Chapter 23
When Saturday arrived, energy could be felt among the trainees. Perhaps bored with the practice time that flowed similarly every day, they wandered around filled with anticipation about what mission would come out.
Among them, Jaekyung, who ate a hearty breakfast and yawned languidly, was a separate being.
“Hyung, what kind of mission do you think will come out?”
There was Lee Sowoon, who was now naturally beside him,
“Well. Looking at how they grouped us together, is it something we have to do as a group?”
And Yoon Hajun, who wandered around freely, having abandoned his agency juniors somewhere,
“Looking at how they told us to wear training clothes, it must be something physical.”
And even Lee Jungwoo, who had been persistently attached from the beginning, so Jaekyung sighed inwardly.
‘I want to go around separately…’
Now they naturally stuck by his side without even asking for his opinion, which was exasperating. They were shameless people who pretended not to know and ignored him when he wanted to go around alone. Though Jaekyung clicked his tongue, he didn’t deliberately distance himself from them. After Jungwoo’s interview, Jaekyung didn’t push them away to hurt them. Instead, he acted as if he wasn’t interested.
“Jaekyung hyung, what mission do you want to do?”
Sowoon specifically picked Jaekyung to ask. As if knowing that asking like this would get an answer, he stared at Jaekyung and waited.
A static mission where I don’t move, and a team mission where a representative goes out so I don’t move.
“…Anything.”
Jaekyung swallowed what he wanted to say and glossed over it roughly. Sowoon, who hadn’t really expected much of an answer, nodded and continued his conversation with Hajun.
“I’m worried about somehow getting one minute from this mission.”
“You can’t ignore screen time frequency after all.”
Hajun stuck out his tongue, saying he didn’t know the PD would calculate that so thoroughly. Since both the quiet Jaekyung and Jungwoo didn’t talk much, conversations always revolved around Hajun and Sowoon. Since it was an atmosphere that smoothly lubricated things without being noisy, Jaekyung walked along thinking it was tolerable enough.
“Other than singing…”
Then Jungwoo pressed his body close to Jaekyung and spoke to him. Curious about what the cut-off words were, Jaekyung looked up at him.
“Is there anything you like? Like basketball or games…”
His tone suggested he thought Jaekyung liked singing since he had only been singing until now. Jaekyung furrowed his brow at the thought ‘What do I like?’ Most of the time spent as a trainee. When he was active as an idol, he was too busy digesting schedules to have separate hobbies.
When Jaekyung stopped in place because he was thinking deeply, the others also stopped. When there continued to be no answer, Jungwoo bit his lips, wondering if he had asked a pointless question. Just because they went around together didn’t mean they were close, and he didn’t answer well either, which was concerning.
It seemed like Jaekyung would send him a look that openly said he disliked it and leave. So Jungwoo was about to say it was nothing.
“Studying.”
“……”
“Hm?”
What?
“…Studying?”
At the single word Jaekyung had difficulty getting out, each showed similar yet different reactions. Jungwoo, who hadn’t expected him to answer obediently, Hajun who asked back, and Sowoon who double-checked if he had heard correctly – all looked surprised.
“Don’t think I’ll be good at it just because I said I like studying.”
Jaekyung said while making eye contact with Jungwoo. Jaekyung was paying attention to Jungwoo’s reaction. Since he was openly speaking informally to him, if Jungwoo said he disliked it, he was planning to speak formally again. Or not, he felt, but the waiting time wasn’t leisurely.
He wanted to somehow repay the guilt he felt toward Jungwoo and his attempts to keep distance. Even though Jaekyung was just standing still, glancing away from Jungwoo then looking at him again, he felt restless. Jungwoo was the only one who noticed this. He looked at Jaekyung silently, then chuckled.
“You look like you’d be good at studying though?”
And then he made his own joke to Jaekyung. …Ignoring the reality check that he thought it was a joke, Jaekyung glared at Jungwoo.
“I’m not good at it. Just because you like something doesn’t mean you’re good at it.”
“Right.”
“Don’t brush it off so carelessly?”
“Got it.”
“I’m really not good at it. I’m fucking terrible at studying.”
“I see.”
When Jungwoo even patted Jaekyung’s head as if he found him cute, he felt like he had suddenly become a kid with strange hobbies. Jaekyung wanted to brush his hand away, but feeling the friendliness from Jungwoo’s touch, he decided to let it slide this time.
He also owed him a petty debt for not knowing anything. As Jaekyung lowered his head to become a better angle for petting, Jungwoo’s hand hesitated then ruffled his hair even stronger.
