NOVEL ONLINE FREE C5
Only after Hwi-geon left did Kang Moon finally get a moment to himself again.
As soon as the door clicked shut, he flopped face-first onto the bed.
It had been a fairly productive time, but he’d gathered so much information that he needed time to process it all.
At first, he had worried just how much of a mess had things for someone to disappear without a word and Whether he really pulled this off. There were plenty of reasons rookie groups failed: a lack of star quality, unbalanced team dynamics, weak skills, or even a collectively poor visual appeal.
But based on his brief observation of the members, he can say that they weren’t doomed to fail that easily. For trainees crammed into a no-name company, their visual average was decent, and their personalities weren’t particularly problematic. They each have their own unique image and they surprisingly work well together. Sure, the historical drama speech patterns could be jarring at first but if used well, they were enough to grab attention.
So there was only one thing that needed to be fixed. This garbage company’s garbage planning. The weird, mismatched thug style concept, If you just pretend it never existed and simply packaged the group’s strengths in a presentable way, at the very least, they wouldn’t crash and burn immediately. And with the cheat code known as Park Hwi-geon in their corner, they could even aim for breakout rookie status.
“But how am I supposed to change something that’s already decided…”
Even if he had ideas for improvement, it wasn’t easy to overturn everything as just a trainee. From the looks of it, they’d already done some recording. For the company, scrapping all that and starting over would be a huge risk.
He wasn’t a producer. What kind of say did a mere pre-debut trainee have? He’d be lucky not to get labeled as arrogant.
“Ugh, whatever. I’ll just sleep.”
Kang Moon rolled onto his side and pulled the blanket over his head. He felt uneasy, so he placed a hand on his chest and closed his eyes. Maybe because he was exhausted, he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
***
Ding! ♬
Good morning! Please prepare a breakfast full of love for the members.
(Warning: If you decline the quest, the members’ morale will drop for the day.)
[Accept] [Decline]
“…What the hell is this now?”
He was woken up at dawn by loud sound effects, and now the status screen was telling him to prepare breakfast. Kang Moon’s face crumpled in disbelief.
Quest or not, this was just too much. This just makes me do all sorts of things. He could not even feed himself properly, and now he is supposed to feed others.
Naturally, he went to press the “Decline” button but a small line of text below caught his eye.
“If you decline the quest, the members’ morale will drop for a day… Ugh, come on!”
This was just another one of those “shut up and do it” quests.
Irritated, Kang Moon kicked off the blanket without getting up, sending a puff of dust flying up with his flailing limbs. Even the sunlight pouring through the open window irritates him.
“I can’t even cook, what kind of breakfast…”
Still lying there, he groaned and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
He had lived alone for a while, but he usually ate out or ordered delivery, and he rarely cooked for himself. Sometimes he boils instant ramen or makes kimchi fried rice and a fried egg. It barely counts as cooking.
Maybe… morale dropping for a day isn’t that big a deal?
Following the internal conflict, his finger hovered indecisively between “Accept” and “Decline”.It wasn’t like yesterday’s situation with Hwi-geon, where a permanent penalty was at stake.
Just a one-day debuff…
“Haah… I just wanna go home.”
After much internal debate, Kang Moon finally pressed “Accept.” With the leader having lost his memory right before debut, the atmosphere was already shaky.
He didn’t want morale taking another hit on top of that.
Stretching both arms above his head with a yawn, he got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. Judging by the closed doors and silence, everyone else was still asleep.
Despite being a house full of boys, the small kitchen off the living room was surprisingly well-equipped with dishes and utensils. He wondered if anyone came by to help, but given how dirty the place was, he doubted it.
“Let’s see here… hmm.”
He opened the oversized double-door fridge, which was far too big for the kitchen, and blinked in surprise. Instead of messy leftovers and old side dishes, it was actually well-organized and clean.
“Guess someone here’s good at cooking.”
He didn’t know who, but in his mind, a cooking-themed idol variety show already unfolded in his mind. As a Boys his age goofing around noisily and one of them calmly chopping away with practiced precision.
A member who likes to cook? That’s a huge plus. Someone who enjoys cooking or making food for others is highly marketable. With a solid recipe or food combo and maintaining a homely image, they could even aim for real time-trend on SNS,which was an all rounder skill.
If possible, I like a member who didn’t look like they’d be into cooking. Maybe the immature-looking Si-chan, or the stiff, old-fashioned Ho-jae. Even the mischievous Cha Yul would be good.
But honestly, the elegant prince-like Hwi-geon would probably be the most charming.
“Well, anyway. I can’t cook, so I’ll just do what I can.”
He grabbed three eggs lined up neatly near the door, closed the fridge, and cracked them into a clean bowl. He placed a frying pan on the gas stove and turned it to low heat.
