"Dancing and singing… It's fine to enjoy it for a while. But how long do you think an idol career lasts? It's barely a one-season business, Hyun-jin. You'll shine for just your twenties and then be thrown away."
A young Kang Hyun-jin was sitting at a dinner table.
There was food placed on the table, and on each side of the rectangular table sat a boy and a girl who looked like his younger siblings. In front of them sat two familiar faces often seen on TV—actors Kang Seok-ho and Yoon Hee-yeon.
At first glance, it looked like a warm family dinner, but the atmosphere—and the children's expressions—told a different story.
They were not exchanging friendly conversation. What was happening was one-sided pressure.
"Hyun-ah and Hyun-min are doing just fine with their acting careers, so what's the problem? What are you so dissatisfied with that you're the only one going off track?"
"..."
"Without saying a word, you just go and join some weird audition show. Those audition programs are all scripted anyway. What ranking do you think you'll get? Do you really think you can debut? Do you have that level of talent?"
Bombarded by nonstop scolding, Kang Hyun-jin sat frozen, unable to respond. Seeing him like that only emboldened the two adults, and they continued stabbing him with their words.
"You couldn't even handle a simple acting role and quit right away, yet you think you can be an idol? Who would believe that? Do you want to embarrass yourself like you did when you were younger?"
"T-That's… different. Dancing is—"
"What's different about it? Your acting was terrible, everyone said so. You were lucky the public was willing to tolerate it because you were young. And now you're getting criticized for your singing too, aren't you? How long are we supposed to put up with you tarnishing this family's reputation?"
"Your actions reflect on us. Since you've already ended up on a scripted show anyway, just think of it as a childhood mistake and give up. Don't disappoint us."
Hyun-jin tried to gather the courage to argue back, but his parents cut him off immediately, refusing to give him any chance to speak.
His younger siblings mechanically lifted their spoons without raising their heads, and Hyun-jin simply endured the barrage with his head bowed.
"…I'm sorry. I'll go tomorrow and withdraw."
The parents finally stopped only after Hyun-jin nodded with an utterly empty expression.
Without eating a single proper bite, after enduring all that scolding, he finally said the words they wanted to hear.
Hearing that, Kang Seok-ho and Yoon Hee-yeon smiled in satisfaction. And Hyun-jin did exactly as he said.
The next day, he voluntarily dropped out of
"Such an unfortunate, unfortunate result… I-I could've done better…"
On the show, Kang Hyun-jin was presented as being eliminated right before the TOP10 due to lack of ability.
He cried in front of the cameras and left the broadcasting stage, unable to continue to the next round.
And then—
"Aagh!"
"Hyun-jin!"
Staggering offstage after giving his exit remarks, he fell down the stairs.
His leg cracked, and he was diagnosed with five weeks of recovery.
Elimination from
When the five weeks finally passed and he got his cast removed, he secretly returned to the practice room—without his parents knowing.
"...Why… Why isn't it working?"
He was faced with a body that no longer moved the way he wanted.
A slump had begun.
And it didn't stop as just bad condition.
"I'll allow it for exactly three years. Just three. So stop doing pathetic things."
His parents eventually gave him conditional permission to continue as a trainee—permission meant for "recovery"—because his depression had worsened to a severe level.
"…Hff."
After viewing all of Kang Hyun-jin's trigger, I shot upright in bed, gasping for breath. My head felt hazy, like I'd just woken from a dream, but my heart was pounding violently.
Creak.
From the top bunk came the faint sound of Hyun-jin shifting. I slowly breathed in and out, calming myself at the grounding sound.
Once fully composed, lying back down, I finally understood where his problems began.
"The situations… are the same."
The fear of being humiliated again. The déjà vu of a rigged show. The pressure that came with it. All of that had led Kang Hyun-jin off course once again.
And Kang Seok-ho and Yoon Hee-yeon had only given him three years. The deadline had passed.
Most likely, when agreeing to appear on
If he gets eliminated, he quits being a trainee immediately.
In other words—
this is his last chance.
"…It'd be strange not to feel pressured."
I let out a deep sigh. Even after learning everything, I felt no relief. Only a heavy, uneasy feeling.
Because now I knew—if he stepped down from center, he would completely collapse.
***
The next day, Kang Hyun-jin's poor condition continued.
The mismatched formations and timing were something the others tolerated quietly only at first.
"…This can't continue."
The first to speak up was Aiden Lee.
