I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 80

Chapter 80

 

Before my regression, the song I-yul had chosen was ‘LAST CODE.’ And he had unfortunately lost the center competition.

‘Go Jae-seong was the center.’

But this time, the situation was different. Because of the choreography plagiarism incident, Go Jae-seong’s position was nowhere near as strong as it had been before my regression.

“There will be one center for each team, and two centers for the group song. The individual team centers will also serve as the centers for the group song.”

“Wow, so they get to be center twice?”

The trainees stirred at the unprecedented benefit.

“Then, starting from Code 10, you will select the position you want in your desired song.”

A large board was revealed.

 

[DECODE] / [LAST CODE]

 

The positions for each song were listed beneath the two titles.

“However, a trainee with a higher code can take away a position that has already been selected.”

Jang Hyeon-jun chose LAST CODE first. After that, name tags filled the positions one by one in order.

Go Jae-seong chose DECODE.

‘Well, I guess it would be uncomfortable to be on the same team as Jang Hyeon-jun again.’

“Code 3, trainee Yoo Seong-woo. Please choose your team.”

Without hesitation, I placed my name tag in the LAST CODE main vocalist position.

“Code 2, trainee Joo-han. Please come forward.”

“Yes–.”

Joo-han lightly stepped down and seemed to ponder for a moment before choosing the remaining LAST CODE main dancer position.

‘If this happens, I-yul will…’

“Trainee Kang I-yul, please come forward.”

There were two choices.

Either aim for the remaining DECODE sub-vocalist position, or push someone out and choose LAST CODE.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward I-yul. But his choice was unexpected.

“Huh…?”

I-yul picked up Go Jae-seong’s name tag.

“Ooh.”

Choi Un-jo’s short but powerful exclamation escaped.

Go Jae-seong’s name tag, which had been in the DECODE main dancer position, was moved to Sub-Vocal 1.

[Main Dancer: Kang I-yul]

And he placed his own name tag in that position.

“Oh, trainee Kang I-yul. You pushed someone out of a position within the same song, huh?”

“Yes. I couldn’t give up the main dancer position.”

“Trainee Go Jae-seong, you’ve unfortunately been pushed out. Are you okay with that?”

“……”

As though his mind had wandered elsewhere for a moment, Go Jae-seong’s expression twisted for an instant. It was the first time in a while. He had failed to control his expression.

“Trainee Go Jae-seong?”

“…Ah, yes. I’m confident I can do well in any position.”

As he headed toward his changed position, Go Jae-seong’s expression subtly changed.

To anyone else, it would have looked like an ordinary blank expression. But to my eyes, after having attended almost every single Impactor fan signing event, I could see it.

‘He doesn’t look too happy.’

It was understandable. He had been robbed of his part by none other than I-yul.

The venue was astonishingly quiet. Before my regression, he would never have had his position taken away, nor would he have lost the lackeys who eagerly echoed everything he said.

It was unfortunate that I-yul and I ended up on different teams, but it was actually for the best.

If we had been on the LAST CODE team, the center competition would have been much fiercer.

More importantly, this time, he hadn’t chosen because someone had pushed him aside like before my regression. He had directly chosen the song he wanted and the position he wanted.

That was what mattered most.

“The center selection will take place tomorrow.”

“Wow, tomorrow?”

“Can they do it in one day?”

After filming the chorus parts, the center would be decided through a vote.

I knew better than anyone how formidable a competitor Joo-han was. But there was one scene I couldn’t get out of my head.

A pair dance with my favorite.

Where in the world was there a fan who got to dance face-to-face with their favorite on stage like a decalcomania?

‘Am I indulging in my own desires too much?’

Even when I had thoughts like that, the reason I had been able to come this far was ultimately all thanks to him.

“Then, good luck to everyone!”

Our team was finalized as me, Joo-han, Jang Hyeon-jun, Ji Dong-seok, and Choi Un-jo.

“This is insane. Am I actually going to debut at this rate? I’m on the same team as you again!”

