I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 41

Chapter 41

 

“The team selection will follow the debut group rankings.”

The first person to call out his team members was Joo-han.

“First, trainee Kang I-yul.”

‘Ah……’

It was exactly the same as before my regression. It would be best if those two stayed as far away from I-yul as possible, though.

“Next, trainee Go Jae-seong. Please call out your team members.”

“Yes! First, trainee Choi Un-jo.”

After Choi Un-jo, the names Hwang Geon-hee and Song Woo-joo were called. Hwang Geon-hee had newly taken the spot beside Go Jae-seong, left vacant by Jang Hyeon-jun and Nam Jun-ho’s departure.

‘It doesn’t matter. He’ll disappear in the next round anyway.’

There was one spot left. I could see the trainees moving according to Go Jae-seong’s gaze, needlessly hoping to be called.

I simply waited for Go Jae-seong to call another name.

“And lastly, trainee Yoo Seong-woo.”

At that moment, the air in the practice room fell silent.

“Huh?”

Someone made a dazed sound.

“…What?”

“Did he just say Yoo Seong-woo?”

It wasn’t just the trainees. Even the production crew began to stir.

“We’ll go with these five members.”

Go Jae-seong finished speaking as if nothing had happened.

I slowly began walking. And then my eyes met Go Jae-seong’s.

His gaze was still filled with confusion. But he would soon believe it. People tend to believe whatever they want to believe when it benefits them.

“Now that the team selection is finished, we should choose our outfits, right?”

The production crew had given us only ten minutes.

“Let’s do suits.”

Go Jae-seong spoke first.

“Yeah, men look best in suits.”

Hwang Geon-hee immediately agreed.

“…Wouldn’t streetwear be okay, too?”

Song Woo-joo carefully offered his opinion, but Go Jae-seong gave him his characteristic friendly smile.

“I have a particular image in mind, you know? It’ll definitely work.”

“……”

“Woo-joo, you’ve only done refreshing concepts or hip-hop so far. Let’s try changing your image this time, too.”

“…Then let’s do that.”

Sweet-talking a kid was no challenge for him.

“Un-jo, what about you?”

“I’m fine with anything!”

“Seong-woo, suits are okay with you, right?”

“Sure.”

The opinions were settled in an instant.

 

***

 

“That’s all for today’s filming”

With the production crew’s declaration that filming had ended, the trainees streamed out in a crowd.

As soon as they entered the dormitory, Go Jae-seong went straight into the bathroom.

Click.

Only after locking the door did he finally let out a long breath.

“……Haa.”

The same melody kept circling in his head.

 

♪ Closer and closer

 

The song Yoo Seong-woo had been humming.

‘It was familiar.’

It was far too familiar, and that was the problem.

“Does that even make sense…?”

In his desperation, he had brought Yoo Seong-woo onto his team. He felt like he needed to keep him close if he wanted to find out anything.

His original plan for the Round 4 performance had been thrown off, but that wasn’t important right now.

Moonho. A producer whose identity no one knew. His face, age, and all other information had been shrouded in mystery.

The song Yoo Seong-woo had hummed was precisely a song by Moonho.

Go Jae-seong ran a hand through his hair. His thoughts became increasingly tangled and chaotic.

‘This made no sense.’

At this point in time, Moonho hadn’t even debuted yet. He had secretly searched for him earlier, but, as expected, nothing came up.

“Could it be…”

For a moment, one possibility flashed through his mind. Go Jae-seong’s eyes slowly hardened.

“He said it was his original song.”

Yoo Seong-woo had said it casually. That he had made the song himself.

“No.”

He shook his head. It made no sense. That couldn’t be true.

“Someone like him…”

At that moment, the words Yoo Seong-woo had said that had bothered him all this time began connecting again inside his head.

“Yes. The keyword for the performance I prepared today is “original song.””

“I only started recently, so I thought it would be good to show it during this mission, so I prepared it!”

“Still, there are only two of us who do producing. Let’s do our best together from now on!”

Go Jae-seong’s gaze trembled.

What if… just what if…

What if Moonho’s beginning was happening right now?

What if his regression had changed even Moonho’s future?

“Crazy…”

The confusion filling his eyes slowly transformed into delight.

