Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 174

#174.

***

Comeback stage D-5.

“I’m home……”

It was past 1 AM.

Woochul, returning from filming , muttered to himself.

He was simply greeting out of habit, assuming everyone would be asleep at this hour.

“Oh, you’re back?”

“You worked hard, Woochul hyung!”

“You guys aren’t asleep yet?”

But Heungmin, Louis, and Dojae were awake in the living room.

“Practice ran late today…. I just got back a little while ago. Gyusung and Gijun hyung are asleep.”

They were in the final stretch of practice.

The members had practiced until dawn yesterday, and since Woochul was away all day filming his drama, they had planned to finish practice early today.

But it seemed practice had continued until midnight again today.

Woochul shook his head.

“I knew it wouldn’t end early.”

He was newly impressed by the members, and also worried that he might have fallen behind since he missed a day of practice.

It was an unavoidable schedule since drama filming wasn’t possible during comeback week.

“But why aren’t you three asleep? Don’t tell me you were waiting for me……!”

“We’re going to watch before sleeping.”

Woochul, who had been briefly hopeful, made an understanding face at Heungmin’s answer.

“Isn’t that past its broadcast time?”

“It’s a rerun. Heemin came out today.”

“Ah, right. I should watch too.”

He was tired, but he probably wouldn’t be able to fall asleep right away anyway.

After concentrating on filming, his brain felt too awake, so Woochul couldn’t fall asleep immediately.

Soon, Woochul, having changed his clothes, joined them in front of the TV.

Last week, they watched the first episode of live, but Heemin was only pieced together in the previews and didn’t actually appear in the main broadcast.

However, after the broadcast, captures of Heemin with the caption ‘Former MOST member’ circulated on online communities.

People commented that he looked quite cute and wondered what his skills were like.

“How is it on set these days?”

Waiting for the commercial to end, Heungmin asked casually.

Heungmin always cared about Woochul, even if he didn’t seem to show it.

Woochul, knowing it was a question about Han Seokwoo, glanced at Dojae.

Dojae and Louis were also looking at Woochul, curious.

Woochul smiled.

“Like Louis said, what Dojae *hyung* [older brother or male friend] said that day was totally the key. That senior doesn’t give me trouble anymore. He just… glares from afar, maybe?”

“Seriously? He glares?”

“I don’t know. It feels like he’s watching me…….”

But since he wasn’t directly causing trouble, Woochul wasn’t paying much attention to it.

Woochul was too busy to worry about Han Seokwoo, even if he had two bodies.

Dojae nodded, relieved.

“Anyway, I like the filming set. I get a lot of compliments too. They say my acting has improved.”

“It’s a relief you’re good at something, Woochul.”

“What? I’m good-looking, and I’m good at everything, you know?”

Heungmin didn’t argue further and simply chuckled.

While filming , Woochul’s confidence had increased in many ways.

That confidence also helped MOST.

His facial expressions during practice and filming were much better, and he also gave more proactive opinions on stage direction.

“Oh! It’s starting.”

So the four of them watched the second episode of .

The first episode of was criticized for the contestants being less charming than in Season 1, so they were curious about the second episode, which featured contestants who had been generating buzz since the teasers.

“Everyone’s so good, I hope our fans don’t leave…….”

Since Season 1 was quite popular, they had that anxiety, so they couldn’t help but focus more.

But at some point, the members forgot their anxiety and became completely absorbed in the broadcast as viewers.

Before they knew it, they were crying and laughing at each contestant’s story, let alone being wary of them.

They even started genuinely supporting some contestants.

“Wow, that number 59. He’s really good. He can sing and rap.”

“Right? He’s got a charming look and great skills.”

Dojae responded to Woochul’s words.

Louis mumbled with teary eyes.

“He lives with his grandma…. Not giving up on his dream of music while working part-time…. That’s so cool.”

The *hyungs* [older brothers or male friends] smiled while agreeing with Louis.

“He even studied music on his own? That’s amazing.”

“His name is pretty too? Choi Rina!”

“It doesn’t seem common for a guy’s name, but it’s unique and pretty,” Woochul said.

Heungmin also nodded.

Just as the members were deciding to vote for number 59 if they got the chance.

“Oh! It’s Heemin!”

Louis shouted after seeing Heemin following contestant number 59, Choi Rina.

Heungmin and Woochul quietly watched Heemin’s face, which they hadn’t seen in a while.

“He’s become more mature too.”

“Yeah.”

Even though he still looked young with his small face and cute features, Heungmin and Woochul could feel the passage of time.

Louis watched Heemin greeting the judges with curious eyes.

He had only heard about him, and this was the first time he was seeing his face properly.

He felt strange watching him.

If Heemin hadn’t left, he might not be here now.

-“You were a trainee at Kingdom and then went to America? So you practiced with Big Boyz? No, was it MOST at that time?”

