First Rank Announcement Ceremony (3)
Fans of Lee Gal-chae seized the moment, capturing broadcast stills and flinging them across social media.
They had been aching over how rarely he mixed with the other contestants, how he always seemed to keep his distance and go shy around people.
On an idol survival show, skill mattered terribly, of course, but chemistry with the other contestants was just as important.
After all, when people voted for their own precious pick, they often tossed a vote or two to another contestant who happened to get along with them too.
Plenty of viewers kept two or three favorites in a bundle, cheering for them as first and second picks together.
And if some fans cast votes to check the others, there were also those who traded favors like a mutual aid society: I’ll vote for your favorite if you vote for mine.
Idols had to work as a group and get along with their teammates, so it would be a problem if an outsider image of social awkwardness took root.
That was why Gal-chae’s fans, having discovered even the faintest thread of relationship potential, went absolutely overboard, insisting that Lee Gal-chae has no social problems and already has an older brother he’s close with.
— Isn’t this just a giant and a little guy lol
— No, look again. It’s a butler and a cat.
Especially once they stood Lee Gal-chae, at 167 cm, beside Neoul, that towering 192 cm giant, he looked like a tiny fairy; fans leaned into that hard, dubbing them the “Long-and-Short Duo” and forcibly imprinting a butler image onto Neoul.
If you were going to squeeze whatever nonexistent chemistry you could out of them now, then when they debuted together later there’d be less of a chance for a full-on fan war between solo stans.
The home master nodded to herself. Not bad.
— I’m not supporting some actor who’ll just pretend to be an idol and run away lol. Midway through, he’ll ditch practice for acting and slack off, making the team suffer.
— Gal-chae is the only one acting friendly here, what even;;
Of course, it was easy enough to imagine the sneering reactions from other solo fans.
5th place is… contestant Myeong I-dam!
Right now, other people’s reactions didn’t matter at all.
Huh. It’s not even 5th…!
How high was he planning to climb, anyway?
Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn’t calm down.
Next up, 4th place is… the team that took the dark and eerie concept of the ghost dragged off by a tiger, the changwi, and turned it into a cool, spine-tingling stage!
The “Give Me a Rice Cake and I Won’t Eat You” team had been mentioned.
It must be Neoul! Amazing!
For now, only Gal Neoul and Woo Cheong remained on their team.
Woo Cheong had already drawn attention as a signal song candidate and had been in First Class from the start. Born to famous dancer parents and riding that fame, he was a dance prodigy everyone called a genius. He was also widely recognized thanks to dance cover videos that had racked up huge numbers of views.
That was why the home master expected Gal Neoul’s name to be called before Woo Cheong’s.
I would’ve been happy just to make the top eight… 4th place?
She waited, thrilled, for the MC to continue.
He’s the contestant with absolutely outstanding dance skills! In 4th place is… Woo Cheong!
What?!
No, wait—what?!
Neoul isn’t 4th?
She barely managed to swallow the dumpling she’d nearly choked on.
She looked as if she might scream.
Then what place is he?
Now, I’ll announce 3rd place. A contestant who captured the hearts of the passengers with bold, fearless charisma and a beautiful voice.
Gasp! That has to be Neoul…!
3rd place…! Gal Neoul!
At last, Gal Neoul was called.
Third! Third! That’s insane!
Neoul stood from his seat and walked calmly up onto the platform. Taking the microphone, he immediately asked MC Jeong Ondo a question.
“Am I able to wear a purple badge now?”
Jeong Ondo teased him in return.
“Ah! Gal Neoul contestant! You wanted the purple badge that badly?”
“Yes.”
“Hahaha, yes. We’ll change it to a purple badge after the announcement ceremony.”
When Jeong Ondo answered in the affirmative, the corners of Neoul’s mouth lifted slightly. He blinked slowly for a moment and looked around him. It was time to give his thoughts.
“Had I been alone… from the first step to the last, everything would have been difficult and lonely. I thank those who led me, ran beside me, and cheered for me.”
The camera zoomed in on Neoul’s face. People were reflected in his eyes.
His teammates from the same group. New friends. The production crew, all busy at work.
