Chapter 130: Idol Athletics Championship (2)
Dding-
Dding-
With the loud alarm sound, the name of a familiar person popped up on the screen.
-Seohan
-Are you going to the Athletics Championship?
[“Ray from ‘Boy’s Dream’ steps down due to health reasons…. ‘I’ll be back in a better state.’”]
-That was about two weeks after such an article had been published.
Whether he wanted to stay longer in ‘Boy’s Dream’ or go back to his original group.
I had no way of knowing his true feelings, but due to the adults’ circumstances, Ray stepped down from ‘Boy’s Dream’.
Without Kang Ji-hyuk, The Core might not be too bad either.
At least, if there was one thing KJ was good at, it was producing songs, so maybe this was a chance for them to bounce back.
The Core was still a group with enough potential that it was too soon to nail the coffin shut.
So, although he stepped down due to health reasons, someone perfectly healthy decided to enter the Athletics Championship.
When I asked what event he was joining, the reply came back right away.
Dding-
-I’m going to enter e-sports.
└Sehyun-hyung is grinding his teeth over this.
└I’ll win no matter what, haha.
└Unbelievable.
“Sehyun-hyung!”
Just then, Jin Sehyun, who was preparing breakfast early in the morning, was chopping carrots with a knife, so I quietly called him over and showed him the text.
Jin Sehyun sighed and spoke firmly.
“Tell him I’ll definitely punish him.”
“Don’t say that while holding a knife. You’re scaring me.”
“Do Seohan, want me to put in a lot of carrots?”
“Please put more in for Seo Ian-hyung.”
“Hey, I’m not a rabbit, I’m sundubu stew!”
“Y-you…. Only when it’s at a disadvantage….”
Seo Ian shook his head violently, emphasizing that he was sundubu stew.
I could tell he was making curry, but he was chopping carrots like he was building a mountain.
I poked my head out to make my dislike for carrots known.
“Hyung, I don’t think anyone here is going to eat carrots!”
“At this point, isn’t this the same as raising a rabbit?”
“Jin Sehyun’s pet rabbit… Seo Ian?”
Seo Ian trembled and covered his face with the sofa cushion.
“Ian-hyung is disgusted.”
“I put extra carrots in your curry just for you.”
“Ugh, I said I hate them…!”
Anyway, the Idol Athletics Championship, huh….
My attention was focused on the upcoming filming schedule of the Athletics Championship right around the corner.
Among fans and celebrities alike, the Idol Athletics Championship was widely known as a guaranteed suffering event.
Since the Chuseok season filming took place during summer, just standing outside would obviously drain stamina fast.
But.
Strangely, I didn’t feel a strong sense of rejection.
Honestly, the last time I had really enjoyed a sports day was more than 10 years ago.
“Hmm.”
I stroked my chin and muttered softly.
“What did I do back at sports day again?”
Back then, I used to run around as part of the relay team.
Cooking might not be my forte, but I did have decent athletic ability, so I think I had a fair chance of winning at sports days.
Even if I was being dragged along for filming, maybe it would be much more fun than I thought?
-Or so I foolishly believed….
-Are you going to the Athletics Championship this time?
└Yep! I ended up going.
-Hahahahaha Athletics Championship hahaha hahah!
└(Anxious hamster emoticon)
-Good luck, haha.
A text I received from senior Sung Jihoo after my participation in the Athletics Championship was confirmed.
I should have realized the meaning behind that enlightened laugh back then…!
Of course, even if I had realized, nothing would have changed anyway.
On the day of filming for <Idol Athletics Championship>.
Even though the broadcast of the Athletics Championship would air around Chuseok when the weather was a bit cooler….
The weather on the actual day of filming was midsummer itself.
I knew it would be hot, but I didn’t expect today to be the hottest recorded temperature in Seoul’s history!
“Is this for real?”
On top of that, we had to wait endlessly under the scorching sun without even a shade screen.
Ha Junseo lay sprawled out on the sizzling track field.
“Ah, hot.”
He flinched and tried to get up again, but gave up and lay back down on the ground.
Jin Sehyun shook his head and added.
“Is this weather even real?”
“Tell me about it….”
Hheueng—
Ha Junseo muttered faintly like a person who had fainted.
The morning schedule had already been full of commotion.
After finishing a few events during the morning shoot,
We handed out lunchboxes as reverse fan service and greeted the fans who had waited for hours in this heat, and now we were resting, panting heavily.
It was truly a grueling schedule for both the fans and the idols.
On top of that, in this space where idols of various years were mixed together, Stardust, who occupied the lowest level of the food chain, really had no time to rest.
“Oh, hello, sunbaenim!”
Ha Junseo, who had been lying down, bounced up like a spring.
I thought we had already greeted all the seniors nearby in the morning, but this was a completely unfamiliar face.
I glanced quickly to check the name tag.
“Oh, hello!”
It was Jung Wonjae from Hyper.
Even though he was a lower-year idol, he didn’t look like a complete rookie….
The team name, the face, even the name, all felt quite unfamiliar.
Judging by how Junseo-hyung and the other members recognized him, it wasn’t to the level of “Who are you?”, but since I hadn’t been following the entertainment industry around that time, he wasn’t in my memory.
“I’m Ha Junseo from Stardust. You’re in Team D!”
“Yes, I’m Jung Wonjae.”
While the two of them exchanged greetings awkwardly, I also slipped into the gap.
I instinctively bowed my head and reached out for a handshake.
