Chapter 33:The Proper Way

The morning after we’d demolished the chicken and pizza.

“Good morning, Haram hyung!”

“Good morning, hyung!”

“Hey. You’re out for breakfast?”

I’d left the dorm a little early and was having breakfast when my teammates started arriving at the cafeteria one by one.

“Of course! You told us we have to eat breakfast, remember, hyung!”

Of course, of course. No matter how much late-night food you stuff yourself with, you still have to eat a solid breakfast.

That’s how you keep up your energy for practice. We’ve still got a lot to do.

“Good job. Where are the others?”

“Hyunseok hyung and Sangkyun hyung will be here soon!”

“Nice. Make sure you eat well. You remember you have to be in the practice room by 10, right?”

“Of course!”

With those bright greetings, the two teammates walked off.

Next to me, Jo Seha spoke up.

“You got close with them fast, huh?”

“Why not? It’s a good thing.”

People who buy you food are always good people! That’s just a universal truth.

I thought back to what happened last night.

“Is this really pizza…?”

One of the eyes sparkling in the darkness spoke up.

“Wow, honestly, I didn’t think this would actually happen.”

Another pair of eyes moved closer to me. It was Kim Sangkyun.

“Of course it should! Do you know how much I went through for this!”

In the meantime, Son Hyunseok, looking freshly washed with his bangs damp, appeared behind Kim Sangkyun, showing off.

“Hyunseok really did go through a lot.”

“You heard? While you went back to the dorm early to keep the team in line, I was out there…”

Son Hyunseok gave Kim Sangkyun a haughty look, and Sangkyun just muttered, yeah, yeah, patting his own raised shoulder.

You two are really close, huh.

“So, shall we eat?”

Gulp—the sound of swallowing echoed all around.

We took seats in the farthest corner of the dorm, gathered around, using someone’s mood lamp as our only light.

“Thank you for the food.”

“Uh… I’ll eat well.”

I smiled at the team member who awkwardly thanked me and gestured for them to dig in.

“…! This is delicious!”

One by one, the team members who tasted the chicken and pizza let out exclamations.

Thanks to PD Jang Yeonju’s careful program planning, even the cafeteria food had been amazing, but at this age, you can’t help craving this kind of food.

Besides,

“Why does it taste better than when I eat it at home…?”

“Is it because we’re eating it in secret?”

“Could be, right?”

No doubt about it. That strange sense of guilty pleasure really added to the flavor.

‘I know that taste…’

The dorm teacher always let us offer up a whole chicken as tribute… Hope you’re doing well, Teacher Park Chilgeun…

“Uh, can you pass the cola over here?”

“Ah, sure.”

“Thank you. Wow, you’ve got long arms.”

“Really? That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

The conversation flowed naturally as we passed food back and forth.

This was exactly the scene I’d hoped for.

Suddenly, I noticed Park Minkwon sitting there, not touching the food, looking indifferent.

I got up and moved to sit next to him.

“What are you doing, not eating?”

“…You want me to eat too?”

Why not? What’s stopping you?

“Look, those two are having a blast eating over there.”

Park Minkwon glanced in the direction I nodded, then sighed.

He shot me a look, half amused, half exasperated.

“How do you always know?”

So it really was those two.

“They’re glaring the whole time—how could I not know?”

“…Ha, I told them to be careful.”

Careful? You?

“Are you really in a position to warn anyone?”

At my words, Park Minkwon clicked his tongue quietly and turned away.

What a strange guy.

Honestly, it wasn’t just the glaring; the half-transparent mirror floating beside them made it obvious.

[6 people]

When Son Hyunseok, Kim Sangkyun, and Jo Seha and I were plotting our chicken heist, the number had gone up, and I’d noticed for just a moment. Really, just a moment.

“Eat. I won’t say anything.”

“…I’m fine. I don’t really like this kind of food anyway.”

Yeah, right. I’d had a feeling ever since you said you got into the debut group through lobbying.

“Your family must be pretty well-off?”

“Yeah, I guess. Reasonably.”

More than you think—Park Minkwon added, as if he couldn’t help himself.

Well, I’m probably richer than you think too. Too bad I don’t have my phone right now.

“Alright, then.”

A brief silence settled between us.

“Hey.”

Unexpectedly, Park Minkwon spoke up again.

“Why are you using formal speech again? Gives me chills.”

“Ah… There are a lot of eyes around here.”

Why ask about something so obvious?

After that, Park Minkwon didn’t say much else.

Fine, whatever. I’m not playing with you.

I scooted over to sit next to another teammate.

“Oh, hello.”

“Hey there. You okay? Is it good?”

“Yeah. It’s tasty.”

This contestant looked way younger than Woojin.

“Glad to hear you’re eating well. Do you have anything on your mind?”

It was a bit sudden, but—

“Ah…”

The mood was good, and this is how you get close—by sharing these kinds of stories.

“Actually, I do have something I’m worried about…”

Of course. It’d be weirder not to have worries in this situation.

As I chatted with each teammate one by one, a system window popped up in front of me.

[Leader Points: Opt(+5pt)]

‘What’s this now?’

Just as I was wondering, Soram fluttered over and opened another window.

