The Body Swap Ends
After some time had passed, the body that had been swapped finally returned to its original state.
When I was inside Won Ji-an’s body, adaptation had been impossible, so each day had dragged on endlessly. Now that it was back, though, things felt manageable again.
Not long after that, I wrapped up the company meeting and signed the contract.
Fortunately, because I had removed the minor title during the survival show, parental consent was no longer required.
It was a relief.
In the original story, Do Won-woo had a strained relationship with his parents, so there had always been the possibility that he might refuse consent for some bizarre reason or cause a scene.
‘In the original story as well, the reason he was kicked out of his previous agency was largely blamed on his parents’ influence.’
Of course, that was only a description written from Do Won-woo’s perspective.
It had been claimed that his parents had stormed into the company demanding money and gotten him fired, but the final reason for cutting him might have involved other factors as well.
Maybe his skills simply refused to improve no matter how hard he tried, or something similar.
‘Still, that’s all in the past now.’
According to the later story, he had already severed ties with his parents, and legally he was old enough that consent was no longer needed. Unless he actively sought them out, there was nothing to worry about.
Still, if his parents came looking first, the situation would be different.
‘Even after I became a massive idol receiving enormous settlements, I wonder how they would react if they still showed up demanding money while I was still a trainee.’
I clicked my tongue lightly.
‘Well, I had already prepared a plan for exactly that scenario.’
I opened the notebook.
There was a page filled with notes prepared for such dangerous situations.
The biggest risks right now were the unknown entity the System had warned me about and my terrible parents who only cared about money.
‘They will definitely come looking at some point.’
Do Won-woo had thought he would never debut, yet he had. Parents who smelled money like ghosts would never stay away.
Thinking about it now, Do Won-woo really had led a tragic life.
‘But I changed the fate of never debuting, so I debuted.’
If Do Won-woo saw this day, he probably wouldn’t be entirely satisfied. With that useless thought in mind, I closed the notebook.
***
Only a short time had passed since I signed the contract with the company, yet I was already moving into the dorm.
During the survival show, being unaffiliated had felt a little lonely, but now that I had an agency, I had a manager to take care of me and a much more comfortable place to live.
‘Hah, finally escaped the basement hell.’
I still couldn’t believe I had left that nightmare behind.
The first impression of the dorm was simple: it was spacious and clean. It bore no resemblance to the shabby basement I had known.
‘Debuting really does feel good.’
“Oh, the house is really nice.”
“It smells like a new house……”
The other members were equally excited about the new dorm.
By the way, the five members who would be sharing our floor were Kwon Hak-jin, Lee Hyo-seop, Lee Hae-won, and Na Jae-hyun.
With ten members in total, we had no choice but to live on the first and second floors of one building.
Two of them would have to share a room with me.
Fortunately, I had been given a private room.
‘Lee Hae-won and Na Jae-hyun are sharing a room. They must get along well.’
The members who would be rooming with me were Lee Hae-won and Na Jae-hyun.
Both had lively personalities, so I couldn’t even imagine how noisy it would be. Still, living together should be fine.
“What about the upper floor? Is it okay?”
“……Um.”
While unpacking, Na Jae-hyun glanced at me and asked.
‘Upper floor…….’
It wasn’t strange that he was worried. All the E-type members had been dumped onto our floor, leaving only I-type members on the upper level.
‘Han I-jae, Hyeon Si-woo, Jeong Hui-min, Kang In-hyeok, Won Ji-an. None of them are particularly talkative types.’
No matter how I thought about it, none of them seemed like the kind of people who would take the lead in conversation. So I could somewhat picture the atmosphere on the upper floor.
“Hey, if those five get together, they’ll probably get along fine.”
Kwon Hak-jin tried to reassure me.
“……Yes. Well, by now they’re probably unpacking and chatting with each other.”
I immediately dropped my concerns.
Being talkative isn’t always good, and being quiet isn’t always bad.
For I-type members, a quiet dorm might even be preferable.
‘Still, I should send Won Ji-an a separate message later.’
At that moment, Na Jae-hyun came out wearing yet another bizarre t-shirt.
“Well, let’s get along well from now on!”
The t-shirt read “The person who moved in today.” Where on earth had he even found such a shirt?
At this point, it could almost be considered performance art.
“What kind of t-shirt do you buy depending on the situation?”
Lee Hae-won asked.
Na Jae-hyun gave an excuse.
“Well, I don’t plan things that meticulously. I just have so many t-shirts that whenever a situation comes up where it matches perfectly…… I wear it that day!”
