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Chapter: 10
“Sorry, I just woke up from sleeping and was a bit dazed for a moment. What did you say?”
Yechan deliberately pretended to be even more tired, slowly closing and opening his eyes.
“I—uh, sorry for waking you up.”
Only then did Kang Haesol seem to notice Yechan’s messy bed hair and scruffy face, and he looked visibly flustered, his eyes darting around.
Even his voice, which had been loud enough to suit a rapper, quickly dropped in volume.
Yechan didn’t miss the chance to take control of the conversation.
“It’s fine. How did the test go?”
“Huh? Uh… I was kind of out of it, so I don’t really remember…”
“You don’t even remember what the trainers said?”
“I think they just said I did well… wait, why am I answering you?”
Kang Haesol, who had been obediently replying, suddenly frowned deeply.
‘Why? Because you’re the type who gets easily swept along.’
Yechan silently answered his question and smiled faintly.
“You worked hard, hyung.”
“Ah, you too worked hard—no, wait, that’s not what I’m asking—!”
‘He’s probably wondering if I really heard his self-composed songs uploaded anonymously on YouTube at this point, and if I did, how I figured out it was his channel.’
Haesol’s YouTube channel wasn’t meant to be shown to anyone—it was just a personal archive.
When Yechan, who was both his close younger acquaintance and colleague in the past, discovered the messy, unrefined works through the algorithm, Haesol had been extremely embarrassed.
Now that he thought a complete stranger trainee named Ha Yechan had found it, he must be dying inside.
If Yechan teased him any further, it might interfere with the rest of the filming schedule, so he decided to reassure him here.
“You mean you liked my songs? I heard you humming the show’s theme song in your sleep last night—it actually sounded pretty good.”
“…Huh?”
As Yechan casually delivered his prepared excuse, Haesol’s handsome face went blank for a moment.
Yechan continued smoothly without hesitation.
“After the test ended, I suddenly remembered. Since you sing so well, I wanted to cheer you on and tell you I think you’ll do great in the real stage too.”
He even added an unnaturally bright smile.
Haesol’s pale face turned red, then blue, then red again.
“Seriously, if you’re going to speak, say it properly! Why are you so all over the place…! Haa… never mind. Thanks for the support. And sorry for waking you up.”
Thinking it had all been his misunderstanding, Haesol rubbed his face dryly and turned around.
“You’re going back to your room?”
“Then what, am I supposed to sleep here again?”
He snapped, his mole under his lip twitching with irritation.
Even though he spoke harshly, his expression revealed embarrassment and frustration.
Only someone as familiar with him as Yechan could notice the faint trace of regret.
Yechan watched Haesol walk away for a moment, then turned around himself.
‘Now that that’s resolved, I should go back to sleep.’
What both he and Haesol needed most right now was to fully recover from accumulated fatigue before the next shoot.
Click.
With the sound of a light switch turning on, bright light spilled through his eyelids.
“Ah, sorry. Did I wake you?”
Looking down from the bed railing, Yechan met Baek Sehyuk’s eyes—his hair still damp, as if he had just showered.
“It’s fine.”
Yechan answered casually and checked his phone.
It was well past 9 o’clock, the deadline for the test.
“Oh, Yechan’s awake.”
Following Sehyuk, Sim Sangrok entered the room and greeted him cheerfully.
He also looked freshly showered, but unlike Sehyuk, his neatly dried hair was calm and tidy.
“You worked hard.”
“You too. Wihyem went to the store to buy drinks.”
Even Wihyem’s whereabouts were now known.
Sangrok looked calm, as if meeting Lee Gawon from UPITHER and Joo Taehyun earlier had been nothing.
No matter how you looked at it, he didn’t seem like someone who had made a big mistake, so the center position for the theme song was likely still going to him.
‘Still, it must be about time.’
[“Attention trainees! The theme song test has officially ended!”]
Just like last night, the TV turned on by itself, and the annoying main PD’s voice echoed through the speakers.
[“Thank you for preparing excellent performances in such a short time!”]
‘Yeah, they were excellent.’
[“Based on evaluations from CHUMAP trainers and specially invited judges, the grades have been adjusted. Please check the notice posted in the dorm lobby and attend tomorrow’s practice in the new assigned rooms!”]
They even made new posters already. The production team’s dedication was impressive, though not particularly welcome.
[“Outfits will be delivered to your doors by tomorrow morning!”]
With that irritating voice, the TV turned off.
Just as Woo Wihyem was about to enter the room, he backed out immediately.
Yechan, who left the room after him, ran into Kang Haesol in the hallway.
They exchanged brief eye contact. Haesol pouted again but still greeted him back.
