Chapter 60

Kicking the door open, Hajin headed straight for the practice room. Outside of meals and shoots, Taehyun spent almost every waking hour there.

Bang — Hajin threw the door open with force, and sure enough, Taehyun was inside. He had the 'To You I Declare' MR running and had been drilling high-note ad-libs in full voice; at Hajin bursting in, his voice cracked mid-note.

"H-hyung? What are you suddenly—"

"No matter how I think about it, going faithful to the original is insane."

"…I know. I said that earlier."

At Hajin's flat delivery, Taehyun gave a wry smile. However much that smile might belong to some tragic sickly male lead out of a shoujo manga, insane was still insane.

"But — let's do it."

"…What?"

The thing was, Hajin couldn't dismiss Taehyun's drive either. All the more so when it was about proving something to himself. For some reason, a heavy sense of responsibility kept pressing down on him — like this time, the stage had to leave every single one of them satisfied.

'And it's because these kids went and got all "I'm sorry" on me!'

To guys who'd apologized for putting the burden back on him even when the fault was clearly his, he wanted to hand back a result they'd all be happy with — something that gave them everything they'd hoped for.

"Instead, we're swapping center. You're not on center."

"Ah… okay! That's fine!"

"You can't do it like you've done every other stage. You have to seriously kill your own presence, and it won't be the kind of part you're good at."

"Whatever works. I just want them to hear me sing."

"Haaa, seriously…. Go get the guys. Time to practice."

Hajin scrubbed both hands down his face over and over and dropped onto the practice room floor. Taehyun, on cue, brightened right up and dashed out.

Comrade 'Seo Taehyun's current state is… 'extremely excited.'

You don't even know what I'm about to spring on you, and you're already this excited.

Hajin clicked his tongue and folded his arms. The companion-status window had finally updated — the red light was off. One of these days I'm switching that damn System UI to grayscale, he vowed, blowing out a short breath.

He'd gone and done it. This insane thing!

"Now I actually have to salvage it…."

Is this a good idea? Wearing a face sadder than a man being force-fed mustard, Hajin summoned the System window.

Current cash balance ∥ 10,320 cash

"Oh — actually not bad."

Ten thousand cash, no less? Seemed like he'd earned a decent amount of goodwill from a lot of people over the first mission.

'Not bad at all.'

He was a little surprised the budget was more generous than expected, but Hajin couldn't smile. These numbers were about to get burned away.

'I saved this up so hard!'

But once he'd made up his mind, "back down" wasn't in Hajin's vocabulary.

Skill 'What's So Me About Me?' (LV.1) ▶ (LV.2) leveled up! Skill 'What's So Me About Me?' (LV.2) ▶ (LV.3) leveled up! Skill 'What's So Me About Me?' (LV.3) ▶ (LV.4) leveled up! Skill 'What's So Me About Me?' — user's 'Vocal' ability improves by an additional 24%. Skill 'Just As I Say' (LV.6) ▶▶▶ (LV.10) leveled up! As a passive of Skill 'Just As I Say' (LV.10), user's 'expressive pull' deepens. (Next passive skill ----- 'Enchant' (LV.20)) Current cash balance ∥ 1,320 cash

"Ha, my cash. Cash from my blood, sweat and tears…."

Expression error detected. Cash has no relation to your blood, sweat, or tears!

Still hitting me with the strict corrections, even now — annoying. Argh, seriously.

Right around when Hajin was making up his mind to give that thing a proper knuckle-flick someday, the practice room door swung open again. Taehyun, cheeks fully flushed, came in with the other teammates.

"We're here."

"Yeah. Get in here and sit down."

The teammates approached with baffled expressions. Meanwhile, I flipped on my phone's front camera and propped it on top of a speaker so the whole practice room fit in frame. The moment I hit record, Dan Haru scampered up next to me and asked,

"Hyung, what are you doing?"

"Padding my airtime."

