Chapter 9: The Scent of Ill Fate

Intense practice continued for two days.

The Team Leader headed to the Agola studio with three members: Sun-woo, Tae-young, and Yoon-seo.

“Did I tell you? Three members from each of the three teams will be coming. Since there are many people, you might end up being buried if you’re not careful.”

The car stopped in the underground parking lot of a building in Seongsu-dong.

While the site manager parked, the Team Leader and the three members got out first.

Even after getting out, the cautions did not stop.

It was their first variety show appearance in a long time.

Even if it was YouTube content, Jung Hee-gon was a well-known veteran entertainer. If they did well this time, it might lead to the next opportunity.

“Sun-woo, just do the choreography you practiced properly. Since your Korean is still awkward, leave the talking to Tae-young and Yoon-seo. Tae-young, Yoon-seo, you can do it well, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

“You are telling me to keep my mouth shut?”

While Tae-young and Yoon-seo answered readily, the Demon God pouted.

“Why should my lips remain idle? I can express my will quite well.”

The Team Leader looked at the Demon God’s mouth with a troubled expression.

“It’s just that there seems to be a bit of a problem with your will, and your expression of it…”

“?”

The Demon God was bewildered.

He hadn’t had any problems until now, so what was this talk?

The moment he was about to protest, the Team Leader’s hands landed firmly on the Demon God’s shoulders.

“That just means you should focus that much on the choreography. Because it’s important, right?”

“Important.”

“Exactly. You are the core.”

“The core.”

The Demon God smiled with satisfaction.

As expected, I am the center even in this world.

The fact that the Team Leader’s face looked anxious must be a hallucination.

“Just do as practiced. You know?”

“Just how many times are you going to say that? I can do well, so rest easy.”

The Demon God stepped forward vigorously.

“Follow me!”

“…Hyung, it’s not that way.”

“Hmm.”

The Demon God followed behind Yoon-seo.

“See that elevator inside the glass booth over there? We’re going up through that.”

To anyone’s eyes, that was the passage.

The Demon God felt slightly embarrassed, but he soon regained his momentum and began walking in the center of the group.

Step, step.

The footsteps of the Pantheon group echoed in the underground parking lot.

Step, step.

Footsteps were also heard from the opposite side across the elevator.

The conversation between Tae-young and Yoon-seo continued with the Demon God in the middle.

“Is it Ennexion?”

“Ki-han hyung is in that group.”

“Yoon-seo, are you in contact with Ki-han?”

“No. He stopped replying at some point.”

Meanwhile, the two teams approached the glass door.

Agola is a program where idols converse and play games comfortably in a studio, so they appear in casual clothes.

In truth, coordinating these casual clothes was unexpectedly nerve-wracking.

While stage costumes just need to be uniform, casual clothes must be tailored to each member’s appearance and physical condition.

They also needed to decide whether to choose outfits that suited each member individually or outfits that gave a sense of unity as a team.

Since Pantheon brought Sun-woo, the new member, today, they made a choice that revealed the unity of the team rather than individuality.

The concept was ‘Spring God.’

Based on white and beige colors, they wore matching lightly-falling linen pants and pastel-toned short-sleeved shirts.

However, Ennexion also appeared in outfits that strongly revealed their team color.

Slim-fit suits with deep black as the main color, and jackets with sharp, clean lines. It had a sort of uniform feel, but it was a sophisticated and chic atmosphere.

The two teams with completely opposite moods faced each other.

“Are those today’s competitors?”

The Demon God looked closely at the opponents.

Competitors.

The Demon God did not allow such a word. All beings that competed with him had been defeated in war and came under him.

Step, step.

The respective team leaders of Pantheon and Ennexion approached each other without taking their eyes off one another.

Step, step.

The members did the same.

After scanning all the members of the opposing team, they didn’t avoid the eyes they met but took them head-on.

Being in the very front, the Demon God checked the member at the very back of Ennexion.

He intended to send a demonic gaze to seize the initiative, but that person was wearing a hat pulled down low, so his eyes weren’t visible.

‘That fellow is quite lucky. The God of Luck must be interfering with me.’

And just then, the Team Leaders of both groups grabbed the handle of the glass door at the same time.

