Chapter 70
"Hah... hah..."
Woo Jung-woo's rough breathing could be heard.
"Jung-woo, are you already tired?"
"But hyung..."
Right now, we were.
"Who on earth practices dancing so ridiculously, hoo... like this?"
Diligently practicing choreography together.
Of course, just doing it normally wouldn't lead to progress, so I added one rule. Every time a posture was wrong, repeat it 10 times until done correctly.
It was a practice method that had been quite effective for me in the early auditions.
However, Jung-woo's trembling legs looked concerning.
As expected.
"Is stamina Jung-woo's biggest problem...?"
"No! What are you saying now!!"
"It hasn't even been that long since we started practicing, and you're already this tired."
At my words, Woo Jung-woo appealed to me with an unjustified expression.
"It's normal for a person to get tired after dancing for two hours without resting...!"
"Two hours have passed already? Hmm, then should we take a little break for now?"
"I'm not doing this anymore!"
"Wai- wait a moment."
I grabbed Woo Jung-woo who was trying to leave the practice room.
"Let's sit down and talk for a bit first."
"Talk?"
"Yeah."
The reason I特意 dragged Woo Jung-woo, who was practicing hard alone in the vocal practice room, to practice dancing together was.
-Leader's Whip
Team morale maintenance and discipline +50%,
Increases probability of activating members' latent abilities and ability awakening.
It was precisely to test the Leader's Whip ability.
The phrase about increasing ability awakening probability in the trait description.
I thought I might be able to awaken Woo Jung-woo's ability through the trait.
However.
'The problem is that I don't know how to make the ability awaken.'
Because I didn't know the exact method, I chose to stay beside him and watch closely 1-on-1 for now.
'I thought if I just pushed him appropriately, there would be some kind of response...'
"Jung-woo, by any chance, did anything feel particularly different while practicing? Or did you feel anything strange?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Seeing Woo Jung-woo looking at me with an expression that said he didn't understand anything, it seemed that simply pushing him wasn't very effective.
But then again, it wasn't like I could give him vocal training either.
'Should I push him a bit more?'
As I thought that and glared at Woo Jung-woo.
Woo Jung-woo looked at me with a frightened expression and said.
"No. I'm going home...!"
"No one said I wouldn't let you go home."
"Your eyes looked strange just now, hyung."
"..."
Like that, the conversation ran parallel for a while.
While we were looking at each other with different thoughts.
"By the way, hyung, could you possibly... do me one favor?"
"A favor?"
Seeing Woo Jung-woo suddenly telling me he had a favor, I wondered if this could become a clue to awakening.
I smiled and said to Woo Jung-woo, who was hesitating without continuing his words.
"If it's something I can obviously do, I should do it. What is it? Tell me comfortably."
After hearing my words, Woo Jung-woo, who had been hesitating, cautiously opened his mouth.
"By any chance, on my birthday... could you do a WApp broadcast with me?"
"WApp what?"
When I asked again at the completely unexpected words.
"I want to do a WApp broadcast live on my birthday... but somehow doing it alone feels a bit much. And it's their first vacation in a while, so I felt sorry to ask the other members to come out."
"Ah, so that's why..."
Hearing Woo Jung-woo's concern, I could understand why he had hesitated to tell me.
If it were a normal time and not a vacation, everyone would probably gather to do a birthday celebration live broadcast unless there was a special schedule.
But right now, the members were scattered on their first vacation.
It seemed Woo Jung-woo felt sorry to ask the members to give up their vacation and come out for his birthday broadcast.
'I didn't think of that at all.'
I hadn't even considered that Woo Jung-woo would be mindful of such things.
Then I suddenly realized my answer was too late and quickly said to Woo Jung-woo.
"Of course I should do it with you. I don't have anything to do at home anyway."
"Really...?"
Perhaps he was tense because my silence had dragged on. Woo Jung-woo, whose complexion wasn't good, cautiously spoke.
"Yeah, let's do it together."
At my words while nodding repeatedly, Woo Jung-woo finally smiled with relief.
"But you're not going to tell the other members separately?"
"Yes... I think just the two of us will be fine!"
Woo Jung-woo was smiling as he said it, but it was too easy to see that his inner feelings were not like that.
"Hmm, really?"
For now, it seemed Woo Jung-woo had no intention of telling the other members.
He probably wouldn't have asked me either if we hadn't met today.
"Hyung, then I'll be going now..."
"Wait!"
I grabbed Woo Jung-woo, who was trying to get up as if the conversation was over.
"In exchange for granting your favor. You have to practice with me."
"Huh? Where does that even make sense!"
"Right here."
"Ugh... that's cheap!"
Even if it was cheap, it couldn't be helped.
A birthday is a birthday. If there's something given, there must be something in return.
"There are three days left until your birthday, so you have to work hard until then."
