‘…So he’s planning to buckle down and make this dance-focused.’
At least I understood the idea.
The unit stages for this concert were going to be promoted as original WeTube content, and videos of the performances themselves would be released as well, so they were guaranteed to draw the fans’ attention.
If he really managed to do better than Cha Eugene here? There probably wouldn’t be any more talk about his position ever again.
The question was whether that was even possible.
“…Wouldn’t it be better if you took the dance break on this album?”
“Ha ha. Even if I did pretty well… people would still say it would’ve been better if Ahyeon or Eugene had done it, right?”
Big Sejin answered immediately. Apparently, he had been dwelling on this situation for quite a while.
‘…Still, going head-to-head with Cha Eugene is a bit much.’
That wasn’t to say Big Sejin’s stats were bad.
‘…Status Window.’
For the first time in a while, I checked Big Sejin’s Status Window.
[Name: Lee Sejin]
Singing: C+ (B+)
Dancing: A (S)
Physical attractiveness: A- (A+)
Charm: A- (A+)
Trait: Quiet, Please (B)
!Status Abnormality:
His Status Window was extremely solid. During this awards season, his growth had become even more noticeable as his Charm entered the A grade.
‘Those are stats that would stand out anywhere.’
…The problem was that, taken as a whole, they were basically a slightly inferior version of Cha Eugene’s stats.
Aside from Singing, where they were the same grade, every single one of his stats was slightly below Cha Eugene’s.
It would almost have been better if one or two of them were a whole grade lower so long as there was at least one stat where he ranked higher, but this was… awkward.
‘Most of the time, Cha Eugene would swallow him whole.’
That bastard’s Charm was already S-. And on top of that, he had the absurdly broken Trait Black Hole.
He wasn’t even the type who created a synergy effect for the people around him. He was just someone who stood out like crazy all by himself.
Frankly, even I, whose position was completely different from his, wasn’t particularly eager to do a stage with only Cha Eugene and me.
‘…Perfect setup for people to say that Park Bearhead bastard still dances like a robot.’
I could already hear the payoff from dumping all my Points into raising my Dancing stat going up in smoke.
Holding back a sigh, I looked at Big Sejin.
“…I’m cutting through everything else and telling you this straight.”
“Okay.”
“Whether it’s you, Seon Ahyeon—no, whoever you put beside him, I think it’s almost impossible to stand out more than Cha Eugene in a one-on-one stage.”
“……”
“You’ve probably thought about that too.”
It probably would have been better for him to join unit three and somehow carve out a part that would draw attention to himself.
The fact that he had deliberately chosen Cha Eugene anyway meant his desire—and fear—when it came to proving himself must have been pretty damn strong.
Big Sejin looked down at the floor and asked hollowly,
“…You really think it’s impossible?”
“I think… rather than trying to beat Cha Eugene, you need to approach it from a different direction.”
There was at least one scenario that seemed more plausible than the others.
“Just make the stage itself good. Make it so good that people don’t even feel like sitting down and seriously comparing which of you is better.”
In other words, comments like, ‘That dance-unit stage was seriously amazing,’ needed to come pouring out like crazy.
“If you don’t get overshadowed during your own parts in that situation, you’ll definitely leave an impression as a dancer.”
It would be difficult, but it was still more feasible than beating Cha Eugene on a duo stage.
“You need to get Cha Eugene to cooperate with you onstage.”
“……Okay.”
Big Sejin nodded with considerable composure. But his interlocked hands had been clenched so hard they were white.
‘…His hands are even shaking.’
I hadn’t seen this bastard get this nervous and worked up even right before the Idol Inc. final.
‘This is almost as bad as when that school-violence rumor broke.’
Wasn’t this a little excessive?
“Is something else going on with you?”
“What?”
“What people are saying right now isn’t even the general opinion among the fans. It’s just some chatter under the surface. You know that too, but you seem way too anxious about it.”
“……”
Big Sejin was silent for a long time.
Then he laughed hollowly.
