I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 61

Chapter 61

 

The day of the on-site evaluation for Round 5 of ‘Boys Code’, in front of C-Net Broadcasting Station.

The home master who had been active under the name ‘Disappear Boy’ stood in the waiting line with completely dead eyes.

The name had clearly been chosen to mean, ‘A boy so captivating that the moment you make eye contact with him, he can make everything around you disappear.’

‘But I never thought he’d be the one to disappear himself…’

This was definitely not what she had meant when she wanted him to live up to his name. For days, she had been repeating the same regret over and over. And, of all things, she had won a spot to attend this on-site evaluation.

Wasn’t there a saying that you should forget one love for another love?

“Even if it’s Jae-seong, I should at least vote for him…”

She had been supporting the combination of Hwang Geon-hee and Go Jae-seong, otherwise known as ‘Hwang & Go.’

Just last week, when the two had ended up on the same team, she had been thrilled.

“I thought all that was left was for the goodies to start pouring out…”

That expectation had been shattered to pieces, but she still wanted to make sure her second favorite debuted.

This on-site evaluation had a total of 600 evaluators, 100 more than the previous round.

Dudung

The stage lights came on, accompanied by solemn background music.

“Kang Se-jun?”

To think she’d get to see Kang Se-jun, whom she usually only saw on music shows, here.

“He dressed up like crazy again.”

Blond hair, a nobleman-like outfit decorated with flashy ornaments.

He looked like a prince who had just stepped out of a romance-fantasy novel.

“It’s definitely over the top…”

“Why does it suit him so well?”

“He can actually pull that off.”

There was a reason he was nicknamed the ‘Peacock MC.’

“At that point, isn’t he just an attention seeker? He dresses flashier than the kids.”

Hearing someone complain, she quietly thought to herself.

Whoever their favorite was, they must have been unfortunate-looking…

“The mission for this round is…”

 

[CODE MISSION 5: When are you STRONGEST?]

 

“A position battle.”

“Waaaaah—!”

“There will be three teams performing in the vocal, dance, and rap positions.”

But her mind was still occupied by Hwang Geon-hee.

‘If only he hadn’t withdrawn…’

He would have made a legendary performance.

In her head, Hwang Geon-hee was already dancing onstage.

‘You should’ve just lived a little more decently, you fucking XXXX…’

Just as she was silently cursing him out,

“I’ll explain the voting method.”

Kang Se-jun looked around the audience.

“Today, you may vote up to three times. For the No. 1 position team, the No. 1 trainee within the team, and…”

After pausing for a moment, Kang Se-jun smiled.

“The lowest-ranking trainee within the team.”

The audience immediately began to murmur.

“What? Is that like a minus vote?”

“Of course, if you don’t wish to vote for the lowest-ranking trainee, you may abstain.”

The scores were soon displayed on the screen.

 

[Position No. 1 Team Vote: +5 points for all team members]

[No. 1 Trainee Within Team Vote: +7 points]

[Lowest-Ranking Trainee Within Team Vote: -5 points]

 

“Wow…”

She let out a hollow laugh.

“Things are going to get crazy today.”

Checks and defenses.

A fierce psychological battle had already begun among the audience.

“The first stage is the performance of the trainees who chose ‘All or Nothing’ for the rap position.”

“Well, there’s no point wondering who it’ll be. Obviously Choi Un-jo.”

It had been a long time since Choi Un-jo had become firmly established as the rapper of the debut lineup.

And sure enough, when Choi Un-jo came onto the stage, the cheers were incomparable to before. He wore wide-legged jeans ripped at the knees with layered T-shirts underneath, perfectly embodying the Y2K concept that was currently in fashion.

Shiny highlights swayed whenever he moved.

“Un!! Jo!!”

“Choi Un-jo!!”

“Un-jo, over here!!”

Choi Un-jo skillfully acted cute, as though he were accustomed to all that attention.

“Trainee Choi Un-jo, did you come up with your team names yourself again?”

“Yes! Our team name is…”

Snap

The five trainees spread out their palms and shouted energetically.

“Rap-Five!”

“Oh……”

‘That’s lame.’

Her mouth itched to say it, but she barely swallowed the words.

The actual performance began, and as expected, it was Choi Un-jo’s one-man show.

 

♪ Hold up!

