Chapter 16
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Friction in the Debut Lineup
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The debut lineup members, including me and Lee Jae-ha, were summoned to one place. It was to exchange greetings before the full preparations kicked off.
In truth, Jae-ha already knew all the other members, so this was really just a chance for them to introduce themselves to me properly.
Kim Han-soo, who had gathered us, suddenly got an urgent call and had to leave. An awkward silence settled in for a moment, so we decided to just do standard self-introductions.
The first one up was Kim Ha-woon, the youngest and the most sociable of the bunch.
"Hey, hyungs! Nice to meet you all!"
Kim Ha-woon raised his hand energetically in greeting. His slightly wavy hair bounced lightly.
Next was the trainee sitting beside him, who had his forehead boldly exposed.
"I'm Park Tae-hoo, and I'm twenty years old, same age as Jae-ha."
"I'm Lee Do-jun, twenty-three."
We exchanged light eye contact and greetings, and I noticed his strikingly vivid brown eyes.
Lenses?
Even as we shook hands casually, I couldn't tear my gaze away from Park Tae-hoo's eyes. They were as pretty as jewels.
He must have noticed my staring because Park Tae-hoo gave an awkward smile and said,
"I'm mixed-race."
"Ah..."
I hoped I hadn't messed up just now. Was that rude?
Thankfully, though, Park Tae-hoo flashed a natural smile.
"You're older, so feel free to talk casually with me."
"Got it. I'll do that, then."
After greeting those two, only one member remained.
So this must be the guy Jae-ha mentioned.
Lim Joo-won, was it? His first impression was pretty sharp—almost prickly.
Instead of a proper greeting, he just scanned us with a haughty gaze before tossing out,
"Let's do well."
He came off as a bit rude, but hey, it could have been worse.
Things probably wouldn't go south right from the first meeting.
That's what I thought.
"Until personal activities start, anyway."
Until Lim Joo-won dropped that bombshell.
I was genuinely impressed for a second.
I couldn't think of a more absurd way to make everyone in the room feel dumbfounded in that moment.
In a way, this was some real talent.
He perched on the edge of the table, crossing his legs brazenly like he was putting on a show. His upper body leaned back slightly, exuding pure arrogance.
Then, in a tone that clearly dismissed us, he continued.
"Everyone knows idols have short careers anyway, so don't cause any scandals that could mess up my solo stuff. No idea who'll screw up first, though."
Wow, listen to this guy. No wonder Jae-ha hesitated but warned me beforehand.
But Lim Joo-won's rant didn't end there.
"Average idol lifespan? Barely five years at best. Who knows how successful I can get in that time if you drag me down—and if some idiot causes a scandal on top of it, we'll all go down together."
The more I listened, the more he crossed the line.
I couldn't just sit there quietly, so I stepped forward.
"Anyone hearing that would think we've already caused trouble."
Lim Joo-won curled his lip slightly and snorted, firing back confidently.
"Can't sing as well as actual singers, can't act as well as actors, and you don't even compose. Yet idols are the ones who screw up the most because they're drunk on the fans, right?"
...Is this guy insane?
He spouted such nonsense so boldly that it left me speechless.
I gathered my wits to counter, but he kept going.
"Well, the company's asking, so no choice. Anyway, I'm focusing on my solo career, so heads up."
"..."
"Don't cause scandals."
The moment he finished, Kim Ha-woon shot back in a sharp tone, like he'd been waiting.
"Then why not just go solo?"
"I wanted to, but the company insisted I join."
Lim Joo-won snickered and continued in his arrogant tone.
"Guess they think they can't succeed without me."
"What?"
Park Tae-hoo, who'd been silently watching, finally stood up in frustration. Lee Jae-ha's face had hardened, his lips pressed tight.
The only one calm in the room was Lim Joo-won, the source of all this chaos.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
Kim Ha-woon raised his voice in rebuttal.
"Of course you did!"
"What's wrong with it? Does anyone here even play an instrument, let alone compose?"
Lim Joo-won glanced around at us, not waiting for an answer before adding, "Right? No one?" and scoffing.
"That's why idols suck. They think they're singers when they can't even make one song."
"Why do you keep talking like that? Aren't you here to be an idol too? You're just shooting off your mouth from a safe spot."
"You're the ones getting defensive because it hits home, aren't you?"
"You started picking fights first!"
"Stating facts is picking a fight? Wow, you guys are something. No wonder idols cause so many scandals."
I could practically hear our group dynamics shattering right from the first meeting. Well, honestly, it started cracking the second Lim Joo-won opened his mouth.
It was salvageable at first, but now? Total recycle bin material—no, non-burnable trash.
Anyway, if we let this go on, it might turn into a real fight. I quickly reached out to hold Kim Ha-woon back.
If we fight, the company will blame both sides.
The debut lineup was all interconnected—no way around joint responsibility. That would only hurt us. I'd seen it plenty with Flame.
Still, some things had to be said.
"Pretty confident, huh? No one knows how things'll go, but we're stuck together, so ease up a bit."
Lim Joo-won paused mid-retort, then shrugged with a deflated look.
"Whatever. It's not gonna change anyway."
"Yeah, you're right about that."
"...What?"
He clearly hadn't expected me to agree so readily, staring at me with a flustered expression.
"Why?"
You said yourself nothing's gonna change—what's the problem?
❤
"At least the singing is tolerable."
The snide remark flew the instant Kim Ha-woon finished his song. Two days after our first meeting, and not only had things not improved—they'd gotten worse.
Kim Ha-woon glanced at Lim Joo-won's mocking face but decided to hold back, whipping his head away and moving on to the next track.
