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Chapter 11
The Trainee Who Refuses to Debut (2)
“Wait, you’ve already met and even got introduced?”
Even through his casually thrown words, Han Seongwoo’s sharp undertone made the other trainees’ attention snap toward me and “Twinkle.” The once-calm atmosphere shifted oddly, as if something significant had just happened. Startled, Twinkle quickly shook her head.
“No, it’s not like that….”
“We met in front of the bathroom. It was just a coincidence, but he was really handsome, so I asked a staff member about him.”
“…Oh, really?”
Seongwoo lightly cut off Twinkle’s flustered explanation, and just like that, the mood returned to normal. Twinkle, still awkward, laughed along to fit in. Everyone was smiling, but something faintly sharp lingered in the air.
“Alright, seems like we’ve done introductions. Should we take a break? You all must be tired.”
Seongwoo, still wearing his friendly “class president” smile, patted my shoulder and stood up. The practice room quickly became noisy and disorganized. The only ones left sitting awkwardly apart were me and Twinkle. I quietly grabbed Twinkle, who was trying to sneak away from my side.
“That bathroom… where was it again? I think I saw you earlier, but I can’t remember.”
A blatant lie. There wasn’t even a bathroom anywhere near where we met.
“Oh, maybe it’s a bit far… You go out into the hallway, then turn left….”
“Maybe it’s because it’s my first day, but this place is confusing. People must get lost a lot.”
I shrugged innocently, and Twinkle’s eyes darted nervously.
“You said… turn right after going out, right?”
As she repeated it in a pure, naive voice, Twinkle, who had been hesitating, finally took the bait.
“I-I’ll guide you!”
“No, it’s fine. Thanks though.”
As soon as we left the practice room, I naturally turned left, and Twinkle’s eyes shook again—but I didn’t care.
So, what are you? A bomb or a lifeline?
“Eunchan.”
Checking Ha Jin leaving the practice room with Haru in the mirror, Eunchan soon heard a familiar voice calling him. He didn’t answer and instead pretended to stretch quickly, avoiding eye contact.
But Eunchan. Joo Eunchan. Being called warmly once more, he couldn’t keep pretending he didn’t hear it.
Rubbing the stiff back of his neck, Eunchan finally responded.
“…Yes, Seongwoo hyung.”
“Hyung just felt a bit bad about what I said earlier. You know I didn’t mean anything bad, right?”
“…Ah. Yes.”
Seongwoo, who had called him over, deliberately made bigger gestures and patted Eunchan’s shoulder, noticing some trainees watching them. “It’s better to come earlier, you know! With those long legs of yours!” His cheerful voice filled the practice room.
“Everyone’s working hard, and if you keep disrupting the mood, that’s not good. I trust you understand what I mean.”
“Yes, hyung… Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just don’t do it again. Go practice. You were warming up, right? I’ll watch you.”
Even after the conversation ended, Seongwoo didn’t leave, instead taking a seat right in front of Eunchan. Eunchan let out a small sigh. His eyes kept drifting toward the practice room door where Haru and Ha Jin had gone out.
“Eunchan. Focus. What did I say about half-hearted warmups? You can’t neglect fundamentals like that.”
“…Yes, sorry.”
It’s suffocating.
A word Eunchan swallowed silently.
Dan Haru was slightly tense.
He was the type to be shy around strangers, and the new trainee hyung looked intimidating, which didn’t help.
Maybe it was because their first meeting was awkward? He had followed along feeling uneasy, but it wasn’t like he could explain everything to someone he just met, which made things complicated.
“Your name’s Haru, right? Where do you live?”
“Pardon? Ah, I live in Seoul….”
“Your family home is in Seoul?”
“No, I stay in the dorm….”
“Really? You’re so young, living away from home must be tough. Where are you originally from?”
“My hometown is in the provinces, but my parents are overseas.”
“So you’re alone in Korea?”
“No, I live with my grandmother….”
“…I see.”
Huh?
‘How did I end up reporting my entire life story to this hyung?’
He had only answered what was asked, but before he knew it, he had told this hyung—whom he’d just met and initially found intimidating—that he was the youngest trainee, that dorm life was manageable but sometimes he missed his grandmother’s braised short ribs, and even more.
Unlike Eunchan, who seemed intimidating, Ha Jin spoke comfortably like they had known each other for ten years. He kept the conversation flowing effortlessly, like a professional facilitator.
During the short walk from the practice room to the bathroom, Haru had already agreed to call him “hyung,” and even ended up calling him “Hajin hyung” a few times. Compared to how he had addressed Eunchan with “hey you” for a month despite being just one year apart, the difference was astonishing.
‘What insane social skills.’
By now, Haru had all kinds of thoughts swirling in his head. There was something he had wanted to say since leaving the practice room. Should he just be honest? Ask him not to tell the others what they saw earlier? But if asked why, what would he even say? Was it okay to tell this to someone he’d just met?
