Chapter - 35화 (35/150)
"Taeohh-ssi, I'm sorry…""No… I should be the one more sorry, if anything."
Whether it was Dansol—who'd been a trainee since he was thirteen—or Taeohh—who'd entered an arts high school early and debuted before graduating—their general knowledge was basically bottom-tier to the point it was hard to say who was worse. Dansol was especially weak at common-sense quizzes.
Before the regression, when he'd been on a team with Lee Yiyeon and solved quiz questions, they'd ended up dead last because Dansol kept answering wrong.
To make it worse, the scenes of Dansol giving wrong answers were later picked as one of the most legendary "wrong answer" moments in variety show history and got mocked for ages.
Knowing his own past, Dansol couldn't help but feel apologetic toward Taeohh. This time, he almost expected—sadly—just how spectacular a wrong-answer scene he'd create. He remembered the flood of hate comments he'd gotten for getting things wrong, but frustratingly, he couldn't remember the questions or the correct answers at all.
"I'm seriously bad…"
"It's okay, Dansol-ssi. I'm seriously, seriously worse."
While the two youngest were confessing their shortcomings and indirectly warning everyone about their level of "common sense," Daesu, on the other hand, looked pretty confident about the quiz.
"If you mess around for screentime, I won't let it slide."
"Same goes for me."
Yiyeon fired back without backing down.
—Shall each team decide on a chant?
"…Dul-dul Daesu."
Daesu, who believed simple was best, thought for a moment and spat it out. Yiyeon nodded like he liked it, too.
"We're Idol Alliance!"
Not to be outdone, Taeohh declared a chant without consulting anyone. It fit their lineup perfectly.
"Taeohh-ssi, isn't our chant too long?"
"Dansol-ssi, quizzes aren't about the chant. It's about momentum—momentum."
"Ah… okay!"
Taeohh didn't look all that reliable, but Dansol still nodded and clenched his cotton-fist hands, forcing himself to resolve.
"How about 'How do you do'?"
"What?!"
"We'll do 'How do you do'!"
"No—wait!"
Minseong decided the chant immediately without even hearing Dohyeon's answer. Dohyeon looked displeased, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to reach Minseong at all.
Watching them, Jisu let out a snort of ridicule—almost like a seasoned veteran looking at a rookie who'd just made a misstep.
"Correct!"
"Oh…."
"We'll be 'Correct!'"
At Jisu's practiced savvy, Minhyuk gave a thumbs-up. Dansol was already terrified.
"We should've picked something shorter…"
As Dansol groaned and looked pitifully at Taeohh, worried their long chant might put them at a disadvantage, Taeohh—oddly untrustworthy in his swagger—patted Dansol's shoulder hard and spoke. In truth, for them, shouting a chant quickly didn't matter much.
"Dansol-ssi! Momentum, momentum! Just shout whatever comes to mind—confidently!"
Dansol nodded slowly, reluctantly. Still—he was a regressor. If he tried, maybe he'd remember at least one question. He steeled himself not to become a historic wrong-answer meme again.
—Great. In each round, you will get three questions per category. If you answer correctly, please move to the back. Rankings will be determined by which team gets all members through first.
—The first question is general knowledge. What term refers to young people aged 15 to 34 who have no motivation whatsoever to get a job, study, or do housework?
In that instant, Dansol's mind went completely blank. It seemed the others were the same—everyone fell silent.
Unable to watch any longer, the staff gave a hint.
"It ends with '-jok,' and it's related to clothing."
"How do you do!"
—Yoo Dohyeon-ssi, your answer?
"Uh… I really know this. Ah… I read it… Nasi-jok?"
—Wrong! It's close, but not that. Think of something soft and cozy—like plush and warm clothing.
'Dansol-ssi, quizzes are about momentum.''Confidence.''Shout it!'
Taeohh was pushing Dansol forward even though he wasn't stepping up himself. If he stayed quiet, he could probably at least place in the middle, but Taeohh's voice rang in his ears like a spell.
'Soft and cozy clothes… soft… cozy… Right. Nothing beats this for cozy!'
"Idol Alliance!"
—Yes! Joo Dansol-ssi?
"Padded-jok!"
—Wrong!
"Long padded-jok!"
—Wrong!
"Padded… vest-jok?"
—Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
While Dansol was sinking deeper into the padded abyss, Daesu—who'd been cautiously reading the room—opened his mouth.
"Dul-dul Daesu."
—Yes! Jeong Daesu-ssi?
"NEET-jok."
—Correct! NEET is short for Not in Education, Employment, or Training. It's a newly coined term that refers to unemployed people who are not receiving education or training for employment and are not studying academically!
"Ugh…."
When Dansol glared at him resentfully, Daesu hurriedly stood up as if avoiding his eyes.
