Chapter 164
Debut or Die
It was 11:00 p.m. after we finished all the schedules of the day, including W Live, and returned to the dorm.
After vacating a room for the two people who fought, the rest of us gathered in the living room again.
By the way, the vacated room was a 3-person room.
Because the space was wider.
Seon Ahyeon muttered, having left the sponge he had been holding when he rushed out.
âI-I hope they can solve itâ¦â
âYeah.â
In fact, I thought we should put Ryu Chungwoo in that place, but I discarded the idea because I was afraid that they might get conscious of the third party and end it in a superficial way.
âIt would be better for them to have a big fight than that.â
Now that they had the time to think and were ready to talk, they could hear what each other was thinking even if they fought.
âThen, after some time, they can keep the line.â
Because intense emotions disappeared and memories remained.
And both of them were the thoughtful types, so it wouldnât take long.
âTurn on the Netplus!â
âYeah. Watch whatever you want.â
Cha Eugene casually played an American sitcom with Ryu Chungwooâs permission.
In the living room which was now buzzing with English, I looked down at my smartphone.
On the screen, there was a record of the call history with the company.
[Operation Team Assistant Manager Oh Suhyung]
To put it bluntly, it was a trace of my protest.
The call was about how the two people who fought became a team on the W app despite my request.
âThis didnât happen just once or twice, if I donât get angry, I am just a pushover.â
Since it was a neighborhood that had no work-life balance, it was okay to make a lot of mistakes.
But shouldnât you be aware of something that can be so fatal?
âThis is how they deal with the discord bomb?â
When I heard the excuse, apparently âDonât pick out the ones with the markâ was mistranslated as âPick themâ and it ended up like that. Well, I could understand that.
The problem was the nuance.
â But actually, during the shoot, there was no big problem between the two of them⦠Itâs good to be careful and it was a mistake on our part, but I think itâs okay not to react too sensitivelyâ¦
In short, he was saying âIt wasnât a big deal in the first place, didnât you guys overreact?â.
âThese bastards are too laid-back.â
It seemed a lot of things had happened on the outside, and since they only focused on that, they had come to trust Testarâs calmness on the inside.
I wasnât too happy about it because I thought their response would be slow if someone really did something unexpected.
âThis needs some trimming.â
I took a good look at the picture, shrugged, and lowered my smartphone.
âFor now⦠Wait until those guys solve it.â
In front of the sofa, Cha Eugene was excitedly talking about his favorite sitcom character.
Kim Raebin stopped him seriously.
âIt might be a spoiler for those who havenât seen this drama yet, so be carefulâ¦â
âItâs not a spoiler!â
âIt is!â
I couldnât even hear the sound of the drama properly because of these guysâ voices. If the two guys in the room screamed and fought, I wouldnât be able to hear it.
Right when I thought like that, the door burst open and someone jumped out.
It was Bae Sejin who looked like he was about to explode.
âPark Moondae!â
âI think this is the first time I heard him call my name.â
No way, did the two of you come to the conclusion of attacking me together?
Of course, not.
âY-You⦠Come on, letâs go inside.â
âWhat?â
âCome here.â
I donât get what you mean.
Anyway, I didnât want to aggravate him, so I got up.
Then, Bae Sejin rushed into the room.
âOh! Hyungs, fightâ¦.â
âCome on, watch TV, Eugene.â
Bae Sejin closed the door and came in. In an instant, the loud noise of the drama suddenly decreased.
Keun Sejin, who was sitting in the quiet room, had a calm face.
It seemed they wouldnât grab each other by the collars and made a commotion.
âYou guys seem to be doing well, but why did you call me?â
As I bitterly sat down on the floor, Keun Sejin opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.
âFirst of all⦠I talked to hyung and sorted things out a bit.â
âYes.â
âListen.â
Keun Sejin calmly talked about the current situation. It was a perfectly refined attitude that gave Bae Sejin a chance to intervene in the middle.
âSo business-like.â
First of all, it seemed that both of them focused on their future attitude.
âFor now, weâll try to go as far as possible without hurting each other.â
Keun Sejin apologized for acting as if he was ignoring Bae Sejin because he didnât have good feelings for him, and Bae Sejin also apologized for suddenly attacking him because of his complicated feelings.
âWe decided to be a bit more careful with each other from now on.â
That was good.
âBut there are some parts of each other that we donât quite understand.â
They said that they found something they couldnât understand while talking to each other.
