Well now. The adult bastards have wronged this kid so much that I can’t even feel particularly annoyed.
But anyway, if he says he’ll endure the noise that’ll come from pushing forward with this song, then from here on isn’t it the marketing team’s role rather than mine?
Align the promotional direction with February 14th so the drunk driving accident doesn’t come to mind as much as possible…
—In the unknown fog
“Hm?”
The audio file of <DRIFT> with lower sound quality than before flowed out from the speakers again. When I looked back at the monitor, a video from the same folder was playing.
‘Choreography practice video?’
In the center was Go Won in comfortable clothes against the backdrop of a practice room.
‘…Is that you?’
The Quest Window couldn’t have much impact on reality, but occasionally it would push my back while pretending to be coincidental like this.
This seemed to be one of those moments.
“…I had autoplay on.”
“Ah, yes.”
It’s not like I was watching you that intently or anything…
Anyway, I guess this means I should watch this now. Or maybe it’s the Quest’s scheme to persuade me, since I’m still lukewarm about this work…
‘Huh?’
What the hell.
Can this really be the same person acting so clueless right now? He dances… well?
It doesn’t stop at dancing well—he dances every movement powerfully as if to shatter his bones, yet doesn’t show a hint of difficulty. He just fixated on the front with persistence and performed on stage.
As if he wouldn’t miss even a single moment of someone’s gaze watching him.
That applied to me outside the screen as well. With my eyes unable to leave the video, a spaced-out question flowed from my voice.
“…What was your position during the survival show?”
“……”
You should at least answer this, kid. But unexpected words reached my ears.
“…That was a month ago.”
“Huh?”
The same voice coming from the speakers, but somehow a mumbling tone continued the answer.
“So I’m saying I’m not dancing well. The choreography wasn’t completely fixed at that time, and it changed again while practicing for the stage.”
No, I wasn’t saying you danced badly.
“The moves I got wrong back then are all correct now.”
The voice saying that sounded genuinely upset.
It was the longest thing Go Won had said since coming here.
Hearing those words after watching him dance like that made my impression completely different from before.
“Wow…, haha.”
The practice video ended. The video ended with Go Won in the ending pose, panting.
I got up from my seat and grabbed Go Won’s wrist.
“?!”
He flinched in shock as if he’d have a seizure. It was the biggest change of expression he’d shown since coming here, but that wasn’t what was important.
“Follow me.”
“Huh?”
Oh, when he asks back in a tone like ‘what the hell are you saying, you bastard,’ that vocal quality from when he raps comes out a bit.
Go Won couldn’t bring himself to shake off his great senior’s hand. I dragged him out of the studio like that.
My heart rate rose steeply and the corners of my mouth lifted slightly. But my mind was so urgent that I didn’t even recognize that fact myself.
I entered the nearest practice room as if barging in. The 5th Division’s practice room was empty as always.
“What… are you doing?”
When we arrived there and I let go of his wrist, Go Won hid it in his arms as if retrieving something that had been stolen and shrank his body. The wariness he’d been suppressing grew so thick it bristled with thorns in all directions.
But that wasn’t what was important right now.
I settled down on the floor. And displayed audience manners by even clapping like a seal.
“Dance.”
“What?”
“Dance. With the song too.”
“……”
I’m pretty good at reading lips, and I totally saw him just mutter ‘crazy bastard.’
Regardless, I tapped the practice room floor while looking at Go Won who had gone pale.
“Why… are you doing this?”
Go Won squeezed out a word.
“Hey.”
“…Yes.”
“You can’t push forward with debuting with that song. Won’t it remind people of drunk driving with every single line of the lyrics? If your debut gets delayed like that, that old man we saw earlier will snatch your song away completely within a month.”
“……”
“Think of it as dancing in front of your last audience and perform. I brought you here to clap for you while watching that.”
“Ha…”
Go Won made a thoroughly pessimistic expression.
As if realizing anew that he couldn’t trust any adult in the world.
I played the audio file I’d received from Kwon Taeyoung on my phone.
The guy who had been hesitating until the intro flowed out slowly stretched his arms and legs. Since his senior was forcing him to dance, he did dance, but it was really half-hearted.
“Oh, the practice video from earlier was better. Should we just make that earlier one the final record of this song?”
When I poked at him, he raised his eyes that had never properly looked at me until now and met my gaze.
The stiffly moving body began to move fluidly in an instant.
It was a solo performance without proper costume, lighting, or even dancers.
However, Go Won sucked the surrounding gazes toward himself.
