I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 

Kang I-yul smiled awkwardly.

“…Ah. I already have a hairstyle in mind.”

‘Yeah. That damn shaggy-dog hairstyle, right?’

I-yul.

I really like you, but that one is absolutely not it.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I drove the point home.

“Black hair suits you best.”

I’d already said it, so there was no choice but to see it through to the end.

Kang I-yul stared at me.

His face was filled with pure bewilderment.

“……Why?”

“Because you’re handsome.”

Silence descended once again.

This time, it lasted a little longer.

I heard someone mutter, “Crazy.”

“……Ah.”

The tips of Kang I-yul’s ears slowly turned red.

‘He’s still weak to compliments.’

“Don’t cover up your handsome face by dyeing your hair for no reason.”

Kang I-yul opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He looked like he was choosing his words.

“No, but why are you saying that to me–”

“You asked me earlier.”

I answered calmly.

“‘Should I dye my hair?’ you said.”

“That was just something I said to myself–”

“So I answered you.”

Kang I-yul stared at me, speechless.

‘W-what are you going to do about it?’

They say life is all about momentum.

At least, that was what Yoo Seong-ah had taught me.

“No, and besides, you suddenly said something weird–”

“What?”

“That I am handsome?”

“…….”

I shrugged.

“If someone’s handsome, you call him handsome. What else would you call him?”

Thanks to that, things behind me had become absolute chaos. But now that I’d come this far, there was no way I could back down.

Kang I-yul ran a hand over his face.

“……Ha.”

He laughed as though he couldn’t believe me, but he didn’t seem particularly displeased.

This was it.

The perfect time to push further.

“And how about growing out your bangs a little?”

“Longer?”

“Yes. So that a little of your forehead shows.”

Before my regression, Kang I-yul’s visual evaluations improved as the survival show progressed toward its latter half.

It happened once his hair grew out and people began reacting to him differently.

The hairstyle that other people teased as “mussel hair” somehow suited I-yul perfectly.

‘The way it fluttered on stage was art.’

Just then, the designer nodded.

“That sounds good.”

“Pardon?”

“His forehead and face shape are really nice, so I think it’ll completely bring out his atmosphere.”

With the designer joining in, he began to look conflicted.

‘He’s coming around… He’s coming around…’

“…Let’s do that.”

“Yes!”

…A cry of delight escaped my mouth before I could stop it.

But at this point, there was nothing left for me to be embarrassed about.

“Wow–”

After his hair was finished, Kang I-yul let out a small gasp of admiration.

Before my regression, Kang I-yul had come out with shaggy-dog-like brown hair.

Of course, he was handsome even with that hairstyle, but black hair definitely gave him a completely different feeling.

‘Yeah. Mussel hair should be black, after all.’

“I never even thought about a hairstyle like this.”

Then he hesitated for a moment before looking at me.

“……Thank you.”

What made me happier than those words was his hands.

Both hands clasped together as though in prayer.

It was a habit he had whenever he was genuinely happy or excited.

For some reason, my chest tightened at the sight.

While I-yul was away for a moment, the designer spoke to me.

“For someone who was thanked, you’re a little……”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t your reaction a little too calm?”

What was she talking about?

Our I-yul had almost flown into the sky just now.

It looked like puppy ears were about to pop out on top of his head.

“He’s actually really happy right now.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“How can you tell?”

Instead of answering, I smiled.

After three years of being a Kang I-yul fan, I knew him like the back of my hand.

 

***

 

The makeover continued with makeup.

“Heh–”

Here and there, people tried to suppress their laughter at the ticklish brush strokes.

Everyone had their lips tightly pursed with awkward expressions as they experienced unfamiliar hands touching their faces, and it was funny to watch.

As soon as all the preparations were finished, the staff quickly gathered up their equipment.

“We’ll head straight to the profile photo shoot.”

‘Wow, they’re really going hard.’

