Chapter 30
RE:DEFINE
“RE:DEFINE — it means ‘to define again.’”
The MC turned over the cue card and continued.
“Six groups will each choose a song from an established idol group and compete on stage. But this isn’t just a simple cover stage. This is about redefining the song — with your own style, your own voice.”
On the screen, instead of rankings, the only word that appeared was RE:DEFINE.
The idol members looked at the screen with determined expressions.
“This is where the real beginning starts!”
“Yaaawn—”
Ruha yawned, opening his mouth wide.
A small hand patted his tiny shoulder.
He’d been in the studio all day, and exhaustion weighed down his entire body. His eyelids were heavy enough to close at any moment, but he forced himself toward the CEO’s office.
“R-Really?”
“Yaaawn— Yeah, you think I’d lie about that?”
Still yawning, Ruha answered curtly.
“T-Then, at least a contract!”
Yoon Taejin frantically rummaged through his drawer.
“…You really want to do that to a five-year-old?”
Ruha gave him a side-eye and shook his head. Realizing how ridiculous he sounded, Taejin gave an awkward laugh and shut the drawer.
“But wait, PD Lee Geon-woo made this proposal himself?”
“I’m telling you, yeah!”
“That’s unexpected… a self-produced content show, and about failed idols at that…”
Ruha trailed off. Taejin’s eyes narrowed.
“…Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?”
“PD Lee said he saw potential in LUMIS! He said he wants to be one of their founding supporters!”
Taejin hummed cheerfully as he sat across from Ruha.
“By the way… why didn’t you tell me about Jung Jaeyoon?”
“…Huh?”
The smile that had been forming on Taejin’s lips slowly froze.
“You really don’t know? Beat12Y, Jung Jaeyoon.”
“…!”
Ruha flinched — as if he had just heard a name he shouldn’t have.
“W-Why are you bringing him up…?”
“I ran into him in the waiting room today.”
Ruha’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Be honest. There’s something, right?”
“……”
Taejin stayed silent. His plump fingers began tapping rhythmically on the desk.
Tap, tap, tap.
The uneasy rhythm filled the room.
“Ugh, so frustrating—!”
Ruha took out his back scratcher and started tapping it on the desk.
“…?”
Something was off. Normally, Taejin would’ve jumped and yelled, “Hey! You scared me!” But not this time.
“…Hyung?”
“…He was the main vocal.”
“So what?”
Ruha tilted his head.
A member change before debut? It’s not unusual. That alone didn’t explain Taejin’s reaction earlier.
“He quit right before debut. After the recordings and even the MV shoot were done.”
“What? Why?”
“They said it was for health reasons, but…”
Taejin trailed off.
“…No way, don’t tell me—”
Ruha’s eyes widened.
“Yeah. It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”
“Ha!”
Ruha let out a bitter laugh.
Jung Jaeyoon, that bastard. So he ditched LUMIS once his debut with VISTA got confirmed?
“I only found out later.”
“What?”
“I went to VISTA on some work business… and saw him there — purely by chance, rehearsing.”
Taejin hung his head low, frowning as if recalling the memory.
“I almost lost it right there… but what good would it have done, standing in the way of a kid’s path? You know how this industry is — debuting under a big company gives you better odds than at a small one. It’s not like I didn’t understand that…”
Ruha stared, speechless.
He’d known Taejin was softhearted — but not this soft.
“Sigh… What did VISTA say?”
“VISTA doesn’t know.”
“…What?”
“We kept it quiet. It was before the showcase, so the lineup hadn’t been revealed yet. Jaeyoon was street-cast, so his profile never leaked publicly. As for how he got into VISTA… well, he must’ve managed somehow.”
“Hyung! What about the others then? You think they didn’t get tempted too? What about the contract?”
“I just… ended things amicably.”
“Ugh!”
God, this was frustrating. Eating a hundred sweet potatoes would be less suffocating than this!
Now he finally understood why the few remaining LUMIS core fans always cursed out Taejin.
“Come on, you should’ve done more!”
But something didn’t sit right.
No matter how talented someone is, can they debut that fast?
And in VISTA, of all places?
If he’d revealed he was a former trainee, VISTA would’ve at least checked with Clef about what kind of person he was.
“Actually, after Jaeyoon’s debut date was set, he started seeing a psychiatrist — panic attacks, depression, social anxiety.”
“……”
“I know. It’s all just excuses. But… my heart softened. Seeing that sickly kid who’d been wasting away at our company now smiling so brightly at VISTA… I couldn’t help it.”
“Ha!”
Ruha gave a hollow laugh.
The main vocalist of a group quits right before debut — for selfish reasons.
Clef probably told people it was health-related, but the members would’ve known the truth.
A sudden loss of the main vocal — that would’ve thrown everything into chaos.
The concept, the structure, the direction — all of it would’ve been shaken.
And worst of all, the members’ morale would’ve been crushed.
LUMIS becoming known as a “failed idol” group might not have been entirely his fault, but he definitely had a hand in it.
And years later, that very cause of their downfall had the nerve to show up again — with no guilt, even smirking as if to provoke them.
“Yeah, I’d be furious too.”
No wonder the members’ reactions earlier today had been so sharp.
“…Those kids are saints. Actual saints.”
“I really believed in them. No — I was burning with determination. I thought, ‘We’ll make our kids more successful than Jaeyoon no matter what!’ But… it’s not that easy. Time wasted, money wasted… raising idols is hard, man.”
