-Everybody jump onto the stage that's about to begin! Free steps! Dazzling lights!
"Hngh!"
How long had I slept? Bolting upright at the sound ringing in my ears, I grabbed the phone I'd left beside me first.
[07:30]
The last time I'd checked before falling asleep last night, it was 2:25, so I hadn't slept very long.
Even so. I knew they'd start early, but they're already waking us up when I only got 5 hours of sleep?
-A melody that lights up a heart that was dark! Every moment you breathe is a feeling!
Even while I turned off the alarm I'd set for 8 a.m. just in case, the song kept pouring out of the speaker on the ceiling. In the end, groans burst out from every bed.
"Ugh— what......."
"Agh! Are they insane?"
One from above my head, one from the bed across from me.
Was Park Du-yeong still not up?
-Open up your breathless heart. Now let's all scream together!
"How long is this thing going to play? Don't tell me they're going to run it all the way through the 2nd verse."
While I glanced at the still-quiet top bunk across from me, Se-jun hyung covered his ears and grumbled. But even if he covered his ears, the song would only get louder.
Because I'd heard this song on TV before. On Recycle, no less.
They'd gradually turned up the volume to force the sleeping trainees awake, and then given the first 10 people outside priority in choosing teammates for the next mission.
"I think we'd be better off going outside. Let's just go out!"
The name had changed, but the big picture didn't seem to have, so it would surely go more or less the same way this time too. I couldn't explain all this, but quick-witted Se-jun hyung would've figured out the situation already and then some.
"Huh? Ugh, shit— I had a hunch, but I didn't think they'd pull this first thing in the morning."
"They must've wanted to catch us looking like a mess. Let's go!"
That's Kim Se-jun for you! Nice!
I was marveling and just about to leave the room with Yeo Eun-gi, who'd climbed down from his top bunk, when Se-jun hyung grabbed me and asked.
"But what about him?"
Following hyung's jutting chin, I saw Park Du-yeong, still curled up on his top bunk.
Ah, why does that guy have to be a pain about every single thing! Should I say we just leave him?
'Wow. Look at that character.'
After thinking it over for a moment, I ended up grabbing the ladder to the top bunk. It was definitely not because I lost to Super Strong Dragon picking a fight over my character, but out of roommate loyalty, to wake Park Du-yeong up.
"Hey! Hurry up and get up!"
"Ah— leave me alone."
But Park Du-yeong had no intention of getting up. Let's leave him. Leaving him is better.
"Let's just go ourselves."
I'm not nice enough to drag along a guy who'd say no even if you offered him a free ride on the regression bus.
"I'll try waking him."
"Sorry?"
But the nice guy was someone else. Yeo Eun-gi, who'd grabbed me as I tried to open the door and leave, climbed the ladder to the top bunk.
-A heart about to burst. A beat that can't be stopped. Our story, about to be written anew!
The problem here was that the song playing as the wake-up song was almost over.
"Ah, I said no."
"They say we have to go out now."
After glancing at Yeo Eun-gi, clinging to the ladder and fighting with Park Du-yeong, I gritted my teeth and grabbed Se-jun hyung's wrist.
"Hyung, let's go out first."
I want Yeo Eun-gi. And I can't be sure yet, but I can't miss out on the perks this wake-up mission will hand out either.
But I didn't agonize over it for long.
Let's get the perk first and think after that. If it's the priority to pull in teammates like last time, I can just bring Yeo Eun-gi over then.
"Hm? Didn't you like that Yeo Eun-gi guy? Let's go out together."
But this time, Se-jun hyung wouldn't move the way I wanted him to.
This is driving me crazy. Seriously!
***
"Run!"
"Aagh! Let go of me already!"
"Uhahahaha—"
In the end, I grabbed Park Du-yeong, who'd refused to get up, by the collar, dragged him down, threw open the door, and ran. I could hear Se-jun hyung laughing as he followed behind, but I had no time to argue about that.
Because from what I'd scanned the moment I stepped out, most of the room doors were already open.
Instead of wasting time on a comment, getting outside came first, I'm telling you!
-Soar up high. All the way to the end of the world, go! To-gether we'll shine. From now on, for.ev.er!
And after running for dear life, the 4 of us from our room made it out the front door of the dorm building with the wake-up song's last lyric, and plopped right down on the ground.
"Hah! When was the last time I ran like this?"
"Hyung, you can laugh right now?"
From the sound of his voice, Se-jun hyung still had stamina to spare. But right now, the trainees packed in front of us were a bigger problem than my stamina falling short of hyung's.
First 10, my foot. I'd be lucky not to come in dead last.......
"Hngh— hah."
"Hey, you psycho!"
While I looked around, Yeo Eun-gi caught his breath, and soon after, Park Du-yeong came to his senses, flared up, and lunged at me.
What an idiot.
Already on my feet thanks to Se-jun hyung's help, I lightly caught Park Du-yeong's arm. And to him, who'd been dragged along without a single chance to resist thanks to a full sprint right after waking up, I kindly pointed something out.
