Chapter 4
Dance.
What if I could conquer dance, which I never improved at even after six years of being a trainee, because of my terrible motor skills?
I missed countless debut opportunities while I was a trainee. So of my friends who joined later than debuted before .
I was even kicked out of the debut group after barely making it.
It was all because of dance.
The main reason why I gave up on my idol dream, and why TNT fired , was dance.
But what if I could overco dance
To find out, I repeated the sa experint as before.
I danced the way I knew how.
Then I watched the original choreographer on Mitube and followed along for a second recording.
When I looked at the result, I couldnt close my mouth.
Oh my god. It worked?
It was a thought I had just in case, but it was really possible.
The gap between the two videos was less than a minute, but my movents were amazingly different.
I was speechless.
It felt like the stars in the night sky were falling on .
It was distant and unreal.
The cause of my lifelong regret, and why I was cut from the debut group, was solved so easily.
Was it a dream?
I collapsed on the ground.
The coldness of the winter sand seeped through my jeans, but I sat there blankly and looked at the sky.
The stars scattered in the night sky.
The moon half-hidden by the clouds.
I recalled what happened today, while taking in all of that.
From saving the old man and watching an action movie at the hospital.
To doing an interview and going to the playground to test my ability.
None of this was a dream.
At first, I denied reality, thinking it was impossible. But the more I experinted, the more certain I beca.
I didnt know why, but I clearly gained so ability.
A kind of superpower.
I laughed out of disbelief.
Haha
As if I had gone crazy, I laughed for a long ti. Then I brushed off my butt and got up.
Now dance is not a problem.
I told Seok-hwan hyung that I would give up on being an idol, but in fact, I auditioned several tis after leaving TJ Enter.
And I failed every ti.
The judges who were happy at my visuals and vocals frowned when they saw my wooden dance moves. And when they heard how long I was a trainee, they shook their heads.
They ant that if I couldnt do better after six years, there was no point in trying more.
But now its different.
Dance was no longer an obstacle for .
Then, I could walk again.
I could dream again.
The path that I had given up on.
Idol.
Maybe its possible now.
***
Eat quickly. The at will burn.
Huh? Oh.
I snapped out of it at Seok-hwan hyungs urging.
The at restaurant that Seok-hwan hyung took to was a famous place in Eunpyeong-gu.
I used to drool over it when I was a trainee, wishing I could go there once. But he knew my grudge and chose this place.
I put a piece of well-cooked flower sirloin in my mouth.
The savory and fatty flavor of the charcoal-grilled beef.
He looked at with a sour expression, as I made a blissful face.
People would think you havent eaten for three days. Eat slowly. Whos going to take it away from you?
Wasnt it you?
What?
Werent you going to take away?
Why do you think that?
You ordered five servings of snow sirloin for 50,000 won each, and youre not even flinching. That ans its not your personal card, right? And you said you were going to get the corporate card earlier. Doesnt that an its not a personal matter, but a business matter?
Wow, youre a Sherlock Hols.
Ah, try it, bro.
As a thank-you for the drink, I fed him a carefully wrapped lettuce wrap.
He smiled and said,
So if I catch you, will you go with ?
See for yourself.
I glanced at the nu and answered.
If you add one more stead egg, my heart might waver.
Yoon Seok-hwan smiled and added the stead egg.
While we were eating at, the hot stead egg ca out.
I scooped a spoonful of stead egg and blew on it, then brought it to my mouth. Seok-hwan looked at and cautiously opened his mouth.
By the way, are you okay?
What do you an?
The college entrance exam. I saw the article that said you prepared for two years since you left the army. Your mock test scores were also in the top tier.
Its a sha, but what can I do. I cant change what happened.
You must be upset.
Its okay. Im used to this kind of thing now.
I answered with a smile.
When did my life ever go the way I wanted? If I had achieved everything I wanted, I would have been the star of Asia by now. I think its a waste of ti to be emotional about sothing I cant change. Its only a loss for .
You have a diamond-like ntality as always.
Not a diamond, maybe gold. But not pure gold, the kind that has so impurities mixed in.
At my joke, Seok-hwan laughed uncontrollably.
What did your grandmother say?
What do you an?
I shivered as I recalled the phone call I had a few hours ago.
She cursed at with every word a primate can use. Do you know what a chinchilla is, bro?
She even brought up a chinchilla?
