Chapter 136. A Small Trigger (8)
Hajin opened his mouth a few more times, rubbing his thigh furiously until it felt like it was on fire. It was a habit that emerged when he was nervous.
Either his thigh would burn from the friction, or Jung Siwoo’s eyes would burn to a crisp.
At that exact moment, when one of them was about to lose their light and combust in seconds, Hajin finally managed to throw out an idea.
“That! Um! Uh, how about… a mashup (Mashup: Combining two different songs to create a new one)?”
“A mashup?”
“Yes, well, the lyrics are a bit depressing. But, in essence, isn’t it kind of like posing a question? To this wandering generation, and to these youths struggling to live, like… Where are we going? Where have we come from?”
For the record, the only lyrics Kang Hajin remembered from the song were exactly one phrase: “Where are we?”
Despite barely knowing the lyrics, Hajin started rambling, not even aware of what he was saying anymore.
“So, if it just ends with a question mark here, it’s too sad, and the song itself would be a bit boring. So, we could pick another song with a similar youth theme, maybe one that’s about cheering up or about how life is. We could mash that up!”
But as he kept talking…
‘…Does that actually make sense?’
Hajin continued speaking, amazed by his own idea in real-time.
“That way, it could feel like a youth dialogue… while also showing some elements of remixing the songs. Plus, it could give the impression of broadening the scope of the piece… Huh.”
“…Why are you so surprised while talking to yourself?”
Eventually, Hajin clamped his mouth shut in the middle of his speech.
Then he marveled.
“Oh my gosh. I think I’m a genius.”
“……”
For a moment, Siwoo’s eyes, which had started to regain some light, reverted to lifeless, statue-like eyes.
Oh, maybe that was too much. My apologies.
“Anyway, that’s my idea. It might take some time to find songs that fit well for a mashup and to combine them… But since we’ve saved some time on choreography, it might be worth the investment.”
“…I, I like it! I think it’s a good idea!”
Haru quickly raised his hand in agreement, eager to inject some life into the meeting.
Though Hajin’s idea wasn’t all that bad….
‘But still, isn’t he agreeing a little too easily, without asking any questions?’
Once the suspicion of being the Chosen Regressor took hold, everything started to seem suspicious.
Hajin quietly stared at Haru, who raised his hand and sparkled his eyes brightly.
Haru, too, felt the gaze and looked back at Hajin.
Then Hajin promptly pinched those soft-looking cheeks.
“Ow! Why are you doing this!?”
“You’ve got such pinchable cheeks.”
I did it because you’re annoying, you little rascal.
If Haru really turned out to be the Chosen Regressor, Hajin was determined to pinch both cheeks the day he was sure of it.
With that resolve, Hajin let go of the cheeks.
“……”
As if to gather his thoughts, Siwoo’s neat fingers spun the black pen between them.
The pen, which had been spinning several more times, suddenly stopped moving.
Tak—
Siwoo pressed the pen down on the notebook and sighed before opening his mouth.
“I think it could work. If there’s no major issue with the message Seok wants to convey, I’d like to try it this way. What do you think?”
“Oh, uh. I like it too. …Thanks. I was worried you were doing something difficult just because of me.”
“……”
Siwoo’s eyebrow twitched briefly in discomfort at Seok’s reply, which oozed with a lack of confidence. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn’t utter a word and kept them tightly shut.
Siwoo, skillfully hiding his expression and emotions, continued the meeting in a businesslike tone.
“Then we need to find the right songs for the mashup. Since we should finalize it by today and start planning the outline and moving forward tomorrow, let’s each search now.”
“Yep.”
“Yes!”
“Try to choose songs that fit these criteria as much as possible.”
Siwoo organized the elements to consider when finding songs for the mashup and posted them in the group chat.
Let’s finish selecting the songs today.
Siwoo spoke firmly, and Gong Seok nodded in agreement.
Hajin noticed the subtle tension between the two but, like Siwoo, simply nodded in silence.
* * *
Combining two completely different songs into one sounds easy, but in reality, selecting the songs is no simple task.
This one doesn’t match the key, that one has a different rhythm, the lyrics don’t connect…
After rejecting about ten or so songs for reasons like these, it’s natural to start thinking,
‘…Should we just forget about the mashup, pick a song with lots of high notes and emotional impact, and call it a day? That’d be easier.’
