Chapter 167

One weekend morning, about a week after the finals had ended.

Wonho arrived in front of the old building that had become Miro's (former) office.

Feels weirdly unfamiliar for no reason.

Maybe because he'd been commuting only to the new office for a while now — the old office building, revisited after all this time, felt oddly foreign. Even though the time he'd spent buried in this old building's underground practice room was far longer than the time he'd spent going to the shiny new office.

Grab the stuff and go, quick.

The reason Wonho had come here today was to pick up the belongings he still had at the company. The things he'd left at the new office he'd cleared out with his parents the very day after the finals, but there'd apparently been some things in an old-office locker he hadn't managed to clean out.

Even a week on from the finals, Miro was still in the thick of the full move — and during it, a New Talent Development staffer who'd been in charge of Wonho found his stuff and got in touch. Honestly, if it had been nothing, he'd have just told him to toss it, but some of it was genuinely important, and the staffer-hyung had insisted on at least a meal, so here he'd ended up.

"…ah, yes. Hyung, it's Wonho. The door here's locked and…."

—Ah, yeah. First floor, right? Hang on, I'll have someone open it up for you.

"Yes."

—Yeah, come up when you're in. I'm out of my mind down here right now. Just come up!

At the first-floor entrance, Wonho had reached for a keycard out of habit — then belatedly remembered that he'd turned his access pass in last week, and ended up calling the staffer-hyung. In the middle of packing up, the staffer, over the racket around him, told someone to head down to the first floor and hung up fast.

And not long after, along with a zzzt, the entrance door opened. Standing inside was someone Wonho knew well.

"Wonho."

"Huh? …Seok-hyung?"

Why is Seok-hyung here?

At the unexpected face, the surprise showed on Wonho's face before he could hide it.

Seok — as if he'd been expecting exactly that reaction from Wonho — laughed, gave Wonho a light tap on the shoulder, and stepped back to wave him in.

"Come on. Jinguk-hyung said he'd packed up your stuff and left it on his desk. He's up on the third floor, completely swamped with cleanup, so I came instead. They haven't turned the security system off in here yet, so you can't wander around on your own."

"No, uh…. why are you here, hyung? What are you doing here?"

Still wide-eyed, Wonho asked — but Seok only kept smiling and started walking, leading the way. Past the winding staircase, at the door of the New Talent Development team office, Seok pulled a keycard from his pocket and opened it.

"Huh? Hyung, that's…."

And clocking that the keycard wasn't a trainee's temporary pass but a real employee ID, Wonho couldn't hide his surprise all over again. Unable to hold his curiosity in any longer, he grabbed Seok and asked:

"Hyung, what's going on?"

"What d'you mean, what. I got hired."

"Hired?"

"Decided I'd work here as a vocal trainer while going to school. It's a one-year contract, but…. since I'll be teaching the trainee kids, I'm under New Talent Development."

"While going to school? Wait…. when on earth did this get decided?"

"The night of our post-finals wrap dinner. Team Lead Ji Suho asked me kind of casually — was I open to it. Said Jinguk-hyung recommended me."

Seok added the follow-up too — that he'd made up his mind that same day, that official start was next month, but that today he'd just come in to help the staff out.

Hearing the story, Wonho — with a faintly dazed look somehow — nodded and said I see.

"Let's see…. here, this is it, right?"

"Ah, yes. That's it. Thank you, hyung."

Seok, at Jinguk's desk, found Wonho's things carefully kept in a box and handed it over. The moment Wonho took the box, he checked what was inside and packed it neatly into the bag he'd brought.

"Can I ask what it is?"

"Ah, nothing special. Just my practice journal, and some sheet music I'd been working with…."

"That kind of thing — nothing special, but too much of a shame to throw away. Good thing Jinguk-hyung set it aside for you."

At Seok's words — smiling like he understood the whole thing — Wonho's expression shifted in an odd way.

Grabbing his usual pen last of all and zipping the bag shut, Wonho looked at Seok and said:

"Hyung, you…. look much more at ease."

"Hm? Me? Why?"

"You look better now than when you were a trainee. Like your mind's lighter too."

