Chapter 383. Idol Class Showdown (2)
Thus began Joo Eunchan’s “<Project: Make a Friend for the Youngest>.”
The first step was—
“……”
“………”
“………..”
“…………that!”
“…………!!”
“Wh-what’s…! your name…?”
“Ah! Ah, uh, me! Uh, what’s my name again…? What, what was it!?”
“…This kid is eighteen this year, and his name is Gu Hangyeol. But he uses ‘Hangyeol’ without his last name as his stage name, so fans often mistake it for a single name and call him Habi, Hab, or Habinda.”
“Oh, I see, Hangyeol-nim… I’m Joo Eunchan. This here is Dan Haru.”
“Y-yes! A-ah, I already k-know…!”
It was an introduction (with a three-minute pause after each person’s name).
“That kid looks like he’s about to faint. Is he okay?”
“Why, he’s cute. Let him be. I’m finding this entertaining.”
“He’s got a name tag the size of his face pinned to his chest. Why is he even asking?”
“It’s the atmosphere~ You know, why else would adults exchange business cards? It’s how people get to know each other.”
“Hah, seriously. It seems the Icebreaker King, the God of Recreation, the one and only Kang Hajin, must step in to…”
“Please, sit down and don’t embarrass yourself.”
“Ugh—!”
It wasn’t a baby chick gathering or anything, but my two youngest and three of Kim Wonho’s members were sitting in a circle in the corner of the gym, as if they were playing ‘I Am Ground.’
It was cute, sure, but from where I was watching, it was also incredibly frustrating. Just as I was about to stand up to save these poor, socially awkward chicks, Seo Taehyun swatted my arm like he was catching a fly and made me sit down again.
“Why did you hit me? Everyone else was talking.”
“They were only talking. You’re the only one who was about to act.”
“I’m more of an action person than a talker!”
“Exactly, which is why I hit you. Sit down. And stop staring at the kids; you’re making them even more uncomfortable.”
“Ugh, Seo Taehyun… You hate me.”
“If you go over there, the kids will only focus on you. You have this way of making people feel comfortable.”
“……”
“Eunchan’s mustering some courage here. In times like this, you need to step back so the kids can handle it themselves. If you join in, it’ll feel like they’re using a cheat code.”
“…Ahem.”
I was about to glare at him for treating me differently, but I stopped. It wasn’t like I was grinning because of what Seo Taehyun said. It’s just, you never know when or where a fancam might catch me, and I didn’t want to start a controversy over one bad expression.
“He’s already back to normal.”
“That guy’s so simple.”
“Isn’t it nice, though, how easy he is to read?”
“Hajin’s honest through and through, that’s his strength.”
…Though those guys, excluding Seo Taehyun, threw in their own comments as they looked at me, that wasn’t the reason. My cheeks just hurt from smiling so much that I had to press them with my hands, even if the sunscreen rubbed off—honestly, that wasn’t the reason.
“By the way, why isn’t your youngest over there with them?”
The best way to shift the mood was to change the subject.
Leaving the egg-fried crew (since their white team uniforms made them look like literal fried eggs from afar), I turned to Kim Wonho, who was sitting next to me. Wonho’s youngest, who had been sticking to him like glue, looked up at me with wide, nervous eyes.
‘Man, from a distance, we probably look terrifying.’
If Seo Taehyun weren’t here, it would definitely seem like a group of yellow punks bullying a helpless lamb.
Sensing danger, I pushed Seo Taehyun and Jung Siwoo forward, positioning them in front of me. This was a tactic I called ‘face attack,’ used to reduce our group’s attack power and raise our defense.
“Wow…”
“Hm? Wonho, your youngest seems a bit off.”
“Oh, it’s fine. He’s just shocked by your face. He’s been gushing about how handsome you are.”
“Really? He can take a closer look if he wants.”
“Gasp…!”
“He’s quite reactive.”
…Or maybe I just scrambled his brain with my stunning looks.
