𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 ―𝐝.𝐨.𝐝

Chapter 10

[ Cho Seungmin's POV ]

Early in the morning, I had to go back to the broadcasting station. A week had passed since I was last here since we were given a break.

I suppressed a yawn and stood within the growing crowd.

Last night, after finishing a mission with my group, the first performance aired. B stopped me from going home to watch the show together, so I had to watch myself on a giant screen. It was weird. I felt like I was watching a different person.

"You can actually smile like that, wow," D murmured, shocked. "I almost never see you in your public life mode, so it's really weird. I'm getting shivers, shit."

He was wiping blood off his face with a towel. I think that should give someone more shivers.

Beside him, B shook her head vigorously.

"J, your face is actually nice. To think that you're living this mobster life instead of being a model," she sighed as if it were a pitiful thing.

I just drank my tea.

"Give him a rest guys." C came to my rescue. "He has to smile and talk all the time at his dorm. I bet our Junior J is really tired. His unused facial muscles must be burning."

Right. I was supposed to be called 'A' as the leader of the group, but D mistakenly heard 'J.' It stuck since then...I'm younger than them all, so they ended up calling me J for 'Junior.'

"Well, the comments seem good enough," B then said, scrolling through her phone. "J, you might not know because you don't use social media, but your public appearance is really important. There's only so much I can do to cut out the live feeds of you sleeping."

It wasn't something I could really help. Work usually takes place at night, so I would sleep whenever I had a chance during the day. Now that both day and night were filled with work, I was sleepy.

"S-seungmin!" I heard Ahyun hyung's voice, which brought me back to the present. I smiled and nodded my head in greeting.

Soon after, Moondae and Sejin hyung also found us amidst the crowd.

Sejin hyung greeted us amicably. I focused on Moondae hyung's face.

"Hyung, did you eat well over break?" I asked.

Moondae hyung reflexively gulped, which is something I see a lot of people do when they're hiding something.

Beside me, Sejin hyung had a hand to a chin as if thinking hard.

"Is it because I haven't seen you in a week?" he added. "You look different somehow."

But his eyes drifted to Ahyun hyung behind Moondae hyung and chuckled.

"Oh~ It was because Ahyun was standing beside you."

I wasn't convinced. Moondae hyung's face seemed to be more shaped.

But I let it go because the MC went up on the stage and put the mic close to his mouth.

"Everyone, did you rest well?"

Shouts of excitement ran through, and the MC laughed. Behind him on the stage were digital signs with words I didn't recognize.

"The stage everyone will be preparing for today is....a team battle!"

People cheered and clapped.

"Oh, B hacked into their system and told me about this...she told me to go for L..leg? Let-tea?"

As I tried to recall what exactly she said about this team match, people were going up to the stage one by one to pick a ball from a box. The number written on the ball would be the order the participants get to choose an agency.

I got 13.

"Wow, Moondae, you're right before Seungmin," Sejin hyung said, glancing at the number on his sphere. "What agency are you going to choose?"

"I'm gonna decide based on the team members only," Moondae hyung answered, staring ahead as participants began to stand in front of their chosen signs. "All the agencies are famous and have their share of hit songs, so the team members are what's important."

I thought about his words silently.

Moondae hyung was saying to go for those with the best members.

"But B told me to go to Leti."

"Participant number 12! Please come up to the stage," the MC called out.

He left the crowd and walked straight for Leti.

That worked out for me. Being a rapper and dancer, my position wouldn't overlap with him as a main vocalist. And he was also platinum.

When it was my turn, I also ambled toward Leti with a smile.

There were two gold-ranked people who greeted me with happy gazes and excited regards: Ha Iljoon and Kwon Heesung, I read off their nametags.

Moondae hyung seemed a bit confused as to why I was there, but he nodded his head.

He looked satisfied with the current team members. But his eyes lost their sheen as more people came in.

The next person to join was Lee Sejin A, the child actor. B was a fan of him, so I simply nodded my head in a friendly manner for greetings. It looked like he had a scorn on his face.

Thankfully, Ahyun walked toward us while holding up his ball (33) shyly. We stood together as we watched other participants choose other agencies.

Then a taller boy with navy-purple hair and eyes joined us. I tilted my head.

He looked a lot like the person who scouted me.

I looked down at his name tag.

"Ryu Chungwoo." It was the same last name as the writer of this show.

I tilted my head to the other side.

Well, he seemed good enough. Moondae hyung looked satisfied.

And then his expression stiffened again when Choi Wongil joined us after being kicked out of another agency. The boy was really staring down Moondae hyung. Was he still caught up on the vocal lessons?

Wongil didn't have time to fully glare at Moondae hyung. He almost fell forward when his back was hit by Sejin hyung, who came to join us.

"Oh, sorry about that!" he apologized. Then he turned to the rest of the Leti members and said hi.

Moondae hyung's expression worsened, even if it was slight. He remained in his poker face state until the MC announced that all contestants were placed within the agencies.

"Now then, everyone, did you pick the sign you want?"

A chorus of "yes" rang through.

"Well then, before we pick a song, whoever first chose your agency, raise your hand!"

Ha Iljoon raised his. He was then told to press a button above the digital sign, and suddenly, numbers showed up on the screen.

[ 4, 7, 12, 15, 33, 37, 62 ]
[ 13, 17, 24, 41, 59, 72 ]

I already had the numbers memorized. The three hyungs were placed in the same group, while I was sorted out with the writer's potential relative.

"Are you thirteen?" Ryu Chungwoo said as he approached me. I nodded my head, and he smiled gently as if relieved.

The other members of our group weren't people I recognized from the performance aired last night. They weren't notable to the producers. To Moondae hyung's logic, this team wasn't the best.

"I don't think B is watching right now. She would have skewed it better if she is."

I glanced at a camera on the ceiling, but I didn't see any flickering of the red light. It confirmed she wasn't watching.

Ryu Chungwoo began greeting the others on our team, and I followed suit. But the mood was already bad enough.

My lips thinned into a line.

"...I just want to sleep..."