Chapter 263

Chapter 263. The Day of the Decisive Battle (1)

I knew this would happen.

93rd place (New) *Let you Know*

**Lanion**

“Wow, they’re climbing up the ranks so easily.”

Is this the power of a major company?

I thought Miro had grown quite a bit, but it was annoying to realize that time and tradition couldn’t be ignored.

Someone barely made it into the TOP 100 chart after appearing on a cable channel survival show, riding on Seo Taeil’s 13 years of fame, getting a public broadcast variety show buff, and even benefiting from the year-end season….

“Our song reached 31st place, but I’m still pissed.”

Just as I had seen and heard repeatedly in the previous timeline, Lanion once again had a successful debut.

The factors for their success were diverse.

It was still the dark age for boy groups, with no rookie male idols making a significant impact for nearly three years except for our team.
Lanion was the first new boy group from Rene to debut after Spear, who had dominated the first division and then left for the military.
In addition, there were two public trainee members that every Rene fan had been eagerly awaiting, along with Cha Minseok, who had previously leaked photos sneakily.
Not to mention the promotion and production that seemed to be funded extravagantly, and the easy-listening track that was designed for mass appeal….

“Knowing all this doesn’t make it any less infuriating.”

I turned off the music chart I was looking at on my phone in frustration and connected to iTube for some dopamine recharge, only to see Lanion’s debut music video plastered on the timeline.

In the thumbnail, the five members of Lanion, who had already earned the nickname “Rene Gods,” stared down at the camera, with that annoying Cha Minseok at the center, posing arrogantly.

“…….”

Yeah, five members.

This was the problem.

‘Why did the number of members get cut in half?’

In the previous timeline, Lanion was clearly Rene’s first large-group boy band.

Before their faces were revealed, Rene was heavily criticized for planning to debut a group with a bunch of random trainees bundled together. Even after their debut, the group faced rampant N-member support, with political games and power struggles among individual fans….

These crazy people suddenly ditched four of their original members and debuted as an elite small group!

‘What if one of them screws up? They’ll immediately be down to four members. What kind of guts do they have? And they even kept the Chinese member?’

As soon as I saw the music video autoplaying while I was scrutinizing the debut members in the thumbnail, I quickly exited the iTube app and tossed my phone roughly to the corner of the bed.

Why should I help increase their view count?

Grumbling about how those damn “gods” should just stay in their own world and not bother the human realm, I hugged the soft body pillow on the bed.

Just then, a cushion flew out of nowhere and hit me square in the face.

“Ouch!”

As I irritably pulled the cushion down, I saw Seo Taehyun, who had been sitting at the desk opposite, turn his chair around and stare at me with an exasperated expression.

Seo Taehyun, holding his pen upside down and with dark circles under his eyes, gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“Hyung, get out.”

“Oh, why? No.”

“Why are you causing a ruckus in my room instead of the living room or your own room? I’m trying to study!”

“No one’s at the dorm, and I’m bored!”

“Then go out yourself!”

“No!”

“Why not!?”

“Too lazy!”

“…Are you seriously a kindergartener?”

“I do have a bit of innocent charm.”

“You’re seriously insane….”

As I shamelessly brushed my hair back, Seo Taehyun buried his face in his hands with a groan.

With the college entrance exam just three days away, Seo Taehyun’s stress had reached its peak. Normally, I wouldn’t pull such crazy stunts next to a stressed Seo Taehyun, but today I had my reasons.

“Hey. Do you think I’m doing this because I have nothing better to do? If I leave you alone, you’ll skip meals, not sleep, and overwork yourself, so I stayed home today to take care of you, as your guardian, okay? I’ll make sure you eat, sleep, and do some stretching while studying.”

“Then watch me from outside. You’ve been muttering to yourself in my room all day since morning…. You’re the biggest distraction!”

“Taehyun. I’m speaking from experience, alright? You think staring at your textbooks is all it takes? If you get sick on the day of the exam, it’s all for nothing. The three days before the college entrance exam are all about maintaining your condition, that’s what matters.”

“But you didn’t even take the entrance exam.”

“Why didn’t I…! …take it? Seriously. I wonder about that myself. No matter how much I think about it, that was the biggest mistake of my life. I was really confident I’d ace it.”

Is that really something you say to someone who returned to the past after listening to the English exam?

The memory of my first regression suddenly came to mind, but I held back.

When Dan Haru returns to the dorm after his provincial schedule tomorrow, I’ll grab his chubby cheeks and shake them until I feel better….

As I kept crushing the innocent body pillow, boiling with anger over my past as a student preparing for exams, Seo Taehyun removed his glasses, took out some artificial tears from the drawer, and spoke.

“…That’s a birthday gift from Desti, you know?”

“…No wonder. I thought the cushion felt different. Geez, my hands are acting up, they’re acting up. Why do you leave such a precious thing carelessly on the bed? You should place it properly, without creasing it. I hope it’s not damaged. Geez….”

“Just kidding.”

“You little….”

I stood up and carefully straightened the body pillow, only to throw it back down as soon as I heard he was joking.

Well, no wonder. I saw you searching for body pillows ranked by popularity on Xpang and reading the reviews.

