Chapter 9: The New Name Added to the Team

Chapter 9: The New Name Added to the Team

If it had been Shim Eunchan at the age he was supposed to be, the moment he felt something like this, he wouldn’t have even tried to hide his irritation and would have let it show outright.
Especially if it had been him in a bad state after Lee Haemin’s departure, there was a hundred percent chance he would have reacted with open hostility.
But now, he had mental fortification and memories of having lived up to the age of twenty-seven.
Compared to that version of himself, twenty-year-old Hyun Wooyoung was really just a kid whose blood hadn’t even fully run to his head yet.
Just a few days ago, he had still been nineteen, a literal minor.

Kids could be like this at that age.
Sure.

He thought magnanimously, like a broad-minded adult, but then a petty thought popped up again.

Well, yeah.
They said his stats were good, not that his personality was.

Shim Eunchan tapped his chin lightly with his fingertips and sank into thought.

…But is the catnip effect really applied right now?
Judging by his reaction, it feels like it isn’t working at all.
Didn’t it say it started with a favorable impression?
Even with it applied, is this all it does?
Who knows.

Shim Eunchan checked his status window.

[Traits: Regressor (??), Soft Steel (Mental Reinforcement Effect / SS), Human Catnip (Affinity Enhancement Effect / S−) — Active.]

It was definitely applied properly.

It was frustrating, but there was no way to confirm anything.
Wasn’t this too one-sided?
The system only allowed contact when it wanted to, which felt unfair.
It would’ve been nice if he could contact it by collecting points or something.
There was nothing he could do when he had questions.

Growing disgruntled, Shim Eunchan pressed his lips together and made a small sound.

He wondered if he’d been too petty, considering he was older than Hyun Wooyoung.
Still, Hyun Wooyoung’s mental stat was S-rank, so his earlier words probably hadn’t affected him much anyway.

With a bit of lingering irritation, Shim Eunchan flicked his eyes toward Hyun Wooyoung—only to meet his gaze.

Thinking he’d been noticed, Shim Eunchan softened his eyes and smiled downward.
It was the harmless eye-smile fans often said was completely non-threatening.
Better to keep things pleasant.

But Hyun Wooyoung seemed to interpret that smile differently, because his face immediately filled with suspicion.
It was written all over him.
“What are you plotting?”
Seeing that reaction, Shim Eunchan thought you really couldn’t hide your age, and it struck him as both cute and amusing.

Trying to keep a straight face and act composed, he still couldn’t hide his youthful vigor, and that made him adorable enough that Shim Eunchan let out a quiet laugh.
At the soft sound of his laughter, Hyun Wooyoung’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

“Eunchan, what’s so funny?
What kind of interesting conversation are you two having?”

Kim Sunju raised his voice and spoke, reacting to the laughter.
Shim Eunchan could see Kim Sunju’s eyes busily checking the mood in the back through the rearview mirror.

“It’s nothing, hyung.
We were just introducing ourselves.
I think we’ll get along well going forward.
Right?”

“Yes.
I think so too.”

Look at that.
He really hated losing.
Hyun Wooyoung answered without his expression changing at all, and by any standard, he was far from ordinary.

“Wow.
Really.
We’re on the same page.”

Hyun Wooyoung stared at Shim Eunchan as he smiled brightly again, then this time turned his head away first.

The drive to the dorm wasn’t very long.
If they hadn’t hit traffic lights along the way, they probably would’ve arrived even faster.

They saw Jung Minyu standing at the entrance of the building.
Shim Eunchan wondered why he was outside in the cold, then quickly realized that Lee Hyun-jong must have contacted him.
He could have waited inside, but the fact that he’d come out anyway showed how diligent Jung Minyu was.

“Hyung Sunju, you’re here.
I got a call from the team leader.”

“Uh, yeah.
So, um… this is him.
This is Jung Minyu, the leader of B the 1.
And this is Hyun Wooyoung, who’ll be joining us.
He’s twenty.”

“Yes, hello.
I’m Jung Minyu.
You can just call me Minyu-hyung, and I’ll speak comfortably too.
You should feel free to call me hyung as well.
Nice to meet you, Wooyoung.
Let’s work well together.”

“Hello.
I’m Hyun Wooyoung.
Please take care of me, Minyu-hyung.”

Hyun Wooyoung bowed and extended his hand first to offer a handshake.

“Hey, it’s cold.
Let’s go inside quickly.”

Kim Sunju said, rubbing his hands together.
Shim Eunchan lightly tapped Jung Minyu’s arm.

