Chapter 122
Chapter 122
One of the few rules about the System I had figured out was that using a Save Point would generate a Hint.
And just now, another piece of information about the System—already scarce to begin with—had vanished.
Right after I'd called it machine-like and precise, an exception popped up.
'Wait.'
Come to think of it, something I had completely forgotten ever since I started seriously preparing for debut suddenly came to mind.
What the reason was that I had to follow this System's orders.
'The warning sound... I haven't heard it.'
I clearly remembered that if you heard the warning sound three times, time would forcibly rewind.
Leaving aside the fact that time hadn't rewound once since Christmas, the Hints had helped me in a way that kept me from hearing the warning sound.
So, the absence of a Hint could be taken to mean there'd be no more warnings from now on.
'Then...'
Of course, even if there were no more restrictions, at this point I had absolutely no reason to bolt from Sorasum and go back to studying for the college entrance exam again.
But the System remained.
Only the idealistic goal of rising to the top remained.
'Why does it still exist?'
If there's no penalty and no Hints, then what's the point of its existence?
Could I just consider it a superpower I got?
A superpower that makes text pop up in front of my eyes?
What use is it if only I can see it and no one else?
"......."
I picked up my phone and checked the time.
'I'll get three hours of sleep.'
Let's just sleep.
The System or whatever wasn't what mattered right now.
* * *
And then I opened my eyes to the sound of my alarm without even realizing I had fallen asleep.
We headed to the practice room in the early morning air and immersed ourselves in practice for the upcoming activities to be revealed later.
After finishing the practice that went on for hours, we completed our scheduled filming... and...
When I came to my senses, I found myself at Music Record.
As I'd mentioned before, the advantage of Music Record was that they gave each team its own waiting room.
During the waiting time after rehearsal, while we waited for the live broadcast to start, the members sprawled out in comfortable spots and tried to catch some shut-eye.
I had settled into a corner, covering my eyes with one arm, trying to sleep, but...
'I'm wide awake.'
A few caffeine pills later, I couldn't get my eyes to close.
In the end, I gave up on sleep and got up to at least take care of my throat.
I was kneading my shoulders and stretching when suddenly, someone tugged at my clothes.
"Going to see Yoon Haejun?"
"No...?"
I looked down and saw Kim Yuri, who had been sleeping next to me, muttering with his eyes half-open.
"Don't go."
"I said I'm not going."
At my answer, Kim Yuri closed his eyes as if relieved.
Then they flew open again.
"Agh, if I fall asleep like this I'll dream about Yoon Haejun, so I can't sleep. I'm getting up."
"......."
It felt like watching a horror movie.
While I was dumbfounded, Kim Yuri got up nonchalantly and stretched leisurely.
"Wanna go to the snack bar?"
Hearing that, I realized I did feel like I needed to eat something. The waiting room was too quiet, and it felt a bit awkward being the only ones awake.
So we grabbed the behind-the-scenes camera and left the waiting room.
And as soon as we arrived at the snack bar, Kim Yuri grabbed my arm and exclaimed.
"Buy this for me."
'...It's a company card anyway, so why's he asking me to buy it? He's the one swiping it, too.'
But since we were being filmed, I decided to act cool.
"I'll buy you everything, just say the word."
"Wow~ But that's a company card."
"......."
"Everyone, did you see that? Cha-gyeom always acts cool like this~"
Damn, it was a trap.
I was picking up the roasted chestnuts he'd pointed at while glaring at Kim Yuri, who was giggling away.
"Should I buy that for you?"
A voice came from behind.
Kim Yuri's lips instantly turned down as he turned to identify the voice.
"No, sunbae, don't you have to go into the live broadcast soon?"
"There's still plenty of time. So hyung likes roasted chestnuts. Want me to buy them for you?"
Yoon Haejun approached me, taking out his card, and said.
"You must be far from receiving any settlement."
'That sounded like he'd already gotten his settlement.'
Even after deducting training costs, considering AWER's promotion scale, the investment must have been substantial.
Hmm... Well, since they managed to rank 5th among boy groups just six months after debut, it's only natural.
"It's fine. You don't have to buy them."
As Yoon Haejun said, we were probably a long way from receiving our first settlement. The very reason Sorasum was being praised right now was because they didn't hold back on spending.
Still, there was no need to rely on others, since I got an allowance every month under the name of 'dignity expenses'.
Han Neuti and I also still had the compensation we'd received from QTen. Enough to do several more reverse fan supports.
And even if not that...
"Cha-gyeom, our President's card has no limit, so let's go wild."
"Aren't those charges all included in the final settlement? I heard that's how it is with small companies."
"Ah, our President is so generous, letting us use his personal card however we want, it's so cool! Right, Cha-gyeom!"
'Just talk to each other, will you?'
As I stood there feeling like a ping pong net between the two of them, Yoon Haejun smiled brightly and said.
"What a good company! That's a relief."
'Hmm...'
'True. Lately, I've been acknowledging it with no complaints.'
'That Sorasum was a pretty decent company.'
"Still, let me buy them. Oh, the gimbap here is delicious, have you tried it?"
"No."
I glanced at Kim Yuri and answered curtly, and Yoon Haejun nodded as if relieved.
"Then try it with the members. How many rolls do you need?"
"Seven..."
"Eight."
Kim Yuri intercepted my answer.
Yoon Haejun immediately approached the counter and ordered like a regular.
"Four salmon avocado gimbap rolls, four pollock roe egg roll gimbap rolls, and one iced Ameri-cano, please."
A moment later, a bag of gimbap and an iced Ameri-cano were handed to me.