I could feel the company’s intense determination to squeeze every last drop of value out of this.

‘Well, it did take several hours just to style twenty people.’

……It was an entirely reasonable decision.

When we arrived at the studio, I took a moment to catch my breath.

‘I-yul’s first profile photo shoot!’

It was a moment I never could have imagined before my regression.

I was going to be right beside my bias, watching the very beginning of his journey.

My heart was pounding for no particular reason.

Everyone changed into the same clothes in the waiting room.

A white T-shirt and jeans.

That was also the biggest reason I had insisted on black hair.

The shoot began with Han Sang-yoon, the veteran trainee who had been at Nix Entertainment the longest.

Which meant I was going to be last.

‘This is going to take forever.’

There was, of course, one good thing about that.

I-yul’s turn came soon.

The moment I-yul, fully styled, stepped into the studio…

Click

The photographer reflexively pressed the shutter.

He hadn’t even struck a pose yet.

“Wow–”

The brief exclamation rang out louder than expected.

Murmuring spread around us.

His long bangs, with just a little of his forehead showing.

Nothing about it was excessive, yet it immediately drew the eye.

The calm styling actually made the natural handsomeness of his face stand out even more.

The photographer smiled while looking at the camera screen.

“This is already an A-cut.”

“Is he really a trainee? He photographs incredibly well.”

The staff nodded one by one.

“The styling suits him so well, too–”

As compliments poured out, Kang I-yul bashfully clasped his hands together.

Watching him, I silently cheered inside.

‘Yeah. This is how it should be.’

A face like his deserved this kind of reaction.

Before my regression, Kang I-yul had always received ambiguous evaluations during the early part of the survival show.

 

↳ He’s handsome, but is he really handsome enough to make such a fuss over?

↳ His face changes way too much depending on the styling…

↳ No, what does Kang I-yul even look like? I can’t recognize him every time I see him;;

↳ Does he just not photograph well? He’s insanely good-looking in person; it’s such a wasteㅠ

 

But not anymore.

The Kang I-yul standing here now was a face that anyone could only nod in agreement at.

Being handsome was a given, and now he had an atmosphere to go with it.

“Just move around naturally.”

Click, click.

The sound of the shutter didn’t stop.

Overcome with emotion, I clenched my fist for no reason.

This time, things would be different from the very beginning.

 

***

 

After Kang I-yul’s shoot ended amid glowing praise, everyone who followed was nothing short of “dazzling.”

Bleached hair, flashy colors, excessive curls, and accessories hanging everywhere.

Even Nobody #1, #2, and #3, who had picked a fight with me, had somehow all ended up with traffic-light-colored hair as though they had planned it together.

“Wow–”

‘At least you’ll be easy to spot from far away.’

Everyone stared down the camera and shouted with their entire bodies,

‘I am an idol.’

Click, click

I understood their desire to look cool, but everything was a matter of excess.

The photographer’s sighs grew longer and longer, and the staff exchanged glances with one another.

‘Half of them…… are going to look at these photos and kick themselves under the covers.’

I quietly waited for the final turn.

“Last one, huh? Trainee Yoo Seong-woo?”

“Yes!”

At last, my name was called.

A great achievement accomplished after a full three hours.

My nervousness had disappeared long ago.

At last, I was one step closer to going home, so I walked over excitedly.

But the moment I stood beneath the lights…

‘Wow, this…’

My eyes automatically narrowed.

‘Even opening my eyes is a job?’

“Okay, stand in the center and look straight ahead.”

The photographer’s voice flew at me nonstop.

“Pull your chin in just a little… no, not that much!”

“Like this?”

“That’s too much again.”

And so began my silent scream.

“Relax a little, but don’t relax too much. Keep just a little tension in your fingertips–”

‘What kind of warm iced Americano nonsense is that supposed to mean?’

Click

“Smile just a little, but don’t close your eyes too much. Try to raise only the corners of your mouth as much as possible.”

