I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 42

Chapter 42

 

I recognized it immediately. No, it would have been strange if I hadn’t.

I had watched Kang I-yul’s fancam of this performance at least a hundred times.

I knew the formations, movements, and even the details of his fingertips so well that I could replay them with my eyes closed.

That was why I found it even more absurd.

‘He really copied it exactly.’

There wasn’t even the slightest variation. But the others couldn’t help reacting differently. The choreography itself was good, to begin with.

“Awesome.”

“Wow, how did you come up with this?”

“Honestly, I admit it. This is really good.”

Go Jae-seong smiled leisurely.

“Not bad, right?”

Then he turned his gaze toward Song Woo-joo.

“Then where do you think we should put Woo-joo’s choreography?”

Song Woo-joo bit his lip for a moment before shaking his head.

“…I’ll put it during my individual part.”

Song Woo-joo’s skills were good, but it would be difficult for choreography he had created in an hour to be better than choreography bought with money.

“Really? Then let’s start right from the first move.”

From that moment on, Go Jae-seong became a completely different person.

“No, relax your strength here.”

“Geon-hee, you’re half a beat too fast.”

He personally taught each of them the choreography one by one. He pointed out problems and mixed in just the right amount of praise.

“Un-jo, take one step forward.”

I thought I understood why that bastard had insisted on taking charge of the choreography.

With producing, only the finished product comes out, and the process isn’t really visible.

But choreography was different.

The entire process of teaching and correcting them personally was captured on camera.

A talented, relaxed “teacher-type” who even took care of his team members. That was exactly the image Go Jae-seong had been aiming for.

“Seong-woo, should I teach you separately, too?”

“Me? No, I think I’m fine.”

I shook my head.

“I’ve already memorized everything.”

The air fell silent in an instant.

“…Already?”

Of course. How many times do you think I’ve turned the hourglass because I didn’t want to learn from you?

“Want me to show you?”

I couldn’t have been more grateful to Yoo Seong-ah. If I had been my past self, I wouldn’t have been able to do this much, no matter how many times I turned the hourglass.

“What?”

“Hyung, you really memorized everything?”

As I followed through with the perfect movements, Hwang Geon-hee’s eyes widened, and Song Woo-joo also looked surprised.

“Wow! Seong-woo, you’re legendary!”

Choi Un-jo even let out an exclamation of admiration.

It was an obvious reaction. To everyone else, it looked like I had watched it once and immediately followed along.

“…Your skills have definitely improved.”

“Thanks.”

I smiled brightly.

“I really practiced like my life depended on it.”

Go Jae-seong nodded with a strange expression.

Under normal circumstances, a fairly long scene would have appeared here. Yoo Seong-woo, who was slow at learning choreography, and Go Jae-seong, who kindly taught him. The heartwarming chemistry that developed between them… It would have been perfect for broadcast footage, too.

‘As if I’d let that happen.’

I immediately changed the subject.

“Oh, do you want to listen to the rearrangement?”

When I played the rearranged track, the corners of their mouths gradually lifted.

“This is really good. I think we can just keep going like this.”

“Yeah! Thanks, Jae-seong.”

He must have been certain by now. This arrangement was packed full of Moonho’s style.

A few hours later, Go Jae-seong continued by showing us the choreography for the second verse. Naturally, that was choreography I already knew, too.

The only difference was that his own solo part had been changed. Of course, even that was copied directly from choreography that had become incredibly popular through a challenge before my regression.

‘Wow.’

He really had scoured the archives thoroughly. Even as I watched Go Jae-seong dance, Kang I-yul’s fancam automatically played in my mind.

It suited him so well…….

That was why I was even angrier. That had originally been a stage where Kang I-yul shone. Because of that performance, I had searched for the choreographer’s name for the first time.

I had even made a comparison video, comparing the original choreographer’s choreography video with I-yul’s performance to see how well he had pulled it off.

Then, a sentence suddenly came to mind.

“It’s choreography I worked on a few years ago, so I never imagined it would be used like this.”

…Huh?

I blinked.

Choreography he had worked on a few years ago?

A few years ago. In other words, it hadn’t been choreography created for the year-end performance.

