Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 133: SO THAT’S HOW IT’S GOING TO BE

WHEN Robin looked at him with a raised brow, Haneul couldn’t help but glance away. He hadn’t gone overboard defending Taeyang - he was just stating facts. Yet under Robin’s gaze, he grew self-conscious. It was as if the other knew Haneul’s defense wasn’t purely objective.

Robin might seem easygoing, but he was highly perceptive. He could read situations effortlessly and draw accurate conclusions. Haneul worried the other might detect ulterior motives behind his defense of Taeyang.

No, wait—why would there be ulterior motives? He hadn’t lied. Yet when Robin dropped the subject, Haneul caught himself exhaling in quiet relief.

They got their food and walked to Taeyang’s table. Kim Joonhyuk and Park Seongwoo joined them shortly after.

"Have you seen Lee Minjae?" Robin asked the other two.

Kim Joonhyuk shook his head while Park Seongwoo wore an awkward expression. Then, the latter answered, "I’m sure he’ll be here any minute."

No one responded to that. Because what could they say? They set a time to meet here at dinner. The filming of the introductory video was already over, as well as the individual interviews. So, what’s his excuse for not being here?

Haneul glanced at Park Seongwoo. The other had been trying to subtly support Lee Minjae since the beginning. But maybe because of his personality, he couldn’t totally commit to it. Haneul wondered if the two knew each other before they joined the show. Maybe they were friends?

Either way, having their team divided so early wouldn’t be good for teamwork. But what could they do when one person seemed determined to cause problems?

Since no one responded to what Park Seongwoo had said, the atmosphere grew even more awkward. Haneul sighed inwardly before forcing a smile. "Let’s eat first. Like Seongwoo-ssi said, Minjae-ssi will probably be here any minute."

So they ate in silence. But by the time they’d all finished dinner and put away their empty plates, Lee Minjae still hadn’t appeared.

"Let’s start by choosing the leader," Taeyang suggested. "It’ll make everything run more smoothly."

"Ah... I thought you were already the leader?" Kim Joonhyuk said, scratching his head in confusion.

"Yeah. The way you’ve been giving orders, I assumed it was already decided," Robin added, his voice laced with playful teasing.

Taeyang cleared his throat. "I apologize if I came across as bossy."

"Hey, you know I didn’t mean it like that. Now you’re making me look bad," Robin said, still clearly teasing the other.

Robin’s lighthearted remarks finally eased the tension in the air.

"I think we should keep Taeyang as leader - he’s been doing a good job so far," Haneul suggested. "Does that work for everyone?"

Kim Joonhyuk nodded. "Yeah, I’m fine with that."

Robin grinned. "No objections here - he hasn’t pissed me off yet."

Park Seongwoo looked hesitant at first, but still nodded at the end.

Taeyang nodded. "Okay. Thank you for your confidence in me. I’ll do my best to be a good leader. Next, let’s talk about our practice schedule."

Then they started their discussion.

Taeyang began. "The staff said all ten practice rooms are available for us to use, so we don’t need to worry about scheduling conflicts. We should decide our daily practice hours - mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Any preferences?"

Kim Joonhyuk tapped his chopsticks against his tray. "We should claim one room as ours consistently. It’s easier than moving every day."

Robin nodded. "And we need to account for meal breaks. No point practicing when we’re starving."

Haneul chimed in, "We should also factor in the official schedule - we don’t want to plan practice when other mandatory activities are happening."

Taeyang considered this. "Good points. Let’s plan two main blocks - 9 AM to noon for mornings and 2 PM to 6 PM for afternoons. If there are mandatory activities, we’ll switch practice to evenings from 8 PM to 11 PM. We’ll use Room 4 unless there’s a conflict."

Haneul thought the schedule worked perfectly. If they didn’t have evening practice, he could arrange sessions with Haru then. And if Haru couldn’t come at that specific time, he could practice alone. Maybe he could even ask Robin occasionally to check his dance form or something.

Park Seongwoo finally spoke up, "What about... Minjae-ssi? Shouldn’t we wait to finalize until he’s here?"

The group fell silent for a moment before Taeyang responded, "We’ll adjust if needed, but we can’t delay planning. First practice starts tomorrow at 9 AM."

As if on cue, Lee Minjae suddenly appeared, striding toward their table with an apologetic smile. "Sorry I’m late," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn’t mean to, but I fell asleep in the lounge."

The table fell silent once again the moment he approached. Haneul studied him—the way Lee Minjae’s lips twitched as he spoke, the slight crinkle at the corners of his eyes that didn’t quite match the remorse in his voice. He seemed genuinely apologetic, yet there was something beneath it—something that felt almost satisfied, as if their discomfort had been the intended outcome all along.

"It’s fine," Taeyang said after a beat, his voice carefully neutral. "We just finished planning the practice schedule."

Whatever fleeting satisfaction Haneul had detected in Minjae’s expression vanished—replaced by a flicker of irritation at being sidelined.

Lee Minjae’s smile didn’t waver. "How efficient of you. Guess I should be grateful you still allowed me to sit with you here. I almost thought I’m not part of the group."

The words were light, almost joking, but the edge beneath them was sharp enough to make Park Seonwoo, sitting beside Lee Minjae, stiffen. The former looking at the latter with worry.

Haneul exhaled slowly, feeling a bit frustrated. So that’s how it’s going to be.

He genuinely couldn’t fathom this guy’s mentality. Was he trying to get himself eliminated while dragging the entire group down with him?

Taeyang didn’t so much as blink at Minjae’s sarcastic remark, turning back to the group as if he hadn’t heard. "Since we’re all here, let’s discuss the song we’ve chosen. What do you think about rearranging the song? Giving it a completely different concept than the original?"