Chapter 142: Youth Never Fails (1)
142. Youth Never Fails (1)
No matter what happened beneath the stage, or what was currently unfolding.
At least while on stage, you had to forget it all.
Hajin agreed with that sentiment—not because he was some idol with impeccable professionalism ingrained in his mindset.
It was simply something you learned while navigating society. That's just how the world worked.
Even if you'd broken up with your lover yesterday, you still had to show up for work today.
Even if you felt like you were dying from illness, clients wouldn't cut you any slack.
Even as each passing day left you more exhausted from barely scraping by,
that was no excuse to treat customers with indifference.
That's why Hajin smiled as he stepped onto the stage, carrying all his complicated emotions.
He smiled as brightly and cheerfully as he possibly could at that moment.
Because among the crowd gathered here, there were undoubtedly those who had traveled far solely to wish for his happiness with nothing but pure, genuine hearts.
"Yes! The 'Youth Never Fails' team has successfully passed their team mission of perfect pitch recognition, so today you've earned the ultimate core item—'band instruments'! Congratulations!"
Hajin's team, 'Youth Never Fails' (named by Gong Seok), had a team mission where they had to rapidly speak words with emphasized accents on each syllable. The mission word was the tongue-twisting "DestiNestiMaiStyOlMaiTy," nearly causing a mental breakdown, but they pulled through somehow.
"...We almost ended up having a band performance without actual instruments."
"At this rate, if we don't secure the microphone stands, that'll be a whole other problem."
"We absolutely have to get the stage LEDs too."
"I wonder what the individual missions will be...? I hope they're not too difficult..."
The items at stake for Youth Never Fails' mission were instruments, microphone stands, and stage LEDs.
They'd already secured the most crucial item—the instruments. Now, if they could just pass their individual missions, they'd be able to put on a flawless performance. Since only a majority needed to succeed, they effectively had two chances out of four.
"Alright then, who wants to attempt the first Desty Mission?"
At MC Yeonwoo's question, Haru and Seok's gazes naturally turned to Hajin. Probably because Hajin had good variety sense and usually stepped up first in these situations.
Even Hajin himself thought that under normal circumstances, he would've volunteered to boost morale. But...
"......"
He was trying hard not to show it, but Hajin couldn't focus properly on anything right now. As the sun gradually set, the plaza lights brightened intensely, making the faces of the audience filling the square clearly visible from the stage.
Placards with Hajin's name and Desty members holding up phone LEDs were scattered throughout the crowd. Each time he spotted one, his emotions grew more tangled. He didn't want to dwell on it, but it wasn't easy to ignore.
But that was one thing, and this was another.
Just as Hajin took a short breath to steady himself and opened his mouth to volunteer—
"I'll give it a try!"
"Oh, Trainee Dan Haru! The maknae's boldness as expected?"
"Yes! I'll definitely—I'll win those microphone stands for my hyungs!"
With unshakable determination that even if he couldn't pluck stars from the sky, he'd at least secure those microphone stands, Haru enthusiastically raised his hand.
Before Hajin could even react, Haru had already stepped forward as center. While Choi Yeonwoo briefly interviewed Haru, Siwoo subtly moved next to Hajin and gave him a light thump on the back as if telling him to snap out of it.
"Alright, Trainee Dan Haru's Desty Mission is!"
"Ugh... Please let it be something easy..."
"It's the 'Trainee Trivia Quiz'!"
"......?"
"Trainee Dan Haru, Miro Maze's maknae nicknamed 'Hyung Collector'—this mission tests how well you know the hyungs you adore so much. There are three questions total. You must answer all three correctly to pass."
Haru nodded solemnly with a tense expression.
Hajin found himself chuckling despite himself—even if Haru failed, they still had three more attempts left. Why was he acting so grave about it?
"Here's the first question! In Episode 1 of Miro Maze, which drama did Trainee Gong Seok and Trainee Park Jaeyoung reenact together to escape the maze?"
"Ah! Correct! Shoot for the Moon!"
"What was the iconic line from Shoot for the Moon?"
"There's only one drink in this world that can intoxicate me... It's your lips...☆"
"AAAH...! Stop...! Make it stop...!"
Though it was Haru delivering the famous line, Gong Seok behind him was the one suffering from secondhand embarrassment.
Whether Siwoo was patting Gong Seok's back in sympathy or not, Haru proudly celebrated having aced the first question in seconds.
Haru then breezed through the second question—"What song did Jung Siwoo sing during his Miro audition?" Choi Yeonwoo playfully requested a verse, and Siwoo, never one to miss a note, treated everyone to a sweet a cappella performance on the spot.
Finally, the last question arrived.
"Get this right, and you'll have 50% of the Desty Mission completed. Here's your final question."
"......"
"Trainee Kang Hajin's favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate. True or False?"
Hajin looked up, startled by this unexpected personal trivia.
Alongside the perennial perilla leaf debate, 'mint chocolate' had now become Miro's official controversial topic, eliciting murmurs from the audience.
Haru rested his chin on his hand like a detective deep in thought before shaking his head firmly.
"False. He likes mint chocolate, but it's not his favorite."
"Do you know what his actual favorite is then?"
"Hyung has different favorite ice cream brands for each flavor! But mint chocolate isn't his top pick!"
"Are you certain?"
"Absolutely!"
