The Prison of Praise
The moment I opened the dorm door, the movement of the trainees gathered in the living room froze all at once.
"Huh?"
"Whoa, what the—"
The first one to shout was Choi Su-hyuk.
"Yuseongwoo?"
Every eye in the room turned to me in an instant. I paused mid-step, one shoe half off.
"What's with this reaction?"
"Didn't you quit?"
"That's what I thought!"
"What are you even talking about?"
Something was off. The atmosphere felt less like I'd walked into a dorm and more like a missing person had just wandered back home.
"Everyone thought you'd dropped out."
"No way, I figured he got plastic surgery."
"What?"
And what was with this absurd accusation on top of it?
Ji Dongseok shot up from his seat. He strode right up to me and started staring holes into my face.
"……"
"…….."
"What."
"Where did you actually get it done?"
"Huh?"
A laugh escaped me despite myself.
And right at that moment—
"See? See!"
Choi Su-hyuk cut in with an excited yell.
"What did I say! Plastic surgery, I told you!"
"I told you it's not."
"Then explain it!"
"Explain what?"
"Two weeks without showing up at the practice room."
"Not even coming back to the dorm."
"Not a single word in the group chat."
"Then suddenly showing up with a whole new face!"
"Right. He's basically half a different person at this point—isn't that basically confirmation?"
A trial convened on the spot.
The defendant: me. The charge: …having a different face?
"We all thought you'd quit."
Han Sangyoon spoke up too.
"Where've you been all this time?"
"I went to that house."
"……And practiced where, exactly?"
Ah.
Only now did their reactions start to make sense.
From Part 2 onward, the show would incorporate open audience observation and public voting, so the past two weeks had been an adjustment period to realign the gap between filming and broadcast. So while they called it free time, in practice it was prep time for the next round. Everyone here was a Nyx Entertainment trainee, so naturally they'd all stayed in the dorm and practiced like always.
Everyone except me, that is.
Vanished out of nowhere, came back different, and when asked why, gave no straight answer.
Of course they were suspicious.
"Seriously, what were you doing all that time?"
I considered for a moment, then just smiled my way past it.
"I'll tell you later."
"What?"
"It's a little hard to say whether I even can—"
The matter of my sister needed more thought. Between the brainwashing I'd been subjected to, if I so much as mentioned her, I half expected Yu Seong-ah to materialize out of thin air and wring my neck.
Then it happened.
"Hey!"
Choi Su-hyuk suddenly shouted.
"What? Why?"
"His braces are gone!"
Oh. So that's what this was about?
Come to think of it, they'd only ever seen my face framed by braces, so a shock like this was fair enough.
"Whoa. Unbelievable."
"No wonder something felt different."
"Hasn't he lost weight too?"
"And his skin is unreal—"
On top of it all, the brutal training had stripped the fat right off me, and thanks to my sister's obsessive fussing, I'd also been subjected to packs, massages, and every manner of maintenance imaginable.
No wonder the reactions were so intense.
"Wow, Yuseongwoo really came back with a plan, huh."
The two-week overhaul project had been, by every measure, a roaring success.
The instant I opened the practice room door, familiar music and the sound of feet striking the floor poured over me together.
"Wow…"
At long last, I was free of Yu Seong-ah's practice studio. I was overcome with a fresh wave of emotion.
Then it happened.
Our eyes met through the mirror.
"……Seongwoo hyung?"
Good lord, Kang Yiyul. You've gotten even better-looking over these past two weeks.
Maybe rejoining the Debut Group had eased some of the strain, because the gaunt hollows of his cheeks had filled in a little.
I'm pretty sure my lost cheek fat went to him, though…
"Long time no see."
"It really has been. Where did you go? I haven't seen you in ages."
His voice was casual, but his face was screaming with curiosity.
"Just doing some individual practice—"
"Ah."
He gave a short answer and turned back around. But just before his head turned, his gaze brushed over me one more time. Exactly one beat's worth.
It was the look I'd only ever seen at fansign events. Who knew I'd get to see it again, here of all places.
This punk, he's clearly happy to see me.
A smirk tugged at my mouth. It felt like every hour of hellish training had been worth it.
