Under no circumstances should I be stimulated by watching members burning their youth while dripping with sweat and even think about making an effort or anything like that.
“How long will it take for your leg to heal so you can dance?”
“Two weeks.”
And I have no intention of doing it for the next 80 years after that.
“That’s fortunate at least. We still have time before the Battle Crown filming.”
The Battle Crown that Eden mentioned was an idol competition program where they fight over a crown, just like the name suggests.
This is a very troublesome topic. They need to appear on a big program, but a team member is going to withdraw. But I decided not to worry about it anymore. There’s no point in racking my brain here—it’ll only increase my guilt.
Eden, who had finished drinking water, rotated his wrist again and headed toward the members.
“Hyung’s line is good here, so twist it slightly… That’s perfect now.”
The members were quickly adapting to the choreography with Doha missing. Since they’ve been at it for about three years, I guess they can read each other with just a glance.
Members who shined even in their loosely worn tracksuits. And they were still full of passion. You’re telling me these kids will blow up scandals one after another and a group that was doing well will completely flop? Fate sure is cruel.
“Hyung needs to move out a bit faster here.”
As I sat still, the practice room that had only felt awkward gradually became comfortable. This is not a good sign. I absolutely don’t need adaptation or anything like that.
Doha moved his body to fix his slouched posture. But he happened to step on the floor with the foot that had stretched ligaments, causing pain. Doha’s face crumpled up.
That’s when it happened.
“Hyung, does it hurt?”
Sehyun, who had been immersed in correcting movements, had somehow run up right in front of Doha. Thanks to that, everyone’s attention was focused. I thought he was concentrating all his nerves on practice—when did he look this way?
Doha awkwardly smiled and opened his mouth.
“Huh? Oh, I’m, I’m fine though.”
Hey, why are you overreacting like this?
“That’s why you should have just stayed quietly at the dorm.”
Sehyun knelt on one knee and examined Doha’s ankle. An overwhelming burden of not knowing what to do with himself came rushing in.
The staff nearby exchanged words wondering since when Sehyun had been taking such attentive care of Doha. Sehyun was originally a member with strong individualistic tendencies.
After examining the ankle, Sehyun straightened his body again. Then he showed a fresh smile like May sunshine and extended his hand.
“Don’t overdo it.”
Sehyun’s hand was placed on top of Doha’s head. The feeling of his hair swaying gently was ticklish.
‘Is this how a maknae should treat the eldest hyung…’
It’s not like he’s showing off that he’s a regressor.
“Sehyun, you’re being especially kind to Doha today?”
The choreography director spoke to Sehyun in a teasing tone. The difference stood out even more because Sehyun had been showing a firm attitude toward the members throughout practice.
“He’s a patient.”
Sehyun answered with a wink. His hand was still stroking the top of Doha’s head.
This is—I’m not even a dog…
“Just wait a bit.”
Now even ‘wait.’ Stay any longer and he’ll throw me some dog gum too.
Let’s not be fooled. The regressed Lim Sehyun is currently the incarnation of desire. He’s a person who’s desperate to prevent the team from falling apart. He’s just wearing a mask of kindness!
After checking Doha’s condition, Sehyun moved away again. The drum beat echoed loudly once more in the practice room reeking of sweat.
Doha unconsciously nodded his head along with the beat.
Why is the song so annoyingly good?
* * *
“It’s lunchtime, so let’s eat and then continue?”
Before long, it was lunchtime. The members and staff who had been practicing looked at the clock once at the manager’s words, nodded, and began to clean up.
“Doha-ya, is there any menu you want to eat?”
The manager asked Doha. Doha immediately began to narrow down the menus floating in his head. Chinese food? Too greasy. Korean food? I’m sick of hospital food, so… I do crave something spicy though.
“Why are you asking him about the menu when we’re the ones working hard?”
Yunbeom, who approached while wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel draped over his shoulder, received the water bottle the manager handed him and twisted the cap.
The water bottle cap turning with a pop sound seemed exactly like his own neck in the future, giving him small goosebumps on his arms.
His gaze stuck to Doha’s face like an awl.
Yunbeom still looked at Doha unfavorably. They say there’s no reason needed to hate someone, but this guy even has reasons, so how bad must it be?
“I’ll reserve your favorite Chinese restaurant.”
