Chapter 47
After team assignments were finished, Juha was led by the production staff to do an interview. He wanted to pretend everything was fine and respond brightly, but when he actually heard the name ‘Metabolic’ in the interview room, his stomach churned. In the end, the interview ended without him giving a decent answer.
“Haah…”
As soon as Juha came out of the interview booth, he let out a big sigh. He thought he’d be okay, but just those four letters ‘Metabolic’ brought back all the frustration he had experienced then.
‘Sorry, Juha. It doesn’t look like you’ll be able to come with us this time.’
When he heard those words, Juha remembered everything – the CEO’s tone, clothes, scent, even the weather. The CEO of Serona Entertainment who had cast young Juha was someone he had spent more time with and followed more than his own father.
When he had so miserably climbed up to the debut group only to fall, Juha felt like he was lost on a mountainside in the middle of a moonless night. There was no path up, and no visible path down. That pitch-black darkness was something that nineteen-year-old Juha could barely endure. It had taken great courage for Juha to overcome that pain and sadness and come this far.
Juha aimlessly stared down at his feet. His mood had completely sunk. He was suddenly afraid whether he could do this well.
‘Would I have been happy if I had debuted with Metabolic?’
Metabolic had problems from the start. Their debut song ‘Butterfly Dream’ had an overly Oriental concept. Even top-tier idols usually found Oriental concepts burdensome, so it was too bold an attempt.
The costumes felt like actual hanbok rather than fusion, and the choreography borrowed from Korean classical dance, leading the public to call them ‘Crane-dols.’ While this did draw public attention, it solidified into a mocking image rather than gaining fans.
At the time, Juha had watched them from outside the TV with mixed emotions. If the company forced something that was obviously wrong, would the prickly Lee Juha have accepted it?
In that industry where over 90% of things were unwanted, such an unlucky start would have been hard for Juha to endure. But on the other hand, he might have gone along with it because the 6 years he had poured in and his desperation for debut felt too precious to waste.
He still couldn’t be certain whether not debuting with Metabolic was great fortune or misfortune in Juha’s life.
‘I have to try for now.’
He couldn’t get weak. Such terrible frustration was enough to happen once in a lifetime.
Juha firmly resolved himself and headed toward where the trainees were gathered.
* * *
With team members confirmed, rooms were divided. Na Junho used the penthouse he had won during the previous lucky key event all by himself.
The remaining five members were given one 4-person room and one 2-person room.
But the room assignments were quite unique. Yoo Youngin, Jo Munseok, and Seo Eunwon were in one room, while Lee Juha and Jang Chaemyeong shared another. Seo Eunwon was dragged to Youngin and Munseok’s room while looking at Juha with sad eyes.
“Hyung, let’s go too.”
Jang Chaemyeong tapped Juha and led him to their room.
After finishing unpacking, the trainees gathered in the main hall again.
Among the six awkward Team 1 members, only Yoo Youngin was grinning. Seo Eunwon stuck close to Juha’s side, terrified. Jang Chaemyeong, who had no close relationships and wasn’t ranked high, was licking his dry lips and staying in the back.
While everyone was hesitating about who would speak first, Youngin opened his mouth.
“Then let’s first divide roles for today. I’ve been thinking about it. We’re going with an Oriental concept, but if we go with the original plan, it’s kind of… pfft.”
Youngin stopped mid-sentence and secretly glanced at Juha while suppressing forced laughter. It was exactly the expression of someone imagining Juha’s face imposed on Metabolic’s original concept.
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was thinking of something else.”
“……”
Something else, my ass.
He was planning to humiliate Juha, who couldn’t even get into that level of group.
Juha nodded appropriately without affirming or denying. If he gradually provoked Juha until his expression hardened, nothing would be better to capture on camera. If that’s what Yoo Youngin was aiming for, Juha had absolutely no intention of falling for it.
Youngin continued speaking.
“Hmm hmm, so we’re each taking on roles. Let’s talk about what roles everyone wants to do. For example, I want to be the flower prince because fans like it when I look pretty on screen, and since Juha is the decadent king, he can go as the decadent prince.”