Especially during Miro Maze, Seok had always carried himself like something was chasing him — Wonho knew that better than anyone. Because he'd been the same.

A week after the finals.

Wonho — still finding this practice-free weekend unfamiliar — was a little envious of a Seok like that.

"I'm still totally at sea. I'd try to study, but I'm already in senior year and school's all just self-study now."

At Wonho's quiet aside, Seok thought for a moment, then pulled over two chairs he'd stashed off to the side. He sat down first and gestured for Wonho to take a seat too — after a hesitant beat, Wonho sat.

The one who spoke first was Seok.

"Wonho-yah. I'm getting a paycheck, you know? Not much, being a new hire."

"Whoa, really? That's kind of surreal."

"Right. It's a first for me too. Earning money under my own name. They told me to bring my ID and a copy of my bank book, so I got that ready, and then I had to write up a new contract…. mm…. really strange feeling. Like, I really am not a trainee anymore, I'm a staff member here now."

Seok, slowly running a hand over the employee ID hung at his neck, laughed.

"But the day I signed the contract, I couldn't sleep. Because I was so excited."

"Excited?"

"Yeah. Really was. Not just doing vocal training here — I'm going to help the other staff manage the trainees too, put together lessons, learn a bunch of different things. And that got me so excited."

"……."

Pulling in a fixed salary, clocking in and out at fixed hours, no longer carrying the weight of being under evaluation but instead a sense of responsibility — that he had to guide someone else toward a better version of themselves — Seok felt something like anticipation.

He'd thought everything he'd built up to now had just been swept away — but standing in this new spot, he realized that everything he'd been through up till now remained, as material he could actually use.

With his heart out ahead of him, the drive followed; and once the drive was flowing, he kept finding himself wanting more.

Just over these last few days, Seok had come to a new realization — that he could be this kind of proactive person.

"…for you, being up on stage is still what's more exciting, right?"

Once he was standing on his own solid ground like that, he could also see clearly where other people's gazes were pointed.

At the question — asked as if Seok already knew Wonho still carried a lingering pull toward idol life — Wonho quietly dropped his eyes and, after a beat, nodded.

"But I don't know. To debut in Miro's next group I'd have to wait at least three years, and by then I'll already be 22…. And it's not like I can just walk into another agency either."

"You could at least look into auditions. Want me to dig around for info? I heard Parang and Heegeon have been going to auditions lately."

"Both younger than me, hyung. Kind of thinking I might just get the army over with next year."

Watching Wonho let out a hollow pff of a laugh, Seok felt bad that he had no real help to offer. Catching that in Seok, Wonho caught himself and quickly changed the subject. He'd come all this way — no point sitting here wallowing.

"Hyung. Do you know how it worked out with Jaeyoung? He was on the fence about whether to stay at Miro back then."

"Ah, Jaeyoung decided to stay. The company side seems to rate his growth potential highly too. He grew a huge amount over Miro Maze, right? Jayden left the country yesterday — posted about it on Onestar."

"Wow, Park Jaeyoung, incredible. How does he even think about doing another three years. For a while he'll be practicing completely on his own."

"Ah, he's not on his own, Jaeyoung. There's one more. Another trainee."

One more?

As far as Wonho knew, of the eliminated Miro Maze trainees, no one besides Jaeyoung had chosen to stay at the company.

Then who? They picked up someone new in between?

At Wonho's confusion, the name Seok gave him was, once again, an unexpected one.

"…Taehee? Yoon Taehee?"

"Yeah. The company couldn't just have Jaeyoung practicing alone, so I guess they asked if he had any friends he'd want to do it with. That happens sometimes — kids getting into an audition through a friend."

"But Jaeyoung named Taehee?"

"He actually went to Taehee's house in person and told Taehee to practice with him. I heard it from Jinguk-hyung too — originally Miro Maze was supposed to have Taehee on it, not Jaeyoung, right? Sounds like the company felt Taehee slipping through their fingers was a real loss. And Taehee's reaction in your month-end evaluation video wasn't bad either."

"Ah, the month-end evaluation…."

