Conditions for Becoming a Kind Idol Leader — Chapter 68
Son Jeong-hoon hated Go Young-in.
Unlike the other trainees, Son Jeong-hoon had an advantage from the start: his agency’s CEO was family, which made it easy for him to slip into the debut lineup.
His debut was already all but guaranteed. He didn’t go around saying it outright, but he didn’t bother hiding it, either.
From the beginning, Son Jeong-hoon had no intention of succeeding as an idol group member.
Just as some groups collapse and leave behind one or two survivors, he planned to rise on his own within the group and then switch over to acting.
Idol phase was nothing more than a stepping-stone on the way to becoming actor Son Jeong-hoon.
The debut lineup had been assembled for exactly that purpose. Later, all he’d have to do was grab anyone, stir up a bit of controversy, let the group fall apart, and take a little time off. For that reason, he had deliberately gathered mostly people with middling skills or the sort who looked like trouble waiting to happen. He wanted himself to be the only one who could shine inside the group.
In the future, if he showed up on some broadcast, shed a few tears, and talked about how hard he’d worked, sympathy would come pouring in. Idol fans, especially, were fiercely loyal. As long as he didn’t expose any obvious flaws in public, they’d be more useful to him than anyone else.
Son Jeong-hoon had become a trainee only so he could exploit that.
The people around him thought he was impressive, or asked whether he knew any celebrities, their curiosity and goodwill both plain to see.
At that age, it was exactly the sort of thing people wanted to talk about, so there was never a shortage of people hovering around him.
It wasn’t even a completely wrong assumption that he’d become a celebrity, and there was no harm in managing his image carefully before debut, so he played along just enough.
And he enjoyed the looks people gave him—envy, admiration, curiosity.
It was the same after he entered high school. He met Go Young-in for the first time after they became classmates.
There were still plenty of people clinging to him. He understood the attention, but he no longer wanted to waste energy on small fry.
Son Jeong-hoon was looking for someone who wouldn’t embarrass him to be seen with.
It was humiliating to hang around with people who were obviously beneath him or of a lower caliber.
If they looked decent enough, that was fine. It would be enough to use them later as a bit of good PR after he debuted.
No matter how ordinary a friend might be, it was still a problem if showing them off felt embarrassing.
And that was how he ended up with Kyeon In-woo and Go Young-in.
He had approached them with that in mind, only to hear something unexpected from Kyeon In-woo.
“You too? Damn, that’s fucking weird. He’s a trainee too. Right, Go Young? Say something.”
Son Jeong-hoon thought it was rather surprising.
What were the odds that a general-education high school class would have two trainees in it, and not even at an arts school?
He doesn’t look like anything special at all... Was he picked just for his face? Whatever. Skills are what matter.
Silently cursing him in his head, he waited to see what Go Young-in would say.
Kyeon In-woo nudged the quietly sitting Go Young-in, urging him to answer.
And yet Go Young-in didn’t really react. Instead, he only gave a faint, barely there smile and nodded absentmindedly.
The way Go Young-in answered without even looking at him felt like pure dismissal. He didn’t seem to have even the slightest curiosity about Son Jeong-hoon.
That annoyed him. It got under his skin.
What an arrogant bastard.
Son Jeong-hoon, who had spent his life basking in his own brilliance, felt a subtle wound to his pride. He wanted to make Go Young-in pay back the shame he felt, and then some.
So he poked at him. At first, it was just a joke.
As always with people he didn’t like, he treated Go Young-in the same way.
He would prod at his pride, scratch at him a little, and if he got angry, he’d turn around and make him out to be the weird one for being so sensitive, then have a little fun at his expense.
Since they were the only idol trainees in the school, there was plenty to talk about.
No matter how much he casually started trouble, Go Young-in stayed obedient. After only a little interaction, it was easy to see he was the type to yield.
Which meant his skills would probably be mediocre, too.
Just as he was about to conclude that, when he eventually watched a training video he’d managed to get his hands on, his opinion changed.
It had been a year-end evaluation video obtained through a trainee acquaintance from the same agency as Go Young-in.
