Chapter 375: 3rd Competition
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 375: 3rd Competition
The final shoot for Exclusive Report ended in a single take without any retakes. As soon as the director shouted "Cut," Manager Chan-yeong came running over with a blanket, which startled me.
After wiping off the paint, I was presented with a large bouquet and a cake. The message "From the entire staff of Exclusive Report" was truly touching.
"I brought something as well..."
The manager and I busily handed out individually packaged bottles of non-alcoholic red wine. I had prepared them after seeing the final scene of the script, but everyone joked that they were so grateful yet so terrified that they wouldn't be able to drink them for a while.
"What are we going to do? The set is going to be so desolate without I-wol."
"Now only the true veterans are left..."
The expressions of the two leads, who were facing a confrontation with the chairman of Cheonju Group, company executives, and other formidable middle-aged characters, darkened significantly.
"I'm sorry, I'll be heading out first."
"Leaving us behind to go be a youthful idol. I won't forget this grudge."
"If you ever add a flashback scene, please call me. I'll come anytime!"
"Really?!"
The PD, who must have been listening for a while, suddenly interjected. I gave my word several times before I was finally able to leave the set.
"Straight to NBC, right?"
"Yeah, if we leave now, we'll make it just in time."
With the drama filming finished, the manager and I hurried to return to our primary jobs.
The 3rd Competition was held in a subtle, tense atmosphere. The seniors were busy walking on eggshells around the much younger members of Parte and Spark.
We felt much more at ease simply because the atmosphere wasn't one of reprimand, but apparently, Parte didn't feel the same. Their greetings weren't as loud as they were at the beginning of the show.
Doing well once might be easy, but maintaining that initial attitude for a long time is difficult. I hope they take some time to reflect on themselves instead of adding fuel to the fire for their fans, who are already calling Spark a bunch of hypocrites.
Back in the waiting room, I did my best to cheer for Jeong Seong-bin and Kang Gi-yeon.
"Captain, Teacher, I believe in you."
"Those titles are a bit much," Kang Gi-yeon replied dryly. Despite his grumbling, he left the waiting room with a confident stride.
"Wow, why am I so nervous?"
After seeing his friend off, Lee Cheong-hyeon couldn't seem to sit still. He stood up from the sofa, leaned his hands on the armrests, paced around the waiting room, and sat back down, repeating the cycle several times.
"You weren't this nervous when it was your turn. What's wrong?"
"I was totally fine during my own turn, seriously. But seeing a member go out makes me so anxious."
Park Ju-woo placed a blanket over the thighs of Lee Cheong-hyeon, whose legs had started shaking. In his hands, he placed a handmade slogan he had brought from the dorm, as he always did. Lee Cheong-hyeon began waving the slogan back and forth like a machine.
"I wonder what genre it'll be. Je-ho, did you hear anything?"
"He didn't say."
"Kang Gyeon's security was airtight. Even though we share a room, I didn't even hear the intro to the song."
Park Ju-woo, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, slowly scooted over from where he was sitting. He seemed to get excited whenever the mention of a new challenge came up.
Personally, I just hoped it wasn't something that put too much strain on his legs. These guys don't say it outright, but ever since Kim I-wol returned from the Hong Un-seop incident, they've been reducing my movement distance on stage, even if it means their own paths get longer or more complicated.
I was so focused on the dancing and learning the choreography for the new song challenges that come out every day that I didn't notice at first. But looking back during monitoring, Kang Gi-yeon was moving so fast he was practically using teleportation.
'The choreography for Blaider was pretty intense too...'
Kang Gi-yeon isn't the type to just suppress his own stubbornness. I wasn't worried that he would perform a stage he didn't want to do.
I just wanted him to be satisfied without overdoing it. I felt like I was asking for too much, but it couldn't be helped. They say the more kids grow, the more you worry.
However, surprisingly—and fortunately—Kang Gi-yeon blew my concerns away.
He kept his movements restrained but chose an outfit that highlighted his muscle definition, capturing a sense of splendor through his silhouette. By performing a dance with meticulously controlled dynamics to a slow-tempo song, he presented a fresh sight rarely seen in competition stages.
What made this possible was, without a doubt, the high level of perfection. It felt as if every breath and the angle of every finger had been synchronized; there was a catharsis that came from that perfect unity.
"I'm back."
"What was that? You were so cool!"
It was a performance so flawless that even his same-age friend, Lee Cheong-hyeon, used the word "cool" without any embarrassment.
"Gi-yeon, I'm going to put out a press release today. 'Kang Gi-yeon's position battle a success... Choi Je-ho sends applause.'"
"Je-ho hyung? And hyung, please stop putting out press releases."
Kang Gi-yeon scolded me, looking embarrassed.
But it was the truth. Choi Je-ho clapped three times. If I could, I would have connected my eyes to a beam projector to show everyone.
"Since Gi-yeon did so well, I'll work hard too!"
Jeong Seong-bin, gaining motivation, shouted his ambition energetically. I immediately silenced him by holding an open tumbler to his lips, telling him not to strain his voice before the stage.
As he declared, Jeong Seong-bin gave it his all. He might have been motivated by Kang Gi-yeon, but even if his younger teammate had given a disappointing performance, Jeong Seong-bin would have worked just as hard for the best stage possible.
