Do You Want to Be Special? (1)

'Getting me all worked up over nothing.'

I'd been had by the System. Just goes to show — you can't just trust data made of 0s and 1s (not really) with no emotions (also not really).

The System is voicing its indignation!

You're 0s and 1s, don't grumble at me. Dismissing the System with a fitting eye-roll, I got up from the bench without a second thought. There was no reason to stay any longer.

"Yo-you're just going?"

"What? You're not coming down? Ah, it's cold."

"H-hold on, wait for me."

Seo Taehyun — who'd looked like he had a lot more to say — got up in a flustered scramble too. As he trailed obediently after me, he seemed to be working something out in his head, and then — apparently done sorting it — started nodding to himself, his face clearing.

Companion 'Seo Taehyun's current state is… "Realizing Something." Companion has gained a realization! (Congratulatory reward: 30 cash) The companion's realization significantly aids quest progression!

'Wait — jackpot?'

Given the way the System was practically setting off fanfare, whatever it was, the conversation just now must have landed pretty well. Any reward for this? Watching the system window carefully in case something scraps-worthy fell out, another aurora-colored notification popped up.

☆★Nooope!★☆

…this little shit?

I stared at the system window, my face gone flat cold — and Seo Taehyun let out a puzzled huh? What now — I looked up and saw the special-class practice room sitting empty, lights off and all.

"What. Where did everyone go?"

"Isn't it individual practice time?"

"No. Choreo practice starts soon."

Seo Taehyun pulled out his phone, wondering if something else had come up that he didn't know about, and mine buzzed too. Dan Haru.

"What?"

—Hyung, where are you?

"Basement one. Special-class practice room."

—Oh, is Taehyun-hyung with you?

"Yeah. Why. Something up?"

—Come to A-room together — there's a company-wide trainee announcement, we're all gathered here.

Company-wide trainee announcement — I figured without much thought it'd be about the survival, nodded, and hung up.

"Everyone's in A-room. Some kind of general announcement — let's go, quick."

"General announcement? What about?"

"Survival stuff, probably. Come on. They said everyone's there once we show up."

Not thinking much of it, I set off with Seo Taehyun. With no idea of the enormous fallout that announcement was about to bring.

---

A few days later.

Changing into practice clothes in the locker room and heading into the studio like every other day, the words came out without thinking.

"Wow, the vibe in here is a mess."

The moment they saw the sour look on my face, Ju Eunchan and Dan Haru — tucked in a corner of the studio, both looking like they'd seen a ghost — came flying over like puppies who'd spotted their owner, tail-propellers spinning, and clamped onto my arm.

"Hyung. I'm about to throw up."

"……"

One with a face that said he was fed up, one already so fed up he was dizzy — Ju Eunchan and Dan Haru just hung off my arm. Gently prying my arm out of their grip, I gave them a benevolent smile.

"Endure."

"……"

"Once you debut, an even more brutal world of psychological warfare opens up. Just endure, little lambs."

"But…"

At my thoroughly unhelpful solution, Dan Haru grabbed my arm again like a puppy whose treat had been snatched, and said in a small voice,

"But… the special-class hyungs scare me — I can't practice with them like this!"

The special class had been dissolved.

Having fully excised the Head of Department from Miro, the CEO — once he'd learned the man had been taking payoffs to bend even the special class to his own taste — dissolved the special class on the spot and redistributed all the trainees into new classes by age. His reasoning: the survival was around the corner anyway, so everyone was starting from the same line.

Thanks to that, the studio — suddenly crowded overnight — was a dumpster fire on a whole other level.

"Everyone's just extra stressed out because of the survival. Don't worry about it, warm up."

With Ju Eunchan and Dan Haru still hiding behind me, I stubbornly got ready to stretch. The fact that not a single person besides those two greeted me on my way in said everything about the current mood.

There were three factions in the studio.

The 'deeply displeased to now be lumped in with the likes of you' faction among some of the trainees.

The 'oh please, they're just a bunch of kids who stuffed his pockets and got tossed anyway, and yet they still act like they're above us — ridiculous' faction among the other trainees.

And the 'can everyone please shut up and just practice properly' centrists.

I was, of course, the representative trainee of that neutral zone.

"Where's Seo Taehyun?"

"Oh, he's got an interview today."

"Taehyun-hyung was on the verge of dying of embarrassment. His Cherry Boy photos are getting bumped back to the top every day."

Nodding, I thought of Seo Taehyun, who'd started serving in earnest as the frontman-booster for the early buzz on 'Miro's next survival.'

The article photos, a spot-on recreation of that legendary Boys of the World shot that had once eaten the communities alive, were blowing up again. For a while, the hot keyword across every idol community was 'Boys of the World Cherry Boy.'

- y'all know Boys of the World's Cherry Boy has grown into Cherry Guy while you're on this site right (263) HOT! - BEST|Boys of the World Cherry Boy Seo Taehyun update (says he's on Miro's next survival) (762)

With every post about him online getting bumped back up, some unintended stuff got its moment in the sun too.

