Chapter 187: Variable
“Hey. Is your leg doing any better?”
It was Do Seojun who came to the company after hearing about the situation.
He usually wouldn’t come anywhere near Doubles, saying it was burdensome, so the fact that he even knocked on the practice room door meant he was quite worried despite pretending otherwise.
As soon as he saw me, he frowned and spoke.
“What kind of practice are you doing, with that leg?”
“I can sing while sitting down.”
Besides, it wasn’t a serious injury.
‘Luckily, it’s not broken… but you’ll need to be careful for about two weeks.’
They said the ligament was slightly stretched. For a fall from that height, it was a minor injury.
The priority was to take it easy for two weeks with a partial cast….
“Sigh.”
There were less than three weeks until the comeback.
I grabbed my throbbing head and tried to organize the situation.
If there was any silver lining, it was that I had already learned the choreography to some extent for the MV shoot, but I hadn’t yet properly practiced in sync with the other members.
There was a mountain of practice to get through and loads of content to shoot.
And now, I had to be out of commission for two weeks right before the comeback.
Of course, the older members told me not to push myself, that we could still rehearse positions the week before the comeback, but sitting still didn’t make my mind any less anxious.
Do Seojun scanned my expression and let out a short sigh.
“Don’t rush. You’ll get hurt again.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t act tough. You wanna snap your leg and regret it later?”
This was why I was against him coming to the practice room. Even ignoring him with one ear wasn’t enough for all the nagging that came pouring out.
“When a doctor says to be careful, they don’t mean walk around carefully or dance carefully. They mean sit your ass down like a dead mouse.”
“……”
“I should’ve known since you jumped off a second-floor building trying to be Spider-Man as a kid.”
Excuse me.
“Someone might think you raised me or something….”
“I threw you around and raised you.”
At least he’s got some self-awareness.
I shook my head and blurted out something honest.
Taking two weeks off—considering how we’ve been going nonstop—seemed reasonable.
But my mind wasn’t calm enough to sit still like that.
“This album has to go well. That’s why.”
“What?”
Do Seojun’s eyebrows twitched. It might’ve sounded random, but I was dead serious.
Strangely, I was feeling a sense of urgency.
“You guys are doing well enough. Why are you acting like this? It’s not like you.”
Maybe it was because of the change in members—Stardust was growing faster than in the previous life.
But so far, we hadn’t deviated from the career path set in broad strokes.
Originally, the group was bound to succeed as long as none of the members screwed up, and with someone who knew the future, Stardust had been sailing smoothly by picking all the right answers.
Cha Seongbin’s decision to give up the title track had been quite a big variable in all that.
Even knowing all that, I was the one who chose the new song to replace it.
Avoiding Do Seojun’s probing gaze, I let out a smirk.
“It’s the 2nd Full Album. I just want to do well.”
Maybe he took my words a different way, because Do Seojun’s expression turned serious.
“Hey, are you planning to quit after three years or something?”
“No.”
“I know kids under twenty won’t listen even if you tell them to take care of their health. But if you want to last long in this job, pace yourself.”
“You should be the one pacing yourself.”
“You just can’t let one thing go, huh.”
I know full well you’re pulling all-nighters every day.
As soon as I said that, Do Seojun looked appalled, and I pushed back again.
“Being awake at 5 a.m. is kind of crazy, don’t you think?”
“I wake up at that time, punk.”
“That’s still kind of crazy.”
“It’s Miracle Morning. The kids these days do it.”
He kept talking about Miracle Morning or whatever,
But we sleep at 3 and wake up at 5—that’s just called staying up all night.
That’s the social consensus.
Just as I was dodging Do Seojun’s nagging with a curveball, Jin Sehyun chimed in.
“In my opinion, neither of you are in a position to be judging the other.”
“……!”
Jin Sehyun bowed politely and plopped down on the floor of the practice room.
“Don’t worry. If Seohan tries to dance, I’ll force him to lie down.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Since the choreography lesson was over, it was about time the other members started coming into the previously empty practice room.
