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“—Find the final color to belong to AT Entertainment’s new face, the boy group ‘BLACK’!”
It was none other than Kim Bunhong who had presented the idea for the survival program that AT Entertainment would be conducting to Jeong Ido.
‘I’m thinking of proceeding with the reality program I did with Lee Hanbit this time simultaneously while debuting BLACK. What do you think?’
To Ido’s question, which he hadn’t expected much of an answer to, Bunhong, who had been briefly contemplating, opened his mouth.
‘Hmm… Doing a program is good, but I’m wondering if it’s really necessary. How about moving the timing up a bit to before debut instead of after debut?’
That was Kim Bunhong’s opinion after analyzing the situation while racking his brain.
The reality program called ‘DARKNESS&Light’, abbreviated as ‘D&L’, that he had done with Lee Hanbit was able to provide crucial help in making the idol group BLACK popular because of the existing recognition that Lee Hanbit, as an audition participant, already had and his natural bright personality that naturally brightened his surroundings.
What Bunhong had realized early on was that such things couldn’t be imitated just by trying to imitate them.
Moreover, unlike typical idol groups, BLACK’s members weren’t close to each other from the beginning. No, they couldn’t become close. It wasn’t that they had bad relationships or anything like that, but rather they were closer to having no particular interest in each other. If he had to pick, it would be closer to camaraderie rather than friendship.
The reason was simple. It was never easy for those who could be called the strongest in their respective fields to come together and work as a unified team.
Even the fans could vaguely sense the invisible power struggles and fierce hierarchy battles that clearly existed within the group. Because of this, they became targets of the fans of their agency’s senior idol group OORA, who were trying to bring them down by any means necessary, and rumors of discord within the group circulated widely on the internet.
But now suddenly asking them to get along through a reality program? They weren’t elementary school students who would quickly make up at a teacher’s request to get along well. Even if he had regressed, that was honestly close to impossible.
Jeong Ido, who was convinced that Bunhong’s presented opinion was quite reasonable, nodded.
‘Interesting. That’s a good opinion.’
It was the second compliment he had received from Ido. Bunhong, who was caught up in a strange feeling, suddenly thought. The decisive reason why BLACK’s members especially couldn’t get along was…
‘…You’re the leader in the first place.’
Bunhong, who couldn’t bring himself to say this to the end, obediently lowered his head after presenting his opinion.
So, Kim Bunhong, who had willingly agreed to become Jeong Ido’s chess piece, was standing in front of the Class A practice room and opened the closed door as soon as the music stopped.
‘One, two, three…’
The dance teacher who taught them had a consistent lesson style of always giving a break after finishing practice for exactly three songs. The reason Bunhong could open the door without hesitation was because he already knew this. He was confident that the trainees’ practice would be over by now.
Soon, invisible cold sweat began flowing down his back.
‘Still, I never thought I’d be coming straight to Class A.’
There are procedures and stages for everything, but this was… It didn’t even show the sincerity of trying to provide minimal cover-up.
Even if the debut had been unofficially confirmed, throwing him into the midst of already sensitive trainees without any measures would mean being torn apart without even a chance to defend himself.
No matter how much cameras were rolling for filming, that should be treated as a separate situation from now.
‘But you, will you be okay?’
If that was the last thing Jeong Ido had said to him—was this the reason?
When Kim Bunhong first became a trainee at AT Entertainment before regression, the principle was to start from Class C, the introductory class, and gradually move up to Class B and then Class A through monthly evaluations conducted within the agency.
Even then, it was unusual for a trainee to debut from Class B instead of Class A, so there was a lot of talk about Kim Bunhong, but now an unknown trainee suddenly opens the Class A door and walks in?
Surrounded by sharp, cold gazes that looked at him like awls, Bunhong sighed and thought.
‘They probably think I’m a parachute appointment.’
Feeling the chilly air flow, thinking that if he carelessly exposed his neck here he’d be bitten immediately, Bunhong chewed his lips and muttered quietly to himself.
“I’m sick and tired of being hated.”
