The Midnight Escapee
Two weeks had passed since the members moved into the dorm. Just when it seemed like our shared living arrangement was going smoothly without any major issues, strange things started happening a few days ago. Late at night, I began sensing an odd presence.
My senses haven't dulled much from my prime, even if I haven't fully regained my old capabilities yet. Thanks to that, I could easily track the movements of the members living in the same dorm. The presence I felt was clearly someone sneaking out of the building. In other words, one of our own was slipping out under the cover of darkness and crawling back in at dawn.
The culprit was quite clever about it. Since opening the front door would make noise, they were using the window to come and go. Considering our dorm was on the fourth floor, it was an incredibly bold and daring act.
“Telling the company... probably isn't a good idea, right?”
“Oho~ Just when our teamwork was finally starting to build up a little, it's all about to crash and burn~”
“Yeah, I thought so too. That doesn't seem right.”
The situation was that someone was deserting the dorm in the middle of the night. The most efficient solution would be to just report it to the company. But that would only create conflict between the members. Especially for a team like ours that was just beginning to develop a real group dynamic, one mistake could lead to an irreversible disaster.
“Shouldn't we figure out who it is first? YeriYeri, you said you know when someone leaves.”
“It's less that I know and more that I just feel it.”
“How is that even possible~? I had no idea at all~”
“Since I just feel it, I don't really have an explanation.”
“So who is it?”
“I haven't confirmed it, but it's obviously one of two people.”
“That makes sense. It's not me, and Seoeun lacks the ability. So in the end, it's either JeongJeong or Sasha?”
I had never directly confronted the person. It was a bit awkward, really. They didn't go out every night, just occasionally, and the timing was all over the place. If I wanted to catch them, I'd have to stay on standby for at least a few days myself. No, five-minute alert status during daily life? I'd only just started getting proper sleep again after nearly ten years—did I really have to give up my sweet dreams for something like this?
If there was truly no other way, I'd have to resort to that as a last resort, but we weren't at that level yet. Besides, even without launching a surprise attack, I could roughly guess the culprit's identity.
The person's movements were tight enough that anyone less skilled than me would have trouble noticing. Plus, this was the fourth floor. Climbing up and down through a window required more than ordinary ability. That meant Yu Hana, who shared a room with me, and Ji Seoeun, the member with the weakest physical abilities, could be ruled out from the start.
“Then shouldn't we just ask the two of them directly?”
“Hmm... would that work? Sneaking out at night clearly means they're doing something personal. We're not close enough yet to ask about that kind of thing. And if they dodge the question, there's nothing we can do about it, right?”
“That's true.”
“Besides, you know how people are. When they're cornered, they get defensive and angry first. We'd be lucky if it doesn't just create unnecessary trouble.”
“So what are you planning to do~ our dear YeriYeri?”
“Honestly, I don't know. I just hope nothing blows up...”
Not knowing the person's purpose made it even more frustrating. If I at least knew what they were doing out there, it wouldn't weigh on my mind this much. And our dear squinty-eyed friend was practically pouring oil on the fire right beside me.
“If they're sneaking out of the dorm at night, isn't it obvious what they're doing?”
“Obvious? What?”
“A club, obviously~”
“...What?”
“I'm honestly a little disappointed~ If they're going to such a nice place, why didn't they take me with them~?”
“Hey, is that really something you should be saying?”
“Why not~? Just imagine it. If Sasha or JeongJeong showed up at a club with me~ wouldn't the guys go 'ooh~'?”
“Ugh, well, that's true, but...”
It wasn't a joke—Seong Jiyeong or Tasha showing up at a club would probably cause quite a stir. If Yu Hana joined them, the men would lose their minds. And when I thought about it that way, it started to seem plausible.
What else would an idol trainee sneak out at night for, anyway? Of course, the two in question didn't seem like the clubbing type, but people were often different from how they appeared. Especially women—plenty went to clubs just because they liked dancing or the music, not necessarily to meet men.
“I feel like I just stepped on a weird landmine.”
“Why? Are you against clubs, YeriYeri?”
“It's not that I'm against them, but... wouldn't it be problematic?”
“Clubs aren't bad places. Isn't it a bit much to oppose them so strongly? If you tighten the leash too much, it usually backfires~”
“That's true, but...”
Objectively speaking, enjoying a bit of nightlife wasn't that big of a problem. It would be different after debut, but since we hadn't even debuted yet, and our faces weren't known at all, slipping out to relieve some stress wouldn't be such a terrible sin. I'd prefer they didn't start that kind of thing at all, but that was just my personal opinion.
In this situation, if one of them wanted to go out and have fun for a while, did I even have the right to stop them? The company, which had invested a huge amount in us as trainees, might have that authority, but we were just fellow trainees. Still, regardless of that, it wasn't a good look for a trainee to be frequenting clubs.
