Chapter Text
‘I'll just take a bunch of data and sell the most demanded ones later,’ she said, after she had lost her bias to scandals and found herself with an Idol Inc. live performance ticket.
‘Just to get some extra money,’ she said, as she hid her camera from wandering guards in the venue while snatching pictures that could potentially sell.
Her feet were hurting, and she had low hopes of any of her data that would sell aside from the popular participants.
She thought she wouldn't be stanning idols for a while. At least not after her last bias.
Until she saw the little monster.
“What the hell?”
Ryu Gunwoo thought about how unfair the world was.
No, the world has always been unfair, but the system is way more unfair. A cruel bully, worse than any bullies Gunwoo encountered in his life.
(Okay, maybe not. Gunwoo had to take that back. The bullies that this Ryu Gunwoo experienced were considerably worse, and he'd rather not think about it.)
He had only taken a peek at Seon Ahyeon's status window because the older participant had a considerable improvement while training, even gaining praise from their vocal trainer.
He just thought that there was no way Seon Ahyeon's stats hadn't improved with that kind of improvement. It could've been the confidence Seon Ahyeon seemed to gain after his talk with Ryu Gunwoo, but Gunwoo still had his suspicions.
He didn't expect Seon Ahyeon's stats to improve.
‘It couldn't be that easy, right?’
His eyes followed as the participant’s status window opened.
[Name: Seon Ahyeon]
[Vocal: B- (A)]
[Dance: A (EX)]
[Visual: A+ (S+)]
[Talent: B (A+)]
[Characteristics: Grit (active)]
[!Status abnormality: Lack of self-esteem (inactivate)]
“...It was that easy….”
Ryu Gunwoo felt a bit betrayed.
Perhaps annoyed would be a better word. He noticed the activated characteristic and connected the dots. He thought of how unfair it was if the characteristic actually disabled Seon Ahyeon’s status abnormality.
[Grit (A): To make one’s mindset]
[- Suppresses negative thoughts by increasing the level of concentration to the max]
[- When activated, cancels one status abnormality (highest priority)]
See? The system was pulling pranks on him.
Imagine how easy it'd be for Gunwoo if he could have that characteristic and disable his status abnormally. He could extend his life when the time limit ends for him, at the very least.
It irritated Gunwoo to a degree, though that doesn't mean he had anything against Seon Ahyeon. No, rationally speaking, the one at fault is the system that was tormenting Gunwoo. Yes, nothing else.
Not to mention, with Seon Ahyeon's ability improving, Ryu Gunwoo naturally had to up his game a notch. He'd be no match against Seon Ahyeon if the participant unleashed his full potential. Making Seon Ahyeon fit for the performance was important, but making Gunwoo himself stand out was just as important.
Hence, he approached their vocal trainer when she asked about any of their song arrangements.
“Actually, I have something in mind....”
Thankfully, she was already in a good mood with the team's improvement after they adjusted their concept. She reacted positively to Ryu Gunwoo's suggestion, while he could hear an ever-so soft gasp from somewhere behind him.
‘Keun Sejin-hyung, you might've thought that I was a pushover for giving up my part of the song.’
But he wasn’t.
Thank you, Choi Wongil. Gunwoo will use the bridge part well.
She came to the performance without an actual goal aside from making a few extra won. Truly, she just meant to take some pictures and sell them later.
She didn’t really care about who or what the performance was. Sure, she’d enjoy it when it was enjoyable, but otherwise? She’ll tough up through pain from standing too long while hiding a whole camera from the guards. At the very least, it was better than shutting herself in her room with the emptiness of not having a bias anymore.
She didn’t expect to go back home with her heart stolen. Was she that easy to sway, even though she had just ditched her previous bias not too long ago?
‘No, that performance was just crazy.’
That performance.
The team that performed Marshmallow’s debut song was insane. Who would’ve thought of dressing up as vampires? It was such a fresh concept that she could barely remember any of the other team performances.
Though what stuck to her wasn’t just that team’s performance.
It was the bridge of the song.
Specifically, the singer of that part.
“What was his name again? Ryu Gunwoo?”
She remembered the participant was young and had a high ranking, but nothing could’ve prepared her for that moment. The moment she heard him singing the bridge, she even forgot she had a camera to begin with. She barely took any pictures for that team’s performance, yet she didn’t care.
‘It was a performance worth watching genuinely.’ She nodded to herself on the train back home, acting like she didn’t just start a fan account for the participant who stole her heart with his genius voice.
Who cares? No one could change her mind about how, from that moment on, Ryu Gunwoo deserved the world.
“Oh, Gunwoo-Gunwoo? You brought your laptop here?”
Ryu Gunwoo gave no reaction as Keun Sejin waltzed into the dorm room like he had slept there before. The man sat down beside him on the mattress, making it dip slightly as it creaked in the otherwise silent room. Ryu Gunwoo had already finished packing up early since he didn’t have that much stuff to begin with. He’d been on his laptop up to that point as everyone else he shared the room with had already left.
Even Seon Ahyeon regretfully left with such a worried expression when he was already picked up by his parents. Ryu Gunwoo had to reassure the other multiple times that he’ll be fine going home on his own, that he’ll even be taking the same bus as participant Ryu Chungwoo too and just that Ahyeon-hyung didn’t need to worry.
