Chapter 76

He looked like he was incredibly pissed off.

But the guy whose outside and inside were painfully different waited until I left before turning off the lights.

***

“Alright, who wants to come out and give it a try?”

It was a good suggestion.

I jabbed Gowon’s waist hard with my elbow.

The guy, who had been caught off guard, barely held back a groan, but his foot instinctively took a small step forward.

“Gowon’s good. Come over here.”

Gowon glared at me like he wanted to punch me.

But I couldn’t teach him dance perfectly anyway, so it couldn’t be helped.

And even if they were fellow trainees, getting experience dancing in front of a large group was incredibly important.

“Oh, Gowon’s movements have a lot more power now. This is much better.”

Plausibility increased.

Current Plausibility: 9% (▲1)

During the free practice time after mentoring ended—

“You’re supposed to breathe there. Why did it end up like this?”

“...I did it the way you told me.”

“Do it again. Along with the dance.”

“......”

“Ah, that’s not it. Again.”

Unable to resist my constant pushing, Gowon followed along before quietly muttering.

“I understand what kind of feeling you had when you did it during the judges’ evaluation...”

“There’s no way. Anyway, do it again.”

A staff member holding a handheld camera approached, probably hoping to capture an interesting scene from our bickering.

I didn’t miss the opportunity and grabbed Gowon’s bangs, pushing them back over his forehead.

“......! Wh-what are you doing? Why are you doing this?”

As requested, I released his bangs, letting them scatter smoothly back over his forehead.

Like a male lead in a drama who had just been hit by a flower-scented breeze.

Clear cat-like eyes, a well-defined nose bridge, a smooth jawline, and an atmosphere far beyond his age.

The camcorder lens instinctively filled the frame with Gowon’s face.

“Hyung, you’re handsome. Why do you keep covering your face?”

“L-let go of this...”

The next day, Gowon was called over by the staff, received some proper styling, and came back. I guess they couldn’t stand looking at an unpolished gemstone covered in dirt and took him to the hair team.

The trainees’ eyes widening when they saw Gowon appear with his new look was just an added bonus.

Plausibility increased.

Current Plausibility: 19% (▲10)

‘Ah, there we go.’

But I had to ramble on and lecture him for thirty minutes just to raise it by 1, and revealing his face gave me 10 right away?

That was annoying in its own way.

“Please step forward when I call your names. Baek Hanje?”

“Yes.”

A few more trainees’ names were called. And then—

“Gowon.”

“...Yes.”

By this point, I had realized this was the list of individual trainees without an agency.

“We called you because we need to prepare your one-minute PR videos. Trainees who came from agencies helped each other by appearing as supporting performers, so individual trainees can also team up and film together if they want.”

Everyone seemed to understand what the staff member meant, but there were exactly two people standing there with blank expressions.

One was a twenty-six-year-old inside the shell of a seventeen-year-old who had never paid close attention during the peak era of idol survival shows because he himself had been going through a brutal promotion period.

The other was an eighteen-year-old ordinary person who had gotten swept into the entertainment industry by accident.

“Let us know once you’ve decided on your concept.”

In principle, individual trainees were temporarily affiliated with entertainment companies connected to the broadcasting station so they could receive help with things they couldn’t handle alone.

At least I understood that the support wasn’t exactly detailed or attentive.

That might change if viewer voting started and they showed potential to debut, though.

“Hey.”

“......”

“You don’t know what’s going on right now either, do you?”

Instead of answering, Gowon silently lowered his gaze toward me.

“Looks like the only idiots here are the two of us, so let’s study together, fellow failures.”

“...Why do you always talk like that?”

He looked somewhat dissatisfied, but Gowon obediently sat down beside me, leaning against the practice room wall.

That was how we watched the one-minute PR videos from previous audition programs.

Hello! I’m Kim Taek-eon, here to steal the hearts of the voters.The screen showed his face making various cute expressions from multiple angles, then showed his full body wearing a pastel-toned school uniform.

To all the voters who only saw me as cute! Taek-eon’s unexpected charm is that my specialty is the electric guitar.The video soon transitioned to a scene of him passionately playing guitar under psychedelic lighting.