My grandmother could make the twelve zodiacs with the animals she cursed at . If she wasnt my grandmother, I would have sued her.
She must have said that out of concern.
I know.
Thats why I felt sorry and worried.
Bro, can we talk about sothing else? Its ruining my mood.
What are you talking about? Youre drinking cola right now.
Cola is alcohol too.
Since when is cola alcohol?
Its bad for your body and it makes you feel good when you drink it, so its alcohol.
I drank the soju, why are you talking nonsense?
I gulped down the cola and made a kya sound.
I cant drink alcohol.
My face would turn red as soon as I drank, so much so that people would think I was drunk.
Lets toast.
We clinked glasses and I picked up a piece of at.
Hyung.
Yeah?
Whats the reason you asked to et?
I liked Yoon Seok-hwan as a person.
But business was a different matter.
No matter how much I liked him, Seok-hwan was a fiercely living social being.
He didnt call to eat beef and reminisce.
There must be a reason why you asked to et today. Honestly, you saw my face on the internet and asked to et, thats an excuse.
Thats true.
What?
Youre more famous than you think.
Hey.
Just look at your popularity today. Youre like a mid-tier idol.
Stop flying .
I waved my hand.
Excuse .
Yes?
I turned my head and saw a woman approaching our table.
She was in her twenties.
Her eyes sparkled as if she wanted sothing.
Are you the hero of Galhyeon-dong?
The hero of Galhyeon-dong.
I was indifferent when I saw it in print, but I felt embarrassed when I heard it directly. Seok-hwan hyung chuckled at my expression that was gradually turning red.
Yes, I am, but whats the matter?
Wow, aweso!
The other person burst into a hearty laugh.
I saw it on the internet today. Its really amazing.
Ah, yes
You look even better in person.
Thank you.
Can I take a picture with you?
A picture? Sure, thats fine.
I felt like I had beco a celebrity.
Before turning on the cara app, I saw the famous idol group Sixty Seconds pictorial photo that decorated the background screen of her smartphone.
Is she an idol fan?
After taking the picture, she asked, Can I post it on Facebook? and left gracefully.
She seed to have co out for a al with her family, and when I glanced at their table, her younger brother looked like a test taker.
I muttered to myself as I watched the happy family.
I guess I really sold my face.
Do you believe it now?
A little bit.
You asked why I wanted to et you, right? Whats the matter?
I nodded.
Youre an entertainer
No.
I answered before he could finish his sentence, and he blinked his eyes.
Listen to , you brat.
Youre going to tell to be an actor. Its obvious.
I dipped the flower sirloin, which was grilled dium rare, in the oil sauce, and a little bit of blood oozed out and floated in the oil.
I enjoyed the taste of the 1 grade beef, which was greasy and chewy, and opened my lips.
You didnt like being an actor?
No.
I picked up the soju bottle and filled Seok-hwan hyungs glass.
I dont care if Im an actor or an idol now. Actually, sothing special happened today.
I saved an old man who was driving a rear car and fell on the ice, and I got a strange ability.
The ability to copy any action I see.
I figured it out when I tried various things at the school playground.
There was no limit to the actions I could copy.
Not only martial arts skills such as punches and kicks, but also gymnastics, b-boying, idol dances, and even dancing.
The dance, which had been a headache for six years, was solved, which ant that I didnt have to be an actor.
Im thinking of trying to be an idol again.
Now?
There are people who debut at twenty-five, whats the big deal. Im a little late at twenty-one, but Im still young enough to try.
Are you going to give up on the college entrance exam?
Im not sure.
I scratched my cheek with a sowhat awkward feeling.
I told you, being an idol is not confird yet. I havent decided what to do with the college entrance exam yet.
So you want to be an idol, right?
Huh?
Seok-hwan hyungs reaction was strange.
I tilted my head as I looked at him, who was sparkling his eyes.
Thats great, Woojoo.
What is?
If you want to be an idol, co to our company.
Wait a minute.
I raised my hand to interrupt Seok-hwan hyungs words.
Why is the story going that way? Werent you here to tell to be an actor?
When did I?
Huh?
You misunderstood it yourself. Thats why you should listen to peoples stories until the end.
Sorry, I got it wrong.
Yoon Seok-hwan took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to .
[Lemon Entertainnt Director Yoon Seok-hwan]
I opened my eyes wide at the words written on Seok-hwans new business card.
