Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 82

#82.

***

The two took Do-jae to an empty conference room.

The conference room, with the blinds down, was dim even in the middle of the morning.

The two hurriedly sat Do-jae on a chair at the desk without even turning on the lights.

Do-jae looked at them, bewildered.

“Do-jae.”

Heung-min called Do-jae, lowering his voice in a way that didn’t suit him.

The atmosphere was reminiscent of an interrogation.

“Yes, hyung.”

Despite the completely unpredictable situation, Do-jae answered properly.

‘Is something bad going on?’

The only time Do-jae had left the group was for about twenty minutes to talk to Team Leader Jung Hee-young.

It didn’t seem like anything major could have happened in that time.

“You, tell me honestly.”

Heung-min stared intently at Do-jae, swallowed hard.

His Adam’s apple was prominent, so it was easy to see him swallow.

“Do you have a secret from us?”

Heung-min’s voice was mixed with a bit of excitement and tension.

Do-jae froze for a moment, blinking slowly.

When he was flustered, Do-jae’s actions became even more composed.

“If it’s a secret…….”

There was one very big secret.

That he wasn’t Kang Do-jae.

It was also a secret he wanted to tell the members, who had become like family.

He felt guilty when they talked about their parents or past events because he felt like he was deceiving them.

‘I’m trying to talk as close to the truth as possible, though.’

There were many things he couldn’t say, which was frustrating.

Bearing the secret alone was more difficult than he thought.

However, Do-jae hesitated for a moment before shaking his head inwardly.

‘There’s no way the hyungs would know that.’

Do-jae had made quite a few slip-ups in the beginning.

But no matter how much he slipped up and revealed his identity as a prince, the members and people around him didn’t notice anything.

They just thought he was using words or *mal-tu* [speech patterns] that ordinary 20-year-olds didn’t use often.

‘They probably can’t even imagine it. Coming from another dimension.’

Aside from adapting quickly, Do-jae wouldn’t have dreamed of a ‘parallel world’ if he hadn’t experienced it himself.

So even if Do-jae told them, they probably wouldn’t believe him.

They wouldn’t go as far as taking him to the hospital, but…….

He didn’t want to cause unnecessary confusion, so he remained silent.

‘If it’s not that, then the secret I have is…….’

“Ah.”

As Do-jae groaned as if he understood something, Heung-min’s eyes lit up.

Ki-joon’s small eyes also grew quite a bit.

“I was going to tell you anyway.”

“Oh, oh! Yes. Tell me quickly.”

Heung-min urged him in an excited tone.

“I refused it.”

“Huh?!

“Um……?”

Confused questions flowed from Heung-min and Ki-joon.

“Aren’t you talking about the drama offer? I just turned it down a little while ago. I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret, but I wasn’t sure whether to accept it or not.”

“…….”

“If I told you in advance, the members might worry and be *shingyeong sseuil su isseoseo* [concerned], so I decided on my own…….”

“You got a drama offer?!

“…You turned it down?”

The two, who had been listening to Do-jae quietly, asked one after another.

“Didn’t you know?”

Now it was Do-jae who was flustered.

If it wasn’t this, then what secret were they talking about?

Nothing came to mind.

“Oh my god. Why did you turn it down?! What kind of drama was it? Was it a really bad drama?”

Heung-min forgot what he was originally going to ask and asked one question after another.

Do-jae first briefly explained the offer he had received.

Ki-joon nodded when he explained the reason for his refusal.

Heung-min seemed to think it was an unfortunate opportunity, even though he understood.

“You must have really made your face known. You’re even getting drama offers…. It’s a shame. If Louie knew, she’d be *oh mai gaswi!* [Oh my gosh!] and make a fuss.”

“I was actually turning it down…. I thought that would be the biggest problem.”

If he had appeared in the drama, he could have gotten autographs from Louie’s favorite actors or even invited her to the filming set.

He had missed such an opportunity…….

Ki-joon sighed softly and changed the subject when Do-jae seriously worried about Louie, a *deodeok* [drama fanatic], after turning down the drama appearance opportunity.

“We didn’t know you got such an offer.”

“Ah…. Then what secret are you talking about?”

As Do-jae tilted his head slightly, Heung-min finally opened his mouth first.

“That…. You’re not Lee Do…. are you?”

If he had been drinking a drink, it would have flowed straight down his mouth.

Or he would have spat it out at Heung-min and Ki-joon.

‘Did they really find out that I’m Lee Do-jae? How on earth!’

Do-jae widened his eyes as much as he could and answered like a person who had lost his mind.

“From the Korean Empire…….”

“I’m talking about Lee.do who is active in Sound-ফাই [Sound-fy].”

At that moment, Do-jae and Heung-min’s voices overlapped.

Do-jae quickly closed his mouth.

It felt like someone had dropped his heart from the roof of a tiled house.

“Ah ah…….”

He had completely forgotten about his Sound-ফাই ID.

“Korean…. what?”

“Ah, no. Sound-ফাই…. That’s right.”

Ki-joon and Heung-min’s eyes flashed again at Do-jae’s answer.

‘Sound-ফাই’ was a global music sharing site where anyone could listen to and upload music just by signing up.

Generally, music sites were places where officially released music was released for a fee, but Sound-ফাই was different.

The feature was that anyone could easily upload their own music for free.

Of course, paid releases were also possible, but initially, releasing demos for free was more helpful for promotion.

Thanks to this, many artists made their music known and became famous here.

Quite a few people debuted through Sound-ফাই.

Even if they didn’t debut, there were people who earned income from their rooms through sponsorship.

Do-jae started uploading his work to such ‘Sound-ফাই’ two or three months ago.