Zzap. Static electricity sparked between their hands, and the Team Leaders’ gazes met directly.

“Ah, that stung. Oh, Ennexion, please go in first.”

“What’s with the static. Pantheon, please go in first.”

The two Team Leaders let go of the handle at the same time and bowed simultaneously as well.

“?”

The Demon God was bewildered.

Didn’t you say they were competitors? Why are you greeting them? Weren’t we supposed to fight and strike them down?

“Hello, I’m Tae-young from Pantheon.”

“I’m Yoon-seo.”

Even Tae-young and Yoon-seo beside him exchanged greetings with the opposing team.

“What is this? Weren’t we supposed to strike these fellows down?”

“Sun-woo hyung!”

Yoon-seo stopped the Demon God, and Tae-young quickly managed the situation.

“I apologize. He’s from overseas.”

“Ah, I see, from overseas. It’s okay.”

Fortunately, it seemed there were no overseas members in Ennexion.

They didn’t realize that the Demon God’s behavior was strange even for someone from overseas.

“Sun-woo.”

Tae-young whispered to the Demon God, and Yoon-seo also tilted his head.

“There’s no need to try and fight for no reason. We just each do our best.”

“What?”

They’re competitors but they don’t fight? They just do their best?

By the Demon God’s common sense, it was incomprehensible.

“Then are all idols this friendly with each other?”

A competition where they smile and greet each other like this.

Just thinking about it gave him goosebumps.

What about the cries of war? The collision following the charge?

“Ah, that’s not necessarily the case.”

“Right. When relations are bad, they’re really bad.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

The Demon God was slightly relieved by the members’ words.

So things can be bad. That’s how it should be. He should quickly make relations bad.

“Tae-young, how can relations with idols become very bad?”

“Sun-woo, if you just keep acting like that—”

A bizarre answer to a bizarre question.

But then.

“I guess you can’t see me?”

The Ennexion member who had stayed back while they were greeting.

The one who had avoided the Demon God’s gaze by pulling his hat down came forward.

“Ki-han?”

“Ki-han hyung!”

Based on the previous conversation, it seemed they knew each other.

Tae-young and Yoon-seo welcomed him with smiles.

The Demon God felt a few goosebumps again at the appearance of another friendly idol.

But Ki-han, who was approaching, stopped dead.

“Falling out of the debut group seems to suit you well, doesn’t it?”

He threw a cold sneer at Tae-young and Yoon-seo’s bright greetings.

“What?”

“Pardon?”

The air around the youth named Ki-han, Tae-young, and Yoon-seo chilled instantly.

“Isn’t it true? After debuting without me at the last minute, you ended up being seen nowhere, and now you’re appearing on a variety show with our team? Shouldn’t you have been more successful?”

The Team Leaders of the two groups hurriedly approached.

“Ki-han! I told you not to do that!”

“Aren’t you the Ki-han who was at our company? What’s wrong with you?”

The atmosphere was completely ruined.

And in the midst of it.

‘Yes, competition should be like this.’

The Demon God was simply pleased.

***

Just how many trainees does an idol group go through before they debut?

No one has ever counted.

Perhaps it’s because too many pass through, and people give up halfway through counting.

Any agency launches a team once every few years.

Unless it’s a large team, only a few members debut.

The other trainees have to go find another opportunity.

So, if there was no sign of debuting at the current company or if one didn’t make the debut group, leaving early was also a method.

Because of this, there were many trainees who merely brushed past each other in a company.

And among those connections, there were bound to be ill fates.

Ill fates that weren’t even known to be ill fates.

“Ki-han? What are you talking about?”

“Ki-han hyung. What do you mean ‘suits us well’?”

Tae-young and Yoon-seo stood facing Ki-han, who had sneered at their greetings.

“Isn’t it true? I thought you’d blow up as soon as you debuted, but you failed just like that. You’re paying the price for debuting without me.”

Ki-han raised the brim of his hat to reveal his eyes.

Those eyes held clear ‘hostility.’

“I didn’t even know until the day before. What was I lacking to be pushed out of the debut group?”

Hearing those words, the Demon God took a deep breath.

‘Hmmmm. There is a good fragrance. The scent of ill fate.’