While the pan heated, he took out four slices of bread from a clear bag labeled “One Meal Butter Toast” and placed them two at a time in the toaster grill on the sink counter. He pressed the “Toast” button, and the timer started ticking.
“Ooh, this is nice.”
Gotta love the power of modern convenience. After admiring the automatic toasting process, Kang Moon returned to the stove.
Checking the heat with his palm, he poured oil into the pan and added the beaten eggs. He sprinkled some salt and pepper, stirred with chopsticks and soon scrambled eggs were done. The kitchen quickly filled with a delicious aroma.
He placed the eggs on a plate and set them on the table. Ding! He heard the toaster’s timer ring. He took out strawberry jam from the fridge and toast from the toaster.
“Ow! Hot, hot—damn, that’s hot!”
Blowing on his burnt fingertips, he carefully stacked the perfectly toasted bread on a plate. The previously empty table now had a simple but appetizing breakfast laid out.
All in all, not bad considering how much he’d dreaded doing it.
“Huh… Why does this all feel so oddly familiar?”
Even if everything was laid out intuitively, it was strange how naturally his body moved in this unfamiliar space. Maybe even if his soul had swapped, the body still remembered the protagonist’s routines.
quest complete!
Reward: Morale +20 (All Members, 24 Hours)
“+20? Is that a lot?”
Assuming morale worked on a 100-point scale, so the one-fifth pretty decent.
At least enough to feel like the morning struggle had paid off.
“Yawn… *Why doth thou rese so early?” [t/n: why do you rise so early]
Cha Yul shuffled out of his room, yawning loudly. Clearly awoken by the kitchen noise. That damn historical drama speech still wasn’t something one could get used to in just a day.
“Ooh! Smells good!”
Si-chan who shared the same room, trailed behind him, rubbing his eyes. He sniffed the air with his eyes still closed, then perked up and ran over to the table.
“Hyung, did you make this?”
“Well… it’s nothing special.”
“Hyuuuung… you’re not even feeling well…”
“Hey, I feel fine, okay?”
Kang Moon looked away with an embarrassed expression, scratched the back of his head at Si-chan’s sparkling eyes. All he did was toast some bread and cook some eggs but this reaction was over the top.
“Look! Moonie-hyung made breakfast!”
“You guys are up early.”
Hwi-geon stepped out, ruffling his hair, and Si-chan waved him over excitedly, telling him to come quickly. Hwi-geon glanced between the table and Kang Moon with a surprised expression.
Damn. Even straight out of bed, still hot as hell.
With Kang Moon’s perception now fully filtered, even Hwi-geon’s sleep-mussed face looked radiant. The way he walked over to the table, it felt more divine than any runway.
“What? Why are you staring like that?”
“Ah… no reason. Where’s Ho-jae?”
“Leave him. He values sleep over food.”
Kang Moon glanced at Ho-jae’s cracked door, and Hwi-geon answered offhandedly while sitting down. Kang Moon replied with a casual “Got it” and retrieved four more slices of bread from the toaster. After seeing Hwi-geon’s glowing face, his own cheeks felt warmer than the bread he was holding.
“When did Seongsoo-hyung say he’d meet us again?”
He learned later that the manager’s name who came yesterday with his slumped shoulder was Choi Seongsoo.
He had a gloomy expression on his face when he said he would inform the CEO and that we should have a group meeting with him.
“Around 1 p.m., after lunch.”
“So we can relax until then?”
“Relax? You mean practice.”
“If we move right after eating, we’ll get stomachaches.”
“Excuses, as always, Lee Si-chan.”
“You would get sick if you always eat ramen?”
Hwi-geon flicked Sichan’s forehead, and Si-chan gave him a look while grumbling with Cha Yul.
“If you’ve got time for that, teach Kang Moon some dance moves. He’s probably forgotten everything.”
“Oh, right!”
Si-chan nodded in agreement and smiled as she turned to Kang Moon, who was in the middle of spreading the jam.
“Don’t worry, hyung! You’re good at everything. You’ll remember it all in a day or two.”
Kang Moon forgot to respond and froze in the middle of biting the scrambled egg side on the slice of bread before blinking. Such unconditional trust and kindness, it caught him completely off guard.
“Dude, you’re getting food everywhere. Are you doing this on purpose?”
Hwi-geon clicked his tongue and gently wiped the corner of Kang Moon’s mouth with his bare hand. Startled by the sudden touch, Kang Moon instinctively covered his mouth. Hwigeon awkwardly cleared his throat.
“…Uh, thanks.”
The spot where his fingers had touched still felt warm. He scratched at it lightly.
How could they have been on bad terms before, when they were this comfortable now?