"Here, enjoy."
I stared at the Ameri-cano in my hand and spoke.
"Yoon Haejun."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for suggesting the challenge dance. The reaction was good."
At my words, Yoon Haejun's eyes sparkled as he smiled.
"Yeah, next time, let's do it just the two of us!"
And Yoon Haejun left the snack bar to do his MC duties.
Just as I thought we should head back to the waiting room, Kim Yuri held out his palm to me.
"Give it."
"I can carry it."
"Not that. The coffee. You don't drink it anyway."
I handed over the Ameri-cano and casually shoved the gimbap at him too.
So Kim Yuri, with eight rolls of gimbap and an Ameri-cano in both hands, and I, empty-handed, walked back to the waiting room in silence.
When I opened the waiting room door, the members had already gotten up.
"Where'd you go?"
"The snack bar. Have some gimbap."
I handed out one roll each to the members except Kim Sanho, who wasn't in the waiting room.
One remaining roll was for the manager.
The last one...
"Hyung, what's that one?"
"Give it to Gyeon-woo."
'Since when did he start looking after Baek Gyeonwoo?'
Baek Gyeonwoo, as if finding it odd, looked at Kim Yuri and asked.
"Why do I get two?"
"Yoon Haejun offered to buy, so I took the opportunity to get extra."
'...What a reason.'
Never mind the intention, having such ulterior motives and only adding one extra roll made him seem really petty.
Anyway, Baek Gyeonwoo's favorability toward Yoon Haejun seemed to have gone up.
"It's good."
"Which one's better?"
"The salmon."
'Then I should give the salmon ones to Kim Sanho and the manager.'
I sat next to Baek Gyeonwoo and peeled open the pollock roe gimbap, asking.
"So, where did San-ho go?"
"He went to talk with that Hainore guy."
I paused for a moment, then resumed peeling.
'It's just a conversation.'
Until a few days ago, I just wanted to prevent him from saying something unnecessary related to the internet controversy.
Anyway, they're old colleagues, he can have a conversation.
For reference, the 'Kim Sanho Protection Project' or whatever that Jeong Sowol had launched had fizzled out.
As soon as the matter was resolved, Baek Gyeonwoo fled the group chat, so we ended up with yet another private chat—just me and Jeong Sowol.
'Now that I think about it, we were seriously... overprotective.'
I chuckled and peeled open the gimbap.
Through the rustling of the wrapper, I heard Baek Gyeonwoo's voice.
"Why are you taking forever just to open that?"
"......."
"If you're worried, just go check."
I picked up my chopsticks and replied.
"Why would I be worried?"
Then, just as I was about to shove the gimbap into my mouth, I asked.
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know either."
Baek Gyeonwoo was truly unhelpful.
I set down my chopsticks and got up.
I was about to open the door to go out into the hallway when it swung open from the outside first.
"Where are you going?"
To find you.
I said to Kim Sanho, who was standing at the door looking baffled.
"Done with your talk?"
"Ah, yes, I... finished."
"But."
"He said he had something to say to you."
"To me?"
Kim Sanho nodded blankly.
'Something to say to me, of all people...'
'Well, I guess it figures.'
I quickly shrugged off my bewilderment and headed in the direction Kim Sanho indicated.
Because I'd imagined some secret meeting, I'd pictured a secluded corner, but the place waiting for me was a corridor bathed in sunlight through the windows, with a bright atmosphere. Just no one passing by.
And the Hainore member stood there alone, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.
He turned his head at the sound of my approach.
"What did you..."
"I'm sorry."
Before I could finish my sentence, an apology came.
...His posture made it not sound sincere at all, though.
He kept his arms crossed, looking at the floor, and muttered.
"I overstepped, and... congratulations on first place."
"Ah, okay."
"I think it's a relief that San-ho joined your team."
Through this conversation, I learned that congratulations and apologies shouldn't be delivered at the same time.
It sounded like he wouldn't have acknowledged it if we hadn't won first place.
"Also, I'm sorry for judging you based on rumors."
"Ah, yes..."
He continued, eyes fixed on the floor.
"I was really worried. I treasured San-ho a lot, and back then... our team's concept changed, so San-ho... ended up leaving."
"Yes."
"After San-ho left, I regretted not speaking up more to the company. But since I didn't say anything, that... probably made me more sensitive out of regret."
I didn't understand why he'd feel guilty, as if a fellow trainee had any authority over the debut selection, but...
Anyway, it was also ridiculous that he was still so attached to someone who was now on a different team.
But showing an honest reaction here wouldn't be wise, since we'd be running into each other many times as colleagues in the industry.
I just nodded mechanically.
"Ah, yeah."
"When I first heard he'd debut with Sorasum... no, with Mmph-mmph, I think I got even more worried. That guy has a bad reputation..."
Less than a minute after he'd apologized for judging by rumors, he was judging by rumors again.
But more than that.
"Mmph-mmph?"
He looked puzzled at my question.
And he asked back.
"What's Mmph-mmph?"
"Didn't you just say Mmph-mmph?"
"I didn't say that. ...Do you perhaps talk in Mmph-mmph?"
"Bbyong... what?"
"Meow. Meow. Meow."
"Meow meow... meow?"
What?
I was dumbfounded, and his face hardened too.
"...Anyway, I thought it looked good that he debuted with you, Cha-gyeom."
And he bowed.
"I'll make sure we won't have any reason to get red-faced in the future."
After saying that, he hurriedly left.
"......."
I watched his back and thought.
'...Kim Sanho almost debuted with a real weirdo.'