Chapter 89: Soccer is Played with Feet, Basketball with Hands (3)
89. Soccer is Played with Feet, Basketball with Hands (3)
Hajin finally regained his freedom when lunchtime rolled around.
Today's lunch wasn't boxed meals but a food cart—prepared personally by Nam Da-woon, today's special MC, who said he wanted to treat his juniors.
As Hajin piled his tray high with food (something he rarely got to enjoy even during his assistant director days), a thought crossed his mind.
'This is my only chance.'
His eyes gleamed like a hyena stalking prey in the jungle. His gaze landed on the Yellow Team members, divided into two groups as they ate.
The first group: Kim Won-ho and Lee Do-ha.
'Honestly, that side would be easier to approach...'
The problem was that the mission difficulty here was absurdly high.
Lunch break was only an hour—hardly enough time to build enough trust for a recruitment, let alone have a meaningful conversation.
Hajin turned his head slightly, checking the second group at the next table.
'Now that's an unexpected pairing.'
Seo Tae-hyun and Yu-geon.
He had assumed they were close since they were both from the special class, but...
They seemed even friendlier than he'd expected.
'Wait, isn't Yu-geon supposed to be the type who shuts the world out?'
He always seemed alone in the waiting room or practice studio, like some solitary lynx. But ever since the sports day started, Yu-geon had been chatting and joking around with Tae-hyun nonstop.
'Do-ha's always the same with everyone, and Won-ho and I got closer during Team A last time... But Tae-hyun being this close to him? That's unexpected.'
After some deliberation, Hajin's feet eventually carried him toward Tae-hyun and Yu-geon's table. Today, he needed to figure out just what kind of guy Yu-geon really was.
"Hyung, come sit. Either side's fine."
"Your table looks cramped. Mind if I join?"
"Yeah, I was gonna say that anyway."
Passing by Won-ho's table (which had no space left), Hajin pulled up a chair and settled in with Tae-hyun and Yu-geon.
When his eyes met Yu-geon's, Hajin flashed a small smile and casually tossed out a line.
"Damn, Yu-geon, you're really good at sports. Tae-hyun's been riding me all day, but thanks to you guys, I survived."
He shot Tae-hyun a subtle SOS look—Help me get closer to this kid.
Tae-hyun, who had been sipping his steaming soybean paste stew, noticed the glance. He cleared his throat, set his spoon down, and jumped in.
"This guy's good at anything physical. He can even breakdance."
"Wait, really? Yu-geon, you breakdance? That's insane."
Hajin tossed the compliment naturally. Yu-geon, who had been quietly chewing stir-fried fish cakes between them, blinked in surprise before nodding awkwardly at Hajin. Then he shot Tae-hyun a bewildered look.
"What's this?"
"What's what?"
"Why're you praising me all of a sudden when this hyung shows up?"
"What're you talking about?"
"You were just nagging me to 'do it properly' a second ago—OW!"
"Hey, just eat."
Tae-hyun mercilessly jabbed Yu-geon's side, cutting off his whining. Hajin barely hid his surprise at the scene.
'They're actually close?'
Tae-hyun was the type who became warmer and friendlier the more unfamiliar or difficult the person was.
Thanks to his childhood in the industry, he had a habit of being kind to strangers by default.
'But once he considers someone a friend, he drops the act.'
And here he was, playfully jabbing Yu-geon like it was nothing?
That meant Tae-hyun genuinely saw Yu-geon as close.
"Hyung, you saw that, right? Don't leave. If you go, this guy's gonna—OW!"
"Yu-geon, aren't you hungry? Just eat. Stop talking nonsense."
"Stop pinching me, seriously. It hurts."
Yu-geon even teased Hajin without hesitation.
'Wait, so he's not the socially awkward type?'
Hajin grew increasingly baffled by Yu-geon's unpredictable chemistry.
'Now that I think about it, he was the one who approached me first back then too.'
When he'd asked Hajin to pick his second mission song.
Hajin studied Yu-geon more closely. Thankfully, Tae-hyun and Yu-geon kept bickering on their own, making observation easy.
"Ugh, I'm getting up 'cause Tae-hyun's bullying is too much."
"Yeah, right. You're just going for seconds. Think I don't know?"
"Damn, caught. ...Want me to grab you anything? Hyung, you need something?"
"I'm good. Wow, stop pretending to be polite just 'cause hyung's here."
"I'm fine too."
Yu-geon stood, tray in hand.
At first glance, he seemed like an airheaded jokester, but that wasn't quite it.
The way he naturally checked if Tae-hyun and Hajin needed anything—that wasn't the habit of someone who'd only looked after others once or twice.
'Okay, now I'm really suspicious.'
That level of consideration wasn't something your average 19-year-old Korean high school boy had.
He wasn't socially inept, yet he'd kept his distance from other trainees. Then there was that comment about not debuting...
'Is this bastard really a regressor?'
Beep beep—a mental alarm blared in Hajin's head. One thing was clear: Yu-geon was shady.
As Yu-geon walked toward the food cart, Hajin scooted his chair closer to Tae-hyun and casually prodded.
"You two seem close. Always messing around."
"Ah, after Cha Min-seok left... he and I were the only same-age guys left in the special class."
Oh, great. This motherf—
The mood instantly sobered at the mention of the unofficially banned name. Sensing the shift, Tae-hyun quickly continued.
"Anyway, we just ended up getting closer. We're both dance positions too."
"Didn't realize he was such a jokester. He's usually so quiet."
"Hyung, is this your first time talking to him? That's all an act. Look how he is with me."
Hajin glanced toward Yu-geon in the distance. Something seemed to be holding him up at the food cart—he was waiting for a staff member.
