The First Broadcast
To put it another way: Kang Yiyul absorbed the movement on the spot.
They say one action is worth a hundred words, but apparently that saying didn't apply to my dancing.
"Like this?"
The hand gesture that had looked like an ant crawling when I did it became, in Kang Yiyul's hands, something like a sacred ritual.
And he didn't just turn his head, either.
Which angle would look prettiest, which timing would catch the eye most — it was the movement of someone who simply knew these things by instinct.
'He's insane.'
I barely swallowed the words that nearly escaped my mouth.
"Shall we try it from here?"
And then Kang Yiyul went one step further.
He tilted his head down in time with the embrace, then, on the very next beat, let only his gaze drift slowly around.
In an instant, the contrast between the two movements snapped vividly to life.
"Whoa—"
The admiration came out completely genuine. This was better than the version I remembered.
Even before the regression I'd thought it was cool, but back then he was in his fluorescent-pink Poppy era. Half the people who clicked on his fancam never got past that barrier to entry and hit the back button right away.
Now, though, paired with a hairstyle that maximized Kang Yiyul's visuals, the impact had multiplied several times over.
He repeated it a few more times in silence, then clasped his hands together and studied himself in the mirror.
'That's a success!'
His expression barely changed, but that meant he was maximally satisfied.
"It's really good."
Kang Yiyul gave a faint nod.
"Thank you. I'd been racking my brain over how to bring this part to life."
Then he turned to face me.
"You've solved it for me."
He even gave a little bow.
'Seriously.'
How was an eighteen-year-old this mature? If you're a high schooler, you're allowed to be a little green, you know.
It had been the same before the regression. Kang Yiyul was the youngest, but whenever he stood next to Joo Han, everyone mistook Kang Yiyul for the older one. Even the fans sometimes genuinely got confused about who the real maknae was.
"……I'll teach you the choreography quickly, then."
"Yes!"
The dance lesson resumed.
He'd memorized all the moves; the problem was the details.
SP: 700
Even in the middle of all this, my SP kept climbing. How fast would it shoot up once episode 1 aired? The mere thought was electrifying.
"How's it feeling now? You've improved a lot, right!"
I'd spun the Hourglass and the Editor more times than I could count, but Yiyul's expression was ambiguous.
"Well, you must have practiced the basics choreography I taught you really hard."
"Yep. Only that—"
Because I'd turned the Hourglass thirty times.
"You practiced only that?"
"No — I mean, I focused on that one thing, so it got better."
If there was one thing about me that had improved since coming here, it was improvisation.
Even as I was thinking that, Kang Yiyul was already setting his stance again.
'Was the killing part really that much to his taste?'
Kang Yiyul, far more passionate than usual, was nothing short of adorable.
Time until Boys Code premiere: 00:03:00
Perhaps because it was the first idol survival show in two years, Boys Code had promoted its premiere on a massive scale, in-house survival or not.
And Yiyul's fan Oh Gyeongjin, who had been waiting for this very day, cleared every single one of her Friday-night plans and planted herself in front of the TV to guard the live broadcast.
Over on the fan community, a meltdown thread was already blazing, expectations and mockery and worry for the trainees all churning together.
"Oh, it's starting."
5, 4…… 1
A countdown began raining down across a gray wall like a falling meteor. At the grim, foreboding intro, Gyeongjin tilted her head.
"The trailer didn't have this vibe at all……?"
The next scene was even further from expectations.
In a pitch-black room, twenty trainees sat at even intervals.
Identical clothes, identical styling, identical expressions — all they did was hold their positions.
Filmed from a bird's-eye angle, the scene brought to mind some giant robot factory.
Then, someone rose from their seat.
The camera drew steadily closer to the two standing trainees. The one who'd lifted his head glared straight into the lens.
"Those two — was it Joo Han and Han Sangyoon? Good-looking."
Kang Sejun's narration followed.
"There is only one way out of this place."
The trainees rose from their seats one by one.
And what appeared before them was a colossal wall.
Under a light so blinding it could blind them, the trainees turned their heads away or squeezed their eyes shut.
