I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 28

Chapter 28

 

It had already been three hours since the meeting began.

And yet, we were still going over the same things.

At this point, it wasn’t simply going around in circles. It was more like running your ass off on a treadmill without getting anywhere.

“I think hip-hop is the right choice.”

‘That fucking hip-hop fanatic, Jang Hyeon-jun.’

He lived for hip-hop and died for hip-hop, and if he didn’t do hip-hop, thorns would probably grow in his mouth. That was probably why Go Jae-seong kept him around as a lackey.

The guy even had his tracksuit pants sagging.

“Hmm. Wouldn’t it be better to go with an urban feel and keep it clean?”

The problem was that Han Sang-yoon absolutely refused to back down either.

He had been Code 2 until yesterday, only to plummet all the way down to Code 8 overnight.

‘Even Han Sang-yoon must be anxious.’

“Wouldn’t ‘clean’… make it a little too ordinary?”

‘They’re starting to treat each other as being on a similar level now.’

Once Nam Jun-ho joined in, the conversation returned to square one.

Hip-hop.

Urban.

Hip-hop.

Urban.

I had no idea how many times we had gone back and forth between those damn hip-hop and urban arguments.

“Wait a second.”

In the end, I raised my hand.

“Let’s just split it up.”

“…Split it up?”

I pointed to both sides with my fingers.

“One hip-hop version, and one urban version.”

Everyone looked at me as if they had no idea what I was talking about.

“We’ll prepare choreography for both, then decide during the midpoint evaluation.”

“…….”

Silence fell.

“Ah……”

As expected, Han Sang-yoon was the first to understand.

“You mean we should see the reactions and choose?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“There’s no point in continuing to talk right now. None of us are willing to give up our opinions anyway.”

Kang I-yul also shrugged slightly.

“Wait, then–”

Jang Hyeon-jun frowned.

“You want us to prepare both?”

“Yes. Well, technically, we’d split it fifty-fifty.”

“Who’s going to do all that?”

“…We are?”

Why was he asking something so obvious?

“Does that even make sense?”

“What makes even less sense is what we’re doing right now.”

I lightly tapped the table.

“We haven’t decided anything for three hours. All the other teams are already working on their choreography…”

This time, no one could argue.

Even you guys had to admit that three hours was hopeless, right?

“And besides–”

I slowly looked around.

“We’re finished if we get destroyed at the midpoint evaluation anyway.”

Of course, I had something to rely on as well.

Because of Go Jae-seong, the entire team had changed, making the outcome of this round impossible to predict.

‘That bastard.’

Who would take which part, where the reactions would explode, who would survive. Every future I had known had been completely twisted by a single choice from Go Jae-seong.

And yet, there was exactly one event that hadn’t changed.

The original singer’s surprise evaluation.

Perhaps because they had put extra effort into the final round of Part 1 of the survival show, it was a surprise event that existed only in Round 3.

‘I just need to hold out for one day.’

We had agreed to decide at the midpoint evaluation, but that decision would come tomorrow.

Getting destroyed in front of the original singer would be embarrassing, but that was exactly why it would probably be more effective.

“Of course, even before then…”

I returned to reality.

“If something overwhelmingly good comes out, then we should go with that.”

This time, it stayed quiet for quite a while.

‘If you don’t like it, then come up with something fucking amazing.’

“Hmm……”

After a short sigh, Han Sang-yoon spoke first.

“…Okay. Let’s try it that way.”

“Why are you going along with this too, hyung?”

Jang Hyeon-jun immediately objected.

“This just means we’re going to spend twice as much time.”

“We’re already spending time.”

Han Sang-yoon replied calmly.

“Without deciding anything.”

“…….”

“Isn’t it better to at least do something?”

This time, Nam Jun-ho spoke.

“But will we have enough time to prepare the stage?”

As he said it, he jerked his chin toward me.

‘This fucking rude bastard.’

He was openly asking whether we would be short on time because of me.

“That’s true. If we’re looking at it that way, I’m the biggest problem.”

I immediately fired back.

“You guys are all faster than me, aren’t you?”

A suffocating silence descended. Everyone watched one another.

“Either way, I’ll be the one arranging it, so I’ll arrange it according to whichever side gets chosen.”

“No, you’re really going that far…?”

