eat something delicious and get paid for it. It was a good experience. [Photo] [Photo] [Comments] [- Todays broadcast review It seemed like some unknown? idol group came out, but it was fun. Im curious about the next guest.] [- Wow He was too good to just make a sd.] [- Im going crazy Why did the member who came out with him keep tinkering?] [- Is he Latta He only does what hes told.] [- Imughing so hard at how he keeps looking around with that face. Its so unrealistic.] Fortunately, when I looked up themunity reaction, it seemed like it wasnt too bad for the kids to see. Was he that unrealistically good-looking? I lifted my head and looked at Seong-won in the front seat. Seong-won was tall and had a thin frame, but he wasnt skinny. He had a delicate but solid impression. His lean and handsome body line matched well with his exquisite beauty. If you only see ordinary high school boys around, you wouldnt feel real when you see something like this. I snorted lightly and turned my head before Seong-won felt my gaze. Maybe it was because it was an early morning flight that left before sunrise. Through the window, I could see the sun peeking out from under the vast clouds. Hyung, are you really not going to take a picture? Ye-jun kept whining, sandwiching Seon-woo in the middle. I pretended to give in and turned my body away from the window, making a V sign with my hand. Ahaha, whats that? Youre so stiff. Lean in closer and tilt your head a bit. Seon-woo, you too, move closer to hyung. That way, youll fit better in the screen. I dont know when he got it, but Ye-jun held a long selfie stick like a pole and clicked the button several times. Done~. Ye-jun detached his phone from the selfie stick and looked at the pictures with satisfaction. Seong-won and Kyunghwa, who were sitting in the front seats, buried their faces in their hats, as if they had nothing to do with themotion behind them. It was a short distance that we could arrive in a blink of an eye, but we had a busy day ahead of us and we had toe back in the evening. We had to sleep whenever we could. At first, I thought we were just going to sleep for a day ande back Im sorry, but I have a schedule to go to the next day, so you guys have toe back by yourselves. Is that okay? Or I can get you another assistant manager whos avable. The manager frowned. We were already not in the best shape, and we didnt know what kind of disaster would happen if we added a newbie. The manager seemed more nervous than the idols. Well, were all confident in our stamina, so we wont copse in the middle. I thought it wasnt a big deal and leaned back on the seat. The ne was so empty that I wondered if the price was right. Well, its natural that there arent many people moving at this early hour. I read the materials that the PD in charge, who was introduced to me by the main PD, sent me for thest time. Our job was to help with the corn harvest. We had to pick the ears from the corn that grew as tall as an adult man, sort them out, and cut down the corn that was left with only the stalks. Today, Ill be able to fall asleep as soon as I touch the pillow. I looked out the window, preparing for a long day, and saw the sun rising. The red sun licked its tongue through the dark blue darkness. I can do this. I steeled myself and blinked. *** As soon as we got off the airport, the manager quickly picked up the rental car. Itll take about an hour and a half from here. Try to get some sleep in the meantime. Youll be exhausted today. That would be the same for him. Thanks to the flight, the manager reduced the 5-6 hour drive to an hour and a half. He started the car slowly. The minivan, which smelled like a new car, moved slowly and headed for the highway. When we arrived at the filming location, the sun was starting to shine brightly. It wasnt too hot yet, since it was still early in the morning. What are we going to do as soon as we get there? I told him yesterday. He had to act like he heard it through the back of his ears. Were going to greet the owner and go to the harvest with the elders. You can expect to work in the cornfield until lunch. Thats right. It was supposed to be a visit by singers tofort the elders loneliness, but they had a different purpose for wanting us. [Helping hands] In other words,bor. Chapter 46: I Didn’t Come to Enjoy the Countryside Chapter 46: I Didn¡¯t Come to Enjoy the Countryside Chapter 46 I Didnt Come to Enjoy the Countryside Alright, everyone, take one tray each and move to your assigned rows. The vige head distributed the trays and assigned each member to a row of corn. He was speaking in Seoul dialect, since we were from Seoul, but his ent was very thick with the local dialect. We couldntugh. We all clenched our mouths and hid our faces behind the corn leaves, shaking our shoulders. I showed you how to harvest the corn earlier, right? Just follow the same way and harvest all the way to the other side, thene down. The cornfield was oddly located on a hill where it could get the direct sea breeze. It was a popr crop that was sold as corn grown with the sea breeze. There was no port, just a coastal cliff, so instead of the fishy smell, there was a fresh salty scent in the air. The corn has a better life than me. I want to grow up with the sea breeze too. Ye-jun fiddled with his sun cap that had a shade to block the sunlight. It wasnt even noon yet, but the temperature had risen sharply since dawn. If it werent for the sea breeze, we would have been on fire by now. Stop talking nonsense and focus on harvesting. We all had microphones on, but we knew how this scene would be used. The working scene would be over in 30 seconds, with us just showing some grumbling. But we had no choice. Our goal was the performance part that would be broadcasted the longest But the farmers goal was this. With that in mind, we put our enthusiasm into harvesting. Thats when we heard a scream from the row that Seong-won was in charge of. Ahh-! What was that? Did he get hurt? It would be a big deal if he cut his face by ident. Whats wrong? Are you hurt? We rushed to the next row, pushing aside the corn. Seong-won screamed louder. No! Donte this way! Donte! Ahh! Whats wrong with him? We all stopped harvesting and ran to Seong-won. Seong-won was making a fuss, telling us not toe near him, but no one would stay away in this situation. Whats going on? Kyunghwa asked, squinting his eyes in the bright sunlight, even though he had a shade on. When we got closer, we saw a huge centipede about 30cm away from Seong-won. Oh thats not good. The centipede was slightly longer than the longest finger, and it was waving its numerous legs. Ack! Go away! Seong-won backed away, trying to threaten it with his harvesting tool, but it was useless. The centipede seemed determined to stick to its path, and it slowly approached Seong-won. Ah, why are youing, go away! Seong-won was wondering if he should run to the next row, ncing sideways. Yap. Seon-woo grabbed the centipede with his bare hand, only wearing work gloves. I caught it! He could touch it with his hand. Seong-wons face turned pale. Get away, please! Okay! Ill throw it away. Seon-woo lifted his hand with the centipede, as if he was proud of his catch. Wow thats big. I would have a hard time catching that with my bare hand. Running a restaurant, there was no better environment for bugs to gather. Especially in the back alley where there was a back door. I was good at keeping them out, but that thing was beyond human imagination. When I was a novice owner who didnt know how to use a professional pest controlpany. I had to fight a fierce battle with those things that were after my precious store. I really suffered a lot back then. I wasnt particrly afraid of bugs, but that thing was a special case. It was lucky if only a few of them came in through the vents or the back door. If they seeded in building a great empire inside, my business would be ruined. At first, I only knocked them out with a tool and threw them outside. But in a month, I had the agility and courage to rival a professional pest controlpany. If I dont catch this, my store will be ruined. I ended up catching that thing with my bare hand, without even wearing gloves. Later, I switched to using a professional pest controlpany. But even I didnt want to catch something that big with my hand. I threw it away! Seon-woo came back with a bright smile, after throwing the centipede like a catch ball to the other side of the field. You should have killed it! Hey. Killing it is too cruel, bro. Guys, please put a bug story disimer in front of this. It was probably the only scene worth broadcasting in the harvesting part. I looked around for the cameraman, and I saw a male staff filming from the corner. I hope its edited well and fun for the broadcast. I continued the dyed harvesting with a soulless eye. Soon, the sun was shining in the middle of the sky. It was time for the highlight of the life program. Lunch time wasing. *** Here, a feast made with the fresh corn we just harvested! Lets try it now! Kyunghwa and I, who were in charge of the hosting, sat in the middle, and the rest of the members sat around us in a circle. The rtives of the vige head brought dishes one by one and ced them on the table. We wanted to participate in the cooking process, but the pride of the elders was no joke. Hey, dont interfere with the adults work and just rest quietly. You kids need to save your strength. We were curious about how they made the dishes, but the elders only let the professional reporters interview them. We were kicked out and told to rest. This is really treating us likeborers. I waited quietly, sipping the fan wind and feeling bitter. Maybe it was because it wasnt the city. It was cool even without air conditioning, lying on the porch and feeling the sea breeze. After about 30 minutes of cooling down, it was our turn to work again. Corn rib soup, corn pancakes, corn rice, corn porridge, and even corn steamed buns for dessert! The elders in the vige prepared various corn dishes for us! My personal preference was the corn porridge. The porridge that had a simr feeling to rice pudding with milk looked sweet and savory at the same time. Well then, it wouldnt be fun if we just ate, right? Lets start the corn snatch game now! I worked hard all morning to eat this. Just let me eat a little. Everyone must have had the same thought in their heads, but anyway, this was also entertainment. Ugh, just let me eat. Ye-jun stabbed his thumb upside down toward the ground andined. Then, lets hear a word from Oh Ye-jun, the first contestant, before we start. Kyunghwa ignored his protest and continued his job as an MC. All I wanted was to try the corn porridge as soon as possible. I nced at Seon-woo and thought, damn, he must be drooling. He looked like a puppy that heard wait with a snack in front of him. His expression was pitiful. And there was Son Seong-won, who looked at him with disdain. It was amazing that they gathered such colorful kids together. Ah, Ill work hard and not leave even a single grain for this guy. Ill eat it all by myself. What are you talking about? Seong-won, who was this guy to Ye-jun, twitched his eyebrows. The game started with Ye-juns provocation, and the atmosphere heated up. It was a noisy meal time as usual. *** After finishing the meal, it was time to work again. The field we worked on earlier was the vige heads field. The field we were going to start now was the field of the oldest elder in the vige. They said that the vigers helped each other with the field work. But maybe because he was old, the weed management was not well done. So the corn kernels were a little better than the previous field. Hey, Oh Ye-jun, stop messing around and focus. Ye-jun stopped picking corn and suddenly peeled off the husk and looked closely. Kyunghwa finally scolded him. Look at this. This was eaten by a bug. Ye-jun ignored Kyunghwas words and pushed the bug-eaten corn to Seong-won next to him. Ah, you crazy Go away! Damn, Son Seong-won. He must have wanted to say crazy until the end of his chin. Fortunately, he avoided the disaster of continuing the sentence after crazy. Ah, why. Just look at it once. Look at what? Go away! In the end, Seong-won ran away with his tail between his legs and Ye-jun quickly followed him. The camera lens pressed them hard. Ah, Ill look at it! Seon-woo naively threw away his farming tool and chased after the two. Eventually, Kyunghwa raised his voice. Stop it, all three of you. Dont youe back? Finally, Kyunghwa picked up a corn that had nomercial value and hit Ye-jun with it. It seemed like he did it on purpose. Ye-jun rolled around on the soft ground with a thud. A burst ofughter erupted. They are young in reality, but. At times like this, they are really like elementary school students. Butpared to fighting with each other as if they had no regrets even if they broke up right away This was obviously much better. Yeah, just get along and dont fight. It might be a good thing in the long run, but for now, it was a matter of my life and revenge. The camera that was filming the noisy guys turned to me. ? I reflexively opened my eyes wide and pointed at myself with my hand. The PD nodded and asked me. Are you not going, Ise? It seemed like he was asking why I was working hard alone when everyone else looked like they were having fun. If the kids y, I have to work at least one. Chuckling, I threw the corn in and decided to make friends with him as I had a chance. Do you want to try picking with me, PD? Its not hard. Uh The PD, who had a sullen expression, was caught by me and came over. He held the camera with one hand and picked the corn with the other. Wow, youre good at it. PD, you have really good arm strength. Do you do any strength training? Uh I go to the gym a little Wow, thats why. You look like you have a better body than the idols. Before I knew it, the PD who was caught by me helped me with the harvest. Time passed faithfully and soon it was time for the performance. It was time to go back to my idol job. Chapter 47: The Meaning of the Audience Chapter 47: The Meaning of the Audience Chapter 47 The Meaning of the Audience The sun started to set early because it was the countryside. Shadows crept up from the foot of the mountain. The manager came over and hinted that it was time to change clothes. Okay, lets wrap up the harvest experience here! The staff, who were not many, prepared to leave at the deration of the PD in charge. While they started to set up the outdoor stage, we had a lot to do on our own. Well start rehearsing at 6:15. It was hardly a rehearsal. The stage was low and small, like a elementary school talent show. There was no need to check the lines. There were only two cameras filming. And only one of them was filming the stage, the other one was focused on filming the vigers. It was probably a stage that other famous idols would consider as street busking. I dont need to be nervous. I muttered to myself as if to encourage myself. It wasnt even a proper live equipment, I just had to wear an in-ear as a decoration, and do the choreography and get off the stage. Thanks to that, even though it was the first stage activity in almost a year, none of them seemed to be very nervous. I was the problem. The audience was all vigers. No one knew who we were, and it was a stage that anyone could do. I didnt like that this was the first performance. It would be a lie to say that I didnt feel any disappointment. I wish the main performance started soon. As I was saying that, Seon-woo, who I thought would be more nervous than me, surprisingly had a bright face and I felt a little embarrassed. I havent been active for almost a year. Its been so long that Im nervous. He proved that it was because of anticipation, not fear or avoidance, by his cheeks turning red. They cherished this opportunity. It was different from me, who thought that it wouldnt hurt to go out for promotional purposes, and that I couldnt miss it. Can I do that? What is that? Ye-jun, who couldnt hide his excitement, was jumping around in the waiting room (aka the guest room of thendlords house). Nana, I wanted to do that to the elders. They say they love it when you say Oppa is here, kids. Can you do that? Dont talk nonsense. Aw, why~. I want to give them back their youth. Shut up if you dont want to be on the living section tomorrow. Kyunghwa scolded him as if to tell him not to talk nonsense. The living section. It was the second section that celebrities should avoid after the social section. It was because of the tricks that reporters used after the entertainment sectionment section was closed due to various incidents. They deliberately posted articles that people would flock toment on in the living section. They would do anything to make money. Even though they closed the entertainment sectionment section on purpose, they used tricks to make money without any meaning. Its easy to bleed people without using a knife if you just make money. I waited for the manager toe back with a bitter taste in my mouth. Lee Se-hyung? Youve been quiet since a while ago. While I was lost in thought, Ye-jun pulled me in with a curious expression. Huh? I had no thoughts. I just hoped I wouldnt make a mistake. I didnt feel any great expectation that something huge would happen because of this, or any great frustration that this was the only stage. You worked the hardest to prepare, right? I thought you would be looking forward to it a lot. That was just because I had to do it. If there was someone else who would take care of Climax with their life on the line, I wouldnt have stepped forward like a teacher. I What should I say? Im not nervous? Im nervous, but not enough to be nervous? As I was squeezing out a sentence in my head, the manager opened the door and came in. Lets go rehearse! Yes! Yep! Ye-jun followed the manager without hearing my answer. He worked so hard in the field all day, but he still had so much energy. He was amazing and amazing in many ways. Lets go too. Seong-won left with a light chuckle without saying anything. Seon-woo and Kyunghwa waited until I came to my senses and apanied me. How many people usuallye to this kind of stage? Fifteen? Seon-woo revealed that he really didnt expect anything with a bright smile. Thats not it. The vige is not small, so about 50 people wille. I couldnt see the preparation process because I was kicked out, but I thought it would be that much when I saw the people who came to help in the kitchen. Thats a lot of people! I have to work hard. The standard of a lot was too simple. Iughed and answered. Lets go. The manager is waiting. Okay! As I walked with Kyunghwa as if I was Seon-woos guardian, it felt like I was going on a pic. Well, if its a given thing and I cant change it, its enough if he likes it like this. He wascking confidence even in thest live broadcast. But he lost more weight and got praised a lot, and his shoulders were tense. He still couldntpare with Oh Ye-jun, who was a natural self-esteem dynamite. Compared to the time when I first saw him, when he seemed to stutter even if he spoke, it was iparable. Kids really change quickly. I wondered if I was treating him like a ten-year-old, who was an adult and arrogant. But what he did was not much different from a ten-year-old. I burst intoughter, remembering how Seon-woo unintentionally tormented Seong-won in the field. What are youughing at? Kyunghwa tilted his head and asked as if he was curious. No, just. I remembered something earlier. ? Youre out of luck with Seong-won. I tapped Seon-woos shoulder and followed the group ahead. Seon-woo had a question mark on his face. What do you mean, that? The sun started to set early because it was the countryside. Shadows crept up from the foot of the mountain. The manager came over and hinted that it was time to change clothes. Okay, lets wrap up the harvest experience here! The staff, who were not many, prepared to leave at the deration of the PD in charge. While they started to set up the outdoor stage, we had a lot to do on our own. Well start rehearsing at 6:15. It was hardly a rehearsal. The stage was low and small, like a elementary school talent show. There was no need to check the lines. There were only two cameras filming. And only one of them was filming the stage, the other one was focused on filming the vigers. It was probably a stage that other famous idols would consider as street busking. I dont need to be nervous. I muttered to myself as if to encourage myself. It wasnt even a proper live equipment, I just had to wear an in-ear as a decoration, and do the choreography and get off the stage. Thanks to that, even though it was the first stage activity in almost a year, none of them seemed to be very nervous. I was the problem. The audience was all vigers. No one knew who we were, and it was a stage that anyone could do. I didnt like that this was the first performance. It would be a lie to say that I didnt feel any disappointment. I wish the main performance started soon. As I was saying that, Seon-woo, who I thought would be more nervous than me, surprisingly had a bright face and I felt a little embarrassed. I havent been active for almost a year. Its been so long that Im nervous. He proved that it was because of anticipation, not fear or avoidance, by his cheeks turning red. They cherished this opportunity. It was different from me, who thought that it wouldnt hurt to go out for promotional purposes, and that I couldnt miss it. Can I do that? What is that? Ye-jun, who couldnt hide his excitement, was jumping around in the waiting room (aka the guest room of thendlords house). Nana, I wanted to do that to the elders. They say they love it when you say Oppa is here, kids. Can you do that? Dont talk nonsense. Aw, why~. I want to give them back their youth. Shut up if you dont want to be on the living section tomorrow. Kyunghwa scolded him as if to tell him not to talk nonsense. The living section. It was the second section that celebrities should avoid after the social section. It was because of the tricks that reporters used after the entertainment sectionment section was closed due to various incidents. They deliberately posted articles that people would flock toment on in the living section. They would do anything to make money. Even though they closed the entertainment sectionment section on purpose, they used tricks to make money without any meaning. Its easy to bleed people without using a knife if you just make money. I waited for the manager toe back with a bitter taste in my mouth. Ise-hyung? Youve been quiet since a while ago. While I was lost in thought, Ye-jun pulled me in with a curious expression. Huh? I had no thoughts. I just hoped I wouldnt make a mistake. I didnt feel any great expectation that something huge would happen because of this, or any great frustration that this was the only stage. You worked the hardest to prepare, right? I thought you would be looking forward to it a lot. That was just because I had to do it. If there was someone else who would take care of Climax with their life on the line, I wouldnt have stepped forward like a teacher. I What should I say? Im not nervous? Im nervous, but not enough to be nervous? As I was squeezing out a sentence in my head, the manager opened the door and came in. Lets go rehearse! Yes! Yep! Ye-jun followed the manager without hearing my answer. He worked so hard in the field all day, but he still had so much energy. He was amazing and amazing in many ways. Lets go too. Seong-won left with a light chuckle without saying anything. Seon-woo and Kyunghwa waited until I came to my senses and apanied me. How many people usuallye to this kind of stage? Fifteen? Seon-woo revealed that he really didnt expect anything with a bright smile. Thats not it. The vige is not small, so about 50 people wille. I couldnt see the preparation process because I was kicked out, but I thought it would be that much when I saw the people who came to help in the kitchen. Thats a lot of people! I have to work hard. The standard of a lot was too simple. Iughed and answered. Lets go. The manager is waiting. Okay! As I walked with Kyunghwa as if I was Seon-woos guardian, it felt like I was going on a pic. Well, if its a given thing and I cant change it, its enough if he likes it like this. He wascking confidence even in thest live broadcast. But he lost more weight and got praised a lot, and his shoulders were tense. He still couldntpare with Oh Ye-jun, who was a natural self-esteem dynamite. Compared to the time when I first saw him, when he seemed to stutter even if he spoke, it was iparable. Kids really change quickly. I wondered if I was treating him like a ten-year-old, who was an adult and arrogant. But what he did was not much different from a ten-year-old. I burst intoughter, remembering how Seon-woo unintentionally tormented Seong-won in the field. What are youughing at? Kyunghwa tilted his head and asked as if he was curious. No, just. I remembered something earlier. ? Youre out of luck with Seong-won. I tapped Seon-woos shoulder and followed the group ahead. Seon-woo had a question mark on his face. What do you mean, that? Chapter 48: Standing on the Stage Chapter 48: Standing on the Stage As I stepped out of the minivan and onto the stairs leading to the stage, two of the staff members greeted me with a loud scream. Behind them, the elderly vigers who were sitting in a row pped their hands, as if they were happy to see me, even though they probably had no idea who I was. Thank you I tried to look natural as I nced at the audience. There are more people than I expected. More than half of the hundred stic chairs were upied, and there were only a few empty seats here and there, about twenty or thirty in total. And even those would be filled by the time the show ended, as some of the residents who heard the newste rushed over. Hello, nice to meet you. We are Climax! I greeted them enthusiastically with the hand microphone, and to my gratitude, the whole audience cheered. They didnt know who we were, but they were kind enough to respond. Today, we had a meaningful and happy time helping out with the work and enjoying the beautiful scenery of Goseong County. Thank you for giving us this opportunity. I finished my brief introduction and handed the microphone over to Kyunghwa. He smoothly took over the speech. Thank you foring. On this hot summer night, we have prepared a great stage that will blow away the heat. We hope you enjoy it! Soon after, a staff member came up the stairs and reached out his hand to take the microphone. I quickly took the microphone from Kyunghwa and handed it to the staff. We all found our positions and made sure we were in the right ce. Then, the speaker started ying the intro music. We had worked hard to raise our vocal grades from D to C, but it was all in vain. The stage was all lip-sync. It was inevitable, since we had to dance to songs that were not ours. ~~-. My heart was pounding fast. The stage looked shabby from below, but the lights pouring down from above were dazzling. The eyes of the vige elders widened in surprise. No wonder. Just a while ago, we were wearing baggy pants and work clothes, looking ridiculous as we worked. Now, we were idols on the stage. [Im the star of today, who will steal your heart!] [Your Pick My Idol~!] [Im born from your fingertips, a brand new me today~.] I felt strange as I stood in the middle of the stage, receiving everyones attention. The elders also waved their arms, as if they had heard the song from a popr program. [I prepared today for you, Tonight.] [Right now, Im shining with you, Boom Boom] [Im born from your fingertips, Too shine. Todays me~.] The lyrics that I had heard countless times during practice suddenly felt real. I didnt feel much difference between being a broadcaster and a professional in the food industry, and being on stage. When I was Lim Hyun-seong, people recognized me quite often. But when I became Cheonise, no one bothered me even if I walked around with my bare face. Radio appearances, live broadcasts, and so on. They were not much different from what I did when I was Lim Hyun-seong. I just answered the questions that the host asked, and showed the people what they wanted to see and hear. I didnt think much differently while preparing for the stage. I just had to show the audience what they wanted to see along with the music. I can see the expressions of the people so well when Im on the stage. But the moment I stepped on the stage, I realized that I was mistaken. The stage was not a one-man show by the singer. It was a coboration that was led by the audiences cheers and responses. [Im the star of today, who will shine with your support!] [Your Pick My Idol~!] [You and I are dreaming together, My heart is beating again-!] I wanted to sing, I wanted to show them. Not just dancing to someone elses song, but who we really were. What kind of voice we had, how we sang, how we breathed. What kind of people we were, who jumped on the stage with you. The blood rushed to my head, and it was hot. I wanted to show them a stage that was possible because we were Climax, not just anyone. I hope they dont regret spending their time to watch us today. My fingertips tingled as my heart pounded hard. [Your Pick My Idol~!] [Your Pick My Idol~!] [Your Pick My Idol~!] The chorus that was the symbol of the My Idol stage ended, and the lights changed. After finishing the intense choreography, Kyunghwa took the microphone from the staff again to take a break. Your pick, my idol! Did you enjoy it? Next, we will y our title song fromst summer, Heat your wave! Kyunghwa casually held the microphone in one hand and pped his hands above his head, as if to signal the audience. The two middle school students in the front row, of course, and the elders who were sitting behind them also raised their hands above their heads one by one, following Kyunghwa. Wow, these guys can dance really well. I know what this is, my granddaughter likes this. Oh, this is fun, theyre not just fierce, are they? We had warmed up the atmosphere with a familiar song, and now it was time to y our own song. [Tonight, the mood is as hot as midday.] It was our song fromst years activity, so naturally, I was the center. I took the center position, with Seon-woo and Seong-won on the left, and Yejun and Kyunghwa on the right. [The sea that I walk with you always feels like summer.] As I brushed past Kyunghwas side and moved to the back, it was time for Kyunghwa, the lead vocal, toe forward. [This night, my toes are cold in the endless waves.] [Cool and Chic, Im blinded by your cold eyes.] Kyunghwa raised his right hand and closed his eyes, turning his head through the gap between his fingers. It was the point choreography of this song. The song was not bad. If it wasnt for the disaster with Floss, it might not have resulted in such a terrible oue. Maybe If I hadnt had this opportunity, I shuddered at the thought. I scanned the audience with a dazed look and turned around with Seong-won, bncing myself. The nce I caught seemed to scold me, Focus. You dont have to worry so much, Ill do well. I felt dizzy every time I looked down at the audience. The vocal line of the first verse was over. Now it was time for the hook and the rap line. [When the waves hit and the sand grains scatter.] [Heat your wave, you turn away with a fox-like face.] Seon-woo, who was shining brighter than anyone else in the world under the spotlight, shot his hand out like a gun toward the audience. Ahh-! Na seon-woo, youre so handsome!!! Who is that guy? Oh my, how can a boy be so pretty? Heat your wave was a song dedicated to you, a charming but dangerous woman who yed with me. Was it okay to call the girl I liked a fox? I wondered, but everyone was so envious of the protagonist of that part that they wanted to be a fox too. I was worried that it might be a waste to give the rap part to Seon-woo, who belonged to the vocal line, but It was aplete lie. He was already a dynamite just by appearing. Click click click-. Shutter sounds poured out from everywhere. He had a face that deserved it. His cheeks were slightly pink from the cover of My Idol Stage, and they sparkled under the stage lights. On a summer night, a light and refreshing beat poured out, with the real South Sea night sea as the background. Soon, it was time for Seong-wons highlight. [Blue sea. For our bluer memories.] Seong-won came out through the line, passing by Yejun who had moved to the back, and belted out the high note part. The sound equipment was poor, so everyone was lip-syncing, but Seong-won, the main vocal, had a personal microphone from the beginning. He adjusted the microphone volume so that it wouldnt stand out too much from the lip-sync, but I thought there wouldnt be much difference. [I want to hold you at the end of this wave-!] This was also a perfectly wrong guess. His clear and delicate high note reached the back row of the audience without losing its sharpness. It was a natural decision to hold the microphone far away from his face, as if he had been given a hand microphone. If he had sung with that much volume on the microphone, he would have swallowed up the sound source as well. This way, I have to do my best until the end. I was also the type who had made a living out of the mud with effort and struggle. I couldnt ignore someone who was trying. Not only me, but everyone was desperate on the stage. We wanted them to remember us, not to forget us. To other peoples eyes, to the broadcast, they might wonder why we were so passionate about a vige festival stage that wouldnt evenst three minutes. But that was no problem for the castaways who hadnt even had such an opportunity for the past six months. [When summer ends, and the waves go away.] [You will forget me as if nothing happened.] [But I, blind to you, will wait for the next summer.] Now it was time to go back to Cheonise and do the dance break part. The members paired up and split to both sides, and I jumped down to the center. The sweat that hadnt flowed when I performed Your pick my idol ran down my cheeks. The choreography was full of b-boy-like moves to keep the cool atmosphere of summer. The sweat drops on the ends of my hair scattered like raindrops. I unconsciously raised my hand and wiped my forehead between the moves. Take a picture, hurry! Picture! The girls sitting in the front row screamed and pressed the shutter like crazy. I would have been embarrassed if it was the old me, but I didnt care at all now. Damn, why are they all so sincere and desperate! The fingertips that I identally brushed were all hot with fever. Thest part was where we all sang one verse each. [Heat your wave!] Seon-woo winked at me with a fresh smile and a chest that heaved with breath. Everyone gasped at his beauty that transcended generations and genders. [When summeres back again] Everyoneughed at Yejuns yful expression that followed. [This blue sea, this hot summer night.] Seong-won calmly took over Yejuns part. He didnt have as much impact as the previous two, but everyone couldnt take their eyes off the stage. [Remember me, this sea is for you, I am.] The sound of fainting was heard from the middle-aged housewives who were centered on Kyunghwas sorrowful expression. That guy, he was surprisingly popr with older housewives. He had a good student impression that would do well on morning broadcasts. [Heat your wave!] My part was thest one to end all the lyrics. The apuse poured out as the stage ended. We had prepared these two songs. Now it was time to listen to the vige songs for a few minutes, as it was a vige festival for the elders. The other members also had a relieved and happy expression after giving everything they had prepared. It was an unexpected event that happened when we were intoxicated by the emotion of the first stage as idols. Encore, encore, encore! The voices started to gather as one, centered on the elders sitting in the front row. The cheers and heat that made my ears ring filled the vacant lot. Encore, encore!! Encore-! Encore-! Encore-! Encore-! It was a situation that no one expected. Chapter 49: Encore? Encore! Chapter 49: Encore? Encore! Chapter 49 Encore? Encore! Everyone looked down at the stage with stunned expressions. Before we knew it, the reporter who had received the microphone came up to the stage and tried to calm the atmosphere. Alright, thats it for the stage prepared by Climax, and now well start the local singing contest Encore, encore, encore, encore! Ah, what are you going to do with that song we sang ourselves? Chiara, show them what you did earlier. The protests continued from the elders who couldnt ept that the stage was over. The manager and the reporter looked at us with shaky eyes. I was fine because I had practiced the choreography beforehand. But these guys werent. It took them so long to practice one song. There was no way they had time to practice the other songs. It was too bad to just refuse, but at the moment of hesitation, a status window popped up. [Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest Do you want to start Finishing Touches?] [Yes/No] What is Finishing Touches? What is that? How do you do that? While the reporter was temporarily taking the me from the elders, the PD ran over in a hurry. It seems like the elders are having a lot of fun, can you sing one more song? No, they werent ready. It was after we had peaked with a perfect performance, and if we showed a mediocre stage, the atmosphere could get cold. Wait a minute But what if I do it alone? I shed, and thought of Seong-wons buff skill. [Buff: Stable vocal correction effect at the level of sound source when singing] -Usage point 30pt This might be possible. I answered inwardly to the status window in front of me. Yes. The status window seemed to ept it and disappeared with a bright light. While everyone was embarrassed, I raised my hand to draw attention. Then Ill sing one song by myself. What? What are you talking about? Youre singing alone? Everyone looked at me with eyes that said I was talking nonsense. Ill pick one song that the elders will like and try to lead them to the singing contest naturally. How are you going to do that Kyunghwa shook his head as if to tell me not to say such nonsense. Wouldnt it be better to just sing ourst single? Kyunghwa finally offered a second best option, but I firmly refused. Riverside Apartment, y the intro. There was no way this song wouldnt have a sound source for the elders singing contest. From 40s to 60s, there was no way they hadnt heard this song. What is that? Seong-won and Kyunghwa looked at me and the PD with a look of disbelief. Oh, Riverside Apartment! I got it. Okay, okay. The PD made an OK sign with his hand and exchanged something with the reporter with a signal. Anyway, you guys go down, Ill take care of it. What are you thinking Sigh They didnt know what it was, but anyway they had no choice but to leave the stage. Seong-wons expression was close to contempt, and my chest hurt somewhere. You dont have to look at me like Im crazy. Ahem, I cleared my throat along with the floating intro. And I called up the status window. System. [Whose Fate Skill do you want to use?] [Avable Fates (11)] Kang Yugeon was added, so its 11 now. Son Seong-won Sound Source yback. [Usage confirmed. 30 points will be deducted.] Ugh It was quite a pity to use a 30-point skill But thats what Ive been saving up for so long. ~~- Riverside Apartment was a sensational city pop that swept the record market in the early 80s. Well These guys are either 00s or 90s, so they were born long before the hit song. It was a song with a sophisticated and exciting melody that was not bad even today. If I had gone with Eternal Love like a one-man singing contest, the atmosphere would have flowed and there would have been another encore request. So my choice was a song that would bring out some excitement and make them think, I could sing that song too. That was the atmosphere. Thats what Riverside Apartment is. The shy intro ended and the first verse finally started. [Last night, the stars flowed in the sky] [My love for you, Im burning] As soon as I sang the first verse, I felt it. This was it. Of course, it had been my favorite song since Lim Hyun-sungs Eternal Love. I had never heard anyone sing this song so well, except for the original singer. When I looked at the audiences reaction, they were surprised but excited. Oh, these kids know that song? Wow, he sings well. Hes a young kid, but he sings very well. [On this night, I lost my way] [I walk along the river without a destination] Following the audience, the members all looked at me with astonishment. [Your heart has already left me] [But I cant forget you, I only look up at the apartment] With the upbeat melody, I naturally reached out to the audience and encouraged them to sing along. The unique skill of Koreans was activated by the elders who already knew the lyrics. Chorus! It was hard to tell if this was a chorus contest of the elders in Goseong or a vige festival. [The apartment that reaches high in the sky, you who cant reach it] High in the sky-. The apartment-. Above it! You, cant! Reach! You! Each of them made their own pitch, tone, and rhythm, but it sounded good anyway when dozens of voices mixed. Lets sing together! Now Ipletely stretched out the hand microphone to the audience. Your bell that doesnt ring-. Ah-no one! In your! Apartment! One more time! No one~! In your~! Apartment! Its over. I finished the perfect stage and quickly wrapped it up as if there was no more encore. Thats it, that was the climax! Thank you! As everyone hummed along to the lyrics and immersed themselves in the aftermath, the reporter quickly took over the progress. Weve just seen the amazing stage of Climax Cheonise! Now, lets continue with the local singing contest of -myeon! Fortunately, this time the atmosphere went well without any big protests. I stood at the back of the set and sighed, catching my breath. Wow, you were awesome, hyung! Seon-woo ran up to me with a big smile. I was about to dodge him, but with his spirit, he might just crash into the wall. I braced myself and endured. Ugh, I get that youre excited. But its no big deal, so take it easy. I pushed him away after patting his head a few times as if it was nothing. Then, Oh Ye-juns eyes lit up. I was going to join you if it looked dangerous! But there was no way to squeeze in. You worry too much. Before I knew it, the manager brought me a bottle of water from somewhere. I reached out and took the bottle and drank it whole. Is our schedule over now? We had to sing one more song because of the encore, and the time had passed 7:30. The flight departure time was 10 oclock, so if we werete, we might miss it. Well. Originally, we were supposed to greet everyone briefly on stage. But since the time was dyed by the encore, we have to pack up and leave quickly. I nodded and threw the empty bottle into the recycling bin. Anyone who needs to go to the bathroom, go now, and well leave right after youe back. The manager scolded us and everyone scattered to take care of their business. I was about to go into the car, but I still had some heat left and wanted to cool off with the sea breeze. Just then, a quest sess message popped up. [Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest Congrattions on clearing The End of the Beginning. Achievement Bonus Points +30] [Quest Completion Reward] [Special Item> Twist of Twist of Twist] What is this, should I check it out right away? [Special Item> Twist of Twist of Twist] [Item Description: Use this item to reverse the overall trend of public opinion.] It seemed strange, but it might be helpful. I couldnt let the same thing happen again like the previouseback schedule incident. Well, Ive finished one quest for now. Phew I wiped off the cold sweat and brushed up my messy bangs, when I heard a shutter sound from somewhere. ? I squinted my eyes and looked at where the shutter sound came from. It was two polite middle school kids. Your schedule is over. Go away. Before I could react, the manager blocked the way. Can we get your autograph, please? The young friends whined, and I had to clench my teeth to keep fromughing. I wondered where and how they came from. They proved that they were locals by speaking in standard Korean, but their ent was no different from the old folks in the neighborhood. It was too cruel to refuse them outright, and there didnt seem to be any more passionate fans who would rush to us besides these two. Ill do it for you once. I showed the manager my hand holding something and asked. Hyung, do you have a pen or something? Oh, we brought it! Then Ill sign it with what you gave me. What they handed me was nothing but aputer sign pen. And it was worn out from being used a few times during the test. On the front, there were math problems written all over the notebook and theputer sign pen. I wondered what they were thinking when they brought them. I was grateful for their sincerity and opened the pen cap, but I ran into a problem. I dont know Cheonises signature. I had been focusing on raising my skills to the idol level, and I hadnt thought about this area. What should I do? I wracked my brain for a moment and ended up writing Cheonise in three letters. Anyone can tell its my handwriting. I had no choice but to cover it up with some awkward small talk. Im so d I got to meet you guys today. Thank you so much, and be careful on your way home. Itste. Wow, yes!! Thank you! Ill cherish it forever! It was a notebook with the math curriculum for the second grade of middle school, but still. I smiled with a friendly face and waved my hand, then got into the minivan. And then I quickly searched for Cheonises signature. There was nothing to be found, so I searched through Google images like crazy and finally found one. Why do you make your signature soplicated? Well, actually, it wasntplicated, it was just that he scribbled his name. But it was a terrible handwriting. I turned on my phones memo pad and reproduced the signature I had done earlier. This is much better. If the previous signature was widely known, I would have to get used to it somehow. But to pay that much effort There was nothing much known. I asked the manager just in case. Hyung, can I change my signature to this? Huh? Theres no problem, but why? Fortunately, changing the signature itself wasnt a big issue. Ah. The one Ive been using is too messy. Hmm Thats true. Well, do whatever youre morefortable with. Yes, thank you. That was thest thing I said, and I fell asleep because I was too exhausted today. The kids would being in soon. But before I knew it, I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes after a nap, we hadnt arrived at the airport yet. Hyung, if youre awake, look at this quickly! Its a total mess right now! Ye Jun pushed his phone screen in front of my face, making a fuss. ? What is it? I looked at his phone with a half-awake mind. Chapter 50: The Idol Who Makes Me Want to Cheer Chapter 50: The Idol Who Makes Me Want to Cheer I woke up from a brief nap, but my mind was still groggy. On the screen, I saw two pictures of myself that looked like they were taken with a phone camera. [The Beauty That Makes You Lose Your Mind] (Picture) (Picture) Whats with this embarrassing title? I scrolled down awkwardly and saw that the number of shares exceeded 10K. Huh? There were more than 7,000 shares and 4,000 posts that quoted and added to the original post. One picture was from when I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand because of the sweat on stage, and the other one was taken before I signed an autograph. Why is this getting so many shares? In the first picture, I tried to smile brightly, but I slightly frowned because of the sweat dripping from my eyebrows. The second picture showed even more fatigue on my face. I dont get it I just look tired. I had no idea why everyone liked this so much. Am I getting bashed and shared for that? I was an idol who had to show a good image and smile in front of people, but I looked grumpy on stage. I wondered if I was being criticized for that. What are you talking about? Wow, youre totally natural, natural. Natural? I had no clue what he meant. Of course, Cheonises appearance was quite unique, but How did the face of a handsome man exhausted by fatigue move the hearts of the public? I was full of doubt. Wait a minute, Ill check it out too. I logged into the monitoring ount and checked the original post. The writer was an ount that had been liking Climax for a long time. They were young kids who had chosen a hard path. As I scrolled down more, it seemed like it came from a hip-hop crew that was close to Oh Ye-jun. [ClimaxK-Hip Hop (Pumble Orange Center) I Like ItDaily Life and Other Things] It was a small ount with less than 20 followers. They seemed to be surprised by the sudden attention as well. [Im not a fan ount I came to see the performance when they were filming in the neighborhood and took it by chance. Please dont follow me] To know how the public opinion was going, I had to read the quoted posts. [- Guys, Im adding one more to my list today] [- Isnt this his second life? How can he smell so good at twenty-four] [- I want to add one more hardship to his tough life] [- This picture changed his life and mine too] [- Good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts] [- You must have made that face because you were on stage, but I made that face because I saw you] [, hes not your oppa] [I decided to call him oppa ten minutes ago] Do they like me? I still looked at the screen with suspicious eyes. The response is really good, right? Its already a mess in othermunities. As Oh Ye-jun said, I searched on the portal site and saw that it had already spread to various entertainmentmunities. [The male idol who caused a stir on Twitter with his picture] [The sexy idol Cheonise whose picture changed his life] [The male idol who makes you shout good thoughts tonight] What does good thoughts mean? I moved away from the screen with a flustered expression and Kyunghwa asked me with a frown. Why are you applying the concept to us? Concept? I tilted my head in confusion and Kyunghwa answered as if it was obvious. It means sexy. Dont act like you dont understand. Oh. I was about to ask, me? but I closed my mouth. I didnt know about Lim Hyun-seong, who was over forty, but Cheonise, who was twenty-four, had a face that deserved to be called sexy by the general standards of beauty. I get that its sexy, but why do they like it so much? The other members pictures that the same ount posted were also shining brightly. But they didnt cause such a big buzz and impact. Maybe its because you have something we dont, like mature charm? Oh Ye-jun, who was sitting next to me, leaned in and scrutinized my face. Now that I think about it, hyung, you really changed a lottely. What did I do? Of course, there was no way they would find out that the person inside had changed. But I felt a little uneasy and my heart thumped. Do I look more mature than before? Ah, I dont mean you lost weight. Dont misunderstand. Then, Seon-woo, who had been looking at the SNS screen with curiosity, agreed. Right! Hyung, you changed a lot. You care more about me than before, and you became more reliable Before, you were like a childish neighborhood hyung, but now you feel like a dad. Like you would scold me if I dont eat on time? I couldnt help it. Their parents were actually my age. Did you post anything on SNS? The manager, who had only heard the asional noises from the back, turned around. Yes, the middle school kids who came earlier posted it and its a mess on SNS andmunities. Wow, how lucky you are. Youre riding the wave. Last time, it was because of Seon-woos sister and Kang Yugeon. It might look the same, but it waspletely different. Unlikest time, when there was another factor that attracted the publics curiosity, this time, it was purely because of our own power. Ill give you my phone, do you want to do a live broadcast for a bit? Sure, why not? Kyunghwa reached out his hand to the drivers seat. Wait a bit, can you see the traffic jam ahead? Ill give it to you when the car stops. Okay. Is it okay to do a live broadcast without any notice? I asked with curiosity. Can we just start a live broadcast anytime? It doesnt matter. Its not like we have a regr schedule. Then whats the difference between a regr broadcast and a live one? It depends on whether we have a fixed content or not, and the number of viewers. Why are you asking like its your first time? Well it was my first time indeed. I answered with a feeling of being hit in the spot. What do we do when we go live? Just, you know, exin the situation, thank them for liking us, tell them what we did today, what were going to do tomorrow, that kind of stuff. Were not going to do it for long anyway. Kyunghwa nced sideways to see how far we were from the traffic jam. Then he took out a mirror from his bag and checked his face. You guys should also check if youre okay to be on the screen. Its not just Cheonise whos going to show up. Seon-woo, who had been silently looking at his phone, took the mirror that Kyunghwa handed him and opened his eyes slightly. That guy he always looked so smug with his handsome face. Okay, I found it. Hurry up and say hello and wrap it up. The traffic jam had started and the manager finally found the phone for the live broadcast and handed it to Kyunghwa. Ah, first of all, Ill test the video. An unexpected appearance, and an unforeseen ripple effect was starting. *** We finished the live broadcast in the car, and went back to Gimpo from Busan airport. When we got back to the dorm, we were exhausted. Not only me, but the other members had done too much in one day. I couldnt get myself together when we got to the dorm. Ugh~, Ill use the bathroom first. Oh Ye-jun rushed to the living room bathroom as soon as he opened the door. He woulde out with a towel around his waist and get scolded by Seon-woo. I didnt want to see them fight when I was tired. Kyunghwa, go to the room and get his clothes. Seon-woo had taken over the big room bathroom and Kyunghwa, who had no choice but to lie down on the sofa, flicked his wrist. In a bit Ugh Like Kyunghwa, Seon-woo hugged the cushion and flipped over, whining like a dog. Have some dignity as a human. Leave me alone. We worked on the farm all afternoon and then performed on stage. Its strange that were not drained. That was true. We had so many viewersing in as soon as we turned on the live broadcast that we couldnt hide our expressions. What? Wait a minute, did I see the number wrong? Everyone was surprised by Oh Ye-juns unfiltered remark and checked the number. As soon as we started the broadcast, we had almost twice as many people as the sd recipe incident. There were also some chats that looked like foreigners, which we hardly saw in the first broadcast. [- SO ADORABLE:)))))] [- Omg Hes Perfectly What I Waiting For.] [- YEAYYYYY <3] [- ENG SUB PLZ] The spelling was clearly English, but there were many sentences that I couldnt read. They were probably Brazilian or Italian. I felt that I had done more than I nned for the day. The result was so immediate that I couldnt hide my joy. Lets calm down. I was so excited that I was afraid I might make a mistake. I finished the short live broadcast with a nervous feeling. It was because the mini van had arrived at the airport parking lot. I still dont know how this picture shook the fans hearts so much. I looked at the picture that the polite middle school friends had posted until I fell asleep. It was mine now, but it wasnt originally mine. The face that was not mine was shining brightly on the stage. Did I make that expression On the stage, all I could think of was doing my best to PR myself. This is us, please remember us like this for a long time. I was so emotional that I felt like I wasnt myself. I feel embarrassed when I think about it again. Of course, this was also a precious opportunity, but it was a ridiculous thing to get so heated up. But even if I went back to that moment, it would be the same situation. I wasnt the only one who emitted desperate energy on the stage. Even Son Seongwon, who sang so hard that his veins popped out on his neck, made me restless. Was I always the type to be swept away by the atmosphere. Usually, I wouldnt have been so excited. Then I suddenly thought that it was meaningless to distinguish between the past Lim Hyun-seong and the present Lim Hyun-seong. Even if I was a hybrid mixed with Cheonise, it was a fact that I survived and had the awareness of Lim Hyun-seong. People change when the environment changes. Habits and personality gradually adapt to the situation. Im wasting my time with unnecessary thoughts. I fell asleep with the sound of water from the bathroom as a luby. Behind the unexpected opportunity and luck, tomorrows tasks were waiting for me. Chapter 51: Not a Weird Person Chapter 51: Not a Weird Person Chapter 51 Not a Weird Person When I opened my eyes in the morning, I had messages from the PD and the choreographer. [Kwon Nam-hyung PD] Lee Se, you worked hard yesterday. 2:44 AM [Kwon Nam-hyung PD] This is the footage of yesterdays stage. I wanted to show you the original before editing. 2:46 AM * [My] Lee Se, the demo is done. Please check it. 4:21 AM [My] You didnt specify who the center is, so I just distributed it based on the parts. 4:22 AM [My] Please give me feedback if you need any adjustments in the members proportions or difficulty levels. 4:22 AM Why did they send me this in the middle of the night? I yed the video with a lot of questions. I felt my face burning as I saw myself smiling brightly on the stage, doing my best. I barely finished watching the stage video and moved on to the choreography demo. I hope it turned out well There were five choreographers in the video. They each had a temporary name tag for the members. The choreography wasposed based on the lyrics parts of each member, so there was no one who stood out too much. It seems okay. I have to trust my eyes. Since it had been more than four hours since they sent it, I decided to check it slowly and reply. Theres something I can watch at times like this. Although the direction was different, Floss was a group under the same agency as Climax. And they were the undisputed top group of the current generation, so they must have paid a lot of attention to the choreography. When I searched for Flosss choreography on the video tform, I found the demo video that the choreographer had released. This side definitely looks more shy because they have more members. Floss had nine members. There were three dance specialists. It was not an ordinary thing to lead so many people, let alone having someone like Kang Yugeon who was uncooperative. It was none of my business how much the other departments suffered. I didnt like Kang Yugeons attitude, but that was the next thing. I think it would be better to raise the difficulty level a little more. That was the conclusion I came up with afterparing it with Flosss choreography. Of course, I had an idea why our choreography was rtively easy. Flosss members had their strengths and weaknesses rtively exposed through the survival program. And they also had a part where they verified their skills above a certain level. On the other hand, we didnt have much to show. If you search, you can find the music show appearance from a year ago The only thing I could find out from the past videos was that Cheon Yi-ses dance skills were excellent. Thats why I felt like my part was a little busy even though it was easy. What were our characteristics? I quietly called up the system. Seon-woo was still asleep on the next bed. System. Pop. As soon as I called it, a translucent status window appeared in front of me. [Name: Ryu Kyunghwa Age 24] [Characteristics] Visual: A Vocal: A Dance: B Performance: A Charm: A Speech: S
[Name: Oh Ye-jun Age 22] [Characteristics] Visual: A Vocal: D Dance: A Performance: S Charm: A Speech: C
[Name: Son Seong-won Age 22] [Characteristics] Visual: S Vocal: S Dance: B Performance: A Charm: B Speech: B
[Name: Na Seon-woo Age 21] [Characteristics] Visual: A *(SS) Vocal: A Dance: B Performance: B Charm: B *(A) Speech: D [*The grade in parentheses is the grade before adjustment.] * Except for Ye-jun, they were all mediocre. Of course, there was something about the atmosphere on the stage. It seemed that some looked better or worse than their skills when I actually saw them. Anyway, I thought I could raise my difficulty level a little more, and I thought I could ask Ye-jun to raise his difficulty level too. Andstly, the center I made up my mind and made a decision. I think it would be better to leave it to Seon-woo. The stage video that the PD sent me before watching the choreography demo had a big impact. Seon-woo in the video had a charm that drew peoples eyes. That was true for Seong-won too. But why did it have to be Seon-woo? Because it makes me happy to see him. It wasnt because I favored Seon-woo, but because Seon-woo on the stage kept smiling from the beginning to the end. On the other hand, Seong-won looked a bit coolpared to Seon-woo who was smiling brightly. It could be a reversal charm that he slightly frowned on his high-pitched part. But that was something that could be emphasizedter when there were more people who liked Seong-won. It was not a weapon to show off at thest chance to introduce and appeal to us. Even if its a face I see for the first time, I want to cheer for him. Its this side. I felt relieved after making the decision. I sent a thank you message to the PD and a long feedback to the choreographer, and the fatigue that hadnt been relieved came back. Its natural since I pushed myself so hard yesterday Even though it was past 9 oclock, there was no sound in the living room. They seemed to be asleep like they were unconscious. Lets search for some reactions while everyone is quiet. I quietly closed the door, worried that Seon-woo might wake up from the noise I made, and went to the living room. [#Rise_FriendIntro] [#Climax_FriendIntro] I saw yesterday that the ount that posted the photo had shared some posts with these hashtags. I looked through the posts and it seemed like I identally subscribed to one or two of them. When I went to the profile, the following was 0. What? I thought I subscribed? I wondered and pressed the subscribe button again, only to be blocked. [No profile subscription ount, block ount.] What did I do? It was unfair, but I couldnt do anything about it since it was the ount users policy. It seemed like it was time to register the profile of an ount that didnt have a profile picture set up. I went to the ounts that posted the posts and there was amon pattern in the profile description. [Reciprocal] [Early] [First DM] [INFP] [INTP] [RT-Centered] [Daily Life O] . What does this mean? It looked like a code to the eyes of a forty-something man. Reciprocal? What does that mean, doing somethingprehensively? Early? What is that, a elementary school ss meeting? I knew what First DM was. I had used DM, or DM, in SNS marketing. It meant first DM, since you wrote the first line. FriendIntro was. Usually, FriendIntro was used a lot for introducing friends in broadcasting, so I could immediately read that it meant looking for friends. What are INFP and INTP? There was too much to know to write a profile. Fortunately, I wasnt the only one who didnt know, and [A Complete Guide to Fandom Terms] blog posts came up with a few clicks. After spending about 30 minutes on SNS etiquette and various vocabry, I bravely started writing my bio. Bio was a word that meant profile as a self-introduction. [Beginner Rise / Thank you for reciprocal^^~ First DM wee^^, Lots of RT INTP] This much. Isnt it okay? Of course, I didnt know if I was INTP or not. What the hell is MBTI that they like it so much? I should have taken the test. I searched for an ount that I could subscribe to with confidence that I didnt know if I had any evidence or not. I didnt expect anyone to reciprocate. Why would anyone follow an ount that doesnt have any information value? I subscribed to the agencys announcement ount first, and then subscribed to a few ounts that seemed to know something about idols. I wont be blocked this time, right? I also changed the profile picture to a Welsh Corgi. Bbosili was cuter, but I couldnt take a picture of Bbosili and upload it. Fortunately, I wasnt blocked even after about 15 minutes. Good, I was confident and pressed follow for 10 more people. Wow, three people reciprocated. Climax itself had such a handful of fandoms that anyone who looked like Rise would reciprocate. As more people subscribed, the feed started toe up. [- When will the video of my hometown todaye out? I cant wait, hurry up and announce it] [- Do they make self-content? I thought they would have a lot of content piled up if they were five years old, but why is there nothing?] [- Yesterdays live was cute, but it was too short sob sob] [- Theyll be more active when theye back, right?] [- I know theres no support because theyre unknown, but. At this rate, theyll fall in love with their faces and have nothing to consume and leave] [- Theres nothing to watch, so Im repeating sighing and looking at the direct shot and sighing again like a drought] To summarize, they were interested and did FriendIntro, but there was no content to consume, something like that. There was still about three months left until theeback. In the meantime, we needed content to hold on to the handful of fans we had gathered. Its not enough to go out for asional broadcasts. Kang Yugeon threw away the schedule he couldnt handle once or twice. That was not enough. And reducing the dependence on external factors was an important task for now. If you look deeply, the direct shot bing famous and bing an issue again was also a luck due to external factors. Lets make self-content. Like Floss, who did regr live broadcasts every week and broadcast their own entertainment program on YouTube. We also had to provide content to hold on to the fans until the nexteback. Its not easy. I was holding a phone and whining, and soon Seong-won came out of the door. What? I looked up at Seong-won, lying on the sofa, and he narrowed his eyes. Why are you picking a fight. I didnt say anything. . There was a moment of silence and Seong-won ignored me and went straight to the kitchen. The sound of drinking cold water from a ss cup rang out loudly. Me too, water. I reached out to the kitchen and a cold ss touched my fingertips with a long sigh. Oh. Whats oh again. You asked for water. No, I didnt know youd really give it to me. I wish youd be grateful if Ive been eating well all this time. Oh. I was about to exim again, but I stopped and looked at Seong-wons mood. Now was not the time to pick on everyone who was tired from yesterdays aftermath. Lets have a nning meeting when the kids wake upter. It was rare that everyone had no schedule, and Seon-woo also reduced his PT times and today was the day he didnt go to the gym. Wake up the kids in two hours and have a meeting, so if youre going to sleep again, set an rm. Did he hear me or not? Anyway, that rude guy. Seong-wons door mmed shut with a loud noise. Chapter 52: A New Attempt Chapter 52: A New Attempt Chapter 52 A New Attempt Come on, wake up and sit down. It was 11 oclock, and it was time to get up, no matter how tired I was the day before. I finished preparing lunch and started waking up the members. I thought it would be nice to have a holiday mood after having a meeting for an hour or two and filling our stomachs with shabu-shabu. Ugh Im sleepy, I want to sleep a little more As I finally opened the door and entered, I saw Ye-jun, who was snoring with two nkets wrapped around his body, and Phew-! Kyunghwa, who just woke up and blinked his eyes with a nk expression. What are you doing Ah Kyunghwa finally started to boot his head and looked down at the floor. Meanwhile, Ye-jun showed no sign of opening his eyes. Hmm Grandma, Im going to sleep a little more Whos your grandma? Get up right now! As I snatched the nket wrapped around his body, Ye-jun jumped up from the bed. Ah? Ah I was about to spray a spray on Ye-juns face, which was unusually pale, but I gave the nket back to Kyunghwa. Thats not mine. It was only after I took the rest of Ye-juns nket that we could start a proper meeting. We still have plenty of time until theeback. Rather than just doing the asional schedules thate in, I think we need to make something that we can do consistently and use our time well. As I started to push hard, Ye-jun, who had just washed his face and came out with water dripping from his hair, answered. Ah~. I agree with that. It would be nice to have something fixed to do. Then Kyunghwa expressed his concern with a bit of reluctance. I think a group-only reality show would be good, but The best would be tounch it on cable or OTT with external investment. Kyunghwa paused for a moment and nced at the members. The problem is Can we get the investment? To be honest, it was impossible. It might be possible if we were squeezed into Floss nning with a 1+1 deal. But no one would willingly invest in a failed project that had no profitability or expectations. What investment I would have refused even if Jo Young Food asked for sponsorship. Sadly, we had to face reality. I dont think so. We cant break through MovieFlix or SeeYa or Sweet Potato with our own nning. Then what do we do? Is YouTube the only answer? Ive seen a lot of people doing that these days. Its free and if you ride the algorithm well, itll be a chance to let the public know. Unless you have to get an investment, that would be better. But we were in a situation where we had to get an investment. Thepany wouldnt give us more budget How much does it cost to hire a PD or an editor? If youre going to use a frencer with their own equipment and tools, itll cost a lot But these days, there are so many YouTubers and the industry is booming, so it shouldnt be too hard to find one. It was just a guess. Neither Kyunghwa nor I had actually tried it. Lets think of it as not expecting any help from thepany. And the cost Ill pay for it myself. Again? Kyunghwa was surprised and opened his eyes wide. Shh, I quickly raised my index finger and put it in front of my lips, but it was toote. Again? Seong-won, who had been listening all along, looked at me and Kyunghwa. Ah No, I was mistaken. What do you mean mistaken? If youre going to hide it, hide it properly. Dont deny it after you get caught. It makes me feel bad. Anyway, that guy He didnt know how to say anything nicely. I decided to keep it a secret between me and Kyunghwa that I was going to pay for the extra cost of theeback. I thought it was unnecessary to tell the members. And unlike Cheonise, who liked to show off whenever he did something, I didnt want to make a fuss. I didnt want the other members to look at me and feel awkward I didnt want to create a bad atmosphere because of that. Its nothing. Im paying for the choreography, thats why. Ah? Ye-jun finally seemed to understand and eximed. You didnt just get MyType for nothing. You gave him a lot of pay, right? Um It was a reasonable guess, but that wasnt it. I used the chance of knowing Kang Yugeon, but he said he would charge the usual fee. I see, I didnt know that Seon-woo, who had been silent all along, looked at me with round eyes. Its really nothing. Dont worry. If we break even, Ill take the investment as a share and get more money, so dont think of me as a charity businessman. I said confidently, but it was only true if thest attempt was sessful and we made a profit. We had never broken even as a group. It would be nice if we could get paid. Like other idols, Climax members also relied on the agency for their food and living expenses. And all those costs were umted as the agencys investment. Climax failed to earn more than the investment in each activity. We ended up with a lot of debt after four activities. We might not be able to pay off the investment that had been umted since our trainee days with one hit. It sounded like a lie to say that we shouldnt worry because we would take care of it ourselves. Anyway, Im d youre paying for it, Sehyeong. Lets pay a fine if were going to talk about depressing things from now on. Ye-jun quickly changed the mood with some nonsense. I dont get much allowance Just take it as a joke, I didnt mean it. Ye-jun smiled yfully and pped Seon-woos back. He hit him so hard that the sofa shook as if he was hitting him seriously. He was really easygoing I didnt miss the flow and continued. Anyway, lets solve the cost problem by myself. So, what ideas do you have for what we should do? As soon as the topic changed, Ye-jun raised his hand again. What now? I have something I want to do, Im serious. It must be some useless nonsense. But this guy also deserved a chance to speak. The more ideas, the better. What is it? I want to go on something like Rules of the Jungle. Deserted ind! Wilderness exploration! And for once, Seong-won, me, and Kyunghwa all said the same thing. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. We all expected it, but we didnt know we would agree so well. A burst ofughter erupted. Huh Pfft Youre too much~. Why do other idols do that on their own channels? Thats other idols story. Look at Son Seong-wons face. Hell be left on a deserted ind before he goes. But that was underestimating Ye-jun. Really? But I think that would be fun. Let me try it. It would be fun to film myself going back home. This crazy guy. He was saying that with his eyes shining. He was serious. Will you? Hey, why not? Itll be fun for sure. Stop talking nonsense and lets hear what other people want to do. Then Seon-woo raised his hand quietly. What is it? Recently, Ive seen a lot of people doing things like food tour channels. Now that I think about it, there were a lot of those. Seon-woos sister Seonyoungs group was doing a dessert review channel called Sweet Road. Rejected. Before I could even say anything, Kyunghwa cut me off. Why? I think it looks good. No. Content that can create a weight management risk is dangerous. Youre not making it yourself, and if you eat outside, everything will be high in calories. Then what if its not high in calories? We fell silent again. I think it would be okay if Ise-hyung makes it. After a long silence, Seong-won finally made a positive remark. It was okay when you appeared on School Kitchen Attackst time. How about inviting other people besides the school and making custom dishes for them? It wasnt impossible. The only problem was how to get the guests. How are we going to get the guests? Lets do it once for each member and if the response is good, well increase it to external guests. If it doesnt work, why not call Kang Yugeon? Helle running, wont he? Would he really? Before I could answer, Seon-woos voice brightened. I think thats a good idea! What would you not like? It was an obvious reaction. What do you think? Kyunghwa naturally turned the decision arrow to me. Hmm If I wasnt Cheonise but another member, I wouldnt have agreed so easily. Because This was a n that depended too much on Cheonise. Cheonise paid for the cost, and Cheonise was the main host. Of course, if it was Cheonise before he died, he would have liked to monopolize the attention. Then it would end up being Cheonise and the Kids again. The groups identity would not be much different from before. Were not in a position to be picky about cold or hot rice. But We had to change from before to seed. I wanted to seed with all these members. My sess alone wouldnt be meaningless, but the desperate faces on stage kept haunting me. I thought for a moment and answered. I dont hate it. But if were going to take cooking as the main thing, you guys have to have some weight in the n. What do you mean by weight? It means you cant be my kitchen shows sidekicks. Ah Ye-jun realized the problem and pouted his lips. What if we change the host for each episode and you help as a teacher on the side? Its not like cooking is bad It could be a fun factor as a variety show. But it was a different story if we could keep it up for a long time. It was still uncertain if we could pull it off as a long-term project. Thats still fundamentally dependent on me. This is not a one-man show that I do alone, so you guys have to think of something that can show your strengths as much as possible. Hmm After thinking for a while, Ye-jun raised his hand again. I have a good idea! Dont say anything like wilderness exploration again. Ye-juns eyes sparkled when he had a good reason. We all had the same thought in our minds. No way! This time its a really awesome idea! Seong-wons cold tackle made Ye-jun jump up and down in his seat. Listen, this is a really good idea! Chapter 53: Eating is important Chapter 53: Eating is important Chapter 53 Eating is important Honestly, I didnt have high expectations for Ye-juns idea. But I decided to give it a listen anyway. How about this? We dont have to go to a deserted ind. We can just rent a house in the countryside and do a variety show where we each have a role. Nana and Seon-woo can go out and harvest vegetables, Seong-won can help the elders, and Kyunghwa and Ise can cook. Something like that. We can show how we live in the rural area, and invite some guests too. What do you think? What? It was surprisingly a reasonable idea. Hmm Its not bad, but Dont you think its too clich? There are so many shows like that these days. Really? Well, we dont have to rent a house. We can just drive around with a camper van and sleep in the yard. That would be fun too. The fun here was probably more for Ye-jun himself than for the viewers. Are you just saying that because you want to go camping? Seong-won didnt miss the chance to tease him, but the idea itself was an improvement from Ises midnight kitchen. Camping would be fun too. But dont you hate doing leisure sports on the mountains? As soon as he said that, Seong-wons face was stained with disgust. Was he that repulsed by it? I mean, I would do it if I had to, but I didnt really want to either. So The ideas we have so far are request kitchen and rural experience. Thats two. We continued the meeting for another 30 minutes, but no new ideas came up. Well Its not like we have to pay for it ourselves. We can just try one and see how it goes. If the response is not good, we can switch to something else. But the biggest problem is finding a ce to rent. Does anyone know a house in the countryside that we can rent? Uh Everyone fell silent again. After a while of thinking, Kyunghwa opened his mouth. My grandparents ce It might be possible. But its a very old house. Is that okay? How old are we talking about? There was amotion earlier this year when a haunted house YouTuber broke in without permission and got reported. ! The eyes of the members, who had been looking anxious, sparkled at once. Isnt that great for YouTube? Is it? If the house was that haunted, fixing it up, cleaning the grass, and making it livable would be content too. But what about our grandparents while were filming? Should we send them on a package tour or something? When he realized the practical problem, he asked with a doubt. Kyunghwa hesitated and answered. They moved to a nursing homest year, so its empty now. Some rtives are taking care of the nearby fields, but no one is using the house Oh Was that a good thing or a bad thing? While we were feeling awkward, Kyunghwa added. Anyway, its empty now, so renting it wont be hard. Once we have a concrete n, Ill contact them. Its too cold in the winter, so it would be a extreme challenge. If were going to do it, we should go in the summer. That was true. The countryside in the winter was too cold for the nts that grew up in the city. Okay, then we have the basic items. Lets eat first. The PD sent us the stage video separately at dawn, so we can watch that and go over the schedule one more time. Okay, okay. Ugh, I woke upte today and Im so hungry that I cant tell if Im sick or not. Why are you sick when Im the one who lost the nket and slept because of you? He was chirping with energy, so it was no different from usual. It was a lively and cheerful daily life. Under the stage, they were like this. Unreliable and childish. But when they stood on the stage, they all put on serious faces. I had to do my job well if I didnt want to lose the opportunity I had barely gotten. But when I saw them dreaming and working so hard, I wanted to cheer for them. This was their strength and Maybe Im too soft on them. If the system had nned this from the start and paired me with Ise, it was a very rational decision. It must have read my mind But there was no system message, so maybe I wasnt wrong. They were adults, and in the old days, they would have been fathers at this age. But that was the old days, and they had been trapped in the agency system without any chance to interact with their peers. Was it fair to ask them to be responsible as adults? I didnt know. But they made a lot of money, right? That logic didnt work either, because there were too many idols who didnt get paid for their activities. I couldnt change the structure and system. But at least for the ones who were already tied to me, the ones I couldfort, I wanted to support them as an adult Maybe Im overstepping. It was a disease to feel pity for others too easily because my life was too hard. Lets go to the kitchen and sit down. I had already put the portable burner on the table. With the vegetables that had been dried and the beef that I had just taken out of the fridge, I didnt need anything else. Eat a lot of vegetables, vegetables. You have enough carbs with noodles, so skip the porridge. Hey, what a waste. Ye-jun pouted his lips and protested, but it was no use. No matter how much porridge and fried rice were the Korean dessert, they were not the food to eat before theeback. Stop whining and eat. In the end, Kyunghwa scolded him instead of me. Then Ye-jun obediently put a spoonful of bean sprouts, mushrooms, and beef in his mouth. Seong-won had been quietly emptying his bowl more than anyone else. Seon-woo is He was smart enough to eat more vegetables than meat, without any sauce or broth. Good, youre doing well. After finishing the meal, I connected my phone to the big TV screen and monitored the stage video. It wasnt going to make any difference, but still. We all lightly admired the screen that came out much better than we thought. It was the opposite of what we expected, considering the PD was just a live broadcast producer. How well could he have filmed it? It was a brilliant move to film each member like an individual fancam, instead of wasting shots on the full set, which was pretty shabby. This should be fine to edit and put inter. The PD said he knew about the online buzz from the direct shots, so he wont cut it too short. Thats a relief. But well have to see the final broadcast to be sure That was the end of our appearance on My Hometown today. We didnt need to show the feedback stage for the choreography yet. By the way, the choreography will be ready by next week. Well start practicing it together from next month, so be prepared. Now that I think about it, we also had the jacket shooting ahead of us. Sigh If I dont want to suffer from the pile of work, Id better prepare in advance. =Sigh If I dont want to suffer from the pile of work, Id better prepare in advance. I had to n well, since I couldnt refuse any program offers in between. There was something I had to tell them beforehand. Oh, and I also told the choreographer who the center is. Seon-woo will be the center for this single. Huh, me? Seon-woo rolled his eyes and stuttered, as if he didnt know. Yeah, you. Youve lost enough weight for now, so dont yo-yo. Dont disappoint me. Yes!! Seon-woo seemed surprised, but he nodded his head as if he had seized the opportunity. A few weeks ago, this would have been a situation whereints would have arisen. But there was no room for disagreement after seeing the video yesterday. Seon-woo had a bright and pure energy that drew people in on stage. He was the kind of person who would make you want to cheer for his dream, even if you just met him. Of course, it helped that he had a handsome face. His expression was also what they called a smiling face, which had a big impact. If theres a next single well rotate ording to the concept then. That was only if there was a next chance. I didnt say anything. You must have thought so. Kyunghwa didnt add any morements, but he seemed a bit deted. Was he conscious of giving up his part to Seon-woo? Idol activities were basically a team game. But within that, getting the part, the weight, and the position you wanted was an individual game. This is hard, really. It would have been counterproductive tofort him right now. Instead of soothing Kyunghwa, I changed the topic. Im going to talk to the manager about the self-made content production while Im at it. I threw a bomb with the center announcement and ran away from the seat. The back of my head felt more prickly than usual. *** The actual filming of the self-made content started less than a weekter. In the meantime, I used Kang Yugeons chance one more time. I thanked you for thest time. Ill owe you for this one. He was only twenty-three, but he was so uptight. His words that he would pay me back with interest grated on my nerves. But I had no other choice. The filming team that Kang Yugeon got for me was not cheap, but they were definitely skilled. They were originally working for arge-scale variety investmentpany, but they recently broke away and set up their own studio due to a rights dispute. They were nning to switch to a YouTube variety team when they got contacted by me and dly epted the urgent schedule. Well, maybe they epted it because of Kang Yugeons influence. Either way, I just had to swallow the sweet part and spit out the bitter part. I mulled over what Kang Yugeon had said. Are you close with the members? Of course I was. I didnt know about Cheon Ise, but I had known them for five years. If you count the trainee days, we had been through more ups and downs than that. It had only been three months since I met him, but Are you not close with the members, Yugeon? Heughed at my innocent question. What? That was rude. Well, Im close enough, I guess. What was that vague answer? I didnt want to brag about my ambiguous rtionship with Kang Yugeon here, so I ended the call. Thanks for your help anyway. Ill hang up now. I felt a sweat running down my back after the short call. *** Meanwhile, Yugeon, who was resting at home, chewed over the message that the member had sent him earlier. [Floss Lee Jinhyung] Are youing to Xcake today? 10:11 AM [Floss Lee Jinhyung] If youe, Rini from Girl sh will be there. 10:12 AM How could he send such a message without getting tired of it? It was impressive that he had pushed out a strong debut candidate and made it to the debut with the ninth ce. He was amazing, alright. Yugeon turned off the screen as if he hated to see it. Chapter 54: Behind the Camera Lens Chapter 54: Behind the Camera Lens Are you going? Yugeon threw his phone on the sofa andy down, hugging a cushion. Brrr-. His phone kept ringing, as if it wouldnt leave him alone. This time, it was a call from his manager. [Manager (Park)] Be ready, Ill be there in 15 minutes. 10:24 AM He had arrived home around 6:50 AM, so after taking a shower and tidying up, he had only slept for two hours. He had been told to cut down on his personal schedule and stick to the group schedule. Last week, he had slept less than 20 hours in total. His lifestyle was so irregr that it was pointless to talk about his daily routine. He had never slept more than four hours. I have time to spare, so I can go to the club and have fun. He would join the other members around noon and finish the group schedule by 8 PM. Then, he would have to appear on ate-night variety show. Would it have been easier to endure the tough schedule if he had gotten along with the members? Yugeon looked at the TV screen that was identally turned on and reying [My Doll Stage]. He felt like he could hear the main PDs voice clearly from the screen. Trainee Kang Yugeon, can I talk to you for a moment? Your father has an unusual background I have something to propose to you. Ill guarantee you an A grade or higher from the first evaluation, and a rank of 20 or higher. Can we do a special episode about your father when we air the show? Yugeon had declined the offer, and what he got in return was an F grade and 87th ce. He was in danger of being eliminated. Only trainees who were independent or from affiliated agencies could participate in My Doll Stage. It might have seemed like a normal treatment for an independent trainee without an agency, but he had the skills to expect a B grade or higher if it werent for his fathers issue. Was it because he was underrated for his skills? He still remembered vividly how people sighed in pity when his grade was announced. In the final broadcast, it was all edited to sound like jeers. I wont forget. How they treated me. Yugeon closed his eyes for a moment, but soon opened them wide at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Youre not close, are you? You and the members? The conversation he had with Cheonise had been haunting him. Was it possible to maintain a friendship in a survival program? Please, just mess up his lyrics once, please make him forget his choreography, please put him in a bad spot. I dont care if its school violence, drinking, family issues, or anything. Yugeon was a chess piece on a board that he had set up to survive by raising his rank. The world was cruel to the trainee Kang Yugeon, and kind to the Floss Kang Yugeon. It was a realm that he would never understand as a lord who didnt go through the survival. Yes, Im going. Click, the door opened and Yugeon smiled leisurely, hiding his fatigue. *** Wow, this is amazing. As soon as they got out of the mini van, their honest impression was, Can people live here? Should we pitch a tent in the yard and sleep there, or clean this ce up first? The door looked like it was about to fall off, as if to prove that no one had lived here for a while. The main camera that started filming from inside the house scanned the faces of the members who were shocked by the house. The inside should be cleaned up a bit, so theres no trash to throw away. The water and electricity are still working. Kyunghwa crossed the yard and stepped onto the wooden floor. He didnt even take off his shoes, and I wondered what he was thinking. Every time he moved his foot, the dust marks were clearly visible from afar. Lets get the vacuum cleaner out first. Thanks to Kyunghwas warning that there would be a lot of dust, they had brought a wireless vacuum cleaner from the start. Ah~. It would have been nice if this was sponsored. Ye-jun chuckled and held the vacuum cleaner over the floor and turned on the power button. The floor that was covered in grayish-white dust quickly regained its original color. Lets hurry up and clean up. We have to change all the lights before it gets dark. Kyunghwa muttered as he read the mission card he had received from the PD whileing down to the countryside. This was the ce they had to visit every Wednesday and Thursday for about six weeks. At first, they suggested filming everything in a week and uploading it by week, but The fans want to see your reality, dont they? Are you okay with that? The PD had suggested an unexpected idea at the nning meeting. Reality? What did he mean by that? Floss was not a top idol, and they were almost rookies who were unknown. He said it was better to show them some friendliness. And they were in a non-active period, so they didnt have many channels to show what they were doing in real time. He said it would be more familiar to show them an updated look every week, rather than showing them what they did a few weeks ago in a week. They got busier as they started preparing, but the fixed schedule of Climax was still empty. Then, lets set a day every week to film, and edit and post it within 3-4 days of filming. I was worried that it was a bit too demanding, but they only had a separate filming director during the day. At night, they used self-cams or observation cams to edit and use their staff as efficiently as possible. PD, where do we install our observation camera? Seon-woo held the home cam he had received as a sponsorship in both hands and headed towards the floor. It wasnt much of a help, even though it was a sponsorship. They only got the product for free, as long as they didnt cover the logo. It was my personal n that cost me a lot of money, even though I had to mark [Paid Advertisement] on the top. I should be grateful that thepany allowed me. As I looked at the house that seemed older than Im Hyun-seong with a soulless eye, the PD came up to me. Are you not doing anything, Ise? I answered cheekily. I was thinking. Were going to being and going for over a month I wonder if it would be better to paint it anew. That sounds good. Were going back to Seoul tomorrow, and itll be a week before wee back. Ye-jun sucked up the dust on the floor and opened the sliding door to the living room. Lets clean up first and then talk. Kyunghwa pressed his mask firmly over his face as dust clouds rose from inside the house. The house was well-furnished, but it felt cold and lifeless, as if no one had lived there for a long time. The ivy vines that covered the walls of the house didnt give a gardening vibe, but rather added to the bleakness. Lets clear out the inside and then tear off the vines outside. What if the house copses when we pull them off? Seong-won narrowed his eyes and red at the wall, annoyed by Ye-juns joke. Its a joke, dont take it so seriously. I pped Seong-wons shoulder lightly and he rubbed the spot where I hit him. No, its just it seems possible. It was a rare moment when Seong-won agreed with Ye-jun, but now was not the time to dwell on that. Three of us should be enough to clean up the house. Why dont two of us go to the field and check the condition? Hoo, Kyunghwa took off his shoes and went inside, wiping off the dust that piled up on the furniture. Seong-won and I will go. Seon-woo and Kyunghwa had already taken off their shoes, and Ye-jun was also on his knees, vacuuming the floor. By process of elimination, only Seong-won and I were left. Please follow us with a camera. Following the PDs instructions, the youngest PD with a rather tough-looking face followed us. Have you ever lived in the countryside, Ise or Seong-won? I was about to reflexively say no, but then I opened my eyes wide. I didnt, but I didnt know about Cheonise. No, Ive always lived in the city since I was young. Thankfully, Seong-won answered the interview for me, so there was no silence. Didnt you ever go to your grandparents house when you were young? My rtives on both sides are from Gyeonggi-do, so I was always amazed by the kids who went far away. I thought he was a broomstick who couldnt say a word and stuttered when we went to School Kitchen Attackst time. It was just that he had no confidence in himself. He wasntpletely ipetent as an entertainer. I took advantage of the gap that Seong-won gave me and called the system. System. Then, poof, the system read my mind and printed out a neat exnation. [Due to repeated requests, there is a 10pt charge for viewing past records.] [Do you want to pay 10pt to view past records?] [Yes/No] [As of today, points will be deducted without additional confirmation] Aargh. I keep umting points and dont use them well, so they use these cheap tricks. Give them back to me someday. I was unhappy, but I answered in my mind. Yes. [Cheonises grandparents on both sides are from Seoul, and he has never visited rural areas in Korea, even for tourism.] Great, thanks for making me cry. The youngest PD asked me a question at the right timing. What about you, Ise? Im also new to this, I never had a chance to visit. I answered with a light smile, and then he asked me another question. Ise, you seem very skilled at handling ingredients, I think youll do well in the field work too. Maybe it was because of My Hometown Today. I had a bit of that image because I actively participated in the harvest in the filming. Ive never done it before, so Im much clumsier than you think. I only know how to eat, not how to grow. Im sure youre better than me. As the smell of grass from the field grew stronger, Seong-wons expression gradually became more bored. That was a huge hit on My Hometown Today. I remembered the reactions that poured out to Seong-won after My Hometown Today aired. [-A male idol who runs away from bugs] [-Ah why are you running with it, dont show me] [-Theyre really best friends, they look so close] [-These days, male idols look like theyre pretending to be friends, but theyre really close] [-He looks like hell grab his cor as soon as the camera turns off] If a man is afraid of bugs I thought he would be more disliked than liked. That was a mistake. People dont hate men who are afraid of bugs. They hate ugly men who are afraid of bugs. Seong-wons cute running away from bugs made thements cheer. People love handsome men who are afraid of bugs this much. I was reminded of the idol fandoms double standard of cruelty. Should I make Seong-won run away from bugs again this time? I was distracted for a moment as we arrived at the field. This is this is a mess. From the vegetables that had rotted on the vines after missing the harvest time, to the weeds that grew as tall as a person. There was more than one or two things to deal with. Lets figure out how to clear the grass first. I calmly stepped into the field. Then, I saw something that looked like human clothes between the dense corn leaves. Huh? Oh no, I felt a chill down my spine from the ominous feeling. Chapter 55: What I Can Change with My Hands Chapter 55: What I Can Change with My Hands Chapter 55 What I Can Change with My Hands What is this? There was something bulky and solid inside the old checkered shirt. It couldnt be a person, could it? I felt my breath quicken and my heart race without realizing it. Gasp The youngest PD, who found the same thing as me, gasped for air. Could it be? Even though this ce was so haunted that even YouTubers came here, there was still someone who took care of it. Oh. Im screwed. In the distance, I faintly saw Kyunghwas calm smile. Dont smile, you jerk. What did you do so well Rustle. There was a sound of movement from where something was. Aaaah-! Hey! What are you going to do if you run away alone! As Seong-won ran away with his tail between his legs, something jumped out of the bushes. Meow-! Huh? ? With a puzzled expression on my face, I pushed aside the bushes and saw a ball of fur twitching between the shirts cor. Roar-! As I looked closely at the spot where the bushes were shaking, a sturdy cat was staring at me and guarding itself. Squeak-! Squeak-! Squeak-! The shirt was shaking, so what was underneath it Kittens? It was none other than a cat family. Oh, dont be scared I really thought there was some kind of corpse or something As I rubbed my chest, Seong-won came back and tackled me. I didnt think it was that scary. Then what was it? Just a ghost? Whats the difference between a ghost and a corpse? A ghost is just something you can ignore but a corpse isnt? Isnt a ghost harder to ignore? A corpse just stays there, but a ghost feels like its going to follow you The youngest PD, who was amused by our bickering, shook his shoulders and held his breath. Then, as if everything was annoying, the cat spat out another long roar. Rrrrr-. I get it. But we have to clean up the field. I clenched my teeth. I looked at the cat family and the camera alternately with an awkward expression. What do we do with this? When I asked the youngest PD, heughed as if he was asking why I was asking him. Oh, are you asking me? Uh cant I ask? I really dont know what to do. No, its not that Three adults huddled together and wondered what to do with the cat that was sitting in the middle of the field. It was honestly a funny sight. Should we move this nest? to a more cozy ce? How do we move it? Theres a ce like a warehouse that doesnt seem to be used. How about putting it in a box and leaving it there? None of the people in the same ce knew much about cats. I should ask Oh Ye-jun about this. I thought to myself and said to the PD. Oh Ye-jun seems to know a lot about cats. Ill ask him. It would be better than acting on my own judgment. I hesitated and gave up the eye contact with the cat and backed away. Then should we go back to the house? That sounds good. Seong-won and I came to the same conclusion and went up with empty hands. The house that was creepy was now quite tidy and neat. It was still old, but it looked like a house where people lived. What? Why did youe empty-handed? When did he get that? Kyunghwa, who was installing a mosquito on the ceiling, asked with a pin in his mouth. He had the image of an athlete, a genius producer, and a writer. He had all the attributes that fans would love. I looked at his abs under his rolled-up shirt and thought. Theres a cat in the field. I added quickly to Seong-wons too-abbreviated exnation. Theyre with their kittens, and they seem to need to move them. Oh, how many? As soon as he heard that, Kyunghwa quickly hammered the pins into the ceiling and hung the ring of the mosquito. He jumped down from the chair. His eyes sparkled in an instant. It was amazing that the guy who was like a dog liked cats so much. Or not Do dogs usually like cats? I would have to raise one to know. Somewhere, woof-! A dog that I couldnt see barked in a familiar tone, but I ignored it. Four or five? I didnt see them well. They were too guarded. Its not a very good ce in the middle of the field. I guess the bushes around here were pretty lush? Yeah, they didnt take care of it recently, so the weeds were as tall as a person. Ah Then they would have settled there. After saying that, Kyunghwa went to the kitchen and rummaged through the warehouse for a while. Kyunghwa, can we use everything here? Kyunghwa asked with a question. It doesnt matter. Do you have anything to catch a cat? Kyunghwa jumped up and retorted. No, Im not going to catch it! He came out of the kitchen warehouse with arge box, a towel, and a scoop covered in dust. His face was as if he had written cat! on it. He was full of anticipation. Well be cleaning up the house here, so hurry up and solve it ande back. Kyunghwa waved his handszily with Sunwoo and sent him off. Okay, Ill be right back! With one more person joining us, the three of us headed to the field with a determined stride. The youngest PD followed us closely, making sure to capture every scene on camera. You seem to be good at handling cats, Mr. Ye-jun? Ye-jun waved his hand lightly in response to the PDs question. I just like them. Im not an expert or anything. But you look so confident and strong with them on your shoulder. Come on~. Its not that big of a deal. Now Ye-juns versatile image would include being a cat lover, too. As Ye-jun humbly answered, we arrived at the edge of the field. Yes cat was still hissing and growling with caution. What do we do? Its still pissed off. Seongwon backed away slowly. I followed him and retreated as well. Why are you running away, hyung? I dont think I can help much. Ill just make it more angry. Geez, you cowards. We had no choice but to listen to Ye-juns indifferentint. We couldnt do anything with the cat, so the best we could do was to quietly munch on some popcorn from behind. Good luck~. With the most unenthusiastic cheer ever, Ye-jun lowered his body slowly. Then he reached out his hand slowly towards the cat. The cat, which had been hissing at me and Seongwon, slowly approached Ye-jun and sniffed his hand. It was so careful that its small nostrils red and its long whiskers tensed up with nervousness. See? I dont smell bad, do I? After greeting the cat, Ye-jun took out a stick that I wondered when he had prepared. Maybe it was because of the delicious smell. The cat rxed its guard and licked Ye-juns hand. Oh Ye-jun didnt miss the opportunity and gently guided the cat to go inside the box by itself. Wow, its so tame when you give it food. Seongwon clicked his tongue in disbelief. Whats so unbelievable about that? Im also well-behaved when I eat. I didnt have any self-hatred for my own kind. Come on, go inside and rest. Ill move the kittens for you. Ye-jun put on a vinyl glove with skillful hands and wrapped the kittens in a nket. Then he put them in the box as well. Thats when the cat realized that it was trapped in the box because it was distracted by the food. It meowed angrily. But once the box waspletely closed, it quieted down. What if it jumps out? Im holding it down with my strength, so lets hurry and take it to the barn. Thats how the three big guys followed Ye-jun, who had sessfully kidnapped the cat, back to the house. Is it okay to leave the cat in the barn? I dont think it matters. Its not like we use it anyway. There might be some rats, so it would be nice to have a cat. Rats! I was used to the pests and the unsanitary back alleys of the city, but Seongwon wasnt. He looked disgusted by the idea of rats. He hated bugs, but he hated rats more. Dont worry, I wont ask you to catch rats. I wasnt sure if Ye-juns words wereforting or not. Seongwon swallowed hard. Ye-jun carefully ced the box in the dark barn. Soon the cat poked its head out of the gap. Isnt this better than before? It looked a bit surprised, but maybe it was because the kittens were all safe and the nket was still with them. Its eyes were only wide, but it didnt seem to be very scared. Hahaha, youre acting so friendly when we just met. The barn had openings on the top and bottom, so the wind flowed well. It also had a thick roof, so it was a perfect ce to raise the kittens away from the rain and sun. Maybe it liked the new ce, or maybe it wanted some other food. It showed affection to Ye-jun without much resistance. The camera diligently filmed the scene. Can you get some food from the field? We need to prepare lunch soon. Finally, when Gyeonghwas patience reached its limit, he nagged us to leave the barn. *** Ah, Im so hungry after working. Ye-jun sprawled out on the wooden floor, pping his arms and legs. He had changed all the lights in the house and did some minor repairs, so he was exhausted. Its almost done, just wait. Since the theme of the show was to use the ingredients from the field as much as possible, lunch was zhini soybean paste stew, zhini pancakes, and zhini wraps. Ah theres nothing but grass. It would have been better if there was some beef brisket in the soybean paste stew. But there was no ce to get meat, so we had to stick to a natural diet. Were going to thendlords house for dinner, so hang in there. While Seonwoo and I were busy preparing the meal, the one who was rolling around on the floor had a lot to say. Im fine with grass! Seonwoo smiled brightly when our eyes met. Is that so as long as youre happy. I casually stroked Seonwoos head, and then, oops. I was worried that I was treating him too much like a dog that we raised together in the neighborhood. But the person himself didnt seem to have any thoughts and looked happy. Well then its fine. Its done, lets eat. Fortunately, the floor was spacious enough to fit arge table and five of us sat around it. We finished the meal noisily and then felt drowsy. As we leaned against the wooden pirs and enjoyed the breeze, the cats came out of the barn. Oh, the kittens are out. We couldnt see them properly before because they were covered with the nket. Now that I saw them, they were yellow, white, spotted, and tricolor. They had all kinds of colors. Cats theyre cute, right. I didnt think much of it and closed my eyes again. And not long after, Seongwons scream followed. Ahhhh! What now? Everyones eyes turned to Seongwon, as if to ask what he was fussing about this time. Chapter 56: If Only Everything Went According to Plan Chapter 56: If Only Everything Went ording to n Chapter 56 If Only Everything Went ording to n A kitten that had gone out for a stroll in the world was sitting on Seong-wonsp. Isnt that dangerous if it gets used to human smell? Kyunghwa asked Ye-jun as if it was none of his business, staying far away from the kitten. It should be fine since its mother is watching. The mother cat seemed to recognize that the members were not harmful people, andy down under the wooden floor. It didnt cuddle up to them, but it looked like it understood that this ce was safer than the field they had been to before. People might think we brought it here and let it loose for the show. Kyunghwa blurted out and quickly covered his mouth with his hand. They wouldnt think that much since its obvious that theyre not from a pet shop. And besides, we didnt get that muchmercial attention anyway. Well, as long as nothing goes wrong. Dont get too attached to it. Itll start to be independent and scatter in two or three months. Ye-jun advised Seong-won, who still looked panicked and didnt know what to do. You dont have to say that I dont even want to get attached to it, I just want to run away right now. I chuckled at his remark, and Ye-jun retorted. Thats how they get attached, you know. Seong-won finally got up to leave his seat, carefully putting the kitten down and running away. But the kitten followed him around. Why. Why are you following me! Its amazing that youre afraid of a cat, not a bug. Seong-won fled to his room as if he was being chased. The kitten didnt have the courage to go in there yet, and crouched at the threshold, looking at Seong-won. Was it a Kitten Blue? Its dull blue eyes were filled with ck pupils, and I couldnt read what it was thinking. Meow. The mother cat came up to the wooden floor, worried that it had gone too far inside. She bit its neck and took it down, and then Seong-won came out of his room, crouching. But his peace didntst long. As soon as the kitten saw Seong-woning out, it meowed and climbed up the wooden pir with its small ws, andnded on Seong-wonsp again. Hey, just ept it already. Seong-won hyung must have really caught its eye! Did he smell like sweet peas or something? What a strange obsession But it wasnt a bad sight. A handsome guy times a cute thing. Abination that would easily win love. *** After a long and hard work, I enjoyed a peaceful rest for a while. It was time to go to thendlords house and help him with his chores, and get some meat and milk that I had been craving since noon. Wouldnt it be too chaotic if all five of us go? Then lets have three go and the other two stay and watch the house. We decided who would go and who would stay by a fair penalty game. Kyunghwa, who was weak at these kinds of penalty games, was the first to lose, followed by Seon-woo, and finally I joined the losers. Then well be back, so watch the house well. We drove to thendlords house in a van that we had borrowed from thepany in advance. The driver was originally the manager, but he decided to skip the filming, so I naturally took over. Ise hyung, you drive well even on a mountain road. Of course, Ive been driving for over 20 years. I swallowed the truth that I couldnt answer and smiled. Its not that hard. Its just that the car shakes a bit. Most of the roads were unpaved, so the car shook violently whenever there was a sunken part. I waved my hand at the one-person camera that the staff had installed on the dashboard and exined. Were on our way to thendlords house, and were going to help him with his work in exchange for some meat and milk that weve been thirsty for since noon. Was thendlords house the ce that supplied milk to the nearby cooperative? The activities that the staff had agreed on beforehand were feeding the calves, moving the milk cans, and so on. Im looking forward to meeting the cute calves. I didnt particrly like animals, but I didnt hate them either. It would be easier to win their favor if I acted like I liked them. I was smiling even though I wasnt looking forward to it, and I felt like I had gotten used to this life. ** The filming at the ranch went smoothly as expected. The only thing that stood out was that the calves were especially interested in Seon-woo and followed him around. It was a scene that the viewers would love, seeing him surrounded by cute calves with thick eyshes and blushing. Why, why are they following me? Seon-woo backed away, forgetting that he had a bottle in his left hand. It was a great scene. We finished the filming safely, and loaded the back seat with meat to grill and milk to take home and drink. Well have to share this with everyone when we get there, right? We had to drink it quickly because it was fresh. Seon-woo had his phone out, thinking of sending some to his sister. Are you contacting Seon-young? The youngest PD who apanied us to the ranch turned the spotlight on Seon-woo and asked. Yes, my sister likes to eat too Oh, I dont mean that she always steals what I eat. Seon-woos unnecessary exnation sounded like TMI. It seemed like he was admitting that she stole his food. If he had been a bit more cunning, I would have thought that he was feeding his sister like that. But he was such a clueless guy that Iughed first. Ah, did I say something wrong? Why are you allughing? Why do you think? Everyone shook their shoulders and didnt tell him the truth. Its because youre cute, because youre cute. Kyunghwas words made Seon-woo tilt his head even more. We came back home with a lot of food, and Seong-won and Ye-jun were ying with the cats. You look like you had a lot of fun. Ye-jun looked up at me, lying on the floor with a cat on his stomach. He looked like a big dog lying on its back. Ah, I didnt mean to do this, but Im the type that cats love. Yeah, right. He was smiling from ear to ear. Im telling you. You cant take them to the dorm and raise them. We didnt have much work to do now, so it wasntmon for all five of us to leave the house. But if thiseback was sessful and we started to work more actively, things would change. I remembered the times when I only went home once every three weeks, when I was busy with broadcasting and expanding my business. It was irresponsible of me to bring an animal to the dorm, just to make my rest time happier. Fine, are you worried about shedding hair in your house? Ye-jun pouted his lips, giving me an unexpected reason. He always nagged me about hygiene and cleanliness. That wasnt the reason, but that could be a nuisance too. Anyway, I became more convinced that I shouldnt raise it in the dorm. Thats not it. Get ready for dinner quickly. Roger that! Ye-juns eyes sparkled at the mention of dinner, and he carefully put down the cat and headed to the backyard. You too, stop touching the cat and go wash your hands. I looked at Seong-won, who still looked clueless, holding the kitten. Im, putting it down The cat stretched out its body, closed its eyes, and fell asleep. Put it down next to you. You cant skip dinner. He hesitated, but his heart softened in front of any living being that liked him, whether it was a person or an animal. He seemed to have grown attached to it. Why dont you do that to people? He was a guy who had a weak heart for animals other than humans. There, done? I wrapped the cat in my hands and pushed it towards its mother. The mother cat snorted, bit the kittens neck, and took it to the warehouse. Maybe it was because it had just woken up from sleep, but it looked more limp and lifeless than the others. It didnt seem to have any noticeable injuries, so it should be fine. Okay, now well do a quick interview and then well leave! As evening came, the filming team started to pack up as nned. Okay, Ise, Kyunghwa, Seong-won, Ye-jun, Seon-woo, Ill call you in that order! The interview was nothing more than sitting one by one under the lights with the vegetable garden as the background and answering questions. How was it today? You fixed the house, cleaned it, harvested from the garden, and did all that. I answered the PDs question with a skilled expression. It was fun. Actually, I havent been living in the dorm for long. I havent had many chances to do something with the members and feel like Im living on my own. It felt different from when I appeared on another program before. It felt like we were really living together. A textbook-like answer followed, and the PD threw an unexpected question at me. You seemed quite familiar with driving. Do you usually drive a lot? Not really. I only do it when I need to. Usually, the manager takes care of it. The PD nodded and started to wrap up with thest question. I see. Now, well leave after lunch tomorrow and we wont be back until next week. What do you think youll miss the most when you go back to the dorm? This was a question I had anticipated. I looked at the camera screen and smiled. When we had lunch and rested earlier? It was nice to lie down and feel the wind with everyone. I was happy. You have a very simple happiness. Well, yeah I dont ask for much. I think its good to have peace without any trouble. It wasnt aplete lie. I passed the turn to Kyunghwa, who was next, and went back to the house. It got dark in no time. It wasnt even 8 p.m., but the sky was simr to the citys 10 p.m. As we finished the interviews one by one and gathered, the surroundings became quiet in an instant. Only the sound of a dog barking in the distance was loud, and there was no bird sound. Should we finish early and go to bed tomorrow? We have to clean up the field properly. There were self-cams and microphones installed in the bedrooms and living room, except for the bathroom. All the conversations we were having now were being uploaded to the server in real time. Lets not make a mistake and say that the staff left. We had to keep that in mind. Can I go wash first? Lets decide the order by rock-paper-scissors. Kyunghwa hyung takes the longest, so he should washst, right? Lets be fair and decide by rock-paper-scissors. After a round of bickering, we finally decided the order by rock-paper-scissors and used the bathroom ordingly. The next morning, we cleared a huge amount of weeds and copsed into the mini van. We had toe back and film next week, right? We were going to upload it this week and see the reaction, and then expand it to guest appearances. It was a big deal that we were so exhausted. I hope the filming atmosphere wasnt bad. I hope it wasnt just me who found it interesting. Two dayster, the edited version, including the self-cam footage, was unbelievable for the short time it took to work on. This is really good, isnt it? I would believe it if you said it was made by a productionpany, not a YouTube channel. The managers reaction wasnt bad either. Finally, the day of the first episodes release. I was nervous to check the reaction right away, so I waited for an hour. Why was I so nervous? I was more nervous than going to see ament than the jacket shooting tomorrow. Chapter 57: Not as Easy as It Seems Chapter 57: Not as Easy as It Seems What are you doing? Checking thements? He was so calm even though we had such an important task ahead of us. Ye-jun, who had just returned from the boxing gym, was hovering around me. Uh, Im just monitoring the feedback. I nned to skim through the YouTubements by poprity and recency, and then check the subscribers reactions with a fake fan ount. Let me see too. Soon, the members who surrounded me were shining their eyes. They werent just excited. They also looked worried, as they werentpletely stupid. Isnt it better to watch it on your own? Its not like there are only good responses I think its better to watch it together and get over it quickly. Oh, me too, I thought the same Seonwoo was fiddling with his sleeve, hesitating. Maybe this was better than secretly checking and hiding the hurt. I nodded, picking up a tablet PC instead of my phone. If were going to watch it together, lets use a bigger screen. When I count to three, we scroll down to thements! I wondered why we were so tense about this But maybe it was because we had never produced a solo content before. We all had high expectations. Id rather have hatements than noments. But I wish there were more positivements. One. Two, Three! As the short countdown ended, thetestments started to load. [-What the heck, you uploaded a solo content without any notice? Im notining, but Im out of breath with the 20-minute full-length video] [-What about the cat Its a cheat code for views from the first episode] [-Ises side mirror nce and parking in one go without looking at the rear camera was so cool] [I dont have a license, so is it hard to park a big car without a rear camera?] [Its not hard, but usually people in their twenties dont have much driving experience and use a rear camera from their first car, so its rare!] [-10:39 Its the first time in my life that I wanted to be a calf] [Theres no CG here, right? Why do I see a halo every time I watch it;;;] [-Solo content??? Solo content??? Is this a dream? Did the agency finally push for it??? I thought I was going to die of thirst] [-5:23 Ye-jun, your sister is lying here] [Thank you, you saved a person today] [Watch 6:11 too, its heaven] [Im crazy I want to lock him up for life and hang a mosquito on the ceiling] [-Seong-won looks like a baby ice bear, Im going crazy with the kitten on hisp] [Things that Son Seong-won is afraid of: geese, corn with worms, (NEW!) ghosts, (NEW!) kittens] [Its just a cat, if it was a restless dog, he would have KIJULed while filming;] Maybe it was because there were many fans of Oh Ye-jun. I could see a lot ofments about Ye-juns arms and abs that showed up asionally while we were renovating the house. Was it because they were hired internally and not from outside? They edited it exactly as I expected, catching the points. The goal was to make all the members stand out, so I asked them to adjust the length evenly. The feedback looks good, right? Yeah. There are morements than I thought. Everyone sighed with relief at the explosive response. Everyone except Kyunghwa. This episode, Kyunghwas part was too little, wasnt it? Wasnt it? Now that I think about it, Kyunghwa did have a spot in each scene. The problem was He didnt have any highlight that would catch attention. He had been the MC whenever we needed a host, so he had a minimum of spotlight. This time, there was no MC, so we had to provide our own eye-catching attractions. Ye-jun captivated the viewers with his jokes and good body. Seong-won received a lot of cuteness with his handsome scaredy-cat image, following his appearance on Todays Hometown. Seonwoo, well His face did everything, so he made people swoon with just one scene of feeding milk. I didnt have much expectation, but it seemed like I got the best driver image. I could park perfectly without a rear camera Well, Ise wouldnt know, but I got my license before the 21st century. He was the only one who couldnt appeal his characteristics. Even so, I didnt expect him to be ignored like this. The others didnt notice that Kyunghwa wasnt mentioned, and started to chatter. Are we going to film again in two days? I want to go soon. Next time, Im going to bring some cat toys. Dont bother. Dont ask me to lend you anything when you get there. Ill bring some too, so you can share with me! Dont worry, Seong-won-hyung! Hey, what does that make me? I nced at Kyunghwas face. What? He asked me with a stiff expression, feeling my gaze. I was wondering if we should prepare the script and editing more specifically for the next time. Why? The response is good now. There are already a lot ofments. Its been an hour, so there will be more. People didnt know about the solo content, so the rumor will spread and more people wille. This kid. He talks more when hes nervous and has something to hide. I could see right through Kyunghwa and answered him. You didnt have any scene that made you stand out this time. The show is all about what you show to the viewers. If you send a scene that highlights you, youll get a lot ofments. You dont have to worry about that. The important thing is that the group does well. What does that have to do with anything? He acted like he didnt care. If he was someone elses kid, I would let him dig his own hole and leave him alone. But he was my kid now that we were on the same boat. It was my role to manage his mental state for smooth cooperation and activity. Its not just for you, but for all the members to get known evenly. That was the goal of this solo content. I mean, lets do better next time ording to the purpose. Dont stress too much. I meant not to feel pressured. But maybe it backfired. Kyunghwa didnt reply. Instead, he sighed briefly. Fine. Im done with monitoring. Im going to do a mask. Hey, we have a shoot tomorrow, so dont worry and go to bed early. You take care of yourself. Dont stare nkly when youre in the same room with Seonwoo. Why did he suddenly pick a fight with me? I let Kyunghwa go and wondered. Did I say something out of line? Or I dont know. How can I know what the kids are thinking like a waterway. I decided not to think too deeply and picked up my phone again. Before I knew it, Seong-won had escaped from Seonwoo and Ye-jun, saying that his intelligence dropped when he was surrounded by them. The other two were busy looking for cat toys together. Come to think of it, Seong-won seemed to be conscious of the cat until the end. I remembered the kitten that followed only Seong-won around, and how small and frail it looked. Seong-won couldnt leave the front of the barn until we finished the paragraph and left the country house. Whats wrong? I asked him curiously, and he stuttered without spitting out his words. Hyung, do you Do I what? Never mind. Just a sec, I need to make a call He fiddled with his phone for a while in front of the barn, then shook his head as if giving up. Youre making a call, move aside? What did he want me to do? Thump thump, I watched Seong-won rolling his feet, and he turned his head without making a call. Never mind. Lets go. He seemed to want to ask me if he could take the cat with him. I understood his feelings, as he followed it around for two days and it looked so weak. But it would be troublesome to have a cat at the dorm. And it would be awkward if we had to disband because of a badeback result. I couldnt bring myself to say yes, so I pretended not to know. Young animals tend to be weak when theyre young, but they grow up to be strong. Maybe it would get healthier if I brought some supplements or snacks every time I went. I wrapped it up with that and looked at my phone screen again to check the SNS response. [- What the heck, you released a solo content without any surprise? I dont hate solo content, but the agency sucks at their job and shows it I mean, solo content is good Its good, but] [They dont do this when they upload other groups They tease a month before Im so mad because they show their true colors] [Ah Im so stressed Ill just look at the good things. The kids look so happy, Ill just believe in this] [Other groups are really Theyre the undisputed number one, so they get different treatment. I know that, but Im sad The kids must be sadder than me ] [- Ise, driving driving You have a car, huh :)] [Noooooo] [- The editing sense here is crazy] (Photo) [- He kept whining that there was nothing to eat, and then he put the solo content in his mouth right away. This means he wants me to stay here and not go anywhere, right?] [, youre amazing Its a clich plot and a clich story, but I love watching it Whoever nned this did a good job] [Right I watch it like a friend and its so-fort-able. And its good to watch before bed too] The SNS side also pointed out theck of promotion, but they liked the content itself. I mean, Im not that sad. The others were the same. I wish they wouldnt assume negative situations and be sad. This was something I couldnt show on the show and I just had to bury and move on. I had to take care of it more carefully from now on. As I read on, a question popped into my mind. Why is the reaction to driving nooooo? On YouTube, they were going crazy about parking and reversing. Ill have to ask Kyunghwater. He doesnt look so good right now, so Ill leave him alone. Id like to check the entertainmentmunity as well, but I had to wait until midnight for searchable posts toe up. Ive done everything I had to do today. As they say, preparing for tomorrows shoot was more of a priority. I guess I have to take care of myself too. I swallowed my dry saliva and headed toward Seonwoo and Ye-jun, who were in sync. I have a favor to ask you guys. They usually did me favors when I asked. They had nothing to owe me. They were surprised by the unexpected situation and opened their eyes wide. Chapter 58: Just One Favor Chapter 58: Just One Favor Chapter 58 Just One Favor Um If youre going to do a face mask or something to prepare for tomorrow, can I join you? It wasnt easy to ask for help from the guys who were only two or three years younger than me, but looked like my sons. As I hesitated and felt embarrassed, Ye-jun burst intoughter first. Why are you so serious about that? I was thinking of putting on a sheet mask soon, soe with me. He got up from the sofa and headed to the fridge. Why was he going to the fridge? I wondered for a moment, then he took something out of the top shelf. When did you put that in? I ordered some new onesst week and stocked up. I thought wed be more active as theeback approached, so I wanted to prepare in advance. Yeah, yeah, Ye-jun hyung and I split the cost and bought them! They nodded their heads vigorously, and they seemed to get along well despite being made of different stuff. They were both like puppies. Seong-won and Kyunghwa were more like cats, if I had to distinguish them. As for me was I a dog or a cat? I couldnt make an objective judgment, but I thought I was closer to a dog. I came to a conclusion without much confidence. Come here, Ill put it on for you! Seon-woo smiled sheepishly and tore open a cold pack he took out of the fridge. I pushed back my bangs that had fallen to the sides and exposed my forehead, then leaned forward and closed my eyes. Itll be a bit cold. Its from the fridge, so of course. As I twitched my eyelids nervously, a thin, sticky film stuck to my face. Ise hyungs face is really small I knew it was small. When I was with the members, they all looked small, so it didnt show. But when I stood with the staff, the difference was obvious. Youre small too. Huh, me? Ye-jun squeezed out the remaining sheet essence and smeared it all over my face. Did he have to do that? I wanted to ask him back, but I was afraid the sheet would fall off if I moved my mouth. Youre small too. You sound like a vending machine that spits out fixed phrases when you press a button. Ye-junined and lifted his forehead to raise his bangs, then tore his own share and stuck it on his face. When Seon-woo finished putting his on, we looked like a secret cult of some religion. What do we do now? I asked awkwardly as a novice to face masks, and Ye-jun answered with a mischievous tone. Well the more you move your facial muscles, the better the absorption. So you have to scrunch up your face as much as possible from now on. I was too ignorant to fall for that. No nonsense. Sniff Seon-woo shook his shoulders andughed, holding his head back so the mask wouldnt fall off. Dontugh. Hey, why are you picking on him~. What do you mean picking on. We chatted away and passed the time, and soon 15 minutes had gone by. You dont have to wash this off, just pat it lightly until it dries. Seon-woo demonstrated by tapping his face with the tips of his palms. I tried to do the same, but something was wrong. p! p! p! p! Hey, this is weird. Does it always make such a loud noise? Every time I hit the less dry part where Ye-jun had smeared the remaining essence on my face, it sounded like I was pping my cheek hard. Ugh I cant, sniff live, really. Hyung, thats your concept, right? Youre doing it on purpose, right? What are you talking about! Seon-woo didnt even try to hide hisughter this time and howled withughter. I thought I was looking at our dad. Hyung, youre copying him, right? When our dads wash their faces and apply skin care, they go woof woof woof woof woof, p p p p p p. What are you talking about? I frowned. Hey, no frowning! If you frown with a mask on, youll get deeper wrinkles! Ye-jun finished his joke and ran to his room like a bullet. He was not even five years old. I was too dumbfounded to get angry. Lets go to bed early too. We have a schedule early tomorrow morning. Seon-woo finally stoppedughing and smiled brightly. I turned my gaze and checked the time I had set the rm. I set it for 6 oclock, so Ill wake you up if I get up first. Okay! I got up from the sofa and headed to the bedroom. I had been staying here for over a month, and the room scenery was quite familiar. I became ustomed to things that I thought I would never have anything to do with in my life. I changed a little bit from the previous Im Hyunsung. I wasnt afraid of bing a different person. The memory of when I died was as vivid as ever, as if it was engraved in this body. Good night. I closed my eyes at Seon-woos greeting. **** Hey, Ise, move back a little more, youre in the frame! Oh, yes! Sorry. I had been suffering for over 40 minutes, repeating countless poses, and I leaned my weight on a pir for a moment, when the photographers megaphone rang out. The shooting was scheduled from noon to evening, but what was all this fuss so early? Phew When I actually experienced it, I realized there was so much to prepare that it made sense. This was a forced march that couldnt be done with normal stamina. We got on a mini van at 7 a.m. for a group pickup and arrived at a professional makeup shop. Once youre done with the makeup, well go to get your hair done. If you finish early, take a nap. The makeup I received was iparable to the simple one I had when I appeared on a radio show. Was it okay to apply so much stuff on my skin? I frowned in doubt. The staffughed at my reaction and said. Ise, why are you like that? You look like youve never had stage makeup before. Thats right. I wasnt going to perform on stage today, but I was going to take a photo shoot for the digital single jacket image and the goods. That meant I had to wear heavy, screen-friendly makeup as if I was going on stage. It might look a bit overwhelming in person, but if you dont do this, it wont show up on the screen. I finally got out with a lot of glitter in brown tones. I felt hot when I looked in the mirror. I was handsome even before the makeup. But after getting the idol-style makeup, I definitely had a striking impression. I was d that I had a thick and solid look, so I didnt have to wear eyshes. When I saw Seon-woo and Seong-won who wore them, my mouth dropped open. They were already pretty, but they became terrifyingly pretty. Anyone who didnt care about this face had a problem with their sense of beauty. I admired them for a moment and then moved on to the hair salon. Fortunately, I didnt have to do anything drastic, so it ended rtively quicklypared to the makeup. Everyone looked like people from another world above their necks, shining brightly, but below their necks, they wore loose t-shirts, which made meugh. We can change our clothes there, right? Yeah. We prepared three sets for each of you. Youll wear them when you shoot the music videoter. I was scared from the start. I searched for over fifty weird outfits yesterday. I only suggested the concept and didnt care much about the outfits. It would be a problem if they were like the summer singlest time, which only mentioned that part. There was a fuss then, but they wouldnt do that. I arrived at the shooting site with half worry and half expectation. The shooting site was a small botanical garden owned by an individual. The white steel-framed ss greenhouse was filled with all kinds of nts. Wow its beautiful. Seon-woo opened his mouth wide and looked up at the ceiling of the huge dome greenhouse. There was something like a pulley in the center, and I wondered if there was a chandelier hanging there. Do you see the device on the ceiling? Were going to do some aerial shooting with wires. Lets decide whos going to do it by rock-paper-scissors. It wasnt a chandelier, but a ce for us to hang. The loser of the rock-paper-scissors was me. But Ise hyung has a bad back, is it okay to hang? It was a valid point. In the end, the members who were concerned about my health excluded me. The final victim was Seon-woo. Yeah you got the center too, so do your part. I turned a blind eye to the result. Uh, is it okay to go up like this? Seon-woo, who was hanging in the air, wobbled and asked. Yes~. Well lift you up a little slower. When you get used to hanging, please adjust your posture a little bit! The photographer didnt blink an eye at the sight of a pretty boy screaming. He only pushed the lens closer, thinking of getting one more cut. Dont feel too bad, Ill go up and shoot from below! Is that a constion? I wondered, but I just watched and gave him a thumbs up. Finally, Seon-woos aerial shooting was over, and it was already past 3 oclock. All the members had finished shooting once, and it was time to change into new outfits. Ill help you change your clothes over here. The staff gestured to the dressing booth set up in one corner of the botanical garden. The first outfit was a simple jumpsuit. The colors were dark gray, navy, ck, and other subdued colors, giving a sense of unity. I pulled down the upper part and revealed a shy printed short sleeve. Seon-woo buttoned up the zipper and buttons neatly up to his neck, and Ye-jun wore a sleeveless shirt instead of a short sleeve like me. Sure, people with good bodies show off their arms and everyone likes it. Seong-won had a different design and looked more like a straitjacket than a jumpsuit. Kyunghwa was simr to me, but the short sleeve he wore inside was ck instead of white. I wouldnt be surprised if it was this level. As I took the second outfit It looks futuristic. It has a military feel to it. There were a lot of belts that I couldnt tell if they were for decoration or practicality. When I looked at the outfit with a curious expression, the staff exined with a smile. Ise, you have good proportions and youre so handsome that you dont look awkward in techwear. If someone who doesnt suit this wears it, they look like a middle schooler trying to be cool. I took the parts one by one from the staff with a sentence that I couldnt tell if it was apliment or not. When I came out wearing them, the other members were also changing or getting ready to change. When you alle out, well take a group shot and then go to individual shots! The photographer shouted with an unfading voice. I scanned the members to see who hadnt changed yet. Then I saw Ye-jun. Wow, Ye-jun, youre so funny. Do you have an SNS ount? Not a public one, but a private one for friends. What are they talking about? Is that what I think it is? A proper red light came on in my head for the first time in a while. Chapter 59: Am I too worried? Chapter 59: Am I too worried? Why did he ask me that? His intention was obvious. He was either interested in me personally, or he wanted to show off how well-connected I was with someone. Either way, he was not someone I wanted to get close to. Uh Ye-jun didnt answer right away. He smiled faintly and trailed off. What was he smiling about? He should have said no right away. As I red at him nervously, my staff asked me with a puzzled look. Mr. Ise, arent you moving? Oh. I turned to the staff and moved with hesitant steps. As I moved slowly, my eyes were fixed on Ye-jun. What was he doing? He should have answered quickly! I was frustrated inside as Ye-jun finally opened his mouth. I dont have any ount for socializing, only for subscribing. Ourpany forbids us from using personal SNS. Sometimes the manager checks on us. To see if we only subscribe or if we follow anyone back. Ye-juns answer was strangely long. What? Did he really do something shady? I looked at him with suspicion. Ah~. So thats what you were looking at. I thought. Thepany is too harsh. Its really too strict. Right? I really wanted to have an ount where I could DM with fans and talk freely, not just the official one. But they said its not possible yet. Well He was a clever guy, so he wouldnt do anything extreme. But there was nothing good about talking too much. He would ruin himself with his mouth, and one slip of the tongue could destroy the image he had built up. Mr. Ye-jun, you should move quickly! Ah, yes! Ill go! Only then did Ye-jun manage to escape from the staff. I sneaked up to him and asked. Whats going on? Why did you talk so long? Ye-jun made a face as if he was caught red-handed. He said yfully, Ah, I have something like that. Trade secret. Are you kidding me? I squeezed his neck with my hand. Ow, I surrender, I surrender! Howe you have such a strong grip? It wasnt that I trained or anything. It was just Cheonises natural strength. When I was Lim Hyun-seong, I developed it from working in the kitchen. It was unfair that someone who had never done any hard work in his life had such a good grip. Dont talk nonsense. Why did you talk so long? Its really nothing. I have a separate ount to contact the hip-hop scene and foreign producers. I thought he might think I was a secret fan and ask me to follow him back, so I dodged him. He then showed me his private English ount with no profile picture. The following list had no women, only ck rappers. Will you trust my sincere innocence? Well He wouldnt suddenly cause a scandal with the Billboard old-school rappers. And they all had verified marks, so I guess I could rx. Be careful of scandals all the time. I pressed his shoulder harder and let go. Ye-jun ran away to join the members. Down with the violent leader! What are you talking about Seong-won moved his seat with a clear annoyance, avoiding Ye-jun and putting Kyung-hwa between them. Come on, lets finish the group shooting and start the individual shooting right away! Yes! It would be fine, right? I decided not to think tooplicatedly and focused on the shooting. *** Good job! After finishing the monitoring, it was already dark. There was no way it would end before dinner. When the sun finally set, the atmosphere changed again. We could only get out after taking a few more shots. The botanical garden itself had a unique atmosphere, with a perfect harmony of steel structure and nter. It matched our concept so well that it was scary. It felt like a world where humans had gone extinct and only nts had survived. The botanical garden staff also checked some of the shots and praised us for how well they came out. The result was good, so Im d Try this pose, pull your chin, stretch your arm, no, not like that, the other way. I was exhausted from all the suffering. Mr. Ise, are you tired? Seon-woo came close to me and handed me a pet bottle with a low-calorie ion drink. Im not that worried. Its just been a long time since I did this. Ill lend you a steam pack when we get home. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we had a pre-nning meeting for the music video shooting, and the day after that, we had to go back to the countryside for the second episode of Jakon. Now that we have Jakon, we have to schedule well. Who knows when Kang Yugeon will try to pass on his schedule. I have to take care of my health. I thought of Seon-woo, who ate the least calories among us. Is he okay? Its hard to digest even if you eat well. I looked at Seon-woo without realizing it. ? Seon-woo looked at me with a bright expression, without any doubt or anxiety. Did I do something wrong? If it was Seong-won, he would have said what, why, what first. How could I deal with this naive guy who would be easily scammed anywhere? I patted Seon-woos shoulder with the heart of an old man who gave his grandson money. Hmm? Seon-woo tilted his head as if he thought something was wrong, but I just gave him a thumbs up with my right hand. Anyway, Im d he looks okay. Lets run away before he says he wants to eat more. Until I clear my sess as an idol and start my revenge Ill take care of you as an adult. I left only a thumbs up and rushed to the mini van, leaving Seon-woo with a bewildered expression on his way home. *** The next morning. As soon as I woke up, I was greeted by a severe muscle ache and got up. The first thing I checked was the time. 10:43 Thats not bad Wait, 10:43!? The manager was supposed to pick us up at 11. I hadnt prepared lunch at all! I screamed and ran out, and Seon-woo and Ye-jun were sitting side by side on the sofa, watching a foreign drama. Hyung, youre up? I was about to wake you up. They looked so peaceful that it cured my low blood pressure. I didnt expect anything from you guys. I was sure I set the rm, but why didnt I hear it? I hurried to wash up and change clothes, then asked Seon-woo. Did the rm not go off this morning? Then Seon-woo said something ridiculous with a bright smile. Hyung, you looked so tired that I couldnt wake you up. I turned it off for you. How could he say that now? I wanted to raise my voice, but I didnt have time to argue. Ugh I cant live like this. From now on, if the rm goes off and you cant wake up, Ill ssh water on your face! Uh-huh, okay! It wasnt a very convincing answer. I looked at Kyung-hwa, who had finished getting ready early, with resentful eyes, and he avoided my gaze. Ah, I thought youd wake up on your own. Me too. The damage was done, so I had to get ready as fast as I could. Theres sd and pasta in the fridge, help yourselves! As I finished getting ready and ran out of the door, the manager honked his horn in the parking lot. Yeah! Have a good trip! This time, too, Kyung-hwa and I went together, just like thest time we had a concept meeting. It was no use having too many people involved. I had prepared some analysis materials in advance, but I still wondered. Did I overdo itst night? I woke up in the middle of the night and searched for dystopian-style music videos, which seemed to be the cause of my oversleeping. As the algorithm led me to this video and that video I felt like I had pushed myself too hard, considering the fatigue from the jacket photo shoot. But its not like me. I had never ignored the rm in my 40 years of living as Lim Hyun-seong. I was so sensitive that I would open my eyes at the slightest noise. Especially on a day like this, when I had an important meeting ahead, I would be alert and wake up long before the rm went off. I thought it was afortable habit, living like this. It was the same after I became Cheonise. Was it because I was too tired? I wondered, but I couldnt dwell on it. It feels real now that things are going smoothly. As I got on the mini van and buckled up, I turned my head and stretched, and Kyung-hwa chuckled lightly. When was it not? What are youughing at? Well, sir. Please only crack your joints when theres no camera. What are you talking about? I narrowed my eyes and looked at Kyung-hwa with suspicion, and he shrugged. I should have asked him why the fans hated me driving. Soon, an awkward silence came and it was hard to start a conversation. Come to think of it, we havent had a chance to talk since we checked the feedback together. Now would be a good time to do it. But before I could say anything, Kyung-hwa took out his wireless earphones from his bag. Ah~. Im not a father watching his teenage son, what is this. I ended up just staring at Kyung-hwa listening to music like a dog chasing a chicken, and turned my head. *** The meeting ended sooner than I thought. The music video director that thepany hired brought the storyboard first, and the discussion went smoothly. The ns that we brought were all scrapped, but the experts work wasnt bad. Mr. Ise, you do this, Mr. Kyung, you do that. Mr. Ye-jun, you do this, and Mr. Seon-woo and Mr. Seong-won, you do this. It was a work that only required following the guidelines that someone had set, so I didnt need to think and it was easy. But I dont like not having control Was it because of my obsessivepulsive disorder that I wanted to control everything with my own hands? I thought with my eyes narrowed on the way back. What are you thinking about with such a profound expression? As we were almost there, he took off his earphones and looked at me. Nothing. Nothing, my ass. The work was progressing steadily, but I couldnt shake off the vague anxiety. After a close call, the next day came. It was the day of the second episode of Jakon. Chapter 60: I Knew This Would Happen Chapter 60: I Knew This Would Happen Chapter 60 I Knew This Would Happen Wow, look at the grass! It had rained heavily for a week. Fortunately, there was no typhoon or anything, so the house was not in big trouble. But the field where we had to harvest crops to eat, except for the small one right in front of the house, had turned into a weed field. This it looks edible. But does it taste good? The fruits that remained among the weeds that grew lushly by drinking rainwater all soaked up the rainwater very well. Ah it would have been better if I had harvested them in advance. But I didnt have time to do that because I was fixing the house. In the end, I changed the route to help the vige head or the nearby vigers harvest and get some crops. I was clearing the weeds in the field for a while, when suddenly I couldnt see Seong-won who was next to me. Where did Son Seong-won go? I asked Kyunghwa who went inside to clean up the messy house because of the sudden wind. Isnt he over there? Wow, dad is going to catch his son who ran away without working. Yejoon joked andughed. I looked around and saw that the youngest PD was also gone. I asked the main PD. Did you see where Seong-won went? Shall we go look for him together? He seemed to think that the video of the members cleaning the house was enough for self-cam shooting. I nodded without thinking deeply. Ill put a caption like a father looking for a runaway worker. I thought the same stupid thing. As Yejoon teased, my image waspletely fixed as father and old man because of the few appearances on the show. [- Summary of Seberjis father moments in the first episode of Boys in Crisis] [- Seberjis expected 18th more] [- The more I see Seberji, the more I like him. I think hell scold me if I sneak into the kitchen at dawn and eat kimchi stew with pork.] I felt like the target of Seberji was me. I had a reasonable doubt and looked it up carefully. It was apound word of (Lee)Se+(A)berji. Cheonise would faint if he knew. Although I had nevermunicated directly with him, I was sure he would. Anyway, if it wasnt in a negative direction, it meant a positive meaning to have a nickname. But I didnt expect that father would be a nickname. Among the current male idols, Kang Yugeon, who was running the most popr, had Yureogi (Kang Yugeon + troublemaker), Geonjangkku (Kang Yugeon + prankster), Maniption Captain (Kang Yugeon + first love maniption) and so on. Of course, thest one was not used in a purely positive sense. It was a nickname that Yugeon, who started with a lower grade, flew to A grade in a single shot as he secured more volume. And hes also in charge of a lot of aggro elements, so it seems like hes got a lot of anti-fans. It was amazing how he could stick to his insincere attitude even though he was cursed. We because the fandom was so small, we didnt have a nickname until the sd became a hot topic. After that, it was a nickname given by the fandom in a rtively friendly atmosphere, so I didnt see anything I didnt like. Oh Yejoon had a lot of animal-rted nicknames, such as Oramjwi, Jjungmungi. By the way, Ramjwi in Oramjwi was not the cute squirrel we thought. It was the red-brown fur hat that ran around as an American squirrel. It was a nickname that became a hot topic because of its sturdy physique and eating a huge amount of food in an instant. Seon-woo had a lot of nicknames rted to his appearance as expected. Sunjunim, Sungingi, Aeggyowatdyanim were often seen. Princess, baby, prince, very colorful modifiers. He was so embarrassed that he didnt know what to do. Thats how the three of them had a definite image. Seong-won was known for his squeaky and prickly image, so I was worried that he would get a bad nickname. But it was better than I thought. Sonjjolbo, Sondeli. What is Sondeli? I looked it up and it was an Adelie penguin. It was a nickname that was attached because it was always cute to be angry. Its not much yet, but all of Seong-wons fans who came up in the search cheered every time Seong-won screamed or got annoyed. [- 7:56 Seong-won, I set this as a notification sound. Ive passed by countless male idols, but Ive never felt such a strong thrill. Thank you, Im sorry, I love you] I couldnt understand what kind of psychology it was, but anyway, they looked happy, so I was d. The problem was Kyunghwa. How long has it been since Climax started to make a name for itself? There were a lot of reactions that worried or ridiculed him. It was annoying enough to read. [- Why does Kyunghwa look like hes just floating? Compared to other members, hes too nd It would be better if the agency made a character for Kyunghwa quickly.] [- Its boring when hees out, so its a boring section challenge. I think its okay to just keep holding on to the other members.] Because of this, he didnt have a proper nickname yet. Something I had to deal with it. I was not an expert from the agency, but just a member, so I was careful to give advice. Thats how the second shooting started with a vague sense of alienation. Anyway, I had a lot of useless thoughts. Lets focus on shooting. I took off the farm clothes I was wearing and put them on the t and went to look around the warehouse. The cats greeted me with a squeak. Did you see where Seong-won went? There was no way the cats would answer. Then where did he go? I tilted my head and came out of the warehouse. Huh? He crossed the road at a bad time, and Seong-won was holding something in front of thedder leading up to the roof. What is it? All the other members around Seong-won had serious expressions on their faces. Whats wrong? As I ran over and joined them, Seong-won handed me something in his hand with a noticeably dark expression. Ah What Seong-won was holding in his hand was a kitten that was so weak that it seemed to die at any moment. I brought warm water! Seon-woo came running with a warm water bottle, as if Yejoon had told him. He put the cat on the bottle and wrapped it in a towel to raise its body temperature. I think we need to go to the hospital. Everyone else didnt have a license, so naturally they all looked at me. Ill drive. Hurry up and get in. Can we go around the town for a bit? I asked as I took out the car key from my pocket. The director dly gave me permission. Just go with the local PD. Despite the serious situation, the camera didnt stop filming us. Surely this wouldnt be broadcasted, right? I didnt think too deeply and drove off with Seong-won in the passenger seat. Beep, peep, peck His faint breathing was barely proof that he was hanging on to his life. Please, open your eyes You have to wake up to live Seong-won stroked the kittens tiny forehead with a more sorrowful face than when he acted on stage. He was so small that he fit in Seong-wons big hand. The kitten didnt even feel Seong-wons touch and twitched. Theres no hope. But I couldnt give up, so I sped up to find the nearest animal hospital. After about twenty minutes, the rain started to fall from the sky. Oh, its raining The air was so humid that I wanted to turn on the air conditioner. But I was afraid that the kitten might get worse, so I silently yed the role of a driver. When we finally arrived at the animal hospital, the first thing the old veterinarian said was as expected. Oh dear, this one has no chance. But we had to at least get him checked, so I put the kitten on the examination table. The vet checked his eyelids, ears, and tail, and gave his final verdict. His condition is very bad. He wont make it. Hes too young to do anything for him. Right now, the only thing we can do is help him maintain his body temperature. Seong-won couldnt let go and asked the vet. Cant we feed him some medicine or milk? The vet shook his head with a helpless expression. He cant eat or swallow anything right now. Giving him colostrum is only possible when he has the strength to suckle. He hardly has any reaction right now. Seong-won took back the kitten wrapped in a towel, just as he had brought him. He looked incredulously at the vet and the kitten, and the youngest PD filmed him without missing a moment. Do you really have to film this? I felt sorry for the kitten, but I kept my reason and asked the youngest PD. He answered as if it was obvious. Ah Im sorry, it must bother you. The main PD told me to film everything until we go back It was a roundabout way of saying that we had to film. Did we really have to film this kid who had lost his mind and couldnt think of anything? I clenched my teeth and covered the camera lens with my hand. Im sorry too. But Id appreciate it if you didnt film from here. Im turning off the mic. I realized that it wasnt something to discuss and turned off the mic. Then I tapped Seong-wons shoulder. Lets go. Seong-won nodded slowly, out of his mind. I quickly turned off the mic that Seong-won had on his waist. Lee Se! You cant do this. Were in trouble too. Ill talk to the main PD, so just get in the back. The car was filled with sighs and awkwardness. Was it because I turned off the mic? Seong-won didnt say a word on the way to the animal hospital. He opened his mouth with a trembling voice. I should have taken himst week His voice sounded like he was about to cry. I had tofort him. How? My mouth was bitter. Dont me yourself. You didnt know his condition would get so bad in a week. I should have calledst week and left him there He might have lived Its my fault I hesitated So thats why he hesitated to get in the carst week. Before I knew it, the kitten had stopped twitching and died in Seong-wons arms. Its my fault I broke the silence and answered. Why is it your fault? I didnt take him You cant say that. Its my fault for not letting you go. Dont me yourself unnecessarily. Seong-won didnt answer. The rain poured down and the cars appeared out of nowhere. The country road that had been quiet was crowded. I gripped the steering wheel with one hand and brushed my hair back with the other. Then I opened my mouth. How many things do you think go your way in life? How many things go as you expected? How many things dont leave any regrets? What if you regret somethingter when you didnt have the ability or the situation to change it? Youre not a god. Youre just a normal twenty-two-year-old kid. Its natural that you dont know what will happenter. You make decisions without knowing how they wille back to you. Its natural that you face negative oues that you didnt intend. Thats how life is. Its all shitty, hard, and not what I wanted. I didnt know it would turn out like this. Even adults in their fifties are the same. They make decisions without knowing the results and regret them based on the assumption that they might have had a choice. Thats too obvious. But I wish you wouldnt be too heartbroken. You can think of it as a selfish request. Dont hurt yourself. You didnt do anything wrong. Seong-won couldnt answer and covered his mouth with the back of his hand. His shoulders, which always looked wide, were too thin for a twenty-two-year-old. I didnt bother to say anything more and quietly opened the glove box. There was a tissue that someone had put in there beforehand. How many things do you think go your way in life? Maybe it was something I wanted to say to myself. That it wasnt something I could change. I clenched the handle, remembering the sensation of sinking into the waves. There were times when I needed an excuse that sounded powerless. If I didnt think that way, I couldnt endure and ovee the present. When Seong-wons trembling subsided a bit. Woohoo- A sound of equipment turning on came from the back seat. Chapter 61: Do I Have to Go This Far? (1) Chapter 61: Do I Have to Go This Far? (1) Chapter 61. Do I Have to Go This Far? (1) I almost turned around reflexively, but I couldnt take my eyes off the two-way road that continued ahead. No one wasing right now, but it was raining and I had to stay focused in case someone came from the opposite side. Should I ask if theyre filming right now? I kept ncing back nervously, checking on Seong-wons condition. He seemed to have calmed down a bit since earlier, but he still held a lukewarm stic bottle and a cold cat in his hands. It seemed impossible to ask Seong-won if he was okay with being filmed from behind. Instead of continuing the conversation, I quietly closed my mouth. I had turned off my personal mic a long time ago, so there was no sound to use. Even if they filmed, it would only be a short clip in the interview scene without any sound. It was best to keep my mouth shut when I couldnt tell if this situation was being recorded or not. Were almost there. If youre having a hard time, get off. Ill talk to the others. I gestured to the PD behind me. Lets get off. The PD nodded his head, shrinking his body. I could see Seong-won sitting inside the window, but everyones eyes were on me as I got off empty-handed. Um Should I ask them to turn off the camera for a moment? I stared straight at the main PD behind the camera lens and made a scissors sign with my hand. PD-nim, Im sorry, but can you please turn off the camera for a moment? What? Kyunghwa, who had been sitting close together on the floor until a moment ago, asked me what I was talking about. Camera first. What are you trying to say, Ise-ssi? The PD gestured with his hand, covering the camera lenses with a cover. We went to the hospital. But they said they were too young and there was no chance, so they couldnt do anything. Ah, wow Everyone looked at me with hardened expressions and asked. Then what do we do? I sighed and nced at the car. I told him toe out when he felt better. Ah After a brief silence, Seon-woo finally opened his mouth. Seong-won-hyung, you must want to be alone right now, right? Seon-woos eyshes fluttered over his wet eyes. I hesitated and couldnt answer right away. Maybe? Then Kyunghwa intervened calmly. Stay still. Seong-won needs some time to calm down right now. I thought the phrase life is like a second chance suited this guy more than me. Of course, he seemed to have a hard time mentally and subtly cared about the other members, but still. Something It wasnt because he was meticulous and caring by nature. I wondered if he had some circumstances that made him have a strong sense of responsibility since he was young. Even if he does Its not something I can dig up. Anyway, thanks to Kyunghwas intervention, Seon-woo didnt rush tofort Seong-won and turn the already troubled guy upside down. Then, with a click, the passenger seat door opened and Seong-won ran out. Huh. Uh, what do we do Everyone was watching Seong-won and trying to figure out what to say. At that moment, Seong-won shouted loudly. Quick, bring me some form! And some warm water! Seong-won ran to the living room with only a cat wrapped in a towel, without a stic bottle in his hand. Huh? Uh-uh! Surprised, Yejun ran to the kitchen to make some form without even checking the cat. Fortunately, there was some water left that he had boiled to drink today. Ill be right back! While Yejun was making the form, Seon-woo hurriedly filled a new stic bottle with water. Ouch, hot Be careful. You not getting hurt is the priority. Uh-huh! Seon-woo looked like he was about to cause an ident, so Kyunghwa followed him and nagged. stic bottle! Ill bring it right away! Seon-woo ran to the living room with a stic bottle that was slightly warmer than human body temperature. The cat, who had seemed to have no strength to live when they went to the hospital, was breathing heavily. Just a moment It might be too hot Let me wrap it with a towel The three grown men crowded around the cat, raising its body temperature, and Yejun brought the form. What happened? Is it better? Ah, what were you throwing up while making those noises? Now youre even crying. Seong-won quickly showed me the contents of the crumpled tissue he had stuffed in his pocket. There were traces of something that looked like a rubber gasket, chewed up beyond recognition. How on earth did you swallow this? It seemed like his mother had abandoned him because this thing was blocking his stomach and making him sick. Meow-! Meow-! Meow-! As Yejun squeezed a little milk on the back of his hand and let him smell it, the cat started to meow as if he was hungry. Thats right, thats right, eat slowly. As the cat reluctantly started to suck on the bottle, everyone sighed in relief. Thats a relief That vet was totally crazy No, never mind. Kyungwha almost blurted out a curse, then quickly nced at the staff. Huh? The camera that had been covered with a cloth until a moment ago was now filming us clearly. PD-nim, are you filming right now? I got up from the floor and walked over to the staff and asked. The PD answered without changing his expression. No, I covered it up earlier because I thought the situation was bad. But now its better. We have to film if we can. He had even taken care of the filming angle in the meantime. His attitude of taking it for granted irritated me. So youre going to keep filming? Well, yeah, we have to edit and upload this weeks episode right away. Do you know how many hours weve wasted? We have to film something to fill the time, do you want us to just sit still? Well, at least until the situation settles down a bit Then he snickered. The PD treated me like a child andughed. Lee Se, you dont know anything about broadcasting, do you? You had a sweet taste a few weeks ago with the direct shot, dont you know what people like? A bit of stimting material, emotion, and fun! This is a chance to catch all three, are you going to miss it? And then he patted my shoulder with his hand, as if tofort a naive kid. Lee Se, I know youre scared and worried right now. But well take care of everything and make it look good. Anyway, the final version will be reviewed by your agency, do you think Ill send you something that will get me scolded? As he said that, his mouth curled up, and I felt a chill. I looked behind me and everyone was busy taking care of the cat, and only Kyungwha was looking at me. Come over here and stop arguing with the staff. Kyungwhas eyes seemed to say that. What nonsense. Even if we lose todays footage, do we have to send this out? [- Ive been active for five years, but Ill lose my fandom if I dont have any content.] [- We have to send something out so the fans have something to consume. What do we have, a few music videos from 20 years ago?] [- W is really I didnt expect anything, but they cant do their job and theyre discriminated against by other groups Im having a reality check, what about our Clingies?] If we stop filming now, it would be like crossing a point of no return with the staff. You guys are getting paid by me, arent you? Should I push you? That was what the original Lee Se would have thought, but I couldnt say it out loud. I had to see these peoples faces again and again in this narrow entertainment industry. How long would it take to find new staff? The production team we hired now was also people we got through connections. If we flipped over because of a conflict during filming, we would lose face with Kang Yugeon who introduced us. I was the one who paid the money, but I couldnt do anything. I told them to say I cant do it because Lee Se will go crazy if they didnt want to do something. I couldnt even say a word of protest at this moment. As I said nothing, the PD gestured for me to move. Lee Se, turn on the mic. Were going to shoot again. Damn it. I clenched my teeth without showing it. *** The filming continued until the scheduled schedule was finished. The observation camera didnt turn off either, and the interview went on as usual. I was worried if Seong-won could handle the interview normally, but fortunately he came out in front of the camera bravely. A handsome persons face wouldnt go anywhere even if it was swollen with tears, but This was too much. In the end, the staff brought a hot pack and he started filming with it on his face. Are you okay? Seong-won, who came back with a silent face, looked for the cat first. He had been with him for five years, and even longer if he counted the trainee days. No oneined that he looked at the animal before the person. Hes sleeping well. Look at his belly, its so plump. Yejun said thankfully that he didnt need to stimte his bowel movements manually after a month. Instead of the yard, we brought in a cat litter box and a basket for sleeping in the bedroom. Thats when I remembered that we hadnt eaten properly. Now that hes okay, lets fill our stomachs too. We couldnt eat poorly today either. We brought basic seasonings and all kinds of food from the dorm. I smiled awkwardly in front of the surveince camera. I hope Seong-won feels better, so I brought out my secret weapon. It was none other than a tomahawk steak. I had smuggled four ice packs in my bag without the manager noticing. It wasnt a very meaty cutpared to its weight, but it had the best visual appeal. Wow, how did you hide this? Wow, can we grill this? Me too! Yejoon ran over with his eyes sparkling, even before Seong-won. This guy was second only to Seon-woo when it came to appetite. It was almost pitiful. Wait a minute. You go and light the charcoal over there. As I removed the tendons and fascia from the meat so it would be tender, Yejoon jumped out with enthusiasm. He soon came back with the barbecue grill ready. The fire is up! I seasoned the meat generously and took it to the grill. Did you bring foil today? How about we roast some potatoes? Oh, good idea. While Yejoon and I ran around like crazy to make up for the wasted time during the day, Kyunghwa and Seon-woo stayed by Seong-wons side. The cat seemed to have passed a critical point, but I still didnt feel he was healthy. What if he didnt make it through the night? Everyone was showing their utmost care for Seong-won, who had barely calmed his mind. Meanwhile, the meat was sizzling nicely. Now it was time to carve the flesh from the bone and grill it again until it was hot inside. I sliced some butter and rubbed it on the meat chunks, then turned around and shouted. Get the table ready, were going to eat! Maybe a hearty dinner would give us some energy. I felt more strength in my hand holding the meat tongs than usual. Chapter 62: Do I Have to Go This Far? (2) Chapter 62: Do I Have to Go This Far? (2) Chapter 62 Do I Have to Go This Far? (2) Seon-woo,e here for a second. I sliced off the well-cooked surface and ced a few pieces on a te. A warm steam rose from them. It was bitterly cold today because of the sudden downpour that lowered the temperature. But that also made me more hungry. They say the best food is the one you eat when youre cold and your body temperature drops. Do you want anything? Seon-woo walked over to me with quick steps and peeked at the fire. I handed him the te and he sniffed the smell like a puppy. It was cute and a bit ridiculous. Are you a dog? Can I eat this? Go show this to the Rise people on the observation cam and then eat it. Okay! He took the te with sparkling eyes and ran away with the brightest expression he had since he came to the countryside. Hes going to trip and fall like that. He should be more careful I thought, but as soon as I did, Seon-woo stumbled over a rock and fell. Are you okay? Kyunghwa, who was huddled with the other guys in front of the cat, sprang up and ran to Seon-woo. Oh, man, our youngest has the worst luck with his face. Did you hurt your face? Ye-jun asked casually, sitting on the floor with his butt rxed. Kyunghwa red at him and answered. Hey, youre joking about a kid who just fell? Kyunghwa scolded him and Seon-woo answered breathlessly. Im fine! My face is fine and Im wearing long sleeves so I didnt scrape anything! Seon-woo shouted at Kyunghwa and then finally checked the te he dropped. Ah! Oh no! Oh Wow The te was obviously not okay. Ah! Seon-woos expression changed rapidly like he was going through the five stages of grief. He fell while running to the observation camera, so his face was shown on the screen in a huge size. It was unfortunate, but also fortunate. Ahh Ise hyung, I dropped the meat. Seon-woo came back to me with a weak walk, holding the te covered with dirt. Go wash the te. Pick up the meat and throw it away. Its seasoned for humans, so the cats will get sick if they eat it. A chubby kitten came out of the warehouse and sniffed the meat that Seon-woo dropped. Okay! He did what I told him cheerfully and well. He was good at following orders. And I got some more content out of it. I sighed with relief and finished cutting the rest of the meat and ting it nicely. The cat seems to be better, so lets eat first, eat first! We set up some folding chairs and made a makeshift dining area. It felt like camping. Except for Seong-won, who didnte to eat and only looked at the cat. Seong-won, fill your stomach before you go. You need to have some energy to take care of the cat. Ugh, when did I start calling him Seong-won instead of Son Seong-won, you, or hey? It was a mystery, but I couldnt be harsh to him today when he looked so weak. Not eating? He didnt answer loudly, but quietly raised his index finger to his lips as if to tell me to be quiet. And then he shook his head sideways. Ill bring it to you, special service. I felt a bit bitter that I had to deliver the meat to Seong-wons mouth before mine, but I thought of it as giving one more rice cake to a spoiled son and moved myself. Eat while you do it. Eat while you do it. I went closer and checked the cat. It was definitely better than before we went to the hospital. But it was still much smaller and thinner than the other kittens. It was too early to bepletely relieved. I got it. Seong-won didnt even look at the te and couldnt take his eyes off the cat. Okay. Im going back to eat. He was rude, but it was much better than him crying and ming himself earlier. I waved my hand and went back to eat the meat. But it didnt taste as good as when I grilled it. It feels like we didnt do anything today and time just flew by. Kyunghwa muttered, staring at the charcoal that still had some fire left. Well, we had an emergency, so we couldnt help it. Lets just be d that the cat is okay. We chatted about trivial things while we ate, but Seong-won was only focused on the cat. What am I going to do with him? I cant stop him from taking the cat to the dorm. I was lost in a light worry when I heard a sizzling sound. The meat that was left on the grill was burning. Ah, quick, get the meat, the meat! Dont eat that, Seon-woo. Someone take it away quickly. There wont be any more when its gone. Ye-jun scooped up some meat with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. Thats why they call him an American squirrel. I smacked his forehead with a rice spoon and threw it into the sink. Ow! Take it easy, take it easy. The noisy meal was over and it was time to wrap up the long day. *** Ugh, next time Ie, Ill bring a mat with me. Ye-jun yawned and twisted his body. You know I slept more ufortably because of you yesterday, right? Kyunghwa nced at him and sighed as he came down from the floor. The weather had cleared uppletely sincest night, and the sun was shining brightly as morning came. Is it not going to rain at all today? Ye-jun asked as he stretched his body in the yard. It might rain in the evening, or it might not. We didnt do a good job of managing the field yesterday, so we have to do it today. Kyunghwa picked up his self-cam and headed to the field. Yeah, he should at least take care of his own share. I looked at Seon-woo, who blinked his eyes with a faint trace of sleepiness. You go wash your face and wake up a bit. Yeah As Seon-woo shuffled to the bathroom, I went to find Seong-won and crossed over to the small room. Squeak-! The cat, who had regained his energy after eating a hearty meal, was distracted by the toy that Seong-won was shaking. Are you feeling better? It was a question I wanted to ask both the cat and Seong-won. Seong-won didnt answer right away and mumbled. Just. Just what? Anyway, it didnt seem like he was feeling bad, so I nodded. Okay, if youre feeling better,e out and help with the work. Kyunghwa already went out to clean up the field. Seong-won nodded instead of answering. I could see a glimpse of his red ears between his yellow hair. He seemed embarrassed. Why was he so shy when he didnt fit in? I left the small room with a little less burden on my mind. It was hard enough to watch out for a kid who wasnt even mine. How much more would it burn to raise a real child? I wondered what a parent was as I headed to Kyunghwa. *** As soon as the self-camera shooting and all the schedules were over, a real conflict started over the cat. Seong-won insisted on taking him to the dorm and thinking about itter, and Kyunghwa and I argued that we had to decide what to do next. You cant keep animals in the dorm. You brought him home because you wanted to see him when you were there, and then you left him alone when you had a schedule. What did he do wrong? There was no way to refute the realistic problem. But it was also a cruel thing to leave the cat here, who had cried and scratched and even hurt his hand. We have to make it clear that were not keeping him forever. Its temporary protection. We have to find a proper guardian for him. Seong-won nodded silently in his arms, and the cat snuggled up to him with a blissful expression. It was like raising a real son. It was no wonder that there was no wind in the dorm, since four kids who werent even in the palm of my hand had appeared. Is this how it ends As soon as we returned to the dorm, we received a confirmation request for the final jacket photo. Didnt this picturee out well? I like this one better. This one is good too! Seong-won was quiet, trying to gauge the mood of the members because of his guilt. The other three they were like newly hatched chicks. They were so noisy that my ears hurt. How did they just pass the YouDo jacket like that? I wondered for a moment. Then I realized that they had been thoroughly checked because of that incident. Lets send three of them to the nning team. We sent an email with three photos for each member, two that would actually be used and one as a backup, and I felt even more exhausted. Meanwhile, Seong-won didnt care how his face came out and stuck to the cat. Hey, eat while you watch. Youll wear him out. It was only after I said something that he got up from the floor with his heavy butt. Seong-won looked like a person who was distracted by something else while eating a simple tofu stew for dinner. It was a good thing that he had his own room. Ye-jun brought the cats toilet and mini cat tower to his room, and it looked like he had been living alone with the cat from the beginning. Seong-won, who didnte out of his room for a long time, came up to me in the living room, shivering. Thank you. What? Em, embarrassed The guy was so unnecessarily shy. Why did he blush so much? He closed the door and went back in before I could even confirm if his face was really red. Maybe it was because my expectations were too low. Instead of feeling bad, I burst outughing. What if he hears meughing? Will he say something about it? I covered my mouth and chuckled quietly. Now I just have to practice when the final choreographyes out, check if my appearance on Star Discovery is confirmed, and see if there are any other Chuseok variety shows I can go on. Lets do it one by one. They say the ground hardens after the rain. I believed this would somehow be a good experience. I went to sleep with such a careless thought. *** The next morning. When I woke up, there was a bomb in the group chat. It was the second episodes rough cut of Boys in Crisis that the manager sent. It was called a rough cut, but it would be finalized if we said it was okay. This cant be okay. This is insane. The conversation in the car was edited with another scene and it was all in there. Nice job. Sigh It was a level of editing that created a new scene bybining voiceless screens and screenless voices. Adults are all the same. They always make decisions without knowing the oue and regret it under the assumption that I might have had a choice. But I hope you dont feel too bad. You didnt do anything wrong. I turned off the mic, so I didnt expect there to be a sub-device. They were recording everything. Just when I thought things were going smoothly, they gave me this. I quickly pressed the stop button. Chapter 63: Do We Have to Go This Far? (3) Chapter 63: Do We Have to Go This Far? (3) Chapter 63 Do We Have to Go This Far? (3) It was obvious to anyone that this would make a convincing scene if it was aired. But considering the repercussions that would follow, it would have been wiser to fill it with a different scene. The episode was only 20 minutes long anyway. They also filmed the scene of grilling meat with a surveince camera, which looked realistic enough. And they spent over three hours on clearing the field, with Kyunghwa as the main focus, so there should have been some scenes from that. I never expected them to pick this as the main highlight. Lets just check the whole thing first. Everyone tried not to look at Seong-won, who was holding a cat with a stiff expression, and pressed the y button again. From the members who were flustered by the cat sucking on a bottle, to Seong-won who couldnt take his eyes off the cat while filling his empty stomach. They captured it all very well, like a si. And this time, too, Kyunghwa was behind a folding screen. They had sent a long footage of him clearing the field, but none of it made it to the edited version. Ill call the PD right away. I picked up my phone with a grim expression. After a few rings, the PD answered the phone like he had just woken up from sleep. -Oh, Ise. Whats up? I worked all night to send the file and Im resting now. Whats up? Thanks to this guy, I dont have to worry about low blood pressure. I calmed myself down and answered. PD, theres something wrong with the edited version you sent us. Theres a scene that we didnt know we were filming. I tried to solve it as reasonably as possible, with a soft voice. -Oh, really? Which scene is the problem? What scene was it? I heard Ye-jun grinding his teeth next to me. Its because of the part that was filmed when we came back from the vet with Seong-won, not the next one. -Ah~. Why that part? I wondered if he knew or was pretending not to know. I wasnt going to let him get away with it, so I answered without backing down. I wanted our conversation to not be made public as much as possible. Seong-won and I were both emotionally unstable at that time, so I was worried about how people would react if it was revealed. Then the PD answered casually. -Hey, Ise. Youre too scared. Do you think we couldnt filter out any problematic conversations? We only left the parts that would have a positive effect and organized them well, so dont worry too much. What are you talking about? If you send out the scene where the kid cried and made a fuss, youll get criticized for being immature, selfish, and cheesy. Do you know how many celebrities get bashed for that? Of course, I could have benefited from it. Me, not Seong-won. If I were the original Ise, I might have wanted to promote myself that way. But I wasnt. Um I appreciate your concern, but Before I could finish my sentence, the PD cut me off with a change of attitude. -Ise. Do you do this show once or twice? Cant you understand if an adult tells you nicely? That one sentence made me feel like the thread of patience I had been holding on to snapped. I understand your intention to put it in because it would help with the buzz, but. It turned out to be a production that wouldnt make good stories easily, didnt it? I felt like tearing up the ID card with Lim Hyunseongs name on it. Are you older than me? Have you eaten more bowls of rice than me? How old were you when the 88 Olympics were held? Do you know how to use a stick? But I was twenty-four now. A Z-generation Ise. -I know what youre worried about. But thats confirmed by thepany, so unless theres another issue, it wont be changed. I couldnt believe it. I was the one who paid the money, but why wasnt I the final decision maker? Of course, I knew how it happened. The IP rights of the YouTube channels [Boys in Crisis] and [Climax] belonged to thepany. I understand. Ill talk to the manager and get back to you. -What are you doing? You seem very upset right now, but calm down and think again. What will really help the group? You know you cant go on like this, right? He was a person who pretended to care for others until the end, but he really scratched me inside. A cold silence hung among the members. What do we do now? I waited for a moment to let everyone calm down before opening my mouth. Ill call the manager right away. But then, unexpectedly, Seong-won stopped me. No, dont do that. What? What are you saying? Kyungwha and Ye-jun twisted their faces almost simultaneously, as if they heard some nonsense. You dont have to worry about me getting scolded for causing trouble because of the cat. And its not like youre wrong. Seong-won spat out words mixed with a sigh, as if he was mocking himself. Its not just because of you. Last time, you also brought a cat on purpose for the broadcast, didnt you? Thats part of the reason too. But Im still the biggest worry, arent I? No one had anything to say. That was a clear fact. Then just let me go. That would be more helpful for the group activities. I couldnt understand what he was thinking when he said that. What was his motive for cooperating with me like this? While I hesitated and couldnt answer easily, Kyunghwa intervened. Lets contact the manager first. We filmed a lot of other scenes, but they were all cut and only the cat story is getting too much attention. I dont like that either. He was right. Kyunghwa already had a reputation for being a background character, so he needed to increase his weight this time. I calmed myself down and called the manager. But thepanys position was not much different from the PDs. This side has more buzz, so theres nothing we can do. Are you guys going to be picky about cold or hot rice now? If you want to get noticed even a little bit, you need to put in more provocative stuff. Its not enough. The cheap advice they threw at us, saying that broadcasting was always like that, plunged the dorm atmosphere into a total crisis. I was the one paying the money, and we were the ones appearing on the show. But we had nothing we could do. There were extreme ways, like changing the staff or putting pressure on thepany through our parents. But we were the ones who had to bear the consequences of doing that. It would be more troublesome if that side spread something like a staff sightingter. In the end, it was the same conclusion. There was nothing we could do. I turned my head and looked at the members faces. They all had gloomy expressions, but Seon-woo was especially trembling like a mouse in front of a cat. He wasnt the one who tormented me, but I felt sorry for him just by looking at his face. Lets try to cheer up the mood somehow. Guys. The members eyes were focused on me. They looked at me with hopeful expressions, but First of all, lets eat. The only thing I could do for them right now was to prepare a special meal. The fridge raid party started in a gloomy atmosphere. Thanks to the recent purchase of raclette tools, I melted cheese and wrapped various meat products and meat in it. Calories will explode, but its okay for a day. I cooked the ingredients carefully, making sure Seon-woo didnt overeat. Squeak, cheese melted and meat cooked, and Seongwon opened his mouth with a red face. Please say something. He couldnt even lift his head, as if it was a very hard thing to say. Then Seon-woo started to blurt out anything, not knowing what to do. Me, Im not going to eat a lot of meat today, so you can cook a little bit for me! Seon-woo had the courage to start the conversation, so it was my turn to help. Its okay for today. Just be careful not to overeat. He always growled. Maybe he cared about Seongwon this time, Ye-jun deliberately followed Seon-woos words with a brighter voice. Do you want to go to the boxing gym with me after eating? You should learn the basics too. Should I? Ive lost a lot of weight now, and Im not dull or anything like before Huh? Really? Youre not soft? The atmosphere became lively again, and I finally felt relieved. In the afternoon, the revised choreography n arrived earlier than expected, and we connected the living room TV with the members and checked it on a big screen. There was no need to mention who the center was, and Kyunghwa opened his mouth after checking Seon-woos movement. Seon-woo really worked hard on his diet. I think we can shoot the teaser this time, so lets do our best. Everyone agreed with a smooth atmosphere. He had gone through a tough diet that lost almost 25kg in a short period of time, so he had no choice but to ept it. Yes! You gave me the center, so Ill work really hard! He had been at a loss all morning, watching the older members, but he looked relieved. We set the official practice schedule for next week and shared the n to learn the choreography individually this week. Even if everyone was not feeling well, we had to do what we had to do. It seemed to be settled for now. *** The problem that I thought was solved reignited three dayster. When the second episode of Boys in Crisis was released, the expected reactions lined up. [- Everyone, please keep tissues in front of you. Its hard to open your eyes because of the tear nds exploding] [- What should I do Is the cat temporarily protected at the dorm now?] [- Severy is so out of this world kind, is this guy really twenty-four?] [I like Severys voice too, I keep listening to him whispering] [- 17:32 Ah Seon-woo fell so hard, I cried andughed and got horns on my butt] [- Is the cat healthy now!?] [Its in the description and on the official SNS! They said they will adopt it to someone around the members as soon as it recovers well] Of course, it was not only in a positive sense. [- Ryu Air todays air presence] [- Everyone is so kind in the conversation, but Its so artificial, dont you see the script?] [Why do you live in such a twisted world?;;] [Youre the only one who thinks that] [The members might see this, so dont leave thesements] [Looks like theyre starting to form a fandom, lol. Look at them bickering in the replies. You cant expect to hear only good things when you broadcast. If you only wanted to listen to nice words, you shouldnt havee out.] [- I had a bad feeling when the cat came out They didnt hurt it on purpose, did they???] [Keep your delusions to yourself] [- Kyunghwa, wouldnt it be better if you didnte out if youre not going to do anything? Hahaha] [Your skill at free-riding on Ryu Gonggi is improving by leaps and bounds] The views increased more than the first episode, and so did the so-called malicious trolls. I asked thepany to manage them, but I couldnt help but run into them from time to time as I monitored thetestments. Dont mind thements. The editing was too focused on the cat this time. Next time, just ask them to put more of you in. I didnt feel good seeing Kyunghwas stiff expression. In a sh. As the tension continued, the status window appeared in front of me as if to stimte me. [Time left until the test ends (contract expires): 85 days] Chapter 64: The Center of My Heart Chapter 64: The Center of My Heart Chapter 64 The Center of My Heart It was a good thing that the buzz around us increased as we had less than three months left until oureback. But why dont I feel happy at all? They say that one bad word hurts more than ten good ones. I could tell that everyone was trying to hide their feelings, but they looked so down. What was all our hard work for? It was better to be famous and hated than to be unknown and ignored. No one agreed with my idealistic argument. I thought I could handle the hatements since I experienced them when the rumor about stealing Flosss schedule came out. Ye-jun, who thought he had a steel mentality, was not in his best condition either. All I could do was to prepare a special meal for them every day and make sure they ate well. They were like my brothers, and they always took care of their appetite even when they were depressed. Yeah, Koreans are all about food. They took the fruits I cut for them as dessert and went to their rooms, crunching on them. Im d they still have their appetite. It would be a big problem if they lost that too. Seong-won seemed okay, for now. He had his cat and his own thing going on. Ye-jun was just a bit gloomy, but he was not directly affected by the hatements, so he didnt suffer much damage. Seonwoo was the one I worried about the most. He was the type who reacted emotionally even when it was not his business, but he seemed to recover with food. At least Seong-won, who was the eye of the storm, had his life extended by 20 years. [- I know its a show and they have to make it dramatic, but this episode was so annoying. Seong-won was such a nuisance and the other members had to clean up after him.] [- Why is Seong-won so irritating? He has no character and he doesnt fit the group. Theres a reason why no one else does what he does.] The only constion was that Seong-won was the type who didnt care what others said. I just hoped his cat was healthy. Hes fine, right? He was worried about being a burden to the other members, so he kept his cat mostly in his room. All I heard was an asional squeak, beep, or the sound of him running around. As long as he was happy, that was enough. The problem was Kyunghwa. Almost a third of the negative buzz was rted to him. They said he was boring, freeloading, clinging to the other members, and that they could see why he didnt make it. I appreciate your concern, but I dont like it when you all act like this. I wish you would stop worrying about me. Kyunghwa, who received his 13th snack gift from Seonwoo, dered with a stiff expression. I know Im getting hate. Im doing my best, so you dont have to be so conscious of me. It makes me more nervous and I cant do anything. The one I thought was the least problematic turned out to be the eye of the storm. In the end, we had to script the entire third episode of Boys in Crisis and film it. We made sure to distribute the screen time evenly and aired it, but then more opinions poured in. [- Theyre obviously giving more time to certain members.] [- How long are they going to push Ryu Kongi?] [- I dont care how much they promote him, Im not buying Ryu Kongi.] They made a fuss whether he appeared or not. At this point, it was not a legitimateint from the viewers, but just a sandbag for their boredom. I was boiling with rage inside, but there was nothing we could do about it. Thepany was filtering out the severe personal attacks and nder against our members, but there was a clear limit. Do they enjoy sucking the blood out of one target? They seemed to have fun while being angry. Rted posts started to appear on SNS. [- Why are they so interested in the amount of a specific member of another idol group when they are not even Rise fans?] [Did you see it too, ? I feel so sorry for the K-pop aggro ounts that got targeted] [Yeah I mean, if they were at least solo fans, I would think they were doing it because they were afraid of causing trouble to their bias, but they were not even solo fans] To sum it up, they were not fans of Climax. But they were not indifferent to K-pop either. They had their own ounts for their fandoms. They were ounts that anonymously mocked or ndered other idols, or posted other aggro-rted content for fun. When I clicked on each one and saw what they were saying, it was outrageous. I got goosebumps at how sick these kids were, who were at most in their twenties. Of course, their target was not only Kyunghwa. In other groups, they would set the profile picture of a girl group member who had a lower visual or whose pre-surgery past was revealed. [- The fans of the fabrication leader are like: they praise him as a multi-talented genius, but he cant do anything better than the other members @Flows_YOU] [- The fabrication leader is a drinking game~ Drink a shot every time he appears on TV~ He drinks a bottle every day @Flows_YOU] [- Leader leader! Are you not fabricating today? @Flows_YOU] They would tag him directly and send him these things four or five times a day. Why are they doing this, why It was an area that I couldnt understand from amon sense perspective. I couldnt believe they were doing this all day for fun. How can they do SNS all day like this? And only to mock and harass? When do they sleep? Do they have a normal life? Lets not look. Its bad for mental health. I felt like I had watched a horror movie and turned off the phone screen with a pale face and buried my face in the sofa cushion. After an hour of trying to understand them, I was able to confirm a disappointing truth. These guys They are surprisingly quiet when ites to content that requires money. Theyughed and cursed, but they hated spending money, so they only focused on the free content. Releasing the self-content for free was a double-edged sword. I lowered the entry barrier to attract fans who were not interested enough in Climax to pay for it, but I didnt know there would be such a side effect. In the programs I had appeared in before, there was no cursing as long as the participants behaved reasonably. Even if they cursed, they did it for hygiene, rudeness, or price issues, not to harass a specific person. If it had been usual, I would have moved on and thought it was a new experience, but this time, I was not feeling well because one of our kids was a victim. How do I deal with this? My head was gettingplicated by myself, and I took a breath, and someone seemed toe next to me and the sofa seat shook. Hyung, are you okay? I lifted my head from the cushion and Sunwoo was looking down at me with a worried expression. Are you talking to me? Huh? Uh Why are you worried about me? Not Kyunghwa or Sungwon? I wondered and straightened my back and sat properly. What are they saying about me? I had been monitoring everything from YouTubements to Climax fan ounts. There was nothing I missed. When I looked at Sunwoo with suspicion, he answered nervously. Huh? No, its not that. Ise hyung, youve been working so hard to calm us downtely I thought you might be tired too. He was acting like a kid who came to cheer up his dad with a shoulder massage coupon. It was ridiculous how he rolled his eyes and didnt know what to do. I wasnt angry. I was a bit proud of him, so Iughed. Its okay. Im more worried about you guys. I dont care much. Whether its social life or the entertainment industry, no one can live on praise alone. People will throw stones at the frog, whether its in the pond or not. Its pointless to wonder why I got hit by those stones. I shouldnt give any more meaning to the lightning that struck me like a natural disaster on the road. Why did I pass by there at that time? Why did it rain then? Why didnt I use an umbre? The moment I added unnecessary self-me and worry, I was the only one who suffered the loss of sinking into the swamp. So it didnt help me at all to feel more pain about why those bastards clung to our kids. Really? Well, thats good then Thanks to Sunwoo, I was able to look at the situation with my usual perspective. I knew this was not a problem that I could solve by myself right away. Using Yugeons Fate skill might put out the immediate fire, but I still hadnt confirmed how severe the side effects were. I needed to observe a little more. I gently stroked Seonwoos head like animal therapy, then pushed myself up from the ground. I had too many things to do to feel sorry for myself. I received a message from the manager that he would arrive at the dorm in 10 minutes. Everyone, hurry up and get ready to leave! We had about 80 days left until oureback. The music video shooting was waiting for us. The music video was filmed in three locations. We shot some scenes at the botanical garden, some at a professional studio, and the rest at another studio. This ce used to be a cafe, they said. Wow I think I saw this on their official Instagram. The ss greenhouse, emptied of tables and chairs for the shooting, had a mysterious and deste atmosphere. Were going to film a scene where you bang on the ss windows. Dont worry about breaking them, well add the effects with CG. Just pretend to shatter them. Under the directors instructions, everyone snapped to attention and took their positions. Thankfully, Kyunghwa, who I was most worried about, looked in good shape today. He was the best actor among the five of us, so naturally he had more screen time. I stepped aside a little to let the staff filming the behind-the-scenes footage capture Kyunghwa better. Okay, this time were going to spray some water, so focus and lets get it done in one take! Everyone nodded their heads and moved their bodies to the music that was yed for checking the rhythm. I wondered how I would feel when I finished thest shooting and received the edited version. The time hade when I had to face it inevitably. Was it the same pressure? Or was it the same pride in myself for making it this far? It didnt matter either way. I would do my best in what I had to do now, ept the oue without regret, and be faithful to whaty ahead. I shouldnt suffer because of something I couldnt change. I sneaked a nce at Kyunghwa, who was moving along with the choreography. He acted calmly as if nothing was wrong, but he couldnt be fine inside. He had chosen to put on a thick shell and lock himself in, so all I could do was hope that he would endure it firmly. I said I didnt care what happened to those bastards as long as I got my revenge. But I guess Im too soft-hearted for my own good. I clicked my tongue lightly and cleared my mind, forcing a smile. Hey, Ise. This is a serious scene. You cant smile like that! The directors angry voice interrupted my brief distraction. Pay attention to your facial expressions! Yes! I unwittingly made the whole setugh by trying to act normal. Kyunghwa alsoughed, shaking his shoulders. Well, Im d I gave them a goodugh. Thats how the hot summer was passing by. Which meant The shooting day for Star Discovery, which I had promised Seong-won like a carrot, was approaching. Chapter 65: What do you mean by preliminaries? Chapter 65: What do you mean by preliminaries? Chapter 65 What do you mean by preliminaries? Of course, the finals were scheduled to be broadcast live on the holiday. The winner would be decided by real-time voting, so the only thing that was pre-recorded was the preliminaries. The edited version of the preliminaries, which was filmed with invited audience members, was aired an hour before the live show, introducing the contestants and their performances. In other words, the sponsors could support them until the preliminaries, but how far they could go in the finals was up to the contestants themselves. This guy I have to admit that he has the skills, but still. The finals were where each contestant prepared their own song, while the preliminaries were randomly selected from the candidates that were announced beforehand. They called it a candidate song, but the range was so wide that it was no different from Challenge 999 Songs. As a result, some contestants who had won the previous rounds slipped in the preliminaries with ridiculous song choices, while others soared with the help of their selections. I remember a famous rocker got stuck with a childrens song in the second round. The viewers were also confused and flooded the bulletin board withints, so the tant bad choices decreased. But it was stillmon for singers with powerful voices to lose when they got songs that required thin and delicate vocals. It was obvious that songs that allowed them to scream high notes were advantageous in the livepetition. I just have to pass the preliminaries and worryter. I hope I get lucky in the preliminaries. But that was only a moment of worry. Time flew by and the day of the preliminaries arrived. Seon-woo had a PT session, Ye-jun had a guest appearance on a hip-hop crew YouTube channel, Kyunghwa had a variety show appearance on a seniors channel, and I was the only one with a free schedule. Do you want to go with me if you dont want to go alone? I couldnt take my eyes off the cat until thest minute. I asked Seong-won, who had a strangely uneasy look on his face. What? No, its not necessary He said that, but his expression didnt say donte. He never said donte directly, but it was the same as sayinge with me in a roundabout way. He was such a cute guy, but not in a cute way. He should have just been honest and asked me to go with him. Ill go too. Seon-woo will be here soon, so you can just ask him to look after the cat. Seong-won nced at the cat as if he was worried, then hesitated and looked away. Come if you have time left. He should have been more honest like Seon-woo or Oh Ye-jun. He was the kind of guy who made a thousand debts with his words. *** We arrived at the preliminary filming site together. The manager only helped us with the pick-up and left to help another team with their schedule. Even though it was the preliminaries, it was a very poprrge-scale program, so there were as many staff members as the finals. Contestant number 24, please wait in room C. Okay. Seong-won and I walked to the waiting room without saying anything. Should I say something? He didnt seem too nervous. But he wasnt the type to enjoy the stage like Oh Ye-jun, so I wasntpletely unconcerned. Do you need anything? I can buy it for you at the convenience store. I remembered the convenience store in the basement of the broadcasting station and asked Seong-won carefully. I dont need anything right now. Theres water in the waiting room, so Im fine. I had to finish whatever I wanted to say before entering the waiting room, because there were cameras and recording devices installed there. I didnt have much time left, but I had no idea what to say to him. With the other guys, it was rtively easy to talk to them. I could have told them not to be too nervous, or that they would do well. But the only times I had a long conversation with this guy were when we had a heated argument, or when I had tofort him when he was sobbing. Neither of those situations are helpful right now. After a long and stupid dilemma, I shouted at his back. Fi, fighting. I could have said that even after entering the waiting room. I felt regretful, but he had already put his hand on the door handle. Yeah. With his nd response, the door opened with a click. On the door of the waiting room, there was a sign that said participants 21-30. It seemed like a waiting room for 10 people. Wow there are so many people. It was a broadcast where the faces were not shown, so there were no makeup staff. But everyone had at least one or two managers or coordinators with them, so it was very crowded. As soon as I opened the door and entered, the eyes of the people inside focused on him. I could tell what they were thinking by their faces. Hes an idol. They didnt seem to recognize which group or who he was. But the morous appearance of various singers, actors, and talents, and the young age proved that he was an idol. Oh my, youre Climax, right? After a long period of searching, one trot singer recognized us and greeted us from her seat. She was one of the few young women in the waiting room. The others looked at least in their early thirties, some even in their fifties. Ah, yes. Hello. Was this person a senior or a junior to Climax? I couldnt remember, since they werent that famous. Climax was a nobody idol who had been active for too long, so it was hard to tell on their side too. Are you here as a participant today? What else would I be here for? I thought sarcastically to myself as I answered. Yes, this friend here is number 24. I nced at the number under the womans shoulder. It was 26. Oh, is that person the main vocal? They said that person instead of Seong-won, which meant they didnt know us well. Yes. They sing really well. They will show you their best today. At that moment, a low voice of a middle-aged man grumbled from a corner of the waiting room. Singers should sing well, of course. What can these wannabes do with their superficial charms? I couldnt tell who it was, but I heard it clearly. Oh my The 26th participant looked unhappy. Maybe they thought it would turn into a fight if they provoked Seong-won, so they smiled awkwardly andughed. You must have prepared hard. Lets do our best! Yes, fighting! We ended the awkward conversation and sat down at number 24. Silence fell again. I wanted to say something nice, but I didnt know what they liked. Seon-woo liked food, Oh Ye-jun liked exercise, Kyunghwa liked nning or entertainment talk. But this guy had only been hostile and confrontational with me, so I had no idea what to talk about. The only thing I know they might be interested in is But I couldnt ask what they were going to do with the cat here. I felt like I had to say something in the silence, so I searched for the identity of the 26th participant on my phone. That person from before, theyre our junior. I whispered quietly and Seong-won twitched his eyebrows. They debutedst year. Trot singer Oh Jiseon. So? Just saying. That was the end of our short conversation. Silence returned. Then, arge monitor on the ceiling of the waiting room lit up. Thank you for waiting! The preliminary stage of Star Discovery will begin soon! It was a big project with thirty participants, so the filming was supposed tost until midnight. Why couldnt they just let the participants enter one by one ording to their time? Some would finish quickly and leave, some would wait. They said they randomized the order of the matches to prevent unfairness. Who is this fairness for? It was a ridiculous idea, but none of the participants who came with the hope of ast-minute reversal couldin. The broadcasting station guys are the bosses. I spent the time gloomily, when someone opened the door and came in. Who is it? A staff member? I turned my head to check the entrance. Huh? Someone we already knew wasing in. Long time no see? What are you doing here? He was a celebrity among celebrities, who turned the waiting room upside down with his mere appearance. Kang Yugeon smiled slyly at us. Im here as a judge. I only got the list of participants after I came to the waiting room. Well, thats fine, but why did he have toe all the way here? I had no idea. Oh I see. I had never heard him sing live, but he was also a survival show alumni with an A-grade vocal. They always put one idol in the judging panel for the sake of buzz, and this year it seemed to be him. Seong-won is the main vocal, right? Good luck. He tapped Seong-wons shoulder, and it made me feel oddly annoyed. Do your best, as if he was looking down on him. I reflexively lifted Kang Yugeons wrist and pulled it off Seong-wons shoulder, smiling. Yes, our main vocal is really talented. Youll be amazed when you hear him live. I was smiling brightly, but he could clearly tell I was displeased. Kang Yugeon suddenlyughed and pulled his hand back. Wow, just like you said before, you guys are really close as members. Im looking forward to seeing your great performance. He was smiling too, but his eyes were not. A strange tension arose between me and Yugeon, when someone knocked on the door. This time, it was a real staff member who came to get Yugeon. Yugeon, please wait at the judges seat. Yep, got it~. See youter! Yugeon grinned as if he had never red at me, and replied in a cute voice. Ugh, he and Oh Ye-jun were both amazing in many ways. I shivered at the goosebumps that rose on my skin, and red at Yugeons back as he disappeared. You saw that? I whispered in Seong-wons ear, and he blushed and moved away. You dont have to whisper in my ear, I can hear you. He was rude too, but at least he was on our side. Do well. Youre good anyway. You dont have to say that, Ill do well. Seong-won exhaled deeply. Soon, the monitor announced the real start. Were going to start the preliminaries of Star Discovery! The rules of the match will be exined by the judge, Floss Kang Yugeon! Kang Yugeons face filled the screen and he began to exin the rules. Two participants would enter an opaque booth and sing along to the apaniment. So far, it was a typical variation of a n. The reason why Star Discovery became famous as a crazy program was from then on. First, the judges headset would y participant As voice on the right and participant Bs voice on the left. Then, after the first verse, they would choose which participants song they wanted to hear. When the winner was decided, the losers microphone would be turned off and only the winners song would be heard. The participants would only find out if they won or lost after they came out of the booth. They had to keep singing a song that no one was listening to, without knowing if they lost or won. Theyll film the losers face and use it for the preview. They were a bunch of ruthless bastards. On the screen, Yugeon was still smiling brightly as he exined the devils rule. Chapter 66: My kid did better than him Chapter 66: My kid did better than him Chapter 66 My kid did better than him The only constion was that the waiting room had a separate monitoring screen that showed the stage and the judges. It probably wouldnt happen, but just in case Seong-won failed the audition and got eliminated, I would know right away. The best thing was not to get eliminated, of course, but even if he did, there was still a chance toe back in the losers revival round. This was the same for both the preliminaries and the finals. I dont know how many people they saved in the preliminaries, but in the finals, each judge could use a free pass ticket for one person. In the third round, the contestant who used the free pass won thepetition and created a huge buzz. I bet theyll try to use any provocative element that can boost the ratings this time too. I was sick of broadcasting ever since I had a fight with the PD over the editing issue of Boys in Crisis episode 2. How could I cope with this when I hadnt even made a propereback yet? I red at the screen with a gloomy look for a moment. What do you mean, cope? I had no choice but to endure and do my best in this industry. It was enough of a help that I was not one of those who would do anything for money, sitting at the top of the field. But for now, my priority was to keep my lifeline intact for at least three more months. Alright, then. Now that we have exined the rules for the preliminaries, lets start with the first match right away! Marina, please pick the first song as the representative of the judges! At the request of the main MC, the female singer with long blonde hair as her trademark drew a ball from the lottery machine. Oh~. The first song is out! The Scent of Marseille! What was that song? I had definitely heard the name before. I vaguely remembered that it was from some kind of thriller soundtrack. It wasnt a song that required a lot of skill or technique, but it wasnt easy either. It was a catchy song that anyone could sing along to, but that was also its drawback. It was hard to stand out from the other contestants with such a song. Ive seen some people who tried to sing it in a weird way and failed miserably. I was sick and tired of watching the previous episodes over and over, trying toe up with a strategy that would give me the best chance of winning, after I got the audition ticket from Seong-won. It would be easier if I just had to sing a song that was high-pitched or had a strong personality. That would be the real test of my skills. But since Seong-won was so good at the basics, we hoped that he would get a difficult song. Alright, lets draw the first challengers for the duel! The MC reached into the lottery machine, where numbers from 1 to 30 were spinning around, and grabbed two balls. Everyone in the waiting room swallowed their dry saliva and checked their numbers. Number 3, number 24! Pleasee up to the stage right now! Seong-won, who had been staring at the monitor with a stiff expression, flinched and shrank his shoulders. Go ahead. I didnt bother to say anything else. Seong-won was better than me when it came to singing. In the finals, they would provide key adjustment and arrangement for each contestant, but there was none of that in the preliminaries. When the program was established, the contestants with narrow vocal ranges naturally protested. But then they heard some nonsense that the difficulty caused by the vocal range was the programs unique selling point. Thinking about that I wondered if I should be grateful that I got a song that matched my original key. Seong-won nodded and looked down at me. Ill be back soon. I noticed that Seong-wons hand was trembling. Sigh. I felt like I was giving a piece of cake to a jerk, as usual. I grabbed Seong-wons shaky hand. ? Come on,e on, you can do it. I lightly squeezed his hand and shook it before letting go. Seong-won nced at me as if I was crazy and turned around to open the door. He seemed a bit baffled, but at least he looked less nervous. Soon, the lights came on in the booths on both sides of the stage, indicating that he had entered one of them following the staffs guidance. The first battle, starting right now! The band started ying along with the sound of drums. [The image of you by my side when I close my eyes] The speakers on both sides yed different voices. The third contestant who was chosen as Seong-wons opponent was someone I could recognize just by his voice. Of course, young people wouldnt know. He was Heo Taekyun, a veteran singer who had disappeared after releasing a hit bad song in the early 2000s, and who was now over forty. I bet hes running low on money by now. Lately, I saw a lot of people who were active around the same time as him on cable TV shows for middle-aged people. He wanted to make aeback as a singer, not through a live broadcast, but through apetition program. I didnt know what he had been doing or where he had been, but he was not someone to be underestimated. Seong-won didnt seem to care about his unknown opponent, and continued the first verse without losing his pace. [Your shadow that scatters like a mirage] [I wander in another sleepless night] It was not yet a verse that could give an impact. Mr. Heo Taekyun also seemed to think the same, and he slowly built up the atmosphere without rushing. He sang well. But he still hadnt captivated the judgespletely. [With just a fleeting memory] [The person who kept me alive] Heo Taek-eon also sang with a bitter emotion that made him stick out his tongue. It was a different feeling from the fresh sorrow that melted in Seong-wons song. Wow this is really a matter of taste, isnt it? A young male singer in the waiting room stuck out his tongue. It seemed that no one had expected such a skilled contestant to face off in the first preliminary round. I know, right? I prefer the younger one a bit more. But Mr. Heos voice is so unique that it might be disadvantageous if there is a fan among the judges who recognizes him. A female staff who seemed to be rted to the contestant answered with a light voice that sounded like a smirk. The highlight of the first verse wasing soon. That meant the winner would be decided in the next 20 seconds. Seong-wons short and low breaths echoed through the speakers via the microphone. Wow, he even knows how to use his breathing. Nice~. This would be so awkward if someone cheesy did it. But I like this kind of thing. Both sides felt the pressure to leave a strong impression with whatever they did next. They had to show their skills without overdoing it, and catch the judges ears. Before Seong-won went on stage, his slightly offbeat exhale drew admiration from all over the waiting room. [Im waiting for you here right now] [The moment we were happy] [To You Then-!] Seong-wons breath grew rough as he steadily pulled up a high note and finished the first verse. Everyone was captivated by Seong-wons low breathing, and no one remembered how Hotaek sang. I won this. The moment I was sure of it, the results of the four judges were disyed on the screen. Middle-aged male producer, number 24. Middle-aged female nningpany president, number 24. Famous female singer in her thirties, number 24. I was hoping for a unanimous decision when Kang Yugeons result came up. Male idol in his twenties, number 3. That bastard. I unconsciously red and almost cursed out loud in the waiting room. I was curious about his reason for picking number 3, as if he wanted me to see it, after he checked the number earlier. Was it revenge for asking him for various favors, like choreography and staff? Then he should have refused. I was so dumbfounded that my head was ringing. There was a privilege of being exempted from the second round if you went up unanimously in the first round. He knew that and still picked number 3. He was saying he wouldnt let me go easily. While I was chewing over Kang Yugeon alone, Hotaeks microphone was turned off before I knew it, and only Seong-wons voice was flowing out. I felt ufortable watching the middle-aged singers passionate gestures. And at the same time, I was relieved that it wasnt Seong-won whose microphone was turned off. These guys will do anything for ratings. Soon after the song ended, the judgesments followed. Wow, thank you for showing us such a great stage from the first match. I loved both of you so much that it was really hard to decide. Me too, I pressed the button right before the count ended. I wanted to listen to both of you until the end. Both of you sang perfectly, but I guess the 24th contestants poignant breathing was the ace in the hole. Thats right, wow, it was so good how it hit the low notes and scratched my eardrums. While everyone was admiring the strength and weakness of the breathing, Yugeon, who had kept his mouth shut all along, grabbed the microphone, Ah, I also liked the breathing a lot. But the 3rd contestants emotional voice line with a lot of appeal was more impactful to me. Thats right, ah~. Its a pity that such amazing people faced each other in the first stage. 3rd contestant, pleasee out and reveal your identity! Shut up. How did you recognize Heo Taekyun. I wanted to punch Yugeons head, but I held back and took a deep breath. Calm down, Im Hyunsung. Youve been through worse than this in your life. But this guy was more annoying than me, being young and reckless and irresponsible. He was a guy who I couldnt tell if he was an enemy or an ally. Now, 3rd contestant, please reveal yourself! As expected, a middle-aged male singer walked out of the booth and the 24th contestant escaped through a special route. While the 3rd contestants short interview and the next draw were in progress, Seong-won returned to the waiting room with a calm expression. Wow~. The young friend sings well. How old are you? People who had no interest in Seong-won when he first entered the waiting room came over one by one and talked to him. As expected. Seong-won, who had no manners towards adults, looked at the seniors nkly. This friend is 22, and Im 24. Senior! I felt my energy drain as soon as I finished my brief introduction and squeezed in. Each team took about ten minutes, so I had to wait another two hours before the second round started. My manager said he couldnte today because he had another schedule. It was awkward sitting across from each other in silence. Sweat trickled down my face. Seong-won nced at me and asked out of the blue. How did I do earlier? What do you mean? I raised my eyebrows as if he was talking nonsense. Did I do well? Why would he ask such an obvious thing? I answered hesitantly. Of course you did well. I thought you would get a unanimous vote. Seong-won didnt reply right away and paused for a moment. Then he turned his head and added. Ill do better next time. Huh? Sure. He kept looking at me expectantly, tilting his head slightly. I had no idea what he wanted. What does he want me to do? Tell him to buzz off? I narrowed my eyes in confusion and Seong-won grabbed a water bottle and got up from his seat. What, why? I need to use the bathroom. ? He was a mystery to me, with that small and pretty head of his. Chapter 67: Just Say You’re Jealous Chapter 67: Just Say You¡¯re Jealous Chapter 67 Just Say Youre Jealous After Seong-won came back from the bathroom, a moment of silence passed and the first round of the preliminaries was over. I was so thirsty from sitting and waiting for my turn for two hours. And this was supposed to be faster than before. I couldnt imagine how long they made the contestants wait in the first round. Alright, we will now begin the second round of the preliminaries! The three contestants who got unanimous votes in the first round were automatically qualified for the finals. There were eight spots for the finalists. Out of the 30 contestants in the preliminaries, 15 were eliminated and 3 advanced to the finals, so the remaining 12 had topete for five spots. And to make things worse, one of those five spots was reserved for the winner of the revival round. In the second round, unlike the first round, three contestants willpete by singing different parts of one song! You can check the monitor installed in your booth and you can only sing when the light of your color is on! This wasnt some karaoke night where we could share popr songs. What the hell were they doing? I didnt remember this being the casest year. They must have changed the rules this year. Both the losers waiting for the revival round and the winners waiting for the second round looked unhappy. Then how do we divide the parts? One contestant asked in aining tone from a corner of the waiting room. As if he was waiting for that, the MC continued his exnation. Well, well, you must be curious about how to divide the parts! Each of you will have the right to im two parts. Two lines each. The right to im? What does that mean? Everyones face showed confusion. Maybe this would make sense for a program with a younger audience or contestants. But some of the contestants were older, and they all looked baffled. The first two lines are sung by all the participants together, and from the second part onwards, you can im the parts in the order of arrival. So, for example It was like they wanted us topete for the high-pitched parts of the same song in a karaoke room, but on a stage. Now, with some mind games added. You must use up all your ims before the song ends, and the climax part is expected to be highly contested, so please use it strategically! As soon as the rule exnation was over, sighs erupted from everywhere. Why is it soplicated? That was exactly what I wanted to say. We were rtively young, so we had an advantage in terms of understanding the rules and strategies. At least from the perspective of the elders. Well, then, lets start the song lottery! One of the judges came out and picked a ball with a song number on it. It was a bad song released in 2010, with a very high pitch among female songs. Thats definitely it depends on whether you can handle the high pitch or not. The participants who were confident in their low-pitched range all prayed that they wouldnt get it. Okay, now lets draw the participants! A different judge from before stood in front of the participant lottery machine and picked three balls. Please enter the booths, number 29, 11, and 21! Thank goodness. Seong-won was on the neat side of handling the high pitch, but he wasnt confident enough for an octave battle. His vocal was showing a stable high pitch based on the solidity of his low-pitched range. Even if he went to the death high-pitch battle, he would be better off than the participants who only had raw low-pitch as their weapon When I faced a contestant whose best weapon was a high-pitched scream, there was a possibility of a disaster. Phew As I swept my chest with relief, Sung-won frowned as if he was offended. Why? Do you think I cant do it? I answered as if he was talking nonsense. That song is hard to sing even for women. If you sing it in the original key and your opponent is a woman, youll be at a disadvantage. Then Sung-won pursed his lips and retorted. Have you ever heard me sing high notes? No. But all the songs I had heard so far were based on the male key and were high-pitched. Therefore, I couldnt easily imagine him making a dolphin sound. No, but Ill do much better than you think, hyung. I was about to ask him what he thought I was thinking, but I stopped when the first stage of the second round started. [The days we spent together] [I never forgot a single day] Two men and one woman. One of the men had a low voice that stood out from the others, and the other had a high one. As the rtively low-pitched part wasing to an end, the light came on in the booth of contestant number 21. He was the first one to use the preemptive right. [As another day passes by] [What should I think to live?] One of the three had the lowest tone. He seemed to want to finish the low-pitched part with the preemptive right, knowing that the high-pitched part wouldeter. When contestant number 21s part was over, the light came on in booth number 11. [In the rainy street among countless people] [Only you make me breathe] He was the one with the highest tone among the three. This way It seemed that both men had a fight for the lower range. If the woman contestant was assumed to handle the high notes, she would fly very high. The next part was not preempted by anyone, and the light came on in all the booths. [Even if I walk the street where we share memories] [All I have left are memories, I cant see you] The climax of the first verse began. As the high-pitched part came out, contestant number 29 raised her voice confidently. [Ill wait for you here anytime] [Even if the seasons change and time passes by] And then something unexpected happened. [The moment Im with you Ill miss you forever-!] She managed to recover with a high note as if nothing had happened, but it was a clear pitch break. Wow Thats too bad. It was a winning stage, honestly. The other contestants also felt a glimmer of hope. While the short interlude passed, everyone was waiting with tension to see how the match would turn out. Would contestant number 29 take the high notes again in the second verse? As soon as I thought that, the light came on in the booth of contestant number 29 in the low-pitched part of the second verse. What? Everyone started to buzz as the contestant who was confident in the high notes took the low-pitched part. They all realized that it was her best strategy by the time the part was over. The next booth to light up was number 11. That meant the only part left was the high-pitched one. The chorus repeated the high notes after the second verse. Number 29 seemed panicked and missed every chance to press the button until thest chorus. He lowered the key by using his falsetto, but it sounded off and did not match the apaniment. [Ill wait for you here] [Ill wait for you here] [Ill wait for you here] And that was how the first round of the second preliminaries ended. Uh I guess the song itself is too high for everyone. You all had some difficulties. Thats right, you all did your best until the end. It was really impressive. They were not trying to boost anyones morale. They just wasted time with unnecessary chatter instead of announcing the results. I guess they had to fill the airtime somehow. Now, lets reveal the fate of the results! And then, right on cue, themercial break came. Number 29, 11, and 21, the results of the first stage of the second preliminaries are! They will be revealed in 60 seconds. Of course, it was a recorded video, so the show continued without waiting for 60 seconds. The viewers must have cursed a lot. I looked at the monitor with a soulless gaze. The winner of the first stage of the second preliminaries is, number 29! Congrattions! The lights of the other booths went out, and number 21 and 11 walked onto the stage. Even though he had a pitch problem, the other two contestants were too passive, so it was the expected oue. Maybe if the 29th participant hadnt used the strategy card, the 21st participant would have had a chance He yed smart. Hell get some hate for it, though. But it was all ording to the broadcasters n anyway. They must be pping their hands at the satisfying oue by now. Im not going to use any strategy cards. Seong-won crossed his arms and lifted his chin. Just use it if you get the chance. Everyone else does the same. I dont need to use it to win. Just watch me. He was so full of pride. Just then, the announcer on the monitor called Seong-wons number. Next, the second stage participants are 14, 24, and 1! Seong-won and I were so busy bickering that we missed what the mission song was. Oh, look at that. Isnt that an idol song? Huh? I checked the monitor with anticipation. [Second mission song: Boy I Luv] It was an idol song, alright. But not a boy group one. Can you sing that? I asked Seong-won with a worried expression as he left the waiting room. Just sit there and watch. He always said that. It would work out or it wouldnt. Where did he get that attitude from? Soon, Seong-won took his ce in booth 24. The other participants also settled in their booths and the countdown began. ~- It was a bright and cheerful song with a catchy sound and a thumping beat, typical of a girl group. Among the female singers, the vocal range was not very high, so it wouldnt be too hard to sing Number 1 was definitely a male, and number 14 was vaguely familiar. Then the lights came on in all the booths and the first verse began. [Tonight, Ill be someone else] [So shiny that you cant take your eyes off me-] Number 14 was a female singer that I didnt remember well. Her voice was very low and husky, lower than Seong-wons vocal range. This would give Seong-won an advantage. I waited to see who would use their priority right for the next part, but no one did and the lights stayed on in all three booths. [Tonight, throw away your worries far away] [If you want to follow me, hurry up now] [Dont you want to make me wait more-] Should I use it this time? I wondered who it would be, but no one used their priority right again. I could feel the other contestants struggling with this bouncy singing rap, while Seong-won led with his stable melody. [What are you looking at, look at me now!] [Ive be someone else for you, tonight] Now the next part was rap. Number 1, who had barely followed the lyrics of this song he had never heard before, pressed the priority button as if he had misunderstood the rules. Wow he really messed up. It was a tricky part with a lot of off-beats, and he not only messed up the lyrics, but also lost the rhythmpletely in thest three words. [Today, you and, my, co-bo, rtion? Before this night, ends, hurry up ande, uh, waist?] It was too pitiful to watch with my eyes open. This would make it easy for me to advance to the finals. I thought so carelessly and let go of my burden too soon. Chapter 68: Nothing ever goes easy Chapter 68: Nothing ever goes easy Chapter 68 Nothing ever goes easy Thats when the contestant number 14, who had beenying down a low bass voice, soared up. The light came on only at booth 14, and a husky voice that sounded like a self-arranged RnB style filled the air. [Maybe Ill snap sometimes] [Then it rains every day between us] [Dont let me be gloomy like that, fill me up-] Wow! The judges seats were all stirred up. Who was that? The voice was familiar to my ears. Of course, he sang well. He lowered the key from the original, but his unique vibe was so intense that it didnt matter at all. This was trouble My rxed mind started to tighten up. The previous two lines were too powerful to cover with just a decent singing. He needed a distinctive skill that could surpass the soulful RnB, but Seong-won was a textbook-like genuine vocal. He had a good sense of rhythm, a wide range, a stable voice, and a clean tone, but he didnt have an irreceable strength. Hey, hes good when he sings like that. Yeah, I know. I couldnt hear him well at the beginning. The next part went smoothly without anyone taking the lead, but everyone must have had the same thought in their heads. They must have been wondering when the candidate number 14 would press the button again. What do I do about that? I was anxious outside, wondering if I could do anything for him, while the first verse was ending. Did Seong-won press the button? The light came on at booth 24. [Tonight, Ill be someone else] The lyrics of the intro, with a different melody, stuck in my ears. Just when I thought it was a bit disappointing, Seong-won raised the key and gradually lifted the pitch. [Im so Shiny- that you cant take your eyes off me!!] It was a part that led directly to the instrumental, so the microphone didnt turn off even after the part ended. The audience swayed again to Seong-wons clear and cool voice that stretched out to swallow the instrumental. Its so refreshing and nice! Its a different feeling from number 14, I like this too. If number 14s strength was his soulful voice, Seong-won seemed topete with his crisp and refreshing high notes. He also sang a bit higher than the original key, so his voice was the only one that could be heard in the part where everyone sang together. Once his voice hits the spot, its like I can only hear him. Number 14 pressed the preemptive button again, as if he wouldnt let Seong-won take the lead. [Tonight, throw away your worries far away] [If you want to be with me, hurry up now] [You know I want to make you more restless-] He really sang well. Even with an unsuitable song choice, he was this good. I wondered how high he would have soared if he had chosen a better song. My tongue was twisted. As soon as the part without preemptive button followed, Seong-wons voice sounded clear again. Before the rap part came out, the number 1 contestant came to his senses and pressed the preemptive button. [What are you looking at, look at me now!] [Ive be someone else for you Tonight] I felt more familiar this time, but it was not enough to erase the strong impression of Seong-won and number 14. Under Seong-wons steady lead, the rap part flew by, and now only the high-pitched part remained. He was going to take it again and make an impression. Everyone was thinking the same thing and looking at the monitor when something unexpected happened. Seong-won didnt press the preemptive button. There was only the chorus left in the remaining part. What was he thinking? It was a rule vition not to use all the preemptive rights. When everyone was looking at him with curiosity and excitement, wondering when he would use it, [Look at me, the most dazzling one in this moment-] The light came on in Seong-wons booth. Thankfully, before I could even sigh, Seong-won showed off his unique clear and refreshing voice as if he hadpletely seized the momentum. [This night that youll never forget, Shiny-!!] [This is a song for you, Tonight] With the three-step high notes that he gradually raised, Jinsungs light melody carried the song along. It wasnt just a saying, the whole chorus sounded like it was made for Seong-won. How were the other contestants? I couldnt remember them at all after such an impactful chorus and the apaniment waspletely finished. The judges seats swayed again. Who is that young man? Is he an idol? If hes a main vocal who can sing that well among idols, he must be famous. After they turned off their microphones and whispered among themselves, the official judging time began. Wow First of all, you all did really well. Contestant number one, you must have had a hard time with this song because youre not used to it. You did a great job until the end. Thats right, it was such a pity. They put aside contestant number one, who was confirmed to be eliminated. It seemed to be a choice between contestant number 14, who showed an impressive performance in his part, and contestant number 24, who led the whole song and made a perfect finish. I would choose 24, but As long as he was there, I couldnt rx. Contestant number 24 and contestant number 14, you both have very different styles and are both impressive. It was a pleasure to listen to you. I felt sick to my stomach as I looked at Yugeon, who smiled with a nice face. If you had pressed the pass button in the first ce, I wouldnt have to suffer like this until the second round. Would he sabotage me until the second round? I clenched my fist as I changed Yugeons evaluation from annoying ally to enemy who can be helpful sometimes. Thats right, honestly, I felt like I only heard contestant number 24s voice from the beginning to the end. His voice is so clear and refreshing, and it reaches out. Right. It feels like the lid on your head is lifted off. The hall was filled withughter as the male producer gestured with his hand on his head and tilted his ss. Lets say it was a fizzy voice, fizz. Fizz is not only for drinks, right? Ahaha, lets stop there. I also found contestant number 14 very impressive. Ugh, is it too early to rx? I red at the monitor with a nervous face. Contestant number 14 was amazing too. His vocal range was so low that he didnt make much of an impression in the joint part. Yes, thats right. But then he was so soulful in his solo part that I wanted to hear more. It was a song that made me look forward to how awesome he would be when he got a song that suited him perfectly. The MC spun his hand in a circle, urging the conclusion as the judging dragged on. Well, then, lets reveal the results of the judging. Please press from left to right! A middle-aged male producer, number 14. A middle-aged female nning agency president, number 24. A famous female singer in her thirties, number 1. Number 1? Everyones eyes widened as the judge who had pressed number 1 earlier waved his hand and exined. I was really impressed by the first round audition of contestant number 1. I wanted to give her another chance. This meant that the winner would be decided by thest remaining vote. The camera zoomed in on Kang Yugeon in a full shot. Aware of the camera, Yugeon made a V sign with his hand and smiled cheekily. My judging result is *** It feels like my life is wearing out. Iy down on the back seat of the minivan, reclining the seat all the way back, and washed my face. The manager answered from the drivers seat. Why were you so nervous when you didnt even go out? Why indeed. It was because I had set it up. The manager had no idea that Seong-won had a sponsorship from Cheonsu Hotel in his casting history. There is, a good reason for that. I turned my head to the side and closed my eyes, feeling tired. Seong-won looked down at my face sharply. Damn, hes going to bore a hole in my face. I quickly avoided Seong-wons gaze and turned over. You won, didnt you? Isnt that enough? Seong-won pouted and crossed his arms like a child. I sat up and looked at his face. Dont twist my words. Im not tired because of you. Then what is it? Seong-won blinked, curling his thin cat-like eyes as he opened and closed them. Is it because of the judging results, the luck of the song selection or something like that? It sounded like a weak excuse, but I really didnt like it when the oue was determined by things I couldnt control. Seong-won was lucky with his song selection. How unfair would it be for someone like number 1, who had passed the first round audition with a good result, to fail in the second round? I felt it was somewhat unfair, but that was the rule and I had to follow it as a contestant. I was d that I could choose and arrange my own songs in the final round. Dont you feel unfair? I looked at Seong-won with a dissatisfied expression. He opened his eyes wide and answered. Well. Right now, I just cant believe Im on the show. I slowly scrutinized Seong-wons face and remembered something I had forgotten. By the way, I wanted to ask him how he became an idol. Its the same for any show. Luck is the most important thing. Hmm I couldnt deny that, but it wasnt always true. It was true in the field I had experienced, but I couldnt guarantee that it would apply to the entertainment industry. There were people with this level of skill who were not from very small agencies, but they were so unknown. Now there were people who recognized him here and there, but that was only because I had run around in all directions. Luck is not everything, effort does not betray, these words were only valid in situations where you could actually experience them. I dont know. I leaned my head back on the headrest and closed my eyes. I felt Seong-wons piercing gaze through my eyelids. What do you have anything else to say? Finally, I couldnt stand his gaze and opened my eyes wide. Seong-won flinched and shrugged his shoulders as he answered. No. Then why are you looking at me like that? Go do that somewhere else. Youll look like youre picking a fight. I swallowed the words that came up to my throat and asked him cautiously. How did you be an idol? I could find out using the system, but I didnt want to do that unless I had to. I wanted to hear the reason from his own mouth. Sunwoo had a family member who was an idol, and Yejun was just talented and obviously liked getting attention. But I had no clear idea why Kyunghwa or Seong-won would choose to be idols. I didnt know about Kyunghwa, but Seong-won could have been a solo singer if he wanted to. Seong-won looked at me with an unreadable expression for a moment, then replied with a question to my question. Do you want to hear it? Chapter 69: Everyone’s Reason Chapter 69: Everyone¡¯s Reason Chapter 69 Everyones Reason I asked because I wanted to hear it, not because I was curious. I lifted my head, thinking of a slightly sarcastic remark. Yeah. Seong-won, who had been silently looking down at me for a long time, finally made a rare expression and lightly curled his lips. Ill tell you after the finals. What? He acted like he had some amazing reason. I narrowed my eyes and red at him incredulously. What kind of big story do you have? There is one. Seong-won cut off the conversation as if he didnt want to talk more and took out an eye mask from the console box. Wake me up when we get to the dorm. Im going to catch some sleep. Hey, why do I have to wake you up? He was always doing whatever he wanted. I didnt want to waste my energy arguing with this guy, so I shut my mouth. There were so many things that didnt go my way, and I felt hopeless that I couldnt do anything about them. But even in that situation, there was something I could do, so I had to do my best. I vividly remembered the candidates who were packing their bags in the same waiting room, with joy and sorrow mixed depending on the draw. If the song that required RnB skills had been chosen in the second round, the winner might have been the 14th contestant instead of Seong-won. Ill have to go through these things a lot more in the future. I didnt need to feel guilty for winning by luck. It was more important to take a step forward than to hesitate in uncertain assumptions and delusions. Lets get a grip, me too. As I renewed my determination, the lodging was getting closer. Hey, wake up. I gently grabbed and shook Seong-wons shoulder. He had just fallen asleep, and he opened his slightly cloudy eyes. Are we there? Yeah, wake up. Walk properly on your feet. I held Seong-won with my right arm as he staggered in his sleepiness. I felt his feverish body temperature. He pretended to be calm and said he was fine, but he didnt mean it. I wish he would just say he was scared, thank me foring with him, and cheer me up. Wouldnt I like it if he was honest? He was not honest and sensitive, which seemed to work as a charm point for the fans, but not for me. I liked it when people were clear and straightforward, like the others. You would have been adorable to the heavenly adults. I grumbled inwardly and messed up Seong-wons small and pretty head. What, what are you doing? Seong-won had finally woken up properly and looked at me as he walked, holding the stair railing firmly. Ill give you one more rice cake, you brat. I shamelessly ruffled Seong-wons hair one more time and ran up to the next floor. What, thats ridiculous. I heard Seong-won muttering behind me, but I didnt care. I quickly opened the door lock and the front door, and saw the members waiting in the living room. How did it go!? Seon-woo, who was ying with the cat in his arms, ran to the entrance with the cat wrapped around him. You did great. The finals are live on the holiday, so if we dont have any other ns, we should go to the audience and cheer for you. Thats awesome! I was worriedst year because the luck factor was so huge It was bad this year too. Luckily, the song selection wasnt so bad that it would interfere, so I think it went well. Kyunghwa sighed long and hard, and tilted his head as if he was finally relieved. I know youre good at singing. But Im worried because I dont know what song youll be up against and who youll be paired with, ugh. I briefly wondered if I should mention Kang Yugeon, but I decided not to. It was something he would find out during the live finals anyway, and I didnt want to give him one more thing to worry about. Thats when Seong-won, who was staggering up the stairs, opened the door lock and came in. What are you doing, you cant go alone. The cat, who was snuggled in Seon-woos arms, meowed loudly as if he wasining about me. Oooh, is that so? Our Meongie was lonely today because he didnt see his brother? Come here, Ill hug you. Lonely, my ass. He was running around like crazy because Seon-woo and I yed with him. The cat only said one word, but Seong-won acted as if he heard ten. He quickly wiped his hands with the hand sanitizer at the entrance. Then he took the cat and buried his face in its soft belly. Is he a male? Kyunghwa asked with a disgusted look, as if he was surprised by Seong-wons attitude towards the cat. Hes supposed to be a male if he looks like this. I didnt ask about the gender when I went to the vet, because it wasnt a situation to distinguish it. Isnt this a rather private part? Can you expose it like this? Ah, this is a male for sure. See, it looks like a peanut. There was a crowd of people at the entrance, looking under the cats tail. I thought this was the time for me to y the viin. Let me remind you all, since you seem to have forgotten. Were going to find a good family for him after he gets all his shots. We cant raise him. Now that we had to sync up with the backup dancers, we had to stay in the practice room all day. I couldnt bear to think of the cat being left alone in the house, while all five of us were gone. It was cruel to the cat to keep him. You bloodless, tearless viin! Conglomerate! Lustful! What are you talking about. Dont talk nonsense. Ye-jun ran away, screaming with exaggerated gestures. The only thing that made sense was conglomerate. And that was not even me, but Cheon Yises parents. Lustful is you, Im worried that youll cause a scandal. I fired back at Ye-jun, as if it wasnt a counterattack. Ye-jun tilted his head and blinked his eyes. Me? Why me? He was surrounded by female staff a few days ago,ughing and having fun. Lets be honest. You cant neuter Meongie and yourself at the same time. Yikes, how can you say such a cruel thing! The atmosphere turned into a mess again. But what I really feel unfair is. I want to be friends with everyone, regardless of gender. But what if theyre not interested? What do you mean, what if. You have to handle it well and avoid misunderstandings. I tapped his forehead with my hand, as if I was hitting a bean or a chestnut. Ye-jun grumbled as if he was wronged. Its sad to be popr, huh. Stop wasting time and help me with dinner. The atmosphere that had been tense for a while after the second episode of Jacon aired seemed to ease up a bit. I hoped everything would go smoothly until the teaser was released. ording to the schedule of uploading one episode per week, tomorrow was the day I had to go down to the countryside again to film Jacon. Aeong-i agreed to stay with us until the day of adoption. And the preliminaries of Star Discovery were over, so I didnt have any big worries for a while. Or rather, I shouldnt have. If something else went wrong here, I wouldnt have time to fix it. Please, lets get through this well. I prayed to the system. Please, dont let anything happen. But of course, there was no answer. Only the fluffy thing at the bottom of the basic status window that popped up with a pop made a whining sound as if trying to cheer me up. *** Once I got on the full-fledged track, time flew by like an arrow. I had been stuck in the practice room for almost a month with dance practice, so I lost my sense of date. Only two days a week. The time I got out of the practice room for the filming of Boys in Crisis was like rain in a drought. I was even happy to go out as a substitute for Kang Yugeons absence. Singing the same song over and over, dancing over and over. By the time I heard the first verse, my body moved first. The day Seong-won stood on the main stage of Star Discovery was approaching. Soon, mak woulde back too, and theeback schedule was vaguely visible. It was one night around that time. [Title] I tried to troll a top idol from my agency and got screwed badly, but I still didnte to my senses. [Body] I was a contract worker at M Entertainment until recently. I came here to spill some tea about the failed idol who is famous for having a good image (like a parent, lol). They are nning toe back around November. I messed up the schedule of the first group in the agency and got cursed a lot. And then I stole their title song and packaged it as if I prepared it. They seem to be washing their image with Jacon these days, lol. The fandom of the first group must be pissed. Ill delete this soon. [Comments] -No proof, no truth, gtfo If I bring proof, youll beg me to delete this, lol. Just show proof and talk. -Whosing back in November? Looking at the first group in the agency and the parent thing, it seems like Km. Please refrain from mentioning initials for unconfirmed rumors. -You cant even diss them properly, but youre trying to create anxiety like this? Is this fun for you? You want the fandoms to fight, its obvious. Who would fall for this trash? Ah I had nothing to say. I woke up after tossing and turning in the night and saw that my subscription SNS timeline was a mess. The fans didnt believe the post that was uploaded and deleted in the middle of the night without proof. But there had never been a rumor disguised as an experience like this before, only malicious interpretations. So everyone was restless. The only good thing was it wasnt the kind of post I was most worried about. If the original Cheonises bad personality that hemitted before he died bes publicized now, it would be a disaster. That was the only thing I was worried about It wasnt true anyway, and I had nothing to be proud of at this point, so I was fine. It wasnt a big deal that the article spread too much, so it was safer to let it go quietly without making a fuss. Fortunately, the other members didnt see it and passed by Hyung, did you see it? As soon as I opened the door to prepare breakfast, Ye-jun was already awake. What? I pretended not to know, even though I had a hunch. We had less than a month left for oureback, so there was no need to deliver negative news. Especially if Seon-woo or Kyunghwa heard it, they would both be anxious and couldnt focus on the practice. That. The one that was posted on the entertainment talk board. He saw it too. Why did he monitor it instead of sleeping well at dawn? I saw it. There was no proof and it was a lie anyway, and it was already deleted. I briefly summarized that I didnt need to take any further action or care, and Ye-jun made a face. Hyung, arent you angry? Of course I am. I cant do anything right now, and it would be more harmful to respond, so I just didnt waste my energy. Of course. We worked so hard to use the song that Floss threw away because we didnt want to. It wasnt just my own effort, but a result that all the members contributed their talents. I couldnt tolerate thebels of giarism or stolen songs attached to it. It didnt spread much and it was deleted, so its better to ignore it than to respond now. It would only solidify Flosss ghost image. Ye-jun couldnt argue, knowing that it was logical, and bit his lip. Its so frustrating. Im angry. But the fact that I cant do anything about it makes me more annoyed. Ye-jun slumped down, unlike his usual self, and hugged his knees with both arms. All the members remembered how much he had refined and created a great result in a short time. If it werent for Ye-jun, we would have been ignored by thepany, saying, look at that, you guys cant do it. So I understood his anger, but. Today was Seong-wons appearance on Star Discovery. It was a happy holiday, a bountiful Chuseok Why are there so many shitty things happening? I rubbed my forehead and shook my head. But, the trouble didnt end there. Chapter 70: The Worst Timing Chapter 70: The Worst Timing Chapter 70 The Worst Timing Whats going on? As I raised my voice at Ye-jun with the door open, Seon-woo, who had woken up from his sleep, asked from inside the room. Oh, nothing much. I just thought we could have breakfast a bit early. I didnt want to cause any trouble today, when Seong-won had an important broadcast, and a live one at that. I gave Ye-jun a wink, telling him to be quiet, and he made a yful face, as if he understood. He still didnt lookpletely refreshed, as usual. He seemed proud of his work, since it was his firstmercial arrangement. People who had jobs that involved creating and showing their products to others were inevitably affected by the feedback they received. If thebel attached to his firstmercial work was that he stole a song from another group, it would be hard to restrain himself. But this was not the time. It was a situation where he had to hold back his anger. Wheres Seong-won hyung? Seon-woo came out to the living room, tidying up the nket he had slept under. Hes still sleeping. Ill help you with the breakfast preparations. The three of us ate a delicious breakfast, and then Seong-won opened the door with a groan. Whats this? So early in the morning. He frowned as he looked at us, sitting side by side on the sofa. Do you want some breakfast? Nah. Ill just have a sd for lunch and go. Seong-won, who was part of the cast, said he had to go two hours earlier than us to prepare for the rehearsal. We, the staff audience, decided to move as a group in the managers car two or three hourster. You have to eat something to have energy and voice, right? You know Im not a big eater. Seong-won passed me by with a sullen look and went into his room after washing up neatly. Wow, the ice princess is gone. The amodation has be royal. Royal? Seon-woo tilted his head as if he didnt understand what he meant, and Ye-jun answered jokingly. Youre a baby crocodile and hes an ice fondue. Huh? Seon-woo still looked confused and couldnt understand at once, and Ye-jun gave up exining. Never mind. Sorry for teasing you. Why, what are you apologizing for? Seon-woo looked at me as if he had done something wrong. I sneaked a nce at the two guys and backed off. I dont know what youre talking about either. As Ye-jun and I ran into the room, Seon-woo was left alone in the living room. Why are you the only one left? Seong-wons voice asking Seon-woo came from beyond the thin wooden door back to the living room. I dont know either. ? If you dont know, who does? I could clearly see what kind of expression Seong-won was making without looking at him. I suppressed augh and pped my cheek lightly, as if to cast a spell on myself and snap out of it. Then I checked the timeline of my subscription ount, where only good stories were posted, to gain some strength. [- Last week, the Crisis Shelter was so cute when they ate everything saying it was Chuseok ] [Picture] [The one who takes the oil out of the Severe is better than our big house] [- Seong-won is getting used to the bugs so funny He screamed like he was going to faint when he saw Tinkerbell, but now he calmly calls Seon-woo] [Hes so cute, right? Seon-woo goes and catches the bugs when he says go, not even PocketX] [It was so funny when the yard cats were ying with a moth and he freaked out Its like the rule of the jungle, he would quit in 10 minutes if he went out there] [- Our squirrel went to the FE crew leaders birthday party and it was so hip, really Will he not release a selfposed song in the next album He seems so talented] [- These days, hes on a lot of variety shows and the Crisis Shelter is doing well, so I think hell make aeback soon, but Im already looking forward to it] [- At the beginning of the Crisis Shelter, he just cried and sent them away, and he was so worried about the cats being sick and stuff, but he seems fine now. He shows a lot of real friend tension with the kids, which is nice.] I couldnt help but talk mostly about the Crisis Shelter, since it was my only regr activity. The views had dropped a bit since the cat incident, which had sparked a lot of interest, but I felt like the loyal viewers had increased. It was not too stimting, butfortable and mildly fun, so even non-fans liked to watch it while eating or before going to bed. I couldnt outright refuse to send them away in episode 2, but I showed enough displeasure, which paid off. I had a few run-ins with the PD after that. After a few shes, they seemed to realize that it was no good to mess with me. To be honest I still have a cold rtionship with Chairman Chun, so I dont have to kiss up or suck up to him. I stretched out after gathering some positive energy, and heard Seong-won getting ready to leave. I would see him in the waiting room anyway, but I had to say goodbye. I opened the door and saw Seong-won stuffing a sd into his mouth with wireless earphones in his ears. Eat only when you eat. Youll get sick if you do that. Seong-won nced at me and shook his head. I feel better listening to it all the time. I have to sing the original version, not the arranged one, or Ill be in trouble. I didnt want to pick a fight with him, who was facing a big stage. I nodded and patted his shoulder lightly. Okay, do whatever you want. Just dont mind others and show them everything you want to show. I dont need you to tell me that, Ill do well on my own. Yeah. All I could do was cheer for him, so today the best thing was to praise him. Go go go, fighting. I raised my fist lightly until Seong-won left the dorm. He used to be startled when I said go with an a, like an olddy, but now he smiled as if he was confident. Dont be nervous, its not like youre going to die. I felt relieved when I heard his usual sarcastic reply. I just had to get through today. Just today. I made a vow and waited for the manager who was supposed toe in two hours. I had nothing to do, and the person who would take care of the cat with the alias Aeyong hadnt arrived yet, so we were all lying on the sofa. Wow, I really brought some amazing news! The manager, whom I hadnt seen properly in a while, came in with a fuss. Whats going on? Kyunghwa, who was reviewing the script for next weeks Crisis Boys in his room, came out to the living room, startled by themotion. Seon-woo had been looking at his phone in the living room as usual, and I was preparing snacks for the waiting room in the kitchen. Whats going on? Ye-jun asked, casually eating the leftover fruit scraps from making the snacks. They offered us a spot as MCs for Music Safe! Oh. Music Safe was a terrestrial music show that aired every Friday. It had a 40-year history, and the MCs over the years were called the lineage of top idols. It had to be Kyunghwa for the MC position, right? We all got ready to congratte Kyunghwa, thinking of the various radio, variety, guest, and web shows he had appeared in. Wow, really? Thats awesome! Seon-woo looked at Kyunghwa with a bright smile and a happy face. None of the members seemed to think that anyone other than Kyunghwa would be offered the MC spot. Thats when the manager dropped the nuclear bomb with a cheerful smile. You got the materials from thepany, right? Prepare well. Youre going on as MCs starting next month! Huh? Seon-woo looked back and forth between the manager and Kyunghwa with a bewildered expression. Not Kyunghwa hyung? The manager nced at Kyunghwa and answered Seon-woos innocent question. Huh? Why would Kyunghwa go? Its you. Seon-young is leaving after the first week of October and theyre recing her with another MC. Theyre going to do a special episode with you and Na siblings that day. The atmosphere was chilly. Somewhere, a kittens fang flew and stabbed me in the ankle. I felt like tears would well up in my eyes from the pain, but I couldnt scream in this situation. Uh Seon-woo stammered, caught off guard by this situation. His head was confused like aputer that hadnt booted up yet, and he didnt know what to say. Its really me, not Kyunghwa hyung? Why do you keep talking about Kyunghwa? Theyre starting with you and Seon-young as a special. The manager drove the nail in, and Seon-woo looked more confused as his eyes spun around. Can I, can I do it? I thought it was impossible. The first live broadcast he had flown around was thanks to his skill. He had gained some confidence since then and his attitude wasnt bad, but he wasnt at the level to be the main MC. Seon-woo was diligent, but he learned slower than the others and was slow to react. If he had been in an environment that required strict group life rather than an idol, he would have lived with a 100% reputation. Hes really, really nice And then everyone would have added, Hes a bit of a torturer. He was the most cruel person in the world who unwittingly tore apart other peoples pride and wounds. When an incident or ident urred, Kyunghwa was the type to deal with it flexibly with the maximum mind control. Uh uh why cant Kyunghwa hyung do it instead of me? He made things worse by saying things he didnt have to. I and Ye-jun, caught in this awkward atmosphere, kept quiet and held our breath. From where I was sitting, the door was blocking my view, so I couldnt see what kind of face Kyunghwa was making. And Ye-jun felt the same way. Shit, what do we do with this atmosphere? I tried tomunicate with Ye-jun with my eyes, but he looked away with a gloomy expression. Thats when Kyunghwa opened his mouth calmly, with a much lower tone than usual. Thats great. Since Seonyoung noona has been the MC all along, she can teach you a lot of things. Dont worry about me and do your best. I red at Ye-jun with resentful eyes. Why did he have to torture the kid when he could have just passed him in one go during the recording! I dont know what Ye-jun was thinking, but he caught the resentment towards himself and shook his head as if he was wronged. What do you mean, no! Ever since Kyunghwa reluctantly gave up half of his part to Seon-woo, the air between them was not good. Of course, Seon-woo was clueless and didnt know anything, and he was just cheerful, while Kyunghwa was burning with anger inside. Everyone except Seon-woo knew that Kyunghwa thought of himself as untalented. But that wasnt true. They all had their own strengths in different areas. Kyunghwa was talented in many things. But he didnt seem to feel that way. Thats when Seon-woo poured gasoline on the fire. I really dont have any confidence Cant you ask the manager to switch me with Kyunghwa hyung? As if. Seon-woo was crushing Kyunghwas pride without any malice. Chapter 71: Help me SOS Chapter 71: Help me SOS Chapter 71 Help me SOS The dorm became as quiet as a mouse after Seon-woo dropped the second bomb. After a brief silence, Kyunghwa opened his mouth. Do you think Im a joke? Seon-woo was taken aback by his unexpected reaction and answered. No, I, I thought you would do better than me Its you who needs it, not me. Cant you understand what Im saying? Do you have no sense at all? Or did you think you could get away with ignoring me this much because you were fine without paying attention until now? I, Im, Im sorry Its no use getting angry at you. Im the only trash and the only bad guy here. You just trample on my feelings without any malice and think its over when you say youre sorry. From the part distribution to the various appearances and self-promotion. Kyunghwa had given up too much for Seon-woo as a senior and as a strategy. Until now, no one had received much attention, so he didnt have to stress about it But its different when he starts getting good offers from outside. It wasnt Kyunghwa or Ye-jun, who had a widework of contacts, but Seon-woo who got the offer He couldnt deny that it was influenced by the spotlights that Kyunghwa had gradually conceded to Seon-woo. Kyunghwa, I know youre upset, but youre being too harsh The manager, who intervened in the middle, tried to mediate, but he only ended up hitting Seon-woo. What was he supposed to do? The manager would naturally care for Seon-woo, who brought in the money with the good offer. A few months ago, he might not have cared, but Seon-woo had sessfully restored his idol mode with a diet and shone with his mere presence. He didnt need to try hard to get attention. He had a face that made people wonder how he could be so pretty with just a nce. I guess I have to side with Kyunghwa for now If I make a wrong move, it will look like the older guys in the group are jealous of the young ones appearance and want to devour him. How can I handle this situation well? I nced at Ye-jun. He met my eyes and made a yful expression as if to say, I cant help it either. How can he joke in this atmosphere? He was really an amazing character in many ways. Seon-woo, you cant say that. How can you rece a member who was casted logically? When I intervened, I heard Kyunghwa sigh deeply. First of all, its a good thing that we got casted, so lets prepare for it gradually. You were able to get attention like that, honestly, thanks to Kyunghwas consideration. So think about how you can help Kyunghwa positively from now on. Do I have to spoon-feed him like this when Im not even a kindergarten or elementary school teacher? The manager in the middle still tried to say something, but I stopped him. We dont have time now, so hurry up and pack up and move. Lets talk againter. In front of the rolling camera, these guys would act as if nothing happened. I hoped they would behave ording to mymon sense and tried to wrap up, when the third nuclear bomb exploded. Wow, but were in a huge mess right now on Entertainment Talk Talk. Ye-jun suddenly cut in with an irrelevant remark. He wouldnt make a fuss over nothing in this situation. I quickly essed Entertainment Talk Talk on my phone. [Title] Male idol group appearing on a famous live show today under public scrutiny [Body] I posted this at dawn, but it got deleted by report, so Im posting it again A 5-member male idol group that recently became famous for their healing self-content, they stole the song of their junior group from the same agency that theyre going toe back with soon` I was nning to write this for the summereback of our junior group, but the senior group snatched it and flew away with it as their owneback single. The senior group had a member who was a parachute from a bigpany, so the wholepany was only looking after them. Come on, spill the tea, guys. This time Ill attach some proof. [Picture] The proof was a staff ID card with the name covered. Maybe it was because of the sudden surge of incidents and idents. I was suddenly seized by a transcendent feeling that everything would somehow work out. Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe I was having a nightmare because I was too stressed and nervous about theeback. There was no way that such terrible things would happen one after another if it wasnt a nightmare. Or was this a quest? If I somehow managed to fix this, would theeback be a sess for sure? Something like that? Tell me that, you bastards. I desperately called for the system, but there was no sound of Pposil barking. We should go get in the car right now The manager, who hadnt checked the content yet, opened his mouth in a tense atmosphere. Hyung, first please check the Entertainment Talk Talk. They even posted a staff proof, so its spreading like crazy. The rumor that Kang Yugeon got beaten up and the parachute caused trouble for Floss again was spreading among the Tempo, the fandom of Floss. I shouldnt look at it. But I couldnt help clicking on the linked article. [- Ugh Im so sad and teary Our Flicking members have such talent that they could fly higher if they went to a big agency, but the ipetentpany The senior group that only causes trouble for them and makes the innocent members and Tempo suffer every day] [- Everyone, dont lose your firepower and raise the trend. #W_Exin We have to get feedback today. Its humiliating, but were the only ones who can protect our Flicking members!] [- Is it true that theyre making money like water by running our kids schedule, but they dont manage anything? Do they think 5 million Tempo are easy?] The buzz was exploding as the trend rose. System, what are you doing, system! What was the item I got before? My head was nk and I thought I had to use it. Huh? I was so flustered that I eximed without realizing it. What, did something elsee up? Ye-jun got up from his seat in surprise and looked down at me with wide eyes. I couldnt say anything because the system wouldnt open. I thought I didnt rely on the system much until then. But when it didnt show up when I needed it, I couldnt see a way out of this situation. Ill just make a quick call. There was only one face that came to my mind in this situation. That kid, who I didnt know if he was a friend or a foe. Calm down. I felt like my hand was shaking, so I took a deep breath and pressed the call button. After two missed calls, the call was finally connected. Hello, Mr. Kang Yugeon. Are you avable to talk right now? Yugeon answered in his low but weightless voice. -No, I have to go to rehearsal right away. Im busy, so it might be difficult. Is there something urgent? There was a hint ofughter in his voice. He knew everything. I tried to calm my racing heart and answered. Its just that, theres a rumor going around between Floss and Climax thats different from the truth. -Ah, is it about that song, the copy or the steal? Is that why you called me? Ah? I was in a situation where my blood was drying up, but why was he talking so calmly? I put my hand on my chest to keep my sanity. Could you please post an exnation on SNS if possible? Our new single, we were offered to use a song that you didnt usest summer, but we refused and made a new song with new arrangement and lyrics. -Ah I see. I see? As I lost my words and hesitated, Kang Yugeon quickly added. -Why me? What? I felt my heart sink as I heard that. Why? If someone was misunderstood because of being linked to him It wasmon sense to help clear the misunderstanding. It wasnt a long time, but maybe it was because I had lived with too sensible guys until now. I was speechless at the rejection I never expected. My n to post an exnation, which I had been working on until a moment ago, was shattered. -Ise, youre good at trend search, right? Then you must know that Im being cursed as the maniption king, right? I couldnt answer and clenched my fist. -If I post an exnation, not another member Ill be dragged into the maniption and get cursed too. Do I need to take that risk? Need Yeah, I guess not. He was the undisputed top. We werent. -Honestly, Ive done you a lot of favors by getting you the choreography and the self-control staff. That You thought I would risk ruining my image for a few schedules you filled in for me Kang Yugeons lightughter scattered over the phone. -Im a bit surprised. This bastard was an enemy. He had been so sessful since he was young that he had nothing in his eyes. I wanted to see his fathers face once, wondering who raised this selfish jerk. -Well, cheer up. Itll die down soon. Is that what you call it? I wanted to grab his cor, but it was useless to argue with him now. It would have been better to urge the agency to do something about it. I understand. I hung up the phone weakly and called the system again. System! I called it several times in my mind, but there was no answer. It used to read peoples minds all the time when I didnt need it, but why was it so quiet now? I felt feverish. It was strange. Was I such an angry person? I was always calm and not swayed by anything I even heard that I was not human because I had no emotional expression As I was in confusion, the manager called me. Ise, I know youre upset, but we have to leave now! I had to do something. I had to call the agency while moving If they protected their body from the sparks that would fly to Floss, maybe to the president of Cheon As the emergency bell rang in my head, the status window that I had been calling desperately popped up in front of my eyes. [Would you like to start the special event Find Cheonise?] The font was broken and theyout was awkward, unlike usual. It looked like I had essed a phishing site [Reward: Emergency Escape Service] Something was wrong. Not only the situation I was in, but also the system was not normal. [Would you like to start the special event Find Cheonise?] [Reward: Emergency Escape Service] The broken font window kept appearing and disappearing in front of my eyes. As if urging me to answer. And then, at some point. [Do you ept the quest?] [Yes/No] As if this was thest chance, this time a normal system window popped up. My head was so confused that I had no time to think about why the system was acting like this. It was not the time to judge whether the quest the system brought was a lifeline or a straw. [Yes] If there was a possibility to ovee this situation, if I could protect our kids, I had to do anything. [The special quest Find Cheonise begins now.] [The power of Cheonise (Lim Hyun-seong) will be temporarily cut off for location transfer.] The suspicious message turned into a rude font and scattered almost as soon as it was disyed. As the system window scattered, my consciousness began to fade away. Chapter 72: Find Cheonise (1) Chapter 72: Find Cheonise (1) Chapter 72 Find Cheonise (1) After finishing the call with Cheonise, Yugeon closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. He barely had time to sort out his thoughts when a staff member approached him and gestured. Mr. Yugeon, lets move right away. It wasnt a lie that he was too busy for a long conversation. All the staff members running around the huge set were waiting for him to move. He felt the pressure of more than thirty pairs of eyes staring at him. It would have been a daunting situation for anyone. Im sorry. Ill move right away. The director checked the route along the set and showed him how he would appear on the camera screen. How much was the advertising cost for this program? He heard that one 15-second CF slot cost more than 1,500. The total production cost and the mid-program ads added up to an astronomical amount. He was a top star who could make the birds fall, but he wasnt in a position to block the way of a 23-year-old kid. So he had said as much as he could. Yugeon tried to shake off the previous call from his mind. Yugeon, I was at your uncles funeral too. Do you remember my face? He still remembered vividly when he visited the waiting room to briefly look around the contestants before the preliminaries. Number 3. The man who kept pushing his chest with a huge number on it to Yugeon. Im sorry about your father. But the living have to live, right? He had no idea what he was talking about and shamelessly asked for a favor with a casual handshake. His face was so repulsive. If he didnt do as he wanted, he would be in trouble with the gossip program. As soon as Yugeon left the waiting room, he barely suppressed the urge to wash his hands until they were raw at the sink. If he thought about the disgust he felt then He wouldnt have minded the lord who was having a good time ying house with the members. I dont need to worry about someone who has no reliable backing Just as Yugeon was looking for the call list on his phone, unable to shake off the uneasiness. Alright, we have 10 minutes left until the show starts! Please stand by at your seats! The te sound that signaled the start of the shooting rang out loud. It was toote to help, and even if it wasnt, the timing was bad. He could only fix it after the show was over. It was better to forget about things he couldnt solve right away. What do they want me to do when I cant do anything for them? If I mess up on SNS, Ill lose my neck in an instant. Yugeon clenched his fist and climbed the stairs to the stage. The stage that looked down from the judges seat was far away, and in the waiting room that was not shown on the broadcast, he saw a familiar face. A half-tied blond hair that barely touched his shoulder. He was a handsome idol with a sharp face like a fox. He must have been unhappy with the fact that he had prevented him from getting unanimous benefits. Its not like he had no problems either. Yugeon nced at him with a cold eye and turned his head. He didnt know if he was a little jealous of the loser who couldnt even get the initial votes. He wondered what was holding that group together as they were falling apart. *** When I opened my eyes, I saw a square ceiling. The wallpaper was a faint ivory color, and the room was notrge but not small either. The uniform hanging on the wall was neatly ironed as if someone had taken good care of it. I instinctively checked the name tag on the uniform first. [Lim Hyun-seong] I opened my eyes wide at the familiar name I saw after a long time. As I got up from the bed, the quilt that had wrapped me warmly ording to the cool season fell off. I looked at the mirror hanging on the opposite wall and saw a young face that looked like it had just entered high school staring nkly at me. What, what is this? I remembered that they said they would cut off the power to move something somewhere but I couldnt figure out what was going on. Wait, let me sort this out first. Im 18 years old this year, and my hobby and specialty are cooking. I was a high school student who dreamed of bing a professional in the food industry by entering the hotel cooking department, unless there was a big problem. My family wasnt very wealthy, but we didntck anything either. We were a very ordinary family of four, including my stepmother and half-sibling, who boasted of our harmony. When I first entered elementary school, my mother passed away from a chronic illness, so I had a hard time for a while I was lucky in many ways. Fortunately, my stepmother embraced me warmly without any discrimination from her biological child, so I had been living without any major problems until now. Oh,e to think of it, it wasnt elementary school, but primary school. Why did I think of it as elementary school? I was confused and looked at the clock hanging on the opposite side of the bed. It was 7:30. Hey, Hyun-seong! If you donte out now, youll bete! I opened the door and ran out at the urgent call of my stepmother, and saw my father who was busy preparing breakfast. Use the bathroom in the master bedroom. Your sibling is in the living room bathroom. Okay~. I dly went to the master bedroom and washed my face, and came out with a neat face. There was a warm home-cooked meal on the table. How are you doing at school these days? My stepmother looked at me and my sibling alternately and asked cautiously. We were in different grades, but we went to the same school, so she seemed to care about how we got along at school. Nothing special. Its just the same. I answered lightly and scooped up some hot rice with soybean paste stew with brisket. I chewed and swallowed it with a slurp. If I cooked it, I would add a little bit of ssamjang to enhance the vor but I wasnt diligent enough to prepare the familys meal in the morning. I ate well, and when I finished the rice bowl and got up, it was time to hurry to school. Im happy. I smiled unconsciously as I filled my stomach. Afortable and harmonious family, a good sibling. Smooth friendships. I didnt have to worry about making a living or being responsible for other peoples lives as a business owner. A very ordinary and mediocre life of a male high school student. I didnt know why this natural life felt like a fortune. I didnt have any big troubles since I was young Why do I feel uneasy? I erased the inexplicable difort and headed to school. I didnt need to keep this strange feeling for a long time when I didnt have any headache problems. As I entered the high school that was built after 2010, I felt a new building smell that was unfamiliar to me. I thought I was sick of going to school every day, but I didnt know why this smell bothered me all of a sudden. Hyun-seong, hi~. I was rummaging through my desk drawer to find my seat when my friend sitting next to me tapped my shoulder and greeted me. Hey. Did you remember to bring your gym clothes today? I asked him with a yful expression, after checking that we had physical education ss in the fifth period. He answered with a sour face. Hey, of course I did! What do you think of me? What do I think of him? He was my best friend since middle school, we were lucky enough to be in the same ss all the time But suddenly, I couldnt remember his name. I was sure I knew him well Why couldnt I remember? As my face turned pale, I looked at the ckboard where the girls had written something. [ Floss, the terrestrial triple crown winner ] [Climax, Octobereback, full of lovesupport] They were all sticking to the idol fan messages as if they werepeting. I dont know why they write that stuff. My friend sitting next to me clicked his tongue, as if he was jealous. Why, its good to have something you like. I answered nonchntly, but he seemed annoyed that I didnt agree with him. He snapped at me. You would say that, youre a cooking otaku. A cooking otaku, whats that? I just liked to make and eat delicious food, more than others. Just like the girls who gathered in groups to watch the idols dancing and singing in the music videos. I also had something I liked, thats all. As I brushed it off lightly, a scream erupted from the girls group. OMG, whats going on? Whats happening? It must be a hoax. The tabloids are just trying to get clicks by making up nonsense. They were so loud that the whole ss looked at them naturally. Ise was always known for being mentally strong, right? Theres nothing wrong. Dont worry. One of the group members, an idol named Ise, seemed to have some trouble. I dont know, Im so upset. I just wish nothing happened. I felt uneasy listening to their sobbing voices. My friend next to me poked my side and showed me his phone screen. Wow Cheon Ise, unbelievable. He posted a suicide note and went missing this morning. The inte article he handed me had the news of the idol members disappearance. The agency is going crazy looking for Cheon Ise, hes not at home or at the dorm. I didnt know what was going on But I felt like I had forgotten something very important. Hisst destination was Mapo Bridge? The photo attached to the article showed a familiar but strange face of a male idol, wearing a hood. I felt like I had to meet him in person. I wanted to hear what he was thinking, why he did this. Then a very important question popped into my head. Why me? Thats right I was just an ordinary high school student who dreamed of bing a chef, and the idol in the article was a celebrity who lived in a different world. I had no reason to go see him, not even a speck of dust. Why should I interfere with someone elses life? I have a perfect life right now. What do Ick that makes me want to go find an idol out of the blue? Someone whispered in my ear with my voice. He was right. But I felt a sudden urge and couldnt breathe. Isnt this the happiest life I can imagine? Why should I think more, when I can be content with what I have now? A suffocating feeling of being pressed down by something heavy, as if I was sinking into deep water. A sense of helplessness, as if I had forgotten something important. It overwhelmed me. Ill be right back, I need to go out for a bit. I had to see it for myself. What was Cheonise thinking? What led her to make such an extreme choice? Even though my head felt like it was about to split open, the thought of finding Cheonise became clearer and clearer in my mind. Hey, are you crazy? Where are you going? The kids who were watching the girls making a fuss over Cheonises disappearance turned their eyes to me in an instant. It was like iron filings sticking to a ma. In a sh, the whole ssroom was staring at me, giving me goosebumps. Why is he acting like that? Someone stop Lim Hyun-seong! A ssmate whose face I didnt even know grabbed my wrist. I reflexively shook off his hand. I regretted pushing him too hard, but then. You crazy bastard. The countless hands that reached out to me melted away like ck slime. Chapter 73: Find Cheonise (2) Chapter 73: Find Cheonise (2) Chapter 73 Find Cheonise (2) It was like a scene from a horror zombie game. All the kids in the ss melted into slimy blobs. What the hell, this is crazy! The only thought that came to me was to run away from here. I felt a surge of fear that I would forget what I was trying to do if I got caught. Cheonise why do I have to find him? As my head was in confusion, I heard a familiar voice. Ise-hyung, you seem to have changed a lot. Thanks. You know, I feel like I can trust you more than before. Lets keep this a secret between us. I didnt know whose voice it was, but it felt strangely familiar. I didnt have any friends with that kind of voice. I felt frustrated as I realized I was ignoring something I shouldnt forget. Blood rushed to my face. Shit! What is this! As I ran out of the hallway, the other students in the other sses also turned into dark and long shadows and reached out their numerous hands towards me. Why cant I just be satisfied here? Having normal parents, a stable family, going to college, making friends, and studying what I want. Wasnt that the happiness I wanted? Thats right. There was no ideal happiness beyond that for Lim Hyun-seong. I thought of the missing idol as someone elses problem and lived my own life. That was the right path for me. What do you want me to do with this uneasy feeling! As I barely made it to the yground, I stepped on the shoce of my left shoe that had somehowe undone. Ahh! I lost my bnce and stumbled, twisting my center of gravity. I ended up falling on my knees, scraping them on the dirt. Blood was flowing from under my torn school uniform pants. Ah Mom is going to scold me. As I barely got up and started running again, a sense of unease suddenly crept into my head. Did my stepmother ever care about my uniform? I didnt know about her sons shirt, but she never soaked mine in bleach. I remembered how mine was the only one that stood out in a yellowish color. When I tried to recall more details, my head throbbed. Ugh It hurts. Before I could regain my senses, a horde of zombies poured out of the school. I had to run away first. What the hell is going on! The starting point where I could cross the Mapo Bridge on foot was too far to walk, no matter how I thought about it. But instead of looking for a bus, my feet moved on their own. I felt like my body knew where to go better than my head. There was no one who knew better than me what kind of emotions Cheonise was feeling and where she was right now. Because Why? My head went nk again. What a stupid thought. There was no way I had any connection with an idol I should have been content with the perfect and happy world I had. I didnt know why I was going through this hardship. Should I go back to school? Maybe I could pretend that I had a briefpse of sanity and blend in with the ss again. They would pat me on the back and ept me, saying they thought I was crazy. Yeah, going back to school would be better. As I turned my body around, I heard some strange voices again. You dont know how lucky I am to have you. Thank you~ What If you want toe, thene. Bro, youre amazing! I am Who am I? What was I trying to do? I looked up at the ceiling, clutching my head in pain that felt like my brain was boiling. Someone was sitting on the low railing that was there before the construction, blocking me from getting up. The moment I faced him, I remembered clearly who I was and why I came here. You! It was more like a shadow than a person, a mass of ck lines tangled together. It looked back at me. As soon as I realized that this moment was not real, hot tears ran down my cheeks. If I had a once-in-a-lifetime wish that would make me forget my original purpose. I would have thought it was something grand like achieving one trillion won in sales or opening a thousand stores in overseas markets. How could this My lifelong wish was to be a rice cake. A happy world that made me forget the reality of my group being shattered. Barely. The bastards who killed me in the end epted me as their family, a high school student. I didnt want to admit it. Dont make meugh. What I wanted most was not to live in harmony with those bastards. I wanted to make them pay for their sins as murderers and make them regret it thoroughly. I wiped away my tears roughly with the back of my hand and answered the question from before. I was Lim Hyun-seong and at the same time, the leader of Climax, Cheon I-se. Then what was that? Are you the real Cheonise? It slowly turned its head to look at me in response to my question. It was a ck lump with no discernible eyes, nose, or mouth, but I felt its gaze on me. It was the same Cheonise who had trouble waking up on time even after hearing the rm, who cried at the slightest anger, who was impatient and impulsive, and who lost his mind in a pinch. He was in front of me. I didnt know what to say. Why did you make that choice? Do you have any regrets or lingering feelings? It wasnt appropriate to say anything like that when I barely saved his life instead. If Cheonise hadnt given up on his life, I wouldnt be here either. The thing that I assumed to be Cheonise scanned me slowly from head to toe without answering. And then it muttered in a sinister voice that scraped my bones. Why do you get to live and I dont? At that moment, when I felt goosebumps all over my body even though it wasnt real, a familiar UI status window popped up in my head. [System recovery sessful] [The system connection of Lim Hyun-seong has been sessfully restored.] [The unauthorized program that was trying to ess Lim Hyun-seong has been stopped.] What? Then what was that until now? I suddenly remembered the emergency quest window that had a different form than usual. It was weird, as if I had caught some virus or something As soon as the status window appeared, the world turned into a ck and white reverse mode. What the hell, what is this! As the world shattered like a well-made puzzle, the thing that I thought was Cheonise also disappeared. Hey, wait! Dont go! There was a story I wanted to hear from Cheonise. Whether he was really satisfied with wearing someone elses mask and living off someone elses sess. Whether he resented me for stealing his life. But the system didnt allow it. [Lim Hyun-seong will be transferred back to the systems management area.] [Lim Hyun-seongs power will be temporarily cut off for location transfer.] The front of my eyes blinked again. *** When I came to my senses again, I saw the space I was in before I possessed Cheonise for the first time. [The system is temporarily checking for a stable return to the original system.] Under the familiar status window, Pposil barked loudly and looked up at me. He lowered his body and wagged his tail as if to reassure me that I could trust him now. What the hell is this. [We sincerely apologize for the dy in responding to the unauthorized program due to a security w in the system.] The system offered me an apology before I could evenin. I needed to hear a proper exnation of what was going on. What is an unauthorized program? Then, as if someone was spiking his drink, the system quickly disyed a message of no authority. [You do not have permission to view this information with your current authority as Cheonise (Lim Hyun-seong).] What, you cant tell me even though things have gotten this bad? I reflexively twitched my eyebrows. The arms and legs floating in the air were clearly not Lim Hyun-seongs, but Cheonises. Wait, what about the quest reward? As soon as my thoughts settled down, I felt dizzy. I epted the urgent quest clear reward, but if the quest itself was unauthorized or something, it would have been a rewardless event. Wait a minute! What about my emergency escape service? The system answered irresponsibly. [The system is not responsible for the transmission details due to the unauthorized program error.] Damn! That meant that even if the system was restored and I returned to reality, the situation would not change. Dont joke with me! Apologize, dont think you can get away with just one word and properlypensate me! I threw a tantrum like a jerk whoy down on the floor as if he had been caught up in a huge conspiracy by a part-timers mistake. I was really surprised, you know? How are you going topensate me for this mental damage? How are you going to take responsibility if I copse from being so shocked by your poor security handling that I cant function properly and suffer? My face was hot, but I had to be angry now. I couldnt back down until I got a way out of this mess from the system. [We are currently negotiating apensation n.] The system stuttered and sent me a notification message. Well, you should have said that from the start. I cooled my cheeks with a fan. He must have overlooked the fact that the most difficult customer to deal with in a restaurant was a middle-aged man. After a while, Pposil came up to me with a long scroll of notification window, smiling and sticking out his tongue. [Our Human Happiness Death Wish System sincerely apologizes for the unprecedented security issue that caused damage to Lim Hyun-seong and offers topensate you a little bit.] Why is this so long? I skipped the nonsense with a soulless eye and checked the conclusion. [To cope with the current situation proactively, we will temporarily expand the application range of the Overwhelming Skill and Youll Like Me Too from yourself to a group (up to 5 people) including yourself.] Not bad. It would be much better if the insults, criticisms, and rumors that were randomly posted on the inte would calm down. But that wasnt the problem that would be solved by just making the people who increased the buzz against us quiet. It had to be known that oureback single didnt steal Flosss song, and that we were not the perpetrators of Floss, but the victims. This is not enough. Bring more stuff. I crossed my arms and lifted my chin, nodding my head slightly. The system hastily added a line. [Special Item> Twist of the Twist of the Twist effect has been modified from You can use this item to reverse the overall trend of the public opinion battle. to You can use this item to finalize the public opinion battle in the direction you want.] Oh I looked at the icon shaped like a megaphone and thought for a moment. Finalize Does that mean I dont have to keep fighting for the truth anymore? If I used the buff for five people and the item, I thought I could quell the current controversy. [Special Item> Twist of the Twist of the Twist (Upgrade) Do you want to use it?] Before I could answer, a window popped up as if it would ept the proposal if I used it. [Please enter the truth you want to announce to the world.] [ ] The nk space blinked as if urging me to type quickly. It caught my eye. Chapter 74: They say our kid is doing well Chapter 74: They say our kid is doing well Chapter 74 They say our kid is doing well I slowly slid my finger up the keypad and typed a short sentence. [The reason why Flossseback schedule was messed up was not because of Climax. Climax was a victim who was pushed to fill the empty slot. There was also a controversy over the song steal, but it was because the agency tried to reuse a backup song that Floss didnt use for Climax. The Climax members decided to produce their own song instead.] I wanted to write it briefly, but I ended up writing a long message, trying to make it less unfair. There was no limit on the number of characters, so I hoped it would work. After polishing the sentence for a while, I pressed the [Enter] button. [We sincerely thank you for epting the sincere apology of our Human Happiness Foundation System.] [The power will be rebooted for logging in as Cheonise (Lim Hyun-seong).] As soon as the message disappeared, my vision blurred again. *** Hyung, are you okay!? When I opened my eyes, I saw the hospitals geometric ceiling with snake-like curves. I nced at the side and saw Seon-woo looking down at me with a worried expression. What Why are you here? Thest thing I remembered was being at the dorm. If some time had passed since then the other members should have gone to cheer for Seong-won. Hyung, you copsed all of a sudden. How could I leave you alone! Seon-woo sobbed as if he was about to cry. His natural ck hair and white skin matched well with his pure beauty. His glistening face was honestly, unrealistically pretty. But that wasnt important right now. The inte is already in an uproar. You should go and support him on the live show. Why did youe to me? I frowned and tried to get up, but Seon-woo panicked. Hyung, dont move. You just woke up! Anyone would think I had a terminal illness. I checked the half-full IV bag and looked for my phone. What are you looking for? Your phone? He was quick to catch on. I reached out my hand. Yeah. I need to check the time and call the manager. Uh-huh! Seon-woo hurriedly handed me his phone from his bag. I sighed and checked the time. It had been about an hour since Ist remembered. Thank goodness. The second round hasnt started yet. I quickly checked the app to see who waspeting. Luckily, the third match of the first round was in progress. Seong-won seemed to have advanced to the second round easily. I quickly found out where I was. It was a famous hospitals emergency room with a familiar name. It would take about 30 minutes to get to the venue from here. If I was lucky, I could make it before the second round, or at least before the final. I could only hope that Seong-won would make it to the final. Dont worry too much. Ye-jun and Kyung-hwa are in the cheering section. Just rest! Seon-woo looked at me with concern. Rest? I didnt copse because I was sick. My body was too healthy for its own good. Im fine. I dont have any pain. Lying down will only hurt my back. Lets go out and take a taxi to the venue. I waved at a passing staff member and asked them to take off the IV. Then I called the manager. But, hyung, you were out for a long time! I saw a nurseing towards me and put my finger on my lips to quiet him. Mr. Cheonise, your test results are out. Your blood test and liver X-ray are both normal, so you can be discharged right away. No wonder my hand hurt more than usual for just getting an IV. They must have drawn blood while I was asleep. I didnt care much. The needle came out with a brief sting, and soon my manager called me. -Hey, Ise. Are you awake? How are you feeling? Im fine, I just fainted because I was tired. I slept a bit and got some fluids, and now I feel refreshed. Ill join you at the cheering section right away. Then my manager reacted the same way as Seon-woo. -Are you sure youre okay? It wasnt just a random fainting, was it? Two people are enough for cheering, so just go back to your room and rest. No. That wasnt enough. The close friendship between the members was the climax of our appeal to the disloyal consumers. All the other members gave up their appearances on other Chuseok specials and came to cheer for one person. I couldnt miss this precious and heartwarming scene. Although I couldnt join them from the beginning and had to join in the middle, that was also dramatic. Anyway, the important thing was that we all gathered despite all the schedules and hardships. Lets go down and catch a taxi. As soon as the bleeding on my hand stopped, I finished the payment and ran to the first floor. Okay! Seon-woo ran ahead of me to the taxi stand with a worried expression. I sprinted to catch a taxi and saw his face looking up at me as if asking for praise. I couldnt help butugh. Haha, rx your face. Im not dead. I didnt know why I wasughing when the situation was serious and nothing was resolved yet. How can I rx! Youre going to cheer without resting. Im not the one singing on stage. Seong-won is standing on a big stage for once, so we have to go and cheer for him together. I smiled at Seon-woo and closed the door of the back seat. *** When we finally arrived at the concert hall, it was time for Seong-wons second round to start. The prelude was ying along the corridor leading to the cheering section. The song Seong-won prepared for the second round match was a remake of an old famous singers song. It was a ssic song that was released in thete 80s and has been popr ever since, and it has been remade by other singers more than five times. I was doubtful if it would be okay because it was a song that highlighted the skillful vocal and distinctive tone, but after finishing the arrangement, it was a perfect choice. Anyway, its hard to use a song that shows off your singing skills in the first and second rounds. It was better to choose a stable song that had high recognition and people could easily understand the lyrics. After polishing the jazz-style original song to make it more rock-bad-like, it matched well with Seong-wons clear and powerful voice. This is definitely a final entry. As I got closer to the cheering section, the murmuring voices became clearer. [This long night seems like it will never end] [I call your name countless times on the empty street] He really sings well, no matter what. Even though I treated Seong-won like an unloved child, his singing skills were too good to be buried. If only Seong-won had a chance to debut as a singer, not an idol. If I hadnt gotten involved in the center game of the chaebols son, Would I be a heavenly solo singer that the Climax members couldnt even look at by now? [This endless night seems to be my only friend] [If someone hears my voice, I hope theyfort this night] I dont know about that. All I can do now is cheer for Seong-won with all my best. As I pushed the door leading to the cheering section with Sunwoo, the view of the huge concert hall came into my sight. And the most eye-catching thing was, of course, Seong-won on the stage. [Is there anyone who will stay up with me this night?] [Only you, I sing with all my voice-] As I hurried to find our seat at the edge of the cheering section, I met eyes with Seong-won on the stage. He was hiding his face with a special device, so I couldnt see his expression clearly. But I could feel for sure that his gaze behind the veil was directed at me. Go go fighting. I raised my fist to show him. It might have been my imagination, but his blurry face seemed to smile briefly. Seong-won skillfully handled the high notes like oil, and then scratched the speaker with his characteristic low breath. The whole concert hall was filled with admiration and sighs. Wow, hes so good Whos number 24? Theres nothing on themunity? I heard the young audience sitting at the edge talking excitedly. Wait a minute Ill look it up. Hes a young man, so hes probably an actor or an idol He sings so well, he could be a musical actor too. After fiddling with his phone for a while, one of hispanions who seemed to havee with him eximed. He looks like Climaxs Seong-won, you know? They dont have any live videos left, so Im a bit skeptical, but he has a habit of breathing in with a hup when he breathes. Then he seemed to show the picture attached to themunity spection post to his friends. It would have been a clear breach of etiquette in a normalpetition or performance, but everyone was looking at their phones and the stage alternately because of the programs uniqueness. Crazy Hes so handsome. Thinking that theres this beauty behind the veil I cant keep my sanity. His voice is so handsome that I thought his face wouldnt match his voice He has it all. Thats when I remembered that I had used the item and hadnt checked the result yet. I had forgotten to use the skill because I was thinking of cheering for Seong-won, so it was time to sit down and sort out the situation. As I bent down and arrived at the staff cheering section, Ye-jun and Kyunghwa, who were sitting first, looked up and greeted me. Are you feeling better? Kyunghwa asked me, looking up at me. Yeah, Im fine. How about you? Im fine, what could be wrong with me? Kyunghwa lowered his head as if to ask me to pretend I didnt know what happened before I copsed. Yeah It was a bad idea to bring up that mess again in this situation. Before I knew it, the second verse also reached its climax and the real-time voting was going crazy. The second round is an easy pass. As the controversy over the maniption of variouspetition programs raged, the visual voting introduced by the Star Discovery staff was spread out on the full screen behind Seong-won. Visual voting was just using a dedicated app to disy the number of votes in real time with colors. However there was a reason why this method was cursed as a devilish one. Because the two candidates sang different songs with a time gap, the first participant was able to secure votes even before the song ended. This might make you think that the first participant had an unfair advantage over the second one, who could only get votes during their singing segment. But the reality was the opposite. It was because the voting was done through an app, not a text message. Who came up with the idea of allowing people to take back the votes they gave to the first participant and give them to the second one while they were singing? Each participant was given one chance per round to cancel their previous vote and support someone else. They said it was a fair opportunity, but If the second participant crushed the first one, the first participant had to watch helplessly as their votes dwindled in real time. And that was exactly what was happening now. [Stay with me and spend this night] [I sing out loud for you alone-] As Seong-won reached out his hand to the audience, they all stretched out their arms to the air, like a horde of zombies he had seen in his dreams, trying to grab his hand. The apuse and cheers echoed throughout the hall, as he finished his performance with a perfect ending. If I were the first participant, I would have cried by now. I lifted my head and checked the final result on the screen. It was too early to be surprised. Seong-wons stage, which he had prepared with gritted teeth, was just the beginning. Chapter 75: What People Want to Believe Chapter 75: What People Want to Believe Chapter 75 What People Want to Believe The result was, of course, andslide victory for Sungwon. There were 350 people in the audience. That meant he only needed more than 176 votes to win the duel. [First: 67 votes] [Second: 283 votes] The graph on the screen was also covered in blue, the color of the second performer. This is crazy This is the legendary moment of my life. I made it to the live show. Will this be released as a song? If it does, it will definitely top the charts. If they dont release it, Im going to set fire to the NBS headquarters. Lets go together, gather up, gather up. As the audience was buzzing, the MC continued hismentary and the first performer, number 28, came out to reveal his face. I checked that Sungwon had gone back to the waiting room and turned on my phone. I was sitting in the staff section, so there was a risk of being caught on the screen. But it wasnt Sungwons turn now, so they would be focusing on the other audience members. I quickly called up the system. System. Pposili, as if he had been waiting, barked silently with a woof-! Ill use the Fate skills Overwhelming Talent and Youll Like Me Too. [Please select the target to apply the skills.] Climax. The system window shed and disappeared. Then I heard someone whispering behind me. Wow, the usation post that was uploaded before the show started, theres a rebuttal now. That was a statement that made my ears perk up. I quickly logged on to the entertainment talk talk board. The first ce that had been upied by the usation post until before I copsed was now reced by another title. [Title] I expose the fake public opinion maniption to sabotage a group. [Content] Hello, this is the first time Im posting something like this, so please forgive me if its not well-organized. Im writing this to let you know that the usation posts that were uploaded this morning and a few hours ago (now deleted) arepletely different from the truth. The content of this post is based on the conversations that took ce in a fan chat room of a popr group Phantom that I belonged to. I wont reveal the group name specifically, but you can probably guess which group it is from the chat room dialogue. I hope this post doesnt cause a new fandom war and clears up the misunderstanding between the two fandoms. Why is the introduction so long? To find out what they wanted to say, I scrolled down to the summary part. [3-line summary] [1. A group fandom felt a crisis of fandom leakage to C group fandom these days.] [2. In a specific chat room, they were collecting fabricated evidence to bury C group when they got a leak from a staff that a song that was almost used for F group was also offered to C group.] [3. They interpreted this content provocatively and spread it as C group stole F groups song.] So that was the reason. I dont know if this is true, but it probably has a high chance of being true. Then how did they get the staff verification? There were people who had the same question as me in thements. I quickly snapped out of it and checked the bestments. [- Hello, I am the real owner of the ID card that was attached to the usation post. This picture was the one I shared with my close friends to let them know about my new job. I didnt think much of it and shared it with them casually. I had no idea it would cause such a big uproar. I sincerely apologize to the C Group staff and thepany who were harmed by the giarism.] [- I saw the bestment and it looks like the C Group antis were feeling threatened by their group and tried to spread fake news with fabricated evidence, but they got caught. How can they be fans of a group that debuted with maniption?] [ There is no clear evidence that F Groups debut was manipted, so dont jump on the bandwagon now.] [ Everyone except their fandom admits that they debuted with maniption. Face the reality] [ Arent you a fan of the maniption master? How can you be so shameless ande out to shield him without changing your profile picture?] [- The tempos were so excited and posted screenshots and exnations, but now they are busy deleting them and telling everyone to shut up] [ They deliberately used initials in the original post, but why do you have to mention the fandom name?] [ The public opinion post itself was a hoax by the tempos to bash a small group with a weak fandom. Cant you stand a little criticism?] Thements below were a mess. Floss was very popr, but also had a lot of anti-fans because of the provocative broadcast of the survival program. Especially, the fans of the participants who made it to the final broadcast but failed to be in the final debut lineup of 9 members were the main source of the public opinion that my kid couldnt debut because of the maniption. I didnt know if there was any maniption or not. Or if it was just a sabotage by the losers. You must know that Im being cursed as the maniption master, right? Even if he was in a position like Kang Yugeon It must have been hard to deal with the maniption controversy. But he still had a reputation for being an unusual guy who often missed his schedule. There were 2 or 3 posts rted to us in the top ranks of the most viewed posts in real time. One of them was a SNS post by the producer who helped Ye-jun with his firstmercial song. [Title] ck Bulls CEO shoots down the maniption story [Content] [My brother is about to hit big. Why are there so many flies talking nonsense? If Floss had failed, I would have hired him right away. Hes a genius that you cant recognize. And youre talking about copying or stealing Listen and then talk] (Picture) The CEO of anotherpany dissed theeback song that the members worked on Ive been following Joonie since he kept posting his own songs on the fancafe. I wondered if he would ever produce his own song He must have worked really hard for thiseback The content was quite harsh, so there might have been some people who picked on his tone But the other party was Bulldog, who was famous for biting anyone without mercy. He was a top producer who was indisputably an expert, as he was the winner of the early season of a famous hip hoppetition program. He didnt back down from any controversy and kept biting until there were dozens or hundreds of articles. The picture attached to the back was of Ye-jun sleeping soundly with his head down next to the editing equipment. When did he take this? Did he call him back at dawn after we left? Judging by the background, it looked like a picture from the day we finished recording. Thanks to that, the public opinion changed to sympathy for the small group that was harassed by the maliciousrge fandom. Is this enough Can I rx now? The next ranked post was trying to promote Climax by taking advantage of the sympathetic public opinion. [Title] Anyone want to join me in fangirling over a group where the leader opens the door and the members block the exit? [Body] You probably guessed who it is, but its Climax! Lets start by looking at the leaders godly candid shots that will stay in his life forever. (Picture) All the members are model idols over 180 cm tall, and they have wless faces that suit everyones taste. Im sure youll find one of them to your liking. [Comments] [- I know everyone else is cool, cute, and awesome, but Im here to promote Kyunghwa. Hes always called Ryu Airhead but hes the only one who can handle the haters. Theres no man like him who can quietly do his job and hold the center as the lead vocal. God Kyunghwa, please notice me] [ Aww I saw his self-cam and hes so diligent He doesnt stand out or cause any trouble, so he seems a bit ndpared to the others But hes really versatile and he can do anything twice as well as anyone else. Hes amazing] [ Im taking my husband Mangtaegi and running away. You have to marry a man like this] [ Wake up, Kyunghwa. You didnt work hard and be diligent for this] [- Theyre just cool, touching, moving, heartwarming, cute, and funny. Their story of bing model idols is hrious too. The members who left were in the 170s, so they were the shorties of the team, but they all quit] [ No wonder Theres no way there would be such tall guys in the underground of WeFle. The average height is too high] [- Since youve seen the promotion post, please check out the members real friendship too. Theyve been inactive for too long and they suffered from the member withdrawal, so the remaining ones are super close Theyre all watching Star Discovery together right now and they got caught on the screen] (Picture) [ Huh? But why is Seongwon the only one missing when theyre all there?] [ ??? Whats going on??? When did this get posted?? Did they just get caught on the screen?] Next, there was a post that spected that the 24th contestant who won the first and second rounds was Seongwon. As if to prove the effect of overwhelming skill and youll like me too, the whole board was filled with friendly stories about Climax. What are you doing, pay attention to the stage. If you were a regr audience, it wouldnt matter, but if youe to the cheering section and use your phone for too long, youll get scolded. Kyungwha pulled my sleeve and warned me as I was staring at my phone for a long time. But I didnt care or feel embarrassed. I felt strange. Until a few hours ago, the whole board was cursing us to death. But now theyre cheering, supporting, and hoping for a good performance. It was full of nice things. Its not that Im annoyed. Its just I couldnt enjoy this situation. What if I was a normal twenty-four-year-old who couldnt get help from the system? It wouldnt be strange if I couldnt get up and copsed like this. Its obvious because I got help from the system But with a few posts, the public opinion changed like this and I got support Why do you get to do it and I dont? I remembered the real Cheon Yise who I met in a ce I didnt even know where. The real Cheon Yise failed, but I seeded Before I could find an answer, Kyunghwa pulled my sleeve again. What are you doing, what are you looking at that you cant focus? He looked at me with a disdainful face, and I finally felt a bit of reality. Yeah, this is how my trashy friends are. I answered with a stupid smile, without realizing it. Im just happy to see you. What nonsense are you talking about? Kyunghwa still looked anxious, not knowing that the public opinion had turned around. He fiddled with his fingertips, showing his nervousness. Go check out Celebrity Talk right now. Instead of exining everything, I sent him a link to the chat room. Huh, what is it? Isnt it just a spection article about Son Seong-won? Ye-jun also opened the link I sent him, thinking it was nothing serious. After a brief silence, I heard Kyunghwa gasp in shock. I looked down at him with a smug expression, as if I was a father who came with a 48-color crayon set in both hands. How about that, am I the only one who cant take my eyes off my phone? Huh? I expected him to react more strongly. Why is he so quiet? Is he okay? I wondered, when Ye-jun opened his mouth. Kyunghwa hyung fainted, you know? Im going crazy. It was one trouble after another. Chapter 76: The Sweet and Bitter Taste of Life Chapter 76: The Sweet and Bitter Taste of Life Chapter 76 The Sweet and Bitter Taste of Life Get up, snap out of it and stand properly. He shook my shoulder lightly and I felt a brief dizziness, as if that was all it was. Kyunghwa lifted his head. Wait I cant tell if this is real or not right now. He seemed to not believe this situation and tried to pinch his own cheek. Then Ye-jun pped Kyunghwas cheek with his fingertip without any hesitation. Ow. He thought he had controlled his strength, but He was naturally big and strong, so it felt like no control at all to the one who got hit. I didnt ask you to hit me. I thought you would. Ye-jun smirked, his handsome face looking mischievous. Kyunghwa seemed to regain some of his senses from the stinging pain on his cheek and looked at his phone screen again. I cant believe it The whole board is flooded with our story. If I didnt know this was the effect of the item, I would have been anxious about when the roller coaster of public opinion would hit me again. But this was fixed to the conclusion we wanted, so there was no need to worry about it being reversed by maniption. I brushed my chest and turned off my phone screen. It would be good to contact the manager, but If it was a reasonablepany, the support team should already be on it. I think we should pull ourselves together and work hard when everyone is cheering for us like this. I patted Kyunghwas back, who was lying on the chair weakly, pretending to be calm, but I was no different. I felt the same way, wondering if this was also an extension of that strange space. You thought the system was restored, right? Actually, it was all an illusion! Ta-da! It felt like it could be turned upside down at any time. Did Seong-won see the boards opinion change? No, did he know that the board was in chaos with negativements? I wanted to call him, who was in the waiting room separately. But I was worried that I might disturb him, who was focusing on the stage, so I was more concerned about him. I want to tell Seong-won hyung too. It seemed that everyone had the same thought, as Seon-woo, who was next to Kyunghwa and doing some nursing, muttered. Dont contact him now. Hes in the final now, so dont distract him. Eight contestants were left, and four were eliminated in the first round. Two more were eliminated in the second round just before. Now it was the final situation. On the stage, the final interview was starting to attract the maximum ratings and advertising slots. [Now only two contestants are left for the best gemstone spot!] [Who will be the ultimate winner? The 6th episode of Star Discovery, the moment of gemstone birth! We will conduct a brief in-depth interview!] Under the main MCs lively progress, two masked contestants walked onto the stage. [The two glorious contestants, pleasee forward now!] The 7th contestant, who wore a mask decorated with blue as the theme, was a woman wearing a floor-length dress. She looked like a singer or a musical actress, rather than an idol or an actor, as she was slightly plump. [Thank you for giving me the opportunity to sing in this glorious ce today.] The 7th contestant waved her hand with opera gloves on to the audience and the whole audience cheered. When will the final start? I wish they would stop wasting time and hurry up. Someone in the audience grumbled loudly. Ipletely agreed. [Well, now lets hear from the 24th contestant who will have a splendid showdown with the 7th contestant!] Seong-won had changed into a stage outfit in the waiting room, wearing a suit with different decorations than before. It was so full ofce, ribbons, and all kinds of ornaments that it looked more like He looks like a groom in a wedding photo shoot. The 7th contestant was hiding his face, so I couldnt guess his exact age, but he had a vibe of a young groom and an older bride couple. [I will do my best. Thank you.] Even in this situation, he couldnt speak for more than 10 seconds, which was surprisingly Seong-won-like. The audience, mostly female fans, stirred as if they were sure it was him from his curt greeting. He must be Son Seong-won. You can tell by hisck of eloquence. Hes an idol, but he cant talk at all. It sounded like they were teasing him, but the next sentence was important. But thats why I like him so much. Hes funny and fresh. And he works hard, so he doesnt seem like hes cking off. The impression of Seong-won was generally like that. He was clumsy and awkward with people, so he was easily misunderstood, but once you got to know him, he was a warm and cute guy. That was also because his face was handsome and he got a bonus, which didnt make me feel very good Anyway, I was d that the one I was worried about being hated the most was fine. [Can you two give us a little hint on how you prepared for the final stage?] The MC turned the microphone to the 7th contestant first, who seemed more articte. The 7th contestant took the microphone with a graceful gesture and calmly continued his speech. [I prepared a stage that can show you my overflowing energy and passion.] The final stage was usually simple, withoutplex effects or choreography, or backup dancers, because it was hard to guarantee advancement. Judging by his words, he probably prepared a stage that would captivate the audience with his explosive singing skills. If he keeps up the atmosphere with high notes and then makes everyone jump around with him, well be at a disadvantage. Of course, we didnt prepare poorly either. Rather, we minimized the cost and focused on the concept, as if we were betting everything on the final. Please, let us go second, please. The dice had already been thrown. All we could do was hope that luck would favor us, after we did our best. [Wow, Im already looking forward to the hot and fiery atmosphere, arent you? What kind of stage did you prepare, 24th contestant?] The MC handed the microphone to Seong-won this time. Seong-won tapped the microphone with his fingertips to check if the sound was on, and brought it close to his mouth. Why is he so cute even when hes testing the microphone? His face looks like its 70% covered by the mask, but it still shows. He was hiding his face with a weird mask, and wearing something like a wedding tuxedo, which should have looked strange. But the reaction was better than expected. He had such good proportions and height that he looked good in anything. [Um I prepared a stage that you can all enjoy together.] As always, his remark was shorter than the other candidates. He was the kind of guy who owed a thousand won for his face and earned it back with his mouth. It was frustrating, but the atmosphere was still not bad. And what Seong-won said was nothing but the truth. Hopefully, well get the response we want. The song Seong-won prepared was a hit or miss. It was so risky that the nning team even tried to dissuade him, saying it was too dangerous. But Ye-jun and I strongly opposed them. This will definitely work, we said. Even though we might have to give up the votes of some age groups outside our target demographic With this song, we could have a chance to win in the live viewer voting that only counts for the final round. But the nning team, who didnt have much hope for Seong-wons advancement to the finals, gave us a hand. Well its a n that we can only use if we make it to the finals. I was annoyed by their attitude of why bother? when they invited the band and the guitarist to join us on stage, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I would be happy if we could win the final round, but its okay if we dont. We had already secured our poprity and public opinion victory with the buzz from the first and second rounds. [Well, weve heard your thoughts, both of you! Now, well have a simple game to decide who will go first or second! But before that! We have a little gift for our two challengers, one more thing to give you!] The MC brought a wheel of fortune onto the stage, trying to lighten the mood with his casual voice. On the giant circr wheel, there were tiny letters indicating the prizes. Thats when I realized. Oh, this. Were not going to win. [-Judges scores x 10] [-Extension of the national tour for the winner] [-Live broadcast of the tour special] [You all know that the winner of the 6th episode of Star Discovery will receive a prize of 100 million won, a national tour, a special album release, and other benefits, right?] The audience members who were sitting close to the stage were outraged. What is this nonsense? The ones who were sitting far away couldnt even read the letters on the wheel because of the poor quality of the screen, and theyined a lot. The MC also felt the audiences agitation, and he continued to exin with a forced smile. [From now on, well give you a chance to write a drama of reversal or upgrade your prize with the wheel, only once for each finalist.] That chance was nothing but a transparent trick. Theyre so greedy for money that they want to milk the tour. It was obvious who the organizers wanted to push as the final winner. They would favor the solo singer over Seong-won, who was in a group and had difficulty doing a long tour because of his group activities. The judges score boost that was sneakily added to the upgrade wheel made it clear. They were determined to make the other one the winner, even if Seong-won won the viewer or audience votes. These bastards are only smart when ites to this. No, this wasnt even smart. Anyone wouldin if they saw this obvious scam. [Well, then, lets start with the 24th contestant, who was the first in thest match, to spin the wheel, shall we?] The MC reached out his arm to the wheel, as if he was trying to be considerate of Seong-won, who looked young. Seong-won walked hesitantly to the wheel and pulled the lever. [The wheel is spinning! What will be the upgrade prize for the 24th contestant?] The wheel started to turn slowly, along with the MCs hype. [Well reveal it in 60 seconds!] And then, as expected, themercial break came. The staff came up to the stage and covered the wheel, as if they wouldnt reveal the result until the waiting time was over. This is a tant maniption, are they dering it or something? The wheel behind the curtain didnt seem to care about the viewers and audiences troubled minds. It made a ttering sound as it gradually slowed down. Finally, the 60 seconds of waiting time was over, and the MC approached the wheel to lift the curtain. [The upgrade result for the 24th contestant! Well reveal it right now!] As the curtain flew off, sighs erupted from the audience. Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Chapter 77 #076. Nothing Goes As nned [Prize Money Doubled If Donated] The prize was so small that no one could even see what it was. How could I get something like that? It was supposed to be a prize upgrade, but it was more like a confiscation of the money. The Star Discovery was a special program that only aired on holidays. It was a show that the whole family could enjoy, and it had an option for the winner to donate the prize money ording to their wish. Only one person out of four winners actually chose to donate. I remembered that even then, the public opinion was not very favorable. They said that the show should just donate separately and give the winner the full amount. I never imagined that they would use it like this. Wow What kind of prize is this? The other audience members seemed to share the same thought. If you winter and dont donate Youll be called selfish for wasting the upgrade. Why dont they just get rid of the prize money and make it all donation? What are they doing? The MC tried to salvage the situation by making some jokes. [Let me make it clear, the prize money donation is entirely up to the winner! You can choose freely if you winter.] There were boos andints from all over the seats, but the MC was unfazed. Well He was just doing his job for money. I couldnt me him. I crossed my arms and looked at the stage with a dissatisfied expression. I had to watch carefully what kind of prize they would give to the other side. [Alright, then, lets have the seventh contestant spin the roulette!] The seventh contestant hesitated for a moment, not knowing that there was such a terrible prize on the roulette, and spun it. What wille out this time? Everyone stared at the roulette with their eyes wide open, and the spinning speed started to slow down. [Well, well! What will be the prize for the seventh contestant!] Tick, tick, tick, the sound of rubber pads rubbing and hitting each other continued, and soon the roulette stoppedpletely. [Judges score x 2] I knew it. The audience was restless. The final round was based on 50% live viewer votes, 20% audience votes, and 30% judges votes. It was a game where the one with the higher final score wins, but I had no idea how they would reflect it in the end If its double Unless the judges score is really bad, Id better assume that they will win. What are they doing, calling all the audience here? Didnt they have no roulettest time? Of course, the viewers were not stupid, and they must have been dissatisfied with this outrageous upgrade. I knew that there was a controversy because the winner of the fifth round had to reduce the tour schedule drastically due to personal reasons. But I never imagined that they would set up this device to pick a winner that suits their taste. If they liked both of the finalists, they wouldnt have to do this, so they must have not announced it beforehand. The situation was too unfavorable. Seong-won knew that too. They announced that the tour and album activities were adjustable, but they came out so meanly Should I say that we were naive not to know this? Or should I regret that I underestimated Seong-won too much, thinking that he did well just by making it to the final? It was toote to worry now, so I decided to show everything I had prepared. Thats so ruthless. Sunwoo hesitated for a long time and muttered quietly. I mean, I get that theyre doing it for the money but their method is too cruel. They should have said no to the tour schedule that was impossible to coordinate in the first ce. They shouldnt have entered if they couldnt participate. It looked like he had swallowed his words up to his throat. It was better to be second than not to appear at all I waited for the final stage to start with my mouth shut. [Now, lets decide who will go first and second!] The two contestants drew balls at the same time in front of the spinning lottery machine. The contestant number 7 showed the contents of the ball to the camera first. [Second] Naturally, Seong-wons team got the first ball. Was his luck only up to the second round? Seong-won moved calmly and stood in the center of the stage. The devices on the stage hid their traces neatly. And at the same time, all the lights that illuminated the stage flickered. [From now on, the final round of contestant number 24! Lets start the stage.] The MCs announcement echoed in the darkness. I couldnt even guess how many people were working hard to make the live broadcast stage on the darkened stage. Seong-won hyung are you okay? Sunwoo nced at me and Kyung-hwa and whispered. Of course hell be okay. Kyung-hwaforted Seon-woo, who seemed nervous. When have you ever seen him mess up because of tension? Hes a guy who lives on his own pride. Oh Ye-jun also tried to calm Seon-woo down, but um didnt we have a big fuss a few weeks ago because of his mistake? I didnt bother to argue. A momentter, the lights flickered on the ceiling, signaling that everything was ready. That was it. We had done everything we could, and now it was his turn to step up. In the darkness, a beam of light shone down on Seong-won, and the stage began without any apaniment. [Someday I told you, at the end of the road were walking together-.] The audience gasped in surprise at the first word, which started calmly without any prelude. The spectators over 50 looked a bit puzzled, but those from 10 to 30 recognized what song it was as soon as they heard the first word and pitch. [There will surely be days when we canugh together.] The spotlight on Seong-won was still the only light on the stage. The first two lines were sung without anymon apaniment, just his voice. Thanks to that, Seong-wons characteristic raspy and calm breathing filled the entire auditorium. [Hold my hand now, give me strength.] [Then we will surely win-!] Seong-won raised his hand and clenched his fist, pulling it close to his chest along with the lyrics. And at that moment, the whole stage lit up and mes shot up along the edge of the frame. Oh, Im going crazy, this is Opening the Future Together. He was a guy who got 80% of his charm from his face. It was not easy to make the stage morous without showing his face. It was not enough to win with just singing well. He needed something more, something that came from his ir, whether it was a poignant appeal or a powerful vocal. We did what we could, since it was hard to make that in a short time. Topete with the senior singers who had been in the business for 20 or 30 years, Seong-won had no choice but to use the audience. How could we create a stage that would make the whole audience cheer and respond? After racking our brains, Ye-jun came up with an idea. How about a nostalgia cheat key? I wondered what he meant by that. He brought out the theme song of an animated movie that had once swept the nation with a taekwondo craze. I knew what it was. Our rivalpany had coborated with this work and sold products with sticker seals. I was dumbfounded when I saw those character seals selling like crazy. The original song is a catchy rock band style, so it would go well with Son Seong-wons voice. And the chorus is low, so its easy to sing along. Our team(?)s arranger producer was Ye-jun, so I decided to trust his judgment. And the result was [My pathetic self, I must look like a fool now-] [But if were together, we can move towards a bigger dream!] It was a sess. The audiences age range seemed to be fairly diverse, but the energy and voice of the generation we had gambled on were overwhelming. As the song progressed, the majestic drum sound and guitar filled the ears. Everyones mouths were twitching, and they whispered the lyrics along. Wow, I havent heard this in a long time. I memorized the lyrics and sang it with my friends every day at school. What grade was that? Fifth grade? Seong-won, who pulled out a hand microphone from the stand and held it in one hand, stood in the middle of the stage and showed off his vocal power. He looked like the main character of the cartoon who stood on the podium. [There cant always be happy things.] [Even if were shaken and fall by the harsh trials-.] As the song reached its climax, the drum sound stopped and all the apaniment stopped. What was he trying to do? Everyone was surprised and looking forward to the next act when the whole light flickered. It was our turn to go out. The light spun around, looking for someone, and shone on the cheering seats where we were sitting. And the camera also pointed at us. As we had nned in advance, Ye-jun got up from his seat and stretched his fist toward the stage. [If you and I are together, we can surely win-!] Seong-won sang in the dark, matching Ye-juns mouth. When did we ever stop growling at each other? Now we looked like therades in the boys cartoon. And at the same time, the apaniment started again and the light came on. What? Cheering seats? Who are they? Hey, how can you not recognize them, thats Ye-jun! Ahh. I want to take a picture. Will I get kicked out if I rip off my phone seal and take it? I can only hope that some brave fan sneaked in and took it for us. Lets just keep it in our eyes for now. Screams andpliments poured in from around us, but we had to ignore them for now. I couldnt help but smile, thinking that I had fallen for it as nned, and sang along with Ye-jun. [Someday I told you, at the end of the road were going together-.] [There will surely be days when we canugh together.] Seon-woo and Kyunghwa also got up from their seats and shouted the lyrics. While the guitar solo yed in the interlude, Seong-won shouted to the audience. [Everyone, sing along!] Everyone got up as if they had been waiting. Naturally, the spotlight that had shone on the cheering seats disappeared and the whole audience was brightly colored. [Hold my hand now, give me strength.] [Then we will surely win-!] As Seong-won lifted the microphone high in the air with ease, the audience cheered loudly. [Then we will surely win-!] The chorus followed and his voice grew louder. I wondered if he would lose his voice tomorrow if he kept singing like that. I felt a surge of excitement from him, even though his face was hidden behind a mask. He looked like an ice princess most of the time, but his heart was pounding in front of the crowd. I thought it was worth all the trouble to see him like this. It was a priceless moment. [One more time-!] This time, he pointed the microphone towards the audience and young voices from teens to thirties joined in. [Then we will surely win-!] Then we will surely win-! The song ended with a majestic drum sound and a fiery shout from the audience. In the center of the stage, Seong-won gracefully waved his long arms as if he was a conductor. This is it. Seong-won was happy, everyone was happy, and the whole theater was buzzing with enthusiasm. The result didnt matter anymore. That was something only the money-hungry adults cared about. Chapter 78: Is Life Just About Getting What You Want? Chapter 78: Is Life Just About Getting What You Want? Chapter 78 Is Life Just About Getting What You Want? Ugh, Im so tired Ye-jun yawned loudly and scratched his cheeks as he slumped in the back seat of the minivan. I know youre out of your mind after working all day, but have some dignity as an idol. Kyunghwa grumbled as he leaned on Ye-juns shoulder, exhausted himself. Everyone worked hard today. Seong-won did the most, but the others must have had a hard time too. The manager, who was sitting in the drivers seat, finally gave us some words of encouragement. We had been through a lot Im sure the other members felt the same, but I had faced more twists and turns than anyone. Im going to take a shower and go to bed as soon as we get home. Kyunghwa looked at his phone screen with a soulless gaze and blinked weakly. I nced back and peeked at what he was looking at. It was a collection of supportive posts for Kyunghwa on amunity site. Because of the public outcry over the Floss fandom, who had been constantly attacking Climax, Kyunghwa also received a lot of ridicule along with them. Luckily I dont know if this was due to some item or skill effect the main ount of the fake ount that had been leading the mockery of Kyunghwa was exposed, and it seemed that a wave of support for Kyunghwa had started. [- Arent these some tempo fans really pathetic? Their own group is not doing badly, but they are trying to step on a group that is just starting to get some recognition. Their malicious intent is so creepy.] [- These guys are doing this on their sub-ounts and keep trying to attach weird keywords to Kyunghwas name. Its so disgusting.] (Photo) [- Why do they have to do such negative fan activities? Lets just look at the good things and live happily Why do they live like that ugh] [The message book for Kyunghwas support is up! Please leave your cheering messages in thements here, and we will organize them nicely and send them to the agency.] (Link) Not only the fans of Climax, but also those who didnt like the Floss fandom before, left their messages of support one by one. It was a bit hard to be happy in this situation, but I felt relieved that it seemed to be resolved somehow. Lets do rock-paper-scissors first to decide who will shower first when we get home. Kyunghwa, who was slumped down, suddenly got up as if he remembered something important. Ye-jun, who was resting his chin on Kyunghwas head, got hit hard on his forehead by Kyunghwas chin and let out a stupid scream. Ouch. Stop ouching and get ready for rock-paper-scissors. Under Kyunghwas determined leadership, Seong-won and Sunwoo, who didnt say a word as if they were exhausted, reluctantly stretched out their hands. Rock, paper, scissors! The first round was a tie with two fists, one scissors, and two papers. Again, rock, paper, scissors! The second round was a clear win or lose with two scissors and three papers. Yay! Kyunghwa and Sunwoo, who were making a fuss because they wanted to shower first, were scissors. What about the rest? Ye-jun, who was looking at his paper with a resentful eye, blinked and looked at me and Seong-won. Of course, he didnt blink once when he looked at Seong-won. Im good. You guys go ahead and shower. I was so tired that I didnt even have the energy to shower even if I went to the dorm right away. When I closed my eyes, the things that happened in the world that wasnt real, and the things that happened at the concert hall just before, came to my mind vividly. Okay, thank you~. Ye-jun let out a sigh of relief and whistled as he stretched out his body on the seat again. Seongwon looked at me silently and then opened his mouth quietly. If you want to shower first, go ahead. Whats wrong with you? I shook my head, no. No. Im too tired to even have the energy to shower. It was ame excuse in front of the guy who had just performed three songs in a row by himself, from the first round to the final, with only a short break in between. But I had gone through something incredible that none of you knew about. I didnt bother telling you, because you would have just treated me like a lunatic. It was better to be pitied than ridiculed. Fine. Seong-won nodded briefly and closed his eyes again, crossing his arms. If he had gone on stage without a mask today, he would have taken a legendary photo. His performance had captivated the audience with nothing but passion and courage, without any seductive tricks or skilled charms. I wish I could have won, though. The one who got the most attention was obviously Seongwon. I decided to be content with that. [Now! The audience votes for the first performer, contestant number 24, are! 290 votes!] It was a very high score, considering that there were only about 60 votes left. But I couldnt predict how many votes he would lose in the second round. Everyone calmed down their hearts that had been pounding from the amazing stage before and waited for the second round. The lights went off and then on again, and number 7 walked out confidently in a much more dazzling dress than when she spun the roulette. [I, now like a fading flower, will leave-] The song that the seventh contestant brought out with the majestic live orchestra was a famous drama OST. The song choice, filled with poignant patriotism and passion, suited the contestants powerful voice well. This is definitely a pick for the elders. They chose well. The high notes soared amazingly, and everyone had to hold their breath and watch the magnificent stage. Judging by the enthusiastic reaction of the audience, it was andslide victory for the contestant, but the result was hard to predict as the generations were divided. Finally, as the curtain fell on a stage that resembled a musical, some of the contestants votes had moved to the other side. [Now, we will reveal the real-time audience vote results!] [First: 198] [Second: 152] It was a close call, but Seongwon won. He should have widened the gap here, so he could rx even if the judges were biased against him. But he lost quite a few votes because of the amazing costume change in the middle, from a dress to a fusion hanbok. What about the viewer votes? Text votes were mostly used by the younger generation, so this should be definitely in Seongwons favor. And it was. [Now, we will reveal the results of the real-time viewer votes!] [First: 24,513 votes] [Second: 12,129 votes] I had a more than twofold advantage here. The key point was the judges evaluation. [We will now reveal the judges scores!] Could the seventh contestant overturn the results of the viewers and audiences votes with the effect of doubling their score? Everyone watched with bated breath. A middle-aged male producer, first round 24 points, second round 30 points A middle-aged female agency president, first round 23 points, second round 29 points The scores were revealed and boos erupted from the audience. A famous female singer in her 30s, First: 22 points, Second: 30 points The boos grew louder, but the judges didnt change their expressions and held up their scorecards. Now, thest one. A fellow idol and someone who had been in a ridiculous rivalry with me all day long on the stage, Kang Yugeon of Floss. A male idol in his 20s, First: 28 points, Second: 28 points. I snorted at the tant tie, and that too at 28 points. It was time to see the final results. [Now, who will be the 6th diamond of Star Discovery! Lets witness the glorious moment together!] The MC made exaggerated gestures and quickly added a very very important remark. [The results will be announced in 60 seconds!] Ugh, what the hell Whats the score? I dont know what will happen if they apply 2x. Doesnt 2x mean that Second wins? The viewer votes are so different People took out their phones to use calctors all over the seats. A minuteter, the MC resumed the show. [We will now reveal the final results!] [Audience votes] First: 20 points, Second: 15 points [Viewer votes] First: 50 points, Second: 25 points [Judge votes] First round: 24 points, second round: 58 points (29*2) What was the total score then? The gap was so big in the viewers vote that everyone quickly added up the scores in their heads. And soon, regretful sighs were heard everywhere. Ugh This show is so dirty. They showed us a good stage and then ruined our mood. [Final Result] First round: 94 points, second round: 98 points The final score shed on the scoreboard and the whole stage was dyed in the color of the second round contestant. [Contestant number 7! Congrattions! Now, please reveal your identities!] The MC led the seventh contestant to the winners throne and sprinkled flower petals from the sky. On the stage where only a weak spotlight shone on his head, Seong-won took off the mask that had been covering his face tightly. He must have been very hot inside, his long hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his face. As he turned his head from side to side, even the droplets of sweat flying looked like a scene from a photo shoot. Ive said it many times, but he was a guy who had such a handsome face that no one could criticize. Although he didnt win by a petty margin, everyone knew who the real winner was. Before the winners interview, the MC handed the microphone to Seong-won, the runner-up. Contestant number 24 was the main vocal of the five-member boy group Climax, Son Seong-won! Seong-won, please share your feelings about being with us until thest stage. Please keep it brief! Seong-won received the microphone with his cheeks flushed. I was really happy to show you all the stages I prepared today. He smiled faintly on his face, which was unusually eloquent. And, I sincerely thank you all for being with me until thest stage. As a smile appeared on Seongwons face, who had been sullen for a long time, I felt someone holding their breath from one side of the audience. And the members who were with me today Seongwon muttered something as if he wanted to say more, but he handed the microphone to the MC with a shy gesture. Yeah. It was a satisfying stage. Thats enough. I looked up at the stage as if I was watching my stubborn son, and covered my face with the back of my hand. My eyes were sore, and I felt like I would burst into tears at any moment. After going through a roller coaster of emotions, I felt relieved as soon as all the schedules were over. I was worried about how Seongwon would feel if he didnt win. But he said he had no regrets because he would have won the stage if it wasnt for that weird bonus. He would be lying if he said he wasnt angry. But he was content with this. He was so excited and happy about the experience of singing with the crowd that he brought up the concert as soon as he met the manager. The concert is something we can think about after we do well with oureback. Kyunghwa and I pulled Seongwon back to reality, and he made a funny face. This guy. He really loves singing. I remembered how he looked so happy on the stage, when he seemed to be gloomy no matter what he did. I want to support him so he can keep singing. I couldnt help but feel thrilled after seeing such an amazing stage. I want to seed. I really do. I want to be with these members even after a month. I was surprised that I had forgotten about revenge. Everyone, get some rest. It seems like the inte mess has been sorted out as a misunderstanding among yourselves, so dont worry too much. Yes, go ahead. We ran for a while and arrived at the dorm, and we didnt know what was going on with us until we saw off the manager. Some of them dragged their tired bodies to the third floor to take a shower, and the rest copsed on the sofa. Ah Ye-jun stretched out his body and dropped his phone, then he suddenly got up as if he was shocked. Holy shit! Hey, wake up! He pped Seongwons cheek as if it was not my business. What the hell, are you crazy? Seongwon opened his eyes with a frown. Im not crazy, look at this! Whats wrong with him? I dragged my tired body and peeked at the screen over Ye-juns shoulder. Chapter 79: I Got a Fan Page Chapter 79: I Got a Fan Page Chapter 79 I Got a Fan Page ONELAST/ @my_onest [OPEN] [My ONE, the brightest star in the world #Climax # #Seong-won 210924 NBS Star Discovery (Photo)] What Ye-jun showed me was a fan ount that seemed to have just been created. I looked at him with a puzzled expression. What is this? Seong-won opened his eyes and got up to look at the screen closely. You got a fan page! Fan page. I knew what kind of ount it was, usually called a fansite. Its a ce where they post photos and stuff, right? I heard they also organize support and birthday events, but I never visited one, so I didnt know exactly. Wow Ive been active for five years and Ive never had a fan page, only some random photographers. Finally, I got one. Ye-jun eximed and took his phone back. Seong-won slowly closed and opened his eyes, then pinched and stretched his cheek. Do you like it? You must be happy. Ye-jun chuckled and gave Seong-won a noogie. What the hell was he doing? Even though it was a situation that would make anyone furious, Seong-won just stared nkly at the halogen light on the ceiling, squinting his eyes from the re. I cant believe it. It was understandable. He thought he would be soon forgotten, just like his previous activities, even if he got some attention for his skills. He was happy enough to be able to sing in front of so many people today, through a variety show that had over 10% ratings. He didnt even hope for the win, and he was grateful for the fact that he could sing all three songs he prepared. I wasnt sorry about the injury at all, because it was more troublesome for the one who inflicted it. It would be a lie to say that I never coveted the winners title. But really, I was happy with the way things were now. The moment when Ye-jun, under the stage, reached out his fist to me. Would Ise hyung believe me if I said that I only saw someone else? For that very brief moment, he looked like the savior who changed my life. I cant say it even if my mouth tears. Sungwon shook his head. His heart was still pounding as if he was standing on the stage. As he closed his eyes, he remembered that moment when the stage lights shone so brightly that they seemed to burn the whole world. The photo on the main page of his fan ount also captured that moment. He lifted his head and pushed back his shoulder-length blond hair with his free hand, not holding the microphone. *** Meanwhile, the appearance of Seong-wons fan page caused a stir in the Flos fandom. One of the fan pages of Yugeon, who was expected to upload an update today, had gone silent. They had posted a proof of attending the talk show, but why was there no preview yet? As everyone was waiting in curiosity, someone brought a newly created fan page from the talk show forum. [Isnt this Yeongjin? @my_onest] No way. Yeongjin went to the salon to get his hair done today, just in case he made eye contact with Yugeon. As soon as everyone clicked on his ount, they couldnt help but curse and sigh at the same time. This editing, this angle, this filter. Anyone could tell it was Yeongjin. The camera screen he uploaded was also the UI of the device he often used, just like the preview. How arrogant was he that even the home master switched to his program after attending the live broadcast? Everyone clicked on the photo that ONELAST posted, grinding their teeth. Damn it hes so freaking hot. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But he was a doll that shattered anyones preferences. Of course, he was just one of the hundreds of homes that Yugeon had switched to. Yugeon still had a fandom of a million strong. He didnt care if one homma moved on. Everyone thought so, but they couldnt help feeling a sense of crisis. What are those bastards saying? Theyre just jealous haters. I wish I could just st them on my public ount right now. [- Honestly, its time for the migratory birds to leave Once those wannabes are gone, the real fans can enjoy their fandom morefortably.] But I have the 1st tier fandom pride, I cant ever do that. Women always do their fandom with pride. I knew our kids were good at searching, but posting something like that on a public ount was practically delivering it to them. To make matters worse, one of the top fans of Yugeon had allegedly switched sides, and a group chat rumor maniption case had also exploded. Our fandom image was doomed. We had to keep quiet for now. I wished everyone would just shut up and ignore this painful situation. Yu-geons fans clenched their phones as they watched this unfold. But sadly, being a fan was fundamentally a group activity, and not everyone would follow what I wanted. [- If youre going to switch, then dont buy a ticket or something] [Who switched to someone else?] [Go ahead and tell us.] [Wow I really liked him/her] [Can you please tell me who it is too] [Im sorry but can you also tell me in a direct message] You blockheads. I knew it was Yugeon who caused this fiery situation. *** Yugeon copsed on the sofa as soon as he arrived at his studio apartment, after finishing the filming of Star Discovery. He felt no strength in his body. He thought he would get out of this mess easily, since he had the backing of Cheonsu Group and he was good at using his brain in various ways. I didnt know they would screw me over like this. Of course, it was these idiots who caused it, so I have nothing to say. I couldnt help feeling dry lips and a burning throat. I barely removed the stage makeup and became bare-faced, but I had to leave for the next schedule in three hours. My head hurts. My left knee was throbbing from standing nervously all day. I had to pull myself together and perform a powerful and intense choreography on stage in five hours. If I showed any sign of weakness in my dance, I would be showered with mockery. [- Look at him, hes lost his spirit now that hes not a rookie anymore] [- Why are the other members trying to eat me alive these days? I need to bring and show them whos the boss.] He didnt care that he only slept for three hours out of his 24-hour day. Yugeon grabbed the pill bottle that was lying on the table and poured some into his mouth. He couldnt breathe. He had to get some sleep if he wanted to live. His body fell heavily on the bed and his eyelids closed. When he was asleep, he could escape from the maniptions, rumors, and fandom wars. *** The live broadcast was a huge hit. The next day, he heard from his manager about opening a Y app ount. When they came back to the dorm and copsed after the broadcast, they only said things like wow, we have a home master now. The album release was still more than two weeks away, and now that theeback was counting down, they had to work harder on the choreography. He was thinking that he would do his best with the energy he gained. Everyone, wash up ande listen to the exnation. Ye-junined about the morning breeze that came to the dorm and gathered the members. Ugh, Im sleepy Snap out of it and go wash your face with cold water. Kyungwha dragged the sleepy Ye-jun to the sink. He turned the faucet to the coldest side and sshed cold water on his face. Ye-jun pped like a freshly caught fish. Ow, its cold! Dry yourself off if youre awake. Kyungwha threw a towel from the rack at Ye-juns face. I nced at Seong-won and Seon-woos faces. Seong-won looked fine, even though he sang so loudly yesterday. I wondered if his vocal cords were okay. Seon-woo, who only cheered for me during my hospital visit yesterday, blinked with a crust on his left eysh. I pointed at Seon-woos left eye and said. Get rid of that crust. Its gross. Huh? He made a surprised sound and rubbed off the crust. As I watched him, I felt Seong-wons gaze from behind. What, why. I asked him bluntly. Seong-won looked at me with a rude expression and said. Do you have any awareness that youre favoring him? What are you talking about, thats nonsense. I had no idea what he meant by favoring. Come on, stop talking nonsense. Give me your phones. I handed him my phone without hesitation. It was an Android phone that I switched to after taking out the SIM card from the phone that Cheonise used. It was too ufortable to use. Huh? When did you change to this? Yejoon looked at my phone with curiosity. I couldnt tell him that I couldnt stand using an iPhone. Just, Android is more convenient. You used to say you cant use anything but an iPhone. They must think were not like the kids these days. Except for me and Seon-woo, the other three had iPhones. Go to the app store and search for Y Live. I found the app that appeared at the top and pressed the install button. I had a vague idea of what it was. Every time we searched, the fans would scream when we would open Y Live. I wasnt sure, but it seemed like a measure of the idols poprity. The live we used until now was done through the official SNS. Thats why the authority to start the live was limited to a specific device. We couldnt turn it on whenever we wanted, and the app wasnt for live only, so the features were limited. When youre done installing, go to the artist login. There was a separate tab for artist login under various social logins. When I clicked on the tab, a window popped up asking me to enter thepany code, personal code, and password. I brought thepany code and personal code here, so enter your password with thest digits of your social security number and log in. What was thest digit of Cheonises social security number? I fumbled with the code and typed in the password with a vague memory. I doubted my memory and pressed the login button. Fortunately, the number I remembered was correct. [Wee, Ise.] Wow. As soon as I logged in, the tutorial steps for each member came up. From profile setting to live practice. They all looked at their phones as if they were sticking their noses in them and tried various things. This is something you can use on your own channel without asking me for permission. When you start the live, you can choose whether to open it as individual or group, so dont get confused. Oh, then we can turn it on without contacting you? Yejoon asked with a sparkle in his eyes. I felt a chill down my spine when he asked that. Dont do anything weird. Gyeonghwa beat me to it and tapped Yejoons lips with his hand. Ushhunhunzut eunhgeudeun. What are you saying? The manager nced at Ye-jun as if he was used to him, then spoke to Sungwon. Thats all I wanted to tell you today. You have a separate recording schedule tomorrow, so take good care of your throat. Okay. Sungwon replied briefly and kept looking at the Y-Live screen. Heartbeat also wants to open an ount for us, so theyre contacting us. Itll probably be ready soon. The manager got up from the sofa, brushing off his butt as if he knew what he was doing. Finally, its here. I swallowed hard, my mouth dry. Chapter 80: Watch Your Mouth Chapter 80: Watch Your Mouth Chapter 80 Watch Your Mouth There was a reason why I was nervous when it came. The mostmon case I had seen while collecting the big data of failures was this Heartbeat. Heartbeat was an app that allowed subscribers to receive real-time news from stars in a chat format. From the subscribers point of view, it looked like they were chatting one-on-one with the stars, but to the stars, it looked like a group chat with many people. It was usually called Ttut in short. The ones who spewed crap with their mouths on Ttut were often exposed and circted in the online world. The criticisms were very diverse. They talk too much. They send too many short answers. They post on Instagram every day but not on Ttut. They dont post selfies but only greetings and leave. Besides, they had to deal with all kinds of verbal mistakes and controversial remarks that led to the fights between the paid service leakers and the ones who said they deserved to be cursed. Who the hell came up with this painful service? Considering that the monthly subscription fee was only $4, it must have been a service that raked in money for the service developers. The idols had to show their talents, and the servicepany had to take themission. It was a service that required investment costs and proven demand tounch. We thought we could only join after oureback was sessful. But Jacon became widely known for his healing variety show and attracted more fans. And it seemed that they started to get love calls from here and there after this runner-up. Anyway, its good to be recognized for our performance. Im happy, of course. I had a headache thinking about how to warn these kids no, these guys not to make any mistakes in the future, but it was a good thing anyway. Oh, I really wanted to try Ttut. As Ye-juns eyes sparkled, Kyunghwaughed and ruffled his hair. What dont you want to do? I dont know, things I havent thought about yet? Before we knew it, the conversation had drifted to another topic and the manager said goodbye as he prepared to leave. Anyway, you guys must have worked hard yesterday, so take a break today. Yes. See youter~. After the manager left, only five slightly recovered members remained. Meow! Only Meongi was energetic, running around under the table and attacking the members feet. As the silence became oppressive, Kyunghwa spoke first. Its a bitte to talk about this now. But did thepany do anything about yesterday? Now that I thought about it, they really didnt. Was I supposed to trust them and keep working like this? But at least Y Live was contracted and Toot was in negotiation, so it seemed like they hadntpletely abandoned us. I know. Its kind of disappointing in many ways. Ye-jun pouted his lips. I get nervous when Im involved with Floss, as if Im some kind of celebrity. It was like thatst time too. There was no room forints. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. Anyway, today is a holiday, so lets rx. Ugh, I should call my grandma for the first time in a while. They all got up and stretched their still sore bodies. Thats when I remembered who helped me put Sungwon in the cast. Thats right. I should thank Mrs. An Jeong-hee too. I had lived as if I had no mother, so I was not used to greeting my parents. Damn. When I said mother, I suddenly remembered what happened in my dream? It was better to call the chairman An, who was aplete stranger, my mother than to call the killer who killed me mom. Ill also call my moth mom. I also got up from my seat and headed to my room. Kyunghwa gave me a shoulder bump. Whats going on? Is it filial piety time? Ah then I should call themter too. Seon-woo fiddled with his phone and watched the door of the room we shared close. I raised my hand and gave him an OK sign, then closed the door and searched the phone book. I had called several times already, but the name and number still felt unfamiliar. I took a short breath and pressed the call button. Soon, I heard the sound of the phone connecting. -Oh, son~. How have you been? I exhaled the breath I had held in and answered. Yes, thanks to your care, Ive been well. -Its natural for family members to help each other. Why are you so formal like youre talking to a stranger? No, really. Thanks to your help, everything went well. I grumbled and reflexively lowered my hand, even though I couldnt see it. -I saw it, you sing well~. And you have a handsome face too? You said youreing back in October, so theres not much time left, right? Youll be busy when you start your activities, so show me your face sometime. Thats right. Theeback Even if we dont hit the jackpot, well be on three or four music shows a week if we do moderately well. I would need ten bodies to keep up. Floss or well, the global top-tier groups could choose which music shows to appear on. We had to run whenever they called us, saying yes, thank you! Yes, Ill arrange a schedule with the members soon. -Okay, Ill contact the kitchen and have them prepare something delicious for you. Just let me know whenever. Oh that was a tempting remark to hear. It was a well-known fact that Cheonise was a second-generation chaebol. I had no memory of cosying as a poor youth, so it might be okay to film something like a content with a resort theme. He might not like it if I showed off too much that he had a lot of money at home, but it would be fine if I did it as a sponsorship. Yes, thank you. Is there anything bothering you? Of course, it was a question of courtesy. There was nothing Cheonise could do for Chairman An if he had any problems. -Well then. Dont worry too much, youre doing well. Lets see each other soon. Yes, Ill contact you again when I coordinate the time with the members. -Okay. Take care until then. You didnt call me because you had something to ask, did you? No, I called you to thank you and ask how you were doing. After exchanging greetings efficiently, the phone call ended and I felt awkward. What do normal sons say to their mothers? I really dont know. I finished the call in less than ten minutes and opened the door. Ye-jun was still on the phone for a long time. It looks like hes doing a filibuster over there. I wondered what he had so much to say that he didnt seem to end the call. Ill also call my parents! Seon-woo saw meing out of the living room and went into the room with his phone, as if taking turns. As I watched the two of them on the phone, I felt that I was the shortest among the three. What the hell Why do they have so much to say? I was curious about the content, but not enough to eavesdrop. Seong-won, arent you going to call them? I could tell that Kyung-hwa was also waiting for Ye-jun to leave so he could call his parents. Instead of answering, Seong-won stared nkly at Ae-ong. I was annoyed that he seemed to ignore Kyung-hwa, so I interjected. Hey, Kyung-hwa asked you a question. You should answer when someone asks you. Then Seong-won rolled his eyes and avoided my gaze. Im not doing it. He was such a jerk, not only to strangers but also to his family. I shrugged it off and got up to head to the fridge. I wanted to drink the sugar-free juice I always drank, so I opened the fridge door. Who was thest person to drink this? The juice waspletely empty. High chance it was Oh Ye-jun. Kyung-hwa answered calmly. He should have ordered it in advance with overnight delivery if he knew it was running out. The payment card was already registered with mine anyway, so what was the hassle. I was slightly irritated that I couldnt drink what I wanted. Do you want to go to the convenience store? Kyung-hwa suddenly suggested to me. Go together? Up to you? I have a gift card I need to exchange. Who did you get the gift card from? A school friend. I red at him, hoping to catch a glimpse of a scandal. Kyung-hwa stuck out his tongue. Dont worry, its not a girl. Yeah. As long as its not a girl, its fine. Of course, its not fine if he meets a guy, but at least they have some rules and dont spread gossip. Just send me a screenshot and Ill exchange it for you on my way. It would be more trouble if we went together and caught peoples attention. Okay, okay. Ill send it to you on chat. Soon I got a message from Kyung-hwa and checked it. It was a famous imported brand of ice cream. Who would buy this expensive stuff at a convenience store? It must have been his young friends. They probably sent it to him as a constion for all the hard things he had been going throughtely. Ill be back soon. I put on a mask and a cap and left the dorm. The cool autumn breeze brushed against my skin. Summer is really over now. It was natural since Chuseok had passed, but it was chilly enough to wear long sleeves. I wondered if I should sort out my clothes. If I put away my summer clothes now, I might die of heat. I could do it next week or the week after. I shook my head as I thought of the dazzling fashion collection of Cheon Yi-se. Maybe it would be easier to buy new ones. My summer clothes were already like that, so I doubted my fall and winter clothes would be any better. With a light heart, I went to the nearby convenience store and bought tworge bottles of juice and ice cream. I carried the heavy bag full of stuff and looked up at the dorm window on my way back. Whose room is that? As soon as I thought that, a familiar voice came out very softly. I sent you the money, so check it. Dont spend it on some weird ce this time. Pay your rent first. Please, dont make me get a call from the hospital again. Im not refusing to send you money, but why are you doing this to yourself? Huh? The owner of this voice was surely Please. Seriously Im not asking for much, am I? Where did you spend the money you got from renting the ce? Werent you banned from there? Is it horse racing again? Stop embarrassing yourself everywhere. Please. Chapter 80: Chapter 80: There was a reason why I was nervous when it came. The mostmon case I had seen while collecting the big data of failures was this Heartbeat. Heartbeat was an app that allowed subscribers to receive real-time news from stars in a chat format. From the subscribers point of view, it looked like they were chatting one-on-one with the stars, but to the stars, it looked like a group chat with many people. It was usually called Ttut in short. The ones who spewed crap with their mouths on Ttut were often exposed and circted in the online world. The criticisms were very diverse. They talk too much. They send too many short answers. They post on Instagram every day but not on Ttut. They dont post selfies but only greetings and leave. Besides, they had to deal with all kinds of verbal mistakes and controversial remarks that led to the fights between the paid service leakers and the ones who said they deserved to be cursed. Who the hell came up with this painful service? Considering that the monthly subscription fee was only $4, it must have been a service that raked in money for the service developers. The idols had to show their talents, and the servicepany had to take themission. It was a service that required investment costs and proven demand tounch. We thought we could only join after oureback was sessful. But Jakon became widely known for his healing variety show and attracted more fans. And it seemed that they started to get love calls from here and there after this runner-up. Anyway, its good to be recognized for our performance. Im happy, of course. I had a headache thinking about how to warn these kidsno, these guysabout not making any mistakes in the future. However, it was a good thing to consider nheless Oh, I really wanted to try Ttut. As Yi-juns eyes sparkled, Kyunghwaughed and ruffled his hair. What dont you want to do? I dont know, things I havent thought about yet? Before we knew it, the conversation had drifted to another topic and the manager said goodbye as he prepared to leave. Anyway, you guys must have worked hard yesterday, so take a break today. Yes. See youter~. After the manager left, only five slightly recovered members remained. Meow! Only Meongi was energetic, running around under the table and attacking the members feet. As the silence became oppressive, Kyunghwa spoke first. Its a bitte to talk about this now. But did thepany do anything about yesterday? Now that I thought about it, they really didnt. Was I supposed to trust them and keep working like this? But at least Y Live was contracted and Toot was in negotiation, so it seemed like they hadntpletely abandoned us. I know. Its kind of disappointing in many ways. Yi-jun pouted his lips. I get nervous when Im involved with Floss, as if Im some kind of celebrity. It was like thatst time too. There was no room forints. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. Anyway, today is a holiday, so lets rx. Ugh, I should call my grandma for the first time in a while. They all got up and stretched their still sore bodies. Thats when I remembered who helped me put Sungwon in the cast. Thats right. I should thank Mrs. Ahn Jung-hee too. I had lived as if I had no mother, so I was not used to greeting my parents. Damn. When I said mother, I suddenly remembered what happened in my dream? It was better to call Vice-Chairman Ahn, who was aplete stranger, my mother than to call the killer who killed me mom. Ill also call my moth mom. I also got up from my seat and headed to my room. Kyunghwa gave me a shoulder bump. Whats going on? Is it filial piety time? Ah then I should call themter too. Seon-woo fiddled with his phone and watched the door of the room we shared close. I raised my hand and gave him an OK sign, then closed the door and searched the phone book. I had called several times already, but the name and number still felt unfamiliar. I took a short breath and pressed the call button. Soon, I heard the sound of the phone connecting. -Oh, son~. How have you been? I exhaled the breath I had held in and answered. Yes, thanks to your care, Ive been well. -Its natural for family members to help each other. Why are you so formal like youre talking to a stranger? No, really. Thanks to your help, everything went well. I grumbled and reflexively lowered my hand, even though I couldnt see it. -I saw it, you sing well~. And you have a handsome face too? You said youreing back in October, so theres not much time left, right? Youll be busy when you start your activities, so show me your face sometime. Thats right. Theeback Even if we dont hit the jackpot, well be on three or four music shows a week if we do moderately well. I would need ten bodies to keep up. Floss or well, the global top-tier groups could choose which music shows to appear on. We had to run whenever they called us, saying yes, thank you! Yes, Ill arrange a schedule with the members soon. -Okay, Ill contact the kitchen and have them prepare something delicious for you. Just let me know whenever. Oh that was a tempting remark to hear. It was a well-known fact that Cheon Ise was a second-generation chaebol. I had no memory of cosying as a poor youth, so it might be okay to film something like a content with a resort theme. He might not like it if I showed off too much that he had a lot of money at home, but it would be fine if I did it as a sponsorship. Yes, thank you. Is there anything bothering you? Of course, it was a question of courtesy. There was nothing Cheon Ise could do for Vice-Chairman Ahn if he had any problems. -Well then. Dont worry too much, youre doing well. Lets see each other soon. Yes, Ill contact you again when I coordinate the time with the members. -Okay. Take care until then. You didnt call me because you had something to ask, did you? No, I called you to thank you and ask how you were doing. After exchanging greetings efficiently, the phone call ended and I felt awkward. What do normal sons say to their mothers? I really dont know. I finished the call in less than ten minutes and opened the door. Yi-jun was still on the phone for a long time. It looks like hes doing a filibuster over there. I wondered what he had so much to say that he didnt seem to end the call. Ill also call my parents! Seon-woo saw meing out of the living room and went into the room with his phone, as if taking turns. As I watched the two of them on the phone, I felt that I was the shortest among the three. What the hell Why do they have so much to say? I was curious about the content, but not enough to eavesdrop. Seong-won, arent you going to call them? I could tell that Kyunghwa was also waiting for Yi-jun to leave so he could call his parents. Instead of answering, Seong-won stared nkly at Ae-ong. I was annoyed that he seemed to ignore Kyunghwa, so I interjected. Hey, Kyunghwa asked you a question. You should answer when someone asks you. Then Seong-won rolled his eyes and avoided my gaze. Im not doing it. He was such a jerk, not only to strangers but also to his family. I shrugged it off and got up to head to the fridge. I wanted to drink the sugar-free juice I always drank, so I opened the fridge door. Who was thest person to drink this? The juice waspletely empty. High chance it was Oh Yi-jun. Kyunghwa answered calmly. He should have ordered it in advance with overnight delivery if he knew it was running out. The payment card was already registered with mine anyway, so what was the hassle? I was slightly irritated that I couldnt drink what I wanted. Do you want to go to the convenience store? Kyunghwa suddenly suggested it to me. Go together? Up to you? I have a gift card I need to exchange. Who did you get the gift card from? A school friend. I red at him, hoping to catch a glimpse of a scandal. Kyunghwa stuck out his tongue. Dont worry, its not a girl. Yeah. As long as its not a girl, its fine. Of course, its not fine if he meets a guy, but at least they have some rules and dont spread gossip. Just send me a screenshot and Ill exchange it for you on my way. It would be more trouble if we went together and caught peoples attention. Okay, okay. Ill send it to you on chat. Soon I got a message from Kyunghwa and checked it. It was a famous imported brand of ice cream. Who would buy this expensive stuff at a convenience store? It must have been his young friends. They probably sent it to him as a constion for all the hard things he had been going throughtely. Ill be back soon. I put on a mask and a cap and left the dorm. The cool autumn breeze brushed against my skin. Summer is really over now. It was natural since Chuseok had passed, but it was chilly enough to wear long sleeves. I wondered if I should sort out my clothes. If I put away my summer clothes now, I might die of heat. I could do it next week or the week after. I shook my head as I thought of the dazzling fashion collection of Cheon Ise. Maybe it would be easier to buy new ones. My summer clothes were already like that, so I doubted my fall and winter clothes would be any better. With a light heart, I went to the nearby convenience store and bought tworge bottles of juice and ice cream. I carried the heavy bag full of stuff and looked up at the dorm window on my way back. Whose room is that? As soon as I thought that, a familiar voice came out very softly. I sent you the money, so check it. Dont spend it on some weird ce this time. Pay your rent first. Please, dont make me get a call from the hospital again. Im not refusing to send you money, but why are you doing this to yourself? Huh? The owner of this voice was surely Please. Seriously Im not asking for much, am I? Where did you spend the money you got from renting the ce? Werent you banned from there? Is it horse racing again? Stop embarrassing yourself everywhere. Please. Chapter 81: Chapter 81: It was not something I could share with anyone else The phone went silent after a long sigh. Just from the few keywords I heard, I felt a bad premonition creeping up on me. I had always thought that Kyunghwas family situation was a bitplicated, since he showed an excessive sense of responsibility that did not match his age. But what I expected was that he had a lot of younger siblings and his parents were both working, so they did not get much care. I did not expect that he would spend the money I sent him for his hospital bills on gambling, and that the hospital would call me about it. I rushed up the stairs. As soon as I opened the door lock and entered, I saw Kyunghwas stiff face in the living room. He must have opened the door and came out. I handed him the bag with the ice cream without showing any emotion.Here. I got this for you. Ah, thanks. He took the ice cream and went to the kitchen to find a spoon. Anyone want some ice cream? Oh. Ill have some. Yi-jun came out of the bathroom after washing his hands and casually took a seat on the sofa. Lets eat and clean up quickly before Seon-wooes out. Thanks to my secret n, a third of the ice cream disappeared in no time and was sealed in the freezer, away from Seon-woos eyes. The holiday did not feel as refreshing as it should have, but I decided to act as if I did not hear anything. It was not a problem that I could intervene in anyway, and he probably had his own reasons He might not want to reveal his scars. Lets pretend I didnt hear that. I nodded silently to myself. The aftermath of the Star Discovery broadcast was still going on when the shooting day for Boys in Crisis came. They said that once the official activities started, the staff would take care of the country house, and they would deal with the ups and downs that would happen along the way. Whats the point I have to do well to keep going. If I make aeback and no one cares and no one calls me Ugh. I shuddered and shook my head. [Time left until the test ends (contract expires): 27 days] The system showed me the remaining time again, as if to warn me. The end of September meant that there was less than a month left until theeback. I had to get my act together. I pped my cheeks and got out of the van. Alright, today were going to help out the nearby farms with their harvest and y games with the vegetables, meat, and fruits we get. The staff exined the recreation of the day from behind the camera. The game was not thatplicated and it was more of a physical activity than a mental one. I was d to get some fresh air after being stuck in the practice room all week, practicing the choreography. Lets think positively. The power of positivity! I joined the members who were strangely more excited than usual and we split into groups of two or three to help out. When evening came, Kyunghwa and Yi-juns team brought back apples and shine muscats. Seon-woo, Seong-won and I got hanwoo and marinated ribs. Whats a shine muscat? I dont know, they said they nted a lot and there was a lot left. Sure enough. It was a fruit that even went on the ancestral rites table these days. It was so sweet that it would taste good even with yogurt, without adding any sugar It seemed like I had to eat it as a dessert. Lets go pick some lettuce from the field. Kyunghwa checked the meat and headed to the field with sokuri on his side. He was awkward at first, wondering how to pick it. Now he was a pro farmer. While Kyunghwa went to get the lettuce, the staff brought a board with the rules written on it and pushed it in. There was nothing easy to eat here. I clicked my tongue lightly and focused on the game. Ah! Youre so mean, hyung. I was the first ce. I ate the best parts I got as a prize elegantly, as if I was doing a mukbang. Yi-jun lost his appetite. Next time, you will be the first ce. I put down my chopsticks cheekily. As soon as the meal time was over, the staff handed us a survey sheet the size of A4 before they left. What is this? The staff exined quickly as five pairs of eyes looked down at them. This is a survey sheet that will be revealed as aeback spoiler. It will also be posted on SNS, so please fill it out carefully. There was nothing big in the content. What animal do you think represents you, what emoji do you use the most, what part of the single are you most confident in? It was questions like that and filling out the profile. Oh, I can fill out the profile quickly I thought and then I realized. I dont know my blood type in 2023. I couldnt call the vice president and ask him, mom, whats my blood type? Then I saw Yi-jun searching for something on his phone. Its updated again. It was a wiki page that summarized Oh Yi-juns profile. He was a cunning guy who used his brain like a ghost. I quietly searched for Climax on the wiki page. There was something hanging on the page that had only the group debut date and the member names five months ago. It was the same for my personal page. When I clicked it five months ago, there was no recorded content and it said Write it now!. It was a huge progress. Come to think of it, other YouTube channels would make us read the wiki pages or reactions from various sites as Reading Comments. We had enough text now, so it seemed okay to try it. Anyway, that waster and I copied the information on the wiki diligently. It takes more time than I thought. The rest of the members filled out the sheet on their own without relying on the wiki or anything. About 20 minutester. Yi-jun, who finished first, put down his pen and stretched. His writing was flying like a wild goose. Write it neatly. This is going to be public. Kyunghwa clicked his tongue at Yi-juns messy sheet. Why does it matter, as long as its readable? He seemed confident that he could read it. That? It was still enough to be a code breaking level. As I filled out thest survey carefully and put down my pen, Yi-jun looked at my sheet and admired it. Wow, hyung, you write really well. Werent you really messy before? I felt embarrassed but I lifted my head and answered. It was rare for someone who wrote well to write carelessly. But on the contrary. There were some cases where people who couldnt write well became good at writing with effort and correction. I fixed it. I changed my signature too. Wow, I would believe it if you said it was someone elses handwriting. It was actually someone elses, so I had no choice. Maybeter, if I got some handwriting analysis done, I would be spotlighted as an exceptional case. But for now, I didnt have to worry about that, so I could go out shamelessly. You should try to fix it too. You can do it. Nah, no way. Only you can pull it off by gritting your teeth. Seon-woo peeked his head up and checked my sheet, then eximed. Wow, it looks like you printed it with a printer! Dont exaggerate, its not that good. I stroked Seon-woos cute head and looked down at the sheet I had finished writing. [Name] Cheon Ise [Age] 24 [Birthday] October 5th [Height] 181cm [Blood type] O(rh+) [Birthce] Seoul [Hobbies] Cooking [Specialty] Cooking This was amon profile so far. The next part was the survey content. [Q1. What animal represents me?] Dog [Q2. What emoji do I use most often?] I dont use emojis much [Q3. What am I most confident about in this single?] The dance moves with moderation Kyunghwa, who read the survey below, burst intoughter. Why are youughing? When I asked him with a sincere look of confusion, Kyunghwa answered with a shrug. You said dog, not puppy? Im too big to be a puppy. I wasnt just big, I had a decent physique. The height order was different in the group, but if Ipared myself to the others Yi-jun had an insurmountable gap, and then it was me, Seong-won, Seon-woo, and Kyunghwa. No matter how cute they thought I was, I wasnt a puppy. Something this big had to be called a dog, not a puppy. Well, I get what image youre going for. But if you want to be something like a German shepherd or a husky, wouldnt a wolf be better? No, I dont like that. I had never seen a sane man who called himself a wolf. Then Kyunghwa picked up a pen and drew a picture of arge dog with pointed ears next to the word dog that I wrote. What are you doing? I thought you needed an exnation. I quickly added a note under the picture that looked like either a Jindo or a German shepherd. [Drawn by Kyunghwa] Thats it for real. As I tried to hide the sheet, Yi-jun confidently ced his sheet in the middle of the members. Look at mine too. I nced at Oh Yi-juns sheet and read it. [Name] Oh Yi-jun [Age] 22 [Birthday] August 23rd [Height] 186 [Blood type] O [Birthce] Taean [Hobbies] Producing, boxing [Specialty] Using my body You crazy bastard. What did you write for your specialty? Whats your specialty? Its true. Never mind if its true or not. Isnt that too suggestive? Kyaa, youre a pervert for thinking that way, hyung. What are you talking about? Rewrite it. I dont wanna. Of course, Yi-juns fans seemed to like this side of him too. I cant live like this. Wait a minute. His birthday was at the end of August. Why didnt he say anything? I asked in surprise at the date I hadnt thought of. You had your birthdayst month. Why didnt you tell me? Yi-jun answered as if it was obvious. Think about the mood back then. Could we have celebrated and had a st? Oh. I nodded as I recalled the gloomy atmosphere. Still, I could have made him some seaweed soup. I sighed and read the items below. [Q1. What animal represents me?] Squirrel^^ [Q2. What emoji do I use the most?] (Fire) [Q3. What part of my new single am I most confident about?] Self-producing Everyone looked back and forth between Yi-juns face and the sheet, dumbfounded by his confident answer of squirrel. Its the nickname the fans gave me. I have to use it. Put USA in parentheses in front of it. USA. This time, the sheet flew out of his hands and we couldnt catch it. The cats that were sleeping under the eaves startled and lifted their heads at Yi-junsmotion. I cant live like this. How did you guys write it? I wasnt worried about Kyunghwa, but I was a bit concerned about Seong-won and Seon-woo. I took Seon-woos first and read it. [Name] Na Seon-woo [Age] 21 [Birthday] April 1st [Height] 182 [Blood type] O RH+ [Birthce] Jeonju [Hobby] Eating? Exercising? [Specialty] Eating a lot (Pupa is confident) What is Pupa? A food fighter. Oh. That was not my favorite field. I always believed that food should be enjoyed for its taste, not used for eating a lot. That was my principle. [Q1. What animal represents me?] Dog pig dog [Q2. What emoji do I use the most?] (Blushugh) [Q3. What part of my single am I most confident about?] Visual!! When I saw the scribbled line on the first question, Iughed and cried at the same time. I understood what he meant, but. The word pig was so clear that everyone would think that the dog was a disguise and the pig was the main. I barely kept a poker face and asked. Why did you write and erase pig? Chapter 82: Chapter 82: As soon as he said that, Seon-woo hid behind Yi-jun, ncing at me nervously as if I was angry. Even though Yi-jun had the best physique among us there was no way he could hide him when the height difference was less than 10cm. Why are you hiding? I asked, frowning at him. Seon-woo cautiously asked me back. Are you not mad, hyung? Why would I be mad? I tilted my head, not understanding. Why would I be mad? Well you went through all the trouble to help me lose weight I dont know what youre talking about, but Im not mad, so just tell me why.Seon-woo hesitated and squirmed for a while, until Yi-jun finally spoke up. If someone saw this, they would think that Ise hyung was bullying you behind the camera. Seon-woo quickly shook his head, denying it. Ah, no! Thats not it at all. I just love eating so much and I also have a round and soft impression and there are already some fans who gave me the image of a pig There are fans who gave you the image of a pig? Thats not a fan, thats an anti! I red at him suspiciously, and Seon-woo took out his phone and showed me an image that he seemed to have saved before. Look at this! Its a pig, but its so cute, I thought it would be okay if it was like this. The image that Seon-woo showed me had a mini pig that was as small as a cat or a dog, next to Seon-woos photo. And next to that was [- Boss boss! Why dont youe to the baby pig country these days? (photo)] [- (photo)] It was me, shooting School Kitchen Attack, looking into the oven with my arms crossed and a fierce re. Behind me, there was a clever touch. A food pyramid and a bnced nutrition form were synthesized in tiny letters. Considering that I was being sold as a nagging father image, it was a meme that could easilye up among the fans. Theyre cute. Round and fluffy. I reacted as if it was no big deal, and Seon-woo widened his eyes in surprise. Really? Youre okay with it? I briefly reminded myself that we were recording right now, and answered. Yeah, a baby pig image is not verymon, right? I mean if someone maliciously teased you for being fat, I would oppose it too. But theyre all finding you cute, so it might be unique and good. There were too many idols who had already established their identity as dogs. Rather than joining the red ocean andpeting with countless senior dogs, it wasnt bad to go with a character that no one else used for their PR. As long as you can handle the hatements when theye that is. Seon-woo was in a perfect state of visuals that no one could ever look down on, no matter where he went. But are you okay with it? I turned the sheet back to Seon-woo and looked into his eyes. This guy couldnt even hide anything, let alone act, so I could tell right away if he wasnt sincere. I want to do the pig side more. Its also because the fans gave me that image and Seon-woo had something he wanted to say, but he couldnt find the right words, or he was hesitating. I want to show that pigs cant be used as insults! AB RH+ [ce of birth] Wonju [Hobby] Watching movies [Specialty] Huh? Did I miss something? Height No matter how I look at it, he seems at least 3cm shorter than me I dont care about his rounded-up height, but All the questions below are filled out, but only the specialty is nk. You forgot your specialty? I asked him with a puzzled look as I lifted my head. Kyunghwa answered with an awkward expression. I havent filled it out yet. Still? It had been more than 20 minutes since he started filling it out. Who has trouble deciding what their specialty is? I didnt understand. Just write it down. What youre good at. I asked him as if I was curious. Kyunghwa answered. Well Seong-won sings better than me, and Im not that good at dancing either It doesnt have to be anything fancy. You must have something that youre better at than others. Kyunghwa thought for a while and scribbled something. [Specialty] Squidward voice imitation What is this? I looked down at Kyunghwa with a bewildered expression. Im good at imitating Squidward. What is that? You dont know? The squid from that animation. Kyunghwa cleared his throat and opened his mouth. Get out of my front yard and stop flopping around! I didnt know what it was, but it sounded like a real voice actor. Yi-juns eyes widened and heughed hysterically as he gasped for air. Wow, youre crazy. Why didnt you show me that talent before? Cant you do anything else? Do some other lines. Kyunghwa seemed to like Yi-juns enthusiastic reaction and cleared his throat again. Go to sleep! Do you know what time it is? Wow, I got goosebumps. Its exactly the same. I thought Squidward was whining in front of me. I didnt know what it was, but this Was it funny to the other guys too? Seong-won turned his head and shook his shoulders. This cant be edited. Actually, I dont care about Squidward or whatever, and it was a satisfying situation for Kyunghwa, who got a clip-worthy scene. Okay, then write that down. I quickly nced over the things he wrote below. [Q1. What animal represents me?] Deer [Q2. What emoji do I use the most?] (The emoji with folded hands for begging) [Q3. What are you most confident about in this new single?] Teamwork among the members It was an answer that suited Kyunghwa well in many ways. To tell the truth I thought he looked more like a pufferfish than a deer But if I had to choose among mammals, a deer wasnt bad. He had thin and delicate lines overall, and his face was neat and sophisticated. He looked like the father deer from a ssic animation. He seemed to have written that with that in mind. But I thought he suited a reindeer better than a deer. Then, the only thing left was I nced at Seong-won. He gave me a nudge and a wink. Why? Do you want to see mine too? Was he reluctant to show me? Or was he wondering why I asked him now? He asked me with an expression that was hard to read. Do you not want to show me? We were going to reveal everythingter anyway, so why bother? I asked him with a puzzled look. Seong-won pushed the sheet toward me grumpily. I didnt write anything weird, so look if you want to. He never knew how to speak nicely. I dly took the sheet he was holding. Kyunghwa seemed curious too, as I felt him peeking over my shoulder. [Name] Son Seong-won [Age] 22 [Birthday] December 26th [Height] 184 [Blood type] B Rh- [Birthce] Seoul [Hobby] Aeongi [Talent] Vocal What kind of hobby is Aeongi? Did you confuse it with something precious? I narrowed my eyes and looked up at Seong-won. Whats your hobby? Im always with Aeongi when Im not working. Aeongi was meowing and crying in the bedroom where I had temporarily made a cat door. I was worried about how he would cope with the stress of moving. Maybe because this was his hometown, he seemed morefortable staying here with me than being left alone at home and finding someone to take care of him. Sometimes, he would go up to the porch and y and lick with the mother cat and other siblings on the other side of the cat door, as if they knew each other. You have to let him go soon, dont get too attached. He is 2.5 months old now. The 3-month mark when I had to send him for adoption was approaching. I know that. Hmph. Seong-won turned his head with a click and stuck out his tongue. As I scanned the sheet again, looking for anything else unusual, I was surprised by an unexpected notation. Youre Rh-? Yeah. Its not that hard to see, is it? Seong-won answered nonchntly, as if he was used to this reaction. Dont get hurt or sick anywhere. I nodded my head without saying anything more. I dont need you to tell me that. I wont get hurt. I ignored Seong-wons snappy answer as if it was a passive skill and checked the questions below. [Q1. What animal represents me?] Female cat He didnt even write thest letter, but I could clearly see what he had written and erased. At this point, it wasnt an animal that represented me, but just an animal that I liked. I smiled and read the rest of the profile. Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Why did you write fox and then erase it? I asked him, suppressing myughter as much as I could. Seong-won answered grumpily. I didnt write fox. What other animal starts with yeo besides fox? Seong-won mped his mouth shut like a m and didnt answer. Dont want to talk? I asked again, still holding back myughter. He gave me a less prickly answer than before. Theres also a-eong-i (meow), so I just liked the cat side better.And then he turned his head with a flick, as if he had told me some great secret. Oh, thank you for telling me that. Instead of teasing or mocking him, I quietly closed my mouth and read the rest of the survey. [Q2. What is the emoji you use most often?] (A person with a nk expression and an X over their mouth) [Q3. What is the part you are most confident about in this single?] Lyrics. Wouldnt it be better to add some exnation? I couldnt understand his psychology of writing only lyrics after contributing the most to the lyrics. How could they be so different when they all lived under the same roof? People might wonder how they got along so well. Well, what can I say I guess they werent this close when Cheon Ise was active. Even though they had been working together for five years, they were distant from each other. Maybe I helped them improve their rtionship a little bit. I felt a slight tingling of pride in my chest and coughed lightly. Whats with that weird expression? Seong-won looked at me strangely as I was still holding his sheet and lost in thought. Ah, its nothing. I casually gathered the sheets of all the members and handed them over to the staff. The staff who collected the surveys started to leave soon. We also got ready to go to bed and went to the bathroom to get our toothbrushes. Lets brush our teeth and sleep. Ah, then Ill brush mine now too. The water was precious because it was getting colder. The boiler was so slow that it took a long time to get lukewarm. I should brush mine now too. It was a good strategy to use the water quickly when someone turned it on and made it warm. You should brush yours now too. I pointed at Seong-won who was sitting on the floor. He obediently got up from his seat. He looked so good when he listened well. I chuckled to myself and headed to the bathroom. The bathroom, which we had cleaned thoroughly and even reced the tiles by ourselves for a few weeks, had no fridge. Oof, its cold. We huddled together and each took a toothbrush. It was a funny scene. Ah, I should show Rise how we brush our teeth too. Seon-woo crept towards the camera installed in the living room. He looked like a small animal that would stick its nose right into the lens. The difference was that puppies and kittens were actually small, but he wasnt. Im going to cover the camera. Kyunghwa said in a voice that I couldnt tell if he wasughing or scolding. Leave it alone. He likes it. Seon-woo had been showing signs of worry ever since he was cast as a music show MC. When he was finally rxing and enjoying some small happiness, I felt like I should let him have it. Well he wont make any weird mistakes or cause any trouble when he goes there. He may seem like a kid I threw into the water, but he was an adult after all. I nodded to myself and spat out the foam into the sink. The autumn night in the countryside was quite cold, and winter was approaching. *** After finishing the filming of Boys in Crisis, we headed back to Seoul and Seon-woos preparation for his MC challenge began. The filming day was every Sunday. Seon-woos debut as an MC was on Monday, with less than a week left. Ive never performed with someone other than the members. What if I mess up? Seon-woo was moving around busily since morning to prepare for the special stage to celebrate his MC debut. Youre not going on stage today. And shes not a stranger, shes your sister. Youll be able to prepare in a morefortable atmosphere. Dont be too nervous. I tried to calm down Seon-woo, who was already shaking, and packed a sd lunch box for him. Now that summer was over, I was d that I only had to put one ice pack in his bag to keep it fresh. Share it with your sister. I prepared some finger food for the rest, so you can share it with the staff during the break. I felt uneasy sending Seon-woo off with nothing, so I prepared some things for him. Was this how a father felt when sending his son to his first field trip? If I had more time, I would have hired a professional catering service. But since most hotel catering were already booked at this time, I had no choice but to prepare everything myself. On the day of the show, I prepared about a hundred gift baskets from Cheon Soo Hotel I can give them to the fans and staff who came to the filming. It was a matter of life and death if I failed thiseback, so I didnt bother saving the Cheon Soo Groups fortune that wouldnt run out even if I spent it recklessly. Am I really going alone today? Seon-woo looked at me with big eyes, blinking as if he was asking for help. Do you want me to go with you? I asked him, wondering what he was talking about. Last time, you went with Seong-won hyung to Star Discovery He was throwing a tantrum like a kid who wanted me toe to his ss observation day. That was a filming schedule, and today is just the first day of practice. It wasnt a very important event, even though it was a special stage. We only had three practice sessions: one today, one on Wednesday, and one on the day of the rehearsal. Did I really have to go with him to the practice? I tilted my head at his unexpected whim. Ill go with you on the day of the show. You can go ande back by yourself for practice. But then Seon-woo shook his head from side to side with a pleading look in his eyes. Oh what do I do with this? I didnt have any schedule today anyway, so should I go with him? As I was hesitating, Yi-jun intervened. Hey, can I go and watch the practice? What are you doing, why are you butting in? It looks fun, I want to go and y. There was no rule that the fellow members couldnte to the practice site. But it was already crowded enough with the other staff and backup dancers Do we really need to bring two tall men over 180 cm with us? Do we really need to do that? Thank you, Yi-jun hyung, foring with us! Seon-woo looked up at Yi-jun with grateful eyes, as if he wanted anyone with a familiar face to be with him. If he went, I had to go too. I couldnt trust these two guys alone, even though they were adults. Fine. Lets go, go. Wow! Seon-woo pped his hands with a happy expression, as if he had gained two allies. I couldnt live because of these two. Sigh. I had no choice. It was my fault for taking these kids that someone else had given birth to into my heart. *** The practice room was arge dance academy on line 3. Seon-woos sister, Pris Seon-young, was from another agency. Alcor Entertainment. Ten years ago, it was a small agency founded by a top idol from the 2000s. But now, it has grown tremendously after being absorbed by arge portalpany that wanted to expand into the entertainment business. They probably never thought they would be such a bigpany when they first debuted, enough to join the top four agencies. First Magnitude, or Perme for short, was the dance academy with the most followers in Korea. It was a much better ce than the practice room I had been using until now, as if it was apany that had an exclusive contract with Alcor. Not that W was a small ce either Most of the singers in thepany were soloists rather than idols. There were two girl groups and one boy group that debuted before Climax. But they all failed and so did Climax, making thepany notorious for being bad at idol nning. And then they somehow managed to partner with the broadcasting station and luckily recruit Floss Well, considering the money they made from Floss, maybe that was an investment cost. I licked my tongue, recalling the estimated sales of Floss that I had found while researching the idol market. While I nced at the other side for a moment, Yi-jun quickly walked to the door and pressed the doorbell. Anyone would think you came here to practice today. Hey, its just that the first person to arrive should press it. Then the inte buzzed and connected. -Hello, what can I do for you? Yi-jun waved his hand at the inte with a natural smile. Hello~. Were Na Seon-woo and his guardian, here to practice for the Music Safe Special stage~! Guardian, my ass. Whos protecting who? I chuckled, but I must have looked no different to others. -Okay, Ill open the door for you! The inte hung up and the door opened. The building looked pretty neat from the outside, and the inside also showed that they had spent money on it. Wow Ive never been to Perm before. Yi-jun looked around curiously, from the ceiling to the handles, as he entered. Oh, you brought the members too! Come this way. A man who looked like a staff member came out and greeted us warmly, then took us to the practice room. Do you want some Americano or something? You must have had a hard timeing here. Um I felt a bit sorry to drink anything when I came to watch. As I hesitated, Yi-jun cut in. Oh, do you have any juice? Uh, yeah. We do. We have orange and grape, which one do you prefer? Ill have orange. Seon-woo looked at me as Yi-jun made his confident request. Seon-woo and I will have iced Americano, lightly brewed. You dont have to put any syrup in it. Seon-woos eyes dimmed again, as he had hoped to drink some juice with liquid sugar in it. We each took a drink and entered the practice room, where the backup dancers were already warming up. Wow Seon-woo and Yi-jun looked around the room covered with mirrors with shining eyes, like Dumb and Dumber. Whats with you guys? Its not your first time in a practice room. Of course, it was also my first time in a practice room that looked like they had thrown money at it. The ce I had been visiting to prepare for theeback, thanks to being introduced to the backup dancers under MyType It wasnt as fancy as this. It felt like they hadnt done any interior work for at least 20 years. Seon-young will be here in about 10 minutes, so you can just rx and stretch lightly for now. One of the backup dancers, who looked quite experienced, came up to us and exined. The people next to you are here to watch, right? Uh, yeah. You can sit over there. We have some students who are observing from our side, so dont worry too much. I looked at the direction the man pointed to and saw a few boys who looked like college or high school students sitting there. As I waited for a while, someone kicked the door open and came in with a loud noise. Hi~~~~!!! Hello~! It was a high-pitched voice that made my ears ring. Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Who could have such an incredible energy? I was startled and looked at the door that opened. Wow! You guys from Climax are here too? Im sote, arent I? Im really, really sorry. On my way here, I found a super delicious donut shop, and I was a bitte picking up the ones I ordered! But I hurried as much as I could, and none of them were sold out. I bought all kinds of them, so eat them whenever you feel low on sugar! This person She didnt even breathe once while talking. The owner of this amazing energy was none other than Seon-woos sister, Seon-young. I didnt know about Cheon Ise, but she was a stranger to me, yet I recognized her right away. Thanks to her promoting my sd, I got a lot of help. I tried to smile brightly and think of what to say to thank her. Hello, Im sorry for thete thanks OMG! Youre Cheon Ise, right? I really enjoyed your lunch box! Did you bring snacks or lunch boxes today too? I dont know about you, but I didnt know about that and I bought several boxes of donuts! She didnt breathe this time either. Was this the charisma of an eight-year veteran girl group? Her lung capacity was definitely different. Of course, I didnt expect her to chatter nonstop with that lung capacity, so I was quite flustered.Well, Ise hyung did bring some lunch boxes and snacks today, but! We can take them to our dorm, so dont worry too much! Seon-woo, who seemed used to having a sister like this, answered with a much faster voice than usual. Really? Well. Boys do eat a lot, right? I saw Yi-jun on Crisis Boysst time and he ate so well, didnt he? Oh my, look at me. Yi-jun! Im really enjoying Crisis Boys! I watch it every time my brothers cutes up, you know? I even subscribed, liked, and turned on notifications! I did everything, okay? Did you used to go camping or something? Your skill at putting up tents was really good! Yi-jun was helpless in front of this tremendous energy. He looked really flustered for the first time in a long time. Uh, no. I didnt do anything special. Really? Wow, youre talented. It didnt look like you were putting up a tent for the first time. Teach Seon-woo some too! I want to see some benefits when I go on a family trip with my brother! Seon-woo is really slow with his hands, so I cant trust him to do anything, you know? But hes pretty because he looks like me, so he wont have any trouble making a living, but sigh I was really worried when he suddenly showed up with three digitsst time! This too much talker What should I do? I wasnt easily surprised either, but I was overwhelmed by the huge amount of speech and stuttered. Luckily, the staff stopped Seon-young. Seon-young, thank you for the snacks. Well enjoy them. We dont have much time today, so lets do the choreography quickly and practice and wrap up! Wow, sounds good! Did Ie toote? I was supposed to He cut off Seon-youngs words naturally, as if he was used to handling her. No, youre notte! Were supposed to practice from 1 oclock, right? Its a bit early, but were all here, so lets start right away! Yes!!! The way to handle Seon-young was to match her energy. She seemed satisfied with the matching energy and took off her coat and hung it on a chair casually. Then she stood in front of the mirror. Seon-woo, stand next to me too! Uh, yeah! Seon-woo, who was a bit out of it because of his sisters tremendous momentum, finally came to his senses and ran over. The Music Safe MC special stage was usually done by the main MCs together. I saw the previous stages in advance and they were all three mixed. This time, it was a Na siblings special, so the other MCs didnt participate. If it was a different situation, there would have beenints about having to do the stage with only some of the MCs But its a sibling special, so what They want to tie us up with a blood bond. They deliberately chose a cover song that was a catchy song by a singer-songwriter who was famous for being a sibling duo. I was worried if Seon-woo could handle that fast singing rap. But then So this is all lip-syncing. My worry was needless. It was all lip-syncing. The stage was also designed with easy movements and choreography that could be done with three rehearsals. Okay, then, watch us do the choreography first and follow along. The storm of words from Seon-young, who had been talking like a machine gun, also subsided. While everyone focused on the choreography, Yi-jun and I sat in a corner. We had already experienced how to learn and practice the choreography when we practiced our new song, but This was the first time I saw it from the spectators point of view. I could clearly see the difference between the two people who were standing side by side and learning the same choreography. Sure enough Pris didnt get the first-ss reputation for nothing. Seon-woo was only three years younger than her, but the speed of learning was different. Maybe its because he has a lot of stage experience and other experiences. Thats where his skilles from. Seon-woo was practically a rookie after his debut. He wasnt very good at dancing or learning fast, so the gap between him and Sunyoung was more noticeable. Seon-young also seemed to be aware of that, and she opened her mouth to say something. Baby~. Stretch your arm a little more over there? Yi-jun and I both widened our eyes for a moment. Did you just call him baby? Yeah. Im sure she called him baby. Wow. Yi-jun and I both eximed and calmed down the goosebumps on our arms. Dont you get called baby by your grandma? I asked Yi-jun as if he was being teased, and he shook his head sideways. No, I have a grandma. Grandmas always see their grandchildren as babies even if they grow bigger than calves. But isnt it rare for a sister to call her grown-up brother a baby? Thats true I thought sisters and brothers usually hated each other and wanted to kill each other. Looking at Seon-woo and Seon-young, it seemed that Seon-woo was a bit naive and gentle, and that was part of it. The sisters energy was so intense that it was abination of a brother who was swaying and a sister who swung him around. If you ask me if Im jealous no, Im not. I did show some obsession with a happy family when I was in the programst time, but That doesnt mean I want to be that close to my siblings. I wish I had a family that I could talk to with my heart open. But thats not an easy thing for people who belong to what they call an ideal family. It was always an area that I gave up on, thinking that it was inevitable and had nothing to do with me. Are you an only child? I asked Yi-jun, who had been silent for a while, and he nodded slowly. Yeah. They passed away before I had a sibling. His parents must have passed away much earlier than I thought. I reached out and stroked Yi-juns head. What are you doing? You dont need to pity me. Thanks to my grandma, I grew up very well. It showed. It was the basic foundation of people who didnt fear failure or challenge. A rich environment that supported him without hesitation. He was a professional athlete until middle school, and then an idol. It wasnt just a matter of cheering him on, but of setting up a studio for him, so he could definitely say he grew up well. Dont you have a sister tofort you? I do. But I havent seen her since I became Cheon Ise. Even in the memories of watching the rey service, I dont think I ever saw her face. She didnt seem to have much influence on Cheon Ises life either. Im not that close with my sister. I dont even know who she is exactly. I just vaguely guessed that my mother was involved in some group faction fight somewhere else and that my brother and I werent on good terms either. Well, I guess its a bit hard when theres such a big age difference. The short conversation ended and silence returned. After repeating the same movements and sections several times, the choreographer announced a break time when we had learned the choreography up to the chorus. Lets fill our stomachs and rest for a while! Following the main choreographers break deration, a manager from Pris who seemed to be apanying Seonyoung came with a huge number of donut boxes. Wow. They take care of the staff so well, as if theyre not a top girl group. I awkwardly offered the pocket lunch I had packed. I also brought some I filled a low-height coffee cup with low-calorie pasta and topped it with low-fat cheese, basil pesto, sprouts, and other vegetables. It was a cold pasta with bite-sized grilled chicken breast sausages. Of course, I had prepared a sd separately for Seon-woo and Seon-young. I made a simr recipe to the one you said you likedst time. The staffs eyes sparkled at the sight of the lunch I had awkwardly handed out. They had nned to fill their stomachs with greasy donuts. Wow, is this the one that went viralst time? I really wanted to try it! Todays snack is a bumper crop. Isnt this a happy dilemma? But someone joked. Why worry, just eat both! Everyoneughed and took their share and sat on the floor. Dont spill the cream, its a hassle to clean up~. It felt like we were on a pic, with all the grown-ups sitting on the floor and munching on snacks. Of course, the only thing visible next to us was a space with nothing but mirrors. As I sat in one corner of the practice room and ate my snack, Seon-young came over to us like a storm. Why are you eating in the corner, YI-jun and Ise? Come over here and talk and eat with us! Everyone seemed to know Seon-young well, as only one manager and Seon-woo were around her. Everyone is so scared of me. I really dont do anything weird or bossy, I just like meeting people and talking and hanging out with them! If I dont grab one or two people and eat with them, theres no one to eat with me except our members. Oh, you know who our members are, right? Maybe it was because of her actions right now. I knew she was very pretty and had a good personality, not to mention Seon-woos sister. But for an introverted person, her presence was painful enough to exist in the same space. I felt a vague sense of familiarity as I watched Seon-young. Shes like a retriever thats less than six months old. She was very kind and had no intention of hurting anyone, but in the end, it was simr to tormenting them. If Kyunghwa and Seong-won were here, they would have fainted. Seong-won was just an introvert, and Kyunghwa was a survival-type introvert. He was also an introvert, but he had a strong sense of responsibility and showed superhuman extroversion, saying, I have to step up here. Ise, are you listening to me? A beautiful woman who looked a little older than Seon-woo waved her hand in front of my face and drew my attention. Ah, yes Then you agree, right? Wow, Im so excited, I cant wait! What are you talking about? What did I miss while I was zoning out? Chapter 85: Chapter 85: What? When he asked me what I was talking about, Seon-young looked furious, as if she couldnt believe I was ignoring her while she was talking. It would be good for her to think from the listeners perspective for a bit. Seon-young talked way too much, beyond the normal range of people. I had never met anyone who talked this much, not even in elementary school. I asked you if you could appear on Sweet Road. You kept nodding and responding, so I thought you were listening. Dont tell me you were just pretending to listen all this time? Thats when Yi-jun, who realized I was in trouble, added fuel to the fire. Wow, hyung, thats too much. How can you not listen properly when Seon-young noona said so much and just y dumb? Hey, kid. You were also listening with one ear and letting it out the other.No, I was just thinking for a moment. We have aeback soon, so I have to keep in mind the group schedule too Then Seon-young quickly seized the opportunity and shot back. We just go to the store, eat, interview the customers, and y some games with the pedestrians. Thats all we do! Theres no waiting time, and we just finish the schedule neatly and quickly. Its really fast. You can also fit it in between other schedules like Tetris! Really Even her diction was good, and the words stuck in my brain. There was no point in refusing here She was a member of the family, and it wouldnt be good for the atmosphere. This is when its best to use thepany as an excuse. Ill talk to the manager hyung. It might be difficult if thepany doesnt approve. I didnt even say I would do it, but she seemed to understand it as a yes, and her face brightened. I hope it works out! Ill appreciate it! No, I didnt say I would do it. I dont know what the overall vibe of Pris is, but If the remaining six members are all like this, I wont be able to stand it. If I appear, I might end up as a porter who withers and dies under the pressure of the energetic girl group seniors. I dont really hate doing that But it seemed obvious that I wouldnt be able to do anything else once I went through that schedule. Yeah, I hope so too. I tried my best to smile for business and waited for the practice to resume. *** Wow That was amazing. On the way back. As soon as he got on the minivan that the manager had arrived for the pickup, Yi-jun stuck out his tongue. Our noona talks a lot, right? It wasnt just a little bit. This was the first time in my life that I saw such a level of speech. But shes not a bad person. She has a nice personality too! That seemed true. But being a nice person and having the same frequency with someone were two different things. Shes not the type I would ever get along with. I basically liked quiet people. Calm and doing their work neatly and without making mistakes. When I described it like that, there was one person around me. It was Ryu Kyunghwa. I wouldnt have minded meeting her somewhere else. If she had joined ourpany as a new employee, I would have thought she was a good one. Anyway, thats another story. I searched my pocket and took out my phone. It was to watch the final version of the music video that the manager had sent me during practice. Seon-woo, you too I wanted to ask him if he wanted to watch it with me, but I couldnt finish my sentence. Seon-woo, who had been defending his sister until a moment ago, was already dozing off. He must be tired. He had to take care of his sister and practice the choreography. He hates being a nuisance to anyone. I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them again as the music video started. A space that looked like a ruin appeared. [A siren rings in my ears ring ring] Seon-woo emerged from the darkness and reached for the sky. I was worried that the CG would be poorly done, but it was surprisingly good quality. Seon-woo, wearing a ck outfit that resembled a military uniform, looked very exhausted and had a visual that was enough to shake the hearts of his sisters. As the lyrics progressed, the next parts protagonist, Kyunghwa, appeared. He was wearing a white outfit in a space surrounded by mirrors. ording to the synopsis that the music video director had sent in advance, Kyunghwa was the traitor. He betrayed his members and volunteered to be a viin alone for the sake of her, whom they all wanted to protect. She was locked up in the lower floor of a high tower, but he couldnt save her, let alone being resented as a traitor. The rest of the members confronted Kyunghwa to rescue her, but they failed every time. Finally, Yi-jun seeded in reaching the space where she was, but he was blocked by soldiers of unknown identity. In the process of letting Yi-jun into the tower, Seong-won and I were injured so badly that we couldnt stand up. The battle scene between Yi-jun and Kyunghwa continued, and Kyunghwa won the fight, but he freed her from the prison. In the end, Kyunghwa was executed by the soldiers of unknown identity, and she escaped with Seon-woo, crossing the desert. Who said he wasnt the center? They pushed him so hard with the music video story. Of course, it was a much better choice than pushing me out of nowhere. Kyunghwa did a good job of bringing out his visual and narrative. When Ipared the five of them at once, Kyunghwas sorrow stood out. Is he sad or excited to fight? Yi-juns character was a bit aggressive, but he just looked like aic book fighting maniac. Of course, he suited it so well that I had nothing to say. But this is just him being excited to fight with Kyunghwa, how is this a scene of him going to save his lover? I was stuck between them, but I was decent. Of course, I couldnt say I did exceptionally well. Seon-woo did his role well with his big eyes blinking. Seong-won was the same. His unique half-tied hair suited the modern fantasy background very well. This was good. The aesthetics were well polished and the CG was not awkward. The girl who captivated the members hearts was portrayed in a white dress, except for some parts of her body, so there was no room for controversy. How much time was left until the release? It was already past midnight. I nced at the calendar and saw that there were less than two weeks left until the music video and song release. When I blinked and opened my eyes, it was Seon-woos live broadcast day. And then it was the teaser release day. Some of the photos taken at the botanical garden were supposed to be released as teasers. Lets do onest search. I logged into SNS with a soulless eye and saw the feed of my friends who never talked to me. [- Seon-woo, was it MC broadcast this Sunday?] [ Yes, yes, thats right! He said hes doing a special stage with Seonyoung unnie] [ Its this week, right? Im looking forward to it too. Lets survive the real life] [ Since its a special, hell upload a fancam, right? Oh, I finally have a fancam of my bias] I realized that we didnt have any fancams. Sure, we did some music showsst year, but fancams were Something that only the broadcastingpanies would release if there was enough demand We didnt have that. They said they only released the fancams of the popr members who got a lot of views within the popr groups. There was no chance for us. The only stage that could have been worthy of a fancam was when we went to the corn festivalst time It was too much to hope that someone would film a fancam for us in that situation. Of course, the middle school friend who took the candid shot that made me a hot topic also tried to film a video, but it was too shaky to even call it a fancam. To be a hot topic, you need to at least have a clear distinction of the faces of each member. Among us, the first fan page was started by Seong-won, and the first fancam was done by Seon-woo. Things were slowly getting resolved one by one. Last month was unusually full of misfortunes. I decided not to be suspicious of this peaceful time. I shook off my anxiety and put down my phone and closed my eyes. *** When you have a schedule to wait for, time flies by frighteningly fast. Just like I felt on the day of our first practice, the day of our appearance came in the blink of an eye. Dont be nervous and do well. Yi-jun waved his hand at Kyunghwa, me, and Seon-woo with a regretful look. Originally, Yi-jun wanted to go with us so badly that he threw a tantrum, but coincidentally, he had a forgotten appointment with his grandmother. Ah, I want to go to the music show waiting room and have fun too. Then why dont you call your grandma now? Kyunghwa sighed as if to tell him to stop whining and answered, and Yi-jun shook his head. No, I cant. Grandma is still recovering, and you never know when the elderly will get sick. Fine, then be a good grandson. Seong-won had left earlier for a meeting rted to the Star Discoverymemorative concert. He left a little earlier, so he would probablye back earlier than us or around the same time. Kyunghwa stuck out his tongue briefly and left the entrance with Seon-woo. Come to think of it did Kyunghwa solve the problem that he got into on a whim? I wanted to check it myself, but that would be like crushing his pride. Our goldfish he cant die before we make aeback His mind had exploded once when Seon-woo turned his stomach upside down with the MC casting. He needed to be treated carefully so that it wouldnt happen again. The rest of them were not very delicate. I had to pay attention to them. But I still wished I could help him if he had any financial problems. I felt the same regret. He was in a situation where he didnt have a penny in his house, and he didnt seed as an idol he must have been struggling in many ways. I kept worrying about it, but there was nothing I could do for him right now. Then it was better to focus on what I could do now. Did you forget anything? I asked as if I was taking care of elementary school kids, and Seon-woo answered with a surprised look. I didnt forget anything, I packed everything! Okay, then thats good. As we left the dorm entrance, it was clear that it was now the time when autumn was turning into winter. The sun was still not up. We had to hurry because we had to get to the salon by 6:30. Anyway, were going to do the stage makeup and hair again when we get there, so theyll just do the dry and basic makeup for us. The manager gave us a brief exnation after seeing me and Kyunghwa. We didnt expect to do anything amazing since we werent even going on stage. Sure, well just cheer quietly from the side. I put on the bodycam and mic that the PD of Boys in Crisis had asked me to turn on whenever I did any activities that he could use for the show, and got into the minivan. Another long day was starting. Please dont let any weird idents happen. Seon-woo was reciting the cue sheet he had received in advance, his eyes spinning. He seemed to have memorized the script yesterday. But I could only hope he would do well, since Seon-young had taken good care of him. Another long day was starting. Chapter 86: Chapter 86: I went to the salon early in the morning and saw that there were only celebrities and no regr customers. They must have been rookies since I didnt recognize any of their faces. Hi, hello! A female idol who seemed to be scheduled for the same music show as me greeted me and Seon-woo with a bright smile. Hello. I nodded lightly and sat down, feeling a bit awkward. There was no need to act too friendly. It wouldnt hurt to get along with them as fellow humans. But I was afraid of being misunderstood by the young ones who easily fell in love with a touch of a finger. As I sat there ufortably for a moment, a staff member came over and took me to the sink for shampooing.Ill just shampoo and dry your hair a little bit. The staff member with a stern face and a lot of tattoos on his arms gentlyid my head back. Ahh, the water that was neither cold nor hot soaked into my hair and I felt like the day had really begun. Anyway, youll have to redo your makeup in the dressing room, so I just trimmed it a bit for now. Seon-woo seemed to be the same as me and finished quickly. The girl group that came in around the same time as us was still busy with their hair. Their hair is long, so it must be harder. With a shortment, I got on the minivan that was heading to the broadcasting station. When you get off at the parking lot, theres a photo zone right there, so put Seon-woo in the center and take a quick picture and go up. We also had to go through themute shooting that always came up as news photos. Music Safe even made a booth for you to takemuting photos, right? Kyunghwa asked, trying to recall the recent information since it had been a long time since we appeared on a music show. Yeah, youll see it as soon as you get off. As the manager said, a simple booth that looked like a photo wall came into view as the parking lot got closer. Just go there and take a picture and follow the staff up. Seon-woos MC special stage pre-recording was at 11 a.m. They usually post announcements for the audience recruitment for the pre-recording and do all sorts of things. Maybe it was because it wasnt a Climax solo pre-recording. Or maybe W didnt have the will to manage it. There was no announcement posted. Well Ive been doing fine without fans until now. I decided not to worry about it and just focus on the stage. Okay, Ill open the door for you, so get off. The manager switched the car to parking mode and opened the automatic door. I saw some idol vlogs and it seemed like the reporters and fans were waiting to take photos. Lets not expect anything. The bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment. I tried to console myself and stepped outside. And then Wow, Cheon Ises face is so small. Seon-woo, your sister made you some food! Na Seon-woo is so handsome! The sh of cameras and the cheers of fans echoed from afar. I turned my head to see where the noise came from and saw a bunch of fans crowded in the waiting area that was supposed to be off-limits. Kyunghwa, who was the first to snap out of it among the three of us, raised his hand and greeted them cheerfully. Kyunghwa, youre handsome too! You too? That could be a subtly hurtful remark, but Kyunghwa didnt seem to mind. Thank you! Unlike Seon-woo, who was so tense that he opened his eyes wide and waved his hand awkwardly like a robot, Kyunghwa looked quite skilled. Thank you. And I was somewhere in between the two. I was surprised by this kind of thing because I wasnt used to it, but it wasnt enough to shock me. Click click click-. The sound of phone cameras taking burst shots filled the air. See youter! It was only when we stood in front of the photo zone that Seon-woo finally booted up and smiled and waved his hand earnestly toward the fans. He looked nice with a bright smile on his face, as if he had finally rxed a bit. Mr. Na Seon-woo, pleasee this way. As we followed the staff who came to meet us, we saw the pre-recording waiting room. Do we just wait here? Arent you going to watch the stage? Is it dangerous to mingle with the fans? As we chatted among ourselves, the staff came over and exined politely. Youll go to the staff zone with us to watch the stage! Seon-woo, please go to the bathroom and wash your face after removing your makeup briefly! The staff pointed to the direction and we saw a young female staff member who seemed to be in charge of makeup, gesturing with her hand to the bathroom. Come back soon. Hes not a five-year-old running an errand. I pushed Seon-woos stiff back and he nodded his head vigorously. Okay! *** How do I look, okay? A whileter, Seon-woo came out of the fitting room in the waiting room, dressed in his outfit after finishing his makeup. He wore a white beret with a bright-colored silk short-sleeved shirt underneath, giving off a retro vibe. He also tied a ribbon bandana on his head. It looked like a childrens clothing, but the stage outfits were supposed to be shy enough that you couldnt wear them in everyday life, and it suited him well. It suits you. Youre cute. Kyunghwa answered as he crouched down on the floor to take a picture for his SNS. Youre so cute, so turn around and look back a little, like this. Okay! Like a ck mage controlling Seon-woo, Kyunghwa moved him by degrees to take a more perfect picture. Lift your chin a little more there. Okay! Can you put your left hand on your waist? Okay! Smile a little more. Okay! Now wink with one eye. Okay! I wondered what kind of amazing photos they were trying to take, making such a fuss. I waited impatiently, clicking my tongue, until Kyunghwas passionate photo shoot was over. How long are you going to keep taking pictures? I asked with a bored expression, and Kyunghwa snapped back. Just wait. Im wracking my brain to bring out this guys insane visuals to the max. I felt a surge of resentment at his intense concentration, which I had never seen even in the concept nning stage. Whats the big deal about those photos? How good can they be I remembered the petty grudge I had when I first possessed Cheon Ise. He had made a scene, asking me what I was thinking when I took those photos. He was the one who was making such a racket, trying to take such amazing photos. I felt like I wouldnt be satisfied until I saw the results. Done! Kyunghwa, who had been sitting down, getting up, and sitting down again repeatedly while taking photos, finally lifted his phone high. What is it? Let me see. I peeked over Kyunghwas head and sneaked a look at his phone. This is really my masterpiece. It wasnt just an exaggeration, this was really I have to admit it. The photo spread on the screen was much more realistic than the teaser photos we had taken by a professional. Wow, how do you take something like this? Seon-woo, who always saw his own face, widened his eyes and asked Kyunghwa. Theres a way. Ill post this on the notice ount after the broadcast is over. Okay! Seon-woo looked at Kyunghwa with sparkling eyes, as if he was looking at a savior. Why did he leave his specialty nk and worry about it? He was a problem child with low self-esteem. How much time is left until the live show starts? Theres still about 40 minutes left. I felt restless, being trapped here without being able to go out, even though Seon-woos hair and makeup were all done. They said there was a snack bar in the basement. Should I go there for a bit As soon as I thought that, someone opened the waiting room door. Hello~~~!!! It was an entrance that seemed to bring a storm with her presence alone. Oh, hello, Seon-young. The staff who recognized Seon-young first stepped back timidly and greeted her politely. Then Seon-young, who caught the staff with her hawk eyes, ran towards the staff with a bright smile. Ah~~!! Its Yujin! You were in charge of mest time, but this time you came as Seon-woos stylist? Did you do Seon-woos makeup today too? Oh my, our Seon-woo has such chubby cheeks, they must have matched well with Yujins makeup~! How was it? He didnt bother you by moving around like a Busanite, did he? As I remembered, she had an incredible lung capacity and a loud voice. She could probably make a living with that as a special skill. Hey, sis! Stop bothering the makeup artist ande over here! Seon-woo, the only one who could stand up to Seon-youngs amazing charisma, waved his hand at her. Oh, right. Sorry, Yujin. Ill talk to youter! Seon-young finished her conversation with the staff and walked towards us with brisk steps. Hello~!! Long time no see! Kyunghwa, who seemed to have never met Seon-young in person, greeted her with a puzzled expression. Hello, Im Ryu Kyunghwa, a member of the same group as Seon-woo. And that was the start of a torrent of talk. Kyunghwa, is this the first time we meet? Wow, Im so, so happy to see you! Im a big fan of Boys in Crisis. Ive always liked your character since the beginning of the show. Hes so reliable and cool. Andtely, there are more fans who are suffering with you, right? That makes me so happy! Do you take good care of the members at the dorm? I wonder if Seon-woo is always making mistakes and causing trouble~. At this point, Kyunghwa should have said something to stop her. But he was overwhelmed by the stunning beauty who was spitting out words like a machine gun. Not that he had a crush on her or so he thought. He was just one of those types who couldnt resist a woman who was energetic and pretty. He would end up being a henpecked husband if he ever got married. While Kyunghwa was stuttering, Seonyoung started to get ready for the second verse. I looked away and thought of something else. Stop it, sis! Youre making Kyunghwa ufortable. In the end, Seon-woo had to step in. Oh, really? I know I talk a lot, but Normally, one would say No, you dont. or Dont worry about it. at this point. But this was really true. Anyway, why are you here in the waiting room? We still have some time before we start. Seon-woo pulled out the Get to the point. card like a hero who was ying the demon king. Oh, right! Seonyoung smiled brightly like an idol who could charm anyone, male or female, and answered. I came here for this! She pointed her finger at her phone. Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Are you asking us to take a picture together? Kyunghwa was the first to snap out of it and asked. Oh, do you want to take a picture? Seong-won shook her head and snapped her fingers. No~. Of course well take a picture, but! Who only takes pictures these days? Theres something we have to do when we meet! She pressed something on the app and showed us the screen. Do you know what this is? What is that? I looked closely and it seemed like an app called Knock Knock. When I was Lim Hyun-seong, I only heard the name, and I learned about the app when I studied idols seriously.That It had almost more dominance than YouTube among elementary school students. Not only elementary school students, but also celebrities and entertainers used it a lot for K-pop fandom. We had a lot of talk about whether to make a Knock Knock ount for oureback single promotion. We thought about it, but we decided not to operate it because the manager said he couldnt handle it. Do you know Knock Knock? Can you do Knock Knock? As soon as I unknowingly asked Seong-won, Seon-woo looked at me with an amazing expression I had never seen before. Dont make my sister interested in this. Of course, the interest here meant. Not in a romantic sense Mr. Lee, do you know what Knock Knock is? Climax doesnt seem to have a separate Knock Knock operation. I guess it hasnt been discussed internally yet? Theres no ce that doesnt use this in the K-pop fandom these days. Youll have a lot of challenges when youe back soon. Dont you think you should start thinking about operating it? If you need any help, Ill help you anytime! He meant not to give me a chance to be showered with this huge sentence. Ah, yes. Thank you. I answered awkwardly and quickly made an exit. By the way, what are you going to shoot with Knock Knock? Are you going to shoot with the three of us, or just with Seon-woo? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I used the tactic of answering a question with a question. Of course, I was still nothingpared to Seong-won, but it was a confident countermeasure. Ah~. Well shoot separatelyter! I have something for the four of us to do! Ive learned all the choreography, so you just have to follow me! How much time do we have left? About 30 minutes? Lets get our minds together and get it over with! The countermeasure didnt work at all It was a natural reality. *** Wow How can siblings be so different. Finally, Kyunghwa, who sent Seon-woo and Seong-won to the rehearsal site first, looked at me and sighed heavily. It was only two videos that we shot and got out of, but it was amazing how much we lost our energy. Im d Seon-woo is not in the same department. Of course, Seon-woo was also a young guy who had no sense of whether he had iron or not But he wasnt the owner of such an amazing energy that made people exhausted. Of course, there must be demand for that side too. There werent many people who had such an extraordinary aura, so I thought there would be many people who would find his peculiar personality lovely. If he didnt bother me in front of me, he would be like a cartoon character and cute. Was he twenty-six this year? I lowered my head, wondering how much Seon-woo had suffered since he was young. *** I had to shoot two videos with Seon-young in a hurry. One was the so-called Siren Siren Challenge, and the other was the Princess Nana Challenge. It was a hard time. Kyunghwa also had a look on his face that told me what he was thinking. The first Siren Siren Challenge was a filter effect that automatically oveid a police car shape. We each wore a police car on our waist, and danced to the animation theme song with the main police car character in a ridiculous choreography. So this is what they call a challenge these days. I couldnt tell where the challenge was, but it seemed to mean that we were challenging ourselves to the same theme. The kids these days have such hard tastes If I could survive the next two weeks without dying and finish the test, I would have to follow this without blinking an eye. Its hard I downloaded the video that Seon-young sent me as soon as the shooting was over. As I yed the video, I saw my face desperately smiling at the lens. Im living hard Kyunghwa next to me also had a simr face to mine, clearly smiling but with a soul that seemed to have run away somewhere. [Siren Siren-! Brave Sireni is off~!] [Lets go, friends, today too] [Siren Siren, when the siren rings, stop all the bad things!] Thankfully, it was a short 30-second video due to copyright issues. The video ended with a scene of us crossing our arms in an X and shaking our heads to the line stop all. Do you want to see the next one? Kyunghwa looked down at my screen and asked. Well, I have to monitor it anyway. It was quite painful to watch, but I couldnt ignore it. I sighed deeply and pressed the y button. [Happy things are always by our side~.] [La swoosh, when you recite the exciting spell.] [A dazzling world unfolds before your eyes-] [With Nana, have a strong day today-!] We danced to the doom-chit doom-chit rhythm, with Seon-young in the middle ying the role of the princess and us looking like some card soldiers. It looked like the focus was blurred in my eyespared to the previous video, but anyway the fans would like it. I dont want to see it. Kyunghwa lowered his head and banged his bean head on the wall. I checked for any problematic scenes until the end and then pressed the exit button. Then I showed my adult social skills and replied. [Me] Its okay 10:45 AM [Me] Thank you for your hard work. 10:46 AM Phew I felt a bit of peace in my mind as I let out a long sigh. The aftermath of the tremendous energy was gone, and I finally remembered the chart. Thats right. I have to stream Son Seong-wons song. I hurriedly turned on the music app and checked the ranking. Fortunately, it was holding up well within the top 20. After thest appearance, the songs of all the finalists were released with a two-week gap. To push the winner, the winners song was released on Friday at six oclock the next week based on the airing date, and the runner-ups song was released on Friday at six oclock the following week. The rest of the participants songs were released at once in the 6th Star Discovery regr album a monthter. What is this a pointless stunt? Thats what I thought, but the higher-ups in the nning department seemed to think otherwise. Thanks to them, the winners song stayed in the top three for a week without dropping. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. I shouldnt be jealous of someone elses sess. I sighed, and decided to be generous. I pressed the streaming button with a good intention. But it would be a lie to say Im not disappointed. Seong-wons final song peaked at number six. It was released two weeks after the broadcast, so the hype had faded by then. If it had been released right after the show, it would have been much higher. The clip video on YouTube actually hit number one on the trending list. And it became the driving force for the original song to reach number one on the streaming charts. [- I want to listen to the 24th version soon] [- When will this song be released?] [ It will be released on October 8th at 6 pm! Please show a lot of interest!!] [- I went to listen to the original song after watching this, and the original song is good too, but I keep looking for this feeling ande back like a salmon] [- I listened to the original song and got excited and thought, yeah, this is K-Taekwondo, and came back with a burst of energy, but I copsed at the audiences reaction] [- How did W hide this talent for so long?] [ If he had appeared on My Idol stage two years ago, he would have changed the main vocal of Floss] [ If you want topliment him, justpliment him, why do you bash the other groups main vocal?] [ The main vocal is not one person, why are you suddenly getting angry?;;] [ The main vocal is two people, but they are both talented members and they dont deserve to hear this] [ No, I just wrote my opinion, why are you suddenly serious? Just think that your opinion is yours and others opinions are different and move on] (View 121 more replies) [ Please stop fighting on myment] Well there were some people who started a fight for no reason, but it wasnt our fault. They had time to write dozens ofments on the inte Should I be jealous? I was in a situation where I needed ten bodies. Today was my only day off I didnt regret following Seon-woo, but I was thinking of getting some sleep at this time, when a staff member came into the waiting room. The recording is starting now, so pleasee if you want to cheer! Without realizing it, Kyunghwa, who had closed his eyes first, got up from his seat and opened his eyes brightly. Oh, yes. Ill be right there. Thank you. We bowed to the staff and headed to the set, where Seon-young and Seon-woo were standing back to back. The audience seats were mostly women, with hardly any men. If you thought simply, you might misunderstand that they were all Seon-woos fans. But Seon-young was known as a member who attracted female fans. You had to see the cheering to know who they came for. Standby, cue! As soon as we took a seat in the staff section, the shooting began. Seon-young followed the cameras moving around and smiled skillfully with gestures. They had only three chances to practice, including the rehearsal. They matched so well that you would think they were siblings. [Hello, I greet you shyly.] As Seon-young smoothly started her part, pastel-colored heart balloons poured down from the sky. [Hello, I start my day with your shy smile.] Seon-woo, who was holding a teddy bear in his arms, showed it to the fans and winked. Then he spun around and came to the front of the stage. [Today I have a good feeling. Because I met you in the morning.] As Seon-woo continued the lyrics, a sky-blue teddy bear appeared in the background. The choreography was simple and the lyrics were childish, but the stage was full of their loveliness. [Today I want to give you a special greeting] Seon-young shrugged her shoulders and covered her mouth with her palm as if to say oh my. The audience screamed. Hmm Seon-youngs fans. Well, thats how it is. What can you do when the fandoms are so different? Then Seon-woo came forward and offered the teddy bear to Seon-young. [Can I do that, every time I stand in front of you, I be a coward.] Seon-woo, who knelt down with the white confetti falling from the sky, looked like a character from a romanceic. Ahh-! And at the same time, a breathless scream was heard from the seats. There were more than one or two, and the staff couldnt stop them and had to hold their breath to findughter. Chapter 88: Chapter 88: [Give me courage now, Ille to you-] Seon-young, who naturally hugged the teddy bear and spun around toplete the choreography, also seemed to have heard the screams, as her lips were lifted more than usual. Did Seon-woo hear them too? He was worried that he might get nervous or startled, but he calmly matched his back with Seon-young and performed the choreography. [You know, I want to be more than friends with you.] As Seon-woo walked briskly to the left side of the stage, the male backup dancers surrounded him and highlighted him like aic book hero. [Should I confess casually, as if its nothing? I want to tell you now!] Seon-young also moved to the right and was surrounded by the female backup dancers. Sky blue teddy bears and pastel hearts filled the background. [Maybe Ive been waiting for this moment.] Then they both did a cute pose and danced adorably, then walked towards the center.They sang in harmony, as if they had nned their movements beforehand. [Ill say it first, I like you!] The moment they held hands, the audience shook as if there was an earthquake. He knew that thebination of paper confetti flying like snowkes and the pretty siblings who looked like dolls would be powerful, but He didnt expect them to be so ecstatic. The reaction is amazing It was a resonance that couldntpare to what they did in the rural seaside vige. He stared nkly at the stage, where the most lovely things in the world seemed to be tightly packed together, and felt a strange surge in his chest. Jealousy? It was a different feeling. When a chef ate a delicious dish, he wanted to digest the recipe and recreate it in his own way. When a writer read a well-written piece, he wanted to write too, and his heart tickled. He also felt his heart surge when he saw a great stage. Can we get that kind of reaction too? He was confident in the choreography, concept, and quality of the n. Not to mention the music that Yi-jun produced himself, the lyrics that they all wrote together were also wless. But if he was asked if he was sure to elicit the fanatical response of the fans he wasnt. Hes be a toothless tiger. When he was young, he had nothing to lose and nothing to get worse here, so he clenched his teeth and challenged and ran, When he got older, he used his experience to wisely seed in only the businesses that he could. He lost his confidence because Is it because this is not a matter of my life, or Because it was a situation where he would be game over if he didnt seed at once. He couldnt find the answer himself. As he felt the strange surge while looking up at the stage, the song was slowly ending. [Hello, I greet you shyly.] [Hello, I start my day with your shy smile.] The song had a non-sequitur structure, and followed the initialposition, where the two stood symmetrically and spun around. [Today I have a good feeling. Because I met you in the morning.] [Today I want to give you a special greeting] The backup dancers wrapped the two like wings and drew a heart with their arms. Finally, once more, bang-! White powder flew from the sky and the two threw the teddy bears they were holding to the audience. [Ill say it first, I like you!] The stage was over. Even after the apaniment ended, the camera zoomed in on the two of them, capturing their every move. Seon-yeong made a yful face, biting her lip and winking with her right eye. Seon-woo, who had apparently rehearsed it beforehand, tried hard to wink with his left eye, but couldnt quite manage to close it. If they wanted to match the ending fairies with a wink they should have checked if they could wink properly first. The audience burst intoughter, but it seemed more like a reflexive reaction to their cuteness than a mockery of Seon-woo. I thought to myself that I would scold himter, but the corners of my mouth were smiling warmly. Then, I heard a click, a shutter sound from somewhere. What? I turned to the source of the sound and saw Kyunghwa taking a picture of me with his phone. Do you know what your expression was just now? What, what did I do? I shrugged my shoulders, feeling wronged. Really. Of course, at first I was a little jealous and wanted to go on stage and get some apuse. But that didnt mean I wanted to sabotage the stage or do anything nasty. You looked like a father whos sending off his youngest child to get married. Kyunghwa showed me the photo he took as evidence, and I saw myself looking at the stage with moist eyes. But I had an excuse. That wasnt because I was moved by Seon-woos sessful performance, but because the pink background reflected on my pupils. Thats not true. I ruffled Kyunghwas hair, teasing him. Whats wrong with you? Do that to Seon-woo, not me. Kyunghwa quickly pushed my hand away. Sometimes I saw him getting along well with Yi-jun, so I thought he didnt mind physical contact. But he was always prickly with me. Fine, fine. I didnt want to make a big deal out of it, so I nodded vaguely and looked at the stage again. Thank you so much foring today! Thank you! Thank you very much, and we love you~. We love you! I wondered where they got that synchronized speech from. It was amazing. But then I saw that Seon-yeong was saying the words first, and our youngest was just repeating thest sentence like a parrot. So, are we going back to the waiting room now? Yeah. We can eat, take a nap, and rest until the broadcast. That reminded me of the snack bar burger that I had been eyeing since before I came. There was a special homemade burger that was only sold at the basement snack bar of this ce, and I was curious about it. There were evenizens who said they wanted to debut just to eat this. I headed to the waiting room first, walking briskly. *** Phew, I didnt make any mistakes, right? Seon-woo, who had barely pulled off a perfect recording, came into the waiting room a littleter than us. He had sweated so much. I couldnt see it well from below the stage, but his cor was soaked. Hey, you did well. Now just wait until five and rx. I patted Seon-woos shoulder and casually set the stage. Are you not hungry? We should have lunch Lunch? Are we going out for lunch!? Seon-woos eyes, which had briefly lost their color from fatigue, regained their spark in an instant. This guy He was really as obsessed and stubborn about eating as I was. Yeah, lets go and eat quickly. I looked at the time and it was already past 2 p.m. I was surprised that the rehearsal and pre-recording took longer than I expected. Some groups had to spend more than four hours on the rehearsal and recording process, depending on the stage. What the hell How can they record for four hours? Its not like the cast is anyone other than the group members and backup dancers. They shouldnt have any schedule conflicts. It was quite a mystery. Well Maybe Ill get to experience it myself someday, but for now I put my curiosity aside and headed to the cafeteria. Seon-woo, Kyunghwa, and I went down to the basement cafeteria and saw all kinds of idols already upying the seats. I dont know most of these faces. I knew there were a lot of idols in Korea, but I didnt know there were this many. A few months ago, Climax would have been treated like nobodies. I avoided the awkward nces of the rookies who seemed to recognize us. The old-fashioned seniors would ask why we didnt greet them and try to act tough, but we were in an awkward position. We were too unknown to be seniors, and we were too old to be treated as rookies. We debuted five years ago. Maybe thats why we were considered as rank-breakers. And thats why the other rookies didnt greet us either. They just nced at us and looked away. If Yi-jun was here today, he would have gone around the whole neighborhood and greeted everyone. I felt tired just thinking about it. I would put on a sales smile if I had to for business, but I didnt want to do any unnecessary sales. Three special burgers, please. Kyunghwa ordered naturally and reached out his hand to me for the card. This guy I knew it since I first saw him on the rey service, but he expects me to treat him like a baby. I was shocked at the time, but I didnt hate him that much now. Besides, his financial situation wasnt very good, so I wondered if there was anything I could do to help him. I would wee it if he epted some financial support and shared the leader role with me. It wasnt my money, but I had plenty of it. The problem was that there were too many things in the world that money couldnt solve. Eight special burgers, please. I handed over the card instead and the cafeteriady asked. Are you two ordering together? What? Why eight all of a sudden? I realized then that Yi-jun at home wouldnt stop at one. Yes. Please pack five of them, and well eat three here. Okay. Ill do it right away. Thedy hummed a tune and swiped the card. Kyunghwa looked at me with a puzzled expression. I thought it would be nice to take some to the dorm. I think Ill eat one more when I get home. I dont really need to eat at the dorm. Yi-jun wont eat just one, you know. Oh. Kyunghwa nodded as if he agreed. That was true. I waited for about 15 minutes. The vibrating bell that thedy gave me rang, and Seon-woo quickly grabbed the tray and dashed to the counter. Dont you think were bothering him? I got up from my seat, feeling like the two older guys were picking on the visual member. Ill go and help him. You stay here. I left Kyunghwa behind and walked towards Seon-woo, who smiled at me with a bright face when he saw me. As long as youre happy, thats fine. I looked at Seon-woo leisurely, gazing at the distant mountains, but my face turned sour in an instant. That idiot didnt notice the table leg on the floor and swept the ground with his shoe sole as he walked, tripping and losing his bnce. Hey, watch where youre going! I ran to him with all my reflexes, but unfortunately, one of the three burgers that werent wrapped flew into the air. Damn. What should I do? If it fell from that height, it wouldnt keep its shape. Ugh, Im so sorry, hyung! Dont cry! Did I make you feel bad? As I reached out for the burger, someone snatched it with a light and swift gesture. What? I looked up to see who touched our burger. Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 89 The Real Fox is Found at the Snack Bar Be careful. As I lifted my head, I saw a skinny male idol with a slender frame looking down at me. He wasnt very tall. A bit shorter than Kyunghwa? He looked like he was in his early to mid-170s. But he was so thin that his height didnt seem like a w. I was sure I had seen his face somewhere before Not in person, though. It seemed like I had glimpsed him in some video.Who is he, anyway? While I was trying to recall, Kyunghwa made the first move. Thank you, Shim Naru. Oh, right. That was his name. I had no memory of seeing him in real life, but his face was oddly familiar. He was the one who appeared incessantly in the My Idol Stage clips I had watched for reference. This guy Did the program deliberately push him or what? He was everywhere. The so-called angels edit. Whenever his group did something, he always took the lead or came up with an idea, and they showed that scene. And he also showed nothing but good sides of himself. Even when his team seemed to be fighting, he would intervene and stop them, as if the broadcast was for that purpose. It seemed like his high rank in another survival program was the reason they favored him. He was the main vocalist of Floss that thement on Seong-wons stage clip said, If Seong-won had been on My Idol Stage, he would have reced Flosss main vocal. Are you from Climax? Shim Naru asked us casually, pretending to know us. Ah, yes. Were not very familiar with this, so we were flustered and rude. Thank you for helping us. I thanked him politely and got up from my seat. Fortunately, the other burgers were safe, except for Seon-woo, who had be a bit stupid. I didnt do anything, really. Shim Naru smiled with a meaningful look in his eyes. Youre making aeback next week, right? You must be very busy, but you seem to have some free time? No. The release of the song was in about 10 days, and theeback stage was in about two weeks. Ah, no, not next week. But itsing soon. When I couldnt figure out what he meant, I just pretended not to understand and answered. Oh, really? Thats too bad. It would have been fun if we ovepped on the music shows. Floss was currently promoting their summer mini album with the follow-up song Love by love. It wasnt a regr single, but a follow-up song, so next week was theirst activity. I didnt want to keep track of Flosss schedule or anything I wont be able toe to the dorm often until next week because I have to support Flosss activities. If you need anything, contact me. The manager was busy with that side of the work, so I couldnt help but know. Ah, I see. I hope you finish your activities well. Fighting! I replied casually and shook my fist in front of Shim Naru, like I did to Seong-won. Then Shim Naru scanned me up and down with a sour expression, as if he didnt get the reaction he wanted. What are you looking at? Cheon Ise was not a visual S for nothing. He had a tall and handsome height of over 180, a solid but moderately slender physique, and a head as small as a fist. His appearance was perfect, with no ws anywhere. So what What are you going to do about it? I looked down at Shim Naru with a calm expression. Do you have anything else to say? I threw a fastball and Shim Narus expression changed instantly as he answered. No. Then enjoy your meal. He didnt look like he meant it at all. I looked at him suspiciously and turned my head to meet Kyunghwas eyes. Why is he acting like that? I dont know either. As we exchanged nces, a loud noise came from Seon-woos stomach. Grrrrr. Lets fill our stomachs first. That was my motto whenever this happened. Just like Mt. Geumgang is a sight to see after a meal, worries are also a sight to see after a meal. Most of the worries are solved when your stomach is warm and full. Yeah! Seon-woo nodded his head with a happy face. *** After finishing the meal and sending Seon-woo to the MC rehearsal stage, Kyunghwa and I naturally became idle. Why do these celebrities have so much time to spend on things like Twitter all day? So this is what they do in their spare time. I nodded my head as I solved my curiosity by myself. Since I had some free time, I went on SNS and scrolled down the feed and saw someone retweeted Kang Yu-geons post. [Its been three weeks since we visited you with Love by love. It was a really happy time to be with our Tempos.] They also participated in the pre-recording today, and they looked amazing in their stage outfits and shy makeup. When I saw them on the radio, I felt like they had a dazzling impression that was on the borderline between a beauty and a handsome. When I saw them with full makeup, I could see that they had something that attracted peoples eyes. If youre an idol, I guess thats a basic skill. It was an awkward situation that remained unresolved since the awkward phone call. After that, I didnt have anything to ask him for, and he seemed to have no personal schedule to pass on to me for a while as he was busy with his group activities. Will he ask me toe back as a stand-in after the follow-up song activities are over? But from then on, assuming I pass the test, Ill be too busy with my group activities to do that. I wish I could say that I dont need his help at all! But unfortunately, I couldnt. I needed to somehow mend this awkward rtionship. Of course, he was an enemy pretending to be a friend But he wasnt someone I wouldnt need in the future. Anyway I think it would be good to contact Kang Yu-geon soon. I couldnt understand why Shim Naru was so bad at hiding his hostility and showing it off. Did he see thement that his main vocal position might be in danger? Was that the reason why he showed such a childish attitude to others? How old is he? I frowned and searched for Shim Narus age on the portal. [Search results > Shim Narus age] [Smart summary: Shim Naru, a member of Floss, is 19 years old.] Hes young. This kid is really immature, beyond being reckless and impulsive. He was like a son to me, just like the others, but he was the only one who had a friend of the same age as my son. He was thirteen when he became a teenage singer star? With that physique? I was shocked and my eyes widened. He was seventeen when he appeared on the My Idol stage. And now hes neen He must have been full of arrogance and pride at that time. I lightly bit my tongue. After all, sess at such a young age is also a poison. How much did they praise him since he was young, saying he was a genius, he could be a star? When he debuted with Floss, the whole world treated him like the best K-pop star in the world. He must have been treated like a king, just like Kang Yu-geon. But unlike Kang Yu-geon, I didnt even get angry at Shim Naru. Anger is something I only show to someone who has a certain level of social skills, as I can expect from my social experience. How old am I to be neen How can I see him as my equal? I didnt care if they called me an old fart. I couldnt feel any disappointment when I got angry at Seon-woo, just like I couldnt get mad at neen-year-olds in front of me. Kids at that age are just kids. As long as they dontmit a crime, well Thats how they are at that age. It was better to avoid them. What are you thinking about so hard? Kyunghwa asked me abruptly, seeing me staring at my phone with a stupid expression. Oh, its nothing. I waved my hand as if it was nothing and decided to close my eyes for a while. It was better to take care of my health than to think about other peoples kids. *** After waiting and waiting and waiting, the live broadcast finally started 10 hours after we arrived at the broadcasting station. [Hello, Music Safe viewers!] [Did you have a~] [Safe!] [Week?] The four MCs, including Seon-young and Seon-woo, opened the door with a powerful greeting that was unique to Music Safe, and cheers erupted from the audience. Usually, music show MCs were mainly rookies, but Seon-young was a bit of a special MC, so she was an exceptional case. [Unfortunately~, our Music Safes vitamin! Seon-young will say goodbye to us today as herst day.] [Its time to say goodbye already, Im so sad that my eyes are all teary, you know?] [But where there is farewell, there is a new encounter! Starting today, Climaxs Seon-woo will join us as a new MC of Music Safe!] [Hello, Im Climaxs Seon-woo! This is my first time greeting you as an MC. Can you hear my heart pounding?] Then someone shouted out loud in a clumsy voice from the audience. We hear you!!! It was a spontaneous action, but it was moreic than unpleasant. Everyone held their breath andughed. [Im so d you heard me! Im stillcking, but Ill do my best to deliver the excitement of Music Safe to you.] Maybe it was because Seon-young was firmly supporting him next to him. Or maybe it was because Kyunghwa and I had helped him with the references to the point of forcing them into his head. Seon-woo looked a bit nervous, but he didnt make any mistakes. [Well then, shall we go see Seon-youngs goodbye stage and Seon-woos wee special stage?] [Music~] [Safe!] I did well so far. The screen in the waiting room soon switched to a live broadcast. The actual airing was a pre-recorded segment, and in the studio, the two of them simply stood and performed a simple stage to match the choreography. Lets just say I studied in advance, thanks to them. I imagined myself on that stage with the other Climax members. What if I cried? They say you get more tears as you age. But the original Lim Hyun-seong was not like that at all. However, after possessing Cheon Ise, I felt that my personality was gradually changing over time. It was clear that Cheon Ises original personality was slowly melting into me. If they say Im just making excuses because Im embarrassed, well I have nothing to say. Ahem. I coughed for no reason and nced at Kyunghwa. Kyunghwa stared silently at the scene where Seon-woo was watching the MC for a long time. He must be jealous, of course. Why does he get to do it and I dont? A creepyint that I heard from someone who was presumed to be Cheon Ise shed through my mind. Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 90 Its Not All Bad Time flew by, and Seon-woos first music show was almost over. Kyunghwa still looked a bit wistful as he watched the screen. Should Ifort him? I nced at Kyunghwa for a moment, but turned my head away when I felt he might notice. No, never mind. There was no need to hurt his pride and make things worse. I shook my head to myself and waited for Seon-woo to finish safely.[The winner of the third week of Octobers Music Show is, Floss!] [Congrattions!] [Congrattions!] [Leader Hwijin, please share your thoughts!] Before I knew it, the final stage and the ranking ceremony were over. Floss won against a bad singer who didnt show up for the live stage, and the encore stage began. I felt bitter as I watched Seon-woo go to greet Kang Yu-geon, an old acquaintance, with a smile. I couldnt hear what he was saying because the voice was off, but it seemed like he was happy to see him after a long time. He he has no clue. Seon-woo didnt monitor his SNS. At least thats what I knew. We shared a room, and I would have noticed if he was looking at something weird on his phone. Seong-won didnt know exactly what happened when he appeared on Star Discovery either. Maybe Yi-jun and Kyunghwa didnt tell him because they thought he didnt need to know. I should have given him a hint if I knew he would go and mingle with Kang Yu-geon like that. I sneaked a peek at Kyunghwa, and he seemed to have the same thought. Kang Yu-geon must think Seon-woo is his prey. Wouldnt he have some sense and realize that hes not that kind of person? Seon-woo, on the screen, smiled brightly and said hello to Yu-geon, then walked off the stage with a skip. Kang Yu-geon was trying desperately to keep a polite smile on his face, as if he couldnt harden his expression in front of the camera. Our Seon-woo did something after all. I hoped I could give Kang Yu-geon a bit of pain with his disguise. Soon, Seon-woo returned to the waiting room, free of the microphone, earphones, and everything else. Im done! I can go home now! Seon-woo, who looked pure and lovely on the stage, but did his part well, turned into a three-year-old who was left at the waters edge in an instant. I did well today, right? He said, shining his eyes, and he didnt move until he heard the answer from me and Kyunghwa. Yeah, you did a good job. You didnt make any mistakes and you finished the stage well. Yeah! I practiced really hard to avoid mistakes! We knew that. We were the ones who trained him not to talk nonsense when he was on the MC spot. You did well. Lets go home and rest. There were still some farewell greetings left, but there was no need to wait in standby anymore, so I was relieved. Yeah! I called the manager and he said he would arrive in about 10 minutes. I brushed off the pollen on Seon-woos head and sorted out the things that needed to be returned, and the time passed quickly. You all worked hard. Thanks for taking care of the youngest instead of me. As we followed the managers instructions and headed down to the parking lot, we saw fans waiting for their favorite groups to leave. Seon-woo, you did a great job today! Go home and rest well! Youre awesome! Wow, your visuals are amazing. See you next week! There were about thirty of them, right? It was a small numberpared to other big groups, but it was more than I expected considering we didnt have a stage today. Thank you! As Seon-woo and I bowed to the fans, I felt a lump in my throat. They were all precious children who had to save their time. They waited for us for over six hours, from the rehearsal to the departure. They couldnt all be living in Seoul, could they? I nced at their faces and saw that some of them were much younger than I thought. I felt sorry for these young kids who came up to Seoul from the morning to see idols. Whats with that weird expression? As soon as we got on the minivan, Kyunghwa red at me and frowned. What? Youve been like that since earlier. You look like an old man whos trying to marry off his youngest son. Its nothing. The test period wasing to an end, and I seemed to be swayed by everything. I sighed, calmed myself down, and uttered the magic sentence that would break all the emotional tension. The kids who ran to Kyunghwa and left hatements must be the same age as them. Live your life dont do that, young friends. I quicklyposed myself with a frozen expression of minus 17 degrees. Wow, the clip is up already. Kyunghwa suddenly eximed as he looked at something, and I leaned over to see what it was. It was a YouTube video that had been edited and uploaded in sections from the live broadcast we had just sent out. Is that from the official channel? No. I think someone recorded and uploaded it. Maybe the fans who missed the live broadcast couldnt wait for the official edited video, so they uploaded their own recordings. Itll be deleted soon. But it could still be a useful indicator to check the real-time reactions and see if we made any mistakes or did anything wrong. Do you want to see thements? I asked Kyunghwa, and he nced at Seon-woo. Uh I dont care either way! Then well look and filter out the good ones for you. Seon-woo was the type who showed his thoughts on his actions and expressions, so we tried to prevent him from being exposed to hatements as much as possible. As for me I hadnt heard anything that bothered me yet. Kyunghwa had a mental breakdown once, but he recovered to some extent. Seong-won didnt care about that kind of stuff at all, and Yi-jun would just say, Ah, Im pissed off! and go to the boxing gym to vent. This guy he was nervous just from reading one chat during the live broadcast, so we decided it was better for him not to see it. Anyway, we didnt need to monitor the reactions ourselves, so Kyunghwa slowly scrolled down to the bottom of the video. [- Anniversary set 211017 D+1] [ Wow, this is hrious] [ Did you register and send it right after D-day? LOL] [- Its the first time I see both siblings love me and make it hard for me] [ YA NA DOO] [ Why are you interfering? Go away] [- I dont mind this triangle rtionship. Ill try to do my best for both of them] [- This family has good genes] [ At this point, Im really curious about the parents. Not in a bad way, but really] [ Cant they have one morete child for the global K-pop industry and be national contributors?] [ OMG, I was thinking the same thing] Fortunately, most of the reactions were good. There were some negative opinions, but most of them didnt get much likes and got cursed in thements. It seemed inevitable that there would be hatements for both Seon-woo and Seon-young. The reactions are good. They say youre cute and lovely. I deliberately captured some funnyments and posted them on the group chat. [Me] Its not an official video, so itll be taken down soon. 7:25 PM [Me] (Picture) 7:26 PM Then, Yi-jun, who must have been home already, quickly checked and replied. [YJ] Oh, its already up? 7:27 PM [Me] Its not an official video. 7:27 PM [YJ] Oh, I see. 7:28 PM [YJ] But the reactions are good. 7:28 PM [YJ] Did you film Noknok with Seon-young today? 7:29 PM Did Seon-young already upload the video? I quickly replied. [Me] Yeah, we filmed it during the waiting time. 7:30 PM [YJ] Theres a video on Noknok. 7:31 PM [YJ] (Link) 7:31 PM When I saw the video that Yi-jun sent me, there was a y Store screen telling me to download some app. This I wont get hacked or anything if I download it, right? During the Chinese business boom, Jo Young Food also attempted to enter the Chinese market but encountered difficulties, leading to the loss of the factory. It would be too long to tell the whole story. But because of that experience, I was instinctively wary of that side. Did you download Noknok? When I nced at Kyunghwa, he looked up and looked at me. Well, I dont use the ount, though. Wow Everyone does it except me. Then, Seon-woo answered with a cringe. I dont do it either! Yeah, I thought you wouldnt. I didnt bother to answer and just stroked Seon-woos head and asked Kyunghwa. Can you check the link for me? Sure. Ill open it now. When Kyunghwa clicked the link on his phone, an ount with 500,000 subscribers popped up. Wow, theyre really working hard. These days, its the era of self-PR where you have to keep showing content on YouTube or Noknok, but this was something you couldnt do unless you enjoyed it. How many videos are there? There were hundreds of short clip videos in the recent posts that we were in. Look at thements first. This time, it wasnt just about Seon-woo, but we were also in it, so I had to pay more attention to the content. [- This is the power of an 8-year veteran girl group. They use three boy group members from their brothers agency as backup dancers] [- Look at the queen Seon-youngs force. Siren siren, theyre in trouble if they mess up the choreography] [- You guys know, if you want to have a handsome guy, you have to be a top star in the entertainment industry with your face first] [ Are you crazy] [- Seon-woo: Enjoying it because we share the same genes Ise: Our Sebeoji is working hard today too Kyungwha: Proving that he is the icon of diligence] [ The youngest brothers who came to support are having a hard time] [- Ise: Kids, this is how hard your dad works and earns money] [ Head of the household father] Hmm it was exactly the reaction I expected. The video must have spread to SNS as well. I checked the feed with a rational inference and sure enough, everyone was losing their minds over the rice cake that poured out in a day. [- Ah, Im going crazy Look at Sebeoji and Kyungjaegams expressions at the end of siren siren, Im crying] [- The white mage who controls Sebeoji and Kyungjaegam] Kyungjaegam was a nickname that came up while doing the project to boost Kyungwhas presence with gag content in Boys in Crisis. It was a n that made everyone react crazily as if a huge star had appeared whenever Kyungwha showed up. [- Yes, senior. I shouted siren siren three times. There are a lot of likes. I saved the angle. Siren siren] [ How do youe up with such ideas?] [- Look at this, this is the power of a girl group] [ Ah, Im going crazy. It feels like Im experiencing the emperors proxy who has 8748578 male concubines in the sponsorship] They all seemed to like it too. Well it was funny to me too. The problem was that I was in that funny video. They should haveughed happily. Yeah. It wasnt anything too weird, just a bit ridiculous. Then, another message from Yi-jun came up in the group chat. [YJ] Hey, look at this 7:37 PM [YJ] Theres already an article out 7:37 PM [YJ] 7:38 PM Article? I didnt think I did anything that would make an article. The word article always had a strange power to make people anxious. I thought it would be nothing, but I still clicked on the link that Yi-jun sent with a slightly nervous feeling. Chapter 91: Chapter 91: As soon as I clicked the link, a small gossip site article popped up. [ Climaxs Ise, Kyunghwa, Were shy because theyre not used to it] [Star Today Pris Seon-young. Cute challenge with her brother] When I clicked to read more, there was nothing much. Just a few captured images and a few lines of summary. There are too many people in this world who makes money so easily. Tsk, I lightly clicked my tongue and looked out the window. The familiar scenery was slowlying into view. Were almost there. Get ready to get off. The manager said he had to go to support the Floss team right away because of their overnight shooting. Youre working hard too.What do I know? You guys are going to be busy soon. The manager answered with a voice that sounded less and less confident. I wouldnt say I felt bad, but it was a lie. No matter how good our recent form was, Climax was still nothingpared to Floss, the shining star of the boy groups. I couldnt me the manager for his attitude. I hope so. Take care of yourself and have a good day. I exchanged a brief greeting with the manager and the three of us silently climbed the stairs. Kyunghwa, who reached the door first, unlocked it and pulled it open. Then, he looked at me and Seon-woo. As soon as you go in, wash up Before Kyunghwa could finish his sentence, bang! A firecracker went off and someone jumped out of the entrance. Congrattions on your MC debut! Yi-jun, wearing a cone hat and holding a lettering cake, shouted. Next to him, Seong-won was pulling the firecracker with a soulless expression. Bang-! Another firecracker burst out with force, and long paper strips poured over Seon-woos head. Congrats! Seon-woo, with a stunned expression, hesitated for a moment, and a two-tiered cream cake rushed to his face. Huh? Wha!? Seon-woo couldnt defend himself, and with a thud, the cake hit his face. Thats a ssic. Kyunghwa eximed briefly and quickly grabbed a tissue with his reflexes. Are you okay? Can you eat this? It was unclear whether he was asking about the cake or Seon-woo. He wasnt going to eat Seon-woo, was he? Isnt this too much for a celebration? I scolded Yi-jun with a short click of my tongue. Seon-woo, who came to his senses, quickly shook his head. No, no! Im fine! Seon-woo got up, and the cake fell from his face into Yi-juns hand. Oh, nice catch. Seon-woos face, which barely showed up, was covered with cream. The cake had distorted the curves of his eyes, nose, and mouth. It was inevitable. Im not eating that. I turned my head as if I had seen something I shouldnt have. I didnt like using food for pranks anyway Thats so unsanitary. I wouldnt mind if he just smeared some cream on someones face with his finger. But throwing a whole cake at someones face was something I had never seen before. Really? I thought he wouldnt eat it. What about you, Kyunghwa hyung? I didnt need to look at the direction of his finger to know who Yi-jun was pointing at. He was already picky about food, so eating a cake that had been smashed on someone elses face was out of the question. Ill have a little bit. Maybe he was still hungry after one burger. Kyunghwa surprisingly nodded his head. Why dont you ask me? Seon-woo finally realized the danger and asked Yi-jun anxiously. He was so desperate to eat the cake on his own face He was quite something. Nobody thinks you wont eat it. Of course. Yi-jun nced at me as if asking for permission. Just give him a speck. I reluctantly agreed and spat out. Yi-jun grabbed the cake and ran to the kitchen table. He was so happy with just a ruined cake He must have the best mental health among us. Can I go wash up first? As I thought that, I remembered the burgers in my hand. Oh, right. I also bought some special burgers from the Music Safe basement store. Yi-juns ears perked up as he was taking out a te and a fork from the kitchen. Oh, how many? Five. One each? Yi-jun shed a predatory look at the food. Kyunghwa said he wont eat. You can have two. Awesome! He snatched two burgers from the package on the table in a sh. You can have a burger too if youre hungry. If not, put it in the fridge. I pointed at the package and looked at Seong-won. He nodded and headed to the table. And at the same time, he uttered a word that made my spine tingle. Yeah. Thanks. What? Did I hear something wrong? I doubted my ears and followed his blond back. He looked calm and nonchnt. Did he just thank me? Of course, I had heard him say thank you before. But that was when there were some big events. I never expected to hear his gratitude for a burger. Is he dying. To be honest, I was the one who was running out of time. Did I be morefortable with the members than before? It was definitely a good thing that he opened up his heartpared to when we first met. But I wasnt entirely happy. There was a heaviness in my chest If I fail the test and die again. Ill betray the ones Ive opened up to and run away. I dont want to die. Its natural for most people who have a life. Apart from revenge, I didnt want to lose this life. If I had made the same resolution a few months ago, could I havee up with a more perfect and better n than now? I shook my head as I headed to my room alone. That was impossible from the start, and it was not like me to feel sorry for myself by assuming what could have happened in the past. The dice have already been thrown. All I can do is hope for a good roll and do my best. I quickly took off the dusty clothes I had turned inside out in the waiting room and poured cold water over my head. My eyes opened wide as the cold water poured down, making my skin shrink from my scalp. I should fill my stomach with a burger instead of worrying, and do one more monitoring before I go to bed. It was about time for the official clips to be uploaded on the Music Safe official ount. *** Wow, you washed up and came out fast, hyung? As I hurriedly washed up and came out to the living room to eat a burger, Yi-jun and Seon-woo looked at me with cream all over their mouths. Seon-woo quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as soon as he met my eyes. Didnt I tell you to give me only as much as an ants eye? Looking at the traces on the te in front of Seon-woo, it was clear that this was not an ants eye, but as big as me. Ah~. Its probably because the unit of measurement is not standardized Oh Yi-jun tried to cover it up with nonsense. No way. Tomorrow, you both have to eat the minimum amount of carbs. You should only eat sd. Yi-juns face turned pale at my deration, which was like a bolt from the blue, and he struggled. Me too? Yeah, you too. I microwaved the burger for 20 seconds and air-fried it for 3 minutes, then ate it right at the table. Is it good to eat it like that? Yi-jun, who had barely calmed down, stuffed his mouth with cake as if he was going to fill up his calories in advance. If you heat up the meat inside with a microwave and make the bread crispy with an air fryer, even a cold burger bes edible. When I ate the one I had put in the fridge for fear of spoiling, I microwaved it for more than 40 seconds. That way, I could eat a hot burger without burning the outside. Oh Ill try that next time. Of course, that guy had a big mouth, so he would eat well even if he didnt do that. I was the type who pursued quality over quantity even if I ate one. If the conditions are right, theres no reason not to do it even if its a bit of a hassle. I filled my stomach and went back to my room to check, and sure enough, the official clips of Music Safe were up. Where Lets see the ones with the highest views first. I passed by the fancam videos of countless junior and senior idols and found the encore stage of Floss with the highest views. What Im not interested in these guys. As I was about to pass it, the guy I met at the cafeteria today bothered me. Unlike the pre-recorded stage where they sang with an AR that had been pre-recorded, the encore stage was a pure live without any of that. Lets see how well they sing. It was childish for an adult, but I was a hybrid of a thousand-year-old and a twenty-year-old. So this much childishness was okay. I yed the encore stage with the logic of a miracle. [Music Safe of the third week of October! The first ce goes to, Floss!] [Congrattions!] [Congrattions!] [Please share your thoughts as the leader, Hwijin!] Out of the nine people standing together, a gray-haired one who seemed to be the leader came out and took the microphone. [Thank you so much! We are so grateful and love you for giving us this wonderful award today!] Was he the leader because he ranked first in that idol poprity vote show? As I thought of that, I paused the clip and searched for the debut ranking of Floss on the portal. [Search results > Floss debut ranking] 1st Lee Jinheng 2nd Lee Hwijin 3rd Oh Chanhyung 4th Shim Naru 5th Damian 6th Okada Jun 7th Park Sunghyun 8th Kim Youngchan 9th Kang Yu-geon I knew that Kang Yu-geon was not very popr, but I didnt know he was thest one to debut. Maybe I knew, but I didnt care enough to remember. There were two foreign members. I looked into it and found out that Damian was only American by nationality, but his parents were Korean. No wonder he looked like a Korean. For now I should at least memorize their faces. I matched each of their faces and names from the video that was uploaded today. We were still far behind them, but they seemed to consider us as rivals. I needed to familiarize myself with their faces beforehand. They were making a fuss by themselves, while we didnt even pay attention to them. They were not bad, but they were too sensitive. Hmph, I resumed the video with a light snort. [Thank you so much!] [We love you, Tempo!] Seon-woo walked slowly to the middle of the enemy camp and greeted Yu-geon, and the camera captured it very clearly. Huh? Wait a minute. Something that annoyed me stepped on my eye. What the hell is he? My eyes narrowed in an instant. Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 92 Countdown (1) Shim Naru red at Seon-woo with a look of annoyance. He was clearly irritated by our idiot I mean, Seon-woo. Im sorry, Seon-woo. I should stop teasing you for being a fool in my mind. But today, I was so impressed by how you boldly marched into the enemy camp without a care. I couldnt help but call you our idiot. It was only a brief moment, but the misunderstanding caused by the screenshot was definitely not true. Am I the only one who is too sensitive about this? I scrolled down to thement section to shake off my doubt. [- Whats with Shim Naru? Hes been hating on Seon-woo since My Idol days.][ I got the PDF.] [ What are you talking about Hes reaping what he sowed. Did I say anything wrong?] [- This guy is unbelievable Look at his eyes. He should act with that kind of focus.] There were so many foreignments that it was hard to find Korean ones. And most of the Koreanments were praising Floss. But every now and then, I saw somements that were critical of Shim Narus attitude. I went back to the video. [Our beautiful memories, those lovely moments] [I want to keep them forever with you, true love] The other members parts came out first, so it seemed like everything was going smoothly. The performance wasnt as intense as a regr stage, but it also wasnt so sloppy that they were dragging and dropping the lyrics. It was just the right level of an encore live for fan service. Until Shim Narus part started. This guy really he never sings his high note part. Every time his part came around, he pretended to do fan service and approached the audience with his microphone. If he didnt hand over the microphone, he would joke around with the other members and kill time with his cute antics. Does heck confidence in his live performance? I wanted to find out more about this guy, even if it was because of todays incident, but I didnt have time. I had to save my energy for tomorrows choreography practice instead of wasting time digging up someone elses information for a negative purpose. I have a rough idea of what kind of person he is. Thats enough. I should avoid getting involved with him and just get through this smoothly. It was best to stay away from people who had high pride but low self-esteem, especially those who were not mentally stable yet. I ced my phone quietly on the wireless charger and closed my eyes. I heard Seon-woo and Yi-juns voices from outside the room, but I didnt care. *** When you have something youre eagerly waiting for, time flies by in an instant. In the blink of an eye, a few days passed by. Seon-woo sessfully hosted the MC without Seonyoung, and the remaining rental period for the practice room was gradually decreasing. Meanwhile, the release date of the song was approaching fast. There were four teasers that had been uploaded so far, until five days before the release. The teaser images of all the members except Seon-woo, the center, were revealed. ording to Flossseback history, they upload videos ording to each members concept and time. We only uploaded one photo each that we took during the jacket shooting. That was it. Today, thest teaser, Seon-woos concept photo and the music video highlight, was scheduled to be released. [- Is today the day thest teaseres out? Wow, I cant believe theeback is so close ] [ We finally have something to stream I made ounts for my mom, dad, and brother. Im ready to stream right away.] [The quality of this teaser is so much better than the previous one, dont you think? Can we expect something amazing?] [The water is rising fast, but they havent built the dam properly. Im going to storm into Ws headquarters with a Molotov cocktail.] [A beautiful woman in her early twenties will also join the fight.] [- I never thought I would look forward to Monday I cant wait to go to work and watch the teaser again. The Clings are really amazing.] I felt my heart pounding as I saw the fans gathering and discussing the concept and the expected content. I wanted to show them as soon as possible. Of course, the sooner I showed them, the shorter my life span might be But I wanted to see their reactions as soon as possible, since I had done my best to produce the best result. I wanted to keep working with the members who I thought I would never be involved with half a year ago. For now, today I should be able to guess from the reactions to the highlight teaser. I anxiously headed to the practice room, waiting for the teaser that would be released at 6 p.m., since 6 a.m. I kept getting distracted by other thoughts and missed a beat. MyType scolded me harshly. Ise, please focus a little more! By now, my body moved automatically to the apaniment, since I had danced the same dance too many times. But even then, it was obvious when I was thinking about something else. Im sorry. Kyunghwa looked at me with wide eyes, as if he was surprised that I had a problem with my attitude. Dont worry, its nothing. I made an OK sign with one hand and focused on the choreography again. The song too, I had sung it so many times that I should have reached 100% proficiency by now. [Current registered songs (1)] [- Drink me: 8.75% (2nd round)] I still couldnt get out of the single digits. They never made anything easy for me. I was trapped in the practice room all day, practicing and practicing. I ran until the soles of my sneakers wore out and it was time to end the reservation. Good job, everyone! Good job! See you tomorrow! I finished the energetic greetings and returned to the dorm. It was already 5:50 p.m. There were 10 minutes left until the highlight teaser was released. Right. Today is the day of Seon-woos teaser and the highlight, right? Yi-jun suddenly shouted in the living room, as if he had just remembered. You didnt know that? No, I knew, but I forgot. I dont check unless its the day of my teaser. That was typical of Yi-jun. Kyunghwa, who had been acting calm and indifferent, gulped down cold water in the kitchen. Dont talk to me, Im nervous right now. Kyunghwa sighed and calmed his chest, as if he had no room for pride. What are you so nervous about? Yi-jun smiled slyly, as if he was teasing someone. Are you afraid of failing again? Again? Kyunghwa rolled up the mart flyer in the kitchen and smacked Yi-juns head. Then, Seong-wons cat, who had opened the door, came out of nowhere and meowed at Kyunghwas feet. Meow! It looked like he was trying to stop me from hitting our brother. What are you doing? As Kyunghwa said something like a third-rate viin in an animation, Yi-jun picked up Aeongi, who was already 2kg. Aeongi, save me. Kyunghwa is bullying me. You deserved it. Kyunghwa went into his room with a look of contempt and disbelief. Then Yi-jun followed him with Aeongi in his arms. Why are you following me? I share the same room with you, so I have no choice. He grinned and rested his chin on the back of Aeongis head. Kyunghwa looked at Yi-jun with an expression that seemed to say, Maybe I should kill him It was strange that Kyunghwa was still sparing Yi-jun. If you ever lose your patience and do something to Oh Yi-jun, Ill pay you the security deposit. He said as he sat on the sofa in the living room and scrolled down his feed. He was quite nervous about the teaser release, but his voice was calm. Yi-jun screamed when he heard my words. Evilndlord! Conglomerate! Corrupt! Stop talking nonsense. Thenughter came from somewhere. Pfft, hahaha The owner of theughter was none other than Seon-woo. As three pairs of eyes fixed on Seon-woo, he sensed that something was wrong and looked around. Am I not supposed tough right now? There was no such thing. I snorted and answered. No, its not a situation where you cantugh, but As I casually answered Seon-woo and refreshed the page, the clock changed from 5:59 to 6:00. Wow, its up! Kyunghwa was the first to notice the time change and looked at his phone as if he was going to stick his face to it. Climax @Clima [Climax Drink Me MV TEASER (link) 2021.10.29 6PM(KST) RELEASE #Climax #Climax #NaSeon-woo #CheonIse #RyuKyunghwa #OhYi-jun #SonSeong-won #Drink_Me #WE_PLANET #Drink_ME_All] What was that at the end? I dont remember agreeing to that when we confirmed. It must have been added by the agency. We had already discussed what scenes would go up. But when I thought that this was finally released, I felt a new emotion. [- OMG its out] [- Its up Im going to watch it right now] [- Crazycrazycrazy Rimdol its up] [- Did you see the Climax MV teaser?] [ YES!!!] My feed was instantly flooded with noise. The part that was released as a music video highlight teaser started with Seon-woo and ended with me. It was a 30-second version edited with the best 4-5 seconds of each members visuals, including the logo and the release date schedule. The outfits were quite futuristic dystopian, which was already revealed in the image teaser. What if they say its too overdone or childish. My hand that was refreshing the feed suddenly slowed down. Even if the reaction was negative, there was no time to change it now. The song release was next Monday, and the firsteback stage was next Friday. Please be satisfied with this, even if its not up to your expectations. Its better thanst years. I sped my hands and took a deep breath, as if praying to a God I didnt believe in. Pposili barked as if to remind me of himself, with a woof-! that only I could hear. Thanks for cheering me up, Pposili. Finally, my finger scrolled down and the feed loaded after about 3 minutes of the release. [- Hello. This is s mom. Our is in a state where he cant do SNS activities for a while because he saw such an amazing video. Please cheer for to recover soon.] [- Ah, Im going crazy. W, you crazy guys. How can you do this?] [- I cant wait until next week. I cant wait until next week. I cant wait until next week. I cant wait until next week. I cant wait until next week. I cant wait until next week. I cant wait until next week. Let me go right now.] [- You came to burn my October Im hitting my forehead a hundred times and calming down and sitting down again.] [ , Im going crazy Stop Losing Your Mind And Talk To Me] [ Theres no one sane in Rise right now. Were on the verge of KIJUL.] [- I was foolish to think that it would have been perfect if you came out in the summer, considering the timing.] [ Wiple had a n, but I couldnt stand it and whined.] This is a good reaction, right? I was surprised by the much more intense reaction than I expected, and looked around at the other members faces. The one I expected to show the most violent reaction, Kyunghwa, was surprisingly very quiet and just staring at the screen. No way I asked Yi-jun, who was close to Kyunghwa, with a doubtful suspicion. Did Kyunghwa faint again? Before Yi-jun could answer, thud, Kyunghwa copsed on the dining table with his forehead. Chapter 93: Chapter 93: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 93 Countdown (2) I was startled to see Kyunghwas eyes spinning as if he was dizzy and lifted him up. There was a bright red mark on his forehead. Fortunately, it didnt seem like he had a bruise but it must have hurt. Yi-jun checked the red spot and pressed it hard with his hand. Ouch Kyunghwa screamed and came to his senses. Sometimes he did things that made me wonder if he was a friend or a foe. Are you okay, bro?Seon-woo ran over to Kyunghwas side and asked. Seong-won also came out of his room, startled by the loud noise, and looked at Kyunghwa. What happened? Seong-won asked with a suspicious expression, and Kyunghwa shook his head. No, no. I just had a little dizzy spell You should go to the hospital and get checked if its habitual. Its better to take some medicine than not. It wasnt incorrect, but it sounded more like he was advising me not to cause him any trouble rather than expressing genuine concern. Couldnt he say the same thing a little more gently? Its not that serious. Um Im d the response was better than I thought, but Kyunghwa hesitated, as if he had something to say but was a bit embarrassed. What was he so hesitant about? I narrowed my eyes and asked. Just say it. Then Kyunghwa rolled his eyes a little more and finally spoke. I cant believe it. Its so unreal that theyre reacting so much to the teaser What if they go crazy and call it a scam when the song is released? Kyunghwa tilted his head, as if he couldnt believe it. He had been getting nothing but cold indifference and sarcasm until now. Who cares It feels like Im on the Truman Show or something. I snorted and felt bitter at the same time. It was just a teaser reaction, not a number one on the music chart. How could he think that? Its probably because the singles reactions were generally not very good. Ever since I started searching on SNS, I could easily find the harsh reviews of Climaxs previous singles. There werent many posts rted to Climax in the first ce, so I could see posts from years ago just by searching Climax single. [- Climax? Are they rookies? I listened to their single on the music show and it was seriously awful. Arent they from the same agency that takes the Mydol kids? Im worried already.] [ Theyre not even mediocre idols, theyre so bad that even if they brought the number one Mydol and had him spin the windmill while singing, it wouldnt cover it. Its like they got a constion prize at a school festival. The part where they put autotune to make it sound better was the most annoying.] [- Guys, Im starting producing today. I feel like I can make a living with music. MC Beat Genius debut, cheer me on.] He must have felt dizzy seeing such reactions turn into praises for the first time. Its not a scam, you know that better than anyone. Youve seen the music video. I patted his shoulder as if to tell him not to worry, and Kyunghwa nodded slowly. As I calmed Kyunghwa down for a while, I felt a bit hungry. I had forgotten for a moment because I was so focused on the teaser release, but it was dinner time at six. Maybe theyre more restless because theyre hungry. I had been cutting down on carbs for a while, and I felt like my brain was getting slower. I was nning to have a light sd for dinner today, since theeback is near but health is the most important thing. I nodded and decided to change the dinner menu. Would kimchi bean sprout rice be okay for dinner? I blurted out the question after keeping my mouth shut for a long time, and everyones ears perked up and turned to me. Wow, I was just craving that! Seon-woo eximed, as if I had read his mind. Of course, he was the type who always had thirty different foods he wanted to eat in his mind. Anyone else have anyints? All I had to do was chop up some fresh kimchi and boil it with bean sprouts and rice, then top it with some crumbly beef and a bit of special soy sauce. It was a bit of a hassle to stir-fry the beef, but there was no better dish to eat as a special treat. Yeah! Yi-jun nodded his head, supporting the wilted Kyunghwa like a nt that hadnt been watered for a month, and took him to the room. I think Kyunghwa should lie down for a while. Ill put him inside. Sure. I nodded my head casually and waved my hand. Dont go and eat something weird, just go to your room and wait. I pointed at Seon-woo as if to shoo him away, and he nodded his head vigorously. Okay! Ill be good in my room. After Seon-woo went to his room, the living room became quiet as if someone had poured cold water over it. Seong-won, who had his arms crossed tightly, looked down at me with cold eyes that showed no intention. What What did he want? Are you not going in? I asked with a nervous expression, and he snapped back. Do I have to go in? I closed my mouth and avoided his gaze, feeling awkward. I didnt want to cause any trouble when there wasnt much time left until D-day. Well, everyone else went in, and youre the only one left. Seong-won scanned my face with a displeased expression. Then he opened the fridge door and took out a kimchi container and some bean sprouts. Itll be faster if we do it together. What can I do? He then fumbled with the sticker that sealed the bean sprout opening, grunting. He struggled with the sealing sticker for a while, and then he gave up and got some scissors to cut it off. His ear tips, peeking out from between his blond hair, were redder than usual. What, did he take some medicine? Why is he like this? I couldnt tell him to just go in when he offered to help himself. Can you wash the bean sprouts and pick out the bean skins and any bad parts? I didnt care if the bean skins were in there, I ate them anyway. But it looked cleaner without them, so I thought that would be a good thing to ask him. Okay. Seong-won inspected the bean sprout heads at the sink, plucking out any wilted or rotten parts, while I chopped the kimchi. I was going to cook the rice first and make the topping and sauce while the rice was cooking. I didnt expect him to butt in and offer to help. It wasnt a dish that requires a lot of hands, so I could have just sent him away. But I couldnt be cruel and send him away, thinking that this might be thest time. With Seong-wons help, I cooked the rice and stir-fried the minced beef with simple seasoning, and a savory aroma filled the air. Can you check the seasoning for a second? I called Seong-won, who was standing idly in a corner of the kitchen, and he came closer. He suddenly leaned his face towards me. His fox-like eyes had a mischievous glint that matched his temper. What are you doing You should get some chopsticks or a spoon. I pointed at the utensil holder and he blushed like a tomato, covering his face with his palm. Why was he acting like that? He looked so embarrassed and nervous, as if he had made a mistake. He brought some spoons with him. Try it, see if the seasoning is right. He scooped up a piece of meat and zhini with his spoon and put it in his mouth, then hesitated for a moment. Then he chewed for a while and muttered timidly. Its good. Not too salty, just right. The rice was a bit nd, so maybe I should have cooked it a little longer. Okay. The rice is ready, you just need to serve it. Can you put some bowls and spoons on the table? Sure. He nodded slowly and headed to the table with the spoons. After 15 minutes of steaming, I opened the lid of the rice cooker and a huge amount of steam came out. Go and call the kids. I nced at him to make sure he heard me and then carried the rice cooker to the table. I added some sesame oil and mixed it well so that the ingredients wouldnt clump together. The smell of fresh kimchi tickled my nose. The rice turned out really well. Well, of course. I cooked it with good rice and well-fermented kimchi, so it smelled amazing. Wow, Im hungry~! How long did he make them wait? Yi-jun appeared, scratching his belly. I served him some rice with adle and he ate it without even adding any sauce. Thats going to be nd if you eat it like that. Its fine, its delicious. The others also took some rice and mixed it with the side dish. They tasted it and nodded. Its good. Ive been eating sd all the time, so I feel like I can eat a lot. Kyunghwa seemed to have regained some energy. He brightened his eyes and took another scoop from the rice cooker. Then Seon-woo also looked around for a chance to refill his bowl. You cant. I blocked him before he could even try. He nodded with a sullen expression. Yeah I felt a bit sorry for him, but it couldnt be helped. He had eaten a huge amount of cream cakest week when I wasnt watching and gained some weight again. He didnt move much, but he had a body type that easily gained weight. It would have been different if there was a reason, like thest time we had raclette, but not today. Ah, Im full. Ill do the dishes, since I have to digest! Seon-woo volunteered as if he was paying taxes. He went to the sink and cleaned up the ces where the other members had eaten. With nothing to do, I sat quietly on the sofa in the living room and checked the schedule. The only things left until D-Day were stage practice, music and music video release, and theeback special filming for Boys in Crisis. There was also a live event scheduled from 5 pm until the release time on the day of the music release. Theeback special for Boys in Crisis, which was scheduled for tomorrow, was basically a promotion for the goods. Were getting goods too *** I looked at the products we had sold so far and wondered who would buy these weirdly designed hats and t-shirts for that price. This time, thanks to Kyunghwas involvement in the MD nning, it seemed like we had some trendy items. Keyrings, lenticr cards, stickers, straps, phone cases. Is that all? Most of them were not very expensive and came with some strange paper cards. I didnt know much about that, so I asked Kyunghwa if it wouldnt be better to give something else instead, but he said that those paper cards were the main attraction. He said that when physical albums came out, people would buy tons of them just to collect these cards. Of course, that was not something that applied to Climax in the past. Then why dont we just sell these cards only? Isnt it too wasteful to buy the same album ten times and then throw it away or give it away just to get one card? He looked at me as if I was a barbarian. The point of giving out photo cards is to sell the albums and the fan signs. What do you think we are giving them for? From what he told me, it seemed like the bonus products that were originally given out as bait had be the main factor that influenced the sales. Then what about us? We dont have an album this time, just a digital single. How do we sell these photo cards? Yeah. That was the expression he had back then. As if it was the beginning of another ordeal, he red at me with a fed-up look. Chapter 94: Chapter 94: You were fine for a while, why are you talking nonsense again? I really didnt understand this area well. I searched online and found out that you buy an album without knowing what card you will get, and then you can resell or exchange it. Do you sell the cards separately if you cant sell the albums? Kyunghwa sighed at my naive question and answered. Usually, they sell them with the goods, or they coborate with other brands and give them out when you buy a certain amount. It seemed to me that as long as there was demand, there were endless ways to do it. After a long argument, we decided on five types of goods. Among them, you get one of the two photo cards when you buy a key ring, a lenticr card, or a strap. Other popr idols would increase the number of cards per member, but We probably thought that increasing the randomness would make them sell less.I didnt know that area very well, so I thought it was safer to trust Kyunghwas judgment. I vaguely hoped that we could do a coboration event with food-rted products in the future. We had the same idea. But if we wanted to use the fans loyalty to induce bulk purchases, it would be safer to avoid food products. As I was looking at the product details, the members who finished the dishes and cleaning came out to the living room. Ah, I want dessert. Yi-junined that his mouth was empty after eating. Theres pineapple in the fridge, cut it and eat it. Seon-woo, only a little bit. As soon as he said that, I heard the fridge open with a bang. Seon-woo said yes! and went back to the kitchen with Yi-jun to cut the pineapple. How do we cut this? First, cut off the head Do we have to cut off the bottom too? They would waste all the time peeling the skin if they left it like that. I ended up getting up and cutting the fruit for them, and thats when the dinner was over. After dessert, it was time to rx. Some did home training, some yed games, some watched TV. I was thinking about the real music show appearance that wasing soon, and I checked the materials in advance to see what I should do at the end. Seon-woos wink failure was surprisingly well receivedst time. He looked a bitcking, but his face was working hard and he was cute, so he was a hot topic in themunity. But no matter how cute it was, if you repeated it several times, it would look too artificial and you could get criticized. I told him to check what he could do in advance and match the words. I watched other peoples music show stages and fancams for almost an hour, and I was quickly exhausted. I have a lot to do tomorrow, I should go to bed early. I went to bed earlier than usual, and as soon as Iy down, Seon-woo came into the room. Ise hyung Oh. He seemed to have something to say to me, but he quickly closed the door and left when he saw me in bed. I wondered if I should get up and ask him what it was, but I felt so rxed lying down that I fell asleep. I didnt know what he wanted to say. If it was important, he would tell me in the morning, I thought. *** I woke up in the morning and had a simple sd for breakfast. Then the filming crew of Boys in Crisis came to the dorm. Well install three observation cameras in the living room. As in the countryside house, the cameras installed to avoid the bathroom would be with us until the day of oureback. Aeongi, the cat, hid his body at first when he saw the filming crew rushing into the house, but soon he came out after loosening his guard. They were not strangers to him, as he had met them constantly while going back and forth between the amodation and the countryside house. Today, were going to film a goods review and make something called a toploader. Thepleted toploader will be delivered to the channel subscribers by lottery. What is a toploader? I often saw it on the feed, but I didnt know exactly what it meant. [- Buy any Climax photocard, I only have 10 toploaders and no photocard] [- Na Seon-woo Seon-woo Climax Seong-won Ise Kyungwha Yi-jun W Ill buy any kind of Na Seon-woo photocard, please sell it to me I want to use a pretty toploader] It was a word that people usually used like this. When I searched it, I couldnt figure out what it was, as it looked like a very fancy picture frame with a lot of things on it. Will the goods and photocard go on the video as they are? Kyunghwa asked the staff as soon as he heard the content. The goods will go as they are, but the photocard will be mosaic-processed so that we can surprise the fans. Okay. Kyunghwa nodded as if he agreed. Well, it wouldnt make sense to show the product with random elements on the broadcast. I nodded too. Then, since the filming crew has raided you while you were sleepingte, were going to film with that concept. Please go to your ces. Yes~. Yes. Everyone answered lightly and headed to the bedroom, after washing up neatly and toning up in the morning. Then, lets go for the shoot. Standby, cue! Following the main PDs instructions, a siren sound rang throughout the amodation. Wake up-! Wake up-! Wake up-! Wake up-! Everyone acted as if they were flustered by the sharp recording sound. What is it, whats that noise? Kyunghwa, who opened the door first, greeted the filming crew with a bewildered expression. Hello, Kyunghwa! Uh? Hello, PD? Why are you here? We told you earlier that were going to film at the amodation today! But you didnt say youde at this time Kyunghwa rubbed his face with both hands as if he was washing it. He naturally continued the situation as if he didnt know about it. He was a natural-born actor. Kyunghwa turned around with a half-booted face and went back to his room. Just a moment. Ill wake up Yi-jun. As Kyunghwa went back to his room and pretended to wake up Oh Yi-jun, I was also standing nkly in the living room with a sleepy face. Ise, can you go and wash your face once? The assistant PD suggested that I wash my face naturally. Well, thats how broadcasting is. I nodded slowly and went to the living room bathroom. The assistant PD followed me and captured me washing my face on camera. Seonwoo seemed to have gone to bed with the setting that he couldnt wake up, and the cameraman went to film him closely. Even after a lot ofmotion, the door to the room where Seong-won was writing didnt open. Then, Seong-won came out with a normal face, not following the setting at all. Ill take care of the cat. He quickly picked up Aeongi, who was ying pranks on the staff as if the cat was the most important thing. Okay, everyone, if youve calmed down a bit, Ill reveal todays mission. The members showed up and the official filming began. Each member got a set of their own goods and had a simple review time. They didnt look very impressive in the photos either. But in reality, they were even more sorry products that had our faces or logos on them and were much more expensive than other ready-made products. Fans they bought these for us As my brief impression crossed my mind, Yi-jun poked me in the ribs. Hyung, whats with that expression? I answered as if I was wronged. What did I do? What expression did I make? Yi-jun imitated my expression mockingly and said, Kind of like a dad who says, Where did you buy these things with money again? Thats not it. I immediately denied it. Then, Im so grateful to the fans for buying these things with this money. expression. It was spot on and gave me goosebumps. I tried to deny it and made an X sign to the camera. Please edit this out. Im sorry. Ah. Yi-jun also bowed his head and apologized, realizing his mistake. Im sorry. Ill try to put on a more capitalist filter. Im sorry. I also bowed my head and apologized as the PD held up the te again. Then, lets start over from the beginning. Ise, please cheer up and give us some reaction. Yes. Im sorry. The filming started again and I was able to show a more positive reaction this time. This strap is really convenient. You dont use grip talk, do you? Yeah. I dont like having something sticking out on the back of my phone. As soon as I attached it to the case and put it on my hand, it felt much more stable than not using it. The lenticr came out really clean. Can I show you this? Ah, then Ill show you mine too. While the members opened their goods one by one and showed them to the camera, and exchanged their impressions with each other Seong-won was quietly ying with Aeongi using the strap. Seong-won, it seems like Aeongi likes the strap. Yes, can I keep this? Of course, we wont take it back. Seong-won nodded his head as if he liked it. After finishing their reviews in their own ways, they moved the furniture in the living room to the room and brought in arge tbed. From now on, you will try to decorate your toppers. I made a face that said, what is a topper? Kyunghwa whispered in my ear. Its short for top loader. Its a stic sleeve that protects your cards. Why do we decorate them? Because they look pretty. Dont theye pre-made? Some fans make and sell them, but usually people make their own. Its a trend to buy materials and customize them. Oh As I bombarded him with questions, the production staff showed us some examples. Today, we will just use stickers and these stic charms to decorate them simply. Then Yi-jun raised his hand and asked. What about that thing that looks like squeezing silicone? The production staff looked at us with a faint smile and answered. Thats beyond your power and ability. Today, we will only do the basics. Aw~. Yi-jun pouted as if he was disappointed. The production staff eventually showed us some videos of failed attempts. Youre right. We cant do that. We had to at least not ruin them if we wanted to send our works to the fans. Some failed because they couldnt control their strength, some failed because they pressed them before they dried, some failed because they messed up the concentration, We saw various kinds of failures and realized that stickers suited our level. Okay, everyone, if you have all your materials, lets start! Under the guidance of the main PD, we mixed goods stickers and regr stickers and stuck them on the transparent and thin cases. Anyone have red? I need some red. Yi-jun rummaged through dozens of stickers and took red apples, ribbons, cars, game consoles, squirrels and such. Here, mine has this. Use it. Kyunghwa peeled off a red heart and gave it to Yi-jun, then took a green turtle from Yi-juns stickers. I should focus instead of watching others. Gulp, I swallowed my dry saliva and time flew by. Alright, everyone, if youre done, please exin your works. It was time to reveal our results. Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Can I go first? Yi-jun raised his hand confidently. Okay, then lets start with Yi-jun and go around this way. Yi-jun was on the left end, so the order was Yi-jun, Kyunghwa, Seon-woo, Seong-won, and me. I was thest one. I did my best to decorate it, but I hid the shabby result under my palm. I was confident in ting. But ting and design were separate areas, as if to prove it. When Ipared the examples they showed me and mine, I was ashamed to say that this was the same kind of thing. Please look at it quickly, I think its really good! Yi-juns work, which he proudly presented, wasDont you think its a good idea to stick as much as you can? Except for a part of the center, almost 50% of the total area was covered with red stickers. Why did you put a ribbon on top? He had stered it with stickers, so the transparent red stic ribbon had no point. I just tried to stick one because everyone else did. The maker seemed to have great pride, but from an objective point of view Its ugly. I didnt want it if I had to wear it. The staff who saw Yi-juns top loader whispered to each other and wrote something in a small notebook. Were scoring right now. The final score will be announced after thest presentation. Then Seon-woo asked with a shocked expression as if he didnt know. Are you ranking this too? One of the staff answered naturally. Yes. There will be a small prize for the winner. Whatever it was I didnt want it. I wouldnt get it anyway. I calmly waited for Kyunghwas turn, winning mentally. Next, please exin your work, Kyunghwa. Kyunghwa cautiously held out his work in front of the camera. I Everyone said that brown or warm yellow suits me well, so I matched it with simr colors. And I just put the turtle in because it was cute. Was it because Yi-juns work was so shocking? Kyunghwas work was not much different from what the fans with good hand skills made. Brown deer, yellow teddy bear, gingerbread man cookie and other small elements were bnced, and the turtle was appropriately popping out but not awkwardly fitting. Wow Kyunghwa, you have good hand skills? The staff admired it as they passed it around, and Kyunghwa lowered his hand as if he was embarrassed. Thats not it. Yi-juns work is so shocking that it looks a little better. After Kyunghwas humble remark, the scoring was over and it was Seon-woos turn. Can I just be thest one and not show you? As soon as Seon-woo said that, there was a sound of sucking and holding backughter from the shooting team. No, I I think I did so badly He had seen something that was good enough to sell for money, so he was crushed. No, there must be someone worse than you. Just show me. I poked Seon-woos hand to boost his confidence, but he hesitated and groaned before showing me his work. It was really bad. His work, which mainly used purple and pink, was a mess. Um Kyunghwa, who was watching from the side, stabbed him with a blunt dagger without malice. Is this your taste? Seon-woo shook his head as if startled. No? I have eyes too! I burst intoughter at Seon-woos ticklish reaction. If Yi-juns work was something that you would know was good if you put a lot of it, then Seon-woos work was something that would ask you to pay more money if you used a few more stickers. It was so empty that it made me wonder if there was any point in decorating this frame. Okay, Seon-woo has finished grading. Next, please show us your work, Seong-won! Following the staffs instructions, Seong-won obediently showed his work. Wow Wow Yi-jun, who checked Seong-wons work, eximed as if he had no choice but to admit it. You did well. Its really neat. If Kyunghwas work was cute and pretty with a lot of decorations, Seong-wons work was neat. He used the masking tape that the staff gave him as a material to make it look like a proid, and arranged the small stickers appropriately. He also put his initials on the bottom with round stickers, so it didnt look boring. This would be a split between Kyunghwa and Seong-won depending on the staffs taste, right? I prepared to show my workst. Ill just participate for the sake of it. It looked so shabby when I held it out. I thought I had pursued harmony in my own way. But when I put it out, it was just blue and sky blue stickers stuck along the line. No, its not bad! Seon-woo hurriedlyforted me, but it didnt help at all. People cant be good at everything. Anyway, my hand skills were only exceptionally good in cooking. I corrected my writing with effort because I had to write a lot, but other things that required skill were mediocre. Its okay. I did my best. I didnt ck off. It would have been nice if I could have given him a more beautiful and cool work. But this was my best. *** Ugh, Im tired. As soon as the filming team left, Yi-jun put his hand into his shirt and scratched his stomach, but he stopped when he realized the camera. The final result of the top decoration contest was Kyunghwas victory. Seong-won was second, I was third. Seon-woo was fourth. Yi-jun was disqualified. Yi-jun protested vehemently, but the world ofpetition was cold. Kyunghwa got the right to make one more top decoration as a prize. Is this a prize? Kyunghwa asked incredulously, but only got a cheeky answer. Its a good thing that I can give one more gift to the fans^^. Kyunghwa had to make one more in front of everyone who was watching. After the noisy goods review and the top cover contest, he realized that there was not much time left until the release of the song. Only a week left. He was not happy or excited to see the fansughing, chatting, and fluttering over the prize draw post on the official ount. Am I feeling pressured? He started the project thinking that he would break even at worst, but now he felt the risk of failure was immense. He still had no feeling of trust or reliance on the back. He wanted to protect and support him by his side so that he could lean on him with ease. It might sound ridiculous that he changed in a few months. How nice it would have been if he had such colleagues in his childhood. Maybe it was already foreseen since the moment he felt envy for Cheon Ise. Stop thinking nonsense and focus. There was no way out but to push forward as theeback was imminent. He made up his mind and blinked his eyes, and the day of the song release came. Usually, they would have a showcase on the day of the song release, but We didnt have that. Theyre ready to dump us if we fail. Even though he had been active in entertainment for a while, thepany didnt seem to care enough to support him. [Time left until the test ends (contract expires): 5 days] The countdown of fate began. Come on, everyone, get ready. Were starting the live soon. The manager cleared the furniture and TV and set up a camera in the living room that looked like a makeshift studio, nagging. The manager seemed to be more spirited than usual, maybe because it was the day of the song release. I hope it goes well, too. Do you think I want to go to another team after working with you for five years? In other words, he meant that he wouldnt have to switch to another team if their performance was good. It was no useining now, but they all understood that he was cheering for them in his own way. Cant we shout our slogan for the first time in a long time? Just before the live started. Seon-woo, who changed into a concept outfit, suggested with a slightly nervous expression. What was our slogan Yi-jun asked with a stupid expression, and Kyunghwa and Seong-won sighed and spat out at the same time. Exposition, Rise. Climax! Right. Exposition, Rise. Climax. Ah, Yi-jun eximed and excused himself. No, its been over three years since we did it. Thats true. We havent done it for a while. I also didnt know that we had a slogan. Lets do it now for the first time in a long time! Seon-woo smiled with a bright expression, though he seemed a bit shy. Its not bad to do it. Seong-won joined in and Seon-woo stretched out his arm and held out the back of his hand. Hurry! Ise hyung, too! He reluctantly stacked his hand on top of it, and five right hands piled up like a tower. I felt embarrassed. I was not a kid, but I felt like I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole for doing something like this. Come on, you start the chant. Kyunghwa urged me, looking at me as if asking what I was doing. Me? Who else? Youre the leader, arent you? I hesitated for a moment and then shouted Exposition, Rise Then four strong voices ovepped and echoed loudly. Climax! Climax. Climax~! Climax! I felt awkward and ashamed for no reason. But I wasnt entirely unhappy, and that was the problem. As soon as the chant was over, it was time for the live broadcast to open. As soon as the entrance time came, the number of viewers soared. I could see it going up by hundreds every second. Everyone was surprised by the unexpected hot response, and Kyunghwa took the lead. Hello, Rise fans! Were so happy to see you again with this spoiler live after such a long time. Were releasing our song in an hour and were so nervous Oh, you feel the same, Rise? I guess so. We had a lot of incidents and idents this time, and we really worked hard. We want to repay you with a good result, so we all tried our best. Oh Yi-jun, the king of the world, seemed to have less yful tension than usual today. The fans also caught that, and cheered that Yi-jun looked more serious than usual. [- Yi-juns voice is so serious, its killing me] [- Sweeeeeeeeet voice] Weve prepared a simple summary of the keywords of oureback song. Youll have fun finding out what they mean when the music video is releasedter. Kyunghwa calmly brought out the panel that the agency had prepared and ced it in front of the camera. [- Isnt Ise a bit nervous than usual?] [- I think hes just quiet because its not his turn to talk] I didnt realize that my expression was a bit stiff, thinking that it would be a disaster if I failed. I had to pull myself together. I advised myself and opened my mouth. Well, shall we reveal the first keyword with a simple image game? As I naturally took over the progress baton, the chat that was anxious also quieted down. [- I guess its just my mood] I clenched my teeth and continued the live until 5:55. It was time to end it already. Well then, Rise, we hope you enjoy oureback that weve prepared with our best effort! See you next time on the music show! It felt like 10 hours had passed since the live ended. In the silence, Seon-woo turned on the TV. We all looked at the screen without a word, and an old musical movie was ying. No one changed the channel, and an hour passed in silence. 6:57. 6:58. 6:59. 7:00. It was time to check the results. Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Everyone checked the rankings with anticipation. [Crunchy streaming for you, Fine Music] [>Real-time 200] The real-time chart was a chart that changed every moment, counting the real-time streaming amount of songs that had been released for an hour. It was a chart that operated separately from the TOP 200(24 HITS) or BEST 200(24 HITS), which counted the streaming for 24 hours. It was natural that the rankings were different for each chart. <1st> Seasons pass again First Veil <2nd> Sugar Plus! Maybe Pink <3rd> Lets not say goodbye for the second time An Jung-hyunI didnt expect that much. I thought it would be nice if we could get into the top 30, considering that rookies usually do their best in the real-time chart, where the fandom firepower is strong right after the release. But as I scrolled down and down, I couldnt see our name. Look outside the top 100. I took a deep breath and scanned from the first ce to the bottom, and there was our name around the 60th ce. If the real-time was this much, there was no need to look at the TOP 200 or BEST 200. How could we rank lower than the personal music that Son Seong-won released alone? Everyone was shocked and silent in the dorm. Well, its going up a little bit. Seon-woo kept refreshing by moving his finger down and confirmed that the ranking was going up a little bit. After waiting for about 15 minutes, we reached the top 40. I didnt even make it to the TOP 200. BEST 200 was a close shave at 197th ce. The difference between TOP 200 and BEST 200 was that the former counted the total streaming amount (time) and thetter counted the number of users who yed the song for 24 hours. It wasnt a hard thing to get into the lower ranks of the BEST 200, as long as you had a little bit of fandom. The number of users who listened to it in real time increased as the music was released, but it meant that we were far behind in the 24-hour yback. Cold sweat ran down my hand. The other guys must have been disappointed that they didnt get the results they expected, too. But I felt different. Im going to die. I felt goosebumps on my back. My chest was stuffy as if something had piled up on my vital point. Even after that, the ranking went up a little bit every time I refreshed in silence, and I seeded in reaching 37th ce in real time and 190th ce in TOP 200 in 30 minutes. Compared to the Climax performance, this is the best initial performance for now. As if it wasnt enough toplete the quest, the status window popped up. [Time left until the test ends (contract expires): 5 days] I know, X. My patience, which had been stretched tight, seemed to snap and my face turned pale. What can I do in five days to raise it to a level that the system will recognize? I had nothing in mind. What was the problem? Should we have just done what thepany told us to do and picked up the songs that Floss didnt use and threw away? But I was hoping for something because thest live broadcast had more than 10,000 viewers. No matter how hard I tried, the group that was in the four-digit range had risen to the five-digit range, so I thought something surprising would happen this time. Now, my rank seemed to have settled down a bit, staying at 39th in real-time and 163rd in TOP 200. I have to do something. I turned off the live stream a few hours ago, so it would look ridiculous to turn it on again now. Unless I had some good results to thank the fans for. I couldnt just go on air and say we failed, pleasefort us. As I checked the rank and kept a stiff face, the other members started to notice me. Ise hyung Seon-woo, who couldnt stand this atmosphere the most, called my name with a trembling voice. Just a minute. Let me think. If I had some leeway, I would have said its okay. Dont worry too much. Im sorry for making you worry because I cant control my expression. I should haveforted Seon-woo. But seeing the bright red warning sign in front of me, I couldnt think of anything else. There had been many twists and turns, but the results were not bad every time. So I secretly hoped that this time, too, I could get a good oue from the music release. At least, Seong-wons solo song hit a single-digit rank, so maybe the group song with him would be higher. I couldnt say I wasntcent. F*ck It was no joke. I had never felt so hopeless in my life as Lim Hyun-seong. The music rank might go up if it gets popr among the public Kyunghwa tried to salvage the situation by whispering to me. Lets be realistic. What are the chances of an idol song that didnt even make it to the fan pick to rise in the rank by getting picked by the public? It was stupid to hope for such luck in this situation. Its my fault. It was clearly my mistake. I was too busy ying with the young kids and letting my guard down. I should have asked the celebrities to promote our music and contacted apany that could manipte the streaming rank I had dozens of regrets in my head when Seon-woo suddenly opened his mouth. Our, ac, activity even if it ends here the things that happened while I was preparing Ill never forget them for the rest of my life His eyes were filled with tears, and he bit his lip to hold back his sob. His shaking shoulders showed how hard he was trying to endure. If I, if I did better it would have been, better, right Then Seong-won answered with a calm and cold voice. It wouldnt have made any difference. Everyone was shocked by his blunt words and red at him. Dont me yourself for nothing. Its not your fault. He seemed to think he wasforting me in his own way. Yeah Sniff, sniffle My head hurts. Even Seong-won was trying to say something nice to the members. But I, the oldest one, was distracted by the countdown that wouldnt disappear and couldnt think of what was important. I was ashamed. I couldnt breathe. A burning sensation rose from my neck and my skin turned red. I had to find out what I could do. Something I could do without the help of thepany. I wasnt alone. I had the others to rely on. Think. Think. Think. Think, Lim Hyun-seong. I clenched my fists tightly. Then, a sh of inspiration came to me. Something I had never thought of before. This video changed his life too. Whats Me University Festival Fancam Views Explosion After Chart Reverse. Fancam Goddess Yoo Ji-hees Reverse Miracle. Come to think of it, did we ever meet our fans in person? No, we didnt. Of course, we met two people when we went to harvest corn, but that was it. People who are maniacs about idols themselves probably know our names by now, but Our poprity is still worse than rookies. Thats why we couldnt do well on the charts. It wasnt because our songs were bad. The chart is basically a numbers game. You win if you have a huge fandom, even if you dont have mass appeal. Or you win if you have a small fandom, but youre a public pick that gets yed everywhere. We were in a vague state where we had a weak fandom, and we werent a public pick either, because people didnt even know who we were. Then we had to let them know. Who we were. What we looked like, what songs we sang, what concept we had. Kyunghwa, I have one favor to ask you. As I opened my mouth after staring at the floor for a long time, they all looked at me with surprised expressions. Can you narrow down the list to five ces from now on? It was time to get out of the corner of the room and stop whining. It was time to move. *** Are we really okay? Kyunghwa, who was sitting in the passenger seat, kept checking his hair in the mirror and muttered in a worried voice. It doesnt matter if were not okay, right? Theyre probably saying that its good if we dont do well, and well be disbanded anyway. Instead of me, YI-jun, who was sitting behind Kyunghwa, answered with a rxed attitude that was unmatched among the five of us. You Just shut up for a moment. Kyunghwa sighed as if he was more annoyed by him and fanned himself. We were driving towards the busy street of Hongdae in a minivan that we rented through a non-face-to-face service. We were going to surprise five ces, starting from Hongdae, to Sinchon, Gangnam, Konkuk University, and Wangsimni. We only brought one speaker. Of course, we didnt tell our manager. It was the same whether we did well or not. I epted my situation rationally and I wasnt so anxious anymore. The result was already out, and all that was left was to do our best for a reversal. I felt better when I gave up the uncertain hope that maybe a shocking and amazing result would save me from death in an instant. In the worst case scenario, I would die anyway. They would point fingers at us and say, what are they doing, promoting themselves on the street like that, but I was a dead man in five days anyway. It was impossible for me to refuse to go out on the street because I was embarrassed. Did you all dress well? Kyunghwa looked back at Seong-won, Yi-jun, and Seon-woo, who were sitting in the back seat, and asked. Yeah I just used my own essories in case I lose them. Seon-woo held out a ring that looked like a goods ring from the group his sister belonged to, instead of a ne pendant. Thats never mind. Kyunghwa was about to say something, but he decided it wasnt the time to say it and kept quiet. I had chosen a car with dark tinted windows on purpose, so when I entered the crowded alley, I was met with curses from all sides. Are you crazy? Why did you bring such a big car here? Ugh, how annoying. Everyone was tense and nervous, so I tried to calm the members down as I looked for a ce with suitable terrain to park and use as a stage. Its okay. They dont know its us inside. Seon-woo answered, rustling his opaque ck raincoat that he wore over his costume. Yeah! I was d that he sounded a bit more energetic. I took a long breath and turned off the engine after parking the car in a decent spot. Lets shout our slogan once before we get out. Kyunghwa blushed, as if he was embarrassed. Okay. But we have to shout quietly so no one outside can hear us. It would be ridiculous if we revealed our identity by shouting our slogan, which would defeat the purpose of hiding with raincoats and tinted windows. Exposition, Rise. Climax! We shouted in a low voice, but with enthusiasm. The situation was so absurd that we all chuckled and tried to hold back ourughter. Dontugh. Pull your hats down and cover your faces properly. Me and Seon-woo had natural ck hair, and Kyunghwa had light brown hair with a khaki tint, so they didnt stand out too much. But Seong-won and Yi-jun had blond and dark red hair, respectively, which made them look very conspicuous. Got it. Yi-jun nodded and pulled his hat down. Then lets open the door and get out. As I reached for the open button and turned around, I met Seong-wons eyes. He had a serious expression that I had never seen before. I felt a slight trust in him. Ill do well. He said, as if he didnt expect an answer, and opened the door and stepped out. I know. I also grabbed the car key and opened the drivers seat door. My heart was pounding. It was like the moment when I first made a name for myself. Chapter 97: Chapter 97: The streets of Hongdae were crowded with people in the early evening. Maybe it was because it was the peak time for college students to go to sses. Restaurants and bars were also opening their doors wide and doing business. Even though five men in ck raincoats got out of the car, no one gave us a suspicious look. It was a neighborhood full of weird people, after all. Make sure the speaker is connected well. Yi-jun brought out his wireless speaker from his studio and set it up. It was not a product for home use, but for stage use, so the volume was different. We ced the speaker at a height that wouldnt hit our feet and moved to a spot that looked good for dancing. Only then did the passers-by throw a word or two at us.What are they doing? A performance? Theyre all so tall. Are they idols? Street dance? What is it? Busking? Then Yi-jun yed the music on his phone. The beat that echoed from the speaker caught the attention of a pedestrian who asked his friend. Ive never heard this song before. Are they rookies? Isnt it just busking? They do it a lot at this time. No, look at them. Theyre too well-proportioned to be ordinary people. And at that moment, the five of us threw off our hats and raincoats that covered our faces up to our chins. [The siren rings in my ear ring ring] Seon-woo went to the edge of the stage and waved his hand at the people passing by. Who is that? He looks familiar Hey, isnt that the guy who came second in the contest during Chuseok? Right, hes an idol, right? Whats he doing here? As everyone was confused, more and more people gathered around. He felt embarrassed to stand in front of them in a military-like outfit, like aic book hero, but it was better than being unrecognized. [Cant breathe, no ce to hide] Seon-woo moved his body gracefully, shaking his soft ck hair. His dance moves were not very clean, but they were still Seon-woo-like. And it didnt matter much if he couldnt dance well. Everyone who saw him was mesmerized by his face, which smiled from above to below. Wow Isnt he Na Seon-youngs brother? Hes so freaking pretty. I thought his face was crazy on the Music Safe stage, but hes even more amazing in real life. Damn, why is the picture so shaky? I should have changed my phone to a new one yesterday. I cant take a good shot of this. Hes not just pretty, you know? Hes 100 times more handsome in person. Spin, Seon-woo jumped lightly as he moved to switch ces with Kyunghwa, the next performer. He was wearing shorts that came up to his knees, so his white legs shone under the light from the opposite building. What? I was so busy looking at his face that I didnt notice his shorts. I must be crazy! Seon-woos reaction was so hot that Kyunghwa felt a bit pressured and came forward with a slightly nervous expression. Kyunghwas part in the front had a lot of hand gestures. [Drink me, swallow me] [One more time, like a whirlwind] He reached out his hand towards the audience, gently clenched and opened it, then brought it back to his face and made a motion as if he was drinking something. It looked like he was praying to a virtual god. [Dont let go of our hands] Thud, the other members spread out like wings on both sides, and Kyunghwa knelt down in the middle. Wow, this must be the Climax. They said they released a new song today, but are they doing this instead of a showcase? Isnt a showcase better? We were also dissatisfied with that. The crowd that was not much at first had grown to over a hundred people in no time. [Youll hurt me again] [And then youll drift away] The first verse was slowlying to an end. We all got up at the same time and formed a circle, bending down and then rising up. There were no backup dancers, only the five of us, but each of us had such a strong presence that it didnt look empty at all. As the five of us lined up next to Seon-woo, our faces and outfits that had been hidden until then were finally revealed. Quick, take a picture, quick! Wow, look at Oh Yi-juns physique. Holy shit. Did you see his abs? Oh shit, I think I just lost my vocabry. Oh, what do I do? I really like him so much. He was really handsome. The kind of handsome that rappers would want to bite, suck, and take away. If they wanted to raise the average visual of their crew, that is. Seon-woo wore a long top that looked like a sweatshirt, and short shorts. He had skater pads on his knees. It was an outfit that entuated his boyish charm to the extreme. He felt embarrassed every time he had to spread his legs for the choreography, thinking that his thighs were exposed by his too-short pants Thats the point. I could see the shes and screams going crazy in the audience. It seemed like the effect was certain. [I cant stop myself] [I keep circling around the same spot for you] We all sang thest line of the first verse together. Then we copsed to the floor as if we were addicted, pushing ourselves up with our hands. I quickly got up and stood straight, using the recoil. Now, Oh Yi-jun was ready to jump out. Was it because he was the most famous guy among the five of us in Hongdae? As soon as Oh Yi-jun stepped forward, the cheers erupted even louder. The response was different from when the other members came out. Oh Yi-jun is so handsome! Yi-jun!!! Then Yi-jun grinned and made an OK sign with his hand, as if to say he knew it too. Did you just answer me? Really? You said Im handsome? Oh Yi-jun, youre so good at figuring out what thedies like. Thest person was almost sobbing as he shouted. [You know you can call me from the edge of the cliff] [My heart only calls your name] And at that moment, Yi-jun acted impulsively ording to the lyrics. Aaaah!!! Im going to sue you, Oh Yi-jun!!! He bit down on his shirt as if his heart was there. He wore a ck innerwear that only covered his lower abdomen, leaving his bare skin exposed. His muscr body could not be hidden by the thin fabric. The sweat that had flowed in the meantime made the innerwear slightly wet, revealing the bumpy curves underneath. The so-called noona fans who had been screaming until a moment ago now started to lose their minds as if they were about to faint. Oh, I have no regrets even if I die, no regrets Get up Dont die, you have to stream this, you cant watch this for free. I have to pay for this, I need to open the Fine Music app quickly. In the heated atmosphere, it was my turn. I cant do that. Of course, if I had to choose between dying or showing my abs, I would choose thetter. But I was worried that my back might be exposed, too, because the scars from the surgery were too obvious. Unlike what I saw in my fantasy, Cheon Ises ident and suicide attempt were a secret that was not known to the public. [Rescue you, hold you in this moment] [Bite you hard] As I came forward and clenched my fist as if to bite, they all seemed to like it. Hes really handsome. Is that Cheon Ise? From today, my dream is to be the daughter-inw of Cheon Soo Group. Are you aiming for Cheon Soo Group or Cheon Ise? Of course, both. The voice from the crowd was so loud thatughter erupted around him. Oh, what do I do, I think Ise heard it, Im so embarrassed, ahh. [Call your name like a prayer every day] The rap part ended with the choreography of the five of us kneeling and sping our hands. Now it was time for Seong-won, the main vocalist, toe out. [You probably know this too] As soon as I said that, everyone turned on their video cameras as if they had been waiting for it. Wow, he has an amazing voice. He didnt get second ce in Star Discovery for nothing. Seong-won sighed lowly and lifted his head, his ponytail sticking out from under his neck swaying. [We keep going around and around the same ce] Seong-won wore a ck leather jacket that felt like a suit and had a lot of belts on top of it. Every time he moved, the leather wrinkled and sparkled under the light. He was tall and had a slender figure that didnt look bulky, so he pulled off the rather imposing outfit without any trouble. [But I wont give up on you trust me] Seong-won dragged out a high note and at the same time, the rest of the members came forward. [You hurt me again] [And youll drift away again] With Seong-wons ad-lib, Seon-woo stood in the center again and the other members knelt down as if he was a god. [I cant stop] [I keep circling the same spot for you] With the lyrics, we got up and changed positions, and I stood in the center. [Drink me, you can use me.] [The pain you give me makes me lean on you.] A shower of shes poured down again and we all stretched out our arms as if shooting at the sky. [It feels like poison, about to break me down, but its sweeter, this feeling.] Bang, I shot a bullet with a gesture and then crossed my arms to choke my neck. As soon as the apaniment ended, I copsed on the floor, limp. Apuse and cheers erupted. Youre so handsome! Ill stream this! I love your song so much! My heart was tingling. How I longed to hear this story. I felt like a fool, my mouth curling up into a wide grin. I covered my face with the back of my hand. That was the Climax! Thank you! Under my lead, everyone bowed and thanked the audience. Then we quickly got into the minivan. We were all out of breath from performing the intense choreography live without microphones. Where are we going next? Were close by, so lets go to Sinchon. Thats when my phone started ringing. Someone must have already posted it on the inte. It was a call from the manager. Are you going to answer it? Kyunghwa looked at me with worried eyes. I started the car and carefully made my way through the crowd, smiling slyly. If I was going to answer it, I wouldnt havee out in the first ce. It was time to use what I had said when I first started working with Cheon Ise. I did it because Cheon Ise asked me to. Everyone, drink some water. I turned off my phonepletely and put it in the console box. Puhaha, Yi-jun burst outughing. Hyung, I really like it when you go wild like that sometimes. Shut up. I wasnt grateful at all. I might as well do whatever I want and die. As we moved to the next ce, I wondered if our car number had been sold. People started to swarm us as soon as we stood in the middle of the square. Wow, isnt that Son Seong-won? I think so. He just did a busking at Hongdae with Climax! And this time, too, as soon as I threw off my raincoat and hat, people flocked to us as if they had been waiting. I was a bit worried about safety idents since we came here by ourselves without a manager or a staff. Fortunately, it seemed that we didnt have any extreme fans yet. [Drink me, you can use me.] [The pain you give me makes me anticipate.] [Youre about to break me down, poison, this feeling is sweeter.] As we finished the stage in the same way, I felt my body heat up and sweat dripped from my forehead. Thank you! Please listen to our new song a lot! I greeted them as if I was running away and got on the van. I checked the music chart and saw that we had risen from 37th to 33rd in real time. The TOP 200 chart was up to around 130th. Oh, we went up a bit? I didnt know if it was the effect of busking or our fans were giving us strength. We still had three more ces to go. On the inte, there was a story that Climax is doing a busking tour around the downtown. I hoped that it would have some promotional effect. I wondered if the countdown had stopped by now. I felt a slight expectation and called the system. System. Chapter 98: Chapter 98: [Time left until the test ends (contract expires): 5 days] Shit. Its still not gone. How high do I have to raise it for them to spare me? I checked the clock and saw that it was already past 9 p.m. I had spent more time than I thought moving around. Wow Itll be almost midnight by the time we get to Wangsimni? All I could hope for was not to get caught by the manager or the agency staff. The manager was now calling not only me but also the other members. Wow, the message from the manager is no joke.What did he say? Kyunghwa turned around with a worried expression. He said he wont let you off easy if he catches you. What would he do if he didnt let us off easy? In the end, the music chart ranking went up and if I didnt do this, I would have died without doing anything. Breaking a little from above and losing my life. If I had topare which one was more desperate, it was obviously my win. Turn off all the phones. I cant. I have to connect to the music source. Then turn them to silent mode. Dont even use vibration. Yi-jun nodded. Then he excitedly captured the SNS screen. Ive sent all the captures to the group chat, okay? The reaction is really good. I guess the fans are guessing where were going next and moving around. I nced at the rearview mirror to see if there was a car following us. There was a taxi in the distance, but I hoped there werent any kids following our car. Luckily, I saw it disappear around the corner in the distance. I sighed and headed to the next location. *** Wow, there are so many people trying to guess where were going. Theyre flocking here in no time. As soon as we arrived at thest ce, the fans had already crowded around the door, as if the license te had been sold out. Excuse me! Ill just pass through. Yi-jun!!! Please take this! The fans kept trying to put something inside the van (it looked like a gift), so I quickly got out and locked the door. Thank you for waiting! When I climbed onto the stage that was slightly elevated like a podium, the citizens who had been resting peacefully moved aside thankfully. Thank you! I never expected so many people to be looking for us and moving around. The street was so packed with people that it was impossible to get through. The pedestrians who were just trying to pass byined because of the crowd. Whats so great about these idols that theyre causing such a fuss? Oh my Isnt that the guy who came out as number 24? Should we listen too? What are they waiting for so long? I felt my face burning, but I greeted them calmly. Hello, we are Climax! Were sorry we couldnt give you a proper guide today, but were really grateful and happy that you joined us. I nced at Kyunghwa, as if to tell him to take over. He smiled and shouted to the people. Thats all we prepared for our surprise live performance today. We wanted to meet more of you, but we have to say goodbye here because of the time limit. Were really sorry. Then Seon-woo took over, as he was now also an MC. Next time, well see you with a better opportunity! Enjoy with us, this is our new song Drink me! Yi-jun ruffled Seon-woos hair as if he did a good job. Then they quickly changed their expressions to serious ones and stood at their starting points. [A siren rings in my ear ring ring] [Theres nowhere to hide cant breath] The stage that I wouldnt regret even if I died right now began. * * * [It feels like youre breaking me down, poison, its sweeter this feeling.] Finally, thest novel ended. I stepped forward to say goodbye. Thank you. Its really over now. It was such a happy moment to be able to sing and dance in front of you today. I had to say myst farewell, but I couldnt speak because of the lump in my throat. When I didnt say anything and kept silent, the members looked at me curiously. The fans took advantage of the gap and shouted for an encore. Encore-! Encore-! Encore-! Encore-! Encore! Seong-won, please do one more song~! Encore!!!!! The atmosphere was on fire and it didnt die down. Everyone was singing their lungs out without microphones. They were beyond words. The autumn night was almost winter and quite chilly. We had been sitting quietly in the car while moving, but our bodies were still frozen. When we danced, we heated up and sweated a lot, but then we cooled down and our skin felt like ice. Can we do our song fromst year just once? Seon-woo asked hesitantly, seeking the agreement of the other members. Now there were so many people who came to see us that we couldnt count them. Since youre asking like that, we have to meet your expectations, right? Yi-jun smiled slyly and lifted his top to chase away the heat. Every time his abs were slightly exposed, screams erupted. This guy is not doing this because hes hot, but on purpose, right? I couldnt help butugh at his absurdity. It seems like everyone agrees. Shall we y the song? Seong-won nodded his head without arguing with Yi-jun for once. [When summer ends and the waves leave.] [You will forget me as if nothing happened.] [But I, who am blind to you, will wait for the next summer.] Maybe it was because we had performed this song before. Our bodies moved on their own and found their ces. [Heat your wave!] Seon-woo stepped forward and winked, a move he had practiced so much. Kyaa! Cute! The same exmations poured out. [When summeres back again] The moms who had nced at Yi-juns body as they passed by couldnt take their eyes off him. Oh my my my. It was only natural. [This blue sea, this hot summer night.] As Seong-won calmly turned around with his back to Yi-jun and came forward, shes went off everywhere. [Remember me, Im the sea for you.] We all stretched out our hands to the fans as if we were ambassadors for the coastal park and wrapped up the performance. I felt like it was really over now. I had been on stage for a long time without a break, so I should have been exhausted, but my heart was still pounding. I wish this moment would never end. It was such a cool experience to have so many people cheering for me. The moments when I danced and sang as Cheon Ise were like a zoetrope passing by. You all worked so hard today! Yi-jun, Ill stream a lot when I get home! Seong-won oppa, I love your new song! Im looking forward to the music shows! Youre all handsome! There were a lot of fans looking for Seong-won and Yijun, probably because they were more popr, but I didnt mind. Like anyone else, I didnt want to die. I wanted to repay their support. Thank you for cheering for me. I wanted to show them more that we were a group that they could trust, like, and support without regret. I wanted to sing more songs for them. Even after the encore stage was over, people didnt disperse and kept waiting in front of us, expecting something. Some of them were quietly chanting for another encore in the corner. Thats all we have prepared for you, unfortunately. Thank you so much for today. Im sorry that I cant say anything more than thank you because Im not good with words! Kyunghwa bowed to apologize after checking my stunned expression. Suddenly, I felt relieved. If I hadnt turned off my phone, it would have been ringing like crazy and I would have gotten a lot of scolding for why I did such a rash thing before the countdown was over. But I didnt regret it at all. At least I got to face so many peoples energy and support before I died. Even though it wasnt the real me, Lim Hyun-seong, but Cheon Ise who stood in front of them. I was d that I could meet them with all my sincerity. I felt sorry for the people who cheered for me so much, but I never looked at their hearts and just died. Thank you! The moment I waved my hand to the crowd and gave myst greeting. Ugh! My heart squeezed as if something was forcing it. There were still four days left before the countdown was over, right? Why? What is this Before I could even figure out what was going on, everything around me turned pitch ck. *** When I opened my eyes, I was in an unknown space. It felt like I was in the sea when I died as Lim Hyun-seong. My body was swaying back and forth with the waves, sinking down. Was I dying again? No, thats not it, was I really dying? The days I lived as Lim Hyun-seong shed by. I was proud that I lived more fiercely than anyone else in my forty-something years. I never thought I would make it big in the restaurant business when I dropped out of high school and started working part-time. I was scammed so horribly. I couldnt count how many people had stabbed me in the back (figuratively speaking). From the boss who took my investment and ran away with the franchise idea, to the agent who leaked my recipes and business data to the rivalpany. The reason I never stopped helping others and creating a childrens foundation, even after being betrayed so many times, was topensate for my childhood. No one ever loved me, but I survived. I grew up to be a sessful adult who could help others. I didnt need those trashy family members. I did well enough on my own. I wanted to prove myself to the world. And there were people who supported me. I thought I had lived a lonely and desperate life, without trusting anyone. But as I looked back, like watching an old ck-and-white movie, I realized it wasnt true. There was thendlord who generously lowered the rent when I was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the economic crisis. There was the local merchant who donated millions of won to the childrens foundation without hesitation. I only believed that I had no one to rely on, but that was not the case. I must have had a chance to open my heart and be sincere with the people around me. The scene changed with time, and I reached the moment when my fiance broke up with me. I think I was too inadequate to be of any help to you, Hyun-seong. I was sorry. If only I had paid more attention to my surroundings. But it was toote to regret it, and I had nowhere to go. Was I really going to die? As I slowly blinked and surrendered to the waves. I found you. A sharp voice that I had never heard before spoke to me. And at the same time, I was dragged out of the water as if by force, and my eyes snapped open. Whats wrong? Did you just stumble, Ise? What happened? Isnt it just a misstep? You were fine just a moment ago. Someone shouted loudly among the fans. You just hit number one on Fine live! Chapter 99: Chapter 99: ¡°What?¡± Yi-jun asked back with a quick reflex. No one cared that he used informal speech. ¡°They said you just hit number one on the Fine Chart in real time!¡± A fan who was standing right below the stairs showed him the screen that he was looking at. Yi-jun leaned his head down to take a closer look. ¡°Wow, you look even better up close!¡± The fans who surrounded the stunned fan took out their phones and snapped pictures like crazy. ¡°Look at this, I took a close-up shot and there¡¯s no w.¡±Yi-jun eximed in admiration as he checked the ranking with his eyes narrowed. ¡°Oh, really? Wow, thank you!¡± They all looked incredulous. When they left the dorm today, they weren¡¯t even in the top 30 of the real-time chart thatsted less than 24 hours. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s number one?¡± Kyunghwa asked with shaky eyes, as if he couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Check it on your pher. You have to take a screenshot anyway.¡± Yi-jun picked up the speaker to wrap up the situation for now. ¡°Thank you so much for celebrating with us until the end today! We have our firsteback stage on Sunday, so please look forward to it!¡± I was also out of my mind right now, but I had to escape from this crowd and find a ce where I could sort out my thoughts. ¡°Thank you! We¡¯ll repay you with better activities and awesome stages!¡± Kyunghwa swayed, not as bad asst time when he fainted, but he seemed to lose his strength and staggered towards Yi-jun. ¡°I¡¯ll watch the live broadcast!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll vote too!¡± ¡°You were so cool today!¡± Kyunghwa barely mustered up some energy and waved his hand towards the fans with all his might. ¡°Thank you! I¡¯ll work harder!¡± Work harder? You¡¯ll copse if you do that. I had a mountain of things I wanted to say, but right now, getting out of here was the priority. ¡°Thank you! We¡¯ll be back soon!¡± There were so many people crowded around that the stage was not far from where we parked the car, but we had to push through the dense crowd. ¡°Thank you! We¡¯ll see you again when we start our official activities!¡± Seon-woo and Yi-jun pushed people away with their hands as if they were guarding us, but everyone just smiled or took pictures and didn¡¯t budge. ¡°Ah, what do we do¡­¡± There were hundreds of cameras taking pictures of us from all directions. We couldn¡¯t raise our voices or get angry. If we tried to force our way through, we would end up on the entertainment news as idols fighting with fans. ¡°Sorry. We¡¯ll get through!¡± Some people in the distance looked pityingly at us and murmured. ¡°Can¡¯t they make some room¡­¡± ¡°They came with only five of them and no staff. It¡¯s a mess¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Does W have no staff?¡± No, they don¡¯t. Even if they did, they wouldn¡¯t assign them to us. I clicked my tongue inwardly and cautiously moved forward. Should we beg them to let us in now? I was getting all kinds of thoughts when the police showed up. ¡°Please disperse if you¡¯re done with the show. You¡¯re blocking the traffic!¡± This ce was always crowded even when nothing was going on, so they must have arrived quickly. ¡°Thank you! We¡¯re sorry!¡± As the officers waved their batons a few times, the crowd parted like the miracle of Moses. We hurriedly apologized and thanked them before jumping into the minivan. ¡°See you next time! Thank you foring today!¡± As Seon-woo rolled down the window to say thanks, some unexpected items flew in through the gap. ¡°Wow! Thank you!¡± Seon-woo closed the window in surprise and Kyunghwa picked up the items that had flown in. ¡°They don¡¯t seem like much.¡± ¡°What are they?¡± I didn¡¯t look back and quickly steered the car in the direction the officers guided us. When I moved the car to a less crowded area and looked at the rearview mirror, I saw that the crowd was finally dispersing. If I hadn¡¯t gotten out earlier, I might have been stuck in the car for hours with that huge number of people. ¡°Just letters, choctes, and snacks?¡± ¡°Be careful when you open them, just in case.¡± I warned them, thinking of the extreme fans I had when I was young, and Yi-jun scoffed. ¡°Come on, we don¡¯t have that kind of crazy fans yet.¡± Yi-jun was joking, but I was serious. Because¡­ ¡°No, don¡¯t take it lightly. I think we have a car following us.¡± I had noticed a taxi that had been following us since a while ago. It had turned into the same alley as us three times already. I wondered if I had mistaken the license te, so I memorized thest digits carefully. Unfortunately, I was right. ¡°What?¡± As soon as we got into the car, Kyunghwa, who had been taking screenshots of the first ce ranking on his phone, turned around in surprise. ¡°That one? The one with 67 at the end.¡± ¡°Yeah. I think it¡¯s been following us for a while, so it might be dangerous to go straight to the hotel.¡± Kyunghwa suddenly clutched his stomach and curled up in fear. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, are you hurt somewhere?¡± I was busy checking the taxi behind us, keeping an eye on the road ahead, and running away wherever the signal allowed. This was thest thing I needed. ¡°My stomach hurts so much. It feels like it¡¯s being squeezed. Or stabbed with a knife. Ugh¡­ My back hurts too, I can¡¯t straighten it.¡± ¡°Oh, no¡­¡± It was a typical symptom of gastritis. ¡°Where¡¯s the nearest emergency room from the hotel?¡± It was almost midnight, so there was no chance of finding a regr hospital. ¡°I know you¡¯re in pain, but you need to change your clothes first. If you go to the hospital like that, you¡¯ll end up on the inte.¡± Kyunghwa nodded weakly. ¡°I¡¯ll lend you my clothes. They¡¯re a bit loose on me, so you¡¯ll befortable wearing them.¡± *** Yi-jun handed me the wide-sleeved shirt he had prepared before getting in the car earlier. His pants were shorts, which looked out of season in this cold weather, but they were in enough that he didn¡¯t need to change them. ¡°Ow¡­¡± Kyunghwa grimaced in pain as he straightened his waist to change his clothes. It hurt so much that he couldn¡¯t even do that. ¡°We¡¯ll be there in ten minutes, just hang in there.¡± It was midnight, but the streets of downtown Seoul were still crowded with cars. I was getting anxious and tapped the steering wheel with my fingertips. When I saw the signal turn red, I quickly made a U-turn and changednes. ¡°We can¡¯t go where we were nning to go. We have to go somewhere else. I¡¯m sorry, just bear with me.¡± As I changed the route hastily, a taxi tried to follow us, but luckily the green light came on for the oppositene. They didn¡¯t seem to have the guts to chase us at the risk of their lives. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t show up in the rearview mirror anymore. ¡°It looks like the taxi isn¡¯t following us anymore. Let¡¯s return the car and rent a new one. Does anyone know how to use this app?¡± I reached behind me with my phone in my hand and Yi-jun quickly took it. ¡°Uh, I¡¯ve never used it before either.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Seong-won volunteered and took my phone. He fiddled with it for about three minutes and then gave me an address. ¡°You can exchange the car at the public parking lot in ¡ð¡ð district.¡± ¡°Got it. Thanks.¡± I quickly took back my phone and entered the navigation while waiting for the signal. Fortunately, there was a hospital with an emergency room within five minutes. I helped Kyunghwa get out of the car and checked if we left anything behind. Then we moved to the new car right away. If we went to the emergency room with the car whose license te had been exposed once and another extreme fan followed us, it would be a disaster. It was an inevitable decision, but I felt uneasy seeing Kyunghwa in so much pain. ¡°We¡¯re going to the hospital now.¡± Kyunghwa nodded faintly. *** ¡°Are you guys out of your mind?¡± The manager¡¯s voice was low and angry. Yi-jun answered back with a defiant tone. ¡°But thanks to that, we hit number one in real time.¡± That was true. We only found out after we admitted Kyunghwa to the emergency room, but the inte was buzzing with Climax¡¯s guerri live. It was leaked that it was a live show that the members had pushed for on their own, without consulting with the agency or the staff at W. That made it even more of a hot topic. Of course, not all the reactions were positive. [- Isn¡¯t this just a nuisance to the staff? They said they had to call the police at thest show because people wouldn¡¯t get out of the way. These losers are on a different level of nuisance.] [? Which loser hits number one in real time? Which loser hits number one in real time? Which loser hits number one in real time? Which loser hits number one in real time?] [? You¡¯re happy with hitting number one in real time for anyone or anything?] [? Why? Do I look like a fan of an idol who hit number one in real time (emoji covering mouth with hand andughing)? ] Some people called us a nuisance, but soon they were swept away by a huge wave of positive feedback. [- dfjksdfjldjslf OMG? I was going to go to Konkuk University today, but my ns got canceled and I didn¡¯t go. ] [? Ugh?????? It¡¯s Friday, why didn¡¯t you go? I¡¯m banging my head right now.] [- Guys¡­ I have no regrets in life now.] (Photo) [? OMG, did you see Yejun¡¯s close-up shot???] [? Yes?????? The person next to me showed me that Jooni got the real-time number one spot and I freaked out ????] [? Wow, you were right in front of him, how was it?????? Was the choreography good?] [? It was so intense, he knelt down several times and looked like he was praying when hey down, everyone was holding their breath watching him] Not only SNS, but even the entertainmentmunity, which was a bit slower to spread the news than SNS, was in chaos. I wondered how the real-time views skyrocketed, and it turned out that someone¡¯s video got the benefit of the algorithm. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Title] Full Cam of Climax Live Performance (999+) [Body] It looks like a video taken from a cafe window on the crossroad side, zoomed in. I won¡¯t say anything more. Heavenly timestamp 4:32 ¡üWatch this again after you watch everything (Video link) [Comments] [- 4:32 He¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy, he¡¯s crazy] [- 2:12 I realized that there are faces that make your heart swell just by looking at them] [? Thank you, I¡¯ll take the timestamp] [- 4:32 Oh Yi-jun, you madman,pete fairly] [? Oh Yi-jun groupwsuit recruitment 2222] [? 333333] [? I¡¯ll join too 4444] (View 36 more replies) [- Son Seong-won¡¯s vocal range is insane, runner-up ss????;;] [- Who put five more street lights there, it¡¯s so bright that I can¡¯t see the video] [? How can he shoot high beams with his face on stage?] (View more omittedments) [- I think the desperation of rookies or unknowns makes people go crazy] [- They should sit down the male idols who have star disease and can¡¯t do live properly and make them watch this] [? ? Why are you grabbing the hair of other idols?] [? Which group did I mention? Are you feeling guilty???] [- Friends, please y this video at my funeral] £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Thements kept pouring in endlessly. I had to show them to Kyunghwa when he woke up. There were a lot of praises for him too. [- I knew the director was good-looking, but his expression is killer] [? I don¡¯t know what I did wrong, honey pleasee back] [? Looking for a soy-braised beef recipe to bring back my runaway wife] [? You should make soy-braised beef at home, why are you looking for a recipe?;] [? You¡¯re so annoying, are you his parents?] Soy-braised beef was Kyunghwa¡¯s favorite food, which was revealed in Boys in Crisis. I understood how they felt, but he was in no condition to eat anything.He was writhing in pain from the convulsions, barely able to drink water. ¡°Do you want me to make you some soy-braised beef?¡± As I looked at Kyunghwa inside the partition, I blurted out without thinking. ¡°¡­What?¡± Kyunghwa red at me with a needle stuck in his left wrist. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°The fans want to feed you some soy-braised beef.¡± ¡°In this situation?¡± Ugh, Kyunghwa tried to answer me and lifted his body slightly, but he quicklyy down again as his stomach churned. ¡°Just stay lying down. You¡¯ll be in pain until the tranquilizer kicks in.¡± Kyunghwa weakly waved his right hand and closed his eyes, nodding his head. ¡°Is the result all that matters? What if someone got hurt there? What would you have done then?¡± While Kyunghwa and I were bickering, the other members were getting an earful from the manager. Yi-jun looked like he wanted to say something, but he held back and nced at me. I knew what he meant. It was my n, so he wanted me to make an excuse. He didn¡¯t want to sell out his colleague and get out of trouble. It was my turn to step up. ¡°Don¡¯t scold them too much. It was my idea.¡± I sighed briefly and stepped in front of the manager. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about the safety issue. I¡¯ll make sure to consult with you beforehand next time.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± I stepped in between the four of them, as if I was taking all the me. Then Yi-jun hid his big body behind me, shrinking himself. ¡°Look at that!¡± If only he didn¡¯t make that remark. Seong-won was indifferent, whether he got scolded or not. He looked at the floor with an expression that he didn¡¯t care. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Seon-woo muttered apologetically and hid behind Yi-jun. They looked like they were ying a train game. ¡°Ugh, it¡¯s no use talking to you. I can¡¯t even scold Kyunghwa because he¡¯s lying down in pain.¡± The manager stepped back and sighed deeply. Then Yi-jun rubbed salt into his wound. ¡°But we got first ce, so we did well, right?¡± The manager finally lost his patience and spiked Yi-jun, Seon-woo, and Seong-won on their backs. ¡°I can¡¯t live like this, really!¡± Anyway, the team he had been in charge of for a long time had achieved a good result for the first time, so he couldn¡¯t scold them too much. ¡°Really¡­ Why can¡¯t you guys do anything easily?¡± For them, it was easy. Debuting. If they were the recement members for the debut team, it would be understandable. But they were the ones who debuted with Climax, the current top group. And among them, the members who joined after Cheon Ise, they had the backing of Cheon Soo Group and their debut was guaranteed. They had an easy debut thanks to Cheon Ise, but they never imagined that he would be a stumbling block for them. ¡°Seriously¡­ sigh¡­¡± The manager, who had been scolding them a moment ago, covered his face with his hand and spoke in a low voice, overwhelmed by emotion. ¡°I hate going out for support too. Do you think I like it? I¡¯ve been dragging this team along for five years and now I have to follow another team¡¯s schedule.¡± His words made me feel choked up too. But this was a public ce, even if there were partitions. It would be a disaster if we cried and drew attention from others. Yi-jun, who had been listening quietly, quickly cut him off before the mood got darker. ¡°Hey, can I post a thank you message on SNS for being number one?¡± ¡°You, at a time like this¡­¡± Seong-won red at Yi-jun with disdain and shut his mouth. His face was calm and expressionless, but his hand was shaking, showing that he couldn¡¯t hide his excitement. ¡°Yeah, go ahead. Post it. Hurry up and post it.¡± ¡°Roger that!¡± Yi-jun grinned and fiddled with his phone. ¡°¡­Can we just leave him like that?¡± Kyunghwa, who had regained a bit of energy, opened his eyes faintly and grabbed the manager. ¡°You guys do whatever you want and then ask me what to do.¡± ¡°No, but we should stop him¡­¡± Kyunghwa tried to get up, but I pushed him back down. ¡°Don¡¯t get up. If he does something weird, I¡¯ll delete it.¡± Yi-jun retorted as if he had heard everything. ¡°Hey, what do you mean? Where is that possible!¡± It was possible anyway, since we were all logged in. I quickly went into the announcement ount and checked what Yi-jun had posted. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Climax @Clima [Hello, Rizers! Thank you so much for making us number one today. We will work harder to show you good songs and good stages in the future. We were really surprised by your warm response when we visited you unexpectedly today.] [We want to be a group that gives back as much love as you send us. We love you! P.S. I¡¯ll turn on the liveter tonight if you have timeS2 This is a secret from our manager.] £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [? How can you say it¡¯s a secret and post it on the announcement ount??????????] [? This is 100% written by Oh Yi-jun.] [? Yi-jun, run away before you get caught by Ise???????????] [? This is a battle between who catches him first, Kyunghwa or Ise] The screenshot that Yi-jun posted showed that our new song was at the top of the real-time chart. Of course¡­ it was still barely in the double digits for the 24-hour chart. I wondered if it would end as a sh in the pan, or if the 24-hour chart would be decent too. I had to wait until morning to find out. The number of shares andments on Yi-jun¡¯s post went up like crazy in less than a minute. It was unbelievable. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing, so I paused for a moment before replying to Yi-jun¡¯s post. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Climax @Clima [? Oh Yi-jun what are you talking about] £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Climax @Clima [? Ah I¡¯m busted retreat retreat] £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [? Yi-jun run away!!!] [? RUN Yi-jun RUN!!!] [? Dad doesn¡¯t sleep lolololololololololololololololol] As I was having a verbal spar with Yi-jun on our official ount, Kyunghwa looked at me with a worried expression. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Instead of answering honestly, I smiled lightly and closed Kyunghwa¡¯s eyelids. ¡°Secret.¡± Too many things had happened, from the reverse ranking to the sudden chase, that I couldn¡¯t think straight. All I wanted was to go home and rest as soon as possible. ¡°Let¡¯s go home as soon as you finish the IV.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± I ruffled Kyunghwa¡¯s hair, which was unusually cuteless. ¡°Hey, stop it.¡± Kyunghwa protested, but he was a patient after all. I chuckled and stroked his head stubbornly. *** ¡°We¡¯re home!¡± Seon-woo eximed with a voice full of emotion, as if he was really exhausted. It was understandable. We left home a little after 7 o¡¯clock, and now it was 2:30. ¡°Are you really going to do a live?¡± I asked Yi-jun, who was holding half of the worn-out Kyunghwa. ¡°I promised, so I have to say hello and turn it off in five minutes.¡± Yi-jun answered quickly and went into his room,ying Kyunghwa on the bed. ¡°I¡¯ll go wash up first.¡± Kyunghwa waved his hand weakly, lying down. I looked at Seong-won and Seon-woo and said, ¡°You guys decide the order and wash up.¡± Then, Aeongi stretched and came down from the cat tower that was in Seong-won¡¯s room. ¡°I have to y with Aeongi, so you go wash up first,¡± Seong-won went to the kitchen sink and washed his hands with hand wash, then picked up Aeongi and went into his room. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go wash up first¡­!¡± Seon-woo nced at me and went into our room. Then, I heard something rustling in the room that neither of us had entered yet. ¡®What is it? Could it be a thief?¡¯ We locked the door thoroughly when we left, so that shouldn¡¯t be possible. I thought it was ridiculous and grabbed thempshade of the stand in the living room. ¡°Huh.¡± Seon-woo also noticed the sounding from inside, but he gasped when he saw me pull out the stand. ¡°Be quiet.¡± Shh, I silenced the sound and slowly grabbed the doorknob. Inside, there was no loud noise, but something¡­ something like a beast of the same size was running around. What is it? Aeongi went in with Seong-won earlier, right? ¡°Let¡¯s open it.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­!¡± As soon as Seon-woo and I opened the door with determined expressions, ¡°Woof-!¡± A furball of small but big size charged at my body. ¡°Ouch.¡± I was also not in a normal state like the other guys. It was natural, since I had performed live after live with a body that was not 100% conditioned, and drove around Seoul for hours. It was impossible to withstand something that weighed at least 5kg hitting my exhausted body. ¡°What is this, this, ouch!¡± ¡°Hehehehehe, woof-!¡± A puppy with a pretty ne climbed on top of my body that fell backwards. [Pposili] It was Pposili. ¡°What? A dog? Why is it in our room?¡± Seon-woo asked with his eyes wide open. What about me? I was so dumbfounded by the situation that I finally thought of checking the system. Right, I should have checked this as soon as I got home. Did I pass the test? As I was spinning my eyes, the system¡¯s guide message popped up in front of me. [Hello, Lim Hyun-seong! Congrattions onpleting the tutorial!] X, congrats and whatnot, what is this? I hugged Pposili, who stuck out his tongue and wagged his tail excitedly. ¡°Woof-!¡± Unlike me, who was stained with shock and confusion, Pposili looked happy to finally lick my real body. [You have received the following rewards for clearing the tutorial quest.] [Special Item> Possessor Support Starter Pack] [Special Effect> ¡®Pposili¡¯ Level Upgrade] [¡®Pposili¡¯s level has increased and materialized.] [¡®Pposili¡¯s 2nd level function is opened.] ¡°Hehehehehe.¡± Open and whatnot. Pposili opened his long mouth wide and licked my face with his wet tongue. ¡°Stop, stop it¡­!¡± I couldn¡¯t be rough with the animal, even though it wasn¡¯t real. I sacrificed my hand to block his mouth, making a sullen sound. I felt my hand getting wet every time his tongue entered my mouth. ¡°While we were away, did the staff bring it over for a while?¡± Seon-woo asked me for my opinion. Just when he was about to go wash up, Yi-jun came to our room, hearing the sudden barking. ¡°What? Where is that barking sounding from¡­ Huh?¡± I looked at the puppy that was panting in front of me and licking me enthusiastically, and then I heard Yi-jun shout. ¡°It¡¯s a puppy!¡± ¡°Woof!¡± As if to say yes, that¡¯s right, the puppy ran towards Yi-jun with its short legs. ¡°Wow, so cute! Is it a Welsh corgi? It has a long tail too! So adorable! Good boy, good boy.¡± Yi-jun petted the puppy wildly and gave it kisses, even yfully biting its nose. ¡°You¡¯re so sweet. What¡¯s your name?¡± When Yi-jun asked, the puppy lifted its chin as if to answer and showed its name tag. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re Pposili!¡± Yi-jun said as if he recognized the name and then looked at me and asked. ¡°So what¡¯s this guy doing here?¡± It was a fair question. Chapter 101: Chapter 101: ¡°Uh¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t answer right away and stuttered. Then, Pposili barked at me as if to tell me to exin quickly and ran towards me. ¡°Pant pant pant, woof-! Pant.¡± He was much more friendly and close to me than when he dealt with the others. Seon-woo and Yi-jun both looked at me. What should I say? I shouted in my head. ¡®If this is the materialization function, is dematerialization impossible?¡¯ It was impossible to handle. I had firmly told Seong-won that animals were not allowed in the dorm, so this was a big problem. [You need to activate the materialization function to use Pposili¡¯s 2nd level function.] [Do you want to downgrade Pposili and lose the 2nd level function?]Why is this so extreme? Yi-jun¡¯s eyes narrowed as I hesitated. ¡®What is the 2nd level function?¡¯ [Pposili can detect and cure some of the partial actions/status abnormalities of some of hispanions.] What is that? What does that even mean? As soon as I thought of that, Pposili quickly jumped into Yi-jun¡¯s arms. ¡°Ack! Why do you suddenly run at me!¡± Pposili hugged Yi-jun tightly and licked his face. A small subyer appeared next to the main status window. It was ayout like a chat window that appeared at the bottom when doing live broadcasts on SNS or Y Live. [¡ù¡®Oh Yi-jun¡¯ is ¡®suspicious¡¯ of the user.] Did I not know that? I could tell that without seeing the chat window. I had enough sense to read the mood. Should I just say he¡¯s my dog and I¡¯ll take care of him for a while and then send him away? I had to make a good decision. I felt a headache and thought for a moment. Then, Pposili went to Seon-woo as if to show him and another line appeared on the subyer chat window. [¡ù¡®Na Seon-woo¡¯s¡¯ condition has entered the ¡®very bad¡¯ stage. If he does not rest soon, he will enter the status abnormality ¡®overwork¡¯.] I nced at Seon-woo¡¯s face and sure enough, his face was paler than usual. But it wasn¡¯t so obvious that I would have thought he was not feeling well if I didn¡¯t know. ¡®This¡­ might be more useful than I thought?¡¯ I decided to see how it goes. I nodded to myself and opened my mouth. ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s here all of a sudden. He¡¯s my dog.¡± ¡°What?¡± Yi-jun stroked Pposili with his hand and looked at me. ¡°Your dog?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯ll call home right away. He¡¯s well-trained, so he won¡¯t cause any trouble.¡± I dodged the question and Pposili barked as if to agree. ¡°I¡¯ll call home right now, so Seon-woo, you go wash up. You look pale.¡± I ignored his incredulous look and pushed Seon-woo¡¯s back. He grunted and went to the bathroom. I pushed Seon-woo into the bathroom and sneaked a peek at Yi-jun¡¯s expression. He was looking at me and Pposili alternately with suspicion. [¡ù¡®Oh Yi-jun¡¯ is ¡®suspicious¡¯ of the user.] Well, what can I do if he suspects me? There was no way he could figure out Pposili¡¯s true identity with hismon sense and imagination. Now I had to think of a reason to keep him at my ce until I could confirm how valuable that function was¡­ I pretended to call home and went into my room with my phone. ¡°You should go and wash up too. If you¡¯re going to turn on the live stream before bed, you have to hurry.¡± As I waited for the call to connect and tried to send Yi-jun to the living room bathroom, he looked at me with a suspicious eye. ¡°Hurry up. Don¡¯t make other people wait for the bathroom.¡± ¡°¡­Fine, I got it.¡± Yi-jun nodded slowly. Pposili, who had been stroked by Yi-jun for thest time, ran back to me with his short legs. Only when Oh Yi-jun went back to the bathroom did I sigh and pat my chest. What am I supposed to do with this? I put down my phone and grabbed my head. ¡°Kiiing, kkuung¡­¡± How can he look so real when he¡¯s not even a real dog? I hugged Pposili with a sh. Unlike other small dogs, he was quite heavy, probably weighing at least 10kg. ¡°What am I going to do with you¡­¡± As soon as I sighed, the status window scrolled down. [Do you want to view the Lv.2 ¡®Pposili¡¯ breeding guide?] [Yes/No] I didn¡¯t have much time, but of course I chose ¡®Yes¡¯. Then, just like the terms and conditions, a series of shy contents followed. ¡®The letters seem to have gotten smaller?¡¯ Then Pposili growled softly, as if to deny it. What do you mean, no? I reflexively squinted my eyes to read the letters. ¡°Ah.¡± And then I realized in a second. With this body, I didn¡¯t need to frown to see small letters anymore. I¡¯ve been living for over a thousand years, but I still have some unfamiliar things left. I coughed and read the exnation. It was not much different from the general guide for raising a dog. Except for thest line. [However, the above guide content is based on the general breeding method of mammals and animals, and the system management artificial intelligence does not require any measures for life maintenance.] In other words, to summarize. I could feed him, walk him, clean up his toilet, and do whatever I wanted, but it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal if I didn¡¯t. Pposili seemed to understand and lifted his front paw to scratch my leg. ¡®What kind of robot dog¡­¡¯ No. If I thought about it properly, that was right. This thing¡­ was it artificial intelligence? Or a system interface? It wasposed of something unknown, not a machine. ¡®If he doesn¡¯t eat or poop and he¡¯s fine, what is this made of?¡¯ As I lifted Pposili and hugged him, I felt his warm fur and his beating heart, just like any other dog. He looked no different from a living creature, but how could he not be a real dog? As I stared into Pposili¡¯s brown eyes with a doubtful look, he licked my face with his pink tongue. ¡°Hehehehe, hehehe, woof!¡± ¡°St-stop it.¡± Do all dogs love licking this much? It couldn¡¯t stay still for a moment, and its wagging tail was no different. It was cute, sure, but! ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I finally fell over from its body m and copsed on the floor. Kyunghwa came into the room with a pale face. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Where is that barkinging from¡­ Huh?¡± Kyunghwa rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, as if he doubted what he was seeing. ¡°Huh? Huhh?¡± Then he looked at the dog with a dumbfounded expression and said. ¡°Am I still very sick?¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s your family¡¯s dog, but they had an urgent situation and asked you to take care of it? Its name is Pposili.¡± I nodded quietly as I sat on the sofa, and a status window popped up. [¡ù¡®Ryu Kyunghwa¡¯ is ¡®suspicious¡¯ of the user.] [¡ù¡®Oh Yi-jun¡¯ is ¡®suspicious¡¯ of the user.] [¡ù¡®Son Seong-won¡¯ is ¡®suspicious¡¯ of the user.] I know, okay. I saw the three suspicion marks pop up one after another, and I wondered if my excuse was too unbelievable. I was grateful that Seon-woo didn¡¯t show up, but it wasn¡¯t helpful at all. How was he going to survive in this harsh world? I was worried about him, even though it was none of my business. ¡°Well, I have some personal reasons that make it hard to exin. I trained it well, so it can take care of itself and eat on its own. It¡¯s smarter than most people, so don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll manage it well.¡± Then Seong-won immediatelyined. ¡°Even if it¡¯s smart, it¡¯s still a dog. It has a lot of energy and it¡¯s hard to handle.¡± He was being quite hostile, even though I hadn¡¯t said I would keep it in the dorm forever. It was because he had been nagging me to send away Aeongi, to put it up for adoption, to not get too attached to it, since before I brought it. ¡°It¡¯s much smarter than you think. You can think of it as a middle schooler or above, if youpare it to a human.¡± A middle schooler? It understood speech better than the average adult. ¡°You were telling me to get ready to send it away soon.¡± That was because I didn¡¯t know that Pposili would suddenly show up like this. Woof! Pposili barked as if to agree. Aeongi flinched slightly at the sound of its bark, then slowly approached Pposili. ¡°Krrr?¡± Pposili tilted its head as if to ask what it was, then spun around to let Aeongi smell it. ¡°Meow?¡± Then Aeongi plopped down on Pposili¡¯s soft and fluffy fur and belly, using it as a cushion. ¡°Aeongi seems to like it¡­¡± [¡ù¡®Na Seon-woo¡¯ is ¡®sympathetic¡¯ to the user.] He must have wanted to help me out of the pinch. His intention was very noble, but it seemed to make Seong-won more negative towards me. ¡°It might spread germs, don¡¯t go near it.¡± Seong-won snatched Aeongi and hugged it to his chest. Was he jealous of the dog? How childish. Then Pposili ran towards Seong-won with its warm and moist tongue out. ¡°Get away, what are you doing!¡± Seong-won struggled as much as he could, but there was no way to get rid of the 10kg puppy unless he pushed it away with all his might. ¡°Ugh, stop licking me! I said stop!¡± Yi-jun watched Seong-won being licked as if he was being tortured by Pposili and said, ¡°We have to go buy some food for him tomorrow morning.¡± He felt a surge of anxiety, thinking that tomorrow would be another long day like today. The next day. Yi-jun woke me up by shaking me before 8 a.m. ¡°Get up quickly. We have to take Pposili for a walk and stop by the vet to buy some food.¡± I wondered what he was talking about with such a gust of wind, but then he lifted Pposili up and put him on my face. ¡°Ugh, what the hell, ugh¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean, what the hell? It¡¯s a belly attack.¡± 10kg was too heavy to bear with just my face. I gave up and got up. [Wee, Cheonise (Lim Hyun-seong).] [Test sessfully ended] [Press the [Start] button to start the first main quest.] As soon as I got up, I checked the status window. It was neatly organized, unlike the previous countdown message. Now¡­ what is this main quest? I wanted to check it right away, but Yi-jun and Pposili were in front of me. ¡°Get up already-.¡± He¡¯s not even a kid. He nagged me to go for a dog walk in the morning, so I had no choice but to get up. ¡°Just a minute. Let me clear my head.¡± First, I checked how the rankings had changed overnight. Chapter 107: Chapter 107: ¡°What did you say?¡± Kyunghwa¡¯s voice tone rose sharply. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s why I asked you a little carefully. Of course, they also agreed to appear when I talked to Floss. We are in a situation where we need a pro right away, so it would be better to appear naturally¡­ But they don¡¯t have to go out.¡± That¡¯s right. Floss was a busy group that had enough work to do with just the fixed ones. All the members were scattered across the broadcasting industry and had several fixed corners each. They had no reason to challenge thepetition program that took up their time like crazy. ¡°Then they are likely to refuse, right?¡± He tried to calm down the excited Kyunghwa and spoke first. The best? It was obvious that we would appear without Floss. From the beginning, a group that wouldn¡¯t even look at thepetition program unless they were judges wouldn¡¯t respond to this proposal.¡®I saw Kang Yu-geon doing it and it seemed like they were busy with their own schedule.¡¯ ¡°Well, that could be. But thepany¡¯s situation is not good these days¡­¡± The manager muttered with a tired expression and shook his head. ¡°No, never mind. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m talking to you guys.¡± Why did he stop talking? Everyone seemed to have the same idea, and Yi-jun jumped in quickly. ¡°Why? Is something going to explode?¡± ¡°Explode¡­¡± ¡°Could it be¡­¡± The members all murmured with worried expressions, and the manager hastily fixed the atmosphere. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much, because it¡¯s not something that will negatively affect you. Anyway, you want to appear, right?¡± As if they would push in anything that made money, what did our opinion matter? Kyung-hwa nodded his head with a very displeased expression. ¡°Yes, well¡­ There¡¯s nothing wrong with appearing.¡± That¡¯s right. This kind ofpetition program was always a benefit for the unknown. If they were a popr group, they would be ridiculed for saying ¡®¡ð¡ð is in this ce, they¡¯re done.¡¯. Now that we had to make our name known and raise our awareness as much as possible, there was no better opportunity than a survival program that could be a topic. ¡®Besides, it¡¯s not a matter of debut, but a simplepetition.¡¯ Even if we got a low rank, we had a chance to work on the sound source, and the possibility of making friends with other groups was open. Of course, the fans¡¯ feelings would be different. ¡®It seemed like they didn¡¯t like it at first nce. I¡¯ll have to check it out.¡¯ As he sorted out his thoughts, Seong-won, who was sitting near the door, got out of the car one by one. ¡°Then go in and rest.¡± Tomorrow was a rare day when we only had one web entertainment schedule. That too, afternoon shooting. That meant, in the morning, we could finally sleep in. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to worry about it yet.¡± Yi-jun shook his head from side to side like a dog and climbed the stairs. ¡°Be quiet. It¡¯s night and your voice is echoing.¡± Our dormitory was roughly known where it was, but it was not bad to be careful about security. Yi-jun nced at Kyunghwa and then yawned loudly, opening the door to the lodging. ¡°Woof!¡± Pposili and Aeongi, who had been inside the house, greeted us very naturally. ¡°Wow, you two must have been ying together.¡± I thought it was ridiculous that Pposili had been entrusted with a walk by the staff who had requested a visit to the lodging for Aeongi, saying that he had to walk the dog no matter how busy he was. Seong-won took care of Aeongi¡¯s dinner and I yed with Pposili for a while, but I felt drained. ¡°Let¡¯s go to bed soon.¡± Seon-woo came out of the shower and rolled around on the bed with a happy expression. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried?¡± I asked him bluntly what I really felt and Seon-woo hesitated for a moment before answering. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m notpletely unworried, but. I¡¯m a fool, so I can¡¯t solve anything even if I worry. I just decided to think positively.¡± He was so calm. I asked him right away. ¡°How?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it doesn¡¯t work out, and it¡¯s good if it does. Either way, we just have to do well.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong. I chuckled when I thought of Seon-woo, who had rushed past Shim Naru, who was frowning, to greet Kang Yu-geon. ¡°Why, why are youughing?¡± Seon-woo stuttered, worried that he had made a mistake. ¡°No, it¡¯s just. I think you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°You¡¯re lying, right? Don¡¯t tease me¡­!¡± Seon-woo covered his face with a pillow and hid under the nket. He looked like a mole that had buried its head in the ground and pretended to hide, because he had a better physique than ordinary people. I lightly pped Seon-woo¡¯s back that was sticking out of the nket andy down on the bed. ¡°I need to learn from you.¡± I should stop thinking about problems that don¡¯t have answers. I may be dragging these young guys along, but¡­ Sometimes I had moments when I had to learn from them. Things that I knew in my head, but kept forgetting as I lived. I ended the day with a faint smile. And the next day, after a long nap, an unexpected schedule came up. ¡°Ise hyung, someone is calling.¡± Seon-woo shook me awake as I was enjoying the drowsiness of waking up from a nap. ¡°What?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a call. It¡¯s probably your father.¡± What are you talking about? I had been living as Cheon Ise for over half a year, but I had never received a call from Chairman Cheon. I didn¡¯t even know what Cheon Ise had saved his father as. ¡°Wait¡­ Ah, let me check.¡± When I looked at the phone that Seon-woo handed me, there were two letters shining on the caller ID. [Old fart] Ah. This was probably my father. I cleared my throat and tried to hide the fact that I had just woken up, then answered the phone. ¡°I¡¯ve answered the phone. This is Cheon Ise.¡± But there was no reply from the other side. ¡°¡­¡± What¡¯s going on? Why isn¡¯t he saying anything? I waited for about five seconds for an answer, then finally opened my mouth. ¡°Is something wrong? You¡¯re not saying anything¡­ If you dialed the wrong number¡­¡± Just before I was about to hang up, the middle-aged man answered in a low voice. ¡°No, no. I was just surprised by how mature your voice sounds. It¡¯s been a while since west talked.¡± Judging by his tone, he was really Chairman Cheon. But why did he call me all of a sudden? Didn¡¯t he treat me like a son who didn¡¯t exist? I kept in touch with Vice-Chairman An and knew how he was doing, but this was the first time I faced Chairman Cheon. Well, not in person, but still. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m getting old too. May I ask why you called me?¡± I didn¡¯t want to waste my golden morning with an ufortable conversation. He was not a bad person to befriend, but¡­ From what I had experienced through the rey and re-listen services, he was someone who didn¡¯t think highly of Cheon Ise. ¡°How are your grades? Are you getting along well with the members?¡± What? Is he worried? Or nagging? I narrowed my eyes and answered. ¡°I¡¯m doing well. I¡¯ll be careful not to worry you.¡± I cut him off with a brief reply, and silence fell again. I didn¡¯t know how to deal with a conglomerate chairman who had a negative prejudice against me as a son. There was no way I could know. Cheon Ise would have hung up without even answering. ¡°Well. Behave yourself and don¡¯t embarrass yourself wherever you go.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I was going to do that anyway. After a moment of awkward silence, Chairman Cheon ended the call first. ¡°Then. Don¡¯t get in trouble with thepany people. I¡¯m hanging up.¡± ¡°Yes, take care.¡± That was the end of the pointless call. ¡°What did he say?¡± Seon-woo asked with curiosity in his eyes. ¡°It was nothing. He just told me to behave.¡± Did something bother him? Before I could worry about it, I got another call from Vice-Chairman An. ¡°Oh, hold on. It¡¯s my mother.¡± I pressed the receive button and heard a voice that was much higher than usual. ¡°Yeah, Ise. How are you doing these days?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m a bit busy but I¡¯m fine.¡± Vice-Chairman An recognized my voice andughed with a pleasant sound. ¡°You got a call from your father earlier, right? He said he¡¯d call you personally and tell you toe home, but he hung up without saying anything.¡± Oh. That¡¯s why the timing of the calls was so close. There was a reason. ¡°So you called me again? I¡¯ll make some time and visit soon.¡± Of course, I didn¡¯t really want to go. But as long as I was rted to them by blood, they were like my parents. I had to show my face to fulfill my duty. Especially to Vice-Chairman An, who helped me a lot. It was my own merit that I achieved good results after the appearance, but I owed him a favor for helping me with the appearance. ¡°Yeah, you were busy working even on the holiday. Take some rest and take care of your health. You used to likeing to the hotel and getting a spa and rxing.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± I guess it¡¯s going to be hard for now, since I have to row when the wateres in. I had a mouthful of words, but I couldn¡¯t spit them out. Then, suddenly, a thought that I had before came back to me. ¡®I thought about the resort content for a moment.¡¯ Since I had put off the countryside content of the boys in crisis and filled it with the recent activities, I thought it would be fun to write one episode as a resort special. If it looks too much like a chaebol¡¯s son, I¡¯ll just put in some nominal sponsorship. Is that okay? ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll go with the manager and the members to have fun. We have a web entertainment show, so I think it would be good to have a paid advertisement with the ce provided as a sponsorship.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine. Mom is always cheering for you, so don¡¯t push yourself too hard.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± If I order a lot of room service and eat while enjoying the facilities and sightseeing nearby, the PD would be happy. I remembered the face of the PD who screamed when the data for about four days before and after the appearance of Pposili disappeared. I thought it was a bit of a shame, but¡­ I was impressed by how he desperately stretched and edited the little footage he had. But thanks to that, the number of subscribers is rising smoothly, so he¡¯s not as resentful as he was when he was in the Aeyong situation. He¡¯s still not a pleasant person, though. ¡°What did you say?¡± As soon as I hung up the phone, Seon-woo asked me with curious eyes. ¡°Just. He told me toe and have fun when I have time.¡± ¡°Wow! Can I go too?¡± Seon-woo asked without hiding his curiosity. I get that he¡¯s curious about the chaebol¡¯s house, but isn¡¯t he too obvious? ¡°I¡¯ll check the schedule with the manager.¡± Anyway, it wasn¡¯t something I had to worry about right now. Wouldn¡¯t I have time in a month or two? And it didn¡¯t take long for me to realize that this thought of mine was too careless. Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Meanwhile, the atmosphere at Floss¡¯s dorm was tense. They had gathered at the dorm for their weekly group live, which they rarely did, so Yu-geon couldn¡¯t escape from this troubled situation. ¡®It¡¯s too annoying to ignore.¡¯ They were a group that couldn¡¯t even get the first ce on the music show, let alone the king of the industry, unless their fans threw prizes and gathered voters. He didn¡¯t think it was that serious, but he couldn¡¯t pretend not to know as long as the fandom fight continued. Every day, countless posts of discord were uploaded on variousmunities. Most of them were sparked by Floss¡¯s fans, but some were troublemakers who wanted to fuel this fight. The reason was simple. They couldn¡¯t stand to see the ones who debuted by dropping their favorite candidates do well. There were anti-fans who did simr things by spreading maniption rumors right after their debut.¡®I didn¡¯t care about that stuff back then because I was busy preparing for the debut.¡¯ They had filmed about 30 CFs in six months. Their debut concert with 20,000 seats was sold out. He had the confidence to not care at all back then. Who else was a rookie who started with a million sales for their debut album? They had unprecedented numbers that no one could ignore. It was a time when the two-year contract period felt endlessly long. Although they were from different agencies, they debuted through the same program as their senior girl group, Winirand, who was doing well as a first-tier idol in their first year. We thought we would naturally follow the same path as we watched Winirand¡¯sst year, but it was downhill all the way. The lead vocalist, who was used of receiving special treatment due to the repeated controversies of devil¡¯s editing and angel¡¯s editing, faced a school violence scandal, and it got worse. There were also other incidents such as staff abuse, and they eventually dered disbandment without fulfilling their nned contract period of one year and seven months. It had been almost a year since then, but all the members had beenbeled as ¡®past their prime idols¡¯ for a long time. ¡®I realized for the first time how fatal it was to lose the freshness as a rookie.¡¯ They must have thought they could taste the poprity of their heyday again if they just returned to their original agencies, but the reality was not like that. They all switched to solo, group, or acting, whichever they wanted, but none of them achieved any results. [- Floss is honestly starting to decline now lol They¡¯ll follow their senior group, what can they do] The sentences that were dismissed as nonsense half a year ago were slowly approaching as a realistic threat. That was also why the fans were desperately trying to block Climax, who was starting to revive. It hadn¡¯t been two years since they debuted, but they had consumed their image for almost two years, including the airing period of My Idol Stage. Just when the anxiety was swirling around. They received a notice that the sub-manager who supported Floss was going back to the main team. ¡®It was fun working with you.¡¯ The manager, who left cheerfully as if working with Floss had been a great ordeal, turned out to be originally dedicated to Climax. Some of the members felt like the fear of being threatened by Climax one by one was bing a reality. ¡°Ah, what are you talking about? Why do I have to go to the survival show?¡± Shim Naru, who had beenining all along even though he received the benefit of the survival show twice, grumbled nervously. ¡°The fans don¡¯t like it either. There¡¯s no one who wees us, and we only suffer. If we can¡¯t win, they mock us for being first-tier idols, so we should obviously refuse, right?¡± Yu-geon didn¡¯t particrly like Shim Naru, but he agreed with what he said. It was more of a loss than gain to go out there. Unless it was Climax. The groups that had nothing to lose and the groups that had a lot to lose had different premises for appearing. Just like the teams that barely broke even and the teams that made a profit no matter what. ¡°Nobody here wants to be on this show, so keep it down.¡± Hwijin, the leader, shut Naru¡¯s mouth as if there was no one here to put up with his annoyance. If they had a dedicated manager, he would have been worried that Naru might say something stupid on live TV and tried to please him. But the main manager had left for an urgent matter, and the sub-manager who had returned to Climax¡¯s side was reced by a newbie who had just finished his probation. He couldn¡¯t say anything in this fierce atmosphere. ¡°I have an appointment right after this, so don¡¯t drag it out and finish it as soon as possible.¡± Jinhyung, who had been fiddling with his phone all along, snapped at them and the other members gave him a hard time. ¡°Going out again?¡± ¡°I have to go out while I can.¡± ¡°This guy is unbelievable¡­¡± Another member, who had been dissatisfied with Jinhyung¡¯s irresponsible attitude, was about to start a fight, but Hwijin stopped him. ¡°Just do one verse. We¡¯re going live soon, so please watch your mouth.¡± Hwijin had a headache from having to deal with these crazy bastards who had no idea what cooperation was for another six months. Unlike his trainee days, when he thought everything would go smoothly once he debuted. Everything was a mess after he debuted. The only things that looked perfect were the surface performance and the amount of money they earned. Everything else was unsatisfactory. It was a dilemma whether to keep the group as it was or to disband it. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation. ¡°Don¡¯t feed the trolls if there¡¯s any hate about Climax in the chat.¡± Hwijin firmly told them to be prepared for any possible situation, and Naru pouted his lips and whined. ¡°Ugh, fine.¡± None of the members didn¡¯t know that Naru was tantly conscious of the main vocalist on the other side. It was the same when they aired My Idol Stage before their debut. Hepeted with the same position without any restraint, and he would have beenbeled as unlikable if it wasn¡¯t for the angel¡¯s editing. Yu-geon nced at Naru¡¯s face, which was full ofints, and remembered what happened during thest activity of ¡®Love by Love¡¯. ¡®His expression was priceless then.¡¯ He was also quite surprised when the sub-vocal of Climax, who was too naive for his own good, ran up to him to say hello. He had been in touch with Cheon Ise after the radio appearance, but it was the first time he met this guy since then. He thought he would just nod at him, but he unexpectedly hugged him and Yu-geon stepped back and hid behind the other guests. ¡®Wow, hello! I¡¯m so happy to see you!¡¯ He looked like Na Seon-young¡¯s younger brother. Seeing Seon-woo greet him with a bright smile, he felt a stark contrast to Naru¡¯s crumpled expression and enjoyed the spectacle. If Floss had members like Seon-woo or Cheon Ise. Even if they had debuted as a project group that onlypeted with each other, would they have been able to boast such a strong friendship? He couldn¡¯t answer that question, and it only hindered his progress. Yu-geon smiled and erased his thoughts. Another week flew by in the blink of an eye. The final activity period for Climax was confirmed to be three weeks. We didn¡¯t have much toin about, since they had extended it by a week from the original two weeks. The popr groups got more than four weeks, but we weren¡¯t at that level. ording to Kyunghwa¡¯s opinion, three weeks was enough for a group that had just achieved some meaningful results. ¡°So, does that mean we¡¯re not going to disband after all?¡± It was a rare day off. None of us had the energy to go out, so we stayed in our rooms until it was time for lunch. As soon as we came out, Seon-woo blurted out. Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Yi-jun at the same time. ¡°Why? Why are you looking at me?¡± Yi-jun seemed surprised by the unexpected attention, and he quickly hugged Pposili. [¡ùYi-jun is ¡®flustered¡¯.] ¡°You¡¯re the problem, aren¡¯t you? You said you got an offer from a hip-hopbel.¡± ¡°Ah~.¡± Yi-jun acted nonchntly and fiddled with his phone. Then he showed us the text message he had sent. ¡°I turned them down already. Did you think I had no loyalty?¡± The screen he showed us revealed that he had replied in September, a month before oureback. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Me] I¡¯m sorry, hyung. I appreciate your offer and I know you meant well, but I want to stay with the members a bit longer. 7:34 PM £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ ¡°This bastard, he told me he was still thinking about it.¡± Kyunghwa snatched Pposili from him and threw him on the floor. Then he punched Yi-jun in the jaw. But unfortunately, Yi-jun had trained as a boxer before, so he was faster at protecting his jaw. ¡°Ow! No violence! Use words, words!¡± ¡°Do you think you can understand words?¡± ¡°Ack! Ise hyung, save me!¡± Do you think I want to save you? I focused on scooping out some anchovy stir-fry and tofu stew from the side dish container. ¡°I¡¯ll put down my spoon!¡± Seon-woo was annoyed, but he decided not to shield him this time. He sweated and moved away from the spoon holder. Seong-won had ignored Yi-jun from the start, so there was no need to argue. ¡°You¡¯re the reason I¡¯m losing my life, my life!¡± ¡°Ugh, why are you so strong? Hyung, I can¡¯t breathe!¡± No one rescued Yi-jun from the chokehold. Haaam-. Aeongi, who had been sleeping quietly on Seong-won¡¯sp, yawned and flicked his tail, as if he was bothered by the noise. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s clean up and eat.¡± I put the kimchi stew, which I had boiled with some noodles, on the burner on the table. A white steam rose up. ¡°Put Aeongi down.¡± Seong-won nodded and got up to get a te. Plop, Aeongi lost his seat and moved to the sofa. The meal officially began. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it next Wednesday that we were going to stay at the hotel ande back?¡± I barely escaped from Kyunghwa¡¯s grip and gulped down some cold water to calm myself. ¡°Hey. It¡¯s a two-day trip. We¡¯re going to eat and y all day with a vacation concept, so take care of yourself in advance.¡± There was no need to nag me, since I had already finished the intense management because of theeback. ¡°There¡¯s an indoor pool and an open-air bath, right?¡± ¡°They said we¡¯re only going to film in the indoor pool and the foot bath.¡± That¡¯s what the first draft of the script said. We would start with a lunch buffet, then tour the indoor pool and various facilities, read fan letters we received during thiseback, and so on. It was literally full of fun things, including the barbecue lounge party in the evening. ¡°I wish I could take Pposili and Aeongi with me.¡± ¡°Cats get stressed when they go to a new ce, you know.¡± Pposili might be possible if we requested a pet-friendly room. But Aeongi and Pposili had be quite close, so we couldn¡¯t leave Aeongi alone even if someone came to look after him. ¡®I wish I had an electronic dog to keep himpany.¡¯ Anyway, that¡¯s why I had to send him to another house for adoption. I brought a dog home in a hurry, so it was a long story. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s hang in there for one more week!¡± We all had the same thought. The song was also stable in the 30th ce, so we could hope for a long run. We could rx a little now that we were out of the threat of disbandment. We all decided to enjoy this peaceful time. ???- Then, the phone that was on the table started ringing. ¡°Huh? It¡¯s the manager hyung.¡± Seon-woo said, checking the screen. Yi-jun sighed and said. ¡°Hyung never has a day off. He was happy that he got out of the Floss support, but.¡± It seemed like he always called when we were resting. I agreed with Yi-jun¡¯s words and answered the phone on speaker. ¡°Yes, hyung. What¡¯s up on your day off?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. Sorry to bother you while you¡¯re resting. It¡¯s not anything else, but you know the group survival program I told you aboutst time.¡± It sounded like he was talking about thepetition program. Maybe Floss refused and we were the only ones going. Or maybe we couldn¡¯t go either. ¡°Yes. What happened? You said Floss wasn¡¯t going, right?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Well¡­¡± The manager had a bad habit of beating around the bush. I asked him impatiently. ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Floss and you guys both decided to appear.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that?¡± What the hell was that? Why were they going there? Kyunghwa and Yi-jun eximed in shock. Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Everyone was excited about the vacation, but then cold water was poured on us. Kyunghwa asked in disbelief, denying the reality. ¡°Did Floss really say they would participate?¡± Of course, Floss was not the kind of group that would say thank you and go out when we called them. It was rather the opposite. The program had to work hard to cast Floss, and Floss had to fit their schedule like Tetris. In the process, I had snatched the opportunity that they had epted first and then gave upter when they found a better spot. I couldn¡¯t believe that Floss would appear in thepetition program as a group, not as individuals. ¡°Is Floss reallying?¡± Did we all get struck by lightning? I rubbed my eyes and looked at my phone.¡°Well, that¡¯s what happened. Thepany must have negotiated with them. They don¡¯t tell me the details because it¡¯s confidential.¡± The manager who had worked on Floss-rted tasks for a long time didn¡¯t know anything about it? Was he lying because he couldn¡¯t tell us, or did he really not know? I couldn¡¯t tell the truth. ¡°It¡¯s a bit surprising. I thought they would definitely refuse.¡± ¡°Me too. Well¡­ thepany must have made an offer that Floss would agree to. But I don¡¯t know what it is.¡± Did they give them some advantage in terms of ounting? Floss wouldn¡¯t move unless it was that much of a benefit. I remembered how themunity was buzzing when the rumor that LJ Media was nning a boy grouppetition program came out. Everyone was begging, please don¡¯t let my group appear. Even the fans of unknown groups who had to go out as soon as they got an offer. I understood why they opposed it. The members get too tired mentally and physically because they spend too much time on the show. They get injured more often because they want more cool and shy stages. The rankingpetition stress makes both the members and the fans suffer. It was something like that. I understood their feelings, but¡­ For the contestants who needed recognition, there was no reason not to go out on a program that guaranteed basic attention. ¡°Wow¡­ so now we have topete with Floss?¡± Yi-jun smiled as if he thought something interesting would happen. ¡°You¡¯reughing at this?¡± Kyunghwa hit Yi-jun¡¯s head with the part of the chopstick that didn¡¯t touch his mouth. ¡°Ow, wow, I almost cried because it hurt so much. This is assault, assault.¡± ¡°Stop talking nonsense.¡± ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t fight. Anyway, that¡¯s what happened, so I¡¯ll let you know as soon as the schedulees out. Just know that it¡¯s confirmed.¡± Yi-jun rubbed the spot where he was hit by Kyunghwa and quickly answered as if he understood. ¡°Yes, go ahead~.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a rare day off, so behave yourselves.¡± ¡°Yep~!¡± Whew. As soon as the unexpected call ended, sighs came out from everywhere. ¡°Why are you all sighing without even trying? We can win, you know.¡± Yi-jun¡¯s eyes sparkled as he slurped up a mouthful of noodles from the stew. ¡°It¡¯s not about winning or losing, you know. The fandoms are already fighting like crazy on the inte¡­ I¡¯m worried that it¡¯ll be a disaster if we have topete against them.¡± Losing itself wasn¡¯t a big problem. Climax was our senior, but they had much less experience in various events than Floss. If we were judged by individual skills, we wouldn¡¯t lose, but rather we would be better. But if wepared the group¡¯s adaptability and talent, they were obviously ahead of us by a few steps. So no one would question it if Climax lost. ¡®But¡­ What if Climax beats Floss?¡¯ Then I could already feel a headache from the war that would break out on the inte. ¡°The opposite is the problem. I¡¯m already shivering at how much hate we¡¯ll get if we win.¡± Kyunghwa, who had a million tons of negative feelings towards Floss, spat out aint and swallowed it. Yi-jun retorted sullenly. ¡°It¡¯s weird to curse the winning team just because the team you support lost. Why are you scared already?¡± ¡°It is weird, but. Anyway, they have more fans, right? Don¡¯t you know the strategy of overwhelming numbers? We can¡¯t beat them with numbers.¡± Hmm¡­ he wasn¡¯t wrong. I was worried too, but I didn¡¯t want to ruin our rare holiday. ¡°Let¡¯s just eat first. You should worry after eating well. You¡¯ll get sick if you do it on an empty stomach.¡± I picked up a piece of pork belly that was steaming with smoke and cut it with scissors that had been well sharpened. ¡°Look at the thickness of the meat. It looks really delicious.¡± The meal started in earnest with Seon-woo¡¯s admiration and the worries were put aside for now. ¡°Wow! It¡¯s so amazing!¡± As the mini van stopped in front of the hotel front, a huge revolving door that turned golden appeared in front of us. We had used hotels several times while traveling, but it was the first time we saw such a top-notch hotel, and our eyes widened. The room we were staying in today was a special VIP among VIPs. It was the ¡®Grand Masterpiece Suite¡¯ that you couldn¡¯t stay in even if you had money, unless you had the highest membership level. It was a room that was only used for special customers who had an annual performance of over 100 million won or a reputation equivalent to that at the Cheon Soo Hotel chain, and it was mostly vacant throughout the year. ¡®Don¡¯t feel too burdened. It¡¯s usually empty most of the time. Have fun with the kids.¡¯ It was a room that changed the number of beds and furniture ording to the customer¡¯s request. Vice-Chairman Ahn generously said it was nothing and asked us not to feel burdened because it was a sponsorship for hotel promotion, but¡­ How could we rx in a room where the daily rate was in the thousands? I felt my heart clench even before I stepped into the hotel with the hospitality I had never enjoyed even when I was the CEO of a medium-sizedpany. ¡°Hello, you¡¯re Climax, right? We¡¯ll take you to your room right away.¡± As we approached the shiny entrance, the staff who seemed to be waiting inside came out and greeted us. ¡°Oh, yes. Thank you!¡± We each brought a suitcase with us because we had brought this and that, and the tray for moving the luggage was filled with suitcases. ¡°The room you will be using today is the Grand Masterpiece Suite, which is only avable to special customers.¡± As we went up the elevator, Kyung-hwa and Seon-woo¡¯s eyes were clearly captured by the camera. Yi-jun was¡­ well, his grandmother lived in such a nice house, so he looked familiar. Seong-won didn¡¯t look surprised, but he seemed to be maintaining a poker face. ¡°Can we ask who the other customers were besides us?¡± Seon-woo asked the staff with a bright eye as he was instructed by the PD in advance. The staff answered with a skilled service. ¡°Some of the customers who have enjoyed our Royal VIP rooms are pop star Mary Pryor, Montana Hills, pianist Henkel Hoffman, and entrepreneur Rachel Turner.¡± ¡°Wow! It must be a really nice room, right?¡± The camera captured Seonwoo¡¯s expression of wonder like a child. Of course it was nice. It was a room worth two thousand for one night. I tried to calm myself down and not show any signs of excitement. I thought I would never have anything to do with such a ce in my life, and even if I did, it wouldn¡¯t be that great. But when I had the chance to use it without spending a penny, I didn¡¯t feel too bad. Considering that everyone was so happy since a week ago, there was nothing more to say. As we were going up, the elevator stopped for a moment. ¡°We have arrived at the exclusive entrance. There are two rooms on each floor, but the entrance and the elevator are separated, so you can use itfortably by yourself. The private infinity pool on the balcony is the biggest pride of this room, so I rmend you to try it at least once. It¡¯s the most private pool where you can enjoy the night view of Seoul.¡± The staff opened the door with a card key, and the top view that could only be seen from the high-rise floor came into view. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Expensive things were worth the price. Seong-won, who had no reaction at all while riding the elevator, looked quite surprised this time. ¡°The interior furniture are all imported products made by French professional craftsmen. I hope you like the elegant and luxurious premium interior designed by Kim Jae-hyung, a world-ss space designer.¡± I liked it. There was no ce that was not aesthetically beautiful wherever I looked. The golden patterns swayed on the cream-colored carpet that had no stains, and the ceiling had a splendid chandelier that looked like it belonged in a pce of mirrors. ¡°It¡¯s amazing¡­¡± Kyunghwa looked a bit overwhelmed by the space and went to the balcony. ¡°When you go out to the balcony, there are exclusive slippers prepared, so please use themfortably.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Kyunghwa, who was about to go out with his shoes off and socks on, blushed and came back in and put his feet in the slippers. The endless open view and the rippling hot water pool were connected, and it felt like I was in an open-air bath. ¡°This is great~.¡± Seon-woo rolled up his pants and took off his socks and tried to put his feet in the pool, but the PD rushed in and stopped him. ¡°Wait a minute, Seon-woo! We have a schedule to do first, so please wait a little bit before entering the pool.¡± ¡°Ah¡­! Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Seon-woo looked embarrassed as he jumped out of the water like a carp. ¡°Okay, then, first of all, please choose your own bed and organize your luggage. We will start with the What¡¯s in My Carrier! Show your belongings one by one!¡± It was nothing more than a scaled-up version of what idols do on their self-content these days, but it was a content that we had received several requests before. As we looked around the living room and picked our beds, the main camera came towards me. ¡°Okay, then! Today, the main character of this luxurious sponsorship! How about we start with Ise?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I was surprised by the unexpected attention and stepped back without knowing. ¡°Come on! Choose right away!¡± There were two king-size beds and two single beds. There were two single beds, so everyone except one pair could use their own bed. ¡°How about we decide the order by rock-paper-scissors and take the first one?¡± It seemed better to do this than to awkwardly end up sleeping with someone else in the same bed by firste-first-served. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good idea.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°I¡¯m, well, okay with it¡­!¡± ¡°You have terrible sleeping habits. No one would want to share a bed with you.¡± As the local broadcasts red loudly from everywhere, the PD dly epted my proposal. ¡°Great! Let¡¯s get started right away!¡± I would prefer to have my own bed, but if I had to share one with someone¡­ Seong-won was too awkward for my liking, Yi-jun seemed like he would toss and turn a lot, and Seon-woo had a vicious sleepwalking habit that I wanted to avoid at all costs. Please, just let me sleep alone. The odds were in my favor, anyway. Please! I silently prayed as I reached for the cloth bag. Chapter 110: Chapter 110: ¡°Wow, the view is amazing from the window. And it¡¯s not cold at all, thanks to the instion.¡± Seon-woo, who had taken the best spot, smiled brightly and patted his bed. He was the only one who seemed happy, unlike me and Kyunghwa, who had escaped the two-person sleeping arrangement, and Yi-jun and Seong-won, who hade here to have fun, but looked sour. Anyone would think they had been fined or something. ¡°Ah¡­ of all the times¡­¡± ¡°Who would want to sleep with you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you like me?¡± Seong-won and Yi-jun, who had to share a king-sized bed ording to the strict rules, growled at each other as if they were about to fight. The camera was rolling right now, was that okay?I nced around, but everyone knew that they didn¡¯t get along since their debut. [- But aren¡¯t Seong-won and Yi-jun always a bit awkward? Seong-won seems like the type who doesn¡¯t show much emotion to anyone. And the person he likes seems a bit cold to him.] [? Kang is always like that. It came up a few times before, but Junie said they never officially fought, they just have very different personalities????????? And they¡¯re both the same age, so they sh a lot.] [? Don¡¯t the other members try to stop them?] [? They tried, but they¡¯re like oil and water, so they just let them sort it out themselvesst.] [? Lol, they just don¡¯t get along, but it¡¯s not like they hate working together. They did a joint act when they went on Star Discovery, remember?] The fans seemed to know everything like this. ¡°Both of you, be quiet. It¡¯s time for What¡¯s in My Career, and the local broadcast is too loud, it¡¯s drowning out the sound.¡± Kyunghwa grabbed their ears and pulled them hard, as if to make them stop fighting. Yi-jun whined in pain. ¡°I don¡¯t like it either, but he¡¯s making a fuss.¡± Kyunghwa sighed lightly at Yi-jun¡¯s tantrum. Then he turned his head and suggested. ¡°Then I¡¯ll switch ces with Seong-won. How about that?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yi-jun seemed to think it was okay, and Seong-won quickly epted the offer. ¡°I agree. I was seriously considering sleeping on the sofa.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯d rather sleep on the floor than share a bed with you.¡± As they seemed to start another round of arguments, Kyunghwa pulled their ears again. ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°If you fight one more time, I¡¯ll throw you in the pool. Seong-won, you go over there.¡± Seong-won nodded his head withoutining about his ear being pinched, and headed straight to the bed Kyunghwa had chosen. ¡°Ooh, this is it, bro.¡± Iy down diagonally on the king-sized bed across from him and pped my hands. ¡°What are you doing, just watching?¡± Kyunghwa red at me with a sharp retort. I grinned and pulled out a Cheon Soo Hotel VIP card from my pocket. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± It was a special card that could be used without any limit at Cheon Soo Group¡¯s affiliates. I didn¡¯t expect to get something like this either. It was a gift from Chairman Cheon, who ordered me to use itfortably while staying at the hotel. ¡®Maybe he was proud of his son, who finally showed some results after failing so much?¡¯ He wouldn¡¯t have given us such a treat if it wasn¡¯t for this. ¡°I¡¯m going to the loungeter. And the spa too.¡± I was a bit worried that he was spending too much for a kid, but the theme of today was flex vacation sponsored by Cheon Ise. To be exact¡­ It was a coboration that Cheon Ise had secured. The title would be ¡®Cheon Ise Pays for Everything!¡¯ ¡®Anyway, everyone knows I¡¯m the son of Cheon Soo Group.¡¯ What the hell was Cheon Ise doing¡­ He was a nobody, but he unted his parents¡¯ money everywhere. I couldn¡¯t help butin about Cheon Ise, but it turned out that he was exposed by his celebrity profile. [Search result> Entrepreneur Cheon Young-tae] [Wife: An Jung-hee Daughter: Cheon Ji-su Eldest son: Cheon O-su Second son: Cheon Ise (Climax)] Because of his father¡¯s entrepreneur profile, he was famous for being a chaebol son since his debut. His debut single was also the best-selling one because of the massive promotion by Cheon Soo Group, but¡­ people were also curious about who the chaebol idol was and listened to his song at least once. ¡°Alright, everyone, if you¡¯ve settled in, let¡¯s reveal your belongings in this order: Ise, Kyunghwa, Yi-jun, Seong-won, Seon-woo.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± I didn¡¯t bring anything but clothes. A simple swimsuit and pajamas, a spare outfit for emergencies, a phone charger and aptop were all I had. ¡°How boring.¡± Yi-jun yawned as if he was not amused. ¡°It¡¯s better than having something weirde out when you¡¯re bored and have nothing to do.¡± We were already warned that we would do something like What¡¯s In My Bag before we came here, so it was inevitable. ¡°I thought you would always carry a knife with you wherever you go, hyung.¡± ¡°Why would I?¡± Seon-woo also joined in the nonsense, making me ask with a wrong expression. ¡°Well¡­ when you go out¡­ you might find something you can cook right away?¡± Did wee to the wilderness? I narrowed my eyes in disbelief. ¡°At the hotel?¡± ¡°Hey, you never know what might happen at the hotel.¡± ¡°What kind of image do you have of me?¡± I had always thought so, but they were weird in many ways. If I was desperate to push myself as a cooking idol, well¡­ I could do it if the agency told me to. But! I wasn¡¯t told to act out a concept, but carrying a knife around was not a chef on a business trip, but a lunatic. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if I was handed over to the police station at any time. ¡°Bear Grylls?¡± ¡°A good hyung who always cooks for us?¡± I could already see the small-eyed animation character and the survival expert going into the edited screen with 80% opacity. ¡°I¡¯m taking a break today. I¡¯m going to buy everything.¡± They rented out the lounge for me at a slightly different time from the regr customers, so I had no reason to refuse. I was very disappointed that I failed to book the fine dining restaurant Sky Aqua, but I was satisfied with this. ¡°Come on, you open your belongings too.¡± I ignored the boringment and pointed at Kyunghwa¡¯s bag. ¡°Mine is¡­¡± Kyunghwa opened his bag hesitantly. Why was he so embarrassed? I was suspicious for a moment. Things that were hard to find in a man¡¯s bag poured out. ¡°This is a wet tissue, this is a disinfectant tissue, and I carry both gel and spray types of hand sanitizer. This is a small kit that I carry around in case I get hurt or something.¡± When Kyunghwa opened the small pouch, it was packed with disposable ointment, wrapped cotton swabs, spray disinfectant, band-aids, waterproof tape, and more. ¡°It¡¯s really reassuring to have one of these when traveling. And this is an extra handkerchief, and a nail clipper, and also, these tiny buttons are really handy when a button falls off.¡± Inside the carrier, there was nothing missing, from scissors with rounded ends to bottle openers and wine openers. Even a passport and a copy of the passport. Anyone would think he was immigrating or something. ¡°Are you Doraemon?¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± Kyunghwa answered confidently without being embarrassed at all. ¡°Oh¡­ do you have an extra charger too?¡± Then Kyunghwa showed him two chargers from inside the carrier as if it was obvious. ¡°Of course. These days, earphones are all wireless, so they¡¯re essential.¡± ¡°Wow, I forgot to bring mine today. Can I borrow it?¡± That shameless guy. He said that without changing his face. As soon as he said that, Kyunghwa took out Yi-jun¡¯s charger from the opposite pocket. ¡°I thought you might, so I brought it for you.¡± ¡°Why is thising out of your bag?¡± ¡°Because you left it behind.¡± It was because the guys around him were too noticeable, but Kyunghwa was also an extraordinary guy. After a briefmotion, it was Yi-jun¡¯s turn. ¡°Ah¡­ I only brought myptop.¡± And that was the truth without any exaggeration. Laptop,ptop charger ¨C he managed to bring that, and Seongwon gave him a hard time, which almost started a fight. ¨C pajamas, underwear. That was all Yi-jun brought. ¡°What about your swimsuit?¡± Then Yi-jun tried to undo the buckle of his pants he was wearing. ¡°Are you crazy? What are you doing?¡± ¡°Ah, I was going to show you by wearing it under my pants.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do it! Don¡¯t do it!¡± Yi-jun didn¡¯t end up taking off his pants and broadcasting it, thanks to me and Kyunghwa rushing to stop him. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s it for me.¡± ¡°What do you rely on to be so careless?¡± ¡°Anyway, convenience stores sell everything simple. If I¡¯m in a hurry, I can solve everything at the convenience store.¡± It was the attitude of a guy who had nevercked anything since he was young. ¡°And I can borrow from Kyunghwa hyung.¡± I shouted as if I had found the culprit. ¡°You. You raised him like this.¡± Kyunghwa immediately turned pale. ¡°Who raised him? I never raised anything disgusting like that.¡± ¡°Ah, my treatment is like this. I¡¯m really crying.¡± Seongwon lowered his head in front of his bed as if he was bored, and Seon-woo sat in his seat andughed brightly. ¡°Okay, okay, let¡¯s move on to reveal Seongwon¡¯s belongings.¡± As per PD¡¯s instructions, we all gathered around Seong-won¡¯s bed. Seong-won backed away nervously, holding his bag. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, why are you running away?¡± Yi-junined as if it was unfair. ¡°Who said I¡¯m running away? Anyone would be scared if you stare at them like that.¡± Seong-won shivered and carefully ced his bag on the bed. He opened it slowly. ¡°Wow¡­¡± He had packed extra clothes, pajamas, swimsuits, throat lozenges, mint candies, tea bags, a tumbler, a neck warmer, a mask, a mist, a heated eye mask, a sleeping eye mask, sleeping socks, and personal toiletries. ¡°You really act like your body is the most precious thing in the world.¡± Yi-jun hit the nail on the head. ¡°So what? It¡¯s weird that you only care about your body.¡± ¡°Can I have some mint candies too?¡± Kyungwha quickly reached out his hand. Seong-won sighed and gave him two pieces. ¡°Can I have some too?¡± Seon-woo also extended his hand. Seong-won nced at me. ¡°Mint is fine.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Seong-won nodded and gave Seon-woo two pieces as well. ¡°Ah, then me too.¡± Yi-jun casually pushed his hand forward. Snap, Seong-won closed the zipper and stuffed the bag inside. ¡°You can buy your own.¡± He was so stingy with food. He was such a kid. ¡°Now, it¡¯s Seon-woo¡¯s turn, right?¡± ¡°Ah, ah¡­!¡± Seon-woo, who had been hiding his suitcase under the nket and fiddling with something, suddenly gasped. He looked like he had done something bad that he didn¡¯t want anyone to find out. ¡°What? Do you have something to hide?¡± I asked without much meaning. Was I right on the mark? Seon-woo looked panicked and didn¡¯t know what to do. ¡°Uh, no? I don¡¯t have anything to hide, okay?¡± Chapter 111: Chapter 111: ¡°Why, uh, why are you all looking at me like that?¡± Why do you think so? Hup. Seon-woo tried to act casual with a tense and strained expression. ¡°Lift up your nket.¡± As Kyunghwa and I stepped forward as representatives and approached the bed, Seon-woo iled his arms and blocked the nket. ¡°No, no! Let me tidy up a bit! The stuff inside spilled out¡­¡± ¡°Stop lying.¡± Kyunghwa firmly pulled Seon-woo¡¯s hand off the nket and yanked it up without hesitation. ¡°Huh?¡± Everyone tilted their heads at the unexpected items neatly stored in the suitcase.¡°I, I was trying to hide them quickly¡­ but I was toote¡­¡± What was it? It was two green soju bottles and two brown beer bottles. ¡°Are you a minor or something?¡± I knew it was an inappropriate item to bring here, but Seon-woo was an adult. Even if he acted like a middle schooler, he wasn¡¯t underage drinking. ¡°I, I¡¯ve never been on a school trip or anything like that¡­ I wanted to feel like I was on a school trip when the PD goes inter¡­¡± With soju and beer? He must have sincerely thought of the stories that were popr among students back then. ¡°Who brings soju and beer like this these days? You¡¯ll get caught by the teachers.¡± Tsk, Yi-jun picked up a beer bottle and clicked his tongue. ¡°Then how do you do it?¡± ¡°You have to mix it with soda or juice and bring it. If you switch it with water, they might check everything, so you have to dilute it with carbonated drinks that don¡¯t smell like alcohol.¡± Kyunghwa listened for a while and frowned. ¡°Do you speak from experience?¡± ¡°Um, noment.¡± Yi-jun pursed his lips and looked away. He must have done it and more. I red at Yi-jun with the same eyes as Kyunghwa and looked at the camera. ¡°Please confiscate this for now.¡± ¡°Ah¡­!¡± Seon-woo looked at me with pitiful eyes like a squirrel that had its acorn taken away, but it didn¡¯t work on me. ¡°There will be liquor in the loungeter, so drink some aperitif.¡± There was no need to fill his stomach with diluted soju when the chefs of the luxury hotel had prepared aperitifs with a generous budget. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Seon-woo seemed to regret losing his booze and kept twitching. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we can drink togetherter if we have time.¡± Seon-woo nodded slowly and took out the contents of his bag one by one. ¡°Change of clothes, pajamas, swimsuit, phone charger, xylitol candy, oh and this is lotion and sunscreen. I always carry extra sunsses and masks.¡± Seon-woo must have suffered from being known as ¡®the handsome younger brother of an idol¡¯ and ¡®a positive example of gics¡¯ even before his debut. He wasn¡¯t even a celebrity yet, but he was stressed out by people constantly taking pictures of him and recognizing him wherever he went. He had never thought much about bing a celebrity. He had nned to inherit the family business of running a small rice cake shop in the countryside. ¡®He would have been much happier there.¡¯ I briefly imagined him eating the rice cakes he made with the happiest expression in the world. ¡®But still¡­ it would be such a waste to bury this face in mundane and rural life.¡¯ I nodded to myself as I thought. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s move to the special lounge now and have a quick lunch. We¡¯ll also y a game while we eat. I¡¯ll exin the game when we get there.¡± What kind of game do you y while eating? I frowned involuntarily. Then Yi-jun patted my shoulder and calmed me down. ¡°Rx. You were like an angry old man just now because you didn¡¯t eat properly.¡± ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t that bad.¡± I shook my head and erased my expression. Then I obediently followed the PD and the staff to the special lounge. The main lounge was busy with lunch customers at this time. It seemed like they had temporarily converted a space that was usually rented for business purposes into a dining area. ¡°Wow¡­ this ce has an amazing view.¡± It was only natural that the view was good, since most of the premium facilities were located on high floors. ¡°Alright, everyone, please find your seats. We¡¯re going to y two games. The first one is ¡®Find the Real Thing¡¯, and the second one is ¡®Initial Sound Game¡¯. For the first game, since Ise will have too much of an advantage, he can only participate as a helper.¡± I had a rough idea of what it was. It was probably about tasting and guessing what ingredients were used or what they were. ¡°That¡¯s not fair. Why are you picking on Ise hyung~.¡± Yi-jun teased them sarcastically, but the production team didn¡¯t budge. ¡°However, you can use the helper chance as many times as you want. You just have to taste two ingredients and choose the one with the higher grade. Then, shall we start with Seon-woo, who is seated first?¡± ¡°Ah, yes!¡± Seon-woo jumped up from his seat. The order was Seon-woo, Kyunghwa, Yi-jun, Seong-won, and me from left to right. So the next yer, Kyunghwa, also looked at the prepared set with a tense expression. ¡°We¡¯ll get the tasting ready for you right away.¡± From behind the wall that looked like a bank counter, a sizzling sound and a delicious smell of beef came up. ¡°The first one is Korean beef. You have to choose the real Korean beef between the imported low-priced beef and the premium Korean sirloin.¡± The staff cut a piece of well-cooked steak and put it on two tes side by side. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too easy?¡± Kyunghwa hummed and looked at Seon-woo¡¯s face with interest, resting his chin on his hand. ¡°It might not be. Some people who eat food for quantity rather than taste might think they¡¯re the same unless they¡¯re exceptionally tough.¡± That was why restaurants that aimed for mass appeal didn¡¯t bother to raise the price and use too high-quality ingredients. Only a few customers were willing to pay a high price for expensive ingredients. What most customers who used public restaurants wanted was reasonable prices and decent quality food. All the experts agreed that it was not a wise strategy to increase the quality of the meat. If they wanted to use more of the budget, they should increase the quantity instead. And Seon-woo¡­ To be honest, ¡®He had no taste.¡¯ He might have chosen the other one, which had more meat, as long as the imported beef was not too tough to chew. And my rational suspicion turned out to be right. ¡°Hmm¡­ This one¡­? I think¡­¡± Seon-woo looked at me hesitantly. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, just exin. How was the taste? Did you have any trouble chewing?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ One of them had a bit of a tendon.¡± ¡°Was the tendon tough?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ No, it was just surprisingly tender.¡± Then the side with the fake tendon was likely to be the Korean beef. ¡°How about the other one? Was it dry or chewy?¡± ¡°No, neither of them was chewy.¡± Hmm¡­ Well. The chef of the luxury hotel grilled one piece at a time in front of us, so there was no way he would overcook the imported beef. ¡°Any other features?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, they were both delicious¡­¡± Then I had no choice but to judge by the intuitive taste of the amateurs. ¡°Did you feel like any of them was too greasy to eat a lot?¡± ¡°Oh, the greasier one was the one with the tendon, I think.¡± ¡°Then that one is the sirloin.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Seon-woo widened his eyes and asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, since I didn¡¯t eat it. Why don¡¯t you check it quickly?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Seon-woo nodded his head and raised his hand. ¡°Correct! The purple te looks like Korean beef!¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m full.¡± Yi-jun rubbed his slightly protruding abs with a satisfied expression and headed to the fitness center. ¡°Seon-woo and I will work out a bit ande up.¡± ¡°Be careful not to get caught in a weird angle on the self-cam.¡± ¡°Am I your lover?¡± Yi-jun pouted his lips as if he was hurt by the distrust, but who could trust him? He was the most childish one among them. I was notfortable sending them off. ¡°I¡¯ll stop by the bakery cafe on the first floor and then go, so just behave and work out.¡± ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Kyunghwa and Seong-won were nning to film a content using the jacuzzi on the terrace, so they went up to the room first. After having lunch and being dragged to the indoor pool, they still had the energy to move their bodies. It was definitely something possible only for the young. ¡®I did overeat for lunch and dinner.¡¯ Ipleted nine out of ten missions at lunch, and the PD, who was in trouble, was still vivid in my mind. We had dinner at a barbecue lounge that operated as a buffet. Maybe it was because it was a rare opportunity to eat without any limits, but everyone piled up their tes with food as if overeating was their life goal. Even Seong-won, who wasn¡¯t usually a big eater, brought a lot more food than usual today. ¡®It¡¯s not like the food you make is worse than this.¡¯ Seong-won muttered defensively, feeling guilty for some reason. Who cares? I was curious why he brought so much food, so I looked at his te and saw that he had a lot of seafood. Seafood was not only expensive, but also hard to get the best ingredients. And¡­ Some people had strong preferences for or against it. I avoided it because I thought it was too much for a side dish that five people ate every day, except for grilled fish. Maybe I should try making grilled shrimp or lobster at hometer. With a drink before the meal, we finished our dinner and wrapped up our schedule with the production team. After the production team left, we nned to film ourselves experiencing the hotel facilities with our self-cams. ¡®So this is what we each got¡­¡¯ Seon-woo and Yi-jun got the fitness facilities, I got the bakery cafe, and Seong-won and Kyunghwa got the hot water infinity pool and jacuzzi. ¡®Isn¡¯t it super awkward for two guys to hang out in the pool?¡¯ I roughly guessed what kind of picture they would make. They would probably just stare at their phones in the waterproof bag without saying anything, wearing swimsuits. I¡¯d rather suffer from the physical attack of Seon-woo & Yi-junbo than join the introverts¡¯ awkward atmosphere. Thinking that, I decided to go down to the first floor first, huh? There was someone sitting in a corner of the lounge who looked familiar for some reason. ¡®What? Why does he look so¡­¡¯ I thought for a while and turned off the self-cam. He was wearing sunsses, but why did he look familiar? After thinking hard, I finally remembered who he was. Chapter 112: Chapter 112: ¡®Why is Kang Yu-geon here?¡¯ He was wearing sunsses and dressed casually, as if he hade to a resort out of season, but I was sure it was the face I knew. He had a handsome face with distinctive features that was not easy to find. ¡®Is he filming something at the hotel?¡¯ W was apany that was running on the investment of Cheon Soo Group, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange if he visited for business purposes. Of course¡­ if he had to use an idol for business, he should have used the group that his sons belonged to¡­ wouldn¡¯t that be more proper as a family member, or more¡­ right? I thought. What is he doing sitting alone in the lounge? Yu-geon had a cocktail decorated with fruits on a low table in front of him and was looking at his phone. ¡®Is he not here for work, but for a personal appointment?¡¯Without realizing it, I hid behind a pir and watched Yu-geon, and someone appeared in front of his table. ¡®What, she looks like an older woman?¡¯ She was adorned with shy luxury brands that I knew the names of, and like Yu-geon, she was hiding her face with sunsses. It was already 9 o¡¯clock, so wearing sunsses at this time meant¡­ Unless it was a medical necessity, she was someone who needed to hide her identity. While I was holding my breath and pretending to wait for someone, the woman approached Yu-geon¡¯s chair. Then she put her hand over his shoulder and hugged him, and Yu-geon got up from his seat. ¡®Gasp.¡¯ I held my breath. It was obvious how awkward it would be if I ran into Yu-geon. I quickly turned my back. ¡®Let¡¯s go to the bakery quietly.¡¯ I went into the bakery as if I had never looked at that side from the beginning. ¡°Please let me know if you are looking for a product.¡± It waste, so unfortunately, most of the products were only left with one or two. I should turn the camera back on as soon as possible, and as soon as I touched the self-cam, someone grabbed the part where the camera lens was. ¡®What, who is this crazy¡­¡¯ This wasn¡¯t a filming-prohibited area, was it? I wondered what kind of person he was and looked up. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I didn¡¯t want to see him, but the face that I had been forced to get used to by the events so far was looking down at me. He still had a smug face. ¡°¡­¡± Did he catch me watching him earlier? But even though he was wearing sunsses, Yu-geon¡¯s face angle was looking at his phone. Not only that, but I clearly saw him scrolling down continuously. I answered him with a poker face. ¡°I came here to film a web variety show on vacation.¡± ¡°Oh~.¡± Then Yu-geon looked at me with a doubtful eye and sneered. ¡°Well, this is your seniors¡¯ hotel, right? Where are the other members and why are you here alone?¡± I didn¡¯t need to exin our schedule to this guy. It was better to tell the truth than to arouse suspicion that I was following him and trying to film him. ¡°We split up into groups. Two went to work out, two went to the pool. I came to check out the bakery.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Yu-geon lightly nodded, resting his straight and neat finger on his chin. ¡°So you were staring at someone else¡¯s seat like that?¡± Ugh. He saw everything and came after me. I tried to y dumb and change the subject. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I just want to finish filming the remaining products and go back to my room¡­¡± ¡°Stop lying. Turn on your camera. I need to see if there¡¯s anything on it.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s eyes changed and he snapped at me in a cold voice I had never heard before. I was getting annoyed and wanted to ignore him. But if he insisted on picking a fight, I couldn¡¯t refuse. It would be better to just show him and get rid of him, rather than resisting here. There was nothing for him to worry about. Then I had a brilliant idea. ¡°Are you doubting me? Do you think I have some regrets and I¡¯m following you around like a paparazzi?¡± I decided to take the upper hand and spoke more aggressively than usual. He must have something to hide, judging by how he rushed at me and demanded to see my camera. And sure enough, he retorted in a more irritated voice. ¡°You¡¯re being pretty rude. Are you scared of something?¡± Yu-geon was smiling, but his lips were trembling as he grabbed my camera. I wouldn¡¯t show him easily. I resisted with force. ¡°What if there¡¯s nothing on the camera? Will you take responsibility for your suspicion?¡± ¡°Yes. I will. If you want me to apologize, I will. If you want me to kneel, I will. Just give it to me.¡± What¡¯s wrong with this guy? Was the situation earlier really what I thought¡­ that kind of thing? Luckily, the staff were busy with the closing cleanup and there were no guests passing by. ¡°Don¡¯t treat me like a criminal¡­ Just look carefully. What¡¯s on it?¡± As I let go of my grip, Yu-geon almost lost his bnce, but he quickly regained it with his reflexes. ¡®He¡¯s perfect, even when he¡¯s unlucky.¡¯ Tsk, I clicked my tongue as Yu-geon fast-forwarded the recorded videos. ¡°¡­¡± Yu-geon¡¯s face, which was fierce as if he could eat someone alive, turned pale with embarrassment in an instant. ¡°¡­¡± I pressed on with momentum. ¡°Did you see anything problematic?¡± Of course, the only thing on the camera was the video of Yu-geon¡¯s table fading to ck. The previous video was of meing down from my room, walking through the hallway, and taking the elevator to the first floor cafe. ¡°What are you doing that makes you so paranoid and ask for other people¡¯s cameras?¡± I red at Yu-geon with a dumbfounded expression. Yu-geon covered his face with his hand and stood there, not knowing what to do. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I just thought there might be some misunderstanding¡­¡± I could see that Yu-geon was trying to salvage the situation. It would be foolish to let go of this opportunity to gain the upper hand. I smiled and answered. ¡°Oh. I saw someone with a strange expressioning out of your table earlier¡­¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Yu-geon looked like he was in trouble as he crumpled his face and asked. ¡°What do you want?¡± What a foolish fantasy to think that a billionaire entrepreneur would be as stubborn and naive as a bear. ¡®This sly fox.¡¯ I could easily read what Yu-geon¡¯s expression meant without him saying a word. ¡°Juste with me for a moment.¡± I smiled as innocently as possible and dragged Yu-geon along. ¡°So what¡¯s going on here?¡± Yi-jun, who had just finished a grueling PT session, squinted his eyes as if he couldn¡¯t believe the sight in front of him. It was unbelievable. Even I thought it was unrealistic. ¡°Hello, Yi-jun. Long time no see. I saw Seon-woo a few weeks ago, right?¡± Yu-geon greeted him cheekily as he unwrapped the mousse cake he bought from the bakery. ¡°Is that really you, Yu-geon? I mean, I¡¯m d to see you, but how did you¡­?¡± Yi-jun tilted his head in bewilderment. Meanwhile, the smell of freshly baked pastries and tarts was irresistible, as his nose twitched. ¡°Well, I wanted to take a break today, so I came here. And I ran into Ise on the first floor. He suggested that I make a surprise guest appearance for today¡¯s content, so I came to have some fun.¡± Yu-geon made a V sign with his hand in front of the self-cam that Yi-jun was holding and greeted him. ¡°You came to have fun?¡± Yi-jun asked as if his eyes were about to pop out, and I answered without blinking. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re just going to have some bread and chat for a while.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Wow, what a face. He had a lot of questions, but he also had a lot of cameras, so he kept his mouth shut. I was really d that Yi-jun had that much sense. Then, Seon-woo, who had finallye to his senses, looked at Yu-geon in surprise and asked. ¡°Yu-geon, did you also get an offer from Floss¡­?¡± At that moment, Yi-jun elbowed Seon-woo in the ribs and shut his mouth. ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, sorry. I just did some exercise and I¡¯m feeling a bit dizzy.¡± Yi-jun lowered his head slightly and smirked with his mouth. ¡°Wow, nice to meet you. Have a good time!¡± Seon-woo, who couldn¡¯t lie, sat down stiffly like a robot and looked for an empty seat. I handed him a fork. ¡°Just have a little bit of the low-fat ones.¡± ¡°Okay¡­!¡± How did this happen? To begin with, I didn¡¯t have any evidence. I just witnessed someone suspicious touching Yu-geon¡¯s shoulder and couldn¡¯t concoct a great scheme. So there was no need to react so sensitively. Really, what¡­ Did he do something that would ruin him if he got caught? I liked how Yu-geon¡¯s face was tinged with anxiety. ¡°You know that our fandoms are constantly fighting, right? It¡¯s not something you can just brush off as kids¡¯ quarrels.¡± I threw the bait bluntly, and Yu-geon gestured for me to move to a secluded spot as he answered. ¡°Of course. Unless you¡¯re a birdbrain.¡± This bastard¡­ Did he feel good about himself after he contacted me for help when the rumor spread on Entertainment Talk and caused amotion? His words seemed to target me exactly. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re also going to participate in that boy grouppetition program, right? We¡¯ll have to sh a lot in the future, so don¡¯t you think we should do something about it?¡± Yu-geon red at me as if I was talking nonsense. ¡°We¡¯re going?¡± His expression told me he had no idea what I was talking about. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s what I heard.¡± ¡°No, f*ck, are you crazy?¡± Did thepany ept the offer without consulting the members? If so, his reaction was justified. I would have cursed too. Yu-geon couldn¡¯t contain his anger and swore again, then ran his hand through his hair. ¡°Ah¡­ Wait a minute. Ah¡­ My head hurts.¡± Yu-geon shouted, but I didn¡¯t care and kept nagging. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll have to keep bumping into each other from now on. Let¡¯s reduce the pointless battles a bit.¡± Then, a faint snicker scattered to the floor. ¡°How?¡± Yu-geon, who crossed his arms, lifted his lips as if he was looking down on me from the top of his head. How indeed. I was thinking of using the same method as when Yu-geon first showed interest in Climax. Namely¡­ ¡°We¡¯re friends, what do you say?¡± It was a friendship operation. Chapter 113: Chapter 113: ¡°Let¡¯s pretend to be friends for a while.¡± As soon as I suggested that concisely, Yu-geon¡¯s eyebrows twitched. ¡°What nonsense are you talking about¡­?¡± Yu-geon snapped back nervously, throwing away even the slightest courtesy. Good, that¡¯s how it should be. The more he acted like a brat, pouting and sulking, the easier it was for me to look down on him from a superior position. ¡°Think about it. Why do you think the fans are fighting? Out of boredom? No way. They think they have to get back the rights and benefits that were taken away from them by that bastard, instead of the idol they support. They think they¡¯re fighting for their idol.¡± That was my guess, too. But when I analyzed the several shes I had with the Floss fandom, they all came down to the same argument. ¡®My¡¯ Floss was being infringed by ¡®your¡¯ Climax, who had the rightful rights, qualifications, and status that they deserved.It sounded like nonsense, but they were serious. It was the same with theeback schedule incident. They assumed that Floss was harmed because of Climax, who was a senior in the industry, and they bombarded Climax with fierce attacks. It was the same with the song, which is still controversial. A rumor spread that Climax had stolen Floss¡¯s song, and they imed that ¡®we have to protect Floss.¡¯ And the recent friction was also of the same nature. As Climax rose, the overzealous fandom acted as if Floss¡¯s interests were being vited, and they kept causing trouble. ¡°So what we have to do is¡­¡± Show them that we¡¯re not enemies, and that we have no reason to fight like this, that we¡¯re allies. Even if we were enemies in reality, if we had any sense of thepany, we wouldn¡¯t have to fight for the same spot in the future. We didn¡¯t have enough manpower to begin with. Shim Naru said he was sorry that our activities didn¡¯t ovep, but that was impossible. No matter how much they neglected Climax, it was impossible for an entertainmentpany of W¡¯s size to have two groups active at the same time. There might be some minor shes elsewhere, but¡­ the rtionship we should aim for was a WIN-WIN model, not a WIN-LOSE model. ¡°So we have to show them that we don¡¯t need to fight, that we¡¯re allies. Got it?¡± ¡°Ha¡­¡± Yu-geon red at me for a long time, as if he didn¡¯t believe me, and then closed his mouth. If he thought about it with his small and pretty head, it wouldn¡¯t sound like a wrong suggestion. It would be hard to persuade the whole members to act friendly, but if I could get Yu-geon to pretend to be friendly with us, it would help a little to ease the conflict. ¡°That¡¯s all you have to say¡­¡± I quickly reached out and grabbed Yu-geon¡¯s right ear. ¡°Ah, ah¡­! What are you doing, ouch!¡± Yu-geon lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly as I pulled his earlobe. ¡°Don¡¯t act so immature and think about it.¡± And I dragged Yu-geon to the room like that. I used my desperate social skills to film a video as if I had met Yu-geon by chance, and I also captured him choosing bread with me at the bakery. When the camera wasn¡¯t on, Yu-geon¡¯s expression changed to ¡®Wow, this old fox-like person.¡¯ but I didn¡¯t care. The ones who greeted us as we came up to the room with a bag of bread, pretending to be friendly¡­ ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ They were Seong-won and Kyunghwa, who were sitting in the same pool with swimsuits on, looking at their phones in waterproof bags. ¡®That was really¡­ awkward. I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.¡¯ Yu-geon dropped the bag of bread with a thud, as if he couldn¡¯t believe the scene. ¡®We met Kang Yu-geon in the lobby on the first floor¡­ and came up to say hello for a moment.¡¯ Kyunghwa was furious, as if he was about to spit fire from his mouth. ¡°Wow, but it¡¯s been a long time, Yu-geon. Are you here to rest today?¡± Yi-jun, who was the mostfortable with Yu-geon among the five of us, put an egg tart in his mouth and asked. ¡°Yeah, we just finished our promotion period and got a week off. It was tooplicated to go abroad, so I thought I¡¯de here for a week and rx. I didn¡¯t expect to see you again like this.¡± ¡°Hmm, I see.¡± Yi-jun nodded, and Yu-geon cautiously looked around and picked up a tart. Does he really swallow the food in his mouth? He had a remarkable nerve in many ways. ¡°Your promotion period was really long this time, right?¡± Kyunghwa, who must have been on guard, opened his mouth a little. ¡°Yes, we did four weeks of promotion with the title song and the sub-song, and two weeks with the follow-up song. It was really long.¡± ¡°You must have worked hard. You seemed to be active in variety shows for over a month.¡± Of course, that included the Star Discovery MC position where Seong-won won second ce. ¡°It was hard. But thanks to the fans who support us, we¡¯re doing well.¡± Yu-geon skillfully answered and greeted Seon-woo again. ¡°You met Seon-woo before, right? How is it to be an MC? Is it okay?¡± Seon-woo, who was holding a canele as if it was precious, was startled and answered. ¡°Ah, yes! I¡¯m getting used to it now.¡± Yu-geon chuckled lightly at Seon-woo¡¯s awkward reaction. ¡°It would be good to practice being more flexible. You¡¯ll have more chances to be number one in the future.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s insincerepliment continued. After that, we chatted about various things, such as what we usually do during the break and what we liked the most among the bread we bought, and finally finished the bread party. ¡°Well, today we had an unexpected guest with us! We¡¯ll send Yu-geon off and see you again tomorrow morning!¡± We finished the filming with a proper closing remark and turned off the camera. The smile on everyone¡¯s face disappeared in an instant. ¡°Okay then. Good job.¡± Kyunghwa, who had a tant stiff expression, headed to the entrance as if he was going to kick Yu-geon¡¯s butt. ¡°Kyunghwa, wait a minute.¡± I checked that the cameras around me werepletely off and sighed lightly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for bringing a guest without consulting you in advance. I have something to talk to you about, so listen.¡± Yu-geon, who seemed to be leaving on his own, crossed his arms and looked down at me. ¡°You guys must know, but there¡¯s a situation where there¡¯s a constant small and big conflict between Tempo and Rise. I was thinking that we should stop this meaningless conflict from our side.¡± ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± Yi-jun nodded reluctantly, as if admitting the truth. Seong-won also snorted lightly, but did not deny the fact. ¡°So I thought it would be better to show some friendship with the members who can cooperate with us at least.¡± ¡°Friendship?¡± Kyunghwa asked, as if he did not understand. ¡°Well, if we act a bit friendly with each other, maybe we can get rid of the excuse that we are fighting for the idol I like.¡± They all thought for a while, weighing the pros and cons, and then opened their mouths. ¡°Did all the members of Floss agree to that? Or just you, Yu-geon?¡± Yu-geon finally intervened, as if it was his turn. ¡°Well, it¡¯s just me for now. As you know, our team atmosphere is such that we are considerate of each other and respect each other¡¯s opinions. Haha. I think it would be hard to get everyone¡¯s consent.¡± In other words, we are not close enough to persuade each other. ¡°Then, are you the only one who will cooperate with us from Floss?¡± Kyunghwa asked with a much more rational expression than before. ¡°Yes, I guess so.¡± And Yu-geon epted Kyunghwa¡¯s words. What if Kyunghwa says we don¡¯t need to do this? Unfortunately, we needed this kind of strategy. We had no reason to sh with the top group that had a powerful fandom, while we were just rising as a new group. ¡°¡­¡± What are you trying to say? Let¡¯s get this over with! I sent a telepathy to Kyunghwa in my mind. ¡°Please try to persuade them more. At least two more. Since you all have a lot of personal fans, I think it would help to prevent fandom conflicts if there are at least three members who are friends.¡± ¡°What?¡± I was surprised by the bold request that I did not expect. What are you talking about, Ryu Kyunghwa? As I opened my eyes wide, Kyunghwa added calmly. ¡°It might be hard for us to participate in your content activities because of the difficulty of convincing our members. How about we coborate officially on our content sometime?¡± Of course¡­ It was not a bad suggestion, if it was possible. But would Floss agree? If we were to produce content, it would be perfect to bring in the manpower needed to repair the country house for the winter. ¡®But still¡­ The problem is whether they will agree.¡¯ As I waited for Yu-geon¡¯s reaction, he smiled brightly with a rather cold expression. ¡°Sounds good. I¡¯ll try to convince them.¡± That¡¯s enough for now. I felt Yu-geon¡¯s patience was reaching its limit and stepped in between him and Kyunghwa. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s call it a day. I¡¯ll take Yu-geon ande back, so get ready.¡± I quickly pushed Yu-geon¡¯s back and sent him out to the hallway. There was only one room on this floor, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about anyone else. ¡°¡­¡± As soon as the door closed, Yu-geon shook off my hand that was holding his arm. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Let go.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I obediently took Yu-geon to the elevator entrance. And then I took a deep breath to bring up the topic that I had been worried about but couldn¡¯t say. I watched the elevator slowly ascend from the ground floor and sighed cautiously. It wasn¡¯t that I was trying to dig up his weakness on purpose. The woman who had touched Yu-geon¡¯s shoulder earlier¡­ She looked at least 15 years older than me, no matter how I looked at her. It couldn¡¯t be some kind of inappropriate rtionship, could it? I knew it was none of my business, but I couldn¡¯t help being bothered. I had also heard from others that popr male idols often received inappropriate offers from big shots, madams, or chaebol heiresses. ¡°By the way, if you ever get any weird or inappropriate requests¡­¡± He red at me as if I was crazy. ¡°What are you talking about? She¡¯s the president of The ssic Entertainment.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I uttered a stupid exmation and he closed the elevator door with an extremely disgusted expression. Chapter 114: Chapter 114: ¡°¡­¡± The elevator that carried Yu-geon made a small mechanical sound as it descended to the lower floor. I awkwardly closed my eyes and covered my face with my hand, staring at the tightly shut elevator door. I thought we had some kind of unpleasant rtionship because of his unnecessarily sensitive attitude. But it turned out to be more innocent than I expected. ¡®Well¡­ there¡¯s only half a year left in our activity period. It¡¯s probably time to start preparing for the next step.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know exactly how the contract was set up, since I was a third party. But from what I heard in themunity, the trainees from the affiliated agencies would go back to their original agencies as soon as the two years were over. In the case of our senior group, Winirand, some of the trainees didn¡¯t go back to their original agencies. They stayed with ¡®White Sand Music¡¯, which was the project management agency. It was a business secret, so unless you were involved, you couldn¡¯t know what the conditions were.¡®In the end¡­ they all went down the same path of failure. It wasn¡¯t a good choice.¡¯ The Floss members must have had a lot on their minds. It was none of my business, anyway. I was just a little curious. Even if they copsed as miserably as Winirand, it had nothing to do with us. ¡®I wonder if this will make our agency push us more. That would be nice.¡¯ But I didn¡¯t want to wish for their downfall for our sake. And neither did the other members. They weren¡¯t so vicious that they would hope for their own sess at the expense of others. If they were, they wouldn¡¯t have stayed in this mess in the first ce. I suddenly remembered a few sentences I saw on SNS. [- Isn¡¯t it amazing that Climax got into the Muggle Pick for theirtest single?] When I looked at the word cloud of the public¡¯s evaluation and association with Climax, there were a few prominent words. [Desperation] [Urgency] [Support] [Hope] [Comeback] Maybe it was because of their long obscure life and the attacks they received from the big fandoms. They were praised as idols that made you want to cheer for them. ¡®In other words¡­ they looked pitiful.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t an image that would benefit them in the long run. But for now, it was a huge help. Also, I didn¡¯t notice it when I was preparing, but when I released the single, I realized something. ¡®This¡­ was not a popr concept.¡¯ It was too heavy for the masses, and there was no hook section that would make it addictive. It was cool, but it was something that only the people who liked us would rave about. It was a hard concept to catch the attention of the public. What saved us from the cold and dark 100th rank was the ¡®desperate stone¡¯ image. We received the sympathy of the public as the unfair treatment we received from the popr group of the same agency was exposed. They said they wanted to support us to reach higher ces. And the busking live that we did without a single staff member also became a hot topic when it was revealed that the minivan was a rental car. [- They¡¯re notcking in skills or visuals, but how can they not make it? ??????] [- I was sad that Ise was good at driving, but when I saw him breaking through that crowd and getting out, I don¡¯t know if I should be relieved or not ?????] We were grateful that we could stay in the 30th rank thanks to them. ¡®But we can¡¯t rely on this alone.¡¯ As the leader and the son of a chaebol family, I couldn¡¯t afford to be seen as ¡®idols who do it as a hobby¡¯. It would be over as soon as they said, ¡®Oh, I thought they were poor, but they¡¯re not.¡¯ The public could change their minds at any moment. So we had to¡­ quickly secure a solid fandom that wouldn¡¯t copse. Anyway, I couldn¡¯t afford to miss the present situation by worrying about the future. Right now, the priority was to calm down the members who were still dumbfounded. I opened the door to the room again and went inside. ¡°¡­¡± The members were staring at me with piercing eyes. My face was not just stinging, but burning. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about what happened today.¡± As I apologized without avoiding the awkward atmosphere, hmm, Kyunghwa pursed his lips. ¡°You could have at least texted us.¡± I knew it was an excuse, but I thought it was better than saying nothing. ¡°It wasn¡¯t the right mood for that. It¡¯s hard to exin in detail.¡± Shh, I looked around at the other guys¡¯ expressions and saw that everyone except Seon-woo had a pretty stiff face. ¡°I was short-sighted. I¡¯ll be careful next time.¡± ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s good that it ended well.¡± Kyunghwa clicked his tongue and the mood was roughly settled. Then, out of the blue, Yi-jun brought up the topic that everyone had been thinking about. ¡°But it¡¯s amazing that thepany decided to let the Floss kids appear in thepetition without even telling them properly.¡± Seong-won sighed briefly and answered. ¡°They might have thought that they didn¡¯t need to get approval from thepany. They just booked the schedule, thinking that you guys don¡¯t have any veto power.¡± This was Seong-won¡¯s experience. He had been tricked into recording a guide song for a survival program appearance, only to have the appearance canceled. ¡°They must have a lot on their minds too.¡± We would participate in the program together and foster a friendly image among the groups. It wouldn¡¯t be such a bad choice to join hands with us. Especially since Floss¡¯s anti-fans were framing them as a weak, unknown group that was being bullied by a giant group. However¡­ It was a separate issue whether those proud idols from the survival show would ept our offer as well as appearing on the show. ¡°Argh, I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to think about it anymore.¡± Yi-jun suddenly screamed and jumped onto his bed. At times like this, it was best to stuff something in his mouth. He had just stuffed his mouth with the things he had bought from the bakery, but Yi-jun¡¯s basic dialogue was beyond imagination. ¡°Who wants room service?¡± As I pulled out the VIP card from my pants pocket, everyone¡¯s eyes lit up in an instant. ¡°You can only have sd.¡± At my words, Seon-woo quickly frowned. Anyway, it was a relief that they were all good with each other. The timing was really cruel. Three days after spending a luxurious vacation at the hotel. The lineup of the boy group survival program ¡®Boys Be Ambitious¡¯ was announced, coinciding with the upload date of ¡®Boys in Crisis¡¯. Was the manager¡¯s word that Floss¡¯s appearance was confirmed not a lie? Floss was upying a spot in the lineup. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Title] The lineup for the boy group survival program on NBS is out [Body] They got a lot of hate when they announced the production, but they¡¯re really doing it. Floss (9 members) Climax (5 members) AtoX (6 members) Vesper (7 members) P2CK (6 members) yground (8 members) [Comments] [- Are you kidding me? Has Wiple gone crazy???] [? Who wants to go to Wiple¡¯s office with a Molotov cocktail?] [? I want to burn it down for real22222] [? Count me in3333] [- Who is yground? I¡¯ve never heard of them before] [? They¡¯re the group that debuted from the audition show on Cable¡¯s B-Clip Entertainment] [- Wow¡­ They¡¯ve got everything from visuals to skills. I can already see a huge fighting up] [? ¡°That fandom¡± ising for us soon??????????????????] [- Shouldn¡¯t Floss be the judges??? They¡¯re too good to be contestants?] [? Floss is overrated and only ¡°that fandom¡± doesn¡¯t know it^^] [? I reported you to Lisa for stirring up trouble. Let¡¯s get banned] [- I¡¯m so d my bias group isn¡¯t in this?????????] [? Lucky lucky22222222] [? If you¡¯re lucky, just shut up and move on. Who are you to rub salt in the wound?] £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Except for yground, who debutedst month, all the other groups had higher poprity than Climax. As boy groups with high album sales, they were all strangers to me when I was living as Lim Hyun-seong. They each had at least 300,000 copies sold in their first week. Did we really belong in this lineup? I couldn¡¯t contain my curiosity and checked the other groups¡¯ first-week sales. I lost my appetite. [Best first-week sales by group] Floss 1.45 million Climax (none) AtoX 570,000 Vesper 430,000 P2CK 310,000 yground (none) Theint that Floss should be the judge was understandable. Not to mention, Floss¡¯s leader Hwijin had participated as a supporter teacher in the yground¡¯s performance stage. ¡®Are they trying to get all the attention by getting hated?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t figure out what they were thinking. I racked my brain for a while and came to a conclusion. ¡®They¡¯re the kind of people who would do anything for money.¡¯ They didn¡¯t care how the contestants¡¯ mental health would be shattered, broken, and tormented, as long as the show was a hit. Anyway, this was the general reaction of the boy groupmunity. And the Rises were on a roller coaster that couldn¡¯tugh or cry. [- I¡¯m going crazy???????????? How do we deal with this supply that no one wants? No one asked for thisbination???????] [They don¡¯t seem to want thisbination at all???????????] First of all, the awkward jacuzzi experience of Seong-won and Kyunghwa became a huge topic. Well, I expected it a little bit. Seong-won and Kyunghwa, who only wore swimsuits, entered the water without any thought and sat face to face, then turned around without saying anything. The scene was made into a clip and circted around the inte. It would have been better if they had worn something like rash guards. Both of them brought only shorts swimsuits because of the strong persuasion of the PD, and it was a disaster. They were properly dressed below, but only part of their upper body was sticking out of the water, and the picture looked very strange. They felt that something was wrong while filming with their self-cam, but they didn¡¯t say anything. [Two people looking at the sunset of Seoul without a word] [(Faint pink effect)] [¡­(Crow flying effect)] [The two spent an intimate time like this for an hour. (Night view)] The editing also highlighted the awkward atmosphere of the two, which was painful to watch, and the viewers were all suffering from empathy. But the more the cast suffered, the more the viewers enjoyed it. [- Abination that rejects chemistry with their whole body] [- A supply with no demand that will never happen again in K-dol history] [? Kyunghwa, I know it¡¯s hard to make a living, but this is not it] [? Ryu Kyunghwa and Son Seong-won probably think the same as you] [- ???????????????????Please save me, I¡¯m going to die from suffocation watching this] [- I think I¡¯ve watched this 100 times, but every time I¡¯m drawn to his suffocating expression, I just realized that Seong-won has abs on his stomach?????????????] [? Yeah, it¡¯s funny and cute how hepares with Kyunghwa] [? If youpare it with when they went to the indoor pool as a group during the day, it¡¯s more clear] [? Seon-woo and Kyunghwa are the only ones who are nd, it¡¯s so cute?????????] The vacation special itself was well-received as it was. Thanks to the fans of idols and general viewers who watched it a lot, it also got a boost from the algorithm. Thement section was a mess again, but there was something more important than that. It was the reaction to the appearance of ¡®Boys Be Ambitious¡¯. Chapter 115: Chapter 115: [- (A picture of a beggar in the Joseon era who has be a rebel leader and is blowing a horn)] [? (A picture of another drama¡¯s beggar role who is walking weakly)] [- I don¡¯t even have the strength to get angry anymore] [? Let¡¯s think positively. It¡¯s better than being stuck in a corner and not sending anything out and being stored away. A new stagees up every two weeks] [? But what about the mental state of the fans? Can I be so selfish and positive?] [? ?;¡ä?? ???`? ?;¡ä?? ???`? ?;¡ä?? ???`? ?;¡ä?? ???`? ?;¡ä?? ???`?(( ????? )) o0O(Let¡¯s cause one more trouble, Yi-jun)] [- I really don¡¯t want to be associated with ¡°that fandom¡± but they keep¡­ sigh¡­] [? They¡¯re probably preparing to terrorize us if our group¡¯s rank is low??????? (Thinking about it, this is not the time tough picture)] [? ???????I¡¯m going crazy, why is nothing easy to solve?Most of the opinions were negative. It wasn¡¯t that shocking because it was the expected reaction. But what made me feel a little ufortable was¡­ ¡®They obviously think we¡¯re at the bottom.¡¯ It couldn¡¯t be helped. The internal evaluation and the expert review would be reflected separately, but¡­ ¡®If it¡¯s a survival show, it¡¯s basically a voting war.¡¯ Except for yground, which was aplete rookie, the rest of the groups had proven their solid fandom base. We were the most likely to fail. Inside Rise, there was already a self-deprecating story that we were too weak to support the talented kids. There was no need to think like that. I turned off the phone screen with a bitter taste in my mouth andy down on the bed. In the afternoon, I had a guest appearance on a lifestyle information program hosted by a famous chef. It was okay to be a littlezy in the morning. I pressed my thumb hard on my head, which was ringing horribly. Then I suddenly remembered and checked the TOP 200 chart. [43rd ¨C Drink Me ¨C Climax] It was still holding on in the 50s. It had been a week since the activity ended, but I still heard our song quite often when I walked the streets. Then I realized how amazing this rank was in the eyes of the general public. Once you get into the ylist of the non-fandomyer, the so-called muggle pick, the rank defense is well done. It seemed that the story was true. On the other hand, Floss¡¯s follow-up song was barely hanging on the 90th line. ¡®Of course, the main activity song is still within the 25th.¡¯ Wherever you go, they y Floss songs by album ylist, so it was natural that the main song rank was that high. When will we be like that? I had to reach that level to clear all the quests and go back to my original purpose. Suddenly, I thought that my stepmother who killed me might die of natural causes before I became a Floss-level top star. ¡®Let¡¯s not think weird things.¡¯ I shook my head sideways and threw it away, and eventually went out to the living room. Seon-woo was PT, Yi-jun was exercising. Kyunghwa had a personal schedule for a cable program and left in the morning, and Seong-won went to the office for vocal training. He sang so well, but did he still need training? I thought he should be the one to teach, but there was no reason to stop him if he needed it. The manager said he would pick me up three hours before the afternoon schedule. In the meantime, I headed to the kitchen to clean the refrigerator for a while. I was busy with variety shows and music shows for a while, so I didn¡¯t have time to clean the fridge. ¡°Ugh, there¡¯s so much stuff to throw away.¡± As I faced the cold air spilling out from the fridge, I started to sort out the wilted vegetables and the expired Greek yogurt. While I was busy with the trash, Pposili and Aeongi came to my side. ¡°Meow, purr, gurgle¡­¡± I absentmindedly scratched their heads with my empty hand, and Aeong made a happy sound. If it weren¡¯t for Pposili, I wouldn¡¯t have to take care of this guy at the dorm either. Did he notice my bitter thoughts? The cat bit my hand that was scratching his forehead. ¡°Ow.¡± I quickly pulled my hand away, and saw the red marks left by his teeth. ¡°Grumble, growl.¡± He seemed happy, rolling on the floor and rubbing his cheek, though I had no idea why. ¡°Why don¡¯t you teach him not to bite?¡± I scolded Pposili, but he just tilted his head as if he didn¡¯t understand. He pretends not to understand, but he knows everything. I sighed and finished cleaning the fridge, and then I remembered the first day I came to the dorm. It has been half a year already. Time flew by so fast. I impulsively searched for Jo Young Food on the inte. ¡°¡­¡± The result was horrible. After my brother became the new CEO, the stock price had dropped by 20% in six months due to his scandals. Even if I seeded in revenge as Cheon Ise, it was a stake that I couldn¡¯t recover. I wouldn¡¯t lose anything even if it plummeted. Maybe I should be happy about it. But I couldn¡¯t help worrying about the employees. Thepany that used to be full of pride for making safe food in the most hygienic environment in Korea, now I can easily guess how gloomy it was. ¡®I¡¯d rather not see it.¡¯ As I shook my head, a message arrived. [¡®YOU¡¯ invited you to a new chat room.] It was Kang Yu-geon. What is it? I rubbed my eyes and saw that it was a four-person group chat. [YOU] Do you want to invite the other members, or do you want to be alone? 9:56 AM The members who were already in the chat room seemed to be from Floss. [H] [???] Who are H and ???? I didn¡¯t think there was a member whose name initials were ??? in Floss. [Me] For now, let¡¯s just talk with me, and if you need to, you can invite more. 9:57 AM If eight people came in at once and talked, the opinions would scatter and get distracted, and the chances of getting away from the main purpose would be high. [YOU] Okay 9:57 AM [YOU] First of all, H is our leader hyung 9:58 AM Ha. Was his name Hwijin? So that¡¯s why he was H. I nodded and waited for Yu-geon to introduce the rest of the members. [YOU] ??? is our youngest Shim Naru. ¡®¡­¡¯ ??? was not an initial, but an emoticon that he used to act cute. I looked at my phone with a shocked expression. Wait. If the leader of Floss is Hwijin¡­ ¡®I only remember that he¡¯s famous for being old.¡¯¡± When I appeared on My Idol Stage, I was 27 years old, the only one among the cast who hadpleted his military service. I received a lot of attention for that. So now, two years after the show, I am 29. Thanks to my amazing youthful looks, I looked younger than the other members who were in their mid-twenties. I didn¡¯t really dream of debuting as an idol when I joined the show. I had debuted as a nameless idol in my teens and failed miserably, then switched to acting. After changing my career, I didn¡¯t make much progress and enlisted. After discharge, I appeared in severalmercials as a minor role, but I still didn¡¯t get any recognition. ¡®So I joined the show just to raise my poprity¡­¡¯ And I ended up bing the runner-up, carrying a huge poprity on my back. The big brother that My Idol Stage produced. That was Floss¡¯s Lee Hwijin. He was hardly unknown. He had been an idol for more than three years and his stage skills were well-known. I knew that Hwijin had a lot of personal fans. I was lucky to get him on board. [Me] Hello, Hwijin. Naru. 9:59 AM [Me] Nice to meet you. 10:00 AM Then I got a cute hamster emoji from ¡®???¡¯, pretending to be cute. Uh¡­ something that elementary school kids would use, I thought, then remembered that Sim Naru was only neen. ¡®Well, he¡¯s young, so that makes sense.¡¯ Then Hwijin¡¯s message came up. [H] I heard a lot about you from Yu-geon. 10:01 AM [H] I look forward to working with you. 10:01 AM What did he tell you, Kang Yu-geon? I didn¡¯t think he would say anything good. We exchanged brief greetings and Yu-geon got to the point. [YOU] Boys Be Ambitious has a fixed schedule for filming, right? When is the filming day? 10:02 AM As we went through the promotion period, the external variety show filming took priority, so the schedule changed temporarily. It was easier to fix the appearance schedule during the non-promotion period, so we decided to film on Wednesdays and air on Saturdays. [Me] We¡¯re in a non-promotion period right now, so it¡¯s irregr, but it will be every Wednesday from now on. 10:03 AM [YOU] OK, I¡¯ll make time for Wednesday. 10:03 AM [Me] Okay. 10:04 AM [Me] Let me know when the schedule is confirmed. We¡¯ll try to amodate as much as possible. 10:05 AM There was nothing more to say after that, so the silence naturally came. Well, we said what we had to say, so we¡¯ll contact each other if we need more. I finished the conversation and felt hungry. I decided to have brunch for a change. I had some milk and pancake mix that were close to their expiration date. Of course, my worries were also about food. Not long after, I had a chance to meet Hwijin in person. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect to meet him like this¡­¡¯ The productionpany of ¡®Boys Be Ambitious¡¯ decided to make a pre-promotion video to attract the viewers¡¯ interest before the official filming. They filmed video interviews with each group, and also¡­ ¡°Hello, I¡¯m P2CK¡¯s leader, Hayoung! Nice to meet you!¡± They made a ce for the leaders to mingle with each other. ¡°Hello, long time no see.¡± Since I decided to appeal that we had some friendship, I waved my hand and greeted Hwijin first. ¡°Ah. Hello, Ise.¡± Hwijin greeted me with a skillful smile, showing no sign of hesitation or embarrassment on his face. He was indeed a former actor. ¡°Is this the first time we meet on the same program? How have you been?¡± I casually pretended that we had met before, and Hwijin yed along. ¡°Thanks to your concern, I¡¯ve been doing well. I¡¯m really enjoying watching Boys in Crisis.¡± I also reached out my hand for a handshake without hesitation. ¡°I¡¯m also having fun watching your drama these days. You have an amazing sync rate with the original work, don¡¯t you?¡± Hee-jin is currently starring in a web drama based on a webtoon. Of course¡­ The quality was¡­ well¡­ something that the kids loved these days, I guess. It wasn¡¯t made for adults to watch anyway. It was aimed at middle and high school students who liked that kind of sentiment. There was no way it would be fun for an old man like me. ¡°Oh, no, not at all.¡± Hwijin waved his hand with augh, and the PD came over to us right away. ¡°Do you two know each other?¡± Exactly. That¡¯s how you do it. I opened my mouth naturally. Chapter 116: Chapter 116: ¡°Hwijin and I are on the same team, you know. We ran into each other several times at the office and became friends right away.¡± He was 29 years old and he called me ¡®brother¡¯ without any hesitation. Maybe it was because he had blended in with Cheon Ise a little bit. Of course, what he just said was a lie, except for the part about being on the same team. I hardly ever went to the office, and I heard that Floss rented their own practice room outside. I had never seen him at the office, let alone bumped into him. ¡°We¡¯re super close. I just never had a chance to show you.¡± Hwijin looked at me brazenly, without even twitching his lips. He smiled with his eyes, as if to say that he wasn¡¯t the leader of the debut group for nothing. I had a strong impression of Kang Yu-geon as a sly fox when I first met him. But Hwijin, the leader, was even more cunning. He put his arm over my shoulder.¡®He¡¯s crossing the line with this fake act.¡¯ I bent my waist slightly and slipped out of Hwijin¡¯s arm. If I wanted to make it look like we were close in this situation¡­ ¡®There¡¯s no other way.¡¯ I closed my eyes and took a deep breath inside. ¡°Hey, bro, what are you doing? You¡¯re making me embarrassed.¡± I am Oh Yi-jun. I am Kang Yu-geon. I am Oh Yi-jun. I am Kang Yu-geon. I can do this. I am a pro. A pro is someone who does their role on time. I brainwashed myselfpletely in my head and pped Hwijin¡¯s arm with my palm. The eyes of the other leaders who were exchanging brief greetings behind us turned to us at once. I didn¡¯t even have to check their expressions to know that they were all surprised and curious about what they had just heard. Of course, the recording was going well. I didn¡¯t care if it was an aggro edit, as long as the friendly scene between Floss and Climax leaders could make it to the broadcast. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re hurt? You acted like you didn¡¯t know me earlier, but now you won¡¯t even be my shoulder buddy?¡± Hwijin quickly caught the mood and replied in a casual tone. ¡°You guys must be really close¡­¡± ¡°Did he just use informal speech?¡± ¡°That¡¯s unexpected, I thought they didn¡¯t get along.¡± The leaders of the rtively young groups whispered to each other, and I could hear them all. ¡°Ah, bro. You know I can¡¯t stand this kind of thing. And you know we don¡¯t have any friendship or rtionship anymore, right?¡± I braced myself for the provocative edit and jokingly made a thumbs-down gesture. Hwijin breathed in andughed. ¡°Ahaha, okay. We don¡¯t care about you either, so don¡¯t cry and beg me to go easy on youter.¡± Then he clenched his fist and held out the t side to me. I dly bumped it with the back of my fist and smiled. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t hold back and give it your best shot.¡± I hoped they would move on to the interview soon, feeling awkward and ncing at the PD. Then a staff member came over. ¡°Hwijin, Ise, we¡¯ll take you to your seats.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll talk to youter.¡± Hwijin waved his hand and said goodbye to me. I also lightly waved my palm and followed the staff¡¯s guidance. ¡®Ugh.¡¯ It was a crazy thing that I never even imagined possible. Of course, if necessary, he was older than me and had more experience, so he could do anything as my senior. ¡®Ugh.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t stand being called ¡®brother¡¯ and fawned over by the young kid with a pale face. This was supposed to be Oh Yi-jun¡¯s role in Climax. I felt like breaking out in hives when I imitated a cute younger sibling that didn¡¯t suit my constitution. ¡°Hello¡­! You¡¯re the leader of Climax, right?¡± As I sat down and tried to calm my queasy stomach, a guy who looked like the leader of another group came up to me. ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± Who was he? I scanned his face, recalling the group information I had studied thoroughly beforeing to the leader interview. A leader with such a young and cheeky impression¡­ ¡°BKC, right? I really liked your debut song.¡± ¡®yground BK.¡¯ No matter how it was a stage name, who names themselves BK? Really, BK? What does it mean? What was the intention behind naming himself BK? I remembered looking at his stage name several times, unable to understand it. ¡°Oh, wow. Do you know me?¡± BK¡¯s face lit up with an expression of infinite admiration as he looked up at me. I wondered why he was so happy that I knew his name. ¡®Well, I guess so.¡¯ The only ones who could be considered unknowns here were Climax and yground. And it seemed like everyone else didn¡¯t care as much about this program as these two groups, since they came out without even doing basic research on the cast. They must already know each other. Except for Floss, who was famous for not socializing, the rest looked like they had already built rapport by appearing on other shows or ovepping their activities. ¡°Yes, of course. I saw your debut stage too. You¡¯re still nervous, right?¡± Then BK finally found someone he could talk to and his eyes sparkled with excitement. ¡°Really? I was so nervous that I don¡¯t even remember what I did. I thought I got used to it after surviving, but when I stood on stage, my head went nk.¡± He rattled on without me asking, and I thought, he¡¯s still very young. How old was he? I vaguely remembered that there were no adult members in yground. ¡®They must have no one to rely on.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s normal at first. We don¡¯t have much stage experience either, so we¡¯re always flustered.¡± I said what I could as a five-year senior and nned to draw a line. ¡®I have enough kids to look after at home.¡¯ I understood that he was desperate to bond with someone, but I had my nose full too. If I took care of someone else¡¯s kid and neglected my own, it would be a waste of effort. ¡®Let¡¯s not get attached from the start.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯ll get good results if you do what you usually do.¡± I smiled lightly and gave him a cliched remark. ¡°R-really? I¡¯m still so nervous right now, and everyone is so much more senior than me, so, um¡­ Do I belong here? I¡¯m so scared. I really want to go home.¡± Oh, boy. How could he say that with a mic on? He had gone through a survival program like Floss, but there was a huge difference in the scale and ratings. He looked ufortable with this kind of attention, unlike those snake-like guys from Flos. ¡®Let¡¯s just avoid them for now.¡¯ ¡°Good luck. You have no choice but to work hard.¡± I gave him a light word of encouragement and cut off the conversation, looking at the direction where Hwijin was being interviewed. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m back.¡± When I got home, it was almost 11 pm, even though I didn¡¯t do anything special. ¡°How was it? Did you have fun?¡± Yi-jun ran up to me with a gleeful look in his eyes. ¡°Fun? Are you kidding me?¡± I was exhausted from pretending to be friendly with Hwijin in the first round, and even more so from the kid from someone else¡¯s house who kept clinging to me in the second round. I really wanted to apologize and push him away, but he was too burdensome. He was only a sophomore in high school, but he was desperately shining his eyes and hanging on to me. ¡®Can you please take care of me?¡¯ He didn¡¯t say it out loud, but his round eyes clearly showed what he wanted. ¡°Wow-!¡± How am I supposed to deal with this? My head hurt and I touched my forehead, and Pposili came up to me and rubbed against me, wagging his tail as if he was d I came. My head wasplicated in many ways. I almost grabbed a can of beer from the fridge without realizing it, but¡­ ¡®There¡¯s none.¡¯ Of course, this wasn¡¯t Lim Hyun-seong¡¯s house, but Climax¡¯s dorm. There was no beer can rolling around in the fridge. ¡®I should have bought some in advance.¡¯ Maybe Seon-woo would have been worried if I drank it secretly behind the kids. I put the back of my hand on my forehead and sighed. ¡°What¡¯s with that expression? You look like a weary old man who¡¯s been worn out by society.¡± Kyunghwa, who came out to the living room to drink water, pushed my butt with his toe as I sat on the floor. ¡®It¡¯s not that I look like one, I am a weary old man who¡¯s been worn out by society.¡¯ I hid the answer I wanted to say and dusted off my pants as I got up. ¡°Cheer up.¡± I muttered a shaky greeting and headed to my room, and Kyunghwa mumbled to himself. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± I had no energy left to answer, so I shook my hand and buried my face in the pillow. A weekter, the leader Jo¡¯s interview was released as a pre-promotion video. [Quest Rmended Completion Period D-81] Got it. I got up from my seat, ruffling my hair, and checked the released teaser video. [Hello! Three, two, one, I¡¯m Floss¡¯s Hwijin! It¡¯s such an honor to be here with you. We¡¯ll do our best to show you our amazing performance with all our skills.] First, everyone was waiting for Hwijin¡¯s interview. Oh¡­ It was surprisingly orthodox, and I was relieved. NBS¡¯s editing went wild. [Don¡¯t becent!] [The blood-boiling war of the passionate boys begins!] [What are you doing? How embarrassing.] ¡­? What? Why is this here? And the next sentence was even more shocking. [A world ofpetition where only the winners survive!] [You know we don¡¯t have any friendship or loyalty, right?] Then the scene switched to another leader¡¯s interview. [Well, just keep it simple. Survival of the fittest. If you¡¯re weak, even if you¡¯re on top, you¡¯ll get bitten.] [Which group will im the throne of the king!] The atmosphere on the set was quite warm, except for the restless BK. But the edited video portrayed them as Tado Floss. Leaders who were eager to overthrow Floss, who was on top. I was also cleverly edited. Just one word, ¡®now¡¯, was missing, but it made such a difference. We were perfectly transformed into ¡®Cheon Ise and other leaders¡¯ who were madly provoking Hwijin. [Wow, aren¡¯t you hurt?] [The bloody pride fight of the representative K-Pop boy group begins!] [I can¡¯t stand this (low-level) stuff. I haven¡¯t had a chance to show you what I can do.] When did I say that? I didn¡¯t mean it like that, and it wasn¡¯t in that context. But with a caption like that, people would remember me as the person who said that. And then the screen switched to a logo that glowed in a creepy red color on a ck background. [A fierce deration of war for the king¡¯s throne!] [Wow, this is no joke.] [Look at the mood. They¡¯re all desperate.] [We have to chew them up.] The leaders of each team followed with some provocative remarks, and thest one was me again. [Are you nervous? (Already) I¡¯m looking forward to it.] It was like saying, I¡¯ll crush them one by one, so wash your neck and wait. [NBS special ¡®Boys Be Ambitious¡¯] [Every Thursday at 10:30 p.m.] Then the short 30 second video ended with BK¡¯s crying voice. [I really want to go home.] ¡°¡­¡± All the members who were watching YouTube on the living room TV opened their mouths after a long silence. ¡°Is this real?¡± Is it real? Cold sweat ran down my back. I should give up searching for a while. I didn¡¯t need to see it with my eyes to feel that my life span had been extended by about 30 years. It¡¯s spicy. This is the world of survival. It was the moment I realized how much of a frog in a well I had been. Chapter 117: Chapter 117: ¡°Sigh¡­¡± I stared nkly at the screen after the video ended. Seon-woo came closer to me, sneaking a nce at my face. [¡ù¡®Seon-woo¡¯ is worried about you.] I didn¡¯t need Pposili to tell me that. Seon-woo¡¯s fair and delicate hand, which looked like he had never suffered, waved in front of my eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡± I lightly pushed his hand away and moved his arm aside. But my vision was still dark. What should I do? There was one face that came to my mind. ¡°I¡¯ll make a quick call ande back.¡± I handed Pposili to Seon-woo, who was next to me, and went into the room. The air was heavy.¡®I¡¯m at a loss.¡¯ I needed someone to talk to. I searched for a contact on my phone messenger and pressed the call button. ¡°Our love falls like snowkes~?~ May itst forever~.¡± The ringtone, which I guessed was a winter song by Floss, continued until someone picked up the phone after 30 seconds. Hello, what¡¯s up? It was a voice that was familiar if familiar, and awkward if awkward. ¡°Hi, this is Cheon Ise. Is this Hwijin?¡± Hwijin answered with a short exmation, along with my concise greeting. ¡°You¡¯re calling me after watching the teaser, right?¡± He was right. ¡°Yes, I was quite surprised. The editing was different from what I expected. How are you feeling over there?¡± I didn¡¯t want to be misunderstood in a situation where only a third of the nine members agreed to the friendship operation. ¡°To be honest, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m happy.¡± Aah. I figured. I clenched my fist at his response that didn¡¯t betray my expectations. The only good thing was that there was a twist afterwards. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, they all know it¡¯s a maniption.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Okay. I just wanted to check on you.¡± ¡°There will be some talk on the inte, I guess. Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do. It¡¯s not a day or two that we get edited in a provocative way by piecing things together.¡± Maybe it was because of his experience in My Idol Stage. He was described as a tyrant who was beaten by everyone, but his attitude was more resigned than angry. ¡°Be careful when you film the official episode. But anyway, if the production team decides to frame and edit it, whatever you say will change ording to their intention, so don¡¯t stress too much.¡± Hwijin, who was older and a survival veteran,forted me. Should I thank him and nod? It was a situation where anyone would be angry, but he was more calm than I thought. I took a short breath and replied. ¡°I¡¯m okay, but what about you, Hwijin? You must have been upset.¡± Then Hwijinughed as if it was a surprising question. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Who else would it be if not you? I shivered as I remembered how awkwardly we acted friendly at the shooting site and rubbed my goosebumped arm. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never thought that I would cause someone to worry about this kind of problem. It¡¯s refreshing, I guess. I¡¯m fine, Naru is a bit upset, but Yu-geon really liked it.¡± It was just the moment when I was curious about Kang Yu-geon and Shim Naru¡¯s situation. Shim Naru was a jerk in everything, so let¡¯s leave him aside¡­ ¡°Yu-geon liked it?¡± I asked back the one sentence that made me doubt my ears. ¡°Yes, he said to tell you wee to the world of survival.¡± There was a sound of something hitting hard, then I heard the sound of Hwijin rubbing somewhere on his body and whining. Then, suddenly, Yu-geon¡¯s voice came out as if he had snatched the phone. ¡°I never said that.¡± Yu-geon left a short word and went back to Hwijin right away. ¡°Ah, well¡­ I think you can just understand it as something like that.¡± Well¡­ From Kang Yu-geon¡¯s point of view, it might not be very pleasant that the situation didn¡¯t go as I intended. But as long as we had our own purpose, we needed a quick response to the first strike of the broadcasting station bastards. ¡°First of all, our main goal was to reduce the unnecessary war between the fandoms. If you have time next Wednesday, I think it would be better to move on to the thing I told you before.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I told the manager, so I¡¯ll let you know by tomorrow morning if I can definitely get some time.¡± ¡°Yes, please do your best.¡± Call ended. I looked at the phone that was hung up and my head started to hurt. It was only moved up earlier than nned, but it wasn¡¯t enough to call it a hitch. ¡®I¡¯ll win this.¡¯ Maniption and fabrication. Let¡¯s see who wins. I had no intention of backing down aftering this far. A few dayster. The final approval from thepany came down and the first guest appearance of Floss¡¯s Boys in Crisis was confirmed. It wasn¡¯t the whole, but only the three that had been agreed upon in advance, but since the three were in the top ranks in terms of poprity, a considerable impact was expected. I got the impression that thepany was rather weing, not opposed. ¡®Why? Is it because it doesn¡¯t cost extrapared to hiring outside people?¡¯ There seemed to be something fishy. I couldn¡¯t confirm the reason clearly right away. ¡°Today is the day when the first guest joins us in the afternoon, so let¡¯s finish cleaning the field by the morning.¡± Floss was joining at 3 p.m. Before then, we were asked to clean up the weeds that had grown again and prepare for the guests. All the members had a dumbfounded expression. ¡°Do we have to do this by ourselves?¡± The field was dry and twisted because it was not harvested in time, and the crops that had returned to nature were tangled up and created a bizarre atmosphere. ¡°When the guestseter, there will be a mission to proceed separately! Let¡¯s get ready to wee them before it¡¯s toote!¡± What are you trying to make eight people do? Kyunghwa grumbled and picked up a sickle. ¡°Oh Yi-jun, you go with me to clean the field.¡± ¡°Huh? Just the two of us?¡± Kyunghwa picked up a rake and handed it to Yi-jun and answered. ¡°That guy can¡¯t even step in because of the bugs, and Ise and Seonwoo have to prepare the meal, so there¡¯s only you and me.¡± The one who was pointed out as ¡®that guy¡¯ was Seong-won, who was sitting nkly on the porch. It was too cold to leave Aeongi alone, so he had to find a staff to take care of her separately, and it seemed to bother him a lot. Well, I¡¯m not lonely anymore, now that I have Pposili. Maybe the lonely one is Son Seong-won. Yi-jun grumbled, ¡°He¡¯s always taking advantage of me.¡± He grabbed a hoe and disappeared into the field. ¡°Seong-won, don¡¯t just sit there. Go and make a fire pit so we can roast some potatoester.¡± I pointed to a pile of bricks on one side of the yard and said to Seong-won, who still had a nk expression. ¡°Okay.¡± Seong-won finally agreed and went to carry the bricks. Only Seon-woo and I were left on the porch. ¡°Shall we start by preparing the ingredients for today¡¯s meal?¡± It was practically impossible to whip up a meal for eight people in this old house, without a proper environment. If we didn¡¯t want to eat dinner at 9 o¡¯clock, it would be wise to prepare the potatoes, sweet potatoes, meat, mushrooms, and vegetables that we would roast in advance. ¡°Yeah!¡± Seon-woo¡¯s eyes sparkled as he headed to the kitchen. Huh¡­ Maybe it was because winter was right around the corner. The frost that had frozen on the kitchen window had melted and left clear marks. ¡®I need to get ready to boil some hot water.¡¯ There was a mountain of work to do. Alright, then let¡¯s clean up the firece a bit before we start repairing the house! I pushed the scraper into the firece with a determined look. ¡°Hello, we¡¯re here to visit!¡± A littleter. The three members of Floss arrived at the filming location of Boys in Crisis and looked around the deserted yard. ¡°Is anyone here?¡± What¡¯s going on? Why did they call us and then leave? They all entered the yard with bewildered expressions. ¡°What the¡­?¡± Then, behind them came the sound of an engine, and the car that had brought them left the road. ¡°Hyung? Hello? Hello??¡± Hwijin was confused by the situation and looked around, when he heard footsteps from the dark entrance of the warehouse. ¡°Is anyone there?¡± Naru shrieked and hid his small body behind Hwijin, feeling the eerie atmosphere. ¡°What the hell? Why did they call us and then leave?¡± Naru raised his voice angrily, and Yu-geon shushed him with his finger. Why did he drag himself into this ridiculous n? Naru¡¯s face was so pale that Yu-geon¡¯s ears were already burning. ¡°Ah, sorry. We had a little ident¡­¡± The voice that came from the dark warehouse was fortunately familiar. ¡°ident?¡± Hwijin asked, stretching his voice, and at the same time, the owner of the voice opened the old warehouse door and showed himself. ¡°What ident¡­ Aaaah!!!¡± They were greeted by two pairs of bright eyes covered in ck ash. If we slept like this, it was obvious that all eight of us would be found with our mouths twisted the next day. ¡®I¡¯ve done this firece cleaning a few times when I was young, so it shouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡¯ It should be enough to just check if any wild animals or strange things got in since I scraped it once in the spring. And why did my bad premonition never miss? Ugh, Seon-woo panicked as he took out the acorns and nuts that filled the firece. ¡°We¡¯re ruining the winter food of the squirrel friends¡­¡± But that didn¡¯t mean we could freeze to death. ¡°If we move them to the side of the warehouse where no one goes in and out, they¡¯ll take them themselves. ¡­Maybe.¡± I didn¡¯t know the truth, but it was better to convince myself that way. Then, a squirrel popped out of the firece. ¡°Chirp-, squeak-!¡± The small rodent boasted an amazing spirit as it jumped out and ran straight for Seon-woo¡¯s head. ¡°Ugh, sorry, sorry!¡± And Seon-woo lost his bnce and buried his face in the pile of acorns and ashes he had scraped out. ¡°Hey, hey! Wait!¡± ¡°Ow, it hurts! Save me, hyung!¡± Seon-woo couldn¡¯t bring himself to pull off the squirrel with full force and grabbed my arm. As the ashes flew everywhere, I also became covered in charcoal. ¡°Ugh, let go of your hand first¡­!¡± As we struggled together, the squirrel squeaked and went into the warehouse with a warning. ¡°Ah, we can¡¯t let it go in there!¡± If we left the warehouse door open this season, everything inside would freeze. ¡°Ugh, wait a minute. We have to get the squirrel out first. Ouch!¡± Unfortunately, this old house¡¯s warehouse didn¡¯t have a single light bulb. As I tried to get rid of the invisible squirrel with ashes all over me, Floss arrived. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry. We just had a little ident¡­¡± ¡°ident?¡± ¡°What ident¡­ Aaaah!!!¡± And this wouldter be known as the ¡®Attempted Assassination of Floss Leader by Climax¡¯ among the idol fandoms. The real rtionship between Climax and Floss began with this assassination attempt. Chapter 118: Chapter 118: ¡®Why are they so startled?¡¯ I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the Floss leader who had fallen back with a thud, his mouth full of foam. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Then Naru, who had been hiding behind Hwijin¡¯s back, made a strange sound and ran away like a scared rabbit. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What happened?¡± I asked as if I had no clue, and Yu-geon answered with a very weird expression. ¡°Look in the mirror.¡± ¡°Mirror?¡± I turned around without thinking and checked the mirror next to the warehouse entrance.¡°Oh¡­¡± Anyone could see that I looked like a girl, or a suspicious person, with myrge figure ring at me. I was holding a hook in my hand tightly. ¡°It¡¯s not ¡®oh¡¯. What¡¯s with that outfit?¡± ¡°Outfit?¡± ¡°You look like a weirdo who¡¯s hiding in some rural corner.¡± Yu-geon shook Hwijin awake and lightly pped his cheek. ¡°Hyung, snap out of it. You¡­ go wash up or something.¡± ¡°Aah, yes!¡± Seon-woo nodded his head before I did. The home cam installed on the porch silently captured our noisymotion on the screen. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for thete introduction. I¡¯m Climax Cheon Ise.¡± A whileter, the rest of the members came back with a pile of groceries in their arms, and Seon-woo and I had a midday bath and finally settled the situation. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry for showing you such a pathetic sight earlier. I¡¯m Floss Hwijin.¡± Although they were only a part of them, this was the first time I faced the Floss members in theirplete Climax state. Ah. Except for Kang Yu-geon. He had already met us several times. I had already uploaded a cookie video showing off my friendship with Yu-geon when I uploaded the vacation episode. The reaction was¡­ mostly positive, since it was Yu-geon, who had already been involved with us in the sd incident. [- 21:34 Wow, you really met him after asking him to cook for you???] [? But why did you meet him at a vacation spot of all ces??????????] [? I guess they were resting during the Floss hiatus and he got caught by someone he knew?????????] [- Wow, Yu-geon posted a lot of selfies on SNS that day saying he went on a vacation, but it was also a filming day for Climax????] [- So when are you going to cook for him????? Did you already do it??] There were quite a few curious people, so I thought it was time to show them. I wanted to take this opportunity to gather the ones who were willing to cooperate and act friendly with them. ¡®They were so scared by a mere charcoal mask.¡¯ They seemed to have a weak nerve for someone who had endured the harsh world of survival. ¡°Are you usually scared¡­ I mean, easily scared?¡± I had to treat him consistently, since I had already called him hyung without hesitation during the leader interview. ¡°Uh, no? I was just a bit surprised, that¡¯s all.¡± Just a bit surprised, yeah right. He had fallen back with a foam in his mouth and a bean-sized nerve, just like Kyunghwa. ¡°Really? There¡¯s no need to be shy. We have someone like that in our team too. A kid who gets scared by just hearing the ghost¡¯s initial sound.¡± As he said that, he nced at Seong-won, who immediately frowned and retorted. ¡°Who said I get scared by just hearing the initial sound?¡± I answered cheekily. ¡°Oh, didn¡¯t you say you¡¯re the main vocalist of Climax?¡± ¡°Stop joking around.¡± Seong-won stuck his tongue out and diligently attached the bubble wrap to the window. It was supposed to be a winter house repair, but it was more like making a house that could survive the winter wind for twenty-something guys who grew up nicely in the city. After leaving it empty for about a month and a half, we dusted off the furniture, installed the electric nket, and moved the winter bedding. It took several hours. ¡°Seong-won, are you bad at watching or listening to scary things?¡± Yu-geon, who had been silently carrying thin paper and looking for a ce where the wind wouldn¡¯t blow in, opened his mouth to keep the audio from being silent. Except for Shim Naru, who had been making a face that he didn¡¯t know why he had to suffer here. Yu-geon and Hwijin seemed to have some willingness to cooperate with the broadcast, so they did their share. ¡°No, not at all.¡± Seong-won kept his expression stiff as usual, even in front of the camera. Then, Yi-jun jumped in as if he couldn¡¯t miss this fun opportunity. ¡°Oh, you look confident. Your leader Hwijin said he¡¯s not very scared either, right? Then there¡¯s no one here who can¡¯t stand scary things?¡± Yu-geon, who got along well with Yi-jun, chuckled and followed up. ¡°Is that so? Well, since we¡¯re sleeping in the same room for once, how about we have a ghost story session or something?¡± And at the same time, Hwijin¡¯s face changed from before. ¡°Hey, do we have to? We¡¯re going to have a campfireter, and the Climax guys must be tired from working since morning¡­¡± He looked like someone who was scared. Then Yi-jun asked innocently, curling his lips. ¡°Are you chicken?¡± Oh¡­ It was a question that crushed Hwijin¡¯s pride, which he had boasted many times in various shows after surviving the harsh military life in the remote mountains of Gangwon-do. ¡°How can I be? I¡¯ve seen and heard so many things while I was in the military.¡± He should have warned him not to deal with him like that. It would only make him more stubborn. But it was toote. Simnaru, who had been cking off all day, ran over with his eyes shining. ¡°Scary stories? I¡¯m in! Wow, it would be really scary if we turn off the lights and light candles!¡± Then, Yu-geon, who had been quietly joining in teasing Hwijin, stiffened his expression. ¡°No, you¡­¡± ¡°What? I really like scary stories.¡± Why was he like that? Yu-geon looked awkwardly embarrassed. And he was so confident until just before. I didn¡¯t know why, but it was nice to see. ¡°Then how about we do it for a while before we go to bed?¡± Kyunghwa, who I thought would back off, calmly sorted out the situation, Adding a sentence that would hurt Seong-won and Hwijin¡¯s pride. ¡°Those who are scared can go to the next room. There¡¯s one there.¡± What was going on? Kyunghwa, who seemed to be as scared as Seong-won, surprisingly took the lead and controlled the situation. Well, it worked out better. The PD would be happy if we could get one more content out of this. ¡°We¡¯re not running away! Let¡¯s do it!¡± Hwijin dered resolutely with a face that anyone could tell was fed up. Seeing that, Seong-won nodded his head reluctantly, thinking that he couldn¡¯t back out now. That¡¯s how the night schedule was added, and after we finished the house repairs, it was time for dinner. The sun set quickly in the countryside, and it got dark all around. ¡°Wow, it must be scary to live here alone.¡± Yu-geon looked at the streetlights on the road that was 200 meters away and sighed, admiring briefly. ¡°Is that so? We¡¯re always together, so we¡¯re more used to it than scared.¡± I answered as if I didn¡¯t know well, and Seon-woo chimed in with a bright smile. ¡°It¡¯s dark, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s scary when we sleep together.¡± ¡°Honestly, the scary thing is your kicking.¡± I pinched Seon-woo¡¯s cheek and stroked his head. ¡°Oh, right. This guy has a terrible sleeping habit. You¡¯d better avoid sleeping next to him.¡± Yi-jun joked and added. Then Kyunghwa snorted incredulously. ¡°Are you in a position to talk about others?¡± If we were to judge by the sleeping habit, Yi-jun was no better. He not only stole other people¡¯s nkets, but also pushed Kyunghwa and Seong-won aside and took their spots. I was in better shape than Kyunghwa and Seong-won, so I managed to endure it while sleeping. Did this look too weak? Hwijin asked curiously. ¡°Do you always sleep together? You look very close.¡± What a big deal. We prepared the amodation based on the original seven-member group, so we had more rooms than we needed. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. We¡¯ve been filming Crisis House for months, right? The other room doesn¡¯t have air conditioning, so we had to sleep here.¡± Hwijin muttered as if he had something to say, but stopped abruptly. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s fill our stomachs first. You must have worked hard today, but I asked you to do something right away. We werete to treat our guests.¡± Crackle, crackle. The firewood that Yi-jun had diligently piled up burned well in the oven that Seong-won had made. ¡°Bring the potatoes quickly.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have hands?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fanning right now.¡± ¡°Ah, you¡¯re good at ordering things.¡± Hwijin watched Yi-jun and Seong-won bicker in front of the fire and nced at Yu-geon and Naru. Naru was ying with his phone, unaware of anyone¡¯s gaze, and only Yu-geon seemed to catch Hwijin¡¯s eye briefly. ¡°Do you two have something to talk about?¡± But that was soon blocked by Kyunghwa, who had to pass between them. The dinner menu was grilled meat with charcoal vor and baked potatoes with cream cheese and butter. It smelled so good that I couldn¡¯t concentrate. Maybe it was because we worked so hard all day. The potatoes and the ingredients were ordinary, but they tasted so good that my eyes rolled. ¡°Wow, this is so delicious. Your grilling skills are amazing.¡± Hwijin forgot to use honorifics and speak with proper distance and concept as he stuffed his stomach. Just like Yu-geon, the idol members who looked so refined were eating meat like crazy in our yard (?) and it was a surreal scene. ¡°Ugh¡­ Well¡­ It¡¯s edible, I guess.¡± That¡¯s what Shim Naru said, while munching on arge portion of food. He had been acting uncooperative ever since he arrived, making me wonder why he even came. ¡°Help yourself, I brought a lot of stuff today.¡± We had a feast, thanks to the cheese that thendlord grilled for us. I decided to forget about dieting for a while and stuffed myself with dessert. Soon, one by one, we started to lie down in our rooms, feeling full and satisfied. But then, Yi-jun came out of the storage room with a candle in his hand, his eyes sparkling. ¡°You didn¡¯t forget what we talked about earlier, did you?¡± Was he really serious about that? ¡°If you¡¯re scared, there¡¯s a nket in the next room. You can run away there~.¡± Yi-jun teased us, but no one seemed brave enough to go to the other room in this situation. ¡°Then, let¡¯s brush our teeth and get started, shall we?¡± Kyunghwa rummaged through the shelf where he kept some random tools and looked for a lighter. There was no smoker in our team, so the lighter didn¡¯t work at first. ¡°La¡­ Ah.¡± Hwijin almost blurted out, ¡°Do you want to borrow my lighter?¡± but managed to stop himself. He must have thought that it wouldn¡¯t be strange for someone his age to smoke. But it was a different story for an idol to reveal that he smoked. ¡°I lit it. Who wants to go first?¡± Kyunghwa pushed the nket to the side and ced the candle in the middle. Then, Yu-geon nced around the room and pointed at me. ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but¡­ What¡¯s that supposed to be?¡± Chapter 119: Chapter 119: I looked in the direction that Yu-geon pointed and saw Seon-woo and Seong-won sitting next to me. To be more precise, they were clinging to my sides with me in the middle. Before I could answer, Yi-jun eximed, ¡°Oh, a flower in each hand?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± It was no surprise that he said that. The two guys who were famous for being pretty even in Climax had each wrapped a nket around themselves and held one of my arms. ¡°I feel a bit ufortable¡­¡± As I tried to wriggle out of their grip, Seon-woo grabbed my arm with a cold sweat and a panicked expression. Seong-won was the same. He didn¡¯t look as openly freaked out as Seon-woo, but his face was paler than usual. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just go to the next room if you¡¯re both scared?¡± I sighed and looked at the distant mountain, and Seon-woo quickly replied. ¡°I¡¯m not scared at all!¡± Seong-won chimed in without backing down. ¡°Who do you think is scared?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m just hot.¡± I couldn¡¯t understand why they had to endure it if they were scared. Why not just go to the next room with each other? ¡°Me, me too, I¡¯m really not scared at all?¡± They both didn¡¯t want to be cowards, and they didn¡¯t care that I was hot. ¡°Leader¡­ You look so reliable.¡± Hwijin turned his head quietly and swallowed hisughter. He barely opened his mouth. Was this reliable? I was just a human heater. ¡°Are we filming this right now? Oh, then me too!¡± Shim Naru, who had been watching from the side, seemed to get some stimtion and quickly stuck to Hwijin¡¯s side. ¡°If a real ghostes out, our leader hyung will protect us, so I¡¯m relieved.¡± He casually hooked his arm around Hwijin¡¯s and stuck to him. It was quite a sight. He had changed into a nightgown with smallce on the sleeves that covered his hands. And now that I looked at him, he was even wearing a bunny-shaped sleeping headband. ¡°¡­¡± I lost my words at his unexpected outfit and rubbed my eyes. Yu-geon opened his mouth instead of me. ¡°You might have a lot to say, but just bear with it. We¡¯re enduring it too.¡± ¡°Why! Why do you always tease me!¡± Naru, who had been different from us until now, suddenly raised his voice with aegyo and pouted. He tried to show that he was upset. ¡°Just let it go. There are other groups here too.¡± Yu-geon patted Naru¡¯s shoulder with a reluctant expression. Then Naru turned his head with a snort, as if he was a little better. ¡®Why did we bring him here.¡¯ I had a lot to say, but I waited for someone to summarize the story. ¡°Then let¡¯s decide the order first. Shall we start with Hwijin and go around the Floss members and then to us?¡± Kyunghwa volunteered to be the host and prevent the conversation from dying. The one sitting closest to the door was Hwijin, and next to him was Naru, and next to him was Yu-geon. To be exact¡­ Naru, who was sitting between Hwijin and Yu-geon, had firmly grasped one arm of each of them. Should I be d that Naru wasn¡¯t clinging to me too? But no matter how I tried to think positively, his outfit was a bit of an eyesore. ¡°Okay. So the order is Hwijin, Naru, me, Seong-won, Ise, Seon-woo, Yi-jun, and Kyunghwa. Is that right?¡± Yu-geon confirmed with Kyunghwa and everyone nodded in agreement. ¡°Okay, then we¡¯ll go around once and then vote on who had the scariest story and decide if we want to go another round.¡± If there were only five or so people, we would have to go twice to have enough content. But with eight people, one round seemed enough. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll start.¡± Hwijin took the candle in the middle and brought it to his front and began his story. ¡°There was a gloomy hotel in a rural town in America. It seemed like there were no guests, but there was always a sign for hiring staff.¡± Hwijin started his story in his low and soft voice, and everyone felt sleepy even though it was supposed to be a ghost story. The content itself was clearly a Neapolitan-style ghost story. The staff disappeared one by one, a suspicious guest was caught on CCTV, the door opened and closed, and so on. The problem was, first, that Hwijin looked young, but his voice sounded like he was in histe twenties. Second, that he was used to being the presenter in the team, so his tone was too formal. ¡®It¡¯s more like a narration than a ghost story.¡¯ Seon-woo and Seong-won listened calmly without much reaction, and the ghost story ended before I knew it. ¡°Is that it?¡± Kyunghwa asked carefully without any malice. ¡°Uh, yes. That¡¯s it¡­ Wasn¡¯t it scary?¡± Hwijin looked around cautiously and asked the rest of the group. ¡°What¡­? Huh¡­? No, no, no!¡± I thought Seon-woo was just unresponsive, but he suddenly lifted his head with a startled sound. You were sleeping, weren¡¯t you? The answer was obviously¡­ Sorry, but it was YES. It didn¡¯t feel scary at all, just like listening to a documentary. ¡°No, I was really terrified! What if I can¡¯t sleep tonight because of Naru?¡± Naru pretended to cover her face with both hands, then peeked through the gap between her fingers. ¡®¡­¡¯ Is this what my friends like these days? Then Yi-jun was a pro in a different sense. This concept was something that people would pay money for, but couldn¡¯t get. Of course, objectively speaking, he had a good appearance. He was the only one among the members here who was in the early 170s in height, with slender and white arms and legs. He wore an oversized shirt pajama that reached below his thighs, with loose sleeves. I knew that there was a solid demand for this taste, so I called him ¡®our baby¡¯. ¡®Our (baby) pig is not this type at all.¡¯ Seon-woo was not the type to lose out to anyone in terms of looks, but he was not very tall, which made him look delicate. ¡®I wonder if that¡¯s why Seon-woo didn¡¯t do well in his debut.¡¯ I suddenly realized this, but I didn¡¯t want to impose that image on Seon-woo. ¡°Shall we move on to Naru¡¯s turn now?¡± Kyunghwa also seemed to have little experience with this type. But he was doing a great job, showing that he was strong in real situations. ¡°Ah, yes~! Then I¡¯ll start!¡± Naru lifted his arm with a flourish, clutching the sleeve of his pajamas with his fingertips, and began his story. He was apletely different person from the one who was barely visible on camera or who stayed silent when the mic was off. He had the enthusiasm of a professional storyteller. And then, a momentter. ¡°¡­The real estate agent took one look at the blueprint and said! This is not a house for ordinary people, you know~. Isn¡¯t that scary? Huh? Right, bro?¡± If Hwijin¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t so soothing, it wouldn¡¯t have been scary. But this guy, on the other hand, had such a cheerful voice that it wasn¡¯t scary either. Let¡¯s think of this as a professional mindset. After rationalizing it in my head, it didn¡¯t look so weird anymore¡­ Yeah, right. ¡°Huh? Hyunjin, aren¡¯t you scared? Am I the only one who¡¯s terrified?¡± At this point, he must be enjoying it, otherwise it would be impossible for him to endure. It was supposed to be a horror special, but instead of getting goosebumps, I felt my blood run cold for a different reason. ¡°¡­¡± Seon-woo and Seong-won, who were sitting next to me, had already calmed down and moved away, sitting upright. ¡°Shall we move on to the next turn?¡± Kyunghwa tried to coldly skip the turn without listening any further, but Naru raised his hand again with a sh. ¡°I¡¯m not done talking yet, you know?¡± He then puffed up his cheeks and made a sulky face, but no one paid any attention to his tantrum. ¡°Ah, yes. Please continue.¡± And so, the ghost story session went on in apletely unexpected direction, and the night grew deeper. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Maybe it was because there were more people in the room than usual. Or maybe it was because I slept on the floor heating for the first time. The floor was so hot that my throat was dry and I woke up from my sleep. The ghost story session, which I thought would be thrilling, ended in a chilly atmosphere. The only time a scary story came up was during Kyunghwa¡¯s turn, but the timing was bad. ¡°Aaah-!¡± A deer¡¯s cry echoed from the mountain, and Hwijin broke out in a cold sweat and retired. ¡°Did someone get killed on the mountain?¡± Hwijin was at a loss for what to do, and Kyunghwa calmly reassured him. ¡°That¡¯s not a human scream, it¡¯s a deer.¡± Even then, the deer kept running around the mountain and screaming, and Hwijin shook his head and refused to believe it. This kid, he said he was a veteran. Where did he do his military service? ¡°No, the sound is too suspicious! How is that a deer¡¯s cry!¡± It¡¯s really a deer, I¡¯ll go and check. vs What if it¡¯s a crime scene when I go out? After a long argument, they opened the door and saw a deer that hade down to the field, chewing on the leftover cabbage that had been picked. ¡°The Floss leader is a coward.¡± Everyone had the same sentence in their minds. That¡¯s how the awkward ghost story session ended and everyone got ready for bed. As soon as it was quiet, I fell asleep. Yu-geon and Hwijin didn¡¯t want to sleep with Naru, but when I looked at where theyy¡­ ¡°Naru must have slept very happily.¡± Naru was in the middle, and Yu-geon and Hwijin were side by side. The sentence ended with a guess because one side of the bed was empty. ¡°Where did he go again, saying he was scared?¡± I got up from my bed with a worried feeling and opened the door. Ugh, a cold wind blew in from the wooden floor. I couldn¡¯t go out bare-bodied, so I crawled back to the bedroom and put on a coat that was hanging on the wall. Creak, I opened the sliding door and stepped outside. There was white smoke rising from the yard. ¡°Ah.¡± Hwijin heard me behind him and turned around. He quickly put out the cigarette he was holding in his hand. ¡°You can keep smoking.¡± ¡°No, I was just about to get rid of the smell and go in.¡± Actors tend to not care about this side of things. They even brag about it on TV like a medal. As I looked at the cigarette that still had a faint ember, Hwijin asked me. ¡°Are you guys really that close?¡± What kind of question is that? I remembered Yu-geon asking me something simr. ¡°Is there such a thing as fake closeness?¡± It wasn¡¯t on air anyway, so I switched back to a more casual tone. Heughed as if he thought it was a joke. ¡°So you¡¯re fake close with me, and real close with the members?¡± To be honest, it wasn¡¯t a wrong statement. I couldn¡¯t help but get close to them after spending half a year with them. Right now, I wasn¡¯t just a toothless tiger, I was trying to be a father figure to them. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m honestly jealous that it¡¯s not business.¡± It wasn¡¯t a good expression to think about what business meant in the idol industry. ¡°Are you not close with the other members?¡± At my blunt question, he hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth. Chapter 102 Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 102 Taking a Break and Trying Again I opened the Pine app and checked the rankings. Thankfully, we¡¯re still holding the number one spot in real-time. But I couldn¡¯t rx. The early morning hours were when the fans¡¯ streaming was strongest. It was also an easy time for rookies to hit number one. That¡¯s why there was a mocking term for small fandoms that celebrated their brief moment of glory at dawn. ¡®People are so mean.¡¯ The participants worked hard and tried their best to reach the top, even for a short while. But it was too easy tough at them. Soon, it would be time for the so-called ¡®muggle picks¡¯ to rise up. That¡¯s when the cafes, shops, and businesses across the country started their operations. From then on, solo singers, drama OSTs, pop songs, and other genres that didn¡¯t rely on fandoms would climb up the charts. Anyway, we had seeded in defending the number one spot until morning. Now it was time to check the 24-hour chart. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [TOP 200] 28th Drink me ¨C Climax £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ It seemed to have an effect, since we had maintained the number one spot in real-time for more than eight hours. Now, if I checked the BEST 200, I could see if this was the result of fandom power or if the song had real poprity. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [BEST 200] 23rd Drink me ¨C Climax £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ The TOP ranking was slightly lower than the BEST. It varied depending on the song or the singer, so I couldn¡¯t say for sure. But it meant that it wasn¡¯t just the repeated ys of some users that pushed up the ranking. Sometimes, when the TOP ranking rose faster than the BEST ranking during the chart climb, it was ridiculed as fandom bias. ¡®Why are there so many things to tease and criticize?¡¯ It was frustrating that we couldn¡¯t be evaluated simply by sales and rankings. We had to do well in both. And the actual ie came from events or program appearances, so we couldn¡¯t ck off in those either. I realized how narrow-minded the prejudice of the generation that had no interest in idols was, including myself. ¡®Old men over 40 just think that idols are kids with half-decent faces.¡¯ It was the opposite. All the members had to do their roles and show their talents in various fields to be recognized as ¡®real idols¡¯. Acting, hosting,edy, beauty, vocal skills, dance skills, rapping skills. What other profession was evaluated so meticulously in every aspect? Since I had crossed the ridge, I had no choice but to do my best. ¡°What are you doing? If you¡¯re done checking the rankings, get up.¡± I was staring nkly at the words [Maintaining for 8 hours] under the number one spot in real-time, when Yi-jun urged me. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll wash up ande out soon.¡± I went to the bathroom and washed my face. When I came out, I put on a mask and a hat and left. But I felt like someone was recognizing me, even though I was well-covered. I went to the nearby animal hospital and bought some food and basic supplies for Pposili. By the time I came back, it was almost lunchtime. ¡°Yawn,¡± As soon as he got home, Yi-jun opened his mouth wide and yawned. ¡°What time did you go to bedst night?¡± Judging by the sounding from the room that Kyunghwa and Yi-jun shared, they must have barely slept until dawn. It was lucky that Kyunghwa was sick and out of it. Otherwise, he would have scolded him for turning on a broadcast at this hour and keeping everyone awake. ¡°About 3 o¡¯clock?¡± ¡°What the hell were you doing on the broadcast for so long?¡± I felt a pang of regret and turned on my phone and opened the Y Live app. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything special. There were a lot of fans who were curious about how I work, so I showed them my work process and yed some of the indie songs I uploaded on the site before. And I just chatted with them about this and that, and before I knew it, it was that time.¡± ¡°You have a lot of stamina, huh.¡± Looking at thements on the rey video, it didn¡¯t seem like there was anything controversial. [- Next time, I want to see you participate inposing as well as arranging!] [- You¡¯re good at everything: face, body, rap, producing. What can¡¯t you do, Yi-jun?] [? What he can¡¯t do: leave Ryu Kyunghwa alone when he copses from exhaustion] [? LOL I¡¯m dying] [? Aren¡¯t you going to get a pillow thrown at you soon? As soon as he did it, it flew over and I watched him cry out loud in the middle of the night LOL] There was something that bothered me in thements, so I looked up SNS and saw that the scene of Kyunghwa throwing a pillow at him was captured and circted as a GIF. That was something they often showed on Boys in Crisis, so it wasn¡¯t a problem. Rather, there seemed to be fans who were crazy about the prickliness that only Yi-jun could see, the result of being close friends. Well, even in dramas, it was fun to watch a prickly character and a friendly and yful character bicker. Anyway, that was something they had to handle themselves. I sighed and had something to do on my own. [Wee, Cheon Ise (Lim Hyun-seong).] [Test sessfullypleted] [To start the first main quest, please press the [Start] button.] There were some things that had been blocked before that were unlocked, and there were a lot of new menus. I took advantage of the gap when Seon-woo went to work out and went into the room and pressed the [Start] button. [Hello, Lim Hyun-seong. Congrattions on clearing the tutorial.] Yeah, I know, I skipped the pages to check the main point. [We provide a training guide at the system level for the sess of your idol career.] [The level at the top is an indicator of your proficiency as an idol, Cheon Ise (Lim Hyun-seong). You can level up by umting experience points every time youplete a mission.] Looking at the ce where the status window was shing, I saw the words Lv.1 Cheon Ise (Lim Hyun-seong). I was worse than a slime right now. But I had hit the real-time first ce, even though the 24-hour chart was still not there, it was too low a level. [If you have checked the leveling system, we will exin the mission section now.] As I looked at the status window for a moment, the mission tab lit up like a mobile game tutorial. I obediently pressed the mission tab with my fingertip. [Mission] [>Total] [>Views] [>Sales/Reservation Rate] [>Rank] [>Poprity] [>Experience] [>Appearance] [>Others] Why are there so many branches? Let¡¯s start with the view count, which seems to be the most obvious. A subyer of exnations popped up as I touched it. [>View count] This is a mission rted to the number of views on YouTube, clips, and other video media. [>Sales/Booking rate] This is a mission rted to the performance index of albums and goods, various shows and events. [>Ranking] This is a mission rted to the music broadcast and chart records. The other categories were simr. When I clicked on them, I saw the expected achievement goals. [>View count] [- Music video views 100,000 achieved] [- Music video views 1,000,000 achieved] [- Music video views 5,000,000 achieved] [- Music video views 10,000,000 achieved] [>Ranking] [- Single chart real-time 1st ce achieved] [- Single chart TOP 200 1st ce achieved] [- Single chart BEST 200 1st ce achieved] [- Single chart real-time 1st ce maintained for 24 hours] There were plenty of things that I wondered how to do, from the low levels to the ones that were alreadypleted. [>Ranking] [- Music broadcast 10 crowns achieved] [- Music broadcast 20 crowns achieved] How is that possible? Do you want to make me a superstar of the universe? Why don¡¯t you just send me to America? Then, as if it heard me well, a new mission was added to the ranking tab. [- Billboard 200 1st ce achieved] I¡¯m going crazy. I didn¡¯t say that because I wanted to. At least Japan is more realistic¡­ As soon as I thought that, another one was added. [- Oricon daily 1st ce achieved] How far are you going? Can¡¯t you just settle for being sessful in Korea? At that moment, another one appeared as if to show off. [- Apple Music single chart 1st ce in 10 countries] Fine, add them all. Add them all. I can shut my mouth, but how can I stop my thoughts? I felt dizzy. [Please press the reward button after checking the mission.] I was more concerned about what and how things were added, so I obediently pressed the reward button. Then, the experience gauge at the top filled up quickly and my level rose to 3 in an instant. [You will receive a new main quest every 20 levels, so pleaseplete the opened main quest within the deadline.] [Please check the first main quest that is currently open.] What is a quest, and what is a main quest? Anyway, I had a feeling that these guys wouldn¡¯t give me anything easy, so I checked the content of the first main quest. [Afterpleting the tutorial and honing your basic skills as an idol, you have sessfully taken your first step in the harsh entertainment industry.] [Climax¡¯s weapon is undoubtedly their skill, which is unmatched by any group. But cruelly enough, in the jungle-like entertainment industry, skill alone is not enough to survive.] [You have to ovee many challenges as an idol, from fierce battles with rival groups to shes between fandoms!] [Currently, Climax is in a headache-inducing rivalry with Floss, the undisputed top group, and Climax, the rising star.] What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t suffer that much. I didn¡¯t really care. Of course, I thought I needed to improve my rtionship with Kang Yugeon if I wanted to get his help in the future. But it wasn¡¯t bad enough to give me a headache! They¡¯re just kids, after all. How can I be mad at them when they¡¯re only 19 years old? [Let¡¯s wisely solve the first challenge of Climax, who has stepped into the cold and cruel world as an idol.] [Objectives] [- Resolve the rivalry between Climax and Floss] [Rewards] [- Emergency escape service voucher for one use] [- Title system open] [Additional rewards for exceeding 100%pletion] [- ???] [- ???] [- ???] What does exceedingpletion mean? I couldn¡¯t understand what the ??? hanging below meant. I sighed after checking the main quest. It was suspicious that they asked me to resolve the rivalry with ¡®Floss¡¯ instead of Kang Yugeon. Does that mean I have to deal with the other nine members, including Shim Naru? I asked them what exactly I had to do. ¡®It¡¯s natural to have a rivalry with a group that¡¯s active at the same time, right? How do you want me to do it?¡¯ [Pleasee up with your own strategy for the quest, Mr. Im Hyunsung.] My head throbbed. I saw Kang Yugeon¡¯s smug and handsome face sh through my mind. I¡¯ll have to see him more than I want to. I had a bad feeling about this. Chapter 103 Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 103 I Didn¡¯t Even Get to Rest? I scrolled down to the bottom of the screen with a feeling of disbelief. [Rmended deadline for questpletion: D-90] I knew it. There must be some extra reward forpleting the quest earlier than the rmended deadline. If that was the case, I wanted to get as much as I could. But how was I supposed to solve the problem of Floss in three months? Floss¡¯s contract was due to expire in half a year, around April next year. ¡®The problem would be over if they disbanded quickly.¡¯ But there were many variables. They could extend their contract or keep going with fewer members. I couldn¡¯t just wait for Floss to disband with the rmended deadline of three months looming over me. There was no mention of any penalty for failing toplete the quest within the rmended deadline. But I had a feeling that something bad would happen. ¡®What is the penalty for exceeding the rmended deadline?¡¯ [The quest window may add or delete content over time.] So they wouldn¡¯t tell me now. I had to think carefully about what to do. I put down my phone and looked at Pposili, who was looking up at me from under the bed. Wait a minute. Didn¡¯t we remove all the observation cameras? I checked the camera installed in our room and saw that it waspletely dead. ¡°Heck, woof!¡± Pposili must have done something on his own. I was d that nothing rted to Pposili was broadcasted. It would have been a hassle otherwise. The director must be furious. Good for him. I felt like I had unintentionally avenged myself. ¡°But what are you going to do when I have to go out?¡± Even if he was a lovable furball that most of humanity would like, the stage was the stage. A no-name group that had just gained some poprity couldn¡¯t bring a pet along. Pposili barked again as if to tell me not to worry and jumped into the air. Then he disappeared in an instant. ¡°¡­?¡± As Pposili vanished from reality, a picture of a puppy appeared at the bottom of the status window. ¡°Wow¡­¡± As soon as I eximed, the picture of the puppy disappeared from the status window and the furball reappeared in front of me. ¡°Wow¡­¡± ¡°Woof!¡± Pposili stuck out his tongue as if to ask for praise. I dly offered him my hand so he could lick it. Slurp, his warm and moist tongue touched my palm. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t very familiar with dogs, so it was a sensation that I couldn¡¯t get used to. But I soon got used to it and it became bearable. ¡°From now on, I have to go practice for tomorrow¡¯s live performance, so you stay at home.¡± Pposili seemed to understand, but he didn¡¯t like it. He whined, ¡°Kweeung¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be attached to the status window anyway, so it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Pposili scratched my leg with his paw and sighed, ¡°Hew.¡± A dog sighing. It was absurd, but practice was the priority right now. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± I came back after more than six hours of practice, feeling like my whole body was torn apart. I should have saved up some energy sincest night. But instead of saving, I wandered around outside until past midnight, so there was no way I had any stamina left. I was tired, but I couldn¡¯t mess up the first broadcast stage tomorrow. It was time to check if everything was perfectly prepared, so the backup dancers also joined us. So many people were involved to make the five of us shine brighter. We had to be wless, as the pressure was high. ¡°Let¡¯s do it one more time!¡± We had to modify the basic choreography to fit the stage we would use at Music Safe, so if we got distracted for a moment, we would make mistakes. ¡°Seon-woo, please focus a bit more!¡± Seon-woo kept making errors, scratching the choreographer¡¯s patience. If the rest of the members made mistakes too, he would probably scold us and tell us to just do the original version. We had to dance with all our strength to finish the hard practice. When we got back, Pposili was already in the house, with perfect timing. ¡®He was under the status window just a while ago. How amazing¡­¡¯ I was amazed to see Pposili sticking to Aeongi, as if he had spent time ying with the cat. Seongwon quickly grabbed Aeongi and went into his room as soon as the door opened. He was jealous of a dog¡­ How ridiculous. Anyway, that wasn¡¯t important right now. I had to wash up and sleep as soon as possible, since I would be busy from dawn tomorrow. I took a quick bath, like roasting beans on a fire, andy down on the bed. Pposili looked up at me from under the bed. His round eyes seemed to beg me to lift him up to the bed. ¡°Do you want me to lift you up?¡± ¡°Woof!¡± Pposili barked as if he got the answer right. ¡°Should I order some stairs? Pposili, do you want to sleep with me on the bed¡­?¡± Seon-woo suggested, as if he was worried about Pposili. Pposili¡¯s ears perked up and he ran to Seon-woo¡¯s bed, wagging his long tail like a fox. ¡°Or do you want to sleep with me?¡± ¡°Woof!¡± Pposili licked Seon-woo¡¯s face as a reply. If he disturbed his sleep and he made a mistake on the main stage tomorrow, it would be a disaster. I stopped him firmly. ¡°Seon-woo, don¡¯t bother him ande over here.¡± Pposili came to me, wagging his tail. He seemed to admit defeat. I lifted him up to the bed and he curled up his body happily and started to fall asleep. ¡°You too, sleep soon.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Right before I fell asleep, I thought of the chart. I picked up my phone that I had ced on the wireless charger and checked the ranking. It had changed. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Real-time 200] 7th Drink me ¨C Climax £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ ¡®It went down.¡¯ I expected it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. But they say that appearing on a broadcast has the effect of boosting the real-time ranking. There was no need to feel sad already, as if all I had left to do was go down. It was time to check the 24-hour chart. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [TOP 200] 21st Drink me ¨C Climax £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ It had gone up since I checked it in the morning. ¡®Wow¡­¡¯ As time passed a little after the release, the gap between real-time and 24-hour had narrowed. To be honest, I didn¡¯t feel it. I knew in my head that this was a tremendous achievement for a rookie. ¡®I¡¯ve lived as an ordinary person for more than 40 years.¡¯ I was an ordinary person who knew that famous singers would naturally top the charts as soon as they released new songs. ¡®Floss entered the 24-hour first ce the next day after they debuted.¡¯ I bravelypared us to the project group that was writing the record-breaking hit record. I hoped we could make it to the single digits in the TOP 200. I closed my eyes with a sigh. * * * Beep-beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep! As I opened my eyes to the loud rm sound, Pposili was busily running across my face. ¡°Ugh, what is it?¡± As soon as I opened my eyes, my face was covered with some fur and I gasped. Pposili licked my face as if he had just woken up. ¡°Ahh¡­ I¡¯m awake.¡± As I gradually adapted to the thousand-year-old, I felt ufortable in more than one or two things, but the most fatal thing was that my sleepiness increased. ¡®I¡¯m sleepy¡­¡¯ My body was refreshed, but why was it so hard to get up? I got up with a yawn and wiped off the saliva that was smeared on my face. Seonwoo was lying on the bed. ¡°Wake up and get ready.¡± I shook Seon-woo¡¯s shoulder to wake him up and went out to the living room. The sun was just faintly rising. I had to stop by the shop for a simple dry because I couldn¡¯t go to work with a new hair. ¡°Hurry up and get ready.¡± Thanks to Pposili waking me up in the morning, I was able to finish preparing earlier than the other guys. I packed the sd lunch box that I had made like a pack sd the day before and got in the minivan. The sky was bright. ¡°Everyone, get your mind together today.¡± It was the first time that five of us were moving together for a music show appearance. And this time, the manager was also properly apanying us. It wouldn¡¯t be a big deal. Floss¡¯s activity period was already over. We just had to go and record and wait for the ranking announcement. Phew, I took a short breath and stretched and started the day. The start time of Climax¡¯s rehearsal was 9 a.m. We were the best among the groups that were performing at the rehearsal. Other groups were almost filming right before the main stage, but I couldn¡¯t figure out what they were basing on. Thanks to that, it was a day of waiting. Well¡­. Anyway, the recording went well and I was d. ¡®I was toocent.¡¯ It was a big mistake to think that it wouldn¡¯t be that hard after seeing what Seon-woo did. I had received feedback that my eye contact was awkward during the rehearsal, but the recorded monitoring was even worse. ¡°Wow, really¡­ Did you even try to find the camera?¡± Yi-jun asked me with a teasing tone, hiding his twitching lips. Justugh at me. I saw myself on the screen, looking at the wrong camera with a nervous expression. ¡°I did¡­¡± ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t look like it at all.¡± Yi-jun was so excited that he kept nagging me, until Seong-won got annoyed and intervened. ¡°Shut up, will you? You¡¯re not the only one in the waiting room.¡± ¡°What, are you using it alone?¡± ¡°Both of you, stop it.¡± As the tension rose again, this time Kyunghwa stepped in. He then asked me as if they were them and I was me. ¡°Why are you suddenly like this? You used to be good at finding the camera.¡± It seemed that Cheon Ise was the most familiar with camera walking among the five of us, since he had been the center for most of the time. In fact, when I looked at the few remaining music show stages, his eye contact was quite skillful, except for his rookie days. ¡°I¡¯m suddenly confused.¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to be confused about? The lights are all on.¡± But that¡¯s the thing, I couldn¡¯t see them when I was on stage. When we performed on Today¡¯s Hometown, there were only two cameras and the main camera was clearly visible, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about it. And I didn¡¯t need to care about eye contact with the camera either, since I just looked at the expressions of the elders in the audience. The busking live a few days ago was the same. I just had to dance and look ahead, but then they suddenly told me to look at the camera, and it was so confusing. ¡°Next time¡­ I¡¯ll try harder.¡± Everyone was fine, but I was the only one who messed up, and my face was burning. Nine hours after we arrived at the broadcasting station, the live show finally started. Thanks to the group that included the current MC, we were given a short live interview time, which was a grateful opportunity to appeal ourselves. I was worried that someone might make a mistake, but. The time was so short that there was no chance to make a mistake. ¡°It¡¯s our turn now.¡± As soon as we finished the brief interview and entered the waiting room, our segment was starting. The order of appearance on the music show was basically based on seniority, but Climax was ced rtively early. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s started.¡± Along with Yi-jun¡¯s exmation, the logo of Climax¡¯s digital single Drink me shed across the TV monitor in the waiting room. In the darkness, the light flickered a few times, and the metallic letters melted and filled a small bottle. nk. In the dark space, the bottle fell on a white table, and someone approached the table and grabbed it. And above it, the letters Drink me carved with a knife appeared, and the music video edit was yed. From Yi-jun, Seong-won, Kyunghwa, me, and finally Seon-woo, we showed our faces one by one, and then the screen went ck again. Pop-. When the screen lit up again, the camera was looking down at us from the air. Chapter 104 Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 104 It was the best I could do The set was decorated with a screen as the background and ss pieces hanging from above like a chandelier. They said they were saving money on the recording, but I was grateful that they didn¡¯t make us do a live stage. ¡°Are you nervous?¡± Seong-won suddenly asked me. I answered casually. ¡°No.¡± I wondered how my awkward eye contact would look like in the final product. That was the only thing that mattered to me right now. I hoped I didn¡¯t look too weird. I stared at the screen with a faint hope that nothing had changed much from the monitoring. The camera slowly moved down, scanning Seon-woo¡¯s fingertips to his face as the choreography began. I was worried that no one woulde to watch us since it was a recording, but there were quite a lot of fans filling the seats. How did they¡­e to like us when there were so many popr idols in the world? I felt a heaviness in my heart. The music started, and before the first verse, the fans chanted our names. ¡°Climax, Cheon Ise, Ryu Kyunghwa, Oh Yi-jun, Son Seong-won, Na Seon-woo! Drink me!¡± [A siren rings in my ear ring ring] [There¡¯s no ce to breathe can¡¯t breath] Seon-woo wiped his face with his gloved hand and snapped, stretching his arm out. He had been criticized for his heavy dance line until yesterday¡¯s practice, but I was worried for nothing. He looked so beautiful dancing with the light reflected from the ss pieces that fell from the sky like a sun catcher, that even a man would sigh. The other members surrounded him and then stood up at the same time. They all looked majestic thanks to their height. [Drink me, swallow me] [Once more, like a whirlwind] [Don¡¯t let go of our hands] Kyunghwa reached out his hand to the camera in the midst of the falling lights. The angle was captured so well that it created a poignant atmosphere, as if the viewers could grab his hand right away. [You¡¯ll hurt me again] [And you¡¯ll drift away] The camera zoomed out and swept over the whole group. The fast-paced choreography matched well with the song. [I can¡¯t stop] [I keep circling the same spot for you] I was nervous about the Music Safe¡¯s bad reputation for the floor lighting. But it suited the set with the gray and blue tones, and the techwear in monochrome colors. The dim spotlight from above gave it a mysterious vibe. Behind us, there were spaces that looked like ruined buildings, and the backup dancers inbat uniforms filled the space with their military-like moves. ¡®I didn¡¯t pay attention to the background and the dancers when I was monitoring. It was worth the hard work yesterday.¡¯ We had a hard time adjusting our movements to the stage size and background, but it made it more grand. [Call me from the edge of the cliff you know] [My heart only calls your name] They changed the choreography for this part because the fans went crazy when I lifted my shirt as an ad-lib during the busking. The original choreography was to stretch out my arms like a sniper and bounce off the recoil, but it changed to sweeping my hand from my abs to my chest and biting the hem of my clothes while turning my head. Of course¡­ It looked good. Regardless of my personal taste. ¡®Themunity will go crazy over this.¡¯ It was a predictable oue. Maybe it was because we had already performed the stage five times on our own. It was our first time on a music show, but none of us seemed nervous. But we were more serious and solemn than any previous moment. It was partly because of the concept, but also because we felt like ¡®this was ourst chance.¡¯ The desperation of rookies and unknowns was enough to drive anyone mad. I could rte to the meaning of thisment that got a lot of likes in themunity. We wanted to seed as much as the characters in the setting wanted to save ¡®her¡¯. Only Yi-jun was smiling leisurely, contrasting with the other members. [Bite me hard] [Call your name like a prayer today] Kyunghwa, who came forward with his back to Yi-jun, knelt down as if he was praying with his hands sped. The background was staged as if a ray of light shone through the ruins, making it look more sacred than when we were busking. [You probably know] [We keep going around and around the same ce] As Seong-won¡¯s high notes soared, the building in the background copsed in an instant. Seong-won and the dancers around us also left their spots in a sh, and the lights went out with a thud. [But I won¡¯t give up on you trust me] The main vocal¡¯s Climax high notes followed, and the lightsing back on as the dancers appeared from the darkness. My part didn¡¯t stand out much, but I knew why. ¡®I didn¡¯t¡­ look at the camera¡­¡¯ The editor must haveughed. The leader was so lost for a five-year veteran idol. I didn¡¯t expect to be so distracted looking for the camera, so my face was burning. The stage ended, and the camera zoomed in on one of the members for thest time. I didn¡¯t see it properly until then. Seon-woo was the center, so they must have caught him, right? As soon as I thought that, I saw myself on the screen, looking at the light reflected from the ss shards on the ceiling. ¡°?¡± I looked around the members with a bewildered expression, wondering why I was there. Yi-jun burst intoughter. ¡°Ahaha, hyung, you should look at the camera. Where were you looking when you got caught?¡± I wanted to hide in a mouse hole as he looked at me, startled and flustered after staring at the light for a long time. ¡°Our ending fairy. You¡¯re cute. Did you aim for the maknae spot?¡± Even Kyunghwa, who usually didn¡¯t join in teasing me, smirked and looked at me. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense.¡± I avoided his gaze awkwardly, and Yi-jun added a remark. ¡°It would have been fun if you were the maknae, hyung!¡± He ruffled my hair like he did to Seon-woo, the real maknae, without thinking. ¡®He crossed the line.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± I pushed his hand away with a displeased expression, and Yi-jun backed off with a dissatisfied face. ¡°You¡¯re touching him like he¡¯s some neighborhood puppy.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say touching, it sounds weird.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not wrong, though.¡± As soon as the next batter took over, he started to nag me loudly. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve done Music Safe today¡­ Do we have to do Weekly Music on Friday, Showtime on Saturday, and Music Safe again on Sunday next week?¡± ¡°Probably? That¡¯s what I heard from the manager hyung.¡± That meant¡­ next week would be filled with practice and waiting for the three music shows. But being this busy¡­ it¡¯s better than having nothing to do and being bored. I looked up the scores of Floss, recalling the N-King missions I saw on the mission list. Not that I wanted topete with them. I was just curious how much they were selling, since they were at the peak of their poprity. [Search results> Floss music show scores] As expected of a project group that had the hottest response right after their debut, their debut single seemed to have won first ce for the longest time. ¡®They got 14 trophies?¡¯ Usually¡­ They appear on three terrestrial channels and up to five including cable. If they go by three, that means they swept first ce on every music show for almost a month. ¡®That¡¯s impressive¡­¡¯ We couldn¡¯t even hope for first ce, let alone third ce, on the music show we appeared on today. ¡®Well¡­ we don¡¯t have a physical album, so we can¡¯t count on the scores anyway.¡¯ We had nothing to celebrate, but we had to sit and wait for almost an hour. It was inevitable that we felt bored. ¡°Don¡¯t mess around and watch the other groups¡¯ stages well. If you keep looking for the camera next week, you¡¯ll get a lot of badments on themunity sites.¡± Kyunghwa covered my phone screen with his hand and advised me. I kept hearing the same criticism¡­ and now I felt a bit hurt. But Kyunghwa was right. I couldn¡¯t act like a rookie forever. I nodded readily. ¡°Okay.¡± On the TV screen for monitoring, a rookie girl group was smiling brightly and doing their best on the stage. ¡®They¡¯re better at finding the camera than me.¡¯ How did they all have such good eye movement? I needed to practice too. ¡°They¡¯re so skinny.¡± Yi-jun said with admiration. The idols on the screen all had doll-like, morous looks, but at the same time, they had bony, thin bodies. ¡®That can¡¯t be good for their health.¡¯ The agency must be forcing them to starve themselves to look pretty on the screen. I felt sick thinking about the situation behind the camera. They were putting kids who hadn¡¯t even grown up yet into schedules that even adults would have trouble handling, and making them eat diets that didn¡¯t even meet their basic nutrition. This was clearly abuse, but in this glittering world, it was taken for granted. ¡°I¡¯ll be back, I need to use the bathroom.¡± I couldn¡¯t bear to look at him any longer, so I finally left my seat. What was I doing? I went to the dressing room to calm myself down, but when I came back, it was the turn of a male singer I had never seen before. ¡°It¡¯s almost over.¡± The award ceremony would start soon after thest stage. The contestants who didn¡¯t expect to rank high could leave as soon as their performance was over, but that was unthinkable for us unknowns who desperately wanted to show our faces on TV. It would be enough for us to appear one more time as the backdrop for the winning group. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the stage, too.¡± Soon, the manager knocked on the dressing room door and showed up. ¡°Let¡¯s go, we have to decorate the award ceremony.¡± He obviously didn¡¯t expect us to be in the top ranks either. ¡°Yep, let¡¯s go~.¡± Yi-jun yfully dragged his words and pushed Kyunghwa¡¯s back. Seong-won turned his head with a disgusted look. ¡°Don¡¯t push me, I can walk by myself.¡± Yeah, right now¡­ I had to think about my own business first. I had avoided death, but I still didn¡¯t know what kind of disadvantage I would face if I missed the rmended deadline for the main quest. The way to the set was quite long, and when we arrived, there were already countless contestants crowded there. Some of the obscure groups greeted us warmly as if they recognized us. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re Climax, right? I saw your fancam! You were awesome!¡± We bowed briefly and replied, then joined the line on the left. As I looked at the center of the stage, I saw Seon-woo, who was wearing his stage outfit and looking at the MC. ¡®Huh? He looks a bit strange.¡¯ He seemed to be smiling nervously, and also restless. ¡®Is he nervous because he¡¯s the MC and it¡¯s his firsteback?¡¯ But that didn¡¯t make sense, because Seon-woo had done the morning rehearsal very smoothly. He didn¡¯t seem to be particrly tense¡­ Then, a small woof-! sound came from Pposili, and a translucent status window popped up. [¡ù¡®Na Seon-woo¡¯ is feeling ¡®excitement¡¯, ¡®joy¡¯, and ¡®confusion¡¯.] Excitement and joy? What about confusion? Did something good happen to him in the meantime? As I was wondering, the MC started the show. [Shall we meet this week¡¯s most anticipated candidates for the first ce?] [The Music Safe ranking is determined bybining the viewer votes, digital sales, album sales, and broadcast scores! Let¡¯s check it out now!] As soon as the three candidates for the first ce appeared on the screen, everyone on the stage gasped and buzzed. I turned my eyes to Seon-woo, and met his gaze, which was nowpletely unrestrained as he continued the show. [Wow! An unexpected twist has happened!] Chapter 105 Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 105 An Unexpected Event The group name that everyone thought would never be there was written on the billboard. [The Way to You ¨C On8] [Sugar plus! ¨C Maybe Pink] [Drink me ¨C Climax] On8 was the boy group thatpeted with Floss for the first ce two weeks ago, and Maybe Pink was the girl group that won the first cest week. The third candidate was supposed to be the solo singer who was secondst week, and no one doubted it for a moment. ¡°Wow¡­ wow?¡± Yi-jun started to admire his own face on the first ce candidate list with confidence. They couldn¡¯t make a big fuss because it was live, but the other members also looked surprised. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ We exchanged nces for a moment, and the female MC continued the show. [Now, shall we check the detailed scores?] Following the cheerful guidance of the female MC, the digital single scores were revealed first. It was impossible to know what criteria they used to score, but it was obvious that Climax¡¯s score was miserable since their song came out on Friday. [The Way to You ¨C 3130 points] [Sugar plus! ¨C 2610 points] [Drink me ¨C 1120 points] At this point¡­ don¡¯t we feel a bit weird being there? I clenched my fist and waited for the rest of the results. [Next, we will announce the broadcast scores!] [The Way to You ¨C 2310 points] [Sugar plus! ¨C 3760 points] [Drink me ¨C 580 points] Why¡­ Why are we there? I looked at Kyunghwa¡¯s face, hoping he would know the reason, but even he looked confused. [Next, we will reveal the album scores!] The MC¡¯s voice was cheerful, but we were in pain. [The Way to You ¨C 3320 points] [Sugar plus! ¨C 2110 points] [Drink me ¨C 0 points] Please¡­ stop it. We knew our score was low. We had no idea why such a cruel public execution was taking ce. The viewers must have been baffled by our presence in the third ce, but so were we. [Now, only the viewer votes are left! Seon-woo, do you have any idea who will win the first ce of Music Safe this week?] The male MC, who was half a head shorter than Seon-woo, asked him a very difficult question. He was still happy with being on the first ce candidate list, and hesitated for a moment before answering. [I hope Climax will win, of course!] But no matter how the viewer votes turned out, everyone expected that Climax would never win the first ce. Seon-woo must have known that too. He continued the show awkwardly. [Ha ha, that was my wish! Both On8 and Maybe Pink gave such amazing performances that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if either group won first ce!] The female MC smiled and skillfully took over the show. [Music Safe for the fifth week of October! The long-awaited first ce, we¡¯ll reveal it right now!] The moment the fireworks exploded on the screen. Everyone held their breath and checked the scores. [We, we¡¯ll, re, re, reveal the viewer, vo, votes, now¡­!] The voice of Sunwoo, who was in charge of announcing the viewer votes, trembled like a quivering reed. It was understandable. The numbers on the screen were unbelievable. [The Way to You ¨C 1540 points] [Sugar plus! ¨C 740 points] [Drink me ¨C 8920 points] [Music Safe for the fifth week of October! The first ce goes to! Climax, congrattions!] What was this? It was surreal. Was this some kind of Truman Show? [Sunwoo, your wish came true! How do you feel?] His expressions and words were both ridiculous. He looked like a kindergarten kid who was terrified of being robbed by college students. [Is, is, is, is, is, this, re, re, really, we, we, we, we, won, first, ce?] Seon-woo¡¯s voice shook like a goat as everyone covered their faces andughed. The On8 members, who had unexpectedly lost the first ce, were also the same. At first, they wondered why the scores were like that. They looked like they were going to protest as they stepped forward, but they quickly turned their heads away from the camera andughed at Seon-woo¡¯s reaction. When Seon-woo asked if there was some error, a staff member came up from below and whispered something in the MCs¡¯ ears. [We confirmed that there is no problem with the scores! Wow, Climax, you received an unprecedented amount of love from the viewers! Congrattions!] [Now, let¡¯s hear your eptance speech¡­] The male MC, who was going to pass the microphone to Seon-woo first, made a strange noise and lowered the microphone. [Gasp¡­! Pfft, snort¡­ Cough¡­] Our youngest was making a face that no idol had ever shown on TV, squeezing out tears and snot. [Wahh, wuuuhh¡­ Huhh¡­ Sob¡­] Thanks to him, all the performers on stage were doing aughter challenge because of Seon-woo. Some of them couldn¡¯t stand it and hurriedly left the stage before the speech was over. [Seon-woo, calm, calm down, sniff¡­! Cough! Calm down and, uhaha¡­ Calm down and,e forward, Climax!] As the MC, who seemed to need to calm down himself, called him forward, the other participants moved aside and made way for him. I quickly snatched the microphone from Seon-woo. [Thank you so much for giving us this unexpected and glorious award today. We never thought we would get such a high score from the viewer votes, so we were very surprised too.] I felt like I had to exin that we didn¡¯t know either, before we got used of rigging or bribing the production team. [We are more surprised and touched by this unexpected award. Thank you.] Was there anything else to say? No. We didn¡¯t prepare anything, and we never practiced an eptance speech before. Just as I was about to cut it short and return the microphone to the production team, Kyunghwa swiftly grabbed the microphone from my hand. [We never imagined that we would win our first music show today, but thank you for giving us this happy experience. Thank you and we love you, our Rise, for making the five-year-old rookie Climax shine.] And then he bowed deeply in front of the camera. I couldn¡¯t believe this situation, but anyway, an excited Yi-jun tried to take the microphone from Kyunghwa, but it didn¡¯t happen. ¡°Oops, the microphone is gone.¡± While I was stunned, the staff took the microphone that was in Kyunghwa¡¯s hand. And then they brought a live microphone for the first ce live. ¡°Seon-woo, stop crying.¡± Seong-won, the most calm andposed among the five of us, didn¡¯t know what to do with Seon-woo. ¡°Stop crying, I said.¡± ¡°Sniff, sob, hic, huuu¡­¡± He would cry more if he knew he was being scolded. He was a guy who had no talent forforting others. Since Seon-woo, who had to sing the first verse, was like this, I had no choice but to start. [A siren rings in my ear ring ring] The long day wasing to an end. Meanwhile, the main activity period ended two weeks ago, and the Floss fans who were betting on who would rob the empty house this week were speechless by the unexpected incident. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Vote for [Climax] on Music Safe today and get prizes! gives you iPad, AirPods, chicken, gift cards, and coffee! If you text, vote and verify, we will send you a gifticon to all participants! 1 winner ¨C iPad 3 winners ¨C AirPods 300 winners ¨C chicken gifticon 1000 winners ¨C coffee gifticon All participants ¨C 3000 won gift card £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ What is this? This is not the first time that fans have raised funds and encouraged text voting. It was already a fan event that no one would not do if they had a decent fandom size and a debut angle member in the survival program. But this, which crazy fandom did this, not on the final stage where the debut was at stake, but on the music show. It was an event that would cost at least 20 million won. They even offered a gift to all participants, so even those who didn¡¯t buy idols would flock to get a gift card once. Can they afford that budget? Does Climax have that many cores? It was unrealistic no matter how I looked at it. To participate in the Music Safe viewer vote, you have to pay 200 won per information usage fee. Until then, the score difference that decided the game mostly came from the album score and the sound source score, so no one cared much about the viewer vote score. It was a program that no one would watch unless they were some idol fans. Even those passionate viewers mostly searched for their own clips on YouTube or linked tforms, and didn¡¯t bother to watch the text vote. Thanks to that, no matter how powerful the fandom group came out, the viewer vote score never exceeded 2000 points. For the first time, a national vote-level text was sent to such a meaningless vote¡­ It was perhaps natural that a score that had never been seen before and never thought toe out came out. [Music Safe in the 5th week of October! The long-awaited first ce is! Climax, congrattions!] As the news of Climax¡¯s first ce was announced, SNS and even the chat rooms, the entire Floss fandom was shaken. Isn¡¯t that rigged? Some people had a negative view at first¡­ All Floss members were beneficiaries of the same voting encouragement event. If it was wrong to use the ¡®fake fans¡¯ to mess up the original purpose, then they were also guilty of it. ¡®You know it¡¯s easy to give my idol a music show trophy with just 3,000 bucks.¡¯ Although the ranking had dropped now, Climax had hit number one on the real-time chart on the day of release, and their fancam had made it to the single digits of the most popr videos. That momentum continued to the Muggle Pick, where they seemed to be doing quite well. They said the group had a long period of obscurity, so their desperation was evident. Who do you think made a digital streaming team and ran it like crazy to make my idol the top one without any desperation? All this time, they were just annoyingly lumped together because they were from the same agency. It was the moment when the wall of my heart that had denied the difference in ¡®ss¡¯ that was too obvious topare copsed. ¡®Are they really catching up?¡¯ At the moment when my heart was stained with anxiety and nervousness, one aggro post on Enter Talk Talk pierced and stuck in my heart. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Title] Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time to push Climax over W? [Body] There¡¯s only half a year left for Floss¡¯s activities Honestly, you can see the members who are ready to bail I would rather push Climax, who have nowhere to go except W and have all the IP, than the project group that will betray me and not extend [Comments] [- Floss is on the decline and Climax is on the rise. It¡¯s not a matter of days or hours before the project group disbands and they all be flops] [- I still thought Climax was not on the same level as Floss, but I was shocked to see them win Music Two today. They must have a lot of core fans who clenched their teeth and endured the long period of obscurity] £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ What the hell are you talking about, Xbal. Don¡¯t fall for this kind of aggro post. Just look at the poprity poll of the biggest entertainmentmunity in Korea, and it¡¯s obvious that Floss is number one, and the top nine individuals were all Floss. Do you think they¡¯re going to crumble like this with half a year left in their activities? The fans who checked the weekly idol poprity poll (boy group individual) with a snort of their nose had to fall down and grab their necks again. 6th ¨C Oh Yi-jun 8th ¨C Son Seong-won 13th ¨C Cheon Ise 15th ¨C Na Seon-woo 27th ¨C Ryu Kyunghwa Although there was a big gap between the members, there was a crack in the legend of Floss, the undisputed top one. Chapter 106 Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 106 Shrimps get hurt in a whale fight I knew it was inevitable that something would happen. But when we finished all our schedules and returned to our amodation, the entertainment news was buzzing with our story. The cause of the conflict was simple. Was the voting encouragement event a scam or not? Eventually, the fan who organized the event came out and posted a feedback. It was a simr event that had been done in other programs, and they had only used the money that they had collected for support. They wanted to give back to the Climax members who gave the fans precious memories with a surprise guerri stage. That was the gist of it. ¡®They didn¡¯t have pure intentions though¡­¡¯ I felt heavy-hearted that they got into more trouble than I thought because of us. Music Safe also posted an unprecedentedly fast notice. Since the viewer text voting was not activated yet, they calcted the scores proportionally without a limit, just like the other indicators. They said they would set up a limit for each categoryter to prevent the same case from happening again. [- Isn¡¯t this cheating? I was watching it live and I spat out the milk I was drinking. It was ridiculous.] [? Well¡­ it¡¯s not like this hasn¡¯t been done in other voting programs. They¡¯ve already boiled the bones out of it. Why can¡¯t they do it on music shows too?] [? Originalmenter, you should at least hide yourment history. You¡¯re a two-faced bead???????????????] [- Because of this, if we want to give them the first ce, we have to risk our lives voting every week on music shows. They raised the fatigue level of the whole market. Is it worth it even if they get cursed?] [? So what¡¯s the problem with having a limit?] [- Floss, Winnd fans have no right toment????????????? It¡¯s so unfair.] [? Look at these guys who are lying down and biting their teeth. Theirment history shows that they¡¯re Floss fans. Aren¡¯t you ashamed??? You¡¯re all scared because you debuted and Climax got the first ce?] [? I¡¯m a ???? fan and I was just a bit dumbfounded by this. I guess this kind of thing happens too. It¡¯s not like the fans who are doing this cheating thing are ???? fans.] [? ????2222 I¡¯m a Pinkris fan andpared to the firepower of our boy group fandom, we¡¯re just a handful. We don¡¯t have the manpower to vote.] [? Winnd, please let go of our hair. They disbanded a long time ago and now they¡¯re suddenly getting dragged and cursed.] Some of the Floss fans seemed to have deliberately posted inmmatory posts to create negative opinions about Climax. ¡®I¡¯m going crazy¡­¡¯ Guys, please stop fighting. I held my forehead and shook my head. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± When I was alone in the living room, looking at my phone after taking a shower and going to bed, Seongwon came out of the room. ¡°Meow!¡± As Seong-won opened the door, Aeongi came out with him and ran to Pposili, sniffing his smell. His tail went straight up. ¡°Ah¡­ it¡¯s nothing.¡± I thought he wouldn¡¯t care much, but worry is something that multiplies when you share it. There was no benefit in telling him something that he didn¡¯t know and wasn¡¯t good. ¡°It¡¯s not nothing. What is it?¡± Seong-won frowned as if to tell me not to bother him. He had such a pretty face that even when he made a face, it was annoyingly cute. I ignored him at first, but then I decided that he wouldn¡¯t care much anyway, and answered. ¡°Themunity is going crazy because we got the first ce with our voting score.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Seong-won nodded his head as if he already knew. ¡°Did you know?¡± I asked him as if I was surprised. ¡°I had a feeling. The Floss fandom hates our dog, right?¡± ¡°Did you see anything in particr?¡± I asked him anxiously, but Seong-won answered nonchntly. ¡°I saw a lot. But I don¡¯t care.¡± This guy too¡­ Does he monitor themunity and SNS? He didn¡¯t seem to do that from what I saw. Does he decide for himself whether to ept or ignore what he sees? He had a remarkable mental strength in many ways. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it bother you or make you sad when you see that?¡± He chuckled as if I was saying something ridiculous. ¡°I can¡¯t be an entertainer if I care about all that.¡± He had been a nobody for five years, barely mentioned. Anyway, he seemed to have concluded that he was more experienced than me. ¡°I¡¯m the easiest target. I can¡¯t say what people like, or I don¡¯t. Ever since I was the runner-up of Star Discovery, the Floss fans keep making and spreadingparison posts between me and the Floss main vocalist.¡± Hmm¡­ I saw somementsparing Shim Naru and Seong-won, but I didn¡¯t know they were posting full-fledgedparison articles. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just tell them to do whatever they want. All I have to do is perform well.¡± That was theoretically correct. But usually, it wasn¡¯t that easy. ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t react.¡± Seong-won nodded his head slightly as if he knew that too, and picked up Aeongi. ¡°I¡¯m going back in.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Seong-won took Aeongi away from Pposili and went into his room. As the door closed, the light that had leaked out of the room disappeared, casting a shadow on the crystal trophy. I felt uneasy. I could use fate to make things easier, but if it wasn¡¯t a situation where I could apply it to all five members likest time, it could be more harmful than helpful. For now, I had music show schedules all weekend next week. Before the music show appearances were over, I had to prepare for radio appearances, variety shows, stage rehearsals, and more on weekdays. And although Yi-jun did it by himself, I had to do a short thank-you live tomorrow. I had more than one or two things to worry about, but now¡­ I was dealing with their fights¡­ No. ¡®Can¡¯t they just enjoy their fandom with a positive attitude?¡¯ Why do they have to fight so much? I didn¡¯t understand, but since the quest hade, it was my area to solve. ¡°Let¡¯s just sleep first.¡± It was better to rest well and think with a clear mind, even if I had to worry and think. It was no use to agonize and suffer without resting properly. I would only end up feeling miserable. ¡°Woof-!¡± Pposili ran ahead of me to the bedroom door as if he wanted me to go quickly. And then he jumped with his short legs and opened the doorknob, which was not amon skill. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Well. He looked like an ordinary dog, but after all¡­ He wasn¡¯t a real dog.¡± Pposili barked softly as if to ask what I was talking about. He¡¯s not a real puppy, you know. I had no idea why he felt wronged. I hung my head and went into the room. Seon-woo was sleeping soundly with a swollen face. He had a hard time too. I went to bed with a heavy heart. My head was pretty heavy, but I fell asleep quickly because I was so tired. I spent a busy week without a break. At the radio show I appeared on after a long time, I was asked to sing my new song all the time, and at the variety show, they asked me to teach them the point of choreography or dance. Every program I appeared on mentioned the miracle of reverse running and busking. ¡°Is it true that the guerri busking that day was not a scheduled event with thepany?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. That¡¯s right! It was Ise¡¯s idea!¡± ¡°Honestly, when I first heard it, I thought you were crazy.¡± ¡°I was a bit surprised, but not that much.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t expect you to respond so well.¡± We told them what we could reveal with thepany¡¯s consent and sang a short verse of our confident parts. When we responded to the viewers¡¯ stories and shared our thoughts, an hour passed by quickly. The web variety show was the same. The Boys in Crisis edited and released the video they filmed with the surveince camera, but the others couldn¡¯t do that. When I appeared on the web variety show that said the idol who came back appeared on a fixed schedule like the music show, I thought my eyes were spinning. ¡°Ise, show us your main dancer skills!¡± Suddenly, it was either a random y dance or y random dance. I had no idea what was going on as I danced to the randomly yed songs from our past activities. ¡°Ah~. It seems a bit slow! Let¡¯s go a little faster!¡± What do you mean slow? The song suddenly changed to 1.5 times faster and I broke out in a cold sweat on my back. ¡°There¡¯s beef on the line!¡± Do I have to eat beef so hard? Can¡¯t I just buy it with my own money? But I couldn¡¯t say no. I had to finish it to the end with the will not to bother the team. The SNS reaction was very bad. [- Did you put a bomb on Severy¡¯s back that would explode if you made a mistake??????????????????] [? There¡¯s nothing behind him, but he looks like he¡¯s running with a digital clock on his back??????????] [- Who dances so desperately ???????] [? I was surprised to see that the dance for that song was originally that intense, but it was just Ise dancing with his life] [- Can¡¯t someone tell Severy not to be so strict even if someone makes a mistake?] [? I think the other members just left him alone because they thought it was funny?????????] I was quite embarrassed when I found out what the show was about. After the first week of hectic official activities, another problem awaited me. ¡°Guys, I have something to tell you before we get off.¡± It was on the way home after the Music Safe performance in the first week of November. Everyone was pretty tired, so they were a little nervous at the manager¡¯s ominous first words. This week¡¯s Music Safe ranking was fifth. The other music show rankings were simr. They were evenly spread from sixth to eighth. It might have seemed like the ranking had dropped a lotpared tost week¡¯s text voting results, but¡­ I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t disappointed. But I was grateful for the award that the fans had given me, even if it was a constion prize. Gratitude was gratitude, but what could I say to the members who had endured a schedule of waking up at 5 a.m. and sleeping at midnight for three days in a row? That was what mattered right now. ¡°Why are you cushioning it so much?¡± Kyunghwa asked anxiously, already worried. ¡°Well, you can refuse if it¡¯s too burdensome, but¡­ I think it would be good to go, so I¡¯m just passing it on.¡± Just tell us what it is, we all waited impatiently for the main point. ¡°Did you get an offer for a program?¡± The other programs we had done before weren¡¯t so cautious, so there must have been a reason. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s an idol grouppetition program. It¡¯s going to air every Friday at 11 p.m. on cable, and it¡¯s produced by LJ, so they¡¯re going to promote it a lot.¡± What? It sounded like a no-brainer. Seong-won was already experienced, and the rest of the members weren¡¯tcking in skills either. ¡°Then there¡¯s no problem, right? We can just say yes.¡± That¡¯s when the manager turned off the engine and looked at us carefully, holding a bomb. ¡°The group that¡¯s leaving ourpany, it¡¯s not just you guys. The thing is¡­ Floss is also going out on the condition that they join.¡± What nonsense. A cold silence fell in the car, as if someone had poured cold water on us. Chapter 122: Chapter 122: ¡°We¡¯ll reveal the cheering rankings and citizen interviews for Floss soon!¡± Ooh, since there were nine members, there were a few who booed. ¡°What, why don¡¯t they reveal it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe they¡¯ll do itter?¡± Inside Floss, I could see some members who were supposedly ¡®close¡¯ to each other flirting with each other. Meanwhile, Yu-geon and Hwijin had a strange atmosphere around them, as if they were aware of themselves. As if they had pushed back the main dish. They exchanged nd questions and even nder answers, and then it was time for the next group. ¡°Now, the next group to appear! Let¡¯s wee Vesper! Pleasee in!¡± With the cheerful introduction of the MC, seven people who were clearly armed with hip-hop! walked in. Their previous albums all had different concepts, but essentially they had ¡®delinquents¡¯, ¡®rascals¡¯, and ¡®viins¡¯ as their main themes. ¡®Usually, they don¡¯t use such concepts as their main ones for more than once.¡¯ It was easy to attract attention, but it was not easy to maintain a bad vibe without causing controversy. Sure enough, they seemed to be more popr in the overseas market than in the Korean market, which preferred idols who were neat, cool, and admirable. ¡®Actually, some of them¡­ had a bullying controversy when they debuted, so they turned more to the overseas market.¡¯ I nced at the Vesper leader who had been involved in the bully scandal. He was twenty-two now, right? He looked like that age, with tinum hair neatlybed back with a hair pick. He grabbed the microphone and greeted. ¡°Guys, say hello!¡± ¡°Hello, we are Vesper!¡± They seemed to have prepared their greeting beforehand, as they exaggeratedly gestured like they were part of an organization. ¡®They really nailed the concept of being delinquents.¡¯ That was a concept that only those guys could pull off. ¡°Wee, Vesper! Please take your seats and we¡¯ll start with the pre-interview video!¡± As soon as the seven bad guys found their seats, the screen lit up again. [Ah, I know who they are. The group that sang Hard Game, right? Isn¡¯t their taste a bit minor? I don¡¯t think it matches the mainstream direction.] Ugh, they picked a harsh criticism for the opening. Floss members, who didn¡¯t know there was such a segment, were of course, and so were our kids, their expressions were not bright. Of course, Vesper members were furious. ¡°What, why are wecking in poprity?¡± They didn¡¯t care about the ratings, and they each muttered a word. ¡°Do albums sell like that without poprity?¡± The member who was in charge of producing in Vesper pouted, sticking out his lips like a duck¡¯s beak. [It might be fun¡­ but I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll rank well.] [Are they really suitable for broadcasting?] [Oh, that¡­ member¡­ no, never mind, it might be fun.] [They¡¯re famous overseas, right? Their domestic fandom seems weak.] [They¡¯re a K-POP group, but honestly, they¡¯re more famous abroad than in Korea¡­] Just like our time, they seemed to have edited only the negativements. ¡°What, that makes me feel bad.¡± ¡°What do you want us to do, so what?¡± It was a tant reaction that contrasted with the tame responses of Climax and Floss so far. Some members expressed theirints by stomping their feet, drawing more attention to them. ¡°Wow¡­ they¡¯re harsh¡­¡± Sunwoo nced at where Vesper was sitting and muttered quietly, looking around. Finally, the hour-long ordeal of harsh criticism ended and the MC asked as if pouring oil on the fire. ¡°Vesper, do you ept the interview results?¡± Immediately, a negative answer burst out. ¡°No way!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t agree!¡± It could be called confidence, in a good way. In a bad way¡­ ¡®This won¡¯t look good to the fans of other groups.¡¯ But if they were the type to care about that, they wouldn¡¯t have chosen the delinquent concept in the first ce. Soon, the MC continued the banter with them and Vesper¡¯s ranking was revealed. [The team you want to cheer for] 5th [Vesper] [The team you think will win] 4th [Vesper] Was it because of their weak domestic fandom? They inevitably got low scores. They were average if you took the mean, but still. There was a faint booing from within Vesper, but the order quickly moved on to the next group. ¡°Next, we have the prince of the idol world who captivates the hearts and ears of the public with his sweet voice! Let¡¯s wee AtoX!¡± AtoX was originally a bad group that debuted and focused on OSTs, but they started to pay attention to their performance sincest year. They also suffered from harsh criticism in the pre-public interview, saying that their stage would be boring if they only sang bads. They wondered if they would make it rain from the sky again. They said they would look like they were herding cows while everyone else was having fun. The only constion for them was¡­ ¡®At least their ranking is higher than ours.¡¯ They had released songs and albums of high quality so far, and they had also won over the public fans. Their ranking was quite high on both sides. [The team you want to cheer for] 2nd [AtoX] [The team you think will win] 2nd [AtoX] It was clear that the interview was deliberately edited to show only the badments. It became more evident after epting AtoX¡¯s results. There was no way they would only say bad things when their ranking was so high on both sides. They probably said more things like they were looking forward to their performance because they usually only did bads, or they wanted to see a different side of them. After that, the show went on smoothly, with P2CK and yground following. ¡°Hello, we are P2CK, who catch the moment!¡± ¡°We are yground, the rookies who are like your best friends!¡± P2CK¡¯s leader was as innocent and lively as he was when he interviewed Leader Jo, and yground¡¯s leader BK seemed to have ovee his nervousness a bit fromst time, but¡­ ¡°Ah, hello! We will show you a more hard-working side of us¡­!¡± He still looked lost, as if he was not used to the broadcast. If the leader was like that, how would the other members be? The camera captured the eight of us, all 17, 18, or 19 years old, still in high school and not yet graduated, floundering around. ¡®Maybe¡­ it¡¯s better to show our weaknesses without any pretense.¡¯ I thought it would be a smarter strategy to admit that we were inexperienced and ask for support, rather than pretending to be skilled in an area we couldn¡¯t handle. There were only two spots left for the team I wanted to cheer for. It was either first or sixth ce. Who would take the first ce? Everyone stared at the screen in silence, And the moment the scoreboard changed, my prediction was exactly right. [Team I want to cheer for] 1st ce [yground] [Team I think will win] 6th ce [yground] [Team I want to cheer for] 6th ce [Floss] Maybe it was because the lineup was already dominated by groups that had established their positions, except for Climax. It seemed like there were a lot of potential viewers who sympathized with yground just by looking at the lineup. And it wasn¡¯t even a survey that targeted only idol fandoms, they just put up a voting board on the street and asked people to stick it. It was only natural that there were many people who cheered for yground out of pity. ¡®This is a bit of a problem.¡¯ Now that Climax had seeded in theireback with a ¡®pitiful¡¯ image, they still needed to keep that desperate image. Not that they should do a misery battle. Climax was in a state where their skills were somewhat proven, while yground was just a debutant who didn¡¯t know anything. If you asked who was more pitiful between the two¡­ it would obviously be them. We had the sympathy card, but even that was taken away by them, so it was bound to be disadvantageous for us. The moment everyone was surprised by yground¡¯s ranking, the camera didn¡¯t miss the expressions of the Floss members. ¡®It must be shocking.¡¯ Before the Floss members could recover from the shock of the sixth ce, the pre-public interview video of Floss was yed. [Honestly¡­ Do you feel a bit threatened?] [We¡¯ve seen enough of them since My Idol, do we need to see them again?] [Ah~. Well, of course they¡¯ll get the first ce with their voting power.] [Anyway, Floss will be the first ce, so why bother?] [Don¡¯t you feel a bit resentful that they¡¯re pushing them so hard as the trend?] [I wish something unexpected would happen. It¡¯s too obvious and boring that Floss will be the first ce.] This was also obvious. They had edited the video to pick out only the negative ones among the many positive interviews. After Floss¡¯s interview video, a huge logo appeared on the screen and the studio fell silent. ¡®They¡¯re trying to push Floss against Floss as the trailer showed.¡¯ ¡°Well, the final rankings have been revealed! It seems like you¡¯re all surprised by the unexpected twist! yground, what do you think?¡± What did they expect him to say in this atmosphere? B.K. shivered as he took the microphone. ¡°Uh, thank you for cheering for us¡­! We, we¡­ No, I mean¡­ Ah, yes, we¡¯ll do our best to meet your expectations!¡± ¡°We heard yground¡¯s confidentment! How about Floss? Are you satisfied with your current ranking?¡± The microphone was now turned to Floss. Hwijin answered calmly with aposed expression. ¡°We¡¯ll show you on stage why we¡¯re the number one contenders for the win.¡± He had a confident expression that showed no signs of being intimidated. Even those who didn¡¯t like Floss had to admit that he was a handsome man who could pull off such a rxed attitude in a situation where everyone was against him. ¡°What a great ambition! We have six teams of different colors fighting for the throne of the king in a fiercepetition that has just begun!¡± As the MC announced, five letters appeared on the screen behind him. [First Mission] That¡¯s right, today they would reveal the first mission and then each team would go to their meeting rooms toe up with a simple concept. It felt like the real start. I focused on the screen to not miss any small details. ¡°The first mission of Boys Be Ambitious is!¡± The MC pointed to the screen with a powerful gesture and then smiled mischievously. ¡°We¡¯ll be back after themercial!¡± ¡®¡­¡¯ I hadn¡¯t watched this kind of program much. But even when I watched it for research purposes, I was annoyed. And now that I experienced it myself, I felt like my stomach was turning. During themercial break, the MC moistened his throat with the water that the staff gave him and then resumed the show. ¡°The blood-spattered battle of the representative boy groups of Korean K-POP! The first mission of Boys Be Ambitious is!¡± The screen changed quickly following the MC¡¯s hand. [Icon of the Era: Recreate the Legend!] ¡°You have to recreate the legendary songs of the seniors who made a mark on the Korean popr music scene with your own interpretation!¡± As soon as the mission was announced, Yu-geon¡¯s face turned cold. It was somewhat surprising, since he had always been yful and cheerful. ¡®Why does he look like that?¡¯ Not only me, but the other members also had the same thought. Chapter 123: Chapter 123: ¡°Why do you look so unhappy?¡± Kyunghwa, who had a keen eye, noticed the change in Yu-geon¡¯s expression and frowned. I was about to answer casually, but I remembered the microphone under my chin and shut my mouth. ¡®Did he hear something from the production team beforehand?¡¯ It was time to use the rey service that I hadn¡¯t used for a while. ¡®System.¡¯ The payment window for the rey service shed in front of me. [Do you want to purchase the rey service?] [Yes/No] Of course, it was ¡®yes¡¯. ¡®Yes.¡¯ As soon as I shouted it in my head, I heard a barking sound as if Pposili was happy. The surroundings quickly darkened and a ck-and-white movie-like scene unfolded. ¡°Oh my¡­ How can a young person go so soon¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s too bad, right? He was so young.¡± ¡°But he must have left a lot of money behind, his father was so famous.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear? Yu-geon¡¯s mother kept borrowing money from rtives to live.¡± ¡°Did Yu-geon¡¯s father have another family or something? I never saw him like that.¡± The ce where the mourners in ck clothes were whispering was none other than the funeral hall¡¯s restaurant. It seemed like an old event, as their outfits looked like they were from 20 years ago. ¡°Shh, be quiet. What are you doing here at the portrait hall?¡± Someone in the group warned them and the conversation stopped. But the peace didn¡¯tst long. Soon after, there was amotion at the entrance of the mortuary, as if a fight had broken out. ¡°We¡¯re not taking any interviews! Please go away!¡± ¡°We want to have a quiet time with our family. Please, I beg you!¡± The loud shutter sound poured out, and someone finally knocked over a piece of equipment towards the reporters. ¡°Get lost! Don¡¯t you see he¡¯s dead? Do you want to take pictures like a pack of dogs? Get out!¡± ¡°Ji-hwan, please calm down. We just need to get rid of the reporters¡­¡± The voice sounded familiar. It was Nam Ji-hwan, the singer who debuted at the music festival and swept the 90s. There were also other singers who were active around the same time, upying several seats. It seemed like it was Yu-geon¡¯s father¡¯s funeral. As someone who had said he wanted to see his father¡¯s face before, I felt a bit embarrassed. ¡®I unintentionally offended him.¡¯ So who was Yu-geon¡¯s father? Why was this rted to Yu-geon¡¯s unhappy expression? I showed my curiosity in the situation and made my way to the front of the mortuary. There was an unexpected portrait photo on the flower bed. Kang Hee-sung. He debuted in 1991 with a college music festival award. He was a singer who had a sensational poprity and earned as much as a small business walking around at the time. Then he suddenly had a conflict with his agency and it became a news story. He died at a young age, not even thirty. ¡®With such a person, surely¡­¡¯ It was strange that Yu-geon being Kang Hee-sung¡¯s son hadn¡¯t been a topic until now. Do you know what agency he belongs to? He¡¯s a genius who produced an incredible amount of hit songs and legendary albums in less than a decade, and shook the world with his talent. He was the icon of the era, the legend. There was no one who suited those words better than him. Thest thing I saw was the young Yu-geon, who looked like he was barely in elementary school, sitting next to his mother with his head bowed. [Rey service ¨C Ends on November 28th, 5 years old] Bang-! As I was lost in thought, Pposili wagged his tail and snorted, as if to wake me up. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m on air right now. I clenched my fist secretly and gathered my mind. I didn¡¯t need to show that my mind was elsewhere ¨C even though I actually went there ¨C in front of the camera. ¡®I got it. Thanks.¡¯ As I stroked Pposili¡¯s fluffy head, the surroundings brightened up and I returned to reality. ¡°From now on, you can move to the team-specific hideouts that have been prepared for you!¡± The door that we had walked in opened on both sides, following the MC¡¯s lead. ¡°Let¡¯s start with Climax, who entered first!¡± As I followed the staff¡¯s guidance, I was bothered by Kang Yu-geon¡¯s expression. It must be because his agency knows, right? If they think about the buzz, the broadcasting station would definitely want to go with the image of a son who inherits his father¡¯s legacy. Would Floss choose Kang Hee-sung as the legend to recreate? Or¡­ ¡°What are you doing?¡± As I was worried about another group for a moment, Seong-won grabbed my wrist and pulled me. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Where¡¯s your mind?¡± I narrowed my eyes and answered Seong-won¡¯s sharp tone. ¡°I was just thinking of some ideas for the n.¡± I said that, but I didn¡¯t have any ideas at the moment. What I was confident in was probably the hit solo singers from the 90s to the 00s, but if I pushed for that and Floss brought out Kang Hee-sung, it would be a disaster. It would be ovepping. And since the ¡®deceased father¡¯ keyword is notmon, all the attention would be drawn to that side. Especially since his family history is being revealed for the first time, there would be a lot ofmotion. ¡°Climax¡¯s hideout is this room. Please use it.¡± When I entered the room that the production team had guided me to, a small meeting room decorated with a SF-likeboratory atmosphere that matched ourtest single¡¯s concept came out. ¡°Wow! The interior is amazing!¡± Yi-jun was excited and rummaged through the desk, sofa, cab, and so on. ¡°Did you decorate each group¡¯s room differently?¡± The staff nodded and answered Yi-jun¡¯s excited question. ¡°Yes, we prepared them ording to each group¡¯s concept, so please check them out when the broadcast airs. It will be another fun element, right?¡± Then, a guy who didn¡¯t know his limits crossed the line. ¡°Can we go to other groups¡¯ rooms then!?¡± No way. Kyunghwa looked at Yi-jun with a cold re, as if he had the same thought as me. ¡°Please focus on the progress for now! If there¡¯s a chanceter, it might be a good idea!¡± It seemed like they didn¡¯t have that in their n for now. ¡°Yes! Then we¡¯ll start the meeting now~.¡± With Yi-jun¡¯s cheerful answer, the door of the hideout closed with a thud. ¡°What should we do now?¡± Kyunghwa brought the notepad and pen that the production staff had prepared to the center of the table. ¡°Is it only possible for old singers to be icons of the era?¡± ¡°Well, even five years ago feels like a long time ago, so it might be okay.¡± Various ideas came out from Kyunghwa and Yi-jun, but none of them seemed to be the one. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be something that¡¯s famous or long-running, as long as it¡¯s something that anyone can see and say, ¡®Wow, that¡¯s amazing,¡¯ and acknowledge it.¡± Then, Seon-woo opened his mouth after a moment of thought. ¡°How about something like ¡®This Moment of Ours¡¯?¡± ¡®This Moment of Ours¡¯ was Pris¡¯s debut song. They didn¡¯t get much attention at first because they were idols from a small agency with no capital. Butter, their agency was acquired by arge distributor and they re-debuted with a repackaged album. They received a push from the capital and became a hit song that was praised for its sessful self-remake. It stayed at number one for almost two months, not to mention breaking the record for the highest viewership of music shows. This was also a song from seven years ago, so it wasn¡¯t a bad idea. ¡°The song is good, but the problem is how we can pull it off, right?¡± Pris was basically a pure girl group when they debuted, so it was a big question whether a boy group could digest it. ¡°Well¡­ I think it¡¯ll be okay if we do it.¡± Seon-woo¡¯s unconfident voice drew everyone¡¯s eyes to Yi-jun. ¡°Rejected.¡± It was clear that it was not a good idea. ¡°What! Why are you rejecting it when you look at me?¡± Yi-jun shouted in disbelief. ¡°I get a headache when I think of you running around with a ribbon candy.¡± It would have been fine if the goal was to make the audienceugh. But they couldn¡¯t choose a gag for their first mission. There would be many people who would see us for the first time through this program. They didn¡¯t want to be branded with a gag image out of nowhere. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t anyone acknowledge how cute Yi-jun is?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you keep bringing up concepts that won¡¯t work, that¡¯s why they say no, what other reason could there be!¡± Kyunghwa¡¯s angry cushion flew into Yi-jun¡¯s face. ¡°Can you move me to another seat?¡± Seong-won moved to a seat where he couldn¡¯t see Yi-jun, as if he couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. Then the atmosphere calmed down again. ¡°Stop joking around. What are we really going to do?¡± It was a waste of an opportunity to use a concept that they had already released as an album or could releaseter. A concept that was surprising but not too weird¡­ Then, a pair of goggles that were ced as a prop in the meeting room caught their eye. ¡®This would be a good retro vibe, right?¡¯ They remembered a video they had found while collecting concept materials for theireback stage and went back to ten years ago. The cool all-white tone of the sporty outfits and the bright and cheerful rhythm of the hit song were impressive in the special stage video. The main theme of the song was the summer sea, so it might not match the season when the first snow was about to fall. But the point was to match the outfits with a ski suit vibe. If the season was on their side and it really snowed, it would be even better, like a summer in November, or a Christmas in the summer. ¡°I have an idea.¡± This was something that all of us, from Seon-woo to Seong-won, Yi-jun, Kyunghwa, and myself, could pull off perfectly. Four pairs of eyes locked on me as I grinned confidently. ¡°Ugh. I¡¯m so exhausted.¡± It was already past 11 pm when we finished the first shoot and thest interview recording. ¡°I need to go home and sleep. I¡¯ll work on the details of the concept tomorrow afternoon.¡± The production team said they would film us having a meeting at the dorm in the afternoon. They¡¯re making us do everything¡­ I thought, but I decided to think positively since it was a good opportunity to show ourselves. ¡°Just rest when you get there. Don¡¯t do anything else. We have to practice constantly once we finalize the concept, since we have to prepare for the stage in a week.¡± ¡°Okay~.¡± We all nodded briefly at the manager¡¯s nagging and stifled a yawn. Was this the end of today¡¯s schedule? I felt relieved for a moment, but the manager seemed to have something to say. ¡°Oh, and one more thing. Stop by thepany after the stage next week. We have to discuss your contract renewal and hear your opinions.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Right.¡± That reminded us of the renewal deadline that we had forgotten amid the hectic schedule. We had no other choice but to stay with Climax, since we all agreed not to leave¡­ But we had to address the poor treatment that Climax had given us. I understood that they didn¡¯t want to waste money on a sinking ship. But they had neglected and ignored us throughout the conflict with Floss, and even tried to use us as a scapegoat. ¡®They can¡¯t just get away with this.¡¯ The other members might be willing to sign the renewal without much fuss, as long as the conditions improved, but not me. It was time to start a proper negotiation. Chapter 124: Chapter 124: To negotiate properly with thepany, I needed one thing first: confidence. The belief that Chairman Cheon would support me, beyond Vice-Chairman An. W was moving based on Chairman Cheon¡¯s backing, so it was hard to try anything without his approval. ¡®I¡¯ve never met Chairman Cheon face to face before.¡¯ He had asked me to visit his house once recently. He wasn¡¯t someone I had a good impression of before I died, but as Cheon Ise, he was still family. Even though he had treated Cheon Ise like a failure and kicked him out¡­ The fact that he contacted me again meant that he was interested in the results I had achieved for the first time. Cheon Ise had messed up too many things for him to invest more, but¡­¡®Considering ourst phone call, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to talk to him.¡¯ It was true that I was stillcking in poprity, but I had sessfully finished myst activity and risen to the level of a 2.5-tier group in Mangdol. ¡®Of course, the fandoms of huge groups like Floss still treat us like Mangdol.¡¯ But we had hit the real-time first ce. And our TOP 200 ranking wasn¡¯t bad either. Now, we just had to promote Boys Be Ambitious and make our faces known, and expand our activities to acting, musicals, or whatever, for each member, while preparing for our next regr album. ¡®Once I finish this¡­¡¯ My strongest point was cooking, so I had a desire to join one of the many cooking shows that were popping up. To widen my range to personal activities, I needed more support than I had now. It wasn¡¯t just about money, but the current W staff couldn¡¯t handle even one Floss activity period, so we had to gather people from this team and that team. I needed a team of at least six or seven people who could support Climax exclusively. Even if I used the savings that Cheon Ise had, for the personnel expenses¡­ If I wanted to separate the operation into a single team and proceed, I had to consult with thepany. ¡®I guess I have no choice but to meet Chairman Cheon.¡¯ As soon as the day broke tomorrow, I decided to call him and set up a specific schedule, and returned to my amodation for now. ¡°Hyung, you¡¯re here~. Did you have fun today?¡± Seong-won opened the door and ran to Aeongi with a bright smile on his face. I couldn¡¯t get used to it no matter how many times I saw it. He looked like he was about to hug Aeongi right away, but he stopped and sniffed his hand, then went to the bathroom to wash it. Aeongi wrapped his tail around Seong-won¡¯s leg and purred. ¡°Ugh, what is this? You¡¯re so clingy, huh? Don¡¯t be greedy with your eyes and go to your room.¡± Yi-jun saw that and made a gesture of vomiting, then naturally picked up Pposili and went to his room. ¡°¡­?¡± I felt a strange feeling as I watched them. Pposili ¡¯s user¡­? No, his guardian was me. ¡°Don¡¯t put Pposili on my bed.¡± Kyunghwa also hurriedly went into his room, leaving me and Seon-woo alone. ¡°Go in and wash up quickly.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± For now, I had to prepare for the legendary cover stage next week. I stretched and went to my room to start getting ready. The next afternoon, a small team of three production staff visited our amodation. The other groups had split their filming days and were shooting two groups per day. ¡®Doesn¡¯t that mean we have more time to polish our performance if we do itter? Isn¡¯t that an advantage?¡¯ I felt a bit unfair, but that¡¯s why we were the first ones to go¡­ Sadly, I had to ept it. To sum up the filming results, I seeded in pushing for the song I suggested. The main keywords were ski resort, snow, summer, and sea. It was a dreamlike concept of two contrasting seasons mixed together. Blue waves rolling over the snow-white sand, snow falling under the dazzling summer sun. A world of imagination that no one had ever seen before. A ce where summer and winter, snow and sea coexisted. It might seem like a far-fetched setting, but it wasn¡¯t bad timing-wise. ¡°The stage will air at the end of November, right? Then we should definitely take the Christmas vibe as well.¡± Since the airing period was the end of the year, someone out of the four stages would surely take the Christmas concept at least once. Everyone else would be too hesitant to do it for the first stage. And since they would release the songs as digital singles from first to third ce for each stage¡­ ¡®If we can make it to the top three, maybe we can push for a carol song this year.¡¯ That was only if we did well, of course. We were still chicks who had a lot of things we hadn¡¯t experienced yet¡­ But I didn¡¯t feel any fear that it wouldn¡¯t work out. I had already figured out how to best use the members. As soon as we finished discussing the specifics of the stage concept, the backup dancers¡¯ number, and the choreography, the filming time was over. ¡°That¡¯s a wrap, thank you for your hard work!¡± When the production staff left, the tension eased. I live a busy life. I thought as I tried to rx. That¡¯s when I saw a message that I hadn¡¯t checked while filming. [Mom] Your brother and sister are both free today, what about you? 4:47 PM [Mom] Let¡¯s have dinner together with the whole family for once. 4:50 PM It was a family gathering proposal from Mrs. An Jung-hee. So suddenly? She did call me in the morning and said she wanted to see me when she had time and asked me to contact her¡­ I didn¡¯t expect that there would be a ce to meet the whole family, so I was flustered. ¡®Well. Maybe it¡¯s a good thing.¡¯ After a brief hesitation, I decided to take it as an opportunity. Before I started the formal negotiations with thepany after next week¡¯s stage, I needed to meet Mr. Cheon at least once. It was better to take the chance when it came, since I didn¡¯t know if I would be able to see him or not. [Me] Yes. I just finished filming, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a big problem. I¡¯ll head home right away. 6:07 PM I quickly replied to Mrs. An Jung-hee and turned to the members who were sprawled on the sofa. ¡°I have a sudden dinner appointment with my family, so I¡¯ll be back in a bit. I mighte backte, so please take care of Pposili for me.¡± I packed up quickly and headed for the front door. Pposili followed me to the entrance as if to see me off. ¡°Don¡¯t just order anything for delivery while I¡¯m gone. I¡¯ve put the recipes in the kitchen, so help yourselves.¡± I didn¡¯t know if anyone heard me, but I casually said it and closed the front door. I would have to check if they ate well when I came back at night. ¡®They won¡¯t hold me back and tell me to stay for a day since I haven¡¯t been here for a long time¡­ right?¡¯ I worried for nothing as I reached the parking lot in no time. ¡®I still can¡¯t get used to this car¡­¡¯ The cover was thick with dust from being parked for so long. I had memorized the number te several times to convince myself that it was mine, but I still hesitated to drive the shiny foreign car. ¡®Maybe I should have taken a taxi¡­ But then again, what if the driver recognizes me¡­¡¯ After much deliberation, I finally grabbed the steering wheel. ¡®It¡¯s not like this is the first time I¡¯m driving it.¡¯ I took a short breath and started the engine. The sound was iparable to the old domestic sedan I used to drive, but instead of feeling proud, I felt embarrassed. Quick¡­ Let¡¯s go to the address the system gave me. My hands were sweaty from holding the wheel, which was a first for such a trivial thing. ¡®Here it is.¡¯ It was a famous area where the chairman¡¯s mansion was located. Just a bit further and I could see the matchbox-like multi-family houses crammed together. I thought I wouldn¡¯t want to live here even if I had a lot of money, and this was the exact neighborhood I had in mind. The mansion upied arge plot ofnd, so I had to circle around the alley stupidly twice to find the entrance to the parking lot. ¡®Who would have lived in a house like this?¡¯ I briefly parked the car in front of the garage that looked like it cost a fortune to build and pressed the call bell. The huge iron gate opened up and the garage door opened. As I entered the garage, I saw a collection of supercars that was hard to afford with ordinary wealth. I wondered whose hobby it was. ¡®If I grew up seeing these, I would naturally choose a car like this too.¡¯ From ssic cars to sports cars. They seemed to have collected everything that was expensive and shiny, even things that couldn¡¯t be driven on the road. As I passed by the dazzling collection and went further inside, I saw the entrance to the basement floor. A personal house parking lot that was two stories underground. I felt a slight disgust at the wealth of the Cheon Soo Group and wanted to go back to my ce as soon as possible. ¡®Is it because I grew up with nothing since I was young?¡¯ Or was it because I felt more alienated from this environment, as if I wasn¡¯t really Cheon Ise. I couldn¡¯t clearly distinguish the unpleasant feeling and went down to the second basement floor. That¡¯s when I saw an empty spot. ¡®He told me toe by seven¡­ I still have some time.¡¯ I finished parking and checked the time. It was 6:45. It was a bitte for someone who ate dinner at six, but it was a good time for office workers to leave work and gather at home. From what I knew, Cheon Ise¡¯s family members were mostly the type that Cheon Ise had a hard time getting along with. That was understandable, since his sister Cheon Jisu, who was the president and the chairman¡¯s right-hand man, was already forty-two. His brother Cheon Osu, who was known as the youngest executive among Koreans in the electronics division, was thirty-six. They were the only two children born between their parents who had passed away, and Cheon Ise was the child of An Jung-hee, the vice-chairman, who remarriedter. ¡®My family was not a pushover either, but this side was like the half-siblings you see in chaebol dramas.¡¯ He was ater born after his father remarried after his mother¡¯s death, and he was a brat with a twenty-year age gap. I wouldn¡¯t have liked him either. He made a fuss about bing a celebrity, but he didn¡¯t even have good results. He ended up making such an extreme choice that he became twisted. His sister and brother were each in charge of one seat and were producing results as the parents¡¯ right and left arms, but he was treated as a loser who was neither here nor there. The more the vice-chairman protected him, the more miserable he must have felt about his situation. ¡®Why am I talking like I¡¯m talking about someone else? This is the situation I have to deal with now.¡¯ It would have been easier if I had a one-on-one meeting with the chairman ¨C I could try to talk my way out of it ¨C whether it would work or not was another matter ¨C but it was more awkward when the half-siblings joined the meal. Did Cheon Ise get along well with his sister or brother? I doubted it. Would he have made such an extreme choice if that was the case? I checked the time once more in the car and then called the system. ¡®System.¡¯ [Do you want to purchase the rey service?] [Yes/No] Of course yes. I tapped the screen with my fingertip. Then, in an instant, the surroundings turned gray and the space changed. ¡°What¡¯s with him wanting to be an idol? Can¡¯t he see how hard his father works? Does he have no sense?¡± A man who looked like he was in histe twenties wasining and mocking someone. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. Even if he looks pathetic, wouldn¡¯t it be better if he did that? If he starts making a fuss about the management rights without knowing anything, it would be more trouble.¡± From the conversation, I guessed that the woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties was his sister Cheon Jisu, and the man was his brother Cheon Osu. ¡°If he wants to do something, he should do dance or ssical, or something else or exercise. What¡¯s so great about being an idol? He¡¯s not even an actor, he¡¯s an idol.¡± I don¡¯t know what he thinks about idols, but¡­ anyway, listening to them made me angry. ¡°All he has to do is not covet the management rights. Don¡¯t try to stop him for no reason, just pretend to support him. He¡¯s so clueless that he¡¯ll think you¡¯re doing it for his sake if you tell him to cheer up.¡± ¡°How did he end up being my brother when half of his blood is mixed like that?¡± ¡°Stop saying that. How disgusting. How can he be my brother? You have to be at a certain level to ept someone as family.¡± Tsk, with a light click of the tongue, the surroundings brightened again. [Rey service ¨C 16 years old, February 18th, end] I expected it, but¡­ ¡®I really walked into the tiger¡¯s den.¡¯ How am I going to get out of this? The more I¡¯m in a pinch, the more my brain secretes a hormone of mental victory. I didn¡¯t mind the cold feeling in my stomach. Chapter 125: Chapter 125: It wasn¡¯t because of my swollen liver that I came out of my shell. They were people I had to meet sooner orter, now that I was living as Cheon Ise. I wondered if they were potential allies who could be swayed by the ¡®miraculous Cheon Ise¡¯, or if they were hopeless cases who had to be cut off without any expectations. It was better to find out by meeting them in person. I took a short breath and got out of the car. The light came on at the elevator that led to the ground floor. ¡®If they had money to spare for this ce, they should have supported the kids more.¡¯ A brief thought of discontent crossed my mind, but then I remembered Cheon Ise¡¯s past actions. Well, what could I do? Considering how much money Cheon Ise and Climax had wasted on W, I shouldn¡¯t have high hopes or deep regrets. When Cheon Ise first joined W as a new boy group debut candidate, he received billions of won in investment. In five years, he had burned through five albums, not to mention the failed singles and activities. Even after that, Mrs. An Jung-hee seemed to have supported him personally, but it all resulted in a bottomless pit.¡®That doesn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t a problem for blowing all that money and not making it.¡¯ Cheon Ise¡¯s shback before he killed himself showed that he was considering suing W. He wondered if there was some kind of embezzlement. That must have made him feel even more bitter about the money going to Cheon Ise. He should have just lived off his allowance and stopped embarrassing himself as an idol. Some might think that was a dreame true, but for Cheon Ise, who had nevercked anything materially since he was young, it felt like an insult. He was a rotten guy who couldn¡¯t make it no matter how much money he poured in. That¡¯s why I understood why his eyes sparkled at this sess. He had finally seeded after failing so much, so they must have wanted to hear his story. ¡®So I have to get my act together.¡¯ I had to cover up my past failures and present my future vision. Until now, anything I said would have sounded like an excuse, but now I had a half-baked achievement to show. I felt my heart pounding like when I first stood in front of the investors and gave a presentation to attract investment. ¡®I can do this.¡¯ I clenched my fist and took the elevator to the ground floor. The manager was waiting for me. ¡°Wee, young master.¡± If I was the young master, then¡­ my brother would be the big master. I nodded lightly and greeted him. ¡°Hello.¡± I smiled lightly and answered. The middle-aged female manager looked shaken as if she had seen a ghost. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± I asked in surprise. The manager answered with a noticeable sign of panic. ¡°No, no. The chairman is waiting for you. I¡¯ll take you to the restaurant right away.¡± As I walked through the corridor that connected directly from the elevator, I saw a spacious space that I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a house or a gallery. They could afford to use such arge building as a private residence on this expensivend. Cheon Soo Group must have a lot of money. I tried not to look around and followed the manager. Then I heard the other staff whispering behind me. ¡°What¡¯s going on? The young master greeted Manager Yu properly?¡± ¡°Last time he came, he ignored him and showed how much he hated him¡­¡± Snicker, snicker. I heard the stories that pierced my ears and realized¡­ Cheon Ise had done something I didn¡¯t know. That¡¯s when I understood the manager¡¯s reaction. I guess the manager didn¡¯t ignore the fact that he was working for my dad¡¯s money andining about it. He probably looked down on me as a mere caretaker. Well, that won¡¯t happen anymore. I ignored the piercing gaze on the back of my head and entered the restaurant. Chairman Cheon was sitting at the head of the table, facing me. ¡°So, you¡¯re here, Ise.¡± As I turned the corner and walked inside, I saw a long table with a luxurious tablecloth and decorations that I had only seen in hotels. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry for not visiting sooner. How have you been?¡± ¡°Fine, fine.¡± ¡®This is the kind of style that people use at home, not at a wedding hall.¡¯ As a former food service worker, I instinctively calcted how many main dishes and side dishes could fit on this long table. ¡®Maybe up to eight people can sit together.¡¯ Unless they had a family gathering or something, there would be no chance of filling up all the seats. I quickly scanned the tableware settings and figured out where I should sit. The head of the table was obviously taken by Chairman Cheon, and his sides were upied by Mrs. An and his right-hand woman, my sister Cheon Jisu. The next seats down were for my brother Cheon Osu and me. ¡°Jisu and Osu are runningte. They told me to start without them. What are they so busy with, huh? Your mom will be down soon. She¡¯s making a fuss over seeing her son¡¯s face after a long time.¡± He said that, but he seemed a bit awkward and avoided eye contact. ¡°Sit down.¡± Anyway, Chairman Cheon didn¡¯t seem to be in a bad mood. I thought for a moment and quickly sat down at the side seat next to Chairman Cheon, which was probably Jisu¡¯s. ¡°Thank you for inviting me.¡± ¡°Inviting? What are you talking about? It¡¯s not like you¡¯re a stranger who came into the house. You¡¯re my son who came back home.¡± Hmph, Chairman Cheon coughed and gulped down the water in front of him. Did he have something to say? I wondered why he was so hesitant about Cheon Ise, remembering how he hung up without getting to the pointst time we talked. ¡®Does he not know how to deal with me when he¡¯s not yelling or scolding me?¡¯ It didn¡¯t matter to me. I preferred Chairman Cheon being awkward around ¡®the good-for-nothing who finally achieved something¡¯ Cheon Ise than looking down on me with contempt. As time passed by, Chairman Cheon finally spoke up cautiously. ¡°Actually¡­¡± And just then, Mrs. An burst into the restaurant. ¡°Oh, my goodness. I didn¡¯t realize it was already time! Son, you shoulde by more often. Why is it so hard to see your face?¡± Then, ahem, Chairman Cheon looked embarrassed and scolded her. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be unreasonable. He¡¯s busy with his activities. You can¡¯t expect him toe home all the time.¡± ¡°Oh,e on. Don¡¯t you know? These days, everyone visits their home at least once a day. Besides, this ce is closer to NBS than his dorm.¡± I just smiled brightly and acted like a lovely son. ¡°I have to stop by the salon before going to the broadcasting station, so it¡¯s not easy. I¡¯ll try to visit more often when I¡¯m not active.¡± As I pretended to be a reliable and smart son, something I had never done before, Mrs. An grabbed Chairman Cheon¡¯s sleeve and pulled it. ¡°Did you hear that? Our Ise has grown up so much. He¡¯s not a brat anymore.¡± At Mrs. An¡¯s ttery, hmph, Chairman Cheon coughed and answered. ¡°Well¡­ I heard from Hong that he¡¯s more diligent than before.¡± And so, the meal began with a superficial but harmonious atmosphere. The first dish that whetted my appetite was pumpkin porridge. The grains were so fine. As soon as I took a spoonful, the pumpkin¡¯s unique fiber was not felt at all and the mild sweetness filled my mouth. It must have taken a lot of work to mash and strain it so that there was not a single shred of pumpkin. It was indeed a rich family¡¯s dedication, with a house as big as arge gallery. The second course was fried oysters. They had just started the season and they were fried in a thin batter. The sauce on top was mayonnaise-based, right? It had a slightly sour taste with lemon juice, which bnced the greasiness and the oyster juice burst in my mouth, soothing my tongue. ¡®It¡¯s delicious. Really. I shoulde here more often for meals.¡¯ From thinly sliced beef tartare with crunchy radish kimchi to bite-sized dishes. There was not a single thing that was done carelessly. ¡°Eat slowly, slowly. You¡¯ll get sick if you eat too fast.¡± As I ate everything so deliciously, the vice president looked at me with surprised and worried eyes, as if he felt I was different from the usual Cheon Ise. ¡®There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll get sick from eating this.¡¯ It was natural that my stomach would digest it well when I ate something so delicious. Delicious and greasy food was always the truth. It was a calorie bomb, but it was delicious. ¡®If it¡¯s too greasy, they¡¯ll give me something sour right away, so I won¡¯t have a chance to get bored.¡¯ I wanted to see the face of the person who nned the menu. There was nothing I could do even if I saw it, but I had to express my gratitude for such a delicious meal. ¡°I can¡¯t help but reach for more because it¡¯s so delicious.¡± As Iughed, blushing as if I was embarrassed, Mrs. An raised her hand and called the manager. ¡°If you want more, just say so. They¡¯ll bring more right away.¡± No, that was not possible. Maybe if it was omakase¡¯s encore sushi. But the course had to be eaten ording to the chef¡¯s intention to appreciate its true value. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll let you know if I want more after I finish.¡± I hurriedly stopped Mrs. An and slurped the broth of the rib soup that came out in a brass bowl, one serving each. ¡®How can the broth be so clear when they didn¡¯t even skim off the oil? Did they add some spices when they boiled the stock?¡¯ I wanted to grab the chef and ask him how he did it. ¡®Get a grip, Lim Hyun-seong. You¡¯re not here to eat.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t Persephone who fell for four pomegranate seeds, but I had to remember my duty, Lim Hyun-seong, I muttered to myself, but. ¡®The meat is cooked just right.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t stop tearing off the ribs from the rib soup. ¡°It¡¯s so nice to see you eat so well when youe home for once, right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s better to see him than a son who¡¯s picky and fussy.¡± Mrs. An was excited and showed off her cute son to Chairman Cheon, while I unknowingly emptied the rice cooked with kelp and anchovy stock. That¡¯s how I momentarily forgot my duty and enjoyed the meal. When the meal was almost over. The uninvited guest who should have met at 7 arrived. ¡°I was a bitte with work today.¡± ¡°I was a bitte because I came with Osu.¡± It was 7:40 now¡­ I couldn¡¯t tell the truth from the excuse. When I raised my head stiffly and met his eyes, my sisterughed as if she couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°There¡¯s a seat¡­¡± That was Cheon Jisu¡¯s seat. He must haveete on purpose, hoping that I would leave the seat near Chairman Cheon and wait awkwardly at a vague distance. But that was only a trick that worked for someone with a thick head. Cheon Ise is twenty-four now. And he was basically a spoiled brat who was treated like a kid. I was young enough to be seen as cute for making a mistake like sitting next to the head seat, not knowing any better about seat etiquette. It didn¡¯t matter if it was Chairman Cheon or Vice-Chairman An. ¡°What¡¯s so important about the seat? Just sit down. You guys need to eat too.¡± ¡®You guys too.¡¯ The two siblings exchanged surprised nces at the changed attitude of Chairman Cheon. Chapter 126: Chapter 126: ¡°Did you forget because it¡¯s been so long since Ise came home?¡± Cheon Jisu asked, trying to keep a graceful expression. At times like this, the best strategy was to act innocent and clueless, and make the other person look stupid. ¡°What are you talking about? Sit down quickly. The food must have gotten cold since you camete.¡± I pretended not to know what he was talking about and quickly ended the conversation, then scooped up some sd and chewed it. ¡°Yeah, you must have been busy getting here, so sit down and eat first.¡± With the help of Chairman Cheon, the siblings couldn¡¯t keep their disgusted faces and pulled out the chair next to me and sat down. Cheon Osu, who sat diagonally across from me, attacked me instead of his sister. ¡°You didn¡¯t even show your face and you were so busy with your activitiestely, but you had time today?¡± His tone was very sweet, but it was obvious what he meant. You didn¡¯t care about the family situation and you came crawling in shamelessly? As usual, I acted like I didn¡¯t understand what he meant.¡°Yes! We have another program to shoot, so we¡¯re going to be busier from now on. I wanted to see your father and mother¡¯s faces and say hello before that, but luckily your father called me first.¡± What are you going to do if your father told you toe? I calmly took a piece of braised mackerel and stabbed it with a fork, and a shadow crossed the siblings¡¯ faces. ¡°Do you think celebrities only dopany work even if they¡¯re busy?¡± He meant not to wrinkle his forehead in front of the cocoon. But unexpectedly, it was not Vice-Chairman An, but Chairman Cheon who defended me. ¡°The entertainment industry is so irregr, so it can happen. And you¡¯re number one on the charts these days, and you¡¯re number one on the show, right? President Hong emphasized that it was a great achievement.¡± They must have tried hard to y their cards, but it was useless. I quickly took the opportunity before the topic changed. ¡°Oh, by the way, there¡¯s something I wanted to tell you.¡± As soon as I, who had been eating like a pure-minded person, spoke to Chairman Cheon first, everyone¡¯s eyes in the restaurant turned to me. ¡°I have a favor to ask you about my agency. President Hong has been good to me so far, but I want to try management more seriously from now on.¡± ¡°Management?¡± Chairman Cheon put down his spoon and wiped his mouth with a napkin, as if to hear me out. ¡°Yes, actually, this time we wrote the lyrics, decided the concept, and produced it ourselves for the first time. I was very anxious about the results, and thepany was also a bit worried, but the results were better than I expected.¡± As I started toy the groundwork, Cheon Osu tried to interrupt me as if to say what I was talking about. ¡°You¡¯ve been wasting your time all this time and now you¡¯re getting some attention and your heart is fluttering, huh?¡± But this time, Mrs. An Jung-hee kindly cut him off. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re talking to the chairman right now.¡± Vice-Chairman An, who was not a mere Vice-Chairman, caught the anxiety of the Cheon siblings and intervened before they could. ¡°Yeah, keep talking.¡± Then Chairman Cheon gave me permission, and I boldly revealed my purpose of visiting today. ¡°Maybe I was more suited for nning than talent as an idol. Of course, I know you might not trust me easily because I¡¯ve shown you a lot of unreliable sides, but I hope you¡¯ll give me one more chance.¡± As soon as I finished speaking, Cheon Jisu jumped in. ¡°Huh, you¡¯re really showing your true colors, kid. You¡¯ve been hiding your face and staying put. You came here to ask for money, didn¡¯t you?¡± I didn¡¯t care whether he saw through me or not. The person I had to persuade was Chairman Cheon, not the Cheon siblings. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Chairman Cheon sighed deeply, as if he was troubled by something. ¡°Do you have a specific n?¡± As soon as Chairman Cheon¡¯s rather positive answer ended, Cheon Osu stood up from his seat. ¡°Father!¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t raise your voice at the head of the table.¡± The atmosphere was tense, as if the Cheon siblings were about to flip the table and rush at each other. I calmly opened my mouth in the midst of it. ¡°Ha¡­¡± I used the excuse of having a shooting schedule the next day to escape from the mansion and go down to the parking lot. It was almost 11 p.m. It was muchter than I expected. The members were probably not sleeping at this time. But I was worried that they hadn¡¯t contacted me for a long time. As soon as I squeeze myself into the driver¡¯s seat, I checked my phone right away. [One] When are youing? 10:21 p.m. This was a message from Seong-won. [YJ] (picture) 9:13 p.m. This was a picture from Yi-jun. What did he send again? I checked it hastily, wondering if he had an ident. ¡®Ha¡­¡¯ Contrary to my worry, it was a cute picture that made my heart melt. Aeongi was diligently poking at the plump belly of Pposili. Pposili looked like a male, at least in shape. Was this okay? It was a bit funny and absurd, but anyway, I was d that Aeongi looked happy. I turned off the message from Yi-jun and looked for other contacts. There were also one each from Kyunghwa and Seon-woo. [SUN] Hyung, when are youing? Pposil is waiting for you. 10:54 p.m. [Kyunghwa] Are youte? Are you going to sleep over? 10:38 p.m. They could have just sent a group chat. I didn¡¯t understand why they sent them separately and secretly. I smiled unconsciously and replied to them in order. [Me] I¡¯m leaving now. 11:12 p.m. [Me] Cutebne. 11:12 p.m. [Me] I just left. I¡¯ll be there soon. 11:13 p.m. [Me] No, I¡¯m on my way. 11:13 p.m. I didn¡¯t care about the typo in the middle and pressed the send button. I had to persuade Chairman Cheon and watch out for the Cheon siblings. I had a delicious meal, but I had to fight a nerve war, and my digestion was all done. ¡®But it was really good.¡¯ I thought lunch would be lighter than this. I was looking forward to what they would prepare for breakfast. ¡®I think it would be nice to sleep over for a day if I think about that.¡¯ The Cheon siblings could make a fuss, but they were still office workers. They wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything after they went to work in the morning. But I had to choose to go to the dorm because I had the first rehearsal for the first stage next week. ¡®Anyway, I achieved my goal.¡¯ I licked my tongue lightly, recalling the icy finish of the meal. ¡®I want to form a team with my own people. I¡¯m not asking you to set up apany right away. It¡¯s just that I feel like the limited resources of the agency are allocated to the group that gets more attention than us in the agency.¡¯ Chairman Cheon nodded and asked. ¡®Are you talking about Floss? Capital is always like that. It¡¯s natural that resources are concentrated where they can recover their investment with high efficiency.¡¯ The Cheon siblings snickered as if they were watching me. ¡°Yes, I know. That¡¯s why I want to gather my people separately. Anyway, our group IP is all under Mr. Hong, so it would be hard to be independent from the start.¡± ¡°Then?¡± Chairman Cheon flicked his hand holding a ss of water, as if to tell me to go on. ¡°I wanted to try running a team as a solobel.¡± ¡°Label?¡± ¡°Yes. You can think of it as a subsidiary concept. Basically, we are still affiliated with W, but we set up a separate corporation to handle our work only.¡± Chairman Cheon nodded his head as if he understood. ¡°Good, I like your idea. But how much investment money have you guys wasted so far, and you want me to add more?¡± Ugh¡­ I guess he won¡¯t let it go easily. I tried to keep a smiling expression and answered. ¡°That¡¯s why I want to separate the solobel. Unlike W, the dividends from the investment made by ourbel will go 100% to Cheon Soo Group. Of course, we have to pay the IP usage fee separately.¡± Right now, even if we make a profit, it goes to W¡¯s funds first, so it was a very difficult process for Cheon Soo Group to recover the investment money they had poured in. The chairman smiled with satisfaction, as if he didn¡¯t expect me to think this far and propose it. ¡°Okay, give it a try.¡± Of course, the Cheon siblings didn¡¯t just sit and watch. ¡°Father! You can¡¯t just approve it so easily!¡± This was Cheon Jisu, ¡°And I know you love him because he¡¯s the youngest, but this is too much.¡± This was Cheon Osu. ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t want to y this card.¡± To shut their mouths, I had no choice but to pull out the card I had prepared in advance. ¡°Speaking of which, didn¡¯t you, sister, have a -300% profit rate every year after you became the president and reorganized the mobile business division?¡± It was only because the other divisions were doing well that they covered it. If not, Cheon Soo Electronics would have been struggling with losses without any hope. ¡°And you, brother, didn¡¯t you have several dismissal proposals in the board meeting after you became an executive due to yourck of qualifications? ¡­ If you think that you shouldn¡¯t give any more chances to someone who has failed, then I think you should look at yourself first.¡± They both barely secured their positions, but that was only because Chairman Cheon was backing them up. Without Chairman Cheon, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to climb up to those parachutes, and they dared to open their mouths about failures that were dessert-levelpared to the money they wasted. ¡°What? Are you done talking?¡± Both of their faces turned red and angry, and they got up from their seats as if they were going to flip over the tes that the managers had prepared deliciously. ¡°Stop it! I didn¡¯t make this ce for you guys to fight.¡± Chairman Cheon mmed the table and raised his voice. So the conclusion was to hold it for now. He said he would review it again if I brought a concrete n. It was a bonus that he said he would talk to Mr. Hong once. ¡°We have to negotiate for a renewal soon, so please make a decision as soon as possible.¡± To do that, I had to deliver a detailed business n to Chairman Cheon by tomorrow. ¡°This is¡­ I can¡¯t ask Kyunghwa or the other guys.¡± It was an area that I had to solve with my own strength. ¡°Let¡¯s make it overnight.¡± I didn¡¯t feel too bad thinking that I waspeting for the business contract. I felt a surge of motivation as I saw this as an opportunity to prove myself. I went home and shared the gist of what happened today with the kids, prepared the business proposal, and set the rm for tomorrow¡¯s rehearsal. I had to get up on time. As I sorted out the things I had to do in my head, I felt refreshed. A whileter, I arrived at the lodging and opened the front door with a not-so-bad mood considering what I had been through. ¡°I¡¯m home.¡± I wondered if Pposili would greet me as I entered the house. ¡°What is this¡­?¡± An unimaginable scene awaited me. Chapter 127: Chapter 127: ¡°Who can exin to me what¡¯s going on here?¡± As I entered the room with a light heart, a suspicious smell that shouldn¡¯te out of the dormitory stimted my nose. It was the smell of cheese sauce and all kinds of meat toppings that were bad for the body, heated up in the oven. On top of that, the spicy aroma of fried chicken coated with seasoning spread out. ¡°Oops, we¡¯re busted.¡± ¡°Quick, hide it!¡± Hodak, Yi-jun jumped out in front of me as if he was willing to sacrifice himself as a shield. ¡°We¡¯ve seeded in blocking him! All agents retreat without letting him take the goods!¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡±While Yi-jun was holding me back, Seon-woo quickly stuffed the toppings and cheese that fell on the te into his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll remember Yi-jun hyung¡¯s sacrifice! I¡¯ll remember!¡± ¡°What are you talking about, really!¡± I swiftly hit Yi-jun¡¯s temple and escaped from his captivity, heading to the dining table. ¡°Ouch.¡± As I stepped into the middle of the kitchen, Kyunghwa was tearing a chicken leg with a humble expression, as if he had given up everything. ¡°Are you here?¡± This kid was only strong-hearted at times like this. I frowned as if I couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°You should stop them when they¡¯re going crazy, why are you calmly tearing a chicken leg?¡± As if he didn¡¯t expect me to do this, Kyunghwa couldn¡¯t help but be shocked, then he huped, as if to show off. ¡°I sometimes¡­ want to get drunk too.¡± ¡°What nonsense.¡± Did this guy drink? I couldn¡¯t believe it, so I looked at the ss next to him, and it was filled with c instead of beer. ¡°You get drunk on c?¡± Kyunghwa slowly nodded his head, then dropped the chicken leg he was holding and mmed his head on the table. I had seen two people who got drunk on c in my life. But this was the first time I saw someone who lost his taste as if he had a hangover. ¡°What¡¯s this? Why are you like this?¡± When I shook Kyunghwa¡¯s shoulder to wake him up, his body shook like a drunk person. ¡°What the hell happened?¡± I stupidly stood there and kicked Yi-jun¡¯s leg, who was being Seon-woo¡¯s shield, then headed to Seong-won¡¯s room. ¡°You¡¯re fine.¡± After knocking lightly, I opened the door roughly, and Seong-won frowned as if he was annoyed by my sudden entrance. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on with them?¡± When I asked as if I was dumbfounded, Seong-won sighed briefly and put down Aeongi, who he was holding in his arms. Soon, Pposili, who followed me into Seong-won¡¯s room, went to Aeongi¡¯s side and sat down, wagging his tail. ¡°It¡¯s because of the filming yesterday. Kyunghwa hyung tries not to show it, but he¡¯s mentally weak. And so is Seon-woo.¡± Oh Yi-jun didn¡¯t even say anything, as if he didn¡¯t care. ¡°Kyunghwa hyung said he wanted to eat something to relieve his stress, and Seon-woo was so happy when he ordered it, he didn¡¯t know what to do. He was worried about what would happen if you found out. But he ate well when he ordered it?¡± [¡ù¡®Son Seong-won¡¯ is telling the truth.] This is not a lie detector. I sighed as I received the absurd help from Pposili¡¯s added feature. ¡°You¡¯re just going to watch that?¡± He answered shamelessly when I asked him incredulously. ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll stop if I try to stop him?¡± I don¡¯t know about that. Kyunghwa might not know, but Seon-woo was the only member who had a strange wall with Seong-won and found him very difficult. Except when he felt like he could help. He just had a wall with everyone, but it seemed inevitable that he would care. ¡°Anyway¡­¡± In the end, if I had to find the culprit of this situation, it was the broadcast station bastards who yed negative citizen interviews in front of the parties. It looked like the other teams had gone mental too. Floss seemed to be quite shocked by the fan ranking as well. I wondered how they were holding up when they didn¡¯t get along with each other. ¡®Of course, I have no intention of contacting them.¡¯ I thought he would rely on me if I poked him a few times, remembering how Hwijin suddenlyined to me. ¡®Depending on the situation, it wouldn¡¯t be bad to make Hwijin depend on me.¡¯ There was no immediate benefit to doing that. It would be a relief if it didn¡¯t bother me. I figured out the whole story and left Seong-won¡¯s room and went back to the kitchen. Seon-woo was diligently putting the leftover chicken in a ziplock bag and got caught by me. ¡°Put it down. I¡¯m telling you nicely.¡± ¡°Uh¡­okay¡­¡± Seon-woo crouched down and put down the chicken. I couldn¡¯t help butugh at the sight. They were all stressed enough to do this kind of escapade. From now on, there was only a forced march until the day of the stage, so I hoped I could help them somehow. ¡®The best thing I can do is feed them well.¡¯ They had a chicken pizza party among themselves. I frowned with a slight sense of betrayal. ¡®I should ask the nearby deliverypanies to cklist them.¡¯ Honestly, it was a bit of a waste. But I didn¡¯t want to take it to my mouth because I had eaten too much delicious food at home. I snatched all the junk food from Seon-woo¡¯s hand and poured it into the food waste disposal. And a few dayster. The day I finally stood on stage for the first time came. I had practiced countless times in the practice room, but this was the first time I rehearsed on stage. The main performance was scheduled to take ce in front of the audience who had applied in advance tomorrow afternoon. The total number of audience members was 120. Each team had 20 people selected, so there was no worry that the cheering would be biased to one team. ¡®But I¡¯m a little worried about standing in front of an audience who doesn¡¯t know us well.¡¯ I hadn¡¯t had a chance to sing in front of such a diverse fandom, except for thest live encore. I searched for the despairing articles of other singers and my fingertips hardened. The so-called Ten Minute. It was an event that happened more than 10 years ago, but there were still fans who had hostility towards us inside the Floss fandom. If I told Kyunghwa or Yi-jun, they would freak out and say that was a long time ago and why I was worried about it in 2021. ¡®But I can¡¯t help worrying because there¡¯s always a chance.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t believe how nervous I was. I had prepared for the stage with all my best and the live broadcast had spoiled the concept to a positive response. Since it was still before the airing, I couldn¡¯t reveal any major information, but when I said it was sports-rted, the chat room was filled with screams of approval. This was definitely¡­ a better concept in terms of poprity. A faint regret came over me, but it was toote. All I had to think about now was getting into the top three and releasing the song. ¡®Thebel issue is almost settled. Let¡¯s just focus on the stage.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know how things would go between Hong and Cheon, the president and the chairman, but that was a concern. ¡®They didn¡¯t outsource this to some nning specialistpany, did they?¡¯ Thanks to the perfect three-year business n I sent, which made Cheon doubt if I made it myself, I didn¡¯t have much to worry about for now. Hong¡¯s side also had a bad investment, so they would have a hard time refusing Cheon¡¯s proposal. It wasn¡¯t a bad offer, since I wasn¡¯tpletely leaving thepany and they would cover the operating costs. ¡®If I had my way, I¡¯d cut off the IP fees and everything.¡¯ As long as I wasn¡¯t going to disappear after a day or two of activity, it was better to proceed slowly and steadily. I would cut them off someday. As I was lost in thought, someone suddenly came up behind me. ¡°Ise¡­ ¡± Wow, that startled me. I turned around at the eerie voice from behind and saw Hwijin, who was hiding behind makeup but noticeably pale. ¡°Hwijin? No, hyung.¡± I corrected my address, conscious of the busy staff around me. ¡°Ah. How have you been?¡± He looked like he hadn¡¯t been doing well. I could see why. When I was nning the show, I saw some clips of Floss¡¯s show as a reference and they all looked like they had pride. It must have been rigged, but the program side had executed Floss so tantly that they all must have been furious. I didn¡¯t know why Floss was here, but they were making a fuss like ¡®Why do we have to do this?¡¯ ¡®Can¡¯t we quit now?¡¯ I could vividly imagine the chaos. As the leader, he had to persuade them to participate in the nning and practice, so he must have been stressed out. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing well.¡± I couldn¡¯t say bluntly that you don¡¯t look like it, so I trailed off. ¡°I¡­ had a really hard time¡­¡± He didn¡¯t say much, but his fatigue seemed to affect me as well. ¡°But there was no problem with the nning or the stage, right?¡± I asked him a crucial point, just in case, and he answered with a soulless eye. ¡°Yeah¡­ somehow¡­¡± He said that, but with nine proud people together, they would pull off the stage perfectly. I gave him a faint constion for his disguise and nced at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, you¡¯ll do well.¡± I patted Hwijin¡¯s shoulder and he nodded slowly without energy. ¡°Yeah¡­ you too, fighting.¡± I nced at the Floss members who were waiting. The stage order was decided by a lottery in advance: Floss ¨C P2CK ¨C Climax ¨C Vesper ¨C AtoX ¨C yground. It didn¡¯t seem like there was any advantage to the order. It was enough to make me wonder if this was also rigged somehow, starting with Floss and ending with yground. As soon as Hwijin returned to his group, trembling, Yi-jun and Kyunghwa rushed towards me. ¡°What did the Floss leader say?¡± ¡°Did you talk about any strategy or something?¡± Our delinquents, who had recovered their mental state somewhat after thest incident, asked me with sparkling eyes. They seemed to have high expectations, but there was nothing substantial to say. ¡°He didn¡¯t say much. They just looked like they had a hard time too.¡± Then Seong-won snorted as if it was obvious. ¡°Of course they did. There were quite a few members who made a fuss because they didn¡¯t like the treatment they got over there.¡± Everyone nodded in agreement, as if it was clear without seeing. ¡°But don¡¯t look down on them. They may have had a tough process, but they¡¯re not an easy opponent.¡± Wheejin, who came to me to suck up, said he had a hard time, but he didn¡¯t say he was not confident. ¡°We¡¯ll see in 15 minutes when the Floss rehearsal starts.¡± Kyunghwa answered, looking up at the staff who were adjusting the stage equipment for Floss. What kind of stage would the Floss in crisis show us? I was half excited and half worried, when the sign that everything was ready came. The lights on the stage went out all at once, and the Floss members went up one by one. It was time to see with my own eyes if their high pride had any basis or not. Chapter 128: Chapter 128: [The first frost of dawn, the sound of breaking ice echoes-.] The first verse began with Shim Naru, one of the two main vocalists. Since it was a rehearsal, they all wore casual training outfits. [The flowing river, my heart frozen in despair, where is my beloved-.] Contrary to what I expected, the song that Floss chose was not Kang Hee-sung¡¯s. What? Did Kang Yu-geon endure because he wasn¡¯t fully recovered? [My face reflected in the moonlight, I call your name in sorrow-.] This was the OST of a movie that was released 20 years ago and won the grand prize at a famous international film festival. It was about the life of a famous singer in the 19th century. Of course, this was also a legend in its own way, so it fit the theme¡­ ¡®It¡¯s surprising that it¡¯s not Kang Hee-sung.¡¯It was a staple item to make the first ce in the survival show with the parents¡¯ story. Anyone would think that they were calling their parents who had passed away, even though they were alive. It was strange that they didn¡¯t choose the song of their father who had left a huge mark on the music industry and had really passed away. Was the broadcasting industry a ce where they could afford to choose what to usemercially and what not as a human being? Maybe Floss, who was a top-tier group, could do that. I watched the stage without erasing my curiosity. [Ah, this painful heart, I have nowhere to leave it, please take it back-.] The clothes were training outfits and the choreography was just loosely matching the lines, so I couldn¡¯t tell what they would look like on the actual stage. Since it was oriental style, maybe hanbok? Lately, they wore durumagi a lot. The style of a guard warrior was also steadily popr. Finally, the arrangement reached its climax. The big ones scattered like soldiers in a historical drama. [This cold winter, where are you going again, my feet are cold, what should I do-.] With Hwijin in the center, they acted like warriors who followed the king¡¯smand and pulled out something from their waist. ¡®Is it a sword dance?¡¯ It wouldn¡¯t have been easy to match it in this short preparation period. The choreography was barely shaped, so I could only imagine the result in my head. And right after that, the lines changed a few times and Hwijin and Yu-geon spun around with a gap as if they were sword fighting. What would happen next? I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off it as if I was watching a musical. ¡°Wow¡­ Floss is really Floss.¡± Seon-woo, who was sitting next to me, stared nkly at Floss¡¯s stage and uttered an exmation without knowing it. ¡°We¡¯ll be great too.¡± Yi-jun puffed up his cheeks and poked Seon-woo¡¯s back. ¡°We worked hard too¡­! We have to show them our cool side!¡± Seon-woo nodded his head vigorously and answered. I was d he was in a good mood. If Floss had done their rehearsal with full power, and we were the next batter¡­ We might havee down without checking half of what we prepared, overwhelmed by Floss¡¯s stage. It was light, but Floss¡¯s stage had that much pressure. No matter how much the members didn¡¯t get along, Floss was Floss. ¡®Was the next one P2CK?¡¯ I nced at the ce where the next batter was waiting and they seemed to have lost their mind already. Did theye lightly today, thinking that they would just match the lines to the song for the rehearsal? Finally, Floss¡¯s rehearsal, which was quite long but didn¡¯t feel that way, ended and the camera director gave the OK sign. ¡°OK-! I¡¯ve checked the movements and you did a great job! If there are any changes, please let me know before the filming rehearsal!¡± At the camera director¡¯s satisfied OK sign, P2CK, who had been waiting for their turn, approached the stage stairs nervously. ¡°Can we go up?¡± They looked a bit anxious from the start. And sure enough, there was a difference between them and Floss, who hade with a light heart. Of course, Floss had also acted casually to hide their cards, whether it was their costumes or choreography. But hiding your cards when everything is perfectly prepared and having nothing to show when you¡¯re not ready are different things. That bastard Hwijin, he made such a fuss about how hard it was, but it was all an act. I was sure of Hwijin¡¯s act when I saw the result of P2CK¡¯s rehearsal stage. I felt a faint sense of betrayal and red at Hwijin. ¡°¡­?¡± Was it some kind of telepathy? I don¡¯t know if it was a coincidence, but Hwijin turned to look at us and smiled. ¡®Is he a fool or a fox pretending to be a bear?¡¯ I quickly turned my head away from Yu-geon, who followed Hwijin¡¯s gaze. Then, woo woo woo, the phone in my pocket vibrated. [YOU] What are you doing? 2:36 PM What is it? I was being careful in front of everyone and I didn¡¯t have time to reply to such trivial messages. I ignored the message as if to say so, but then, boo woo woo, it vibrated again. [YOU] Why are you ignoring me? 2:38 PM Why do you think so? P2CK¡¯s miserable rehearsal, which I didn¡¯t know what they had prepared, was ending. Of course, we didn¡¯te with such sloppy preparations. But if we didn¡¯t want to be publicly executed like that, we had to pull ourselves together. I ignored them again without fail, and Yu-geon sent me another message. [YOU] Ah, why are you ignoring me 2:40 PM He¡¯s done with his stuff, right? He had no enemies. Ugh, I calmed down my anger and quickly replied. [ME] Stop texting me 2:41 PM [ME] Rehearsal starting soon 2:41 PM Then, he showed my reply to Hwijin, who was sitting next to him, and tapped his shoulder as if it was so funny. Are you guys middle schoolers going through puberty? I shook my head and got up from my seat. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Thank you!¡± P2CK apologized over and over with a flushed face, and it seemed like the rehearsal was over. It was our turn next. Floss had shown a great performance, and P2CK had failed miserably, so I didn¡¯t think there were high expectations for us. To begin with, we were second from the bottom in terms of status among the groups. I took a short breath and looked around the members. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± As I said a brief word and pointed to the stage, Yi-jun raised his hand. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked as if to say what¡¯s the matter when we don¡¯t have time, and Yi-jun answered innocently. ¡°Teacher Cheon, can we shout our slogan once?¡± He spoke with a cute expression that even a kindergartener could pull off, a look that the fans would probably love. But not me. ¡°Rejected.¡± ¡°Aw, why~!¡± Yi-jun protested by shing his hand, waiting for the other members to take it. ¡°It¡¯s not that hard to shout a slogan once.¡± Seon-woo nced at me as if to ask for my permission, and ovepped his palm over Yi-jun¡¯s hand. ¡°He¡¯s not a kid.¡± As if he had no choice, Kyunghwa put his hand on top of theirs, and the decision was made by majority vote. ¡°Why do you ask if you¡¯re going to do it anyway?¡± I reached out my hand as if to finish it quickly, and Seong-won reluctantly gave me his hand, though he looked displeased. ¡°Exposition, rise,¡± ¡°Climax!¡± Seon-woo and Yi-jun raised their hands high in the sky with satisfied expressions, and the director¡¯s call followed as if to hurry them up. ¡°Climax,e on up!¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯reing!¡± I answered energetically and led the members to the stage. They all moved to their starting positions and just before the MR started. I looked down at the front of the stage and saw a 200-seat auditorium clearly. ¡®If it¡¯s 120 people, it¡¯s more than half full.¡¯ I gauged how big 20 seats were among these many people, and they looked very small. That small number of audience members came to see us. And there must have been 100 or so other teams cheering in the seats. ¡®We have to do a great stage that other fans can enjoy too.¡¯ A bit of anxiety and anticipation touched my heart. ¡®I can do it.¡¯ I clenched my fist for thest time and bowed my head to the staff in the direction they were. ¡°Thank you very much!¡± As soon as I gave my OK sign, the MR started. [Dazzling white sand, pure white sea. I want to go with you-.] The center of this stage was Yi-jun. He was the one who had the most basic fandom base, so I didn¡¯t think he needed to be pushed. But our purpose of appearing was first and foremost to raise awareness, so it wasn¡¯t bad to put out the most famous guy. [The foam is like white snow-. The bells ring, where am I, who am I.] We made the most bright and happy expressions with the swimming-like yful choreography, and the reaction was good with a different feeling than the Floss stage. How should I put it¡­ If the Floss stage was overwhelming and the audience became spectators, our stage was one that made them sway along with us? [You always held me when I was shaken. Our precious memoriese back like waves-.] Kyunghwa came forward and swung his arms as if he was ying with a water gun, and thankfully the staff reacted as if they were hit by a water bomb. A cheerful rhythm, bright and positive lyrics, and a bright light. We also had to hide our costume concept because we couldn¡¯t show all our cards, but I was already looking forward to the day of the reveal. This much was not a bad staff reaction. [Stay with me as pure as the white snow that never changes-.] [I hope you¡¯ll always be by my side-.] As I followed the center who kept changing his position along the stage, I heard a buzz from below. ¡°They nailed the concept for the finale¡­¡± ¡°I was curious who would sing the carol song first. It¡¯s a bit early, but it¡¯ll be fine when the song is released in early December, right?