Chapter 56

The day of the second mission reveal dawned.

'God, I could die from exhaustion.'

Watching me — half zoned out — the staffer doing my makeup laughed and struck up a conversation.

"Hajin-ssi. You're basically about to fall over."

"If I don't open my eyes, I've fainted. Call 119, please."

I fired back lightly and closed my eyes as told, and the packed schedule of the last several days flashed past.

'Profile shoot, performance video, extra filming….'

Trainees who needed some backstory built in early on, or whose agencies wanted them pumped up, got separate reality VCRs shot to spotlight their individual characters. Naturally, I fell into both categories — so of course I got roped into extra filming.

…Along with Kang Hawon.

—My younger brother?

—Yes. Hajin-ssi, you're close with him, and it just makes a nice picture. Older brother in music, younger brother in art.

—For that artistic-family kind of feel, isn't Jung Siwoo-hyung right there?

—No, not that direction. What's the word — heartwarming brotherly bond, cheering each other's dreams on?

—Ah…. I'll ask, but my brother's probably going to say no.

A kid who doesn't even do social media, let alone TV appearances — I'd been certain he'd refuse. But Kang Hawon, of all people, said okay on the spot.

—You'll do it? Really?

—What's the big deal about me saying yes.

—You hate this kind of thing.

—…Ah, if you don't need it, forget it.

—No no, please do it. Master Hawon, please. Thank you.

Which meant I didn't have to trek back to my old high school and do the whole memory-lane thing with my homeroom teacher going 'he was such a standout kid all through his school days' — win for me. And I got to hang out with Kang Hawon to my heart's content for the first time in a while, too.

"Still, you've been kind of hot lately, Hajin-ssi."

"Me?"

"You know — because of the profile shoot."

"Ah."

A few days ago, the eighteen trainees had been uploaded to Miro Maze's official social media, six per day over three days.

Presumably to keep the buzz going for three days straight, production had split the high-ranking guys — the ones most likely to generate attention — evenly across all three.

Cherry Boy Seo Taehyun, whose participation had already been officially confirmed, and Jung Siwoo, with a famous pianist for a mother, were on Day 1. Ju Eunchan, rumored to be Miro's hidden card, and Lee Doha, who'd built some name recognition through underground activity, were on Day 3.

And the effect was undeniable!

title: [Roundup] Compiling the trainee profiles from Miro's next survival that dropped yesterday (yes, pics) - omg Seo Taehyun got even hotter - honestly Miro really has a type though I can see Upia and Endup all over these - how the hell did Jung Siwoo end up at Miro was he kidnapped > so there was a reason they handed Cha Minseok over to Rene so easy - sharing a type with Han Sewon for 10 years straight is genuinely infuriating;; anyway when does voting start - Ju Eunchan is so fine gives me a hint of Seo Taeil - omg Taehyunie is finally coming back ㅠㅠㅠ - are Lee Yugeon and Lee Doha brothers? they kinda look alike (translation: my type)

The topic bounced up and down real-time SNS trends all day, and every community was buzzing about it. Still, the most overwhelming case, of course, was—

handle: @ch_blossom name: Cherry Blossom verified: true [photo] A photo of Taehyunie I took at the last Boys of the World concert, sobbing my heart out. This time I'll make sure you don't have to cry. #MyCherry_SeoTaehyun_LetsDebut engagement: shares 13k · quotes 2,092 · hearts 37k · mentions 159 handle: @tae_day name: TaeriDay #RT #MiroMaze #SeoTaehyun broadcast return + Miro Maze participation celebration event! Giving away XX-brand perfume, a Taenie must-have, to one randomly picked winner ♥ Winner announced after Miro Maze's first broadcast, at 11:21 Taehyun-time :) #MyCherry_SeoTaehyun_LetsDebut engagement: shares 4,231 · hearts 1,209 handle: @tadadoo name: Seo Taehyun Info Account [photo] [photo] [photo] [photo] Miro Maze Seo Taehyun profile —Words of resolve: We parted at sixteen and meet again at nineteen. Thank you for waiting. My precious Taehyun, I'll cheer on your nineteen too #MyCherry_SeoTaehyun_LetsDebut engagement: shares 2,103 · quotes 1,320 · hearts 5,951

…Seo Taehyun, obviously — who'd hauled every {runaway homma}(#261zh70yuqi1) and big-name account back and sat them right down where they belonged.

The early momentum really was on a whole different level. Even with just a handful of photos across two concepts and a handwritten interview sheet, an homma with 20k followers had actually taken down her hiatus notice.

'Well, this much I'd expected.'

Given all that, I'd naturally figured my photos — which had slipped up quietly in the middle stretch along with the other lower-ranked guys — would sink without a trace. But….

- which of these is Hoodie-oppa > third one > ?????the third one??? - what's wrong with Hoodie-oppa's photos did they pour soju on the photographer's head - (photo) how is this the same person > omg what is even wrong lolololol > wait this is the same person? no way > huh but this face is actually fine???? like what which one is real - honestly feels like the world is scamming me rn. oppa if you're gonna waste your features like that just give them to me - is he just bad at photos or did that sighting pic come out legendary > seems like he's just not photogenic looking at other old pics that surfaced the fan sighting pic looks more like him

'Why the hell am I even trending?'

