I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 29

Chapter 29

 

I lightly rolled my neck. It was time to turn the hourglass again.

[SP 680]

Honestly, part of me wanted to make Jang Hyeon-jun and Nam Jun-ho suffer a little.

Deliberately get more lost, mess up the choreography a little.

‘Act like a complete hopeless case and make them sweat bullets.’

But then that would cut into the time I had to learn dancing from I-yul.

And that absolutely could not happen.

“I’ll do my best-”

I smiled brightly and walked over to the hip-hop team.

“Wait, no.”

And ten minutes later, Jang Hyeon-jun finally covered his face with both hands.

“How did you just do that?”

“What? This?”

I repeated the move I had just learned. I swung my arms wide like a windmill while lightly stepping with my legs.

Whoosh, whoosh

My arms were moving hard enough to make the sound of cutting through the air.

“No.”

Jang Hyeon-jun was unable to continue speaking for quite some time.

“This is, ha…”

Nam Jun-ho was outright facing the wall, trying to hold back his laughter.

It was exactly what I had been hoping for. It couldn’t just look like I was a mediocre dancer. It had to give them the feeling of, ‘I genuinely have no idea where to even start fixing this.’

‘This is revenge that only a hopeless case can pull off, you elites.’

When I cheerfully called out for the next move, both of their expressions soured simultaneously.

After about two hours, I had turned the hourglass nearly a hundred times. Thanks to the teaser, my SP had been climbing nonstop, making this possible.

“……Let’s stop here for now.”

If we went any further, they probably would have developed some kind of stress-induced illness. In the meantime, the other two had already learned the hip-hop version just from the video and were refining the urban choreography.

I immediately ran over to them.

“I’m done with the hip-hop choreography!”

“Really? You learned it quickly.”

Behind me, Jang Hyeon-jun muttered hollowly.

“Is it really done…?”

I pretended not to hear him.

“I’m going to go buy some drinks for a bit.”

Han Sang-yoon stood up from his seat.

“I-yul, teach him for now.”

“Yes.”

This was where the real thing began. It was time to use a hundred times the concentration I had used on Jang and Nam.

“This time, don’t worry about your upper body. We’ll learn the lower-body movements first.”

“Okay!”

As expected, it was not an easy choreography. Every time Kang I-yul’s expression shifted even slightly, I immediately turned the hourglass.

Again, and again.

When I had seen that expression exactly forty-five times, we finally moved on to the next movement.

“Hey.”

Jang Hyeon-jun, who had been sprawled out on the floor, suddenly jumped to his feet.

“Why are you dancing properly right now?”

‘He must have felt pretty wronged.’

I answered calmly.

“Maybe your choreography was harder.”

“Wow-”

I ignored his bewildered expression and focused on practicing the choreography again.

Han Sang-yoon opened the practice room door, then was rewound sixty times again. At last, he came into the practice room.

“Here, drink up.”

“Thank you for the drinks-”

Practice continued until dawn. Perhaps because I had turned the hourglass too many times, my head was starting to throb.

‘If I go any further, I’m going to pass out again.’

“I’m going to get some water for a moment.”

Standing in front of the water purifier, I gulped down cold water, and only then did I finally feel a little alive again.

Then I sensed someone behind me.

When I turned around, it was Nam Jun-ho.

“Why?”

“You’re not deliberately messing up the choreography, are you?”

He narrowed his eyes.

“What?”

“I was just wondering if you were only learning our choreography half-heartedly.”

“Me?”

‘I can’t say, “You’re surprisingly perceptive.”’

I opened my eyes wide.

“Wow, amazing! I guess I really have improved.”

“……Huh?”

Nam Jun-ho hesitated for a moment.

“What are you talking about?”

“If it looks like I’m pretending I can’t dance.”

I clasped my hands together with a deeply moved expression.

“That’s not what I-”

“Thank goodness! Thanks, Jun-ho. You gave me confidence!”

With every word I said, Nam Jun-ho’s expression grew more and more exhausted.

Eventually.

“…Never mind.”

He sighed and returned to the practice room, shaking his head from side to side.

Before going inside, I checked the status window once.