Tolerable, my ass. Anyone'd think he was some vocal prodigy.
Even as Kim Ha-woon sang, Lim Joo-won kept butting in, his face like he was a damn judge on a panel.
Lee Jae-ha, who'd been quietly watching, whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
"The rumors didn't even do him justice."
The first meeting was a disaster, but I hadn't expected it to stay this bad. Sure, no plot twist where he turns out nice—this wasn't a comic or novel.
Two days in, though, and we'd at least gotten somewhat used to his sharp tongue.
"Damn, scratch that. That's not even a song, is it?"
...Or maybe not.
"This is seriously bad. Ha-woon and Tae-hoo are worried too."
The silver lining? Lim Joo-won's antics had brought Jae-ha, the other two, and me much closer lightning-fast.
Daily gripes built solidarity, naturally.
...Except this isn't a good thing.
It was about a teammate we'd have to live with. Nothing to celebrate.
This was big trouble. If he kept acting untouchable, the team wouldn't hold together.
I let out a quiet sigh and murmured,
"I'm worried too. What do we do with that jerk?"
This industry was full of unknowns even right up to debut, but now that we were a group, we needed to get along.
We couldn't just kick out a confirmed debut member over petty squabbles. If that were possible, we'd have conspired a hundred times over.
Ejections needed solid justification.
Reporting Lim Joo-won upstairs? They'd just tell the elder one—you—to smooth things over and bond.
And Ha-woon already spilled to someone last night.
Kim Han-soo pulled me aside secretly and asked if there were issues. Told us to warm up quick even if it felt awkward at first.
Him bringing it up meant word had reached him.
Not Jae-ha, so one of the other two—obviously Ha-woon, given how Lim Joo-won targeted him most.
The good news...
"You really think you're that good?"
"Better than you, hyung?"
...was that Kim Ha-woon wasn't one to just take it lying down. He snapped back sharply at Lim Joo-won's sarcasm.
If he were more passive, Jae-ha or I would've had it worse—constantly shielding him.
Lim Joo-won's face crumpled noticeably at Ha-woon's retort.
"No major debut yet, and already full of arrogance. Well, better than no confidence, I guess."
Despite his expression, he spat it out boldly and stormed out of the practice room.
Who's arrogant now?
It was so ridiculous I doubted my ears. Arrogance? Seriously?
Why was he like this? I couldn't make sense of it.
Does he want solo so bad he's sabotaging the group?
Forcing a solo debut by claiming harassment made group activities impossible?
Otherwise, why act out when we'd share a dorm for years?
Lee Jae-ha muttered softly, clearly thinking the same.
"Is he even human...?"
Once Lim Joo-won's footsteps faded, Kim Ha-woon turned to us with an exasperated look.
"Hyungs, can't we do something? I can't practice with him. If he's like this now, how'll we survive living together?"
I agreed, but couldn't nod along rashly.
It might look like we were ganging up to oust him.
"Let's watch a bit longer. He hasn't done anything concrete yet."
"Huh? This isn't 'concrete'?"
"Nah. Just talk. He hasn't hit anyone or started a real fight."
"That'd be better. At least I'd punch back."
Kim Ha-woon grumbled, glancing at me for agreement, but I just smiled faintly instead of replying.
No one else here, but words could leak anytime. Better to stay quiet.
...But Lim Joo-won exceeded even that soon after.
❤
Title track work had entered its final stages.
Until it was done, we practiced songs we could use as repertoire for shows or stages.
We'd pretty much covered dances from all the hot idols lately—not an exaggeration.
After endless basics, everyone welcomed the dance practice shift.
Everyone except one.
"Lim Joo-won! Focus!"
The trainer snapped, face twisting in anger.
Lim Joo-won was pretty bad with his body. How many times had he messed up this easy part?
But his response to screwing up the choreography repeatedly was even worse.
"Do I have to match this?"
"What? What did you just say?"
"I mean, there are idols who just do vocals or dance, so why should I have to do it like them? I'm not a dancer."
The practice room air froze solid.
I thought I'd misheard at first, but the trainer's boiling-red face confirmed it wasn't my imagination.
I knew he wasn't right in the head, but this level...
"Ha! Is this punk nuts?"
The trainer inhaled deeply to cool off, then stomped to the table at the room's end and grabbed a water bottle.
In the awkward tension, Lee Jae-ha murmured to me alone.
"What do we do?"
Messing off the trainer hurt Lim Joo-won, sure—but our whole group too.
I checked the trainer's mood, then plastered on my brightest smile and placed a hand on Lim Joo-won's shoulder.
Whispering low enough for only him:
"If you can't do it, at least try hard. Or keep it polite, anyway."
Smack!
He swatted my hand off like it was a bug, sneering.
"You're the one who can only copy others' work—keep trying hard."
"Can't even copy right, but your mouth's going strong."
"Don't overstep with your critiques. You wouldn't get it anyway."
"I get that you can't dance, though?"
Our faces stayed smiling, but the exchange heated up.
No one around would suspect—the smiles hid it.
Lim Joo-won still wore a faint one after swatting my hand.
"I hate punks like you most. Clinging to songs and choreo others made without any skill of your own, acting all high and mighty."
"Jealous? Then hop on too. Oh wait—looks like you don't have the chops."
"Shut your crap and get lost. Stop acting cool."
As I geared up to clap back, the thunder rolled.
"What the hell are you two doing?!"
Smiles hid the vibe, but not his raised voice.
The trainer growled, fury at its peak.
"You're nowhere near debut-ready! I'm reporting this upstairs—get ready for it!"
Bang!
The trainer stormed out, the door slamming with a massive thud.