Chapter 142
Chapter 142
Translator: Penny
Chapter 142
#142
"KICKS' comeback period doesn't overlap with ours again. What a shame! Their new song is really good, we could have crushed them completely."
Ryu Jaehee clicked his tongue in disappointment after seeing the news of KICKS' comeback.
"It's good we don't have to see their faces, though," I replied nonchalantly.
Ryu Jaehee blinked in surprise. "Whoa, Hyung, why are you suddenly being so lenient towards KICKS?"
"I think it started back then, when Eden Hyung sacrificed himself to win the Hanwoo."
"Did you get attached to them while hugging him?"
"Are you guys idiots? I hugged him because I was cutting ties."
I clicked my tongue and chugged the entire bottle of water.
"Isn't it usually the opposite?"
"Yeah, well, not for me."
I snapped back curtly, stealing glances at Gyeon Hajun the whole time.
"Haven't we already had a cold war over this and barely patched things up? Are you jerks trying to pour fuel on the fire again?"
"Hey, Eden Hyung, do you still have more songs to work on? You must be exhausted from dance practice, but you're always at the studio these days. Didn't you outsource the rest of the tracks?"
"It's not for our group. There's something else."
Navy. The group that received One Chance before the regression.
They were a boy group from a small-to-medium-sized agency without deep pockets, similar to Reve. But unlike us, who debuted with some bizarre song, they shot to rookie stardom the moment they debuted with my song.
Even though One Chance has now become fully Reve's song, they did nothing wrong. Shouldn't I take some responsibility for that?
Thanks to that, I've been working myself to the bone lately, composing a song that feels similar to "Come to My Universe" yet distinctly different.
"Your insomnia seems to be acting up again these days..." Ryu Jaehee murmured worriedly.
"It's still better than when I hit that slump last time. At least I can catch some sleep now and then. Back then, I couldn't sleep at all." I grumbled, rubbing my dry eyes.
Ryu Jaehee cautiously suggested, "Maybe you should get a prescription for sleeping pills?"
"No way," I cut him off coldly.
I absolutely hated sleeping pills. They just gave me the creeps.
"Hey, where's my Ranger Training Assistant Instructor hat? I was going to take it to the practice room tomorrow, but I can't find it anywhere."
"Maybe it's in the washing machine?"
"What? You're washing it again already? Hey, why are you avoiding my eyes? Kim Dobin, was it you?"
"No! It wasn't me! I just clapped for the person who suggested the idea because it sounded good!"
"Then who was it?"
Kim Dobin pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head violently.
"Oh, Dobin. Looks like I'm easier to push around than whoever suggested it, huh? If it wasn't Hajun, you'd better be ready to face the consequences."
"I can never tell you it was Yehyeon Hyung!"
I glared at him, delivering a threatening warning. Kim Dobin squeezed his eyes shut and confessed everything.
I knew it. I scowled, slammed open the door, and shouted, "Ah, Hyung! What's the big idea?!"
Seo Yehyeon, his platinum-blonde hair disheveled, sat up groggily in bed.
His stylist, who had always insisted black hair suited him best and avoided dyeing it, must have regretted their past choices. The visual was simply stunning.
For the record, I finally managed to protect my hair from dyeing. Thanks to that, I could promote with black hair this time. The days of wearing hats everywhere to avoid spoilers about my hair color were finally over.
"Ugh, if you're going to yell, at least knock before barging in."
"It's my room too, why would I knock? And what's with throwing someone else's hat into the washing machine without permission?"
"That red hat gives me PTSD every time I see it."
"Oh, did you join the military without telling me?"
"No, recording studio PTSD. I could have burned it, but I just washed it nicely. Let's call it even, okay?"
Seo Yehyeon, who had been lying down looking utterly exhausted, suddenly sat up.
"Speaking of rooms, let's switch. Isn't it about time we changed rooms anyway?"
Too tired to even play games, we decided to settle the room assignments with the simplest and fairest method: a ladder game.
The results were...
Yoon Eden - Kim Dobin
Seo Yehyeon - Ryu Jaehee
Gyeon Hajun
"Jun-a, want to switch rooms?"
At my question and Kim Dobin's pleading gaze, Gyeon Hajun smiled and shook his head firmly.
"Since it's come to this, why not try getting closer to Dobin?"
I hurriedly draped my arm over Kim Dobin's shoulder, trying to project an image of close friendship.
"We're already super close, right? So close we don't even need to try to get closer, right, Dobin?"
I raised my eyebrows, signaling him to agree quickly. Kim Dobin stiffened, then nodded frantically, shouting desperately, "Y-yes, of course! We're really close! So please, just let me have the room...!"
"Dobin, you need to work on your acting."
Gyeon Hajun grinned and strode into his room to pack, leaving us behind.
Beside Kim Dobin, who was slumped over in despair, I sat blankly, my face equally dazed. My dream of a single room had been crushed again...
It was the day of the concept photo and music video shoot.
The location we arrived at for filming the music video was none other than an overseas studio. The power of winning the Spitto first prize was truly immense. Of course, even though we had won Spitto before the regression, the previous shoot had been domestic.
As we stood before the grid-lined backdrop for our mugshots, we busied ourselves measuring each other's heights while the crew prepared the set.
