Chapter 55 |
By the time I got to the floor where my room was located after my conversation with Jay, all the lights had already been turned off. I stumbled through the dark hallway to find my room, opened the door, and collapsed as soon as I walked in.
Just not collapsing in front of Jay was already my limit.
‘Forget the bed, I’m so exhausted I could die.’
With the bed right in front of me, I collapsed onto the floor and thought it wasn’t so bad either. Surely, when morning came, Do Yuda would scream, and Woo Kangwon would pick me up and move me. I could already picture the scene.
‘I’m really reaping what I’ve sown.’
As I stared at the black ceiling, I remembered my conversation with Jay.
“Let go of your lingering feelings for the members of Prism. You must have realized by now, but that person is already completely ill. And so am I.”
‘What would have been the right answer to that?’
I used to believe that I was a pretty level-headed person, someone who had the ability to control any situation. But strangely, whenever it involved the members of Prism … no, when it came to matters related to the people I had placed within my boundaries, it seemed that all those abilities disappeared.
It must have been because of regret and guilt. I was so pathetic that I wanted to punch myself.
Where did I go wrong? The thing I desperately tried to protect was already crumbling beyond repair, and there seemed to be no solution in sight.
I wanted to bang my head against the wall and punch my old self in the face.
“Pull yourself together.”
But in reality, it didn’t solve anything. I had to pull myself together and take action. I had to face the situation I was given and do my best.
That thought led me to another problem.
‘What kind of face should I make in front of Jay from now on?’
We had to keep facing each other, but we had become as awkward as hell. This must be why they said no dating, no fighting, and no gossiping in the workplace.
“Haa…..” I sighed heavily.
Jay seemed to resent Cha Woon, but I didn’t want him to feel that way. If there was anyone to blame, it was Kang Hyukwoo, the agency officials, and the true culprit behind this situation—that person.
‘Those bastards, I’ll make sure to beat them.’
As I vowed to myself, the anger that was threatening to burst out of me faded a little, and my eyes slowly closed.
I heard something rustling beside me, but I was too drained to open my eyes.
Through my hazy consciousness, I felt warm hands and clumsy nursing care. A towel that hadn’t even been properly squeezed was placed on my forehead, and I felt the softness of the bed against my back.
I’m certain of it, this is Woo Kangwon.
My intuition just went completely wild.
I, without realizing the fact that Woo Kangwon couldn’t be that clumsy, drifted into a deep sleep.
***
I woke up the next day and regretted it like crazy.
Was this what it felt like when people suffered through a hangover and vowed to never drink again?
‘I never thought that the after-effects of yesterday would last this long….’
When I first entered Han Seungbeom’s body and assessed the limits of the ability, I found that I would fully recover after a good night’s sleep. However, once I used the ability beyond those limits, my body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, even after sleeping.
The fever that had been raging all night finally subsided to a low fever, but I still felt the lingering ache of a severe body fatigue. However, I couldn’t afford to stay in bed. Starting today, I needed to pull myself together and prepare for the third mission.
[“Trainees, please enter Practice Room A by 10:30. The song assignment for the third mission will be announced soon.”]
“Let go. I’m going. Even if I collapse when I get there, I’m going.”
“Hyung. If you live like that, you’ll die, you crazy person! Humans aren’t machines. Even machines break down if you use them like this!”
And so, I was at war with Do Yuda.
Do Yuda was clinging to my waist, blocking me from leaving through the door, and I was trying to shake him off and leave the room—this was the main situation.
“Kangwon-hyung, please stop him too!”
“I’m feeling better now, so why are you stopping me? Stop talking nonsense.”
“Guys, calm down first.”
Since I was one hundred percent sure I would lose if Woo Kangwon took Do Yuda’s side, I desperately tried to stop him from intervening. Woo Kangwon, caught in the middle of us fighting like dogs, was smiling awkwardly.
“If this is better, that means you were in even worse condition all night. What were you doing instead of going to the hospital! Your personality is so stubborn, but why is your body so weak?”
“Today is the day they announce what song I’ve been assigned to, so it would be crazy if I was just lying down. I can’t skip this one again.”
It wasn’t me who was weak, it was Han Seungbeom. I didn’t know anything.
“Ahhh! What’s wrong with this person? Hyung, you really seem out of your mind. You have such a high fever and your face is so pale, yet you’re still talking about filming? Just lie down!”
When I continued to ignore him, Do Yuda seemed to get angry and shouted loudly into thin air. I covered my ears.
“…….”
Lee Hwayoung, wearing a silk gown and holding a cup of coffee, was looking at us with a look of disdain. Honestly, I really wanted to look at that guy with the same gaze.
‘It looks ridiculous, seriously. Do all chaebols take special classes on how to look like chaebols? I thought Almost Paradise would start playing.’1
There were only two rich people I knew in my life. Lee Hwayoung and ‘that person‘.
‘Come to think of it, that guy … I had a feeling he seemed familiar from the first time I saw him.’
I thought about it carefully, and then realized the things they were doing were strikingly similar. Although their faces didn’t resemble each other, small details like their sitting posture and gaze were eerily similar.
The only thing I knew in common between the two of them was that they were both born with a gold spoon, but seeing them this similar was unsettling. That guy yawned lazily, as if he didn’t care whether I was watching him or not, and took a sip of his coffee.
“Hyung, aren’t you talking to me right now? Where are you looking! Ignoring problems won’t make them go away.”
“Ah.”
Noticing that I was distracted, Do Yuda took the opportunity to start nagging me. When I tried to block it out by closing my eyes and ears, Woo Kangwon patted both mine and Do Yuda’s backs.
“Now, let’s both calm down and talk about this.”
“…….”