Hajun, who was a step behind, looked at the two with a strange gaze, but no one noticed.
“That’s unexpected.”
Sowoon spoke to Jaekyung while counting the number of cameras that were starting to appear one by one. Wondering how many of them would film them.
“Why?”
“I didn’t think hyung would say studying since you’re good at singing and dancing.”
“I don’t like singing.”
Jaekyung shook his head. At Jaekyung’s firm tone, Sowoon stopped checking the camera and looked at him.
“You like studying but aren’t good at it, and you don’t like singing but you’re good at it?”
At the reaction that seemed to ask ‘Is that normal?’, Jaekyung answered indifferently.
“You can do it if you learn it.”
“…Does it work that way?”
Can you sing just by learning?
No matter how much nowadays you can be an idol if you have talent even if your singing is a bit lacking, idol groups always had members who sang well. Moreover, when entire idol groups had high-level skills, it wasn’t something you could achieve just by learning.
“Hyung. Even so, singing skills don’t improve in just a year or two.”
“What about 7 years or so?”
At Jaekyung’s casual remark, Sowoon closed his mouth. He didn’t know how much he would change in 7 years either. However, more than that, he couldn’t open his mouth, wondering if Jaekyung had really been a trainee for that long.
“Hyung, by any chance… were you a trainee for 7 years?”
“No.”
“Phew. I thought hyung was like that.”
“It’s been over 10 years though?”
“……”
What, being a trainee for so long that mountains and rivers change?
Sowoon thought it was better to just not say anything.
“Wouldn’t that make you the ancestor of trainees? Or a trilobite? An ancestor?”
Fortunately, Hajun lightened the mood so they could smile appropriately in front of the camera.
“Then this audition?”
At Jungwoo’s sudden question, Jaekyung turned to look at him. He was asking why he applied for this audition when he didn’t like singing. Jaekyung answered calmly as if it was nothing special.
“Because I wanted to apply.”
He disliked singing but wanted to apply for the audition. While others accepted it in their own way, Jaekyung walked toward the mission venue.
“You don’t like singing but want to become an idol?”
At someone’s hypothesis, Jaekyung’s steps faltered.
* * *
Seeing trainees gathering one by one in the auditorium, the space that had been wide was gradually becoming narrow. Though they all wore the same training clothes, their individual colorful hair and makeup showed they were mindful of the mission. As they sat on the floor looking around the hall, Jungwoo’s voice brushed past his ear.
“We’re friends now, right?”
Jungwoo seemed to want to organize things rather than vaguely brush off what happened earlier. Jaekyung nodded heavily.
“It was good that you did the interview.”
“It’s not just because of that.”
Actually, that had made Jaekyung reflect on his own petty behavior, but even before that, Jungwoo’s existence had bothered him. Even though he showed he disliked it so much, being next to him was uncomfortable yet also made him feel a little sorry.
In the past, he had disliked his members for not acknowledging him, but conversely, he thought they might also misunderstand. Who would like it if someone suddenly came in like a parachute and ruined the stage?
That didn’t make Jaekyung’s wounds disappear, but he decided to think differently.
‘We’ll all part ways after this audition ends.’
Then if he gradually healed with his changed future… wouldn’t that be enough?
“Well~ the weekend has arrived.”
When PD Choi appeared, the trainees’ gazes focused in one direction.
“It’s been hard practicing all this time, hasn’t it?”
The trainees each showed intense reactions to his cheeky manner of skillfully leading the atmosphere like an MC. Some said it had really been grueling days, while others gave thumbs up saying the food was delicious in the midst of it all.
“You really have to choose the dormitory well.”
PD Choi praised himself, saying he had done a great job. When he spread both arms and inhaled air until his chest swelled, several trainees went to play along with him.
‘The dormitory is definitely good.’
Jaekyung also had nothing uncomfortable during the few days he stayed. Not only were the warm and delicious meals every meal, but cleaning was also done when they returned from lessons.
“Good?”
Seeing what was intense reaction for Jaekyung, Jungwoo asked in a subtle voice.
“They give us food and let us sleep.”
“That’s true.”
Jungwoo laughed meaninglessly and looked at Jaekyung with gentle eyes. He was gradually getting to know Jaekyung now.
“This mission is to determine the positions you’ll stand in during the upcoming music broadcast.”
PD Choi’s explanation continued in the meantime.
“It’s individual, but it will become a group battle.”
‘Group battle?’
Jaekyung, who thoroughly wanted individual competition, made a gloomy face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
