Hard Mode Idol

“Kids! We’re here!”

At the manager hyung’s voice, I opened my eyes wide. When did I fall asleep? The last thing I remember was thinking it was uncomfortable with Seoho leaning on my shoulder as he dozed off. My shoulder was stiff, and he was still using it as a headrest.

“Hey, Seoho. Wake up.”

I said as I pushed his heavy head off me.

“Mmm….. Just a bit more……”

“I’m Jin Haon. Will you call me ‘hyung’ from now on?”

“……Don’t know.”

The stirring Seoho suddenly opened his eyes wide.

“Jin Haon? You said Jin Haon? Did I call you ‘hyung’?”

“Yes. If you’re awake, get off. Seoho dongsaeng.”

“Ack! No! That’s not it!”

I watched with my arms crossed as Seoho ruffled his own hair. Yoochan hyung urged us, “Kids, let’s hurry and get off~”

“Hey, cancel that. I was just rambling in my sleep, you know?”

“I don’t know~”

“Aish! I said cancel it! Cancel! Cancel!”

“Just hurry and get off.”

Sitting in the last window seat, I couldn’t get out because Seoho was blocking me. He finally got up but kept turning back every half step he took while hunching over, persistently saying, “I made a mistake?”, “You know it was a mistake, right?”, “I’m really your hyung!” Does he really care that much?

“I get it, so hurry and get off. My back hurts.”

What’s he doing in this cramped car?

“Hey, Jin Haon.”

“What again.”

“Call me ‘hyung’ again.”

“What?”

“Yesterday at the showcase, you called me ‘Seoho hyung’. Do it naturally like yesterday.”

I stared at Seoho like looking at a rare animal. His flushed cheeks pursed his lips as he asked, “Don’t want to?” It didn’t seem like his usual demanding attitude. As for me, I had no reason to refuse since I was just teasing him…… If he wants me to.

“Seoho hyung.”

“Oh!”

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yeah! I’m getting off!”

The fully energized Seoho hopped off. He stretched his shoulders and hurried everyone along in lively strides, “Hyungs! Let’s go quickly!” Yoochan hyung exclaimed in bewilderment, “It’s because of you that we’re late!”

Is it really that exciting? It’s not like I’m his first dongsaeng, right? Among the trainees, there were many who followed him calling him ‘hyung’. Seoho was the most popular among our members, followed by Yoochan hyung.

But why is he so happy about it? I almost felt a bit apologetic for not treating him like a hyung all this time. No matter how childlike he seems, should I call him ‘hyung’ like I do with Jung Ilhan? But it just doesn’t come out.

Thud. As I followed the members out of the van, Jung Ilhan stopped and waited for me.

“Haon-ah, aren’t you tired?”

“No, I’m okay. You’re the one with serious dark circles, I wonder if makeup can cover that.”

Jung Ilhan’s under-eyes were sunken and dark. They were so hollowed out that it almost looked like something was smeared under his eyes rather than just dark circles. When I gently rubbed them with my thumb, yep, definitely dark circles.

“Is it that serious?”

“A bit. Couldn’t sleep last night?”

“Yeah….. I think I slept for about two hours.”

“I see.”

Maybe everyone’s the same. At least I slept the longest.

We stopped by a shop to get a light touch-up of hair and makeup, not too heavy. Even so, it took quite a while. We then took the van to the broadcasting station. Although it wasn’t stage makeup and hair, we still couldn’t lean back too comfortably to avoid messing it up.

As we got closer to the broadcasting station, the manager hyung once again went over the precautions. Don’t act in a way that would make a specific fan feel special. Move together as a group. React with bright smiles, and so on.

He added that most people there would likely be fans of senior groups rather than our fans, so we shouldn’t be disappointed. Meanwhile, the van entered the broadcasting station, and through the darkly tinted windows, we could see people lining up.

Some cast curious glances towards our van, while others seemed disappointed upon realizing we weren’t the group they were waiting for. The moment I saw those regretful faces, my chest tightened as a memory from the past surfaced.

“Ah, Jin Haon got captured!”

That irritated voice still rang clearly in my ears. The members pushing me aside apologetically as they struck poses, the fans screeching in response to the fan service. It was an unforgettable memory.

“Jin Haon, are you nervous?”

Seoho’s face suddenly popped into my view.

“Hey, just trust your hyung.”

“Huh? Since when was Seoho a trustworthy hyung?”

“Ah! Yoochan hyung!”

“Were you nervous, Haon-ah? Should I hold your hand?”

“Isn’t it Ilhan you want to hold hands with?”

“……What.”

Jung Ilhan snorted while scrunching his nose. I guess I really did look nervous. I only just noticed how stiff my expression was. As I relaxed my tense face, I said,

“I was a bit nervous, but Seoho’s foolishness put me at ease.”

“Ah! What did I do again!”

“You put my nerves at ease, hyung.”