‘I signed up quite a while ago. Back then, I signed up to listen to music, so I created an ID with my real name without thinking.’

Do-jae was still awkward with the name Kang Do-jae.

There was no reason to express that he was Kang Do-jae.

‘The ID isn’t a secret, but.’

Do-jae didn’t know the Sound-ফাই IDs that Ki-joon or Heung-min used either.

‘Of course, the two of them didn’t seem to be uploading their work to Sound-ফাই, but…….’

The works that Do-jae uploaded to Sound-ফাই were short instrumental pieces he made while trying out various genres.

In particular, there were many hip-hop beats that were popular on Sound-ফাই.

It didn’t really feel like he was active.

Since the experimental works didn’t really match the color of the MOST album, he uploaded them with the feeling of archiving them.

Another reason was that it was convenient for Do-jae to listen to them when he thought of them while moving around.

‘I didn’t promote it separately, so not many people listened to my songs, but it was subtly enjoyable to have one or two people listen to my songs and press the heart button.’

Even if it was a small number, it was definitely motivating to have someone like it.

‘I think the number of hearts has increased quite a bit these days…….’

“But how did you know? That I use that ID…….”

“Kang Do-jae! You’re really amazing.”

After confirming the fact, Heung-min explained excitedly.

“One of my hobbies is finding good beats on Sound-ফাই, you know?”

Do-jae also knew that Heung-min enjoyed listening to songs on Sound-ফাই.

He also downloaded songs and practiced rap making.

“Recently, there was a really good beat, so I downloaded it and listened to it…. And what do you know? The number of plays and hearts is amazing. It’s getting hotter and hotter.”

“Could that be…….”

He didn’t pay much attention to it, so he didn’t know at all.

‘I thought it had increased quite a bit, but was it that hot?’

Heung-min continued quickly.

“Yeah. That was an artist named Lee.do. The more I listened to it, the better it got, and especially the most recent one was so much my style that I recommended it to Ki-joon hyung. How about working together?”

“Work together?”

“Of course, Lee.do’s music color is very different, but it’s good anyway. I want to find a way to work together somehow…….”

Among the songs on the first full-length album, there was a case where they collaborated with an artist from Sound-ফাই that Do Ki-joon had found.

“But when Ki-joon hyung listened to it, he said that something was subtly similar to your music style! It’s different, but…….”

“There are new attempts, but the basic sensibility seems similar to yours.”

Ki-joon added an explanation.

He was indeed a sharp Ki-joon.

Working together must have played a part in recognizing that it was Do-jae.

“So when I thought about it! The ‘Do’ in your name is 세종대왕님 [King Sejong the Great’s] ‘Do’. Lee Do!”

“Yes, that’s right…….”

“Anyway, we contacted you because we wanted to work together, but we didn’t get an answer for a long time! I couldn’t stand it, so I asked you first.”

Do-jae, who understood the situation, blinked his eyes quickly with a sense of wonder.

The sense of wonder was even greater for Ki-joon and Heung-min.

“Ah. But where did you contact me? I don’t have any contact…….”

“Huh? Where else but *dangyeonhi* [of course] mail.”

Do-jae recalled the email he had written when he signed up for Sound-ফাই.

It was an email he had temporarily created to sign up for Sound-ফাই.

He didn’t think he would be contacted there, so he didn’t even check it.

“I think quite a few other people have contacted you besides us…….”

Do-jae said ‘ *seolma* [no way]’ to Ki-joon’s words, but he didn’t know.

“You didn’t just reply to other people except us, did you?! You were going to keep it a secret from us.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Anyway, why did you upload all that for free!”

Heung-min scolded him.

In fact, it was a compliment.

“It’s not good enough to put on the album yet…. Honestly, I never thought the song would be known at all.”

“Wow. Is it Do-jae bus or what!”

“Bus?”

“No. Anyway, it’s amazing that it’s popular even though it was uploaded anonymously.”

Heung-min, the culprit, had a talent that he could never catch up with, and it was prevalent in Do-jae.

Do-jae tilted his head and smiled slightly at Heung-min’s envious voice.

“Anyway, if Lee.do is you, then we can just keep working with you. Let’s put your song on the next album. I think it’s enough already. Do-jae.”

A big smile spread across Do-jae’s face at Ki-joon’s recognition.

“Are you serious?”

“Ki-joon hyung doesn’t say empty words!”

“That’s right.”

The three, who had finished the conversation, hurriedly left the conference room.

It was time to leave for the recording studio.

***

The recording of went smoothly as it was a recording experience and he had practiced enough.

The members who returned to the dorm were still noisy about the short pants costumes they would be trying on tomorrow.

“What are you going to do with your leg hair? Heung-min hyung.”

“I don’t know…. The stylists will tell me what to do.”

“They’re 100% going to tell you to shave it. Hyung, you have too much. It’s ugly!”

“Are you smooth?”

Heung-min definitely had a lot of body hair.

Heung-min, who was usually proud of his thick hair, was facing an unexpected challenge.

When Heung-min asked back, Woo-cheol giggled and proudly rolled up the jeans he was wearing.

It was ‘smooth’ as Heung-min had asked.

“What. When did you shave your hair?”

“I’m originally like this.”

“Eh…. It’s weird to have too little.”

Heung-min frowned.

Louie and Kyu-sung also rolled up their legs and worried about what to do.

Do-jae was also worried, but he believed that the stylists would give him the right advice as Heung-min said.

Do-jae hurried into the room, leaving the members arguing about whether to shave their leg hair in the living room.

Then, he downloaded the mail app on his phone and checked the mailbox he had written on Sound-ফাই.

“Who is this……?”

A question arose in Do-jae’s eyes as he checked his mailbox.