Chapter 93

The team-picking method wasn't anything complicated.

Trainees picked rooms in order of rank, highest first. Once the top-ranked trainee in a room called it closed, no one after them could pick it.

—Each room's minimum capacity is four.

—If two rooms both cap at four, the remaining room automatically ends up with nine.

A hell of a gambit. Also a blatant gesture — the production wanted to see the Wings-rank trainees battle over headcount.

And the rules didn't stop there.

—Just so you know, each room has a mandatory special effect and item assigned to it.

—That information will be shared exclusively with the Wings-rank trainees.

—Wings-rank trainee Seo Taehyun, please head out first.

One by one, the trainees left the set to pick their rooms. That went on for a while.

—Alright, now. Feather-rank trainees will start heading out too, one at a time.

Wings rank came with individual placements; Feather rank didn't. They were all outside the debut lineup anyway, so the production seemed to have just not bothered making it public.

So the Feather rank's room-picking order was decided by lottery.

Which meant—

—Ah. So the Wings-rank trainees inside the rooms have no idea who's coming in either. Haha, fun.

…that's what it meant.

Anyway, I was sixth in the Feather rank order, and when I stepped out, this was the status of each room:

〈Room 1 (5)〉

〈Room 2 (5)〉

〈Room 3 (2)〉

Room 3 was out from the start. Whoever the two of them were, there'd be a reason the headcount was that low.

And there wasn't anyone particularly worth a pick in the string of guys queued up after me anyway.

Which left Room 1 or Room 2 — and here's where my choice got taken away.

—Room 2, closed by the authority of Wings-rank trainee Seo Taehyun.

So I had no choice but to walk into Room 1.

The second I did, Jung Siwoo — clocking my face — shouted urgently at the production.

—Room 1. Closing. Room's closing. Closed.

Three times, no less. First time I'd ever seen Jung Siwoo that flustered.

Well, once I saw who my teammates were, even I would've been shouting "close it" or threatening to withdraw.

And now, back to the present.

"Alright, then."

Hajin's voice broke the awkward silence hanging in the practice room. Everyone had been reading each other's faces without saying a word for a full ten minutes. Having taken all those prickly stares on the chin, Hajin flashed his third-mission teammates a bright smile.

"How about we do introductions? Some of these combinations are meeting as a team for the first time."

"……"

'I miss Seo Taehyun and Dan Haru.'

He suddenly missed the astonishingly loud team from last time, but Kang Hajin held it in. Once the mood loosened up even a little, these were all guys who'd carry their own weight. It was the combo itself that was the problem.

'Jung Siwoo and Lee Yugeon's blowup just aired the other day. And now the pro-Siwoo faction and the pro-Yugeon faction, packed into the same group….'

But who was I?

Prior experience as a youth-camp counselor. Check. (A hyung I knew asked me to fill in briefly as part-time work. But that's from age 29, so it doesn't apply in the here and now.)

Certified recreation instructor and youth instructor. Check. (Also age-29 stuff, so I don't have them now.)

Extensive experience running recreation at church retreats. Check. (Of course, age-29 stuff, so as of now none of it has happened yet.)

From my grinding days as an AD, plentiful experience seating audiences and pulling reactions. Check. (Same as above.)

'Awkward atmosphere' anywhere Kang Hajin stood? Impossible.

Impossible. Just no. In all cases, no.

"So, we all just got a crash course from Nam-Tijoo-sunbaenim, didn't we?"

"……?"

"Taking after that variety spirit, we're going to do introductions a little special from here on out."

The teammates, and everyone else in the practice room, turned their attention to Hajin. Their eyes said, what's he trying to do this time.

Two hundred percent ready to meet that expectation, Hajin dropped into a deliberately dramatic voice and struck a pose.

"Presenting — the 'No Secret of Yours Is Safe From Me' game, you might say. Alternate title: 'Truth or Die.'"

"Never heard of it?"

"I just made it up."

Hajin shot a mild shut-up look at a baffled Kim Wonho and explained the game.

"We all already know names, ages, positions and all that, right? So going around in turn, let's each share a secret about ourselves the others probably don't know. Except — since you might not want to tell, lying's allowed."

"If lying's… allowed, then it's not really an introduction."

"Good point, Eunchan. So if you think one is a lie, just call it out — 'Fake!' If it really was a lie, that person racks up one penalty. We'll go about three rounds like that."

When Hajin's explanation ended, Kim Wonho's hand shot up.

"Got a question."

"Yes, trainee Kim Wonho. Please ask."

"What's bad about racking up penalties?"

"Ah, another good point."

Even those who hadn't been interested in the game seemed to want to know that — eyes turned to Hajin once more. Without hesitation, Hajin dragged the box beside him over and dumped its contents out.

"…th-this is."

"The item we commonly call a harness. Extremely hot right now. Ouch, hot."

What Hajin had spilled out were harnesses — leather combined with silver chain. Also this team's mandatory 'must-be-used' item.

And among the pile, one stood out from the rest. When Hajin silently picked 'that one' up, Eunchan swallowed and answered:

"A l-leash…."

"'Leash'? It's a choker."

"……"

"Whoever picks up the most penalties gets the honor of wearing this leash… I mean, choker. Wow, thrilling, right?"

---

In the darkened practice room.

A single light lit up the center. Seated in a semicircle, the trainees wore expressions dead-serious and gravely earnest.

Holding a pink Poro*ro mic to mark him as the current speaker (an AD had scrambled to source it), Ju Eunchan opened his mouth, wound up tight.

"My secret is…."

"……"

"Um, so, I…."

"Three seconds or one penalty gets added."

"I, lately at home I've been ordering gamjatang for delivery."

