Chapter 155. Final, One Week Left
Only three more people had left, yet the dorm felt wider than ever before. It was so vast that it almost seemed desolate.
To avoid dwelling on the emptiness, I decided to focus on the situation at hand. In the lounge, the ten surviving trainees had gathered, each holding a suitcase packed with their belongings. This morning, Ji Suho had informed us to pack our things as we would be moving to a new dorm.
“Alright, is everyone here? Even if you’ve left something behind, the managers will do a final sweep, so if you remember anything, just let them know right away.”
“Yes!”
“We’re moving to a temporary dorm where you’ll stay until the final. Five of you will share one house with one manager, and the ten of you will be split between two houses. It won’t be as spacious or well-equipped as this place, but we’ve tried to make it as comfortable as possible, so let’s do our best for the remaining time.”
There was a reasonable explanation for why we had to move right before the final.
This place was originally a floor in Miro’s new building, temporarily converted into a dormitory. After the final, as the debut preparations got into full swing, the office relocation would proceed, so it was about time we vacated the rooms.
And although Ji Suho called it a temporary dorm, there was a high probability that this dorm would eventually become the permanent home of the new group formed from the final.
One week from now.
Some of us would remain in that dorm, receiving a new group name and debuting.
Others would have to pack up and leave the dorm again.
“It’s truly a brutal competition.”
I couldn’t help but marvel at the harsh reality once again.
“Let’s move.”
But I had to survive.
Because debuting was just the beginning.
With that resolve, the sound of several suitcases rolling on their wheels echoed as we moved out.
* * *
After arriving at the new dorm and being assigned a room, I realized that I had forgotten something very important.
“When will this ridiculously unfair world finally end?”
[System Notification: The system offers consolation, saying that by now, it might be easier to just enjoy it.]
How comforting.
With a deadpan expression, I glared at Thirteen, my gaze filled with a murderous aura even sharper than Thirteen’s blue spear. Startled for a moment, Thirteen cautiously adjusted its transparency and quietly faded away….
“Hyung. Hun-hyung said anyone going to the practice room should be downstairs in ten minutes.”
“Alright.”
No sooner had I finished thinking than my new dorm mate, the one responsible for overseeing the top unfair scenarios in this world, cheerfully bounced over. This was Dan Haru, who had dropped dramatically to 8th place in the recent rankings.
Despite falling out of the debut zone, Haru didn’t seem too disheartened.
In fact, he seemed rather at peace.
‘He looks just like a little rabbit hero in the daily life chapter after defeating the Demon King and restoring peace….’
The fact that our little rabbit hero was a regressor was still shocking, but given how heroes, knights, and princes often appear in regression stories, it could be chalked up to genre characteristics.
I patted the seat next to me, signaling Haru to sit down as he approached me with a spring in his step. As soon as he sat down, I grabbed his soft cheek and gave it a good tug.
“Dan Haru.”
“Uweh? (Yes?)”
“Are you okay?”
“Wha…what do you mean?”
“Your ranking dropped.”
“Oh.”
Oh? Oh~?
I had been on an emotional rollercoaster because of your ranking, and your reaction is just “oh”?
Annoyed by the carefree response of the presumed regressor (yet unaware of the fixed regressor), I pinched his cheek harder. What started as an “oh~” quickly turned into an “oh…!”
“Ouch, that hurts!”
“You’re giving me a headache.”
“Why?”
“Who knows….”
As I released my grip, his young, resilient cheek turned red for a moment but quickly returned to normal. Since I hadn’t pinched too hard, Haru didn’t complain any further and just rubbed his cheek, looking up at me.
“Haru.”
“Yes.”
“Are your parents coming to the final?”
I tried to ask as casually as possible. Unlike during Yugeon’s truth game, this wasn’t an accidental slip-up—I was deliberately trying to gauge him, and it didn’t suit me.
Haru blinked a few times as if buffering, then shook his head.
“No, they’re both overseas, so they said it would be difficult.”
“What about your grandmother? Isn’t she in the countryside?”
“Grandma isn’t in good health, so…. She decided to watch it on TV at home since it would be too hard for her to travel to Seoul.”
In the end, it meant no one was coming.
Haru said it so easily, shrugging as if it were nothing, but it left me feeling strange.
If this child’s life was truly stitched together with lies, then those lies were probably made up of the hopes and desperate desires this child had wished for with all his heart.
As I patted Haru’s head, I spoke up.
“…If you don’t have any plans after the final, would you like to have a meal with my family?”
“With your parents?”
“Yeah. My mom said she’ll treat us to galbi that day.”
“Oh, I’d love that….”
Haru trailed off as if he wasn’t sure if it was okay, so I pinched his cheek again and said,
“Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to pay. If you’re okay with it, just come along.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
As I let go of his cheek, Haru rubbed it again, smiling slightly as if he was happy. His smile was so pure and bright, like that of a 17-year-old boy who had grown up without a care in the world, that it left me feeling even more conflicted.
“Hey guys. If you’re going to the practice room, it’s time to go.”
Another NEW! dorm mate, Jung Siwoo, came out of his room holding a pair of practice shoes.
Since he was the oldest, Siwoo had been assigned the role of dorm leader for the week. He checked what was likely a message from the manager and knocked on the doors to inform the trainees inside.
Haru, who was sitting next to me, immediately raised his hand in response to Siwoo’s voice.
“Oh, I’m going! Hajin-hyung, are you going too?”
“No. I think I’ll stay here and organize my stuff today. Have a good practice.”
