EPISODE 9

'I'm in trouble.'

The cause of this trouble was that Baek-Ya had shouted at the system window he had not seen in a while. The members misunderstood that he had become disappointed in them and didn't want to be part of the team.

'No, but… It's not like you even gave me any time to be disappointed…'

Baek-Ya pressed his forehead and sighed. It looks like he failed in making a good impression.

'Suddenly, I'm tearing up too…'

Baek-Ya lifted his head with tears welling up to stop them from streaming down.

But he couldn't cry there. Now that the manager was away for a while to answer the phone, he had to sort this out somehow. Even for the sake of the new quest.

The system window that appeared in front of Baek-Ya a while ago was a notification of a hidden quest. Unlike the main quest, which must be carried out unconditionally, the hidden quest seemed to be greatly influenced by the location and situation.

Therefore, the timing at which the quest occurred was, of course, unpredictable. Examples include and , which could only be accessed in the practice room.

Fortunately, it was possible to reject the hidden quest.

He refused it as soon as he saw the word 'dance' in the quest , so the quest disappeared, but instead, another quest appeared this time.

[A new (hidden) quest has arrived!]

[Q. I Am Ground, Self-Introduction: I'm Baek-Ya!]

//TN: Shortly explained, 'I am ground' is the name of a Korean icebreaker game where you introduce yourself to others.

Was it because of the atmosphere?

It seemed to be mocking him, but this was cute compared to before. Baek-Ya decided to carry out this quest for his few Star Points.

Simultaneously, he would be resolving this situation as well.

"Um… My name is Han Baek-Ya. I am in my third year at Geumyong High School, and it has been about three weeks since I joined ID. And earlier, I was thinking about something else, so I unknowingly misspoke…"

He followed it with the ideal greeting of 'I know it's late, but it's such an honor to join the team and I look forward to your kind cooperation in the future.'

However, the eyes directed at him were still mixed with anxiety and distrust.

"I really mean it. Please believe me."

Please.

Somehow, it felt unfair, but Baek-Ya still begged and pleaded.

'But why isn't the completion notice appearing?'

There was no self-introduction more perfect than this.

'Then, don't tell me…'

Baek-Ya was smiling but not really smiling. Because his bad forebodings were never wrong. Moreover, the atmosphere didn't show any signs of improvement.

"Hyung, I'm hurt…"

"If the hamster escapes, do I have to go home? I had a hard time coming to Korea. Sniffle."

"He said he didn't mean it. So, you guys, stop crying."

As Min-Sung soothed the youngest members who burst into tears, he turned to look at Baek-Ya. He saw drooping shoulders and an apologetic face that didn't know what to do. Baek-Ya's words didn't seem like a lie.

However, people all interpreted things differently. Baek-Ya froze at Min-Sung's cold eyes.

'Co-cold.'

In fact, the one who was crying the hardest was tall and looked the scariest, so he was the first person in Baek-Ya's mind to be wary of. But either way, Baek-Ya had made the youngest members of the team cry.

'I'm ruined.'

The youngest were the most cherished wherever they went. So, it was no wonder that guy was glaring at Baek-Ya for making such an existence cry.

'…But by hamster, does he perhaps mean…?'

Baek-Ya squinted his eyes at the one with grey hair through narrowed eyes. At that moment, a hand stretched out into Baek-Ya's view.

"It was really our misunderstanding, right? I am Han Ji-Han. I'm also a third year in high school."

It was the man who had just silently stood there the whole time. A memorable cold face with straight black hair and eyes that slanted upwards.

"Yes? Yes! Of course. Please take care of me."

Baek-Ya quickly answered and held Ji-Han's hand. Then, a larger hand reached out, clasping over the two holding hands.

"I am Yul-Mu. Na Yul-Mu. I'm happy to have another friend on the team~"

Yul-Mu, who had his arm wrapped around Ji-Han's shoulder, was the tallest among them. As Yul-Mu gave some strength into his hand, the three people's hands shook up and down.

You could feel the 'insider' energy emanating from him without even speaking. Baek-Ya's gaze moved slightly upward.

//TN: 'Insider' or 'Inssa' is slang that refers to popular kids who are very social and charming. The ones that know everyone and everyone knows them. The opposite of that would be 'Assa' or 'Outsider', the loners.

'It feels like there's at least 10 cm difference between him and me.'

Yul-Mu was tall, had big hands, and big eyes. Everything about him was big. The first thing that came to Baek-Ya's mind was 'I'm envious'.

However, Baek-Ya quickly recovered his senses, lowered his gaze, and withdrew his hand.

"Yes. Please take care of me."

"Ey~ What's with the formalities between friends? You can be casual with me. So, I'll also be casual with you."

'…You seemed to be casual from the beginning though.'