We hadn't confirmed the escapee's destination was a club yet, but the mere possibility was starting to worry me. If it was true, I had no idea what to say or how to say it.
“If you're that worried, why not try sounding Sasha out?”
“Sound her out?”
“For the time being, you'll be spending a lot more time with Sasha. Since the opportunity is there, it wouldn't hurt to test the waters.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“Oh, it's nothing special. We've pretty much covered the basics, right? We're moving into intensive training for about a month now, and it looks like you'll be learning rap together with Sasha.”
“Rap? Me and Tasha?”
I had heard that we would soon begin individualized intensive training. Once the basics were covered, we'd do a month of intensive training, then immediately settle on a group concept, receive songs, practice for another three months, and set a debut schedule—that was the company's plan. But this was the first I'd heard that my intensive training would be in rap. The part about doing it with Tasha was even more surprising.
“Tell me more. Why am I learning rap?”
“Doesn't it make sense that Tasha is learning rap?”
“Yeah, that part I get. But why me? I think my singing ability is pretty competitive.”
“Your vocal tone is quite unique, YeriYeri. The staff think it actually suits rap better.”
“Well, that's true, but...”
“Basically, you'll do both rap and singing. Instead of Tasha learning rap alone, they figured they might as well have you do it together. Plus, in the current situation, there's no reason for you to take advanced vocal lessons. I heard JeongJeong is the one getting the advanced vocal training.”
“I have no idea what's going on anymore.”
From what I'd felt during the month of training, Tasha's singing ability was somehow twisted. And it wasn't something that could be fixed quickly. Even Bulldog had concluded that rehabilitating Tasha's singing would take quite a long time. The fact that even Bulldog's steel teeth—which never gave up on a trainee no matter how much she cursed them—had been repelled made it clear that Tasha's singing wouldn't improve easily.
While it might be possible to improve it as a long-term project, we were a debut team. We didn't have the luxury of investing that much time in training. That's why there had been talk from the beginning about redirecting Tasha toward rap instead. She herself was vaguely aware of it. But the fact that I was being dragged into it was a bit shocking. The comment about my tone being better suited for rap was something I'd never heard in my life.
“By the way, where the hell do you hear all this stuff? It shouldn't even be finalized yet.”
“It is finalized. The CEO is personally looking into rap lessons~ He's even pulling strings through his connections.”
“This is getting weirder and weirder. What exactly are you? Did you plant a bug in the company or something?”
As team training increased, the time we all spent together had grown as well. Yu Hana in particular stuck to me like glue these days. Of course there were still individual training sessions, but aside from the PR team staff who filmed us, other employees rarely came near the training area. There shouldn't have been any opportunity for someone to slip her information. Yet she had obtained such high-quality intel in advance? There was definitely something going on.
This time, I decided I really needed to figure out what Yu Hana actually was and pressed her a bit harder. But she was Yu Hana, after all. She brushed off my pressure like it was nothing and answered coolly. So coolly that I was the one who ended up flustered. Though what she said next was even more shocking.
“Yup yup~ It would be troublesome if the company did something weird, wouldn't it? I need to know things in advance so I can prepare~”
“Oh my god. Then during the debut team audition...”
“You suddenly came into the office and uploaded something. Then everything went crazy, so I figured you must have uploaded something serious. So I checked what the file was...”
“Damn, so that's what it was.”
Was this the way a stone-cold schemer thought? Installing hidden cameras in the office. It was a mindset that a normal person like me could never understand. Objectively speaking, Yu Hana's judgment had been the best option. The idea that an artist could completely trust their company was ridiculous. The entertainment industry was the kind of place that would stab you in the back the moment you let your guard down. In that sense, I was the unusual case for fully trusting the company.
But if I hadn't had my memories from the first round, Na Yeri's memories, and hadn't watched Purple Swan seniors build genuine affection for the company, I probably would have thought the same way as Yu Hana. However, as I'd mentioned before, knowing something and actually doing it were completely different matters. A normal person wouldn't install hidden cameras or bugs in the company.
Our squinty-eyed friend really seemed to produce horror stories the more you dug into her.
“Wouldn't it be better to think positively? It's not exactly a loss for you either, YeriYeri.”
“Ugh, well...”
It was shocking, but she wasn't wrong. I basically trusted the Cha Enter staff, but every organization had its trolls. If I could know in advance when someone was planning something strange, I'd be able to handle it more smoothly. So it was definitely an efficient decision, but it still left me with complicated feelings.
So this girl was really one of our members? Could I actually control her properly? I could only desperately hope that my life genre wouldn't shift from entertainment industry story to spy thriller.