The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut Chapter 19

“Let’s decide on the center first.”

 

I hurriedly cut in to stop the atmosphere from overheating. 

 

“Hey, didn’t you hear what he just said? Aren’t you even angry?”

 

Yoo Sung grabbed my shoulder, looking frustrated.

 

Was I angry?

 

The verbal abuse spat out by a mere trainee didn’t make me feel anything at all.

 

“Gilhyung didn’t mean it seriously either, right?” 

 

I said, smiling at Joo Gilhyung.

 

Whether he realized his mistake or not, Joo Gilhyung awkwardly avoided my gaze and nodded.

 

Yoo Sung clicked his tongue loudly, clearly displeased that Joo Gilhyung was now backing out after saying everything he wanted. 

 

“Anyway, let’s pick the center. Anyone want to do it?”

 

Yoo Sung, who had been hesitating until moments ago, now confidently raised his hand.

 

“Me.”

 

“Anyone besides Sung?”

 

Okada stared at me with sparkling eyes, but I intentionally ignored him.

 

“Then, should we go with Sung?”

 

“I want to be the center, too.”

 

Joo Gilhyung raised his hand and spoke.

 

I smirked inwardly.

 

Right, it would be disappointing if you just let it slide.

 

I looked back and forth between Yoo Sung and Joo Gilhyung with a contemplative expression.

 

“Uh… then should we decide by a vote? To see who would be better as the center.”

 

“Isn’t that too unfair?”

 

Joo Gilhyung cut in again, seemingly having no intention of making this easy.

 

Yoo Sung was doing his best to hold back, but he looked like he was about to explode.

 

“Unfair? How?”

 

“You’ll obviously vote for Yoo Sung. You’re in the same guild, and you’re close.”

 

Are Yoo Sung and I close?

 

I had worked hard to make it look that way, so I felt a bit proud to have my efforts recognized.

 

“And that Japanese guy will probably vote for Yoo Sung too. Won’t he?”

 

Okada, who had been pointed out, flinched.

 

Well, as for Okada… he would probably vote for either me or Yoo Sung.

 

Since I said I’d vote for Yoo Sung, the choice was clear.

 

I thought he lacked tact, but it seemed he wasn’t completely oblivious.

 

“Then Yoo Sung gets at least three votes. I get two at most. Isn’t this way too unfair?”

 

“Hmm….”

 

To be honest, it was nonsense not even worth considering, but I intentionally tapped my chin with my finger as if I were thinking it over.

 

“Then, Gilhyung, are you saying we should pick the center through a method other than voting? How do you want to choose?”

 

Joo Gilhyung chuckled, then looked at Yoo Sung and spoke.

 

“Well, obviously… the person who doesn’t suit the center position should yield.”

 

“Yield…?”

 

What kind of nonsense was this now?

 

To anyone watching, the person who suited the center was Yoo Sung.

 

Did that mean Joo Gilhyung was saying he would yield?

 

If so, he should just do it quickly; why was he being so vague?

 

“Then, Gilhyung, if you’re yielding—”

 

“You do it.”

 

Yoo Sung, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up.

 

Startled, I whipped my head around to look at him.

 

Yoo Sung was glaring at Joo Gilhyung with his head lowered.

 

“If you want to be center that badly, then you do it, Joo Gilhyung.”

 

“What? Sung, I thought you wanted to be center?”

 

What was wrong with him now?

 

I tried to stop him in my confusion, but Yoo Sung seemed to have already made up his mind.

 

“I’m done.”

 

“Hey, you…”

 

“I’m really fine. Tell him to do it.”

 

“Well, if that’s what you want.”

 

I had no choice but to nod at Yoo Sung’s firm attitude.

 

Even though he had become the center, Joo Gilhyung didn’t look happy.

 

“Obnoxious b*stard….” 

 

Joo Gilhyung muttered in a barely audible voice before standing up abruptly and walking out of the practice room.

 

I stood there, alternating my gaze between Joo Gilhyung’s retreating back and Yoo Sung, who was watching a stage video of Starlight on a tablet, lost in thought.

 

‘There’s something I don’t know about.’ 

 

I felt like I needed to find out what that ‘something’ was.

 

“Hyung.”

 

Whether Okada felt very uncomfortable with the current situation or not, he stuck right next to me and whispered softly. 

 

“これから どうしよう？ (What should we do now?)”

 

“There’s no need to worry.”

 

I spoke with sincerity.

 

“Everything will turn out fine.”

 

These weren’t just empty words to reassure Okada.

 

It really would be okay.

 

When it came to the most important center position…. 

 

Because Yoo Sung will end up being the center anyway.

 

There was no need to worry.

 

*    *    *

 

We learned the choreography and divided the parts.

 

Joo Gilhyung, who had become the center, didn’t seem particularly interested in the stage.

 

Throughout the meeting, he sat there with a disinterested expression and didn’t say a single word.

 

As soon as the meeting ended, he vanished in the blink of an eye, saying he was going to eat with other trainees.

 

“Should we practice after eating?”

 

Everyone nodded, seemingly hungry.

 

I waved my hand toward Yoo Sung, Okada, and Seo Yijae.

 

“Go ahead and eat. I’ll wait here.”

 

“Aren’t you going to eat, Hyung?”

 

“No. I’m not that hungry.”

 

Actually, it wasn’t that I wasn’t hungry, but I lied. 

 

The three of them believed me completely and went off to eat.

 

Left alone in the practice room, I checked my parts while watching the Starlight stage video on the tablet.

 

‘As expected… I have the least.’

 

Excluding the center, Joo Gilhyung, the parts were distributed based on skill level.

 

Yoo Sung, who was good at everything, took the second most parts; Okada, being a good dancer, focused on the dance breaks; and Seo Yijae took the vocal-heavy sections.

