A Water Deer Appears at the Audition! (Cookie Included)
"How is there not a single decent kid...?"
Kang Hoyeon, a scout on the new development team, slumped across her desk.
Idols sprouted like weeds every year—around two hundred groups. Of those, maybe two or three ever made a name for themselves and won the public's love. This year, too, she had gone everywhere looking for talent to build a new group, and every last attempt had failed.
"I mean, come on! If their face is decent, their personality's a disaster, and if their personality seems okay... they're out back smoking!"
The group they were putting together this time was a girl group, so even just drinking or smoking could tank their image.
"Team lead, please calm down a little. That's why we opened the audition. These days a lot more kids want to be idols than before. Once we post the notice, they'll come flooding in."
Kang Hoyeon shook her head at her subordinate's words.
"We're not a famous agency. Mid-sized... and that's being generous. We're no different from a brand-new management company. And the most important thing... we have no budget."
"Ah... well, we did crash and burn last year... everything turned into debt. How does one song even cost that much..."
Her subordinate sat down beside her and clutched her own head.
Last year they had launched a boy group with huge expectations. Seven members, rolled out with swagger—and the result was a single appearance on a music show. They had maybe twenty fans, and they hadn't even settled on a fan club name. It wouldn't have been strange if they had vanished at any moment.
Even after all that hardship, the CEO—whether he had lost his mind or not—had declared they were making another idol group.
"This is all... that guy's fault."
The newly arrived vice president had clearly been egging him on from the sidelines.
"With a face like a toad, looking like he'd hit on anything in a skirt, and he's the one telling us to make a girl group..."
"T-Team lead..."
"What? Did I say something wrong..."
Something felt off to Kang Hoyeon. Her subordinate's face looked like someone who'd just been caught—fidgeting, pupils trembling hard.
Come on, no way... it's not like this is a movie where the vice president is standing right behind me going ta-da!
She swallowed. After one deep breath, she slowly turned around.
"Ha... should I just quit?"
The toad-faced vice president was standing right behind her.
"Haha, I am pretty chubby, I'll give you that. But isn't that a bit much?"
"Ah... yes, I'm sorry. I won't say it again. I was just... frustrated."
"No. I wasn't looking for an apology. I know how hard the scouting team has it."
"Ah... haha."
Kang Hoyeon gave an awkward smile as the vice president's hand settled on her shoulder. She wanted to yell at him to get his hands off her, but Kang Hoyeon was thoroughly the subordinate here. She didn't have the guts to shout at the person holding all the cards.
"Have you thoroughly reviewed the personal information of the kids auditioning today?"
"Well... I looked them over roughly... none of them really jumped out at me."
A week had passed since they'd posted the audition notice. They weren't a major agency—just one clinging to the very tail end of mid-sized—so there hadn't been many applicants.
"Wouldn't you say that seeing them with your own eyes and feeling it for yourself is what being an idol is really about, more than checking profiles? In that spirit, I've decided to sit in on the audition judging myself."
"V-Vice President, you personally? What about the CEO..."
"Don't worry about that. I'll be attending in the CEO's place."
Kang Hoyeon was uneasy. Idol trainees tended to be young. If a man as ugly as the vice president... ahem. If a man who looked like a toad showed up, they clearly wouldn't be able to perform at their best.
Please... just don't cry.
Kang Hoyeon stood and headed for the audition venue. On the way, she swept her gaze over the waiting kids, observing them without anyone noticing.
They were so overflowing with confidence their chins were practically tilted up. Each one stood with a straight back and squared shoulders, as if advertising that they were the best.
If they mess up like that, it's going to be a disaster.
The more confident a kid was, the more indescribable the devastation when they made a mistake. She'd seen plenty who gave up on the spot and crumpled, and plenty who ran crying to their parents.
No kids from other agencies here. This is going to be fierce.
I showed up at the audition hall not long after being discharged from the hospital. Ordinarily I would have wanted to rest more at home, but the doctor said there was no problem going about daily life, so Mom had shoved me out the door and I'd ended up here.
I swept a look around the waiting room. There were kids who'd come with their parents like me, and some people who looked like adults. The audition must have already started; quite a few numbers had already been called.
That was when a voice overflowing with confidence came from behind me.
"You're... the last number, huh."
I quietly checked the number I'd been given at the entrance. I'd pinned it to my clothes the moment I got it, so I hadn't actually looked at what it was.
Number 34.
Ah. So I was number 34.
