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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Boy Rolling Down Stairs (3)
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"Match the moves exactly!"
The only sounds echoing through the practice room were the members' heavy footsteps.
"Put more power into it! That's right!"
Sweat trickled down my forehead.
Just then, a sigh came from Cha Jae-hyun beside me.
I turned my head, and in the mirror, I saw Cha Jae-hyun with a dark expression.
When Cha Jae-hyun made a face like that in the middle of choreography, it meant someone had royally screwed up the dance.
'No need to look.'
Eun Hae-sol.
'Same section again?'
The transition into the chorus.
- Blue Sky Below
Always want to laugh together
Your blue smile, blue sky
Blue sunshine, blue eyes
It was the flashy group dance section, the most crucial performance part on stage.
Eun Hae-sol messed it up every single time.
'It's definitely a tough move for Eun Hae-sol, who hasn't had a long trainee period. But with sheer grit and practice, he could nail it.'
I glanced at Eun Hae-sol.
His eyes were completely vacant, like someone who'd just received a death sentence.
'He looks like he hates being alive.'
Someone who seemed too lazy even to breathe wasn't going to practice diligently. The odds were practically zero.
Because of that, our stage polish was hitting rock bottom, and the team atmosphere sank lower by the day.
'That damn guy.'
Right then, the music cut off abruptly.
"What?"
I looked up to see Cha Jae-hyun standing by the speaker.
"Jae-hyun hyung. You kill the song?"
Everyone looked flustered as practice halted out of nowhere. Cha Jae-hyun stopping midway wasn't common.
"Everyone, sit down for a sec."
We formed a circle and sat as Cha Jae-hyun instructed.
Directly across from me was Eun Hae-sol, picking at his nails. I started to turn away, not wanting to look at him.
"Jeong Eun-ho. Eun Hae-sol."
I lifted my head at Cha Jae-hyun's voice.
"You two, talk it out."
Ah. So that's why he called us together...
Before I could respond, Eun Hae-sol spoke up.
"No need to talk."
"Why not? You two fought yesterday."
He wanted to clear up yesterday's fight with me.
I shot Cha Jae-hyun an annoyed look.
Maybe reading my mind, he continued.
"Don't just let it slide. If you brush it off and it builds up until it explodes, then it's really irreparable."
He was right.
Completely right...
'So why am I so pissed off?'
Yesterday's memory kept resurfacing whenever I tried to forget, keeping my mind from settling.
No matter how hard I tried to stay calm, just looking at Eun Hae-sol's face made anger boil up.
'Honestly, I don't care if we don't resolve it. I planned to keep things strictly business with him anyway.'
But...
"Clear it up now, even for the future."
Cha Jae-hyun was a perfectionist. One who left no embers behind.
'He's scared of rumors about discord later.'
Reluctantly, I opened my mouth.
"Eun Hae-sol. Sorry about yesterday."
But Eun Hae-sol said nothing. He just kept picking at his nails.
Watching him, Cha Jae-hyun spoke.
"Eun Hae-sol. Sit up straight."
Eun Hae-sol let out a deep sigh and raised his head. His face still mixed irritation and exhaustion.
'This is exactly why I didn't want to bother.'
A long silence stretched out.
Everyone seemed to hope Eun Hae-sol would say something, but his lips stayed firmly shut.
Finally, Cha Jae-hyun broke the quiet.
"Eun Hae-sol. Nothing to say to Eun-ho?"
Eun Hae-sol twisted one corner of his mouth.
"Like what?"
"You messed up yesterday too."
"How?"
"Think about it. You showed up so late, and in front of someone advising you..."
"That's not advice. That's picking a fight."
"What?"
"Forget it. I'm not apologizing."
Same pattern again. What an annoying prick.
The mood turned icy. I glanced over and saw Song Yu-bin holding back his anger.
He always respected his hyungs, so Eun Hae-sol's rudeness naturally pissed him off.
Even Baek Si-woo, who usually let things slide, looked uncomfortable, his face scrunched up.
Then Eun Hae-sol shot up from his seat.
"Can I go?"
I checked Cha Jae-hyun's face. He looked utterly soulless.
'From Cha Jae-hyun's perspective, it's like a time bomb just rolled in. Makes sense—this has to be his first encounter with a trainee this hopeless.'
Cha Jae-hyun suppressed his anger and said.
"Practice first."
"No thanks. I'm not in the mood."
"You think you can skip practice just because you're not? I told you, debut's right around the corner."
But Eun Hae-sol wordlessly headed for the door.
'He's really gonna ditch practice and head home.'
Sighs erupted here and there, until Song Yu-bin finally spoke up, unable to hold back.
"Hyung. If you're gonna act like this, why'd you even join?"
...It was what everyone wanted to say but couldn't.
Eun Hae-sol stopped in his tracks at the words.
"..."
He stayed silent.
For a moment, it looked like he might say something, mumbling to himself, but then his mouth slowly closed.
With that, Eun Hae-sol left, and the door slammed shut with a bang.
Everyone sighed and looked up.
"He's really beyond saving."
"What can we do."
"Back to practice?"
As members started getting up one by one.
"Wait a sec."
"Why?"
I racked my brain quickly.
'...This isn't good.'
Normally, I'd keep an eye on the members until practice ended, then head back to the dorm together via elevator. But...
