The Ultimate Dream Team
When Ye-chan glanced back, Seonwoo I-gyeong was standing there just as expected, wearing a sly, knowing smile.
Ye-chan hid his unease and returned the greeting with easy friendliness.
"Likewise. Looking forward to working with you, hyung."
"Yeah, yeah. Wow, I really like this team. Especially with you on it."
Why is this guy acting so chummy?
He was solidly skilled and ranked high enough that Ye-chan had planned to just play along and send him on his way. But Seonwoo clearly had no intention of going anywhere else.
Seonwoo turned his head for a moment, eyed the cluster of trainees, and grinned.
"Hae-sol's here too."
What is he talking about all of a sudden? He's never even been on the same team as Hae-sol hyung.
Ye-chan was certain of it. Kang Hae-sol kept even his actual teammates at arm's length; there was no way he had gotten close to someone like Seonwoo I-gyeong, with whom he had zero connection.
Wariness flared instantly, but Ye-chan answered lightly, as if nothing were wrong.
"I'm really looking forward to being on the same team as you too, hyung."
Seonwoo looked down at Ye-chan's bright, smiling face and let out a short snicker.
"You're pretty good at empty compliments, huh? Let my guard down for a second and I might actually fall for it."
So his act had been seen through after all.
Sharp ones are such a pain.
Ye-chan gazed up at Seonwoo with clear, innocent eyes that said he had no idea what the other was talking about.
Seonwoo met his gaze and grinned wider.
"I'll bet on it. By the time this training camp ends, those words of yours will be the real deal."
Full of swagger, Seonwoo playfully puffed out his chest and winked.
"I'm a pretty decent guy, you know."
What is he even saying.
Ye-chan couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Actually decent people don't say that about themselves."
What a load of crap.
Seonwoo found that so hilarious he clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
"Hahaha. Fine, then. On the last day I'll definitely ask you again—whether I'm a decent guy or not."
He wiped away a tear that had squeezed out with the back of his hand, still looking completely self-assured.
What is he basing all that confidence on?
"In that spirit—handshake for getting along well!"
Seonwoo held out his hand.
Ye-chan seized the chance, dropped the cold attitude, and grabbed it at once.
Status Window.
Separate from how little he liked the guy, the stats were more solid than expected.
If he hadn't dropped out, debut would have been a piece of cake.
In fact, Seonwoo I-gyeong was currently holding a stable debut-zone spot, sitting at fifth place two ranking ceremonies in a row.
I need to figure out why he's acting differently this round compared to the previous ones.
You've all confirmed your teams, right? Full practice starts tomorrow. For today, rest up! A true prince is professional even when resting!
The moment the MC finished speaking, the shoot wound down into wrap-up mode.
"There are five of you per team, so feel free to split into threes and twos and head into the same rooms!"
At the staff member's words, Seonwoo looked at Ye-chan.
"So, what do you say? Want to room together?"
"No, I—"
Ye-chan casually snagged Woo Hwi-gyum, who was glancing around as if searching for someone.
"I have to room with this one."
Suddenly grabbed, Hwi-gyum blinked.
Seonwoo tilted his head without any sign of fluster.
"Yeah? I'm fine with three. What about you, Hwi-gyum?"
"……Huh?"
Leaving the completely lost Hwi-gyum out of the conversation, Seonwoo turned to the other two teammates who had drifted over.
"Looks like our whole team's here. Hae-sol, Seung-heon—anyone you want to room with?"
"I'll go with I-gyeong hyung."
Lee Seung-heon grinned mischievously, and Seonwoo answered in kind, sweeping his hair back with a playful flourish.
"Ha, this popularity of mine. Seung-heon-ah, don't like hyung too much. Hyung's a bad boy."
"Bad boys are always popular, right?"
That's why you ended up on the social pages.
Ye-chan swept a somewhat cynical look over Seung-heon.
The guy landing on the social pages happened long after Choose My Prince ended. Ye-chan had seen and lived through it himself, so it was no baseless rumor or frame-up.
Star disease is that scary. Even the Lee:Spirit guys—once someone catches it, they keep going.
Kang Hae-sol, who looked thoroughly ready to escape back to his room, spoke with an expression of pure discomfort.
"I don't care how we split, but can we just go in already?"
"Hae-sol's tired, huh. We can't have our Hae-sol collapsing, so I'll walk you to your room!"
"What? I don't need that."
"Hahaha. It's fine, it's fine. No need to be shy."
"No, I really don't need—!"
Completely ignoring Hae-sol's protests, Seonwoo waved and said he'd see them in the morning before heading off.
Hae-sol, shoved along from behind, and Seung-heon, who somehow looked excited, left with him.
In an instant only Ye-chan and Hwi-gyum remained, staring at each other.
"……Shall we go in?"
"……Yeah."
It had been a truly long day.
"Hello, Team 6! Here are your sheet music and USB."
The next day, the moment they stepped into the practice room assigned to Team 6, the waiting FD greeted them warmly.
Kang Hae-sol, who had ended up standing at the front and received the sheets by default, pouted.
"Um, there are no lyrics written here."
