The sight of the idol trainees returning so raggedly in just 10 minutes was so funny that it took a long time for the production crew and Choi Ga-on to stop laughing.
"Hgkk, ahaha! You guys, did you fight? Trainee Gong Min-ho, why are your clothes so wrinkled?"
"That's… Sang-woo was pulling me…."
"Pulling?"
"…I twisted my body to avoid being caught."
"Why would you twist yourself around? Are you a real thief?"
The trainee who was pointed out by Choi Ga-on picked up his sagging shirt with an embarrassed expression.
He'd felt ashamed of himself for trying so hard to escape.
Not only Gong Min-ho, but almost all of the thieves were acting unusually. I was a bit taken aback by the fact that these energetic trainees were playing a game of Cops and Thieves.
Among them, the neater ones were Bang Yoo-chan and Liu Wei.
Everyone knew Liu Wei would've been caught without resistance, with his robotic face as always…
But why Bang Yoo-chan?
As the gazes naturally fell on him, Bang Yoo-chan scratched the back of his neck with a dejected expression and spoke.
"…I got caught when I was putting away the romance novels I received as prizes."
"Hahaha! Ah, I'm crying! I'm crying! Jiyu-ya, I need you to fix my makeup!"
Shedding tears, Choi Ga-on quickly received a touch-up and returned to the auditorium.
The trainees, who had lost their energy after the short game, were huddled together in their respective teams.
Choi Ga-on quickly regained control and took control of the situation.
"Okay, then, would the officers from each team come forward? Oh, and the benefits of the final four thieves will be revealed later, so don't worry! Yes yes, please come out quickly, officers."
Choi Ga-on, who had just confirmed all the trainees standing next to him, nodded and quickly received a small box from the production team.
"Before we begin the cover mission, we'll be selecting singers to cover. This list contains countless names of your seniors. Seong Won-hyeop, is there anyone you'd like to pick?"
Seong Won-hyeop paused for a moment, then smiled brightly at Choi Ga-on.
"Of course, our Targeting Star's superstar MC, Choi Gaon-nim!"
"Oh, how embarrassing! Why are you suddenly saying my name like this? Then which of my songs is your favorite?"
"Of course… your most recent release, 'Madness Boy'?"
"Madness Boy! It's a great hip-hop R&B dance song that I even co-wrote. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to promote it, trainee Seong Won-hyeop. But unfortunately, my name isn't in here."
Seong Won-hyeop had a genuine expression of regret, but Choi Ga-on paid no mind.
You can't make something out of nothing. But of course, flattery is appreciated.
"It'd be boring if I keep talking... So, let's just start picking. I'll start with trainee Han Sang-woo, standing to my left, and then going in order."
In this digital age, the lower-ranking trainees, made by the production team to pick analog songs, rummaged through the boxes and picked out notes one by one.
As expected of a professional broadcaster, Choi Ga-on reacted in surprise every time they opened the notes.
"First, trainee Han Sang-woo chose Leopold seonbaes! Wow, they have so many great songs. Of course, male idols should try this kind of intense concept at least once, right?"
Han Sang-woo let out a sigh of relief at that.
Of course, Leopold has a lot of tricky and difficult choreography, but they're male idols after all.
Besides, if it's too difficult, they can just pick another Leopold song with easier choreography.
Of course, Han Sang-woo couldn't predict what kind of reaction and result such a complacent choice would bring, so it was up to him to decide.
"Next up is trainee Seong Won-hyeop. 2OCD? Another male idol! You've been so lucky. If this keeps up, I'm afraid we'll end up covering only male idols! Oh, and what about trainee Lee Chae-hyuk?"
But did Choi Ga-on's fuss become a problem?
Lee Chae-hyuk's face turned pale as he opened the note he'd pulled out.
"I, I…."
He didn't usually make that kind of expression. What's wrong?
When Choi Ga-on put aside his broadcast expression for a moment and expressed genuine curiosity, Lee Chae-hyuk stammered.