[SP 347]

Perhaps because of the teaser, my SP was filling up in real time, but I had used more points than planned. All four of them were so enthusiastic that they kept refusing to move on to the next choreography until I had learned each movement.

In the end, practice finished at three in the morning. The moment I got back to the dorm, I fell asleep as if I had passed out.

 

***

 

The next day, the trainees gathered in the practice room early in the morning.

With time running short, we made do with boxed lunches for lunch and went right back to practicing. Our team was no exception.

“No, you need to extend your hand farther here.”

“Seong-woo. It’s your right foot, your right foot.”

Because we had unexpectedly split into two, both sides were desperately trying to win me over somehow. I was already dying from dancing, and mentally, it was even more exhausting.

‘I’m dying to take I-yul’s side.’

I kept my mouth firmly shut because I felt like it would be obvious if I let my guard down even a little.

Just then, the practice room door opened, and Kang Se-jun appeared.

“H-hello, sir!”

At his sudden appearance, everyone reflexively bowed at the waist.

“Is everyone practicing well?”

“Yes!”

Kang Se-jun smiled meaningfully.

“Why do you think I came to the practice room today without saying a word?”

An ominous silence descended.

“Because-”

Kang Se-jun’s hand reached toward the door.

“We have a surprise guest!”

Click.

The practice room door opened again.

“Excuse me.”

The moment they appeared, gasps came from all around the room.

They were the original artists of our mission songs.

“Seriously?”

“What?”

“Am I seeing things……?”

Everyone was visibly flustered. It was only natural. There were still two days until the midpoint evaluation, and now the original artists had made a surprise visit.

“You’re all probably having a lot of trouble figuring out how to prepare your stages.”

Kang Se-jun continued.

“To help you all, we’ve prepared a special opportunity for you to receive direct feedback from the original artists!”

I swallowed a hollow laugh inwardly.

‘Help, my ass-’

Boys Code was always like this. Even though it was an in-house survival show, they emphasized the “extra-spicy” aspect even more.

How impressive a result could possibly be produced in a single day?

‘They’re basically telling us to get destroyed.’

While the cameras and lighting were being set up, the trainees launched into last-minute cramming.

I was also grabbed by Nam Jun-ho.

“Haa, at least we’re starting to get the general shape now.”

He sighed.

“You’re going to be tucked away in the back anyway, so please, just don’t stick out. Got it?”

Now that he was in a hurry, he was speaking without filtering himself.

“This should be enough, right? I’m going to do a final check on the urban side too.”

“No, one more time-”

I pretended not to hear him and headed toward where Han Sang-yoon was.

“It really is difficult to master this in just one day…”

Even while saying that, the two of them continued correcting each and every one of my movements until the very end.

“We’ll begin filming-”

The atmosphere changed in an instant with the slate.

The original artists sat in chairs. One representative from each team took a seat.

“Getting feedback from the original artist is a truly valuable experience, right?”

“……Yes!”

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how much our Boys Code trainees have managed to prepare in just one day.”

Of course, the one who stood out the most among them was Wind Boys’ youngest member, ‘Robin.’ He had shown up alone in an adorable outfit that practically looked like a stage costume, and with his pink curly hair, he was the very definition of an idol.

“Now then, you can start by showing us whichever team is ready first.”

At those words, everyone’s gaze naturally turned toward me. After all, I was always the first to raise my hand, to the point that they called me ‘Go Yoo Seong-woo.’

But I absolutely did not raise my hand. This time, I had to be compared against the other teams. And not just any teams, but the really good ones.

“Our team will go first.”

In the end, Joo-han raised his hand first.

‘Good.’

I had been aiming for the last order, but being after Joo-han’s team wasn’t bad either.

‘They’re definitely going to get crushed.’

The ‘Born to be’ team only had Joo-han from the debut lineup, but that alone was enough.

Even without an especially intense impression, he dominated the stage with just a single expression.

 

♪ Born to be

♪ There’s no secret

♪ Since the day I was born

♪ Special

 

Even if the energy of the other four were combined, they couldn’t surpass Joo-han. But conversely, the other members didn’t get in Joo-han’s way either.

