The Breaking Point

The gridlock regarding Pentagram’s first studio album was resolved through the Management Team’s proposal to split the release into parts. Out of the twelve planned tracks, seven would be released as Part 1 on the original date, while production for Part 2 would begin immediately a month after the comeback.

In the Korean idol industry—where massive capital is burned in short windows and a handful of staff produce results beyond their physical limits—such a “cramming” schedule was not impossible.

However, the Pentagram members were forced to endure a schedule as grueling as a promotion period. Combined with the stress of fatigue, the already cold atmosphere of the dorm grew even more hostile. The agency, frantically pushing preparations forward, had no room to listen to the members’ complaints.

Situations were being pushed to the extreme, and it was only natural that Noah, who was particularly sensitive to his surroundings, was affected the most.

“You’re lowering the difficulty of the main choreography even further? On whose authority?”

This was a dance studio Pentagram was renting from an external source.

The other members were away for final recording sessions. As for why Noah—who held a center position in the new title track—had finished recording first, it was thanks to a relatively easy part being assigned to him due to his lower vocal ability.

Noah was currently lashing out at the choreographer after hearing the news regarding the performance, which he valued above all else. It was an unfortunate day for the choreographer, Kany, who had to deal with an enraged Noah without a single member present to restrain him.

“You can obviously keep up, but you know the situation. Compared to the remaining practice days, the other members’ proficiency is lagging too far behind.”

“That’s exactly why we decided to reduce the number of performance variations for this album compared to the 3rd mini-album! So why are you cutting even more?!”

“I thought their condition would pick up if I made these adjustments. But with the deadline being so tight, nobody can follow along except for you. What do you want me to do?”

Kany and Noah went back to their younger days when Noah used to roam around various dance teams to learn street dance; they were like brothers. He knew Noah’s foul temper better than anyone, but the problem was that Noah’s personality had become even more eccentric lately, making him difficult to handle.

“Then you should have created entirely new choreography from scratch. What’s the point of setting a grand scale for the stage if the performance is going to be bland? You even did media play in your interviews saying you’d show the ‘essence of the urban genre.’ Aren’t you embarrassed?”

Attacking a dancer’s pride was bound to spark anger. Kany, who used to have a temper as fiery as Noah’s in the past, saw his face turn red. However, the only reason he held back was that, unlike his younger self, he was now jaded enough by society to smile even when he felt wronged.

Of course, inside his head, he was spitting out all kinds of curses at Noah.

‘This piece of work. I put up with him acting like he’s some dance director just because he’s the visual. Create new choreo? Does he think a choreographer spits out dances like a vending machine? It’s not like he’s paying the extra choreography fees out of his own pocket.’

Kany, who harbored ambitions of breaking into broadcasting, did his best to control his internal rage to maintain his public image as a “generous mentor who accepts the free opinions of his juniors.” He ignored the fact that Noah, who had been in the dance scene for a long time, had actually been quite helpful—and that he simply didn’t want the hassle of flipping the choreography again.

And Noah didn’t care whether Kany’s forehead turned red or not. The most important thing to him was the quality of Pentagram’s performance, and he had never been afraid of playing the villain for that cause.

“Whatever. I absolutely cannot go with the modified choreo, so just know that.”

“Sticking to your guns isn’t going to solve this, Kang Noah. It’s better to choose the stable route rather than making a mistake on stage by overdoing it.”

“If being ‘stable’ was what mattered, our group would never have done that crazy thing of varying the choreo for every single performance in the first place. Isn’t understanding the client the basic job of a choreographer?”

Kany let out a long sigh at Noah’s stance, which didn’t look like it would be swayed. He racked his brain for someone who could actually talk sense into the boy.

‘If I talk to the agency, it’ll look like I’m incompetent, so I’m too embarrassed to do that. Se-han, the leader? Hah, he’s the one who can’t keep up with the dance the most; he won’t listen.’

Having worked with Pentagram once before, Kany knew. Regardless of Se-han’s diligence, there was a limit to his talent for executing choreography. Se-han’s weaknesses—taking a long time to grasp spacing or failing to follow intricate beats—were the biggest reasons for simplifying this choreography.

‘Ji-ho was the only one who could handle this brat. Tsk. He used to pick up the choreo so fast he took a lot of work off my plate.’

But what was the use of looking for someone who wasn’t there?

Kany looked at his juniors watching the friction between him and Noah and forced another wide, “kind” smile. His lips trembled under the strain, but he ignored it.

“Hey, kid. Don’t be like that. If there’s a problem, we can talk it out and solve it together. I’m not the dictatorial type like other choreographers. Let’s think it over slowly. Like you said, maybe we can try a different variation…”

It would have been a relief if Noah’s prickly mood had ended with Kany, but unfortunately, the day was long.

After the unsatisfactory practice ended, Noah left the studio with a stony face. Yong-ha, who spotted him striding out of the building with his long legs, stopped trying to park the car and shouted out the window.

“Hey, hey! Kang Noah! I told you to wait because there are sasaengs waiting out front!”

Yong-ha’s warning wasn’t an exaggeration.