"Then do you know which is his favorite among the 31-flavor ice creams?"
Perhaps the production team had signaled to stall for time, as Choi Yeonwoo kept pressing with follow-up questions instead of revealing the answer. Haru maintained his serious expression, pondering carefully before responding.
"Hmm... He usually has a few regular flavors. Recently, he's been having Rainbow Sherbet a lot!"
"Rainbow Sherbet...?"
At the mention of another polarizing flavor like mint chocolate, even the ever-composed Jung Siwoo turned to give Hajin a shocked look.
Hajin, who'd been listening impassively, casually retorted upon seeing Siwoo's reaction.
"What? You're the one who eats Bibing."
"What's wrong with Bibing?"
"You eat BamBam too."
"......"
"And Fish Bread cones."
Basically meaning their tastes were equally questionable, so they shouldn't throw stones.
Understanding Hajin's truce gesture, Siwoo quietly closed his mouth and turned his attention back to Haru.
Hajin decided not to reveal that he actually liked X-Bibing, BaXba, and Fish X Bread cones too.
"Yes! Correct! Trainee Dan Haru, Desty Mission success!"
"WAAAH! Hyungs!! I did it!!!"
"Yeah, our brave little bunny did well."
"Huh? What brave?"
"Uh, just saying you did great. Now we just need one more success."
Hajin patted Haru as the younger bounced back to his hyungs' embrace.
Wait, did I ever tell him about having different favorite ice creams by brand?
He pushed aside the sudden question bubbling up in his mind.
The Youth Never Fails team managed to acquire all items after Gong Seok consecutively succeeded in his 'guess the song from lyrics' mission.
As instruments and equipment were set up on stage, excited cheers erupted among the Desty members. When Hajin—not Siwoo—took the seat at the keyboard (prompting groans from various audience members since they'd stepped on stage), the cheers doubled in volume.
"Alright, while the hyungs check their instruments, let's have our Haru do a quick interview with me."
"Ah, yes! I'll give it my best."
With the team members occupied tuning their instruments, Choi Yeonwoo naturally pulled Haru, who'd been standing quietly to the side, into the center.
Haru's fans holding up support cards let out small gasps of delight. Haru grinned at them, waving his small, pale hand in greeting.
"Our Youth Never Fails team—what song have you prepared today?"
"We've created a mashup of 'Where Am I' with another song. As for what that other song is... Hyung Siwoo will explain."
As if requesting a principal's address, Haru pointed behind him at Jung Siwoo, who was carefully checking his guitar tuning. Siwoo gave a small "Ah," before picking up the mic from his stand to answer.
"Well... the other song doesn't have an official title yet. Maybe our Desty members can suggest names after hearing it today."
"Does that mean it's Trainee Jung Siwoo's original composition?"
"No, it's a song my father wrote."
The cheers that had risen at "original composition" grew even louder at "father's song." Siwoo's fans were practically stomping their feet—another layer added to his 'Miro's Noble Son' and 'Classical Prince' image.
"Wow, a song by your father. That's amazing. But Trainee Dan Haru—all the other hyungs seem to have instruments. Don't you have one to play today?"
"Ah, no! I have one too! My instrument!"
At Yeonwoo's question, Haru's eyes sparkled as he turned to proudly retrieve his secret weapon from the floor—a yellow instrument covered in cute stickers.
"A xylophone?"
"Yes! A xylophone!"
The adorably unexpected choice made Yeonwoo laugh in surprise.
"I'm curious why you chose the xylophone out of all instruments."
"Well... my hyungs taught me so many instruments. But during final arrangements, we thought xylophone would sound pretty, so I took charge of it."
"What other instruments did you learn?"
"Recorder, drums, acoustic guitar—Siwoo hyung taught me some—and uh... caba? Caho?"
"Cajón?"
"Ah, yes. That too. It was super hard."
"Percussion instruments are tough for beginners."
Yeonwoo nodded understandingly, likely assuming Haru had tried several instruments before settling on the easier xylophone. The audience seemed to agree, as coos of "Haru's so cute" started spreading.
Watching all this while lightly warming up at the piano, Kang Hajin thought:
'If they broadcast our practice footage, everyone will lose their minds.'
Haru had mastered every instrument the hyungs taught him over just a few days at an astonishing pace.
Piano, acoustic guitar, recorder went without saying. He'd also quickly picked up rhythm instruments like drums, cajón, djembe, and even mimicked violin and bass guitar decently.
Haru playing xylophone today wasn't because he couldn't handle other instruments—it was simply because the arrangement needed xylophone.
'That's what makes me more certain he's the Regressor.'
Hajin recalled what Sipsam had mentioned about the Regressor's past records—that they'd "learned instruments before." Though no regression memories remained, some experience seemed to carry over...
If Haru was the Regressor, his rapid mastery of instruments could very well be due to that.
"Alright. Let's get ready for the—"
"Ah, excuse me. Can I say one more thing?"
Just as Yeonwoo was about to wrap up, Haru stopped him after confirming stage preparations were nearly complete. Yeonwoo checked the prompter's timer before nodding permission.
Haru then gripped the mic with both hands and spoke softly:
"Before we perform... there's something I really want to tell my hyungs."
...To us?
From their respective positions adjusting instruments, all team members simultaneously looked up at their bold, spirited maknae's back.