Manager? You got promoted.
Promoted? Its like moving from a big company as a director to a small company as an executive.
Congratulations. You got into a good company.
Lemon Entertainnt was a small planning company, but it was a verified one that was evaluated to have a solid foundation.
It started as an actor specialized planning company, and now it was expanding its territory to the music industry.
There was also a famous girl group that debuted here recently.
Scarlet is from Lemon Enter, right?
Yeah.
Scarlet was a popular four-mber girl group.
Was it last year?
They appeared like a cot and established their image as a talented girl group.
This ti, were preparing a boy group after Scarlet. So co and audition.
Are you serious?
Seok-hwan nodded at my question.
Im serious, do you think Id joke with you while feeding you expensive at?
Do you rember that I was cut off because I cant dance?
Do you think Id forget that?
Then why?
I looked at Seok-hwan suspiciously.
Then he let out a sigh-like laugh and shrugged his shoulders.
When I told you to co and see, the first thing I said was your dancing skills. I didnt want to discourage another person. But the higher-ups said they didnt care and told to bring you in.
Higher-ups?
Oh, I havent told you yet.
Yoon Seok-hwan tilted his glass and sighed.
Do you know a composer nad Jo Gyu-hwan?
Of course I do. Its a na you cant not know if you study composition.
Well, hes famous.
Jo Gyu-hwan.
A genius composer who had many hit songs that you could recognize by just hearing the title.
He was a person who made billions of won in royalties every year at a young age.
Hes the production director at Lemon Enter. Hes the second-in-command after the CEO, and hes mainly in charge of casting actors and singers, and producing. Scarlet is his work too.
He continued.
But hes a really weird person. His nickna is fortune-teller.
Fortune-teller?
He knows what will hit and what will flop amazingly well. His accuracy rate is almost 99 percent.
Is that possible?
Its true, man.
Yoon Seok-hwan snapped at , who was laughing as if it was absurd, and told a few examples.
He picked a song that everyone said would flop as the title track.
He persuaded the company to put an actor in a minor-thed movie that was sure to fail.
The song that was supposed to flop hit number one on the chart in a day, and the male actor who reluctantly starred in the movie beca a ten million actor.
Most of them are stories I heard, but I watched Scarlets casting myself.
The casting of Scarlet, who was famous as a talented girl group, was like that.
He picked soone he saw walking around Hongdae.
He handed a business card to a high school student sitting on the subway.
And thats how he made Scarlet, who picked up like that, the most hit rookie group in 2012.
Seok-hwan shook his head as if he was tired, rembering that ti.
Anyway, that Jo Gyu-hwan director wants you as a new mber of Lemon Enters boy group.
What?
Just like I said.
I stared at Seok-hwan for a mont.
Hyung.
Yeah?
Tell honestly. The boy group youre telling to join right now. Its not in a good state, right?
Huh? Not in a good state?
Why would they suddenly pick a new mber for a problem-free group? There must be so internal problem, so theyre picking a new mber.
Seok-hwans offer was tempting.
It was a boy group produced by Midass hand, and Midass hand wanted personally.
But nothing goes well in the world.
When a really amazing opportunity cos, you have to think about it.
Why did this opportunity stay until it was my turn?
Especially when Im not even a trainee, but a student.
What, its not a problem per se.
Seok-hwan hyung scratched his nose and said.
Its just a bit complicated.
He explained the situation to .
Originally, the idol project that Lemon Entertainnt was preparing was a boy group.
While Director Jo Gyu-hwan was ambitiously producing Scarlet, the companys managent team was independently preparing a boy group.
The goal was seven mbers.
But there was a problem.
One of the trainees had a bad personality and constantly clashed with other trainees, and eventually he was kicked out of the company.
That alone would not have delayed things so much.
Just when it seed like the situation was settled with the expulsion, two of the six remaining mbers left before their debut.
The problem was that they left after taking their debut profile pictures.
The remaining four were ntally broken.
And thats how two years passed.
After Scarlet settled in earlier this year, Director Jo took over as the boy group producer.
So?
He decided to drastically revise the original seven-mber project and debut with five mbers. He held a lot of auditions, but unfortunately he didnt seem to find anyone he liked. Until today, that is.
Until today, he said.
Could it be
When we were having lunch, your face ca on the TV at the restaurant and his eyes were looking at you in an unusual way. I asked him why and he said this.
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