If Eun Hae-sol bailed here, it created a variable.
'No way he'd take the emergency stairs, right? I just told him about the bugs crawling around earlier—would he still go that way? Maybe?'
My head was a mess.
In the end, I had no choice but to stand.
"You guys stay put."
"Why? Where you going?"
"Yeah. I'll talk to him and come back."
Click—
I flung the door open and stepped out, spotting Eun Hae-sol heading toward the emergency exit. He was already at the door.
'Ah, damn it.'
I called out to him in a urgent voice and ran.
"Eun Hae-sol!"
He stopped at my shout.
"Wait. Talk to me."
At that moment, Eun Hae-sol turned. Then he plunged into the emergency exit without looking back.
"Hey!"
Soon, footsteps echoed down the stairs.
"Ha, this guy's driving me insane."
I followed into the emergency exit. As soon as I opened the door, the dim space came into view.
Peering down under the railing, I saw Eun Hae-sol's shadow descending rapidly.
"Stop! Eun Hae-sol!"
But he showed no sign of stopping.
"I said stop!"
Then the shadow below the railing vanished.
'Shit.'
I had no choice but to leap down two steps at a time.
Bang—bang—bang—
The pounding footsteps reverberated loudly.
Grabbing the railing and swinging around, I spotted Eun Hae-sol's back right below.
"Wait..."
I clamped down hard on the shoulder of Eun Hae-sol, who was rushing down the stairs.
"Wait, just stop!"
Only then did he halt and turn.
"Hu... hu..."
'Got him.'
I'd finally managed to grab Eun Hae-sol.
"Let's talk for a sec."
Eun Hae-sol stared at me with utter disbelief.
"Let go."
"Just a moment."
"No. I'm leaving."
"Take the elevator then."
"Why?"
"...You could get hurt going down the stairs."
At that, Eun Hae-sol smirked.
"Hurt? That won't happen."
Eun Hae-sol scowled unpleasantly.
"What? What're you looking at?"
"..."
A guy whose arrogance had become his default mode. I knew better than anyone how exhausting it was to deal with someone like that.
I spat out the words I'd been holding back.
"Why do you even want to be an idol?"
Eun Hae-sol's expression hardened at my words.
"Acting all irritated and half-assed about everything—why bother with being an idol?"
"..."
"You think you can handle the stage like that? Fan signs? Concerts? When schedules get tough, you'll bolt every time you're in a bad mood, just like now?"
Eun Hae-sol chewed his lip and finally spoke.
"That's none of your business."
"Watch your tone."
A sigh rose to my throat.
'Totally unreasonable. But...'
Right now, I had to get Eun Hae-sol on that elevator, by any means.
Normally, I'd ignore his attitude—let him tumble down the stairs or whatever. But...
I couldn't risk failing the quest and not knowing the consequences.
"Let's go."
"I said no!"
"Hey, you...!"
Before I could finish, Eun Hae-sol spun and stepped forward.
In that instant, his body lurched forward.
"Huh?"
Eun Hae-sol tumbling down the stairs looked like slow motion.
"No!"
I thrust out my arm reflexively. Not out of heroism.
This was purely for debut.
"Haa... haa..."
Breaking the long silence, I spoke, gripping the back of Eun Hae-sol's neck as he dangled there.
"You okay?"
Luckily, Eun Hae-sol was fine. Just left in a ridiculous pose, hanging by his neck scruff in my grasp.
Eun Hae-sol shook off my arm with an irritated glare.
"What the hell?"
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Be grateful your skull's intact thanks to me."
Eun Hae-sol gripped the railing tight. Knowing he'd been helped, his face flushed with embarrassment.
Then the system window appeared.
[Sub Quest Success!]
'Yes...'
Tension drained from my body, and as I slumped, covering my face.
[Reward Issued.]
Reward?
[Item Issued]
- Acquired 'Eun Hae-sol's Memory Chapter 1'
I stared blankly at the system window and let out a sigh.
'I don't need this crap...'
* * *
Back at the dorm. I'd trudged through the snow on the way, so my clothes and socks were soaked.
As soon as I entered the room, I stripped and flopped onto the bed.
'What a exhausting day.'
Lying there, I shifted my gaze to the system window. The quest tab on the right was blank now that the sub quest was complete.
'Hope no more pop up for a while. Damn quests.'
As I went to close it, I noticed a new bag icon at the bottom.
'That usually means...'
Clicking the bag icon opened the inventory window. Just as I'd thought.
'Sigh. What's next? Quests and now inventory? Feels like I'm actually playing a game.'
I checked the inventory.
Inside was one item—the reward from completing the sub quest earlier.
Touching it with my finger brought up the item description.
[Eun Hae-sol's Memory Chapter 1]
A capsule containing Eun Hae-sol's past memories. Use the capsule to view Eun Hae-sol's memories.
Below it, a system window guided item use.
[Tutorial]
To use the item, press the button below or say 'Use item' aloud.
"Ha..."
A hollow laugh escaped me.
'This is the reward?'
What bugged me most was why Eun Hae-sol, of all people.
'What's the point in seeing that guy's memories?'
After racking my brain all night to clear the sub quest, and this is the payoff? Just felt empty.
'I don't care about that prick's memories at all... but since it's a reward, might as well use it.'
With that thought, I spoke.
"Use item."
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