Do-or-Die
It was do-or-die. It had to be do-or-die. At an age where he could chew rocks, he needed to show that grit—that he could pull off anything. That was the only way to snag even one extra vote. Whether it tugged at heartstrings for sympathy or pandered to those Hongdae disease indie underdogs who craved their personal pick to shine no matter the stage.
'Even without me, Rock Garden would rack up plenty of votes.'
The survival audition show that aired on Snet last quarter had been the talk of the town. Online votes had flooded a single singer. Bluntly put, someone had run macros with overseas IPs. Obvious as hell. Who else could it be? The frontrunner had shelled out for a bot farm.
To the clueless outsider, it looked jaw-dropping. But Snet had gritted their teeth and blocked overseas IPs. Better to cut off the ghost army than let the whole show tank.
One vote each, fair and square for everyone. In this moment, every single vote felt priceless, crucial.
Online voting limited to verified accounts only. Moms and dads nationwide would get dragooned into voting for their kids' faves out of nowhere—but who cared? If the enemy could game the rules, so could they.
"Oh. Looks like it's starting?"
In the Black Label waiting room, Ray was, as always, munching on sweet potato sticks with a crunch.
*How long are you gonna keep eating those?*
She'd zipped her lips at my glare, but she was quick on the uptake. Ray held out a stick toward me.
"These are for dieting. Zero calories."
"Yeah, I didn't ask."
"But you had that look..."
She shoved the half-eaten stick into her mouth, then slapped her flat belly proudly.
"See? Total zero calories. Not a sag in sight~."
*That's 'cause you're still a kid. Wait till you hit my age. Water alone bloats you.*
"Not the belly—the teeth."
Hye-soo, makeup done, handed over a hand mirror and pointed at her own teeth.
"If they see sweet potato bits stuck in there, it's black history forever. And what about us? Standing right next to you? What'd we do to deserve that? It'll be all over the communities."
Ray tilted her head.
"All over the communities? Wait, isn't that good? Means people remember us, right?"
"Good? They'll remember you as the idol who doesn't brush her teeth. What's good about that?"
Just imagining it was nightmare fuel. Posts popping up, comments piling on, upvotes, going viral, becoming a meme. Hell, Ray might spawn one herself. Food Crumb Idol. Foodol or some shit? Could be fatal for a girl idol, but she didn't give a damn. She was grinning at the mirror, practicing her killer smile poses.
*No bad press worse than no press at all, huh?*
"Everyone got the lyrics down? Check now if you're iffy."
Won Ji-min finished her final prep and handed out lyric sheets, but the girls ignored them.
"Unnie, I memorized mine ages ago."
"You better not crack, unnie."
"Haa... I'm nervous."
"What if we mess up? Uwaaa..."
"Look at that. Rock Garden sunbaenim! The cheers are insane."
The vibe had me on edge just watching. Total chaos. One girl was trembling, clutching her stage outfit; another cleared her throat after nailing vocals minutes ago. It wasn't even a routine anymore—just weird tics popping up left and right. But Won Ji-min stayed cool as ever. She clapped.
"Everyone, huddle up! On three!"
The four eyes and two mouths snapped to attention amid the mess. They all followed her pointing finger as she rallied the team.
"See that right there?"
Her hovering index finger drifted toward the monitor—toward the stage. Rock Garden was bounding around, owning the crowd's eyes. The mood was high-tension despite the melancholic lyrics. They weren't taking it lightly; it was a bid to retain old fans and hook the young ones too. Kid had game. The ace from the future looked like a cheap trick next to this. Rock Garden was no pushover.
Tough.
"Not easy."
Won Ji-min voiced my exact thought.
"If we go out like this, we could drop."
Ray and Hye-soo knew it too—they just weren't saying it. Won Ji-min reached out, her hand trembling ever so slightly toward Black Label. Even faking calm as leader, she couldn't hide the nerves.
"So don't stress. We're good at this. Go out, have fun easy-like, and even if we bust, no regrets, right? That's how I see it."
She locked eyes with each member.
"Yeah. Got it."
Hye-soo covered Won Ji-min's hand with hers.
"Don't try stopping me. I'm gonna smash this stage."
"Agreed."
The maknae piled on, topping their hands. "Hye-soo unnie's elephant jumps twice and the stage is toast. Agreed?"
