Where Is Your Place?

The bus ride back to the dorm after the shocking ranking announcement was dead silent. No one could bring themselves to speak first.

Especially around Han Sangyoon.

I was sitting right next to him, but my gaze kept drifting toward the front of the bus.

Kang Yiyul.

Seated by the window, he was staring blankly outside. There was something about him that made it feel wrong to approach.

No—more precisely, it felt like I had no right to approach.

'Ha...'

And yet my eyes kept going back to him.

That was when it happened.

Flicker—

The ceiling light of the bus blinked once.

"Huh?"

"What the—"

A few trainees looked up. The light wavered unsteadily again.

Flicker, flicker.

A strangely grating sound.

"Maybe it's just old?"

Someone muttered dismissively.

A little while later—

"We've arrived. Everyone, off the bus!"

The bus pulled up in front of the dorm. It was just an aging lightbulb, nothing more, but apparently anything and everything could set people on edge.

"Yeah..."

We filed off one by one, and Kang Yiyul rose from his seat as well. Hoping to catch him with a casual word on the way down, I hurried forward too.

And the moment Kang Yiyul stepped toward the bus stairs—

Pop-!

With a sound like something bursting, the bus went completely dark.

"Ack!"

"...What was that?"

Startled by the sudden blackout, Yiyul must have lost his footing. Because I'd had my eyes glued to him the whole time, I caught him before he could fall.

"...Ugh!"

In exchange, my own balance lurched violently. On those narrow steps, our shoulders slammed into each other hard.

"Hey, you two okay?"

"You're not hurt?"

A staff member belatedly rushed over in alarm.

"I'm fine, thank you."

The emergency lights flickered on, casting a faint glow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through the bus.

Gasping for breath, I checked on Yiyul first.

"Yiyul, are you okay?"

He gave a small nod.

"...Yes. Thank you."

'Thank goodness.'

A breath of relief escaped me at those words.

Just then, I caught the staff members talking behind me.

"That's odd... that bulb was barely installed."

The driver tilted his head too.

"Right? It can't have been more than a week."

A light less than a week old, going out—of all times—now?

Right at the moment Kang Yiyul was stepping down the stairs?

'Don't tell me...'

If I hadn't caught him, Yiyul would definitely have sprained his ankle.

Yiyul's retreating figure came into view as he walked away. Perhaps because of the translucent status window, his Danger Level flickered above his head.

'I have a bad feeling about this.'

And then there was his gait—faintly, unmistakably limping.

"...?"

My heart plummeted. The impact from earlier must have been worse than I'd thought.

My body moved before my brain did.

"Yiyul!"

I rushed straight toward him.

"...Hyung?"

His face was full of surprise. Panting, I blurted out everything at once.

"C-come buy some pain relief patches with me."

"Excuse me?"

"No, I mean... when I caught you, my shoulder got banged up a bit? And I think you got hurt too."

'No, I didn't.'

What kind of person drags a guy with a hurt leg off to the pharmacy?

In my panic, my words had tangled up completely.

"I, um. I have patches."

"..."

"I'll give you mine."

Somehow I ended up just accepting the patches. I added, pointlessly,

"Put one on your ankle too. Definitely."

"Okay."

"Be really careful, and watch where you're going, everywhere."

He looked puzzled, but I couldn't bring myself to say any more.

'It's because I can see your Danger Level.'

How was I supposed to explain that?

Back in my room, my shoulder had started throbbing. The collision had been harder than I realized.

I stared at the patches in my hand for a long while.

But in the end, I didn't put one on.

There was no particular reason.

I just wanted to save them for when it truly hurt.

The next day.

The trainees gathered in the first-floor studio stared at their suddenly distributed outfits in bewilderment.

"What is this?"

They were casual training sets—with a big 'BOY'S CODE' printed across the back.

"Out of nowhere, this?"

I let out a genuine laugh the moment I received mine.

'So this is that thing.'