'…He held it in for a long time.'
He probably had a rough idea of what Hyun-jin was going through, which was why he'd endured it longer than usual.
But his patience had finally reached its limit.
"…We should probably have a meeting."
Wiping sweat off his face, Gyeong Ji-won spoke. Hyun-jin nodded with a dark expression.
Just like the first day we assigned positions, we gathered in a circle. With everyone looking uneasy, Aiden Lee was the one to speak first.
"I think we need to replace the center."
"..."
"He's really good, hyung. I know that too, but right now… I think his condition just isn't good."
Aiden Lee ran a tired hand through his hair as he spoke. After him, Park Won-hyo continued.
"Is something bothering you lately? Since this choreography is something you created, it'd be great if we centered it around you, but… it keeps falling apart, so we're wondering what the issue is. Um, if it's our fault then…"
"…It's not your fault. It's mine."
At Park Won-hyo's words, Kang Hyun-jin answered in a sunken voice. After a short silence, he murmured as if giving up.
"…I'm lost right now. My body won't move the way I picture it. I understand why you'd want to change the center. If everyone wants it, I'll step down."
"Oh—well, it's not that everyone wants that…"
Park Won-hyo muttered awkwardly, but the others said nothing—confirming that the statement was essentially true.
None of us wanted to give the cameras footage that could be edited into a villain arc, but it seemed everyone had judged that the stage simply wouldn't work unless a center change was made.
Everyone exchanged hesitant looks, and Aiden was about to wrap up the situation when—
"Then let's vote—"
"Wait."
Since a vote was clearly about to happen again, I cut Aiden off.
Exhausted eyes turned toward me. We'd barely practiced anything all morning because of uneven formations and repeated mistakes. Everyone looked tired of the stagnant situation.
I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time.
'…I don't know if this is the right move, but—'
Either way, I couldn't just abandon Kang Hyun-jin as center. It wasn't just about the position—
I needed to stand on stage with him.
If he got pushed out and his stats dropped even further, the overall stage quality would fall—even if he was in the back. In the worst case…
'He might completely give up before the stage even happens.'
"Let's decide the center tomorrow."
"…What?"
"…I think we should give Hyun-jin hyung some personal time—just half a day."
"..."
I felt Kang Hyun-jin staring at me—half startled, half wary—as I continued.
"We've been focusing on formations and group choreography so far, so how about we spend today on individual practice, and resume group work tomorrow?"
"And postpone the vote?"
"Yeah. Since we've only been doing group practice, I think everyone needs time to work individually. So today, let's each practice on our own, let Hyun-jin hyung practice too, and then decide on the center tomorrow."
The team members exchanged looks. None of them seemed confident Hyun-jin could recover in a single day, but it was true we'd been lacking personal practice time.
"…Alright."
"I'm fine with that too."
Given that cameras were recording us, giving him one last chance wasn't a bad idea.
It could be framed as: We gave him plenty of chances, but there was nothing more we could do.
A defensive narrative for the viewers.
Once we wrapped up the discussion, everyone began standing up one by one.
Everyone except Kang Hyun-jin, who stayed seated in silence.
I watched him for a moment, then rose to my feet. I gently tapped his shoulder.
"...!"
He jolted back like he hadn't expected me to approach at all. I asked,
"Hyung, can you practice with me today?"
***
"I'll clap, so try stepping to the rhythm once."
"…What?"
I led him out of the practice room and we ended up on the stair landing. All the studios were occupied, so this was the only place available.
At my sudden request, Hyun-jin frowned and asked sharply,
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't focus on anything else—just follow the rhythm of my claps and move."
"Why should I—"
"Hyung, you're not confident in your dancing right now."
His mouth snapped shut, his expression flustered. I looked around. There was nothing here that could serve as a mirror.
"I want you to show me how much you can do without overexerting yourself. Without a mirror. Without checking yourself or analyzing anything."
"How am I supposed to practice without checking? I can judge whether the moves are right or not."
"Honestly, I don't think you can judge that right now."
"What…?"
"The reason your moves keep falling out of sync is because you're trying to 'judge' them while you're unsure of yourself."
"...!"
I stared quietly at Hyun-jin's startled face, then lifted my gaze higher.
Specifically, above his head.
『SUB MISSION: Path to Overcoming → Optimal Route Identified (CLICK!)』
Because ever since upgrading my Insight Eye, I could now see the newly unlocked option—the most optimized way for him to overcome this.
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