[ Park Moondae's POV ]
The reason why I exchanged numbers with Kim Raebin was numerous. His ranking's high, and thanks to his maestro characteristic, the song arrangement last match went effortlessly smoothly.
Plus, I thought it was about time I tried to enter a new line. The 'same-age line' alone sets me on a dangerous path--in the previous timeline, Seon Ahyun never debuted, and Keun Sejin has a 50% chance of being a drug addict.
Taking into account my survival, it's better to get closer to Kim Raebin, who debuted in my last life. And naturally, I'd end up getting close to Cha Eugene too. Those fans of his who hate me might start looking at me favorably as well.
However, when I got home, I found that there was no reason to worry about the same-age line.
I was already in two new ones.
The 'non-trainee line' and a stranger 'Moonmin'.
Monitoring the discussion boards, I became confused. I wasn't sure where this came from, especially with the direction my character was edited into.
There was an odd video trending with the title [ Compilation of Seungmin calling Moondae ].
I clicked on it.
Seriously, it was just a compilation of Seungmin saying "Moondae hyung" in different shots. There weren't even a lot of times we interacted on camera, so I wasn't sure where they got all this from.
- Look at how soft he gets ㅠㅠ
- 0:13 is my favorite <3
- His voice is so nice. It's like asmr
└ no fr
- The scary leopard turns into a baby with his hyung~
- He got so excited when he found a gold ball he called out immediately to Moonpuppy
└ its almost as if Seungmin is the puppy in this relationship ㅋㅋㅋ
- Did you hear how he congratulated Moondae?
I searched up episode 4 and immediately watched it. I needed to know how those bastards edited me to suddenly get this strong of a reaction.
The first half of the episode was the PR scavenger hunt. While everyone charged out the door and fought for the balls, it suddenly shifted to the cafeteria.
[ Meanwhile...No one is here...]
[ But wait! Shadows emerge near the door... ]
Me and Seungmin's heads popped out from the corner. Then us, Sejin, and Iljoon crept in and began searching.
[ How did they get here? ] was written at the bottom, and then it suddenly rewound to the moment everyone started running for the front door. It focused on Seungmin and me standing still before heading out the backdoor.
[ The two agree silently on a mysterious plan! ]
The video showed us holding hands and entering the side door of the dorm until Sejin and Iljoon were caught following us.
[ The four contestants are hunting for treasure balls like crazy. ]
Then a close shot of Seungmin finding a gold ball was added.
"Oh, so that's when he called out my name like that," I thought, recalling the compilation video.
[ They continue to take the hunt seriously... ]
There was a scene where Seungmin pulled me away from a hall and put a finger to his lips before calling it clear. It just looked like a teenager having fun.
"Is this seriously the only reason why people are suddenly grouping us together?"
I was baffled by how little content people were reaching with.
If anything, the production team made me have a more intimate friendship with Ahyun, who I switched the balls for. In Ahyun's interview, he said he thought I swapped because I knew he couldn't stomach seafood, and then it showed a clip in the dorm where I gave him digestive medicine.
The only other time I was seen with Seungmin was a clip during our break when all of us were sitting on the bench together. Seungmin rested his head on my shoulder.
[ Three friends take a calming break together ], as well as the cute BGM, really set it in stone.
I think that, including the fact that both Ahyun and Seungmin said they were close to me in their actual PR lives, was what drove the 'non-trainee trio' to suddenly rise up.
Overall, I was satisfied with this first part of the episode. With the addition of showing how serious I was in setting up for my mukbang with cute sfx, it made me seem less apathetic and more of a nice guy who just doesn't show emotions on his face. And that was a lot of progress from episode 1.
After the typical commercial break was the second individual ranking results. I was pleased with how good the blonde hair looked on camera.
There weren't many interesting things. I skipped to my rank announcement and found nothing out of the ordinary then either.
Oh, there was another footage of Seungmin calling out my name. It was when he congratulated me as I sat down. He was leaning close, and his eyes looked relaxed and warm.