Son Jeong-hoon had his own pride in his abilities. Compared with his peers, he was actually decent.
He didn’t think he would fall short, even if he didn’t know Go Young-in’s exact level.
At the same time, there was a part of him that believed Go Young-in was probably just riding on his decent looks and acting important because he was a trainee.
But the Go Young-in in that video was outstanding, impossible to ignore, and shining in a way that made the screen seem brighter.
His skill, his expression, his performance—there was no excess, no flaw, nothing to complain about, and even the smallest gesture caught the eye. He looked so polished it was hard to believe he still hadn’t debuted.
Son Jeong-hoon felt a deep sense of defeat, but he didn’t want to admit it.
The genius of a same-aged peer he had privately dismissed as easy prey shook him more than he was willing to acknowledge.
He hated admitting that he was jealous. He couldn’t bring himself to accept that someone he’d thought was utterly unremarkable and easy to handle was better than him.
So how much did he laugh at me in his head all that time? He must’ve looked down on me, thinking I was some half-assed nobody acting like he knew things. He knew everything and still pretended not to? Acting all smug and annoying this whole time?
Those negative feelings didn’t pass. They began to gather inside Son Jeong-hoon, layer by layer.
Sometimes it was rage, sometimes jealousy, sometimes inferiority, and sometimes a thin, bitter sense of betrayal.
It was all unfair. It felt like Go Young-in was just strutting around because he’d happened to be born with good genes.
“Go Young-in, I happened to see one of your practice videos.”
Go Young-in didn’t answer. He only looked at Son Jeong-hoon blankly.
Consumed by jealousy, Son Jeong-hoon felt as if Go Young-in were staring at him the way one might stare at a bug.
“It’s good and all, but there are a few things that bug me. Look here. When you watch, your breathing changes here, and usually that kind of thing...”
He just wanted to put him down a little, enough to make him feel the same way.
He spoke without thinking, hoping Go Young-in would feel as miserable as he did.
He hadn’t expected some grand reaction. It would probably be the same boring response as always.
At most, he’d probably just give that laugh that didn’t even really sound like a laugh.
But then Go Young-in showed a new reaction for the first time.
The Go Young-in who had been listening quietly without interrupting him let out a soft sigh and wore a troubled expression.
“Ah… so I’m still lacking. I can’t do that.”
It was the first time he’d seen Go Young-in look this drained and worried. Maybe it was an illusion, but he almost seemed uneasy.
Son Jeong-hoon, after saying all that, was so dumbfounded he couldn’t answer right away.
“Well… yeah. I guess you still need more practice.”
Is he an idiot?
He felt irritated, and beneath that, a little mocking self-loathing. If he knew all that and was still pretending otherwise, he should at least do it properly. His mood sank like a stone.
By then, he was so annoyed that the polished image he’d been trying to maintain was practically gone, and his words had turned openly antagonistic.
“That’s the kind of thing anybody can do. If you want to debut, you need your own hook. You know people’s standards are higher these days—you can’t get by on face alone. Hmm, actually, to be honest, even your face isn’t really the kind of face people want these days.”
And yet Go Young-in still didn’t seem offended. Instead, he listened seriously, thought about it for a moment, and even nodded.
He looked almost as if he were agreeing with him.
Agreeing…?
At that moment, Son Jeong-hoon had a realization.
He watched Go Young-in’s reaction closely and spoke again.
“We’re friends, so it’s fine for me to say this much, right? Don’t they say the closer you are, the more honest you should be when you tell a friend what’s not working?”
“Yeah. Thanks for the advice. But the company says it’s fine,”
“No, it isn’t. If it were, they would’ve put you in the debut lineup already. Think about it, Go Young-in. In the end, results show skill, and... you still haven’t gotten into the debut lineup, have you?”
The mention of the debut lineup made Go Young-in unusually sensitive. He seemed indifferent to everything else, but the moment that subject came up, his reaction changed at once. Son Jeong-hoon already knew he desperately wanted to debut as an idol.
Sure enough, the eyes that had been trying to make some kind of objective assessment began to tremble faintly.
“...Was I lacking in practice?”
