The Conditions for Becoming a Gentle Idol Leader - Episode 58
Filming was briefly halted. “Halted” was one thing, but from the cameras that were still secretly running here and there, it looked as though they intended to turn even this into part of the show, or at least had a few shots they were desperate to use.
Article 65 │ A perfect idol must always be careful of the eyes watching them, wherever they may be.
Before the shoot was stopped, Kwon Je-won had been talking to the staff about something, and when he came over to explain the situation, it turned out the broadcaster was claiming the overlap had not been intentional.
Still, perhaps all the running around Kwon Je-won had done had been worth it. The producer had even come to him separately, apologized, and promised that he would make sure Zero One’s portion of Round 1 was handled properly instead.
Fuck that. If that was going to be the result, they should have taken some damn care not to let this happen in the first place.
By all appearances, it was either the producer acting alone or one of those stupid, impossible coincidences that happened by sheer rotten luck, but Go Young-in didn’t trust any of it…….
The one who looked the most suspicious right away was the person who had said it himself: Jeong Hae. There was no need to wonder how to ask. The moment filming stopped, that bastard came looking for him first.
Just from how flustered he seemed, struggling to get his words out properly, it almost felt like he hadn’t meant it. Jeong Hae came straight over to Go Young-in and defended himself before anyone could even ask.
“What the hell is this? I guess the concept overlap wasn’t properly passed along to the station.”
“Seems like it.”
“Go Young-in, I really didn’t know. What are we supposed to do……. This is the first time something like this has happened, so I’m kind of at a loss.”
“It can’t be helped.”
“What’s with that confidence? You saying even if we overlap, you can still beat us?”
He had no idea why Jeong Hae was taking it that far. It seemed like he was trying to lighten the mood with a joke. When Go Young-in only gave a quiet smile without replying, Jeong Hae clicked his tongue.
“Somehow, both you and I got stuck in a shitty position……”
After saying that, Jeong Hae also turned sheepish toward Kyeon In-woo, who was standing nearby.
“And Kyeon In-woo, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would turn out like this.”
Kyeon In-woo, who had received the apology, looked at Jeong Hae with a vague expression before shrugging.
“Whatever.”
At Kyeon In-woo’s lukewarm reaction, Jeong Hae hurriedly continued.
“I know this makes it look like there’s a misunderstanding between you guys, but there really isn’t.”
“I didn’t even say anything. Why are you acting like you’ve got ants in your pants? Fine, I get it.”
Just as Kyeon In-woo said, arguing about it wouldn’t change anything, and as much as it sucked, there was no solid proof either. For now, there was nothing more to say.
In the end, the songs couldn’t overlap, so a meeting dragged on for several dozen minutes between the staff and the agency managers.
And when the meeting ended, the final words that came out of the producer’s mouth were so devoid of sense and principle that it was hard to believe they’d been reached through any kind of discussion at all.
“Ahem. We did receive the concept submissions from Zero One, DTD, and XINX first, but during filming, Triple Shot and Eternal Seven were the ones who made their announcement first, so let’s just proceed as is. We’ll take the stage recording into account and push it back a little, too.”
He was spewing bullshit for no reason and dragging it out way too long.
“Dance team. I think everyone will understand. When you make a broadcast, mistakes can happen, right?”
There was no way they were going to just nod and let it go. A number of objections came up. DTD’s agency manager was so fed up, in fact, that he said they might as well just withdraw from the program entirely.
As for Double D Entertainment, Zero One’s agency—well, Kwon Dae-do, the CEO, was the sort of person who got along fine on a personal level, but became a terrible fit the moment business was involved.
There were plenty of good people in the company one by one, but whether the company as a whole could be called good was another question entirely.
Kwon Je-won made several attempts to state their position, but from the producer’s face, it was obvious the words had gone in one ear and out the other. At that point, it was beyond what a manager could solve.
Even when they protested, the producer just dragged things out with talk about letting everyone settle this amicably, so it all ended up fizzling out.
What he said was basically half a threat. He had the gall to warn them that if there were problems with booking his agency’s junior groups in future activities, what then? Seeing that shameless face, Go Young-in had to admit the bastard was impressive in all sorts of ways.