Since his roommates were with him, it didn’t seem like there would be any “Kang Haesol is being isolated” rumors this time.
It looked like the bad flag surrounding Haesol was smoothly being dismantled.
Satisfied, Yechan headed to the lobby.
There were already many trainees gathered.
Some were holding back tears, others were comforting each other.
“Wow. Seriously! Wow. What do we do?”
And there were people like Nam Jiyu who were so excited they couldn’t even speak.
Before checking S-rank, Yechan first scanned the A-rank board in front of Nam Jiyu.
A-Rank (18 people)
- Gong Duhan (Gieunchan)
- Kim Minsu (POY) ↑
⋮ - Nam Jiyu (Vita) ↑
- Bae Saebyeok (Obe)
⋮ - Lee Mingu (Central) ↓
- Chae Eunseong (Individual) —
Looking at the names sorted alphabetically, a question suddenly arose.
‘Come to think of it, who dropped out after I entered?’
He couldn’t remember at all because he had only been interested in skilled or high-ranking trainees before.
‘Hey, you know, right? Say something.’
He even asked the hologram window, but there was no response.
“Yechan.”
While he was thinking, Sim Sangrok returned from checking the board and subtly gestured toward the S-rank side with a noticeably brighter expression.
He seemed to be trying not to show too much excitement due to cameras and other trainees.
‘As expected from an agency-trained idol—he’s experienced.’
Some viewers criticized Sangrok for being bland and neutral, like water mixed into water or alcohol mixed into alcohol.
But to Yechan, it looked like smart social behavior.
Leaving others aside, Yechan moved to check the results.
S-Rank (9 people)
- Kang Haesol (AOB) —
- Park Nagil (Bitnarin) ↑
- Baek Sehyuk (Luvell) —
- Seonwoo Ikyeong (Aragi) ↑
- Sim Sangrok (GE) —
- Woo Wihyem (Individual) —
- Im Beodeul (JI) ↑
- Jin Yongho (Central) —
- Ha Yechan (Individual) —
S-rank remained mostly unchanged except for three people.
When he saw Kang Haesol’s name at the top, the hologram window went wild.
<Quest Success!>
<Congratulations! You have successfully completed the linked quest. 1 point has been added!>
<Level Up!>
<Congratulations! You have leveled up. 1 point has been added!>
The results must have already been decided, but the notification only appeared now after he saw it with his own eyes—bad taste.
‘Or is this supposed to be a surprise?’
Either way, it was annoying.
‘What kind of relationship do we have that you’re doing surprises for me?’
While Yechan was grumbling internally, Kang Haesol arrived and looked over his shoulder at the board.
He bit his lower lip tightly.
Like Sim Sangrok earlier, he seemed to be trying not to show too much joy, but it made his expression quite intense.
‘That kind of face gets edited in a dangerous way.’
Yechan was about to speak when Sangrok patted Haesol on the shoulder first.
“Haesol, we stayed together. That’s a relief.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Did you rest well? You took the test early, right?”
“Yes… I guess.”
Even though he was clearly uncomfortable, Sangrok continued talking casually.
‘In a way, that’s impressive.’
Since cameras were filming the two S-rank rappers, Yechan stepped back instead of interfering.
“Ha Yechan.”
Ignoring it and running away to his room wasn’t possible—the voice was too close.
He met Woo Wihyem’s eyes and steadied himself.
“What?”
“I went to the store earlier, but they said you need a partner to use the voucher.”
Ah, that voucher thing.
They got five of them, but the rules were unnecessarily strict.
“Do you want to go now?”
“…If you’re okay with it.”
The camera had now turned toward them.
Wihyem trailed off awkwardly. If Yechan refused here, he would likely be edited as someone inconsiderate.
Might as well use this situation.
There were two days left in the first camp.
Tomorrow was theme song practice and solo introduction filming, and the day after would be the actual theme song stage recording.
Since they shouldn’t be bloated for filming, if they were going to eat anything at night, today was the day.
‘No idea why idol trainees want to eat at night, but since I already won everything, not using the prize would look weird. It’ll probably all get edited out anyway.’
Yechan nodded.
Of course, he had no intention of going alone with Wihyem.
“There are five vouchers, so why don’t others come too? Sangrok hyung or Sehyuk.”
“I don’t mind if they come.”
Sehyuk brightened immediately, and Sangrok pulled Haesol over.
“Haesol, you’re coming too, right?”
“Huh? I don’t mind…”
“Let us join too!”
Haesol’s refusal was buried before anyone could hear it.
More trainees joined in, and soon it became a large group.
As they walked to the store together, Wihyem seemed expressionless—but somehow, he looked happy.
Yechan hoped this exhausting camp would end soon, so he wouldn’t have to see that shameless face anymore.