‘They’re completely riding his coattails.’

“Trainee Joo-han? You’re definitely good.”

“However, I could barely see the other trainees. You’ll need to work on that part.”

“Yes!”

Next came the stage for the ‘Stop!’ team.

Most of them were mid-to-lower-ranked trainees. Perhaps because of the influence of the previous round? Song Woo-joo was serving as the leader.

“I! I took on the role of vice-leader, supporting the leader!”

‘He and Ji Dong-seok actually work pretty well together.’

With Go Jae-seong gone, Song Woo-joo had taken the killing part.

‘His confidence has really grown.’

“Most of you are mid-to-lower ranked-”

He blinked while looking extremely nervous.

“But your chemistry is pretty good.”

“Thank you!!”

After the evaluation ended, I stared only at Kang Se-jun’s mouth.

‘I’ll raise my hand after this.’

“Next is-”

Whoosh-!

“We’ll go! Us!!”

Choi Un-jo quickly raised his hand, and in the end, our team became the last in line.

‘Ah, Un-jo……’

No matter how badly we got crushed, I hadn’t wanted to go immediately after Go Jae-seong.

Go Jae-seong and Choi Un-jo. Just those two were enough to make the team attract attention.

The ‘Blooming’ team came forward. But Choi Un-jo’s expression was strange.

He scrunched up his face as much as he could, then……

“This is the ‘Blooming’ team that is so! angry! because the song is so good!”

“……?”

‘What is this guy doing…?’

Everyone had an expression that seemed to reflect the same thought. Even his own teammates looked like they were hearing this for the first time, but Choi Un-jo calmly took his position.

Go Jae-seong looked particularly confident, which irritated me for no reason.

‘Why on earth did he choose ‘Blooming’?’

The question I had temporarily forgotten while practicing came back to me.

“Then, we’ll show you the Blooming stage!”

And so, with that uneasy feeling, the stage began.

 

♪ Bloom Bloom

♪ A beautiful flower

♪ Called you

♪ Is in full bloom all around-

 

Go Jae-seong shamelessly performed I-yul’s part.

I forcibly relaxed my expression. Whenever my brow started to furrow, I recalled I-yul’s ‘Blooming’ stage from before my regression in my head.

‘It must be a coincidence.’

I comforted myself that way as I watched the stage.

Soon, it was time for the killing part I-yul had performed before my regression.

‘I-yul was the one who brought this whole stage to life-’

Go Jae-seong, who had moved to the center, slowly tilted his head.

“Huh?”

His fingertips brushed across his forehead, then slid along the line of his neck.

 

♪ Hold my hands

♪ Cross over to the blue moon-

 

Even his eye movement glanced slightly to the side in time with the beat.

At that moment, my heart sank.

‘Wait.’

Before my regression, that exact point was where Kang I-yul had completely blown up on stage. Go Jae-seong was doing that exact same move.

Completely identical.

“Oh-”

At that moment, exclamations of admiration escaped simultaneously from the judges and the original artist.

The beat sped up.

And Go Jae-seong walked forward.

‘No. That’s impossible.’

He raised his head one beat late.

Thud. He stepped forward. A distinctive movement, almost like traditional Korean dance.

‘It’s exactly the same!’

The moment my suspicion became certainty. Kang I-yul’s figure overlapped with Go Jae-seong’s every movement.

The angles, timing, even his eye movements.

Without a single deviation, it was identical to I-yul’s stage from before my regression.

It had been the stage I loved the most, so there was no way this could be my imagination.

At that moment, a chill ran down my spine.

‘How.’

This wasn’t a coincidence.

Absolutely not.

The movement wasn’t in the original choreography, nor was it in the choreography draft.

Because Kang I-yul had created that point himself.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage.

“……Ha.”

A breath escaped me.

‘Don’t tell me-’

A different choice from before my regression.

Not only had he stolen Kang I-yul’s part, but he had also stolen Kang I-yul’s stage… one that had not yet been released to the world.

My mind raced.

And eventually, I arrived at one conclusion.

‘This bastard, too.’

He’s a regressor.