Chapter Text
[Have you ever had a wish you wanted to achieve so badly that you were willing to put everything on the line to achieve it…?]
For some reason, I was in a semi-circular auditorium facing a blonde haired man with an easygoing expression at the front, holding a cue card and microphone.
I hadn’t been here a few moments ago…
I had just been given the roulette prize from the DER wiki pop-up event.
‘So why…’
But before I could react, the cheerful voice at the front began to continue its speech
[Welcome, ARTchivists to the 44th season of Idol Exploration Records!]
[The show where all these promising young men will go through various hardships, form long lasting memories, and gain the chance to debut as a group!]
[And it is your job as ARTchivists to choose which of them can succeed in their dreams!]
[Of course, I, ███ will be your MC!]
A booming round of applause sounded in the room.
Surprised, I joined in.
Everyone in the rows around me were dressed in the same get-up.
However, everyone looked significantly younger than me, looking to be in their late-teen-to-early-twenties… So why is a random office worker around with them like nothing was out of the ordinary?
‘I need to find a way to escape!’
I tried to run, but I realised I had been sitting down the whole time.
As I looked down, I was dressed in the same black male school uniform with blue accents along the tie and lining of the blazer as everyone else, replacing the black suit I wore for a client I was supposed to meet up with later this evening.
[Since it’s the first episode of the show, everyone must be nervous right?]
the MC prompted, a cautious set of nods and noises of agreements sounded from his fellow contestants.
[Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, The judges aren’t able to come today, so this episode will only involve introductions and your very own trainee-showcase!]
“That sounds exciting!”
“Do we really need to do that as idols?”
”Hey did you guys prepare anything in advance for this?”
I overheard some of the murmured whispers of the contestants next to me, probably being filmed by the various cameras dotted around the set.
My hands were twitching over the pocket of my blazer, as if reaching for something that wasn’t there. If I could only find someone to talk to about this and understand my situation, my breathing hitched for a moment.
”i’m sorry but are you alright?”
“…”
”Should I ask the staff for help? You look really pale…”
”…”
I couldn’t bring myself to respond to him… because his face looked annoying.
If i managed to open my mouth, a torrent of rude words would have spilled out.
My seatmate ended up awkwardly shuffling back in his seat, saying nothing.
Just looking at him raised my suspicion levels to brand new heights. Something about him rubbed at me the wrong way so I'll just observe him closely.
As the first set of ‘trainees’ started introducing themselves at the front of the screen one by one, it turns out it was either the usual singing, dancing, and rapping you’d expect as a muggle, but also weird performances like that brown haired man who did a traditional sword dance… with an inflatable toy sword.
Or that white haired guy who did 50 push-ups in a row without breaking a sweat.
I really need to get out of here.
Asking one of the staff members politely, I was escorted to the men’s restroom.
I pushed the door open and what greeted me was something I could barely process.
It was my own face.
Only ten years younger, as if I drank off the fountain of youth or time travelled back to my formative years.
Turns out waking up in a different place was the least of my worries.
Quickly, I pulled out my phone and checked the date, tucking my fingers in between the griphook I bought off the pop-up shop.
” ██.██.20██” the screen read.
So I really had been sent back in time!
—
Allaboutmusic/forums/kpop
Do you guys know about this predebut idol? [This thread has been archived]
@Sweet_chessnuts_are_my_favourite
After Produce ███ Got big, every d*mn company’s trying to cash in on its success 😭😭😭😭 it's like everytime i blink there's a new idol survival competition popping up from the woodworks lmfaooooo. Don’t they know training periods exist for a reason?
Anyways, there's a new survival competition that’s appeared called Idol exploration records, which is weird because it's in its 44th season apparently.
One of the contestants is named Kim Soleum and he seriously looks like a damn angel… sings like one too.
Don’t believe me? Open the link below and be graced by his PRESENCE.
…
The video shows a bust up video of a young man, he has black eyes and hair styled into a middle part, he is wearing a school uniform style costume.
[Hello ARTchivists.]