Feeling indignant after being fooled, I kept pressing down on the poor body pillow, and Seo Taehyun, perhaps realizing he wasn’t going to get any studying done today, closed the study book he’d been reading and continued.

“Are you doing this because of me?”

“…? What are you talking about?”

“Are you doing this because you think I’m stressed out because of Cha Minseok?”

It had been a while since that damned bastard’s name had come out of Seo Taehyun’s mouth.

Honestly, it wasn’t exactly the reason, but I was also curious about Seo Taehyun’s reaction to Cha Minseok’s debut, so I answered with silence.

Seo Taehyun put down his pen on the desk with a thud and turned his chair fully towards me.

“I don’t care about him.”

“…Seriously?”

“I decided to stop. I think it’ll be better for my peace of mind.”

Seo Taehyun, seeming to get lost in thought, tapped the armrest of his chair and then spoke in a calm voice.

“I used to really hate him, you know? Because of him, I ended up in Miro, he sold me out to the Director, and it was because of him that I almost didn’t debut.”

“…”

“But now, looking back, I feel like all of this happened for a reason. Anyway, I debuted, even if it’s only been three months, I debuted earlier, and we’re doing pretty well for ourselves.”

“That’s because you met this hyung, and everything worked out. Otherwise, you’d be stuck in Gangwon-do right now.”

“Exactly.”

“…?”

“But I’m not in Gangwon-do; I’m in Seoul. And not just anywhere in Seoul, but in Kairos’ dorm as a member of Kairos, who’s in the top 30 on the chart.”

Seo Taehyun nodded as if he knew everything, looking at me.

The cherry hairpin he had hastily pushed into his bangs to focus on studying was the only flaw in this serious mood.

“Hyung, didn’t you say that instead of wasting time hating him, I should be grateful to you?”

“…Did I really say something that cool?”

“…Seriously, every time I want to praise you, you ruin it.”

“Okay, okay. I won’t get cocky. Continue, continue.”

“Anyway, if you’re worried about their group because of me, don’t be. It’s uncomfortable to see, but I don’t feel like punching something every time I see them anymore.”

…So you used to feel like punching them every time you saw them.

Thinking about it again, I was glad I had stepped in as a substitute MC for the music show this time.

The first scandal after Kairos’ debut could not be Seo Taehyun’s violent outburst.

“Well, if you’re fine, that’s a relief.”

“So please leave. I’m going to study.”

“Study? Who’s stopping you?”

“You are, because you’re so noisy in the background that I can’t focus.”

“Hey, do you think the entrance exam is easy? Do you think the exam hall is like Lee Doha’s soundproof room where once you’re in, you can’t hear anything? It’s noisy there, noisy. The sound of flipping exam papers will bother you, the proctor’s walk will bother you, even a flying ant will bother you. If you lose your composure because of my little noises now, how are you going to handle it on

the day? I’m telling you, this is all for your own good!”

“But you didn’t even take the exam.”

“I took…! …I heard all of this from friends who took it, okay? I asked them carefully and gathered these experiences, you brat!”

I swear, next year I’ll take the entrance exam out of spite and enjoy the student discounts.

“Oh, but what about the day of the exam? What about lunch and stuff?”

“Siwoo hyung said he’d pack lunch for me and Lee Yugeon in the morning. It’ll get too crowded and complicated if we go when there are lots of people, so we might go really early. Hyung Wook said he’d drive us. After it’s over, we’ll quickly sneak out through the back gate.”

“At least it’s good you have other kids taking the exam at the same school. The students at the arts high school won’t suddenly get nervous just because you’re idols.”

“Yeah. And there are quite a few others who debuted and are taking the exam too. I just hope there aren’t any reporters.”

“You should expect that to be nearly impossible. They’ll probably be camping out from the morning just to get shots of you guys. Have you thought about what you’re going to wear?”

“Already picked out mine and Lee Yugeon’s.”

“…”

“It feels over the top to go to the salon on exam day, so I even got a few makeup products from Hyekyung noona. I’m just going to bring an eyebrow pencil and some tint.”

This ruthless bastard….

I couldn’t help but be impressed by Seo Taehyun’s meticulous plan to showcase his ☆Pro Idol☆ abilities even on the day of the entrance exam.

“What are you having for lunch?”

“I don’t know. Siwoo hyung said he’d make something simple, like homemade food with grilled ribs and stuff.”

“How are grilled ribs considered homemade food?”

“Anyway, Siwoo hyung said he’d make it. So hyung, please do a good job as MC that day instead of me.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

I nodded and got up from the bed.

I had teased and played around enough, so it was time to leave.

“I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner, so come out. I’ll make you that salad pasta you like.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

“Alright. Good luck, exam-taker.”

I felt a bit guilty that all I could do was make salad pasta and take his place as MC.

With that thought, I quietly closed the door so Seo Taehyun could focus on his studying.

* * *

“Hahaha.”

And two days later, on the day before the entrance exam.

I found myself rubbing my forehead in awe at my own uncanny ability to jinx things.

“So, you’re saying that because of the weather, the plane couldn’t take off, and no one has been able to leave? And the exam is in 12 hours?”

—Hajin-ah, what do we do? You’re going to have to take care of the kids. There’s literally no one else available, what do we do?

What am I supposed to do when you ask me that…?

The thunderstorm crashing outside the window had never seemed more irritating.