“You know as well as I do, I’m in the debut lineup. You’re not. I’m not trying to brag, but I’ve gotten a lot of advice from seniors who debuted before me.”
“……”
“Could it be—”
“I’m not offended.”
Go Young-in answered immediately, as if he had already guessed that Son Jeong-hoon would ask that.
Shaking his head, Go Young-in gave a blurry smile.
“If it’s not this time, then when exactly…”
His low mutter was weak and tired.
Son Jeong-hoon studied Go Young-in’s face obsessively.
Once he started seeing it, it was easier to tell than he’d expected. The changes in his expression were still slight, but if you looked closely, the atmosphere around him was a little different from usual.
Son Jeong-hoon exhaled slowly, then put on a friendly smile.
“Can’t be helped, Go Young-in. I’ll help you practice. That’s what friends are for.”
As expected, Go Young-in didn’t refuse.
He didn’t get irritated no matter how rude the words or actions were, as long as Son Jeong-hoon framed them as “sincere advice because I’m worried about you.”
Instead, he only let himself be led along, like someone who was used to that kind of treatment.
He was so obedient it was almost unbelievable. Had something like this happened before?
Either way, it wasn’t Son Jeong-hoon’s problem. How stupid.
At school, Go Young-in was usually quiet.
To him, it looked as if Go Young-in wanted to get through school life without leaving any trace of himself behind. He didn’t want to admit it, but that was an almost impossible thing to do.
Even when he kept to himself, Go Young-in still stood out.
There were plenty of students who secretly wanted to get closer to him. They simply couldn’t get near him easily because he never gave them the chance to speak.
Even that made him irritating.
That was the problem with Go Young-in. He always drew lines as if he didn’t know, as if he weren’t doing it on purpose, acting as though he was different from everyone else. At least, that was how Son Jeong-hoon saw it.
He was certain there were others besides himself who found that attitude obnoxious.
And Son Jeong-hoon’s certainty was right.
After that, it became easy. He didn’t even need to do anything directly. If he tried to use his own hands, it would only hurt him in the long run.
He only had to drop a few subtly negative hints to the other classmates, and most of them would twist and inflate the story however they liked.
As it happened, Go Young-in hardly had anyone close to him in the class.
With just a few words, Go Young-in was isolated almost overnight.
Even the ones who had once approached him saying they wanted to be friends could no longer come close so easily once the few groups that already disliked Go Young-in took the lead.
“Hey, Young-in. Fuck, do my words sound that shitty to you? We’re trying to be friends, asshole. Just because you’re going to debut, does that mean you can look down on regular people like us?”
“Ohhh, right. It’s pretty damn hard to even hear your voice. I thought you had gold in your throat or something.”
The trouble that had started lightly at first only got harsher when no reaction came back.
The sound of feet kicking the desk legs and snickering laughter filled the classroom, but no one stopped it.
Everyone was too busy pretending not to enjoy putting down someone who seemed better than them. So they just watched.
“Hey.”
That is, except for Kyeon In-woo—if anyone in the class could be said to be Go Young-in’s friend, he was the only one.
“W-what.”
“Are you idiots?”
“...We’re just joking around.”
“Joking my ass. If the person getting fucked with isn’t having fun, it’s not a joke. And where the hell did you leave your apology?”
“Sorry.”
The same guys who had been hurling abuse at Go Young-in only moments ago tucked their tails and ran at a single word from Kyeon In-woo.
It was only because Kyeon In-woo was there that it stopped at that.
He got angry on Go Young-in’s behalf and pushed back when people picked fights. There wasn’t a single person in class who could beat Kyeon In-woo in build, strength, or temperament.
So whenever Kyeon In-woo was around, everyone at least knew enough to hold back.
Son Jeong-hoon usually stood by and watched, but the moment Kyeon In-woo stepped in, he’d casually drift over and say a few words as if he were comforting Go Young-in.
“Yeah. You guys went too far. Are you okay, Go Young-in?”
Whenever that happened, Go Young-in always gave the same answer.
“I’m fine.”
“……”
Son Jeong-hoon really hated that about him.