“…It’s going to turn out like this?”

The corners of his mouth trembled with emotion.

If Yoo Seong-woo really was Moonho, then he absolutely had to debut alongside him. If it was a song by Moonho, Impactor would never fail as it had in his previous life.

It was a perfect picture.

Go Jae-seong covered his mouth with both hands. But he couldn’t stop the laughter escaping between his fingers.

Thump, thump, thump.

His heart pounded like crazy.

“No, calm down. It’s still too early to jump to conclusions.”

He knew why Impactor had failed in his previous life. It had all been because of rash decisions. Accepting terrible music and making mistakes himself.

“Let’s watch him for now.”

The moment he became certain that Yoo Seong-woo really was Moonho, he had no intention of letting him go.

 

***

 

The next day, the song selection meeting began.

“Actually, the reason I chose suits was because of this song.”

“You’ve already decided on a song?”

Song Woo-joo asked with a surprised expression.

“Yeah. You all know Chase, right?”

“The pop song?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Hwang Geon-hee immediately reacted.

“Wow, that would go really well with suits.”

“Right? I’ve already thought of some choreography, too.”

Song Woo-joo narrowed his eyes.

“That’s amazing.”

“What is?”

“How did you think of the outfits and song in such a short time? And even the choreography?”

But Go Jae-seong calmly countered.

“If you’re a trainee, shouldn’t you always be prepared?”

“……”

“You should be able to do anything, Woo-joo.”

Whatever else Go Jae-seong explained afterward didn’t reach my ears.

‘Suits for Chase……’

I was too busy admiring his shamelessness.

Chase had been the song from Impactor’s first and last year-end performance in my previous life, a cover stage.

Even then, it had received a pretty good response thanks to the perfectly fitted suits and synchronized choreography.

“If we wear suits that fit perfectly and do sharply synchronized choreography to this song, honestly, there won’t be a team that can beat us, right?”

“Sounds great. It’ll be totally sexy, don’t you think?”

“We’re all pretty tall, too.”

As Go Jae-seong and Hwang Geon-hee excitedly chattered away, they really were a well-matched pair in a way. One guy smugly showing off a future he had copied, and another lackey enthusiastically responding without even knowing his own future.

Behind the two excited men, Song Woo-joo raised his hand.

“But are we going to perform the pop song as it is?”

Go Jae-seong glanced subtly in my direction.

“Hmm. What do you think, Seong-woo?”

His intention in asking for my opinion was obvious.

“I think it would be better to adapt it.”

So I willingly took the bait.

“Right?”

“Starting from this round, the audience will be voting for us. Korean lyrics will be easier for them to understand.”

Go Jae-seong smiled in satisfaction. The moment I saw that expression, I became certain.

‘That guy really thinks I’m Moonho.’

“Then, Seong-woo, how about you handle all the producing this time?”

Hwang Geon-hee’s expression instantly stiffened.

“No, Jae-seong.”

He was so flustered that he even stumbled over his words.

“P-Producing is something you’re better at.”

Go Jae-seong shook his head.

“I’m planning to focus more on the choreography this time.”

“Ah……”

“Doing both would just be greedy.”

His words were polished, but his true intentions were obvious.

Yeah. You want to confirm it, don’t you?

Whether I was really Moonho, or whether I had simply happened to make a similar song by coincidence.

His reverent gaze was detestable.

“Even so…”

“And Seong-woo is good at it, too.”

Hwang Geon-hee was momentarily rendered speechless. Normally, Go Jae-seong would have kept a closer eye on me, so his sudden change in attitude was understandably bewildering.

“Would it be too much for you to handle alone, Seong-woo?”

I shook my head with a smile.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll do my best.”

The corners of Go Jae-seong’s mouth slowly lifted.

“Then, do you have any arrangement ideas in mind?”

“Hmm… I think I’ll have to think about it a little.”

In fact, I already had an idea. It was a concept I had wanted to have I-yul try while watching that cover performance.

“Okay. Think it over carefully and tell us. Would… would an hour be enough?”

“An hour is enough? Wow. Seriously, Jae-seong?”

Where did he learn that expression…?

Whether he was oblivious to social cues or simply had no intention of paying attention to them… In a survival show, saying whatever came to mind was probably something only Choi Un-jo could get away with.