Except for Cha Seongbin, I hadn’t really broken the ice with the other members yet, so a slightly awkward smile appeared on Do Seojun’s face.
While getting ready to leave, he started speaking.
“Anyway, yeah, I did come to see your face while I was at it, but that’s not the only reason I came.”
Rustle rustle.
He fished something out of his pocket—suddenly pulling out a business card.
With a grin, Do Seojun explained.
“No way a sick guy would be in a good mood, but I brought some news that might lift your spirits. The company’ll get the call too, but I’m the first one to tell you.”
“What is it?”
I checked the business card as I listened to him.
“You know Writer Lee Yookyung. The one who did Boy’s Dream.”
Seemed like Cha Seongbin would know her better than me.
Thinking back, I might’ve met her once in the waiting room.
I tried to recall her blurry face, then shook my head.
“That writer transferred to Music Bank this time.”
Music Bank, huh….
That was SBC’s terrestrial music broadcast.
“You free during comeback week?”
That out-of-nowhere question made my eyes widen.
Jin Sehyun, who’d been quietly listening, also perked up.
“She called urgently…”
Turns out, the male idol currently serving as MC for Music Bank had a schedule clash with his world tour and couldn’t make the shoot.
Do Seojun’s gaze flicked down to the business card.
“Check it. It’s a special MC offer.”
At the same time, “those Doubles guys” were trending in real-time on JjaekJjaek.
Clicking the trending tag brought up a barrage of angry posts.
Hamgi @hamseo29
Seohan fell while filming the MV
His leg’s not broken, but he sprained his ankle ligament and is in a partial cast ㅠㅠ
WTF how do you manage a set so poorly that our boy falls
He must’ve been so shocked, I’m seriously pissed off
News of Stardust member Do Seohan’s injury.
Following that first tweet—seemingly from an insider—angry comments from fans came pouring in.
[Do Seohan got hurt while filming the MV]
Staff at the filming site said a ladder screw came loose and he fell
If you’re gonna film from that height, you better make safety a priority
What if it had been more serious??
Doubles must be out of their minds, seriously
Exactly. Why make him do such a risky shoot right before the comeback?
└ It was an MV shoot, but still….
└ Who thought it was okay to film an MV like that;;
└ You’re gonna end up killing someone filming an MV at this rate
He didn’t even misstep—he fell because the ladder screw came off? I’m fuming
└ Safety management my ass….
└ How much does a good ladder even cost? Just buy one, seriously
└ What if he fell from even higher? This is a safety hazard ㅠㅠ If he’d fallen headfirst, it could’ve been a disaster ㅠㅠㅠ
└ Ugh I’m so mad
Forget everything else, the worst part is that Doubles stayed silent for days
└They only seem to listen when they get hit.
└Did they think no one would ever know if fans stayed quiet? No one recognized it—how upset our boy must’ve been, ha ㅠㅠㅠ
└Just because they’ve been doing okay lately, they really think they’re good at their jobs ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└22222 Doubles will never get their act together until the day they shut down, period.
└Doubles' favorite chant: “We protect our artists~”
└Looks like they’re protecting their phones instead.
└I’ve never seen those bastards protect anything.
Just when it seemed like they were doing their jobs lately….
Figures it was the damn Doubles guys.
They kept it under wraps for days and are only now releasing a statement—earning even more backlash.
Dusty Yoojin clicked her tongue and kept scrolling.
A fall during a music video shoot.
It wasn’t just a sprained ligament—he could’ve been seriously hurt.
Seeing the rumors break before an official notice, it was a shock.
The fans were furious and nearly launched a full-blown JjaekJjaek campaign, but thankfully, Seohan himself calmed things down by turning on a livestream and saying he was okay.
More precisely, he bounced in like an excited puppy and dropped a ton of spoilers fans had been dying to hear.
-“The concept of this album? Our pre-release track’s concept is sexy!”
-“Please look forward to sexy me!”
-He said, leaking false information.
Right before ending the livestream, he added a cryptic comment.
-“The hyungs went to practice choreography in my place. I’m preparing something fun… but what it is, is a secret!”