 

I took a few parts that weren’t difficult but didn’t stand out either, along with one center part.

 

This is enough.

 

Even if I might fall behind in the live audience voting, looking at it long-term, my choice wasn’t wrong. 

 

While I was checking my parts and practicing, Yoo Sung, Okada, and Seo Yijae returned from their meal.

 

“Where’s Gilhyung?”

 

“Who knows.”

 

Yoo Sung said with a shrug.

 

I hadn’t expected him to participate in practice diligently, but I didn’t think he’d be this reckless.

 

“He’ll… probably be like this until the day of the performance.”

 

Yoo Sung clicked his tongue.

 

“He’s just not desperate. He can easily debut elsewhere. He only came here… to get famous.”

 

I suddenly became curious.

 

The LMH trainees who failed to make the debut group could relatively easily join other agencies to continue their dreams of becoming idols.

 

Surely Yoo Sung had received love calls from other agencies as well, and some of them must have been quite decent.

 

So why did he reject them all to appear on EX-class K-POP Idol?

 

‘No, in the first place… why did he fail to make the debut line?’

 

Yoo Sung continued with a pained expression.

 

“His insistence on being center… was just to spite me.”

 

“Did something happen with Gilhyung when you were at LMH?”

 

“Something? Ha… you’re asking if something happened?”

 

Yoo Sung looked like he had a lot to say, but in the end, he said nothing.

 

“…I’m going to go get some fresh air.”

 

“Don’t be too late.”

 

“….”

 

Yoo Sung left without answering.

 

‘It seems the rift is deeper than I thought.’ 

 

However, I didn’t worry about Yoo Sung.

 

He was more serious about debuting than anyone else, and he would soon compose himself and practice hard.

 

“Shall we practice amongst ourselves for now?”

 

At my words, Okada and Seo Yijae nodded.

 

The center was missing, and so was Yoo Sung, who had the most parts after the center, but we still had to do what we had to do.

 

*    *    *

 

Okada, Seo Yijae, and I practiced without rest.

 

Seo Yijae followed our practice silently, but after two hours, his physical strength seemed to have reached its limit.

 

Bending over, Seo Yijae reached a hand out toward us.

 

“Let’s… let’s just rest for a moment.”

 

“Yes, sounds good.”

 

I quickly sat on the floor and gulped down some bottled water.

 

I had grabbed it before practice, and it had turned lukewarm while we were working.

 

“Maybe it’s because you’re young… you have great stamina.”

 

Seo Yijae, sprawled out on the floor, murmured as if talking to himself.

 

I smiled at him and said,

 

“I’m still lacking compared to a marathon gold medalist.”

 

“A marathon gold medal? What are you… ah.”

 

Realizing what I was talking about, Seo Yijae’s eyes widened.

 

“You saw that?”

 

“I make sure to watch it every year.”

 

“That’s embarrassing….”

 

“What are you guys talking about?”

 

Okada, who had been listening to our conversation, cut in.

 

“Do you know about the Idol Summer Olympics?”

 

“Ah, I’ve heard of it!”

 

I pointed at Seo Yijae and laughed playfully.

 

“Yijae Hyung won a gold medal in the marathon event.”

 

“That was years ago….”

 

Seo Yijae turned his head away, looking embarrassed.

 

“Gold medal?”

 

“金メダル、1位取ったって。 (Gold medal. He said he took first place.)”

 

“1位？ (First place?) That’s amazing!”

 

Seo Yijae let out a groan as he sat up.

 

“It’s all in the past.”

 

“Still. The marathon is the highlight of the Summer Olympics.”

 

“It’s just a variety show.”

 

Seo Yijae was right.

 

The Idol Summer Olympics was just a variety show.

 

But Seo Yijae had grit his teeth and run that marathon.

 

Not just him, but the other Winter Boys members had also done their best to win medals in the events they entered.

 

Because only by doing well and winning a medal could they promote the name of Winter Boys to the public even one more time.

 

“It’s on my bucket list. Winning a gold medal at the Idol Summer Olympics.”

 

“That’s modest.”

 

“It’s not modest. I have to debut first, and then I have to get invited.”

 

“…Sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

 

I said with a shrug.

 

Phew….

 

After catching his breath sufficiently, Seo Yijae spoke to me.

 

“Why did you pick me?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“You must have had many options, so why someone like me….”

 

Seo Yijae was a useful person to have.

 

His skills weren’t bad, but his self-esteem was low, so he generally followed whatever his teammates wanted to do.

 

It was just that he didn’t talk much because of burnout; he always practiced hard.

 

However, I hadn’t chosen Seo Yijae simply because he was skilled and obedient.

 

“I was just… a fan.”

 

“A fan?”

 

“Of Winter Boys.”

 

“What? No way.”

 

Seo Yijae flatly denied my words as if they were impossible.

 

“Huh? Why don’t you believe me?”

 

“There’s no way… anyone would like Winter Boys.”

 

“Well, I liked them. You were once invited to the year-end stage hosted by Music Day after you debuted.”

 

“…!”

 

Seo Yijae looked startled by my words.

 

“I started liking you after seeing that stage.”

 

“You… saw that?”

 

It was truly a miracle that Winter Boys had been invited to Music Day’s year-end stage.

 

It was because their debut results were quite good thanks to their unique concept and addictive song.

 

Of course, their subsequent comebacks were successive failures, making their debut performance their career high.

 

Winter Boys had danced and sung with everything they had on that miraculously secured year-end stage.

 

That image was so impressive… that even though several years had passed, I still remembered the prominent veins in Seo Yijae’s neck as he strained.

 

“So… let’s debut together, Hyung.”

 

I smiled as I thought to myself.

 

You’re better than this.