The boy bowed a full 90 degrees, waving to the camera, and looking somewhat shy and uneasy.
the MC began enthusiastically.
[ How does it feel being selected for this show! I heard that you were the top of your batch of trainees when you auditioned to be a part of DAYDREAM, is this true?]
[I feel incredibly thankful to be given this opportunity and I hope to not disappoint everyone who has supported me in this journey… ]
[You said you like reading, what do you like to read?]
[I like to read ghost stories on this wiki website called ██████ ████ ████████████, It’s popular with people my age. Have you heard of it?]
[ Sorry, what was that?]
[ ██████ ████ ████████████. Nevermind, can you cut this out please?]
A subtitle floated above his head, saying ‘ The interests of the youth are completely mysterious these days’
The interview continued on for a few more minutes, asking about things like his MBTI(INTJ) and Blood type(A).
After the conversation teetered off, Soleum went to the middle of the stage to get ready.
[I will now be covering Saint U’s ‘Peek-a-boo’.]
A song that was supposed to be a cheerful earworm-worthy song from a popular girl group became a mysterious song of an otherworldly being to entrance its viewers into following its every move in the mouth of Mr Roe Deer.
‘DAYDREAM trainees are a different breed!’ a contestant whispered into another one's ear.
[…Alright, get ready. I’m the elegant tiger waiting for you to come closer— Peek-a-boo!]
It seemed that he decided to forgo the dance in favour of building the atmosphere of an ethereal being leading you to your doom, his facial expressions giving the impression he found the audience to be nothing more than potential victims.
[Peek-a-boo! I’ll entrance you, make you lose your mind. Peek-a-boo, so get ready.]
Since there was no backing track, Kim Soleum began to clap to the beat as he sang, causing the other contestants to clap along with him as he sang.
His tone of voice was goosebump inducing, if he wasn’t singing a modern song in an idol competition it would seriously feel like he was conducting a ritual.
[Peek-a-boo, so get ready…]
[Now I’m coming closer.]
Once he finished singing the last line, a round of applause sounded from the audience, far louder than the polite clapping one would do after an average performance.
…
Comments(██+)
-Are you sure this guy is just 17??? He looks so f*cking tall and handsome but sings like he’s got a CD stuck in his throat, is DAYDREAM formulating top idols in a lab???
-this guy is seriously awesome hahahaha just come to my house already this noona will take care of you
-ALL HAIL MASTER █████-NIM
-DAYDREAM? Like daydream Inc, the pharmaceutical company??? They might be the new S████. Everyone, let's invest in the public stock exchange just in case lol.
ㄴApparently its a subsidiary that the company obtained a few years ago… love their hair loss medication, what the f*ck do they know about Kpop Idols?
ㄴMind you my shipment of antidepressants from them still hasn’t come in after two weeks, Kim Soleum you will be my medicine…
-i wish all the boys in my school looked like this…
—
‘I… I did it’
I stood there, dumbfounded. I hadn’t expected such loud applause from the audience.
After all, I just sang the first thing that came to mind.
The MC smiled at me. Looking closer, his face had somewhat of a fox-like appearance to it.
There was definitely something that seemed inhuman about him I saw when I had come back from the restroom…
“Are you having second thoughts about joining this program are you, Mr Soleum?”
He suddenly appeared, cornering me. Eyes glinting as if they actually produced light while staring straight through me.
”No, Sir”, For some reason I couldn’t remember his name.
”That is wonderful news!” The show’s MC clapped his hands together.
He leaned closer to me, mouth directly overlapping my ear.
”It would be unfortunate If you were… terminated from the program so soon”
Were there any adverse effects that would happen if I suddenly dropped out midway through? I wasn’t even sure if this was even my reality since he’d never heard of this show before in his life.
Although it didn't seem like the MC was being fully opaque with me, I felt like I could trust him on this point at least.
”Thank you for your high expectations sir. I’ll try to aim for the debut lineup…”
His face suddenly lit up.
”That would be the best course of action”
Bingo.
There was definitely malicious going on in this competition to the trainees that don't make the cut.
So. I just needed to get into the group, then I could figure out a way to get back to my original life.
