Chapter 17.2

I genuinely hoped he’d live happily ever after with his girlfriend Sera at Ciel. I didn’t know how Cheon Tae Rim managed to drive In Woo out to Ciel, but whatever he did, it was a damn fine job.

Just as I was silently thanking In Woo, the door to the B-class practice room slowly opened. A trainee walked in sluggishly, looking utterly drained.

But nobody paid any attention to him. Given that I couldn’t even remember who he was, he probably never debuted with Third Day either.

“It’s Hye Joon hyung!”

Before I could even ask who that was, Go Ha Ram excitedly jumped up from his seat. Jang Hye Joon’s expression, previously lifeless, instantly brightened the moment he spotted Ha Ram.

“Oh? Ha Ram, what’re you doing in B-class?”

“I just tagged along with Ye Jin hyung.”

“Ye Jin hyung?”

Hye Joon only noticed me after Ha Ram pointed me out. Clearly, his field of vision wasn’t very wide.

I swiftly scanned Jang Hye Joon from head to toe. The shirt he wore was a designer brand worth about four million won, and the shoes on his feet were limited editions worth roughly twelve million won.

Those were just the recognizable brands—shirt and shoes alone totaled sixteen million won. If you included his pants and watch, this guy was probably wearing the equivalent of a midsize car.

Suddenly I understood why Ha Ram had mentioned him as the hyung who always bought him food. This bastard… He didn’t get into this agency with talent, but with money…

* * *

What’s the most important quality to succeed as an idol?

Personally, I’d say mental strength. The kind of mental toughness that lets you handle endless criticism. Even the toughest ones usually end up seeing therapists as idols.

Being constantly observed and scrutinized is bound to drive you crazy. People are funny that way; you desperately crave attention, yet the moment that attention becomes overwhelming, anxiety eats you alive.

Among Reverb’s nine members, Cheon Tae Rim was the only one who never visited a psychiatrist—at least, not that I knew of. Tae Rim was always calm and collected about everything, except when nagging at me occasionally to live a better life.

But beyond a solid mentality, impressive dancing skills, stunning looks, or an enchanting voice, there was one cheat key even more helpful for an idol debut:

… Money and family background.

Just as a noodle-maker’s son easily learns to make noodles, an entertainer’s kid naturally has an easy pass into the entertainment industry.

And it goes without saying if their parents are wealthy celebrities. Imagine your parents had once been household-name TV stars and now starred in movies surpassing ten million viewers.

With family connections like that, the hurdle to debut drastically drops, and with money never being an issue, you can comfortably cruise through your trainee years.

“Hye Joon hyung is actor Jang Sun Wook’s son.”

I’d already guessed that from his face. He looked like an exact carbon copy of the famous actor Jang Sun Wook. And if he was Jang Sun Wook’s son, his mother had to be the equally famous actress Lee Ah Ra. No wonder he dressed like a walking midsize car.

“Hey, I’m Jang Hye Joon.”

Jang Hye Joon was nineteen, just like me and Cheon Tae Rim. My eyes were instantly drawn, almost hypnotically, to the Cartier ring on his index finger.

Insane. Just how rich was this guy? To me, who aimed to become an idol solely for the money, Hye Joon was incomprehensible. With wealth like his, why bother being an idol at all?

If it were me, I’d have simply followed in my parents’ footsteps into acting. Based on my memories, Jang Hye Joon didn’t debut with Reverb or even Third Day. Considering he left zero impression in terms of talent, he probably got eliminated early in ‘Pick Your Romeo.’

“I’m Sun Ye Jin, I just joined recently.”

“Yeah, I saw your video. Your skills were amazing.”

“Not really. I was just lucky. Anyway, we’re the same age, so you can speak casually.”

“Should I?”

Jang Hye Joon smiled good-naturedly and casually plopped down beside me and Ha Ram. For a wealthy young master, his behavior seemed surprisingly down-to-earth.

“Hyung, where were you just now? Isn’t this regular practice time?”

“The director called me in for a private chat.”

“The director?”

“Yeah. Heard someone from A-class is moving to Ciel.”

“Wow, news travels fast. Yeah, In Woo hyung’s transferring there.”

“The director asked me if I wanted to go to Ciel too.”

Hye Joon freely spilled what he discussed with the director, completely unfazed by my presence beside him.

The other B-class trainees didn’t seem particularly interested in him, despite Hye Joon being one of the older trainees here, aside from the 22-year-old Shin Ji Oh.

Chances were high they only followed him around when he bought them things, and ignored him otherwise. Considering Hye Joon’s well-known family background, most trainees cozying up to him were probably hyenas looking to exploit his connections. Including myself at this very moment.

“I’ve been a trainee for two and a half years already, but the director said there’s no sign of progress at R&M, so he suggested giving Ciel a shot.”

“Did the director really say that to you?”

“Well, he phrased it much more nicely. He was very gentle, saying I’d probably do better somewhere more suited to me.”

“……”

“So, yeah, it’s a bit rough.”

Now I understood why he’d walked in looking so grim. I’d assumed he was just skipping regular practice to slack off, but it turned out he was a trainee R&M was trying to offload due to his slow progress.

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