title: Miro's next boy-idol trainee that's blowing up on RT right now [photo] Boys of the World's Seo Taehyun, recently spotted at a vet's Article confirms Seo Taehyun's participation in Miro's next boy-idol survival Guy next to him presumed to be a Miro trainee - wow Seo Taehyun grew up well 😳 - Seo Taehyun to Miro? wow it's genuinely hard to picture > 222 isn't Seo Taehyun more of a Rene or Ocean Blue type? > Rene? really? have u seen Cha Minseok - i really loved Seo Taehyun 😭😭😭 another survival again?? taehyun-ah 😭😭😭 - Seo Taehyun signed with Miro? but why didn't they debut him with Endup? he's way better visually > how would we know that here, u know that's rude to Endup and Endviews right? > block don't feed for this one, anyone paying attention to her will never make it to their bias's concert for the rest of their life, gonna get eliminated at fansigns, ur bias's fandom hates u - am i the only one whose eyes are locked on that black hoodie oppa right now? my heart is pounding > ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ adding one more to the black hoodie oppa sniped list > 3333 so who IS that black hoodie oppa > 44 > 5555 my feed is exploding right now ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ - Han Sewon's taste really is consistent… looks like I'm about to have my life mortgaged to Miro again > who's Han Sewon? > Miro's CEO - what position is black hoodie oppa in… gotta be dance right? > face alone, even if he were stiff and tone-deaf, Han Sewon would clap and bring him in > high school classmate spilling: he was in the band club back in school > commenter, sorry, but where can I read that spill 😭? link please 😭

So this was what 'the cat's gratitude' had been.

My Onestagram account and even my yearbook photos got dug up in no time. Fortunately the reactions didn't look bad, so I'll let it slide.

"Hajin-ah, sorry, could you move over."

"Uh, sure."

Trying to claim a spot to warm up, I found the front of the mirror already fully occupied by our 'upper-realm special-class' lords. A mere 'neutral zone' member couldn't dare approach.

Look at this. Just walking near them and they were already bristling and growling.

'Ugh, immature teenagers…'

"Yo, Dan Haru. Grab my leg for me…"

"Ah! Ahh! Dan Haru! Dan Haru, stop!"

"Hyung, are you literally a plank of wood? How is this even less flexible than yesterday."

For leg-splitting stretches, I turned to Dan Haru — the most flexible, springiest-jointed among us. But he was already busy mercilessly pushing Ju Eunchan's legs apart, so I turned right back around without a second thought.

'Guess I'll do it against the wall by myself.'

Ju Eunchan looked up at me with save-me eyes, but I didn't hesitate to look away. Sorry, Eunchan. Those who can survive have to survive.

"Um."

"……?"

Just as I was about to grab a spot in the corner, someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I turned around — and there stood the still-taller-and-still-thicker-than-me, infuriatingly handsome bear, looking right at me.

'Ah, that bear from the other time.'

The trainee I'd sworn to myself, that day in the company hallway, to recruit tooth and nail even if he turned out to be a bomb. Turned out he wasn't a plant, or a bomb. What was his name again?

"Ah — Doha. Lee Doha, right?"

"Yeah."

"What's up? Something to say?"

Lee Doha, whom I hadn't traded a word with since first-day introductions, was unusually hesitant, scratching his jaw.

"So."

"Yeah."

"……"

"……"

"……"

"……?"

'Did he fall asleep?'

Striking up a conversation and then falling silent for ages — the psychology of that, I could not follow. Racking my brain to work out his intent, it hit me — this guy had been in the special class too.

'Ah, is he telling me to move?'

We were in a corner where you could barely see the mirror. Kind of petty.

"You're asking me to move, right? Fine, all yours."

"What? No, I meant—"

"Attention, everyone! Gather around."

Lee Doha tried to belatedly add something, but timing was cruel — Ji Suho stepped in through the door and cut him off.

Lee Doha's lips twitched with what looked like regret, but a lowly trainee couldn't exactly defy a Team Lead (soon-to-be Head of Department), so we made our way over without another word.

"What, you and Doha-hyung on speaking terms now?"

"Nope, told me to move. Sharing a mirror won't kill anyone — pretty petty of him."

"……? Doha-hyung did?"

Seo Taehyun, who'd come in with Ji Suho — his interview apparently wrapped — cocked his head like something was off. That's not his type, though? At the puzzled note in his voice, mischief started creeping in.

"Yeah… guess ex-special-class folks are just cut from a different cloth, one way or another…"

"What are you even saying."

"A common general-class peasant can't hope to break into such a lofty connection—"

"Kang Hajin, I really hate you."

Sorry, but you and Ju Eunchan don't seem to realize your reactions are exactly why I keep doing it.

"Company's been a bit chaotic these last few days, huh? Classes got merged, schedules shifted around a lot — thanks for hanging in there. Today I've got a few things to announce."

Ji Suho, going through some papers with a New Talent Development staff member who'd come in with him, launched the intro in a loud voice. Pretending not to be, the trainees were all tensed up like their ears were about to shoot up above their heads — every bit the teenage boys they were.

"Word's probably already gotten around, but it's time to make it official. There's going to be an in-house survival to decide the next debut group."

Through the silence that stretched on, Ji Suho continued.

"I'll be handling your overall management and directing. And as you saw in the articles, Taeil from Upia has agreed to take special part."

At the finally-official 'survival' news, the kids — who'd been standing at military attention — shifted, their formation loosening a little with stirred-up energy. The tension the word 'survival' itself carried, mixed with the rush of maybe-you-can-debut.

"First recording's set for around March, finals in May. Full-throttle prep kicks off from June with a debut in the second half as the goal."

Ji Suho went on.

"That doesn't mean you get to slack off until March, though. There'll be profile and teaser shoots, title-track recording — you're going to be busy, so gear up."

At the words 'profile' and 'teaser,' the trainees couldn't hold the excitement in and started murmuring. Ji Suho watched them with a fond, amused smile, then gave a small ahem, gathering himself back into an official tone.

"And before all that — what's normally on the schedule in February~?"

"……"

"Why the sudden silence. What do we have in February. Not answering?"

"…Month-end evaluations."

…news to me, though?

A chill ran down my spine at the bad feeling. Ah, damn it.