"Yes! For this mission, all you're given is the song and its title! From now on, you'll create the lyrics and choreography for this track, Sinabro! Oh, and the center's mandatory part is marked on the sheet. The center is Ha Ye-chan. Yesterday's announcement order was by concept vote ranking!"
The FD answered with bright enthusiasm, as if he'd been waiting for the question, then slipped quickly out the practice room door.
"Mid-check is the day after tomorrow, so do your best!"
Except for Ye-chan, who already knew the mission contents, the other members blinked as if their brains had short-circuited from the sudden bomb drop.
Seonwoo I-gyeong recovered first.
"Wow, even the mission for this camp is fun."
It didn't look like he was performing for the cameras and crew; the expression seemed genuine.
Ye-chan agreed, so he gave a rough nod.
In previous rounds too, if the teammates changed or even the same teammates had different experiences leading up to it, the lyrics and choreography shifted. Honestly, it was fun.
Even in the later resets when his interest in Choose My Prince had cooled, he had still checked in on this particular stage from time to time.
Meanwhile Hae-sol, finally back online, handed the sheet music to Ye-chan.
"The center part is highlighted, so check it first."
"Thanks."
Ye-chan scanned the sheet with Sinabro written at the top.
Good song, good parts.
Just as he remembered—a fairly interesting track built around a slow tempo and a heavy bass line.
Ye-chan passed the sheet to Seonwoo, who had been reading over his shoulder, and picked up the USB.
"We've got a lot to do, so should we listen first and then start?"
He plugged the USB into the prepared speaker, and soon a grand piece of music began to pour out. From the intro alone it carried the promise of a masterpiece; color rose in the teammates' faces.
Ye-chan tapped the rhythm with his foot and quietly lifted his eyes, studying each of the four faces in turn.
Based on the second ranking ceremony, the lowest-ranked is Lee Seung-heon at ninth.
And every single teammate had earned an S-grade at least once in either the first or second evaluation.
This was a dream team among dream teams—something he had never seen in any previous round of Choose My Prince.
Whether he liked the members or not, this time they had no choice but to create it.
A stage so overwhelmingly first-place that no one could deny it.
Ye-chan's heart beat faster than usual under the pressure.
Yet a smile rose unbidden to his lips.
"Before we start working we should pick a leader. Anyone want to volunteer?"
Seonwoo asked, naturally taking the lead. The other four exchanged looks instead of words.
Aside from Seonwoo, every one of them was clearly less sociable than Ye-chan, so he decided to take the bullet.
"Wouldn't it be fine if I-gyeong hyung did it? You're the oldest, and you seem like you'd be good at it."
"Nah, no way."
The refusal came back sharp as a knife, without a second's hesitation.
That speed means he's not just being polite.
"I'm not just declining once for show—I'm completely serious. This stage is different from everything so far; creative ability matters."
As if reading Ye-chan's thoughts, Seonwoo added more.
He looked meaningfully between Ye-chan and Hae-sol, then shrugged.
"In that sense, I recommend Ye-chan or Hae-sol over me~"
"Me?"
Kang Hae-sol, who had been standing quietly only to get hit with this out of nowhere, nearly jumped.
"Hae-sol-ah, why so surprised? You were leader for both the first and second rounds, weren't you?"
"Well, yeah, but……"
Hae-sol fretted over what to say in the face of the sudden turn, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Honestly I'd be fine taking the leader spot. But if I do it, I'm going to be really strict. Is that okay?"
"Whoa, I love that. If we're doing it, we should do it properly."
Somehow the atmosphere had decided that Kang Hae-sol would be leader. Ye-chan, who had no interest in titles, checked the other two's expressions.
Lee Seung-heon ending up on the front page of the newspaper was still a good while after Choose My Prince finished, so there was no reason to hesitate speaking to him.
"What do you think, Seung-heon hyung?"
He asked the blank-faced Seung-heon, who simply nodded in silence.
Ye-chan checked with Hwi-gyum as well.
"You?"
"I'm fine too."
"Then it's unanimous! All right, Boss! What do we do now? Give us our orders!"
"B-Boss…… ahem, well, okay. The big things we need to handle are lyrics and choreography. For lyrics, let's set the overall direction and then each write our own parts."
Startled for a moment by the unexpected title, Hae-sol cleared his throat and began directing.
He's going to clash so hard with Hae-sol hyung, and now they're even roommates…… Sorry I couldn't protect you, hyung.
Thinking of Hae-sol suffering alone through the not-short training camp made Ye-chan's chest ache.
While Ye-chan offered a silent apology he could never voice, Hae-sol looked over the sheet music again and spoke.
"Then we should divide the parts first."
And that day Ye-chan learned something new that all his long years in the entertainment industry had never taught him.
Until now he had believed group-project villains fell into three main types:
Someone talentless but greedy, someone talentless and unmotivated, or someone talentless with a rotten personality.
In every case, lack of skill was the premise.
But it turned out the world also contained people who became villains precisely because they were highly skilled and overflowing with passion.
……So this is the group-project despair edition?
Watching the three of them debate a single bridge line for nearly thirty minutes without yielding an inch, Ye-chan felt his soul leave his body.