Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 10.1
“What’s Ji Myeong-hyeon doing?”
“…Planking.”
“Wow, your agency has you doing this?”
“…No.”
No, it wasn’t the agency. This was Baek Jae-heon’s idea. But there was no harm in following his advice. From what I looked up, planking is excellent for strengthening the core, and search results said that having a strong core is essential for building a foundation in dance. Also, since Jae-heon had debuted in a past life, there was no harm in taking his word for it.
“Huh….”
“Already done? Only twenty seconds have passed?”
“What? Isn’t it supposed to be two minutes?”
“Yeah.”
But this planking thing was no joke. It was even scarier than Go Hee-min glaring at me for being late. They say doing three minutes a day will help improve, but I couldn’t even last thirty seconds.
“Hey, you need a competitive spirit to do this well. Everyone! Let’s help Ji Myeong-hyeon!”
“Yeah!”
“Hey! Whoever drops first buys ice cream at the snack bar!”
“Start!”
Seven classmates immediately came over, claiming they’d help me, and started planking alongside me at the back of the classroom. Fueled by real competitive spirit, I gritted my teeth and got back into position. I wouldn’t be the last of the seven, would I?
“Ji Myeong-hyeon, your stamina is trash!”
“Hey Myeong-hyeon, I’ll eat the ice cream well, okay?”
“When you debut, we’ll put this story on the board.”
“Ah, Ji Myeong-hyeon is hilarious! Can’t even last thirty seconds!”
But in the end, I was utterly defeated. I was the first to collapse among the seven. So I had to buy seven ice creams at the snack bar, and my wallet was completely drained.
“We’ll do this again tomorrow.”
Who ate the cone? I’d make sure to get revenge for this humiliation.
“Hey, Ji Myeong-hyeon. Did you see the other trainees? There are so many handsome ones, right?”
“Hey, Kyu-jin. Why are you asking that?”
“Oh, really? I thought Myeong-hyeon might feel intimidated.”
“No, idiot. I’m asking if there are pretty ones.”
They giggled and made jokes. Even if there were pretty ones, I’d just mutter “Wow!” The thought of Kyu-jin worrying about being intimidated was funny in itself.
“There’s someone who sings really well.”
“Really? Pretty?”
“He’s a guy.”
“Oh, okay. Handsome?”
“There’s someone who’s really handsome separately.”
“Wow. What about personality? Handsome guys can be kind of annoying.”
“Jong-seok must be really nice then.”
“Shim Kyu-jin, done talking?”
I quietly laughed at the kids’ teasing. They were so pure and fun. I’d been chasing money, money, money, thinking only about the future, but these kids had innocent thoughts appropriate for their age—it was cute, and also…
“Fun.”
“Hey! Ji Myeong-hyeon! That’s fun?!”
I envied that life. Or rather, I used to. Back then, after graduation, I’d have to become independent from the orphanage, so I couldn’t make friends and just focused on studying. After graduating, I had to become a civil servant immediately to support myself. I regretted not being able to hang out with peers during school.
“Yeah. It’s fun.”
“What?! If Ji Myeong-hyeon debuts, I’ll write about this in a character controversy!”
“I think everyone in our school will write rebuttals for Jong-seok.”
“Ah, shit!”
Ha! Listening to the kids’ laughter, I got caught up in it too. Like other kids my age, I laughed out loud along with them.
***
“Hyung, this is tough. Let’s endure it with a smile.”
“I can’t smile.”
It was the weekend. They said practice would start at 10 a.m., but when I arrived, only Kwon Ji-hak and I were there. Before starting dance practice alone with Ji-hak, we did planks.
Apparently, Ji-hak was said to be the best dancer here, and he probably had the strongest core too. While I collapsed repeatedly after a minute each, Ji-hak held his plank for over thirty minutes without losing form, smiling the whole time.
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