Chapter 33: The Comeback Concept Meeting

He still couldn’t understand the mindset of people who willingly spent their time and effort trying so passionately to ruin someone else’s mood.

Shim Eun-chan had suffered from severe depression in his previous life, but it had never led him to mock or look down on others.

The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to give such people any attention.

He didn’t want to reward them with the satisfaction of knowing they’d affected him just because he’d moved a finger in response.

Even a member of a failed idol group like him attracted this many people.

He couldn’t even imagine how many of them latched onto truly successful idols.

In a way, perhaps those people were pitiable too.

But when there were actual victims suffering because of their actions, he didn’t feel any obligation to take that into consideration.

“Then let’s meet again next time with smiles on our faces.”
“Bye.”

After about an hour, Eun-chan ended the Face App broadcast with a smile.

Even if he took it easy, talking for an entire hour was still exhausting.

‘I should’ve brought water.’

Thinking that, he stood up and headed toward the living room.

Just then, Hyun Woo-young was about to enter the room.

Eun-chan blinked in surprise.

“What’s up?”
“Did you need something from me?”

“No.”
“It’s not that.”
“Jun-seo hyung fell asleep on my bed.”
“He said it’d probably be better if I slept here instead, so I came over.”

Originally, Jung Min-yu and Lee Hae-min had shared a room.

After Hae-min left the team, Woo-young had naturally moved into that room.

Apparently, Do Jun-seo had gone there to hang out while avoiding the Face App broadcast and ended up falling asleep.

“Really?”
“He won’t wake up?”

Jun-seo had practiced hard today.

Still, it wasn’t like he was too exhausted to walk to another room under the same roof.

Then again, once Do Jun-seo fell asleep, waking him up was notoriously difficult.

Not impossible, though.

Feeling curious, Eun-chan asked whether Min-yu had been there too.

Woo-young replied that he had gone out to buy a late-night snack.

Eun-chan chuckled and started walking.

“That explains it.”
“There’s a trick to waking Jun-seo up.”
“Good timing.”
“Woo-young should learn it too.”

“…?”
“Huh?”

Instead of answering, Eun-chan simply smiled and beckoned him over.

Woo-young obediently followed behind him without another word.

For some reason, the sight reminded Eun-chan of a duckling that had just hatched from its egg.

The thought made him laugh.

“…Good grief.”
“He’s completely out cold.”

Arriving at Min-yu’s room, Eun-chan clicked his tongue while peering inside.

Do Jun-seo was sleeping deeply.

He looked like a runny egg yolk spread across the bed.

“Do Jun-seo.”
“Jun-seo.”

He walked over and called his name.

There was no response.

Which was exactly what he’d expected.

“I tried waking him up.”
“He absolutely wouldn’t get up.”

“Mm.”
“Right.”
“In situations like this…”
“Watch carefully.”

Eun-chan leaned close to Jun-seo’s ear.

“Jun-seo.”
“Wake up.”
“Let’s eat chicken.”

“…Mm.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Jun-seo’s closed eyes twitched.

Normally that would’ve been enough.

But he seemed particularly exhausted today.

Watching Jun-seo struggle to open his eyes while making sleepy noises, Eun-chan delivered the finishing blow.

“The drumstick belongs to Shim Eun-chan.”
“You get the chicken breast.”

“Ah…”
“…Don’t cross the line.”

Jun-seo immediately sat upright and looked around.

“What?”
“Where’s the chicken?”

“I just said that to wake you up.”
“Don’t you manage your diet anymore?”

Eun-chan smacked his shoulder lightly.

Still half-asleep, Jun-seo merely scratched the back of his head.

Then Eun-chan turned to Woo-young, who had witnessed everything.

“See?”
“This is how you wake Jun-seo.”
“Chicken works best.”
“Bossam is second.”
“Gopchang is third.”

“Hey.”
“What exactly are you teaching him?”
“Anyone listening would think I’m obsessed with food.”

“Then maybe get up when people wake you.”
“Woo-young got so tired trying to wake you that he came to sleep in our room.”

Jun-seo’s protest was effortlessly shut down.

Then Woo-young spoke up.

“But do you have to say it right next to his ear?”

“Huh?”
“Oh, that.”
“Jun-seo’s really ticklish.”
“I only did that because I thought it’d be funny.”
“You don’t have to do it that way.”

“Hey, Shim Eun-chan.”
“Why are you casually revealing that I’m ticklish too?”

“So what if you’re ticklish?”
“Is that something embarrassing?”

“No, but…”
“Your intentions are suspicious.”

Jun-seo grumbled.

Eun-chan merely snorted.

“Anyway, I’ll take Jun-seo back.”
“Rest comfortably.”

After waving goodbye, Eun-chan left the room.