This was his chance to dig for more clues through Tae-hyun.
"But for someone like that, he doesn't seem close with the other special class guys. I kinda thought... maybe he was like Eun-chan?"
Hajin shrugged cautiously. Quick on the uptake, Tae-hyun shook his head.
"Nah, nah. Han Seong-woo hyung doesn't bother him either."
"Really? That's good."
"Yu-geon, he's... Well, he doesn't really have other close friends besides me. But he's not a bad guy."
Tae-hyun swallowed whatever he'd been about to say but still defended Yu-geon to the end.
And that only fueled Hajin's suspicions.
'If he's such a good guy, why's he sticking around this company when he doesn't even seem interested in debuting?'
Of course, Sipsam was MIA at this critical moment. He'd been quiet for a while—what was he even doing?
[System Notification: ※The Fixed Regressor's abysmal athletic skills have exhausted me. Temporarily stepping out※]
[System Notification: (Catching up on backlog...)]
[System Notification: (System maintenance in progress...)]
'Wow. So helpful.'
Just then, Yu-geon returned with his refilled side dishes.
Hajin decided to drop the topic for now. If the conversation went deeper, Tae-hyun might catch on to his probing.
But Tae-hyun, resting his chin on his hand, suddenly looked at Hajin and smirked.
"Hyung, so that's why you kept talking to him?"
"Huh?"
"You're really... something else."
"...What?"
"You thought he was getting left out like Eun-chan, so you went out of your way to include him, right?"
No, that's not—
Hajin struggled to keep his bewilderment off his face.
"Just... reminded me of my little brother."
Tae-hyun seemed to interpret that however he wanted, shaking his head with a touched smile.
Hajin felt a tiny pang of guilt but ignored it.
'Sorry, Hawon. Selling you out again today.'
Kang Hajin's #MisunderstandingChronicles... still going strong!
After lunch, the second half of the sports day began.
If the first half focused on the trainees' athletic skills, the second was all about variety show moments.
"Listen up, everyone! As your special MC, I'm introducing... bonus points!"
Nam Da-woon, who'd been barely holding back (if you could call that holding back) during his first meeting with his juniors, finally let loose.
"What's the most important thing at an idol sports day?"
"First place? Nope. Winning? Wrong!"
"It's looking good! Being cool! Those athlete-like moments! Visuals straight out of a sports anime!"
"So from now on, any trainee who pulls off a handsome moment during the games gets a 100-point bonus!!!"
Panic spread among the trainees at Da-woon's decree.
Look handsome? What does that even mean? How do you do that?
Amid the confusion, one trainee scored the first bonus.
"Ah, foul! Captain Jung Si-woo, that's a foul!"
During the team kickball match, Si-woo's kick went out of bounds. But instead of panicking, he calmly—
"Wait, what's he doing?"
—swept his bangs back with one hand and struck a pose as if he'd just hit a home run, gazing dramatically into the distance.
The way he slightly squinted one eye while shielding it from the sun with his hand...
"AHHHH!!! SO HANDSOME!!!!"
...was undeniably devastating.
True to his nickname First Love Manipulator, his face made you nostalgic for a baseball-player first love you never had.
"Captain Jung Si-woo!!! 100 bonus points!!!"
"Haha. Thank you~."
You'd think this favored the already good-looking, but Da-woon had fair criteria.
He showered points not just for objective handsomeness but for any moment fans would love.
"Aah, Team Phoenix! That player just helped his fallen teammate up with one hand! Bonus!"
"Wow, Yi Parang! That wink at the camera right after falling! 100 points!"
"Captain Seo Tae-hyun, why'd you stop before the finish line? ...Oh! Ending fairy! He's doing the ending fairy! Bonus points!"
Soon, the focus shifted from winning to creating viral moments.
Once the trainees grasped the system, they went all out, scrambling for screen time.
It was pure chaos.
'How is any of this gonna air? I can't even imagine.'
Hajin, lying flat on the ground in existential despair, had just returned from failing at bowling and striking endless model poses with Won-ho—thanks to Tae-hyun pressuring him for benefits.
After several rounds of such games, the sports day neared its end.
"Did everyone have fun today?"
"...Yes!"
"Huh? Too quiet. Did you have fun?!"
"YEEESSS!"
Da-woon wrung every last bit of energy from the trainees until the very end. Hajin had long passed awe and reached enlightenment regarding Da-woon's stamina.
'How is his voice not destroyed after six hours of screaming?'
A true legend...
As Hajin mentally saluted him, the day's winning team was finally announced.
"Today's champions are...!"
Da-woon paused for effect before unfurling a scroll vertically. The color inside revealed the winners.
And the scroll was filled with... purple?
'Huh? Purple?'
"The Lilac Team takes the victory today! Congratulations!!!"
How?
Everyone, including the Lilac Team themselves, looked around in confusion.
"While you were all chasing bonus points, Lilac Team quietly racked up actual game points!"
"......"
"Since bonus points were evenly distributed, the team with the most match points wins. Simple, right?"
"......"
"Moral of the story? Never let your guard down in variety!"
At Da-woon's (no, this brat's) shameless words, everyone was speechless.
Lilac Team's captain, Gong Seok, stiffly accepted the trophy and benefits.
"Uh... Thank you. This, um... honor goes to Desty?"
"Oooh, great speech!"
At Da-woon's cue, the trainees clapped and cheered like programmed reaction machines. Hajin joined in, thinking:
'I'm gonna expose Nam Da-woon's true nature online when I get home...'
Not that he had anything concrete, but he'd do it anyway.
'Losing to variety sense... me?!'
Former variety PD Kang Hajin. Thoroughly defeated by a 13-year veteran idol.