“Hurry up, let’s go. We’re in big trouble if we’re late.”
“Yeah, yeah! I’m ready!”
Three days had flown by, and Lee Hyeonjae, Choi Woojin, and I were now leaving the dorm for the Be the IDOL main filming.
“Take care, guys.”
“Yeah. Jiwoon, make sure you keep practicing hard.”
“Of course.”
Jiwoon raised his arm and made a hup! gesture, like he was trying to power up.
“Go Jeongeun, you… your injuries are only just starting to heal, so keep managing them properly.”
Go Jeongeun, who was standing beside him, nodded.
‘To be honest, that’s not really the main problem with him though…’
Injuries would heal eventually, and I’d been making sure he visited the hospital regularly, so I was fairly confident there wouldn’t be any major issues on that front. The real problem was the wildcard round, which was just a little over two weeks away. ‘His skills just aren’t improving at all…’
There was a moment when I briefly wondered if Go Jeongeun had just been a victim of malicious editing.
But surprisingly, this guy had been eliminated purely on the strength—or rather weakness—of his actual performance. Kind of an odd thing to say, huh?
I recalled how just last night, he was flailing his arms and legs in the basement practice room.
‘He’s putting in the effort now, at least…’
But recently, even I—without the trait buff—had been doing slightly better than him. That “Born to Be Idol” trait was just that much of a cheat.
Slrp…
I smacked my lips a little and glanced at him, and a faintly sheepish look spread across Go Jeongeun’s face.
“…I said I’m gonna practice harder, so don’t look at me like that.”
“Alright.”
Was it that obvious? The embarrassment lingering on Go Jeongeun’s face instantly transferred to mine. I hadn’t meant to come off as condescending.
“Hey! Are you coming or not?! You all wanna end up in that wildcard thing together?!”
“Eek! We’re coming now!”
At Manager Woo’s shout, Woojin rushed down the stairs in a clatter. Right. I’ve got my own problems to worry about.
Just like he said, I was only slightly better than Go Jeongeun—so it wouldn’t be surprising at all if I ended up in the wildcard round too.
“I’m off.”
“Okay!”
******
Leaving the two behind, we got into Manager Woo’s car.
“Hey! When are you going to find me some help already?! I’m swamped here!”
The moment we got in, Manager Woo started grumbling.
“You saw the applicant list, right? While I’m away at training camp, you can interview them and make the decision.”
From the back seat, Woojin leaned forward and asked,
“Since we’ll be staying at the dorm now, you won’t get to see us much. Aren’t you going to miss us?”
“Miss you? Please. I’m thrilled I can finally get some real work done.”
“Tch.”
Woojin clicked his tongue with exaggerated disappointment.
“Put on your seatbelt. We’re heading out.”
“Yes sir~”
Woojin quickly disappeared back into his seat. Manager Woo glanced at him sideways, as if checking something, and then cautiously spoke up.
“Hey, Woojin. Before you sit down, can you grab that box in the back seat?”
He gave Woojin a little mission.
“A box?”
There was some rustling as Woojin turned around to look for it, and soon he turned back, holding something.
“What is this?”
Hyeonjae, eyeing the box that was about the width of a knee, asked the question.
“Ahem, ahem. Put your seatbelt on first. You can open it once we’re on the road.”
“Ta-da~!”
Ignoring Manager Woo’s words, Woojin flung the box open right away.
“This… This is…?”
Inside the three neatly packed plastic bags were candies, jellies, and what looked like knee pads.
“Hey! I said to wait until we start driving…!”
“What is all this?!”
Woojin asked, eyes sparkling. Come on, Woojin. Isn’t it obvious?
“Wow~ Are you giving these to us~?”
I asked from the front passenger seat with a cheeky grin. Manager Woo’s ears were already bright red.
“W-Well, I heard glucose candy gives you a boost when you’re practicing. The jelly’s pretty much the same, so just take it and eat it when you need to.”
This guy… He’s such a softie.
“Manager Woo…”
“Hmm?”
Sitting behind the driver’s seat, Woojin slowly reached out and hugged Manager Woo tightly.
“I love you, Taeyoon hyung…”
The ears that had been red turned pale in an instant as Manager Woo jolted in surprise.
“Ugh, what the hell are you saying? You’re giving me goosebumps! Hey, Hyeonjae! Can you get Woojin off me?!”