[ Points Needed to Acquire: 5/100]

Ah… So if I collect them all, the quest completes and I get a trait.

‘Is that right, Soram?’

When I looked to check, Soram nodded while chewing on a tiny piece of pizza that matched his little body.

When did he even grab that?

Well, anyway, it’s not a bad feeling.

In the end, I managed to talk to everyone except for the two glaring guys and Park Minkwon.

That was last night’s story.

“Haram hyung!”

Just as I was about to finish reminiscing, a familiar and welcome voice called out to me.

“Did you sleep well, Haram?”

Hin Jae and Woojin had piled their breakfast buffet plates high.

Wait a second… Suddenly—

“Hyun Jae hyung… Woojin…”

When I made a teary face, the two of them looked startled.

“What’s wrong?!”

“No, it’s just…”

I’m just so happy to see you… It feels like it’s been ages. Us…

Both of them were busy preparing for the first round in their own teams.

“But hyung, did you hear?”

Woojin, sitting across from me for the first time in a while, asked a question.

Did I hear? Not a great opening for someone as sensitive to rumors as I am right now.

Just in case, I glanced at the mirror, but the number hadn’t changed.

“What is it?”

“This morning, they said there were a ton of chicken and pizza boxes in Building-A’s dorm trash.”

Flinch. Why is that coming up here?

“Ah, I heard too. They said it looked like almost… thirty boxes.”

For a rumor, it’s remarkably accurate.

“Hyung, you’re in Building-A, right? Heard anything?”

“Uh… No, I haven’t.”

I ate it, but I didn’t hear about it.

“Really? That’s too bad…”

What is? What’s too bad about it?

“Whoever it was… Next time, I hope I’m on the same team so I can eat with them…”

…Next time, let’s definitely eat together.

*****

After breakfast, in the practice room.

“Is everyone here?”

I spoke up after confirming most of the team had arrived.

“No! We’re missing two!”

Jo Seha, counting out loud, raised his hand high.

Maybe because he’s small, raising his hand suits him pretty well.

“Two? Who’s missing?”

I scanned the team with my eyes. Let’s see…

“Ah…”

The two who’d been glaring at me all day yesterday were missing. Even though Park Minkwon was here.

Those guys…

‘They ate the most chicken and pizza last night.’

What should I do with these guys? I smacked my lips, but just then, a loud thumping came from outside the practice room door.

That door’s soundproofed, and it’s that loud? What now…

“Hello, everyone—!”

Before I could even finish guessing, the thick soundproof door swung open and Choi Hansol appeared.

Just seeing him is exhausting. Just get in here. I won’t let you off easy.

“Excuse me, we’re about to start practicing, so if you could—”

“Here! I thought you might be missing some precious teammates, so I brought them!”

Choi Hansol dragged in Glaring Guy 1 and 2 from behind the door and shoved them into the practice room.

Where were they even hiding…?

While I was caught up in the mystery of Choi Hansol, he quietly slipped into the practice room along with the glaring guys.

“This team has a lot of problems! Now, let’s see, who’s the leader…”

Choi Hansol, who obviously already knew, glanced over each team member.

His gaze slowly stopped on me.

“No, no. You can’t manage a team like this.”

With a sly expression, Choi Hansol smiled at me.

Why are you always so lecherous toward me?

“Phew—”

As if. Choi Hansol dropped the smile and continued.

“I didn’t just come here for nothing. This team didn’t pick a competition song yesterday, did you?”

That’s… true.

With Son Hyunseok storming out and all the chaos, we never got around to it.

“I’m here to give you the last remaining song.”

That’s the virtue of a host—Choi Hansol grinned mischievously.

“So, what song is left?”

Choi Hansol handed me a paper with the song title, his smile full of meaning.

“Doesn’t look like it’ll be easy.”

What could it be…

I unfolded the paper and checked the song title,

“Ah…”

I was at a loss for words for a moment.

So this is what’s left.

“What is it, what is it? What song is it?”

“I’m curious too!”

The troublemakers who’d been waiting quietly rushed behind me to check the paper.

“Oh.”

“Ah…!”

“I love this song!! This is awesome!”

Except for Jo Seha, everyone else looked pretty troubled.

Sensing the strange atmosphere, the glaring guys, who were still near Choi Hansol, came over.

“What is it?!”

Glaring Guy 1 checked the paper and sneered, full of disdain.

“Ha…! We’re screwed!”

Well… it really isn’t easy.

“Hey.”

Glaring Guy 1, who was venting at the others, flinched when I called.

“Could you try to speak a little more nicely? Okay?”

Just complaining gets us nowhere. Right?

“…Tch!”

Taking advantage of the brief silence, I started thinking again.

What should we do with this song… Given our team’s level, how…

No matter how much I thought about it, there was only one way.

“Everyone.”

I straightened up to look at all the team members.

“For the next four days, you each get twenty hours of sleep.”

There’s only one thing we can do.

“How you divide up your sleep is up to you.”

We just have to practice like crazy.

“Spend the rest of the time here, all of it. Got it?”

After hearing my words, the team just grimaced and stayed silent for a while.

“…Huh?”

Jo Seha let out a gasp, as if speaking for the other nine.