Chapter 11
PD Choi immediately took the lead, saying they should move locations. With 99 trainees, cameras, and staff moving behind him, it was quite a spectacle.
Jaekyung followed along in a daze, but the distance between him and Jungwoo never seemed to widen. When he walked faster wanting to go separately, Jungwoo also sped up, and when he slowed down, Jungwoo followed suit. Jaekyung seriously considered telling him directly to go separate ways, seeing how Jungwoo was clearly matching his pace.
Fortunately, before Jaekyung had to push Jungwoo away, someone else called him.
“Hey, Jungwoo. Let’s go together.”
It was Yoon Hajun. He grabbed Jungwoo’s shoulder and looked at him as if to say it was selfish to go alone. Seeing the two men following behind Hajun, Jaekyung’s face hardened with the premonition that the situation was about to get worse.
‘Park Geonhu and Min Taeyeon.’
Hajun hadn’t come alone but brought trainees from the same agency. They were the two people with whom Jaekyung, like Jungwoo and Hajun, had stood on stage together for three years.
Main rapper Park Geonhu and the youngest, Min Taeyeon.
Geonhu, who used to spew harsh words saying Jaekyung was prickly, was now silently glancing at him, while Taeyeon, who had asked not to be spoken to, was now making eye contact with a broad smile. Faced with their apparent friendliness, Jaekyung covered his whitening lips with his palm.
‘This is the worst.’
It was already taking all his nerves just to avoid the number one person, and now here were the debut members who had made it to the final lineup.
‘I really hate this.’
He shuddered the same way he had when seeing the fairy outfit.
“Hello.”
Taeyeon greeted Jaekyung with eyes full of curiosity.
“Yes.”
Jaekyung turned his head in the opposite direction and answered dismissively. With everyone moving and the hallway noisy, he wondered if his voice would be heard, but Taeyeon responded with a bright smile.
“I’m Min Taeyeon. Don’t just talk to Jungwoo hyung, talk to me sometimes too.”
“Hey, don’t be so forward with someone you just met. Do you think everyone is as shameless as you?”
Geonhu pushed Taeyeon’s head. At 180cm tall, he was quite tall, and Taeyeon, barely over 175cm, struggled as he was pushed. While stopping Taeyeon, Geonhu kept glancing at Jaekyung, waiting for him to say it was okay.
‘How ridiculous.’
Jaekyung hid his pouting lips by turning his head.
‘As if you weren’t treating me badly before.’
He couldn’t help but snort at this shameless person who had never once tried to accept him as a member. With no intention of fulfilling Geonhu’s wish, Jaekyung walked straight ahead. They were being friendly because they didn’t know who he was, but Jaekyung absolutely did not want to associate with them.
He wouldn’t be active with them as an idol anymore, but the wounds from his past life hadn’t healed.
“Taeyeon, didn’t you have something to say?”
Hajun stepped in as a mediator when the conversation awkwardly cut off. Despite Taeyeon’s previous disappointment, his face quickly lit up with excitement as he spoke to Jaekyung.
“I saw you singing earlier. You were really good! No, how is your voice so nice? The moment I heard you hit those high notes, I got goosebumps.”
Jaekyung’s face hardened at Taeyeon’s compliment. This was the same Taeyeon who would look away or leave whenever Jaekyung sang. Then, when Jaekyung would come out of the booth after finishing, Taeyeon would make excuses, saying he was tired and needed a break. Of course, that was only during their early debut days when they still exchanged a few words. Later, Taeyeon avoided him to the point where Jaekyung didn’t even know what his own voice sounded like. Now this same Taeyeon was saying he had listened to his singing.
‘He couldn’t hear me after dozens of times performing on the same stage, but now he hears me here.’
Jaekyung felt dejected at Taeyeon’s praise. When Jaekyung didn’t respond, Geonhu clicked his tongue.
“Do you want to flatter him that badly?”
“Geonhu hyung, what do you take me for? I’m not saying anything wrong—his voice is good, so I’m saying it’s good.”
“Complimenting just anyone won’t make them like you.”
“Huh? You said his voice was good too. You asked, ‘Who is that?'”
Jaekyung looked at Geonhu. It was hard to believe that Geonhu, who was stingy with compliments, would say such a thing.
“When did I… say that?”
So he did say it.
Jaekyung was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even snort. This was the same person who had disrespected and criticized him. Jaekyung pretended not to hear, and Hajun, noticing the sensitivity, signaled Geonhu and Taeyeon to stop. Meanwhile, Jungwoo pushed Hajun away.
“Go separately.”
“Why?”
“He’s uncomfortable.”
Jaekyung almost turned to look at Jungwoo but stumbled as he held himself back. It was ridiculous that Jungwoo was pushing others away as if he himself wasn’t making Jaekyung just as uncomfortable.
“Am I a dog to go just because you tell me to?”
