Episode 15. Keywords (1)
I’d thought pulling an all-nighter at my age was impossible unless there was an insane amount of work to do.
But I was wrong.
When a fire drops on your foot, you can do anything. Thanks to that, I greeted the morning with my eyes wide open.
Having my memories erased was overwhelming enough, but with my mouth shut too, I felt like both my hands and feet were bound.
‘The biggest problem is that I don’t know exactly where “direct information” begins and ends.’
Such subjective expressions were dangerous. Wasn’t that basically like digging traps everywhere and praying I’d trip one no matter where I stepped?
Pessimistic about a future that held little hope, I struggled up from bed.
Even if I’d been forced to sign a security pledge, work was still work.
That was the fate of a salaryman.
“Did I fall asleep working overtime just to end up like this……?”
I’d muttered to myself without realizing it, and Choi Jeho and Lee Cheonghyeon looked at me with extremely uncomfortable gazes.
I left them be and headed out of the room. Just then, Jeong Seongbin was coming out into the living room.
Making eye contact with me, he approached and asked,
“You didn’t sleep well yesterday?”
“Not really.”
Then Jeong Seongbin hesitated a bit before leaning in close to my ear and whispering,
“Hyung.”
“What?”
“Is it because you were looking into the future that you couldn’t sleep?”
“What?”
I turned to him with a grimace. Jeong Seongbin’s face was brimming with mischief.
The consideration he showed by struggling to hold in his laughter only made me feel more ashamed.
I told him to just laugh openly instead, and Jeong Seongbin didn’t hold back.
Happy now?
Since you’re laughing, I’m happy too. Just try telling me later that you’re going to quit being a trainee.
* * *
“Lee Wol, did you say you wanted to talk to me?”
As soon as I arrived at UA, the manager called for me. It was thanks to having requested a meeting yesterday.
There was only one thing I needed to discuss. It was the issue of smartphone usage.
As the owner of a 2G phone, the only ways I could get outside information were when I sneaked off to a PC bang at dawn or when I took turns using the communal phone at the dorm.
When I used the communal phone, I kept an incognito window open, but my heart pounded not knowing when or where someone might burst out asking, “Who searched ‘I see something strange in front of my eyes’ on the phone?”
So I’d tried to get even a prepaid phone under my own name, but unfortunately, UA did not allow trainees to use cell phones.
I guessed they were letting me slide because I had a 2G phone. Anyway, it was a company that showed pointless compassion in useless places.
But what I wanted wasn’t the confiscation of my phone or permission to use a 2G phone—it was the use of a smartphone.
Since I’d been dropped into the past with my memories erased, I needed to secure at least some access to information.
As expected, the manager’s reaction after hearing my request wasn’t very positive.
“That won’t do. The other kids also agreed not to carry personal phones until debut.”
“Yes, I know.”
Besides, you guys at UA didn’t let us use phones for a year even after debut.
How can you gloss over such an important issue like that?
Regardless of how much my hostility surged, the manager remained firm.
“It’s not that we have bad intentions. We have to manage you kids, so I hope you can understand.”
It did strike me as excessively old-fashioned, but for the moment, I stayed quiet.
Even if I said here, ‘Spark never caused any problems with their phones,’ who would believe me?
“Lee Wol, you haven’t been preparing to be an idol for very long, so you might not know, but even a single post you upload by mistake can become a big problem later. That’s why the company is trying to prevent that.”
“Yes. Still, Manager, couldn’t you hear me out on why I need a phone and consider it just this once?”
I respected the company’s policy, expressed that I would follow whatever the result might be, and simply requested the right to speak in a low posture.
If you clearly show that the decision-making power lies with the company, unless they’re someone like Manager Nam, most people will respond with a “let’s hear what you have to say” attitude.
Fortunately, the manager was kinder than that and gave me a chance.
“I’m not sure if I told you when I joined, but I’m not on good terms with my parents, so I’m living independently.”
“Yeah, I heard from the management team.”
Then this should be quicker.
My situation, in which my guardians had moved away without a word and cut off all contact, fell into a disadvantaged category compared to the other trainees.
Because trainees needed money for things beyond what the company covered. Even if it was just to buy shoes, or medicine.
“I thought I’d need a smartphone to manage living expenses or look for part-time jobs, so I wanted to ask in advance. Would it be difficult even to check it just once a day?”
The practice schedule was too tight to go to an ATM every day to check my card or account balance. The manager agreed on this point.
“You’re going to work a part-time job too?”
“If I can find one that doesn’t conflict with practice. Ah, of course, I’m thinking of doing that after I’ve fully mastered the basics.”
To reassure the manager, I strongly expressed that I had no intention of messing around for the time being.
But the manager’s worries did not end there.
“They say you always leave the latest. The other kids mentioned it. Will you have the stamina?”
“Stamina is all I have, so I’ll be fine.”
Honestly, I had no doubt that Hanpyeong Industries had hired me for my stamina, too. That was why they ran people ragged without letting them rest.
While I was lost in thought, the manager pondered briefly and spoke.
