It Will Feel Like There's a Huge Wall

"Want to give it a try, Team Leader Sun?"

Chapter 57

It will feel like there's a huge wall.

It might become frightening, overwhelming, and suffocating.

The choreography for "A World for You" was designed with nine members in mind. It's a textbook song that pushes the limits of formations and group dance structures by maximizing those nine people. With only Winter and Summer performing, it was bound to feel thin.

Even so, don't give up. Keep moving forward.

Yet on their stage, that emptiness was nowhere to be felt.

Move forward. Don't hesitate, just move forward.

Move forward. Don't shrink back, just move forward.

Part of it came from Winter, who had thoroughly built her fundamentals through continuous training with Lee Hyerin. But the one playing the biggest role was Jin Yeoreum.

Jin Yeoreum turned the weakness of having only two people into a strength. She contrasted the choreography as if it were a duet dance, completely flipping sections into perfect symmetry to maximize the visual impact, pushing the two-person dynamic to its absolute limit.

There was no way they had rehearsed something like that. This sudden stage had given them no time. Winter was simply following the basic choreography as it was. The only conclusion from those two premises was that Jin Yeoreum was improvising changes on the spot, transforming the limitation of two people into something charming.

She had already visualized how the stage would look by imagining Winter's opposing movements in her mind. And she was just a trainee who had only recently joined.

Moreover, Jin Yeoreum had only returned after several years away. Even performing her own choreography perfectly should have been difficult.

"This is why they call them geniuses…"

A pure exclamation of admiration escaped me.

At that destination, create a world for you.

A world where you can smile, where you can dream.

A world for you.

The stage ended.

Unlike Winter, who maintained her composure except for a light sheen of sweat, Summer couldn't hold back her ragged breathing, struggling to steady her excited gasps. Considering she had once been close to making the national rhythmic gymnastics team, it wasn't a lack of natural stamina. It was probably because this was her first comeback stage in so long.

Still, compared to Winter, she inevitably looked lacking. Beyond that weak ending, Summer had made countless small mistakes during the performance. If you set aside her brilliant sense, the choreography changes, and the visual flair they created, from an industry perspective the stage was embarrassing to even put on.

"Kyaaah, Summer unnie!"

But the audience—the orphanage children—rushed toward Summer with explosive cheers, as if those flaws didn't matter at all.

"Let's do a cheer toss! A cheer toss!"

I could understand how they felt. Jin Yeoreum was captivating. So much so that none of her shortcomings were visible.

"…Wait a second, kids. I get how you feel, but…"

While Summer was flustered, Winter stepped in.

"Wow! A cheer toss! I want to do it too!"

"…You're the one who needs to be stopped, Winter."

The children clamored to lift Jin Yeoreum, but their lack of strength made it look quite precarious.

"Hey, grab the sides! What are you doing grabbing the same spot together?!"

"I grabbed here first, didn't I? You're the one who butted in!"

"Whatever, I'm staying here, so you can leave or not!"

"…By the way, why does Eunyoung always jump in whenever she sees Gyutae?"

"Ugh, you dense idiot. Don't you get it? Just hold Summer unnie's legs and shut up."

"Kids. Talk after you put me down! Unnie's getting mad, okay?"

I stepped in to sort out the chaos.

"Whoa, it's Team Leader Sun!"

Still holding onto Summer's neck, Winter waved at me with a bright smile. Summer, trapped by the children, looked at me like I was her savior.

"You came at the perfect time. Could you get the kids to let me go…"

"Just three times. That's it, kids."

"…Huh?"

I adjusted the children's positions, supported Summer so she wouldn't get hurt, and led the cheer toss.

"One, two, three!"

"Waaaah!"

"Wait, Team Leader Sun… Kyaaah!"

The children laughed brightly. Summer, who had been flustered, eventually started smiling as she began to enjoy herself.

It was a foolish, silly moment. Yet I wished this kind of time would never change—even though I knew I would eventually have to destroy it with my own hands.

Photo-taking continued.