That wasn’t my intention, but since the result was pretty much the same, I decided to let it slide.
“Hangyeol’s the shyest of the group. He said he’d feel sick if he joined them, so I’m just keeping him here.”
“Wow, seeing Kim Wonho in ‘big brother’ mode is really hard to get used to.”
“Even if it’s hard, you’ve got no choice. I’m the boss in Phase.”
He used to drive me insane with how slow he was to recruit members, and now here he was, taking care of his own group’s youngest while flashing me a peace sign. Kim Wonho’s expression looked much more relaxed and natural than it had before.
Although I felt a bit envious that he seemed more comfortable with them than with us, I was also relieved that he seemed to be finding his place.
‘Looks like he’s regained a lot of confidence.’
Not only Seok-hyung but also Kim Wonho… Even Yoon Taehee, once part of the hopeless trio, was reportedly among the top trainees lately. It made me reflect on how variable human potential could be.
The same people I’d written off as hopeless from the start were now proving that there was no absolute answer in life, and it gave me a sense of pride.
“In hindsight, ‘hopeless trio’ was such a fitting nickname…”
“What was that?”
“Nothing, just talking to myself.”
Kim Wonho raised an eyebrow, but I waved it off. He soon turned his head back and continued chatting with the others. Funny enough, I didn’t remember him being that close with Jung Siwoo or Seo Taehyun during Miro Maze, but it seemed they weren’t feeling awkward despite reuniting after some time.
After swapping debut stories for a while, Kim Wonho suddenly scanned the surroundings and spoke with a slightly concerned expression.
“Is it okay that you’re spending all this time with us? If you’re only doing this for our sake, you don’t need to. We decided before coming here that we’d just hang out quietly among ourselves.”
Kim Wonho seemed genuinely worried. Unlike Phase, who were brand-new rookies, Kairos had been active for two years and knew many other groups. He seemed to wonder if they were holding us back.
But Seo Taehyun was the one who firmly shook his head and cut off that line of thought.
“No, we don’t have that many close groups either. Our goal today is to have a quiet, uneventful day. You guys being here is a blessing.”
“Really…? But don’t you know a lot of people from *Boy’s World*? I saw Believer earlier, and Cha Minseok’s Lanion is here too.”
“Yeah, those are the groups we’re least comfortable with.”
“R-really?”
“Ah, they’re up.”
“……?”
At the mention of Believer and Cha Minseok, Seo Taehyun’s normally radiant eyes dimmed slightly. Meanwhile, Lee Doha, who had been silently observing the egg-fried group, suddenly perked up, having noticed something.
At Lee Doha’s signal, we all turned our gaze in the same direction. Not too far away, the fried egg group, who had been huddled together like they were scheming something, suddenly began to awkwardly stand up.
We held our breath, curious about what was going to happen, when all of a sudden, Dan Haru let out a deep sigh from the corner and strode forward in front of the group. Then…
“Oh, here he goes.”
“What’s with the serious mood?”
“Is he about to challenge someone?”
“Shouldn’t we stop him if that’s the case?”
“It’s fine, our Haru will win.”
“But Haru really is strong.”
“Is there a wrestling event at the Idol Athletics Championship? If there is, our Sparkling would take first place.”
“There is. And Haru’s entering.”
“Oh, really? Alright, the gold medal is ours.”
“Seriously, what do we do with these ridiculous elementary school brats…”
Dan Haru suddenly started walking somewhere!
Even as we carried on with our free-flowing conversation, our eyes remained fixed on the fried egg group.
It seemed that Dan Haru, perhaps forced into the role of leader due to his “mental age of 26” issue, was marching straight ahead without hesitation. Joo Eunchan and the rest of the little ones followed behind him in a line, and everywhere they went, people parted like the Red Sea.
Finally, Dan Haru came to a stop, and there stood a familiar face, looking as if they had seen a ghost.
“Uh… Who’s that again?”
“Isn’t he Dan Haru’s top friend candidate?”
