I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 27

Chapter 27

 

Perhaps because of the shock from the previous Code ranking ceremony, the bus heading to the dormitory was quiet after the judging ended. Not a single person could bring themselves to speak first.

It was especially so around Han Sang-yoon.

I was sitting beside Han Sang-yoon, but my gaze kept drifting toward the front of the bus.

Kang I-yul.

Sitting by the window, he was staring blankly outside.

There was an atmosphere around him that made me feel like I shouldn’t go near him.

No, to be precise, I felt like I had no right to approach him.

‘Ha…….’

But my gaze kept turning in his direction.

That was when it happened.

Fzzzt

The ceiling light of the bus flickered once.

“Huh?”

“What the–”

A few trainees looked up.

The light flickered unsteadily again.

Fzzzt, fzzzt.

The sound was strangely grating on my nerves.

“Is it because it’s old?”

Someone muttered casually.

A little while later…

“We’ve arrived. Everyone, get off!”

The bus arrived in front of the dormitory.

It was probably just an old lightbulb acting up, but apparently even little things could make people sensitive.

“Yes……”

One by one, the trainees got off the bus, and Kang I-yul also stood up.

I hurriedly moved toward the front, hoping to naturally strike up a conversation with him, even if it was just while getting off.

And just as Kang I-yul was about to descend the bus steps…

Pop!

With the sound of something bursting, the inside of the bus went completely dark.

“Ah!”

“……What?”

And I grabbed Kang I-yul almost reflexively.

He seemed to have lost his footing after being startled by the suddenly extinguished lights.

Thankfully, because I had been keeping a close eye on him the entire time, I managed to stop him from falling.

“……Ugh!”

Instead, our balance was thrown off badly.

Our shoulders collided hard on the narrow steps.

“What happened? Are you both okay?”

“Are you hurt?”

The staff came running over belatedly, startled.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

The emergency lights came on, faintly illuminating the inside of the bus.

I caught my breath and checked on Kang I-yul first.

“I-yul, are you okay?”

I-yul nodded slightly.

“…Yes. Thank you.”

‘Thank goodness.’

A relieved breath escaped me at those words.

At that moment, I heard the staff talking behind me.

“That’s strange… We only replaced the bulb recently.”

The driver also tilted his head.

“Yeah. It hasn’t even been a week, has it?”

A light that hadn’t even been there for a week had gone out at this exact moment?

And right when Kang I-yul was going down the steps?

‘No way……’

If I hadn’t grabbed him, I-yul definitely would have twisted his ankle.

I caught sight of I-yul’s back as he walked away.

Maybe because of the transparent status window, the risk level seemed to shimmer above Kang I-yul’s head.

[Risk Level: 87%]

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

And then I noticed his slightly limping gait.

“……?”

My heart sank.

The impact from earlier must have been worse than I thought.

My body moved before I could think.

“I-yul!”

I ran straight toward him.

“…Hyung?”

He looked surprised.

Without even properly catching my breath, I blurted out,

“L-Let’s go buy some pain patches together.”

“What?”

“No, I mean… I bumped my shoulder a little while catching you, you know? And it looks like you got hurt too.”

‘No.’

Who the hell suggests going to a pharmacy with an injured person when their leg hurts?

In my rush, my words had gotten completely tangled.

“I have pain patches.”

“…….”

“I’ll give you mine.”

In the end, I just awkwardly accepted the pain patch from him.

I unnecessarily added,

“Make sure you put one on your ankle too.”

“Yes.”

“Be really careful, and watch where you’re going.”

He looked puzzled, but I couldn’t say anything more.

‘It’s because I can see your risk level.’

How could I possibly say that?

When I returned to my room, my shoulder began to throb.

Apparently, I had hit it harder than I thought.

I stared down at the pain patch in my hand for a long time.

But in the end, I didn’t put it on.

There was no particular reason.

I just wanted to save it for when I was really in pain.

 

***

 

The next day.

The trainees gathered in the first-floor studio and looked bewildered by the outfits that had suddenly been handed to them.

“What is this?”

They were casual training clothes.

Except there was a huge ‘BOY’S CODE’ written across the back.

“Why are we suddenly getting these?”

I snickered as soon as I received the outfit.

‘So this is what it is.’

