Prince from another dimension becomes an Idol chapter 29

After circling the concert hall to get a feel for the atmosphere, Woochul was nowhere to be found. He had said he was going to the bathroom, but hadn’t returned. With the dry rehearsal about to start and one member missing, everything came to a halt.

The staff searched everywhere, including the bathroom, but there was no sign of him.

“Heungmin, you were with him last. Did he say anything else besides going to the bathroom?”

Jung Giljoo, the newly appointed road manager of MOST, asked anxiously.

“No… he just said he was going to the bathroom,” replied Heungmin, looking dazed. He wanted to pull his hair out in frustration but didn’t, fearing he would ruin his styled hair.

“Could he have fainted?” Team leader Jung Heeyoung muttered worriedly.

Considering the rigorous practice and strict diet the members had been following, it wasn’t impossible.

“If he fainted, we would have found him by now. He’s nowhere to be found,” Manager Kim Seokchul said firmly.

Heeyoung sighed deeply. It wasn’t like Woochul could have disappeared into thin air. This was driving them all insane.

It was MOST’s debut performance. The invited journalists were already at the venue to film the rehearsal, and the MyTube channel was counting down to the live broadcast.

“Are you still not ready?!”

A concert staff member burst into the waiting room, urging them to proceed.

Heeyoung, feeling a cold sweat down his back, hurriedly took control of the situation.

“We need to rehearse with the members we have. Assistant Lee, please ask one of the dancers to fill in for Woochul.”

“Yes, team leader,” Assistant Manager Lee quickly headed to the dancers’ waiting room.

Manager Kim and Team Leader Jung Heeyoung decided to search the building once more.

While a dancer was being prepared to take Woochul’s place, the remaining members paced nervously around the waiting room.

“Where could Woochul have disappeared to…?” Dojae thought, trying to remain calm.

“Heungmin, are you sure you don’t know anything?”

“If I knew, why would I hide it?” Heungmin exclaimed, frustrated.

Louis and Kyuseong watched the tension between them anxiously.

“This is driving me crazy,” Kijoon muttered. “Did Woochul show any signs of something unusual before?”

It was a loaded question. Dojae glanced between Kijoon and Heungmin. Heungmin opened his mouth several times, hesitating to speak.

“Damn it. Could he have run away?”

“Run away…?”

One of the previous candidates had quit, saying it was too hard. The mention of running away made Kyuseong’s face go pale. They had endured and persevered for this day, for anywhere from two to five years.

Woochul had been training for three and a half years, aiming for this debut. Running away now seemed unbelievable.

“What the… that’s impossible,” Louis shook his head.
“No matter how much Woochul complained about the hellish training…”

Despite his complaints, Woochul had persevered.

Although he was only twenty, and while the rigorous practice sessions were stifling, it wasn’t just his age.

His outgoing personality and having many friends meant there were many temptations.

He often grumbled about the hard training and wished for more free time, but he never missed a practice.

He always completed his tasks, driven by his dream and showing constant improvement. Running away now seemed absurd.

Louis, Kyuseong, and Dojae, who had endured the hardships together, knew this well.

‘But if they’re thinking he might have run away… maybe they know something,’ Dojae thought.

Calmly, he asked, “Is there something wrong with Woochul?”

Kijoon looked thoughtful before replying, “Is he scared of the stage?”

“I don’t know, but it seems likely,” Heungmin nodded with a troubled expression. “Two years ago, Kijoon and I went to perform as backup dancers at a local event. The stage was set up on a sports field. Woochul was trembling and suddenly ran away. Kijoon and I had to perform alone.”

“When was that?”

“Over two years ago. He seemed to have overcome it since then, and there were no problems after that, so I forgot about it. But could he have run away this time too? This is crazy.”

It was a plausible scenario.

‘His avoidance tendency might be triggered by the stress of going on stage.’

Even if Woochul seemed fine, the larger stage and extreme tension might have reignited his fear.

‘A debut stage, long-awaited, could be terrifying…’

Dojae, having participated in imperial events from a young age, understood Woochul’s feelings.

‘Some of my relatives have stage fright and can’t attend public events.’

Although Woochul wasn’t diagnosed with a disorder, his dream was to become a singer. Losing to fear and missing his debut would be disastrous.

Then what… and what comes next will be even more problematic.

“Just like we’ve overcome before, we’ll have to overcome this time too.”

Dojae frowned in frustration as he thought.

“Members, come on stage!”

They had to rehearse with the remaining members to check the camera angles.

At the staff’s call, the five members reluctantly moved their feet.

