Free Web Novel"I really wanted to see Nayeon on stage too···."
"Won’t we run into her a lot once she starts promoting?"
"If our schedules don’t overlap, who knows when we’ll get to see her."
Yunkyung was indulging Gahyeon’s pouty, disappointed whining.
—Yunkyung, what you experienced back then was nothing!
The moment she got back, Gahyeon teamed up with PD Raon, grabbed Sion, and beat on her back like she was doing laundry.
—This is so unfair, so unfair! Honestly, because of me, you and PD Raon both had a great experience!
—We’ll give you a great experience too! Get over here! Even if you run, you’re still inside the practice room!
—Put your hands down first and let’s talk!
Sion fled for her life and begged the other members for help, but—
—Keek! Shinyu! Yunkyung!
Sadly, they couldn’t help her.
—Don’t move! From now on, anyone who moves is getting treated as part of the same gang!
Raon’s furious “decree” bound the members in place so they couldn’t move an inch.
Only after the practice room—and even the company staff—had heard Sion’s squealed keek and finally seemed satisfied did they let her go. Sion was half a corpse by then, and Gahyeon immediately turned around and started talking the members’ ears off about the military.
From gas-mask drills to all the weapons training she’d gone through, she described how hard it all was in vivid detail.
'It was actually boring.'
Gahyeon was so excited, and even though it wasn’t interesting, the members gritted their teeth and listened anyway.
After she talked for a long time and finally seemed satisfied, Gahyeon asked what had happened while she’d been gone. When they told her about sneaking into DARE; ON’s showcase in mascot suits yesterday, she let out a big sigh of regret and said she wanted to go too.
'She was close with Nayeon.'
And it made sense. Gahyeon was pretty close with Kim Nayeon, one of DARE; ON’s members.
Even thinking about it again, it was still surprising the two of them were close.
All of a sudden, Yunkyung remembered the first time she’d met Gahyeon and Nayeon back in F Class.
When Gahyeon had been the first F Class leader, she’d been tense because she didn’t know what to do with that total mess of a class. Meanwhile, Nayeon—back then—had been half-given-up because of her stage fright.
With the two people who were supposed to be the anchors both in that state, even now, looking back, it wouldn’t have been weird at all if F Class had just sunk exactly as it was.
That was why, when Sion came up with that ridiculous “coup” plan and put Yunkyung in charge of executing it, Yunkyung hadn’t done it “for no reason,” even though she knew the fallout it would cause.
As a result, Gahyeon stepped down from the leader position, and Nayeon rose as the new leader and got a good outcome.
To be honest, Suyeon had thought the two of them would end up going to extremes afterward.
Because even if Nayeon didn’t care, there was no way Gahyeon would feel good about losing the leader spot and getting hit with a “coup” that was basically the same thing as being judged incompetent.
But—
—Die, Lee Sion!
They got close surprisingly fast.
Was it because they had a common enemy in Sion?
Later on, they got close enough that during the Concept Evaluation they even picked the same concept.
'Gahyeon is bigger than I thought.'
Even though Sion was right beside her, grumbling that Gahyeon was narrow-minded and petty after getting her back beaten raw, to Yunkyung, the fact Gahyeon had kept Sion alive this long was already enough to call her generous.
A comfort plush.
To Yunkyung, Gahyeon was Sion’s comfort plush.
Even while they were eating, if she got bored, Sion would mess with Gahyeon. Even when she was tired, the moment she spotted something she could bite at, she’d come charging in, all excited.
The way she came up with creative new ways to mess with people was unreal. If Yunkyung had been on the receiving end the way Gahyeon was, she might’ve reported it as workplace harassment a long time ago.
"What should we go eat for lunch today?"
"I want meat!"
"Okay, lunch is pork belly today!"
After the big round of storytime ended and it was suddenly lunchtime, the Iam members started chattering about what to eat—led by Sion, who never, ever missed a meal.
"We have to bring PD Raon too! On the way up from Goesan today, she said lunch absolutely had to be meat."
"Then we can just put it on the company card."
"Guess we should make the CEO regret taking a day off today."
It hadn’t been long, but maybe she’d developed a grudge against meat during that military experience, because the moment Gahyeon said meat, the lunch menu got locked in as pork belly in an instant.
Ryujin went to call Raon, and the rest of the members started grabbing their things one by one, getting ready to go eat, but—
"Yunkyung—what are you doing? Hurry up."
"I’m going to skip today."
"Huh? It’s meat."
"My stomach’s just not feeling great."
