‘This is bad.’
Shouting at the system window that appeared after a long time was the trigger. They misunderstood Baekya, thinking he had lost faith in them and no longer wanted to be part of the team.
‘Nooo… did I even get time to be disappointed…?’
Baekya sighed, pressing his palm to his forehead. It really seemed like he had ruined his first impression.
‘Suddenly, I feel like crying too…’
Tears welled up and Baekya raised his head, determined not to let them fall.
But he couldn’t break down crying here. With the manager briefly away taking a call, he had to somehow salvage the atmosphere — also for the newly appeared quest.
The system window that appeared before Baekya was a hidden quest notification. Unlike mandatory main quests, hidden quests seemed heavily influenced by location and situation.
Because of that, the timing of quest appearance was unpredictable. For example, quests like and could only be done inside the practice room.
The fortunate part was that hidden quests could be declined.
Having immediately rejected the quest when he saw the word “dance,” it disappeared. Instead, a new quest appeared.
[New Quest (Hidden) Arrived!]
[Q. I Am Ground Self-Introduction: I am Baekya!]
Maybe it was just his imagination.
It felt like a joke targeting him, but compared to before, this was mild. For the few Star Points he had, Baekya decided to do the quest.
Also, to resolve the situation.
“Um… My name is Han Baekya. I’m a senior at Geumyong High School and have been with ID for about three weeks. Earlier, I was lost in thought and said some nonsense…”
He continued with an ideal greeting, expressing honor at joining the team and asking for their support going forward.
But the eyes directed at him still mixed anxiety and distrust.
“It’s true. Please believe me.”
Please.
Though it felt unfair, Baekya pleaded sincerely.
‘Then why hasn’t the completion alert popped up?’
There was no better self-introduction than that.
‘Could it be…?’
Baekya’s smile wasn’t really a smile. Bad premonitions were rarely wrong. Moreover, the atmosphere showed no sign of improving.
“Hyung, I’m hurt…”
“The hamster’s going to run away, should we go home? I came all the way from Korea, geez.”
“That’s not what I meant. You guys stop crying.”
Minseong, who was calming the crying youngest members, looked at Baekya. His drooped shoulders showed he felt sorry and awkward. Baekya’s words didn’t seem like lies.
But everyone feels things differently. Baekya almost froze at Minseong’s cold glare.
‘C-cold.’
He was tall and looked the scariest, so he was Baekya’s top mental guard target—but that person was crying most sadly. Apparently, Baekya had made the team’s youngest members cry.
‘I’m doomed.’
The youngest are loved everywhere. Making them cry was enough reason for the guy to glare at him.
‘…By the way, does “hamster” mean…?’
Baekya glanced sideways at the gray-haired guy with half-open eyes. At that moment, a delicate hand reached out into Baekya’s vision.
“It really was a misunderstanding, right? I’m Han Jihan. Also a senior.”
He was the quiet guy who had been standing silently all along. Black straight hair, cold face with sharp eyes.
“Yes? Yes! Of course. Nice to meet you.”
Baekya quickly clasped Jihan’s hand in reply. Then, a larger hand layered over theirs.
“I’m Yulmu. Nayulmu. Glad to have one more friend on the team~”
Yulmu, with an arm around Jihan’s shoulder, was the tallest among them. As Yulmu squeezed, the three hands shook up and down.
This social power was felt without a word. Baekya glanced upward.
‘Feels at least 10 cm taller than me.’
Yulmu was tall, with big hands and big eyes. Baekya’s first thought was ‘jealous.’
Snapping back to reality, Baekya lowered his gaze and pulled his hand back.
“Yes. Please take care of me.”
“Ah~ No need for formalities between friends. Be comfortable, I’ll be too.”
‘…You seem to have been comfortable from the start.’
Baekya gave a reluctant look at Yulmu. But Yulmu didn’t care at all.
He threw his arm over Baekya’s shoulder and led him in front of Minseong and the youngest members.
“Hey, stop it! You’re not our Baekya, so how long are you gonna cry?”
It felt like barely two minutes since the introductions, yet he was already ‘our’ Baekya. Baekya was a bit flustered.
“Sorry. The kids just got choked up. We’ve had a lot on our minds today.”
Minseong apologized for the youngest members who couldn’t raise their heads. He was the guy who had earlier told Baekya to leave the practice room.
“I’m Do Minseong. I’m the oldest on the team, so I’m the leader.”
He introduced himself with a playful smile.
“Come on~ If not hyung, then who? You’d be leader even if you were the youngest.”
“That’s true.”
Jihan nodded in agreement with Yulmu. To Baekya, Minseong seemed the only one fit to lead this team.
“I’m Han Baekya. Please speak informally.”
“Alright, then Baekya, be comfortable. And sorry for telling you to leave earlier.”
“No worries. I also wanted to run away anyway… I’ll try to relax my speech.”
Though awkward, they all understood. Minseong scratched above his brow and averted his gaze.
Minseong’s fair skin gave him the classic rabbit face—something every idol team seemed to have.
“Oh, and here are our team’s youngest members.”
Pushed forward by Minseong’s gesture, Yooyeon and Cheong stepped up. Both kept their mouths tightly shut, each with a small walnut stuck above their chins.
Sniffling and watching for cues, their busy demeanor was quite cute.
‘Is this what they call “gap”?’
Baekya bent slightly and looked up at the lowered faces.
“If you keep crying, I’ll start feeling sorry…”
At that, Yooyeon looked at Baekya shyly.
Golden curly hair, distinct features. Because of swollen eyes, her expression looked softened compared to first meeting.
“…I’m Han Yooyeon. 18 years old.”
Shy Yooyeon poked Cheong’s side, telling him to stop crying and greet.
“…I’m Cheongcheong.”
Cheong, who looked the sharpest among the members, had lived abroad and spoke Korean awkwardly.
“Cheong, you should add ‘yo’.”
Minseong added gently. Because of his cold impression, Cheong often got misunderstood, and Minseong seemed worried about that.
“Why? I hate that. It’s only for people higher than me.”
“What the heck?”
But the clueless youngest instantly rejected his hyung’s care. Cheong’s first impression of Baekya was nothing more than a hamster, who clearly looked younger than him.
He hadn’t heard Baekya’s introduction as a senior long ago.
“Hamsuteop.”
“Shut up.”
Minseong covered the youngest’s mouth with wide eyes, warning he wouldn’t forgive if he said more.
Maybe because of all the stress, his bloodshot eyes had a horror-movie vibe. Cheong was immediately dominated by the threatening red eyes.
“…That kid grew up with way too much sun.”
Yooyeon, embarrassed by her friend, shook her head and stepped away from Cheong. When she caught Baekya’s eye, she smiled awkwardly.
Surely the mood was lighter than before, and Baekya, who was worried, suddenly interrupted.
“I’m Baekya…!”
Out of the blue, but who cares.
[ Completed!]
[Quest reward granted: 1 Star Point]
Only then did the quest completion alert pop up.
‘So that’s why I had to say that line.’
Baekya wanted to rant about how unhelpful the explanation was, but if he did, who knew what misunderstanding might come up. Everyone was already focused on Baekya because of the sudden speech.
Trying to act casual, Baekya smiled faintly and said,
“Ah, no need to be so formal. Haha… I’ll just be comfortable too. I feel like that now.”
Earlier he said he’d relax his speech, but no one said it out loud, though everyone probably thought it was weird.
But it was okay. The quest was a success, and the embarrassment was only momentary.