Chapter 14: A Small Kindness Before the Spotlight

“Yes.
They said I should come along like a staff member to get a feel for the on-site atmosphere.”

“I see, I see.”

Shim Eunchan glanced at Hyun Wooyoung.
No matter how much he tried to hide it, his proportions screamed celebrity.
Even pretending to be staff, would that really work.
It felt less than ideal, but what could he do.
At least watching the atmosphere firsthand wouldn’t hurt.

Knowing fans existed from online posts and actually seeing them in person were completely different experiences.

“You followed me straight in, didn’t you.
Wooyoung, go eat.
You’re still growing, you shouldn’t skip meals.”

Eunchan spoke while looking toward the door.

“Or should I walk you to the door?”

He smiled playfully, making it obvious he was joking.

“…I’m sorry.
You’re skipping meals and I still—”

The sudden apology made Eunchan lift his eyebrows.
Before he could even decide whether the words made sense, Wooyoung continued.

“You’re the one having a hard time, but I only thought about myself.”

It was an unexpectedly thoughtful thing to say.

He hadn’t expected Wooyoung to rein in his emotions and apologize so quickly.
That wasn’t easy to do.
Wooyoung was better than Eunchan had thought.

“I wasn’t trying to upset you.
I’m not that inconsiderate.
…Though I do have a record.”

He muttered the last part softly, as if realizing mid-sentence that he shouldn’t have said it.
Eunchan barely managed to swallow the laugh that bubbled up.
It must have shown, but Wooyoung didn’t comment on it.

“I know.
We’ve been living together all this time, why would I think that.”

He wasn’t just saying it to be polite.
The only time Wooyoung had acted so bold—borderline rude—was that one day, and never again.

“Thanks for worrying about me.
But really, I didn’t have any special reason for not saying anything.
You know that, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

“I kept you too long.
Your food’s going to get cold.
Go on.”

At Eunchan’s urging, Wooyoung bowed his head politely and left the room.
Just when Eunchan had sunk back into reading the script, Wooyoung returned once more.

“This.”

“What is it…?”

Without thinking, Eunchan accepted what was handed to him.
It was a chocolate bar.

“I’m not telling you to eat it now.
Have it right before tomorrow’s script reading.
If your stomach’s completely empty, you won’t have any energy.”

He hadn’t expected him to go this far.

Wooyoung looked genuinely surprised when he learned about Eunchan’s schedule of balancing script practice and choreography training.
That might have been why his attitude had softened.
Whether it was because he thought it would help boost the group’s recognition, or because he simply felt bad about the tight schedule, Eunchan couldn’t tell.

Either way, having a good relationship with Wooyoung wasn’t a bad thing.

“Mmm.
What are the other guys doing?”

“They’re filming content.”

“Ah, figures.
That’s why it’s so noisy.”

After dinner, it made sense they were filming something for YouTube.
Judging by whose voice stood out the most, it was probably for Moon Sebyeol’s regular series, Star-Star-Star Dorm Updates.

It wasn’t going up immediately, but planned for after the comeback, so they hadn’t stopped filming even now.

Would they come into this room too.
Eunchan glanced toward the door and pressed at the back of his neck.

“Then I’ll head out.
Sorry for interrupting.”

As Wooyoung turned to leave, Eunchan called out to him.

“Sleep well.
Thanks for this.”

He jingled the chocolate bar lightly as he spoke.
Wooyoung hadn’t had to do that, which made the thoughtfulness all the more touching.
Being the youngest and this attentive, it was no wonder the others liked him.
The sharp impression Eunchan had formed during their first meeting had faded significantly.
And in hindsight, Wooyoung’s behavior back then wasn’t completely incomprehensible either.

Even by Eunchan’s own standards, he’d been in pretty bad shape at the time.
If their positions had been reversed, Eunchan might have told him to get it together too—though probably not as bluntly as Wooyoung had.

Still, what exactly had he meant by saying he had to become the best.
Not wanted to, but had to.

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no answer unless he asked Wooyoung directly.