While speaking, Youngin looked at Juha. Eyes sparkling shamelessly as if he knew nothing. In those eyes, Juha read cunning schemes.
It was a ploy to take the good-looking flower prince role for himself while completely trapping Juha in a decadent frame. Since Juha had gained attention as the decadent king in photo shoots and as a decadence-oozing controlling trainer, it might be easy for him to play the decadent prince role.
But if he went further into the decadent image from here, his image could solidify in only one direction. It was obvious how much sexual harassment he’d face online. Juha’s insides grew hot with anger.
For now, he decided to listen to the end. That way he wouldn’t get fooled again.
“Eunwon will go cute and lovely, and Chaemyeong, hmm… what would be good? Is there anything you want to do?”
Since Chaemyeong wasn’t a rival target and had clear utility value, Youngin was kind to him.
“Since Eunwon and I are similar in height and build, how about we do it like twins?”
“Wow, great idea! But would that be okay? Doing twins with a 15-year-old. We’d be fine with it, but I’m worried you might get hurt.”
Youngin praised Chaemyeong like an icon of compliments and consideration. Chaemyeong’s face brightened as if receiving genuinely warm hospitality.
“It’s okay.”
“Alright, let’s do that. Then, Junho and Munseok are…”
“I want to be a warrior.”
Cutting off Jo Munseok’s words, Junho spoke.
“Ah…”
Jo Munseok sighed disappointedly. He looked exactly like someone whose thing had been stolen.
“Huh? Did Munseok want to be a warrior too? Then how about doing it together? Twin warriors contrasting with the cute twins doesn’t sound bad.”
Youngin quickly grasped Munseok’s intention and accommodated him.
“You both said you’re former national taekwondo team members, right? We could put acrobatics or sparring at the beginning of the stage.”
“Wow, that sounds good?”
When Chaemyeong courageously spoke up, Youngin enthusiastically cheered him on.
“Right.”
“Whatever.”
Na Junho agreed first, but Munseok’s eyes weren’t very kind.
“Yeah.”
“So we’ve decided: flower prince is me, decadent prince is Lee Juha, twin cutie princes are Seo Eunwon and Jang Chaemyeong, and twin warriors protecting the princes are Na Junho and Jo Munseok?”
Everyone nodded at Yoo Youngin’s final summary. Juha also nodded slightly but was lost in other thoughts. Without an alternative idea to replace the decadent prince, refusing would be nothing more than throwing a tantrum. It was obvious how ugly that would look.
“Since Juha knows all the choreography, how about Juha learns the dance moves?”
Youngin continued pushing unreasonable demands onto Juha.
“Got it. I’ll learn and plan the choreography.”
He readily accepted this much. This time, he had to properly show his skills and talent to clearly demonstrate that he was absolutely not a participant who should be in 15th place. Watching Youngin scheming, Juha actually changed his thinking. He decided to make Metabolic not the source of his wounds, but his unique strength.
No one here had practiced this mission song as much as Juha. Once he removed the wounds, ‘Butterfly Dream’ was the song Juha was most confident about.
“Learning choreography alone would be tough, so I’ll help you.”
Before the words came out, Na Junho beat him to it. Juha had barely spoken with him before so he didn’t know, but Junho was indifferent yet quite reliable.
Yoo Youngin continued the discussion.
“Right. For arrangement, hmm… our youngest showed good arrangement sense last time. Want to try it?”
“Me, me?”
Seo Eunwon’s eyes widened as he became scared first.
“I’m not saying to do it alone. Together with Chaemyeong. Chaemyeong is the best at producing among the trainees. Our youngest will have a lot to learn too.”
Youngin said with a bright smile.
“Yes, yes.”
Eunwon accepted awkwardly while reading the room. The younger someone was, the better they were at instinctively distinguishing good and bad people. To such an Eunwon, Youngin seemed like someone with a black heart.
“Munseok and I will decide the detailed concept and fashion.”
Youngin answered while exchanging suspicious glances with Jo Munseok.
“How should we decide the center?”
Junho interrupted their eye contact with a question. Since the center position was so sensitive, everyone hesitated to answer readily.
“Since Youngin has the highest ranking, wouldn’t it be better for Youngin to do it? Youngin’s fans need to pull for our team to survive.”