“Guess I’m even telling you this now… Hey, do you know why I got dropped from my old debut lineup? It was because my position was too ambiguous.”
“……!”
“Right before the team was supposed to launch, a kid whose parents were both actors joined. He already had name recognition, so they wanted him on the team… but one of the higher-ups insisted we absolutely had to debut with seven members. What could they do? Someone had to get cut.”
“……”
“But the team already had one guy who danced better than me, one younger guy, one handsome guy, one guy who sang better than me, and one guy who rapped. They couldn’t take out the leader because he was the leader, so in the end, ambiguous old me was the perfect candidate.”
Big Sejin slapped his thighs a few times with his palms.
“So I got cut. Well, what could I do about it… Anyway, that’s why I can’t just sit on my hands. If this keeps going until the talk gets bigger and it turns into an atmosphere where nobody would miss me if I left, that would be too… funny, wouldn’t it? If I’m the only one who gets a lousy deal when it’s time to renew our contracts… Ha, seriously, I’m saying all kinds of things now……”
Big Sejin clicked his tongue and lowered his head. Apparently, he had ended up rambling about things he never would have said in his usual state.
‘…This is really the kind of story you’re supposed to hear after someone’s had a few drinks.’
Hearing it while completely sober made me feel a little dizzy too.
‘Anyway, I understand the situation now.’
Apparently, being dropped from his first group right before debut had dealt him a considerable shock.
It also occurred to me that the way he had obsessed over the positions of ‘leader’ and ‘main dancer’ throughout Idol Inc. must have meant more to him than simply securing screen time.
‘But what the hell am I supposed to say to that?’
I was a little flustered too, now that I had heard far more than I expected.
It wasn’t as if I could offer him some sort of solution to his past. And it wasn’t like I was particularly gifted at comforting people, either.
…There was no helping it. I’d just do what I always did and list some positive facts.
Holding back another sigh, I opened my mouth.
“First… setting positions and all that aside… the team does need you.”
“What, for variety shows?”
“No. For cutting off controversies.”
“……!”
Sad, but true.
“You already know this, but half our team has no sense of what’s going on, and more than half of us are softhearted. Think about it. Without you, what kind of situations would this team have ended up in by now?”
“……”
As if he were looking back over everything from the month-long rush before our debut to the recent ONYX incident, Big Sejin fell silent for a moment.
But he soon shook his head.
“You came up with almost all the ideas yourself. I don’t think anything major would’ve changed.”
“Mm, about that. The truth is, I went for a lot of those things because I trusted you.”
“What?”
“No… if it was an idea worth using, I figured you’d definitely steer the mood in its favor.”
“……”
It was a little embarrassing to admit. I cleared my throat and continued.
“Chungwoo hyung is the leader, sure. But if you asked me to pick the person best suited to teamwork, I’d pick you. Whether it’s onstage, on a broadcast, inside the team, or dealing with people outside it… it’s really rare to find someone who can pull their weight in every single situation.”
I finished what I had to say.
“An idol group needs someone with that kind of well-balanced hexagon too. Well… that’s all I’m saying.”
“……”
Read only on MUGEX
After listening to everything I had to say, Big Sejin closed his mouth and turned his head in the opposite direction.
‘Don’t tell me he’s crying.’
I really hoped he wasn’t. The atmosphere would get incredibly weird.
And a moment later, Big Sejin really did fail to hold it in and burst out.
Not into tears.
Into laughter.
“Wahaha! You’re dying of cringe right now, aren’t you!”
“……You’re laughing?”
“Pfft, hey, wouldn’t you laugh in this situation?! A guy like Park Moondae is saying all kinds of things because he’s trying to comfort me!”
This bastard was giving me shit even after I went out of my way to compliment him.
Before I could smack him with the neck pillow, Big Sejin stopped laughing.
“Hahaha, seriously…… Whew. Anyway, I get it. It’s funny, but it does… make me feel a little better. Hey, that’s pretty impressive.”
Big Sejin grinned, then abruptly folded his arms and muttered in a deliberately exaggerated voice.
