Failed idols weren’t failed idols from the beginning.
When Gyeol Go became the youngest trainee at LM Entertainment, one of the top three entertainment companies in Korea, everyone looked at that little child and spared no praise for the bright future they imagined for him, or for the title he had claimed at such a young age.
You’ll become something, no matter what.
You’re already an LM trainee, so debuting is basically guaranteed.
You’ll be the center of the group that leads the next generation.
Words that planted pride and dreams in a child’s heart. So there had been a fearless time when Gyeol, too, dreamed of things like the future of K-pop, of becoming a world-famous idol.
He thought he was special. He thought he would become something. He never doubted that he would be a shining star.
His attachment to LM Entertainment grew day by day.
“Oh my, what a pretty little boy.”
“I’m an LM trainee.”
“What was that?”
“LM Entertainment. My agency. The company run by CEO Jung Seung Hwan!”
...To the point where things like that happened. People simply found the child cute as he chirped his pride like a little bird, and they encouraged that young sprout.
His older brother, his only guardian, was the same.
“Our Gyeol will become a famous singer and buy his brother a house and a car, right?”
“Yeah!”
He skipped school as easily as eating meals. While other kids his age kicked balls around and played, he was holed up in practice rooms, doing nothing but dance and vocal training.
It was common for him to take monthly evaluations with boys and girls as much as ten years older than him, and be openly compared to them. He had no choice but to grow up early, both in mind and maturity.
He realized what he lacked, became discouraged, felt disappointed, held onto hope, and threw it away—again and again.
Like that, there was nothing in Gyeol Go’s life except LM Entertainment. The LM Entertainment building itself was Gyeol Go’s entire world.
Then one day, that boy appeared.
“Gyeol, say hello.”
The spring he turned fifteen.
“His name is Jun Shin. He’s the same age as you.”
That boy was at least a hand taller than him, with sharply defined eyes. A handsome boy with black hair and eyes even darker than that.
“Gyeol, you’re his senior, so take good care of him and get along.”
His gaze was firm, his posture straight. Anyone could tell that boy was an Alpha, something different from Gyeol himself.
“There’s a good chance you’ll debut together.”
Debut.
After rotting away as a trainee for nearly seven years, just hearing those two syllables around that time made his heart pound.
Together. Debut.
Those words shook his heart to its limits.
Feeling something strange stir in his chest, Gyeol stood ramrod straight. It was his first time meeting someone his own age.
He didn’t know whether the wary look he gave the unfamiliar boy came from an Omega’s instinct, from the urge to protect his own place, or from proof of that sudden pounding in his chest.
Or maybe he had sensed the future.
“Nice to meet you, Gyeol Go.”
Jun Shin was different. He strode up to Gyeol and, with a mature air, offered a handshake. He took Gyeol’s awkwardly extended hand and shook it up and down.
Up close, he looked even taller. His hand was big too.
Jun Shin’s existence came to Gyeol as a strange kind of pressure.
“I hope we get along.”
The hand holding his tingled. It felt similar to the way his heartbeat grew violent whenever he heard the word “debut.”
Suddenly, Gyeol wanted to shake that hand off. If the CEO hadn’t been watching, he would have.
“...Me too. I hope we get along.”
An inevitable realization came to him.
I’m going to end up liking him.
***
After the first impression vote, Jun Shin’s interview.
Why did you choose that person in the first impression vote?
“It’s exactly what I wrote on the card.”
And what did you write on the card?
“That I missed him.”
Jun Shin’s eyes, fixed on the camera, sank low.
“That I missed you the whole time.”
***
Watch your mouth.
Aiming for a blind spot in the cameras, Gyeol mouthed the words.
Jun Shin showed no reaction, but Gyeol instinctively judged that he had understood. The Jun Shin he knew was quick to pick up on things.
Besides, hadn’t the two of them once shared enough time together to understand what the other was thinking without even saying it?
Shwaa. Waves rolled in beside them, then pulled back again and again.
At least it’ll look good on camera.
Not wanting to meet Jun Shin’s eyes, Gyeol kept his gaze far away, pretending to look out at the sea.
“How have you been?”
Jun Shin spoke in an even tone.
“I’ve been fine. You?”
It was a question he didn’t even need to ask. Jun Shin must have been doing well.
His group was doing so well, and recently, articles had gone up everywhere announcing that Jun Shin had been selected as a global ambassador for luxury brand P. As long as Gyeol was still in this industry, there was no way he could avoid knowing.
He knew it all, and still, he asked.
“I’ve been well too.”
“Yeah. That’s good.”
A brief silence flowed between them again.
This won’t do. At this rate, anyone would think we look awkward.
Gyeol did not want to create an atmosphere that made it seem like something still lingered between them.
Trying to shift the mood, he brightened his voice deliberately.
“I never thought I’d meet you here—”
“I missed you.”
The words fell at the same time. Gyeol couldn’t finish his sentence.
Words suddenly thrust at him. The same words written on the card.
In an instant, his mind went blank. Everything he had meant to say evaporated.
Jun Shin took one step toward Gyeol. In the end, Gyeol turned his gaze and looked up at Jun Shin’s face, unable to say anything.
This crazy bastard.
“...I missed you, Gyeol.”
You’re the one who abandoned me.
Curses surged thickly in his mouth. There were more than five thousand thorned things he wanted to say. But there was only one choice Gyeol could make.
Pretend to be calm.
“Yeah. I missed you too.”
He answered lightly and forced himself to ignore the pounding headache as he looked at Jun Shin. As if to show the eight years that had passed, the boyishness had disappeared from his face, leaving behind the clear features of a grown man.
This man was now the leader of an idol group followed by fans in droves.