You’ll keep watching the various stories of Kim Taek-eon, won’t you?It ended with his back view as he breathed heavily after pouring everything into the performance, followed by a fresh smile.

It was obvious this was a video the company had put a lot of effort into preparing.

It looked like they had used at least two studios, and they had poured tons of work into the composition and editing to imprint his image within one minute.

‘The collaboration the staff member mentioned earlier probably means something like the other trainees briefly appearing with drums and synthesizers during the electric guitar performance...’

It was a method that could create synergy, but it also carried the risk of the comments section being flooded with things like, “I only see the drummer. Who is this guy?”

Before Gowon even got to those deeper considerations, though, it seemed he was already shocked by a boy his age showing off every possible bit of charm.

“...Do you really... have to do it like... this?”

“Want to watch some others?”

“Uh...”

But the desperation of trainees who wanted to debut was only greater, never less.

“......”

When one trainee puffed out both cheeks and made a cheek heart, Gowon’s face turned completely pale.

‘You said you only started gaining popularity once the actual competitions began.’

I understood.

You must have completely failed your PR video too, huh, idiot...

Now then, what kind of concept could properly showcase this teenage boy who had no sense of cuteness?

Shin Namwon hyung, the concept freak beyond another dimension. Think about our friendship and send me some telepathy already.

‘The keywords are cat-like beauty, an eighteen-year-old teenager, and... low budget.’

Considering his age, freshness was the standard choice, but his dull emotions would limit how much he could convey.

The strongest expressions I had seen from him were resignation, irritation, annoyance... and even those only came out when I poked him from the side.

‘Wait.’

Then wouldn’t it work if he was being emotionally stimulated throughout the entire shoot?

“Hey.”

My elbow jabbed into Gowon’s arm.

“Ugh.”

“Are you any good at basketball?”

The irritation that rose in Gowon’s eyes as he clutched his arm slowly transformed into competitiveness.

***

Around the time autumn was transitioning into winter, even daytime carried a chill.

But something colder than the weather was the way they treated trainees like nothing more than filming equipment.

When we arrived at the street basketball court where the shoot would take place, I saw Gowon, who had arrived first.

‘...Even if they dumped this on him as some side task, this is too much.’

There wasn’t even a trace of basic hair or makeup on his face.

Not knowing how to act friendly toward the filming staff, he sat there alone and awkward. I dropped my bag down beside him.

“Ready to get destroyed?”

“Hah.”

The corners of his eyes lifted as he clicked his tongue.

But I was a lyricist, so even those words carried a double meaning.

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out the lip balm I had brought. Then I grabbed Gowon’s chin.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Stay still. Like this, you’ll look like the Grim Reaper under sunlight.”

“Damn it, stop.”

“Then the people watching you on TV will worry that something’s wrong with you.”

“......”

The first thing that probably came to his mind was his family.

Although he frowned as if enduring the discomfort, he didn’t turn his head away.

After adding some life back into his dry lips with lip balm, I moved on to his hair.

Since it would get messy during the game anyway, neatly combing it and lightly fixing it with spray was enough.

Spritz—

“You can breathe.”

“......”

Spritz—

“Done.”

After patting his shoulders, the breath he had been holding in finally escaped cautiously. Gowon looked at his reflection in his phone’s black screen, then glanced at me with slightly surprised eyes.

“...You, this kind of thing...”

“I’ve done it a lot.”

As I zipped the bag shut, I added one more thing.

“About ten years ago?”

“What?”

I had only told him the truth, but Gowon looked offended, as if I had treated him like a childhood playmate.

Soon, a staff member called the two of us over, saying preparations for filming were complete.

“You said the concept is the two of you playing a basketball game, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then first, don’t worry about the camera and just move naturally.”

“Yes.”

I stretched and loosened my wrists and ankles. A moment later, the basketball bounced heavily between the two of us.

Thirty minutes later, Gowon and I looked like it was impossible to tell whether the season was summer or autumn.

Of course, I had suggested basketball because I thought provoking Gowon’s competitiveness would produce a scene fitting for seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds.

But at some point, I had started running around the court with my teeth clenched too.

‘This guy... he’s seriously good with his body.’

Quick reflexes that adapted to the situation, limbs that moved with flexibility. The foundation behind his insane dance growth rate was right here.