¡± The song release would only be possible if we ranked in the top three, but it was a nicepliment anyway. [Christmas in the summer, a whispering song in my ears-.] [This is not a dream, a memory to cherish forever.] Finally, when the bell rang and the carol-like variation came, Yi-jun made a ring over his head and smiled yfully. [Our unforgettable memories, please keep them-] [Everything is dazzling, this moment shines brightly-, just you and me.] ¡°Is he an angel? He doesn¡¯t fit in, but he¡¯s cute.¡± The rehearsal ended with a gigglingughter. We were just going to do a light run-through, but everyone seemed to work hard as usual, and we breathed heavily. We broke the ending pose and got up, sighed lightly, and bowed. ¡°Thank you!¡± It was a disappointing stage where we couldn¡¯t show 100%, but tomorrow the real stage will begin. Let¡¯s make it to the top three. Top three. I suppressed my regret and came down from the stage. ¡°Zuaaa-!! Let¡¯s go, guys-!!¡± Oh, my ears are ringing. The noisy group, Vesper, was going up on the stage. ¡®Hmm¡­ I wonder if they can show something unexpected.¡¯ Vesper and AtoX were already well-established groups, so I didn¡¯t think they would show a drastic transformation from the first stage. ¡®What I¡¯m curious about is the other side.¡¯ My eyes turned to the back of the waiting line, where yground was still looking nervous as always. Chapter 129: Chapter 129: It was past 6 p.m. when the rehearsal for thest order was over. Everyone felt restless as they had never spent so much time watching someone else¡¯s unfinished stage. ¡®Well, at least I know how prepared everyone is.¡¯ First of all, Vesper came out with a performance that was not much different from the concept they had shown before, despite their high spirits. ¡®Well¡­ it¡¯s better than trying to shed their image and failing miserably¡­¡¯ I didn¡¯t think it was an idea that many people had brainstormed. They just wanted to take it easy, I guess. People think alike, so the chances are high that the audience would feel the same way as we did. ¡®Our priority is to do well for ourselves.¡¯ Who cares about who? They seemed satisfied with their own stage, so I thought we would have to wait until the day to see the results. And after Vesper, AtoX showed a mediocre level of performance that was less than I expected. They seemed to have tried hard to break away from the bad group image, but¡­They chose an old disco dance song that didn¡¯t match their group color at all, and I wondered how the choreography would turn out to be good or bad. There was a side that looked much better than Vesper or AtoX, who had umted years of experience. ¡®They must know their own shorings, so they prepared really hard.¡¯ yground had only shown their debut stage before, so no one knew what yground¡¯s color was yet. Their group concept itself was something like my childhood friend who is closest to me¡­ or something like that. The staff were captivated by their retro-style arrangement that melted their unique mischief but not over the top fun. Did their agency do the arrangement? The quality of the sound source was quite good, and the rehearsal was also raw without losing any strength. If I put it nicely, they worked hard for it, and if I put it badly¡­ They don¡¯t think about strategy. As I watched them perform with a desperate expression as if they were risking their lives even on the rehearsal stage, my chest felt heavy. ¡®Maybe they brought something they had prepared for another n before.¡¯ As a rookie who needed to make their face known first, it was not bad to use all the support they could get. I looked at yground¡¯s stage and looked for a member who stood out. ¡®The average skill level of the entire members is definitely iparable to other groups.¡¯ Maybe it was because BK, the leader, was the oldest. He made a few mistakes and led the feedback with the members in between. The rest of the members seemed to be doing their best, but they were either too young or inexperienced. They were cute and pitiful as they fumbled around. I didn¡¯tugh at them for being young, they were doing their best to show themselves right now. I also liked people who worked hard like the public, so I had a little idea why they were so high in the cheering rankings. ¡®Well¡­ they¡¯re still far from Floss.¡¯ After scanning thest rehearsal of yground, I was more convinced that Floss would be the first. ¡®I have to prepare more thoroughly to be second or third at least.¡¯ As soon as the staff gave the OK sign that they could go home, the members closed their mouths at the same time. ¡°Let¡¯s practice¡­¡± ¡°After¡­¡± ¡°Can we practice more¡­¡± Everyone had their own way of cheering, but they all wanted to say the same thing. Seeing others do well made me want to work harder and improve myself. I nodded cheerfully and asked Yi-jun. ¡°Is it okay if we use your practice room today?¡± Yi-jun answered as if it was obvious. ¡°Of course, you¡¯re always wee. It might be a bit dusty since we haven¡¯t used it muchtely.¡± Just as we were about to leave for the practice room with our manager, Hwijin suddenly broke away from the Floss line and came over to us. ¡°I saw your rehearsal today! You did a great job with the concept.¡± Did hee all the way here to say that? I nced at Hwijin¡¯s face with a suspicious look, then brushed off my uneasiness and replied. ¡°Floss was amazing too, you know? I¡¯m looking forward to your main stage.¡± I was a bit surprised that he came to talk to me, but I meant it when I said I was looking forward to it. We didn¡¯t have any ns for now, but the oriental style was a concept that most male idols went through at some point. It would be good to have more references if we ever did it. ¡°Really? Thanks for saying that. Let¡¯s do our best tomorrow.¡± What are you talking about? Why do I have to team up with you? I¡¯m doing this with my guys. I waved goodbye to Hwijin, who seemed to have developed a one-sided bond with me since hisst rant. ¡°Yeah, your members seem to be waiting for you, so you should go in soon.¡± ¡°Yeah! You too, take care!¡± At first, I just wanted to act friendly for the sake of appearances. But he was bing more and more like a real friend, even if it was one-sided. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, having more connections in the entertainment industry was always a benefit, as long as they didn¡¯t cause any trouble. I waved at Hwijin until he got into the Floss car. ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve be really close with Hwijin, huh?¡± Yi-jun whistled lightly and eximed in surprise. ¡°Maybe? He seems to think so.¡± But not so much on this side. ¡°Is there something you leaders have inmon~.¡± Yi-jun stretched and squeezed his body into the minivan. Floss had nine members, so they had to split into two cars. I was jealous¡­or rather, I was more determined to separate from thebel. As long as Floss didn¡¯t disband, our support would always be pushed back. ¡°Just close the door already.¡± Finally, Seon-woo slid into the front seat and Kyunghwa pointed at Seong-won, who was sitting on the outside. Seong-won pressed the close button with a sullen expression, and soon the noise from outside was cut off and we were left alone. ¡°I¡¯m saying this now because it might be hard to talk properly when we get there and start practicing. Is there anyone who wants to change the arrangement more?¡± Yi-jun raised his hand as soon as he finished his sentence. ¡°Me.¡± As soon as Yi-jun answered his own question, Seong-won grimaced. ¡°Rejected.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kyunghwa grabbed Yi-jun¡¯s ear and pulled it, annoyed by his ambiguous answer. ¡°Stop joking. If you want to change something, just say it. We have to send the new song file.¡± Iughed with a sense of relief that I didn¡¯t know why, thinking that this was how we were trash. After sweating for another three hours in Yi-jun¡¯s practice room, it was almost midnight. We gathered in the practice room and fine-tuned our movements, and we also matched the vocals that we would record in advance on the day, and time flew by. ¡°It reminds me of before we made oureback when we¡¯re like this.¡± ¡°Back then, Ise really worked hard to fix our movements.¡± It felt like yesterday that we jumped into an event that I didn¡¯t know if it was a corn festival or a corn harvest festival, but I didn¡¯t know how time passed so quickly. It was summer then, and now winter is right in front of us. What seasons will I be able to meet with these guys in the future? As I was about to fall into a strange sentiment, I saw Yi-jun and Sungwon arguing like children. Aren¡¯t they sick of it? I was trying to get into a soft mood for a change, but they were the ones who came out and pped me. ¡°If you¡¯re going to fight, go outside and fight.¡± I grabbed Seong-won, and Kyunghwa pulled Yi-jun away and gave them a punch each. The idiots who were closer to 12 than 22 rubbed their spots and rolled their eyes. ¡°No, he keeps annoying me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re picking a fight for no reason.¡± ¡°Both of you are the problem, both of you.¡± I wasn¡¯t worried about Floss right now. I can¡¯t stand it. I barely settled the situation and returned to the dorm, and it was almost 1 a.m. ¡°Tomorrow, don¡¯t fight and do it properly.¡± I red at the two of them as if to warn them, and Seon-woo got in between and fidgeted. ¡°You¡¯re not scolding me, so you stay still.¡± I stuck out my tongue at Seon-woo and handed him Pposili, who wagged his tail. Pposili, who looked perfectly normal as a dog, gave him a sense of stability, and Seon-woo nodded slowly and buried his face in Pposili¡¯s fur. The consultation with the agency was scheduled for the day after the stage ended. The next mission was scheduled for two weekster, so we had more leeway than this week. I don¡¯t know what the mission will be, so it¡¯s still an unknown thing. But I hope it¡¯s not as hard as this week. I went to bed with a small hope. The next morning. We started the day with half-open eyes from 5 a.m., as early as the music show appearance. ¡°Who¡¯s using the bathroom?¡± ¡°Kyunghwa hyung went in earlier.¡± ¡°Seon-woo, you¡¯re going to do your hair again at the salon, so don¡¯t wash it and juste out.¡± We moved busily before the sun rose, and we all closed our eyes as soon as we got on the van. ¡®I came inte yesterday and didn¡¯t sleep well for four hours, so I must be tired.¡¯ I¡¯ll definitely get up after the sun rises in the middle of the sky tomorrow. We all gritted our teeth and entrusted our bodies to the staff. We changed into the outfits that the stylist had picked up in advance, nodding off. The base color of the outfit was white, so the waiting room felt bright as if the light bulb was on. ¡°I wonder if the other teams have already dressed up.¡± Seon-woo blinked his eyes curiously and looked around. We had separate waiting rooms for each group, so we still didn¡¯t know what outfits they were wearing. ¡°Should we go to the other team¡¯s waiting room for a while?¡± Our order was the same as the rehearsal, third. We were naturally on standby until Floss and P2CK finished. ¡°Let¡¯s go to someone else¡¯s ce.¡± The only ce where we could hide was Floss¡­ But would they be able to take us in right now? I thought of Hwijin¡¯s face, which looked even thinner than when I saw himst night, and gave Yi-jun a suspicious look. ¡°Um¡­ I wanted to check out Floss¡¯s ce for once.¡± ¡°Come on. Why don¡¯t you ask Yu-geon or Hwijin toe out to the hallway?¡± ¡°Then it would be too obvious that I¡¯m curious about their concept~ It would seem like I¡¯m snooping around.¡± Yi-jun pouted and grumbled. We had finished the pre-recording and rehearsal for all six teams in the morning, and the main filming was scheduled to start in the afternoon, so Floss must be busy rehearsing right now. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s no one there right now because they¡¯re rehearsing.¡± I snapped at him, telling him to stop thinking nonsense. At that moment. Bang! We heard a loud noise of arge structure copsing outside the waiting room. Chapter 130: Chapter 130: What¡¯s going on? Everyone was startled by the unusual noise and listened carefully. ¡°What¡¯s happening? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Outside, people were running around and making a fuss. I flung open the waiting room door and stepped into the hallway, where the staff were scrambling. ¡°Quick, bring them in!¡± ¡°Not that way, the other way!¡± The source of the noise was the stage direction, where the rehearsal had been going on until a moment ago. Should I go and see? But could I help with anything? I couldn¡¯t make a quick decision. Rather than adding to the confusion, I hesitated for a moment when the staff shouted. ¡°Cast members, please return to the waiting room! The rehearsal will be temporarily suspended due to safety issues!¡± What on earth happened? I asked a nearby staff member, who briefly exined in the midst of the chaos.¡°There was an ident during the previous team¡¯s rehearsal. We¡¯re cleaning up now, so don¡¯t worry and wait in the waiting room, please!¡± Did someone get hurt? Or was it just a simple damage? I was curious, but it wasn¡¯t the atmosphere to dig deeper. I had no choice but to go back to the waiting room, where everyone looked at me with worried expressions. ¡°They said there was an ident during the rehearsal and they¡¯re suspending it for a while?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Did someone get hurt?¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes widened as they tried to figure out which group had suffered the mishap. ¡°It¡¯s either Floss or P2CK before us, right?¡± If it was P2CK, the staff would havee to us sooner to request a standby, so it was likely Floss. ¡°Quick, check Floss and P2CK¡¯s SNS.¡± If there was an ident, they might have posted a notice first. I checked the SNS of the two groups. But of course, there was no way that the ident that happened in real time would be announced. They both had simple spoilers that they were filming today¡¯s stage, but no specific news of injuries or idents. ¡°Which group had an ident?¡± As I became more and more convinced that Floss was the victim, a post on one of P2CK¡¯s members¡¯ personal SNS confirmed it. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Everyone, be careful ??! My heart is pounding while waiting £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ This made it clear that Floss had an ident, but it was still hard to tell if anyone was hurt. With a strangely ufortable feeling, I waited until the manager came into the waiting room. ¡°They said it¡¯ll be dyed by about 30 minutes from the original schedule. It¡¯s not a serious injury, so don¡¯t worry too much and get ready.¡± Injury? The manager seemed to say it to reassure us, but it only increased the confusion. ¡°Are they hurt?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Which team had an ident?¡± Of course, it was unfortunate for any team that had an ident. But I couldn¡¯t help but care more about one team. ¡°Huh? You didn¡¯t hear the news? Floss was rehearsing. Yu-geon and Chanhyung fell when a support beam copsed between them.¡± ¡°Floss?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe the news of such a shocking ident, when Floss had shown overwhelming skills even in the pre-rehearsal for checking the movements. ¡°They¡¯re not seriously injured, right?¡± I grabbed the manager and asked, worried. I unconsciously remembered Yu-geon¡¯s face, who was guarding his mother¡¯s side with empty eyes at the funeral hall where only adults were bustling. It must be okay since they said it wasn¡¯t a big injury, right? I couldn¡¯t hide my anxious mind and waited, when I heard the sound of P2CK members moving in the hallway. ¡°Wow, who would be scared to rehearse?¡± ¡°Does that mean today¡¯s main shooting is also dyed by 30 minutes each?¡± As they exchanged a word each, I thought it would be better to contact them directly and check. [Me] Are you okay after the ident? 9:32 AM [Me] You¡¯re not seriously hurt or anything, right? 9:33 AM Then, just before the staff came in to call us for the next order, a reply came back. [H] Thank you for your concern. 9:54 AM [H] It¡¯s not a big injury, but there was a little ident¡­ I¡¯ll let you know when it¡¯s sorted out. 9:56 AM ¡®What do you mean by a little ident?¡¯ Does that make sense? As I red at the phone screen with a frown, the manager called me. ¡°What are you doing? Hurry up and wait.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± I hurriedly moved my steps and followed the other members to the next waiting ce. ¡°Please wait here for the climax!¡± As I followed the staff¡¯s guidance, I kept wondering what happened to Floss and how big of an impact it had. They didn¡¯t tell me properly even though they said it wasn¡¯t a big injury, so there must have been something else going on¡­ When I looked up at the lighting device in question, it felt like something had shrunk from the ceilingpared to the pre-rehearsal. ¡®Is P2CK¡¯s rehearsal going well¡­¡¯ As I looked up at the stage obliquely, P2CK, who had finished the pre-recording, was adjusting their costumes and choreography to the AR. ¡®I need to analyze the stage objectively, but I can¡¯t concentrate because I¡¯m distracted.¡¯ I was about to brush my hair with a troubled mind, when I realized that it was the costume and hair that I had set for an hour today and stopped my hand. The outfit that I had neatly matched for the main stage preparation looked neat and pretty at first nce. ¡®I wonder what kind of outfit Floss chose¡­¡¯ Not only was I worried about the sudden ident, but I also wanted to know how the rest of the progress would go. As I waited with an anxious and restless mind, P2CK finished their rehearsal and came down from the stage. It was amon stage that I could see anytime I turned on the music show, without any memorable concept. If I had some mental leeway, I could have seen where it was good and where it was a bit of a learning point, but nothing caught my eye right now. As I fidgeted with my fingertips, Seong-won suddenly called me. ¡°Hyung, snap out of it.¡± Then I lifted my head and looked around, and the other members were climbing the stairs. ¡°Pleasee up for the climax quickly!¡± At the staff¡¯s urging, I answered hastily and moved along with the members. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be right there!¡± As I stepped onto the stage, I felt moreposed than when I was below. I couldn¡¯t afford to make any mistakes here. I had to pull myself together. I nced at the lights above my head, but they were too bright, so I looked down at the floor again. Soon, the pre-recording preparation began. ¡°I know you¡¯re nervous, but focus. We can¡¯t ruin our performance.¡± Kyunghwa noticed that my mind was wandering and poked my shoulder lightly. ¡°I got it. I¡¯m sorry.¡± With a short apology, the intro started. For the main stage, the background was supposed to have white sand dunes and wave effects like a snowy field. There was also a n to scatter white pollen and confetti from the sky, but they were omitted for the rehearsal because of the cleaning issue. We spent over 30 minutes checking and matching the parts that we had revised togetherst night. ¡°Good job, everyone!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± As I thanked the staff and got off the stage, I saw Hwijin running around the auditorium. Our main show was scheduled to start in five hours. Until then, we had to be stuck in the swamp of endless waiting time. Since I had some spare time anyway¡­ I moved before I finished my thought. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Kyunghwa stopped me, but I answered briefly and ran towards Hwijin. ¡°Just a sec! I¡¯ll be back soon! I¡¯ll call you!¡± Hwijin¡¯s expression was quite dark, which didn¡¯t look like a normal situation. What was going on? As I caught up with Hwijin, he asked me with a ghostly look. ¡°Oh, Ise, have you seen Yu-geon?¡± ¡°What?¡± I was surprised by the familiar name that popped out. ¡°I can¡¯t find Yu-geon. I¡¯ve been calling him, but he won¡¯t answer¡­¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you with him all the time?¡± I retorted as if he should know better than me, and Hwijin sighed and rubbed his forehead. ¡°He went to get a quick check-up with Chanhyung¡­ He said he would join uster, but he disappeared and I can¡¯t reach him.¡± ¡°What?¡± I doubted my ears. ¡°I can¡¯t find Yu-geon.¡± Where did he go? ¡°Did he get hurt badly or something¡­¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. He didn¡¯t seem to have a broken bone, but he might have stretched a ligament¡­ He said he would go to the hospital, get a simple treatment, ande back, but I don¡¯t know where he went¡­¡± He was injured, but he pushed himself to do the show as nned. Then the manager of Floss came running and asked Hwijin. ¡°Did you find Yu-geon?¡± ¡°Uh, no. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s in the building.¡± ¡°Damn it. Where the hell did he go? He¡¯s trying to mess up everything now, that bastard¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what his condition was, but he vanished after getting treated. Now I was worried beyond concern. ¡°Damn¡­¡± I asked Hwijin, who was only repeating dry hand-washing, what else had happened besides the ident. ¡°Um¡­ I haven¡¯t been with Yu-geon at all since the ident¡­¡± As Hwijin trailed off, Chanhyung, who was limping with a crutch, appeared and yelled at the Floss manager. ¡°That bastard is not doing it today! There¡¯s no point in looking for him, don¡¯t waste your energy. Why are you all making a fuss over finding that one guy?¡± What does he mean by not doing it? Everyone turned to Chanhyung¡¯s side, annoyed by his irritation. ¡°He¡¯s not doing it today?¡± ¡°That crazy bastard said he won¡¯t go on stage today even if he dies, because he¡¯s afraid he might hurt himself more than a hair on his body. He¡¯s been skipping schedules left and right. He does his solo appearances, but skips the group activities. I was so pissed off by his attitude that I hit him. I told him not to waste our time, he¡¯s noting today!¡± ¡°What?¡± It wasn¡¯t just an argument. Everyone¡¯s eyes widened at the words that he hit him. ¡°What can I do if he doesn¡¯t listen? I¡¯ve been patient enough. Was I the only one who was patient? Why are you looking at me like that when you all felt the same way?¡± Everyone was momentarily speechless with shock. Then the question of where he had gone came to mind. ¡°Where he went is secondary to him not being on stage today¡­¡± ¡°Why is that secondary? If he¡¯s out, and I can¡¯t go on stage either, we have to change the routes for two people. He had a pretty important role, didn¡¯t he? We should fix the routes right away, what¡¯s the point of looking for him?¡± Chanhyung¡¯s loud voice rang out sharply. The atmosphere was¡­ not something I should be listening to. I swallowed my dry saliva and looked around. Chapter 131: Chapter 131: ¡°Um¡­¡± I raised my hand awkwardly in the silence, and Chanhyung was startled and screamed. ¡°Wow! What are you listening to so gloomily over there!?¡± Gloomily, that¡¯s too harsh. I looked back and forth between Hwijin and the manager of Floss, and Hwijin quickly apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Chanhyung seems to be very excited right now, and he always speaks a bit¡­¡± ¡°Did I say something wrong? It¡¯s not like you¡¯re here to watch, you¡¯re so annoying¡­¡± Chanhyung snapped his neck as if to tell me to leave him alone and disappeared to the other side. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. He¡¯s a friend who usually speaks roughly, but he must be in a bad mood because he fought with Yu-geon. I¡¯ll make him apologize properly next time.¡± Hwijin didn¡¯t know what to do and kept apologizing to me.He¡¯s not some wild animal that gets distracted by his size¡­ I felt like he was making me miserable for no reason. ¡°Oh, no. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Of course, I was naturally upset. I wanted to pay him back someday, but that wasn¡¯t important right now. ¡°We¡¯re also on standby until the main shooting, so I¡¯ll look for him once inside the broadcasting station.¡± Maybe I could use the rey service now? I told Hwijin with a faint hope. ¡°Really? I¡¯m sorry to bother you.¡± Judging by Chanhyung¡¯s attitude, it seemed impossible to get help from the members. He must have wanted to borrow a cat¡¯s paw. I nodded cheerfully and answered. ¡°I¡¯ll see if he¡¯s hiding somewhere like the stairs or an empty waiting room.¡± I looked around briefly and left the shooting set. As I sat on a sofa in a quiet corner of the hallway, I heard a buzzing sound from a set on an unknown floor. Of course, I couldn¡¯t hear Kang Yu-geon¡¯s voice. ¡®What the hell are you thinking about?¡¯ Even though Chanhyung or whoever was injured so badly that he could barely walk, Yu-geon didn¡¯t seem to be hurt that much. I took a breath and called the system. ¡®System.¡¯ [Do you want to buy the rey service?] [Yes/No] I pressed the yes button without hesitation. The surroundings darkened in an instant and I returned to the rehearsal scene. It was a rehearsal with costumes and recordings ready, so it was iparable to the pre-rehearsal in terms of scale. ¡®Our stage¡­ they said we couldn¡¯t have this kind of props¡­¡¯ The iron gate and gs that decorated the entire stage, and the lights that depicted the rain pouring from the sky. My desire forbel separation grew stronger. If we could do this, they should have done it for us at once! I was momentarily shaken by the betrayal. A huge light hanging in the sky popped with a nasty explosion and fell towards the stage. Bang-! ¡°Ahh-!¡± ¡°Are you okay!?¡± ¡°Is anyone hit in the head?¡± As the staffs were startled and tried to jump onto the stage, someone stopped them. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous! Don¡¯te up until it¡¯s demolished above!¡± Chanhyung, was it? He was the member who snapped at me earlier and got a shard in his ankle. Yu-geon seemed to have fallen while trying to dodge a falling part from above. I thought it was lucky that they weren¡¯t seriously injured, but only for a moment. The light made a weird creaking sound again and then¡­ Bang! It dropped right next to Yu-geon¡¯s head, who was lying on the floor. If he had leaned a little more to the side, it would have been his head, not the stage floor, that shattered. ¡°Yu-geon!¡± ¡°Yu-geon hyung! Are you okay?¡± Hwijin and Naru, who were in the same group and rtively close to him, called his name, but he didn¡¯t seem to hear them. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Come down quickly! Hurry!¡± Yu-geon looked pale and terrified, as if he had seen a ghost. He didn¡¯t move at all. His lips seemed to tremble slightly. The other members dragged him down from the stage, ignoring his resistance. And then, the staff came and took Yu-geon and Chanhyung to the infirmary. ¡°Damn, a fracture? How annoying.¡± Chanhyung scratched his head and was about to throw his phone on the hospital bed, but he barely held back and crossed his arms, looking down at Yugun. ¡°You can go back on stage right away, right? You only have a sprain. The manager said you should join us as soon as possible. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re badly hurt.¡± But until then, Yu-geon was still silent, like a doll, with his empty eyes and hisrge body curled up. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t.¡± Just then, a staff member rushed in, opening the door as if the car to take Chanhyung to a nearby orthopedic clinic was ready. ¡°Chanhyung? Come this way!¡± ¡°What are you doing? Help me up.¡± Chanhyung called his manager nervously, and the manager gestured to the staff to take care of Yu-geon as he took Chanhyung out of the infirmary. ¡°Uh, Yu-geon¡­¡± As the staff cautiously called Yu-geon, his body copsed to the side with a thud. ¡°Ah, what do we do? Should we call 119, 119?¡± The staff left behind ran out to call another superior, and Yu-geon closed his eyes as hey on the floor. He faintly heard someone say, ¡®Do you have an article to write? He just looks exhausted, so move him to the break room. Don¡¯t make a big deal out of it.¡¯ They were thinking of covering up the incident instead of taking him to the hospital and letting him rest properly. He was an idol, but still a human being. He was angry at the attitude of treating him like a part, not a living person, but it was already a past event. Right after that, the screen switched to a ce that looked like a dormitory. ¡®Where is this¡­¡¯ There were broadcasting-rted props scattered around, so it seemed like a broadcasting station dormitory. ¡®They brought me here because the waiting room was too noisy.¡¯ They should have taken him to the hospital or the dorm. He had shown his will to get on the stage somehow, even though it wasn¡¯t a serious injury. ¡®Do I need to be stubborn here?¡¯ I looked down at Yu-geon, who was asleep, and clicked my tongue. Gasp-. As if he had noticed that I was watching him, Yu-geon shuddered and slowly opened and closed his eyes. Then he moved his trembling legs and barely got up. His face was still pale as if he couldn¡¯t breathe. ¡®It looks like he had a panic attack or something¡­¡¯ Yu-geon moved his body with difficulty, leaning on the wall, and covered his ears several times as if the noise that couldn¡¯t be heard was loud. He barely opened the door and went out, and a dead-end corridor appeared. [Under construction ¨C No entry except for rted personnel -] The stairs leading to the left had a sign saying they were under repair. Yu-geon didn¡¯t care and opened the door to the stairs. There were chairs piled up between the stair floors, as if they had been brought from somewhere. Yu-geon crouched down and hid his body next to them, then closed his eyes again. The scene that was shown to me ended as if it was over, and the world turned to color mode and brightened. No¡­ Is this situation okay? I went out to the hallway to find the dormitory where Yu-geon was sleeping. ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯ll just pass by!¡± The set was in full swing with lighting repairs and cleanup, and there were still many people running around. It was natural that they were busy, trying to do the recording and rehearsal of the other groups in this situation¡­ I looked around the wall hard, trying to find the dead-end road that I had seen in the rey service. After running around for a while, panting, I finally found the dormitory on the top floor where no one wasing and going. ¡°Why did they make the dormitory in such a ce!¡± I clenched my teeth and calmed my rough breath, and opened the door to the stairs. ¡°¡­¡± Yu-geon was shivering and crouching, curling up his whole body. I quickly took off the bomber jacket I was wearing and covered him with it. Even in this situation, he was barely covering his ears with his hands. I felt more pity than contempt for him. Yu-geon looked up at me with his dull eyes, and as his face was hidden by the thick and warm coat, he slowly breathed out as if he was feeling a bit relieved. I checked that Yu-geon had calmed down a little and asked him cautiously. ¡°What are you so afraid of, when you¡¯re bigger and stronger than him?¡± I realized that I was speaking to him politely. I hastily added a suffix. ¡°Yo.¡± Yu-geon still had a pale face like a nk sheet of paper, and he let out a hollowugh as if he couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Is that, that¡­ your concept, yo?¡± His voice was trembling, but he wasn¡¯t as bad as before, when he couldn¡¯t breathe properly while covering his ears. ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll just speak casually, yo.¡± I was used to being defiant in my mind, like I was with our kids, so I couldn¡¯t easily speak politely. Why was that? Did I feel some sympathy for him after seeing his weak side? He had always seemed like a jerk who did whatever he wanted, a thug who I couldn¡¯t understand. But for the first time, he looked like a young kid his age. ¡°Why are you so scared, when you can easily beat up someone who¡¯s smaller than you? What¡¯s the reason for that?¡± I didn¡¯t beat around the bush and threw a straight question at him. Of course, anyone would be terrified in this situation. What was he so afraid of, that he would risk getting punched by the mean members? What made him copse like this and hide alone, crouching? ¡°¡­If you know, will you do something¡­ for me?¡± What can I do for you? I have enough on my te. Helping you with your schedule was only possible when we had no schedule of our own. Now, even if I wanted to help you, we¡¯re too busy to spare any time. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t think I can do it.¡± He ignored my vague answer and hissed, barely regaining his energy. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± I quickly replied. ¡°Still, I can at least listen to you.¡± Like I did for your leader. But if you say you don¡¯t want to talk unless you die, there¡¯s nothing I can do¡­ I stared at him quietly, waiting for him to open his mouth. Chapter 132: Chapter 132: ¡°¡­¡± After a long and awkward silence, Yu-geon muttered with his head down. ¡°Maybe¡­¡± I didn¡¯t answer right away, but nodded slightly as if to show that I was listening. ¡°Never mind, forget it.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Why did he stop talking? I answered lightly, clicking my tongue at the nd sentence. ¡°What do you want to say?¡± ¡°¡­¡±Yu-geon looked at me with anxious eyes, as if he wasn¡¯t sure if he could trust me. ¡°If I was going to cause trouble with my big mouth, I would have done it already.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s expression twisted right away. But it was true. As I kept nagging him with trivial things, he gave a hollowugh and continued. ¡°¡­Do you know who Kang Hee-sung is?¡± ¡®¡­¡¯ I didn¡¯t expect him to bring up his father right away. I already knew, but it was a name that most people of this generation didn¡¯t know. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of him.¡± I answered briefly, and Yu-geon hesitated a bit before opening his mouth. ¡°¡­He¡¯s my father.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I already knew that, but should I act surprised? But it wouldn¡¯t suit me to make a fuss after saying I¡¯ve only heard of him. I quietly closed my mouth. ¡°People knew him as someone who died of overwork¡­ But when I grew up, I found out that wasn¡¯t true.¡± My eyes widened at the unexpected story. ¡°He didn¡¯t die of overwork?¡± Then what was it? Unless he had some kind of grudge or conflict¡­ It wasn¡¯t normal for someone to die suddenly in their early thirties. ¡°He only had two days off in a year. He was always in a van, going from one event to another in the morning, somewhere else in the afternoon, and three nightclubs in the evening. He had no right to refuse, and if he missed a schedule, he was the only one who was seen as unreliable and unfaithful¡­ He lived like that for years.¡± That¡¯s how it was back then. It was a time when night stage singers were in high demand. I nodded slowly, sending him a signal that I was listening. ¡°If he didn¡¯t follow the schedule, they would bring some gangsters to threaten him, and he never heard anything about the settlement. They would say, ¡®How much money do you think you¡¯re spending on your management? How much debt do you still have? You have to work harder,¡¯ and whip him.¡± Yu-geon paused to catch his breath, and pounded his chest as if he was frustrated. He wanted to talk, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it was okay to say it, or if it was toote. He looked like he had been agonizing over it hundreds of times. I felt bad, as if it was my fault that his chest was so heavy. ¡°When he died, they gave us 1.8 million won as constion money.¡± That could have been possible back then. There was no regtion or management of entertainment agencies, let alone supervision. I had heard stories of singers who looked like they were making money, but didn¡¯t get a penny from their agency presidents. ¡®Not just some average singer, but someone like Kang Hee-sung¡­¡¯ ¡°I can¡¯t stop thinking about it when I close my eyes. My aunt¡¯s scream¡­ The adults who told me not toe in¡­ The shadow that came down from the ceiling. I, I feel like I¡¯ll end up like that too¡­¡± So this is what it means to not have overwork. I couldn¡¯t think of anything to say to the much more dismal story than I had expected. Whatever I said would sound like a titude to Yu-geon. ¡°I¡­ I like working as an idol. I have confidence in myself. I wouldn¡¯t run away because I hate the stage. So I want it tost long. Not a disposable product that no one cares about, even if I be a wreck after selling everything.¡± Yu-geon let out a short breath as if he was overwhelmed, and dropped tears from under his eyes. ¡°I want to survive as a person. But is that¡­ such a hard thing to do? Am I forcing myself too much right now? I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know when the schedule I don¡¯t know will end, and there¡¯s a limit to what I can endure. I feel like these people care more about how much money I make until I break.¡± ¡°¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t¡­ an unreasonable logic. People are not things that can be rolled indefinitely without damage. Everyone does that to some extent. They keep getting numb and numb and endure until they snap at some point. If that¡¯s the case, even if I looked like a fox, I might have been better off surviving by jumping out and saying I can¡¯t do this. ¡®What the hell was he thinking when he punked out¡­¡¯ It seemed like he was struggling to survive in his own way. But still, that was a way that bothered many people besides himself. I get it, I get it, but¡­ The problem was with thepany. They forced the schedule against the cast¡¯s will, and if they couldn¡¯t do it, the cast had to pay for their irresponsible behavior. We ¡°got¡± the schedule for you. You couldn¡¯t handle it and made everyone in trouble. I wanted to tell him to rest for a while. But when I thought about the Floss main shooting in the afternoon. I couldn¡¯t say, you can go home. ¡®It¡¯s not something I can allow¡­¡¯ ¡°Did you talk to your manager?¡± When I asked cautiously, Yu-geon shook his head and answered. ¡°I can¡¯t. He¡¯ll want to make a documentary out of it. He¡¯s the kind of person who ns anything that makes money.¡± I couldn¡¯t say, well, you¡¯re in a group, you can¡¯t do that, in this situation. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Wow, I¡¯m really going to die. I might die. What if I kill myself before I die? What it feels like to be choked. Idol activities are hobbies. They support me from behind.¡± Yu-geon suddenly said something unexpected with a long sigh, as if I could never understand. What are you talking about? I get that the situation is bad, and you¡¯re pushed to the edge, and you can¡¯t see others objectively, and they look better, but. I wasn¡¯t a spoiled brat either. It might look like I was just releasing failed albums and got lucky. But in the meantime, there was the real death of Cheon Ise. If it weren¡¯t for the system or something, it would have been announced as an obituary. I listened quietly all the time and then opened my mouth to refute. ¡°I get what you think of me, but that¡¯s not it.¡± ¡°Then what? You¡¯re right.¡± Yu-geon asked me as if to tell me not to lie. It¡¯s not a lie. Have I been fooled? ¡°I had a car ident earlier this year.¡± ¡°¡­?¡± Yu-geon looked up at me with a frown, as if he didn¡¯t know. ¡°I¡¯m a lot better now after rehab, but I can¡¯t do the impressive dances like before. I have iron rods in my back.¡± I didn¡¯t mean to have a miserable battle. But somehow the situation went that way and I sighed long. ¡°Every album I release fails. My family tells me to quit and mocks me for ruining the family name. I almost killed myself too.¡± I had seeded in trying, at least. But I wasn¡¯t throwing a tantrum because Yu-geon didn¡¯t understand me. People judge each other based on the information they know. If you don¡¯t tell them, they won¡¯t know. If you don¡¯tmunicate what you¡¯re thinking, they¡¯ll keep misunderstanding you. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking or how you feel, because I¡¯m not in your position. You don¡¯t know mine either. It¡¯s the same for the others.¡± I¡¯m not asking you to reveal all your secrets. But you should at least tell them enough to make them understand. That guy always knows nothing but himself, and he should avoid getting into fights. ¡°Talk to them. It¡¯s better to try to persuade them than to be a lunatic for no reason.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Yu-geon stared at the floor silently for a long time, then muttered quietly. ¡°That¡¯s why I envy you. You can think that persuasion will work.¡± ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t, you have to try. You can¡¯t stay as a crazy, antisocial, and ignorant bastard forever.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Yu-geon didn¡¯t answer right away. If that¡¯s what he really wanted, he could live like that for the rest of his life. But if not, he had to find a way. There was no problem that could be solved by hiding and avoiding alone. ¡°I don¡¯t know. What I should do and how.¡± His slumped shoulders looked more pathetic than when I looked up at him from below the stage. He still looked drained, but he had calmed down a bit. I answered firmly. ¡°Apologize to the members and finish the stage properly today. Think about whether to talk to the members or the agency after that.¡± ¡°¡­¡± He didn¡¯t answer properly again. I sighed inwardly and urged him. ¡°Are you really not going to do the stage?¡± ¡°Do you really want me to?¡± Why are you asking me that? I just thought that finishing the stage would be the best way to prevent the situation from getting worse. If he was still in a panic and couldn¡¯t do anything, I couldn¡¯t help it. He would have to cross the river that he shouldn¡¯t cross with the members, but¡­ He seemed to have recovered a bit from arguing with me. ¡°That¡¯s not the point. It¡¯s better to be a jerk with a story than a trash who shuts up and runs away.¡± To be honest¡­ It would have been a benefit for us if Yu-geon left Floss. So I didn¡¯t care if he stayed or left. Or if he got along with the members or not. If I were that kind of person, I would have quit being an idol and gone another way! ¡°¡­¡± I blurted out and regretted it without knowing it. It¡¯s his life and he should live it himself. And even though we¡¯re in the same agency, we¡¯re stillpeting groups. Was I being too harsh to him, who said he was in pain, by telling him to do the stage for a moment? I felt sorry. But he had been avoiding everything all this time, so I thought it was okay to tell him not to run away for once. ¡°I¡¯ll take responsibility somehow if it doesn¡¯t work out.¡± In the end, I couldn¡¯t stand the brief silence and blurted out again. ¡°How?¡± Maybe there was a way to use Yu-geon as a solo artist. He was one of the top contenders for individual activities within Floss. If thebel separation went well in the uing negotiations with the agency. It wasn¡¯t an immediate matter, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to recruit Yu-geonter. It was only a hypothetical scenario, something I would only use for the climax. ¡°Please. Just go and apologize to him. Tell him you were too shocked earlier and you didn¡¯t know what to do. Tell him you¡¯re sorry for not saying anything and running away.¡± Yu-geon looked at me silently. I had no choice but to wait for his decision. Chapter 133: ¡°Okay.¡± With a short reply, Yu-geon pushed himself up from the wall. He had been crouching for a long time, so his legs felt numb. He didn¡¯t seem to notice as he staggered, so I grabbed his arm and helped him stand. ¡°Be careful, and let me know if your ankle hurts or swells.¡± His ankle looked much better than when he had the ident, as he leaned on the wall with some strength. ¡°Yes.¡± Yu-geon nodded slowly and looked down at the scenery outside the window on the stairs. ¡°By the way, how did you know toe here?¡± I flinched at his sudden and important question and avoided his gaze. ¡°I looked for ces that your leader and manager didn¡¯t check.¡±Yu-geon hmm¡­ gave me a suspicious look and then wrapped it up as if he had nothing else to say. ¡°Alright. You go down first. I¡¯ll go to the waiting room soon.¡± We were in different groups anyway, so we wouldn¡¯t run into each other until the main stage. ¡°Okay. And¡­ if you have anything that bothers or worries you, call me. Don¡¯t run away. I can at least listen to you.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I red at Yu-geon with a displeased look and turned the handle of the iron door that led to the hallway. nk. nk. nk. ¡°Huh?¡± What¡¯s this? The handle didn¡¯t turn smoothly, but something was wrong. It kept getting stuck as if it was broken and didn¡¯t work properly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this?¡± nk. nk. ¡°Why won¡¯t it open?¡± I panicked and tried to turn it the other way, but it was useless. To make matters worse, Ring- Our manager called me. I didn¡¯t want to show him this situation. Yu-geon, who suddenly disappeared. And me, who followed him and vanished, found together in the restricted area on the top floor of the broadcasting station. No matter what I said, it would look strange. My head started to throb in an instant. ¡°Ah, just open, please!¡± Cold sweat ran down my back. Why couldn¡¯t anything go smoothly? It was a day full of incidents and idents. ¡°Hyung, I was worried about where you went.¡± As soon as I was rescued from the stairs and returned to the waiting room, Seon-woo was pouting with a rare angry expression on his lips. ¡°Where would I go? I was helping someone find someone, so I waste.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you at least contact me?¡± Kyunghwa also joined in and nagged me, so I had nothing to say. It was bad enough that I wasted over an hour helping the rival team. ¡°Sorry. Next time, I¡¯ll text you in advance.¡± I had lectured Yu-geon that the other person wouldn¡¯t know if you didn¡¯t say anything, but I was scolded for the same reason and sweat dripped from my forehead. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s all settled, right?¡± The other members seemed to be curious about what happened to Floss, too. As soon as the nagging was over, they casually asked me. ¡°Hey, I heard one of them broke a bone and had to drop out, but Yu-geon is just slightly sprained and will still perform on stage.¡± ¡°Broke a bone?¡± Yi-jun, who was quietly listening, let out a strange exmation. ¡°Yeah, was it Ih Chanhyung? He¡¯s been walking around with a crutch because of the fracture.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Oh Chanhyung, not Ih Chanhyung.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± I would have loved it if Ih Chanhyung had punched Yu-geon¡¯s smug face. But I didn¡¯t want to make a fuss, so I kept my mouth shut. ¡°I wonder how easy it is to change from a nine-person formation to an eight-person one.¡± Yi-jun drew a nine-person formation on the pad he brought to kill time, then erased one with a swipe. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never done it. They¡¯ll have to rehearse again, but I guess they¡¯ll figure it out.¡± Kyunghwa tilted his head and answered gloomily. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t worry about them. Let¡¯s check our own performance onest time.¡± Kyunghwa gathered everyone with a determined look in his eyes. ¡°Okay~.¡± I wondered if they had managed to fix the problem. I was worried, but we weren¡¯t in a situation where we could sit back and rx. We had prepared our best, even if it wasn¡¯t aeback single. It would be great if we could get into the top three and shine once more. I took a long breath and got up from the sofa. And about six hourster, the recording began. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Yuchae PD, and I¡¯ll be helping you with the waiting room filming today!¡± As we moved to the space prepared for the viewing in the waiting room, there was arge TV panel on one wall for monitoring. It felt like a small movie booth, with a sofa attached, simr to the team meeting rooms we used for the first filming. ¡°There are cameras that I¡¯m filming with, as well as fixed ones, so please check the locations!¡± As the staff finished the final mic check and left, the lights on the stage went off, signaling the start of Floss¡¯s performance. ¡°They said there was a lighting problem earlier, is it okay now?¡± Everyone watched in silence, worried. Soon, blue and red indirect lights came on, likenterns. Eight dim lights walked toward the center of the stage in the dark. ¡°It looks like will-o¡¯-the-wisps.¡± The person who directed it must have intended that. It wasn¡¯t there during the pre-rehearsal, did they add it? The blue mes that flickered like fireflies disappeared in an instant, and a huge blue fire burned on the rear LED panel, then the intro started. ¡°Wow.¡± Before I knew it, Yi-jun had brought a bag of popcorn from a convenience store and was munching on it, wearing fake sses made of paper. ¡°Ugh.¡± Seongwon looked at Yi-jun with a disdainful eye and moved to the side, next to me. Seonwoo¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°No.¡± I blocked him in advance, in case Yi-jun would share with him. Seon-woo made a noticeably sullen expression. ¡°Why did you bring that again?¡± ¡°Eating while watching is the most fun, right?¡± Before I could scold him for risking spilling food on his changed outfit, Yi-jun quickly wrapped himself in a nket. Did he really have to eat that so badly? He seemed to have a huge appetite, just like Seonwoo. ¡®At least he¡¯s active enough to manage his own weight.¡¯ I was already worried about Seon-woo, but if I had to take care of him too, they would force me to go on a diet as well. While we were busy with something else, the stage for Floss began in earnest. [The first frost that fell at dawn, the sound of breaking ice echoes-.] [The flowing river, my heart freezes in sorrow, where is my beloved again-.] The music was the same as the final version that we yed back then. No major changes, just as I remembered. They started with eight people instead of the original nine. Yu-geon didn¡¯t stand out much when he wore it alone, but when Hwijin, the leader, wore ck and the rest of the members wore blue military uniforms, they performed a dignified dance that was spectacr. Was it because they made the hem of their clothes longer? Every time they swung their arms, the ps of their cloaks fluttered gracefully, creating a wind effect. [My face reflected in the moonlight, I call your name in misery-.] The beginning was mostly vocal parts. There was hardly any rap in the rehearsal. I think Naru and another main vocalist took over Chanhyung¡¯s part. [Ah, this pitiful heart, I have nowhere to leave it, please take it back-.] Naru looked like he was possessed by a tragic opera singer, his expression full of anguish. People who saw him perform the dance that seemed to fall like petals and then firmly hold on, eximed in admiration. ¡°He¡¯s really good at acting on stage.¡± Kyunghwa, on the opposite team, had to admit it. Seong-won turned his head with a displeased look. Would he say it¡¯s okay because you sing better? I felt a pang of jealousy, but we were filming right now. There was no need to give the production team a reason to cause trouble. ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s amazing.¡± The people who liked him must have liked him for those aspects, and for the effort he showed underneath. He might look a bit mean, but considering his age, he wasn¡¯t too bad. As soon as I passed Naru, who had perfectly digested someone else¡¯s part without any difort, the highlight of Ye¡¯s performance, the dance part, came out. [This cold winter, where are you going again, my feet are numb, what should I do-.] The lights flickered like meteors falling from the sky. Behind them, the wall of the pce and the blue mes and ck sky in the distance were reflected. Hwijin, who came to the front, stood in the center and drew a silver-ded sword that shed. The other members surrounded him and held their swords horizontally. ¡°Oh¡­ Is this a rebellion?¡± The members who had been escorting Hwijin until then suddenly changed to a 1:7 formation. And in between, Yu-geon came to the center and faced Hwijin. Chanhyung must have been furious to miss out on this scene. Everyone was speechless at the much more majestic atmosphere than what we saw in the rehearsal. [Ah, my beloved, promise me tomorrow with a scream-like cry, let¡¯s meet again-.] Before I knew it, the members retreated and only Yu-geon and Hwijin remained on the stage, showing a 1:1 sword fight. I nced down at my ankle and saw a splint tightly wrapped around it. Without any lyrics, they matched their swords for a while to the instrumental. The battle between the two ended soon. The result was Yu-geon¡¯s victory. Hwijin knelt down, supporting his body with his sword, and Yu-geon took off his cloak and draped it over his shoulder, turning it ck like Hwijin¡¯s. Behind him, a thunderbolt effect struck with a bang, and Yu-geon stabbed his sword vertically into the ground. ¡°Wow, the directing was really good.¡± At the same time, the members who had backed away rejoined and the stage ended with a bow. [The first frost of dawn, the sound of breaking asrai echoes-.] [The flowing river, my heart freezes in despair, where is my beloved again-.] I said I wouldn¡¯t do this, I wouldn¡¯t. Just a while ago, I thought that if I wasn¡¯t feeling well, then fine, I didn¡¯t need to push myself too hard¡­ But that changed in an instant. How can I have a conscience if I don¡¯t do this after taking on such a weighty role! I was suddenly so annoyed that I wanted to send a message to Yu-geon without thinking and looked for my phone. Fortunately, I seeded in recognizing the camera before I put that into action. ¡°I see why Floss is Floss.¡± That team had experienced this kind of nned stage three times before their debut. They had an advantage in the survival show, of course. They were in the position where they were better than anyone else. And they proved it very easily. Was it because I witnessed such a huge gap in skills? I felt my blood boil rather than being jealous. This was the level they fixed in half a day after the lights broke. Could we ever do that kind of production? No, we have to. I wanted to make the audience and the other teams feel this overwhelmed feeling. We wanted to challenge and show them that we could do this much of a stage. ¡°I wish it was our turn soon.¡± Yi-jun seemed to have the same thought as he couldn¡¯t sit still and changed his posture. There was only one group left until our stage, P2CK. Yu-geon didn¡¯t avoid it and faced it coolly, so now it was our turn to show them. Chapter 120 Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 120 Jealousy, Not Envy ¡°I don¡¯t usually talk about this, but¡­¡± There it was. The prelude to a confession that would make the speaker feel better, but also regretful for saying it out loud. The kind of thing that was better left unsaid. Hwijin looked around awkwardly andughed. He ran his fingers through his hair. ¡°It¡¯s not easy to get along with them. There¡¯s a big age gap, and they all have their own agendas.¡± True. Shim Naru, the youngest member of Floss, was only neen. Kang Yu-geon was twenty-three, and the rest were somewhere between twenty and twenty-four. Hwijin, who was twenty-nine and had served in the military while pursuing an acting career, would have a hard time fitting in with the kids who had just graduated from high school or were still attending. I was also able to mingle with the members without any barriers, but only because I wore a mask of a simr age. ¡°Yu-geon said something simr, so I was curious.¡± I couldn¡¯t just listen without responding, so I said something to show my interest. ¡°Yu-geon?¡± ¡°Yes, he said you all seemed close.¡± ¡°Yu-geon probably feels the same way. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone in the group who doesn¡¯t.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say, so I just stared nkly at the mountain. After about five minutes of silence, Hwijin sighed and opened his mouth again. ¡°When I debuted at Naru¡¯s age, I was really close with my members. We used to hang out at each other¡¯s houses since we were trainees. Our parents even knew each other.¡± Yeah, I had seen some self-made content from other idol groups, where they showed their families having meals and socializing. ¡°Floss¡­ we were allpeting for the debut spot, so there was some tension. But I thought, once we became a group, maybe we could get along better¡­ That¡¯s what I hoped for.¡± The way he talked, it sounded like things didn¡¯t go as he expected. ¡°So now¡­¡± I asked cautiously, and Hwijin smiled bitterly. ¡°To put it nicely, we¡¯re solo yers. To be honest, we hate each other, but we have to stick together for the money. Oh, by the way, this doesn¡¯t apply to all project groups. There are some that get along well. It¡¯s just not us.¡± Hwijin tried to justify himself, but his face was shadowed by sadness. ¡°Usually, the ones who did well on the same stage and had good chemistry became friends. Me¡­ I ended up in the same team as Yu-geon for the final mission, and he had some trouble with the previous group performance¡­ He¡¯s more of a loner, I guess. He keeps his distance.¡± He seemed to imply that there was some incident, but I didn¡¯t want to pry. It was better to just listen quietly. ¡°Yu-geon, that bastard¡­ You know, right? He kept messing up his schedule and making things worse. He deserved to be hated, but me¡­ Ah¡­¡± Hwijin rambled on, getting more agitated. He scratched his head furiously. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t say these things to someone else¡¯s leader. Just¡­ take it with a grain of salt.¡± ¡°No, no. I understand. I was curious, too¡­ Yu¨Cgeon seems to be hiding something, but I didn¡¯t want to ask. You don¡¯t have to worry about me telling anyone.¡± I felt a bit overwhelmed by his story. Should I even listen to this? Why is he telling me all this when we¡¯re not even close? At first, I was suspicious, but then I noticed how slumped Hwijin¡¯s shoulders were. He looked like he needed to vent to someone, anyone. I understood the situation, but I needed a safe bamboo forest where I wouldn¡¯t go around bbering about it. ¡®Anyway, I can¡¯t solve it for you¡­ If all I can do is listen.¡¯ I patiently listened to Hwijin without interrupting him. It was easy to say a word or two, but what was so hard about just listening? As I nodded andforted him, the moon tilted and went over the mountain. ¡®You can¡¯t just spill everything like this when someone listens to you next time.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry. Maybe it¡¯s because I trust you, Ise¡­ I keep saying things I can¡¯t say to the members, haha¡­¡¯ After a moment that seemed ironic on the surface, where a twenty-four-year-old gave life advice to a twenty-nine-year-old, it was soon dawn. ¡®Go to bed quickly. I¡¯ll call you hyung again tomorrow.¡¯ At my casual ending, Hwijin burst intoughter. He was clearly smiling, but his expression was a little bit, as if he was crying. I thought it wouldn¡¯t fade from my memory for a long time. The next day. I cooked a stew with the leftover meat from yesterday and served it to the Floss members. It was too cold to eat outside, so I dragged the gas burner inside and boiled the stew. The whole house smelled of kimchi. The stew I made with whatever ingredients I had tasted weird, somewhere between kimchi stew and jjageuli. ¡®It¡¯s weird, but it tastes good?¡¯ Naru, who had never eaten jjageuli in his life, keptining that it was weird while scooping up another bowl of rice. What the hell, don¡¯tin if you¡¯re going to eat well. I was speechless, but he seemed surprised after emptying the white rice. ¡®I must be crazy, I ate it all!¡¯ He was so shocked that he rolled his feet and made a fuss. So we ended up having lunch¡­ with bibim noodles that were 50% vegetables. It was called bibim noodles, but it was more like a sd with fresh lettuce, carrots, cabbage, etc. from a nearby farm. After having lunch, the Floss manager and assistant manager came to the yard with a van. ¡®How was it? Did you have fun?¡¯ The three of them gave different answers to the manager¡¯s question. ¡®Yes, it was fun.¡¯ That was Kang Yu-geon. ¡®I hateing to the countryside again.¡¯ That was Shim Naru, who stepped on a cricket and freaked out when he came out to the yard. ¡®It was okay. I had a good rest for a long time.¡¯ That was Lee Hwijin. I didn¡¯t have any prejudice from hearing Hwijin¡¯s story, but. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to check out the other side¡¯s power, so I thought I needed to binge-watch My Idol Stage. Or maybe I should look for the rey service. Three dayster, when the Floss guest episode was uploaded with a teaser in advance, it got more response than expected. ¡®Wow, look at the views. How long has it been since it was uploaded? It¡¯s already 300,000.¡¯ The average views of WigiSo, which had be famous as a healing spot and a reliable meal buddy, hit in a few hours. ¡®This is the power of a top idol group.¡¯ The episode with the highest views among the ones I uploaded so far was the resort episode that benefited from the algorithm. I still felt dizzy when I thought about the over 50,000 weirdments I had to receive in return for hitting the record-breaking 3 million views. [- A group that does idol as a hobby and their content is all about money lol] [- So boring, how did this get 3 million views?] [- They can¡¯t even do a proper review, why don¡¯t they just hire a travel youtuber instead of pushing their son?] [- Not even a cost-effective hotel, they got a room that normal people can¡¯t even afford as a sponsorship lol. Celebrities have it easy.] Of course, the staff from the PR department worked hard to delete them all, but it was an unwanted life experience to see how many twisted people there were in the world. ¡®Anyway, I want to see if our strategy worked.¡¯ Maybe it was because Floss had such a solid overseas fandom. As I scrolled down and down, the foreignments never ended. I tried to trante them just in case, but most of them were just personal fans of the Floss members who appeared. There was no helpful text. ¡®This is whyment monitoring is useless, right?¡¯ The other fans must have wanted to see the Koreanments too, because the few ones that I could see were full ofints. [- There are too many foreignments, I can¡¯t find any Korean ones] [- What are they saying???? I wanted to see some funnyments] It hurt my heart, but¡­ this was not a problem that we could solve. It was only after a day had passed that I could see the Koreanments that the other fans had upvoted to the top. [- Hwijin, you came here to have fun, right? ????????? I¡¯m sorry, it didn¡¯t look like you were having fun. Our concept was supposed to be healing] [? It was so funny to see you fall backwards from the surprise, I¡¯m sorry????????????] [? The production team edited that part so hriously????????] [- I only saw Hwijin briefly on My Idol and thought he just debuted, but he¡¯s so cute???? When he¡¯s with Seberji, they look like a college club meeting and it¡¯s adorable. I hope he doesn¡¯t get hurt by the maliciousments???] [? Our leader Hwijin is cute, but he also has a lot of cool moments, so please check them out when you have time! (link)] [? I saw this on themunity, it¡¯s famous there??! Good luck on the stage!] [- Yi-jun and Yu-geon look like brothers when they stick together, so cute?????? The members of Climax and Floss seem to get along well, I hope they don¡¯t get swayed by the weird rumors. I¡¯m rooting for Floss to show us a great stage!] [? Thank you?????? I apologize on behalf of some of the weird fans! Don¡¯t worry, no one believes the NBS rumors, fighting!] It was fair to say that most of the reactions were positive. Of course, there were not only good things. There were also negativements like, are you trying to start a fight by using your brain? I pressed the report button without any hesitation. As if they would change their minds because of me¡­ And so another week passed. And the first shooting day of Boys Be Ambitious arrived. ¡°Wow, what is this building? It looks so interesting!¡± When we arrived at the address that the production team had sent us in advance, we saw a strange four-story building that looked like a pool vi. ¡°They say this is a ce that a lot of survival shows use. There¡¯s a hall-like space inside where we can gather and talk, and there are separate waiting rooms for each team?¡± Does that mean they¡¯re going to make team-based progress? I thought of the other programs that I had watched as preparation and nodded vaguely at the interior that I couldn¡¯t easily imagine. We also needed a dedicated stage for the performance, so we moved to a nearby concert hall. ¡°Well, anyway¡­ let¡¯s just go in.¡± ording to the script that we had received beforehand, we were the first group to enter the set. ¡®What did they base the order on?¡¯ I guess I would find out as I saw the other groupsing in, but¡­ being the first didn¡¯t seem like a positive order. Even though we were rising stars who were hot on the reverse run¡­ our level was still not that much. As I cautiously passed through the corridor leading to the underground auditorium and went down to the lower floor, a much darker set than I thought came into my eyes. [Wee! The first participating group is, five years after their debut! The rediscovery of the hidden pearl that was buried, we have Climax!] Along with the loud remark of the MC, whom I had heard his voice sometimes, the view of the set and the seat where we had to sit came into my eyes. [24-hour highest ranking] [?] th [24-hour views] [?] times [24-hour trend index] [?] points Above the seats divided by teams, there were billboards covered with question marks. We were rising stars, making aeback after years of obscurity. But we still had a long way to go. I followed the dim corridor that led to the underground auditorium. As I descended to the lower floor, I saw a dark and gloomy set that looked worse than I expected. [Wee! Our first group for today is Climax! They debuted five years ago and now they¡¯re back with a bang! They¡¯re the hidden gems of the industry!] The MC¡¯s voice boomed over the speakers. I recognized him from somewhere. I looked around and saw the set and the seats where we were supposed to sit. [24-hour highest ranking] [?] th [24-hour views] [?] times [24-hour trend index] [?] points Above each team¡¯s seat, there were billboards with question marks. Chapter 121 Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 12 An Unpleasant Wee ¡°What is this?¡± Seon-woo was shocked as he checked the scoreboard. ¡°Wow¡­ Is this some kind of ranking system? Do we have topete based on views or something?¡± Everyone seemed to have a simr guess. It even reflected the trend index. Was it an internal evaluation or an external one? They would have to find outter. It might have been better if they had a simple voting system like other programs. If views were a factor, the groups with overseas fandoms would have a huge advantage. Especially Vesper, who had three foreign members and a massive international fanbase. They were not far behind in Korea, but they also had a lot of fans in Thand, China, and even Latin America, where the members came from. ¡°Isn¡¯t YouTube the best for views?¡± As they looked around the set and arrived at their spot, there were small name tags on each chair for the members to find their seats. ¡°Oh, there are names on the chairs.¡± Kyunghwa, who had a keen eye, was the first to notice and checked his own seat. My seat was¡­ ¡®Why does it have to be there?¡¯ It made sense, since I was the leader. It was on a separate tform that stuck out at the front. Looking at the empty seats of the other groups, it seemed like they had given the leaders more prominent positions. ¡°Do we just wait here?¡± As the five of us sat down in our seats, there was a loud background noise and the screen in the center of the stage lit up. At the same time, the MC walked out from one side of the stage and started the show. [The bloody battle of the boy groups representing K-POP begins!] [Boys Be Ambitious!] We didn¡¯t really want to fight and spill blood. The more urgent matter was how toplete the main quest that had less than three months left. ¡°Ooh, something¡¯s starting.¡± With Yi-jun¡¯s light reaction, the screen showed a street in broad daylight. It was a video they had filmed a few days before the shooting, and the scenery was full of autumn vibes. The camera scanned the street and then stopped some passers-by for an interview. [Climax? I don¡¯t know. I heard them a few times on the charts, but they¡¯re not my type¡­] [Ah, I know who they are. The group that was the runner-up on Star Discovery, right?] [Are they good? I never paid attention to them, so I don¡¯t know.] [Wow, that¡¯s the group that made sd for Na Seon-young. I didn¡¯t know their name was Climax.] [They seem¡­ like they¡¯re all following one guy?] [Um¡­ I¡¯ve never heard of them. Who are they? Rookies?] It was a video thatpiled the interviews of about ten people. They all agreed that they didn¡¯t know much about them, which made me feel bad. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The intention of showing this was obvious. To make us feel bad. To crush our pride and make us do something rash. That must have been their n. Fortunately, there was no one in our team who would fall for such a cheap provocation. Or was there? I quickly fixed my gaze on the screen and grabbed Seong-won¡¯s hand, who was sitting on my right. And then I carefully wrote on his palm with my finger. ¡®Keep your face straight.¡¯ The screen soon switched to show us at the filming site. Seong-won, with a stiff expression, looked quite pitiful as he tried hard to lift the corners of his mouth. ¡°Well, that was the public interview for the participating group Climax! Cheon Ise, what do you think of the interview results?¡± What do I think? I think it¡¯s X-like that they set up the board like this. I had a lot to say, but there was something else I had to say. I clenched the microphone with a face full of emotion that said, ¡®My heart hurts, but I¡¯ll humbly ept it.¡¯ ¡°We¡¯re just at the stage where we¡¯re being discovered by our fans, so I think we need to work harder on our recognition.¡± Then, Yi-jun behind me whined cutely and threw a tantrum. ¡°That¡¯s too much~.¡± He looked more cute than annoying or irritating, as his light yfulness mixed with Yi-jun¡¯s unique charm. ¡°Ahaha¡­¡± Kyunghwa shook his head as if he couldn¡¯t live because of Yi-jun, and the atmosphere that had been depressed for a moment rxed. ¡°Yes, I heard the answer that shows Climax¡¯s will! Now, let¡¯s reveal the pre-interview rankings right away.¡± What are the pre-interview rankings? Everyone narrowed their eyes and watched the screen, and soon the interview video continued. [We¡¯re preparing a boy grouppetition program this time. Can you please put a yellow sticker on the group you think will win, and a blue sticker on the group you want to support?] As soon as the lineup was announced, they installed voting boards in several ces with a high floating poption in Seoul. The fast-forward video of the citizens walking around the voting board continued, and soon the screen went ck and the narration followed. [4,532 participants! The choice of citizens of different ages and genders?] And right away, the chart with the rankings and group names hidden from first to sixth ce filled the screen. [The team you want to support] 1st [?] 2nd [?] 3rd [?] 4th [?] 5th [?] 6th [?] [The team you think will win] 1st [?] 2nd [?] 3rd [?] 4th [?] 5th [?] 6th [?] The MC who checked the screen asked me another question. ¡°Climax leader, Cheon Ise! What do you expect Climax¡¯s ranking to be!¡± To be honest, I was sure we would be ying around 5th or 6th ce. We would bepeting fiercely with yground for 6th ce. I wasn¡¯t expecting anything higher than that. The MC who asked the question would be the same. The Rises who were watching the program to support us, and the other viewers, too. Instead of mentioning the rankings explicitly, it was better to give a vague answer. ¡°I will do my best no matter what rank I get.¡± ¡°Wow~.¡± Yi-jun, who had a good reaction, patted my shoulder and whistled in agreement. ¡°As expected, Climax. It¡¯s nice to see the members so close to each other. Now, let¡¯s reveal the rankings!¡± [Team you want to cheer for] 3rd [Climax] [Team you think will win] 5th [Climax] Oh. My eyes widened at the higher-than-expected cheering team ranking. ¡°Huh?¡± The camera captured the surprised look of Seon-woo, whose eyes grew wide. ¡°The cheering rank is higher than I thought.¡± Kyunghwa eximed briefly, and the other members nodded in agreement. ¡°How do you feel! Are you satisfied with the result?¡± The MC passed the microphone to Kyunghwa this time. Kyunghwa paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts, and answered cautiously. ¡°Thank you for your support, and we will try to show you a good stage.¡± It was a in and non-provocative answer. It was either a full edit or a bad edit. If I had to choose one¡­. I guess it was a full edit. It wasn¡¯t a situation where our debut was at stake, and it wasn¡¯t a program that would take that much risk. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it for the ranking reveal of Climax! Now, you¡¯ll meet the next participating group!¡± Finally, it was time to move on to the next team. Phew, I was about to unload the burden in my mind when the MC pointed at me again. ¡°Cheon Ise sir! Which team do you want to see next?¡± Why are you asking me that? I didn¡¯t have any group in mind, but I answered casually. ¡°I hope to meet and greet any group soon.¡± Then, as if he didn¡¯t like my answer, the MC quickly moved on. ¡°Yes! Then, let¡¯s bring in the next participating group, Floss, right away!¡± My answer was definitely going to be edited out. I hid my displeasure and waited for Floss to enter. Soon, the iron door that we came in opened horizontally, and nine people walked out in the middle of the stage. ¡°Hello, Three, two, one, Floss!¡± With nine members, their slogan sounded like a military unit. Floss, who I finally faced in full, exuded an overwhelming presence with their mere existence. I knew Hwijin, Yu-geon, and Naru, since I had met them before. The other six were new to me. Thanks to binge-watching the early episodes of My Idol, I had no trouble matching their names and faces. The first ones to catch my eye were 3rd ce Oh Chanhyung, 7th ce Park Sunghyun, and Shim Naru, who received the spotlight from episode one. Park Sunghyun, who debuted in 7th ce, was also the center of the opening stage in episode one. ¡®Is it because of the two-year gap? Their impressions seem to have changed a bit.¡¯ Jun, the only foreign member, had a strong southern vibe when My Idol aired, but now he looked like a wless Korean, thanks to the camera massage. Even to me, who didn¡¯t know much about the survival show, there were five members who I felt were pushed by the editing. Among the remaining four, Yu-geon had such a bad or full edit in the early episodes that I wondered if he had fought with the PD. Hwijin also had no bad edit, but he was only exposed as an old man who was pushed around by the young ones. Lee Jinhen, who was ranked first, was highlighted in the grade evaluation, but his dorm life was edited out so that not a single hair could be found. Kim Youngchan, who was ranked eighth, had no presence in the first and second episodes, so I couldn¡¯t even remember him. ¡®I should have watched up to episode six since it¡¯s a 12-part series.¡¯ I felt sorry that I couldn¡¯t remember each person¡¯s impression clearly. ¡°Okay, please take your seats, and I¡¯ll announce the results of the pre-interview vote right away!¡± Huh? Aren¡¯t they showing the interview summary? The order was different from ours, and there was a slight confusion on the faces of the other members. ¡°What¡¯s a pre-interview?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t we never do that?¡± The Floss members also looked at the electronic board and the screen above their heads, tilting their heads in confusion at the sudden ranking announcement. While Hwijin was looking around in wonder, only Yu-geon was casually looking at the screen with his arms crossed. ¡°We asked about 5,000 Seoul citizens! Which team do you want to cheer for? And which team do you expect to win? Hwijin, what do you think Floss¡¯s rank is!¡± Just like us, Hwijin received the microphone right away and answered skillfully with a smile in his eyes. ¡°I hope it¡¯s high. I¡¯ll humbly ept any result and work hard!¡± This was also a perfect answer that didn¡¯t give any room for editing in the survival show. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s reveal Floss¡¯s rank right away!¡± [The team that seems to win] 1st [Floss] It was an obvious result. But there was one thing that puzzled me. ¡°Why don¡¯t they show the citizen interview and the cheering rank?¡± Unlike us, who showed both the cheering rank and the winning prediction rank at the same time, Floss¡¯s rank was only revealed for the winning prediction rank. ¡°Are you curious about Floss¡¯s cheering rank?¡± The MC handed the microphone to Floss¡¯s seat, as if he was teasing someone. Then, the member with blue hair and a rebellious look, Lee Jinhen, took the microphone instead of the leader and answered. ¡°I¡¯m grateful and excited to see how many people have cheered for us.¡± But if Floss had won the cheering rank as he expected, they wouldn¡¯t have revealed it with a time difference. Am I being too sensitive? Or¡­ As everyone looked at the question mark on the screen, the MC opened his mouth with a smirk. Chapter 135: Chapter 135: To summarize the MC¡¯s exnation, the votes from the audience who came today, the views of the stage videos that will be released in advance, and the rankings given by each team will be reflected in a 1:1:1 ratio. I expected something like that, but¡­ it was too unfavorable for us. It¡¯s obvious that having an overseas fandom is an advantage for the views. I was angry to think that we could lose to Vesper, whose stagepletion was quite disappointing. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± The others didn¡¯t look very happy either. [Next, we will announce the second mission to prepare for the next stage-!] What are they trying to make us do? I red at the screen with a crooked line, then realized that we were filming and tried hard to smooth out the wrinkles on my forehead. [It¡¯s the unit battle!]Huh? I looked at the TV screen with a curious expression and the MC continued to exin. [All participants will form units ording to their profile positions submitted in advance. They will be divided into Vocal A group, Vocal B group, Vocal C group, Dance A group, Dance B group, Rap A group, and Rap B group.] [Please note that there is an additional C group for the vocal position, as there are many vocal position members!] ¡°Oh?¡± I was intrigued by the thought that this was not a typical team battle. [The rules are very simple. Each unit will be randomly selected by position, and if they lead their unit to victory, points will be given to their respective groups, and the rankings will be determined by those points!] [In addition, the most outstanding member of each unit, the ACE, will be selected, and bonus points will be given to the group that the member belongs to!] So, this is like¡­ sleeping with the enemy. They are ultimately our enemies, but for now, we are one team within the unit. Why do we have to do such a hassle? I wondered, but this was also something that could only be done in apetition program, and I thought it would be interesting from the viewers¡¯ perspective. After listening to the detailed exnation that followed, the number of units that each team could belong to was limited to five. This was probably because we were five. The victory points were one thing, but¡­ wouldn¡¯t we be at a disadvantage for the ACE member? The teams with 8 or 9 members had an obvious edge. ¡®Well, this kind of unfairness¡­ there¡¯s no use inining.¡¯ If it was already decided, it was better to ept it cleanly and find a way to deal with it. [We will now announce the group assignments!] [We will announce them in order from Vocal A group to Rap B group. If your name is not called, please ask the staff nearby for confirmation!] [Vocal A group] Lee Hwijin Lyle Seokhyun B8 Son Seong-won Sung Hayoon The group results were disyed on the screen in seven splits, starting with Hwijin and Seong-won being in the same group. Kyunghwa and Seon-woo were in the Vocal C group, I was in the Dance A group, and Yi-jun was in Rap B group. Among the participants I knew by name, the noticeable ones were¡­ Hwijin in Vocal A group, Shim Naru in Vocal B group, BK in Rap A group. The rest of the groups, except for the vocal groups that were mixed with two groups per team, had a clear criterion. [Dance(A) ¨C Climax, Vesper, AtoX] [Dance(B) ¨C Floss, yground, P2CK] [Rap(A) ¨C Vesper, yground, AtoX] [Rap(B) ¨C Floss, Climax, P2CK] The only thing that puzzled me was¡­ ¡®Why can¡¯t I see Kang Yu-geon¡¯s name, even if I can understand Oh Chanhyung¡¯s?¡¯ I briefly wondered, but it was time to leave as soon as the MC finished exining the rules. ¡°Thank you for your hard work! The edited video will be uploaded on YouTube at midnight, so please promote it!¡± As the staff guided us, we were practically kicked out to the parking lot, where a minivan was waiting. ¡°Come on, you must have worked hard today, so go in and rest!¡± The manager quickly loaded us in and headed straight to the dorm. I quickly checked my phone and sent a message to Yu-geon. [Me] Your name wasn¡¯t in the unit lineup 10:32 PM [Me] What¡¯s going on? 10:32 PM He used to check his messages as soon as I sent them, but this time he didn¡¯t read them until we arrived at the dorm. ¡®I thought I wrapped it up well, why is he like this?¡¯ I stared anxiously at the screen and contacted Hwijin. [Me] I enjoyed your performance 10:51 PM [Me] Did something happen to Yu-geon? 10:52 PM Then, after about five minutes, a powerful emoticon was sent from Hwijin. It was a yellow bear crying its eyes out. [H] (Emoticon) 10:57 PM What¡¯s going on? [Me] What really happened? 10:58 PM Then, this time, four or five different pictures of sobbing bears arrived in a row. [H] (Emoticon) 10:58 PM [H] (Emoticon) 10:59 PM [H] (Emoticon) 10:59 PM [H] (Emoticon) 10:59 PM [H] (Emoticon) 10:59 PM Stop crying. Stop bawling and talk to me. [Me] You have to talk for me to understand 11:00 PM When I said that impatiently, Hwijin finally threw me a meaningful remark. [H] If Floss leaves, can you take him to Climax? 11:02 PM What the hell is he talking about? It would be a hassle to take someone else¡¯s pir and put it in our living room. Where are you going; why are youing; don¡¯te; I was already having a headache with Kang Yu-geon. Just tell me what¡¯s going on. [Me] Why are you saying that all of a sudden? 11:04 PM I was so dumbfounded that I red at my phone with a grim expression, and Hwijin whimpered and replied. [H] (Emoticon) 11:06 PM The bear was still crying. Oh, stop crying and talk to me! As I frowned and red at the screen, Seon-woo, who had just washed up, stepped back with a gasp. ¡°Hyung, are you mad? Or did you see something weird?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± When I looked up at Seon-woo as if he was talking nonsense, Seon-woo quickly handed me a mirror. I looked like I was so angry that I couldn¡¯t control myself. ¡°Ah¡­ It¡¯s nothing.¡± I was sorry for Seon-woo, but this was not something I could talk to him about. Maybe Kyunghwa would understand¡­ But I didn¡¯t want to attack Kyunghwa¡¯s disguise rashly when nothing was certain yet. His weak disguise wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand this much stress without any problems. Right now, the priority was to wait for the first round view count video and the final teaser video that would be released at midnight today. ¡®I should calm down now. If they messed up the editing again, my blood pressure would skyrocket.¡¯ I didn¡¯t realize how thirsty I was until I craved a can of beer, but I had to resist. Instead of beer, I brought cold water and gulped it down. After washing up, it was already 12 o¡¯clock. That¡¯s when Yi-jun burst into the room. ¡°The teaser is up. Anyone want to watch it with me?¡± ¡°Me!¡± Seon-woo raised his hand enthusiastically! ¡°Woof-!¡± Pposili also joined in, jumping around at Yi-jun¡¯s feet. If Yi-jun was here, Kyunghwa must be here too. The four of us sat on the sofa, making a fuss, and Seong-won quietly came out and sat on a single seat on the sofa. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Yi-jun teased Seong-won with a tone that could be either yful or provocative, but Seong-won ignored him without paying any attention. ¡°Just turn it on.¡± ¡°Geez.¡± Yi-jun frowned and Kyunghwa snatched the remote and turned on the TV. He connected YouTube to the NBS official channel and, as they had announced in advance, the stage video and the final teaser that they had recorded today were uploaded at the exact time. The first episode was airing next week and the ranking would be announced in the second episode two weekster¡­ The counting period was about five days. ¡°Let¡¯s quickly like our stage video first.¡± I urged Kyunghwa as soon as I thought of it, and he nodded and pressed like and yed the stage video. We had already checked it through monitoring, but we achieved everything we intended. The directing, the arrangement, and the stage were all the best. We showed a stage that was wless anywhere, so we could only hope that the ranking would not be determined by the size of the fandom. ¡°We¡¯ve increased the views and liked it, so let¡¯s watch the teaser now.¡± Yi-jun was curious about how he came out and urged Kyunghwa impatiently. ¡°I¡¯m going to watch it anyway.¡± Kyunghwa clicked on the final teaser, sticking out his tongue briefly as if he was annoyed. [The breathtaking bloodbath of the boys with boiling hot blood!] Why do you like blood so much? There was a reason why someone got hurt by a sudden lighting ident. It was like a massacre, starting from the teaser, with all this blood, blood, blood. [I can¡¯t lose. I came out to win.] [Wow~ So fierce, really.] These were clips from the leader group interview that had already been released. [Towards the best spot, the hot passion and sensational stage of the representative K-POP boy group!] Then, the team¡¯s stage that we filmed today was briefly shown for 2-3 seconds, and the audience¡¯s reaction popped up on the screen. The Rise fans, who were dressed in white code and gathered in one ce, were also included in the teaser. It made my heart ache for some reason. Then, the notice that the pre-release video views would affect the ranking and a short hint of the unit battle that would air from the third episode came out. ¡°Wow!¡± The screen showed Shim Naru¡¯s appearance on Teenager Singer and Seong-won¡¯s appearance on Star Discovery, as if they werepeting for the best position in each category. [How can I be losing in vocals? That doesn¡¯t make sense, does it?] Shim Naru smiled sweetly at the staff as he walked past, looking smug. The trailer ended with this scene. [I really want to go home.] Of course, this time too, the screen went ck with BK¡¯s famous line and the logo appeared. ¡°How do you feel? You¡¯re on the big screen in the trailer.¡± Kyunghwa asked Seong-won jokingly, and Seong-won carefully lifted Aeongi, who was snuggled in his arms, to cover his face. ¡°Meow.¡± Aeongi meowed briefly, as if he didn¡¯t understand. ¡°You¡¯re making your brother embarrassed.¡± I scratched Aeongi¡¯s forehead gently and got up from my seat. Anyway, the trailer was well-made. Seomg-won¡¯s highlight scene from Star Discovery filled the screen for three seconds. Even people who didn¡¯t know him would be curious about who that pretty boy was. ¡°I¡¯m going in first.¡± I had a meeting with thepany tomorrow. So I wanted to ask Hwijin more about what happened to Kang Yu-geon and Floss. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could do anything for them, even if I listened. Why would he say he would take Floss if he came out? I quietly closed the door and checked the message from Hwijin. I could use the rey service if I had to, but then Hwijin or Yu-geon would know that I knew what was going on between them. [H] Are you asleep already? 11:43 PM Am I asleep? I quickly replied to Hwi Jin. [Me] I¡¯m not asleep yet 12:26 AM [Me] I came to the hostel and did some organizing and checked the video, so I saw itte 12:27 AM Chapter 134 Chapter 134 Effort Betrays You It was just my luck that Floss tore up the stage like never before on our first performance. The camera caught the pale faces of P2CK in the waiting room, as big as a door. ¡®They¡¯ll definitely use that for editing.¡¯ I could already see the future of Floss¡¯s fans mocking us for looking so bitter, even though it was apetitive stage. I was just d we weren¡¯t the next ones up. P2CK must have prepared hard in their own way too. But under the lukewarm response of the fans, the stage came to a dismal end. It was a nd stage that didn¡¯t stray far from their usual high-teen concept, and it even looked hastily put together. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± They all wanted to react for the sake of the camera, but they only gave soulless responses. ¡°Oh~.¡± ¡°Wow~.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­¡± Seong-won didn¡¯t even twitch an eyebrow from start to finish. ¡°It¡¯s a stage that shows the group¡¯s color well.¡± Only Kyunghwa gave a detailed review with a very precise diction. I didn¡¯t know if he was sincere or not¡­ but it seemed more likely that he wasn¡¯t. That¡¯s how P2CK¡¯s disappointing stage ended, and it was time for us to stand by below the stage. ¡°Please move to the climax!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The staff opened the door of the waiting room and escorted us along with the manager. The camera that had been filming us all along followed us too. ¡°Let¡¯s do well.¡± ¡°Shall we call our slogan?¡± They all nodded, thinking of Floss¡¯s amazing stage. And at the same time, they looked at me with pity. ¡°Ex, Exposition, Rise¡­!¡± It was my first time shouting in front of the camera, so I felt embarrassed and my face turned red. Why did they have to do this to me? I would rather give a toast than this. I could react more calmly to that. ¡°Climax!¡± The voices of the other members, except me, united, and soon the sign came up to wait on the stage, where the props and background were set up. ¡°Pleasee up right away!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± As we got on the stage, we saw about 120 spectators at a nce. Compared to other fandoms, they looked too pitiful orcking, but the Rises who had prepared a lot of things for us caught my eye first. From cards the size of sketchbooks to slogans and phone lights. The 20 or so people who came even matched the dress code to the color we spoiled. Only 20 seats out of the many people were white as if snow had fallen. What did we do to deserve this much preparation? I felt sorry and grateful at the same time, thinking that they must have wondered how to cheer us up more while preparing this. I had to try hard not to let my emotions well up and make my eyes hot. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ I took a calm breath and stood in my ce. The intro started to y in my ear. Swoosh-ah-ah- Swoosh-ah-ah-. The sound of waves crashing on the sand and the white beach that spread out behind them appeared as the background. [A dazzling white sand, a pure sea. I want to go with you-.] As Yi-jun stepped forward, backup dancers appeared on both sides and the ceiling shone a wave pattern effect towards the floor. Yi-jun, who wore a sleeveless jumpsuit that was closer to summer than winter, mixed and matched goggles and wrist guards, and looked charming with his yful attitude. [The foam is like white snow-. The bells ring, where am I, who am I.] As he lightly performed the choreography while being hit by the white flower powder that poured from the sky, an immediate response erupted from the audience. ¡°Wow, he¡¯s so cute!¡± It wasn¡¯t really a cute concept that we chose. Our goal was to be pretty and cool, but anyway it seemed like a positive reaction, which was a relief. [You always held me when I was shaken. Our precious memoriese back like waves-.] Kyunghwa, who took over the next part, changed his position while looking up at the sky as if he was hit by the snow that came down from the sky. He wore a simple white short-sleeved shirt on top and melon pants on the bottom, which flowed down from the fixed part of the upper body. Kyunghwa also had a bouncy feeling that was different from his usual rtively mature atmosphere. If Floss¡¯s concept was a grandeur like watching a musical, our goal was a stage that we could all enjoy together. A thrilling stage that makes you want to get up and dance right away. Simple but intuitive choreography, casual costumes, and waves that sway like waves. They were intoxicated by the atmosphere that evoked the fantasy of winter and summer at the same time, and they dly sent enthusiastic cheers. [Always like white snow, don¡¯t change-. Stay by my side most purely-.] As Seon-woo shook his arms wide open like wings in the center, soap bubbles popped down from the sky. Seon-woo, who wore a white sweater that looked fluffy and covered his wrists, a white angora beret, and denim jeans, reached out to catch a soap bubble. The original n was to miss it and smile with regret, but¡­ ¡°Oops.¡± Seon-woo seeded in catching the soap bubble with his unexpected athletic ability. He seemed surprised that he didn¡¯t think he would catch it, and his mouth opened. ¡®You idiot, you have to do the choreography properly.¡¯ He stumbled on the next move and then smiled brightly as if he was surprised. ¡°What, he¡¯s so cute~.¡± Fortunately, this also got a good response. It was a bit different from what we intended, but it looked pretty anyway. [A Christmas that falls in midsummer, a whispering song-.] [This is not a dream, a memory to keep forever.] As they entered the carol variation section, snowkes slowly fell from the ceiling instead of soap bubbles. The background was changed from the beach to a white tree and paper that boasted a dazzling pattern, and the dance break section started with a bang and a bell. ¡®Focus, focus.¡¯ Our stage¡¯s dance break was centered on me and Yi-jun. A while ago, there was a debate among us whether Yi-jun was a sub-dancer or not. To put it simply, he was, but we didn¡¯t use him properly, so everyone forgot. So I wanted to stamp my eyes this time. That there are members who are confident in dancing besides me. The wave pattern that swayed on the floor disappeared at once and the stage turned ck, and spotlights shone on the heads of me and Yi-jun standing at the ends of the left and right. A short and cheerful choreography that used force along with the instrumental followed, and Yi-jun shot a gun at me and made a bang gesture. As we took turns performing smooth and flexible movements like water flowing in short sections, as if passing a baton to each other, cheers erupted from the audience. [Our unforgettable memories, please cherish them-] Yi-jun made a ring above his head and the surroundings brightened up again in an instant. Glitters poured down from the sky and we all gathered around Yi-jun, smiling broadly as the stage came to an end. [Everything is dazzling in this moment, shining brightly-, you and me, just the two of us.] I thought we had put on a decent stage that would appeal to the other fandoms, even if it wasn¡¯t as impactful as Floss. Finally, the music ended and the cameras followed each member to film their individual shots. I didn¡¯t miss the camera with the number I had received in advance and looked straight at it, lightly curling the corners of my mouth. ¡°Good job!¡± Finally, we finished filming the ending and bowed to the audience below. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°It was so good!¡± ¡°You¡¯re handsome!¡± I waved my hand at the fans, feeling embarrassed, and came down from the stage. Soap bubbles in my eyes¡­ I¡¯m going to have a hard time cleaning this up for the next stage. I apologized btedly and came down from the stage. ¡°Ugh~.¡± When we returned to the waiting room, only the PD and the manager who were in charge of filming us in the waiting room were left. We had to wait in the auditorium until thest act, yground, was over. I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask Floss, who had calmed down by now, but the reaction filming was still going on. ¡®I wonder if I can sneak out and call him for a moment.¡¯ But Floss couldn¡¯t move in front of the camera either. I was in a state of not being able to focus on anything as I looked at the TV panel. I was so nervous that I lost my appetite, but Hwijin was¡­ I was d he didn¡¯t copse from stomach cramps like Kyunghwa. I prayed for Hwijin¡¯s stomach¡¯s peace and tried to focus on the screen. The next stage of Vesper was as expected. Well, they didn¡¯t have enough time to overhaul it, even if the reaction was not very good. AtoX seemed to have tried to fix some of the negative feedback they had received during the pre-rehearsal. ¡®It¡¯s not as easy as trying.¡¯ But the stage quality was not bad at all. Rather¡­ I was worried that we might lose second or third ce to them. We had the upper hand in terms of ideas, originality, and concept, but they had¡­ a powerful fandom that would vote and view for them. ¡°Is yground the only one left?¡± Seong-won nced at the clock hanging in the waiting room and asked. The filming that started at 8 a.m. was already past 7 p.m. due to various dys. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s starting now.¡± Mumbling, Yi-jun popped the popcorn that was still left in the bag into his mouth and watched the stage filled with the efforts of the chicks. The stage of yground, which covered a hip-hop group with a rebellious teenager concept that was called a heretic in the music industry, showed traces of their efforts as in the rehearsal. They really worked hard, and I felt that they did their best in their choreography and arrangement with the abilities they had. I wondered why so many people wanted to support this group, and I felt a bit of understanding. ¡®But.¡¯ That wasn¡¯t enough. AtoX¡¯s stage, which had chosen a concept that was too overwhelming, was much more polished in terms ofpleteness. yground, who had a particrly tense expression on their faces, seemed to falter for a moment, and ended up colliding with another member. ¡°Ah¡­ oh no¡­¡± Yi-jun let out a small sigh. The two people who bumped into each other stumbled and lost their steps. It was neither cute nor brave. Just a mistake. They earned the sympathy of the audience, but that was all. What I wanted to cheer for and what looked good on stage were different. Everyone tried to look kindly at yground, who worked hard on stage, but¡­ They stillcked the skills and reminded me of trainees¡¯ stages. ¡°Thank you!!¡± One of the members who barely finished the stage and hurried down cried out. He was the one who caused the collision. Leader BK followed him and patted his back. They would use this 100% for editing. I lowered my head, remembering BK crying and saying he wanted to go home in thest preview broadcast. As the shooting ended, only one MC appeared on the screen. [That¡¯s it for the six teams¡¯ stages! Now we will reveal the RULE that will decide this bloody battle!] They announced it so quickly. I clicked my tongue and opened my ears to listen. Chapter 136: Chapter 136: As soon as I sent the message, he replied right away. [H] (emoji) 12:29 AM Stop sending me those crying emojis. I reached the limit of my patience and pressed the call button. After a brief ringtone, Hwijin answered the phone. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I skipped the usual greetings and asked him bluntly. ¡°I couldn¡¯t stand being in the dorm, so I went out for a bit. I have a schedule tomorrow, so I have to go back soon, but anyway¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Did he have a fight with the others in the dorm? But I knew that Yu-geon had dropped out of the second mission group assignment before the production team gave us permission to go home.¡°I know you¡¯re having a hard time, but can you please tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± I suppressed my frustration and urged him to speak. Hwijin opened his mouth cautiously. ¡°¡­Yu-geon announced that he would quit his activities after today¡¯s stage¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Quit his activities? What the hell was he talking about? I told him to face his problems and not avoid them, but did he take that as a cue to break through in a different way? I couldn¡¯t understand the situation and my head went nk. ¡°He suddenly apologized for being selfish all this time, and I wondered what got into him¡­ He said he would continue his personal schedule for the rest of the contract period, but he wouldn¡¯t work as a group anymore. Do you have any idea why?¡± Hwijin asked me, almost sobbing. ¡®¡­¡¯ Maybe that¡¯s the reason. It was me. But I didn¡¯t tell him to quit his group activities. I just wanted him to deal with the situation where he was causing trouble to everyone around him and not telling the real reason. What kind of messed up mentality and logic did he have? I felt dizzy too. ¡°So, did he also drop out of the second mission group assignment?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m going to talk to the manager and thepany more, but he said there would be no more Floss activities¡­¡± It was easy to guess that the situation was irreparable when the members had alreadye to blows. ¡®That¡¯s why I envy you. You can think that you can persuade them.¡¯ I remembered what Yu-geon had said to me. His naive faith that hismon sense would naturally be epted by others. I had no idea how Yu-geon had talked to the other members¡­ But I could clearly tell that they were not the type to stick together after a small conflict like a climax. ¡°Did he say anything else about his personal situation?¡± I asked him anxiously. ¡°No¡­ He just said that he couldn¡¯t do group activities anymore because of his panic disorder.¡± That bastard only listened to half of what I said. I told him not to avoid the problem and exin the reason for his actions, but he only did the former andpletely ignored thetter. My head hurts. ¡°What about his health issues¡­?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Thepany said they knew¡­¡± ¡®They knew.¡¯ Did that mean they would let him quit his group activities as he wanted, or did that mean they would put him back in when he recovered? Only Yu-geon and thepany would know that. At this point, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the Floss leader suddenly shouted ¡®Hey, you bastards!¡¯ and cried on stage. I understood why he said he couldn¡¯t stand the gloomy and suffocating atmosphere and went outside. ¡°Is there a chance that he did it impulsively¡­?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. He went straight to the hotel after it was over and left with his stuff¡­ I don¡¯t even know where he is¡­ Ugh¡­ Really¡­ Why is he doing this to me¡­¡± Hwijin¡¯s emotions boiled over and he let out a stifled sound, exhaling a long sigh. ¡°He must have gone home. Don¡¯t worry too much and get some rest. It¡¯s not like you can stop him from making a mistake by talking to him.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± His voice sounded noticeably gloomy and it made me feel uneasy. What was he thinking? I was nning to suggest that he could work as a solo idol under my management after Floss disbanded in six months, if things went well enough. But he suddenly dered that he was quitting? I couldn¡¯t sort out my thoughts and I sighed deeply, trying to calm Hwijin down. ¡°Go in and take a shower and sleep. It¡¯s already done and it¡¯s not your fault, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡± What¡¯s meant to happen will happen anyway. Even if I had told Hwijin what I talked with Yu-geon yesterday, it would have been impossible to stop him. So there was no point in tormenting myself with what-ifs, like if I had been more flexible or if I had stopped him earlier. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You must be busy with the audition right now, but I keep taking your time and asking you for favors¡­¡± He was right. To be honest, I felt like they should solve their own problems internally. But I was already involved. I couldn¡¯t ignore their pleas for help or listening. ¡®It¡¯s my meddling that¡¯s the problem¡­¡¯ ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I contacted you first because I was worried, so don¡¯t mind it.¡± But it wasn¡¯t easy to not mind it. I nodded reluctantly and ended the call. What was I thinking? I wondered if I should use the rey service again, but then I thought. ¡®It doesn¡¯t seem like there was any more trouble. Maybe it¡¯s over with Yu-geon¡¯s disappearance.¡¯ Wait a minute, we have things to do too, why do I have to check and stress over other groups¡¯ fights? I suddenly felt wronged. I wanted to see only good things, only good things. I wanted to get some hopeful and positive energy, not these gloomy guys¡¯ stories of hitting and getting hit. Iy down on the bed and logged into my SNS ount for monitoring. The teaser video had been released a while ago, so the feed must have been crazy with the teaser reveal. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ I took a short breath and checked the feed. Fortunately, the reactions were mostly positive, as expected. [- I thought it was a mess when Leader Jo was so cold in the teaser, but I guess it¡¯s not that bad?] [? Don¡¯t be fooled, those NBS bastards have tricked us more than once] [? ???? The voice that keepsing out at the end of the teaser, I feel sorry for him, he¡¯ll probably be reused again and again] [? My heart is empty¡­] [- (link) If you haven¡¯t seen this, you¡¯re doomed to watch it 78237462436478 times] [? When did thise out???] [? It came out at midnight???? They said they count the views or something, sigh ¡­ I¡¯m just ying it over and over??] [? What the hell, they¡¯re not even streaming, they¡¯re putting the views in the evaluation, crazy bastards?( ?¡¯?Ò桯?)? .?( ?¡¯?Ò桯?)? .?( ?¡¯?Ò桯?)? .] [? ??????? It¡¯s so close with the views right now, it¡¯s fourth ce, I want to raise it more?????] Ah¡­ Because of that damn view count, I felt guilty again with the logic that ¡®we¡¯re too weak and we can¡¯t give our favorite idol the performance we love.¡¯ ¡®Why is there nothing good anywhere?¡¯ I pped my forehead andy down on the bed again. But I tried to squeeze out some positive energy. I got up and refreshed my feed. There were some people who genuinely liked our stage video. [- If you haven¡¯t seen this, don¡¯t talk to me] [? (A picture of bleeding forehead from pping too hard) Look at the other groups flexing their power and then look at our refreshing carol at the end. I¡¯m going crazy¡­] [? Whose idea was this ??????????? They must have edited the meeting too. If they cut even a second, I won¡¯t forgive them] [? I vote for Seon-woo??? He¡¯s a master of moe sleeves. I¡¯m impressed by the coordinator¡¯s Milky Way-like bag strap length. It gives me the strength to live another day] I knew what they wanted, but Seon-woo¡­ No. There was no need to think about it. They would find out soon enough. [- Seon-woo, your sister loves it when you exchange a bit of intelligence for a huge beauty ???????¨F? ] [? Who talks like that about a fool ??????????] [- This is the carol of the year (link)] [? If we watch the ending once a day, we¡¯ll be rich by the end of the year] [? Actually, it¡¯s already the end of the year] [? Shh, be smart?Òæ?)] [- Guys(0), can you please watch the ending video once for our loyalty? Of course, once you start, you won¡¯t be able to stop, but let¡¯s pretend this is the end of the year and just watch it once. Please (link)] [? (Screenshot) I also liked it. Thank you for the next year] [? Ah?????????? Thank you so much. I didn¡¯t think you would??????] [? I watched it and it was a good stage overall! I didn¡¯t feel any obligation and I was like wow until the end. Can I ask the name of the blond half-tied guy?(shy)] [? You¡¯ve waited long enough. The star of the discovery who rides the rhythm with the beat, the king god majesty super general elegance gorgeous dangerous runner-up Son Seong-won (picture)] [? Huh?????? So that¡¯s him. He¡¯s really handsome. I was curious about him because he seemed topete with Mebo this time¡­S2 Thank you?] The reaction to the stage video itself was not bad, and thanks to the teaser that made Sungwon a rival to match Shim Naru, we appealed to the viewers who didn¡¯t know us well. If Shim Naru was really a solid talent and no one couldpete with him as the number one main vocalist, then they would haveined about him rubbing his ears, but¡­ [- Simjjang, why are you picking fights everywhere? You should be satisfied with your position that has nothing to do with Mebo] [? This is¡­ a fight that I can tell you¡¯ve lost before it even started ?;¡ä?? + ??? ] [? I did embrace Simjjang, but this is not it¡­ NOPE¡­] [? NBS will save him with desperate editing VS preparing for public execution] [? I bet Simjjang¡¯s wrist on thetter] [? Anyone can see that he was kicked out live, but winning thepetition and dying of shame VS losing gracefully and dying honorably] [? Our wish is thetter, but Simjjang seems to want the former¡­] I searched for the nickname Simjjang and it seemed to be a nickname used to mock Simnaru. Even the fans who half-supported him used it. If the keywords that came up when I searched for Shim Naru were heavenly memo, tone gangster, heartthrob killer, aegyo bomb, then the contents that came up when I searched for Simjjang were¡­ [- Simjjang, another too much day (picture)] [- Did he note to his senses after being ridiculed as Simjjang? (picture)] [- Simjjang was so burdensome that I hated to see all the content that the Pluggies came out with, but as I watched, I started to feel a little bit of affection¡­ Yeah, do more, more¡­] [- Everyone mocks Simjjang as a (omitted) born of capitalism, but don¡¯t say anything rash. He¡¯s better than his fish eyes] There was nothing wrong with this stage. But we felt the ridicule that came from his excessive self-appeal and professional consciousness. Chapter 137: Chapter 137: It hurts my heart, but¡­ honestly, this was an area that I couldn¡¯t cover either. Of course, there seemed to be quite a few fans who felt attracted to that kind of appearance. ¡®Either way¡­ if the ranking is not decided by the fandom vote, our kid won¡¯t lose.¡¯ I didn¡¯t need to worry and just set my priority to tomorrow¡¯s negotiation. ¡®I was going to say that we would start with Climax only when we talked about separating from thebel, and that there was a possibility of expansionter.¡¯ But how should I bring it up now? Iy down, promising myself tomorrow. The next morning. I got up from my bed with a groan and it was before the rm went off. Humans are adaptable animals. I had set five rms at five-minute intervals in case I couldn¡¯t wake up, but luckily I opened my eyes before they rang.I got up from my bed and headed to the bathroom, ncing at Seon-woo¡¯s bed. As always, Seon-woo was lying sprawled out. His twisted posture exposed his white belly, which looked like it would catch a stomach ache. ¡°He¡¯s always so careless.¡± I picked up the nket that was lying separately on the floor and covered him up to his chin. He flipped over, feeling suffocated. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± What do you mean, hmm? I decided to wake him up as soon as I washed my face and went to the living room. ¡°Are you up?¡± Kyunghwa, who looked rxed for once, was sitting on the sofa, fiddling with hisptop. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re up early?¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s be a habit since I¡¯ve been waking up at dawn these days.¡± I envied him for losing his morning sleep in his early twenties. I still had a foggy head and shook it once before going to the bathroom in the living room. ¡°Let¡¯s have a quick breakfast, wake up the kids, and get going.¡± The meeting schedule that the manager had arranged was at 11 a.m. There was still plenty of time. I had already told him what I was going to say. All that was left was to deliver it to thepany and confirm their agreement. They couldn¡¯t say no. They wouldn¡¯t want to start awsuit over a contract breach when they had a schedule in progress. I had also promised solid support from Chairman Cheon, so I should be able to give good news to the fans by the beginning of next year. ¡®Maybe I¡¯ll make some potato rice.¡¯ Personally, I didn¡¯t like thebination of carbs and carbs, but. It wasn¡¯t as bad for your body as junk food. This was also something you could only eat when you were young. When you get older and start to take care of your carbs, you can¡¯t eat it. ¡®When else will I enjoy my youth?¡¯ I suddenly felt sad that the measure of youth was whether you could eat a carb bomb without thinking about your blood sugar. ¡®When you get old¡­ there are so many things you can¡¯t eat.¡¯ I remembered how the employees who used to eat and drink like crazy when they were young started to eat healthy food for survival as they umted years and age. ¡®Anyway, today is potato rice.¡¯ It would be nice to add some lotus root as well as potatoes. If I roast the eggnt in the air fryer and coat it with sauce, it would be a good side dish. I was busy thinking about how to use up the eggnt that I bought two weeks ago and didn¡¯t eat because I was busy. I hurried to cook the rice and sliced the eggnt thinly and prepared to roast it. The delicious smell started to rise. I had to wake him up in 15 minutes, since the food would be ready in 30. I took off the stic gloves I had been wearing and headed to the living room. ¡°What are you doing?¡± He had been staring at hisptop before I started preparing breakfast. And he still was. There were more than a dozen web browser tabs pinned at the top. Was he looking for something? ¡°I¡¯m just checking out the reactions to what we released yesterday.¡± He wasn¡¯t only looking at ours, but also at other groups¡¯ responses. ¡°The feedback was good yesterday. Seon-woo¡¯s bubble trick was everywhere, even in clips.¡± ¡°I know, right? I¡¯ve watched that one dozens of times already.¡± Kyunghwa chuckled and cuddled up next to Seon-woo, who had followed me to the living room, snoring. He lifted Pposili, who had also woken up and trotted after me, onto the sofa. [¡ù¡®Ryu Kyunghwa¡¯ is in a stable condition.] Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t seen anything weird while searching. I breathed a sigh of relief and asked him. ¡°How about the other teams? Floss is obviously well-received. I¡¯m curious about the others.¡± As I casually propped my chin on my hand, Kyunghwa swiftly showed me a window he had neatly organized in Excel. ¡°Wow¡­¡± It was a chart that collected the current views, likes, and reaction keywords for each team. The order of views was roughly what I expected. Floss Vesper AtoX Climax P2CK yground The order of likes was slightly different. Floss Vesper Climax AtoX P2CK yground I could tell why when I saw the reaction keywords for AtoX¡¯s stage. Foreign fans or loyal fandoms might desperately find and consume elements they liked within it. But not the general viewers. They hade to see what new program NBS was doing and left some harshments that were more than I expected. [- The original artist probably turned his head away in disbelief after seeing this] [- Before watching: Wow, AtoX¡¯s shocking transformation¡­! After watching: You guys should never transform] [? There was a reason why they hadn¡¯t transformed until now] [? Ah?????? I want to deny it but I can¡¯t ?????] [- The biggest mysteries of this video 0:20 Jae-p, who can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s a bad guy or a madman on line 1 2:12 Hyeon, who tries to rip his shirt but doesn¡¯t have enough strength 2:45 A.M, who screams for no apparent reason Me, who watched this till the end] [Me, who watched this till the end22222222] [Why did I watch this333333 It was the most useless 4 minutes of my life recently] [- They asked them to do a cover, not topete with the original¡­.] [The original artist should block AtoX from their public ount right away, they have no excuse] [- NBS, please disable thements for AtoX¡¯s honorable death, I beg you] The hatements were so overwhelming that the fans pleaded for them to be disabled. Did thesementers not think that this could hurt the performers¡­ or were they incapable of thinking? Some of them deliberately exaggerated and made nonsense remarks that tore apart the performers¡¯ hearts, just to make peopleugh. Of course, if they made a flop in a paid media, they should ept the feedback as part of their role as creators. But they only had 5 days to prepare for this stage. It was impossible to design the stage set, arrange the music, and choreograph the dance in such a short time. They must have felt that this was not right while preparing, but they didn¡¯t have enough time to fix it. What else could they do? In a situation where they had no time to prepare an alternative, they all knew that this was a disaster, but they didn¡¯t avoid it and went on stage. I thought that was a very courageous act. Some might say that it would be less embarrassing to fake an ident and drop out of the schedule. As I thought when I saw Kang Yu-geon, a pro is someone who finishes their assigned role in a given schedule. Even though they werepetitors, I wanted to sincerelyfort the AtoX members. ¡®Well¡­ the behind-the-scenes of the stage are not important to people, nor do they want to know.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t bear to watch the hatements pouring on AtoX anymore, so I turned my eyes away. The other groups were not much different. Vesper was¡­ maybe because they had a high proportion of foreigners, theirments were mostly short, like ¡°the best¡±, ¡°our king swept everything¡±, ¡°cool¡±, ¡°good¡±, etc. There were not many Korean responses, and they were just okay. I don¡¯t know if there was any arrangement. It was ordinary because they always did the same thing. That was the main evaluation. P2CK had the least presence, so the number ofments was low and the overall reaction was t. There was nothing to criticize, but there was also nothing impressive. Only the fans came and left some nicements. ¡®Now the problem is yground¡­¡¯ Ugh. I didn¡¯t even have to check thements directly to know how it was, I could tell by the keywords that Kyunghwa summarized. [Chaos, mess,ck of skill, insufficient, trainee] [- They only put up the juicy cuts in the trailer] [- I don¡¯t understand why they put in the rookies who just debuted; this is just a public execution] They debuted with this skill and joined the lineup to show a messy stage, what¡¯s the difference between them and trainees. Something like that. They didn¡¯t have any existing fandom to support them, I wonder how they were holding up. As soon as the stage was over, I remembered the high school students who came down and cried. ¡°People think alike, I guess.¡± I clicked my tongue lightly and crossed my arms, and Kyunghwa nodded. We and Floss were the only ones who received unanimous praise, but we couldn¡¯t rx. We were behind in views. ¡°I guess so.¡± Kyunghwa nodded. Was there any reaction to Yu-geon? Since the full broadcast wasn¡¯t released yet, there were manyments looking for Chanhyung. Just as I was about to look for it again, I heard the sound of steaming out of the rice cooker. Squeak-. ¡°Ah, the food is ready. Wake up the kids, we¡¯re eating in 10 minutes.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I went back to the kitchen and put the eggnts I had prepared for grilling in the pan and made the sauce. The members came out to the living room one by one, their faces still sleepy. ¡°We¡¯re going straight to the office after we eat, so get ready in advance.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I turned my head without thinking, assuming it was either Seon-woo or Yi-jun who answered me, but I was startled when I realized it was Seong-won. ¡°What, why.¡± He snapped back at me with a sharp tone, as if to ask what the problem was. I was relieved, but I also felt a chill when I heard his unexpected meek reply. No, maybe his personality has softened a bittely. I should get used to it too. I briefly reflected as I opened the rice cooker, which was steaming hot. A savory smell wafted up. ¡°It smells good.¡± I smiled as I scooped out some rice, lotus root, and potatoes and put them in a bowl. My worries fade away and I felt excited. I have to eat well and go fight. I didn¡¯t really want to fight, but I had to fill my stomach to be alert for anything. ¡°Don¡¯t pick out the lotus root, just eat it.¡± I deliberately gave Seon-woo a lot of lotus root, and Seong-won was the first to pick one up and eat it without dipping it in the sauce. ¡°Don¡¯t eat it nd, there¡¯s sauce.¡± I pushed the sauce bowl to Seong-won, and he nodded slowly. Has he grown from a rebellious teenager to a more obedient one? I shrugged my shoulders and emptied my bowl. All that was left was to attack. Chapter 138: Chapter 138: After 30 minutes, the guys who had a good breakfast took care of the dishes and cleaning while I got ready to go out. When I stepped outside, I was greeted by the midday sun that I hadn¡¯t seen in a while. Lately, I had been leaving early in the morning. I enjoyed the rare leisure, but I ended up arriving at the meeting just in time. ¡°Hello!¡± As we arrived at the designated conference room with the manager¡¯s guidance, the Team Leader Ye gave us a greeting. I thought about sarcastically saying that I owed him a lot for choosing the songst time, but my eyes were drawn to the middle-aged man sitting next to him. He looked like he was at the level of a head of department¡­ ¡°This is Mr. Park, the executive director of our nning department.¡± ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯He was the head of the department, after all. He didn¡¯t seem like he would be of any help to us. I felt uneasy and sat down. ¡°Hello, you all must have had a hard timeing all this way today!¡± I didn¡¯t like his smug smile. I had a bad feeling that he wouldn¡¯t let us go easily. ¡°Come on, sit down first! We have coffee and juice ready, so drink whatever you like.¡± The team leader who had ignored usst time, saying that we would be mediocre at best, was now acting friendly and offering us snacks. Anyway, business is like that. You¡¯re an emperor when you do well, and a beggar when you don¡¯t. I hated people who changed their attitude so tantly. I had no choice but to work with them for business, but they were not the type I could trust or rely on. ¡°Oh, then I¡¯ll have juice.¡± Yi-jun picked up an orange juice without hesitation, and Kyunghwa rxed a bit and grabbed atte. ¡°I¡¯ll drink well.¡± As Kyunghwa inserted a straw and sipped, Seon-woo rolled his eyes and looked at me. ¡°I¡¯ll allow you to have tomato juice.¡± ¡°¡­!¡± Seon-woo smiled like a rodent who had found a sunflower seed and reached for the tomato juice. I wondered if he was expecting the yogurt-mixed juice that I sometimes made at home. ¡®That¡¯s sugar-free.¡¯ I liked tomato juice myself, but sugar-free was a bit of an acquired taste. The key to tomato juice was to drink its unique viscosity with sugar. Seon-woo took a happy sip and then put down the juice bottle with a disappointed expression. ¡°Ugh, what is this?¡± At Seon-woo¡¯s dramatic reaction, Seong-won turned his head and quietly shook his shoulder. He was 100%ughing. I wished he would get along with the other guys a little more, now that he had opened up to me. But what can I do about it? I shook my head and brought up the main point to the head of the department. ¡°Did you receive the message that I sent you through my father?¡± He said he would talk to Hong, the CEO, so there must have been a decision made on their side. It should have been notified to the head of department by now. ¡°Ah, yes. Hmm¡­ Can I ask you what part of our support was unsatisfactory to you?¡± He had treated us like spoiled brats from a rich family before. It was ridiculous how his treatment changed after one meeting with Chairman Cheon. If he was going to change his attitude now, it would have been better to treat us like important clients that he had to persuade. He shouldn¡¯t act like he could fool us with words. ¡°Yes!¡± This idiot was ecstatic about the fact that we would be tightly bound by a new contract and run our ownpany. ¡°Still, if you stay with W, you can do more than just music production, such as acting and various other things. We can support you in all aspects¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s something you have to help us with even if we¡¯re a subsidiary.¡± I pressed him hard, as if I wouldn¡¯t give him any room. ¡°It seems like we¡¯re done talking. Bring the legal team and draft the contract today, since we¡¯ve already discussed it.¡± For a corporation of this size, they would have contracted an externalrgew firm as a legal advisor. But there must have been someone in charge of drafting the contract internally. ¡°¡­¡± The director snorted with a dissatisfied expression and blurted out his true feelings. ¡°Business is not as fun as you think, Mr. Ise.¡± No? It was fun. That¡¯s because you¡¯ve been doing a mess of work until now. I wanted to sneer at him with my arms crossed, but I was not Lim Hyun-seong now, but Cheon Ise. If you asked me if the business that I had done as Lim Hyun-seong was fun, I would definitely say no. But this was certain. If I hadn¡¯t felt the thrill of sess when I pushed for the investment with confidence, I wouldn¡¯t have worked until I died. Depending on what the standard of fun was, I could say it was fun enough. ¡°You seem to hope it¡¯s not fun.¡± I spat out the words with a face that smiled brightly like a brat. ¡°Hey, no way~.¡± ¡°You¡¯re rooting for me, right?¡± He barely curved his lips, twitching as I asked him with a bright smile. ¡°Oh, yes. Go ahead and grow until you absorb the parentpany, once.¡± ¡°I will, thank you for your support!¡± I maintained a smiling face without any change in expression and asked for a handshake. If I had been the old me, I would have said, ¡°How dare you shake hands with an adult, you greenhorn,¡± and showed my old-fashioned spirit. But this was the right thing to do, to tell him to eat shit. Considering how he had treated me for the past six months, this was not enough. ¡°Thank you for everything, and I look forward to working with you in the future.¡± We soon finished the draft consultation and set the schedule for signing the main contract. The main contract would be written with the contractw firm and delivered to us, so all I had to do was check if there was any nonsense in it. ¡°Huaham,¡± I yawned long and returned to the amodation, where Pposili was restless and spinning around in the entrance with a different tension than usual. ¡°What¡¯s up, why is he like this?¡± Yi-jun raised his eyebrows as if he was puzzled when he saw Pposili. ¡°Huh, why? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Seon-woo asked from behind, surprised, and Yi-jun tilted his head and picked up Pposil and answered. ¡°Why does he look so anxious?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it because he thinks it¡¯s weird that we came back at this time?¡± For some reason, Aeongi, who usually came running to the door as soon as it opened, was nowhere to be seen. Seong-won went inside to check the cat tower in his room. And as soon as he entered the room, he screamed as if he knew why. ¡°Ah, shit. Are you crazy!¡± They all jumped at the sudden curse and headed to Seong-won¡¯s room. ¡°What¡¯s up, what¡¯s going on?¡± I didn¡¯t beat around the bush and told them straight: ¡°We don¡¯t have enough staff at W to support two boy groups at the same time. I know Floss is about to end their activities soon, but that¡¯s still half a year away.¡± The director smirked confidently, as if he could easily refute my logic. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem. We can just hire more people. I understand you might have felt some difficultiestely, since we had to adjust our staff ording to Climax¡¯s hiatus. But we¡¯ll fix that soon.¡± I cut him off, not wanting to hear any more. ¡°No. We need a separate support team. That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. When our activities slow down and we have more staff avable for Climax, we¡¯ll consider expanding our business to other areas as well.¡± The director¡¯s face darkened slightly before I even finished my sentence. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that in the future, you might want to work with other artists besides Climax¡­¡± ¡°Maybe. We don¡¯t have any ns right now.¡± I didn¡¯t give the director a chance to argue. ¡°As you¡¯ve already heard from Mr. Hong, the operating costs will be covered by the Cheon Soo Group¡¯s investment. What we want is an independent team andpany, and unlimited use of Climax¡¯s IP.¡± The director¡¯s expression crumpled even more when I demanded more specific conditions than he expected. The manager and the supervisor sitting next to him also looked unhappy. ¡°Unlimited use? That sounds a bit excessive. You don¡¯t seem to know much about the business, Ise¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it more strange that you¡¯re limiting the use of IP when we¡¯re joining W as a subsidiary? All the members are signed to an independentbel. Why would the parentpany, which doesn¡¯t have a single member left, restrict the use of IP?¡± It was suspicious that they wouldn¡¯t allow it. Unless they were nning to use some weird names like Little Climax or Climax Reboot, and debut a second group with the same concept as Climax, There was no reason for them to deny IP exclusive use to their own subsidiary. ¡°Don¡¯t be so cold. We¡¯re still family, even if you split off as abel¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re family, so we should clear this up. The IP license will go to W¡¯s investment, right?¡± While the director and I were having a tug-of-war, the rest of the members kept quiet, as if they knew they had to. ¡°What about the other members? Do you agree with him?¡± The director gave up on convincing me and tried to sway the others. ¡°Seong-won, you¡¯ve been with us for so long. Wouldn¡¯t you feel ufortable working with different people all of a sudden?¡± The director reached out to Seong-won first, who had been a trainee for the longest among us. But that was a foolish hope. This guy¡­ He had always acted indifferent towards the members who left, until six months ago. He only started to bond with us a little bit after we filmed the crisis show, and we helped him take care of his cat. ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± Seong-won answered emotionlessly. ¡°Hmm¡­ But you¡¯ve spent so much time with our vocal team and trainers. Aren¡¯t you sad to leave them?¡± The manager quickly jumped in to try to persuade him, but it was useless. ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll have more opportunities to coborate with you in the future, when I can¡¯t even get your help for guide recordings?¡± He had been going to thepany¡¯s recording studio alone for a while. So that¡¯s what he was doing. He was recording guides. I felt a slight sympathy for Seong-won, as I realized what he had been through. No one wanted him as a singer, but he was given the role of a supporter who helped other singers. A shadow vocalist. But after winning second ce in Star Discovery and doing some activities, Seong-won was no longer a shadow. ¡°What about the other members? Do you feel the same way?¡± The manager asked bitterly, and our idiot answered cheerfully without any hesitation. As I followed Seong-won across the threshold, I saw his room was a mess of clothes thrown around carelessly. It looked like someone had broken in and ransacked the ce. And in the corner of the chaotic room, a cat was hissing and crouching in fear. ¡°Did someone rob you or something?¡± We all widened our eyes and scanned Seong-won¡¯s room. This can¡¯t be¡­ ¡°Everyone, check your own room closets.¡± Chapter 139: Chapter 139: We scattered to our rooms to check our belongings. Everything else was fine, but our closets were a mess. I also opened my drawer slowly, feeling doubtful. ¡°¡­¡± ¡®They¡¯ were gone. All of them. Not a single one left. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Did you all confirm that they¡¯re gone?¡± Kyunghwa came out to the living room and asked. We all answered with expressions of horror. ¡°Everything else is okay, but it seems like that, those are gone¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡±¡°Those?¡± Kyunghwa frowned and asked. ¡°Uh¡­ did you not lose yours?¡± Seon-woo asked nervously. Kyunghwa shrugged his shoulders, as if he didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. ¡°What do you mean? Did you lose yours too?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yeah, I think so?¡± Yi-jun nced at Kyunghwa and answered. ¡°What? Am I the only one who didn¡¯t lose anything? I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Should I be d about this¡­ or not¡­¡± Yi-jun rolled his eyes and Seong-won replied as if telling him to stop whining. ¡°Our underwear is all gone,¡± ¡°What?¡± Kyunghwa¡¯s eyes widened in shock. Then he looked at me and asked. ¡°You too?¡± ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± ¡°You too?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± While we were away, a thief broke in and stole our underwear. And only Kyunghwa¡¯s was left intact. ¡°Why?¡± Kyunghwa twisted his face in a weird way that I had never seen before. ¡°Well, we don¡¯t know either.¡± ¡°Are you sure yours is still there?¡± Yi-jun tilted his head, as if he couldn¡¯t believe it. Kyunghwa rummaged through his closet and showed us. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ ¡°¡­¡± ¡®What a taste.¡¯ Even though we lived in the same house, I didn¡¯t really want to know what kind of underwear he preferred. We put ourundry in separate bags and didn¡¯t take them out when we used the dryer, so I didn¡¯t know this TMI. ¡°I don¡¯t want to know your specific underwear preference.¡± Seong-won covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head faster than anyone. ¡°Hey, do you think I wanted to show you?¡± Kyunghwa let out a frustrated scream and vented his anger. The situation was awkward. Of all the things that were stolen, his underwear was the only one that was left behind, as if it was not needed. He felt uneasy even without being robbed. ¡°Why¡­ why only mine?¡± Of course, he didn¡¯t mean that he wanted his stuff to be stolen too. But he understood the feeling of being bothered. He was already the least popr among the five of them. ¡°Everyone, lock your doors well. I¡¯ll change the password right away. And keep the windows locked for a while.¡± As I went to the door lock to change the number, Yi-jun walked briskly to the balcony as if he had something in mind. ¡°What are you doing there?¡± I changed the number to a temporary one and followed Yi-jun to the balcony. He pointed at the window. ¡°I think they came in through here.¡± Looking at where he pointed, the pipe was indeed easy to climb. ¡°Wow¡­¡± I barely uttered a word of admiration when Yi-jun stretched his leg outside. ¡°You crazy bastard, what are you doing!¡± Before I could stop him, he grabbed the pipe and moved his feet like a squirrel. He looked like a thief. ¡°Wow, Yi-jun, that looks like him.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That, the burr¡­¡± He must be a thief. But in Korea, it was more likely that someone who climbed pipes like that was a burr than a thief. ¡°He must be a thief.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Kyunghwa nodded in agreement with me. In no time, Yi-jun quickly climbed up the pipe again. ¡°Hey, be careful, it¡¯s dangerous!¡± Kyunghwa shouted as if he was doing something crazy, but Yi-jun ignored him and reached out his hands to climb the wall like a rock climber. He came back to the balcony. ¡°Really¡­ weirdo.¡± Kyunghwa pped his back as if he couldn¡¯t stand him. ¡°Oh, this is easier than I thought. We should block this with something like a security window or something.¡± Yi-jun closed the balcony window and locked it. ¡°For now¡­ I don¡¯t feelfortable sleeping here.¡± We found the suspected route of the intrusion, but we still didn¡¯t know what they did in the house. They might have installed something like a hidden camera. We all felt uneasy, but the problem was the dog and the cat, even if we went to a hotel. ¡®Actually, the dog doesn¡¯t matter, but the cat is the problem.¡¯ I raised my hand quietly. ¡°I haven¡¯t cleaned up my studio yet, so if you need it, I can take Pposili and Aeongi there for now.¡± Then Yi-jun asked. ¡°Your studio is huge, right? Can¡¯t you amodate all five of us?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. It¡¯s about the same size as an apartment.¡± This twenty-three-year-old¡­ Did he brag about his studio in the meantime? It was too luxurious and spacious for a normal studio. It was called a studio, but it was actually a space that could be used as a three-room apartment, with no blocked spaces and only divided by purpose. If we had enough bedding, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to amodate five people. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be ufortable to live there with five of us?¡± ¡°Well, we slept fine in smaller ces when we filmed the crisis scenes.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± I remembered that. ¡°So, is it better for everyone toe to my ce? Wouldn¡¯t a hotel be nicer?¡± ¡°I feel bad leaving Pposili and Aeongi in a strange house, and I think it would be better to stay together considering we have to move in the morning.¡± He had a point. I nodded slowly. ¡°Ask the manager to buy us some new underwear and pack your stuff and nkets.¡± Now that we had a n, it was time to act. But Yi-jun whined as if he was annoyed. ¡°I only wear the brand I¡¯m used to.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡± Kyunghwa pped Yi-jun¡¯s back and pushed him into the room. Was it the work of some pervert with no exnation? I entered the room with a nagging uneasiness. I didn¡¯t have any attachment to my belongings, so I packed only what I needed in 10 minutes. ¡°The dog just needs a leash. Did you pack the carrier for Aeongi?¡± As I put a harness on Pposili and attached the leash, Seong-won nodded with a load of cat supplies, from litter to a mini cat tower and a hideout. ¡°I put it in first.¡± Pposili didn¡¯t care since he wasn¡¯t a real dog, but I was worried about Aeongi. He didn¡¯t seem too scared when the filming crew came. I wondered what caused all this fuss. I decided to assume it was either a stalker fan or a pervert. ¡°Hurry up and load the car, the manager is here.¡± Maybe because of the situation, or because he didn¡¯t take long to get ready, the usually sluggish manager arrived in no time. What a bolt from the blue. It was absurd, but we had to get out of here first. ¡°Wow, your ce is this nice and you live alone?¡± As soon as he opened the door and stepped inside, Yi-jun eximed loudly. Of course, I had the same thought when I first possessed Cheon Ise. As he unpacked his bags like he was on a trip, AeongI came out of the carrier with a defensive posture and a low crouch. ¡°Oh¡­.¡± He gasped briefly. Then Aeongi darted under the bed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, he¡¯lle out when he gets used to it.¡± Seong-won fretted as if he was looking at his own child. Yi-jun told him not to worry so much. ¡°What if he likes it there so much that he doesn¡¯t want toe out?¡± Seong-won made a nonsense remark. Yi-junughed for once at his words. ¡°What a ridiculous thing to say.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mock me.¡± Seong-won kicked Yi-jun¡¯s calf with his foot and crawled under the bed. ¡°He¡¯s really devoted to that cat.¡± If the four members and Aeongi fell into the water at the same time, he would choose Aeong without hesitation. Wait¡­. Come to think of it, people can swim somehow, so isn¡¯t it right to rescue the cat who is afraid of water first¡­. A stupid thought popped into my head for a moment. Then the manager rang the doorbell. ¡°I¡¯ll open it!¡± Seon-woo ran to the door as if it was his own house and opened it. The manager, who looked pale, came in with a bunch of underwear. ¡°I bought these with the young kids¡¯ tastes in mind. What the hell is going on?¡± I wanted to report this to the police, but I had to be careful not to attract attention with something bad as a celebrity, not a normal person. What if the fact that the stolen goods were underwear was leaked? I was already participating in apetition program where feedback was reflected in real time, and I didn¡¯t want to be criticized. Maybe this was¡­ a good thing. I hadn¡¯t told the members yet, but I brought up the story I had nned. ¡°About our dorm. There¡¯s a room we¡¯re not using right now, and I don¡¯t like the location or security, so I¡¯m thinking of moving out altogether. Is that okay?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± They all seemed to like it, but they couldn¡¯t say anything. ¡°That sounds good, but¡­¡± So the problem was whether thepany would allow it. That¡¯s why I insisted on separating thebel so strongly. ¡°I¡¯m going to pay the rent anyway, so what are you worried about? I¡¯m thinking of moving to an area where a lot of celebrities live, even if I have to adjust the size a bit for security reasons. Is that okay?¡± Usually, the dorm of an idol group was a quiet house near the agency. Apart from anything else, security wasn¡¯t that important before bing a star, and thepany would try to save money on the neers who were no different from trainees. ¡°Huh???¡± Seon-woo looked at me with wide eyes, as if he had never heard of it. ¡°Didn¡¯t you know? That¡¯s why I wanted to separate thebel. I wanted to use my moneyfortably when I run it, without looking at thepany¡¯s eyes.¡± ¡°Really???¡± Seon-woo looked around as if he was the only one who didn¡¯t know, and Kyunghwa clicked his tongue. ¡°Th, thank you, boss?¡± Seon-woo bowed to me with a bewildered expression. ¡°It¡¯s not that big of a deal. The representative will put it under my name for now. But it¡¯s not like I¡¯m starting a separatepany. It¡¯s going to be a subsidiary of W.¡± I guess I could do something if I sold myself as the representative idol. But I couldn¡¯t show off the image of sess yet as an idol who gained poprity with passion and effort. ¡°Anyway, until everything is settled, let¡¯s just stay here for now.¡± As I wrapped up the conversation, Kyunghwa seemed to notice what I was going to say and pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down. ¡°Sit down if you¡¯re done packing.¡± The unexpected move was over, and it was time to start the strategy meeting for the first shooting before the unit tomorrow. ¡°I¡¯ll get the door!¡± Sunwoo dashed to the door as if he owned the ce and swung it open. The manager walked in, his face drained of color, holding a pile of underwear. ¡°I got these based on what young people like. What the hell happened here?¡± I felt like calling the police, but I had to be careful not to draw attention to myself as a celebrity. It would be disastrous if the news got out that someone had stolen my underwear. I was already on apetitive show where the audience¡¯s feedback mattered, and I didn¡¯t need any more trouble. Maybe this was¡­ a blessing in disguise. I hadn¡¯t told the members yet, but I decided to bring up the n I had in mind. ¡°About our dorm. There¡¯s an empty room we¡¯re not using, and I¡¯m not happy with the location or the security. I want to move out as soon as possible. Is that okay with you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± They all seemed to agree, but they hesitated to speak up. ¡°That sounds good, but¡­¡± The problem was whether thepany would let us. That was why I had pushed so hard for separating ourbel. ¡°I¡¯m going to pay the rent myself, so what¡¯s the worry? I want to move to a safer area where a lot of celebrities live, even if it means downsizing a bit. Is that okay with you?¡± The usual dorm for an idol group was a quiet house near the agency. Security wasn¡¯t a big issue before we became famous, and thepany tried to save money on us, treating us like trainees. ¡°What???¡± Seon-woo looked at me with wide eyes, as if he had never heard of this. ¡°You didn¡¯t know? That¡¯s why I wanted to split from thebel. I wanted to use my money freely, without having to worry about thepany¡¯s opinion.¡± ¡°Really???¡± Seon-woo looked around, as if he was the only one out of the loop, and Kyunghwa snorted. ¡°Uh, thank you, boss?¡± Seon-woo bowed to me with a confused expression. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. Thebel will still be under my name for now. But we¡¯re not starting a separatepany. We¡¯re just bing a subsidiary of W.¡± I figured I could pull this off as the leader of the group. But I couldn¡¯t act like I had made it big yet. I was still an idol who had worked hard and earned the public¡¯s favor. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s stay here until everything is sorted out.¡± As I ended the conversation, Kyunghwa seemed to catch on to what I was going to say next and sat down at the dining table. ¡°Come on, sit down if you¡¯re done packing.¡± We had finished the unexpected move, and now it was time to start the strategy meeting for our first shoot as a unit tomorrow. Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Everyone suddenly snapped to attention and focused on me. We were all shaken by the abrupt evacuation, but we couldn¡¯t avoid talking about the filming that would take ce tomorrow. The results of the first mission were still being calcted, so we had to wait a few more days to find out our ranking. But regardless of our current position, the fact that we had to do well in the second mission remained unchanged. Our goal was to win at least two times. We didn¡¯t want to abandon any unit. ¡°Tell me some candidates from your teams that you think we should be careful of.¡± Kyunghwa was the first to speak. ¡°What do you mean by careful?¡± ¡°Various things. Like someone who might steal the scene, or someone who has amazing skills, or someone who might cause trouble, and so on.¡±Everyone¡¯s eyes briefly turned to Seon-woo, followed by a cough and a clearing of the throat. Seon-woo looked nervous and asked. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡± Hmm¡­ There wasn¡¯t just one reason why everyone was looking at Seon-woo. There were many reasons. Seon-woo wasn¡¯t untalented, but he definitely couldn¡¯t be called a fast learner. That made the role of the coach who taught him very important, and his slightly awkward behavior contrasted with his unrivaled face that stood out. So, to summarize it in one word¡­ ¡®If he falls behind the group and makes a mistake, he¡¯ll bebeled as someone who relies on his face and causes trouble.¡¯ That would be very unfair. Seon-woo wasn¡¯t like that at all. He was just a bit¡­ cute. I held back my words and looked at Kyunghwa. ¡°Take good care of him. There are a lot of young kids in the other groups, so Seon-woo might not be the youngest, but. Please make sure our baby doesn¡¯t get discouraged wherever he goes.¡± I was so relieved that Seon-woo wasn¡¯t the one who was separated from the vocal trio. I sincerely wanted to thank the random god. Then, Seong-won spoke with a hint of resentment. ¡°What about me? Don¡¯t you worry about me?¡± ¡­? Was he jealous? He wasn¡¯t like the eldest child who got upset because the parents only cared for the youngest. I was a bit dumbfounded, but¡­ Well. Seon-woo was 21, and he was only 22. Sigh, these¡­ young kids. How do I deal with them? I suppressed the urge to punch Seong-won and answered. ¡°Do you want to be a soldier of interest?¡± This time, Seon-woo looked sad. ¡°Am I that bad?¡± The atmosphere quickly changed from a serious meeting to a ss meeting of the second grade, sixth ss. Kyunghwa cut off the chatter and said. ¡°Stop talking nonsense. Seong-won, you¡¯re the type who does well on your own, even if no one says anything. That¡¯s why we don¡¯t bother to worry about you. You¡¯re the type who gets depressed all day thinking about the fight you had somewhere.¡± He was right. If someone said to Seon-woo, ¡®If you do that, everyone will hate you.¡¯ Seon-woo would be scared and beg them not to hate him, crying in distress. Seong-won, on the other hand¡­ ¡®So what? Do you think everyone will like you? I hate you too.¡¯ He would say something like that. He wouldn¡¯t resort to violence (fists, physical) like someone from another group, but he would verballysh out more harshly. ¡°So stop talking nonsense, both of you. We¡¯re having a strategy meeting right now.¡± Kyunghwa¡¯s neat summary left me with nothing more to say. I nodded silently, agreeing with him. ¡°You too, don¡¯t act like it¡¯s someone else¡¯s problem and speak up.¡± Kyunghwa threw a spark at me too. I hesitated for a moment, then opened my mouth. ¡°I think¡­ regardless of what our unit members are like, it would be better to reveal my ident history this time.¡± ¡°ident?¡± Yi-jun looked at me with his ears perked up, as if he didn¡¯t know what I was talking about. He always had a keen interest in such words. I snorted in disbelief and answered. ¡°The traffic ident I had earlier this year. I did a lot of acrobatics in my previous choreography, so I think they¡¯ll ask me to do it again this time.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± We were a K-POP group that could handle any level of difficulty in dance, and among them, we were a group of members who excelled in dance. We would be the first to think of captivating the audience with circus-like skills and techniques, and to do that, we would showcase moves that were either visually stunning like b-boying or eye-catching like acrobatics. Acrobatics was a different category from just dancing well. ¡®Don¡¯t they expect me to do a backflip at least?¡¯ Of course, I couldn¡¯t do it. Even for the choreography we used for thiseback, I had asked them to exclude any moves that would put a strong impact on my waist. I didn¡¯t mind the difficulty orplexity, but I couldn¡¯t do things like spinning in the air or hand-springing like I did before. I also removed all the moves that involved bending my upper body back extremely and supporting it with my waist. If I wanted to exclude those noticeable moves this time, I needed a valid reason to take that risk. ¡®Honestly, who would want to expose their weakness¡­¡¯ Regardless of how I felt, I couldn¡¯t be a lunatic who refused to do it without saying anything. Especially not among the people who shared the same pot with me, but among the others who were doing a group project with me. I had to avoid bing a crazy bastard who was notorious for causing trouble. If it was something I would eventually reveal to the fans anyway, I might as well use it to my advantage. ¡®I¡¯ll have to shoot a pitiful documentary for that bastard.¡¯ People would sympathize with him, and if we could get some sympathy votes from that, it would be rather positive. He didn¡¯t copse from the injury and persevered toplete the stage of the dance unit, which wasposed of only the main dancers. It was the best scenario that the broadcasting station would never refuse. ¡°We can¡¯t hide the news of the injury forever. If we¡¯re going to reveal it to the world someday, we might as well make the best use of it when we can.¡± Then Yi-jun stared at me and blurted out something I never expected. ¡°You know, you¡¯re the most cold-blooded person when ites to your own business.¡± ¡°What?¡± What nonsense. I frowned and asked. ¡°What do you mean? You try to hide and cover up others¡¯ problems as much as you can, but you don¡¯t seem to care much about your own.¡± ¡°How is that cold-blooded?¡± I bit my tongue at the illogical leap. ¡°Don¡¯t you have something you want to hide too? Is it really okay to use it so coolly, to do it?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± I didn¡¯t expect him to think so seriously about me. I wondered what the original Cheon Ise would have done in this situation. Would he have freaked out and made a fuss, saying he hated looking pitiful? Or would he have liked it, thinking it was a chance to get all the attention? It was probably the former. He would have been a corpse without his pride. I scratched my cheek and answered. ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t care. I¡¯ve already talked about it with another group.¡± They all asked me with surprised expressions. ¡°Which group?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Do you have friends we don¡¯t know about?¡± Seon-woo asked me with pure eyes, without any malice. Damn, I know you didn¡¯t mean it in a bad way, but that¡¯s too blunt. ¡°I do. But it wasn¡¯t like I said it in a very serious and solemn atmosphere, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡± The serious and solemn one was Kang Yu-geon, not me, so it wasn¡¯t a lie. Besides, the person in question had dropped out and disappeared in the second mission. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s why I could be a big variable in Dance Group A. That¡¯s what I wanted to say. I¡¯ve looked into the other members and none of them really stood out.¡± Vesper was a performance-focused group, but unfortunately, none of the main dancers or sub dancers were the type to attract attention. As for AtoX, they were originally¡­ a bad group, so their dance was rtively weak. From their perspective, the best choice was to sell me out topensate for their weak impact and give a strong impression. ¡°How about the rap group? Are there any noticeable people there?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Then, suddenly, Yi-jun took the baton and licked his lips for a moment before answering. ¡°A lot. Too many to be a problem¡­ But I think I¡¯ll stand out the most among them.¡± What confidence is that? Kyunghwa and Seong-won briefly red at Yi-jun with contempt. ¡°No, it¡¯s true, okay?¡± Yi-jun confidently rested his chin under his face and then tapped his abs, which were his most confident body part. It was annoying, but he had a reason to be confident. As long as idols appeared, there wouldn¡¯t be anyone who didn¡¯t manage their body. He was rare in that he had clear muscles and a tall height. Plus, he had great skills and producing abilities. He was the reason why Climax, which had zero recognition and was unknown, was the only one who steadily built up his poprity. ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t cause any trouble.¡± Kyunghwa shook his head as if he was used to it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t.¡± That¡¯s how the noisy meeting went on, and to summarize, what we had to worry about was as follows: As shown in the trailer, they would push Seong-won and Naru, who had achieved high scores in a famous vocal program, into a rival situation. So we had to be careful not to get caught up in the bad side and appeal to our positive image while working hard on the group activities. From the initial meeting of Dance Group A, we had to appeal to our injury history in a pitiful and noticeable way to get sympathy votes. As long as it was going to be revealed, we had to make it as helpful as possible for thepetition. There wouldn¡¯t be much to worry about in the rap group, but we shouldn¡¯t miss the production work distribution to get the image of an all-around producer. That was it. There were four groups we were participating in, but realistically, there were only three groups that could win. Let¡¯s just do two out of three. We didn¡¯t even hope for ACE to monopolize. Let¡¯s just do our share. So that we don¡¯t ruin the image we¡¯ve been building up on the broadcast. With such modest dreams, we finished the strategy meeting with enthusiasm. ¡°But where are we sleeping?¡± As soon as the meeting was over, Yi-jun looked at the bed with sparkling eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sleeping on the bed. It¡¯s big enough for one more person, but you¡¯re out of the question.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s not fair!¡± As soon as I crushed Yi-jun¡¯s hopes, he pouted his lips. ¡°Seon-woo, you too.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± When I picked Seon-woo next, he nodded with a sullen face. No way. I hated sharing the bed with those guys who had terrible sleeping habits. So it came down to a rock-paper-scissors showdown between Kyunghwa and Seong-won for the other half of the king-sized bed. The winner was Seong-won. I was worried that he would be annoyed if I tossed and turned in my sleep¡­ And so, the night fell at the ce where I started my first day in the year 1023. The next day, Seong-won looked surprisingly well-rested. We hurriedly got ready and headed to the filming site. ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, everyone. Don¡¯t fight, just do your part.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­¡± We all suffered from low blood pressure in the morning, and another day began. Chapter 141: Chapter 141: I arrived at the shooting site in a much lighter outfit thanst time. Today was a day without any stage shooting, so I didn¡¯t need to wear thick makeup or excessive hair styling that would be pierced by the lights. The members, who had also only done simple skin correction and hair tidying, looked more natural than usual. We waited in the waiting room in a more rxed manner than usual, until it was time to be scattered to our respective meeting rooms by the staff in charge of each unit. ¡°I¡¯ll take good care of Seon-woo.¡± Just before we parted ways with the members. Kyunghwa said with a solemn expression, as if he was taking the youngest to a shelter like an eldest son. ¡°Don¡¯t feel too pressured. Just do what you can.¡± He might copse again from too much responsibility and stomach problems. Kyunghwa was the most reliable among these members, but I was worried because he didn¡¯t seem to be strong enough to ignore what others said. ¡°You too. Don¡¯t push yourself too hard.¡±Kyunghwa kept looking at me as if he was worried about me too. ¡°I¡¯m not pushing myself. So don¡¯t worry and do your best in your own ce.¡± As Kyunghwa and I hesitated for a moment, Yi-jun intervened without any chance to be moved. ¡°What about me? Don¡¯t you worry about me?¡± And at the same time, Kyunghwa and I pinched one of Yi-jun¡¯s ears each and pulled them. ¡°Please don¡¯t cause any trouble at someone else¡¯s ce.¡± ¡°I got it, don¡¯t worry, dad.¡± Yi-junined, but no one listened to him. That¡¯s how we all said goodbye to each other, while Seong-won was silent the whole time. ¡®This guy, if you look closely, he¡¯s subtly hinting that he wants me to take care of him too.¡¯ If I was his age, I would have snapped at him and told him to just say he wanted me to take care of him instead of beating around the bush! But I was much older and I had enough affection and patience to tolerate his hidden tantrums. ¡®It would have been impossible if it was like when we first met.¡¯ Snicker, I lightlyughed and patted Seong-won¡¯s head cheerfully. ¡°Good luck. I know you¡¯ll do well, but still.¡± Then Seong-won nodded slowly, as if he liked it. ¡°Yeah, you too, hyung.¡± He¡¯s worrying about me too. It was a needless worry, but I didn¡¯t feel too bad. ¡°See youter, everyone.¡± Today¡¯s schedule was to have a concept meeting in the morning, a group lunch, and then start working on the arrangement or choreography in the afternoon. It was better to direct it internally among the group members, but we could also ask for external help or hire staff if needed. I wondered how many teams would get external help, and I casually guessed as I headed to the meeting room. As I walked down the hallway, filled with various thoughts, a sudden worry that I hadn¡¯t thought of before caught me. It was the first time I was separated from the members and alone among the kids in theirte teens and early twenties. ¡®Oh¡­ What if I make a mistake?¡¯ I started to feel a little nervous as I thought about getting along with the young guys I didn¡¯t even know. It was hard when I first met our kids too. I hope I don¡¯t have to drag these brats along this time. ¡®They are all human beings, old enough tomunicate with words. Don¡¯t be prejudiced before you even start.¡¯ I reassured myself that not everyone would have an excessively huge ego from achieving sess at such a young age like Shim Naru. My mind felt a little more at ease. ¡®Don¡¯t be too nervous.¡¯ I took a short breath and opened the door¡­. ¡°Huh?¡± The neat white/gray-toned conference room was empty. When I opened the door and didn¡¯t go in, but turned around and looked back, the staff kindly exined to me. ¡°Dance Group A, you are Ise¡¯s first day at work, right? If you wait inside, the others will be here soon.¡± What are you talking about? It was five minutes before the meeting started. There were five group members, but I was the only one who arrived on time. Does that make sense? I doubted my eyes at the unbelievable diligence and asked. ¡°Do they all usuallye right on time?¡± Then the staff hesitated to answer as if it was awkward. ¡°I don¡¯t really know that¡­.¡± ¡°Okay, I got it.¡± Somehow I felt like I was scolding the wrong person, so I quietly pulled out a chair and sat down. Are they all trying toe on time? I tried to shake off the anxiety and took out a notebook from the desk. I was wondering whether to bring aptop or not, but I just brought aptop in my bag and a notebook separately. I only took out the notebook for now, because I was afraid it would look like I was too eager to prepare. As I waited nkly for about five minutes, two people from the same team came in at the exact time of the meeting. ¡°Hello~.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± I politely got up from my seat and greeted Group Member A and Group Member B. They were members from AtoX. They were both quite calmpared to the idols I had interacted with before. Maybe it was because they were in a mixed group setting, they might be shy. ¡°Are the others¡­.¡± One of the two guys, the shorter one, AtoX(A) for short, asked me cautiously. I answered a little nervously. ¡°They haven¡¯t arrived yet¡­.¡± ¡°Ah¡­.¡± The group that hadn¡¯t arrived yet was Vesper. I had hoped that they would have more solid skills than AtoX. But their attitude of not keeping up with the meeting time matched their bad team image, and I didn¡¯t have a good feeling from the start. ¡°Shall we wait a little until the Vesper members arrive?¡± It was only the three of us, so it felt weird to start something, so I asked, thinking they woulde in 10 minutes anyway, and AtoX A and B nodded their heads. ¡°Yes¡­!¡± And then silence flowed in the conference room with me, those two, and four cameramen. Sometimes the two guys would look at their phones and chuckle lightly, or I would hear the sound of their nails tapping on the screen, but there was no conversation. ¡®Ah¡­.¡¯ I got the wrong end of the stick, I had a feeling that this time it wouldn¡¯t be easy either, and I pressed my forehead with the back of my hand. It was 30 minutes after the Vesper members arrived. ¡°Sorry~. The traffic was really bad on the way here, so we took a picture of the parking lot. Hey, let me show you.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, just a second. Do you want to see it? It was a hell of a parking lot. It was epic.¡± The picture they showed me with exaggeration was just a normal traffic jam. It was not worth making a fuss about their ¡®epic¡¯ experience. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start the meeting quickly.¡± AtoX A and B looked quite stiff, as if they didn¡¯t expect to waste 30 minutes like this. Of course, they didn¡¯t arrive very early either. I didn¡¯t want to waste more time arguing with these kids with flower heads. I wanted to finish the concept meeting as soon as possible and start the reference search and nning. ¡°Do you have any genres that you are confident in?¡± I asked if they had any genres that they wanted to lead and pull the other team members with, but they all remained silent and looked at each other nkly. ¡°Don¡¯t you have any special skills?¡± I asked with frustration, and the Vesper A with mint-colored hair answered with a bright smile. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯ve been doing broadcast dance since I was a trainee, so I don¡¯t know much¡­ But they say my dance line is pretty clean.¡± That¡¯s not a genre! I felt my blood pressure rising and replied. ¡°We¡¯re all main dancers or at least confident in dance in this team, so there¡¯s no one who doesn¡¯t have a clean dance line¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Really?¡± Then AtoX B added another shocking remark. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I wasn¡¯t originally in charge of dance, so I don¡¯t know much about genres or anything like that.¡± Then AtoX A joined in without hesitation. ¡°Oh, me too. Our group doesn¡¯t have a main dancer¡­¡± I managed to keep my expression and asked. ¡°Then am I the only one who is in the main dancer position in this group?¡± Then Vesper A finally raised his hand as if he found his chance. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m the main dancer!¡± I hoped that this guy would have some special genre like b-boying or something, and looked at Vesper A. ¡°Oh, do you have any genre that you are good at?¡± Unfortunately, this guy also did his best to crush my expectations. ¡°Um¡­ But the only genres I can think of are K-pop and maybe hip-hop¡­ But can I call this hip-hop? Anyway, I didn¡¯t learn it in detail from anyone ¡­ Yeah, that¡¯s how it feels¡­¡± What are you talking about? I could roughly understand what he meant, but the longer he spoke, the weirder his speech was. What should I do? This was the end of showing off their skills as dancers. The only way left was to push with the concept. ¡°Ah¡­¡± I sighed briefly and summarized the situation. ¡°I was confident in tricking, but¡­ I had a big car ident earlier this year¡­¡± Before I could finish my sentence, Vesper B cut me off. ¡°ident? Where did you get hurt?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± I said calmly what I was going to say. ¡°I had a major back surgery, so it¡¯s hard for me to participate in this mission. So I was wondering if you have any confident concept or direction that I can follow¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± There¡¯s no one. I guess I have to do it myself. I calmed my mind as I looked at the distant mountain. ¡°That was fun~.¡± Only Yi-jun had a bright expression when we gathered in the minivan after finishing all the schedules until the afternoon practice. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you guys? Did something bad happen?¡± Yi-jun looked around at the faces of the members who were getting on the van one by one and asked. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a bit tired.¡± Seong-won always had no change in his expression, so that was understandable. But the other two were not. Kyunghwa looked like a nt that hadn¡¯t been watered for a month and Seon-woo¡­ ¡°¡­¡± He had wounded eyes like a puppy abandoned in the rain. ¡°What the hell happened?¡± Did the other teams also have crappy members? I rubbed my forehead as I recalled the nightmare-like afternoon practice. ¡®Oh, but I have a personal schedule tomorrow that I can¡¯t cancel, so I don¡¯t think I cane.¡¯ ¡®But I cane.¡¯ ¡®Wait a minute. Does that mean we don¡¯t have a single day this week when all five of us can get together?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­ is that so?¡¯ What do you mean, is that so? It¡¯s not like we have a bunch of members who can cover for each other if one of them doesn¡¯t fit in, I was speechless at their attitude of making excuses and skipping practice first, when we only had the concept and the point choreography set up. ¡®But we¡¯re lucky to have Ise hyung. He was so meticulous and found everything we needed when we decided on the concept.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s your MBTI, hyung? J, right?¡¯ They kept nagging and trying to avoid anything that seemed difficult, and kept talking nonsense. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ Was our team the only one like this? I waited for Kyunghwa to open his mouth as I pressed my temples. Some possible ways to continue the conversation are: Chapter 142: ¡°There are five people like Shim Naru in the unit.¡± ¡°Kek.¡± Yi-jun, who was listening next to me, choked on his drink as if he was about to spit it out. ¡°Is that so?¡± I could roughly guess what he meant by saying there were five people like Shim Naru, based on the broadcast of My Idol Stage that I watched up to episode 5. He was the type who wanted to monopolize all the attention, and his dissatisfaction was clearly visible on his face if he didn¡¯t get what he wanted. If it wasn¡¯t a situation where he had to cooperate, he would just ruin his image and bicker with the people around him, and it would be his own loss¡­ ¡®This is both an individualpetition and a group project.¡¯ It was a situation where I couldn¡¯t just let him do whatever he wanted.There was no disadvantage if I didn¡¯t get the ACE, but if I didn¡¯t win the unit battle, I had to get the ACE to help the group I belonged to. Whether it was the main or the lead, it was a tight battle for the highlight since only the vocalists were gathered. I could see it without even watching it. ¡°How¡¯s rap B group?¡± Kyunghwa asked with a curious and worried face at Yi-jun¡¯s surprised reaction. Yi-jun shrugged his shoulders and answered as if it was no big deal. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We decided to write our own parts. We hired experts for the beat and mixing, and I¡¯m in charge of the main production.¡± It sounded like ours was the most hopeful of the four units we belonged to, but Kyunghwa couldn¡¯t easily believe it and dug deeper. ¡°Really? How can it be so peaceful¡­¡± ¡°It could be! Everyone¡¯s eyes are on how to write their own parts, so there¡¯s not much to fight about. I promised to upload the apaniment to the chat room by tomorrow.¡± ¡°By tomorrow?¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes widened and looked at Yi-jun. ¡°Yeah, I might have to stay up all night. I have to polish it several times and send it so that there¡¯s less to fix.¡± Then everyone seemed to understand why rap B group didn¡¯t make much noise and almost entrusted the producing to Yi-jun. There was probably no one who could match that schedule as fast as him. He said he would do the hard work himself, so there was no reason not to leave it to him. ¡°Are you okay? You have practice right away tomorrow, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been building up my stamina for this.¡± Should I say he¡¯s amazing or he has no n? Anyway, I was d that Yi-jun was doing his leader role as I hoped. ¡°Well¡­ You¡¯re good at what you do, so I¡¯ll give you some advice. Be careful of the camera. Don¡¯t make it look like you¡¯re forcing the other members to do what you want.¡± I asked him to be careful, just in case. Yi-jun smiled brightly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. I think your group is the most worrying one.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Unfortunately, Yi-jun¡¯s concern was true. What are we going to do with our group? There were 39 people left, excluding the two Floss members who temporarily left. Howe the ones with no n, no motivation, and bad attitude are all in my unit? It was a disaster. ¡°First¡­ I¡¯ll try to fix it as much as I can.¡± Usually, when you think of butter chicken, you think of eating it at a restaurant, not at home. Many people would question how to cook it at home, since it seems like a lot of work. But the dish itself was not that difficult to make. Of course, if your goal was to recreate the authentic taste of India, or to elevate the vor to the highest level, then it would be a different story. But if your goal was to make and eat something satisfying at home, then the difficulty level dropped significantly. The first step was to marinate the chicken. It would have been better to marinate it from the day before, so that the seasoning would soak in well, but I had to make it in a hurry today, so I skipped that. Instead, I gave up a bit of the texture and made deep cuts on the chicken, so that the seasoning would prate while baking it in the oven. I coated the chicken thighs with yogurt mixed with plenty of spices and minced garlic, and baked them lightly in the oven. That was the first stage of preparation. I looked at the chicken thighs that were browning nicely in the oven with satisfaction, and proceeded to prepare the paste. ¡®I bought this to make curry at home someday, but I never opened it.¡¯ I felt a bit sorry to see the specialty spices that I used often when I was Lim Hyun-seong, still sleeping in the cab with their packaging intact. I was going to make arge batch and freeze some forter, so I might as well use them generously today. I measured out the appropriate amounts of various spices and ground them finely, then turned off the oven and started frying the onions. ¡®The smell is amazing, really.¡¯ They say that when you¡¯re depressed, you should eat something delicious. I felt happy to see the onions that were sizzling in the melted butter, turning translucent and emitting a delicious smell. If I needed fully caramelized onions, I would have used the microwave to save time. But I didn¡¯t need that much today, so I added the chicken thighs that were partially cooked as soon as the onions were fragrant enough. The spices, garlic, and onions were fried in butter, and my mouth started to water. ¡®The chicken thighs should be tender by now¡­¡¯ Now, all I had to do was add the tomato paste, coconut milk, finely chopped cashews, and curry paste in the right proportions and adjust the consistency. I thought about making naan bread too, if I had time. But I had alreadye homete because of the meeting, and I couldn¡¯t dy the dinner any longer. ¡®I probably won¡¯t be able to eat all of this at once, so I¡¯ll make naan bread slowly and eat it next time when I thaw it.¡¯ I didn¡¯t have time to worry about anything else, as I focused on cooking. Before I knew it, I had made arge pot of curry that was enough for ten people. Maybe it was because I had been standing in front of the fire for a long time. I didn¡¯t realize that sweat was dripping from my forehead. ¡®Let¡¯s have a taste.¡¯ I scooped up a spoonful and put it in my mouth. The coconut cream was sweet and smooth, and it matched perfectly with the tomato and butter vor. ¡®This is happiness, man.¡¯ I moved the portion that I was going to freeze to the side of the gas stove to let it cool down, and ted the portion that I was going to eat. ¡®Huh?¡¯ As I was about to te it, I realized that no one had brought any dishes. I hastily opened the cab to see what was there, and luckily, there were disposable spoons and chopsticks that I had received from ordering delivery, but there were no bowls. No bowls. In the end, I had to use everything from small pots to ramen containers, which were not meant for their original purpose, and I was finally able to finish preparing the meal for five people. ¡°It¡¯s ready, soe to the table quickly!¡± I decided to worry about tomorrow¡¯s work tomorrow. The first thing to do was to fill my stomach. Yeah. I nodded and called the members. The five of us sat around the table, which looked too small for us, and picked up our spoons. We were closer to each other than usual. ¡°Can you move a bit¡­? It¡¯s ufortable.¡± Kyunghwa nced at Yi-jun, who was sitting next to him, andined. Dance Group A. I was the forced leader of a bunch of ckers who had no n for beingte or cooperating with each other. I wished I could swap half of them with Vocal Group C. They had too much enthusiasm and caused trouble, but these guys had too little and caused trouble too. But maybe if I did five people¡¯s worth of work and assigned them simple roles, they would at least do something? They wouldn¡¯t just let the bus leave without them, even if they only did half a person¡¯s worth of work, right? I felt a bitter taste in my mouth as I wrapped up the meeting. ¡°Let¡¯s eat something delicious tonight, even if it takes some time. We¡¯re stressed out.¡± When I felt like this, the best thing was to cook something that required a lot of effort and forget about everything else. ¡°Oh, can I help?¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Maybe they saw how hard I was having it. The members rushed to offer their help, but I preferred to be alone at times like this. It depended on the situation, but right now I wanted to work hard by myself and leave my soul behind. ¡°Thanks for the thought. I¡¯ll make butter curry, so you guys do your own things.¡± We had practice again tomorrow, so we couldn¡¯t afford to rx. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± Kyunghwa asked me with a worried look, but I waved him off. ¡°Yeah. Go do your work. I¡¯ll call you when dinner is ready.¡± It was a good time to empty the fridge and fill it with new ingredients. I had bought some spices before and hadn¡¯t even opened them, and the chicken legs I bought fresh would soon end up in the freezer. I sent the members to the living room and went to the kitchen, feeling lighter. ¡®I need to get the ingredients first.¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t want to be this close to my brother either. But I hate it more when he¡¯s closer to that guy.¡± The ¡®guy¡¯ that Yi-jun was pointing at was obviously Seongwon. Seong-won nced at Yi-jun with a look of disdain, then picked up his bowl and started eating his curry. He was the most well-behaved when he ate, of all things. Since there was some space left, maybe I should get another dining table before we move out. With that small worry in mind, the end of the day was approaching. ¡®Then¡­ what will happen from tomorrow?¡¯ After a happy meal, it was time to start worrying about the real tomorrow. Chapter 143: Chapter 143: The next day, I headed to the practice room provided by the production team, feeling a bit worried and nervous. Today was the day we were supposed to finalize the choreography and the costume concept, so they would surelye on time. Contrary to my expectation of the minimum courtesy and sincerity between humans, I was the only one in the practice room today. ¡°Am I the only one who arrived early today?¡± I asked the camera, which was waiting to film mymute, while greeting it. ¡°Yes, today the Vesper members are having trouble participating due to their schedule, and one of AtoX has a personal schedule and can¡¯te.¡± ¡°What?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but doubt my ears. ¡°When we had a meeting yesterday, they said only one of Vesper might have a hard time with the schedule¡­¡±¡°Oh, didn¡¯t you contact them separately through something like a group chat? They contacted us through their manager.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I had hesitated to make a group chat yesterday because of the strange uneasiness. As expected, it was not without reason. I clenched my fist andughed with bted regret. ¡°At least one of AtoX ising, right?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. They¡¯re almost here!¡± What can two people do? I took out the materials I had written without resting after dinner yesterday and put them on the table. I had printed four copies of the materials ording to the expected number of people. When I threw the unnecessary prints on the table, the cameraman came over and asked. ¡°What is this, Ise?¡± It was probably going to be edited out, but anyway, I had to show only the good side of me when the camera was rolling. ¡°Oh, this is the print I was going to give to the team members when they came. I¡¯m a bit overzealous, so I made a few concept sketches based on the references that I thought would suit the five of us.¡± ¡°Can you show us a little bit?¡± ¡°Oh, sure!¡± I was going to show them how hard I had prepared at the meetingter, and show them to the other team members as well¡­ It would be better to show them in front of the camera now when I¡¯m alone, since there would be no impact if I did it in front of just one person. ¡°So¡­ up to here. This is what I prepared.¡± I had made the presentation materials as perfect as any professional designer, thanks to the self-made external demonstration PPT that I had made to save money. And as if to prove the basis of that confidence, the staff all pped and admired. ¡°Wow, Ise, you¡¯re awesome. You could go to a lecture or something right now. K-POP Media Introduction, something like that.¡± I waved my hand modestly and gave a humble response. ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not it. I¡¯m interested in nning, so I like to look for things and make materials, but it¡¯s still just a hobby¡­¡± ¡°Right. You said yoursteback was self-nned, right? I¡¯m looking forward to this stage too, aren¡¯t you?¡± I wondered why they were praising me so much. They seemed to be in a lot of trouble because the members weren¡¯ting and they had to film their quota today. It wasn¡¯t the main broadcast, but practice, so I guess it was inevitable that they didn¡¯t care about the schedule. ¡®Who has time to spare? I gave up another variety show at this time toe here.¡¯ I felt a surge of anger. Hold on. I¡¯m in front of the camera right now. It¡¯s better to look like a fool than to be filmed as an idol who loses his temper. I took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm myself. They say patience is a virtue, but even a saint would kill after three times. Just then, AtoX A burst into the practice room with a loud bang. ¡°Hello! Sorry for beingte!¡± He apologized with words, but his expression and tone were far from sincere. He didn¡¯t seem to think that being ten minuteste was a big deal. I quickly regretted feeling sorry for him when he got bombarded with hatements after the first mission stage. I maintained a gentle smile and asked him. ¡°Weren¡¯t you supposed toe with another member today?¡± He grinned and answered. ¡°Oh, yes! But he suddenly got a schedule and couldn¡¯t make it. He told me to tell you he¡¯s really sorry. If you exin the concept today, I¡¯ll summarize it and let him know!¡± What the hell? I had a bad feeling about this, and sure enough, he hadn¡¯t prepared anything. He expected me to do all the work, and his role was to listen and ry the information to the absent member. I couldn¡¯t help butugh at his shamelessness. The camera was rolling even when I momentarily lost control of my expression. ¡®At this rate¡­ I¡¯m going to be edited as a control freak, aren¡¯t I?¡¯ I had to be prepared. I forced a friendly smile and replied. ¡°Well, I brought some reference materials for the concept today, so let¡¯s discuss them. And since it¡¯s just the two of us, we should write a meeting report and send it to the Vesper members too.¡± ¡°Okay! Wow, you¡¯re so well-prepared. I feel so relieved to have you as a leader.¡± He seemed to be trying to tter me, but I wished he would do something helpful instead of just talking. I sighed and started the briefing. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m exhausted.¡± Our team meeting ended much earlier than the others. There were only two of us, so the process of gathering opinions was very simple and clear. ¡®So, I think option A is safer¡­¡¯ ¡®Oh, I thought the same thing!¡¯ ¡®It would be nice to add some impactful lighting effects here.¡¯ ¡®Wow, that¡¯s amazing. I just thought that would be good too!¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s minimize the sound editing and just record it ourselves.¡¯ ¡®Oh~ sounds good. That will be faster!¡¯ He agreed with everything I said. I felt like a tutor at some point. I gave him the answers and he nodded like a student, saying yes, that sounds right, oh I see. I wanted to think positively, but I was boiling inside. Tomorrow, AtoX A wouldn¡¯t be able toe again. We decided on some things today, but I had no idea how many of them would show up tomorrow. I was more curious about who wouldn¡¯te than who would. It wasn¡¯t a roulette. I thought about making a chat room and coordinating the schedule, but¡­ by now, even asking for cooperation felt like too much. ¡°Let¡¯s just make dinner.¡± I decided to cook something that would relieve my stress. Yesterday, I made butter curry, and today¡­ maybe some seasoned vegetables. I remembered the peri oil that I hastily packed, thinking that I had to bring at least this from the dorm that I couldn¡¯t enter for a while. Maybe I should make a full-course meal. I added some eggnt fritters¡­ As I imagined the Korean side dishes that I wanted to eat, I felt my indigestion go away. I used to eat sds and diet foods, thinking that I would gain weight if I ate this kind of stuff, but these days, I am more active, so it should be fine. I wanted to make braised ribs, but I didn¡¯t have enough time to prepare them. Instead, I decided to thaw the marinated ribs that I had frozen in the freezer and grill them. ¡°This will go well with steamed fish as a side dish. We can put it in the middle and share it.¡± After about 15 minutes of thinking, I came up with a perfect dinner course and started to get the ingredients ready. I was d that I ordered everything I needed from the mart delivery yesterday. The kitchen was rtively small, which bothered me, but it was only for this week. I asked the Vice-Chairman to find me a ce to move in as soon as possible, but he said it would take at least a week to move. I couldn¡¯t go and see it myself because of my schedule, but the pictures that the agent sent me looked pretty good. The interior, the exterior, and themon facilities all seemed nice. It was an apartmentplex where many celebrities lived, so I thought the security would be good. The moving was going well, and thebel separation issue was also resolved smoothly. I only had to sign the final contract next week. ¡®I should think positively.¡¯ I was making side dishes non-stop to get away from the stress of the crappy unit activities, when the members came back to the dorm one by one after finishing their practice. ¡°Wow, what¡¯s that smell? It smells delicious!¡± The house became noisy in an instant as several of them, led by Seon-woo and Kyunghwa, who were in the same unit as me, came in chatting loudly. ¡°Wow-!¡± As soon as people came into the house, I became a dog. Pposili licked Seon-woo¡¯s hand with his tongue out and jumped up. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll wash my hands ande back, wash my hands!¡± Seon-woo ran to the bathroom, avoiding Pposili¡¯s tongue, while Kyunghwa, who had sharp eyes, waved his hand at me without any spirit. ¡°¡­I¡¯m back.¡± I could tell without looking at what had happened. He must have been exhausted from mediating between the guys who only insisted on what they wanted to do. Soon, Pposili ran over to Kyunghwa¡¯s side, panting, and poked his pants with his wet nose. When Pposilil bit his nose, a nose-shaped stamp was printed on his light-colored cotton pants. ¡°Oh¡­¡± This was a pretty cute sight, even to my eyes, who didn¡¯t like dogs very much. It seemed like he was trying tofort him, but Kyunghwa¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. [¡ù¡®Ryu Kyunghwa¡¯s¡¯ self-esteem is at its lowest.] I could see that without him telling me. What exactly happened? I asked Seon-woo with a wink, ¡®What¡¯s wrong with him?¡¯ Seon-woo quickly put his finger to his mouth, as if to say ¡®shh¡¯. ¡°I¡¯m tired, so I¡¯ll go wash up ande out.¡± Kyunghwa went into the bathroom with dull eyes, carrying his clothes and underwear from the suitcase he had packed. ¡°Are you going to eat dinner?¡± ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± This guy was a mackerel, not just for a day or two. I needed to find out why he came back with such a bad mental state. Click-. As soon as the bathroom door was locked, I called Seon-woo to my ear and whispered. ¡°What the hell happened?¡± ¡°Uh, that¡¯s¡­¡± Seon-woo looked around with an embarrassed expression. And then he whispered in a voice smaller than an ant, as if it was a secret. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s right for me to say it¡­ Maybe you should ask him yourself when he calms down.¡± No way, Seon-woo could be this considerate? I asked him, raising my expectations of him a little bit. ¡°What really happened? Did you catch something on camera that you shouldn¡¯t have?¡± As I asked with a worried mind, Seon-woo shook his head vigorously. ¡°Ah, no, not that¡­! Ah, maybe¡­?¡± He started with no, but trailed off, making me very uneasy. If I can¡¯t ask him right away, I have no choice but to see for myself. I decided not to show any signs of what happened. I made a short resolution and called the system for the first time in a while. ¡®System.¡¯ Chapter 144: Chapter 144: [Do you want to purchase the rey service?] [Yes/No] I felt something was missing from the status window that I hadn¡¯t seen in a long time. It was because Pposili, who should have been at the bottom of the window, was nowhere to be seen. ¡®?¡¯ I raised a question mark in my head and looked down at my feet. There was Pposili, sticking out his tongue and panting on my ankle. Pposili disappears from the status window when he materializes in reality. It made sense when I thought about it. I reflexively stroked Pposili¡¯s round head once and shouted amand in my mind. ¡®Yes.¡¯ The surroundings turned gray as if I had switched to pod, dark mode, and the space changed.¡°Who¡¯s going to do that part?¡± ¡°Can I do it?¡± ¡°Uh, I was going to say that.¡± I was unlucky enough to be in the group with the most members. And everyone here was too passionate, so none of them missed the practice. Maybe it was because the main thing for the rap unit was to write and produce their own lyrics, unlike the vocal unit whose skill itself was the focus. They all had bloodshot eyes to get the good parts. ¡°Oh, I wanted to do that too. How do we decide when there are so many applicants?¡± AtoX guys were the problem here too. The other group guys were not easy either. But these kids were especially full of pride that they were the original vocal group. Unless they had a solid record like Seong-won, who took off his rank andpeted in a survival program, They all listened to the nice words that the fans gave them, such as vocal gangster, vocal top, and so on, and had a lot of strength in their shoulders. They all had high pride, but no concrete evidence to prove it, so the conclusion kept going around. I want to do that part too, and I can¡¯t give it to you. If you really want to take it, give me a valid reason. ¡°Let¡¯s divide the parts slowly and decide on the costumes first, shall we?¡± Kyunghwa tried to move the meeting forward by suggesting a direction, but immediatelyints erupted. ¡°No, we have to decide on the parts first. If not, shall we do rock-paper-scissors?¡± AtoX leader, Park Hyoeun, firmly blocked Kyunghwa¡¯s attempt. ¡°But isn¡¯t it a bit weird to decide on the highlight by rock-paper-scissors? The highlight has to be the best to have an advantage when wepete with other units, right?¡± ¡°Then how do we decide?¡± In the end, Kyunghwa couldn¡¯t stand it andughed incredulously, and the guy who had given a negative opinion earlier answered sarcastically. ¡°Isn¡¯t it better for the leader to decide?¡± Thenints burst out at the same time. ¡°Why does the leader have to decide?¡± I felt like I didn¡¯t need to watch any more after seeing this. Maybe it would be better to just boil some soup with simple ingredients for Kyunghwa. I swallowed a sigh with a bitter taste in my mouth, and the surroundings returned to normal. [Rey service ¨C 24 years old 4 hours ago ended] Our unit was also in a burning house, so there was nothing else to say. I paused for a moment and looked around the kitchen. I had finished most of the preparations, and all I had to do was heat it up and serve it when Yi-jun and Seong-won arrivedter. I turned off the light and untied the apron that I had tightly fastened around my waist. I hung it back on the drawer handle. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit. I¡¯m going to the convenience store.¡± There was a convenience store on the first floor of the officetel, so I didn¡¯t have to worry much about dressing up or security. ¡°Oh, take care!¡± I picked out four cans of beer for ten thousand won. I wanted to avoid it as much as possible for the sake of my figure, but I felt like I needed it today. I suddenly wondered if I was feeding them too well these days¡­ I was worried, but what can I do? I can¡¯t feed them like I did on the days of my activities. And when I¡¯m mentally stressed like this, I have to have a good appetite to endure it. I rationalized it easily. After all, feeding them well is the best way to go. Speaking of which, I heard that there are a lot of alcohol adsing in through PPL these days. Do we have any of those? Should I ask? The winter repair special with Floss was scheduled to go up for three weeks, so I had a temporary vacation period until next week¡¯s shooting. ¡®Next week, after thest shooting of season 1, I decided to focus on thepetition for a while.¡¯ Season 2 would be done in a re-contract form after thebel split, so it wouldn¡¯t be bad to rece the director and staff who had friction with us and keep only the staff we needed. Anyway, this is a side story. ¡®Is four cans enough for the two of us?¡¯ I stuffed the cans into an opaque bag and headed inside with them in my arms. Maybe it was because the rent was expensive for a mixed-useplex. I nced at the residents passing by and saw a lot of familiar faces, even though they were dressed casually. This was also a ce where a lot of celebrities lived alone. ¡®I hope no one recognizes me. Let¡¯s go in quickly¡­¡¯ As soon as I thought that, someone recognized me and waved at me. ¡°Oh, Ise!¡± Damn. I had to run into someone with a bunch of alcohol in my hand. As soon as I heard my name, I turned awkwardly to the direction of the sound. Hwijin was standing there with a bright expression, even though he looked a bit pale. And next to him was Seong-won, who looked indifferent. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I asked, clutching the ck stic bag to my chest. ¡°I live here. I went back and forth between here and the dorm, but Seong-won said he had something to do around here, so I gave him a ride.¡± Things seemed to be going well for them. I looked at Seong-won, thinking that our home¡¯s time bomb was doing well. ¡°Why.¡± Seong-won asked with a look that said he didn¡¯t do anything wrong. ¡°No, nothing. Did you have a good practice today?¡± I put Seong-won aside and checked the situation with Hwijin, who was an outsider. ¡°Ah, yes. We¡¯re all cooperating well and having good opinions, so I think we can do well!¡± I remembered who was in the vocal A team. Floss, Climax, yground. Those were the three groups. There was only one Seong-won in Climax. Floss would cooperate since they were a team. yground had no say. Considering that, it seemed like Hwijin, who was the oldest, could lead themfortably. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m jealous.¡± I unwittingly blurted out my true feelings and covered my mouth. ¡°Is the unit activity hard?¡± Hwijin asked me cautiously if he had seen the contents of the bag on my chest. His tone was quite careful, but his eyes were the opposite. His expression was worried, but his eyes¡­ they shone like someone who had seized an opportunity. ¡°Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with.¡± His eyes were shouting ¡®I¡¯ll help you! I¡¯ll help you!¡¯ ¡®I get that he wants to repay me for the psychological help I gave him¡­ but he doesn¡¯t have to be happy when I look troubled.¡¯ I was both annoyed and a little grateful, so I mumbled something vague. ¡°It¡¯s not easy to match schedules when everyone is busy.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Your unit is AtoX and Vesper, right? Then you must be really busy.¡± Hwijin nodded slowly as if he understood. ¡®They¡¯re all so busy that they don¡¯t even show their noses.¡¯ In that respect, I was definitely envious of Hwijin. yground¡­ they woulde running whenever I called. Seong-won¡­ he was a guy who quietly did whatever was beneficial to him. I didn¡¯t get along well with the Floss team members, but they were on the same side, so it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to persuade them. After suffering so much in thest mission, this time it would be much easier. ¡°Still, you all have decent skills, so you¡¯ll do well on the main stage. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± Hwijin offered me some useless constion and pointed to the elevator as if to suggest we go up. ¡°What floor do you live on?¡± When I asked him standing in front of the panel, Hwijin quickly pressed the ninth floor and answered. ¡°The ninth floor. How long have you been living here?¡± How long has it been? I didn¡¯t know that much, so I trailed off. ¡°It¡¯s been a while. I¡¯ve been staying at the dormtely, so I left my stuff here. I¡¯m here because there¡¯s a problem with the dorm right now.¡± ¡°Ah~.¡± Hwijin wanted to ask me what happened, but he held back as if it could be too personal and smirked. It wasn¡¯t such a big deal. I didn¡¯t need to tell him and make him worry. ¡°Anyway, it was nice to meet you and thank you for the ride. Go ahead.¡± The elevator arrived at the ninth floor and the door opened. As I said goodbye to Hwijin, who was getting off, he hesitated outside the door as if he wanted to say something more. But soon the door started to close and Hwijin waved his hand regretfully and disappeared to the left. I asked Seong-won almost at the same time as the door closed. ¡°Are you up for the unit activity?¡± Seong-won answered without a moment¡¯s dy, as if he had been trained. ¡°Yeah.¡± And then the silence continued until we reached the top floor where we lived. ¡®Should I say something?¡¯ I was getting used to him and I thought we were getting closer, but Seong-won was still the hardest person to deal with among the four members. He didn¡¯t seem to care at all even if we didn¡¯t talk at all. ¡°¡­How about you?¡± Just before the door opened, Seong-won asked me casually. What¡¯s with this awkward timing? They all probably knew that I failed to pick my teammates. I didn¡¯t hide it and answered moderately. ¡°I¡¯d like to talk to them if they show up, but they don¡¯t, so I¡¯m a bit stuck.¡± Seong-won stared at me silently for a while, then quickly turned his head and opened the door lock and went inside first. What the hell, why did he ask me then? I was dumbfounded and red at the back of Seong-won¡¯s yellow head. ¡°Yi-jun will be here in five minutes.¡± Soon, Kyunghwa came out after washing up and looked like he had recovered a bit. He dried his hair and told me. Let¡¯s eat first and think. Eat first. I started to prepare the meal by heating up the side dishes I had made in advance. That night. Everyone was so tired that they went to bed right after eating thevish dinner. I sneaked out of bed and woke Kyunghwa up when everyone was asleep. I was worried about what would happen if Seong-won woke up with him, but he was sleeping more quietly than I thought. ¡°Get up for a minute.¡± I shook Kyunghwa awake and handed him a can I had just taken out of the fridge. Kyunghwa jumped up at the coldness of the can. ¡°Shh. There¡¯s a rooftop garden here. Let¡¯s go talk for a bit.¡± As I was grabbing my coat, Seon-woo stretched his legs and rolled over. Did he wake up? My heart sank. ¡°Ugh¡­ no more¡­ mmm¡­ can¡¯t eat¡­ hmm¡­¡± But he was talking nonsense, so he must have been asleep. I brushed my chest and took Kyunghwa to the roof. ¡°Wow¡­¡± I only knew that they had installed a high fence and decorated it with benches and a small garden for 24-hour ess. The night view from the roof and the lush little garden made a pretty impressive sight. ¡°What¡¯s up, all of a sudden?¡± Kyunghwa asked, looking back and forth between the can in his hand and the other side of the fence. ¡°I just felt like people need to breathe and live sometimes.¡± It was an old-fashioned way of saying it, but I couldn¡¯t help it. Instead of saying cliched things like, are you okay, or do you have anything you want to talk about, I just gave him some time to quietly enjoy the wind. Kyunghwa, who had been looking at the night view for a while, licked his lips as if he had something he wanted to say. Seong-won looked at me without a word, then swiftly turned his head and unlocked the door. He went in before me. Why did he even bother asking me? I was baffled and red at his yellow hair. ¡°Yi-jun will be here in five minutes,¡± Kyunghwa said. He had washed up and seemed to have regained some energy. He dried his hair with a towel and informed me. I decided to eat first and thinkter. I heated up the side dishes I had prepared earlier and got ready for dinner. That night, we all went to bed soon after the feast. We were exhausted. I waited until everyone was asleep, then gently shook Kyunghwa awake. I was afraid Seong-won might wake up too, but he was sound asleep. ¡°Come on, get up.¡± I handed Kyunghwa a can I had just taken out of the fridge. He startled at the coldness and sat up. ¡°Shh. There¡¯s a rooftop garden here. Let¡¯s go talk for a bit.¡± I grabbed my coat and headed for the stairs. Seon-woo stirred and kicked his legs. Did he wake up? My heart dropped. ¡°Ugh¡­ no more¡­ mmm¡­ can¡¯t eat¡­ hmm¡­¡± But he was just mumbling, so he was still asleep. I sighed in relief and took Kyunghwa to the roof. ¡°Wow¡­¡± I knew they had a high fence and a small garden with benches on the roof, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be so beautiful. The night view from the roof and the greenery of the garden created a stunning contrast. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why the sudden move?¡± Kyunghwa asked, switching his gaze between the can in his hand and the view beyond the fence. ¡°I just thought we needed a break. To breathe and live a little.¡± It sounded old-fashioned, but I meant it. I didn¡¯t want to say the usual things like, are you okay, or do you have anything on your mind. I just wanted to give him some quiet time to feel the wind. Kyunghwa stared at the night view for a while, then moved his lips as if he had something to say. Chapter 145: Chapter 145: What I handed to Kyunghwa was a non-alcoholic drink with 0.0% alcohol. I had picked it up after seeing a lot of ads for ittely. He was the type who would get drunk and act silly even after drinking c, so I decided that regr beer was out of the question for him. ¡°Drink up. It¡¯ll cool you down a bit.¡± Maybe it was because winter wasing, but the can in his hand felt colder than an ice rink. Kyunghwa slowly opened his mouth. ¡°Why does life seem so much harder for me than for others?¡± Thud, he slumped on the bench with a sigh, and his long breath sank to the ground. ¡°Is there anything else bothering you besides the unit practice?¡± I asked him cautiously, and he lowered his head and pursed his lips, looking down at the night view in silence. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡±What¡¯s with these kids these days? They have so many things they don¡¯t want to talk about. I clicked my tongue lightly and answered. ¡°How are we supposed to know if you don¡¯t tell us? We need to at least know what¡¯s going on to help you find a solution.¡± I remembered saying this a week ago. Guys, please tell me if you have any problems. There¡¯s no point in suffering alone with your pride. ¡°Nobody can find it. How can you help me if I can¡¯t solve it myself?¡± I could tell by the conviction in Kyunghwa¡¯s voice that something was wrong. Was it something to do with his family? I hesitated for a moment and then opened my mouth again. ¡°If it¡¯s a financial problem, I can help you¡­¡± But as soon as I said that, he snapped at me with a twisted expression. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m a beggar? Do you expect me to say thank you and take it?¡± What¡¯s with the sudden outburst? I was reminded of the phone call I had overheard by ident. I meant to say that I would help him if he needed money urgently, like for hospital bills or something. But instead offorting him, I seemed to have made things worse. ¡°Why are you saying that? I¡¯m just saying that I have some spare money, so you can use it if you need it.¡± I replied with a slightly awkward expression, and he snorted softly and gulped down the contents of the can. ¡°You¡¯re really¡­ Never mind.¡± A tense silence followed, and I had nothing to say. I emptied the can in my hand and put it on the bench. The 500mL can was light and crisp, unlike my heavy and stuffy heart. ¡°Well¡­ I know you can¡¯t help it if I look like a naive and carefree lord to you. But you¡¯re a great guy who works hard. No matter what the reason is, I still want to help you if you¡¯re struggling.¡± If he thought his family situation was his weakness¡­ He might feel deceived by Cheon Ise, who seemed to have been born with amazing luck. Of course, Cheon Ise had his own problems too, but they would look like trivialints to others. I didn¡¯t want to make a scene by digging into Kyunghwa¡¯s problems and making us both blush, so I decided to back off quietly. ¡°Let me know if you need any help.¡± Kyunghwa, who had blurted out something sharp, seemed to regret it and mumbled a reply. ¡°¡­What does that make me?¡± I shrugged it off. ¡°What does it make you? You¡¯re the big brother who held the center while the ipetent leader was whining.¡± ¡°Ugh, you¡¯re annoying. You always try to act cool by yourself.¡± Kyunghwa threw a punch in the air, as if he was embarrassed. I could easily dodge it, so I moved my body as if I was joking. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± But contrary to my expectation that I had dodged it, a hardened fist hit me right in the sr plexus. ¡°What? Wha¡­???¡± Boom-. It was a punch thatnded squarely, but neither Hardened nor I had any strength in our bodies. So even though the fist and my stomach collided head-on, there was no sound of impact. It was like he had lightly tapped my belly with his fist. ¡°Hey, are you joking¡­? Ugh¡­?¡± Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit me and my legs gave way. What¡¯s going on? Did I eat something bad? Did the drink I had earlier have some poison in it? As I tried to get up by leaning on the floor, I felt a dizzying sensation as if my head was spinning. I couldn¡¯t control my body. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t fall asleep¡­ I, something¡­ I can¡¯t feel anything¡­.¡± To make matters worse, Hardened was lying quietly on the floor as if he had fallen asleep. Do you get drunk on 0.0%? I couldn¡¯t believe it. My expression turned into a disaster as I realized I was in no better shape. ¡®Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t had a proper drink since I turned a thousand.¡¯ Maybe it was because I had gulped down a can on an empty stomach that made it worse. ¡®This is screwed, really.¡¯ Even if I copsed and fell asleep like this, well¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be found as a cold corpse tomorrow morning, but I had to brace myself for the embarrassment. It would be better to be teased by our kids than to be caught by the securitypany and disgraced. I tried to ignore the spinning floor and looked for the phone I had put in my pocket. ¡®Someone please answer, please.¡¯ I was slowly closing my eyes and it was hard to stay awake. Please. I hoped that one of the three guys was not on silent mode. I pressed the call button with a desperate wish. Did my earnest wish reach the sky? When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling of a cozy room. No matter how weak the alcohol was, I couldn¡¯t have just drank it and¡­. I staggered to get up, feeling incredulous, and my stomach churned. ¡°Phew, you¡¯re awake. Are you okay, bro?¡± Seon-woo, who was watching TV on the living room sofa, ran over to me with a startled look. ¡°Uh¡­.¡± I answered feebly, holding my throbbing temple. Seon-woo leaned in to check if I was really okay. ¡°Do you want me to tell the manager that you can¡¯t practice today if you¡¯re not feeling well?¡± Seon-woo seemed to be trying to be considerate, but that was out of the question. I quickly shook my head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. How¡¯s Hardened?¡± I asked, remembering Hardened who was writhing on the floor with me yesterday. Seon-woo cheerfully answered. ¡°He left early today. He said he had some personal practice to do. He told me to thank you for waking him up. Seong-won also left early today. He said he was meeting Hwijin.¡± What did I do to deserve his thanks? I vaguely remembered that we both got stupidly drunk and did something stupid. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened between you and Hardened, but. Do you know how surprised I was when Seong-won suddenly ran out yesterday? Everyone was so worried.¡± Tsk. I must have called him first because I randomly picked one of the members¡¯ numbers. I guess I should thank himter. I checked the time and felt relieved that there was still plenty of time until practice. I flopped down on the bed. Meanwhile, Yi-jun, who seemed to have finished his morning exercise and showered, walked out of the bathroom with water dripping from his hair. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake, hyung?¡± I answered weakly, waving my hand. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll rest a bit and then go practice.¡± ¡°Wow, yesterday was a sight I¡¯ll never see again. It¡¯s a shame you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°What?¡± As I startled and got up, Yi-junughed mischievously. ¡°I filmed it all~. It was the first time I saw you drunk in the five years I¡¯ve known you. How can I just let go of this precious thing¡­¡± I jumped up and ran towards Yi-jun. ¡°Give it to me. If you don¡¯t want to starve for dinner.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re mean!¡± After a long struggle with Yi-jun, the video I saw was terrible. ¡°Do you know how your bean sprouts grow? Bean sprouts usually grow only 2cm a day. But I boiled bean sprout soup in the morning and came back in the evening, and the bean sprouts in the fridge grew 10cm. But those bean sprouts are already dead. Of course. Bean sprouts die when boiled. But if you keep stirring them with chopsticks, they grow. They¡¯re not supposed to grow more than 2cm. Do you know how your bean sprouts grow?¡± ¡°If you mention that damn bean sprout one more time, I¡¯ll shut your mouth with a pillow.¡± ¡°No, just listen once¡­ Did you know that your bean sprouts don¡¯t grow more than 2cm? I boiled bean sprout soup¡­ Eugh¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I really thought you had some grudge against bean sprouts, hyung.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that.¡± It was a relief that I only made a fool of myself in front of the members, not outsiders. I washed my face with cold water and walked into the bathroom. ¡°Be careful. I nted bean sprouts in the sink. They¡¯re only 2cm long yet.¡± Yi-jun whispered teasingly and ran away where my arm couldn¡¯t reach. I¡¯m so embarrassed. I went into the bathroom and washed my face with cold water. Phew¡­ Now it was time to focus and think about how to practice today. Of course, there was a limit to patience, and I had no reason to carry the burden of group project trolls who tried to pass on all the roles to one person who worked hard without any motivation or effort. ¡®I have to get on the stage somehow and make my backup dancers do well.¡¯ I tried to erase the embarrassment ofst night¡¯s disgrace with anger as I sshed cold water on my face. ¡®Let¡¯s see how it goes today.¡¯ As I clenched my teeth and went out to the practice room, as expected, only one member of Vesper B showed up about five minuteste. I couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Is your schedule today really unavoidable and you can¡¯teter for a while?¡± If it was a group variety show or something like an advertisement, an event, I could understand it. ¡°Ah~. No, it¡¯s not like that. I have to go to a friend¡¯s store opening today.¡± At that moment, the string of patience that I was holding on to snapped. I could understand radio guest schedules, personal ad shootings, or other variety appearances. What? A friend¡¯s opening? Was that what he was saying now? I doubted my ears. ¡°Can¡¯t you just go to the opening and congratte him and join us?¡± ¡°Ah, well¡­ That¡¯s¡­ If I go and help him with this and that, I might be tired and have trouble tomorrow, you know? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to just send me the video and practice at home and join you tomorrow? Honestly, isn¡¯t that right?¡± What the hell is this? Suddenly, the system popped up in front of me after a long time. [Sub-quest ¨C ¡®An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth¡¯. Do you want to start?] [Achievement Goal: Win the Unit Battle] [Fate> Jo Eun-sung, Park Su-heon, Kwak Jae-woo, Eom Ki-woong to be acquired] [Special Item> ¡®An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth¡¯ to be acquired] [Yes/No] I don¡¯t know what this is, but it¡¯s giving me a chance to pay them back for what they did. I didn¡¯t need to think twice and chose ¡®Yes¡¯. Chapter 146: Chapter 146: As soon as I pressed the ¡®Yes¡¯ button, a brief sh of light came from my fingertips and disappeared. I didn¡¯t even read the exnationyer properly and skipped it reflexively, so I didn¡¯t know what the reward was, but it didn¡¯t matter. The quest title itself was telling me to go screw myself, so I might as well do as I please. They were barely 20 years old, and they had no right to say anything even if I acted like a jerk. There was a certain line that I could tolerate as an adult, and they crossed it. I would have preferred someone who was greedy and asked for things that would help them. But they didn¡¯t even show up, so I had no idea what they wanted. ¡®Let¡¯s see how you like the bus ride I prepared for you.¡¯ I showed them the new data I had organized and asked the production team for their contact information. It took an hour or so before one or two of them started checking the data I sent them.[^^] Wow, amazing 5:34 PM [^^] Ise is really reliable 5:35 PM [^^] We just have to trust him 5:35 PM Yeah, go ahead and trust me blindly like you do now. See what happens. The original n for Climax was to do our best individually. But in the end, I was doing the work of five people. I gritted my teeth and prepared my revenge slowly. After a few days of running around alone, from directing to choreography, to arranging, I finally had a rough outline. It was the day of filming for the first mission ranking announcement. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m nervous¡­¡± It felt like a month had passed since the view count and likes period ended, and the final ranking was as follows: Flosss AtoX Vesper Climax P2CK yground Flosss Climax Vesper AtoX P2CK yground There was no big change in the lower ranks. The order of Vesper and AtoX changed in the view count, and ours and Vesper¡¯s changed in the likes count. AtoX¡¯s view count soared because of a kind of noise marketing. Their stage was so bad that people reacted negatively, and even a separate video ofments was made, which increased the original video¡¯s view count. It was not a good meaning for the view count to rise, so the actual participants must have been¡­ not happy at all. I felt lighter when I thought that they were ruining my outfit in the unit mission. ¡°Oh¡­¡± We were the third group to enter the set. I didn¡¯t know how much that had to do with our actual ranking¡­ We all sat down with a mix of anticipation and nervousness, and opened the door that led to the center of the stage. As the fog for the entrance cleared, we saw Flosss and yground watching us from their seats. ¡°Hello! We are Climax!¡± We bowed to the camera and the groups that were waiting for us, and found our seats fromst time. Behind the familiar chairs, there was a screen. It showed the likes and views rankings, which we had already learned from the script, but they were marked with question marks, as if they would be revealedter. [Current Rank] ?th [24-hour Trend Index] ? points The text seemed different from before. I felt a strange sense of curiosity and looked up at the screen. Kyunghwa pointed it out. ¡°The text has changed.¡± ¡°Huh? Really?¡± Yi-jun also noticed the screente and rubbed his eyes to read the text again. Maybe there was something inappropriate about dividing the rankings by 24 hours based on the views. I didn¡¯t know the reason, but it wasn¡¯t a big negative issue for us. It would be a pity for Flosss, who could expect an explosive response from the 24-hour reaction. As we quietly settled in our seats, the MC pointed at us with a strong voice and asked. ¡°How do you expect the results today? Are you confident?¡± I quickly took the microphone from the staff and answered with enthusiasm. ¡°We did our best, so we hope we get a good result!¡± I deliberately gave a vague answer, but the MC tried to get a more provocative response from me. ¡°Oh, are you confident? What rank do you aim for?¡± Then Yi-jun pulled the microphone from my hand with a yful expression and answered. ¡°We¡¯re aiming for the third ce that¡¯s like the first ce.¡± Yi-jun showed one finger with his right hand and quickly changed it to three, making the audienceugh. The first recording was done without an audience, and the reaction was addedter. But today, for some reason, there were about 30 audience members sitting in the back row. ¡®How did they choose them?¡¯ Well, the ranking wasn¡¯t determined by the reaction, so I decided to think positively and looked at the MC again. ¡°Third ce that¡¯s like the first ce! We heard Climax¡¯s witty answer well.¡± The digital release was up to the third ce, so everyone must have been hoping to get in the top three. The first ce was obvious. It had to be Flosss. Everyone must have been anxiously waiting to see which team would take the second and third ce. I nced at yground¡¯s seat. They looked better than when they finished their stage, but they still seemed tense. ¡°Please give us one morement to wrap up this stage, and we¡¯ll help the next team enter.¡± This time, I quickly passed the microphone to Kyunghwa before Yi-jun could snatch it again. ¡°It was great to try something different and unusual, and it was a very meaningful time to get the opportunity to cover the songs of the seniors we respect sincerely.¡± As expected, a standard answer came back, and the MC seemed to give up on digging up any controversy here. He stretched his arm toward the entrance. ¡°Yes! We heard Climax¡¯sment well! Next, we¡¯ll meet AtoX, who showed a shocking transformation in this mission!¡± AtoX, who gave a messy performance that was called shocking, started to enter. As I faced AtoX A and B, who were walking in the front, my blood pressure started to rise. Thanks to them, I wouldn¡¯t faint from low blood pressure during the shooting, you bastards. I tried to find peace of mind by imagining the fluffy tail of Pposili in my head. The thick fur, the soft and cozy feeling when I touched it¡­ Pposili¡¯s tail was healing itself. But my anger subsided a little¡­ hell no. There was no way. My blood pressure soared to a dangerous level again as Vesper entered the stage. They didn¡¯t juste in, they looked around the stage and gave me a cheeky greeting when our eyes met. They had some nerves. Let¡¯s see in a week. I wonder if you¡¯ll still be smiling then. I clenched my teeth and smiled as peacefully as I could. Finally, when all the teams, including P2CK, entered, the ranking chart appeared on therge panel screen in the center of the stage. 1st [?] 2nd [?] 3rd [?] 4th [?] 5th [?] 6th [?] 1st [?] 2nd [?] 3rd [?] 4th [?] 5th [?] 6th [?] 1st [?] 2nd [?] 3rd [?] 4th [?] 5th [?] 6th [?] The internal evaluation ranking was based on the sum of the scores given by each team to the other teams, from 1st to 5th ce, with 10 points for 1st, 8 points for 2nd, 6 points for 3rd, 4 points for 4th, and 2 points for 5th. ¡°Wow¡­ I¡¯m nervous seeing this.¡± We had just submitted our ranking of the other teams at the team hideout before entering the shooting site. It was hard to give the rankings as we felt at first, knowing that our scores would affect the other teams¡¯ rankings. The so-called check pick. We didn¡¯t know how the editing would show which team gave which rank to which team, so it was difficult to make a noticeable check pick, but I thought everyone would have a lot of trouble from 2nd to 5th ce. We were no exception. ¡®I wish I could give AtoX and Vesper a tie forst ce.¡¯ Unfortunately, there was no such option. I didn¡¯t want to give yground 5th ce, even if they were pitiful, and if I gave 5th ce to either Vesper or AtoX¡­ AtoX deserved 5th ce for showing a disappointing result that didn¡¯t meet the expectations. Vesper had nothing special, but their stage wasn¡¯t bad. This was the ranking we gave after making our decision. 1st ce [Flosss] 2nd ce [Vesper] 3rd ce [P2CK] 4th ce [yground] 5th ce [AtoX] Damn. I felt bitter about having to give Vesper the second ce. But objectively speaking, giving P2CK a higher rank than Vesper would have looked like a tant pick to sabotage them. Just bear with it. Just a little bit. I calmed myself down and then the MC announced the view count ranking with a powerful voice. ¡°First, let¡¯s reveal the view count ranking! The view count is based on the final number of views until the designated period, and it may differ from the data after the aggregation period.¡± At the end of the MC¡¯s remark, the question marks on the screen flickered once and turned into numbers. Flosss 3,298,732 views AtoX 2,675.442 views Vesper 2,154,323 views Climax 1,723,894 views P2CK 1,693,139 views yground 1,025,845 views Seeing the concrete figures, I realized how much of a gap there was between us and Floss. AtoX¡¯s number was inted by people who came to mock them. Vesper¡¯s number was boosted by their foreign fans. If I think about it that way¡­ our rank wasn¡¯t that bad. ¡®I have nothing to say if this is a mental victory.¡¯ This was all information that everyone already knew. So what mattered more now was how the voting scores and the internal evaluation turned out. ¡°Next, we¡¯ll announce the audience ranking!¡± The total number of audience members who entered was 120. I thought again that the sample was too small, but for a team like us with a weak fandom, that could be an advantage. ¡°But before that! Let¡¯s go back to the stage and relive the heat of the performance!¡± As expected, they didn¡¯t show it right away. They had to get more footage, of course. I sat up straight and looked at the screen. I wondered if they edited it differently from the YouTube version. This version seemed to have more time and effort put into it. The first batter was Floss. They were not bad when I saw them on YouTube, but the edited version made their grandeur even more impressive. ¡°They really did well.¡± Seon-woo eximed again as he watched the screen. They did well, they did well, but¡­ What was the main spotlight of that stage doing right now? He didn¡¯t leave the group chat, so he didn¡¯t seem to havepletely cut off contact. But he still hadn¡¯t replied to the message I sent him personally. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with this kid?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t do anything about it even if I was worried, but seeing Yu-geon shining on the screen made me anxious again. ¡®He¡¯s not thinking of retiring for real, is he?¡¯ A sudden uneasy thought crossed my mind. Chapter 147: Chapter 147: He said he liked being an idol, so that probably wasn¡¯t it. Maybe he was going somewhere to refresh himself. I had no idea what he was nning in that smart head of his. Then, one by one, the edited videos were released and the cameras captured the reactions of the cast in real time. We also had plenty of time to watch the edited version, and it was much more neat and refined than the YouTube version. The YouTube premiere version kept taking full shots to show the members¡¯ movements as concisely as possible. As a result, it failed to give the spotlight to each scene and made the screen look cramped. ¡®I wish we could have uploaded this version to YouTube.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t hide my regret and looked around, and the other members seemed to feel the same. ¡°Well, at least we¡¯re lucky to have the edited version on the broadcast.¡±Seon-woo looked around nervously and the others rxed their tense expressions. ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re lucky to have this one.¡± There was no need to dwell on the past. It was better to let go of what we couldn¡¯t do and think about what we could do next. Let¡¯s show them the best reactions. Everyone was admiring and nodding along, but they all had the same thought in their minds. ¡®Yeah, we get it. You did a good job editing. So what rank are we?¡¯ Was it the same for our kids? Kyunghwa wiped the sweat on his palm with his pants. I should have told him beforehand that we could re-arrange the song and put it in the next album if we couldn¡¯t get the music source. I didn¡¯t like seeing him nervous about being pushed out of the music release like the fourth ce. The anxious waiting time was over and the ranking announcement finally began. ¡°Now! It¡¯s time to decide the oue of the first mission! Before we reveal the audience vote scores! Let¡¯s start with Floss and reveal their internal evaluation scores!¡± Ugh. The screen switched back to the observation cameras in each team¡¯s hideout and the scenes of Floss¡¯s ranking decision were yed like a highlight reel. ¡°Uh¡­ but this is¡­ we have to admit it.¡± ¡°What stage could be first ce if this one isn¡¯t?¡± ¡°I was mesmerized.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s put Floss first.¡± ¡°Wow. I¡¯m so jealous.¡± After taking a voice from each team, the next scene was BK¡¯s interview after the stage. He must have cried a lot that day, not just in front of the camera, because his eyes were swollen. He appeared on the screen with a calm expression. ¡°To be honest¡­ I was jealous and so respectful. It¡¯s such an honor to be on the same stage as them¡­¡± And the next interview was Vesper¡¯s¡­ main vocal? I don¡¯t remember who he was. ¡°Do I need to exin more? Overwhelming. Period.¡± Vesper¡¯s main vocalist made a gesture of shing his throat with his palm, and everyone went crazy copying him. You made such a fuss in the pre-interview, but you prepared this pretty well. In the pre-interview, they were all trying to kill Floss, and now¡­ As I thought, the devil¡¯s editing kicked in. ¡°But¡­ wasn¡¯t it too biased towards a few people?¡± ¡°If you take out some members, it feels like they were used as extras?¡± The criticism that followed made a loud noise, and there were reactions that I couldn¡¯t tell if they were booing or cheering. And this roller coaster continued for us after P2CK. The early content was not that bad. ¡°Climax! The stage was really good!¡± ¡°Ah~. We wanted to do Carol.¡± ¡°You were very clever to secure Carol at this timing~, something like that?¡± ¡°It was good. Clean and impactful.¡± After a brief moment of feeling touched by the praise, the criticism began. ¡°It seems like youck something that can only show Climax.¡± ¡°Uh, we would have done better if we did this.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t shown enough charm to be overwhelming yet¡­¡± Ugh, even though I didn¡¯t think they were wrong, it hurt to hear the criticism directly. Until Floss, everyone would have written them as the overwhelming first ce, so I could guess the ranking. But from P2CK, the vague praise and criticism repeated, so I couldn¡¯t tell who they ranked second. Everyone was in front of the camera, so they pretended to focus on the screen, but their minds were elsewhere. The P2CK members sitting across from me were shaking their legs so much that I felt dizzy even though there was a distance between us and the stage. That¡¯s how the edited version and the internal interview were announced until thest order. ¡°Now, from now on! We will reveal the internal scores and audience voting scores by team ording to the number of views!¡± That meant. I had to wait a long time to hear the final ranking. There were still two more scores to announce¡­ Everyone looked like they had never envied Floss, the first ce in views, so much. ¡°The representative boy group of Korea, Floss! Will they survive this survival show!¡± Boom, with the sound effect, everyone swallowed their dry saliva. At the same time, the MC gestured exaggeratedly and smiled. ¡°It will be revealed in 60 seconds!¡± That bastard¡¯s 60 seconds. Everyone sighed as if they were out of breath. The good thing was that we didn¡¯t have to wait for the real 60 seconds like the viewers. ¡°Right away! We will reveal the scores!¡± ¡°Good job, everyone!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t go home yet! Wait by team ande over here for individual interviews!¡± As soon as the main camera was turned off, everyone¡¯s tension was relieved. I have to do this three more times. At least the result was good. If the result was not satisfactory, our kids would have suffered from wondering what the problem was, not with words but with expressions. ¡°Ha¡­ That was really close.¡± Kyunghwa brushed his chest as he turned his back to the camera and headed to the waiting area. To put it briefly, we seeded innding third ce. First ce Floss, second ce Vesper, third ce Climax. The ranking looked like Climax did a surprising performance, but the detailed scores were not that positive. 1st [Floss] 621 points 2nd [Vesper] 319 points 3rd [Climax] 299 points 4th [AtoX] 298 points 5th [P2CK] 230 points 6th [yground] 177 points It was a close call. If even one person had not voted for us in the audience poll, we would have lost our rank to AtoX. We could have been proud of our stage performance as the second best. But we felt the wall of the fandom and influence that the brand name of Vesper had. We couldn¡¯t ovee it with just a ¡®good stage¡¯. We had mixed feelings. We couldn¡¯t be too sad, since we did better than expected. But we couldn¡¯t be too happy either, since there were many things that bothered us. We thought of our fans who tried their best to increase our views against the formidable fandoms of the other groups. We couldn¡¯t afford to be depressed. ¡°Climax, pleasee for the interview! Ise, pleasee this way first!¡± I was lost in thought for a moment, and then it was our turn. I ran towards the staff who called my name for the interview. There were so many cast members that they had to interview several people at the same time. The structure was like a makeshift booth, where each of us had to answer questions from a rookie PD. ¡®It feels like I¡¯m getting a group vination or something.¡¯ As I looked around the white curtains, the PD greeted me with a bright smile. ¡°Hello, we¡¯ll make this quick so you can go home soon! First, please tell us your feelings about today in a short and concise way!¡± It would be better to say only good things here, without showing any regrets. I smiled shyly, curling up the corners of my mouth. ¡°I¡¯m really d that we got a good result, because our cover song had a strong carol vibe, and I wanted to share it with you as a song.¡± ¡°Was there anything you were dissatisfied with?¡± ¡°No, not at all. They all cooperated well and followed me. I¡¯m always grateful to them.¡± ¡°But if you had toin about one thing?¡± Maybe he was trying to get some more provocativements from me. But it wasn¡¯t like I was talking to the outside world, and they were my friends. He wouldn¡¯t edit it in a weird way, would he? I rxed a bit, thinking that the song issue was over for now. I unwittingly gave him bait. ¡°Ah. The problem is¡­ they trust me too much?¡± ¡°That sounds like a brag, not aint.¡± ¡°Is that so? I really have noints. I¡¯m more worried that I might have burdened them.¡± ¡°Okay~. You¡¯re bragging about being best friends with Climax, right? I get it. Lastly, please tell us your determination for the second mission.¡± ¡°We¡¯re preparing to show you a more amazing performance, so please look forward to it!¡± The interview ended sooner than I expected, probably because he realized he couldn¡¯t get any juicy content from me. The booth behind me was filming¡­ AtoX B, I think. I sneaked out of the booth and pressed my ear against the wall to hear what he was saying. ¡°How do you feel about the result of this mission? You must have been very disappointed.¡± He was expected to be second in the pre-survey, so he must have been hurt by not making it to the song ranking. The difference in points was so small, I hoped he wouldn¡¯t hold a grudge against us. I already felt like punching him whenever I saw his face. I didn¡¯t want to worsen our rtionship here. Then, AtoX B snapped. ¡°Ah¡­ Honestly, I think it¡¯s ridiculous. How can the score be like that? Our view count was so high, but we lost by one point¡­¡± He took the bait, and the PD scratched his itch. ¡°By one point, you mean¡­ you don¡¯t think Climax deserves to be above us?¡± He fell for the provocation and blurted out whatever he wanted. ¡°Of course not. I don¡¯t even know if they did that well. Let alone being third¡­¡± He was saying that? I felt like I had been pped in the face, and I clenched my fist. ¡°One point difference? ¡­ How can Climax be above us? That makes no sense!¡± AtoX B fell for the PD¡¯s provocation and blurted out whatever he wanted. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right? Honestly, I don¡¯t even know if Climax did that well. And to be third ce? Even more so¡­¡± What is this kid saying right now? I felt like I was pped in the face out of nowhere and clenched my fist without realizing it. Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Of course, I wouldn¡¯t actually throw the fist that I clenched so hard. But the faint guilt that I felt for being childish and trying to get back at them using the broadcast was gone in an instant. How can he say whatever he wants with his big mouth? Naturally, I had to let it go for now. ¡°Was there anything specific that you were disappointed about?¡± I ignored the PD who was eagerly pouring oil on the fire and walked quickly to join the members who were waiting. ¡°What? Why do you look like that?¡± The first one to catch the cold vibe was Yejun, who looked at me with a hopeful expression that something interesting had happened. I didn¡¯t answer and just plopped down on the sofa. ¡°I¡¯m thinking about how to get revenge in the most mature way possible.¡±¡°Revenge?¡± I didn¡¯t need to tell the members that we had been insulted. They would find out soon enough when the broadcast was aired. NBS would definitely use that provocative interview. It was Yi-jun¡¯s turn to go for the interview next, so I quickly told everyone. ¡°They¡¯ll try to ask you some stimting questions during the interview. Don¡¯t fall for it and just say you¡¯ll do your best.¡± The ones I was most worried about were Yi-jun and Seong-won. Those two. It¡¯s always the 22-year-olds. The 22-year-olds. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t cause any trouble like you think.¡± Yi-jun smiled slyly and headed to the interview booth. I clicked my tongue and watched him go. One by one, the rest of the members also did their individual interviews, and the shooting was over. We had a practice schedule for the unit mission tomorrow. ¡®I don¡¯t expect them to show up properly.¡¯ They said they woulde for the rehearsal, so as long as they just danced on stage, I had done my job. Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to stop there. I wanted them to experience how the broadcast would go on the day of the airing. I gritted my teeth and prepared while the first episode was aired. The first episode introduced each team and showed them preparing for the first mission. Since the stage videos had already been released and gained poprity, the ratings were not bad. 1.2%¡­ was a pretty good number. Considering that a simr program from another broadcaster had struggled with 0.6~0.7% ratings recently, it was even more impressive. It was a smart move to release the stage videos in advance and stimte curiosity about how they prepared. The question was whether the ratings would go up or down from here. I monitored the reactions to the first episode while preparing for the unit stage. Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t have much screen time in the first episode, so we didn¡¯t get much attention. ¡®It was only the fans who were quietly suffering.¡¯ I hoped the reaction would improve when the behind-the-scenes of the stage were revealed. But watching the scenes that I had experienced firsthand being edited so provocatively, it felt like I was hearing someone else¡¯s story. The first episode followed the structure of the other groups trying toe up with strategies to beat Floss, who was portrayed as the viin. In the process, yground, the rookie group, was depicted as the ¡®spirited rookie¡¯ and the hero who would grow to defeat Floss, the ¡®viin¡¯ set by the program. How did they end up in this program and suffer like this¡­ I thought, but if their goal was to show it so tantly¡­ I felt like closing my eyes and running away. I clicked my tongue lightly and shook my head. Of course, I didn¡¯t think it was a desirable direction. After all, once you get hurt in your heart, you can¡¯t undo it even if you getpensatedter. ¡®If it wasn¡¯t for Floss or yground, everyone else seemed to be edited fairly well.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just us who had a low weight, but the rest of the teams were evenly divided except for the two teams. The only thing that stood out was that the P2CK leader was a bit too reactive during the shooting. ¡°Wow~!¡± ¡°Whoa~!¡± ¡°Hoo-!¡± ¡°Ohl!¡± When I saw the edited footage, only the exmations were edited and used 4-5 times, so there was no need for a sound effect like Bubuje. ¡®From the second episode, we¡¯ll be more impactful.¡¯ They sometimes change the order of thepetition to broadcast, so it¡¯s still unknown how the final aired footage will turn out. But I¡¯m confident in the stage, so maybe I can look forward to the second episode. We also made it to the music chart, so I hope they¡¯ll give us a proper spotlight in the second episode. Themunity was also in an uproar over theints about Floss¡¯s treatment rather than our reaction. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Title] Viewer Comint Inquiry Window Summary (+999) [Body] I¡¯ve summarized the NBS viewer opinion board! If you have time, please call the customer center and ask them! NBS Entertainment Department Inquiry Email: [email protected] NBS Viewer Board: (link) NBS Inquiry Board: (link) They¡¯ve been promoting Floss from the start of the program and then tantly treating them as viins with a bad edit ???? They must want to boost the ratings with Tempo and treat them as fools [Comments] (+999) [- I usually think that these posts are from big fandoms whoin that they don¡¯t cater to their tastes and get bullied, but this time I¡¯m really surprised; they tantly pushed a specific group and made them look like viins; if they¡¯re going to act like victims who can¡¯t get a fair evaluation because of the fandom size difference, why did theye out] [? I agree with the originalment, but they came out and wanted to ride the buzz bus, but they didn¡¯t match the level with the seniors and they would be pushed by the fandom and the ranking would be bad, and we¡¯re so disadvantaged, why did theye out22222] [? They want to show their faces with the Floss bus, but they don¡¯t like the low ranking, what do they want????? Then why don¡¯t you film another solo server] [? I agree with the originalment, but this is a bit too harsh] [? What¡¯s harsh, they¡¯re pushing the rookies and my kids are getting their hair pulled, where¡¯s the fan who won¡¯t roll their eyes] [- I expected them to sell them, but I didn¡¯t expect them to make Floss a viin, they¡¯re crazy] [- They knew there would be a fandom difference and cast the cast: production team They nned to have a fandom fight: production team They sent out a bad edit to make them fight more: production team Anyone can see that the production team is the problem, but why is Tempo getting hit and called a bully] [? They should just do their own fangirling, they always me Floss for everything, and now they even have the productionpanyying out the board for them. Let¡¯s see how they do with the ratings without Tempo] Everyone tried to restrain themselves from insulting the group itself and went with the flow of insulting the production team that set up the board, but there were somements that crossed the line. The reaction was not much different from when rumors were circting that Climax had moved Floss¡¯s schedule or stolen their song. Even before the news of Chanhyung and Yu-geon¡¯s temporary withdrawal was heard. It would be like pouring oil on a house that was already on fire if they found out that Chanhyung was injured and Yu-geon was suspended due to an ident right before the stage. I felt dizzy even though it was not my business. ¡®Finding our story in themunity seems difficult¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll check out some SNS.¡¯ I moved to SNS to find some positive feedback that would calm me down in this chaotic atmosphere. The weight was simr for all groups except Floss and yground. And because only the in scenes were aired, the SNS reactions were mostly moderate. [- It¡¯s so reassuring to have a pro-producing god in the team????] [? I regret that I thought it would be better to just use an outsourced writer or get help from the agency than to let the members do it for a while????] [? The quality of the arrangement was so high that I thought a professional wrote it, but I heard that Jooni did it by himself, KIJUL, Our god-genius, what can¡¯t he do?] [? The only thing that 22-year-old producer genius Oh Yi-jun, who has everything from face to body to rap, doesn¡¯t have is¡­ a woman in her 20s with the beauty of a 30-year-old from the Milyang Park family;] [? Jooni worked hard, didn¡¯t he? Do we have to? Take that?] [- The basic idea seems to have been given by Seberji, but I¡¯m curious who chose the costumes?????] [? I have a rational hunch that it was Kyunghwa¡­] [? I¡¯m pretty sure it wasn¡¯t Seon-woo.] [? It could also be Seberji who carried the costumes, imagine the son of a rich family Seberji picking out clothes for each member, I can make a studio in my house with that] [? Ah???????I¡¯m happy just imagining it, please show it on the broadcast next time ????] [- I can¡¯t wait until next week, so I¡¯m going to watch the stage again and again.] [? Me too, I can¡¯t wait until next week, so I came back to watch the stage video again???? I want to see Jooni working on it too, but I don¡¯t know how much he¡¯ll show us] Everyone seemed to be left with a bit of regret because of the amount, but the atmosphere was strong to be satisfied with this for now, as the fire was too big in the next house. In many ways, it was a situation where Floss had no end of incidents and idents. Anyway, the shooting was over until the 3rd or 4th episode, and now that the behind-the-scenes of the stage where Floss showed overwhelming skills were released, it would be a situation where Floss was both the viin and the hero. From the viewers¡¯ point of view, they wouldn¡¯t know what else was behind it, so it would be frustrating. The main target of Floss fandom was not bad for us to move from us to another group. But I felt ufortable thinking about the high school students who burst into tears because of a simple stage mistake, who would have to endure the criticism that was swirling on the inte. ¡®Are they okay¡­¡¯ I thought of B.K., whose face was swollen, and I couldn¡¯t help but worry. But the first thing to do was the second mission stage that wasing soon. ¡®What are these guys doing now¡­¡¯ I had sent the choreography n that I had asked the backup dancers from thepany to film 30 minutes ago, but the group chat was quiet as a mouse. No one had replied. Did they read it and ignore me, or did they not even read it? The former was bad enough, but thetter was even more infuriating. I clenched my teeth and checked the chat room. Two of them had read it and ignored me, and two of them had not even read it. ¡®These bastards¡­¡¯ I had already prepared everything for the surprise on the day of the broadcast, but it was too much to ask for them to just end it quietly. I took a deep breath and started typing a long message. Chapter 149: Chapter 149: I felt like I had relieved a long-standing grudge after sending a long message of over 500 characters. I had never spoken so strongly before¡­ Would they get the message? A naive thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly corrected myself. ¡®Get a grip. If I let them make a fool of me like this, I¡¯ll lose face in front of our kids.¡¯ I recalled the insult I had received in the interview, as if Purr, Pposili, or Aeongi were scratching my head. ¡®Don¡¯t you think so? Honestly, I don¡¯t even know if Climax did that well. Let alone being worthy of third ce¡­¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t even know if they did that well¡¯ ¡®Let alone being worthy of third ce¡¯. His voice was only loud when he was whining about being beaten by the team that he didn¡¯t think deserved third ce. I thought of a sentence that had no magic in it, and checked the numbers next to the message that were gradually disappearing. 30 minutester. All the numbers were gone, and even though everyone had checked the message, no one replied. ¡®These bastards¡­ Do they not understand what I¡¯m saying if I¡¯m nice? Or do they think they can mess with me more because I didn¡¯t swear at them?¡¯I checked the choreography n again to get out of this frustrating anger. The choreography was based on the point choreography of the cover song, with some modifications by me and the choreographer from thepany. The choreographer also had a hard time getting hired, as he said he had too many schedulestely and needed a break¡­ ¡®I¡¯m sorry, I know you¡¯re busy, but I have a favor to ask. In return, I can offer you a little morepensation¡­¡¯ It was too much money to refuse. Yeah, it¡¯s all for a living. I even filmed a video of him and me working on the n in a practice room where no one else came. The choreographer was a bit shy and conscious of the camera at first, butter he seemed to think it was a good PR opportunity and made some funny scenes. ¡®Ise, you need to be more confident there!¡¯ ¡®More here?¡¯ ¡®Yeah! You have to walk like you¡¯re the dancing queen today, look at me!¡¯ ¡®Me?¡¯ ¡®If you can¡¯t boost your confidence, at least boost your hips!¡¯ It was mostly a sisterly and cousinly act that was embarrassingly enthusiastic, but at least I got some footage that I could broadcast. ¡®I hope they don¡¯t edit it out and cover it with AtoX or Vesper.¡¯ That was beyond my control. The priority was to solve the problems that I could confirm right now. I checked the n for thest time and made some adjustments for the direction, then checked the group chat again. There were only three messages. [^^] Ah, sorry ?? 8:47 PM [^^] You worked hard 8:47 PM [^^] I¡¯ll try to be more active tomorrow 8:48 PM Anyone would think that he would participate even if he wasn¡¯t active on other days. We had six practice sessions so far, and this guy only showed up twice. And tomorrow was the official first rehearsal day. We were going to do a camera test and a first rehearsal, and all of that was going to be aired. What are you acting like you¡¯re supposed toe and be active? I felt a vein popping on my forehead. At least this guy sent me a reply. The rest of them must have ignored my messages. I sighed and captured the message history. Then I carefully sorted out the materials to send to the scriptwriter, whose contact information I had received during the pre-meeting. Let¡¯s see how it goes on the day of the broadcast. It was still uncertain whether everything would go as I wanted, but the production team wouldn¡¯t refuse such a juicy bait. And so, as I clenched my teeth, the day passed and the day of the stage arrived. ¡°Wow~. Today is the end of our unit activities.¡± AtoX A smiled brightly and cheered in front of the camera in the unit-only waiting room separated by a makeshift partition. Are you sad? You must be. If there was an ending credit, it would have been time to get off the bus where the nning, choreography, and directing were all done by me. Thanks to Na Seon-young¡¯s help, I hired a member from Pris who was in charge ofposing, so the arrangement was less burdensome for me. Of course, that was also thanks to my connections, so it was no different from me putting on a one-man show and the rest of the members just putting their names on it. I didn¡¯t want to ruin the stage either. My top priority was to win the unitpetition. So I sharpened my teeth and prepared my best to make the rest of them look harmonious and get the spotlight. Revenge was going to be carried out secretly under the water. It wouldn¡¯t be secret anymore after the final broadcast. ¡°Time flies so fast. It feels like we just met yesterday, but look at us now.¡± Vesper B took over the conversation cheekily. What do you mean, look at us now? I barely recognized his face. He showed up for practice three times, but he ran away as soon as he showed his face, while I went to the bathroom or made a phone call. Can you call that practice, when you run away after 30 minutes? Of course, the camera captured very clearly the scene where I was dumbfounded by him running away. Not to mention the official practice, I came out alone and consulted with the staff in front of the camera countless times, so there was noparison. ¡®That carefree attitude won¡¯tst long.¡¯ A gentleman¡¯s revenge is not toote even after 10 years. That was the phrase I muttered the most in my mind these days. As I calmed myself down, it was soon our unit¡¯s turn. ¡°Dance A unit, pleasee up!¡± We had already finished the pre-recording and the final rehearsal. Now we only had the main stage left. Unlike the first mission, where the audience score affected the ranking, the second mission was conducted with 100% recorded stage without any audience. ¡®Why do they keep changing things? It¡¯s confusing.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a bad direction, as long as we weren¡¯t swayed by the reactions of other teams¡¯ audiences. For now, the priority was to make this stage the best. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I didn¡¯t drag it out any longer and headed for the stage. We, as in the outfit concept I chose, was graffiti. We each wore ck work clothes that we loosely modified so that they wouldn¡¯t interfere with the choreography, and we chose our own symbol colors to show our personality with scarves, innerwear, bands, etc. AtoX members were generally small in stature, and the Vesper guys didn¡¯t have anyone who could show off their physique, so it was a w that I had to wear a sleeveless inner. ¡®I thought Oh Yi-jun would wear something like this.¡¯ Even though I knew in my head that there was nothing wrong with it, my face was burning. ¡°Wow, hyung, your outfit suits you really well!¡± Vesper B pped my exposed shoulder with a hand gesture that I couldn¡¯t tell if it was cheering or mocking, and ran up to the stage as if fleeing. Ha¡­ He was so cocky and didn¡¯t show up for practice, but he wanted to do the stage. I could already see his smug face in front of me, thinking how smart he was to secure the victory for the dance team. Let¡¯s see how far his confidence will take him. I stood calmly in my ce, taking deep breaths. ng. A gunshot rang out in the darkness, along with the sound of handcuffs rattling. A spotlight shone on me, and a shadow of iron bars appeared on the stage. Another gunshot. Thud, the sound of a body falling, followed by a siren that pierced my ears. As the blue and red lights alternated, everyone quickly took their positions and prepared for the choreography. [Do you remember the moment we first locked eyes?] As the first lyrics began, the whole stage lit up and revealed the set. The concept was prison break. Five escapees who were betrayed by their organization and locked up in jail had to split up and run away. [Thrilling Poison, I drank from the cup of venom.] [I don¡¯t mind if you hurt me more, as long as it¡¯s you.] The original song had a sexy and dangerous vibe, but we focused more on the shy performance. The base was hip hop, but we mixed in some trendy styles and the famous point choreography of the original song, where we bit off half-gloves with our teeth. I never thought I would be in charge of the choreography, but I somehow managed to get this far with my eyes spinning. Thankfully, everyone did well with the choreography, and there were no mistakes or slips like in the rehearsal. [Give me some time. You can give me one chance, right?] [You¡¯ll be blinded by the thrilling joy I¡¯ll give you.] The lyrics were so provocative that even though we tried to adjust the arrangement and the choreography to a more charming viin feel, it still looked sexy. ¡®Well, that¡¯s not too bad either.¡¯ We divided the line from three to two, and switched ces between the front and the back, creating a chase-like atmosphere. The staff below nodded with satisfaction. ¡°It¡¯s good, I was worried that Ise would have a hard time.¡± ¡°Yeah, the stage turned out well, thankfully.¡± Was this enough to look decent? But ¡®decent¡¯ wasn¡¯t enough. I had to be a more dramatic hard carry leader, who could elicit more than just ¡®okay¡¯ from the audience. [Choose me right now. I¡¯ll seep into you more sweetly.] [I¡¯ll shake you up so you can¡¯t breathe.] Phew, the first verse was almost over, and it was time for the choreography that I and the choreographer had agonized over. I swiftly moved to the front of the line, and stood on one leg as the tempo slowed down for the chorus. ¡®I really¡­ did everything I could to win thispetition.¡¯ I closed my eyes and waited for the timing. The color of the light changed and signaled me. [Dangerous, entrust yourself to me now.] [I¡¯ll take you to a better ce than you can imagine.] We wrapped our wrists with the ties we had tied beforehand, and they crossed like handcuffs. We lifted our bound wrists over our heads, and knelt on the stage with our legs slightly apart, twisting our hips and moving our waists. [You can take everything from me, as if there¡¯s no tomorrow.] I tilted my head to the opposite direction of my hand, and copsed to the floor. In an instant, the light went off again, and darkness fell on the stage. We had shown enough of a teaser. Now it was time for the real climax. Chapter 150: Chapter 150: Until the lights went out, I was kneeling in the front row, at the center of the line. When the lights turned off and on again, I had disappeared without a trace. ¡®I almost missed it¡­¡¯ As in the rehearsal, the timing was very short and the path I had to move was long. I barely made it and sighed with relief. I went all the way down to the stage below, and hid myself while preparing to go back up. Meanwhile, the other members had their dance break time. There was a reason why I chose this kind of production, where I disappear and reappear. ¡®First of all, it looks shy and cool.¡¯ If I wanted to differentiate myself from the other units, I had to show them something that would make them exim right away. They would dance well too, of course. But just showing off my skills wouldn¡¯t be enough to secure the victory. That was the conclusion I came from. During the rehearsal, I only checked the timing when I could hide myself, and I didn¡¯t really disappear. So I heard the surprised staff murmuring.¡°Wow, where did he go?¡± ¡°I think he went all the way out?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like magic. It¡¯s fun, and fresh.¡± While the other members paired up and performed their dance breaks, eight backup dancers supported the background. After the dance break, it was time for the four of them to do their main job. I was still out of the stage, and AtoX B ad-libbed with his hand on his ear. [You can¡¯t escape-, Huh-.] At the same time, Vesper A kept rapping and filling the sound. [In this moment, when I¡¯m cornered with no ce to hide] [Choose me now, I want to be with you more thrillingly.] And then, Vesper B took over the part and finished the stage. [Electrifying Poison, I drank the cup with poison in it.] [I don¡¯t mind if you hurt me more, I still like you if it¡¯s you.] That¡¯s how the song ended with me gone from the stage, and the lights went off again. At that moment, just like the beginning, the shadow of the bars was cast on the stage, and four gunshots rang out. Bang-. Bang-. Bang-. Bang-. When the lights came back on, I was the only one standing in the center of the stage, with the other members gone. While I was waiting off the stage, I changed my costume to a uniform that resembled a police outfit. It was as if I was a spy from the police side who betrayed them all. With that production, the wholeposition was over. As if it was a theater stage, I took off my hat and bowed exaggeratedly. I saluted the camera and the stage came to a real end. ¡®It¡¯s over.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know how the final edit of the broadcast would be. But it was a production that was faithful to the concept of pursuit, escape, and breakout. ¡®I guess I can¡¯t do this for the maineback.¡¯ If I could get a goodmercial song, it would be worth trying¡­ Just like the Drink Meeback, the fans would like it, but the public appeal would be low and I wouldn¡¯t get much results. It was a concept that was hard to try unless it was apetition program where the impact was important for each stage. I felt more motivated for the production. Please, just do your part well. I hoped they didn¡¯t ignore my plea that I shouted in my mind. The members who were cking off in the practice didn¡¯t disappoint me on the stage. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Thank you~!¡± As we bowed to the staff below the stage and came down, our faces were flushed with pride for finishing the stage well. ¡°Wow, it felt different from the rehearsal. We really nailed it.¡± ¡°I know, right? I want to see the monitoring as soon as possible. Will they show us right away?¡± ¡°Of course they will. Let¡¯s go to the waiting room quickly!¡± They all looked like they had lost their minds with satisfaction, as if they had done a very cost-effective performance. They didn¡¯t participate properly in the practice, but they did well on the stage. Do they think this will end with a happy ending? I don¡¯t know if they are short-sighted, stupid, or they think they did well enough to cover up all their negligence. Either way, I couldn¡¯t understand them with mymon sense. Just wait and see, you bastards. I clenched my teeth and tried to keep a calm expression as I headed to the waiting room. Yeah, enjoy your leisure today. The next stage of the dance B unit started right away. ¡°Ooh.¡± The concept of the dance B unit was high-teen. Five of them, wearing school uniforms that suited their personalities, lined up and portrayed boys in love. They seemed to focus more on the difficulty of the choreography than on the overall quality of the stage production. If you ask me which choreography was harder, it was definitely the B unit. And there was an ironic trap here. This was not an Olympicpetition, but an idol stage. It didn¡¯t matter how much harder and more difficult the moves were, but simply which one appealed more to the voters who held the voting rights. Of course, our choreography was not easy either. It was not easy to kneel on the floor, show off our body lines, fall over, get up again, and support our waist. I didn¡¯t separate myself from the production for nothing. ¡®This should be enough to rx.¡¯ The other members seemed to think the same, as their faces rxed a bit. Ugh, you mean guys. I felt bitter, but I did everything I could to prepare. Now I just had to wait for the producers to ept my intention. Finally, the stage of the dance B unit ended and it was time for the rap A unit. ¡°Good job!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± I saw the rap A unit waiting below the stage after the energetic greeting of the dance B unit. ¡®Next is Oh Yi-jun¡¯s turn.¡¯ Well, I didn¡¯t have time to worry about that. And Yi-jun¡¯s attitude was so rxed that it was hard to believe he was in front of apetition. The concept of the rap A unit was authentic hip hop. The members of the rap A unit were Vesper, yground, and AtoX. I think the main arrangement was done by the Vesper members. ¡®They look pretty motivated.¡¯ The sound quality was not bad and the members¡¯ skills were notcking. The stage level was also decent, but¡­ if there was anything toin about, it was that I couldn¡¯t tell if this was an idolpetition or a famous hip hop survival show called Death Trial. Not to mention the visual gap with the other units¡­ [Women, honor, money, I don¡¯t care about that, I just enjoy it] [Your girlfriend will be your ex tomorrow] Shouldn¡¯t you cut out those lyrics if they were in the original song? The original song itself was about beating up a malepetitor and boasting about oneself, but they really didn¡¯t change it and brought it like that¡­ What is this¡­ The staff¡¯s expressions were noticeably dark. The stage itself wasn¡¯t that bad, but¡­ The Vesper guys didn¡¯t seem to know what the problem was, and AtoX¡¯s lips were clearly down. Well¡­ It¡¯s their own choice of songs, so it¡¯s their responsibility whatever their image is. I shook my head and watched the stage end. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Good job!¡± As soon as the rap A group members bowed and greeted the audience below, it was finally time to see what Yi-jun had prepared. Maybe because there were too many formidable contestants, he didn¡¯t get much attention from the program, but it seemed like there were quite a few contestants who were interested in Yi-jun. It was rumored that he had been offered by some orthodox hip-hop crews, so it was understandable. Some contestants seemed curious about how well he could perform on stage, since he had no interest in producing. And some contestants seemed eager to see how amazing his skills were, since the real producers praised him so much. ¡®Either way, I¡¯m not too worried.¡¯ As I crossed my arms and waited for the stage to start, a short English word came to mind in the background. [GAME START] With a beep and an electronic sound unique to 8-bit, the button in the background was pressed and the stage began. [Hey Hey Hey, hello, I¡¯ll greet you. It¡¯s me again.] [Let¡¯s start with a yful y today, greet me with a smile] It was a song that a rapper famous for representing the yful hearts of teenagers brought out in his second album. The lyrics were calm and witty, but it didn¡¯t do wellmercially because it didn¡¯t match the trend of the chart at the time. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have known what song it was if I hadn¡¯t listened to it at home.¡¯ The staff member muttered, ¡®Is it an original song?¡¯ because he had no idea. Whether it was original or not, everyone smiled at the light atmosphere that contrasted with the A unit. The unit members, dressed in casual sportswear reminiscent of hockey and basketball uniforms, adorned the stage with colorful movements and maintained the cheerful atmosphere. [Let¡¯s start with a light greeting today. Come out now, I¡¯m waiting for you] [I need a new stimulus in the familiar alley, the way home from school] Unlike the previous showy stage, all the unit members looked sincerely happy. They didn¡¯t look like people who were performing, but like they were having fun with each other. But it didn¡¯t bother me. The energy of being happy without any tension made the viewers feel excited. [Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t know and call me, press the Start button when you¡¯re bored] [I guess I have nothing to learn, don¡¯t forget to Reset again] Various game characters were roaming around in the background, and the overall atmosphere was bright and cheerful. It was a stage that broke the prejudice of the contestants who expected a fierce and showy stage like the A group, because it was a rap unit. Of course, they would have done well if they had created an atmosphere like the A group. But I had a vague idea of what Yi-jun wanted to say at this stage. A stage that you can enjoy like a brief oasis, without caring about thepetition. It wasn¡¯t ignoring or attacking thepetitors, but showing the attitude of doing what I like and what I¡¯m good at. ¡®In the previous stage, they were all scared of me and had nothing to do, they were busy hitting me.¡¯ On the other hand, Yi-jun¡¯s stage had a clear intention of saying, I don¡¯t care what you do, I do what I do well and like. Thanks to that, the A group¡¯s stage, which had aggressive wording, seemed more like a puppy that barks a lot because it¡¯s afraid of losing a fight. ¡®He won this.¡¯ I felt relieved until the rap match. The problem was the vocals. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Thank you~!¡± As we bowed to the staff below the stage and came down, our faces were flushed with pride for finishing the stage well. ¡°Wow, it felt different from the rehearsal. We really nailed it.¡± ¡°I know, right? I want to see the monitoring as soon as possible. Will they show us right away?¡± ¡°Of course they will. Let¡¯s go to the waiting room quickly!¡± They all looked like they had lost their minds with satisfaction, as if they had done a very cost-effective performance. They didn¡¯t participate properly in the practice, but they did well on the stage. Do they think this will end with a happy ending? I don¡¯t know if they are short-sighted, stupid, or they think they did well enough to cover up all their negligence. Either way, I couldn¡¯t understand them with mymon sense. Just wait and see, you bastards. I clenched my teeth and tried to keep a calm expression as I headed to the waiting room. Yeah, enjoy your leisure today. The next stage of the dance B unit started right away. ¡°Ooh.¡± The concept of the dance B unit was high-teen. Five of them, wearing school uniforms that suited their personalities, lined up and portrayed boys in love. They seemed to focus more on the difficulty of the choreography than on the overall quality of the stage production. If you ask me which choreography was harder, it was definitely the B unit. And there was an ironic trap here. This was not an Olympicpetition, but an idol stage. It didn¡¯t matter how much harder and more difficult the moves were, but simply which one appealed more to the voters who held the voting rights. Of course, our choreography was not easy either. It was not easy to kneel on the floor, show off our body lines, fall over, get up again, and support our waist. I didn¡¯t separate myself from the production for nothing. ¡®This should be enough to rx.¡¯ The other members seemed to think the same, as their faces rxed a bit. Ugh, you mean guys. I felt bitter, but I did everything I could to prepare. Now I just had to wait for the producers to ept my intention. Finally, the stage of the dance B unit ended and it was time for the rap A unit. ¡°Good job!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± I saw the rap A unit waiting below the stage after the energetic greeting of the dance B unit. ¡®Next is Oh Yi-jun¡¯s turn.¡¯ Well, I didn¡¯t have time to worry about that. And Yi-jun¡¯s attitude was so rxed that it was hard to believe he was in front of apetition. The concept of the rap A unit was authentic hip hop. The members of the rap A unit were Vesper, yground, and AtoX. I think the main arrangement was done by the Vesper members. ¡®They look pretty motivated.¡¯ The sound quality was not bad and the members¡¯ skills were notcking. The stage level was also decent, but¡­ if there was anything toin about, it was that I couldn¡¯t tell if this was an idolpetition or a famous hip hop survival show called Death Trial. Not to mention the visual gap with the other units¡­ [Women, honor, money, I don¡¯t care about that, I just enjoy it] [Your girlfriend will be your ex tomorrow] Shouldn¡¯t you cut out those lyrics if they were in the original song? The original song itself was about beating up a malepetitor and boasting about oneself, but they really didn¡¯t change it and brought it like that¡­ Chapter 151: Chapter 151: I nced at the vocal units waiting in their designated areas. They were hidden behind partitions, so I couldn¡¯t see what they were doing, but I could feel the tense atmosphere. There were three units, but only one winner. Even if their own unit didn¡¯t win, two out of the three units had members from their group, so the chances of winning were higher than the other parts. ¡®Well, that¡¯s assuming the winner is random.¡¯ For the participants who cared more about ¡®my¡¯ victory than their group¡¯s, it must have been bitter. And the typical example of that was¡­ ¡°You said you were going out for some fresh air, right? Do you think I¡¯m like someone who smokes in the broadcasting station and gets caught on camera?¡± It was none other than the walking time bomb of Floss, Shim Naru. I wasn¡¯t in the vocal part, and there was no one from our group in the B unit that Shim Naru belonged to, so I didn¡¯t know for sure. But from the rumors, the A unit was the strongest contender for the win. The C unit also had a lot of ambitious participants, so they couldn¡¯t be ignored. The B unit was in a vague position.¡®That¡¯s just based on what the staff were whispering, so it might be different in reality.¡¯ The B unit also had some famous main vocals, so it was possible that they could pull off a surprise win with a powerful performance on the day. The other team members would have to hope that he did well, even if they hated him. I watched as the rap B unit, which Yaejun was in, finished their stage and came down. ¡°Vocal A unit, please get ready!¡± As they cleared the stage and cleaned up the flower petals and various stage props that had fallen from the sky, the six vocal A unit members gathered below the stage. They surrounded Seong-won and Hwijin, who were tall, with the rest of the members who were about half a foot shorter. Unlike Shim Naru, who seemed to have written on his face that he only cared about himself and his own victory, Hwijin knew how to act ording to the situation. Of course¡­ he didn¡¯t seem like a fox who would pretend to like something in front of someone who was struggling. Anyway, that was my opinion. The outfit was oddly different for Seong-won, so I guessed they gave him some special role since he was the most confident in his vocal skills. ¡®Let¡¯s see how he used his great directing skills.¡¯ The group members stood in front of the standing microphones and cleared their throats. Soon, the lights went out with a thud. And then, a faint spotlight shone on Seong-won in the middle, like a ray of light in the darkness, and the apaniment started. [When the white snow falls on the street, I think of you who smiled-.] [Today, I walk alone again, hoping to see you by chance.] I couldn¡¯t tell what song it was from the apaniment alone, since they had arranged it a lot. But as soon as I heard the first verse, I thought they had made a smart choice. It was a mega hit bad song from the 2010s, an OST for a drama that expressed the feelings of two protagonists who couldn¡¯t be together. It started off softly and gradually became more passionate, leading to a high note at the end. It wasn¡¯t a carol, but it matched the winter mood very well, and the lighting that made it look like ice crystals were sparkling in the air was also very fitting. [The words we said when we broke up. Let¡¯s smile and greet each other if we meet again.] [You promised not to forget, but I can¡¯t see you.] The spotlight that was shining on Seong-won moved to another member as the part changed. One by one, each of the six members sang a line of the first verse. When the verse ended, all the lights and the background turned on. [If I hesitate, you might disappear, even if I hurry my steps-.] [My heart aches at the sad story that our fate ends here-.] Like ice melting, glittering star dust-like lights poured down from the ceiling. I didn¡¯t know who came up with this idea, but it was a very fitting effect for the beginning of winter. They pulled off a neat and standard winter-themed stage without ovepping with our first mission theme. [Pleasee back to me as if by chance-.] [Tell me you haven¡¯t forgotten me, that we shouldn¡¯t break up, please-.] The mournful chorus raised the pitch, signaling the start of the high note battle. The part that would decide the oue began. [It¡¯s okay if I smile again, do you know how my feelings fade away.] The stage background also changed from a white background with snowkes to a dark one, creating a contrast in the atmosphere. It was a pleasant stage to listen to, with solid vocal skills and well-distributed parts. They also did a good job of highlighting the high note part with ad-libs. I was surprised that Hwijin, who seemed like the main, had a small part, but it turned out to be a good choice. ¡®He sacrificed himself to save the unit.¡¯ I was impressed by their stable and smart performance, and they finished the stage with a bow. ¡°Thank you. We were Vocal A!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Good job!¡± They greeted the audience and came down the stage, wiping their sweat with the towels handed by the staff. I wanted to go out and encourage them if I had a chance¡­ But no one had left the waiting room yet, so I wasn¡¯t sure if it was okay. ¡®Well, it¡¯s already over, so it doesn¡¯t matter, right?¡¯ As I thought so, Vocal B came down to wait for their turn. ¡®Was this all decided by Shim Naru and his kids?¡¯ Shim Naru was the only one who had a different color of outfit. They must have had some pride, but they somehow agreed to that. I could imagine how stubborn he was. He would rather cooperate and let him do what he wanted than see him whine and not cooperate. Or maybe they thought, fine, we¡¯ll let you have it, but you better not fail. Either way, it wasn¡¯t pleasant, and Vocal B¡¯s stage began. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ It was exactly as I expected, without any surprises. Vocal B chose a rock bad song that was known as a test of male idol¡¯s vocal skills. They seemed confident in their vocals, so they challenged it boldly. That¡¯s fine if they¡¯re confident, but¡­ There were six members, but Shim Naru¡¯s part seemed to take up 40% of the song. And it wasn¡¯t even that he hit the high notes well, so the other members had to take care of the parts where the emotion reached the climax. If this was a live stage with an audience, I had a reasonable doubt that Shim Naru would hog all the high notes and pass the mic to the crowd when he couldn¡¯t hit them. ¡®Isn¡¯t this too much?¡¯ I wondered what the other members were thinking to put up with this, when the song was nearing the peak after the chorus. The rest of the members stayed still like toy soldiers around Shim Naru, who was at the center of the stage. Then, one by one, they changed their positions in a yful choreography. This is not bad, hmm. I watched with a judge¡¯s eye, when Shim Naru¡¯s climactic part and the disaster happened. [The waiting that seems to never end¨J-.] Of all the parts, he had a pitch problem in the most prominent one. Everyone in the waiting room held their breaths to suppress theirughter. I don¡¯t know which group it was, but someone burst outughing without hiding it. Uhahak, it was almost like a crying sound. The waiting rooms were not separated by walls, but by partitions, so theughter was clearly heard everywhere. At least it didn¡¯t reach the stage, right? I shook my head, wondering how much trouble Shim Naru would cause with his temper. As soon as Shim Naru faltered, someone took over his part as if they were waiting for it. It seemed like it was his part until the end of the verse. That meant¡­ They either anticipated it or¡­ prepared for it. I didn¡¯t know who it was, but it seemed like a member of yground. [Together, we were happy, I¡¯ll go back to the invisible moment and hold you-.] With the help of a rookie that no one could remember their name, the stage ended safely. Before they even finished their gratitude, Shim Naru threw his mic to a staff member and ran out of the set. ¡®Wow¡­ what a hothead.¡¯ It¡¯s a pity, but¡­ it was his choice to take the risk. I felt sorry for the members who followed him. But still, I felt a bit sorry for him. He must have thought that he could always act like that. That might be okay now, when he¡¯s young and popr. But it would be fatal when he gets older. I was worried, but I had to worry about my own group first. It was time for the results of Kyunghwa and Seon-woo¡¯s group project. Group C did a pop song, right? They all insisted on doing what they were good at, so they ended up choosing a pop song that no one wanted. That was the moment that proved that majority rule does not always represent the best choice. ¡®But it¡¯s better than having a pitch problem.¡¯ After a brief wait, Group C¡¯s intro started and the stage began. It was a synth-pop song with a retro vibe that dominated the Billboard chartst year. The concept was clearly the most eye-catching among the three groups. But I wondered if it would be good. Everyone watched with half expectation and half worry, when the first verse started. [Empty night, everybody drunken and slept-. The city is asleep] [No one says anything-. Everyone is silent.] The protagonist of the first verse was the leader of AtoX. He confidently took the opening and made an impactful start. Contrary to my worries, the stage quality was much better than Group B¡¯s, thanks to their excessive passion for the ace position. ¡®The question is how long this atmosphere willst.¡¯ The concept was well done, the set was well made, when will our kids¡¯ partse? I watched with a bit of relief, when¡­ ¡®Huh?¡¯ Neither Seon-woo nor Kyunghwa had their parts until the end of the first verse. Chapter 152: Chapter 152: I didn¡¯t mean to give all the spotlight to Kyunghwa or Seon-woo. What was that? Wasn¡¯t Kyunghwa supposed to be the leader? As I tilted my head with a bunch of question marks in my mind, [Whiskey in a ss is gonna be brimming, the whiskey in the ss is the only thing that sparkles.] [I¡¯m trying to lose count till dawn, I¡¯ll be drunk until dawnes.] Seon-woo¡¯s part finally came. The choreography was decent enough to make him stand out, but it wasn¡¯t a part that showcased his vocal skills. Of course, Seon-woo wasn¡¯t good enough to shine among the main vocals. But still, he wasn¡¯t so bad that he had to rely on his face only. Why did they give him such a part? I looked at Seon-woo with a puzzled expression on my face as he acted cute for the camera. He wore a blue jean jacket that evoked the nostalgia of the 80s and 90s, Ray-Ban sunsses tucked in his chest pocket, and a scarf that added a touch of rebelliousness. Hebined his usual cuteness with a retro and chic vibe, pleasing my eyes.Well, at least he got some screen time. I sighed inwardly as I focused on the next part, where Kyunghwa appeared. [We shouldn¡¯t have to wait, I can¡¯t wait any longer.] [Drink more, the beat is too heavy to skip. Raise your ss higher, you can¡¯t just skip it.] The lyrics were not much different from the others, but the part was so fast that the camera quickly moved away from Kyunghwa. Why did they choose that part? I wondered for a moment and shook my head. Maybe it was because of that part that Kyunghwa got it. I was annoyed by the other group members who took the center stage. They didn¡¯t seem to do much better than us, but they were so greedy for parts. I grumbled to myself as the stage was nearing its end. Well¡­ It¡¯s not like they were happy either. The overall level was not bad, but I don¡¯t think anyone was 100% satisfied with the stage. I felt a mix of relief and regret as I watched Kyunghwa and Seon-woo finish the stage. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Good job everyone!¡± ¡°Thank you~.¡± With the final bow of the vocal C team, all the unit stages were over. ¡®Let¡¯s never meet again, it was hell.¡¯ I smiled politely and said goodbye to the unit members. ¡°You all worked hard. Let¡¯s keep doing our best in our own teams.¡± Then, not only Vesper AB, but also AtoX AB smiled smugly as if they had won easily. ¡°Yes, you worked hard too, hyung.¡± You too, my ass. You didn¡¯t work hard, I did. ¡°We were awesome, I think we¡¯ll be a legend, maybe even a meme.¡± We? No, it was just me. ¡°I hope we can work together again, maybe at the end of the year or something!¡± I don¡¯t. I had a lot to say, but it was time to be grateful that it was over and look forward to the future. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go to the team waiting room then.¡± I ran out of the unit waiting room and headed to the team waiting room, where Kyunghwa and Seon-woo were already sitting on a chair. ¡°You all did a great job.¡± As soon as I entered the waiting room, I saw the gloomy faces of Kyunghwa and Seon-woo and tried to offer them some constion. Seon-woo¡¯s expression turned into a sob in an instant. ¡°I really, really had a hard time.¡± Kyunghwa seemed to have a lot to say too, but he was holding back because we were still in front of the camera. Seon-woo didn¡¯t care about the camera or anything and cried with big tears. I looked at Kyunghwa with a puzzled expression, wondering why he was like this. He shook his head as if to tell me to leave him alone. ¡°You did well, it¡¯s over now. Let¡¯s go back to the dorm and rest.¡± I patted Seon-woo¡¯s back, who hugged me like a puppy, and looked at the camera with a bewildered expression. While I was waiting like that, Seong-won and Yi-jun joined us in the team waiting room. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s over~!¡± Yi-jun looked relieved and happy, while Seong-won looked no different from usual. ¡°We¡¯re filming the stage review and evaluation tomorrow, right?¡± Yi-jun wiped his sweat with a towel that said ¡®Changwon City Sports Festival¡¯ in big embroidery, which I had no idea where he got it from. ¡°Yes, today you just need to check your health condition and go home. Your agency staff will be here soon.¡± Following the instructions of the production staff, Yi-jun nodded and drank the water that was on the table. It¡¯s good to have some leisure time. Everyone looked at Yi-jun with envy, while Seong-won moved away from him as if he was a barbarian. His reaction was so obvious on the camera that¡­ If it was another member, I would have worried about a controversy over his personality, but it was already well known through the crisis phone that Seong-won and Yi-jun hated each other. It would be used as a gag element, not edited badly. The stage filming ended with everyone looking shabby, and soon the manager came and took us to the dorm. We didn¡¯t know how the results would turn out, but the vocal was likely to win in group A, the rap in group B, and the dance in group A. If it goes like this, we will win in all parts. I hoped that our efforts for the past two weeks would not be in vain and prepared to go to bed. The night when everyone returned to the dorm and finished cleaning up. I heard a sniffling sound from outside the living room where Seon-woo was sleeping. ¡®Anyway¡­¡¯ I thought it would be better to pretend not to know, but I couldn¡¯t stand it and got up. As soon as I got up, I heard rustling sounds from here and there. That¡¯s right. I wasn¡¯t the only one awake. ¡°What happened earlier?¡± Finally, I turned on the light and looked at the bed where Seon-woo was sleeping. Seon-woo, who had curled up his body, was there. Yi-jun was peacefully sleeping with his arms and legs stretched out, while Kyunghwa and Seong-won covered their faces with their hands and opened their eyes slightly. ¡°Ah, no¡­¡± Seon-woo tried to deny it, but his face betrayed him. Kyunghwa seemed to be having a hard time too, but he wasn¡¯t mentally broken like this. There must have been something that happened. ¡®I should have slept early.¡¯ We had to move our luggage in the morning, so we didn¡¯t have time to rest. I started to worry a little as I saw the fatigue on Kyunghwa and Seong-won¡¯s faces. ¡°Are you upset because of what you heard earlier?¡± I asked in a slightly hoarse voice, wondering if Kyunghwa had dozed off for a bit. Seon-woo¡¯s back flinched noticeably at my question. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You have to tell me if you want me tofort you or help you.¡± I offered him a ce to vent his feelings, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Seon-woo rolled his swollen eyes around. ¡°I, I¡¯m really fine¡­¡± But Pposili, who was curled up under Seon-woo¡¯s feet, said otherwise. [¡ù¡®I, Seon-woo¡¯ has entered a ¡®very anxious¡¯ mood.] His face and status window showed that he was not fine at all. He was probably holding back his troubles by himself, afraid of causing trouble. But if he explodedter, it would be a bigger problem. ¡°I¡¯m really fine!¡± He shook his head as if he couldn¡¯t cause any more trouble here in the middle of the night. ¡°If that¡¯s the reason, I¡¯m going back to sleep.¡± Kyunghwa said in an unusually deted tone andy down on the nket. Seong-won seemed to be curious about the situation, but he put on his sleep mask andy down again. ¡®Kyunghwa is not the type to leave me like that. There must be a reason for that.¡¯ Should I use the rey service or something? After a brief moment of thought, a good idea came to mind. ¡®He can¡¯t say it out loud.¡¯ I sighed briefly and dragged Seon-woo to the table and gave him a chair. ¡°¡­?¡± He looked up at me with a bewildered expression. I dered briefly. ¡°I¡¯ll make you ate-night snack that you can eat for dinner, so think about it.¡± It wouldn¡¯t be good for his body to eat right before sleeping. But he was young, so his stomach would work well. He was 21 years old, so this much was fine. I took out the low-calorie konjac noodles that I had stored in the cab and soaked them in hot water until they were soft. There was milk, bacon, and onion. I chopped the onion finely and saut¨¦ed it with butter and sliced garlic. Then I added the ramen soup and seasoned it. The sauce looked sticky, but it was guaranteed to be delicious. I added the slightly soaked konjac noodles and simmered them a little. When the sauce was thick enough, I added a slice of cheese and finished. It was a visually sticky dish, but it had a stimting taste. A bowl was quickly made. ¡°Wow, it smells really good.¡± Of course. It was abination of unhealthy but delicious things. The bacon was not a cheap product that was salty, but an expensive one that had a savory taste without being salty. The recipe was cheap, but the ingredients were not. It was a delicious dish that was well deserved. ¡°Eat slowly and don¡¯t scrape the sauce.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Seon-woo nodded his head repeatedly with a revived look in his eyes. The konjac tumbler, which was slightly less than one serving, disappeared in an instant. He liked it, I guess. I wondered if there was anything he didn¡¯t like. His eyes were still swollen, but he ate so eagerly that I felt a little relieved. He looked at me eating and sneaked a nce at me. He quickly ran to the sink and brought me a pair of chopsticks. ¡°Hyung, you eat too¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m not hungry.¡± I didn¡¯t like eating after waking up from sleep. It made my stomach upset. And it was a little short for Seon-woo to eat alone. He was depressed, so he should eat well and feel better. I wasn¡¯t starving enough to take his food. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Eat more. If I wanted to eat, I would have made more.¡± ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± He nodded slowly, as if he finally epted my refusal after I turned him down a few more times. I sighed briefly and opened my mouth again. ¡°So, why are you crying? You were like this even after the shooting ended yesterday.¡± I didn¡¯t intend to interrogate him, but now that we finished eating, we should talk. I untied the apron that I had tightly wrapped around me, as if this was the main part, and stared at Seon-woo. Seon-woo started to avoid my gaze again, with a hesitant and insecure expression on his face. Chapter 153: Chapter 153: ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you sleep until you tell me.¡± ¡°Well, well¡­¡± He hesitated for a long time, as if he was about to reveal a state secret, barely suppressing his boiling anger. The reason he finally confessed was rather anticlimactic. Although Kyunghwa had tried to be considerate, it was not easy for Seon-woo to fit in with the unfamiliar members and the team of six vocalists. The other members were quick to learn and managed to reach 70% of their potential in no time. But Seon-woo took a long time to prepare to show a decent level, causing some friction. On top of that, there was a misunderstanding that he relied on his face and didn¡¯t practice hard enough, and he identally heard some unit members mocking him for being a visual member who couldn¡¯t evennd a solo CF. Seon-woo had never been ignored for his face in his life. But this time, he was hit hard by the jealous remarks he heard for the first time. ¡®This kid¡­ secretly¡­ had a lot of pride in his face, right?¡¯I was incredulous and snickered at the same time. ¡°You were so bothered by them talking behind your back about your face?¡± I asked with a teasing smile, as if I was talking to a child. Seon-woo finally raised his voice and pouted. ¡°Don¡¯tugh¡­! I¡¯m serious¡­¡± If he said he was confused and worried about his visual appeal with that face, he would deserve to be cursed by everyone around him. ¡°Don¡¯t mind them. They can¡¯t even match you if theybine ten of them.¡± I would have beenforted by Kyunghwa if my reason for being depressed was reasonable enough. But there was a reason why he ignored me and didn¡¯t feed me. ¡°Really?¡± Seon-woo blinked his eyelids with tears in them and asked. His face was so beautiful that he deserved a national award for just having such genes, as the fans would say. ¡°Yeah. I always told you. If someone picks a fight with you because of your face, it¡¯s because they¡¯re jealous of how pretty you are. Don¡¯t worry about it. And we¡¯re done with the unit activities now. What else are you worried about? We¡¯re only going to work with us from now on, right?¡± Only then did Seon-woo nod his head slowly, as if he was a little relieved. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s it. Don¡¯t worry about the past anymore.¡± Fortunately, it didn¡¯t seem like a situation that required me to be so serious. I sighed with relief and stroked Seon-woo¡¯s head before heading back to bed. ¡°Go wash the dishes and go back to sleep. We have to move again tomorrow morning. You¡¯ll sleep well since you¡¯re full.¡± We didn¡¯t have much to pack anyway, since we just kept our stuff in the bags we brought. We just had to sort out the things we needed for tomorrow morning and move them right away. There was another shooting scheduled. I heard the ttering sound of Seon-woo washing the dishes in the kitchen. Bang-. Rumble rumble¡­ ¡°Huh¡­¡± Was that really okay? I felt like my ears were forced open by the ominous sound, but I tried to ignore it. I should be d that nothing serious happened. I let out a short sigh and closed my eyes. The next morning. Since we didn¡¯t call a moving center and just asked for one more assistant manager, we had to move our stuff ourselves in the morning. ¡°Ah, just leave that and go!¡± Some of the things that Cheon Ise used to use were mixed in with our luggage, and it took longer than we thought to sort them out. We barely managed to move all our stuff and belongings to the van by the time it was past 10 o¡¯clock. ¡°What time do we have to arrive at the broadcasting station for the filming?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do the makeup and hair in the waiting room there, so I think we only need to arrive by 3 o¡¯clock.¡± The filming was starting in the evening, so we still had some time. I told myself not to be too impatient and headed to our new amodation, which I had only briefly visited once after signing the contract. ¡®Money is good¡­¡¯ The high-rise building, which had a separate entrance for us, boasted a strict security system that required us to swipe a card three times to get in. ¡°We¡¯re moving into room 1809 from today.¡± While the manager quickly went to the security office to get some extra card keys, we all looked around the central entrance. It was amazing how the building was separated from the surrounding shops, considering the rent. ¡°Why?¡± I asked Seon-woo, who had been rolling his eyes since a while ago, and he hesitated. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never been to a ce like this¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean, a ce like this?¡± ¡°A ce where you have to swipe a card to get in from the entrance?¡± I remembered that his house was a detached house when he sent me a selfie from his hometown. This was also my first time in a ce with such tight security. ¡°It¡¯s not for nothing that we moved to a ce with good security.¡± We had brushed it off as the work of a stalker fan this time, but it was lucky that only our things were gone and no one was in the house. It would have been a disaster if someone had escaped with our cat, Ppoyeol, who was a real cat unlike Pposili, who was a stuffed animal. I nced at Seong-won, who was holding the carrier with Aeongi inside with his whole body, and nodded. ¡°They¡¯re all registered. Let¡¯s go in.¡± We had been waiting for a while at the security office, and the manager came back with six cards. He gave us one each, and one for himself as an emergency. He told us to be careful not to lose them, and we finished packing our luggage. ¡°What should we eat for lunch¡­?¡± I reflexively muttered, and six pairs of eyes stared at me. The fridge was empty, and I didn¡¯t have the skill to whip up something right away. ¡°Let¡¯s order Chinese food.