Chapter 17

There's a heavy silence up in the air today.

The words that came from Chae-haru's mouth sank slowly into the air.

I was the first to react.

Cerberus, who'd remained silent the whole time, looked slightly flustered.

{Uh... Master, I'm afraid this conversation has taken on a turn for the worse, and not in the way I'd expected it to be.}

'Indeed.'

No matter how many times I've had casual conversations with disembodied spirits from hell, it's always been a passing acquaintance.

Chae-haru, in front of me now, was a member, a living person, and someone to share the stage with. Not some dead soul that was passing through.

As I stood there, unsure of what to do in this situation, Chae-haru then spoke first in a tone that said he was alright.

"My dad was a very smart man, he graduated from S University, and he was a good student and a good social person. After graduating, he saved up some money and started a business, and it went well at first, but then he got back stabbed by a coworker of his who'd started a business with him. All the money he had saved was gone, and he'd lost his house."

"Haru…."

Listening to Chae-haru's past, Yoo Ha-woon shook his head like he was a puppy in the rain.

Then, Chae-haru, who didn't show much emotion, patted him on the head.

"All I could think about was to study, and I studied like hell to get in a good school without thinking about it. When I was looking for a school that wouldn't have burdened my family, I found out that science high schools didn't charge any tuition, so I'd enrolled in a science high school because it had great job prospects and didn't cost money."

He had to think about his career that would fit in the terms of his family's needs.

It was even more heartbreaking to hear that he had to face such pressure from a extremely young age.

"Then, during winter break last year, I got a street casting. I asked the same question that Si-hwan asked: Is it possible to be an idol even though I don't know anything about it? He'd said yes, that once you start learning properly, you'll get the hang of it, and you can make a ton of money once you'd debut."

Chae-haru's calm voice started trembling.

"He said I could make a ton of money, and I said, Okay, why not? After my father's business failed, he'd stay home and didn't do anything, and my mother is working alone and struggling to make ends meet, so it's only right that I should try to help and turn things around."

Chae-haru, who seemed to have no interest in the world, was under more pressure than anyone else could've imagined.

I couldn't imagine what kind of mindset this boy, who was only in high school, had to leave everything behind to get the part.

"The head of my agency told me, 'If you want to make a quick debut, you should try out for a survival show like 'Asri',' and that's how I ended up here, like a racehorse with a blindfold on. I guess I was a little too quick to judge."

"How long have you been a trainee?"

"Four months."

This is why all the basic movements are still tingling.

I rubbed my forehead and took a deep breath.

'One of them went into a survival program with their confidence at rock bottom. The other one walked in of his own accord without the experience of being a proper trainee. It's a mess, it's truly a mess.'

At this point, I wondered if the current Korean entertainment agencies were the problem.

Chae-haru added in quietly, clasping both of his knees together with both of his hands.

"I'm well aware that I'm still not good enough. It's not that I haven't been practicing, I'm still practicing, even in my sleep, trying to keep up, but I feel like my body just can't keep up with it. I can see myself falling behind the rest of the team, and I feel like I'll be nothing more than just heavy weight to you guys if I keep this up...."

"No, you can do it."

I cut in firmly, and Chae-haru's lifeless eyes widened slightly.

"....How can you be so sure?"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure."

I scratched my cheek and grinned.

"Something I'd overheard someone say."

"I don't even know what Si-hwan could possibly be thinking."

"That's what I'd thought when I saw you. We're the same."

But enough about that.

I stretched and stood up, and Yoo Ha-woon and Chae-haru quickly followed on with me.

"Just to be clear, I'm not leaving you two behind."

"....?"

"I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think I'd say this either. But whatever."

I knew that I shouldn't and couldn't make a fool of myself on a survival program.

It's a place where you're busy looking out for your own plate, and your compassion is often your downfall.

But those are the stories of people who are completely unprepared.

If only there was a perfect recipe that'd fit for the current situation.

And you know you've got the right person that would to take you there.

Obviously, the story would've ended differently.

"I have no intention of letting go of this visual center and the youngest child of a jerk."

***

And so the lesson began.

Well, I was already doing a fair amount of practice.

A day before the judges midterm evaluation on Day 4, a personalized lesson was underway.

In order to successfully start a push like this, it's imperative to give yourself some motivation.

"It's a day."

"Yeah."

"This 'Volt' stage center will be you."

"I will."

"What?!"

Haru, whose emotions would rarely change, was just now almost shocked at my words.

When I even tried to attempt putting the crown sticker on him, he waved his hands like an aspen tree and showed fierce defiance.

"Bro, bro, I don't think this is really right, how can I be in the center."

"Let's just put it on and see how you do."

"This is really not working...."

Reluctantly accepting the crown, Haru began to listen to me with a mesmerized look shown on his face.