"What? Are you sick? Want me to go buy you medicine?"
When Sion noticed Yunkyung sitting on the practice room floor alone, not getting ready to leave, she spoke to her.
At Yunkyung’s saying she was skipping lunch, Sion startled and asked if she was sick, offering to buy medicine. Yunkyung told her she was fine, and Sion, still looking unsettled, headed out.
Phew.
Left alone, Yunkyung lay flat on her back on the practice room floor like a starfish.
The practice room was always noisy because of the members and the music, but when she was alone sometimes, it got so silent it was scary. Honestly, Yunkyung didn’t like being left in the practice room by herself.
But right now, she needed that silence.
'I have to do better.'
[Isn’t this 3rd place honestly Im Yunkyung’s fault?]
「The judges said it indirectly, but you can totally tell who tanked the stage details, right?
Ugh, even if we didn’t take 1st, if we got 2nd, that would’ve been an advantage for the final round
Even if you can’t help, don’t drag the team down」
⤷Don’t feed the trolls
⤷But it’s not wrong though, is it?
⤷What do you mean not wrong, you psycho, it’s obvious they came to stir shit
⤷They baby her because she’s the youngest, but yeah, this stage was 3rd because of Im Yunkyung
⤷The members all trust each other and don’t blame anyone, but fans blaming her is “right”?
⤷Control is insane, what is this, North Korea?
The second-round stage of Three Kingdoms that aired a few days ago.
Iam had put on a good stage, yes—but they’d ended up in third place, the lowest ranking. In the fan community, talk about it was blazing hot.
At first, it started with people saying the judges were being too biased, and it was a pretty normal atmosphere—people soothing their disappointment by saying the live audience mood had been the best during Iam’s stage.
But maybe the third-place result was too shocking, because it didn’t stop there. The arrow started turning inward.
[Why it’s Im Yunkyung’s fault]
(A clip of Yunkyung being the only one whose angle was off during the choreography)
「The judges didn’t nitpick details and give low points for no reason
The other members are all fine, but only Im Yunkyung is messy—are you seriously shielding her?」
⤷So should we trash our own girl?
⤷Please don’t blame members on the fan community. It’s not like they committed a crime—losing your minds over a slightly sloppy stage is insane
⤷Agbaek gave everyone too many solo stans
⤷Honestly the group disbands in a year, so solo stans are gonna act up no matter what
⤷They’re like this over one third place—if the 3rd round result is bad, it’s gonna be a real riot
And most of that arrow was pointing at Yunkyung, making her heart heavy.
If you asked which Iam member had the shortest trainee period, it was Yunkyung right after Sion.
Unlike Sion, who’d had zero trainee experience, Yunkyung had lived as a trainee for a little under a year—but that amount of time didn’t even earn her a business card in trainee world.
And it wasn’t like she’d poured herself into training during that time, either.
—Yunkyung, don’t push yourself. Let’s take it slow.
At the agency she’d entered through her mom’s introduction, they hadn’t trained her strictly like the other trainees.
If she looked even a little tired, the CEO would come rushing over to check on her and tell her to rest.
Because of that, Yunkyung couldn’t help hovering on the edges among the trainees.
It wasn’t like she was bullied.
The staff—and even the CEO—were so busy protecting her that nobody even considered messing with her, and thanks to her natural friendliness, everyone did think she was cute.
But how do you put it?
There was a very clear line.
You’re doing this as a hobby, so you’re doing great for that.
Nobody had big expectations for her, and Yunkyung didn’t hate that attitude, either.
Back then, the reason she’d wanted to become an idol trainee was simply because she didn’t want people calling her “the youngest daughter of a rich family.” She wanted to be called an idol trainee instead.
So she could be satisfied with a trainee life that was “rewarding enough” without being hard.
And now, Yunkyung hated her past self more than anyone.
—Why did I waste time like that···.
A line from a manga called Slam Dunk popped into her head—something Sion had recently declared “required reading for any human” and forced the members to read.
Even Yunkyung, who’d never been that interested in comics, had been struck by the scene where a player who used to work hard at basketball fell into wandering, then regretted it late.
Because Yunkyung was doing the same thing now—regretting why she hadn’t tried harder back then.
But—
♬
Now she knew better than anyone that regret alone didn’t change anything.
In the empty practice room, she turned the music on again and started matching the choreography by herself.
'Start with what I can do.'
Ever since debut, whenever she had a spare moment, Yunkyung had been secretly practicing on her own—starting from basic movements and everything she’d learned so far.
