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Chapter 90

Only the sound of water filling the jacuzzi rang loudly in the second floor\'s middle garden. No conversation passed between Kang Hyun-Sung and me, and frankly, it was extremely awkward. It wasn’t like this when I used the jacuzzi with other people in my team as it was common for men to go on public baths together. It was strange to feel awkward being in a tub with another man.

I didn\'t know if it was because I was with Kang Hyun-Sung but I thought, ‘This is crazy awkward.’

This was the most awkward public bath experience I had ever had in my life. I was glad that several jacuzzis were installed. I got goosebumps, just thinking about what if I was in the same bath as Kang Hyun-Sung. Kang Hyun-Sung said the reason why he didn’t want to use the jacuzzi was because he didn’t want other people touching him.

‘It’s so like him.’ It was a reasoning that someone like Kang Hyun-Sung would give. Since then, the silence continued between Kang Hyun-Sung and me. It was a little awkward at first, but when the water began to slowly rise, I no longer paid attention to him.

‘It’s nice. The water temperature is just right.’ It felt like I would sleep well after staying here for about 10 minutes, and I could see why a jacuzzi was installed at every healing spot. When my mind began to feel drowsy, and I thought I could fall asleep like this—

“Isn’t practice hard?” Kang Hyun-Sung suddenly posed a question.

“…What?” I immediately regained my senses before I was about to slam my nose into the water. “…Yes, it’s hard,” I fought back against the drowsiness and managed to answer.

“But we still have to do it.”

“Yes.”

Kang Hyun-Sung nodded and asked, “Who do you think will win in the third round?” Kang Hyun-Sung seemed to be very curious as he kept pestering me with questions. But why did he ask who I thought would win first place? Wasn’t the answer for that a given?

I answered, “Our group?”

“Do you have a solid reason for that?’

“Yes, I do.”

“What is it?”

“Do I need to tell you?” The basis for my reasoning was that the system calculated our group’s probability of winning first place as 80%. However, I couldn’t tell him that, so I decided to get out of answering seriously by bluffing my way.

Kang Hyun-Sung said, “You know that this survival game will be over if we win first place in the third round, right?”

“Yes, I know.” If Only One won first place in the third round, this competition would be over. Of course, we would do the final performance for the fans waiting for us. However, it would be a concert to repay the viewers who loved The Showcase 2 without considering the scores, and it won’t feel like a real competition to decide the winner like now.

“I plan to work hard so that Only One doesn\'t win first place in the third round, and the competition doesn\'t end early.”

“Yes, I hope that comes true too.”

“…What?” I stared at Kang Hyun-Sung in shock. Did he just tell me he didn’t want his group to win first place in the third round?

When I looked at Kang Hyun-Sung with surprise, he replied, “It’s a conflicting feeling.”

“What’s so conflicting about it?”

“I’m conflicted about whether we should win the third round and finish this survival show so boringly.”

“And?”

“Or whether to drag this out a little longer and win the final.”

“Do you call that conflicting thoughts? Don’t you just want to win?”

“That’s right too.”

I thought he was feeling conflicted about wanting to win and not wanting to win, but he was just pondering whether to win quickly or impactfully later. Seriously, was he playing with me…?

“We will win,” I declared to Kang Hyun-Sung.

“Yes, well. Think as you like,” Kang Hyun-Sung said in a slight tone of mockery and swept his wet hair fully back. “Do you know what’s the privilege of winning this show besides the contract transfer and debut promotional support?” Then he asked out of the blue.

I tilted my head and stared at him, wondering why he was suddenly asking me this question. Frankly, I also knew about the additional prize besides the contract transfer and promotional support since I’ve also watched this program before my regression. However, I couldn’t reveal this now as it was a top secret among the production crew. If I recalled properly, it was—

“It’s a reality show production. A reality show that’s going to be filmed right after the competition and not just a promise that they would film it later.”

Yes, that was what it was. I didn’t know how Kang Hyun-Sung knew this, but it was kind of unprecedented in a way. It was not just any reality show but a reality production that continued right after The Showcase 2. This had quite a big merit as they were airing the reality show during the prime time when The Showcase 2 aired, right before The Showcase 2 lost its buzz.

Furthermore, they were going to keep the title as The Showcase 2, and they were going to add a sub-title according to the theme of the reality show. Although there was a strong perception that only those who were fans watched idol reality shows, if they utilized this time period, they could maximize the inflow even before debut and get a core fanbase to some extent.

‘This is just going beyond catering to their fans but maximizing the inflow of any potential fans.’ However, this was a secret.

When I stared at him, wondering how Kang Hyun-Sung knew this, he answered, “Considering the editing they’ve done so far, it’s only six episodes when all the competition episodes come out.”

He was right. The advantage of The Showcase 2 was that the progress was fast and went by quickly, and although the editing was quick, it was more fun because they aired a week\'s worth of content that another program would air for two weeks.

“But this program has ten episodes. I’m sure you know that too since it comes out when you search for basic information about this show.”

I just quietly nodded to his remarks.

“I wondered what the other four episodes were about, so when I asked an acquaintance, they said it was a reality show.”

“They told you that easily?”

“You need to use your personal connection at times like this.”

“Isn’t that cheating?”

“Do you think I get any personal gain from this information? I just asked because I was curious, and my acquaintance answered.”