“I understand Seungbeom’s side, and I understand Yuda’s side too, so I’m not sure what I should say to mediate between the two of you. Then, how about going to the filming, but skip any extra practice and get some rest? Because today’s filming itself isn’t that physically demanding.
“That’s a really good idea.”
Seizing the opportunity, I quickly replied. Do Yuda pouted a little, seeming dissatisfied. However, since the call time set by the production team was just around the corner, he didn’t add any further remarks.
‘I won.’
[“It’s 5 minutes before 10:30”.]
As soon as we came to an agreement, we heard the production team’s voice from the ceiling again. It was time to move.
***
We desperately persuaded Lee Hwayoung, who said he would go alone, and we all went into Practice Room A together. While it was mainly Do Yuda and Woo Kangwon who did the persuading, my words, just do it moderately and follow me, were the deciding factor.
If he didn’t come with us until the end, I had planned for everyone to go separately so it wouldn’t look like he was being bullied, but surprisingly, he listened well.
…Why was that?
At some point, Lee Hwayoung had naturally sat next to me, and an awkward silence followed. Fortunately, the production team played the songs for us to listen properly. If they hadn’t, I might have been too embarrassed and run out of here.
“I’m glad that Nicholas seems to rely on Seungbeom a lot.”
“…….”
Woo Kangwon was looking at Lee Hwayoung and me with a warm gaze. As I met his eyes, I thought that I might soon become Lee Hwayoung’s person in charge. I really didn’t want that.
“From now on, the song assignments for the third mission will be announced. After the second evaluation ended, we conducted a vote to determine which concept would suit each trainee best, and the results were fully tallied this morning.”
“Oh, I’m nervous!”
“Please the Charisma concept! I want to do that so badly!”
“I’m in for the refreshing concept.”
The trainees reacted to Yang Hajun’s remarks by shouting out the concept they wanted.
“I like everything, so I like a song with lots of close hyungs!”
“That would be nice too … Haha.”
Do Yuda was jumping around restlessly, while Woo Kangwon seemed more nervous now than when he was on stage.
Lee Hwayoung didn’t show any reaction. I had no idea what he was thinking.
“Each trainee will be assigned to the concept that received the highest number of votes. You will then move to the practice room indicated on the papers that will be distributed. Once all trainees have moved, the name of the song assigned to each practice room will be revealed.”
I nodded to Yang Hajun’s instructions and prepared myself mentally.
‘It’s the same as last season. If so, it’s likely that the system is still the same.’
The flower of survival program, the “Pushing Out” round, had begun.
If more trainees are assigned to a song than the choreographer had planned, someone will inevitably have to leave. And if it was still the same as last season, the decision would be made through a vote among the trainees.
Most of the trainees, perhaps because they had already seen the previous season, were extremely nervous and swallowed hard.
“If the number of trainees exceeds the song’s limit, the trainees assigned to the song will vote on the trainee who they believe will be the least helpful to their team. The trainee with the most votes will be kicked out.”
As expected, Yang Hajun explained the procedure for when the number of trainees exceeds the limit.
I had already left a strong impression on the trainees, whether it was through my skills or my popularity, so I wasn’t worried about being pushed out of my assigned song. However, now that most of the trainees had built up their fanbases, if I were to recklessly push another trainee out, I could end up being criticized.
I was really troubled as a series of really troublesome things kept coming at me.
“Each trainee will come out in order when their name is called and receive a note with the practice room they need to go to. Please do not say what is written on it and go straight to your assigned practice room.”
Whether he knew my concerns or not, Yang Hajun calmly read the script. Following his instructions, the practice room began to empty out one by one.
.
.
.
[Practice Room C]
The practice room I was assigned to was Practice Room C.
‘I can’t really tell what this is just by looking at it.’
I roughly stuffed the note into my pocket and immediately opened the door to the C practice room.
Then, something dark flew and suddenly hugged my face.
“Hyung! Wow! I’m so happy!”
It was Do Yuda.
‘We’ve secured the main vocalist.’
Main vocal or not, I hadn’t even gotten my breathing under control yet. But at least I can breathe a sigh of relief for now.
But Do Yuda reacted so excessively that I started to wonder what was going on. Why was the kid who treated me like a dying leaf this morning so excited now?
“If hyung wasn’t here, I would have been totally screwed.”
Do Yuda turned his back to the camera and his face hardened in an instant He leaned in and whispered something into my ear. It seemed that the sudden contact was for this reason.
“Why.”
“Look at the members.”
When I asked in a similarly small voice, Do Yuda raised his elbow slightly. In the part of the field of view that became visible, there was a member of Do Yuda’s team from the second mission. It was the sidekick who had been constantly by Song Hanseo’s side.
“Wow.”
“I know right?”
“Yeah.”
“But do you know what the problem is?”
“That person is from the team that won first place in the mini mission. Our team leader has been taken over by that person.”
“…….”
Why can’t they just let me pass quietly for once?
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Translator’s Corner:
- Almost Paradise here refers to the song Paradise (파라다이스) by T-MAX, it was the opening OST of the mega-hit-super-famous drama “Boys Over Flower”, that one drama with F4 and one poor girl. Basically whenever one of the four rich chabeols guys appear and doing something cool, the drama will blast “Almost paradiseeeeeeeee”, so that’s what MC felt while watching Nicholas lol, for reference you can watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGK1P5tUfh0 ↩︎
Well, it’s the fate of main character….
Anyway since I couldnt find my night snack (SERIOUSLY WHERE DID IT GO??? MY ROOM IS SMALL?????) I was starving so I ate breakfast for the first time in idk it’s been so long (I don’t usually eat this early) BUT NOW IT MAKES ME SLEEPY so I’ll go sleep see you in a day