[That was a lovely performance from Mr Soleum from DAYDREAM!]
The gap between the MC behind the scenes and in front of the stage was big enough to bring me out of my thoughts.
I’m standing on the stage, hands sweaty holding a microphone after finishing my trainee showcase.
[How did you find your first performance?]
‘It was scary’
The MC laughed in surprise, did I accidentally say that out loud?
I was then grilled by the show’s MC for the next 5 minutes.
When I finished my interview, I tried to walk back to my assigned seat by one of the trainees who’d already performed… Sword dance balloon guy.
“ Hey, you were absolutely destroying it there!”
Balloon sword dance guy and another guy with a ㅜㅡㅜ expression approached me.
He extended his arm in a handshake motion and introduced himself enthusiastically, Weirdly enough, he had a turtleneck on under his uniform.
“ Hi I'm Choi, and the handsome cold duke of the north next to me is Jaekwan, nice to meet you!”
Just Choi…?
He stared strangely at me for a few seconds, before breaking into a fit of laughter.
“Oh I was joking! You don't need to make that face! It’s Lee Kanghyeon, K.Lee for short!”
I shook his hand. then the two of them wished me luck, hoping to team up together in a future stage performance.
Kanghyeon-“Hey! Drop the formalities! We’re all suffering the same here!”-nim said that he hoped that we could meet at one of our performance stages soon.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who knew what was going on.
—
After filming was concluded, all of the trainees had been sent back to the dorms to rest up and see how their living conditions were going to be for the next few weeks.
Thankfully, there weren't any cameras shooting us since the scheduling delays involving the show’s judges had taken center stage in the production staff’s eyes so I could collect myself in a more calm manner.
However when I walked into my dormitory, I was greeted by my suspicious seatmate.
Now, wearing a white medical eye patch, despite looking completely normal in the auditorium.
Is he a chuunibyou?
On the brighter side, that's not the worst person to have as a roommate, so I decided to keep the peace.
”I’m afraid we haven’t formally met. My name is Kim Soleum"
His face twitched. He looked really irritated for some reason, which was even more suspicious for me because I don't think I did anything wrong to warrant any of this.
“…Baek Saheon”
He extended his arm out
”…!”
I almost forgot to shake his hand for a moment, Something in my brain poked at me like I should be remembering something.
Baek Saheon on the other hand looked somewhat displeased, his one visible eye twitching as he feigned a smile.
“Earlier… In the auditorium, why didn’t you say anything when I was asking if you were okay?”
”Oh I meant that as an act of goodwill.”
I spoke spontaneously.
“What?”
I walked up to him, gripping his shoulder. I might as keep going.
”The human throat is an incredibly fragile organ, Baek Saheon”
”…”
”It would be a shame if you were to damage it as an idol trainee, so I wanted you to rest your voice”
“You!”
Baek Saheon balled his hand up into a fist, but before anything could happen, a ruffle of sheets sounded as a white haired shirtless man came in front of my very rude seatmate- my eyes lit up in recognition, 50 push ups man! He was my saviour.
True to his feats, his pale white skin looked practically transparent stretching over his rippling abs, making him look like a martial god who descended down to earth to vanquish evil. He looked like the very definition of a handsome man.
“No fighting is allowed on the premises.”
We both quieted down a bit after that.
Looking around more closely, the dormitory room looked very… spartan to put it kindly.
There were two bunk beds pushed along opposite sides of the wall and are separated by two desks with bins placed underneath them.
Moreover we had a shared wardrobe at the end of the feet of the bunk beds.
Overall, It wasn’t too bad. Aside from my strange roommates.
I chose to sleep on the top bunk, right above where 50 push ups man- who later introduced himself as Lee Jaheon slept, in case that suspicious seatmate of mine ever tried to do something with me.
While I was off hiding in the top bunk securely with my phone ( which the staff hadn’t taken off me) researching idol survival competitions and crying myself to sleep watching pororo videos, the final roommate, Park Minseong joined the fray and had to sleep above a fuming Baek Saheon.