Jun-seo followed him out while yawning.

Then he casually asked,

“By the way, have you still not dropped the formal speech with Woo-young?”

“Mm.”
“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

“No reason.”
“It’d be nice if everyone just spoke casually with each other.”
“It makes you feel closer.”

“You can be close while using honorifics too.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Seeing no sign of Eun-chan changing his mind, Jun-seo quietly backed off.

At that moment, the front door opened.

Jung Min-yu had returned from buying late-night snacks.

An instant tteokbokki logo was visible through the plastic bag he was carrying.

“Jun-seo.”
“Come eat.”

“Yes!”
“I’m coming, hyung!”

“Hey, Do Jun-seo!”
“…Hyuuung.”

As Eun-chan stared in disbelief, Min-yu laughed.

“You all worked hard today.”
“A little snack is fine.”

“Want some too, Eun-chan?”

“No thanks.”
“I’m good.”

“Hyung, don’t let Jun-seo eat too many rice cakes.”
“You know he gains weight from rice cakes.”

“Oh.”
“Uh…”
“Right.”
“Got it.”

“Eun-chan worked hard today too.”
“Get some rest.”

Judging from Min-yu’s response, Eun-chan felt it was best not to expect any actual intervention.

From the living room came the rustling sounds of Jun-seo unpacking the food.

He could even hear him humming happily.

The greatest virtue of an idol, no matter what anyone said, was visuals.

An idol who couldn’t manage themselves wasn’t an idol.

Maybe veteran groups with established fandoms could get away with it.

But for the current B the 1?

Absolutely not.

He’d let it slide today because of how hard they’d practiced.

But next time, he’d have to keep a closer eye on him.

Ignoring the sound of the microwave running in the living room, Eun-chan lay down.

He needed to think about their album concept.

He recalled the concepts of groups that had become popular in his previous life.

It would be difficult to simply copy them outright, but they could at least serve as references.

Since their song wasn’t a bright, refreshing concept, the available options were already somewhat limited.

During their previous promotions, they’d gone with a fairly standard suit concept.

But he remembered another team with greater recognition making a comeback around the same time with a very similar concept.

As a result, B the 1’s stage performances had received only lukewarm reactions.

Of course, they’d also had fewer members back then.

Still, they needed something stronger this time.

Maybe…

Instead of stopping at suits, they could take it one step further.

A uniform concept.

“…It’d be nice if I could use the system for things like this.”

Eun-chan muttered quietly.

“Something like predicting fan reactions when applying a concept.”

Since he’d already regressed and was completing missions, it felt like he should’ve been able to get a little more help.

Then again, if something like that were possible, the system would’ve probably informed him already.

While scrolling through concept photos of various idol groups on his phone, Eun-chan eventually drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

When he opened his eyes again, daylight was streaming into the room.

He sat up and looked at Do Jun-seo, who occupied the top bunk.

Perhaps because of the late-night snack, he was sleeping with an incredibly satisfied expression.

He looks like a quokka.

The resemblance amused him enough that he carefully lined up the angle and snapped a picture.

Click.

Even the camera shutter didn’t wake Jun-seo.

He must’ve been truly exhausted.

Deciding to let him sleep a little longer, Eun-chan left the room.

His entire body ached with muscle soreness.

Yet it felt satisfying.

There was no way he could dislike the feeling of living a fulfilling life again.

This was exactly the feeling he’d wanted.

Of course, that didn’t mean the process mattered more than the result.

If he wanted to keep living after regressing, he needed to win a Daesang by the end of the year.

Easy to say.

At the moment, hardly anyone even knew B the 1’s name.

The upcoming drama might help him gain recognition.

But even if viewers liked him, turning that goodwill into actual fans of the group wasn’t nearly as easy as it sounded.

And since he’d altered the script, there was no telling how the public response might change.

Feeling his thoughts becoming tangled, Eun-chan went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face.

As he looked into the mirror above the sink, his reflection stared back at him.

His face before the plastic surgery.

No matter how many times he saw it, it still felt strange.

Compared to what he remembered, it wasn’t a bad face at all.

Yet back then, it was as though he’d been possessed.

He had genuinely thought himself ugly.

Going back to his previous life?

Absolutely not.

Even if it meant grinding his bones to dust, he would win that Daesang.

Renewing his determination, Eun-chan began brushing his teeth.

The members finally gathered and headed to the company later that afternoon.

It was time for a concept meeting.

The stage had come where they needed to discuss hairstyles, makeup direction, and overall styling.

PotenHigh was the type of agency that valued its artists’ opinions.

One by one, the members began sharing their ideas.

Most opinions naturally leaned toward a suit concept.

After listening quietly for quite some time, Shim Eun-chan finally opened his mouth.