After taking in everyone’s faces, he finally looked straight into the camera. His eyes gleamed in the lens.
“Please keep watching. I’ll do well.”
Neoul bowed his head lightly in greeting. As his head lowered, his eyes closed, and as he lifted his head again, he opened them with a soft smile. The gentle, unhurried expression made him look almost nobly composed.
He really is a prince. He’s got the aura for it.
Neoul received congratulations as he returned to his seat with dignified restraint.
The home master clenched and unclenched her fists and screamed inwardly.
You worked hard! Neoul! You did so, so well!
Of course she’d expected him to do well, but to shoot all the way up to 3rd place…
She was so moved, so happy, she couldn’t keep her feet still and tapped them against the floor.
Now that Neoul had ranked even higher than expected, a new thought sprang up in her mind.
Could he possibly climb all the way to 1st place?
Hope bloomed that it might not be impossible after all. And once that thought took root, her competitive spirit flared for no good reason.
Who are 1st and 2nd place?!
Only the announcement of 1st and 2nd place, along with the 46th through 50th contestants teetering on the edge of elimination, remained.
Then, I’ll announce the long-awaited 1st-place contestant. Contestants Ha On-ha and Baek Yuri, please come up here.
1st and 2nd place were the two contestants who had tied for first in the blind vote.
It was a fairly obvious result that the two of them would be fighting over the top spot, but she still wanted to know which one would come out on top.
Standing side by side on the platform, Ha On-ha and Baek Yuri both looked composed, though neither could hide their tension completely.
In 1st place is… Ha On-ha!
“Wow!”
Ha On-ha, the center for the signal song, took 1st place.
He sank down where he stood. Baek Yuri, too, smiled with what looked like a body finally releasing all its tension. Yuri was the first to offer Ha On-ha his hand in a handshake, creating a warm and friendly moment.
But Baek Yuri is still 2nd even without the benefit.
When she checked the votes before applying the benefit earned from the first team mission, the gap had already been fairly large.
He’s smart, diligent, has that model-student image, he wants to do well, and he actually does well. Plus, he takes care of everyone around him…
He really was the sort of pick everyone liked.
There were all those good stories about him too—from university classmates, seniors and juniors, high school friends, the café owner where he’d worked part-time, and customers, all of them pouring out one warm anecdote after another.
On the other hand, Neoul’s face and tone of voice can’t be criticized by anyone, but there was controversy at the beginning… he’s the type people either love or hate, definitely.
No, actually, even now, opinions were sharply divided.
Quite a few people complained that Gal Neoul’s speech and the way he teased around while setting up his concept were weird.
He’s just cute! He’s a total variety-show idol!
It was the first idol of his kind she’d ever seen, and that made him feel even more unique and charming. The home master had already fallen for Gal Neoul, so instead of finding him strange, she had reached the point where she simply enjoyed him as adorable.
While she was lost in thought, only Ha On-ha remained on the platform.
Unlike usual, Ha On-ha hesitated for a moment before carefully offering his first-place thoughts in a single line.
“Thank you for finding me.”
As Ha On-ha made his way up to the very top, toward the VVIP bed seat, the other contestants seated along the path stood up to congratulate him too.
On the way up, Ha On-ha met Neoul’s eyes and spread his palm wide.
When Neoul met it with a clap, Ha On-ha grinned brightly and shot upward like an arrow, flopping onto the bed. Since it was all for show, he only stayed lying there for a moment before sitting back up.
The home master imagined Neoul, after taking 1st place, rolling around on the VVIP bed seat with dog-like glee.
1st place…! I’m definitely going to make that happen!
A little later, after 46th through 49th place had been announced.
Contestants Song Ji-seong and Yeo Do-bin, please come forward.
People began to murmur as the final 50th place announcement approached.
Yeo Do-bin, who had ranked high in the blind vote, had seen his standing plummet sharply after the first team mission. In fact, everyone was waiting to see whether he would survive in 50th place or be eliminated in 51st.
The contestant who survived by the skin of his teeth in 50th place is… Song Ji-seong.
Song Ji-seong burst into tears, and Yeo Do-bin clapped before bowing his head deeply. The last surviving contestant took his seat.