In the end, he now was sitting with his legs crossed on an empty bottom bunk, focusing on the laptop screen on his lap while simultaneously ignoring the noisy notifications coming from a group chat that he certainly didn’t agree to be in, alongside a certain hyung.
“Gunwoo-woo~? Yah~ Gunwoo-Gunwoo~”
Gunwoo mentally applauded his own fortitude as the certain hyung continued to bother him, now sitting beside him on the bed and leaning too close to his liking to peek at the screen. Well, it wasn’t like there was anything to see on the screen anyway. Gunwoo was only installing and updating a few essential software programs he’d been lacking on his laptop, taking the chance to download a bulk of them while he managed to connect to the building’s Wi-Fi.
He had hoped that Keun Sejin would lose interest in him soon. Most participants have already gone home anyway. God knows why he was still there, bothering Gunwoo and all.
It was just Gunwoo’s luck when a notification from his SNS account showed up. Not anything weird, just a recommended post from the K-pop community. Most likely something related to Idol Inc. since Ryu Gunwoo had searched for posts related to it a while ago. He couldn’t rely on just the system to feed him all the necessary information, after all.
Well, in short, the notification wasn’t something Gunwoo cared enough to give attention to. He was more focused on updating all the outdated software programs.
Unfortunately for Gunwoo, the notification was something worth giving attention to. Not by him, but by Keun Sejin.
His eyebrow twitched when an arm slung over his shoulders. “Gunwoo-Gunwoo, have you been searching for yourself on the net?”
Ryu Gunwoo didn’t even get to give a proper reply before his hair was smothered with the annoyingly warm hand. Just because they have already finished recording doesn't mean it’d be okay to mess his hair, and Ryu Gunwoo made it obvious with his glare. Not that Keun Sejin seemed to care as the perpetrator.
“Gunwoo-ya,” an uncharacteristic murmur of his name, which made him turn towards the older man. His eyes involuntarily twitched as he saw K—Sejin-hyung’s expression. He could even feel Ahyeon-hyung, who was standing silent not far from them, even though he had been busy packing up seconds ago.
‘… What’s the deal with him now?’ Gunwoo felt like the man was about to say something serious, with the sudden shift and all. He held his breath as he unconsciously held his laptop a bit tighter.
Except, you see, life liked to play jokes on Ryu Gunwoo. It seemed to have affected his surroundings too.
Sejin-hyung had this soft expression on him, but it suddenly reverted to a grin as he pulled Ryu Gunwoo by the neck to an awkward side hug.
“Gunwoo-ya, are you worried about what others talk about you online?”
“… ?”
“If you are, then you shouldn’t! You see, Gunwoo-ya, young ones shouldn’t think too much about what others say. Not everything that they say is true, after all.”
“I know, hyung.” Gunwoo tried to push Sejin-hyung away, but what can you expect from someone running purely on water and adrenaline drain?
“Oh, really?” Keun Sejin laughed, and Gunwoo had an unpleasant feeling that crept up his spine. A familiar playback behind his mind correlated the person in front of him to someone else. He wasn’t sure, and he’d rather not be sure.
“Gunwoo-ya—"
“Well, anyway, you still shouldn’t be on your laptop too much, Gunwoo-Gunwoo. That’s probably why you’re wearing glasses.” Wow, low blow. “And you should eat and sleep properly!”
‘What are you, an old man?’ Gunwoo, regaining composure and well aware that he had said his thoughts out loud again, received a scolding slap on his back. No, he did not regret letting that thought out of his mouth this time.
“You shouldn’t act like that when someone is worrying about you!” Sejin-hyung exclaimed, though he let himself laugh despite having scolded Ryu Gunwoo seconds ago. Gunwoo felt like he had heard a similar sentence sometime before. Well, Keun Sejin had a point, so Gunwoo still agreed and thanked the man, which earned him another hair-ruffle. ‘Damn it.’
Conveniently, his laptop gave a notification of a finished installation, alongside a message notification from Ryu Chungwoo-hyung. Right, he was waiting for the older Ryu too, since they had sort of decided to go back together. They ride the same bus back, after all. Gunwoo would usually prefer being alone, but he couldn’t exactly leave Ryu Chungwoo when he had promised the man.
Sejin-hyung must’ve noticed Ryu Gunwoo’s laptop screen since he stopped with the ruffling. “Gunwoo-ya, are you going home alone?”
“Yes, I—” Gunwoo paused for a second when he noticed another slight change of tone, “… I’m taking the bus with Chungwoo-hyung. Ryu Chungwoo. We take the same bus back.”
“I see.” Keun Sejin smiled, though not as wide as usual. Well, Gunwoo didn’t sense any displease from the hyung’s voice, so he didn’t take any alarm from it. “Well, then. Are you going home now? You shouldn’t go back too late.”
“… Yes.” If he were to be honest, he felt like he could unpack something from Keun Sejin’s sudden shift of behavior, but the suggestion of home felt too convincing, His body ached for sleep at that point.
… He’ll just think about the whole ordeal later when he’s on the bus.