Kang Hajin, the man in crisis, was now paying the price for speaking without thinking first.
He quietly buried his head in his hands, gazing at the practice room, which was now only left with the self-cams and tripod cams as the production crew had already gone home since it was past midnight. Today, he felt more exhausted than usual.
‘Did I overthink trying to figure out the Chosen Regressor…?’
It wasn’t like the system had imposed any penalties, and with the physical strength he’d absorbed during his military service, there was no way such a light schedule could tire him out. It had to be purely a matter of mental strength.
Hajin tended to put off tackling problems until he saw a clear path to solving them.
He would either sleep, eat something delicious, or immerse himself deeply in something else to momentarily erase the stress factor from his mind.
Back when he was a PD, he would pay for a monthly membership at a comic book café near the company and spend all-nighters there whenever he couldn’t figure out how to edit.
[System Alert: Ah, so that’s why….]
[System Alert: That explains a lot….]
Thirteen, realizing the origin of Kang Hajin’s extreme fanboy tendencies, popped up with an exclamation mark emoticon. Hajin was too drained to even press Alt+F4 this time, so he let it be.
‘I want to go home.’
Lying on the floor of the practice room, Hajin turned his head to spy on the rest of the team.
Dan Haru, unable to overcome his fatigue, was curled up and asleep against the mirror.
Gong Seok, desperately searching for songs as if being chased by something, couldn’t tear his eyes away from the laptop.
Jung Siwoo, occasionally glancing at Gong Seok, remained silent and focused on his own work.
[System Alert: What’s going on between those two…?]
‘…Isn’t it obvious?’
Hajin clasped his hands behind his head.
Gong Seok was intimidated by Jung Siwoo, and Jung Siwoo was uncomfortable with Gong Seok. That wasn’t surprising.
‘They’ve been like that since the second evaluation, haven’t they?’
It just hadn’t been shown on the broadcast.
Even during the second evaluation, where they teamed up for <Cinderella>, their relationship hadn’t been smooth.
In episode 4, Gong Seok had said in an interview,
“Honestly, I’m acutely aware of my limitations. I keep losing confidence. Just the fact that we’re in a competition is terrifying.”
The other trainees knew that the cause of this was Jung Siwoo.
‘Well, maybe not all of them.’
Hajin paused, recalling two faces that suddenly came to mind.
He then quickly corrected himself: all the trainees *except* Lee Doha and Joo Eunchan knew.
[System Alert: Then shouldn’t we… do something about it?]
[System Alert: They’re on the same team now, after all!]
‘Me? What could I do?’
[System Alert: Once again, you should act as an icebreaker to improve their relationship…!]
Thirteen urged Hajin to step in as if shouting, “Go, Kang Hajin!”
But unlike the time when he was frantic to mediate between Jung Siwoo and Lee Yugeon, Hajin simply closed his eyes this time.
‘You shouldn’t meddle in other people’s business carelessly.’
[System Alert: Σ(・Д・)!?]
[System Alert: After causing the plot to progress by meddling in others’ business until now, you’re saying this!?]
‘…Your vocabulary is getting weird. Plot progress?’
[System Alert: Isn’t the essence of #idol stories the intense friendships, loyalty, growth, and reconciliation that come from conflicts and resolutions among group members!? Please fulfill your duties as the regressor!]
‘Sure, thanks for considering me the main character. But if we’re being honest, isn’t the main character that damned regressor? I don’t even have any buffs that are worth being called a protagonist.’
Grumbling for some buffs, Hajin noticed that Thirteen, after some hesitation, quietly disappeared.
Next time he had some free time, Hajin thought, he’d have to go into the subconscious space and shake it down.
While thinking this, someone approached and tapped Hajin on the shoulder.
“Ah! You scared me! …Oops.”
Startled, Hajin instinctively jumped up, only to hastily close his mouth.
He could see Dan Haru and Gong Seok, who had eventually succumbed to sleep, lying side by side in the back.
Seeing
this, Hajin thought,
‘…Wait. Then the person who just tapped my shoulder…?’
Hajin turned his head stiffly, like an unlubricated robot.
The dimly lit practice room, with only a few lights on.
The time past midnight.
Standing behind him was either Jung Siwoo or a ghost!
And either way, it was too scary!