"Ow, you messing with me? Potbelly pig."
The rare peace shattered after two lines, but Won Ji-min watched them fondly. Then she turned to me.
"What're you doing, oppa? Come on, join us."
"Huh?"
Their gaze shifted from me to the stacked hands.
"Oppa fights with us too."
"Right, Hyun-woo oppa. Were you gonna skip? Thought you only rode the bus. No real moves."
*Self-intro now?*
I gently laid my hand atop theirs and followed Won Ji-min's lead on the chant.
"On three, we go 'Fight, win, kill! Hoo!' Got it?"
"Wait, what?"
"Fight, win, kill. Hoo!"
Won Ji-min started it off.
"One."
"Two."
"Three!"
Hands shook with the count, and Black Label bellowed.
"Fight, win, kill!!"
"Hoo!!!"
The waiting room shook with the roar, hands shooting skyward. Ray straight-up mimed a massive head toss. This girl. She was going full rockstar mode. Didn't matter if she knew what it meant or not.
"That's the spirit."
"Huh?"
All of Black Label turned to me. Prime time—before Rock Garden's no-show headbang moment. They could pull it off, rack up goodwill from fans nationwide, pile on the buzz. Search volume would skyrocket.
"...No reason not to."
I grabbed Won Ji-min. "Right at the intro when our stage starts."
"Yeah."
"Crush the Key's Sun."
"Key's Sun?"
Ray latched onto my words, face drooping.
"Black Label, standby done. This way."
The assistant director—panda or person?—led Black Label under the lift. Exhausted and snappy, he stomped the taped mark, gnawed like a rat had at it.
"See this? Stand here. After Rock Garden's judging, they come down, you go up... Argh. This punk. Told him to hold position. Where'd he fuck off to?"
Mid-calm, the panda AD floored it.
"Hey! Lee Hyun-jae!!"
Head swiveling, hunting.
"Yes! Coming, sunbae!"
The rookie AD sprinted up. Panda almost kneed him but held back—too many eyes. Mouth over foot this time.
"I told you to guard this spot or not?"
"Sorry. Uh... Writer Kim Ji-hye called me."
Crack! The walkie antenna bent like he'd been smacked plenty as a kid.
"Fuck, 'writer called'? You didn't do military? No chain of command? Writer higher than me? Kim Ji-hye? Fucking spineless. Whatever, Black Label's here—deal with it. Call if shit hits."
Veteran move. Knew mics were hot but it'd get edited, so he ripped into the junior anyway. *Or did he curse just loud enough for the cut?*
"Heh..."
Lee Hyun-jae forced an awkward laugh to defuse, but tension spiked. No wonder Ray called out Rock Garden even with people watching.
"Unnie. You hearing this?"
"Yeah."
"No joke."
Rehearsal was one thing. Even watching the live stage on monitors. Knew Rock Garden's fandom was over half the crowd—expected. Felt winnable. But on-site? Different beast.
Crouched under the lift, waiting—the vibe hit hard. She owned the vast stage solo, charisma radiating; stage sense leading the crowd. Born for it. The shoulder-bopping melody was catchy, but Rock Garden was pure soul-punch addict. While Lee Hyun-jae synced his script to the clock, Black Label huddled for emergency countermeasures. Leader Won Ji-min led first.
"What now? Like Hyun-woo oppa said—something only ours."
"Uh... Crush the Key's Sun or whatever?"
Hye-soo parroted but wasn't sold, griping.
"What? Can't splits from the jump."
Ray pitched 'shock' value, shot down.
"Your idea's the shock."
"Huh... really?"
Time ticking. Stopwatch-checking Lee Hyun-jae called to Black Label.
"Black Label, entering standby."
He peeked through the rigging. "Strike a pose? One minute?"
Stage ended; Rock Garden bowed thanks to fans. Lee shook his head.
"No, 30 seconds. Shoot right after."
"Got it."
Won Ji-min took charge, quick as ever.
"We're hyped, right."
"Huh? Fight? That?"
"No."
Firm. "Like Hyun-woo oppa said—at the intro, hit 'em with the 'Hoo!' cheer."
Best shot to yank eyes from Rock Garden. Lift rose slow; Won Ji-min declared.
"Fight shock with shock."