♪ I hate anything ambiguous

♪ Throw it, all or nothing

 

“Choi Un-jo is fucking insane!!!”

His crisp English pronunciation, finely chopped flow, and sections that naturally transitioned into singing rap elicited curses from all over the audience.

Even his small movements as he rode the rhythm exuded his characteristic composure.

 

♪ A fight between mediocre nobodies

♪ Either way, this stage is all

♪ All mine~

 

At the final lyric, he playfully swayed his hips, sending screams pouring out.

“He’s fucking crazy!!”

“Aaaaaah!!”

His low-toned rap was completely different from his mischievous image. That contrast alone had captured the evaluators’ hearts.

“Un-jo is cute…… Geon-hee really liked him too.”

Just as her heart began to ache again, the performance ended.

“Un-jo, you did great!!”

After seeing this performance, who could possibly vote for first place for anyone other than Choi Un-jo?

She, too, cast her vote for Choi Un-jo without hesitation.

“Next up is the dance position, Team ‘Dynamite.’”

“Waaaaaaah!!”

This time, even the volume of the cheers was different.

“Joo-han!!”

“Han Sang-yoon!!”

The names of people’s favorites erupted from all over the audience.

Disappear Boy also screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Jae! Seong! Ah!!”

With the determination to make sure that at least her remaining second favorite debuted in place of Hwang Geon-hee.

“Holy shit, he has black hair??”

The five trainees who came onto the stage were dressed alike in white T-shirts and jeans.

Some people even gushed that they were the ‘personification of freshness.’ With their slightly damp-looking black hair added to the mix, they looked like they had stepped straight out of a commercial.

All of them had good physiques, so they were pleasing to look at even when simply standing there.

“…They really look like idols.”

Among them, the one who first stole her gaze was Joo-han.

Large, round eyes with prominent double eyelids, and despite his distinct features, his face still had a compact, adorable quality to it. He had an unmistakable idol-type face.

“Wow, the cheers are really incredible, aren’t they?”

Kang Se-jun smiled and egged on the audience.

“What the hell is Han Sang-yoon’s body?”

“Are those shoulders fucking illegal?”

“If I say everything that’s in my head right now, am I going to get arrested?”

“That’s why I’m holding it in…”

Even the expression ‘Pacific Ocean shoulders’ felt outdated when it came to him. His back seemed to be pulling his T-shirt taut.

“His clothes look like they’re struggling.”

Disappear Boy also murmured in admiration.

“Hello, we’re Team ‘Runaway’!”

“Kyaaaaaah!!”

“Let’s get first place!!”

“How was it preparing for this performance?”

Kang Se-jun held out the microphone.

“Hmm… Shall trainee Jae-seong answer?”

Disappear Boy narrowed her eyes at Kang Se-jun.

“Ah, fuck, why are you rubbing salt into the wound…”

It was an obviously intentional question.

Go Jae-seong quietly accepted the microphone. His face was still tense.

“There were some unexpected difficulties, but it became an opportunity for our team members to grow even closer.”

Naturally, there was no mention of Hwang Geon-hee in the end.

Honestly, she was disappointed. She felt like she could breathe a little easier if he had mentioned him even once.

“Team ‘Runaway’s performance will begin now. Code–”

Kang Se-jun spread his fingers toward the audience. Everyone shouted as if hypnotized.

“On!”

The stage went dark for a moment. Holding her breath, she waited for the lights to come on.

Pop!

The stage lit up brightly with a rhythmic beat. Centered around Joo-han, the members split into two groups of two and formed their formation.

They acted as though they were bored, yawning.

When Joo-han pointed a finger toward the audience, the scene came alive even more, perfectly matching the bouncy beat.

She quickly took out her camera, careful to avoid the security staff’s eyes. Joo-han and Han Sang-yoon would sell for a pretty decent amount as data.

 

♪ Just rock your body

♪ To this music

♪ Don’t think about anything else

 

“Joo-hanaaa!!”

But her gaze kept drifting toward the spot where Hwang Geon-hee ‘had been.’

And then the choreography she had been most disappointed about approached.

The part where Hwang Geon-hee had broken into the center while doing locking.

It was a section that had caused a stir across the timeline just from the brief preview during the midterm evaluation. Even she hadn’t known that Hwang Geon-hee could create choreography like this.

“Did they completely redo it……?”

