Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Even Just Once Would Be Nice
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“Doesn’t catch my eye.”
I shook my head in denial.
“It catches Ki Jaeyun’s eye.”
The guy immediately shouted loudly.
“Right? I stand out in your eyes, don’t I? Hajin hyung. See? It’s not Cha Dowon.”
“You stand out relatively because you’re the least impressive.”
“Gah!”
With that dying cry, Ki Jaeyun collapsed into his seat. Yoo Hajin laughed good-naturedly and comforted him.
“Wow, as expected of Dowon. You said what I couldn’t bring myself to...”
“R-Really? My mom said I’m the best-looking in Zenith.”
“That’s because she’s your mom.”
Ki Jaeyun’s consultation was wrapping up. I closed the script I’d finished reading. The thunderbolt-like guy grabbed my arm tightly.
“I know what you need.”
“What? Plastic surgery? Not just the nose—somewhere else too? Eyes? My eyes are fine, though.”
“An objective perspective.”
I was speaking to Ki Jaeyun, but I felt multiple gazes on me. Especially the two from Sweet Kiss, who stared openly.
“First, look from a distance. Don’t just believe your mom.”
The leader chimed in right away.
“Yeah.”
“And stop whining about having no fans. Be grateful to the ones who chose you over us.”
Ki Jaeyun’s eyes wavered. Strangely, the two from Sweet Kiss looked the same.
‘What the heck.’
They say if you aim right, even a frog gets hit. This wasn’t meant for you. It was for this guy.
I clarified immediately.
“This is for him. Your situations are different, sunbaenims.”
At those words, the member named Hana bit her lip hard. I let out a sigh.
‘My mistake.’
I approached her right away and apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. It wasn’t for me anyway.”
Her voice was thick with tears. This won’t do.
I turned to the choreographer.
“I’ll take a five-minute break with her. Sorry, I’ll be right back.”
The choreographer approved immediately.
“Huh? Yeah. Sure. Comfort her well.”
“Let’s step out for a bit.”
I wasn’t planning to take no for an answer. But Hana followed me obediently. I went to the vending machine area and got a cool ion drink.
Clunk—
She took the can right away. She checked the calories first.
“Good. You got the zero-calorie one.”
“This machine only has zero-calorie drinks anyway.”
Choreographers, singers, trainees—they all only got zero-calorie ones.
“Y-Yeah.”
Hana sat in a chair and stretched out her legs.
“Sorry. I know it wasn’t for me, but I overreacted. I’ve been really sensitive lately from all the stress.”
She did look it.
“Drink some cold water and calm down. Thanks for this!”
She tried to open the can briskly, but her hand slipped. No helping it. I took the can, opened it, and handed it back.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“You seem used to it. You must be popular with girls.”
I shook my head.
“No idea. Popularity doesn’t really matter to me. Well, most fans are girls, so maybe it does.”
Hana gulped down the drink, looking impatient.
“Ahh, I want to be popular.”
She murmured like a sigh.
“I get it. Without Bitna, we’d all flop, and it’s true we’ve climbed this far because of her. Still, it’s tough.”
I nodded readily.
‘Doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem.’
Could something like this happen to us?
I glanced around at Zenith. We were still early on, so member popularity wasn’t seriously imbalanced yet. Everyone had their own schedules and was busy.
‘Except for Ki Jaeyun, it’s decent.’
I’d shot ahead, but Kang Minje was keeping up well after me. Plus, Hajin hyung was getting a lot of variety show offers.
‘I never even thought about popularity imbalance...’
Some gap is inevitable, but too big a difference isn’t good.
No need to look far. Pre-regression Zenith was like that.
‘Kang Minje was the only standout.’
Partly because that fox kid did whatever he wanted, but the rest of us were pathetically buried.
‘Can’t prevent it in advance?’
Should I boost Ki Jaeyun’s popularity?
I rested my chin and pondered.
‘It’s not as easy as it sounds...’
I barely held back a sigh. The Sweet Kiss member beside me was still down.
“Even just once would be nice.”
She whispered in a trembling voice.
“I hope an opportunity comes. A chance for the public to see me anew.”
Oh dear.
I stared straight at the Sweet Kiss member.
“What would you do if the opportunity comes?”
“O-Of course I’d grab it! With everything I’ve got!”
I smiled brightly.
“I see.”
“Ah, we’ve been out too long. Let’s go back. I need to pull myself together!”
Hana clenched and unclenched her fist. Then she tossed the empty can and dashed back to the practice room.
I stretched out my legs and watched her back.
‘Complicated.’
There wasn’t much I could do right now anyway.
She was just a collab partner for this once, unlike Yumi who helped with early recognition or Teacher Yoon Mihyeon with her solid film connections.
I stood up. As Hana said, it was time to practice.
***
“Big trouble. Attention!”
We were deep in practice when the manager yelled. I wiped my sweat and looked at him.
“Our collab got switched to pre-recording!”
My brow furrowed immediately.
“Why?”
“You know the group VIP? They’re coming specially from Japan. They need 15 minutes on stage, so they cut from the bottom up.”
Damn.
Ki Jaeyun pouted and asked.
