* * *
“Hey, Choi Woohyun. Are you crazy? Why are you saying things like that?”
“Woohyun hyung… That’s not right! Sol hyung worked hard for us…”
Despite knowing it was embarrassing, Dansol couldn’t stop crying and kept wiping his eyes with his sleeves. The other members intervened at Woohyun’s sharp remarks, but Woohyun didn’t stop.
“Is that really for us? It’s just for his own success. Ah… should we be grateful for having a chance while being his backup dancers? The guys who used to do regional events got this opportunity thanks to him?”
“Hey! Choi Woohyun! You…”
“Stop pretending to be innocent, you know what you’re doing… We don’t appreciate the opportunities you brought us.”
“Let’s stop. I’ll practice on my own so I won’t cause trouble tomorrow. I don’t think we’re in the right mood to practice together today.”
Unable to bear Woohyun’s mocking any longer, Dansol fled the practice room. It was the members who had pushed him to join their dream-like project despite his reluctance.
Now that his popularity had grown, their double standards and hurt pride were incomprehensible to Dansol.
The saddest part was that after running away, he had nowhere to go.
As Dansol was sitting in the alley next to the practice room, crying, his phone vibrated. It was Jisoo calling.
Even though he wasn’t in a state to answer, Dansol, feeling guilty for abruptly hanging up on Jisoo earlier, wiped his tears and pressed the call button.
“Hello…?”
—Sol! I’m near your company…!
“Sol! I’m near your company…!”
“…What?”
For some reason, Jisoo ’s voice seemed to be coming from close by.
“Hyung… where did you say you are?”
—I’m in front of your company! Oh? Dansol, are you outside?
“I’m in front of your company! Oh? Dansol, are you outside?”
As Jisoo walked towards Dansol’s voice, his head peeked out from between the buildings.
“Found you!”
When his tall shadow loomed over, the narrow alley darkened.
Dansol buried his face in his hat and bowed his head to hide that he had been crying.
“Sol, what are you doing here? Sneaking a smoke?”
“Ah! No!”
When Jisoo teased, Dansol, flustered, raised his head, revealing his tear-stained face.
“You… were crying?”
“Ah… no. But why are you here, hyung?”
“You said you were practicing without eating… so I brought you some food. Did you cry because you were hungry?”
“That’s… not it…”
The deep sadness that had been plaguing Dansol turned into a sudden surge of emotion upon seeing Jisoo .
Like a child who bursts into tears when comforted, Dansol continued in a goat-like voice.
“I was… practicing dancing…”
“And?”
“Huff… they said fluttering and scattering are different…”
“Huh?”
“…I can’t see the difference… I haven’t even learned all the choreography yet, but they keep saying I need to hurry…”
Jisoo listened intently, like a student taking an English listening test, but he couldn’t make sense of Dansol’s words about learning choreography and such.
Despite Dansol’s continued trembling voice, it took a while to grasp the situation involving Yoonsungand Woohyun.
Only after getting Dansol into his car, giving him water, and letting him calm down did Jisoo understand the whole story.
“So… you’re slower at learning the dance than the others, but you ended up in the center spot, pushing out the main dancer, which is causing problems, right?”
“Huff… yes…”
“Hmm… there’s no way around it.”
Watching Jisoo ’s serious expression, Dansol felt embarrassed for whining so much. He felt like he was tattling on the members to an outsider.
“You have to show them with your skills.”
“Huh?”
“Just trust me and follow along.”
Jisoo grinned and started the car. Dansol hastily fastened his seatbelt and held on tight.
He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way when he ran out. As they stopped at every light, Jisoo made busy calls and sent texts. Eventually, they arrived in front of a building in Gangnam.
“Hyung… where is this…”
“Our company.”
“What?!”
“We remodeled the practice room here recently. It’s super shiny and nice.”
Dansol tried to stop Jisoo , who was dragging him into the building.
“Ah! No… what if someone complains about us using the practice room…”
Dansol was dizzy at the thought of the only practice room he knew, which had been a point of contention with a girl group.
Even within a company, there’s a fierce competition to book practice rooms, so it wasn’t welcomed when someone from another company suddenly barged in.
“It’s fine. I earned the money to build this practice room, no one can say anything. Let’s go in.”
“Hyung… I’m really okay.”
“Are you really okay? Our company doesn’t even have idols. This practice room was made just for show, so it’s spacious. If you keep refusing, I’ll get mad.”
Jisoo dragged Dansol, who was resisting, into the elevator.
“The teachers are already here waiting.”
“Teachers?”
“Yeah, I arranged it. Didn’t I do well?”
As they got off the elevator and entered Jisoo ‘s company, the difference from Dansol’s company was like night and day. After passing through a modern hallway, several practice rooms appeared.
As Jisoo said, there were many rooms, but few people around.
Even so, the few people they met all greeted Jisoo with a 90-degree bow.
“Wow…”
“Nice, right? Let’s hurry.”
Jisoo , casually acknowledging the greetings, led Dansol by the shoulder to the practice room at the end of the hallway.
The practice room was covered in mirrors on three sides, with a large screen and a beam projector. The wooden floor seemed optimized for dancing, using high-quality materials.
“Oh…!”
“Dansol! You’re here?”
Following Jisoo ‘s lead, they entered the practice room where Taeoh, Minhyuk, and Daesoo were already waiting.
It made sense for Taeoh, who would be performing with them, but the appearance of Minhyuk and Daesoo was completely unexpected, causing Dansol to hesitate.
“What’s this? Why are Jung Daesoo and Jaegal Minhyuk here?”
Jisoo , also surprised by their presence, spoke curtly.
“You can guess why I’m here, right, Dansol? I asked Minhyuk hyung to come. Just like with exam questions, you need to understand the intention of the creator to solve them well.”
“The creator…?”
“Oh! You didn’t know, Dansol? Minhyuk hyung produced the music for the opening ceremony.”
“…I really didn’t know…”
Dansol then realized why Woo Hyun had been so sharp. He must have misunderstood seeing Dansol with Minhyuk from Chunmong Pavilion.
“Then why is Jung Daesoo here? Did you call him, Jaegal Minhyuk?”
“I came on my own. Your manager called me in tears, saying Han Jisoo was causing trouble again and asked me to stop him. But it’s good that I came.”
Daesoo smiled as he made eye contact with Dansol.
“Damn… Perfect timing. There are a lot of lunchboxes left. Eat this and then go home.”
Jisoo pointed to the lunchboxes he had brought up from the car. Originally meant for the DinoSoul members, they hadn’t had a chance to eat them yet.
Dansol’s lips trembled as if he was about to cry again. He felt sorry and grateful for bringing these busy people here.
“Really… I’m so sorry. And thank you. But I’m really okay. You all must be so busy…”
“Sol, hyung is not busy at all.”
“I’m even less busy. If I’m not shooting, I spend five hours a day at the gym because I’m bored.”
“No? I’m even less busy! Without you, I’d spend all day deciding what to watch on Netflix, end up picking nothing, and just stare at the ceiling for hours.”
While Jisoo and Daesoo were competing over who was less busy, Minhyuk approached Dansol with a concerned look and spoke gently.
“You really don’t need to feel sorry to me.”
“Hyung… I feel most sorry to you. If I knew you produced the music…”
“I heard it was because of the center position.”
“Yes…”
Dansol wanted to hide in a hole out of embarrassment. He worried about being seen as selfish for wanting the center position in a performance focused on dancing, not singing or acting.
“I’m sorry. I asked for Dansol to be the center.”
“…What?”
* * *
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