Wait. That meant there were an absurd number of such t-shirts.
“Hehehe.”
Na Jae-hyun scratched his neck and gave a foolish smile.
I had expected it, but the thought of seeing those t-shirts every single day while living together made my head spin a little.
“Still, it won’t be boring.”
Kwon Hak-jin, the optimistic one, said while organizing clothes for the closet.
Indeed, living with someone who had such a 4D personality would never be dull. Just by existing, he created a clear presence.
“But don’t you have any plain t-shirts?”
It wasn’t a jab, just pure curiosity.
Na Jae-hyun pulled a somewhat plain t-shirt from his suitcase.
It was a t-shirt featuring a camel flying through a space background.
“Is that plain?”
“Yes.”
“……Okay.”
I stopped thinking about it.
“On moving day, it’s jajangmyeon.”
“Ah, right.”
“Should we order jajangmyeon? Tangsuyuk and gummandu too!”
Already the dorm was lively around Kwon Hak-jin, Lee Hae-won, and Na Jae-hyun.
With those three present, conversation would never stop and would keep circling.
It was the same energetic atmosphere as during the survival show.
‘Lee Hyo-seop is…….’
I turned my head toward the corner where Lee Hyo-seop sat.
He was the only one quietly in the corner. There was a strangely familiar sense of kinship.
Upon reflection, I hadn’t really talked much with Lee Hyo-seop during the survival dorm either. But since we were now on the same floor, I decided I should talk to him more.
***
After I finished organizing all the clothes I had brought for the closet, I gave my farewells and each member returned to their rooms.
On the way to my room, I glanced into the next door. It was Na Jae-hyun’s room. On the bed sat the pet stone I had seen throughout the survival show.
‘I’ll see that again.’
It was thanks to that pet stone that I had become close with Na Jae-hyun. Seeing it again after debuting made me feel a little strange.
I returned to my room and lay on the bed. Coming to the new dorm felt both strange and pleasantly exciting.
So I lay there staring at the ceiling for a while, then sat up.
‘Now I have to put that away.’
The notebook I had brought from the basement. It contained novel settings, story details, and plans to prepare for future dangers.
‘Actually, when I left the basement, I considered burning everything and switching to a personal pad, but…….’
I had no choice but to bring the notebook.
No matter how I thought about it, without it I would feel psychologically uneasy.
Recording on electronic devices also carried hacking risks, so after much deliberation I had chosen to write it by hand.
That was why I had placed the notebook in the safe I had prepared in advance and brought it to the dorm.
‘……This should be fine.’
I hid the safe deep beneath the bookshelf and sat up.
‘Even if it’s discovered, it should be okay. No matter who sees the notebook, I rewrote the content in a code only I understand, so nothing will be recognizable.’
Before arriving at the dorm, I had rewritten the notebook based on the original.
The content remained the same, but I replaced characters and terms with codes only I knew to prepare for anyone who might see it.
So even if someone read it, they would either not understand what it meant or think it was just a fictional novel. Unless they deeply dissected every line.
‘Well, there probably aren’t any otaku here who would go that deep.’
Among our members, I doubted there were that many.
After confirming the safe lock one last time, I lay back on the bed.
Ding.
Not long after lying down, a message arrived from Won Ji-an.
“Won Ji-an: How is it over there?”
As expected. Won Ji-an was also curious about what I was wondering.
“I: It’s not bad here.”
After answering, I asked him the same question.
“I: How is the upper floor?”
There was concern because only quiet members were on the upper floor.
Whether the conversation would flow smoothly.
“Won Ji-an: It’s quiet here.”
Um, quiet.
As I had expected.
“I: But isn’t quiet good? For you, quiet might be better than noisy.”
After that, no reply came. A few minutes later, one did.
“Won Ji-an: It feels like a library.”
Umm……
“I: Isn’t that good? For you, quiet might be better than noisy.”
“Won Ji-an: Is that so? I still don’t know. I think I need to live together more.”
We exchanged a conversation like that.
‘It feels like a library. That’s funny.’
The atmosphere on the upper floor was not much different from what I had expected.
After all, there were no members like Lee Hae-won or Na Jae-hyun who were noisy.
Well, it was the first day, so it could be like that. The combination of those five was also one I hadn’t seen much during the survival show.
Once we got closer, we would talk a lot.
‘That’s something to think about later…….’
I closed my eyes for a moment.
The first day in the new dorm. It was tense, yet strangely exhilarating.
I didn’t know what would happen after debuting, but I decided to take it one day at a time.