“We’re at the bottom? We got first place too.”
“We’re rookies, and Sweet Kiss is...”
The manager glanced at Sweet Kiss and shut his mouth. Yeah, hard to say outright they’re unpopular.
“What’s crazier is the pre-recording is in four days.”
Oh no.
I quietly recalled my schedule. What was it again?
‘Empty because of the press conference.’
Good for fitting it in, but this kind of sudden free time wasn’t ideal.
“Dowon’s schedule is free, so we’re okay. Minje, you good?”
Kang Minje nodded readily.
“But recording will be tight. I’ll book the studio.”
“Yeah. Arrangements?”
“Right after practice.”
“Good. So Zenith is fine, but...”
The manager turned his head slightly. The two from Sweet Kiss hurriedly asked their manager.
“Four days means Bitna can’t make it!”
“Yeah? She’s in the final stretch of her drama. Plus, it’s side-scripted, so no real schedule—just constant standby.”
“Then what about our collab stage?”
“Guys, hold on. I’ll call the team leader first.”
The Sweet Kiss manager rushed to make a call somewhere.
Watching their commotion, I rolled my shoulders.
‘The most popular member Bitna can’t perform?’
Drama finale, side scripts—no way she can make time.
‘Huh, in that case?’
I quietly turned to Hana. The flop member of Sweet Kiss was biting her lip, fists clenched.
‘If it goes well, she gets all the parts?’
Zenith has five, Sweet Kiss girls two.
‘They’ll probably get a one-shot, right?’
I shook my head. We didn’t know Bitna’s schedule for sure—better not jump to conclusions.
The Sweet Kiss manager hung up and yelled.
“Guys! No way to free Bitna’s schedule! You two will have to do it.”
Oh.
‘Perfect.’
I quietly looked at Hana. She clenched her fists, lips trembling slightly. But her eyes sparkled unusually.
‘She’s looking forward to it.’
Because it’s the opportunity she wanted so badly?
I looked away from Hana and stretched again. If their parts changed, our choreography needed full revision too.
Sure enough, Hana yelled right away.
“Choreographer! We need to adjust our positions again. Bitna can’t come!”
“Oh my god!”
The choreographer pretended to collapse sideways. But with pre-recording in four days, no time for antics.
“So, what now?”
“Guys follow the guide, and we’ll take Bitna’s parts.”
“Where exactly? No. First, Ze, Ze, Zenith! Cha Dowon!”
I turned and answered.
“Yes.”
“Reset to the choreography guide. Only you in Zenith changes.”
No big deal.
“I’ll memorize it again, sure.”
“Practice with the tablet first. I’ll check later.”
“Yes.”
I looked around for the tablet PC. Kang Minje handed it over like he’d been waiting.
“Our Dowon will have a headache re-memorizing choreography.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I’ve got the knack now.”
Maybe because cheat-enhanced eyesight, memory, and multitasking? Memorizing one choreo was a piece of cake.
‘Plus, it’s the one I memorized first, so easy.’
I focused quietly on the tablet PC. While staring intently, Kang Minje suddenly threw an arm around my shoulder and whispered.
“What’d you two do?”
Subject unclear.
“Two? Oh, Sweet Kiss?”
“Yeah. You went out.”
“Bought her a drink.”
“That’s it?”
Damn, prying like that.
“No scandals, Dowon.”
I chuckled. How long since the press conference? Another scandal? Even I didn’t want trouble there.
‘Not every scandal needs a press conference, though.’
Nothing happened anyway.
I looked up from the tablet PC.
“Minje hyung.”
He smiled slyly like a fox.
“Yeah? What?”
“Don’t you trust me?”
Kang Minje blinked, a bit flustered. I smiled brightly.
“Huh?”
“If you don’t trust me, fine.”
“What?”
The fox kid was speechless. Then Hajin hyung spoke from above.
“Minje, you don’t know Dowon? Would he do that?”
Oh. Trusted by the leader.
“Well, just in case.”
“Worrying about nonsense. Why would that thorough guy cause a scandal? He’d lose fans.”
Not muscle loss, fan loss? No, every single fan is precious...
Kang Minje shook his head.
“You don’t know, Hajin. Dowon seems like this, but he’s sentimental. Takes good care of anyone sneakily.”
What?
I stared at Kang Minje.
‘You think that makes sense?’
Flustered, Hajin hyung just blinked. Ki Jaeyun choked on water and coughed wildly.
Cough cough—
A weird silence hung in the practice room.
Damn.
I sighed and said.
“I’m not heartless. Just not overly so.”
The leader nodded frantically.
“Y-Yeah! Right, right! Jaeyun! You agree, right?”
“No. Heart? Rare to find someone as rude as trash like him.”
Oh.
I smiled brightly at Ki Jaeyun. Feeling comfy lately, huh? Should I show you real rudeness?
Just as I was about to retort, Yoo Hajin, reading the room, hurriedly dragged Ki Jaeyun away.
“Aigoo, our Jaeyun. Wanna get a drink with hyung?”
Yoo Hajin half-carried him out of the practice room. Oh dear. I quietly shook my head.