Chapter 53
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#CHOOSE NINE
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└What’s with the suits?
└What’s with the wall slam?
* * *
While Jaekyung quickly cleaned the table with his hands, one side of his head was filled with the conversation he had with his mother last night. He had told his mother it wouldn’t work, but originally he had been thinking about voluntarily dropping out. Of course, he hadn’t thought about it from the beginning.
Jaekyung had taken someone’s place by entering through knowing the future. For him, it was an alternative to avoid debt, but for someone else, it could have been hope to become an idol.
Even if it was to feel sorry for that person, he had tried not to voluntarily drop out. But he had remained after the first round, and if he happened to remain until the second and third rounds, Jaekyung thought there was no choice but for him to leave on his own.
But when his mother mentioned the manager, his heart dropped.
‘I didn’t know they were still in contact.’
At least it was fortunate, if it could be called fortunate, that his mother hadn’t made a contract with the manager. She would use it as soon as Jaekyung was eliminated from the audition or dropped out.
His initial plan had already gone awry. He had thought he only needed to endure for a month, but he was still participating in the audition and his mother was still maintaining connections with the manager. Then he had to endure a little longer.
‘The time remaining until New Year…’
In the season that was getting colder, Jaekyung calculated the time until he would turn 20. About 50 days left. And roughly, the audition would end around that time period too.
Jaekyung had thought about briefly going into hiding a few days before turning 20, but decided against it. Even if he did that, his mother wouldn’t not make the contract.
Just as Jaekyung finished wiping the moisture from the table and picked up empty dishes, someone approached from the front.
“Please sit over here.”
Thinking someone had come because it was an empty seat he had cleared, Jaekyung gave a light greeting and explained that it was okay to sit. But when the other person just stood still, just as Jaekyung was about to raise his head to explain again.
“What the hell. How did you come here?”
“I heard you work here…”
Rather than explaining with words, Jungwoo seemed to want to show him directly, tapping his phone and holding it up to his eyes. On SNS, there was a photo with his blurry figure working and the store name.
He wondered if a customer who had stopped by the store had done that, but the place where the photo was taken was somehow strange. When Jaekyung looked around to see where it was taken from, the boss turned his head away with a fake cough.
“Sit down first.”
When Jaekyung stepped back, Jungwoo sat down.
“Did you come alone?”
“Yeah.”
“To eat alone?”
Since Jungwoo kept just nodding, Jaekyung responded with “Right, right” and turned around. He had to put away the empty dishes and also bring a menu. Then he noticed several gazes turning quickly.
Jaekyung hid his urge to sigh and moved. Work came first.
“Eat well.”
He said while serving pasta with hot steam rising in front of Jungwoo. He didn’t expect him to order rich cream pasta. He generously included pickles in it and was about to turn around when Jungwoo grabbed Jaekyung’s clothes.
“When do you finish?”
“The part-time job?”
When Jungwoo nodded slightly, Jaekyung looked at the wall clock. Actually, Jaekyung had been worried about getting fired from his part-time job. Since he could work until today, he had brought up to the boss that he wanted to work until closing, and the reaction was better than expected.
Rather, the boss said he would keep the position open until he came back, so don’t quit suddenly.
“7 o’clock.”
So Jaekyung could get off work as usual today.
“I’ll wait.”
“Why are you waiting for me?”
“Because there’s somewhere to go.”
Jaekyung didn’t even know he would meet Jungwoo today, so he looked puzzled not knowing where he wanted to go. However, Jungwoo just stirred the pasta in front of him without telling him more.
“Eat and go.”
Jaekyung refused Jungwoo’s offer to wait. Then he turned around without even listening to the answer, but Jungwoo didn’t seem to mind and quietly ate his pasta.
“Boss, I’m fine, but Jungwoo came as a customer. So please don’t take photos.”
Jaekyung didn’t go into the kitchen but approached the boss who had been secretly watching from the counter. The boss, who had been caught taking photos of Jaekyung and Jungwoo in the same frame, spoke with a guilty expression.
“No, this is just because I’m a fan…”
“Instead, you can openly take photos of my face.”
“Huh?”
The boss, who had deliberately uploaded a blurry photo because she hadn’t gotten permission from Jaekyung, seemed interested and leaned in.
“But is that, is that okay?”
“You’ve been very considerate, boss, so I can work here. No matter what the circumstances, where is there a part-timer who misses work for days at a time?”
Moreover, the pasta restaurant calculated by weekly pay, which was a place that helped Jaekyung breathe. When Jaekyung smiled slightly while answering, the boss nodded without taking her eyes off his face. Since he was a friend who hadn’t smiled much until now, the surprised boss carefully held out her phone.