 

♪ Dynamite!

♪ This heart that feels like it’s about to explode

♪ I’m sending it to you, Woo-ah!

 

But the person who walked to the center was…

“Huh??”

Go Jae-seong.

She instinctively covered her mouth and nearly dropped her camera.

“Waaaaah!!”

Goosebumps covered her entire body. Hwang Geon-hee had only withdrawn two days ago, so how had he managed to pull this off in such a short amount of time?

“So that was it……?”

Only then did she remember the interview before the performance.

The reason they had deliberately not mentioned Hwang Geon-hee. He really had intended to show it through his performance rather than words.

‘Just how much did he practice?’

Disappear Boy’s eyes grew inexplicably hot.

Her favorite had left, and her second favorite had taken over his choreography and was dancing it. Her fingertips pressing the shutter were filled with even more strength.

‘Hwang & Go is eternal.’

With solemn determination, she captured Go Jae-seong through her camera, determined to create the photos and videos of a lifetime.

But even after Hwang Geon-hee’s part ended, Go Jae-seong remained in the center.

She was so moved that she couldn’t even hear the complaints gradually coming from around her.

“…But how long is he going to stay in the center?”

“Looks like he just took all of that guy’s parts.”

He had remained in the center for nearly 30 seconds out of the three-minute-thirty-second song.

“Isn’t Sang-yoon getting way too little screen time?”

The reaction from Han Sang-yoon’s fans in particular was becoming serious.

“No, he’s not someone who should be getting shoved into storage, so why…?”

But the words barely registered in her ears.

Right now, all she could think was…

‘Jae-seong must’ve worked so damn hard.’

That was the only thought in her mind.

The performance ended with all of them drawing their bows together, turning halfway around, and shooting arrows of love toward the audience.

“Waaaaah!!”

“Go Jae-seong did everything, seriously.”

“This is fucking insane. I can’t even imagine how hard Go Jae-seong worked over those two days.”

On one side came exclamations of emotion, while on the other came disappointed sighs.

“Then, let’s begin voting!”

Without hesitation, she voted for Go Jae-seong as the No. 1 trainee within the team.

All that remained was the vote for the lowest-ranking trainee.

“Probably……”

After thinking for a moment, she quickly voted for Joo-han. She hurriedly covered her screen, worried that one of the Joo-han fans around her might see.

“Jae-seong, you really worked hard.”

At Jack P’s first words, Go Jae-seong briefly turned his back.

“Huh?”

“Are you crying?”

“Uwaaaaaah… Don’t cry!!”

When he turned back around, the corners of his eyes were red.

“Thank you!”

Pitying sighs came from all around the audience.

While the heartwarming judging continued, Song Inhyuk picked up the microphone.

“It must have been a difficult time in many ways, but I think it’s truly impressive that you managed to prepare this much.”

Disappear Boy nodded in satisfaction.

“However.”

That short word created a sense of tension.

“With trainee Go Jae-seong handling all of the parts belonging to the trainee who withdrew, it’s unavoidable that the overall balance leaves something to be desired.”

“What the fuck is he talking about?”

The words had slipped out before she could stop them, so she belatedly clamped her mouth shut.

“For once, Song In-hyuk is actually saying something right.”

“It was a little too much.”

She quietly bit her lip.

“Still, it was a performance where they gave it their all, so I hope you get good results.”

As Team ‘Runaway’ left the stage, pained groans could be heard throughout the venue.

Fans whose legs had gone numb from the long recording began stretching one by one. Disappear Boy also crouched down before straightening her back, and every joint made a cracking sound.

“Ugh, when is this going to end?”

She already thought her job here was finished.

‘Should I just go home?’

If she put in an empty memory card and blatantly pretended to be filming, the security staff would chase her out on their own.

After the stage set change was complete, Kang Se-jun appeared again.

“Now, we have only the final team of today’s competition remaining.”

“Finally……!”

“Wait.”

Disappear Boy stopped the hand that was about to put away her camera.

“Yoo Seong-woo and Kang I-yul are in this one, right?”

Yoo Seong-woo, who had been climbing the rankings frighteningly fast lately, and Kang I-yul, whose core fandom remained solid despite his declining rank.

She took her camera back out.

“I’m going to make some money today.”

After all, when it came to forgetting a favorite who had disappeared, nothing worked quite like money.