"Lady Swan seonbaes… I got them…."
Ah.
After a brief silence of regret, Choi Ga-on patted Lee Chae-hyuk on the shoulder and spoke excitedly.
"You picked a senior from your own agency? That's so lucky! Wow, I bet President Do Jae-chan is so happy he'll do a shoulder dance!"
A shoulder dance, sure.
Along with tears of sorrow and grief from ruining his swans with his own hands.
Lady Swan.
A senior girl group in their agency that failed miserably. What could be more difficult than covering a song by such a group?
Until this point, everyone, including Choi Ga-on, thought that Lee Chae-hyuk's team had dropped the biggest bomb.
That is, until Ryota, with an uneasy expression, calls out to Choi Ga-on quietly.
"MC. I- I also picked a senior from AG Entertainment…."
"Oh, trainee Ryota! How amazing that you spoke up without being asked to! So who did you get?"
"I…."
But then.
"I drew Min Si-young seonbae…."
A bigger bomb.
Everyone's eyes were immediately fixed on Ryota's teammates.
"..."
Gao Yan and Kim Chunyong froze as they were sharing an energy bar that Gao Yan had won as a prize.
Both of them had the same thought,
'This team is done for.'
* * *
After team confirmation and cover singer selection, it was time for a team-specific autonomous meeting.
Ryota, standing in front of his teammates with trembling legs, started with a flatfish dogeza*.
[*土下座* (do.ge.za) - Kneeling and bowing deeply until their forehead touches the floor between their hands]
"I'm so sorry! Aghhh!!"
From Ryota's perspective, it was as if he had committed a sin worthy of death.
Because he was so immersed in the game, he didn't have enough team members, and the singer he had to cover was the female soloist Min Si-young?
'Because of me, other people suffered too!'
The pressure was too much for Ryota, who already had low self-esteem from being in 17th place.
"Huh- What are you doing? Get up now! No one's scolded you yet."
Bang Yoo-chan, the first to be caught while struggling with a thick romance novel, hurriedly grabbed Ryota's shoulder and tried to help him up.
But Ryota's voice, as if crawling out of hell, was still filled with despair.
"Then… will you do it someday…?"
"Of course not…!? Hey, Chunyong-ah. Help me out."
"…Hm? What's Ryota doing- just a moment."
Kim Chunyong, who had been contemplating deeply while staring into the distance, quickly joined in helping Ryota to his feet.
With their strong grips combined, Ryota, who had been stuck to the ground like a frog, was forced to move.
Finally, they could finally have a conversation now.
Now just kneeling normally with his head lowered, Ryota began cautiously.
"You see, after becoming a cop, rather than planning to form a team…"
"You just started catching anyone you saw?"
"Yeah... So, with people who had already formed a team…"
"You caught your roommate, Chunyong."
With each verbal hit from Kim Chunyong and Bang Yoo-chan, Ryota's head lowered further and further until he was doing the dogeza again.
"I'm sorryyyyy!!"
"No- stop! You're forbidden from doing that! You'll be in trouble if you do!"
"Dogeza ban is so cruel…"
"Cruel? You keep bringing up unnecessary things."
Bang Yoo-chan patted Ryota on the back and, without saying a word, turned to the person hugging his knees in front of the mirror.
"...…"
Hair fluttering in the breeze of the A/C, a teardrop mole under his right eye, the pretty 17-year-old AG pureblood trainee with a face closer to a boy than a young man.
Jang Si-woo. Although he had already teamed up with Ryota and Bang Yoo-chan in performing the original song "Aiming", Bang Yoo-chan still found Jang Si-woo difficult.
"Hwa-seong hyung. Jae-ha hyung."
Well, he's friendly with Ji Hwa-seong and Son Jae-ha, whom he's trained with for a long time.
"Ah, Si-woo, how are you?"
"...Hello."
"Si-woo, do you want to eat with me? The other teammates said they'd already eaten—"
"I'm fine."
