Chapter 87
The practice room was in full swing with concert preparations.
The members of WEUS moved as sharp as knives in sync with the music flowing out.
"Haa... haa..."
"Heok, heok."
When the music finally ended, the members let out their labored breathing.
Seeing the members looking exhausted from practicing nonstop for so long, I spoke up.
"Let's take a short break."
"Yees...!"
Thud-
As soon as they heard my suggestion to rest, Kang Ajin and Sim Sungha literally sprawled out on the practice room floor in the shape of a big X.
Baek Sihyun and Yujin Kim sat leaning against the corner of the practice room.
Park Hanhwi and Woo Jungwoo sat in chairs, silently drinking water.
A scene I had seen over the past few weeks preparing for the concert.
But over the last few days, the atmosphere in the practice room had begun to change little by little.
"Jungwoo hyung. Can I get some water too... hehe."
"Here, catch."
When Sim Sungha spoke looking at Woo Jungwoo, Woo Jungwoo somewhat casually tossed the new water bottle placed beside his chair to Sim Sungha.
Sim Sungha thanked Woo Jungwoo and quickly drank the water.
For a while, only the sound of Sim Sungha gulping down water echoed in the practice room.
"Ah, I feel like I'm alive..."
With Sim Sungha's quietly muttered words while cautiously gauging the mood, the practice room fell into silence again.
And the members staring blankly into the air without a word.
Seeing that, I let out a sigh inwardly.
'No, why did it suddenly become like this...'
Until just a few days ago, the practice was equally hard, but the atmosphere wasn't this desolate.
The practice room that was like that suddenly changing into this suffocating atmosphere.
It was precisely because of Woo Jungwoo and Yujin Kim.
A few days ago, a disagreement about the arrangement arose between the two who were preparing the unit stage.
Eventually, it was decided to go with the opinion of Yujin Kim, who was in charge of the arrangement.
But even after that decision, Woo Jungwoo showed uncomfortable signs every time they practiced, and because of that, there was a bit of an emotional issue between them...
I heard about it through Park Hanhwi.
'Because they absolutely won't answer if I ask...'
As soon as I sensed the strange atmosphere, I tried to approach Yujin Kim and Woo Jungwoo separately to talk.
But when I approached, the two would clamp their mouths shut and absolutely refuse to speak.
Naturally, their issues slowly showed even when we practiced together as a group.
Yujin Kim wasn't that obvious about it, but the decrease in words from Woo Jungwoo, who had been leading the practice room's atmosphere along with Sim Sungha, directly affected the mood.
Even now, with the two sitting quietly with their mouths firmly shut, the other members were carefully watching their moods, making the practice room's atmosphere incredibly heavy.
'I should slowly sort this out.'
With only about a week left until the concert.
We were already getting physically exhausted, and if emotional issues arose between us on top of that, practice could only become increasingly difficult.
Of course, it didn't seem to have reached that point yet.
Before the situation worsened, I needed to resolve it quickly...
"Rin hyung."
"Yeah?"
While I was pondering like that, Woo Jungwoo suddenly spoke to me.
A momentary feeling that something was intense.
"Shouldn't we slowly start practicing again?"
Checking the time at Woo Jungwoo's words, I saw that only 5 minutes had passed since we started resting.
"Already? I think we can rest a little more."
"If we keep going like this, it feels like we won't be able to finish even if we practice all night..."
"What do you mean by that?"
Woo Jungwoo, who said that to me, stopped talking to me and was looking elsewhere.
Following Woo Jungwoo's gaze, I saw Yujin Kim sitting leaning against the wall.
And Yujin Kim's eyes meeting Woo Jungwoo's gaze.
'Wait, could this be...'
When I sensed something strange and hastily tried to speak, Yujin Kim's mouth opened faster than my words.
"Sorry, it's because I'm slow at memorizing the choreography."
A voice that felt ten times colder than usual.
For a moment, the practice room froze solid, and even though it was midsummer, a chill lingered.
A provocation that Woo Jungwoo blatantly threw first.
Among the seven of us, it was an open secret that Yujin Kim had the lowest dance skills.
Yujin Kim knew that too, so he always gave his best during dance practice.
Even if practice got a bit longer because of Yujin Kim, we all continued practicing together without complaint because we knew how hard he worked.
'And he's bringing that up here and now?'
I didn't know how much Woo Jungwoo had built up against Yujin Kim, but those were words he absolutely shouldn't have said.
"Why are you suddenly bringing that up? I didn't say anything about it."
"Wait!"
I said quickly, looking at Woo Jungwoo who was speaking with a sneer.
"Jungwoo."
"Yes..."
"Why are you suddenly picking a fight during practice?"
"No, I'm not picking a fight, it's just that it keeps interfering with practice..."
"Stop."
I looked at the members once before speaking again.
"Jungwoo, go get some fresh air for a bit."
"Understood."
Park Hanhwi, who had been watching Woo Jungwoo with a worried expression as he quietly headed out of the practice room at my words, gave me a look before following him out.
"Yujin, let's talk for a bit."
"Yes..."
Yujin Kim, who stood up, opened the practice room door first and went out. I followed behind him.
And we arrived at Yujin Kim's personal studio.
"Haa..."
I saw Yujin Kim let out a sigh as soon as he sat down.
I sat across from him and stared intently at his face without a word.
Time passed in silence like that.
Yujin Kim, whose stiffened expression gradually relaxed, cautiously spoke to me.
"Hyung."
"Yeah."
"You noticed... didn't you...?"
"Of course."
Yujin, did you think I'd fall for such clumsy acting?
I smiled deeply as I watched Yujin Kim's face stiffen in an instant.
***
When I returned to the practice room with Yujin Kim, the five members excluding us two were already gathered in the practice room.