"Agh! I'll just do the broadcast alone!"
"It's already too late."
Until his birthday, I would push Woo Jung-woo while finding out more about the trait.
***
It felt like I spent almost all of my time during the vacation stuck together with Woo Jung-woo.
However, there was no noticeable result.
I thought about how I could use the trait better, but.
There was a limit to what I could do artificially.
But while being stuck together with Woo Jung-woo, I realized the fact that Woo Jung-woo hadn't opened his heart to the members as much as I thought.
'Probably because of the memories from previous activities?'
It was something I hadn't thought of at all when we were all together.
Well, we had only been busy with activities all this time, so there was no way there was time to talk with the members personally.
Superficially, there was no problem. Still, that fact kept bothering me.
In the end, the reason Woo Jung-woo was always in an anxious state, as if chased by something, probably stemmed from such problems.
So I came to the conclusion that I shouldn't just let Woo Jung-woo's birthday pass by.
Today, the day of Woo Jung-woo's birthday. I looked at the messages posted in the members' group chat in the morning.
Sung-ha: Happy birthday Jung-woo hyung!
A-jin: Happy birthday!! o(·ω·。)o(·ω·。)o(·ω·。)
Si-hyun: I'll be watching the broadcast today hehe Happy birthday hyung!
Yujin: (Emoji)
Han-hwi: Happy birthday Jung-woo haha See you at the dorm tomorrow!
Jung-woo: Thanks everyone for the congratulations...!
'Everyone is doing well.'
Although he didn't show it much, Woo Jung-woo's feeling of disappointment could be felt from the short messages.
He must have expected that even if he didn't contact them first, a few would say they'd come to the birthday broadcast, so he must be a bit disappointed.
'For now, the preparations are roughly done.'
By now, Woo Jung-woo would have arrived at the company to prepare for the birthday WApp broadcast.
And I had told him I would arrive a bit late with a cake.
Of course, I wouldn't just go in with the cake.
Because.
"Hyung! We're here!"
Kang A-jin and Baek Si-hyun got into the car I was riding in and said.
"Did you rest well?"
"Yes!"
"I was happy...!"
Starting with Kang A-jin and Baek Si-hyun.
"Hi guys!"
"I'm here too!"
"It's been a while, everyone."
Starting with Park Han-hwi, Sim Sung-ha and Yujin Kim also arrived, and all the members except Woo Jung-woo gathered in one place.
"When do we go in?"
"When the broadcast starts."
"Hahaha, this is going to be fun."
What I prepared was a surprise party for Woo Jung-woo.
At my request, the members gave up one day of their vacation and all came to the company.
"Thank you for helping us, Manager hyung!"
"No problem. You guys all gave up your vacation to gather."
I even dragged the manager into preparing this event.
While we were waiting in the car like that.
"Oh, the broadcast is on!"
"Look at the speed of the chat coming up... amazing."
As soon as Woo Jung-woo turned on the broadcast, the chat scroll started going up at a terrifying speed.
[Thank you everyone for the congratulations! I can't read all the chats, but I'll try to read as many as possible today...!]
Woo Jung-woo, who was hosting the broadcast with an awkward demeanor for his first time hosting alone, started reading the chat slowly.
[Yes, today is the last day of vacation so the members are all at their respective homes right now!]
[Ah, seaweed soup? I ate it at home! Hahaha.]
[Why is there no cake...? That's because...! A surprise guest is scheduled to appear.]
At the mention of a surprise guest, the members' names started pouring into the chat.
"Let's go up now."
The members and I went up to the company and carefully moved to the office where Woo Jung-woo was hosting the WApp broadcast.
And when we arrived in front of the office.
Woo Jung-woo's voice could be heard from inside.
"Now! Please make your appearance!"
Hearing those words, we held back our laughter and waited in front of the door.
"Huh...? Haven't you arrived yet?"
From inside the office, Woo Jung-woo's flustered voice could be heard.
"Wait a moment, didn't you say you were waiting outside earlier...? Hyung! Stop joking around and come out quickly! Seriously, this person never does anything normally."
Muttering complaints, Woo Jung-woo's silhouette was visible as he approached the door where we were.
"Guys, I'm opening it."
I quietly said to the members behind me, then quickly opened the office door and shouted.
"Happy birthday!"
"Waaaaaaaah!"
"Huh?"
Seeing us six people rush in through the door, Woo Jung-woo was flustered, and then.
"Guys, grab him!"
"Wai- wait a moment!!!"
We immediately grabbed Woo Jung-woo's limbs one by one and tossed him in the air.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
With a shrieking scream, Woo Jung-woo flew into the air.
Like that, the hectic time continued, and then.
"What is all this...? Why is everyone here?"
After the tossing ended, Woo Jung-woo finally came to his senses and spoke to us.
