As usual, I was being diligently grilled today on the hot plate disguised as a practice room when Kim Ji-su called me out separately.
"The CEO wants to see you for a bit. Is that okay?"
...The CEO?
I'm curious what on earth she's going to say that she'd call me in separately like this.
When I entered the CEO's office, Seon Yeong-ran greeted me wearing the same good-natured smile as the day we first met.
"So, I hear you want to add more people to the debut team, Seol-han? And change the group concept a bit too?"
"Yes, that's right."
"You organized your materials well. Well enough to put them straight on the agenda at a meeting."
So that's why she was holding a one-on-one out of the blue.
It seemed Seon Yeong-ran had read the document I wrote herself.
But I didn't write it alone, so this praise isn't mine to take.
Kim Ji-su deserves a lot of the credit for how polished that document was. She worked hard to develop it, even carving out her own time for it.
Thanks to her, I think the result came out at a level that would look decent even to an entertainment company CEO.
"The part where you wrote down each member's strengths and weaknesses was especially impressive. You've got the kids really well figured out. Hasn't it been less than a month since you joined?"
It was something I realized while writing it, but I seemed to know more about those guys than I'd thought.
Maybe from constantly being called Knockoff Ji-hyuk and Three-Second Baek Ji-hyuk, my eyes had drifted to PLUTO news a lot without my realizing.
"Of course, what I like best is that gumption of actively proposing ideas to the company. If you want to do big things, you have to know how to jump into a gamble."
That's a remark that makes you scared she'll cause some trouble one day.
I've never heard news of Solar Entertainment's CEO getting dragged off after racking up gambling debts, but let's stay careful for now.
"I'm in favor of bringing Yeon-gyu back too. His skills are one thing, but he's also a kid we were originally raising here, so it's convenient not to have to teach him everything from scratch."
Seon Yeong-ran wiped away the smile she'd been wearing and looked this way with a serious face.
"But what'll you do if the company wants to debut them as a five-member group no matter what? So if Yeon-gyu comes in, you, with less seniority, have to go?"
Seeing that she bothered to ask this, she doesn't seem to intend to release me right away.
If she meant it, she wouldn't broach it like that. That's just testing what reaction I'll show.
Seon Yeong-ran seems to like guys who are confident and assertive, so appealing with tears would probably backfire.
Let's keep it plain here.
"If the company has decided that, then I'll have to follow."
"You're giving up right away?"
As if? Listen to people until they finish.
Keeping a calm expression, I recited the words I'd thought up in advance.
"But I once heard something from my fellow trainees. That the debut team's atmosphere got a lot better after I joined."
He's not here, but thanks, Namgung Hyun. For letting me borrow a heartwarming anecdote, after the shower supplies and cosmetics.
Of course, I never got separate permission for that last one.
"When I heard that, I was happy to think that even I, still lacking in many ways, can be of help to someone."
Saying this sort of thing, so unlike me, gives me goosebumps on my arms all on their own. Good thing I wore long sleeves.
"Thanks to my fellow trainees, who are full of consideration, I'm also enjoying practice more. So if possible, I really want to debut with them, but it would also be a waste to lose a talent with the ability to make the group stand out more."
Then, without breaking my composed attitude, I finished.
"So I hope you'll kindly consider a six-member debut that includes both me and Go Yeon-gyu."
"So the kids said that......."
Seon Yeong-ran, slowly stroking her chin, adjusted her posture.
"Next Tuesday, I'm going to call the production division and all the debut team kids into the conference room. It's about time we firmly decided on the concept and the group name."
To debut in the third quarter of this year, it was time to set the framework.
But telling me that now—isn't the intention transparent?
"If, at that meeting, the concept you've proposed gets a better evaluation than the one we already had in mind, I'll fully reflect your opinion. Both the changed concept and the six-member debut."
I knew it.
Seeing that she's even taking it to a meeting, she must have viewed my proposal positively. If it were truly bad, she'd have cut it on her own right away.
Seeing that she'll decide after holding a meeting that includes even the debut team members—rather than the staff reaching a conclusion among themselves and then notifying us—the picture Seon Yeong-ran is drawing is obvious.
'She'll set up the stage, so I should try persuading the company staff myself—is that it?'
She probably wants to use this opportunity to test whether I have a talent for this kind of thing.