And.
'I wondered why there were so many cameras today.'
There were occasionally times when practice scenes were filmed with cameras, so I hadn't paid much attention.
But today, cameras were hidden all over the practice room, which made me suspicious.
'A hidden camera? They prepared something quite fun.'
It was a bit strange from the beginning, but I never thought they would have put in days of effort for just this one hidden camera.
I had quickly noticed the unusual atmosphere during today's practice, the hidden cameras, and the two's out-of-character behavior, but...
'Thinking about how much I worried during that time...'
Those insolent ones.
I absolutely couldn't just let this go.
Of course, Yujin Kim and Woo Jungwoo didn't do this hidden camera without a reason.
It was something they prepared by receiving a mission from the production team to use as VCR footage during the concert.
Well, since I had already figured it out, the mission was a failure.
'Anyway, as long as the hidden camera itself is successful, that's all that matters.'
Entering the practice room, I could feel Woo Jungwoo's tense expression as he looked at me.
I saw Woo Jungwoo sending a signal to Yujin Kim to execute the plan, but Yujin Kim had already been won over by me.
"Alright, everyone gather around."
I spoke to the members while deliberately maintaining the most expressionless face possible.
At my appearance, the six people gathered in front of me without a word.
"Woo Jungwoo."
"Yees...?"
Jungwoo, how can you already be that scared.
It seemed like he hadn't expected me to step up first like this.
Looking at Woo Jungwoo whose poker face was gradually cracking, I quickly continued speaking.
"From now on, Jungwoo, let's do whatever you want to do."
"Yes... what do you mean by that..."
"Let's practice separately until the concert. Isn't that what you wanted? Then there's no problem. Or should we practice with just the six of us excluding Yujin?"
"Hy, hyung. Wait a minute..."
"No, Rin, why are you suddenly like this..."
"I think that's the right thing to do."
When I firmly cut off even Park Hanhwi's words, I could see the other members' faces gradually turning pale.
A little bit of guilt was rising in a corner of my heart.
But for a successful hidden camera, I furrowed my brow a bit more.
It was definitely not because I was trying to hold back laughter.
"Jungwoo has no answer? Then let's do that. The six of us will practice excluding Yujin, and Yujin will practice separately."
"N, no! Wait a minute hyung! I was wrong."
"What were you wrong about?"
At my words, Woo Jungwoo had a devastated expression and was cautiously glancing at Yujin Kim.
Thinking that Woo Jungwoo couldn't hold out any longer, I sent a signal to Yujin Kim.
"Yujin."
"Yes."
"From now on, practice alone, got it?"
For a moment, the practice room fell into silence.
The soft-hearted Kang Ajin already had tears welling up in his eyes.
While the other members were twisting their lips and making serious expressions...
"Yujinnie... doesn't want to practice alone, no no..."
Yujin Kim's voice suddenly rang out in the silent practice room.
And about 3 seconds of silence.
"Pfft!"
And the moment I couldn't hold it in and let out a sound.
"Uwaaaaah!"
"Ahh..."
"W, what? Is it a hidden camera?"
"Wow... that was really mean..."
The practice room instantly turned into chaos.
And into that chaotic practice room, company staff members holding cameras started coming in.
"Was the hidden camera successful?"
"W, well... it's a bit different from what we had in mind... but I guess it's a success."
A staff member who seemed flustered at my words nodded and answered.
I moved to the spot where the most cameras were gathered.
"Hic... sob..."
"Ah, Ajin. Here's a tissue..."
"Sniffle!"
I saw Kang Ajin crying sorrowfully.
I approached Kang Ajin and spoke to him.
"Sur... surprise?"
"Waaaaah!"
"Rin hyung! He just barely stopped crying. Why would you make him cry more!"
"That's right. Hyung is really a devil!"
"W, what?"
No, I didn't plan the hidden camera in the first place... I'm a victim too...
"Sunwoo Rin, apologize!"
"Apologize!"
"No, wait... Yujin, Jungwoo? You guys are the ones who did the hidden camera...?"
"Still, hyung went too far."
"That's true."
In an instant, I became the main culprit of the hidden camera.
Then, Sim Sungha sidled up to me and suddenly shouted loudly.
"Sunwoo Rin hyung, show us some aegyo!"
"A, aegyo?"
What is this talk? Why would I do aegyo...
"That's right! You've had so much fun with our aegyo videos all this time."
"Hyung has to do it at least once too!"
"If you do aegyo properly once, we'll let this hidden camera slide."
A suddenly created interrogation atmosphere for me.
And there was only one thing I could do here.
"R, run away!"
"Block him!"
***
Time passed quickly and finally today, August 27th.
WEUS's first solo concert. The first day had arrived.
"Did you check all the costumes properly?"
"Who took the jacket that was here!"
"5 minutes to standby!"
"Alright everyone, don't be nervous and..."
The appearance of the staff moving busily.
And.
"Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha!"
"Sungha, what are you doing?"
"This relieves some tension. Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha!"
Sim Sungha, who was the same as always.
"I can do it... I can do it..."
Kang Ajin, continuously muttering to himself.
"Just do it like you did at the rehearsal, Ajin."
Park Hanhwi, patting Kang Ajin beside him.
"Nervous?"
"A little..."
Yujin Kim and Baek Sihyun, talking to each other with faces no different from usual.
And finally.
"Alright everyone, let's go out and have fun!"
Woo Jungwoo, who seemed to have even higher tension than usual.
'Truly all different types.'
Looking at the members like that, the time to go up on stage was getting closer and closer.
'Then shall I do the last thing I need to do?'
-You have invested points into Appearance stat.
-Appearance stat rises to S-.
-You have acquired the trait 'Brilliant Halo'.