"Wow, look at that~"
Then, an irritating voice drifted over from behind me.
"Ghosting everyone for two weeks, and comes back fully 'fixed,' huh?"
I turned to find the traffic-light-haired duo standing there.
With Go Jaeseong behind them, of course.
With Jang Hyunjun gone, their color scheme had simplified from red-yellow-green down to just red-and-green.
"How much work did you get done for your face to come back half-finished?"
"Great results, man—"
Giggling deliberately louder, clearly meant for my ears.
Figured it'd be those sons of— and sure enough.
The origin point of the absurd rumor was approaching.
I looked at the two of them quietly. Then I nodded.
"You're right."
"What?"
"I did get some work done."
The pair froze for a beat.
"I—"
I smiled breezily and bared my teeth.
"Got my braces out yesterday, as it happens."
I tapped my teeth lightly with a fingertip.
"And somehow that alone earns me surgery rumors."
I idly stroked my jaw, purely for effect.
"Ha… seriously, me—"
Then I shook my head with exaggerated reluctance.
"What am I gonna do about these looks of mine, honestly."
Guys like that never deserved a serious response in the first place. Nonsense questions called for even more nonsensical answers—it was the only fitting reply.
The traffic-light duo's expressions curdled by the second.
"Hmm~"
But I didn't stop there.
"……But what about you two, then?"
I tilted my head slightly and looked them up and down.
"What about us?"
"No braces for you guys to take out—"
I pointed at the two of them, then spread my hand and waved it back and forth in front of their faces a couple of times.
"I'd say your faces right now are pretty much your ceiling, no?"
I shrugged my shoulders with theatrical flourish.
"Tragic, really~"
The trainees who'd been biting back their laughter finally cracked and burst out one by one.
The two of them sputtered, unable to get a single word out, and I snickered and looked away.
This isn't even middle-schooler teasing anymore…
After being clawed and then outright shredded by Yu Seong-ah, this barely even registered as tickling for me.
So this was the best they had.
Tragic timing, boys. Really tragic.
"Alright, alright. Just because this is a survival show doesn't mean you can slack on lessons. We're all clear on that, right?"
"Yes, sir!"
The trainer swept his eyes over the trainees like he was taking attendance, then looked my way.
"Seongwoo missed two full weeks of class. Think you can keep up?"
Every trainee's gaze swung to me at once.
"Yes, sir! I'll work hard to catch up!"
Disbelief flickered across faces all around the room.
Understandable, really.
The trainee everyone worried about the moment dancing came up—that had always been my label.
Most trainees could barely keep pace with the curriculum after missing a single lesson, and I had vanished for two entire weeks.
Anyone could see it was the perfect setup for me to flounder.
"Alright, we'll start from this move. One, two—"
The trainer demonstrated, and I mirrored the movement.
And then I realized.
Huh. I can do this?
The old me would have been too busy scrambling just to copy what he saw. But not anymore.
The fundamentals Yu Seong-ah had drilled into me like a lunatic. Waves and steps, bounce, upper-and-lower body control. Every movement now lived inside that framework.
So this is why they say fundamentals matter.
Kang Yiyul's face flashed through my mind—trying to squeeze basic technique lessons into our crammed practice sessions.
Clever kid.
"Now, everyone continue on your own from where I just showed you."
"Yes, sir!"
Memorization was never my problem.
Frankly, memorization ability didn't even matter for me. I was the type who memorized everything perfectly and simply couldn't express it with my body.
The music started up again.
"One, two— three, four—"
My body moved naturally. What my mind remembered, my body followed without a hitch.
One move, then the next.
And then—
"Huh?"
Someone let out a small sound.
I looked up to find a trainee in the front row staring at me with the expression of someone who'd just witnessed something impossible.
"What?"
The trainee beside him turned to look at me too. Then, forgetting they were even dancing, both of them just stood there staring at me.
What's wrong with them?
Then—
"Seongwoo!"
My name rang out suddenly.
Ah.
Figured I still had a ways to go. I braced myself and looked at the trainer.
But—
"No, no. Keep going, keep going."
He actually moved to stand right beside me.