“Oh, the youngest of Stormheader?”
“Look, he’s about to say something.”
“Big guys like them hiding behind Dan Haru… Gu Hangyeol, Kim Siyoung, seriously, reflect on yourselves.”
“……”
Maybe he was too tired to keep commenting, but Seo Taehyun just shook his head in disbelief as he gave up, even as we continued to chuckle among ourselves. Meanwhile, the fried egg group, led by Dan Haru, was gathering the courage to say something to Stormheader’s youngest (what was his name again?).
“Why are they hanging out in the corner like that?”
“They’re the only ones from their company here, like us. Maybe they’re just playing it safe because they don’t know any other groups.”
“That could be it…”
Or maybe they were lying low because they unintentionally angered several fandoms during last year’s cover song competition.
Whatever the reason, one thing was clear—Stormheader was certainly shocked by Dan Haru’s bold approach. Even the remaining members, aside from their youngest, were standing around with dumbfounded expressions, unsure of what to do.
Either way, we all held our breath, silently observing this historic moment. Dan Haru appeared to be proposing that they play together, and Stormheader’s youngest was looking around nervously, likely gauging his members’ reactions and the onlookers before giving his answer.
“I should’ve brought my phone. I need to record this.”
I felt a little disappointed in myself for not being prepared with a banner reading *Congratulations, Kairos’ Youngest Dan Haru Makes His First Friend*. There probably wouldn’t be much going on during the competition anyway—I should’ve focused on documenting moments like this.
As I regretfully mulled it over, Stormheader’s youngest, Whian (I remembered!), finally made his decision.
“…Gasp, he nodded!”
Whian, in response to Dan Haru’s proposal, nodded his head and stood up from his seat!
Wearing his red team uniform, Whian from Stormheader joined the fried egg group. Our precious yolk team had finally acquired ketchup.
Meanwhile, Joo Eunchan, who had been standing next to Dan Haru, seemed to be talking to the other members of Stormheader as well. I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying from this distance, but based on how he was pointing toward us, it seemed like he was inviting them to come over and hang out together.
“Is it okay to leave them like that? If Eunchan keeps this up, he might end up chatting with every idol around his age by the end of today.”
Seo Taehyun, who had been quietly hiding behind me like Kim Wonho’s youngest, suddenly stood up and spoke. He seemed to be concerned about the “be careful about getting too chummy” rule we had discussed earlier, and I couldn’t exactly blame him for worrying. I waved him off as I answered.
“We’ve come this far; we can’t just not talk to other groups at all. We already expected to interact with groups like Phase and Stormheader. Better than staying isolated and then running into Lanion or Believer, don’t you think?”
Seo Taehyun nodded in agreement, understanding that if we had to mingle with other groups, it was better to do so within a manageable range. He then quietly closed his mouth again.
To further reassure him, I added another comment.
“It’s fine. It’s just two groups anyway. Besides, once filming starts, they’ll scatter again in no time.”
“You think so…”
“I know so.”
* * *
However, thirty minutes later…
“Taeha hyung’s favorite random~game! What’s~the~game~? Game~start!”
“Ahh, wait, wait! Oh, this is fun! Oh, this is exciting! The Game of Death!”
“Ahh! What is it!? What’s going on!? Hyung, shoot quickly!”
“Me? Hmm… Bang!”
“What, me? Ugh, bang…!”
“Oh, oh, oh!?”
At that moment, I sensed once again that something had gone wrong.
(Still) filming hadn’t even started, but Seo Taehyun, who had already been thoroughly drained, stared blankly at the chaotic scene unfolding before him and tugged on my ear.
“Ouch! Hey, hey, Taehyun, that hurts, that hurts…!”
“What happened to us quietly sticking together…? Getting too chummy is a fast track to ruin…”
“Hey, how was I supposed to know things would get this out of hand…?”
“We’re the ones making the most noise and getting the chummiest here…!”
I really didn’t expect this either…
“This is all your fault, isn’t it!?”