Chapter 53: The Missing Piece

With the 3rd contest just one day away, the entire ‘Beautiful Hate’ team was summoned by the production team.

Upon arriving at the meeting room, the production team greeted us with serious expressions.

“Where’s Jin-wook hyung?”

As Kwak Jun-sung looked for Nam Jin-wook, the only one not present, not only the production team but also Kim Jae-ho and Bae Jae-hyung hardened their expressions.

Just as he was wondering if Jin-wook had gotten hurt somewhere overnight, an unexpected answer came back.

“Trainee Nam Jin-wook has left the program as of yesterday.”

Left the program with the contest just one day away?

Everyone looked at each other with wide, bewildered eyes.

Kim Jae-ho, as if unable to hold back, ground his teeth audibly and spat out.

“It’s not leaving, it’s expulsion, for that bastard.”

At the looks asking what he meant, Kim Jae-ho’s lips moved as if he couldn’t bring himself to say it, then he finally uttered a self-censored word.

Apparently, some woman issue had blown up.

If it was serious enough to warrant expulsion, not just a departure, then the problem must be very severe, so they all fell silent in turn.

“The problem is, the contest is tomorrow….”

As Producer Muk Sahyeon, sitting at the center of the table, spoke, everyone’s gaze in the meeting room turned to him.

Unlike the friendly smile he wore when they first met, today he seemed to radiate coldness from his entire body.

“What are we going to do?”

He probably wasn’t asking whether they would participate or not.

Of course, they had to participate in the contest.

So, the question must be how to fill the empty spot left by Nam Jin-wook.

“We’ll do it ourselves.”

He answered on his own, without asking the other team members’ opinions.

If they didn’t have the will to do it, what was the point?

If there was no will, they could just leave along with Nam Jin-wook.

With one person already gone, whether they were six or five, it would be equally hard, and actually, with fewer people, adjusting the formations might be much easier.

Putting on the most resolute expression he could, he looked around at everyone.

They all nodded back, seemingly thinking the same thing.

The problem was….

“Can we do it in one day?”

The question was whether they could manage the bare minimum needed to put on a stage.

And on top of that, they still had their biggest wildcard.

“I think Rohan won’t like it….”

At the interpreter’s words, he turned his head to see Rohan crying profusely.

Having to completely change the blocking and choreography, which they had painstakingly worked out with people he couldn’t even communicate with, just one day before—he must feel utterly hopeless.

Besides, just memorizing and singing Korean lyrics was already a huge stress for Rohan, so he couldn’t really say anything.

“Can we possibly get help from our trainers or professionals?”

At Kwak Jun-sung’s question, Producer Muk glanced at a staff member beside him.

That staff member said they’d check and left with their phone.

After a moment, the staff member re-entered and gave an answer to Kwak Jun-sung’s question.

“Others can’t, but they said Kwak Jinwoong-ssi can come in the evening.”

The moment their eyes met, Kwak Jun-sung nodded.

It seemed like a sign that if Kwak Jinwoong could come in the evening, he thought it was doable, so Jae-seo nodded back.

“If you can get Jinwoong ssam to come, we’ll give it a try.”

Kwak Jun-sung, having said that, turned his gaze towards Rohan, who was still crying, and asked the interpreter to convey his words.

“Rohan, we’ll try to keep the changes minimal for you.

Will you do it with us?

It’d be a shame to give up now, wouldn’t it?”

After the interpretation, Rohan slowly nodded with a tearful face.

***

Returning to the practice room, he first drew all the major formations on paper, then marked an X on Nam Jin-wook’s positions and a circle on Rohan’s.

As he connected them scene by scene, pondering how to minimize the changes to Rohan’s positioning, the practice room door burst open.

“I divided up Nam Jin-wook’s parts, okay?”

Kwak Jun-sung set down the lyric sheet he brought next to the papers covered in blocking diagrams.

Trying to seamlessly integrate the singing parts into the blocking was giving him a headache.

As he rubbed his temples, a memory from a few months ago naturally came to mind.

Yeo Hyun-tae had mentioned before that he had experience creating choreography for a dance team.

If he had experience creating choreography, wouldn’t his understanding of stage formations be higher than his?

However, the problem was that today was literally the day before the contest.

Even if Hyun-tae himself was okay with it, there was a high chance that the members of Hyun-tae’s team wouldn’t appreciate his request.

If they say no, I can give up then.

Finishing his brief deliberation, he made up his mind and shot up.

Kwak Jun-sung, craning his neck to follow him, asked what he was doing.

“I’ll be right back, just for a moment.”

Searching through the building for Yeo Hyun-tae’s team, he finally spotted him on the 3rd floor.

Interestingly, a very familiar combination of people was gathered there.

He rushed over and grabbed Yeo Hyun-tae’s wrist.