¡± I shouldn¡¯t say that these days. Ahem. I coughed and searched for a Chinese restaurant on the app. ¡°What¡¯s up? I thought you hated stuff like ck bean sauce noodles because they¡¯re bad for your body.¡± Of course, they were not good for the body. They were high in calories, carbohydrates, and pork fat, which was not healthy at all. ¡®It¡¯s amazing how the Chinese people eat so much fried food andrd, and still stay slim.¡¯ I heard that they drink a lot of tea, which helps break down the fat, but I didn¡¯t know if that was true. Anyway, that was the story of people who were used to that culture and diet. We were ordinary Koreans, and if we ate that greasy stuff every day, we would have no veins left. But¡­ on moving day, you have to eat jajangmyeon. I smiled and answered. ¡°Let¡¯s just eat today. It¡¯s not the same without jajangmyeon on moving day.¡± The others seemed to agree, and Kyunghwa answered with a rare bright expression. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have seafood jjamppong.¡± Seong-won also nced around and added his order. ¡°I¡¯ll have ck bean noodles.¡± I had to persuade someone to join me before it was toote. I felt anxious and said, ¡°Uh, are you all going to eat individual menus? Isn¡¯t anyone going to have therge ck bean noodles?¡± Therge ck bean noodles were a basic two-person serving. Well, I could force myself to eat two servings at once, but I had to shootter and overeating was forbidden. I couldn¡¯t go to the camera with a bloated stomach from eating two servings ofrge ck bean noodles. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have therge ck bean noodles.¡± What¡¯s going on? I was expecting to coax either Seon-woo or Yi-jun, but unexpectedly, Seong-won quickly agreed to share the menu with me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and asked, and Seong-won turned his head away with a polite smile and snorted. ¡°ck bean noodles are ck bean noodles, whether they¡¯re regr orrge. It¡¯s not much of a difference.¡± It seemed like Seong-won was a bit embarrassed by his own words, but¡­ no, that¡¯s not true. Regr ck bean noodles were basically stir-fried with the moisture from the onions, so they had a different texture from therge ck bean noodles, which used starch water to adjust the thickness. If you wanted a low-level and crisp stir-fried feeling, then therge ck bean noodles with their thick sauce would feelpletely different¡­ I was a bit worried, but since he rarelypromised, I quietly shut my mouth. ¡°Okay, then onerge ck bean noodles, one seafood spicy noodles, and the rest of you?¡± I asked the rest of the members and managers, and the assistant manager who was standing awkwardly said with a flutter. ¡°Uh, me too?¡± I had to send them back to the office before going to the broadcasting station, but I felt better if I fed them a decent meal at least. ¡°Yes, you worked hard today, so have a meal, even if it¡¯s not much.¡± As soon as I ordered through the app, the delivery man arrived at the entrance about 30 minutester. I opened the double entrance and received the food, and finally felt relieved. It was a high-rise, so there was no risk of anyone climbing the wall and breaking in, and I could take the elevator directly from the underground parking lot to the house, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about being photographed by someone waiting in front of theplex. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have had to worry about this before Climax became popr.¡¯ I felt a little bit¡­ very little bitforted by the fact that this was also because we had gained some poprity. I spread a newspaper on the living room floor and sat around with the others. After finishing the meal, it was time to get ready and head to the broadcasting station. I didn¡¯t know how the stage would turn out yesterday, so I was still a bit anxious. But I didn¡¯t have to sit with those jerks anymore, and I just had to vote for the ace, do the interview, and participate in the ranking evaluation. They said the results would be out today, so it didn¡¯t seem like the external channel views would affect the evaluation like in the first mission. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving if you¡¯re ready.¡± Kyunghwa, who had washed and cleaned the disposable dishes, took off his gloves and took a breath, then started to get ready to go out. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s better to arrive a little early than to bete.¡± They all nodded in agreement and headed to the parking lot. Things don¡¯t always go as nned. The road was more congested than expected, and the van arrived at the broadcasting station parking lot at 2:58, just two minutes before 3 o¡¯clock. If I had some spare time, I would go down and greet the fans, maybe do some simple fan service before going back up. But time was too tight, so we all barely managed to give a quick bow and head to the set. ¡°Isa, fighting!¡± ¡°Seong-won, I¡¯m looking forward to today!¡± ¡°Climax, fighting!¡± ¡°Kyunghwa, cheer up!¡± The only thing that reached my ears from outside the parking lot was someone¡¯s enthusiastic cheering, which stabbed somewhere in my heart. I have to do my best, yes. It won¡¯t be long before I can repay them through the broadcast. But for now, finishing my revenge with a clear head was my priority. Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Thanks to the makeup team who hurried up, I was able to head to the group waiting room that was prepared for the first shoot without beingte. ¡°Are we filming here all day?¡± I didn¡¯t feel like going back to that huge stage and sitting face to face with those bastards I never wanted to see again. And it seemed like the other members felt the same way. The only one who might have been disappointed not to y with the other teams was Yi-jun. ¡°First, they¡¯ll review the group stages and conduct the ace voting, and then they¡¯ll move to the main hall to announce the results.¡± As soon as the camera was turned off, everyone¡¯s tension was relieved. The staff who sat in the same ce with a temporary chair greeted us with a friendly smile. I still have to go to that damn hall. I swallowed a sigh and quietly sat on the left side of the sofa. Soon, the MC who was in charge of the show greeted us from the familiar stage. [The bloody pride battle of Korea¡¯s representative boy groups! Boys Be Ambitious, you¡¯ve all done a great job on the second mission!][The unique stages of the seven units! The position battle to determine the best unit, let¡¯s see the stages right now!] We had already seen them all on the monitor while waiting for our turn. There was not as much tension as yesterday, since we already knew which unit did well and which did not. [Let¡¯s meet the vocal A unit first!] Following the MC¡¯s loud introduction, the names of the members in each group appeared. The members in group A were Floss, yground, Climax. It was probably not intentional, but I had a silly thought that the first andst letters of each group name were strangely connected. I had already seen the stage once, so I pped without much reaction. Among the three stages, it was the one that showed the most clean and vocal skills. [Now, we¡¯ll start the ACE voting! The ACE voting consists of internal and external voting.] What¡¯s internal and what¡¯s external? I narrowed my eyes and stared at the screen, and as if to say that they thought we wouldn¡¯t understand at once, they switched to a summary screen. [ACE evaluation] Internal evaluation (+10Points) Select one member who showed the best performance during the preparation of the stage by majority vote within the unit External evaluation (+5Points) Select one member who stood out the most by watching the stage video by majority vote outside the unit If the internal ACE and the external ACE match, get double points (+20Points). They really do everything. But¡­ It wasn¡¯t a bad improvement if we could get the ace. [As you can see on the screen, the internal ace who is decided by the vote of the unit members will get 10 points, and the external ace will get 5 points for each group.] [If the internal ace and the external ace are the same member, you will get the honor of getting double points, a total of 20 points.] ¡°Wow¡­¡± Yi-jun, who seemed to believe that he was the internal ace, whistled lightly. I guess we can count on getting 10 points for sure. Of course, I also thought that I should be the internal ace, but that was just my wish. If those bastards who I carried by the scruff of their necks stabbed me in the back, I would be at a disadvantage since I was the only one in the team of two. [The internal ace of the vocal A unit is¡­] The MC¡¯s voice dragged on, and the screen showed the faces of the three members. Floss, yground, Climax. Who would it be? I clenched my fists and waited for the result. We should have recruited two or three more people from somewhere. It was toote to realize that we were outnumbered by the other team. It was quite fatal, but there was nothing we could do. [Now, we will start the ace voting for the vocal A unit right away!] The monitor screen showed a voting screen that looked scientific and error-free, but the reality was far from it. ¡°I¡¯ll give you some papers. Please write down the internal ace of your unit on the yellow paper and put it in the box. And on the blue paper, please write down the external ace of the other units.¡± It was a very traditional voting method that had not changed much from the ss president election in the 90s elementary school. And it was not even a secret ballot. The camera followed and filmed how each person wrote their vote. ¡°Oh, this is not a secret ballot?¡± Yi-jun jokingly joked and hid the note in his hand, but it did not work at all. ¡°Who did you vote for, Yi-jun?¡± ¡°Hey, what are you going to do if you ask me that~!¡± There was a reason why the camera was so persistent in filming Yi-jun. He was in the same team as Seon-won, who was considered the ace candidate of the A unit. Would he support him, or would he prioritize his personal grudge and choose another participant? Everyone was interested in whether Yi-jun would choose profit or revenge. While Yi-jun shrugged it off, Seon-won seemed to be nervous, but he turned his head and crossed his arms. Just don¡¯t fight. I quickly wrote down Seon-won¡¯s name on the voting paper and folded it neatly and put it in the ballot box. That¡¯s how the voting for the vocal A unit ended and the vocal B unit¡¯s stage started. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Everyone knew how this stage turned out, so they became less talkative. They messed it up badly. Everyone rolled their eyes as the production team edited the stage video and yed it. Until the middle, it was not that bad¡­ It was just that Shim Naru got too many parts. Everyone watched with the same thought as the problematic part where he went off-key was getting closer. ¡®How did they fix that?¡¯ As soon as it was revealed, it was obvious that Shim Naru would be humiliated. Would the production team really show it like that? They must have had a hard time getting Floss to join the show, and they also had a stage ident, so they must have been very careful about their side. Everyone was watching with half anticipation and half worry when something unexpected happened. [An endless wait-.] Shim Naru¡¯s off-key part disappeared. To be precise, they corrected it with auto-tune to make it sound as natural as possible. Everyone was expecting his mistake, but they doubted their ears when they heard the pitch smoother than they remembered. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What is this¡­?¡± The vocal A unit¡¯s stage was almost live without any correction except for the minimum echo, so everyone¡¯s eyes widened. If they knew they would correct it like this, they would have tried more daring arrangements. Why didn¡¯t they say anything and suddenly? Of course, they heard that some programs sometimes edited some participants¡¯ recordings more naturally for production reasons. Especially in thepetition programs where the final stage was approaching, each of the remaining participants had a fandom that surpassed the established debut singers, so they used this method to make the participants who would benefit the broadcast survive longer. But this was¡­ It was not a vocalistpetition, but a stage where theypeted by dividing the parts by unit. How could they let only one person benefit from this? Everyone looked unhappy. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± Seong-won was about to protest to the staff as if he was going to do something rash, but Kyunghwa quickly stopped him. ¡°Sit down.¡± ¡°No, just a minute.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk after the recording is over.¡± Seong-won looked around as if he couldn¡¯t ept it. Neither I, Yi-jun, nor Seon-woo looked pleased either. But we were in front of the camera right now, and we didn¡¯t know how the editing would turn outter if we acted impulsively. Seong-won must have realized what we were worried about, and he closed his mouth, biting his lips. The rookie who followed up and took over the part after the ident looked like a weird person who had barged in and snatched the part. This is a tant attempt to save Shin Naru by screwing over the rookie. The other members also swallowed their words and focused on the screen. In the cold atmosphere, the B team¡¯s stage ended and the ace voting started again. Since our group didn¡¯t have any B team participants, we quickly picked the external ace and finished. Anyone who saw the unedited stage and remembered what happened would have known who to pick from the beginning. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Yi-jun rubbed his head as if he was not feeling good, and soon the vocal C team¡¯s stage started. [Empty night, everybody drunken and slept-. A hollow night, the city is asleep] The retro beat filled the conference room, but everyone was gloomy because of what had happened earlier. Of course, it wasn¡¯t something that affected us, so it was a relief. But no one was happy with the situation where the production team gave an obvious advantage to a certain participant. I wonder how VESPER is doing. I shook my head as if I didn¡¯t want to think about them. Soon, the C team¡¯s stage ended and it was time to vote for the ace again. Everyone picked up their pens silently, and Seon-woo opened his mouth nervously. ¡°Don¡¯t pick me!¡± He looked so desperate and earnest. Kyunghwa, who was trying to keep a poker face, spat out the water he was drinking on his pants. ¡°Hey, what the hell. It sshed on me too.¡± Yi-jun, who was sitting next to Kyunghwa, grumbled and poked Kyunghwa¡¯s waist with the pen cap. ¡°Seon-woo is begging us to pick someone else, so let¡¯s do as he wants, right?¡± Everyone knew who had the hardest time in the C team, so our votes naturally went to Kyunghwa. It was a pity for Seon-woo, who probably wouldn¡¯t get a single vote from the outside. But Kyunghwa had worked hard too, and we didn¡¯t know if he could actually get the ace from the outside, so there was no need to split the votes. ¡®Judging by the weight¡­ he doesn¡¯t seem to have a lot of votes from the outside either.¡¯ The vocal battle, which left only a bitter feeling, ended, and right away¡­ [Yes! This is how the vocal ABC teams have finished their stages. We will start the rap A and B teams¡¯ stages right away!] Damn, they¡¯re going in the opposite order of the shooting. The review of the rap battle, which was the most rxing of all the units, began. The rap A team¡¯s stage was¡­ well, there was no big mistake, and it was just nd and unattractive, so there was nothing to be disappointed or expectant about. ¡®The important thing is the next one.¡¯ I nced at Yi-jun¡¯s expression, and he was smiling happily, thinking that his stage would be on soon. ¡®He¡¯s so peaceful.¡¯ Really. I could learn from his mindset. Admiring Yi-jun¡¯s transcendent peace of mind, I moved my eyes back to the screen. Chapter 155: Chapter 155: When did they make this? A short intro video with a simple game-like vibe was inserted. It wouldn¡¯t have been too hard to make, but none of the other teams had tried it, so it looked very fresh. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Kyunghwa sighed with a look that seemed to say ¡®we should have done something like this too¡¯. The stage that followed was a good one that anyone could enjoy with a light heart, as I had expected. ¡®They have to win this.¡¯ I nodded and couldn¡¯t take my eyes off the screen until the end. Even though they didn¡¯t give any particr part to anyone, they all had such great basic skills that Yi-jun even stood out. There was nothing more to ask for. ¡°They did really well.¡± Seon-woo muttered with a mix of envy and admiration, and Yi-jun ruffled his hair andughed.¡°Let¡¯s do it together next time.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± I suddenly wondered if it was a waste to use such a good idea for apetition. But it seemed like they would win, so it didn¡¯t matter. I decided to think positively and prepared for the next vote. This was obvious. Whether I looked inside or outside, it had to be Oh Yi-jun. I finished the vote with a light heart and it was my turn. ¡°Now it¡¯s Ise¡¯s stage.¡± Yi-jun, who had seen his own production be more perfect with the editing, pointed at the screen with his shoulders full of confidence. The direction was different, but I also did my best to pull it off by myself, so the result was not bad. There were a lot of tricks using lighting, entrance, and exit, so I wondered if the editing captured the directing well. That was the most worrying thing for me right now. As I was feeling uneasy about various things, a loud siren sound that seemed to tear my ears started the video. [Do you remember the moment we first met-.] I tried to give some points to the costume as well, so every time I raised my arm high, my abs showed under the short top. I didn¡¯t think anything of it when I danced on stage or watched the monitoring video. But when I saw the edited version, I felt embarrassed by the fierce determination to win this stage. Finally, when I reached the point where I performed the choreography that felt like my wrists were tied, yful cheers erupted from here and there. [Dangerous, leave yourself to me now. ] [I¡¯ll take you to a better ce than you imagine-.] ¡°Wow wow wow-.¡± Yi-jun eximed as if he was teasing me. ¡°Be quiet.¡± I lowered my face in embarrassment and saw the camera capturing that scene diligently. Ah, can¡¯t they not film this? But I guess it¡¯s better to fill the time with this than nothing. I was embarrassed and the camera followed me more persistently. ¡°Hyung, you¡¯re amazing, how did you think of doing that?¡± ¡®That¡¯ thing? You¡¯re being too harsh. ¡°I don¡¯t know, be quiet.¡± At that time, I only thought that I had to win with these uncooperative guys, so I didn¡¯t have time to think about anything else. As a result, I came to the conclusion that I had to do something I had never done before and make it stand out. And if I was going to do that, why not try something sexy that I didn¡¯t really want to do with our kids! ¡®I¡¯m d it worked out well.¡¯ Now, all I have to do is watch the stage video and see if my n was sessful. I don¡¯t know how I managed to endure until now. I guess I should be satisfied that it¡¯s over, no matter what they say or do. Finally, I saw the part where I disappeared in the middle and reappeared in the center of the stage, and they used the camera angle and zoom to make it look cool. ¡®This should be enough topete with the external ace.¡¯ As I finished thest gesture with a flourish, the ace voting started right away. There was no need to think about this. I quickly voted and waited for the final stage of the dance B unit. They weren¡¯t bad, but they weren¡¯t better than us either. I felt the same way even after watching it again. I sighed with relief and waited for the rest of the show. The screen spun around and showed the MC on the stage again. The MC announced that all the stages were over with a loud introduction. [Well, we¡¯ve seen all seven units¡¯ amazing performances! Now, we¡¯ll start the voting to decide the winning team of each unit battle!] Another vote? They¡¯re so slow with everything else, but why are they so fast with this? I was amazed. ¡°Please move to the main shooting studio right now!¡± I followed the staff¡¯s guidance, feeling a mix of anticipation and anxiety. If they had any conscience, they would give me the ace for both internal and external. But they¡¯re two, and I¡¯m one, so¡­ I felt a surge of anger at the thought of those bastards being ungrateful to me until the end. I decided to let it go. It would be nice if I got it. If not, their ingratitude would backfire on them. I swallowed a short sigh and headed to the main shooting studio. The door that was always closed felt a bit more suffocating than usual. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Seong-won looked down at me and asked. ¡°What?¡± I snapped back quickly. Seong-won looked like he wanted to say something, but he nced around and lowered his eyes. ¡°¡­Never mind.¡± Why are you so timid? I didn¡¯t say anything more and red at the back of his head as he entered the main shooting studio. ¡®I¡¯ll never pick up that ck-haired beast with a green thumb again.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t contain my anger and returned to the new dorm with a flushed face. The members tried tofort me with subtle care, but I felt embarrassed and annoyed at the same time. Do I have to act like a spoiled brat who can¡¯t handle losing a vote at this age? I felt ashamed without knowing it, but I couldn¡¯t help it. For a moment, I thought they were too petty to rig the vote like that. But now I found it funny. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, hyung.¡± The others pretended not to notice, but Seon-woo kept trying to console me, which irritated me more. ¡°Uh¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t even show how upset I was and had to go into the room with only a bed and a desk. ¡®Sigh¡­ They never make it easy for me, do they?¡¯ To cut to the chase, I failed to secure the internal ace. I don¡¯t know how the votes turned out, but Vesper B, who barely showed up for practice, snatched the internal ace with a smug face. I¡¯m guessing, but maybe AtoX AB and I each voted for ourselves, and Vesper got all the votes from the others, so he won by two votes. The external ace was thankfully mine, and I prevented the disaster of Vesper getting double points, but it still annoyed me. What did he do? I still get angry thinking about it. The only constion was that the unit battle was aplete victory, and the other members did well in the ace voting. The final results were Vocal A, Rap B, Dance A. The internal ace of Vocal A unit was Lee Huijin. That was expected. He got a lot of support from the editing, and he took the external ace without a challenge. ¡®He did well, I admit.¡¯ They suddenly added a new item called external ace, which was not announced before. What were they up to? Anyway, it increased our score, so it was a benefit for us. The internal ace of Vocal C unit was Kyunghwa, and the external ace was the leader of another group. He gave Kyunghwa a hard time, constantly picking on him. He dumped the coordination to Kyunghwa, making him do all the work, and took the best parts for himself. It felt unfair to see him get judged. The Rap B unit had the beneficiary of the double points. Internal ace Oh Yi-jun, external ace Oh Yi-jun. He was the only one who got a double ace out of seven units, so I expected him to get a lot of spotlight on the broadcast. Overall, we did pretty well. We got good results in the ace selection and the unit battle. There was one team that was in chaos, though. ¡®¡­¡¯ Everyone in the Vocal B unit, including Shim Naru, looked unhappy. The internal and external ace of Vocal B unit were both not Shim Naru, and the faces of the Vocal B participants brightened up. It was as if they were all hoping that the bastard would get the ace, and they were waiting for it. ¡®What kind of grudge did he earn¡­¡¯ It was natural for the team members to be dissatisfied, since he took all the parts for himself and acted like he was the best, and then he messed up. The participants who watched Shim Naru¡¯s pitch failure on the monitoring screen all boycotted him and gave their votes to the rookie from yground. I could see Shim Naru¡¯s pride being crushed, but he didn¡¯t even do the interview and ran away. ¡®What the hell is that?¡¯ ¡®Is he crying?¡¯ The other participants watched Shim Naru run out of the set and madements, while the manager of Floss quickly followed him. I didn¡¯t feel good watching that, but there was nothing I could do. He brought it on himself. I turned my attention to the interview order, and I felt thirsty. ¡®I used my head and I¡¯m hungry. I¡¯ll go get a drink from the vending machine.¡¯ I remembered there was a vending machine that sold sikhye at the end of the hallway, and I grabbed my wallet and left. The inside was still noisy, but the hallway was cold and quiet. Did he go straight to the dorm? Or did he go home because he was embarrassed to see the members? I unwittingly thought of Shim Naru who ran out earlier. What if I run into Shim Naru? I chuckled sarcastically, and then I realized why bad premonitions never miss. ¡®Sob, sniff, sob¡­¡¯ I have to avoid this. I heard someone crying faintly in my ear. Chapter 156: Chapter 156: ¡®¡­¡¯ When I had a bad feeling, it was often the case that my emergency sensor was working properly. I unknowingly stepped back slowly and identally hit a pile of chairs covered with white dust. ¡®Ugh.¡¯ Suddenly, my body fell back and I screamed as I struggled to bnce. The sound of sobbing stopped as if someone had noticed that there was someone nearby. Ah¡­ I really want to disappear. In the awkward and embarrassing atmosphere, I sweated as I curled up my body. Shim Naru raised his head. ¡®There, who, who are you?¡¯ What¡¯s that? Why are you asking? Don¡¯t you usually pretend to be absent at times like this? I tried to quietly avoid the ce, but I touched the pile of chairs again and made a loud noise.¡®Ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know you were there.¡¯ I finally opened my mouth awkwardly. Shim Naru looked up at me with a snort. What did you expect? Did you think a manager who wouldfort and console you woulde? Shim Naru, who realized that it was me, turned his head with a disappointed look. ¡®Well¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but I think I need to use the vending machine.¡¯ What do you expect from him? I¡¯m annoyed, so don¡¯t fidget and go away. I tried to console myself with a mental victory and put a bill in the vending machine. Drrr-. Beep, bang¡­ Degurururu¡­ As I pressed the button and the yellow sikhye came out, Shim Naru spoke to me nervously as if something was twisted in his mind. ¡®You have nothing to say but that when someone is crying?¡¯ Why are you picking a fight? I felt my pitiful heart drain away like a low tide and looked down at Shim Naru. If I had a chance to face Cheon Ise before he died, would it have felt like this? He must have had his own hard times, of course. He felt that his own misfortune, which was only as big as his fingernails, was the biggest in the world, and he thought that everyone should revolve around him and sympathize andfort him. He must have been sessful as a celebrity from a young age, and everyone would have paid attention to him. He must have been like Cheon Ise, whoined arrogantly, ¡®Why doesn¡¯t it go the way I want?¡¯ ¡®Did I make a mistake to you, Mr. Naru?¡¯ I tried to be considerate and avoided saying ¡®Did you leave it to me?¡¯. He frowned his pretty face in an instant. ¡®Did youe to mock me for how pathetic I am?¡¯ Why would I¡­ do such a bothersome and unnecessary thing¡­ Anyway, the people who think that the world revolves around them are the problem. They have too much self-consciousness and jump to the conclusion of persecution. People in the world are not as interested in other people¡¯s failures as they think. Of course, the people who talk about it will keep talking as if they had caught a good bait. No, it¡¯s not all like that. I licked the end of my lips and answered Shim Naru as if to tell him not to misunderstand. ¡®It¡¯s not that.¡¯ As I awkwardly picked up the drink from the outlet, I saw Shim Naru¡¯s face stained with resentment. What does he have to be wronged about? High risk high return. He should have done well if he pushed himself with overconfidence beyond his level. He should have known that he would be ridiculed and treated badly by the cast members inside, even if he avoided the disgrace with the cover of the production team. I was also tired of doing group assignments alone, so I was quite upset by the risk worries. ¡®What¡¯s not that. You look like you think I¡¯m pathetic.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ Did I show it on my face? I avoided his gaze and answered. He seemed to be aware of his own situation, so I didn¡¯t see the need to sugarcoat it. That seemed to be his poison so far. ¡®A little bit¡­¡¯ He snapped at me with a raised voice. ¡®Isn¡¯t this the time to lie, even if it¡¯s a lie?¡¯ He must not have tasted the bitterness of life yet, seeing how he still had the energy to get angry. I pulled the tab and opened a can of sikhye, taking a sip. Ah, the sweet drink filled my dry mouth and made me feel alive. ¡®Do you need constion?¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to argue with this guy. I asked in a dry voice, but he frowned, not liking my response. ¡®Is that all you can say?¡¯ It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t. It¡¯s more like I don¡¯t feel the need to. He was young and inexperienced, and couldn¡¯t judge the situation well. And it was partly the fault of the adults around him who had pampered him and found him cute. ¡®I honestly think you got what you deserved. I can¡¯t say anything nice to you.¡¯ He had been greedy for the spotlight, and made a mistake. He had to pay the price for that. That was responsibility. ¡®Ugh¡­!¡¯ He red at me, as if to tell me to get lost. I decided to open the mouth of truth, since I was already meddling in his affairs. ¡®You took all the spotlight, but you messed up. You have to take the risk for that. That¡¯s responsibility.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t argue back, but he bit his lips in frustration. ¡®Why did you do that? You knew you weren¡¯t good enough to go solo.¡¯ I felt like I had to open a counseling center for him. I looked down at him, wondering why I was getting involved in his business. He chewed his lips for a while, then answered. ¡®I have to¡­ do better than others.¡¯ So what? I didn¡¯t know the situation of his team. They didn¡¯t seem to be so dependent on him, orck confidence in their skills. This was just my guess, but maybe they let him have his way because he made such a fuss. Maybe they said, fine, you¡¯re so great, we¡¯ll let you win. I shot back. ¡®Why?¡¯ His expression became even more pitiful. He looked like a madman on the subway. ¡®Isn¡¯t it obvious? I have to win, and get attention, and be the best.¡¯ ¡®So what?¡¯ No one can win everypetition. Even if you¡¯re lucky, you¡¯ll encounter some setbacks sooner orter. Even if you work hard and diligently, you might face a wave of bad luck and sink like a ship. ¡®No one can win everypetition. No one can get a perfect score in every field. What matters is whether you did your best and achieved a satisfactory result. Always being the most noticed and winning is a meaningless obsession.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t say anything back, but he didn¡¯t like it. He licked his lips and whimpered. ¡®I don¡¯t want to hear that kind of righteous talk. You don¡¯t even know.¡¯ I don¡¯t know why these guys from Floss treat Cheon Ise as if he had never faced any hardship or crisis in his life. They seemed to have a collective inferiorityplex towards him. ¡®What do I not know? I¡¯ve been through much harder things than Floss, who had a smooth start with their debut single.¡¯ I sneered at Shim Naru, who was looking down at me. His face turned red with anger and he raised his voice again. ¡®I hate losing. I hate being ignored and disrespected! That¡¯s why I want to win! I think it¡¯s natural to win! Do you know how stressful that is?¡¯ No, I don¡¯t. I¡¯ve never felt that winning was natural. I asked him calmly, without being affected by his words. ¡®Do you think you¡¯re worthless if you don¡¯t win?¡¯ Shim Naru flinched and shrugged his shoulders, snapping at me. ¡®No, I don¡¯t!¡¯ ¡®Then why do you have to stress yourself out and take risks to get the most attention?¡¯ He countered my question with another question. ¡®Isn¡¯t it obvious that the center is important? You¡¯ve always been the center too.¡¯ Shim Naru tried to catch me on a technicality, sounding defiant. I smiled sarcastically and replied. ¡®Oh, did you check out our album? I thought you wouldn¡¯t care since it was such a flop.¡¯ ¡®No, I didn¡¯t!¡¯ Then he muttered weakly after a pause. ¡®Sir.¡¯ He had spoken to me informally, only to realize btedly that I was five years older than him. ¡®Think about it slowly. I understand that people have high expectations of you because you¡¯ve been sessful since you were young. But that¡¯s their problem, not mine. There are so many people who are better than me in this world. ¡®You always win, no matter what. You need some time to think about how you can seed even if you don¡¯t win.¡¯ I waved my hand briefly, as if to say I had to go, while my phone rang and interrupted me. It was a call from the person who had ignited Shim Naru¡¯s inferiorityplex, or whatever it was. ¡®Hey, I¡¯m on my way back.¡¯ ¡°Yeah, the manager asked me to call you and see where you were.¡± ¡®What about the other members?¡¯ ¡°They¡¯re in an interview.¡± I hurried to the set. I had said what I wanted to say, so now it was time to focus on my own work. When I returned to the shooting site, it was just my turn. I was relieved that I wasn¡¯tte. I finished a brief interview and was about to leave when Shim Naru entered the studio door. From that angle, he could have run into me¡­ but he quickly turned his head away. Now, Lee Hwijin had to take him to the third mission. I was satisfied with the result I had achieved, despite all the twists and turns. I had scored better than I expected. I hugged it to my chest and headed to the dorm. ¡®Shim Naru must feel like I¡¯m rubbing salt in his wound.¡¯ I regretted it a bitter. I hoped I would have a chance to talk to him someday. But if he was the type who wouldn¡¯t listen anyway, he would just keep doing what he wanted. He wasn¡¯t even on our team, so that was enough meddling from me. I nodded to myself. With a clear mind, Iy down on the bed and closed my eyes. I recalled the moment of the ranking announcement for today¡¯s shooting. [Second Mission Result] 1st ce Everyone, including our kids, opened their eyes wide, as if they couldn¡¯t believe it. That moment. Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Everyone¡¯s eyes widened at the unexpected result. How did they do it? Everyone was shocked as the score table appeared on therge panel. [Vocal Winner Group] [Rap Winner Group] [Dance Winner Group] There was only one group that won in all fields: Climax. Floss, the strong contender for the win, lost in the dance category. AtoX, the next favorite, lost in the rap category. Vesper also lost in the vocal category, so they were eliminated. yground and P2CK only managed to get one win each. Everyone looked incredulous at Climax¡¯s unforeseen performance. ¡°Wow¡­!¡± Seon-woo, the first to snap out of it, smiled brightly and hugged me and Kyunghwa, who were close by.¡°We won the second mission!¡± Of course, we were happy, but we never expected to get such a good result, so we all looked nervous. ¡°We all worked hard for this!¡± Yi-jun, who had prepared for the mission more calmly than anyone else among the five, grinned. You didn¡¯t really suffer physically, but you didn¡¯t suffer mentally at all, did you? I felt a bit annoyed, but anyway, I was d the result was good. ¡°I¡¯m d it worked out.¡± Seong-won sighed deeply, then watched the four of us hugging each other awkwardly from two steps away. ¡°Come here, too.¡± The camera was filming everything, and if he was alone, there would be rumors of discord or something. I gestured hastily, and Seong-won reluctantly came over and hugged me. ¡°Okay, the celebration is over, let¡¯s get away from each other!¡± Let¡¯s stop now, it¡¯s embarrassing. I shouted awkwardly, and then the whole set burst intoughter. It could be seen as just luck, but it was the result of hard work that couldn¡¯t be done with luck alone. The priority was to toast rather than worry about the next mission. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe it.¡± I had to get some sleep right away, as I had a shooting scheduled for tomorrow for the third mission reveal, but my heart kept pounding. ¡°I need to sleep soon¡­¡± Seon-woo seemed to have trouble sleeping, too, as I heard him rustling in the dark. An unfamiliar room, a strange ceiling, and a faint smell of a new house. There were too many reasons why I couldn¡¯t sleep. ¡°I have to sleep anyway.¡± All that was left was to wait for the perfectly nned show to air. A weekter. Around the time I started preparing for the third mission, the second mission aired. There was a gap of a month at most, and two weeks at least, between shooting and airing, so I had no way to express how much I had waited for this day. Unlike the second mission, which was twisted andplicated in many ways, and the preparation and shooting were troublesome, the third mission was rtively simple. An external coboration mission. The basic framework was to prepare a stage by hiring another artist (regardless of type) outside of the group. From dancers to singers, other idols, actors, musical actors, etc., anyone who was active as a professional artist was OK. Some possible ways to continue the conversation are: Is it really impossible to rule out that possibility? As I hesitated for various reasons, Seon-woo spoke up first. ¡°Hey, you know¡­ you¡¯re not going to say something like a curse word, right?¡± Seon-woo asked nervously, and Kyunghwa patted his back as if to reassure him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. Nothing that bad wille out of your mouth.¡± As Kyunghwa calmly predicted, themercial ended and the intro video started. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s starting.¡± Before we knew it, Yi-jun had brought some popcorn and made a crunchy, delicious sound, drawing everyone¡¯s attention to him. ¡°Where do you get that stuff every day?¡± Kyunghwa red at Yi-jun with a hint of contempt, but Yi-jun calmly scooped some popcorn into a bowl and offered it to Kyunghwa. ¡°Do you want some, hyung?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± Kyunghwa might have wanted to refuse, but I didn¡¯t. I didn¡¯t care much, but the sweet caramel smell was irresistible. Sometimes people have to eat junk food to live, right? ¡°Then I¡¯ll have some.¡± As I quickly took the bowl, Seon-woo looked at me with sparkling eyes. ¡°¡­¡­¡± I ended up picking the one with the least syrup and popped it into Seon-woo¡¯s mouth. ¡°That¡¯s it for you.¡± As we bickered with each other, the intro was over and the scene where they announced the second mission in thest episode was reyed. [We will now reveal the second mission in advance for the preparation of the second round-!] Along with the MC¡¯s loud announcement, the edited screen continued. The participants were flustered by the unexpected unit shuffle mission. And in the midst of that, they each showed their confidence in their own positions in the interviews. Among the ndments, there were a few that stood out. [To be honest, I don¡¯t even know if I did that well¡­.] The bastard Vesper who openly picked a fight with us in the interview. [Everyone is so talented¡­ I wonder if there¡¯s any chance for me, a rookie¡­.] It was the interview of the carry member of group B, who came from yground. The chat messages that came up in real time were very impressive. [- What are you talking about lol] [- X failed and W¡¯s team carried them, but they talk like dogs] [- lol?] [- They have no right to talk when they recycled their year-end stage in the first round] [- /Remove bullshit mode] [- If they keep whining about being rookies, they should just quit] [- Shut up, you losers~] [- They¡¯re alreadyining about not getting parts] [- /Remove bullshit mode] [- If I were them, I wouldn¡¯t give them any parts either lol] First of all¡­. the chat was very harsh. They were people who were not fans of anyone, but also fans of someone. They quickly typed what they thought and forgot about it. They all spat out their words without filtering them. ¡°`[^1^][1][^2^][2][^3^][3][^4^][4][^5^][5] Some say I can even bring a performance artist, but¡­ Just like the first mission, the poprity vote was included in the evaluation again, so I thought it wouldn¡¯t be good to try something too difficult. ¡®I think it would be better to show them something that people would like, considering thements AtoX received.¡¯ There was no need to prepare a stage that was too innovative and different from the norm. The other members also agreed, and the opinion was to make a stage that was easy to ept, but had a high level ofpletion. The separate corporation establishment was also finished. To coincide with the second mission broadcast, we also distributed a promotional article like [Climax, established a separatebel and made a new nest¡­ The representative is the leader Cheon Ise]. These days, the entertainment articles¡¯ments are all blocked, so I couldn¡¯t check the reaction directly¡­ But the fans¡¯ reactions on SNS were all positive. [- Is thebel separation not moving to a differentpany???] [? Yes, yes? It seems like they separated it as an independent corporation that only manages Climax, so they won¡¯t be overworked like now???] [? Oh, I went to the home page and there are really no other artists besides Climax?] [? Yes, it¡¯s unfortunate, but we have to be thankful for this??? Sigh¡­ I think of how Wiple alwayscked manpower and used the Clingies endlessly¡­] [- RT I will follow one person, unfollow one person Reason: (article capture image)] [- Guys, just RT Reason: bel logo capture image)] Some people were disappointed that it was only abel separation, not apany transfer, and some people were proud of the representative Cheon Ise. Well¡­ Being a representative is not a big deal yet, since there are too many holes to fill and things to fill in the empty bucket. As time goes by, I hope that everything will be solved one by one, as it has been so far. I finished the afternoon meeting and returned to the dormitory, and gathered with the members at the broadcast time. ¡°Who is subscribed to Puzzle?¡± Kyunghwa asked, sitting on the sofa with his phone in his hand. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m subscribed, why?¡± Yi-jun tilted his head as if wondering what was going on, and Kyunghwa continued his words as if he was d. ¡°There¡¯s something that lets you see the live chat of the viewers in real time, right? Let¡¯s watch it on the smart TV.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Wait a minute.¡± Yi-jun fiddled with the app on his phone for a while, then turned his phone to the TV and pressed a button. Pop, the screen was connected to the phone in an instant, and the TV was linked to the app screen. ¡°Wow¡­¡± It was stillmercial time, so only the reactions of the viewers waiting for the program wereing up. [- It hasn¡¯t started yet, right?] [- Yes] [- Yes, not yet] [- I want to skip the ads] [- It¡¯s a broadcast ad, so you can¡¯t skip it] ¡°Wow, this is amazing¡­ I didn¡¯t know there was something like this.¡± Seon-woo was amazed as if he was seeing a new thing for the first time, and Kyunghwa exined. ¡°They said you can only see it during the broadcast. It doesn¡¯t save and when the broadcast ends, it changes from real-time to uploaded, so this is the end of the chat.¡± In other words, it was a vtile medium. Maybe because it didn¡¯t leave a record, some people might say something harsh¡­ It might be better not to see it. I wondered if it would be better to leave now, but we had nothing to be ashamed of. We didn¡¯t do anything biased or troublesome, and we did our best sincerely. Unless the production team suddenly turned around and made us viins¡­ I think they used [/Sarcasm Off Mode] as a mockery or a joke when they typedmands like low-speed mode or chat off mode. ¡®I¡¯m not going to get away with this without getting cursed at¡­¡¯ At that anxious moment, the dance group A was the first to start the show, as they were the first group to have their first meeting. [¡°Dance group A, you are Ise, right? This is your first day at work. Please wait inside, the others will be here soon.¡±] [Guys¡­ when are youing¡­ (sobbing)] [¡°Do you all usuallye on time?¡±] [No response] [A crow flies away effect] Of course, I¡­ asked for a bit of a blunt editing. But they fast-forwarded the waiting time and made it quiteical, but I felt sorry for myself being alone. [- ?] [- What the hell?] [- Where are the rest?] [- Didn¡¯t you share the schedule?] [- Where did you go?] [- Is the leader being bullied?] Soon enough, the AtoX members joined and they showed the part where they argued over the schedule issue. [¡°Oh, but I have a personal thing tomorrow that I can¡¯t cancel, so I can¡¯te.¡±] [¡°But I cane.¡±] The dance group A¡¯s segment, whichsted about five minutes, ended with nothing but schedule trouble. [- Crazy lolololololol] [- Wow, I¡¯m seriously going to have a stroke watching this, I¡¯m going to drink some cold water ande back] [- Are you the only one who¡¯s busy lolololololol] [- I hate those bastards the most when I do group projects] [- Their time is precious and mine is not???] The live chat, as well as the SNS I subscribed to, and the fanmunity¡¯s me war, all started to burn in real time. Chapter 158: Chapter 158: [Title] What are you burning for now? (26) [Body] Why is everyone suddenly on fire talking about their failed group projects? [Comments] [- Watch the live broadcast of Boam right now, it¡¯s a disaster] [? I just watched it] [? Wow, they just publicly executed them] [? And then they show the vocal group A right after, with such a harmonious atmosphere, it¡¯s like they¡¯re saying eat this ????????] [- If I were in their group, I would have just emailed the professor and quit the group, what are they supposed to do if they don¡¯t show up?][? Seriously, the freeloaders are so annoying, they act like nothing happened on the presentation day and just show up] [? They onlye out when it¡¯s time to get the grades22222] [- So today they¡¯re showing the vocal and dance stages?] [? I think so] [? I might have something to say after watching the dance, but right now the objective facts are just infuriating??] [? If they wanted toin about the devil¡¯s editing, they shouldn¡¯t have beente and skipped practice on the first day¡­] [- The live chat for Puzzle is exploding right now] [? It deserves to explode¡­ Is it true that only one person showed up for the meeting of five people??????????] [? What the hell were they thinking???] [- (A picture of the protagonist sitting alone at his birthday party)] [? Ah??????? This is not even my main genre but I feel so sorry for him that I¡¯m crying] [? ???????????????? I shouldn¡¯tugh but this is so funny that I can¡¯t calm down] After that, they showed the preparation process of the vocal group A, vocal group B, dance group B, and vocal group C in order, but the center of attention was undoubtedly the dance group A. ¡°Wow¡­ You really worked hard, bro¡­¡± Yi-jun eximed as if he didn¡¯t expect it to be this bad. And no wonder, the dance group A footage was mostly me preparing alone because of the members¡¯ irresponsible attitude, and even the scene where I was doing the choreography with the teacher one-on-one was broadcasted. [- At this point, they should just leave only Cheon Ise in the group project and kick the rest out] [- And the choreography can¡¯t keep up with the tension, it¡¯s hrious??????????] [- The look of a tired and weak father??????] [- I wonder if the climax members know that their dad is working so hard to make money] [- Oh, he got hit in the butt for the third time??????] [- What¡¯s with the captions??????????] That¡¯s how they showed the preparation process of each group for about 40 minutes. Now it was time to show the stage videos starting from the vocal unit. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Surely they wouldn¡¯t just show the group project falling apart and me carrying it all? I red at the screen with a disappointed feeling of doubt. On the screen, the vocal group A was a bit less tense than the other members, but they maintained a peaceful and exemry atmosphere. In the live chat, unlike the other groups where there were people who said bad things in real time, thepliments for each member were the main. [- Wow, Son Seong-won¡¯s singing is amazing, I knew it but it still gives me goosebumps] [- He could have done well as a solo too, I think] [- I¡¯m looking forward to his solo debutter.] [- The only group project that gives me hope] [- They have a skilled member who can carry the group, a leader who has leadership, and teammates who trust and follow the leader and the center. What a perfectbination¡­ I¡¯m so jealous.] [- Lee Hwijin is really smart. He did a great job assigning the parts.] On the other hand, there were quite a few sharp reactions from vocal group B. [- Why is Shim Naru so greedy for parts?] [- It seems like he¡¯s only getting pushed because the other groups have rtively weak members¡­] [- If he throws a tantrum, they just give in and let him have it.] [- It seems like they¡¯re just too tired to argue and agree with whatever he says.] [- If the result turns out well, he¡¯ll be a hero¡­] [- But if it fails, he¡¯ll be a traitor.] [- But can he be a traitor in Floson?] [- Shim Naru is famous for not doing live performances, so I¡¯m a bit worried about his vocals.] [- He does live performances. Stop spreading rumors.] [- Yeah, what is it without proof?] The opinions were divided between those who didn¡¯t trust Shim Naru and those who thought he would do something since he was the most famous vocalist in the group. As someone who already knew the oue, we could see the impending disaster. It might be better to turn off the live chat when it was vocal group B¡¯s turn. Vocal group C, who had a decent result, looked like angelspared to them. [- I¡¯m going crazy?????????????The sound is not clear??????] [- Can¡¯t we take away the speaking rights of one of them? I can¡¯t understand what they¡¯re saying?????] [- Wow, they talk so much??????] [- The leader¡¯s body is generating stress in real time????????] [- They¡¯re all so stubborn and don¡¯t want to give in???????] [- Their spirits are so high????????] [- The strongest one there: Na Seon-woo, who is quietly snacking on his own.] [- How can the snacks get through that atmosphere???????] [- Original spirit ¨C Na Seon-woo / ss mentality ¨C Ryu Kyunghwa] [- I feel like I¡¯m going to choke and die, how can he eat so well?] [- Usually, Kyunghwa would tell him to stop eating, but he¡¯s too out of it to think?????????] While the group members were fighting and arguing over their opinions, it was edited to be quiteical that Seon-woo was eating the snacks that no one else touched. [My hands are going] [The sponsor¡¯s heart is warmed by the right action] [Entering a state of nothingness] [Cleaning mode ON] ¡°You ate that in the midst of all this?¡± Kyunghwa, who was at the scene of chaos and destruction, couldn¡¯t help but be shocked, and Seon-woo avoided his gaze and made an excuse. ¡°No¡­ They all have so many opinions and talk so much¡­ I thought it would be tooplicated if I joined in¡­ I was just staying quiet, but my mouth was bored¡­¡± It was lucky that the product that came in as PPL was a low-calorie vegetable chip for diet control. I couldn¡¯t help butugh when I saw Seon-woo eating three small packs of 20g each. That was the end of the process of thest meeting before the vocal ABC stage, and the stage part started right away. [Let¡¯s begin! The boys¡¯ pride battle, the unit stage!] The MC announced loudly as the evaluation criteria that we already knew were briefly exined. But there was something more about the Ace voting that made the exnation longer. It seemed like they anticipated the viewers¡¯ints and re-shot the MC¡¯s screen more detailed. [Let¡¯s meet the vocal A unit right away!] The camera followed Seong-won and Hwijin from the cheerful waiting room to the stage. And soon, they finished a neat and sessful stage without any ws. [- Wow, Son Seong-won is really in a different ss] [- He sings so well even with the pitch correction¡­] [- He¡¯s the one who hit the chart with his solo before theeback, he¡¯s not going anywhere] The other members were not bad either, but it was natural that Seong-won, who took the highlight, got the most attention. Next, it was the turn of the vocal B unit, and this time, the reaction was reversed with a different atmosphere. [- They don¡¯t have to stand out too much, right?] [- It¡¯s because the A unit did so well, this is decent overall] Unlike Sim Naru, who was harshly criticized, the result was okay. But at that moment, the problem of the voice crack happened and it turned around. [- What?] [- Did the part suddenly change?] [- What is this?] [- They all look so unhappy] [- Look at the other unit¡¯s faces, they look like they¡¯re going to fight?????? Why??] [- Did they forget the lyrics while passing the part?] [- They lost] [- Poor Seok¡­¡î] The voice crack was so clean that the rookie who covered for him looked like he missed the start or stuttered on his own part. Maybe their goal was to avoid drawing attention to Shim Naru¡¯s side, but the B unit quickly skipped their reaction segmentpared to the other units. That¡¯s how the vocal B unit ended. And the C unit, whose preparation was intense but the stage itself was smooth, started. [- It¡¯s okay?] [- The concept is pretty unique] [- Oh, I like it] [- Aren¡¯t the parts too uneven?] [- After seeing the previous stage, this one is decent] [- Is Seon-woo a dancer????????????] [- When is Seon-woo¡¯s parting??????] [- He took care of his food but not his part???????] You can¡¯t hide a diamond in the mud. Even though he was tucked away here and there, his beauty was working hard and Seon-woo got the mostments. There were also a lot ofpliments for the concept. If the A unit didn¡¯t do that well, the C unit would have gotten a better response. That¡¯s how the vocal unit part ended with a lot of twists and turns. Now, with the dance A unit, our stage ahead, there was about 15 minutes left of the broadcast. It would be over in 5 to 10 minutes with the waiting room reaction and the stage. What the hell¡­ I was scared for a moment as I saw myself on the screen, alone, organizing thest data. ¡°Ah¡­¡± It was a scene of me stretching my back, which was sore from sitting too long. Then the interview that I had briefly done as a joke when I came out alone during the meeting time continued. [Q. Your dance style has changed a lot since your debut¡­.] [Uh¡­. That¡¯s¡­.] [His expression darkening] [A photo of the ident] [I had an ident during our break.] [A major surgery thatsted for eight hours] [I¡¯ve recovered a lot now, but my back is still not good¡­ So I have to focus more on expression than on bold moves¡­.] So that¡¯s when they used it. They decided to go for a sympathetic mood and made the scene even more emotional. I rubbed my crooked back for a while ¨C I was just stretching because of my bad posture ¨C and went inst after doing everything by myself. The fast-forward showed the text message I had sent, captured on the screen. [I understand you¡¯re all busy with various schedules. But we agreed to do this together, so I wish you had told me sooner if you were going to bail on the same day. It would have been nice if we could exchange opinions and brainstorm together, but now I¡¯m worried that I¡¯m forcing you to do something you don¡¯t want to do¡­. As I told you when we first met, my body is not in the best condition right now. Maybe it¡¯s because of the pain, but I feel like I¡¯m losing my mind a little bit. I really need your help. I know you all have your own situations and things don¡¯t always go as nned, so I don¡¯t want to scold you. But we don¡¯t have much time left, so I hope you can prepare a little harder. Let¡¯s do our best to show our fans a good stage until the end^^ Please arrive on time tomorrow.] And sure enough, at the exact time, the screen switched to the stage with me ring at the clock with an expression that transcended everything. [- Cheonise¡¯s face lololololololololol] [- He¡¯s about to explode lololololololololol] [- I pressed capture to use it as a meme lololololololololol] [- He¡¯s about to spit fire in one second lololololololololol] [- Wow, I can feel how hard he¡¯s holding back in the text] [- How to say X you bastardse on time without swearing] Before the stage even started, a message notification popped up on the top of my phone. ¡®It¡¯s toote.¡¯ You should have apologized before I sent the screen capture to the writers. I turned off my phone screen with a nk expression, without any emotion. Chapter 159: Chapter 159: The video of the dance A unit, which was as perfect as the stage, followed. [- Did Cheon Ise do all the directing for this?] [- I think the staff or thepany must have helped] [- I get that the rest of the members got on the bus] [- But the driver is so good at driving by himself that the freeloaders just got on????] [- At first, it seemed like they were showing up, but Cheon Ise worked so hard by himself that they just stretched their legs wherever they could find a spot] [- They did follow the choreography well¡­] [- You wouldn¡¯t even imagine that they got on the bus if you only saw the stage] [- They¡¯re so mean, seriously]The reactions that they couldn¡¯t have imagined that they would do this behind the scenes after doing so well on the stage continued. [- But Jo Eunseong, that guy has always been talkative?????] [- Aren¡¯t the members all the ones who had attitude controversies at least once?] [- It must have been hard for the production team to even edit it like this] Some people also mixed in the response that they knew it would be like this when they saw the line-up, since they were not very diligent from before. Now there was only about two minutes left of the broadcast time. The screen didn¡¯t end with me sighing in relief after the stage ended safely. Immediately after, a short interview with Vesper B, who was the hardest to see during the practice period, followed. [Q. How do you feel after finishing this mission?] [Uh¡­ I feel a bit relieved¡­ I think I came herefortably thanks to them, but I feel a bit sorry that I couldn¡¯t show you my personality much.] [- I can¡¯t help butugh because it¡¯s so ridiculous???????????] [- Talk about being shameless??????????] [- The reason why your personality didn¡¯t show: you didn¡¯t show up] [- Wow¡­ and he acted like he was working hard on SNS] [- If you only look at SNS, he acts like he does all the art by himself] The interview with Vesper B was thest, and then a teaser that highlighted the ups and downs of the dance B and rap AB units followed. [We¡¯re going to take off the idol title and show you what real rappers are!] [A passionate deration of war!] [Well¡­ Do we really need to deny that we¡¯re idols? I just want to show you a stage that you can all enjoy and have fun with.] [A hot effort to present the best stage!] [We¡¯re confident that we can show you our charm with this stage!] [Let¡¯s win, guys!] [K-POP boy group¡¯s ultimate pride showdown!] [We¡¯ll show you what it means to be anti-idols.] The broadcast ended with the confident statement of rap A group. [- /Sarcasm removal mode] The live chat also ended with the intense chat. The fact that they edited it like this after the results came out¡­ It must be a n to stimte the empathy level of the fans who supported rap A groupter. After watching thest intense teaser, I looked at my phone and there were messages and missed calls from my manager. I didn¡¯t even finish checking the phone notifications when the manager called me again. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you answer the phone?¡± Seon-woo, who was sitting next to me, looked at me and my phone with a worried expression. This was definitely the unit members urging me to contact them. I hated it. I couldn¡¯t help being a bit childish this time. They always ignored or left me on read when I contacted them, but I couldn¡¯t do the same? I felt spiteful and resisted for a while, but I couldn¡¯t ignore the persistent calls. I sighed and pressed the answer button. ¡°I¡¯ll be back after a quick call.¡± I hoped it wouldn¡¯t be a long conversation. I had a small hope as I went into the room and closed the door. ¡°Yes, what¡¯s up, hyung?¡± As soon as I calmly answered the phone, the manager, who was still in charge of delegating the work until the corporate restructuring waspleted, raised his voice with excitement. ¡°How could you do that to another group?¡± Was he ming me for being the first to do it? I clicked my tongue and replied. ¡°I had no choice because they didn¡¯t cooperate. They should have known that the broadcast would be edited from the videos we filmed during the practice period, but they kept being irresponsible. I thought they were willing to ept the consequences.¡± ¡°But still, they¡¯re not trainees, they¡¯ve already debuted. How can you do that to them¡­ What about the future cooperation with other external staff, and I know you¡¯re angry, but¡­¡± I thought I had to draw a clear line here. The manager had been taking care of Climax since their debut, so he wasn¡¯tpletely indifferent to this group. But maybe because they were so obscure, and they had been treated poorly for too long. He didn¡¯t seem to know what was the most important thing in his job as a manager. ¡°Hyung, I¡¯ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­¡± When I interrupted his words with a low voice, the manager stuttered in confusion. ¡°Hyung, which group¡¯s manager are you?¡± Then he answered with a silence that seemed like he didn¡¯t expect that reaction at all. ¡°What kind of nonsense is that, of course I¡¯m your manager.¡± Yeah, if you¡¯re our manager, you should act like our manager. You shouldn¡¯t just say you¡¯re our manager, you should do your job like our manager, right? Even now, when your supported artist was insulted and ignored by the other side, whether they contacted you through their connections or not, don¡¯t you think you should cut them off? There was a limit to understanding him as being indecisive and kind. ¡°Then are you calling me to scold me now?¡± ¡°No, what are you talking about, why would I scold you! I just wanted to smooth things over¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s toote to smooth things over now. I have to deal with the situation where I only appeared twice out of seven practices. I never missed a single one.¡± The manager seemed to be at a loss for words, and he barely spoke with a faint sigh. ¡°Yeah, I know you worked hard, I know, but¡­¡± ¡°If you know, then you should have just answered them appropriately and told me that you did, instead of contacting me like this. You called me to scold me after talking to them, right? Is your priority as a manager to protect your artist or to cooperate with the outside? It doesn¡¯t seem like you¡¯re from Vesper or AtoX.¡± Unlike Cheon Ise, who used to throw tantrums and lie down on the floor, demanding that her parents pay for her work and do whatever she wanted, this time I had a valid argument. The manager wouldn¡¯t satisfy me with any excuses he made. I had enough of trying to get along with him. Thebel separation work would be finished soon. He had to decide whether he would keep going with me or not. I didn¡¯t listen to any more exnations and cut off the call. ¡°Think carefully. Who do you want to work with and how?¡± I wasn¡¯t going to let things go as they were now that I had the upper hand. I pressed the end call button and looked at the screen that was flooded with all kinds of message notifications. The messages that I could confirm with a quick preview were terrible. Sorry, but did you have to screw them over like that? How do you feel seeing the whole nation hate you? I chuckled lightly and entered the intemunity centered on entertainment. The top 10 of the real-time hot posts were upied by ¡®Boys Be Ambitious¡¯. They really nailed the buzz. I expected the PD¡¯s mouth to be hooked to his ears. Themunity was on fire with topics that were not one or two. As I scrolled down the real-time rankings, it was all about Boys Be Ambitious. [Real-time HOT Talk] How to elegantly feed the freeloaders in a group project (feat. Bobyam) (+341) The hopeful side of the group project (+192) Original vs. ss mentality (+213) Did they edit this? (+675) People who don¡¯t watch Bobyam (+60) ¡­ Official news from Chanhyung and Yu-geon came up (+376) Shim Naru not being a visual hole is not a day or two (+882) I was in the same ss as Jo Eunsung in middle school (+proof) (+179) There was no ce where a fight didn¡¯t break out among them. As I went down, I saw a familiar name that made me happy. Baby piggy who is updating his beauty every day? (+54) Compared to other conflict posts, the firepower was low, but still, to see a pitiful post in this burningmunity¡­ I felt good that Seon-woo, who wascking in buzzpared to his visuals, had be a fairly noticeable position. As I was feeling pleased, I got another message from the freeloaders. [¡õ] Are you really not going to answer, hyung? 11:45 PM They were persistent until the time was almost midnight. I finally put my hand on the keypad without checking all the piled up messages. I had to think carefully and speak. Now that I had spilled the contents of the meeting chat and delivered it to the production team, they had to think that they could send it to the outside as well. [Me] Sorry, I was so busy today that I checkedte 11:56 PM [Me] You guys must have been worried a lot at thiste hour. I didn¡¯t know you would send me so much interest like this, so I was very flustered 11:57 PM Then AtoX A immediately retorted. The text was so fast that I was out of my mind, but to summarize, it was ¡®No matter what, you went too far.¡¯ So it was okay to screw me over with an insincere attitude while preparing? They stretched their legs ording to the ce to lie down. On the first day, they saw that I could do well by myself, so they thought that if they just did the main stage perfectly, they wouldn¡¯t edit and send it out like this. There was no injustice. There was nothing more to listen to. I cut the message short. [Me] The aired part can¡¯t be taken back, so¡­ If you show me a more sincere and grown-up appearance in the remaining missions, the fans will keep cheering for you 12:02 AM [Me] I wanted to do well together, so I worked hard, but I¡¯m sorry that the result turned out like this 12:04 AM [Me] I hope we can share the stage together in a better opportunity next time. It¡¯s almost time to turn off the lights at the dorm, so I don¡¯t think I can see my phone. It¡¯ste, so don¡¯t push yourself and go to bed soon 12:05 AM I got goosebumps as I said only good things until the end, but what I wanted to say was the same. I didn¡¯t want to answer even if they contacted me again, so I set the group chat room to block reception. This way, they wouldn¡¯t know if I blocked them on their side, but I couldpletely erase the rted notifications, pop-ups, and chat room previews from the screen. I should have done well. I was not the kind of person who would give two or three chances to someone who had bitten me once. I didn¡¯t know when it would be, maybe in the next life. Iy down on the bed, imagining their possible evil words as an orchestra. ¡®Revenge is futile¡­¡¯ I didn¡¯t feel relieved after making them eat dirt with someone else¡¯s help. But futile revenge was better than being a fallen angel with a soft heart. ¡®Of course.¡¯ I didn¡¯t me people whocked skills. What I really hated was people who could do it but didn¡¯t, and shifted the responsibility to others. This time was no different. If things went well, he was the bus driver, but if they failed, he would have taken all the authority and med me for the failure. So I had to make him pay for avoiding his duty until the end. If I had let him go, he would have created more victims and encouraged them. Well¡­ the PD must have been happy with the buzz he created. Let¡¯s find some meaning in making someone happy. At that moment, a status window popped up. [Sub Quest ¨C ¡®An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth¡¯ has been cleared. Congrattions. Reward points +20] Oh. I had finally achieved victory, so now it was time to enjoy the reward. Chapter 160: Chapter 160: [Sub Quest ¨C Congrattions on clearing ¡®An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth¡¯. Achievement Bonus Points +20] [Quest Completion Reward] [Fate> Jo Eunseong, Park Suheon, Kwak Jaeu, Eom Giung Acquired] [Special Item> ¡®An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth¡¯ Acquired] I wasn¡¯t very interested in Fate right now. The special item caught my eye first. I quickly clicked on the item name to check the detailed description. [Special Item] [¡®An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth¡¯] [You can return the same grudge you suffered from a specific target. However, the user will not suffer from any side effects depending on the use.]I narrowed my eyes and stared at it for a long time, wondering what that meant. I didn¡¯t understand what it meant by not suffering from any side effects depending on the use¡­ Anyway, it means I can give back what I got. I tilted my head in confusion, and the exnation changed slightly. [In other words, the user will not experience any negative consequences from using it.] So, let¡¯s say someone pped me in the face. If I p him back in the same way, I won¡¯t be treated like a scumbag who hit someone else¡¯s face. [That is correct.] The status window agreed with me and showed a Correct mark. It would be better not to use this kind of thing as much as possible. It seemed like it would only bring trouble if I had it¡­ but it might help in a crisis. I pressed the receive button and sent the item to the inventory. ¡®Next is Fate¡­¡¯ To be honest, they were not the worst idols in terms of skills. But they were so mediocre in personality that I didn¡¯t have high expectations. I decided to check out the Vesper guys first. [Name: Jo Eunseong ¨C Age 21] [Skill] [Buff: ¨C Use quick learning ability and tact to create an illusion of being proficient even if the practice is insufficient ¨C Usage Points 15pt] I wondered why they called him a lucky guy, but it was a useful skill to have. The best thing to do is to practice thoroughly beforehand, but sometimes things don¡¯t go as nned. [Name: Eom Giung ¨C Age 20] [Skill] [Buff: ¨C Use unique vocalization to enhance volume by one grade higher than actual vocal level ¨C Usage Points 5pt] I¡¯ve raised my vocal level to B now, so if I use this effect, I¡¯ll be A. I don¡¯t need to have S-level vocal skills, so it might be more efficient to use this one than Seong-won¡¯s Fate. Next was AtoX. These guys were also nothing special, just unting their natural talents. [Name: Park Suheon ¨C Age 20] [Skill] [Buff: ¨C Temporarily reduce mistakes and nervousness on stage based on high self-confidence ¨C Usage Points 5pt] As expected. It was nothing but a lower version of the skill our guys had. At this rate¡­ the item was definitely useful, but the Fate skills were not very appealing¡­ As I was regretting that, something finally caught my attention. [Name: Kwak Jaeu ¨C Age 22] [Skill] [Buff: ¨C Can remove one status abnormality of moderate or lower severity ¨C Usage point 10pt] Wow¡­ this is nice. I¡¯ve never been so exhausted that I couldn¡¯t even lift a finger. But with this, I think I can be more active for a longer time. ¡®I wish I could use this on the other guys too.¡¯ I didn¡¯t really want to use it unless it was absolutely necessary, remembering the side effects fromst time with Seon-woo. ¡®It would be a disaster if something went wrong and it hurt their feelings.¡¯ That was the end of the quest reward. It wasn¡¯t like I got nothing, but it wasn¡¯t anything impressive either. I was feeling a bit disappointed as I was about to leave the room, when the status window popped up a message as if to warn me. [Rmended deadline for questpletion D-41] Time had already passed so quickly. I realized that a lot had happened in the meantime. The second mission was already airing. I had talked to some of the Floss members in my own way. But there was still a lot of resentment between the fandoms. I had to do something about this in 40 days¡­ My head was cluttered again, but it wasn¡¯t a problem that I could solve by worrying. ¡®Ah. I¡¯ll wait for the kids outside.¡¯ It took longer than I thought to answer the phone. I wondered if they thought I was getting scolded. As I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly and came out to the living room, I saw the members looking at me with worried eyes. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, did I do something bad?¡± As I looked down at them with a bewildered expression, Seon-woo ran up to me and hugged me tightly. What¡¯s this? Yi-jun came up behind me as if he couldn¡¯t stand it and wrapped his arms around me and Seon-woo. I was squished between them. ¡°You worked hard, hyung!¡± Seon-woo cheered me up as if I hade back alive from a war zone. ¡°It was hard, but it¡¯s just a bad feeling. I¡¯m fine, I didn¡¯t hurt myself too much.¡± Besides, there was still plenty of time until the third mission, and there was no urgent schedule. Thanks to that, we all agreed to enjoy a rare day off tomorrow. I was feeling rather good, thinking of putting down the ¡®idol¡¯ Cheon Ise for a while and resting. ¡°But¡­ I had Kyunghwa hyung with me, but you must have been so lonely by yourself¡­¡± Seon-woo sobbed as if it was his own problem, and Pposiliforted him by circling around his feet and tickling his instep with his fluffy tail. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad. I just wanted to pay them back for being so irresponsible.¡± Then Seon-woo blurted out something I had never heard in my life. ¡°You¡¯re too nice to be a traitor, hyung.¡± ¡°?¡± Too nice to be a traitor? Iughed reflexively. ¡°Thanks for saying that. Don¡¯t worry too much and go to bed early. It¡¯ste.¡± I patted the head of Aeongi, who hade over with interest in the three of us huddled together, and started to get ready for bed. I wasn¡¯t too worried about the gap between us. But I said what I wanted to say. No¡­ actually¡­ ¡®If you think I¡¯ll take care of you and say nice things to you just because I¡¯m selling as a dad image, you¡¯re mistaken. I don¡¯t want to be, nor do I intend to be, a guardian for you guys.¡¯ I wanted to say that, but it was too much to say until then. It wasn¡¯t something I couldn¡¯t say, but I thought about the external impact if it leaked, and it was better to stay as a nice person until the end. Well, whatever. I finished my preparations quickly and before I knew it, it was almost 1 o¡¯clock. ¡®Let¡¯s go to bed.¡¯ Tomorrow was a day when I needed a different Cheon Ise than the idol Cheon Ise for a change. ¡°Ah¡­¡± The next morning. I slept ording to the nature of Cheon Ise¡¯s body and woke up after 10 a.m. It was a wake-up time that I couldn¡¯t even think of when I was Lim Hyun-seong, but it wasn¡¯t that surprising. Today was the first day I went to the office of [Composition], a solobel for Climax that I was told was finalizedst week. I was ashamed to bete for work as the representative, but I had no choice because I didn¡¯t have time to prepare for the second mission and the early preparation for the third mission. ¡°Are you up?¡± As I opened the door and came out, Kyunghwa and Seong-won were having an idea meeting with various materials spread out on the table. ¡°Hey, if you were having a meeting, you should have woken me up. I could have helped you out a bit before I went to the office.¡± As I approached the table, Kyunghwa immediately waved his hand. ¡°No, you should prepare your meal if you¡¯re going to eat and go. We¡¯re just doing a concept coge, so we¡¯re not doing anything that great.¡± Maybe it was because they saw me suffer for almost 90 minutes yesterday, not giving any ideas or participating at all. They were not the type to not cooperate, and they didn¡¯t want to poke me to watch them, but they were very diligent from the morning. ¡°Then I¡¯ll prepare something simple for you guys to eat.¡± As I rummaged through the refrigerator in the kitchen, Yi-jun quickly opened the door and came out. ¡°Oh, if you¡¯re having breakfast, me too.¡± As always, he was peaceful and shameless. But I couldn¡¯t hate him too much because he always did more than his share. ¡°You go over there and join the meeting.¡± As soon as I faced Yi-jun in the morning, Seong-won frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t like seeing your face as soon as I wake up either.¡± Yi-jun picked up a piece of paper on the table and grumbled. We seemed to get along a little better, but¡­ ugh. But I guess I have some affection for him. Maybe one day they¡¯ll suddenly decide to get along. ¡­No, honestly, I wouldn¡¯t believe it even if I saw it with my own eyes. After a peaceful breakfast, I was getting ready to go to work and Seon-woo rubbed his eyes and whined. ¡°Ah¡­ I want to sleep a little more¡­¡± Today, except for me, the members had a normal holiday schedule. He said his family wasing to pick him upter for dinner. ¡°Sleep more. There¡¯s a sd in the fridge, so have that for lunch.¡± I pulled up the nket that Seon-woo had pulled up to his waist and covered it up to his chin. It was already December. You¡¯ll catch a cold if you sleep like this. I turned on the heating, but the house that I moved in not long ago still didn¡¯t have warmth. ¡°Uhng¡­¡± I don¡¯t know if Seon-woo heard me in his sleep or if he was just throwing a tantrum, but he muttered something and buried his face deep into the pillow. ¡°Sleep well.¡± It wasn¡¯t something you¡¯d normally say in the middle of the day when the sun was high in the sky, but I wanted him to rest well today. I left Seon-woo, who had fallen asleep, and the other members, who had started their daily activities, at the dorm and headed to a small office near thepany building. I could have used a building owned by my family, but I wanted an office that wasn¡¯t too far from either the dorm or thepany, so I had some limitations. I prioritized the geographical location, but unfortunately, I had to settle for an old building. ¡®Well, I don¡¯t need a big office anyway, since I don¡¯t have many people to work with right now.¡¯ I parked my car in the basement of the office building and took the elevator up. Hmm¡­ I felt the eerie atmosphere of the old building. ¡®Maybe I should have gone to a building owned by Cheon Soo Group, even if it was bigger and busier¡­¡¯ As I regretted my choice, a dark shadow suddenly appeared behind me from the darkness, like a ghost from a movie. ¡°Ah!¡± It had long, tangled hair, a head bowed like a hanging corpse, and a white outfit that looked like a shroud. I was startled and pressed myself against the wall, trying to escape. Chapter 161: Chapter 161: ¡°Hello¡­¡± My heart sank at the sight of his stunning visual, but he seemed to be human since he said ¡°hello¡± instead of ¡°why did you kill me¡±. ¡°Ah, hello.¡± I would have fainted on the spot if I were Kyunghwa or Hwijin. I quickly took a deep breath to assess the existence in front of me. He had a temporary ID card issued by W hanging below his neck, which meant he was the employee hired for office management. ¡°Are you Jinkyung?¡± I didn¡¯t interview him, but I saw his documents and interview results and participated in the final selection, so I knew who I hired. He was supposed to have a neat ponytail and a professional appearance¡­ ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s me. Pleasee in.¡±He didn¡¯t even blink at the sight of the popr idol in front of him, and calmly led me into the office. The office interior was quite nice, thanks to the neat remodeling before moving in, unlike the building exterior. It was a luxurious interior that made me feel the money was well spent. ¡°All the office equipment is set up, and the wifi and bathroom passwords are on the panel over there.¡± As I looked around the office briefly, I saw a small office with everything I needed, such as a main office that could amodate up to 12 people, a conference room, a lounge, and a snack room. As I looked at the clean office, Jinkyung¡¯s bizarre appearance stood out even more. He must have been busy with the office organization for a while, so maybe that¡¯s why¡­ I wanted to think that, but this was too much¡­ ¡°Thank you. What about the others?¡± There were two more people who came from the headquarters in a dispatch format, but I wondered why he was alone and asked him. He nodded and answered. ¡°Oh, they went to the headquarters in the morning and will be back in the afternoon. In the meantime, why don¡¯t you look at the preliminary budget and business n we prepared for next year?¡± He didn¡¯t seem like a very unreliable type, despite his appearance. I dly waited for him to hand me the materials and sat on the sofa in the reception room. ¡°Oh,e this way.¡± But to my surprise, he took me to the conference room. ¡°I will now start the presentation of the preliminary budget n.¡± Huh¡­? He was going to present it himself instead of giving me the materials? I was surprised by the unexpected demonstration. He was a mystery to me, as he gave a wless n and presentation. Based on the steep growth and active activities of Climax in the second half of this year, he said he would pursue a business that could generate actual profits next year, such as concerts, regr album releases, etc. It was a fairly specific and detailed n. Of course, I shouldn¡¯t judge a person by their appearance, but¡­ what is he? I was confused when one of the employees who said he was out came into the office. ¡°Uh, hello, Mr. Ise. Hi, Jinkyung. You¡¯re still amazing today.¡± I wasn¡¯t the only one who thought that, as the man who looked like the ountant also came in and was startled by Jinkyung. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not ready yet¡­ I¡¯ll fix it as soon as possible.¡± What did he mean by that? It turned out that he was supposed to look like the photo on his application. He said he had a lot of personal troublestely and that it wouldn¡¯t affect his work, but he might look unpleasant¡­ At first, I was like,e on¡­ but then I heard that Jinkyung was scammed out of his deposit and I shut up. Is thispany okay? It was a spicy first day at work that I couldn¡¯t be sure of either way. ¡®Phew¡­ At least I managed to get everything done.¡¯ I had to work on the tasks that were piled up until the other employees¡¯ quitting time, so I ended up leavingter than I expected. I wanted to leave by 5 o¡¯clock, thinking about what to have for dinner, but maybe it was because of the sense of crisis that I didn¡¯t know when I would see them again if I left today, due to the schedule starting tomorrow. Even though it was a neat team of one ountant, one nner, one external cooperation manager, and one management manager, I was busy switching between them and before I knew it, time had flown by. The ounting staff were practically unable to handle the broadcasting management tasks, so even though we had dedicated managers for each artist, we were still short of manpower. After deciding everything from the additional recruitment n to the end-of-year joint concert schedule, everyone was exhausted. ¡®There¡¯s no way we can expand our roster of artists for at least six months.¡¯ I shook my head, remembering how Hwijin had asked me if he coulde to Climax. No way, man. I can¡¯t take you in. Don¡¯te. I firmly rejected him in my mind as I entered the parking lot of the apartment where our new dorm was. As soon as I did, a cheerful announcement message rang out. ¡°What the¡­?¡± I quickly parked the car in the line before someone else took my spot and checked my phone screen before getting out. If it was another call for a unit battle, I was ready to block them right away. But as I looked at the message, I realized it was from Hwijin, the person I least wanted to hear from. [H] (an emoticon of a bear with sparkling eyes) 6:28 PM What is it? What do you want? I narrowed my eyes and waited for him to get to the point. [H] Mr. Lee, are you busy? 6:29 PM I wasn¡¯t busy, but¡­ I wanted to start dinner by 7 at thetest, so I was running out of time. If I had known I would be thiste, I would have asked the kids at home to at least set the table. I quickly typed and sent a message, regretting myte reply. [Me] I¡¯m not busy. 6:30 PM [Me] Is something wrong? 6:30 PM We¡¯re not even close friends. We have nothing to do with each other. Why would he contact me? I red at the screen with suspicion. He¡¯s not going to ask me for advice again after some mental breakdown, is he? I couldn¡¯t hide my uneasiness as I got out of the car. Hwijin quickly got to the point. He knows how to talk when ites to this. [H] Well, the thing is, I¡¯m going to be a regr guest on an observational reality show for about a month starting next week. 6:31 PM [H] I heard you moved to a new ce recently. Do you mind if I¡­e to your housewarming party? 6:32 PM ¡®¡­?¡¯ I had told him not toe in my mind, but instead of saying he left the agency, he asked me if he coulde to my housewarming party. I tilted my head in confusion. While I was dying my answer, a message from Hwijin arrived with an emoticon of a bear with big, round eyes. [H] There¡¯s someone around here who likes wine, so I got a lot of good wine as a gift. 6:33 PM [H] I¡¯ll bring some for sure when Ie to your housewarming party. 6:33 PM It was a well-known fact that Cheon ise was a great cook and a foodie, proven by his appearances on various shows. He proposed with confidence that a foodie would also enjoy good liquor. But to be honest, I wasn¡¯t very interested in expensive drinks. I didn¡¯t mind having them paired with my meals, but¡­ did I really need to? I didn¡¯t feel any excitement about drinking expensive liquor by itself. When I was living as Lim Hyun-seong, I used to joke that I grew up too hard and didn¡¯t know how to waste money. But I didn¡¯t skimp on food, so maybe that wasn¡¯t true¡­ or maybe food and drink were different things. [Tranted Text] Anyway, to cut to the chase, it wasn¡¯t a very appealing offer to me. Instead of giving a long answer, I sent him a bear emoticon that looked like it was pondering, which was one of his frequently used messenger stickers. [Me] (Emoticon) 6:35 PM He immediately sent me three crying bear emoticons in a row. [H] (Emoticon) 6:35 PM [H] (Emoticon) 6:35 PM [H] (Emoticon) 6:35 PM How annoying. Eating dinner was my priority, and since appearing on the show wouldn¡¯t hurt us, I decided to postpone my decision for a while. [Me] I¡¯ll talk to the schedule manager and get back to you. 6:36 PM I wanted to go home and have dinner as soon as possible. Maybe it was because I had to use my brain a lot as a leader today. I felt hungrier than usual. [H] Okay, the shooting date will probably be December 18th! 6:37 PM December 18th¡­ That means the broadcast would be around Christmas or the end of the year. They would probably ask us to prepare a housewarming party sh Christmas party. It was a moment when a crack appeared in my n to spend a devout and peaceful day on the holiday. ¡®But we¡¯re not in a position to refuse.¡¯ The production team would do their best to create a buzz during the Christmas season, and as a group that still valued every bit of recognition, it would be helpful to show a friendly side. Since I was determined to actively pursue the main quest, I had no reason to decline. [Me] Alright, I got it. 6:38 PM I barely sent a message that was half-eptance and half-rejection, then opened the door lock and entered the house. ¡°I¡¯m home.¡± I greeted them as if I was a father who had brought money from outside. I couldn¡¯t get rid of that feeling. As soon as I took off my shoes, I smelled something delicious from the kitchen. It wasn¡¯t the greasy smell of fast food like chicken or pizza, but a fragrant and healthy smell. This smell was¡­ ¡°Oh, you came early? I thought you wouldn¡¯t be here until seven, so I just started steaming it.¡± As I tilted my head and headed to the kitchen, Yi-jun was standing in front of the stove, looking into the pot. It turned out that he was steaming lotus leaf rice in the steamer. ¡°What¡¯s with the lotus leaf rice?¡± ¡°Oh, Seon-woo¡¯s family came to pick him up earlier and gave it to us. They said they made it themselves at Seon-woo¡¯s maternal home.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t tell what was inside the lotus leaf until I opened it, but the smell alone was perfect. Four pieces of lotus leaf rice steaming in the steamer. That meant Seong-won was going to eat with us too. ¡°Did you prepare any other side dis besides the lotus leaf rice?¡± ¡°Nah, I can handle the steaming, but cooking is beyond me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± I pud his wrist away as if to shoo him out of the kitchen and kicked him out. I quickly found the frozen pork stir-fry and put it in the microwave to defrost. Then, Kyunghwa came out of his room and into the kitchen. ¡°Ah¡­ you¡¯re here? It¡¯s already dinner time.¡± He looked like he had been napping in his room, his eyes slightly swollen. ¡°Yeah, is Seong-won still in his room?¡± I asked as I moved the meat to the pan and stir-fried it. ¡°Yeah. He had a meeting until five and then wrapped it up and disbanded.¡± Even though I had quit the show, they let me go back to my room and rest in the living room. ¡°You did well. Let¡¯s eat quickly.¡± I thought I could talk to Hwijin about his offer to appear on another show while we ate. He said he bought some side dis from the market. I felt my mouth water at the thought of having a more delicious dinner than usual. Chapter 162: Chapter 162: After calling the guy who was resting in his room, we finally had a meal with plenty of meat dishes. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it seem like there¡¯s more meat than usual?¡± Kyunghwa squinted his eyes and stared at the meat te for a while before asking. ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t think that¡¯s just your illusion.¡± Yi-jun also scooped up a generous portion of his share from the te and put it on his rice. ¡°Usually, we only get the exact amount because of Seon-woo, but today we can eat as much as we want.¡± It was fine to say no to him for a day or two, but it would be too much to keep nagging him about his eating habits every day. Even the kindest person would explode someday if they umted too much resentment. Normally, I would choose to divide the meat equally among the members rather than letting them eat as much as they wanted.¡®But today is a rare day when Seon-woo is out of the dorm.¡¯ I made more meat for them to eat as much as they wanted, and that caught their eyes right away. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll enjoy it.¡± Kyunghwa picked up well-cooked spicy pork and put it on his rice. The subtle aroma of the lotus leaf rice and the crunchy taste of the chestnuts blended well with the salty and sweet vor of the meat. ¡°Ah, this is really good.¡± Yi-jun mixed his rice with the meat without hesitation, while Kyunghwa ate his rice and toppings separately. He picked out the toppings like lotus root, walnut, and gingko first and then ate the remaining rice. ¡°The lotus root is cooked really well.¡± It was frozen after being steamed and then steamed again, but it was still crunchy and had a good texture. It felt like eating freshly steamed lotus root. ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s not mushy, it¡¯s crunchy.¡± Kyunghwa agreed and popped the remaining lotus root into his mouth. Seong-won nced at his lotus root on his rice and then at mine. ¡°Why?¡± Is there something wrong with it? I asked him as he looked at me with a small voice. ¡°If you want to eat lotus root, just take more of mine.¡± What? You don¡¯t like lotus roots? I thought you didn¡¯t have any preferences for side dishes. I didn¡¯t hesitate to take the lotus root that he had set aside before eating and brought it to my bowl. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to eat it, just do that.¡± It¡¯s a surprise. You don¡¯t like lotus roots? Lotus root is innocent. I didn¡¯t think much of it and ate the lotus root that Seong-won gave me. It¡¯s delicious. After finishing a satisfying meal, I went straight to my room and turned on myptop. [Wee, Cheon Ise.] I logged into the internal management web server and checked the documents and emails that I had received during work. I was basically a person who didn¡¯t trust people well, so I felt morefortable checking them again. The schedule for now was confirmed to appear on Boys Be Ambitious, and for the variety show, it would be perfect if I agreed to the schedule that Hwijin suggested on the 18th. I also looked over the proposals for the start date and staffposition of Boys in Crisis Season 2 and other various ns. As I was looking at them, time flew by. ¡®I¡¯ll talk to the members when Seon-wooes back.¡¯ I didn¡¯t realize how time passed as I looked at the work proposals that came in for each member, which I used to manage only at thepany. Most of them were small-scale radio appearances or local performances with too low budgets, so I had to reject them in favor of the program appearances. ¡®I don¡¯t see any appealing offers¡­.¡¯ I sighed and was about to take a break when an email caught my eye. [Subject: [FavoriteLab] Exclusive Model Contract Inquiry] ¡®Oh?¡¯ It arrived exactly 15 minutes after I left work. All the emails that arrived at thepany¡¯s main address were automatically forwarded to all the staff members, so the other managers would probably see it by tomorrow. Could it be a virus or a crypto-hacking attempt? I couldn¡¯t shake off my suspicion and ran a virus scan before opening the email with a deep breath. [Hello, manager. I am Seon Juhee, a marketing researcher at FavoriteLab.] The email started with a brief introduction of thepany, followed by various media materials for their current CFs. It was a fairly reliable intro and the conclusion was simple. We don¡¯t have enough money to hire five models, so we want to use one or two models. The schedule may vary depending on our internal situation, but our first priority is Na Seon-woo, followed by Son Seong-won. ¡®That sounds pretty good.¡¯ Ten years ago, male models for cosmetics were mostly for homme/men¡¯s lines, but nowadays, many male celebrities are used for color products that target women. It¡¯s not a product that would damage our image, and it¡¯s obviously beneficial to do it. Plus, if it¡¯s an exclusive contract, it¡¯s not a one-time deal, so if the sales go well or something, we might expect the contract to expand from one person to the whole group. ¡®I¡¯ll talk to Seon-woo about thister.¡¯ I worked hard all day, but I wasn¡¯t sure if it would work out, and I couldn¡¯tpletely shake off the vague anxiety. But when I finally found something I could do with confidence, I felt more motivated. It¡¯s still just an offer, and I have to negotiate with the other party and sign the contract before it bes my job. But still, it¡¯s something that they offered. And ording to my search, FavoriteLab was the hottest brand among the 20s, with a wide range of distribution from department stores to drugstores. It was a bit pricey, so it would also help build a luxurious image. I have to get this! As I was feeling determined, I heard a rustling sound at the entrance. ¡°I¡¯m home!¡± When I opened the door and went to the living room, Seon-woo was smiling awkwardly, carrying a lot of stuff as if he was immigrating. ¡°What¡¯s that¡­. a turtle?¡± He was holding a suitcase handle in his hand, and he had a huge bag on his back, which looked like a shell. ¡°Uh¡­. They sent me a new winter quilt, since it¡¯s getting cold, and an electric nket too, in case the new house is cold¡­.¡± So that¡¯s what he brought. Most of it was clothes and bedding. ¡°What about the clothes?¡± Seon-woo had lost weight again, so he might not fit into the clothes he worest winter. ¡°They told me to take the ones I left at home when I debuted, in case they don¡¯t fit¡­.¡± He must have packed everything and sent it when he moved. It would take him more than three hours to sort it out if I left it to him. ¡°We¡¯ll help you sort it out, so you go wash your hands and feet first.¡± ¡°Okay¡­!¡± As soon as Kyunghwa rolled up his sleeves and helped him, it took less than 30 minutes to finish. ¡°Can you all gather in the living room for a moment when you¡¯re done?¡± There were a lot of things to decide, including the exclusive model contract. ¡°Huh? Uh¡­¡± Yi-jun, who was brushing Pposili¡¯s fur with him between his legs, threw the fur balls into the trash can and sat on the sofa. They all took their seats and looked at me with curious eyes, which made me feel a bit pressured. ¡°Uh¡­ The reason I called you here is¡­¡± Ahem, I cleared my throat and brought up the most urgent matter first. ¡°Hwijin said he has a variety show appearance on December 18th, and he wants to film it at our dorm as a housewarming party, if possible. Any opinions?¡± They all showed positive reactions. ¡°Oh, I think that¡¯s a good idea. Thest time we met him at the resort, the response was pretty good. It would be nice if we could air it on terrestrial TV instead of web variety.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with it. Hwijin was very considerate and helpful when he came to the countrysidest time.¡± That was the opinion of the extroverts, and the introverts had a different one. ¡®¡­¡¯ As expected, Seong-won looked reluctant and his face showed it. ¡°¡­¡± Kyunghwa also seemed to agree for the sake of profit, but he didn¡¯t look very happy. ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, just say so.¡± When I said that with a smile, Kyunghwa pursed his lips and answered. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that I really hate it, but¡­¡± His expression said otherwise. Well¡­ He had been putting up with it since the first radio appearance. ¡°Do you hate it that much even though Kang Yu-geon is noting?¡± Yi-jun teased him with a smirk. That guy had a knack for provoking people. ¡°What are you talking about? When did I act like I was so conscious of Kang Yu-geon?¡± Kyunghwa denied it right away, and Yi-jun was about to add something unnecessary, so I quickly covered his mouth. ¡°Ugh, ugh!¡± ¡°Ignore what he says. If you¡¯re ufortable, you can just skip it and say you have a schedule, or you can go to your parents¡¯ house or something¡­¡± I suggested that, thinking of the day when Seon-woo visited his home, but Kyunghwa immediately shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯ll just stay at the dorm. It¡¯s better to work as much as possible when I get a booking. It¡¯s not like I know when they¡¯ll call me again.¡± Kyunghwa clenched his teeth and shook his head as if he had seen a ghost. Did I say something wrong? I was a bit puzzled by his reaction, but I didn¡¯t think too much about it. ¡°You too. If you don¡¯t like the atmosphere, you can leave the dorm.¡± I looked into Seong-won¡¯s eyes next, and he licked his lips with a displeased expression. ¡°I¡¯m fine too. I¡¯d rather stay at the dorm.¡± He didn¡¯t look fine at all, but¡­ He said OK himself, so what can I do? I nodded and wrapped it up. ¡°Then I¡¯ll contact them and say we¡¯re in. Remember December 18th, everyone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Then, what¡¯s next¡­ What should I talk about first? The good news or the slightly troublesome news? I decided to get rid of the troublesome one first. ¡°About our manager. Do you think it¡¯s okay to keep going like this?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± They all looked surprised at the topic I brought up after some thought. ¡°Why the manager?¡± Yi-jun, who seemed to be the closest to the manager among the five of us, tilted his head in confusion. ¡°It¡¯s not that. Until now, we didn¡¯t have much activity, and there wasn¡¯t much need for manager support. But as I work, I often find that the support staff is not what I had in mind.¡± I didn¡¯t tell the members that the other management had called me to scold me as they hadined. Except for the fact that I didn¡¯t feel like he was on our side¡­ he wasn¡¯t bad at handling the work. That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t easily say thank you for your hard work, this is all I ask of you. They say new wine goes into new wineskins, but I had already split from thebel, and I couldn¡¯t stand having a manager who had never worked before. Kyunghwa opened his mouth in this frustrating situation. Chapter 163: Chapter 163: ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice right now, since I can¡¯t work with someone I¡¯ve never met before.¡± The tentative dispatch period that I had agreed with the headquarters of W was about three months. Within that time, I had to decide whether to hire a sessor and hand over the work, or to continue working with the current manager. ¡°Anyway, we do need someone else to help with the management, so¡­ how about asking them to find someone who can take over anytime and work with us in parallel?¡± After thinking for a while, Kyunghwa suggested apromise. But there was no need to increase the number of managers to two, since our only artist was Climax. ¡°It would be better to have more managers when we start preparing for the regr album, andter for the fan signing and concert, but¡­¡± Yi-jun, who had joined in, agreed with Kyunghwa¡¯s opinion and then looked at me. ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡± I asked with a puzzled expression, and Yi-jun quickly said. ¡°Because you¡¯re our boss.¡±¡°What?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the investment money we get from Cheon Soo Grouping from your inheritance?¡± I narrowed my eyes as if he was talking nonsense. ¡°Oh, you mean the budget?¡± I thought Kyunghwa could rx a bit with this. But Yi-jun asked me something that made me uneasy. He smiled slyly and suggested. ¡°Do you need a CM song for that?¡± ¡°What?¡± I was caught off guard by Yi-jun¡¯s unexpected remark. I couldn¡¯t help but widen my eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. If you¡¯re curious about something, hold it in four times and ask only once.¡± I snorted and shook my head vigorously with my arms crossed. Yi-jun raised his hand like a child and answered. ¡°Yes! Got it!¡± I wanted to tell him that his attitude was making me nervous, but¡­ ¡°Ah, hello. Thank you foring. Please follow me!¡± The sales representative who came down to the lobby of the huge corporate headquarters building waved at us. ¡°Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Hello!¡± The building was three stories high and over 20 floors tall, and there were thousands of employees working there. It was as if they were proving that they were not apany with n trillion won in sales. The building boasted an enormous prestige. ¡®They must have made a lot of money.¡¯ I knew that they were growing rapidly with huge exports to China and Southeast Asia even before I died. But they seemed to have earned much more than what they showed. The lobby was also decorated so splendidly. Seeing the giant tree that looked like it was made from real wood in December, my mouth opened wide. ¡°Let me give you my business card first and then we¡¯ll move to the ce!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The ce we visited with the other members except Kyunghwa was the headquarters of arge cosmetics manufacturer where Favorite Lab was located. ¡®I guess that¡¯s why their data was pretty neat for a new brand.¡¯ It seemed that they were a startup venturepany that received support from arge manufacturer and moved into the same building to conduct research activities. They might want to acquire the brand itself when it grows bigger. Anyway, it was a relief that it was not a hole-in-the-wall shop that was financially unstable or at risk of copsing. Since it was exclusive, the longer the working period, the better, and if the advertiser did well and grew more, it could be expanded to five people. ¡°Please use the elevator over here!¡± The employee who looked quite young guided us to the elevator. The meeting room we went up to was more neat and tidy than the lobby. ¡°First of all, thank you so much foring here. I¡¯m Mareungwon, a researcher in the sales team 1. I¡¯ll give you a brief introduction of our brand and then we¡¯ll go!¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Thank you.¡± The reason why Yi-jun joined the meeting that should have been attended by me and the CF proposers was unbelievable. ¡®Don¡¯t you need a CM song for that if it¡¯s a CF that goes on air? I wanted to work on a CM song.¡¯ Yi-jun¡¯s eyes sparkled as he said he wanted to try the CM song work no matter what. I had to bring this guy along as a tag-along to the meeting. I told the client that I would try to talk to them, but I didn¡¯t know if they would ept the proposal. I cushioned it so that it would be okay even if they refused. But they agreed to do it first, so the advertiser had no reason to refuse, saving the budget. In the end, Yi-jun¡¯s strong will led us to receive the lowest level of work fee in the CM industry and to follow him to the meeting. ¡°¡­So, my favoriteb is the one that cares for me the most, and is working hard to build an image of being my best friend in my room.¡± Contrary to my worry that he woulde out and talk nonsense again, Yi-jun seemed to be quite focused on listening to the brand presentation. I felt a bit¡­ maybe I could trust him and leave it to him. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust Yi-jun¡¯s skills. He¡¯s basically a guy who performs best when he¡¯s having fun¡­ But when he had to do a job that he couldn¡¯t just do what he wanted, I couldn¡¯t guarantee how the oue would be, so I was a little worried. But unlike my concern for Yi-jun, there was an unexpected problem. ¡°Hmm¡­ Hmnn¡­¡± This guy. You were the top choice for casting, but what if you fall asleep here? I felt a twinkling gaze from beyond the ss wall that separated the conference room and the outside office. The staff who were sitting near the conference room looked at him with a contented expression, as if they were watching a healing video of a baby pig sleeping. I quietly lowered my head and stepped on Seon-woo¡¯s foot under the table. ¡°Ouch¡­!¡± Seon-woo, who was startled by the sudden stomping on his foot, opened his eyes wide. Everyone in the conference room turned their attention to Seon-woo. The expressions of the staff outside the ss window also changed to worry in an instant. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± The researcher who was giving the presentation asked Seon-woo with a concerned expression. No. He was just sleeping. I clicked my tongue inwardly, thinking it was a waste of worry. ¡°No, no, I just stumbled on my foot¡­¡± Seon-woo muttered an answer and sat up straight. The only constion was¡­ that everyone found him cute and didn¡¯t react negatively when he interrupted the meeting. He had a face that could fit anywhere, but¡­ other things¡­ he wascking in some areas. I felt embarrassed as his guardian. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s move on to the next chapter.¡± Before I knew it, he had brought a pair of sses without lenses and was taking notes diligently as if he was studying. Another one was looking straight ahead with a calm expression that showed no interest or disinterest. And another one was secretly dozing off. We had been working together as a group for five years, but how could they be so different? I shook my head with a bitter smile that I didn¡¯t know whether it was a sigh or augh. * * * A few minutester, we finished the meeting thatsted for over three hours and our hands were full of new products from Favorite Lab. ¡®We would appreciate it if you could send us some videos of you using them in your daily life, like a vlog, for the promotional video productionter. We have prepared a set of products mainly forbination skin, but if you need any for dry skin, please let us know anytime!¡¯ Since I had prepared the kit, I brought five sets of various products for the other members to try as well, and I looked like a peddler with all the stuff. ¡°Wow¡­ I¡¯ve never received so many cosmetics before.¡± Most of the products were basic ones that we could use as well. Cleansers, oils, waters, patches¡­ anything from removing makeup to moisturizing creams before applying makeup. I didn¡¯t even know where to buy these things, so I was sharing Seon-woo¡¯s stuff, but I was happy to get them. ¡°Usually, we don¡¯t get this much at once.¡± Seong-won, who had been quiet throughout the meeting, was curious about the contents and tore open the package as soon as he got in the van. ¡°Was the meeting okay today?¡± The new manager, who had quickly found a sub-road manager for me at Jinkyung¡¯s request, asked me as he drove to the new amodation with his still inexperienced driving skills. The new manager, who was on probation, was a young man who had worked as an assistant staff at another managementpany for about a year. He¡¯s not a bad person¡­ but he¡¯s a bit slow, to put it mildly. Even now, he¡¯s trying to be attentive to us, but he keeps looking back and his hand on the steering wheel shakes, making the car sway along. ¡°Excuse me, could you please look ahead first?¡± ¡°Ah, oops. I¡¯m sorry!¡± Can I really trust him with this? I wonder if I made a mistake by hitching a ride with him. My vision gets a bit blurry. After surviving the perilousmute, I get home and drop the load of stuff I brought. Then I hear a buzz from someone. A photo has arrived. ¡®What is this?¡¯ Who would send me a photo? I casually check the notification and see an unexpected name. [YOU] (photo) 6:11 PM Chapter 164: Chapter 164: ¡°What?¡± I let out an exmation without realizing it when I saw the unexpected contact from that person. ¡°Why? What¡¯s up?¡± Kyunghwa asked me curiously, holding Aeongi in her arms, as I stopped unpacking and stared at my phone near the entrance. ¡°Ah, no.¡± It wasn¡¯t anyone else, but I didn¡¯t want to show Kyunghwa the message I got from Kang Yu-geon. Of course¡­ I didn¡¯t want to show it to Yi-jun either, who had a crush on Kang Yu-geon. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is, but if you¡¯re going to use your phone, at least put away your stuff first. Aeongi and Pposili are going crazy.¡± ¡°Ah, uh¡­¡±Both of them seemed startled by the sudden influx of unfamiliar things into the house. At the same time, they were curious and cautious, hovering around the packages we brought. ¡®You bastard. You¡¯re not even a real dog.¡¯ I muttered to myself about Pposili, but he didn¡¯t care and wagged his fluffy tail, approaching the packages to sniff them. ¡°This is from the advertisingpany, they gave it to us. You have one too, hyung.¡± Seon-woo quickly handed Kyunghwa a package, as he had a lot of stuff to carry, including Kyunghwa¡¯s share. ¡°Oh, this is a new product?¡± ¡°Yeah. The main ad is probably going to be about the color line, but they also want to promote the basic line, so they asked us to film some vlogs using them at home.¡± ¡°I get what they want. Let¡¯s move the mirror to where the sunes in well and film it. That way, the picture will look better.¡± Kyunghwa looked much better than I had worried, being alone at the amodation all this time. We finished moving our stuff, and the others were busy looking for tripods and lights to film their videos. ¡®I guess we can take our time with dinner.¡¯ I thought this was a good time to check the message from Yu-geon again. [YOU] (picture) 6:11 PM I opened the messenger app to see what he had sent me, and it was a picture of Gwangan Bridge taken from Haeundae. What? You said you were taking a break from activities and I was worried, but you suddenly went to Busan? Busan??? I frowned at the random travel photo, and he must have seen that I read it, because he sent me another picture. It was a picture of a famousndmark in Haeundae. Doesn¡¯t he get recognized by fans when he goes around like this? His physique and proportions are so good that I think they would know him even if he covered his face. I quickly typed a reply. [Me] What are you doing? 6:27 PM [Me] The official channel said you were taking a break for health reasons. 6:28 PM I had heard a vague story from Hwijin, and it was the same. He said he had a health problem and left without returning, and then notified them of his rest. He had done simr things a few times before, so I guessed thepany was thinking he woulde back eventually. Anyway, since there were eight other members left, it wasn¡¯t a fatal problem for their activities if one of them was missing. They just had to deduct his share from the settlement for that period. It would be too big of a deal to kick him out for leaving without permission, and they still thought he had enough value to use. ¡®He should just go solo, but the other members would hate that.¡¯ I knew what kind of psychology drove him to act like that, but that didn¡¯t mean I sympathized with him. He should have looked for a middle ground with thepany instead of putting off the issue. Tsk, I lightly clicked my tongue as another photo arrived from Yu-geon. It was a scenic shot taken from a hotel famous for its ocean view. ¡®Who does he think he¡¯s fooling?¡¯ I felt like an idiot for worrying about him when he was out of contact and disappeared when he was in a bad shape. [Me] You seem to be fine, I¡¯m d. 6:31 PM I wondered if I should reply with something like, I¡¯ll go prepare dinner if you don¡¯t need anything else, and waited for a moment for the receipt to show up. ¡®¡­¡¯ But he seemed to have learned how to be irritating from somewhere. Or maybe he thought he had sent enough photos. He didn¡¯t read my message even after 10 minutes. ¡®Is he insane or what?¡¯ He sent me new photos as soon as the 1 disappeared, but he didn¡¯t read mine? I felt my blood pressure rising and tried to find some peace of mind by thinking about the dinner menu. Today¡¯s dinner menu was mackerel steak. I was lucky to get some good quality mackerel with plump flesh, so I debated whether to steam or grill it on my way home. I chose to grill it. I nned to use a lot of butter, so it wouldn¡¯t be a perfect health food¡­ But fish would be better for my body than meat. I swallowed the saliva that filled my mouth and headed to the kitchen. I cleaned the mackerel pieces and put them in an oven dish with foil. I seasoned the mackerel with some salt, herbs, pepper, and lemon juice, and topped it with some butter pieces. I added some garnishes like celery, garlic, and potatoes, and baked it for about 20 minutes. Since the main dish was a bit greasy, I could make the rice a bit healthier. I took out some vegetables and cauliflower rice that I had prepared for fried rice and stir-fried them lightly. ¡®This also has butter in it¡­ It¡¯s not really a diet meal.¡¯ But it was still healthier than normal food. I shrugged off the guilt and finished preparing the meal. Before I put the well-cooked mackerel on the table, I peeked into the oven and the smell of the cooked fish and the burnt butter was devastating. ¡®The smell is insane.¡¯ I reflexively salivated. I finished the meal preparation and checked the direction where the members were making noise. They seemed to have a rough idea of what to do and decided to eat first and finishter. ¡°Wow, you already prepared the meal?¡± Seon-woo came into the kitchen as if he wanted to help me with something, but I had already done everything that needed to be done. ¡°Just go and set the table.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± I moved the dish from the oven to the table with oven gloves and scooped the rice into a bowl. By then, another 15 minutes had passed. ¡®Did he read it by now?¡¯ I turned around and checked the messenger with a slight hope, but the 1 was still there. ¡®Ugh¡­!¡¯ He was such a weirdo. I decided to stop caring about Yu-geon for now and sat down at the table. ¡°You guys worked hard today. Let¡¯s eat.¡± It was more like ¡®after¡¯ than ¡®before¡¯ since we had done so much aftering home. I ignored that with a dull look and picked up the chopsticks. The greasy and plump fish melted in my mouth. This is happiness. My anger that had soared because of Kang Yu-geon was washed away. It was delicious to eat the crispy edges coated with salty butter and the soft flesh that was steamed. The others also ate the fish as if it was their first time tasting something so good, and finished their portions in no time. ¡°I ate well!¡± ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°Me too, hyung!¡± They didn¡¯t need to be told or asked to clean up after themselves, they just scattered and started tidying up as if they wanted to let me rest. ¡°You worked hard making this, so go wash up and rest.¡± Seong-won, who was usually quiet unless he was picking a fight, pushed my back and kicked me out of the kitchen. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± I felt proud and happy watching them from afar, but I also felt a strange sense of regret as I headed to my room. I had just finished the CF pre-meeting, and tomorrow I had the costume team meeting for the third mission, followed by practice, and then the CF photo shoot. The CF video would not be broadcasted until a few monthster, but they nned to select three outdoor billboards that were avable in Seoul and post them right away for promotion. I wonder what it would feel like to see my face hanging on a huge billboard in the middle of Seoul. The most popr spots were already booked months ago, so it would be hard, but still, it would be somewhere visible. I should take them there and take a proof shot if I get a chance. I want to thank the fans for giving me this opportunity to show my face. It¡¯s not just a business activity, but it¡¯s natural to be grateful to the people who helped me. Hmm. I nodded and stroked the head of Pposili, who had followed me into the room. The shooting schedule for preparing the third mission was so packed that a week passed in a blink of an eye, and the photo shoot day arrived. Normally, not all the members had to go, but this time, they decided to use the YouTube channel that had been neglected since the end of the first season of Crisis Idol. They saw us every week on Boys Be Ambitious, but the fans who expected a solo variety show were not satisfied with the 15 minutes or so of screen time that was given to Climax. ¡®We need to upload some content.¡¯ So, after consulting with Favorite Lab, they agreed to let us film the photo shoot process as a vlog and upload it to the Climax channel. Of course, they had to put a [Paid Advertisement Included] sticker, but they also received additional advertising fees. In other words, it was a win-win situation for both sides. That¡¯s why only Seon-woo and Seong-won were shooting, but the rest of the members also apanied them to the studio like parents visiting. Of course, the other members couldn¡¯t just sit and watch while the two were busy shooting, so we nned to tour the headquarters of Pure Cake Factory, where Favorite Lab¡¯sb was located. ¡°Yawn¡­¡± While Yi-jun and Seon-woo, who were sleepy in the morning, were dozing off, Kyunghwa was monitoring thetest popr variety shows in his spare time. I should¡­ watch the My Idol stages before the shooting. I said I would watch them all before the second mission ended, but I forgot. I was about to turn it on when I saw Seong-won looking out the window with a slightly nervous expression. ¡°Are you nervous?¡± Without realizing it, I added ament and Seong-won turned his gaze to look at me. ¡°Really? Not much.¡± But his expression was colder than usual, as if he never smiled brightly. ¡°Fine, whatever.¡± I ended the conversation, not wanting to argue more, and he pouted his lips. Hey, you said you weren¡¯t nervous. What¡¯s your problem? When I stared at him with wide eyes, he asked me in a low voice. ¡°What¡­ what would you do if I said I was nervous?¡± What¡¯s with the attitude? I shrugged and answered. ¡°I could at least cheer you up. Tell you to hang in there.¡± I lightly tapped his shoulder, keeping some distance, and clenched my phone. There were more things to worry about than him. The new manager and the old manager are sitting side by side in the driver¡¯s seat and the passenger¡¯s seat. Kang Yu-geon, who suddenly sent me a travel photo and then stopped contacting me. The observation reality show filming with Hwijin that wasing soon. I hoped none of them would cause any trouble. I tried to shake off the bad thoughts and looked at the huge building that was getting closer. Chapter 165: Chapter 165: ¡°It¡¯s no big deal¡­¡± All I have to do is work properly ande back, just like thest meeting. I didn¡¯t realize how wrong I was until I entered the building. ¡°Why are there so many people in the lobby?¡± When I visited for the pre-meeting, it felt like the employees were just doing their own work and moving around. But this time, as soon as we stepped into the entrance, a loud cheer erupted. ¡°Wow, their faces are so small.¡± ¡°Look at their proportions. They¡¯re insane. Insane.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ The people who were sulking when the snack cart came are now going crazy over handsome guys.¡± ¡°Ah, this is the best employee welfare, manager.¡± They were not kids, but grown-ups who came down to see the idols who visited during work hours.It seemed like some people were just curious because celebrities came, but I felt a bit overwhelmed by the unexpected wee. I asked the staff who was escorting us with tense shoulders. ¡°Can we do some autographs for a bit and then go up?¡± It would be a shame if they said no, but I wanted to give something back since they weed us so warmly. ¡°Can we get autographs? I didn¡¯t bring anything!¡± The employees near me looked for papers or pens to get autographs, while the staff answered reluctantly. ¡°We have a fixed schedule for external visitors today. Let¡¯s proceed with the schedule first, and we¡¯ll try to prepare a ce for you if we have time.¡± Then he waved his hand to clear the way and headed to the elevator. ¡°Please excuse us for a moment!¡± The schedulees first, I guess. I bowed to the employees who filled the first floor and got on the elevator to the experience room. ¡°Are you filming well?¡± Our internal director of Climax, Kyunghwa, held a selfie stick in front of him and asked. I stuck my face in front of the camera and answered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re on the elevator to the experience room right now! Can you see the ground getting farther and farther?¡± I smiled brightly and pointed to the transparent window where the elevator was open. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Seon-woo seemed curious and came closer to see, but he flinched and stepped back as if he was dizzy. It would be annoying if someone I didn¡¯t like did that, but it wasn¡¯t bad to see because he was pretty. ¡°What floor is the experience room on?¡± Kyunghwa asked the staff as if he was directing the show, and the staff smiled and answered. ¡°It¡¯s on the 22nd floor! We¡¯ll be there soon.¡± Soon, the elevator arrived at the destination with a ding, and we all headed to the beauty zone. We all received new makeup and a lecture at the beauty zone, and then the two who were taking the photoshoot went to the shooting, and the rest went to the tour. We had received simple makeup and styling from early morning, but it was all in vain as we had to remove our makeup first with the basic cleansing line products from Favorite Lab. ¡°Pleasee this way and get a warm steam towel and the products.¡± We followed the staff¡¯s instructions and tied our hair with cute hairbands. We looked like middle schoolers having a pajama party. ¡°Ahaha, you all look good. You can use the sink over here.¡± While Kyunghwa was washing his face, a staff member who briefly took over the camera exined the experience zone and filmed us thoroughly. ¡°Please show your interest in our Pure Cake Factory experience zone, which is open to the public through pre-registration!¡± After making our faces clean and white, we headed to a professional shop-like space where expert therapists and makeup artists were waiting. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a simple massage using our products, then move on to the rookie experience and photo shoot by group.¡± The therapy that started with the staff¡¯s brief introduction was quite good, as if it was a favor. I should have been used to this kind of thing by now, but I wasn¡¯t. I had just gotten used to makeup, but having something smeared on my face, packs and massages, was awkward. ¡°Uh, wait, wait a minute. It¡¯s too ticklish, eek¡­¡± And it wasn¡¯t just me who was upset, there was one guy who was even more flipped out. ¡°Yi-jun, if you keep moving like that, it¡¯s hard for us to continue the therapy, pfft, it¡¯s hard.¡± The staff who couldn¡¯t handle Yi-jun¡¯s violent reaction finally burst intoughter. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s not up to me¡­¡± Yi-jun, who couldn¡¯t even put the pack on his face properly and tore it to shreds, twitched as if he was angry at himself, and that made everyoneugh. ¡°Get out of here if you¡¯re going to keep interrupting.¡± Kyunghwa tried to hit his butt as if to scold him, and that made the scene even moreical. ¡°Maybe this is a big picture to get an ad from Nature Plus.¡± Since it was a YouTube upload, there was no ban on brand mentions, so Kyunghwa added a word and the situation reached its climax. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but can you please be less funny so we can proceed?¡± The staff who finally stopped sniffling pleaded, and Yi-jun put the final nail in the coffin. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll try harder. Let me fix my face first¡­ I¡¯m d I made you happy, but it¡¯s more ticklish than I thought¡­ Oh, you¡¯re doing it again? Oh? Ouch-!¡± With Yi-jun¡¯s dolphin scream, the scene waspletely overturned, and the shooting had to be stopped for a while to calm down. In the end, the shooting was finished with almost an hour dy from the scheduled time. The photo shoot team finished without much dy, but the problem was the tour team. The staff kept sneaking in and out, and we had to keep filming the vlog as a fan service, so it was lucky that we finished at an hour dy. ¡°Oh my god, is that really Climax?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Are there any other Climaxes besides us¡­?¡± ¡°Uh¡­?¡± [Sudden debate on the truth] [Philosophy learned in practice: Existence Part] ¡°Wow, I¡¯m a real fan!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to lie to us, we¡¯re fine. Do you know what our debut song is, by the way?¡± ¡°¡­¡± [Silence that felt like 10 years] ¡°Ah, why did you pick someone who doesn¡¯t know¡­!¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m really a fan, really¡­!¡± ¡°Then did you subscribe to our channel or not!¡± ¡°Ahahaha¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± [Oh Naeun, researcher (34) ¨C Doesn¡¯t know the debut song but is a fan (Spec: Crisis subscriber for 0 days)] ¡°Please don¡¯t worry. You can learn from now on, and as a proof of truth, just click the subscribe button right now¡­¡± [Sales that don¡¯t miss a gap] ¡°Yi-jun was very good at finding gaps to sell. I wanted to recruit him as our salesperson.¡± [But no ad offer hase yet] [I¡¯m waiting for you, advertiser!] ¡°I¡¯m ready anytime, so just leave it to me!¡± [Oh Yi-jun (22) ¨C A hard worker who does whatever he is told] [Verify it right now!] The hastily edited trailer came out pretty well. It was the result of a personal request to the editor who had edited season 1 of Crisis Office, using the footage that Kyunghwa had taken. It didn¡¯t look like an amateur had filmed it, but rather like a professional director had transformed it. Of course, Kyunghwa had filmed it well, but¡­ I wanted to take away just that editing from the production team of season 1. Thanks to the efforts of Kyunghwa and the editor, the reaction started to rise as soon as the trailer was uploaded. [- ????????? Crisis Office finally got a paid ad, thank you Favorite Lab. I was going to buy new basic products anyway, so I¡¯ll try changing the brand this time!] [- Favorite Lab¡¯s Moisture Line is famous for its good ingredients~ I rmend it to those who have sensitive but dry skin Is this what you want me to do, CEO Chun?? When will I get paid??] [- It¡¯s an ad, but it¡¯s funny just watching the trailer?????????????] [? Does Oh Yi-jun have a motor in his mouth? The sound doesn¡¯t stop?????????] [? I burst into tears when I saw the two staff members sitting down andughing in the back??????????] [? 00:25 Oh, I see. I¡¯ll watch it again?????????] [- I¡¯m a true fan of INFJ, and I¡¯m dying of pain when I imagine Oh Yi-juning to my workce???????] [? Only the E¡¯s are so excited?????????? How can you go to the staff lounge so naturally?????????] [? I have to run away from this?????????? How can this be a sober tension without a drop of alcohol??????????] [? I totally agree with you. Yi-jun, I love you, but if this was my workce, I would cry????????????] [- What??? If you buy the ¡î¡ïFavorite Lab Moisture Bang Bang Moist Line Package¡î¡ï, 2% of the profit will be donated to the water resource protection facility??? ¡î¡ïClicking¡î¡ï You can buy the ad product and practice environmental protection at the same time???] [? Oh, if you buy it from the official website, you get a 20% discount and a donation. Thank you. I bought it right away!] [? I gave you a thumbs up! Go up to the top!!] [- This is probably filmed by Kyung-jae, the main cameraman] [? ??????????????00:10 It looks like you¡¯re right?????????] [? I¡¯m sorry, but how did you figure that out???] [? If you look, Yi-jun shakes his hand less when heughs than when other membersugh. This is a hand movement that only Kyunghwa, who has been trained by Yi-jun¡¯s unexpected jokes, can do. [? 00:39 This seems to be filmed by Se-beom?????????????] Among the mostly positive reactions, there were some detective-like reactions that made me wonder how they noticed such things. In fact, Kyunghwa had filmed it right, and there were some parts where I had held the camera, but they all¡­ ¡®This is too shaky to use except for gag scenes.¡¯ They lost their original purpose and were discarded. Fortunately, there were very few parts that were used as gag scenes for scene transitions, so they weren¡¯tpletely thrown away. [- I¡¯m not even Rise, but I¡¯m waiting for season 2¡­ Come back soon, my rice friend] [22222 I don¡¯t know anything about idols, but I¡¯m just watching it for fun lol] [This is a web show that not only RISE fans but also other fans are looking forward to lol] There were so many requests for season 2 that I decided to start it again next spring. In the meantime, I hoped to get some proposals for vlog videos like this ad. I was worried that the ad would get some negative feedback, but I was relieved that everyone seemed to ept it as part of the content. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I was lying on the bed, checking thements for a while, when Seon-woo came into the room after getting his makeup done. He looked much cleaner than before. His face was something else¡­ I thought as I looked up at him, but then I wondered. Was he still under the influence of the correction? Did he have an A-grade visual? Chapter 166: Chapter 166: I quickly checked my status window as a sudden question popped into my mind. [Name: Na Seon-woo ¨C Age 21] [Attributes] Visual: A *(SS) Vocal: A Dance: B Performance: B Charm: A Speech: D[*The grade in parentheses is the grade before adjustment.] My charm had risen from B to A after the downgrade adjustment, but my visual remained unchanged. Why¡­? I had been taking care of myself and paying attention to various things as I resumed my activities, so it was natural that I had some external changes. Ever since I started working again, there was no end to thepliments on Seon-woo¡¯s visual, and he was still undoubtedly the most beautiful among the members. But why was there no change in the grade? Was it affected by something other than what I saw? Unable to shake off the question, I squinted my eyes and scrutinized Seon-woo¡¯s face, and he tilted his head in confusion. ¡°Did I¡­ do something wrong?¡± Did I scare him unintentionally? I quickly shook my head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. Let¡¯s get ready quickly.¡± I felt drained after working all day at someone else¡¯spany building. The best thing to do at times like this was to turn off the power and take a rest. ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± Seon-woo nodded his head and tucked himself into the nket as if he was pushed back. ¡°I¡¯m turning off the light.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± We didn¡¯t have many chances to do a photo shoot like this, except for thest jacket shooting, so Seon-woo also looked exhausted from the hard work. ¡°Good night, hyung.¡± His faint greeting was thest thing I heard before his regr breathing filled the room. I made sure Seon-woo was asleep and turned my body so that the phone light wouldn¡¯t shine on him, and checked the fans¡¯ reactions on SNS. [- Did they go to do a reality show or to work??????????] [- They¡¯re having so much fun????????? It¡¯s not fake, but real friendship that shows and it¡¯s hrious] [- Oh Yi-jun is crazy?????????? Ise and Kyunghwa were taking turns covering their mouths because they wanted tough??????] It wasn¡¯t much different from the YouTubements. I was very nervous when we were filming, wondering if Oh Yi-jun would make a mistake or cause an ident. But after we finished, I was relieved that there were many people who liked it. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have been so harsh on him¡­ ¡®No. If I hadn¡¯t restrained him, he might have done something wrong.¡¯ I shook my head vigorously. I should scroll down a little more and go to sleep, I decided, and as I scrolled down, I saw something I didn¡¯t expect. [- The second shipment of Seumkyeong has started:) It will be delivered by next week! [Picture] What is this? It¡¯s a deer-like humanoid with a very strange expression, but somehow it looks familiar. It¡¯s not ugly, but something¡­ It has a visual that irritates me, like poking a sore spot¡­ It¡¯s cute, but it also looks too gloomy, so it would be a bit scary to see it in the dark. I clicked on it out of curiosity and it turned out to be a (deer) plushie. I knew that fans would contact factories and make their own goods, like idols. I wondered when they started making stuffed animals. ¡®This must have cost a lot of money¡­¡¯ It took a lot of work to make a seal for a mass-produced bread, let alone a stuffed animal. I went to the ount that shared the news of the deer plushie and saw that there were various other dolls being made. From human-shaped ones to animal-like ones. Some of them had already been delivered and fans were taking pictures of them in various ces. ¡®The dolls seem to get better treatment than people¡­¡¯ I was hungry looking at the pictures of food. I wondered if there were any issues with the rights or IP, but it didn¡¯t look like they were making much profit. It was probably a tacit agreement to let them do it as long as they didn¡¯t make any money, like other fan-made goods. I went back to the original feed and met eyes with the deer plushie and I flinched without realizing it. ¡®What is this¡­ Isn¡¯t it a bit weird for a deer? And it¡¯s really¡­ It makes me feel weird when I look at it¡­¡¯ It was neitherpletely cute nor ugly, but it had a strange expression that seemed to pierce through everything, and it looked like someone I knew. ¡®I want one.¡¯ It seemed to have gained poprity with its bizarre visuals that stimted the desire to collect, and there was an announcement that they were preparing for the second batch. I wanted one, but¡­ If I publicly appealed that I wanted one, it would cause a stir. I had to wait for the next opportunity or find a way to get one without being caught. I looked at the pictures of the deer plushie going to a spicy soup restaurant¡­ going to a theme park¡­ going to an aquarium¡­ with the hashtag #deer_challenge and I yawned. ¡®I should go to bed.¡¯ Tomorrow was the first practice with the coboration artist. The basic concept was a prom party at the end of the year. We needed a guest to y the female protagonist who was courted by the five members at the same time. We decided to ask Seon-yeong for help again, after considering the possibility of scandals and other problems. Seon-woo might not be very happy to share the stage with his sister again, but¡­ Even though she was family, we had to consider the bacsh from the fandom, so the concept was closer to a running mate than a couple. ¡®There¡¯s nothing too difficult to do.¡¯ The goal was to make the audience feel like they were invited to the stage, even though it was Seon-yeong on stage. For now, I had to save up some energy for tomorrow. I nodded to myself, flipped my phone over, and closed my eyes. That night. I had a nightmare for the first time in a long time. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Something huge was following me from afar. Maybe it was because I was so busytely. I didn¡¯t have trouble sleeping because of nightmares¡­ As I ran through a space where I couldn¡¯t even tell where I was going, I suddenly wondered. What am I afraid of? I turned around with curiosity and saw what was following me with a huge shadow. ¡°¡­!!¡± Clumsy limbs. Slit eyes. A strange pupil that looked like a cat or a reptile. There were horns on its head, making it look like a dragon or a deer. The identity of the weird monster was none other than Seon-yeong. ¡°I¡­ I told you I¡¯m a deer!¡± Seon-yeong, who sounded like Kyunghwa, opened her eyes wide and shouted. ¡°Huh¡­ Huh¡­ What kind of dream is this¡­¡± Sweat was dripping from my forehead. I picked up Pposili, who was looking at me as if he was asking if I called him, from the cushion under the bed and hugged him. ¡°Really¡­ It looked weird¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t 100% cute or 100% ugly, but it resembled Kyunghwa, so it was more impressive. I guess having something like that at home would make me more nervous. I should give up on getting one. I got up and went to the kitchen to drink some water, thinking that maybe my lips would shrink a bit. I saw a lump sitting on the sofa in the living room. ¡®¡­? I don¡¯t think there was anything like that when I came inst night¡­¡¯ I drank half a cup of water and walked to the sofa without thinking. ¡°Pfft-! Cough, cough¡­¡± I realized then that the lump was Seon-yeong. ¡°Aaaah-!¡± I was so startled that I dropped the cup I was holding and the ss cup shattered on the tiled floor. Soon, Seong-won and Kyunghwa, who were awake, came out of the bedroom, rubbing their eyes as if they were wondering what the noise was. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± I felt like such a fool that I wanted to hide in a mouse hole. I barely calmed down and looked at where Seon-yeong was sitting. She looked at me with a look that said she knew the truth. That¡¯s not a deer¡¯s eye, no matter how you look at it. This must be a dream too. I ignored the broken cup and went back to the room. Seong-won and Kyunghwa looked very awkward. ¡®A dream within a dream¡­ I have to wake up¡­¡¯ I was worried for a moment, but then I felt a presence behind me. ¡°I¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t turn aroundpletely, so I slowly turned my head. And as soon as my head turned. ¡°I¡­ I told you I¡¯m a deer!!!¡± ¡°!!!¡± I woke up with a start, startled by a loud scream in my ear. ¡°Ugh¡­ Ugh¡­¡± As usual, Pposili was staring at me with his head tilted, lying on my feet. The next morning, I went to the living room with bleary eyes and saw Kyunghwa sitting on the sofa, ying with his phone. ¡°Are you up?¡± He was holding Seumkyeong in his arms. He must have known already. He even bought it. I looked back and forth between Seumkyeong and Kyunghwa a few times, then pointed at Seumkyeong with my fingertip. ¡°Seumkyeong.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Kyunghwa asked, sounding puzzled. ¡°A deer¡­ I know¡­¡± With that, I headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. ¡°What¡­? Why are you like that¡­?¡± He muttered, looking dumbfounded, as I left him behind. After that, I hid Seumkyeong under a cushion on the sofa, somewhere out of sight. He looked like he would haunt my dreams. The practice schedule was from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., including lunchtime. I packed the lunch box I had prepared in advance and headed to the practice room reserved by Pris, marching along the short but long road. ¡°Wow, you all did a great job!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try to improve the parts where the timing was a bit off before the next practice, and if you have any new ideas for the choreography or the direction, share them with each other and keep in touch more often~!! It was so much fun to see all five of you at once, it¡¯s the first time for me too!¡± Seon-yeong, who was exactly as I remembered her, spewed out a long sentence without taking a breath, showing her enthusiasm. Kyunghwa and Seong-won nodded their heads reluctantly, as if they were bored. ¡°Yes, thank you for today! We look forward to working with you for the rest of the schedule!¡± Only Yi-jun kept his mouth alive, chattering away. Well¡­ at this rate, the third mission should go smoothly. Thanks to winning the first ce in the second mission, I could take on the third mission without much pressure. Compared to the stress I had during the second mission, Seon-yeong¡¯s high tension was nothing. There was noparison between a friendly andmunicative ally and a bunch of guys who were practically enemies and whose thoughts I couldn¡¯t even guess. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll go ahead then! See you at the next practice!¡± Kyunghwa said goodbye to Seon-yeong with a desperate attempt at socializing, and we all quickly left the practice room. ¡°Phew¡­¡± And at the same time, a long sigh echoed in the hallway. ¡°But, you know, she doesn¡¯t mean any harm¡­¡± Seon-woo said, looking awkward, as he hesitated. We all chimed in as we headed to the parking lot. ¡°I know. Don¡¯t worry too much, she didn¡¯t make the schedule hard for us. We¡¯ve seen Seon-yeong before. She¡¯s definitely skilled, so we trust her and we¡¯re d to have someone we can rely on by our side.¡± ¡°I think she¡¯s kind of fun.¡± ¡°You¡­ You¡¯re a bit weird.¡± Seon-woo¡¯s expression brightened a bit. Well, who wouldn¡¯t feel good when their family was praised? As the third mission was going smoothly, I remembered the schedule I had forgotten. [December 18th ¨C Bravo Solo Life shooting] Chapter 167: Chapter 167: ¡®Ah¡­.¡¯ We had already finished the pre-production survey and meeting with the staff. We had received a rough script and started packing our stuff early. I didn¡¯t have much luggage to begin with, and Seon-woo was OK thanks to my nagging. Seong-won, who had a room to himself, had already cleaned up a long time ago, bringing in all kinds of cat products like a cat tower, a cat pole, and a cat wheel. The only problem now was¡­ Oh Yi-jun, that bastard. On the way back to our amodation, I narrowed my eyes and red at him. Yi-jun shrugged his shoulders as if he had no idea what was wrong with me. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you have a clue?¡± ¡°Uh, no, I don¡¯t.¡± I was annoyed by Yi-jun¡¯s shameless attitude. Kyunghwa shook his head as if he had tried his best.¡°I told him. I talked to him, but he didn¡¯t listen.¡± Kyunghwa quickly fished out his earphones from his pocket and plugged them into his ears. He leaned back on the seat and closed his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s talk when we get home.¡± I didn¡¯t have the energy to say anything right now either. I had been tormented by Seonyoung enough. I decided to recharge a bit in the car and pour out everything as soon as we arrived home. I sighed and tapped my chest to calm myself down. I followed Kyunghwa and closed my eyes. ¡°Did you guys have a fight or something?¡± Yi-jun pretended to be clueless and made a silly remark. Only Seong-won¡¯s long sigh echoed in the car. ¡°How could this happen when we¡¯ve only moved into this house for less than a month?¡± I rubbed my eyes in disbelief as Kyunghwa shook his head. ¡°Just send that to the broadcast. They¡¯ll scold you for being filthy if you live without cleaning up. Maybe that¡¯ll wake you up.¡± Kyunghway down on his bed leisurely and turned on hisptop, as if he had already told me hundreds of times to clean up my desk. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be known as the dirty member of Climax.¡± I didn¡¯t care about anything else, but being criticized for hygiene was the worst. His desk was like a grave, piled up with anything and everything. He took baths regrly and strangely smelled good, which annoyed me even more. Well, at least that was a relief. ¡°When did you take these off and not wash them?¡± There were jeans that I hadn¡¯t seen him wear for at least a week, socks that I couldn¡¯t tell if he had worn them or not, books and notebooks that he had left unfinished, pens, post-its, and more, stacked up to at least 60cm high. ¡°I think I wore those two weeks ago. They said jeans shouldn¡¯t be washed too often, so I stored them there for now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not storage, that¡¯s just piling up.¡± ¡°But art is supposed toe from chaos, you know.¡± Kyunghwa said, without even looking at his desk. I really wanted to pack everything in a box and seal it. I could handle food waste with rubber gloves, but I didn¡¯t want to touch his unwashed clothes. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you to throw everything away, just make it look like a normal desk.¡± Right now, it looks like a trash can. ¡°Hey, why? This is pretty human and not bad, right?¡± Yi-jun pouted his lips as if he was wronged, but no one agreed with him. Only Seon-woo was sweating and iling around. ¡°Do you want me to help you clean up?¡± I refused without hesitation. ¡°Rejected.¡± As soon as I said that, Yi-jun protested loudly. ¡°Aw, why~. I need it.¡± ¡°You made the mess, so you have to clean it up yourself. You have 30 minutes to tidy everything up.¡± I put my foot down firmly, and Yi-jun pouted his lips andined. ¡°Ugh, isn¡¯t 30 minutes too short? Right, Pposili?¡± Yi-jun quickly ran into the room where Pposili was and tried to cuddle him, scratching his chin and talking to him. He¡¯s just my system anyway. I muttered to myself. ¡®Come here.¡¯ Woof! Pposili seemed to understand me without me saying anything, and he barked lightly and shook off Yi-jun¡¯s embrace and came to me. ¡°Let¡¯s go, I can¡¯t stand being here until he cleans up. It¡¯s too dirty.¡± I nodded slightly as if to say I woulde backter to check on him, and headed to the living room. Yi-jun screamed like a banshee. ¡°Bigpany! Evil boss! Wage theft!¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± If he knew how much debt Climax had umted over the years, he would realize how lucky and grateful he should be for this amodation. I shook my head and sighed briefly. While Climax was peacefully preparing for the third mission, Floss¡¯s dorm was a war zone. ¡°¡­¡± Hwijin came out to the living room with a feeling of walking on thin ice, checked the expressions of the two members who were watching TV silently, and went back to his room and closed the door. Floss¡¯s dorm was originally arge apartment with four rooms that could amodate all nine members. Now, three of them had moved out, and he also had his own studio, so half of the rooms were practically empty, but it was especially lonely these days. Chanhyung was out ofmission until next year due to a fracture, and Yu-geon had been absent without permission, and officially he was resting due to health issues, so the remaining members were seven. Among them, three of them rarely stayed at the dorm except when they had to apany each other for schedules. Floss had more individual schedules than the survival show, so he couldn¡¯t even remember thest time they all gathered together. ¡®I guess it¡¯s better to avoid fighting if we get together, but.¡¯ He felt bitter at the sight of no sign of camaraderie among them, especially when their contract was expiring in six months. He thought everything would be solved if they seeded when they were nobodies who could go out without a hat and not be recognized by anyone. But there were so many problems that couldn¡¯t be solved by sess alone. Hwijin nced at the living room situation, which was a relief if they didn¡¯t fight, and closed the door and sighed briefly. Hwijin¡¯s roommate was Yu-geon, whom he hadn¡¯t seen for weeks. ¡®He could at least contact me.¡¯ What the hell was going on? Was he really sick, or did he have to go to the hospital for surgery? He wanted to grab him by the cor and ask him to say something if he had a problem. But when he saw him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything but wee him back. He was one of the closest members to him, he thought, but Yu-geon turned off his phone as soon as he called him a bit persistently, and Hwijin was quite surprised. It was Yu-geon who cut ties with Climax. He hadn¡¯t heard from Yu-geon for a long time, and he was in touch with the leader of another team for a variety show appearance, which was quite ironic. I wonder if Climax has finished their practice by now. I know the production team will contact them tomorrow morning anyway, but I sent them a message just to ease my anxiety. [Me] How¡¯s the preparation going? 9:37 PM The leader of Climax. Cheon Ise, who was five years younger than me, was an obscure nobody that I didn¡¯t even know existed until a few years ago. I think I met him for the first time about a year and a half ago. Even then, my first impression of Cheon Ise was not much different from Naru¡¯s. A brat who always wanted to be the center of attention, the best at everything, and have the best things for himself. He was also raising his voice over the financial support issue with Floss. Floss was a rookie group that had just debuted, but they already had a huge fandom that had been established for almost six months through pre-release programs and broadcasts. That meant they had to show things that other groups usually prepared after two years of debut to satisfy the needs of their long-awaited fans. That would have been the case for any group in the same situation as Floss. They would have monopolized thepany¡¯s support. ¡°Do you think you can do this with our money? Huh?¡± He looked like he was barely twenty-two. His attitude was outrageous. I personally didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with him. I shook my head in disbelief as I remembered his words. Well, it¡¯s the entertainment industry where you can survive by being rude as long as you catch the eyes of the fans. But still, that was too much. And Climax was a nameless group that had been stuck at the bottom for almost three years. They would probably be dropped as soon as their contract expired. I clenched my teeth as I recalled the words of my former group. That was already a year ago. Climax, who I expected to disband soon, changed this spring. ¡°He suddenly started cooking.¡± Some of the members scoffed at the news that the reckless brat started cooking by himself. Didn¡¯t they say their contract was expiring soon? They¡¯re probably going to disband next year. Maybe he¡¯s trying to get some attention or something. Maybe he¡¯s trying to move to a family-oriented agency. He¡¯s just doing idols as a hobby anyway. Why doesn¡¯t he change his career? They mocked him with sarcastic remarks. But Yu-geon impulsively showed interest. I honestly opposed it at first, but Yu-geon¡¯s reaction was quite positive. ¡°I went to the radio today.¡± He arrived just in time for the regr schedule after a hectic day. He said something unexpected. ¡°He seemed different. I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t tell what he¡¯s thinking from just seeing him once.¡± Then he quickly figured out how to use him and started to pass on some of the lower priority schedules to him. It was a win-win situation for Yu-geon, who had too many offers to handle. But I wondered. ¡°Would that irresponsible brat do the work that others dumped on him?¡± Contrary to my doubts, Cheon Ise, who appeared briefly on the screen, was apletely different person. And a month ago. When I got an offer to join a web variety show to prevent unnecessary fan wars, I was quite surprised. He was worried about fan fights? I didn¡¯t believe it. I hesitated to join, but Yu-geon said he didn¡¯t care and I had to ept his offer. Although we didn¡¯t live together for that long. But still, he was my roommate. He was younger than me and I had no idea what he was thinking for the past two years. Butpared to the other members who had no clue about me, Yu-geon was a bit better. So I reluctantly agreed to meet Climax face to face. And that day, I had to overturn the prejudice I had against Ise. Yu-geon was right. The brat who only wanted to be noticed was gone. And there was a strange leader who made me spill my inner thoughts like a wise adult. And he was loved by all the members. Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Hwijin¡¯s impression of Cheon Ise, who got along well with the members, was simple. ¡®He was jealous.¡¯ People would ask him what he was talking about, having achieved most of the goals that others would dream of as an idol in his first year of re-debut. But he was honestly jealous. Not just pretending to be allies or friends when the camera was on, but being able to open up and mingle with each other. When was thest time he had a peer like that? He had received countless contacts after appearing on the My Idol stage, but none of themsted long and ended. At first, he answered ¡®I just came out to raise my awareness.¡¯ to the contacts that came with half-mockery and half-curiosity, saying ¡®You still haven¡¯t given up on being an idol.¡¯ until the middle of the broadcast. Surviving the first elimination, surviving the second elimination, and surviving the third elimination, his rank gradually rose to the debut group, and the eyes of the people around him changed. He¡¯s the only one who¡¯s done his military service.Aren¡¯t you too old to be an idol? At that age, shouldn¡¯t you be a mentor rather than a challenger? He¡¯s happy to get attention by being an uncle among the kids. You said you were going to be an actor, what are you doing with that mentality? Do you think it will work out if you do idol again? When he found out how the people who had said all kinds of good words in front of him without changing their expressions had talked behind him, Hwijin realized what kind of ce the entertainment industry was. The only time you can purely support someone else¡¯s dream is when it seems impossible to achieve. The former members, who he once thought were his most precious friends, also drifted away as Hwijin¡¯s debut became more and more certain. They were unable to reach the top of the pyramid, which had a fixed structure, even though they struggled so hard. Finally, from the moment Hwijin secured his debut spot on the live broadcast. All contact was cut off as a joke. During the broadcast period, they wished that he would suffer some kind of natural disaster and his rank would plummet, or that he would have a school violence controversy and it would explode. It was already toote to ask each other after they had already set the date. ¡®¡­¡¯ No matter how hard the senior tried to mediate the atmosphere, Hwijin felt a wall that he couldn¡¯t ovee with the other members. What would it feel like to write a thrilling diary of aeback with the colleagues who had ovee the hard times together? He felt unworthy as a leader who made Floss like this, but heughed absurdly when he talked to the master who had be apletely different person. He didn¡¯t know what had happened to make him change so much. But the more he got to know him, the more he realized that this person had a charm that attracted people around him. He had no choice but to ept the person named Cheon Ise. He wanted to fit in with them without any hesitation. On the day when the shooting of Boys Be Ambitious started and the internal cracks of Floss reached their peak. Hwijin unwittingly blurted out as a joke. Would you ept me if I went to the climax? ¡®I¡¯m crazy¡­¡¯ He knew it was impossible and shameless. But it¡¯s okay to dream and envy the impossible. If Floss disbanded, he would probably go back to acting as he originally intended. He had a decent vocal skill, so he was getting steady love calls from the musical side. It was a pity, but there was nothing in the world that could be done as he wished, so he had to give up. Hwijin sighed deeply and flopped down on the bed. He had been in a room that was almost like a single room for a few weeks, and when he came back, the bed smelled more like a hotel with new sheets than a person living there. ¡®Let¡¯s not worry about anything and just do our best for the shooting tomorrow.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t afford to sound weak, being the oldest member of the group. I had to put aside my anger for now and focus on what I had to do as a leader to maintain our flow. ¡®That thing appeared in my dream again.¡¯ As I opened my eyes to the rm that I had set at dawn, the vivid dreams that I hadst night shed before me. ¡®The deer¡­ it was like this¡­¡¯ The deer with the huge antlers that red at me as if it was about to charge at me was still fresh in my mind. ¡®I hid it well here¡­¡¯ As soon as I got up in the morning, I went to the sofa and checked between the cushions. Luckily, Kyunghwa hadn¡¯t found it, and it was still in the spot where I had hidden it. ¡®Phew¡­¡¯ Just as I was relieved and rubbed my chest, a voice came from behind me. ¡°What are you doing there?¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Seumkyeong¡­ no, the real Kyunghwa had just woken up and was about to go to the bathroom to wash his face, and he was looking down at me. ¡°Uh, I was feeling a bit dizzy after waking up, so¡­¡± I tried to make ame excuse, but Kyunghwa seemed to be suspicious, though he nodded and went into the bathroom. ¡®That was close¡­¡¯ I covered Seumkyeong more carefully and went back to my room to get ready to go out. I felt awkward, so I pped Seon-woo¡¯s calf that was sticking out of the nket as a bonus. ¡°Get up. You have to get ready too, or we¡¯ll bete.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Seon-woo groaned and wriggled like a worm from the sting. ¡°Stay awake until Ie back from washing my face.¡± I quickly finished my basic care with the products that Favorite Lab had given me and went to the living room. Kyunghwa was staring at the cab with a suspicious expression. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked calmly, with a natural expression. ¡°No, it¡¯s just that I had a gift that I think I left in the living room for a moment, but it¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°A gift?¡± Yi-jun, who was already in the living room, perked up his ears and approached, as if he heard something exciting. Kyunghwa shot a contemptuous look at Yi-jun. ¡°It¡¯s just a doll. I got one that was made with me as a motif.¡± ¡°When?¡± What is this, twenty questions? Yi-jun pestered him, and Kyunghwa¡¯s forehead creased in an instant. ¡°What do you mean¡­ It was when we were leaving the Boys Be Ambitious broadcasting stationst time.¡± The really famous groups had guards who helped control the crowd, so it was hard to get close to their cars, but we weren¡¯t at that level yet, so we had a chance to receive some gifts or letters from time to time. I had received some snacks and letters before, but never a doll. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m jealous.¡± A sentence that didn¡¯t suit Yi-jun at all came out of his mouth, and Kyunghwa snickered and replied. ¡°You probably have one too.¡± ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t see anyst year.¡± It was obvious. Unless I paid a hefty price for a custom-made order, there would be a minimum production quantity. And to meet that minimum production quantity, I would need people to join me in a group purchase. A year ago, Climax¡¯s fandom wasn¡¯t even that big. But now it was. At Kyunghwa¡¯s words, Yi-jun searched for something and eximed. ¡°Wow? Really? This is so cute.¡± Yi-jun excitedly posted a picture on the group chat and it was a squirrel-like doll with facial features that resembled Yi-jun. ¡°How is that you?¡± Seong-won squinted his eyes and red at the screen for a while before shaking his head. ¡°Come on, it looks like me! If you say it doesn¡¯t, go get some sses.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Do you even know the topic?¡± ¡°Stop fighting. We have to move soon.¡± Just as Seong-won and Yi-jun were about to growl at each other, luckily the inte call arrived from downstairs. ¡°The car is waiting, so let¡¯s go down quickly.¡± That¡¯s how the doll argument ended and today¡¯s schedule began. Hwijin would arrive at 1 p.m. When Hwijin and the ¡®Bravo Solo Life¡¯ filming crew arrived, I would show them around the house and cook some food for them. Then we would go for a walk in the neighborhood park with Pposili. For normal housewarming, I would order some delivery food or prepare some food in advance. But in our case, I was too famous for being good at cooking, so they decided to make a script where they would learn from me. ¡®Do I have to¡­?¡¯ Couldn¡¯t they juste and eat? I thought, but I also felt motivated to do it properly since we agreed to do it. I prepared the ingredients for the dishes that were called the flowers of the housewarming. They said I could bring one or two members with me, so I prepared enough for anything. If Yu-geon was in a normal state, he would havee. But now, even Floss didn¡¯t seem to know where he was, so maybe another member woulde. I didn¡¯t know who it was, but I could only hope that it was a member who wouldn¡¯t provoke Kyunghwa. As I waited with a small breeze, ding dong, the doorbell rang. Climax¡¯s concept was lively and friendly siblings. In the preview, they only hinted at Climax and said that Hwijin was going to meet his close siblings. Because of the schedule we announced, the fans would know anyway and there would be spective articles on the entertainment news, like [Who are Floss Hwijin¡¯s close siblings?]. It would be better for us to get more attention by ying coy. Surprise, Hwijin¡¯s close siblings were Climax! We couldn¡¯t miss the chance to shock them. ¡°When I count to three, open the door.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­!¡± After checking each other¡¯s expressions, I opened the door with relief. ¡°Hello!¡± The five voices of us, including Seong-won for once, greeted them with enthusiasm. In front of us were¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Hi!¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Hwijin, who was smiling brightly like a friendly brother for the broadcast, and¡­ ¡°¡­¡± Shim Naru, who had a slightly dissatisfied expression on his face. Chapter 169: Chapter 169: ¡°I¡¯ve set up the living room like this for the party.¡± Kyunghwa and Seong-won, who were good at crafts, had decorated the living room with a festive atmosphere. Hwijin eximed as he looked around. ¡°Wow, did you guys do this all by yourselves?¡± ¡°Yes, our members are good at making things, so we did it quickly.¡± Shim Naru also entered the living room and nced around. He poked a balloon with his hand and met my eyes. ¡®Did he think about what I saidst time?¡¯ Honestly, I didn¡¯t expect him to have any serious reflection or introspection. I just wanted him to think about why he was so obsessed with getting the most attention and winning. People can¡¯t live by their goals alone, they have to think about their reasons too. If he didn¡¯t want to do that, he should just live as he pleases. Having ambition is a good thing, it means he has a will for a better future. But he should use it wisely.I don¡¯t know if he knew how much I was thinking about him, but Shim Naru avoided my gaze and smiled brightly. He took out the housewarming gift he had brought. ¡°I prepared this personally. I heard you guys were used to cooking for yourselves at the dorm.¡± What Shim Naru handed me with a cute and lovely face was none other than a cat character waffle maker and a colorful (I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a cat toy or a magical girl wand) shy cat toy. ¡®He picked something that suits him.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t made by a professional kitchen appliancepany, but it looked shy and pretty. It seemed like it would break after using it a few times. The cat toy also looked more aesthetic than quality. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve seen this on YouTube. That¡¯s it, right? The one that¡¯s popr on Shorts these days.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right. Have you seen it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to burn something weird in the kitchen again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not just burning things.¡± As Yi-jun showed interest in what Naru had brought and filled the airtime, I calmly prepared the ingredients and caught everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Can you turn off the local broadcast for a moment and look over here?¡± Bang bang, I tapped the bottom of the stainless steel bowl and made a loud noise. Six pairs of eyes, excluding the production staff, looked at me. If Climax was a seven-member group, I would have had to lead this many people. It¡¯s already hard enough with Kyunghwa¡¯s help, but seven people¡­ And if there were foreigners, the difficulty of control would be even higher. Hwijin suddenly seemed admirable. ¡®It¡¯s better to have fewer people.¡¯ There were only five of us, but we had friction over part distribution. If there were nine, it would be a mess. I added a little sympathy for Hwijin and continued. ¡°First of all, I¡¯ve soaked the rice well for today. I¡¯ve also chopped the vegetables and prepared them, so we just need to stir-fry them. I¡¯ll introduce the ingredients I¡¯ve prepared and then start.¡± As I introduced the ingredients in the bowl one by one and proceeded with the mini ss, the rest of the cast looked at me with curiosity. ¡®They look like kindergarten kids.¡¯ They were a bit too big to be kindergarten kids, but they were not familiar with cooking. They were all adults¡­ Well, there was one minor, but he was still a young adult. Nothing would go wrong¡­ Underestimating the cooking novices, I started the main course. And exactly 30 minutester, I had to revise all my prejudices so far. I had experienced first-hand how powerful six moving time bombs could be. ¡°Wait a minute! That¡¯s already cooked, how long have you been boiling it?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I put it in when hyung was stir-frying the meat.¡± ¡°Why on earth???¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it too chewy? I like it a bit soft after boiling.¡± ¡°No, it will get soft anyway when you simmer it with soy sauce! Hold on¡­ Hwijin hyung, what are you doing? There¡¯s a fire there right now!¡± ¡°Huh? Oops, I think the fire caught on the part that was sticking out of the pot¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t touch it with your hands! Turn off the fire first, and don¡¯t pour water on the burner¡­!¡± ¡®¡­¡¯ I should have just done it all myself. It would have been a hundred, no, a thousand times better to do a show of how fast I could make seven servings of food by myself, like the TV program I did before. It was toote to regret it. I looked at the portable burner that was vibrating with a gas smell and burnt smell with a soulless eye and tapped my forehead. ¡°Everyone, stop cooking and sit quietly on the sofa.¡± As Iid down thew with a long sigh, they all put down whatever they were holding on the table and got up one by one. ¡°Can I¡­ wash my hands?¡± Hwijin looked sorry and embarrassed, as if he wanted to hide somewhere, and asked nervously. I didn¡¯t know it when I did the filming for the crisis centerst time, because I only helped with some simplebor and did most of the food preparation myself, but Hwijin was¡­ a worse cook than I could imagine. He not only confused sugar and salt and poured two spoons of salt into the meat stir-fry that should have been sweetened, making it an inedible waste of food. He also managed to set fire to the vegetables. Usually, it¡¯s hard enough to burn the vegetables that stick out a bit, but he literally made mes re up. And vegetables have moisture, so it¡¯s hard to catch fire¡­ How did he do such a difficult thing that even if I asked him to do it, he couldn¡¯t? It was a mystery to me. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to set fire to the bathroom¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be careful!¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± I opened the door to the balcony wide open with a pale expression, cleaning up the damp burner. It was winter, so a cold wind blew in, but I didn¡¯t care. The smell of burning was so strong in the corner of the house that the cold was nothing. Aeongi, who was curious about what was going on in the living room, sneaked out of the living room and shivered at the sudden cold wind. ¡°Wow.¡± As I was clearing up the ruined results on the table, Shim Naru seemed interested in the cat and approached Aeongi. ¡°Can I touch it?¡± He asked as if he was asking for my permission, so I pointed to Seong-won with my chin. ¡°Ask Seong-won.¡± Then, Seong-won, who received the baton, tilted his head and answered. ¡°As long as Aeongi doesn¡¯t run away¡­ I washed my hands earlier, so it doesn¡¯t matter¡­¡± ¡°Well, then I¡¯ll just pet it once!¡± Was it because the camera was rolling? Seeing Naru trying to maintain his cute youngest position by appearing in the same cut as the animal, I felt bitter. ¡°Coocoo, can I pet you once?¡± The moment Naru tried to show his cutest side and reached out to Aeongi. ¡°Meow-.¡± With a single gag, Ayeong darted into the innermost corner of Seong-won¡¯s room and climbed up to the top of the cat tower. ¡°Huff¡­¡± ¡°Puff¡­¡± While everyone else was desperately holding back theirughter, Naru¡¯s face twisted with wounded pride. ¡°So, so haughty~. That¡¯s cute too, but¡­¡± He was hurt inside. I could tell even without him saying it. Everyone turned their heads and tried to stifle their chuckles, but only Seong-won looked satisfied as he peeked into the room. I wish they would hurry up and leave. I didn¡¯t realize it when we filmed the crisis scene¡­ It was different to make the main dish myself and have the others chop or wash the vegetables, and to crowd around the gas burner and cook with fire¡­ A person who can grill meat well may not be a good cook¡­ I regretted it toote and waited anxiously for the shooting to end. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a wrap!¡± As soon as the te pped, the tension was gone and I felt drained. ¡°Good job, everyone!¡± ¡°Thank you for your hard work~!¡± There were only two more people. I thought it would be easier with more hands, and we would finish quickly¡­ I was wrong. Thanks to them, we got someic and fun scenes, but the house was aplete mess after the shooting. ¡°We¡¯ll help you clean up.¡± With a sincere apology on his face, Hwijin helped me with the living room cleaning, while the other members took care of the room tidying to prevent any lost idents or fur balls from escaping outside. Soon, the staff left and only the Climax members, Hwijin, and Naru remained. ¡°¡­Uh, I¡¯m really sorry for making you work so hard today, and even more because of me¡­¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t worry about it. We got enough footage and it was fun to shoot.¡± Hwijin looked awkward and nervous, while Naru clearly had his attention on the cat. Was he that upset that he couldn¡¯t pet it earlier? Aeongi, who hade out to the living room, naturally approached Seong-won and snuggled in his arms. He seemed to be bothered by beingpared to Seong-won in terms of skills. He knew that the cat was just being affectionate to its owner, but he couldn¡¯t take his eyes off them. ¡®I always feel this way, but he¡¯s such a kid¡­ They¡¯re all kids. They¡¯re only 19, but they act even younger.¡¯ It was the same before. I could see through his thoughts so easily that I didn¡¯t get angry, but just¡­ I felt a bit sorry for him, but it wasn¡¯t a pleasant sight. Seong-won seemed to feel the same way, as he nced at Naru with a slightly ufortable expression and put Aeongi down from hisp and headed to his room. I wondered what he was thinking, but he came back soon with a stick-shaped snack in his hand. ¡°Cats don¡¯t usually like strangers. Maybe it¡¯s because of the smell of cosmetics.¡± ¡°Cosmetics?¡± Naru tilted his head and asked, his attitude strangely passive, maybe because he was rejected by the cat. ¡°Yes. They¡¯re territorial animals, so they don¡¯t like people who smell strong. And I don¡¯t mean weird smells, but even things like perfume or cosmetics that humans find pleasant, they hate them¡­¡± Naru sniffed his wrist. He had wondered why there was a scent of air freshener since the start of the shooting. He must have sprayed some perfume before he came. ¡°Do you want to try giving them a snack?¡± He had looked satisfied when the kitty had coldly refused him earlier. But seeing him so gloomy now, he felt sorry for him. At Seong-won¡¯s suggestion, Naru¡¯s eyes lit up and he quickly nodded. ¡°Yes!¡± It was the first time he saw Naru¡¯s face, which looked like a high school student, with a faint smile on his lips. The others seemed to have the same idea, as they watched Naru with trembling hands offer a snack to the cat. ¡°I didn¡¯t put anything weird in it. You can just eat it.¡± Now Naru looked like he was about to cry. Amidst everyone¡¯s anticipation, the kitty slowly crouched down and approached Naru. Chapter 170: Chapter 170: What if it bites or scratches again? Everyone looked worriedly at Aeongi and Naru, switching their gazes back and forth. At that moment, ¡°Pant, pant, King-! Pant, pant, pant, pant.¡± Pposili, who had been quiet, suddenly circled around Naru¡¯s feet, spinning round and round. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Pposili weighed more than 10kg. Although he was much lighter than a human, he was enough to knock over Naru, who was skinny and barely 170cm tall. ¡°Ouch¡­!¡± Naru lost his bnce andnded on his butt, while Aeongi, startled by themotion, scampered back into the room. ¡°Huh¡­¡± Seon-woo, who was watching from the closest distance, was too shocked to react. Pposili had jumped towards Naru with his whole body, like a diving athlete. Then he rubbed his torso against him vigorously.¡°Ah! Stop, don¡¯t lick me, I said stop! Aah! What, what are you doing¡­!¡± Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? I wondered as I pulled Pposili away from Naru. Then, Aeongi, who had been hiding behind the door and watching, came back into the living room. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. He¡¯s not usually like this. I¡¯ll hold him back.¡± As his main caretaker, I quickly apologized and helped Naru get up. I noticed that Naru¡¯s body was covered with dog hair. ¡°Ugh¡­ My clothes are ruined.¡± Naru seemed to like cats, but not so much dogs. He grumbled with a dissatisfied expression. At that moment, Aeongi approached Naru. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± The kitten, who had been sniffing my face for a while from about 30cm away, seemed to notice a change in my scent and cautiously approached me. ¡°Try offering the snack again.¡± I snapped out of my trance at Yi-jun¡¯s advice and picked up the snack that I had dropped and held it out to the kitten again. Soon, the kitten, who had beening closer with a careful expression, tentatively stuck out its tongue. Lick-. The tiny furball¡¯s w-sized tongue flicked a few times and then, as if reassured by the familiar taste, it came closer to climb onto myp. ¡°Ahh, you¡¯re getting closer!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make too much noise and slowly try offering the treat towards your body.¡± ¡°Yes¡­!¡± With Seong-won¡¯s advice, Naru¡¯s eyes sparkled as he cautiously extended the treat. Although Aeongi seemed a bit suspicious, the familiar scent made him rx his guard, and he leaned back, cing the soft jelly on Naru¡¯s leg. It was only then that I understood why Pposili suddenly attacked. ¡°Could it be that he¡¯s trying to cover his own scent?¡± At first, Aeongi was very cautious due to the strong unfamiliar scent emanating from Naru. But now, he seemed morefortable, focusing only on eating. As Aeongi finished eating the treat, a short system message popped up. [¡ù ¡®Shim Naru¡¯s¡¯ ¡®tension¡¯ has been relieved.] What¡­ Wasn¡¯t this kind of system message supposed to appear only when there¡¯s a certain level of interaction with the other party? I looked at Naru with a puzzled expression, and there sat the neen-year-old, eyes sparkling with excitement like an ordinary young cat. [¡ù ¡®Shim Naru¡¯ likes this ce.] What the¡­ Rather than liking it, just go back to your amodation quickly. I quickly poured cold water on the situation that suddenly became warm and cozy. ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve had your snacks, and it looks like the filming crew has all left in their cars, so go in and rest.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, yes.¡± Only then did Hwijin snap out of it and realize that they were guests, and got up from his seat. ¡°Let¡¯s grab our coats and go quickly.¡± Just then, the manager in charge of Floss arrived at the parking lot, and Hwijin checked his phone message and hurried home. ¡°Well¡­ thanks to you, we finished filming well today and we owe you a lot in many ways.¡± As soon as the filming ended, his polite tone returned, reminding us that we were nothing more than business acquaintances. ¡°Yes. Hwijin and Naru, you both worked hard. I¡¯ll see you next time at the Bobbyam filming site.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes. There¡¯s only a week left. You must be busy with practice, thank you for making time for us.¡± Hwijin smiled with a bitter face. Was the atmosphere inside Floss still not good these days? I wanted to ask him once, but I decided it wasn¡¯t something to bring up when everyone was already ready to leave and gathered. I nodded silently and opened the door for them. ¡®I wonder if it¡¯s okay to wish them good results at the music finale awards.¡¯ I suddenly thought of the uing year-end awards, but unfortunately, the timing was not good. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go in. Th, thank you!¡± Naru also pursed his lips and thanked me with a short and curt thank you, and bowed his head, leaving me with nothing to say but a faint smile and a wave of my hand. Bang, finally, the long filming that seemed tost for a night and two days was over, and Hwijin and Naru opened the door and left. ¡°Ugh~.¡± ¡°We did it~.¡± ¡°I¡¯m hungry¡­¡± ¡°Phew¡­¡± We all sighed with relief, and each of us chose afortable spot on the sofa and copsed. We filmed from morning until 8 p.m., so it was enough to get sick of it. I was also in a state where I didn¡¯t want to lift a finger. ¡°You all worked hard. Now rest until tomorrow. Dinner is¡­ let¡¯s eat in 30 minutes. Just rest for a while.¡± We had a pre-rehearsal for the third mission tomorrow, but resting was the priority for now. Hopefully, it ended well, and it wasn¡¯t a program that had to worry about being edited badly. I hoped that they would edit it interestingly and get a good response. ¡°Gurgle gurgle¡­ ooh¡­ gurgle¡­¡± Seeing Aeongi snuggled up in Seong-won¡¯s arms, Yi-jun silently snatched Pposili, who was at my feet, and hugged him tightly. [¡ù¡®Oh Yi-jun¡¯ feels stable.] Is that so¡­ good for him. I didn¡¯t intend it, but Pposili¡¯s materialization turned out to be surprisingly helpful. ¡®Actually, I still don¡¯t know what the materialization is for.¡¯ It¡¯s not a bother and it¡¯s cute, so whatever. I shook my head and stopped thinking. If we finish the pre-rehearsal tomorrow and the main recording of the third mission this weekend, the urgent stage will be over. We were notified that we would be part of the music finale awards on the 29th, and we knew we had to do something, but we still didn¡¯t know what our role was. I looked into other cases and they said it was so tight that they only rehearsed twice, once before and once on the day, so it didn¡¯t seem strange¡­ I didn¡¯t have a clear n of what to do, so I felt restless and uneasy. ¡®I wonder if it¡¯s because I have to go to an event where I don¡¯t have much hope of winning an award.¡¯ The nominees had already been announced, and the voting for the poprity awards was in progress. And of course, the ranking of Climax was¡­ [6th ¨C Climax] We didn¡¯t even make it to the top five. Of course, the groups that made it to the top five were all strong contenders, so being sixth was not bad at all¡­ [1st ¨C Floss] I couldn¡¯t help but feel bitter when I saw Floss dominating the top spot with an overwhelming percentage. Floss was going to disband next spring. This was theirst chance to win an award, so their fans were gathering more fiercely than ever. I knew that too. [- Vote every day for the Grand Prize, Poprity Award, and Best Album Award at the Music Finale! #Floss_Tempo_Trust_and_Run #MFVOTE] [- The voting has been updated after midnight, so don¡¯t forget to vote before you go to bed! #MFVOTE #Floss_Tempo_Trust_and_Run #Men_of_the_Year] [- Don¡¯t becent just because we passed the 50% mark for the Poprity Award, let¡¯s widen the gap #Let¡¯s_go #MFVOTE #The_Warmest_End_of_the_Year_for_Floss #Floss_Tempo_Trust_and_Run] Seeing them cheering with such hashtags, I felt impressed and¡­ worried that they were too heated. And honestly, I was jealous. It must be reassuring and burdensome at the same time to have so many people supporting you. Everyone was sure that Floss would sweep all the awards this year. ¡®But we¡­¡¯ We were in an awkward position. We were not rookies, but we didn¡¯t have a huge hit either. If we were fresh rookies, we could have aimed for the Rookie Award with our decent activities, but we had debuted five years ago. We were not even in our second or third year¡­ We had been nobodies for so long, weren¡¯t we just old rookies? It was a shameless level. Where should we go then? We searched for a long time among the nominees for each category, and finally found one area where we were also nominated as candidates. [Hot Trend Award] It was a category that was created three years ago, and after looking at the past winners, I could summarize it in one word. ¡®A constion prize.¡¯ It was not that they had no achievements, just like Climax now, but they were not outstanding either. It was an area where the mediocre candidates got the awards. It seemed like a prize that was distributed among the agencies that were close to SBC, the broadcaster that hosted the music finale. I knew that W was not on bad terms with SBC in the drama field, but¡­ I was not sure if we could get it. It was an ambiguous situation. The best thing to do now was to lower our expectations and give up our greed. I bit my lips and opened the official SNS ount of Floss on my phone. There were all kinds of news about awards and nominations. ¡®Of course.¡¯ They had threeebacks this year, including the regr album and the follow-up activities. They were determined to squeeze out as much as they could before the contract expired, so it was natural that the indicators were good. No, not natural¡­ Let me correct myself. It was not surprising, but it was amazing. Usually, popr idols shorten theireback activities and rather fill up their concert schedules. But Floss had a two-year activity period, so they sent out broadcasts as broadcasts, concerts as concerts, and tried to catch six rabbits at once with variety shows and acting. They all seemed to have a screw loose somewhere. But since they worked hard, they should be able to get the grand prize easily, so that was a relief. Chanhyung, who had trouble with Yu-geon, was slowly returning to the activities and practice photos were uploaded, but I had no idea what he was doing or where he was. ¡®If I check with the system¡­¡¯ I shook my head right away. I knew myself too well. I wouldn¡¯t be able to ignore it once I saw it. I had no reason to care about him when I had to take care of my own future and timing. ¡®No.¡¯ The preview was supposed to be released at midnight today, so I just had to watch the reaction and see what to do next. ¡®I have a quest, but I shouldn¡¯t care too much about other groups¡¯ business.¡¯ I sprang up and decided to focus on feeding our kids first. ¡°Let¡¯s eat!¡± They all lifted their heads buried in the cushions and looked at me with my sudden and energetic deration of meal. ¡°Already?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m going to do it now.¡± Kyunghwa frowned as if he was hooked, but it didn¡¯t matter. I used the energy I had just charged and headed to the kitchen with vigor. That night at midnight. The Tempos, who only knew about Hwijin¡¯s variety show appearance through a simple schedule announcement, were holding their phones and waiting for the preview to be uploaded. ¡®He said he had a schedule with Climax today. Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s going to be paired with Climax again?¡¯ Some people were sure that it was Climax, but he didn¡¯t believe it. No, you shouldpete with your peers, why do you keepparing yourself to the top group when you just did one activity a little better? Just do your bundle sales quietly. With half worry and half nervousness, he kept refreshing until a new video came up. ¡®It¡¯s here!¡¯ The eyes that were staring at the screen without a soul came back to life. Chapter 171: Chapter 171: [Bravo Solo Life 20211223 ¨C Preview (Guest: Floss Lee Hwijin)] It¡¯s finally here! The thumbnail was full of Christmas vibes, as expected from the special episode that would light up Christmas Eve. It had been a hectic year, with both good and bad things happening, so I hoped to spend the end of the year peacefully. I was curious to see how well my baby¡¯s end-of-the-year special turned out, but as soon as I yed it, I frowned. ¡®What the hell¡­ Is it really Climax?¡¯ I had a bad feeling when I heard their schedules ovepped. But I didn¡¯t expect them to be paired up with the same agency¡¯s troublemaker even in the observational reality show where they appeared solo. In the Floss fandom, Climax was the kind of agency¡¯s troublemaker who we would be lucky if he didn¡¯t hold back our boys. There had been many conflicts over schedules, songs, and activities, buttely, there had been more joint schedules, so I tried to look at him more favorably. Until I heard the news of their participation in ¡®Boys Be Ambitious¡¯.I didn¡¯t understand why Floss, the undisputed top group, would join apetition program where they had more to lose than to gain, andpete with groups that were not even on their level. Everyone was on edge from the start. It was a relief that they won the first mission by an overwhelming margin, but the fandom was turned upside down by the news of Chanhyung and Yu-geon¡¯s hiatus right after. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Floss @9Floss_official [Chanhyung] Unfortunately, I won¡¯t be able to join the stage schedule for a while due to health issues(?????¦ä????? ) I¡¯ll recover quickly ande back with a healthy look! (Photo) £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ At least Chanhyung posted a selfie showing off his ankle cast as if it was a glorious medal, full of mischief. Yu-geon only left a short message without a photo, so everyone was very worried. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Floss @9Floss_official [Yu-geon] I have to stop my activities for a while due to health problems. I¡¯ll try my best toe back with a better look. Thank you. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ I wondered what was wrong with him. Was he physically sick like Chanhyung, or was there another problem? Unlike Chanhyung, who still did some radio broadcasts, Yu-geon disappeared from all activities without leaving any hint. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Cast Announcement] ¡®Kang Yu-geon¡¯s Eye-Listening Radio¡¯ Cast Change Notice Hello, this is the manager of NBS Radio Channel, your friend in everyday life. Due to personal reasons of the cast, ¡®Kang Yu-geon¡¯s Eye-Listening Radio¡¯ will be continued by Boom Boom Box¡¯s Cho Shinju. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the cast change. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ He also left the program he was a regr on without any detailed announcement. He vanished without any promise of when he would return, and the lead vocal and the de facto center facedints and criticisms from everywhere. [- YutoTwit^^ How many times has he punked already ?????] [There was a rumor that it was not ??? who was supposed to go out for the cooking show, but ??? who made ??? drop out.] [Stop spreading rumors. It¡¯s a nuisance to other groups too.] [It¡¯s not a rumor. (link) Go and see the audience review before you shield.] [Look at them running away when you bring evidence. Are you a fan of that group?????] [- When they debuted, you shielded them so much for having a rebellious personality, and now look at what they¡¯re doing.] [I wish they would just kick him out. He says he doesn¡¯t want to do activities, but the zoomers spend a lot of money on him.] [There¡¯s no chance of that happening. The 3040 fandom is holding on to ???^^] [- If you don¡¯t want to do activities, why don¡¯t you give up your spot to someone who does? Are you proud of being thoughtless?] [He¡¯s causing trouble for the other members too.] [He should have gone solo in the first ce.] [- They debuted him because he was popr, but he can¡¯t even do the basics??] [You¡¯re better off with ??? than your own group. Don¡¯t lecture me.] [So what if he has skills? He¡¯s just being a jerk???? Just keep deluding yourself.] Because of his usual attitude, Yu-geon attracted all kinds of haters, and Chanhyung was d that he got away with little criticism. In the meantime, they lost the first ce in the second mission to Climax, and he had to hear all kinds of things. He still felt bitter thinking about it. [- The Bobbyam fans only see what they want to see. They were so delusional, but as soon as the fan vote was removed from the judging, they fell from the first ce????????] [- They were saying that it¡¯s already decided that Floss will win, but they got beaten by Mangdol in the second mission???] [?? had poor sales when they debuted, but they¡¯re not as bad as Mangdol these days, right?] [They were making such a fuss when the lineup was announced and there was no group to rival Floss, but now they¡¯re saying that Climax is not Mangdol?????? I can smell the jealousy from here.] The member who used to brighten up the mood with his lively personality got injured, the member who often got bad mouthed for being irresponsible went silent, and thanks to the camaraderie between the members, Climax, who he was starting to like, turned against them again. Even in this turmoil, Hwijin was the only one who kept his cool, looking like a superhuman. ¡®They¡¯re going to appear with Climax again?¡¯ What the hell are they talking about¡­. He couldn¡¯t help but be shocked as he watched the trailer with empty eyes. ¡®This is funny.¡¯ It didn¡¯t seem like they put much effort into the editing, but the situation was so absurd that it made himugh. [Are you trying to burn something weird in the kitchen again?] [A secret and thrilling n to raid Climax¡¯s dorm] [It¡¯s not just burning.] [Why on earth???] [Woof-! Woof, rrrrrr, woof woof-!] [Is that fire over there?] [Huh?] [] [The first sight in his life that he saw after 13 years of debut] [We reced the footage with a screen for the sake of Cheon Ise¡¯s rights.] [(Fireworks exploding in the night sky and cheerful marching music BGM)] [They¡¯re all sitting quietly on the sofa.] [(A cat and a dog shaking their bodies)] [(Voice distortion) Ha¡­ Is this really a housewarming situation¡­ I think we¡¯d be more calm if a robber came into our dorm¡­] [We intended to be a little early Santa.] [But now we¡­ lit a fire that wasn¡¯t in the viewers¡¯ hearts¡­] [We¡¯ll rece it with a data screen to make up for the solemn atmosphere.] [(Night view with fireworks exploding splendidly)] [We¡¯re really close. We¡¯ll show you how we rx and have a good time today.] [(Mosaic-processed fried ss noodles)] [(A doll with only half of its face showing between the cushions)] ©Ï ©Ç ? Thest weird doll. It wasn¡¯t a cursed doll, but I couldn¡¯t help butugh when I zoomed in on the one stuck in the cushion gap, even if I didn¡¯t like the climax. Are you crazy? I have to watch this live. Of course, I was going to watch it even if it wasn¡¯t a preview, but all the expectations I had pretended not to have copsed. I knew the entertainment would be good because the climax atmosphere was so close to the tense tension during the crisis coboration. I didn¡¯t expect to be drawn in so thrillingly by the preview alone. I was going to just watch the preview and turn it off, but in the blink of an eye, I ended up watching the crisismercial that followed automatically. ¡®I¡¯m hurt.¡¯ There are members who proudly promote themselves as close friends within Floss. But they weren¡¯t this close. I thought they could imitate this level if they had a script in front of the climax. I felt weird. The climax should have stayed as a pebble that kept grabbing Floss¡¯s bottom to prevent them from taking away the spotlight from Floss. I felt like looking for more of the group that I had no reason to watch except for being forced to watch because of the ovepping appearances. Somehow, Hwijin and Naru looked morefortable than when they did Floss¡¯s solo entertainment. ¡®What a stupid thought.¡¯ How can I take my eyes off the main thing in front of me? My head must have gone wrong with a moment of fun. Let¡¯s refresh the main news. I turned off the channel where the preview was uploaded and, as always, logged into Entertainment Talk Talk, where entertainment news came up 24 hours a day, and a sentence that shouldn¡¯t have been there came into my eyes. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Real-time 1st [We use a member of a popr 9-member idol group of school violence.] (+999) £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ What is this? The shock I received in a good way a while ago was erased from my head and my eyes turned ck. ¡°¡­Ise, are you¡­?¡± In the dark dawn. As soon as I checked the preview that came up at midnight, I fell asleep and opened my eyes to the low voice ringing in the darkness. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± After living for a thousand years, I became a person who slept a lot in the morning and couldn¡¯t wake up easily once I fell asleep, so my head woke up vaguely, but my eyelids didn¡¯t open easily. ¡°Get up. I think it¡¯s better to check it out now¡­¡± A calm but low voice. I knew who it was in my sleep, but I still couldn¡¯t shake off the drowsiness and opened my eyes with a start. ¡°What is it, what¡¯s going on¡­¡± What I saw in front of my barely opened eyes was¡­ ¡°Ah, huaaaah-!¡± ? The protagonist with a mysterious gaze that seemed to pierce through everything. Seumkyeong¡­ no, it was Kyunghwa. ¡°What, what are you so surprised about? I woke you up carefully so you wouldn¡¯t be startled.¡± Kyunghwa, who was rather startled, looked down at me while trying to calm his pounding chest. ¡°Ah, no, no¡­ I was just surprised because you suddenly appeared in the dark.¡± I didn¡¯t want to tell him that I had a nightmare about Seumkyeong, so I changed the subject. ¡°What¡¯s going on so early in the morning? It¡¯s not even 3 o¡¯clock yet.¡± The wake-up time for tomorrow¡¯s rehearsal was 6 o¡¯clock. It was time to sleep for the sake of my stamina, but what on earth was going on¡­ I got up from the bed with a lot of tension and followed Kyunghwa to the living room. Contrary to what I expected, the light was off, and Yi-jun was staring at hisptop with a very serious expression, unlike usual. ¡°What¡¯s going on, why are you out too?¡± I wondered if I had unknowingly caused some trouble with these guys. My heart sank. No way¡­ There¡¯s nothing I could have done wrong at this point, what is it? I squinted my eyes and looked at the words on the screen. There was a sentence that was equivalent to a death sentence for an idol on the white background. [We expose the school violence of a 9-member popr idol group.] (+999) ¡°What is this?¡± As I asked with a sudden surge of alertness, Kyunghwa shook his head and clicked on the post to show me in detail. [Hello, I am a graduate of ¡ð¡ð middle school who spent my school days with a popr idol member. It¡¯s been several years since then, but I¡¯m still suffering from trauma without receiving a single apology. On the other hand, I think it¡¯s unfair that the idol member who was the perpetrator is loved as if nothing happened, so I decided to write this expose.] It¡¯s different if it¡¯s a 9-member group with only Floss, but if it¡¯s a 9-member ¡®popr¡¯ idol group, then it¡¯s a different story. ¡®Which one is it?¡¯ I felt a headacheing on and scrolled down. Chapter 172: Chapter 172: My heart was pounding as if I was watching the highlight of a thriller movie. ¡®Please don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s Lee Hwijin.¡¯ Maybe because I had filmed with him today and sent him back, the worst-case scenario came to my mind first. If either Hwijin or Naru was the target of the usation, I would have to throw away all the footage I had filmed with them today. Well, maybe Naru would be better. His role was not that big, so I could cover it with some editing. But if it was Hwijin, the problem would be much bigger. ¡®That guy¡­ He doesn¡¯t seem like that kind of person¡­ But you never know what¡¯s inside someone¡¯s mind, even if you know what¡¯s under the water¡­¡¯ I hoped that it was not someone I knew, and thought of the guy who had sent me a peaceful picture from Busan. Among the three of us who knew each other, he was the most likely one. The hints implied by the usation posts were three. He had been in a dance club since elementary school.He made me do errands like preparing costumes and music for the dance talent show, and mocked and bullied me if I didn¡¯t like it. He became famous for his middle school festival video clip when he appeared on My Idol Stage, and he was popr for his ¡®school days memory maniption¡¯ image. He was yful and cheerful, and enjoyed poprity, but in reality, he was a jerk who had no basic decency. At the words ¡®maniption¡¯ and ¡®yful¡¯, I felt my heart sink. Was it really Kang Yu-geon? Luckily, I saw the bestment below the attached evidence video. [- This is ACH. Anyone who listened to his Y Live would know. That¡¯s his voice for sure. Good riddance, he won¡¯t go far??] [? Who is ACH???] [? An Yeong] [? Wow¡­ He didn¡¯t look like that on the show¡­ That¡¯s crazy¡­] [? I sent a PDF to his email. Good job] [? Who cares if you did???? It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s a factual or a false usation, he¡¯s doomed anyway???] There was a video attached to the usation post, which seemed to have been recorded secretly. Neither I nor the other two guys said a word as the video yed. [Crack¡­ Are you trying to screw us over with this kind of thing? Huh¡­ You XX bastard, do you think we look like XX when you snivel? Squeak¡­] Someone kicked a chair in anger, and a sobbing cry followed. The video was 45 minutes long, and the angle was skewed as if the filming phone was hidden somewhere. The face of the perpetrator was not visible. I could only identify that several male students with good physique were surrounding and harassing one person. Still, most of thements were sure that the person who kicked the chair was Chanhyung. ¡®This is¡­ It¡¯s probably Chanhyung himself.¡¯ I didn¡¯t have a strong impression of him, since he was not someone I interacted with often. But his voice was very thin and high-pitched among the boys, so it stood out. If I, who was not a fan, could recognize it, the fans who had heard his voice thousands or tens of thousands of times would have no choice but to admit it. ¡®Is it¡­ OK to be relieved that it¡¯s not someone close to me?¡¯ Preparing for the filming meant that this kind of thing happened more than once or twice. I didn¡¯t want to be d that someone else¡¯s pain was none of my business. ¡°Tomorrow¡­ I wonder if the rehearsal will be OK.¡± The third mission was originally Chanhyung¡¯seback stage. Hwijin told me briefly that they had arranged the stage around the members who had been absent for a while. Yu-geon was still unreachable, so I ruled him out. And surely, Chanhyung was supposed to take that role. I wondered how they were going to fill the vacant spot of the center and main dancer at Floss¡¯s ce. It must have been like a bomb had dropped there by now. ¡°There¡¯s¡­ another problem¡­¡± Kyunghwa opened the next link with a grim expression and showed it to me. Trending #2 [BBY First Mission Filming Day Video (+999)] What the hell was this? Why were there so manyments? I scrolled down the mouse with a feeling of almost horror. There was a post with only a video, without any exnation. ¡°What is this¡­?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± The video that started with Kyunghwa¡¯s short answer was filmed with a camera that seemed to be hidden in a bag or a sleeve. [¡­I can¡¯t.] [What?] [I can¡¯t, do, it¡­] [What the hell are you talking about? Stop making a fuss over your sprained ankle and go!] [Crackle¡­] [Stop talking nonsense and get up!] [Damn it! Do you think I don¡¯t want to rest? My feet are killing me from this damn hike¡­ Zzzz¡­ Squeak¡­] [What the hell are you doing!] [How can you hit his face like that!] [So what!] [Crackle¡­] The sound quality was so bad that there were parts that kept cutting in and out, but the scene where Chanhyung grabbed the cor of Yu-geon, who was crouching down, and punched him was clearly captured. [- Wow¡­. Chan-fans have been saying that Yu-geon was holding them back and being a nuisance all this time??? But it was X-chan who did the punching? [? I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but how did he debut with such a brain that he grabs the cor of a member who is in pain and slumps down and beats him up? My head is ringing right now] [? Seriously, he should have kept quiet about Yu-geon ruining their activities, but he blew it up like this] [- This is not about internal leakage or anything, but covering up and moving on from assault, but why are they talking about leakage here? What the hell is this?] [? (Link) School violence also came out with this. He¡¯s not a one-time hitter. He¡¯s a Floss nuclear puncher ss????] [- Chanhyung, I met you during My Idol and I felt like my life became more lively and sparkling, and I¡¯m so grateful and always thankful for your existence, but this is so shocking. You¡¯re so different from the way I knew you, and I don¡¯t know what to believe. Please give me your position soon.] [? What do you mean you don¡¯t know?????????? If you cover up school violence and assault, are you human or a brainless Chan-fan worm?] [? Only Chan-fans didn¡¯t know?? People who were sane already knew since My Idol???? He threw a water bottle at a fan after the first concert, that shows his character] It was getting worse and worse. I could figure out what happened by looking at the clues from the topments and the reactions I had been monitoring. As Yu-geon¡¯s hiatus dragged on, the Floss fandom and onlinemunities like Celebrity Talk were filled with criticism about his absence. ¡®There¡¯s not much time left in the contract, and every group activity is important. What is he doing at this time and what kind of trouble is he causing?¡¯ was the gist of theints. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s a reasonable¡­ critique.¡¯ And in contrast, Chanhyung, who showed proof of his injury and participated in activities that didn¡¯t require physical movement, received the spotlight. It should have ended with being proud of the member who was fighting through the pain. But the online opinion didn¡¯t stop at the first or second verse. To highlight Chanhyung¡¯s active performance despite his injury, they rained insults on Yu-geon. [Title: W really takes good care of their members] [Body] If he got hurt before or after the first mission shoot, then maybe the ident happened around then¡­ Seeing how Yu-geon hasn¡¯t been seen for weeks, it seems like thepany is giving him rest and taking care of him?? I¡¯m so d he¡¯s with W [Comments] [- While the master of fabrication is lying around somewhere, Chanhyung is still doing his schedule] [? It must be hard to move around with a cast, I feel so sorry for him ????????] [? It seems like someone is hiding and making Chanhyung do more schedules than he can handle] Even if it wasn¡¯t a tant attack on Yu-geon, if you read a little bit, you could sense the nuance that ¡®Yu-geon¡¯ was causing trouble for ¡®Chanhyung¡¯ who was pushed into a harsh schedule. ¡®Do I have to do this¡­ to this extent¡­¡¯ He frowned reflexively at the unexpected malice. The incident wasplicated in many ways, but the cause and effect were simple. Yu-geon¡¯s disappearance caused variousints within the Floss fandom, and the misunderstanding grew day by day, and the public opinion was very unfavorable. Then someone who witnessed the assault scene released a video to clear up the misunderstanding. At the same time, the victim of school violence who saw the video posted the materials he had kept secret for a long time. That was the process. ¡®Yu-geon didn¡¯t really¡­ get hit by Chanhyung and stop his activities.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t at the scene of the assault, but as someone who knew the whole story, it was a rather absurd development. What¡­ that guy was in a panic state and he probably couldn¡¯t even remember if he got hit. But anyway¡­ if it gave the victim the courage to expose the past, it was a good thing. If he looked at this series of events in a positive way, he could see it that way, but there were more than one or two problems. ¡°Can I post the Floss rehearsal during the day?¡± Shouldn¡¯t he do something or exin something right now? If this continued, the whole Floss would be used of knowing Chanhyung¡¯s assault and forcing Yu-geon to switch, and Yu-geon would run away in protest¡­, that was the spection. He had to bring Yu-geon back from his house and sort out the situation. The rehearsal was not the problem. ¡°Will this be resolved by the time of the main shoot?¡± Yi-jun looked at the screen with a serious expression, just like Kyunghwa. The main shoot was the day after the rehearsal. It wouldn¡¯t be hard to change the route with one member missing, but it would be a different story if the rest of the members were branded as aplices. Sending Floss to the broadcast could be a risk factor. ¡°Wow¡­ I¡¯ve never seen a Celebrity Talk post with over 5,000ments.¡± Chanhyung¡¯s post was now breaking the record for the most reactions to a Celebrity Talk post and writing a new history. Thepany must be trying their best to take down the post, but it is dawn now. It wasn¡¯t a major portal, and a small site like Celebrity Talk that only had users who were teenagers or interested in idols wouldn¡¯t have contact at this time. Before the manager came to work in the morning, the issue was spreading like crazy, and the whole marketing team must have been biting their nails watching it. ¡®I¡¯m d we separated thebel early, so we won¡¯t be affected.¡¯ Even if Floss dropped out of the rehearsal tomorrow, it wouldn¡¯t hurt us. Today¡¯s filming of Bravo Solo Life might be risky, but it was certain that Hwijin and Naru were not the central members of the incident, so there would be no problem with the broadcast if the collusion controversy was resolved before the broadcast. ¡°Let¡¯s just sleep. There¡¯s nothing we can do by watching more, and we¡¯re likely to proceed with the rehearsal as usual, so we have to prepare without any trouble during the day.¡± I was worried too, but that didn¡¯t mean we could neglect our duties. ¡°My heart¡­ is not at ease.¡± Kyunghwa sighed deeply, holding a stuffed animal and a cushion in his arms. He wondered why Seumkyeong was here, after finding out his location through the preview broadcast, but I pretended not to know anything. ¡°The evidence is too clear¡­ It¡¯s right to apologize and withdraw.¡± There was only half a year left until the disbandment, and they were having a lot of trouble over there. After Yi-jun¡¯s answer, there was a brief silence, and I went back to my bedroom to sleep. Of course¡­ I couldn¡¯t sleep. This time, it was a member who had nothing to do with me who was in trouble, but what if¡­ there was someone among our members who had a simr past¡­? Of course, the guys I¡¯ve been through so far were not the ones who would go around and bully and y politics. My head was cluttered with useless thoughts. ¡®I should just sleep.¡¯ As I tossed and turned for a long time, the sun rose, and I got up to the sound of a text message on my phone. I checked the message andy down on the bed again, feeling empty. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Pre-rehearsal cancetion notice] Hello, this is the production team of Boys Be Ambitious. We are urgently informing the team managers of each team that the pre-rehearsal scheduled for today has been cancelled. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Chapter 173: Chapter 173: ¡°Cancelled?¡± I opened my eyes at the unexpected word. ¡°Ugh¡­ this is giving me a headache.¡± I got up from my seat and went to the living room. Soon after, Kyunghwa and the other members came out with grim expressions. They must have received the same message. ¡°Did you guys get the text too?¡± Seon-woo was still sleeping soundly, and I heard some noises from behind the closed door of Seong-won¡¯s room. He must have just woken up. ¡°Yeah. I thought we would only miss Floss today, but then they suddenly cancelled the whole thing. It¡¯s a bit shocking¡­¡± Of course, this mission was not a simple matter of coordinating the cast. It was a coboration stage, after all. We were lucky to have idol members who were rted by blood. Some other teams had tried to do something different and invited veteran trot singers.They said they would pay the coboration fees separately, but what about the schedule if the recording was postponed? Did the production team not think of that? They exined that if the recording resumed, they would arrange the schedule by team. ¡®It would be better to just record without Floss today¡­¡¯ As I was thinking that, Seong-won, who was in his room, shared a suspicious post that had been uploaded at dawn. [Title: Do you know there are more groups that will be exposed?] [Body] (Picture) I was a staff member of My Idol This will cause more chaos if it gets out lol The one that got busted today is nothing They have been the undisputed top group until now, but once it starts, it wille out one after another You better sell your goods and quit the fandom before the price drops. They will be hated in a few days haha [Comments] [- How can you make up stories with just one picture and no proof?] [? It¡¯s up to you whether you believe it or not, but I¡¯m telling you, you should sell your 10,000 won photo card before it bes worthless] [? This guy couldn¡¯t get Jiyeong¡¯s second album photo card and is doing this. I won¡¯t sell it to you, go away with your lies] [? Don¡¯t cry next week lol I told you~] The picture attached to the short post was a pre-agreement contract signed by the My Idol stage cast and the production team. The fans might not be able to tell, but we could recognize it at a nce, having managed various contracts so far. That seal was not fake. Was the quality deliberately lowered? The small letters were unreadable, but I could easily guess that the contract did not have only honest contents. ¡°Things are¡­ getting bigger, aren¡¯t they?¡± My timeline, which usually only talked about the climax all the time unless there was something special, was noisy with the exposure posts and the exposure previews. [- I¡¯m going out for a while because I¡¯m ufortable with the idol scandal on the timeline] [- It seems like there¡¯s more toe, and don¡¯t you all have a pretty good idea of what¡¯s going to explode lol It was weird that it didn¡¯te out until now with the angel¡¯s editing] [? MJY I quit watching after the fourth episode lol I saw them giving more screen time to a certain member and got biased, and then they debuted like that and I was shocked] [? Me too lol They were obviously pushing them, but the fans were blind and deaf and said no] [- My Idol is also going to be rigged¡­ It¡¯s been almost two years, but it seems like debuting honestly is the best way.] [? I came here by searching, but please don¡¯t spread rumors and delete your post. There¡¯s nothing confirmed yet.] [? Wow, the fans are even silencing us???????? Why should I delete it? If they didn¡¯t rig it, it will be revealed soon. I¡¯ll delete it then.] It gave me a headache just looking at it. I shook my head and turned off the phone screen. ¡°So today we are¡­ just resting without any schedule?¡± ¡°I guess so.¡± While we were murmuring, the phone rang from the PR team. ¡°Ah, yes. I got the call. This is Cheon Ise.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, Ise! You got the text, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Is it not just Floss that got canceled, but the whole schedule?¡± ¡°Yes, probably the main recording will be dyed too, so they said we¡¯ll take a break for a special episode. We¡¯re also looking into the situation right now, so we¡¯ll report back to you as soon as we have any updates.¡± Many people were suffering from the sparks that fell out of nowhere since dawn. ¡°I understand. You must be having a hard time. We¡¯ll just wait at the amodation for now.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you. I¡¯ll contact you againter!¡± The short call ended and everyone who got a sudden breaky down on the sofa with a dumbfounded expression. I envied Seon-woo, who was sleeping soundly in his room without knowing anything. ¡°¡­¡± It was a relief that the controversy ended with Floss. What if there was a pre-contract that we didn¡¯t know about for Boys Be Ambitious as well as My Idol? Floss had something we didn¡¯t know about, for sure. It was more of a loss than a gain for us, so why did they force us to appear on Bobby Am despite the members¡¯ opposition? ¡®The production team must have something to worry about too, so they stopped filming.¡¯ As I was organizing my thoughts in the silence, Kyunghwa opened his mouth with a tense expression. ¡°Just in case¡­ if anyone has something that would ruin them if it gets out, confess now.¡± His expression was so stern and serious that we burst outughing in the midst of being intimidated. ¡°Pfft.¡± We barely held back our smiles, but the one whoughed out loud was none other than Yi-jun. ¡°Don¡¯tugh, you¡¯re the most anxious. You know?¡± Kyunghwa reached out his hand to pinch Yi-jun¡¯s cheek, but Yi-jun shouted against violence and slid down from the sofa to the floor. ¡°I have nothing, really. I barely went to school or trained separately since middle school.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kyunghwa looked at Yi-jun with wide eyes as if he had just found out. ¡°I used different coaches and facilities anyway¡­ I didn¡¯t have much trouble with the seniors. There¡¯s nothing to dig up.¡± Yi-jun spoke calmly without changing his expression, and he seemed moreposed than usual. ¡°Ah¡­ maybe thest game before I quit wille up. But that wasn¡¯t my fault either.¡± As Yi-jun scratched his neck, we all ran out of words. Quitting his sports career meant¡­ there was some negative reason behind it. ¡°Anyway, the problem is the hyungs I got close to while learning to produce. Don¡¯t worry too much, I¡¯m taking care of it if it looks weird.¡± Yi-jun sighed ufortably at the awkward atmosphere and lifted his heavy butt to get back on the sofa. ¡°There won¡¯t be any problems with my activities because of me.¡± At Yi-jun¡¯s confident confession, Seong-won also opened his mouth. ¡°Who did I ever talk to¡­ more than three words after leaving school¡­ It¡¯s not a big deal if I didn¡¯t bully or fight anyone, right?¡± I could imagine what kind of school life he had from the sentence he barely uttered, sounding worried. He would do what he was told, and if there was nothing to do, he would sit in his ce, silently, and ostracize all his ssmates by himself. I only found out after I got used to him a bit, but the only ones he ever picked a fight with were O Yi-jun and me. There was no chance of shing with Kyunghwa, and Seon-woo was¡­ the type who couldn¡¯t understand even if I spoke inly, so there was no need to bother confronting him. I was worried about how he treated other people, but surprisingly, there was no big problem. ¡®He just did what he had to do, and acted like he didn¡¯t hear or see anything.¡¯ He seemed to not feel any value in spending time with others. I thought. He must have realized that he couldn¡¯t handle it if he acted like that outside too. Kyunghwa followed up on Seong-won¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯m clean of school violence or peer rtionships too.¡± It looked like it. He was the type who would get anxious and sick to his stomach if there was even a small problem around him. He must have lived by avoiding or solving problems somehow. Then the problem was me¡­ right? From what I saw in the Human Theater of Cheon Ise, I didn¡¯t seem to have fought or quarreled with anyone. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything that would cause trouble either.¡± What worried me more was the arrogant attitude that started in earnest from the second or third year of Mangdol. ¡®With the money from my family.¡¯ That remark¡­ If someone had recorded it, it could have been a problem for abuse of power. I was apletely different person now, but it wasn¡¯t that long ago. ¡®Do I have to keep a low profile and work from now on?¡¯ It would be troublesome if I apologized in advance and started a conversation, and then the problem got bigger because of the exposure flow. As I was worrying about this and that in my head, Seon-woo opened the door and came out to the living room. ¡°Wow, I woke up sote¡­! I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll get ready quickly!¡± He looked at the time instead of checking the text as soon as he woke up, and he was so flustered that his face turned pale. Iughed even though it wasn¡¯t a time tough. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± ¡°No, before you get ready, look at the text first. Our schedule today was canceled.¡± Kyunghwa quickly stopped Seon-woo, and he tilted his head with a confused expression. ¡°Why?? Isn¡¯t today the day we have a pre-rehearsal?¡± He lookedpletely unaware of the chaos that had been going on all night. ¡°It¡¯s canceled, so hurry up and wash your face. I¡¯ll exin it to you briefly.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­!!¡± Seon-woo nodded his head vigorously and sshed cold water on his face in the bathroom, making a sound of pain. That guy¡­ He was 100% bullied, not a bully. It seemed like everyone had the same thought in their minds. We couldn¡¯t do anything about it right now, so we had to wait for it to be sorted out. We decided to enjoy a peaceful rest on the unexpected holiday. Meanwhile, unlike the Climax dormitory, which was watching the fire across the river, the Floss dormitory was a mess. ¡°Who do you think posted this picture?¡± No one answered Hwijin¡¯s question and just looked at the floor. It was 4 a.m. when the phone rang. It was my manager, calling to tell me that the incident with Chanhyung was not over. Someone had posted a message online, threatening a second round of attacks. I was shocked to hear that my contract had been leaked. I hadn¡¯t slept a wink since midnight, worried about the whole mess, even though it wasn¡¯t my fault. I checked the link that my manager sent me and saw the document. It was a pre-contract that the producers of My Idol Stage had made some of the contestants sign separately. ¡®I never signed anything like this¡­¡¯ When I decided to join My Idol Stage, my position was nothing more than ¡®diversity¡¯. There were too many high school students who looked like they came from the same mold. The producers needed someone different to make their debut candidates stand out. So they looked for someone who had a unique character, some buzz, and a low chance of making the final cut. That¡¯s how they ended up recruiting me from a small acting agency. No one expected me to rise to the second ce in thepetition. I didn¡¯t get a proper pre-contract, let alone any decent management. I was left alone to fend for myself. Later, when we were preparing for our debut, I overheard some of the members talking about their pre-contracts. I had a feeling that some of them had signed them, but I didn¡¯t know who. I sighed and opened my mouth again. Chapter 174: Chapter 174: ¡°You don¡¯t have to talk to me if you don¡¯t want to. But you have to tell thepany when the manageres. There¡¯s a problem with your future activities¡­¡± Hwijin spoke softly, but no one answered. ¡°This is really shitty.¡± One of the members who had been silent all along threw the cushion he was holding onto the sofa and went into his room. ¡°Let¡¯s talk again when the manageres.¡± As they went into their rooms one by one, as if they had nothing more to say, Naru¡¯s face turned pale. ¡°Naru.¡± It was a look that couldn¡¯t be ignored at a nce. There was something wrong for sure. Hwijin felt a shock in his heart and tried to calm himself down as he asked. ¡°You look really bad¡­ Do you want to rest in your room?¡±As Hwijin reached out to support Naru¡¯s shoulder, Naru shrugged him off and pped his hand away. ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry about me!¡± He didn¡¯t look fine at all. Was Naru the one who leaked the contract? Hwijin answered with a feeling that he knew this wasing. ¡°Your face is too pale right now. You may think you¡¯re fine, but you don¡¯t look fine at all. You should rest a little.¡± Honestly, no one here thought that Naru didn¡¯t get any favors from the production team. There were four or five members who got a noticeable push from the first episode. Naru, Chanhyung, Sunghyun, and two foreign members. In Jun¡¯s case, his agency participated in the production support, so not only Jun but also Toru who came out with him got a lot of push. Toru was eliminated in the third round and only Jun survived. If we exclude the two foreigners who didn¡¯t have any insiders in Korea to leak anything¡­ It was either Naru, Chanhyung, or Sunghyun. While Hwijin was thinking of the possibilities in his head, Chanhyung cursed and tore his hair. ¡°Why don¡¯t I just get lost? I¡¯m the one who made the atmosphere shitty, right? I¡¯m trash.¡± He grabbed his phone and coat and was about to leave the dorm. Hwijin was startled and got up from his seat to stop him. ¡°Let¡¯s talk when the manageres. You¡¯re too worked up right now. What if you go out and¡­¡± ¡°What if what? Are you afraid I¡¯ll go around punching people?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it! I¡¯m just worried that you might get into a situation that you¡¯ll regretter. You¡¯re too flustered right now.¡± Hwijin felt dizzy, wondering what sin he hadmitted to be in this position. But he couldn¡¯t just stand by and leave him alone. ¡°Ha¡­ That¡¯s funny. You¡¯re going to kick me out anyway. What does it matter if I¡¯m gone by tomorrow when the withdrawal articlees out? You¡¯re so nice, pretending to care about me when you¡¯re just afraid I¡¯ll ssh shit on you.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong. Hwijin had endured a long life of obscurity and sometimes felt that his poprity was like a dream. He was very lucky. It was the same for the other guys, but for Hwijin, Floss was the golden thread that changed his life. He had joked about wanting to escape, but it was only a joke based on envy. It was inevitable that the contract period would end and they would disband. But he didn¡¯t want to scatter in the worst way possible. ¡°Just calm down a bit. Let¡¯s talk to the manager when hees¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to talk about? Will it change the fact that I hit people? Do you think thepany will shield me and keep me?¡± Hwijin couldn¡¯t argue. If there was no video evidence, he could have dismissed it as a minor ¡°misunderstanding¡± with a childhood friend, as amon repertoire. But Chanhyung had two very clear pieces of evidence. And one of them was very recent. He was wrong tosh out first and then try to fix it when it seemed hopeless. It was extremely ungrateful, but Hwijin was ten years older than the other members. There was no point in getting emotional in this situation. It was already announced that a bomb would go off regarding their appearance on the My Idol stage, and no one knew who was hiding what secret. Trust had been broken long ago. No. From the beginning, they were a team that gathered only for business, not trust. Maybe it was foolish to expect anything else. ¡°Still, you have to talk to the manager. What do you want to do from now on?¡± Leaving Floss wouldn¡¯t end his life. Even if he retired from being an idol and became a normal person, today¡¯s controversy would follow Chanhyung forever. Apart from being disappointed in Chanhyung personally, he had to stop him from running away and causing another ident. ¡°Why do you care? Are you trying to act like a nice brother until the end, pretending to be worried and hypocritical? Or what, do you have some secret that you can¡¯t afford to be exposed?¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Why did the conversation suddenly turn like that?¡± Hwijin was startled by the sudden spark and let go of Chanhyung¡¯s wrist. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, right? Even if Floss fails, it won¡¯t affect you. Just mind your own business and cover for yourself.¡± As Chanhyung pushed Hwijin away and mmed the door open to leave the house, that¡¯s when. Ding-. A cheerful text message alert rang out. Was it from the manager? Hwijin quickly checked his phone screen. ¡°¡­?¡± But to his surprise, there was no message or any notification at all. What? Hwijin asked, bewildered and clueless. ¡°Who sent you a text?¡± Sunghyun, who was sitting on the far left of the sofa, dropped his phone. ¡°What? Why did you drop your phone?¡± Pposili, who was sitting next to Sunghyun, reached out to pick up Sunghyun¡¯s phone. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it!¡± Sunghyun threw himself and snatched his phone back, as if he had seen a ghost. ¡°What are you hiding, freaking out like that?¡± Pposili stretched his hand toward Sunghyun, suspicious. ¡°Let me see. What text did you get? Show us too.¡± Naru had gone into his room earlier, and the only ones in the living room were Jinhyung, Hwijin, Sunghyun, and Pposili. ¡°Why, why me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re acting shady. What are you hiding?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s hiding? Who said I¡¯m hiding? Who shows their messages to others?¡± In the tense situation, Youngchan was determined to check the message, and Sunghyun was adamant not to. ¡°You don¡¯t have to show us, but at least tell us where the message came from¡­¡± Hwijin, who was caught in the middle, tried to mediate with apromise, but Sunghyun wouldn¡¯t budge. ¡°Why me?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Are you all crazy? Why do you want to see someone else¡¯s message? Don¡¯t you know what privacy is?¡± Sunghyun clenched his phone, ready to delete the message, and Jinhyung asked him, doubtful. ¡°We¡¯re all anxious right now. If you have nothing to hide, just show us.¡± ¡°Why do I have to do that!¡± Naru was locked in his room, and Chanhyung had left. Hwijin felt like he was losing his mind in the midst of the fight in the living room. Youngchan rushed to Sunghyun and finally snatched his phone. ¡°No! Don¡¯t look!¡± Despite Sunghyun¡¯s desperate scream, Jinhyung took the phone from Pposili and checked the message. [Sender: (Unregistered user)] [(Picture)] It was a picture of the first page of Sunghyun¡¯s pre-contract. ¡°Was it you? The one who signed that contract.¡± Pposili¡¯s cold voice echoed in the living room. Sunghyun stuttered for a while, unable to answer, then shouted in resentment. ¡°I didn¡¯t write it alone! Oh-chan, that bastard, wrote it too! Why are you giving me shit! He¡¯s the one who caused the ident!¡± Hwijin barely held back the feeling that his head was about to explode. ¡°Youngchan expressed his boiling anger, saying, ¡®X¡­ Are you from the same agency as that jerk, Oh Chanhyung? I¡¯ve worked hard and now I¡¯m nobody. I¡¯m nobody.''¡± Suddenly, Hwijin asked Sunghyun, as if something had urred to him. ¡°Do you know who else signed the contract besides you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the details! Ourpany had three people sign it, and there were almost ten more from otherpanies, but how would I know? It¡¯s not like we changed the rankings, but they¡¯re making such a fuss about it!¡± As soon as Sunghyun exposed the truth, a cold silence fell over the living room again. Who would believe me, even if I didn¡¯t touch the rankings? The problem was not just a simple member dropout. There were several other debut members who had signed separate contracts besides Chanhyung and Sunghyun. ¡°Damn it. We¡¯re all screwed.¡± Jinhyung clenched his fists and sank onto the sofa. Maniptive bastard. A short but powerful word popped into everyone¡¯s mind. ¡°Achoo!¡± I suddenly felt a chill as a gust of wind blew in from somewhere. I thought I would be fine since I had the heater on and the nket over me, even though it was winter. I sniffled as I let out an involuntary sneeze. Kyunghwa clicked her tongue and handed me a tissue. ¡°Go blow your nose.¡± I took the tissue and quickly wiped my face, then tossed it into the trash can with a nod. ¡°Come on, it¡¯s not that bad. Just press the record button.¡± As I lowered my head sheepishly, Kyunghwa pressed the button on the selfie stick as if he knew what I was feeling. ¡°Hello, Rise fans! We finally made it! I think we drove for about 20 minutes. Let¡¯s go inside and greet the director, and register as students. I¡¯ll be back soon!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go together!¡± ¡°Wow!¡± It was honestly hrious to see the five of them struggling to fit into one screen. I had no idea what Pposili was thinking, but he seemed to be having fun, sticking out his tongue and running around everyone. ¡°Wow, this ce is really spacious. Even the big dogs can run around for a long time!¡± The ce we arrived at, along with Kyunghwa¡¯s natural reaction, was none other than the Dog Adventure Park. What kind of ce is this, you ask? Well, it¡¯s not just a ce where dogs can run and y, but also a ce where they can experience things like dog agility. They said they open a swimming pool in the summer, but of course it¡¯s closed now since it¡¯s winter. Today, we made a reservation and visited to try out the basic agility course. ¡®But he¡¯s not even a real dog¡­ How did this happen¡­¡¯ How did we end up here, you wonder? Well¡­ The public opinion was that I hadn¡¯t shown much of my dog, except for the asional appearances on TV as a celebrity who raised a dog in my amodation. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not even a real dog, it¡¯s just an interface¡­¡¯ They might be worried about whether the puppy was living a happy and colorful life, but this was not a real puppy. I couldn¡¯t reveal the truth, and I was in trouble. So we decided to use the holiday that came up to try something new. It was a bit random, but thanks to Yi-jun¡¯s enthusiastic suggestion, we came here, the Dog Adventure Park. ¡®Let¡¯s just film quickly and go back.¡¯ I gripped the leash firmly in my hand and entered the indoor area. The staff who had been waiting for us after receiving our contact greeted us with bright smiles. ¡°Hello, thank you foring today and nice to meet you!¡± As the staff greeted us, Pposili wagged his fluffy tail like a furball and barked briefly. ¡°Woof!¡± ¡°Oh, our friend has such a pretty tail~. What¡¯s his name?¡± Seon-woo, who was standing closest to the staff, reflexively answered without a chance to stop himself. ¡°Ah, Seon-woo!¡± ¡°Seon-woo~, your name is pretty too.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s this guy¡¯s name and the dog¡¯s name is Pposili.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Seon-woo was embarrassed and didn¡¯t know what to do. Meanwhile, I checked the time and asked the staff where to put our luggage. The scheduled filming time was from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. We had to finish the experience quickly within an hour to avoid colliding with the general visitors. ¡°Well, shall we start then?¡± Click, I unhooked the leash and Pposili lifted his sharp snout to the sky with shining eyes. ¡°Woof!¡± Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Even though he wasn¡¯t a real dog, he seemed to love the same things as dogs. He went wild as soon as I let him loose on the agility track. ¡°Come on, Pposili!¡± One guy was more excited than the dog. ¡°Be careful, bro! Watch out for the front!¡± Another guy wanted to run too, but he was restless and envious of being left behind. ¡°Don¡¯t get him too worked up, it¡¯ll only distract him. Try to calm him down a bit.¡± One guy was nagging like a director. ¡°¡­¡± And one guy had a baseball cap he got from somewhere pulled down over his eyes, hiding himself from the sun.They were quite a diverse bunch. ¡°Mr. Yi-jun, you¡¯re really fast at running. You and Pposili would make a good partner.¡± I was the user, but seeing Pposili spinning around with Yi-jun like a real puppy, I felt a bit awkward. ¡®But running is not really my thing.¡¯ I¡¯d rather be a quiet spectator than a partner who had to run around that wide track. ¡°Are you filming well?¡± Yi-jun had taken off his padded jacket and waved his hand at the stands in his sweatshirt. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry, it¡¯sing out well.¡± Following Yi-jun, Pposili jumped over the obstacle. He leaped over them with his short legs ¨C his movements were definitely destructive. ¡®He¡¯s definitely¡­ cute.¡¯ I thought this might attract not only fans but also other audiences. Dog videos that made you feel good just by watching them were always in high demand. ¡°Let¡¯s run with all our strength!¡± He seemed to be doing well. But then. At thest hurdle, a ring obstacle that was quite high, Yi-jun gestured to him and Pposili hesitated, slowing down and stopping. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too high?¡± From a distance, it looked like the height was a bit too much for Pposili¡¯s short and chubby legs. ¡°Can you lower that a little bit?¡± Kyunghwa calmly called a staff member and asked, but before he could do anything, Pposili seemed to make up his mind and ran back a long way. Then he sprinted and jumped up with all his might. ¡°Wow¡­!¡± He bounced. His short and chubby legs pushed off the ground and soared in a long arc, thennded gracefully on the ground. ¡°He did it! Wow!¡± Maybe they were all troubled by the fire of Floss, but they looked very happy even though it was just a dog passing through a ring. ¡°Wow! Did you see that? Isn¡¯t it so cute how he closes his eyes when he jumps?¡± Seon-woo smiled brightly and cheered, holding the camera that Kyunghwa had. The rest of the members also joined in with pure joy. ¡°Our Pposili is amazing~.¡± I finally gave Pposili a generous pat on the head. He seemed to like being praised and he stuck out his tongue and rolled over, showing his belly. ¡®He really is just a dog when he does this.¡¯ A system interface that was hard to tell whether it was an enemy or an ally. I put down my hand that was stroking Pposili and took out my phone. The others had taken countless photos, so it wouldn¡¯t be a problem if I took one too. Hmm¡­ I tried to change the angle here and there and pressed the shutter button, but only a blurry, unidentified furball was snapped. Let¡¯s try again. This time, I leaned back as far as I could and squinted my eyes as I pressed the shutter button, but the angle was even more awkward than before. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Unlike Kyunghwa and Seon-woo, who were filming a vlog in front of me, Seong-won, who was a step behind, looked down at me. ¡°Huh? No, I¡¯m trying to take a picture.¡± Then Seong-won stretched out his palm to me. ¡°Let me see.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Because it looks like you took a weird picture at a nce.¡± What do you mean¡­ I grumbled and went to the gallery to show him the picture. ¡°¡­¡± Seong-won¡¯s expression crumpled as soon as he saw the picture. ¡°Is this¡­ what you really took?¡± Of course it was. I mean, I could try to take a still life, but¡­ living creatures were too fast and never stayed still. ¡°How well can you take pictures then?¡± As I snapped back at him, Seong-won snatched my phone from me and zoomed in on Pposili, who was far away, with a serious expression. Look at that, you won¡¯t be able to do any better. I red at the phone in Seong-won¡¯s hand, hoping that Pposili would quickly spit out his mouth. ¡°Done.¡± After touching the screen a few times, Seong-won handed me back the phone as if he was done. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I wonder how amazing the picture he took was. I lifted my head stiffly and checked the screen, but the picture was not much different from mine in terms of skill. ¡°What, you talk like you¡¯re a photographer or something.¡± ¡°Well, I did better than you.¡± ¡°Hey, where? You and I are both fifty-fifty.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because there¡¯s a fifty-fifty difference that it worked.¡± I was so annoyed that I argued with him, and I felt like we had gotten closer. I thought I would never get along with this lunatic when he came out of nowhere and picked a fight with me on the first day of cleaning the fridge. We¡¯re not that close now, either. But at least among these members, I could clearly feel that he relied on me the most. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to take better pictures next time. If you take them closer.¡± Seong-won blushed his ears as if he was embarrassed by what he said. ¡°If you¡¯re going to take pictures, use your own phone. I¡¯m going.¡± Just then, something happened on the track and they waved their hands at us. ¡°Oh, okay, let¡¯s go!¡± I left Seong-won standing alone behind the stands and went down with a thud. Heh, Pposili looked up at me with a medal around his neck. Maybe it was because his legs were so short and his body was stuck to the ground. The medal around his neck was stretched out as if it would drag on the floor. ¡°This¡­¡± Before I could finish my sentence, Yi-jun screamed and covered Pposili¡¯s ears. ¡°It¡¯s not that your legs are short, it¡¯s that the medal is too long!! Pposili, don¡¯t listen!¡± ¡°What are you talking about? You¡¯re the one who keeps saying your legs are short.¡± We all burst intoughter at Yi-jun¡¯s ridiculous reaction. Around then, a staff member came with a Proid camera. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s take amemorative photo and wrap it up! You worked hard today!¡± ¡°Yes, thank you!¡± ¡°One, two, three, smile~.¡± Following the staff¡¯s signal, Seong-won, who joined uste, stood in front of the camera with a clumsy pose. Click, and click again. One for us to take, one for the park to disy. We each took one and got on the minivan to go back to our amodation. Today was a schedule that we only went out by ourselves, without telling the marketing team or thepany people. So I took the wheel without a manager. ¡°How long does it take to get to the amodation?¡± Yi-jun, who sat in the back seat with Pposili on hisp, leaned forward and asked. ¡°It¡¯s a bit more congested than before, so it¡¯ll take about 30 to 40 minutes.¡± As I checked the route with the navigation, I saw orange and red lines everywhere. Oh, wait. There was a noticeable building on the 3D erged map. ¡°When did Seon-woo¡¯s outdoor advertisement start?¡± I asked, narrowing my eyes, and Kyunghwa answered for me. ¡°They installed the outdoor advertisementst week and the CF will start next month. When the CFes out, Seong-won will also get an outdoor advertisement.¡± That¡¯s right. If I remembered correctly, we would pass by the building with Seon-woo¡¯s outdoor advertisement on the way to avoid the congested area. ¡°Can we have lunch a littlete?¡± I nced at the time and asked, and Seon-woo tilted his head and asked. ¡°Huh¡­? Why?¡± He didn¡¯t know when his advertisement was up, but eating was important to him. ¡°I thought it would be nice to take a proof shot or something and post it. It¡¯s not that the fans put it up for you, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to post it, right?¡± ¡°Ah¡­!¡± Seon-woo nodded as if he understood. ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s fine!¡± So it¡¯s not fine if it¡¯s not that. I nodded casually and started the car. It was about 20 minutes to therge building we marked as a midway point. I turned on the radio because I was bored while driving, and it happened to be an entertainment-rted talk channel. They were talking about a hot topic. [What do you think, PD Kim? The controversy is growing more and more.] [Oh, it¡¯s been a mess since dawn. This is not a simple internal corruption, but a matter of trust in the whole program, so I think the words are getting more and more.] [First of all, the current im of the program side is that there was no preferential treatment for the participants in sensitive areas such as ranking maniption, and that the participation contracts were written individually, so the terms could vary depending on the participants. Is that right?] [In summary, yes. They said they would provide evidence that there was no maniption in the ranking and voting by today, so I think it¡¯s better to watch a little more.] ¡°¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but be bothered by the fact that everyone¡¯s ears were open. ¡°Should I¡­ change the channel?¡± Kyunghwa asked, ncing at the guys sitting in the back seat. ¡°Just turn on something with music.¡± Yi-jun pretended not to notice the chilly atmosphere and switched to a channel that yed songs 24 hours a day. As he listened to the awkwardly outdated pop songs while holding the steering wheel, he soon saw a building that stood out in the distance. ¡°Oh, there it is!¡± Seon-woo eximed, startled and embarrassed to see his own face, and Pposili barked cheerfully. ¡°Woof!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll park next to it, so hurry up and take a picture.¡± It was a street that seemed to be quite busy during rush hour, but fortunately, there weren¡¯t many people passing by on a weekday afternoon. ¡°Okay!¡± Seon-woo ran out, making a V sign with his hand and stood in front of the building. ¡®The cosmetic ad came out pretty well, but it¡¯s a bit too pretty to befortable.¡¯ ¡°Just stay still, I¡¯ll take a picture for you.¡± While the rest of the members waited in the car, Kyunghwa, who was sitting in the passenger seat, quickly ran out and volunteered to be the photographer. And Yi-jun took a picture of him with his phone. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Oh Yi-jun taking a picture of Ryu Kyunghwa taking a picture of Na Seon-woo.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± After a short photo time, they quickly got back in the car and some pedestrians who recognized us showed us a big heart with their hands. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Wow, is that really him?¡± ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never seen a celebrity before!¡± Before the cheers got closer, they had to move quickly. I waved my hand at the distant ce and changed the gear to drive and stepped on the elerator to join the secondne. I didn¡¯t mean to do this. I unintentionally used my holiday 200% un-holiday-like. When I get home¡­ I¡¯ll eat a leisurely meal and check how Floss is doing. It¡¯s not our business¡­ but I couldn¡¯t just close my eyes. ¡®I¡¯m just too nosy.¡¯ I clicked my tongue lightly and sped up to the dorm. Chapter 176: Chapter 176: As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we had ate lunch and then one by one, we retreated to our rooms and closed the doors. We were exhausted. Seon-woo often went back to his hometown to visit his family on holidays, so he seemed to be hesitating a bit today. ¡®But since our schedule was suddenly cancelled, it would be better to stay at the hotel and wait.¡¯ Seon-woo must have thought the same, because he didn¡¯t say anything and quietly brought his tablet to the bed and ced it on a stand. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked him, curious why he took out his tablet without a word. Seon-woo answered with a rather excited expression. ¡°I¡¯m going to watch a movie I¡¯ve been wanting to see for a long time¡­! Do you want to watch it with me?¡± What was it?.. I wasn¡¯t really interested in movies. I was more bothered by the Floss issue. ¡°No, thanks. You can turn up the volume if you want. If it¡¯s ufortable, you can go out and watch it on TV.¡±¡°No, I¡¯ll just watch it quietly with my earphones if you¡¯re not watching!¡± ¡°Suit yourself.¡± I cheerfully waved my hand to refuse and picked up my phone to check the entertainment talk board. [Title: Floss is on fire right now, but where is Kang Yu-geon and what is he doing?] [Body] I¡¯m not trying to be sarcastic, I¡¯m really curious. Where is he and what is he doing? He said he was taking a break for health reasons, but did he really just retire and run away? [- He was actually the first one to detect the escape route and take the lead] [? That¡¯s right???????????????????????] [? Now who¡¯s the loser??????????????????] [- Nothing has been officially revealed yet, but you¡¯re already eager to bash and judge?? You¡¯ll cry tears of blood when the investigation is over and thewsuites] [? Isn¡¯t the group going to disband before thewsuit??????????] [? Realistically, it¡¯s either sue for defamation and get buried or quietly disappear] [? This is a duck after] The board was still noisy, so Kang Yu-geon must be still in hiding. The agency had posted a notice that they were looking into Chanhyung¡¯s issue. [- I¡¯ll keep my mouth shut and wait until the official announcementes out. #Stay_with_myCHAN] [- We support you. Be with the people who cheer and trust you. Honey, wear warm clothes! We¡¯re with you. You eat well. #Stay_with_myCHAN] [- Chanhyung, we believe that you¡¯ll ovee this. It must be hard, but don¡¯t think negatively and let¡¯s hang in there a little more for the day we¡¯ll meet again #Stay_with_myCHAN] [- Stay with ??? is hrious, the video is out and you¡¯re still shielding, what kind of mentality is that? #Stay_with_myCHAN] [? I¡¯m sorry, but do you have toe here and swear like that just to support? If you¡¯re ufortable, just ignore it.] [? You have to support the person you want to support to ignore???? Funny, go and crack some knuckles] There were still quite a few fans who said they would wait for an exnation, but SNS was a festival of memes using Chanhyung¡¯s photo cards and goods as firecrackers. [- Hey you X-bastard, you¡¯re a real piece of X-shit (picture)] A fan who spread out over a hundred photo cards and blew a whistle received over 10,000 shares. [- #Chanhyung_get_out_fast #RTevent I¡¯m holding a RT event to wish for Oh Chanhyung¡¯s (feat. Floss nuclear punch) withdrawal. Anyone can participate OK I¡¯ll do the draw when the withdrawal noticees out #No_more_troublemaker_Chan_NO] As I searched for Oh Chan-hyung¡¯s name, I saw countless posts demanding his withdrawal. ¡®This is¡­ honestly, it¡¯s almost impossible to keep going like this.¡¯ It was the right thing to do to quit for the sake of the remaining members. The problem now was¡­ [- But is it really solved by Floss dropping one member? Isn¡¯t there some talk of maniption going on right now? There was a teaser post at dawn, and it seems like something else is going to explode soon.] [- Is that also Floss? Maniption?] [? Nothing has been confirmed yet, please delete your post] [- Where did you hear that Floss is manipting?] The contents of the pre-contract had not been leaked yet, but even the first page was already stirring up all kinds of rumors. I had a feeling that something was fishy about how they favored only certain members. ¡®If this goes on¡­¡¯ From thepany¡¯s perspective, it was profitable to force the schedule until the end of the contract. The dates were announced but the tickets were not on sale yet, but they had nned a nationwide tour for early next year, before disbanding. They must have already arranged the venues and the staff. The ticketing itself was so scarce that the scalpers were charging up to ten million won, so they probably didn¡¯t care if there were any cancetions. ¡®¡­¡¯ But that was only a decision that could be made when they saw people as means rather than ends. If they continued to work with the suspicion of maniption hanging over them, the inte would never calm down. How many people could ignore the thousands, tens of thousands of criticisms that poured in every day and go on stage as if nothing happened? Even if they pretended to be calm on the outside, their minds would rot first. Humans are not that strong. Unless something was broken or damaged, they couldn¡¯t endure it and the problem would inevitably erupt. Even if there was nothing problematic, the image of the maniption scandal was already attached. If they cared about the members¡¯ health¡­ ¡®It¡¯s better to disband here.¡¯ I felt bitter. It was easy to say that as someone else¡¯s problem, but if it was my own, I wouldn¡¯t be able to say that disbanding was the most reasonable thing to do in this situation. How was Hwijin doing? Naru didn¡¯t seem to be in good shape either. ¡®That guy was obviously getting 100% favoritism, so he must be in the worst situation right now.¡¯ I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t worried. I remembered his appearance during the unit showdown. He cried with a single sound error, wasn¡¯t that his pride? Most of the problems of the kids who were obsessed with recognition and performance proof came from their parents. It wasn¡¯t that I learned or studied anything about counseling, but I was like that until I gave up. It was an experience. ¡®I quit as soon as I realized that I couldn¡¯t get the same treatment as my brother.¡¯ In the end, I realized rtively early that unless it was an effort for myself, it would onlye back as a bigger wound. Otherwise¡­ I shouldn¡¯t judge him too harshly, since he might have his own personal reasons. Looking at his mental state, he seemed to be in a pretty big shock right now, but among the Floss members, there was no one who could help him¡­ ¡®Is there Hwijin¡­¡¯ The problem was that Hwijin¡¯s mental state was not very solid either, due to the stress that had umted during the Floss activities. He might have panicked instead of taking care of himself. Was I underestimating Hwijin? I thought for a moment and sighed deeply. ¡°¡­?¡± I must have raised my voice without realizing it, because Seon-woo took off his earphones and looked at me with a question. ¡°Hyung, do you have something on your mind?¡± I didn¡¯t want to bother him with my problems. I smiled lightly, pretending to be carefree and cute, and shook my head. ¡°No, I¡¯m just a bit worried about Floss.¡± Seon-woo nodded slowly, as if he understood. ¡°Will they be okay¡­? Hwijin and Naru¡­ and Yu-geon too¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for them. It was natural that I was more concerned about the members of Floss who had interacted with us than the others. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do for them. We can only hope that they¡¯ll get through this.¡± It would onlyplicate things if we, another group, got involved. I wanted to contact Hwijin, but¡­ ¡®He must have received dozens, hundreds of messages from people who im tofort him. He doesn¡¯t need me to add to his troubles.¡¯ It was better to turn a blind eye to the problems that I couldn¡¯t solve for him. I decided to go to sleep, but I ended up turning on Celebrity Talk again. ¡®If I keep worrying like this, I should just stop watching it.¡¯ The topics on the real-time ranking were more diverse than before, probably because the pre-contract issues were starting to surface. The problem was that Floss was the main subject of all of them. They had the most fans, and they had been at the center of scandals and incidents in the idol scene throughout their career. It was not a surprising reaction. [Title: Do you believe their exnation that there was no maniption of the rankings? (+999)] [Title: So where is Kang Yu-geon and what is he doing? (+431)] [Title: Oh Chanhyung¡¯s additional exposure re-uploaded (+602)] [Title: Honestly, it was obvious from the amount of content (+127)] Among them, one post caught my eye. [Title: I¡¯ll tell you how each member of Floss can survive (+999)] What is this nonsense? The real-time ranking was not that high, but the number ofments was exploding. I was curious and clicked on the title without thinking. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Content] The true fans must know by now. Floss is over. This is a fact. Don¡¯t get angry and leave, just listen to me. Floss is ruined, but not their individual skills. They can still make a living on their own. Honestly, Oh Chanhyung, who was the root of all the problems, has a solid core fanbase, so he won¡¯t have any trouble surviving. I¡¯ll tell you how they can each make aeback. First, Lee Jinhyung. As you know, Lee Jinhyung is very good at training. He¡¯s not handsome enough to switch to acting, honestly. His pronunciation is too slurred to be an actor, and he needs to keep sucking the honey of being an idol. He should jump ship from the sinking boat and debut as a solo. Next is Damian. He¡¯s in charge of foreignnguages in Floss, as you would expect from a mixed-race. He¡¯s a sub-vocal and a sub-rapper, but he always has a faint presence that surprises me. His face is decent, but he only sells well as a pair with Jun, who is also in charge of foreignnguages. He¡¯s alwayspeting for thest ce in poprity as a solo. He had a little talent fornguage learning. You saw it when we nned the Flos Academy, right? Not everyone can get 975 on TOEIC. It would be perfect if Jun took care of Japanese and Damian took care of English. I¡¯m not kidding. If we do live sses and upload online lectures, there will be tons of foreigners who want to buy the courses. Anguage school where K-POP idols are the teachers? Think about it. This is a really amazing idea. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ What the hell are you saying¡­ I was so dumbfounded by the absurd im that followed the sensational headline that I couldn¡¯t believe what I read in the beginning. ¡®What the hell¡­¡¯ Then, at that moment, huh? This is¡­ kind of good. A short sentence caught my attention in an instant. While Climax was having a rtively peaceful morning, the Floss dorm was enduring a hellish moment in silence. ¡°What were you doing when Chanhyung left?¡± The manager¡¯s voice, which had been timid all along, as if he was afraid to offend his precious body, rang out in a way that was iparable to usual. ¡°He said he was leaving, how could we stop him?¡± ¡°What? Don¡¯t you know that we¡¯ll all go down if you can¡¯t stop him properly?¡± If he could, Hwijin wanted to evaporate from this space as well. Naru was holed up in his room, not even drinking a ss of water. The members kept snarling at each other, ¡®It¡¯s your fault that I¡¯m ruined too.¡¯ It was a tiger¡¯s den everywhere. Hwijin sighed and touched his forehead at the hopeless situation. Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Even if I did nothing wrong, being in a group means living with others. Didn¡¯t I sign up for this kind of situation when I signed the debut contract? Hwijin clenched his fists quietly and thought. What should I do now? He tried to think of a solution, but nothing came to mind. What would others do in this situation? What would be the best option? He spent his time pondering these questions, while his messenger was flooded with new messages. They all said things like, are you okay? What happened? Did you really debut by maniption? But no matter how he answered, they would believe what they wanted to believe. Would they trust me if I said it wasn¡¯t me? Rather than exposing myself to the media and bing prey for the cyber bullies, I had to endure until thepany resolved this. ¡®Will thepany protect me?¡¯ Hwijin knew. If Floss disbanded like this, he would be too old to work as a rookie idol. In that situation, his contract period was almost over, and he was involved in a maniption scandal. Hwijin knew how hollow his hope was that thepany would protect him.As soon as Floss disbanded, he would leave W and go back to a small actor agency. He would no longer be able to use his name value as Floss. He would have to see how they treated him. ¡®When I started, I was popr just by my name.¡¯ He wanted to stay at the top star position. He never imagined this would happen when he decided to appear on My Idol Stage. The shocking treatment he received as a first-tier star until a few days ago felt like a dream that vanished in an instant. Like a candle seller¡¯s illusion that disappears when the match is blown out. Maybe this is what suits me, Hwijin shrugged his shoulders and went into his room quietly. The manager, who he thought would stop him at least once, let him go to his room without a word. It was better to sleep than to suffer from helplessness while awake. He couldn¡¯t sleep a winkst night, waiting for thepany¡¯s response and checking the reactions online. He thought he was used to sleeping and waking up for three hours a day because of the suffocating schedule, but the situation was so bad that the shock was bigger. ¡®rm¡­ Should I set it for an hour?¡¯ If another incident broke out in the meantime, he would have to wake up forcibly. But he needed to get some sleep for the hardships ahead. Hwijiny his tired body on the bed, and for a moment he remembered. But he couldn¡¯t contact him because he was ashamed. His name shed on the phone screen. [Climax Cheon Ise] (You have a new message.) ¡°Huh.¡± He had turned on the vibration to the strongest level in case he couldn¡¯t wake up by the sound, and he was holding his phone tightly. Hwijin dropped his phone reflexively. ¡°Why, why did he contact me?¡± Was he curious about how much of the controversy was true? Or was he really worried? Hwijin calmed his pounding heart without any expectation that Ise could solve his problem and unlocked it. [Climax Cheon Ise] Did you eat? 3:11 PM ¡®¡­¡¯ There was one content that was different from the others, such as are you okay? or what happened? among the messages. ¡®He¡¯s worried about whether I ate or not¡­ Is that what a person who became famous as a s*x idol would do?¡¯ He chuckled softly, feeling that it was more of a consideration than a joke, not to bring up the topic that was controversial right now. Hwijin moved his stiff hand and barely typed. [Me] No. 3:12 PM I wanted to send a crying emoticon, but I didn¡¯t have the energy to do that. [Climax Cheon Ise] You need to eat something to get some strength. Even if you don¡¯t feel like it, take some digestive medicine and eat a little bit. 3:13 PM He was five years younger than me, but he sounded like an adult. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t just Hwijin¡¯s decision to skip a meal. I couldn¡¯t go to the kitchen and make some noise when the living room looked like a portrait gallery. [Me] I can¡¯t eat right now. 3:14 PM If I went outside, I would be photographed by the reporters waiting in front of the building. And if I ordered delivery, there would be a post on the inte saying, ¡®Floss is eating chicken while this is happening; our store got an order.¡¯ or something like that. I couldn¡¯t even cook some ramen, so I had no choice but to starve. [Climax Cheon Ise] Is your stomach really bad? 3:15 PM [Me] No, it¡¯s not that. It¡¯s just that the atmosphere in the dorm is so bad and I can¡¯t order delivery or go out to eat¡­ 3:16 PM After Hwijin¡¯s message, Ise didn¡¯t reply for a long time. He was just¡­ asking how I was doing. Hwijin scoffed at what I was expecting and put down his phone and prepared to sleep again. The winter nket that covered him up to his chin was the only thing that kept him warm in the icy dorm. No one would want to interfere with this kind of problem. Unless they were curious to see how much he had failed after doing well for a while. As Hwijin gave up everything and tried to fall asleep again, the phone rang. ¡°Huh, why, why are you calling¡­?¡± He was startled and checked the caller ID. It was the person he had been texting a while ago. ¡°Hello, I answered the phone.¡± ¡°Yes, Hwijin.¡± ¡°Yes, ah, yes.¡± Hwijin answered the phone nervously and Ise interrogated him as if he was a detective. ¡°How many people are in the dorm right now?¡± ¡°About five, excluding the manager?¡± ¡°How many of them are you close with?¡± Why is he asking that? Hwijin felt doubtful about Ise¡¯s random questioning, but he answered obediently. ¡°Um¡­ one?¡± Ise was silent for a while after hearing Hwijin¡¯s hesitant answer, then he asked abruptly. ¡°Is that one person Shim Naru?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I guess it shows. Well. He came with Naru for the Bravo Solo Life shooting, and he visited with Yu-geon for the Jakon coboration, so it made sense. ¡°Then I¡¯ll pack two portions separately. Send me your address on the messenger. It¡¯ll take about 30 minutes.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Hwijin tilted his head at Ise¡¯s iprehensible words. ¡°What!?¡± He was shocked and got up from the bed. Ise answered casually and hung up the phone. ¡°I prepared something easy to digest, so go to your room and eat a little bit secretly.¡± What the hell is he talking about? Is he going to send me a lunch box? Hwijin was confused and his eyes spun. Then, a picture of a lunch box that looked quite well-packed in a multi-use container arrived on the messenger. There was porridge instead of rice, warm seaweed soup, simple side dishes, sd, and dessert. Gurgle-. As soon as I saw something edible, a reflexive sound of hunger came from my stomach. I hadn¡¯t eaten anything for almost a day. ¡®It looks delicious.¡¯ Well, he¡¯s a good cook, so of course it would taste good. But why? As Hwijin¡¯s head was spinning, Climax was in a state of chaos as usual. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t steal that pork cutlet.¡± While I was putting some porridge in a thermal container, Yi-jun was eyeing the crispy fried pork cutlet¡¯s tail with a hawk-like gaze. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten it yet.¡± He didn¡¯t say he wouldn¡¯t eat it, but that he hadn¡¯t eaten it yet. It was ridiculous that he was eyeing the side dish to steal when we had already set aside our share. ¡°Don¡¯t I feed you enough?¡± Even Seon-woo, who was actually close to starving, was sitting quietly on the living room sofa¡­ Or maybe not. He looked like he would drool a liter if he were a dog, not a human, and I felt suffocated by his gaze. ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m starving, but it¡¯s a fact that stealing someone else¡¯s lunch box is the most delicious thing.¡± So he was eyeing the side dish of the lunch box that I hadn¡¯t even given him yet. I checked the list carefully to make sure I didn¡¯t miss any side dishes, and then I closed the zipper of the lunch box bag, watching Yi-jun with a hawk-like gaze. ¡°Asera. You shouldn¡¯t steal food from someone who hasn¡¯t had a bite since yesterday.¡± I neatly closed the lunch box bag and put it back in the thermal bag. ¡°Ise hyung, are you really going there yourself?¡± Seon-woo got up from the sofa and came to the kitchen, his face full of worry. Well, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s no one else to deliver it if I save someone. But I honestly didn¡¯t want to expose the location of the Floss dorm to anyone else in this situation. Fortunately¡­ I found a way. It couldn¡¯t be helped that I would stand out, but no one would recognize me. I took out ¡®that thing¡¯ that I had left at the entrance and put it on my head, then slowly put my feet in and hid my whole body. ¡°Wow¡­ Really¡­ Who would suspect? That there¡¯s an idol inside¡­¡± What I put on my head was a chicken mascot costume that I dug out of the warehouse when I moved the dorm. It was a legacy of an advertisement that I got in my rookie days, about four years ago, when Climax still had a chance to recover. ¡®Chicken¡­ They went bankrupt and closed all their franchises.¡¯ It was apany that supplied chicken processed by Jo Young Food, so I was pretty bitter when they went bankrupt. It wasn¡¯t a very profitable deal, but it was sad to end it because of bankruptcy, not because of a good reason. ¡°Can you see well in front? Do you want me to drive?¡± Kyunghwa asked me anxiously, but the answer was obviously NO. ¡°You have a closet license. You won¡¯t use it when you drive, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡± I reassured the members and adjusted my clothes, or rather, my costume, and then left the entrance. ¡®I hope I¡¯m not being too nosy.¡¯ Anyway, since I have a purpose, it¡¯s not a suspicious kindness to give without a reason. They must know that I left to a separatebel, so they might have some idea of what I want to talk about, why I would go there myself in this situation. I nodded silently and hugged the lunch box in my hand. Fortunately, the dorm I moved to and the Floss dorm were not far apart, so I was able to enter the parking lot in less than 20 minutes. As I entered the central parking lot with the password I got from Hwijin, I saw a few cars waiting in the parking lot. Maybe they were real residents¡­ or maybe journalists. I calmly put on a mask and got on the elevator, then pressed a different floor number on purpose. As I reached the penthouse at the top floor, panting with the mask on, I saw the tightly locked front door. [Me] I¡¯m here. 3:54 PM Then, click, the door handle turned very quietly and the door opened. At that moment, a voice of a man who looked rtively old came from inside. ¡°What are you doing? Where are you going?¡± Shh, I reflexively moved the thick finger of the chicken mask to make a one sign. Then, Hwijin nodded his head in surprise and answered towards the living room. Chapter 178: Chapter 178: ¡°Ah, no! I just opened the door to see if the delivery came.¡± Hwijin quickly took the lunch box from me and bowed his head. ¡°I¡¯ll call youter.¡± I exchanged a brief nce with Hwijin, wearing a chicken costume, and quickly closed the door. Thud. A short sigh escaped me as the sound of the door closing followed. Well¡­ I prepared enough for more than two people, so he can take it to his room and eat well. It was more heartfelt than any store-bought lunch box, so it should taste good. When people are pushed to the limit, it¡¯s hard to perform at their best, so they need to eat well to get their brains working. ¡®I should go back to the dorm as soon as possible.¡¯ I nced down at the window and saw reporters lined up on the opposite side of the apartmentplex, pretending to be pedestrians. I took off the chicken costume and dried my sweaty hair with a hand fan, then hurried my steps.I felt relieved when I returned to the car and took off the doll mask. ¡®At least I gained some trust, so that¡¯s not bad.¡¯ I briefly thought about the future ns after the disbandment of Floss while separating thebels. But it was really brief, and nothing was discussed in detail with the members. The favor I did now was purely out of goodwill. He wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything in this photo shoot atmosphere if he starved without eating anything. I kept thinking about the post that came up on Entertainment Talk Talk while holding the steering wheel to go back to the dorm. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Honestly, the most ambiguous member is the leader. Is it possible for Hwijin to re-debut as a rookie next year when he¡¯s thirty? If he¡¯s grouped with these 15-year-old kids, he¡¯s not even an uncle, he¡¯s just like a dad¡­ Even if he can debut, it¡¯s his third debut and he¡¯s already past his prime in terms of star quality, who would spend money on a recycled idol twice????. He¡¯s been rubbing shoulders with this guy who¡¯s doing idol work as a hobby these days, he should just go intoposition as a veteran manager. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Of course, I didn¡¯t want to bring Hwijin in as a veteran manager. It was a definite benefit for us to bring Hwijin, who was released from W, to ourbel. First of all, W could make an excuse that they didn¡¯t abandon the members who were damaged by the controversy, but rather took them in as subsidiaries, and we could get a pool of talent that we could use for the actors. Of course, from the perspective of the person concerned, if they only considered the support as an actor, we wouldn¡¯t be a candidate. But if he still had a desire to stand on the stage as an idol, he might consider it if a new agency supported both sides. Well¡­ this was just my thought. The opinion of the person concerned was the most important, and since we were still short of staff with just the Climax activities, we had to discuss it with the other members. ¡®I hope things work out well for him, even if he doesn¡¯te to our side.¡¯ I was worried about the variety show that was scheduled to air in a few days. I clenched the steering wheel and tensed my shoulders for a while, then shook my head. Forget it. Let¡¯s go back and do my job. I told the members to take care of themselves and eat well because I might bete, but I only ate what I made while making the side dishes. ¡®I should fill my stomach and call him again.¡¯ I decided to focus on driving with a short sigh. Knock knock. After Ise left, Hwijin entered the room with a lunch box hidden in his arms. It was a bit of a relief. Thanks to Yu-geon leaving his seat, he was able to put down the lunch box without being caught by the other members or the manager. ¡®I should eat with Naru and check on his condition.¡¯ He was the youngest who hadn¡¯t even graduated from high school yet, so he must have been more shocked than the adult members or himself who had more life experience. ¡®I hope he doesn¡¯t insist on staying in and not going out¡­¡¯ He knocked on the door nervously, and heard a rustling sound from inside. ¡°Wh, who is it?¡± A weak voice that was hoarse from crying asked for his identity behind the door. ¡°It¡¯s me, can Ie in for a moment?¡± Naru seemed to calm down a bit at Hwijin¡¯sposed voice and answered in a louder voice than before. ¡°If you have something to say, just say it from th, there!¡± Hmm¡­ Judging by his tone, he wouldn¡¯t open the door even if he asked nicely. ¡°You¡¯ll get sick if you keep starving and locking yourself in. Drink some water at least. And eat something if your stomach is okay.¡± Hwijin¡¯s gentle voice irritated Naru, and he spat out a word of refusal in a raised voice. ¡°I don¡¯t need it. You eat it.¡± ¡°I just want to see your face and make sure you¡¯re okay. You haven¡¯t eaten anything since yesterday.¡± Naru didn¡¯t budge at Hwijin¡¯s worried words and buried his head in the pillow. ¡°I¡¯m not eating, okay! Stop nagging and leave me alone!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Hwijin just raised his eyebrows as if he was troubled by Naru¡¯s snappy answer. He was a guy who would cooperate easily when there was something that benefited him. But now that the contract was hanging over them, he seemed to have nothing to do with him. Hwijin went back to his room and brought some fruits to Naru¡¯s room again. The fruits were already peeled and had cute toothpicks stuck in them, so they were ready to eat. Knock-. He didn¡¯t give up and was persistent. Naru was about to tell him to go away angrily, but before he could say anything, he heard a loud sound of the door handle being hit with force. ¡°Yikes, what, what are you doing!¡± Naru, whose face was swollen like a fish from crying, jumped out of the nket quickly to close the door, but the lock was forcibly opened faster than that. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a relief. My room door opens the same way.¡± He came in as if he was going to tear off someone else¡¯s door and calmly and cheerfully expressed his feelings, making Naru dumbfounded. ¡°What do you mean, that¡¯s a relief! Are you crazy?¡± ¡°Huh? No, I¡¯m not crazy. But we need to talk about what we¡¯re going to do from now on, and if you keep staying in and not drinking water, it¡¯s hard for me too¡­¡± Naru was horrified and backed away at Hwijin¡¯s nonchnt response. At that moment, when Hwijin closed the door and took out the fruit box he had hidden in his arms, Naru curled up and grabbed his head with both arms. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡°¡­?¡± Hwijin asked with a puzzled expression at Naru¡¯s unexpected reaction. ¡°Ah, no¡­ I¡­ Ise came by secretly earlier and gave me a lunch box. I thought you might want to eat some fruits if you didn¡¯t feel like eating¡­¡± Naru, who had reflexively curled up in fear to protect his head, looked up at Hwijin with a flinch. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re not going to hit me?¡± What did he just say? I was as stunned as he was by his sudden deration of violence. ¡°Me?¡± I could understand if he had a record like Chanhyung. But I had never raised my hand against anyone or anything, human, animal, or object, unless it was part of a scripted scene. Why did he have such a strange misunderstanding? ¡°No?¡± Naru peeked up at me from under his arm and muttered. ¡°Why?¡± I honestly didn¡¯t get it. ¡°Do I, do I have to answer?¡± Naru mumbled and fumbled, cornered against the wall again. ¡°Did you ever¡­ get hit by Chanhyung?¡± My expression turned serious and Naru denied it desperately. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that!¡± ¡°Then why?¡± ng, I put the fruit box on the desk and crossed my arms, persistently asking. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± While Naru couldn¡¯t answer and hesitated, there was a knock on the door behind me and the manager called me. ¡°What¡¯s going on with you two? It sounded like there was a loud noise earlier.¡± He looked worried, as if he thought I hade to vent my anger on Naru. To be precise, he seemed more concerned about the possibility of more trouble here than our well-being. ¡°No, no, I just came in to see if he was okay.¡± ¡°Really? I can¡¯t handle it if you two fight too.¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t worry.¡± I managed to appease the manager outside the door, when he added a remark. ¡°Oh. Naru, why don¡¯t you answer your parents¡¯ calls? They keep calling me when they can¡¯t reach you¡­¡± Before the manager could finish his sentence, Naru threw his phone to the bed. ¡°Eek¡­!¡± Was there a problem with his parents? I wanted to ask more, but he looked so pale that I doubted he would answer or tell me anything right now. ¡°I brought some food to fill your stomach, so eat this and calm down.¡± It seemed difficult to have a serious talk in this state. Maybe when he calmed down a bit, I could ask him what he wrote in the contract and what he nned to do next. I reached that conclusion and opened the door, only to see the living room where the manager was sitting and sighing heavily. ¡®I used to see him a lot when I first debuted.¡¯ Of course, he only hung out with his close friends, so I had no chance to join them, but at least I heard someughter. How did ite to this? I heard the crunching sound of Naru eating fruit in his room and went back. ¡®Oh.¡¯ Just then, I got a call from Ise, who said he would contact meter. I answered the phone. ¡°Did the food suit your taste?¡± He must have known that I had already eaten the lunch box he left for me. ¡°Uh, yes. I ate well.¡± I lied with a smile that gave me away. There is no such thing as a favor without a price. Even if there was, it would only be a mutual exchange of benefits in a variety show, not a favor of this magnitude that could not be dismissed as just being nice. ¡°I¡¯m d you enjoyed it.¡± When the camera was on, he would act like a close brother, joking around, but when the camera was off, he would talk like a business tycoon who had lived twice. I needed to find out what he wanted from me. It¡¯s okay, just think of it as acting. I can do this. Calm down and speak, one, two, three¡­ ¡°Um, Mr. Lee¡­¡± ¡°I have something to ask you.¡± As soon as Hwijin opened his mouth after taking a deep breath, Ise spoke at the same time, making their sentences ovep. ¡°Oh, yes! Please tell me!¡± Ise sounded puzzled on the other end of the phone. ¡°What were you going to say?¡± Hwijin hurriedly made an excuse. ¡°Oh, I just wanted to thank you!¡± ¡°Really? I was just wondering how the atmosphere is over there. Do the members have different opinions?¡± He asked cleverly, but it was clear what he wanted to know. Are you disbanding? Hwijin let out a sigh-likeugh and answered. Considering the help I received from Lee, I should have honestly said yes, we¡¯re disbanding. But I had to use my brain, since our future activities depended on it. Especially since I only needed to show my face, the situation before and after the appearance was too different, and any choice I made would be easy to regret. Things had changed a lot since the days when I was happy with anything as long as I debuted. At times like this¡­ what would someone else do? Hwijin thought of the person who seemed to be the most clever at dealing with this kind of negotiation. ¡®Where the hell is Yu-geon and what is he doing that he doesn¡¯t answer the phone?¡¯ I had to pull myself together, even if I was alone. Hwijin swallowed his dry saliva and opened his mouth. Chapter 179: ¡°I don¡¯t have a clear direction yet. I¡¯m busy dealing with the other members¡¯ issues at the agency level.¡± Hwijin¡¯s words made Ise, on the other end of the phone, sigh briefly before answering. ¡°Are you okay, Hwijin?¡± Of course not. I wanted to vent my frustrations, but I couldn¡¯t afford to do that in this uncertain situation. Especially to a much younger leader of another group. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m¡­ I think I¡¯ll be fine. I don¡¯t have any major problems. Just some members I¡¯m worried about.¡± He must have known about the pre-contract issue that was causing a stir. I didn¡¯t need to tell him the details, just that I wasn¡¯t involved. ¡°I see. Okay.¡± Ise¡¯s simple reply was followed by an awkward silence. Come on, say something. Hwijin felt a twinge in his stomach and clenched it.¡°Hwijin.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± Is this why he gave me soup instead of rice? Hwijin rubbed his sore stomach when Ise called his name in a low voice. ¡°Have you thought about what you¡¯re going to do after Floss disbands?¡± Hwijin shrank his shoulders at Ise¡¯s calm question and answered. ¡°No, not yet. I still have some time¡­¡± That¡¯s what he thought. But now things were going in a direction that left him no time. ¡°Well, Hwijin¡­ You have such outstanding acting skills, you must be busy starting your work as an actor.¡± Hwijin racked his brain to figure out what he meant. Is he asking me if I¡¯m going to act after leaving Floss? ¡°No, no. I haven¡¯t received any scripts yet.¡± He was still getting audition requests for web dramas, but if he wanted to pursue a serious acting career, he had to move to the screen or the TV. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t received any concrete love calls from that side. ¡°If you want to return to acting¡­ You could try challenging stages like theater, or musicals since you have a good voice.¡± Hwijin felt dizzy as Ise rattled on, as if he was nning his future for him. No, not yet¡­ He hadn¡¯t decided whether he wanted to continue as a singer or if he had enough and wanted to go back to acting. Hwijin stuttered as Ise snickered on the other side of the phone. ¡°Idol. Do you want to keep doing it?¡± Hwijin couldn¡¯t answer right away. He wasn¡¯t indecisive for no reason. He couldn¡¯t make up his mind in this absurd situation. He knew in his head that he should focus on his acting career if Floss disbanded, but he couldn¡¯t let go of the stages he had experienced as an idol. At this critical juncture. He didn¡¯t even know if he could get proper support, and he risked losing both if he tried to catch two rabbits at once. Hwijin swallowed his dry saliva along with his words. Naru, who was left alone in the room after Hwijin left, was curled up under the nket like a snail. He didn¡¯t know what face to make, so he stayed in his room, but his stomach faithfully demanded new fuel and growled. ¡®I wonder if I should eat something¡­¡¯ Even though I felt like I would gain weight no matter what I ate, my stomach was so upset that I couldn¡¯t bear it. Naru stared at the fruit box that Hwijin had left behind, wrestling with himself for a while before slowly reaching out his hand. The fruits were neatly prepared so that he could just pick and eat them. They looked like they were made with care. They were probably not meant for me, but for Hwijin hyung. He must have shared them with me. Naru grabbed one and bit into it with a flinch. He had been crying non-stop since the contract dispute started, and his face was swollen, but the fruits tasted fine. I can still eat something in this situation. He felt pathetic. sh, the screen of his phone lit up. As he looked down with an apple in his mouth, he saw that it was a call from his mom. ¡°¡­¡± Why is she still calling me? She didn¡¯t seem to give up even after I ignored more than twenty calls. ¡°Stop, please¡­¡± He had received a decent amount of money from his Floss activities, but it seemed that he didn¡¯t meet his parents¡¯ expectations. You can do better. You¡¯re only neen, you can endure more until you¡¯re twenty-four. Look at the seniors from other groups. They work hard and earn a lot when they can, and then they do whatever they want after they finish their military service in their mid-twenties. They look so cool and admirable. You can do it too, right? If you want to have a long-term career, you have to capture the public¡¯s attention now. Do you know how much I begged the PD for this opportunity? This is the spot that I got for you with a lot of effort. You can do well, right? Do your best as if you can¡¯t go home if you don¡¯t get it in one shot. You know that you have to be the best there today, right? ¡®It¡¯s all for your own good. I¡¯m doing this because I care about you.¡¯ He knew what she would say just by looking at the number on his phone screen. The conclusion was simple. You have to be the best. You have to be the most noticed. Even if it¡¯s hard, it¡¯s better for you in the long run. Don¡¯t give up or bezy like those pathetic kids. Do it properly. If you¡¯re going to do it half-heartedly, you should quit. Do you know how many kids are trying to take your spot? Is this all you can do? ¡®Do you know how much I¡¯m backing you up for this?¡¯ It was the same old repertoire that he had been sick of since he was young. His mom, who had been an amateur model while in college and met his dad, who was a graduate, had their wedding the year after she graduated. She had to give up her own dreams and start a new one before he was born, because of the marriage and childcare that came before she had a chance to experience social life. I¡¯ll let my child live his own life. He¡¯ll be the most noticed and loved wherever he goes. He started his first career as a baby model when he was barely one year old. He was always a tool and a goal for his mom¡¯s dream. When Naru began to work as a kids model, the conflict in the family started. ¡®It¡¯s good that you care about the kid. But the head of the household is still me. Do you think I¡¯m earning money to be treated like this?¡¯ Every time his dad raised his voice, his mom didn¡¯t back down either. ¡®The kid has potential, why are you wasting it? Do you know how important it is to secure your position at this age? Naru is not only my child. He¡¯s your son too.¡¯ Whenever he failed an audition, they would argue until he fell asleep. But when he was lucky enough to pass or get paid, his dad would keep his mouth shut. So all he had to do was do well. He had to do well. If he didn¡¯t get a satisfactory result, everyone would suffer. ¡®I have to be the most noticed and do well no matter what.¡¯ It was the day I secured my debut with a top-ranking score on the My Idol stage. My parents, who were on the verge of divorce, showed up at the filming site for the first time in almost three months. I thought that as long as I did well, everyone would be fine. The day my first debut preparation fell apart. I never wanted to remember the flower pots and utensils that were thrown at me and rolled on the floor. ¡®I just have to do well.¡¯ The sentence that kept me going like a spell followed Naru around like a shadow. I didn¡¯t know how the other guys wrote their pre-contracts. But mine was a death sentence for my Floss activities. It was a contract that guaranteed my appearance time for the first four episodes, and in return, I had to pay back some of the revenue from my debut activities to the productionpany as amission. If I showed my face often in the early episodes, before the fandom was established, and raised my poprity, I would have an advantage over the other contestants who would naturally emerge as the elimination and evaluation progressed. It seemed like an unreasonable condition that the production team would take all the risk if Naru failed to debut, but Naru was a popr contestant who had been in charge of the buzz since before the appearance, with a record of winning the top ranks in other audition programs. If I did well, everyone would be happy, and Naru managed to debut as the production team and parents wanted, despite the pressure. All that was left was what seemed like a smooth group activity, something I had never imagined would end like this. ¡°Stop, stop¡­ Leave me alone¡­ This is enough, isn¡¯t it¡­?¡± All that was left was to fall. Even if I earned my rank with my own effort, how many people would believe me? No matter how I exined, I was at the center of the maniption scandal. It was clear that everything was over, and all that was left was to agonize, biting my nails and suffering. The news I heard in the morning was that Chanhyung¡¯s contract had been leaked. In the afternoon, it was Sunghyun. And other contestants who had signed pre-contracts but failed to debut were revealing their contracts one after another in retaliation. Most of them were contracts that guaranteed their amount or position in exchange for amission, just like mine, but there were some unusual uses. Some of them agreed to cooperate with the casting of certain contestants or to y the viin in the directing of certain episodes. I briefly hoped that maybe I could get away with it without anyone noticing. [- I get annoyed every time I see the fake work. Do I have to watch it on TV until the eve of Eve?] As expected, thements asking for my withdrawal were pouring in. I shouldn¡¯t look. It¡¯s all over anyway. It¡¯s over now. As I sobbed and flipped the nket over again, the phone screen lit up again. Don¡¯t you have to give up if you don¡¯t get this much? Why are they so persistent when they know through the manager that I¡¯m not hurt or doing anything extreme? Naru sniffed and checked the screen. [010-XXXX-XXXX] It was an unregistered, unfamiliar number. I shouldn¡¯t answer. It was the worst thing to do in this situation, to answer a call from an unknown number. It could be a malicious fan who wanted to provoke me. So I shouldn¡¯t answer¡­ It would obviously be better. But I had a strong feeling that I had to answer it now. As Naru picked up the phone nervously, a low voice greeted him politely. ¡°Is this Mr. Shim Naru¡¯s number?¡± It was the calm voice that annoyed me when I ran out of the filming site before. Chapter 180: Chapter 180: Why did it have to be him? He was like salt on my already trampled and shredded pride. Why did he have to call me now? What did he want from me? My head was spinning. ¡°Hello? Is this Shim Naru? The call was connected, but there was no answer from the other side. Ise repeated Naru¡¯s name, sounding puzzled. ¡®I want to hang up.¡¯ I was not in the mood to listen to his lectures, telling me to act more decently or something like that, while I was in this humiliating situation. I wanted to escape from this reality. At least until the staff or my parents came to get me from behind the door. ¡°Shim Naru, are you there?¡± Naru hesitated to press the end call button, as Ise tried to stop him. ¡°You might regret it if you hang up now. I contacted you to make you a very positive offer.¡±How did he know I was about to hang up? I hadn¡¯t pressed any button yet. Eek, Naru panicked and gripped his phone tightly. ¡°What kind of nonsense are you trying to say again¡­?¡± As Naru opened his mouth, trying to hide his fear, he heard a faint chuckle from the other side. He¡¯s treating me like a fool! Naru wanted to hang up right away, out of pride, but he had to hear what he had to say. He might seem to do whatever he wanted and act selfishly, but he had survived in this jungle-like entertainment industry since he was young. He knew how to make the best of his situation. He was not smart, but he was good at calcting. ¡°You signed a pre-contract, right? How long do you think you can hide it?¡± He saw right through my shallow thoughts. Naru felt a surge of resentment in his heart and snapped back. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you heard or why you think that way, but¡­¡± ¡°You did. You better think carefully now.¡± Ise cut off Naru¡¯s words and snorted. Damn, he was such an annoying person, spouting righteous words with his smug attitude. Naru gritted his teeth and got up from the bed where he was lying down. ¡°No, I mean, what did you hear¡­¡± ¡°You sound more energetic now. You sounded like you were dying before.¡± ¡°What do you mean, energetic? What kind of rude thing are you saying¡­¡± But again, Naru couldn¡¯t finish his sentence. ¡°Did you eat the lunch box? I sent you porridge to help you digest.¡± I didn¡¯t eat it. Well, I ate some fruits. ¡°Are you calling me to rub salt in the wound with the lunch box?¡± Naru spat out his words in a fast voice, as if he was rapping, and he heard Ise holding back hisughter with a weak sigh. Who does he think he is? I was already distressed enough, without his teasing. ¡°No, I¡¯m serious. I have something to tell you that you might regret missing. Have you decided where to go after the contract ends?¡± To be honest, I had. Until 1 a.m. today. The contract with W would expire next February. When the Floss project ended, the idols could choose whether to stay with W or return to their original agency. And Naru¡¯s choice was thetter. A group with Naru as the center had been preparing for their debut for six months already. The only main vocal and center! It was a word that made his eyes sparkle just by hearing it. My position in Floss was awkward to say the least. There were only three main vocals. It couldn¡¯t be helped with nine people in the group, but still, three was too many! Naturally, the attention was dispersed. And the actual center was either Yu-geon, who had a solid core despite his low debut rank, Jinhyung, who was the real first ce, or Hwijin, who alternated with them. ¡®Maybe it looks better to have some tall guys in the middle.¡¯ Since I was rtively short in the group, I always stayed on the edge rather than the center in the choreography. Thanks to my small stature, I got some benefits from being paired with ¡®Adams¡¯ or ¡®Chocoz¡¯ for more appeal, but I never got the center spot. And then there was this group that guaranteed me the center position. Even if the members were not very skilled, it was worth joining just for that merit. But when I visited the agency a few months ago to try out the harmony, the quality of the members looked pretty good. ¡®Of course, not as good as me.¡¯ This was good enough. They were at a level that could make me stand out. So I thought I just had to finish the Floss activities sessfully and say goodbye to them. Never see them again! But if I became the center of a scandal, everything would be ruined. ¡°Why are you asking that?¡± I asked as if he was a rude jerk, but Ise answered with a rxed voice that annoyed me. ¡°Ah, well, you¡¯re so well-prepared and familiar with the entertainment industry, so I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t have any problems. But I was wondering if you need any help with your future direction.¡± As if I would! My anger that had been slowly rising was now boiling over, but unfortunately, I had to admit that he had a point. If it was revealed that I had paid a fee for the amount of content, it would be obvious what would happen. If I appeared on any program, the viewer¡¯s board would be flooded with requests to stop the appearance of the entertainer whomitted unfair corruption in this harshpetitive era. I was angry, but I had to hear what he had to say. After all, he was the person who had kept me alive for five years. Lucky you, chaebol son. Tsk. I clicked my tongue and asked. ¡°What do you want to say?¡± I felt the blood rushing to my fingertips that had been cold from his sudden provocation. ¡°Are you going to continue singing? Solo? Or a group?