Chapter 71: No Secrets (1)

The concept photo teaser for Stardust’s first mini album Parallel Universe had been released.

It was a surprise reveal at midnight.

The first to kick things off were the eldest member Cha Seongbin and the youngest Do Seohan’s concept teasers.

"What is this?"

I happened to log onto Twitter and saw the concept teaser uploaded at just the right timing.

A Dusty let out a joyful scream and covered her mouth.

“Crazy.”

It was a photo so stunning, it made me gasp involuntarily.

The Dusty muttered under her breath without even realizing it.

“Is his face insane?”

Do Seohan sat by the window, resting his head.

In those large eyes, a vast galaxy was reflected.

Beautiful stars embroidered the dark universe.

In Seohan’s hand, as he gazed blankly at the breathtaking sight, was a small hourglass.

That tiny baby hamster—when did he grow up so much?

His eyes, filled with melancholy, suddenly struck the Dusty right in the heart.

Was this really just a photo teaser?

It already felt so alive.

“……”

With trembling hands, the Dusty flipped to the next photo and once again covered her mouth.

“Seongbin-ah…!”

Cha Seongbin with blue hair—a look never seen during Starf.

Back when he had black hair during Starf days, the school uniform had dulled his vibe, but now his natural coolness shone through completely.

Like Seohan’s teaser, the universe shimmered outside the window, and one brilliant star lit up the background.

Cha Seongbin held a small globe in his hand and gently lifted the corners of his mouth.

It was just two photos.

But how many Dusties did those handsome faces make cry?

She mumbled with dazed pupils.

"Have you guys seriously lost it?"

Doubles really went all out.

From the photo teaser alone, you could smell the money—a work that truly upheld the pride of a major agency.

“The reactions must be insane.”

With Starf recognition and the title of Doubles’ rookie boy group.

Even before debut, all eyes were already on them, and now the teaser was jaw-droppingly good.

As a Dusty with years of K-pop fangirl experience, I was certain.

This… It would’ve been weird not to blow up.

Sure enough—

“It’s already exploded.”

[Stardust photo teaser drops]

Cha Seongbin’s blue hair is legendary, period.

Now I get why he was voted Starf’s visual #1 instantly.

Please please keep the blue hair for the next comeback too, Seongbin-ah.

—Is Cha Seongbin’s personal color the universe? How can someone match stars so perfectly?

ㄴTo me, Cha Seongbin is Earth itself.

ㄴF**k I can’t forget you and I keep spinning nonstop, Seongbin-ah.

—At this point, his hair has to be blue out of consideration.

ㄴWas Cha Seongbin born with blue hair?

ㄴ2222 Be honest—weren’t you born with it?

[Do Seohan is growth]

If you’re confused, just memorize it.

Do Seohan is growth, and growth is Do Seohan.

Other people’s kids grow up fast, huh…

When did our baby hamster get so big?

My heart was beating so fast I thought I had arrhythmia.

—Starting today, I’m memorizing it. Do Seohan is growth.

ㄴOur baby hamster came back as a handsome hamster!

ㄴSeohan-ah!!!! Why are you so good-looking!!!! Have you finally gone crazy???

—What’s with those fatal eyes… the moment I saw the teaser, I cried and suddenly became someone with a tragic backstory.

ㄴBut still cute as ever.

ㄴGet a clue! Seohan’s trying to do the sentimental thing.

—Seohan, did you think noona wouldn’t fall for that emotional gaze? Of course I would. Take my bank account, Do Seohan, please.

ㄴNoona got paid this month ^^ want it all?

While the Dusties kept on gasping in admiration,

Many comments started to appear speculating about the concept of the title song based on the teaser.

—But seriously, what’s the concept? Space is confirmed, and the teaser feels really sentimental, so what direction will the title song take?

ㄴSentimental? Refreshing?

ㄴIt probably won’t be a super intense concept.

ㄴNot sure… maybe sentimental sexy like Byo-Seohan always chants?