Taejin gave a faint smile. His lips curved, but his eyes were wet.
“You big soft bear—!”
Ruha scratched his back roughly with the back scratcher.
“I really do feel sorry for the kids. Doha, Eun-gyul, Sian, Ian, Jinwoo — all so talented, yet they had to go through hell because of me. Sometimes I wonder… what if I’d stopped Jaeyoon back then? Or what if they’d met someone better at another company…”
Back Scratcher Secret Technique, Chapter 3—!
CRACK!
THWACK!
“Ouch!!”
Taejin screamed, clutching his head — Ruha had just smacked him with the back scratcher.
“Why’re you wasting your thoughts on some coward who ran off alone!? LUMIS is five — and only five! He was never part of LUMIS to begin with!”
Ruha shouted, seething.
“If you’re the CEO, then act like it! Competitions? ‘Failed idols’? Whatever — LUMIS, I’ll make them shine no matter what! And that mutt— I’ll make him kneel!”
At that, Taejin chuckled.
“W-What? Why are you laughing?”
…Did I hit him too hard? Did he lose it?
“You’re right about everything.”
Taejin rubbed his crown, looking at Ruha.
“Yeah… with an ally like him, I shouldn’t worry so much.”
“Whoa! It’s starting!”
Cha Eun-gyul’s voice was unusually excited.
At that, the members all rushed into the living room.
“Ruha! Hurry up!”
Kang Ian shouted in a hurry.
“What’s the big deal?”
Ruha came out of the bathroom, rolling up his pajama pants and drying his feet. He picked up a towel with his toes and tossed it aside.
“Hey! I told you to put it in the laundry!”
Ryu Sian nagged.
“Yeeees, mom—”
Ruha pulled down his lower eyelid and stuck his tongue out mockingly.
“That’s it. You’re getting it today.”
Cha Eun-gyul charged at him, scooped him up, and started spanking him lightly.
“Hey! Put me down! You jerk—!”
“Pfft—!”
Laughter burst out among the members watching the chaos.
A lot had happened in just a few days.
“R-Really? Then…”
When Ruha’s departure from Our House Maknae was announced, the members couldn’t hide their disappointment.
“So… Ruha’s leaving the show?”
They looked surprisingly glum — more upset about being apart from Ruha than about the show itself.
Then…
“R-Really!? Then, that means—!?”
They heard the news — PD Lee Geon-woo was making a new self-produced show.
More importantly, it meant they could keep working with Ruha.
“Ugh, give me a break—!”
Ruha’s face flushed red.
He’d just thought he could finally be free…
“I just wanna go home!”
Go home, watch Piano Fairy Doremi, eat water-rinsed tteokbokki, and drink sweet chocolate milk! Just rest a little!
“Why am I here again!?”
The first episode of RE:VIVAL aired.
Ruha was dragged by the members under the pretense of “monitoring.”
“It’s really starting!”
On the TV, the MC appeared.
“Stage of the fallen stars — Re~vival!”
As the opening rolled, the judges’ faces were shown one by one.
“Wait, they’re appearing?”
“Whoa, awesome.”
“But who are these guys?”
“Never heard of them.”
Then came the “devil’s edit.”
A scene where the judges, in a meeting room, commented on the contestants’ profiles. Of course, they hadn’t meant anything bad — the clothes, the setting, even the lighting were clearly different. Just clever editing.
Well, it’s for entertainment — that’s the industry.
Next came the surprise practice room visit scene.
“LUMIS, ready to go!”
With that loud cry from Han Jin-seo — the fancy mosquito — footage of LUMIS dancing filled the screen.
“Ugh! I messed up a bit there.”
“Wow~ they actually aired that shot? Didn’t we reshoot it?”
“Exactly!”
Each member expressed regret in their own way.
Still, at least…
“Damn, the kids really are good-looking, huh?”
Even with their messy hair and plain clothes from the surprise filming, their visuals outshined every team before them.
Ding-dong—
“Oh, it’s here!”
Ha Jinwoo dashed to the door and came back with both hands full of plastic bags.
“Chicken~ the chicken’s here~!”
Of course — no viewing party is complete without chicken!
“What? No seasoned chicken!?”
Baek Doha looked betrayed.
“Come on, hyung! We’re technically working right now. You’ve gotta eat clean grilled chicken at times like this.”
Kang Ian chirped as he set the food down.
“Protein! Protein!”
Beside him, Ryu Sian drummed the table and echoed.
“Seasoned chicken…”
Baek Doha muttered gloomily — rare for him.
“Grilled chicken’s the best! Less oil, fewer calories!”
“Less oil, fewer calories!”
Kang Ian and Ryu Sian shouted in unison.
“Why do they match so well?”
Ruha glared at them, and Ian grinned as he held out a chicken leg.
“For our Ruha~ the chicken leg~ since Ruha’s legs are short like chicken legs~”
“You little—! Grr—!”
“Ruha, careful!”
Baek Doha hurriedly caught Ruha as he flailed on the sofa.
And then—
Dun!
With dramatic music, the LUMIS members appeared on stage.
“Whoa, it’s us! We’re on!”
“LUMIIIS~!”
Ryu Sian and Kang Ian cheered.
“Good grief, these idiots…”
Ruha bit into his chicken leg, shaking his head.
