The Ranking Board

"Sorry — I just woke up and zoned out for a second. What did you say?"

Ye-chan deliberately squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, playing up the exhaustion.

"I, uh — sorry for waking you."

Only then did Kang Hae-sol seem to register Ye-chan's bedhead and rough face. He looked conspicuously flustered, eyes darting every which way. That booming voice of his — almost too good to waste on just rapping — shrank to a murmur in an instant.

Ye-chan seized the opening without missing a beat.

"It's fine. How did the test go?"

"Huh? Uh, I was so out of it I don't really remember…"

"You don't remember what the trainers said, either?"

"I think they just said I did well… Wait. Why am I answering you?"

Kang Hae-sol, who had been answering so obediently, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Why? Because you're the type who gets swept along, that's why.

Ye-chan answered the question in his head and smiled faintly.

"You worked hard, hyung."

"Yeah, you too— No, hang on, what I'm asking is—!"

He's wondering whether I actually heard the tracks he anonymously uploads to iTube — the ones he composes himself — and if I really did, how I figured out it was his channel.

Kang Hae-sol's iTube wasn't meant for an audience. It was pure documentation. When Ye-chan — his closest junior and collaborator in another life — had stumbled onto that channel full of raw, unpolished work through the algorithm's guidance, Hae-sol had been mortified. Right now, believing he'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been caught by some complete stranger of a trainee named Ha Ye-chan, he had to be dying inside.

Push him any further and it might mess with the remaining shoot schedule. Ye-chan decided to put him at ease.

"You mean about hearing your song? You were humming the Choose My Prince theme song in your sleep at dawn. You sang it pretty well."

"……What?"

The moment Ye-chan delivered the excuse he'd prepared in advance, that handsome face went blank. Ye-chan laid out the lie with practiced ease, without so much as wetting his lips.

"It just popped into my head after I got back from the test. You sing that well, so I wanted to tell you I was rooting for you to crush it for real, too."

He even added a bright, completely mismatched smile. Kang Hae-sol's pale face flushed red, then drained blue, cycling through colors at a frantic pace.

"Look, if you're going to talk, talk properly — why do you keep cutting yourself off mid-sentence like that…! Ugh, never mind. Thanks for the support. And sorry for waking you up."

Convinced it had all been a misunderstanding, Kang Hae-sol scrubbed a dry hand over his face and turned away.

"Heading back to your room?"

"What, you think I'm sleeping here again?"

The mole under his lip twitched in time with the gruff reply. For all the attitude, one look at his face made it clear the sulky tone had slipped out from sheer embarrassment. A faint shadow of regret crossed his expression — so subtle that only Ye-chan, who'd known him for years, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would have caught it.

Ye-chan watched Kang Hae-sol's retreating back for a moment, then turned around himself.

Everything's handled. Time to sleep again.

What both of them needed most right now was to burn off the crushing fatigue piled up before the next shoot.

Click.

The light switch snapped on, and brightness flooded in past his eyelids.

"Ah, sorry. Did I wake you?"

Looking down through the bed rail, Ye-chan met eyes with Beom Se-hyuk, whose hair was still damp from a shower.

"It's fine."

Ye-chan gave a rough answer and checked his phone. It was well past nine — the test deadline.

"Ye-chan's up."

Shim Sang-rok came in behind Beom Se-hyuk and greeted him warmly. He'd showered too, looking fresh — though unlike Se-hyuk, his hair was properly dried and settled.

"You worked hard."

"You too, Ye-chan. Hwi-gyum went to the snack shop to grab something to drink."

So now he knew Woo Hwi-gyum's whereabouts, whether he'd wanted to or not. After running into Lee Ga-won of Jupiter and then Joo Tae-hyeon on top of that, Shim Sang-rok still looked completely unfazed. From every angle, he didn't look like someone who'd made a major mistake — which meant the theme song center spot was going to him again this round.

More importantly… it should be about time.

Speak of the devil. Just like last night, the TV flicked on by itself, and the main PD's grating voice poured through the speakers.

Yeah. They were excellent, all right.

They'd even managed to print and hang wall posters already. The production team's passion and effort weren't exactly welcome, but they were impressive.

With the PD's snide voice as the final note, the TV shut off. Woo Hwi-gyum, who had been about to enter the room, took a step back. Ye-chan followed him out — and locked eyes with Kang Hae-sol, who was just emerging from the room next door.

Ye-chan offered a light nod of greeting. Hae-sol pouted again, but returned the gesture all the same. With his roommates right there beside him, at least this time there wouldn't be rumors about Kang Hae-sol ostracizing the entire world. Watching the flags of Hae-sol's self-destruction get dismantled one by one was deeply satisfying.

