As soon as I entered the commercial set, I saw an unwelcome face.

"How have you been? Seems like you've had a lot of troubles."

It was VTIC's Chungryeo.

'I'm going crazy.'

Why was he here again?

For reference, I did not receive any word from the company. They were in a hurry to catch a good advertisement and only showed me the script while transporting me.

Shouldn't they at least mention a little about it if we're dealing with a guy I already knew?

'I want to quit.'

I really didn't feel like working. But making it obvious would just make it into a rumor generator. I just nodded my head.

"Yes. It worked out well thanks to your advice."

"Ah, really? That's great."

Chungryeo smiled and held out his hand.

"Please take care of me in today's shooting."

"Likewise, please take care of me."

I didn't do anything childish like adding strength and squeezing his hand so the handshake was over in an instant.

"Then see you in a while."

"Yes. Sunbae-nim."

I didn't want to see him.

I thought of the script, changed my outfit, and prepared for the shoot feeling peculiar.

The outfit was a training suit of the latest fashion. However, it had a corporate logo on it.

'I already know why I'm wearing these clothes.'

First of all, the filming location was a grassy field, and there was a lot of exercise during filming.

It was like that.

"Okay, let's do it!"

At the director's words, a group of four-legged animals rushed at me and Chungryeo as we stood on the grass.

It was a pack of three-month-old retrievers and countryside puppies.

"Keunng!!"

As I was stroking this one's and that one's neck as told in the script, there was even one who jumped up to my nose and headbutted me.

'They're excited.'

Since one dog jumped, three or four others also started to jump in a row. Hey, stop licking.

I picked up a bunch with both hands.

...They looked cute.

"Puheung!"

Now they coughed in my face.

I knew I was going to fall over.

I tried not to look too serious in the drool-stained situation with four or five of them in my arms.

"Cut! Ah, that was good~"

"...Thank you."

The staff ran over to fix my ruined face. It was a mutual struggle.

"Keep the dog more secure! With the feeling of being held up~ Please smile brightly!"

Okay. A 'secure feeling' was important.

I was filming an advertisement for an insurance company right now.

To be exact, it was an advertisement for a corporate brand image promoting the support of stray dogs and training of guide dogs at a large insurance company.

'Usually, people with general public recognition are used for this kind of thing.'

However, it seemed like the actor, who was originally appointed instead of me, got arrested due to a sexual harassment scandal, and I got chosen instead.

My recognition among the elderly due to my appearance in may have had some impact...

"Good boy."

It was a bit unpleasant to think that my external acquaintance with that guy wouldn't have had any effect at all.

Even though the shoot was stopped, Chungryeo was suppressing the pack of puppies with supernatural movements.

The ones rolling over on their backs caught my eye. There was nothing more photogenic than that.

'I wish I could take a picture of it.'

However, I didn't bother to bring my smartphone. It wouldn't turn out well on that camera.

At that moment, Chungryeo opened his mouth.

"Do you like dogs?"

"...They're not bad."

Just then, the staff vacated their places. There were no attached microphones since only the scene was captured and the voice was going to be inserted as a narration.

Which meant that this was the perfect time for this bastard to talk nonsense.

However, my expectations were off the mark.

"Right? They're really good kids. And they're nice."

"..."

"They're also easy to deal with. You praise them when it's time to be praised and scold them when they should be scolded."

Chungryeo only talked about the dogs while petting them.

Information flashed through my head reflexively.

Don't tell it was real?

No, it didn't matter.

"You must like dogs, sunbae-nim."

I thought of buying time until the shooting resumed by giving suitable responses.

But that guy tilted his head to the side.

It was a usual gesture for people... who were pondering.

"Do I like them? I'm not sure. It's more comfortable to not raise them anyway."

Until that point, I thought that the dog was bothered by the hand.

"In the past, I used to raise a dog every time I started again, but after a while... rumors of habitual criminal neglect spread."

"...!"

"Even I would have been suspicious of me. When people checked on it, the breed of dog I had before was different every time I spoke. Well, since it was proven to be different than what I said, the topic of schizophrenia came out... Hahaha, I was completely ruined, back then!"

Chungryeo laughed out loud. My spine was shivering from terror.

"...Was it not the same dog?"

"What? Haha, it's kind of hard to keep the same dog every time."

"..."

Chungryeo stopped laughing.

"I tried but it wasn't very good. If it went wrong and I couldn't bring it along, it becomes uncomfortable because I'll be bothered by it."

I was speechless.

This bastard... it was a problem because I understood why he went insane.

I answered as calmly as I could.

"...You don't have to start again now, so I think you could raise a new one again."

Meaning, he should give up.

"You're full of confidence. By any chance... is this your last mission? Did you calculate it as I told you?"

"..."

It was best not to react.

However, this bastard interpreted the silence as affirmation.

"Congratulations. But did you believe that?"

"...!"

"Haha, I'm kidding. It should be correct in my experience. I wouldn't lie about this."

The imagination of crushing the grand prize award trophy on his face was comforting.

"...Hmm, then is it really... over?"

Any expressions instantly faded from his face, and he removed his hand from the dog's belly.

'...Hold on.'

Surely he wouldn't start saying nonsense like 'try doing it again once before it's over', or 'you don't have a chance once it's over so the timing is now'.

Let's start with an excuse right now.

"If VTIC sunbae-nim maintains the status quo, there would be no group you have to compete with. So isn't the current state the best?"

"Well... it would be okay."

Chungryeo was apathetic.