Jo Munseok answered as if he’d been waiting. Youngin just smiled. It meant he wasn’t against it.
Even with subtle glances being exchanged, Juha wasn’t in a situation to worry about the center position now. It was important to solidify his character first.
‘I need to decide on something else. I can’t go with the decadent image again. If I accept this, I’ll fall for Yoo Youngin’s scheme.’
Meanwhile, Na Junho quietly organized the seating.
“Since today is the first day, deciding on a center seems a bit much. Let’s think about it again while practicing.”
“Right.”
“Yes!”
Everyone nodded as if they’d been waiting. The meeting was ending. Juha’s heart became more anxious. With time pressing, new ideas weren’t coming easily.
‘If I don’t have the luxury to create a new character, I could switch with someone else.’
Juha looked at each team member one by one. The twin warriors were impossible due to the size difference, and the cutie twin princes also needed matching builds to look good.
Then there was only one remaining character.
“Let’s each work on our parts and meet tomorrow morning.”
“Wait a moment.”
Just before the meeting ended, Juha stopped speaking. Everyone’s gazes instantly focused on Juha.
“Why? Do you have something to say?”
“Youngin hyung, want to switch characters with me?”
“…What?”
At Juha’s words, Youngin’s eyes wavered.
“How about I do the flower prince and you do the decadent prince? If you and I both do the same image again this time, fans will find it boring, so wouldn’t that be better?”
Juha spoke with an expression as if he had no particular thoughts, just that a good idea had occurred to him.
Even though Youngin tried to compose his expression by tensing his facial muscles, he couldn’t hide his flustered pupils. He knew Juha wasn’t ordinary, but he hadn’t expected him to say something so bold in front of teammates.
“Ah, sorry, hyung. I said it because I thought it would help you too, but it seems I made you uncomfortable.”
Though Lee Juha was usually criticized for lacking charm, in moments of retaliation he was surprisingly composed, even surprising himself.
“Um, but doesn’t Juha hyung’s opinion sound good? If we go with too similar characters, fans will get bored.”
The dejected Jang Chaemyeong slightly raised his hand and offered his opinion. Yoo Youngin looked like he wanted to tell him to shut up but was gritting his teeth to hold back. Meanwhile, Seo Eunwon, who had become close to Chaemyeong, also chimed in.
“I also want to see Juha hyung as the flower prince. Hehe.”
“Hyung, why don’t you try it just once? You’re really handsome, so I think the decadent look would suit you amazingly well.”
Whether he was naturally oblivious, Chaemyeong added another word. With good words coaxing him and cameras rolling, Yoo Youngin could only smile even though he felt wronged.
“…Hahahaha.”
“I’m in favor too. Both Youngin and Juha have gotten a lot of attention in this audition, so if they transform their images, wouldn’t our team get a lot of attention too?”
When even the quiet Na Junho agreed, Youngin bit his lip tightly and looked at Munseok. It was a look asking him to at least take his side.
“What if we fail by doing that unnecessarily? Wouldn’t it be better to play it safe?”
Jo Munseok reluctantly stopped them. Then Juha’s eyes sparkled as if he’d been waiting.
“If you’re worried about me, I’m confident I’ll do well! I absolutely won’t cause any harm. I’m sure Youngin hyung will do well without even saying anything.”
Having made up his mind, Juha decided to go all out with shamelessness. If he put himself down while praising Youngin, even Youngin who had been openly picking on him wouldn’t have anything to say.
“If Youngin doesn’t agree, we’ll have to go with the original plan. We can only take risks if everyone agrees.”
When Na Junho spoke expressionlessly, Youngin became more cornered. If he didn’t accept here, he’d become the stubborn person. But the more serious problem was that if he refused this, Yoo Youngin would be stuck with a flat image of only being able to handle pretty and lovely characters.
“L-let’s try it once. Juha will only know after trying it too. We can adjust as we go.”
“Waah!”
Chaemyeong and Eunwon clapped, happy that an agreement had been reached. Youngin was smiling but kept checking Juha’s mood. More precisely, he seemed to be looking for an opportunity to curse him with his eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
