Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Translator: Penny
Chapter 61
I blurted out the words and immediately paused.
Why was I sharing this story—something I'd never even told Gyeon Hajun—with Seo Yehyeon, the most awkward and distant member of our group?
"Right, I'm curious too. You're from the underground scene, so why did you debut as an idol?" Seo Yehyeon asked.
Now that Seo Yehyeon had shared his own story, I couldn't back out.
Why did I choose the path of an idol...?
I tried to recall the resolve and determination I'd held back then, memories that had grown faint over the seven years I'd let slip by.
"I wanted to break free from MuCloud."
"MuCloud?"
"MusicCloud. One Chance was originally a mixtape track I planned to upload there. Funny how things turn out."
If you asked me if I was happy back then, I'd say I think I was.
At least I could make music to my heart's content.
"I didn't want to rot in the underground. But the path to the mainstream was like threading a needle—I couldn't just decide to go there. Back then, my skills weren't even close to mainstream level."
Now, of course, Sangeol Hyung acknowledges my skills as top-tier in the mainstream.
Back then, Korean hip-hop was practically a wasteland, treated as a minor genre.
Hip-hop only surged into the mainstream after Wnet's hip-hop survival show, Season 3, became a massive hit, ushering in its golden era.
D.I, or Yongcheol Hyung, was one of the contestants on that very season 3. He finished as runner-up and instantly transitioned to the mainstream.
It was our third year since debut, so about two and a half years before the golden age of hip-hop would arrive.
Yoon Eden at seventeen: high self-esteem and lofty ideals, but neither the skill nor the timing to match.
Back then, I was just a naive kid, and I made the kind of choice a naive kid would make.
"There was this thing they always said there: 'You've got the height, you've got the looks, you could be an idol.'"
"So you became an idol? Because those words gave you confidence?"
Confidence? I burst out laughing at such a naive remark.
"Sounds like praise, right? It was sarcasm."
In the underground hip-hop scene, where idol rappers were scorned, being told to debut as an idol was hardly encouragement or praise. Their pride in underground hip-hop ran deep.
I still haven't broken that habit to this day.
"So I quit, auditioned, and started my trainee life. My mindset was: 'Once I debut as an idol, blow up, and release a solo album, I'll crush all of you who are just uploading mixtapes to MuCloud.'"
But for seven years, I couldn't release a solo album.
I might have included one solo track on a Reve album once.
The only consolation was that none of the guys who had pressured me to become an idol had succeeded.
Since it was my chosen path, there was no one to blame.
Sometimes, I'd imagine:
What if I had stuck it out, like the hyungs who finally found their moment and shone? Could I have made the music I wanted and lived the life I desired there?
That couldn't be true.
He'd never had the chance to work with G1, so he wouldn't have received any criticism. Even if he had, he wouldn't have cut ties with his hyungs due to misunderstandings and manipulation, and he'd never have felt the need to completely overhaul his rap style out of spite.
He would have lived his entire life as a frog in a well, content to be the tail of a dragon, never realizing his own potential.
I used to think I'd only walked down paths leading to the worst possible outcomes. But looking back now, I realize not every path I took was a dead end.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the practice room mirror when Seo Yehyeon suddenly thanked me.
"Hey, Yoon Eden. Thanks."
"For what? For comforting you?"
"No. Because of you, I'm starting to feel less pathetic about why I chose this path."
I frowned and glanced sideways. Seo Yehyeon's eyes clearly conveyed the sentiment, "At least I'm better than him." I sighed deeply.
"Can't we just... be warm and fuzzy until the end?"
Seo Yehyeon and I were destined to clash. With our personalities so fundamentally opposite, it would have been stranger if we didn't butt heads.
Seo Yehyeon shrugged and stood up. I rose from my seat as well, stepping beside him.
"Put on some music. I'll watch from the side and give you feedback."
"Do you pay me 100,000 won for every rude remark?"
"How long are you going to keep milking me for money?"
"If you stopped being so rude, you wouldn't have to pay me anything. Seriously, telling us to learn from kids preparing for a kindergarten talent show was way too harsh."
I moved my body lightly to the rhythm of the music playing.
Watching Seo Yehyeon's dance moves in the mirror, which were noticeably better than before, I let out a sigh of relief.
At least I won't get fleeced for more than 100,000 won today. Thank goodness.
In the dimly lit room, illuminated only by a single desk lamp, Kim Dobin leaned into the camera perched on his cluttered desk, pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses as he whispered, "Hello, everyone. This is Dobin."
On the desk sat two 500ml bottles of mineral water and a pile of white powder.
If Yoon Eden were to describe it, Kim Dobin's expression as he prepared this utterly pointless task was needlessly solemn.
"Did you know that mixing salt, sugar, and water creates an electrolyte drink?"
Carefully pouring the powder from the paper into each bottle, Kim Dobin gripped the bottles in both hands and shook them vigorously.
"Electrolyte drinks are supposed to replenish the fluids and electrolytes lost through sweat. So tomorrow, I'm making two bottles to bring to the practice room. Only the lucky ones will get to drink them."
After shaking the water bottle vigorously for a while, Kim Dobin tilted his head, noticing the undissolved powder still settled at the bottom.
"Why isn't it dissolving? Should I microwave it?"