By the time they reached the lobby, a fair number of trainees had already gathered. Some couldn't hide their tears. Others patted backs and offered encouragement.

"Whoa. No way! Whoa — what do I do?"

And then there were people like Nam Ji-yu, so happy they couldn't form a full sentence.

Before checking the S-Grade list, Ye-chan skimmed the A-Grade board in front of Nam Ji-yu.

Scanning the alphabetically sorted names, a question suddenly occurred to him.

Come to think of it — which trainee got cut when I came in?

In previous runs, he'd only cared about the skilled ones or the high-ranking ones, so he had no memory ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of anyone else.

You don't know either? If you do, say something.

He asked the hologram window, but it stayed silent.

"Ye-chan."

While Ye-chan was still thinking, Shim Sang-rok — who had already checked the board — gave a subtle nod toward the S-Grade wall, his face noticeably brighter. With other trainees around and cameras rolling, he was clearly trying not to look too pleased.

You can tell he's from a big agency. Smooth.

Plenty of viewers found Shim Sang-rok's watered-down, neither-here-nor-there demeanor uncharismatic. But to Ye-chan, it was smart self-preservation.

Ye-chan stopped fretting over other people's image management and stepped up to the board to check the results himself.

Aside from three names, the S-Grade roster had held steady.

The moment Ye-chan confirmed Kang Hae-sol's name at the top, the hologram window threw a fit.

The results had been decided ages ago, yet the achievement window only popped up the moment Ye-chan saw them with his own eyes. What a nasty sense of humor.

Or is this its idea of a surprise?

That was equally irritating.

Who are we to each other that you're pulling surprise parties?

While Ye-chan grumbled internally, Kang Hae-sol arrived behind him and checked the board over Ye-chan's shoulder. Hae-sol bit down hard on his lower lip. Like Shim Sang-rok, he seemed to be trying not to look too happy — which left him with a rather vicious expression.

That face is the kind that gets edited weird if the cameras catch it wrong.

Ye-chan was about to say something when Shim Sang-rok beat him to it, clapping Kang Hae-sol on the shoulder.

"Hae-sol, we both made it. That's a relief."

"Ah — yes."

"Looked like you tested early. Did you get some rest?"

"Yeees, sort of."

The socially awkward one was broadcasting his discomfort with every inch of his body, but Shim Sang-rok paid it no mind and kept chatting cheerfully.

In a way, that's impressive.

With a camera already filming the two S-Grade rappers talking, Ye-chan abandoned the idea of intervening and stepped back.

"Ha Ye-chan."

The voice was too close to pretend he hadn't heard and bolt for the room. Meeting eyes with Woo Hwi-gyum, who stood there blankly, Ye-chan steeled himself to keep any hostility out of his face or tone.

"What?"

"I went to the snack shop earlier, but they said you can only use a voucher if you go with a partner."

Ah. Those damn vouchers. He'd received five of them, and yet the production had cooked up this needlessly strict rule about sharing.

"You want to go now?"

"……If you're okay with it."

The camera that had been filming Shim Sang-rok and Kang Hae-sol had already swung their way. Woo Hwi-gyum trailed off uncharacteristically. Refusing him here would almost certainly get Ye-chan edited into some heartless freak who couldn't read a room.

Fine. Might as well.

Two days left of the first dorm stay. Tomorrow was theme song practice and the one-minute self-intro shoot. The day after, the actual theme song stage filming. He couldn't afford to be bloated for the stage, so if they were going to eat something at night, tonight was the time.

Why idol trainees eat at night is beyond me, but winning every event and then not using the prizes would look weird. Not that it matters — every recreation and snack shop clip with this guy in it is getting cut anyway.

Ye-chan kept his thoughts off his face and nodded in agreement. That didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mean he planned to skip off to the snack shop hand-in-hand with Woo Hwi-gyum alone.

"We've got five vouchers, so why not bring others? Sang-rok-hyung or Se-hyuk."

"I'd appreciate that."

Beom Se-hyuk, standing next to Woo Hwi-gyum, lit up at the suggestion. Shim Sang-rok dragged Kang Hae-sol over as well.

"Hae-sol can come too, right?"

"Huh? I'm fine, really—"

"Let us tag along!"

Unfortunately, Kang Hae-sol's refusal seemed to reach only Ye-chan's ears, vanishing cleanly into the noise. Other trainees who'd been reading the room piled in, and the group ballooned in seconds.

As the crowd surged toward the snack shop, Ye-chan snuck a glance at Woo Hwi-gyum. His face was blank as ever — and yet somehow, he looked pleased. With acting skills like that, no wonder he'd had the nerve to walk onto a show like this with that messy past hanging over him.

Ye-chan prayed this dorm stay would end soon, the rooms would reshuffle, and he'd have fewer reasons to look at that shameless face.