Chapter 80

The song itself was good.

The original artist’s image was faint enough, and there was a certain part where people would go, “Oh, this one?!” which made it an excellent survival competition song.

However, for the squirrel class alone, it was the worst possible choice.

One of them had casually mentioned part of the lyrics earlier.

The full version went like this.

Today is the day, there’s no putting it off anymore.

The moment our eyes meet, Red Light.

Enjoy yourself until this night is over.Let’s imagine it.

Imagine a group of minors singing this seductively.

The only ones in this squirrel class who even had somewhat sharp features were me and Gowon.

If seventeen-year-old Baek Hanje and eighteen-year-old Gowon said something like, “Come see me tonight,” they wouldn’t look like younger men making advances.

They’d look like rebellious delinquent kids.

There were various types of sexy concepts.

Something like Gowon in the real world, where he threw himself toward his ambitions or became passionately obsessed with something, could still be pulled off at this age to some degree.

Tonight, Umm, Umm, Umm.But a sticky... adult kind of composure, maybe?

A blatant sexy concept with sexual appeal could never overcome the barrier of age.

And there was one person besides me who understood the situation.

“...Ah..., this song, the lyrics....”

It was Newton’s leader, Nam Jeongho.

‘Oh....’

He matched the members’ tendencies well, understood the situation quickly, and even tried not to show his anxiety despite sensing the seriousness of the problem.

‘So there was a reason you became the leader.’

“Um. Going back to what we were talking about earlier, there’s someone I’d like to recommend as leader too.”

The squirrel class’s eyes gathered on me as I raised my hand.

“I recommend Nam Jeongho trainee.”

“M-Me?”

“And I’m sorry to the two people who recommended me, but I’ll withdraw from the leader candidate position.”

I had never intended to become leader from the beginning.

Even if I seemed like someone who lived however he wanted, there were principles I always followed.

“I don’t take major roles when participating in producing.”

The squirrel class members looked confused, wondering what I meant.

“Because I’m human too. If I have authority while also handling the song, fairness inevitably gets affected.”

Soon, they swallowed their breaths in surprise.

For the same reason, I had handed the main vocalist position in Young Ace over to Yunjin.

The quest window had pressured me as well, but considering my own greed for the stage, I thought this arrangement was better.

“I-I think Jeongho hyung would be a good leader too.”

BigTree junior raised his hand cautiously while reading the room.

“I shared a dorm with Jeongho hyung, and when we practiced, he was really good at seeing our strengths and weaknesses. And he’s also the oldest among us, so....”

After that additional explanation, nobody objected.

Only Nam Jeongho himself looked lost as he received applause for becoming leader.

“I’ll do my best. Thank you.”

Afterward, the squirrel class finished organizing how they would address each other according to age and began their meeting.

“Hanje, um... do you have any arrangement ideas? I’m not trying to put pressure on you. I was just wondering if you had a direction in mind.”

Nam Jeongho cautiously asked me.

“I’m not sure. I don’t really know yet.”

“Then should we all think about it together? How about learning the original choreography first?”

“Sounds good!”

Yeah, maybe something would come to me while analyzing the song.

But the squirrel class friends faced reality faster than I found a breakthrough.

Far away, the 20-something members of the Black Team were creating provocative choreography with shoulder and hip waves.

After seeing that, the Red Team members looked at themselves dancing a sexy routine in the mirror and finally realized it.

No matter how much they burned themselves out on stage, it would look like a comedy act if they continued like this....

“What song does the Red Team have?”

“D-Day! By Be Yours seniors!”

The ones who had answered so energetically at first...

“What kind of performance is the Red Team doing?”

“Ah, D-Day... We got assigned it, and we’re planning to arrange it.... But we have Hanje hyung, an arrangement genius, on our team....”

It took less than two hours for them to change like this.

While the team members anxiously glanced at me, only Gowon was off to the side analyzing the details of the movements.

The guy who kept moving even when others rested had already absorbed most of the choreography.

As expected, among the squirrel class, Gowon was the only one who could somewhat pull off the mood of this song.

If he were twenty, I might have tried playing it off as a bold younger guy making a move.

Being a high school student was pretty decent, but there were still moments when reality hit.

Then what about the kids who had not even escaped their childishness at all?

“I don’t think the sexy concept suits me that well... but since Hanje said he’d handle all the producing, it’s hard for me to say anything....”

The team members were called away one by one for individual interviews, and because the timing was off, I accidentally overheard the contents.

‘Music, this guy really doesn’t change easily.’

The sorrowful voice mixed with a hint of tears brought back memories of Singapore.

Especially because Gowon happened to be right beside me.

Of course, this wasn’t the twenty-year-old Gowon who had grabbed someone by the collar in anger after hearing insults about his brother, so all he did was cross his arms and slightly frown.

Then he lowered his gaze and glanced at me.

“Forget it. Leave him alone.”

‘It’s also true that I haven’t come up with an arrangement plan yet.’

With the stage about to collapse like this, Music must have decided to lay the groundwork first.

The guy finished his interview and noticed the two of us behind the partition wall. He flinched in surprise.

When I smiled and waved, he must have assumed I hadn’t heard anything and shamelessly spoke to me.

“Wow, I’m next after Hanje and Woni! I’m really excited to hear what you two say. Do well in your interviews, and see you in the practice room!”

The writer who had conducted Music’s interview let out a small laugh at his attitude.

See? I told you there were countless people in this industry who had rookie behavior completely in the palm of their hands.

“Baek Hanje trainee’s interview will begin. How do you feel about currently being ranked first?”

“I’m happy. And I also feel the desire to do even better.”

“The Red Team’s song is D-Day. When you first received the song, what did you think?”

“Hmm.”

I wondered what kind of disaster had suddenly fallen on me.