"It's a little awkward for me to say this, but…. all the kids on our team back then ended up doing well, right? That played a little into it too, apparently. Anyway, Taehee said okay, did the audition again, and just recently the pass came through — starting next week, he'll be back with Jaeyoung."

And when the explanation carried on — that the one personally taking Jaeyoung and Taehee on was Gong Seok himself — Wonho was already smiling so proudly he couldn't even remember what he'd been worried about a moment ago.

"Wow, that's really great. That's really great news. It was a shame to me too when Taehee quit like that."

"Right. Taehee's tall, and he was a good dancer…. I'm going to work hard on his vocals."

"You really are a good teacher, hyung. In the month-end evals, honestly, you were the one who taught us all of it."

At some point the two of them had drifted into nostalgia.

From things that had happened during the month-end evaluations, to the little episodes throughout Miro Maze — the topics kept going without end.

The two of them, chatting away without noticing time slipping past, only broke off when a call came through to Wonho.

"Oh, it's Jinguk-hyung. We were supposed to grab a meal today. …yes, hyung. I'm in the office."

—Ah, Wonho. Still in the office? Oh, thank god.

"…? What's up, hyung?"

Wonho, having asked Seok's pardon before picking up the New Talent Development staffer Jinguk's call, drew a face full of question marks at Jinguk's reaction. Jinguk's voice went on through the line.

—Wonho-yah. You have any plans later today? Besides eating with me.

"Uh…. today, nothing in particular…. why though, hyung? What's going on? If you're busy, I don't have to eat today, really."

—No, no. It's not that. It's — Bureau Chief said he wanted to see you.

"…the Bureau Chief?"

—Ah, Team Lead Ji Suho. He got promoted, so he's Bureau Chief now.

Team Lead Ji Suho…. no, Bureau Chief — why does he want to see me?

At that, the question marks on Wonho's face only multiplied, but Jinguk went right on in a voice that had wound way up, and Wonho missed the timing to ask.

—He said he'd talk to you about the details when he sees you in person…. He's on his way over to the company right now, apparently? Said he'd buy you something good to eat, so eat with me another time and see the Bureau Chief first today.

"No, I mean. That's fine, but…. okay, got it."

—Yeah, yeah. Give me a call after. He's on his way now, so head down to the first floor early! Seok's with you, right? Tell Seok to see you off and then come back upstairs.

"Ah, yes. Then I'll see you next time, hyung. Thanks for setting the stuff aside for me."

—Yeah, good work. Make sure to call after you meet the Bureau Chief!

Apparently seriously busy — with that, the call cut off again.

Whatever this was — showing up to pick up his things and getting this — for now, the thought that he had to head down to the first floor and meet Suho got Wonho up from his seat. Seok, who'd been listening in beside him, got up too, wearing a slightly excited look.

"Team Lead Ji Suho said he wants to meet you?"

"Yes…. but why though? I'm a minor, I can't even get hired."

"Whatever it is, I hope it's something good. Go, quick."

"Yes, hyung. Let's meet up with Jinguk-hyung next time. Or with Jaeyoung and Taehee, either one's fine."

"Let's get our whole month-end eval crew together for a meal sometime! Call up Hajin and Doha too."

"That'd be good. I'll head out then. Jinguk-hyung says get back upstairs quick."

"Yeah, I should hurry too. See you, Wonho!"

Saying goodbye to Seok — smiling a smile clearly much brighter than before — Wonho hurried down to the first floor.

In front of the building, apparently already there, a familiar black luxury sedan was parked.

As Wonho came closer, the window slid down, and Suho's welcome face came into view.

"Wonho, hi."

"Hello, Team…. no, Bureau Chief-nim."

"Haha, what — that's weird. Just get in. I'll tell you on the way."

Going? Where? Tell me what?

Even at Suho's words, still with a face full of question marks, Wonho — dazed — got in the car all the same.

Just in case, he hurriedly fired off texts to his parents and a handful of close people explaining his situation. (Not that Ji Suho was going to kidnap him or anything, but…. these days, better safe than sorry.)

I'm…. gonna be okay, right?

Chk.

At the sound of the car doors auto-locking, Wonho hiccupped despite himself.