It’s not quite to the point of saying people who perform well on stage are common, but having lived as a singer for about 12 years, I’d witnessed it several times.
But Go Won’s stage, putting aside performing well, how should I describe it?
Right, sticky obsession dripped down from it.
Even if you’re mindlessly flipping through TV channels, if you see footage of someone climbing a cliff risking their life, wouldn’t your hand naturally stop and you feel the dizziness together?
Go Won’s stage had that kind of desperate appeal. You absolutely couldn’t take your eyes off it, and it seized your field of vision, making the stage seem full with just him alone.
‘Wow, what the hell is this guy?’
Why are you being gloomy when you have talent like this?
Thump, thump, thump. The sound of my heartbeat grew louder than the rapidly beating rhythm.
Behind the palm covering my lower face, I kept raising the corners of my mouth.
Hey, with skills like this, you should have been smashing Kwon Taeyoung’s office and raising hell asking what he’s going to do about your debut.
I understand why the entire 5th Division came running as if their own child had been scammed, trying to solve it.
They must genuinely think it’s a waste. This guy’s looks, narrative, atmosphere, and skills. They must have been preparing a knockout punch combining all of this.
Bang! With the final move, Go Won struck down as if to break the floor. I guess at twenty years old, his joints and bones are made of steel.
“That’s enough.”
Go Won came over panting and snatched my phone. Then turned off the music that was about to repeat.
“Yeah, you’re good.”
“……”
“I’d hate to have the song taken away too.”
“……”
And now that I’ve seen this, there’s absolutely no way I’ll let it be taken.
‘Quest Window.’
The Sunbae Who Paves a Flower Path Part 1
Debut as a K-POP singer in South Korea.
Q1-1. Crisis!
You’re in a situation where the debut you prepared with your utmost effort is about to collapse.
Break through the situation and safely release your precious album.
Upon success: Successful solo debut, acquire title [Rookie Singer]
Upon failure: Quest Scenario forced termination
Time limit: 526h 45m 49s (D-22)
‘Debut within 22 days…’
Since there’s not enough time, I can’t completely abandon that awesome F1 driver concept that already exists.
Most of all, the racer fit this song too perfectly.
In that they’re alone on a circuit risking their life, holding fierce blue passion and moving forward.
In that sense, this song called DRIFT must be protected at all costs, but the problem is that no matter how I think about it, the gap from the incident is too short.
“Can’t we postpone the debut date at all? If we had just two more weeks, it would be a bit more distant from the drunk driving.”
Stage 1 Goal: Flawless Debut
…Well, having already blown the trumpets in the public sphere nearly a month early is practically the same as boasting to fans, ‘Ah, something big is coming! Something good is coming!’
In this situation, if they slyly postpone the date, it would be annoying.
It would also be a good reason for the survival show winner’s fandom, already burning with poison, to throw spears at the company asking if they’re treating our kid this way after taking him.
Ha, then excluding everything else, within 22 days… a possible method…
“What could there be…”
The stage Go Won showed me still lingered. It feels like I could somehow combine this.
“…I’ll be going now.”
The guy tried to slip away while looking at me muttering to myself with strange eyes.
That ambiguous attitude was nothing but disagreeable until just now, but after seeing his passionate stage, it looked a bit different.
You really seem like you could have a debut that would flip K-pop upside down.
It’s a waste to collapse over something like this, you bastard.
Then I suddenly realized.
‘Ah.’
…I just need to show the stage.
Then the impression changes.
If you look ‘only’ at the <DRIFT> audio and concept, currently it naturally reminds you of the incident in question.
However, even I, who had no expectations of the guy, had a different impression after watching the stage. For three minutes, nothing came to mind except the thought that this song is ‘Go Won’s song.’
‘If I could convey that image to other people too.’
I ran toward the retreating back fleeing like an escape.
“Hey!”
Then I hugged the talented junior tightly from behind.
“Where are you going?”
“Wha, what! Why are you doing this!”
Go Won struggled as if really having a seizure this time.
In his trembling black pupils, my wide-eyed reflection appeared.
“Junior-nim, let me ask you one thing. You have to answer without bluffing.”
“Let, let go…”
“How many days does it take you to learn the choreography for one song? Ah, I’ll let go if you answer.”
The guy was horrified but couldn’t bring himself to shake off his great senior. The disadvantage of being grabbed from behind when we were similar builds also played a role. In the end, he answered as if gritting his teeth.
“…Easy ones take an hour, and tough ones need 3 hours…”
“Fuck, you pass.”
He was the perfect talent for what I was about to pull from now on.