“Then can we take a selfie together?”
At the words the boss in her 30s shyly offered, Jaekyung readily took her phone. Then he immediately went to the selfie function and took a photo.
“I’m uploading this to SNS?”
“Yes.”
“Th, thank you.”
At Jaekyung’s indifferent reaction, the boss carefully held her phone. She had discovered her part-timer after being so surprised when she accidentally saw the CHOOSE NINE program rerun and watched it without knowing how time passed. The boss, who had helplessly fallen for Jaekyung’s singing, had become a fan before she knew it.
Jaekyung saw the boss being happy and went into the kitchen. Just being on TV could be used for promotion, so that must be why the boss was so pleased.
With that thought, Jaekyung busily moved while serving the next customer.
* * *
“I wondered why you were waiting, but why do you want to go here?”
Jaekyung looked more dumbfounded by the fact that the place Jungwoo wanted to go together was a PC room than by the fact that Jungwoo had really waited until the end. But Jungwoo dragged Jaekyung, who had stopped in the middle.
“It’ll just take a moment.”
“I can’t understand this.”
Jaekyung grumbled and followed behind Jungwoo. It would be nice if he at least explained why he was doing this, but he was frustratingly keeping his mouth shut. He thought about just leaving, but his curiosity had already grown during the walk here.
Jaekyung let out a sigh and gave a warning that wasn’t quite a warning.
“I’m a trainee old-timer, so I can’t do things like games.”
It was something he said thinking he should explain in advance that he didn’t know the first thing about games since most of his life was devoted to being a trainee.
“I’m an old-timer too.”
So Jungwoo casually replied and entered the PC room with Jaekyung.
“We’ll just use one seat.”
The part-timer saw the two come but take only one card and just nodded roughly. When Jungwoo went to the most secluded spot, Jaekyung also followed him while looking around the interior. Computers and chairs lined up in a row. As he was looking around with fresh curiosity, he had arrived at where Jungwoo was.
“Now tell me. Why did we come here?”
“There’s something you need to know before coming to the hotel tomorrow.”
Jungwoo went on the internet as if telling Jaekyung to look. And he handed Jaekyung a headset as if telling him to use it. Jaekyung checked the familiar stage on the internet Jungwoo had entered and put on the headset.
As soon as Jungwoo pressed play, the song “Will You Call My Name” flowed out. And the video was showing the stage decorated for the second round.
“This was already broadcast?”
“No, this went up first as a fancam.”
Did he call me to show this?
While Jaekyung wondered if he should keep watching, he couldn’t hide his puzzlement. As Jungwoo said, the fancam uploaded as individual shots was following someone’s movements. It was awkward since it wasn’t a full stage shot, and the screen shook too. Still, it wasn’t difficult to see Jaekyung.
The camera following his face and the song with slight noise mixed in certainly had lower quality, but it properly captured Jaekyung’s expressions. Even after the stage ended, instead of Jaekyung not taking off the headset, Jungwoo took it off for him.
“You said you didn’t watch the first live broadcast. And I thought you probably didn’t watch this stage either.”
“So you did this to show me this?”
“Yeah. And I wanted you to know objectively before coming tomorrow.”
Jaekyung looked at Jungwoo as if he couldn’t understand. What was he trying to say by showing his fancam?
The comments endlessly stretched below the fancam were full of praise for Jaekyung. Was he doing this to show such reactions?
“What about what you said to me at the first announcement ceremony?”
He had said that even if 54 remained, only 9 would be finally selected. Jungwoo’s words had been comfort that Jaekyung couldn’t ignore. But why was he capriciously showing him this now?
Unlike the excited Jaekyung, Jungwoo rewound the video again and pointed somewhere.
“Look at your expression on stage.”
Jungwoo replayed the scene where Jaekyung appeared again. At his calm reaction, Jaekyung felt something strange. Jaekyung thought he was supposed to look at his fancam along with the reactions. But Jungwoo wasn’t closing the window and kept replaying Jaekyung’s video repeatedly. While doing so, he tapped on Jaekyung’s close-up expressions.
“So you’re telling me to look at my expression?”
“If you want to look at other people, do that.”
Jungwoo said to do as he pleased. But his hands replayed Jaekyung’s fancam several times. He wanted to show what kind of expression Jaekyung danced with on stage. But there was no need to replay the video for that. Jaekyung was just pretending not to know while knowing his own emotions.
“Let’s get up now.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