Baek-Ya's reluctant face turned to Yul-Mu. Yul-Mu, however, didn't seem to mind at all.

Before he knew it, Yul-Mu wrapped his arm around Baek-Ya's shoulder and led him toward Min-Sung and the youngest members.

"You guys, stop! Our Baek-Ya already said it wasn't like that so how long are you still going to cry?"

It has not been more than two minutes since the mutual introduction, and it was already 'our' Baek-Ya. Baek-Ya felt a little awkward.

"I'm sorry. The guys had a momentary meltdown. We've had a lot on our minds all day."

Min-Sung apologized on behalf of the youngest members who couldn't raise their heads. It was the same guy who took the bullet and asked Baek-Ya to leave the practice room a moment ago.

"My name is Do Min-Sung. I'm the leader because I'm the oldest in the team."

Min-Sung introduced himself with a playful smile.

"Ey~ If you're not the leader, hyung, then who else could be? Even if hyung was the youngest, you'd still be the leader."

"That's right."

Ji-Han nodded in agreement with Yul-Mu's words. Even in Baek-Ya's eyes, Min-Sung seemed like the only one who could be the leader of the team.

"My name is Han Baek-Ya. Please feel free to speak casually with me."

"Okay, then, you can also speak casually, Baek-Ya. And I'm sorry for asking you to leave earlier."

"No, it's okay. I was also in a situation where I wanted to run away in many ways… I will drop the formalities little by little."

It was a situation where both felt embarrassed even while talking to each other. Min-Sung scratched his eyebrows and avoided eye contact.

Min-Sung, with his impressive porcelain skin, was the so-called rabbit image of the group. In every idol team, there was always at least one rabbit figure.

"Ah, right. And here are the youngest members of our team."

Pushed by Min-Sung's hand, Yu-Yeon and Chung came forward. It was like a small walnut was placed on each of their chins as the two held their lips tightly shut.

Were they sniffling or were they trying to read the room? It was very cute to see them looking so busy.

'Is this what they call a "gap"?'

Baek-Ya, slightly bending his knees, looked up at the two people's faces with their heads down.

"I feel sorry since you keep crying…"

At those words, Yu-Yeon, who had his head bowed, glanced at Baek-Ya.

He had golden curly hair and a well-defined face. Perhaps it was because of the puffy eyes, but he had a softer impression than when Baek-Ya first met him.

"…My name is Han Yu-Yeon. 18 years old."

The shyly bowing Yu-Yeon poked Chung in the side, telling him to also stop crying and say hello.

"…It's Chungchung."

Among the members, Chung, who was the most sharp-looking, was a bit clumsy in Korean after living abroad.

"Chung-ah, you should use honorifics."

Min-Sung insinuated. Chung was often misunderstood because of his cold demeanor and that worried Min-Sung.

"Why? I don't want to. That's for someone higher up than me."

"What, you punk?"

However, the tactless younger member was quick to reject his hyung's concerns. Chung's first impression of Baek-Ya was nothing more than a hamster, and moreover, anyone would agree that Baek-Ya looked younger than him.

He did not give heed to Baek-Ya's introduction to being a senior in high school.

"The hamste-"

"Close your mouth."

Min-Sung glared as he covered the youngest member's mouth, who was about to make an irreversible mistake. The look in his eyes said that he wouldn't let it go if Chung said one more word.

Perhaps because he has been worrying all day, his bloodshot eyes looked like something out of a horror movie. Chung was quickly subdued by the threatening red eyes.

"…This guy has grown up with too much sunlight."

//TN: Had a pampering upbringing.

Embarrassed by such a friend, Yu-Yeon shook his head and took a step away from Chung. Yu-Yeon, who was talking to himself, smiled awkwardly when his eyes met with Baek-Ya's.

It was at this point when Baek-Ya, who was worrying in this more relaxed atmosphere, suddenly chimed in.

"I'm Baek-Ya…!"

//TN: The way he said it was very informal and casual.

It was truly out of the blue, but who even cares anymore?

[ Completed!]

[Quest Reward Granted: 1 Star Point]

Then, the quest completion notification popped up.

'As I thought, I had to say that specific line.'

He was tempted to go on a rant about how poor the quest explanation was, but he didn't know what kind of misunderstanding would occur again if he did that. Everyone was now paying attention to Baek-Ya who had blurted out the line all of a sudden.

Baek-Ya, pretending to be calm, raised the corners of his mouth and spoke.

"Th-there's no need to do anything complicated. Haha… I'll just speak casually, too. I'd like to do that."

Just a moment ago, he said he would drop the formalities little by little… so even if they didn't say anything, everyone seemed to think it was awkward.

But that's okay. The quest was successful, and the embarrassment was just momentary.