"Hmm…."

At the word 'penalty,' Ju Eunchan just blurted the first thing that came to mind. And then the hyungs put on scary faces and started interrogating the truth of it.

"Okay, pass."

"Hey, hold on. This is supposed to be decided by majority — where do you get off deciding it yourself, Kangha-hyung?"

"Eunchan lives alone. Ordering gamjatang — big portions, hard to finish — is likely a lie. Have to consider that it's actually bone haejangguk—"

"Nope, pass."

Despite Wonho and Doha's objections, Hajin declared pass without missing a beat. Then, looking satisfied, he gazed at Eunchan and smiled benevolently.

A face that clearly meant: Kid — so you've discovered the taste too.

"Okay. So now Eunchan's answer. True or Fake? You know it's Kangha-hyung's penalty if it's Fake, right?"

"Come on. There's no way it's Fake."

"It's a lie."

"……?"

"Gamjatang doesn't deliver in single portions. I order bone haejangguk."

"……!"

"Okay! Kangha-hyung, penalty~."

Hajin looked at Eunchan like his world had just crumbled. His face — indescribably betrayed — cracked up even the camera crew.

Under Hajin's lead, the game was proving even more gripping than expected, running all the way to its final turn.

For trainees who hadn't yet fully clicked into idol mindset, the pressure of the leash (choker) hit that much harder.

—Come on, if we all just say True, no one gets a penalty!

—And if someone lies and everyone calls True, no one would know anyway — it's a secret.

—Okay. Then we add a rule.

A house rule was even added.

The game that started as an icebreaker had somehow gotten everyone deeply invested.

Score so far:

〈Jung Siwoo, Ju Eunchan – 0〉

〈Kim Wonho, Lee Doha – 1〉

〈Kang Hajin, Lee Yugeon – 2〉

"At this rate it's coming down to Yugeon-hyung or Hajin-hyung."

"Kangha-hyung nails all his own turns but keeps missing on other people's. That's a talent, that is."

"Yugeon-hyung gets everyone else's right but keeps getting caught out on his own lies. Mirror image."

Still, Wonho and Eunchan — neither wary of Yugeon — played a big role. They brought Yugeon up naturally and pulled him into the conversation, and Yugeon, who'd seemed a touch uncomfortable because of Siwoo, was participating pretty actively.

"Alright, final turn."

The last round of the choker match got underway. Hajin, Wonho, Eunchan, and Doha all cycled through their turns in rapid succession without anyone picking up a penalty.

Next was Siwoo's turn.

"Hmm…. I picked this room because I didn't know what a 'harness' was."

"True."

"True."

"Pass."

Everyone called True without hesitation. Whatever schemer/intellectual-type image Jung Siwoo was busy gobbling up, no one actually thought he'd picked the harness on purpose.

"Fake."

"Uh. Really? Hyung, think about it. Another penalty and you're in trouble."

Everyone had picked True, and Hajin alone had gone Fake. All the others tried to talk him down, but Hajin stubbornly held his ground.

Then he laid out the reasoning behind his call. He looked like a detective straight out of a mystery manga.

"Siwoo-hyung, you majored in classical piano, right? I feel like even over there, the straps for carrying instruments sometimes get called harnesses."

"……"

"Also — I don't buy that this hyung would take the gamble of walking first into a room he didn't understand."

At Hajin's sharp read, Siwoo cracked a small laugh. He raised both arms like he'd been caught.

"Fake. Not from being a classical musician, though."

"Whoa, no way. This is betrayal."

"I… came in because I didn't know."

"Yeah, that tracks for Eunchan."

In the end, everyone but Hajin got one more penalty.

〈Jung Siwoo, Ju Eunchan – 1〉

〈Kim Wonho, Lee Doha, Kang Hajin – 2〉

〈Lee Yugeon – 3〉

As things stood, Yugeon was locked in for the choker.

"Alright — this next call decides it: tie, or the loser's locked in."

"How is this — of all things — making me nervous."

With everyone watching, Yugeon's final turn arrived. Wearing a genuinely troubled look, Yugeon glanced at the leash, then at the trainees watching him.

"Wait — can I have a moment to think?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Wait, you really don't want to wear that?"

"Well then, Siwoo-hyung, do you want to?"

"…I only have one penalty."

While the pointless chatter went on, Yugeon kept mulling it over. After a short one or two minutes, Yugeon squared his shoulders like he'd made up his mind.

"My parents are coming to this next stage, so I can't wear something that scandalous."

"Then… I think we've got to let hyung off."

"Wait, that's the game we're playing right now. True or Fake."

"…ah!"

"Whoa, Yugeon-ie, pulling the parents card here? I say True."

"True from me too."

Yugeon's manner was so far from an act that the trainees, after a moment's hesitation, ended up calling True. It was persuasive. The production had actually announced that each trainee got invitations for this next stage.

"Kangha-hyung, you're True too? Whoa, if this is Fake it's gonna be a scene—"

Apparently sure Hajin would call True as well, Wonho asked with an intrigued look, watching Hajin.

And in a very brief instant, he caught Hajin's eyes go sharp. Nobody but Wonho noticed it.

"Fake."

"R-really?"

Hajin's face slipped quickly back to normal as he passed the verdict — Fake — in a voice somehow lower than usual. His eyes stayed fixed on Yugeon.

Somehow, a chill settled over the practice room. Hajin waited for Yugeon's answer in silence.

It might have been a leap, but depending on the circumstances, this could turn into a critical clue. Because—

"Ah…."

Because in the past he'd seen, the Selected Regressor—

"Fake. So I win the leash?"

…had been an orphan who didn't know who their parents were.