It was currently Tuesday.
The morning's vocal class had come and gone in a blur; he'd spent most of it struggling to concentrate.
By late afternoon, he found himself in his next class—physical training.
Damien kept to the back of the practice room, moving slower (slightly) behind the others, as he stared at the holographic screen hovering in front him. On it, bold letters announced:
[Task Mission Assigned]
[Task Mission: Place top ten in every monthly evaluation.]
[Bonus Mission: Place top three.]
[Time Limit: 24 months]
[Basic Reward: 200~1000 Points]
[First Time Completion of the Bonus Mission: New Skill (???)]
[Failure: Stats and Skills Lock (1 Month)]
Well, there goes my rules, thrown right out of the window. So much for staying under the radar.
Damien only wanted to keep his head down. Partly because, despite doing almost nothing, he had already drawn more attention than he liked. But mostly, he realized that he needed to hide his fast progress in the future. Sudden jumps in skill raised questions—and he wasn't ready to explain the unexplainable.
But this mission changed everything. Top ten of the monthly evaluations? That meant outshining hundreds of other trainees in vocals, dance, rap—every category they'd be tested on for two years. Top three, if he wanted the bonus. At least the failure wasn't death. But the penalty this time was also no joke. If he ignored the mission, locked stats and skills would make it nearly impossible to improve. If his stats were locked, would he forget how to sing and dance? Or would it regress to how it was when he was 'Skye'?
Damien missed a step—actually, he missed several. His foot accidentally hooked behind a trainee next to him, and they nearly went down in a heap. The fitness trainer stopped everyone.
"Damien!" barked Ms. Yoon, the fitness trainer. The entire class turned to stare.
Damien cursed inwardly and scrambled upright. "Sorry ma'am!"
"You're not concentrating! Your form is off!" Her gaze could have peeled off Damien's skin. "If you can't keep up, you can leave the class."
Sh*t. If I leave now... It'll leave a bad mark.
Damien, with a determined look, pleaded, "I'll keep up, ma'am. Please let me stay."
The fitness trainer, with her hand on her hips, looked at Damien disapprovingly before sighing. "Fine. But if this happens again, I'll kick you out. I can't have you risking the other trainees' condition, understand?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Damien spoke out. It was as if he was in the military, responding to his commander.
Then he turned to the trainee that he bumped into and whispered, "Sorry, man." He offered a hand.
The trainee shook his head, smiled, and grabbed Damien's hand. "It's no problem."
When the class continued, he dismissed the holographic screen and focused entirely on the lesson.
By the end of it, he was a wreck—drenched in sweat and every muscle screaming. He stumbled out of the room in a daze with only one thought:
I've got to take a shower...
After a glorious shower, Damien dragged himself to the cafeteria for a quick dinner. He was so exhausted that he nearly fell asleep on his tray twice. Around him, the dinner rush buzzed with clattering plates and chatter. He blinked hard, trying to fight off the sleep, but he was nodding off again.
"Long day?"
He jolted upright, heart skipping. He hadn't heard anyone walk up to his table. Rubbing his eyes, Damien looked up. A tall, lean boy stood there with a tray in his hands and a gentle smile. It took Damien a second to register the face: kind dark eyes and slightly messy black hair. It was Kian.
Damien sat up straighter, instantly more alert. He knew of Park Kian—every one did. How could he not when the class practically sang his name. Not to mention, Kian was the current top one ranked trainee in rap and ranked five overall.
I still can't believe he's the guy I tripped in physical training... Talk about bad luck.
From what he observed from today's class, Kian was one of those naturally charismatic people who could hype up a crowd or calm it down with just a smile. He always had a crowd surrounding him during class. But right now, he was all alone.
"Mind if I sit?" Kian asked quietly, nodding toward the empty spot in front of him.
"Oh! Uh, sure." He managed, hastily standing up and removing his bag to make space.
Kian sat opposite Damien with a kind of grace that Damien found intriguing. He set down his tray—his portion already half-eaten. Perhaps he got caught up talking it's friends?
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Kian poked at a piece of chicken with his chopsticks, seemingly content in the quiet. Damien's mind raced, racking his brain with possible reasons as to why Kian was here.
Is he... mad about earlier?
The thought made Damien frown slightly.
That can't be right.
Surely Kian wouldn't come over just to scold him; he didn't seem upset at the time, just slightly surprised. And Damien distinctly recalled Kian smiling during their interaction.
"So," Kian broke the silence, "we never really got introduced properly. I'm Kian."
"I'm Damien," he replied. "Yeong Damien."
Kian smiled, wide enough to crinckle the corners of his eyes. "Nice to officially meet you. I think I've seen you during vocal class before, right? You sat near the back corner of the room."
Damien blinked.
He noticed that? Wait—we're in the same vocal class?
System: [It's pretty hard not to notice you, host.]
What does that mean, system?
System: [Your charm and visual stat is pretty high. It's hard not to notice you.]
Was that why I got picked out by Choi Hajoon and his gang on the first day? Not to mention, I was pretty distracted during vocal class because of the mission. Maybe that's why I didn't notice him...
"Damien?" Kian's voice shifted his attention.
"O-Oh, yeah, That's me." He responded quickly. Damien made a mental note to not converse with the system while speaking with others.
"Corner's a good spot. Fewer distractions that way." Kian nodded, taking a sip of water. "How are you holding up? After today's training, I mean."
A wry smile tugged at Damien's lips. "Not good. I never knew how bad in shape I was." He rolled his stiff shoulders and sighed. "I actually almost fell asleep just now. You, uh... you caught me at a bad moment." He admitted.
Kian chuckled a soft, breathy laugh. "I could tell. I was a little worried you might actually doze off and drown in your stew." His tone was light and teasing as he pointed at the stew on Damien's tray.
"If I do, at least it'd be an interesting way to go. Death by stew isn't how I expected my idol career to end." Damien smiled, playing along.
"Oh we'd make sure it went in the history books." Kian's eyes shined with humor, it was clear he was entertained. "A memorial service with... maybe a stew buffet in your honour."
The image flashed in his head. It was such a ridiculous image that Damien had to bite back a laugh. He covered his mouth as he smiled, feeling the day's heaviness and sleepiness lighten just a little.
Who would have guessed that Kian had a quiet goofy side?