"..."
Was he really looking at me like that?
Anyways, it clipped out the moment I pat his head.
And only one more scene of us played in the episode. It was when I gave him water on the stage. The small banner of the water company's ad was at the bottom of the screen as he took the water from me and drank it.
Again, not much.
I checked other discussion boards and found similar comments.
- Guys, did you see how Moondae looked at Sejin when he put an arm around Seungmin? And then he pulled Seungmin away ahhh so cute
└ Was he jealous? :0
└ Stop spreading misinformation. Moondae just handed water to Seungmin
└ Homophob
└ ?? No? I'm just stating the obvious. You're chronically online if you think I'm being homophobic
- Zoom in during Kim Raebin's speech, guys. You can see Moondae patting Seungmin's head ㅠㅠ Seungmin really is Moonpuppy's pet cat
└ I saw that too. Seriously, my heart... Moonmin...
- Moondae is always giving water to Seungmin. Look at him taking good care of his pet leopard~
└ More like pet cat ㅋㅋㅋ Look at how soft Seungmin gets for him
└ You're so right. It's confirmed. Seungmin is Moondae's cat
I tried to find things that didn't have to do with this nonsense. There were some arguments starting that I was wary about.
The next viral topic was a video from a dance studio.
================================
[ A hello from a dance teacher ]
: Hello, I hope you see this, Cho Seungmin. Cho Seungmin...hmm, it feels weird to finally learn of your real name. I'll stick to calling you 'STAY' instead~
You used to always wear a mask, but your eyes are too unique to not identify right away ㅋ Do you know how surprised I was to see you on my TV?
Now that you're on an idol audition program, I can assume you're okay with your identity being known right?
If that's the case, you should swing by the studio someday and film a real video with me. You used to always refuse me, saying you were embarrassed ㅠㅠ but I've always wanted to show your dancing to the world.
STAY, I'll be rooting for you! Fighting! And make sure to buy me chicken!
- Your favorite dance teacher from 1Billion
================================
Attached was a video of the two dancing. It was Seungmin wearing a loose tank top and sweatpants with a mouth mask and a hat. Next to him was who I recognized to be a famous choreographer for some boy groups.
At the end, the teacher picked up the phone while panting, "And this is the only video I will ever have with STAY...this teacher is so sad."
Seungmin also walked closer and looked into the camera. Truly, his eyes were easy to recognize.
"Teacher, don't post this anywhere." It was definitely his voice too, light and soft.
"Alright," the teacher smiled. "I won't post it unless you get famous, okay?"
"...Sure, but I won't be famous ever..."
"Huh? Do you want to bet on it?"
"Yes, please buy me chicken."
I knew about 1Billion Dance Studios. Recently, it was going viral overseas for its professional dance videos. But the video posted in the article was shot on a regular phone and was messy. It was just a video the teacher recorded for personal use and not for Wetube.
- Seungmin, you're going to debut...wym you won't ever be famous ㅋㅋㅋ
- He's so camera shy?? Is this really the same Seungmin?
└ It's definitely his voice and face, even with the mask. I know because I've ingrained his face into my mind ㅋㅋㅋ
└ Crazy ㅋㅋㅋ
└ Uwaaa he's so cute
- Seungmin is called STAY? Is that his stage name?
└ Writer: No~ I would always shout, "Hey, STAY!" in English because he would leave before the recordings would take place ㅠㅠ so that's what I began to call him!
└ That's so cute ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Seungmin, your teacher is so cute. Buy him some good chicken ^^
- I hope you two reunite soon!
I put down my phone and sighed, plopping into my bed.
The Seungmin in the video felt different from the Seungmin now, almost as if it were a more personal version of him.
I thought I knew him on a personal level because I knew he'll die if he doesn't debut.
"..."
I felt strange.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
a/n: you guys know the Honest shotaro dance clip? That's the dance vid of Seungmin and his teacher ^^