I shrugged.

“That’s enough.”

In my head, I had already put a traditional Korean gat on Kang I-yul’s head and dressed him in a durumagi long ago.

Sheesh, it’s still a shame no matter how much I think about it.

Wanting your favorite to try a particular concept was far too passive. I would go directly to the concept myself.

Who knows? If this performance became popular, perhaps Impactor might cover it again someday.

I pretended to think for about thirty minutes before calling the team members over.

Even without anyone saying anything, I could feel the anticipation of the three people. Hwang Geon-hee’s eyes were less filled with anticipation and more with the desire to see how good my idea would be.

“How about a Grim Reaper concept?”

At that moment, I-yul came out wearing semi-smoky makeup, and his appearance looked like he could take someone away at any moment.

A brief silence followed. Hwang Geon-hee was the first to react.

“Huh? Grim… Reaper?”

Beside him, Choi Un-jo’s eyes sparkled.

“Lion? Ryan? I like Ryan! Is the lion’s name Grim? Grimmy?”

Then he growled to himself.

“Grrr. I’ll be Grimmy.”

I barely managed to hold back my laughter.

“No. Not a lion. A Grim Reaper.”

Choi Un-jo’s expression immediately stiffened.

“Eeeek–”

I told you, he’s a reaction goldmine.

Hwang Geon-hee asked mockingly.

“What does Chase have to do with a Grim Reaper?”

That’s exactly the kind of line that would be perfect for the broadcast, Geon-hee.

“Not a typical Grim Reaper. I’m thinking we reinterpret it in a modern way.”

“……”

“Come to think of it, aren’t Grim Reapers basically civil servants who work in the afterlife? Something like this: Grim Reapers who carry cell phones. But when they gather together, they play janggi.”

As I continued speaking, Go Jae-seong’s gaze changed.

“The song is hip-hop, but we add traditional Korean music. It’s modern, but with a strangely old-fashioned feeling.”

His interest gradually transformed into certainty.

Traditional Korean musical sounds were Moonho’s signature.

I drove the final nail in.

“And the song title itself is about chasing, right? I think it would be interesting to write the lyrics from the perspective of the moment we became Grim Reapers.”

Go Jae-seong reacted first.

“Wow–”

There was genuine admiration in his voice.

“That’s really good.”

Even Hwang Geon-hee reluctantly nodded.

“Yeah. It does sound fresh.”

Go Jae-seong immediately steered the mood.

“Good. Then, Seong-woo, we’re counting on you to handle the Grim Reaper concept.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll finish putting together the choreography.”

After that, things proceeded in an almost laughably predictable manner.

“I’ve already worked out most of the choreography for the first verse, you know?”

Go Jae-seong pretended to think while smoothly churning out choreography. The others marveled at his insane speed.

“I’ll just organize it a little, then I’ll teach you guys, too.”

Song Woo-joo offered some opinions, but…

“Woo-joo’s choreography is interesting, too. Can’t we include it?”

“Hmm. But doesn’t it kind of… not match the feel of what I made?”

Go Jae-seong rejected them indirectly each time.

“That’s right.”

Hwang Geon-hee nodded beside him.

“I’ll still consider it. That’s okay, right, Woo-joo?”

“Ah, yes.”

In the end, Song Woo-joo closed his mouth. Even afterward, Go Jae-seong continued working hard on the choreography alone.

No, he pretended to work hard.

Meanwhile, Choi Un-jo created a new rap section, and Song Woo-joo hovered around beside me.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t have anything to do.”

“……”

“Ah, okay.”

I stared at him silently, and he figured it out on his own and headed over to Choi Un-jo. Then he began working on the rap with him.

He gets it immediately now.

He had reached the level where he could instantly understand that he was supposed to find something to do on his own.

About an hour later, Go Jae-seong stood up.

“Everyone, gather around.”

His expression was full of confidence.

“I’ll show you the first verse choreography.”

I quietly watched his choreography.

“This is really good.”

“Jae-seong, did you make all of this?”

Amid the team members’ praise, I alone struggled to keep my expression under control.

Because this was……

‘Isn’t he taking the easy way out a little too much?’

It was exactly the same as the choreography from the cover performance.