But Dansol's wrong-answer streak didn't end there.
—What four-character idiom refers to great and broad moral courage, with nothing to fear in the world?
"Idol Alliance! Courage times a hundred!"
—Wrong!
"Dul-dul Jaesu—no, Dul-dul Daesu!"
—Yes! Lee Yiyeon -ssi?
"Hoyyeonjigi."
—Correct!
—Next is a nonsense quiz. If you shoot a gun sloppily, what do you get?
"Idol Alliance! Bang-bang-bang!"
—Wrong!
"Idol Alliance! Sloppy-tang? No! Public bath—dae-jung-tang!"
—Wrong!
"Correct!"
—Han Jisu-ssi?
"Seolleongtang."
—Correct!
Yiyeon and Jisu moved to the back one after the other. With Yiyeon and Daesu's team already set as first place, the dinner menu no longer mattered. Tension hung in the living room. The remaining players had one goal: don't come in last.
—Hemingway's full-length novel set against World War I, depicting the story of Henry and Catherine, is titled?
"Idol Alliance! Saving Private Ryan!"
Because of Dansol's rampage, Taeohh—the other member of Idol Alliance—still hadn't even gotten a chance to open his mouth.
—Wrong!
"How do you do."
—Yes! Ha Minseong-ssi?
"A Farewell to Arms?"
—Correct!
Relieved by the answer he'd managed to land, Minseong let out a big breath. It was a real stroke of luck—if he got pegged as "the dumb one" from the first shoot, it could seriously damage the actor image he'd built.
Now the only ones left were Minhyuk and Dohyeon, and then Dansol and Taeohh. Of those, the only team with both members still standing was Idol Alliance.
"Um… Dansol-ssi. I think you can lower the momentum a little."
"Ah… sorry, Taeohh-ssi…"
"No, it's fine."
Jisu, standing in the back, was just as frustrated.
"Hey! Jegal Minhyuk! Shout something! Why can't you even open your mouth?!"
Minhyuk muttered in a voice so small it couldn't possibly reach Jisu.
"I'm from the sports department…"
—Next is a music question. Listen to the music we play, and answer the song title and the artist.
Before the sentence even ended, the intro started. No—it was about to start. Less than a second in, Dansol shouted Idol Alliance.
"Idol Alliance!"
"Um… Dansol-ssi… I said lower the momentum…"
Even after he'd warned him, Dansol's momentum refused to die. Taeohh thumped his chest in frustration.
"It's Bloom sunbaenims' 'The Bird That Doesn't Die'!"
—Uh… correct!
But unbelievably, the result of that unstoppable momentum was a correct answer.
"That's my song?"
Dansol and Taeohh hugged and bounced in place, thrilled that they'd gotten it right—even though the song's actual owner couldn't recognize it.
"Wow! Dansol-ssi, you got it right!"
"I won't die! I won't disappear! Oh! Even if this world ends! My heart for you won't die! I won't disappear! Woah-yeah!"
That wasn't enough—they started singing and doing synchronized choreography to the intro like they'd rehearsed it, showing exactly why they were called Idol Alliance.
But even after Dansol answered correctly and moved to the back, Idol Alliance still ended up eating dinner with nothing but seaweed, rice, and kimchi—thanks to Taeohh, who never managed to open his mouth even once.
Leaving behind the smell of all the feast-like dishes from the other tables, Taeohh—deflated—placed kimchi on plain rice and blamed himself.
"I'm sorry… Dansol-ssi didn't lose momentum. Ha… because of me…"
But Dansol didn't blame Taeohh. He placed a sheet of seaweed on Taeohh's drooping spoon and said,
"No, Taeohh-ssi… We lost, but we fought well."
As they reminded each other to focus on the process instead of blaming the result, a plate of spicy stir-fried pork was set down in front of them.
"Dansol-ssi? You're so handsome, I thought you were an actor—but you're an idol junior."
"Uh… yes!"
It was Minseong.
To see his childhood idol—someone he'd only ever watched through a TV screen—in real life like this… Dansol's heart felt like it might jump right out of his chest. He even thought, Did I regress for this moment?
"Dohyeon's dieting, so he doesn't eat stuff like this. There's a lot left, so let's share. I enjoyed watching you sing earlier."
"Thank you…"
"Thank you, sunbae!"
Minseong gave the delighted Dansol and Taeohh a warm smile and turned away. Watching him, Daesu and Yiyeon, and Jisu and Minhyuk, started competing to scoop side dishes onto Dansol's plate.
Before he knew it, a full spread had piled up in front of him.
Embarrassed by the mountain of food, Dansol tried to slide the edge of the plate toward Taeohh—but hands appeared again and set it right back in front of Dansol.
Thanks to that, Dansol ended up having the most lavish dinner of anyone.
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