EPISODE 4

Baek-Ya had no thoughts. Because he had no idea.

: When on stage, your dancing skills will magically improve.

: Surrender your body to the music.

: The surrounding environment has no influence on you.

: Even when you trip, you can get up naturally.

"As I expected…"

Looking at the skill descriptions, he let out a sigh.

'I have no idea how Roly-Poly even works.'

Still, even when he thought that C would be better than D, he didn't want to choose either one.

In particular, that skill seemed to be perfect to have people cuss you out. The explanation might have sounded convincing, but he just had a feeling it might be like that.

" was a blessing in disguise."

Looking at the misleading skill, he was suddenly satisfied with his current skill. Baek-Ya, erasing Tactless without a second thought, went back to his original purpose.

'It'll be either magically improving my dance skills on stage or surrendering myself to music...'

In particular, the latter seemed a lot like the Courting Dance. He had no idea what kind of dark history his body would create again the moment he would choose that one. In short, it was the worst.

"Then, as for the Dance Magician of the Stage…"

If he had to choose between two evils, he would obviously go with the lesser one.

Wouldn't it be a little safer to 'have the dance skills improved' than the insane description of moving your body with the energy of the universe and surrendering your soul to the headphones?

Although, there was the skill prerequisite of being on stage.

"I have no choice but to hope that the practice room counts as the stage."

* * *

Baek-Ya notified his school of the trainee contract. He would only take regular classes and the rest of the time was to be devoted to practice.

"You're Baek-Ya? Han Baek-Ya?"

"Yes. This is the trainee contract written by the company. I brought it just in case you needed it."

The homeroom teacher of Class 2 in Year 3, Kang Dong-Soo.

Dong-Soo was surprised to see his student return to school with a changed face overnight.

'I heard he had an accident over the weekend and had surgery… Could he have done his face too then?'

Dong-Soo's eyes were dyed with doubt. However, far from looking suspicious, Baek-Ya's face was clean without a single swelling.

'No, then, can someone change this much by changing their glasses?'

Come to think of it, he wasn't wearing the black horn rim he always wore. Baek-Ya had appeared wearing thin silver-rimmed round glasses like his own, and was really…

"Handsome."

"Yes?"

"Huh? No, uh, very well."

Dong-Soo, who had been staring at Baek-Ya's face, belatedly came to his senses.

The fact that he momentarily thought that Baek-Ya might not be human was a secret.

"Do you not need this?"

ID Entertainment's trainee exclusive contract. Dong-Soo accepted the contract presented to him.

"Can you wait a minute? I'll make a copy and return it right away."

Dong-Soo got up from his seat and headed towards the center of the teachers' room.

The copier was located right in front of the vice-principal. As he carefully examined the terms and conditions to make sure his student was not subjected to a slave contract, something glowing appeared in front of him.

"Mr. Kang? Who is that student?"

It was the vice-principal.

For a moment, Dong-Soo was blinded and almost closed his eyes. He blinked a few more times on purpose, pretending his eyes were stiff.

"Ah, Vice-principal. A student named Han Baek-Ya in my class wanted to apply for early leave for arts and physical education. ID Entertainment signed a contract with him…"

As he was talking, he could feel a sting in the back of his head. He slightly glanced around and saw that all the teachers in the staff room were gathered around Dong-Soo.

"Ohoho. Don't mind us and keep talking."

The teachers, with the math teacher's voluntary lead, belatedly chimed in.

As a result.

"Baek-Ya-ya. Um... The approval came faster than I expected, so you're already allowed to leave early today if you want to."

It was the beginning of the legend of Geumyong Boy's High School.

[Friend 1: Baek-Ya, get me an autograph if you meet Rose Day.]

[Friend 2: Why the hell have you been wearing that crap all this time?]

[Friend 3: Omg, did you really become an ID trainee???]

[Friend 4: Knock knock, I have come due to the rumors of someone with a top-notch face.]

He was hoping to keep a low profile as much as possible, but it seems like that was ruined.

Even the guys he had only greeted in passing were contacting him.

'This is burdensome.'

Baek-Ya looked at his phone with a serious expression. For a moment, he wondered if he should cancel his number.

[Shin Jae-Hyun: Baek-Ya, leave safely, and good luck with practice!]

[Kim Yu-Gyeong: This crazy punk ㅠㅠ Goodbye ㅠ]

[Kim Yu-Gyeong: To think my friend is a celebrity (Crying Emoji)]

[Shin Jae-Hyun: How many times are you going to say that when he's still a trainee…]

[Kim Yu-Gyeong: Please, stay healthy ㅠㅜ Bandaging my broken heart]

When he saw the messages in the group chat room, he burst into laughter.

"That's right. You guys are my only support."