-“MOST. I was in the debut group with the *hyungs* [older brothers or male friends].”

-“Oh…….”

-“I was young back then…. I want to debut through and meet the *hyungs* [older brothers or male friends] again.”

The interview with the production team was edited and shown.

Captions like ‘Former MOST member, number 60 Heemin’s extraordinary determination…’ appeared.

-“I want to show the MOST *hyungs* [older brothers or male friends] that I have skills I’m not ashamed of.”

The judges looked at Heemin’s ambition with anticipation.

-“MOST is known as a group with very good skills…. We’ll look forward to seeing Heemin’s skills as well.”

Heemin continuing to mention MOST, even though he hadn’t contacted them properly since going to America, was still uncomfortable.

But Heemin wasn’t lying, and the water had already been spilled.

“Since you’re out there, do well…….”

Heungmin muttered, still having some old affection for him.

Woochul also hoped Heemin would do well, since he had also emphasized that he was in the debut group with MOST.

Soon, the music started, and Heemin began to dance to a pop song he had prepared.

“What.”

Woochul couldn’t contain his shock and exclaimed, “Huh.”

“Was Heemin…. always like that?”

“No. He was a decent dancer. What……”

Woochul and Heungmin’s mouths dropped in astonishment.

Louis and Dojae, who had also been anticipating, also had stiff expressions.

Heemin’s dancing skills were…….

Simply terrible.

The TV judges’ expressions weren’t good either.

The singing skills that followed were also endlessly lacking.

He was at the level of an average person with a decent tone.

“Did he really just slack off in America……”

That was Heungmin’s assessment.

That was the only way to think about it.

“Still, how could all his basic skills disappear?”

“I guess this is why practice gaps are scary.”

Heungmin and Woochul now had pitiful expressions.

Heemin’s skills seemed so lacking because of his practice gap, as the two said.

But it was also because the two of them had improved too much.

The gap between the members and Heemin had become so large that it was impossible to catch up.

“Is he going to get eliminated in the first round like that?”

Woochul said worriedly.

If Heemin’s skills were good, and if it reminded them of the time they practiced together, Heungmin and Woochul would have felt more complicated.

But seeing Heemin’s appearance, which made them realize the passage of time, their feelings were rather resolved.

The members who had already established themselves and Heemin were on completely different paths.

Even if he mentioned MOST’s name.

In fact, many people were disappointed in Heemin’s appearance, which was different from the current MOST, after the broadcast aired.

The fact that he was a former MOST member raised expectations, which seemed to have become a disadvantage for Heemin.

“Elimination and qualification aren’t determined by skill alone, so he probably won’t be eliminated in the first round.”

The three nodded at Dojae’s words.

was a place where it was enough to receive a lot of votes with other charms, even if your skills were lacking.

Of course, it was difficult to get votes if you were tone-deaf or clumsy.

“I need to practice harder to debut.”

That’s how Woochul and Heungmin cleared up even the slightest complicated feelings they had left for Heemin.

Although Heemin was the one who left the company because he didn’t want to ‘work harder,’ they could only hope that this time would be different.

***

The next day.

The members, with their comeback four days away, devoted themselves to practice as usual.

The members’ goal was to finish practice around dinner time today.

Practicing too hard every day would reduce efficiency, and there could be problems with their condition before the comeback.

“Okay, that’s it for here. Should we stop here for today?”

The Socks trainer said after ‘s song ended.

“Haa……..”

But instead of an answer, all that could be heard was the members’ rough breathing, as they had to perform both the dance and the song live.

If was difficult because it was a series of very powerful choreography, was difficult because the formations changed frequently, leaving no time to rest.

During the parts where they changed formations, Louis and Heungmin sometimes had to almost run to find their positions.

“J-Just one more time.”

It wasn’t Gijun or Dojae who said that while panting, but Gyusung.

There were no members looking at Gyusung with resentment for wanting to practice more when they could finally finish.

Everyone nodded as if they could do a little more and looked at the Socks trainer.

The Socks trainer clicked his tongue and looked at the members.

It felt like yesterday that he was whipping them to work harder instead of thinking about resting, but now the members were stepping up to practice more.

“I don’t mind. Then let’s go through it one more time, focusing a little more on matching the movement lines in the interlude.”

“Yes!”

“Haa…. Yes!”

There was a reason why the members, who were already called practice bugs, were even more fired up this time.

Before, they worked hard because they ‘wanted to gain’ something, but now there were things to protect.

The fans…….

There were expectations that the fans had.

There were also expectations that the members had, stemming from the good title track and the smooth album preparation process.

Since MOST was continuously achieving better and better results, there was also the pressure to continue the upward trend.

Having been climbing uphill continuously, it felt like they would fall endlessly with just one misstep.

All those expectations and pressures were unknowingly weighing down on the members.

It was always like this before a comeback, but it was especially severe this time.