Yeo Do-bin returned to stand among the eliminated contestants, still unable to lift his face.
Ah, and with that, all rank announcements are complete. Our contestants, who worked so hard to show wonderful stages, you’ve all done well.
MC Jeong Ondo spoke in a regretful voice and continued with what sounded like closing remarks. But—
However…!
It still wasn’t over.
Six contestants were given Parachute Cards! Any contestant holding a Parachute Card can save one eliminated contestant they want to rescue. As I mentioned earlier, you can also keep it and use it if you yourself are ever in danger of elimination.
……!
Once used, it can never be taken back, so please think carefully before you decide. Then I’ll ask the contestants holding Parachute Cards a question one by one.
The MC called each of them in turn and asked whether they would use it. All six Parachute Card holders were survivors.
Three were in Economy, one was in Business, and the remaining two were Gal Neoul and Ha On-ha.
The four lower-ranked contestants all said they would keep their cards for later. It was an entirely natural choice; they were surely feeling the threat that they might fall in the next round.
The MC turned to Neoul.
Gal Neoul contestant. Will you use your Parachute Card?
Neoul answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Yes.”
Excellent! You can use the card on only one of the thirty-one eliminated contestants. Which contestant will you save?
Neoul raised a hand and pointed somewhere. It was Yeo Do-bin, who still had his head bowed.
“I will save 51st-place contestant Yeo Do-bin.”
At Neoul’s words, Yeo Do-bin jerked his head up in shock. His expression was one of utter disbelief.
I-Is this real…?
Anyone watching was just as confused. Saving an eliminated contestant meant rescuing a competitor.
Neoul was in the upper ranks and Yeo Do-bin was 51st, so the gap between them was enormous… still, you never knew what could happen in life.
Yeo Do-bin lacked leadership, but he wasn’t without skill. He had held on to an upper-ranking position in both the evaluation round and the blind vote. It was only this first team mission that had gone completely, catastrophically wrong.
The home master couldn’t easily understand Neoul’s decision.
But Neoul himself remained unruffled.
The seat for the 51st-place survivor was prepared at once. Following the MC’s instructions, Yeo Do-bin moved over and sat down there.
“Gal Neoul contestant. Is there a particular reason you used your Parachute Card on Yeo Do-bin contestant?”
“The truth is….”
Neoul turned his head and looked at Yeo Do-bin.
“When I was on the airplane, my ears were in bad shape, and Yeo Do-bin gave me all seven of the candies he had. This is my repayment.”
“Ah, so that’s what happened?”
Yeo Do-bin, choked up by Neoul’s words, finally let fall the tears he’d been holding back, and the moment was captured on camera.
The home master was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.
So that’s why… because he wanted to repay kindness.
She hadn’t understood why Neoul had saved Yeo Do-bin, but once she heard the reason, her nose prickled. Neoul’s heart seemed beautiful beyond measure.
“And he also looks like a baby shark.”
“A baby shark?”
Jeong Ondo and several contestants burst out laughing. It sounded ridiculous to call the cold-faced Yeo Do-bin a baby shark, and yet, once you heard it, it weirdly fit him perfectly.
Then a brief clip rolled on the screen.
During the Jeju filming, there were two shark plushies sitting on Neoul’s bed: a great white shark and a whale shark.
— So cute lol
— No, but he really does kind of look like Yeo Do-bin?
— LMAO it’s exactly the same lol
Does Neoul like sharks?
Then, on the screen, the plushie tails began flapping left and right. No one was in the room, but first the great white shark plushie flicked its tail fin, and then the whale shark plushie swished its tail as if it were swimming.
— Didn’t that just move?
— Holy crap
— ? Maybe it’s one of those battery-operated plush toys?
— Huh, I thought it was just a regular stuffed toy
The mystery unresolved, the screen moved on. Apparently the studio had seen the clip too, because MC Jeong Ondo and the contestants were all laughing uproariously.
“Hahaha, they really do look alike!”
Back on screen, Yeo Do-bin was crying so hard his nose had turned red, and thanks to those shark plushies just shown, he really did start to look as cute as a baby shark.
Was that an optical illusion…?
---