“Okay! Siwoo-hyung, let’s go together!”
When I shook my head, Haru grabbed his things and stood up. At the same time, another door opened, and out came Yugeon, my NEW dorm mate No. 3 and another ticking time bomb. Siwoo noticed Yugeon and asked,
“Are you going to practice too?”
“…Yeah.”
“Alright. We’re leaving right now, so make sure you have everything.”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
Although the intense rivalry between the two had been temporarily extinguished after the Blue Flare team incident, it hadn’t really led to any significant improvement in their relationship.
‘They’re not enemies or anything, they’re just not close.’
Siwoo wasn’t the type to go out of his way to make friends, and Yugeon wasn’t the kind of person who had the time or inclination to reach out to those who didn’t approach him first.
On top of that, with his recent rise in rankings, Yugeon seemed to have a lot on his mind.
[System Notification: Why is that…?]
[System Notification: Isn’t it good to debut?]
[System Notification: The system is confused by Yugeon’s unknown psychology!]
[System Notification: @◇@?]
‘Debuting may sound great, but it’s essentially unpaid freelance work.’
Miro’s trainee benefits were decent, but things changed once you debuted.
While they continued to cover school tuition until you graduated high school, the living expenses provided as part of trainee upkeep would be cut off. It made sense, as they covered basic needs like accommodation, transportation, and meals.
But Yugeon was the head of a household with two middle school-aged siblings, and if his living expenses were cut, it would inevitably impact the family finances. He couldn’t take on a part-time job while preparing for debut, and even if he debuted, it would take time before he saw any income after covering the initial investment costs.
‘And who knows how long it’ll take to make any money, or even how much he’ll earn once he does. It’s no wonder Yugeon’s got a lot on his mind.’
From a cold, practical perspective, it might seem better to quit now and find a more stable way to make a living….
‘He must have a lot on his mind.’
…But I never thought that was the “right” thing to do.
Yugeon’s family situation wasn’t his fault, and I knew better than anyone how heartbreaking it could be to give up your youth and dreams to shoulder a responsibility that wasn’t yours.
[System Notification: Did the fixed regressor have such an experience?]
‘Not me.’
[System Notification: Then…?]
‘…Someone did. Someone who gave up their dreams and, out of sadness, worked hard to ensure their children could pursue whatever they wanted without worrying about money.’
Thinking of my parents, who had struggled so much to support their two kids in pursuing the arts despite our financial situation, I felt tears welling up again.
I couldn’t
speak for Yugeon’s situation, but…. At the very least, I didn’t want to accuse him of being irresponsible or chasing after a futile dream.
“Seriously…. Why are all my dorm mates so suffocating?”
Honestly, it might have been less stressful to be in the neighboring dorm, where if Joo Eunchan, Jaiden, and Park Jaeyoung went wild, Lee Doha would stand by indifferently, and Seo Taehyun would get drained of energy.
Sighing, I headed to my assigned room to organize my things. As soon as I opened the door, I remembered why I had been lingering on the living room sofa instead of heading straight to my room.
“…Ah.”
“…”
“Were you sleeping?”
“No, you can turn on the light.”
As I opened the door, I locked eyes with Wonho (Kim Wonho, NEW dorm mate No. 4, and my latest major concern), who was lying on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed.
When I turned on the light, Wonho squinted at the sudden brightness and then pulled the blanket over his head, turning away.
‘…How did things get so awkward between us?’
It wasn’t intentional, but somehow, I hadn’t exchanged a word with Wonho since the guerrilla concert.
Neither of us was avoiding the other, and from what I’d heard from Taehyun, Wonho seemed to have resolved a lot of his internal conflicts, yet the atmosphere between us felt off.
‘He used to be the one who would come up to me, calling me “Kang-hyung.”’
Even now, striking up a casual conversation wasn’t difficult for me, but given the timing, even the simplest remark felt delicate. While I had no hard feelings towards Wonho, I couldn’t easily gauge his feelings.
But since we were now roommates, I didn’t want to make things awkward, so I began unpacking my suitcase and casually spoke to Wonho.
“Kim Wonho, did you see the behind-the-scenes footage from the third round?”
“…Oh. No, not yet.”
“You had some screen time as part of the Kang-Gi-Kim trio. Watching it reminded me of our monthly evaluation, which felt kind of strange.”
“Really? I should check it out.”
Wonho responded to my attempt at conversation, but compared to before, his energy level was noticeably lower. Still, I tried not to let it bother me, acting as if nothing was wrong as I continued organizing my clothes and kept the conversation going.
“We had a lot of fun during the monthly evaluation.”
“Yeah. It was tough, but it was fun.”
“If someone had told us back then that we’d make it to the final of *Miro Maze*, do you think you would’ve believed it?”
“…No. Definitely not.”
When I playfully asked, Wonho finally smiled a bit and turned toward me. I was so relieved to see that smile that I blurted out what had been on my mind for a while.
“I hope we can debut together and keep being roommates. Wouldn’t that be great?”
At those words, Wonho made a very subtle expression.
He wasn’t crying, nor did he look disappointed, but he didn’t seem happy or proud either…. It was a strange expression.
And then, right on cue, as always, a semi-transparent blue window appeared over Wonho’s face.
“…Yeah. That would be nice.”
Wonho nodded and replied, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile.
[System Notification: ‘Kim Wonho’ reacts to you. (Reaction rate 37%)]
[System Notification: Recruitment as a companion is not possible due to the low reaction rate.]
With only one week left until the final.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would be a long, lonely week.