Deciding to stop thinking about it, Eunchan placed the chocolate bar on the desk and stretched.
His body creaked after holding the same posture for so long.
Tilting his neck side to side, he lay face-down on the bed and opened the script.

He had a personal schedule the next day, but he’d come straight from choreography practice again today.
The choreography was already memorized; now it was time to refine the details.
Practice was the only way forward.
Only with solid fundamentals could he modify choreography or look relaxed on stage.
He absolutely refused to repeat his past life’s mistakes—fumbling his gaze and looking awkward due to lack of practice.

For a more complete performance, he was willing to endure the hardship.

Rubbing his dry eyes, he bit down on a pen and stared at the script.
He’d heard that holding a pen in your mouth didn’t really help pronunciation, but surely it was better than nothing.

That was how Shim Eunchan fell asleep with his head buried between the pages of the script.
Unbeknownst to him, the scene was captured perfectly on Moon Sebyeol’s content camera.

Shim Eunchan arrived an hour earlier than scheduled.
He greeted the staff first, then stood and bowed each time an actor entered.
The seating was already arranged, so he sat quietly in the seat marked with his role and name.

As he bowed to each actor in turn, they greeted him back warmly enough, but he felt a subtle difference in temperature.
They were all actors, and Eunchan alone was an idol.
That invisible wall was unmistakable.
Sometimes idols were cast for drama promotion, but Eunchan wasn’t one of those cases.

It was exactly what he’d expected.
He hadn’t come hoping to be welcomed as a colleague from the start.

While Eunchan was looking at his script, Kim Hyuin, who played Seo Gilyeong, spoke to him first.

“Hello.
You’re Shim Eunchan, right?”

“Oh, hello.
Senior Kim Hyuin.”

He’d thought the name sounded unique at first, then learned through a search that Kim Hyuin used a stage name because his real name overlapped with a famous actor’s.
He’d looked handsome in photos, but in person it was something else entirely.
A small face packed tightly with sharp features—it was striking.

Eunchan knew well that a pretty face didn’t guarantee a pretty heart.
Still, hearing Hyuin’s gentle voice and seeing him smile with wide, double-lidded eyes reminded him that the actor who’d previously played Yeonun had also been on good terms with others.
Of course, he knew better than to trust everything shown on broadcast.

“I was really curious who’d be cast as Yeonun.
When I heard it was confirmed, I looked you up and was shocked by how handsome you are.
I look forward to working with you.”

“You flatter me.
Hearing that from you makes me not know where to put myself.”

“Haha.
But being called ‘nim’ in private feels a bit itchy.
Just call me hyung comfortably.
I’ll speak casually too, if that’s okay?”

Only after asking for consent did he drop the formalities.
Watching Kim Hyuin speak so comfortably, Eunchan resolved to work even harder so that goodwill wouldn’t sour.

At the same time, a question surfaced.
Did actors and idols have the same status window.

Eunchan decided to check Kim Hyuin’s status window.

[Name: Kim A-in (Stage Name: Kim Hyuin)
Star Power: B
Acting Skill: B
Expressiveness: B
Line Delivery: C
Appearance: A
Mentality: B
Trait: Fully Open Door (Zero Prejudice/B), Everyone’s Friend (A), Sun to Budding Talent (A) — Active.]

It was slightly different from his own and Wooyoung’s.
Probably because one was an actor and the others were idols.
After a quick scan, Eunchan looked away.

With B-level stats…
That didn’t seem exceptionally high.

He still hadn’t checked the other members’ status windows.
Seeing the numbers wouldn’t change anything anyway, and since he could only “check,” there didn’t seem to be a reason.
Wooyoung had been unavoidable given the circumstances, but the others felt unnecessary.

Because of that, he didn’t yet have a solid benchmark for what the numbers meant.

He decided it would be better to check status windows more often from now on.

Judging by the traits, Kim Hyuin seemed to like hardworking people.
Well, who didn’t.
But for it to appear as a trait, that tendency must be particularly strong.

If Kim Hyuin’s Sun trait combined with Eunchan’s Catnip trait, the synergy would be ideal.

After a brief pause, Eunchan opened his mouth.
It seemed better not to hesitate when it came to receiving help.