As Kim Dobin pondered this seriously, the door burst open behind him.
Startled, Kim Dobin reflexively slammed the water bottle down on the desk.
Ryu Jaehee entered the room, shaking his wet hair with a towel, and immediately reached for the water bottle.
"Whoa, perfect timing! I'm so thirsty."
"Hey, no! You can't drink that yet!"
The struggle between the one trying to snatch it and the one determined to keep it ended abruptly with a sharp clap from behind.
"Guys, it's midnight—midnight! Is it okay to be making so much noise when the hyungs are trying to sleep?"
Yoon Eden, his face etched with exhaustion, leaned against the doorframe and let out a sigh-laden grumble.
Spotting the bottled water in Kim Dobin's hand, Yoon Eden added, "Put that in the fridge. I told you to drink the 1-liter bottles in the dorm since I need the 500ml ones for the practice room."
"Yes, Hyung. I'll put it away right now."
As Yoon Eden retreated to his room, Kim Dobin exhaled in relief and resumed shaking the water bottle vigorously.
"Hyung, what did you put in the water?"
"Can't you tell by how I'm shaking it?"
"What is it? It's completely clear!"
After confirming that all the powder had dissolved, Kim Dobin shook the seemingly clear water with a mischievous grin.
"Find out tomorrow. If you're lucky, you might get to drink this."
"You mean 'unlucky'?"
"Did we really have to do this...?" Seo Yehyeon asked, loosening the cashmere scarf I'd given him for Christmas. His face looked utterly exhausted.
The combination of comfortable sweatpants, a long padded jacket, and a cashmere scarf was clearly mismatched. But as the saying goes, "fashion is all about the face." Since the wearer was Seo Yehyeon, it actually looked quite good.
To be honest, it wasn't so much that it looked good, but rather that the irony of the fashion was overshadowed by his striking features.
At his words, Gyeon Hajun, holding a tumbler, gave an awkward smile. This was a tumbler shop, after all, so there was no risk of a fashion disaster here.
Kim Dobin, smirking smugly, tucked his card wallet into his back pocket, while Ryu Jaehee nodded his head rhythmically, earbuds plugged into his ears.
So, the biggest victim here was me.
Piercings and snapbacks—a style completely at odds with my preferences—and an anion bracelet with zero health benefits.
"...Damn it. I feel like I've become the worst-dressed person on the red carpet."
I flipped the snapback around, pushed my bangs aside, and readjusted it with a grumble.
This was all Ryu Jaehee's fault and his damn suggestion.
Kim Dobin had been packing the camera to film our practice session in the practice room.
And I should have stopped Ryu Jaehee, who was stubbornly insisting we make it a mission to wear all the Christmas gifts we'd received for a day.
"But if I didn't do this, Eden Hyung would never wear my gift. I know he wants to cherish the gift from his cute and adorable youngest member, but gifts are meant to be worn to truly come alive."
"Doesn't it give you hives to call yourself 'cute and adorable'?"
And I don't particularly want to cherish it, you little shit. It's just not my style.
The gaudy snapback, with its clashing primary colors and a giant yellow smiley face plastered on the front, was bad enough.
But the long, dangling cross piercing was even worse. Every step I took, the chain and cross clanked together, driving me insane.
For someone like me who only wore snug-fitting piercings to avoid anything dangling, this piercing was pure torture.
Of course, he had to buy something like this.
As soon as we arrived at the practice room, Seo Yehyeon took off his padded jacket and tugged at his scarf, then paused and asked, "I don't have to wear this while practicing, do I...?"
"You can take it off during practice. But there's a condition! You have to wear it during breaks!"
At that, Ryu Jaehee immediately started to remove his snapback, but Jaehee stopped him.
"Are you discriminating against people? Why are you telling some to take things off and others to keep them on?"
"Hyung, you practice fine with your snapback on all the time. I told Yehyeon Hyung to take off his scarf because he gets sweaty and hot."
"Hey, my head gets hot too!"
"Hyung, are you upset because you don't like the gift...?"
If I say yes here, how many points will my Original Intent Score drop?
Having to consider my Original Intent Score with every word I speak... Ah, how I miss the old days.
"Of course not. How could I not like a gift from our youngest member?"
I adjusted my snapback forward as I replied.
Kim Dobin, who had just set down eight bottles of bottled water in the corner of the Practice Room, grinned like some petty villain.
What exactly is he plotting? Did he spike the water with vinegar or something? But I can't just not drink it—there's no convenience store nearby.
Judging by how he kept pestering me to bring the camera and film, he's definitely up to something pointless.
"Just try mixing something I can't drink into the water. I'll take a taxi to buy bottled water myself."
During intense dance practice, the members began to show signs of fatigue, so he called for a ten-minute break.
And then...
"Ugh! What is this?! Hey, Kim Dobin!"
"Could it be because of this?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
"Hey, what do we have to lose? Just take it out once."
"Wait, is it really because of this?"
"Whoa, what's going on? Hyung, can I try it too?"
"Dobin Hyung and Eden Hyung didn't plan this together, did they?"
"I'm starting to get a little scared now..."
The terrifying incident in the practice room was captured on camera and aired unedited on the reality show.
For more details, check out the My Idol Cam!
📝 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