‘He wants me to form a duo with this guy?’
Chanhwi's eyes widened.
He had expected to fail, but he had never imagined an offer like this.
It was something he had never once considered until now.
Before the regression, they had occasionally received offers to perform together, but at the time, he had been so consumed with beating the bastard that he never even glanced at them.
But now?
That competition belonged to the future, or rather, the past before his regression, so the offer felt distant.
In fact, just as he escaped that narrow perspective and began to think it might be fine because their main genres differed...
“I refuse.”
“......What?”
The answer came without hesitation, bewildering Chanhwi and the judges.
Yujin answered in a tone suggesting he had no need to think about it.
“I came here to stand onstage with my music alone. If I have to perform with someone else, I will quit.”
‘......This bastard!’
He had forgotten.
The Yujin he knew was famous for his incredible stubbornness.
No matter how famous the composer, he would not sing a song if he did not like it.
Had he said it did not align with his principles?
Chanhwi did not know what principles had to do with a song, but even after returning to the past, that damned stubbornness was on full display.
‘Sir, stop him!’
At the sight of Yujin, who seemed ready to quit on the spot, the judges began glaring murderously at CEO Kim Dae-myeong.
They could not lose a talent like that so pointlessly, so they had to hold onto him somehow.
CEO Kim Dae-myeong had no choice but to hide his disappointment.
Someone with that level of singing ability was difficult to find, so they could expect him to achieve great things even as a soloist.
“Then let's do this. I'll sign both of you. Yujin, you said you want to debut as a soloist, so you'll train in that direction. For Chanhwi, I'll consider a project better suited to your individual color.”
In any case, they both became trainees at DM Entertainment.
“Thank you.”
“......Thank you.”
Yujin bowed first, and Chanhwi followed.
‘Why do I feel strangely offended?’
Should he call it being rejected once after zero confessions?
I had not said a word, but he rejected me first, leaving me with a strange feeling.
“......Chanhwi, is there something you'd like to say?”
Apparently, his feelings had shown on his face.
“No.”
“Hmm. Then that settles it. You both did well today. Mina, give them their contracts and schedules, then send them on their way.”
“Yes. Please follow me, both of you.”
They left the audition room with the employee who had been waiting by the door and were guided to the office.
They received their contracts in a small conference room beside the office and were listening to the terms when...
“First, once you become trainees, you will commute from home to the practice room on weekdays......”
“......Excuse me?”
In the middle of the employee's explanation, Yujin spoke in bewilderment.
‘What's wrong with this bastard?’
“I heard trainees were provided with accommodations.”
“I'll explain that part as well. You'll need to commute to the practice room and receive training every day. If you're chosen for the debut team, the company will provide accommodations.”
After listening to the entire explanation, Yujin cautiously asked a question.
“Then they aren't provided right away?”
“Right? But judging by your ability, Yujin, you should be able to debut soon. Perhaps one or two years?”
Watching from beside him, I saw Yujin's pupils tremble violently.
I wondered what was wrong with this guy, but then realized that I had failed this audition before the regression, so I could never have seen this side of him.
“Then do you have any other questions?”
“No.”
“......No.”
This time, Yujin answered a little later.
***
“I never thought I'd pass.”
He had planned to apply to his former agency again if he failed, but he had passed.
Would he become a singer with DM Entertainment now?
‘DM Entertainment......’
It was arguably the best-funded company in the industry, so it could be considered better than his former agency.
‘Team Leader Gong, I'm sorry.’
The expression Team Leader Gong had worn after Chanhwi fell into his slump was still vivid in his mind.
The man had supported him more than anyone, and even now, Chanhwi felt sorry for disappointing him over a mere slump.
But he did not want to throw away a path to success, so in this life, he intended to become a trainee at DM Entertainment.
“......?”
Just as he was about to head home, he noticed Yujin trudging out of the agency.
‘Wait. Come to think of it, this bastard earlier...’
He had reacted with particular sensitivity to the discussion about accommodations. Could it be......?
“Hey!”
Yujin raised his head and looked at me when I called.
But as soon as he realized I was the one who had called him, his brow furrowed.
“What is it?”
“Where are you going now?”
“No, how old are you to keep speaking informally to me......?!”
The conversation was moving painfully slowly, so I decided to answer the question he was curious about first.