I lifted my head. A girl with hair dyed bright yellow. She looked at my face, her brow twitching slightly, then broke into a smirk.
"I'm number 33."
"Ah... yes."
I wasn't interested. I'd only come here because my parents had shoved me. I hadn't actually thought about becoming an idol.
Whether my tone rubbed her the wrong way, number 33 asked with her arms lightly crossed.
"How old are you?"
"I'm... starting high school."
"Yeah? Aren't you a little late? Take a good look around."
At her words, I scanned the room again.
"You're way too late. Most of them are first- or second-year middle schoolers at most. The others are even younger."
A look that asked, So what about you? landed on me. I already knew. A lot of idol trainees started in elementary school.
"It's not too late even now. See over there? You take that number tag off and walk out. Better to pretend you never came today than to embarrass yourself for nothing."
She never uncrossed her arms. If anything, she even threw in a warning. It was like she was saying this wasn't a place you walked into just because you had a pretty face.
Cute.
At best she was a second- or third-year high schooler. She might even be the same age as me. To someone who already had an adult's knowledge, her behavior was just cute.
"Would it be all right if I asked your name?"
"Huh? I'm Jina."
Jina...
Even I, a complete outsider to the entertainment industry, had heard that name in the future.
She debuted in her thirties and still made it as an idol. She was famous for a while.
The saying that age is just a number when it comes to dreams floated through my mind.
"I'm Lee Jiwoo."
Her life was famous. Five failed debuts, despair, even psychiatric meds—and she still never gave up and made it. I'd given up without even being able to dream that far. Looking at a Jina like that, I found myself wanting to root for her.
"Right... looking at your eyes, you're not planning to give up, are you?"
"Yes. This time I don't plan to give up either. I'm going to see it through to the end."
"...?"
Thanks to Jina, my goal had solidified. The Status Window itself was telling me to head into entertainment. I'd even just gained a rival. I didn't know whether this test was graded on an absolute or relative scale.
Looking at the people going into the audition room, they were going in threes, so we'd be taking the same audition.
"Yeah? So this isn't your first time."
I didn't answer her question. If I let on that this was my first time, she'd definitely have something to use against me, so I answered with a light smile.
"Waaah..."
"Mom~..."
"Next, numbers 31 through 34, please come in."
Our numbers were called. Jina and I stood up. Time to go in for the interview. Jina, who'd been chatting with me just a moment ago, was trembling slightly with nerves.
"Are you nervous?"
Jina paused at my words. Then she looked at me and said,
"Nervous? This is my stage."
Jina was overflowing with confidence too. Unlike me, she must have been through auditions any number of times. This was the bearing of a veteran.
But that went for me too. I'd already sat through countless interviews and met countless people as a salesperson. This level of nerves... didn't even register as nerves.
The audition room was simpler than I'd expected. Three chairs arranged in the middle.
Ah... they'd just added a fourth. I sat down quickly and sized up the judges.
Four of them in total.
Of them, only the two sitting in the center started writing something the moment we came in. The interview had already begun.
Numbers 31 and 32 sang while dancing to a currently popular routine. For their age, both of them were pretty good. Yeah. That was about it. Nothing with any eye-catching impact.
I glanced at Jina beside me. The slight lift at the corner of her mouth said she thought she'd already won. Poor kids. They both looked like they'd worked hard, but I never heard either of their names in the future.
The judges kept their faces blank and moved their hands slowly.
"Number 33, what will you be doing?"
Finally, Jina's turn. She stood slowly and unzipped the skirt she was wearing. For a second I wondered what she was doing. From under the shed skirt, short shorts popped out.
"I'll be presenting a dance."
"A dance... what kind of dance will you be doing? Shall we put on a song?"
"No, I'll do it without accompaniment."
Dance with no music?
I'd danced without music at company workshops more than once. That was when I'd learned: unless you were seriously confident in your dancing, going without accompaniment was insane.
And she was... going to do that? Was she in her right mind?
Still. A future idol. She clearly had something in mind.
Jina stepped forward and took her stance. Then her dance began.
She... dances well.
I found myself staring at Jina without meaning to. She danced well enough that calling her a future idol felt right. Every movement had snap and force, and a faint smile appeared on the faces of the judges who'd looked bored until just now.
She's getting through.
About three minutes passed, and Jina finished her unaccompanied dance with a final pose. You didn't have to be a judge to know. She'd passed.
"Next, I'll sing."
Now I was looking forward to it. She danced that well—so how good would her singing...
"What the..."
In that instant, a water deer walked right past us.