They had once been in the same boat called a failed idol group. One of them had escaped on a motorboat and transferred onto an enormous cruise ship, while the other had fallen straight into the water and sunk into the abyss.
No matter how anyone looked at it, Gyeol was at a disadvantage. If he showed hostility toward Jun Shin now, all the damage would come back to him.
Gyeol pulled up the corners of his mouth and smiled as brightly as he could.
“Thanks to R-Connect, I get to see you again. I’m really glad. Let’s have fun for the next fifteen days.”
Jun Shin’s gaze stayed on Gyeol’s face. A gaze that seemed to engrave his smile into his eyes. Gyeol knew that kind of gaze very well.
Cooperate.
Don’t say anything stupid.
He silently conveyed the meaning with his eyes.
Fortunately, Jun Shin seemed to understand Gyeol’s intention. He answered in a light tone and smiled back.
“Yeah. Let’s have fun. I’m pretty confident when it comes to fun.”
“Right. When it comes to fun, it’s Jun Shin.”
For a while, they exchanged trivial stories about the past.
Relieved by the smooth flow of conversation, Gyeol acted with everything he had. Pretending nothing was wrong. Pretending he was truly glad to see Jun Shin. Pretending this time was enjoyable.
At last, Gyeol brought up a question fitting for a dating show. It was to emphasize, somehow, that there was nothing special between them, and to wrap up the conversation.
“Is there someone you’re interested in?”
“Yeah. There is.”
“How many? You should go talk to them more. No point wasting time, so let’s head back and—”
Just as he naturally turned to leave—
“One.”
Jun Shin cut off Gyeol’s words and answered.
Then one step. Two steps.
He approached Gyeol.
At last, he stood right in front of him.
Jun Shin looked down at Gyeol. Gyeol looked up at Jun Shin too.
“There’s only one.”
What the hell are you doing, you bastard?
“For me, it’s you.”
Why are you doing this?
***
/ (BEST!) Collection of old photos of Jun Shin and Gyeol Go from SAVE ME
I scraped up some old Jun-Gyeol photos from R-Connect 10
(Gyeol_Go_pushing_Jun_Shin_away.jpg)
(Jun_Shin_leaning_on_Gyeol_Go’s_shoulder.jpg)
(stage_eye_contact_smiling_at_each_other.jpg)
(selfie_together.jpg)
Maybe because they were failed idols, it was hard to find this kind of #mood outside of article photos
Still nice. Looks like the two of them were pretty close
Gyeol Go looks tacky as hell lmaooo Jun Shin looks the same though
⤷ There’s a reason only Jun survived
⤷ Was Gyeol Go’s stylist his anti or what?
⤷ Jun is just on another level,,
I like the second photo
⤷ 2222 me too.. weirdly really like it
⤷ 333 it kind of feels like there’s a bond.. they look really close..
⤷ Even looking like that, Gyeol Go’s smile is pretty..
They were the closest back when they were in SAVE ME. It’s sad as hell hearing people call them failed idols ㅠ my old faves.. Jun-Gyeol was the most popular ship and had the most stories, and the two of them were trainees together for a long-ass time.. Gyeol Go trained at LM for seriously forever, and apparently Jun Shin was the first same-age trainee who came in
⤷ Damn, and then the group failed and only one guy survived?
⤷ + reuniting on a dating show
⤷ + and it just had to be R-Connect
⤷ That’s a whole storyline right there, feels like I’m reading fanfic lmaoooooo
⤷ Jun Shin is kind of the model-student type, you know? But with Gyeol Go he was clingy and kind of cute.. Maybe because they were together for so long.. Gyeol Go was all macho lolol (being macho with that face lolㅠ) pushing him away and acting prickly, but in the end he’d still kind of accept Jun Shin.. so a lot of people ate up Jun-Gyeol.. ah, my old faves
⤷ Hey this is delicious, tell us more, munch munch
The third stage photo kind of feels like I saw something I shouldn’t have
⤷ Feels like we should protect it fr
⤷ Hey, let’s pretend we don’t know them, this is weird
Sigh! How can a couple come on a dating show together! You can’t do this just to squeeze out ratings, Producer Yoo!
⤷ ??? Is that real?
⤷ You think it’s real? ;ㅠ
I mean, Alpha-Omega stamina difference is,, kind of unavoidable,, but apparently during trainee days, one time Gyeol Go tried to match Jun Shin’s practice amount exactly and collapsed. Jun Shin carried Gyeol Go on his back and ran all the way to the hospital.. when they were minors
⤷ Not even the nurse’s office lmao where did he carry him?
⤷ Guys, call 911
⤷ There was a big hospital close to LM.. and he was probably shocked.. they were kids..
⤷ Wait, isn’t this true love
⤷ I told you, let’s pretend we don’t know
The selfie lmao you can feel the years in the digital decay ㅠ
⤷ Plus they’re total babies ㅠ
,,,,They look close, so it’s sad as hell that the group failed,,
⤷ For real,,,,,,,, I’m soggy right now,,,
⤷ Same,,, personally I hate the term failed idol.. wish people wouldn’t keep calling them failed idols,,,ㅠ,,,,,,,
Hmm.. I guess a lot of people don’t know that thing about Jun-Gyeol
⤷ ?
⤷ ??
⤷ ???????????
⤷ What
⤷ ??
⤷ Why did you drop only that and disappear
⤷ What are we supposed to do with this, you old fandom freak, come back
...
Sorry, I’m the old fandom freak who wrote the comment above, my chicken delivery cameㅠㅠ anyway, what I meant is,,,,,
⤷ ????
⤷ ????????
⤷ leaving this here) Jun Shin and Gyeol Go really did date.