“Hello. I’m Do Seohan from Stardust.”
For a brief moment, an unreadable gaze swept me up and down.
I was sure it was our first meeting today, so what was with that cold look?
“……”
The back of my head prickled unpleasantly, so I gave an awkward smile.
Jung Wonjae belatedly smiled and gently grasped my hand.
“Nice to meet you. First time seeing you.”
Was it just my imagination?
While I was trying to figure out the meaning behind that coldness, Jung Wonjae had already walked over to Seo Haim and was enthusiastically greeting her.
His face had brightened as if nothing had happened.
“Oh, aren’t you Seo Haim? I’ve been following you since Starf!”
“Gasp, really? Ah, it’s an honor!”
“You were my one-pick, Haim. Meeting you like this, it really feels like I’m seeing a real celebrity, haha.”
Maybe he wasn’t lying about being a fan, because his energy was completely different from before.
Jung Wonjae placed his hand on Seo Haim’s shoulder and naturally continued the conversation.
“Can we take a picture together?”
“Of, of course!”
Seo Haim, with her chick-like friendliness, scurried to stand beside him.
Ha Junseo whispered into my ear with a pleased smile.
“He really seems to be Haim’s fan….”
“Looks like it.”
Click— click—
While the shutter sounds echoed, I stood quietly a step behind them.
In the meantime, Jung Wonjae swiftly managed to get Seo Haim’s number too.
“Ah, this is my number. Would it be okay to exchange?”
“Yes! Please message me!”
“What name should I save you as?”
“Ah, however you’d like.”
“How about ‘Choco Haim hoobae’?”
“Haha, I like it!”
Did they really just meet for the first time?
Judging by how quickly their energy had risen, it felt less like senior and junior, and more like they were already friends.
“Waaah!”
“Don’t ignore my texts, you have to reply.”
“Of course I will.”
I swallowed dryly as I watched.
It wasn’t because of that strange gaze that brushed past me earlier, but rather because some fragment of memory seemed to surface unconsciously.
“Hmm.”
Jung Wonjae. Jung Wonjae….
He definitely was a low-profile idol.
But what was this déjà vu that made me feel like I had heard of him somewhere before?
On the way to the Athletics Championship, Jung Wonjae of Hyper smiled thinly as he looked out the window.
The van glided smoothly and was already passing the entrance of the parking lot.
The tightly closed lips of Jung Wonjae parted slightly.
“Looks like I’ll be meeting that guy today….”
A teammate suddenly turned his head and asked.
“Who? Do Seohan?”
“Yeah, the kid appearing in Dance in the Night this time.”
By now, Hyper had entered their third year, but they still didn’t have a real hit song.
They weren’t quite failed idols, but both their fandom size and recognition were ambiguous.
Since their company lacked influence too, without a rebound, the team’s future was uncertain.
In that sense, <Dance in the Night> was a very precious opportunity for Hyper’s main dancer, Jung Wonjae.
Even though it was only a one-day Chuseok pilot program, YN, being a mid-sized company, had scraped together everything just to secure the slot.
But.
A first-tier idol decided to join that stage.
On top of that, a rookie from Doubles would also appear.
The outcome was obvious.
“Ridiculous bundling.”
“Huh?”
“Must be nice being in a big company.”
A deep, boiling sense of displeasure surged within him.
It felt like his three years of career were being dismissed by some rookie who had only been around for a few months.
That’s just how this industry worked.
If you didn’t like it, you should have joined a big agency.
He had already seen so many dirty situations that it didn’t even feel new anymore.
Jung Wonjae let out a hollow laugh with a sneer at the corner of his lips.
Then,
“Bundling, yes, but the circumstances seem a bit different.”
“What?”
Jung Wonjae’s eyes widened at his teammate’s sudden remark.
“They said senior Sung Jihoo personally requested to appear with that rookie. There’s a rumor he’s been sticking by him because he liked him.”
That Sung Jihoo from Tiple?
He was so famously shy that I had never once heard of him hanging around juniors.
There were a few juniors who had tried to get close, but whether it was just his personality or not, they were all shut out by his cold wall.
What could a mere half-year rookie have possibly done to catch Sung Jihoo’s eye?
“It’s been years since Doubles had direct juniors. Of course he’d look out for them.”
“Ha….”
That really stung.
Jung Wonjae frowned and asked his teammate.
“Do I have any events with him?”
“Probably the relay?”
“Damn, can I trip him on purpose?”
“There are so many cameras filming. Do it if you want to retire early from the industry~.”
“Ha.”
If it weren’t for the cameras, maybe… but he couldn’t do as he pleased.
Jung Wonjae let out an annoyed sigh and muttered quietly.
“Let’s at least see his face.”
Yeah, let’s see what’s so great about him.
…It came back to me.
Jung Wonjae of Hyper.
I realized I had heard his name from the news.
No wonder he felt so familiar.
After struggling with the thought for a while, I finally figured out the source of the déjà vu, and my face stiffened slightly.
“Seohan, what’s wrong?”
Swaa—
Seo Haim, who was washing her hands at the sink, tilted her head and asked.
My dazed gaze was still fixed on the bathroom mirror.
‘Yeah, I saw that article.’
If my hazy memory was right, then I was certain.
Without realizing, I mouthed the words softly.
“Propofol….”
Huh?
Seo Haim’s eyes were filled with confusion.
What did he just say….
“Prompter?”
“…?”
“They even set up a prompter at the Athletics Championship?”
“What?”
Hyung, you don’t need to know.