Every organization needs someone in charge to lead the group.
A team leader at a company, a class president at school, an editor-in-chief at a news outlet.
And for idols, a leader.
The PLUTO debut team, whose leader-designate Baek Ji-hyuk had vanished, finally faced the time to decide who'd be in charge.
"They asked what we'd think about the members deciding the leader ourselves."
By none other than the members deciding it themselves, that is.
To settle today's matter, the PLUTO members, sitting in a circle on the basement practice room floor, began giving their opinions one by one.
"Doesn't Ha Hyun talk with the company people the most? He helps us practice every day too. Out of all of us, he's the one who suits leader best."
"Well, wouldn't it be better if one of the hyungs took leader instead of me?"
At that, Cha Min-seong shook his head.
"Not me. You guys do it."
"Even I think Min-seong-hyungnim is more the secretary type than the class president type! Ah, that's not a bad thing! It means he's someone you can trust to have your back~ You know I love our hyungnim to bits, right?"
Namgung Hyun, who had voiced opposition along with him, flattered Cha Min-seong while diligently massaging his shoulders. Cha Min-seong himself, though, didn't seem to have any particular thoughts no matter what was said.
"Then how about you, Seol-han-hyung?"
"Not interested either."
You want me to walk the exact path Baek Ji-hyuk walked?
No. Why would I?
Until a blade is at my throat, I have no intention of being leader or anything of the sort.
If a blade really is at my throat...... then I'll do it, what else can I do.
But seeing that the hallucination stayed quiet even when I answered like this, it apparently had no intention of making being leader one of the conditions.
Ha Hyun spoke, sending me a look full of sincerity.
"Still...... couldn't you think about it a little more? I think it'd really suit you, Seol-han-hyung. You have a good personality, and you speak logically and well."
Me...... a good personality?
That's the first time in my life I've heard that.
The reality was that I was a piece of junk who sold off other people's gossip every day without batting an eye.
"I don't know about that."
When Go Yeon-gyu, who had been listening with his arms crossed, responded plainly, Ha Hyun immediately fired back.
"What aren't you sure about?"
"Right now the ones leading practice are Ha Hyun and Hyun. The ones who know the company best are you guys too. Isn't a leader someone who does that? You're going to hand it to someone who joined barely two months ago?"
He's seriously making a painful point.
From what I'd observed so far, Go Yeon-gyu seemed to be the type who, when it came to work, set strict standards for both himself and others and pushed for ever more polished results.
Should I say he has what's called a perfectionist side?
There's no way such a resolute guy would agree to hand a beginner like me the leader position, which has to anchor the group.
It seems the old Go Yeon-gyu didn't succeed for nothing.
Add such a thorough personality to his genius talent, and he'd pull off above-average results whatever he did.
But Ha Hyun seemed not to like that attitude of Go Yeon-gyu's, because he wore a thoroughly displeased expression.
"What's that face? What don't you like this time? Say it."
"...Forget it."
"Forget what? I said say it."
"Guys, let's focus on the meeting~ We've got to decide quick and get back to practice!"
Unable to watch any longer, Namgung Hyun cut into the two's increasingly heated conversation and deftly changed the subject.
Ha Hyun and Go Yeon-gyu got along well, but every now and then they'd have minor spats like this.
One values harmony and consideration, the other values polish and efficiency, so I suppose it can't be helped, but still.
'It'll be a big problem if that blows up one day.'
Why is there so much to worry about in this damn idol experience?
I have to practice, I have to take part in album production, and now, of all things, I even have to worry about the relationships between members.
I always lived joined at the hip with odd jobs as a reporter too, but back then I at least got paid to work. This doesn't pay a single penny and my life is on the line too, which pisses me off even more.
The few million won you put in my bank account? Do you think I'd be satisfied with that?
Do you know how much money I saved up working my bones off all that time? F—ck.......
Seo Seo-jun, who had kept his mouth shut the whole time just reading the room, sheepishly raised his hand and said.
"Th-Then how about Hyun-hyung?"
"Ah~ leader's not really me. I'm seriously bad at whipping people into line and stuff."
"What about Yeon-gyu-hyung?"
"Not interested. I hate talking a lot."
"Since it's come to this, Seo-jun, want to do it? Let's go for a legal maknae-on-top!"
"Eh? Me?!"
At Namgung Hyun's suggestion, Seo Seo-jun shook his head vigorously, like a puppy shaking itself dry.
"No way, I can't memorize stuff like new-song explanations!"
That's an important problem too.
In the first place, Seo Seo-jun was too young to be given the job of mediating between the company and the members, so I hadn't even considered him.
Amid the scale tipping toward Ha Hyun being leader by process of elimination, the complexion of Ha Hyun, who had emerged as the sole likely candidate, didn't look good at all.
He must find it pretty burdensome.
I also take a negative view of making Ha Hyun leader.
Ha Hyun helps others well and has a sense of responsibility, so he suits the leader spot, but what bothers me is that his sense of responsibility is excessive.
Isn't there a saying that too much is as bad as too little?
On top of that, Ha Hyun was a type with considerably low self-esteem, who tended to blame his own shortcomings first for everything.
Someone with an excessive sense of responsibility but low self-esteem. Perfect conditions for your insides to fester at an uncontrollable rate.
"Can I give my opinion?"
"Speak freely, Mister Seol-han."
The leader's seat suddenly became empty.
But there's no one here to replace the leader who ran off.
In that case, there's only one answer.
"Do we have to pick a leader? Lots of groups promote without a leader these days."
If there's no one to replace the leader, you just don't pick one.
"Still, wouldn't it be good to have someone to gather the team's opinions?"
"The person in that role doesn't have to be just one person. Everyone's confident in different areas, so couldn't whoever can give the best opinion at the time lead?"