"Cameras are rolling here. Watch your mouth, watch your actions. You've got to debut."
The very advice I'd heard until my ears bled ever since I became a trainee.
"......."
I'd forgotten to check last night, but running all the way here, I'd seen cameras densely installed all along the hallways.
On top of that, anyone could see this was a wake-up mission. There were bound to be cameras set up out here too.
"Jae-min, you're seriously awesome! Hahaha!"
Watching me shut Park Du-yeong's mouth in one shot, Se-jun hyung burst out laughing again, finding it hilarious for some reason.
"That's a compliment, right?"
"Of course!"
Maybe it's because he's all about dance— he doesn't even seem out of breath after running like that.
'Right. You needed to catch your breath for over 30 seconds after dancing just one song. Watch and learn.'
For once, I agree. Honestly, my legs have been shaking for a while now, and I feel like I'm dying.
"Wee-ing—"
The moment I held out a hand to Yeo Eun-gi, who couldn't get up off the ground, the sound of the mini megaphone once again drew the trainees' eyes.
"Did everyone sleep well?"
"......Huh?"
I'd turned my head without thinking much of it, assuming it was a staff member again, but it took me longer than I'd expected to match the voice to its owner's face.
But isn't that only natural? I never imagined MC Jeong Gyu-won would come out this early in the morning!
"Oh! Here comes the last participant of today's wake-up mission at last. Now— everyone, a round of applause!"
Even with most of the trainees staring at him alone in surprise, the MC, in full hair and makeup from head to toe, carried out his job to the very end. He was, quite literally, a pro through and through.
Clap-clap-clap-clap—
"......."
And so, as if bewitched, applause began pouring down on the last one up, following his lead, and the trainee, whose face, and surely his whole body, though you couldn't see it, had flushed bright red, hung his head and quickly hid himself in the crowd.
Thinking I could've ended up like that if I'd slipped even a little is just too horrifying. Park Du-yeong, next time I'm really leaving you behind.
"Um— what's a wake-up mission?"
When the applause and laughter died down, someone raised their hand and asked the MC.
"Good question! I've heard idols can never let their guard down, anytime, anywhere. So this wake-up mission targets the very moment people are most off guard."
He doesn't really think that explanation is enough of an answer, does he?
"Doesn't that kind of not add up?"
"Exactly. Ugh, shit. Showing up on camera looking like this is way too much."
Just as I expected, murmuring started up here and there, and it soon grew into an uproar that got out of hand. Hearing the words the moment people are most off guard seemed to have made them realize what a state they were in right now, which partly added to it.
As for me, since I'd already known, I'd roughly checked myself before coming out, so I figured I'd be a little better off than most.
'Your hair got all messed up running over here, FYI.'
"Jae-min!"
As I hurriedly combed my hair back with my fingers at Super Strong Dragon's words, Jun-hyeok hyung pushed through the crowd toward me.
"Hyung! Did you come out fast?"
A good-morning greeting was a luxury at this point. I jumped straight to the point, and hyung, as if he understood, answered only the question.
"Yeah. Pretty fast. A trainee in my room woke everyone up the second the song came on."
"Lucky you. I'm jealous. We came out late because one guy wouldn't get up."
I was truly, genuinely jealous. If we'd run out as soon as the song started, making the first 10 would've been a piece of cake.
I'd just shot a glare at Park Du-yeong, grumbling nearby, and was burning with fighting spirit all over again.
"All right, everyone. Was what I said too hard to follow? Then let me explain it simply. This mission was to see your ability to make quick judgments in any moment at all. And the first ten, whose judgment has been recognized, will be given priority to pick the teammates they want first in the team missions later."
Thanks to that kind explanation, the uproar only grew.
"Priority?"
"Hah— I told you we should go out fast!"
Either way, getting priority is the same as before. The number of people is the same too. It's a shame, but it can't be helped. More importantly, it looks like hyung got priority, so should I ask him to pick me?
I'd met new people, and we'd been split into different rooms. But my dream of debuting together with Jun-hyeok hyung hadn't changed. Then wouldn't hyung feel the same way I do?
"And there's one more thing I have to tell you. If there are people who get a prize, then it's only balanced for there to be people who get a punishment too, right?"
As I was wondering how to bring it up with Jun-hyeok hyung, I heard words like a bolt from the blue. Every single word the polished MC spat out, crisp and clear, grated on my nerves.
"So the ten participants counting backward from the very last one out will receive a penalty. What kind of penalty will it be? We'll leave that to each of your imaginations until the next team mission is announced!"
What? Balance? Balance, my ass! And leave it to our imaginations! From the look of things, I'm definitely getting a penalty too!
"......."
Why is it that my bad feelings are never wrong?
A moment later, reading the number 7 written in red on the piece of paper a staff member had handed me, I didn't need to see my face to know it was steeped in despair.
On top of that, unlike the priority, they won't even tell us what the penalty is. Isn't that seriously too much? I still haven't even figured out what the penalty Super Strong Dragon gave me is!
'Penalty must be your destiny. Just accept it already. Heh-heh!'