Doha picked up the water bottle next to him and brought it to his mouth.
Haram had recently been safely separated from his family with the company’s help. He thought he’d be very depressed, but Haram actually went around grinning more than before. And starting from that incident, he clung to him very intimately. Like now.
“Hyung, I think you’ve lost weight lately.”
Haram said while poking Doha’s arm. His words were right.
“If you’re tormented by an evil spirit, you can’t help but lose weight.”
“Evil spirit?”
“Lim Sehyun.”
“Ah.”
At Doha’s words, Haram burst into a chuckle.
“You two seem really close these days.”
“Your eyes aren’t good.”
What was the definition of being close? Could a relationship of exploiting and being exploited be called close? It was a part that made him think a lot.
“That Lim Sehyun who dumped me here and hasn’t shown even a glimpse of himself, and me?”
“He said he’s in the final stages of working on a song. You know from hearing it constantly, hyung.”
It seemed one of those songs playing on infinite repeat 24 hours was nearing completion. Whether he did or not, the directive given for now was to master the choreography.
After drinking water and catching his breath, Doha looked at Haram.
“Is there no one bullying you these days?”
“Ah…… We’re preparing for a lawsuit.”
“Lawsuit?”
“The company and I were talking about quietly ending the relationship, but Sehyun came out strongly……”
It seemed Lim Sehyun was solving things forcefully again. But there was nothing particularly to worry about.
“Just do whatever Lim Sehyun wants.”
“Hyung really trusts Sehyun.”
Rather than trust, it’s because I know the behind-the-scenes of this world. Because it’s something the regressed protagonist does.
“Can you win against Lim Sehyun’s stubbornness?”
“Uh…… I don’t know. Sehyun is really strange these days.”
Strange, right. Completely strange, right. Because he’s crazy.
“He’s really interested in the members, proactive…… But it feels harder to deal with him.”
An unrestrained colt. That’s the perfect expression.
“Just leave him alone. That’s easier.”
Who can beat that temper?
Lim Sehyun is someone who will go crazy if he can’t relieve his grudge. So right now when he’s full of motivation, you shouldn’t touch him. The more you stimulate him, the more fiercely he’ll flip his eyes and rush at you.
The sweat had cooled. This sensation was becoming familiar now. It was a sensation he absolutely didn’t want to adapt to.
They say humans are animals of adaptation, but he was becoming afraid he might adapt to this life.
Then, Yunbeom, who had been loosening his ankles in the distance, trudged toward where the two were. He thought they’d start round 2, but Yunbeom, who reached in front of the two, massaged his shoulder with his large hand and opened his mouth.
“Sorry for getting angry.”
It seemed after thinking about it, he felt somewhat sorry for getting angry just now.
‘If you’re going to be unlucky, be consistently unlucky……’
Doha didn’t like this Asura Baron-like attitude of Yunbeom. I mean, not the personality that gets angry but this personality that apologizes! Why are you trying to make peace!
“Hyung, hyung.”
The action of Haram encouraging reconciliation from the side, and Eden watching and laughing. What will everyone do if they end up getting attached like this? Really not knowing how scary people are.
“Hyungs! Your cute maknae is here!”
Then, the practice room door opened noisily and a familiar voice was heard. Sehyun appeared in the practice room with a beaming face.
How could he attach the title ‘cute maknae’ to himself with his own mouth? As expected, he was definitely a crazy person.
“Let’s try again. I’ll teach you.”
Yunbeom held out his hand. The palm that came before his eyes was full of calluses.
‘Sigh.’
In the end, Doha ended up taking that hand while receiving everyone’s gazes.
“Huh? Was there something fun while I was gone?”
Sehyun was running over bouncing. The day was long, and these guys were scary.
* * *
Eventually, that day came. Battle Crown preliminary rehearsal day.
Half asleep, he was dragged to the shop to get dolled up, and entered the set bustling with people. The cameras weren’t rolling yet, but his hands were already trembling with tension.
He ate Cheongsimhwan in the car, but his palms naturally got wet from the pressure that filming would soon start. He was confused whether this was real or a dream.