Ji Dong-seok immediately latched onto my back.

“You’re heavy, punk.”

“Let’s achieve our dream of debuting together.”

“Get down first.”

I laughed as I peeled Ji Dong-seok off me. Then I suddenly looked around.

Ten people.

Half of them would be eliminated from here.

‘……Five.’

No matter how I thought about it, five debut members felt like far too few.

When I watched the show, I hadn’t thought much of it. Five seemed like a reasonable number, and I had thought that the people who needed to be eliminated had been eliminated.

But now that I was experiencing it firsthand, there wasn’t a single person who deserved to be eliminated.

Just then, I noticed that I had accumulated enough. It was a point that would disappear once its duration expired.

‘Ah.’

In the distance, I could see I-yul learning the choreography.

‘This time.’

I needed an item for I-yul, not for myself. Because I absolutely wanted to make him the center.

Even while practicing, my mind was busy coming up with a new item name.

How many times had it been rejected? Before I knew it, only I-yul, Han Sang-yoon, and I remained in the practice room.

“Seong-woo, the bathroom again?”

“Ah… no. I just wanted to get some fresh air.”

Han Sang-yoon stared at me. His gaze seemed suspicious for no reason, so I hurriedly added,

“I mean, I’m an idol trainee and all. I really don’t want to be suspected of anything improper.”

“Let’s let this one pass, please.”

I took a deep breath.

“Item creation.”

 

▶Item Name: Only You Can Be Seen

▶Effect: People who look at the target wearing this sticker will have only that target remain in their minds for a certain period of time.

 

It was the most embarrassing item name I had ever come up with. Yet the status window allowed the item to be created.

[S: His Excellency Yama has expressed satisfaction, saying that the naming sense of the user of the Dead Man’s Wish Ticket is getting better and better.]

No, it actually likes it?

‘Wow, its taste is fucking awful…’

I was about to say one more thing, but stopped. I never knew when it would read my thoughts again and give me shit for them.

I returned to the practice room after creating the item. I-yul was still completely absorbed in the music.

“What about the others?”

“They all went back to the dorm. I guess since it’s getting late…”

When I looked at the clock, it was already two in the morning. I-yul collapsed onto the floor and drank some water.

‘Now’s my chance to stick it on him.’

I slowly walked behind him. All I had to do was take the water from him and stick it onto his hand.

Just as I was about to approach as naturally as possible…

“Hyung, do you know why I chose DECODE?”

“……?”

My footsteps stopped at the unexpected question.

“Actually, this time, I wanted to prepare without your help.”

I instinctively hid the hand holding the item behind my back. Even though there was no way I-yul could see it, I did it anyway.

“I’m confident about becoming center this time.”

For a moment, the item I had worked so damn hard to create suddenly felt embarrassing. The thin sticker crumpled in my hand.

‘Even without something like this.’

You’ll definitely do well.

Only then did I realize. Helping someone and believing in them could sometimes be completely different things.

“Hyung, go in first. I’m going to practice a little more before I go.”

I shook my head.

“I want to be center too.”

“……!”

I-yul’s eyes widened.

“Ugh, I have to beat Joo-han too. So I’m going to practice more before I go.”

“Th-then, would you like me to watch you?”

“I’d appreciate that.”

And so, the two of us didn’t stop practicing until the sun came up.

It was time that could have been rewound again and again if I had used the hourglass.

But this time, I didn’t want to. We spent the passing time together as it was, watching each other’s performances.

“I’m dying, seriously…”

By the time we had repeated it exactly one hundred times, I could taste blood in my mouth.

When I lay down on the floor, I-yul immediately collapsed beside me. After staring at the ceiling for a while, I-yul said,

“Hyung, I think you’ll become center.”

“Really?”

He nodded firmly.

“It suits the song.”

After hearing that, I quietly repeated the lyrics to myself.

 

♪ Starting from 0

♪ My small gesture

♪ I’ve somehow arrived here

♪ LAST CODE

 

Lyrics about starting from 0 and having reached the point where only the final code remained. The message was just like the path I had walked.

“If we both become center, I guess I’ll have to work even harder.”

“Aren’t you counting your chickens before they hatch? You, maybe, but I–”

“To match your 100%.”

Those words gave me more strength than any other encouragement could have.

“Yeah.”

I quietly held out my fist.

Tap. I-yul’s fist lightly bumped against mine.

A few hours later, filming began.

“We’ll now begin filming the Boys Code final mission center selection video!”

Since they had to determine how much the center stood out on stage, every member of the team would participate in every shoot.

In other words, the later your turn came, the more exhausted you would be when filming.

‘Better to get it over with first.’

“We’ll determine the order by drawing lots.”

The moment I unfolded the paper, I let out a small sigh without realizing it.

[5]

Sorry, I-yul. Looks like the center position has gone down the drain.

 

***

 

Yura, who operated a Song Woo-joo fan account under the name ‘Woojoo-ya,’ was digging through material about Go Jae-seong’s plagiarism allegations as diligently as ever.

Ding

“What is it?”

The screenshot sent by her fandom friend contained a Boys Code spoiler.

[Debut lineup spoiler]

1. K**
2. J**
3. S**
4. H**
5. U**

> Deleting in 1 minute

↳ Ah fuckfuckfuck I-yul finally!!!!

↳ Go’s out of the debut lineup, congrats ㅊㅋㅊㅋ

↳ This is the right world

↳ He didn’t get eliminated entirely?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 ↳↳ Even better then

↳ Seong-woo is 3rd? Didn’t he get the benefit?

↳ Thank god Un-jo is back in the debut lineup, but being 5th is kind of ambiguousㅠㅠ

↳ Looks like Joo-han didn’t get a benefit again, huh. Fuck

↳ They’re not revealing the eliminated trainees?

↳ Now they’re just dumping the rankings lol

 

“Woo-joo’s debut lineup position isn’t what matters anyway.”

Yura casually turned her gaze back to the search bar.

“It’s all or nothing. If he’s upset, he can blame his own fans.”

The reason she was searching for material this ruthlessly went back several weeks.

Immediately after Seori’s exposé was posted, there was only one response the Go Jae-seong fandom chose.

‘Distract people with another trainee’s controversy.’

 

[Then is this plagiarism too?]

> This is the Round 2 stage that Song supposedly choreographed. Aren’t this move and that move similar too?

 

[Song Woojoo Plagiarism Allegations]

> This is the Round 3 stage, but isn’t this basically habitual at this point? I think even the Round 4 choreography wasn’t entirely done by Jae-seong, and this guy participated in itㅇㅇ

 

[Ah, this is frustrating]

> Honestly, nobody thought a trainee made all of that by himself, right? Song is getting tons of plagiarism allegations right now, and because of this guy, Jae-seong looks like he’s going to take all the blame

 

Starting with Song Woo-joo, the allegations spread to the other trainees as well.

They moved so systematically that rumor posts continued spreading without end. Not only entertainment communities, but also university communities and even stock open chat rooms she had never heard of.

“They’re seriously relentless.”

After the plagiarism was confirmed and the official apology was posted, the attempt to distract people with other trainees’ controversies had definitely decreased.

The problem came next. People had become sick of hearing about choreography itself. Song Woojoo’s greatest strength had ended up being buried.

Whenever someone brought up his ability to create choreography…

 

↳ Can we stop talking about choreography?

↳ I’m sick of it now

↳ Enough already

 

Those were the kinds of responses that appeared first. The only person who suffered was Song Woo-joo, who hadn’t done anything wrong.

So Yura made up her mind.

If Go Jae-seong was going to hold out until the end, then at the very least, she would return everything that had been dumped onto Song Woo-joo.

From then on, she began analyzing every single one of Go Jae-seong’s stages again. If there was even one suspicious movement, she intended to find the original source no matter how long it took.

And she wasn’t the only person gathering material with that mindset.

 

[Not Lonely Go Jae-seong]

> At first glance, judging only by the name, one might think it was a room full of Go Jae-seong fans. But in reality, fans of various trainees had gathered there to share allegations of Go Jae-seong’s plagiarism.

↳ Did everyone see the spoiler?

↳ Yeah KEKEKE They say he’s out of the debut lineup, so I’m going to have chicken and beer tonight

↳ Should we pick a Go Jae-seong elimination food?

↳ By the way, what happened with the eliminated traineeㅠㅠ

↳ I really hope Woo-joo survivesㅠㅠㅠ

↳ Woo-joo really has to make it to the final, even for the sake of his fans. Look how hard he worked

↳ Thank you, everyoneㅠㅠㅠㅠ

 

“Woojoo, I don’t care if it’s Code 10, just stay alive…”

Just then, a new message appeared in the chat.

 

↳ I think an elimination spoiler just dropped!

 

“Woojoo obviously survived.”

Even as she said that, her hand was already clicking the link.

 

[spoiler 2]

> Jae-seong got Code 6, so the atmosphere at the venue was really badㅇㅇ

 

“Fuck, Code 6?”

 

[And Kwon survived]

 

“Gi-hyun survived too, so Woo-joo obviously…”

 

[The elimination candidates were Gi-hyun and Woo-joo, but Gi-hyun made it]

 

“…….”

Her eyes stopped at one place.

 

[Gi-hyun made it]

 

She could no longer move past that one line.

Her vision gradually blurred. Even as her field of view became hazy like a dusty window, she couldn’t move even a single finger.

“Why……?”

 

[Especially Woo-joo cried so much that I thought filming was going to be stopped. Fans of Yoo and Song will probably have a hard time watching this week’s episode]

 

↳ What the fuck, Go survives, but Woo-joo is eliminated?

↳ Go fans are the biggest victims of the distraction tactic;;

↳ Woo-joo fans don’t need to have a hard time watching the broadcast. They’re not going to watch it anyway, fuck

↳ It’s such a shame. Woo-joo followed Seong-woo so well

 

It felt as though all the strength had drained from her body. She even had the impulsive thought of deleting the entire account she had built for Song Woo-joo’s debut.

 

↳ Woo-joo fans, but we won’t know until it airsㅠㅠ

↳ What happens to the support project we prepared?

↳ Still, let’s go ahead with the subway ad…….

 

At the Lonely Song Woo-joo room, the fans continued lamenting in despair. She slowly lowered her phone.

“I can’t let it end like this.”

She blocked every Boys Code-related keyword on all her SNS accounts.

And left only one.

‘Go Jae-seong choreography.’

She watched choreography videos from Korea and overseas alike. She didn’t skip over videos by unknown choreographers like Seori either.

The mouse wheel spun endlessly.

Click.

Scroll.

Click.

Scroll.

“Ah, my eyes hurt.”

Her wrist gradually began to ache as well. But she didn’t let go of the mouse.

How much time had passed?

“I have to find it quickly.”

Yura put artificial tears into her dry eyes. Then she habitually checked the ‘Not Lonely Go Jae-seong’ chat room.

At that moment, a message from someone who had just entered appeared.

“……Huh?”

 

[Isn’t this kind of similar? To Go Jae-seong’s Round 1 stage]

[Video]

 

A post asking a question, accompanied by a video link.

At first, she thought it was just a troll. But Yura clicked on the video and covered her mouth.

“Holy shit, who is this person?”

She had watched Go Jae-seong’s stages hundreds of times over by now. This was definitely choreography Go Jae-seong had used in his solo stage.

She hurriedly saved the video link and returned to the chat room.

 

(This message has been deleted.)

(..** left the chat room.)

[???]

[Where did they go??]

 

But they had already erased every trace of themselves and disappeared.

“I don’t know who you are, but this is a chance sent from heaven.”

Yura began analyzing the video like a madwoman.