"That's it! Now pop right there, and then—"
You're being way too nice to me…
To someone conditioned by Yu Seong-ah's training, this just sounded like the voice of a gentle, kindhearted angel.
"Five six seven eight!"
Wow, he's counting every single number for me.
For the record, Yu Seong-ah stopped counting after "one, two" because her throat hurt.
And this training session didn't involve a single yell—let alone a kick to go with one!
"One, two— okay!"
When the music ended, I was almost disappointed.
"Whoa—"
The trainer blinked at me.
"Seongwoo, what happened to you?"
This time the surprise on his face was genuine. Murmurs began rippling through the room.
"What did you do for two weeks? You're a completely different person."
"Thank you!"
"Today's MVP is Seongwoo!"
A first. Never once, in all my dance training, had I made it through without being called out.
But the bigger change was something else entirely.
The sharp, needling stares that usually said, can't you see you're slowing everyone down? —this time, there wasn't a single one.
In their place were wide, stunned eyes, as if everyone had just witnessed some impossible miracle.
"If your dancing gets good on top of everything else, the other kids are going to be sweating bullets, huh?"
"……Yes, sir."
Reluctant murmurs of agreement followed.
"But seriously, where on earth did you go and what did you do out there?"
"I retrained from the fundamentals up, sir!"
After answering so brightly, I felt like I'd just re-enlisted in the army all over again.
"Who taught you? I'd love to meet the face behind that training—"
I forced the corners of my mouth upward.
Please, sir. Don't say such terrifying things…
Chances were, this trainer knew Yu Seong-ah through one or two degrees of separation. She was famously well-connected—there was no way he didn't know her.
Yet even he had no idea I was her little brother. If that ever came to light…
I don't even want to imagine it.
"I'm looking forward to this round. Give it your best!"
"Thank you!"
But my stay in the prison of praise didn't last long, because a familiar announcement echoed through the entire building.
[Hello, trainees! This is your MC, Kang Sejun! All trainees, please gather at the first-floor studio immediately. The first trainee to arrive will receive… a little benefit!]
"What now?"
"……More running, is it?"
Groans erupted from every corner of the practice room.
In seconds, the room was empty. The thunder of footsteps filled the hallway. Nobody knew what the benefit would be, but the fear of someone else snatching it first was clearly doing its work.
I watched the stampede and let out a soft laugh.
Here we go.
The secret mission to decide the Round 4 teams. Even before my regression, this event had made quite a buzz.
Outside the first-floor studio, the trainees who'd arrived first were clustered around the door, gasping for breath.
"Huh?"
"……What is this?"
They'd been told to come to the studio, but taped across the entrance was one large sign.
"Isn't the studio here?"
"It's not?"
"No, they told us to come here, and…"
Of course they were dumbfounded. They'd been run half to death, only to be greeted by a locked door.
Just as Kang Sejun had promised, the benefit for the first arrivals turned out to be very small indeed: they got to learn about the mission a few minutes early. That was it.
Then the broadcast came on again.
[Hidden throughout the Nyx Entertainment building are hints to the code that will open the studio door!]
"Whoa."
"What, is this like a treasure hunt?"
A treasure hunt… close enough.
But this was no ordinary treasure hunt. In a few minutes, this building would be filled with the screams of trainees.
[Now then. Let the mission begin!]
Flicker—
The overhead lights trembled for an instant.
And flickered again.
In a heartbeat, the hallway went dead silent.
I quietly rolled up my sleeves and cracked my neck in a slow, full circle.
Time to get ready.
Before my regression, the reason this mission dominated the real-time search rankings the moment it aired.
And the reason countless trainees cursed the production staff for weeks after.
Thud.
The light at the end of the hallway went out.
Thud.
The next one died.
Thud.
And another.
As if someone were dragging the darkness closer and closer, the lights of the hallway were swallowed up one by one.
"……Uh?"
Someone murmured it in a shaking voice.
And then—
Thud.
The instant the last light went out—
"AAAAAAAH!!"
The entire hallway erupted into screams.
I walked slowly through the chaos of panicked trainees.
Before my regression, and now, even still. The worst mission in the history of Boys Code.
The infamous horror special was beginning.