So that’s what it was.
[Do Seohan appearing as next week’s Special MC??]
The waiting room of Music Bank.
The Way, a boy group in their 7th year, had been around long enough to occupy one of the spacious waiting rooms as a top-tier idol group.
Min from The Way, who had finished his makeup, frowned at a noise that had been bugging him for a while now.
It was because Kim Woochan was laughing loudly at a monitor screen.
“Wow, what are the odds?”
“…What is?”
Min turned his head with a disinterested expression.
On the screen, a familiar scene was playing.
A rerun of the Stardust Project.
It had already been two weeks of Kim Woochan binge-watching that show.
Min thought everything was fine, but maybe he should ask him to turn down the speaker volume.
Within the team, that guy’s image was just “the crazy one.”
A member he had spent seven years with.
Even though he was a year younger, there were times when he felt like a stranger.
Especially at times like this.
“……”
Where had the guy who was laughing gone? Now he was reading the interview script with a completely cold expression.
Shouldn’t a person’s emotions flow in a more connected way? He was just impossible to read.
Still, the reason he somehow got along with the other members was….
‘He’s kind, though.’
He was a weird one, but a kind one.
Never once involved in a scandal in the entertainment industry, and whether he didn’t want to date or not, he never created any gossip-worthy issues.
He participated diligently in practice, and there was nothing sloppy about his singing or dancing.
He even acted like a normal person well in front of cameras.
‘That’s good enough.’
Min from The Way decided not to expect too much.
The team was still going strong, and they had safely renewed their contracts this year, so staying steady like this should be fine.
That’s why the member who responded best to Kim Woochan’s nonsense was always him.
Right then—
“Special MC Do Seohan….”
Kim Woochan’s lips twitched faintly.
“I was wondering when I’d meet him. This is fate.”
“Hm?”
The Way’s comeback was after quite a while.
There had been complex negotiations around contract renewals that nearly led to the team’s disbandment, which delayed the comeback.
So to meet Do Seohan as a special MC on Music Bank, after such a long hiatus—
Kim Woochan, pretending to be excited, spoke up.
“If I couldn’t meet him, I was wondering how I’d find him.”
“…You know him?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Woochan pointed at the monitor screen and laughed.
“I’ve seen him plenty.”
Min blinked a few times and then shook his head.
“You haven’t actually met him.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“If you say stuff like that, he’ll freak out. He’s a greenhorn—don’t scare him….”
As it was, rookies already found The Way, a 1st-tier idol group, intimidating.
Add to that a lunatic like Kim Woochan coming on strong, and it would be terrifying for a freshly debuted kid.
The problem was—
Kim Woochan was showing an excessive interest in Stardust.
“Oh, those guys are doing well, right?”
“They’re Tiple’s juniors. I heard Sung Jihoo really treasures them.”
“Sung Jihoo? That guy actually cares about someone?”
“That’s what they say.”
Kim Woochan laughed so hard he held his stomach.
Then he mumbled something only he could understand.
“Sung Jihoo of all people, trying to take care of someone? Whoa, is it because he’s an irregular….”
“…….”
Min from The Way gave up trying to understand Kim Woochan.
Even then, Kim Woochan kept smiling and talking to him.
“Don’t you think he’s weird? He’s nineteen, but sharp as hell. Acts like he’s lived two lives, right?”
“…I wouldn’t know.”
“He picks every move like it’s the right answer. That’s… pretty incredible.”
Lowering his voice, Kim Woochan whispered secretively.
That look in his eyes, like some end-times prophet convinced of his own prophecy.
Min shuddered in disgust.
“Eugh.”
Finally fed up with Kim Woochan’s nonsense, Min turned away.
Not that Kim Woochan paid him any more attention, either.
He was staring holes into his phone screen.
Slick, swipe.
After quickly scrolling, what caught his eye was Stardust’s debut album.
Mini 1st Album, Parallel Universe.
Parallel universe, huh….
Kim Woochan repeated the phrase, then grinned.
“Maybe he landed in the perfect group for him.”