ㄴLOL you really know your Byo.

ㄴSeohan-ah, even your fans know your taste now lol.

—There are only two props revealed so far, so we should focus on the hourglass and globe. I feel like time travel and Earth traveler will definitely be part of the concept.

—Not sure about the concept, but I think the song itself will either be sentimental or powerfully refreshing.

ㄴDoubles probably won’t go with a calm debut song, so I’m guessing the latter.

ㄴActually, I don’t really know, but our kids’ visuals are doing everything.

ㄴ2222 Not sure, but they’re just good-looking.

The Dusty nodded after reading the last comment.

Whether it was sentimental-refreshing or power-refreshing, she’d eat it up either way.

“Please debut soon.”

All she could do was wait desperately for the debut day.

At the same time, in the practice room.

“Gyaah!”

With Seo Haim’s sudden shriek, the members fluttered down like falling leaves.

“This is too hard.”

Seo Haim was the one who spoke, but the other members didn’t look much better.

Cha Seongbin staggered while laughing loudly.

“When it’s tough, just laugh~ Hahaha!”

“Hyung’s losing it, isn’t he?”

“He’s finally… gone mad?”

Whispers.

Seo Haim and Jin Sehyun mumbled seriously as they assessed Cha Seongbin’s condition.

“Looks like a serious case of practice addiction.”

“Maybe the cause is Ha Junseo?”

“Seohan, what do you think?”

“I don’t know, but get up.”

“…!”

“Gyaah!”

Seohan practically dragged the two up.

The one who had triggered this madness was Ha Junseo, and the one who finished it off was Do Seohan.

The entrance was blocked and now the exit was gone too.

They were completely surrounded from both sides.

Seo Haim’s face turned pale.

There was only one person he could trust now.

Seo Haim’s desperate SOS rang out.

“Leader, please help us!”

“Nope. We have filming the day after tomorrow.”

Kang Siwoo flatly rejected him and pulled Seo Haim back in front of the mirror for better visibility.

They had filming for episode 2 of the reality show the day after tomorrow.

For the shoot, they would undergo a mid-term evaluation in front of former Starf mentors Yoo Minseo and Choi Myunghwan.

Just standing in front of those two brought back vivid memories of Starf days, so they couldn’t afford to take practice lightly.

“If you don’t want filming canceled and a major scolding, we need to nail it today.”

“…That’s true…”

Wobble wobble.

At the leader’s firm words, Seo Haim turned into a feeble chick, waving his arms weakly.

“Alright, let’s push through and go again!”

With Ha Junseo’s energetic shout, practice resumed once more.

Just once, we touched utopia.

That planet was heartbreakingly blue.

I can’t forget it because it’s beautiful.

I’m stuck in you.

But only for a moment.

Around the end of the first verse, Seohan caught an error with his hawk-like eyes.

“The angle of the arm was slightly off just now.”

“…Really?”

Seo Haim’s voice trembled.

Then Ha Junseo smiled and drove in the wedge.

“Then shall we go from the beginning again?”

If it’s off, just start over from the beginning.

Ha Junseo’s innocent remark even shook Seohan’s resolve for a second.

“We could just redo this part…”

“Let’s go from the beginning.”

Seo Haim was once again certain.

It wasn’t the performance perfectionist youngest Do Seohan who was the true madman— it was the eldest, whose passion level was maxed out.

“Oh, my foot was a little off.”

“Then let’s start over.”

“Ack!”

Was this hell training for real?

Cha Seongbin and Seo Haim, locked in the practice room for ten hours straight, were about to lose their minds.

Actually, Cha Seongbin was already gone.

You could tell by how he was instinctively stepping with unfocused eyes.

“That hyung is already done for…”

Seo Haim mumbled in disbelief.

“Ah, this part’s movement is confusing, I’ll try it again.”

Youngest Seohan was… well…

He’s just young and full of energy.

Seo Ian hyung was the type who never showed he was tired, even when he was.