That whole cat-gratitude thing seemed to have more staying power than I'd expected. Damn it.

"It kept popping up on Onestagram's trending posts and everything. But you looked like a completely different person, though?"

"Do I really look that different?"

"Yeah. I thought maybe the retouching went wrong somewhere."

Devastating reactions.

But spilled water can't be scooped back. I cleanly wiped my profile out of my head. Sure, the occasional bad post about me showed up too, but once fresh bait dropped, all of that would get buried anyway.

"Alright, Hajin-ssi. Eyes up."

"Yes."

"By the way, when does that come out? The music video you shot?"

"Apparently going up sometime next week."

The performance video for the show's title track, Daylight, for instance.

Spilled water — if you can't scoop it back, might as well drench every tissue and towel in the place with it, done.

This scene runs on attention. If even one or two out of every ten viewers watching the performance video—

'So what does Kang Hajin actually look like?'

—clicked out of curiosity like that, then I counted it a success. Because—

☆★ System update com-plete! ★☆ (Fixed) Regressor's permissions are being upgraded. Skill 〈Just As I Say〉 (LV.6) is active. Skill 〈What's So Me About Me?〉 is active.

—because thanks to the System coming back in the meantime, I'd absolutely killed it on the performance video. Even I thought it turned out well — satisfying.

Lee Doha, who'd been harping on about ambition all this time, had gone quiet since he'd monitored that clip. I don't get why I keep caring what this punk thinks, but anyway.

"Hajin-ssi, you were really something. You were flying up there."

"Haha, thank you."

"Yeah, all done. Hair staying like this, right?"

"Yes. I still like keeping it comfortable, for now."

"Hajin-ssi always finishes so much faster than everyone else, honestly."

I checked my reflection in the mirror and got up. Practically un-styled black straight hair, tidied to look naturally in place. Someone might see it and think I was slacking — while the other guys were going wild with bleaches and perms and every kind of styling — but there was a reason behind it.

'Once you debut, they'll style you to fit whatever concept anyway, so no need to burn through your image already.'

This isn't some sixteen-episode long haul — an eight-episode show flies past in a blink. If anything's going to change, a light switch-up around episode six or seven for a vibe reversal is plenty.

Viewer reactions? Actually positive.

- the real flavor of a trainee survival is… that raw something - the end of all tuning is stock - facts, dress them up too much and it loses the flavor, you watch it for the awkward, unpolished feel

There's a reason black straight hair is the longstanding classic of the idol scene.

That said, showing up with the exact same face every episode from episode one didn't have merit either — so what I'd go after was details like this.

"Hyung, you're in glasses today?"

"Doing the model-student cosplay."

"…With two piercings in your ear?"

Showing up in black horn-rimmed glasses that covered about half my face got attention from every direction. Seo Taehyun's look at me — 'model student, with that face, do you have a conscience' — I decided to just brush off.

"Hyung, hyung! Do these have lenses?"

"Nope, no lenses."

"Hyung, why would you just jam your finger into your eye like that."

"Ooh, can I try them on?"

When I handed the glasses over to Dan Haru, who'd shown up with hair permed all fluffy, he and Ju Eunchan started up a whole thing, trying them on themselves and then putting them on each other.

"Ta-da!"

"Dan Haru, why are you copying that. If you're gonna do that, give them back to Hajin-hyung."

"Yes…."

"What if you poke your eye out with a fingernail."

Dan Haru, mimicking me by poking his hand through the empty frames, was finally shut down by Seo Taehyun. I hooked the glasses — now back in my hands — behind my ear casually and dropped into my spot. Being Wings class, I'd been assigned a decent position with a comfortable chair.

"Hi."

"…Ah, hello."

Jung Siwoo and Lee Yugeon had been placed on either side of me. Jung Siwoo, his long brown hair swept back neatly, gave me a light greeting — and for a second I got the illusion of flower petals fluttering around him. A face I can never quite get used to, no matter when I see it. We'd never really talked much, so I was just messing around on my own, when unexpectedly Jung Siwoo was the one to speak up first.

"You sing well."

"…? Isn't that what I should be saying to you, hyung?"

"I like your style of singing."

An arts-high applied-music vocal major, saying that to a non-major, right now.

"I've actually been envying your voice, hyung."

"Mine?"

"Yeah. That calm, pretty quality."

"……"

"All I ever get told is that my voice is loud."

That was feedback I'd always gotten at my old agency too. The number of times I got chewed out for standing out on my own.

"Yeah? Let's do a stage together next time. If we get the chance."

"Yeah, sure. Sounds good."

The conversation ended there — because the signal that recording was about to start went around. I could see Han Seongwoo, dressed to the nines, taking a seat directly across from me. When our eyes met, he flashed me a smile brimming with confidence.

Soon the lights went out and the cameras rolled. A spotlight came up at center, and Seo Taeil, in a light suit setup, stepped into it.

"You who would touch the sun — fly high."

"Welcome, all of you who've reached Miro Maze's second gate."

At last, the second recording was underway.