'Look at that vocal volume. It's insane. There's no way he'll lose the on-site vote.'
The years Jeong Seong-bin spent learning to sing were likely longer than the years he spent not knowing how to sing. Having safely passed through the vulnerable growth period and using his vocal cords with proper moderation to avoid overexertion, they were no longer a shackle for him.
Unless the balance seemed off because Han Ga-un's side was a bit weaker, it wasn't a performance that would fail to get results due to any shortcomings. The Captain's dignity shone through.
Park Ju-woo stared at Jeong Seong-bin on the screen without blinking once. Every time the camera angle or the color of the lighting changed, his eyes sparkled.
I saw an overlap with the old Park Ju-woo, who used to do live broadcasts alone in a room with only a single indirect light, his eyes lacking that spark.
'Seong-bin... really loves singing. For me, I enjoy it more when I'm singing a song I like. But not Seong-bin. He's happy no matter what song he sings.'
Back when Jeong Seong-bin was at a crossroads of halting activities again due to worsening vocal nodules, shortly after his discharge and return.
In the deserted house he had moved into after leaving the dorm, Park Ju-woo had said those words with a face that made it hard to tell if he was smiling unless you looked closely.
'That must be love.'
Others might look at Park Ju-woo staring incessantly at the monitor and assume he was jealous of Jeong Seong-bin.
But I knew. Park Ju-woo was a pure soul who valued his friend's happiness as much as his own dreams, someone who would willingly give up a precious opportunity for his friend's sake, and someone who simply understood how much happiness it was to be able to sing the songs you love to your heart's content.
The results of the 3rd Competition were to be announced during the recording after next, after combining the view counts of the videos posted after the main broadcast and the overseas votes.
I wondered why they had left such a large gap in the schedule when there was already a significant delay between the recording and the broadcast...
"Do you all remember what we said during the Half-formal? We said that in Idol Dynasty Annals Season 2, the one who will become King would be selected through a total of six stages."
"We are now revealing the hidden task that wasn't seen in Season 1!"
...A project that required a preparation period had emerged. Along with Polo's cheerful commentary, the words "Outdoor Folk Performance" appeared on the electronic display.
They were just using fancy words; they were basically telling us to go busking. Do they think competition participants are vending machines that spit out a stage whenever a button is pressed? Do they have any idea how much preparation goes into an outdoor event? Do they think you can just hang a banner and hold an event outside?
"A new place provides new stimulation. It will be an opportunity to showcase your skills in an unfamiliar environment."
"That's right. The locations where the participants will perform were personally selected by carefully chosen K-pop industry insiders."
The most ominous words in the world had been spoken. Usually, "carefully selected" is a shorthand for "not particularly authoritative, but chosen without a transparent support or bidding process so the organizers can exert influence and roughly make it look the part."
As a self-proclaimed expert in skimming online communities, I, Kim I-wol, predicted that the first post title to go up after this aired would be, "So who are these 'carefully selected' K-pop insiders?" And no one would know their identities until Idol Dynasty Annals ended.
"The base you must visit is... right here!"
The text on the display changed to an image. I quickly searched for Spark's name. Along with the location written next to it.
[Spark – Department Store]
'What's with these location candidates?'
I thought it might be a planning failure and scanned the locations from top to bottom, but they were mostly normal. Daehak-ro and parks are classic busking spots, aren't they?
And the Riverside, which is optimized for a location buff...
"Riverside?!"
"Wow, it's my first time singing by a river...!"
...Parte took it.
Fuck, bring me those "insiders."
"Hyung, I think beams are about to come out of your eyes."
"They're not out yet? I thought they were."
"If you stay like that for ten more minutes, they might."
At Lee Cheong-hyeon's words, I decided to close my eyes for a moment. It had been 30 minutes since I'd been fuming with rage. My eyes were starting to feel strained.
"Is a department store really that bad? A lot of public fan meetings are held on the first floor of department stores."
"That's true. Lee Cheong-hyeon's ads might even be hanging there."
"They probably can't air that. It'll spark suspicions of paid product placement."
Lee Cheong-hyeon and Kang Gi-yeon made innocent remarks.
Sure, department stores are good for events. They're clean, there's plenty of staff for crowd control, and at least it's indoors.
But that's it. There are no other advantages.
The reason for holding mini fan meetings at department stores? It's simple. It's because the stage isn't large enough to do anything else. You put out a few chairs and a table, and that's it.
When it comes to acoustics, it's even more of a headache. If you play music loudly, the sound echoes because of the enclosed structure, and it becomes a nuisance to the customers.
It's not an environment suitable for professional performance equipment, and even then, there are many restrictions on installing devices. There's going to be so much noise in the microphones. It'll be a miracle if Park Ju-woo doesn't blow out the speakers while singing.
As I was agonizing over a solution, I heard an "Uh?" from behind me.
I realized I had failed to announce the basic etiquette that "Uh?" is prohibited for trivial matters. It was my mistake.
I turned around to ask Kang Gi-yeon to refrain from frequent use of "Uh?" for everyone's peace of mind.
However, Kang Gi-yeon's expression was quite serious. It was a complex face, as if he didn't know what was going on but was also shocked.
"What is it?"
At my question, Kang Gi-yeon looked back and forth between me and the manager. The manager's phone began to ring.
"Je-ho hyung... he's in a dating scandal."