It was unfair that he was synchronized to the game, but he thought it would have been even harder without Jae-Hyun and Yu-Gyeong.

Baek-Ya, arriving at the company, put his phone and bag in the assigned personal locker. After changing into comfortable clothes, he headed to the vocal practice room, when a trainee he became close to over the weekend approached Baek-Ya.

"Hyung!"

"Hi, Ji-Ho."

ID's youngest trainee Lee Ji-Ho. Ji-Ho, who had only entered elementary school last year, was bright and full of energy.

"The team leader said that you wouldn't come to practice on weekdays until next week, hyung. How come you're here?"

"My homeroom teacher was kind enough to accommodate me. And my school isn't far from the company either."

Baek-Ya looked around the practice room with only a few people.

"Has no one come yet?"

"No. They went to eat! Ah, but there are also some hyungs who come after 5 pm."

Baek-Ya tilted his head at Ji-Ho's answer.

"Eat?"

"You can eat on the 3rd floor. Didn't you know, hyung?"

Ji-Ho seemed shocked when Baek-Ya nodded. And then he began to passionately speak, saying that the company's food was so good that people from other companies came to eat it. The broadcasting stations have also filmed it several times.

"Speaking of which, let's go! We still have plenty of time."

"Huh? But I just ate…"

However, Ji-Ho didn't listen. He seemed to be the kind of person who pushed on once he made up his mind.

This young guy was rather tenacious.

"It's super delicious, right!"

"Y-yeah… It's delicious."

Baek-Ya, after choosing a light-looking salad, sat facing Ji-Ho on one side of the cafeteria.

"The other hyungs of the same class must have already eaten. I wanted to introduce you to them, though."

He didn't expect someone this small to have such admirable ideas. Baek-Ya smiled and stroked Ji-Ho's head.

"Knowing that you care is more than enough."

At ID, male and female trainees were divided into separate classes. And within that, they were divided according to skills.

Trainees would take classes based on their assigned level and would move up to a higher level or down to a lower level based on their performance in the monthly evaluation.

"But the class I went to on the weekend…"

"The dance lesson? Classes A and B were having a lesson together and then hyung came. Sometimes we have classes together."

So, it was like that.

Why did the team leader of the rookie development team have to knock on that door when a class with C and D was right next to it? His face was about to explode when he thought of the Courting Dance he had performed then.

Baek-Ya, with his head down, began to eat his salad combatively. The green weeds vanished at a frightening pace.

But then, Ji-Ho waved his hand to someone behind Baek-Ya and stood up.

"Hyung! Yul-Mu hyung! Min-Sung hyung!"

"Look who's here~ Isn't this Jyojyojyo?"

//TN: When Ji-Ho is pronounced quickly, it sounds like Jyo.

"You came to eat, Ji-Ho. But why isn't there anything?"

He heard two unfamiliar voices at the same time. Looking back with his mouth full of salad, familiar faces came into his vision.

"Ah, you're eating. Hello."

They were members of AIM's junior group, ID's sole group that people had also called 'ruined idols'.

"Oh~ There's a face I don't recognize. You must be new."

"That's right! This is Baek-Ya hyung. Did your practice go well, hyung?"

"Of course. You should also quickly grow so you can debut."

Indeed, there was no one who didn't know of Ji-Ho's extraordinary sociability.

Meanwhile, there was Baek-Ya who was forced to keep silent with his mouth full of salad that did not seem to disappear no matter how much he chewed. He had to quickly swallow so he could say something, but his body refused to keep up with him.

"Keugh!"

In his haste, he tried to swallow it all at once and nearly died.

Baek-Ya let out a strange noise and hurriedly searched for water.

"You must be uncomfortable because of us. Ji-Ho-ya, we'll get going now. Let's go, Yul-Mu."

"Ah! I'm sorry. Please eat comfortably~"

"Ji-Ho, good luck with practice."

'What? No! It's not like that! Please don't go…!'

Baek-Ya looked at the ruined idols, no, the trainees, with hollow eyes. However, they had quickly concluded the conversation, and all Baek-Ya could let out was gibberish.

"…ngnhks."

Honestly, he didn't know if it was understandable at all.

Before long, Baek-Ya barely swallowed his food. Baek-Ya, in his urgency, asked Ji-Ho about the people they had just met, pretending not to know them.

"Who were those people? I don't think I've ever seen them in the practice room."

"Ah~ Those hyungs? They're in the debut group. Their debut has been confirmed and they are preparing for it. I'm so jealous. I want to quickly grow up and debut too."

Boboboom!!

A lightning bolt came crashing down.

"Ah… The debut team has already been decided?"

"Yes! It's been a while since the hyungs moved to their dorms!"

"…"

Can you hear it?

It was the sound of a sunfish dying.