Chapter 2: Rebirth (2)
Even after thinking it over, I was certain I had returned to eight years ago.
After being dragged through classes in a daze for several days, I finally came to terms with reality.
I rummaged through countless news articles and checked the dates.
I even reviewed the class content, but it was exactly what I had learned eight years ago.
Of course, it took me two days to accept this shocking truth.
I stared intently at the mirrors placed all around the practice room.
My face was exactly as I remembered it from eight years ago.
I flinched at my own reflection, looking so young that I barely recognized myself.
The confusion slowly began to clear, and the wish I had always kept buried in my heart became vivid.
This was an opportunity.
"An opportunity that I’ll never get again."
I had simply liked dancing.
I had jumped into this field because I thought it was my path.
It had been a truly reckless challenge, and practice with no guarantee.
I just vaguely held on, failed, and gave up.
But now.
Coming back, I understood.
Having forgotten about it, I now realized it so painfully.
For the past eight years, my quiet heart had pounded madly at the word "dream"...
A life without standing on stage felt like death.
A life that gave me even one more chance felt like a dream.
I didn’t think I could give up a second time.
Back then, I was too overwhelmed by practice to realize, but now I knew how precious this chance was.
"I’ll do well."
It was a fiercely competitive scene, just as I remembered, but I had to survive and debut here.
At the very least, this time, I wouldn’t give up helplessly.
I wouldn’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers again.
Just as I clenched my fist tightly and muttered to myself—
Crash—
The door to the empty practice room swung open, and faces I wasn’t happy to see appeared in my view.
Tall kids who looked to be around high school age with cocky faces entered.
"Did the monthly results come out?"
"The rankings went up a lot. Especially you."
"Really? Hey, let’s go check them out now."
I was seeing these guys again.
The one who appeared from the back with a bright smile was Kevin, who would later debut in Stardust.
The guy with dyed yellow hair was talking excitedly, looking way too thrilled.
He looked relatively innocent among the cocky ones, but I knew better than to be fooled by that face.
See? His eyes were already a little glazed.
Not only did he take drugs, he even distributed them, landing himself in prison.
Just two years after debuting with Stardust, he dropped a huge bomb like that.
They said he was caught doing drugs with already-debuted seniors during his trainee days.
Knowing all that, I could tell…
Yeah, he definitely looked like a junkie.
His eyes were completely dull.
Then, a loud curse rang out behind me.
"Shit, what the hell is this crap in the morning."
"Why? What happened?"
"That bastard Choi Myunghwan is riding my ass. He made me practice until dawn yesterday, and now he’s asking why I don’t have time to train. That bastard’s got it out for me these days."
"He really does seem to have it out for only you. Did you get marked?"
That jerk was Lee Junhyeok, the one who had driven me mad just before my regression.
Judging by the rough swearing, his personality had clearly been the same eight years ago.
Was this some kind of criminal gathering or what.
I felt like I was seeing a bunch of guys I’d later meet in cuffs.
To make things worse—
"So what happened? Did he call you after?"
The one who joined in was Choi Han, who would become the youngest member of Stardust.
…Every time I turned my head, it felt like I was spotting another landmine.
He was the one who caused a huge scandal later with a premarital pregnancy.
Wow, now that I was looking around slowly, this was truly an insane lineup.
That’s when my head started throbbing.
"Sigh."
Right.
These weren’t the only guys who’d cause problems here.
Even if I worked hard and debuted, what about the ones who were already going to debut?
\[Stardust’s youngest member Choi Han announces surprise marriage]
\[‘Drug charges’ former Stardust member Kevin sentenced to two years in prison]
\[Stardust’s Lee Junhyeok assaults member. Chaos at fan signing event]
Just thinking about the upcoming scandals gave me a headache that couldn’t be cured by pressing on my temples.
"This is bad."
Too many of the members I’d be debuting with were trash.
---
The Stardust Project.
An audition program ambitiously prepared by Doubles Entertainment to launch Stardust.
Contrary to everyone's predictions that it would flop, it became a massive hit.