Pushing him straight into Class A was really unnecessary consideration, Bunhong thought blankly, still chewing his lips.
Being a trainee was like being on a distant planet. You could only watch other stars that had started their journey from afar twinkling. Kim Bunhong thought this was close to torture through hope.
If he could just take one more step forward, he might be able to reach that sweet world he dreamed of… That single ray of hope gave him the strength to overcome all other misfortunes. Everyone’s thought process when they first chose to take this path was similar.
But reality wasn’t like that. Was it really good that he didn’t have to go to school as often as his peers? This place was a concentrated version of another school.
Being a trainee demanded all of one’s youth. Debut wasn’t something you could achieve just by doing as much as others did. You needed a certain amount of luck, and that wasn’t something that depended on your own will.
The form of desperation was surprisingly simple. If you gave everything but weren’t rewarded… Even without saying it, such anxiety resided within everyone.
Perhaps in this ecosystem, Kim Bunhong was a stone that had rolled in, an impurity that couldn’t mix.
‘The one good thing is…’
AT Entertainment’s official ace and long-serving trainee, and BLACK’s member. Han Chayeon was in Class A.
The fact that the only hyung he could rely on during BLACK’s activities would be in the same space was the only hope for Kim Bunhong at this moment.
Click.
As soon as he opened the door and entered, a subdued atmosphere clearly spread out. Several pairs of eyes, each containing their own emotions, were staring at Kim Bunhong. Among those gazes, Bunhong looked for the face of the person he desperately hoped to see.
At the same time, he remembered a simple Q&A session the members had done together before regression.
—Now, first impression test!
—Who was the scariest hyung when you first saw him, Bunhong-ssi?
According to Bunhong’s memory, around this time, Han Chayeon was at his peak of being corrupted.
‘Oh no…’
Although it was bad luck, the fact that his debut had been canceled several times had hurt his pride, and he knew that because of this, he was contemplating whether to return to his original dance crew.
First place in monthly evaluations, perpetual first place in overall trainee self-evaluations. How would someone who had walked such an elite path by the book view him, who appeared to have ‘luckily crash-landed’ on his planet—Bunhong could easily guess.
‘Ahaha… This is completely…’
Cold sweat streamed down Bunhong’s back.
‘It seems like I’m being properly hated…’
Unlike the other trainees who had been glancing at him sideways, Han Chayeon didn’t even turn his gaze in this direction. It was to the extent that Bunhong thought it would be better if he openly showed hostility or even cursed at him, as if he was treating him like an invisible person.
Since the only member he thought he could rely on was acting like this, it was natural for Bunhong to lose his spirit.
‘What on earth was I expecting?’
Bunhong, who had been deflated for a moment, went to an empty spot and started doing some warm-up exercises to loosen his body.
From where Kim Bunhong stood, positioned quite far back, he couldn’t see the dance trainer teacher and the mirror right next to them very well.
It was an unspoken rule within the practice room that trainees with more skill and longer tenure stood in the front. To better observe body movements, the mirror, a tool that allows you to properly see your own reflection, was absolutely necessary.
Especially in large agencies like AT Entertainment with a clearly large number of trainees, those with passion and motivation would even wake up before dawn and come to the practice room early as if competing to secure better front positions.
In addition, there were several exceptional cases where dance teachers implicitly allowed reserved seats.
Considering the original purpose of having mirrors in each practice room, Bunhong could realize that his current position, though still in Class A, was really at the bottom. At the same time, as if cold water had been poured over him, his mind became completely clear and strength naturally entered his fists.
Several trainees laughed at Kim Bunhong from afar, who seemed to be clumsily trying to follow them. Whisper whisper.
Bunhong clicked his tongue lightly inwardly.
‘Those idiots.’
Had they forgotten that cameras were rolling? Times like now, when nothing seemed to be happening—were the most dangerous, and you could easily guess this by seeing how Han Chayeon and Duho were keeping silent without saying a word.
Before regression, he had been simply afraid of the malice surrounding him. Now it was amazing how beings that had felt like giants seemed so small.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