Nix Entertainment, which had failed to find a decent sponsor until right before the program began production, had received sponsorship late.

The colors were divided according to Code.

The debut lineup wore red, Codes 6–10 wore yellow, and Codes 11–20 wore black.

On top of that, the debut lineup’s training clothes even had individual embroidered designs.

“Now they’re discriminating against us based on clothes too…”

“Still, black is pretty normal.”

It wasn’t even an ordinary yellow.

It was a painfully bright yellow.

I felt like I had turned into a chick.

When I watched it on television, I had admired how well Kang I-yul pulled off even a color like that… I never expected I’d end up wearing it myself.

“Hello, everyone!”

A little while later, Kang Se-jun also appeared wearing a tracksuit.

“Wow, the newly made clothes look really good on you!”

And naturally, he turned his body at an angle where the brand logo was clearly visible.

‘Professionals really are different.’

“The reason we’ve gathered here today! As you probably guessed, it’s to reveal the Round 3 mission!”

He walked toward the large curtain covering the back of the studio.

Whoosh!

When the curtain was pulled aside, exclamations erupted from among the trainees.

 

[CODE MISSION 3: Where is your Place?]

-The boys have reached the third gateway.

There is only one way to solve the Code: Reinterpret a legendary idol’s hit song.

 

A huge chart displayed the titles of four songs along with their detailed positions.

“This mission is to reinterpret a legendary idol’s hit song.”

Kang Se-jun pointed toward the chart.

“You will personally choose the song and position that suit you best.”

The trainees’ eyes changed.

This time, they weren’t simply choosing teams.

They also had to secure their positions first.

“Awesome, I’m definitely doing ‘Poison.’”

“I want that killing part.”

I quietly scanned the chart.

In my head, the stages from before my regression were already playing automatically.

“The right to choose songs and positions will proceed according to Code order……”

Kang Se-jun paused for effect.

“…No, it won’t.”

“Wow!”

“Thank goodness.”

‘Is it really something to be thankful for?’

There was no way the production staff would be that merciful.

“First, the debut lineup trainees will get first pick of the songs as a first-place benefit.”

“What? That’s basically the same thing.”

Some trainees complained about the rule that was practically just wordplay.

As if he had anticipated this reaction, Kang Se-jun continued.

“After that, the selection will proceed according to the order of the trainees who ranked first on each team.”

“That’s somewhat better.”

“What…? Then we’re going to get completely pushed aside.”

The trainees’ reactions were sharply divided between joy and disappointment.

“Then, we’ll officially begin selecting the teams.”

Juhan unhesitatingly chose the killing-part position for ‘Born to be.’

‘He made a legend with that one.’

Second, Choi Un-jo chose the main rapper position for ‘Blooming.’

And then it was Go Jae-seong’s turn.

‘He’ll choose the killing part for ‘Stop!’.’

I watched without any tension.

The direction he headed was also toward ‘Stop!’.

But then Go Jae-seong suddenly changed direction.

“……?”

And where he stopped was…

[Blooming: Sub Vocal 1]

‘All of a sudden?’

I instinctively covered my mouth.

It was a choice completely different from the future I remembered before my regression.

And on top of that…

‘Of all parts, it’s I-yul’s.’

This was an unexpected variable.

Before my regression, I-yul had taken the Sub Vocal position for ‘Blooming’, and he had created a killing part for himself that was even more captivating than the actual killing part.

It was a scene where he slowly swept a flower over his face with an aching, wistful expression, matching the Korean-style atmosphere of the song.

‘I thought I was finally going to see that with my own two eyes!!!’

As always, that bastard was absolutely useless when it came to helping.

‘Stay calm.’

I forcibly steadied my breathing.

I still had Plan B.

‘Since things have turned out like this, I’m going all in on getting on the same team as I-yul.’

“Trainee Yoo Seong-woo, Code 6, please proceed.”

“Yes!”

I strode forward.

Toward [Shadow Play: Main Vocal].

Now it was I-yul’s turn, the first-place trainee from the third-place team.

I prayed inwardly to every god I knew.

But for some reason, I-yul headed toward [Blooming: Main Vocal].

‘What the hell? Why are you doing this? Did you secretly want the main vocal position?!’

Fortunately, after briefly looking over the chart, he turned his body.

