NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 59
Chapter 59. To You (1)
‘I was too fixated on avoiding the original song.’
Hajin pressed his throbbing forehead with his fingers. In focusing on creating a new song using only the elements of the original, he had let the meaning and characteristics of the original song fade away.
‘So what should I do now? How can I change anything in just a few hours?’
He saw the worried faces of his team members staring at him. Hajin felt more and more doomed.
He had pushed and led this arrangement and concept from start to finish. Now that the stage was ruined, all the responsibility would fall on him. Even if they didn’t say it, everyone must have been blaming him by now.
‘I can already see the negative public opinion…’
– Oh no, Hajin…
– Kang Hajin seemed shaky from the first mission
– His stubbornness is the problem. He did the same thing in Team B
– What did the others do wrongㅋㅋㅋ Everyone’s getting hit by Hajin’s karma. Hajin, why couldn’t you admit it was your idea?
└ The others agreed and went along with it too;
└ Are you a Hajin fan? It was Kang Hajin who pushed for jazz. How could anyone oppose that?
└ Not pushed, stuck with it
└ Do the other four have no self? If they were unhappy, they should have spoken up
Moreover, there was Seo Taehyun here. With a hashtag #MyCherry_Taehyun_Debut trending, there were core fans hoping for Seo Taehyun’s smooth and happy debut.
‘If I ruin this stage, I might get grabbed by the collar by his fandom first.’
He was known for his good performances, so if things didn’t go well, the blame would definitely fall on Hajin. But the truth was, Hajin had no brilliant plan to overcome this situation.
It was the consequence of getting too complacent, assuming things would work out without proper interim checks!
‘I was too focused on Han Sungwoo.’
But for Hajin’s plan to work, this stage had to be successful. He couldn’t let his mistake ruin the lives of the other guys either.
Hajin raised his head to look at his team members, who were gazing at him with various complex emotions.
Before anything else, there was something he needed to say to these guys.
“…First, I’m sorry.”
“Huh? No, why would you…?”
“You trusted and followed me, and this is the result. Everyone must be tired and exhausted, but we have to practice again. I’m sorry. It’s my mistake.”
“……!”
At Hajin’s apology, Haru, who had been observing the atmosphere next to the older members, looked a little surprised. He had expected Hajin to first talk about feedback and countermeasures for the failed interim check.
‘I didn’t expect an apology.’
For some reason, it made him think a lot.
‘I didn’t say a word the whole time.’
From the meeting until now, Haru hadn’t given any opinions about this stage. He hadn’t thought much about the concept, nor had he given any input on the arrangement. He had just followed what Hajin decided.
‘Then, isn’t this partly my responsibility too?’
Realizing this, Haru felt it was unfair for only Hajin to apologize for the situation.
“…I’m sorry too.”
“Huh? Oh, Haru, why are you…?”
“When Hajin hyung was working hard and giving his opinions, I didn’t say anything. As a team member, I should have actively suggested other ideas.”
“What’s this, Dan Haru. What are you apologizing for?”
“Then why is hyung sorry?”
Haru’s words left Hajin blinking in embarrassment. He had thought it was naturally his responsibility and his mistake, so he had to apologize and be prepared to accept any blame from them. But now, being apologized to in return left him speechless.
‘Usually, in times like this, they’d blame me first, right?’
It was something he had experienced many times while doing group projects.
Even the trainees from his former agency would always blame him first when the outcome wasn’t good after he pushed for something.
– I have my own thoughts. Do you think you’re the only one who’s smart?
– You acted so smart, now what do you plan to do with this result?
– I didn’t like it from the start. I just couldn’t say anything because you were so pushy.
He couldn’t counter with, “If that’s how you felt, why didn’t you do it yourself?”
– We decided not to practice with you anymore.
He knew how pathetic and lonely it felt to be someone nobody sought or needed.
“What the… Haru, if you say that, it makes me look really bad. …Guys, I’m sorry too. Honestly, I was a bit resentful of you earlier, but now that I think about it, I have no right to be.”
“Me too. I just went along with what hyung suggested during the last mission without thinking much. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, stop it. That’s not why I said it, really.”
As Jaeyoung and Jaiden also lowered their heads, Hajin felt genuinely flustered.
Why were these guys like this? They were full of things he couldn’t understand.
“Hyung.”
“Seo Taehyun, don’t.”
“I’m the most sorry.”
Finally, when Taehyun grabbed his hand and spoke in a wistful voice, Hajin tightly closed his eyes.
‘This isn’t the atmosphere I was trying to create!’
But his heart didn’t feel as heavy as before.
[System Alert: ‘Loyalty of Companions’ stabilizes the state of the fixed regressor.]
[System Alert: The trauma (alienation) of the fixed regressor does not trigger.]
[System Alert: ‘Wandering and Drifting’ mode is reduced by 7%… (Loading)]
A notification similar to the one he had seen at Eunchan’s house appeared again. He felt the fog in his mind lifting, making his thoughts clear and his emotions calm.
‘What is this?’
Only then did Hajin realize how tense he had been. He must have been so tense that his whole body felt tingly. He unclenched and relaxed his fists out of habit, realizing this, and let out a wry smile.
‘…Could it be I was scared?’
