Grab the Manual and Debut!-Chapter 34: ✦Street Tough, Sailor Sweet✦

The practice room mirror was fogged up from four hours of unrelenting movement. In the center of the room, Gun-woo was having a physical argument with a piece of choreography.

Every time the bubbly, glitchy synth of ’Shiny Day’ hit the "Loverboy" bridge, Gun-woo’s face contorted into something that looked less like a romantic invitation and more like a threat.

"Gun-woo-ya," Kang-joon said, leaning against the wall with a half-eaten protein bar. "You’re doing it again."

Gun-woo stopped, his chest heaving. He wiped a river of sweat from his jaw and glared at his reflection. "Doing what? I hit every count. The isolation was perfect."

"The isolation was great for a riot," Kang-joon said, a small, playful glint in his eyes. He pushed off the wall and walked toward the center of the floor. "But during the lyric ’You’re the glitch in my heart’, you look like you’re actually having a cardiac arrest. Your eyes are terrifying. You’re supposed to be a boy in love, not a terminator."

"I don’t do ’boy in love’," Gun-woo grumbled, dropping onto the floor and leaning his back against the mirror. "I do ’winner.’ I do ’survivor.’ I was in the underground dance scene in Incheon since I was twelve, Joon-ah. If you showed up at a battle doing heart-blinks, you’d get laughed out of the warehouse."

Kang-joon sat down next to him, folding his legs comfortably. The "Professor" would have lectured him on the psychology of performance. The new Kang-joon—the one who had realized the world didn’t hate him for his scars—just nudged Gun-woo’s shoulder with his own.

"This isn’t the warehouse, Gun-woo. And the people watching aren’t judges looking for the cleanest power-move. They’re people who want to feel something warm."

Gun-woo looked at his hands, his knuckles scarred from years of floor-work. "I feel like a fraud in that sailor hoodie, man. I feel like I’m wearing a costume of someone I’m not."

***

Before Road to Starlight, Gun-woo’s world was grey and concrete. He was ’G-Bolt,’ the kid who could headspin until the world blurred into a single line. He didn’t have a family that understood him; his father thought dancing was for people who didn’t want real jobs, and his mother was too busy working three shifts to notice his bruised knees.

He had lived for the "battle." The adrenaline of standing in a circle of hostile faces and proving he was the strongest. To him, being an idol was a ticket out of the gutter, but he had brought the gutter’s defenses with him. He used his "tough" image as a shield, much like Kang-joon had used his "Genius" persona.

But staryu was different. The group name itself felt like a challenge. It wasn’t about being the "Monster" anymore. It was about being a star that people could reach out and touch.

"I’m afraid," Gun-woo whispered, the admission sounding like a crack in a stone wall. "I’m afraid that if I act sweet, I’ll lose the only thing that made me good. The edge."

***

Kang-joon watched Gun-woo. In his ninety-fourth life, he remembered Gun-woo debuting in a hip-hop group that failed after one year because they were "too aggressive" for the general public. Gun-woo had spent that entire life miserable, trying to be a "thug" because he didn’t think he was allowed to be anything else.

I won’t let that happen this time, Kang-joon thought.

He closed his eyes and summoned the Impression Roulette.

[Current Impression Count: 11,500,000]

[Spins Available: 15]

Spin x1, Kang-joon commanded.

The wheel whirred, landing on a soft blue wedge.

[Reward: Skill - ’Sync-Link: Empathy’]

* Effect: Allows the user to share their emotional state with a teammate for 10 minutes. This creates a ’Harmonic Resonance’ that makes collaborative movements feel natural.

Kang-joon stood up and held out a hand to Gun-woo. "Get up. No music this time."

Gun-woo looked skeptical but took his hand. Kang-joon pulled him up.

"Close your eyes," Kang-joon said softly. "Don’t think about the fans. Don’t think about the underground. Just think about the first time you ever felt happy while dancing. Not ’strong.’ Not ’the winner.’ Just... happy."

Kang-joon activated the Sync-Link.

Suddenly, Gun-woo felt a wave of warmth wash over him. It wasn’t his own emotion; it was Kang-joon’s. He felt the quiet, steady relief of the Incheon pier. He felt the light, bubbly joy of the "Human Claw Machine" game. Most of all, he felt the sensation of being safe.

"Now, move," Kang-joon whispered.