But five silhouettes alone walked through the light toward the wall. Which trainees they were was never revealed.
"So five of them debut, then."
"Only when five codes converge into one can they finally cross the gate called debut."
Kuu-goong—
"What is with this opening — all brooding and grave, yet somehow weirdly B-movie……."
The program proper began.
It showed the trainees gathered in the practice room, drilling on their own.
"Trainees devoting themselves to practice, unaware of the fate approaching them."
"Iyulie…… where is he?"
She searched for ages, but Kang Yiyul was nowhere to be seen. Puzzled, Gyeongjin swept the screen again with hawk eyes.
"There's no way someone that tall could be missing."
Yet even when the CEO came in to announce the survival show, Kang Yiyul didn't appear.
"Ugh, what are you people even saying. This is—"
Gyeongjin bit her nail, irritation written across her face. Just as a cold sweat was starting to break out—
"A door suddenly opens."
"Code 3 trainee appears, cast still on."
Code 3: "I had a bit of an accident on the way here. I just got it treated quickly and came back."
"What??"
Setting aside the good public reaction, seeing Kang Yiyul injured — when Gyeongjin had never once seen him hurt — was a shock to her as well.
Production: "You injured your arm — do you think you can still do the survival show?"
Code 3: "Yes. The hospital said it would heal quickly."
"Honestly, we're not the wandering hero Hong Gildong, you know."
The screen cut to a new scene.
Production: "Nyx Entertainment's first artist is about to be born — is there a trainee you have your eye on?"
New Artist Development Team: "The Code 1 and 2 trainees, first of all, have extensive trainee experience at other agencies. Both came from major companies. They're the trainees the CEOs personally scouted and brought in when Nyx was founded."
Production: "Still, there seems to be quite a skill gap between the trainees?"
Just as the rumors said — that Nyx had combed every practical-music academy in the country to fill out the roster.
Production: "In particular, there's a trainee whose training period is…… a week? Something like that."
New Artist Development Team: "Ah, that kid…… Yes. You mean Code 20, correct?"
"Code 20……"
At the familiar number, Gyeongjin rifled through her memory.
"Ah, Braces!"
Right on cue, the screen caught Code 20's face, eyes brimming with worry. Every time he sighed, his silver braces glinted.
New Artist Development Team: "He was a street casting. You know how there's a look agencies are going for these days? His face matched our aesthetic perfectly, and when we heard him sing, his vocals were solid too, so we recruited him as a trainee first…… and from there it naturally led to him joining the survival show."
"First day of lessons. Code 20 struggles to keep up with practice."
But it was hard to believe Code 20 was the same person who had somehow pulled off the signal song choreography — the boy on screen was a hopeless klutz.
"Whew, he's really never danced a day in his life, has he."
What's more, the broadcast kept showing Code 20 bringing practice to a halt, again and again.
Trainer: "BEEP— not your left foot, your RIGHT foot!"
Trainer: "BEEP— you're dragging the whole beat by yourself. From the top!"
It was around the tenth time Code 20's name had been bleeped out.
"Code 3 approaches Code 20."
"Iyulie? Why?"
Gyeongjin instinctively went on guard. Nothing good could come from getting tangled up with the trainee at the center of controversy barely twenty minutes into the broadcast.
Code 3: "Practice keeps getting cut off because of you, hyung."
"Ah, dammit."
Thankfully, the next line drew a sigh of relief out of Gyeongjin.
Code 3: "Stand behind me and just watch the footwork. Write off the upper body for now — let's match the steps first."
"That's right. Iyulie may not be sweet about it, but he's so kind……"
Gyeongjin was certain he had meant to help Code 20 from the very beginning.
"Code 3's dance lesson for Code 20 continues."
"20 minutes later"
Trainer: "BEEP— now THAT'S finally keeping up. Alright, moving on to the next move!"
"Oh, amazing. He really did get better?"
Drenched in sweat from head to toe, Code 20 nonetheless smiled so brightly that every one of his braces showed. Gyeongjin murmured, as if under a spell.
"……He's cute."