Only then could I breathe again.

Cold sweat poured down my back during that brief moment.

After thinking for a while, I-yul slowly reached out his hand.

 

[Shadow Play: Sub Vocal 1]

 

“……Yes!”

“……?”

A single shout escaped me before I could stop it.

Kang I-yul looked at me strangely.

I hurriedly turned my gaze away, but I couldn’t stop a smile from escaping.

‘I’m saved.’

Go Jae-seong had created a variable, but I knew what came after that variable.

In an interview before my regression, I-yul had said that he had agonized over choosing between ‘Blooming’ and ‘Shadow Play’ until the very end.

‘All those ten-plus replays were worth it.’

And so, the positions gradually filled up one by one.

Han Sang-yoon barely managed to keep the position he had held before my regression, [Shadow Play: Sub Vocal 2].

‘Let’s see, our team is…’

“Hmm.”

So this was when people used the phrase ‘one mountain after another.’

Unlike Round 2, this was a troublesome combination.

Go Jae-seong choosing ‘Blooming’ had caused two people on this team to change.

One was me, and the other was…

“Wow, this is a combination where all of us have been in the debut lineup at least once, right?”

Jang Hyeon-jun.

He was one of the guys who had followed Go Jae-seong onto the Sexy Team and ended up becoming part of the debut lineup by accident.

The last one was Nam Jun-ho.

He was also a trainee who had chosen the Sexy Team in the previous round.

‘Jang Hyeon-jun is unexpected too.’

Before my regression, he had followed Go Jae-seong around until the very end, so I naturally thought he would choose ‘Blooming’.

But this time, he chose the killing part of ‘Shadow Play.’

‘The flow has changed again.’

I didn’t know whether Go Jae-seong had abandoned him or Jang Hyeon-jun had distanced himself.

But there was one thing I knew for certain. The future from before my regression was now only something I could use as a reference.

Still, with I-yul and Han Sang-yoon here, it wasn’t the worst.

“Let’s figure out the direction of the arrangement first.”

Han Sang-yoon naturally took on the role of leader. But the problem I had anticipated immediately erupted.

“I think it’d be good if we went completely hip-hop.”

“Honestly, I think ‘Born to be’ will probably go with hip-hop, so let’s go completely wild.”

“I……”

I-yul cautiously opened his mouth, but his voice was drowned out by that loud guy.

“Wouldn’t it be more fun if we did hip-hop? Honestly, if we want to create a performance atmosphere, we need hip-hop.”

“I don’t know. It’s not like we’re performing on a stage with an audience right now–”

The words wouldn’t stop.

It felt like a ping-pong ball was being volleyed back and forth at insane speed.

“I think it’d be better to do a completely different genre.”

When Han Sang-yoon calmly suggested it, Nam Jun-ho immediately countered.

“But if it’s too different, wouldn’t people react negatively?”

I-yul, who had been quietly waiting for an opportunity, finally got his chance to speak.

“Looking at the lyrics, I think it has kind of a scary feeling.”

At that moment, a light bulb switched on inside my head.

‘That’s insane. Is he a genius?’

Actually, since I had naturally planned to follow I-yul and choose ‘Blooming’ this round, I had never thought about the direction for arranging ‘Shadow Play.’

But from that one thing I-yul had just said, an idea immediately came to me.

“What’s scary about the lyrics? It’s just a cute song about playing shadow games together.”

“Isn’t that pushing it a little too far?”

“Hyung, I think he’s right. I think this should be hip-hop.”

But right now, everyone had too many things they wanted to argue for.

‘Last time, they were too quiet, and that was a headache… I’m almost starting to miss those days.’

On top of that, all of them had been in the debut lineup at least once, so none of them were willing to back down. Even the two guys who wouldn’t have dared oppose Han Sang-yoon before had now completely reversed the situation.

From Han Sang-yoon and Kang I-yul’s perspective, it was enough to hurt their pride.

“The last Sexy Team stage succeeded because I came up with a lot of the ideas.”

“He just kind of rode along with me. I was the one who actually came up with the ideas that were genuinely useful, you know?”

‘Ah, it feels like my ears are bleeding.’

I can see it.

I can already see it.

The stage that was going to turn into a macaron-mala-tang-tteokbokki shop.