My rumor is being created right now.
I’m not sure if you can even call it a rumor if it isn’t finished yet.
Anyway.
‘Damn… damn… damn…!!’
If that bastard is spreading the rumor in real time right now, I had to find him as quickly as possible and stop him.
Rumors beget rumors, and the rumors born from rumors become truly uncontrollable.
[3 people]
Whether it was fortunate or not, my ‘rumor’ had been stuck at three people for a while now.
If I act now, I can still stop it.
I ran at full speed, scanning my surroundings the whole time.
Where the hell are you, you damn… That’s when, beyond my blurred vision, I spotted Jo Seha trudging up the stairs.
Right, I had something to say to that guy too…
“Hey!! Jo Seha!!!!”
“Eek-!”
Jo Seha, startled by his name being called out loudly, froze in place.
“g!II”
Since I was planning to go down the stairs Jo Seha had just come up, I kept my running momentum and headed straight toward where he was standing.
“Uh… ah! Haram! I’m really sorry! Really! I’m sorry!!”
The distance between Jo Seha and me closed in an instant.
Whoosh
With all the speed I’d built up, my body flew through the air.
Wham!
With a loud scraping sound from my shoes, I landed a half-floor below Jo Seha in an instant.
How many steps had I skipped? A tingling sensation shot through my legs.
“Jo Seha!!”
Straightening up from my crouched position, I looked up at him and—
“I’m sorry!!!!”
I shouted almost as loudly as when I was searching for Seo Chanul earlier.
I felt sorry.
Jo Seha, who had been frowning deeply, suddenly looked dazed.
“Huh…?”
“I’ll properly apologize later!!”
I’m just really busy right now!
As I hurried down the remaining stairs, Jo Seha’s voice called from above.
“Hey!! Be careful!!!”
Yeah! Thanks for worrying about me!!
Ignoring Jo Seha’s concern, I sped up even more.
As long as I don’t get hurt. As long as I don’t get hurt.
‘Where are you…’
Dormitory, cafeteria, lounge. I’d checked all the places where people tended to gather, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Calm down a bit. Think.
‘A place where it’s easy to quietly spread a rumor…’
Where would be the best place to greet the first recipient of a rumor?
Right, places with lots of people are actually a problem. You have to infect people one drop at a time… carefully…
‘That’s it.’
A spark. My thoughts snapped into place.
Should have thought of this sooner!
Luckily, the place I thought of wasn’t far from where I was.
“Hey. Why’s Kim Haram been running around like that for a while now?”
Maybe because I’d been running all over, I heard someone nearby mutter in confusion.
“Guess they’ve got energy to spare.”
If I really had energy to spare, I’d use it to beat you up first, you jerk.
Pushing aside all distractions, I arrived at my destination.
I flung the door open with all my strength.
“Hm?”
The guy I’d been desperately searching for was standing right there. I knew he’d be here.
“Haram. What brings you here… Are you here to practice?”
Still expressionless, and with a brazenly shameless tone.
He was sitting in the Practice Room that doubled as our meeting room, looking totally relaxed.
Striding in, I checked to see if anyone else was inside.
“What are you doing…?”
Good. No one else.
Finally, click. I locked the door and dragged him into the camera blind spot I’d noted before.
“What the—what are you…?”
The moment I was certain we were completely out of the camera’s view, I grabbed his forearm tightly.
“What’s your game, Park Minkwon.”
“…Ah.”
A chill flickered across Park Minkwon’s usually colorless face.
“You caught on quick…”
He gave a twisted smile.
“You’re damn fast.”
****
Park Minkwon hadn’t had any special feelings toward Kim Haram from the beginning.
Of course, they lived in completely different worlds.
On that side—a top idol enjoying the peak of popularity. On his side—just a dime-a-dozen trainee.
The trigger came suddenly.
“I’m being kicked out of the debut group?”
“That’s how it is.”
A meeting room at a certain Broadcast Station. A middle-aged man with half-balding, graying hair sat across from Park Minkwon.
“Why all of a sudden… why are you doing this?”
“They said Kim Haram is joining.”
Park Minkwon was dumbfounded. How much money had he and his parents poured into this?
