Chapter 44: Twenty-One

The special interviews with the trainees were edited and uploaded as clips on YouTube not long after.

As expected from Starff’s buzzworthy content, the video hit number one on YouTube’s real-time trending list and was being discussed in various online communities.

I was curious what we said during that tense interview…

“Seohan, have you seen this?”

Jin Sehyun, the master searcher, brought over Kevin’s interview.

“I think it’s the one we filmed together as a group last time.”

“Really? Did you watch the whole thing?”

“No, not yet.”

Jin Sehyun plopped down beside me and tapped on his phone screen.

Since it was released as fan service, it probably wouldn’t air on the actual broadcast. Maybe a short clip or a fleeting moment at best.

Just as I was absentmindedly staring at the screen,

“Oh, what are you guys watching?”

Ha Junseo suddenly poked his head in. I was supposed to be the one pushing the hamster concept, yet his soaked hair made him look like a drenched rat.

But it wasn’t even raining outside…

I frowned in shock.

“Don’t tell me you were practicing?”

“Of course, what else is there to do here but… practice?”

“To the point you ended up looking like that?”

I always knew that hyung was a bit of a practice fanatic, but today was excessive.

Jin Sehyun clicked his tongue in disbelief. As they were on the same Betters team, he must’ve been watching Junseo practice up close.

“Junseo hyung probably stayed up all night yesterday.”

Not just last night—apparently, the night before as well.

By now, we should have only finished assigning individual parts and barely started learning the choreography, but he was already charging ahead like it was the final push.

It was one thing for his passion to be awe-inspiring…

“You’re going to collapse at this rate, hyung.”

His face was pale, clearly showing the full brunt of two sleepless nights. I couldn’t even tell if he was sweating or breaking out in cold sweat.

At Jin Sehyun’s concern, Ha Junseo gulped down a deadly Americano and shook his head.

“Luckily, I can still hold on.”

“Don’t push yourself. You’re not that young anymore.”

My brain, which had been nodding along without much thought until now, suddenly froze.

What?

“…?”

Ha Junseo wasn’t the only one shocked by Jin Sehyun’s outrageous comment.

“What’s wrong with being twenty-one!”

“What’s wrong with twenty-one! That’s still so young!”

“Huh?”

“Excuse me?”

Just turned twenty-one this year, Ha Junseo stared at me as if to ask why I was getting mad too.

“Why are you angry?”

Ah, well…

That’s because…

“…….”

I was actually twenty-six, so I felt a little self-conscious.

Come on, twenty-one is the age where you could chew on rocks!

Right?

Avoiding Ha Junseo’s gaze, I added nonchalantly,

“Hyung, you’re practically chewing on rocks these days.”

“If he’s drinking deadly coffee, I guess it’s possible…”

Jin Sehyun scratched his head and muttered under his breath.

Ha Junseo seemed amused by our nonsense and let out a snort of laughter. Even as he sipped that deadly coffee.

He even tried to justify it by saying he was taking care of his health—an excuse nobody was buying.

Realizing that neither of us was falling for it, Ha Junseo hurried to change the topic.

“Uh, should we finish watching that?”

What he pointed to was Jin Sehyun’s phone.

The video had paused during playback and was still frozen on PD Lee Young-chae’s interview screen.

The first question clearly displayed on the screen was a visual vote.

Q. Who do you think is the visual member of Starff?

Jin Sehyun turned and nodded.

“Oh right, we did a visual vote too.”

“Junseo hyung, who did you pick?”

“This kind of thing is supposed to be a secret vote~”

[I think it’s Cha Seongbin.]

Huh?

Secret vote, my foot—the first respondent was Ha Junseo. Hearing his own voice suddenly coming from the screen, he coughed awkwardly.

Trying to divert attention with the interview had completely backfired.

Jin Sehyun clicked his tongue and tapped my shoulder.

“Look, this hyung didn’t even pick us.”

“Truly, I’m trembling with betrayal.”

Turning someone into the villain was always new and thrilling.

“Hey, hey, you guys didn’t pick me either.”

Uh, actually…

[I think it’s Junseo hyung…]

As soon as my interview followed, Ha Junseo’s face turned red. He even stuttered, clearly flustered.

“You… picked me?”

“I told you I was trembling with betrayal.”