Nyx Entertainment had failed to land a decent sponsor right up until the program's production, and this was a sponsorship deal they'd scraped together at the last ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠second.

The colors were divided by Code: red for the debut group, yellow for Codes 6 through 10, black for 11 through 20. On top of that, the debut group's training uniforms even came with individual embroidered designs.

"Now they're discriminating with clothes too—"

"Still, black's pretty neutral at least."

Not just any yellow—eye-searing, highlighter yellow. I felt like a baby chick.

When I'd watched this on the broadcast, I remembered thinking, huh, that color actually suits Kang Yiyul pretty well—

...I never imagined I'd be the one wearing it.

"Hello, everyone!"

A little later, Kang Sejun appeared, also dressed in a training uniform.

"Wow, your new custom outfit looks amazing on you!"

And then, ever so naturally, he turned his body to show off the brand logo at its most visible angle.

'A true professional.'

"The reason we've all gathered here today! You've probably guessed it already—it's the Round 3 mission reveal!"

He walked toward the huge curtain that had been concealing the back of the studio.

Whoosh-!

As the cloth fell away, gasps erupted among the trainees.

The giant board displayed four song titles, with every position broken down in meticulous detail.

"This mission is about reinterpreting the signature songs of legendary idols."

Kang Sejun gestured at the board.

"You will each choose the song and position that best suit you."

The look in the trainees' eyes changed. This time, it wasn't just about picking a team—they had to claim their positions too.

"No way, I'm absolutely doing 'Poison.'"

"I want the killing part."

I quietly scanned the board, and in my head, the stages from before my regression started playing on autopilot.

"Song and position selection will go in order of Code—"

Kang Sejun paused for effect.

"—is NOT how it will work."

"Ohh!"

"Thank god."

'Is it really, though?'

The producers were never that merciful.

"First, the debut group trainees will get first pick of their songs as their rank-one benefit."

"Wait, so in the end that's the same thing?"

Some vented their frustration at the rules, which amounted to nothing more than a word game. As if he'd anticipated this backlash, Kang Sejun added,

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"After that, selection will proceed in the order of trainees who took first place within their respective teams."

"Well, that's something."

"What... so we're just completely pushed back, then?"

Joy and despair split the trainees down the middle.

"Now then, let's begin the team selection."

Joo Han strode up without hesitation and grabbed the killing part position of 'Born to be'.

'That performance became legendary, after all.'

Second, Choi Woonjo selected the main rapper position of 'Gaehwa' (Blossoming).

And then—it was Go Jaeseong's turn.

'He'll pick the killing part of 'Stop!''

I watched without a shred of tension. The direction he headed was indeed toward 'Stop!'.

But then, Go Jaeseong suddenly changed course.

"...?"

And where he stopped was—

'Out of nowhere?'

My hand flew to my mouth instinctively.

This was a completely different choice from before my regression.

And what's more—

'It had to be Yiyul's part.'

This was an unforeseen variable. Before the regression, Yiyul had taken the sub vocal of Gaehwa and crafted a killing part even more captivating than the original killing part.

It matched the song's distinctly Korean atmosphere—a haunting scene where he brushed his face lightly with a flower.

'I thought I'd get to see it with my own eyes this time!!!'

God, that useless piece of—

'Calm down.'

I forced my breathing to settle. I still had a Plan B left.

'In that case, I'm aiming for Yiyul's team, no matter what.'

"Trainee Yuseongwoo, Code 6, please proceed."

"Yes, sir!"

I walked forward with long, deliberate strides.

Toward [Shadow Play: Main Vocal].

Now it was Yiyul's turn, as the first-place winner of the third-place team.

I prayed to every deity I knew.

But for some reason, Yiyul started walking toward [Gaehwa: Main Vocal].

'What are you doing? Were you hungry for the main vocal this whole time?!'

Thankfully, after studying the board for a moment, he turned his body.

Only then could I breathe again. In that brief instant, cold sweat had been running down my back.