The manager, reading Yunbeom’s mood, picked up his phone and left the practice room first. Strength entered Doha’s body as he was left alone on pins and needles.
Since I came to the company anyway, it would be better to head straight to the president’s office.
I thought about putting on a stuffy emotional act to win over the manager and members, but I realized this wasn’t a situation that could be resolved with a few words.
“With a leader like this, how can the team function properly?”
…Leader. Regrettably, Baek Doha was OnX’s leader. That wasn’t decided because of personality or disposition. They probably just randomly picked one of the two oldest members.
Given that the other candidate was Han Yunbeom, it was understandable why Baek Doha was chosen as leader.
A team whose leader will withdraw. What a mess. But don’t worry. You guys have a regressed maknae who’ll carry you.
“Let’s go. Doha hyung.”
While sitting in the chair dragging his feet, Sehyun, who had already packed his bag, approached Doha and urged him. It meant to follow.
I don’t want to go.
Honestly, just thinking about eating with the members made him feel like he’d get indigestion.
“What are you doing? We don’t have time.”
But at Sehyun’s firm voice calling him again, Doha awkwardly stood up. The maknae captain says we don’t have time. Move, body.
When Doha stood up, Sehyun wrapped his arm around Doha’s shoulder.
‘Ugh…’
This kind of skinship isn’t good.
“How was it watching practice?”
“You were doing well.”
“Not that, memory.”
Sehyun laughed as if Doha’s answer was cute. A faint dimple appeared and disappeared on his cheek.
“Not at all…”
At Doha’s answer, Sehyun’s eyes became moistly distant. It was a face that looked lost in thought. Obviously, he must be reminiscing about the past.
‘But why does this bastard’s eyes get moist every time he looks at me?’
Actually, there was one unsettling aspect to this possession.
<From The Epic Flop Idol Gets Saved by the Maknae>
[All the efforts built up over a lifetime crumbled like a sandcastle swept away by waves.
The members blew up scandals one after another—scandals, drug controversies, violence, fraud—and the perfectly fine group fell to flop idol status in an instant. But even so, Sehyun was looking for his own way to survive. He couldn’t sink together with them. Variety shows, acting, musicals—he did everything he could.
But his countless efforts rushed toward an irreversible catastrophe when one member died.
Eventually, the team disbanded and the members either ended up in handcuffs or became alcoholics. Only then did Sehyun regret it.
Nothing remained around him. Colleagues, friends, family, memories, youth… Only after drifting so far it couldn’t be undone did he realize.
For Sehyun, OnX wasn’t simply a business. It was life itself, footsteps, youth itself, and the universe that made up the existence called Lim Sehyun.
I shouldn’t have only looked for my own way to survive. I should have protected the members.
If given another chance… Just one more time, if I could be with everyone…]
Before regression, Lim Sehyun’s OnX doesn’t just moderately fail—it explodes into smithereens. It was because the author pulled out all the settings to make the protagonist unhappy. Well, that would make the regression worth it.
Anyway, recalling this content, one uneasy suspicion begins to form.
That is, every time Sehyun’s eyes get moist when looking at me, and whenever I feel a gaze that seems to pierce through my face like now.
‘Even if I try to pretend not to know, I can’t help but know. The member who dies is Baek Doha.’
Even if he tries not to be conscious of it, isn’t he showing it with his whole body?
“Should I support you?”
…Is he saying he’ll give support or receive it? Move your arm first before you talk.
“Stick close to me from now on. Hyung.”
No.
“The maknae will take thorough care of you.”
Though it was a voice that sounded playful at first listen, he’d already noticed that the thorough care he was talking about wasn’t just referring to the leg injury. What kind of trick is this?
Doha lightly let Sehyun’s words go in one ear and out the other. And he scanned the company guide map attached next to the elevator.
Which way is the president’s office?
Doha’s head was filled only with the thought that if he didn’t want to die, he needed to burn the contract right away.
* * *
It was a continuous stretch of burdensome time where he didn’t even know if the food was going down his mouth or his nose. In the end, he asked Manager hyung and even took digestive medicine, but Doha was dragged back to the practice room.
‘Hyung, are you okay?’
‘I’ll go prick your finger for you.’
It was thanks to the grateful maknae who pretended to worry while holding on and not letting go of him until the end.
