Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 4

#4.

It’s a given that you become speechless when extremely flustered.

The New Entertainment rookie development team employee and the team leader, who had been unable to speak, finally regained their senses and asked in turn.

“You’re… not going to debut? What on earth are you talking about?”

“Is this… some kind of humble remark, like it’s too early to debut?”

Dojae once again clearly stated his intentions.

“No. I’m saying I won’t debut under New Entertainment.”

At Dojae’s answer, the practice room buzzed with chatter.

The vocal trainer, as if dumbfounded, loudly retorted.

“You’re saying you won’t be a singer?”

To take the statement of leaving the agency as not wanting to be a singer.

The vocal trainer’s question left Dojae speechless.

‘Their pride in New Entertainment is immense. Or is it arrogance?’

It wasn’t just the vocal trainer’s problem.

New Entertainment was definitely one of the top 3 agencies in Korea, with great fame and power.

The planning ability that produced many popular idols.

Its own promotional capabilities and numerous broadcast appearances.

The industry’s and countless fandoms’ attention.

All of this was given to those from New Entertainment.

New Entertainment was an object of envy among trainees, and debuting here meant being guaranteed a certain level of success.

‘That’s why Kang Dojae endured no matter what.’

To throw away such an opportunity, everyone couldn’t help but react with astonishment, bordering on shock.

Dojae swallowed a bitter smile and replied.

“No. I have to be a singer. It’s my dream.”

“Then why is the kid who practiced here saying he’s leaving now that we’re giving him a debut?”

The vocal trainer asked sharply.

‘His tone is disrespectful from beginning to end, even though Kang Dojae is younger than him.’

Dojae frowned as he thought.

“You. Are you really asking because you don’t know the reason?”

“What? What’s with your tone?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know that all the people chosen as members here are the ones who bullied me?”

The practice room buzzed once again.

Most of the people here knew that Song Hwan and his group had been bullying Dojae.

Only the female trainees who practiced separately or a few of the newly arrived trainees didn’t know.

Even the staff roughly knew the situation.

They had been turning a blind eye with the naive thought that ‘boys will be boys’ and the irresponsible thought that ‘if it’s too hard, he’ll leave on his own.’

No one knew that he would give up his debut to make an issue of this fact.

‘If Kang Dojae had remained in this body…….’

He would have felt extreme distress at the same time as the joy of being selected as a debut member.

‘Because he wouldn’t have been able to give up debuting here. So the thought that he would never be able to escape would have tormented Kang Dojae.’

Kang Dojae had wanted to die so intensely that his body changed.

Death might have come sooner than his debut.

“How can I trust this place, full of perpetrators and bystanders, and debut?”

Amidst the shock and astonishment, only Dojae remained calm.

Dojae looked at Yoo Myungwoo and his group standing in front with cold eyes.

They, who had been smiling when Dojae’s name was called, were now frozen.

‘Yoo Myungwoo is the nephew of a New Entertainment director. If he wanted to stop Kang Dojae’s debut, he could have easily done so.’

But they’re welcoming the debut of Kang Dojae, whom they treated worse than a servant?

That meant they had an ulterior motive.

‘They must have decided to get Kang Dojae on their side after yesterday’s incident. Because once they’re in the same team, he wouldn’t reveal the fact that they bullied him to the outside.’

And they wouldn’t want to lose their easy target for venting.

Sadly, Dojae’s guesses were all correct.

Like the others, they had never imagined that Dojae would give up debuting at New Entertainment.

“Bullying? Dojae. I’m disappointed.”

At that moment, when everyone’s attention was focused.

Yoo Myungwoo opened his mouth and stepped forward.

Yoo Myungwoo had already hidden his bewildered face and was now frowning as if he was truly disappointed.

As if such a thing had never happened.

Or as if to say, what are you going to do even if it did?

It was an excellent response that contrasted with Song Hwan, who was seething, but Dojae silently took out his phone.

―What? Is this bastard crazy? Did he take drugs? Is he out of his mind?

Soon, Song Hwan’s fierce voice flowed from Dojae’s phone.

―If you hit someone, you should apologize. Did you break your head when you fell earlier?

―Hey. Aren’t you worried about your mom anymore? Do you think you’ll debut tomorrow and not have to worry about food?

In the end, Song Hwan couldn’t hold back and shouted.

“Hey, you. What are you trying to do?!”

Dojae pressed the stop button and then opened his mouth again.

“It’s nothing compared to all the insulting words and threats I’ve heard over the past 3 years… But even just what happened yesterday is this much. You have no reason to be disappointed in me.”

Dojae, who spoke to Yoo Myungwoo first, now looked at Song Hwan and said.

“What am I trying to do? Just letting you know that if you debut, a complaint post can be uploaded at any time. And that I have the evidence.”

“…This crazy bastard.”

“Recording without the other party’s consent is illegal.”

While Song Hwan was spewing curses, the rookie development team leader pointed out in a stiff voice.

He must have thought that Dojae wouldn’t change his mind, so he was quickly drawing a line between Dojae and himself.

‘Just as I expected.’

If the company had prioritized moral aspects over other things, Kang Dojae would never have been left to be bullied for so long in the first place.