Seven trainees who ranked high in the show ended up debuting as Stardust.
Thankfully, it was still before the Stardust Project had begun.
There was still plenty of opportunity to outpace those guys.
"Phew. What am I going to do about them?"
I scribbled notes onto a notepad and spun my pen.
Lee Junhyeok had barely beaten me at the end by ranking just above the cutoff, so if I set my mind to it, I could catch up to him.
The best-case scenario would be getting a chance to expose his filthy personality in front of the camera.
"This guy is one thing."
Kevin, the one who dealt drugs.
He ranked high in the monthly evaluation and also placed second in the final debut ranking.
He was the biggest problem.
I swept my chin and muttered softly.
"Should I try to catch him doing drugs?"
Even some decently credible evidence could be enough to knock him out.
Since audition programs tend to fast-track any gossip straight to debut status.
"Then again, he wouldn’t be blatantly obvious about it. Unless he’s insane."
It’d be great if I could get help from a reporter, but I had no connections right now.
And since I wasn’t a detective or a journalist, I couldn’t exactly tail him around either—so for now, I had to put that on hold.
What’s worse, on the surface, he seemed cheerful and totally normal.
Even when I was a trainee, I had no idea he was a druggie.
And then there was one more…
One who quit on his own with a glass-like mentality.
And Stardust’s youngest, Choi Han.
\[Stardust’s youngest member Choi Han announces surprise marriage]
He didn’t even debut during the original Stardust project anyway.
He was an additional recruit later on, so as long as he didn’t suddenly rise in the rankings, I didn’t need to worry about him for now.
After clutching my pounding head and thinking for a while, I came to a conclusion.
"My debut comes first."
I would survive, and weed out the ones who needed to go.
The plan had become twice as difficult… but it was still doable.
Because I already knew what kind of disasters those guys were going to cause.
Surely, the knowledge I’d seen from the news would come in handy.
So, the only option was to stake everything on the upcoming audition…
"Hey, Seohan!"
At that moment, a familiar voice called from behind.
A hand lightly rested on my shoulder, and a face leaned in—it was Ha Junseo.
I flinched and hunched my shoulder in surprise.
"Ah, you startled me."
"Did I scare you?"
"I didn’t hear you coming."
From the perspective of a twenty-five-year-old, he looked really young—but in reality, he was three years older than me.
Was he twenty at this time?
I had to stop myself from slipping into casual speech by mistake.
The original leader of Stardust.
He didn’t even do anything wrong, yet he always had to bow his head in front of reporters.
He got beat up by Lee Junhyeok at a fan signing event.
He grew thinner and thinner by the day.
He was the most pitiful among the Stardust members.
Despite his youthful appearance, his voice was low and calm as he asked,
"But today, everyone was called in, right? It was the manager who summoned us?"
"I think so?"
"That’s weird. The monthly evaluation results already came out yesterday."
There was one thing that came to mind.
Around this time, there was a good chance we were being called in for the Stardust Project.
Because of that, all the trainees were gathered in Doubles Entertainment’s spacious practice room.
"Yeah, true."
I just shrugged my shoulders instead of answering.
Ha Junseo stirred the iced Americano he was holding and asked,
"Tired? Want some?"
"Ah, I’m good."
That was just how he was.
He’d often talk to new trainees out of pure kindness.
He definitely got caught in the middle of all the troublemakers in Stardust, which must have worn his face down to the bone.
Come to think of it, compared to that last article photo…
"Back then… he looked young."
"Huh?"
"No, it’s nothing."
I gazed at Ha Junseo with a sentimental look.
Maybe it was because all I remembered were the days he kept bowing his head over the members’ messes as the leader.
His healthy complexion now looked unfamiliar.
He used to sneak around behind the broadcasting station with an exhausted face.
Unaware of what his future held, Ha Junseo now looked somewhat cheerful.
He gulped down his Americano and continued,
"Ah, maybe it’s that? A new trainee coming in?"
"A new trainee?"
"Maybe they called us all in to introduce someone new?"
Yeah, a lot are coming in.
