Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 216: DANCE MISSION (III)

SOON, more contestants walked into the practice room one by one until all eight were inside. They greeted each other with nods and quiet hellos. Some introduced themselves to the people they didn’t know, while others who were already friends from before talked in low voices. The room filled with a low hum of polite conversation.

Haneul had only really talked with Baek Eunwoo before, and even that was just a quick introduction. He knew the names of some of the other contestants, like Jeon Hyunsik, but he had never actually had a conversation with them.

He felt a bit like a fish out of water. But he knew he couldn’t just sit there and not talk to anyone. He guessed it’s time to use the social skills he had picked up from all those years working in the service industry.

Haneul took a steadying breath and turned toward the others in the room. He listened to the ongoing conversations and waited for a natural opening. When there was a brief pause, he spoke up, his tone friendly and neutral, asking a general question about the song they all chose, to include himself in the discussion.

Thankfully, everyone was very friendly and polite. At least he had noticed no one secretly sneering at him or giving him a dirty look.

"I know a little about the original choreo, but not the whole thing," one of them, a cheerful-looking contestant, admitted.

"Same here," another boy agreed. "But the song seems fun to perform, so I chose it."

Haneul simply nodded. "I thought that as well."

While he was having a small talk with the two, he noticed Jeon Hyunsik glancing his way again. To avoid catching his eye, Haneul turned his body slightly, giving the other only the back of his head. He leaned in a little and nodded along to the conversation, making it look like he was completely absorbed in what they were saying. He knew he was probably being overly cautious, but he figured it was better to be safe. If Jeon Hyunsik thought he was busy and not paying attention, maybe he would stop looking over and would stop him from trying to approach him.

Haneul thought he was being stealthy about it, but Eunwoo, who happened to notice, couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. He glanced over at Jeon Hyunsik, who was still looking at Kang Haneul, and then back at Kang Haneul, who was trying very hard to look like he was having the most interesting conversation in the world. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Earlier, when he first walked into the practice room, he had sensed a strange kind of tension between the two. Jeon Hyunsik seemed like he really wanted to get close to Kang Haneul, while the latter looked very awkward, trying to keep his distance without appearing rude.

Eunwoo had thought it was just his imagination, especially since after the others arrived, the two hadn’t interacted. But seeing it now, even for a second, made it clear that Kang Haneul was not comfortable with the attention Jeon Hyunsik was giving him. Now, Eunwoo couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in the practice room before he got there.

Surely, Jeon Hyunsik did nothing inappropriate toward Kang Haneul, right? He shouldn’t be stupid enough to try something like that, not after climbing this high in the rankings. But aside from that, Eunwoo couldn’t think of anything else the other might have done to cause this kind of reaction. Kang Haneul didn’t seem like the type to be overly sensitive to make something out of nothing. He also didn’t come across as a snob who was just rude to people he didn’t like. So, what was it?

More importantly, should he mention this to Taeyang? That guy seemed overly interested in Kang Haneul. He would probably care about this a lot more than him.

As Eunwoo was thinking about that, the door to the practice room opened again. When Dyna walked in, everyone who had been sitting on the floor quickly stood up. They automatically formed two neat rows facing her, who was now standing at the front of the room.

"Hello again," she began. "You’re probably wondering why all eight of you are in this one practice room. Some of you might have thought it’s because you chose the same song, which isn’t wrong, but it certainly isn’t the full answer." She looked around at the eight contestants inside the room. "But before I explain that fully, let’s first see who among you belong to the same group."

Dyna walked over to the light switch. While the contestants watched, wondering what she was doing, she suddenly pressed a button. The main lights dimmed. It wasn’t completely dark, but the room grew noticeably shadowy.

"Now, I want you all to look at your cards," she instructed.

Haneul took the card out of his pocket and looked at it. His eyes widened when he saw the number ’2’ glowing on what had been a blank surface before. Obviously, the number had been printed in some kind of glow-in-the-dark or UV-reactive ink that only became visible when the lights were dim.

"Everyone with the number ’1’, go to the left side of the room. Those with the number ’2’, go to the right," Dyna instructed again.

Then the main lights came back on, returning the room to normal.

Haneul closed his eyes for a second before opening them. He almost let out a curse when the first thing he saw was Jeon Hyunsik. The other was looking right at him. Jeon Hyunsik licked his lips and then grinned. Goosebumps ran down Haneul’s back, but he did his best to smile back in a brief, polite way. Then he naturally shifted his gaze and gave his full attention to the two other teammates standing a few feet away.

One of the two was Baek Eunwoo. The other was one of the contestants he had been talking to earlier, Lim Suho.

"Now that you’re in your own groups, I should finish my explanation," Dyna said, getting their attention again. "The reason you’re in the same practice room, even though you’re technically competing against each other, is because your two groups will perform on the stage at the same time."