“You’re cold, hyung.
Your ears are totally red.”

“No, it actually helped clear my head.
…Geez.”

Jung Minyu ruffled Shim Eunchan’s hair.
He clearly felt sorry for Eunchan, who’d been blindsided by the situation at the office.
Feeling that concern, Shim Eunchan simply smiled quietly.

Jung Minyu wasn’t that old himself, yet it felt bittersweet watching him try to take care of someone even younger than him.
Jung Minyu was only twenty-three.
He himself was probably overwhelmed, yet he acted more mature than his age to look after his younger members.
Managing the members while also suppressing vague anxieties about the future—Shim Eunchan couldn’t even imagine how hard that must have been.

When Jung Minyu asked what was wrong as he noticed Eunchan patting his back, Shim Eunchan shook his head and said it was nothing.

As they opened the dorm door and stepped inside, all the members gathered in the living room turned their heads at once.

“Hyung, you’re here.”

“You’re letting in cold air.
I told you we could wait together, Minyu-hyung.
…Huh?”

“…Who…?”

The moment they noticed an unfamiliar face among familiar ones, the members’ voices dropped as if someone had pressed a mute button.
The meaning in their exchanged glances was painfully obvious.
And honestly, Hyun Wooyoung didn’t give off the aura of a civilian at all.
From his proportions to the way he drew the eye, and on top of that, he was incredibly handsome.

“Well,”

“Alright, let me introduce him.
This is Hyun Wooyoung, and he’ll be joining the team.
Say hello.”

Kim Sunju cut in loudly, beating Shim Eunchan to it.
The space fell completely silent, as if it had frozen over.
You could probably hear a pin drop.

Hyun Wooyoung bowed and greeted them with a brief self-introduction.

The first to break the silence was Do Junseo.

“J-joining?
S-since when?
Now?
Right now?”

The shock must have been too much, because he started stuttering.
Ryu Seo-oh pressed his lips together, watching the other members’ expressions, and Moon Sebyeol wasn’t much different.

“We’re… we’re about to release our seventh single, and he’s joining now?
Now—no, yesterday—Haemin just yesterday—um, Sunju-hyung.
This… this doesn’t seem right.”

As he spoke, his emotions clearly escalated.
In the end, Shim Eunchan stepped in and tugged lightly on Do Junseo’s sleeve.
He understood the reaction, but Hyun Wooyoung was standing right there.
Words stuck more deeply than people realized, like thorns that never came out.
There was no need to make him hear something hurtful.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you.”

“I only found out today too, and I told them we should talk about it right away.
If it’s something we have to face anyway, it’s better to deal with it quickly and adapt.”

“What?”

At Shim Eunchan’s explanation, Do Junseo’s eyes turned sharp.
That was when Hyun Wooyoung spoke up.

“I’ll work hard to make up for joining late.”

His voice hit their eardrums directly.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to him.

“I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”

Hyun Wooyoung’s eyes were calm, but intense.
The other members, who had only just learned his age, couldn’t easily bring themselves to speak.

“For now, Wooyoung joining is already decided, guys.
It’ll be tough, but let’s do our best.”

At Jung Minyu’s words wrapping things up, Do Junseo looked like he had more to say, but in the end, he just sighed while glancing at Hyun Wooyoung.

Even if he couldn’t accept it, there was nothing he could do.
If even one person openly opposed it, the already messy team atmosphere would only spiral further downhill.
None of the members were selfish enough to prioritize their own feelings to that extent.

They exchanged greetings again, but the heavy atmosphere didn’t lift.
Watching the members, Kim Sunju finally spoke.

“Haemin’s withdrawal will be announced officially soon.
Wooyoung joining will remain strictly confidential until before the seventh single comeback.
We’ll stick to the planned schedule and proceed with the self-content filming as well.”

As he listened, Shim Eunchan sifted through memories from his previous life.

The announcement would go up shortly before the Idol Athletics Championships recording.
Once filming started, Haemin’s absence would become obvious anyway, so it was better to release a proper statement beforehand than let rumors spiral.

When Haemin’s departure was announced, the already tiny fandom erupted into chaos.
They endured schedules amid worries and mockery about the group falling apart now that the “breadwinner” was gone.
That was when Shim Eunchan had felt cornered by the pressure that he had to step up and do something.
The memory was still vivid.

If only he’d been able to step back and look at the situation more objectively.

Now, he could think about it calmly like this, but back then, the pressure crushing his entire body had left him nothing but pain.
Shim Eunchan swallowed down the bitter memory.