Living life over five times and he still had things to fear. With a clearer mind, Hajin quickly assessed the situation and clapped to gather everyone’s attention.
“Alright. Let’s just agree that we all made mistakes on this one.”
“Sounds good~.”
“Yep!”
“And we’ll make up for it with stage ideas. It doesn’t have to be specific. Any opinion is fine. Let’s discuss it together this time.”
With Hajin back to his usual self, Haru smiled contentedly. As expected, this kind of confident and lively attitude suited him better than being apologetic and gloomy. Feeling good, Haru raised his hand high.
“I want to try acapella. I think harmonizing would be beautiful.”
“Okay, noted. Anyone else?”
“Well, I…”
At those words, the trainees began to voice the ideas they had been harboring in their minds. The expressions of the two who had been in the overwhelming lower ranks visibly brightened as they finally started to come out of their shells.
“I think we should definitely have choreography. It’s an idol survival show after all.”
“Alright, we’ll consider that too.”
Unlike usual, Hajin didn’t immediately cut off or refute their opinions, but wrote them all down, thinking and rethinking to find the best one.
And then, Taehyun, who had been watching quietly, raised his hand.
“Hyung, I…”
“Yeah, Taehyun, go ahead.”
“I want to stick with the original song.”
“Uh?”
The mechanical pencil Hajin was using snapped. Everyone looked at Taehyun in surprise at his unexpected words. Taehyun firmly conveyed his thoughts to Hajin with a determined expression.
“I want to do a ballad.”
* * *
“…Hyung, are you dead?”
“Just kill me.”
Coming back to the room after a shower, Eunchan clutched his chest in surprise at the sight of Hajin lying on the bed. Hajin was sprawled horizontally on the bed, his head hanging off the side, with his face red from the blood rushing to it, making his upside-down features look nightmarish.
“What are you doing like that?”
“This way, the blood flows better to my head.”
“If it’s blood circulation, just exercise….”
Having spent a few days together, Eunchan had figured out that Hajin’s behavior was hysteria that emerged when he had a lot on his mind. Eunchan, heading to his own bed, threw a towel over Hajin’s face.
“Ugh! It’s wet.”
At Eunchan’s mild complaint, Hajin finally got up and sat on the bed. But even after sitting up, Hajin’s expression didn’t ease. Seeing the “something happened” look on Hajin’s face, Eunchan sighed and asked.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Will you listen?”
“You’ll keep acting like that until I ask, won’t you? What is it? I heard the interim check didn’t go well.”
Reluctantly, Eunchan sat on the bed opposite Hajin, who then started sharing what had been troubling him.
“Seo Taehyun wants to do a ballad. He wants to keep the original feeling of ‘To You’.”
“Ah….”
“But you know, right? He’s not really a ballad type.”
At Hajin’s words, Eunchan also nodded, unable to disagree.
Taehyun’s singing skills weren’t bad, but he wasn’t strong enough to win solely on vocals like Siwoo or Hajin.
Taehyun’s strengths were his natural stage presence, dazzling dance moves, and solid live performance despite them.
‘Even if I were desperate, there are limits.’
The thing Taehyun did best was dancing beautifully and singing charmingly. Hajin couldn’t understand why Taehyun, with his outstanding talent, insisted on singing a ballad.
“So what did you say?”
“I told him it wouldn’t work. No matter how confident he is, how could he sing ‘To You’ as the original?”
“Then isn’t it okay?”
Eunchan asked, wondering what the problem was.
‘It’s not just a simple red alert!’
[System Alert: Companion ‘Seo Taehyun’ is currently… ‘Very Depressed’.]
Ever since the meeting, this red alert hadn’t left Hajin’s vision. Whether his eyes were open or closed, the red alert was always there.
‘And this time it’s very depressed.’
Why was the cheerful cherry boy so determined to sing a ballad?!
Hajin had assuredly claimed that the guy would debut no matter what, even if he caused chaos trying to do heavy metal, but this was a different matter. Unless they all miraculously improved their vocal skills overnight, this was a losing bet!
‘Wait. Can’t I just improve?’
Recalling the skill
But it wasn’t an easy skill, consuming a lot of cash and coming with hefty penalties. He didn’t want to invest so much just to fulfill Seo Taehyun’s wish!
Sighing, Hajin fell back onto the bed.
“But it’s not that surprising, is it?”
“Huh?”
“Taehyun hyung always said he wanted to shed the cherry boy image.”
Eunchan spoke in a calm voice, as if Taehyun’s decision wasn’t surprising at all.
“When he chose ‘To You’ over ‘Paran’ or ‘Mood Night,’ there must have been that kind of calculation. Even though he became popular as Cherry Boy, ultimately, Cherry Boy Seo Taehyun didn’t debut.”
“…….”
“I don’t know for sure… but doesn’t he want to show something? His improved self compared to back then.”
Hajin fell into deep thought at Eunchan’s words. There was a scene that had been lingering in his mind.
– Taehyun.
– Yes.
– Do you remember what we talked about when you first came to Miro?
– …Yes.
– You didn’t come here just to do what you were doing before, did you?
“Ha, this is so annoying.”
“What is it, suddenly?”
“Aah! So frustrating!”
“Where are you going!”
This damn meddlesomeness!