Well, as he said, there was nothing much he could do with this information. It didn’t matter unless he received a mission in advance.

“I don’t wish to succeed by using underhanded methods. Don’t look at me like that.” Kang Hyun-Sung must have sensed distrust in my eyes as he said in an annoyed tone.

I purposely moved my gaze away and looked far in the distance, so that he wouldn’t yell at me about my gaze again. But there was still one thing I was curious about. “Why are you telling me this?’

I wondered why he was sharing this information with only me. Of course, since I already knew about this, it was not worthwhile information for me. However, from Kang Hyun-Sung’s point of view, he must have thought he was sharing some kind of valuable information with me. He must be sharing this information for a reason, and I was sure that he wanted something in exchange.

While I pondered about this, he asked, “Why did you come to the prayer room that day?”

“…” I realized then that he was building up to ask this question.

Sigh.

I stared at Kang Hyun-Sung. Since he had been quiet for a few days, I thought he might have finally forgotten it, but I couldn’t believe he was still fixated on that. There must be many things in the world that were hard to understand, so why couldn’t he just let this one go? My answer would always be the same.

“…I told you it was because I was worried about you.” I couldn’t say it was because the system ordered me to go as if my life depended on it.

Kang Hyun-Sung looked at me with doubt as before. “Is that really true?”

“Yes.”

“Why would you be worried about me?”

“Um…” I needed to say something. Otherwise, I would fall for his trap. “Isn’t it normal to worry about someone who hasn\'t come after the set time passed?” I said any excuse that popped into my head.

“But it’s not normal to look so hard for someone who you aren\'t close to just because they are running late.” However, Kang Hyun-Sung didn’t fall for my excuse.

“I’m the type who worries a lot about small things.”

“Do you seriously expect me to believe that?”

“I also have a caring personality.”

“That’s harder for me to believe than what you said earlier.”

“…” This was really an interrogation.

Kang Hyun-Sung was looking at me with unshakable eyes. Then he asked with a slightly tentative voice, “…Who ordered you?”

Who ordered me? Yeah, someone did—it was the system. However, I couldn’t tell him that. But—

‘I could make an excuse along that line. ’ I thought this would be better than the ridiculous lies I’ve been saying so far.

“…Yes, someone did.”

When I said this, Kang Hyun-Sung answered, “…Hmm, I see.” Kang Hyun-Sung’s steadfast pupils shook for a moment for the first time. Silence flowed between us.

“…Who ordered you?” He soon asked the following question.

“That’s difficult for me to say,” I answered in a roundabout way with a nuance that the higher-ups ordered me to. In a way, it was the higher-ups who ordered me as the being was a god-like being disguised as a system. However, Kang Hyun-Sung’s expression slowly turned into a scowl.

“All right, I got it.” Kang Hyun-Sung got up from his seat and got out of the jacuzzi. Then he wiped himself with a large towel and brushed off the water. “Then there was no reason for me to feel grateful to you.”

No reason for him to be grateful to me. “Yes, that’s right.” Frankly, he was right. There was no need for him to thank me.

Kang Hyun-Sung stared down at me and said, “Yes, all right. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then he left the middle garden, and I was left in the jacuzzi alone. The water was quickly running out of the jacuzzi that Kang Hyun-Sung left. I stared at the water in Kang Hyun-Sung’s jacuzzi, which was quickly emptying. After all the water was drained, I also got up, dried myself, and came back to my room. Even though I practiced and even used the jacuzzi, it was hard for me to fall asleep.

‘I can’t sleep.’

* * *

Although it felt like I would never fall asleep, my body eventually collapsed under fatigue. I didn’t even know how I fell asleep, but when I regained my senses, the alarm was going off.

Sigh…

I sighed deeply and turned off the alarm. 8 a.m. I still had a bit of decent sleep. Today’s practice started at 9 a.m. I thought I could just wash up, change, and go out. After cleaning my bed, I thought about what to wear. However, I couldn’t think for longer than 5 seconds, and I planned to wear the first thing I grabbed. First, I washed my hair and my face. When I was about to go down to the practice room—

Ziiiing—

The phone vibrated.

“Hmm?” It was a phone call from the production team of The Showcase 2. I usually received notices by text, so I wondered why they were suddenly making a phone call.

‘Ah.’ But a possibility crossed my mind. When I answered the phone—

—Mr. Tae-Yoon, are you awake?

I heard the voice of the program’s maknae writer. She sounded urgent and a bit scared. Although these were small clues, I could predict what happened.

“Yes, I’m up. What are you calling about?” I tried to ask as calmly as possible.

—Um, a person saying she\'s your aunt is here now. I think you need to hurry up and come out. Ah…

As soon as I heard the word ‘aunt,’ my fingers trembled a bit.

Sigh.

But I quickly calmed myself down and said, “Yes. I’ll come out.” I was going to put an end to this. Perhaps this was the moment I could put an end to this toxic relationship disguised as family. I looked at the clothes in my hand.

I hadn’t realized this before, but I was holding the outfit that Kang Hyun-Sung bought for our team. It was the same clothes that I had seen in my Precognitive Vision. I thought about just wearing this, but—

‘No.’ I picked out different clothes to wear. This was my small wish to change the fixed future. I opened the door and went outside. I made a firm resolve and took a steady step. When I left the building, walked through the yard, and went out to the entrance of the accommodations—

‘She’s here.’ My aunt was standing there.