Bae Sejin nodded.
ââ¦Listen and look at it objectively. How about it?â
The question of whether it was necessary to invite me as the jury when the leader Ryu Chungwoo was there came up to my throat, but I suppressed it.
âIf it werenât for the status abnormality, really.â
These guys should be grateful for my time-limit condition.
âWhat do you mean?â
Bae Sejin swallowed and opened his mouth.
âAm I⦠still uncooperative?â
ââ¦!â
Bae Sejin clenched both his hands with a pale face.
âI⦠I know I am not good at it, I know thatâs not good enough. But⦠I am doing my best. Really.â
ââ¦Hyung, everyone knows youâre working hard.â
Keun Sejin sighed as if he was getting sick of it.
âTherefore⦠Itâs not that hyung isnât trying. But other than hyungâs hard work, hyung doesnât care about the restâ¦â
Bae Sejinâs voice dropped.
ââ¦I donât care, you said?â
Keun Sejin sighed.
âItâs better to get angry than to listen to me, right? Thatâs why I justâ¦â
âWait a minute.â
I knew what was going on. I cut off Keun Sejin before he could pour out more.
âYou have to explain more. Whatâs the rest that you said hyung doesnât care about?â
âYou already know.â
Keun Sejin continued his explanation in a slightly calmer tone.
âYou donât care at all about showing the group, only yourself.â
âWhat do youâ¦â
âI know youâre not really interested in making us look like a group where all the members are close and getting along. But even if youâre not very interested in the groupâs existence, I hope you can do that when the camera is rolling.â
Keun Sejin said in an exhausted tone.
âWeâre an idol group. Thatâs important too.â
ââ¦!â
Bae Sejin was stiff. And for a moment, he looked down at the floor with his mouth shut.
His answer came out slowly.
âAll right.â
ââ¦!â
ââ¦I didnât know about that⦠I am sorry. Iâll take care of it in the future.â
This time, it was Keun Sejin who was speechless.
âitâs going a little differently than you think, isnât it?â
Perhaps it was only natural.
Bae Sejin must have been unfamiliar with idol groups in the first place, and he even came out on an individual survival match.
Therefore, he wouldnât have had time to notice or care about the group chemistry or anything else.
âIt must have been difficult to practice on stage.â
In fact, if Keun Sejin thought about it without prejudice, he wouldnât have misunderstood him in the first place.
However, his thoughts were fixed unconsciously due to the trauma of being eliminated from the debut group because of the âactorâ.
âHeâs going to be an actor anyway, I guess heâs just trying to hold on for now.â
And to Keun Sejinâs surprise, Bae Sejinâs words didnât end there.
âI also think this is a good team. I want to do my best, and I donât want to be a nuisance. Also, with this team⦠I am happy doing activities.â
ââ¦â
Bae Sejin hesitated until he brought up the next words, but he continued to talk in a strained voice.
âAnd⦠Iâm sorry for saying that you pretended to be close only when the camera was rolling. You were just working hard.â
ââ¦!â
Keun Sejinâs face turned complicated.
The answer came one beat late, after he thought about it thoroughly.
âNo. I made a thoughtless guess. Iâm sorry.â
ââ¦!â
This time, it was Bae Sejin who looked surprised, but he answered after clearing his throat.
âA-Ahem. I-Itâs okay!â
Looking at him, he seemed slightly upset and was conflicted about whether or not to get angry, but he held back. Heâd grown a lot, too.
Keun Sejin smiled faintly and replied.
âAnd I, well, I was trying to make a profit! Itâs nice to have someone with the same name~â
It sounded similar to his usual shameless tone.
However, it felt much more honest than the usual soulless conversation he had with Bae Se-jin.
Bae Sejin murmured, avoiding his gaze.
âWell⦠Well, yes.â
If he had denied it there, it would have led to a more relaxed and reconciled conversation, but Bae Sejinâs limit seemed to have ended here.
Sure enough, Keun Sejin was already smiling bitterly. He didnât understand why Bae Sejin crushed his gesture to reconcile.
âItâs fine. Up to this point, itâs a five-star development.â
Anyway, this one example clearly proved that there was no malicious intention in each otherâs actions.
In the future, whenever they got angry with the other, they would be able to pass it off as âThatâs just how he isâ without being stressed out by excessive assumptions.
âTheyâve just returned to the starting point.â
I let out a sigh of relief inside.
