Chapter 10.2
In just a few years, the idol market would shift even youngerânineteen wouldnât even be considered “young” anymore.
The idol industry was just like sports. You had to start young, and your prime years were short. In the end, it was an industry that exploited the dreams and labor of teenagers for profit. So it was only natural that none of us in this business were mentally stableâmyself included.
Thinking about it that way, it was easy to be friendly with anyone at R&M.
“Youâre messed up? Me too. Letâs just do our best together, fighting!”
To be honest, I never really enjoyed being around people. I had been a loner at school, so there was no way Iâd suddenly become an insider in a training center. Besides, no matter how well I got along with someone, their attitude would always change once they learned about my family situation.
But since I had already committed to this image-making strategy, I planned to stick to it. Soon, the debut survival show Pick Your Romeo would start, and if I wanted to look good on camera, I needed to establish my character early on.
Be strategic, but not an asshole. Laying a solid foundation now would prevent future backlash.
And just like that, the trainees slowly started warming up to me. Within a week, I had befriended about half of R&Mâs A-Class traineesâat least on the surface.
Of course, I had a cheat codeâI had lived this life before. They didnât know me, but I knew them. I didnât remember everyone, but I did recall key peopleâthe ones I had competed with in the survival show, or the ones who had spent twelve years with me in Reverb.
I hadnât been particularly close with anyone in my past life, so I didnât have any deep insider knowledge.
But I did remember small, seemingly insignificant details. For example, Kim Sung Hoon, the de facto leader of the trainees, had been on an elite academic track in Daechi-dong. He was currently on a leave of absence from a top university, so he had a backup plan outside of idol life.
Most of this information came from random conversations I had overheard in the past, so I couldnât be 100% sure of its accuracy. But stillâknowing something was better than nothing.
If I brought someone their favorite drink and made an effort to get along, they couldnât exactly spit in my face, could they?
Of course, not everyone was receptive.
There were still plenty of people I didnât get along with. A group of foreign trainees were huddled together, whispering about me. With K-popâs rapid growth, there were now a lot of trainees from overseas.
Four Chinese trainees, one Japanese, and one Thai.
Out of them, only one Chinese trainee and the Thai trainee were fluent in Korean. The rest struggled with the language. And since I didnât speak Chinese or Japanese, I had no way to communicate with them.
“Tch. Look at this guy acting all high and mighty.”
“Forget it. He got cast just for jumping a wallâprobably thinks heâs hot shit.”
“Not like heâs gonna debut. Even Tae Rim hasnât made it yet. What, is he some executiveâs nephew?”
Even the ones who could speak Korean had their own group that openly disrespected me. I didnât bother paying attention to the ones talking shit right in front of me.
There was no need to pretend to be nice to them. Out of their group, the only one who would actually debut in Reverb was Myeong In Woo. And from the looks of it, he wasnât even really close with those guys.
Made sense. Myeong In Woo was too busy dating to bother hanging out with other trainees. He was seeing a girl group member from another agency, so why would he waste time with fellow trainees? He was probably too occupied following his girlfriend around.
“I heard theyâre doing a debut survival show. If heâs unlucky, he might get cut.”
“Survival show? I thought that got scrapped.”
No, it didnât. It was definitely happening.
Now that I was here, R&M would go all in on Pick Your Romeo, the survival show they had been hesitant about launching. A-Class trainees would hate it, since it could completely shake up the debut lineup. But for me? That show was my golden ticket.
I had no intention of dragging out my trainee period, even after time-traveling back. Most of the trainees were younger than meâexcept for a few already-legal onesâso I didnât have time to waste.Â
Especially since Third Day, the boy group that debuted after Reverb, hadnât been nearly as successful. They had done well enough, sure. But compared to Reverb, their earnings were mediocre.
“Tae Rim.”
“âŠâŠ.”
“You live in the dorms too, right?”
The real problem wasnât those guysâit was Cheon Tae Rim. I could understand if some random trainee ignored me. Maybe it was because of a language barrier, or maybe they were just an asshole. But Cheon Tae Rim? Why the hell was he ignoring me? Whether he had regressed or not, at this point in time, there was no reason for him to treat me like this.
Before our debut, we had been on decent terms. Go Ha Ram had always been my closest friend in the group, but up until Tae Rim started treating me like I didnât exist, I wouldâve considered us friends.
And honestly, if it werenât for me, Cheon Tae Rim wouldnât have debuted in Reverb at all. That guy had almost been eliminated in the second round of the debut survival show because he wasnât getting enough votes. I was the one who dragged him by the collar and made sure he got in. I had a huge role in his debut as an idol.
And now, how dare you avoid me?
