Baekya had no thoughts at all. Because he simply had no thoughts.
< Dance Magician on Stage (C) >
: Dance skills magically improve on stage.
< My Body and Soul in These Headphones (C) >
: You surrender your body to the music.
< Eyes Bird (C) >
: You are unaffected by external environmental factors.
< Roly-Poly Toy (C) >
: You can naturally get back up when you fall.
“As expected…”
Looking over the skill details, he sighed involuntarily.
‘I have no clue what Roly-Poly Toy is even for.’
Still, C seemed better than D, but Baekya didn’t want to pick any of them.
Especially <Eyes Bird (C)> looked like it was just begging to be mocked. The explanation sounded plausible, but the feeling was off.
“<Drunk on Me (D)> was actually decent.”
After seeing that skill full of misunderstandings, Baekya suddenly felt satisfied with his current skills. Without hesitation, he deleted Eyes Bird and returned to his original purpose.
‘Between magically improving dance skills on stage and surrendering to music…’
The latter seemed similar in style to Dance of Courtship. Choosing that might lead to some new black history for his body. In short, the worst.
“Then I’ll pick Dance Magician on Stage…”
If forced to choose between bad and worse, better pick bad.
Moving his body with cosmic energy, rather than the crazy idea of entrusting his soul to headphones, ‘better dance skills’ seemed slightly safer.
Though it only worked on stage, of course.
“I guess I just have to count the practice room as a stage.”
Baekya informed his school about his trainee contract, intending to attend regular classes and devote the rest of his time to practice.
“You’re Baekya? Han Baekya?”
“Yes. Here’s the trainee contract from the company. I brought it just in case.”
His homeroom teacher of class 3-2, Kang Dongsoo, was stunned by his student’s sudden change.
‘I heard he had surgery due to an accident over the weekend… Did that affect his face?’
Dongsoo’s eyes filled with suspicion. But instead of swelling, Baekya’s face was completely clean.
‘No way, just changing glasses can make someone look this different?’
Indeed, Baekya wore thin silver round glasses, unlike the thick black-rimmed ones he’d always worn. He looked truly…
“Handsome.”
“Huh?”
“Oh? No, never mind.”
Dongsoo quickly came to his senses after zoning out staring at Baekya’s face.
The thought that Baekya might not be human was kept a secret.
“Do you need this?”
Dongsoo took the exclusive trainee contract from ID Entertainment handed to him.
“Wait here a moment. I’ll copy it and return it right away.”
Dongsoo stood and headed toward the teachers’ office.
The copier was right in front of the vice principal’s desk. As Dongsoo carefully examined the contract for any suspicious slave-contract clauses, a shining presence suddenly appeared.
“Mr. Kang? Who is this student?”
The vice principal.
Momentarily blinded, Dongsoo blinked exaggeratedly to hide it.
“Oh, vice principal. This is Han Baekya from my class. He wants to apply for early leave for arts. He’s contracted with ID Entertainment…”
But as he spoke, he felt a sting at the back of his head. Glancing around, he saw all the teachers crowded near him.
“Oh ho ho. Don’t mind us. Continue what you were saying.”
Voluntarily, the math teacher took the lead, and other teachers quickly chimed in.
As a result,
“Baekya, hmm… the approval came sooner than expected. If you want, you can start early leave from today.”
Thus began the legend of Geumyong Boys High School.
[Friend1: Baekya, get Rose Day’s autograph ㅎ]
[Friend2: Why the hell were you wearing that trash all this time?]
[Friend3: Are you seriously an ID trainee???]
[Friend4: Heard you’re a face legend now~]
He wanted to stay quiet, but it was doomed.
Even those who only exchanged greetings now flooded his contacts.
‘So much pressure.’
Baekya stared seriously at his phone. He briefly considered canceling his number.
[Shin Jaehyun: Be careful and practice hard!]
[Kim Yugyeong: Crazy no-muㅠㅠ Good luckㅜ]
[Kim Yugyeong: My friend is a celebrity (tear emoji)]
[Shin Jaehyun: I said a million times you’re still a trainee….]