Above all, wasn't the old PLUTO a group whose rise and fall was decided by its leader?
I don't think the same thing will repeat, but the unease that comes from the words 'PLUTO's leader' also played a part in my wanting to make a group without a leader.
"All that aside, it looks like none of you want to be leader, so forcing someone into it would just be a burden, wouldn't it? It's not like we're promoting for a day or two, so deciding it like a game of hot potato doesn't seem right."
"Hmm, that's true."
Namgung Hyun, who had been sneaking a sideways look at Ha Hyun, draped one arm over Ha Hyun's shoulder and gave me a thumbs-up with his other hand.
"Then shall we go with Seol-han-nim's opinion? Let's aim for a horizontal organization where everyone has a sense of ownership!"
"Why are you adding '-nim'?"
"When companies introduce a horizontal organizational culture, the first thing they do is abolish job ranks or reform titles, right? To commemorate becoming a leaderless horizontal group, let's all call each other so-and-so-nim with no distinction between older and younger and become equals!"
What a new-fangled culture I can't get used to.
When I worked at a news outlet, there was almost never a reason to use the title '-nim' for people I worked with.
Among reporters, it's common to say sunbae, department head, bureau chief, like that. Sometimes you just lump everyone in as sunbae.
"Why not just go all the way and call each other 'hey'?"
"Is that okay, Seol-han?"
"Suit yourself."
"Ugh, never mind. I'm not a kid who's thrown his manners to the dogs that badly. Hyungnim, please stay hyungnim."
That guy turns down the chance to rip off the rank insignia even when it's handed to him.
There was no sign of any real objection coming from the other guys either.
"Then how should we tell the company?"
"Ah, we held a really intense meeting! And no matter how much we thought about it, there was nobody to be leader, so we just decided not to pick one!"
"I don't think that'll work, Hyun......."
"Obviously I'm joking! At times like this, let's leave it to the expert~ There's someone among us who's good at this kind of thing."
Namgung Hyun, who had been dealing with the troubled Ha Hyun, politely extended his palm toward me and said.
"Zhuge Liang reincarnated, who went head-to-head with the CEO one month after joining."
"If anything, wouldn't Guan Yu suit Seol-han-hyung better?"
What is all that nonsense?
"Fine, I'll pass it on, so if there's any other opinion you want to add, say it now."
"There isn't, so hurry up and go tell them."
Go Yeon-gyu, who had looked to be in a bad mood the whole time since his small spat with Ha Hyun, answered bluntly.
Watching that insolent attitude, Ha Hyun had faintly furrowed his brow as well.
This won't do. Let me separate those two for now.
"Yeah? Then I'll go tell them right now. Ha Hyun, come with me."
"Me too?"
"Yeah, I'm scared to go alone."
At that, the guy got up slowly with an expression obviously full of doubt.
I do you a favor and you're still not satisfied.
When I packaged the meeting's result as plausibly as possible and passed it on to Kim Ji-su, Kim Ji-su exchanged messages with the CEO for a moment and gave a positive answer.
"The CEO says it's fine too. She says it's nice, it has a kids-these-days feel."
"Thank you."
Is it okay to pass it for that reason?
It never ceases to amaze me that even running a company like this, the wheels somehow keep turning.
"But from now on, schedules and notices will go to you two first. Like temporary class presidents, so to speak."
It meant doing the go-between role that would originally have been given to the leader.
But, 'you two'?
"Me too?"
"It'd be hard for Ha Hyun to do it all alone all of a sudden. Seol-han, as the eldest, you can help him out well, can't you?"
Going by age, Cha Min-seong is the eldest too, so why pick me, with less seniority, to work to the bone?
But when the higher-ups say so, how could I, a mere trainee, rebel?
On the way back to the practice room after finishing the assigned mission, Ha Hyun spoke.
"I still think it would've been better if you'd taken leader, Seol-han-hyung."
"Set up a scarecrow like me, who can't even check a single dance move properly, as leader, and the group will go under within three years."
"Don't mind what Yeon-gyu said. He wasn't originally like that, but I guess he's gotten really sensitive in all sorts of ways since he left the company."
"To my eyes, you looked like you'd gotten a bit sensitive too."
At that moment, Ha Hyun, beside me, trembled slightly.
Sorry for being so blunt right off the bat, but I'm a tin can who can't beat around the bush at all.
"Don't you know well enough that Go Yeon-gyu didn't say that out of any malice?"
"I...... know."
"You saw it at the meeting before, right? How he openly asked the company staff to give you guys something that suits you. He's someone who sincerely wants this group to do well that much, so isn't that why he got so careful this time too? A leader's ability does matter for a group running smoothly."
"...Yes."
"Still......."
When we reached the practice room door, I added my honest feelings.
"Honestly, it felt good that you said that. Today's the first time in my life I've heard things like having a good personality or suiting the leader role. Thanks. Thanks to you, I've gotten a bit of confidence."
When no answer came back from the polite student who always diligently answered, I turned my head, and Ha Hyun was looking up at me silently with his eyes wide and round.
When I took in the pure emotion I could feel in the guy's slightly flushed face and earnest eyes, for the first time in a long while, a corner of my chest felt like it had been jabbed.
This feeling...... is one hundred percent a 'conscience ache.'
Who knew he'd react this much to hearing thank you just once.
Changing the concept was the right call after all. Just sitting back and watching a tender guy like this get cursed out would be worthy of divine punishment.
And there's also the real-life example of Mr. Pyeong, one of the people who just sat back and watched in the past, currently receiving divine punishment in real time like this.
"But don't go raising your voice at other people just to take my side. Being stuck in the middle is more of a headache, too."
"Ah, yes!"
This guy's always got discipline drilled into him.
Live like that and you'll burn out fast, so be careful.