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Chapter 13
The Trainee Who Refuses to Debut (4)
I wanted to hear more details, but as the saying goes—whispers in daylight reach the culprit, and whispers at night reach the person involved.
We decided it would be better to continue the conversation in a more private place, so for now we returned to the practice room. In the meantime, Dan Haru, whose eyes were slightly red and swollen, said he needed to wash his face in the bathroom and ran off in a hurry. I draped an arm over Joo Eun-chan’s shoulder as we were left alone and thought for a moment.
“Where should we meet later for dinner? Restaurants and food courts are going to be too crowded.”
When it comes to this kind of talk, caution is always best. Honestly, even talking this much inside the company already felt risky. After thinking for a moment, Eun-chan answered hesitantly.
“…Would you like to come to my place?”
“Your place? I don’t mind, but aren’t your parents there?”
“My parents live apart. I’m staying alone near the company. They travel a lot for business and live near the airport.”
Ah, right. You’re a rich kid.
“Alright, that works. Honestly, that might be better. But won’t the last train be gone after practice?”
“You can just stay over at my place and go to practice together tomorrow. There’s an extra room, and the living room is big.”
…He’s richer than I thought.
I looked at Eun-chan with a slightly skeptical expression. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and avoided my gaze.
“That’s why I didn’t tell the company either. But the director ended up finding out somehow… Please don’t tell the others.”
“What. You mean you’re a wealthy young master living in a two-room, large-living-room apartment in prime Seoul real estate?”
“Stop teasing me.”
“Oh, you noticed. Boring.”
“That’s not funny.”
Maybe because he’d revealed a secret, he seemed to feel a bit closer to me, and he sulked at my teasing. Honestly, he looked better like this than with that stiff, burdened expression.
“Oh, is that why you’re awkward with the B-class trainees? Because of the rumor that you’re a nepotism candidate?”
“…Is it that obvious?”
“If you didn’t notice, you’d be an idiot.”
“……”
“Ugh, whatever. So childish. Seriously, so childish.”
At nearly thirty, watching teenagers engage in this kind of petty tension was exhausting. If I dug deeper into Han Seong-woo’s situation too, it felt like I’d cross a point of no return, so I stopped myself.
Where is Dan Haru? Should we just head back to the practice room first?
Just then, a voice I hadn’t heard before called out from down the hallway.
“Oh? Eun-chan!”
“…Taehyun hyung!”
A boy with pink-dyed hair and a friendly face walked over while wiping his face with a wet towel. While I was trying to place him, Dan Haru came back from the bathroom and ran toward him excitedly, hugging him without hesitation.
A trainee, probably. Not from B class… so maybe A class?
“Wait, why are you guys here?”
“Oh, I was just talking with Ha-jin hyung. You haven’t met him, right? This is the new hyung. Kang Ha-jin. Twenty years old.”
“Oh, I heard about you from the coaches. Hello. I’m Seo Tae-hyun.”
“Yes, hello. I’m Kang Ha-jin.”
“Your voice is really nice. Ah, I’m 19, so speak comfortably, hyung.”
Even though it was their first meeting, he gave off an easy, likable impression. His bright voice and refreshing smile felt oddly familiar…
“…Sonyeon Cheonha?”
At my instinctive remark, Tae-hyun’s smiling face instantly froze. His expression clearly said, Please don’t bring that up.
It was a survival audition show from about three years ago. Seo Tae-hyun had made a strong impression with his clear voice and refreshing smile. He reached the final debut lineup, but because the group concept ended up being “dreamy, sexy youth between boyhood and manhood,” he ended up missing debut.
This guy later gathered a decent fanbase and did some individual activities after the show.
In my previous life too, he had an agency, but not Miro. He bounced around companies, failed several debut attempts, and only debuted solo after becoming an adult. I don’t think Miro was one of the companies he passed through?
Anyway, gathering information is urgent.
Damn it, other webnovel protagonists always have perfect knowledge of the future and do all sorts of things.
[System Alert: “Webnovel protagonist” is such a low-grade metaphor!]
Shut up.
“Oh, I saw that. Eun-chan’s performance video. You’ve improved a lot in dance.”
As I tried to wrap things up and leave, Tae-hyun’s comment made Eun-chan’s expression stiffen again. An awkward tension spread.
