Leader and Center
Leader and center.
That was how I found myself forcibly reassigned as both leader and center of the team….
"…Alright then. Following the vote, I'll serve as both our team's leader and center. I look forward to working with all of you."
"Waaaaah—!"
"Then shall we start by talking about the song?"
I pushed the discussion forward without delay. Given how difficult the track was, we were going to need a lot of deliberation and practice.
But then….
"The vocal range seems way too high to stick with the original key. What do you all think?"
"……."
These damn kids wouldn't say a single word whenever I asked for their opinions.
"…So, for now — does everyone agree we should lower the key a bit?"
"Yes—!!"
They only ever spoke in one voice when I was asking for agreement. Kindergarteners, the lot of them.
"…Does anyone have any ideas for the arrangement?"
"……."
"Haa… Then let's just lower the key, keep the original vibe of the song, and start learning the choreography."
"Yes—!!"
And so, one way or another, Team 1 began its voyage toward the second team competition.
There was already a creaking, grinding sound that didn't bode well… but still. We'd settled on a leader and center quickly, and locked down the song concept just as fast.
It was smooth sailing, at any rate.
…Or so I decided to believe.
Fortunately, learning the choreography didn't take nearly as long as I'd expected — because Na Hanna's dancing ability was far beyond anything I'd anticipated.
Her dance stat was lower than mine, but stats were never the whole story. The number on the screen was never the end of it.
"…Hanna, how old were you when you started dancing?"
"…Huh? Um… I was dancing before I even started elementary school, but I don't remember exactly."
Experience and instinct, etched into the body itself.
"Yerin unni, you didn't know? Hanna's older sisters are super famous dancers."
"…Really?"
"Yeah. The shorts her family posts are insanely popular."
And on top of that, the blood running through her veins. Na Hanna was a born dancer, and thanks to her, we locked down the choreography in no time.
The other members aren't half bad either.
Even the rest of the team had stats better than their rankings would suggest — and more importantly, there was no one like Seo Yujin around to pick fights over nothing.
I found myself thinking that Team 1's second team competition might actually go smoothly.
…Up until that moment, at least.
"Alright. Choreography's done, so all that's left is practice."
"Yeah."
"Then let's start working hard from now."
"Yes — starting tomorrow, let's give it our all."
"……Huh?"
"……Hm?"
…Did I mishear that just now?
Something about the conversation felt completely off, so I turned to Na Hanna.
"…Hanna, what did you just say?"
"I said we should work hard starting tomorrow?"
"…Starting tomorrow?"
The second the words left her mouth, I checked the clock.
It was 11:41 p.m.
Late, sure, but….
"It's not even midnight yet?"
Time inside My Idol Academia didn't flow the way it did outside. This wasn't bedtime — this was the hour you were supposed to be on fire with practice.
But….
"…Haaawn. This is just when I always have to sleep."
…Apparently Hanna's time flowed differently from mine, too.
"If I don't sleep now, my efficiency tanks and I can't move my body properly. A lot of the other teams haven't even finished their choreography yet, you know? We're already ahead of schedule, so let's head in early and rest today. …Is that okay?"
"……."
Looking at Hanna asking for my permission, I went blank for a second.
…She wants to go to bed before midnight?
Through the final grade evaluations and the first team competition, I had never once fallen asleep before twelve. One or two in the morning was the baseline; three or four was optional. Push a little and it was five.
…I'm not even remotely sleepy right now.
If anything, I was overflowing with energy, practically bouncing. I could easily keep practicing for another three or four hours.
But unlike me, Hanna looked genuinely exhausted — her already half-lidded eyes drooping even further, like she might collapse on the spot if I didn't let her go to bed right then.
"…Fine. If you're tired, go sleep."
"Yes. Thank you for your hard work."
The moment I gave her the green light, Hanna bowed her head and was gone.
With Hanna out, there was no point in running formations. I had no choice but to turn to the others.
"Anyone else who wants to rest… can rest too."
"……."
They all glanced around, reading the room, and then—
"Then I'll…."
"We did finish the choreography really fast, so…!"
"There's no point practicing if one's missing anyway, right?"
"Starting tomorrow, we'll really go all out!"
And just like that — whoosh — they all filed out after Hanna, heading straight back to the dorms.
"Haa…."
By the time I came back to myself, I was the only one left in the practice room. I sat there alone, staring into space, lost in thought.
Being a leader really isn't easy.
If Seo Yujin — the leader from the first team competition — had been leading Team 1 right now, what would she have said?
Probably something like….
With skills like yours, you're going to sleep? Have you all lost your minds?! Unless you want to sleep forever, get back here and run the formation right now!
She might have been rude about it, but she would have controlled the team without breaking a sweat.
"Ah… thinking about it like that, I really miss my old teammates."
Looking back, I'd been incredibly lucky with my team draw for the first competition. With those members, even a song like Medical Love☆ would have been no problem.
Yujin as leader, me as center, Hyejeong unni on main vocal, Yujeong holding the whole group together… that would have been perfect.
