EPISODE 8

Heading back down to the practice room, Baek-Ya looked around the empty space.

"…Did they misinform me?"

He didn't even know who was it that called him there. Baek-Ya, who had been looking around, walked to the wall and leaned his back against it.

Blankly staring at his reflection in the mirror for a moment, a sound of growling broke the silence and Baek-Ya grabbed his stomach.

"I'm hungry…"

Come to think of it, all he had for breakfast was a banana. From the monthly evaluation to the sudden debut proposal to shooting the profile picture. There was no time to prepare a meal.

'I even thought about going to another agency since I thought I couldn't debut here.'

He couldn't help but laugh. While the current situation was ridiculous, it also felt unreal.

'To think I'm debuting…'

He knew it was for his survival, but somehow, he had a hunch that the real start of this game would be after his debut.

All he has seen were the reviews of the game.

'It probably can't even be compared to now.'

Baek-Ya shook his head at the endless stream of thoughts. Then he pulled out a small package from his pocket.

"Let's eat first before I move."

It was a chocolate snack Ji-Ho had given to him to eat before the evaluation started.

Opening the wrapper, Baek-Ya shoved the pastry into his mouth. The sign on the door of the practice room stabbed at his conscience.

However, before he could even chew, the door suddenly opened.

"!!!!!"

The startled Baek-Ya froze with his eyes wide open. The other party was also as surprised, though for a different reason.

"…Huh?"

"Keugh-ugh! Cough!"

Baek-Ya, with flour in his throat, hit his chest and coughed.

'I need to swallow it fast…!'

Baek-Ya quickly turned around and vigorously chewed the contents in his mouth. He couldn't ruin his first impression like this.

However, everything could be seen.

He might have thought that he was hiding, but due to the layout of the space, it was impossible for him to hide in the first place. Because he was in the largest and most spacious practice room of ID.

Although Baek-Ya had turned around to look at the wall, the two moving chubby cheeks could be seen in real-time through the mirror.

"Chungchung, why aren't you going in?"

"Shh! There's a hamster. It's eating."

Members arrived one after another, led by the youngest who opened the door.

"Is someone inside?"

"Didn't we rent the practice room?"

A shy tomato stood there alone like a lighthouse on a remote island. No, it was impossible to ignore that red hoodie and pretend you didn't see anything even if you wanted to.

How desperate did that back view look like.

The voices of the members who arrived late naturally lowered at the youngest member's sign for silence.

"Guys, manager hyung is asking about our schedule…"

Even Min-Sung, the oldest member of the team who arrived last.

"Why aren't you guys going in?"

As he approached, he instinctively lowered his voice. His eyes quickly scanned the interior of the practice room. Someone was there.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know."

"But he looks so pitiful. Hiding and eating like that."

People say that even dogs shouldn't be touched when they eat. The five agreed to 'wait for a minute and see' as they huddled at the entrance and couldn't bear to go in.

'There are more people.'

Baek-Ya felt the commotion behind his back. He didn't want to turn around.

On the other hand, there were signs of someone getting closer to the back of a person who didn't intend to come out even after he had finished eating. At the sounds of footsteps behind him, Baek-Ya stiffened and turned around. Of course, with his gaze fixed on the floor.

"Excuse me, hello."

"…Hello."

"I'm sorry, but we're supposed to use the practice room from 7 o'clock."

A careful eviction was handed to him.

Baek-Ya slowly raised his head and his eyes met with Min-Sung's. It seems that they had not heard of the news yet as they didn't seem to recognize Baek-Ya.

'What do I do?'

For a moment, Baek-Ya wondered if he should introduce himself. But then he saw that Min-Sung's eyes were swollen. In fact, it wasn't only Min-Sung but everyone in the room.

'It's been a year since the debut group was formed.'

And a friend who had been with them for a lot longer than that, including their time as trainees, was dropped from the team overnight.

Of course, that person did it to himself, but regardless of the facts, it was inevitable that the members would feel empty.

However, on the day the original member was kicked out, a new member was selected as if he had been waiting for it? It was a perfect picture for a misunderstanding.

Why did it just occur to him now? Baek-Ya, thinking it was a relief he had not said anything, quickly bowed his head and apologized.

"That, uh, I'm sorry! I will leave right now."

It would be strange to introduce himself as the new member in his position right now.