"Hey, stand up straight! Dobin, stop standing on your tiptoes. It's obvious!"
"No way! There's no way I'm that much shorter than Jaehee!"
"Actually, he's almost as tall as me now. He's grown a lot in just a few months."
I placed my hand on Ryu Jaehee's head, who was now nearly as tall as me, and he beamed with pride.
Before the group photo, we started with individual shots first.
I stood before the backdrop, holding a sign with my name and prisoner number. With one hand shackled, I tilted the sign jauntily and jutted my chin up.
The outfits came in two versions: a highly fashionable prison jumpsuit and a biker jacket.
The heavy piercings dangling from my ears swayed with a weighty rhythm. Tsk. This is why I never liked dangling earrings.
After completing my shoot with a deliberately rebellious pose and expression, I watched the other members' turns.
Seo Yehyeon, gazing confidently into the camera with a relaxed smile, looked like he was shooting a high-fashion editorial rather than a concept photo. The platinum blonde hair, a stark contrast to his usual black, only amplified the surreal effect.
Ryu Jaehee, now silver-haired and having shed his baby fat, looked utterly different from his former innocent maknae image. His crooked smile at the camera triggered a strange sense of déjà vu, making me blink in confusion.
"The youngest member is smiling just like Eden Hyung..."
Kim Dobin's muttered comment helped me realize what that sense of déjà vu was. The way he swept his bangs back when he got pissed, and how he subtly copied so many of my mannerisms—that little rascal.
Kim Dobin finished his shoot with a concept of a fiercely competitive—or, to put it bluntly, a total pushover—gangster.
Gyeon Hajun perfectly embodied the concept of a "smiling but inscrutable mastermind."
After completing the group shots, we gathered to review the footage.
"Doesn't this one look better?"
"I think this one came out better!"
"Hey, don't just pick the ones where you look good!"
"Oi, you impudent brats! Raise your voices again with the director right here?"
"Sorry..."
Unlike the fierce competition among the youngest members to get the best shots, the three of us didn't care much. We all looked good in pretty much every take.
Then, the music video shoot began.
When I was called up for my individual shots and saw the motorcycle in front of me, I blinked in surprise.
"Mr. Eden, can you ride a motorcycle?"
"A motorcycle? I have a driver's license, but not a moped or Class 2 small motorcycle license."
I'd never even considered getting a Class 2 small motorcycle license, figuring it was a quick way to get into an accident and die. Thanks to that, the motorcycle was swapped for a sports car.
Later, I learned that Seo Yehyeon had taken the motorcycle I'd given up and filmed with it. Apparently, he'd gotten his Class 2 small motorcycle license when he was twenty. I'd always thought he was the model student who wouldn't even glance at motorcycles, so it was a total shock.
After finishing today's filming and returning to our lodging, Manager Hyung called Seo Yehyeon over.
"Yehyeon, you've been offered a role in a drama. They want you to review the script and let them know if you're interested."
A drama? If it's a drama... Before Seo Yehyeon could answer, I urgently cut in.
"I'll think about it and let you know, Hyung!"
"No, Eden, I'm talking to Yehyeon, not you..."
"Yeah, I know!"
Seo Yehyeon, looking annoyed, was dragged over to me and turned to ask, "What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?"
"Hyung, do you really want to act?"
"It would be nice."
"No way. Don't do it."
"Honestly, I'm not sure about Yehyeon Hyung acting either..."
When Ryu Jaehee chimed in, Seo Yehyeon's expression darkened further. Realizing this could spark another conflict rumor, I quickly intervened.
In the end, we gathered in the hotel room Gyeon Hajun and I shared to begin the meeting.
"Let's commence the 230th Reve meeting."
"How have we already had 230 meetings?"
"The last one was about whether it's okay to eat chicken breast with honey mustard or not, right?"
Throughout our activity preparations, we had to eat only salads and chicken breast under the guise of dieting. But we grew so tired of the dry, bland texture that we took drastic measures. The youngest members and I started eating chicken breast with honey mustard, which led to Seo Yehyeon's horrified reaction and the start of the meeting.
That meeting ended in less than ten minutes, thanks to Seo Yehyeon's insistence that we look up the calorie count of honey mustard. Honestly, I had no idea it was so high.
Seo Yehyeon sat with his arms crossed and a sullen expression, clearly displeased with the situation.
"But isn't scheduling up to Yehyeon Hyung? Why are we even having this meeting to block him?" Gyeon Hajun asked.
"Exactly," Seo Yehyeon chimed in, his tone resentful.
Gyeon Hajun's question reminded me of "that incident" from before the regression—the one that had made even someone like me, who wasn't particularly fond of Seo Yehyeon, feel a pang of sympathy for him.
Before the regression, Seo Yehyeon had appeared in a drama only to return with the nicknames "terrible acting idol" and "robot idol."
Since that drama, he had received advertising offers but no acting roles.
Despite attending acting classes, his skills showed no improvement. In fact, Seo Yehyeon's side had even preemptively turned down any drama or film-related schedules that came his way.
But how could I put it into words? How could I tell him, "You're such a terrible actor that you've become a laughingstock"? Of course, I could say it, but that would tank my Original Intent Score!
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny