How to Avoid Debut

༺ How To Avoid Debut – 25 ༻

  I sat on the floor, staring hard at the mirror that filled the wall, and started to time it appropriately.

  Like everyone else killing time before shooting, I naturally started to look at my cell phone, while I kept looking around. I wondered what Kim Seongwon was doing, the speed at which he was typing was almost stenographer-level.

  Hwiyoung, who claimed not to play games, was fiddling with his cell phone, pretending to look at it, and glanced at me. As our eyes met, he slowly nodded his head. After watching my gesture, Hwiyoung tapped the screen a few times and got up abruptly, walking over to me.

  “Leader, can you check this for a moment…….”

  Hwiyoung carefully laid down a branch in my dry home. After Kim Seongwon and I entered the place we used as a practice room, it was the first word he uttered in the air.

  Hwiyoung brought up the screen of our team’s music video that had been preloaded, and tapped the screen with his finger. No one, sitting against the wall, fiddling with their cell phones, showed any interest in this side.

  “Why?”

  “It seems like the beat in this part is off. Only Seongwon….”

  Hwiyoung cast a glance back at Kim Seongwon, who was busy with his phone, throwing a spark. It was the music video shooting footage that he had shared with all the participants to check once in a while. Hwiyoung pointed out Seongwon’s slightly delayed jump timing and I nodded naturally.

  “That’s right. Seongwon is the only one who’s late.”

  “I just discovered it while reviewing, it seems to stand out a bit.”

  Kim Seongwon slowly raised his head to the bait thrown repeatedly by Hwiyoung and me. His unreadable face was staring at us, then he got up from leaning against the wall.

  As if he had been waiting, when Hwiyoung handed his phone to Kim Seongwon, his face started to wrinkle slightly as if he was checking the video.

  To be honest, it was a glaring mistake, but in fact, Gaon’s step mistake, which comes out about 26 seconds later, was much more noticeable. Everyone was not a trainee but a layman, so their dance skills were not outstanding, and our team was no exception.

  Nevertheless, we confidently began to slowly point out Kim Seongwon’s minor rhythm mistake, just as the writers had meticulously planned in the scenario.

  “Don’t you think you stand out a bit, Seongwon? Everyone else is jumping well to the beat.”

  “Everyone is correct, but you’re the only one who’s wrong…….”

  Hwiyoung, true to his usual timid character, agreed with my words, which began to pour out complaints with an expressionless face. Kim Seongwon, who had been continuously replaying the same part, locked eyes with me. He seemed not to like my attitude of directly pointing out such a trivial mistake, but his face was forced into a smile.

  “It’s a mistake that’s hardly noticeable. If we’re going by that, wasn’t Gaon more wrong?”

  Gaon, who was suddenly attacked, flinched and quickly glanced in this direction. I was slightly startled by Kim Seongwon’s act of unceremoniously using another team member as a shield, but I naturally lied right away.

  “I’ve already discussed it with Gaon.”

  “So, you’re going to do the same with me?”

  Kim Seongwon, believing the camera behind him was off, retorted without hesitation. Although nothing much had been said yet, there was already a sharp edge to his tone. It seemed that my prediction of him getting excited easily might be correct after all. Hwiyoung, having neatly finished his task, shrank back as if scared.

  “We’re all pointing out mistakes and moving on, so it would be good for you to do the same, Seongwon.”

  As the writers had requested, I deliberately injected a slight irritation into my voice and tapped the screen. At the sudden increase in volume of my voice, Kim Seongwon seemed quite taken aback. For some reason, seeing his expression gave me a sense of satisfaction, but Kim Seongwon immediately retorted with a sharp voice.

  “Then you should have said something when we checked it then. What do you plan on doing by nitpicking now?”

  At his harsher-than-expected words, I unconsciously took a step back. We’re nitpicking now to surprise you for your birthday. As my face involuntarily scowled at his negative reaction, I found myself making a mocking sound.

  “I just thought it would be good if you corrected it.”

  “What nonsense is this? What do you plan on doing with a stage that’s already over, correcting it now?”

  Dog out, dog. The tone of Kim Seongwon’s voice rose a notch. I could feel his tone gradually becoming aggressive, but I just kept retorting. The quarrel that started with one-sided criticism continued to fuel Kim Seongwon’s anger gauge.

  The topic of conversation began to drift away from the original point, and I quietly absorbed Seongwon’s words, fully aware of this fact. I thought it wouldn’t matter since it was all just a hidden camera prank.

  “So you can just say anything because you’re the team leader?”

  “Anyone can spot the shortcomings of a stage.”

  “But you’re blatantly doing this to me now. You don’t seem to have any complaints, why are you picking on a part that doesn’t seem to have any problem?”

  His sarcastic skill was quite natural. Of course, there was no reason to get angry at that, so I kept my cool and dragged the time out. As time passed, the intensity of the back-and-forth language increased.

  When I was starting to get tired and the level of our words was getting riskier, Yejun, who had been quietly sitting and watching us, stood up.

  “Seongwon, watch your words.”

    “……What?”

  “Hahyun thought there was a part that needed feedback, so he pointed it out. I think that part was wrong too. It doesn’t look good to talk like that.”

  In an already inflamed situation, when Yejun poured in a whole can of gasoline, Kim Seongwon’s expression visibly worsened. Yejun’s face, calmly intervening and taking my side, was extremely composed. He even seemed relaxed.

  It seemed like pushing any further would make it hard to say it was just a prank, so I checked the camera, wondering how much longer I should provoke him. At that moment, a curse exploded from Kim Seongwon’s mouth.

  “Fuck.”

  It was as natural as pronouncing his own name. The curse that scattered in the air instantly created a tense atmosphere. Kim Seongwon, finally losing his temper, forcefully kicked the floor.

  If there had been a water bottle, it would certainly have flown and smashed against the wall. My brain stopped functioning in this unexpected situation. When will this go on, writer… Sadly, the writer was not in the practice room to ask.

  “Are you dropping out, hyung? What does it matter, it’s another team.”

  “You’re talking too harshly.”

  “It’s not during shooting, what’s with the fucking honorifics. Did you want to fucking screw me over from the start?”

  It seemed like Kim Seongwon and Yejun knew each other. A rough voice continuously flowed from his mouth as if he’d completely let go in the presence of someone he knew.

  In a situation that he had not anticipated at all, Yejun also made a slightly flustered face and took a step back. At the same time, Kim Seongwon’s sharp eyes turned to me.

  “You’re sitting there, pointing out all the trivial things. Is this all about fucking dancing?”

  Kim Seongwon, who had completely opened his original mouth, spouted out anything that came to mind. It was honestly scary as he looked at me with fierce eyes. To think he wanted to be an idol with such a personality, it was clear that he would be fluctuating in real-time search dozens of times a day.

  Thinking it might be really dangerous if we went further, I subtly signaled to Hwiyoung, who was retreating. Fortunately, Hwiyoung seemed to understand and hesitantly went out with Gaon.

  “I don’t know how well you can do that you’re overstepping. You seem to take it easy because a person is putting up with unreasonable bullsh*t, cunt boy?”

  I thought he was still using honorifics, but in the end, even informal language came out. It was truly confirmed that he was a person who really lived as he pleased. How can he not control his emotions like this? Ordinary people would try to endure as much as possible when a conflict arises, but it seemed like Kim Seongwon could only hold out for about 3 minutes.

  Now, everything was over as soon as the two who had left came in with the cake. It was over, but…

  “Do you have a fucking grudge against me or somethin?”

  Oh, I hadn’t imagined this.

  With a face that was clearly upset, Kim Seongwon grabbed my collar. There was no strength in his grip and he didn’t lift it up, but I was shocked simply by the fact that the collar of my shirt was crumpled.

  No matter how angry you are, I didn’t expect him to grab my collar, especially with so many people watching. I was grabbed by the collar due to the hidden camera birthday celebration that had started semi-forcedly.

  Kim Seongwon just quietly waited in that state as if waiting for me to retaliate or swear back. When I was looking at the hand holding my clothes with a bewildered expression, the door naturally opened.

  “Surprise… it was a hidden camera prank!”

  Gaon, who was coming in with the cake, looked over at us and faltered, then soon composed his expression. Hwiyoung also looked unsure what to do and then set off the firecracker a beat late.

  Kim Seongwon, looking seriously surprised, quickly released my shirt. Yejun was the first to break the silence by clapping. His playful smiling expression was quite artistic.

  “Happy Birthday.”

  “What is this…”

  “You said your birthday is in a week.”

  “Happy early birthday…”

  Both of them, seemingly unaware that emotions would escalate this much, began awkwardly praising Kim Seongwon. Yejun clapped fervently with a voice that seemed to have no emotion, saying “Happy Birthday” in an English pronunciation that would put a native speaker to shame, and I also clapped awkwardly with a smile.

  “Were you very surprised…?”

  

  “….”

  Kim Seongwon was neither angry nor laughing, standing there like a wooden post. In response to his silent reaction, which was embarrassing compared to the people making a fuss next to him, Gaon carelessly pushed the cake I bought.

  “Extinguish the candles first, they’re melting!”

  Gaon laughed with a voice that would sound artificial to anyone, and only then did Kim Seongwon’s gaze slowly turn to the cake.

  []

  A heart-shaped candle that was carefully selected was burning fiercely in the center of the cake. Watching it felt as if a heart was melting down, causing Seongwon’s brow to naturally furrow.

  It seemed like he was grinding his teeth between his slightly visible lips, and I was taken aback without knowing it. He seemed to really dislike the candles.

  “You’ve worked hard all this time!”

  Only an awkward round of applause echoed, and Kim Seongwon, instead of blowing out the candles at the right timing, pointed at the cameras on the other side. And with a low voice, calm enough to make you wonder how he had quelled his emotions so quickly after being so angry, he asked.

  “Was that just filmed?”

  “Ah, yes… It was a hidden camera prank.”

  As soon as Hwiyoung’s hesitant answer ended, Kim Seongwon immediately opened the door and left. The candles were still burning, not extinguished. It was clear where he had gone without seeing him. He must have gone to prevent himself from appearing on the broadcast, blaming his own ignorance for getting angrier than the script.

  I was exasperated by the fact that I was grabbed by the collar because of the hidden camera prank, which couldn’t even be broadcast and had lost its purpose, and I rubbed the crumpled part of my neck.

 

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