***

After completing the intro, the two title tracks, and the album tracks, the members returned to the waiting room.

Instead of being nervous about their first official rehearsal, they were all half out of their minds with worry about Woochul.

“Where’s Woochul?”

“We still can’t find him. Seriously, where did he go? I can’t handle this.”

As soon as they came off stage, Heungmin searched for Woochul, while Team Leader Jung Heeyoung mumbled with a dark expression.

With the rehearsal over, they had to quickly check their hair and makeup and get into their stage outfits.

While the stylist started with Louis and Kyuseong, the remaining members couldn’t stay still and went looking for Woochul.

“Park Woochul! If I find you…”

“Louis and Kyuseong will be done in 30 minutes, so you guys need to be back within 30 minutes too!”

The stylist shouted after Heungmin, who was running with worry and anger.

It was now an hour and a half before the performance started.

Since the staff was now searching outside the building, Heungmin and Gijoon decided to search inside one more time.

The silver lining was that they could now focus on the possibility that Woochul might have “run away” rather than just “disappeared.”

Dojae thought calmly as he checked the restrooms once more.

‘If I were Woochul…’

From the moment the possibility that Woochul might have run away opened up, Dojae kept thinking.

Even though he was scared, it didn’t seem like Woochul would have gone completely outside the building.

‘He’s just scared and overwhelmed with nerves…’

Dojae headed toward the elevator.

When the empty elevator arrived, he quickly pressed the button.

Watching the numbers go down, he hoped Woochul was where he thought he would be.

They needed to find Woochul first, whether to calm him down or decide if he couldn’t go on stage.

‘I hope we can stand together.’

They had shed so much sweat together over the past time.

However, if Woochul’s condition was really bad, they couldn’t force him on stage.

Ding, the cheerful sound rang out in the elevator, contrary to Dojae’s burning anxiety.

B2. It was the underground parking lot where their van was parked.

Dojae walked briskly to the parked van.

‘Please be here, Woochul.’

With a desperate heart, he crossed the parking lot.

“Woochul!”

Dojae found Woochul crouched between the parked car and the pillar, almost invisible if not closely looked at.

If it weren’t for his vividly dyed red hair, he might not have been found.

At Dojae’s call, Woochul, who had been facing the other way, turned his head in surprise.

“You…”

“Do-Dojae hyung…”

Woochul, facing him, was covered in tears and sweat.

“What happened to that handsome face?”

Dojae had a lot to say but started with the lightest comment.

Woochul, expecting reproach and blame, was momentarily dumbfounded and looked at Dojae.

He recalled when they first met and marveled at each other’s handsome faces.

That was more than a year ago.

“Hyung…”

“Why are you here like this?”

“Everyone’s looking for me, right… I… I can’t do it, hyung.”

“You can’t go on stage?”

“…Yeah. I can’t. When I got on stage earlier, my legs were shaking… How can I dance? How can I sing… I’m going to ruin everything. No, I probably already ruined it…”

Woochul bowed his head as he spoke.

His neck was also drenched in sweat.

“But you want to do it.”

At Dojae’s words, Woochul lifted his head.

“Even though you can’t… you want to.”

“……”

“You could have gone home or somewhere we couldn’t find you, but you’re here.”

So that he could go on stage as soon as he calmed down.

Even while trembling like this.

Dojae’s words, as if seeing right through his heart, made Woochul almost cry and he bit his lips tightly.

“I want to do it. I want to, but my hands and feet keep shaking… What do I do?”

“Woochul. We’ve practiced this stage hundreds, thousands of times. Once you’re on, your body will move on its own. And…”

Woochul was crushed by the weight of the time and effort he had put in, rather than it being reassuring.

Dojae wanted to give Woochul a moment to breathe.

To show that he didn’t have to bear all the weight alone.

“You’re not going on stage alone. There are five more of us. Trust us, and yourself, a bit more.”

“Hyung…”

“And if you still can’t do it, don’t tremble here… go to the dorm or somewhere you can rest comfortably. I’ll explain it well to the others.”

Woochul looked at Dojae, who stood firm and unwavering in front of him, for a long time.

Dojae didn’t force him.

He just held out his hand.

After a while, Woochul, who had been crouching so long that he hadn’t even noticed he had a cramp, took Dojae’s hand.

“Aagh!”

As Woochul stood up, his legs buckled as if he’d been shocked by electricity.

Dojae smiled and tightened his grip on Woochul’s hand, preventing him from falling.

“Let’s go. Quickly.”

“Yes, hyung.”