Adora is a girl group.
A girl group that has a solid fan base and has been active for three years longer than us. If we get involved with them, it’s us who will get crushed.
“I’m just a fan… but can I get an autograph…?”
“Don’t go near them. Don’t even give them a chance to get involved with us.”
At my stern gaze, Kim Dobin hunched down, glancing longingly at Adora.
Before the rehearsal, as Adora seniors went on stage to check their positions, Kim Dobin looked around.
“Oh, Senior Yuan isn’t here? Is she late because of a personal schedule?”
“But with one person missing, the choreography is slightly off.”
Kim Dobin, who claimed to have memorized Yuan’s parts, started dancing to the music that was playing. Watching him, I rubbed my temples to ease the throbbing headache.
At least he was dancing seriously and not as a joke, so even if someone recorded it, it wouldn’t cause a scandal.
“Don’t waste your energy before the rehearsal. Just stay still.”
“Oh, come on, with my stamina, that’s nothing to worry about.”
“Got it. Just stay still, you’re making me dizzy.”
“Yes, sir.”
We were being watched.
As a small to mid-tier group with not much experience or popularity, our performance slot was early, but our rehearsal slot was later, so we didn’t have to wait long before getting on stage.
As we got on stage, the AR played.
This was just a simple position check. The full rehearsal would be done a couple of hours before the event.
The music stopped abruptly after the first verse.
Since we didn’t include the instrumental part, it took about 1 minute and 10 seconds. That’s why the waiting time for the position check wasn’t long.
The full rehearsal would be with the complete song, so the waiting time would increase.
I sat crookedly, resting my chin on my hand, watching other groups we were friendly with chatting animatedly in makeshift tents, and sneered.
We used to have a group like that too, where only I, to be exact, used to chat and show off friendships.
Speak of the devil, the moment I thought of it, someone I definitely didn’t want to see appeared in front of me.
“Hey, Eden, long time no see! Hi, Hajun!”
“Wow, you guys must have rubber mats on your faces. Thick and elastic, just like rubber.”
As I made a remark somewhere between admiration and sarcasm, the smiling member of KICKS tried to jab at me.
“Hey, that’s no way to speak to your senior.”
“Oh, yes, yes, senior of six months. What brings you to talk to a lowly concept failure from a white house on a hill?”
“Come on, Eden, don’t talk like that. I just wanted to clear up some misunderstandings between us—”
“I clearly heard from my own ears, straight from the senior members of KICKS, about what misunderstandings there are between us.”
“Who did you hear it from—”
“Don’t you know about the Protection of Public Interest Whistleblowers Act? That whistleblower must have been so fed up with hearing others badmouth us that they reported it. You guys did wrong, so why are you trying to nail the one person with a conscience?”
“Please, Eden—”
“I heard you guys even rated girl groups with detailed score sheets. Instead of hunting down the whistleblower, why don’t you find a healthier topic of conversation to unite your team?”
I intentionally interrupted his words, mocking him with exaggerated formal speech.
As a final touch, I clasped my hands together and bowed, making his face turn beet red.
Now that I mentioned the detailed score sheets for rating girl groups, they could no longer deny that they had a whistleblower in their team.
No team unity, just internal division.
From behind, I could hear our youngest members whispering among themselves.
“Wow, that’s really reassuring. It pisses me off just hearing it as a teammate, I wonder what the other side must feel.”
“Always said that it’s most reassuring when our dog bites someone else.”
“Hey, if Eden hears you called him a dog, he’ll kill you.”
“I believe Eden knows what a metaphor is.”
“Of all the metaphors, why did you have to compare him to a dog?”
“I don’t know, I’m scared now and want to take back what I said.”
Those brats… I can hear everything. Don’t they get any thoughts watching the fate of those who backstab?
Seeing the KICKS member glancing back for help, the KICKS leader leisurely walked over.
Still sitting crookedly, with my chin propped up, I met his eyes filled with malice.
“We’re making a comeback next month. Mid-November. It’s a digital single, but still.”
“That’s too much information. So what?”
“You guys are preparing for a comeback too, right? From what I see, it looks like you’ll be out around the same time. Last time, we didn’t overlap, but this time it’s different.”
Oh, so they’re coming back in November. I didn’t know since I only checked the charts in January next year. Not that it would have mattered even if I knew.
My indifferent eyes met his, filled with hatred.
We used to be pretty close during trainee days, how did it come to this? I really have no eye for people.
“I’ll crush you so badly that you’ll admit with your own mouth that you only got famous by luck.”