After a moment's deliberation, Yiyul slowly reached out his hand.

"...Yes!"

"...?"

A strangled cry escaped me before I could stop it.

Kang Yiyul looked over at me like I was strange.

I whipped my head away, but the laughter kept leaking out.

'I'm saved.'

Go Jaeseong had thrown a variable into the mix—but I knew what came after that variable.

In an interview from before my regression, Yiyul had said he'd agonized over Gaehwa versus Shadow Play until the very last minute.

'Worth rewatching that thing ten-plus times.'

And so the positions filled up one by one. Han Sangyoon narrowly defended his pre-regression spot at [Shadow Play: Sub Vocal 2].

'Let's see, our team is...'

"Hmm."

So this is what "out of the frying pan, into the fire" means.

The exact opposite of Round 2—a thoroughly headache-inducing combination.

When Go Jaeseong picked Gaehwa, two people shifted onto this team. One was me, and the other was...

"Whoa, we're a lineup where everyone's made the debut group at least once!"

Jang Hyunjun. One of the guys who'd followed Go Jaeseong onto the sexy concept team and then inexplicably ended up in the debut group.

The last was Nam Junho. He'd also been one of the trainees who chose the sexy team last round.

'Jang Hyunjun too, huh. Didn't see that coming.'

Before the regression, he'd trailed Go Jaeseong to the bitter end, so I'd assumed he'd pick Gaehwa.

But this time, he chose the killing part of Shadow Play.

'The current has shifted again.'

Whether Go Jaeseong had discarded him or Jang Hyunjun had put distance between them, I couldn't say. But one thing was certain.

The future from before my regression was now nothing more than a reference point.

Still, with Yiyul and Han Sangyoon on the team, it wasn't the worst outcome.

"Let's start by deciding on our arrangement direction."

Han Sangyoon naturally took on the leader role. But the problem I'd anticipated erupted almost immediately.

"I think we should flip it into full-on hip-hop?"

"Honestly, hip-hop feels obvious for Born to Be—I say we go completely wild with it instead."

"I think..."

Yiyul spoke up cautiously, only to be steamrolled by the loudest voice in the room.

"Hip-hop's the fun option, isn't it? If we want to work the crowd, it's gotta be hip-hop."

"I dunno? It's not like we're performing in front of a live audience—"

The talking never stopped. It felt like a ping-pong ball being batted back and forth at insane speed.

"I think going with a completely different genre would be better."

When Han Sangyoon calmly proposed this, Nam Junho rushed to counter.

"But wouldn't something too alien just rub people the wrong way?"

Yiyul, who had been quietly biding his time, finally got his chance to speak.

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"Looking at the lyrics... I think they're actually kind of frightening."

In that instant, a lightbulb went off in my head.

'Brilliant. Is he a genius?'

The truth was, I'd planned to follow Yiyul into Gaehwa this round as a matter of course, so I'd never given a single thought to Shadow Play's arrangement direction.

But that one remark from Yiyul just now had sparked an idea instantly.

"Frightening? What's frightening about the lyrics? It's just a cute song about playing shadow games together."

"Aren't you reaching a little too far?"

"Hyung, I think hip-hop is actually the right call here."

But arguing anything right now was hopeless—everyone wanted something different.

'Last round it was too quiet and gave me a headache... and now I'm actually missing those days.'

Worse, every single one of them had tasted the debut group at least once, so not a soul was willing to bend.

The two who never would have dared stand up to Han Sangyoon in the old days now had the tables fully turned. For Han Sangyoon and Kang Yiyul, it was more than enough to bruise anyone's pride.

"That sexy team stage last round? That succeeded because I came up with most of the ideas."

"You just tagged along with a spoon, pal. The ideas that actually helped were mine."

'Ugh, my ears are bleeding.'

I could see it. I could see it all.

The stage that was destined to become a macaron-maratae-tteokbokki restaurant.