Nam Jun-ho looked at me with a flustered expression instead.

Right.

If the guy who was the least skilled among them was saying he’d do it even with the tight schedule, there wasn’t much they could say.

“Okay.”

“……Yeah.”

In the end, everyone nodded.

‘Done.’

It wasn’t a perfect solution.

If anything, it was an inefficient way to work as a team. But right now, this was the best option.

Trying to forcibly bind together people this prideful, and people who were actually quite skilled, into a single unit?

They wouldn’t be bound together.

They were obviously going to explode.

‘They need to get torn down by someone better than them.’

Go ahead and act as superior as you want. By tomorrow, those high noses of theirs would be properly knocked down.

 

While everyone was busy practicing, the speakers suddenly turned on again.

 

[All trainees, please gather in the studio.]

 

“Again?”

“We already don’t have enough time to practice…”

“Isn’t this the second time we’ve been called together today?”

I went over the timeline in my head.

If there was a reason they would suddenly call us into the studio around this point in time……

‘The teaser is out.’

As expected, a teaser thumbnail was displayed on the screen.

 

[BOY’S CODE TEASER]

 

“What? The teaser is already out?”

“Awesome…”

Everyone looked excited.

The camera busily swept over their faces.

‘They’re getting our reactions.’

Dun-dun

The video began with an unnecessarily grand sound effect.

[Idols? There are just too many of them these days……]

[Male idols are all pretty much the same.]

The voices had been distorted as if the speakers had inhaled helium gas.

[Idol survival shows? Aren’t they all rigged anyway?]

[It’s so hard to find a well-rounded idol these days.]

[It’s an era where only the big agencies survive—]

Countless remarks piled up, and then, accompanied by flashy CG, the [BOY’S CODE] logo dropped onto the screen.

Boom!

“Whoa, what the hell?”

[A true survival show that will open a new chapter in idol survival shows is coming!]

“Oh……”

Honestly, you could tell they had spent some money.

Flashy screen transitions and grand BGM that made your heart pound.

[A rigged survival show? We evaluate you solely on skill and star quality.]

Along with the line, the faces of Joo-Han, Han Sang-yoon, and Kang I-yul appeared one after another.

They had clearly gathered only the guys who were visuals.

When three brutally handsome guys appeared one after another, it suddenly made the quality of the program feel much higher.

[Oh, right. You know visuals are also a skill for idols, right?]

Joo-Han, the classic handsome idol type with dazzling visuals. Han Sang-yoon, a warm and gentle handsome type. And Kang I-yul, whose appearance gave off a chilly feeling, but whose entire atmosphere changed when he smiled.

It was literally a collection of: ‘Surely one of these will be your type.’

Even the trainees burst into admiration.

“Wow, that’s insane.”

“He’s seriously handsome.”

I nodded without realizing it.

‘I’ll give those three that.’

But the next moment, my face suddenly appeared on the screen.

“……Huh?”

My brain stopped for a moment.

“Me??”

I was so shocked that the words came straight out.

What was this situation?

Joo-Han, Han Sang-yoon, Kang I-yul, and Yoo Seong-woo?

Beside me, Han Sang-yoon grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

“Seong-woo, you’re on!”

I was genuinely flustered.

I was already uncomfortable because my seat was between Han Sang-yoon and Kang I-yul.

Was this a dream?

‘Are they making fun of me?’

[The six-sided idol is right here.]

Once again, Joo-Han and Han Sang-yoon weren’t left out.

Choi Un-jo appeared as well, and a loud cheer erupted from his team.

“Oh–Choi Un-jo~”

“But what does ‘six-sided’ mean?”

“It means he’s good at everything. An all-rounder…”

“Wow!!”

I wasn’t particularly pleased to see Go Jae-seong appear.

[The miracle of a small agency, make it happen again with your own hands!]

“Am I not coming out?”

“You’ll probably be later–”

It was difficult to get all twenty people into such a short video. Even if they only got an embarrassing amount of screen time, they had to be grateful just to appear at all.

Some of them even cheered if the camera happened to catch the back of their head.

[On the day five Codes are completed, the door to debut will open!]

‘Seriously… even watching it again, the direction is so damn cheesy.’

[The trainees’ friendship]

[Competition]

[And tears!]