The Demon God enjoyed the ill fate alone.

Ill fates that were so twisted they seemed impossible to untangle were always welcome.

Furthermore, a fight was being added.

“Ki-han, that’s because you were lazy with your practice.”

“Me? I was lazy with my practice?”

“Can you deny it?”

At Ki-han’s sarcasm, the leader Tae-young also turned serious and countered.

“The practice schedule was too tight. I had contributed to the company. Then shouldn’t they have been considerate to some extent?”

“No. The contribution was made by your father, the investor. And I heard he even pulled the investment money as soon as you left.”

Ki-han countered again, but Tae-young was not easy.

‘Tae-young knows how to fight!’

The Demon God was satisfied with the way Tae-young fought back firmly.

In particular, the fact that he mentioned the opponent’s father was even more appealing. It was worth giving him extra points.

In any case, listening closely, the situation was clear.

He had skipped practice relying on his father being an investor and was cut from the debut group.

However.

“Shut up! And then you blew your center, and brought in some weird guy like that?”

Ki-han’s finger pointed at the Demon God.

“Hmm? Me?”

“Yeah, you! Who were you and what were you doing?”

In that moment, Tae-young and Yoon-seo flinched.

Yoon-seo, of course, and Tae-young as well, because he had felt something about the Demon God while living and eating with him for the past two days.

“Ki-han, don’t touch him.”

“Sun-sun-woo hyung, leave him alone…”

The two quickly stepped between Sun-woo and Ki-han.

If you looked closely, they were in a posture protecting Ki-han, not Sun-woo.

“Sun-woo, you can’t cause trouble here.”

“Hyung, hold back. Ah, hyung doesn’t hold back. Then… ah, I don’t know.”

At this point, Ki-han also felt something strange and looked at the Demon God.

“Uh, why are you laughing?”

The Demon God laughed leisurely.

He had reason to.

It was as if he had been invited onto a stage where conflict and ill fate were intertwined.

But he had no intention of using his hands against a human.

Just throwing out a few words would be enough.

“Ah, I see! Tae-young, Yoon-seo, I also understand this fellow now.”

“?”

When Ki-han looked at the Demon God at the sudden words.

“This fellow has ‘lost.'”

The Demon God’s eyes curved into crescents.

Saying that someone has lost with such smiling eyes was a severe mockery.

Ki-han flared up and raised his voice.

“What?”

“Did you not lose to Tae-young and Yoon-seo and run away? You seem to have somehow joined another team and debuted, but. The brand of defeat is still smoking from your chest.”

The Demon God pointed to Ki-han’s chest with his finger, then waved his hand flowingly as if describing smoke.

“As for me.”

Then he gave a smirk.

“I am Sun-woo, the member who was cast instantly the moment I met Origin’s CEO.”

Cast instantly upon meeting.

Words with a clear intent.

He hadn’t been satisfied with just marking Ki-han’s chest with the ‘brand of defeat’ just now, so he had thrown another mockery on top of it.

“My case is different from yours. Unlike a loser who can’t make it no matter how much he struggles.”

And the Demon God dug deep into the brand once again.

Shouldn’t he do at least this much to be called a Demon God?

‘I wish he would get angry and lunged at me. I’m curious what it feels like to punch a human face with a human body.’

He didn’t intend to strike first, but if given the opportunity, he wouldn’t refuse.

The Demon God looked at Ki-han with inward anticipation.

“You, you, you—”

His face turned red, and he stuttered.

The few words the Demon God threw hit Ki-han’s distorted inferiority complex directly.

A situation where he really might attack if left alone.

Unfortunately, Ennexion’s Team Leader and members rushed in.

“Ki-han! Let’s go up!”

“Ki-han, stop it.”

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

Ki-han was dragged toward the elevator by his Team Leader and members.

Ennexion got on first, but Pantheon naturally didn’t get on with them and let them go up.

Slurp.

The Demon God lightly licked his lips.

This was just the beginning.

Since today’s shoot hadn’t even started.

“Fester more.”

At the thought of being with Ki-han, whose insides must be burning, a hum escaped his lips involuntarily.

He was looking forward to the shoot up there in the studio.