'It'll just look like I'm excited by myself…!'

It was true but also bitter.

And as he just felt it, he didn't have the confidence to get amid that group. It was as if they already had a solid fence of their own. Baek-Ya turned to run out of the practice room.

However, his actions were blocked at the door.

"Oh?! So, you were here! I didn't know that, so I even went to the studio and the Development Team to look for you."

A large man suddenly appeared, grabbed Baek-Ya's body, and turned him around.

"Guys!"

"W-wait a minute!"

Bewildered, Baek-Ya struggled. Five pairs of gazes turned toward him.

"I went to the development team and got a confirmation from them! They said that your debut won't be canceled and will go on as it is!"

"…Is that really true?"

Ji-Han asked back with his face frowning.

"That's right, you punk! Baek-Ya here saved you all!"

The system window popped up for the first time in a while, with the gazes focused on Baek-Ya.

[A new (hidden) quest has arrived!]

[Q. First Impressions Matter: Dominate your opponent with a dance initiation ceremony]

'Dominate, what do you mean dominate!'

Baek-Ya, feeling alive once again due to his blood pressure rising several times today, unconsciously cried out.

"No! I'm not doing it!"

The misunderstanding seamlessly deepened.

* * *

[Rookie Development Team Manager Kim Dong-Man]

With Baek-Ya's speedy debut, he was promoted to a manager position just two years after joining the company. Dong-Man's position within the Rookie Development Team is now that of a hero.

Whenever Dong-Man walked by, everyone stopped what they were doing and started clapping and giving double thumbs up.

"Look who's here? Isn't that our Manager Dong!"

"Haha. You're making me shy, Deputy Manager."

"No, no. If it wasn't for you, Manager Dong, I would be still crying you know?"

Just when they thought the tower, they had been building for years was finally seeing the light of day, a thunderbolt struck. Not only the Rookie Development Team, but also the Planning Team, PR team, A&R team, and everyone else was shocked.

Look at all the overtime they had to do!

The amount of time, manpower, and money it took for the company to introduce the rookies was unimaginable.

And they weren't even just any rookies. They were the stars of ID Entertainment. The first boy group in eight years to succeed AIM.

In addition, for the group's worldview, the Planning Team searched all the books that contained 'legendary', 'talent', and 'world'…

For a while, the Planning Team's office was called a zombie den.

That was how it was back then. Hehehe.

But that was all a thing of the past now.

The CEO's declaration that 'the schedule is unchanged except for the addition of a new trainee' made everyone's hearts swell.

"I saw his uploaded profile and he seems quite fine."

"Right? I couldn't tell at first when Baek-Ya-gun was wearing glasses, but the moment he took them off! Ding~ Diiing~"

It was the story of how the bells began to ring in his head. Dong-Man was busy singing praises of Baek-Ya to everyone he met.

The deputy manager thought to himself that it probably wasn't to that extent but didn't bother to bring it up.

"Anyway, the kids are having a hard time. It's practically a complete rework, but is that even possible in three months?"

Everyone would be having a hard time, especially Baek-Ya who would have to roll with no time to sleep. With recording, dance practice, album cover shoot, and the music video.

"We have been behind schedule since last year. The President couldn't postpone it anymore because of the investors. Still, the Planning Team is trying the make the most of the schedule, so that friend has no choice but to adapt quickly."

"Baek-Ya-gun will do well. He has great resolve."

"Is that so? That's good. I heard the kids cried a lot because they thought it was going to be called off this time."

Asking if that was true, Dong-Man grieved as if it was his own business. Then he took a moment to look around, and he covered his mouth with his hand and whispered softly.

"From what I heard, Ha-Rang was rather territorial since he could sing well but seems like it was true. His trainee period was also the longest."

It was a story that everyone knew. The Deputy Manager nodded bitterly.

"Vocalists are important in a team after all. He seemed to be doing well, but now that this happened, it is rather upsetting."

The Deputy Manager briefly glanced at Baek-Ya's profile reflecting on the monitor.

'I wonder what kind of impact this friend will have on the team.'

The kids have been through a lot of hardships, so he hoped that it will go well. However, the process was not as smooth as expected.

* * *

At that time, our new face has been making a huge impact since his arrival.

"A misunderstanding! It's really a misunderstanding, ah…"

Baek-Ya was lost in a sea of crying.

Drowning in it.