Then, could it be…!

I immediately searched for Chase on WeTube.

A long list of videos appeared. The original song’s performance, cover videos, and so on.

But the video I was looking for wasn’t there.

The choreographer’s name was Seori, right?

 

[Chase choreographer Seori]

 

My hand trembled ever so slightly as I pressed the search button.

When you were a devoted fan of an idol, you could figure out which waffle shop your favorite had bought their waffle from using nothing but a single photograph. You could even identify the location of a café just by looking at a chair in the background.

Learning a choreographer’s name in the vast sea of information wasn’t difficult, either. Following the trail had eventually led me to the choreographer’s social media posts.

I didn’t know why it had suddenly come to mind at this exact moment. But I should probably consider this a gift from the heavens… or rather, from the King of the Underworld.

[S: It is true that His Majesty the King of the Underworld is benevolent, but he is not someone who would engage in such trivial actions. Do you have any idea how busy he is?]

Right. I had been wondering why the status window had been so quiet for the past few days. But I didn’t have the leisure to respond.

“…Found it.”

 

[Seori (Ahn Seol-hee)_Chase Choreo]

[Views: 374 Likes 5 Dislikes 0]

 

Because I had found the video I wanted.

I immediately clicked on it. A hollow laugh escaped me.

As expected…

I raised my head to look at Go Jae-seong, then looked back at the screen.

The movements of the two people were perfectly identical.

At that moment, goosebumps crawled up my spine. I nearly dropped the tablet.

I had been frustrated all this time. I had clearly brought the future’s achievements with me, but I had no way to prove it.

If I claimed that he had stolen choreography that hadn’t even been released yet, who would believe me?

But now… For the first time, I had evidence.

And it was incredibly conclusive evidence at that.

I immediately deleted the video history. I thoroughly erased the search history as well.

My hands moved calmly, but my heart was anything but calm.

This is a card that can bring Go Jae-seong down at any time.

But at the same time, one question came to mind.

Go Jae-seong was a regressor, and he had personally been one of the people who performed on this stage…

How could he not know about this?

I turned off the tablet screen and thought for a moment.

Then, I suddenly realized.

Ah……

To Go Jae-seong, that stage had simply been work.

That was how year-end stages usually were. The schedule was so rushed that a preparation period of one week was considered generous.

Most of the time, they would practice together a few days before the performance. In more extreme cases, they would meet up and rehearse for a few hours on the very day of the performance before going onstage.

So even if it was a legendary performance that would remain in a fan’s memory for the rest of their life, to the idol themselves, it might have been just one of countless schedules.

I felt strangely bitter.

Being a fan really does mean loving an idol’s moments as if they were eternal.

The asymmetry of that affection hurt my pride a little.

Still, I-yul wasn’t like that. He remembered the contents of letters, and sometimes even asked about my well-being first.

So this wasn’t a problem with the profession of being an idol. It simply meant that Go Jae-seong was that kind of person.

Thinking of it that way made me feel a little relieved.

Right. Honestly, it would have been stranger if he remembered a choreographer named Seori. Even before my regression, she hadn’t been a famous choreographer.

Go Jae-seong had probably searched for her, too.

But considering that the video hadn’t appeared immediately even when I searched using a combination of the name and title, he would never have found it using keywords like “Chase choreography” or “Chase choreographer.”

This was truly something that had only been possible because I had been Kang I-yul’s fan.

It felt as if a weapon had been placed in my hands by accident. If this fact came to light, Go Jae-seong’s debut would be completely over.

Therefore, somehow, that choreography had to make it onto the fourth round’s stage exactly as it was.

“How is it?”

Just then, Go Jae-seong turned around and asked me. I gave him a thumbs-up.

“It’s really good.”

His expression was the brightest I had seen since the survival show began.

Right. The world probably felt like it belonged to you right now.

Laugh as much as you want.

“Let’s do well on this stage and debut together.”

In an instant, a curse rose all the way to the tip of my tongue.

‘You son of a—!’

But I smiled.

Instead of answering, I tightened the hand I had hidden behind my back. Even as I clenched my fist until my nails dug into my palm, I continued smiling until the very end.