¡± I wanted to confidently shout solo, since I was the main vocalist. ¡®¡­¡¯ But I knew the difference between what I could and couldn¡¯t do. Sometimes I didn¡¯t, but. Sadly, I wasn¡¯t confident enough to go solo. If I debuted solo and failed, it would be even worse. ¡°What do you care?¡± I flinched and asked back, and Ise answered with a faint smile on the other end of the phone. ¡°If you want to keep singing but have nowhere to go, contact me. I have a solution. Whatever you¡¯re thinking, I¡¯ll find you a better answer than worrying by yourself.¡± What are you talking about? I raised my voice again with irritation. ¡°Did you call me to show off? I don¡¯t need it! Hang up!¡± Snap, I hung up the phone with my pride hurt and silence returned. An alert popped up on the phone screen that my parents had called me again while I was on the phone. ¡°Argh!¡± The only constion was that I had regained some energy from before. But I couldn¡¯t help being angry. Who leaked the contract? Why? As far as he knew, the votes were counted without a single error. He didn¡¯t let down the fans who spent their money. Then, what¡¯s the problem? Why did he have to stir up trouble and create this mess when everyone could be happy if he just let it go? He was so annoyed. ¡°Ah! I¡¯m so angry, I¡¯m hungry.¡± He had to fill his stomach first if he wanted to get out of this situation. He was irritated, but that guy was good at cooking, at an expert level. Naru finally swallowed his pride and got out of bed to ask Hwijin for his share. Click, he pulled the door handle after almost a day. Vroom-. A text message arrived with a vibration. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Broadcast Cancetion Notice] Hello, this is the production team of Boys Be Ambitious. After consulting with the broadcasting station, we inform you that the remaining broadcast schedule of Boys Be Ambitious has been cancelled as of today. We will contact each agency by phone for more details. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ What nonsense is this? Naru¡¯s face turned pale as he read the text that he wanted to believe was a joke. A nightmare that he didn¡¯t want to believe was real was unfolding. ¡°Ah¡­¡± I thought I was seeing things because I was too tired from the text message that didn¡¯t make sense. I rubbed my eyes, thinking that some words were wrong. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Seon-woo, who was staring nkly at his phone screen, dropped it in shock and barely caught it before it hit the floor. ¡°What¡¯s going on right now?¡± Yi-jun, who usually shrugged off any big incidents in the team as if they were none of his business, jumped up from his seat in confusion. I must have seen something wrong, right? I reflexively rubbed my eyes again, but Kyunghwa stopped me. ¡°Stop rubbing, you¡¯ll hurt your eyes.¡± It was a strange sentence, no matter how I thought about it. The entire remaining broadcast schedule was cancelled. It sounded like the program was scrapped. ¡°No¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say, and another text came and nailed it. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Program Termination Notice] Hello, this is the production team of Boys Be Ambitious. As we mentioned in the previous text, Boys Be Ambitious has been terminated. We sincerely apologize for delivering this regrettable decision without being able to stay with you until the end. We will contact each agency by phone for more details. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Really terminated? Why?¡± Seong-won, who was calmly watching with his arms crossed, raised his voice in surprise. ¡°We don¡¯t know either. Ise, did you get any contact?¡± I quickly checked the messenger. But the support team of Composition also seemed to have received only the text notice and didn¡¯t know anything. ¡°No, they only got the text too.¡± I had no choice but to wait until I got a detailed contact from the agency. If they were contacting each agency in turn, then we would probably be thest ones. We were the smallest and the newest, after all. I couldn¡¯t just sit back and say, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s cancelled? Okay, I understand!¡± and wait. ¡®Sigh¡­ They never leave me alone.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m going to visit the Wiple headquarters for a bit.¡± They would contact them first, so it would be better to go and hear something. ¡°Huh? Now? By yourself?¡± Kyunghwa looked at me with a worried expression. ¡°Yeah. I want to make sure if it¡¯s because of Floss, and what¡¯s going on. I want to find out what happened that led to the cancetion of the broadcast.¡± Maybe he wanted toe with me. But it was better not to bring an unnecessary guest if I wanted to pressure the W side and get some information as the CEO of Composition and a rtive of the investor. ¡°You guys just wait at home. I¡¯ll contact you right away.¡± I had a lot of things to do today. I ruffled my hair lightly and grabbed the car key that I had thrown into the box next to the sofa. Chapter 181: Chapter 181: ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ Maybe it was because it was midwinter. As I got out of the car without wearing a chicken costume, white breaths came out of my mouth. Before entering the lobby of the headquarters, I took a deep breath and felt the cold air with the smell of winter seeping into my lungs. The floss sign on the front of the building that said [Have a warm and happy year-end with the W Family!] was very contradictory. ¡®Who¡¯s causing all this trouble right now?¡¯ I calmly adjusted my breathing and approached the info desk. ¡°Hello, can I see Mr. Park, the executive director of the nning department, for a moment?¡± I didn¡¯t make an appointment, so the chances were slim. If I couldn¡¯t meet the top boss, then the next one, and if not the next one, then the next one in line. I was determined to meet someone who was rtively high up and had time.¡°Oh, hello! Did you make an appointment?¡± ¡°No, I just wanted to ask if you could see me right now.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll check for you.¡± The info desk staff picked up the inte and dialed somewhere. After the dial rang about five times, someone answered the phone. ¡°Hello, Mr. Park. This is the info desk. Mr. Cheon Ise is here to see you. Is it a good time for you? Oh, okay. I¡¯ll guide him right away.¡± The staff listened for a while with the receiver in his hand, then nodded and hung up. ¡°You can go up to the nning department office right now. Do you need me to tell you which floor it is?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± I had already checked it out when I was in and out of the building because of thebel separation issue. ¡°Okay, then let me know if you need any other help.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I nodded lightly and headed to the office. Mr. Park, the executive director, was sitting on the sofa in the reception room with a rather calm expression. ¡°Hello, director.¡± But he was only pretending to be calm. His fingertips were restless and fidgeting. ¡°Oh, Ise. Long time no see. How have you been?¡± Long time no see? We greeted each otherst week because of work. I smiled a sales smile and answered. ¡°I¡¯m doing well, thanks to your concern.¡± What he did was more like a curse than a concern. There was a tense electricity between me and Mr. Park. I braced myself to y the role of ¡®the annoying lord who says everything with a smile and doesn¡¯t reveal his true intentions¡¯. ¡°I see. You must be busy with thebel work these days. What brings you here?¡± In other words, he meant to hurry up and get out of here. ¡°Well, I just received a sudden notice of broadcast suspension from the program that our group is appearing on.¡± ¡°Oh, that one where the boy idol groupspete?¡± The director acted as if he didn¡¯t know, with his lips dry. He must have been having a headache over this until now. How could he say that without changing his face? I cursed the director inwardly and opened my mouth. ¡°Yes. They said they would contact us in order, but I guess we¡¯re being pushed back in priority because we¡¯re a newpany. I came to ask if you have any information that you received first.¡± Of course, that wasn¡¯t the only reason I came. The dissolution of Floss was a matter of time. I also wanted to find out how they were going to operate afterwards. The first priority for the future direction of activities was the artist himself, but that was just a polite way of saying it. Thepany had a different direction they wanted to push for. ¡°Didn¡¯t they call you yet? Director Kwon, you didn¡¯t care about this, but how can people be like that?¡± Don¡¯t talk nonsense and tell me what you heard. Tsk. I answered with a tongue click in my mind. ¡°Yes, not yet. This is the first time that the appearance contract has been unterally terminated, so I came to ask for your opinion as well. Haha, it¡¯s hard. Management, that is.¡± Since they wouldn¡¯t say a word if I pushed them, I decided to fold and go in. Anyway, this side was the one who was sorry. ¡°Look at that. It¡¯s not as fun as you think, is it?¡± The director asked me as if he was trying to cheer someone up, but I didn¡¯t answer and just red at him. Whose fault is that? If they hadn¡¯t made such a mess behind the scenes of Floss, which they run with their great ¡®management¡¯, I wouldn¡¯t have had such a headache. ¡°Well, you know, a lot of things are like that when you live. So how did you hear the exnation?¡± Don¡¯t talk nonsense and give me the exnation. I smiled, pulling up the corners of my mouth that were sinking to the floor by 5mm. ¡°Oh, that? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to hear it directlyter? Anyway, there¡¯s a lot to do even if that¡¯s canceled. The reaction to season 1 of that show was good, so we can just prepare for season 2. It¡¯s time to start a regr album, too. Wouldn¡¯t you say it¡¯s a good thing, actually?¡± What a nonsense. The work was piled up like a mountain, and the schedule that was caught was canceled, not a good thing, but a phone call. ¡°No, I¡¯d appreciate it if you could refrain from saying anything else, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯re busy, too.¡± There¡¯s a limit to how much you can match the pace. I wiped away the smile that had been hanging on my lips and darkened my face. ¡°Director, I didn¡¯te here to joke today. I¡¯m asking for your cooperation now because I want to respond quickly to the recent issue that could cause a big loss. You know that. Although they say they¡¯re separated, W and Composition are still the same root.¡± I didn¡¯t have time to waste on a pointless argument. ¡°If it¡¯s hard for you to tell me, I¡¯ll get up now. I have a dinner appointment with the chairman soon.¡± I didn¡¯t want to use this method. I¡¯m going to see my dadter, so you better think about it¡­ I added a threat that wasn¡¯t a threat, and sweat ran down the director¡¯s thin face. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the hurry. You¡¯re right, Ise. That¡¯s our situation, too. It¡¯s a bitplicated¡­ It¡¯s rted to the personal circumstances of the artists, so it¡¯s a bit hard to talk smoothly. Come to think of it, you¡¯re not just an ordinary artist, are you? You¡¯re like our management, and I was wrong.¡± He seemed to realize his mistake as his tongue grew longer. I didn¡¯t want to pressure him with the power of my family, but It was a sad thing that he only understood me when I did this. ¡°When we signed the appearance contract with NBS Entertainment, one of the uses we agreed on was a bit wrong¡­ You know, Ise. It¡¯s been noisy because of the Floss pre-contract. The higher-ups at NBS must have flipped over. They¡¯re already in trouble with the national audit in the fall, and they¡¯re telling us to cut it off right away.¡± What did they do? Did they promise to manipte the rankings? It wasn¡¯t a level of maniption that would result in not only the cast leaving, but also the cancetion of the broadcast. ¡°What use did you vite?¡± I asked, frowning, and the director wrinkled his forehead and answered. ¡°Well¡­ you know the feeling, right? The Floss contract ends in February next year, so this year is thest year-end. We had to finish with good results this year as well asst year, so that it would help us with the re-contract and activities afterwards¡­¡± The director closed his mouth as if there was no need to say more. What¡¯s the year-end? What did they do afterst year¡­? I realized it suddenly as I chewed on the director¡¯s words. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s the big deal? It¡¯s a win-win situation for both of us. We get good results, and they get a fair exchange. If anyone is going to get the prize anyway, it¡¯s better to go to the one who can use it best, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± This was not a problem that could be solved by just disbanding Floss. It was lucky that it was only a near miss. If it had been carried out, it would have been a scandal that would have turned a whole broadcasting station into a mess. My head throbbed with pain. I had a vague idea that the entertainment industry was a structure where people who knew each other took care of everything. But I didn¡¯t expect it to be so close to me. The love, passion, and support that people sent to Floss were sincere. Was the unprecedented sess story that Floss achieved in K-POP history all real? Once I started to doubt, there was no end. After witnessing the shooting, I felt ridiculous that I had admired how they could stage the performance to take away the audience¡¯s souls. ¡°Mr. Ise, do you understand what I mean?¡± I didn¡¯t want to understand. But even if I didn¡¯t understand, I had to pretend that I did. ¡°I understand¡­¡± Boys Be Ambitious was a stage where the winner was already decided, no matter how hard we worked and how good we did. I felt betrayed. I felt like the ground beneath my feet had copsed. *** ¡°Haah¡­¡± As soon as I finished the conversation in the office and got back in the car, I felt drained. Floss had traded two things for their appearance on Boys Be Ambitious. The grand prize at the year-end music finale, and the guarantee of the final first ce in thepetition. I wondered if that was enough bait to lure out a group that had more losses than gains. I also felt sorry that they had made such a deal when they could have done it on their own. ¡®But what they feel and what others see are different.¡¯ They had sacrificed the rest of their group¡¯s fate for the illusion of a two-time win. I couldn¡¯t believe such a disgrace. I had a lot of questions about the pre-contract within Floss, but they didn¡¯t tell me anything about it, maybe thinking it was their privilege. ¡®I guess I¡¯ll have to rely on the system to find out.¡¯ They were both sensitive about it, so I didn¡¯t think they would tell me anything. I had to know what was behind it to think about what to do next. For now, I left it at that, implying that both Hwijin and Naru coulde to ourbel if they had nowhere else to go. What the hell was Kang Yu-geon doing, not showing his face yet? I thought I¡¯d have to rey the service several times today. ¡®System.¡¯ As I sat up straight on the driver¡¯s seat and called the system, a translucent window popped up in front of me. [Do you want to purchase the rey service?] [Yes/No] As I was about to press the [Yes] button without hesitation, a new window suddenly covered the screen. ¡°¡­¡­?¡± I read the words on the new window with curiosity. [>Do you want to start the special event ¡®Your Pick My Idol¡¯?] [Achievement Rewards] [Rtionship> Hwijin Lee, Naru Shim acquired] [Special Items> ¡®Listen When People Talk¡¯, ¡®What People Want to Believe¡¯ acquired] What kind of quest was this, giving me two special items? I was doubtful. I was careful not to touch the [Yes] button, and I read the quest window down. Chapter 182: Chapter 182: What kind of reward is this for such a task? I scrolled down with a frown and saw a short paragraph that looked like an intro. [Let¡¯s find out what happened two years ago bypleting the quest.] Two years ago, I was in the middle of filming the My Idol stage. It makes sense to use the rey service to see that time, but¡­ What do they want me to do for the quest? [This event includes one achievement mission.] An achievement mission¡­ It was something like those minor goals I saw on the mission tab. The difficulty varied wildly depending on the mission, so I had no idea how hard it would be¡­ But the condition was too tempting to refuse.[Do you ept the quest?] [Yes/No] I took a short breath and pressed the yes button. In an instant, the surroundings darkened and changed to the familiar ck and white background. And at the same time, a terrible nausea came over me. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± It felt like something was rummaging through my head. My skin was also burning as if exposed to the scorching sun. There was no part of my body that didn¡¯t hurt as if it was on fire. ¡®What, what is this¡­ Ugh¡­¡¯ It was a different kind of pain from when I was thrown into the sea alive, a painful burning sensation that made my body twist involuntarily. ¡®Ugh¡­¡¯ I wanted to scream, but my lips only twitched and no words came out. It was torture. I was thrown into pain without knowing why, and I curled up my body and waited for this horrible agony to end. ¡®They didn¡¯t say it would hurt this much, did they¡­!¡¯ Lately, the system has been tough, but it always cooperated with me in a way that helped me in the end, so I was careless. From now on, I¡¯ll knock on the stone bridge until it breaks before crossing it. I gritted my teeth and tore at my hair without realizing it, when a strange voice rang out from somewhere. ¡®Contestant number 100!¡¯ What¡­ What is number 100 and what is a contestant? I couldn¡¯t figure out the situation and stayed curled up, when the sharp voice echoed again. ¡®Contestant number 100! Are you there?¡¯ What the hell is contestant number 100 that they¡¯re calling so loudly? They¡¯ll lose their voice. As I was having a stupid thought, the pain that enveloped my whole body faded. ¡®Excuse me, I think they¡¯re calling number 100.¡¯ Someone poked my side with a thud. It was a small whisper, unlike the voice that shouted contestant number 100, as if they were whispering right next to me. ¡°Yes?¡± I was startled and opened my eyes wide. ¡°Contestant number 100, if you don¡¯t enter the audition hall right now, you will be disqualified.¡± I got up from the chair in a daze and looked around. It was a waiting room full of young boys. The chairs that filled the waiting room were big enough to seat 15 people each, and there were about seven rows. They had seated us anywhere without any order, and there were quite a few empty seats. Except for the empty seats, about 40 boys were staring at me. What the hell is going on? I stumbled with a confused expression, when the boy next to me, who looked like a high school student, pushed my back. ¡°Number 100, you¡¯ll be disqualified if you don¡¯t go now, you know? Don¡¯t you have to hurry?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The high school student next to me pointed to the number tag on my waist. [100] As the boy pointed out, I was number 100, and the other students had numbers ranging from one to two digits. As I quickly scanned the surroundings, I recognized some faces that I had seen while driving through the early part of the My Idol Stage. ¡®Could it be¡­ am I at an audition right now?¡¯ Without any time to hesitate in the unbelievable reality, the person who came out of the audition hall shouted again. ¡°Number 100 contestant disqualified¡­¡± I don¡¯t know what they want me to do. But I can¡¯t be disqualified here. I raised my hand and ran to where the staff was. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Number 100 is here!¡± As I entered the audition hall, gasping for breath, I felt the angry judges and the chaotic atmosphere. ¡°Number 100 contestant, what were you doing that you came in sote?¡± The words were polite, but they were full of thorns. There were four people sitting on the judges¡¯ seat. In order, they were a female idol in her twenties, a solo male singer in his thirties, a male rapper in his thirties, and a famous female dancer in her thirties. If Floss had formed and then did this program, it would have been a good situation for Kang Yu-geon or Lee Hwijin to sit in the idol seat. ¡°Number 100 contestant, are you not going to answer? Do the mentors here look funny to you?¡± While I was adapting to what was going on, one of the judges snapped at me with annoyance. I¡¯m going to be disqualified at this rate. I hurriedly answered. ¡°No, I was a little nervous and the answer waste. I¡¯m sorry.¡± The voice that came out of my throat was familiar but awkward. It felt different from Cheon Ise¡¯s. As I doubted and assured myself that it couldn¡¯t be, another judge said a name that I hadn¡¯t heard for a long time. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Is your stage name Lim Hyun-seong your real name?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Is the name you wrote as your stage name your real name?¡± As I opened my eyes wide at the unexpected call, I heard a tsk, sound from here and there. Before I answered, I nced at the mirror across from me and checked my face. ¡°¡­¡± This is crazy. The ¡®me¡¯ who looked about the same age as the kids who were in the waiting room earlier was standing in front of the judges with a stupid expression. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s my real name.¡± And at that moment, pop, a status window popped up as if it had been waiting. [>Special Event ¡®Your Pick My Idol¡¯] [You have been selected as the 100th contestant of My Idol Stage. If youplete the mission below, you can return to the original service.] [>Mission] [>Experience] [- Survive the first elimination mission of ¡®My Idol Stage¡¯] ¡®¡­¡¯ Wait a minute? I was shocked and wanted to check my stats right away, but I didn¡¯t have time. ¡°How did you apply for My Idol Stage? You look like you have no motivation at all right now.¡± I didn¡¯t participate in this because I wanted to, but because I was thrown into it without any warning. I had a lot of excuses I wanted to make. But I couldn¡¯t do that. I ignored my churning stomach and answered. ¡°I applied because I want to be an idol who can touch the fans¡¯ hearts on stage.¡± I couldn¡¯t say something honest like ¡®revenge¡¯. I had to say something that sounded like a model answer. I barely managed to smile while answering, but they already hated me so much that they didn¡¯t care. ¡°Do you think an idol who can touch the fans¡¯ hearts can bete for appointments or schedules, or show ack of enthusiasm?¡± The male rapper in his thirties twisted his face and sneered. He was obviously picking a fight, but no one stopped him. Of course. I had kept the judges waiting until almost disqualification, and I was still nervous and fidgety in front of them. ¡®What do I do now¡­¡¯ It was a situation where they could tell me to get out and it wouldn¡¯t be strange. ¡°Well, yeah. I¡¯ll improve my sincerity and show youter. But what do you mean by writing something else as your specialty instead of your singing ability?¡± What did I write and submit? I had no idea what he was talking about. I couldn¡¯t hesitate this time either, so I gave a vague answer. ¡°It¡¯s because I like it the most¡­ If I have a chance to show you, you won¡¯t be disappointed.¡± Then, the idol in his twenties couldn¡¯t hold back hisughter and made a sound like a deting balloon. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I thought you were going to do a dining show or something. You¡¯re so confident in cooking, well, I hope you have a chance to show it.¡± I felt a chill in the atmosphere and realized I was doomed. What should I do? They were all looking at the profiles they had submitted beforehand, but they seemed to hate looking at them. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re an individual trainee, and you¡¯ve worked hard toe to the audition hall today. I think we can end the mentor interview here.¡± And in that gloomy silence, the singer in his thirties started to wrap things up. I can¡¯t let this happen. I have to do something, anything that can turn the judges¡¯ mood around. What can I do? I couldn¡¯t suddenly challenge them to a vocal battle. I had practiced the climax song, and at this time, Climax was¡­ a new singer who had barely released a title song. If I sang a Climax song, they would ask what that was, and what song that was, and no one would understand. Then¡­ I had an idea. What I learned from watching the early episodes of My Idol Stage was that they had revealed the main song ¡®Your Pick My Idol¡¯ to the participants for the first time on this first audition day. ¡®Yeah¡­ That¡¯s what I¡¯ll do!¡¯ I raised my hand with a sudden thought. ¡°Excuse me, but I have another specialty besides cooking. Can I show you this too?¡± The participant who had been shrinking and hesitating all this time suddenly showed an aggressive attitude, and it looked like ast-ditch effort. I heard a snickering sound from the waiting room. ¡°Okay, fine. Go ahead.¡± They looked like they were thinking it would be a waste of time anyway. I didn¡¯t care if I was embarrassed. I moved to the center of the stage and raised my right arm, taking the starting pose. Then I recalled the melody I had heard countless times in my head. ¡®?~?~??-.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m the star of today who will steal your heart!¡± I had no apaniment, only the lyrics I hummed with my mouth. It was the only thing I could rely on, but my body moved first because it was a choreography I learned by myself without much help from the system. ¡°Your Pick My Idol~!¡± My voice was shaky and my pitch was somewhat unstable because I was performing the rough choreography together. ¡°A brand new me born from your fingertips~.¡± But still, as if I had practiced countless times, the choreography continued without a hitch, and everyone started to get a little flustered. Of course. How much did I practice this song before I went to pick corn? ¡°Is that¡­ the one they revealed before the audition started? Did it leak or¡­¡± ¡°I finished the draftst night and brought it. I barely finished it and gave it to the production staff an hour before the start.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying you copied all that in such a short time?¡± While everyone was surprised and discussing, I kept on with the choreography and the song. ¡°I prepared today for you, Tonight.¡± ¡®It¡¯s really hard to sing live without echo or MR.¡¯ Red lights shed in my head, but I had no choice but to go on until the end. ¡°I¡¯m shining with you right now, Boom Boom.¡± They all gave me such passionate looks. Of course, it wasn¡¯t only for positive reasons, but every time I turned, the back of my head stung. ¡°Too shine, born from your fingertips. Today¡¯s me~.¡± It was almost the end of the first verse. I was relieved that my breathing wasn¡¯t disturbed enough to interfere with the song, and I entered the chorus and the point choreography. ¡°Your Pick My Idol~! Your Pick My Idol~! Your Pick My Idol~!¡± I crossed my hands like taking a picture, then tapped my chest twice and pushed them forward, rolling my feet for the point choreography. I finished the whole amount of the first verse and chorus, and then I took a breath and bowed my head to finish. ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯ll do. Thank you.¡± Now, let¡¯s see how you evaluate me. I stood confidently in front of the judges, with apletely different attitude from before I started. Chapter 183: Chapter 183: I stood up straight and looked at the judges. The first one to grab the microphone was a famous choreographer and dance trainer. ¡°First of all, well done. This is a new song that you performed for the first time, and I think you did a great job with the choreography and the understanding. Were you focused on remembering the dance and the song the whole time?¡± I was going to say something that wouldn¡¯t sound too much like an excuse on my part. But since the result was good, he interpreted everything in a positive way, like a flip-flop. I felt bitter in my mouth. ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right. I wanted to show you my talent.¡± ¡°Following the choreography quickly and urately is not something that anyone can do. Even if I asked a professional instructor to copy the dance, it would be hard to do it with just one demonstration. You should be confident, whether it¡¯s because of your hard work or your natural talent. I almost misunderstood you. Thank you for showing your courage at the end, Lim Hyun-seong.¡± And then the next turn was passed to a female idol in her twenties. ¡°Your vocals and tone are not really that impressive, to be honest. But considering that you sang live without any MR or echo, I think you are better than most of the current idols.¡± That was obvious. I was one of those current idols. It was supposed to be apliment, but it was actually a criticism along with the evaluation. The audition was over.¡°Thank you for your hard work. That¡¯s it for today. See you at the filming site tomorrow.¡± With the farewell of the male rapper in his thirties, I got the signal that I could leave. Did I pass? I bowed my head and left the audition hall. Although I didn¡¯t intend it, the dance instructor gave me a very burdensome look of interest and support until I left. ¡®Well¡­ I¡¯m d I looked good somehow¡­¡¯ The problem was what to do next. I had to check my stats. As soon as I left the audition hall, I was met with the sharp nces of the other participants who were waiting in the waiting room. What¡¯s wrong? Did I do something wrong? I looked around with a nervous expression, and they all coughed or pretended to be busy and looked away. ¡®What, some.¡¯ They didn¡¯t have the courage to pick a fight with me, but why did they look at me with such a hostile expression? The ones who were going to debut were already decided, and I was just a quest filler. So it wouldn¡¯t help them topete with me. As I headed to the chair where I had left my coat, someone suddenly put his arm over my shoulder. ¡°Wow! I saw you on the screen and you were amazing. I can¡¯t even remember the point dance, but you memorized it all in such a short time?¡± What? I was startled and checked the face of the person who was arm-in-arm with me. Of course, it was a face I had never seen before. I vaguely remembered seeing him pass by during the My Idol stage run. There was a number 24 proudly attached to his chest. Below that was the name of his agency, Light Up ENT. ¡°Who are you¡­?¡± When I asked without hiding my difort, he smiled with a cheerful expression. His dark brown hair was fluffy and soft, and his face was full of mischief. He looked like he was in his second year of high school. ¡°Me? Are you curious about my name? I¡¯m Park Jun-ki from Light Up Rookies. I¡¯m in second grade, are you my hyung?¡± Was I his hyung? I was speechless for a moment, and then, with perfect timing, the status window appeared. [Name: Lim Hyun-seong (Cheon Ise) ¨C Age 19] I was his hyung. I nodded and answered vaguely. ¡°Uh¡­ I think I¡¯m your hyung, yeah¡­¡± Then he grinned and put his arm over my shoulder again. ¡°Wow! I¡¯m weak at dancing, so I¡¯m really jealous of the participants who dance well. We¡¯re going to live together from tomorrow, so I wanted to get to know you better. Is that okay?¡± I was breathless by his cheerful demeanor, which had no weight or distance. ¡°Do you have to¡­?¡± When I tried to subtly get out of his arms under my arm, as if I didn¡¯t need it, he held me tighter. ¡°Don¡¯t do that! You were really cool today! I wanted to ask you for help when the lessons start, you know?¡± As he said that, his eyes sparkled. Oh¡­ I knew this course very well. It gave me a headache. There was one in Climax, and I thought there was one in Floss too¡­ ¡®But seeing him run off and do something I don¡¯t know, it seems like this course is not it either.¡¯ As I slowly packed my stuff with an ufortable expression, he seemed to have no clue and let me go. ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t want to be friends with me, I can¡¯t help it.¡± Then he made a noticeably deted face, and I hastily denied it. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad¡­¡± ¡°Really? Then I¡¯ll count on you from now on!¡± I had my hand snatched and shook it several times. Thanks to the staff who intervened, I was able to get away. ¡°Participants who have finished the pre-audition, please exit immediately!¡± ¡°Oh, yes!¡± I barely had a usible excuse and bowed slightly to number 24 and ran out of the building like a fugitive. If I had some time¡­ I wanted to see how many and what kind of members Floss had. But from what I nced at, I couldn¡¯t see anyone who had finished the audition and left. Maybe they were hiding somewhere dark and I couldn¡¯t find them. ¡®Where do I go now.¡¯ As I left the broadcasting station, I saw a bus stop right in front of me. My Idol Stage aired from October, so¡­ it was about September now. The recent rain had brought a cold that was different from winter. I slumped down on one of the chairs at the bus stop and quickly checked my status window. ¡®System.¡¯ Fortunately, this time there was no weird situation like a non-authorized program or something. It was shocking enough that it suddenly came over, but if this was also broken¡­ I shuddered at the thought. [Name: Lim Hyun-seong (Cheon Ise) ¨C Age 19] [Skills] [Buff: ¨C Share the fate skills that Lim Hyun-seong has (always applied)] ¨C No usage points Oh¡­ I was d, but at the same time I felt uneasy about the fact that it said ¡®share fate skills¡¯. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­ the stats that I raised while working as Climax are not shared?¡¯ And the unexpected catches people. That actually happened. [Attributes] Visual: B Vocal: C Dance: B Performance: C Charm: A Speech: S ¡°¡­¡± I was greeted by attributes that I had never seen before, neither Lim Hyun-seong nor Cheon Ise. As you can see, the trantion is not perfect and may contain some errors or awkward expressions. I suggest you check the original text and the tranted text carefully and make some adjustments. ¡®Isn¡¯t this just a normal person who talks well?¡¯ My specialty, dance, was only better than average. My vocal and performance skills were just ordinary. And I wasn¡¯t the type of witty person who could make othersugh, so I couldn¡¯t survive as aedy character either. I had mediocre scores overall. ¡®No¡­ It¡¯s better than when I had two E¡¯s in the beginning.¡¯ I was momentarily dazed and looked at the status window, then shook my head. My goal was to survive the first round of elimination. The number of people who failed the first round was 30% of the total. In other words, I just had to be in the top 70. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard¡­ right? I had been an active idol for half a year, after all. As my confidence was fading, three buses passed by in front of me. ¡®But where am I supposed to go now?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t Cheon Ise, so I couldn¡¯t barge into the Cheon Soo Group mansion. I tried searching for Jo Young Food on the inte, but surprisingly, I couldn¡¯t find any trace of it. How could that be? I had so many franchises and I was a legend in the food industry. How could this make sense? I couldn¡¯t believe it, so I kept searching on my phone, but the result didn¡¯t change. ¡®¡­¡¯ All the brands were reced with simr trademarks. ¡®So, in this world, I¡¯m just a in¡­ 0X-year-old idol wannabe.¡¯ And I didn¡¯t have any family to look after me, nor any outstanding talent. With such bad conditions, where was I supposed to sleep? As I grumbled at the status window, a translucent window popped up again. [TIP ¨C ¡®Im Hyun-seong¡¯s residence is in XX street, XX, basement floor 1, Mapo-gu, Seoul.] Oh. Right. That¡¯s how it was. I finally remembered where I spent thest of my teens. A basement where water dripped from the window when it rained and the floor flooded. I vaguely recalled that it was near Ahyeon-dong. ¡®It¡¯s been more than 20 years since then¡­¡¯ I had been sessful for a while and lived in a warm andfortable house. Even as Cheon Ise, I had a good family and a nice home where I could stretch my legs. I checked the public transportation route to the address that the status window gave me on the navigation app and got on the bus. ¡°¡­¡± The ce I arrived at after about 30 minutes by bus was, as expected, a shabby basement studio that matched the structure in my memory. ¡®I¡¯d rather¡­ live in a new dormitory than this.¡¯ It looked like a ce where no one could live healthily, with a terrible visual. As I hesitated, a huge refrigerator that seemed to have been brought from a closed business caught my eye. ¡®Right¡­ I also used a big refrigerator back then. I got it from somewhere and worked hard to develop menus at home.¡¯ It was a strange room where my dream of being a food entrepreneur and my goal of being an idol were mixed up. Thanks to that, I realized that this was not reality, but an artificially created ¡®environment¡¯. On the way, I checked the schedule that seemed to have been sent by the production team through a group message. It was to start the dormitory filming tomorrow, shoot the footage for the first round of elimination for two weeks, release it from October, and broadcast the remaining participants live from November. Fortunately or unfortunately, the first round of elimination was based solely on internal evaluation and judgment. I don¡¯t need to fight for quantity to captivate the virtual viewers, do I? As long as I don¡¯t attract unnecessary aggro and get eliminated automatically, that¡¯s fine¡­ Anyway, it was worth a try. Even if my base stats are low, I have the fate skill. As long as I keep using the sound source yback, I can act as the main vocalist and push through with my cheat¡­ With such careless thought, I entered the service purchase window and had to doubt the number I saw. [Avable points ¨C 0pt] ¡°¡­?¡± Am I seeing things? The number that I had never seen drop below 1,000pt had changed to a miserable 0. Chapter 184: Chapter 184: ¡°Why is it zero?¡± I rubbed my eyes, thinking there was some error, but nothing changed. ¡°Wait a minute¡­ Where did all my points go?¡± I squinted my eyes and tilted my head in disbelief as a message popped up. [You cannot use the currency you have as ¡®Cheon Ise (Lim Hyun-seong)¡¯ because the service area is different.] What kind of logic is that? My head throbbed with pain. ¡°Where does that make sense? I can share my fate skill, but I can¡¯t share my currency?¡± [Currency sharing is not allowed for quest difficulty adjustment.] ¡°Hmph.¡±They pped me with a huge trait score and then they pulled this? I wiped the sweat off my forehead and sighed. What would happen if I failed toplete the quest here? I felt a surge of anxiety, but the status window was silent. Why aren¡¯t you answering me? I frowned and crossed my arms, staring at the status window that showed 0pt. Then, an envelope fell out of my pocket. ¡°Oh, right.¡± It was the notice that the staff gave me before I left the audition hall. [¡®My Idol Stage Season 2 Admission Notice¡¯] It seemed like a bait to divert my attention from what really mattered. ¡°So, what happens if I get eliminated in the first round?¡± Maybe they would make me restart. Or maybe they would erase my memory and send me back to reality without any information. As I was thinking of possible penalties, a message caught my eye. [Penalty for mission failure: ¡®Eternal Wannabe¡¯] ¡°What did you say¡­?¡± The words that were never good together blinked and changed. [Penalty for mission failure: ¡®Eter#$nal Wan(@#^na&%be[email protected]% ¡®It¡¯s a bit unsettling, but the only way to pass the first round is to do my best.¡¯ I unfolded the neatly folded letter inside the envelope. It had the instructions for entering the dorm, the filming schedule, and some other details. The check-in time was 9 a.m. tomorrow. I had to arrive at the set, the ¡ó¡ó Training Center, by 7 a.m. ¡®Where is the ¡ó¡ó Training Center?¡¯ I took out my old smartphone from my pocket and searched for it. It was a youth hostel in the outskirts of Seoul, about 40 minutes away by car. ¡®The facilities looked decent enough.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know much about the first season of the girl idol project program since I didn¡¯t watch it. But I heard that they renovated an old building and made it look morous, which became a hot topic. The same building was used by the male contestants in the second season. ¡®Thanks to that, there were hearts, ribbons, and pink everywhere, making the male cast feel awkward on the show.¡¯ I didn¡¯t care about the colors. I used a patchwork quilt with folk vige colors for 10 years without any problem as long as it was functional. As long as it was soft and I could sleep well, I didn¡¯t mind if the bedding was pink or rainbow-colored. It was ufortable to live with other people, but any room I got assigned to would be better than this basement. ¡®This¡­ The mold is not the problem, but in the summer, water will really drip on my head while I sleep, right?¡¯ I needed to move in as soon as possible for my health. But how could I get there by 7 a.m.? Most of the contestants would use their parents¡¯ help, but I had no choice but to take a taxi. What a pain. I read the letter carefully and luckily, they operated a shuttle bus from the station near the broadcasting station at around 6:20 a.m. I had to take the first bus in the morning to get there. After I finished searching for the transportation, I ate dinner with the ingredients left in the fridge. ¡®¡­Why do I feel so empty?¡¯ I felt a bit regretful and wondered why. Then I realized that it had been a long time since I prepared a meal for one person at home. ¡®When I ate with the kids, I always made enough for five people.¡¯ The soybean paste stew that I quickly made with tofu and potatoes was tasty enough, but I felt strangely unsatisfied. I should be used to eating alone. Why do I feel so weird after eating one meal by myself? Did I get old? Or did Cheon Ise, who couldn¡¯t eat alone, influence me with his personality? I had a brief and unsolvable dilemma and then it disappeared. ¡®I need to stop thinking and fall asleep quickly. That way, I can save some energy.¡¯ After I finished digesting my dinner with some simple stretching indoors, I got ready to go to bed. It was winter, but I could feel the dampness in the nket, the cold seeping from the corner of the wall. The smell of old wallpaper and mold was very familiar. ¡®Wow¡­ It¡¯s been 20 years since I lived in a ce like this.¡¯ I felt like I had improved my life a lot. From being scolded for eating leftovers at the restaurant part-time job, to bing the CEO of a decentpany. I had no time to sigh at the achievements I made with persistence, and I ran towards the next goal. Then I suddenly became someone else. ¡®Now that I¡¯m a bit used to being that other person, they made me into a non-existent virtual Lim Hyun-seong.¡¯ Then I had no choice but to do what I had to do quietly again. As I always did. Even if it was unreasonable, hard, and frustrating enough to make me want to quit, I did my best. That was what defined me, whether I was Lim Hyun-seong or Cheon Ise, or Cheon Ise or Lim Hyun-seong. ¡®I need to stop thinking and fall asleep quickly.¡¯ I fell asleep while looking at the stains on the ceiling that looked like patterns. It was past midnight. 5 o¡¯clock. As I opened my eyes to the rm I had set in advance, the morning of the people who started the day the earliest was beginning. ¡®Ah, it¡¯s cold.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t just go bare-skinned, even though the pajamas, casual clothes, uniform, and equipment were all provided by the production team. I packed a simple toiletry kit, a towel, a change of clothes, a phone charger, and so on, and my backpack was full. Could I cook in themunal dining room there? It would be a good opportunity to appeal to the audience if I could, but the first elimination was based on internal evaluation, not external voting. I decided to focus on polishing my skills and strategy rather than trying to stand out, and quietly put down the cooking tools. I only brought the minimum luggage I would take when traveling, and when I arrived at the station near the broadcasting station, quite a lot of participants were waiting in line for the shuttle. [¡ó¡óTraining Center Shuttle Boarding ce] Maybe they were worried that extreme fans would follow or attract attention, but a neat sign was waiting for me, saying ¡®My Idol Stage Shooting Site Shuttle¡¯. Of course, none of the participants who were already affiliated with an agency were in sight. ¡®Of course¡­ They would move them individually for their safety.¡¯ The ones who were waiting in line here were mostly individual trainees who had no agency. ¡®They all¡­ Sorry to say this, but¡­ They don¡¯t look like anything special¡­ Huh?¡¯ Among the faces that I hadn¡¯t seen once in the 1st to 4th episodes, there was one person who stood out like a sore thumb. ¡®Kang Yu-geon? Was he an individual trainee?¡¯ I was surprised and opened my eyes wide. The trainees¡¯ original agencies were usually revealed only when they showed their prepared stages in the ranking battle that aired in the 1st and 2nd episodes. Therefore, if the participants who didn¡¯t get a proper solo shot in the 1st and 2nd episodes weren¡¯t revealed separately, it was impossible to tell whether they were individuals or from an agency. ¡®If they had a solid affiliation, they would have been bombarded with publicity on SNS or their own channels even if they didn¡¯t appear on the show, so usually everyone would know without hiding it.¡¯ It was quite surprising that a participant with Kang Yu-geon¡¯s level of skill was an individual trainee. ¡°¡­?¡± Was it because I stared at him in shock? Yu-geon, who was standing on the opposite side of the line that bent once, looked straight at me. ¡®What¡­ What do I do?¡¯ It was rude and weird to avoid his gaze, but it was also strange to keep looking at him like this. ¡®I wish I could hide in a mouse hole.¡¯ As I awkwardly avoided his gaze, Yu-geon suddenly gave up his spot in front of me and walked towards me. ¡®What, why are youing this way?¡¯ Did I look like I was picking a fight or something? I pretended to be dumb as I tensed up, and Yu-geon spoke to me. ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I was startled and answered, and the tension around me rose. I don¡¯t know what it was, but it looked like he was in a fight. What¡¯s going on before the show even starts? The same piercing eyes stabbed me in the back of my head. ¡°You¡¯re the 100th participant, right? The one who memorized the opening song¡¯s choreography and lyrics in one go yesterday.¡± Oh, that¡¯s why he looked at me like that. I thought he wasn¡¯t at the audition hall, but he saw me through the screen or heard about me from someone else. ¡°Oh, yes. That¡¯s me.¡± As I answered in a slightly nervous voice, Yu-geon, who looked a little more flustered than I remembered, stared at me expressionlessly. Did he suspect that I had somehow gotten a leaked copy? The issue with the pre-contract that I had faced beforeing here shed through my mind. I couldn¡¯t rx as I looked at his face for a moment. He asked me jokingly, with the same smile he had when we first met on the radio. ¡°How do you learn the choreography so fast?¡± Chapter 185: Chapter 185: I had no answer to how I could follow him so quickly¡­ except that I had practiced countless times beforehand. But if I said that, I would cause amotion around me. I nced at Yu-geon¡¯s face to gauge his intentions. He was twenty-three in reality¡­ so he must be twenty-one now. He hadn¡¯t eaten any broadcast material yet, so he still had a less shy and mature impression. If Kang Yu-geon, who was in his second year of debut, was a top-notch visual among celebrities, then he looked like a handsome person among ordinary people now. I wondered if there was someone as handsome as him among my ssmates, he still had a inness that made me understand why Kang Yu-geon was called a first love scam. ¡®Of course, with a face like this, he would debut at a young age and be a celebrity. There wouldn¡¯t be any among ordinary people.¡¯ As I stared at him silently, he scratched his neck awkwardly and added. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry if I made you ufortable by acting friendly all of a sudden.¡± He seemed embarrassed and awkward, even though he knew it. When I met him after his debut, he acted as if he had five iron tes on his face.Was he not much different from a normal twenty-one-year-old at this time? I quickly shook my head and answered. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I was lucky to catch the familiar movements.¡± If I could use my fate skill freely, I could pretend to be a hidden talent, with a lot of confidence in my shoulders. But I had no points, I was only a little better than ordinary people in terms of face and dance, and the rest was nothing but a mouthful of talent. Besides, I was the type who gained favor with a diligent and hardworking attitude, not the ability to captivate people with a great sense of humor in entertainment. In other words, I had nothing to boast about at this level. ¡°I¡¯m so jealous. They say you only practice the opening song for the first week after entering. You can have fun, right?¡± That¡¯s not true. I guess I would have an advantage over other participants, but the routes would be different. ¡°Not really. I didn¡¯t learn the whole¡­¡± As I was about to make an excuse that I hadn¡¯t memorized it, the bus door opened and the driver came out and started to guide the participants. ¡°Hurry up and get on! We¡¯re leaving in five minutes!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Then Yu-geon moved along the line first and naturally found an empty seat and tapped the seat next to him and called me. ¡°Here, here.¡± What the¡­ why are you acting friendly? I felt awkward and couldn¡¯t sit down easily. But it wasn¡¯t like sitting next to someone else wasfortable either¡­ ¡®I want to go quietly.¡¯ I shouldn¡¯t have a useless conversation and say something like you¡¯ll debutter, which would be a future prophetic nonsense. I didn¡¯t want to be seen as a person with no social skills, but I decided to just answer what I was told and pretend to sleep. I sat down next to Yu-geon with a slight hesitation. ¡°By the way, how old are you?¡± As the passengers settled down and the driver prepared to leave, Yu-geon showed interest in me again. ¡°Me?¡± I pretended not to hear him, even though I understood him. Yu-geon nodded his head and answered. ¡°Yes. You look like a student.¡± You look like a student too, dude. I swallowed the words I couldn¡¯t say and answered awkwardly. ¡°Neen.¡± ¡°Ah, you¡¯re the younger one. You can talk casually to me, okay?¡± Yu-geon said without any hesitation, and I nodded slowly, feeling awkward to refuse. ¡°You too, talk casually to me.¡± I didn¡¯t really want to get close to him here. All I had to do was avoid the first round of elimination. I didn¡¯t want to build a thick friendship with him and create a variableter. ¡°Yeah, well¡­¡± Why is he acting so friendly for no reason? I tried to deflect his words without looking weird and looked out the window. We were getting farther away from Seoul. After about 30 minutes of driving, we got off the bus and arrived at the waiting room for the participants. That¡¯s when I found out why he was doing that. ¡°Wow¡­¡± In front of the huge auditorium-like space, there was a huge stage set, and on the opposite side, there was a space where we could sit on the stairs. ¡®That must be¡­ the thing where we sit ording to our ranks and look down.¡¯ We were evaluated by the grades that the production team had selected, and we had to sit in the designated floor ording to our grades and choose the seat that matched our own rank. It seemed like it would be advantageous to confidently take the highest rank in your grade¡­ ¡®But it¡¯s not that easy.¡¯ That rank was just an event to show the participants¡¯ confidence to the viewers. The actual rank was determined by the judges. In other words, even if I thought I was first in my group and took the front seat, I would soon be sent back to my original position with the announcement of ¡®We will announce the real rank!¡¯ ¡®No one knows right now.¡¯ I frowned, feeling dizzy at how much disappointment and chaos woulde after the grade evaluation was over. ¡°All participants, please receive the dormitory kit at the entrance, wear the uniform, and sit in the waiting room by 8 o¡¯clock.¡± While I was looking around for a moment, a bag-like pack was handed to me. ¡°The dressing room is over there?¡± I was stunned by the overwhelming beauty of the ce, and Yu-geon took me to the dressing room. ¡°¡­¡± Of course, there was no such thing as a delicate partition in the dressing room where only men were crammed. ¡°What are you doing? If you want to sit in the front row, you better finish getting ready and go out.¡± With that, Yu-geon casually changed his clothes. Looking around, the other participants seemed to have the same idea and were hurriedly changing their clothes. ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± I thought it wouldn¡¯t be good to bete, so I tore the kit and checked the contents. I was speechless for a moment. ¡®Is this¡­ a school uniform?¡¯ They weren¡¯t the only ones appearing here, but I couldn¡¯t understand why they gave us school uniforms as uniforms. ¡°What are you doing?¡± As I stared nkly at the sky-blue checkered school uniform, Yu-geon, who had already put on his top, looked down at me with a curious expression. ¡°No, I¡¯m just tired for a moment.¡± Yeah. Compared to the apocalyptic clothes that Cheon Ise wore before I possessed him, this was much better. I sighed and took off my coat, putting on the school uniform for the first time in almost 20 years. ¡°Wow. Unexpected.¡± Then, Yu-geon, who had already tidied up his clothes, joked as if he was joking. ¡°What is it?¡± He was about to say something silly again. I asked him with full caution, knowing that he had a grudge against me from two yearster. ¡°Just. You looked like you would be skinny from your face.¡± Was he surprised that I had a good body despite my appearance? I was slightly shorter than Cheon Ise, but I had a decent physique because I had to do hard work from a young age, unlike those kids who grew up nicely at home. You could be like this too if you carried 20kg rice bags and cabbage boxes. I erased the sentence that sounded sarcastic and answered casually. ¡°I¡¯m not that well-grown.¡± And just then, the other trainees who arrived a bitte poured in, leaving me no time to talk more. I had to quickly change and get out. ¡°Now, back to the waiting room¡­¡± I was about to say that I had to go, when I saw the face that I had seen at the audition hall walking towards the dressing room behind me. Damn. I didn¡¯t want to be bothered by those extroverted people who acted friendly for no reason. I wondered if I should lower my head quickly, but he recognized me faster. ¡°Hey! It¡¯s number 100 hyung that I saw at the audition hall.¡± As soon as he shouted, the other participants around me turned to look at me. ¡°What¡¯s number 100?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you see him because you left early? He learned the opening song on the spot and performed it in front of the judges.¡± ¡°Oh, that was number 100? He looks pretty in for someone who did that.¡± The words that the participants threw at me as they passed by scratched my nerves. in? Maybe by today¡¯s standards, but I was pretty good-looking when I was your age. It was a randomtte remark, but it was not wrong. When I worked part-time at a meat restaurant, there were quite a few college students who asked for my contact number, thinking I was one of them. They were shocked and scared when they found out I was a minor and a dropout. Of course, it was obvious that I couldn¡¯tpare to the likes of Seon-woo, Kang Yu-geon, Cheon Ise, or Son Seong-won, who boasted S-ss looks. They were originally¡­ face-eating bastards, so they were notparable. I was distracted for a moment, but Park Junki quickly apologized, feeling conscious of the attention he drew to me. ¡°Ah, sorry. Everyone is looking at us.¡± I just wanted to go back to the waiting room as soon as possible. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. Thanks for saying hello. I¡¯ll go to the waiting room first, so good luck.¡± Yu-geon, who was a few steps ahead of me, winked at me as if he was waiting for me. I was grateful and not so grateful at the same time. ¡°Oh, you have a friend. Yeah! Good luck!¡± As we headed to the waiting room with two people who acted like they knew us, the front seats that were well captured by the camera were already taken. ¡°The front seats are all taken. Then, how about here?¡± We sat side by side in the next best seats and waited for the start. Soon, a staff member came and handed us a small pouch, a name pen, and a name tag. ¡°As we have informed you in advance, you have to submit your phone during the filming. In case of an emergency, I will give it back to you right away, so don¡¯t worry.¡± I thought using the phone was not allowed because we couldn¡¯t use external SNS, but I didn¡¯t expect them to physically take it away. I was surprised by the unexpected situation for a moment. Yu-geon checked the lock on his phone first and turned it off and submitted it. What if something bad happens? It was a human rights vition, but no one dared to protest. It was inevitable. The production team was the absolute authority for those who had gathered with the dream of debuting, and the participants had no choice but to follow their orders. As I looked around the waiting room where everyone had handed in their phones and wore the same clothes, I felt a chill. ¡°¡­¡± I wondered if this was okay, watching from the viewers¡¯ perspective. Were they all fine with this, or were they just enduring it because they had to? Or were they putting up with something that wasn¡¯t okay? I was there, in the midst of the scene filled with questions. ¡°The shooting will start soon! Anyone who needs to go to the bathroom, please hurry up!¡± The long waiting time was over. The stage lights came on, and the mentors I had seen on the audition day took their seats one by one on the judges¡¯ panel across from the waiting room. ¡°Wow¡­ They¡¯re still amazing, even seeing them again.¡± As everyone was buzzing, the choreographer in his thirties recognized me sitting in the waiting room and waved his hand to greet me. ¡°Who is that guy? Why is the mentor acting like he knows him?¡± His eyes sparkled as if he expected me to do well again. Ugh, I¡¯m screwed. That short sentence popped into my head. Chapter 186: Chapter 186: I would be in big trouble if I messed up the grade evaluation. There was no problem during the pre-audition, where they assessed the minimum skills and poprity of the participants. But it would be very chilly if I reused the choreography of the opening song here. If I wanted to show a decent stage, I had to rely on fate skill¡­ At that moment, when I was sweating in my head, a status window popped up. ¡®What¡¯s this all of a sudden?¡¯ As I looked at the translucent window that appeared without me calling it, there was a quest that arrived, not giving me medicine or a poison. [>Do you ept the mini quest ¡®Save My Heart¡¯?] What is that? What do I have to do? As I frowned at the status window, the scroll slowly went down and showed me the exnation.[You will receive 10pt each time you randomly select and read the inner thoughts card of the people around you who think about you.] [However, there is a daily limit of 5 times] And as soon as I read the exnation, a small note-shaped badge appeared over each person¡¯s name tag. Of course, there were people who didn¡¯t have it. No, there were fewer people who had it. There were 100 final entrants, right? Including the judges, about ten people¡­ It seemed that only the people who had met me face to face or who had a good impression of me had the inner thoughts card mark. I don¡¯t know what they thought behind me, but it was worth doing to see their inner thoughts once and get +10pt. ¡®The fate skill usually costs 10 to 30 points per use¡­¡¯ I have to open at least three of them. I answered in my mind as I looked at the staff who was exining the progress in front of me. ¡®ept.¡¯ And at the same time, a window popped up asking me whose inner thoughts card I wanted to check. [Choose who you want to check the inner thoughts card of] [Remaining times 5] [>Shin Daegun] [>An Seongjin] [>Lee Hogeun] [>Kang Yu-geon] [>Sabina] [>Park Junki] [>Park Yuseung] [>Jung Euisoo] [>Cho Sangyeol] [>Kim Raryeon] Here, Shin Daegun, An Seongjin, Sabina, and Kim Raryeon are the judges, and the rest are the participants. I looked around for a moment and opened the female choreographer who pretended to know me earlier. [>Kim Raryeon] [- There¡¯s no way the draft I submitted before the audition was leaked. How did he copy the choreography so quickly? If he doesn¡¯t debut and gets eliminated, I¡¯ll take him to our crew.] I felt a lot of pressure because I unintentionally acted like a genius, but it wasn¡¯t a bad situation that he saw me as a talent he wanted to work with¡­ I hoped I could pass the first round with a good impression. I thought the content was not that hard to read and moved on to the next one, Kang Yu-geon. [>Kang Yu-geon] [- He¡¯s from a personal trainee background, but he looks skilled. The trainees from the agencies will stick together, so it would be nice if the personal trainees could get along to some extent. There are few personal trainees who are ready in terms of skills, which is regrettable.] Ah. I finally understood why Yu-geon was looking at me out of the blue. As he thought, the participants who were sent together by the agencies were gathered together in the waiting room. ¡®Most of them must have prepared the stage for the grade evaluation together, so unless there is a big difference in skills, they will probably be assigned to the same grade.¡¯ My Idol Stage was basically an individualpetition, but the stage was a grouppetition whether you liked it or not, so forming a team was ultimately a matter of luck and skill. To prepare for that, he was looking for a participant who looked good among the personal trainees and wanted to get acquainted with them, and I happened to fit the bill. ¡®I was worried that there might be some suspicious reason that I didn¡¯t know.¡¯ I confirmed that it was just my paranoia, and I felt relieved. I¡¯ll just look at one or two more and finish for now. Before I knew it, the lights on the stage were all on and the MC, a famous Hallyu actor, moved to his ce. ¡®Lastly¡­ who¡­¡¯ As I was wondering, I noticed a heart card mark floating over the name tag of a trainee who had never spoken a word to me nearby. ¡®He never talked to me properly, why¡­¡¯ I wondered and chose his card. [>Jung Euisoo] [- He persuaded me to sign the contract as if it was not much of a benefit, but did he steal the opening song choreography from someone?] ¡®¡­?¡¯ It was a content that made me float a question mark in my head. Could it be¡­ that the people who signed the pre-contract or knew about its existence misunderstood me as a participant who signed the contract and got the opening song leaked in advance? I hastily opened another card of a participant who I had never spoken to directly. [>Cho Sangyeol] [- He¡¯s tantly favoring the choreographer. Why did he ask me to sign the contract if he had already decided who to pick?] Oh no. I was caught off guard by the unexpected misunderstanding. Since I wasn¡¯t very good at vocals, I was nning to use my improvisation skills to show a dance or performance-focused stage on the spot. If I did that, I would get a response like ¡®He must have told him the song in advance and let him prepare.¡¯ It was obvious. ¡®I hope they just think that in their heads.¡¯ As expected of kids at that age, they would start rumors like that among the people they knew from the same academy, school, or agency. Anyway, the first re-evaluation only mattered if I looked good to the judges and the production team. But before that, I had to go through two weeks of training camp. And I had to do a group stage there, so it was not good for me to bebeled as ¡®privileged¡¯ by the participants. Now that this happened, I had to change my n, and as soon as I had time, I had to look through the heart cards as much as I could. ¡®Ah¡­ this is annoying.¡¯ Even though it wasn¡¯t a fatal mistake or problem, it started to bother me. My peace of mind waspletely shattered, and soon the light in the center went out and the MC on the line was spotlighted. [We are all beautiful who dance and sing for our dreams! Hello, trainees. I¡¯m Choi Kwon-young, who will be hosting ¡®My Idol Stage¡¯ with you to find your dreams. Nice to meet you!] With the MC¡¯s cheerful and neat greeting, small fireworks went off at the edge of the stage and everyone cheered loudly, hoping to be caught on camera for a shot. [From now on, you will start a 100-day journey for your debut. Of course, there will be trainees who will sadly leave ¡®My Idol Stage¡¯ in the middle. But the sure thing is, the ones who stay on the stage until the end will be the most [It was said that a splendid debut awaited the nine who showed brilliant light.] Everyone¡¯s ears perked up at the word ¡®debut¡¯. They lifted their heads from where they had been bowing and looked up at the stage. Unlike in the waiting room, familiar faces appeared everywhere as the filming began. Of course, there were the Floss members who had caused controversy with their pre-contract or rude behavior. There were also Naru, who was grouped with the same agency¡¯s trainees, and Hwijin, who was stuck alone in a corner. ¡®Why there, of all ces¡­¡¯ Hwijin, who was tall and looked out of ce in the corner, made me wonder what he was thinking. Didn¡¯t they usually try to sit in the front seats where the camera could easily catch them? I chuckled at the sight of him sitting in a spot that I didn¡¯t even know existed, or rather, that looked like it belonged to a staff member, not a participant. As I was observing the participants and the MC, the MC announced the start of the first evaluation stage. [Now, before we begin the official training camp, we will conduct a grade evaluation to urately assess your skills and promote your rapid growth.] It was a euphemism for growth promotion, but in reality, it was a gateway for the producers to decide who to push and who to hide. The participants who had been passed for their buzz and the fun of the program would be filtered out here. [Namepen Music, Eom Yunsang, Lee Sunjae, Kim Inho, pleasee up to the stage.] The first trainees to be called shouted a simple cheer among themselves and headed to the stage. The stage that followed was a cover of a hit song by a famous group that was released about two years ago. They weren¡¯tpletely talentless, but¡­ they weren¡¯t eye-catching enough either. It was an ambiguous stage that ended with the three of them being assigned C grade. ¡°Is that a C? They did well, though¡­¡± A trainee who looked young muttered to himself. That¡¯s a C. I answered to myself and waited for the evaluation to end. The evaluation was neither ttering nor harsh. They said they could see that they had prepared hard, but there were still some points to improve on the stage. Along with that conclusion, the three of them moved to the ranking zone. [The seats you are sitting in now are firste, first-served, and once you sit down, you cannot exchange or give up your seat. Please choose carefully!] Then, the most cheerful-looking member of the three climbed up the stairs to the first ce. ¡°Wow, wow, wow.¡± ¡°Look at that confidence. Cool.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s better to get the grade evaluation sooner, huh?¡± As everyone murmured, the three of them took the first, second, and third ce seats. I felt my head droop at the sight of the future that would soon stir up the sympathy of the viewers. These kids don¡¯t know that this ranking is not final. ¡®I should sit as low as possible.¡¯ With a faint determination, the second call began. Since there were as many as 100 participants in the training camp, it would take at least 5-6 hours to finish the filming. I guess I¡¯ll have all kinds of experiences in my life. This is also a good experience in its own way, as I intend to work as abel representative. I decided to focus on the stage with the most positive circuit. It was a little less than two hourster. After about 15 stages of C~F grades pouring out, Yu-geon¡¯s name was called before mine. [Individual trainee, Kang Yu-geon, pleasee up.] Yu-geon waved his hand lightly at me and went up to the stage with a confident expression. Well¡­ I already knew he was good. It was a bit surprising that he was an individual trainee, but he would do well anyway. Then, a question that I had forgotten popped into my head. What was Yu-geon¡¯s grade in the first evaluation? I only knew that he soared to A in the second evaluation¡­ I couldn¡¯t even remember what letter was on his chest, he had so little screen time in the early days of My Idol. That¡¯s when Yu-geon started singing naturally along with the MR. [I opened my eyes in the darkness. I threw everything away more boldly] It was a solo dance song with a vocal-focused arrangement. He sang with emphasis on his vocals over the minimal beat at first, then quickly transitioned to rap and dance parts, capturing everyone¡¯s attention with his stability. [Catch me if you can. Maybe your gestures will circle in the air again] ¡®He¡¯s really good.¡¯ He would have stood out in an instant if he had been like this before his debut. He had a confident and rxed expression on his face. How could he have that kind of charisma when he hadn¡¯t even debuted yet? He was better than the original singer. It was a stage that anyone had to admit. Everyone was mesmerized by the overwhelming genius, looking up at the stage with their mouths open. [I slip away smoothly, try to narrow it down if you want to catch me.] He finished the stage with his yful smile, enchanting everyone. ¡®How did they not give him an A from the start?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t understand it at all, so I waited eagerly for the judges¡¯ments that would follow. Chapter 187: Chapter 187: A participant who had just witnessed a stage that was the epitome of C-grade muttered with his mouth wide open. ¡°Ah¡­ so this is A.¡± Everyone around him must have had the same thought. That guy was not meant to be here with his skills and talent. I clicked my tongue inwardly as I recalled the stage that Kang Yu-geon had shown me in the future. He did better than this then. ¡°I have prepared up to here. Thank you.¡± Yu-geon finished his stage with the apaniment and smiled confidently as he looked at the judges. Since only small and medium-sized agencies hade out so far, there was not a single A-grade yet. They all marveled that the first A-grade came from an individual trainee. They waited for the alphabet A to appear on the panel behind the stage.And then a twist that overturned everyone¡¯s expectations happened. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that an error?¡± They all saw it with their eyes but could not believe it. The alphabet that appeared behind Yu-geon was not A, but F. ¡°No¡­ just do it right for once.¡± They all believed that there must have been some mistake. And Yu-geon seemed to think the same. ¡°Excuse me, but I think the grade is wrong.¡± Yu-geon, the person in question, raised his hand first to object. Then the judges all avoided his gaze with stiff expressions and the oldest-looking male rapper among them answered with a microphone. ¡°Kang Yu-geon trainee¡¯s grade is F.¡± They all doubted their own ears. Even I could not believe the situation. ¡°What are you talking about? How is that F?¡± ¡°The one from All ck Entertainment who had a sound failure earlier got C, but how can you send him to F?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t something wrong?¡± The whole hall was in an uproar as they could only think that the judges had gone crazy. [Let¡¯s hear the judges¡¯ments right away.] The MC quickly diverted the attention to the judges¡¯ side to prevent any moreints from erupting. Then the judges turned off their microphones and started whispering to each other as if they were discussing something. The judging was dyed for a while, and after about three minutes, the male singer in his thirties who was leading the charge opened his mouth. ¡°Um¡­ first of all, I got the impression that youcked the basics because you didn¡¯t experience systematic training. Overall, your skills looked shy, but not solid enough.¡± And then the female idol in her twenties took over the baton. ¡°Being an idol¡­ it¡¯s mainly a group activity. I¡¯m worried that you might have trouble filling the stage as a group. Right now, I think you should focus on polishing your basics rather than the shy appearance.¡± It was nonsense. No, group or solo aside, the ones who got B, C, D in front of him were far behind Yu-geon. Some couldn¡¯t do live and danced to lip-sync, or some gave up dancingpletely because they did live, and they put them in B-grade and told him to do the basics and gave him F? The other trainees also seemed to find it uneptable, as sneers erupted here and there. ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Next trainee, pleasee up.¡± The production team hurried the progress as if they were afraid that the protest would continue if they dragged on, and dragged Yu-geon down from the stage. I was dragged down from the stage by the production staff in a hurry. Yu-geon looked half-dazed as he walked down. The next trainee was getting ready to go on stage, but everyone¡¯s eyes were still fixed on Yu-geon. ¡®They would have filmed where Yu-geon sits ording to his rank here.¡¯ The camera was deliberately facing the stage, as if to ignore him. How could they treat him like this¡­ unless they really hated him? I frowned at the unfair judgment. I couldn¡¯t think of it as fair at all. ¡®Could it have something to do with Yu-geon being edited out in the beginning?¡¯ But he didn¡¯t seem worried when we got on the bus earlier¡­ and he looked surprised when he saw his grade. Before I knew it, Yu-geon walked weakly to the stage side and slumped into an easy seat. He was ranked 82nd. The other participants were shocked to see Yu-geon sitting in a low rank with a stunned expression. [Please focus on the progress for a moment. Next, please wee the trainees from Neon Wave Entertainment: Yun Min Seong, Im Mo Chan, and Bae Sang Woo.] It was only when the MC drew attention again for the progress that the atmosphere calmed down. The judges couldn¡¯t have gone crazy. The next evaluation was rational again, and they produced one B-grade, one C-grade, and one F-grade each. Just when I was reasonably suspicious that they were deliberately leaving the top grades empty, a familiar name was called. [Bright Star Shim Naru, pleasee up.] He was short, so I couldn¡¯t see him well, but he had already taken a seat in the front row. Naru walked confidently to the stage. Wow¡­ he looked young when I saw him at neen. He was a kid now. I was worried if he could be a celebrity on TV at such a young age. As soon as Naru¡¯s name was called, the surroundings started to buzz again. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s Shim Naru.¡± ¡°I know, he was on that Teenager show, right?¡± ¡°Wow¡­ he must be good at singing.¡± ¡°The big ones are here too.¡± Amidst the various stories, Naru puffed up his cheeks and pursed his lips, as if he heard the noise all the way to the stage. Then he took a deep breath and started his self-introduction confidently. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Shim Naru from Bright Star. I¡¯ve prepared hard to give you a good song. Please take care of me.¡± He seemed to put some strength on his shoulders, but from an adult¡¯s perspective, he looked so young and cute. I couldn¡¯t help butugh reflexively. ¡°Is he a middle schooler?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t they say middle schoolers can¡¯te here?¡± There were heated opinions about his age among the participants. Soon after, the various stories were left behind, and Naru¡¯s stage began. He wouldn¡¯t go off-key here, would he? In my impression, Naru was a main vocalist whocked skills, who either went off-key or skillfully avoided live performances. So I was worried from the start. ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ And that doubt disappeared as soon as the first lyrics started. He had prepared thoroughly, or maybe the way I saw him was just his condition when he was too exhausted. It was a pretty neat and good song choice. He had the best skills among the trainees who hade out so far. Kang Yu-geon did well, but his song was not something to boast about in terms of vocal skills. After his stage that made everyone gasp in admiration, Naru received the first A grade along with the judges¡¯ tremendous praise. ¡°Wow, you look like an idol who¡¯s already debuted and active. I enjoyed your amazing performance.¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing your skills in the remaining period.¡± Naru, with his shoulders raised, walked upstairs without showing any interest in Yu-geon. 7th ce. It was the highest rank among the empty ones so far. After that, about 10 more groups were judged. And then, when there were less than thirty trainees left, my name was called. Hwijin was the only member of Floss¡¯ debut team whose name hadn¡¯t been called yet. ¡®Well¡­ maybe it¡¯s because the other members are from medium orrger agencies with some power.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know the details, but I didn¡¯t expect to be called before Hwijin, so I got up from my seat a bit surprised. The stage looked higher than I thought. It was about three stories highpared to the pyramid-shaped ranking chairs that stretched to the side. The judges¡¯ seats were slightly higher than the stage, and the waiting room was low enough to see at a nce. They all looked like they were thinking, ¡®Who¡¯s that?¡¯ or ¡®He¡¯s an individual trainee, so he¡¯s nothing special.¡¯ I took a short breath and opened my mouth. ¡°Hello, Cheon¡­ I mean, Lim Hyun-seong. Nice to meet you.¡± I almost introduced myself as Cheon Ise, too naturally. Fortunately, it looked like I pronounced ¡®Cheon¡¯ a bit strongly because I was nervous. ¡°Nice to meet you, Lim Hyun-seong trainee. Let¡¯s see the stage you prepared for today.¡± They seemed to want to get to the point quickly, since they had already seen my basic skills in the preliminary audition. I clenched the hand mic slightly and adjusted my breathing. I had shown my dance skills before, so this time I wanted to try the vocal line. ¡°I¡¯ll sing Friday garden.¡± Friday garden was an R&B song that was popr when I was in my early twenties, and it had been released about 20 years ago. It was an old song, but a masterpiece was a masterpiece, and it was a song that would spread like a trend among the main vocals in a year or two. It wasn¡¯t a trend yet, but it would be soon anyway. I thought they wouldn¡¯t mind if I started it. ¡°Okay. Please prepare the sound source.¡± As soon as the judge gave the OK sign, I drew a status window and shouted inwardly. ¡®I¡¯ll use the fate skill.¡¯ Then, the status window appeared right away. [Whose fate skill do you want to use?] [Avable fate (15)] ¡®Son Seong-won ¨C Sound Source yback.¡¯ [Confirmed. 30 points will be deducted.] As soon as the points I had raised to 40 dropped to 10, the buff effect was applied. Soon, the sound team finished preparing and the cue sign came down. I rolled my feet lightly to the intro and followed the rhythm, then took a slight breath and opened my mouth. [Friday night, the weekend is not over yet.] [Bright lights, the beautiful night sky is full of you.] My voice was calm and low, but quite charming. It proved that the name ¡®sound source yback¡¯ was not in vain, as it conveyed the cynical and empty emotions of the original song. [This is the end. Party is over.] [I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s still holding on to this night.] Maybe it was because my first impression was stuck in his mind, when I sang live with an unfamiliar body and no apaniment. He looked at me with shining eyes, his vocals much more natural and skilled than before. [If I could see you one more time.] [I¡¯ll smile as if I¡¯ve forgotten the pain. I¡¯ll light the candles and y the music again.] As the emotion in my voice grew deeper, I nodded slightly and wondered if these were the same people who had frowned at Kang Yu-geon¡¯s stage earlier. Their faces clearly said ¡®well done, well done¡¯. [Like many lovers do, we blessed each other¡¯s departure] [I¡¯ll remember the miracle that we could love once] Finally, the chorus came and the highlight began, and I nailed the high notes. I guess this was how Seong-won always felt. As I was immersed in a strange feeling, the song was about to transition to an instrumental. ¡°Wait. Wait a minute, stop the song.¡± The polite choreographer in his thirties stopped the song. ¡®What?¡¯ The reaction wasn¡¯t bad. Did I make a mistake? As I turned my eyes in confusion, I met the choreographer¡¯s gaze, and he opened his mouth. Chapter 188: Chapter 188: ¡°I¡¯ve seen your vocal skills. Can you also show me some dance moves? Do you have anything prepared?¡± Then, a twenty-something idol next to me chimed in. ¡°Can you do freestyle?¡± I couldn¡¯t say no here. It would be a problem if I was the only one who went back in time from the timeline. But this ce is not reality, but a virtual setting space. I quickly made up my mind and answered. ¡°Yes, I can. Please y the music.¡± Even if I did well here, they would say I was just following a pre-made choreography. But it was better to have something to say than nothing. The re-evaluation grade was determined by the judges, not by the participants.¡°Let¡¯s start right away.¡± As if they were waiting, a beat that I had never heard before started. I just had to match the speed. I drew the sketches that I had discarded while making the choreography for Boys Be Ambitious in my head and calmly followed the rhythm. I was not Cheon Ise, the S-grade dancer, right now, so I couldn¡¯t be the same as the state where I had raised my dance grade with the points I had collected. ¡®I should pull my foot back here.¡¯ But even though all the memories of working as Cheon Ise were confiscated, my body reacted as soon as I recalled the order in my head. ¡®And then turn around like this¡­¡¯ That¡¯s how I filled the 30-second interlude with a hip-hop feel of crumping mixed with an improvised but not improvised choreography. And then a fact popped into my mind. ¡®I don¡¯t have a back injury right now, do I?¡¯ Then I could also try the martial arts moves that the choreographer who coborated with me at the nning stage suggested, but I couldn¡¯t use them because of health problems. Whether I could seed in them without making a mistake was another matter. But I thought I could at least do the sidekick move. The song was already heading towards the highlight of the chorus. It was now or never. ¡®They¡¯ll edit it out if I fail.¡¯ I was originally a non-existent being. The ones who were decided to be aired on the broadcast would go out anyway, and I would be edited out. With that conclusion, I jumped neatly to the spot with both arms on the ground, matching the end of the song. ¡°Huh.¡± I unconsciously made a face that said ¡®I did it!¡¯ without knowing it. The apuse andughter poured out without regard to the judges¡¯ seats, the waiting room, or the ranking chairs. ¡°Wow, he¡¯s really good. For a freestyle, that¡¯s impressive.¡± ¡°I saw him at the audition, he was picking up the choreography really fast.¡± With a short buzz, the judges went back to their own discussion. I couldn¡¯t guess what grade I would get. The grades were A, B, C, D, F, five in total. I expected to get C if I did well, or D to F if I did poorly. But I did better than I thought, and there was a hitch. ¡®No. It¡¯s more like they¡¯re too bad¡­¡¯ The climax itself was very obscurepared to the skill that was hidden. And the other groups that I saw while filming Boys Be Ambitious, except for one group, were all skillful ones that were counted as representative K-pop groups. My eyes were so high that I was not satisfied with the level of the trainees. ¡®This is not¡­ real anyway.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t believe that Kang Yu-geon, a trainee who got an F, and I, who got an A, were in the same reality show. It was ridiculous enough that I had topete with a trainee, but the real Kang Yu-geon had already debuted and be a superstar, even running away from his agency. Did I have to sacrifice my advantage in the first re-evaluation for the sake of the virtual Kang Yu-geon, who was hated by the production team? The answer was¡­ ¡®Of course not.¡¯ Besides, I wasn¡¯t just a low-ranked trainee. I was an A, and unless I made a huge mistake that made me roll on the floor in the re-evaluation, I wouldn¡¯t face a drastic drop to the elimination level. I barely held onto my reason and bowed my head. ¡°Thank you.¡± The only thing left was the ranking chair. If I wasted more time here, I would attract attention. I ignored the heart card marks that popped up in my mind and headed towards the chair. Naturally, all the trainees sitting there also had message-shaped marks on them. And at the same time, what surprised me was. ¡®Huh?¡¯ There was another heart card mark above Kang Yu-geon¡¯s name tag. [The heart card is updated in real time and can be regenerated even for people who have already checked the heart card when they get a new impression from Lim Hyun-seong.] Then I realized why this was a point-giving item. It would be better if I didn¡¯t know or care. It was stressful to have to check what others thought of me a limited number of times a day, and to have to do it in certain situations. It wasn¡¯t real anyway. But even in a virtual world, wouldn¡¯t anyone feel pressured by the negative misunderstandings that piled up about me? My goal was to find out what happened to the Floss members. How could I deal with my own problems and feel stressed? ¡®Sigh.¡¯ Anyway, I had to earn points and keep getting help from the skill, so the heart card was an unavoidable choice. ¡®What kind of nonsense is this?¡¯ I didn¡¯t think for long. I went to the lower-ranked number that everyone desperately avoided and sat next to Yu-geon. [Oh, Lim Hyun-seong, a trainee. You still have higher ranks left. Why did you choose the 83rd ce?] The MC asked me jokingly, as if he couldn¡¯t miss this interesting situation. I made up a reason on the spot and answered. ¡°I pushed myself too hard in the freestyle earlier and my legs hurt, so it¡¯s hard to walk.¡± It was a stupid excuse, but it wasn¡¯t unreasonable, since Yu-geon had really sat in the seat right in front of him when he walked off the stage. And anyway, it looked like I was sitting next to a trainee who had received a surprisingly low grade, with a face, tofort him. ¡°You two were sitting together in the waiting room earlier. Are you friends?¡± ¡°He¡¯s loyal.¡± Loyal, my ass. I just couldn¡¯t ept it. He had to endure the treatment of an F-grade with his skills. Yu-geon looked at me with a surprised expression, but I didn¡¯t care and made a finger heart to the judge, or rather, the choreographer who gave me the super pass. Laughter erupted again around me. I wasn¡¯t in the mood tough at all. But I had to smile. I pulled up the corners of my mouth and showed a business-like smile. Soon, everyone¡¯s attention shifted to the next trainee. ¡®Please end this quickly.¡¯ Nothing else came to mind except that one sentence. Among them, the ones who were somewhat decent were inevitably B, the ones who seemed to do better than ordinary people were C, the ones who were at the level of ordinary people were D, and the ones who made me wonder if they were really desperate to stand on stage were F. Of course, Yu-geon was an exception. He had no idea why he went to F, but the truth was only known by the production staff. ¡®Just tell me the grade and finish it.¡¯ I don¡¯t know what they had to discuss so much, but after a long time of talking back and forth, the choreographer in his thirties who finished the discussion raised his hand. ¡°Lim Hyun-seong, trainee.¡± ¡°Ah, yes!¡± Why do you call my name? Just tell me the grade and the evaluation. Iined inwardly and smiled as brightly as possible on my face. ¡°Do you have the confidence to work hard?¡± Why do you ask me that here? It¡¯s obvious that I¡¯ll answer that I have confidence to do well. I opened my mouth with a lot of questions, unable to figure out his intention. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll work hard.¡± As if he believed my answer, the choreographer in his thirties burst into a chuckle and nodded his head. ¡°I really¡­ I¡¯m looking forward to how great an idol Hyun-seong will be. You have such a charm that catches people¡¯s eyes even now, and I¡¯m curious how much more cool you¡¯ll be if you polish it.¡± He suddenly tested my will and poured outpliments. I reflexively blushed. It was partly because it wasn¡¯t apliment I earned with my real skills. I dropped out of high school after finishing middle school. When I worked as an employee, I was treated like a receable ipetent worker, except when I worked under a boss who recognized my diligence and talent. It was natural to be quick and quick. I lived in an environment where it was hard to hear a word of praise even if I did something extraordinary, and when I finally became a representative, there was no one left to praise me. So I wasn¡¯t used to a situation where I was bombarded with such praise in other areas than the taste of food. ¡®If I cook so deliciously that I get rave reviews, I¡¯ll ept it without any hesitation.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t answer anything because my face was red, and heughed again. ¡°I¡¯ll use this card for you, Hyun-seong. Congrattions.¡± What he raised at the same time was a small card with a diamond drawn on it. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡®Why is that here?¡¯ It was none other than the super pass card. It was a pass that could be used only once by each judge during the five grade evaluations that proceeded until the final debut. The grade was basically given based on the average of the grades submitted by the four judges. However, if the super pass was used, only one judge¡¯s opinion could be reflected to give the grade. ¡®That means he used it on me now¡­¡¯ [Congrattions, Lim Hyun-seong, trainee. Receive the A-grade badge and take a seat in the rank you want.] The badge that was only given to A-grade was in my hand. The number of people who could enter A-grade was nine, the number of debutants. The grade didn¡¯t prove the rank, but it was unlikely to be in the lower ranks if it was A-grade. But wait a minute. I was a little better than the previous ones, but. Can I really take A-grade? I was an A-grade who had been active for more than six months and used the skills and abilities I had gained to produce a good output, and Yu-geon, who was a real trainee and showed the skills of a dropout trainee, was F-grade. It felt unreasonable. I don¡¯t mean to lower myself to C, D, F. I was bothered by Yu-geon getting F. I couldn¡¯t help but worry more if I got an A like this. I turned around with a stiff expression and looked at the shing alphabet A. ¡®¡­¡¯ I reflexively raised my hand and said this was not right. It was almost 3 p.m. when the six-hour-long evaluation finally ended. The hundred or so participants started to follow the production staff to have lunch. ¡°I guess we have to eat separately by grade.¡± I turned my head to look for the staff holding the A sign and said to Yu-geon. ¡°¡­¡± Yu-geon was staring at the floor with a stiff expression, as if he couldn¡¯t get over the shock of the grade evaluation. He wasn¡¯t the only one. The other participants also looked shaken by thest-minute change in the rankings. There was no one with a normal face. ¡®They all seemed out of their minds.¡¯ When the MC announced the final rankings after thest round of grade evaluation, everyone was confused and didn¡¯t understand what was going on. It was a mess. Chapter 189: Chapter 189: But the trainee who ranked first had a rather calm expression. He even smiled as if he had been waiting for this. The MC asked them to move to their seats ording to their ranks. The trainee who had been sitting in the first ce since the grade evaluation started turned red as a tomato. ¡®What the hell are they doing?¡¯ Several cameras moved busily to capture the faces of the participants who were burning with embarrassment. Was this fun? They let them sit in the order of their desired ranks, and then they said there was a real rank, and they changed it like flipping their palms. Who would like this kind of thing? Their shallow intentions were obvious. The fans who cheered for the trainees who went up would feel relieved, and the fans who cheered for the trainees who went down would unite to prevent their trainees from going through this humiliation again. They would try to gather votes and raise their ranks in the second re-evaluation, which was determined by voting. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯This was the right thing to do to squeeze out the maximum profit from the program. But there was one very important prerequisite for that decision. They had to see people as business tools, not as human beings. They were selling products that could hurt and frustrate anyone in the process. ¡®¡­¡¯ My mouth tasted bitter. The atmosphere was dampened by the feeling of helplessness, but I tried to cheer up and talk to Yu-geon again. ¡°Hey.¡± He finally came to his senses when I drew his attention again. ¡°Oh, oh¡­ I guess I¡¯m over there.¡± Yu-geon pointed to a staff member holding an F sign and answered. ¡°They said we¡¯ll eat and then shoot the introduction videos individually, right?¡± ¡°Yes, see youter.¡± I nodded and exchanged dry greetings with Yu-geon and parted ways. Then I felt the piercing gazes around me. There were only nine people who received A grade among these many people. Many young friends looked at me with faces mixed with envy, admiration, and rivalry. The heart card mark on their name tags seemed to mock me, saying ¡®Do you care?¡¯ [Remaining attempts: 1] ¡®I know.¡¯ I ignored the status window that popped up and headed to the A grade escort staff. Most of the A grades (only nine, though) were already gathered. ¡°We¡¯ll move to the restaurant as soon as everyone is here.¡± I wondered if they discriminated even by grade, but these stingy organizers didn¡¯t stop there. When the A grades ate the top-notch catering buffet, the B and C grades were provided with a decent level of meal, the D grades were given diet lunch boxes, and the F grades were only given basic food ingredients at the level of a boarding house. It wasn¡¯t like they just gave them rice and kimchi. They provided eggs and basic seasonings, sauces, and ingredients, but they had to cook and eat them themselves. How could the 1020 boys who had lived on the food that others had made for them all their lives cook and fill their stomachs by themselves? It was a hard story to believe. The best dish they could make was ramen, so kimchi and curry were the most luxurious meal they could eat. Even that ran out after about 10 people ate, and the rest was just fried eggs and kimchi. ¡®This makes me feel bad for eating thevish buffet.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what their intention was, but it was very vicious to install observation cameras in each restaurant and let them watch what other grades were eating in real time on arge screen. To the higher-ranked trainees, it meant ¡®keep your rank if you don¡¯t want to eat like that¡¯, and to the lower-ranked ones, it showed that they would get ¡®that kind of¡¯ treatment if they raised their rank. It was petty to discriminate against the kids based on what the adults ate. ¡°Ah, this is really delicious.¡± ¡°Wow, meat, meat.¡± Among the current A-ranked trainees, only three of them, including Naru, had made it to the debut of Floss. Naru kept ncing at me as if he was conscious of Seong-won, but it didn¡¯t seem like he was particrly interested in me. ¡®It feels like he considers anyone who has a better vocal than him as a potential rival for the main vocal position.¡¯ It would have been better if Hwijin was in A-rank too. Unfortunately, Hwijin stayed in B-rank. I was not very happy with the feast in front of me, as I was troubled by the thoughts of the rank evaluation. The food tasted good when I forced it into my mouth, but that only made me feel more guilty. ¡°I enjoyed the meal.¡± Naru, who ate as much as a bird, put down his spoon first, followed by the rest of the trainees who finished their short meals and went back to the waiting room. The remaining afternoon schedule was the profile video shooting and the first opening stage rehearsal. ¡®Profile video shooting, huh¡­¡¯ It must be the 30-second appeal video that was uploaded on the My Idol Stage channel short. The video titled 30-second Speed Attack was about the participants showing their charms in a short time before the broadcast. Some sang, some danced, and some even pulled off a prank out of nowhere. There were also many participants who simply introduced themselves. ¡®What should I say?¡¯ As everyone said, there was no need to beg the viewers to vote for me, since the first re-evaluation did not involve viewer voting. ¡®I¡¯ll just do a simple¡­ self-introduction.¡¯ I nodded and followed the staff to the waiting room. I didn¡¯t think the meal time was long, but when I went down, all the remaining trainees were waiting for the A-ranks toe down. As soon as the nine A-ranks came down to the waiting room, they were met with eyes that seemed to say ¡®those bastards ate that expensive and delicious food.¡¯ The gazes were more than just envious, they were slightly stinging. Contrary to me, who was suffering from a faint guilt, the other A-rank trainees, including Naru, were calm as if the jealous eyes were natural. Rather, there was someone who gave me a word of advice. ¡°Why are you so nervous? We have to be confident so that the camera will catch us more.¡± In other words, he meant don¡¯t stand around with a hesitant expression near him. ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± I nodded and quietly moved to the back. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Unlike my worry that they would make us sit by rank in the waiting room, the appeal video shooting was in the same order as the audition number I saw yesterday. Then I could sit next to him. I quietly left the A-rank line and headed to where the F-ranks were gathered. As soon as I did, the eyes were focused on me. They looked like they were asking why I came here. Why indeed. I snorted inwardly and sat next to Kang Yu-geon. ¡°Did you enjoy the meal?¡± I felt disgusted, but I had to eat anyway¡­ The more I felt annoyed and bitter, the more I needed to fill my stomach. That way, I could muster some energy and show them what I was made of. As I finally spoke up, Yu-geon, who seemed lost in his thoughts, snapped out of it. ¡°Huh? Uh¡­¡± He looked like he hadn¡¯t eaten properly. He had a shameless face that looked like he had fiveyers of iron tes on it, but now he looked deted and miserable. It felt strange to see him like that. The guy I knew was a snake who could spout miraculous logic that he was fine even if he waste because he could cover it up perfectly. And now he was cowering and wilted because of one grade. It didn¡¯t suit him at all. His shy appearance suited a more confident and brazen face. I tried to lighten the mood and asked him. ¡°Did you¡­ make an enemy out of the PD or something?¡± It was half a joke, but it seemed like I hit the nail on the head. Yu-geon¡¯s face turned pale in an instant. ¡°¡­?¡± I raised my eyebrows at his unexpected reaction, and Yu-geon hurried to exin. ¡°It¡¯s not that.¡± But when I pressed him further, his face darkened and he couldn¡¯t say a word. ¡®What¡¯s with this suffocating atmosphere?¡¯ I wondered if I hade for nothing, but I didn¡¯t want to leave him alone and go to the A-grade side either. It would bother me just as much. As we waited in silence, it was soon Yu-geon¡¯s turn. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything to cheer him up. It wouldn¡¯t help much anyway, and I didn¡¯t want to sound like I was rubbing salt in his wound. Soon, Yu-geon came back from the shooting, which ended faster than I thought, and the long wait in silence began. ¡®This is so frustrating.¡¯ It was supposed to be quick and easy, taking only about five minutes per person, but there were so many people that it would take eight hours even then. Fortunately, some really fast people went into the shooting booth and came out in less than two minutes, and there were about three shooting booths, so the number of people was decreasing faster than expected. But still, it was a three-hour ordeal, and after waiting for about an hour, I yawned. ¡®When is it my turn?¡¯ I kept my mouth shut next to Yu-geon, who was staring at the floor without a word, and my body felt restless. Then, a familiar name was called. ¡°Lee Hwijin, please move to booth A.¡± Oh. Hwijin, who had a B-grade mark on his chest, walked briskly to the studio with big strides. ¡®He was B-grade, right.¡¯ His rank was closer to A-grade than C-grade. He was 13th. I had a higher grade, but a lower rank. ¡®It doesn¡¯t make sense, no matter how I think about it.¡¯ The impression I got from the grade and the rank was, the grade was an indicator that considered the potential and the possibility of growth. The rank was the order of the current skill level. Then, I had one question left. The debut was decided by the rank, so what was the point of getting a high grade? It was the ¡®exposure¡¯ that the contestants of thepetition program couldn¡¯t miss. They said that the trainee profiles on the My Idol Stage website were posted ording to the grades. The cameras followed the A-grade trainees around, giving them ess to luxurious facilities. Even their sleeping quarters seemed to be different. The choreographer in his thirties had used a super pass to put me in the A-grade, meaning that he wanted me to make a good impression and build a strong image in the beginning. ¡®If I appeal to the fans with a higher proportion and a cool appearance than others in the early stages, it will be a big help in theter stages.¡¯ I was grateful for his consideration, but at the same time, I wasn¡¯t thankful at all. Because my goal was not to debut. I felt bitter for a moment and bit the tip of my lip, when Hwijin came out of the studio. He looked calm enough, but I was sure he was trembling inside because of his timid personality. Hwijin, who had finished shooting, stood nkly in front of the waiting room, then came to his senses and squeezed himself into the corner of the room again. ¡®Is that his preference¡­ or is it intentional?¡¯ I found it amusing to see him tucked away in the corner with his handsome face andrge build. It was one of the few scenes that made meugh after the audition. Soon, a staff member came and told him that he shouldn¡¯t be in such an inconspicuous ce as a high-grade participant. They dragged Hwijin to a rtively front seat. As I watched Hwijin¡¯s timid attitude without exchanging a word with Yu-geon, it was finally my turn after two long hours. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± I saw Yu-geon nod briefly and headed to the designated studio with quick steps. Chapter 190: Chapter 190: 0000Trantor: MarcTempest As I pulled back the curtain and entered the booth, I saw something that looked like a self-service photo booth machine installed in the small room. ¡°Press the button in front of you to start recording right away.¡± I answered the staff¡¯s guidance briefly and took a deep breath. Then I pressed the record button. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Lim Hyun-seong, an individual trainee.¡± What should I say now? Unlike the other trainees who were desperate as if they were betting their lives on these 30 seconds, I had no urgency. It wasn¡¯t a matter of pride to beg for votes with a please-pick-me sign¡­ Even though it was a virtual world, I didn¡¯t want to have any more influence on this world since I wouldn¡¯t (couldn¡¯t) debut anyway. After a moment of hesitation, I started to blurt out something that I liked the most, but had no impact on the voting. ¡°My strongest area is dance, followed by cooking. These days, figs are at the end of their season, so they¡¯re very sweet, and soon scallops will be in season. Don¡¯t miss out on the seasonal ingredients and enjoy your meal!¡±It sounded like nonsense, but that was the best conclusion I came up with. The short appeal time of 30 seconds ended and I bowed my head and greeted. ¡°Huh, y-you can go out now.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The staff who was guarding the booth entranceughed and pointed outside at my unexpected appeal of seasonal ingredients. As I walked past the staff and went outside, I saw the faces of nearly 100 trainees at a nce. At first, there were only 10 of them, but now almost all of the participants had a hidden card that showed their true feelings. ¡®I have to do this for two more weeks.¡¯ It seemed daunting. ¡®I miss our kids.¡¯ It was a rare moment when I longed for our kids who were waiting for me at home. After finishing the appeal video shooting, it was a bit awkward to have dinner. The production team didn¡¯t let that short gap go by, and they took the trainees to a huge auditorium. There was arge screen hanging in the auditorium, and the choreographer who was sitting in the judge¡¯s seat a while ago was loosening up his body with the staff. ¡°Did you all have a good lunch?¡± The choreographer asked the trainees with a microphone, and answers came back from here and there. ¡°Yes!¡± Of course, there were also some voices that muttered quietly. ¡°Yeah, right.¡± Soon, they became conscious of their surroundings and closed their mouths and looked up at the choreographer on the podium. ¡°Since you said you had a good lunch, let¡¯s practice the opening stage with a light feeling of warming up. The shooting is a weekter, so let¡¯s use our short time wisely and put on a perfect stage!¡± It was a forced march with 100 people, but they only gave us that much time? I was surprised for a moment, but then the escort staff appeared again and divided the trainees by grade. I naturally drifted away from Yu-geon and joined the A group and was dragged to the front. ¡°If you see someone who does well, we¡¯ll bring them up to the stage so that other trainees can also see and learn, so please do your best.¡± It was practically saying, ¡®We¡¯ll make sure the camera catches anyone who stands out a bit.¡¯ The participants easily grasped the meaning and their eyes sparkled again. The choreographer winked at me, which was unbearably burdensome, but I had no right to refuse. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start with some warm-up stretching!¡± With the energetic p of the choreographer, the two-hour drill began. And exactly ten minutester, I was called up to the stage as an assistant instructor. After the exhausting opening stage rehearsal, dinner time started. Even though I was troubled, the food was delicious, and by the time I finished eating, it was almost 9 p.m. The only thing left was¡­ I recalled the dormitory schedule that I checked yesterday, and the word [dormitory assignment] popped up in my mind. From what I remembered, it was a small room with two bunk beds, and four people shared one room. Some other programs seemed to have no dorms at all, and justid down nkets and slept, but at least here they used a renovated youth hostel, so the rooms were spacious. ¡°Now, you¡¯ll be moving to your dorms. You¡¯ll be in groups of four, so gather up and get your room assignments and keys from over there.¡± Fortunately or unfortunately, the production team didn¡¯t assign the rooms randomly, but let the trainees choose their own rooms. I first brought Yu-geon, who seemed to be floating alone in group F. ¡°Do you have any trainees you want to share a room with?¡± Yu-geon shook his head quietly. He still seemed shocked by his F grade, and I couldn¡¯t believe he was the same person I saw in the morning. ¡°Then who should we bring¡­¡± As I was pondering, I saw Hwijin, who was shivering in the corner, not fitting in. ¡®Let¡¯s bring him too.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ll bring one more person.¡± I gave Yu-geon a brief nod and approached Hwijin, who was startled and stuttered. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, do you want to share a room with us if you don¡¯t have anyone else?¡± Hwijin looked surprised for a moment, then quickly nodded. ¡°Uh, yes. I don¡¯t have anyone to share with.¡± He had shown impressive skills as a mid-level rookie during the grade evaluation, but he looked much older than the other trainees. He had talent, but maybe he thought he wouldn¡¯t make it to debut, so he was ignored by the hyenas who had their eyes on the promising connections. So we had three people. Who would fill thest spot? I thought of Naru first, but he was surrounded by other trainees who looked his age. What was his name, Park Joonki? The high school trainee was already in line with his peers of simr grades to get his room assignment. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Only the A and B grades were clustered together, as if there was no caste system. I looked back and forth between Hwijin and Yu-geon, who were standing awkwardly, and found a trainee who was alone and clueless in the corner. [F] [An Juhyeon] Let¡¯s go get him. I walked up to him and spoke, and he reacted simrly to Hwijin, startled and then readily followed me. ¡°This should be fine for the four of us.¡± One A grade, one B grade, two F grades. Three individual trainees and one actor. Anyone could see that we didn¡¯t match, a very strangebination, but it didn¡¯t matter to me. I got my room assignment after lining up and left the auditorium. The stairs and the elevator were both full of people waiting. ¡°Should we walk? It might take too long to wait for the elevator.¡± I asked, turning around, and everyone nodded silently. ¡®How do I deal with this atmosphere?¡¯ Someone should take the initiative and lighten up the mood. It was quiet, whether it was because of the program or their personalities. After waiting for a while, we climbed up the stairs and arrived at our assigned room. Soon, we received the dorm kits ording to our grades. ¡°Shall we open them right away?¡± As soon as we entered the room, Hwijin spoke first, looking at the observation camera. It looked like the contents were quite different, so he probably thought thatparing them would be a good content. ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded eagerly and checked the notice next to the observation camera. [The observation camera and the recording device will be turned off from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.] That meant that they were filming everything we did and said before that, and we had no guarantee of how it would be broadcasted. ¡®Be careful what you say.¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to make a fool of myself by saying something weird. ¡°Before that, shall we introduce ourselves? I¡¯m a neen-year-old individual trainee, and I¡¯m most confident in dancing and cooking.¡± Hwijin was still not confident enough to be proactive in this situation, Yu-geon had reduced his words drastically due to the shock, and I didn¡¯t know who the other person was or what he did, so I had to step up. I sighed inwardly and started the conversation, and Hwijin quickly took the baton. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all young. I¡¯m Hwijin, and I¡¯m currently working as an actor, but I used to debut as an idol once.¡± Juhyeon nodded as if he understood. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why you¡¯re so good at the basics. What was your position?¡± Everyone except Yu-geon started to join the conversation, aware that it would increase their chances of being on the show. ¡°Uh, lead vocal. I originally passed the audition as a vocalist, but¡­ there was another friend who was good at singing¡­¡± ¡°Wow¡­ You must have been on music shows then?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t get to go on many, so it was a pity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still amazing¡­¡± Unintentionally, I became the bridge between Hwijin and the F-grade trainee who had no presence, but Yu-geon remained silent. After a brief ice-breaking, wepared the A-grade kit that contained various sponsored products, from cosmetics to heat packs, and the F-grade kit that only had basic toiletries. ¡®Was he edited outpletely because he was depressed by his grade?¡¯ I was frustrated that I didn¡¯t know why Yu-geon got an F. By the time we agreed to call each other brothers and it was time to go to bed, Yu-geon also nodded weakly and climbed onto the bed. ¡°I¡¯ll take the top bunk.¡± I felt like I would be conscious of the upper bunk if I slept on the lower one. ¡°¡­Okay.¡± With Yu-geon¡¯s short answer, Hwijin, who was next to the switch, turned off the light. ¡°Good night.¡± The sleep began with Hwijin¡¯s slightly awkward but courageous greeting. It had been about two hours since we entered the lodging. I was tired, but I couldn¡¯t sleep. I heard the others tossing and turning as well. Maybe they were in the same boat. As I stayed awake with my eyes open, Yu-geon got up from his bed. I held my breath and watched him quietly. He didn¡¯t do anything special, just sat on his bed. He didn¡¯t say a word, just sat there nkly. ¡®Is he having trouble sleeping because of hisplicated thoughts?¡¯ I whispered to the gap that led to the lower floor. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you sleeping?¡± Yu-geon flinched at the voice from below, then answered in a low voice. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep.¡± ¡°Because of what happened today?¡± There were more than one or two things that happened today, but Yu-geon seemed to know what I was talking about. ¡°Can I say noment?¡± I didn¡¯t need to force him to spill the beans. It wasn¡¯t even midnight yet, so I could still see his innermost card. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Then Yu-geon seemed to hesitate for a while, then spoke in a very small voice to the gap in the wall. ¡°¡­If you had to reveal something you don¡¯t want to share with others in exchange for an opportunity, what would you do?¡± That was a strangely specific hypothetical. It was likely his own story. I came all this way to hear this one story from him. As I thought that, I suddenly wondered what to say. Chapter 191: Chapter 191: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 191 Each One¡¯s Way (1) The only thing that was fortunate was that even if I made a mistake here, it wasn¡¯t real. But even so, my guilt was only slightly reduced, and I didn¡¯t feel very light. I paused for a moment and brought up the status window. ¡®Status window.¡¯ I¡¯ll use all the cards I can use for now. [Choose the target to check the Hidden Feelings card][Remaining times 1] [>Kang Yu-geon] [>Lee Hwijin] [>An Juhyeon] It seems that I can only read the targets that are in the same space as me right now. Anyway, the target I wanted to see was already decided, so it didn¡¯t matter. ¡®Kang Yu-geon.¡¯ I¡¯m doing this to find out what happened to the guys who will be Flosster, so I didn¡¯t mind using it twice a day on Kang Yu-geon. [>Kang Yu-geon] [- I hoped I could be in the same group. I never imagined that I would get an F grade, so it was a big setback. Was I naive to think that there would be no disadvantage? What do I do now?] ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ It looked certain that there was a friction with the production team. Based on the situation so far and the question Yu-geon asked me, I guessed a possible situation. ¡°It depends on what kind of opportunity it is.¡± Like the other participants who signed the pre-contract, I would have been reluctant to ept the opportunity if it had a privilege attached to it. That was honestly because, unlike other trainees, I wasn¡¯t so desperate to debut. If it was a situation where revenge was at stake, I would have been more likely to ept the production team¡¯s sweet offer. ¡®It¡¯s not easy to refuse.¡¯ Debuting doesn¡¯t guarantee sess, but this is My Idol Stage. For most of the participants here, it was thest chance for sess, or at least a chance that wouldn¡¯te again. Most of the participants who appeared here were not the trainees who were managed by the agencies as a top priority. The agencies were not fools either. They would never let go of the trainees they had decided to debut from the beginning, and they would not risk sending them to a broadcast where they could only consume their image and possibly get a negative impression from unfavorable editing. ¡®I guess that¡¯s a benefit for me if I were the representative.¡¯ The responsibility of appearing was solely on the trainee, and the return when the result was good was shared by everyone. The adults make money, and the kids achieve their dreams. It seemed like a win-win situation for both sides, but it was not a fact that the people outside the system needed to know how much risk it pushed to one side. That¡¯s not fun. It¡¯s uneptable to show the backstage of the show business world. If I were a trainee who was staking my life on this debut right now? Not doing it would be stupid, not grabbing the opportunity would be foolish. ¡°For example?¡± Yu-geon asked again after a brief silence. This was a survival. My opportunity meant the deprivation of another participant, and epting the opportunity meant bing an aplice. Yu-geon must have shouted the wrong answer in a game where everyone had to answer the same answer. ¡°I think it would be better to refuse if I think I might regret why I epted that offerter.¡± It¡¯s hypocritical to say the right thing when I haven¡¯t been in that situation. But what Yu-geon needed right now wasfort that his choice wasn¡¯t wrong. There was no reason not to grant his wish. ¡°What if I be a fool in front of everyone?¡± Yu-geon snorted, sneering. I could answer him without hesitation this time. ¡°Life is long, and it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll disappear after singing for a year or two.¡± He had already made his choice, and it was in ordance with his conscience. It was meaningless to regret it any further. Rather than being tied to the past that wouldn¡¯t change, it was my job to see what I could do right now. ¡°Haha¡­¡± Yu-geonughed quietly, shaking his shoulders in the dark. ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s the answer. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll disappear after singing for a year or two.¡± I couldn¡¯t see his expression clearly because the sun hadn¡¯t risen yet, but it seemed like he had recovered a bit from his gloomy face during the day. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡± I asked cautiously, and Yu-geon answered with a lighter voice. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m trying to think of a way to get back at them.¡± He had regained his energy, but what was he nning to do against the broadcastingpany¡¯s directrge-scale productionpany? I felt a chill run down my spine. ¡°Sorry for waking you up. Go back to sleep. You¡¯ll be super busy tomorrow.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lie. The n was to have a vocal test by grade in the morning, and then record the opening song in the afternoon. And there would be a group dance practice for the opening song in the evening. I didn¡¯t even want to imagine how much they would torture us, since we had less than a week left until the stage filming. ¡®The reason is that the choreography is too hard for the lower-grade trainees to follow.¡¯ Why did they have to be so greedy about the choreography quality? The B-grade trainees did well enough, and the C-grade ones were a bit shaky. The D-grade ones were miserable. Sadly, most of the F-grade trainees, except for Kang Yu-geon, barely followed the flow of the movements. ¡®We can¡¯t go on stage like this!¡¯ It was only when the choreographer raised his voice at the trainees who fell behind that things started to improve a little. ¡®Is this okay?¡¯ Even after Yu-geon fell asleep again with a refreshed mood, I couldn¡¯t close my eyes. It was really a pain to be so nosy and worried. I stayed up all night, tossing and turning, and only fell asleep again when I heard the first rooster crowing in the distance. ¡°Good job today, everyone!¡± That evening. As expected, we finished the part distribution in the morning, the solo part and back vocal recording for three seconds in the afternoon, and the dance practice in the evening. Everyone was exhausted. ¡®I can¡¯t help but feel like I stole someone else¡¯s part.¡¯ As if the choreographer had given me a super pass at the beginning, only nine A-grade trainees were given a very short solo one-shot part. The part assigned to me was the half-line [Look at me, shining me] at the beginning of the second chorus. It was a huge privilege, considering that the other trainees only participated in chorus 1 for the group part. This was the first time we met the viewers with this five-minute stage, and there was no better opportunity than this. It was a relief that the first re-evaluation would take ce before the official broadcast started. ¡®I don¡¯t want to see the aftermath of the broadcast with my own eyes. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s real anyway.¡¯ I shook my head and looked at the trainees who were sitting around the auditorium. ¡°What are you doing? Let¡¯s go in.¡± As I was spacing out and looking around, Juhyeon came over and dragged me. Juhyeon and I were close in age, so we naturally became friendly while washing up in the morning. ¡°Uh, okay.¡± He must have thought we were buddies after sharing a room for a day. He hooked his arm around mine and pulled me along. ¡°Come on, Hwijin hyung and Yu-geon hyung are already waiting over there.¡± I looked down at Juhyeon with a bit of nervousness as his arm strength dragged me along. Why is he acting like this? I was startled for a moment, but then I saw the camera that was filming the trainees from the front and guessed his intention. ¡®Is he trying to act friendly for the camera?¡¯ As soon as he got out of the camera angle, he let go of his arm as if he was relieved. His obvious motive made him look like a fool. ¡°Why?¡± I stiffened my expression for a moment and Juhyeon asked me casually. ¡°No, nothing.¡± It wasn¡¯t like I didn¡¯t have any guard up. Yu-geon also pretended to know me at first because he wanted to team up with the individual trainees and gain some benefits. The top-ranked trainees were forming their own cliques and excluding the lower-ranked ones. ¡®Well, it¡¯s a card that¡¯s too good to miss.¡¯ The trainees in the top ranks were bound to get more attention, and I was also getting noticed for getting the choreographer¡¯s super pass. If my final goal was not to debut but to get on the screen for even one scene, then it was a position worth hoping for. I was lost in thought for a while and then shook my head again. I followed Juhyeon to the stairs and Hwijin greeted me with a slightly awkward expression. ¡°Let¡¯s go up and rest.¡± If this was the real situation where we shared the same dorm, Hwijin would have been much more excited and happy to see me. I felt a pang of regret as I realized his changed reaction and my face flushed. ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± When we returned to the dorm, I finally felt like the day was over¡­not really. I sighed inwardly as I saw the camera that was making a faint mechanical sound. What should I talk about today? I was tired but it wasn¡¯t time to sleep yet. We gathered after washing up in themunal shower and drying our hair, and Juhyeon immediately brought up a topic. ¡°Right. What are your MBTI types?¡± Juhyeon, who spoke informally to Hwijin who was much older than him, asked with a gleam in his eye. Was this his character? He was so quiet and awkward yesterday, leaning against the wall by himself. ¡°I¡¯m ISFJ¡­¡± Hwijin opened his mouth cautiously and Yu-geon burst outughing. He was not as gloomy as yesterday, which was a relief, but I couldn¡¯t figure out why he wasughing. We all had question marks over our heads. ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re the opposite of me in everything.¡± ¡°Oh, are you ENTP, hyung?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I¡¯m an ESTJ, by the way.¡± As everyone was chatting about some cryptic codes like how Ns are like this or Js are like that, the topic suddenly shifted to me. ¡°What about you?¡± I tilted my head in confusion at the unexpected question. What is that? I knew it was some kind of personality test, but I had no idea what type I was or how many types there were. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never taken it before.¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t know what MBTI is? Come on, be cool. Just say you don¡¯t care.¡± Juhyun sneered at me, not sure if he was mocking me or joking with me. ¡°No, I really don¡¯t know.¡± I had seen INTP a lot when I made my SNS ount, so I just used it casually. ¡°Wow, you really don¡¯t know? Look, the difference between E and I is¡­¡± He kept on lecturing me for a long time until it was time to turn off the lights. Should I be grateful for this? In the end, I found out that I was an ISTJ, but it wasn¡¯t that important to me. Some kind of honest logician or something like that. It wasn¡¯t something to deny or to be proud of. As one by one fell asleep and I was left alone staring at the ceiling, I thought of the five inner thoughts cards that I had read today. ¡®¡­¡¯ The contents of yesterday seemed mildpared to them. The bitterness that had settled in my stomach started to rise again. Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 192 Everyone¡¯s Way (2) [>Kuk Ho-young] [- He¡¯s so unlucky.] [>Han Dae-yong] [- There¡¯s no way an individual trainee can make it to debut. He¡¯s not even getting attention for his visuals, so there¡¯s no need to bother with him. Just ignore him.] [>Jung Min-sung] [- He¡¯s the easiest one among the A-rankers. His rank is just a fluke from Superface. I wonder if Enclip will take him if he drops.][>Joo Seok-yoon] [- If it weren¡¯t for him, I could have been A-rank. How annoying.] I knew I wouldn¡¯t hear only good things in thispetitive system, but I didn¡¯t expect such blunt and harsh opinions. ¡®What did I do, what did I do?¡¯ The member who left a four-letter word of resentment was a C-rank trainee. All I did was help him with his posture at a certain section, as the choreographer requested, because he wascking in intensity. I didn¡¯t interfere with his practice, I actually helped him. And he kept thanking me and expressing his gratitude! I felt wronged, but I couldn¡¯t say anything and had to swallow it. Did the other trainees think of me like that too? I randomly opened some results and they were all miserable. It was only the second day, but my impression was already that of an unlucky guy. I felt conflicted between thinking that it was possible and protesting that it wasn¡¯t fair. I might not know what a ck-haired beast thinks, even if I know the water under the bridge. I was not in a good mood after seeing the gloomy results. I knew it would be hard to hear only good things, but it was another thing to actually experience it. I wanted to know how Naru and the other Floss members were doing, but I didn¡¯t have much chance to interact with them. The only time I could was when the A-rankers gathered to practice, but I felt like a pickle among them. ¡®They were so close to each other that I had no room to join them.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t invisible, but they didn¡¯t bother to talk to me unless they really needed to. They seemed to have decided who they would get along with from the start, and they didn¡¯t even look at anyone else. There was a distance between them and me that made it hard to act friendly. ¡®If I force myself in without any tact, it might not be impossible¡­¡¯ But then I would probably get morements like ¡®He¡¯s an individual trainee who thinks he can debut by acting friendly with the big trainees.¡¯ on the card of hidden thoughts. I could see it clearly without even checking. Even though I was A-rank, I was excluded from the A-rankers, unlike Naru, who was always at the center of the group. ¡®Well, of course, the camera has been following him around since the shooting.¡¯ Many trainees from famous agencies, regardless of their rank, flocked around Naru to show off their rtionship with him. The Floss debut members who received high ranks were treated simrly. ¡®He¡¯s acting like that because his ego is inted by that¡­¡¯ I clicked my tongue lightly as I remembered Naru, who was crying and whining like a nine-year-old when he was neen. I thought it might be possible if he was treated like that for a year or two, but then again. ¡®Doesn¡¯t he know that¡¯s not right?¡¯ I felt a surge of discontent, like a fire in a barrel. In the end, we were all pushed into a huge game of eyeing each other, aiming for the goal of debut. There was no one to me, but the system itself was absurdly unreasonable. I had a feeling what Yu-geon meant by saying that. He probably meant that the guys who didn¡¯t bother to reveal their true feelings were talking behind my back. ¡°Yeah.¡± After hearing some unsolicited advice from Yu-geon, I flopped back onto the seat. ¡°I appreciate your help anyway, so don¡¯t be too upset.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s voice sounded lighter than yesterday as heforted me. He gave me poison and then medicine. Of course, he wasn¡¯t the only one who gave me poison. I nced at Joo Hyun¡¯s sleeping spot and then turned my head to bury my face in the pillow. The more I thought about it, the more troubled I felt. I needed to sleep as soon as possible. As expected, I lost consciousnesspletely when the first rooster crowed and everything went dark. The dramatic incident happened on the day of the opening stage filming. The 100 cast members were divided into three groups of 33 each and ced on the left, center, and right stages. The remaining one person went to the front solo stage, where he directed the other 99 trainees as if he was their leader. It was a privilege for the trainee who ranked first. ¡®Was it Park Sung Hyun?¡¯ His final debut rank was seventh. His poprity within Floss was in the lower-middle range¡­ as far as I remembered. ¡®He signed a pre-contract that guaranteed him the opening center.¡¯ Only the fact that he signed it was revealed, but not the details. On the surface, he imed that he earned his grade and rank with his skills, but in reality, he used a contract to get ahead. The whole entertainment industry would be in an uproar if they knew the truth. There were some trainees who were dissatisfied with their assigned positions, and some who were satisfied. But there were also some who suddenly had their positions changed. ¡°Choi Sung Chan, Jeong I Woong, please move to the left stage now.¡± The trainees who were moved to a much more cornered spot than their original ones protested, but it was no use. When I listened carefully, I heard that six lower-ranked trainees had given up their appearances and dropped out. The ranks that were dropped were 89th, 93rd, 95th, 97th, 99th, and 100th. As the lower ranks fell one after another, the empty spots had to be filled by other trainees in a bnced way. ¡®I was worried if it was okay to put them on stage as they were in such a serious condition.¡¯ I felt uneasy when I saw the participants who had run away after hearing me say that I would try to help them as much as I could. They said I was unlucky, arrogant, and hypocritical. I couldn¡¯t me them. Yu-geon was called the miracle of the lower ranks who debuted from the 80th rank, but in reality, he had the skills that didn¡¯t match the 80th rank. He was relegated to that side. If they were in the same F grade, they must have felt it painfully in the practice group they were grouped together. They must have thought that this was what real talent meant, when they saw him. If someone who was so good couldn¡¯t catch the eyes of the producers and got the 80th rank, what was I doing here, struggling? Was this a meaningful thing to do? It was natural to feel like quitting. ¡®There are 94 trainees left.¡¯ They had to stick together like snakes in a jar until the final nine were left. The situation was repeated. I had to do this for another week or more. In the midst of this, the monitoring began. ¡°Wow¡­ I see you there.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m there too.¡± They gathered by their grades and checked the filming screen. The proportion of the first to 34th ranks was 60-70%. The rest were barely caught on the screen as they passed by. ¡®This way¡­ the lower ranks would feel like they wasted a week learning the choreography.¡¯ The expressions of the D and F group trainees were not good, just like the others. ¡®Let¡¯s just go to sleep.¡¯ I closed my eyes tightly and tossed and turned for a while, when I heard a small voice from between the walls. ¡°Sleeping?¡± It was Yu-geon. ¡°Trying to.¡± I answered in a voice as small as an ant, and Yu-geon let out a faintugh. ¡°Did I wake you up?¡± ¡°No. I can¡¯t sleep.¡± Then, after a brief pause, wondering what he wanted to say, the conversation continued. ¡°¡­Are you aspiring to be an actor?¡± I tilted my head at his sudden, out-of-the-blue question. ¡°What?¡± What a misunderstanding. I was bewildered and retorted, and Yu-geon started to exin, flustered. ¡°No. You got a good grade, a high rank, and the judges seemed to like you a lot. But you don¡¯t seem very eager to debut.¡± It was a fair point. I thought I did my best, but did it show? I felt a pang of embarrassment and asked back. ¡°Me?¡± But that¡¯s not true. I was stuck as an assistant instructor today, helping the C, D, and F grades who had lost their sense of direction, and I was on fire. Doesn¡¯t that count as ¡®eagerness¡¯? I wondered why he thought that way. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°In what sense?¡± Then, Yu-geon peeked out of the bed frame as if to check the surroundings. He gestured with his hand in the dark, as if to tell me to bring my ear closer. How annoying. I moved my body and leaned my head toward the first floor. He wasn¡¯t even a kid, but he cupped his hands around his mouth and whispered in a very low voice that was hard for me to hear. ¡°You don¡¯t sabotage.¡± What¡¯s the point of sabotaging? It¡¯s all about the votes anyway. And the re-evaluation seemed to be easy to pass, unless something unusual happened. I was more interested in finding out what happened to the Floss members, as long as it didn¡¯t look suspicious. ¡°Sabotage?¡± I whispered back in a very low voice, just like Yu-geon, and he nodded. ¡°Survival is an individualpetition. There¡¯s no benefit to helping others, but you¡¯re nosy and don¡¯t socialize.¡± Oh. I think I had a rough idea of what Yu-geon was saying. If the other participants¡¯ basic attitude was to use each other or hope that others would rank lower than them. I was the type who did my own thing quietly and helped others if I could, even if they didn¡¯t seem to be much help to me. ¡°I¡¯m not thinking of being an actor or anything else. It¡¯s just my personality.¡± I¡¯ve always been like that. I toned down my nosiness a bit when I ran apany. But I couldn¡¯t say I had little nosiness when I operated a children¡¯s foundation at the cost of billions of won in losses every year. If helping others was not a big burden for me, and there was no risk involved, I could help someone solve their problem more easily. There was no reason not to step up. I had lived like that all my life, and it was the same even after I became a thousand-year-old. But here, it was considered a ¡®stupid¡¯ thing to do, and I was confused. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a bad thing. But you should be careful.¡± Only Yu-geon looked at the screen expressionlessly, as if he had expected it. It was time to disband after finishing the monitoring in such a chaotic atmosphere, but Juhyeon didn¡¯te over to pretend to know me like before. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ I wondered and looked in the direction where the F-rank had been, but I couldn¡¯t see Juhyeon¡¯s figure. I could see through his feelings, and he wasn¡¯t someone I wanted to get close to, but I was still concerned. And shortly after, when I went up to the dormitory without much thought, Juhyeon was packing his bags with a flushed face. ¡°What are you looking at? Do you think I¡¯m a joke too?¡± What the hell was this sudden outburst? I asked calmly, hiding my confusion. Juhyeon¡¯s eyes were stained, showing that he had cried a lot before I came up. ¡°I didn¡¯t say you were a joke. What are you talking about¡­?¡± ¡°Pathetic bastard.¡± Juhyeon pushed me away with his luggage and left the dormitory. He ran into Hwijin and Yu-geon duo who were about toe in, and I heard them exim and panic, but Juhyeon didn¡¯t care at all and just left. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you two fight?¡± Hwijin and Yu-geon¡¯s eyes turned to me at the same time. Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 193 Their Own Ways (3) Did you fight? I suppressed the reflexive retort that almost came out of my mouth. ¡°No, I just came up too.¡± ¡°Then why¡­¡± Hwijin looked around anxiously, unable to understand the situation. Yu-geon shook his head as if he had a clue. ¡°He packed all his stuff. He probably won¡¯te back.¡±Hwijin asked with a tone of certainty. ¡°Do you know something?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Yu-geon hesitated for a moment, then quietly pointed to the camera with his chin. ¡°Oh.¡± It meant that he couldn¡¯t talk about it while the camera and the recorder were on. Hwijin wasn¡¯t so clueless that he couldn¡¯t catch his drift, so he quietly closed his mouth. ¡°We don¡¯t need to¡­ tell the producers or anything, right?¡± He must have notified them of his departure himself. He had to get his phone before he left. How could he leave without a car here¡­ I unconsciously looked down and moved to the window to pull the curtain. Then I learned a new fact. ¡°¡­¡± When I pulled the curtain, I saw a wall. Not the wall of the next building, but the wall of this room. The frame that looked like a window was attached, and it was covered with a curtain. I thought it was a window for sure. ¡°This is fake.¡± It was a decoration made to look like a window on the broadcast. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Everyone started to get ready quietly in the awkward situation. Tick tock. The sound of the clock¡¯s second hand was loud in the silence. And finally, at 10 o¡¯clock, the sound of the camera and the device turning off was heard. Everyone got up from their nkets and sat up straight. ¡°Hyun-seong, it must be ufortable. Do you want toe down?¡± Hwijin pushed his nket to one side of his bed on the opposite lower floor and made room for me. ¡°Ah, yes.¡± As I came down thedder with a short answer, Yu-geon opened his mouth. ¡°You might not have known if you were in the upper ranks, but the stage arrangement changed on the spot as people dropped out from the lower ranks.¡± Hwijin nodded at Yu-geon¡¯s words. ¡°Ah, I heard that. So some trainees went to less visible positions to adjust the arrangement¡­¡± ¡°Yeah. And An Juhyeon was one of them. I almost went down too, but¡­ There were too many trainees in the lower ranks who didn¡¯t master the choreography, so they had to have one person who could do it properly in each position. So I stayed in my original ce.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± A sense of powerlessness that nothing would change here. A sense of resignation that no matter how hard he tried, he was just a screw holding up the system and could never be the main product. He had hoped that he could get some spotlight if he tried hard enough in the lower ranks, but that seemed to have copsed. What was Juhyeon thinking as he looked at the stage that seemed so high from the 90th rank? The debut was a feast for only those at the top. I realized that their debut was nothing but a headcount filler to create a grand ¡®narrative¡¯ of how amazing it was. I might have felt ashamed of my humble dream of just showing my face a little bit, like an egg in front of a rock. ¡°¡­¡± I was a bit embarrassed that he snapped at me, but there was someone else who should be held ountable for Juhyeon¡¯s behavior. Adults who sell the dreams and desperation of young kids in their teens or early twenties. Holding on to your dream is not the only skill. I couldn¡¯t think of what to say. Hwijin seemed the same. As the top-ranked ones, we risked looking like liars to Yu-geon no matter what we said. Hwijin didn¡¯t open his mouth either, maybe thinking the same. Yu-geon, sensing the awkward atmosphere, suddenly burst intoughter. ¡°What, what is it? Why are youughing?¡± Hwijin asked cautiously, looking surprised. Yu-geon flopped down on his bed and answered. ¡°You don¡¯t have to mind me so much. Well, you probably know already, but I was marked by the production team. I thought it couldn¡¯t get worse than this anyway.¡± Did he give up on himself? I asked with a worried expression. ¡°What are you going to do from now on?¡± I knew that Yu-geon would debut in the future, but¡­ No, this was also something I was curious about. Anyone could see that he was an A-grade who was dumped into F-grade. How did he manage to get the final debut? I was left with nothing but questions. ¡°Well¡­ I have a card too, you know. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll take me, but they didn¡¯t drop me in the pre-audition, so I think they still see some value in me¡­¡± He didn¡¯t seem to want to tell me what it was. Then I didn¡¯t need to bother asking. ¡°So you¡¯re not quitting, right?¡± Hwijin finally opened his mouth, sounding a bit hesitant. He wanted to confirm that first. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not. I can¡¯t help it if they cut me off first.¡± That meant¡­ Yu-geon also considered the first re-evaluation as a crucial crossroad. If he didn¡¯t get a good evaluation there, it would mean that they just gave him a spot to fill the headcount. ¡°Everyone has a different situation¡­ There¡¯s nothing I can say.¡± Hwijin muttered weakly. Then Yu-geon smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even if it wasn¡¯t for this, there were some agencies that wanted to take me, but I didn¡¯t go.¡± Hwijin¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯d have a better chance if you had an agency¡­ Why didn¡¯t you go?¡± Dude, are you digging into his personal stuff without any care? I looked at Hwijin with a slightly uneasy expression. Yu-geon hummed¡­ He pursed his lips for a moment, as if thinking. Then he answered after a brief silence. ¡°Because of my pride.¡± ¡°Pride?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Should I stop him from saying more? While I was watching him, Yu-geon opened his mouth first with an awkward smile. ¡°Just. Pure arrogance that I wanted to start with my own strength?¡± Then Hwijin and I tilted our heads in the same direction. ¡°Are you some kind of chaebol¡¯s son or something?¡± I was caught off guard by Hwijin¡¯s words, which he threw out like a joke. No, not all chaebol sons are sessful. I had to suppress the urge to say that it wasn¡¯t as easy as they thought. ¡°It¡¯s not like that¡­ There are quite a fewpanies that want to use me, even though I don¡¯t have a very impressive background.¡± That meant¡­ It was probably his father¡¯s business. I finally figured out why Yu-geon got an F grade. Yu-geon also received a pre-contract offer, and they probably put a condition that he would use his father¡¯s story in his storytelling. And after he refused, he came back with an F grade, 87th ce¡­ I didn¡¯t need to hear more to picture it. The producers must be thinking that they¡¯re giving Yu-geon a st chance¡¯. Think about it. It¡¯s something that will be revealed sooner orter anyway. Why not use it well and debut with an advantage? Your father in heaven would be happy too. They must be spouting nonsense like that. The atmosphere became awkward, and Yu-geonughed heartily again to end it. ¡°Anyway, even if I get cut, I¡¯m not going to give up and be ignored. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± My image of Yu-geon until then was a pro-runner who had a shitty life. He was talented, but¡­ I didn¡¯t get the impression that he was using a good strategy. I had no idea what he was trying to do, and I was a bit anxious. ¡°We all¡­ have to do our best.¡± Hwijin nodded as he tidied up his nket, and the ceiling lights went off as it was time to sleep. ¡°Let¡¯s go to bed. We have to assign groups and prepare tomorrow. It¡¯ll be busy again.¡± We had finished the first hurdle, the opening stage, and now the remaining people had to prepare for the first group mission. The group mission was¡­ a cover battle. My head was already throbbing. ¡°Yeah. We all worked hard, and let¡¯s do our best tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± We each covered ourselves with our nkets and got ready to sleep, but I couldn¡¯t fall asleep. Come to think of it, had I ever closed my eyes on time since I came here? I was stressed out too, of course, since the situation was like this. ¡®Only one week left.¡¯ I clenched my fist and sighed. This was already half over, I just had to do a little more. The next morning, we ate breakfast by grade and went down to the auditorium, where the MC was standing on the stage in a neat suit. ¡°Shooting will start soon! Please gather by group.¡± We followed the instructions of the production team and scattered to join the A-grade line with Yu-geon and Hwijin, and the air felt awkward in an instant. Do you think they¡¯ll film with the losers? I smirked at the tant rejection and confrontation. And I felt a bit annoyed when I saw Naru, who was at the center of it. [Hello, trainees! Are you all running towards your dreams with enthusiasm?] The MC¡¯sment prompted a response from everyone, who looked at the stage with soulless expressions and raised their voices. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Yes!!!¡± They all blinked their eyes, hoping for a chance to be caught on camera. [Today, finally, you must be looking forward to the first group mission that makes your heart flutter. To encourage you to challenge yourself, I prepared a small gift for you.] What is it? Did they bring something for PPL again? I looked at the box that the production team brought with cloudy eyes, and my eyes widened. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± I blinked my eyes, wondering if I was seeing things wrong. But no matter how many times I looked again, the scene in front of me didn¡¯t change. ¡°Holy cow, it¡¯s chicken!¡± Crispy chips, sweet chili sauce, and a special cheese dip. A perfect bnce of sweet and salty, a masterpiece called ¡®Crispy Cheese Chili Chicken¡¯. ¡®That came out of nowhere as a PPL?¡¯ I tried to recall my memory. The brand had done PPLs all over the ce, so it must have appeared in some variety shows¡­ Was it here? I didn¡¯t know what it was like in reality, since this was a virtual world. But seeing something familiar after a long time made my eyes moist. It made sense. I have been involved in this product since the development stage. As I looked at the box with teary eyes, the other A-rank trainees around me whispered to each other. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him¡­ It¡¯s not like he¡¯s risking his life for chicken¡­¡± I didn¡¯t care. I waited for the MC¡¯sment with a grateful expression, looking back at the trace of my hard work. [Well, well, but it would be too boring to just give it to you, right? Let¡¯s make teams first, and then have a mini-game with side dishes as the prize.] The chicken would be cold by then. How mean. ¡°Wow!!! Chicken!!! Chicken!!!¡± ¡°Chicken, chicken, chicken!!!¡± The F-rank trainees who had suffered from kimchi, rice, retort, sd without dressing, ramen, etc. for a week screamed like zombies. [Okay, calm down a bit! Let¡¯s start with the team formation for the mini-game!] The MC, who had been rxed all along, urged the progress with a face of genuine horror. It was total chaos. Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 194 His Way (1) I swallowed the saliva that filled my mouth and immediately looked at the exnation that filled the screen behind the stage. [From Today On, We] [Dream HOT] [Next] [Endlessly] [First Love][You and I, Who I Cherish] [D.I.Y] Was this the cover song list? They were all hit songs released within thest three years. [Each song will have two teams, A and B,peting in a cover battle. Out of the total 12 teams, only 6 will be the winners! The losers will receive a minus score in the uing first re-evaluation.] [The teamposition will be done on a firste, first-served basis, and as soon as it¡¯s done, the thrilling snack war will follow, so let¡¯s quickly get into the formation!] ¡°Wow, chicken!¡± If it was their usual tension, they would have widened their eyes to snatch the song they wanted. But they were not in their right mind because of the chicken in front of them. The chicken thrown in front of the hungry 1020 boys was like a delicacy sold at a street stall in front of the station. ¡°Come on, decide quickly, don¡¯t waste time!¡± They all held their stomachs that made rumbling noises and looked at the g boxes that the production staff had set up. [There are up to 14 gs in each box. Please pick the g of the song you want in the order of arrival, and then gather in the A group if the decoration at the bottom of the g is blue, or the B group if it is red.] They didn¡¯t seem to listen to the exnation. Just let us pick the gs and eat the chicken quickly! They looked like they had written that on their faces with a pen. [Well then, I¡¯ll count to three, and when you hear the whistle sound, pleasee up to the stage and pick a g!] They all got ready to jump onto the stage as soon as possible. ¡®They¡¯re not possessed by hungry ghosts or anything¡­¡¯ Sunwoo couldn¡¯t even get into the top ranks among them. While they were distracted by the food, I thought about which songs among the seven would show off my dance skills. ¡®Among those, the dance songs are Dream HOT, Next, and D.I.Y, I guess.¡¯ Hwijin would probably go for a song that would highlight his vocals. Yu-geon was well-bnced in vocals, rap, and dance, so he wouldn¡¯t make a bad choice anywhere. ¡®I don¡¯t want to be in the same group as Yu-geon if possible.¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to be hispetitor, even though he was hated by the production staff. His skills hadn¡¯t gone anywhere. If I was going to perform anyway. I might as well win. I didn¡¯t want to go back to the days when we were used to losing, thinking that we deserved this kind of treatment, like when we had just reached the climax. Competing was fun by default. Winning was also indispensable. ¡®I can¡¯t see where he¡¯s looking from this far away.¡¯ I wanted to ask him casually, but the distance between A and F grades was too big to give him a hint. [Well then, I¡¯ll count to three!] While I was choosing a song, the MC picked up the whistle and stood in the center, as the g box preparation was all done. [One, two, three! Whoo-!] And at the same time, I saw it. People¡­ could fly without wings. ¡®¡­?¡¯ Like a slow motion, the trainees who were far away broke through the crowd and jumped to help, climbing up the stage that almost reached chest height without stepping on the stairs. [Pleasee up the stairs, everyone, it¡¯s dangerous¡­ Eek!] The MC shouted almost pleadingly to tidy up the venue, but no one paid attention. I¡¯ll be pushed back by the vocals if I¡¯mte. I hurriedly pushed through the trainees and jumped onto the stage, where I saw the trainees who had already pulled out the gs. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ Next is already full, and the only ones left are Dream Hot and DIY?¡¯ Dream Hot had a sexy impression of point choreography with both arms raised and hips bouncing, which was quite difficult, and DIY had a group tap dance included in the choreography. ¡®Sexy or tap dance, I have to choose one of them¡­¡¯ But before I could think about it, Yu-geon reached out for Dream Hot first. ¡®Then I automatically go for DIY.¡¯ I¡¯m going to lose DIY too. I quickly headed for the barrel with four gs left. [Now, if you¡¯ve pulled out a g, please gather by group!] Before I knew it, the floor below the podium was marked so that we could sit by group ording to the song. The g I pulled out was¡­ DIY red. For convenience, it was group B. As I stood in front of the panel that said DIY B, I saw the faces, names, and grades of the other five. [B] [Lee Wonsang] [C] [Kim Junwoong] [B] [Seo Taeryun] [F] [Kim Jaewan] [D] [Hong Seokho] There could be up to seven people in a group, but there were not even 90 trainees left, so there were quite a few empty seats. Of course, the songs that looked easy to cover were full without dividing into A and B. There were also groups that had only five or six people besides us. ¡®Six people¡­ That¡¯s just right.¡¯ Seven is too many, and four is too few. I had done the stage with five people several times, so I thought it wouldn¡¯t be bad to try it with six people for experience. ¡°Wow, there¡¯s an A!¡± As soon as we checked each other¡¯s faces, the most excited-looking guy eximed. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t say that so loud.¡± The guy next to me, who looked flustered and timid, apologized to me hastily. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. He¡¯s not good at filtering his words¡­¡± ¡°What did I do!¡± They both looked like they were from the same unknown agency, judging by their D and F grades. ¡°Isn¡¯t it good to have an A grade? I didn¡¯t say anything bad. Did you feel bad?¡± Jaewan, the F grade who looked amazed at me, smiled yfully. I didn¡¯t want to ruin the mood, so I nodded cheerfully. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay.¡± They looked like kids who had just entered high school. They were either the same age as Naru or slightly younger. I calmly scanned the trainees who were grouped with me, and then I saw Yu-geon¡¯s group at the end. ¡®Wow¡­ How did they end up in such a group¡­¡¯ I couldn¡¯t see their names clearly, but there were two A-rank, three B-rank, one C-rank, and one F-rank. The C-rank was actually ranked 33rd, so he was one of the top trainees in his rank. ¡®Most of them are in the top 20, except for Kang Yu-geon.¡¯ The production team must have failed to adjust this, because the expressions of Dream Hot B group, who had topete with Yu-geon¡¯s group, Dream Hot A, were gloomy as hell. ¡®Yu-geon¡­ Did he rise to A-rank from here?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t remember how he became an A-rank, because I didn¡¯t watch the show properly after the beginning. I only remembered that he became a star from hell, who got cursed by the devil¡¯s editing and appealed to his charisma. I had no choice but to watch quietly for now. ¡°It would be nice to introduce ourselves briefly¡­¡± A B-rank trainee, who couldn¡¯t stand the awkward atmosphere, opened his mouth cautiously. But unfortunately, we didn¡¯t have time to get to know each other calmly, as he wanted. ¡°Chicken time!¡± ¡°Chicken!¡± ¡°Please start the mini game quickly!¡± The zombie horde started to protest, saying that they wanted to eat chicken first, since they had finished grouping. ¡°Oh, I want chicken too!¡± Jaewan¡¯s eyes sparkled and he shouted along with them, heading for the stage. Seokho, who was stuck next to him, shook his head with a dry smile. ¡°Geez, you call him a friend.¡± I didn¡¯t know what their rtionship was. But judging by their attitudes, they seemed to know each other before the shooting started. ¡°Let¡¯s focus on the mini game first, and introduce ourselvester.¡± I smiled politely and looked up at the stage. Three hourster. After finishing the chicken party and the first group meeting, everyone was exhausted. ¡°You have 30 minutes to rest and then move to the group practice room!¡± We were already worn out from the games that required a lot of effort. ¡°Wow¡­ You were really surprising, hyung.¡± As Iy down on the floor in my training suit, barely able to move a finger, Jaewan eximed as if he had taken some drugs. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked, opening my eyes slightly with fatigue. ¡°Your arm strength was no joke.¡± Well, of course. Unlike those guys who only cared about dieting for their body management, I had trained my muscles by carrying dozens of kilograms of food ingredients for the restaurant. There were two games that involved side dishes. Arm wrestling and thigh wrestling. ¡®Why do we have to do this¡­¡¯ Do the viewers like this kind of thing¡­? The trainees were running around like a pack of dogs, trying to get one more dish for themselves, and biting each other. Why did they make such a fuss over food, as if it was something funny or worth fighting for? It looked so pathetic to me. I couldn¡¯t understand their taste at all. But since they had no intention of sharing the side dishes, I had no choice but to do my best. In the end, I managed to hold my own in the arm wrestling and got some fried shrimp and potato wedges. In the thigh wrestling, a B-grade member went out and almost got injured, but sadly slipped and fell. But at least we got something extra. After being treated like heroes by the guys who never even properly introduced themselves, we finished our snacks and it was time to talk about the mission. ¡®The atmosphere isn¡¯t bad¡­¡¯ There was one A-grade and one B-grade member, but overall our team wasn¡¯t very skilled. Maybe it was lucky that the other team wasn¡¯t a top-grade lineup like Dream Hot A team. This was apetition where I had a decent chance of winning if I could just lead the D-grade and F-grade members well. ¡®What about the other teams¡­ How¡¯s the mood?¡¯ I looked around and saw Hwijin surrounded by D-to-F grades. ¡®Well¡­¡¯ It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do. At least he would debut eventually, which was a relief. As I was trying to focus on our team and forget about the others, I heard a squabbling noise from somewhere. ¡°Why do we have to decide the center by majority vote?¡± It was none other than the direction where Kang Yu-geon¡¯s Dream Hot A team was. ¡°You seem to be the only one who¡¯s against it. This is not a solo stage, it¡¯s a group stage. You should follow the opinions of your teammates, right?¡± ¡°No. I think I can do better¡­ It¡¯s better to raise the stage quality and get more attention than to leave it to the center who was chosen by politics and make it vague, right?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°So, to summarize your words, you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re unhappy that I¡¯m the center when you¡¯re worse than me, right?¡± From the side, I could hear a fierce battle going on. ¡°Let¡¯s think more objectively, shall we?¡± A guy with a sneering expression poured oil on the fire. ¡®What the hell is he doing?¡¯ They were supposed to cooperate, but they were setting off a nuclear bomb. With an expression that showed no sign of the first day¡¯s discouragement, Kang Yu-geon was at the center of the conflict. Chapter 195: Chapter 195: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 195 His Way (2) ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are they fighting over there?¡± Just before we moved to our individual practice rooms, amotion broke out and I heard murmurs from everywhere. ¡°Are they fighting over the center position?¡± ¡°Well, the center is important¡­¡± While everyone was having a debate between ¡®I understand¡¯ and ¡®They shouldpromise and sort it out¡¯, Dream Hot A team started a serious political game. ¡°How are we going to decide the center if we don¡¯t follow the majority vote?¡±The crux of the argument was who would be the center and how they would justify it. The trainee who seemed to have the most power in Dream Hot A team was Noh Se-hyun, an A-rank from Coreplex, a big agency. He had failed to debut in My Idol stage andter joined a self-produced group by Coreplex that was nned to debut. In Coreplex, he was in an ambiguous position where they didn¡¯t want to put him in the debut team right away, but they promised to give him a chance if he gained poprity and fanbase through variety shows. ¡®He must have done well in politics andworking in the early stages here.¡¯ I saw that he was quite close with Shim Naru when we practiced in A-rank. He acted like he was conceding to Shim Naru, who had a solid fanbase. He ignored Kang Yu-geon, who was in the lower ranks in both grade and ranking. ¡®These guys are learning bad things from somewhere when they barely have ink on their backs.¡¯ Tsk, I clicked my tongue inwardly, but the trouble in Dream Hot A team didn¡¯t end. ¡°What if we need a way that we can all agree on? How about a battle?¡± Se-hyun¡¯s face darkened at Yu-geon¡¯s suggestion. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time, why don¡¯t we just go with the reasonable way instead of trying to kill each other?¡± As Se-hyun showed a negative reaction, Yu-geon¡¯s lips curled up. And then he hit Se-hyun¡¯s pride. ¡°Oh. Are you not confident?¡± Yu-geon¡¯s im that ¡®he was trying to get the center position with politics without any skills¡¯ was gaining momentum. Then Se-hyun¡¯s face turned red and blue, very amusing. Scared? The other side threw a card that he couldn¡¯t refuse, and not only the other trainees, but also the camera was paying attention to Dream Hot A team with interest. ¡°Are they fighting over there? Wow, a fight broke out.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on, where are they fighting?¡± As soon as they smelled something stimting, the MC ran over like a hyena and opened his mouth to pour oil as a mediator. [What¡¯s going on in Dream Hot A team?] The production team joined in and there was no turning back. While Se-hyun couldn¡¯t answer and stuttered, Yu-geon smiled calmly and raised his hand. ¡°Manager, can I make a suggestion?¡± [Oh, sure, go ahead!] With the cheerful permission of the MC, who was the nominal representative of the nation¡¯s ¡®manager¡¯, Yu-geon spoke up. ¡°We had some disagreements about the position in the team. Can you please organize a battle evaluation for us topete for the main positions based on our dance and concept skills?¡± Yu-geon¡¯s confident attitude drew small admiration from here and there. There was even a trainee who whistled softly. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s awesome.¡± ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this, this is going to be fun.¡± The MC smiled brightly and answered, aware of the public opinion. [Just a moment. Is it okay with you, PD?] The MC raised his hand to get the consent of the production team. It was a consent, but the hall was already filled with excited trainees who wanted to watch a fun fight. I turned my head and looked at where the production team was sitting. I saw the main PD who was directing the camera with an excited expression. ¡®¡­Well, yeah. There¡¯s no better picture to attract attention than this.¡¯ It looked good for making headlines, no matter who won. I didn¡¯t know if it was a masterstroke or a blunder, though. Soon after, the sound source setting was finished and the MC decided who would go first and second. The first one would sing the first verse, and the second one would sing the second verse in session. Yu-geon was the second, and Se-hyun was the first. [Okay, let¡¯s start with the first one!] Everyone was eagerly waiting for the apaniment to start as the center battle unfolded on the spot. Se-hyun held the microphone in one hand and rolled his feet nervously to match the rhythm. [One two three, this is an emergency right now] [The moment I appear, everyone Freeze] As soon as the first verse started, Se-hyun moved his body with difficulty while holding the microphone. His skill was not bad considering he was a trainee, but¡­ It was a shame that he had widened his range with freestyle, but he only managed to reproduce the original choreography with some modifications. [Now it¡¯s all Disorder, everyone pays attention to me] [Dream hot, dreaming is free But taking over is my share] He didn¡¯t miss the lyrics, but he seemed to be chased by the choreography. The original song was sexy and dangerous, with a high level of difficulty and skill. This way, he looked like a petty thief running away from the police, not a dangerous mafia or a thief who was aiming for a big hit. [If you¡¯re careless, upset is a moment, be careful bang-.] [I¡¯ll take all the shing Cash right now] Soon the first verse ended and it was time for the point choreography where he was supposed to be handcuffed. But he couldn¡¯t figure out what to do with the microphone, so he just crossed his wrists and lifted them above his head. ¡®That¡¯s why the evaluation is¡­¡¯ He was not bad as a trainee. But would the viewers think so too? If Yu-geon killed it right after him, he would realize that he was a fairy in the trainee line. Everyone was tense as they skipped the interlude and the second verse started right away. [Three, two, one, everyone was nervous] [The moment I appear, everyone Freeze] And just as the lyrics said, as soon as Yu-geon¡¯s part started, everyone opened their mouths and forgot what to say. It was obvious that he had an advantage because he was tall, handsome, and had a good body, since it was a sexy and decadent concept. But Yu-geon¡¯s unique arrogant and rxed expression and gesture matched the song so well that it was scary. [From now on, Count again, I¡¯ll give you time to run away] [Dream hot, if you can¡¯t handle it, get out] Then, because he had a hand microphone instead of a microphone, he had a limit to his movements, but he felt like he had removed all the messy choreography and showed his charm. It was as if the song had been like this from the beginning. [The weight of the crown, I¡¯m always light] [I¡¯ll take all the dazzling Fame right now] Public execution. That was the only word that filled everyone¡¯s minds. How could he be a trainee? No one could take their eyes off him. Hezily lowered his eyes and finished the movement with a chin gesture. Then sighs burst out everywhere. ¡°He¡¯s crazy, really.¡± It seemed like everyone was finally excited about something interesting that happened in their routine of sleep-practice-eat-repeat, like a hamster on a wheel. I would have been watching with great interest too, if the center of this topic wasn¡¯t that guy I knew. How must the high school and college boys feel at their peak? Whoever wins, just fight. Fight and win, wow wow, the atmosphere of cheering them on filled the ce in an instant. Did they think that it would be more profitable to proceed with the battle after tapping the calctor for a while? Surprisingly, the production team gave the OK sign. [Wow! Then let¡¯s bring the Dream Hot A-ss trainees to the stage on the spot.] Noh Se-hyun and his gang¡¯s expressions darkened in an instant. But they must have some skills if they got A. Did they lose confidence in Yu-geon¡¯s overwhelming skills that he showed during the grade evaluation, or was it awkward that they became the topic of discussion even though they wouldn¡¯t lose? I don¡¯t know why, but anyway, by dragging the production team into this and hosting a public battle, it was no different from Yu-geon giving his teammates a huge middle finger. [Well, can you introduce yourself briefly?] The camera was now lighting up the stage, and Yu-geon confidently took the microphone first. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Kang Yu-geon from Dream Hot A-ss. I¡¯ve always wanted to show you my cool side, but thank you for giving me this opportunity.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s confident attitude, which showed no fear at all, was met with boos and cheers. ¡°What¡¯s with him? He¡¯s F-ss and he¡¯s picking a fight with A-ss?¡± ¡°Were you asleep during the evaluation? He¡¯s the one who did great on the stage, but got an F for learning the basics.¡± ¡°Really?¡± The trainees who hadughed at Yu-geon¡¯s grade soon realized that he was the wronged trainee of the topic and eximed here and there. [Kang Yu-geon, the trainee who willpete with Dream Hot A-ss for the center position,e out!] The MC handed the microphone to Se-hyun. If he didn¡¯t take the microphone here, it would be the same as proving that he was scared. As everyone watched and judged, Se-hyun reluctantly grabbed the microphone. ¡°I¡¯m Noh Se-hyun. I¡¯ll try my best to show you a great side of me.¡± He looked quite hesitant until he grabbed the microphone, but once he lifted it to his mouth, his expression brightened up a bit. But it looked like he was forcing a smile, as if this situation was very burdensome. [Well, before we start the first center battle in the history of My Idol Stage! Let¡¯s set a rule that both sides can ept!] The MC confirmed Se-hyun¡¯s participation and went on to exin the rules to the rest of the trainees. It was a cover stage, but since the official practice hadn¡¯t started yet, it was unfair topete by perfectly reproducing the original choreography. The person who had memorized the choreography of that song as a practice would have an advantage anyway. Then what would they decide the center with? The rule that the MC suggested was freestyle. As long as they could sing the lyrics live, they could do whatever they wanted. The rule was that the candidate who got more votes from the trainees by dominating the stage would take the center position. Noh Se-hyun¡¯s expression naturally frowned. If it was within A or B ss, they would think that it would be more advantageous to side with Se-hyun, who came from arge agency, got A, and looked likely to debut. But if it changed to a total vote, it meant that more power would go to the more numerous D and F sses. And if he opposed this rule¡­ ¡®That would be the same as admitting that he was scared and had no confidence in his skills.¡¯ It was a moment of dilemma, where he couldn¡¯t refuse or ept it happily. ¡®What is the production team thinking?¡¯ The second verse ended with everyone in awe, and Yu-geon finished his performance with a smile and ament. ¡°I¡¯ve been working on improving my skills since you said they werecking.¡± Not only the trainees, but also the producers were stunned by his talent. They couldn¡¯t hide their expressions. The nail in the pocket can¡¯t be concealed. If he seeded in securing the center position with this momentum, it would be impossible to overshadow Yu-geon unless they edited him outpletely from the cover stage. ¡®What are they going to do now?¡¯ I watched the situation without letting go of my tension. Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 196 His Way (3) [Let¡¯s start the mass voting now!] As the MC proceeded with the voting, trying to salvage the mood, it was clear that Yu-geon had the upper hand. There were 82 trainees excluding Dream Hot Group A. Most of them, except for a dozen or so of the top-ranked ones, sided with Yu-geon. It was obvious. His skills were so overwhelming that the oue was indisputable. The few A and B-ranked trainees who didn¡¯t vote for Yu-geon were obviously trying to sabotage him.¡°Ugh, how petty. They¡¯re embarrassed that A got beaten by F, so they¡¯re taking his side.¡± The lower-ranked trainees openly expressed their dissatisfaction. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they swap ranks? Wasn¡¯t he a total flop?¡± ¡°I guess not. He just went for the center position.¡± ¡°Man, what a shame. It would have been more fun to watch if they did.¡± The mockery from the lower-ranked trainees made Se-hyun¡¯s face turn red. He must have thought they were way below him. ¡®Well¡­ Shim Naru¡¯s reaction is lukewarm.¡¯ The difference between Shim Naru and him was that Naru had a somewhat sessful career and couldn¡¯t let go of his pride, so he threw a tantrum to get his way, and they reluctantlypromised. But this guy was different. He was still a trainee, even if he was A-ranked. He might have been able to pull some strings among the runts, but he was no match for the politics of the upper ranks, where pre-contracts andworking were rampant. ¡®He¡¯s out if he makes a fuss here as a trainee who hasn¡¯t debuted and has no career.¡¯ In the heated atmosphere, Yu-geon secured the center spot, and the mood of Dream Hot Group A plunged into darkness. ¡®So that¡¯s why he only had two friends.¡¯ Hwijin, who was under the stage, also looked at Yu-geon with a stunned expression, just like the other trainees. Hwijin was basically weak-hearted, but he wasn¡¯t the type to cooperate with injustice. He couldn¡¯t actively protest or stand up against something he didn¡¯t agree with, but he couldn¡¯t adapt to the political scene of the upper ranks, where pre-contracts andworking were rampant. That¡¯s why he became friends with Yu-geon, who climbed up with his skills. That¡¯s what he concluded, but then he wondered. ¡®How did he be friends with Naru?¡¯ He didn¡¯t seem to have anything inmon with him, neither in personality nor situation. He had many questions, but anyway¡­ he was d that Yu-geon made a strong impression again. Of course, it wasn¡¯t a reassuring situation from a distance. ¡®What is he going to do by making enemies of all the top-ranked ones?¡¯ I tilted my head, recalling the bitter editing of Boys Be Ambitious. The production team still had the intention to disadvantage Yu-geon, and they wanted to use the buzz he created as a bait. This time, too, there was plenty of room to make him look bad. They could edit out the parts where he showed his skills and highlight the parts where Se-hyun did well, making him look like a troll who stirred up trouble and exhausted his teammates for nothing. In fact, when I searched for him shortly after I met him, there were a lot of negativements like ¡®troll¡¯, ¡®nuisance¡¯, ¡®selfish¡¯. ¡®What¡­ is he going to do next?¡¯ I was worried, but it was his problem. I waited for the practice to end and headed to the group practice room as instructed by the production team. You asked me to act as a web novel editor and trante a text from Korean to English. Here is my attempt: ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m so tired~.¡± After washing off all the sweat and dirt in themunal shower, we returned to the dorm and flopped onto our beds. Today¡¯s practice had ended past 10 o¡¯clock, so the camera and the recording device were already turned off when we came in. ¡°You were really amazing today.¡± Yu-geon stretched out and sprawled on the bed, and Hwijin smiled proudly andplimented him. ¡°Well, I¡¯m confident on stage.¡± Yu-geon chuckled and rolled over. It was a cheeky move, but it suited his personality so well that I had nothing to say. ¡°What are you going to do from now on?¡± I asked him when I saw an opportunity, and he snorted and pondered for a moment before opening his mouth. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, I guess I have to stick with this character for now.¡± This character meant the cocky troll he was ying. ¡°Noh Se-hyun doesn¡¯t seem to get much support from the production team, so I tried to make a move. But I can¡¯t expect to get lucky like that again.¡± He was right. If the production team decided to push for his debut, and he got into a fight with someone like Shim Naru, he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance with his skills. He would be cut off before he even got a chance to show what he could do. And since he had made enemies of most of the top trainees with this incident, he couldn¡¯t hope for any smooth negotiation or cooperation in the future. ¡°I might as well give up on debuting. I just have to survive as long as I can and show as much talent as possible.¡± Hwijin nodded in agreement with Yu-geon¡¯s candid remark. ¡°Me too, although the situation is different¡­ I don¡¯t think I can make it to debut. I¡¯m trying to focus on spreading a good image and dropping out gracefully.¡± What nonsense. You guys are going to debut in six months. I couldn¡¯t tell them the secret I knew, so I coughed and gave them some encouragement. ¡°Both of you, cheer up. You have enough potential, so if you can do well in the voting, I think you have a chance.¡± Then they both burst outughing at the same time, as if I had said something ridiculous. ¡°What? You say that after seeing today?¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s too much of apliment.¡± They bothughed as if they wanted me to stop joking. No, really. You guys are going to debut. I felt my mouth twitch, but I didn¡¯t want to be treated like a crazy person here. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll just cheer for you.¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess your heart counts.¡± Yu-geon casually pulled the nket over him and tossed and turned. Soon after, the lights went out with Hwijin¡¯s good night, but I couldn¡¯t fall asleep and stared at the ceiling for a long time. ¡®I can¡¯t sleep.¡¯ Meanwhile, Yu-geon seemed to have trouble sleeping too, as I heard him rustling for a while. Rustle, rustle-. ¡®He¡¯s really annoying!¡¯ If he couldn¡¯t sleep, he should just lie still, not bother anyone. Finally, I got up and sat up, and Yu-geon whispered in the dark. ¡°Oh, did I wake you up?¡± This time, I was so annoyed that I blurted out what I felt. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Sorry. I can¡¯t sleep.¡± I red briefly at the direction where Yu-geon was and then flipped over the nket andy down again. Well, what can I say when he apologizes? I stared nkly at the pattern of the nket for a while and then blurted out. ¡°What¡¯s making you so anxious?¡± Yu-geon clearly heard me but didn¡¯t answer. ¡°Are you asleep?¡± In other words, answer me if you¡¯re not sleeping. Then Yu-geon answered in a low, muffled voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He looked so confident earlier. Did he get anxious when it became dawn and the surroundings were quiet? I couldn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t understand. Am I doing well right now, is this right? Is this the answer? Was there no better way? Isn¡¯t life about living in pain while chewing over these questions endlessly? Of course, if it were me, I wouldn¡¯t choose the same way as Yu-geon. He draws attention by making everyone his enemy. It sounds easy and simple, but if anyone could seed by doing that, countless audition programs would have done it by now. This was something only Yu-geon could do, and only Yu-geon could handle. And underneath that, there was a condition that he had to endure the ¡®weight of the crown¡¯ as the lyrics he sang today. I don¡¯t know about the other people in this world, But I know that Yu-geon can do it. ¡°Do you regret it? What happened today.¡± Yu-geon answered right away to the question I squeezed out at the end of the silence. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s fine.¡± Yu-geon snorted with a look of disbelief. He must have thought I was saying it too easily. ¡°There was no other way. That was the best I could do at the time, so I did it.¡± Yu-geon leaned against the wall, as if he didn¡¯t understand what I meant. ¡°So if you¡¯re not going to regret it, I think that was the best output you did. You can¡¯t change it, and you don¡¯t want to. If you would do the same thing if you went back to that time. Then that was the best you could do at the time.¡± I spat out what I could say out of what I wanted to say and then added a joke. ¡°It was better than hitting Noh Se-hyun in the face, right?¡± ¡°Pfft.¡± Then Hwijin, who was on the opposite bed, couldn¡¯t hold back hisughter and snickered. ¡°Were you listening?¡± Hwijin apologized right away. ¡°Ah, sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to eavesdrop. But honestly, you two are talking too loud for something that¡¯s hard to hear.¡± Hwijin desperately tried to make up for it and kept holding back hisughter. ¡°Justugh. I¡¯m serious.¡± I chuckled calmly and Yu-geon answered cheekily. ¡°Oh, but hitting him in the face would have been fun too.¡± ¡°It would have been fun, but not fun to take legal responsibility.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°But at least you hurt his pride, so let¡¯s call it even.¡± We exchanged harsh words as if joking and then started to talk about this and that again. When I think about it, it was nothing special. We were talking about our impressions of each other and the song we had to perform. I quietly slipped out of the conversation and closed my eyes, letting Yu-geon and Hwi-jin do most of the talking. Their voices soon became like a radio talk show, lulling me to sleep. As their low murmurs filled my ears, I heard someone whisper right before I lost consciousness. [Is this fun for you?] It was a sharp voice that scratched my eardrums, and it sounded vaguely familiar. But before I could figure out where I had heard it, I fell into a deep sleep. The next morning. I had avish buffet breakfast that still felt too extravagant for me, and then headed to the practice room that we had been assigned yesterday. ¡®Our group¡¯s atmosphere isn¡¯t too bad.¡¯ The song itself was refreshing and lively, so we just had to show off our youthful charm and make it look cute even if we were inexperienced. I had decided on the direction of the performance and was ready to persuade the other members, when I saw a huge bomb in front of me. ¡°Um¡­ there are six of us, right? Why are two of them missing?¡± There were only four of us in the group, including me. The two DF members who seemed to get along well yesterday were gone. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe they¡¯lle before the practice time starts¡­¡± A B-grade member checked the clock with a worried expression. There were only 17 seconds left until 9 o¡¯clock. There was no way they would make it. ¡°I¡¯ll ask the staff.¡± There was no cameraman in the practice room, since it wasn¡¯t our turn to film yet. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ I felt a surge of uneasiness as I remembered that strange voice from yesterday. Chapter 197: Chapter 197: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 197 Departure It was 9 o¡¯clock sharp when one of our members left to check on the situation with the staff. He came back after a while with a dark expression on his face. ¡°What happened?¡± Another B-level member asked with a worried look. The answer we got was something we never expected. ¡°He quit.¡± ¡°What?¡± We all wondered if we had heard him wrong.Usually, quitters show some signs beforehand. Theyin about their rank or level, or they look depressed¡­ But the D and F-level members who seemed like friends were far from depressed. They had a confident attitude despite their low rank, so we couldn¡¯t have predicted this at all. ¡°Why?¡± A C-level member asked, genuinely puzzled. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. He already cleared out his dorm andpleted the withdrawal process. The staff said they¡¯lle to the practice roomter and tell us more details¡­¡± So, while I was busy eating, he was already packing his stuff and leaving the set. This was not the time to eat well. Why so suddenly? We were baffled, but there was nothing we could say or do to bring him back. ¡°So¡­ what do we do now?¡± A C-level member looked at me and the two B-level members, with a really helpless face. He didn¡¯t seem to be shirking responsibility and pushing it to someone else¡­ he just seemed to have no clue. [C] [Kim Junwoong] ¡®He¡¯s a bit like Seon-woo.¡¯ The difference was that Seon-woo was slow at learning, but not clumsy by nature. And most importantly¡­ ¡®Our Seon-woo is much prettier.¡¯ He was the owner of a visual that could make me forget all the worries, troubles, and anger I had from elsewhere. This kid, on the other hand¡­ he needed to work harder, or have someone who could take care of him constantly. ¡®I miss Seon-woo.¡¯ I wonder if he¡¯s eating well¡­ Anyway, I pushed aside the sudden longing for Seon-woo. For now, since we were grouped together, I felt like I had to be the ¡®caretaker¡¯ for a while. ¡°We have only four members now. Group A has seven. Honestly, we¡¯re at a disadvantage in terms of power and formation.¡± I gave an objective assessment of the current situation, and Wonsang, one of the B-level members sitting on my left, nodded. Seeing his friendly reaction, I decided to point out all the sources of anxiety we had. ¡°And the original song is sung by 11 people, but we¡¯re covering it with four. That¡¯s also risky.¡± I meant it. Even 2-3 year veterans who had some experience after debuting would struggle to cover a song by a 10+ group with four people. It would be hard to fill the gaps on stage, unless we were a unitposed of elite members with amazing stage presence. Let alone trainees who hadn¡¯t debuted yet. This was something that would be hard to pull off even if we had a fire under our feet. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a problem too.¡± Junwoong nodded his head as if he agreed with what he heard. The rest of the B-grades also seemed to concur. ¡°Then what should we do? Can¡¯t we ask the A-team to send one person to our team?¡± The team lottery was decided by drawing lots anyway, and yesterday¡¯s practice was only about position distribution and arrangement direction at best, so that seemed to be the best option. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I think is the best for now too.¡± But I didn¡¯t know if the production team would ept it. As I waited anxiously, the PD came into the practice room with a few staff members and a cameraman. ¡°Hello. Oh my, you all look so gloomy.¡± The PD smiled warmly and approached us, looking rather yful, while we were not in the mood for jokes at all. ¡°Um¡­ We didn¡¯t expect this kind of trouble to happen, and we feel sorry for you too. What do you think is the best way for B-team?¡± He pretended to ask for our opinion, but he probably had his own suggestion in mind. I didn¡¯t hesitate to say what we wanted first. ¡°A-team has seven people and we have four, so I think the difference in numbers is too big topare in terms of scale. Could you please send one person from the A-team to our side?¡± As soon as I said that, the PDughed and answered as if he was waiting for that. ¡°Ah~. What to do. Actually, I went to the A-team earlier and talked to them, but they said they already discussed their strategic parts, and they are worried about leaking them, so it would be a bit difficult to move a team member.¡± What ame excuse¡­ I didn¡¯t buy it, but it would be too unfair to leave us with four people. The expressions of the team members, who brightened up as soon as the production team came in, darkened again. ¡°Then what should we do? We feel like we are getting too much penalty for something that is not our fault.¡± They must have something to propose, since they came here like this. I didn¡¯t know what it was, but I asked calmly. At that moment, ¡°Hello! Oh my, why do you all look so dead! Cheer up!¡± A person with an incredible tension joined the practice room with a big smile. ¡°Huh? Why is the mentor here¡­?¡± It was none other than one of the mentors, a choreographer in his 30s who gave me a super pass as a judge. His name was¡­ Kim Ra-yeon? ¡°Why? I came to help!¡± Everyone looked at him with doubtful eyes and bewildered expressions, as they didn¡¯t expect his appearance. The mentoring was originally divided into two parts: choreography (Kim Ra-yeon) / direction (Sabina) & vocal (An Seongjin) / arrangement (Shin Daegun), and each part was conducted twice. It was not understandable why he came alone to help, without his partner in the same part, the direction mentor. ¡°Can you exin a bit¡­?¡± I was the first to snap out of it and asked, and the PD immediately continued. ¡°Since it might be difficult for you to prepare with just four people, we decided to give B-team two more mentoring opportunities with Kim Ra-yeon mentor.¡± I quickly thought. The camera was filming us. If I epted it dly and happily here, how would they edit it and show it¡­ But I couldn¡¯t refuse either. It was an invaluable advantage to have two more expert feedback opportunities for a projectposed of only trainees. I was also an A-grade, but still a trainee. It would be much more effective to have an expert point out things than a fellow trainee. ¡®But why am I worried about the editing?¡¯ I would go back to reality before this aired anyway. It was the experience of being mistreated by all kinds of production staff when I was barely a thousand years old that made me react so reflexively. ¡°Okay. I think I¡¯m fine¡­¡± I nced around at the other members of my group, seeking their agreement. Junwoong, who had been staring nkly at me and the others, nodded his head quickly. ¡°I, I think so too!¡± The rest of the B-grade members hesitated for a moment, then realized that they had no choice here and agreed as well. ¡°I¡¯m fine too.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Then Ra-yeon opened her mouth wide andughed heartily. ¡°Well, then! Let¡¯s all put some strength into our shoulders, and straighten our backs! Let¡¯s get ready with the mindset that I¡¯m going to suck out your mentor¡¯s bones.¡± Only the mentor¡¯s lively voice echoed in the gloomy practice room. I barely finished the morning practice and headed to the cafeteria for lunch. I entered the bustling cafeteria and filled my stomach with the usual luxurious buffet. Then, I heard a snickering sound from one side of the cafeteria, where the A-grade friendship group was. ¡°Today, one person each from D and F left.¡± It was obvious that they were talking about our group¡¯s (former) members, and my ears naturally perked up. ¡°Oh, that. But I kind of get that.¡± Howe they have such fast information? I didn¡¯t know anything, but over there, the rumor had already spread. ¡°What is it? Did they just run away saying they can¡¯t do it, boo hoo?¡± They whispered in a low voice, trying not to be caught by the microphone. ¡°One of them had a family ident, and they only found out in the morning when the production staff finally told them¡­¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Even I felt a thud in my head. I had guessed that there might be problems because of the phone confiscation, but still. The spoonful of rice slowed down as the conversation continued. ¡°Then why did they both leave?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡­¡± Did they notice that I was listening? The trainee who had been talking loudly put his hand over the other¡¯s ear and whispered. I couldn¡¯t hear what he said, but the trainee who heard it looked convinced. ¡°Ah~. That¡¯s kind of understandable. Where did you hear that from?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a trainee in our group who shared a room with them.¡± And then the following content was quite shocking. ¡°If two people leave, do they share a four-person room? Lucky.¡± ¡®¡­¡¯ They chuckled as if it was a joke, and it made me feel cold. ¡°Wow, they have no morals.¡± ¡°What, don¡¯t you think the same? You said you were jealous when Min Sung¡¯s roomie leftst time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a rhyme of morals.¡± Was this something to joke about? Among them, there were two members who debuted in the final floor. Then, an unexpected person spoke up. ¡°Can you stop talking like that?¡± His voice was a bit high-pitched, as if he hadn¡¯t gone through puberty yet,pared to other boys his age. It was Shim Naru who widened his eyes and made a bored expression. As Naru, the center of the A-grade friendship group, showed his displeasure, everyone shut their mouths at once and then ruined theughing atmosphere with sarcasm. ¡°Yeah, now that I think about it, it¡¯s boring. Let¡¯s talk about something else. What else is there?¡± As they said that, they all giggled and changed the topic. It was a sight that made me sick. Naru¡¯s image improved a little bit, but my mood was still heavy. After the afternoon practice, we had a recording schedule. After most of the other teams finished recording, we were one of thest ones. ¡°So we can only practice with our recorded voices the day before the filming.¡± Since we focused more on the directing than the arrangement, the arranged MR wasn¡¯t that big of a burden when it came out, but¡­ ¡°Hmm¡­¡± From the perspective of an inexperienced trainee, it was enough to make me anxious. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We¡¯ll get more attention for our choreography and directing. We still have some time until our recording, so why don¡¯t we practice our dance a little more? We have to show them some sharp moves for a dance song.¡± At times like this, it was best to roll them into practice without giving them time toin. ¡°Ugh, again? The mentor just came and left, you know?¡± Junwoong screamed as if he was fed up, but I didn¡¯t blink an eye. ¡®This is the end if we do this well.¡¯ I wanted to go back to reality as soon as possible. ¡®There¡¯s a lot to do there too.¡¯ I wanted to get away from the trainees and have some time to admire how talented our kids were. ¡°Get up and stand in your ces. We have to learn it quickly before we lose the feeling.¡± If we¡¯re going to do it, we have to do it perfectly and win. I took a short breath and stretched my body. I had no idea what would happen at the first rehearsal tomorrow. Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 198 Copycat (1) I returned to the dorm after finishing the day¡¯s schedule and found Yu-geon already in the room. ¡°Did you shower already?¡± He had a towel around his neck and droplets of water on his hair tips, indicating he had juste out of the bathroom. ¡°Yeah, today¡¯s practice ended a bit early.¡± Even if it ended early, he couldn¡¯t havee back that soon since the schedule was fixed. I asked him out of concern.¡°Did you¡­ have a fight or something during practice?¡± He burst intoughter without hesitation when I asked him worriedly. ¡°What are you talking about? Why are you so concerned?¡± Then he reached out his hand to pat my head, but no way. I was neen, but I wasn¡¯t going to let a twenty-something guy treat me like a kid. ¡°Wow, look at your reaction speed. Am I dirty? I¡¯m hurt.¡± He eximed in surprise as I quickly grabbed his hand and pushed it away from my head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Someone doesn¡¯t like having their head touched.¡± If he was actually older than me, I might have epted it with a K-confucian mindset since I was young. But I hated it. I backed away with a disgusted look and heughed even more as if he found it amusing. ¡°Fine, I won¡¯t touch you. Thanks for worrying about me, but I can handle it myself, so don¡¯t stress too much.¡± That ¡®handle it myself¡¯ was what worried me. In reality, Yu-geon had achieved his debut by choosing a self-aggrandizing strategy without any of my conditions. But even if this wasn¡¯t reality, I couldn¡¯t help but care since he was always in front of me. ¡®I shouldn¡¯t be worrying about someone else right now.¡¯ I had a mountain of worries on my own. He said he would handle it himself. I stretched and put the timer and tools I used for practice on the bed and headed to themunal shower. ¡®If I can finish the rehearsal tomorrow well¡­ I¡¯m almost done.¡¯ It felt strange to realize that this bizarre dorm life was almost over. No matter how adaptable humans are. It was weird to suddenly be a 24-year-old person and then a 19-year-old who was neither myself nor someone else. And then I adapted and did what I could, which seemed to prove what was really me. ¡®My biggest strength is probably perseverance.¡¯ I try my best until I can coldly judge that it won¡¯t work. If it doesn¡¯t work, I change the route and find what I can do and do it. No matter where I was thrown, the secret to doing better than average was there. ¡®Let¡¯s work hard until the end.¡¯ With that thought, I finished a light shower and ran into a familiar face in the hallway. ¡°Hey! Long time no see!¡± It was Park Junki, a B-grade trainee who I hadn¡¯t had a chance to talk to properly since I met him at the audition. ¡°Uh. Long time no see.¡± He smirked as I greeted him with a lukewarm tone. ¡°How¡¯s your practice going? I heard the number of people there dropped a lot.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if he was trying to pry or just asking out of curiosity. I looked him in the eye and answered with a faint smile. ¡°Well¡­ so-so?¡± I didn¡¯t need to give him any information. I brushed him off and he widened his eyes as if he was surprised. ¡°Really? Well, that¡¯s a relief¡­ Anyway, hang in there!¡± He then disappeared with a group of B~C rank trainees who seemed to share the same room with him. What a nd guy. I looked at his back and his colleagues¡¯ backs and suddenly felt a bad premonition. I summoned the status window. ¡®Status window.¡¯ As soon as the translucent window popped up, I called up the inner thoughts card confirmation window. [Please select the target to check the inner thoughts card.] [Remaining times 1] I used two cards to check the attitudes of the B rank guys in the afternoon, and another two cards to update the A rank guys in the morning when I had breakfast, so I only had one left for today. [>Park Junki] [>Lee Cheon-hwan] [>Yu Jae-sik] [>Oh Du-yeon] [>Jo In-hyuk] Most of the trainees had inner thoughts cards floating above them, but fortunately there weren¡¯t many people in the hallway, so his name was right at the top. I opened Park Junki¡¯s card without hesitation. [>Park Junki] [- Should I tell him this? But if I say something and it goes wrong, I¡¯ll be the one to suffer¡­ Actually, we¡¯re not that close, so let¡¯s just pretend I don¡¯t know.] ¡®What¡­ What was he going to say but didn¡¯t?¡¯ I was left with a nagging feeling as if I had opened a Pandora¡¯s box. It was toote to go and ask him what was going on. In the end, I had to find out for myself. ¡®There was nothing special in the other inner thoughts cards I checked today¡­¡¯ When I came back from washing up, Hwijin was already there. ¡°You guys finished early?¡± Hwijin¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t bad, which was surprising since I thought he would be struggling the most. ¡°Yes, how about you, hyung? We still have some things to improve, but it seems like we have a rough idea.¡± I added some information that I didn¡¯t even ask for, hoping that it wouldn¡¯t look like I was bragging, and Yu-geon seemed to catch on to my intention and spat out the water he was drinking. ¡°Ah, gross.¡± I teased him a bit on purpose and Yu-geon kept shaking his shoulders and coughing until he made an excuse. ¡°No, I just heard a funny sound.¡± ¡°You should clean that up, hyung.¡± I shrugged and pointed at a tissue once, then looked back at Hwijin. ¡°Uh¡­ well, I think it¡¯ll be okay.¡± He looked pretty calm, and it didn¡¯t seem like he was lying to reassure me. ¡°They¡¯re all young and ufortable with me¡­ But I guess they¡¯re grateful that I have some experience and they listen to my opinions well.¡± It sounded like being assigned to a group of lower ranks without any high ranks was actually a blessing in disguise. ¡®Well, he did have some good nning skills when we did the Bobbyam missionst time.¡¯ He was a jack of all trades, but how did he remain a pearl in the mud until he was twenty-seven? It was a mystery¡­ But then again, there was a climax at the beginning. People would wonder why he couldn¡¯t make it when he had the money and the skills of each member to back him up. But the truth is, many things are more influenced by luck than we think. ¡°It¡¯s the same with business.¡± As the saying goes, a pearl is made by piercing a hole in it. No matter how talented a singer or how great a song, you can¡¯t survive if you don¡¯t stand out. In the red ocean where people who can sing well, dance well, and look good are saturated, it¡¯s impossible to catch the eye unless you have luck on your side. You either have to fit into the icon that the era wants, or ride the trend. If you miss the 1% timing, even if you¡¯re 99% perfect, you¡¯ll sink. ¡°Meeting the members who can highlight you the most andpleting the mission smoothly is also luck.¡± It was also my luck that I met the runaway members and got quite annoyed. I started to worry about Park Junki¡¯s innermost card that came to my mind. ¡°What did he worry about? He didn¡¯t even tell me properly.¡± While I was thinking for a moment, I noticed Yu-geon who had cleaned up the floor and asked him casually. ¡°Is there anything¡­ that¡¯s bothering you these days?¡± He pointed to the turned-off camera equipment with his chin and asked, and Yu-geon smiled mischievously. ¡°Nobody talks to me anymore.¡± ¡°¡­¡± That made sense. I shook my head as if I couldn¡¯t help it and climbed up to my bed quietly. ¡°Tomorrow will be busier because of the rehearsal, so go to sleep quickly.¡± I turned off the light after wrapping up the conversation, but I couldn¡¯t sleep because it was earlier than usual. Or when did I ever fall asleep right away? I tossed and turned quietly for a while and opened my eyes, and it was already morning. ¡®I can finally see how good the other teams are.¡¯ Of course, I had seen the final stage roughly, but the members had changed a bit since then, so I couldn¡¯t rely on my vague memory. ¡®I have to try anyway.¡¯ I have to do well. I stepped on the irondder with a firm determination. The rehearsal order of the DIY B team I belonged to was 12th. Considering that there were 14 teams in total, it was a prettyte rank. ¡®Will it be the same order for the recording tomorrow?¡¯ I asked the production staff nearby, but they said they couldn¡¯t confirm the recording order for tomorrow because it would be decided on the day. In the end, all we could do was sit quietly and watch the rehearsals of the other teams in the small waiting room. ¡®The teams that finished early went straight to the practice room.¡¯ It seemed that the teams that included Shim Naru and other trainees who were likely to debut were mostly assigned to the front ranks. ¡®I was also¡­ favored by the choreographer¡­ didn¡¯t I get a lot of talk?¡¯ They couldn¡¯t cover the order for me. ¡®It¡¯s a shame, but there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡¯ As soon as I sat down with the other three members in the seats that were arranged like an auditorium, the rehearsal began. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Overall, they were stages that matched the level of the trainees. To put it coldly, I could see why they didn¡¯t debut, or to put it warmly, they had a lot of room for improvement. As I looked up at the stage without much expectation, there were also some trainees who had outstanding skills among the many poor ones. ¡®If I had to pick someone who has the skills to debut here, there¡¯s only one person on the far left.¡¯ The ones who were chosen by the national managers were separate. Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 199 Copycat (2) The stage began as soon as the director gave the cue. ¡®Using a scarf as a prop for the choreography is not that umon¡­.¡¯ I shouldn¡¯t be biased from the start. They prepared the stage by reinterpreting the same song and choreography, so their idea might not be that original. It could have been a coincidence. I passed the beginning part, since they used the original choreography without any changes. They didn¡¯t use the scarf until the first chorus, which made me more curious and nervous about what they were going to do.¡®What are they trying to do with that¡­.¡¯ And then, the problematic dance break, a modified version of tap dance, started. They took out the scarves that they had tucked in their waistbands. ¡®Thankfully, they have a different way of using it than us.¡¯ The prop was the same, but the method was not. But still, it annoyed me just as much, and I saw Taeryun¡¯s eyes turn fierce. ¡°If they wanted a prop, they could have thought of something like a fedora or a cane¡­.¡± I felt the same way. We chose the scarf because we had a choreography where we started with our wrists tied together like handcuffs, and then we bit and freed them one by one in sync. ¡®At first, I thought of a fedora and a beret.¡¯ A beret was easy to make a choreography with, but it might not be enough to utilize the space with four people, so we scrapped it. A fedora might look too cheesy or old-fashioned, so we scrapped it. A cane was hard to get in the shape we wanted in 3-4 days, so we scrapped it. ¡®In the end, the only thing left was a scarf.¡¯ At first, we tied our wrists and started, and then we untied them and waved them like a scarf, or tucked them in our shirt pockets like a handkerchief. They might not have shown everything yet, but they just shook it like a scarf a few times and then pushed the end back into one side of their pants, making it look like a tail. ¡®It doesn¡¯t look like they copied the choreography either.¡¯ If I hadn¡¯t seen Junki¡¯s inner thoughts card, I might have thought it was a ¡®coincidence¡¯. But I had no evidence to raise an issue, and I just felt disgusted with only suspicions. That¡¯s when I caught Junwoong¡¯s expression at the corner of my eye. ¡®¡­¡­?¡¯ Why did he look so bored? He had been tense and gloomy since earlier, but now he looked like he hadmitted a crime, his limbs trembling. ¡®Why is he like that?¡¯ When I looked closely, he didn¡¯t look like a person who was nervous because his team¡¯s strategy didn¡¯t go as nned. He looked like he had done something wrong¡­. ¡®Could it be¡­.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure, but I put my hand on Junwoong¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Mr. Junwoong.¡± He was startled and screamed. ¡°Ee, eek.¡± Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t loud enough to be heard over the music, but it was enough to draw attention from the surroundings. ¡°Calm down. I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± He looked like he had been caught stealing on the spot, his eyes full of fear. ¡°Ah, sorry, sorry¡­.¡± Unfortunately, the mind-reading card could only read thoughts rted to me. I had no idea what they were thinking overall. The only thing that was clear was¡­ ¡®They both seem to have some doubts.¡¯ Indeed, it was worth having a conversation. I nced at the ion drink, a PPL product, lying next to me. The cap was slightly open. Then I pretended to make a mistake and kicked it over with my foot. ¡°Oops.¡± The drink bottle, which still had plenty of contents, fell over and soaked the hem of my and Wonsang¡¯s clothes. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡± The production crew noticed that something needed to be cleaned up and approached me. ¡°Do you want a new outfit?¡± ¡°Yes, please. Two sets, if you can.¡± I nodded quickly. Then the staff picked up the fallen bottle of soda and checked the size. ¡°What size are you?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ onerge, and how many do you need?¡± Wonsang answered with a flustered expression. ¡°I¡¯m M.¡± The staff quickly headed somewhere and soon brought back a new pair of pants. ¡°Do you want to change together?¡± I gestured towards the bathroom, hoping that Wonsang would get the hint. He nodded slightly, as if he sensed the situation. ¡°Okay.¡± I turned to Taeryun and said, ¡°Mr. Taeryun, do you want to go to the bathroom with me? You seemed to drink a lot of soda earlier.¡± He looked at me with a questioning expression, as if asking, ¡®Me?¡¯ and shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s go.¡± I discreetly pointed to the bathroom and he obediently followed me, as if he understood. Luckily, there was no one in the bathroom, and I locked the entrance as soon as everyone was inside. ¡®I can say I locked it because I was changing clothes. That should be a usible excuse.¡¯ Then I turned to the other two and opened my mouth. ¡°It¡¯s a bit strange, isn¡¯t it?¡± I was careful not to openly suspect Junwoong from the start, as that could backfire and make me a target of political intrigue. Wonsang seemed to be waiting for me to speak. ¡°Yes. Fortunately, it seems like the dance moves haven¡¯t been leaked yet, but the scarf is not amon material and there¡¯s something suspicious about it¡­¡± Then, unexpectedly, Taeryun said something I never thought of. ¡°Ah, did you check too, hyung? There¡¯s Park San-il on the other team.¡± Huh? I perked up at the unfamiliar name. Who is Park San-il? As I tilted my head in confusion, Wonsang exined for me. ¡°He¡¯s from the same agency as Junwoong.¡± Oh. I finally remembered the faint memory of the grade evaluation, and realized that Junwoong had auditioned on the joint stage. Could it be that they are from the same agency now, and he stole this idea and brought it to them? It was quite suspicious, but there were too many eyes here to ask anything. I calmed Junwoong down for now. ¡°Are you feeling unwell? Can you do the rehearsalter?¡± I asked with a worried expression as if I was concerned about the rehearsal. Junwoong nodded slowly. ¡°Yes, I, uh, I¡¯m fine!¡± He didn¡¯t look fine at all. The other two B-rank members also sensed that something was wrong with Junwoong and came closer to ask. ¡°You look really out of it. Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± Junwoong nodded his head vigorously, flustered. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m really okay!¡± Meanwhile, the A-team of DIY finished their rehearsal and left the set leisurely. ¡°There¡¯s an infirmary here. Do you want to go and rest for a bit? It seems like we have some time until our turn.¡± At Wonsang¡¯s suggestion, Junwoong nced around and avoided eye contact, then nodded slowly. ¡°¡­Yes.¡± He didn¡¯t look like someone who was just having a bad day. I immediately checked the inner thoughts cards of my teammates. [Choose who you want to check the inner thoughts card of.] [Remaining times 5] [>Seo Taeryun] [>Lee Wonsang] [>Kim Junwoong] I looked at Junwoong¡¯s first. [>Kim Junwoong] [- Do you know everything?] What¡¯s with this shortness? There was nothing more than this ominous one-liner. I doubted my eyes. ¡®What is he hiding?¡¯ I knew he had done something, but I wasn¡¯t sure what it was. ¡®Maybe¡­?¡¯ Did he give the scarf idea to the other team? That seemed to be the most likely scenario right now, but there was no reason to do that. Let¡¯s think logically. If he leaked the idea to the rival team, it would eventually hurt him as well. The ranking was individual anyway, and Junwoong¡¯s skills weren¡¯t that impressive. He had to do well in the teampetition to stand out and stay within the top 70 to avoid elimination. There had to be a convincing reason why he would do something that could harm himself. ¡®Usually, it¡¯s when I want to give a big f**k you to my teammates even if I fail.¡¯ But judging by the atmosphere during the practice, it wasn¡¯t that friendly, but it wasn¡¯t bad as a business. They also adjusted the parts well so that no one would take too much, and they were actually struggling to handle their parts and wanted to pass them on to each other. ¡®There¡¯s really no reason to do that.¡¯ As I was thinking, Wonsang came back after taking Junwoong to the infirmary. I decided to check the inner thoughts cards of Wonsang and Taeryun as well while I was at it. [>Lee Wonsang] [- I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s suspicious, but should I ask what he thinks?] [>Seo Taeryun] [- Maybe I should talk to him. Or I¡¯ll look like the weird one.] But to do it just for friendship¡­ I wonder if the risk he¡¯s taking is too big. ¡°I agree that Mr. Jun is a bit suspicious, but¡­¡± Did I go too far with that? I said it subtly, but Taeryun snorted. ¡°You don¡¯t know because you¡¯re a personal trainee, Hyun-seong.¡± What does being a personal trainee have to do with this? I raised my eyebrows with a puzzled expression, and Wonsang answered for me. ¡°They were famous for their agency strategyst year when they did season 1. Pushing the one with the highest debut potential in the agency.¡± ¡°What?¡± So what the other two suspected was. Junwoong leaked the idea to help out a member of the same agency in the opposite group. Is that okay to do? If I ask that in principle, of course it¡¯s not. But secretly, the contract writers are entrenched, and how many and what kind of secret tricks are there in the agency¡­ It was too naive to think that there would be none. ¡°What do we do now?¡± We can¡¯t kick Junwoong out now by making a fuss about the leak. First of all, we have to give up our stage to do that. It was not rational to raise the issue while giving up the stage. ¡®A group¡­ It didn¡¯t look that bad.¡¯ Anyway, the winner is over there, and it was awkward to im that they stole the idea that would fill 1% of A group from our group without any clear evidence. ¡®If they want to manipte it as if the loser can¡¯t admit the win or lose and is forcing it, they can do it as much as they want.¡¯ So if I push from my side, Taeryun and Wonsang won¡¯t sit still. What do I do now? Since the preparation period is short, we are theters, but we won¡¯t be pushed into copycats. It was a painful situation in many ways. ¡°¡­¡± What did I do in this case until now? In the food industry, copycats weremonly useful strategies. I had simr experiences countless times. I briefly recalled the experience of almost losing the first idea we came up with to theters. ¡®Usually, I added an alpha that the other side couldn¡¯t follow and pushed them away.¡¯ Now¡­ It was not an individual game, but a team game. I had almost saved a team by pulling it up to this point. ¡®If it¡¯s hard to differentiate the quality¡­¡¯ ¡°Ah.¡± Yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do. I organized the sentences in my head to persuade Wonsang and Taeryun, and drew their attention. ¡°I think it¡¯s unrealistic to demand an exnation from group A for now.¡± The two of them looked at me with their eyes narrowed, as if they knew that. Don¡¯t look at me like that. The main point is from now on. I opened my mouth with a smile. Chapter 200: Chapter 200: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 200 Copycat (3) ¡°Let¡¯s change our strategy. Let¡¯s make sure they can¡¯t copy us.¡± As soon as I said that, Wonsang frowned and asked. ¡°What if they still copy us? Wouldn¡¯t that be meaningless?¡± That meant we had toe up with a n. ¡°Until the rehearsal stage, let¡¯s pretend we¡¯re using scarves too and ask one of you two to contact the agency through the production team and request them to get us a new prop by tomorrow morning. And don¡¯t tell Junwoong about it.¡± Taeryun opened his mouth with a worried expression, as if he was wondering if it was okay to leave Junwoong clueless on stage.¡°How are we going to practice with Junwoong then?¡± ¡°We¡¯re only changing the prop, not the choreography. Actually, handling the prop will be easier, so I don¡¯t think it will be a big problem to change it suddenly on the day.¡± Wonsang nodded his head as if he understood, but he still looked suspicious and demanded an exnation. ¡°So what¡¯s the new prop going to be? If we have to order it by delivery, isn¡¯t it already toote?¡± No. What I wanted to use instead of a pheasant was a basic item that could be found in any 24-hour 1000-won shop. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s easy to get.¡± That being said, even though things rarely go as nned in the world. It seemed like everything was going wrong since the shooting started. As if someone was cursing us to fail. I tsked. I swallowed the sound of clicking my tongue. ¡®I have no choice but to do my best until the end.¡¯ I smiled brightly at Wonsang and Taeryun and answered. ¡°Good job, everyone!¡± After finishing the rehearsal, I greeted the staff below the stage with a loud voice, but only two of them waved their hands and responded. ¡®Even if we¡¯re unknown trainees who haven¡¯t debuted yet, they¡¯re really ignoring us too tantly.¡¯ I smiled brightly and came down from the stage, hiding my displeasure. Sure enough. There seemed to be some talk in the other team about the ovepping props. ¡°Is it okay to have the same props like that?¡± ¡°I think theposition of Team B is better.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t ignore the number of people. The more, the better, right?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t the mentor point that out during the mentoring?¡± ¡°They might have added it after the mentoring.¡± It was already a format where we had topete with the same song, but the props ovepped too, making the contrast more obvious. As long as we didn¡¯t fall behind in any aspect of theposition, direction, arrangement, or choreography, it was fine. We just had to improve the details that we didn¡¯t show today until tomorrow. There were two things that determined the oue of the mission. First, the judges¡¯ total score. Second, the internal evaluation of the trainees. The judges¡¯ score was up to 25 points per judge, and the sum of the four judges¡¯ scores could reach up to 100 points. The internal evaluation of the trainees was a system where the remaining 89 trainees voted for the winner between Team A and Team B through an app, and the number of votes was converted into points. ¡®Actually, this was just the way they used in the broadcast I watched.¡¯ If the production team had a favorite team, they could change the scoring system however they wanted before the broadcast. So I tried tofort myself by saying that I shouldn¡¯t care about winning or losing¡­ ¡®I don¡¯t really like losing to the trainees.¡¯ Even though I was with three losers, I had more than half a year of experience and the help of a buff skill. Losing was still a blow to my pride. ¡®Well¡­ if I can¡¯t win on the surface, I¡¯ll win in reality.¡¯ I shook my head and dragged the members who were stretched out like kimchi after one rehearsal to the practice room. ¡°Let¡¯s focus and finish quickly. We wasted too much time waiting earlier and we¡¯re running out of time.¡± As I stood in front of the mirror and fixed the formation, I pointed out the weak points that I saw in the rehearsal monitoring one by one. The members stuck out their tongues and nodded. ¡°Wow¡­ you remember all that?¡± It was obvious that they made the same mistakes in the same parts of the short stage. ¡°I don¡¯t just remember the mistakes. Taeryun, you did a good job with your eye contact at the end of the first verse. Please do the same next time.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ that¡¯s amazing.¡± Wonsang shivered as if he couldn¡¯t do that, and I added with a light smile. ¡°Wonsang, you have a good strength when you step on the stage, so you look stable. That¡¯s your strength. If you pay a little more attention to your upper body movements, you¡¯ll stand out more.¡± ¡°Really? I was watching too?¡± Of course you were. Iughed at his childish reaction. This way, the two of us and the two B-rankers maintained a decent rtionship. ¡°¡­¡­¡± The culprit, Junwoong, looked gloomy as if he had sold his country. He sold the team, not the country. It would be nice if he didn¡¯t show it so much. Even if I tried to ignore him, he looked so miserable that it was hard to deal with him without hesitation. ¡°Junwoong.¡± I called him softly when he was too quiet even during the practice. Junwoong flinched and answered. ¡°Ah! Yes!¡± He looked like he was advertising that he was guilty. I clicked my tongue again. Wonsang and Taeryun seemed to be sure of Junwoong¡¯s suspicious behavior, and they ignored him as if he didn¡¯t exist. ¡°Please tell me if you¡¯re hurt or have any problems. Junwoong, you worked hard today too.¡± It was getting close to 10 o¡¯clock. Considering that I had to get up early and prepare for tomorrow, it seemed better to go back to the dorm. ¡°Let¡¯s clean up and go back. Let¡¯s do our best tomorrow.¡± I tapped Junwoong¡¯s shoulder, hoping that he wouldn¡¯t cause any more trouble. He looked even darker, as if it was poison. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Well¡­ even if he did, we wouldn¡¯t be able to respond to another bomb in less than eight hours, starting from 6 o¡¯clock tomorrow morning. I shook off my anxiety and sent Junwoong to the dorm. ¡°Let¡¯s go back and rest. Wonsang, don¡¯t forget to contact your agency.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I already did. I don¡¯t think there will be any problem.¡± ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s cheer up until the end and see you tomorrow.¡± After a short bow, I returned to the dorm. Yu-geon and Hwijin were already ready to sleep. ¡°Oh, you¡¯rete today?¡± ¡°Yes. I had some¡­ trouble.¡± As soon as I said that, Yu-geon¡¯s eyes narrowed as if he knew what it was. ¡°Ah, I know what it is. The scarf, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The scarf¡­ it¡¯s not that unusual, so it could be a coincidence, but¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s something that makes it hard to think of it as just a coincidence.¡± I quickly checked that the recording device was off and added. The first re-evaluation was scheduled to be filmed right after the group mission results came out until midnight. That meant¡­ I had only one day left, assuming I seeded in the mission right away. I didn¡¯t want to exin in detail when I had already found a solution. Yu-geon and Hwijin looked at me with a hint of expectation, as if they finally had a chance to act like brothers, but I turned my head away. ¡°I¡¯ve solved it, so it¡¯s okay. I have to get up early tomorrow, so I need to close my eyes soon.¡± I cut it short and wrapped it up. They both coughed with a disappointed look on their faces. ¡°Is there anything we can do to help?¡± I snapped back with narrowed eyes. ¡°No.¡± No. Go away. ¡°I see.¡± Yu-geon seemed embarrassed and added one more thing. ¡°Let me know if you need anything. I¡¯ll help you with anything I can.¡± That was so reassuring that I almost cried. You should take care of yourself. I sneered, thinking of Yu-geon who had disappeared in reality. That wasst night. The lights werepletely turned off and the darkness was filled with the faint breathing of Yu-geon and Hwijin. ¡®This is the end.¡¯ I thought so and felt a bit sad¡­ What am I talking about? I had a truckload of things to deal with when I went back to reality. But I gained something from this involuntary experience. How Floss was a group that existed like a mirage in the air. They acted like close friends in variety shows and interviews, but they all strategized for their own benefit. The oue was decided from the start, and it was a matter of whether you became a follower or got chosen by the system to rise up. They were afraid of being out of favor, so they stepped on others, and struggled to get a little bit of crumbs from their positions. ¡®This is how they roll the kids with dreams and passion.¡¯ I was disgusted. No one said that this show-off tournament was wrong. Even the adults who wore the title of mentor. Suddenly, I felt a fever and fanned myself with my hand. I went to sleep and woke up as soon as I heard the busy sound of preparing breakfast in the hallway. ¡°Did you get the props?¡± As we headed to the group practice room after finishing our meal early, Wonsang came in with a small stic bag. ¡°Yes, I just got it.¡± ¡°Phew, thank goodness.¡± Taeryun and I sighed with relief, while Junwoong tilted his head with a puzzled expression. ¡°Oh, we changed our props. I didn¡¯t get a chance to tell you, Mr. Junwoong, because we decided on it hastily after the rehearsal yesterday.¡± The first recording was scheduled to start at 10 a.m., and lunch would be delivered by groups, so Junwoong had no more opportunity to contact the other members. ¡°What?¡± Junwoong looked surprised, as if he had no idea. ¡°The choreography is the same. You just use it to tie your wrists, and then break the string with force. At the end, where you used to shake the original prop, you just throw it behind the stage.¡± As I exined briefly, I took out a toy handcuff from the bag that Wonsang brought. It looked cheap up close, but it didn¡¯t matter, since it would look convincing on the screen. ¡°Let¡¯s do one more run-through and then go to standby.¡± I snapped the handcuff on my wrist and looked around the practice room. Junwoong¡¯s expression was thoughtful. He must have figured it out by now, unless he was an idiot. That we suspected him of leaking our idea. ¡°¡­Okay.¡± Please don¡¯t have a mental breakdown and cause trouble until the stage is over. I sighed inwardly, feeling sorry for him, but having nothing more to say. Fortunately, everyone did well in the first practice after changing the prop from a scarf to a handcuff. Now we just had to do the same for the main stage. I kept an eye on Junwoong¡¯s anxious expression and took him to the waiting room, preventing him from contacting the other members. ¡°Can we find out what order we are in?¡± I grabbed a nearby staff member and checked the cue sheet. It was the same as yesterday¡¯s rehearsal. ¡®Phew.¡¯ The risk of being copied was zero now. I finally rxed a bit and sat down in the waiting room, which was like a bleacher. Yu-geon, who was sitting at the end of the room, saw me and waved his hand to greet me. Yeah. This is thest time, anyway. I waved back cheerfully. Yu-geon looked surprised, as if he didn¡¯t expect it, and thenughed heartily before turning his head to the front, caught by his member. ¡®Geez¡­¡¯ What a weirdo. I muttered a curse at Yu-geon in my mind and looked up at the stage. This bizarre trainee experience wasing to an end. Chapter 201: Chapter 201: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 201 What People Want (1) The first stage was about to start. Several cameras were shining not only on the stage, but also on the other trainees sitting below, to catch the viewers¡¯ psychology, as well as any funny or provocative scenes. ¡®I don¡¯t know if this will actually air.¡¯ Everyone was hoping to get on the broadcast even from below the stage, and they didn¡¯t spare their cheers. I looked around awkwardly at the other trainees and team members, then turned my eyes to the stage. Unless they were like Hwijin, who was aiming for a re-debut, they were all mediocre trainees, so it wasn¡¯t such a great stage.Fifty-fifty, to be honest, should I say it was mediocre? But it seemed that the mentors¡¯ coaching had some effect, or not, because they had made a huge improvementpared to the first preliminary audition. ¡®The preparation period was only a week from the start. This is good enough.¡¯ Thirteen trainees had dered to quit halfway, saying they didn¡¯t know it would be such a tough march. From the first to the eighty-seventh, they all clenched their teeth and made the stage. Even if they were eliminated after this stage, they wanted to show their best results for this stage. That made me feel a bit sad. ¡®No one is not desperate.¡¯ So all the more, it should be fair. The ranking should be determined by the skill, I thought. But¡­ I nced at the seat where Yu-geon was and shook my head. It was no different from ruining myself to have such expectations in a system where the winner was already decided. The bigger the gap between the fairness in my imagination and the reality, the more frustrated I would be. With a short impression, the first stage ended, and I apuded the trainees who had worked hard. As the recording proceeded sequentially from the first team that started, Junwoong¡¯s expression became darker. ¡°Are you okay?¡± In the end, Wonsang, who had been ignoring Junwoong with a cold attitude, asked him with a worried expression, thinking that it might affect the stage. ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Junwoong raised his head, startled by Wonsang¡¯s concern. After that, Junwoong tried to look calm, feeling pressured by the awareness that his team members were worried about him, and looked up at the stage. ¡®If there¡¯s still a car ident left, I hope it happens after everything is over.¡¯ With that unrealistic hope, I looked up at the stage again, and the stage of the team that Hwijin belonged to was starting. ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ Hwijin chose a fresh high-teen bad song [First Love]. He wore a simple design of summer clothes, different from the school uniform-like outfit he wore at the opening stage shooting, matching the concept of the song. ¡®To be honest, one of them looks more like a teacher than a student.¡¯ Hwijin was young-looking, but he looked like a college freshman at best, so he stood out a bit. Everyone seemed to have the same thought, and there was a lightughter here and there. [We¡¯re looking at each other from the end of the clock hand] [It¡¯s still a distant future, I¡¯m a little anxious] They focused on delivering a pure and fresh image, and it felt refreshing just to watch. [This moment, our precious memories] [I¡¯ll hold your hand tight so we don¡¯t scatter] Hwijin¡¯s efforts paid off as he performed the movements without being too aggressive or too simple, using the line movement and hand gestures well. ¡®If we recruit him, we¡¯ll have more options for nning¡­ He¡¯ll definitely be helpful.¡¯ [I want to tell you right now, I love you] [And my heart that beats so much that I can¡¯t tell you] Not all the members were perfect, but they felt more excitement than nervousness. It was a pure joy to be able to do this stage regardless of the result. At the time of Boys Be Ambitious shooting, I wondered if Hwijin was lucky to be in a good group. ¡®At this point, it must be his leadership skills.¡¯ I could feel that Hwijin and the other members were enjoying the stage, and their energy made the viewers happy too. Why couldn¡¯t I feel this positive power in Floss? The reason was obvious if I thought about it a little. ¡®He was only a nominal leader, not a real one. He didn¡¯t have a chance to put his ideas into the nning, or the kids didn¡¯t follow him even if he did. Something like that.¡¯ No matter how talented a leader is, he can¡¯t show his abilities if the members don¡¯t follow him. I felt a bit sorry for Hwijin, who must have suffered a lot in Floss. [You always shine a light in my heart] [Please hold my hand right now-] As the seven of them stood side by side and stretched their arms in sequence, the trademark choreography of the original song, the apuse and cheers erupted everywhere as the wholeposition was finished. The quality and intensity of the stage were better in the previous groups, but this was the only time the apuse came out. ¡®It must be because this team was the first to convey the performers¡¯ happy energy so well.¡¯ I also apuded sincerely and showed my respect. ¡®The next one is¡­¡¯ As soon as my positive mood sank back to the ground, the stage of DIY A group started. ¡®Anyway, the timing¡­¡¯ Tsk. I clicked my tongue inwardly and looked at the stage, as if to prove that our suspicion was not jealousy, their costumes were simr to ours. They seemed to put more effort into it, their costumes were better in detail. Of course, I felt bad. Wonsang and Taeryun also frowned. Only Junwoong among our members was looking away from the stage with his head down and silent. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ The final version I saw was not a bad stage. They didn¡¯t waste time on brainstorming, and they used the idea they got to improve it, so maybe it was a natural result. If someone who didn¡¯t know saw it, they might think it was amazing to make this kind of stage in such a short time with only trainees. ¡®But in the end, it¡¯s the quality they made with the time they saved by stealing ours.¡¯ If we didn¡¯t waste time on concept, props, and redoing, we could have done better than this. No matter how much I was, I couldn¡¯t help but feel unfair. ¡°¡­¡± Now that it¡¯se to this, I can only hope that our n B will work. I swallowed a sigh for the nth time and pped without any heart. I couldn¡¯t help but lose my appetite as I watched the expressions of my teammates on stage, who seemed to be proud of the stage they had prepared with sincerity. ¡®Just a little more, hang in there.¡¯ As soon as the stage of DIY A team was over, the stage of the team that Shim Naru belonged to started. ¡®This one was a rock bad song with almost no choreography.¡¯ It was a song that had topete with explosive vocal range and singing skills, as well as poignant emotional lines. ¡®Maybe all the participants who want to be the main vocal of the neighborhood are gathered there.¡¯ They seemed determined not to disappoint, as they put a lot of energy into the first verse. Was it because they were in good condition then, or because they didn¡¯t have as many parts as they did in Bobbyam, so they could handle it themselves. Shim Naru, who had been a concern, also showed decent skills for what it was. To be precise¡­ ¡®Even if they fly and bite, they are mostly trainees with no experience, so they have to stand out among them.¡¯ There was a basic difference in skill between him and the other members. Even if they were all in the same boat, there were people who made a stage that was enjoyable for both the viewers and the performers, hiding it as much as possible, and there were people who made a stage that made themselves stand out the most. The sure thing was that Naru could be a much better member than he was now if he just changed his mind a little. He was too talented to be left alone to fall. ¡®If he chooses not to change, he¡¯s not worth dragging and pulling with force.¡¯ As I became more confident in my original thoughts, the number of songs left decreased, and soon it was my turn. ¡®I hope I do well first.¡¯ Iforted the shoulders of Jeon Woong, who was shriveled up. ¡°Don¡¯t be too nervous and rx your shoulders.¡± Of course, if I thought about what he had done, which was suspected to be his doing, I would have been boiling with resentment from the beginning, but until the end of the stage, we were one team, whether we liked it or not. ¡°Ah, yes¡­¡± Junwoong¡¯s eyes looked up at me weakly and then fell to the floor again. I finally opened my mouth to say something. ¡°I know you¡¯re upset right now. But I hope you don¡¯t give up on the stage either.¡± Junwoong raised his trembling eyes and met mine. Soon his eyes lost their focus and shook from side to side, looking pitiful, but I didn¡¯t feel any more sympathy. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not often that you get to show your stage as a member in front of so many people. You¡¯ve been working hard, too, Mr. Junwoong. You have to show them a great result and finish it.¡± I tried to say it nicely, instead of saying don¡¯t ruin the stage by being depressed. Junwoong nodded faintly and muttered. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± If you¡¯re sorry, do well on the stage. I swallowed a sigh of frustration inside. ¡°Next stage, DIY B team, please stand by!¡± This was it. Just a little more. I got up from my seat and headed for the stage. As the lights came on, it was clear that only four people were on the stage. DIY B team was the only one with four people, which everyone already knew from the rehearsal. But whether they were hoping to get on the broadcast with a cut or two, reactions of surprise erupted here and there. ¡®Let¡¯s do this.¡¯ I had no regrets about the stage, because I did my best. The only thing that worried me was whether these trainee members would follow me well until the end. As the first verse started, I tried to console myself by thinking that even if I messed up, I would still get a decent result in the individual round. [Loud Music, Everyone¡¯s Attention] [Changes as Soon as You Appear] It was a pop dance song with a strong jazz feel in the instrumentals. The tempo was slow overall, but it suddenly sped up in certain sections. My goal was to get through those sections without copying the original too much. ¡®I wanted to use the scarf as a prop, but I didn¡¯t expect this to happen.¡¯ The scarf could have been a noticeable prop, but when a provocative item like handcuffs came out, it could have ruined the main point. I didn¡¯t want to hear the criticism that I was using a stimting prop to attract attention rather than showing my skills. But since the situation was like this, I had nothing to hide. There were four people on the stage. We used therge space avable for each person to make our movements bigger. Fortunately, the reaction from the audience below was not bad, and it was time to use the toy handcuffs in my pocket. ¡®Just don¡¯t do anything weird and finish it well.¡¯ I clenched the handcuffs in my hand as I reached into my pocket nervously. Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 202 What People Want (2) nk. As the handcuffs came out of my pocket, everyone in the audience, including the trainees and the judges, widened their eyes. It was natural. I hadn¡¯t used this prop until yesterday. The scarf that I had originally used was gone, and a different thing popped out, making everyone look surprised. [Lock me up right now, so I can¡¯t leave you] [Dangerous, your movements make me unable to think of anything else-]ng. The toy handcuffs were so weak that I could tear them off with a little force, but they were enough to capture everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Wow, he changed the prop in a day.¡± ¡°This is better. It¡¯s better than beingpared to the others.¡± ¡°If he has to gather his wrists anyway because of the choreography, the handcuffs are more neat and impactful¡­¡± Hwijin and Yu-geon, who had been worried about me since the stage started, looked up at me with a bright smile, as if they were relieved. ¡®Geez¡­ They¡¯re still young kids who haven¡¯t debuted yet, and they¡¯re worrying about each other.¡¯ I muttered a half-mocking joke to myself as I stepped to the beat. Although I was getting help from the skill of fate, tap dance was really new to me, so I was worried about what would happen if I fell behind¡­ Yeah, right. When I opened the lid, the other members of the group were struggling with the genre that they had never tried before, and I had to carry them by the cor. ¡®I guess this is also an experience in its own way.¡¯ With the final victory of my mind, the music was rushing to the end, and [With a burning thirst, I swim through the unknown that is you] [It¡¯s okay, just hold me right now] As I broke the handcuffs with a force that contrasted with the lyrics that asked me to hold on, a cheer erupted from the entire audience. ¡°Wow, he nailed it.¡± ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect that, wow.¡± The members of group A, who had finished their stage and were having fun, also looked up at me with a chewing expression at first, but this time, some of them looked genuinely surprised. The handcuffs were broken, but my hands were still crossed as if they were not released, and I continued the choreography. With thest whisper-like lyrics, I took off the handcuffs and threw them behind the stage. [Tie me up more, I won¡¯t run away anymore-] ¡®It¡¯s over.¡¯ The judges couldn¡¯t calm their expressions as they were stunned by the cheers that were different from group A. ¡®That¡¯s why group A¡­ It was obvious that they had agreed to win from the beginning.¡¯ Only the choreographer among the four judges was purely happy, then gasped, and barely regained his senses, shaking his head. ¡°DIY group B, please clean up the stage quickly!¡± One of the staff jumped onto the stage as soon as the recording was over and made us go down. As the choreography became more intense in the second half, Taeryun and Wonsang opened their mouths with a breathless expression. ¡°Did we do well?¡± Their cheeks were flushed, and they couldn¡¯t calm down the excitement of the best stage they had done, and they looked like they were walking on the clouds. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at their faces. ¡°Yes, you did well.¡± ¡°Wow, look at your hands shaking.¡± I felt a surge of emotion in my chest as I watched the young kids, barely twenty years old, unable to contain themselves after finishing their stage. I wondered if it was really that great, but then I remembered that this was their first stage that they had produced themselves. Even though I had carried them hard, I felt a sense of pride. ¡°Will this be edited out?¡± They seemed worried about how they would appear on TV, as if they had just realized how important it was. ¡°Yes, it will be fine.¡± I answered, recalling the broadcast of My Idol Stage episodes 1 to 4 that I had skimmed through, hitting the fast-forward button every ten seconds. I didn¡¯t pay much attention, but the stages were shown for at least two minutes each, even with some editing. I barely had time to feel relieved that it was over, when Wonsang started sobbing as soon as we returned to the audience seats. ¡°Huh, are you crying, hyung?¡± Taeryun was startled by Wonsang¡¯s tears and offered him the scarf he had brought as a disguise. ¡°Ah, sorry, I¡¯m sorry. I just got too nervous.¡± The camera didn¡¯t miss Wonsang¡¯s crying face in the crowd, zooming in on him. ¡®Well, at least this will give us some more exposure.¡¯ I smiled faintly and looked at the two of them. There was a warm bond between the three of us. Only Junwoong was isted, as if he belonged to a different team. He was staring at Park San-il¡¯s team A with a determined look in his eyes. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s done and over with.¡¯ A momentter, I saw that he had disappeared while we were busy calming Wonsang down. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not my problem anymore.¡¯ I turned my gaze to the stage. Yu-geon¡¯s team, Dream Hot A, was starting their performance. ¡®Center¡­ he did well back then, but I don¡¯t know what happened after that.¡¯ I was briefly worried, but then Yu-geon jumped to the center of the stage and the music began. ¡®He¡¯s so disgustingly good.¡¯ He hadid the groundwork well (actually, he had done it himself) and his skills were so annoyingly impressive. [One two three, this is an emergency] [Everyone Freeze- when I appear] He had already captured everyone¡¯s attention in his practice clothes. But now, with his outfit and hair matching the concept, he was the only one who stood out among the six people on stage. ¡°Wow, really¡­ Everyone else looks like backup dancers except for him.¡± Someone blurted out their honest opinion and gasped, covering their mouth. It was a funny remark, but cruelly true. [Be careful of the upset, Bang-] [I¡¯ll take all the shing Cash right now] It didn¡¯t seem like the center had been favored too much over the other parts, considering the fiercepetition within the team. But Yu-geon still shone too much. ¡®That¡¯s a relief, I guess.¡¯ If he had stolen the spotlight without being the center, he would have taken away all the advantages of the center, who wouldn¡¯t even be able to console himself by saying that it was because he was the center. By the end of the second verse, the stage waspletely dominated by Yu-geon. ¡®They can¡¯t not air this.¡¯ No matter which scene they edited and broadcasted, Yu-geon would be noticeable. ¡®Well, I¡¯m d it ended well.¡¯ I let out a sigh of relief as the final 14th group finished their performance. The only thing left was to check the results of each group and the first round of re-evaluation. [Well, that¡¯s it for the passionate stages of the 14 groups! You all did a great job. And¡­ Now it¡¯s time to decide the winners and losers!] As the MC proceeded quickly, the seats where the judges were sitting lit up and mes shot up high. [The groups that are called wille up to the stage and listen to the judges¡¯ments and check their judge cards.] Judge cards? What are those? I squinted my eyes at the changed method from the broadcast I saw. [There are four judges in total, and the team that receives three or more judge cards will win the honor of being the winner.] Then¡­ they probably won¡¯t go 2:2, but what if they do? Wouldn¡¯t that be a tie? I wondered, when the MC added an exnation. [If the judge cards do not determine the oue, the trainees sitting here will decide the oue themselves.] ording to the MC¡¯s exnation, the production staff went around the audience and handed out something like buttons. ¡®I wonder how often they¡¯ll be used.¡¯ Soon, a panel that recorded the results appeared on therge screen behind the stage. [From Today, We] [Dream HOT] [Next] [Endlessly] [First Love] [You and I Lead] [D.I.Y] And then, the first one to be called was ¡®From Today, We¡¯ and the judges¡¯ments began. ¡®I¡¯ll be back to reality soon.¡¯ I secretly loosened my tense body and took a long, deep breath. It would be nice if I had a chance to talk to Hwijin or Yu-geon for thest time. But there was no time to regret, and it was our turn soon. ¡°D.I.Y, pleasee up!¡± As we went up to the stage, a bright spotlight shone down on our heads. [Okay, let¡¯s start with group A¡¯sments.] As the MC guided, the judges¡¯ments that were obviously clich¨¦d followed. They used the props well, and they brought out the original song¡¯s atmosphere well. It was afortable stage to watch. Something like that. And then, thements for group B, which I belonged to, followed. ¡°Um¡­ I got the impression that it was quite different from the original song. It was good that you used props that weren¡¯t obvious, but you used something too eye-catching that it diminished the meaning of the cover¡­¡± Ha. Iughed first because it was ridiculous. It was obvious that they were trying to make group A the winner somehow. ¡°I think it would have been a better result if you respected the original song more.¡± Singers, idols, rappers, they all spouted nonsense, and the choreographer was thest one to grab the microphone. ¡°I¡­ I loved it. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how much more amazing stages you¡¯ll show when you go self-producing. I could see the traces of your efforts to fill the gap with fewer members. Don¡¯t worry too much about the results and keep working hard.¡± As soon as thestment that seemed like giving poison and medicine ended, four huge card shapes rose behind us and the lights shed red and blue alternately. And the result that was raised with a bang-bang-bang sound effect was. [Group A 3 : Group B 1] As expected. It was a predetermined oue. The members of Team A cheered as Park San-il, the center of attention, grabbed the microphone. ¡°Thank you. I will work harder!¡± His face was soaked with joy, as if he had already won the internal evaluation without a doubt. In contrast, Junwoong gritted his teeth. The self-praising interview of Team A ended, and the microphone was handed over to hear the voice of the loser. ¡°¡­?¡± Junwoong snatched the microphone that should have been delivered to my hand. What the hell is this? He turned on the microphone with a bitter expression, as if he was going to kill someone. I was momentarily flustered. ¡°Ah.¡± He checked that the microphone was working properly, and then dropped a bombshell. ¡°I quit as a trainee.¡± Why did he say that here, of all ces? Everyone was stunned, unable to move their eyes. Then, from Junwoong¡¯s mouth, a story that everyone vaguely knew but couldn¡¯t say came out. ¡°I don¡¯t want to do this so shamelessly. You were curious why the props that were ovepped until rehearsal suddenly changed, right? I leaked the props and directing ideas to Team A under the agency¡¯s orders¡­¡± The production team sensed something was wrong and quickly cut off the microphone broadcast, but Junwoong didn¡¯t stop. ¡°I stole Team B¡¯s idea and gave it to Team A. The trainee from our agency in Team A signed a pre-contract. The trainee who is being pushed has to win stably, but I¡¯m just a sidekick who couldn¡¯t make it to the production team¡¯s pick, you know.¡± His voice was so loud that turning off the microphone didn¡¯t seem to be enough. The production team hurriedly ran up to the stage and dragged Junwoong down. ¡°Does this sound like someone else¡¯s story? You¡¯re the same! The ones who will debut are already decided. We¡¯re just filling the headcount, right? Ugh, let go! Let go, you X! I¡¯ll quit this X thing!¡± He struggled like a drunkard being dragged to the detention center. Junwoong disappeared behind the set, and there was an awkward silence. The MC and the production team exchanged a few words. Then, he opened his mouth in the midst of the noisy atmosphere. Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 203 Listen When People Talk [This is nothing but a one-sided false im by an individual cast member that is different from the truth, so let¡¯s proceed with the result announcement right away¡­] However, a full-fledged protest began among the lower-ranked trainees. ¡°I¡¯ve heard it too. There are participants who wrote separate contracts.¡± ¡°Honestly, didn¡¯t group B do much better on the stage just now?¡± The B and C grade trainees, who were swept away by this, murmured anxiously among themselves and the noise grew uncontrobly. ¡°¡­¡±The real pre-contract writers, the A~B grade members, closed their mouths as if they were dead and sighs of self-mockery burst out here and there. ¡°What¡¯s the point if the debut group is already decided? What am I doing here?¡± With a self-mockingugh, the atmosphere that should have been quiet in an instant became a mess. [Please keep quiet while waiting in the audience. We will proceed right away¡­] ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how hard I try, I¡¯m just a follower. What¡¯s the difference between dropping out in three hours or dropping out now?¡± One of the trainees, who sensed defeat, was swept away by the outburst of Junwoong and ripped off his nametag and microphone and left the set. [If you leave now, you will be disqualified immediately.] The MC¡¯s threatening announcement did not stop him from heading outside and the door shook once and opened wide and then closed again. ¡°Who wrote the contract again? If Park San-il wrote it, there must be some in B grade and some in A grade.¡± The trainees¡¯ murmurs did not stop and the confusion grew out of control. Eventually, the production team decided that the judging process was no longer possible and stopped filming. [All trainees, please return to your assigned amodation and wait individually. We will call you separately and inform you of the changed filming schedule.] If they send them back to the amodation, there will be recording devices and cameras in each room. They seemed to want to prevent the trainees from spreading rumors and spections among themselves. ¡®I don¡¯t know if that will work.¡¯ As we returned to the amodation, piercing the production team¡¯s eyes that seemed to doubt whether our group members were thinking the same as Junwoong, Hwijin was already there. Yu-geon, who was also kicked out of the set, was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Where¡¯s Yu-geon hyung?¡± When I asked Hwijin, he shook his head as if he didn¡¯t know. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought he came up first because he wasn¡¯t on the set when I left, but he¡¯s not here. You didn¡¯t see him either?¡± ¡°No. Where did he go¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but worry, even though he would take care of himself. He was a guy who had already lost his mind and ran away, so I didn¡¯t know what he would do¡­ It was a relief that this was not reality, but I still cared. ¡°Let¡¯s just wait.¡± Hwijin sat down on the bed with a look of anxiety on his face and nced at the camera once. The atmosphere was as cold as an icehouse. I tried to stop Hwijin from biting his lips nervously and blurted out. ¡°Hyung, you did really well on the stage today.¡± This was sincere. Hwijin blushed and pushed his hand away at the suddenpliment. ¡°No, I was just in a hurry to cover it, so I didn¡¯t even think about the direction and just finished it first¡­ You guys were amazing. In such a short time¡­¡± He looked like he was receiving a sudden confession or something, and Iughed in the midst of the serious situation. ¡°What, why, why are youughing¡­?¡± Hwijin protested with his eyes tightly shut, embarrassed. I tried to suppress myughter and calm my shaking shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I just think you really love being an idol¡­¡± I mumbled vaguely, trying to sound sincere. Hwijin nodded in agreement, still blushing. ¡°Yeah¡­ I do. I didn¡¯t even know I would still love it this much after almost eight years.¡± Hwijin debuted when he was in middle school. He was 27 now, which meant he had been in the industry for over 10 years. He had once quit and ran away from this path, thinking it wasn¡¯t for him. But he came back to the stage, using promotion as an excuse. How did he feel when he returned to the stage that he thought he had no connection with, after his idol career had ended in failure? I couldn¡¯t know for sure, since I couldn¡¯t see into his heart. But he looked genuinely happy on stage. So happy that it made the viewers¡¯ hearts flutter. ¡°I have no right toin, since I never made it big at this age¡­¡± Hwijinughed self-deprecatingly. ¡°But singing is when I¡¯m happiest. I don¡¯t want to give up yet.¡± His expression was bitter as he said that. It was probably because of what Junwoong had shouted at the set earlier. That the debut members were already decided, no matter how hard we tried. That we were nothing but extras. I wouldn¡¯t forget the faces of the trainees under the stage at that moment, even if I returned to reality. I listened to Hwijin¡¯s story without a word, and gave him a short reply. ¡°Don¡¯t give up.¡± The only constion was that the debut was determined by the viewers¡¯ votes, not by the pre-contracts that pushed some trainees forward. That was the proof that Yu-geon and Hwijin had made it to the final debut group. I couldn¡¯t tell them the reason, but Yu-geon and Hwijin¡¯s efforts were not betrayed. Hwijin nodded slowly at my words, and then silence fell. We had been waiting for almost 10 minutes, but the production team didn¡¯t show up, and Yu-geon still hadn¡¯te back to the dorm. ¡®What if something happened?¡¯ I got anxious and finally got up from my seat. ¡°He¡¯s still not here.¡± Hwijin also looked worried, his face dark. ¡°I know, I¡¯m concerned too.¡± I had a bad feeling. I dusted off my pants and said to Hwijin. ¡°I¡¯ll go look for him.¡± Hwijin startled and tried to stop me. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s okay? They told us to wait in the dorm¡­¡± Well¡­ it¡¯s not like I¡¯m causing a serious ident. If the production team stops me, I¡¯ll just ask them to find him ande back. I made an OK sign to reassure him, and opened the door to the hallway. A voice that sounded like a broadcast announcer echoed. [Attention to the trainees who are waiting. The announcement of the first re-evaluation results, which was scheduled for today, will be conducted soon by voice guidance in each room. Please do not leave your seat and wait during the ranking announcement.] Everyone was busy dealing with Junwoong¡¯s unexpected exposure, and there was not a single mouse in the hallway. I searched for ces where he could hide and catch his breath, from empty meeting rooms to bathrooms, but I couldn¡¯t find Yu-geon anywhere. ¡®I wish I could use the rey function now.¡¯ Unfortunately, this was not reality, so I was annoyed by the message that said this area was not avable for the rey service. ¡®Where the hell did he go?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t see Yu-geon, who was heading to the elevator, until I came down to the conference room that the production team used as an office. ¡°What were you doing?¡± I asked him with a raised voice, as if I was worried. Yu-geon flinched his eyebrows and answered. ¡°Oh, the writer asked me if we could talk.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± I lost my words and was momentarily flustered. Yu-geon smiled slyly and added. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I refused again.¡± I tilted my head reflexively at the unexpected answer. ¡°What?¡± Then Yu-geon replied with his characteristic confident and arrogant expression. ¡°He was trying to persuade me to rewrite the contract. But I didn¡¯t want to get involved with the trainees who were already suspicious of who wrote it because of today¡¯s incident. So I rejected him right away.¡± Damn, doesn¡¯t that mean he¡¯spletely cklisted now? I gasped with a worried face. Yu-geon smirked and pulled up his lips. ¡°You said it yourself. He¡¯s not going to disappear after working for a year or two. I don¡¯t want to debut by doing something that could hold me back in the future. I can debut without doing that.¡± Yu-geon shrugged his shoulders and quickly added. ¡°Probably?¡± I let out a sarcasticugh. Yeah, that¡¯s how he was. The words I had to say to him were already decided. He was the kind of guy who had to do what he wanted to do to show his full potential. As I was choosing what to say, the broadcast started above my head. [We will now start the first round of ranking announcements online. The announcement will start from 10th to 70th ce, and then proceed from 9th to 1st ce.] I couldn¡¯t rx if it started from 10th ce. We both closed our mouths and listened to the rankings announced by the broadcast. [10th ce Oh Chanhyung trainee B grade] [11th ce Damian trainee C grade] Among the familiar names that wouldter be Floss, my name was not called until 15th ce. ¡®This must be 100% bounced from A grade.¡¯ I was nervous for a moment, but then a name I never thought of was called. [16th ce Kang Yu-geon trainee A grade] ¡°¡­!?¡± ¡°???¡± Yu-geon and I both looked at each other in confusion. ¡°What, did you hear that too?¡± ¡°No, I really didn¡¯t know!¡± Yu-geon showed a sincere surprised expression, as if he was puzzled by what was happening. [19th ce Lee Hwijin B grade] Finally, Hwijin too. The announcement ended in the early 20s, but my name was not called. I was bewildered and ran into the production team and the director at the end of the hallway. ¡°Go back to your room quickly!¡± I hurriedly gestured to Yu-geon and crossed the hallway to the dormitory. ¡°I really didn¡¯t know.¡± Yu-geon protested earnestly, as if he was wronged. ¡°Fine, just hurry up ande here.¡± As I ran towards the dorm, the names of the trainees ranked below 30th were announced one after another, but mine was still nowhere to be heard. ¡°Wait, they haven¡¯t called my name yet, right?¡± As soon as I arrived at the room, I flung the door open and asked. Hwijin looked startled and answered. ¡°No, they haven¡¯t¡­!¡± I tried to calm my breath that reached the tip of my chin. By now, the ranking had gone down to 60th. Only the top 70 survived the first round of evaluation. Did I really fall that far behind? The fear of failing the mission started to creep up on me. What would happen if I failed? Would I have to start over from the beginning? I wouldn¡¯t be trapped here forever, would I? My face turned pale and Hwijin muttered something as if tofort me. ¡°In my opinion¡­¡± But I was in a state where I couldn¡¯t hear anything and shook my head. Was I marked as the instigator who provoked Junwoong? Finally, my name was not called even when it reached 70th. ¡®I¡¯m screwed.¡¯ The moment my head turned white, the broadcast continued. [9th ce, trainee Lim Hyun-seong, grade A. Congrattions.] And at the same time, a pop-up message appeared. [Special Event ¨C Congrattions on clearing the mission of ¡®Your Pick My Idol¡¯.] [Mission Achievement Reward] [Bond> Hwijin, Naru acquired] [¡ùHowever, the bond skill of ¡®Naru¡¯ cannot be used yet.] [Special Item> ¡®Listen When People Talk¡¯, ¡®People Want to Believe¡¯ acquired] [Do you want to return immediately?] [Yes/No] And above that, another small window popped up. [You will automatically return in 30 seconds.] Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 204 Return ¡°Huh?¡± I let out a stupid sound in a loud voice without realizing it. The return message was more sudden than I expected. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s awesome! You made it to the debut spot!¡± Yu-geon sincerely congratted me, but my head went nk. I wanted to go back quickly, but so suddenly? I couldn¡¯t even check what was going on with Naru, let alone say a proper goodbye. I was confused by the situation. ¡°I told you you¡¯d get good results if you worked hard. I¡¯m d. You should rank higher.¡±While Hwijin congratted me without any ulterior motive, the countdown number quickly decreased. [17] [16] [15] ¡­ I felt like I had to say something, so I grabbed Yu-geon and shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t ever give up, you can do well! I know what you¡¯re afraid of, but I won¡¯t forgive you if you quit and run away, got it?¡± Yu-geonughed as if he was dumbfounded by my words telling him not to run away. ¡°What? You were talking to me politely like you were being respectful, but now you¡¯re suddenly talking to me informally like you¡¯re going to leave?¡± His words had a point, but he didn¡¯t look annoyed, just surprised. His slightly raised lips proved that. What, why are youughing? I grabbed Yu-geon¡¯s cor and snapped at him. ¡°Don¡¯t run away! If you quit being an idol, I¡¯lle after you!¡± Yu-geon gave a snort ofughter and raised both hands as a sign of surrender. ¡°Okay, okay, I got it.¡± 5 4 3 ¡°See you soon.¡± That was thest thing I barely managed to say before the countdown ended. My eyes closed involuntarily with a strong dizziness. My body was dragged down into a dark space, feeling a burning pain as if my skin was being peeled offyer byyer. The pain was secondary, but I couldn¡¯t breathe. My body twisted and curled up like when I first entered this strange virtual space. I barely opened my eyes and saw the windows filled with error messages around me. [Recovering user data from serious system damage.] [Blocked the attack from %%&^454#[email protected]@ attempts of external intrusion.] [Blocking ess from unauthorized programs.] [Detected 7,326,437,268,341 attempts of external attack. Recovery measurespleted after 4 chip-in defenses.] The messages with simr patterns flowed into my head like a bunch of TVs turned on. And then my body twisted for a while and a short guide message popped up. [System error has been recovered.] [All error message data will be deleted to prevent user confusion.] And then I had a severe headache that felt like my head was going to explode. ¡°Ugh¡­ what are they erasing¡­¡± Before I could regain my senses, my consciousness faded and all my thoughts disappeared. [Error data deletionplete.] [Returning to the designated area.] And then, everything went dark again. How much time had passed? When I opened my eyes from my limp body that was too weak to even twitch a finger, the steering wheel was so close to my face as if someone had pushed it towards me. ¡°Huh.¡± I startled and sat up, but my body swayed with a strong dizziness that made my head buzz. And at that moment, I heard a familiar sound. Woof-! [Congrattions on your return, ¡®Cheon Ise¡¯.] Along with the short message, Pposili, who was at the bottom, wagged his thick tail and looked up at me. ¡®Ah.¡¯ I had felt something strangely empty all this time. And I realized that it was none other than Pposili. I unknowingly felt d and rubbed the status window with my fingertip. Then, once again, woof-! With a cheerful bark, Pposili popped up in the air and jumped onto my chest. ¡°Whoa, don¡¯t just appear out of nowhere!¡± As I flinched and adjusted my posture, I hugged the soft and warm fur ball that weighed over 10kg. Pposili licked my face as if he was happy to see me. He wasn¡¯t usually this fond of licking. What was going on? Of course, I was happy to see him after a long time too¡­ But it was awkward. I stroked his head and Pposili got more excited and bounced around. He greeted me. Anyone would think that we hadn¡¯t seen each other for months¡­ I shivered and quickly checked my phone. [December 19th] Thankfully, it was the same date that I remembered. ¡°Phew¡­¡± It seemed like time hadn¡¯t passed while I was in the virtual past. But maybe because I had been in a non-real space for too long, my sense of time was blurred. ¡®I don¡¯t have time to waste on useless thoughts.¡¯ I shuddered slightly at the dissonance of feeling different on my fingertips than when I was ¡®Lim Hyun-seong¡¯. I fastened my seat belt and started the car. I still remembered vividly the faces of Yu-geon, whoughed as if it was absurd, and Hwijin, who looked at me with a worried expression. But in reality, everything that had happened then was like a dream that never happened. I suddenly felt weird. It was only two weeks, but. The time I spent on the My Idol Stage, where they forced the trainees topete in an unreasonable and absurd way. The moments when we wondered together what was the best we could do,ughed, and felt sad. They became my memories. Only I remembered. ¡°¡­¡± They were happy for me even though they could have ranked higher if I wasn¡¯t there. I wasn¡¯t originally from that world. If I wasn¡¯t there, they could have been more stable in their debut. They said things like, even if you don¡¯t debut here, you¡¯ll have a chance somewhere else. But I thought the My Idol stage was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I decided to stay even though I was treated poorly. Besides, Hwijin seemed to have a limit in his mind that this was hisst chance to challenge himself. But I felt strange when my colleague, who was so happy for me when I unexpectedly got a high rank, said that it was just my fantasy. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± I should have spent the time looking for a way to catch Kang Yu-geon instead of having these weird thoughts. I had to drive, but tears started to fall without me noticing. I guess I cry more easily over trivial things as I get older. The low voice that used to greet me with small talk or sincere worries before falling asleep was fading away. I would see the owner of that voice again soon, but. ¡°¡­¡± I stared at the traffic light without saying a word, then stepped on the elerator and headed to the dorm. When I arrived at the dorm and parked the car in the designated spot in the underground parking lot, I checked the rearview mirror to see if there were any traces of crying. Fortunately, they had settled down. ¡®Don¡¯t think about useless things.¡¯ As I nced at the spot where Pposili had disappeared, a familiar name popped up on my phone screen. [YOU] (picture) 5:21 PM This crazy guy is really making me worry. I quickly checked the picture and it was andmark of the area I knew. I texted Yu-geon back right away. [Me] Are you there now? 5:22 PM Then he sent me another picture without saying anything. [YOU] (picture) 5:23 PM ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ It was a tourist spot not far from thendmark he sent earlier. It was the off-season, so there was no one around and the winter scenery was darkening as the sun began to set. I quickly found and booked the fastest flight I could catch and sent him a screenshot. [Me] (picture) 5:32 PM [Me] Don¡¯t think about running away and wait quietly 5:33 PM There was no reply from Yu-geon. I couldn¡¯t read his mind like a magician, so I didn¡¯t know why he kept sending me these messages. But I could roughly guess that he wanted me to find out where he was. He loved the stage and singing and dancing too much to give up on this. He wanted to run away and leave everything behind, but he also wanted toe back. He was lost and didn¡¯t know how to return. ¡®I have to go and beat him up and drag him back.¡¯ I clenched my teeth and went up to the dorm to get ready to pack. As I opened the door lock, which was familiar but somehow unfamiliar. ¡°Woof-!¡± ¡°Whaaat!¡± ¡°Huh, hyung, you¡¯re here?¡± The two furry beasts and Seon-woo greeted me from behind the door. They probably didn¡¯t think it had been that long, but for me, their faces were ones I hadn¡¯t seen in too long. Without realizing it, my eyes welled up and I hugged Seon-woo. ¡°Huh¡­? Hyung, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Seon-woo stuttered in confusion and I patted his back a few times before lifting my face to greet him. ¡°No, I¡¯m just d to see you.¡± I pushed the bewildered Seon-woo aside and Kyunghwa came out of the room when he heard the sound of peopleing in. ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­?¡± I didn¡¯t give Kyunghwa a chance to say anything and grabbed him and hugged him too. ¡°Why are you doing this? Are you crazy? Did you drink?¡± Kyunghwa grimaced and wriggled out of my arms, so I grabbed Yi-jun, who came along with him as a 1+1 deal, and hugged him. Maybe it was because he worked out a lot. Unlike the previous softies, the feeling of hugging him was bad, so I quickly backed away as if I had touched someone I shouldn¡¯t have. ¡°What¡¯s with the sudden hug time?¡± Yi-jun looked at me and Kyunghwa with a bright and innocent expression and then hugged us both like a shoulder buddy. ¡°Seon-woo, do you want to join too?¡± He then squeezed Seon-woo in as well, creating a scene of reunion that was more weird and suspicious than touching. ¡°¡­¡± Seong-won, who came out to see what themotion was, looked at us with contempt. ¡°I don¡¯t know what this is, but I¡¯m not doing it.¡± Seong-won turned his head and tried to run away, but. ¡°No way!¡± Yi-jun ran after him with an unbelievable force, dragging the three of us along. We couldn¡¯t even move a few steps and fell over towards Seong-won. ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°Ow.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯m hurting because I have my hand under me.¡± ¡°Ah, Oh Yi-jun, are you crazy?¡± The annoyedints and whining mixed together and one by one, the faces I had missed came into my view. ¡°What¡¯s going on all of a sudden? What happened at the head office?¡± Kyunghwa looked at me with genuine concern and asked. There was a lot I wanted to say. But right now, the first thing I had to do was get Kang Yu-geon. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you slowly. I have to go somewhere quickly, so I have to pack my bags first.¡± I tapped his shoulder with a happy feeling and hurried to my room, and Kyunghwa followed me with his arms crossed. ¡°At this time? Where?¡± I took out the suitcase I had put on top of the closet and spread it on the bed and answered. ¡°Jeju Ind.¡± Chapter 205: Chapter 205: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 205 Why There? ¡°Jeju Ind?¡± Kyunghwa¡¯s eyes narrowed in an instant and his gaze turned into a look of disbelief. It was a bit of an odd timing, but there was no need to look at me with such contempt. I broke out in a cold sweat and exined. ¡°I think I know where Kang Yu-geon is, so I¡¯m going to bring him back.¡± I had to tell Kyunghwa in advance, unlike the others. ¡°I¡¯m going to bring him to ourbel.¡±When he heard that, Kyunghwa furrowed his brow as if he was ready to connect his eyebrows. He had a terrifying expression that looked like he would punch me in the face. ¡°It¡¯s not just Kang Yu-geon. I¡¯m going to bring Hwi-jin too.¡± I tried to justify myself, but Kyunghwa sighed and shook his head. ¡°You talk like you¡¯re bringing in a new flower pot, not a controversial group member.¡± He looked 100% troubled. There was no sign of positive expectation on his face. ¡®It would be a mess if I told him I was bringing Shim Naru too.¡¯ I would think about how to use the newly recruited artistster, but I wanted to support them so they wouldn¡¯t quit their activities here. Even if what I experienced in the virtual space was a mirage of my own, their passion for the stage was sincere. ¡°I¡¯ll start with Kang Yu-geon.¡± I finished packing my luggage and zipped it up. I lifted the handle and Kyunghwa looked at me with a dissatisfied expression. I had a vague idea of what he was worried about. He was afraid that I would neglect Climax or lose sight of what was important because of some unwanted stones that rolled in. That must be what he was worried about. I patted Kyunghwa¡¯s shoulder lightly and said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. Climax is my priority, of course.¡± Even if the Floss trio bothered me, the more important thing was the members who had been with me for more than six months and kept the fruitless Climax for five years. That never changed. ¡°You talk a good game.¡± Kyunghwa snorted and turned his head. He had a point. We were on standby right now, so we had nothing to do, but we didn¡¯t know what our schedule would be like in the future. And I was getting ready to fly to Jeju Ind to catch someone else¡¯s group member. I was sorry and shameless, but I had no choice. I couldn¡¯t leave Yu-geon alone to run away from the stage forever. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± Kyunghwa didn¡¯t answer. I felt sorry, but I was d that Kyunghwa was here. He was the best person to y the role of a brother who would keep the center while I was away. ¡°Hey, where are you going, Lee-se?¡± As I walked out of the living room with a suitcase in my hand, Seon-woo asked me with a puzzled expression. ¡°I¡¯m going on a short business trip. I¡¯ll be back tomorrow.¡± Maybe. I omitted the next sentence that could add to my anxiety and ruffled Seon-woo¡¯s hair once. Then I grabbed the door handle. A piercing gaze stabbed me in the back of my head. ¡°¡­¡± It was Son Seong-won. I wondered if I should just pretend I didn¡¯t know and run away by opening the door. But I felt bad for leaving him waiting without saying anything, so I eventually turned around with a tingling in my feet. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Seong-won frowned like a preschooler who caught his parents sneaking out to work on a holiday. ¡°Business trip.¡± I answered shortly on purpose, but Seong-won immediately retorted. ¡°At this hour?¡± If it was before, I would haveined a lot in my mind that he was so rude. But now I knew that this was his way of worrying. ¡®¡­¡¯ It might not be a worry. Anyway, I knew that he would feel uneasy without me, so I eventually added a footnote. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll try to solve it as soon as possible today, ande back tomorrow.¡± Seong-won didn¡¯t say anything right away, but crossed his arms and red at me with a full of discontent. Then he blurted out something I never expected. ¡°If it¡¯s an important problem¡­ can¡¯t you talk to us all instead of trying to solve it by yourself?¡± It was an unbelievable remarking from the guy who hated teamwork more than anyone and always yed solo. I opened my eyes wide without realizing it. ¡°What? Why are you looking at me like that?¡± Seong-won snapped at me when he didn¡¯t like my expression. I was speechless for a moment and stammered. ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m just surprised that you care about ¡®us¡¯ so much¡­¡± He didn¡¯t like my answer, and his eyes got dirtier. ¡°Thank you.¡± I hurried to fix it. Seong-won turned his head with a displeased expression and snorted lightly. ¡°You¡¯re making me worry.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± I waved my hand lightly and turned the doorknob to go outside. It was the end of the year, and my hands were cold even indoors because I was wearing light clothes. I hurried to the airport, parked my car in the parking lot, and ran to the tform. There, I saw a thinyer of snow falling from the sky, barely visible to the naked eye. ¡°It¡¯s snowing.¡± The people who were waiting for the boarding time in front of the tform took out their phones and snapped pictures of the snowkes in the air. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t snowing for long, and the boarding started with an announcement that thending was scheduled as normal. I hastily booked a business ss seat that I had never tried before, even when I was the representative of Jo Young Food. The seat was spacious. From the unfamiliar seat, I looked down at the runway, where the snow that couldn¡¯t pile up fluttered for a moment and then melted away. ¡®It¡¯s already dark.¡¯ I wondered if Yu-geon was still in Jeju Ind. Where was he now? Had he gone indoors? Or¡­ I didn¡¯t even realize that I was worrying about this and that, and I fell asleep in an instant. As soon as I closed my eyes, I suddenly thought, what if I was dragged into another strange space again. The thought crossed my mind, but luckily nothing like that happened. ¡°We are preparing for takeoff. All passengers, please wait in your seats safely.¡± With the captain¡¯s announcement, I closed my eyes briefly and opened them again. The dark night sea came into view. It was time to move my body for real. ¡°Wow, he¡¯s not here.¡± I finally found the ce where he took the picture byparing it with the one Yu-geon sent me, but only the pale night waves greeted me. There was no trace of anyone there. Of course. It would be impossible to leave any traces in this ocean park unless you threw away some trash or left some clothes behind. I quickly grabbed my phone and typed with my fingers that were starting to freeze. [Me] Where are you? 10:15 PM [Me] You¡¯re not where you sent me the picture? 10:16 PM The read confirmation message popped up right away, but there was no answer. Oh,e on, is he crazy? If he¡¯s going to run off somewhere else, he should at least tell me where he¡¯s going, or at least warn me that he¡¯s not there. Do you like watching people suffer? I was getting annoyed and irritated, and after five minutes, a new picture arrived. It was a picture of someone standing in the night sea, taken in the background. A faint breath came out of his lips, which were wide open. He looked pretty cold. ¡®Whatever. It¡¯s not just cold, it¡¯s fucking freezing.¡¯ It was none other than a picture of me taken from behind. This crazy bastard. I turned around with anger in my head, and there was Yu-geon, looking fine. This guy made everyone bleed. I approached Yu-geon with a wicked heart, and I could see that he hadn¡¯t been doing well for a while. His mouth, which was always rxed, was bruised as if his blood was about to freeze, and his clothes were expensive, but they were wrinkled or piled as if he had washed them in a coinundry. I didn¡¯t bother to say anything. It was more winter than winter. Yu-geon, who had a dry face, spat out a faint breath against the night sky, where the snowkes started to fall again. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I reached out my hand to Yu-geon, but he didn¡¯t seem grateful to the person who came all the way here and asked. ¡°Where to?¡± Where do you think it is? Of course, where you belong. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you can keep dancing and singing.¡± Yu-geon looked at me nkly with a motionless face. Damn, is that not enough? I swallowed myints and added. ¡°I¡¯ll feed you, too.¡± Then Yu-geon startedughing like a madman, holding his stomach. ¡°Is that my recruitment condition right now? Am I being scouted?¡± He was serious until a moment ago, but heughed so hard that he curled up his body. I felt the heat rise in my head. ¡°Laughing? This crazy bastard, I came all the way to Jeju Ind for you.¡± I snapped back at him, and Yu-geon looked at me straight with a smug face, pulling up his mouth. ¡°Do you know how much The ssic Entertainment offered me as a signing bonus?¡± I don¡¯t know. But I guess it would be the amount of money that I could get by making a deal to pull out the Cheon Soo Group¡¯s stake that Cheon Ise could imter as an investment. Or it could be much less than that. It could be the amount of money that Cheon Ise could spend as pocket money. ¡°Do you know how much the Cheon Soo Group¡¯s market cap is?¡± Then Yu-geon started tough again as if someone had made a funny joke. I stepped on his foot. ¡°Stopughing. Think carefully not to waste the trouble I came here for. You¡¯re going with me, or not.¡± I looked pretty good, so maybe I was being too nosy. But I couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that he had left behind all the people he knew, his team members, and thepany staff, and only sent me his news. There must have been a sign that he wanted me to find him. It was like that for many things that made me who I am. I couldn¡¯t just ignore it when I could do something for him. I couldn¡¯t turn my eyes away and think of it as none of my business because it was inevitable. That¡¯s why I came here. ¡°¡­¡± He stared at my serious expression for a long time, biting his lip. Then his mouth gradually turned downward and he covered his face with his hands. Even though his eyes were still in the air, not yet touching the ground. Thump, thump, thick teardrops fell on the yellowish dry grass. ¡°Don¡¯t cry. You¡¯ll get ugly if you cry. You have to live by tearing off the face of the bastard who did this to you.¡± He retorted, as if his mouth was still alive. ¡°I didn¡¯t cry.¡± ¡°Liar.¡± I fixed his scarf around his neck so that he could cover his face tightly. ¡°We¡¯ll catch the fastest flight back.¡± If the snowstorm got worse, we could be stuck in Jeju. We had to avoid that for Kyunghwa¡¯s emotional and physical health. ¡®Isn¡¯t this like a young father who is oppressed by his son¡¯s rich family?¡¯ What was I doing, taking care of someone else¡¯s kids that I didn¡¯t even give birth to? On the ne back to Incheon, Yu-geon was silent the whole time and I looked out the window. It was as if the morning, when the weather was warm, was a lie. A blizzard was pouring down.¡± Chapter 206: Chapter 206: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 206 Picked Up on the Way ¡°Wow, it¡¯s cold.¡± Yu-geon, who had covered 98% of his body with a hat, sunsses, scarf, gloves, and so on, muttered as soon as he got off the tform. ¡°We¡¯re screwed.¡± It was at least an hour¡¯s drive from here to the hotel. He didn¡¯t want to scream and die in a car ident on the icy road that had started to snow without chains. He wanted to avoid headlines like ¡°Floss K, leader of a rival group, and C, in an ident while traveling together.¡± ¡°What do we do now?¡±As I sighed a long, white sigh and messed up my hair, Yu-geon asked me as if he was taking medicine in the dark. ¡°We¡¯re asking for trouble if we drive badly in this weather.¡± And I didn¡¯t want to go to the underworld with this guy. ¡°Then what do we do?¡± It was 3 a.m. now. There was no subway service, and even if there was, if someone recognized us while we were riding with this guy¡­ I was already fed up. I thought about calling the manager, but¡­ it wasn¡¯t enough to ask him to put on snow chains ande to the airport at this time, and he was also apanied by other team members¡­ I wasn¡¯t too keen on that either. The only option left was¡­ to wait for the limousine bus, which had fewer users, to start running. The limousine bus managed by the transportationpany was safer than my chainless car¡­ Maybe? Maybe not. There was no other way. ¡°Let¡¯s wait until the limousine runs.¡± As soon as he checked the time, Yu-geon turned around and went back into the terminal. ¡°Where are you going?¡± As I followed Yu-geon inside and asked, he pointed to the inside with his eyes. ¡°I think I¡¯ll freeze to death if I stay outside.¡± Say something and move. I snickered at Yu-geon, whoy down and curled up as if he was going to sleep in a warm ce. Who would think that he was a top idol who was worth a lot of money in Korea? I kicked Yu-geon¡¯s long legs slightly to make room, and then sat down with my hips slightly hooked. ¡°Wake me up when the limousine runs.¡± Yu-geon nodded his head without answering and theny his head on the floor of the chair and curled up again. The heater was on, but the inside of the airport was so chilly that I had to tighten my sleeves more, and I still had to endure two hours. I stared nkly at the ceiling with lights hanging down for a moment, and then I thought of the members who were worried. ¡®Ah, I have to contact them.¡¯ As I rummaged through my pocket, my phone was barely holding on with a battery that seemed to die soon. [Me] I arrived at the airport again 3:42 a.m. [Me] I¡¯ll be back in the morning 3:43 a.m. Contrary to what I thought they would be sleeping, the read confirmation marks popped up in an instant. ¡®Heck, what¡¯s this?¡¯ You should be sleeping, why are you still awake at this time. As I panicked, Kyunghwa sent me the first reply. [Kyunghwa] You came back early 3:43 a.m. I replied hastily. [Me] Why aren¡¯t you sleeping yet 3:44 a.m. Then Yi-jun answered instead with a cheerful emoticon. [YJ] I¡¯m worried, that¡¯s why 3:45 AM [YJ] It¡¯s snowing outside too 3:46 AM [YJ] Except for Seon-woo, none of us slept 3:47 AM I wondered why one person didn¡¯t read it. The youngest was probably snoring in dreand by himself. I felt more cute than sad. [Me] Okay, I¡¯m sorry for making you worry 3:48 AM [Me] I¡¯ll be careful and go home quickly 3:48 AM [Kyunghwa] Okay 3:48 AM There was no word from him all along, but the read confirmation number kept disappearing, so I guess Seong-won was also looking at the screen. I was grateful and sorry at the same time. From the members¡¯ point of view, we were also direct and indirect victims of Floss Wave, and the situation was that thebel representative and leader left to take care of another group on his own. I had no choice but to straighten up and behave well from now on. [YJ] Buy something delicious on your way 3:49 AM Oh, right. I just remembered that I went all the way to Jeju Ind and didn¡¯t buy anything and came back empty-handed. Ah! The stuff they sell at the airport is a bit inferior to the ones they sell at the exclusive souvenir shop, but they were still edible. As I was clutching my head with regret, Yu-geon raised his head and looked at me as if he thought I was noisy. I asked him as if I had caught him. ¡°Did you buy anything like souvenirs?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yu-geon looked at me as if I was talking nonsense. ¡°Something like tangerine chocte chips. White chocte is delicious.¡± Yu-geon, who was suddenly threatening to give me something to eat, answered with a bewildered expression. ¡°I have tangerine pie¡­¡± ¡°Let me see.¡± ¡°Suddenly?¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± When I robbed Yu-geon¡¯s luggage, a box of tangerine pie, habong tart, and individually wrapped omegi pie came out. No matter where I picked, I was disappointed that he only bought these B-grade copies of famous brands. ¡°You should have bought tangerine chips, tangerine chips.¡± ¡°Why are you picking a fight out of nowhere?¡± Yu-geon frowned as if he was annoyed. Frown or not. But the kids would be satisfied with this much, right¡­? I rationalized it by myself. ¡°I¡¯m taking this.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re a real robber.¡± He protested, but I didn¡¯t care and put the souvenirs I stole from Yu-geon in my bag. ¡°I¡¯ll make you earn more in the future, so let it go as a pickup cost.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s eyebrows shot up like a mountain and flinched, but I didn¡¯t care. A littleter, the night sky that was only dark began to brighten and the snowkes thinned out. To prevent the morning rush hour chaos, snowplows were dispatched here and there, and the roads were cleared faster than expected. ¡°Where am I going now?¡± Yu-geon, who had turned his back andy down with resentment for being robbed of his souvenirs, turned his body and looked at me and asked. ¡°Do you have a separate room?¡± When I narrowed my eyes and asked back, Yu-geon shook his head. ¡°No, I just stayed at the hotel for now¡­¡± ¡°What about your home?¡± ¡°My mother is not in Korea, so I sold everything.¡± Hmm¡­ Should I take him to a hotel for now? I thought for a moment and remembered that I still had the studio apartment that I used as a temporary shelter for Climax. ¡°Then I have a ce to stay. I¡¯m staying at the hotel, so you can use it by yourself.¡± Yu-geon widened his eyes as if he was surprised. ¡°It might be added by one or two people. It¡¯s a studio, but it¡¯s spacious, so it won¡¯t be cramped even if you use it with many people.¡± Yu-geon looked at me with a puzzled expression as if he was asking what that meant. ¡°I¡¯m going to bring your leader too.¡± If the Floss fans knew, they would rip off everything from the pirs to the rafters of our house, which was a very shocking content, but the house was already burned down. I have to save the skeleton if I can! I chuckled lightly to myself and looked outside. People were lining up to wait for the limousine. ¡°I¡¯ll get the tickets.¡± Yu-geon nodded and sat up straight. It was time to jump into the chaotic controversy again after barely getting any sleep. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m tired.¡± I finally arrived at the hotel lobby and checked the time. It was exactly 9 a.m. It was either early orte than I expected. I took Yu-geon to the empty studio and spent a lot of time discussing what to do next. ¡®Don¡¯t think of using your father¡¯s matter, just focus on oveing the crisis for now.¡¯ To solve Yu-geon¡¯s problem, I had to exin why I had to act irresponsibly for the time being, apart from the current corruption scandal of Floss. It was not enough to reveal how murderous Floss¡¯ schedule was. The public, including the fans who turned their backs, would mostly react, ¡®Don¡¯t you have to put up with that much if you make a lot of money that others can¡¯t make easily?¡¯ If he didn¡¯t get paid, the public opinion would have beenpletely on Yu-geon¡¯s side, but there was a high chance that there would be a disdainful view as he earned a lot of money. ¡®To be honest, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s too¡­ unreasonable to think that.¡¯ It was also true that he made a lot of money that young people in their 20s couldn¡¯t touch even if they worked for a lifetime. So he had to have more reasons than overwork to convince the public and gain sympathy. Yu-geon didn¡¯t want to reveal his father¡¯s matter, and I had to persuade him harshly and thenfort him again. ¡®I don¡¯t think it will affect your activities anyway.¡¯ Yu-geon¡¯s reaction was reasonable. But if he quietly returned and resumed his activities, there was a high possibility of repeating the previous situation. For Yu-geon¡¯s better future, I had to clear it up now. I couldn¡¯t go back to the same or worse situation than before because of the reaction of ¡®Wow, that guy ran away and came back again.¡¯ At least the mental health of the former was much more stable than thetter. After a long argument, Yu-geon decided to reveal his father¡¯s matter and that he couldn¡¯t handle the schedule due to the panic caused by the assault of Cha, a member who was unstable due to the schedule problem. He knew that what I suggested was ultimately beneficial to him. But he was resentful of having to act against his will. ¡®Why are you talking informally?¡¯ I wondered if he remembered that time on the way, but in this world, there was no trace of the 100th participant, let alone anyone who remembered him. I felt the same irritation at his informal speech, even though I had no memory of him. It was natural. After all, we were the same person. I didn¡¯t answer and turned my head away with a snort. After dropping off Yu-geon at his studio apartment in a hurry, I returned to the dorm. Gurgle- ¡­My stomach started to sound the rm. Yeah. This was more like me. No matter how busy and tired I was, I had to eat and move. I opened the door lock quickly and entered. The first thing that greeted me was Pposilii, the dorm¡¯s dog. ¡°Woof-!¡± ¡°Aw, yeah.¡± I didn¡¯t mind his face licking mine and hugged him tightly, cing him on the sofa. As he sniffed my winter and unfamiliar smells with his wet nose, Seon-woo came out of his room and into the living room. ¡°Hey, Ise hyung, you came back so soon? Are the other hyungs asleep?¡± Seon-woo, unlike the other members, slept soundly at bedtime and woke up on time. He looked confused as he got up when everyone else was asleep. ¡°Leave them alone. Let them sleep a little more while I cook. I¡¯ll wake them up when the food is ready.¡± I hung my coat and bag on the hanger and went to the kitchen to wash my hands. Let¡¯s eat and think. Ever since I shivered at the airport, I craved a soup dish. It was a bit heavy for breakfast, but¡­ it was cold, so it would be fine. I decided on shabu-shabu, a dish where I could eat meat, vegetables, and a dessert for Koreans. I washed and cut the vegetables diligently. ¡°Do you need any help?¡± I dly assigned Seon-woo the task of washing and drying the cabbage, lettuce, and bean sprouts. I put the frozen broth pack in warm water and boiled it. Outside, the record-breaking cold snap continued and the windows were fogged up. The sun was fully up outside, reflecting on the snow and dazzling my eyes. A faint drowsiness came over me and my eyes became half-closed. ¡®I have to do what I can for now.¡¯ I seasoned the broth lightly and moved the pot to the burner, stretching. There were more troubles ahead, piled up like a mountain. Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 207 One by One, Back to Their ces (1) After waking up the members and cooking a hearty porridge for dinner, they all started to melt into the couch, feeling drowsy. Yi-jun, who was patting his satisfied stomach after overloading on carbs, asked with a sleepy eye. ¡°Are we on standby all day today?¡± The airing date of the observational reality show they had filmed was approaching, but they still hadn¡¯t heard anything from the production team. The entertainment talk board that I checked overnight had finally moved on from having nine out of ten rankings rted to Floss, but still more than half of them were pointing out the questionable points of Floss and My Idol stage at the time of airing. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ[Title] Testimony of a My Idol dropout (+999) [Body] A year ago, a My Idol voluntary dropout (NOT eliminated) posted this without verification and I captured it from the archive (Screen capture) [Spilling the tea on seeing My Idol in real life
    • I appeared as a My Idol individual trainee. I left before the cover mission started, so you guys probably don¡¯t know my face.
I asked them about the debut members¡¯ reviews when I saw them during the grade evaluation.
    1. Lee Jinhyung ¨C He showed other songs besides the one that went on air. The judges seemed to like him a bit, but he didn¡¯t get much praisepared to other trainees from the same agency.
    1. Shim Naru ¨C He got a lot of attention rtively because there were many lower grade participants in the front rank. He sings well, but is he worth being pushed that much? I wondered.