Sitting alone in the practice room only made me miss them more. I drifted for a while, thinking about my old teammates, then practiced the choreography by myself for another two hours before heading back to the dorms.
I'd spent half the night thinking about the Mackerel Sandwich team, so the next morning I had breakfast with Park Yujeong and Lee Hyejeong.
I'd thought of Seo Yujin too, and even knocked on her door — but….
Don't you know Team 1 — your team — and Team 2 — my team — are rivals? You and I are enemies! Enemies! How am I supposed to eat with an enemy? Shoo! Get out!
On the grounds that our teams were competing against each other, I got the door slammed in my face and was thoroughly kicked out.
So the three of us, reunited for the first time in a while, sat down to breakfast and started swapping team stories.
"No way~ So they all left before midnight?"
"…Yeah."
The moment I told them what had happened the night before, Park Yujeong and Lee Hyejeong got as worked up as if it had happened to them.
"When the leader says practice, you're supposed to jump out of bed and get moving — and they went to sleep?! Completely clueless!"
"It was the first day, so most teams practiced until at least one… heading back before twelve is a bit much."
Park Yujeong, who was usually all sunshine, was rarely this fired up as she pressed on.
"Unni! You have to crush bad kids like that right from the start!"
"Crush them from the start…? Me?"
"Yes! If the leader doesn't get a grip on the team now, they won't listen to you later!"
"But how?"
When I asked with a puzzled look, Yujeong launched into a crash course, clearly frustrated on my behalf.
"Yerin unni, you have this tendency to underuse your face."
"…Use my face?"
"Yes. I feel weird saying this, but even if you're a softie on the inside, your face is basically the King of Hell."
I wasn't sure "King of Hell" was the right comparison, but it was true that my looks tended to come off as intimidating.
"So put on a scary expression and scare them a little. Make them fall in line."
"A scary expression to intimidate them, huh? I've actually got a knack for that. Want to see?"
After nineteen years in Ha Yerin's body, I was an expert at looking terrifying. All I had to do was take my already blank face and make it even blanker. Drop the corners of the mouth a little… pinch the brow just slightly….
"Look. How is it? Do I look scary?"
"Whoa…."
Yujeong stared at my face, covering her mouth, then said:
"Unni… could you try saying this with that exact expression? 'Are you all out of your minds?'"
"Are you all out of your minds?"
"Ah… this is not going to work."
"Ah… this is not going to work."
"On your knees."
"On your knees."
"You pigs — crawl over here like that and lick my feet."
"You pigs — crawl over here like that and li— …Yujeong? That line seems a little off, doesn't it?"
"Puhaha—! I was kidding, kidding!"
Yujeong cracked up for a long while, then finally managed to continue.
"But unni. That expression just now was genuinely scary. Someone who isn't close to you would completely freeze if they saw that face."
"…Really?"
"Yep. I've got a decent amount of experience with this kind of power struggle, you know? Make that scary face, drop your voice a little, pretend you're mad — and they'll fall in line under you on their own."
"You have a lot of experience with power struggles, Yujeong? Huhu. That might be the funniest thing you've said yet."
A golden retriever face, always beaming, and kind on top of it — as if Park Yujeong of all people had that kind of experience.
Her bluffing was hilarious, but it also gave me a real boost. I ruffled her hair in thanks.
"Anyway, thanks, Yujeong. If something like last night happens again, I'll try it your way."
"Okay~ Hehe."
We laughed it off and moved on to the next topic.
Lee Hyejeong poked at her food and asked me softly:
"But Yerin, doing leader and center at the same time must be really hard."
"It is, yeah. The responsibility feels enormous…."
"That's usually how it goes when you take both. But it's interesting… this competition, there are two teams where someone is doing both leader and center."
"…Hm? Someone else is doing both leader and center too?"
Until that moment, I simply thought, Oh, so another team has someone doing both, and casually lifted my spoon. Doing leader and center at once was rare, but not unheard of.
But then….
"Huh? Yerin, you didn't know?"
"Unni, you didn't know?"
The way Hyejeong and Yujeong looked at me was anything but casual.
"Why? Who's doing both leader and center?"
"Your neighboring team! Team 2 is doing it too!"
"…Team 2? …Ah, so Yu Seol unni is doing both leader and center."
At the words "Team 2," I paused — then nodded to myself. Yu Seol had more than enough skill to handle both roles at once.
And then….
"No? Team 2's leader isn't Seol…."
"…?"
"It's Yujin!"
"…What?"
Hearing the completely unexpected identity of Team 2's leader-and-center, I dropped my spoon.
"…What did you just say."
"Yujin is doing both leader and center on Team 2. It was a huge commotion yesterday — you must not have heard because you were practicing."
"…Yujin. So you're saying…."
She was taking both leader and center — over Yu Seol?
I acknowledged Seo Yujin's talent. She might have been a brat, but she wasn't lacking in skill. Even so, she was still a long way behind Yu Seol.
…And she's doing both leader and center while Yu Seol is right there?
…….
…Why?
Even for me, that was a fact I simply could not wrap my head around.