“If it’s just about once a day, I’ll discuss it. Don’t get your hopes up too high because it might not work out, alright? And talk to me before you start any part-time job.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Alright. Practice hard!”
The manager patted my back a couple of times and left. That more or less wrapped up the urgent matters I had to take care of.
I was worried that maybe my sister would try to contact me and I wouldn’t be able to answer right away…….
From my sister’s perspective, being tied to a younger brother who still couldn’t earn his own keep probably wouldn’t be very welcome.
Separate from trying to check how my sister was doing on my own, I decided to stay quiet, thinking I shouldn’t go around advertising that I was here.
Heading to the practice room with a relieved mind, I saw Park Juu coming from the opposite direction.
Park Juu must have practiced dancing vigorously while I was gone; he was soaked in sweat and filling his water bottle.
“……Where did you go?”
“I had a talk with the manager.”
“……?”
“They said I’m such a shockingly bad dancer that I need special countermeasures.”
Park Juu’s pupils shook at my words.
“Really……?”
“Half joke, half truth. Guess which half is the truth.”
“……That you’re a bad dancer, Hyung?”
“You’re right, but that hurts a little.”
Park Juu, realizing I wasn’t getting cut, let out a faint sigh of relief.
Don’t tell me he thinks it’s a relief that I’m not leaving?
If my guess was right, then it seemed best for these guys to practice being merciless. Because the moment they entered society, swindler-like adults would be swarming to take advantage of them.
Going back right after making jokes seemed a little cold-hearted, so I waited until Park Juu finished filling his water bottle.
When the bottle was about half full, Park Juu, who had been silently filling it, asked,
“Hyung, have you decided…… on the song for the next evaluation?”
It hadn’t been long since the monthly evaluation, and already the next one was waiting.
The barrage of exams bore an uncanny resemblance to the pop quizzes from high school.
“I’ve only narrowed down the list. I’ll have to pick by the end of this week.”
Then I suddenly remembered that Park Juu had received some criticism regarding his song selection. He must have his own worries too.
“When are you planning to start preparing?”
“……I’m still thinking about it.”
Park Juu, closing the bottle cap, looked quite troubled.
No matter how awkward these kids were, seeing a boy ten years my junior completely deflated was a bit painful to watch.
So I brought out just a tiny bit of the social skills I’d honed through blood and sweat at Hanpyeong Industries.
“I learned the bass as a hobby. If you ever want to sing a band song, let me know. I’ll play accompaniment for you.”
“Really……?”
Yeah. I learned it at a college club I can’t go to anymore.
Park Juu’s eyes sparkled before my bitter expression. He seemed quite excited.
“……Cheonghyeon can play the keyboard too.”
“Then you bring him along.”
Even if I debut and quit right away, well, I should have a chance to provide accompaniment at least.
After that, the band talk spanning the ages didn’t end until we reached the practice room.
When I asked if we wouldn’t have a chance to talk more soon, Park Juu nodded in agreement.
Park Juu’s back as he opened the door and entered the practice room somehow looked a little happy.
* * *
The phone usage permit came through a few days later.
It was a primitive arrangement where I borrowed the phone from the manager on the days I needed it and returned it after an hour, but it was more than satisfactory.
As soon as the prepaid phone I ordered online arrived, I installed a stock trading app and checked whether the stocks I’d poured my blood into were doing well, then bookmarked a few listings for remote part-time jobs.
And with the remaining time, I searched a portal for keywords I couldn’t bring myself to show the housemates who shared the communal phone.
‘Suddenly became an idol.’
‘Woke up and came back to the past.’
‘I see text in front of my eyes.’
At the same time, I desperately prayed this situation wasn’t the Korean version of *The Truman Show*.
Because if this sight were broadcast nationwide, I would probably lose the courage to ever step outside.
It was impossible that I, who could safely call myself ordinary, had become some so-called “life recycler” I’d never heard of.
So I’d been searching, certain there had to be similar cases I didn’t know about somewhere.
“Huh?”
Something actually appeared in the search results.
It was a link leading to something called a web novel.
The platform I accessed was filled with countless tragic tales of idols who had returned to the past, idols who debuted by accident, idols who had gotten trapped inside games, and more—all of whom had been forced to stamp their seals on contracts.
By the time I learned from several stories that *hoebinghwan* was a contracted term for regression, possession, and reincarnation, I was able to grasp that my situation fell under regression.
Usually, before experiencing *hoebinghwan*, it seemed people were either hit by someone called Mister Truck in their original world or fell asleep while fervently enjoying some content.
Compared to me, who regressed while working overtime, everyone else had dramatic developments. As expected, life must not be like a drama.
More than that, to roll someone back nine years without even sending a single regression truck.
Was I the only one getting such a cost-effective deal?
Because the time I could use the phone was limited, I could only read up to episode 25, the free-release portion of the novels.
Consequently, I only learned the sad law that a human trapped in the shackles of regression must inevitably become an idol.
Of course, there were helpful parts too.
A way to explain the members’ personalities most intuitively using refined language.
‘#Sorrowful, #Scheming, #Mastermind, #Healing…….’
That was precisely the keyword.