Sehyun, who noticed Doha was nervous, put his hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t leaning his body like usual, but when he felt the familiar weight on his shoulder, this unrealistic situation didn’t feel entirely like a dream.
“Are you nervous?”
While walking across the long stage with flashy lights, Sehyun asked in a small voice only audible to Doha. Doha inadvertently nodded.
“You practiced a lot. You were flailing even while sleeping yesterday.”
“That’s just called convulsions.”
How desperate must he be to have seizures even while sleeping? He felt like he’d get neurosis. Thanks to that, he could focus on practice without a moment to think of other things like a running racehorse. It was the first time in his life he’d worked this hard on something. It was forcibly injected diligence and sincerity.
“What are you nervous about? Are there any other people here besides us who can tell hyung can’t do it?”
“How very encouraging.”
One corner of Sehyun’s mouth stretched long. He’d seen that sinister expression occasionally. For instance, it resembled the expression he made right before rolling him hard.
“OnX, please stand by for rehearsal!”
At the staff’s shout, OnX quickly headed to the center of the stage.
* * *
Since Battle Crown’s identity was a competition program, they filmed all the rehearsals too. The charm of competitions was behind-the-scenes videos.
Today was the day before the actual filming. Teams were divided into those rehearsing on the day of the actual performance due to stage equipment and facilities, and those rehearsing in advance with relatively more time, and this time they decided to rehearse in advance.
“It’s just practice anyway, so don’t be nervous.”
Yunbeom, who had been in the practice room more than anyone, said to Doha as if tossing the words. Yunbeom dressed in stage costume was showing a very professional side, unlike his tracksuit appearance in the practice room.
Doha kept hypnotizing himself inside. This is the practice room. That practice room where he sprawled out every day.
“Now, stand straight. Um, Haram a little more to the left. Okay.”
His pounding heart gradually began to calm down upon hearing the familiar blocking check sounds. Soon, familiar music flowed out.
The first competition song was the team’s representative song for the face-to-face ceremony. They had to perform the most loved song in front of other teams.
Right now, there was nothing else in Doha’s head. Just the choreography and lyrics he memorized by rote. He erased everything unnecessary from his head to the point of forgetting how to hold a spoon.
Boom boom, as soon as the drum beat signaling the start was heard, Doha’s body reacted like a machine that operates when a button is pressed. It was the moment the arduous special training shone.
First was blocking rehearsal. Position and timing confirmation on stage. Light sound check was also conducted together, but up to here it was no different from what they did in the practice room. However, after finishing the blocking rehearsal, a problem occurred in the camera rehearsal.
“When exiting here, you’re caught on camera. Here Eden and Doha hyung collided, and why did you slip here?”
There were more rough parts than expected. Even though they intentionally positioned Doha inconspicuously and excluded him from difficult performances, there were problems.
“I think it’ll be fine with just a little organizing. When going off camera, don’t go diagonally, try going in a straight line.”
“Okay.”
“When the camera turns, Eden stand by immediately. Stop when turning and make eye contact clearly. Be careful of your knees here.”
Sehyun gave feedback quickly. Unlike Doha who was gasping for breath and frantic, he was quick at identifying and solving problems.
“Let’s try one more time.”
Like that, the rehearsal continued. Once, twice, the more they continued, the more they aligned and problems were solved. He could feel in real-time that it was being completed. A sense of pleasure arose.
“You’re doing well.”
The carrot thrown by Sehyun, who only wielded the whip in the practice room, seemed quite sweet.
* * *
The stormy rehearsal ended. He was dazed about how Sehyun’s picky okay fell, but anyway it was a good thing. The members were preparing to leave the set after finishing the last blocking check.
“It’s OnX.”
But then, unfamiliar people entered the set. It was the team that would rehearse after OnX.
“Hello.”
Haram, who discovered them first, greeted. Originally the rule was for appearing teams to keep their identities secret from each other, but in fact, which teams were appearing was already known through articles.
“Greet them moderately. Hyung.”
Sehyun who saw them said to Doha casually. At that, Doha just bowed his head in greeting. They mostly exchanged moderate greetings and passed OnX.
“Wow. It’s been a while, everyone. Have you been well?”
Among them, a man with yellow hair approached OnX and opened his mouth.