“Finally showing your true colors. It must have been hard pretending to be friendly all this time. We’ll see next month if it’s luck or skill. And if you talk to me again, I’ll kill you.”
[Detected forbidden words and threats.]
[Initial Intention -2]
Grinning, I continued mocking him with exaggerated formal speech until the warning message appeared, wiping the smile off my face.
“Hey, I’ll give you 10 seconds. Get lost.”
Lowering my voice, I growled. The KICKS members, trying to maintain the last shred of dignity, turned away quickly but not too obviously.
[Detected vulgarity.]
[Initial Intention -2]
Grimacing from the pain that came again, I cursed internally.
Damn, every time I meet those guys, my initial intention drops by 2 points at once. At least with Seo Ye-hyun, it only drops by 1 point.
How can you not swear dealing with those guys?
“Why do they keep poking at people who are just minding their own business? It’s really infuriating.”
“They’ve always been like that. You just didn’t notice because they pick their targets.”
“So they think I’m an easy target now?”
As my frown deepened, Ryu Jae-hee murmured gloomily.
“KICKS should have seen that expression…”
Feeling a sharp gaze, I adjusted my posture and raised an eyebrow.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that? Thinking about the legendary ‘good-natured’ group again?”
Seo Ye-hyun shook his head briefly.
“I’m just realizing that you were being relatively gentle with me.”
“Of course. If I talked to you like I did to those guys, you’d cut ties and pretend you never knew me.”
“Do you think I’m that fragile?”
Yes, from experience.
Soon, the performance rehearsal began. We checked our stage outfits, hair, and makeup, and tested the in-ear monitors.
Sneaking out of the waiting room, I watched Adora line up on stage. Yuan’s spot was still vacant.
Adora’s managers were whispering among themselves under the stage when one of them approached our manager.
“Excuse me, but could the person who danced Yuan’s part during the stage position check fill in for the rehearsal?”
“Huh? Who danced…?”
Our manager, who had stepped out earlier, looked back at us to understand the situation.
Meeting Kim Dobin’s eager eyes, the manager was at a loss for words.
“It was me!”
Kim Dobin raised his hand high, and Adora’s manager’s expression brightened.
“Yes, that’s him. Yuan is running late due to a personal schedule, and the other members were complaining that it’s hard to match the positions with one spot empty… so they asked us to bring the person who danced earlier…”
The manager of Adora was explaining in great detail, and next to him, Kim Dobin was urging our manager with a pleading look to quickly agree.
As our manager nodded his head, Kim Dobin hurriedly followed behind the Adora manager, but our manager grabbed Kim Dobin’s arm.
“Dobin, if you even attempt anything like trying to get their numbers, you and I are both dead. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Grasping his shoulders with both hands, our manager emphasized sharply, making Kim Dobin nod frantically, sweating coldly.
Following the threatening coercion, like a frightened dog, Kim Dobin trailed behind the Adora manager…
“Why is his face like that?”
“He’s about to explode. Why is he blushing like that?”
“I wonder if it was the right choice for Dobin to permit that stage. Looking at his current state, I doubt he remembers the choreography.”
“Still, I probably won’t be concerned about causing a scandal.”
After watching the choreography video on the Adora manager’s phone backstage and receiving instructions from the Adora members on stage.
With a red face and a stiffened body.
“What would happen if another girl group saw that?”
“Eden ah, what do you think about this? Same team as your younger brother.”
“Got it. I’ll call him.”
“A while ago, he was fine in front of the other girl group. Only in front of the Adora seniors.”
I probably regrets sending that to the rehearsal stage.
“Whoa, will he go crazy and confess?”
“Hey, I think Dobin is as good as watching the Adora seniors.”
“I know, but I don’t know how I feel about the other seniors.”
Upon hearing Ryu Jaehee’s casually tossed remark, he delivered a clear and concise response.
“I don’t see idols as romantic interests.”
After Kim Dobin positioned himself in front of the large display, a lively melody filled the air.
Not sure when he had tensely stiffened, Kim Dobin smoothly executed the refreshing choreography, smiling brightly. Ryu Jaehee, standing next to me, captured the moment perfectly with his phone camera, laughing heartily while patting his belly.
“Hah, did he just imitate Yuan’s senior expression? He nailed it, down to the facial expression.”
Naturally moving through the choreography adjustments, originally an Adora member, I also narrowed my eyes and captured the scene with my phone.
“Does he seem more excited than when we’re on stage?”
Reflecting on not having attended this event in the first round, I couldn’t help but burst into a wry smile.
Oh well, I guess Kim Dobin’s benefiting the most from this regression, huh?
***
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