Of course, she knew this wouldn’t dramatically raise her skill overnight, but she also knew that these things piled up and eventually made real changes.
—Lee Sion? She’s insane. Even now, practicing like Agbaek days isn’t normal.
The best example of that was Sion—the person Yunkyung watched every day.
Sion had grown so much that you couldn’t even compare her to Agbaek. Now she was considered top-tier in the team—so much that unless it was someone like Ryujin or Ayeon, nobody could even teach her anymore. free𝑤ebnovel.com
Sure, some of it was natural talent, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) but Yunkyung had watched from the side and knew: it was possible because Sion’s effort went beyond that.
Even now, the person who stayed in the practice room the longest was Sion.
Every time Yunkyung saw her, she felt a sense of crisis.
'What is there that only I can do?'
Ryujin always balanced the team with her solid skill, and Ayeon held everyone up with her unrivaled dancing.
Even with the handicap of being Japanese, Yuri had vocal skills good enough to take main vocal, and Shinyu handled the rap part the team had been lacking.
Gahyeon played an irreplaceable role with a mature visual charm none of the other Iam members had.
Meanwhile, Yunkyung didn’t have anything that only she could show right now, and that made her feel both frustrated and guilty.
She honestly wanted to help the team somehow.
Especially because—
—Jia really pulled off her role incredibly well.
In the last round, Lee Jia—LYNX’s youngest, and Yunkyung’s same-age friend—had gotten praise from the judges for her excellent performance, so Yunkyung couldn’t even use “I’m young” as an excuse anymore.
Creeeak.
"What—Yunkyung, you were here?"
"PD Raon? You didn’t go eat?"
"No. Today, no matter how I look at it, I need a drink. I just gave the kids the card and told them to eat without me."
"Ah···."
While Yunkyung was practicing and thinking about how she could stop being a burden to the team, she jumped when Raon suddenly opened the practice room door and walked in.
Since she’d assumed Raon had gone to lunch with everyone, it was a little embarrassing to get caught practicing alone like this.
"The lights were on, so I thought they forgot to turn them off—but you were here. You were practicing by yourself?"
"···Yes."
"No matter how young you are, if you skip meals and practice, you’re going to collapse."
"But if I don’t do this, I’m the only one who falls behind."
"Hm."
At Yunkyung’s answer, Raon glanced around the practice room once, then casually started loosening up her own body.
"Yunkyung—do you think you’re a burden to the team?"
"What? That’s—"
"I think it’s because of the last round, but honestly, out of everything the kids did that day, you were the one who stood out to me the most."
"Really?"
Yunkyung asked back like she couldn’t believe it, and Raon nodded like it was nothing.
"In that stage, you were the only one whose movement was off, right?"
"···Yes."
"You were right. The camera position on stage changed a little from rehearsal, and the other members didn’t notice—but you were the only one who caught it."
"You knew? I thought I was the one who saw it wrong···."
"In my eyes, out of all the Iam members, you’re the best at reading the on-site atmosphere. And that’s not all. You don’t like that you’re young, right?"
Thunk.
Raon lightly flicked Yunkyung’s forehead with her fist and kept talking.
"Being young is the biggest blessing for a singer—especially an idol. Because there’s something you can only show at that age."
Still stretching and warming up, Raon continued.
"That debut song of mine you did on stage? Honestly, no matter how well I do it now, it doesn’t come out with the same feel as you doing it."
—And on the flip side, no matter how well you do it, you can’t bring my last album song to life better than I can.
Raon finished speaking at the exact moment she finished stretching.
"Do I really have something I can pull off better than the other members?"
Yunkyung asked her, and like she’d been waiting for those words, Raon gave her a meaningful smile.
"We’ve got a little over a week until the 3rd round, right?"
"Yes."
"In that time, are you ready to practice so hard you feel like you’re going to die?"
"···Yes!"
Ready to die.
That was something Yunkyung had never had before.
From birth until now, she’d never lacked anything, and she’d never wanted anything this desperately.
But now she had one single desperate wish—she wanted to help the team no matter what. And that put a viciousness in her she’d never had.
"Let’s try it."
"Try what?"
"For the rest of the time we have left, I’m going to put you through special training. Honestly, no matter how hard you grind, you can’t perfectly surpass the other members in skill in that short time, but···thirty seconds. Just thirty seconds. If you lock onto that and prepare it like a maniac, you can do it."
And after confirming Yunkyung’s resolve, Raon offered her a solo part.