Kang Dojae, and now Dojae, knew.

That the company would never cut off the perpetrator members because of him alone.

So Dojae decided.

That he would not entrust his future to this place, New Entertainment.

Even if success was guaranteed, what good would it do to debut in a company that turned a blind eye to the harm he suffered, and succeed with the perpetrators?

Dojae was also skeptical about the future of New Entertainment, which was soaked in arrogance.

‘Becoming a singer isn’t only possible through New Entertainment.’

Even if it took a little longer.

Dojae decided last night to do what Kang Dojae couldn’t do because he lacked the time and courage.

Leaving New Entertainment.

And still becoming a singer and fulfilling his dream.

Furthermore, succeeding more than those who tormented Kang Dojae.

“If you want to debut with this member lineup despite these unstable factors, isn’t that the company’s choice?”

The team leader couldn’t answer Dojae’s question.

Dojae turned around and left the practice room, which had become somewhat subdued, without any regrets.

***

There was nothing to hold him back.

The trainee contract, unlike the exclusive artist contract, could be terminated without any penalty fees.

In the case of promising trainees, a clause granting priority negotiation rights for an exclusive contract was sometimes included to prevent the trainee from going to another agency, but this did not apply to Dojae.

Dojae was waiting for the elevator after leaving the practice room.

With the sound of the elevator arriving, the glass door of the practice room burst open and someone jumped out.

“Wait! Stop, stop! Let’s go together!”

It was a trainee wearing a red cap that stole the attention.

Dojae pressed the open button to open the closing door.

With a rattling noise, the red cap safely boarded the elevator.

“You’re really cool.”

Then, out of the blue, he praised Dojae.

Dojae frowned slightly and looked at the red cap with suspicious eyes.

It was a person he didn’t remember at all in Kang Dojae’s memories.

“Your courage is amazing. I’m totally in love with you. So I followed you.”

Even with the ensuing confession.

While Dojae was unusually flustered, the elevator arrived on the first floor.

The red cap followed Dojae out of the building.

“Let’s go together, together!”

The hot sun was scorching the top of his head.

Because of the red cap that was following him like a leech, Dojae had to stop.

“Who… are you?”

“Me? I was a trainee here too! Of course, I’ve only been here for a month, so I didn’t know there was such a shit thing going on here. I’m so glad I found out just now.”

“You’re not saying you quit your trainee life and followed me?”

“Why not? That’s right! I can’t be with those kids who bully others.”

Dojae was taken aback by the explanation of the red cap, who spoke with English mixed in as if he were a student studying abroad (though it was a bit crude).

He seemed to lack both sense and a plan, but in fact, this was the right thing to do.

Even though it was a bit burdensome that the reason for quitting New Entertainment, where it wasn’t easy to even pass the audition, was himself, Dojae wanted to respect the red cap’s choice.

“What are you going to do now? Where are we going to debut?”

“What?”

Dojae asked back with his mouth open.

Where are we going to debut—he couldn’t understand at all why he was being asked that.

Besides, why did ‘we’ become a thing between people who had just met?

“I just had a feeling. I think I can just trust you and go.”

“Trust what……”

“Let’s do well in the future. Ah, you might not even know my name? You’re Kang Dojae, right? I’m Kim Louie.”

The red cap, who said let’s do well in the future as he pleased with a voice full of fighting spirit, even introduced himself.

Dojae blankly muttered the red cap’s name.

“Louie……?”

The name was very exotic.

It was also a familiar name to Dojae.

‘It’s similar to the name that always appears when learning about the constitutional monarchy of the Korean Empire.’

Even his appearance, starting with his high nose and ending with his light brown eyes, whether it was dyed or his real hair color, made him look like a mixed-race person.

“Ah, but that doesn’t mean I’m a foreigner. I’m completely Korean.”

Louie explained as if he was used to it so that there would be no misunderstandings even if he wasn’t asked, and Dojae nodded.

It wasn’t an important issue anyway.

Whether the conditions such as nationality, race, education, and wealth were, people were equal, so discrimination was not the attitude of an imperial family member of the Korean Empire.

Dojae gathered his flustered mind and properly examined Kim Louie in front of him.

The fact that he had a good moral sense, even though it was a bit burdensome, and that his name was related to a certain imperial family in another country, eased Dojae’s wariness.

Anyway, Dojae needed at least one person to keep by his side in this unfamiliar place.

The glamorous and exotic appearance that would be good enough to debut together was a bonus.

However, there was one thing that bothered him.

It wasn’t that he felt bad because it was a friendly tone of speaking informally, not ignoring him like the others, but no matter how he looked at it, Kim Louie in front of him was….

He looked much younger than Dojae.

“Age.”

“Huh?”

“How old are you?”

“…18 years old. Aren’t you the same age as me? You look like it?”

Dojae looked up and down at Kim Louie, 18 years old.

“I’m twenty years old.”

Dojae was inevitably sensitive to the age issue, if nothing else.

Kim Louie, who had been momentarily stunned by Dojae’s words, nodded his head up and down vigorously.

“You were a *hyung* [older brother or male friend]?! You look so young.”

“…Is that so.”

He felt quite good anyway when he said he looked young.