Everything we did in practice from here on out, I planned to capture cleanly in wide shot and hand off to the writer. It'd probably only make it in as a two- or three-second insert, but not having it would be a shame.

I adjusted the frame so everyone fit and we sat down in a circle.

"You all came ready to pull an all-nighter, right?"

"I mean, I'd braced for it, but… we don't even have arrangement ideas yet."

"I've got that. That's why I called you."

"……"

"So if you guys are okay with it, I'd like you to trust me one more time."

At Hajin's usual confident smile, the teammates exchanged looks. Hajin walked them through the new concept and performance structure he'd worked out for this stage. The ones who'd started out skeptical gradually began nodding along.

"—and so, this time,"

Tap — Hajin planted a hand on the practice room floor, eyes glinting.

"we make at least one person cry."

At the almost solemn note in Hajin's voice, everyone nodded as if hypnotized.

---

Two days later. Recording day for Miro Maze's second mission.

Unlike usual, this recording wasn't at the Miro building — it was at an Ntv soundstage in the metropolitan area. Since it was still before the first broadcast, they hadn't recruited a live audience, but they had a few special guests to match the scaled-up set.

"Well hey, Sarin-ssi. It's been a while."

"Ah, PD-nim, hello."

In her dressing room, Sarin — reviewing evaluation sheets in a burgundy suit — sprang to her feet. PD Kwon, sauntering in with her signature ease, gave her a light hug in greeting.

The two of them had worked together a few years back, on a music show PD Kwon had directed during her time at a broadcasting station.

"How've you been? I was watching rehearsal, heard you'd arrived, and came right over."

"Me? Just, you know. These days it's all baby, no time to think."

"Aw, right? Can't tell you how grateful I was when you agreed to come on ours."

"Not at all. Honestly, I was the more surprised one. My song, on an idol survival."

Since giving birth, Sarin had put albums and concert activity on hold to focus entirely on raising her child. So when she not only cleared her song for use but agreed to a special-mentor appearance on top of that, the whole production team was floored.

The Queen of OSTs, the Empress of Ballads everyone had been missing — and her return to broadcast was going to be on Miro Maze, no less!

'The marketing team was over the moon about how much press material this hands them.'

Probably a decision that factored in her loyalty to Taeil — who'd written several songs for her — plus the fact that it was a one-off appearance with a manageable footprint. Either way, PD Kwon, who was a Sarin fan before she was a PD, smiled and asked,

"But hey, Sarin-ssi, no news on the next album? Honestly, hearing you'd come on this one had me hoping a little."

"Ah… not yet. Just raising the baby is enough to keep me overwhelmed right now."

Sarin, who'd been smiling brightly, dimmed for a second at the question about the next album. And PD Kwon — who'd spent years reading celebrities' emotions until she could do it in her sleep — didn't miss that flicker, and quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Anyway, glad I can make today worth your time. You've got a lot to look forward to."

"Oh, really? Am I allowed to look forward to it?"

"They're trainees, but the skill level's not bad at all. It'll be worth the watch. See you in a bit."

Not wanting to drag the conversation out and risk touching a nerve, PD Kwon cut it off at the right beat. "Thanks for having us today! Fighting!" — PD Kwon threw up a cheerful fist. Sarin returned the greeting, and Kwon was gone.

"……"

"…Unnie, want some water?"

"No, I'm okay."

Sensing Sarin's mood had dipped a little, her manager was reading the room. Sarin forced a smile and let her eyes drop back to the evaluation sheet she'd set down.

'To You I Declare'

Her signature song — one she might, by now, never get to sing again — echoed in her ears.

---

And at the same moment.

Miro Maze's trainee waiting room.

"Hyung, if you pull the wrong one, you're doing everyone's laundry today!"

"Aaah! Please! Please let our team be number three!"

At the moment, the place was engulfed in bedlam that could pass for a full-blown hellscape.

"Alright, then, starting now!"