"To put it bluntly, there is no visual that can keep up with you right now on 'Idol Stardig Season 2'."

"Why not? There's Sung-hwi's trainee, and right now, Si-hwan is complimenting me on how handsome I am around him."

"Isn't that because you're wearing those annoying bangs down?"

I smirked, pulling the item I'd brought as a surprise out of my pocket.

"Hold still."

What I had brought was none other than a simple black headband.

I secured Chaharu's long bangs with the hairband and created a natural, simple style with a side parting.

"Okay, set."

"Hey, is that really it?"

"Just take a look in the mirror."

Chae-haru stared at his reflection the giant full-length mirror.

"I can definitely see my face....."

"Aside from everything else, your agency boss probably wasn't wrong when he cast you, because your visuals are really something you don't find often in the idol market. Even if the trend nowadays is a little bit away from the standard handsome guy, there's absolutely no fan who wouldn't like a sculpted face that's like yours."

Now that I've posted it myself, I'm even more convinced. This is not to be missed.

Chae-haru's appearance changed 180 degrees with a single hairband, and he looked like a leading man straight out of a youth drama. All he had to do was make a wistful expression in the middle of the stage and all the girl fans in the audience would collapse with their hearts in their mouths.

Still, no one knows the jewel hidden in Chae-haru's long bangs.

The trainees who are participating in 'Asri 2' together.

Even the production crew, who include him among the 100 participants.

This is a hidden card that can capture the atmosphere of the scene at once.

That's why it's essential to improve your skills every day. To prove that we can take center stage. That's what we need to achieve in this short time.

I'm sure everyone thinks I'm crazy. Even if you've been a trainee for a while, it's a lot to ask for in such a short period of time.

But I don't move unless I'm sure of something.

"One day, you'll see, it's not over when I put you in as a center. You'll have to get a thumbs-up from the judges to pass. You have to improve."

"Of course I know that, which is why I told you this was absolutely ridiculous."

"Let me ask you one thing first."

Of course, my inner conviction is not 100%.

It's just something I've heard as a fun story during my 50 years inside that hell.

But I knew.

That souls dragged into that hell don't lie easily, at least not that easily.

"I thought you said you were a good student."

"I am."

"How good were you at that, for example, in memorization or something like that?"

"Memorization... memorization."

Chae-haru stroked his chin and thought about it.

"Three-quarters of my studies have always been memorization, so of course I think I'm good at it. In fact, there was a semester when I had to memorize 200 passages for my English exam, and I thought I could choreograph them, but I had to memorize the whole thing. So maybe I'm just not good at it...."

"Okay. So do you want to give it a try while listening to me?"

This story goes back around 30 years.

I was managing a labor site deep in Tartarus.

One of the spirits I was working with had told me he was a scientist who'd once been a genius.

Of course, as an adult, he'd come to hell for using his brilliant mind for a terrorist organization, but he was confident that his memory and memorization skills were still intact, and he had a 'genius's mnemonic' that he'd brag about to me.

"One day, I realized that I've been trying to remember the moves of a dance in isolation, not in conjunction with the whole picture."

"Yeah, because when I first learned to dance, it was so unfamiliar that I was just trying to follow the moves, and it was the same with 'HIT', and it's the same with 'Volt'."

"So from now on, instead of thinking about the moves I'm showing you in isolation, I want you to memorize them by associating them as one image or picture, just like you memorize English fingerprints. When you memorize a fingerprint, you don't memorize the words separately."

"....I memorized the whole paragraph, not word for word."

"That's how it feels. Okay? Don't try to memorize it by breaking up the action, but memorize it by saying, this is just a picture."

I slowly choreographed the introduction to 'Volt'.

Behind me, Haru stared into the practice room mirror without blinking once.

I could feel the immense concentration coalescing.

"─Five, six, seven, eight, that's it. What do you think, do you feel a little different?"

"I'll give it a try."

Standing tall as a gargoyle, Chae-haru began to move his body in time with MR.

I watched his choreography with half anticipation, and half concern.

"I think you did this here, then this, and then this."

"That's right, Haru."

My heart skipped a beat.

Sure enough, Chae-haru's arms and legs, which had been creaky just yesterday, had softened.

I almost felt like I was watching myself in my early days as a trainee.

"Let me show you one more time. From here, you can go back to...."

I showed the intro choreography a second time and then for the third time.

At the end of the third demonstration, Chae-haru said firmly, with a look in his eyes that he hadn't shown before.

"Let's do it again."

That weighty tone was reflected in the choreography.

"─Five, six, seven, eight!"

"...Haha."

I spat out a laugh mixed with mixed emotions as I watched Haru stand up with a smooth motion while lifting off the floor.

Surprise, lamentation that it wasn't fair, and admiration that it was amazing.

Perhaps the most obvious emotion was relief.

"This works."