“I'm 20. You're 20 too. Satisfied?”
“......How did you know that?”
I snorted at his surprised face.
Why was he so surprised? I knew far more incredible things than that.
“Anyway, where are you going now?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“......You don't actually have anywhere to go, do you?”
At my question, the bastard's eyes widened even more than before, as if I had hit the nail on the head. At this rate, his eyeballs would pop out.
“I knew it. I could tell from how you reacted to the talk about accommodations. So what, where were you planning to go?”
“......A motel or a public bathhouse.”
“......This is driving me crazy.”
As if a motel owner would happily take in a student.
Staying at a public bathhouse for a day or two was one thing. If he stayed for several days, they were certain to find it suspicious.
‘How did this bastard manage before the regression?’
He wondered how this hopeless bastard had managed to debut safely at all.
Before Chanhwi himself died, he had attended Yujin's funeral, so he had caught at least a glimpse of Yujin's family situation.
That was why he could not simply leave the bastard like this.
“Follow me.”
“Why should I?”
“......If you don't want to follow me, go waste your money at a motel.”
I had no intention of showing him any more consideration than that. If he did not follow, I would stop worrying about him.
“......”
But Yujin quietly followed a short distance behind me.
When I focused, I heard him muttering something.
“......We work for the same agency. Surely he won't scam me?”
Was he muttering loudly enough for me to hear on purpose?
‘This is something new.’
He had some traits in common with the Yujin of the past, but other parts of him were clearly different. Childish sides like this, for example.
Perhaps because this was before he had fully matured, I seemed to be learning about parts of him I had never known.
***
“Holy shit, he's insanely handsome.”
When the two arrived at the front door, Ha Eun-hee spotted them and opened her eyes wide.
She looked back and forth between her older brother, Chanhwi, and the bewildered Yujin at the door, then snickered at Chanhwi.
“I never thought the day would come when my loser brother looked like a squid.”
“Why, you little...”
When Chanhwi raised a hand, his younger sister giggled and stepped back.
“More importantly, who is he? You said you were going to an audition. Did you go out and have fun again?”
“Have fun? We both passed.”
Chanhwi answered casually as he took off his shoes.
“What? Seriously? You really passed?”
Eun-hee's eyes widened as she pressed him insistently, so Chanhwi handed her the contract.
“Here, look. A DM Entertainment trainee contract.”
After receiving the contract, Eun-hee examined it front and back with a bewildered gaze, then ran toward the living room.
“Mom! Look at this!”
“......Aren't you coming in?”
Chanhwi asked Yujin, who was still standing blankly in the entrance.
Yujin hurriedly removed his shoes, arranged them neatly, and followed him inside.
Chanhwi introduced Yujin to his family as a friend who had passed the audition with him.
He explained that Yujin had come up from the provinces and had not found a home yet, so he planned to let him stay for the time being. His family readily said that was fine.
‘Is this really okay?’
Yujin wondered whether he was truly permitted to stay, but felt relieved to have found a place to sleep.
There was only one disappointing thing.
“......It's cramped.”
Those were the first words out of Yujin's mouth when he saw Chanhwi's room.
Chanhwi's home only had three rooms, so Yujin had no choice but to sleep in the same room as him.
But it was meant for one person, so it felt cramped with two.
“A freeloader shouldn't talk back.”
Chanhwi had no intention of giving up his bed, so he quickly threw himself onto it, while Yujin quietly lay down on the bedding spread across the floor.
After lying there and thinking for a long time, Yujin asked Chanhwi a question.
“......Why are you doing so much for me?”
“......Ha. Who knows?”
When Chanhwi thought about it, the absurdity of the situation made him laugh.
How had he ended up helping this bastard to the point of living under the same roof?
“Well, think of it as an investment.”
“An investment?”
When Yujin asked, Chanhwi nodded.
He was the sort of bastard who would become a superstar even without Chanhwi's help, even if he had to sleep at a public bathhouse or motel.
But his path to stardom would probably have been a lonely one with no one by his side.
And so, the reason he was doing this was...
A wish that his friend might be a little less lonely, suffer a little less, and remain active for a long time.
It was an investment made as his rival.
“......Thanks.”
Yujin finally offered the short word of gratitude as if hiding his embarrassment, and Chanhwi smiled quietly.
The next day, their first training began.