And just because ‘some guy’ was joining, he had to go?
“Can’t you just add more people to the debut group?!”
“It doesn’t fit the image, the image.”
Park Minkwon thought it was a ridiculous excuse.
“And honestly, it’s not like you invested that much.”
The truly ridiculous part was that he never once questioned whether he deserved to debut.
Of course, hypocrisy is a passive skill for people like him.
“I’ll… I’ll ask my parents to put in more! If I talk to them, I’m sure…!”
“Hey now.”
The middle-aged man sitting across from him clicked his tongue and raised his hand, cutting him off.
“You really don’t get it. It’s already been decided.”
So, the debut he’d aimed for—even abandoning all personal morals—evaporated.
It happened in an instant. Truly just a moment.
For a while, he blamed his parents.
“If only you’d prepared more money…! If my life gets ruined because of you, will you take responsibility?!”
His parents had never been keen on him becoming an idol, and even though they could have, they didn’t offer more support.
From his parents, he got a cold comfort: that he’d tried enough already.
After he stopped blaming his parents, he started blaming Kim Haram.
“Why’d you suddenly crawl out here…! You’re out to ruin my life, aren’t you, you son of a—!!”
Again, hypocrisy being a passive skill, it never occurred to him that he’d tried to ruin someone else’s life.
Was there no way to wreck him? If his own life was wrecked, it was only fair that guy’s life got wrecked too.
While he was brooding, the Be The Doll preliminaries approached.
“That bastard, let me at least see his face.”
With that half-hearted thought, he attended the preliminaries.
Maybe his skills weren’t so bad, or maybe it was some minimal after-service for all the money spent.
Park Minkwon passed the preliminaries.
He wasn’t happy—just even more resentful. If only that guy hadn’t shown up, he could’ve debuted without issue.
But the moment he saw Haram’s preliminary performance—
“……”
All the sharp feelings he’d had toward Haram vanished like a ghost.
‘He’s disgustingly good…’
That was the only thought filling his head as he watched the stage.
A graceful voice, beautiful dance lines. The kind of presence that conjured images on its own.
But what shocked Park Minkwon even more was,
‘What’s so great about this…’
That expression, as if he had the whole world, so full of joy.
How? How could singing and dancing be that enjoyable? He wanted to grab him and ask, just once.
When Haram flashed a relaxed grin as he snatched Choi Hansol’s part, Park Minkwon found himself holding his breath.
On the way home after the preliminaries, he stared blankly out the window of the car his driver was operating.
“Shit…”
Jealousy burned with envy.
Kim Haram, without spending a dime, had taken his spot in the debut group. And right before his eyes, proved he was so much more talented.
Park Minkwon came to a conclusion.
‘All these talented bastards should just die…’
If only I had a little more talent. Wouldn’t I have practiced as much as everyone else? So, this was a matter of talent.
A difference in talent that could never be overcome by effort. That’s how he rationalized it.
“I’m heading out.”
On the day the Be The Doll finals began. Minkwon considered not going… but for some reason, Kim Haram kept popping up in his mind, and he couldn’t sit still.
Might as well see his face one more time.
He’s famous anyway. Might as well see a named idol up close, he thought, and headed to the filming site.
It was a mistake.
“Uh…”
For some reason, he ran into Haram more often than expected.
When picking up costumes, when signing NDAs. Once their paths overlapped, he ended up orbiting around him, whether he meant to or not.
‘Maybe I should talk to him…’
Yeah. My family’s rich anyway. Haram wouldn’t lose anything by being friends with me.
During a long break, he approached Haram.
“Uh… you’re Kim Haram, right? My name is…”
Park Minkwon… was about to say, when—
“Sorry, I’m not at the level yet where I can decide who to do missions with and all that…”
He was rejected on the spot.
This bastard. What a jerk. His mood soured instantly.
He grumbled about Haram to himself as he walked away, even though no one was listening.
But the bigger problem came next.
“Why are you here…?”
For some reason… Haram showed active interest in some country bumpkin from Busan.
You wouldn’t even listen to me to the end. Are you discriminating against people?