Even though he had his hat pulled low and was wearing baggy clothes, Noah was still conspicuous. Three girls, who had been hiding heaven-knows-where, rushed toward him. They were sasaeng fans who waited near the external practice room even during Pentagram’s off-period.

Noah stopped at the building entrance. The girls raised their cameras. Two of them kept some distance, seemingly just intending to take photos, but the third girl was different.

“Oppa, did practice go well today?”

The girl spoke to Noah casually, as if she were a girlfriend he was meeting after a long time. If she had stopped there, it might have been fine, but she reached out her hand to touch him. Yong-ha, seeing this from a distance, hurriedly turned on the hazard lights and jumped out of the car, but the girl was faster.

Noah didn’t even have time to step back.

“You’ve been in the studio so much lately, I missed you so much. Didn’t you think of me?”

Because of his exceptional looks and unrivaled popularity within the group, Noah had many obsessive fans. He was used to sasaengs who followed him to the point of invading his private life.

Nevertheless, the sudden contact made Noah freeze. Even though his skin wasn’t exposed because of his long sleeves, a chill ran down his spine as the girl stroked his upper arm as if she were initiating physical intimacy.

“f*ck.”

The patience he had maintained throughout the day while bickering with Kany reached its end. Noah violently shook the girl’s hand off. He put his full strength into it, not caring whether she got hurt, because the situation felt that horrific to him.

“Eek! Wh-what’s wrong, Oppa?!”

“Stop, stop! Kang Noah, get in the car! You, step back. If you come any closer, I’m calling the police. And you guys, if you don’t want your expensive cameras confiscated, delete those photos right now. Haven’t you heard of portrait rights?”

Yong-ha arrived just in time to manage the situation while the girl who had been pushed down was getting back up. With the appearance of a tough-looking manager, the sasaengs retreated obediently, and the photos were deleted by Yong-ha.

A moment later, Noah climbed into the van with a face that looked ready to explode.

Yong-ha knew it wasn’t wise to provoke him when he was already at his limit, but as a manager, he had to reprimand him.

“Kang Noah. I sent you a Kakao telling you to wait. Why can’t you listen and cause this mess? And why would you use force when there are cameras right there? Do you want to be in the headlines for assaulting a fan?”

“I didn’t hit her; I shook her arm off. And I didn’t check the chat. Ha… I thought it was a relief there hadn’t been any sasaengs waiting lately, so why this bullshit all of a sudden?”

Noah immediately ripped off the hoodie he was wearing as if it were filthy. Still feeling uncomfortable, he pulled out a wet wipe and scrubbed the skin on the arm she had touched. Yong-ha frowned as he watched Noah in the rearview mirror.

“Are you hurt?”

“……”

“Kang Noah.”

“I’m not hurt. But I’m going to my studio apartment, so drive there.”

“Sigh, I told you that’s not allowed. Being allowed to live outside the dorm at your career stage was a special privilege to begin with. You saw it today. There are tons of ‘photographers’ waiting to take pictures. If you move out of the dorm, there will be rumors of a discord immediately.”

“Isn’t there a discord, though? Looking at the atmosphere in the dorm right now.”

“Hey!”

Yong-ha used the red light to turn around and look at the back seat. The gaze in Noah’s eyes as he continued to scrub his arm with the wet wipe was so bone-chillingly cold that a proper conversation seemed impossible.

In the end, Yong-ha expressed his frustration to himself rather than talking directly to Noah—though he spoke loudly, clearly intending for Noah to hear.

“Please, don’t you start acting like Lee Ha-un. He’s hitting a late puberty and picking fights constantly; if you start too, I’m going to die. You know the new rookie on our team who joined this month just handed in his resignation? Do you know how many times that’s happened this year? Please, I’m begging you for this Hyung’s sake, okay?”

But there was no answer from Noah. He only furrowed his smooth brow, watching the scenery pass faintly behind the heavily tinted windows.

*****************************************

Yong-ha headed back down the elevator to pick up the members who had finished recording, grumbling, “These kids can never move as a group. I need to find a new rookie for road management fast.”

Noah entered the dorm quickly after punching in the passcode. Their dorm was a fairly old apartment, far from the high-security complexes where popular celebrities usually lived. There was no telling if another sasaeng was hiding somewhere in the stairwell.

His bad feeling was correct. Upon opening the door and entering the dorm, Noah came face-to-face with an unfamiliar figure.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was told not to run into the members.”

The middle-aged woman, who clearly didn’t look like an idol fan, was the “Auntie”—the housekeeper for the dorm.

She was just an employee, yet Noah’s expression darkened even further upon seeing her. Faced with his blatant dislike, the Auntie looked flustered and offered an excuse.

“Noah, was it? I was told to make sure I left before the young men came home, but my son said there’s a festival or something at his school today and told me to come visit. His school is near here. He’s quite the student, hoho. There wasn’t really anywhere else to wait… I’ll just stay until he comes to pick me up.”

The Auntie, slipping in a random boast about her child, looked like nothing more or less than an ordinary mother. Considering her job included preparing dinner for the Pentagram members, it was a perfectly understandable situation. Usually, even the prickly Noah would maintain his manners toward an elder, acknowledge her, and head to his room.

Under normal circumstances, that is what Noah would have done.