They began to dance in the silent room. No beat, just the sound of their sneakers on the linoleum. Kang-joon led with a soft, swaying motion—the core of the ’Shiny Day’ chorus. Gun-woo followed, his muscles finally relaxing.

When they finished, Gun-woo opened his eyes. He looked at Kang-joon.

"That... was weird," Gun-woo said, but he was smiling. A real, lopsided, "Gun-woo" smile. "You’re a freak, you know that? How did you do that?"

"I’m just a reserved guy with good vibes," Kang-joon said, winking. The ’Natural Aegyo’ trait made the wink look effortless and charming instead of cringey.

"Shut up," Gun-woo laughed, shoving him. "Alright. Let’s do it. Let’s be ’staryu’."

Comedy Break: The Fitting

The next morning, the "staryu" unit was called for their first official outfit fitting. The concept was "Loverboy Game-Boy," and the stylists had gone all out.

"No," Gun-woo said, staring at the rack. "Absolutely not."

He was holding a pair of white denim overalls with a small, 8-bit star patch on the chest.

"It’s the vision, Gun-woo-ssi!" the stylist cried. "You’re the ’Cool-Sweet’ one! The contrast between your sharp jawline and the overalls is what makes the fans scream!"

Jae-hyun was already dressed. He looked like a literal angel in a pale pink sailor-collared shirt and white shorts. He was currently spinning in circles, delighted by how fast the fabric moved.

"Look at me, Hyung! I’m a marshmallow!" Jae-hyun chirped.

Kang-joon emerged from the changing room in an oversized cream hoodie with "staryu:u" printed in soft blue, paired with light-wash jeans that were rolled at the ankles. He looked fresh, clean, and dangerously approachable.

"You look like the protagonist of a high school romance anime," Han-bin teased, looking at Kang-joon. Han-bin himself was wearing a yellow bucket hat that he was trying—and failing—to make look "street."

"It’s comfortable," Kang-joon said, adjusting the hood. He looked at Gun-woo, who was still holding the overalls like they were a bomb. "Gun-woo-ya. Do it for the tickets."

"I hate you," Gun-woo muttered.

Ten minutes later, Gun-woo stepped out. The overalls were over a black t-shirt to keep some of his "edge," but there was no hiding the cuteness. He looked like a tough kid who had been forced into a family photo, and the result was accidentally hilarious.

"Oh my god," Jae-hyun gasped. "You look like a giant toddler who can definitely kick my ass."

"One word," Gun-woo warned, pointing a finger at them. "One word on the internet and I’m going back to the warehouse."

"Too late," Kang-joon said, holding up his phone. He had already snapped a photo.

[staryu Official Account Update]

[Photo: Gun-woo in overalls looking grumpy, with Kang-joon smiling softly in the background and Jae-hyun making a peace sign.]

[Caption: Practice day! staryu is getting ready for a ’Shiny Day’. ✦]

[Comments:]

* User_A: GUN-WOO IN OVERALLS?! I AM DECEASED.

* LuvJoonie: Kang-joon’s smile is so genuine now... he looks so happy to be with them.

* GameBoyFan: This unit’s vibe is literally perfection. It’s like a boy version of NewJeans meets a retro Nintendo game.

* IncheonDancer: I used to battle Gun-woo back in the day. If I told the crew he was wearing a star-patch on his chest, they wouldn’t believe me. But honestly? He pulls it off. He looks like a ’Loverboy’ who would protect you from a bully.

***

In a high-rise office in Gangnam, a man threw a tablet onto a glass table. The screen showed the staryu post, currently sitting at 500,000 likes in under an hour.

"I thought the orphanage leak would kill him," the Director hissed. "I thought even if he was innocent, the ’unstable’ label would stick."

"It backfired, sir," his secretary said, standing at a distance. "The public is viewing him as a hero who overcame a corporate smear campaign. And the group name, staryu... it’s trending globally. They’ve already surpassed the ’Monster’ unit in search volume."

The Director narrowed his eyes. "The finale is in three weeks. If they debut, the takeover of Starline becomes impossible. The stock will soar too high."

"What do you want to do?"

"If we can’t break Kang-joon," the Director said, looking at a photo of the five boys laughing together, "we break the unit. Find out everything you can on the other four. Especially the dancer, Gun-woo. He has an ’underground’ past? There has to be a fight, a police record, something."

The Director smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "Let’s see how ’sweet’ they are when their own teammates start falling."