"What number did you get? I got 9."
"By the time I came out, it was already more than half full. Anyway, doesn't it seem kind of wrong to hand out priority without even telling us about the wake-up mission?"
The joy of priority and the despair of the penalty, and then the trainees who fell under neither.
Just as a strange tension was forming among them, the MC opened his mouth, still holding on to his high energy.
"Now head back to the dorm, change into the tracksuit left on your bed, and let's meet again in the main auditorium at nine. Enjoy your meal!"
Apparently they'd left tracksuits on our beds while everyone was out. All I could do was pray my bed wasn't in any of the messy-bed shots.
"Tracksuits? They're not going to look like the prison uniforms in dramas, are they?"
Recalling the green tracksuits the Recycle contestants had all worn in my earlier memory, I shook my head and laughed at Se-jun hyung's words.
"No way. If they handed out prison uniforms, neither the trainees nor the Keepers would stand for it."
"You think? Well, without group uniforms....... The screen would be pretty flashy."
"Pfft!"
At Se-jun hyung's muttering as he looked around after hearing me, the laugh that burst out of me without resistance was beyond my control.
Full matching pajama sets, stretched-out tees, pants anyone could tell were for lounging at home, baggy at the knees.......
It was true that if things kept going like this, not just the Keepers but I, too, would be confused about where to look.
But in the middle of all this, did the guy in the full pajama set always dress like that, or was it a concept?
"Huh? They really did come into the room?"
Still suspicious as I came in, I couldn't hide my shock when I saw all 4 tracksuits, which I'd assumed would be laid out one per bed, sitting on my bed.
I'd left it a complete mess getting up in a hurry, so they didn't really get a shot of my bed, did they?
"What's with this color?"
But more than anything else, Park Du-yeong seemed to hate the color.
Hm. The tracksuit was a slightly lighter green than I remembered.
But Park Du-yeong was hardly in a position to be talking about color, was he? Whose fault was it we got a penalty? Did he not have even a speck of guilt?
"Excuse me. What does the color of the clothes matter right now? The penalty's what matters."
"......!"
In the end, my mouth, unable to hold back, made a mess of things, and Park Du-yeong, who'd quickly pulled off his T-shirt and grabbed the tracksuit top, froze with a flinch.
Hmph. So he does know he did wrong. Ah, wait.
Judging by the personality I'd seen so far, he wouldn't dare act up with hyung, but I bet he'd still dig in his heels with me. I'd better check whether they've installed a hidden camera or something.
'You're pointlessly meticulous about this kind of thing only. Creepy.'
Lightly ignoring the words ringing in my head, I quickly swept every corner of the room with my eyes, and felt a lot lighter when Super Strong Dragon told me in one line not to worry, there weren't any.
"I'm sorry."
"Eh?"
But what came back wasn't an irritated retort but an apology. Stunned by a reaction I never saw coming, I widened my eyes and looked back and forth between Yeo Eun-gi and Se-jun hyung, standing beside Park Du-yeong, for help.
"......."
"......."
Not that two people I'd known for barely a full day had any way to help me.
Meanwhile, Park Du-yeong, maybe not noticing I was flustered, even bowed his head slightly. And not just to me, but to the two people standing on either side of him too.
"I'm the type who's bad with mornings....... But I didn't know we'd get a penalty for it. I'll be careful from now on."
"......No. Well, there's no need to go that far."
More importantly, could you finish getting dressed? I have no interest in looking at a pasty guy's body.
"Hm. So everything's squared away now? Then let's hurry up and change and go eat breakfast. I'm hungry."
"R-Right! We just won't be late next time!"
Just then, the belated backup fire came in.
Se-jun hyung grinned, patting Park Du-yeong on the shoulder with easy good humor, and Yeo Eun-gi, making an effort to raise his voice, picked up the tracksuit with his name tag on it.
Good. It's a first trial that isn't really much of a trial, but let's wrap it up on a warm note.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you out of nowhere too. Well, we'll just have to overcome something like a penalty. Let's do well."
Once we'd made up on a good note and walked into the cafeteria, everything was green, green, green. It was like walking onto a lawn.
In my past life, when dark green filled the whole screen, it had only been uncomfortable to look at, but this time it was a light green, so it was a relief that it was at least a little easier on the eyes.
"This color really doesn't suit me. What do I do?"
"My hair color's a mess to begin with. I'm in trouble."
But since the members had gathered from all over, each on their own, the misfortune of people whose personal colors clashed with it happened too.
Luckily, yellow-green suits me!
"Thanks for the food."
Breakfast was a buffet, just like dinner last night, and even though no one told us to sit by room, the 4 of us from room 204 sat at the same table to eat.
"Wow— you can fit all that in first thing in the morning?"
Park Du-yeong asked, his jaw dropping as he looked at my tray piled with meat.
"Of course. Meat is important nutrition! You can't hold out on salad alone, I'm telling you. Want some of this?"
"No, no. No."
"I mean, if it's no, it's no. Why reject it that hard?"