¡­.] I agreed with most of the content. The evaluationments of the members who were exposed to have signed a pre-contract mostly concluded with ¡®I don¡¯t know if they deserve to be pushed that much.¡¯ Thements were mostly indirect exposures from insiders who mocked, ridiculed, and got angry at us for not knowing that, but there was something that caught my eye. [- Then what the hell is Kang Yu-geon?] [? He¡¯s been getting bashed for being rigged all this time, but not even a single cover of the contract has been revealed yet] [? I don¡¯t know if he hasn¡¯t signed it yet or if it hasn¡¯t been revealed yet] [- Who¡¯s going to inherit the throne of the rigging king now?] [? King Naru should take it] [- I¡¯ve been thinking that Kang Yu-geon was just a viewer¡¯s pick since this was first posted. Even after he debuted, he was always in the top 3 of the popr members, even though his debut rank didn¡¯t match. If he was going to get attention by rigging, the production team would have pushed him with a positive image like their son born from their heart, like S.N.L. Kang Yu-geon was dragged like crazy with aggro throughout his appearance, and until the cover stage was announced, he was cursed for having no basis for his confidence while being an F grade. Maybe he had something that the production team hated, so they stuck him in F grade and sent him out as a ratings aggro, but he survived longer than expected and ended up debuting?] [? I want a web novel rmendation with this content.] [? This could be an idol web drama] [? This is too much?????????????????] [? Go wash and sleep, don¡¯t do this here] There was also ament that surprisingly guessed the closest answer to the truth. That was because this post also described Yu-geon¡¯s unbelievable F grade behavior impressively. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Kang Yu-geon went from F to A and got a lot of talk, but I wasn¡¯t there when he was re-evaluated, so I don¡¯t know how it was, but the reaction was very cold when he got F. He didn¡¯t have the skills to get F, so I expected him to get B or A at least, but he suddenly said he needed to work on his basics and sent him to F. Everyone was confused about what was going on and moved on to the next order. I know he got a lot of hate for being a greedy center in the beginning of the broadcast, but if you saw the evaluation then, you wouldn¡¯t have thought he was greedy. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Thanks to that, there was a re-evaluation of Kang Yu-geon all over the board. But still, there were opinions that his irresponsible attitude and skipping the schedule without notice were uneptable, and there were spections about what he had to do to get to A grade and still be the aggro and controversy maker and get cursed to death. No one had yet revealed who Yu-geon¡¯s father was without any loyalty, and no one seemed to expect that it would be rted to his parents¡¯ background. ¡®I can turn this around in this atmosphere.¡¯ I had to catch the timing when there was still sympathy for Yu-geon. Then the problem was how to get Hwijin out¡­ I was looking down the list of Hwijin¡¯s numbers in the call history and found one more unfamiliar number. [Shim Naru 010-XXXX-XXXX] ¡®¡­¡¯ Right. What do I do with this guy? I couldn¡¯t find out exactly what happened to Shim Naru because I was kicked out and returned to reality. As I was briefly recalling thest time I returned to reality, I suddenly had a headache and grabbed my head. ¡°Ugh.¡± Why does it hurt all of a sudden? Seon-woo asked me with a surprised expression as I suddenly grabbed my head while sitting on the one-seater sofa and looking at my phone with a serious face. ¡°Hyung, are you okay?¡± I wanted to say I was fine right away, but a strong pain surged through my head as if I had touched something wrong in my brain. I couldn¡¯t speak easily. ¡°Ah, wait. I suddenly have a terrible headache¡­¡± As I bowed my head, Kyunghwa looked at me with a worried face. ¡°Does your head hurt? Do you want me to get you some medicine?¡± I frowned at the pain that felt like needles poking my head and shook my head sideways. ¡°No, it¡¯s just a sudden pain¡­¡± As I waited for the pain to go away, I breathed deeply. That¡¯s when Pposili flew into my arms. ¡°Ugh.¡± I screamed and bent forward at the sudden shock to my body. At that moment, a translucent status window popped up. [¡ùSystem damage has been restored.] What do you mean by restored? I¡¯m not a broken radio or an old TV. It was ridiculous that they tried to cure my headache with physical shock therapy. I chuckled bitterly. ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± As I lifted my body with a rxed expression, Kyunghwa asked cautiously, as if he wanted to make sure of my condition. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. I guess I had a little dizziness.¡± As I straightened my wobbly body and sat down, Kyunghwa still seemed uneasy. ¡°You said you were going to Jeju Indst night and you didn¡¯t sleep well all night, right? Go inside and get some sleep.¡± I wondered who was worrying about whom and treating them like a child, but I didn¡¯t feel too bad. But apart from the slight gratitude I felt, I didn¡¯t have time to waste right now. ¡°I¡¯m okay. I¡¯ll just make a call ande back.¡± As I left the members in the living room and called Hwijin, I entered the room and felt a sting in the back of my head. I knew he was busy with the aftermath of the Floss incident, but I wished he would tell us more details. But right now, it was time to rely on my own judgment, rather than telling everyone and making things moreplicated and conflicting. ¡®I¡¯m not going to take them to the climax¡­¡¯ Of course, that would be the easiest and simplest way. But I didn¡¯t want to push them as I pleased, as it would cause bacsh from the fandoms, not to mention our members wouldn¡¯t be happy about it. With an anxious mind, I waited for the phone to ring about five times. Then I heard Hwijin¡¯s tired and hoarse voice. ¡°Ah, yes. How have you been, Hwijin?¡± How was he doing? I asked him to check the status of Floss, but there was no answer. ¡®Why are you silent? Say something!¡¯ I felt my heart tighten with anxiety and fear. ¡°Is the phone not connected? Can¡¯t you hear my voice?¡± I asked, looking at the seconds clock that was ticking up. But the call was still connected, and there was no reply. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Should I hang up and call again? I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility of a bad connection, and I was about to say ¡®I¡¯ll hang up and call again.¡¯ when I heard Hwijin¡¯s dying voice. ¡°Ise¡­¡± Oh, wow. It wasn¡¯t a bad connection after all. I rubbed my startled ears and answered. ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m listening. Did you have breakfast? Are you feeling better?¡± I asked him in a slightly anxious voice, but there was no answer from Hwijin for a long time. ¡®Why doesn¡¯t he answer and make me nervous?¡¯ Just when I felt my blood pressure rising from anxiety, Hwijin uttered something I never expected. ¡°I think I¡¯m disqualified as a leader.¡± What are you talking about? He was the one who pulled up the mediocre members above his own capacity and made them harmonize in both the virtual My Idol stage and the Bobbyam. If you¡¯re disqualified as a leader, who¡¯s going to lead? I immediately answered with the intention of denying it. ¡°What are you talking about all of a sudden?¡± The corruption problem within Floss was not something that Hwijin could solve by himself. It must be unfair to be cursed at by everyone¡­ But since Floss was deredpletely unrecoverable, it was time to get out of the burning shack and put out the fire on my body. ¡°I can¡¯t do anything.¡± I wondered why he was so deted when he had acted confident and rxed until yesterday. I thought about using the rey service, but I didn¡¯t dare to because of the nightmare of My Idol. I first answered tofort Hwijin. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but this is not your fault, Hwijin. Even if you knew, you couldn¡¯t have stopped it. I hope you don¡¯t feel miserable about something you couldn¡¯t do with your own power and ability¡­¡± As I was softly saying what I thought he needed to hear, Hwijin cut me off and sobbed. ¡°I appreciate your words, but¡­ Naru was taken away this morning.¡± ¡°¡­?¡± I was more concerned about whether I heard him right than the abrupt end of his speech, and my mind couldn¡¯t process it. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Naru was taken away.¡± Taken away? The first five letters that came to my mind were obstruction of business. Did they im that all the parties who signed the contract were the masterminds of the maniption and try to make them investigate? I vaguely remembered hearing that aint was filed in the news, but I didn¡¯t expect them to call in the participants so quickly. I immediately asked to check what stage it was. ¡°Prosecutors, or police?¡± Then Hwijin asked me back as if I was saying something absurd. ¡°What?¡± I tilted my head and asked back. ¡°Didn¡¯t you go to be investigated?¡± Hwijin raised his voice and then lowered it again. ¡°No! Naru¡¯s parents came and said they couldn¡¯t trust thepany anymore and took him away.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± That¡¯s right. Since it was not December 31st yet, Shim Naru was still a neen-year-old minor. Even if he crossed the year, he didn¡¯t get his diploma, so he was still a student. If the guardian wanted to take the child away, the agency had no way to stop them in this situation. Hwijin sighed quietly and opened his mouth cautiously. ¡°I know it¡¯s a shameless request, but¡­ Can you help me?¡± Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 208 Putting Each One in Their ce (2) What do you want me to do for you? I frowned reflexively. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t want to help. It was because it was obvious that it would be very awkward and difficult if I intervened. What could I do for a minor who was taken away by their parents for protection? Besides, we were twenty-four and twenty-nine respectively. It wouldn¡¯t be very desirable for a minor of our age group to encourage running away¡­ but if we did, it wouldn¡¯t be a mere scolding, but a kind of kidnapping. I don¡¯t know what the legal situation is, but it would be like that from the parents¡¯ point of view. ¡°Um¡­ what kind of help do you need?¡±I asked cautiously, hoping that my hunch was wrong. But as with many things in the world, when you strongly hope and wish for something not to be true, it often is. ¡°I want to take Naru with me.¡± I was silent for a long time. An awkward silence flowed between the phone, and Hwijin didn¡¯t add anything because he knew it wasn¡¯t a very positive situation. ¡°¡­¡± I had no desire to be a kidnapper at twenty-four. Maybe if Naru was an adult in a week. I stalled for a while and answered. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re asking me to help you persuade Naru¡¯s parents?¡± Then Hwijin quickly opened his mouth. ¡°It would be nice if they would listen¡­¡± What do you mean, it would be nice? If they don¡¯t listen, you just have to let go. It wasn¡¯t like we were crazy people who had clear evidence of abuse. They were flipping their eyes to use a kid who wasn¡¯t even twenty yet for money. I thought I had to assess the situation urately and asked Hwijin clearly. ¡°Hwijin, I don¡¯t know much about Naru¡¯s parents. Is there a clear reason why Naru¡¯s parents shouldn¡¯t exploit him?¡± If not, it would be best to cheer him on to do well under his parents. Regardless of how much of a bond we had as team members, family is originally a fatemunity that is bound more tightly than any other person until death, even if I don¡¯t want it. ¡®Even if I don¡¯t want it.¡¯ I clenched my fist as I thought of the family that was living off the inheritance that went against my will. It wasn¡¯t my immediate task to punish them, so I was just holding back. ¡°I don¡¯t know the details¡­ but Naru seemed to be very scared of his parents.¡± And then he hesitated for a while, as if he had something to hesitate about, and added. ¡°Can you watch a video I¡¯ll send you?¡± What are you sending again? I nodded my head, still tense and straightening my back. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll watch it.¡± Ding dong. The call ended with a cheerful tone, and soon a three-minute video arrived on the messenger. Naru was arguing with a middle-aged woman in a room that I guessed was the Floss hostel that I had seen on the web entertainment. ¡°¡­Do I have to go?¡± ¡°Why are you so stubborn?! I¡¯m so angry I could die, and you won¡¯t listen to your mom?! What can you do here? You can¡¯t do anything, but you¡¯re so stubborn!! Why don¡¯t you listen!¡± ¡°¡­ Please. I¡¯ll take care of it, mom. Can¡¯t I stay here until everything is settled?¡± ¡°You call that talking now? I want to go and tear up the contract with President Hong right now, but I¡¯m holding back because I have a face. You got that?!¡± ¡°Ha, don¡¯t do that! You don¡¯t have to do that. It¡¯s embarrassing¡­!¡± ¡°Look at him. Are you saying you¡¯re embarrassed by me? I¡¯m doing this for your own good, not to ruin you. You have a meeting tomorrow, so pack your stuff quickly if you want to go back and forth easily. If you don¡¯t pack everything, I¡¯ll tell you to throw it away.¡± ¡°¡­¡± It was a draining conversation just by looking at it. It was the first time I saw Naru so submissive and unable to stand up for himself. He was the one who raised his voice and snapped at me when he hid at the end of the hallway, embarrassed by the earpiece incident. He just stared nkly and didn¡¯tfort me. I had a rough idea of what he felt like since he was young. ¡®A mama¡¯s boy¡­ but afraid of his mom.¡¯ Naru¡¯s weak resistance ended when his mother raised her arm as if she was going to p him. ¡®This is worrying¡­¡¯ But of course, I couldn¡¯t intervene either. I couldn¡¯t leak this video to the outside world to protect Naru. ¡®Floss¡¯ Shim Naru, troubled by family discord. Shouting at the dorm¡­¡¯ That kind of headline would be a big deal. Not to mention the video. Thements would be full of nasty words, not to mention the people who would deliberately troll with maliciousments. I didn¡¯t even want to imagine the possiblements. ¡®Besides¡­¡¯ I don¡¯t know what Naru thinks of his parents. But if his feelings for them are not pure 100% resentment and hatred, it would be moreplicated. They were the ones who hurt me and made me suffer, but as long as there was a bit of affection left as a family. I wouldn¡¯t enjoy watching them be the scum of the earth and get bombed by public opinion. It¡¯s not easy to turn your family, who make up arge part of your world, into enemies. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ It¡¯s not easy for an adult to cut off their familypletely. Can he do it at neen? This is what worries me the most. Bing a money-hungry trash who interferes with someone else¡¯s family and destroys a happy home. ¡®Well¡­ Naru¡¯s parents would think that way even more.¡¯ So all we could do was encourage Naru to get away from his parents on his own, not to intervene actively. I racked my brain for a while and called Hwijin again. ¡°Yes, Hwijin. I saw the video you sent me.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Ugh¡­ I have nothing to say. I don¡¯t want to leave him alone like this. But I didn¡¯t want to risk bing a kidnapper who destroys a family. I hesitated for a moment. If I ignore him, he will remain a regret. So I have to use my brain. ¡°First of all, I¡¯m against taking Naru out of the house and bringing him here. Have you thought about where he will stay if he leaves home?¡± Hwijin quickly answered with confidence. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell him to stay at my ce.¡± I raised my eyebrows and asked. ¡°What about you?¡± Hwijin paused and opened his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll stay at the dorm for now and move to my ce if I have to check out.¡± The room wasn¡¯t too small, so it wouldn¡¯t be too cramped for two people. But theck of a n was still the same. ¡°Then what part do you want me to help you with?¡± I leaned against the wall and swallowed a sigh. Hwijin couldn¡¯t continue. ¡°If you¡¯re asking me to help you kidnap a minor, I can¡¯t lend you a hand.¡± I had finally gained some recognition from Chairman Cheon after being out of his favor for so long. I had also managed to raise some capital. I didn¡¯t want to ruin everything by causing trouble. Hwijin muttered sullenly. ¡°Ah¡­ I guess there¡¯s a risk of looking like that¡­¡± Hwijin seemed to have some room to judge the situation rationally, but he fell silent again. Then¡­ There was only one way to get Naru out of this situation. ¡®To be honest, I don¡¯t really want to go that far to get him out.¡¯ The problem was that I couldn¡¯t ignore this as someone else¡¯s business. I tapped my temple with my fingertips and said. ¡°There is a way. But I need your cooperation, Hwijin. And you¡¯ll have to bear some burden too. Are you okay with that?¡± I had to think of it as 1+1. I sighed briefly and tucked my phone between my shoulder and ear, crossing my arms tightly. A littleter, I changed into my outdoor clothes and went out to the living room. Just like yesterday, I was dressed in a neat suit and the members¡¯ eyes widened as they focused on me. ¡°Going out again?¡± Yi-jun asked with a hint of worry in his voice. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be back soon. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± I waved my hand lightly and headed for the front door. Aeongi and Pposili followed me to the door as if to see me off. I bent down and gently stroked their warm and round heads. ¡°Are you going to the W headquarters again today?¡± Kyunghwa looked at me with a concerned expression. I shook my head right away. ¡°No. I have something else to do today. I¡¯ll be back soon and tell you everything.¡± There was nothing definite yet, so telling them beforehand would only cause more confusion. ¡°Okay.¡± Surprisingly, Kyunghwa nodded as if he epted it. I was relieved for a moment. But then Kyunghwa¡¯s words hit me hard. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t try to solve everything by yourself if it¡¯s rted to us. I know you¡¯re the representative now, so you have more responsibility, but¡­ we all protected Climax together, right?¡± He was right. I guess they had the right to know what was going on in real time. But I didn¡¯t want to worry them unnecessarily, since it was a risky thing. ¡°I got it. I¡¯ll let you know if anything happens.¡± I ended up giving a near-lie answer and opened the door. I¡¯ll tell them when everything is settled. I felt a pang of guilt as if my conscience was pricked by a needle, and headed for the parking lot. As I drove the car with a dark tint that made it hard to identify the driver, I arrived at the Floss¡¯ residence. There were fewer reporters than when I delivered the lunch box, but they were still hiding everywhere. ¡®It won¡¯t be easy to pick him up like this.¡¯ As I waited for a moment at the entrance of the parking lot, Hwijin came out in a disguise that looked like a local resident who hade out to sort out the garbage. His face was carefully covered with a cap, a mask, and sses. He was tall and big, so I thought he might be recognized, but who would think that an active idol would go out like that? It was a ridiculous outfit. The reporters also ignored him as if he had a terrible fashion sense. He checked my car number and approached the passenger seat. He tapped the window lightly and squeezed into the passenger seat. ¡°¡­¡± He looked even worse up close. He wore Hawaiian pants that forgot the season, and a stupidly thick long padding that contrasted with them. And three-line slippers. He looked like a jobless person who had been in the house all day and came out to buy cigarettes. He seemed like he hadn¡¯t washed his hair either. I looked at Hwijin with disbelief and he shrugged his shoulders and smiled. ¡°This is how they can¡¯t recognize me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to wear that?¡± Hwijin panicked and shook his head. ¡°No! Can I go to my ce first?¡± He was so flustered that his ears turned red. ¡°Oh, okay¡­¡± Should I say hello to Yu-geon on the way? We¡¯re in the same building¡­ I thought of meeting the members for the first time in a while and grabbed the steering wheel. It was the moment when the roommates from the virtual space reunited, but the only one who remembered that was¡­ ¡®Probably just me.¡¯ I felt a bitter sadness and sped up to the officetel. Chapter 209: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 209 Back to Their ces (3) As soon as I arrived at the studio apartment, I saw a message from the quick service that they had delivered the gift set I had ordered before leaving to pick up Hwijin. It was left at the door. I sent a message to Yu-geon, telling him to tidy up the house and wait for me since I would be there soon. He replied with a yful emoticon, making an OK sign with his hand. I parked the car and checked the screen for a moment. Hwijin looked at me as if wondering what was going on. ¡°I just checked the order I ced. Hurry up and change your clothes ande to my room. It would be nice if you could bring a few outfits with some room to spare when youe.¡± Fortunately, it seemed that the reporters hadn¡¯t found out about this ce. The residents with simr looks passed by without much interest. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be right back.¡±Hwijin nodded, not knowing why he needed clothes. I escorted him to the elevator and felt a bit nervous as I rode it all the way up. What if he vaguely remembered what happened then, like a dream? I think I was hoping for that, unknowingly. How foolish. ¡®That¡¯s impossible.¡¯ There was no trace of that time in reality, as if to prove that it was a virtual space created for my experience. ¡®Was what Junwoong exposed something that really happened in reality?¡¯ Were they all keeping their mouths shut because they didn¡¯t want to be caught by the broadcastingpany and the production team, even though it happened? Or did they ignore it, knowing that they were all extras in reality? Either way, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± I opened my eyes briefly at the sound of a bell-like chime and saw the familiar hallway. Just around the corner from the elevator¡­ ¡°Ah¡­¡± My mind went nk as I saw the huge gift set. I quickly pressed the doorbell to get Yu-geon toe out. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re here?¡± I was worried he might have run away again in that short time, but it was needless. He looked like an albino fox, lying under the sofa with an electric nket, a quilt, and pajamas. ¡°Is this your bedroom?¡± Of course, I brought him here so he could befortable. But seeing him so cozy made me frown. ¡°Ah, the heating is great here. This is a new building, right? New houses have the best heating.¡± Floss¡¯ ce was an apartment that was over 20 years old, as far as I knew. It had a good location and a nice interior, but it also had some inconveniences that he must have felt while living there. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re enjoying yourself so much.¡± I tried to throw a sarcastic remark, but Yu-geon didn¡¯t seem bothered at all. ¡°Oh, right. There are so many good ces to order food from here. It took me 30 minutes to choose this morning.¡± He had the shamelessness of people like Oh Yi-jun¡­ It was more than annoying. ¡°Stop talking nonsense. We¡¯re going out, so hurry up and wash up. I¡¯ll bring you some clothes.¡± Yu-geon widened his eyes and asked. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Where are you going? Go get the member you said you were close to. As I was choosing a sentence, the elevator opened and Hwijin stepped out into the hallway. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Uh¡­?¡± Hwijin and Yu-geon froze at the unexpected reunion, then Hwijin clenched his teeth, dropped the luggage he was holding on the floor, and threw a punch at Yu-geon. ¡°Hey, wait a minute! What the hell!?¡± Before I could stop him, his fist aimed at Yu-geon¡¯s abdomen, but Yu-geon was faster, dodging like a mudfish and retreating. ¡°You bastard, really!¡± ¡°Hey, wait, hyung, wait!¡± I was surprised to see Hwijin make such a terrifying face. He had always been a weak boy who was bullied by the younger kids. But he looked different now. ¡°You didn¡¯t say anything and you¡¯re wandering around and you¡¯re here!¡± ¡°Wait, wait, time! Time!¡± ¡°Time? You¡¯re kidding me, do you know how worried I was about you?¡± Yu-geon was running around with furniture in between, but every time the distance narrowed, there was a heavy thud. ¡°Ow, wait! I was going to contact you!¡± ¡°How do I know that! You only thought about yourself and didn¡¯t act! And you¡¯re making excuses now?¡± He¡¯s going to kill someone. I watched the chase between the two like a fire across the river, then I decided I had no time to waste and intervened. ¡°Excuse me, sorry to interrupt your family feud. Can you stop the assault for a moment?¡± I closed the front door, worried that the noise would reach the neighbors, and Yu-geon whined. ¡°Help me! I¡¯m going to die at this rate!¡± He deserved to be caught, but it was still a problem to die here. I calmed Hwijin down. ¡°I know you must be shocked, but please calm down a bit. I came up to Seoul this morning and brought him here for now. I didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to go to our ce, and he said he had no family in Korea.¡± That was what he said right before I was about tosh out at him for not telling me sooner. A momentter, Hwijin took a deep breath and asked me. ¡°When did you contact him?¡± I nced at Yu-geon and answered. ¡°He only sent me a few pictures now and then sincest time. I was curious why he didn¡¯t reply, but¡­¡± Hwijin looked even more furious and red at Yu-geon. ¡°You really¡­¡± Yu-geon shot me a look as if he was saying ¡®you traitor!¡¯ but I didn¡¯t care. ¡°This time, he sent me a picture of Jeju Ind, so I decided I had to go there and catch him.¡± Hwijin looked at me with a confused expression, as if he was wondering when I had gone there ande back. ¡°That wasst night. I took a domestic flight early in the morning, got him a limo to bring him here, and then I took a taxi to our ce and came back to pick you up.¡± Then Hwijin eximed in horror. ¡°So you haven¡¯t slept at all sincest night?¡± I didn¡¯t sleep. To be precise, I couldn¡¯t sleep. I felt like something would go wrong if I fell asleep. I thought I had to at least finish the work somehow before I could sleep. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s why¡­ I want to get the family reunion over with and leave for Naru¡¯s ce as soon as possible.¡± When I looked at Hwijin with a weary expression and no spirit, he let go of Yu-geon¡¯s cor. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about thister.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have much to say.¡± ¡°Your mouth is still alive, huh?¡± ¡°Help, please.¡± As Yu-geon tried to hide behind me like he had taken someone¡¯s medicine, I stepped hard on his foot and crushed it. ¡°Stop talking nonsense and go change your clothes quickly.¡± ¡°Ow.¡± I pushed the bag of clothes that Hwijin brought towards Yu-geon, ignoring his whining. He took the bag and checked the clothes inside, then picked a few and held them up, looking at me and Hwijin alternately. ¡°What, why are you looking at me like that?¡± Hwijin snapped at Yu-geon, who frowned as if he was baffled. ¡°Do you both want to watch me change?¡± What are you saying? Of course I hated it. I answered with a deep frown on my forehead. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then look away for a bit. I don¡¯t want to be a sher either.¡± As I turned my back to Hwijin and looked at the entrance, I heard the rustling sound of him putting on clothes. Thud, he tripped over something while wearing his pants and got up rubbing the spot where he hit. It was like a live broadcast without any dy. ¡°Ugh, he¡¯s changing clothes like a madman¡­¡± I finally lost my patience and said something, but Yu-geon just whined. ¡°What do you expect? I was in a hurry, okay? These things happen.¡± The more I talked to him, the more I realized he was just like Oh Yi-jun ¨C a hopeless case who would never shut up. ¡°Ugh¡­ Seriously.¡± Hwijin brushed his forehead and sighed, lowering his head. ¡°Where are we going right now?¡± Somehow, we were all wearing decent suits. And we had brought along gifts that middle-aged people would like, from ginseng to beef sets, from supplements to famous electric massagers. Yu-geon, who was sitting with a bunch of presents, asked. ¡°We¡¯re going to pick up Naru.¡± Yu-geon looked puzzled and asked. ¡°What is this for?¡± I answered dryly, gripping the steering wheel tightly. ¡°I guess it¡¯s going to be hard to persuade Naru¡¯s parents in many ways, so I¡¯m trying to bribe them.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Yu-geon whistled as if he was impressed and scratched his head. ¡°But that¡¯s going to be tough. Naru¡¯s parents are no joke, you know. I don¡¯t want to badmouth other people¡¯s families, but honestly.¡± I nodded as if I had a rough idea, since I had already seen the video that Hwijin showed me. ¡°But we have to try anyway. It might be easier if we know what they want.¡± It would be nice if we could convince them with money. But in the worst case, they might treat us like money-hungry parents who are bargaining with their son, and ruin any chance of negotiation. ¡®But to see them use such a young kid like that¡­¡¯ It was true. They were treating him like a money-maker. I decided to try as much as I could, and give up cleanly if it didn¡¯t work. ¡°Hmm¡­ fighting.¡± Yu-geon acted irresponsibly, as if he didn¡¯t want to get involved. What are you talking about like it¡¯s someone else¡¯s problem? You¡¯re part of this n too. I snorted as if I was incredulous. ¡°Don¡¯t talk like it¡¯s none of your business. You have to go and act friendly too.¡± Then, an annoying answer came back. ¡°Me?¡± Why don¡¯t you do it, you¡¯re a member too. I reflexively tried to look back at the rear seat, but stopped myself. ¡°Then you and Hwijin do it, who else?¡± ¡°Oh, is the recruitment thing like a unit thing where you group me and Hwijin hyung and Naru together like this?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the most likely scenario for now¡­ Ah. It¡¯s not confirmed yet, Hwijin.¡± Then Hwijin asked as if he had no clue. ¡°Ah, me too?¡± What the hell, what were you listening to when I exined earlier. I suppressed the vein popping on my forehead and answered. ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll have to talk about how to support your activities when we write the contract, but I think it would be better for you three to do it together when you sing.¡± Suddenly, Yu-geon intervened and made a sarcastic remark. ¡°It sounds a bit crazy, though.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t say it.¡± ¡°Why do you have to bring that guy who¡¯s breaking the pre-contract in this situation?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Yu-geon blurted out the truth. Of course, he wasn¡¯t wrong. I nced at Hwijin¡¯s expression, which darkened in an instant. ¡°If we¡¯re going to do unit activities, it would be better for me and Hwijin hyung to do it. Hwijin hyung can rap, right?¡± He was right. But what can I do when he wants to bring Naru too. Of course, I¡¯m not saying that I don¡¯t care about that bastard Shim Naru at all¡­ Sigh. Throbbing. A headache came from fatigue. ¡°Ah. We¡¯re almost there.¡± Whether he knew my feelings or not, the ce where Shim Naru was was getting closer without a break. Chapter 210: Chapter 210: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 210 Operation Rescue Simnaru ¡°Did you sign the contract too?¡± In the awkward atmosphere, Yu-geon turned the arrow to Hwijin. ¡°Huh? No.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s even more right to leave Naru out. It¡¯s better for the people who didn¡¯t sign to stick together in a group where there are more people who signed than not. Why bother with Naru?¡± He was a bit cold, but he didn¡¯t say anything wrong. But Hwijin hesitated and couldn¡¯t answer right away, then he retorted. ¡°But you¡¯ve been through it too, you know. The voting was not rigged.¡±If there was maniption in both the ranking and the voting, Yu-geon and Hwijin should have been far behind in the debut group from the start. Although they had different starting lines from the others, the fans that Naru gathered were people who came to see Naru. ¡°I know. But that¡¯s different from being in the center of the maniption. Since we¡¯ve broken up anyway, I¡¯m saying this, but I didn¡¯t sign it and I¡¯ve been cursed so much until now¡­ He really signed it and¡­¡± Yu-geon stubbornly refused to back down. ¡°Aren¡¯t you angry, hyung? I¡¯m me. I refused to sign the contract because I didn¡¯t like it and got stuck with an F grade, and then I thought I¡¯d get some attention and they raised me to A right away, and they cursed me for being manipted when I went from F to A. How can I not be angry?¡± I¡¯m going crazy. As a cold current flowed between the two in an instant, the car started to get pushed back and I broke into a sweat. If they don¡¯t agree on their opinions, can¡¯t they fight without me hearing it? The outsider who was stuck in the middle just wanted to focus on driving quietly. ¡°I thought¡­ you had a positive view of Naru in your own way.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I thought he was selling well with me as a chemistry partner. He acted friendly one-sidedly, so I went along with it.¡± ¡°¡­¡± What do I do with this atmosphere? Of course, it was something that would be troublesome if I didn¡¯t know, but it wasn¡¯t something I wanted to hear in surround sound while driving. ¡°Are you¡­ against going with Naru?¡± Yu-geon was silent for a while, fiddling with the car handle, then opened his mouth. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like it.¡± He seemed to have a lot of resentment about the contract. ¡®I can¡¯t me him.¡¯ I quietly fiddled with the handle for a moment and asked. ¡°Do you not feel like it, or do you not want to do it?¡± Then Yu-geon didn¡¯t answer. ¡°Will you do it if I tell you to?¡± ¡°¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t say no right away, so he looked like he would do it if I pushed him. ¡°Don¡¯t hide and disappear somewhereter if you have anyints.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hide.¡± Only his mouth was alive. ¡°You did.¡± ¡°Why do you keep talking informally?¡± He ran out of things to say and pulled my speech again. I lowered my head and answered. ¡°Because I¡¯m your hyung.¡± ¡°Then can I talk informally too?¡± ¡°Do whatever you want.¡± I didn¡¯t care what he said or did. I had already heard enough informal speech from him during the idol experience. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re going to cooperate, right?¡± Yu-geon didn¡¯t answer and crossed his arms, leaning his back against the backrest. He knew it too. Neither Hwijin nor I could leave Naru alone like this. And he was getting help himself because of his meddling. I just hoped he wouldn¡¯t cause any more trouble. I prayed fervently as I changednes and headed for the apartmentplex. After another 30 minutes of congested road, I arrived at a luxury apartmentplex in Incheon. When would I get to the amodation from here? It seemed far away, but I decided to focus on what I had to do now. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. Just follow along. I¡¯m going to exin that we¡¯ll support your solo activitiester, based on the 3-member unit activities.¡± Then Yu-geon pouted his lips. ¡°I feel like he¡¯s going to say he just wants to go solo after the group disbanded.¡± ¡°Then you don¡¯t have to do unit activities with Naru. Lucky you.¡± I shot back without backing down, then snorted and pressed the doorbell. I couldn¡¯t check with Naru beforehand because he wasn¡¯t answering his phone, but he should still be at home unless they dragged him to a new agency meeting right away. ¡°What if he doesn¡¯t open the door?¡± Hwijin suddenly started to worry. ¡®Did wee here without a n?¡¯ But this was the best we could do without contacting the person himself. The inte rang and soon a middle-aged woman¡¯s voice came through. ¡°Who is it?¡± I sighed, took a short breath, and opened my mouth. Or tried to. ¡°Hello, ma¡¯am~. It¡¯s been a long time! We¡¯re in the same group as Naru. We have some things to discuss with you about our future activities, so could you spare us some time?¡± Before Yu-geon cut in. ¡°No¡­¡± Is he crazy? He was showing how much he hated it in the car, but he was acting cute and making a flower smile in front of the inte, pushing his face forward. ¡°Oh, is that you, Yu-geon? I didn¡¯t know you wereing. It might take me some time. Just a moment. Come on up.¡± Was it thanks to Yu-geon¡¯s despicable aegyo strategy? Contrary to my worry that she would m the door on us if it was rted to Floss, she opened the door obediently. Click, the sound of the door opening and Yu-geon shrugged his shoulders smugly. ¡°It¡¯s open.¡± I was speechless at how easily he opened the door, but it was purely thanks to Yu-geon. I was annoyed, but I had to be grateful for now. Just before the three roommates from the idol experience came to Naru¡¯s house. Naru was curled up on his bed, crying so much that he couldn¡¯t cry anymore. Should he have refused to sign that contract back then, thinking he could debut on his own? But he knew then and now that he had no right to refuse. [Kang Yu-geon trainee¡¯s grade is F.] Whenever he had such thoughts, Naru shook his head as Yu-geon came to his mind. He started with an F grade, but he debuted on his own like the other members. Shouldn¡¯t I have done the same¡­ he thought, but. That was only possible because it was Yu-geon. From A to B, and even C. His mental strength to turn most of the trainees who had a chance to debut into enemies was unbelievable. He still remembered the cold stares from the other members who were aiming for debut, not to mention at the ranking announcement ceremony where his debut was confirmed. He was no different. He wanted to debut anyway, he wanted to beat all the other guys, he wanted to get more attention, just like them. But how could he be so arrogant and brilliant, turning the top ranks and the producers into enemies like that? The reason why Naru became friendly with Yu-geon was purely because of the fans¡¯ reaction. At the music show where he won his first ce after debut, Naru did as he nned and held the trophy instead of the microphone, dancing cutely and looking at the camera to kill time. He could do it live, but he had emphasized too much during the My Idol broadcast, so he had no confidence to sing the debut song he had practiced hastily with full power. ¡®Pass the parts as much as possible. If you¡¯re going to sing, sing a little bit.¡¯ In order to show that he was the most pushed member among the main vocals, he had to give him the high-pitched parts, so he only thought of passing the parts with all kinds of ideas. If he sang softly, they would curse him for singing softly, so he cried first, then calmed down and used the trophy as a prop, and if the part came back, he hugged any member and cried again. At the end of his ambitious n, the one who was standing next to him was Yu-geon, who was holding the microphone and digesting his part. ¡®Ah, this one is a bit ufortable.¡¯ It would be better if it was Chanhyung or Jinhyung. But the two of them were crouching in front of the stage, waving their hands down to greet the audience below. ¡®I can¡¯t help it.¡¯ He hugged him anyway, and it got more attention than he thought. Annoyingly, the share count went up like crazy when Yu-geon, who he didn¡¯t even know was in the corner, was in the picture, more than when he posted a selfie of himself on the official ount. Naru was the kind of person who had a ghost-like mind when it came to things that could get him more attention, and he decided to use his position that people liked. His favorite food was whipped cream cake. His sleeves were one size bigger than the original size. The gifts he received from the fans that touched him the most were letters and character dolls. To survive in the idol scene where dozens of groups debut every year, Naru chose the path he was most confident in. ¡®They all liked me back then.¡¯ On the screen of his phone, which he clenched in his hand, he was eating countless curses for bing a traitor to the nation¡¯s manager. Since then, countless words such as disgusting, pathetic, nauseating, etc. have been used to attack him. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow. The other fandoms and individual fans of the other members who had been crushed by Naru¡¯s strong personal fandom came out and started a seminar on criticism. The only thing that was lucky was that the one who got the most curses was not him, but Chanhyung. Naru sniffled under the nket he had flipped over. ¡®It¡¯s all over now, what.¡¯ His n to go back to his original agency and debut again with another group was temporarily scrapped. Since morning, his mother had been on the phone with many agency presidents in the living room, but the answer was only ¡®the contract dispute is too severe, it¡¯s hard to give an answer right away.¡¯ ¡°Shit¡­ When I was doing well, you begged me toe, but now you¡¯re not answering.¡± Naru punched the pillow while sobbing, but it was no different from a cotton candy. Instead of calming down, the back of his hand was sore. He was lucky to have made some money so far. He just hoped that his mother would be satisfied at this point, since everything was over. No matter how many times he hung up the phone nervously, there was no way a decent agency would want him. ¡®Maybe I should just retire¡­¡¯ I shook my head in disbelief. My face was too exposed to live as a normal person. But maybe in time¡­ I was lost in a cycle of negative thoughts when the inte rang. ¡®Who is it¡­¡¯ Did theye to scold me for leaving the agency without permission? I was sniffling in my pastel-toned pajamas with bears all over them, hugging a hamster-shaped character doll, when I heard an unexpected voice. ¡°Hello, ma¡¯am~. It¡¯s been a long time! We¡¯re in the same group as Naru.¡± ¡®¡­?¡¯ I sprang up from the bed. There was no way he was here. But I didn¡¯t have the courage to go to the living room, so I pressed my ear against the door and eavesdropped. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you, Yu-geon? I didn¡¯t know you wereing. It might take me some time. Juste up for now.¡± Why, why are you inviting them in! And that kid, he hadn¡¯t shown his face for a while, and now he suddenly appeared and barged into someone else¡¯s house! I was in total chaos. Naru, who had been hiding in his room all this time, afraid of his mom, his agency, and the inte that cursed him, finally gathered his courage and shouted. ¡°I, I¡¯m not home!¡± It was a brave statement, but unfortunately, it was toote. ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°Naru is¡­ doing well¡­ I see.¡± They had already entered the living room by then. Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 211 Pretending to be reluctant It took a while for the door to open after the inte was cut off inside. I guess she was getting ready to greet the guests. ¡°Hello!¡± All three of us had rather gloomy faces until the door opened, but as soon as her mother appeared, we switched to business mode and greeted her with the happiest smiles in the world. ¡°Oh, you came with three people? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met one of you before?¡± Her mother, who had a keen eye, noticed me right away and asked. I put down the gift I was holding in my hand and handed her my business card. ¡°Hello, are you Naru¡¯s mother? I¡¯m Cheon Ise, the head of Composition, abel under W. It¡¯s not as grand as it sounds, we¡¯re a ce that handles various things from album entertainment to web variety shows, centered around our affiliated groups.¡±W was already disappointing enough, let alone Composition, which she probably had never heard of. Her mother¡¯s expression darkened. I quickly flipped over the back of my business card and showed it to her. ¡°We¡¯re a newbel, so you might not be familiar with us, but we¡¯re only cooperating with W for business purposes. You can think of us as a subsidiary of Cheon Soo Group.¡± As soon as I mentioned Cheon Soo Group, her mother lifted her head and looked back and forth between me and the name on the card. Cheon was a fairlymon surname, but still. He looked too young for such a usible position, and he had the Cheon Soo Group behind him. She seemed to have something in mind and asked me bluntly. ¡°Is your father the chairman?¡± I nodded with a cool smile. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. He¡¯s the chairman of Cheon Soo Group.¡± Then she seemed to have some interest in what I was saying and stepped back to make way for us to enter the living room. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, I¡¯ve prepared some tea, so warm yourselves up a bit. It¡¯s cold today.¡± Sigh¡­ She doesn¡¯t seem like someone who would let this go easily. I sighed inwardly and took off my shoes and put on the guest slippers. Yu-geon was acting like a polite and friendly young man with a constant smile on his face, and Hwijin was a bit nervous, but he didn¡¯t show any signs of trembling since he was an actor by nature. ¡°Thank you. Then, please excuse us.¡± As soon as we stepped into the living room, we heard a voice from inside the room that Naru was presumably using. ¡°Mom, tell them I¡¯m not home!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Ahem¡­¡± Yu-geon failed to hold back hisughter and turned his head, shaking his shoulders. I pinched his arm in a direction that her mother couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Naru must be having a hard time¡­¡± Iughed as if I was looking at a distant mountain and said, and her mother started toin. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have left it to President Hong as he wanted! You all know, right? The voting was really fair, without any maniption. It was a matter of exining it well, but he couldn¡¯t solve it and made it like this. I¡¯m so upset that he¡¯s not eating and acting like that.¡± She was not regretting why she did something that was not honorable to others, butining why she entrusted it to someone who couldn¡¯t handle it properly and made her suffer. The voting was indeed as her mother said, the fans had gathered one by one. But how could it be nothing to start from a slightly favorable starting line with a subtle preference? Even if it was virtual, if they knew how frustrated and miserable the trainees who didn¡¯t get the attention of the camera and were outside the screen were, they wouldn¡¯t think so. ¡®But Naru wasn¡¯t in that position from the beginning.¡¯ So, after receiving all the benefits like this, pretending that nothing happened. In the end, everyone felt the most wronged and pitiful from their own perspective. Even if he was one of the privileged ones in that program. I nced at Yu-geon, who clenched his fists on his knees. ¡°You must be very heartbroken. Then, do you have any ns for your future activities?¡± I asked, ignoring my mother¡¯sints. With such a big issue¡­ therge or medium-sizedpanies with some name value wouldn¡¯t want to take him. He might have gotten some offers from small ones, but he would have snorted at the ones with no sales power that were smaller than W. ¡°Well¡­ for now, the controversy is not dying down, so~. I was thinking of giving him some time to rest and think for himself.¡± Look at that. If argepany said they would take us, he would have signed OK by now. The meeting that said they would take him was probably canceled. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. What about Naru? Does he think the same?¡± As soon as I nodded calmly, someone burst open the door and jumped out. ¡°I, no, no more¡­ I, I won¡¯t be a singer! I¡¯m going to retire!¡± His face was very red and swollen. Naru, who seemed to have written ¡°I¡¯ve been crying since this morning¡± on the door, squeaked and came out to the living room. ¡°Oh¡­ you¡¯re brave.¡± Yu-geon eximed mockingly, as if he wasn¡¯t the one who raised him, and I stepped on his foot with my slipper. Then Naru screamed with his eyes full of tears. ¡°What, what are you doing here! Who, who came to raise, sniff, him?¡± He was very polite to his mother in the video, but. His voice got louder when he talked to us, as if we were easy. ¡°I didn¡¯te to raise him. I came to give Naru a chance.¡± Then he got angrier and red at me and yelled. ¡°Ha¡­! What do you want? The inte, the school, the reporters, they all make me trash, what do you want to give me a chance?¡± Naru¡¯s fierce reaction, as if he had touched his sore spot, startled my mother, who had a lot of affection for the word ¡®Cheon Soo Group¡¯. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t talk like that to your brothers who came to see you because they were worried!¡± But even that pushed Naru¡¯s nerve button, and he raised his voice at his mother for the first time. ¡°Mom, you¡­. don¡¯t know anything!¡± He probably still had a grudge against me for the advice I gave him when he lost his voice. Does he think I¡¯m a nobleman who hasn¡¯t suffered more than him? I snorted, but I was here to help him out for now. ¡°Sit down for a moment. I¡¯ll exin it to you slowly.¡± I smiled patiently at Naru. I wanted to give him a honeb and ask him what he knew, but I was an adult and he was still a kid. If the life he had experienced was limited to the narrow cage that his parents had set, then. He would think that his own thorn was more impressive than someone else¡¯s gunshot wound. Yu-geon watched the situation with interest, and Hwijin couldn¡¯t intervene and didn¡¯t know what to do. I was the only one who looked at my mother and Naru alternately and smiled kindly. You can¡¯t spit on a smiling face. *** ¡°Ha¡­. It¡¯s finally over.¡± A littleter. As soon as I got back in the passenger seat after taking the elevator down to the parking lot, Hwijin sighed with relief. I did the most work, but why are you the most tired? I smirked with a sense of injustice and grabbed the handle. ¡°I¡¯ve already told him, so now we have to wait for his decision.¡± I drove the car casually (well, it was not my business anyway) and took a sip of water to refresh my mouth. ¡°You can stay at my ce. And Mr. Hwijin, you¡¯re going to the hotel, right?¡± I nced at the navigation and asked. Hwijin nodded. ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯ll talk to my manager and see if I can switchbels based on today¡¯s situation.¡± ¡°Okay. We don¡¯t have much time, so please cooperate as much as possible to resolve this within a week.¡± ¡°Yes¡­!¡± Hwijin looked at me with sparkling eyes, as if I was his savior. It made me feel ufortable. Of course. Naru didn¡¯t want to hear anything from me because of his resentment. My mother still couldn¡¯t ept the current situation and dreamed of a rosy future with the agencies. It was a remarkable feat to get him to say ¡®I¡¯ll think about it.¡¯ in this hopeless situation. ¡®Well¡­ that¡¯s that.¡¯ It was all thanks to Malbal that I changed the stubborn mind of the boss. I had been observing Naru closely for a while, looking for something to learn from Seong-won or Seon-woo, who were in the same main vocal position or received attention for their visuals. I used that information as much as possible. Naru had various strengths, and some of them were maximized in certain areas, but they were not highlighted in the previous activities, which was a pity. If I could take charge of the whole production process, I would support him to make Naru more noticeable by enhancing those aspects. That was all I said. It also helped that the conditions I could offer from theposition were not bad. People tend to be more swayed when someone shows interest in them in detail, rather than just saying ¡®You did great.¡¯. ¡®Especially for someone like Naru, who has too much self-consciousness.¡¯ He said he would think about it and contact me, trying to save his pride, but the result would probably not be bad. He will call me by tomorrow afternoon at thetest. ¡°Anyway, you all worked hard today, so go and get some rest.¡± I dropped off Yu-geon at my ce first and then took Hwijin to his hotel. Then I returned to our dorm with a long sigh. Luckily, I was able toe back a little after lunch and the members who were waiting at the dorm greeted me. ¡°Did it go well?¡± Seon-woo, who didn¡¯t even know what I was doing, asked me first if it went well, making meugh. ¡°I think it will be fine.¡± I patted Seon-woo¡¯s head and threw my tired body onto the bed. As the fatigue hit me all at once, my eyes closed involuntarily. ¡®Ah¡­ I need to wash up and sleep first¡­¡¯ I lost consciousness before I could think any further. When I woke upter, my coat was gone and the nket was covering me. ¡®I must have looked pitiful.¡¯ I stretched my back and got up, and saw a missed call on my phone screen. ¡®Was it Yu-geon or Hwijin? Or Naru?¡¯ I opened the phone screen, thinking of the possible line-up, and one of the expected calls had arrived. [H] Floss will have a disbandment press conference tomorrow 3:11 PM It waste or early news, depending on how you look at it. Chapter 212: Chapter 212: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 212 Finding their own way to live I quickly lifted my eyelids that wouldn¡¯t open and replied. [Me] Morning, or afternoon? 5:02 PM He must have been checking his phone constantly, because he replied right away. [H] Probably around 2 PM? 5:04 PM Are the students on vacation now? If Christmas hasn¡¯t passed yet, then they still are. There must be screams everywhere. My mouth was bitter. Just a few days ago, themunity was on fire with the rumor that they were preparing for the season 3 audition announcement of My Idol Stage.After My Idol 1, the debut group of My Idol 2 also disbanded without evenpleting the two-year curse, so I didn¡¯t know what would happen to that either. ¡®If they have money, they¡¯ll try to do it again.¡¯ Next time, they¡¯ll try to execute a more meticulous n without getting caught. They must think they were unlucky to get caught for something trivial. Given the situation, the news came that the footage of ¡®Bravo Solo Life¡¯, which was scheduled to air for this Christmas season, was also edited out. [H] I¡¯m sorry for making you suffer because of us¡­ 5:06 PM Hwijin sent me a series of yellow bears that looked like either bears or lions, crying their eyes out. I was still expressionless as I poked the bear with my fingertip and typed. [Me] If you¡¯re so sorry, you could give me a 5% discount on themission. 5:07 PM Hwijin¡¯s mental state was a bit off, but he still had some reason left, as he replied right away. [H] That¡¯s a bit; 5:07 PM And then he sent me several more bears running away with sweat. Anyway, he didn¡¯t seem to be the type to lose out at times like this. [Me] When is the official termination date of the contract? 5:08 PM I had to tie him up with paperwork quickly so he couldn¡¯t say anything else. I wasn¡¯t a charity worker either, so I needed a quick job. [H] We all agreed to terminate the contract by midnight today, and I think we can start a new exclusive contract from tomorrow! 5:09 PM Hwijin sent me a positive and energetic bear emoticon for the first time. I thought it was ugly at first, but the more I looked at it, the more cute it seemed. I quickly replied that I understood and put down my phone. Then I flopped down on the bed and got up again with a rebound. ¡°I can¡¯t be doing this. I need to find people quickly.¡± I had to assign training staff to them if I brought them over, and I had to make a n for how they would work in the future. What I picked up were two adult men and a boy who would be an adult in a week, but I had no idea why I had so much work to do. I couldn¡¯t waste a single moment, so I picked up my phone again. ¡°Ah, yes. Jinkyung. I¡¯m sorry to bother you, but I need you to speed up the recruitment process for the staff I mentioned before¡­¡± It was an urgent situation, so I informed her that the Floss 2 sales were confirmed and the other one was pending. Jinkyung doubted his ears. ¡°What? Who and who are joining our agency?¡± He must have spilled his tumbler or something, because there was a long sigh and the sound of office supplies rolling around on the desk. ¡°Hwijin and Yu-geon. Naru is still pending.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Then we really need to hurry up. I¡¯ll try to find someone who has experience, and can be deployed to the field quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, please. And also¡­¡± ¡°Can I ask what¡¯s bothering you so much?¡± I had a rough idea, but I wanted to hear it from him. I asked as Kyunghwa looked out the car window. ¡°I just¡­ hate it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I hate the sight of him.¡± I almostughed at his childish answer. It was much more immature than I expected. ¡°Who do you hate the sight of so much?¡± I swallowed a chuckle, like an uncle teasing his nephew. Kyunghwa red at me and retorted. ¡°You justughed, didn¡¯t you?¡± I shook my head right away. ¡°No? I didn¡¯tugh.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie. You¡¯reughing right now.¡± But what can I do? It¡¯s funny. He always acts like the big brother! He has to keep his cool! He carries a heavy burden on his shoulders, but he rarelyins. He knows what¡¯s good for him, but he¡¯s stubborn about it. ¡°I won¡¯tugh if you tell me who you hate the sight of so much.¡± This bastard isughing. I¡¯m holding back because I¡¯m driving. That¡¯s very generous of him. I snickered and tried to talk to Kyunghwa again. ¡°Are you really not going to tell me? We won¡¯t have time to talk like this when we go to the meeting. From then on, it¡¯s all business. Are you okay with that?¡± ¡°Honesty can freeze to death.¡± Kyunghwa acted like a teenager and crossed his arms. Then, after a long silence, he opened his mouth. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ Kang Yu-geon and I don¡¯t get along at all.¡± ¡°In what way?¡± I knew that Yu-geon had a style that easily rubbed Kyunghwa the wrong way. But he got along well with Yi-jun, didn¡¯t he? What¡¯s the difference between Yi-jun and Yu-geon? If it¡¯s about being childish and selfish, Naru is even worse than Yu-geon. As for Hwijin¡­ well, he¡¯s the type that makes people hate him because he¡¯s too straightced. I felt like I had to figure out why Kyunghwa hated Yu-geon so much. It seemed like the only way to reduce the friction between them. ¡°He annoys me. He makes everything look easy.¡± I was surprised by his unexpected answer. I thought that would be Kyunghwa¡¯s trigger point, but it applied more to Yi-jun than to Yu-geon. ¡°That¡¯s also true for Oh Yi-jun, isn¡¯t it?¡± I blurted out what I really thought and Kyunghwa was startled. ¡°Hey, how can youpare him to Kang Yu-geon?¡± How can I not? They¡¯re very simr. Of course, Yi-jun is more controble and easier to cooperate with than Yu-geon, but still. ¡°They¡¯re not simr? They¡¯re both talented, they think everything is easy, and they solve things confidently.¡± ¡°They¡¯re totally different.¡± Kyunghwa mped his mouth shut, as if he knew his logic was wed. ¡°If it¡¯s because Oh Yi-jun takes care of you and that¡¯s why you like him, maybe you¡¯ll get along with Kang Yu-geon if you be friends with him?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure. But he seemed like a decent guy, at least 99% of the time. He followed my orders obediently. Kyunghwa gestured for me to stop talking. I hesitated for a moment. A rational doubt crossed my mind, but I couldn¡¯t say it out loud. ¡®Could it be¡­ that he thinks Kang Yu-geon had an easy life, and that includes his family situation?¡¯ Kyunghwa didn¡¯t know that Yu-geon had a hard time since he was young because of his father¡¯s work. But he knew that Yi-jun was an orphan and grew up under his grandmother¡¯s care. It was a really unfortunate story, but I had no choice because I had no time. ¡°I¡¯m going to the office right now, so I think we need to have a strategy meeting from 7 o¡¯clock. Have dinner in advance.¡± It was impossible not to understand what he meant by having dinner and meeting at 7 p.m. Jinkyung didn¡¯t want to ept reality for a moment, so he didn¡¯t answer right away. ¡°Except for Yun Dae-ri, the ounting manager, the rest of you can gather together.¡± I expected Jinkyung¡¯s expression to be like a bolt from the blue, but I didn¡¯t want to do this. I swallowed a sigh and looked at the distant mountain, feeling like a viin for a while. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± After receiving a reply that he understood, I hung up the phone and went to the living room. Everyone¡¯s eyes were looking at me with curiosity. ¡°Let¡¯s eat quickly.¡± As I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, Seon-woo seemed worried and followed me around with Pposili. ¡°Brother, aren¡¯t you pushing yourself too hard? I think you can sleep more and wake up¡­¡± I shook my head firmly. ¡°I have to have a meeting with the nning department, so I have to go out right after dinner.¡± It was lucky that the snow melted during the day. It would have been a hassle to have a video conference if the road was frozen. Kyunghwa came up to me and asked with genuine concern. ¡°What if you copse like this¡­¡± I shut Kyunghwa¡¯s mouth before he could say anything more. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯re going too. If I copse, you pick me up and bring me.¡± Kyunghwa frowned as if he was saying something crazy. ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We¡¯re leaving at 6:10, so you guys can split the dishes.¡± As I asked them to clean up, looking at the guys who were tied up as brothers, Ye-jun made an OK sign with his finger. ¡°What kind of meeting are you having all of a sudden¡­¡± ¡°Go and talk there.¡± I shut Kyunghwa¡¯s mouth first and forced him to sit in front of the table. Kyunghwa, who was trapped between the table and the chair, struggled, but I didn¡¯t care and pushed him. The dinner menu was kimchi fried rice that could be eaten quickly. The main topping was low-salt bacon with less oil and a half-cooked egg that dripped yolk when it popped. There was also a well-ripened new kimchi, which I stir-fried and served. Suddenly, I felt a sense of crisis that I was eating toofortablytely. ¡°I¡¯m going to eat sd again tomorrow.¡± As I put down the frying pan with a stern and serious expression, Seon-woo¡¯s eyebrows went downhill. ¡°It¡¯s no use looking at me like that.¡± I¡¯m on a forced break now, but I¡¯ll be busierter. Seon-woo chewed the greasy rice with a strong will to enjoy the oily taste a little more. I finished dinner in no time and dragged Kyunghwa to the office. Kyunghwa asked me with a lot ofints. ¡°Are you really going to recruit Floss?¡± It was already confirmed, not nned. The conditions were roughly coordinated, so I couldn¡¯t dy the discussion any longer. ¡°Yeah. I think it would be better for us to take care of it for now.¡± Kyunghwa¡¯s lips popped out. I looked out the front window and asked. I wondered if that was the difference. ¡®If I point that out now, he¡¯ll get angry and call me a jerk.¡¯ I kept my mouth shut for now. The office was almost right in front of us. ¡®Maybe it¡¯ll be easier than I thought.¡¯ Kyunghwa was also kind-hearted like me and couldn¡¯t shake off anyone who looked pitiful to him. ¡®First of all¡­ I have to talk to the staff too.¡¯ I parked the car in a suitable spot and went up to the office with Kyunghwa. ¡°Oh, Ise, you¡¯re here? And you brought Kyunghwa with you?¡± Kyunghwa entered the office with a slight nervousness, as it had a rtively horizontal atmosphere. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Ryu Kyunghwa.¡± ¡°Ah, hello. Nice to meet you. Here¡¯s my business card first.¡± Kyunghwa received business cards from the nning department one after another, but he had nothing to give back, so he looked awkwardly nk and muttered in embarrassment. ¡°Should I sign something for you?¡± Jinkyung suppressed augh and answered. ¡°I¡¯ll ask youter. We have a meeting room ready for now.¡± Soon the meeting room door closed with a click, and I introduced the three people from the nning department to Kyunghwa. The meeting, which started off quite warmly, continued for days. Chapter 213: Chapter 213: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 213 What You Have to Ovee by Yourself ¡°Good job, everyone!¡± ¡°Go inside and get some rest!¡± The meetingsted for six hours, except for a brief snack break in the middle, and finally ended. Everyone left the conference room with a drained and nk expression. We had set a rough direction, but it was still too early to rx. As soon as the press conference for the disbandment of Floss ended this afternoon, we had to bring them to the office and stamp the contract.I had to wait patiently and hope that Shim Naru wouldn¡¯t drag it out any longer. ¡°I¡¯ll see you again in the afternoon.¡± I sent the staff members back to the parking lot and mmed the driver¡¯s seat door shut. Kyunghwa, who was in the passenger seat, stared at me intently. ¡°What, what is it¡­¡± I looked at Kyunghwa with a flustered expression and he muttered for a while. ¡°You looked like a totally different person earlier.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± We had been stuck together for half a year already. What was he talking about? I put on my seat belt and started the car. ¡°Just¡­ like you were living in a different world.¡± I didn¡¯t know what had pushed Kyunghwa¡¯s button. I didn¡¯t answer and looked at the dashboard in front of me. Kyunghwa added awkwardly. ¡°Forget it. Just think I was talking nonsense.¡± ¡°What are you talking about, really.¡± What should I say? If it was someone like Yi-jun, he would have brushed it off with a boastful remark like ¡®Why? Wasn¡¯t I so cool when I was working?¡¯. ¡®But that suits him, not me.¡¯ I wondered why he was saying such a silly thing after participating well in the meeting. The conversation ended without a proper conclusion, along with an awkward silence. I stepped on the elerator and the car arrived at the dormitory parking lot without dy. ¡°Are you going to tell the kids right away?¡± Kyunghwa looked at me and the clock alternately and asked. ¡°No. Let¡¯s sleep first and tell them in the afternoon.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± It was already 2 a.m., so it was better to sleep first and talk in the daytime. When we returned to the dormitory, Yi-jun and Seong-won were awake, and Seon-woo was asleep with Pposili in his arms. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep first and talk again tomorrow.¡± I sent the members to their rooms and came out after washing up. I felt a bit more rxed and remembered Kyunghwa¡¯s vague attitude earlier. ¡®Why did he act like that after the meeting?¡¯ He had expressed his dislike for Kang Yu-geon with his whole body on the way to the office. But as soon as the meeting started, he caught on to how to use Kang Yu-geon very rationally and surprised me. He knew how to maximize other people¡¯s strengths and cover their weaknesses. He had a good sense overall. He was so good at catching on to other people¡¯s work that I wondered how much better he would do if it was his own. ¡®This was actually the same within the group.¡¯ He had willingly given up his part to Seon-woo in the partpetition. That was because he knew that it was more strategically advantageous in the end. Maybe I should say that he was the opposite of Naru, who shouted ¡°I want to be the most noticed!¡± without considering the strategic advantages and disadvantages. Kyunghwa was not without ambition, but he was willing to give up his share willingly if it conflicted with the overall benefit. ¡®I wonder if that¡¯s why he had so few parts during the Bobbyam.¡¯ He could have asserted himself more¡­ That¡¯s what I thought. But he was the type to give up easily if he saw that it would be better not to do so in his own eyes. He had a tiring personality, but I couldn¡¯t say anything bad about him since he was doing me a favor. ¡®Is that why he¡¯s so wary¡­ or jealous of Yu-geon?¡¯ Yu-geon knew what he was good at better than anyone, and he knew how to bet on the areas where he had confidence. I can do that better? Give it to me. He was good at iming things and actually snatching parts from others, and he would produce the best output to the point of splitting the opponent. As someone who always took the role of conceding, Kyunghwa must have felt ufortable being constantly provoked by him. ¡®But¡­¡¯ That was also a problem that Kyunghwa had to ovee in order to survive as an entertainer. In the future, Climax would do more work, and since there were members with overflowing talent, there would be countless times when Kyunghwa would be pushed back. He could either change his mindset. Or even if he knew that other members would do better, he could still say, I want to do it, so give me a chance, and demand it confidently. It was a problem that he had to choose for himself. I thought I shouldn¡¯t leave him alone like this for my sake. ¡®How do I solve this¡­¡¯ As I stared at the ceiling nkly, thinking, I heard a panting sound, and Pposili was lurking under the bed. ¡°What is it?¡± I lifted him up on the bed as if I was annoyed, and he slipped into the nket. You¡¯re not even a real dog. I wasn¡¯t very angry, so I gave him a side of the bed with a snicker, and a warm ball of fur dug into my side. A cozy, solid, and soft lump gave me a drowsy sense of security. And then my eyes naturally closed. ¡°Uh¡­¡± As I woke up from my sleep with a feeling of being pressed on my chest, a brown lump blocked my sight. ¡°¡­?¡± I rubbed my eyes, avoiding the fur, and ¡°Woof!¡± Pposili¡¯s cheerful bark made my eyes open wide. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re heavy.¡± I stroked his head a few times and put him down on the floor. Sunwoo was still in deep sleep. It¡¯s good that he sleeps well anytime. Kyunghwa was in the living room. ¡°Where are the others?¡± I asked Kyunghwa, who was sitting in front of the living room table and tapping on hisptop. Kyunghwa answered without taking his eyes off theptop. ¡°They¡¯re sleeping.¡± I went to the kitchen and got some water from the purifier and came back to the living room. ¡°What were you doing?¡± I sneaked behind Kyunghwa and looked at the screen. He was making some nning-rted materials. ¡°I can¡¯t write songs or make beats like Oh YI-jun. I¡¯m just trying toe up with some concept ideas.¡± He had already made up his mind, judging by the way he had divided the roles and goals of each member ording to different scenarios: five-member, three-member, or eight-member groups. ¡°You¡¯ve made a big decision, Ryu Kyunghwa.¡± I yfully turned hisptop screen away from him and patted his shoulder. He quickly pped my hand away. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s up to me to oppose it. You should hurry up and ept it and think about what to do next.¡± Even though he had chosen to give in to his stubbornness again, which made me a bit uneasy, it was a positive sign for us. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled quietly and he snorted, embarrassed. ¡°Don¡¯t act like you came here early in the morning to hear that. Just make me some breakfast. I¡¯m hungry.¡± He continued to type diligently on his keyboard. ¡°Okay. Today, I¡¯ll give you one extra egg as a special treat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so touching, I could cry.¡± And so another busy day began. A few minutester, the press conference for the disbandment of Floss finally started. It was a hellish scene. ¡°Is it true that there was no ranking maniption?¡± There were two rows of desks prepared on the stage. The front row was upied by the adults who were responsible for the show: the producer, the broadcaster¡¯s president, and the representative of W Entertainment. The back row was where the four Floss members sat. It was theirst official activity as Floss, so the agency and the production team had requested them to attend, but five members had skipped it without permission. The four members who were dragged here were more like they had been struck by lightning than they hade willingly. Hwijin felt sick as he was bombarded with shes and taunts disguised as questions. He knew the atmosphere wouldn¡¯t be friendly, but he didn¡¯t expect it to be this hostile. ¡°We will prove that there was no maniption in the voting data by cooperating sincerely with the investigation.¡± The producer, Na Yoon-jo, looked like he hadn¡¯t eaten for a week, with his paleplexion. ¡°Are you not going to reveal how many participants signed the pre-contract?¡± ¡°We will exin it during the investigation process.¡± All his answers were nothing but variations of saying that he would clear his name by undergoing the investigation. How long did he have to endure this meaningless abuse? Hwijin wanted to run away from this disgusting ce as soon as possible. Meanwhile, outside the press conference hall, there was a protest by the fans. The fans who opposed the disbandment of Floss and the fans who demanded the re-debut of their imaginary ¡®real¡¯ debut team members shed with each other. The current debut team was all fake, ording to one side, while the other side insisted that they should perform their activities faithfully until the end if there was no maniption in the voting results. The fierce confrontation eventually led to the police being dispatched. It was like watching a war. As time passed and the scheduled press conference came to an end, the protesters sobbed one after another. They had different opinions, but the conclusion was the same. They felt wronged by the shitty program that ruined their kids. Nothing could change the oue now. Powerlessness and loss. Anger frustrated both sides. ¡°Please disperse quickly and go home. Your parents must be worried.¡± The staff and the police tried hard to persuade them to leave. By the time the press conference ended and the officials and members left the conference hall, most of the crowd had dispersed. Dozens of reporters followed the members who were heading to the parking lot and getting into the van, showering them with shes. ¡°Can you share your thoughts with us?¡± ¡°Did you know about the existence of the pre-contract?¡± ¡°What are your ns for future activities?¡± With an anxious expression, Hwijin covered his face to avoid eye contact with the reporters as much as possible. He closed his eyes as soon as he got into the van. It¡¯s all over now. It¡¯s okay. He tried to calm himself, but his heart wouldn¡¯t settle. Outside, he could hear the noise of the angry fans who hadn¡¯t left yet, shing with the security guards. If there was this muchmotion offline, online would be worse. Hwijin had been desperately ignoring the online reactions for his own mental healthtely. He didn¡¯t need to check what they were saying. He could guess. He had already made his decision. As soon as he arrived at the dorm, he packed up his remaining belongings and headed down to the parking lot. There was a man waiting for him, someone he had worked with several times during his Floss activities. ¡°Hello, Mr. Lee. It¡¯s been a while.¡± He was originally the manager of Climax, but he often came out to support Floss when Climax was inactive. ¡°Oh, yes. Long time no see. I¡¯ll go straight to the office.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Hwijin silently sat in the back seat and checked his phone. There was a short message from Ise. [Climax Cheon Ise] Is it over? 3:26 PM [Climax Cheon Ise] We¡¯re all here, including Naru. 3:27 PM So Naru decided to join them after all. That was the only good news among the many unpleasant ones. He felt a little relieved. Hwijin sighed deeply and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. Floss Hwijin was over. Would he remain as Hwijin, the ¡®former¡¯ Floss member? Or would he seed in his third leap? That was not something he could do alone. Hwijin felt a deep fatigue as he took his first step towards the Composition office. Chapter 214: Chapter 214: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 214 A New Beginning (1) ¡°It is an honor to meet you on such a good opportunity.¡± Manager Woo, who had a gentle impression, started to lighten up the mood by cing the drinks he ordered from a nearby franchise cafe on the table. The exclusive contracts of the Floss trio were signed one by one, starting from Naru, who called me with the number on the business card he gave me before the press conference. And Hwijin, who joinedte after finishing the press conference. As soon as the three of them signed to entrust the management of their future entertainment activities, we decided to hold a brief orientation. ¡°Since only Director Cheon and Kyunghwa attended thest meeting, I will first exin the future activity structure briefly.¡± At the ce where all the former Floss members gathered, they called me Director instead of Ise. It was awkward to be called Director after a long time, but it was not ufortable.¡°First of all, let me inform you in advance of the part that you might be most curious about. Climax will go without any personnel changes from the existing five members.¡± Yi-jun widened his eyes as if he was surprised by the direction that was different from what he thought. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Of course, if there is a contract termination reason and a withdrawal urs in the middle, that would be an exception. But I believe that won¡¯t happen.¡± The Floss-born trio were not shaken much because they had already heard the story about the possibility of a three-member group activity. ¡°Then, will the Floss members be active as a separate three-member group in the future?¡± Yi-jun asked with curiosity in his eyes. I could guess why Yi-jun was interested. They were all so busy that they couldn¡¯t say anything properly, but the schedule nned for Climax was clear. The preparation for the second full album. Since it was an album that was vaguely postponed during the W era, it was natural that the interest was more focused on that side now that thebel was separated. They must have been looking forward to the schedule after Bobbyam. ¡®I wasn¡¯t bad at working on the single song before, and this time I want to participate from the beginning.¡¯ It would be a different change when it became an eight-member group, and it seemed to interest him. ¡°Basically, yes.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± Manager Woo¡¯s vague answer tilted Seong-won¡¯s head. I naturally raised my hand to catch his attention and continued with a detailed exnation. ¡°The group under the Compositionbel will be a total of two,bining the existing Climax and the Floss-born three-member group, and in addition to the group activities, we will regrly promote unit activities.¡± ¡°Unit?¡± Seon-woo looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Yeah. Unit is not a big deal. Since the number of artists under thebel is still small, I want to try more things. To exin it easily with thepany department, Climax is the HR team, Floss is the finance team. And the two groups arebined to work as the management support team, something like that¡­¡± I tried to exin it as easy as possible, but it seemed to fail as the contrast between the expressions of those who understood and those who didn¡¯t was noticeable. First of all, the ones who understood were Kyunghwa, Seong-won, Hwijin, etc., and the ones who didn¡¯t understand were Yu-geon, Yi-jun, Seon-woo, Naru. ¡°So¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m not going into Climax, but I¡¯m going to work in an eight-member group that is not Climax, right?¡± Yu-geon raised his hand halfway and asked, and Yi-jun nodded his head as if he understood. ¡°Ah, I see. I understood too.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± As the two fist-bumped each other, Seon-woo and Naru were confused. ¡°What do you mean by an eight-member group that is not Climax?¡± ¡°So, you mean Climax will continue to work as a five-member group, and also form an eight-member unit regrly, right?¡± ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like Heaven Family?¡± Heaven Family was the name used by the artists of K.O.Heaven, a hip-hopbel created by famous producers from a hip-hoppetition program, to emphasize their friendship. They would perform together and run a YouTube channel under the name of Heaven Family, so they were famous for their group activities even though they were all individual artists. ¡°It¡¯s simr to that, but¡­ a bit different? Heaven Family is a term that covers all the staff members, and we might have artists who won¡¯t join the unit in the future.¡± Naru narrowed his eyes and asked me to confirm if he understood correctly. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m not going to be a part of Climax, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Woo and I answered almost at the same time. ¡®It would take hours to exin everything.¡¯ I felt a bit of frustration and sighed inwardly. It was only after two hours of painful exnation that everyone understood the future ns. The Floss trio went back to their temporary ces, and I returned to the dorm with the members. It was time to sort out the internal affairs of Climax. Everyone seemed quite surprised by the fact that they had to work with the Floss trio as an eight-member group, except for Kyunghwa. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a unit, so¡­ if you don¡¯t feel like doing the eight-member activities, you can opt out¡­¡± As I nced at Seong-won, his eyes narrowed sharply. ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡± Isn¡¯t it obvious? You seem like the most likely to quit. Kyunghwa would choose the group¡¯s interest over his own feelings, but not Seong-won. He even tried to quit once because of his mood. ¡°Because you seem the most dissatisfied?¡± I said cautiously, and Seong-won looked annoyed as if I was talking nonsense. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yeah. You can¡¯t stand doing things you don¡¯t like.¡± Seong-won frowned as if he didn¡¯t know what I was talking about. Then he blushed a little as he remembered what happened when we were preparing for theeback single, and started to make excuses. ¡°Well, that was a special situation. Anyway, I don¡¯t care, so don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll do whatever they tell me to do, and I¡¯ll quit if they tell me to quit.¡± As Seong-won coughed and avoided eye contact, Yi-jun threw a sarcastic remark from the side. ¡°Oh~. You¡¯ve grown up.¡± Oh, just leave me alone. Why are you adding fuel to the fire? I pinched Yi-jun¡¯s thigh. ¡°Stop talking nonsense. Seon-woo, how about you? Are you okay with working as an eight-member group, even though it¡¯s a unit?¡± I quickly shifted the focus of the conversation to Seon-woo, who answered with a bewildered expression. ¡°Uh¡­? Uh, yeah, I¡¯m fine!¡± He seemed a bit flustered, but his face wasn¡¯t too bad. Yi-jun was obviously okay with it. Then it was time to talk about the regr album. ¡°First, we¡¯re going to release a digital single as a unit in the first quarter of next year, and then a regr album in the second quarter. Any objections?¡± Kyunghwa and I had already discussed this once, but it was the first time for the other members to hear it. Yi-jun, who was confident that he would be the main producer without a doubt, widened his eyes.¡± ¡°Wait a minute~. Are you telling me to work on an eight-member single and a five-member full album at the same time? Not a mini album, but a full one?¡± He sounded weak, as if he thought this was too much even for a genius like him. It was quite unexpected. ¡°Um¡­ but you already have three songs to fill the digital single. If you make nine songs, you don¡¯t have to work on all the tracks yourself, so it¡¯s not that unreasonable¡­¡± As I was surprised by his reaction, my tongue slipped out. At that moment, Yi-jun raised both hands and shouted. ¡°I totally want to try it!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Kyunghwa, who was sitting next to him, covered his ears as if they were about to fall off. Seong-won also blocked his ears and made a face. ¡®So he didn¡¯t hate it, he liked it.¡¯ He was unpredictable. Anyway, he seemed to have seeded in igniting his challenge spirit, as he looked very enthusiastic. ¡°Can I remake some of our old songs and put them in the album? Honestly, there were so many things I regretted about our previous songs.¡± Yi-jun, who was already talkative, fired away more excitedly. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been making a list of songs that I think would suit us well since before. Do you guys want to listen to them?¡± His eyes sparkled like a child who received a Christmas present. It made me wonder if it was a good thing. ¡°Okay. For now, let¡¯s share our schedules first, so just hold on for a bit.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Yi-jun blinked his eyes and opened his phone memo app. He nodded his head as he scribbled something diligently. The only thing left was¡­ how to fix the shattered image of the three former Floss members¡­ and the Floss trio, who would be working together not only in the unit but also in the show. Especially the story about Yu-geon¡¯s personal life. ¡®I guess it¡¯s okay, since Yu-geon said he would tell the members in advance.¡¯ ¡°Ah, and there¡¯s something I have to say about Kang Yu-geon¡­ Since it¡¯s going to be officially announced soon, don¡¯t worry and listen.¡± I felt like I wasmitting a sin by telling someone else¡¯s family story, but it was the area that Yu-geon allowed. Why Yu-geon was so sensitive about overwork. Why he had to choose to run away after the friction with Bobbyam. When I told them, they couldn¡¯t open their mouths easily. ¡°Kang Yu-geon¡­ must have suffered a lot.¡± After hearing about the ckmail from his father and the disadvantage he received during the My Idol shooting, Kyunghwa¡¯s hostility towards Yu-geon seemed to soften. Thanks to that, no one seemed to have any objections to the news that they would be appearing together not only in the unit but also in the show. The situation was settled for now. ¡®How the fans will react from now on¡­ I guess it¡¯s something I have to keep working on.¡¯ They epted it internally. They seemed to have built some friendship with the members they had interacted with during the friendship operation. ¡®Thanks to that, they can¡¯t say anything mean like don¡¯t bother us!¡¯ I suddenly remembered how Kang Yu-geon had coldly cut me off, saying, ¡®Do it yourself,¡¯ when the song-stealing incident happened. ¡®What a rude guy.¡¯ Just then, as the heat surged, a system window popped up in front of my eyes. [Congrattions onpleting the first main quest!] [Completion] [- Resolve the conflict between Climax and Floss] [Reward] [- Emergency escape service coupon] [- Title system open] That¡¯s right. Since Floss had exploded and some of them had joined Climax, they had naturally achieved their goal. [Before starting the second main quest, would you like me to exin the title system?] [Yes/No] This was obviously a ¡®yes¡¯. I pressed the yes button without hesitation. [>Title System] [From now on, you can use some fate skills in a constant state. You can convert fate skills into titles by using ten times the fate skill usage points. Some fate skills may not maintain the same performance as when you bought them as skills when converted to titles.] [Avable Titles (16)] Cheon Young-tae Ahn Jung-hee Cheon Ji-su Cheon O-su ¡­ Lee Hwijin Shim Naru (Deactivated) There were a total of 17 fate skills, but Naru¡¯s skill was deactivated and couldn¡¯t be used. ¡®I don¡¯t think I need to use it right away.¡¯ The second quest that followed was, as expected, the release of a regr album. [Performance Goal] [- Sell 300,000 copies of Climax¡¯s regr album in the first week] ¡®¡­¡¯ As soon as I saw it, my eyes went nk. Chapter 215: Chapter 215: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 215 A New Beginning (2) [Performance Goal] [- Sell 300,000 copies of Climax¡¯s regr album in the first week] ¡®Is this¡­ even possible¡­?¡¯ It seemed like others were easily hitting 0millions or half-millions, but that was only a tiny fraction of the whole market. I sighed as soon as I saw it, but Climax¡¯s poprity was iparable to half a year ago. I had to try it first and see if it was feasible. Until the regr album was released, I had no choice but to stake my life on raising the awareness with unit singles.Contrary to the daunting goal, the achievement reward was rather simple. [Achievement Reward] [- Special Item> ¡®Foresight¡¯ acquired] [- Data Transfer Right] What is a data transfer right? I asked the system, but it only gave me a brief exnation that it was an item that prevented data loss in case of an error. [Rmended Deadline for Quest Completion D-180] At least they gave me half a year. I closed all the system windows and right before I went to sleep, I entered the news section with a mind to check the entertainment news. I was startled by an unexpected situation. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Today¡¯s Stock] Jo Young Food¡¯s stock price falls for consecutive days, reflecting the expected poor performance in the 4th quarter £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Falling for consecutive days? I had nothing to do with it anyway, so I tried to keep my mental health by ignoring thepany-rted news. Thepany was basically run by the system, but Jo Young Food was a brand that built trust by having me, the representative, participate in the nning and development stages. The pir of thepany was pulled out from the root, so I thought it couldn¡¯t be normal. But when I saw my half-brother who had the title of the new representative, the sleepiness that was slowly creeping up on me disappeared. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ After the death of former representative Lim Hyun-seong, new business development ALL STOP, most of the sales generated from selling off business units, shareholders¡¯ anxiety leads to EXIT intensification. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ To summarize, the new business development department was drastically reduced after my half-brother took over the management. He must have thought that there was no need to invest in research and development when the parts that were already making good sales were decent. The answer is obvious. Food and beverage is the most sensitive to trends and fashions change quickly. It is most important to catch and utilize the theme that will be popr in the future and secure the factory capacity that can be used. But if you push for expansion too hard, you might lose out if the trend ends sooner than expected. ¡®It¡¯s a field that requires foresight in many ways, so there aren¡¯t manypanies thatst long¡­¡¯ How would he know that? I clenched my fist as I saw thepany¡¯s situation copsing. [ You cannot interfere with any events rted to [Lim Hyun-seong¡¯s Wish] until youplete the preceding quest.] I know. I know. I had nothing to do, but I couldn¡¯t even watch. I quickly turned off my phone screen. In the night when everyone was asleep. I was the only one staring at the ceiling of the bedroom with a nk mind, feeling restless. It had been half a year since I lived in this world. From the time when summer was just beginning to now when the year was ending. So many things had happened that it was hard to recall them all at once. I became friends with the kids who I thought would never fit me when I was Lim Hyun-seong, and I even meddled in their affairs. Moreover, I had spent so much time on Floss, a group that I didn¡¯t even belong to, that it made meugh at my own meddling. ¡®Let¡¯s focus on finishing the quest now.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what kind of quest would be waiting for me after I achieved my wish of bing a sessful idol. But I had to get rid of the things that needed to be done first. As I barely calmed down my excitement and pulled the nket up to my chin, I felt annoyed again. ¡®Why can¡¯t he just sit in his seat and stamp the approval? Thepany wouldn¡¯t go bankrupt.¡¯ I was furious at what he was doing. What were the employees who had worked hard with me and entrusted me with the fate of thepany thinking now? I buried my face in the pillow to stop myself from worrying about one thing after another, and my mind became restless. I forced myself to close my eyes, and I felt sleep creeping up on me. Yeah. The direction I was going to take was already decided. All that was left was to run with my body. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m so happy to be able to work again!¡± The editor, who wore sses that were too thick to see his face properly, fiddled with the height adjustment pin of his chair, as if he was still ufortable, and greeted me brightly. ¡°Thank you for epting the hiring offer so readily.¡± ¡°Oh, you gave me such a good deal, I should have bowed to you.¡± I smiled politely and shook the editor¡¯s hand lightly, then exchanged brief greetings with the rest of the staff. It had been two weeks since Floss joined Composition. The new group name of the Floss trio and the eight-member unit¡¯s activity name were decided. They were ¡®Sweep¡¯ and ¡®OFFBits¡¯. I wanted to choose a name that could remind me of Floss, so I had a hard time choosing between ¡®Sweep¡¯ and ¡®Flood¡¯. It was because of Yu-geon¡¯s refreshing remark that it became ¡®Sweep¡¯. ¡®I wonder if it would sound like a Floss rip-off if I say hello, we are Flood, from tomorrow.¡¯ I had nothing to say when he said that he would be active with that group name. I was surprised by the huge response that was more than I expected, right after the official article of Sweep¡¯s debut. I didn¡¯t know whether to call it luck or not, but a big drug scandal broke out in apeting agency, so I was able to get over it without much controversy. Hwijin was a member who had bought sympathy cards from the manipted members, saying that he must have been wronged. Yu-geon hadn¡¯t confessed his father¡¯s affair yet, but the public opinion was more weing when he heard the news of his uing activity. Of course, it also helped that he hadn¡¯t shown his face yet, and as soon as he started his activity, he would be flooded with hatements like, he pretended to be pitiful and went into hiding, but he¡¯s fine after all. ¡®The problem was¡­¡¯ Of course, it was Naru. Naru, who had been bashed everywhere like a neighborhood book before the official article of joining Composition, enjoyed the glory of ranking first in the poprity ranking as soon as the activity notice came up. [- Where did Shim¡¯s conscience go? He didn¡¯t even show up at the press conference and announced his activity right away??? He has a thick face.] [? His face was always thick.] [- When Shim debuted twice, the other trainees who lost their chances because of Shim gave up their dreams.] [? The investigation team officially acknowledged that there was no vote maniption, so I don¡¯t understand why this keepsing up.] [? Yeah, stop shielding him. Is it normal for Shim to have more than 10 minutes of screen time out of 60 minutes of broadcast?] [? The members who received the favor also ended up disbanding and being branded as maniptors. The production team was the one who did wrong, and the members had no veto power in the situation. I don¡¯t see the point of just cursing them.] [? Everyone is sick of the victim narrative?????? Some couldn¡¯t even debut and only sold their faces, and some hit millions as soon as they debuted. How are they the same victims? In fact, there were some members who benefited the most from the initial grade evaluation and the opening filming, but¡­ Naru¡¯s early editing of Angel was so impressive, and his image of catering to the fans¡¯ needs excessively made him hard to sink. Naru would cry out dozens of times a day that he wanted to retire because his mental state was torn apart. It was not an easy task tofort him by taking turns among the seven of us. ¡®Some of them even made fun of him instead of doing their job properly.¡¯ I did not blindly console Naru by saying that the people who cursed him were bad. There was also a person next to me who resisted the temptation and debuted on his own. If Naru, who had such a high level of poprity, had refused to sign the pre-contract, he would not have suffered such tant disadvantages as Yu-geon. So I told him that this was the price he had to pay for choosing the easy way, knowing what the right direction was. That did not mean that he had to ept the excessive criticism and personal insults. I also added that he had no choice but to show his improved skills in the future to prove that he was not a person who relied on maniption. ¡®Well¡­ I don¡¯t know how he took it.¡¯ He seemed to be stimted by the fact that he did not leave the practice room all day, holding onto the vocal trainer. And so the sun set and it was already January 2022. In the meantime, Composition increased its staff from four to ten. People would say, ten people¡­? Isn¡¯t that barely out of the small business category? It was a bold choice for abel that had no significant achievements yet. From my experience, it was natural to choose investment over profitability in the early stages of business. ¡®But still¡­ there has been no clear revenue since thebel¡¯sunch, except for the cosmetics ad model fee.¡¯ If it weren¡¯t for the capital of Cheon Soo Group, I would have had a lot of trouble. ¡®Chairman Cheon won¡¯t keep supporting a business that doesn¡¯t produce results, so I have to turn it into a profit soon.¡¯ To do that, the members had to earn ie from broadcasting appearances, ad model activities, and other entertainment activities, and the external sales team had to bring in PPL and other self-produced content. It was a sales battle after all. To have aggressive sales activities, I needed employees to support me. I divided the departments into nning, support, and content, and each had four, four, and two small ministries, and I felt that the operation was more stable. ¡°It feels like the system is in ce with a lot of experienced people.¡± Jinkyung, who had be more neat, looked at the partitions divided by department and spoke to me. ¡°Jinkyung, you¡¯ve worked hard.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯ve never seen anyone as meticulous as you, Director. If it weren¡¯t for you, it would have taken longer and been more troublesome.¡± That was true. I had to put a lot of effort into giving them their roles and making thepany run properly, as they had worked in their own ways. At first, the senior staff who doubted if I, who was only twenty-four, knew how to manage, changed their minds after working with me for two days. The expression of the young entertainer who had just inked his birth certificate was wary of what he would say, but it became more friendly as he saw my meticulous and clear work. And on top of that, I had a faster document review speed than others. I was fast and caught every typo and number error that others made. Even Woo, the team leader with the longest career, was impressed. ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°No, it is. You¡¯re really a rare breed, Director.¡± ¡°Yeah. What kind of idol works overtime until dawn to list up thepanies for coboration proposals?¡± They seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied with the fact that I stayed and worked until thetest and went home. ¡®I¡¯ll have to take it to the dormitory from now on.¡¯ When I came to the dormitory, I was distracted by the furry beasts of the members, so I stayed in the office for a long time, and it felt like they were giving me a hint. It was simr to when Director Lim Hyun-seong was here, so I just had to adjust to them. ¡°I¡¯ll try to take it easy. Starting tomorrow, it might be hard toe to the office because of the shooting¡­ There¡¯s a lot to do in the future, so I¡¯d appreciate it if you could help me out.¡± ¡°Yep!¡± Since I wouldn¡¯t be able toe here every day from tomorrow, I decided to finish the office work check and head to the dorm. ¡°Hey! Ise hyung, you came early today!¡± Seon-woo, who was busy packing his stuff, greeted me first. ¡°Yeah. Did you pack everything?¡± ¡°Um~ almost?¡± I ruffled Seon-woo¡¯s hair and looked around. The other members were also preupied with packing their bags. ¡°Let¡¯s do well tomorrow.¡± For the first time in a while, I was about to resume my official activities as the idol Cheon Ise. Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 216 A Vacation That¡¯s Not a Vacation ¡°I packed everything I needed. This should be enough, right, hyung?¡± As I came out of the bathroom after washing my hands, I saw Seon-woo petting Pposili and Aeongi. He came over to me and asked. ¡°Yeah, you did well. It¡¯s not a long trip, so that should do.¡± I patted Seon-woo¡¯s shoulder and praised him, then started to pack my own bag. The travel schedule was six days in total. Three days in Okinawa, three days in Hokkaido, and then back home. On the surface, it was a reward trip for the Composition artists who had gone through a lot in 2021¡­! But¡­¡®Yeah, right.¡¯ It was actually a promotional activity for our self-made content that we were going to release before our eight-member unit single debut. It was not easy to gather all eight of us together, so even during the trip, we had to work on our concept meetings and producing preparations whenever the camera was off. We nned to move without wasting any time. That¡¯s why I was more worried than excited about this group¡¯s overseas trip, which was the first one since I turned 1200. ¡®What if someone gets hurt¡­¡¯ I was haunted by the nightmare of the Bobbyam shooting, but seeing the members who were looking forward to having fun, I felt a bit relieved. ¡®They seemed to enjoy the hotel stay too.¡¯ Since we were going with thepany¡¯s money, we didn¡¯t skimp on the expenses at the various facilities we visited along the way. They all seemed quite excited. ¡°Do I need to bring a swimsuit!?¡± Yi-jun was pressing his body against his bag, which was about to burst if he stuffed any more, and asked. Kyunghwa sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll wear special equipment when we go into the sea, but there¡¯s a pool at the hotel. Don¡¯t rush to buy one there, just pack one in advance.¡± ¡°Ah, do I have to bring another bag? There¡¯s no room for it.¡± ¡°Give it to me.¡± Kyunghwa reluctantly took some of Yi-jun¡¯s clothes and put them in his own bag, then neatly zipped it up and put it under the bed. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°Yeah. I think Seong-won and I are done¡­ And he¡¯s almost done too.¡± ¡°Check one more time. I¡¯ll pack and cross-check too.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After I finished packing, it was alreadyte at night. It was an early morning flight, but I wanted to get some sleep, so I headed to bed. On the way, I saw Seon-woo standing in front of the mirror. I felt sorry for him, but I had to tell him the cruel truth. ¡°No matter how much you say it¡¯s Okinawa, it¡¯s too cold to wear that kind of short sleeve in winter.¡± I knew that from my previous business trip experience. Seon-woo immediately frowned and rolled his eyes, making an excuse. ¡°Then I¡¯ll just wear it as pajamas¡­!¡± ¡°Fine. Do whatever you want.¡± I chuckled lightly andy down on the bed. I felt a bit sad to part with the soft pillow that touched my back, thinking that I wouldn¡¯t see it for a while. I closed my eyes and looked at the ceiling quietly. When I opened them, it was 5:30 a.m. It was time to get ready for the morning flight. ¡°Before we check in, please check your passports one more time.¡± Early morning at Incheon Airport. Eight of us gathered at the tform to board the ne to Okinawa. It was quite crowded. We all booked business ss seats, so we could be rtively free from the eyes of the regr passengers once we got on the ne. But it was only a two-hour flight, so I wondered how much of a difference it would make. I wouldn¡¯t have taken business ss if I was alone. I decided to think of it as a treat that I enjoyed with the members. ¡°Ah, where did I put my passport?¡± Yi-jun rummaged through all his luggage as if he was going to pull everything out. Kyunghwa sighed as if he was pathetic. ¡°I told you to take good care of it.¡± He looked like a real brother, sighing and nagging, but he also helped him look for it. Hwijin smiled enviously. Yu-geon, who was standing next to him, poked Hwijin¡¯s side and asked. ¡°Can you lose my passport too?¡± Hwijin shook his head and refused. ¡°No thanks. I¡¯ll just take your heart.¡± Among the rtively peaceful Climax and the somewhat calm Yu-geon & Hwijin, Naru, the shortest one in the group, looked unhappy. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I approached him and asked. He hid behind Yu-geon¡¯s back like a wild animal that met a stranger. ¡°What is this?¡± I narrowed my eyes and looked at Naru behind Yu-geon. Naru red at me with a strange expression that I couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± Yu-geon, who had be quite friendly with me since joining Composition, shrugged his shoulders. As if to tell him to speak for himself, Yu-geon moved aside and revealed Naru. Naru flustered and snapped. ¡°Not yet! Don¡¯t act so smug, I haven¡¯t admitted that I¡¯m grateful!¡± I wondered what he wanted to say. It seemed like he wanted to tell me not to mistake him for helping him by recruiting him. ¡®I didn¡¯t really want to bring him along that badly.¡¯ Before I could even frown, Hwijin grabbed Naru¡¯s shoulder with a thud. ¡®You don¡¯t have to be so formal with the CEO, but you should at least call him hyung.¡¯ It looked like he was just pressing down on him like a massage, but he must have been using quite some force, because Naru screamed and quickly changed his words. ¡®Okay, okay! Stop being so scary! Humph!¡¯ ¡®Geez, this guy.¡¯ Hwijin seemed to feel responsible for asking me to bring him along. I chuckled at his efforts. ¡®It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll check in soon and go inside, so get your passports ready.¡¯ Former Floss. Current Swift. They all brought their stuff well. I thought Climax would be fine too, as I joined the others with Kyunghwa. My eyes widened at the unexpectedmotion. ¡®Huh? Look carefully. Isn¡¯t that what you brought earlier? You had it with you, right?¡¯ Someone forgot their passport again. I thought it would be Seon-woo with a high probability, but when I approached the source of the noise, it turned out to be someone else. ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®Wait, I¡¯m sure I brought it. Who was driving the van earlier?¡¯ Kyunghwa, who had never made such a mistake before with his meticulous attention, was rummaging through his bag with a bewildered expression. ¡®What? Who left their passport?¡¯ I asked as I got closer, and Kyunghwa put his bag down on the floor with a flushed face. ¡®¡­I think I either left it at home or in the car.¡¯ He looked quite embarrassed, after nagging Yi-jun to take care of his stuff earlier. ¡®Call Manager Park quickly. He hasn¡¯t arrived yet.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, I¡¯ll do that right now.¡¯ Luckily, the manager who was returning to the terminal after parking confirmed that he left his cross bag in the car. The manager soon joined us with the bag, and Kyunghwa still looked out of it even after finding his bag. ¡®I¡¯m d you found your bag.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t let go of his phone even while we were waiting in the lounge after checking in our luggage. ¡®Something feels wrong about this¡­¡¯ He wasn¡¯t usually like that, so I was worried. It was hard to say anything because the camera was rolling as the manager joined us. ¡®Come to think of it, I¡¯m the CEO now, right?¡¯ I could just edit out anything weirdter. I confidently approached Kyunghwa and asked. ¡®Did you sleep badly yesterday? Why do you look so tired?¡¯ He shook his head as I put it mildly. ¡®Me?¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ He denied it as if he had no idea. ¡®I¡¯m not tired at all.¡¯ ¡®Then why can¡¯t you focus?¡¯ ¡®Me?¡¯ I narrowed my eyes and asked. ¡®Are you ufortable going with the three of them?¡¯ The other members were still a bit awkward, but they had filmed together a few times, so they gathered in groups and chatted about the tourist courses they were looking forward to. Only Kyunghwa was restless like this, and I couldn¡¯t help but care. ¡®No? Not at all. Do you think I¡¯m still holding a grudge over that?¡¯ He red at me with a resentful expression, and I shrugged. ¡®Well, that¡¯s good then. But let me know if anything¡¯s wrong. You look like you¡¯re prone to making mistakes right now, and I¡¯m worried.¡¯ He nodded with his phone still clenched in his hand. ¡®The bag thing was just because I was out of it. I won¡¯t do that again, so don¡¯t worry too much and mind your own business.¡¯ He brushed me off like that, and I couldn¡¯t interrogate him further. I nodded reluctantly and rejoined the others. ¡®Wow, we¡¯re boarding now!¡¯ ¡®Oh, front seats, front seats!¡¯ They all got excited and split into groups of two. Yi-jun and Kyunghwa, Seong-won and Seon-woo, me and Hwijin, Naru and Yu-geon. ¡®Okay, everyone, check if your self-cams are installed properly.¡¯ They all installed their cameras, but they were too early for the morning flight, and they soon dozed off. ¡®Krrr¡­ Krrr¡­¡¯ Seon-woo snored faintly enough to be recorded. Seong-won grimaced and pressed his body against the window. Iughed at the sight. Yu-geon also sneaked away from Naru, who was leaning on him, and fell into a deep sleep against the wall. Hwijin was also asleep, or at least had his eyes closed, while Kyunghwa was the only one who couldn¡¯t sleep. ¡®What¡¯s really going on with him?¡¯ I started to worry about how he would react if I just threw a curveball at him. He was so full of pride. ¡®He¡¯s not the type to quit in the middle of a job just because he feels bad.¡¯ But still, he was one of the few precious¡­ staff members I had. I didn¡¯t want to provoke him unnecessarily. I decided to be courteous to him and closed my eyes for a moment. Soon, the announcement ofnding came out. I opened the window shield that was blocking the view outside and looked down. A scenery that was hard to believe it was winter unfolded. ¡°Wow.¡± I hade here once on a business trip before, but this was the first time I saw the view properly. I couldn¡¯t help but open my mouth wide. ¡°Pfft.¡± He must have seen my reaction, because he opened his eyes and turned his head tough. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you be surprised too, Mr. Hwijin?¡± He didn¡¯t stop smiling as if he was sorry. ¡°My family did a working holiday in Okinawa, so I came here several times to visit.¡± I didn¡¯t expect that TMI, so I said as if I was embarrassed. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s why you asked me to put Okinawa in your group when we drew lots? Isn¡¯t that cheating?¡± He dodged my question and acted dumb. ¡°Hey. It¡¯s already decided, why are you bringing it up now?¡± He had a point. It was boring to follow the same course with eight people, so we added a bit of a variety show system. Okinawa team. Hwijin, Naru, Seon-woo, Kyunghwa. Four people. Hokkaido team. Ise, Yu-geon, Seong-won, Yi-jun. Four people. I couldn¡¯t help but think that my team had too many bombs, but anyway, we prepared a bnced team battle. Each group made their own sightseeing course, and the winning team would get to go on another vacation. Honestly, it didn¡¯t matter which team won. ¡®Even if we go on a vacation, we won¡¯t be able to rx because of the single preparations.¡¯ But still, I wanted to win since it was apetition. He was so sneaky¡­ I red at him with a stingy expression. He drew a V sign towards the camera. He didn¡¯t seem like he was just enduring the entertainment industry innocently. I swallowed a silly sigh as the ne began tond at the airport. Chapter 217: Chapter 217: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 217 Winter Sea ¡°Wow, it¡¯s warmer than I thought.¡± As we got off the airport and moved to get a rental car, everyone was bewildered by the weather that didn¡¯t feel like midwinter and took off their outerwear. Only Hwijin seemed to have known this from the start and wore a thin long-sleeved cardigan. ¡°Ah, the coat is too hot, right?¡± Yu-geon, who had worn a coat for early winter to prepare for the warm weather, eventually took off his coat and wrapped it around one arm as he walked. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m d I packed the padding.¡±Thanks to the warning that we should bring a padding to avoid freezing to death in Hokkaido, everyone had a lot of trouble deciding whether to take out a coat or a jumper or a padding before departure. I roughly guessed the winter weather in Okinawa and brought a thin denim jacket, and the rest of the members agreed to pack a padding after debating between a padding or a coat. ¡®This takes up too much space.¡¯ When Yi-jun tried to take it out in the middle, Kyunghwa quickly stopped him. It was a wise choice. ¡°I survived because hyung told me to pack a padding.¡± When Yi-jun yfully poked Kyunghwa, Kyunghwa copsed on the sidewalk like a scene from a children¡¯s animation and screamed. ¡°Aaah-!¡± ¡°Eek!¡± Yi-jun, who had touched Kyunghwa, also startled and made a surprised sound. ¡°Ah, are you okay, Kyunghwa hyung?¡± Seon-woo turned around in surprise and looked at Kyunghwa, and not only Yu-geon but also Naru¡¯s eyes were drawn to Kyunghwa. ¡°Ah, um. I¡¯m fine. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.¡± Kyunghwa got up and dusted off his knees, but he didn¡¯t look like a fine person at all. ¡°Wow, Kyunghwa hyung, that was really like a pstick just now.¡± Yu-geon and Yi-jun teased Kyunghwa like Dumb and Dumber and reenacted the dynamic pose from before, and fortunately the atmosphere was lightened with a gag. ¡®That¡¯s definitely not sane.¡¯ I didn¡¯t expect to worry about Kyunghwa even in a foreign country. I approached Kyunghwa closely and whispered. ¡°Are you really hurt somewhere?¡± Then Kyunghwa looked at me in surprise and shook his head. ¡°No? I¡¯m totally fine.¡± It meant ¡®I have a problem right now. I won¡¯t tell you, but be prepared.¡¯ I¡¯m going crazy. I sincerely hoped that he wouldn¡¯t cause a big ident and moved to the hotel first. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Naru, the representative guide for today! Please give me some response, or I¡¯ll be embarrassed~. Wow~.¡± As soon as we got off the hotel, the tour started and the representative guide, who had been decided in advance, stood in front with a guide g and a guide microphone. He looked worried because his expression wasn¡¯t as bright as before on the ne. But he seemed to know clearly what he had to do in front of the camera and smiled brightly. ¡®When this is released¡­ Anyway, I¡¯ll get criticized. He was at the center of a big controversy and then disappeared and resumed his activities.¡¯ As I told Naru. Thepany would sue for artist protection against the excessive criticism. And the rest of the biased views were something that Naru himself had to ovee. ¡°Wow~. Your voice is too small~. Show me some love for the youngest!¡± Naru tried to proceed desperately, and I felt sorry for him, so I pped quietly. ¡°Wow~.¡± Yu-geon and Yi-jun led the response, and Naru pulled out something like a magic wand that I didn¡¯t know where he had prepared. ¡°The ce where we will stay today is a resort that boasts the best swimming pool facilities in Okinawa, including an infinity pool! We will have a barbecue buffet for lunch! y a simple game in the pool and get a spa treatment, and after dinner, we will visit the nearby market and return to the hotel!¡± He seemed to be inexperienced in this kind of progress and poured out a lot of information at once, but it wasn¡¯t bad. It wouldn¡¯t match the offbeat youngest image if he looked too perfect here, and it wouldn¡¯t be good for public opinion if he looked too clean from the series of events. ¡°Wow~. Then we came to Okinawa and there¡¯s no difference between having a staycation in the middle of Seoul, right?¡± Yu-geon raised his hand and spat out his unique aggro and joked. ¡°No, you can¡¯t see the emerald-colored beach in Seoul~.¡± Naru tried to make up for it, but this time Yi-jun attacked. ¡°Hey~. The hotel is too weak. We can¡¯t go into the sea. Our team has a hotel son, uh¡­!¡± ¡°Wow~. The sea sounds nice!¡± I quickly covered Yi-jun¡¯s mouth and changed the subject. Yi-jun looked at me with a wronged expression, saying why? I didn¡¯t say anything wrong, did I? Of course it wasn¡¯t wrong! And everyone knew it well, but! There was no need to bber about it on the broadcast. Editing wasn¡¯t omnipotent, so I unknowingly reached out first and made a rather funny scene. ¡°¡­?¡± Yi-jun still made a what? expression and I chuckled. Anyway, Naru, who got out of the sabotage, checked in and came back and took everyone to the rooftop restaurant. The meal we ate in groups of four was quite delicious. We brieflyid out our impressions of the food in front of the self-cams. ¡°Huh?¡± It suddenly started raining from the sky. Naru looked at the sky with a dismayed expression, and the mischievous older brothers startedughing and holding their stomachs. In the end, Hwijin, who was at the next table, grabbed Yu-geon and Yi-jun and started scolding them in a low voice. It was a total chaos. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside for now.¡± Everyone was silent as they came down from the rooftop, which was blue until a while ago, and chewed on the meat soaked in rain. ¡®I think they deliberately gave me the easiest course to lead because I¡¯m the youngest.¡¯ Unfortunately, the weather didn¡¯t cooperate and the temperature was too chilly to use the pool. ¡°It¡¯s a shame we brought swimsuits.¡± ¡°There¡¯s an indoor pool, so I think we can go there.¡± Hwijin, the leader guide, took over Naru¡¯s flustered iling and carried it hard. They moved to the indoor pool and safely yed the game, but the mood was gone. They had a prize for using the best product at the spa they were going to move to after the pool, and they yed an underwater bar recreation, but no one was very enthusiastic. ¡®Why? This is awesome. It¡¯s a wash made from local specialties.¡¯ Naru screamed as if he didn¡¯t understand, but he was the only one interested in cosmetics here. Seon-woo and Seong-won were not very interested in cosmetics, even though they were brand models. But once they did it, everyone worked hard and Yi-jun, who looked the least needed, won the final victory. Yu-geon and Yi-jun fought fiercely with one hand until the end, and Yu-geon suddenly couldn¡¯t ept why he had to risk his life here and jumped into the water first. The one who looked the least needed took it. Naru followed Yi-jun around and whined that if he was going to be so sullen, he should give it to him, but Yi-jun seemed to enjoy it and pretended to ignore it. It looked far from a healing vacation, but¡­ ¡®Maybe it¡¯s okay because it looks fun.¡¯ After finishing the remaining schedule and disbanding, Yu-geon asked me when I came out after washing. ¡°Don¡¯t we do something like Y app?¡± I asked back with a bewildered expression. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a spoiler?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the CEO, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Even if I¡¯m the CEO, a spoiler is a spoiler.¡± At the sound of Y app, Yi-jun, who was lying on the bed like a caterpir, got up. ¡°Do you do Y app?¡± The rumor is so twisted. I shook my head and answered. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know if I can do it.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re the CEO, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No, I mean, I¡¯m not doing this alone, and if I spoil it, the content team will have trouble.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you talk without saying ¡®no¡¯ twice?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that bad.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s expression was very mean as he quickly backed away from the argument. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to say where you went for filming, just show what you ordered and eat and turn it off.¡± This guy is getting more and more rebellious. I didn¡¯t want to be a nagging older brother, even though we were only a year apart. ¡°Then let¡¯s do it. There¡¯s no harm in doing it.¡± I dly turned on the live app on my phone. ¡°No, you have to give me some time to prepare!¡± Yu-geon raised his voice as if he didn¡¯t expect me to turn it on so suddenly. Seong-won, who had been lying down like a snail and using his phone with noise-canceling earphones on, was startled by the sudden Y app broadcast alert and got up. [Y Live broadcast has started.] ¡°What, you turned on Y app?¡± The screen showed the hotel room with Seong-won¡¯snguid voice. Meanwhile, Yu-geon¡¯s personal fans, who had been dying of thirst wondering if this guy was still alive after his disappearance, were turned upside down by the news of Yu-geon¡¯s transfer. They knew from before that he had a good rtionship with the leader of another group, not just business. But now he¡¯s going into abel that¡¯s only been around for three months? Yu-geon was one of the few debut members who escaped the contract incident, and the fans also didn¡¯t doubt that fact, so they expected that he would have many ces to go with better conditions. ¡®Would he have been cursed like that on the broadcast if he wrote the contract?¡¯ Yu-geon¡¯s personal fandom was a different group from the general affection for idols, as they called their favorite not a god but ¡®that guy¡¯. They basically didn¡¯t like the Floss members. They looked like an exception to the online etiquette of all-fan cosy that they should show. ¡®I¡¯m not a malicious personal fan, but they neglected their duties as idols because they didn¡¯t catch my interest.¡¯ And there were many people who still couldn¡¯t get out of the grudge from the My Idol days. Why do I have to embrace the bastards who made my kid a viin and shot him up with nicknames like Yutoto (Yu-geon X again), and the master of maniption in real-time popr posts? They had to do a lot of purification work on Entertainment Talk Talk to overturn the master of maniption in the best possible direction, and it was enough to grind their teeth. It was possible to purify him because he debuted. If they calcted the hatements that Yu-geon had swept up during the My Idol broadcast, Yu-geon would have been immortal and still left. Thanks to me, I made this guy debut and made the 9th ce with the cohesion of these bad fans, so I guess it was a good thing in the end. The fandom was enjoying their happy personal fangirling within the limits of not hating too much, since things had worked out well anyway. But another thorny path unfolded before them. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Enter Today] Former Floss members Shim Naru, Lee Hwijin, and Kang Yu-geon join forces with Climax. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ Get out of W! Movingbels is not a demotion, it¡¯s changing agencies! I was already pissed off that the contract was written upside down by some other guys and the group activities were over, but why with Shim Naru again? Shim Naru was so annoying, always trying to stick with me like a cicada on a pine tree. Lee Hwijin was better. Why with Shim Naru? Don¡¯t you have any learning ability after getting beaten by Oh Chanhyung? As the worries that were too harsh for my bias poured out, a breaking news came up on the protected ount. [- Hey, crazy, Yu-geon is doing Y-app.] Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 218 Survival Report I saw the news that they were spotted at the airport this morning. But I was trying not to pay attention to them, because it was a terrifying moment when I realized they were really working as a group of eight. ¡®The more I think about the worst-case scenario, the more I suffer.¡¯ As a personal fan who wished Yu-geon would escape from Floss and continue his solo activities as soon as possible, there was no silver lining for me. And then, what¡¯s with Y-app? Y-app? What ount are they using? They can¡¯t use their Floss ount anymore. As the rm bells rang in my head, a friend sent me a link. [- My Idol in My Hand, Y-Live! shared a link. (link)] I clicked on it and it was the ount of the leader of the other group.£þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Climax] Hello, this is Cheon Ise. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ What¡¯s with this title that sounds like a national apology? Did something bad happen to Yu-geon again? I felt my heart drop and I logged into the live with trembling hands. And then I couldn¡¯t help but tilt my head at the screen that followed. [No, who came up with that title?] [No, you said to write anything. Don¡¯t you have to greet them?] [You don¡¯t do that unless you¡¯re guilty.] The leader of the other group and Yu-geon were arguing with each other, adding ¡®no¡¯ to every sentence. And then there was Yi-jun, who wasughing hysterically, and Seong-won, who was looking down at Yi-jun with a contemptuous expression. Why were these four in the same room? Judging by thements, it seemed like everyone else was thinking the same thing. [Ah~ I¡¯m sorry, Rise. We¡¯re not used to Y-app yet? There was a bit of a misunderstanding, but we¡¯re just here for a quick shoot. We¡¯re in a very peaceful state before going to bed.] Yi-jun smiled softly and greeted the screen as the only sane one. [We were going to show you a simple eating show and go to sleep. But Ise hyung suddenly threw a challenge to you with the Y-app title, so I think you must have been surprised. We¡¯re fine. We¡¯re really fine! Instead, we have a lot of fun things to show you, because we worked hard. I hope you look forward to it.] What was going on? Everyone was staring at the screen with nk faces, and Yu-geon and Ise, who had just finished their verbal fight, smiled and sat next to Yi-jun and greeted him. [Hello, this is Kang Yu-geon! It¡¯s been a while since I greeted you. Or not? This is the first time I¡¯m greeting you as a member of Composition. Ah, I¡¯m a guest right now, right?] He didn¡¯t have his own live channel, so he squeezed into someone else¡¯s live broadcast as a guest. I felt like crying, but not really. It didn¡¯t look like a fake business at all, but I suddenly had a bad feeling. ¡®This guy¡­ Is he going to join Climax?¡¯ He only changed his agency, but he didn¡¯t have a direction yet. He could go anywhere, do anything, debut in any way. The fact that all possibilities were open made me scared. Why did he have topete with those guys who had just escaped from being nobodies? I was confused, and Yu-geon smiled and picked up a cup of ramen. [I¡¯m going to eat some ramen now. What vor do you like, Rise?] [Ah, I was going to do that.] [Then you do it.] [I like the spicy one the best. What vor do you like the most, Rise?] He called the viewers by the name of the other fandom so naturally, it made my heart ache. But the person himself emptied a cup of ramen in no time, as if it was delicious. And he didn¡¯t forget to steal a shrimp from the leader of the other group, who was slowly enjoying the seafood vor. [Ah.] [Weren¡¯t you not eating?] [No, I was saving it.] [You looked like you weren¡¯t eating~.] The member who got along well with Yu-geon joined in and stole another shrimp. I didn¡¯t know what it was, but I felt that Yu-geon¡¯s expression was different from when he was in Floss. I had been obsessing over him more than anyone else, so I couldn¡¯t miss the difference. ¡®He¡¯s having fun after dropping a nuclear bomb on us and disappearing¡­ You bastard¡­¡¯ I was relieved that he was doing well, but I felt bitter. And it felt like I was right that Floss was very X to Yu-geon. Fine, you¡­ If you¡¯re happy there¡­ Then I¡¯ll¡­ As I was trying to ept the reality in tears, someone who stopped the tsunami of emotions appeared. [¡­I came from the next room. Can you open the door?] [Open it, open it.] [I asked hyung, not you.] As soon as the leader nodded and gave permission, someone opened the door and came in. [Oh, you turned on the live?] He had the charisma of an attention-seeker that I could recognize from afar. It was Shim Naru. ¡°We¡¯re here, too¡­ Is that okay?¡± After Naru, Seon-woo peeked his head in. And behind him, as if it wasn¡¯t a domino, Hwijin was standing. ¡°What¡¯s the problem¡­ But what about Kyunghwa?¡± If they were going to show their faces like this, they should have shown all eight of them. If one was missing, there was a risk of being caught up in something like bullying rumors. ¡°He must have been tired, he fell asleep first. He had been feeling unwell ever since we got on the ne. Maybe he was exhausted. I felt like I had to check on him as soon as I turned off the live stream. We had spent more than ten minutes introducing and greeting the new faces who joined us. ¡°Well, anyway, we¡¯re all here together now. I¡¯ll tell you why we¡¯re here soon, so please look forward to it!¡± ¡°That¡¯s it for the broadcast today. Have a good night, everyone!¡± I ended the live stream neatly and went to the next room, where Kyunghwa was sound asleep, oblivious to the world. ¡®Was there anything that tiring?¡¯ Even in his sleep, he was holding his phone tightly in his hand. I took it out of his hand to plug it into the charger, and the screen lit up as if it recognized his fingerprint automatically. I didn¡¯t have a hobby of snooping around other people¡¯s phones. I was about to turn it off when I saw an unexpected word that made my eyes widen. [Dad] Are you really not going to answer me? 10:38 PM [Dad] If you don¡¯t reply by tomorrow, I¡¯ll call the vice president. 10:45 PM What does he mean by calling the vice president? And what¡¯s with this hostile conversation with his dad? This was not something that anyone should see. I was startled and tried to turn off the screen when another message arrived. [Dad] If you don¡¯t want to work, send me money quickly. 11:25 PM [Dad] I don¡¯t like begging my son orining. 11:26 PM I suddenly remembered the conversation I had heard when I was living in the dorm before moving. ¡®I sent you money, check it. Don¡¯t spend it on weird things this time, just pay the rent first. Please don¡¯t make me get a call from the hospital. I¡¯m not sending you money for nothing, why are you doing this?¡¯ ¡®Is it horse racing again? Stop embarrassing yourself and quit it. Please.¡¯ There was a patient in the hospital among his family members, and he was sending money for the medical bills, but someone was gambling it away. It must have been a tough situation in many ways, and it seemed like something had gone wrong again recently. ¡®What should I do?¡¯ It was toote to wake Kyunghwa up and ask him what was going on. ¡®Maybe I should talk to himter when I get a chance.¡¯ While I was pondering, the Okinawa team members who had finished cleaning up the other room came back. ¡°Is Kyunghwa hyung asleep?¡± Seon-woo, who was worried that Kyunghwa might wake up, came over to me quietly. I quickly turned off the phone screen and ced it gently on the table. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s asleep.¡± Then I casually plugged the phone into the charger and went back to the room. I still felt uneasy. ¡°What¡¯s with that weird look?¡± Yi-jun immediately sensed something strange and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Yu-geon, who got along well with him, joined in and looked at me with eagle eyes as if he was a detective. ¡°Something smells fishy.¡± ¡°What smell? It¡¯s the ramen smell, take it out.¡± I checked that the screen was properly closed and opened the window. It was quite chilly at night, as the temperature dropped to 10 degrees. ¡°Brr, it¡¯s cold.¡± Yu-geon and Yi-jun whined and put the nkets over their heads, ready to sleep. ¡°You should sleep too.¡± Iy down next to Seong-won, who had been sitting quietly, and patted his back. He nodded slowly and covered himself with the nket. It was as if we were on a school trip. ¡°Did you feel ufortable today?¡± I whispered in a low voice that only Seong-won could hear, and he looked at me silently for a moment. What? It¡¯s either yes or no. If it were me, I would have shown my displeasure right away, but he was unusually quiet, which made me more uneasy. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± I was surprised by his unexpected answer. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Forget it. Just sleep.¡± Seong-won turned his back andy down, not saying anything else. I didn¡¯t know what to make of it, but maybe he was satisfied in his own way. I decided not to expect too much and just watch his reaction. I kept thinking about Kyunghwa¡¯s situation and almost tossed and turned in bed, but¡­ he was a guy who knew how to separate work and personal life. I thought I¡¯d talk to him as soon as I got a chance. Thanks to the conclusion, I was able to fall asleep without too much dy. The next morning, the first event of the ind tour, whale watching, began. ¡°Hello, this is Seon-woo, your guide for today! We¡¯re going to meet thergest mammals in the world, right now, let¡¯s go!¡± He sounded like a professional MC on a radio show, with a smooth presentation that was iparable to before. He had a cute gesture and a perfect expression that showed off his face. I guess it¡¯s good to push yourself hard as long as your ability allows it, that¡¯s how you grow. I nodded to myself and nced at Kyunghwa, who would be the guide for tomorrow. He was trying hard to focus, but something seemed to be missing, and it bothered me.¡± ¡®Should I tell him?¡¯ As I was hesitating, Kyunghwa seemed to regain his focus and helped Seon-woo with today¡¯s progress step by step. If it was a problem that he could solve on his own¡­ He wouldn¡¯t want to cause trouble in this trip because of his pride. Kyunghwa was a very responsible guy, so he wouldn¡¯t make a mess, but I remembered the nightmare of the MC incidentst time. ¡®Back then, Seon-woo was too clueless, and this time it¡¯s a bit different, but¡­.¡¯ His family situation was tooplicated. I couldn¡¯t make a decision and waited for a chance to talk to Kyunghwa alone. During the morning whale tour, the guys who didn¡¯t listen to the motion sickness pills made scenes that were hard to broadcast, and I was busy fixing them. After lunch, we went snorkeling, but what could I say in the water? I tried to look good on the screen, but I was overwhelmed by the wonders of nature. After finishing the exhausting sightseeing, we came back and it was time to sleep again. Today, I didn¡¯t have the energy to greet anyone, so I asked Yi-jun to upload some selfies on SNS and passed out. ¡®I really need to talk to him once.¡¯ I barely had time to think, and the fatigue swept over me and I lost consciousness. The third day of the trip came in a sh. Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 219 Too Personal (1) On the third day in Okinawa, Kyunghwa was the main guide. We had a busy schedule from the morning because we were going to take ate-night flight to Sapporo. As soon as the sun rose, we headed to the aquarium. It was a famous ce for having thergest aquarium in Japan. I felt like I was on a field trip as I followed Kyunghwa¡¯s calm progress. ¡°Wow, the souvenirs are so cute.¡± ¡°I think the stingrays are the cutest.¡± ¡°I need to buy a headband!¡± Everyone was acting like they were ten years younger as they wandered around and stopped by the souvenir shop to buy some trinkets.Most of them chose mascot dolls that fit in their palms, but Naru went straight for the headbands. He wore a penguin headband and took selfies enthusiastically. He seemed to be getting enough healing from this trip. ¡°¡­¡± And Seon-woo was watching him from a few steps behind. I approached Seon-woo and asked him. ¡°Do you want me to buy you one?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Seon-woo flinched and waved his hand. ¡°No, I¡¯m not as small as Naru, and I¡¯m not the youngest anymore¡­!¡± Seon-woo hesitated and shook his head. You¡¯re the prettiest here no matter who you bring, what are you worried about? I was incredulous and clicked my tongue as I paid for a sky-blue dolphin headband. ¡°Wear it. You¡¯re the youngest of Climax. Naru is the youngest of Swift.¡± It would be cute if the youngest ones wore headbands and followed each other. I fixed Seon-woo¡¯s hair and pushed him towards Naru. Naru looked at Seon-woo and pouted. Maybe he thought he should be the prettiest and cutest, but Seon-woo was too eye-catching¡­ Did it bother him? He nced at him suspiciously for a moment and then pulled Seon-woo to his side. He took a selfie with him with a huge whale shark tank as the background. Seon-woo willingly bent his knees to match Naru¡¯s height, since there was a considerable difference between them. ¡°Yikes. What do you guys eat to grow so big?¡± Naru was not that short, he was average for an adult male. But everyone around him was over 180 cm tall ording to their profiles, so he looked unfairly small. ¡°Your height?¡± Yu-geon smirked and walked past him. Eek-! Naru stomped his feet and moved away from Yu-geon, annoyed. ¡®Anyway, I¡¯m d he¡¯s doing well¡­¡¯ I followed the members with a nervous expression and soon saw the exit. ¡°Next, we¡¯re going to Okinawa Folk Vige. I¡¯ve reserved a shuttle, so please wait for a while.¡± Kyunghwa looked calm, but he felt very different from usual. Was he feeling the pressure? We went to a traditional experience center that felt like a folk vige. They sold simple Okinawan snacks there. Everyone quietly held a sugar candy pack and followed Kyunghwa¡¯s guidance. There was a wide sea on the edge, and the buildings andndscaping were simr to Jeju Ind, but with apletely different style. It was pleasing to the eye. ¡°This is super sweet.¡± Naru looked for the nutrition facts on the package, worried about the calories. Seon-woo quickly put the remaining candy in his mouth. He looked at me nervously, as if he was afraid I would take away what he was eating. No¡­ I wouldn¡¯t forcibly take away what he was eating, no matter what. I thought to myself and walked a few steps away from Seon-woo. Then, at the very end of the group, I bumped into Seong-won and Cook. ¡°Why?¡± Seong-won tilted his head and looked down at me. ¡°No. Seon-woo seems to be conscious of me.¡± I pointed to where Seon-woo and Naru were. Naru refused to eat and Seon-woo picked it out and put it in his mouth. ¡°¡­They look happy.¡± I nodded at Seong-won¡¯s shortment. And then there was a brief awkward silence. He had improved a lot since I first saw him, but there was still some difort. I asked Seong-won quietly. ¡°Do you not like traveling like this?¡± I wasn¡¯t really curious, but. When we were divided into groups and did research, he wasn¡¯t this dull. ¡°No? Why?¡± Seong-won asked back, puzzled. ¡°You seem tock enthusiasm.¡± ¡°Not really. It was quiet around, so I just watched the sea quietly.¡± He pointed to the front. Indeed, the unreal emerald sea was shimmering. Seong-won¡¯s other hand was holding a mascot doll he bought at the aquarium. Well, if he was enjoying himself in his own way, that was good. I nodded and followed Kyunghwa¡¯s gesture to the next destination. Soon after. Everyone who finished their schedule in Okinawa andnded at Sapporo Airport had one sentence engraved in their minds. ¡°It¡¯s so freaking cold-!¡± ¡°Hey, use words that are suitable for broadcasting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s so cold.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not allowed either.¡± ¡°Ugh, seriously.¡± As Yi-jun and Seong-won bickered, everyone quietly took out their gloves and scarves from somewhere in their bags and put them on carefully. Of course, I was no exception. ¡°What is¡­ that¡­¡± Hwijin looked at me with a somewhat nervous expression. I casually put on a roasted chestnut vendor¡¯s hat and wrapped a mask and a scarf around my neck. And then I topped it off with a padded hat. ¡°I need to be well-prepared to survive.¡± Since the day was not over yet, I had already decided to lead the rest of the schedule. ¡°We¡¯ll take a shuttle to the ryokan, but it might be very cold, so I prepared some heat packs.¡± I took out a heat pack from a separate bag and handed one to each of them. They all shook the heat packs vigorously with their red-frozen hands. We soon arrived at the shuttle stop and got on the heated car, which was a relief¡­ not. It was colder than I thought. ¡°Anyone need another heat pack?¡± I had plenty of heat packs, so I thought they could use them as much as they wanted. I asked for volunteers and all seven of them raised their hands. ¡°¡­Cold.¡± Kyungwha, who had been quiet throughout the day except for the progress, also muttered quietly, unable to ignore the cold. ¡°Y-yeah. I¡¯ll give you one more each.¡± We shook the heat packs with both hands in the car and arrived at the ryokan. They all eximed at the sight of the snow-covered hot spring resort, which looked like a painting. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve seen this in anime!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I think I¡¯ve seen it in manga too.¡± They allmented as they crossed the snow-covered garden, looking at it with curiosity. Yi-jun suddenly made a ominous remark. ¡°You know, in detective manga, there are always murders happening in ces like this.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no ce where murders don¡¯t happen there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Anyway, the friendly conversation that could be broadcasted went on and soon a staff member came out and greeted us. Fortunately, there was a staff member who could speak Korean, so we were able to check in without anymunication problems. ¡®It wouldn¡¯t have mattered if the staff didn¡¯t speak Korean.¡¯ Floss had already done a tour in Japan, so they all knew how to speak basic level of conversation. There were even people who recognized three of the staff and asked for signatures and selfies. As the staff members took pictures with the former Floss members, we had to stand by and wait. ¡°Woo. Let¡¯s break into Japan soon.¡± Climax had also gone abroad once, but not to Japan. It was¡­ Southeast Asia. And that was only once. It was a bitter experience that we had to return to Korea quietly without any promotional effect or profitability. ¡°Let¡¯s finish the regr album first. If we do well in Korea, there will be demand there too.¡± The recenteback single had achieved a meaningful result and the music video views had jumped unexpectedly. ¡®Honestly, I thought it would be great if we got 3 million views.¡¯ Three months after the release, the current view count of Drink Me¡¯s music video was 18 million. Of course, Floss¡¯s music video, which was released a little earlier, had already hit 300 million views. They were all expecting that it would easily reach 500 million views next year. ¡®But they broke up spectacrly at the end of the year, so what¡­ it¡¯s water under the bridge.¡¯ How much would the revenue be if the YouTube views were 300 million? I was curious for a moment, but Floss was too far ahead of us. We were doing well enough¡­ maybe 200,000 in the first week¡­ I shook my head as I was lost in a dream. No. I have to see how it goes. All I can do is n the best I can. I waited for the Swift guys with a faint expression, and a staff member came up to us, trembling. ¡°Hello, can I take a picture with you, if you don¡¯t mind? I¡¯m a fan!¡± Was this¡­ pitying us or sincere? We all exchanged the same thought with our eyes for a moment and dly took a picture. After taking the picture, he showed us the record of watching Seon-woo¡¯s fancam and proved that he was not lying. We entered the room with the staff¡¯s gratitude and warmed up our bodies. Soon, the kaiseki cuisine that was professionally provided by the ryokan came out. ¡°I¡¯ll exin from left to right. First of all, the far left is a soy sauce stew made with local mushrooms sold by the forest association in this area. It has a deep sweetness without being salty¡­¡± I had received the course information in advance and prepared a guide script, so I exined everything from the seasonings to the characteristics and origin of the ingredients without any hesitation. They all had the same expression. ¡®Don¡¯t you want to eat quickly?¡¯ Anyway. These guys needed ramen or something hearty, not fancy food. I narrowed my eyes and shortened the exnation. ¡°Mushroom stew, wild vegetable tempura, salmon roe pickle, it¡¯s etiquette to drink a sip of the liquor next to it before eating.¡± ¡°Okay~.¡± Naru, who had just turned 20, looked at the ss of alcohol with sparkling eyes. ¡°Hey, by the way, is this your first time drinking officially, maknae?¡± Yi-jun asked teasingly, and Yu-geon added from the side. ¡°Uh. But you haven¡¯t graduated from school yet, right? You¡¯re not supposed to drink then.¡± Naru¡¯s expression darkened in an instant. ¡°What are you talking about? I can drink as soon as I turn 20, right?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Youth Protection Act or something prevent that? If you don¡¯t graduate from school.¡± It turned outter that it was something rted to the harmful media for youth, but anyway, Naru had his ss taken away just in case. ¡°Ah, where is this give and take~!¡± Despite Naru¡¯s protest, the meal was enjoyable and full of delicious food, and fortunately, the atmosphere was not bad. Kyunghwa also seemed to have a weight off his chest, as he drank his ss with a flushed face. And not long after, finally. He got a chance to talk to Kyunghwa alone. Chapter 220: Chapter 220: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 220 Too Personal (2) After thawing our frozen bodies in the cold weather, we enjoyed some delicious food and moderate drinking. Then we had a short hot spring bath and everyone was in a good mood. Only Kyunghwa and I, who were weak to alcohol, went to the indoor garden to cool our faces, while the rest of the members headed to the ping-pong hall. ¡°What¡¯s the reward for winning this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Should we make a bet that the losing team buys drinks?¡±We split into teams of three and Kyunghwa and I went to the garden. The indoor garden had a roof that was open, so the snow that piled up from above covered the garden. ¡°Are you cold?¡± I was fine with the warm coat that the ryokan gave us, but Kyunghwa was silent. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± Kyunghwa nodded briefly and looked down at the snow for a long time. ¡°¡­¡± After an awkward silence, I opened my mouth first. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡± ¡°What? I get nervous when you say you¡¯re sorry.¡± When I tried to be careful, Kyunghwa opened his eyes thinly and looked at me. ¡°I saw the text from your father yesterday. I didn¡¯t mean to look¡­¡± Then Kyunghwa twisted his face and grabbed my cor. ¡°What? What did you see? How did you see someone else¡¯s text?¡± He reacted more violently than I thought, and I stepped back and answered. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to. You were holding your phone in your hand and I tried to plug it into the charger, but your fingerprint was recognized and the screen turned on.¡± ¡°You want me to believe that?¡± Whether he believed it or not, the content was important now. I went straight to the point. ¡°I can¡¯t help it if you don¡¯t believe me. I¡¯m sorry for seeing something personal. But I¡¯m worried about what¡¯s going on¡­ Is there something wrong at home?¡± When I looked straight into Kyunghwa¡¯s eyes, he turned his eyes to the other side. ¡°It¡¯s none of your business. I¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯t affect the team activity.¡± None of my business. Where is the leader who doesn¡¯t care about a member who is as important as a pir of our house? I said right away. ¡°You look very dangerous right now. If there¡¯s anything I can do to help, I¡¯ll help you.¡± Then Kyunghwa red at me with a look of great injury to his pride. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll take care of my own business.¡± He was so angry that it seemed to have the opposite effect. Ah¡­ That¡¯s really¡­ Kyunghwa pushed me away and crossed the hallway and went inside, leaving me alone in the garden. I scratched my head and followed Kyunghwa, but I couldn¡¯t find a chance to talk to him. In the end, I went to bed without solving anything. Four people in each room. It was the same room assignment as yesterday. Seong-won was on my right, Yi-jun was on my left. And Yu-geon was lying on the far left. As I tossed and turned in bed, worrying about Kyunghwa, Yi-jun whispered softly. ¡°Why are you tossing and turning?¡± I gestured to Yi-jun toe out with me. He followed me with a curious expression. I didn¡¯t know, but I thought he might know something more than me, since we shared a room for a long time. And sure enough. ¡°Ah¡­ Kyunghwa¡¯s father is a trash, you know.¡± Yi-jun said with a calm expression. ¡°Hey. Don¡¯t talk about someone¡¯s parents like that.¡± ¡°Well, but it¡¯s true.¡± He said that Kyunghwa had been sending money to his father for a long time. ¡°He calls almost every month and asks for money, and when he gets it, he loses it on stocks and gambling. I told him to just block him, but he said he can¡¯t because his mother is in the hospital. He said there¡¯s no one to take care of his mother if not his father.¡± It was exactly the same as the phone call I heard that day. It was all about money. The hospital bills, not to mention hiring a caregiver, were not cheap. Even if I wanted to help him, he would refuse, saying, ¡®Who are you?¡¯ Hmm¡­ I swallowed a sigh and realized something important. ¡®But¡­ Where did Kyunghwa get the money to send?¡¯ As far as I knew, Climax had never received a settlement. They gave us some money to live on, but it wasn¡¯t enough to pay for the hospital or send home. ¡®He said he lives better on the allowance his grandmother gives him.¡¯ I had a bad feeling about where Kyunghwa got the money, and I sent Yi-jun back to the room first and went to the lobby where there was a vending machine to drink some ion drink. Someone was holding a phone at the end of the hallway. ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯m sorry. Vice Chairman. Everyone is doing well and there¡¯s nothing to worry about. Ah, yes. Kyunghwa is fine too.¡± What? He was the manager who had been working with me as a vague member of theposition team, but now he was assigned to work exclusively for Swift. The only person he could call Vice Chairman was¡­ Ahn Jung-hee, maybe? I listened to the conversation for a moment and heard a familiar woman¡¯s voice from the other end of the phone. ¡°Really? Well, that¡¯s a relief. I was surprised that someone came to thepany. Tell Kyunghwa not to do this again.¡± ¡®¡­?¡¯ As I listened, I got the gist of the situation. Kyunghwa¡¯s father had really gone to see the ¡®Vice Chairman¡¯ himself and caused a scene at thepany, and the Vice Chairman was Ahn Jung-hee. ¡®Wait a minute¡­¡¯ The puzzle pieces fell into ce. There was an obvious reason why Kyunghwa was getting money from Ahn Jung-hee. Cheon Ise, the jerk I had possessed. He asked him to lead the team instead of his son who was unpredictable. And to keep the kids from running away¡­ Why didn¡¯t I think of this before? The reason why Climax had been able to survive for five years, albeit in a precarious state. ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ No wonder Kyunghwa had been resentful of Cheon Ise all this time. Before I possessed him, Cheon Ise was nothing but a trash who was born with a silver spoon and lived as he pleased. He was from a different world than him, who had parents who took away everything he had, let alone being grateful. And he was taking care of that trash¡¯s back and getting money for it¡­ This was something that might backfire if I stepped in now. ¡®What do I do?¡¯ I knew the truth, but it became harder to touch. How could I solve this without hurting Kyunghwa¡¯s pride? I racked my brain, but I couldn¡¯t find an answer. ¡®For now¡­ let¡¯s sleep and think again.¡¯ My head was too tired to think. I decided to rest and went to my room. The trip that seemed long was nowing to an end. ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Kang Yu-geon, your guide for today! It¡¯s cold, but we have a lot of courses to go around today, so let¡¯s all cheer up and follow me!¡± The tour started with a much more spirited atmosphere than the one in Okinawa, and most of it was about food. ¡®It¡¯s only natural, since Hokkaido is famous for its specialties.¡¯ Basically, the dairy industry was developed, so there were a lot of dairy products and snacks made from them. There was also a famous brewery to visit, and they were also famous for livestock, so we went to eat steak. We ate and digested and ate and digested, and the day passed by in a sh. ¡°Wow, I feel like I¡¯m being fattened up.¡± Naruined, but Seon-woo next to him had a happy expression on his face. Yeah, enjoy it while you can¡­ You¡¯ll start a diet n as soon as you get back. I was worried about Kyunghwa, but he seemed to be aware of it and pulled himself together. ¡®Well¡­ the shooting seems to be going well, so that¡¯s good.¡¯ When would be a good time to talk to him properly? I was now at the point where I had to watch Kyunghwa¡¯s mood. Time flew by, and the schedule was almost over. ¡°Wow, I ate way too much.¡± Hwijin was whining with his stomach wrapped. I wondered if I had filled the tour with too much food. ¡®But I won¡¯t have a chance toe back with these people, so I should eat everything I can.¡¯ It was a good choice after all. I finished my mental victory and finished thest course, the ranch experience, and headed to the airport with everyone. As we entered the terminal to check in for the flight to Korea. Someone called Kyunghwa¡¯s name. ¡°Kyunghwa-!¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to the direction of the sturdy middle-aged man¡¯s voice. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Did you just call Kyunghwa hyung?¡± Everyone was shaken by the appearance of the unknown middle-aged man, and Kyunghwa¡¯s expression changed to contemtion. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Kyunghwa walked up to the middle-aged man and grabbed his wrist. He looked vaguely weak and resembled Kyunghwa. ¡®Could it be¡­ Kyunghwa¡¯s father?¡¯ How did he find him here? I was too surprised to open my mouth. Kyunghwa dragged him out of the airport, holding his wrist and shouting. ¡°What are you doing? You don¡¯t answer the phone. You don¡¯t read the texts. Is that how I taught you? You act like you don¡¯t have parents because you¡¯re doing well?¡± ¡°Be quiet!¡± The two disappeared into a ce where no one could see them after a briefmotion. ¡°What do we do now?¡± Seon-woo looked at me anxiously, unable to sit still. Everyone¡¯s eyes automatically turned to me. But I don¡¯t have any good ideas¡­ Well, I do, but¡­ Yeah, this is natural now. ¡°Let¡¯s wait for a while. He seems to be Kyunghwa¡¯s father. If he doesn¡¯te back after waiting, we¡¯ll go look for him then.¡± And of course, Kyunghwa didn¡¯te back. As time passed, we all scattered and started looking for him, but we couldn¡¯t find Kyunghwa. ¡°What are we going to do? We have to go inside soon.¡± The departure time was approaching quickly. The other members might not care, but Seon-woo had an MC recording schedule tomorrow and couldn¡¯t miss the flight. ¡°You guys go ahead.¡± We decided to send the six of them to Korea first and leave only me and a manager behind. Then Yi-jun intervened. ¡°If you¡¯re staying because of Kyunghwa hyung, I¡¯ll stay too.¡± Yeah. Yi-jun was the closest to Kyunghwa, and I thought he would be helpful. I was worried about the song work that was scheduled, but¡­ What does it matter now? Kyunghwa is more important. I moved out of the airport with Yi-jun again. After about 30 minutes of wandering, we found Kyunghwa¡¯s father smoking a cigarette at the smoking booth outside the airport. I had a lot to say, but finding Kyunghwa was the priority. ¡°Hello, are you Kyunghwa¡¯s father?¡± As I opened the door to the smoking booth, I wondered what kind of poison he was smoking. The smell made my head spin. ¡°Oh, well, nice to meet you! Ise! Help me out. My son suddenly changed and went crazy.¡± Went crazy? He just said he would stop pouring water into a leaky jar. How can a parent say that? I frowned. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside and talk for a bit.¡± The conversation didn¡¯t seem to end quickly. Kyunghwa would probably punch me in the face when he found out. But this was something that adults had to solve. Of course, I was also twenty-five on paper. I immediately contacted the new manager and asked him to get some paper and a pen and bring them to the cafe in the airport. We needed a clear agreement to avoid any interference with our future activities. We had to make sure he couldn¡¯t bother our eldest son using blood ties. Chapter 221: Chapter 221: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 221 An Unavoidable Matter The business cafe in the airport was a room-like space separated by partitions. It seemed they had prepared a meeting area for the many people who came here on business trips. ¡°What are you trying to tell me that you need such a ce¡­?¡± Seeing my gloomy expression throughout, my colleague Kyunghwa¡¯s father started to feel uneasy and asked me with a worried face. He had a vague resemnce to Kyunghwa, but he was apletely different person. Even though they had a simr base in their looks, his face was marked with the traces of his life of irresponsibility. Kyunghwa was not exactly a pure-hearted person either, but his face showed a sense of responsibility at its core. ¡®He¡¯s trying to rip off his own son with the excuse of hospital bills for gambling money.¡¯If I didn¡¯t draw a clear line now, he would surely drag Kyunghwa down when he became more sessful. ¡°I can be flexible with whatever amount you need.¡± As soon as I said I would give him money, his eyes lit up and he grabbed my hand and got up from his seat. ¡°Oh, thank you, thank you! I¡¯ve raised my son so poorly that he¡¯s showing me all the worst sides of him.¡± He said, while clutching and patting my shoulder. I quickly shook off his hand and backed away. ¡°But there is a condition.¡± I didn¡¯t know how much he thought of me as a fool, but I was not a stupid person who would let him take advantage of me. ¡°Huh?¡± The man who had been smiling sheepishly until a moment ago changed his expression and asked me. ¡°What do you mean, a condition? You¡¯re helping me, aren¡¯t you? How can you have a condition for an adult?¡± He was not an adult by the way he acted. Even though he was older than me in real age, his behavior was less responsible than his son. ¡°The money I give you cannot be used for gambling, only for living expenses. You can use it for various purposes, such as buying necessities, changing your living environment, or moving Kyunghwa¡¯s mother to a different ward. But you cannot use it for gambling or business funds.¡± ¡°What?¡± As soon as the word ¡®gambling¡¯ came out of my mouth, the man mmed his fist on the table and jumped up. ¡°Ha, you must have met good parents and have nothing to worry about, you young punk! You¡¯re making fun of an adult¡­¡± I immediately asked the manager to bring me the loan agreement I had prepared in advance. ¡°Sit down. You know you can¡¯t get this much from Kyunghwa.¡± I smiled kindly and put a pen in front of the man. After a short time of looking into Kyunghwa¡¯s father, I found out that he had a record of bankruptcy. He was a credit delinquent who couldn¡¯t even get a loan from a private lender. It was almost impossible for him to get this amount of money. ¡°¡­A loan agreement?¡± The man, whose mind was swayed by the amount, sat down again and started to read the document. ¡°As it says, I will give you the money in the form of a no-interest loan, and if you receive treatment at a gambling addiction center for the next three years, I will convert it to a gift. Of course, I will pay the gift tax. And you have to keep looking for a job during that time. I will also continue to support the cost of hospitalization.¡± The man raised his voice again, as if he was angry. ¡°You think you can make fun of an adult!¡± He seemed to be trying to scare me, but my expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°I¡¯m helping you as a close colleague of Kyunghwa, not as a charity worker. Please confirm that you will not contact Kyunghwa for any financial problems in the future.¡± ¡°Oh, my fate! To be insulted by this young punk!¡± I looked at the man¡¯s face without any expression and picked up the loan agreement again. Then I held both ends of the paper and said, as if I was going to tear it up. ¡°This is yourst chance. Next time, I will see you in court, not with support. Think carefully.¡± Then, before the sound of the paper tearing, the man grabbed the document in his hand. I could roughly guess why he was so desperate. There must have been more than one group of people who would lend him a small amount of money at an illegal interest rate, since he couldn¡¯t get a loan from a private lender. Even though it was a small amount, the interest rate was far beyond the legal limit, and the money he had to pay back kept increasing, making it impossible for him to afford it with his ie. The root cause was that he had borrowed money he shouldn¡¯t have to fund his gambling, and then he got into a vicious cycle of gambling again to pay it back. If this wasn¡¯t resolved, he would continue to hold Kyunghwa back. ¡°Ah, who said I wouldn¡¯t do it? You young people have no patience!¡± The man muttered, but his eyes scanned the text with greed. At the end of the contract, there was a use that said the interest rate above would apply only if the debtor fulfilled the agreement, and if he lost his eligibility, the highest legal interest rate would be applied to recover the money. ¡®Well¡­ the highest legal interest rate is a bit too much, even for me.¡¯ But I had to use that kind of measure for this person. I sighed inwardly and waited for the man to sign. His hand, which was shaking as he wrote the ount number to receive the money, was pitiful and somewhat sympathetic. I had temporarily relieved his state of not being able to let go of his burden unless he gambled on his luck. The rest was up to his will. I could push him to the entrance of the treatment center, but after that, it was up to him to do his best. ¡°And also, please get counseling from a psychiatrist when you register at the treatment center. It¡¯s not because you have a problem, but because counseling itself will help you change your behavior.¡± The man who had finished signing red at me fiercely. I put the documents that I had signed into a file so that we could each take a copy, and added, ¡°I¡¯m leaving a written record for legal purposes, so that if you breach the contract, you won¡¯t be able to im any rights as Kyunghwa¡¯s father and I can sue you. It¡¯s not for your sake.¡± With just one-sided ims, I could write an article like ¡®Idol R¡¯s father used of breaking ties with his son¡¯. But if he gambled again, he would have vited the contract to sever ties with his son, which was an objective reason to cut him off and run away. I hoped he woulde to his senses so that I wouldn¡¯t regret giving him onest chance. ¡°I¡¯ll get up now.¡± I took the documents andpleted the transfer right away, then got up from my seat. ¡°I hope we never meet again.¡± As I left the cafe, it was alreadyte and the airport was quite quiet. Just then, I got a call from Yi-jun. ¡°Hey, did you find Kyunghwa?¡± ¡°No, not yet. Kyunghwa can¡¯t drive, so he¡¯s either around here or he took a shuttle somewhere¡­¡± Anyway, he¡¯s not a five-year-old lost child. He had been doing well until he had a big ident one day. I knew he had a reason, but I thought I should scold him when I saw him. He should have consulted me about his embarrassing situation that he didn¡¯t want to tell anyone. He was the one who put up with all kinds of nonsense from me when I was immature at twenty-three. He would get angry and ask how that was the same as this. I didn¡¯t mind if he got angry, I just wanted to make sure he was safe. It was his life, his choice, but I couldn¡¯t just let go. ¡®Twenty-four, no, twenty-five is still young¡­¡¯ I could only guess how hard it was for him to endure this kind of family trouble on his shoulders. I wanted to bring him back, feed him well, put him to bed, andfort him that he had worked hard. ¡°I¡¯ll rent a car first.¡± ¡°Huh? Can you drive?¡± ¡°I prepared everything in advance. Just in case.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. I¡¯ll rent a car and call you back.¡± I hung out with Yi-jun and rented a car, then met up with him. It was already past 10 o¡¯clock. ¡°We should book a hotel forte check-in soon.¡± Just in case, I booked a nearby hotel for three people and got in the car. Yi-jun was busy fiddling with his phone. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to text Kyunghwa. I wonder if he¡¯s looking at his phone.¡± I looked at him and it was ridiculous. [Me] (picture) 10:34 PM [Me] (picture) 10:34 PM [Me] sent (picture). 10:34 PM [Me] Check out the attached file I sent you! 10:35 PM ¡®Is this a joke?¡¯ I was speechless at Yi-jun, who pretended to send pictures and wrote texts one after another. ¡°Ah, he¡¯s not looking.¡± Well, why would he? Yi-jun thought for a moment and wrote a new message. [Me] Oh Yi-jun sent you 100,000 won. [Receive] 10:36 PM And then he eximed. ¡°Oh, I see. Your phone and inte are working fine, right? Don¡¯t worry too much and take your time to look around.¡± Is he crazy or what? I didn¡¯t even want to imagine how much Kyunghwa was freaking out on the other end of the line. ¡®Where can I go in this cold¡­¡¯ Anyway, it didn¡¯t seem like an emergency, so I searched for a ce within a reasonable distance from the airport where I could get a bus or a taxi. As I scanned the street with an eagle eye, Yi-jun suddenly eximed. Chapter 222: Chapter 222: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 222 It¡¯s Not Meddling ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± It was only natural that his feet iled in the air, unable to touch the ground. ¡°It¡¯s part of my role as the head of the agency to look after the well-being of our artists, right?¡± ¡°Since when were you the head?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t been for long, but I am the head now. I need your help for a lot of things in the future. You have some problems, and I can¡¯t afford to lose your help because of them.¡± I smiled smugly at Kyunghwa, crossing my arms.¡°And I have the means to solve your problems. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t do anything that would make me lose. Just think of it as me putting you in debt so you can¡¯t run away.¡± Then Kyunghwa started to spill out everything that had been bothering him, sobbing. ¡°What am I? I¡¯m not popr, I¡¯m not good at fan service. I can¡¯tpose or write lyrics or do anything. My face is mediocre, my vocals are mediocre, I have nothing to show for myself. Why? Do you pity me?¡± He seemed to be trying to make me angry, but he couldn¡¯t hurt me at all. I knew he had an inferiorityplex all along. ¡°No. I need you.¡± Kyunghwa snorted. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine without me. What do you need me for?¡± No, I won¡¯t. I shook my head firmly. ¡°You know I don¡¯t talk nonsense or do anything that would make me lose.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t lose my ass. You¡¯re like a volunteer for the whole neighborhood, meddling in everything.¡± Is that what you think of me? I frowned reflexively. ¡°You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and you think you can do anything. You¡¯re so annoying, just get lost.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I looked at Kyunghwa¡¯s face for a moment. He looked relieved after letting it all out, but also afraid of the consequences. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect him to think that much.¡¯ I was a bit surprised, but not shocked enough to say how could you think that! I was prepared to get pped at least three times anyway. Kang Yu-geon and Shim Naru, they all thought that Cheon Ise had everything easy because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. ¡®It¡¯s not like he would have tried to kill himself with sleeping pills if that was the case,¡¯ Before he died, Cheon Ise was under the pressure of the chairman, who told him not to ept any help from his only supporter, Vice Chairman Ahn. You can¡¯t do anything no matter what. Even with all that push, you still failed. You¡¯re not just untalented, you¡¯re hopeless. His older brothers were even worse. You¡¯re a disgrace to the family. How did someone like you get born in the Cheon Group? I can¡¯t believe we share the same blood. He had to endure ridicule and mockery until he made the extreme choice. He had his own struggles that no one else knew. I had to tell him some of it at this point. ¡°Do you think I had an easy life?¡± I looked him in the eye, but he avoided my gaze. ¡°Look at me and tell me. Do you think I lived easily?¡± He hesitated for a while, then opened his mouth. ¡°Did you forget that you¡¯re a chaebol¡¯s son, acting all high and mighty?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ah¡­ well, that¡¯s true. I rubbed my forehead as I answered, thinking of the karma that the real Cheon Ise had left behind in the past. ¡°I tried to kill myself in May.¡± ¡°What?¡± Even Yi-jun, who was holding Kyunghwa, looked at me in shock, as if he had never expected that. ¡°You said it yourself, I tried to act like a noble and did everything I could, but nothing worked out. I injured my back, and at home they treated me like a pathetic trash and told me to get lost. I just didn¡¯t want to do anything anymore.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Kyunghwa lowered his head again and looked at the floor. ¡°My sister and brother are doing well as businessmen. You don¡¯t know how it feels to be treated like a parasite who can¡¯t do anything right. Just like I don¡¯t know how you lived in your family and what you felt.¡± I didn¡¯t want topare who was more miserable or not. Of course, crying in a Benz was better than crying on a bike in the rain, as if it would copse with one hit. ¡°My life wasn¡¯t as easy as you think. But still, it¡¯s better to be annoyed in afortable house than to have nothing toin about.¡± I scratched my cheek as the atmosphere became awkward and added. ¡°That¡¯s why I need you. I¡¯m not a failure either. I want to show you that I can seed. I want to prove it by making Climax a source of ie as soon as possible. What more do you need me to say that I need you for that?¡± Kyunghwa was silent for a moment and then asked again. ¡°What can I do?¡± I snorted lightly and retorted. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to know how important you are. Without you, Climax would have disbanded in two years, right?¡± I meant that he was good at taking the leader role and coordinating the members, but Yi-jun suddenly added his own reason. ¡°Oh, right. I would have left the agency sooner if it wasn¡¯t for Kyunghwa hyung.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± Both Kyunghwa and I were startled by Yi-jun¡¯s sudden confession. ¡°Hey, is this the time for a heart-to-heart talk?¡± How could he say that without blinking? I asked Kyunghwa nervously. ¡°See? He said he would have left if you weren¡¯t here.¡± ¡°What the hell¡­¡± Kyunghwa, who seemed surprised himself, shot an arrow at Yi-jun. ¡°Why did you?¡± ¡°Why? Because I thought you wouldn¡¯t leave until Climax went bankrupt.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with me being in Climax and you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you remember what you said when I joined as a trainee?¡± ¡°What?¡± Kyunghwa looked confused and tried to recall, but it didn¡¯t seem toe to his mind. ¡°I don¡¯t know, what did I say?¡± Then Yi-jun turned his head with a pouty expression. ¡°Ah, unbelievable. You forgot? How could you forget that?¡± What¡¯s with this mood? I narrowed my eyes and red at the two of them alternately. Suddenly, I thought, this is the time to take him to the hotel. ¡°Can¡¯t you guys fight inside if you¡¯re going to fight?¡± I didn¡¯t care much about the people who nced at me and walked away, but it was so cold that my ears were about to fall off, probably because the sun had set too long ago. ¡°Achoo!¡± Soon after, Yi-jun sneezed as if to show off, and I pushed them both into the back seat of the rental car as if I was dragging them. ¡°If you two are going to fight, fight it all in the back seat. We¡¯ll wash up and go to bed as soon as we get to the hotel.¡± I was in a mess after running around and jumping all night looking for someone. ¡°What are you fighting about?¡± ¡°I never said it was okay for you to forget what you said.¡± ¡°What nonsense. You want to fight over that now?¡± I ignored their voices as if I had noise-cancelling on and headed to the hotel. As soon as I handed over the valet parking to the staff and went up to the room, my body rxed with the warmth that poured out of the heater. ¡°Stop fighting now. I¡¯m going to sleep.¡± I ran to the bathroom first, melted my body, and went straight to the bed. As I closed my eyes, I kept hearing them grumbling. To sum it up, Kyunghwa was digging a hole endlessly. ¡®I wish I could shut him up.¡¯ I thought for a moment and came up with a good idea. I picked up my phone and fiddled with it for a while, making some evidence to show Kyunghwa. ¡®Done.¡¯ Well, it¡¯s not like I never thought about this direction before. I called Kyunghwa right away. ¡°Huh? Hey, wait a minute. You got an audition offer?¡± When I asked him, pointing at Kyunghwa, he looked at me with wide eyes and pointed at Yi-jun. ¡°Him?¡± I shook my head as if he was talking nonsense. ¡°No. Not Yi-jun, you.¡± ¡°Me? What, what is it?¡± Kyunghwa looked at me incredulously. ¡°It¡¯s a web drama lead role. It¡¯s based on a webtoon.¡± ¡°No, no way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a lie. Why would I lie about this?¡± When I showed him the email screen, his eyes widened and he read the text down. ¡°It¡¯s true¡­.¡± ¡°See, you¡¯re not talentless, so stop talking nonsense and go to sleep. It¡¯s a good thing you don¡¯t have a schedule tomorrow.¡± Then Yi-jun groaned. ¡°Ah~. I have a lot to do tomorrow. Poor brother, suffering because of his forgetful brother.¡± ¡°Ah, really.¡± Yi-jun still didn¡¯t seem to tell him what Kyunghwa had forgotten. Well¡­ maybe he¡¯ll tell him someday. That was their problem. Kyunghwa finally hit Yi-jun¡¯s back as if to tell him to stop and the situation was settled. He made an excuse that he would go and see the vending machine in the hotel for a while and slipped out as soon as Kyunghwa went to wash up. He immediately called Mr. Woo, the head of the nning department. ¡°Yes, Mr. Woo. I¡¯m really sorry for thete hour. This is something you need to check first when youe to work tomorrow. Could you please check out one audition for the web drama lead role? Oh, no, not me. Kyunghwa is going to star in it. Yes, please take good care of it¡­.¡± It was only natural to prepare for the aftermath after opening his mouth. I breathed a sigh of relief after barely finishing the call, but then I felt someone behind me. Oh no, did he hear me? I turned around in shock and saw Yi-jun. ¡°You¡¯re such a fox, hyung. You always act so innocent.¡± ¡°Stop talking nonsense.¡± I quickly passed by Yi-jun and went back to my room. I felt exhausted and closed my eyes, thinking that at least I had wrapped things up well. The next morning, I returned home by ne. I was able to get to my ce without much trouble, since I had split up with the other Floss members beforehand. Because of the short Y-app video I had done, the news of our group leaving Japan had leaked, and some fans who somehow found out were waiting for us at the entrance. The Swift trio looked oddly calm in response, and both Seong-won and Seon-woo seemed a bit surprised. ¡®But, we had our fans too!¡¯ Seon-woo smiled brightly and told us what happened, as he saw a slogan with his name on it. It was a moment when I felt the gap between Floss and us, but we were just starting to rise again. ¡®All that¡¯s left is¡­¡¯ To work our bodies to the bone. The concept for our eight-member unit single was decided first. High-teen Property. The concept photoshoot that would be pre-released next month was about high school students who worked hard at part-time jobs to confess their feelings on Prom night. ¡®We don¡¯t have a single high schooler among us.¡¯ Yi-jun made a cold remark, but I ignored him. ¡®Be quiet.¡¯ We had to choose a concept that was stable and appealing to the public, but the options were limited. ¡®We¡¯re not doing that ¡®whatever-X¡¯ concept this time.¡¯ We needed a concept and a visual that would captivate the audience and turn them into fans, for our uing climax full album promotion. ¡®Then, the best thing is to be high-teens who are both exciting and cool.¡¯ Boys who fell in love for the first time or had their first crush in school¡­ That wouldn¡¯t be too bad either. ¡®¡­¡¯ I looked away, trying not to think negatively about Hwijin. We couldn¡¯t bepletely fresh with a thirty-year-old among us. We had to n it so that Hwijin could show his own adult sexiness between the boyish vibes. After the concept was set, we moved on to the music production. ¡°Hmm~. Nothing really stands out.¡± Yi-jun spun his chair around in the still-unheated studio, looking troubled. It was the first obstacle of the single project. Chapter 223: Chapter 223: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 223 Do it well ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± I asked, looking down at Yi-jun, who had his eyes narrowed and his lips pouted. He didn¡¯t answer. It had been five days since we started working on the eight-member single song. Yi-jun had been holed up in the studio and showed no signs ofing back to the dorm. The other members also had busy schedules with auditions and personal activities, so we barely kept in touch through the Y app. Even then, we only chatted for about ten minutes about our daily lives and hung up. Anyway, I wasn¡¯tfortable with him staying in a building without heating in this freezing weather. I thought I should bring him some food, so I packed a lunch box and went to the studio, but he hadn¡¯t even prepared the basic beat yet.¡°Hmm¡­ Usually, I just look at the concept and bam, I get an idea and snap, it clicks¡­¡± ¡°Speak clearly.¡± ¡°Should I say I have no inspiration?¡± ¡°Do you need some kind of trigger to get inspiration?¡± Unlike me or Kyunghwa, who did basic market research and selected a target and nned concretely, Yi-jun tended to rely on spontaneity. Sometimes he made amazing leaps from nothing to something, and I wondered if he was a genius. But when he didn¡¯t have a striking idea, he suffered a lot. ¡°Since we have our own concepts, why don¡¯t we try to match them with simr images?¡± I showed him the image concept made by the content team, but he still made a dissatisfied sound and shook his head. ¡°I still don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re so picky.¡± The image concept I showed Yi-jun was a coge of synthetic images based on the information we had researched, one for each member, a total of eight. ¡®Imagine you¡¯re an ordinary student and you¡¯re looking for a part-time job to prepare a gift for your long-time crush on graduation day.¡¯ When I asked them to choose an image concept ording to the given concept, the answers were very diverse. ¡®A shopping mall model?¡¯ That was Naru. He made a cute face, puffing up his cheeks as he answered, but no one reacted. ¡®An office job would be the best, I think¡­¡¯ That was Hwijin. He was older, so it was hard to fit him into a part-time job thatte teens or early twenties would do. ¡®Me, I wanted to try working at a bakery!¡¯ That was obviously Seon-woo. He suited it well¡­ He would look cute with an apron and a beret. But it would be a bit troublesome for the employer if he hoped that his favorite bread wouldn¡¯t sell and be left over. ¡®A bookstore or¡­ a library work-study student?¡¯ Kyunghwa also chose something that matched him well. He had the vibe of a school library senior, as people often said. Maybe he knew that and chose it. He was a diligent researcher, so he wouldn¡¯t be unaware of his image among the fans. ¡®I wanted to try working at an amusement park.¡¯ And that was Yu-geon. ¡®The most thrilling vertical drop in Korea, Y Express! Come on, experience the most exhrating drop right now! The exit is over there~.¡¯ He imitated it quite well, and I thought he would be a good guest for a job experience showter. Seong-won wondered why he had to work part-time. Couldn¡¯t he just manage with his allowance? He had a strange question, like someone who had never thought about dating. I tried to make Seong-won understand why we had to date, but he gave me an absurd answer that he didn¡¯t see the point of dating at all. ¡°You should just live alone for the rest of your life.¡± Everyone gave up on trying to persuade him and turned away. That¡¯s when Hwijin made onest attempt. ¡°Um¡­ what if you had someone you wanted to impress because they helped you a lot. And the favor you owed them was so big that you had to work part-time to pay them back somehow?¡± The topic of dating was dropped, so it was already off the concept, but anyway, Seong-won seemed to feel the need to work part-time. ¡°Um¡­¡± He stopped answering and started staring at me nkly. ¡°¡­?¡± I didn¡¯t know what he meant or what he was nning, so I just looked back at him. Then he suddenly asked me. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to need much¡­¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Hwijin, who was next to me, frowned as if he was disappointed that this also failed. What? Did he have some intention? Seong-won scratched his head and opened his mouth as if he wanted to end this quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll be a shopping mall model too.¡± It didn¡¯t seem to suit his personality, but he had such a superior face, height, and proportions that he looked good in anything. ¡°Then you¡¯ll ovep with Naru.¡± Because of Kyunghwa¡¯s remark, we went back to square one and decided to go with the majority opinion. Seong-won ended up working at a flower shop. ¡°Why a flower shop of all ces?¡± Seong-won asked as if he didn¡¯t understand, and everyone answered at the same time. ¡°Because it suits you the best.¡± And the only one left was¡­ Yi-jun, who chose to work as a quick delivery part-timer with his strong will. ¡°Do you have a motorcycle license?¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t ride it these days because my grandma worries about me.¡± His rebellious image matched well with the job, so everyone agreed without much objection. ¡°So what are you going to do, hyung?¡± It was my turnst. Well¡­ I wondered if it didn¡¯t fit my Thousand Age image, but if I had to choose, I¡¯d say working at a barbecue restaurant was the best. The hourly wage was higher than other food service jobs, and I could work hard in the evening after going to school during the day. It was the best option, wasn¡¯t it? I cautiously voiced my opinion, but the members were divided. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to have something cleaner for the concept photoshoot?¡± That was Kyunghwa and Hwijin¡¯s opinion. ¡°But there might be a lot of people who have a fantasy about working at a barbecue restaurant. As long as you have a good body and a handsome face, that is.¡± That was Yi-jun¡¯s opinion. Well¡­ I did get some attention, so I wasn¡¯t unpopr, but¡­ For the sake of harmony with the other members, I reluctantly changed it to a cafe part-timer. That¡¯s how we made eight concept images. We hadn¡¯t started shooting yet, but the images that were made by simple editing based on our previous works looked pretty realistic. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I felt frustrated as I looked at Yi-jun¡¯s expressionless face. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go out and get some fresh air? You won¡¯t be able to write any songs if you stay cooped up like this.¡± We were making good progress on everything except the music, and the concept poster shooting day was just around the corner. ¡°Should I? Maybe some cat treats would cheer me up.¡± Yi-jun sprang up and quickly dressed in his thief-like fashion. Then he took out a bunch of vacuum-packed chicken breast snacks from the cupboard. ¡°Do you have to give them so much?¡± I asked, surprised by the amount, and Yi-jun looked at me with a matter-of-fact expression. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯reing too, right?¡± ¡°Huh? Me too?¡± I tilted my head in confusion and Yi-jun nodded. ¡°You have toe with me. We¡¯re a team, after all.¡± ¡°What nonsense.¡± I floundered like a fish out of water, but soon I found myself shivering and wandering the streets at night. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and feed them and go back.¡± Yi-jun had a bag full of hot packs and a water bottle in his hand. He patrolled the area like he did when he first came to the studio, breaking the frozen water and refilling it with fresh water. ¡°Wait a minute. I need to change the hot pack below.¡± He cleaned up the feeding station that he had set up in a secluded ce so as not to bother the other residents. Then some cats appeared from somewhere and meowed from a distance. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll give it to you soon¡­¡± Yi-jun quickly opened the packages and tossed the contents in front of them. The cats each grabbed a bite and disappeared somewhere. It seemed that even the cats had a hard time eating chicken breast on the street in this winter. ¡°Huh, what¡¯s that? A new face. I¡¯ll have to take him to eat pork cutlet sometime.¡± Yi-jun checked the newly arrived cat and continued to distribute the snacks. As I watched the furballs regain their appetite, I thought of the ones at home. ¡°Give me one of those.¡± I reached out to Yi-jun and indicated that I wanted to take one separately. Yi-jun chuckled. ¡°What, why are youughing?¡± I frowned as if I was annoyed and Yi-jun casually answered. ¡°Aeongi will take care of his own snacks. He won¡¯t let you feed him that.¡± I could easily guess who he was talking about without him specifying. ¡°Aeongi has enough food, so just y with him when you have time.¡± I felt embarrassed by Yi-jun¡¯s words and turned my head away. After finishing our night walk, we returned to the studio. Yi-jun seemed to have cleared his mind and started to work on his program again. ¡°Do you have any ideas now?¡± I asked him as I turned on another heater. Yi-jun hesitated for a moment and then nodded. ¡°A little?¡± Soon, the program that had been nk before started to fill up. ¡°Don¡¯t think too hard. Just make something that suits your concept and what you wanted to do.¡± I wondered if I had given him a bad topic by throwing him something random that came to my mind. But then Yi-jun nodded as if he understood. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll try. You should go back first. They¡¯ll be worried if you¡¯rete. I¡¯ll go to the dorm tomorrow.¡± He said he would go tomorrow, not today, so he probably nned to spend the night at the studio. There was no need to bother him when he was on a roll. I quietly closed the studio door and left. And the next morning at 5 a.m. [YJ] Done. 5:01 a.m. [YJ] (Attached file) 5:03 a.m. I woke up groggily around six o¡¯clock for my schedule and checked my phone. There was a file sent by Yi-jun in the group chat. Only three people had read it, probably because it was still early. One was Yi-jun, one was me¡­ Who was the other one? I wondered briefly. I went to the living room and saw that everyone else was still asleep. Then it must have been a Swift member who saw it. As I stared at the screen, Hwijin sent an emoticon. [H] (emoticon) 6:21 AM It was a yellow bear giving thumbs up with both hands. Yi-jun replied with another emoticon as he opened the door and entered the dorm. It was a fluffy sheep that looked like an alpaca, also giving thumbs up. [YJ] (emoticon) 6:23 AM ¡°Are you back?¡± He casually patted Pposili, who was wagging his tail and panting quietly at the entrance, with the back of his hand and quickly went to the bathroom to wash his hands. ¡°Hey, I made a rough draft, so listen to it and give me your feedback. I¡¯ll finish it by tomorrow.¡± ¡°That fast?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like the quality improves by holding on to it for too long, you know?¡± He had worked hard for a week and brought it back in a few hours. I was amazed by his brain structure, but the song was pretty good. ¡°I¡¯ll record new sound effectster and change them all. For now, I just used what I had.¡± The intro started with a signature sound that reminded me of the old 8-bit game era, followed by a knock-knock sound. It was quite impressive. The bnce was well done overall, and it was exciting without being too overwhelming. ¡°Nice.¡± As soon as the shortment came out of my mouth, Yi-jun copsed on the sofa. Chapter 224: Chapter 224: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 224 Don¡¯t Push Yourself Too Hard ¡°What the hell¡­ What is this noise?¡± Kyunghwa, who had just woken up from a deep sleep because of the music ying on the phone speaker, rubbed his eyes and came out to the living room. He wondered what was going on so early in the morning, but he was shocked to see Yi-jun lying on the sofa as if he had copsed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him? Why is he like this?¡± Kyunghwa quickly shook Yi-jun to wake him up and check his condition, but Yi-jun muttered in his sleep without opening his eyes. ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯ll get upter, um¡­ Just leave me alone¡­¡±He wasn¡¯t in pain. He had been working all night and was tense until he heard the OK sign, and then he fell asleep as soon as he rxed. ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it. Tsk. Just let him sleep for now. We still have time before we leave.¡± Kyunghwa tried to lift Yi-jun and move him to the bed, but the muscr lump over 185cm didn¡¯t budge. Kyunghwa soon gave up and nodded as if he understood. ¡°You can sleep more if you¡¯re sleepy. We¡¯ll have breakfast and go out today.¡± Kyunghwa, who heard my words, checked his phone and went into his room. Then he opened the door again as if he was surprised by something he saw on the group chat. ¡°Oh, did you share your workst night ande in the morning?¡± His expression was both surprised and pleased, as if he liked Yi-jun¡¯s version a lot. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll talk about itter, so just leave him alone for now.¡± Kyunghwa looked down at Yi-jun with a strange mix of emotions on his face. What was the point of being jealous of a talent that could only be called a genius? It didn¡¯t change the innate skill to consume emotions and suffer. It was better to face what I could do than to be in pain over what I didn¡¯t have. Fortunately, Kyunghwa was not the type who wascking or inferior, even though he didn¡¯t have an outstanding talent, and he had a rational judgment. ¡°Are you jealous?¡± I asked him as I prepared some sd leaves in advance, and Kyunghwa nodded quietly. ¡°Of course I am.¡± Well. There was probably no one here who wouldn¡¯t be jealous¡­ No, Seong-won wouldn¡¯t be. He had no talent for making music, but he had a talent for singing that was worthy of a former idol, so he wouldn¡¯t care about Yi-jun¡¯s producing skills. I could imagine him saying ¡®Why should I?¡¯ if I asked him. ¡°People have different talents.¡± I added as if tofort him, and Kyunghwa nodded slowly. ¡°But I¡¯m still jealous.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be too discouraged. You have your own strengths. And you did well on the audition.¡± Kyunghwa raised his voice as if he wanted to stop talking about it. ¡°Don¡¯t talk about that. I just decided to focus on the fact that it went well.¡± After the chaos at the Sapporo airport, Kyunghwa got an audition right away and secured a role. What I arranged for him was just an audition, not a role, so it was almost the same as him getting it with his own strength. ¡®It¡¯s a shame that he¡¯s not the main male lead.¡¯ You can¡¯t have it all. It was a great achievement to get a role with a significant weight. ¡°Sub male lead? That¡¯s almost like a lead, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked him to confirm, and Kyunghwa nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m d it doesn¡¯t seem like a minor role.¡± The role Kyunghwa got was a supporting lead in a web drama based on a popr webtoon. It was a romanticedy about the events that happen when a young male employee joins a lingeriepany full of women, and Kyunghwa¡¯s role was ¡®Hee-won¡¯, a high school student next door who had a crush on the female protagonist. ¡®Isn¡¯t it a bit weird to wear a school uniform at 24?¡¯ Kyunghwa was embarrassed even after he got the role, but no one agreed with him. ¡®There are people who y high school students even in their thirties, and you¡¯re 25 and look young, so what¡¯s the problem? Are you lying about your age?¡¯ Thanks to Yi-jun, who cut him off before he dug deeper, Kyunghwa seemed to feel a bit relieved. ¡®He still seems embarrassed though.¡¯ ¡°Do your best. You¡¯re the only one in our group who can act.¡± Then Kyunghwa waved his hand and denied it right away. ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s true. Can you imagine Yi-jun acting?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kyunghwa hesitated for a moment, then burst outughing. He probably remembered thest music video shoot. ¡°Pfft. No way.¡± ¡°What about Seong-won?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ That¡¯s definitely not.¡± If I asked Seong-won to act, he wouldin that he wanted to be a singer, not an actor. ¡°What about Seon-woo?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± This time, Kyunghwa didn¡¯t say anything and just nodded his head quietly. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡± Seon-woo had the potential to be an actor, considering his face and proportions¡­ But he was not only slow at memorizing lines, he was also terrible at Korean. It would have been better for him to just make money from CFs, relying on his face alone, rather than trying to act and getting criticized for his poor performance. ¡®It¡¯s better not to try at all than to get hurt by being called a bad actor.¡¯ He could manage his idol activities with the help of his fellow members and his own hard work. But if he was dropped into a drama or movie set, where he had to work with more staff and in real time¡­ ¡®I don¡¯t even want to imagine it.¡¯ There are some things in the world that you can¡¯t do, no matter how well your face suits them. I nodded and took off the apron that I had tied around my waist, after preparing breakfast and a sd lunchbox. Kyunghwa, who was sitting next to Yi-jun and ying the work repeatedly, suddenly asked me. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to try something else? Like variety shows or acting?¡± He must have been curious, since the other members were branching out into other activities besides being idols. I answered him right away. ¡°I don¡¯t want to add more work and die from overwork.¡± I was already at my limit, trying to prepare for the single and run thepany at the same time. ¡°Ah, right, true.¡± ¡°Just hang in there a little longer. I¡¯m working hard so we can get paid from the next activity.¡± I had managed to sell the rights of ¡®Holiday with Offbeat¡¯, which was edited into eight episodes, to an OTT servicepany. ¡®But it¡¯s still a long way to go until we get paid.¡¯ We had invested tens of billions of won in our activities, which had been wasted by Climax, so we were still far from breaking even. Drink Me¡¯s merchandise and music sales were not bad, and Seong-won¡¯s music revenue from Star Discovery was quite decent. But the main source of ie for idol entertainment was concerts and events. The biggest amount we had earned so far was from Seong-won¡¯s guest appearance at the Star Discovery concert. The reason why I used the past tense was¡­ ¡®Because we got a good deal for the rights this time.¡¯ Climax¡¯s profit and loss by activity, which had been negative for a long time, finally turned positive. I decided to take that as a sign of hope. It was a good deal, considering that we didn¡¯t have exclusivity. ¡®It must have helped that there were three former Floss members in the cast.¡¯ It was a good condition that we could premiere three weeks ahead of the partner site, and then upload it to the official YouTube ount of Composition. ¡®It¡¯s just the beginning¡­¡¯ We had announced the official activities of the eight members through an article. For the sake ofmunication with the three former Floss members, who were refraining from external variety shows for a while, we had also requested to open a Y-app channel exclusively for Offbeat. ¡®Let me check the reactions before I wake up the rest of them.¡¯ I had been too busy with stressful thingstely, so I hadn¡¯t checked my subscription ount for a while. Thest post I saw was from two weeks ago. [- I¡¯m so sad that Climax didn¡¯t get any awards.] [? They¡¯re not rookies, and their performance wasn¡¯t overwhelming enough to get a grand prize or a main prize, so I guess there¡¯s nothing we can do.] [- Are they not doing anything for the end-of-year stage?] [? It seems like Seon-woo is doing it as an MC.] [- The end-of-year W is like a photo album.] Most of thements expressed regret that they didn¡¯t have any notable activities at the end of the year. There were no offers, but when we were about to get some offers for a coboration with Floss, the Floss scandal broke out and everything went downhill. ¡®Thanks to that, we had no time to spare.¡¯ Of course, the music industry, which had no doubt that Floss would sweep most of the awards before they ended their activities, was also in chaos. It was the most empty and chaotic end of the year in the history of the music industry. ¡®So what¡¯s thetest reaction?¡¯ I cautiously scrolled down and refreshed the list. There were a lot of exciting records from thest Y-app broadcast. [- I¡¯m going crazy????????? As soon as I turned on the Y-app, Yu-geon and Sebeoji were fighting.] [? ??? Isn¡¯t this Climax¡¯s Y-app? Why is Yu-geon here??] [? I don¡¯t know, maybe they¡¯re doing something together because they joined thebel. Just watch it quickly?????????????] [- Sebeoji getting scolded by another group member for naming the Y-app wrong (video)] [? Is he a dad who gets scolded by his son for using the dryer wrong???????????????] [- Before watching the Y-app today: I guess Yu-geon and Climax got along well~ After watching the Y-app: Why are you leaving me out and having fun by yourselves? If you¡¯re going to y so happily, show us too.] [- ShX¡­ I¡¯ve been thinking that their group activities were like business, but these bastards are proving it like this] [? Tempo who supported 9 members is crying??????????????? Are you happy? Go away, fXck. Go ahead, I won¡¯t cry. I¡¯ll cry for you, yeah, I¡¯ll cry. You quit and you look so happy, I¡¯ll cry.] [- Phew, I¡¯m d that Climax is not bing 8 members, but I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing for their 8-member activities.] It took me some time to figure out the overall reaction, since everyone had a different position. The existing fans of Climax were opposed to the idea of the three former Floss members joining thebel as Climax. ¡®I expected that.¡¯ Maybe it was because we had a lot of new fans during thesteback, but they were rtively less hostile to the new members joining¡­ ¡®Fans who had been following Climax since before they became famous had a different perspective.¡¯ For fans who had supported Climax since the days when they were so obscure that most people didn¡¯t even know they existed, it was unthinkable for them toe out to the world. The original Floss fans were diverse. Some still demanded a reunion of the nine members, while others followed their own favorites to different directions. The individual fans of the three Floss members who joined Composition, abel under , were mostly supportive of their solo activities. They considered their move to Composition as almost a demotion. There were many negative opinions, but it seemed that they had changed their minds after seeing the YApp. They were surprised to see the YApp where they looked like a close-knit family, rather than the awkward friendship act they had put on when they were in Floss. ¡®Family¡­¡¯ I briefly recalled thest YApp broadcast. Chapter 225: Chapter 225: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 225 Are We Friends? ¡®Were we that close?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure if I was friends with Yu-geon. Of course, we had improved a lot since our first encounter, which was like a bad karma. It was the same with Hwijin and Naru. Naru still seemed to resent me inside. Hwijin seemed to rely on mepletely, but¡­ I didn¡¯t have the confidence to say we were friends. But if Ipared it to the time when I joined Mydol, I could say we were fairly close. I scrolled down and checked the recent reactions. We hadn¡¯t revealed the concept poster yet, and there were a lot of responses after we posted an article on our official ount that we were nning to do an eight-member unit activity.¡®The nning team said the reactions were pretty good.¡¯ I had received some data from them, but this was the first time I looked at the reactions of the fans I subscribed to. [- I was surprised to see that this was what they were preparing when they said they had something ready at thest Yapp, but I like it, no, I love it, I¡¯m so excited ???] [? I think Jjunie is producing it, I¡¯m already looking forward to it, I want to hit my head and faint and wake up on the day of the release] [? Can¡¯t we exchange deals with each other?????? I wish they would release one official material soon ????] [- Three people were added at the climax, and the average age was lowered by Naru and raised by Hwijin, resulting in a strange situation where it stayed the same] [? Wow, did the three people who went to theposition join the climax???] [? No, no, look at the article!!! They¡¯re doing it as a unit!] [- Not bad, but I¡¯m not sure yet. But I trust Seberji¡¯s eye, so I think it¡¯ll be okay] [? I trust Seberji22222 Jjunie seems to be starting self-producing in earnest, so I¡¯m more excited than worried????] [- Ah¡­ ?? I¡¯m worried that they¡¯ll fight for the center here too] [? Me too, I¡¯m a bit anxious??? There are the eldest brothers, and I can only hope that Hwizion will cut them off in the middle????] [? But to be honest, even if they fight, Seongwoonie wouldn¡¯t know, he¡¯s the type who just does his best?????????] [? Sometimes his coolness was sad, but sometimes it¡¯s good?????] There were some uneasy looks, but as I heard, the majority of the opinions were hopeful. Anyway, we avoided the part that the fans were most worried about, and the coboration itself had a lot of positive views, so all that was left was to show them a good result. ¡®Then I¡¯ll just check the opinions this much¡­¡¯ As I was about to wake them up, I saw a post that annoyed me. [- When Mangdol was the top of the first group, they made a fuss not topete with them, but now that Zzuge became Mangdol, they sat down andpeted with them.] I checked the ount, and it was definitely a public ount when I followed it, but now it was locked. This meant¡­ what I saw now was only what they could say on a public ount, and they filtered out the rest. The actual opinions under the water could be different. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ I was a bit ufortable, but it wasn¡¯t an unexpected reaction. Just in case, I checked the Entertainment Talk Talk, and the top had rtively good opinions, but the pros and consments and thetestments had a lot of content that I read as aggro rather than worry. ¡®Well¡­ there can¡¯t be only good words. I shouldn¡¯t care too much.¡¯ But as I read down, the posts that were closer to malicious criticism than appropriate criticism became more noticeable. Some of them even twisted and bashed Naru, who had just be an adult. I searched on YouTube and saw that cyber leeches had already started making videos with titles like ¡®Guessing the Concept of HemeCo¡¯s Activities¡¯ or ¡®The Shocking Moves of the Key Members after Floss¡¯s Disbandment¡¯. The die was cast and it was out of my hands, unless there was something worth suing over. ¡®So instead of suffering from the negativements, I¡¯ll just add some cheese cubes to my sd.¡¯ I took out a chunk of fresh mozzare from the fridge, diced it into cubes, and sneaked it into my sd. It was a small indulgence to relieve some stress. ¡°Hmm.¡± I was startled when Seon-woo came out of his room, rubbing his eyes, but luckily I was able to hide my crime. ¡°Are you up?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll go wash up ande out soon.¡± When everyone got up at the time they had set their rms and gathered around the table, I felt more at ease. ¡°Let¡¯s eat quickly and get going.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± We munched on our sds like herbivorous animals and started another day. ¡°Perfect, you look great right now. Keep that expression and just lift your chin a bit.¡± It wasn¡¯t like we had to shoot a music video, but why did it take so long? The poster shoot was no easy task. There were more dys than I expected, so the waiting time was long. ¡°Ugh.¡± I yawned without realizing it and leaned against the wall with my arms crossed, watching Seon-woo who was being filmed. Then Yu-geon came over to me. ¡°If you have some time, you can either turn on the Y app or shoot some behind-the-scenes.¡± He was a veteran of the first group, so he knew how to make use of the waiting time. ¡°Can I use the Y app now?¡± Isn¡¯t it a spoiler since HemeCo is over? I asked him curiously and he answered cheerfully. ¡°There are various ways, like changing your clothes or covering yourself with a hat. Usually, people take some selfies for their photo cards at this time.¡± We decided to shoot some behind-the-scenes and took out a selfie stick. The concept of the behind-the-scenes video that we nned to upload on our YouTube channel was a VJ interview. I held the camera and went to the set that was decorated like a bookstore, where Kyunghwa and Yi-jun were chatting. ¡°Hello, what are you doing?¡± I shoved the microphone that I had prepared for the shoot, which looked like the ones that the variety show VJs use to interview people. Yi-jun, who caught on to the concept, joked. ¡°Wow, this bookstore is so nice and the owner is a gourmet. The books that he brings in every season are so fresh.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Kyunghwa kicked Yi-jun¡¯s knee and hit the spot that triggered his reflex. Yi-jun copsed to the floor with a thud. ¡°Ouch.¡± From a distance, it looked like a scene from Dumb and Dumber, but it wasn¡¯t bad to watch. I also went around and filmed the other members who were waiting and then it was my turn. ¡°Ise, please stand in front of the set.¡± I went behind the counter of the makeshift cafe stand and struck the pose that we had discussed beforehand. Yi-jun and Yu-geon teased me from the set. ¡°Please add two decaf shots to a warm iced americano and put half of the java chips on top and blend the other half. No whipped cream, please.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have an espresso in the smallest size with soy milk. Please put some whipped cream on top and make it zero sugar. And I¡¯d like some warm water as a service. Four cups, please.¡± I smiled naturally at the camera and replied. ¡°Both of you, get lost.¡± ¡°Wow, the service here is terrible.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s file aint, aint. Hurry up and call the boss~.¡± I didn¡¯t lose my bright smile and shot back. ¡°I¡¯m the boss, so both of you get out of my store.¡± ¡°The boss is a killer, a killer.¡± ¡°Who would live without a store?¡± They were so in sync that I wondered if they were brothers. They were annoying as hell. After finishing the shoot and selecting the final cuts and the B cuts that we would revealter, I felt drained. ¡°I¡¯m exhausted from shooting and dealing with jerks.¡± While the manager was away to prepare the vehicles for us to go back to our lodgings, the eight of us gathered for a rare moment. Hwijin smiled brightly and said. ¡°But it was fun. It¡¯s been a long time since we had such a yful atmosphere for a poster shoot.¡± I had a rough idea from the Bobbyam shoot, but during Floss¡¯s activities, it seemed like they only joked around with their own close lines, and the rest of the outsiders werepletely isted. ¡°Was everyone quiet during Floss¡¯s shoot?¡± I asked politely and Naru answered with his arms crossed. ¡°Hwijin hyung and Yu-geon hyung were kind of? Distant with the other members. They had a superficial vibe.¡± He spoke as if it wasn¡¯t his fault. As I looked down at Naru with a nk stare, Hwijin quickly added as if to make an excuse. ¡°Naru was friendly with the other members too. They must have had a lot of fun together. I¡¯m just not very good at socializing, you know¡­¡± I hadn¡¯t been to the scene, but I had a pretty good idea of what it was like. ¡°Then you should get used to this atmosphere. We like it when we¡¯re all lively together.¡± Seon-woo nodded from the side. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best!¡± I didn¡¯t know what he meant by trying, but he was cute anyway. The car arrived in a warm mood, and we split into Climax and Swift to go home. I felt a bit empty. ¡°It¡¯s quiet now that three people are gone.¡± The five of us gathered at home and wondered what to eat for dinner. I wondered how the other three were doing with their meals. They all made a fortune with Floss, so they wouldn¡¯t starve to death even if they lived on it¡­ I remembered the state of the apartment when I went to recruit Naru and spent half a day with Yu-geon. ¡®Are they eating delivery food or something?¡¯ At least Naru was still living at his parents¡¯ house, so they would take care of him. Yu-geon was the biggest problem. Hwijin seemed to be able to handle himself. Feeling a bit anxious, I called him when we were almost at the dorm. Yu-geon answered the phone casually. ¡°What¡¯s up? I¡¯m still on my way home.¡± I started to worry that I sounded too nagging. He was a third-year, and he could take care of himself. Was I being too nosy? It was toote to think about it, and I blurted out a stupid question. ¡°What are you going to eat when you get home?¡± ¡°What? Do you want me to rmend a menu?¡± ¡°Just tell me what you¡¯re going to eat.¡± Then Hwijin, who was still with him, answered with augh. ¡°We ordered a sd for delivery. Don¡¯t worry.¡± He was a leader with experience, and he sensed what I was worried about. ¡°Oh, thank you. I¡¯m not saying you shouldn¡¯t eat delivery food, but just in case. I¡¯m relieved that Hwijin is watching over you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t always eat with him, but he manages well, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± ¡°Wow, did you really call me because you thought I was going to eat something weird?¡± Yu-geon said something else after that, but it didn¡¯t seem very important, so I ended the call soon. ¡°Are you going to take care of them now?¡± As soon as the call was over, Kyunghwa asked me with a lightugh. ¡°Well¡­ They¡¯re artists from mybel, after all.¡± ¡°Good luck. I¡¯ll cheer for you.¡± Kyunghwa spoke as if it was someone else¡¯s trouble, and Iughed too. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± He asked me back right away, and I answered him brightly. ¡°First of all, I have to worry about you. You have your first web drama shooting tomorrow.¡± Then he seemed to remember something he had forgotten, and his face turned pale. Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 226 I can¡¯t help but be nervous ¡°What¡¯s with that¡­ unpleasant expression?¡± When I asked him with a twitch of my eyebrows, Kyunghwa tried to fix his thoughtful face and answered. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit nervous.¡± I didn¡¯t know if it was because of the audition he got in a hurry. The gap between the role confirmation and the first shooting was so short that it made me wonder if it was okay. When I looked into it, I found out that he filled in for someone who dropped out. To be honest, I could say he was lucky, but¡­ I didn¡¯t tell him because he would feel like digging a hole and hiding if I told him everything he did was like that.¡®Luck is also a skill.¡¯ There¡¯s no guarantee that luck will always follow, but when luck is on your side, it¡¯s best to take your ce confidently and stay there. I patted Kyunghwa¡¯s shoulder and cheered him on. ¡°You¡¯ve always been interested in acting, right? It¡¯s not a big role from the start, so do your best.¡± As I said, the role Kyunghwa yed in the early episodes was about a neighbor1 near the house where the female protagonist lived. At first, the story progressed around the main male protagonist, and when the male and female leads became close enough, his role became an obstacle, so to speak. In the original work, he was famous as a puppy-like younger man, and there were quite a lot of requests to change the ending for him. ¡®It¡¯s a web drama¡­ I guess it¡¯s hard to get as much attention as a regr drama.¡¯ Basically, since the target oveps with the idol fandom, he could hope for a good publicity effect. Kyunghwa was a guy who did his best whatever he was given, so I cheered him on from the side, hoping that luck would follow him. ¡°I¡¯ll, do well¡­¡± He seemed to think that he owed me more since his father¡¯s incident, so I didn¡¯t want to pressure him more. ¡°Let¡¯s eat first.¡± At times like this, it¡¯s best to turn your attention elsewhere. As soon as I got home, I sliced the salmon I had prepared in advance thinly like a poached egg and put a lot of vegetables and cream cheese on top of the bagel. The sd I ate with it was also different from usual, and I changed it to ranch dressing for a change of mood. I added potato soup to make it more impressive. ¡°What, you didn¡¯t order chicken?¡± When Yi-jun made a big fuss about the fact that it wasn¡¯t meat, I had no choice but to cut the chicken tenders that I had fried in the air fryer until the oil was gone. ¡°Chicken and tenders are different.¡± ¡°If you want to lose that too, say more.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I sat Yi-jun down with Seongwon and chewed on my share of the bagel. It was delicious as always. It would be nice to wash up and rest like this, but¡­ ¡°Whoever finishes eating first, go wash up ande out. We have to continue our talk about the song.¡± I couldn¡¯t just rest until the day was over. We took turns using the bathroom and gathered around the sofa, and Yi-jun brought hisptop and yed the first draft. We all listened to it once in the morning, but it would feel different when we woke up from sleeping and when we were clear-headed. We all listened quietly for a while, and Seon-woo raised his hand first. ¡°Oh.¡± When Yi-jun gave him the floor as if to ask him to speak, Seon-woo smiled brightly. ¡°I think it¡¯s good to confirm it as it is!¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s a meaninglessment.¡± Yi-jun smiled, not hiding the fact that he was grateful but it wasn¡¯t helpful at all. ¡°Ah¡­ do I have to point out something?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that, but now is the time to talk about the improvements, right?¡± As we talked among ourselves for a while, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten something important. ¡°Guys, we didn¡¯t care about Swift.¡± We were an eight-member group, so it wasn¡¯t a big deal to reflect only our opinions. I hurriedly sent the song to the group chat where the three of them were. ¡°I should have asked before we parted.¡± It was the first time for us to work with a member who didn¡¯t share the same amodation, so we weren¡¯t used to it yet. ¡°Ah, there¡¯s a reply.¡± ¡°What did they say?¡± Yi-jun stuck out his lips as if he didn¡¯t like something and showed us the content on the TV screen connected to the living room. [H] It¡¯s good overall, but the bnce is a bit unstable and the heavy beat is too jarring after 2:03. I think it would be better to press it with vocals or trim it more neatly. 9:17 PM [YOU] Oh¡­ nice. 9:19 PM [YOU] But there seems to be a high-pitched part, is this a part you put in thinking about the distribution? 9:20 PM [¡õ] It seems okay? 9:21 PM ¡°But they¡¯re all okay with it, right?¡± As I opened my mouth to summarize the overall opinion, Yi-jun stared at the instrument version he had printed out on the score as if he was lost in thought. ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s the problem?¡± Kyunghwa seemed to have noticed that something was off with me and whispered in my ear. I also answered him in a low voice that only he could hear. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Is it such a bad thing to say that the bnce is unstable and that he should think about the parts?¡± Hmm¡­ Maybe he would understand if I said it was notposing but developing a new menu. But since his advice was not unreasonable, I didn¡¯t understand his reaction at that moment. Yi-jun suddenly lifted up the sheet music that he had diligently marked with a sharpie to the ceiling. ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Yi-jun, who made a loud noise that surprised Seon-woo, who was sitting next to him, pushed the sheet music toward the rest of the members. ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± So what¡¯s done? As everyone was confused and checked the sheet music that Yi-jun handed out, the names of the members were marked on each measure. ¡°Did you already divide the parts?¡± Don¡¯t you usually decide the parts after the lyrics are all done? I asked in a slightly puzzled state and Yi-jun nodded vigorously. ¡°Yeah. Some parts I wrote thinking that someone¡¯s voice would suit better from the beginning. You noticed right away.¡± He was thinking, not feeling bad. I nodded with relief. ¡°Then how about we write the lyrics ourselves likest time and narrow down a few candidates for each part and vote and polish them?¡± We had to share it on the group chat and get Swift¡¯s opinion, but if we agreed on our side, it would be more than half. ¡°Okay~.¡± I thought Yi-jun, whoposed the song from the beginning, would be eager to write the lyrics himself, but he agreed easily and the agreement ended quickly. The guys from Floss must have agreed too. If we do well, we can start recording from next week. As it was resolved in a sh, I wanted to finalize the schedule right away. ¡°Then when can you give me the final Inst version?¡± Then Yi-jun smiled and answered. ¡°Tomorrow morning?¡± And he immediately started to prepare to go to the studio. Everyone was stunned and doubted their ears, and Kyunghwa, who came to his senses first, grabbed Yi-jun and asked urgently. ¡°Are you serious? Not kidding?¡± ¡°Yeah. I got the direction, so I just need to fix it. Tomorrow morning is enough.¡± Anyway, he had a weird quirk. ¡°Leave him alone, he¡¯ll do what he can.¡± Yi-jun made an OK sign with his hand and immediately hailed a taxi and left for the studio. The living room was silent. ¡°Let¡¯s finish the rough draft of the lyrics today and go to bed.¡± At Kyunghwa¡¯s suggestion, everyone picked up their pens enthusiastically and Swift also replied that he would try to prepare as soon as possible despite thete hour. It was crazy every day, butpared to when we had nothing to do and were lying around, everyone was full of energy. ¡®Let¡¯s adjust well so we don¡¯t get burned out from being too busy.¡¯ I shared the lyrics I wrote as a draft on the group chat and went to bed, and I had a lot of thoughts again. ¡®Kyunghwa got his personal schedule, and Seon-woo and Seong-won have room to put in one more personal schedule.¡¯ Neither of them had a direction that came to mind. ¡®Solo¡­ A single wouldn¡¯t be bad, but the release timing is messed up, so not yet.¡¯ As I thought about this and that, it was quitete to fall asleep again. ¡®Let¡¯s go to sleep quickly.¡¯ Hoo, as I sighed deeply, I heard Seon-woo¡¯s sleep talk. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± That¡¯s right, maknae. I¡¯m d you look happy. I swallowed a chuckle and closed my eyes. ¡°Is Ise hyunging with us today?¡± As I stood in front of the entrance and adjusted my clothes, which were dressed in a simple semi-formal outfit, Seon-woo followed me to the entrance and asked. ¡°Yeah. I was curious about the drama set, and I¡¯m going with him on a field trip.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have toe.¡± Kyunghwa spat out a sentence with ¡®I¡¯m not a kid.¡¯ omitted and grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m worried about you, and I¡¯m just curious about it.¡± Today, I acted as if I would be his daily manager and got in the driver¡¯s seat and drove the car. The filming site was not far from Seoul. ¡®Well¡­ It¡¯s better than a local location, if it¡¯s a general office or a residential area.¡¯ We arrived at the professional filming area where the indoor shooting studios were gathered, parked the car in the parking lot, and entered the set. Most of the staff were already on standby. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Ryu Kyunghwa!¡± Kyunghwa went in first and bowed his head and greeted the woman who looked like the director. The middle-aged director with sses smiled warmly and weed him. ¡°Wee. There¡¯s a waiting room over there, so get ready. Ye-rim is over there too.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± I also followed suit and greeted briefly and moved to a ce where the actors above the supporting role seemed to be waiting. There were a few chairs spread out. ¡°Kyunghwa, did you get your hair and makeup done at the salon?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± ¡°Thene this way and change into your costume.¡± As Kyunghwa was dragged to the dressing room by a staff member, holding a pajama-like outfit, I looked around the set. The main cast for today¡¯s shoot were the female lead, the male lead, and Kyunghwa. The scene scheduled for today was Kyunghwa¡¯s first appearance and the start of the misunderstanding. The male lead, who was worried about the female lead who didn¡¯t answer his calls after workingte and having a dinner meeting the night before, came to her house early in the morning. The sub-male lead, who came out of her house in a clearly slept-in outfit. The two who ran into each other by chance. The misunderstanding that began. Of course, the role that Kyunghwa yed, the sub-male lead, was just a neighbor who had known her for a long time and came to shower at her ce in the morning because his boiler was broken¡­ I finished my thoughts and started to look around. ¡®Then¡­ there must be some lead actors around here.¡¯ They were both idols. I couldn¡¯t remember their names properly¡­ I was checking the synopsis I received when I signed the contract when one side of the set became noisy. ¡°Don¡¯t touch my body, I told you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Do you think I like saying mean things to others? It¡¯s not like I asked for something difficult. Ugh¡­ really.¡± What was that? It looked like an actor who was barely in his twenties snatched the coat that a staff member was holding and stomped towards the waiting room. ¡°¡­?¡± Don¡¯t bother me when I¡¯m in a bad mood. The actor who seemed to radiate energy from his whole body was the main actor and the female protagonist of this drama¡­ ¡®Was her name Jeon Hye-na?¡¯ Her stage name was Henny. No wonder she had a siren-like aura. I quietly moved aside. Chapter 227: Chapter 227: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 227 Eating is important Henny walked past me and slumped down on the chair right in front of the heater. She kept holding her phone for a long time, unable to hide her bad mood. Even after the actor who yed the male lead joined us, the atmosphere remained cold for a while. ¡°Unni, what happened?¡± The voice that greeted Henny sounded strangely familiar. The name of the male lead was¡­ ¡°Oops.¡±I lifted my head and checked the face of the male lead. I recognized who he was and was startled. ¡°?¡± Kyunghwa, who hade out of the dressing room and approached me, was also surprised by my reaction and opened his eyes wide. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡± I quickly shook my head. The identity of the male lead who surprised me was none other than Park Jun-ki. ¡®He¡¯s still in his early twenties, isn¡¯t he? Is it okay for him to y apany employee?¡¯ He didn¡¯t look like ate twenties office worker at all. The costume, makeup, and hair were desperately trying to make him look older. Not only Kyunghwa, but also Park Jun-ki seemed to feel my presence and looked at me. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I was thinking about something else and got startled.¡± I apologized with augh, and Jun-ki nodded lightly as if he didn¡¯t know what was going on. ¡®He doesn¡¯t remember what happened back then, just like the others.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a big deal, but I felt a bit sorry. I guess I should just think of it as something that never happened. ¡®Well¡­ it¡¯s not like it was a good thing to remember anyway.¡¯ My Idol is a thing of the past. The Swift trio are working hard to prepare for a new start at a newbel, and the rest of the problematic members have gone their separate ways. It¡¯s better to focus on the future than to worry about the past. I nodded to myself and fixed Kyunghwa¡¯s outfit. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going to shoot right away, so please wait in your ces!¡± At the staff¡¯s request, the actors handed over their coats and nkets to their managers and moved inside the set. As I took Kyunghwa¡¯s luggage and watched the movements of the other actors, I noticed Henny¡¯s anxious expression. Her thin arms and legs suggested malnutrition, and her hands were trembling. Her skin was also covered with makeup, but it didn¡¯t look good. ¡®Is she okay¡­¡¯ She looked uneasy in many ways. Fortunately, she was the type who did her job well when she stood in front of the camera, and she was the most stable among the three actors. Kyunghwa wasn¡¯t bad¡­ but. He was obviously a rookie in acting, and Jun-ki was not very good at acting either. As I watched Henny, who was covering the acting skills of the three of them, I couldn¡¯t help but admire her. ¡®Well, the shooting should go smoothly¡­¡¯ I thought so for a moment, but Jun-ki started to mess up his lines. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll just look at the script again and go.¡± Jun-ki apologized to the staff with a cute expression, and everyoneughed and let it go. Everyone except Henny. For a brief moment, Henny¡¯s face twisted as if she was going to grab Jun-ki¡¯s cor. ¡®Wow¡­ she¡¯s fierce¡­¡¯ When the camera started rolling, she became a different person, a cheerful and quirky female lead Joo-young, so it was hard to say anything more. Even after that, every time they had to repeat the same scene due to the staff¡¯s mistakes or the director¡¯s requests, Henny¡¯splexion got worse and worse. ¡®I wonder if she¡¯s barely holding on with her willpower.¡¯ I thought it would be better for her to rest, but even when the camera was off, her face darkened. ¡°Let¡¯s have lunch for a while!¡± At the director¡¯s request, everyone gathered together and started to eat the lunch boxes that Jun-ki¡¯s fans had sent. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t greet you properly earlier because I was busy.¡± Jun-ki, who was a junior to Climax, came to me and Kyunghwa with a smile. ¡®He¡¯s friendly and sociable, I guess that¡¯s his personality.¡¯ I dly sat down with Jun-ki and ate the lunch box, and took a selfie to post on SNS. ¡°So you¡¯ve been debuting for six years now, right?¡± Jun-ki seemed to have seeded in debutingst year, before the My Idol craze died down. Unfortunately, like many other groups that emerged after My Idol, his poprity was not very good. Jun-ki himself had a lot of fans from his My Idol days, so he was trying to switch to acting. ¡®I guess he¡¯s more interested in us because we started to rise from the bottom.¡¯ We were an example of perseverance paying off, but our case was different. It wasn¡¯t because we waited¡­ it was because the person inside the leader changed. I kept the words I couldn¡¯t say and smiled and made friends with Jun-ki. While the three male idols were chatting together, Henny sat next to a woman who looked like her manager, pressing her forehead and closing her eyes. ¡®She doesn¡¯t eat.¡¯ I could see the manager holding a lunch box in his hand, hesitating whether he wanted to eat or not. As soon as Henny waved her hand as if to shoo him away, the manager quickly moved to where the other staff members were. ¡®What¡¯s going on¡­?¡¯ While the manager, who joined the filming staff, was stuffing his mouth with side dishes as if he had been waiting for this moment, Henny took out a strange stick and a water bottle from her bag. Then she dissolved the stick in the water and shook it like a shake, then gulped down the contents with a few sips. ¡®¡­¡­.¡¯ I knew what it was. It was a diet package that was being sold on SNS and even on the portal site¡¯s hot deals. That stuff would ruin her health. I was worried for a moment when Kyunghwa grabbed my arm. ¡°¡­¡­?¡± When I looked at Kyunghwa with a puzzled expression, he whispered with a frown. ¡°Are you interested in Henny? Why are you staring at her?¡± No, that was a ridiculous misunderstanding. I was interested in Henny¡¯s health and the causal rtionship between her and that diet product. I shook my head right away. ¡°What are you talking about? I was just curious what she was eating.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not eating anything, you know.¡± If someone didn¡¯t know what the drink in Henny¡¯s hand was, they might think that way. I added an exnation to the bizarre misunderstanding that had arisen. ¡°What she¡¯s holding in her hand is probably a Nanerkit shake. It¡¯s the one that advertises 80 calories or something per serving.¡± ¡°Oh~.¡± Only then did Kyunghwa seem to believe me a little bit and looked at the water bottle in her hand. ¡°I mean. You should have seen you looking at those heavenly girls with interest.¡± Of course. It was mainly because I had no fantasies or interests in dating or marriage, but. ¡®They¡¯re too young.¡¯ Even if I liked older women, I wouldn¡¯t be interested in those fresh and young girls. ¡°I prefer older women, if I had to choose.¡± ¡°?¡± Kyunghwa looked at me with an expression that he couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°Henny is twenty-seven, right?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I added an excuse. ¡°Older than that.¡± If they were older than my real age¡­ Hmm¡­ They would look like quite unusual criminals on the outside. ¡®Not me, but the other person.¡¯ It¡¯s better to live alone and go alone if you don¡¯t want to be left behind. I came to a random conclusion by myself and dismissed Kyunghwa¡¯s suspicion. ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s none of your business.¡± The filming, which resumed shortly after the short meal time, continued untilte at night. And throughout the filming, Henny didn¡¯t eat anything except for one diet shake. In the end, as soon as thest scene was over, she almost copsed and staggered into the arms of her manager. ¡°Henny, are you okay?¡± As the staff¡¯s attention was drawn, Henny¡¯s expression darkened for a moment and then she smiled brightly as if she was acting. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just tripped over my foot! You all worked so hard today!¡± I didn¡¯t feel good watching her. Was it okay to leave her alone? I was worried as we got ready to go back. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± I was still bothered after returning to the amodation. That damn diet product. I couldn¡¯t believe that anyone would lose weight if they only ate that and starved themselves. I felt even worse when I saw it in front of me. I came home and sorted out the lyrics I had picked out in the first round, but I still couldn¡¯t organize my thoughts and feltplicated. Eventually, I went into the SNS subscription ount and entered Henny¡¯s personal SNS. Henny was also an idol, but not a rookie, so she had a separate personal SNS ount. In the story video that was uploaded a while ago, Henny was smiling brightly and eating a delivery food that was a calorie bomb. [I flexed onte-night snacks tonight thanks to Nanerkit??] Only she knew if she really ate it or went to vomit right away. ¡®Is she trying to kill herself?¡¯ I felt even colder when I saw the subscribers leavingments praising how jealous they were that she was so skinny even after eating like that. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± I felt a presence behind the sofa and turned around to see Kyunghwa looking down at me with his eyes narrowed and full of doubt. ¡°You really¡­.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not what you think.¡± ¡°You expect me to believe that after you searched for her story?¡± ¡°No, I was sure she would binge eat when she got home. And she really did.¡± I pointed at the tteokbokki that Henny was eating with a happy expression in the video and Kyunghwa made a sound of clicking his tongue. ¡°It¡¯s pitiful, but. It¡¯s not a problem we can help with, you know.¡± I knew that¡­ I had a contract for years. If I changed my appearance or stopped taking the pills, the advertisers would sue me for breach of contract. But this way¡­ It would surely cause trouble someday. It was unfair to face a scandal over my personality, which had be extremely sensitive due to my poor diet. People tend to lose their temper when they starve. If I went without food for three days, I would be a walking time bomb. Was there anything I could do to help without losing money? I thought for a moment and remembered what had sparked the climax of my recovery. ¡®Ah¡­!¡¯ But I was so busy with management right now¡­ Could I do that too? This was also an opportunity. I had been nning it for a long time. I wasn¡¯t sure, but this was something I did better than breathing. I went straight to the fridge and checked what sd ingredients were left. ¡°Hmm¡­ This should be fine.¡± I calcted the volume and calories of each ingredient and wrote them down on a note. ¡°As filling and tasty as possible¡­¡± Suddenly, Seon-woo came to the kitchen, sniffing the smell, because of me who started to mix and match things. ¡°Hyung, what are you making?¡± ¡°Perfect. Come and taste it.¡± I smiled and sat Seon-woo down. Chapter 228: Chapter 228: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 228 Seeing is Believing ¡°What is this?¡± Seon-woo approached me with curiosity and excitement in his eyes. ¡°I made four different kinds of sds. Which one do you think you¡¯ll get tired of the least?¡± I was nning to take all four kinds anyway. But I wanted to get the opinion of the closest consumer first, so I handed him a survey that I had prepared in advance. ¡°Wow, this is so professional!¡± Seon-woo eximed as he looked at the data that I had made. It allowed him to check the amount of sauce, sweetness, acidity, greasiness, and other indicators with numbers.¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve been thinking about this for a long time, but I was too busy with theeback and stuff. I¡¯m still busy now, but I wanted to get it done while I had the idea.¡± Of course, as soon as I started this seriously, I would have more work than I could handle in a day or two. But it was better to start sooner thanter if I had a n anyway. The market was all about getting ahead of thepetition. ¡°I don¡¯t know what this is, but I¡¯ll try it!¡± Seon-woo nodded his head as if he didn¡¯t understand but it looked delicious anyway. He picked up a fork and took a bite. Crunch. The sound of lettuce coated with a thin dressing and topped with various ingredients filled his mouth. ¡°Wow, this is really good!¡± Seon-woo¡¯s eyes sparkled, which had been dull and ordinary until a moment ago. ¡°Can I try the others too?¡± Of course, I showed them to you so you could eat them, not just look at them. I nodded my head generously and Seon-woo moved his fork to another bowl with a happy expression. ¡°This one has a hint of pepper that adds a spicy kick to the aftertaste. This is really nice!¡± They say that even a dog can recite poetry if it watches for three years. Seon-woo was analyzing the taste in his own way, which made meugh. ¡°Take your time, take your time. I won¡¯t take them away from you.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± While Seon-woo was enjoying the samples with a blissful face, Yi-jun came to the kitchen, lured by the delicious smell. ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this? A sudden sd buffet?¡± He casually took a fork from the counter and it looked as natural as water flowing. ¡°Can I eat some too?¡± Before I could even answer, his fork was already heading towards the sd. ¡®You¡¯re going to eat it anyway, even if I say no.¡¯ I didn¡¯t mind, since I had enough for all four of us to take the survey. The more samples, the better. ¡°Eat and fill this out too.¡± I handed Yi-jun the same survey and he let out a short exmation. He nodded his head and picked up a pen. ¡°Oh. Okay, okay. I think this one is the best.¡± Yi-jun pointed to the sd with the most meat toppings and mumbled with his mouth full. Yeah, I thought you would like that one. I asked Kyunghwa and Seong-won, who came outter, to take the survey too and checked their preferences and feedback. Then I started preparing for tomorrow¡¯s operation. The next morning. I was originally going to send only Kyunghwa to the shooting today, but I visited the set with him to put my n into action. ¡°Hello!¡± As we entered the set with a cheerful greeting, the staff¡¯s eyes turned to the huge volume of mini lunch boxes that Kyunghwa and I were holding. ¡°Please take one if you want to have a sd for lunch.¡± I was most worried about Henny, but¡­ Kyunghwa had misunderstood something yesterday. I didn¡¯t want to be suspected of having ulterior motives. Anyway, my goal was to make him eat something less burdensome than that weird shake, even if it was a sd. If I didn¡¯t want to look like I was doing a favor for a specific person, I just had to increase the number of samples I offered. ¡°Wow, is this that thing? The one that Seon-yeong posted on SNSst year and caused a sensation?¡± I answered the staff¡¯s question with a smile. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s one of them, and they have different vors mixed in. If you don¡¯t mind, could you please fill out the survey that¡¯s attached to the package?¡± I pointed to the survey that was stuck to the mini lunch box. I remembered the trouble I had printing them onbels and sticking them to each lid at dawn. I had to collect and dispose of the packages anyway, so I wanted to get the opinions of ordinary people who actually ate them when I separated and collected the packages. ¡®But it¡¯s better to do it right if I¡¯m going to do it.¡¯ The staff¡¯s admiration for the sd was short-lived. As the director came to the scene, they all got busy with the shooting preparation. ¡°You¡¯re really working hard for this.¡± Kyunghwa looked at me as if he thought I was doing too much to impress the scene. ¡°Yeah, I have a good reason for it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t mean¡­¡± I frowned as I sensed that Kyunghwa was making another disgusting assumption. ¡°No.¡± But I was very interested in whether Henny would eat that weird shake for lunch today, or the sd I had prepared. ¡®Please let it be lunchtime soon.¡¯ As I red at the sd packages, the shooting began. * * * A littleter. Finally, the te sound announced lunchtime, and one by one, three by three, they came to get today¡¯s lunch box and sd. ¡®There won¡¯t be anyone who only eats sd since there¡¯s rice too¡­¡¯ I watched nervously as the amount they took was all gone and I felt relieved. ¡°Wow, I was really curious about this. I¡¯ll enjoy it~!¡± As I opened the lid of the sd lunch box in the waiting room where the celebrity cast gathered to eat, Jun-ki, who was sitting next to me naturally, poured dressing over his share of the sd. ¡°It smells really good. Do you like cooking?¡± Jun-ki asked me a question that had be quite unfamiliar to me, as if he had never looked for me or anything. Since Climax Jaekon had be known as a web variety show that even ordinary people wouldugh at, most of the people I had met so far knew that I was good at cooking and that I was sincere about eating. ¡°Yes. I like it. And I¡¯m good at it.¡± Jun-ki, who had put a kale full of dressing in his mouth, made a face of surprise and delight at the fresh and sour taste. ¡°Wow, this would be really good with bread! Oh, it¡¯s good now too.¡± At Jun-ki¡¯s innocent remark, I quickly handed him a small amount of protein bread that I had wrapped separately. Actually, I didn¡¯t really like this kind of protein supplement diet food. But I was considering offering it as an option to suit the needs of the customers who wanted sd. ¡°Haha, you¡¯re like Doraemon. Thank you. I¡¯ll enjoy it!¡± As I chewed the sd with Kyunghwa and Jun-ki next to me, I could see that Henny was reaching her limit of patience as she sipped the shake out of courtesy. ¡®She¡¯s going to starve herself again today after barely eating that.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t force her to eat when she said she wouldn¡¯t, and I felt awkward since we weren¡¯t close. At that moment, Henny¡¯s manager seemed to have prepared a mini lunch box and handed it to Henny. ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ But unfortunately, Henny shook her head right away. The manager put the mini lunch box next to Henny and went back to where the staff were. Well¡­ It was a pity, but that was all I could do. Anyway, I was able to gather various opinions from the staff on the scene, so that was good. As I thought that. After the manager left and some time passed, Henny reached for the lunch box. ¡®Is she eating?¡¯ Henny, who had been looking at the sd with a very distrustful expression at first, stabbed a lettuce with a fork, dipped it in the dressing, and put it in her mouth, and her expression turned to astonishment. She must have intended to eat less dressing on purpose. Anyway, since it had a taste, there was no way that the fork that had gone to the sd once would only go once. But maybe the amount itself was small, so she closed the lidpletely after emptying half of it. ¡®I guess I should be satisfied with the fact that she didn¡¯t just eat the shake and starve.¡¯ As the staff thanked me for collecting the lunch box packaging, I felt a pang of regret for the half-sess. ¡®Why¡­ I made it so that it would be filling, but it wasn¡¯t too much to eat at once.¡¯ As I kept feeling uneasy, I noticed that Henny disappeared somewhere during the breaks in the shooting. And a littleter. She brought me an empty container. ¡°I ate well. Thank you.¡± It was a dry and businesslike tone, but she seemed sincere in her gratitude. ¡°Oh, yes.¡± I didn¡¯t want to cause any misunderstanding, so I greeted her curtly and checked the survey. The item that indicated the degree of fullness was marked with 10 points. Was her stomach so shrunk that she couldn¡¯t eat that much at once? It was strange, but that was all I could do. And after the shooting was over. This time, posts tagged with Cheon Ise Sd instead of Na Seon-yeong Sd were uploaded. From the director to the camera director, the writer, and various staff, to Jun-ki, they thanked me for the sd I had prepared and praised it. It was delicious, of course. Themunity was turned upside down by the testimonies that came up. £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ [Title] Today¡¯s thrilling secret romance, the warm shooting scene [Body] A shooting scene that looks ordinary in many ways. It doesn¡¯t look much different from other scenes. Finally, lunchtime. It still looks ordinary. What¡¯s piled up next to the main lunch box? Sd? Let¡¯s take a closer look. [Thank you for looking at us nicely :). We look forward to working with you. ¨C Climax Crew ¨C ] Fan support (X) Idol bought it (X) Idol made it (O) LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL This is the sd made with the same recipe that Na Seon-yeong tweetedst year and the leader personally developed! The staff posted testimonies after the shooting. They said it was so good that they wanted to eat only sd even with meat. I want to eat it too ?????? Please sell it, CEO Cheon ???????? Photo source: Staff SNS [Comments]
    • I wanted to eat this when Seon-yeong posted it too ????????? It¡¯s a public recipe, but it doesn¡¯t taste the same when I make it. What¡¯s the problem?
? It depends on what kind of vinegar you used for the oriental sauce, what kind of soy sauce, and even the garlic and oil. The taste changes a lot depending on those ?? It¡¯s safer to buy it than to make it at home and ruin your tongue¡­ ? It¡¯s meaningless if I can¡¯t follow the recipe even if it¡¯s public ????????????