Kang Siwoo and Jin Sehyun were just as stubborn as Ha Junseo.

I’m the only sane one in this practice room.

“Byeoldol, please save me!!!”

Seo Haim screamed and collapsed forward.

“Byeoldol is a girl.”

“….”

Only despair returned.

“Haa… ha. That’s it. Good work, everyone.”

I didn’t even know how practice ended.

I collapsed on the practice room floor, completely exhausted.

I consider myself a pretty hardworking trainee, but Ha Junseo’s madness was beyond imagination.

Now I sort of understood why I had collapsed during practice back then.

It wasn’t that hyung’s body was weak—he had a talent for making even a healthy body fall apart.

“Whew… I’m dying.”

Panting, I grabbed a bottle of water and quenched my thirst,

“Gak!”

Cha Seongbin’s sudden scream rang out.

I looked up in shock, wondering what had happened, and something on the floor was crawling—unclear whether it was a person or a puddle.

“Oh? A person’s melted here! Is that Choco Haim?”

“Yeah. Told you to stick him in the freezer.”

Jin Sehyun clicked his tongue and pushed the melted Seo Haim off to the side.

Was this a side effect of practice?

That hyung finally melted!

“Ueueueh…”

Drag, drag.

Poor stamina Choco Haim mumbled in a groan as he was dragged away.

“Honestly, after working this hard… if I get criticized the day after tomorrow, I’m gonna cry in front of Myunghwan-saem.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’m seriously going to cry…”

He did get scolded a lot during Starf.

Especially Seo Haim got scolded the most out of the seven here.

In terms of dance skills alone, he was definitely in the upper ranks of Starf, but strangely, he always messed up choreography only in front of Choi Myunghwan.

Thinking back to those frustrations, Seo Haim started doing a voice impression of teacher Choi Myunghwan.

“Haim-ah! Your spacing is all off! You think you’ll debut like that?”

“Hey! Hey! Seo Haim, snap out of it!”

“You’re the biggest problem here right now! Do you even know that?”

Yikes.

That hyung must really have been holding a lot in.

While Seo Haim was rambling nonsense on the floor of the practice room out of exhaustion,

the corner on the opposite side was relatively peaceful.

“Umm. Uuumm.”

Kang Siwoo was watering a newly placed cactus in the practice room, regaining his mental peace.

From what I could tell, he didn’t even seem to be trying to hide it anymore.

Trickle trickle.

Seo Ian came running with a watering can in both hands and eagerly followed Kang Siwoo, watering as well.

“Should I water this one too?”

“Oh, I already watered that earlier.”

“Ah! No wonder it felt moist.”

They were the same age at twenty and seemed to have become close… but every time I saw them, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Seo Ian looked like a rabbit caught by a Siberian husky.

Seo Ian trotted around the practice room, filling the watering can to the brim again.

The thought crossed my mind that it might not be so bad to wedge myself into that food chain and peacefully water the cactus too…

But ah, I was tired.

Physical fatigue hit me first.

“Ugh.”

With a groan, I lay back down on the practice room floor.

Since I’d have to practice again tomorrow anyway, I figured falling asleep without thinking too much might not be such a bad idea…

And that’s when it happened.

“Do Seohan?”

I thought it was a hallucination, but it was a voice really calling me.

Jin Sehyun, who was slumped against the wall looking just as exhausted, waved at me.

“Seohan, come over here.”

“Uh, okay…”

My body felt as stiff as a rock.

I answered in a drained voice and dragged myself over.

But then.

Jin Sehyun’s face had gone strangely cold.

Swiik—

Jin Sehyun carefully held up his phone in front of my eyes.

“What is this?”

A community post?

It was just for a moment, but the title at the top came into view clearly.

[Hey, did you see what came up about Cha Seongbin XX?]

Jin Sehyun whispered in a low voice near my ear.

“Don’t act like you know anything about this.”

Ah.

Should I just snatch Cha Seongbin’s phone away?

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