Park Minkwon’s heart started pounding strangely, and soon the rankings were announced.
[91st place, Park Minkwon]
‘What the hell.’
If it was going to be like this, he’d rather have just been eliminated.
So much for after-service—they just needed people to fill the numbers.
Damn it. Damn it. While he was cursing out the Broadcast Station folks—
[1st place, Seo Chanul]
The country bumpkin from earlier took first place.
“And the contestant who ranked higher than first place! Contestant Kim Haram!”
Crazy bastard…
Kim Haram broke through even the highest logical rank—first place.
And then that cocky interview.
By this point, Minkwon was seriously starting to care about Haram.
‘He’s so damn cool…’
In the following position selection, the special connection between Haram and that Busan bumpkin grated on his nerves, but he had no time to dwell on it.
It was the first time he’d ever taken such an interest in someone.
And when he got assigned to the same Dormitory room as Haram, a smile finally crept onto his face.
‘See, there’s no way my life would go completely wrong.’
He approached Haram as he was unpacking.
“Hello. I’m Park Minkwon.”
“Uh… yes. Hello.”
Haram looked at him as if he were seeing him for the first time.
“Uh… back in the waiting room…”
He thought Haram would remember if he mentioned talking to him in the waiting room. But—
“The waiting room…?”
Kim Haram just tilted his head even more.
“Ah… never mind.”
It’s fine. We can get closer from here.
But it wasn’t easy. Damn Seo Chanul being assigned to the same Dormitory was annoying enough, but then that scatterbrained Jo Seha barged in and made a mess of things.
Attention. Attention. He wanted Haram’s attention. Attention directed solely at him.
The chance came again during the first round’s team selection.
‘Picking the same team as Kim Haram is a stupid move.’
Anyone could see that. What could a nobody do standing next to that shining star?
‘But if I’m the only one who picks Kim Haram…’
Even if he doesn’t like it, for a while I’ll be the only one he sees. This was a real opportunity.
The moment he picked Haram’s team, hope turned into certainty.
‘Only me…!’
Of course, he was the only one stupid enough to make that choice.
“Oh. Yesterday, you were…”
“I’m Park Minkwon. Still can’t remember my name?”
His heart skipped again seeing Haram still unable to remember his name, but he brushed it off as nonchalantly as possible.
“You’ve heard my name three times already…”
It’s fine. From now on, it’ll be just us for a while. Just the two of us in this cramped Practice Room. Perfect for building intimacy.
“……”
“……”
Yet, even as the team selection continued, Haram and he barely spoke to each other.
Growing more anxious by the minute, he tried to make a move.
“It might be because of the rumor. Haram, you haven’t heard anything, right?”
Only then did Haram’s gaze focus on him.
Ah, this feeling. So good.
“Let’s talk about it later.”
There was no actual rumor, so he just dodged the topic.
Attention for now was enough.
‘If only no one else joins our team…’
Maybe we’ll get to do the mission together, just the two of us? But that hope was, once again—
“Oh! Haram, hi!”
That damn, noisy bastard ruined it again.
“…Why’d you pick this team, Jo Seha.”
He looked at Haram, thinking, ‘So you’re thinking the same as me.’
“……?”
No. Haram and Park Minkwon were clearly thinking different things.
He could see it. Haram’s mind was filled with thoughts of that noisy… Jo Seha.
‘How can that be?’
You can’t even remember my name after I told you three times.
I even told you there was a ‘rumor’ about you, and you didn’t care.
So why, why do you never take your eyes off that noisy bastard?
Why do you open up so much to that country bumpkin from Busan?
I just don’t get it.
I’ve never once taken my eyes off you since coming here.
Soon after, the number of team members was rounded up to ten.
‘No. No. This can’t be.’
Had there ever been something he wanted so much, yet couldn’t get?
I’m not asking for much. I just want us to get along.
But if you’re like this, if you act like this—
“Haram.”
Then I have no choice.
“There’s a rumor going around that you’re already set to debut with Be The Doll.”
This is all I have left.
“They’re even saying you’ve already picked who you’ll debut with.”
“…What?????”
Yeah. Finally.
Your eyes are fixed entirely on me.