Byo-Seohan is all about soft features, of course his type is the innocent kind ㅠㅠ

└ Seohan, sorry, but Junseo’s mine….

└ ???

└ Then I’ll take Seohan.

└ Please line up.

└ You are number 1,430,580 in the queue.

Byo-Seohan listing 31 reasons why Ha Junseo is handsome but doesn’t know he’s just as good-looking ㅠㅠㅠ why don’t you realize it ㅠㅠㅠ

└ The handsome ones are sticking together… let grandma join too….

└ Grandma, please leave.

└ S**t that was brutally firm ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└ LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Ha Junseo is sooooooo handsome. Honestly, his face is public welfare.

└ Our white bear Junseo, shining as the number one in the visual vote.

└ When his face got a close-up, I blacked out on the spot….

└Our baby, our genius teddy bear has everything—dancing, singing, visuals, personality—but just one thing, he doesn’t have meㅠㅠ

└I don’t think he needs to, honestly

“I have quite an objective perspective.”

Ha Junseo had black, round eyes, a naturally high nose bridge, and lips that curved attractively—an undeniably charming face.

His visual vote first place made perfect sense.

If Cha Seongbin had a trendy and edgy look, Ha Junseo had the kind of classic good looks that would always appeal.

…I was just calmly analyzing it like that.

“Ahem.”

“You’re being way too obvious… you like him.”

Jin Sehyun laughed and caught his breath at Ha Junseo’s reaction.

Even though it was just a casual visual vote, the trainees’ honest and youthful comments seemed to be getting a good response from fans.

Though, it looked like the ones enjoying it the most were the people involved.

“I’m quite satisfied with the result.”

“Seohan, are you that happy about getting second place?”

“Your smile’s about to split your face.”

Just as the mood was getting warm and fuzzy, a slightly irritating voice cut through the air.

[This is… really hard.]

A voice that sounded soft but somehow gave off bad vibes. It came from Kevin, playing from Jin Sehyun’s phone screen.

I instinctively turned to check the screen.

It was a scene of PD Lee Young-chae smiling and provoking Kevin.

[Looks like there’s a familiar name tied at second place? Trainee Do Seohan.]

So that’s where my name came up.

I frowned involuntarily as I waited for PD Lee’s follow-up.

[What do you think of trainee Do Seohan’s visuals?]

Ha.

“Oh, she mentioned you.”

“Keeh, they’re really setting up that rivalry.”

Two members who were in Betters with Kevin reacted briefly.

Kevin was smiling into the camera. You couldn’t see much from the screen, but I could tell.

He was definitely pissed.

No wonder he picked a fight with me the moment we met.

PD Lee must’ve really gotten under Kevin’s skin.

[Seohan is….]

Kevin in the video paused for a moment before flashing a bright smile.

We’d barely exchanged a few words, yet he used that friendly tone as if we were close—it was irritating.

But what came next was even more ridiculous.

[He’s just cute.]

[More than handsome… he’s cute?]

[Sometimes he tries really hard to look cool, but he’s still cute.]

Hmm.

It wasn’t even that serious of a vote, but apparently, his pride couldn’t admit I was good-looking.

And since he couldn’t show any distaste on camera, this was the best he could come up with.

Kevin chuckled and added more.

[Seohan’s a baby, so no matter what he does, he’s just cute.]

“…….”

“…Wow.”

Shit.

I barely swallowed the curse that almost slipped out and stared at the screen.

Did I really just hear that?

“That’s a bit much.”

Seeing how twisted my expression had become, Jin Sehyun quickly put his phone away.

Ha Junseo gave an awkward cough with a troubled look.

The two of them seemed to have caught on pretty quickly.

They probably sensed something was off from the first comment and were sure of it after the second.

Jin Sehyun frowned and muttered under his breath.

“…That’s a provocation.”

A fucking provocation.

“There’s no real connection between you two though—why did he target you?”

“You okay? Nothing happened between you guys, right?”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

That ‘baby’ comment from the pill-popper really stung, but I could handle it.

I let out a hollow laugh and waved my hand.

“It’s not like we clashed or anything, so there’s no problem.”

“…….”

“I’m really fine.”

If it were someone like Lee Junhyeok, who explodes without a plan, that’d be one thing—but someone like Kevin was easier to deal with.

I said I was fine because I really was, but it didn’t seem very convincing.

Ha Junseo looked at me with worried eyes.