But doing nothing in this situation was something neither my pride as a producer nor my title as the senior who “lays down a flower path” would allow.

“The song is very public-friendly, so there were many things to think about. Since many people already know the original song’s mood, I thought the process of making it fit our team’s color wouldn’t be easy.”

“Then will the arrangement be entirely handled by Baek Hanje trainee?”

I was certain this question would be aired alongside the interview Music had just given.

That meant if the stage succeeded, I would only break even.

If it failed, I would take all the blame alone.

“Yes. Of course.”

After finishing my interview and walking out, I naturally passed by Gowon, who was next.

“.......”

“Do well.”

I lightly tapped his shoulder and headed back to the practice room.

From that moment on, the time attack where I pushed myself began.

Even during breaks in practice, even while eating dinner, I kept holding onto my tablet, searching, checking materials, writing things down, and deleting them again.

“Guys, let’s all think hard about ideas too and tell Hanje.”

Nam Jeongho tried his best as leader, but no sharp alternatives came out.

After staring meaninglessly at the blank white screen, I lifted my head and met the eyes of someone looking this way.

‘What? What are you looking at?’

It was Gowon, leaning against the opposite wall.

He didn’t look at me for long and turned away, moving to another spot.

Maybe it really was because he was eighteen.

It seemed like puberty was real after all.

***

Practice continued to drag on even after that.

“Um... guys, let’s rest properly for now. We still have plenty of time, so don’t get too anxious. We’re doing well.”

“Yes....”

Perhaps realizing that things couldn’t continue like this, Nam Jeongho wrapped things up and dismissed everyone.

The tense atmosphere that had gathered around them scattered, leaving behind dark expressions.

I also stood up, but instead of heading to the dorm, I went outside the building.

“Ugh.”

The cold wind slipped between my clothes.

Before coming to this world, it had been the season when cicadas were crying.

Other people might think this was just a cool late autumn day.

‘I’m from Daejeon, so I’m weak against Seoul’s cold....’

Damn quest.

It had stolen my warm season from me.

Step.

“.......”

If there was something more awkward than the suddenly reversed season, it was the difference in eye level between Gowon and me.

This guy looked well over 180 centimeters even at eighteen, and yet he was supposedly going through growing pains until he was twenty.

“Why did you come out when it’s cold?”

I asked the large shadow that had approached in front of me.

He was wearing thin clothes for the season.

Even so, unlike me, he showed no sign of feeling cold.

“Baek Hanje.”

He actually spoke first for once.

Gowon’s expressionless face only showed movement in his lips, revealing that he had something he wanted to say.

It didn’t seem like he was deliberately acting stiff.

It was more like he simply had very few expressions he knew how to make.

That was why this expression, pretending to be indifferent, was the one he used most often.

“Don’t arrange the song.”

“What are you suddenly talking about? Straighten your shoulders and back. You’re even more hunched over because it’s cold.”

“...It’s because I’m looking down at you. Anyway, don’t arrange the song.”

‘His expression is serious, so this doesn’t seem like nonsense....’

Still, the content itself was nonsense.

I shrugged and smiled.

“You saw our team’s condition. If the arrangement isn’t done properly, we’re in trouble.”

“That’s...! The problem.”

“Hm?”

“The atmosphere where everyone is just putting the burden on you alone is strange from the beginning. Also, no matter how hard you try, there will definitely be people who say bad things about you.”

“Ah....”

“Don’t worry about those bastards too. You’re good enough even alone anyway. Take care of yourself.”

His tone was prickly, but listening to what he said, it sounded like he was desperately feeling sorry for me after everything I had already given up.

“Wow. You’re surprisingly kind at times like this.”

“...What?”

“Ah, are you only a pushover for younger guys?”

Come to think of it, the Newton youngest had also rolled around the entire company while helping everyone sincerely.

“Hey.”

“If you get defensive, that’s proof it’s true.”

Gowon sighed deeply without even trying to hide it from me.

“Are you confident in the arrangement?”

“No? I’m not a prophet. How would I know?”

“.......”

“But I still have to do it. That’s what a stage is.”

There might be times when I compromised in the end, but only by giving everything I had until the very last moment could I face the audience with confidence.

“...What’s the problem?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t really know much about music stages... things like that. During the meeting earlier, I understood only half of what you were saying. So explain the situation properly.”

“Ah... even if I try to arrange it to fit our team, the lyrics are basically about telling someone to come see me tonight, and the song’s overall mood is pretty suggestive, so it’s difficult.”

“What about changing the lyrics?”

“Last resort.”

Those problematic lyrics were both a regular variety show BGM and the hook point of the song.

If I changed them, listeners would definitely feel something unnatural.

“We could probably only fix the humming parts....”

Hmm.

Then a sense of déjà vu suddenly came over me, and I raised my head.

‘I think I said something similar back then too.’

When <Drift> was about to be scrapped, he had asked whether we should change the lyrics, and I had told him no.

“...Why are you looking at me like that?”

During the participant meeting, he had seemed to have no attachment whatsoever to <Debut Chart>, but now his eyes looked somewhat similar to the Gowon I knew.

“Did you start wanting to continue the survival show?”

No matter how much I had stayed by his side, a remarkable growth over just a few weeks was impossible without his own desire.

By this point, he should have been ready to admit that he had talent as an idol.

“...My circumstances aren’t suitable for becoming a celebrity.”

“Oh, is that so.”

“I don’t know what will happen in the future either.”

While others would have already been drinking the sweet water of debut after reaching a rank like his, he was still strangely calm.

“But.”

There was a little more strength in Gowon’s voice.

“Before this program ends, ...I want to try performing on a stage like yours.”

“.......”

“Because I probably won’t ever get another chance like this in my life.”