We'd only just made up, so it was a little awkward, but it's kind of strange that it feels better than I expected.
"If we're done eating, shall we start heading over......."
While we laughed and chatted, 30 minutes flew by. The clocks hung here and there in the cafeteria already pointed to 8:30, and the trainees all got up from their seats at the same time, as if they'd agreed on it.
They must need time to wash up and get ready. Like me.
"Jae-min! Glad this color suits you."
As I put away my tray and turned around, Jun-hyeok hyung waved his arm at me from far off, in exactly the same setup as earlier.
Ah— my hyung. He really is like a ray of light in this place.
"Exactly! It looks good on you too, hyung."
"Anyway, are you okay?"
Hyung, who'd been patting my shoulder and tossing out warm words, suddenly asked if I was okay. No subject, no object, but between us, that stuff isn't necessary.
"Well. It can't be helped. You made the first ten, right, hyung?"
"Yeah. Sorry I'm the only one who made it. I'll use this to pick you later."
Hyung looked sheepish at my words and held out the paper he had. On it was written the number 10 in blue, meaning he'd made the first ten.
So priority is blue and the penalty is red? Anyone can tell red looks like the bad one. How petty.
"You absolutely have to keep that promise!"
"Of course. See you later, then."
"Okay!"
Now that I've got a firm answer from Jun-hyeok hyung, I feel totally at ease. So now I just go back to the dorm, wash up, run to the auditorium, and that's it?
'That's it, my foot. Didn't you say this is only the beginning?'
.......
***
"Hello, contestants. For this mission, I, Na Seung-pil, will be running things. Any complaints?"
At 9 o'clock sharp, the doors of the main auditorium closed, and producer Na Seung-pil appeared on the stage set up at the far end.
"No!"
There's no trainee in here crazy enough to step up and refuse to have producer Na Seung-pil, who has a hand in everything from songs to stages to music videos, run the show.
"I was worried a lot after hearing about the wake-up mission, but you've all spruced up in no time."
"Haha—"
Having confirmed his own presence among the trainees, producer Na Seung-pil smiled with satisfaction. And hearing what he said, I discreetly tucked my lips in, pressed them together, and rubbed them.
"Hold on. You're going like that?"
"Yeah. Is it weird?"
"No. It's not that, but do you want to put at least this on your lips?"
A little earlier, I'd just put on some tone-up sunscreen with a correcting effect and turned around, when Park Du-yeong handed me a tinted lip balm, saying lip color needs to show up well. Putting it on was a stroke of luck.
Auditorium or not, if I got caught on camera under lights this strong, I'd probably look like a pale corpse. I should thank him later.
'Weren't you going on about revenge?'
Sigh— I was wondering why you hadn't shown up.
You're a dragon, so you might not know, but how can a person only ever go in one direction? Even if you hate someone, you still have to acknowledge what you're grateful for.
"This mission is none other than 'Star Recycle OST'!"
While I was shaking my head in small motions, explaining human life to Super Strong Dragon, producer Na Seung-pil announced the mission in a loud voice, and on cue, a familiar accompaniment began to fill the auditorium.
♪- ♬♪- ♩♩♪♬♬-
But the only ones in here who'd find the music familiar were probably me and Super Strong Dragon.
"OST? Isn't that making it sound way too grand?"
Sure enough, Park Du-yeong, hearing the accompaniment for the first time, bobbed his head to the beat and voiced his doubts.
Should I explain? Sure. Let's repay him for lending me the lip balm.
"Um. It's literally an original soundtrack, so maybe they figured it's not a problem? It's also a song they'll keep using for a while."
"Aha. So you mean from now on, the whole of Korea is going to hear this song? Like the theme songs of the survival shows that came out before?"
Apparently not slow on the uptake, Park Du-yeong got my explanation in one go, imitated the signature hand gesture of the survival show Park Hui-su sunbae-nim had been on, and winked.
Ah, he could at least spare me the winking.
"Probably?"
Discreetly stepping back, I recalled what I remembered about this mission.
Calling it an OST was too grand, so later everyone just called it by its title. But I think this was an individual mission.......
"The song came out great, didn't it? This song was made for all of you by Ryui of 'Flash Boy.' Ryui wrote the lyrics personally too. And for reference, the choreography is a joint creation of our very own Star Recycle's Do Hyeon-min and Choi Su-jin."
The trainees who'd been swaying to the lyricless accompaniment like Park Du-yeong froze for a moment. And soon an uproar broke out.
"Whoa!"
"Ryui sunbae-nim! I'm a huge fan!"
"But what kind of lyrics would go on this song?"
No wonder. When I watched this on TV, I was glued to the screen, praying I'd get a song like this too someday.
But then and now, I was more worried about something other than the song.
"Wow— the dance is going to be really hard. Judge Do Hyeon-min's choreography is no joke."
Like the trainee I heard somewhere said, for people like me who can't dance, that part is the biggest problem. I think this song had quite a few moves where you jump into the air between parts, and I'm already worried.
My knees are going to hold out, right?