LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Although I didn’t know all the details, I could understand the unstable emotions Gyun Seong-ha was feeling. I asked first, in a tone that implied I didn’t understand at all.
“What about Gyeol-hyung, then?”
Gyun Seong-ha, who had lifted his head, blinked and stammered.
“Gyeol-hyung is… well, Gyeol-hyung.”
Seo Moon-gyeol was older than Gyun Seong-ha, and when watched up close, he was someone who never elicited feelings of jealousy.
Realizing the implication, I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
“Hey, then what about me?”
“You are… you.”
Even Gyun Seong-ha seemed to find the tautology amusing, and the expression that had been twisted with old anguish relaxed slightly with a faint laugh.
Of course, I was who I was.
Gyun Seong-ha started to think anew about the person who had made him open up as if casting off a heavy burden he had never shared with anyone.
On Raon was….
Objectively speaking, he was unrealistically handsome. No one could argue with that.
And he was a year younger than him, once danced incredibly well, but now, starting from the beginning again, he was a bit unpolished. Nevertheless, he still had that special aura unique to those who were chosen.
Gyun Seong-ha could recognize that talent.
But that wasn’t all.
On Raon had endured extraordinarily difficult days alone.
Maybe because of that, he could accept the fact that someone disliked him without batting an eye.
Unlike himself, he was honest with his emotions.
Sometimes, he even seemed mature, like someone older.
“Still, you’re amazing.”
Just like now.
“Talking about everything like this is amazing, getting up at 5 AM to take lessons and then go to school is amazing, living diligently with only three hours of sleep because you want to do better is amazing.”
“……”
“I think just doing something is more important than I thought. When you look back, the things you did during hard times remain as something.”
It wasn’t possible for the anxiety and nervousness he had felt to melt away in an instant like snow.
But now, Gyun Seong-ha felt unbearably pathetic.
“…Yeah.”
“What?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you….”
Gyun Seong-ha’s tear glands burst again.
He was truly a tender-hearted friend.
Resting my chin on my knees, I became rather calm once I understood the entire situation.
My past life had been quite tumultuous to be hurt by the clumsy and innocent words of my younger brother, who felt particularly young among the members.
“Jealousy… sounds very serious when you put it that way, but so what if it happens? It’s a bit strange that the target is my old self, but who lives without feeling any jealousy at all?”
In response, Gyun Seong-ha replied with a gasping voice.
“Still, Gyeol-hyung doesn’t do that.”
This kid was really consistent.
Was it because he couldn’t step up like Kang Ji-woo when Seo Moon-gyeol was being ostracized?
Gyun Seong-ha followed and protected Seo Moon-gyeol in a strangely blind manner.
Anyway, since it was true that Seo Moon-gyeol didn’t feel jealousy, I nodded readily.
“You didn’t cause any serious harm to me. Actually, haven’t you been treating me better than before lately? That’s why I found it strange. It’s okay. If you want to be jealous or envious, go ahead.”
“What do you mean?”
Hearing such strange words for the first time in his life, Gyun Seong-ha stopped crying and looked at me.
Though my tone was light, it didn’t seem like a joke, which made it even stranger.
“What’s the problem when I’m setting the stage for you to feel at ease?”
Tilting my head, I said, “And when I first saw you practice, I thought you were a genius.”
“You keep saying ridiculous things so confidently…!”
Gyun Seong-ha, his voice cracking from all the crying, still said what he had to say.
“No, seriously.”
I explained how I felt when I first saw Gyun Seong-ha dance.
If it was a dance created more through effort than talent, wouldn’t that be just as impressive?
Hearing my honest explanation, Gyun Seong-ha’s face turned red for a different reason than before.
“And I understand why you don’t like being tall, but if you dance equally well, a person with good physicality looks cooler, you know?”
“!”
* * *
As a result of confining Gyun Seong-ha in a kind of praise prison for the remaining time, his affection level rose to 20.
Since his previous affection level was around -30, it had increased by a total of 50.
That’s right.
Gyun Seong-ha was the type who was extremely weak to compliments.
Naturally, the quest was successful, and Gyun Seong-ha’s mental state was temporarily stable.
Although not everything was resolved, it didn’t seem like any immediate problems would arise.
“Oh dear, Seong-ha, your eyes are all swollen. Did you cry again?”
“I’m sorry….”
“Your voice is also hoarse.”
Seeing the staff member lightly rebuking him while nonchalantly taking out a cold wet towel from the fridge, it seemed like this wasn’t the first time Gyun Seong-ha had cried during his trainee days.
“You’re about to debut soon, so you can’t cry like that anymore.”
“Yes….”
“You used to be the youngest when Raon wasn’t around, but now you’re a hyung. You have to be more reliable.”
Though I wanted to say that I had graduated high school first regardless of my mental age that no one else knew, I held back, considering the staff member’s intention.
He probably wanted to emphasize the responsibility an elder should have to toughen up Gyun Seong-ha’s mental state.
Instead, I asked the staff member in a low voice so that Gyun Seong-ha couldn’t hear.
“How did you know he cried?”
The way the staff member immediately took out a towel from the fridge seemed as if they had known in advance that Gyun Seong-ha had been crying.
The staff member whispered back.