Hajun, seemingly annoyed, stopped trying to restrain Geonhu and Taeyeon and stuck closer to Jungwoo.
“Just go separately.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Park Geonhu, Min Taeyeon, step back.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“That’s mean, hyung.”
Whether it was the one pushing others away or the ones creating a commotion by refusing to leave, Jaekyung couldn’t understand why they were acting this way. He touched his forehead as he noticed cameras gathering one by one.
‘I’m already tired.’
When they arrived at the hotel’s fitness room, pre-set equipment was arranged in rows. While the trainees looking around were being filmed, Jaekyung hid in the innermost part. Without tiers, placing trainees against the wall would hide them from cameras. He simply ignored those following behind him.
PD Choi took the microphone as he stood on the small stage.
“When men gather, isn’t there something that naturally comes to mind?”
Not at all.
Jaekyung couldn’t adapt to PD Choi’s method of trying to relate. Wondering if he was the only one who didn’t understand while everyone else did, he glanced to the side and saw Jungwoo’s furrowed brow.
‘He doesn’t know either.’
But… Jungwoo’s smooth side profile kept catching his eye, which put him in a bad mood. From his high nose bridge to his straight closed lips, his handsome contours made it hard to believe he was just a trainee—he had a fully-formed appearance. Jaekyung wasn’t pleased. He had first seen Jungwoo after he debuted. Honestly, he had thought Jungwoo had an awkward appearance during his trainee days and improved after receiving “camera massages.”
So he was naturally talented. Jaekyung turned his gaze away sullenly. Next to him stood Hajun, similar in height to Jungwoo (over 185cm, but how much exactly?), wearing his characteristic smile.
Though his features weren’t strong, his white skin and upturned corners of his mouth gave him a gentle impression. It was the kind of face that made it easier for people to approach, but Jaekyung had seen him cursing with that same face.
‘Compared to Park Geonhu, he hardly does it at all.’
Geonhu, with his upturned eyes giving a sharp image, and Taeyeon, with his round, cute appearance—it was exasperating that they were still beside him. While observing his old (?) members, PD Choi continued as if sensing the atmosphere had settled.
“I wanted to try this. Blue team, white team.”
‘What is this?’
Jaekyung’s expression twisted. He felt a chill at the rosy flush on PD Choi’s face, wondering if being a school teacher had been his dream.
“Shall we start with simple rules? Can you see over there?”
On the wall PD Choi pointed to, a ball was attached at a position over 4 meters high.
“Whoever grabs that object up there within 3 minutes will be first place. Simple, right?”
Retrieving an object from a high place was a mission with very simple rules, but looking beneath the surface, it was intricately complex. The person who got it would immediately become first place, but someone would have to lift them up. You would need to lift someone or persuade others.
However, everyone except Jaekyung would want to retrieve the object themselves. If there was time for careful dialogue, things might have been resolved smoothly, but time was limited. Now he understood the reason behind PD Choi’s sly smile.
“Ready~ Go!”
Everyone easily reached where the ball was, but hesitated there. As they eyed each other, time kept flowing mercilessly.
“Taeyeon, get on my back.”
Geonhu pulled Taeyeon’s arm. Taeyeon was still growing and wasn’t very tall. So Geonhu was planning to lift him up. Taeyeon immediately understood and climbed onto Geonhu’s shoulders. He stretched out his hand, but the ball was too far away.
After seeing Geonhu and Taeyeon working together, others began cooperating with people from the same agency. While Jaekyung was watching blankly, someone grabbed his arm.
“Huh?”
Losing his balance as his body was pulled, Jaekyung belatedly reached out to regain stability. He ended up touching someone’s chest and was about to apologize, but when he realized who had roughly pulled his arm, he raised his eyebrows.
“Why…”
Just as he was about to ask Jungwoo why he had pulled his arm, a whistle sounded.
“Time’s up! Time has expired.”
“Ah…”
Disappointed sighs flowed. Jaekyung looked up at Jungwoo with an expression of disbelief.
‘Were you planning to lift me up just now?’
His suspicion quickly became certainty. No, it had been strange since Jungwoo sat next to him, but Jungwoo kept hovering around him and now was even trying to lift him up without saying a word.
“Tch.”
A low resonance filled Jungwoo’s voice as he clicked his tongue. Jaekyung deliberately hardened his face to erase the thought that suddenly came to mind, pulling his arm away.
‘Did I just think his voice sounded good?’
Jaekyung used the brief moment of creating distance to speak to Jungwoo.
“What are you doing?”
“I was trying to lift you up.”
“Why?”
“To lift you up.”
“I’m asking why you were trying to lift me up.”
“To make you first place.”
Jaekyung hit his own chest as if frustrated.
“We’re not in any kind of relationship, so why would you lift me up?”
Jungwoo looked at Jaekyung as if he was the strange one.
“Don’t you want to be first place?”
That’s not it—why would you try to make me, someone who’s not related to you, first place?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