“…Seohan, you’re too soft for your own good.”

Soft?

Me? The one mentally plotting when to ruin that bastard?

“That’s not it…”

Ugh, I really didn’t want to say this myself.

I let out a small laugh and replied to Ha Junseo’s concern.

Do Seohan at twenty-six… would be insanely handsome.

“I’m still a scratch-off lottery ticket that hasn’t been revealed yet.”

I was confident.

The practice room where we gathered for a concept meeting.

During the short break, there were two people who didn’t stop talking.

“I heard Do Seohan started dieting?”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“…He said he wants to reclaim past glory?”

“What nonsense is that from someone who has nothing to lose?”

Kang Siwoo and Seo Haim, who had been chatting in a corner of the practice room, both turned to look at me at the same time.

After yesterday, I had declared my so-called “diet announcement” and was pushing through a project of eating only one meal a day.

Thanks to my rejuvenated age, it was nice having a more youthful face but…

‘Seohan’s a baby, so no matter what he does, he’s cute.’

Wow, that line really hit hard.

“This is why hate comments are scary…”

Even if I pretended not to care, it still got to me.

I shook my head and steeled my resolve.

The moment “Touch Me” was confirmed as our song, our team’s general direction was more or less set—but I planned to make a slight variation on it.

To pull off the concept I envisioned, I planned to maintain the diet at least until the third evaluation round.

“I’m just aiming to lose about 3 kilograms.”

Kang Siwoo furrowed his brows in disbelief and pulled out a chocolate bar from his pocket.

“Quit talking nonsense and eat.”

Despite his rough tone, there was sympathy in his eyes.

That expression reminded me of something…

Got it.

The face he made when watering a cactus.

“I’m not a cactus though.”

“…!”

“Why are you bringing up cacti now? Is it something you eat?”

“T-There’s a story behind it.”

Kang Siwoo’s eyes turned sharp, as if questioning why I’d say something so absurd at this timing.

But I was used to that look now—it didn’t scare me anymore.

Unable to decode the cryptic exchange between us, Seo Haim blinked wide-eyed and asked out of nowhere,

“Is cactus tasty?”

“No. No.”

Kang Siwoo quickly looked away from Seo Haim’s sparkling gaze and changed the subject.

“S-So what kind of concept were you thinking?”

“Oh, are we starting the concept meeting now~?”

As if they had heard the word from far away, Cha Seongbin and Seo Ian sat down too, successfully shifting the topic.

I gave a small smile and turned to Kang Siwoo.

“Yes, shall we start the concept meeting?”

“Let’s do it!”

“Take your seats!”

In our first meeting, we had mostly finished assigning positions and parts.

Seo Ian as main vocal, Cha Seongbin as main rapper, Kang Siwoo as leader, and finally me as the center.

All decided through voting, and there had been no conflict.

I thought we had gathered a pretty easygoing group, and in practice, there really hadn’t been any friction.

Thanks to that, the team’s outline had taken shape quickly, but I was the one who had hit the brakes when it came to the concept.

“So what kind of concept do you want to go for?”

Unlike the previous evaluations, we didn’t get to choose our song.

From the moment I heard the demo of “Touch Me,” the concept was practically set.

That’s probably why Kang Siwoo was confused.

“This is definitely a cute concept.”

“Right. We were all planning to lean into that.”

“Touch Me” definitely had a cute concept.

I wanted to nod along, but knowing the future, I couldn’t.

“Touch Me” would ultimately place second in the third evaluation.

It was partly due to the limitations of the cute concept, and partly because Betters’ stage was just so dazzling.

Besides, this kind of concept had never been aimed at first place anyway, so all the members had been satisfied with the praise at the time.

But now, my thoughts were different.

We had to win first place.

More precisely, we had to put on a stage worthy of first place.

We needed an overwhelming performance—one that would silence any rumors like “Betters only won because Kevin carried,” or “They barely scraped first.”

We had to make it to the finals with that kind of undeniable first place.

A first-place-worthy stage, to win first place.

I glanced over at Seo Ian and gave a small smile.

“I’d like to make a suggestion.”

While we couldn’t completely abandon the larger “cute” concept,

Within that frame, I wanted to sprinkle in a mood that would capture fans’ hearts.

And that was: excitement.

“How about a younger-guy concept?”

We’re going to win first place.

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