“Hahahahaha.”
“Don’t just laugh!”
So peaceful. The carefree scene made me squint unintentionally.
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
At my quiet words of appreciation, the commotion between the three of them came to a halt. Manager Woo finally gave a small smile.
“Yeah. Do your best.”
The car finally began to move. Then, a sudden question popped into my head.
“By the way… how did you know these kinds of snacks are good for practice?”
I hadn’t spent much time around him, but he never struck me as someone particularly attentive or detailed.
“Huh? Oh, uh… that? Well…”
Manager Woo trailed off awkwardly.
…?
Huh? That’s suspicious.
*****
The place we arrived at was a well-known themed village used for filming.
Originally, they were only supposed to rent out part of the space and a few buildings, but…
“You rented the entire village…?”
Apparently, they had decided to reserve the whole area, except for a few locations that had high visitor traffic.
It wasn’t even far from Seoul, so it definitely wouldn’t have been cheap.
‘I think I can guess what kind of trait he awakened.’
He’s doing well. Jang Yeonju PD. I couldn’t help but feel reassured.
“Participants of Be the Idol, please come this way.”
Following the staff’s guidance, we headed toward the main filming site.
“Oh! You’re here, Haram.”
From a short distance away, PD Jang, who had been directing the staff, recognized me and hurried over.
As soon as I saw his face, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes that looked like they might brush against his cheeks.
Well, spending money is hard work too.
“You must’ve been through a lot.”
“Huh? Oh, absolutely. It’s been chaos. We had to relocate everyone who’d booked the dorm building to even nicer places…”
He… went that far?
“But thanks to that, things turned out really nice. You can look forward to it.”
Even with the fatigue plastered across his face, confidence bloomed in his eyes.
“I will. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Go on in. You know even the waiting time here isn’t wasted, right?”
“Of course.”
Not my first rodeo.
No matter how you sliced it, Be the IDOL was a survival show.
The moment you stepped in, everyone became a competitor.
“There’s a kit at the entrance for everyone. It’s a welcome gift.”
I thought about checking his status window… but decided to put it off for now.
I headed over to the entrance to pick up the kit—
“Huh?”
The contents were anything but ordinary.
“Hyung, this…”
Glucose candy, jelly, joint supports…
“No way…!”
The three of us turned our eyes toward PD Jang, who was disappearing into the distance. We could still hear the energy in his voice as he motivated the staff.
“Manager Woo…”
“Yeah… this is enough…”
I wasn’t sure what they were thinking, but the two of them fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
I, too, found my gaze drifting to the clouds floating in the distant sky.
And just like that, the vague memory of Manager Woo—unclear even on the script when we had said goodbye—appeared and faded away.
*****
“Please take your assigned seats! Don’t leave your spot~!”
The staff continued to guide us.
As soon as we entered the main filming building, the chaos began.
We had to confirm contestant details, receive various documents, wait around, sit through safety briefings… even sign nondisclosure agreements—
‘Why is there so much to do?’
I’d known there was more going on behind the scenes than what aired on TV, but this was exhausting.
And even more draining than all that was—
“Hey, there he is. Kim Haram.”
“Damn. Total balance breaker.”
“Should we at least get his autograph?”
“Wow!! Even that bastard Jeongeun is a member!!”
“Jiwon-hyung! Why are you only so harsh to Jeongeun-hyung?!”
“I don’t know!!”
Hmm. Three tall guys tangled up together—what a profane sight. They couldn’t see him, but even Soram found the scene amusing enough to tolerate as he watched them flail around.
“Yeah. Let’s do our best.”
[<Be the IDOL> Main Competition Filming: D-3]
[<Be the IDOL> Wildcard Round: D-19]
“I mean, seriously—no pride?”
That was the general tone of the stares I was getting. Honestly, the ones who were half-jealous and half-spiteful like that were easier to deal with.
“That guy must’ve totally gotten in through connections, right?”
“Hey, one of the judges is Choi Hansol. Need I say more? Didn’t you see how he almost had a nosebleed watching Kim Haram’s performance?”
“Why would someone who already debuted be here, anyway? … Hey, which company is he from?”
“Probably quit.”
“F***ing hell… like, did Kim Haram go through all this trouble just to ruin my life? What a messed-up life I have.”