“……Really?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Oh, well, what did I do! This is the bare minimum. It’s only natural for a hyung. Ahem ahem.”

Seoho grinned and shrugged his shoulders. He seems happy. Indeed, things are different from before. Here, there are fans who genuinely like me. And more than anything, the current members don’t seem like they’ll push me aside.

The sluggishly crawling van finally stopped. The hyungs all got off, and I was the last to rise from my seat. Since I always sat in the last window seat, I was always last.

After taking a deep breath, I got out of the van.

“Haon-ah!”

At the voice that rang out as soon as I stepped out, I instinctively turned my head. Click click click. The rapid sound of shutters firing.

“Haon-ah is so pretty!”

“Seoho-ya~ Look here for a bit! Seo! Ho-ya!”

“Oh! Yes, yes!”

Seoho waved his hands energetically while flashing a gentle, bright smile. The other hyungs were no different. Among the countless people, only a few were fans looking for us. But among them, there was someone calling my name. They were the ones who made me happy today.

“Shit, crazy.”

Then, a sudden curse caused my body to freeze up. The surroundings instantly went quiet. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who heard it.

“Ah! They heard me.”

The person who quickly covered their mouth with both hands blinked rapidly. Then our eyes met directly. Feeling like I shouldn’t avoid their gaze, I smiled, and they cursed again, “Ah, shit, I’m going crazy!”

As I flinched, they flailed their hands while rambling,

“Ah. No, no, I didn’t mean to curse! Ah! Your smile is so pretty that I couldn’t help it…… I’m so sorry!”

A few people let out small laughs. Ah. I understand the feeling. They used a curse word instead of an exclamation.

“It’s okay.”

“Ack, ack, ah, ack. Um, what’s your name?”

“I’m Jin Haon of DIAS!”

“Ha…… No, ah, ahh. My mouth! Ahh!”

Suddenly, an arm landed on my shoulder. It was Yoochan hyung. Winking, he said softly,

“Our Haon-ah is pretty, right?”

“Yes! Amaz-, no, ah, yes, super! Wow. Woah.”

“Haon-ah! Yoochan-ah! Look this way for a bit!”

We turned our heads towards the voice calling us, and flashes went off again. Waving, I brightly smiled and said,

“We’ll work hard on our stage too! Please support DIAS!”

“Okay!”

After naturally promoting us, Yoochan hyung led me inside the broadcasting station. Once inside, he asked in a small voice, “Were you surprised?”

“Yes, a bit.”

“You seemed frozen when I saw you.”

“Sheesh, Jin Haon. Can’t you even distinguish between amazement and real cursing? You should just smile in those situations!”

This time, Seoho was right, so I nodded. Then he said it felt weird to see me being so obedient and licked his lips.

Following the manager hyung who had gone to park the van, we arrived at the waiting room. It was a bit cramped, and it seemed we’d be sharing it with a group called ‘Deep Color’.

This was familiar, so it wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, it felt luxurious to only share it with one other group. The issue was that I didn’t know anything about the group Deep Color.

“It doesn’t seem like the seniors have arrived yet?”

Since we just debuted, anyone who came would be our senior. Yoochan hyung was staring at the clearly inadequate number of chairs, contemplating what to do.

I quickly searched for Deep Color. They were a group that had debuted a week before us. With a total of six members, their stage names all incorporated colors. Fortunately for me, our group’s real names matched our stage names.

“Alright, kids. Let’s put on our name tags.”

The manager hyung handed out shabby cloth scraps with our names printed on them. I slipped it onto my arm and tightly knotted the dangling string against my lower back to secure it.

“Hmm. There are five of us and six seniors……”

The waiting room only had one two-seater sofa and six armless temporary chairs.

“There’s no choice.”

Yoochan hyung plopped down on the floor. Then he called me over and patted his thigh.

“Haon-ah, sit on my lap.”

“……”

Does that also recover stamina…? Should I try it? As I contemplated it somewhat seriously, the manager hyung said,

“Ah, I asked for additional chairs. They’ll bring some.”

“……Really?”

Yoochan hyung answered awkwardly as he stood up. I was amazed, and amazed again, at the manager hyung’s capabilities. So it was possible! We could receive chairs!

“We arrived a bit early, so we have some free time. Any takers for lunch before the dry rehearsal?”

“Me.”

“Anyone besides Haon-ah?”

The manager hyung held out his phone for us to pick the menu. As I scrolled through, Seoho chimed in, “Me too!”

“Jeong-gon hyung. Can I go to the vending machine?”

“Kanghyun-ah, lunch?”

“Coffee is fine.”

“I’ll have coffee too.”

“Coffee……”

It seems no one but Seoho and I are eating. Since eating helps recover stamina, I had to eat no matter what. The only reason I consistently eat meals is because of the system. If not for my stamina, I wouldn’t eat out of laziness.