"Si-woo! Where are you going? Say hello first!"
"..."
Why does the atmosphere turn cold whenever he sees other people?
After the "Aiming" performance, he even ran away as soon as he saw Bang Yoo-chan.
Even though they were comrades who'd performed together!
'I have no idea what he's thinking. Of course, I've been through that too… It wasn't that bad!'
For Bang Yoo-chan, who could become close with even a stranger in just 10 minutes, this was a new experience.
'But now we're on a team again?'
Bang Yoo-chan glanced around the practice room, lost in thought.
There were four members in total: Bang Yoo-chan, Ryota, Jang Si-woo, and Kim Chunyong.
The singer they had to cover was the veteran Min Si-young.
Bang Yoo-chan broke out in a cold sweat, looking at the baseless, unstructured team.
Well, he reassured Ryota about his doubts. Ultimately, they're all starting from the same starting line, but...
'Is this really okay?'
"I think we should choose a song first. Have any of you thought of anything?"
Kim Chunyong was the one who broke Bang Yoo-chan's worries.
Seeing him gave Bang Yoo-chan a strange sense of security. He, who was probably the most disadvantaged one and having to cover Min Si-young, was surprisingly calm.
"…Me? You want to be friends with me?"
The one who worried about being shunned after getting singled out by Min Si-young in the first ranking evaluation.
'He really is a good person. I'm not wrong when it comes to people… After all, we've been through so much together.'
Bang Yoo-chan, feeling proud, quickly sat down next to Kim Chun-yong and began to speak.
"Um… For now, how about picking just her dance songs? Ballads are going to be difficult to choreograph."
"Oh, I agree. I, Ryota, am not helpful at all, but I can agree…"
"I told you not to say that. And Si-woo… Ah, Chunyong's not familiar with Si-woo yet, are you?"
Bang Yoo-chan and Ryota's gazes flickered between Jang Si-woo and Kim Chunyong.
Jang Si-woo glanced at Kim Chunyong for a moment and then answered in a small voice.
"…I've heard of him while practicing, that he's a good dancer."
Kim Chunyong smirked at Jang Si-woo's words.
"I heard his name too. They say there's a genius trainee named Jang Si-woo at AG."
"Huh? Si-woo is a genius trainee?"
"Of course. They say he's a genius who's good at arranging, rapping, singing, and dancing—it's widely known among the agencies."
"Oh, I thought there was nothing Si-woo couldn't do…"
At the new information, Bang Yoo-chan sharply turned to Jang Si-woo. However, Jang Si-woo's expression remained largely unchanged.
"…I've never heard anything like that."
"Huh? I heard it a lot while practicing at another agency. It's quite surprising that you didn't."
As he spoke, Kim Chunyong slowly shifted closer to Jang Si-woo. The distance between them gradually lessened. Seeing this, Bang Yoo-chan felt an alarm ringing in his head.
'No, Chunyong! I already tried that, and Si-woo just ran away!'
"Ahaha, let's get up and do some stretching—"
Bang Yoo-chan tried to turn the situation around, but it was too late.
Kim Chunyong had already sat down next to Jang Si-woo without hesitation.
Kim Chunyong, still laughing, casually tapped Jang Si-woo on the shoulder.
"Jang Si-woo, the genius. Would you like to offer some advice so we can do well on stage?"
'It's done. Even Chunyong can't do it. Now Si-woo will get up and run away…'
"…I'll need to think about it. Nothing comes to mind right now."
…He's not leaving?
Bang Yoo-chan stared blankly at the two. Even though Kim Chunyong was touching him, Si-woo spoke with no sign of resentment. The adolescent male who would run away whenever he spoke to him!
'W-What is this? Is there some kind of energy coming from Chunyong?'
Of course, it's nothing like that.
If there's one thing Bang Yoo-chan doesn't know.
There's a way to approach Jang Si-woo, the sensitive cat.
Kim Chunyong learned that during the past seven years spent together.