Tae-hyun, realizing it wasn’t the right thing to say, quickly tried to smooth it over with a bright smile and lightly patted Eun-chan.
“Hey, why are you like that? I’m really fine, Eun-chan. Even if it wasn’t you, I wouldn’t have gotten that stage anyway. You know that.”
“…Still, I’m sorry, hyung.”
“Ah, stop it. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Don’t mind me. You already have enough trouble being misunderstood.”
“Hyung.”
“If you apologize one more time, I’ll really get mad.”
He says that, but his face is still smiling. From what I could tell, A-class Tae-hyun had lost his concert opportunity to Eun-chan, so this must be related. Were they close?
“None of it was your fault anyway. I’ll just get another chance by doing something else well.”
“……”
“I feel like I’ll cry if I stay here longer. Haru, hyung is leaving first. See you next time.”
As Eun-chan’s expression grew darker, Tae-hyun quickly excused himself and left. I mentally marked him as a person of interest and watched him go.
Then I heard something even more exhausting beside me.
“…Sob.”
“This is insane. If you cry now, what am I supposed to do?”
He looks like he’d beat up delinquents anywhere, but he’s way too soft—he feels like he’d get scammed just by looking at someone’s face.
“Eun-chan hyung… don’t cry…”
“This is unbelievable.”
Even Dan Haru, who had been patting him, started sniffling too. Now I was suddenly stuck comforting three grown boys, and I felt intense existential fatigue.
Yeah. It’s not like you guys did anything wrong.
We need to go after the director instead…
“Eun-chan.”
“Yes.”
“You really are a rich kid, huh?”
Standing in front of a shiny, newly built luxury villa, I said it absentmindedly. Eun-chan scratched his cheek again, embarrassed. He didn’t even deny it anymore, which somehow made it cooler.
“Let’s go up first. I’m too tired to even talk.”
All of us had been drained to the bone from practice, so rest was urgent. Even the elevator felt luxurious.
Young, handsome, tall, and rich. This is urgent.
Thinking about my family still living in a semi-basement made me a little motivated. I need to succeed. I need to succeed so I can live a life where sunlight wakes me up in the morning.
“Here it is. Come in.”
“Hello…”
Eun-chan’s home was exactly as he said—spacious, and far too good for an 18-year-old living alone. When I looked around in surprise, he explained he had lived with his older brother until recently.
“You have a brother?”
“Yes. There’s a big age gap. He moved out after getting married.”
That explained his overly polite attitude toward older people.
We dropped our bags in the living room.
“Sit, sit.”
“…Are you two always this awkward? If you get nervous, the whole picture looks weird, Eun-chan.”
“It’s my first time inviting people over.”
“You’re not going to tease me, right?”
“Say it first.”
“…This is my first time doing this.”
What a ridiculously youthful answer.
I laughed, and Eun-chan looked offended, thinking I was mocking him.
“I told you not to tease me!”
“I only said say it first.”
“You’re a bad person.”
“Is that the best insult you’ve got?”
“I have more!”
“What is it? Try me.”
“You…! Why would I even insult you, hyung!?”
“Ah. Didn’t take the bait.”
Just then, Dan Haru came running back in, still half-wet from washing up.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“It’s nothing, Haru. Stay out of it. Eun-chan still doesn’t know.”
“What don’t I know!”
“Eun-chan hyung still didn’t know?”
Dan Haru blinked innocently, landing another blow. Eun-chan froze for three seconds, clearly overwhelmed.
Strangely enough, among all these teenagers, this childish nonsense actually helped calm my racing thoughts.
[System Alert: The regression stabilizes due to “friendship-based affinity.”]
[System Alert: “Wandering and drift” mode reduced by 5%… (loading)]
It seemed to actually help. I skimmed the notifications and dismissed them.
Time to rest when I can rest.
I extended my hand toward Eun-chan.
“Truce handshake?”
“….”
Suspicious, he still reached out.
Then I changed my hand into a scissors shape and trapped his hand between my index and middle finger.
It took him a few seconds to realize he’d been tricked.
“Ah!”
“You’re too slow.”
“Why do you keep doing this!?”
“Because you react like this. That’s why.”
“Ugh, seriously!”
What a shame, Eun-chan.
I’m not scared of your deadpan expression anymore.