“We will now begin the interim evaluation for Round 4 of Boys Code.”

Go Jae-seong’s face was already filled with confidence. That was why he must have volunteered to go first.

“This team… chose Chase?”

Song In-hyuk said as he flipped through the evaluation sheet.

“They’re the only team that chose a pop song. Are you going to sing the entire song in English?”

Go Jae-seong smiled as if he had been waiting for this question.

“No. We adapted all of it into Korean.”

“All of it?”

“Yes. We thought Korean lyrics would suit our concept better.”

The judges narrowed their eyes with interest.

“What kind of concept is it?”

At that moment, Choi Un-jo raised his hand high, as if he had been waiting for this.

“The Grim Reaper!”

He even struck the “Growl” pose he still hadn’t given up on.

“The Grim Reaper?”

“Whose idea was that?”

I quietly raised my hand. The judges’ expressions split neatly into two categories.

‘I knew it was you / Even so, this?’

Go Jae-seong smoothly continued.

“That’s why Seong-woo took charge of the entire production this time!”

The judges’ eyebrows rose simultaneously.

“Jae-seong didn’t do anything at all?”

“No. This time, I focused on creating the choreography!”

At Go Jae-seong’s confident declaration, I immediately joined in.

“Jae-seong really worked so hard.”

Go Jae-seong turned toward me in an instant.

“He created everything by himself, from beginning to end.”

I smiled faintly at his expression, which clearly hadn’t expected this at all.

“He arranged all the formations, and he even created every single member’s solo choreography for us.”

I deliberately folded down my fingers as I counted each thing off one by one.

“He must have had a really hard time teaching us.”

I emphasized, again and again, that this was entirely Go Jae-seong’s work. That should be enough to ensure that, even if a plagiarism controversy broke out later, I wouldn’t be accused of being his accomplice.

Unaware of what I was thinking, Go Jae-seong smiled broadly. He looked as if he couldn’t have been happier.

…Right. Enjoy yourself as much as you can.

“Wow, at this rate, Jae-seong might really become Code 1!”

Even the way he waved his hands in embarrassment at Katin’s exaggerated praise was perfect.

“Then, let’s begin!”

The music began to play.

Vmmm

An ethereal sound, as if it were echoing from underwater.

The judges’ lips curled into smiles at the comical acting during the introduction. And the moment the choreography began, the atmosphere changed.

“Oh…”

Short exclamations burst out one after another.

Go Jae-seong put twice as much strength into his movements as usual. It was probably the moment he danced with the most passion since the survival show began.

Especially during his solo part, he even licked his lips in that obnoxious way. Anyone watching would have immediately thought that he had prepared for this with absolute determination.

“…Haa, haa.”

He was taking this far too seriously for an interim evaluation.

“I’ll go first……”

“I’ll evaluate first……”

The judges were the same way. They were even trying to speak before one another.

In the end, Song In-hyuk spoke first.

“You really came out here after sharpening your knives this time, didn’t you?”

“Thank you!”

“To be honest, I was worried when I heard you were doing a Grim Reaper concept, but you completely exceeded my expectations.”

His gaze shifted toward Go Jae-seong.

“But what surprised me the most was the choreography.”

Go Jae-seong’s cheekbones were practically about to ascend to heaven.

“You didn’t get the choreography from somewhere, did you?”

“Of course not!”

The answer came without a moment’s hesitation. I quietly smiled from beside him.

‘That’s right. Keep being that confident.’

“Honestly, I’m surprised.”

Song In-hyuk shook his head.

“I thought producing was your main strength, but your choreography creation is on another level.”

As the judges’ praise continued to pile up, a smile also blossomed at the corners of my mouth.

Katin, the dance trainer in particular, spoke in an extremely excited voice.

“You made the choreography for the solo parts, too?”

“Yes! I created them while thinking about choreography that would suit each of my team members!”

That level of shamelessness was practically a talent in itself.

Katin genuinely admired him.

“You made it so well. I especially liked the choreography for your solo part.”

Yes.

Climb higher.

Receive more recognition, and be even happier.

So that your fall will be even more miserable.