"First, let's all greet properly. Two, three!"
"Forever together! Hello, we are WeUs!"
We dragged Woo Jung-woo in front of the camera and finished the group greeting in an instant.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Looks like Jung-woo was completely flustered ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Hidden camera great success!
-His eyes look a bit teary, right?
-Whoa... Jung-woo is crying ㅠㅠ
After finishing the greeting, I could see the corners of Woo Jung-woo's eyes, who had been standing blankly, become moist.
"Is Jung-woo hyung crying?"
"No...!"
"You were scared of the toss hahahaha."
"What are you talking about!"
While everyone was laughing at Woo Jung-woo getting riled up at Park Han-hwi's words.
"Everyone, on your vacation... thank you so much for coming all the way to the company to congratulate me."
Woo Jung-woo spoke tearfully as he looked at us.
"Jung-woo, you can't cry yet."
"Huh?"
"We have to start preparing soon."
Actually, what I prepared wasn't simply gathering the members.
If that were all, there would have been no need to get permission from the manager.
I said to the staff waiting outside.
"Now! Please get it ready!"
"Wh-what??"
While Woo Jung-woo was looking at me with a bewildered face. A rattling sound could be heard from outside.
Starting with the manager bringing in a small stage into the office.
The staff began sticking paper-made letters on the office wall.
[Woo Jung-woo Solo Mini Concert]
"Solo mini concert...?"
While Woo Jung-woo was still flustered, I spoke to the fans watching the WApp.
"Today, in commemoration of Jung-woo's birthday, Woo Jung-woo's mini concert will be held shortly."
"No, what are you talking about? I haven't prepared anything."
"Weren't there songs the manager hyung told you to prepare for the radio?"
"Huh...? How did you know that? Wait a moment! Don't tell me that was a lie? Am I not going on the radio?"
At Woo Jung-woo's words, the manager, who was setting up an electronic piano in the back of the office, quietly gave a thumbs up.
"Yes, that's how it turned out. Do you understand the situation now, Jung-woo?"
"N-no."
Like that, while Woo Jung-woo was grasping his dizzy mind. A small stage was created in the office before he knew it.
"Specially, the accompaniment will be handled by the genius composer Teacher Yujin Kim."
At my words, Yujin Kim sat down at the electronic piano next to the stage and warmed up her hands.
I approached Woo Jung-woo, who still hadn't come to his senses.
"Jung-woo, can you do it?"
"Hyung..."
"Yeah."
"Just you wait..."
As expected, people need to be pushed...
The eyes of Woo Jung-woo, who went up on the stage after whispering to me, looked much clearer than before, unlike earlier.
Actually, even I thought that suddenly asking him to sing live while hosting a WApp broadcast was a somewhat difficult request, but.
'That's how much I believe in Woo Jung-woo's skills.'
Woo Jung-woo would do well.
While I was thinking that and watching Woo Jung-woo's appearance.
-What? Is he really going to sing?? ㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Suddenly a mini concert on a birthday live, truly amazing WeUs!
-Thank you to the company officials who allowed this... ㅠㅠ
-Woah! It's starting~~!!!
Woo Jung-woo, who went up on the stage, closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then he grabbed the microphone and spoke.
"Singing suddenly on a birthday live... it's flustering, but I'll sing the song I prepared. Then for the first song, I'll sing 'Wind memory'."
It was an audacious song choice from the very first song.
That song, which requires handling the highest vocal range among ballad songs.
When Woo Jung-woo gave a signal to Yujin Kim, a gentle piano accompaniment could be heard.
"Milk-colored Woo Jung-woo!"
"We love you Woo Jung-woo!"
I could see Woo Jung-woo smiling leisurely while hearing the members' cheering voices.
And with the start of the introduction, I felt a strange emotion.
'It's completely different from during practice.'
Woo Jung-woo, who had been practicing singing as if chased by something, now looked like he was enjoying his singing itself.
-Woo Jung-woo's self-esteem improves.
-The probability of breaking through the blocked wall increases.
-Woo Jung-woo's awakening probability increases due to the effect of the trait 'Leader's Whip'.
The status window messages that hadn't been visible until now appeared before my eyes.
The song gradually headed toward its climax, soaring to a crazy high vocal range.
"Wow!"
I could hear Kang A-jin next to me exclaiming involuntarily while listening to Woo Jung-woo's singing.
Finally.
Aaaaaah-
A high note that seemed like it would shake the entire office even without a microphone burst from Woo Jung-woo's mouth.
'He's crazy...'
Even without the status message, I could feel it distinctly on my skin.
At this very moment, Woo Jung-woo had.
Advanced one step further.
And.
-You helped Woo Jung-woo's awakening.
-Rewards will be given according to contribution.
A pleasant message also came to me.