While Haru hesitated, Ha Jin observed him.
‘He’s an open book.’
Whatever he was thinking showed clearly on his face. If he ever debuted and went on variety shows, he’d probably struggle.
Even when given the perfect chance to speak, he still hesitated. Was he cautious? Either way, if he wouldn’t speak first, Ha Jin would just take the lead.
“It’s about earlier, right?”
“Huh?”
“Or not? You seem like you don’t want what happened in front of the bathroom to be mentioned to others.”
With a gentle smile and a tone that said “I know everything,” Haru startled again.
His wide eyes were practically filled with punctuation marks that said: What is this guy?
“I don’t know the details, but I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything earlier.”
“Ah, th-thank you.”
Haru bowed quickly. He didn’t seem like he had anything else to say.
Not that Ha Jin planned to dig deeper on day one anyway.
Today was just for laying groundwork.
“Still, I’m glad. It would’ve been awkward if I’d just casually mentioned it earlier.”
“No, it’s not a big deal… I just felt embarrassed about crying….”
“What’s wrong with crying? I used to cry all the time at my old company.”
“You were a trainee somewhere else?”
“…Yeah, just for a bit.”
He shrugged with a faint smile, and Haru’s guarded expression slowly softened. Like a rabbit lifting its ears again, his posture relaxed.
Before heading back into the practice room, Ha Jin made one last move.
“If you ever have something you find hard to talk about, just tell me we should go to the vending machine. I’ll buy you a drink.”
Casually. Lightly.
“My younger brother is around your age. Honestly… seeing you earlier made me think of him a bit.”
He was talking about his real younger brother, Kang Hawon, who was probably at home gaming right now. But Hawon wouldn’t know, so it was fine.
“Ah, is that too much? I just thought it might be something hard to say to people inside here.”
“…Hyung,”
“Yeah?”
“You really seem like a real adult.”
Of course. I’m twenty-nine plus.
Ha Jin smiled shamelessly and patted Haru’s shoulder. If Hawon saw this, he’d probably look disgusted—but Hawon wasn’t here.
‘Now then, take the bait, little one.’
Though technically fish take bait, that didn’t matter either.
The MIRO trainees took five classes: vocals, dance, rap, acting, and physical training.
Each class was divided into levels: advanced, intermediate, advanced, beginner, and intermediate.
My acting class was beginner, probably due to “mental care issues.”
‘Maybe the system dampens emotional sensitivity while care mode is active.’
That’s troublesome. I’ll deal with the system later.
[System Alert: Wh-what do you mean by “deal with”?]
Anyway, right now I was in dance class.
Apparently, I was “ambiguous.” My basics weren’t bad enough for beginner level, but I wasn’t strong enough for advanced choreography either. I was stuck in that annoying “in-between” stage.
I was going to break out of this “intermediate” label no matter what.
“Alright, that’s it for today. Good work.”
After repeating step routines about 300 times, even walking felt like my ankles were still doing choreography.
‘I don’t even have the energy to drink water.’
Torn between hydration and exhaustion, I chose collapsing. Lying down, I looked around the practice room.
The trainees from the first day were paired up, stretching or talking.
Only two were missing.
‘Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru.’
Again those two.
It had been about two weeks since training started, and those two kept missing classes or being called away for various reasons.
‘And every time, the most sensitive reaction comes from that side.’
“Guys, even if you rest, you should at least clean up a bit.”
Han Seongwoo, who had been speaking with the dance instructor, shouted sharply while shaking sweat from his hair. Everyone started getting up, sensing his irritation.
‘It’s not like it has to be cleaned right now.’
Still, if everyone’s getting up, I can’t just sit here. I stood to help clean, but Seongwoo approached me.
“What, why are you coming over?”
“Ha Jin, you should rest. It’s probably hard enough just keeping up.”
“…No, it’s fine. We should clean together.”
“Forget it. If you accidentally mess with expensive equipment, it’ll be a bigger problem.”
Is he insulting me?
If I just sat back down, I could already feel the others’ eyes turning sharp.
As I hesitated, Seongwoo stood beside me, scanning me quickly.
“Having a hard time adjusting? Must be tough jumping straight into advanced stuff without basics.”
“Yeah, my stamina’s not great.”
“Don’t worry. Beginners like you struggle at first. It just takes time.”
At this point, it was obvious this was a power move. Since day one, his tone had been strange.
He reached out like he was about to put his arm around my shoulder—
Bang!
The practice room door flew open loudly.
No need to look—I already knew it was Eunchan and Haru.
Heavy footsteps approached me.
“Hyung!”
A shout full of urgency made me turn my head.
Haru, ears red, was staring at me intensely.
Oh? Is Twinkle mad?
“You called me?”
He nodded firmly. Everyone turned to look.
“Vending machine….”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go get a vending machine…!”
“…What?”
That’ll kill you, idiot.
The words echoed only in my throat, unable to escape.