It's a decent offer. If it's judged that I have a talent, an opening might come up for me to be involved in album production going forward.
The path the old PLUTO showed wasn't satisfying enough for me to put full faith in the company's judgment, so I want to prepare what I can.
"Understood."
"Are you really sure? Even though you don't know what kind of evaluation you'll get, right to your face? If it goes wrong, you might have to pack up and leave the very next day."
"If I didn't have at least that much courage, I would have been too scared to propose this in the first place."
Hearing my answer, Seon Yeong-ran smiled, looking very pleased.
It's all or nothing anyway, so go ahead and do as you please.
"Then I'll see you again next week. And no laying the groundwork by asking the kids to say nice things in the meantime, okay?"
That joke's going too far. How close do you think I am with the trainees, that that would work?
Keeping my working-adult persona fitted on until the very end, I bowed politely to Seon Yeong-ran and left the CEO's office.
Now that Go Yeon-gyu's joining was confirmed, I wondered if that hallucination bastard would do something soon, and just then, a new window rose up.
[Feature] Idol, I'll Try Becoming One Myself ③
■ 'PLUTO (PLU+O)' Coming to You Soon!
Bringing in Go Yeon-gyu was a great call. Thanks to it, a mood of viewing the debut positively began to flow within the company too.
Deciding the concept and name of the group I'd debut in myself was thrilling. Especially when the concept I came up with myself passed, I was so amazed I couldn't sleep.
Had my opinion ever been respected like this before in my life? It felt like a ray of light had entered a life that had only ever been met with opposition and criticism every day.
The debut date the company set is August this year.
I resolved to practice hard until then and pull off a successful six-member debut.
This time, it put out the next installment right away, without any notice that it was in preparation.
You're really nailing it down, huh—not just going with the concept I proposed but pulling off a six-member debut too.
And what are those sentences dripping with sentimentality? I have no memory of living so starved for attention.
Surely it didn't reflect that sentimentality just because I said some cringey stuff earlier.
This one and that one alike push only what they want and don't care about the effort I'll have to put in—there really isn't a single person in the world on my side.
***
When I trudged back to the practice room, only Cha Min-seong was inside.
"Where'd the kids go?"
"Seo-jun and Hyun went to Daisso to buy cleaning wipes for the dorm, and Ha Hyun went to get individual feedback from the dance teacher."
Even though there were only two people in the practice room, Cha Min-seong and I stood far apart at opposite ends, as if practicing the social distancing that was once recommended.
It had been almost a month since I became a trainee, but being alone with this guy was still thoroughly uncomfortable.
If I knew the cause, I could at least try to fix it, but even I couldn't figure out exactly why I felt this discomfort, so now I've just given up thinking about it.
Fine, as long as we don't brawl, that's first-class.
Thankfully, Cha Min-seong hadn't gone out of his way to pick a fight with me since the first day either.
After maybe ten minutes of silence, Cha Min-seong, unusually, spoke to me first.
"Did they tell you to quit the company?"
How curious was he that he'd even open that heavy mouth of his?
"Yeah. They're putting Go Yeon-gyu in the debut team, so they don't need me anymore and told me to leave."
"I see. Bye."
For someone saying bye, there wasn't a trace of regret in his tone.
"You must be happy? The annoying guy goes and a reliable guy comes."
"I don't know."
"Why, did you get attached in the meantime?"
"No."
So firm, for someone who looks like a pretty model student who couldn't even kill a bug.
Cha Min-seong, who seemed to take a moment to think, added flatly.
"I thought the other kids might be sad about it, since they followed you well."
Did those guys follow me that well?
All I can think of is them huddling together to mock me every time I lay sprawled out after practice.
"Just kidding. I'm not leaving. We talked about something else."
"I see."
"You're not going to ask anything more about what we talked about?"
"You'll tell me when you want to."
"Your interest in your colleagues is rock bottom."
It's not that I feel hurt by it.
That guy seemed to be the type who's indifferent to all other people, not just me in particular.
Even with the debut team members, whom he at least shows some interest in, he'd never acted in a way that conveyed the closeness that usually comes to mind when you think of teammates.
"You don't like talking about yourself."
Then, from that same Cha Min-seong's mouth, an unexpected answer popped out.