"……"

"—we will decide performance order via random draw!"

"Woooooaaaah!!!!!"

At Seo Taeil's lead-in, the trainees blew up with the loudest reaction of the show so far. Normally the Wings class would get first priority, but as bad luck would have it, the three team leaders holding that priority were all Wings class, which was what had triggered this whole spectacle.

'Hmph, but it doesn't matter for me.'

Han Seongwoo, playing up a look of intense nervousness, was snickering internally. He already knew the stage order would be settled by card draw, and — more importantly — he'd been briefed in advance on which card was which number.

'Got the mission song ahead of time too, held the reins on rehearsals cleanly.'

Now if he just picked the number he wanted, no problem. CP Yoon had made it clear he'd be the first to draw, so no obstacles remained…

"Mentor-nim. Would it be alright if I ventured to make a suggestion?"

…was what he thought.

"Yes, trainee Kang Hajin. What is it?"

"Card draws feel a bit low on tension — how about we settle the order with a small game instead?"

"A game?"

'That Kang Hajin bastard, again?'

At Hajin's sudden suggestion, the production crew started murmuring. Taeil's expression turned intrigued too. Hajin was grinning ear to ear, laying it on thick.

"Hyung-nim. Are we really about to gamble our fates on some uncertain Schrödinger's card? How about we win our fates and airtime honestly, with our own ability!"

"Woo! Kang Hajin, you're the man!"

"Face off! Face off!"

'Did these bastards all lose their minds at once, what's with them?'

Hajin was running his mouth like some traveling snake-oil peddler, the trainees were feeding energy right back into it, and in a blink the mood was blazing. On the crew's signal, Taeil nodded too. The whole thing was tilting somewhere strange, and Han Seongwoo had to work to hold his expression together.

"Trainee Kang Hajin, do you have a game in mind?"

"Now, quite by coincidence, aren't the three of us here all the main vocals of our respective teams?"

"Ah, right. That's true."

"Then how about the Cleopatra game, where you can show off pitch and pitch-matching, sharp and quick?"

At Hajin's line — game already picked and everything — the trainees' cheers got even louder. Taeil quieted them down a bit.

"Alright, alright. Since this is trainee Kang Hajin's suggestion, we'll first hear from the other two team leaders. If both of the other leaders agree, we'll go with that."

At that, Han Seongwoo's eyes darted to Jung Siwoo. Sure, Siwoo was a main vocal, but he was also the guy who always played coy and above it all. No way a kid like that would sign off on some shouting match of a Cleopatra game—

"Hyung-nim."

"……"

"Chicken?"

"Ha? I'm in."

"Woooooaaaah!!!!!"

At Hajin's brow-raised taunt, Siwoo cheerfully called I'm in, and the waiting room exploded into cheers again. Han Seongwoo quietly bit his lip.

Turn this down in this mood and he was the one who'd chickened out and folded!

Han Seongwoo's eyes cut to Hajin.

Grin—

'That smug bastard…!'

The second their eyes met, Hajin tipped his chin as if to say bring it on, wearing a wide smile. Seongwoo swallowed the boiling in his gut, barely holding his face together, and opened his mouth.

"…I'm in too."

"Okay!"

"Yes. Since all three teams agree, this round's stage order will be decided by the Cleopatra game! All three trainees, please line up in front of me."

'Still, that bastard's not the type who's strong at high notes….'

Recalling Hajin's stages up to now, Han Seongwoo took his place. Even on the title song last time, hadn't he swapped parts with Gong Seok because he was struggling with the high ad-libs?

'…is what he's thinking, no doubt.'

And the one who'd lightly seen through that entire chain of reasoning — Kang Hajin. Age 20.

'Sorry, Seongwoo, but that's the me of the past.'

Notable: to handle a wildly demanding original, he'd just dumped 9,000 cash straight into vocal ability — one step away from ascending to child-prodigy master vocalist!