“Uh, Jae-seo hyung?”

Without even time to reply to Lee Chan-seo’s greeting, he immediately got to the point with Yeo Hyun-tae.

“Can you help me out for a bit?”

Seeing how urgent he looked, Yoon Ji-heon and Seo Jun-jae also looked at him with serious expressions.

When asked what was wrong, he couldn’t explain in detail but said something had come up requiring them to change their formations and that he needed Yeo Hyun-tae’s help.

Yoon Ji-heon readily nodded.

“We’re pretty practiced, so borrow him as long as you need.

Jun-jae, if you’re going too, you can go.”

Then he added, “You’re worried, aren’t you?”

There was no time to wonder why Seo Jun-jae would be worried about him.

He grabbed Seo Jun-jae’s wrist, silently asking if he would help.

Seo Jun-jae sighed briefly and nodded.

Returning to the practice room with Seo Jun-jae and Yeo Hyun-tae flanking him, Kwak Jun-sung, who had been almost face-down on the floor staring at the lyric sheet and formation diagrams, flinched and looked up at him.

His eyes seemed to ask why he had brought them.

“I asked them to help.”

Kwak Jun-sung scratched his cheek with a face that wondered if that was okay.

Jae-seo practically snatched the lyric sheet and diagrams from him, placed them in the two’s hands, and played the choreography video on the tablet PC.

Then he thrust it right in front of their faces.

A small laugh escaped Seo Jun-jae.

Normally he might have cared, but right now his mind was completely frazzled.

“Jae-seo, you owe me one now.”

He nodded to show he understood, and Seo Jun-jae finally looked down at the papers with a serious face.

Yeo Hyun-tae was already focused on the tablet PC.

“What do these mean?

The X and O?”

“The X is the person who’s gone, the O is the person who needs to stay in that spot.”

Even though he explained poorly due to his frantic state, Seo Jun-jae nodded as if he understood.

“Got a pen by any chance?”

Looking around the floor, he picked up a pen he had used and tossed aside earlier and handed it to Yeo Hyun-tae.

Yeo Hyun-tae and Seo Jun-jae each looked at their respective materials, then soon started discussing and reorganizing the formations together.

It felt strange to be standing around like a scarecrow in a field for his own team’s problem, but he waited quietly, afraid of distracting them by saying something.

Soon enough, the two showed them the revised diagrams and began explaining the new formations.

Just as he had asked, Nam Jin-wook was completely removed, and it was the optimal blocking to allow Rohan to keep his original positions.

As he nodded, focusing on the diagram, Seo Jun-jae suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him closer.

At that moment, Kwak Jun-sung, who had been standing next to him, let out a strange noise, “Ugh!”

“…What are you doing?”

He scolded Kwak Jun-sung, who was standing with his elbow awkwardly raised, telling him to focus, and then concentrated back on the diagram Seo Jun-jae was holding.

“Hyung, did you understand everything?”

After Seo Jun-jae’s explanation finished, he turned his head and asked.

Kwak Jun-sung, who should have been focusing, was just staring blankly at Seo Jun-jae, not even at the formation diagrams.

…First there was that ‘cute’ thing with me, could it be he likes guys?

Even if that were the case, even if Seo Jun-jae was the man of his dreams for a thousand years, now was not the time.

Trying to snap him out of it, he called, “Kwak Jun-sung!”

For some reason, Yeo Hyun-tae next to him flinched.

…What’s with everyone?

“Did you understand, or not?”

He asked sharply, implying they didn’t have time for this.

Only then did Kwak Jun-sung shake his head with an apologetic face.

He considered asking for another explanation, but then shook his head and picked up the paper himself.

To check if he had understood correctly, he flipped the paper to the first page and started explaining.

As he explained, Kwak Jun-sung, Seo Jun-jae, and Yeo Hyun-tae nodded occasionally, showing they understood.

When he finished, Seo Jun-jae, saying he explained it well, suddenly patted the top of his head.

“What was that?”

“Wasn’t I just your teacher?

I’m praising my student for being impressive.”

His brightly smiling face was full of teasing intent, so Jae-seo pushed his hand away.

“Thanks a lot, but our team is really busy right now, so you guys should go.”

At being called a distraction after coming all the way to help, Seo Jun-jae burst out laughing.

Jae-seo muttered, “I owe you,” as a promise to repay them later.

Seo Jun-jae readily said okay and turned to leave.

Yeo Hyun-tae, who had been about to follow him, paused, then reached out and ruffled Jae-seo’s hair once before leaving the practice room.

“Shall we go over the parts quickly?”

Smoothing down the hair the two had touched, he turned his head to find Kwak Jun-sung looking at him with one corner of his mouth crooked upwards.

…Seriously, what?