“Actually, Ji-woo told me earlier. He said Seong-ha was crying and you were comforting him. Good job.”
It had been quite a while since we entered the practice room, and no one had come looking for us.
Everyone knew.
‘So Kang Ji-woo knew that Gyun Seong-ha was crying and didn’t help him?’
While I was internally writhing in betrayal.
Kang Ji-woo, along with the trainees and Kwak Sang-hyun, walked into the office in a group. He couldn’t be considered a gentleman.
“Oh, it looks like everything is resolved,” Kang Ji-woo said in a cheerful tone when he saw us.
“I believed in you guys.”
This person couldn’t help his brothers in trouble…
“There seemed to be a small issue between you two, but I thought you could resolve it through conversation.”
“No…”
“And now I’m relieved because I don’t think I need to worry anymore. Seong-ha only stops being shy after showing his tears.”
Ignoring Gyun Seong-ha, who was staring at him with a face full of words, Kang Ji-woo shamelessly continued.
‘Birds of a feather flock together….’
I could see why Kang Ji-woo and Ban Yo-han had maintained their friendship for over ten years.
“Anyway, guys, focus for a moment. I have some announcements…. Oh, why is it still hard to get used to this?”
The staff member who had gathered our attention made eye contact with me and gave a sheepish smile.
“You didn’t seem to like us this much when it was just us.”
Kang Ji-woo grumbled in a way that wasn’t annoying, making the staff member chuckle.
“When did you all become the little puppies 1, 2, 3, and 4 that our company raises?”
“Why am I not included?”
“…Oh my, really, this is hard to get used to.”
Feeling a bit left out, Kwak Sang-hyun interjected.
“If Ms. Ji-yoon works with these kids for just a week, she’ll get used to it quickly.”
The staff member joked back.
“What can I do? Mr. Sang-hyun will have to keep taking care of the kids from now on.”
Gyun Seong-ha asked the staff member’s question.
“Does that mean Sang-hyun hyung will be our manager from now on?”
“Yes, for the time being, Mr. Sang-hyun will be in charge of you. There’s also a possibility of adding more staff later, so keep that in mind.”
Although it was somewhat expected that Kwak Sang-hyun would become our manager, it was nice to have someone familiar take over.
“Please take good care of us!”
“Sure. Let’s do our best, everyone.”
“And the reality show will be broadcasted on SBM.”
SBM was a cable channel that mainly aired entertainment content like Music Box.
While it was slightly smaller in scale compared to Music Box, it did have a music show called ‘Music Round,’ so people interested in idols would at least know the channel’s name.
Getting a reality show slot for a rookie idol from a small agency like Seed must not have been easy.
It felt like they were using every bit of their strength to push us.
“The official account will open tomorrow morning, there will be a meeting with the reality show production team, and we need to take profile pictures soon. Seong-ha, stop crying for real now!”
“I won’t cry anymore…!”
Why didn’t he realize that saying such things with a face puffed up like a dumpling had no persuasive power?
* * *
The next morning at 11:30 AM.
Orca’s official account was revealed.
– Guys, Orca’s official account is up!!!!!
– The logo looks nice
– OMG OMG our babies’ official account, fancafe, V app, YouTubeㅠㅠㅠ Please upload lots of selfiesㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please debut soonㅠㅠ
The account for official notices and the account where members would upload selfies and personal stories were separated.
Of course, the latter account was also managed by the company.
“You guys must get my approval before posting anything here. You know what happens if you post something wrong, right?”
Kwak Sang-hyun warned us firmly, even citing several unfortunate incidents caused by social media.
In the afternoon, we had our first meeting with the reality show production team.
Instead of the small car we used before, we traveled in a nine-seater Carnival. It was our first time going out together as a group of five, so everyone was quite excited.
“Wow. The car is huge!”
“Can I sit in the front seat?”
“I want to sit in the front too. Let’s play rock-paper-scissors.”
“No way. I’ve never won against Yohan hyung in rock-paper-scissors.”
“Idiots. You can just sit first….”
While Gyun Seong-ha and Ban Yo-han were bickering over the front seat, I leisurely opened the passenger door and sat down.
“What’s up with you, On Raon?”
“…If you want to sit, then sit.”
“What’s up with you, Seong-ha?”
“Right. It feels weird.”
“You’re the one who needs to be taken care of!”
“Guys… don’t exhaust yourselves already. Let’s calm down. On the count of three, everyone clap twice and be quiet, okay?”
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Kwak Sang-hyun regretted not naming the group Peace or Stay.
Still, the first meeting went well without any major issues.
The reality show would be titled ‘Let’s Get Close, Orca’ and would consist of five episodes.
Although the meeting ended on a good note, as expected of a reality show, we weren’t given detailed information about the filming.
Based on the preliminary individual meetings where the production team asked what the members wanted to do.
I guessed that the main focus would be on the members doing something together to strengthen the group’s camaraderie.
And today, we had a profile photoshoot with a school uniform concept.
Although four out of the five members had graduated from high school, fortunately, we all still looked good in uniforms.
The color combination of the fitted white shirts, navy blue pants, and matching ties immediately reminded one of an orca at a glance.
Instead of adding accessories like vests or jackets, the distinctive feature was that the basic outfit was subtly modified to differentiate each member through the length of the uniform and the shape of the ties.