And he picked up the puppy from its back.

"It's not that I want it to be completely perfect but... um, well... you're right. I'll have to get used to this."

"...!"

It was a euphemistic declaration of surrender.

'I fucking did it.'

It felt like that took away some of my lifespans. I wondered if there was cold sweat running down my forehead.

However, Chungryeo's words did not end there.

"By the way, hoobae-nim. I don't think you should let your guard down too much."

Please, I wanted to stop listening to more bullshit.

I was slowly petting the dog without even realizing it. The dense furry friend with no thoughts was comforting.

And fortunately, Chungryeo's next words were not nonsense.

It was the cold voice of reason.

"In this profession, 'popularity' is a finite resource. In other words, if the other group earns resources well, it would mean that my resources were spilled. It has always been like that. Especially if it's limited to Korea."

"..."

Was it a metaphor for VTIC and TeStar?

However, an unexpected name was mentioned instead.

"The group from Traveler that debuted this year seems to be doing well. Be mindful of that."

Traveler, Gold 1's agency.

In other words, what he was talking about was advice to keep Gold 1's group in check, who were decent rookies.

'...Is there a need?'

They weren't yet in a weight class that could be held in check, and if it went wrong, a narrative could be coming out.

Besides, didn't these guys debut after the period of time that Chungryeo knew off anyway? This meant that Chungryeo did not confirm the future of these guys.

But since there was no need to provoke that bastard, I just nodded.

"I will keep that in mind."

"Don't just say it, well... looking at it, their song was good. But the composer was not affiliated with the company."

Chungryeo smiled.

"It would be nice if you bought the composer."

"...!"

"It would be easy and convenient. It would be over if the song isn't good."

"I will pretend I didn't hear that."

"You're like a knife. I understand. But don't forget it."

'Why is this bastard so talkative?'

He blurted out the subjects without hesitance even when receiving animal therapy with a bunch of puppies.

"Preparation for the next scene is almost finished~ 3-minute standby!"

Fortunately, the sound of filming resuming soon could be heard everywhere. People were running around busily.

'This is the end.'

The next cut was also the last one to take with this bastard. I held back my sigh.

And just before the shooting resumed, a small voice was heard.

It sounded a little hesitant...

"...The problem you mentioned before, was it resolved well?"

"..."

I opened my mouth slowly.

"In some way."

"Is that so? Well... If you change your mind or have any concerns, please contact me."

"...All right."

Well, it was less terrifying than before.

"Yelp! Kngg!"

The filming went smoothly. Chungryeo left first after finishing filming due to scheduling issues.

And I returned to the dorm with several pairs of tracksuits, that looked identical to those covered with dog hair, as gifts.

As everyone was away due to additional choreography practice, only one person, who finished early, was in the dorm.

It was Cha Yujin.

"I'm home."

"Is it a present?"

"Yeah. Take it."

"Wow!"

I felt a strange sense of deja vu when I saw Cha Yujin rejoicing after accepting the tracksuit.

'...Isn't he more like a dog than I am?'

Although I actively adopted it, it was a world of mysterious and subtle nicknames.

* * *

A few days later, the title song's choreography was completely mastered.

"Phew, the choreography video is complete!"

"Ah, so nice~"

After finishing filming the choreography video a little early, there was some time left. Everyone lay down on the floor and enjoyed a break.

"Cha Yujin, you're wearing that again?"

"It's comfortable!"

"I-is it okay for the logo... t-to come out in the choreography video...?"

"Ah, I asked and they said it was okay. Don't worry."

"Wow, hyung-nim, you're fast~"

Cha Yujin wore the tracksuit, that I received as a gift for the commercial shoot, day and night.

'I guess he can be in the commercial next time.'

I smirked and turned on my smartphone.

Pre-orders for the album started, and the cover design was also released, so I thought to monitor the reaction.

"M-moondae-ya. Do you want the pack?"

"Sure. Thanks."

The air conditioner worked, but it was hot because we moved too much as a group. I turned the screen with the ice pack Seon Ahyun gave me as a neck pillow.

'It's nice.'

Both the album covers, which were produced by dividing the concept into black and white with an ink painting concept and color with a traditional painting concept, were well received.

At first, the company had said, 'Since it's seven solo songs, how about eight kinds of albums with seven colors for seven people and a group?' and it was hard to stop them.

'It was fortunate that they said to put some of the eight random stickers or stickers to decorate the album inside.'

If the eight types of albums were passed as they were, the director of the headquarters would have just approved without asking or questioning.

'Come to think of it, the director is going to leave soon.'

From new albums to entertainment stage productions, there were a lot of things to talk about with people at the company lately, so it was rumored that the director of the headquarters, whom I heard a lot about, would leave soon.

'I'll have to proceed quickly while the approval bot is still there.'

The future was uncertain so I should do it fast when I still could.

I checked the plan for resolving the status abnormality and inadvertently changed the search terms for monitoring.

"D-do you want some water?"

"Yeah... thanks."

Seon Ahyun gave me something else again. I took the water with some hesitation.

I was thankful but... he reminded me of a bread shuttle which I was sorry for.

'Should I do some monitoring?'

Without much thought, I tried to search for Seon Ahyun's name on social media.

Popular search terms were then auto-completed.

"...?"

"Moondae-moondae, what are you do...?!"

Keun Sejin, who interrupted, froze as he looked at the screen.

And I was also a bit perplexed.

'Seon Ahyun?'

It was an unexpected... dating rumor.