[Kim Yugyeong: Please keep your body intactㅠㅜ Your hand bandage breaks my heart]
Seeing the group chat made him laugh.
“Yeah. You’re my only support.”
It was unfair enough that he was synced to a game, but without Jaehyun and Yugyeong, it probably would’ve been even harder.
Arriving at the company, Baekya put his phone and bag in his assigned locker. After changing into comfortable clothes, he headed toward the vocal practice room when a trainee he’d befriended over the weekend approached.
“Hyung!”
“Hi, Jiho.”
Lee Jiho, the youngest trainee at ID, who had just started elementary school last year, was bright and full of energy.
“The team leader said you won’t come to weekday practice until next week. How come you’re here?”
“My homeroom teacher made arrangements, so I came early. The school isn’t far from the company.”
Baekya glanced around the almost empty practice room.
“Is everyone else not here yet?”
“No, they went to eat! But some come back after 5 PM.”
Hearing this, Baekya tilted his head.
“Eat?”
“There’s food on the third floor. Didn’t you know?”
When he nodded, Jiho looked shocked and then launched into a passionate explanation about how good the company food was, saying trainees from other companies came to eat there. He also said a few TV stations had filmed there.
“Since we’re talking about it, let’s go! There’s plenty of time.”
“Huh? I just ate…”
But Jiho didn’t listen. Once he made up his mind, he pushed ahead.
The kid was surprisingly determined.
“Totally delicious!”
“Mm… It’s good.”
Baekya picked a light salad and sat facing Jiho in the cafeteria.
“The older trainees from other classes already ate and left. I wanted to introduce you.”
Who knew the little guy had such a thoughtful side? Baekya smiled and patted Jiho’s head.
“Thanks just for that.”
At ID, male and female trainees had separate classes, which were further divided by skill levels.
Trainees attended classes appropriate to their rank and could move up or down based on monthly evaluations.
“But the class I joined on the weekend was…”
“Dance lessons? A and B classes were together. Sometimes you attend those too.”
Apparently.
Why then did the rookie development team leader knock on the door right next to C and D classes? Thinking of the Dance of Courtship skill he showed off made Baekya’s face burn.
Lowering his head, Baekya began eating his salad with determination. The green leaves disappeared at a scary speed.
Then Jiho waved behind him and stood up.
“Hyung! Yulmu hyung! Minseong hyung!”
“Who’s this~ Jojojo, right?”
“Jiho came to eat. But why’s there nothing here?”
Familiar voices spoke at once. Baekya, mouth full of salad, turned to see familiar faces.
“Oh, sorry for interrupting your meal.”
They were members of AIM’s junior group, the only so-called ‘failed idol group’ at ID.
“Oh~ new face, huh? You must have just joined.”
“Yeah! That’s Baekya hyung. How’s your practice going?”
“Good. You should grow fast and debut soon too.”
Jiho, with his extraordinary sociability, seemed to know everyone.
At that moment, Baekya, silently forcing himself to chew the stubborn salad, was about to swallow and introduce himself—but his body wouldn’t cooperate.
“Ugh!”
In haste, he almost choked trying to swallow.
Baekya made a weird sound and hurriedly searched for water.
“Sorry for bothering you. Jiho, let’s go. Come on, Yulmu.”
“Ah. Sorry, enjoy your meal~”
“Jiho, practice hard.”
“What? No! It’s not like that, don’t go...!”
Baekya looked at the ‘failed idols,’ or rather trainees, with empty eyes. But they hurriedly ended the conversation, and all he could do was babble.
“…Ughgsk.”
Honestly, he wasn’t even sure he understood.
After finally swallowing, Baekya, anxious, asked Jiho about the people he’d just met.
“Who are those guys? I don’t think I’ve seen them in the practice room.”
“Oh~ they’re the debut team. They’re confirmed to debut and are preparing now. Super jealous, right? I want to grow fast and debut too.”
Kraaaang!!!
It was a thunderclap.
“Oh... the debut team is already confirmed?”
“Yes! They’ve been in training camp for quite some time.”
“……….”
Can you not hear that?
The sound of a sunfish dying.