Apparently, everyone had cried so much during the show that even the guys who had been making crying noises about not getting enough screen time showed their faces.

“I did appear after all……”

There were about ten seconds left.

I figured they would roughly announce the broadcast date and time and then finish.

But…

‘Oh, please.’

A memory I had desperately tried to forget.

[I want to do well……]

A familiar voice rang out.

[But my body just won’t follow along.]

My face, red around the eyes and nose from crying, appeared huge on the screen.

“That’s what he was crying like?”

“It was real?”

“Wow, I thought it was just a rumor.”

They even thoughtfully included a slow-motion shot of my tearful face.

My face burned so badly I thought I was going to lose my mind.

[COMING SOON!]

But what pissed me off even more was…

Ding

[SP 103 (+10)]

Ding

[SP 124 (+21)]

Ding

[SP 159 (+35)]

‘Ha…….’

My SP was increasing.

And it was increasing like crazy.

In the end, I covered my face with both hands.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, Nam Jun-ho had been persuaded by Jang Hyeon-jun and began preparing the hip-hop version of the choreography together with him.

I-yul said he was more drawn to the urban version and began seriously working on the choreography with Han Sang-yoon.

“Then let’s each work on it until tonight and try them out.”

“Okay.”

While the two teams worked on their choreography, I started thinking about the direction of the arrangement again.

Looking at the atmosphere right now, neither side seemed like it would fit the original song particularly well.

Everything I had thought about beforehand had been for ‘Blooming’.

My plan had been to make I-yul’s killing part stand out more and add Eastern-style elements to create a more polished stage. But now I was in a situation where I had to start over from scratch.

Normally, I would have already finished the arrangement by now. If I had, I could have pushed back more strongly against those stubborn bastards.

‘Whatever. That’s already in the past.’

First, I decided to dissect the original song again.

 

♪ Sometimes I think

♪ Is it my selfish desire

♪ For you to become my shadow too?

 

“It’s just like I-yul said.”

Hidden beneath the bouncy sound, the lyrics themselves were strangely obsessive and gloomy.

That sense of discrepancy was somehow interesting.

‘Should I bring that out?’

Ideas began to follow one after another.

In the meantime, the two teams that had finished their choreography showed off what they had prepared. With their pride and competitive spirit added to the mix, they had produced absurd results in a short amount of time.

The problem was that neither one fit the original song very well.

I could sum up my impression in one sentence.

‘Are you sure this was made for humans to dance to?’

A wave, then steps, then pop moves without a moment to breathe, and just now, were your arms and legs really moving at the same time?

“Haah, haah…… That’s it. The choreography’s good, right?”

Jang Hyeon-jun asked while catching his breath.

Their individual stubbornness was apparent here as well.

They had each come up with choreography that seemed completely incompatible with the other’s.

The urban team’s choreography was definitely less complicated than the hip-hop team’s, but it was actually more difficult to dance.

It was the kind of choreography that would look downright ridiculous if you didn’t have the fundamentals.

I was already crying.

I could already picture myself flopping around like the squid I had just caught.

No, why were they taking this so seriously?

‘Unexpected.’

Before my regression, I had almost never seen Han Sang-yoon come charging in this aggressively.

Did going through a crisis really change a person?

‘Even this has changed.’

I had thought that knowing the future meant everything would be okay. Even the King of Hell probably hadn’t anticipated something like this.

That was when it happened.

A status window suddenly sparkled.

‘Could it be a surprise item?’

[Please refrain from reckless remarks toward His Excellency the King of Hell.]

‘He has good ears too.’

“Then, shall we start practicing the choreography?”

“Which one should we start with?”

Nam Jun-ho casually tossed out the question.

“Actually, don’t we just need to teach him?”

It was true.

At the same time, it was also a statement that was asking to get punched.

I stood up and loosened my body.

Then I smiled at Nam Jun-ho.

“But you’d better teach me properly.”

“……?”

“I’ll probably get a better evaluation if I’m the one who dances better–”

For a moment, the corners of Nam Jun-ho’s mouth stiffened.

Right.

I was telling them this wasn’t the time to look down on me as the weakest one here.

“…We’ll teach you first.”

At least Jang Hyeon-jun was quicker at reading the situation than Nam Jun-ho.