Then there were those who showed blatant hostility like this. It’s so unfair. I didn’t come here to ruin your life. And trust me—my life’s been plenty messed up too.
As I went through the schedule, I naturally ended up separated from Lee Hyunjae and Choi Woojin, leaving me to fight this battle alone. Occasionally, some guys would come up and talk to me directly.
“Uh… You’re Kim Haram, right?”
Yes. Unfortunately, I am.
“It’s just… I was hoping we could be friendly. You know, for when the group missions come up and all… My name is…”
The problem was, most of them had obvious motives. It was painfully clear they were just trying to hitch a ride on my success.
“I’m sorry. I’m really not in a place to plan team-ups or anything like that yet…”
“Ah… right.”
After being rejected, their reactions were always the same when they went back to their group.
“Whatever. Kim Haram’s acting all high and mighty. Forget it.”
…That’s not it. I genuinely can’t plan anything right now.
If you tried to ride this bus with me now, you’d die, you know that?
It was mostly thanks to one unique trait that I was barely outperforming Go Jeongeun.
[Cheer up!]
Feeling a little down, I suddenly heard Soram pop out of nowhere, offering me some heartfelt comfort. Right. I’ve got you. Thank you, Soram.
[How about opening a random box for a mood boost?]
Soram spun around in the air before—pop!—floating a few unopened boxes in front of me.
[Random Box (High) *1]
[Random Box (Mid) *1]
[Random Box (Low) *1]
Gacha at a time like this? You really are loyal to your system duties, huh?
[Thank you for the compliment!]
…Feels like I’ve gone back to basics. Kinda nice. Alright, let’s open one.
Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a buff like “Courage to Be Disliked.”
I turned my gaze toward the Low random box and stared at it intently.
[Would you like to open the Random Box (Low Grade)?]
[Y/N]
When I moved my eyes slightly to click the Y button, an animation I hadn’t seen in a while played out in front of me.
‘Definitely less flashy than opening a high-grade box.’
As various images quickly flashed by, a selected item finally descended before me, glittering with a soft sprinkle of light powder.
“…What is this.”
Unlike with the high-grade box, there wasn’t even a flashy system message this time. What landed in my hand was—
[Rod of Love]
What the hell is this supposed to be? And the item description that came with it made it even worse.
[Whack! The foundation of raising a child is knowing when to scold! Your discipline stat increases by a certain amount.]
What, am I supposed to smack my teammates with this thing?
‘Kim Soram.’
[Yes?!]
‘Hold out your hand.’
[What?!]
What do you mean “yes”? You’re clearly the first test subject for this stupid rod. How dare they give me something this lame as a quest reward?
“What is that guy doing?”
“I don’t know. He’s just waving his hand at the air or something.”
“…Honestly, maybe it’s a good thing we’re not on his team.”
Unaware that my public image was plummeting in real-time, I was fully immersed in disciplining So-ram with the Rod of Love.
“Excuse me.”
Someone else spoke to me. What now? I don’t have a commercial license, okay? I can’t drive a bus. I answered without even bothering to look up at whoever spoke.
“What is it?”
“Oh, it’s just… if the seat next to you is free, could I sit here? Is that alright?”
At that, I finally lifted my head and looked around. Sure enough, there were no other empty seats besides the ones next to me. What the—am I some kind of social outcast now?
“Go ahead. It’s fine.”
“Thank you very much.”
No, thank you for sitting next to me. Just as I was sulking in petty spite, feeling all twisted inside, a strange sense of déjà vu hit me.
‘Wait a minute, this voice…?’
It sounded familiar. No way… it couldn’t be, right? Slowly. Very slowly, I turned my head toward the person who had just sat beside me.
“…Seo Chanul?”
The shock hit me like I couldn’t breathe. Why are you here?
“Oh? Wow. You know my name?”
Of course I know you. How could I not know you?
“…Seo Chanul…???”
And there’s no way I could ever forget you.
“Am I really that famous? I know your name too. Kim Haram!”
Right now, the fact that he knows my name doesn’t matter at all. I thought I’d never see him again—No, I had even braced myself for the possibility that he might not exist in this worldline at all.
Before I knew it, my eyes were welling up with tears.
“…?”
He looked at me with a startled expression. But I’m the one most overwhelmed right now. Please… just understand.
“Seo Chanul…!”
We met again. My ultimate bias.