Like a dozen or so at once.
As I muttered inwardly, Ha Junseo’s voice suddenly deflated.
"Or… is it maybe for a cut…?"
Just as Ha Junseo’s speculation continued—
Crash—
The manager arrived.
Even after all this time, Song Jinha, with his cold expression, opened his mouth calmly.
"Is everyone here?"
"Yeeees!"
After cutting off the trainees’ response, Song Jinha quickly got to the point.
"…There’s something I need to announce."
---
Without much explanation, Song Jinha posted a huge notice over the practice room mirror.
"Hmm."
Then he immediately stepped back in a flash.
Judging from his expression, even he seemed sorry to be delivering this news.
Whoosh.
At the same time, the trainees rushed forward from the back.
I was no exception, mixed into that crowd.
Lee Junhyeok was already pushing through people at the front, shouting loudly.
"Hey, move!"
"What is it? What does it say?"
"Stardust Project…"
"What the hell is this?"
The conclusion came.
"What the hell. It’s an audition?"
"Huh?"
For trainees who had consistently ranked high in monthly evaluations, this was like a bolt from the blue.
\[Final debut members selected 100% by viewer votes >< Choose your boy to enter the world of Stardust!]
"What?"
"…We’re supposed to go on this?"
"What kind of crap is this now?"
The poster was filled with heart shapes and overly cute phrases.
And as the trainees read through it, sighs continuously escaped their mouths.
Even now, it was shocking.
After grinding us for years, they turned the final selection into an audition?
Like any other big entertainment company, they were just telling us to figure out our own survival.
I’d never expected a “family-like atmosphere” to begin with, so I wasn’t surprised—
But that was only because I was seeing this notice for the second time.
The other trainees must’ve felt differently.
It was shocking.
It felt insane.
Of course it did.
The back of the room was already chaotic.
People were pushing and shoving just to get a glimpse of the poster.
"Alright, everyone step back!"
"Manager, wait a second. What is this?"
"It’s an audition. A debut audition co-produced with TBN. The application forms are over there, so go submit yours in order."
"Wait, shouldn’t you at least explain what’s going on!"
There were 22 existing Doubles Entertainment trainees and 12 independent trainees recruited for the show.
That made a total of 34 people competing for 7 spots.
To survive the infamously tough Doubles Entertainment system and now be told independent trainees would join?
Of course there was backlash.
"Are they out of their minds? Why did we even bother busting our asses for monthly evaluations then?"
"Independent trainees? Where the hell did they dig those up?"
"This is driving me crazy."
"It’s really 100% viewer vote?"
"Shit, seriously…"
The top-rankers already looked defeated, while the middle and lower ranks now sparkled with newfound hope.
100% viewer voting.
A terrifying concept.
All the skills and experience built up until now would be wiped clean—
And only the image captured by the camera would remain.
"What a mess."
Ha Junseo drained his full cup of iced Americano in one go with a grave look on his face.
His reaction seemed calm, but as someone in the top ranks, he had every reason to feel disturbed.
"…Wow, this is bad. What should I prepare?"
Meanwhile, I was calmly laying out my plan in my head.
100% viewer vote.
Since the entertainment company itself was involved, there’d be less malicious editing—
But let’s be honest, it’s not like there wouldn’t be any.
They’d push who they wanted to push.
And they’d throw away who they wanted to discard.
It was just the usual Doubles Entertainment routine being carried out on a more public stage.
Being edited out entirely? That was normal.
If you weren’t being used as a stepping stone to elevate someone else, you should consider yourself lucky.
Having already experienced how brutal this world was, I could taste the bitterness in my mouth.
"Auditions… it really has been a while."
Auditions were, frankly, a double-edged sword.
A preview of real-world social dynamics where the PD’s pick held absolute power.
Depending on how you were edited, your popularity could skyrocket—or plummet.
You could get chewed out for something you didn’t even do.
And the jerk who actually screwed up could end up soaring.
But I already knew all this.
What mattered for me now was—
"What was the first evaluation again?"
There was no time for nostalgia.
I needed to start practicing.