I felt like I wanted to become a marionette hanging from strings.

Pull all the strings connected to my mouth upward, and loosen the strings connected to my eyes.

“Look at the camera with a neutral expression, put just a little strength in your eyes, while relaxing the tension in your face–”

What else could I do?

I simply moved as instructed.

At least the photographer wasn’t sighing like earlier, so that alone was a relief.

Click

The back of my neck tingled, and tension reached all the way to my toes.

“Now! That’s it, that’s perfect. Hold that pose–”

But the photographer showed no intention of stopping.

The flash went off once again.

“Keep your pose the same and change only your expression. Let’s do one more.”

“Yes!”

While he briefly drank some water, I exhaled the breath I had been holding.

Thanks to that, for the first time since the shoot began, I looked at something other than the camera.

The photographer’s face was flushed with excitement.

“This time, let’s have you smile as brightly as possible.”

The photographer smiled.

“It’s okay if you show all your braces.”

In that instant, my mind went completely blank.

Smile…… Brightly?

“Why did you suddenly freeze?”

“Again! Let’s make the smile a little more natural.”

For me, it was the most difficult mission of all.

My facial muscles refused to cooperate.

‘Naturally…… naturally…….’

The problem was that thinking about being natural was already unnatural.

Click

For the first time, the shutter stopped.

“Don’t try to force yourself to smile. Just think of one happy moment.”

A happy moment.

Those words echoed in my mind.

When I first received a songwriting commission?

When one of my songs reached number one?

There were plenty of moments that came to mind, but I couldn’t hold onto any of them clearly.

Then it happened.

Kang I-yul, who had changed into his casual clothes, entered my field of vision.

He habitually pushed his hair behind his ear.

At that moment, one memory overlapped with the present.

A flower-viewing event held in the countryside. IMPACTOR was performing, and a woman standing in front handed over a single flower. That was how small the stage was. Small and low enough that you could reach it just by extending your hand.

Kang I-yul looked surprised for a moment, then smiled brightly as he accepted the flower. And without hesitation, he tucked it behind his ear.

I thought my breath had stopped right there.

‘Even in a moment like this, you shine.’

There were no flashy lights.

No enormous stage.

And yet, he shone.

No…

He knew how to shine.

That memory came rushing over me like a wave.

Click

Before I knew it, I was smiling brightly.

It was simply a smile that had burst out from somewhere inside me.

“Nice!”

The photographer’s voice grew louder.

“That’s it! That expression right there!”

Click, click, click!

Amid the continuous bursts of the shutter, I kept smiling.

Looking not at the camera, but at Kang I-yul beyond it.

Finally, when the photographer lowered the camera, everyone crowded around the monitor.

“Holy crap.”

“We could probably just release this as-is.”

“It came out so well.”

Only then did I look at the screen too.

“……Ah.”

There I was.

A face smiling so brightly that all of my braces were visible.

The emotion carried by that expression was clearer than anything words could explain.

An expression I had never once encountered, even after looking at myself in the mirror for my entire life.

For a long time, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.

‘So this is what I looked like.’

It was dazzling.

I had never once thought about it.

When I was looking at Kang I-yul, what did I look like?

My chest swelled with emotion.

My throat tightened, and the corners of my eyes grew hot.

Kang I-yul wasn’t the only one who had been shining.

I, who had been looking at him, had been shining alongside him in those moments, too.

The me on the screen proved it.

“Seong-woo, you really did well.”

The photographer smiled as he spoke.

“When these photos are released, people are going to go crazy.”

“Exactly… They’ll vote as soon as they see them.”

Admiration continued from those around me.

But I couldn’t really hear what they were saying.

My gaze simply wouldn’t leave the screen.

‘……Yeah.’

Only now did I think I understood.

I wasn’t simply someone who had chased after a shining star.

I was someone who, facing that light, had been shining alongside it in the same moments, at the same temperature.

For the first time, I truly faced myself.