He may be indifferent to others, but he's not the type to spit out nonsense.
"Do I look that way?"
"I've seen you listen to the kids talk a lot, but I've never seen you talk about yourself."
When I thought back carefully, it was just as he said: I'd rarely told the debut team members about myself.
It's less that I don't like talking about myself and more that I just had nothing to say.
I can't exactly tell them I got rejuvenated by thirteen whole years overnight and I'm being controlled by a sh—tty hallucination. Do I want to book a psychiatric consultation that same day?
Anyway, if I were to interpret Cha Min-seong's intention from that unfriendly conversation, it'd be 'I won't try to force it out of someone who's reluctant to talk about himself,' I suppose.
They say one good word can pay off a thousand-nyang debt, but this guy would rack one up with a single word.
I didn't really know what to say, so I just kept my mouth shut, and Cha Min-seong, maybe because he'd finished his business, didn't bother pressing me for an answer.
And silence settled over the practice room again.
Before long, Seo Seo-jun and Namgung Hyun came into the practice room carrying a yellow tarpaulin bag with a whale on it, packed full of stuff.
"We're ba......! Oh, Seol-han-hyung, when did you get here?"
"A little while ago."
"What did you talk about with the CEO? She didn't say she's really going to kick you out, did she?"
The two in charge of the practice room's energy rushed at me at the same time.
"She says she won't kick me out right away."
"Doesn't that mean there's a chance she'll kick you out? What? What on earth did you two talk about?"
"Long story."
"Why are you so relaxed even though it's your own business? Aren't you nervous?"
"Being nervous doesn't solve the problem."
The die had already been cast anyway, and fretting over it wouldn't improve the situation.
In that case, wouldn't it be better to just empty my mind and wait until the day of the showdown?
But apparently my wholesome philosophy didn't really land with Namgung Hyun, who was going through a period overflowing with sentimentality.
"Ugh, this tin can, seriously. I should turn off his power or something before he makes me burst even more."
"It's not even your problem, so why are you the one bursting?"
"Seo-jun! Go get the jjondeugi! Let's plug this gentleman's mouth!"
"Pumpkin flavor or corn flavor?"
"Both!"
And then he began kindly stuffing the jjondeugi Seo Seo-jun delivered into my mouth one by one.
Is this the mindset of giving one more rice cake to the child you dislike?
If I talked back any more here, it seemed I'd only fuel Namgung Hyun's anger, so I just quietly chewed on the jjondeugi and changed the subject.
"Right, they say they're putting Go Yeon-gyu in the debut team too, so clean the dorm when you have time."
"Isn't it pretty clean even now? Seol-han-hyungnim exploited poor me every chance he got to scrub it spotless. I'm going to report you to the Ministry of Employment and Labor one day."
"What's the point of scrubbing it? It doesn't last three days. And go ahead and report me. Let's see whose side the government takes."
"Fine, fine. You never let anyone win, I swear."
In this damn pigsty, Namgung Hyun—a free-style type who didn't care where anything was put—and Seo Seo-jun—a maximalist who collected anything fun first and asked questions later—formed a maddening combo, so no matter how much I cleaned, it never felt clean.
Unless I picked a day to sort out the useless items in Seo Seo-jun's collection and throw them away, that room would never be clean.
"Also, know that the debut concept and group name get decided next week."
"Already?"
"No way! Really?!"
Seo Seo-jun, with an expression full of excitement, plastered himself right beside Namgung Hyun, who had stopped tearing the jjondeugi into little pieces.
"What are we doing? The vocal teacher told us before that we might do something really dark and strong!"
"She said it'd be decided then, so I don't know either."
"I hope we do something cool~ You know, that style of a tough big bro riding a motorcycle through a city full of neon signs."
Namgung Hyun's taste seemed to run along the same lines as the concept the old PLUTO tried.
He actually pulled it off well, too, so you could call him the second beneficiary after Baek Ji-hyuk.
Considering the unfortunate things that happened inside the old PLUTO, I doubt this guy was all that satisfied with his activities either, though.
"So that's your taste?"
"Motorcycles are every man's dream."
I have no such dream. With two-wheelers, accidents have a high chance of leading to instant death.
Just in case, I'll have to keep a close eye on that guy so he doesn't take up motorcycling as a hobby.