“But if the fans don’t know what an incredible idol Sejin is, isn’t it all pointless? Maybe I should at least take Chungwoo hyung’s leader position?”
Don’t pretend it’s a joke while saying what you really mean, bastard.
I answered as calmly as I could.
“Most of them probably already know. You’re worried that the opinion you saw might spread to other fans too… but actually, I think the longer this goes on, the more advantageous it’ll be for you.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. The fact that you don’t have any weak points becomes more obvious the more years you have under your belt.”
It was also a tendency I had personally confirmed in the actual data market.
When the inevitable period came where demand for one member after another plummeted, people of that type were unusually good at weathering it.
Big Sejin looked as though he couldn’t fully trust what I was saying. Still, he smiled and nodded.
“…Yeah. I’ll think about it that way and do my best onstage~”
At least that seemed sincere.
In any case, he appeared to have reached a conclusion in his own mind, so he would probably receive the effect of his Trait.
[Quiet, Please (B)]
: Let’s not talk back!
-Drive +100%
Judging from the name alone, I had expected it to be some sort of public-opinion-related Trait, considering Big Sejin’s personality, so I had been a little surprised when I actually saw what it did.
‘Well, this suits him too.’
Maybe the part about not talking back applied to both himself and the people around him.
He would probably take a similar stance with Cha Eugene while preparing for this unit stage.
‘…He’ll coax and wheedle him just enough to wring out every single element he wants.’
I wondered how far that would work.
“Then I’m heading upstairs. Come up once you’re done here.”
“What are you talking about when you already cleaned everything up? Hey, let’s go up together!”
“……”
Big Sejin stretched forward and got ready to leave the car.
Looking at his hands, I suddenly remembered the way he had handled the cards.
“…Come to think of it, how did you mark the cards?”
“Huh?”
“The cards we used to decide the units. The ones you rigged.”
“Ah~ What? Wait.”
Big Sejin chuckled.
“Hey, I didn’t rig anything!”
“…!”
“What was I supposed to do? I was handling the cards and ended up memorizing the scratch patterns on the backs~ I’m just too smart… Oh dear, I guess my brain did something wrong!”
“……”
Well, it was a relief he hadn’t gone as far as actually tampering with them… but somehow, that just pissed me off.
Even as we got out of the car and walked back toward the waiting room, Big Sejin chuckled several more times.
Then, in front of the waiting room, he spoke a little more seriously.
“Anyway… that makes me even more grateful. You thought I’d rigged the cards, but you still tried to hear me out about why I did it.”
“…If the concert ends well, buy me a cow or something.”
Big Sejin burst out laughing.
“Sure. If I’m buying one, why stop at just some cow? I’ll buy you Hanwoo.”
“Do that.”
“…And if you ever have anything bothering you, tell me too.”
“……”
My problems, huh.
For a moment, I imagined explaining my circumstances to these guys.
…Mm. I’d probably have my activities suspended that very day and a psychiatric consultation booked for me.
As expected, I should just pretend this problem didn’t exist.
“Yeah. If I get any.”
“Oh~ So confident you don’t have any yet!”
Laughing, Big Sejin entered the waiting room.
Apparently, the manager had figured out what was going on in the meantime. After confirming that Big Sejin was back to normal, he discreetly gave me a thumbs-up.
‘Big Sejin can see you doing that too, you know.’
Anyway, the rest of the waiting time passed peacefully without incident. That was because every single member except Kim Raebin avoided so much as making eye contact with GY-ROP.
And that day, TeSTAR took home the fourth-quarter Album Bonsang and the Rookie Award.
“Thank you so much! We reached two hundred days since our debut last week……”
While waiting for my turn after Big Sejin, who was speaking into the microphone as smoothly as flowing water, I finally received the news I had been waiting for.
[Successful Award Win!]
You have successfully won the Rookie Award amid public recognition at ‘the most prestigious domestic awards ceremony’!
!Time Limit: Met (Great Success)
!Status Abnormality: ‘Award or Die!’ removed!
: Check the Truth ☜ Click!