âI really have done as much as I could.â
I craved beer. I should go find it.
âThen letâs just conclude that Bae Sejin hyung will cooperate⦠Iâm going out.â
Bae Sejin was startled.
âHuh? W-Wait.â
âHey, letâs go out together~ Ah, hyung, do you have anything else to say?â
ââ¦No.â
âI thought so.â
Keun Sejin smiled and nodded.
Neither of them seemed to want to talk to each other anymore.
âHmm, alright.â
If I let them have a deeper conversation, who knew what else what explode, so it was better to keep it like this.
I went out of the door with the two of them.
Then, avoiding the voices of relief and welcome pouring in from the living room, I headed to the refrigerator.
âI think there are about two cans left.â
I didnât have any problem with my weight right now, so it would be okay to drink at least one in the middle of the night.
Click.
ââ¦â
The beers werenât there.
âThe beerâs hereâ¦â
âHere!â
âOh, sorry, Cha Eugene doesnât know itâs the last canâ¦.â
An empty and dented can was shaking in Cha Eugeneâs hand as he lay down in the living room.
ââ¦.â
You bastardâ¦
âM-Moondae. I-I have some liquor, drink itâ¦.â
âThank you.â
âY-Yeah!â
No matter how much I thought about it, the only person who helped with my mental health was Seon Ahyeon.
I wrapped up the day with Seon Ahyeonâs liquor in the room I returned to.
âC-Cheers!â
The last incident of the day was when the roommate Bae Sejin willingly participated in the liquor tasting, perhaps intoxicated by the feeling of being relieved from extreme stress, and fell asleep as if he were dead.
And the next day.
âI⦠I got a proposal for little Sejin.â
The manager brought up the cause of the conflict in the car on the way to the salon.
âThe writer of the drama knows little Sejin⦠Guys?â
ââ¦â
Call Bae Sejin and talk to him, bastard.
The manager was nervous because of the stiff atmosphere in the car, but Bae Sejin, who was in the back seat, shook his head without much agitation, his eyes were wide open from a hangover.
âNo, I am not going to do it.â
âI-Is that so? But itâs nothing bigâ¦â
Before the manager could get more flustered, Ryu Chungwoo asked Bae Sejin.
ââ¦Sejin, it might overlap with our inactive period, so wouldnât it be better to take a look at it?â
ââ¦!â
Bae Sejin shrugged his shoulders, perhaps ashamed by his slight agitation.
âNo⦠I will take it.â
âChungwoo said something nice! You guys are fine with that, right?â
The first manager, who was not in the car on the day the two people had a big fight, turned to the designated âcheeky good guyâ in the front seat and prod for his reaction.
It was Keun Sejin.
ââ¦Hmm.â
Looking at the manager without showing anything, Keun Sejin opened his mouth.
âWouldnât it be okay as long as it doesnât interfere with our activities? Hyung will be able to figure that out on his own~â
ââ¦!â
It was a plain and euphemistic declaration of neutrality.
This time, Bae Sejin also looked at Keun Sejinâs seat with a slightly surprised face, perhaps he could also pick up the meaning âTake care of yourselfâ.
He swallowed and told the manager.
ââ¦Sure. Iâll see the synopsis.â
âOh~ Great!â
However, the manager slipped an explanation with a slightly perplexed face.
âBut I donât think you need to read the synopsisâ¦â
âYes?â
âYeah, itâs like a cameo.â
ââ¦!!â
âYou know the kid shaman that little Sejin used to act in a movie? Itâs like making a surprise appearance⦠Sejin? Are you listening?â
ââ¦â
Yeah. All those dogfights were caused by a misunderstandingâ¦
Keun Sejin and Bae Sejin were absent-minded and in a daze throughout the dayâs management.
And anyway, a few days later, Bae Sejin finished the filming of âKid shaman who grew up as a madmanâ within a day, showing up as surprise appearances in episodes 1 and 2.
âWowâ¦.â
âHuhâ¦â
As a result of watching it on that very day, the synchro rate with the shaman was almost demon-like, and it was very powerful.
Except for the fact that the demon seemed really pissed offâ¦
âHyung, your acting skills are amazing.â
âItâs cool!â
ââ¦T-This much is nothing.â
Well, in the end, Bae Sejin also liked it.
However, the trailer that came out after the drama was even more shocking.
[Re-listed! Idol Inc. 2]
[Friday at 10 pm]
The airing of season 4 was really just around the corner.