"Kids, you have to eat the kongjaban too! The director and volunteers worked so hard making it since this morning."

"Summer noona, just give us bean rice instead! That kongjaban is beyond the rice police—it's the rice police chief!"

"Gyutae, don't exaggerate. The volunteers might misunderstand. Still, I'll try it once. …Kids, the jjimdak is delicious. Eat lots of jjimdak."

Click!

"Summer, how about trying the cleaner? I still think it's more convenient."

"Potato peels are economical. If I save money here, the kids can eat better food."

"Wouldn't your labor be more expensive than the money you're saving?"

"…"

Click!

"Unnie, dance for us again!"

"Yeah! Do 'Trouble Chaser' this time!"

"That's a dance for a guy and a girl. I can't do it alone."

"Eeeeh! Do it!"

"Just do it with Taeyang oppa over there who's filming!"

"Right, last time we saw you can dance too!"

"…Want to give it a try, Team Leader Sun?"

Click!

"Sometimes I get anxious."

"Are you afraid of what the future holds?"

"…It feels a little different. Rather than being scared of what will happen to me, I'm scared of what kind of influence I'll have on others. I'm the nation's least favorite person, after all."

"To the kids here at the orphanage, you're their favorite."

"…What about you, Team Leader Sun?"

"I've been participating this sincerely, so at this point, shouldn't I qualify as an orphanage friend?"

"…Haha, I guess so. I'll acknowledge you as an orphanage friend."

Summer covered her mouth with her hand and laughed elegantly.

Click!

"You're even taking pictures of this?"

"It's too precious a expression to miss."

At that, Summer bloomed into an even brighter smile.

Click!

I naturally captured that smile as well.

Before I knew it, the quest had been completed. It seemed the system had judged the photos stimulating enough.

"…"

There was no longer any need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to keep up the act. It was the end. I had to say it to Jin Yeoreum. There had been a slight misunderstanding. Working with you as an idol might need to be reconsidered—something along those lines, drawing a line.

But now that the quest was complete, I didn't say it.

"Team Leader Sun, did you have something you wanted to say?"

"No, not right now."

I simply didn't want to see that smile disappear just yet. Even while knowing that the longer I dragged this out, the harder it would become to say.

Two days later, I visited the orphanage again with Winter. Using the excuse that for a long-term plan, it was important for Winter or Autumn to show their faces as often as possible.

And Jin Yeoreum wasn't there.

I asked Yoon Haneul, who was doing educational volunteer work.

"Is today a day Summer isn't coming?"

Well, she would need a day off too. It would have been stranger if she had been coming every single day like before.

"Kids, wait a moment. Unnie's going to talk with Team Leader Sun for a bit."

Yoon Haneul stood up, led me to a corner of the hallway, and held out a letter.

"It's a letter Summer left. Would you read it?"

The letter was short and simple, but its contents were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anything but light. It carried the shocking information that she had chosen to study abroad instead of becoming an idol.

It was all so sudden. Hadn't we been talking normally just two days ago without any issues?

Maybe studying abroad wouldn't take as long as I thought. There was no way she could decide everything this abruptly, so perhaps she was still in the research stage.

I voiced that question to Yoon Haneul standing in front of me. She seemed to know something.

"How long would studying abroad take?"

Yoon Haneul shook her head.

"Summer won't be coming back here again."

It didn't seem like a temporary separation. Jin Yeoreum apparently intended to never see me, Autumn, or Winter again.

Why? This definitely hadn't happened in the previous timeline.

Things had gone wrong. To pull Jin Yeoreum into the group that would stably debut as the focal point of the chaebol third-generation gate three years from now, she needed to keep doing volunteer work. I hadn't accounted for the possibility of her fleeing overseas like this.

I needed to understand the situation and come up with countermeasures.

"…So you know exactly why Summer disappeared, Haneul. Could you tell me?"

Yoon Haneul gave a somewhat bitter smile.

"Team Leader Sun. Summer knew that you never actually intended to scout her for Two Bear."

"…"

…We were truly fucked.