    • Please sell it 222222 I¡¯m seriously looking for a job opening at the web drama shooting site
? Ha ???? Is Composition still hiring people? I want to go to the interview and eat instead of paying the fee ? Why are you so extreme ???????????? You have to appreciate that Koreans are serious about eating ? If Composition offers a benefit like a meal from the CEO once a month instead of some weird vacation system when they hire people, they¡¯ll get applicants in no time £þ£þ£þ£þ£þ The promotional effect was better than I thought. I dragged the empty lunch box package that I had finished eating and put in a kimchi bag for recycling, and the members greeted me with a surprised expression. ¡°Why did you bring this?¡± I didn¡¯t feel bad at all because of Seong-won¡¯s puzzled expression. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Sniff sniff, as Aeongi, who came out of Seong-won¡¯s room, smelled the bag, Seong-won took Aeongi back into the room as if he was scolding him. I got a satisfying reaction, so now it was time to fish when the water came in. Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 229 Cheon Ise¡¯s Sd As I opened and separated the packages at my seat, I summarized the survey results. They were not far from what I expected. The most popr item was the ranch sd, which had the highest calories among the choices. ¡®Even though it¡¯s still lower than the ones sold in the market.¡¯ The key was to use the best mayonnaise possible to reduce the fat and sourness. That was also the reason why the fans who tried to replicate it at homeined that it didn¡¯t taste the same. It required some know-how to maintain the vor while making the dressing as thin as possible to lower the calories. ¡®Now the only thing left is¡­¡¯To find apany that could produce it hygienically and distribute it, and to obtain the sales license. Did Cheon Soo Group ever enter the food delivery business? I decided to look up their records before contacting Vice Chairman Ahn. There was a trace of them selling hotel food and beverages for home enjoyment in the past. ¡®It might be easier than I thought.¡¯ Unfortunately, it was in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. -Hmm¡­ Mom thinks you might be biting off more than you can chew with the food and beverage business. Vice Chairman Ahn, whom I expected to help me, expressed his objection. The reason was simple. He thought it was too much for a twenty-five-year-old to handle idol activities, entertainment business, and BtoC food business. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ I understood hisck of trust. Until six months ago, I was a nobody who only threw tantrums. Then I suddenly jumped into producing by myself. From the perspective of others who didn¡¯t know or anticipate my situation, it must have looked like Cheon Ise got cocky after a stroke of luck and caught the business bug. ¡®Sigh¡­ I only have a few sessful businesses and chains.¡¯ I had a lot of inconveniences as a fledgling CEO who had just stepped into the world of business, after being a legend in the food industry who built everything from scratch. ¡®I have no choice but to persuade him.¡¯ I ended up cutting down on my sleep and making a presentation that could convince Vice Chairman Ahn. And I also found a way to avoid losses. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not just avoiding losses, but also shrinking profits.¡¯ It was crowdfunding. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ I didn¡¯t like the idea of crowdfunding as aunch method. It would be understandable if a smallpany had no production cost and made test products as an investment. But from the beginning, if the product was clearly intended for ¡®sales¡¯ and they said, ¡®If you buy it, we can make it, otherwise we won¡¯t¡¯ and sold it at a higher price than the prototype, I didn¡¯t think it was a fair attitude as a merchant. On the surface, it might sound usible to say that it was the price of experiencing a new product that hadn¡¯t been released yet. ¡®But in the end, they¡¯re using consumers as testers who pay money.¡¯ It might be a good method for thepany, as they could reduce the investment cost. But as a consumer who was passionate about eating, I didn¡¯t like it. ¡®But this is the only way to persuade him.¡¯ As I looked up the history of Cheon Soo Group¡¯s food and beverage sales business, I realized why Vice Chairman Ahn was so conservative. Like any other luxury hotel, Cheon Soo Hotel also operated expensive buffets and fine dining that were famous among gourmets. ¡®I really want to go to Sky Aqua.¡¯ And all the other businesses they tried to expand their field had failed. They also sold something like meal kits in coboration with famous distribution channels, saying, ¡®Enjoy the hotel food at home!¡¯ ¡®Did they really think this would sell at this price with thisposition? Seriously?¡¯ The contents were nothing but a small lump of pasta with a special sauce (which was hard to distinguish as a consumer), and a little bit of meat for 20,000 won. It was no wonder that the reviews were bad. When I searched, I found some records of famous bloggers criticizing it a few years ago. [It was a very unpleasant experience that made the Cheon Soo Hotel brand look cheap. I can¡¯t believe they treated the customers who paid 20,000 won like they weren¡¯t customers.] Um¡­ this is¡­ we used the same ingredients as the hotel! That wouldn¡¯t have solved anything. The pasta sold at the lounge of Cheon Soo Hotel was usually 30,000 to 40,000 won, so the meal kit was a bit cheaper. The problem was that it was only a bit cheaper. I didn¡¯t know if they didn¡¯t estimate the amount of sauce that would be lost due to the packaging characteristics, or if the consumers didn¡¯t keep the proper cooking time and the noodles got swollen. ¡®There are a lot ofints about saving the sauce for something else.¡¯ They had a poorly prepared business that resulted in a small loss and a big image damage. So I needed some backup to make sure the same mistake wouldn¡¯t happen again. I prepared everything from the expected crowdfunding n and quantity, to the method of procuring ingredients and the business n by sales volume, and went to see Vice Chairman Ahn. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect him to want it so much¡­¡¯ Vice Chairman Ahn looked quite surprised, but he dly agreed to my solid n that wouldn¡¯t lose money. As I proceeded with the sd business as if I had gone back to the days of CEO Lim, the shooting of the web drama that Kyunghwa starred in was nearing the end. ¡°Is this thest shoot?¡± Yi-jun asked in wonder as he watched Kyunghwa getting ready to leave. It was understandable. The shooting had started only a week ago. ¡°Some shoots are done in a day.¡± This web drama had a bit more volume than usual, so they filmed it over a week. Kyunghwa carried the snacks that the staff had prepared for them to share in both hands and headed to the parking lot where his manager was waiting. ¡°I hope it goes well. You worked really hard, hyung.¡± ¡°It will be fine.¡± I hadn¡¯t been to the set since the day I packed a lot of lunch boxes. ording to what Kyunghwa told me, Henny had started bringing simple sds for lunch since then. Of course, they didn¡¯t taste very good, or so he said. But maybe he felt less bitter. He didn¡¯t act as hostile as he did on the first day we met, which was a relief. ¡®The truth is, I can¡¯t provide a fundamental solution to this problem.¡¯ The first problem was the pressure that idols faced to have thin and unhealthy bodies. The second problem was the industry that used such appearances to impose fantasies on the public and say, ¡®You have to look like that too.¡¯ ¡®Tsk.¡¯ I wished that Nanner Kit or whatever it was would go bankrupt. An industry that makes money by ruining people¡¯s health deserves to fail. I clenched my teeth and bit my lips. ¡®Anyway, all that¡¯s left is¡­ recording and choreography.¡¯ The sd business was going well. The lyrics were all done. We were going to finish recording and send the music to the choreographer by next week. Then it would be time for the main dancer Cheon Yi-se to shine. We didn¡¯t just leave the choreography to the choreographer, but this time we decided to participate in the design with Yi-jun and Yu-geon. We couldn¡¯t do as well as the experts, but it was important for the members to be involved in every process. At least the point choreography. ¡®Phew¡­ I have to stay focused and not make any mistakes.¡¯ I made a firm resolution and sorted out the choreography references while Kyunghwa came back from the shoot. ¡°You¡¯re back¡­? Huh?¡± Yi-jun, who was busy coordinating the recording schedule with the Swif members on hisptop in the living room, peeked his head up and looked at the entrance with a shock. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, what happened?¡± I was startled and looked at the entrance too. Kyunghwa was standing there, trembling and frozen. ¡°What did you do in the shoot that made you look like that?¡± I was surprised and took the snack box that Kyunghwa had brought back and quickly took off his padding. His cheeks and uniform were frozen red. ¡°Did youe without changing your clothes?¡± Kyunghwa, who waspletely exhausted, nodded faintly and copsed on the sofa. ¡°Go wash up. You¡¯ll be less tired if you wash up and sleep.¡± Seon-woo, who was startled, came out of his room and shook Kyunghwa, but he didn¡¯t move. ¡°Is he dead?¡± Seong-won, who came out to the living room with Aeongi, wondering what the fuss was about, asked. ¡°Do you think he¡¯s dead?¡± I gave Seong-won a look of disbelief and covered Kyunghwa, who had fallen asleep, with a nket. Pposili, who seemed to want to warm him up, climbed up the dog stairs in front of the sofa and snuggled into Kyunghwa¡¯s arms, curling up his body and sighing. ¡°What is it?¡± Yi-junughed incredulously and rubbed Pposili¡¯s head vigorously, then lightly scratched his snout and smiled. ¡°Good job. Wash up and sleep when you wake up.¡± While everyone was busy spending their time, behind-the-scenes photos of the drama ¡®Thrilling Secret Romance¡¯ were posted on the promotional ount. I wondered what kind of shoot he had done that made hime back like an ice cube. In the background of a winter street with artificial snow falling, Kyunghwa was standing with his cheeks frozen. ¡°Wow, really¡­¡± Yi-jun, who was checking the behind-the-scenes photos next to me, opened his mouth and then closed it when he saw Kyunghwa. ¡°¡­Do you want to say what you¡¯re thinking at the same time?¡± I suggested and Yi-jun nodded. ¡°One, two, three.¡± ¡°He looks like a sub-male,¡± ¡°He looks like a sub-male lead.¡± ¡°Pfft.¡± Yi-jun burst intoughter when he confirmed that we were thinking the same thing. ¡°I feel a bit sorry for Kyunghwa hyung, but that seems true.¡± Compared to the sharp-looking Jun-ki in the other behind-the-scenes photos, it was clear which one was the sub. ¡°But I¡¯m d the shoot went well for all his hard work.¡± In thememorative photo posted by the staff, Kyunghwa looked exhausted but happy. Not everyone can have the same talent. ¡®But everyone has something they can do better than others, even if it¡¯s just a little.¡¯ It was better to find what I was good at than to give up in front of a genius. I hoped that Kyunghwa would gain some confidence. It would be nice if he could get a role in a movie or a TV drama next, not just a web drama. He had taken the first step, and the rest was up to him. ¡®It¡¯s time to go back to my idol job.¡¯ At least the main producer, Yejun, had firmly distributed the parts from the beginning, so there was nopetition. But I dreaded the thought of bringing eight more people to the studio and making a fuss. ¡®I¡¯ll have to call the staff for the behind-the-scenes shooting.¡¯ It would be good to have some activities for the members who had no free time and had to wait. ¡®Let¡¯s prepare in advance.¡¯ I did some research and prepared some simple activities for the behind-the-scenes, and the time flew by. ¡®Maybe I should get some sleep too¡­¡¯ As soon as I got up, I felt a sudden headache that seemed to split my head. ¡°¡­!?¡± When I grabbed my head, my body was already tilting towards the floor. Chapter 230: Chapter 230: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 230 Unidentified I felt the flooring up to my nose in an instant. Thud. I hit the ground face-first, but I couldn¡¯t move a muscle. ¡®What the hell¡­!¡¯ My head hurt like it was going to explode. Transparent status windows popped up in front of my eyes, followed by error messages that repeated themselves. [&@#Blocking ess to the unknown program%^^&$#.] [ER&*ORCO&&E &%$&] What are you talking about? The others had gone to their rooms. Kyunghwa on the sofa was asleep in various colors.I couldn¡¯t budge, but I managed to turn my head and look in the direction where Kyunghwa was lying. Pposili, who had been cuddled in Kyunghwa¡¯s arms, was also gone. ¡®Where did he go¡­!?¡¯ In the blink of an eye, I felt a terrible pain and my body twisted again. ¡°Ugh¡­!¡± [2&*(34,46$%% #@3rd external attack attempt&*& blocked ((#@#%] [Security*&( temporarily shutting down power for @#$*.] With an iprehensible message, my eyes were forced shut. ¡°Umm¡­¡± When I opened my eyes again, I saw a ceiling I had never seen before. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Why wasn¡¯t it the living room or the bedroom ceiling? I jumped up in surprise and something jingled on my wrist. What is this? I followed the transparent liquid going into my wrist and saw what looked like vitamin drips hanging down. Am I hospitalized? I looked around in shock and the new manager came in through the door. ¡°Ah, please lie down a little longer. You¡¯ve been pushing yourself too hardtely¡­ I thought there might be some rumors, so I brought you here.¡± What do you mean you brought me here? I checked the clothes I was wearing and they were patient clothes from a hospital that had a joint venture with Cheon Soo Group. ¡°These are the clothes you can change into. Do you want to rest a little more, or go straight to the recording studio?¡± I nced at the drips hooked to the device and saw that they were almost empty. ¡°I¡¯ll go straight to the recording studio.¡± I wasn¡¯t that tired. I felt embarrassed and went to the bathroom next to the door to change. ¡°Did you contact your mother?¡± I asked in a panic and the manager answered calmly. ¡°Ah, yes. I told her you were just getting some fluids because I thought she might worry¡­¡± As the manager trailed off, the door leading outside opened and Vice Chairman Ahn barged in. ¡°Oh, my, his face is half gone. Are you really okay?¡± Ah¡­ I knew it. It wasn¡¯t a partitioned emergency room, but a private room. There was no way Cheon Soo Group¡¯s influence wouldn¡¯t be there. I half expected it, but it was still embarrassing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was a little tired and dozed off, but the members thought I fainted or something and were very surprised. I¡¯m fine, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Iughed and reached out my hand, pretending to be a good son. Vice Chairman Ahn still looked worried. ¡°I got a call that my son copsed. How can I not worry? You¡¯re so careless, kid. Mom¡¯s sad.¡± Ahh. I had never received this kind of worry before, so I was embarrassed and wanted to hide in a mouse hole. ¡°Is it because of the sd business that you¡¯ve been staying up all night? It¡¯s good to try new things, but the most important thing is your health. Don¡¯t overdo it and take it easy.¡± It wasn¡¯t wrong, but I really didn¡¯t push myself that hard. I frowned as I recalled the situation before I copsed. Something¡­ I saw a lot of red letters. But I couldn¡¯t remember what they said. What was it¡­ E¡­R¡­D¡­ Something like that. What is ERD? Not EDR. I was confused for a moment and Vice Chairman Ahn¡¯s worry poured out again. ¡°Oh, look at him. Are you really okay? Don¡¯t you need to rest more?¡± I shook my head hastily. ¡°No, I was just thinking about the schedule for a moment¡­ I¡¯ll try to make it more flexible next time. Thank you for your concern.¡± Let¡¯s deal with the situation first. I coaxed and calmed Vice Chairman Ahn and sent him away. Then I sighed and rubbed my forehead. ¡°Let¡¯s stop by the dorm for a bit and then go to the recording studio.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get the car ready.¡± I had a mountain of work to do. I didn¡¯t have time to waste on unnecessary worries. I couldn¡¯t say I waste for the behind-the-scenes filming because I was sick. The filming probably hadn¡¯t started yet. ¡®No way. That¡¯s all content.¡¯ I had to shoot a lot so I could pick out more funny scenes from it. I hurried to the dorm, grabbed the materials, and headed to the studio. Knock knock. I lightly tapped on the recording studio door and went inside. Huh? Contrary to what I had expected, that the recording would be in full swing, the lights were off. ¡®What the hell?¡¯ Wasn¡¯t today the day we were supposed to record here? I looked around in confusion, when suddenly, pop, the ceiling lights came on. ¡°Surprise!¡± ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Woah~.¡± And at the same time, seven people who were hiding behind various studio equipment jumped out. ¡°What is this?¡± I stared at them with a bewildered expression, as Seon-woo winked at me with a cake in his hand, as if he was trying to convey something without saying a word. On top of the cake, a number ¡®5¡¯ candle was lit and shining cutely. ¡°Happy 5th anniversary of Climax¡¯s debut!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Today was the 5th anniversary of Climax¡¯s debut? I had already countedst year as the 5th year, but I didn¡¯t know that today was the exact day we debuted. Yu-geon, who was wearing a cone hat and paper sses, even though he wasn¡¯t the anniversary group member, set off some fireworks. Next to him, Yi-jun, who looked the same, blew a whistle that made a sound, and his soul seemed to have flown away. ¡°Ah, today was the 5th anniversary.¡± Then, Kyunghwa answered with a snicker. ¡°It was supposed to be tomorrow, but since we all got together today, and we¡¯re filming the behind-the-scenes, I thought it would be nice to celebrate.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been working too hardtely, so I thought you could use some sugar. It¡¯s good to work hard, but take it easy sometimes.¡± Ah. That¡¯s when I noticed the camera behind us that was filming us. I couldn¡¯t say that I had been to the hospital on the video that would be released to the public. It seemed like they had prepared some kind of cheer for me. He had copsed and fallen asleep almost fainting yesterday, but when did he think of this? I chuckled and replied. ¡°Yeah. You guys did a great job. Thank you to the Swifts for congratting us too. Let¡¯s try to keep going together for the 6th and 7th anniversary and beyond.¡± I unwittingly spoke like a representative, and I covered my mouth with my hand, feeling embarrassed. And at the same time, we all burst intoughter. ¡°What was that? A lecture from the principal?¡± ¡°Teacher, please end the school year ceremony quickly.¡± As they joked around, Yi-jun threw out a serious question. ¡°We signed a 5-year contract extension, right? For the next 5 years, we¡¯re all ves to I-se. How many years are you a ve, hyung?¡± Hwijin, who was carefully tearing the wrapper of the knife to cut the cake, coughed violently as the arrow suddenly turned to him. ¡°Cough, inhale, cough.¡± As Hwijin calmed his cough, Yu-geon answered nonchntly. ¡°I¡¯m 3 years. Naru, you¡¯re 3 years too, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Me too.¡± They both preferred shorter contracts, and they didn¡¯t know how the future issues would turn out, so they chose a shorter period than the usual contract. Of course, there was a use that said that if there was no separate termination reason during the first period, it would automatically extend for 3 years. So, on the surface, it was 3 years, but in reality, it was 6 years. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m 5 years.¡± Hwijin unwittingly blurted out his contract details and looked at me with a startled expression. ¡°Ah. This is confidential, right?¡± He had already said it all in front of the camera, and what was ¡®this is confidential, right?¡¯ If I was a strict and evil boss, I would have penalized them all for viting the confidentiality use. Iughed incredulously. ¡°You guys are so friendly, viting the confidentiality use in front of the camera. It makes meugh at your unique friendship.¡± As Iughed without a soul, Seon-woo became thoughtful. ¡°Ah, really? Are we all at fault? Aren¡¯t we going to get scolded by I-se hyung for that?¡± I answered by stroking Seon-woo¡¯s head instead of answering. ¡°Just know that you all failed to be executives.¡± These bastards, really. They messed up the recording too. We started the recording work seriously, along with some yful jokes. Thanks to the veterans who had years of experience, the only sound that echoed in the quiet studio was Yi-jun¡¯s directing. ¡°Can you try to put a little more force there? Like you¡¯re scratching your throat. Ah, yes. Good.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try to raise the tone a little more.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s perfect. I¡¯ll y it for you, so you can check if it¡¯s okay.¡± This time, too, Kyunghwa took 1.5 times longer than the others, and he looked full ofints, but he didn¡¯t say anything and shut his mouth. While Yi-jun was recording each member, the rest of them filled out the questionnaire I had writtenst night. As I nced at the early questions, Iughed at how they didn¡¯t differ much from what I expected. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± Seong-won looked at me curiously and asked. I didn¡¯t need to lie, so I answered honestly. ¡°Just. It seems like I got the same thing as you.¡± Seong-won raised his eyebrows. ¡°Me?¡± It wasn¡¯t just him. The others were the same. Seong-won seemed embarrassed and covered the ISTJ on his result sheet. But I felt strangely annoyed. He and I had the same personality? No way. This was pseudoscience. I quickly changed what I had said before. As for Yi-jun and Yu-geon¡­ I couldn¡¯t even imagine them being anything other than ENTP. Kyunghwa was ISFJ, Seon-woo was INFP, and Naru was ESFP. And Hwijin, the eldest son of Flos, was also ISFJ like Kyunghwa. How could there be so many attention-seekers with E among eight people? I swallowed my rude impression and nced at the camera. The filming was going well¡­ Should I suggest ying a simple game after finishing the survey? Just then, Yu-geon suddenly asked. ¡°Oh, right. Do you know what¡¯s trending these days?¡± I knew what he meant by that. As I fiddled with the survey sheet with the tip of my pen, I looked at Yu-geon and he smiled slyly. Chapter 231: Chapter 231: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 231 Doubt ¡°It¡¯s about the peri leaf debate. When I¡¯m eating with my girlfriend and my friend, can my girlfriend peel off the peri leaf for my friend? Is that okay or not? This thing.¡± What¡¯s a peri leaf? I asked as if I didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Just peel it off for them.¡± What¡¯s the problem with that? I frowned and Yi-junughed next to me. ¡°Oh, peri leaf is fine, no problem?¡± I still didn¡¯t get it and asked again.¡°What¡¯s the problem with peeling off the peri leaf?¡± Is peri leaf some kind of ng that I don¡¯t know? I really had no clue. ¡°Well, you know¡­ usually you don¡¯t like it, right? When your girlfriend pays attention to someone else in front of you?¡± Is that what it was? I still looked unconvinced and answered. ¡°But people have to eat to live. If you¡¯re worried about something like an indirect kiss, just use a new chopstick.¡± Then Naru snapped at me incredulously. ¡°Isn¡¯t that worse? Why do you have to care so much?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s hygienic, but it might look like you¡¯re picking on them?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the fault in hygiene?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that too harsh?¡± Then Yi-jun threw another topic. ¡°Then, are you okay with peeling shrimp for them?¡± It felt like the situation was turning into a 6:1 interrogation. The eyes of the other guys, except for Kyunghwa who was resting after finishing the recording, were on me. ¡°Why do you peel shrimp for them?¡± ¡°Just imagine it. I went to a shrimp barbecue ce with my girlfriend and my friend. But my girlfriend peeled shrimp for my friend. Are you okay with that?¡± What¡¯s that? I narrowed my eyes and answered. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just not eat together? Or do you have to eat shrimp? Just eat your own te.¡± It was amazing that this could be a topic and a concern. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s no fun. I made up the situation to make you think a little.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I trailed off without feeling the need to think deeper, and Seon-woo answered instead. ¡°I¡¯m fine with peri leaf, but¡­ shrimp is a bit¡­¡± ¡°Ooh.¡± The youngest¡¯s confident remark drew the attention of five older brothers and one younger brother. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between them?¡± ¡°Peri leaf is just a matter of touching it with chopsticks, but shrimp requires hands and it¡¯s annoying and stuff?¡± ¡°Yeah, shrimp is more like¡­ why bother? And it¡¯s cumbersome.¡± They chatted among themselves and then Hwijin suddenly spoke the truth. ¡°But¡­ if it was a rtionship that would cheat because of showing kindness while eating¡­ it wouldn¡¯t matter what they ate. I think it doesn¡¯t matter anyway.¡± That¡¯s right. If they had chemistry because of that, I would have been invisible anyway. Time flew by as we chatted. It was time to stop the nonsense and finish the recording. ¡°That¡¯s true. But still, it¡¯s annoying to be misunderstood, so let¡¯s all take two peri leaves and peel them ourselves, and peel the shrimp with our own hands. The end!¡± I snapped my fingers as if to ask for the questionnaire I had written, and collected it. I felt like I had gotten enough content while chatting. I also felt better after getting an IV while sleeping unintentionally. I thought I would finish the coboration tonight and send the promotional portfolio to thepany that looked promising. I should go to bed around 2 o¡¯clock. As I was thinking, Seong-won looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. ¡®What¡­ did I say something that hurt his feelings?¡¯ I wondered and asked Seong-won. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?¡± Thud, thud, I rolled up the questionnaire in my hand and hit it against the wall to align the center, and Seong-won opened his mouth with a dissatisfied face. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re pushing yourself too hard.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Who else besides you?¡± I shrugged and pointed to Yi-jun, who was busy directing. Seong-won scowled. ¡®He hates him that much¡­¡¯ ¡°He¡¯s different from you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s different?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t copse and you did¡­¡± Seong-won was about to point out that I had been to the hospital, but he stopped when he saw that the camera was still on. ¡°Hey. It¡¯s just because I was sleepy. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take care of myself.¡± I patted Seong-won¡¯s shoulder lightly and took out theptop I had brought for work. If I finish the recording today and the mixing by the end of this week¡­ the release schedule for Holiday with Offbeat was also set. I had no time to rx as I had a live event nned for the day the first episode was released on the OTT tform. On top of that, there was the sd that was being made as a prototype. It was a self-inflicted disaster, as the kids these days would say. ¡®But I have to do well if I started.¡¯ I didn¡¯t intend to neglect any of them. I smiled at Seong-won, who was looking at me with a suspicious expression. ¡°Thanks for worrying about me. If you¡¯re concerned about me, just post a selfie on our official ount.¡± The other members and I had been posting selfies on our official SNS under the pretext ofmunication, getting Kyunghwa¡¯s confirmation along the way. Seon-woo and I, who were more cooperative, and Yi-jun, who often went up. Kyunghwa was also embarrassed, but he couldn¡¯t miss out on his own PR, so he diligently uploaded them. Seong-won had a lot of demand for selfies, as he was the first one to get a fan club. ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®Who¡¯s going to ask him to take a picture?¡¯ ¡®I hate it.¡¯ ¡®Me too.¡¯ ¡®Me too¡­¡¯ They all hated it as if they were putting a bell on a cat¡¯s neck, so there was never a selfie of Seong-won uploaded except for the group photos taken during the activities. It was so bad that sometimes questions like ¡°Does Seong-won hate selfies?¡± came in as quotes. Does he hate selfies? I don¡¯t know about that¡­ but I¡¯ve never seen him take one himself. He wasn¡¯t the type to avoid group photos, though¡­ It was a good thing. I took out my phone and handed it to Seong-won. ¡°Let¡¯s take a selfie while we¡¯re at it. You know the fans are sad that you don¡¯t post selfies, right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Seong-won came over to me with a nk expression, as if he agreed. There was no selfie stick, but luckily his arm was long. I switched the camera to selfie mode and pressed the button with our faces close together, and Seong-won¡¯s slightly annoyed and handsome face was captured on the screen. ¡°Are we done?¡± Seong-won tried to get away like a mudfish, but I quickly grabbed the back of his clothes and stopped him. ¡°Where are you going? We have to fill up four shots and upload them.¡± I took one shot of Seong-won alone, one of me alone, and one more of us together, and I was quite satisfied with the four shots. ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯ll edit and upload them.¡± Kyunghwa usually took care of sorting out the photos to post on SNS, but he was busy recording the back vocals in the recording studio. ¡®It came out well, so I guess I can just upload it.¡¯ Seong-won didn¡¯t say anything either, so he must have thought it came out well. I didn¡¯t care much and pressed the send button. And a littleter. As the recording ended and everyone shouted to disband, the camera for behind-the-scenes filming turned off and Kyunghwa screamed. ¡°What? Why?¡± Everyone was startled and looked at where Kyunghwa was, and Kyunghwa ran over to me in shock. ¡°When did you upload this?¡± What is this? I looked at Kyunghwa¡¯s phone and it was the two-shot of Seong-won and me that I uploaded earlier. ¡°Why? Did we take something that shouldn¡¯t go out?¡± ¡°Did Seong-won say it was okay to upload this?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± We didn¡¯t wear anything weird, and there was nothing in the background, either. I asked with a puzzled look and Kyunghwa frowned. ¡°I hate guys who don¡¯t have any desperation for selfies.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Yi-jun and Yu-geon turned their heads andughed as if they were going to choke. ¡°Would it be better to delete this?¡± Then Kyunghwa shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s already out there, and there¡¯s plenty left after saving it. What can we do?¡± At Kyunghwa¡¯s resigned reaction, I quickly checked the quoted status. [- Am I looking up from the ground right now?] [- If you¡¯re going to make that face, give it to me] [- If not taking selfies is a crime, ¡°life imprisonment¡±] [- Kyunghwa, take their phones away??????????] Most of them were filled with shock, horror, and teasing. There were some positivements in between, but they were also teasing. [- There¡¯s nothing to say about guys who have no desperation for selfies] [- You should have gotten the boss¡¯s confirmation before uploading, but you¡¯re the boss??????] [- For the finale, Kyunghwa should film a selfie ss special and the views will explode and we¡¯ll be happy too] Oh¡­ this is a good idea. I pressed it hard and copied the content, and Kyunghwa looked at me with a bit of contempt. ¡°Are you saving that in the meantime?¡± ¡°No, the idea is good.¡± As we finished cleaning up the studio, exchanging yful banter, we saw snowkes falling from the sky. ¡°Ugh¡­ I wish it would warm up soon.¡± Kyung-hwa muttered as he got into the van first. We split up into our groups and headed home. Everyone was exhausted from the long recording session, except for Seon-woo and Naru, who looked up at the sky with sparkling eyes. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be busier if it got warmer?¡± Especially in spring, when the events and festivals that had been on hold during winter would start. Last year, we barely got any invitations, but this year was different. We had sent our portfolio to event agencies, and we couldn¡¯t expect the same asst year. ¡°I¡¯d rather have it not cold, at least.¡± Kyung-hwa snuggled his face into the shoulder cushion that the fans had given him, making a smug sound. I snorted, feeling deted, and closed my eyes for a while on the way home. Did I sleep for about 15 minutes? After a short nap, I was overwhelmed by the pile of things I had to do at home. ¡®Let¡¯s finish them quickly and go to bed.¡¯ I was annoyed by the constant nagging of the guys who came out to the living room one by one, asking me when I was going to sleep, as if they were monitoring me. They all seemed worried that I might copse again. But I stubbornlypleted the tasks I had set for today. Tomorrow, I had to confirm the mix that Yi-jun had done¡­ prepare what to talk about on the live broadcast when the travel content was released¡­ and decide how much to spoil on the live broadcast¡­ As I sorted out these thoughts in my head, I suddenly felt strange. ¡®Why did I faint?¡¯ Was it because of pain? Fatigue? I didn¡¯t think it was that bad. Everyone around me was worried and told me to stop overworking. But that was only when I took too long to handle things because Icked skills. I was getting at least six hours of sleep every day, so I wasn¡¯t that overworked. Why then? I wondered, feeling puzzled, when my head started to hurt again. It felt like something wasing back to me¡­ or not. It was a weird feeling. That¡¯s when I felt something bubbling at my feet. ¡°Woof!¡± Pposili, who looked grumpier than usual, was looking up at me. Chapter 232: Chapter 232: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 232 Suspicion ¡°Whine-.¡± For some reason, Pposili whined and groaned more than usual. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?¡± I slipped my hand under his front leg and lifted his thick body with a thud. His heavy torso hugged me tightly in my arms. ¡°Whine-. Ouch, gurgle.¡± The moment Pposili made a sound I couldn¡¯t understand, my head started to hurt again, as if it was being pricked by needles.And then Pposili did something strange that he had never done before. ¡°Growl, woof-! Thud, gurgle-!¡± What¡¯s going on? Why is he acting like this? He hardly ever barked, except when he was excited. But now he suddenly bared his teeth and went wild. He jumped out of my arms with a thud, and I looked down at him with a dumbfounded expression, having lost my grip on him. ¡°Woof-! Snap, woof-!¡± I was startled for a moment. But as the headache subsided, Pposili returned to normal. I wondered if there was a ghost behind me or something. It was ridiculous, but I turned around anyway. Of course, there was no one else in the living room but me. ¡°Geez. Why did he do that all of a sudden?¡± It would have been a problem if he had done that to someone else, but I had no way of knowing why he acted like that. ¡°What¡¯s up with you? Are you tired too?¡± I gently stroked Pposili¡¯s head, who had calmed down, and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go to bed. I don¡¯t know if the system needs sleep or not¡­¡± I carried Pposili in my arms again and took him to my room. I usually didn¡¯t let him on my bed, but today he seemed off, so I thought it would be better to sleep with him. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep.¡± I made some room for Pposili to curl up next to the bed and covered him with a nket. He was fluffy and smelled good, even though he was a dog. ¡°Good night.¡± And as soon as I closed my eyes, I heard the birds chirping. Is it morning already? That¡¯s weird, I just blinked¡­ Was it because I overdid it yesterday? My throat was ticklish from the chilly morning temperature and the cold. ¡®My stamina seems to be improving¡­¡¯ But I couldn¡¯t rest. I had to eat well, but there wasn¡¯t much time left until Offbeat¡¯s debut song ¡®Between Us¡¯ was released. ¡®The MV shooting is next week.¡¯ What should I do? As I was worrying, I remembered the title effect. Was there a skill that could help me with my stamina? I checked the status window. [Avable Titles (16)] While Shim Naru was still missing, there was only one thing that caught my eye. [Name: Lee Ji-hyun ¨C Age 31] [Specialty] [Buff: ¨C No fatigue until the set goal is achieved (up to 72 hours) ¨C Use point 30pt] That¡¯s 300pt if it¡¯s 10 times. Lately, I didn¡¯t need to use points because I raised my stats to an average of A. 300pt wasn¡¯t too much to spend¡­ As I was pondering, a message popped up asking if I wanted to apply the chosen fate skill as a title. [Do you want to apply the selected fate skill as a title?] Lee Ji-hyun ¨C ¡®Unbreakable Battery¡¯ [300pt to be used] I felt like grabbing a straw right now, so 300pt seemed worth it. [Yes/No] Of course, ¡®yes¡¯. I nodded and pressed the yes button. The message shed and disappeared in an instant. My body felt refreshed in no time. ¡°Wow.¡± This is pretty good, isn¡¯t it? My face brightened up as I saw the applied title effect, but I was also disappointed. [Applied Title] [¡®Unbreakable Battery¡¯] [Half the fatigue during the application period] It wasn¡¯t that I couldn¡¯t feel any fatigue at all. Some fate skills might not maintain their performance, as they had warned me beforehand. This was the case with the first title I chose. ¡®But it¡¯s better than nothing.¡¯ The feeling of being chilly that I had a while ago was gone. Good. I have to get things done. I had a lot of work to do, so I had to keep my mind clear. I made a short resolution and went to the office before my afternoon schedule. ¡®They said I didn¡¯t have toe, but¡­ I have to be able to trust and leave it to them.¡¯ Of course, the staff were mostly well-chosen and did their jobs well, but I was originally the type who couldn¡¯t fully trust anyone. ¡®If I had to add more, I would say I¡¯m the type who can¡¯t stand still and watch when someone else does something that makes me furious.¡¯ I felt morefortable checking how things were going myself. As soon as I got to the office early in the morning to match the other employees¡¯ working hours, as expected. There was no major problem, but there were a lot of things that I could have done more neatly if I had done them myself. In the end, I checked the sales status report for two hours and then came out with the final version of the concept poster and the MV script for the release tonight. The MV direction was basically entrusted to a professional productionpany, but Hwijin¡¯s ideas were heavily involved. He had participated in it even when he was active as Floss, and he definitely had a good sense. ¡®So far, everything is going well without any problems.¡¯ Now all that was left was to wait quietly and see how the fans would react when the things we had prepared hard were released. ¡®I hope you like it as much as we worked hard.¡¯ From Floss¡¯s disbandment to Offbeat¡¯s formation. There had been so much going on that I honestly couldn¡¯t gauge how much sess we could achieve. Three of the Floss members who had set new records in a row after the chart reform were in it, but¡­ The chart was basically a poprity contest. Unless the fandom was really overwhelminglyrge, it was almost a miracle for a male idol to rank high on the music chart. The reason why Climax¡¯sst single was able tost long and make a hit on the chart wasrgely thanks to the sympathy of the public. They work so hard, they do so well, but they still haven¡¯t made it. People who listened out of curiosity and trend gathered and somehow seeded in a reverse run(?). It was nothing but a fluke. It was not desirable to hope for the same luck this time. ¡®So I clenched my teeth and prepared to suit the public taste.¡¯ The reason why I deliberately chose a concept that was good to y as background music in multi-use facilities was also because of this. A moderately exciting beat. Bright and cheerful lyrics. A visual that was not burdensome and that even non-fans could think of as ¡®exciting¡¯. We prepared everything, so all that was left was to float the water and rain. If the other employees or members heard it, they would treat it as a joke, but it was a serious statement. ¡®How important is luck.¡¯ How much do you suffer if you don¡¯t have the luck that follows your time and era. Didn¡¯t Climax¡¯sst five years prove that? I didn¡¯t believe in religion, but I always prayed for luck to follow me in thest step after doing my best. Some said that the reason why Jo Young Food did so well was because of the child sponsorship business that started as soon as thepany settled down. Well¡­ That doesn¡¯t mean I did good deeds hoping for something toe back. Composition was also nning to follow the same steps afterpletely separating from W, but it was still a distant future. ¡®Anyway. I hope it goes well for everyone who works hard.¡¯ With a short breeze and a blink of an eye, the release day of Holiday with Offbeat came. ¡°Last but not least, please check once more. If you need to go to the bathroom, please go now!¡± The staff ran around busily, checking the audio and makeup of each member. It was hard to find a ce where eight people coulde out at once, so we gathered at a party room near thepany. It was supposed to amodate more than 15 people, but it was quite cramped. ¡®I thought it would be bigger.¡¯ When I visited the site, I considered moving to another ce, but I decided to keep it as it was because the interior matched well with the concept poster that was released yesterday. ¡°Okay, if you¡¯re ready, please sit in your seats.¡± The staff in charge of the camera operation for the live broadcast stood in the middle and adjusted the distance between the members¡¯ chairs and started the countdown. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll open in a minute.¡± Behind the screen, arge screen was installed so that we could read the chat that wasing up in real time. Usually, they would check it on the spot with their phones or something, but they wanted to give an image of being professional and neat. ¡°5, 4, 3¡­¡± Everyone was looking at the camera, waiting for the start, and my chest was throbbing. ¡°2¡­ 1!¡± As soon as the countdown ended, the chat started to flood in. ¡°Huh.¡± Seon-woo gasped reflexively at the number of participants and the speed of the chat that he had never experienced before. ¡°Ahaha.¡± ¡°What are you so surprised about?¡± Breaking the frozen atmosphere by Seon-woo¡¯s unintentional reaction, everyone shouted out the greetings they had prepared. ¡°Two, three, Game start!¡± ¡°Hello, we are Offbeat!¡± How much did we think about this toe up with it? Both Climax and Floss had activity names that were basically rted to ¡®speed¡¯, so we wanted to keep a simr vibe. But we couldn¡¯t follow one side too much, and we wanted to give meaning to the number eight, so there was a limit to the ideas we coulde up with. ¡®8¡­? What can you get from 8?¡¯ ¡®Eight lines?¡¯ ¡®Octopus sd?¡¯ ¡®If you want to say hello, we are octopus sd, go ahead and try it.¡¯ I was feeling frustrated because I couldn¡¯te up with a good idea, when I started fiddling with the weird-looking sunsses that Yu-geon had received as a gift from his fans. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Oh, this. 8-bit sunsses.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°But the bit is not the beat, you know?¡± That¡¯s how I came up with the idea of Off-bits, abination of Off beat, meaning out of sync, and 8bits, a reference to retro games. I also added a game concept inspired by 8-bit graphics, from the opening concept of Holiday with Off-bits to the use of game images. I even put Game start in the greeting to evoke the image more strongly. ¡°I hope they like it.¡± As I checked the chat that was popping up, I could see that some fans understood the connection. [- game? oh i see it¡¯s 8bit!] [- yaaaaaaay I love it] [- Love from Thand~] [- Wow, their faces are amazing] [- Aww, look at them sitting together ????] [- imaoo so cute] [- my adorable boys <3<3<3] [- yes it¡¯s game] [- Ah, so cute ?????] Why is there so much English? I mean, I knew there would be more Englishments and chats as Climax gained poprity, but this was the first time I saw this many. Unlike thest live broadcast that I turned on without any notice, expecting Swift members to show up, this one was announced in advance on the official ount, so there were a lot of Swift fans. ¡°I hope this doesn¡¯t discourage our kids.¡± I smiled broadly and nced around. Everyone seemed surprised by the difference in the proportion of Korean, but they didn¡¯t look too down. ¡°This is the first time we¡¯re officially greeting you as Off-bits. How about we start with a brief introduction?¡± I kept smiling at the camera and continued with the show. Chapter 233: Chapter 233: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 233 Seeping In ¡°The reason why we¡¯re doing this live today is, we wanted to share our stories from our trip as Offbeat! We went on a trip to bond as a group! You all saw the concept poster that was released yesterday, right?¡± Hwijin smoothly took over the progress as he had practiced with the script beforehand. ¡°We¡¯ve known each other for a long time as seniors and juniors in the same agency, but we haven¡¯t really worked together much, right?¡± ¡°Right, because our schedules were different and we missed each other a bit?¡± ¡°Yeah, so this time we prepared a short trip for a team-building event. We wanted to share our memories with our fans, and luckily we got a chance to do so as a coboration content with SeeYa.¡± Since it was a live broadcast, we could only exin it verbally for now, but when the video was uploadedter, it would have a nice promotional banner at the bottom.¡°You can watch our hrious travelogue at 6 p.m. on SeeYa and Offbeat¡¯s YouTube channel. You can also watch it three weeks early on SeeYa as a preview service! Please show us a lot of interest.¡± ¡°Many thanks~¡± Pwoo, Yi-jun blew a long pipe that he got from somewhere, and Naru made a disgusted expression. ¡°That just sounded like an old man who learned a trendy word for the first time.¡± ¡°Is that so? I¡¯m still young, you know? Aren¡¯t I on the younger side if you average out Offbeat?¡± As the conversation went off track with nonsense, Hwijin stepped in and brought it back to the center. ¡°Anyway, we had a lot of fun and came back safely. We have a simple event for our fans, where we¡¯ll send you prizes by lottery. Can you guess what we prepared?¡± Then, various chats started to pour in at the same time. There were all kinds of guesses, from postcards to photos, photocards, proids, etc., but there was only one correct chat. [- souvenir!] That was the answer. Of course, we also picked out some selfies andndscape photos, proids, etc. separately. We didn¡¯t n to use them as prizes. Maybe we¡¯ll use themter when we make photocards or do some coboration events. From my perspective, it was still¡­ hard to understand how they could be so passionate about this tiny picture. But if I didn¡¯t understand, I could memorize it. It was a grateful thing that there were many people who wanted to collect things rted to me with passion. ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right! Aren¡¯t you curious what each of our eight members chose as souvenirs?¡± Yu-geon proceeded with the souvenir reveal as he had written the script beforehand, exchanging witty remarks with Yi-jun. ¡°Actually, we kept it a secret from each other about what we bought.¡± ¡°But I think I know what Ise and Seon-woo bought.¡± ¡°What?¡± I was quietly listening to them exchange their prepared lines in the middle, when Yi-jun suddenly cut in and my ears twitched. ¡°What do you think I bought?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but something edible?¡± ¡°Ah~.¡± Everyone nodded their heads naturally, and the staff who were helping with the filming all burst intoughter. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± I asked with a fake smile, as if to protest, and the staff asked back. ¡°So, did you buy food as a souvenir, or not?¡± ¡°¡­¡± I didn¡¯t really feel bad. Half of it was food, after all. ¡°Well, yes¡­¡± ¡°Me too¡­¡± Seon-woo nodded his head slightly next to me, and the situation became even more ridiculous. The speed of the chats increased, and I was d that we made our fansugh. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the souvenir reveal from that end.¡± Did I look like someone who was so serious about eating? I mean, it was true, but I felt embarrassed when I realized it and my face turned hot. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re famous for being a good cook, but no one would think you bought anything other than food.¡± ¡°Is that a constion? It sounds like you¡¯re hitting me again?¡± With Kyunghwa¡¯s reasonable remark, we started to reveal our souvenirs from Seon-woo¡¯s direction. ¡°I bought snacks from Okinawa. They¡¯re like donuts¡­ how should I say it, fried doughnuts? They have a crispy texture with sugar on them. They have a long shelf life and they¡¯re really delicious!¡± When we stopped by the souvenir shop in Okinawa, he was looking closely at all kinds of snacks. He bought a lot of them, more than enough for himself. ¡°I thought it would be a waste to just throw them away after eating them¡­! So I signed the packaging like this! Please don¡¯t save them too much and eat them while they¡¯re delicious.¡± He seemed to have put some thought into sending food as a souvenir, as he diligently signed the packaging with the marker he borrowed from me. I appreciated his intention, but that meant the fan had to keep the signed packaging even after eating it, right? I felt like pointing it out, but everyone kept their mouths shut. They didn¡¯t want to criticize Seon-woo¡¯s sincere effort. ¡°Okay, then, shall we see what Seong-won has prepared?¡± Seong-won carefully took out a small souvenir, which was a candle. It looked like something he bought from the street where they sold music boxes and various crafts in Otaru. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s pretty.¡± Inside the transparent candle, a white snowstorm was swirling, and below it, there was a delicate miniature of a canal. ¡°What is this scent?¡± ¡°Orange andvender.¡± We all sniffed the wrapped packages one by one, like some kind of sniffer dogs. ¡°This must look hrious. Eight of us taking turns smelling the packages without opening them.¡± It was the same thing they pointed out in the chat, but well, the picture itself wasn¡¯t bad. The gifts we revealed in order showed each of our personalities and made usugh. Ye-jun got a key ring. Yu-geon got a music box. How did he be the type to pick such delicate things? I was surprised, but as soon as he opened the gift box, I nodded in agreement. It was a music box shaped like a sushi conveyor belt, something he had been on several broadcasts before. ¡®Someone actually bought that.¡¯ I was amazed, but I didn¡¯t say it out loud. He looked happy anyway. It wasn¡¯t like hecked money. I chose something rtively practical¡­ a premium salt set. It was a product that contained edible salt and bath salt in cute jars that could be used as seasoning containers after they were emptied. I briefly considered buying a cookie set, but I thought it would be useless if the recipient didn¡¯t like sweets, and it would be a pity if nothing was left after eating. So I chose a product that could be recycled even after it was empty. ¡®I didn¡¯t know this would look like an old person¡¯s taste.¡¯ They allughed as soon as they saw it, and I felt my ears burn. After that, it was Hwi-jin¡¯s turn, who got a stuffed mascot from the aquarium, Kyunghwa, who got a disposable film camera that he took pictures of the scenery with, and Naru, who got a ceramic craft. As we each told the stories and reasons behind our purchases, more than 30 minutes had passed. ¡°That¡¯s all the time we have prepared. You can watch our travelogue on ¡®See Ya¡¯ from 6 o¡¯clock!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be releasing one episode every week for the next eight weeks, so please stay with us until thest episode!¡± We ended the broadcast with a bright smile and a greeting, and we all rxed as if the power had been cut off. ¡°Good job, everyone!¡± ¡°Thank you~.¡± ¡°Can I have some water, please?¡± It was only three more people, but why was it so chaotic? It felt more exhausting than the day of the trip. ¡°Let¡¯s go home and rest, everyone.¡± We had to save up our energy for tomorrow, as we had a music video shoot and a photo shoot scheduled. ¡°Yes, thank you, everyone.¡± We sent off the Swift members first and were about to leave when Kyunghwa looked at his phone screen. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± ¡°Oh. Just checking our live reaction.¡± I peeked at the screen with Kyunghwa, and the fans¡¯ reactions were all praises. There were already posts with the event participation hashtag, even though the content hadn¡¯t been released yet. ¡°I¡¯m d they like it.¡± For now¡­ I don¡¯t have to worry too much. I let out a short sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Yu-geon¡¯s fans, who received a huge shock and relief at the same time from the surprise joint live broadcast of three former members of Climax and Floss, were staring at the screen with a gloomy mood, like unwanted guests at a portrait gallery. Crazy bastard. How can he have fun after dropping a nuclear bomb on us? Is he happy because he joined Composition? Yu-geon¡¯s charm was that he debuted with an aggro act of smiling and scratching people¡¯s clothes, but it was painful when the clothes being torn were his own. ¡®Well¡­ let¡¯s just watch the first episode.¡¯ If Yu-geon¡¯s part is low, I¡¯ll just quit. I made a firm resolution and waited for 6 o¡¯clock, when the pre-released tag on the preview page changed from to . ¡®It¡¯s out!¡¯ Yu-geon looked happy to have switched, but the public ount was only saying nice things. They weren¡¯t ready to ept the five members of Climax yet. They had been unhappy with Climax every time there was a minor friction between them. ¡®Don¡¯t you dare discriminate against the new member.¡¯ I won¡¯t let it go. I was ready to send a longint email to Composition¡¯s customer service as I pressed y on the first episode, and a mini-game start screen-like opening began. It started with a cute 8-bit game start screen-like production, and then it switched to a si-like scene where the members were running around with their handsome faces. ¡®The production is good.¡¯ I wondered if they spent a lot of money or if someone worked hard in the nning stage. It looked much more fun than the Floss self-content made by W that was released before. I still felt resentful as the screen went ck for a moment and then switched to Yu-geon¡¯s self-cam. [5:30 a.m.] [Getting up slowly] [~Let¡¯s enjoy his handsome face for a while~] Yu-geon got out of bed in his pajamas, with a sleepy expression on his face, and washed his face with his upper body exposed. The camera, which seemed to be installed by himself, showed a perfect angle, and the viewer chat went crazy. [- OMG LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL] [- I was watching it on the TV in the living room, but I quickly switched to mobile mode.] [- I thought it was a wholesome travelogue, but who knew it would be such a stimting content?] [- I thought Mr. Cheon was a nice person, but look at his fierceness;;] [- The boss clenched his teeth;] [- For 30 seconds, he kept repeating the word ¡®crazy¡¯ in a low voice.] [- How can I not keep watching when you show me something like this from the first episode?] This is crazy. Yu Geon, who agreed to do this. And the nning team, who asked him to do this. They were out of their minds. Of course, I don¡¯t hate it. ¡®I have to keep watching this for real.¡¯ The start was a pass. The first episode began with such a captivating scene. Chapter 234: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 234 If You Are Happy After a quick wash and changing into his outdoor clothes, Yu-geon soon packed his luggage and headed to Hwijin¡¯s house. The way there was all edited out, so I didn¡¯t know which apartment he lived in, but the interior design was made of the same material, so it seemed like they lived in the sameplex. ¡®He must live close to Hwijin. They both moved out of their dorms, so they must be living on their own.¡¯ As I watched Yu-geon¡¯s whereabouts diligently through the clip videos, I soon saw him join Naru and head to the airport. And then a game transition screen-like caption appeared. [Meanwhile, at the Climax dorm-.]I don¡¯t care. I almost pressed the +10 seconds button, but I never knew when or where a TMI about Yu-geon would pop up. I suppressed the urge to skip and watched as one of the older members of Climax, the brown-haired one, got up from the darkness and checked the clock. [5 o¡¯clock] [rm time 30 minutes before] He buried his head back into the pillow and tried to sleep, but the sleep that had already escaped didn¡¯t seem toe back, so he walked out to the living room. [What? You¡¯re up too?] As he came out to the living room, the leader of Climax was sitting on the sofa, looking at hisptop. [Old people who lose their morning sleep] [Booting] While the Climax leader was busy tapping on hisptop in the morning, Kyunghwa sat next to him, hugging a strangely shaped deer doll. I could just skip this, right? I thought, but then. [Woof-!] A puppy with a tail like a duster ran up to Kyunghwa. ¡®Wow. So cute!¡¯ There was no way around it. I was mesmerized and repeated capturing and recording videos, and a 15-second short clip was made. ¡®Puppies are cheating.¡¯ Soon, a staff member arrived to take care of the puppy and the cat while the members were away, and a spotted cat came out to the living room. ¡®No way, this is really cute.¡¯ The cat was rtively fearless, or maybe it was close to the staff, but it rubbed its chin on the staff¡¯s hand, and it was adorably cinematic. [Oh, my furballs, what are you going to do without your butlers for almost a week?] The loudest one cooed and stroked their heads, mixing in some whining, but the furballs were distracted by the snacks in the staff¡¯s hand. [Capitalist furballs] I was hooked by the furballs and watched nkly until the scene where Climax joined the airport. ¡®From now on, I¡¯ll really focus on the part where my guyes out.¡¯ I tensed up and focused on the next screen, and as soon as Kyunghwa got out of the car, the camera zoomed out and the screen turned ck and white. [Cause you are my boy~] The familiar drama OST yed along with the darkening screen and the production support logo popped up. [When you want to feel the quality of coffee -Weclick Coffee-] [This is really production support.] [We love you Weclick Coffee] [PPL wee] I wondered why they suddenly nted a g there. But soon, Kyunghwa left his small bag with his passport in it and got off, and the scene became contemtive. [Ryu Kyunghwa(25)/The age when his memory is gradually fading] [Kyunghwa is only upset by his ridiculous mistake.] [Sigh¡­] [He opens his bag with a troubled mind. But unfortunately, he can¡¯t see his passport.] [Hyung, you told me to pack your passport] [Last night. He regretted scolding his clumsy brother harshly.] [Oh Yi-jun(23)/The age when he enjoys teasing his brother] [I¡¯ll look for it a little more.] The editing sense was good and the members were all close to each other, so the usual fun of the ¡®real friends tension¡¯, the core of the Climax sales posts that I used to nce at with dull eyes, was quite high. ¡®They do look really close.¡¯ I felt a bit jealous as soon as I thought that, and my head was immediately turned sideways. ¡®Whatever, they must have been close enough to endure the curse for five years.¡¯ I denied my liking for Climax and red at the screen, and in no time, 20 minutes had passed. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I watched all this.¡¯ How many episodes have been released? I checked the episode count and it was up to four. I¡¯ll just upload the clip I made to my ount and check out themunity situation¡­ I thought casually and went to Celebrity Talk, and most of the real-time rankings were upied by Holiday with Offbeat. [Real-time Hot Talk]
    1. You can tell the difference when you see real friends (+361)
    1. Where do you want to go the most in Japan? (+273)
    1. Wow, what the hell is this, Kang Yu-geon? (+335)
    1. Anyone saw the Offbeat jacket photos? (+219)
    1. (Sorry for the escape) I think my boyfriend has changed (+124)
    1. Yoo Dayoon¡¯s selfie today is legendary (+96)
    1. Offbeat really nailed the jacket photos (+112)
It was a frenzy everywhere with the content that was released as if it was going viral. ¡®It¡¯s really fun.¡¯ I had to admit that they did a good job. The members had good chemistry, and they mixed well without isting the former Floss members, and they yed with each other with consideration and without ulterior motives. ¡®¡­¡¯ I was still heartbroken that my solo debut was gone. But there was no fan who could keep hitting on the sight of their favorite looking happy. Yu-geon lookedfortable unlike when he filmed the variety show during his Floss activities. I realized it now. That Yu-geon was a person who could film with such ease. Then how much did he live on the edge of tension since he first appeared on My Idol stage until now? I didn¡¯t want to ept the fact that all the things I enjoyed so far were nothing but business. But now I had to admit it. ¡®Be happy, you Xbalom.¡¯ I had no choice but to wish him to be happy and active well since he went there. As the folder where I collected the clips was created with [Climax], the mouse was automatically dragged over the y button of the second episode. ¡®The reaction is¡­ not bad so far.¡¯ Was it because Climax was basically a jacket photo hotspot? Or was it because all the former Floss members joined in? I couldn¡¯t clearly divide the shares, but I felt good seeing that they swept the real-time post rankings in an hour of release. ¡®To be honest, what I was most worried about was¡­¡¯ It was that the content that I had provided for free until now was affiliated with a paid site for the first time, and it became a content that only fans could see and was shunned by the public. Until now, there were quite a lot of opinions that they were not fans but they liked to watch it while eating because it came up on YouTube regrly. I was honestly worried about how embarrassing it would be if the view number was poor with only pure fans left and the viewers gone. I¡¯m holding on with the investment money I got from Cheon Soo Group for now, but the operating cost that goes out every month was not negligible as I had 10 employees. I would have more confidence and certainty if I had done it several times. ¡®Entertainment business is mostly the first time for me¡­¡¯ I felt like I was testing my limits every time I challenged myself. Can I do this? Can I do this too? Now I felt heavy on my shoulders thinking that it was not just my livelihood that was at stake in this challenge. For the sake of the employees who trusted me, who seemed to be drunk on my own pride, sess was essential. ¡®I should start recruiting investors for Climax¡¯s solo jacket photos as soon as possible with the good reaction.¡¯ I proved that the sess so far was not a lucky fluke that I just threw out for free, so I had to keep rowing when the water came in. In the meantime, I repeated various attempts and minor failures, and big sesses. The release date of Offbeat¡¯s first single with eight members came closer. And on the day. Everyone gathered their phones with tense expressions. ¡°Do we have to do this?¡± ¡°I feel like a rookie and it¡¯s not bad.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to get hit sooner?¡± The opinions were divided, but in the end they agreed to follow what they had decided together. The reason why they were buzzing like this was none other than the chart. The music and music video were released at 6 p.m. The showcase was at 8 p.m. Since the first time it was counted on the chart was from 7 p.m., they could check the chart results before the showcase at 8 p.m. And the problem was that we were at risk of being affected by the chart results, whether they were good or bad. ¡®Floss never bounced out of the 20th ce.¡¯ It was the first ce in an hour in real time. The recent music was even in the top 10 of 24hits, and the music tform considered reorganizing because of the firepower. To get that level of numbers, it had to be not only Floss fans listening, but also the general public who would listen to Floss¡¯s new song once. ¡®I don¡¯t hope for that much¡­¡¯ But I was hoping that they would enter the top 50 with three of Floss¡¯s popr members. Whether the performance was unexpectedly better than that or worse, it was the same to shake the mental. They decided to put their phones away until the stage and showcase were over so that they wouldn¡¯t be conscious of it as much as possible. Yi-jun and Yu-geon protested, saying, ¡®What is this modern way?¡¯ but they agreed to the purpose. They couldn¡¯t help it. They could do other things well! But they knew that it wouldn¡¯t work normally. ¡®Especially Kyunghwa, Seon-woo, Naru¡­¡¯ They were all somewhat weak-minded. No, Seon-woo and Naru were more than just weak, they were soft tofu. Kyunghwa was the kind of tofu that pretended to be firm, but copsed at the end. Anyway, this was the best way to prevent them from causing trouble on stage. As a result of trying hard not to care about the music chart performance and focusing on the rehearsal and showcase preparation, it was almost 8 o¡¯clock. ¡°Alright, stand by your positions and check your conditions.¡± While everyone was busy running around for thest rehearsal, Yu-geon looked unusually nervous and clenched his fists. ¡°What are you doing? We have to rehearse.¡± We had already done the dry rehearsal. It was only the camera rehearsal left. It was not the time to lose focus. The next time, we would have to show our best on the stage that we prepared in a short period of time. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Yu-geon shook his head as if he was distracted for a moment and walked towards the marked spot on the floor. ¡®Why is he like this again?¡¯ He wasn¡¯t this conscious during the dry rehearsal. I felt a sudden anxiety and followed Yu-geon to ask him. ¡°Do you want to cancel the father thing now? It¡¯s not toote. We haven¡¯t sent any materials to the reporters yet.¡± The reason why Yu-geon was so tense was obvious. He had decided to announce the father thing at the press showcase today, instead of releasing it as a behind-the-scenes video with proper editing as nned. It wasn¡¯t my suggestion. It was Yu-geon who proposed it first, saying that it would be better for the buzz. I looked at Yu-geon with a strange uneasiness, who seemed anxious. Chapter 235: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 235 A Series of Choices I decided to reveal Yu-geon¡¯s family history at the showcase. It would be easy to make headlines if I did that, but I didn¡¯t want to exploit the members¡¯ personal lives like that. It would be better to reveal it someday for Yu-geon¡¯s future activities, but there was a big difference between saying it in front of dozens of cameras shing and releasing it after thepany¡¯s editing. ¡®And the former would be more sensational.¡¯ I was grateful that Yu-geon offered to do it willingly, but I didn¡¯t want to see him so anxious. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡±Yu-geon said after a moment, taking a deep breath and pushing me away with a calm expression. ¡°We have to rehearse. Let¡¯s get to our seats quickly.¡± I still felt uneasy, but I stood in my ce since he said he was fine. Fortunately, the rehearsal was perfect and there was nothing more to fix. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ As I came down from the stage and headed back to the waiting room for the official opening of the showcase, I noticed a small Naru among the hyungs, who was half a head shorter than them. ¡°¡­¡± He was usuallyining non-stop about this and that, but today he looked unusually quiet. ¡°Are you feeling unwell?¡± Could it be him too? As I approached him with no ill intention, Naru red at me with his eyes at 10:10. ¡°No, I¡¯m not!¡± He should either speak formally or informally. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at his absurdity, and Naru opened his mouth again with vigor. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the live performance will be perfect today.¡± Was he still upset about the sound error he made at Bobbyam? It was only a minor mistake. He had been tormenting the vocal instructor who came part-time, so he deserved some reward. I snickered and headed to the stage to check on the MC for thest time. ¡°Hello, I greeted you earlier, but we¡¯re about to start soon.¡± As I approached the MC who was busy confirming the schedule with the director, he greeted me warmly with a bright smile. ¡°Ah, hello! I was too busy earlier to greet you properly. I¡¯ve been wanting to meet you for a while, and I¡¯m d I have this opportunity! Why don¡¯t youe to our channel too?¡± The cheerful MC asked for a handshake, and I lightly shook his hand and let go, making a witty joke. ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll go if you invite me. If you invite us this time, we¡¯ll bring all eight of us. Just contact us.¡± I meant it. The MC we hired for the showcase today was a multi-entertainer who was active in various fields in the entertainment industry. He was a huge sess as a singer, of course. He had to stop his activities for a while due to a vocal cord problem, but then he suddenlyunched a solo show program and became a hot topic. ¡®He probably didn¡¯t expect his show to be such a hit.¡¯ With his candid speech, gag sense, and thorough preparation, he established himself as a next-generation MC, and he had a lot of influence in the idol market that was dominated by female consumers. We also wished that we could get Yeonjeong unnie to host our show, and our fans expressed their opinions at a fervent level, so we paid more and brought him over than other MCs. We were willing to appear on his ongoing program ¡®Yeonjeong Unnie¡¯s Issue Time¡¯ if he invited us. ¡®But how can we go if he doesn¡¯t invite us?¡¯ Iughed and threw a straight pitch, saying please invite us, and Yeonjeong hit it back with a witty and yful expression. ¡°Oh, really? Then, if we contact you separately, will you appear on our show? Is it okay to make a sudden promise like this, CEO?¡± What a regretful remark. We had to cancel everything except the music show schedule if he invited us. It was a rare opportunity to appear on a show that had a fixed audience that ovepped with our target group. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s okay. When is your schedule okay? We¡¯ll try to clear everything except Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.¡± ¡°Oh, so sudden? Haha, okay. I¡¯ll check the schedule with my team tomorrow and contact you right away.¡± See? He didn¡¯t say when he was free right away. But at least he confirmed his positive intention to appear, so that was good. I pulled up the corners of my mouth and smiled, taking a step back. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡± ¡°Oh, no, thank you. Thank you for inviting me today and I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± As I finished the short greeting and turned to leave, Yeonjeong shouted at me. ¡°Right! Congrattions on the chart!¡± And then he moved away without asking anything more. ¡®What? What is he congratting me for? What happened?¡¯ I wanted to ask my manager to check my phone right away at the unexpected congrattions, but I couldn¡¯t say anything since I was the one who suggested this group endurance of pain. ¡®I can¡¯t help it. Let¡¯s endure.¡¯ At least the chart wasn¡¯t terrible, so maybe he congratted me for that. I didn¡¯t have to worry about a flop since it was confirmed that we weren¡¯t charted out. ¡®But this time, it wasn¡¯t the time to worry about being charted out.¡¯ We had grasped the mass appeal, and it was the fastest follow-up debut song among the Floss members. It was the best time to create a buzz. But if we charted out after grabbing that opportunity, it would mean we had made no progress since Drink me, or even regressed! As I agonized over it, spinning my head around, time didn¡¯t leave me alone to wallow in misery. It was almost time for the reporters to enter. I lowered the screen in front of me and yed the standby video I had prepared. It created a kitschy atmosphere that felt like watching a movie from the 2010s, typical of high-teen. I barelyposed myself and led the members. ¡°Let¡¯s go up.¡± We climbed up to the stage behind the screen as nned and took our positions. Soon, the reporters started toe in from the entrance on the opposite side of the stage. The showcase finally began. Yeonjeong, who was in charge of the hosting, sat on the MC seat in front of the screen and announced the start. ¡°Hello! Thank you foring today. I¡¯m Song Yeonjeong, the host of . The order of the showcase today is: we¡¯ll start with the opening stage that Offbeat prepared ambitiously, then have a photo time and a Q&A session.¡± As Yeonjeong introduced the schedule, the screen showed the vintage-style photos we had taken while preparing. The shutter sound continued. ¡®This shutter sound¡­ It will only get louder when the stage starts, not quieter.¡¯ I thought so and suddenly felt a surge of strength in my hand. When we released Drink me, we didn¡¯t have the resources to do a showcase. We had to run to the streets, saying we couldn¡¯t fail with just a live broadcast or a live stream. But a lot had changed as we grew from unknown idols to somewhat famous ones in Mangdol. We gained more experience and widened our range of abilities. We didn¡¯t have to shut our mouths in front of the PD¡¯s warnings, not advice, and we were achieving one thing after another. ¡®Maybe I¡¯m not far frompleting the quest goal.¡¯ Of course, there was still the huge mountain of 300,000 initial sales. But a lot had changed and we had aplished a lot. ¡®Let¡¯s cheer up.¡¯ The goal that I had thought I might not be able to do, but I had to try anyway, became clear. It was no longer an unknown world. ¡°Then, let¡¯s start the showcase stage of Offbeat¡¯s debut single .¡± As Yeonjeong announced, the lights in the audience and the MC seat went off and the screen lit up brightly. The intro of ¡®Between Us¡¯ was modified and the video started to y. [Click, ck¡­] The video had a fake home video vibe and was edited to create a vintage atmosphere. Someone holding an old camcorder rummaged through the room in a hurry. Everyone held their breath and watched the screen. The cameraman quickly opened the closet and put on his clothes to go out. As he sighed for a moment, someone knocked on the window. As the cameraman looked down from the window, Hwijin smiled shyly and held a bouquet of flowers. The cameraman immediately ran down the stairs. Another knock on the door followed. The cameraman opened the door and saw Yi-jun, who had parked his bike between his long legs and took off his helmet. ¡°Wanna ride? I¡¯ll take you.¡± Yi-jun threw the helmet to the cameraman and the sound of the bike engine followed. The pictorial video shot to match the concept shed by like an old movie film. And then the screen went ck again and white letters were engraved in the center. [GAME START] The screen rolled up and the showcase stage began. [Three, two, one. Shh-.] With Yi-jun¡¯s low metal sound, the spotlight shone on the center of the stage. [The atmosphere here is too boring.] [You turn away again with a bored expression, pretending to be indifferent.] Yu-geon naturally took the intro part. He was the member who could expect the most firepower from the individual fans, and although he was not a main vocal, he had a solid voice and clear pronunciation that made the lyrics stick to the ears. They all did their best, from satin to velvet to corden. The suits they had custom-made with special fabrics that gave a vintage feel made them look like high-teens who had dressed up for a special day. [Hello, would amon greeting be too boring?] [I came to pick you up today.] And then Seon-woo switched ces with him, spinning around with the choreography and standing in the center. He wore a navy velvet jacket with suspenders and a bow tie inside. He was our visual. Seon-woo, who had dressed up, shone so brightly. And the reporters couldn¡¯t miss that, so the shutter sound was loud enough to pierce the in-ear. [The most shining moment of tonight.] [Right now, when our eyes meet.] [Confessing that I like you is toomon.] Seong-won took over next. The other members lined up in a row with Seong-won in the center, then changed their positions by splitting into three and four on each side. The next member to take the part in the center was me. [One by one, I nod my head as if I¡¯m thinking.] [I secretly prepared a bouquet, I hope you like it.] As I joined the back row with a hand gesture that looked like nodding my head, which was the point choreography, Naru popped out and jumped high with the rest of the members. [I wish you liked me.] [The words I whispered to myself in secret.] [Tonight, I¡¯ll confess my feelings properly.] I prepared for this performance as if it could be thest one, because the choreography was basically very difficult. Fortunately, Naru also pulled it off perfectly without any sound errors. ¡®All that¡¯s left is¡­¡¯ Kyunghwa and Hwijin, I guess. Yi-jun had no rap part at all in the back, so he only had the chorus part besides that. Kyunghwa calmly moved along with Yi-jun in a diagonal position and then ran to the front of the camera, following the camera across the stage. [What style do you like? Tell me everything.] [I want to be your handmade.] Then he swiftly turned the camera to the side, pushing it towards the rest of the members who were lined up, and quickly joined the back of the line. The eight of us stood in formation while the chorus part was going on. ¡®Let¡¯s do this.¡¯ It was the start of the eight-person dance part that we practiced the most. Chapter 236: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 236 This part had the most variation among the members, as the movements were fast and delicate. We had to practice this part over and over again to match each other as much as possible, since we had a short preparation period. Eventually, we all got so used to it that we would automatically step to the chorus, even screaming in agony. ¡®I don¡¯t even have to think anymore, my body moves on its own!¡¯ We became familiar with the song to the point where it controlled our bodies, and we learned where to put and release our strength ording to the beat. It was as if we had been working as an eight-member group from the start. ¡®But there¡¯s still a slight difference between each of us¡­¡¯Normally, they would call it a difference in dancing skills, not a mismatch in choreography. I swallowed my dry saliva and turned around at the right timing, bending and straightening my knees lightly and bowing my head. [Three, two, one. Shh-.] [From now on, it¡¯s just us two.] [Starting from today, it¡¯s just us two.] [Answer me, knock knock, I¡¯m waiting.] As we knocked on the door with our fists to match the lyrics of knock knock, it was finally Hwijin¡¯s turn. [The atmosphere here is too boring.] [I act like nothing¡¯s wrong, and approach you with a calm expression.] As soon as Hwijin performed the point dance in front of the ry camera, Yu-geon took over the next part. [Hi, amon greeting is too familiar.] [My heart feels like it¡¯s going to explode.] Yu-geon smiled slyly at the camera, as if he had nned it all along, with a rxed expression. Acting with your face on stage was a natural skill for an idol, but seeing him do it so well made me feel a bit annoyed. ¡®He¡¯s the kind of guy who can¡¯t be criticized for his skills, even if he deserves to be cursed for his personality.¡¯ He¡¯s really good at it. I tried not to be too conscious of him, and stood in the middle of the stage with my back to him. [The most shining moment of tonight.] [Right now, when our eyes meet.] [A confession of liking you is toomon.] I winked and gestured with my hand as if I was shooting a gun, towards the camera and the audience. Thankfully, shes went off one after another. I thought I had umted enough experience on stage by now, but I still felt a bit nervous when I stood in the center, where I got the most attention. It wasn¡¯t because I was afraid of making a mistake or causing an ident¡­ It was still unfamiliar. I couldn¡¯t believe I was an idol. I stillcked a sense of reality. ¡®When did I ever live with a sense of reality?¡¯ It was the same when I lived a fierce life, almost like an orphan, without any adult to help me. My experience in the world that was created to prevent me from returning to reality was so miserable that I had no luck at all in my early years. Anyway, regardless of whether I felt it or not, I knew what I had to do now. I had to deliver a perfect performance as Cheon Ise, the te bloomer idol¡¯ that everyone wanted. I winked and changed the line, moving to the back. Everyone else left the front where the camera couldn¡¯t catch them, and only Yi-jun remained in the center of the stage. [You and I, right here, zoom in] [As if it¡¯s only the two of us, step in] [Lift your head for a moment, don¡¯t think too much.] [As soon as you¡¯re ready, go.] [Custom made for you, don¡¯t hesitate, take it.] And then, without a break, the ad-lib part of the main vocals followed. They had to bnce each other out because they had such a big height difference, so Naru wore high-tops and the height difference was reduced to half of what it usually was. I could feel everyone holding back theirughter. ¡®Don¡¯tugh.¡¯ I lifted the corners of my mouth just enough, and it was Kyunghwa¡¯s part again. ¡®Everyone did well without any mistakes so far.¡¯ Finally, all the prelude was over and it was time to take the ending shot. We each looked at the designated camera and showed the pushing motion that was the point dance. After the ending shot, the lights changed and we rxed our poses. Apuse and cheers poured out. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Thank you~!¡± We bowed our waists and greeted the stage below. The confetti that had been scattered in the middle of the stage was cleaned up and a simple photo time began. We took a few group poses, changing the angle, and it felt like I was a product on disy on the stage, just like the meaning of the showcase. ¡®It¡¯s just posing and standing, but it¡¯s so hard.¡¯ I wanted to sit down. Everyone had a desperate wish in their minds, when we moved on to a brief talk time with the host. ¡°Now, we¡¯re going to start the Q&A time that the fans sent us directly. The members will peel off one post-it each that is attached upside down and check the content.¡± The questions were already reviewed once. I had a rough idea of what was on the list. ¡®But I still don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll get.¡¯ I calmly smiled and asked Hwijin, who was sitting closest to the question board, to pick one. ¡°Okay, Hwijin, can you show us your question?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. Do I have to read it?¡± ¡°It would be nice if you did!¡± ¡°Um, then¡­ Do you have any hobbies for your holidays? Oh, this is something we¡¯ve already talked about a lot¡­¡± Hwijin hesitated, and Yeongjeong answered with a smile. ¡°You said binge-watching dramas in the interviews, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I was so busy during the promotion period that it was hard to catch up. I subscribe to four OTTs, you know. Just watching the originals takes up so much time.¡± ¡°Then, what was the most recent drama that you liked the most?¡± At Yeongjeong¡¯s follow-up question, Hwijin thought for a moment and answered with a smile. ¡°I really enjoyed watching ¡®Thrilling Secret Romance¡¯ that came out recently.¡± Everyone burst intoughter at the subtle mention of Kyunghwa¡¯stest work. ¡°Ah~. Wow. You¡¯re one of the Offbeat family now. Is that it?¡± ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t mean it like that. It¡¯s really fun.¡± As we moved on to the next person, it was my turn. ¡°Okay, now it¡¯s your turn, Ise. Please pick a question!¡± I walked up to the board and picked up one that was stuck on the edge and flipped it over. [How do you feel about stealing someone else¡¯s life?] ¡®What?¡¯ It was a question that wasn¡¯t there when I checked itst. What the hell¡­ As I stared at the post-it in my hand, Yeongjeong called me. ¡°Ise?¡± Oops. I was on stage with dozens of cameras watching me. I quickly pulled myself together and read the post-it again. It had a different content than before. [What is your favorite motto in life?] ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I was thinking for a moment. My favorite motto in life¡­ would be ¡®Do it right if you¡¯re going to do it.¡¯¡± ¡°Wow~. What does that mean?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t like doing things half-heartedly. If I¡¯m going to do something, I¡¯ll do it right, and if I¡¯m not going to do it, I won¡¯t do it from the start. Once I start something, I want to do my best.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a very responsible motto for a leader.¡± Haha. I barely smiled and erased the nonsense I saw earlier from my mind. Get a grip. I had Yu-geon¡¯s bombshell confession waiting for me. I don¡¯t know why I had such a weird illusion earlier. I have to do it right. It¡¯s not just my own thing. I don¡¯t have the luxury of being distracted. A littleter, after the showcase that took up almost the whole day was over, my whole body rxed. The other guys were also in a so-so state, and Yi-jun looked at me with a worried expression. ¡°Hyung, are you okay?¡± What¡¯s wrong with me? I didn¡¯t get hit or dragged away. I lifted my head and looked up at Yi-jun. Seon-woo was also next to me, looking at me with a concerned expression. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m just a bit tired. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± Actually, I was in better condition than usual. The title effect was helping me a lot. Even though my body was rtivelyfortable, I felt like my soul had left me. It was because of Yu-geon¡¯s family drama that we fought like a war earlier. ¡®Did I care that much about Cheon Ise?¡¯ It was because of the nonsense that popped up out of nowhere. [How do you feel about stealing someone else¡¯s life?] Stealing¡­ Well, technically, it wasn¡¯t a wrong word. Everything I achieved after bing Cheon Ise was done by myself. The original Cheon Ise could never do those things. ¡®But who can be sure of that?¡¯ Maybe, like the other Climax members who showed their hidden talents and achieved sess, Cheon Ise also had potential. ¡®¡­¡¯ In the end, I couldn¡¯t help but doubt myself. ¡®But I can¡¯t check that now.¡¯ Then, all I had to do was fulfill Cheon Ise¡¯s dying wish, and do my best to achieve sess as an idol for my revenge. Whether the real Cheon Ise was happy or jealous of my sess. I had no doubt about the direction I had to go. ¡®So don¡¯t think about it anymore.¡¯ I shook my head and fixed myplexion to reassure the members. Soon, the managers came to the waiting room. ¡°We¡¯ve cleared everything outside. We can go back to the dorm now.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± ¡°Oh, and the phone you walked with earlier. Congrattions on being number one.¡± The new manager smiled and spoiled it, making everyone scream at the same time. ¡°Ahh! Why did you spoil it!¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve been holding it in for so long!¡± The manager answered nervously, as if he was flustered. ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know? I thought you all saw it through different routes. I¡¯m sorry.¡± But they were all too stubborn in this regard, so they didn¡¯t have time to think of such tricks. I took the phone from the manager and quickly checked the main tform chart. Sure enough, the real-time first ce, 24hits, was ranked 13th. The 24-hour entry was 30th. It wasn¡¯t as good as Floss, but it was a very satisfying result. All kinds of fan sites, as well as SNS, were turned upside down with our story. [Real-time Trends]
    1. Offbeat¡¯s new song
    1. Dotori¡¯s height measurement
    1. Husband candidate
    1. Kang Yu-geon¡¯s father
    1. Our rtionship
    1. Psychological test
    1. Climax
    1. Floss
    1. Showcase
    1. Concept jackpot
Seven out of the real-time trends were rted to us. ¡®Of course, it varies by user, so it won¡¯t look like this on ounts that are not idol-focused.¡¯ But I was happy. I captured it and thought I should give something back to the official ount. I called Kyunghwa. ¡°Let¡¯s post amemorative photo.¡± Kyunghwa naturally took the end of the selfie stick and arranged the seats one by one. ¡°Since there are a lot of people, we all have to fit in small, so don¡¯tin that I came out so tiny.¡± They all nced at Naru, who made a popping sound. ¡°Why, why are you looking at me? I havemon sense, you know?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s put our youngest in front, he¡¯s the smallest.¡± They allughed at Yi-jun¡¯s remark, which was either considerate or teasing. ¡°No, I¡¯m not small, okay? I¡¯m bigger than average.¡± Naru grumbled and stood in front. ¡®Anyway, he gets the front spot.¡¯ I looked at the screen, forgetting the tension for a moment. A life of misery saved by hand-made food Chapter 237: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 237 ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take the picture when I count to three.¡± Kyunghwa spent a long time finding the perfect angle and finally gave the signal. ¡°One, two, three!¡± The screen of the phone went ck for a moment and then brightened again as Kyunghwa changed the angle and posed again. ¡°Come on, we need to fill up four pictures, so please make a different pose from before.¡± They stuck together and took pictures as if they were at someone¡¯s wedding.¡®Let¡¯s finish this quickly¡­!¡¯ They all seemed to have the same thought. Soon after, they barely escaped from the photo shoot and sighed in relief, when they heard some good news. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s not even midnight yet and we¡¯re already in the top ten!¡± Seon-woo eximed in admiration, as if it was nothing that there was another group next to them that had the same achievement. They looked around at the other indicators besides the ranking and saw that the likes were also at the level of the top 1-2 groups. [- ¡®This is how you do a reverse run and skyrocket.¡¯] [- It¡¯s so good? I want to keep listening, but I¡¯m worried that I¡¯ll get tired of it if I listen too much. I¡¯m streaming on mute on purpose.] [- Three¡­ two¡­ one¡­ click, ck¡­ click, ck¡­ click, ck¡­ click, ck¡­ click, ck¡­ click, ck¡­] [- Why didn¡¯t you just debut together from the start?] [? Two left and three joined, so it¡¯s +1 in the end.] [- The members who left Climax must be regretting it so much????????????????] [? Wasn¡¯t Climax five people?] [? They were originally a seven-member group, but two left. They¡¯re both inactive.] [- Ha¡­ They were a group that only I knew, but they suddenly became superstars¡­ I¡¯m so d they didn¡¯t disband¡­] [? They were a group that only I knew, but they grew so much in a year22222] [- Thements are so funny, they only mention Climax with clenched teeth. Do you think they would have gotten this ranking if it was only Climax??? They rode on Floss¡¯s coin and pretended to rise on their own. How ridiculous.] [? -ck Gold- I¡¯m an old Tempo, and I know that Climax did a lot of work for this single.] [- At first, I thought they were doomed when Floss¡¯s corruption scandal broke out, but when I saw the press conference, I couldn¡¯t help but think that they all suffered so much¡­ The song is so good, I hope they can be happy from now on.] [- The strongest synergy between a five-year rookie and a two-year rookie¡­] [- Dad, I¡¯m so happy that you brought out such a masterpiece¡­] [? Thank you, I love you222] [? Severe suddenly became a son from a rich family to a daughter from a rich family.] [- They did so well that I¡¯m angry for the first time. What did Wiffle do with these members until now?] [? When I think about how Climax was shelved until now, it¡¯s really?????? sigh¡­] [- Cheon, you have a good sense, so you know what to do now, right? Please prepare an album soon, please.] [- They tore it up¡­ How can self-producing and self-nning be so well done?] There were someints from the fans of the other members of Floss or the participants who didn¡¯t debut in My Idol Stage, but they weren¡¯t very bothersome. Rather¡­ ¡®It¡¯s much better than I expected?¡¯ At this rate, they might aim for the first ce in 24Hits before midnight. No, the first ce was already confirmed from the start. It was so unrealistic that I couldn¡¯t believe it, but this was reality. I unconsciously reached for my cheek. ¡°Do you want me to hit you?¡± As soon as he came to my side, Yi-jun smiled yfully and clenched his fist. Would I? I frowned and answered. ¡°No?¡± Heughed out loud when I red at him. I wanted to shut him up, so I asked him. ¡°So, how does it feel to be a chart-topping producer?¡± Yi-jun had expected it a little, but¡­ He didn¡¯t act shy or tell me not to jinx it, but shrugged and answered. ¡°I¡¯m stillcking. I think I need to make at least ten hit songs to get a pension-like ie.¡± He had a lot of money at home and he was talking about a pension. His grandmother owned several buildings, and it was ridiculous that he was talking about a pension as a grandson. ¡°Do you want a pension that much?¡± There were also members from Floss next to us, so I didn¡¯t think it was necessary to make it obvious that Yi-jun was a golden spoon, so I skipped the details. ¡°Of course. It¡¯s different what I inherit and what I earn.¡± I could understand that part. Of course, I¡­ I didn¡¯t have anything to inherit, let alone being killed. ¡°Anyway, you worked hard. I¡¯m counting on you for our regr album too.¡± I felt like they were preparing all along, but. I hadn¡¯t received anything except the remake version of the previous songs, so I didn¡¯t know what they were thinking. ¡°Ugh. I¡¯m getting a lot of work done.¡± Yi-jun finally sighed as if he had recovered and stretched out again. Hwi-jin, who was watching him from the side, smiled. ¡°Why?¡± I asked Hwi-jin right away, and he answered with a faint smile. ¡°Because you all look close. I snorted and said, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t think of it as someone else¡¯s business. Swift also needs to release his debut single soon.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Hwijin seemed to realize it then and let out a small exmation. At the same time, Naru squeezed in between me and Hwijin. ¡°Give me a vocal song! A vocal song!¡± was actually a dance song with a strong teen pop vibe, despite its rather lyrical title. ¡®Well¡­ that¡¯s because¡­ we pursued something fun and light, with a solid rap line and no dance holes.¡¯ One of the main criteria when preparing the song was that it should be easy to hum and sing along, so there was no section where we could show off our vocal skills. There was a time for the sub-vocalist to ad-lib, but that was more like a filler for a specific part, not the main focus. ¡°It depends on how you set the concept.¡± Hwijin and Yu-geon were not bad singers. They could pull off a vocal song, but it wouldn¡¯t be ideal. We already had a dynamic image, so a bad would be too risky. ¡°Come on!¡± Naru puffed up his cheeks. But for some reason, the ¡®hyungs¡¯ who should have indulged him didn¡¯t take any action this time. ¡®We have to toughen him up.¡¯ Naru was already an adult, so he needed to learn some independence and not rely on us too much. I guessed the other members thought the same. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do a short thank-you live broadcast here, for about 5 to 10 minutes, and then go back to our dorms and rest.¡± I wrapped up the lively atmosphere and thought about tomorrow¡¯s schedule. There was one radio show that only me, Yu-geon, and Hwijin would appear on, one variety show with Yi-jun and Kyunghwa, and one CF with Seon-woo and Naru. We had so many members that the schedule was crazy and overwhelming. Thanks to that, even the management team staff who used to work in the office had to temporarily join the field work. ¡®But it¡¯s still too early to hire more managers.¡¯ We had to finish this promotion with two people and see how the revenue came in before deciding. I nodded silently and the new manager finished preparing the live broadcast and drew a sign over his head. I was quite nervous at first. But he got along well with the manager who had been with us all along. The friction that happened a year ago seemed like a thing from a movie, and everything went smoothly. ¡°Okay, one, two, three, and we¡¯ll start the broadcast.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Yeah~!¡± With eight energetic voices, four of us sat on the sofa in the waiting room and four stood behind it, and the live broadcast began. ¡°Two, three, Game start!¡± ¡°Hello, we are Offbeat!¡± The voices of the eight of us became one and echoed as the broadcast started. I felt a surge of emotion in my chest, but I didn¡¯t show it. ¡°Wow, did you see the number of viewers at the end?¡± ¡°It¡¯s scary. To think that so many people watch us¡­¡± ¡°What are you scared of? The showcase broadcast had several times more than that.¡± With Seon-woo¡¯s whining and Naru¡¯s remark, today¡¯s schedule waspletely over. We split into vans and headed to our dorms and homes, and the surroundings became quiet again. ¡®The cars are better as they are now¡­ but considering the ovepping activities in the future, maybe we should share the dorm with Swift too.¡¯ It would be quite ufortable to live together with a dozen members, and finding a house that big would be a hassle. But eight people¡­ that was manageable. I thought so and looked out the window, and Kyunghwa screamed. ¡°What?¡± Right before we got off at the dorm parking lot, Kyunghwa clutched his phone and sobbed. ¡°We¡¯re number one on 24Hits!¡± I looked at the screen he showed me, and sure enough, was proudly at the top. ¡°You worked hard.¡± I gave him the standard answer. Of course, working hard didn¡¯t guarantee sess. But the members were talented and did their best to prepare, so it wasn¡¯t impossible to seed like this. ¡®Actually¡­ it was also thanks to the solo artist who made aeback and scared everyone away, leaving us an empty house.¡¯ But the person who made everyone avoid the timing tried something weird and couldn¡¯t perform as well as before on the charts, so we got to gobble up the empty house. I happily opened the mission tab and saw the rewards I could im piled up. [- Achieve number one on 24Hits on the release day] I thought they should admit that we seeded as idols by now. But the system was silent. ¡®Hey, I know you¡¯re pretending not to hear when you¡¯re listening.¡¯ I expected Pposili to at least bark or answer me, but there was no reaction at all. ¡®What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ I felt a strange sense of unease for a moment. As I followed the members of Wooreureu back to the dorm, the tension I had felt until then was relieved. ¡°Woof!¡± Pposili greeted me with a body m as soon as I opened the door, and I didn¡¯t think much of it as I started to prepare for tomorrow¡¯s schedule. ¡°Whine, groan, whimper¡­!¡± But soon after, just before falling asleep, Pposili started to make anxious noises and whine again. ¡°Pposili, what¡¯s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?¡± Seon-woo, who shared the room with me, seemed worried and stroked Pposili¡¯s head, but Pposili whined and came back to me. ¡°Hyung, don¡¯t you have any pain that you¡¯re not aware of?¡± Seon-woo read some foreign topic online and showed me an article about a dog that detected its owner¡¯s cancer by smell. ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± Something was wrong with the system. It had been silent since earlier, even though the window was on. ¡®Hey, system.¡¯ I called it with a rather rude nickname, but the system remained silent. ¡®Sigh¡­¡¯ Why is this happening? If it was a machine, I could physically repair it aka hit it hard. But that didn¡¯t work either, and it was frustrating as hell. ¡®Let¡¯s just sleep.¡¯ I had to check if it was still unresponsive after I woke up. I had a schedule to leave the dorm at 5 a.m. tomorrow. I had no time to waste with my eyes open. I closed my eyes and hugged Pposili, who kept whimpering. And just before I lost consciousnesspletely. [@^*Wee, sir&@#.] [&&(The system has sessfully connected to @#$your device#%&.)] [To prevent system^% crash, the ess of the thousand^%(year-old@#dragon) will be terminated.] I heard a bad announcement. Chapter 238: ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ When I regained consciousness, I was in a strange space where I could see nothing but darkness. Unless I was kidnapped from my lodging¡­ ¡®It must be a dream or another weird system space.¡¯ First of all, I wanted to know where I was and what my condition was. I tried to move my hand¡­ Huh? ¡®¡­?¡¯ I was dumbfounded. I couldn¡¯t feel anything in my body. It was as if only my consciousness existed somewhere. Is this how it feels to be a brain in a jar? I couldn¡¯t evenugh at this unprecedented situation. I felt a surge of fear. ¡®What is this ce? What happened to me?¡¯Just before I lost consciousness, I thought I heard something about terminating the connection. I still had no idea what was going on. I hastily called the system. ¡®System.¡¯ Then, as if rebooting an ancientputer, a message window appeared with a humming sound. [Recovering data from critical system damage.] [Searching for avable body data.] What is body data? I asked the system to exin. ¡®What the hell is going on?¡¯ It was obvious that I had no vocal cords to make a sound since I had no body. Only my consciousness existed. And even that was flickering like a weak signal. [Current system control authority has been suspended due to external intrusion attempt.] ¡®External intrusion?¡¯ As I asked in bewilderment, a huge amount of text flowed into the stream of consciousness in the dark. Some of it was familiar to me, and some of it was new. Why didn¡¯t I remember? I was utterly confused. ¡°Why can you do it and I can¡¯t?¡± [System recovery sessful] [¡®Lim Hyun-seong¡¯s system connection has been sessfully restored.] [The unauthorized program that was trying to ess ¡®Lim Hyun-seong¡¯ has been stopped.] [Penalty for mission failure: ¡®Eternal #$*life(@#^in a *&%wast[email protected]%$#¡¯] [Is this fun?] [Recovering user data from serious system damage.] [%^%^&^454#[email protected]@external intrusion attempts have been blocked.] [Blocking ess from unauthorized program.] [7,326,437,268,341 external attack attempts detected. 4 chip-in defenses and recovery measurespleted.] [How do you feel about stealing someone else¡¯s life?] And on top of that, the recent growling and whining of Pposili whenever he saw me. ¡®It was really Cheon Ise.¡¯ Something that I guessed was ¡®Cheon Ise¡¯ had been roaming around me and trying to take my body. ¡®I had been suspicious of the unauthorized program all along, and it turned out to be Cheon Ise.¡¯ Of course, I had doubts, but I thought he was already dead and crossed the Jordan River peacefully. When I was transported to a non-real space due to a quest error, I thought what I encountered was just a ¡®trace¡¯ left by Cheon Ise. I was naive. ¡®Even if I knew, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do anything.¡¯ I decided to check the current situation first and asked the system. ¡®Can you recover the control authority that was taken away?¡¯ As soon as I asked, the system covered the entire space with iprehensible codes as if to tell me. [Currently in the 832,321,489,215th recovery attempt.] [We are doing our best to recover, but there are difficulties in responding due to the intrusion of an unfamiliar program. Please understand.] What do you want me to understand? I¡¯m in a ghost state without a brain or a body. All this time, I treated Cheon Ise as a dead person and pretended to be a living person, but now I was a ghost myself. ¡®Not just a ghost, but a cyber ghost.¡¯ It was a strange feeling to have no flesh. I felt nauseous. ¡®So how long do you think it will take to recover?¡¯ I calmed down for a moment and asked, and the system gave me an unexpected answer. [Estimation impossible] [Recovery attempt in progress] What, are you being curt now? I was momentarily enraged. The system had never been so useless before. It didn¡¯t look so hopeless, so I suddenly had a scary thought. ¡®You don¡¯t mean it won¡¯t recover, do you?¡¯ Then, like a non-answer, the same answer came back. [Recovery attempt in progress] ¡®¡­!!??¡¯ Is this really possible to fail? I was stunned by the situation that felt like the sky was falling and asked in a low voice. ¡°Answer me properly! Is it possible that we can¡¯t recover like this?¡± Then the system was silent for a long time and scrolled down as if it was about to lose its job. [We are currently doing our best to respond, but the unauthorized program has a core code that matches the body information, so the priority of body possession in the storage is with the unauthorized program.] What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t understand at once the nonsense of code, body information, storage, etc. ¡°Wait a minute. So you¡¯re saying that Cheon Ise really took over my body?¡± To summarize, it was the unauthorized program. Cheon Ise really took over my body, and I, who was not the original owner, was pushed back in priority. Well, of course it¡¯s his body? I mean, I don¡¯t understand why he wants to go back. ¡°¡­¡± My eyes went dark. Then what about me? For a little less than a year, I opened the way for them to show their skills, crying andughing with the members. Even though I was wearing someone else¡¯s body. I changed the climax, established theposition, started the sd business, persuaded the Floss members, and seeded in Offbeat. ¡°It was me.¡± But that didn¡¯t give me the right to take Cheon Ise¡¯s body away from the original owner. I was just a user who was destined to die both empty, but luckily I was assigned to the ¡®surviving side¡¯. If Cheon Ise was the surviving side¡­ ¡°Cheon Ise might have had to take revenge on his family with my body to open the quest for sess as an idol.¡± I wondered if I had any right to go back to reality. The will to scream at the system to send me back right away began to crack. ¡°¡­¡± But still. I was resentful, but logically I had no right to chase Cheon Ise away. Even if I had a lot to do and had to solve the problems I had started¡­ ¡°How can I win over the original owner of the body?¡± It was impossible. I couldn¡¯t say anything and fell silent for a moment. Then what happens to me now¡­? ¡°What happens to me if I fail to recover like this?¡± I regained myposure and asked, and the system didn¡¯t respond for a while and then popped up a message window. [Data without storage will start to disappear over time.] ¡°¡­¡± It meant that I would disappear. ¡°What about the quest?¡± I thought maybe I wouldn¡¯t disappear if I was tied to the quest, but the result was cold. [It is impossible to perform the quest alone without storage.] Then I had another question. How did Cheon Ise survive until now, who I thought had disappeared? I asked the system right away. ¡°Then how did Cheon Ise survive until now?¡± [If the data is transferred to a special space where no loss urs, it can be maintained for a certain period of time without loss, but it is transformed, so it is correct to understand that it is not the same data as the original.] The system showed me some virus infection-like diagrams to help me understand. So, Cheon Ise now, was not aplete existence of the original, but a transformed one, like a zombie, who survived to avoid loss. I wonder if I would be like that if I didn¡¯t disappear. I got goosebumps and my eyes went dark. ¡°Is there any other way than seeding in restoring control?¡± My body had been cremated and buried in the columbarium for a long time. I couldn¡¯t take over someone else¡¯s body either. It was impossible to finish what I had done as Cheon Ise by getting a third party¡¯s body. [If the unauthorized program voluntarily stops its activity, the control will be automatically restored.] If he did that, this wouldn¡¯t have happened. I was out of breath at the impending disaster. Cheon Ise was a really ordinary twenty-five-year-old who had never done business. He would be busy dealing with the schedule that came rushing in as a popr idol, let alone handling the business as the representative of theposition. And the sd business was about to ship the funding products soon. Once the product went into the hands of customers, everything from praise to criticism would flood in, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to handle various issues. In the worst case, his image couldpletely copse as a scammer with a business disease. ¡°I¡¯m going crazy¡­¡± Now Cheon Ise¡¯s shoulders were not just his pride. The livelihoods of many people depended on the representative Cheon Ise. And what bothered me was not that I couldn¡¯t get revenge, but that I was worried about the lives and careers of the people I brought in as Cheon Ise. I was originally that kind of person. I moved with a sense of responsibility rather than my own satisfaction. But I had noints about that life. It might seem useless to say after death. But the memorial procession that filled the funeral hall proved that I had lived without shame. The ugly duckling who had to grow up alone without being loved by anyone, became a nationally mourned entrepreneur. Thanks to me, many people got opportunities and made the world a little better. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± I felt gloomy for a moment. What is the Human Happiness Foundation? This way, we¡¯re just two unhappy humans who died unhappily. I had nothing more to say. Now I just had to suck my finger and wait for my disappearance. Despair was only temporary. Then what about the body I used when I participated in the virtual idol stage? I suddenly remembered what happened to the 19-year-old Lim Hyun-seong, who was neither Cheon Yi-se nor entirely Lim Hyun-seong. ¡®My body when I participated in the idol? What happened to it?¡¯ Then the system went silent for a while, as if it was looking for something, and then popped up a message window. [It is currently pending deletion and cannot be fully restored.] If it cannot be fully restored, does that mean it can be partially restored? I clung to it as if I had caught a straw. ¡®Can I use it to go back to reality?¡¯ [We are temporarily evaluating the possibility.] And then there was silence again for a long time without any update. ¡®I guess it¡¯s not possible.¡¯ It was impossible to insert a being that did not exist in that world in the first ce, so there was no way around it. At that moment of despair, when I had to wait for my annihtion, a quest window popped up like the first time the system appeared to me. [You can now start the ¡®Special Quest-HAPPY ENDING¡¯.] [Do you ept the special quest?] [Yes/No] Chapter 239: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 239 A Wasted Life Saved by a Stone¡¯s Touch [Special Quest: HAPPY ENDING] [Objective: Safely transfer the ¡®Original¡¯ data, which has be corrupted and can no longer function normally, to the recovery center.] [Quest Time Limit: 7 days (168 hours)] [If the quest time limit is exceeded, the temporary storage will be destroyed and the data will be lost.] [Quest Completion Reward] [>Preceding Quest Continuation]¡®What is the recovery center?¡¯ As I wondered about the unfamiliar word that kept appearing, the status window added an exnation. [Recovery Center: A storage where the lost data gathers and waits for regeneration. All data whose usage period has expired are gathered in the recovery center and go through a regeneration waiting time before being consolidated into new data.] In other words, it was a ce simr to the afterlife where people go after they die. The image that the system showed me was a space where tiny pixel grains emitted light and gathered to form a gxy-like shape. ¡®It¡¯s beautiful.¡¯ I felt a bit eerie thinking that each of those grains was like the soul of a dead person or something simr. But it looked like a vast and beautiful universe that made me stare in awe. The faintly glowing gxy flowed endlessly toward a direction that was hard to pinpoint. I didn¡¯t believe in anything like the afterlife, but it was amazing and strange to see such a simple recycling¡­ or rather, reincarnation structure, as I would call it. ¡®Can I ask one more thing?¡¯ I asked the question that had been bothering me. ¡®Why am I the one who has to do the quest, when both I and Cheon Ise are in the same situation of being dead, and I¡¯m even a real dead person with a body that you call a storage?¡¯ Then the system answered as if it was obvious. [The main factor that affects the usage period of each data is the ¡®data¡¯s own persistence of will¡¯.] Ah. I finally understood. Cheon Ise killed himself and I was murdered. Cheon Ise¡¯s situation had changed so much since he chose suicide. I couldn¡¯t me him for wanting to live again now, but. It wasn¡¯t like he could maintain the life that someone else had given him, let alone inherit the ability to do so. As I was silent for a moment, the system disyed the consent confirmation window again. [Do you ept the special quest?] [Yes/No] And right away, a small exnation was added at the bottom, as if it was some insurance use. [If you proceed with the new special quest, the previous special quest will be suspended.] [The functions that you used as Cheon Ise (Lim Hyun-seong) will be deactivated due to the change of the quest in progress.] [Deactivation Scheduled Function List] [- Ability Value Adjustment] [- Buff Skill] ¡­ As the list went on, I felt like I was bing a 19-year-old who knew nothing, a virtual person who had never existed in this world. ¡®If I go back to reality like this, won¡¯t I be useless?¡¯ I felt a moment of panic, but it was no different from the situation when I first encountered the system. It was better to do something than to wait for extinction. At least, if I started to judge and act for myself, something might change. It was better to buy a lottery ticket and hope for a chance than to hope for a win without buying one. [Yes] I pressed the consent button without hesitation, and a countdown that I hadn¡¯t seen in a long time, but felt familiar, began. [Time left until the quest starts 10¡­] [9¡­ 8¡­ 7¡­] [6¡­ 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­] [2¡­ 1¡­!] As soon as the bright light shed, a burning pain started. Did it have to hurt this much? I swallowed myints and waited eagerly for the pain to subside. How long had it been? It felt like a couple of hours had passed when I saw something blurry instead of darkness. At first, it looked like a vague something, and I wondered where I was. But as my vision became clearer, I could distinguish the objects. What I thought was a background or a wall, a white and wide object, was not a single thing, but a huge flower bed. The sky was still dark and a white moon was floating unrealistically. Below it, tiny flower buds swayed like cotton, forming a huge flower bed. ¡®What is this ce?¡¯ As I looked around and stepped forward, I had arms and legs that I could stretch on the ground, unlike before when I had no body, but I still didn¡¯t feel any gravity. ¡®Am I still in this strange virtual space?¡¯ As I walked and walked through the endless flower field, I saw someone lying on the opposite side. ¡®Who is that?¡¯ I squinted my eyes to see better, but it was too blurry. I ran towards them and when I got closer, I was surprised to see a face I knew very well. ¡®Is that¡­ me?¡¯ It was me, right before I died, lying on my side and asleep. ¡®Did I die?¡¯ I looked peaceful for someone who drowned to death. I knelt down next to my sleeping self and saw that there were tags attached to the stems of the flowers around my body. ¡®What are these¡­¡¯ I picked one up and checked it. On the front, there was a name, and on the back, there was a short phrase. [Choi Moon-seong] [- Thank you for the treatment.] What does this mean? I picked up another tag from a nearby flower. [Jo Min-ha] [- Thank you! I will study hard.] [Park Han-bit] [- I want to grow up fast and be a cool adult like you!] The phrases written in neat handwriting on each tag were like the flowers and thank-you notes left at my funeral, or the gratitude I received over the years. I quickly checked a few more flowers and recognized some names, but most of them I didn¡¯t remember. I didn¡¯t help anyone specifically, but I set up a foundation to help anyone in need. It was only natural that I didn¡¯t know the individuals I helped. I felt embarrassed. I didn¡¯t think I did anything remarkable to deserve so much gratitude. I lost my words and sat next to ¡®Lim Hyun-seong¡¯, looking at myself. I noticed something in my lightly clenched fist. Paper? No, a note. I opened my cold hand and unfolded the neatly folded note. There was a short sentence written in a tidy font. [The reason why you have to keep living] Before I seeded as a businessman, what I really wanted to achieve was¡­ To make sure that no child would ever feel alone and helpless, without a single adult to ask for help. ¡®I have to go back.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t just sit here and wait for oblivion. I closed my eyes with the note in my hand, and unlike the silence before, the city noise pierced my ears. ¡°What the¡­¡± I gasped. I could speak. I opened my eyes and found myself standing in the middle of downtown, where the shuttle to the idol stage was. ¡°Wow.¡± I looked around and everyone was busy going their own way, not paying attention to me. What day and time is it? I reached for my phone in my pocket, but all I had was a few bills. It made sense. I didn¡¯t exist on paper right now. I was an unregistered person. I couldn¡¯t have a phone that required an identity to activate. ¡°Damn.¡± I took out the bills and checked them. 25,000 won. It was an awkward amount. I was d to have something, but what could I do with it? I was homeless right now. ¡®Let¡¯s check the date first.¡¯ I memorized the members¡¯ phone numbers, so I could call them if I found a payphone. But wait, do payphones still exist? I hurried to find a nearby phone booth, but it was almost deserted, with nothing but empty booths. ¡®I¡¯m in trouble.¡¯ I went to the convenience store next to the booth and looked at the newspaper. It was 5 or 6 days after thest date I remembered. ¡®Doesn¡¯t that mean that the system can¡¯t fix this if it tried for 5 days?¡¯ I felt a chill down my spine. Then the owner of the store asked me. ¡°What do you want?¡± I shook my head and backed away. ¡°No, I was just looking at the newspaper¡­¡± He snapped at me in a grumpy voice. ¡°Then go away! Don¡¯t bother my business.¡± Geez. Have some manners, old man. I wanted to frown, but I held it in and tried to leave quietly. But then I saw the entertainment section of the newspaper and my eyes widened. ¡°Hey, wait a minute! I¡¯ll buy this!¡± How much is a newspaper? Is it still 1,000 won? I grabbed a copy and handed him a 5,000 won bill. He gave me 3,000 won in change. ¡®¡­¡¯ This felt like ripping off a kid¡¯s money. I didn¡¯t want to haggle over a thousand or two thousand won, and I was in a hurry anyway, so I took the newspaper and the change. ¡®If something had gone wrong with the business, it would have been in the news.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a general business-rted article that would be slow to report unless it was a rtively big ident. It was an entertainment article, so if something had happened, it would have been a mess right away. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ any articles about theposition or the climax¡­¡¯ [- Offbeat Music Safe wins first ce for the first time, Kyunghwa, thanks for cheering for our new start.] They won first ce. This time, they didn¡¯t have to rely on fan votes to easily win first ce. They also won first ce on cable music shows and other terrestrial music shows. They had three trophies in a week, so they were all doing well. ¡®Did I¡­ underestimate Cheon Ise too much¡­¡¯ A strange feeling of regret or relief crossed my mind, and then I noticed something weird. ¡®Huh¡­?¡¯ At most of the ces where the leader should have spoken, such as the eptance speech, it was Kyunghwa or Hwijin who held the microphone, not Cheon Ise. ¡®What is Cheon Ise doing.¡¯ He was the leader and the representative, so why didn¡¯t he have the microphone at all. I decided to check the inte articles and headed to a nearby PC room. ¡®If I had a phone, I could just use Wi-Fi or data.¡¯ It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do about it. I prepared myself mentally and tried to log in to SNS, which was faster than the articles. ¡®What.¡¯ [The password does not match.] ¡®¡­?¡¯ This is correct. I typed in the familiar password a few more times, but after failing more than five times, a window popped up asking for phone verification. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­ Cheon Ise changed the password?¡¯ I felt a chill run through my body. ¡®¡­Sigh.¡¯ Nothing was easy. I moved my eyes back to the monitor and started searching the inte with a restless mind. Chapter 240: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 240 I wished I could see the opinions of the loyal fans who posted their reactions in real time. But it was too much work to look up each and every ount, and the official ount had too many followers to tell them apart. It would have been better to check the climax or offbeat boards of some specific sites. Or maybe browse the popr posts on the integratedmunity. If Cheon Ise, who was like a zombie, caused any trouble, the trolls on the integratedmunity would be the first ones to make a fuss and create trending posts. ¡®Please, let there be nothing.¡¯I logged into Yeonye Talk Talk, hoping to see nothing but offbeat sales posts on the popr list, but to my dismay, the name that had been ¡®mine¡¯ until a few days ago was stuck at the bottom of the list. [Real-time Hot Posts]
    1. Isn¡¯t Cheon Ise¡¯s attitude too harsh? (+79)
¡®Ah¡­.¡¯ I wished this expectation could be a little off. The only silver lining was that there weren¡¯t that manyments. But this was something I didn¡¯t know yet. The controversy would die down in this board after getting the troll verdict, but it would only get worse. It would be the prey of the aggro coins and the cyber leeches, and it would start to hit the airwaves. I hoped it wouldn¡¯t go that far. I sighed and clicked on the post. I sat in front of theputer, watching Cheon Ise¡¯s reputation shake in real time, and racked my brain. Grrr-. My stomach clock rang very urately. ¡®I should eat something before I think too hard.¡¯ The money in my pocket had shrunk from 25,000 won to 22,000 won. It was impossible to survive a week on 22,000 won. It was hard enough to be homeless at this age, let alone without a phone. But if I jumped into a daybor job that paid daily, they would check my identity for insurance or cost reasons. And the daybor jobs that didn¡¯t check my identity were too hard for a high school student¡¯s body, and they wouldn¡¯t even hire me. There was no answer. Should I beg, I muttered to myself, when a ce popped into my head. A ce where students of this age could get free meals. There was¡­ there was one, but. ¡®Is it still operating?¡¯ I had no choice but to go and see. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t too far from here. ¡®Well¡­ I¡¯m here¡­¡¯ I cautiously opened the building entrance and stepped inside. A cafeteria that looked like a small cafe or a cafeteria was operating with a somewhat chilly atmosphere. ¡°Excuse me¡­¡± As I hesitated and caught the attention of the staff, a middle-aged volunteer who looked like she was in her forties greeted me with a bright smile. ¡°Are you here to eat? You can get a te from over there. If you want a drink, you can ask at the serving area.¡± ¡°Oh, yes¡­! Thank you.¡± I nodded and headed in the direction the volunteer pointed. ¡®I never thought I¡¯d get help from the center I made.¡¯ The ce I headed to after a brief moment of hesitation was a youth shelter run by the Jo Young Children¡¯s Foundation. It was a ce where homeless teenagers who were vulnerable to crime could study and entrust themselves whenever they wanted. They could stay for a week without any questions. ¡®If the stay period exceeds a week, they will check your identity and protect you by connecting you to a long-term shelter¡­¡¯ But for a week, they literally didn¡¯t ask anything and let me use the dormitory-style amodation and cafeteria. ¡®Well, then I¡¯ve solved the food and lodging problem.¡¯ But how am I supposed to meet Cheon Ise like this? If I fail to persuade him, my revenge as Lim Hyun-seong will also be impossible. My head got moreplicated. If Cheon Ise really ruined his life by sticking to his body¡­ And then he fell back into hell as an idol without sess¡­ And what about my revenge? Is it over with them living happily ever after? At that moment, when my teeth clenched, the system¡¯s guidance came to mind. [If you proceed with a new special quest, the previous special quest will be temporarily suspended.] That means¡­ I can interfere with the incidents rted to ¡®Lim Hyun-seong¡¯ without any restrictions, right? I hurriedly stuffed the rice I got on the te into my mouth and got up from my seat and headed to the digital library. It was called a digital library, but it was actually aputer room for studying online lectures. ¡®They have a blocking program to prevent games.¡¯ But the messenger was not a blocked program. I turned on theputer and logged in with the ID I used when I was Lim Hyun-seong. I was worried that the ount would be suspended because the user was reported dead. But fortunately, the ount was still alive and I logged in sessfully. ¡®I did it!¡¯ A list of contacts I had exchanged with while running Jo Young Food came up. Among them¡­ someone who would support me without being bought by my stepmother and half-sister¡­ To be honest, I didn¡¯t think there would be many. Everyone had their own way of living, and who would be willing to side with the new owner? I pondered for a while and picked one person and opened a message window. ¡®I wish he would believe me even if it sounds absurd.¡¯ I sighed and thought of a more realistic scenario than ¡®I died and came back to life for a while.¡¯ Possible continuation: [Me] [Please enter the message you want to send.] [Hey] [Hey, it¡¯s me] [Hey, it¡¯s me, Lim Hyun-seong] [Hey, it¡¯s me, Lim Hyun-seong ¡û] [¡û] [Please enter the message you want to send.] I erased the sentence I had briefly written and fell into thought. What if he had already joined their side? He was the type who couldn¡¯t stand working under a stupid and ipetent boss. He might have quit because of that, but he also had a hard time trusting people. As I hesitated, filled with doubt, the remaining time was quickly running out. ¡®Let¡¯s trust his personality and intelligence.¡¯ I made up my mind and sent the message. [Me] Hello, Mr. Kang. I¡¯m sorry to surprise you. This was the only way to contact you, so I had to use this ount. 12:37 PM This was the introduction. Then, what was the main point? Well¡­ [Me] I have something to tell you about Mr. Lim Hyun-seong. His death was not a suicide. I want to talk to you in person. 12:38 PM This must be a bombshell for a peaceful lunchtime of a sried worker. I¡¯m sorry. But there aren¡¯t many people who know the truth. But I made you a decent executive of a bigpany, so you owe me this much. I decided to be shameless and waited for a reply. ¡®Look at it quickly.¡¯ As I anxiously tapped the mouse with my fingertips, time flew by. 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes¡­ And even after 10 minutes, there was no read confirmation. Did he send it to spam right away? As I started to feel uneasy, the message was marked as read and a voice call came in. But I couldn¡¯t answer it because I didn¡¯t have a microphone input device logged in on my PC. [Me] I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t talk right now. Can we meet and talk? 12:54 PM This looked even more suspicious. But I had no other choice. He would only believe me after he met me. I took a breath and waited for Mr. Kang¡¯s answer. Chapter 241: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 241 [Kang Jinwoo] Who the hell are you? I won¡¯t tolerate this low-quality prank. Have you no shame? 12:58 PM [Kang Jinwoo] There¡¯s a limit to scamming. I¡¯m blocking you. 12:59 PM Damn. He rejected my call right away and assumed I was hacking his messenger or doing voice phishing. I can¡¯t block him. I wondered briefly what to do, then decided to go all in. Even if he thinks I¡¯m crazy, I have to avoid being blocked. [Me] Gwangju City, XX-dong, XXXX Industrial Support Center, Room 307 1:02 PM [Me] Remember? 1:03 PM[Me] You lost the first priority condition and the designated office because you missed a document. 1:03 PM I didn¡¯t want to bring up the old wound, but I had no choice. It was something only he would know, so I had to recall it in a short time. [Kang Jinwoo] ? 1:04 PM Iughed at the sharp question mark that came back. Is that all you have? [Me] Don¡¯t you remember getting drunk on vodka for the first time on your trip to Russia and taking off your shoes in the hotel lobby? 1:05 PM Then he called me again right away. I can¡¯t answer the phone! I get why he¡¯s confused, but can¡¯t we just meet and talk? I look different now than when I was CEO Lim Hyun-seong. My scars are gone, and I¡¯m even 20 years younger. But if he just looks at me, he¡¯ll recognize me. Of course. It¡¯s me. My original n was to pretend to be a hidden rtive or a son. I had afortable life thanks to what CEO Lim left behind, and I had no intention of iming to be his sessor. But I wanted to expose the owner¡¯s crimes, so I approached him. ¡®That was the n.¡¯ But I had no time to worry about anything else, as I was in danger of being blocked before I even made an appointment to meet him in person. [Me] I can¡¯t answer the phone. 1:05 PM [Me] Let¡¯s talk face to face. 1:06 PM I wonder if he thinks I didn¡¯t die and hid somewhere. I sighed briefly and informed him of the time and ce. [Me] Come to Cafe ¡÷¡÷ at ¡ð¡ð Station by 2 PM. 1:06 PM What does it matter what work you¡¯re doing? You¡¯re an executive, you can get out. I didn¡¯t think much of it and just notified him, then closed the messenger. A whileter. The cafe I arrived at by bus was quiet, as the busiest time had just passed. ¡°Wee.¡± The only part-timer seemed to be busy sorting out the inventory in the corner, as there were no customers. ¡®The atmosphere is not bad.¡¯ It looked like I didn¡¯t have to worry about anyone overhearing us. I ordered the cheapest iced americano and sat down, and soon Kang Jinwoo rushed into the store. He looked around as if he was looking for someone. ¡°Here.¡± I raised my hand awkwardly and looked up at him. Kang Jinwoo¡¯s face turned to shock and horror in an instant. ¡°What the hell is this¡­!¡± He must have been surprised. He ran out after being called by someone he thought was dead. The person waiting for him was too young to be the one he thought was dead, but too simr to be anyone else. ¡°¡­How have you been?¡± He looked shocked and then slightly happy, and his hair turned white. I was too tired to lie shamelessly. I clenched my teeth to keep from saying anything unnecessary. ¡°What the hell¡­ What happened? What¡¯s wrong with you? Am I seeing things?¡± Kang Jinwoo grabbed his head, wondering if he was hallucinating. ¡°Sit down.¡± I calmed down my pounding heart and pulled up the status window, which had no warning messages even though I was deeply involved in Lim Hyun-seong¡¯s affairs. ¡®Status window.¡¯ Then, on the empty screen with no functions, the remaining time, which had decreased by about four hours, was disyed. [Remaining quest duration: 164 hours] ¡°Let me tell you the most curious thing first. It sounds crazy, but I¡¯m dead.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kang Jinwoo touched my shoulder, as if he couldn¡¯t believe it, and was startled when he felt a person instead of a ghost. ¡°What are you talking about? This is not a dream or anything. What the hell is this¡­?¡± ¡°Believe it or not, I don¡¯t have time, so just go with it. You know, like in the movies. Dead peoplee back to life for a few days and stuff.¡± ¡°You call that an exnation?¡± Kang Jinwoo still looked confused, wondering if he was crazy. ¡°You¡¯re not crazy, so don¡¯t think weird things. How¡¯s thepany these days? You haven¡¯t been fired, have you?¡± I asked him in a familiar tone and ent, and Kang Jinwoo answered with shaky eyes. ¡°You¡¯re worried about thepany? Of course it¡¯s a mess. And why would I get fired?¡± It was quite surreal to sit face to face with a high school kid who looked like he was about twenty, and talk to him casually as a forty-something man. Well¡­ was there anything realistic that I experienced after my life as Lim Hyun-seong ended? I chuckled lightly. ¡°I thought you wouldn¡¯t get re-contracted right after the contract ended, since you talk so politely.¡± He didn¡¯t answer, probably worried about the same thing. ¡°You¡¯re fine, you have a lot of savings and your house must have gone up in that neighborhood, but I¡¯m a bit worried about the other employees¡­¡± ¡°Ha. You worry about everything even though you¡¯re dead. What do you mean it wasn¡¯t suicide?¡± Kang Jinwoo shook his head from side to side as if he had juste to his senses and asked abruptly. ¡°It¡¯s exactly what I said. How could I kill myself at that timing, when I had just started a business of that scale?¡± The handwritten will that my family provided to the media was a fake made by copying my handwriting. It had no legal effect anyway, it was just used as evidence to confirm my suicide. ording to my will that I never wrote, I had alienated my family for business gains, but I felt guilty inside, and I lost confidence in the sess that I achieved by abandoning my family, and I felt ashamed and gave up on life. ¡®What a joke.¡¯ How could someone who was having a headache over thewsuit with his family think that way? How could it have been resolved so quickly? I could only think that it was the result of a collusion between the local police, the investigator in charge, and thewyer. ¡°Ha¡­ then are you saying you were murdered?¡± I hesitated at Kang Jinwoo¡¯s confused question. If there were many bidders who expected to get some crumbs from my family¡¯s cooperation inside¡­ ¡®Can I trust this guy?¡¯ I didn¡¯t have time to worry. He couldn¡¯t stand his temper and raised his voice. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that the most important thing? Why can¡¯t you talk?¡± Hmm. Yeah, with that personality, he wouldn¡¯t have survived in the gap between those hyenas. I answered with relief. ¡°There must be a suspect. When did you see me worrying about my family?¡± ¡°Huh¡­ no, yeah. That makes sense, but¡­ ha¡­ how can people be so shameless. No¡­¡± Kang Jinwoo groaned as he washed his face with dry water. ¡°Thepany is in chaos right now. Your brother, no, the current president, wants to sell the shares you gave to your family and keep working as a sried president, and some of the business units are shaking because of that¡­¡± I expected it, but. It was going to the worst. He probably wanted to cash out quickly because he thought he would go bankrupt if he kept meddling, but he also wanted to keep his position as president. ¡®He¡¯s ipetent.¡¯ I clenched my teeth and sighed. ¡°Help me. I don¡¯t have much time.¡± I had about a week left. If I couldn¡¯t persuade Cheon Ise, I had to save thepany somehow. Kang Jinwoo was silent at my desperate request. He must have had a lot of worries too. It was obvious that he was crazy in a situation where he imed that he came back after dying. It wasn¡¯t even a fairy tale. And the magistrate of the fairy tale had the power of investigation and punishment. He was just an executive who received his sry from thepany. And his life depended on the contract period. So I couldn¡¯t me him if he didn¡¯t volunteer. It was enough to be grateful that he told me the internal situation of thepany or gave me some financial help. After a while of silence, Kang Jinwoo opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind. ¡°¡­How?¡± ¡°¡­!¡± I was surprised and grabbed Kang Jinwoo¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you, really. I¡¯m d I contacted you.¡± Then Kang Jinwoo pushed my hand away with a disgusted look. ¡°What are you doing, gross.¡± I had gotten used to the light skinship of these days¡¯ kids, and I didn¡¯t realize that I had made it a habit. ¡°No, yeah. Fine. Let¡¯s move to another ce first.¡± I needed a more secretive ce to make a concrete n. It didn¡¯t seem like anyone would suspect, but it was a weirdbination. ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of things in my life¡­¡± Kang Jinwoo pinched his cheek as if he couldn¡¯t believe it was real. I was about to reflexively ask him if he wanted me to hit him, but I remembered a face and became solemn. ¡®If I think I¡¯ll never see them again¡­ I should go see them at least once.¡¯ I didn¡¯t have the confidence to not break down even if they treated me like some weird crazy stalker. ¡®But I can¡¯t ignore them like this.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t just let go of that side either, for the sake of the employees who were on Cheon Ise¡¯s shoulders. ¡®I should go to a business hotel or something¡­ no, wait. You don¡¯t have any personal information right now, do you?¡¯ Kang Jinwoo hesitated as if he was flustered, thinking of giving me a few 50,000 won bills and some amodation fees before parting. If this was the countryside, I could go to a guesthouse or something. But it was the middle of Seoul, and there was no facility where a minor could stay without proving their identity, except for a temporary shelter. ¡®Where can I go? I can¡¯t go to a PC room either. Because I¡¯m a minor.¡¯ Kang Jinwoo asked me with a worried expression, and I told him to go to the facility. ¡®Won¡¯t you get ripped off by some weird kids there?¡¯ I was about to lecture Kang, the executive director, for his biased remarks, but then I realized I was not in a position to do so and stopped. At least I had solved the inte problem with the device that Kang had hastily activated for me with his own phone n, so the situation was much better than before. ¡®Kang said he would take care of thepany matters. Now I have to think about how to approach Climax again¡­¡¯ I installed SNS and Y-app on my phone and added various idolmunities to my favorites. ¡®I hope nothing else has happened in the meantime.¡¯ I entered the main screen with a nervous feeling and saw a headache-inducing title. [Offbeat, to perform as a 7-member group for the time being] What the hell are they doing now? I felt dizzy. Chapter 242: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 242 They were a group that had debuted less than two weeks ago, and yet they were announcing that they would be performing as a seven-member unit. I clicked on the article with worry, wondering if someone had gotten injured, and found out who was missing from the eight-member lineup. ¡®Sigh¡­ What are they thinking, really?¡¯ If they were ambitious enough to do it, they should have done it well. I felt uneasy as I read the main text that said Cheon Ise had temporarily halted his activities due to health reasons. The members and the staff must not understand either. Until a few weeks ago, he was a perfectionist who finished his tasks wlessly like a machine and did not neglect to supervise others¡¯ work. And then he changed overnight into someone else. I couldn¡¯t me someone who said they were sick, so I could let it go for now, but what about the future? The people who were close to him might not say anything harsh because of their past affection, but there were plenty of people who wanted to tear down a rising rookie group.They would have a hard time responding even if they tried their best, let alone taking a break for health issues. I could already imagine the reactions. [- I¡¯m sick of the health excuses lololol. If they want to make some money and rx their bodies, why did they debut in the first ce?] [- How can they not feel sorry for the members when they miss the activities at such a crucial time?] [- I bet they¡¯ll quit being an idol and start acting soon lololol. Their repertoire is so predictable.] It wasn¡¯t that these responses were justified. Could Cheon Ise¡¯s mental state handle this criticism? The answer was probably ¡®impossible¡¯. He couldn¡¯t run away from the words that would shake his heart even in a normal state, just by closing his eyes and ears. What about the other members? I clenched the phone that Kang Jeonmu had given me andy down on the bed with a thud. Then I heard a sigh from the opposite bunk bed. ¡°Sigh¡­ Do you have the room to yourself?¡± That¡¯s right. This was a shared room. I pulled the nket over my head and swallowed a sigh, holding my breath. I memorized the phone numbers of all the members, but I had no idea how to approach them in this state. Kang Jeonmu knew my original face, and we had so many episodes that only we knew from ten years ago. But the things that happened when I was active as Cheon Ise¡­ They were things that a crazy stalker fan or a famous gossip reporter could easily find out. And it was someone else to begin with. It was impossible to persuade them in the same way. ¡®¡­¡¯ There was no way. Did I have no choice but to pretend to be a resident and hang around near the dorm or the ce where they had a schedule, hoping that someone would recognize me? My head was soplicated that I curled up again, feeling miserable about my current situation. But I had to think. Nothing was solved by running away. I clenched my fist and started to rack my brain. ¡°Good job, everyone!¡± After the shooting was over, everyone put away their smiles that they had been maintaining in front of the camera and sighed long. Yu-geon was also confident in his stamina, but he was exhausted because he had to put all his effort into promoting for theeback for about two weeks before and after. He had to finish the schedule even if it was hard. ¡®But it will be less busy from next week.¡¯ He was holding on without showing it, thinking that he could take a short vacation before preparing for Swift¡¯s debut album, but he was bothered by the recent atmosphere in thepany. Everyone was reluctant to speak, but they must have thought the same. The leader had changed overnight into someone else. The Cheon Ise he knew was a bit blunt at times, but he was basically a warm-hearted type. ¡®Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have brought Shim Naru with him.¡¯ Naru was fortunately doing well without any big idents, and he had some pride in himself, so he was trying to improve his skills rather than his appearance. He was doing his part well. But when he was asked to cooperate for the recruitment, he honestly thought it was a vague position. They didn¡¯tck a main vocal in theposition. Seong-won, who had more expression and singing skills than any veteran singer, was holding on. And Kyunghwa and Seon-woo also had more than enough skills as lead vocals. The vocal line was enough as it was, but he was enthusiastic about recruiting Shim Naru. He thought he was a person who couldn¡¯t ignore the things that were connected to him. But the Cheon Ise now was hardly the same person as before. ¡®Why do I have to do this?¡¯ Everyone was shocked by Cheon Ise¡¯s attitude when Kyunghwa asked him to discuss the activity ideas. Why did he have to care about that? He said. He was busy enough with the activities, and when did he ever do that? He was the leader and the representative of theposition, Cheon Ise. He would never say such irresponsible words. Cheon Ise thought his logic had worked, and he left without a word, taking the manager with him. And the following absurd behavior was even worse. He had been thinking of moving to a new ce soon. But Cheon Ise had never asked him to vacate the house until now, and he was too busy with the activities to keep staying at Cheon Ise¡¯s studio. That day, I finished my schedule as usual and headed to the officetel. To my surprise, the door lock beeped, indicating that the password didn¡¯t match. ¡°What?¡± Why did it change all of a sudden? Was it broken? I pulled the handle, and I heard someone inside. ¡°Who is it?¡± And then, from behind the door, I heard Cheon Ise¡¯s irritated voice. ¡°Huh? Did you change the password?¡± I looked at the open door in disbelief, and Ise threw a bag stuffed with his belongings at me. ¡°Ouch. What is this?¡± He red at me with an unpleasant face that I had never seen before, as if he wanted me to exin. ¡°Why are you living in someone else¡¯s house with your stuff?¡± Why? Because he told me to stay here. I couldn¡¯t hide my frustration and protested. ¡°You said I could stay here.¡± He was silent for a moment, then snapped. ¡°Well, I need to use it now, so get out.¡± I was nning to move out as soon as I finished most of my activities, but it was ridiculous to be treated like an unwee guest who had barged into someone else¡¯s house. In the end, I stayed at Hwijin¡¯s house, who lived nearby, for a day. I didn¡¯t have the time or money to prepare for moving, so I had to share a room with Seong-won at the Climax dorm for a while. It was awkward to share a room with him, but at least he didn¡¯t kick me out like Ise, who had suddenly changed. ¡°Why is he acting like that?¡± I was curious, but that was secondary. I had done my job well, hadn¡¯t I? He wasn¡¯t satisfied with justining about why I had to do it. He also stuttered and stumbled during the group activities, so Kyunghwa ended up taking most of the leader role. Kyunghwa seemed to be used to it, as if he had done it before. But at least in thest year that I had known Cheon Ise, he wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would leave important tasks to others and lie downfortably. Where did the Cheon Ise who flew to Jeju Ind on a dawn flight and picked me up go? In the midst of all this confusion, Cheon Ise finally caused an ident. ¡°You¡¯ve gone crazy. Is it because you¡¯re under too much pressuretely? You¡¯re like a different person.¡± Kyunghwa finally said something after holding it in, and Cheon Ise screamed like he had apulsion. ¡°A different person? Who¡¯s the different person? I¡¯m Cheon Ise, who else is Cheon Ise?¡± He got angry over one word and yelled for a long time, then locked himself in the officetel and texted the manager that he couldn¡¯t work for health reasons. Composition, which had lost its leader and representative at the same time, started to wobble. That happened less than a week after Cheon Ise had changed. ¡°Thank you for your hard work! I¡¯m sorry.¡± Kyunghwa looked pitiful, as he was in charge of adjusting the personnel changes after Cheon Ise suddenly dropped out of all the schedules. ¡°Are you okay? You seem to be pushing yourself too hard.¡± I was no better off, but I was rtively used to this extreme schedule. When it was hard to cover with just Hwijin and Kyunghwa, I tried to block the spit with a smile on my face, hoping to help. Kyunghwa sighed deeply. ¡°Ah¡­ No, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll let you know if I feel too tiredter.¡± He had a lot of pride too. He was rtivelyfortable asking Hwijin for help, but he didn¡¯t like to ask me. ¡°Well, okay.¡± But his attitude seemed strangely familiar, and it bothered me. ¡°Hey, can I ask you something?¡± I crossed my arms and called Kyunghwa, and he looked at me with a polite distance on his face. ¡°Did this happen before? You taking the leader role instead of Ise hyung.¡± I didn¡¯t beat around the bush and threw a straight question. Kyunghwa sighed briefly and answered. ¡°Yes.¡± My eyes widened in surprise. ¡°When?¡± He looked at me with a doubtful eye, as if he didn¡¯t know why he had to tell me. ¡°Uh, well, I just thought it was weird that Ise hyung suddenly changed. He¡¯s like a different person¡­¡± It was strange that he reacted so sensitively to the expression ¡®a different person¡¯, which I used casually. ¡°Well¡­ He was always like that until we prepared for the Drink meeback. Then he suddenly worked hard and I thought he had changed a bit¡­¡± Kyunghwa covered his mouth, as if he regretted saying that. ¡°Just pretend you didn¡¯t hear that.¡± But I wasn¡¯t going to let it go. ¡°Did he change overnight like this?¡± Kyunghwa frowned as if he was annoyed, then confessed as if it was thest time. ¡°Yes. But he said he had to change like that or he wouldn¡¯t change, so I thought that was it.¡± My eyes narrowed for a moment, then returned to normal. Then I voiced the suspicion that I had been harboring. ¡°Could it be¡­¡± I heard the sound of Kyunghwa swallowing his dry saliva nervously. ¡°Split personality? You don¡¯t have that, do you?¡± At the same time, his face turned contemptuous as he rxed. ¡°Haha, of course not. Anyway, I understand. Let me know if you need anything.¡± He turned around with a joke. But his doubt remained unresolved. ¡®Something¡­ there must be something more.¡¯ He walked away, leaving only a vague suspicion without any evidence. Chapter 243: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 243 When Offbeat started their activities as a seven-member group without Cheon Ise, I was lying in a corner of the dorm-like shelter, browsing through SNS. ¡®I should be thinking of how to approach him, not this¡­¡¯ It seemed too risky to approach him physically. Cheon Ise didn¡¯t seem like the type to sulk in his dorm, so he probably went back to his hometown or his own apartment. But what about Kang Yu-geon in his apartment? Were they okay? I checked out Kang Yu-geon¡¯s personal Y-app video that was recently uploaded, and saw that the background had changed to Seongwon¡¯s room. ¡®He got kicked out.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know the details or the situation, but it was obvious that he had been evicted without any time to find a new ce.¡®Kang Yu-geon must have thought he was crazy.¡¯ He let him in and told him to make himselffortable, and then suddenly sent him to the dorm¡­ It was like he had switched personalities. I felt sorry, but there was nothing I could do for him right now. ¡®Then the only thing I can do right now is¡­¡¯ I remembered that Cheon Ise had changed the password and taken over the ount I used for searching and subscribing. ¡®Oh.¡¯ It would be fatal if I contacted him by phone and got blocked. But SNS was less risky. I could just create a new ount and talk to him again. I quietly snapped my fingers as if I had a good idea, and created a new ount right away. [ID] [substitute1] And I immediately entered the DM window of the ount I used for searching. What should I say? Give me back my body? But it wasn¡¯t really my body anyway. So I wasn¡¯t in a position to demand it back confidently. My ultimate goal as Cheon Ise was revenge. I didn¡¯t have much attachment to my life¡­ Well, I was human too, so I couldn¡¯t say I had none at all. As long as Cheon Ise and the members, the Composition staff, and the other people involved in the business I did as Cheon Ise were safe, and my revenge was sessful, I didn¡¯t need to take back my body. Rather than forcing Cheon Ise to give me back my body, it would be better to teach him how to deal with this difficult and burdensome situation more flexibly. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not like he can do well right away just because I teach him.¡¯ But he should do well if he took the opportunity that someone else gave him. For the sake of the people around him. I racked my brain and wrote a message. [Do you know who I am?] [Let¡¯s talk for a bit.] This looked suspicious no matter how I looked at it. But there was no way to introduce myself that didn¡¯t look suspicious. Whatever I said, it would look weird, and Cheon Ise would have to be wary of me anyway. Especially if he thought of me as a thief who stole his life. As I red at the DM window, I got a notification that he had read the message. ¡®He must have been holding his phone all this time.¡¯ Then he must have known that he was being cursed all this time. The fans were disappointed that ¡®Severgy¡¯, who had made them fall for him with his responsible attitude, had suddenly changed into someone irresponsible. I waited for him to reply or make an excuse, but I got a notification that was not very pleasant. [You can no longer send messages or view the profile of this user.] ¡®What?¡¯ He blocked me? Couldn¡¯t he at least say something or make an excuse? He just blocked me without a word. I quickly deleted the ount and made a new one. [ID] [substitute2] Let¡¯s see if he can block me again. [Let¡¯s talk for a bit.] [You can¡¯t handle this situation by yourself.] [I didn¡¯t contact you to ask for my body back.] But he blocked me again in two minutes. Damn it! I was getting more annoyed than worried, and I swiftly made a new ount. [ID] [substitute3] [I didn¡¯t ask for my body back.] [Why did you stop your activities?] [Didn¡¯t you want to be a good idol and get your body back?] [Then do well, what are you doing right now?] I wanted to say more harsh words, but I was the victim here. I wondered how he would react this time. Would he say it was obvious¡­ He blocked me again. What was he trying to do, not listening to me? If he didn¡¯t want me to interfere, he should do well on his own. My head started to ache. ¡®Do I have to go to him after all?¡¯ I booked a call taxi to the area where Cheon Ise¡¯s apartment, where he was likely to be holed up, was located. The taxi driver looked confused and suspicious when a young kid hailed a cab in front of the youth center in the middle of the night and headed to a luxury residential area. He wondered if the kid was involved in some crime. ¡®What excuse could I give that wouldn¡¯t sound weird?¡¯ If I said, ¡®I¡¯m going to meet a friend^^¡¯, he would probably doubt if that friend really considered me a friend. I kept my mouth shut and looked out the window. It had been a while since I walked around without any disguise at such ate hour, as I had been living as a semi-celebrity for some time. Now I was just an ordinary kid that most of the nation didn¡¯t even know existed. Not an idol who would be surrounded by pedestrians and gawked at with curiosity, saying, ¡®Look, it¡¯s Cheon Ise!¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ it¡¯s honestlyfortable to walk around with my bare face and not care about anyone.¡¯ But I felt strange. So this is how it feels when no one recognizes me. I felt like I had be invisible, as if the countless gazes that had been on me had disappeared at once. I shook off the feeling of alienation for a moment, and soon the taxi arrived at theplex. ¡°Thank you.¡± I paid the fare and sent off the driver, who still had a doubtful expression on his face. I looked up at the skyscraper-like officetel and felt a bit odd. Was Cheon Ise, at the top floor, trembling and ignoring the problems that he couldn¡¯t solve? But he couldn¡¯t run away anymore. If he was going to continue living the life that I had revived for him, he had to face them. Sometimes it might be better to run away from problems. But if he wasn¡¯t going to quit that field forever, avoidance wouldn¡¯t help with most problems. It would only make the situation worse. If he wanted to keep being an idol, and if he had even a little bit of affection for Climax, he couldn¡¯t go on like this. I pressed the inte password, thinking that I would grab Cheon Ise by the cor and p some sense into him. The inte number wasmon for all households, so I could enter without any trouble. ¡®The problem is now¡­ his personal room.¡¯ As I stood in front of the door, I felt a bit nervous, but then I remembered that the members were having a hard time taking care of Cheon Ise and pulled myself together. ¡®If you make a mess, don¡¯t run away and deal with it properly.¡¯ That way, I could rest assured and either reincarnate or disappear. I pressed the doorbell out of courtesy, but there was no response. Was he not home? Or was he pretending to be? I tried to turn the handle and pull the door, but of course it didn¡¯t open. I tried to enter the password, hoping for a miracle, but I got a message saying that the password was incorrect and that I couldn¡¯t press the password anymore. ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ This was troublesome. Judging by theck of any sound from inside, there was a good chance that he had gone to his parents¡¯ house. That would be even more troublesome. I had impressed Chairman Cheon and got his investment and cooperation, but if he saw Cheon Ise¡¯s irresponsible avoidance, he would be disappointed again. I had barely pushed for the sd business that Vice Chairman had opposed, but if he kept doing this¡­ There were more than one or two problems like this. ¡®For now, let¡¯s go back to the shelter. And go to his parents¡¯ house in the daytime.¡¯ I checked the time on my phone and it was already dawn. I had to get some sleep and wake up and go to his parents¡¯ house. I thought about what I was going to do and took the elevator down, but on the first floor, I almost collided with another resident with the elevator door between us. ¡°Oops.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I quickly apologized and looked up, and the other person also apologized to me as if he was surprised. ¡°No, it¡¯s my fault too. I¡¯m sorry.¡± I was startled by the familiar voice and opened my eyes wide, and there was a face that I had seen too much until a few days ago. ¡°Oh. You go ahead.¡± The other person looked a bit embarrassed that I recognized him, but he had a confident expression that showed hisposure. The guy who was still shining with his face even in this distressing situation. It was Kang Yu-geon. ¡°Ah¡­¡± I was so flustered that I couldn¡¯t say anything, and Yu-geon smiled as if he understood and stepped aside. His expression was so annoying. I wasn¡¯t surprised because I saw a celebrity for the first time. I wanted to say something, but we weren¡¯t in that kind of rtionship. Just a regr pedestrian and a superstar. There was nothing to say except, ¡®You go ahead.¡¯ But I had hoped that he would recognize me or remember what happened during the quest if we met one-on-one, but Yu-geon acted like he was seeing a stranger for the first time. ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± I had no choice but to pass by here. I felt a bit bitter and turned around, when. Yu-geon suddenly looked back at me and asked. ¡°Uh, excuse me.¡± ¡®What?¡¯ But what came back was a sentence that made me even more annoyed. ¡°Have you ever been to the Floss fan signing event?¡± I looked at Yu-geon with a bit of contempt and answered. ¡°No.¡± What are you talking about? Why would I go to Floss¡¯s fan signing event? I quickly left the lobby and caught a taxi outside. It waste at night and the taxis were busy with drunk customers. I was worried that I might get rejected, but I got a taxi right away. The direction was also good for picking up more passengers, so I had no trouble getting back to the shelter. But I was not in a good mood. I guess it was natural that he didn¡¯t recognize me. But I couldn¡¯t help feeling hurt. I was so worried about him, knowing that he was supposed to debut. But it felt like everything was a mirage and I was the only one who remembered. My heart sank. ¡®But I don¡¯t have time to be sulking like this.¡¯ I created a new SNS ount and sent a DM to Cheon Ise. But I didn¡¯t know if he was sleeping or not looking at his phone. Or maybe he just decided to ignore me. This time, there was no read receipt or block. ¡®I¡¯ll barge in as soon as the morninges.¡¯ I knew I would be stopped by his manager, but I had to find a way to get in. I would grab his cor and yell at him, ¡°What¡¯s your lifelong wish if you can¡¯t do this much? You¡¯re not desperate, you just wanted to me others for your failure.¡± Maybe that would wake him up. But I couldn¡¯t know that until I tried. ¡®Ugh¡­¡¯ My head was throbbing. [Time left toplete the quest: 153 hours] I didn¡¯t have much time. I had to do something to avoid regret. I stayed up all night with my eyes wide open. Soon, the sun rose and the morning came. Chapter 244: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 244 I didn¡¯t want to go too early and look suspicious, so I killed time until lunch by browsing articles rted to Offbeat. Fortunately, the other members were working hard to fill the gap left by Cheon Ise, and I could easily find news about their activities. I also didn¡¯t forget to feed the fans with some personal Y-apps. A clip of Seon-woo being shocked by the fans¡¯ rmendations of diet-friendlyte-night snacks, such as pig¡¯s feet, bossam, rose tteokbokki, chicken, and pizza, on his Y-app where he ate konjac tteokbokki for diet, was shared over 20,000 times. He probably didn¡¯t expect that much of a reaction. [- Seon-woo, you don¡¯t have to be so shocked?????????????] [- The reaction of God-Banin who is surprised by my daily diet?????????][- You eat that at night? Oh, not just one, but several? ¡ûI was so shocked that I felt hurt] [- Seberji must have been strict with the management???????] Sometimes there werements looking for me, and my heart sank. ¡®They¡¯re all doing well.¡¯ I thought it might be better to just exclude Cheon Ise and continue as a seven-member group. ¡®Then what about theposition?¡¯ It would be best to be absorbed back into W and be abel with only a separate name. It wasn¡¯t the direction I wanted, but it would be better than having the unit and the group disintegrate. I felt bitter. Cheon Ise¡­ It would be best if he could pull himself together and take over well. ¡®I have to check his condition first.¡¯ As soon as it was time for me to visit him without looking weird, I jumped up from my seat. The kids who shared the room with me, who looked like high school students, nced at me. I felt embarrassed by the unwanted attention, but now was not the time to care. I walked out of the dorm and took a bus. ¡®¡­¡¯ The main house where the chairman of Cheon Soo Group and his family lived was about 40 minutes away by public transportation. As I looked out the window, a scene from music video was being broadcasted on arge billboard. I stared nkly at the song and the screen, which I had not missed a single part of the review, and soon the bus moved away from the billboard. I turned my head and looked at it until it became as small as a fingernail, and variousplicated thoughts came to my mind. I was no longer Cheon Ise. So I shouldn¡¯t have any attachment to what was not mine from the beginning, and what was not mine now. ¡®The truth is¡­¡¯ No, don¡¯t think about it. I shook my head and checked the station to get off, then pressed the bell. It was better to move quickly than to be depressed by assuming impossible things. I switched to a new bus in a hurry, and this route was crowded with people. ¡®There are a lot of students.¡¯ They had a lot of key rings hanging from their bags or behind their phones. ¡®We also had those goods.¡¯ As I thought, I saw an Offbeat key ring that was on sale behind the grip talk of a student wearing a nearby high school uniform. ¡°I was so sleepy because I watched Y-app until dawn yesterday.¡± ¡°Who did you watch? Oh Ha-seon? Or Lee Hwijin?¡± ¡°Lee Hwijin. He usually doesn¡¯t do it for that long by himself, but yesterday he responded well to the chat and did it for a long time.¡± My heart skipped a beat at the familiar name that came into my ears. ¡°Some of the Climax members joined in the middle, so it was a bit chaotic. But it was fun because they were all close.¡± They had been stuck together for a long time, traveling and preparing for the music, and now they seemed to have gotten over the awkwardness and became closer. ¡®Really¡­ If only Cheon Ise could hold the center a little better.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t rx with the guy who was causing a fuss in the leader¡¯s seat. As soon as it was my turn to get off, I got up from my seat and a dagger-like word stabbed my ear. ¡°But what¡¯s wrong with Cheon Ise? Why is he on hiatus all of a sudden?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe he¡¯ll get depressed or have panic disorder soon. He wouldn¡¯t want to do that either.¡± The bus stopped at the station near the Cheon Soo Group¡¯s main house, along with the fans¡¯mon guesses. ¡°Student, aren¡¯t you getting off?¡± The driver called me loudly as I hesitated. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m getting off!¡± I hurriedly came to my senses and stepped outside. He was a guy who had been driven to an extreme choice without any skills. Cheon Ise must have some awareness that he had to do something. But he didn¡¯t know what to do or have confidence in doing it well, so that was the problem. And the responsibility was too heavy. He might have just run away because he didn¡¯t know how to deal with it. Then I should tell him how to get out of it. So don¡¯t misunderstand and hide or block me. I arrived at the huge mansion and took a short breath. ¡®It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve done something simr before.¡¯ I calmly pressed the doorbell. Soon, I heard a voice from inside. ¡°Who is it?¡± I answered calmly. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m a friend of Ise. Can I see him for a moment?¡± ¡°A friend of the young master?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a trainee at W. Yu-geon told me toe here and check on Ise. He was supposed toe with me, but he got caught up in something, so I came first. We had something to discuss about thepany¡¯s n, but he¡¯s not answering his phone. It¡¯s kind of urgent.¡± I sold out Yu-geon and dragged in thepany¡¯s story. The location of the Cheon Soo Group chairman¡¯s residence was already known nationwide, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange if I was mistaken for a fan. I racked my brain, wondering if I should show them the members¡¯ numbers stored on my phone and pretend to be a trainee. But then, the gate opened with a buzz. ¡°Come in for now.¡± It opened so easily? I was surprised by how easily I passed the first gate. I sighed with relief and headed to the entrance. Did he not go to work today? Creak, the door opened and Vice Chairman Ahn greeted me with a worried expression. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Ise is not feeling well. He got worse after he came home yesterday. He won¡¯t be able to work for a while.¡± He was so polite to a kid who looked like a freshman in college. It showed what kind of person Vice Chairman Ahn was. ¡°Is there anything else wrong with him besides his mental health?¡± I asked casually to check on Ise¡¯s condition. Vice Chairman Ahn sighed deeply. He got up quietly and took me to the second floor. He opened the door to the quietest room on the floor. ¡®Oh no.¡¯ Ise was lying on the bed with a pale face, almost like he fainted. ¡®It feels so weird to see him like this after looking at him in the mirror.¡¯ It was awkward. His skin was pale and dry, and his lips were blue, like a dying person. He closed his eyes weakly. ¡°He had a thorough check-up at the hospital, but they said nothing was wrong. They said it was just a mental problem that caused his condition to deteriorate. But he can¡¯t get up, and it¡¯s a big problem.¡± Damaged data. Even if he was the owner of the body, something was wrong. I was looking down at the bed silently, when Ise¡¯s eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes. His blurred eyes showed through his trembling eyelids. His eyes wandered around and then met mine. Ise gasped and sat up. ¡°Who, who are you!? Why, why are you here? How did you get here!?¡± He reacted violently, as if he saw a ghost. Vice Chairman Ahn ran to him and supported him. ¡°I let him in because he said he had something to discuss with you about thepany. You don¡¯t seem well, so I¡¯ll tell him toe backter. Don¡¯t push yourself too hard¡­¡± Ise shook off Vice Chairman Ahn¡¯s support and yelled. ¡°Get him out of here! Don¡¯t let anyone in the house again!¡± Well, I was kind of like a ghost. He clearly recognized me. He was shocked by Ise¡¯s fierce rejection. Vice Chairman Ahn apologized to me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve been thinking about taking him to a psychiatrist, but he¡¯s been refusing so strongly. I¡¯ll apologize for him.¡± I expected this reaction, so I calmly opened my mouth. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. But¡­¡± I bravely went back into the room and spoke to Ise, who was breathing heavily. ¡°Can you handle this?¡± He didn¡¯t look well at all. He had nothing wrong with him ording to the health check, but he looked like this. There must have been a problem somewhere else. ¡°Don¡¯t joke with me! I¡¯m the owner of this body, what do you mean I can¡¯t handle it?¡± He looked like a zombie. He meant that he couldn¡¯t function normally even if it was his body. ¡°Get out of here, you think you can take over someone else¡¯s life for a while and act like it¡¯s yours. You think I¡¯ll disappear for you?¡± My expression cooled down. This was bad. Even if he was sane, it would be hard. I sighed and answered. ¡°Whether you¡¯re stubborn or not. I can solve the problems you can¡¯t.¡± He screamed again. ¡°What are you doing? Don¡¯t you hear me telling you to get out!?¡± While the servants rushed in and tried to stop me, I opened my mouth after a moment of thought. ¡°I¡¯m not here to take your body back, so don¡¯t misunderstand. The offbeat,position, and climax that you¡¯re ruining are precious to me too. I came here to tell you to ept my help before it¡¯s toote.¡± Ise¡¯s eyes widened with surprise. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ disappearing soon. If you want my help, contact me soon. The dream of being an idol was precious to you, and the members and thepany are precious to me too. It¡¯s not just important to you.¡± Ise¡¯s eyes shook again, and he said nothing. Instead, his body tilted and fell on the sheet. I couldn¡¯t expect a proper answer from him in this state. I bowed to the restless servants and said to Vice Chairman Ahn. ¡°He¡¯s definitely¡­ not like himself. He¡¯s too sensitive and it¡¯s hard to talk to him. I¡¯m sorry for the trouble.¡± I left behind the noisy farewell and stepped out of the entrance. Creak, the huge iron gate opened towards the outside and the moment I set foot with a troubled mind. ¡°Uh.¡± The being that I had sold off to get inside was standing right in front of the door. ¡°Huh?¡± Yu-geon¡¯s eyes were filled with surprise as he looked at me. Chapter 245: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 245 ¡°Who are you¡­?¡± Yu-geon asked me with a surprised look. ¡°Do you know Ise hyung?¡± Of course I do. But I had no need to exin everything to Yu-geon, and even if I did, he would think I was crazy. ¡°Uh, yes.¡± I felt a faint hope that he might remember me if I looked at him longer.But I decided not to cling to a vain wish and turned to leave. That¡¯s when Yu-geon grabbed my wrist. ¡°Hey, wait a minute.¡± ¡°¡­?¡± I narrowed my eyes and looked up at him. He gave me a strange expression, as if he was puzzled. ¡°Why do you look so familiar? Have we met somewhere before?¡± I drew a clear line. ¡°We saw each other once at the entrance of the officetel.¡± ¡°Not that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all.¡± He then scanned me carefully, as if he was dissecting me. I felt a chill run down my spine from his piercing gaze, as if he had survived the fierce entertainment industry for nothing. ¡°Hmm~. Why can¡¯t I remember? Your face and your way of speaking are so familiar.¡± I pushed his hand away with disgust. What kind of pick-up line was that? Gross. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense.¡± As I was about to shake him off and turn away, the status window that had been neglecting its duty popped up. [You have a system function avable. Do you want to check it?] [Yes/No] What? All of a sudden? The thing that had been quiet all along suddenly appeared and showed me a notice. I couldn¡¯t erase my doubt, but I decided to check it anyway. ¡®Yes.¡¯ Then a red-lettered item description window appeared. [>Special Item] [Data Transfer Right] [Limited Function Only] It was the item that I had asked about before, something that prevented data damage in case of an error. ¡®What happens if I use it?¡¯ [You can partially transfer a copy of the data you want to transfer to another storage.] ¡®¡­!¡¯ It was a very tempting function that I heard for the first time in a long time. [Due to the limitation of the function, you can only transfer data less than a week in real time.] Meanwhile, the system screen kept flickering and shaking, as if it was trying to recover and didn¡¯t have enough power to show me the notice. ¡®Do I have to think about what will happen if I can¡¯t use this either?¡¯ If I wanted to give someone my memories from the virtual idol days and ask for their cooperation, honestly¡­ Hwijin was more suitable than Yu-geon. Because¡­ he had more influence, I guess. Yu-geon had a hard time working with the staff in a friendly manner because of the schedule disruption during the Floss days. ????¦¢??? When he was in Floss, he was the undisputed top star and did so well that he usually got the upper hand and came in first. But people who didn¡¯t know the situation probably saw him as a ¡®star who went wild with poprity¡¯. Even if Offbeat was doing pretty well, it would be difficult to have the same influence as he did in the Floss days. ¡®Well¡­ there are one or two celebrities who changed their attitude after the project group disbanded.¡¯ From what I heard, there were rumors flying around like gossip, and Yu-geon was treated as a bit of a downgrade. There were even staff who wouldn¡¯t even greet him. So it would be better to save it and use it when I had a chance to meet Hwijinter, rationally speaking. ¡®But will there be a next time?¡¯ He was a person I could hardly meet again unless I ran into him by chance. I was just an unregistered teenager who didn¡¯t exist in this world in the first ce. If I followed him to some schedule next time, the staff and security would block me. I paused for a moment, stopped walking, and thought about it. Then I turned back to Yu-geon. His eyebrows twitched with a smug look that made me want to p him. ¡®¡­¡¯ I was annoyed, but this was not the time to argue. ¡®I¡¯ll use it.¡¯ As soon as I said that, the status window shed and disappeared. At the same time, Yu-geon clutched his head as if he had a headache. ¡°Ugh. My head suddenly¡­¡± He tilted his head in confusion and looked at me again. ¡°Why do I suddenly have this strange memory¡­ or is it not? What is this?¡± He seemed to be bewildered by the contrast between his experience on the idol stage in reality and the memory that was unexpectedly transmitted to him. I watched Yu-geon for a moment and then opened my mouth with a sigh. ¡°I told you to ask me for help anytime, right?¡± Then let¡¯s take that help now. Yu-geon, who had been rxed until a while ago, frowned and asked. ¡°Who are you, exactly? Why¡­ no¡­¡± He looked puzzled, as if he had dreamed of a memory that was different from his own reality. I didn¡¯t have anything to say, even if it was a bit mean. It was nice to see that annoying guy, who wasn¡¯t crying or anything, just looking dumbfounded with a lot of questions on his face. I snickered andughed with a deting sound. ¡°I¡¯m the person who saved you three times.¡± It was time for the spring weather to start, but it was unusually cold. Snowkes began to fall from the sky. A little while ago, Yu-geon was lying on the sofa, enjoying a brief break in the tense dorm. ¡°Meow!¡± The cat with a spotted pattern didn¡¯t like Yu-geon taking up the sofa and cried out loudly. ¡°Hey, why. Don¡¯t chase me away, too.¡± Yu-geon grabbed the cat by the armpit and lifted it up, and the cat struggled fiercely as if to say, where are you touching? ¡°Come on.¡± Yu-geon calmed the cat down by stroking its forehead to the top of its head, and the cat, who had softened, climbed up to Yu-geon¡¯s chest and curled up. The cat seemed to like the warm human cushion, and for once, it became obedient and growled softly. It was already the third day since he had stayed at the Climax dorm. He had gotten used to it to some extent, but it was still awkward. ¡®Wasn¡¯t there a dog, too?¡¯ He asked the other members, and they said it was a dog that Ise had brought in from the beginning, and when he asked why he didn¡¯t see it anymore, he said he had sent it somewhere else on his own and got angry. Even Yi-jun, who usually didn¡¯t fight with Ise, got mad at him for being so irresponsible. ¡®I can¡¯t believe he would do that¡­¡¯ He was not the kind of person who would casually abandon a dog, not a person, with a sense of responsibility that was more than twice as strong as others. ¡®Is he really a split personality or something?¡¯ If not, how could a person change so much? Yu-geon wondered, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what the problem was because he couldn¡¯t reach Ise. ¡®I don¡¯t know if he can¡¯t do the activities because he¡¯s sick, mentally or physically,¡¯ The only thing that was clear was that if he left it like this, most of the things that Cheon Ise had done would be in vain. Climax, Offbeat, and Swift would still maintain their reputation if they went back to W, but The sd funding and thepositionbel that he had been pushing for himself were almost certain to copse. And that was the same for Cheon Ise¡¯s reputation. ¡®Come to think of it, his reputation wasn¡¯t that good a year ago.¡¯ Hwijin didn¡¯t seem to believe him when he said that Cheon Ise had changed. He brought the dog after that. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ He wasn¡¯t sure or suspicious that he had a split personality. But it was a situation that was hard to exin otherwise. Even if it wasn¡¯t a split personality, there must be some other disease that made his personality go back and forth. Yu-geon shrugged his shoulders and sat the cat in a corner of the sofa and got up. ¡®Let¡¯s go to his house for now.¡¯ He said he had moved from the officetel to his home. It was a situation where he expected to be turned away at the door, but he knew the address and phone number that he had received through the manager. ¡®Even if I hadn¡¯t received it from the manager, honestly, everyone in the country would know where the Cheon Soo Group family lives with one search.¡¯ He called the house first and a middle-aged woman who said she was his mother answered. He said he wanted to visit him and she dly said he coulde. He sighed deeply and changed into his outdoor clothes and called a taxi to go down to the parking lot. His steps were not light at all. He drove for about 30 minutes and paid the taxi fare and got off. What kind of house is this big? A huge mansion appeared. ¡®He was a much richer son than I thought.¡¯ Well, it was Cheon Soo Group, so it was obvious. He was surprised by his frugal lifestyle andck of luxury, unlike a rich son. He took a short breath and was about to ring the doorbell when someone opened the door and came out. ¡®Who is it? Did another member say they would visit first?¡¯ He wondered and checked his face. He was engulfed by an inexplicable sense of familiarity. A neat face that looked gentle but also stubborn. It wasn¡¯t the shy face that you usually think of when you think of an idol, but his features were clear and he looked sincere, making him look like he would be popr. And then, a momentter, strange memories shed through my head like a carousel, apanied by a terrible headache. ¡°Who are you? Why¡­ No¡­¡± What¡¯s going on? I couldn¡¯t understand what was happening in my head. Then, a familiar-faced male student chuckled and answered with a smile. ¡°The person who saved you three times.¡± What nonsense is this? But I vividly remembered myself telling him confidently to ask me for help anytime. But that couldn¡¯t be. When I was filming for My Idol Stage, I shared a four-person room with only one other person, and he was eliminated in the first round of re-evaluation, so I was forced to move to another room after that. And in that room, I was at the center of the argument, and all kinds of trivial scenes were aired like clips. Why? I kept seeing a blurry scene of him standing next to Hwijin. I became friends with Hwijin after the final debut members were confirmed. There was no way that the three of us had shared a room. But why did I remember it so vividly¡­ ¡°¡­¡± Why did I feel like crying? ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere first.¡± The male student, who looked younger than me, casually spoke in informalnguage and caught the snowkes. He acted as if he was very familiar with this situation. ¡°No¡­ What is this¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just go somewhere and sit down and talk. It¡¯s going to be a long story.¡± With a faint sigh, Yu-geon was dragged out to the street with his wrist held tightly. He had a better physique than him, but his grip was so strong that he couldn¡¯t resist. ¡°Wait¡­!¡± ¡°Never mind that, let¡¯s just go somewhere.¡± ng, Yu-geon was dragged into a random cafe nearby and quickly put on his hat and sat down in a separated seat. ¡°Who are you?¡± When he asked for the second time, the male student spouted nonsense again. ¡°The person who brought you out of the emergency stairs and put you on stage, whoforted you when you ran away and felt depressed, who went to Jeju Ind and brought you back on a dawn flight.¡± Chapter 246: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 246 ¡°You¡¯re the one who took me out of the emergency stairs, put me on the stage,forted me when I ran away and felt depressed after suffering a disadvantage, and brought me back on a dawn flight from Jeju Ind.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what I was saying. Who would believe this? I was sure they would think I was crazy, but it was now or never. I had nowhere else to retreat. ¡°ording to the order, 1, 2, 3, number 1 and 3 are the same person, but number 2 is a different person. What do you mean by that?¡± Yu-geon narrowed his eyes and frowned. He couldn¡¯t understand why number 2, which didn¡¯t happen in reality, was still in his memory so unexpectedly. ¡°Where do I start exining this¡­¡± I sighed deeply, and Yu-geon furrowed his brows as if he wanted to sigh too.¡°What are you trying to say now?¡± I looked up at Yu-geon¡¯s face, full of discontent. I wondered if he would trust me as much as I trusted him. But before that, could he ept this unbelievable story? But then again, since he changed into a different person at some point, maybe it wasn¡¯t impossible to believe. ¡°What is it now?¡± Yu-geon red at me as if he wanted me to hurry up. ¡®What will I do if I don¡¯t say it here?¡¯ It was a dead end. Believe it or not. It was an inevitable choice to keep the climax, the offbeat, and theposition. ¡°Come on, click faster. I have more than one or two things to download. Why are you so rxed?¡± ¡°I¡¯m downloading, okay? The inte speed is always like this. It won¡¯t work faster if you click faster.¡± As I impatiently snatched the mouse from Yu-geon and quickly organized the downloaded files, he looked at me with an incredulous expression. ¡°Why, this is much neater, isn¡¯t it? You can also check the emails by dividing them into conversations like this.¡± Yu-geon and I were having a heated argument in theposition office. It was a small conference room with good soundproofing. First of all, I needed to check how thepany was running, so I logged into the cloud with a business ount that Cheon Ise had never essed before. There were backup records of the employees¡¯ work. ????£Â§¦s? It would take too long to ess, open, and save each one online, so I decided to download all the files at once. He said he would organize the files he received on hisptop, but I pushed him away and took the mouse. ¡°Oh, this. I told them not to match the price and go somewhere else because of the print quality, but they matched the price.¡± From the second MD production status to be delivered soon, to the recent meeting report with the advertising agency. My eyes were busy with the backlog of more than a week. I quicklymented and corrected, saved and re-uploaded, and notified the person in charge. Yu-geon looked at me with his mouth wide open. ¡°Why, do you believe me a little now?¡± From the tone of voice to the habits and minor document formats. Yu-geon and I were not in a position to work together in writing, so he probably didn¡¯t know exactly what I did. But anyone who wasn¡¯t in charge of, or rather, overseeing all the desks in thepany for a long time wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve this level of uracy and speed. ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here now.¡± As I started to make a handover document so that someone could take over my work even if I disappearedpletely, Yu-geon rubbed his eyes and looked at me again. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to do anything, go and get me some coffee. If you open the left cab in the pantry, you¡¯ll find a half-caffeine capsule.¡± He shrugged his shoulders and went out to make coffee with a confident attitude that even ordered me to run errands. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it.¡± ¡°You have to believe it even if you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just an expression.¡± A few hours ago. He must have thought I was crazy, but I told him to just ept it without trying to understand it. The atmosphere was not like this then. He seemed to think it was strange that Cheon Ise had changed so much, but he was still different. The most usible thing inmon sense was a split personality, but he wouldn¡¯t understand anything about a system or hacking. So I omitted a lot of details and summarized it as sinctly as possible. ¡®I¡¯ was originally a person who died unjustly, and after I died, I couldn¡¯t rest in peace and wandered around as a ghost. I entered Cheon Ise¡¯s empty body after he attempted suicide and lived for about a year. It was his original life that died, so I should have cheered him on when he regained his consciousness, but I was worried about the remaining work, so I was able to stay for another week. Something like that. It was amon plot for a family movie or a weekend drama. Yu-geon didn¡¯t believe it, of course, and he tried to get up right away, but I held him back by telling him some stories that only insiders would know. Even after that, he still looked at me with doubtful eyes and asked me to let him go to the office and ess theposition¡¯s internal server. So I borrowed Yu-geon¡¯sptop and logged in with the representative ount and password that Cheon Ise used. As I casually handled the backlog of work, Yu-geon seemed to have epted that the work that Cheon Ise had done so far was my work, even though he didn¡¯t know what had happened. ¡°What the hell is this¡­¡± He kept rubbing his eyes, wondering if he was seeing something wrong, and I snapped at him. ¡°If you keep rubbing your eyes like that, you¡¯ll get conjunctivitis.¡± Yu-geon answered with his arms crossed, as if he knew what I was talking about. ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Then restrain yourself. I saw that you have a variety show tonight.¡± As I pointed out the schedule that I checked while making coffee, Yu-geon looked at me as if he couldn¡¯t believe such a person existed. ¡°Don¡¯t ke out.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Yu-geon checked the time, remembering the schedule he had momentarily forgotten. It had been two hours since we entered the conference room. ¡°I have to go soon. What should I do? Should I inform the otherpany people?¡± Yu-geon asked anxiously, looking at the clock, and I sighed in relief, thinking that I had put out the urgent fire. ¡°Tomorrow you have a full day of outside schedules, right? It¡¯ll be hard toe to the office, won¡¯t it?¡± Yu-geon shrugged his shoulders as if it was obvious. ¡°Probably?¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll set up a VPN ount for you, so just lend me this for a while.¡± I tapped theptop screen with the back of my hand, pointing at it, and Yu-geon made a dumbfounded expression. ¡°It¡¯s not even a week before I return it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re so confident, really.¡± ¡°You promised me. You said you¡¯d ask me for anything I can help with.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I said anything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the same thing.¡± I brushed off the confusing memories of my idol days as something like a parallel world. He obviously didn¡¯t buy it, but he couldn¡¯t deny it since he had the memories. ¡°Just get ready for the schedule. I¡¯ll take this and go to a cafe or something.¡± I finished setting up the VPN ount so I could ess thepany server from outside and slowly got up from my seat. Yu-geon still looked displeased and asked me. ¡°Where will you go when the cafe closes?¡± ¡°I have a ce to stay.¡± ¡°You said you were dead.¡± He seemed to worry about everything. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯re not the only one who owes me a favor.¡± Then Yu-geon added hesitantly. ¡°Are you not going to tell the members?¡± I couldn¡¯t answer right away and fell into thought. If I could exin to them like I did to Yu-geon, with my work skills and past activities, it would be better to tell them. But could I make all six of them understand? That was honestly close to impossible. Even Yu-geon wouldn¡¯t have agreed to cooperate with me if data transfer was impossible and I couldn¡¯t tell him in a somewhat usible way. ¡°You¡¯d be happy if they believed you, but honestly, don¡¯t you feel like you¡¯re possessed by a ghost right now?¡± Yu-geon nodded with a disgruntled expression. ¡°There¡¯s no point in telling them. They¡¯ll think you¡¯re weird and you¡¯ll go crazy too. I¡¯ll just handle it until Cheon Ise wakes up.¡± What if Cheon Ise¡­ never regains consciousness? I shivered at the chilling assumption, but there was no way out. I swallowed a short sigh and looked at the time. Yu-geon had to move to the shop soon. ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯m done with everything. I¡¯ll give you my number, so call me if anything weird happens or when you finish the schedule.¡± I casually gestured to Yu-geon to hand me his phone. Yu-geon reluctantly handed me his phone, and I saved the temporary number I received and gave it back to him. ¡°What¡¯s your number?¡± ¡°010-XXXX-XXXX, right?¡± Yu-geon¡¯s eyebrows twitched. ¡°Memorize the numbers of the people you¡¯re close with. You never know what might happen.¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± He still looked doubtful, as if he couldn¡¯t believe it. I ignored Yu-geon¡¯s reaction and put theptop in my bag and got up from my seat. As we left the conference room together, we ran into the employees and exchanged greetings on the spot. They nodded as if they understood when I said he was a trainee I brought for work. But they asked me to be more careful with security as I left. Yu-geon headed to the cafe under the building to join the road manager, and I walked to the opposite side to go back to the shelter. ¡°Hey, by the way.¡± As I was about to walk to the bus stop, Yu-geon suddenly grabbed me and asked. ¡°What should I call you now? It feels weird to call you Ise or Ise hyung.¡± ¡°Im Hyunsung?¡± ¡°That¡¯s too stiff. Hyunsung hyung is also weird.¡± I was about to retort, but I realized that I looked like a neen-year-old. ¡°Then Hyunsung?¡± I red at Yu-geon with contempt. Yu-geon, who had been tense all along, burst intoughter and clutched his stomach. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m going crazy. How can your face be so different but your expression be the same?¡± It was obvious that we were the same person inside. I turned away, feeling like there was no point in arguing any further. As I returned to the shelter, I felt strange trying to ignore the Offbeat ads and MVs that were everywhere on the street. They reminded me of the ce that I could no longer belong to. The slight thrill of confiding in someone about this unbelievable secret soon faded away. I still couldn¡¯t tell the other members, the Climax members who had a stronger bond with me than Yu-geon. And I knew I would never be able to. ¡®Well¡­ let¡¯s be satisfied with making one step forward.¡¯ I entered the shelter¡¯s sleeping room with a restless mind. There were more peers than yesterday, each upying a bed. None of them looked happy. ¡®They must all have their own troubles and situations.¡¯ They probably had secrets and worries that they couldn¡¯t share with anyone else. As I stared at the bed sheet with a troubled mind, I heard a sound from somewhere. Gurgle-. It was the sound of someone else¡¯s stomach. Chapter 247: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 247 It was an awkward time of the day. Lunch was over, but dinner was still hours away. Someone must have missed their meal and was starving. ¡®Two more hours until dinner¡­¡¯ I nced at the clock. It was a little past four. I just had to endure a bit longer. I heard a noise and looked in its direction, then turned away and picked up myptop bag. I couldn¡¯t keep typing in the dormitory. I decided to head to the cafeteria. That¡¯s when someone approached me out of the blue. ¡°Excuse me.¡±What? What do they want from me? I raised my head in confusion, feeling tense. Ugh. It was the high school student with a bad impression, who I didn¡¯t want to get involved with even when he was the representative of Jo Young Food, Lim Hyun-seong. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at me. After Cheon Ise quit his activities, his spot as an idol was quickly filled by another member. Offbeat started their full-scale variety show tour, and YouTube, terrestrial, and cable channels all tried to book the hot topic of the foodie idol, but none of the programs got a confirmation of his appearance. They all wondered what kind of deal he had made with someone, or if he had signed an exclusive contract with a certain program. There was a lot of talk, but nothing was confirmed. Was he focusing on his sd business that had been a huge hit? Or was he nning his own dining show? Many producers asked around if anyone had been contacted by him to work together, but of course, it was all in vain. And then there was the sudden announcement of Cheon Ise¡¯s hiatus. Some spected that he was going to switch to the nning sidepletely. ¡®Why is he hiding so much? I¡¯m not going to leak anything to the reporters. So what¡¯s his next activity after Cheon Ise? Why is he keeping it so secret?¡¯ The same question was repeated by the people around him, making the ears of the Composition staff ache. They were also fed up with the recent situation. What was he preparing that he had to hide it so much? ¡®He has to do something to spoil it or leak it.¡¯ If Cheon Ise was doing nothing and staying at his home, not answering any calls, who would believe that? He had been keeping in touch with the people he had worked with once, and never forgetting to greet them politely whenever he ran into them. He had a pretty good reputationtely. How could he suddenly disappear so irresponsibly? They would be amazed. And they had a reason to be. When they thought of the things Cheon Ise had done recently, he seemed like a superhuman, not a normal twenty-five-year-old. ¡®Did he burn out from overworking?¡¯ As the employees who had been ignored by him, they could only hope that Cheon Ise woulde back as he used to be before he reached the point of no return. ???¦­???§§? To be exact, as the leader who was also the main dancer, the main nner, and the businessman who could handle various roles as easily as breathing. ¡®Come to think of it, he wasn¡¯t very popr in the beginning ofst year.¡¯ Was that why? When they offered him a position of team leader or higher through headhunting, the CEO said he didn¡¯t trust him and refused to work with him. The staff who had met Cheon Ise for the first time when he joined Composition wondered what he had done to bebeled as someone they couldn¡¯t work with. Considering the current situation, maybe those people had some foresight. The nning director who had suddenly taken over the role of the overall leader of thepany was working overtime until his head exploded, and everyone sighed as they watched him. This precarious situation was barely maintained. Until a guest came unexpectedly, while they were taking a break and having a cup of coffee at a nearby cafe with all the office staff. ¡°Oh, Yu-geon. You¡¯re here early?¡± The road manager was supposed to pick him up from the Climax dormitory as nned. But Yu-geon came to the office earlier than the scheduled time. ¡°Ah, yes. I was just showing him around the office for a bit.¡± What was going on? Next to Yu-geon, there was a tall and neat-looking male student with a bag slung over his shoulder. Yu-geon was so handsome that no one could match him, even if they were idols. And the person next to him was not an idol yet, but he had a good face, so he didn¡¯t look too in, but rather well-bnced. ¡°Oh, are you a trainee? Which agency?¡± The staff who had worked as a casting manager at their previous job showed interest, and the male student hid behind Yu-geon¡¯s back, looking flustered. ¡°Uh¡­¡± The male student hesitated for a moment, and Yu-geon answered first with his characteristic rxed and confident smile. ¡°He¡¯s not affiliated yet. He passed several auditions, but he hasn¡¯t decided where to go yet. I brought him here to show him the office for a while.¡± ¡°Really? Wow, we¡¯re also nning to make a new boy group, so we¡¯ll be looking for trainees from here and there. Too bad. Have you been to Line Eight? They seem to like friendly people there.¡± As the conversation started to get more specific, Yu-geon casually changed the topic and cut it off. ¡°He still has many options, so he¡¯s thinking about various things. Well, I¡¯ll go down and see him off, and meet up with the manager hyung.¡± Everyone nodded without feeling any difort at Yu-geon¡¯s natural transition. ¡°Okay. But next time, if you¡¯re going to bring a trainee here, please let us know in advance. You know, there¡¯s a security issue.¡± ¡°Haha, yes. I¡¯ll be careful.¡± As Yu-geon and the male student left the office, everyone was dreading the fact that they had to get back to their afternoon work. ¡°Wha?? Wha-wha-what!?¡± Someone suddenly screamed. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What is it?¡± Except for the employees who were on business trips or field work, there were only five people in the office. Everyone¡¯s eyes were drawn to the one who was screaming. ¡°Who gave this VPN ount to me? I¡¯ve never seen this ID before. When did it appear? I¡¯ve downloaded almost all the files. Did we get hacked?¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Only the CEO and the manager have the authority to issue VPN ounts.¡± The employee in charge of theputer system approached him as if he was talking nonsense, and then the scream doubled. ¡°Huh? Wait, what is this?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are you all freaking out? Did we get crypto-hacked or something?¡± They each checked their own PCs and then went to the seat of the employee who had the problem and looked at the screen. ¡°This¡­¡± The first employee who discovered the anomaly opened his mouth cautiously and theputer specialist answered. ¡°It¡¯s the CEO. Look at the files that were re-uploaded and thements he left.¡± They all looked at the screen as if they were bewitched and saw thement format that they had been sick of seeing until a few weeks ago. ¡°What? Is it really the CEO? Did hee to work?¡± Another employee who had casually finished his takeout americano was startled and sat down at his desk. Then they each went to the web folder they were managing and checked the re-uploaded files andments. ¡°Ah. Right. I was supposed to give this to Pureum PR.¡± The employees who btedly found their mistakes and missed parts sweated and reorganized their work ording to thements left by the CEO¡¯s ount. ¡°The security log shows that the CEO didn¡¯te. Is he working from home?¡± One of the employees called the CEO and dialed Cheon Ise¡¯s cell phone, but soon a message saying that he couldn¡¯t answer the phone came out. ¡°He seems to be essing and reading the files in real time. Why doesn¡¯t he answer the phone?¡± No one could have guessed that behind the smallmotion, there was a handsome-looking male student who had left the office with a slight greeting. ¡°Huh?¡± When the news that Cheon Ise had returned to work as the CEO spread, the Offbeat members, except for Yu-geon, were also surprised. ¡°What? Ise hyung is doingposition work at home?¡± Yi-jun, who had received the news of Ise¡¯s return from the manager, opened his eyes wide. ¡°What? He wasn¡¯t answering the phone earlier.¡± Kyunghwa frowned as if he was saying something absurd and looked at Yi-jun. Today¡¯s schedule was a family entertainment show titled ¡®National Trouble Counseling Center¡¯, where they invited ordinary viewers and introduced their stories. If you listen to each story, anyone would think that this is not something that should be here, but something that should go to court. It didn¡¯t seem like a family entertainment show, but it was still a family (appearing) entertainment show because the troublemakers brought their families as witnesses. As Yu-geon quietly buried the truth in his heart, Yi-jun retorted to Kyunghwa as if he was wronged. ¡°Look at the message the manager sent. He said he essed thepany¡¯s web server with VPN and cleared up the backlog.¡± ¡°Did he contact you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± He contacts thepany but not us? Kyunghwa scowled as if he was annoyed and Yi-jun quickly found Ise¡¯s number in his phone book. ¡°Hold on. I¡¯ll call him right now.¡± Then, out of the blue, Kyunghwa uttered a simr sentence to what Yu-geon had heard a few hours ago. ¡°Memorize the numbers of the people you¡¯re close to. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re never going to see them again.¡± Yi-jun whined at Kyunghwa¡¯s rebuke. ¡°I memorized your number. I also memorized thest digits of Ise hyung¡¯s number.¡± Then Kyunghwa quizzed him as if he was doing a simple word test. ¡°Seonwoo?¡± ¡°I memorized the first digits. He has a unique first digits.¡± ¡°Seongwon?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I didn¡¯t feel the need to memorize it.¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Close people. Cheon Ise, no. The person who introduced himself as Lim Hyun-seong, who was a ghost-like person whose identity he couldn¡¯t know, did he think of him as a close person? Heughed without knowing it, making a light wind sound. Yi-jun shouted at Yu-geon. ¡°I also memorized thest digits of Yu-geon hyung¡¯s number.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m touched.¡± In the neat waiting room with only three people, they killed time and called Ise again, but the phone was connected to the voicemail as if to say don¡¯t expect too much. ¡°He¡¯s not answering.¡± ¡°What is he thinking¡­¡± ¡°It seems like he¡¯s not going to quitpletely, since he¡¯s still doing his job.¡± Yu-geon hid a secret that he couldn¡¯t tell the Climax members, and that would make him look crazy if he did. He shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Well¡­ he must have a n. For now, we have no choice but to wait.¡± Lim Hyun-seong exined that he was a being that would soon disappear. What would happen to the ¡®real¡¯ Cheon Ise after Lim Hyun-seong was gone? He had nothing but questions. ¡®Maybe I should contact him.¡¯ He told me to call him when the schedule was over. But he didn¡¯t say I couldn¡¯t do it during the break time. Yu-geon pursed his lips and grabbed his phone. Chapter 248: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 248 Suspicion (2) [Me] What are you doing? 5:41 PM There was no big meaning behind the trivial text I sent. I didn¡¯t have enough time to go down to the cafe on the first floor and buy a drink, and I was bored of refreshing YouTube or short knowledge videos. I was just curious if there was anything else interesting. I didn¡¯t expect a quick reply, but it had been 10 minutes and there was no notification that a message had arrived. ¡®He doesn¡¯t check his phone much.¡¯ When he was Cheon Ise, he used to contact me right away if he had no schedule. Hmm, as I tapped on the chat screen, it felt like a long time had passed before I got an answer. [Lim Hyun-seong] Are you done already? Isn¡¯t the filming over around midnight? 5:56 PMFar from being over. I hadn¡¯t even started yet and was waiting. [Me] I¡¯m still waiting. 5:56 PM Then a sour reply came back right away. [Lim Hyun-seong] It seems like you¡¯ll start recording soon. 5:57 PM [Lim Hyun-seong] Just focus on your work. 5:57 PM Hey, I¡¯m not doing anything yet. Yu-geon secretly pouted his lips and typed. [Me] You sound like you have nothing to worry about. 5:58 PM After a brief pause, Hyun-seong sent a short reply. [Lim Hyun-seong] What. 6:00 PM A displeased expression, oveid with the face of someone other than Cheon Ise, came to mind. [Me] You said you don¡¯t have much time left. You¡¯re going to disappear soon. 6:01 PM [Lim Hyun-seong] Yeah. 6:01 PM [Me] Then what will happen to you when the time runs out? 6:02 PM When I asked him straight what I was curious about, the answer that came back within a minute slowed down again. ¡®What¡¯s going on? It doesn¡¯t seem like anything¡¯s wrong.¡¯ As the staff asked me to check again before the filming started, Yu-geon got up from the sofa where he had been lying down. [Lim Hyun-seong] Well, I was already dead a long time ago. I guess I¡¯ll just disappear and not exist in the world anymore. 6:08 PM Disappear, huh¡­ It was a word that felt different from dying, and Yu-geon looked down at his phone screen. [Me] Then does Mr. Cheon Ise just live as he used to, with his own body? 6:08 PM He didn¡¯t look very well. I don¡¯t know if it was just a simple condition drop or if there was another reason. Thest image Yu-geon remembered of Ise was that he was panting as if he had a panic attack, irritable, and screaming sharply when someone tried to support him. ?¨¤N¨¯?§¦? I wondered why he suddenly became like that when he used to have a rtively mild personality. ¡®It was because the person inside changed.¡¯ I epted it, but it still felt unbelievable, like I was dreaming. As I stared at the screen as if I was bewitched, I got an answer from Lim Hyun-seong. [Lim Hyun-seong] Probably. I can¡¯t give you a definite answer because he seems to be in a strange state right now. 6:09 PM Yu-geon agreed with him. [Me] Yeah, it¡¯s weird. 6:09 PM [Lim Hyun-seong] I don¡¯t think the reason he¡¯s lying in bed like that is simply because he can¡¯t handle his work. 6:10 PM [Lim Hyun-seong] I have to persuade him to get his act together and stand on his own feet. 6:10 PM Yu-geon felt a strange difort as he red at the message Hyun-seong sent. Why did it feel so uneasy? There was nothing wrong with the content, and he was just saying the obvious. Then suddenly. He realized what was bothering him. Hyun-seong said he had no intention of telling the members what he had told me. Even if he persuaded Ise and Ise returned safely as the leader and member, he wouldn¡¯t be able to return to his previous self. Hyun-seong said he had done his part, and when he disappeared? What about the people who had interacted with Lim Hyun-seong, who was Cheon Ise, without knowing anything? They didn¡¯t know that the Cheon Ise they had willingly given their hearts to was actually someone else. Is that okay? Even if it¡¯s okay for other people, is Hyun-seong really okay with that? In a situation that was still iprehensible from the perspective of others, Yu-geon stared at the screen with a stiff expression. [Me] Are you okay with just disappearing? Don¡¯t you have any regrets? 6:12 PM He had done a lot as Cheon Ise in that short time. Was he okay with not finishing it himself and disappearing? Hyun-seong didn¡¯t seem like the type to not care about not seeing the end of what he had done. It seemed like my guess was not wrong, as a short silence followed. For some reason, it felt long, and the short silence ended, and the new message arrival notification I had been waiting for popped up. [Lim Hyun-seong] I just ept it. It wasn¡¯t mine to begin with. And there¡¯s no way. 6:15 PM Isn¡¯t he giving up too quickly without a fight? Well, he seemed to be quick to decide on things that wouldn¡¯t work from the start. But wasn¡¯t he sorry? I was bothered by it even though it wasn¡¯t my business. But are you really okay? I could easily guess that he wouldn¡¯t be okay. No one would be okay with their work, which they had loved and done their best, falling apart. [Me] You give up too easily without a fight. 6:16 PM A sentence that would provoke him reflexively popped out. I had a chance to edit it and change the nuance, but I didn¡¯t. [Lim Hyun-seong] It¡¯s not something that can be done by winning. 6:17 PM But. Yu-geon wanted to argue, but he had nothing else to say. He couldn¡¯t do much to help. It was Hyun-seong and Ise who made the choice, and he was just a third party. He had no right to say anything, even if it was a selfish wish. He had just spent his first day as a member of Composition and Offbeat. He didn¡¯t care about Cheon Ise¡¯s feelings or justification. He wanted to work more with Lim Hyun-seong¡¯s Cheon Ise. He wanted to see more of the group, the n, thepany that he was creating. He went through all the trouble to put me back in this position. And then what? He epts it because there¡¯s no other way? He felt a sudden surge of displeasure. [Me] What about the other members? 6:18 PM The others. They were left to fend for themselves without Hyun-seong, struggling with theposition and the n. Did he expect them to just regret that Ise didn¡¯t stay and keep doing well as he was? They didn¡¯t even know who the person next to them was. Did he want them to miss Cheon Ise, who had changed for a short time? Yu-geon waited for an answer with an unhappy expression. [Lim Hyun-seong] What do you mean? 6:19 PM What do I mean? [Me] Well. I just feel sorry for the members. 6:20 PM [Lim Hyun-seong] What do you mean? 6:20 PM Yu-geon told him his honest opinion as usual. [Me] The happiest time of your activities as a climax was when you were with him. You¡¯ll never know that your precious colleague was a different person. You don¡¯t even know that you can never meet him again. 6:21 PM And he added something he didn¡¯t have to say, but wanted to say out of spite. [Me] I would be hurt if I were you. 6:22 PM He didn¡¯t know what he wanted to get out of saying that. But he wasn¡¯t satisfied with the way things were. He might be fine with it, but he wasn¡¯t. Hyun-seong didn¡¯t reply even though he read the message. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s move to the studio!¡± The waiting time was over. Yu-geon put his phone in his pocket, making sure it didn¡¯t show, and got up from his seat and followed the staff. ¡°What are you doing, looking at your phone all the time? Do you have something to contact?¡± Yi-jun joked as he followed the staff down the hallway. Yu-geon resisted the urge to blurt out a bomb confession to Hyun-seong without his permission and headed to the set. The audience was already seated and the other cast members were mostly in their assigned seats. He checked his phone onest time and saw a short reply from Hyun-seong. [Lim Hyun-seong] Don¡¯t talk nonsense and do your best in the shooting. 6:30 PM I¡¯ll do well anyway. Yu-geon pouted his lips and then smiled brightly before sitting on the stage, greeting the audience. After revealing his father¡¯s story, Yu-geon¡¯s average image had improved somewhat, but he still had a lot of anti-fans. Some of them spewed more hate, saying he sold his dead parents to restore his image. But it helped anyway. The general public, excluding idol fans, had the image of Yu-geon as a handsome guy who was trolling in the famous idol survival show. It turned out that he was the son of a national singer and a talented person with a pitiful story. Even adults who had never heard a song of Yu-geon felt sorry for the kid who had a hard time. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant feeling to be pitied, but it helped his activities. He could see it now. ¡°Wow!¡± There was a difference in poprity and recognition, but the atmosphere was much more weing than when Yi-jun or Kyunghwa came in. Yu-geon smiled broadly and thanked them. ¡®I have to focus on my work now.¡¯ He didn¡¯t want to kick away the opportunity that ¡®Hyun-seong¡¯ had given him. ¡°So, mom, you¡¯re saying that you see something that other people don¡¯t see in your eyes? When did you start seeing that?¡± The MC asked the story-teller with a microphone and a grim expression. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it since I was young. I thought I was seeing things or going crazy at first¡­¡± The shooting was almost over. Thest story was a ridiculous one that was put in for the sake of trolling. I¡¯m having a hard time because of my mom who sees ghosts. The story started out a bit trollish, but when the child came out and exined it in detail, it turned out to be a hardship caused by the parent¡¯s activity as a shaman. ¡®I guess they wanted to make it more provocative, so they set the direction like that.¡¯ The person who reported the problem probably had the goal of getting the prize money for being selected as the final solution story. If they were doing business as a shaman, they could also promote themselves with the broadcast. It was nothing to be afraid of when looking at the profit behind the broadcast. Yu-geon hid his cynical thoughts and nodded as if he was listening. Then, because of the answer that the story-teller gave to the MC¡¯s question, a spark flew to Yu-geon. ¡°Then, do you think there are any wandering spirits in this studio?¡± The story-teller looked around with a slight hum, narrowing his eyes, and then looked at Yu-geon and opened his eyes wide. ¡°Right. There¡¯s someone behind Yu-geon right now.¡± Pfft, Yu-geon almost spat out the water he was drinking as he inhaled reflexively at the unexpected spark. Chapter 249: ¡°Ah¡­¡± The sound was so booming that my face turned red with embarrassment in an instant. ¡°Didn¡¯t you have lunch?¡± I didn¡¯t really want to talk about Kang Yu-geon. Although we¡¯ve had quite a bit of interaction, I think. There¡¯s a big difference between thinking of an artist as a fan and thinking of them as a rival, colleague, and employee to take care of. ¡°Ah, yes. The timing was a bit awkward earlier.¡± It¡¯s not much time until dinner. ncing around, I noticed a few more guys who seemed to be friends with the one who had spoken to me, gathered around the bunk beds. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s this, bothering someone who¡¯s just sitting there, and you¡¯re not even a thug.¡± The student who approached me retorted to their own group¡¯s indifferent remarks. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not bothering. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m d to see you.¡±Feeding this many boys¡­ I¡¯d have to prepare at least twice as much as the younger kids eat. Except for Yejun, most were either light eaters or managed their weight by eating just enough, so their food intake couldn¡¯t bepared to that of ordinary teenagers. ¡°Is there still some time left before dinner?¡± ¡°Ah, I guess so?¡± He looked down at me with a puzzled expression as if wondering why I asked. I stood up, slinging myptop bag over my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask if I can use the kitchen for a bit.¡± If I have the ingredients, cooking isn¡¯t that difficult or time-consuming. Knocking on the kitchen door, a volunteer who happened to be resting greeted me. ¡°It¡¯s not dinner time yet. Will youe back a bitter?¡± I might seem like a nuisance. I hesitated for a moment, looking down at the kind-faced volunteer before asking cautiously. ¡°Could I possibly cook something for myself? I¡¯m confident in cooking since I¡¯ve worked part-time in restaurants for a long time.¡± To my surprise, the volunteer¡¯s eyes widened and then narrowed again. ¡°Cook? You¡¯re going to do it yourself?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. If it¡¯s not allowed¡­¡± As I trailed off, the volunteerughed heartily and patted my back. ¡°You¡¯re an interesting guy. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen a male student here ask to cook for himself. I¡¯m a bit surprised. So, what are you nning to make?¡± ¡°¡­!¡± Fortunately, the response wasn¡¯t negative. I entered the kitchen through the door the volunteer opened and washed my hands first. ¡°I¡¯ll start with tteokbokki and kimchi fried rice. Do you have frozen pork cutlets or cold noodles?¡± As I efficiently found cooking utensils of the right size and ced them where needed, the volunteer¡¯s expression was filled with surprise once again. ¡°You¡¯re going to make all that by yourself?¡± Hmm¡­ a 20-minute cut might be difficult. But if I organize the workflow well, it should be possible within 30 minutes. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not eating alone; I¡¯m nning to share with the kids in the sleeping room.¡± The volunteer asked with a concerned look. ¡°You can use the ingredients, but are you sure you can do it all by yourself?¡± It was a question that touched on my pride from over 20 years of experience in the food industry. Of course, the volunteer didn¡¯t mean any harm by asking. ¡°Yes. Please take a rest. I¡¯ll handle everything.¡± I answered with a broad smile for the first time in a while. ¡°Wow! Did you really make all this yourself?¡± Exactly 20 minutester. I thought my hands might have slowed down a bit since I hadn¡¯t had to prepare food for nearly ten people so quickly in a restaurant settingtely. But after hearing the order of victory just now, my motivation overflowed, and I finished much earlier than expected. ¡°Yes, it doesn¡¯t take long if I have the ingredients.¡± Thanks to the kitchen being optimized for quick cooking, simr to a restaurant environment. I shared a bit with the volunteer and set up a feast on one side of the cafeteria, attracting nces from other students. ¡®I made a bit extra, so maybe more people coulde and eat?¡¯ I cautiously broached the subject to the group of students who had spoken to me. ¡°I think I made quite a lot; would it be okay to share with others too?¡± The meals served at the right time like a group meal were tasty, but it seemed like there had never been a time when a snack bar set was prepared to the point of bending the table legs. ¡°Well, we¡¯re just in the position of receiving¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°If you give it to us, we just have to bow our heads and say thank you and eat.¡± Although their tone and behavior were a bit rough, they weren¡¯t threatening. Soon, other students in the cafeteria came over and filled their tes, munching away. Ordering delivery wouldn¡¯t have been bad, but it would take time to cook and for the delivery to arrive, so I chose to cook and feed them directly. ¡®They¡¯re all eating well.¡¯ It seemed like a good decision as the food quickly disappeared. They didn¡¯t seem to be that close, and amidst the awkward atmosphere, the sound of chewing food mostly filled the audio. Then suddenly, someone spoke to me. ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± What are they going to ask now? I answered, feeling a bit tense. ¡°How old are you? It¡¯s been awkward trying to use formalnguage since earlier.¡± It looked like they had just entered high school. If we were the same age or if I was younger, I¡¯d want to speak casually like ¡®hey, you¡¯ to the other friends. Well, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re going to check my ID, so it wouldn¡¯t matter if I pretended to be an adult, but there was no need to lie, so I answered with the current age of ¡®Lim Hyun-seong¡¯. ¡°I¡¯m neen.¡± ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re older.¡± The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward, and I added nonchntly, ¡°You can speak casually to me. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s a big age difference.¡± They all chimed in as if they had been waiting for permission. ¡°Really? So we can just talk casually?¡± ¡°Wow, this is delicious. Did you make this with just what was in the kitchen?¡± ¡°Hey, move the pig¡¯s feet, I¡¯m eating here.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? You ate the most. Have some conscience and stop eating so much.¡± Watching them bicker among themselves, it was clear they were just kids. They all had some reason they couldn¡¯t go home and were taking a brief respite here. I never expected to be serving meals like this, but I was d that the facility I established was providing real help. Then, the conversation turned back to me. ¡°Right. You don¡¯t have to tell me if you don¡¯t want to, but why are you here?¡± Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I studied the boy¡¯s expression, which held no malice as he asked. ¡°You don¡¯t look like a professional runaway. You cook well and don¡¯t look like a thug, so I was wondering why you¡¯re here. Even theptop you brought today looks expensive.¡± Another boy hit him with his chopsticks for asking such a question. ¡°Hey, what if he doesn¡¯t want to answer that?¡± ¡°Why, we¡¯re all curious.¡± ¡°There¡¯s such a thing asmon sense, you know.¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh at their squabbling. Well¡­ it wasn¡¯t entirely true, but it wasn¡¯t aplete lie either. I carefully crafted my response in my head before speaking. ¡°I¡¯m not close with my family. It¡¯s a perfect home without me, but they kept nagging, so I didn¡¯t want to stick around, and it was ufortable.¡± That¡¯s exactly how I felt when I first left home and became independent. A stepmother who overtly treated me like a thorn in her side, a half-brother who always tried to outdo me, a father who considered me a nuisance. Without me, the family that seemed like they would live happily ever after wasn¡¯t doing so well after all. Once I disappeared, the one they med for all the discord at home, the fights between my father and stepmother naturally increased, and my stepmother¡¯s irritation turned towards my half-brother. ¡®And then, when I became sessful, they clung to me persistently.¡¯ I didn¡¯t care about such a family. That was because I had been hurt so much that I had be numb, and ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to do that. So I created this ce so that kids who have families but can¡¯t rely on them could restfortably, even if just for a while. ¡®I never thought I¡¯d be staying here.¡¯ Surrounded by kids who genuinely needed this ce, sharing trivial conversations, I felt a different kind of sentimentality. ¡°I get it. At home, theyin that you¡¯re annoying, but when you leave, theyin about why you left.¡± ¡°I really hate it. What do they expect me to do?¡± They all seemed to have simr stories, grumbling but eagerly reaching for their tes. Soon, the food that had been plentiful disappeared as if it had been washed away. ¡°Ah, that was really good.¡± ¡°What now?¡± As they began to clear their tes one by one, someone looked at their phone and shouted. ¡°Hey, Jaemun is busking today. Let¡¯s go watch.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure who Jaemun was, but it seemed like he was performing. ¡°Is that today?¡± ¡°Yeah. Are you going or not?¡± ¡°Of course, we¡¯re going. We have to go and draw attention in the front row.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just asking to get hit again.¡± They giggled, showing each other their phone screens, and then one of them suddenly asked me. ¡°Do you want toe with us? It¡¯s just one bus ride away.¡± Where to? As I tilted my head in confusion, the tallest among them burst outughing. ¡°If you need to save on your transit card, I¡¯ll swipe you in. You fed us well, after all.¡± So what are we going to see? The screen he showed me had kids dressed not much differently from idol trainees, gathered around an amplifier. No¡­ I¡­ wasn¡¯tpletely disinterested, but I didn¡¯t have time for that now. I had to contact Yu-geon as soon as he finished recording¡­ Without giving a definite refusal or showing positive interest, the boy took it as a weak yes and grabbed my arm. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t pull away. Let¡¯s go together!¡± The ce I was abruptly brought to was near where I had once busked in a hurry to promote Drink Me. ¡®There are a lot of amateur performances here.¡¯ Even though it was before people started to fill the streets, groups iming their spots were noticeable. Probably to secure a good spot. ¡°Over here, this way!¡± A boy who seemed to know the group that brought me waved his hand and called out to us loudly. ¡°What¡¯s with all of youing here?¡± The boy blushed as if embarrassed, and one of the group teased him by slinging an arm around his shoulder. ¡°Why, getting cold feet already? How are you going to dance then?¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m not scared.¡± Really, they never tire of it. In the midst of their bickering, students dressed in matching outfits, presumably a dance crew, began checking their moves. ¡°It¡¯s going to start soon, so sit at the front.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I took a seat in the area set apart like an audience, and somewhere in my heart, I felt a flutter. ¡°Is the sounding through okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s connected.¡± When I had performed here myself, I was so afraid I might actually die that I couldn¡¯t fully enjoy being on stage. Now, even though I was just here to watch, the feeling of life hanging by a thread was the same. Back then, at least there was hope that I might live. Now, all I wanted was to wrap things up as best as I could before disappearing. As these bitter thoughts crept into my mind, the first song started with a thumping beat. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 250: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 250 ¡°Ah¡­¡± His voice was so loud that he felt embarrassed and his face turned red in an instant. ¡°Did you skip lunch?¡± I didn¡¯t want to talk about Kang Yu-geon. We had a lot of interactions, but it was different to think of him as a fan, a rival, a colleague, and an employee I had to take care of. ¡°Uh, yes. The time was a bit awkward earlier.¡± There was not much time left until dinner. I nced around and saw a few more guys who seemed to be friends with the one who talked to me, upying the bunk beds and gathering together.¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you, you¡¯re not a bully, why are you bothering someone who¡¯s just sitting there?¡± The student who came to me retorted with an indifferent tone that they threw among themselves. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not bothering him. I¡¯m just happy to see him.¡± To feed this many boys¡­ I had to prepare twice as much as the Climax kids ate. Except for Yi-jun, they were mostly light eaters or ate moderately for weight management, so I couldn¡¯tpare their food intake with ordinary teenagers. ¡°Is there still some time left before dinner?¡± ¡°Uh, I guess so?¡± He looked at me with a puzzled expression as if to ask why I was asking that. I got up from my seat with myptop bag on my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask if I can use the kitchen for a while.¡± It wasn¡¯t hard or time-consuming to make something if I had the ingredients. I knocked on the kitchen door and a volunteer who was taking a break greeted me. ¡°It¡¯s not dinner time yet. Do you want toe backter?¡± I might look like a nuisance. I hesitated for a moment and looked down at the kind-faced volunteer and asked carefully. ¡°Can I make something for myself? I¡¯m confident in cooking because I¡¯ve been working part-time at a restaurant for a long time.¡± Then the volunteer¡¯s eyes widened as if he heard something unexpected and then narrowed again. ¡°Food? You¡¯re going to make it yourself?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. If it¡¯s not possible¡­¡± I trailed off and the volunteerughed heartily and patted my back. ¡°You¡¯re a funny kid. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen a male student ask to make something for himself while I¡¯ve been volunteering here, so I was a bit surprised. Sure, what do you want to make?¡± ¡°¡­!¡± Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t a negative reaction. I entered the kitchen through the entrance that the volunteer opened and washed my hands first. ¡°I¡¯m going to make tteokbokki and kimchi fried rice first, do you have any frozen pork cutlets or cold noodles?¡± As I quickly found the cooking utensils of the right size and ced them where I needed them, the volunteer¡¯s expression changed to astonishment again. ¡°You¡¯re going to do all that by yourself?¡± Well¡­ 20 minutes might be difficult. But if I organized my movements well, it would be possible in 30 minutes. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not going to eat it alone, I¡¯m going to share it with the kids in the dormitory.¡± Then the volunteer asked me with a worried expression. ¡°The ingredients are all there, so you can use them. But can you do it by yourself?¡± It was a question that touched the pride of my 20 years of food service experience. Of course, the volunteer didn¡¯t mean to ask me that. ¡°Yes. Just sit down and rest. I¡¯ll do everything.¡± I smiled broadly and answered. ¡°Wow! Did you really make all this yourself?¡± Exactly 20 minutester. I hadn¡¯t had to prepare food for almost 10 people in such a hurry at the restauranttely, so my hands might have been a bit slow, but I was so motivated by Pilseung¡¯s order earlier that I finished much faster than I expected. ¡°Yes, it doesn¡¯t take much time if you have the ingredients.¡± It was practically the same environment as the restaurant, so the kitchen was optimized for fast cooking. I also shared some with the volunteer and spread it out like a banquet on one side of the cafeteria, and the other students also nced at this side. ¡®I made a lot, so maybe they cane and eat more?¡¯ I cautiously asked the group of students who had talked to me. ¡°I think I made too much, can I share it with the others?¡± The food that was served at the right time like a group meal was delicious, but it seemed like I had never prepared a snack bar set like this that made my legs bend. ¡°Well, we¡¯re just getting it for free¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, right?¡± ¡°If you give it to us, we¡¯ll just bow our heads and thank you and eat it.¡± They were a bit rough in their speech and behavior, but they weren¡¯t that threatening. Soon, the other students in the cafeteria also came and scooped up their tes and filled their stomachs. It wouldn¡¯t have been bad to order delivery, but it took time to cook there and then deliver it, so I chose to make it myself. ¡®They¡¯re eating well.¡¯ It seemed like a good decision as the food I prepared quickly revealed the bottom. They didn¡¯t seem to be very close, and the sound of chewing food in an awkward atmosphere upied most of the audio. Suddenly, someone spoke to me. ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± What did he want to ask me? I answered nervously. ¡°How old are you? It¡¯s awkward to keep using formalnguage since earlier.¡± He looked like he had just entered high school. He probably wanted to talk casually like the other kids if we were the same age or I was younger. Well, it wouldn¡¯t matter if I pretended to be an adult since he wouldn¡¯t check my ID anyway, but I didn¡¯t feel the need to lie, so I answered with my current age. ¡°Neen.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re older than me.¡± The atmosphere became awkward, and I added casually. ¡°You can talkfortably. It¡¯s not much of a difference.¡± Then he piled on as if he had been waiting for it. ¡°Really? Then can I talkfortably?¡± ¡°Wow, this is so delicious. Did you make this with what¡¯s in the kitchen?¡± ¡°Hey, move the pork feet, I¡¯m eating.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? You ate the most. Have some conscience and stop eating.¡± As they quickly switched to bickering among themselves, I realized they were just kids. They all had some reason why they couldn¡¯t go home, so they were resting here for a while. I didn¡¯t expect to serve them a meal myself, but I was d that the facility I built was actually helping them. Then the spark of conversation flew to me again. ¡°By the way, you don¡¯t have to tell me if you don¡¯t want to. Why are you here?¡± I was surprised by the unexpected question and looked at his face full of curiosity. He blurted out without any malice. ¡°No, it¡¯s just that you don¡¯t look like a professional runaway. You can cook well and you don¡¯t look like a delinquent. I wonder how you ended up here. Theptop you brought today is also very expensive.¡± Then another guy hit his mouth with a chopstick. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t ask that kind of thing.¡± ¡°Why, we¡¯re all curious.¡± ¡°Still, there¡¯s something calledmon sense.¡± Iughed as I watched them argue among themselves. Well¡­ it wasn¡¯t entirely true, but it wasn¡¯t 100% a lie either. Iposed a sentence in my head and opened my mouth. ¡°I¡¯m not close with my family. It¡¯s a perfect home without me, but they keep nagging me, so I hate being there and it¡¯s ufortable.¡± That¡¯s how I felt when I first left home and became independent. My stepmother who treated me like a thorn in her eye, my half-sibling who always tried to beat me, my father who saw me as a nuisance. They seemed to live happily without me, but they weren¡¯t really doing that well. When I, who was med for all the discord in the family, disappeared, the quarrels between my father and stepmother increased naturally, and my stepmother¡¯s irritation turned to my half-sibling. It was inevitable. ¡®And then they clung to me when I seeded.¡¯ I didn¡¯t care about that family anyway. But that was because I had a lot of scars and became numb, and ordinary people couldn¡¯t do that. So I made this ce for the kids who couldn¡¯t get help from their families even though they had them. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect to stay here myself.¡¯ And I was surrounded by the kids who really needed this ce, having a trivial conversation. It was a different feeling. ¡°I know what you mean. They curse you for being annoying when you¡¯re at home, and then they curse you for leaving when you¡¯re out.¡± ¡°I hate it. What do they want me to do?¡± They all seemed to have simr stories, and they kept moving their hands to the tes. Soon, the food disappeared as if it had been washed. ¡°Ah, I really enjoyed it.¡± ¡°What now?¡± As they moved the dishes to the rest area one by one, someone shouted after looking at his phone. ¡°Hey, Jaemun is busking today. Let¡¯s go see.¡± I didn¡¯t know who Jaemun was, but it seemed like he was performing. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s today?¡± ¡°Yeah. Are you going or not?¡± ¡°Of course. Let¡¯s go and troll him from the front row.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get beaten up again.¡± They giggled as they showed each other their phone screens, and one of them asked me. ¡°Do you want toe with us? You can get there by taking one bus from here.¡± Where? I tilted my head and frowned. The tallest one among themughed out loud. ¡°If you need to save your transportation card, I¡¯ll pay for you. You gave me something delicious.¡± What are we going to see? I looked at the screen he handed me, and there were kids dressed like idol trainees around the amp. No¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m notpletely uninterested, but I don¡¯t have time for that. I had to call Yu-geon as soon as the recording was over. He took myck of refusal or positive reaction as a weak yes, and he grabbed my arm. ¡°Come on, don¡¯t back out. Let¡¯s go together, bro!¡± I was dragged to a ce near where we had hastily performed a busking stage to promote Drink Me, our previous activity. ¡®There must be a lot of amateur shows here.¡¯ Even though people hadn¡¯t fullye out to the streets yet, there were quite a few groups that caught my eye, securing their spots. They wanted to get the best ces, I guess. ¡°Over here, this way!¡± A male student who seemed to know the group that brought me here waved his hand and shouted at us. ¡°What¡¯s this? Why are you alling in a swarm?¡± He looked embarrassed as the group teased him. ¡°Why, are you scared already? How are you going to dance then?¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not scared, okay?¡± They were really annoying. While they bickered among themselves, the students who looked like a dance crew, wearing matching outfits, started to check their moves. ¡°It¡¯s going to start soon, so sit in the front.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I also sat down in a ce that was separated like a seat, and felt a twinge in my heart. ¡°Is the sound okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s connected.¡± When I did the stage myself here, I was so afraid that I would die like this that I couldn¡¯t enjoy the stage fully. It was the same now, even though I came here to watch, not to perform. No, at least then I had some hope that I could live. Now, I just wanted to finish everything as much as I could before I disappeared. As the bitter thoughts pierced my mind, the first song soon started to y with a thumping beat. Chapter 251: Chapter 251: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 251 Spark (1) As they turned on the music and started to follow the rhythm one by one, people soon gathered around them. It was not a professional performance, but just one of the many dance crews of middle and high school students, so the audience was not thatrge. Still, they seemed to be enough to stop the passers-by on their way, and everyone moved their bodies with a cheerful expression. ¡®They¡¯re good.¡¯ They must have worked hard in ces that were not visible, even though they had not received any professional training. To others, they might look like scumbags who had no dreams, hopes, or future.But from the perspective of someone who knew how much effort it took to prepare for such a stage, they could not be scorned as pathetic lives. As they watched the stage with fascination, the first stage ended. ¡®They won¡¯t finish after one song, will they?¡¯ They wondered what they would dance next, but only for a moment. A familiar apaniment soon sounded. [Three, two, one, shh-.] A low metallic sound that scratched the eardrums. It was Yi-jun¡¯s part. ¡°This¡­¡± ¡°Oh. Offbeat¡¯s new song. It¡¯s good.¡± It had been more than a week since it was released, but it was still in the top 10, which meant it would keep the chart and run long. The general public who didn¡¯t like us much also listened to this song lightly without much resentment, as we prepared it as an easy listening song. Some people said that it would have been better if we had made a more radical attempt to show our unit¡¯s color, but¡­ ¡®Sales! Sales are more important than color, right?¡¯ Of course, color was also important, but. In a situation where it was important to raise awareness and achieve results, there was no room to mix minor tastes and take risks. ¡®It¡¯s easy to give advice when it¡¯s not your own business.¡¯ They pouted their lips and looked up at the makeshift stage, and there were more people standing around than before. Maybe because it was a hit song, there were more people who knew it and more people who were attracted by it. ¡°The atmosphere here is too boring.¡± ¡°Pretending to be indifferent~ You turn away with a dull expression.¡± The most active-looking member of the crew on stage encouraged the audience, and the spectators who looked like friends started to sing along. ¡°Hello, is amon greeting too boring?¡± ¡°I came to pick you up today!¡± One by one, the voices gathered and formed a chorus, and as the voice grew louder, more and more people flocked. As if they were the nation of enthusiasm, everyone hummed along without exception, and even the people who passed by saying that they were singing along came closer and sang along. ¡°Tonight! The most shining moment~.¡± ¡°Right now, when our eyes meet!¡± ¡°A confession of liking you! It¡¯s toomon!¡± It looked like they hade to a concert hall, and they followed along with a roar. It seemed that the purpose of the people was not to watch the dance performance, but to just sing. ¡®Well, even so¡­¡¯ They look happy. They were not real idols, but just cover stages that followed the dance, but both the audience and the crew on stage had happy expressions. ¡®Wait¡­ Next is¡­¡¯ It was my part. As soon as I thought that, the lyrics came out of my mouth. ¡°One by one, pretending to worry, nodding your head.¡± ¡°A bouquet of flowers that I prepared secretly, I hope you like it.¡± Ah. I sang too much, and the song came out at the timing as if it was a conditioned reflex. I was surprised by myself. With a hollowugh, tears flowed down my cheeks without me knowing. The crew member who took my part barely managed to do the point choreography that I made myself, and everyone cheered him on with a lightugh. It was a song that I participated in the lyrics and choreography, but I had no right to im anything now. ¡°I wish you liked me¡­¡± ¡°The whisper that I muttered to myself.¡± ¡°Tonight! I¡¯ll tell you my heart properly.¡± I want to sing. I want to go out and dance. I only had one showcase stage, but the music broadcast activities were already over. ¡®Why did the groups that do well start the trend of not doing music broadcasts at all or ending them in two weeks?¡¯ Even Floss, who was on the verge of disbandment, pulled out a follow-up song and went out very hard. Anyway, Floss was a project group, so it was an exception, and Offbeat was expected to rank at least above the second group from the start, so the activity was nned for two weeks. ¡®But I wanted to go to the music broadcast once.¡¯ It was a pity, but there was no way. I decided to give up and the phone rang from Kang Yu-geon. [Caller: Kang Yu-geon] I was just watching our song cover stage with your fan. I pressed the receive button, hiding the trivial situation that I couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°Hey, are you done with your schedule?¡± Even though I covered my phone and mouth with my hand, the noise around me was so loud that I couldn¡¯t block it out. ¡°What is it? It¡¯s too noisy here.¡± What do you mean, what is it? Come out and watch the stage where we covered our song. I wanted to answer curtly, but I restrained myself with patience. ¡°I¡¯m outside.¡± ¡°Who did you go out to meet?¡± ¡°Why do you keep asking me who I¡¯m meeting? I just came out to clear my head.¡± I shrugged my shoulders and changed the subject. ¡°Did you finish your schedule?¡± The audience around me, and even the guy who imed to be a fan of Kang Yu-geon who brought me here. They probably couldn¡¯t imagine that the person I was talking to was none other than Kang Yu-geon himself. ¡°Yes, I finished recording ¡®National Counseling Center¡¯ today. It was pretty decent, but I don¡¯t think it will be a huge hit in terms of ratings. But it wasn¡¯t boring, so you don¡¯t have to worry.¡± You don¡¯t have to report that in such detail. If I listened, I would only wonder what I would have done if I were there, or how the other guys did. It would only make me feel awkward. ¡°Good, I¡¯m d you finished well. Are the members okay? How did thepany react?¡± As I poured out the questions I wanted to ask, Yu-geon patiently answered them one by one over the phone. ¡°The members are fine too. Today, Kyunghwa hyung and Yi-jun talked. They decided that it would be better to get alongfortably since we¡¯re going to work together anyway.¡± This sounded like a conversation between a parent and a child who checked their report card, but I was relieved anyway. ¡°Good, you did well. What about thepany?¡± That was the most important thing right now. ¡°They seemed happy to see me. They were having trouble with the work, so they were d that someone came back to take care of it.¡± I had to make a more thorough handover document before I left for good in six days. I felt sorry for causing trouble by suddenly disappearing. ¡°Thanks for letting me know.¡± I heard enough for now, so I thought I¡¯d talk to himter on messenger. As more people crowded around me, I was about to hang up, when a familiar voice came in. ¡°What? Were you on the phone, hyung?¡± It was Yi-jun. ¡°Oh, then I should go somewhere else.¡± This was Seon-woo. I wasn¡¯t sure what the situation was, but he must have finished his schedule and gone home and called. ¡°Who is it? Do we know them?¡± My heart sank at Yi-jun¡¯s yful question. What would Yu-geon say? It would be better to avoid trouble and say he didn¡¯t know them. But my heart was pounding. ¡°Well¡­¡± Yu-geon hesitated for a moment and then opened his mouth. ¡°It¡¯s someone who supports Climax. Do you want to talk to them for a bit?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What?¡± I nodded at the first half, thinking he was just a supporter, but my eyes widened at the suggestion that followed. What the hell. Why should I talk to them? What¡¯s the point? ¡°What? Why all of a sudden?¡± As I stuttered in confusion, Yi-jun took the phone without hesitation. ¡°Oh, are you a fan? Okay, I¡¯ll take it. Hello~.¡± Have some caution, will you? You don¡¯t even know who they are! Are you a dog? Do you want to greet every neighbor you meet on your walk? I sighed and answered. ¡°Uh, yes. Hello, Yi-jun.¡± I felt awkward and covered my mouth with my hand to prevent the conversation from leaking out. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching your activitiestely. Good job.¡± Actually, there were more things I wanted to say if I had the chance. I wondered if he was disappointed that Ise suddenly went on strike. If he was angry. It was funny that I was worried about that, when I was no longer Cheon Ise, nor would I ever be again. And this was my true feeling. It wasn¡¯t my choice to disappear so suddenly. I hope you weren¡¯t hurt. I hope you weren¡¯t disappointed in me. ¡®What does it matter now¡­¡¯ I ignored the bitter taste in my mouth. ¡°Oh, thank you! We¡¯ll work harder and show you better sides of us.¡± Yi-jun replied cheerfully, and Seon-woo added ament. ¡°Thank you!¡± They must have been confused and struggling after losing their center member, but they answered bravely. I was grateful. ¡°Yes, cheer up. Can you give the phone back to Yu-geon, please?¡± I quickly wrapped up the call and Yi-jun handed the phone back to Yu-geon. After a brief crackling noise, I heard Yu-geon¡¯s voice. ¡°Is that all you have to say?¡± Of course. I snorted and answered. ¡°No.¡± ¡°You must have something else.¡± ¡°I said no. I¡¯ll hang up if you talk nonsense.¡± I drew a firm line and Yu-geon sounded sulky. ¡°Are you really okay with that?¡± What can I do if I¡¯m not okay? I was silent for a moment and changed the subject. ¡°I¡¯ll hang up if you keep talking about that.¡± Yu-geon didn¡¯t seem to know what the problem was either. Anyway, he gave me a snappy reply. ¡°Fine. Anyway, there¡¯s nothing much going on here.¡± I wondered if his definition of nothing much matched mine, but I had to trust him for now. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll contact you if I need anything. It¡¯ste, so get some rest.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I hung up and looked up at the stage. The song had changed from Offbeat to Floss. Before I knew it, another song was over and they bowed their heads to the crowd that had gathered around. My chest twitched again. I wanted to be on stage. I had practiced my ending pose, my wink, my hand heart, and my finger gun. I had gotten used to finding the main camera. I wanted to show them how much better I could do, but now it was impossible. I had nned to switch parts and change the choreography with the members, so that the fans would have fun watching the stage. But all of that had gone up in smoke. ¡®What are you trying to do, Cheon Ise?¡¯ You should at least do well on stage, even if you don¡¯t care about the business. That¡¯s what you always wanted to do. Do you have to be so down? As I turned to go back to the resting area, my eyes welled up again. Chapter 252: Chapter 252: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 252 Spark (2) ¡®I can¡¯t leave Cheon Ise like this¡­ I have to see him again.¡¯ But what could I do if he was adamant about not meeting me or if he was in a situation where he couldn¡¯t even meet me? I sighed involuntarily. That¡¯s when the group that dragged me out caught my attention again. ¡°What are you doing? Let¡¯s go inside. It¡¯s cold.¡± It was still too early for spring weather, and the temperature dropped below zero at night.¡°Yeah.¡± I went into the shelter aimlessly andy down on the bed. I had a lot on my mind. The message I received from Jinwoo today was that the customers of Jo Young Food¡¯s gship family restaurant wereining because they changed the supplier of their ingredients, and there were simr ims. ¡®So, where is the person who caused all this mess?¡¯ When I asked sarcastically, I got an even more absurd answer. ¡®He probably went to Vietnam on a business trip excuse and is ying golf.¡¯ I was furious. How could he go y golf after ruining thepany? Was the president joking? I frowned and Jinwoo told me that he would return from his trip in two days. At the board meeting that would be held in two days, he nned to propose a resolution to transfer his shares to an investmentpany and appoint the current president as an honorary president with simr authority to the actual president. I had to find evidence of his murder and report it to a media outlet that couldn¡¯t be blocked by money. ¡®I can¡¯t waste time like this.¡¯ I sneaked out of the shelter with myptop bag in my arms when everyone was asleep. I was d that I didn¡¯tck money for living expenses and hailed a taxi. ¡°Where are you going at this hour, young man?¡± I answered firmly to the driver¡¯s nosy question. ¡°Please take me to the terminal.¡± Every second was precious. I had to find some evidence. For the sake of two dayster. While Hyun-seong was moving to the terminal, the members of Climax, as well as the members of Swift and the staff of Composition, were all praying for him to regain his senses. The person in question was curled up on the bed, nkly. Even if I covered myself with a nket and plugged my ears with earplugs, I still heard tinnitus. I was shaking and losing strength in my body, even though I thought I was acting normally. Why? Even though I had been existing as a data without a body, it was still my original body. I seeded in driving out Hyun-seong, who was not the original owner, and the system couldn¡¯t expel me either. So I just restored everything to ¡®the way it was¡¯, but why. It felt like my body was dying, as if it was rejecting me. ¡°Why¡­? Sob, ugh¡­¡± I tore at my hair and banged my forehead against the wall, but nothing changed. I clenched my fist tightly, but soon my palm was limp. I had always been like this since I was born as the second son of Cheon Soo Group. I ruined everything. I had no friends at school and my rtionships with my ssmates were a mess. I was always treated like a nobody at the agency I barely entered. They all felt a wall rather than gratitude for the fact that Cheon Ise¡¯s presence made the debut team more solid. They drew a line in advance, as if he could never be in the same position as us. ¡°I did, work hard, too, not¡­ ugh, not like that¡­¡± There was no trainee who spent as much time in the practice room as I did, including the members who dropped out of the debut team. The reason why I could get along with Yi-jun and Seong-won without much friction was purely because I ¡®worked hard¡¯. I didn¡¯t ck off or rely on my family¡¯s connections. I worked hard too. Why does everything I do always turn out like this? My consciousness kept breaking and reconnecting, and tears flowed. I grabbed the sheet and lifted my body to get out of bed, but then my body tilted again. I was wrong. I shouldn¡¯t move. I kept seeing the past through my closed eyes. ¡®Did you eat?¡¯ The first person who showed interest in Ise, who was adjusting the strength of his movements until his sneakers wore out in the practice room, was Kyunghwa. ¡®Don¡¯t push yourself too hard. You¡¯re doing well enough as a main dancer, so be careful not to get hurt.¡¯ He acted like a brother to me, even though he was the same age as me, and helped me with this and that and prevented me from being left out by the other members. I thought he was either kind or liked me. Until I overheard the phone call between the manager and my mom. Unlike the other members who were indifferent, the reason why he took care of me separately was because he received living expenses from my mom. I felt like my blood was boiling when I found out. I didn¡¯t ask the manager or the president to take care of me more. It was humiliating that he paid money to another member to look after me. I couldn¡¯t treat Kyunghwa the same way as before. Would he put up with me even if I acted like this? He had no choice. He followed me obediently, even though he couldn¡¯t hide his difort at my twisted tantrums. The manager was the same. He openly treated Cheon Ise as a spoiled brat, but in the end he followed Ise¡¯s words in the crucial part. Most of the things were like that. Eventually, some members who couldn¡¯t stand the long slump left, and the remaining members also knew that something had to change, but they didn¡¯t have the courage to leave thepany and stayed. This can¡¯t go on. It has to change. But I don¡¯t know how. Why do they hate themselves so much? Why do I always ruin everything? The resentment that I had suppressed burst out when Ye was in a car ident. It was an absurd ident that was practically 100% the other party¡¯s fault, considering it happened on the road and they were 90% at fault. I couldn¡¯t even get properpensation because the perpetrator was drunk driving. I felt like going crazy when I saw their lifeless expression, as if they had no regrets about going to jail with their ruined life. It wasn¡¯t about the money. I had ruined my lifelong dream. I wasn¡¯t even dead, and the aftereffects of the injury weren¡¯t that serious by normal standards, so I wouldn¡¯t get much punishment. I felt my blood run dry every day. Maybe it would be better to die. ¡®I¡¯m so ashamed to have someone like you as a sibling.¡¯ ¡®Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to do something different? Shouldn¡¯t you at least be famous?¡¯ My older siblings came to visit me in the hospital and nagged at me, and I snapped. I had been holding on to my sanity until then. ¡®At least you¡¯ll be less of a disgrace now. You couldn¡¯t even make a dent in the charts every time you released an album. I wish you would have quit already.¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to do anything anymore after hearing their taunts, deliberately tearing my heart to pieces. Maybe my sister and brother were right. Maybe I was hopeless no matter what I did. I felt like I couldn¡¯t escape from this life of constant failure. ¡®I want to quit everything.¡¯ I closed my eyes, hoping to sleep forever. And when I regained consciousness, I felt nothing. I realized I was in a state of pure consciousness, without a body or pain. My memory was blurry, and I couldn¡¯t remember who I was, what I wanted to do, or what I felt when I closed my eyes. I passed a pitiful flower bed that barely filled a handful and saw an empty space. For some reason, I felt like I had to go there to finish everything. As I approached the ce where the bright light shattered and sparkled like a prism, I heard an unfamiliar sound from the broken debris. ¡®Congrattions on your debut!¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re a celebrity now? Awesome.¡¯ ¡®Do your best, since you¡¯vee this far.¡¯ ¡®Dad may say this, but he¡¯s rooting for you a lot.¡¯ ¡®I loved your performance today! Pleasee back with a better song next time.¡¯ I felt a ticklish sensation, as if I had forgotten something important, and snapped out of it. Everything would end if I went any further. I didn¡¯t want to end it here. It was my choice to end my life. But I had too many regrets to disappear like this. I had never shone properly. I was wrong. I made a mistake. Please let me go back. I turned around and ran away from the direction I was going. How far had I gone? I saw a dark space where the gravity was messed up and the garbage and numbers were tangled up. Beyond the chaotic darkness, I saw myself. Or rather, someone else wearing my appearance. Seong-won and Yi-jun, who always growled at me, cooperated willingly with the ¡®someone¡¯ who looked like me. I couldn¡¯t believe it was real when I saw them hit the real-time first ce for the first time. Why not me? Why didn¡¯t I? Why me? We¡¯re the same person anyway. Why didn¡¯t I get that luck? Why me? At first, I thought it was just a brief stroke of luck. But the ¡®someone¡¯ who had my face didn¡¯t stop there and kept moving forward. They won the survival program, and kept making things happen to attract more people around them. Everyone praised the changed Cheon Ise. They didn¡¯t know Cheon Ise was like that. They did such a good job. They were so considerate. The fans also grew in an instant. The follower number that was barely 10,000 became millions in a moment. Why? They didn¡¯t love me when I had the same face. I tried to sabotage them several times, but every time I saw the ¡®someone¡¯ who acted like nothing happened, I felt like I was going crazy. It should have been me in that ce. Not some fake who came out of nowhere. Why can¡¯t they tell? Who do they think helped them debut? I knew them longer, how could they be closer to a fake who hadn¡¯t been with them for even a year. That was supposed to be my life. The ¡®someone¡¯ raised the climax, theposition, the offbeat to a higher level, and it felt like they were denying my existence. ¡®I have to turn it back to the way it was.¡¯ It was just getting back what was originally mine. After absorbing the scraps of memory and data and learning the functions, I finally seeded in getting my body back by digging into the system¡¯s vulnerabilities. ¡°You, you¡¯re weird. Why are you acting like that all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Hyung, are you feeling okay? Do you want to rest?¡± ¡°Ise hyung¡­ did I make too much noise at night?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are you like that?¡± They all said I had changed. And they hoped I would go back to the ¡®real¡¯ Cheon Ise they knew. I barely escaped from extinction, but the ce I came back to was already reced by someone else. ¡°Oh, Ise-ssi~! Long time no see. How are you? You look busy. But do you have time to appear as a guest?¡± ¡°Should I call you CEO Cheon now? Offbeat did really well this time, congrattions.¡± People I didn¡¯t even remember seeing kept acting like they knew me. I was scared. It was as if I never existed in the first ce. They all looked for the ¡®someone¡¯. Not the real me. The real one is me. But I had be a fake before I knew it. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 253: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 253 What Truly Shines My body doesn¡¯t obey me. I haven¡¯t achieved anything I wanted. If I close my eyes, I feel like I¡¯ll be taken over by the ¡®fake¡¯ again. I¡¯m out of breath and it¡¯s hard to bear my own weight. I try to get up from the bed by pushing the floor, but I copse right away. I barely manage to stay conscious by blocking the system¡¯s relentless attempts to restore me. I can¡¯t remember or do what I wanted to do so badly. ¡®What did I do so wrong?¡¯ The sheet I clenched was briefly wrinkled and then returned to its original state, limp.I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. A bleak dawn. The first bus heading to the provincial terminal was almost empty. I held the ticket and sat in the seat, and soon the driver came up and tore off one side of the ticket. ¡°Students are all riding from dawn. What a strange thing.¡± I wondered if the kids hadn¡¯t finished their vacation yet. But the ones who went to y wouldn¡¯t take the first bus at this early hour. I thought it would be surprising. I nodded my head to greet him instead of answering, and waited for a while until the bus moved its heavy body and left the terminal. I was heading to the vi now. The ce where Lim Hyun-seong stayed for thest time before he died. He didn¡¯t die in the house, and the investigation was closed as a suicide before it started in earnest, so I had no idea what the house looked like. Should I have sold it sooner? Maybe he didn¡¯t sell it because he didn¡¯t know if there was any evidence of murder. On the other hand, he might have disposed of all his belongings and sold it before the evidence came out. I thought I should at least check it out with my eyes, so I left the shelter without thinking, but I was still at a loss. ¡®I need to find evidence that it wasn¡¯t suicide.¡¯ If it was right after he was killed, I would have checked the CCTV that I installed for security, but it was already more than six monthster. Considering that the previous footage is usually deleted after two or three months, it was time to be overwritten by new footage. ?? ¡®But I have to go anyway.¡¯ After driving for about four hours, the terminal I arrived at was not only quiet, but also had an apocalyptic atmosphere. There were not many people using it, and since it was dawn, there was no staff at the window, only an unmanned ticket machine. ¡®Will I be able to catch a taxi?¡¯ As I hesitated and went outside, I saw a driver who was half asleep with a cigarette in his mouth and the window half down. ¡°Hey, driver.¡± As I approached and spoke to him, he was startled as if he was thinking of something else. ¡°Where are you going?¡± I sighed, took a short breath, and answered. ¡°I need you to go to the address on the navigation. It¡¯ll take about 30 minutes from here.¡± The driver¡¯s expression crumpled at the thought of having to share the fare on the way back. Well, that was a normal reaction. I didn¡¯t rely on the driver¡¯s humanity, but instead took out the bill I got from Kang Jinwoo and handed it to him. ¡°Just turn off the meter and go.¡± The driver¡¯s eyes sparkled at the sight of the unexpected yellow bill. ¡°Where¡¯s the address?¡± Anyway. It was easy to handle, but I didn¡¯t feel very good. ¡°Over here.¡± I showed him the address I wrote on my phone¡¯s memo, and he rubbed out his cigarette and entered the address on the navigation. ¡°Do you have any rtives living here?¡± It was simr. Not a rtive, but a vi where I lived. I didn¡¯t answer, but smiled faintly instead. There was nothing but silence in the car all the way. Later, the driver seemed to feel ufortable, so he suddenly turned on the radio. As the pop songs flowed out, the road scenery I often saw passed by the window. Thest time I came here, I drove myself. When I left, I must have been carried out without driving myself. I wasn¡¯t very happy to return to the ce where I died. ¡°Are you almost there? Are you here to film a haunted house YouTube or something?¡± A momentter, the car stopped with a notification that it had arrived at the designated destination, and the driver nagged as if to ask why I came to such a ce. ¡°I have something to stop by for a moment. Can you give me your number if you don¡¯t mind? I wonder if you cane back when I go back to the terminalter.¡± I didn¡¯t like the driver very much. But it wouldn¡¯t hurt to reduce contact with others. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to charge you a bit more¡­¡± The driver looked at me as if he misunderstood me as a fugitive or a wanted person. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll call youter if you give me your number.¡± Anyway, I wasn¡¯t a wanted person, and if I looked it up, I wouldn¡¯t exist anywhere. I calmly handed him my phone and saved his number, then nodded and greeted him. Vroom-. As I confirmed that the car was getting farther away, I turned around and looked at the yard, sighing deeply. ¡®I was worried what if someone sold it and cleared it away.¡¯ Who would buy this ce that costs a lot of maintenance and is expensive, but has poor essibility and is hard toe by often? It was obvious that the ce had been left untouched since I died. ¡®How can the grass grow so much?¡¯ The weeds were so thick and tall that they almost reached the height of an elementary school student. They made me reluctant to enter the yard. I had to clean it up if I wanted to sell it. But I hated that idea, so I left it like this. I felt relieved as I pushed through the bushes and entered the yard. And then, Swoosh-. I heard something moving in a corner of the yard. It was too quiet to be a person, and it sounded like friction on the ground. A snake? Or a rat? Either way, it was disgusting. ¡°Ugh.¡± I cautiously looked at the ground as I approached the house, afraid of being bitten by something. Luckily, there was no sign of anyone living here. ¡®Then maybe¡­¡¯ I had installed three CCTV cameras around the entrance. They had been removed by the bastards who destroyed the evidence, but the sign on the door still said there were three. ¡®But that¡¯s not all.¡¯ The door faced the road, and unless they climbed over the fence, they couldn¡¯t enter from the other side. Behind the house, there was a cliff that led straight to the sea. And there was one more camera that I didn¡¯t record on the door, facing that direction. It was dangerous, so I put up another fence. And since it was private property, anyone who came in here would be trespassing, so I didn¡¯t have to mark it. ¡®I originally installed it to film the birds that liked to build nests here¡­ I didn¡¯t expect this to happen.¡¯ It was made to look like a birdhouse, and I modified it so that real birds could nest and live in the bottom. Considering the direction and location of the filming, there was a high chance that it captured the scene of me being killed. ¡®Please¡­!¡¯ I quickly checked the back of the building, hoping for something. There was a birdhouse with a nest that the birds had left behind. My heart sank as I felt a pressure. I went to the birdhouse and took off the roof. There was a dusty camera inside. ¡®Is the power¡­!?¡¯ Of course, it was off. It was a waterproof camera, and it didn¡¯t seem to have any damage. I guessed it was just a simple discharge. I took the camera and went back to the front of the house. ¡®Can I go inside?¡¯ I had to try. I entered the familiar number on the door lock. It opened without a sound. It made sense. I was dead and cremated in the yard. No one who knew the password woulde back here. The vi that I returned to after a year had no trace of people. It was cold, and mold was growing everywhere because of the moisture. It created a gloomy atmosphere. ¡®Does the light work?¡¯ Click, I flipped the switch. The electricity seemed to be cut off, too. The light didn¡¯te on. I went to the kitchen and turned on the faucet. The water seemed to have been cut off for a long time, too. I felt bitter as I saw the vi that had be a ruin in a year. ¡®I shouldn¡¯t think about it.¡¯ I had to focus on what I had to do. I pulled myself together and went to the room. The room looked the same as I remembered. The bedding was neatly arranged, but covered with dust. Beyond that, there was a desk. There were quite a few books on the bookshelf¡­ I went closer andughed bitterly at the unexpected scene. ¡®Ha.¡¯ They must have been worried that there was something like a real will or something in the books. The bookshelf waspletely empty. The drawers were the same. ¡®They were meticulous in useless ces.¡¯ It was a waste of effort. My real will, which had been notarized, was somewhere else. I lifted the dusty nket and put it on the floor. I flipped the mattress. ng, as I flipped the mattress, there was a zipper that opened the inside where the springs were. Zip, I opened it and felt inside. There was a neatly folded envelope. They wouldn¡¯t have thought to look here withmon sense. ¡®I don¡¯t know if this will be recognized as valid.¡¯ I had hired awyer and reced it with a new version, and the inheritance had beenpleted. It was almost impossible to overturn this unless I came back to life. Even if I gave this to Kang Jeon-mu, unless he found solid evidence that the new will was forged, they would just dismiss this as an old version. ¡®I found the will, now I just need to do something about the video¡­¡¯ I turned on theptop and waited for the power toe on. Then I hoped that the file storage would be connected. It must have been erased long ago, but I couldn¡¯t let go of the faint hope. As I was waiting, Vroom-. ¡®What?¡¯ Then, I heard a car outside. ¡®What is it? They can¡¯t being here.¡¯ I hoped it was just a passing car for a moment. The car sound got closer and closer, and then stopped beyond the yard. And then, someone started walking. ¡®I have to hide.¡¯ As long as I didn¡¯t get caught, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find me. I was a nobody in this world anyway. But if someone saw me or grabbed me at the scene, it would be game over. I quickly opened the door leading to the balcony and ran outside. I had taken the camera, theptop, and the letter, but I couldn¡¯t erase the traces of my presence. ¡®Damn, where should I hide?¡¯ As soon as I reached the backyard, I heard someone grumbling in the front yard. ¡°Who the helles here at this hour? At best, they¡¯re just petty thieves.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just take a quick look and leave.¡± Some people who looked like hired thugs were approaching the house,ining. ¡°What was the password again?¡± ¡°1005.¡± ¡°What kind of password is that? It¡¯s not even angelic.¡± A sudden mockery made me feel a surge of anger on my forehead. Angelic, my ass. It was the day I opened my shop for the first time. I swallowed my futile retort and crouched down cautiously. ¡®If I run away like this, there¡¯s nothing nearby to hide behind. What should I do?¡¯ It was a very quiet neighborhood, not suitable for pretending to be a local resident. It was a ce that was hard to reach without a car, so I couldn¡¯t just smile and say, ¡°Are you new here?¡± and pass by. ¡°Hey, wait a minute. It looks like someone came in here.¡± One of the thugs added in a suspicious voice. ¡°Are they still here?¡± I felt my heart drop again andy t on the ground. If I crossed the room and went out to the balcony, I would be caught for sure. What should I do now? My vision went dark. ¡®I have to think of a way.¡¯ If they caught me now, they would take the letter and the camera. Cold sweat ran down my back. Chapter 254: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 254 As I looked around for a ce to hide, all I could see was a steep cliff. ¡®If I jump from here¡­¡¯ I had an experience of being drowned here against my will. I don¡¯t know what happened to my corpse and how it was handled afterwards. But surely the corpse that looked like a slip-and-fall death wasn¡¯t. They wrapped it up as a simple fall. I could tell without seeing how they dealt with the local police. ¡®I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll die.¡¯ The letter was sealed with vinyl so that anyone who found it would have to tear the package to check the contents.The camera was waterproof too¡­ I thought about jumping, but then. ¡®Oops.¡¯ I remembered toote that theptop wasn¡¯t waterproof. Besides, it wasn¡¯t mine, I borrowed it, right. And rationally speaking, jumping into the sea and running away was ast resort that was no different from suicide. I pondered for a moment. There were only two people who looked like mercenaries. Maybe I could hide in a blind spot where they couldn¡¯t see me from outside. As I hesitated, one of the mercenaries shouted. ¡°He couldn¡¯t have gone far. Go out and look for him!¡± Damn, I could have erased all the traces if I had more time. I couldn¡¯t help it because they came in so suddenly. What do I do now? I had no time to think when I heard someone opening the balcony door. There was no way out. I stretched my legs over the cliff and caught my toes on a protruding part. I grabbed a clump of grass roots that hung like vines and stepped on the protruding part of the cliff with my feet. It was an ufortable posture, but it was the most stable one to hang on. If I tried to change to a morefortable posture here, I felt like I would fall down the cliff. ?? ¡®Ah¡­ what the hell¡­¡¯ What am I doing, like a spy movie hero. I ttened my body against the cliff and held my breath as I heard someone running around above me. ¡°There¡¯s no one here!¡± ¡°Did he run away?¡± This area was invisible unless you came over the fence, so they couldn¡¯t find me from the backyard. ¡®Please, just go!¡¯ I prayed fervently in my mind. They were just doing their job for money, so they should just look around and go report. As I held on with an unstable posture, sweat started to form on my palms. How much longer could I hold on? As the realistic fear crept in, the old man who looked like the leader sighed. ¡°He¡¯s gone. He was already out when we got here.¡± ¡°Damn it, why did he set up the door lock to send an open alert message? It looks like a burr came in and left, but there¡¯s nothing to steal anyway.¡± The man¡¯s grumbling voice was followed by the sound of the mercenaries walking towards the car they had parked. Just as I was about to rx, one of the younger ones asked. ¡°What¡­ you don¡¯t think he ran away over there, do you?¡± Damn. He didn¡¯t seem to have said it with much conviction, but the sound of their footsteps walking towards the car stopped for a moment. ¡°If you¡¯re worried, go and check it out yourself. I¡¯ll start the car.¡± And then the sound of their footsteps came closer to this side again. ¡®I¡¯m screwed.¡¯ Should I jump now? My heart was pounding as I heard the voice again. ¡°Hey, there¡¯s no one. It looks like a burr came in. We should report that, right?¡± Luckily, he only peeked over the fence from the outside. Hisziness saved me. ¡®Ah¡­¡¯ I felt like I had endured ten years as I waited a little longer. Soon, I heard the car moving away. I still waited for another five minutes, just in case, and then pulled myself up over the cliff. My whole body was covered in sweat. The letter, the camera, and theptop I borrowed were all safe. I flopped down on the ground, hidden from the road, and gasped for breath. That¡¯s when I rxed. ¡°I thought I was going to die again.¡± I¡¯ll probably die again in a week anyway. Iy down and scratched my head, and everything was blurry. It would be easier to just give up. A moment of impure thought crossed my mind. If everything goes to nothing when I die, isn¡¯t revenge a futile thing? I won¡¯t remember anything when I¡¯m broken down and be something new. I closed my eyes and the negative thoughts lingered for a while. I forced myself to get up. ¡®I can think about that after I fail.¡¯ I had to move my body instead of lying down and making gloomy noises. I had to do my best until the end for the abandoned Climax members. I called a taxi again and the driver looked at me with a nervous expression. ¡°Kid¡­ what did you do to end up like that?¡± It was no joke to say what I looked like. I was covered in dirt from head to toe, from my clothes to my shoes, because I was clinging to the cliff. I see. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I muttered an apology without any spirit and headed to the terminal. It was still before 10 a.m., even though I had left early and caused such amotion. ¡°Is there a broadcast today?¡± It was thest week of their activities, so they must have been busy preparing for their goodbye stage. I wondered if I should ask Yu-geon what time the recording was, but I didn¡¯t know when their rehearsal was scheduled, so it felt awkward. ¡®He¡¯ll probably contact me first if he gets bored during the waiting time.¡¯ And sure enough, a few momentster, I received a message from Yu-geon. [Yu-geon] I¡¯m at work. The chaos is over and I¡¯m waiting. 10:38 a.m. He also attached a selfie that he seemed to have posted on their official ount. It was so cheeky that it made me annoyed. Yu-geon was smiling and making a V sign with his fingers towards the lens, while the other members of Offbeat were sitting behind him with various expressions. Seon-woo was sleeping, Yi-jun was eating something, and Seong-won was listening to something with earphones plugged in his ears. Hwijin, Naru, and Kyunghwa were aware of the lens and posed casually. ¡®They all look fine.¡¯ I felt bitter that there was no ce for me among those people. ¡®¡­Forget it. Let¡¯s go back to the shelter.¡¯ I had to check the camera SD card first, then wash up, take a nap, and deal with the backlog of work and call Jinwoo. The key was whether there was anything on the camera that could serve as evidence. I got on the bus to Seoul and just before I fell asleep, I saw the familiar status window faintly. [Remaining quest duration: 121 hours] Time was passing by frighteningly fast. ¡®I can¡¯t waste time like this.¡¯ I rubbed my stiff eyelids and turned on theptop. Then I connected the camera to theptop and ced it on myp. Ding, a message popped up saying that the driver instation wasplete and the file storage folder opened. ¡®Please¡­!¡¯ When I entered the folder where the recordings fromst year were stored, there were no monthly folders created after June. I opened the May folder with a hopeful expectation and clicked on thest video that was filmed. There was a scene of someone wandering around near my house and entering inside. It was my half-sibling who came out with a bunch of books and stuff and loaded them into the car. ¡®He must have done this himself without anyone¡¯s help.¡¯ I was watching him destroy the evidence in real time, but I wondered if I could use this as evidence. But this video alone looked like he was just sorting out the family¡¯s belongings. And the video abruptly cut off at a certain point. It seemed that the power was cut off when he turned off the main switch and went inside the house. The mechanism of this device was simple. It deleted the old videos sequentially to make room for the new ones. The fact that the storage stopped here meant that there were no videos filmed after that, and that meant there was a good chance that the video of that day was still there. My heart was pounding and my stomach was turning. Please, please¡­! I opened each file with a desperate prayer and finally found a video with me in it. It was meing out to the balcony and getting some fresh air. I hadn¡¯t seen this familiar back of my head for almost a year. Soon I went back inside and I didn¡¯t show up for a long time. ¡®Is iting soon¡­?¡¯ And after fast-forwarding for a while, the scene I was waiting for finally appeared. I was thrown off the cliff by my half-sibling, limp and lifeless. He didn¡¯t forget to take off one of my shoes and adjust the position to make it look like I tripped and fell because of my shoe. He also broke a fence to make it more convincing. The sign of the person who had been writing a suicide note with guilt and remorse for his family was an idental death. It was a suspicious situation to anyone who saw it, but the investigation didn¡¯t even start properly and it was concluded as a suicide without much fuss. ¡®I have to back up this file by email.¡¯ Just in case something happens to theptop, I could still report it to the media. If I can¡¯t report it, I could at least upload it to a video tform. There was no way this provocative video wouldn¡¯t spread like wildfire. It would be impossible to cover it up with his palm. For now, this was the hidden card I could use. I went back to the shelter with a lot of tension and saw the guys who dragged me to the busking venuest night lying on their beds and sleeping. ¡®They didn¡¯t even eat breakfast.¡¯ I nced at the guy who said he was a fan of Yu-geon and confirmed that he was sleeping well. Then I went to the shower and washed up. I was exhausted from sweating a lot since early morning and I felt sleepy after soaking in the hot water. ¡®Should I lie down and sleep for a bit?¡¯ As I was pondering, the fan of Yu-geon caught my eye and made a noise. ¡°Hey, hyung, you¡¯re awake?¡± It was dawn when I woke up. I didn¡¯t answer and smiled faintly. ¡°Oh, right. I have something to show you, hyung.¡± He unplugged his phone from the charger and came over to me. He found a captured image and handed it to me. ¡°This is from the pre-debut promotion event where they asked us to pick our debut pick. I would have bought a lottery ticket if I could when my debut group was confirmed.¡± I looked at the image that was sent to me, thinking it was some nonsense. But it turned out that I had a 60% uracy rate in an event where I had to guess the nine members of the debut group. ¡°Wow¡­¡± As I scrolled down, I saw the profile images of Yu-geon, Hwijin, and Naru lined up. This was something to be proud of in my own prediction. I smiled involuntarily at the expression of pride on my face. There must be fans who supported Climax from the beginning like this. I remembered the middle school students who came all the way to that remote ce and waved their cards when I went to the corn festival. ¡®I have to repay them as much as I can.¡¯ I felt the energy that had drained out of mee back. Let¡¯s work! I sent a message to Jinwoo first and then headed to the cafeteria with myptop. Chapter 255: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 255 One Thing Leads to Another I started working on some tasks in the cafeteria, pretending to be working remotely by logging into the web server. After about an hour, I got a flood of pop-up notifications for the keywords I had set up, such as Climax, Cheon Ise, and Offbeat. ¡®Did Cheon Ise cause another trouble?¡¯ He seemed to be lying on the bed all this time. What kind of trouble did he get into? Or was it something rted to Climax or Offbeat? I quickly checked the notifications and the linked posts. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should be relieved, but the data on the web server was quiet. It was a problem rted to Cheon Ise, but not an idol-rted incident. ¡®Ah¡­ I knew I should have done the final inspection. The incident finally broke out.¡¯I let out a long sigh. [Title] I got food poisoning from C Company¡¯s funding sd. [Content] Hello. I am a normal 20-something office worker who was struggling with dieting. First of all, I apologize for posting something that doesn¡¯t match the category. I posted it here because this ce has the most firepower. This post is not for the purpose of defamation, but for the public interest of consumers. As I scrolled down the introduction that seemed to be stamped out of a mold, the main point was this. I thought the leafy vegetables inside were not very fresh, but since it was a product that I had received only a day ago, I didn¡¯t doubt it much and started eating it with dressing. ? And when I emptied about half of the contents, a lump of mold came out. (Warning) I have no appetite since that day and I can¡¯t eat anything. I couldn¡¯t even eat properly and when I contacted the fundingpany, they said they didn¡¯t participate in the manufacturing process and it might take a while to confirm, so if I wanted a quick response, I should contact Cheon Soo Group¡¯s customer inquiry window directly. I have been so stressed out by this problem that I haven¡¯t been able to go to work for a week. When I close my eyes, I keep thinking that I ate the mold mixed with the dressing and I can¡¯t live because of vomiting. I should have checked the final manufacturing process. Even though it was a manufacturer managed by Cheon Soo Group, I regretted that I should have somehow intervened and checked it. The moment I saw the picture that the poster presented as evidence, I felt my blood run cold. ¡®This. This is not our product.¡¯ First of all, the particle size of the ingredients in the dressing was different. We used roughly ground ck pepper, so we didn¡¯t have finely ground pepper like that. The ingredients were the same. It seemed like he had picked them out somehow. The product that the writer imed to have bought did not contain red cabbage. But in the picture of the lettuce, there was a faint trace of purple color that had been dyed. ¡®Where did he rip off someone else¡¯s product and make it look simr and manipte it?¡¯ The sd sauce was already determined by the recipe and the amount of supply that was more than necessary before entering the production, so it couldn¡¯t have changed. The dyed lettuce also proved that this was not our product. But theizens who were already hooked on the idea of ¡®making fun of the retired celebrity who eats this¡¯ started indiscriminate bombing. [- Well, that makes sense. The guy who got the representative disease was doing this well.] [- Isn¡¯t that almost what the fans bought him? He throws mold at his fans and he¡¯s probably eating hotel fine dining.] [- Oh, I¡¯m really nauseous. The diet effect is perfect [- Cheon Ise¡¯s fans kept saying that he didn¡¯t have the representative disease, he had a lot of talent and he was using it for various things, but he finally exploded. Why did he do this when he couldn¡¯t even do his idol activities properly?] [- When he started, you guys were making a fuss that you wanted to eat it too, and then you said you tried it and now you¡¯re telling the fans to eat mold??????? The backstabbing is so cold.] Cheon Ise¡¯s sd was on every indicator that could check the most frequently mentioned keywords, including real-time trends. ¡®I¡¯m going crazy¡­¡¯ What do I do with this? There were more than one or two things that were suspicious, but if I posted a rebuttal now, it would only look like a paid worker from thepany. When Ipared it with other review products, it looked like it was not made by the same manufacturer, and if someone with authority said that, it might be a hot topic. Then I remembered a familiar face. ¡®Ah.¡¯ There was. A veteran who worked as an expert in the food industry and had appeared in various media and interviews as a food expert. I quickly called Kang, the executive director. After a brief connection sound, Kang picked up the phone somewhat irritably. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± What was he making a fuss about this time? I could roughly guess the reason. The shareholders¡¯ meeting wasing up soon, but his half-brother was still noting back from abroad. ¡°Are you very busy? I just want to ask you a favor.¡± He sounded busy, as I heard the noise of his employees working frantically, pulling their hair out. I felt a bit sorry for the timing. But I was going to write the post myself, and he just had to lend me his name. It wouldn¡¯t take too long. ¡°I¡¯m busy, but. I¡¯ll listen to anything from a living person, but I can¡¯t do anything for a dead person¡¯s favor.¡± I quickly spoke up before Kang Jeonmu¡¯s sigh could linger. ¡°Just post one thing on the forum of the link I¡¯m sending you. And take a picture of your ID card for verification.¡± Kang Jeonmu asked me right away, not understanding my request. ¡°Why do you want me to post something on the inte?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see when you look at it.¡± It was faster to send him the link and the summary of the situation than to exin it verbally. ¡°I¡¯ll send it to you right now on messenger. Check it and call me back.¡± I hung up the phone as if I wouldn¡¯t take any moreints. It might seem absurd, but I thought I could push him a little, considering I had changed his life. Pay me back this way! I tried to calm my anxious feelings while waiting for Kang Jeonmu to contact me. The entertainment talk board was on fire with Cheon Ise¡¯s sd story. There were also viral posts asking for and offering rmendations of reliable sdpanies. ¡®This¡­ It looks like apetitor made up a fake post to go viral.¡¯ And on top of that, there were viral posts about taking pills and dieting easily while eating whatever you want, rted to unlicensed supplements. Ugh¡­ It was a mess. Our product¡¯s catchphrase was ¡®Eat deliciously and be healthy¡¯. It was true that we had promoted it in contrast to the products that had unknown ingredients or that severely restricted the amount of food, ruining people¡¯s health. When the first trial sale wasunched, there were tons of reviews saying that it was so delicious that they wanted to snack on it. Now that the third batch of sales had started, which was almost like an officialunch, it seemed like they wanted to strike first before the public opinion supported us again. Grind. I was grinding my teeth when Kang Jeonmu called me. ¡°I checked what you sent me. The sauce viscosity ispletely different from the product. Here, it looks like they chopped some pickles and put them in the sauce, but that¡¯s not in the recipe you told me, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. I adjusted the acidity with something else. There¡¯s no need to add pickle dice and increase the calories.¡± ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll include that in the post. I think I can post it in about 20 minutes. It¡¯s crazy here too.¡± Phew, I was relieved that it looked clearly different from our product to a third party. ¡°Thanks. Sorry for asking you so suddenly. And please take care of the rest of the work.¡± As I was about to end the call, sweeping my chest, Kang Jeonmu suddenly asked me. ¡°But isn¡¯t this the product that the son of Cheon Soo Group made? Why is he doing business with your recipe?¡± Damn. I didn¡¯t exin the rtionship with Cheon Ise because it was tooplicated. It wasn¡¯t something that could be easily believed anyway. ¡°I told him to use it. It¡¯splicated to exin, so I¡¯ll tell youter.¡± I doubted that I would have a chance, but I just asked him to understand that for now. As I finished the call, I felt sweat running down my back again. ¡°Is there nothing I can do but wait?¡± About 30 minutester, the post that Kang Jeonmu posted came up on the real-time hot issue. The people who had received and enjoyed the product in the first and second trial sales also felt something was off and were waiting for someone to post a rebuttal. [Title] Evidence of maniption in Cpany¡¯s sd controversy [Body] Hello, I am a food manufacturing expert working as an executive at a foodpany. I have summarized some points that I found suspicious regarding the recent sd controversy. Thepany has not yet announced the results of the collection and investigation, but based on the materials that have been made public, my personal opinion is that it is not the same product as before. As the data that detailed everything from the contamination of the lettuce to the difference in the concentration and ingredients of the sauce was posted, thements quickly turned around. [- It was a hoax from the beginning. The purchase confirmation shows that he was a third batch buyer, but the third batch hasn¡¯t even started shipping yet, right? The invoice registration doesn¡¯t show up, how did he get it?] [? I know, right? I¡¯m also a third batch buyer and the shipping date is next week???? The first and second batches were really small sales and they already shippedst week, where did he get that from? Sd goes bad if you leave it for a week, he¡¯s not a fool.] [- The original poster either left it for a week and made a fuss about the spoiled sd or manipted it with a simr product from anotherpany.] [? It looks like a product from anotherpany in the body. I was a second batch buyer and there was nothing like that finely chopped pickle in the sauce.] [- The fact that the original poster said he threw away the remaining product in the trash can and it was already disposed of so he couldn¡¯t check it was already out????¡­ He was going to send an entertainer away and the Floss anti, the climax anti, and all the antis were making a fuss.] [? (Picture) This is a problem that can¡¯t be buried, and the reason why the sshingmenter can¡¯t reveal thements is obvious, right?] [? (Picture) Wow, I also captured it and the words are the same but it¡¯s creepy that it¡¯s a different person.] [? (Picture) It looks like they¡¯re in a group chat or something and they¡¯re coordinating their activities. The number of likes is the same.] Ugh. I was only relieved for a moment. Unless Cheon Ise himself responded, there was no guarantee that this problem wouldn¡¯t happen again. ¡®I¡¯m going crazy.¡¯ It¡¯s been three days since I lived in this body. There were only four days left, but Cheon Ise was still on hiatus. Chapter 256: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 256 Urgent Fire ¡®Should I meet him in person again?¡¯ If his condition was still bad, the system¡¯s recovery might be faster than my disappearance. Then, even if I failed toplete the changed quest, I could go back to ¡®Cheon Ise¡¯. ¡®But¡­¡¯ He was holding on until the end, saying he wanted to live one more time. Would I be relieved if Ipletely drove him away, and could Ifortably proceed with the remaining quest? It was a difficult question to answer honestly. I wanted to go back to Cheon Ise if I could. But I didn¡¯t want to go back against Cheon Ise¡¯s will.But at the same time, I didn¡¯t want to cause trouble to the other members or thepany. To sum it up, the biggest problem was that I couldn¡¯t give up anything easily. If I chose the members and thepany, I could boldly try to take over his body as a viin from Cheon Ise¡¯s perspective. It was my fault that I couldn¡¯t give up either side. ¡®Please, snap out of it!¡¯ If Cheon Ise would just act properly, I could focus on finishing my revenge without any regrets. I was almost done with the handover materials, but my mind was heavy. It was useless if I made the materials and Cheon Ise, who would use them, died again after holding on like that. ¡®Should I ask Yu-geon to make another visit to the hospital?¡¯ I scratched my head, thinking that I might be kicked out if I went alone this time. As soon as I thought of it, I sent a message to Yu-geon. He was like a celebrity who had so much free time, he replied in less than five minutes. [Me] Are you free now? 11:45 AM [Yu-geon] Yes. 11:48 AM And then a puppy emoticon waving its hand arrived. I narrowed my eyes and red at the puppy¡¯s annoyingly shaking hand, then typed. [Me] Can we go to Cheon Ise¡¯s house one more time? I think I need to see how he¡¯s doing. 11:49 AM Then he didn¡¯t answer for a long time, whether he was checking his schedule or ying hard to get. ¡®Anyway¡­¡¯ I clicked my tongue and took care of some other work, then he finally replied. [Yu-geon] I don¡¯t think I can do it today. 11:57 AM Hmm, his busy schedule should be almost over by now. He had done almost all the variety shows, and the music shows were over. He must be busy preparing for Swift¡¯s debut song, but that wouldn¡¯t take too long since there weren¡¯t many people to match the schedule. They were all experienced people who used to handle the schedule with nine members. I looked at the screen with a skeptical thought and sent a reply. [Me] Why? You only have one thing at night today. 11:59 AM As far as I knew, he only had ate-night radio show. I didn¡¯t think Yu-geon had anything else to do besides work, and I asked him confidently. He gave me an unexpected answer. [Yu-geon] I have a prior engagement today. Not me, Cheon Ise. 12:01 PM ¡®Prior engagement?¡¯ He had a date? No, was he in a state to make a date? I moved my finger at the word that made my eyes pop. [Me] Cheon Ise got better? 12:03 PM That would have been a wee news if I heard it. It would be nice if he could regain some energy and try to do something, even if he caused trouble. But the answer that came back was not a sentence that I liked. [Yu-geon] No, Naru said he was going to visit him today. 12:04 PM Ah¡­ that was the prior engagement. It would be troublesome with anyone else, but Naru was even more unsuitable to reveal this unbelievable secret. If he knew, he would say ¡®I¡¯m not that pathetic!?¡¯ and run away. He¡¯s not pathetic. Honestly. I nodded and replied. [Me] Then when are you free? 12:05 PM [Me] I only have four days left. 12:06 PM I emphasized that it was an urgent schedule that I couldn¡¯t postpone any longer by telling him the remaining time. A few momentster, instead of a message, a phone call came. [Caller information] Yu-geon 010-XXXX-XXXX Ah¡­ he was going to nag me again, saying why I was so careless. I frowned and was about to press the reject button, but I sighed, thinking that he was the only one I could ask for help with thepany work. I had to take it. I lowered the call volume to the minimum, then moved to a quiet hallway as if I was running away. He didn¡¯t hang up rudely and waited, so I finally pressed the answer button. ¡°Hey, why are you calling me?¡± I opened my mouth with a calm voice, as if I was the one who was wronged. Yu-geon raised his voice right away. ¡°No, how can you say that you only have four days left as if you were asking what I had for lunch today?¡± Possible continuation: [Me] What do you want me to say? Do you want me to leave you a will, saying please take care of my legacy even if I disappear? It¡¯s not that urgent yet. It¡¯s too early to say goodbye. I had said some cool words as if they were myst will, but it would look ridiculous if I had to contact him for more than three days from now. As I was trying to say something nonsense to lighten the mood, Yu-geon shot back at me. ¡°You said you were disappearing, but you didn¡¯t say you would disappear so soon.¡± Didn¡¯t I tell you that I didn¡¯t have much time left? I scratched my forehead and made an excuse. ¡°I didn¡¯t have a chance to tell you the exact time. Anyway, I don¡¯t have much left, so I hope there¡¯s a ce where I can meet Cheon Ise again soon.¡± Yu-geon made a sound of disbelief, clicking his tongue loudly, and answered. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that now. If you have anything else that will piss me off, tell me quickly. I¡¯m scared of what else you have.¡± I muttered nervously. ¡°No, nothing else. I¡¯ve already told you everything about disappearing. I¡¯ve almost finished the handover materials, so I just have to give them to Cheon Ise¡­ I want to check if he¡¯s feeling better.¡± Yu-geon sighed as if my reaction was still lukewarm, and there was a brief silence. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll ask Naruter and let you know. It might be difficult today, but I¡¯ll try to contact Cheon Ise¡¯s mother tomorrow morning and see if we can go again.¡± He was doing me this favor while nagging a lot. I stroked my chest and replied. ¡°Okay. Thanks.¡± Then, after a long silence, Yu-geon whispered in a low voice and hung up. ¡°¡­If you¡¯re grateful¡­ beep¡­¡± What do you mean if I¡¯m grateful? I red at the screen with a dumbfounded expression. [Me] Why did you hang up all of a sudden? 12:13 PM As soon as I sent a message, a nd answer came back. [Kang Yu-geon] It¡¯s nothing. 12:15 PM It¡¯s nothing my ass. I was not very pleased, but I had to wait until the schedule was set. I had to prepare more materials in the meantime. I had to keep my hands busy before I started having weird thoughts. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± On the other hand, Naru, who looked like a celebrity or someone doing an advertisement, covered his whole body with a hat, sunsses, mask, and padding, and looked up at the huge gate in front of Cheon Soo Group¡¯s mansion. ¡®It¡¯s really big.¡¯ How much would the maintenance fee be for a house like this? The president¡¯s mansion had a thousand-unit electricity bill. Wouldn¡¯t this house be simr? I was making stupid thoughts while the cold wind prated the gaps in my clothes. ¡®Let¡¯s go in.¡¯ I heard that he was in such a bad condition that he couldn¡¯t recognize anyone. I hope the members didn¡¯t fail to recognize him either. He wouldn¡¯t be senile at that age. Naru paused and tapped his chin with his fingertips, then pressed the doorbell. It was not like him to worry about such things. I came all the way here to visit him, and he would refuse me even though I contacted him in advance? I lifted my chin and waited for the door to open, and soon the door opened with a nk. ¡®It¡¯s open!¡¯ As I cautiously opened the door and entered, I saw a garden that was spread out as wide as a small stadium. ¡®They¡¯re rich, alright.¡¯ I was confident that I had grown up without anyck, but this level of wealth was definitely not mine. If you asked me if I was jealous¡­ Honestly, I was, but. I didn¡¯t understand why he was doing something like an idol when he had so much money. If he had that much money, he could just act like a rich and leisurely gentleman who was suspiciously wealthy and had a life full of fun. Why did he bother to set up abel, and do something like a sd business, and get sick like this? I couldn¡¯t understand it. ¡®Well, it¡¯s none of my business anyway.¡¯ The reason why Naru came to visit him was simple. The guy who had been talking so nicely in front of me had thrown everything away andy down! He was acting so cocky, but you¡¯re no better, huh? I wanted to tease him. I also wanted to show him how much I had improved. I was confident in my skills anyway. Did I take the lessons seriously? No, I didn¡¯t. I¡¯m good without doing that. That¡¯s the hard work that only those who can¡¯t sing do. I had ignored the basics that I had been proud of, and started to organize them for about two weeks. My basic style didn¡¯t change much, but my high notes became more stable. I had been proud of myself for not needing that until now, but the improvement was noticeable. Look, now you can¡¯t nag me with your skills. I was looking forward to the day when I could show him, but Ise suddenly quit his job and hid. ¡®Even if you stop working, you have to listen to my song and quit.¡¯ I didn¡¯t care about anything else. Naru cleared his throat and pressed the doorbell again in front of the front door. Soon, the door opened with a nk, and a person I had only seen on TV showed his face. ¡°Are you Naru? This is the first time I see you. My son was very rude to you.¡± He was different from the mothers of the friends I had seen so far, from his appearance to his voice, which showed that he was not an ordinary person. He looked restless because his son was sick and lying down, which was not very pleasant to see. ¡°Ah, yes¡­ No, it¡¯s not. I owe him a lot too¡­¡± I reflexively greeted him politely, and soon I was guided to the room where Cheon Ise was sleeping. ¡°Since he¡¯s been asleep for so long¡­ Do you want to go and talk to him? Maybe he¡¯ll wake up¡­¡± Naru stood nervously in front of the bed, following the hesitant suggestion of Vice Chairman Ahn. Therey Cheon Ise, barely breathing with his eyes closed and his face pale and sickly. Naru understood that he was ill, but he had his own honest opinion. ¡°¡­Pathetic.¡± Naru blurted out what he should have kept to himself, and his heart sank, wondering if his mother had heard him. Chapter 257: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 257 The Best of Them I covered my mouth with both hands and looked around. Fortunately, I muttered very quietly, almost to myself. I felt embarrassed, but that didn¡¯t change my impression. How could he lie there so helplessly, doing nothing, after lecturing me with such righteous words? He wasn¡¯t even really sick. Even if he had caught a terrible flu or something, it was his own fault for not taking care of himself. ¡®I went on stage even when I had a fever of 38 degrees!¡¯ Of course, I copsed as soon as the stage was over and didn¡¯t move until the manager woke me up at the next scheduled location.But I never missed a schedule because of health problems. I did all the stages I had to do. But look at Cheon Ise now. He had been whining for almost a week, throwing away all the projects he had to lead and carry out. He seemed to have started working again at home, but looking at him now, he didn¡¯t seem to be doing it very diligently. ¡®I didn¡¯t say anything wrong.¡¯ Did he try so hard because he heard me say something that hurt his pride? I suddenly felt a surge of anger. Don¡¯t lie down and sleep like this. Naru gritted her teeth and looked down at Ise. ¡°¡­?¡± Ise barely sensed her presence and lifted his eyelids faintly. His cheeks were swollen and sullen, as if they were about to burst. ¡°What are you doing, this.¡± Naru blurted out in a casual tone, but Ise didn¡¯t answer and blinked his eyelids with difficulty. ¡°It¡¯s so annoying. If you¡¯re going to act like you know everything, you should set an example yourself.¡± It was human to feel bad when you felt bad. Until now, the staff, thepany executives, and everyone else had nothing to do with him, as long as they paid him properly. But this time, for the first time. Maybe he was a little different from the other people he had dealt with before, since he interfered with him so much. He had thought that for a moment. Was that all my delusion? It was extremely disappointing. He wanted to scream at him to apologize for the insults and humiliations he had received before. ¡°Why don¡¯t you say anything?¡± She snapped at him with a frustrated attitude, but Ise only twitched his eyelids and didn¡¯t react. ¡°Did you bring me here by lying to my mom just to show me this?¡± She pushed him harder, as if to provoke him, but Ise was still motionless. ¡°Are you going to disappoint me like this? And all the other members?¡± Ise looked up at Naru with a frown. ¡°I¡­¡± As his lips moved slightly, Naru¡¯s round eyes narrowed sharply. ¡°I, what. Try to make an excuse.¡± She didn¡¯t give him a chance to hesitate and scolded him, while the adults behind the closed door were restless. ¡°¡­I also wanted to do well¡­¡± What nonsense are you talking about? Naru didn¡¯t want to hear such a weak word. He should have said he was sorry for betraying his trust, that he would get up soon. That he was ashamed of his pathetic appearance. He should have promised to make up for his disappointment, as if he had a way to do everything as usual. ¡°What?¡± Naru frowned in disbelief, and Ise closed his eyes again and fell asleep. ¡°You¡¯re sleeping again? What, wake up!¡± Naru was left alone in dismay and shook Ise¡¯s shoulder. He didn¡¯t have a high fever or anything, but he wouldn¡¯t open his eyes no matter how hard she tried. ¡®Did he really catch some deadly disease?¡¯ She was scared for a moment. She thought it was pointless toin to a sleeping person. Was Cheon Ise such a worthless person? Pathetic. She came to a conclusion and opened the door, and the politedy greeted her with a dark expression. ¡°I¡¯m sorry he hasn¡¯t recovered yet. But he had a thorough check-up and there¡¯s nothing wrong with him, so he¡¯ll be up soon.¡± Do you expect me to believe that when he¡¯s like this? Naru sighed inwardly, but didn¡¯t show it. He said he was working, so I thought he was feeling better and came to see him. It¡¯s a shame. ¡°I¡¯lle again next time.¡± She uttered a polite remark and put her feet in the shoes at the entrance, and Mrs. Ahn, the vice chairman, asked in a doubtful tone. ¡°Is Ise working?¡± She sounded confident that it was impossible. Naru wondered what she meant and asked back. ¡°Yes. He said he connected to thepany¡¯s web server VPN and handled everything from home¡­¡± But Mrs. Ahn immediately denied it. ¡°There¡¯s noputer in Ise¡¯s room. He didn¡¯t bring aptop either, so he doesn¡¯t have anything to use. And we all use personalptops, so there¡¯s no public desktop either.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him work at home¡­ Are you mistaken?¡± What? Naru couldn¡¯t help but doubt her ears. ¡°No, that can¡¯t be¡­¡± ¡°But lying in bed all day long¡­¡± There was no benefit to biting my lips here. I was sick of being seen as a kid who whined to the adults. But my mom, who heard that her son was getting better, was so negative about everything. Suddenly, I saw the face of thedy who looked exhausted. ¡®¡­She must be tired.¡¯ I nodded briefly and told the vice president what he wanted to hear. ¡°Yes, I guess I was wrong. I¡¯ll go now. Thank you.¡± I shouldn¡¯t havee. I left the entrance with a nagging feeling. ¡°But there¡¯s no way I was mistaken, right?¡± What was that? I went back home with a lot of questions, but luckily my mother was out. As I was about to take a breather, I got a call from Yu-geon. ¡®This kid is annoying me again. Hmph.¡¯ I snorted inwardly and answered the phone. As expected, he called to ask about Ise. ¡°Did you visit him well today?¡± Who do you think I am, a five-year-old? I pursed my lips and replied. ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t make any weird mistakes, and I bought the right gift.¡± He was someone I didn¡¯t like from head to toe since I first met him on the Mydol stage. He was only four years older than me, but he acted like an elder and a know-it-all. His arrogant and condescending gaze annoyed me. Even his height was more than 15cm taller than me, so he looked down on me from afar. But the fans liked thebination of Naru and Yu-geon, the shortest and the tallest in the team. And I thought it wasn¡¯t bad either, how I looked cute and lovable next to the muscr Yu-geon. I got used to it after being stuck with him for two years, but it was still ufortable. ¡°How is he doing?¡± I didn¡¯t need to ask who he was talking about. Of course, everyone was only interested in Ise. ¡°He¡¯s still lying down. He¡¯s pathetic. He told him toe to his agency and take responsibility for everything, but what is he doing?¡± Iined irritably, and Yu-geon was silent for a moment. I didn¡¯t miss the chance to add. ¡°Oh. And he¡¯s not doing any work either.¡± Yu-geon raised his voice at my casual remark. ¡°What?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t have aputer he can use right now, so who¡¯s doing the work? Is thepany lying to us so we don¡¯t worry?¡± I shrugged as the taxi I called arrived. I should get a license secretly soon. I muttered to myself and got in the back seat. ¡°Ah¡­ I don¡¯t know. I got it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean by that. Anyway, I¡¯m annoyed.¡± Yu-geon hung up the phone as if he didn¡¯t care about my annoyance. ¡°Hey? What? Did you just hang up?¡± Naru grumbled alone, but it didn¡¯t reach Yu-geon at all. While Hyun-seong was preparing to finish everything in one shot at the shelter, there was a smallmotion at the Climax dorm. ¡°I¡¯m done!¡± Everyone was startled by Yi-jun, who suddenly shouted and jumped up from his chair. They looked at the room where Yi-jun and Kyunghwa were working. ¡°What, what is it? What¡¯s going on?¡± Seon-woo, who came out of the room in a hurry, looked at Yi-jun with a bewildered expression. Yi-jun smiled brightly and lifted hisptop. He brought it to the living room and called the members. ¡°Come on, look. The final version is out. Now we just need to confirm the parts and add the lyrics.¡± It didn¡¯t seem like the next step was something that could be done with ~just~, though. Yu-geon, who was resting quietly in his room, also got up and came out when he heard the loud noise from the living room. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Yu-geon asked with a puzzled look, and Yi-jun answered with a wide smile. ¡°Huh? Oh, I wanted to finish the work on the Climax regr title first, so I could rx. I was stuck for a while, but I finally did it. Do you want to listen?¡± Oh, right. They said they would release an album in the second quarter. Yu-geon recalled the schedule of Climax¡¯s follow-up activities that he had heard over his shoulder while working as Offbeat. He nodded. ¡°Yeah, I want to listen.¡± He dly took a seat on the sofa, and Seon-woo looked at him with a strange difort and apologized. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± What for? Yu-geon blinked his eyes, not understanding. ¡°What for?¡± Yu-geon asked, and Seon-woo stuttered as if he was confessing a serious crime. ¡°That¡­ there, it¡¯s usually where Ise hyung sat¡­¡± ¡°Oh~.¡± It felt unnatural to see someone else sitting in the ce where the person who should have been there was supposed to be. Yu-geon felt more pity than annoyance for him. He was whining like a puppy who had lost his guardian, but his guardian had disappeared and there was nothing he could do about it, saying the same thing over and over¡­ ¡®He doesn¡¯t even know that he¡¯ll be gone soon.¡¯ But this was not a situation where he could hint at anything. If he did, he would be mistaken for a lunatic, not Ise. He was bothered by what Naru had said during the day, but since Naru hadn¡¯t directly told the Climax members yet, he kept his mouth shut for now. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t care much.¡± He meant it. What could he do? Their leader didn¡¯t seem to have any intention ofing back to this ce, even if he had to struggle so hard. He didn¡¯t want to take Ise¡¯s ce, nor did he want to. He just stayed in his seat to kill some time before he left the house for thete-night radio schedule. ¡°Shall we y it right away if there¡¯s nothing else?¡± Yi-jun pressed the y button on theptop, surrounded by the members, as if to change the gloomy atmosphere. ¡®Is this the second time Iposed the title song?¡¯ He only participated in the arrangement, not the fullposition, of ¡®Drink me¡¯. Including the song for thepetition, it was the third time. He asked them to listen to it. As Yu-geon listened, the beat filled the living room. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 258: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 258 The Brilliant Thing (1) After a game-like sound effect that seemed to be Junye¡¯s signature sound, the melody that followed was a pop band song with an impressive guitar sound. The refined beat and the catchy melody blended well, making the song feel full without being too heavy. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly how to attach the lyrics or the concept until I decidedter, but it felt as conscious of the public appeal as the Offbeat¡¯s new song. After a little over three minutes of yback, everyone looked at Yu-geon¡¯s expression at once. ¡°¡­?¡± Yu-geon frowned as if wondering why they were looking at him instead of Junye. He realized anew that he had more experience in working with hit songs than Climax, although they had a longer career.¡°Ah, it¡¯s good. It would be nice to add a bit more of an orchestra band feel. I can¡¯t say you have to cut the rap part exactly because I don¡¯t know how to remove it. You¡¯ll do well on your own. Have you decided on the concept?¡± He gave a simple evaluation as if he were a judge, and Junye smiled confidently and answered. ¡°No!¡± ¡°What?¡± Yu-geon doubted his ears and wrinkled his forehead. He wrote the song before the concept came out? ¡°Ah, well, it¡¯s not like I have no candidates. I narrowed them down with Ise hyung before he stopped working. I made them all fit well for now, and I was going to write another one that suits the concept better as a double title. Um¡­¡± Junye¡¯s confident expression turned into a disgruntled one. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do because hyung doesn¡¯t answer my calls.¡± Junye shrugged and sighed, and the other members who were satisfied with the sound quality and had bright expressions also sank down. Seong-won, who usually didn¡¯t show his emotions on his face and always maintained a nk expression, also looked listless today. Yu-geon thought for a moment and gave the best advice he could in this situation. ¡°But it seems like he¡¯s still checking the web server. How about attaching the file and submitting it through the groupware? Or send him an email.¡± Kyunghwa immediately disagreed. ¡°He doesn¡¯t even answer our calls, do you think he¡¯ll check the email?¡± Yu-geon answered with strong conviction. ¡°He will. Just send it.¡± As the members looked at Yu-geon with skepticism, Yu-geon¡¯s phone vibrated. [Sender] Manager (Park) 010-XXXX-XXXX Yu-geon winked lightly and said he would go out now, and got up from his seat while answering the phone. ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯ll go down to the parking lot now.¡± Seong-won, who was scheduled to appear on the radio with Yu-geon, followed Yu-geon and got up from his seat. It was awkward as hell to appear together when they weren¡¯t even close, but he had to do his best to make the atmospherefortable. He would give Seong-won the right to speak when he asked for a cover or sang the highlight part, and block him from saying anything else. Yu-geon briefly reviewed his n and turned on his phone screen. He had to prepare his hair and makeup because it was a visible radio, so he had to contact them in advance. [Me] Please check your emailter. 7:21 PM [Me] I¡¯ll send you the sound that Junye made. 7:22 PM Then, as if he had turned on the messenger notification, he got a very fast reply from Hyun-seong. [Lim Hyun-seong] Okay. 7:22 PM He seemed to be working hard. Should I tell him that someone suspects that it¡¯s not what Cheon Ise is doing? If it was someone like Hwijin, Kyunghwa, or Junye, who had a rtively strong influence in thebel, it would have been natural to tell him separately. ¡®Of all people, that guy¡­¡¯ Naru¡¯s position was still ambiguous. He was indispensable as a main vocal, but Climax had solid sub and lead vocals, and he couldn¡¯t beat Seong-won, who had the main vocal role, in terms of skill. And he couldn¡¯t push him with his visuals either, because Seon-woo was holding on. No matter how much Naru imed that something was wrong, they wouldn¡¯t listen to him as much as he was prioritized in terms of importance in the team. ¡®It doesn¡¯t seem like a big problem for now.¡¯ Anyway, he did his best to help as much as he could. The rest was up to Ise, or Hyun-seong. He suddenly felt bad. What was he doing? It was not much different from his initial impression of Mydol. I had something I wanted, but it wasn¡¯t entirely up to my will, but it was shaken by the decisions and choices of others. ¡®¡­¡¯ Yu-geon couldn¡¯t be rude enough to urge Hyun-seong to take over Ise¡¯s body. Would he have felt better if he did? Yu-geon threw a question without an answer and shook his head. As soon as he got in the car, the manager drove and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the shop right away.¡± He didn¡¯t feel good while moving for the appearance. Fortunately, Yu-geon was not young or stupid enough to show his bad mood in front of others, and the schedule was finished safely. At first, some chats criticized Seongwon¡¯s passive attitude, but soon the onlinemunities were turned upside down by his cover request, which surpassed the original song in quality. This would surely make a clip, and if a fan ount uploaded that part as a short video, it could get hundreds of thousands of views. If he was lucky enough to catch the algorithm, it wouldn¡¯t be impossible to reach a million. He didn¡¯t seem like the type that suited being an idol in many ways¡­ But the agency probably didn¡¯t want to exclude him from the group debut with such a stable visual. Yu-geon shrugged his shoulders. He had already contacted them during the waiting time and said he would visit the hospital tomorrow. As soon as he finished his schedule and returned to the dorm, Yi-jun asked him out of the blue. ¡°Hyung, you said you¡¯re going to visit Ise hyung tomorrow, right?¡± Yu-geon answered, hiding his surprise that Yi-jun was still awake after working on his songs until dawn. ¡°Yeah, I have a schedule in the afternoon, so I¡¯m going to go in the morning.¡± He had to hurry if he wanted to go with Hyun-seong. He stretched his stiff body and answered, and Yi-jun barged in at an unexpected timing. ¡°Can I go with you then?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going too?¡± ¡°Yeah, I want to see him at least once.¡± Didn¡¯t he check his email today? He tilted his head in confusion, and Yi-jun opened his mouth first. ¡°I got the email, and the feedback too, but I still want to talk to him face to face. I¡¯m worried because he doesn¡¯t even check his phone or messenger.¡± Yu-geon hesitated for a moment. Should he stop him here? What if he found something strange at Ise¡¯s house, like Naru did? Then he wouldn¡¯t be able to let it go as if nothing happened. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± As Yu-geon hesitated, Yi-jun added as if to urge him. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re ufortable, I¡¯ll contact him separately and arrange a schedule.¡± Sooner orter, he would be exposed. And if he was going to be exposed, it was better to be exposed now, when he still had time. For Hyun-seong, not Ise. Yu-geon rxed his tense expression and answered with a smile. ¡°No, let¡¯s go together. I think we can leave around 10 o¡¯clock tomorrow. We¡¯ll get there around 11 o¡¯clock.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s positive answer made Yi-jun nod his head with a smile. ¡°Okay. Then I¡¯ll sort out the files and go to bed. I¡¯ve only made a beat for the double title song candidate. I think the mood will change a lot when I mix it with the melody, so I¡¯ll just leave it as a base for now.¡± Yi-jun¡¯s eyes sparkled, unlike the fact that it was already dawn. But he couldn¡¯t oversleep and bete for the hospital visit, so he had to go to bed quickly. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it. I¡¯m not participating in the song, but I¡¯m curious how you¡¯ll do it.¡± He meant it. And he also wanted to ask him to write some Swift songs for the double title song. ¡°Ugh, hearing that makes me want to work more. But if I work now, I won¡¯t be able to wake up in the morning, so I¡¯ll go to sleep.¡± Yi-jun groaned andined to himself, then headed to his room. Yu-geon watched his back for a moment, then followed him into his room. Hey down on the bed that had been ownerless for over a year, and the mattress, which was almost new, supported his back firmly. Would Yi-jun notice something tomorrow? Yu-geon secretly hoped that Yi-jun would catch on to something, and his eyes closed. The next morning. Yi-jun woke up much earlier than 10 o¡¯clock. He saved the candidate beat on his desktop so that it was easy to see, and he also prepared a slightly refined version of the sound source. He had heard that the other members had gone to bed without waking up properly when they went, and he honestly doubted his ears. ¡®How could that be?¡¯ The hyung who was meticulous about self-management and couldn¡¯t stand wasting time? Of course, Ise wasn¡¯t like that from the beginning. When he first joined the debut team, his impression of Ise was ¡®a spoiled brat who only wants to do what he wants¡¯. At least he practiced dancing harder than the other members, so he thought he wasn¡¯t just joking around with being an idol. Ise, who had endured vocal training that he didn¡¯t like, started to go astray like a train with a broken brake after Climax became a full-fledged flop. At first, they were diagnosed as a group that would make it if they came up with a good visual and concept. But that was only until they released three titles. After that, they lost their freshness by ruining everything they released, bing amon flop. When they became affiliated with Floss, who debutedter, some people vaguely knew about Climax, but most of them thought that Floss was losing out because of Climax. They wouldn¡¯t even know who each individual member was. The members weren¡¯t that old yet, wouldn¡¯t it be better to disband and find their own way to re-debut? That was the realistic evaluation of Climax that Yi-jun had epted. ¡®Thanks to that, I got a lot of offers to transfer.¡¯ You¡¯ll be 100% sessful if you just quit being an idol. I know a producer who will push you, so let¡¯s go to the hip-hop survival. He was tired of rejecting countless offers, and he wondered if he really had to give up. Cheon Ise, who seemed to stay at that level for the rest of his life, changed. And not only Cheon Ise, but also Climax, who seemed to copse at any moment, changed. ¡®I¡¯m d I stayed.¡¯ The days when he looked forward to what he could do next continued. He wanted to try again with this member, and he got a satisfying result. Of course, he didn¡¯t want to stop here, as there was still a long way to go. I wanted to test the limits of what we could do with our bodies, to collide with each other and feel everything. But just as we were about to reach the peak of our twisted climax, the moment when we would defy the odds and turn the tables, Isa copsed like an electronic device that had been unplugged. I couldn¡¯t ept this. Chapter 259: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 259 A Brilliant Thing (2) A momentter. The house we arrived at by taxi with Yu-geon was a more splendid mansion than I had imagined. ¡°Ha¡­ What the¡­¡± ¡°He said he was a fan who cheered for the climax, but I didn¡¯t know he was acquainted with Ise hyung.¡± Yu-geon had a bitter taste in his mouth when he arrived at the cafe with Yi-jun, remembering Hyun-seong¡¯s expression. ¡®I should have taken a picture of that expression.¡¯ Hyun-seong still looked displeased, but he couldn¡¯t kick Yi-jun out and just sighed.¡°Come on, let¡¯s go in.¡± Yu-geon smiled brightly and Yi-jun tilted his head slightly in confusion. Yi-jun was the only one who didn¡¯t know, there was a separate awkward ice rink. Just before I left for the cafe where I was supposed to meet Yu-geon, I checked the screen with a curious thought at the message alert that rang with a boom. Is he going to say he can¡¯te because he¡¯s got a schedule booked today? That would be a problem. I went into the messenger to check the content first, and there was an unexpected content waiting for me. [Kang Yu-geon] Don¡¯t forget to see me at 11 o¡¯clock XX coffee, XX branch. 10:26 AM Does he think I forgot some kind of promise? I casually sent a confirmation message saying I got it and got up from my seat. When the kids were awake, they kepting over and asking what I was doing, so I had to take refuge in a nearby cafe for a while. As soon as I got there, the guys who only had their faces on came over and pretended to know me and talked to me, so I had to run away to a ce far away from the shelter and finish the work. ¡®This is honestly perfect.¡¯ The only thing left is how effective the exposure will be. As soon as the video is released, the impact will be out of the hands of the family. No matter how hard they try to take down the video, it will circte and spread and share through various tforms, branding them as murderers. That alone would be half a sess. It would be great if I could stop my brother from participating in the general meeting, but I couldn¡¯t hope for that. ?? ¡®First, I¡¯ll see Cheon Ise again today. If I feel like he can¡¯t get up like this¡­¡¯ I was speechless for a moment. Then what? I couldn¡¯t answer. As I hesitated for a while, I headed to the ce where I promised Yu-geon and what I faced was¡­ ¡®Hello! You¡¯re the one Yu-geon hyung introduced me to on the phone, right?¡¯ It was Yi-jun¡¯s face smiling with a sulky expression. ¡°¡­¡± I bowed my head silently for a moment and greeted him, then took Yu-geon¡¯s ear and dragged him to a dark ce. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± As I shot at Yu-geon¡¯s ear, Yu-geon smiled mischievously and answered. ¡°Ah, he said he wanted to visit him, I couldn¡¯t stop him. Don¡¯t you care that ¡®Ise¡¯ hyung wants to see him so much?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I red at him fiercely. ¡°Tell him to see the Ise hyung he wants to seeter, why did you bring him when I¡¯m here?¡± ¡°Hyun-seong, I think you¡¯re mistaken.¡± What am I mistaken about? This guy with no brains. I frowned and erased the image of Kang Yu-geon that had been improved in my own way, and Yu-geon added with a smile. ¡°The ¡®Ise¡¯ hyung the members want to see is over there.¡± I felt my heart sink. So what? What are you going to do when you find me? I turned my head away and turned to Yi-jun. ¡°Shall we go inside? It¡¯s pretty chilly today.¡± I smiled broadly and unknowingly almost pressed the door lock password of the gate, but pulled my hand back. The Cheon chairman couple were both away today, and the manager who worked exclusively for them opened the door and weed us. ¡®It¡¯s different when youe as a guest.¡¯ As Yi-jun opened the door and entered the room with a tense atmosphere, Ise, who had no manners, was lying there with his eyes closed. ¡°Hyung, are you okay?¡± Yi-jun shook Ise¡¯s shoulder and tried to wake him up, but Ise didn¡¯t budge. I stood quietly in front of the door and looked down at Yi-jun and Ise. Then Yu-geon casually intervened and exined. ¡°He¡¯s been like this for a week.¡± Yu-geon swallowed a short sigh and Yi-jun looked back and forth between Yu-geon and Ise, then took out a wireless earphone from his pocket. ¡°Will he not wake up like this?¡± What are you trying to do? Yu-geon and I frowned as Yi-jun plugged one earphone into Ise¡¯s ear and connected it to hisptop and Bluetooth. ¡°¡­? What are you doing?¡± I asked in confusion and Yi-jun answered confidently. ¡°Maybe he¡¯ll wake up from his sleep if he hears something in his ear.¡± Ha¡­ I remembered the melody I received yesterday by email and frowned. ¡®It was good.¡¯ What kind of concept would be good for this? How to match the costumes, how to do the stage movement and direction, how to cut the point choreography. I had so many things on my mind. A year ago, I didn¡¯t know or care about any of this. But once I stepped into that world, dozens, hundreds of ideas kept popping up. How could I make the song that Yi-jun made so beautifully shine the most? And how could I sing it and pull it off? I was tormented by the visions of my future activities that I unwittingly drew in my head. No one stopped him, so Yi-jun moved the mouse and yed the track. Soon, the beat started flowing from the earphones. Yu-geon burst intoughter. ¡®You think this is funny.¡¯ I didn¡¯t find it amusing at all. Even though the track had been ying for quite a while, Ise didn¡¯t budge at all, and his face lost more and more color. What if he never woke up? What if he became a cripple like this? What would I be then? You came back with such determination to live again, and I gave up everything and returned it to you. And this is what you do? I strode to the bed and shook Ise¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Wake up.¡± Then, Ise, who had shown no reaction at all, lifted his eyelids with difficulty. He looked around with his nk eyes, and when he saw me, he shuddered. ¡°Y-you¡­¡± He seemed to want to ask why I was here. But he didn¡¯t have the strength to squeeze out the sentence. ¡°Ah, I brought you here. I was worried because you were in bad shape.¡± Yu-geon exined instead, with a poker face. ¡°Hyung, there are so many people who are worried about you right now. You have to wake up soon. We have to prepare our album and record it.¡± Then Yu-geon blurted out something rude. ¡°But what. Even if you get better and wake up, will you be able to do it?¡± Yi-jun frowned at the sudden and unpleasant remark. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Yu-geon answered calmly, holding his head high. ¡°Have you ever thought about when Ise hyung started to be helpful to our activities?¡± ¡°What?¡± Yi-jun twitched his eyebrows, as if he was saying what nonsense he was talking about. ¡°Think about it. When did Ise hyung change sopletely, like a different person? And now he¡¯s changed again, just like then. If he was the Ise hyung from a few months ago, he would havee to the dorm even if he was in pain, saying he had to work.¡± Yu-geon¡¯s iprehensible words made Yi-jun react sensitively. ¡°What do you want to say in front of a sick person?¡± ¡°Just think about it. The Ise hyung before he got sick. Was he the kind of person who would irresponsibly throw everything away and hole up in his house?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t throw anything away. He¡¯s working right now.¡± Then Yu-geon added ominously. ¡°Is that really what Ise hyung lying here did?¡± He had no limits to what he could say if left alone. I intervened before the atmosphere got worse. ¡°Stop it, both of you. It¡¯s not right to raise your voice in front of a sick person.¡± When I awkwardly stepped in and stopped them, Yu-geon twisted his lips. ¡°So you¡¯re going to side with him?¡± ¡°Enough!¡± I sighed and scowled, and Yi-jun still looked annoyed and raised his eyebrows. ¡°What¡¯s with this mood? Do you two have some secret that I don¡¯t know?¡± Yu-geon was about to open his mouth nonchntly, and I quickly shut it. ¡°Ah, no, ugh!¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m sorry for making a fuss.¡± Yi-jun looked at me and Yu-geon alternately, and then said abruptly. ¡°Wait a minute¡­ Do we know each other from somewhere? Why do you look so familiar?¡± I felt a twinge, remembering what Yu-geon had saidst time, how could our faces be so different but our expressions be so alike. ¡°No, this is the first time we meet. Maybe it¡¯s just your feeling?¡± I yed dumb, and Yu-geon¡¯s mouth came alive. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Ah, stop talking nonsense.¡± I stomped on Yu-geon¡¯s foot. It wasn¡¯t intentional, but the tense atmosphere eased a bit as Yu-geon wrapped his foot in pain. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just my feeling¡­¡± Yi-jun nodded and took the earphones from Ise, who had fallen asleep again. ¡°I thought he could at least talk a little. But it seems difficult. It¡¯s better to leave him alone.¡± I nodded and took Yu-geon and Yi-jun outside. Just before we left the bedroom, Yi-jun said onest thing to Ise. ¡°Wake up soon and don¡¯t listen to that weird stuff. I want to keep working with you, hyung. We have so much to do. We have a lot of work piled up.¡± I looked down at Yi-jun and turned my eyes away. Yu-geon didn¡¯t miss the chance and asked me. ¡°Are you sad?¡± I snapped back. ¡°No.¡± It was a tant lie. The sun was barely in the middle of the sky, since I hade out again less than 30 minutes after entering the mansion. ¡°Are you going back to your amodation now?¡± ¡°Yes. I have another schedule in the afternoon.¡± I blurted out something I shouldn¡¯t have without thinking. ¡°Well, at least the variety show pilgrimage will be over by this week. And the song hasn¡¯t been released yet, so I have some time until recording.¡± Then, Yi-jun tilted his head and asked. ¡°But how do you know that, Mr. Hyun-seong?¡± ¡®Uh¡­?¡¯ I was startled by the unexpected remark, but I couldn¡¯t show it here. I had to answer calmly and expressionlessly. ¡°Oh~. I keep in touch with Yu-geon often, so I get updated on his schedule.¡± ¡°Hmm~.¡± Yi-jun still looked unconvinced and stared at me. I stepped on Yu-geon¡¯s foot secretly, hoping he would back me up, but he just grinned and uttered a meaningful word. ¡°Yeah, how do you know that?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Yi-jun narrowed his eyes and looked at me and Yu-geon. ¡°Something¡¯s fishy¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m an industrial spy or anything.¡± ¡°Enough, you two. Go inside quickly. You¡¯ll bete for your schedule.¡± I pushed their backs toward the taxi that had arrived at the corner. They obediently got in the taxi and waved their hands as they left. And I copsed on the spot, my legs giving out. ¡°That crazy bastard¡­¡± What was I thinking? ¡®I want to keep working with you, hyung. We have so much to do.¡¯ Yi-jun¡¯s weak voice echoed in my ears. Chapter 260: Chapter 260: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 260 The Brilliant Thing (3) I wouldn¡¯t have had these thoughts if Cheon Ise had managed to keep his ce somehow. But what can I do now, when there¡¯s no way out and I¡¯m feeling greedy? ¡°¡­¡± I watched the spot where Yu-geon and Yi-jun had left for a long time without saying a word, and then I pressed the doorbell again without realizing it. ¡°What is it?¡± The person working inside asked me with a puzzled tone, and I reflexively lied smoothly.¡°Oh, I left something here.¡± ¡°Ah, okay. I¡¯ll open the door for you.¡± How deeply asleep he was. He didn¡¯t even notice me looking down at him in front of his nose, let alone toss and turn. ¡°What are you doing?¡± If I had made up my mind to try again, I should have followed through with it. I was angry to see him lying like a corpse without a twitch, even though Yi-jun had made a song and yed it for him. Why? I came back ready to scold him a lot, but I didn¡¯t have the strength to get angry when I saw Cheon Ise lying lifelessly. I looked down at Cheon Ise silently and bent down in front of the head of the bed. Swoosh, I touched his forehead with my palm. He didn¡¯t have a fever. Rather, he was cold as if he wasn¡¯t alive. ¡®At this rate¡­ I¡¯m worried that something will happen to him before me.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t vent my anger at him, who couldn¡¯t even take care of his own body. I pulled up the messy nket and covered him up to his neck. He wouldn¡¯t have been so twisted if he had set his direction right from the start. I felt sorry for him, but I still thought he was a spoiled brat from a rich family. What do I want to do? With a bitter thought, I stroked Cheon Ise¡¯s forehead and got up from my seat. ¡°¡­!¡± Cheon Ise grabbed my hand very weakly, without even opening his eyes. With a very faint strength that I could easily shake off. He flinched his brow as if he was afraid of something. Why do I have to put up with this when I¡¯m not even his guardian? Especially when he threw away his body and died, and I lived for him instead, only to be kicked out again. But even then, I wasn¡¯t cruel enough to shake off his feeble gesture. ¡°Geez. You¡¯re really a weirdo.¡± I obediently let Cheon Ise hold my hand until his brow rxed a little. He might think I¡¯m trying to steal something or snoop around. I grumbled to myself when Cheon Ise¡¯s eyelids opened like threads. ¡°¡­!¡± Cheon Ise looked up at me with great difficulty and shuddered as if he was surprised. But this time, I didn¡¯t let go of Cheon Ise¡¯s hand. ¡°I mean it when I say I want to help you if you want to try.¡± I muttered with a subdued anger. ¡°So stop disappointing the members and get up. They¡¯re important to you, aren¡¯t they?¡± Then his eyes seemed to fill with tears, and he closed his eyelids again without energy. I waited for another 10 minutes, wondering if he would wake up, but he didn¡¯t move at all, as if he had used up all his strength. I finally got up from my seat. I only had three days left. My half-brother¡¯s return was postponed to thest day, and I felt like I would run out of time by the time the general meeting was in full swing. ¡®Sigh¡­ Why does he keep dying his return and make the time so tight?¡¯ Maybe I should be grateful rather than think it¡¯s a coincidence. I sighed heavily as I went outside, where the snowkes were flying, making it seem like winter wasn¡¯t over yet. ¡°Hoo¡­¡± As I breathed a long sigh, my white breath rose high into the sky and scattered. But I had to do whatever I could do now, so I wouldn¡¯t regret it. Even if Cheon Ise couldn¡¯t get up and I couldn¡¯t finish my revenge. The data I left behind would be used by the next person in charge to make Climax and Offbeat shine more. And even if my family escaped from the charges again like mudfish, they would be shaken by the spread of the killerbel by the generation they couldn¡¯t control. ¡®There¡¯s nothing meaningless.¡¯ That¡¯s the self-justification of someone who gave up on doing their best. So I have to keep moving until the end. I tried to erase Yi-jun¡¯s bitter expression from my mind and walked to the bus stop. When everyone was scolding Cheon Ise to stop ying dead and get up, he himself was desperately holding on to his intermittent consciousness. He seeded in breaking into the system¡¯s blind spot and absorbing the dummy data. But defending against the system¡¯s recovery attempt was another level of problem. He didn¡¯t know how long he couldst. He knew he couldn¡¯t just lie down like this. ¡®I want to keep working with my brother. We have so much to do.¡¯ His heart sank again as the melody and voice forced into his ears. The one Yi-jun was looking for was not him. Someone else. Even if he barely regained his strength and got up from his seat, he couldn¡¯t join the work as Yi-jun wanted. Even if you join us, you were never like this before. We know that your skills are not at this level. You will wonder why you can¡¯t do it like you did back then, as you push someone else¡¯s traces into yourself. ¡®Whether you are more stubborn or not. I can handle the problems that you can¡¯t solve.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m not here to take your body back.¡¯ I would have felt better if you had treated me like a viin, asking why you are trying to take it back after you abandoned it once. It was painful to admit that I was the one who was holding on to something impossible and being stubborn. If I, who had already finished my role, stay and want a future, it will make others suffer. Ise blinked his eyes faintly and barely held back his tears. ¡®But I¡¯m still scared.¡¯ The moment he deviated from the path he had to take, he was afraid of what he would be, unable to even guess. If he had just gone straight to the light cluster, everything would have ended as it should. If there is hell, I will surely go there, right? I¡¯m scared to endure like this, and I¡¯m scared to let go. What if everyone hates me? What if no one remembers me? What if they think it was better for someone like me to disappear? The moment fear started to gnaw at his feet, he felt someone¡¯s warmth on his fingertips. He clutched the barely caught hand as if it was the only lifeline he could hold. ¡®¡­It¡¯s warm.¡¯ The hand that he thought he would push away stayed with him for a long time. Who the hell are you, not pushing me away? When he barely lifted his eyelids to check, he saw the face he least wanted to see looking down at him. ¡®Heek¡­!¡¯ He tried to pull his hand away, but this time Hyun-seong didn¡¯t let go. Was he stronger or did he not have the strength to push his hand away? He cried at the tenderness of someone whoforted him and pulled up the nket. ¡®I mean it when I say I want to help you if I can.¡¯ If he meant it, it meant that there was one more person who was disappointed in him. Everyone tells me that I can¡¯t go on like this. But I don¡¯t have the courage to stretch my legs, or the will to run away. His eyelids closed again and the surroundings turned dark, and someone¡¯s memories flowed in. He barely cooled his arm on the stove with cold water, and wiped the greasy iron te while being scolded. The scene where thepany he had barely settled in copsed due to his partner¡¯s betrayal and he lost all his assets. The scene where he was constantly pressured by his family to send money. He was the opposite of himself, who had always spent the money that others had earned hard. And finally, the moment he was killed by his family. ¡®How can life be so miserable?¡¯ Ise thought. This person never looked back. He didn¡¯t cling to failure, but went on without stopping, using what he learned from it. He didn¡¯t me others for his energy, but dusted off his knees and got up, and looked for what he could do again. He felt more sad at the thought that he was different from him from the beginning. The scenes that flickered in front of his eyes disappeared and Ise was left in the darkness again. He could feel that there was not much time left. [Remaining quest duration: 11 hours] It was already thest day of bing a 19-year-old Lim Hyun-seong. The noise around Cheon Ise did not stop after the sd usation scandal. Most of the agency was responding, but the fact that Cheon Ise himself did not show his face anywhere was a good opportunity for the antis to catch him. If it was an ordinary fan or a generalizen, they would have something to talk about all day long, not just Cheon Ise, and it would soon attract attention. ¡®Why do they have so much time? Are they kids or do they have no jobs?¡¯ There were too many people in the world who had not only time but also malice. And not only this side, but Jo Young Food was also not easy. The employees of Jo Young Food kept asking for attention in the onlinemunity for office workers that Jinwoo lent his ID to. The main point was that the owner¡¯s family took over the management rights after the death of the founderst year and tried to sell thepany. ¡®The employees must have a lot of thoughts.¡¯ The key to the food industry is how often you can get customers to revisit. It was natural for customers to stoping if they were in a hurry to reduce costs, save on ingredients, or reduce the number of employees and lower the quality of service. They fired employees and reduced part-timers as if it was natural because they didn¡¯t make any profit, and eventually closed down stores that were not one or two. ¡®How can they ruin such a well-known brand in a year.¡¯ He sighed heavily. Thements showed that people who worked for otherpanies also stopped going to Jo Young Food chains because the taste had changed, and they were angry that it was because the owner had changed. Moreover, at this week¡¯s general meeting, they were nning to decide on a n to sell the main business unit, which seemed to have a bigger impact. ¡®The nominal reason is¡­ to increase profitability through business unit restructuring¡­¡¯ It was like cutting open the belly of a goose thatys golden eggs and selling it. How could that work? In fact, it was an EXIT deration of the owner¡¯s family. We¡¯re going to sell here, get the money and get out, so you guys take care of the rest of thepany, it was close to that. He sweated at the tip of his fingers as the purpose changed from when he received the proxy from the shareholders in advance. [Time left toplete the quest: 11 hours] My brother still had no news of his return, and I didn¡¯t have much time left. I had prepared everything so that it wouldn¡¯t be a waste even if I disappeared like this. But I had done my best, and now all I could do was rely on luck. Chapter 261: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 261 The Moment It Was in My Hand (1) The more I thought about my family, the more suffocated I felt. How could they be so irresponsible? Did they not realize that their decision would affect the entirepany and the employees who depended on it? Or did they not care if the lives and families of each individual copsed as long as they were not affected? Either way, I felt cold-blooded. Even if they had to change the supplier of raw materials due to the price issue, they should have given some time and gradually switched the suppliers who would be shaken by our loss of volume. But they had thrown away hundreds, thousands of jobs in less than a year and still livedfortably. I was so angry that I gritted my teeth. ¡®I¡¯ll expose these bastards and make sure they can¡¯t live in peace.¡¯As I clenched my fist and waited for Jinwoo¡¯s contact, the caller ID appeared on my phone screen. [Kang Jinwoo] 010-XXXX-XXXX As soon as I answered the phone, Jinwoo told me the news about my brother. ¡°He just arrived in Korea. He said he¡¯s going to stop by his house and sort things out before the general meeting. Wait for him right now.¡±¡± There were only about three hours left until the general meeting. I left the cafe where I had been waiting near the address Jinwoo had sent me and stood in front of the entrance of the house where my brother lived. Of course, the door lock was locked since the owner had not arrived yet. Jinwoo had found out the password for me through the door guard.
¡®He wouldn¡¯t have changed the password by now.¡¯ I had checked it several times. It was not a temporary password that he had changed to let the security staff in, because I remembered clearly when he had started using this password. After my father¡¯s remarriage, he changed the password without consulting me, a young child, because he was afraid that the family of histe ex-wife would barge into the house. I still remembered vividly how I had to wait outside in the cold until my father came home from work after school. It had been decades since then. But I wished I could forget those memories, because they came back to me as if they had happened yesterday. ¡®It¡¯s all in the past.¡¯ I shook my head and chased away the negative memories in my head. Was I too nervous? I was afraid that he might change the password in that brief moment and a security staff woulde. As I calmed my pounding heart and checked the time, it was already less than two hours until the general meeting. ¡®If I waste more time here, I might run into my brother outside.¡¯ I could be arrested by the police in a mess, attracting the attention of the people around me. ¡®Let¡¯s get inside quickly.¡¯ At that moment, when my heart was racing and blood was rushing to my head. Beep-. The system message that had been silent all along popped up. As if to prove that I had less than 10 hours left until my disappearance, it was so transparent that it was hard to identify, let alone disappear. [You can try to switch to Cheon Ise (Lim Hyun-seong). Do you want to try?] [Yes/No] Even that was flickering like a broken fluorescent light, as if it would turn off at any moment. ¡°¡­!¡± Why now of all times? What happened to Cheon Ise all of a sudden? I let go of the door lock and asked the system window. ¡°If I try? Can I definitely go back to Cheon Ise?¡± [After examining the possibility of recovery from various aspects, we estimate that if you use up all of your remaining mission period to attempt recovery, you will have a 27.321238% chance of continuing the event ¡®Idol Cheon Ise¡¯.] R It was aplicated exnation, but the conclusion was not very hopeful. The probability of sess was very low, and the possibility of failure was much higher. And whether I tried or not, neither option was satisfactory. I would rather hope for a miracle with that small chance, thinking of the Climax members and thebel staff, including Offbeat, who were waiting for ¡®me¡¯. ¡®But if I fail and disappear anyway. It would be better to stop my brother for sure¡­¡¯ The system window kept blinking and urged me for an answer. [Do you want to try to recover?] [Yes/No] Of course, I had prepared thoroughly, but if I said I would go back to Idol Cheon Ise now, I would not be able to save Joyoung Food with a high probability. Even if the crimes of the Saju family were exposed and punished, if my brother went to the general meeting today and met the requirements, thepany would be sold to foreign capital. It didn¡¯t matter if they were exposed or not. Once thepany was sold, there was no turning back. My brother had to be absent today so that the requirements would not be met and the general meeting would be dissolved, and then the Saju family would step down from the management front and the management rights would be transferred ording to my ¡®real¡¯ will. It was a problem that I had to choose between the life of Cheon Ise with a despairingly low probability and the lives of thousands ofpany employees that I had led as Lim Hyun-seong. ¡®Why now of all times¡­¡¯ I wished the system had not asked me until the end. It was annoying that it was talking about the possibility of going back to Cheon Ise now. The time I had lived as Cheon Ise for less than a year passed by me again like a revolvingntern. Kyunghwa, Yi-jun, Seong-won, Seon-woo¡­ Hwijin, Yu-geon, and Naru of Swift. They were all very precious to me, and experiences that I could not ignore. But¡­ I knew they could each do their part without me. I made up my mind quietly. Tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of being gone forever from the future they would create. But I couldn¡¯t weigh them, who could live well without me, against the thousands of jobs that depended on my survival. ¡®I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ [No] I clenched my teeth and held back the tears that threatened to burst out. I grabbed the door handle and entered the familiar code. I closed the keypad of the door lock. Beep-. My heart started pounding wildly as the lock opened effortlessly. ¡°Ha¡­¡± The house was cold and devoid of warmth, as if no one had lived there for days. At the same time, it was luxurious, as if to prove that I had been livingvishly all this time. There were top-notch appliances that seemed barely used, a coffee machine with options that most people wouldn¡¯t buy, and even a massage chair. They were all bought with money that was stolen from me, I thought, feeling my blood boil. I went into the bedroom and opened the dressing room. There were designer brand clothes and suits that I had never worn in my life, filling the spacious closet. ¡®This is how he lived, after ruining thepany.¡¯ I gritted my teeth. What was more absurd was that there was no trace of my father in the house. The only things that filled this big house were my half-brother and stepmother¡¯s belongings. There was nothing for my father, who was almost seventy years old. How could he be happy with this? He had abandoned his eldest son, whom he had with histe wife, like a stranger. And he had killed that son and inherited his fortune, thinking he could live well. But in a short time, he had lost his wealth and been kicked out. Maybe he didn¡¯t know. Maybe he was no longer in this world, just like he had killed me without anyone knowing. Murder was hard the first time. But once he had seeded, he might have thought it was easy to do it again, without anyone knowing, without any punishment, without any remorse. ¡®I can¡¯t call this a good life.¡¯ Blood was blood, even if we had a bad rtionship. He should have lived well after leaving me, not living miserably. I ignored the sting in my eyes and took out all the clothes from the closet. I poured cooking oil over them and threw all the appliances that could be broken to the floor. I was worried that the security system might go off, but it seemed to only detect external intrusions, not internal ones. I turned the whole house into a mess and had less than an hour left until the bomb went off, when I heard a car approaching and entering the garage. The engine was loud even though it had slowed down. It seemed he had changed his car to a sports car. ¡®He enjoyed everything with my money.¡¯ Well, that was it. My half-brother saw the shoes scattered at the entrance and shouted towards the inside. ¡°Mom, if you¡¯re going to throw a tantrum, do it moderately. Aren¡¯t you ready? Why are you doing this again¡­?¡± He seemed to not expect any thieves or intruders, and calmly walked inside. He saw the broken appliances and gasped, running further in. ¡°What the hell! What happened to the house! Oh my god! These are so expensive. It¡¯s a robbery!¡± Click, the front door closed and he went to the balcony to look for signs of intrusion. That¡¯s when I came out of the room without hesitation. ¡°¡­! Who are you! A robber!?¡± He saw me and stumbled back, as if he was about to open the door and run away. That wouldn¡¯t do. I blocked his way to the door. ¡°Yikes! I¡¯m calling the police, so get out of my house and stop messing around!¡± He hurriedly opened the zipper of the golf bag that he had thrown on the floor and took out a club. He swung it at me as if to threaten me. ¡°Don¡¯t, don¡¯te near me!¡± He looked pathetic, swinging it around. I took off the hat that I had pulled down to cover my face. ¡°¡­You seem to have lived well.¡± He looked at me with disbelief, doubting his own eyes. ¡°What is, what the hell¡­¡± He had been shouting and swinging the club at the intruder, but he dropped it with a loud ng. It made a noticeable dent on the wooden floor, but he didn¡¯t notice it. His face turned pale. ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer, I can tell you¡¯ve lived well. How does it feel to take mypany, my wealth, my position?¡± The answer was obviously NO. If he could handle it, thepany wouldn¡¯t have gone downhill in less than a year. He ignored and demoted the employees who spoke the truth, and kept only those who ttered him. It was inevitable that thepany would copse. As I approached him with a nk face, he screamed and backed away. ¡°Go, go to hell if you¡¯re dead¡­! What! What do you want to do¡­!?¡± What I wanted to do was to stop his nonsense that ruined many people¡¯s lives. The more I approached him, the more he backed away. He soon decided to run away to the balcony, and turned around to run. I seized the opportunity to run towards my brother as he turned his back. ¡°Let go! You bastard, how dare you drag a mountain man into this!¡± As if to make onest struggle, he suddenly thrust something at me. ¡®Is that a self-defense weapon?¡¯ I quickly squinted and closed my eyes, but I didn¡¯t feel anything sprayed on my face. ¡®What is it?¡¯ I cautiously lifted my eyelids in tension. Chapter 262: Trantor: MarcTempest Editor: NicoleTempest Chapter 262 The Moment It Was In My Hand (2) My brother shoved a crumpled talisman into my face. I had no idea where he got it from. He must have been carrying it in his pocket ever since I died. ¡®What a joke.¡¯ It was not like he was facing a vampire with a silver cross. It obviously had no effect. Was he scared that the water ghost would take revenge on him? It was ridiculous, and it only made me angrier. I red at him as if to say, what the hell is that, and approached him. He panicked and iled his legs.¡°Fuck! You bastard, this is a direct hit to the water ghost!¡± He probably wasted some money on this somewhere. I sneered at him and grabbed him as he tried to run away. I was confident in my strength. I pinned him down on the floor and took his phone away so he couldn¡¯t contact anyone outside. I nned to tie his wrists and legs with the duct tape I brought and lock him up until the general meeting was over. Just like he threw me into the cold sea. Even if the police arrivedter, I would have already disappeared by then. I was going to hold him down until the general meeting was over, gripping his cor and pressing him to the floor. Thud-. He grabbed thememorative que that was on the low cab near the balcony and mmed it on my head. ¡°Ugh¡­!¡± A sharp pain rang in my head and my hand lost its grip. Blood dripped from my torn scalp. ¡°Let go! Dead people are. Dead! Living people have to live!¡± My brother took advantage of my weakening grip and kicked my stomach to get up. He struggled to free himself from my hold. Blood flowed thickly over my eyelids, obscuring half of my vision. Was it because I was close to disappearing? Or was it just the blood loss? My head spun and my eyelids grew heavier. The dead are dead, and the living must live¡­ It sounded reasonable, but not something a murderer should say. I clenched my teeth and tried not to lose consciousness. Even if I vanished right now, I had to drag this bastard to hell with me. He grabbed my cor and wouldn¡¯t let go. As he got up, he pulled me up with him. ¡°Ah!¡± His face was red from the blood that ran down from my head. He opened the balcony door and pushed me into the living room. Then he headed for the terrace. ? Luckily, the balcony faced the mountain, not the city. ¡°Help! Someone help!¡± Miraculously, there was no one on the road below. It was a quiet residential area. I barely managed to stand on my legs and grabbed his ankle. I dragged him back into the room. He resisted and fought back with all his strength. We pulled and pushed each other without giving an inch. Then, suddenly, my vision blurred and my hand lost its strength. ¡°Ugh¡­!¡± I felt dizzy and let go of his ankle. He pushed me away and rolled over to the balcony railing. It was a single house on a hillside, so it wasn¡¯t that high. But there was a sharp fence below, designed to keep birds away. He screamed and grabbed my arm as he saw the pointed edge that could pierce anything. But the railing was round and smooth, and his body slid down with gravity. ¡°Sa, save me! I was wrong, I¡¯ll confess everything¡­!¡± Just a moment ago, he was shouting that he would call the police, that he wanted me to leave, that the living had to survive. But now that he was facing the fence that was only 50cm away, he changed his mind. ¡°Please! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯ll, I¡¯ll repent, just let me live¡­!¡± I felt disgusted as I watched him sob pitifully. If I let go of his hand now¡­ ¡°¡­¡± I stared at his distorted face expressionlessly. He felt more terrified by my silence and tried to climb up by holding my arm. ¡°Huk, please¡­! Please¡­! Just, just once, spare me¡­!¡± If he valued his life so much, he should have valued others¡¯ lives too. I didn¡¯t answer and kept ring at him. If I let go of him here, he would be impaled by the fence and probably die. My revenge would be half-done, but still sessful. I didn¡¯t n to do it this way, but. Even if I disappeared soon, I wouldn¡¯t be the only one going to hell. I ovepped my hand on his and tried to pry it off. ¡°Hik, please! I¡¯m sorry!¡± He made ast-ditch effort and dug his nails into my arm. I felt the blood seep through my arm. ¡°Ugh.¡± It was all over. I closed my eyes with a long sigh. ¡°This concludes today¡¯s scheduled shareholders¡¯ meeting, which has been cancelled due to insufficient quorum.¡± 11 a.m. The meeting was supposed to start, but the current CEO didn¡¯t show up. The cancetion was announced, andints erupted everywhere. ¡°I took a vacation just to attend this meeting today. When are they going to hold the next shareholders¡¯ meeting?¡± ¡°Where is the CEO and what is he doing? How can he leave his seat without even writing a proxy?¡± The shareholders who had made time to attend the meeting with the determination to stop the sell-off n raised their voices in protest. Today¡¯s meeting was supposed to be a mere formality of asking for approval or disapproval, but did they not know that the sell-off n would have been almost certainly adopted if the CEO had attended? The employees were sweating as they tried to calm down the shareholders who were standing up and shouting. ¡°We will inform you of the next shareholders¡¯ meeting schedule in writingter.¡± No one knew why the CEO had failed to show up without any contact, but even the woman who hade to the meeting hall alone as the CEO¡¯s mother was biting her nails and being irritable, as if they had notmunicated with each other. They did not know what had happened, but they had passed the biggest hurdle for now. They had to oust the current CEO somehow to save thepany. As the employees were sighing and still looking anxious while soothing the shareholders, only Kang, the executive director who stood in the center of the chaos, looked calm andposed. ¡°Director Kang, did you know that the CEO wouldn¡¯t show up today?¡± When one of the employees quietly asked Kang, he answered without any hesitation. ¡°Maybe.¡± It was clear that something had happened from the fact that he did not deny it. ¡°Director Kang!¡± The employee who had done his best to prevent this crisis hugged Kang as if he was about to burst into tears. Of course, Kang quickly turned his body and avoided him. ¡°You should thank the CEO, not me.¡± ¡°What?¡± The employee tilted his head as if he did not understand what he was saying, and then the screen hanging in the middle of the meeting hall flickered and a video message started. [Crackle-. Hello, everyone at Jo Young Food. This is Lim Hyun-seong.] It did not seem like a very recent video, as Hyun-seong looked slightly younger than he did before he died. He calmly exined how he wanted hispany management and shares to be handled in case he died unexpectedly. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t Lim already dead?¡± ¡°That looks like an old video.¡± ¡°The news said he fell ormitted suicide. What are they doing with an old video?¡± Not only the shareholders, but also the employees were wondering who had yed this and where the video was connected. In the meantime, Lim¡¯s stepmother climbed up to the podium and blocked the screen. ¡°You know this has all been changed with a new notarization, right? I know you have a lot ofints about our management, but this is disrespectful to the deceased!¡± And then. The screen switched from Lim¡¯s pre-recorded message to CCTV footage. In the shaky screen, someone was dragging the lifeless body of an adult man without a drop of blood. It was clearly¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t that the current CEO?¡± Someone with a keen eye recognized him and the stepmother turned around in shock. The screen showed her son throwing his bloodless stepson into the sea. ¡°No! This is fake! It¡¯s all manipted! Who would believe this?¡± As the stepmother iled and kicked, a shareholder who was looking at his phone muttered. ¡°Wow, this is already on YouTube.¡± The person sitting next to him was startled and leaned toward the phone. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. Look at this. The real-time popr videos are all¡­¡± The murder suspicion surrounding the tens of billions of won worth of assets of the deceased CEO, and the investigation that ended suspiciously quickly. The inheritance that was disposed of in an instant. Theizen detectives and all kinds of cyber leeches were flocking and already uploading derivative videos. [Who is the real culprit behind the death of Jo Young Food¡¯s CEO?] [Nine suspicious facts surrounding the death of J Food¡¯s CEO] [The murder of the stepson by the stepmother and the half-brother] [Yulpidi¡¯s True Story Check 32 ¨C Was it really an ident?] At the funeral hall, photos of my father, as well as my stepmother and the new CEO, were already shared online with thebel of murderers. ¡°No! Nooo! Turn off the screen! What are you doing? Hurry up and move!¡± My stepmother screamed at the employees with rage, but no one moved to turn off the screen. They only followed you because it was their job until now, but now that it came to this, they would either be fired orid off anyway, since thepany was doomed. To make matters worse, before the chaotic shareholders¡¯ meeting was even dissolved, the prosecution¡¯s investigation team stormed into thepany. The charge was embezzlement of public funds from a child welfare foundation. The people in suits had search and seizure warrants in their hands. As my stepmother wailed like a madwoman, she was dragged away. Kang, the vice president, watched her with a clenched fist. It was finally starting to get sorted out. ¡®I¡¯m telling you this in advance, because there might not be a chanceter. Thank you for everything¡­ Take care. I¡¯m sorry for dragging you into this mess.¡¯ I felt tears in my eyes at the farewell words that Hyun-seong barely uttered after a silence. He was always like that. He saved people¡¯s hearts without even realizing it, and then he acted like he didn¡¯t mean to do it and didn¡¯t need any gratitude. Is this really the end? Could hee back again, even for a brief moment, like a dream? Hyun-seong didn¡¯t answer my question. ¡°Ah¡­¡± My throat was dry and my head was dizzy. What time was it? I picked up the phone that was rolling on the floor and checked the time. It was 12 p.m. The video upload and the media tip-off were already done, and there was still time left. I had stopped my brother from attending the shareholders¡¯ meeting, so it must have been forcibly dissolved. I had done everything I had to do. I had no strength to support my body, so I just tilted it towards the floor with a thud. I guess this is the end for me too. There were still more than six hours left, but that was just the final deadline. I felt no energy in my body. I looked at my brother, who was lying unconscious next to me, with a sneer. To put it bluntly, I couldn¡¯t let go. As Jinwoo said, I was too soft-hearted for a businessman. No matter how much he was the one who killed me, I couldn¡¯t stand to see someone die in front of me. ¡®How stupid¡­¡¯ I know. I know how weak and pathetic I am. I just had to let go. But I couldn¡¯t. But revenge shouldn¡¯t turn into murder. There are more important things in the world than my satisfaction. I was a businessman who ran thepany for profit, but I ignored everything that was not humane. Even if some people called me stupid, or frustrated. If everything I prepared seeded, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the officials came to this house for investigation. Everything would go back to where it belonged. My consciousness faded and I started to see shes. And at the beginning of it, of course. ¡°Hyung, what were you doing sleeping all this time? We have so much to do!¡± There were the Climax members. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!