Apparently, to get a seat at the broadcaster’s table, you had to have thick skin as your built-in passive skill.
In any case, the damage had already been done, and he wasn’t the only one getting screwed over. Fuck it. It was disgusting, but they’d just have to change the song.
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For that reason, the dance team had no choice but to gather again and hold another meeting.
Coming up with a new theme was a pain in the ass, too. First they had to spend time getting everyone’s dead motivation back on its feet.
The new song’s concept was eventually decided after one member said he’d enjoyed a hero music video and suggested they go in a musical direction. In Na Woo-ri’s words, the freshly changed theme would be called a showdown between villains and villains.
With the theme settled, all that remained was practice. The choreography had been handled quickly enough thanks to a professional choreographer. They had no choice but to get help with the arrangement, too.
When break time came, everyone flopped around the practice room. Among them, Na Woo-ri looked the most exhausted, lying flat on the floor and shouting in complaint.
“I really can’t do any more!”
Go Young-in thought, How do the DTD guys even put up with this level of whining?
There wasn’t a single Zero One member who complained like that. After being surrounded by those stubborn bastards who never said a word about being tired, hearing someone actually whine about it felt oddly fresh.
“I could barely keep up with the choreography before they changed it, and now this? Come on, hyung, seriously. We’re just making things twice as hard for ourselves for nothing! ……Can’t the broadcaster people even handle something this basic?”
Na Woo-ri muttered the last part under his breath. He seemed to have noticed the staff resting farther away while clearing the cameras. Go Young-in’s gaze drifted toward the cluster of staff. It really was all pretty slapdash.
As he looked around, he noticed another familiar face among the staff: the employee who had been tangled up with Cheon Sa-yoon, Bae So-jin. She was around again a lot lately.
Before Go Young-in could answer because he was thinking it over, Na Woo-ri took his silence as being ignored and kept grumbling. A guy who was already full of complaints only got more complaints piled on top.
“Seriously, hyung, that’s the problem with you.”
What was? When Go Young-in looked blankly at him, Na Woo-ri shook his head like it was hopeless and said there was no way a person like him would understand.
So what the hell do you mean by “a person like me,” you punk?
Article 20 │ A gentle idol leader willingly helps their members.
Haah…… The recon mission, right on schedule, had come around again. Fine. He should go check on the vocal team and the rapper team, too. Nothing had gone wrong so far, but the real problems were popping up elsewhere with admirable enthusiasm.
He was already short on time to keep an eye on the members; he had no extra energy to waste on Na Woo-ri.
Go Young-in, who had been leaning against the wall of the practice room, unfolded his bent knees and pushed himself to his feet. Kyeon In-woo, who had been squatting nearby while playing a mobile game, looked up at him and rose as well.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m just going to check on the members for a moment.”
“Again?”
At the words “go check on the members,” Kyeon In-woo froze halfway through standing, his face twisting in irritation as he stopped moving. He clearly looked like he was thinking about Cheon Sa-yoon.
“You can stay here alone. Rest.”
“Forget it. Let’s go.”
Seriously……? Kyeon In-woo seemed to have caught the meaning from his look and stared at Go Young-in as though he were a problem child.
“If I leave you alone, you drag in trouble like crazy, so no.”
He hadn’t actually caused any trouble himself. Fucking hell, to get this kind of line from the future’s resident disaster magnet.
The way he said it made it sound like Go Young-in had already caused something once before. It was the look you gave a person under suspicion. This was the most wronged he’d felt in a while. Then again, there had been a lot going on lately…….
After rubbing his head roughly and pulling the hood of the tracksuit he was wearing over it, Kyeon In-woo strode toward the practice room door. Then, annoyingly enough, he complained that Go Young-in was moving too slowly. That bastard.
Behind the two of them, a camera operator quietly followed.
There was no need to go far. It was the room right next door, after all, so even calling it “going out to check” felt a little ridiculous.
Before opening the practice room door, Go Young-in glanced inside through the small glass panel attached to it. If they were practicing in there, barging in would be rude. There was no harm in being careful.
His concern proved unnecessary. They had apparently just finished practice and were gathered together. Thinking it was fine now, he reached for the door—but just then, something inside caught his eye.
Go Young-in froze with his hand on the doorknob.
Shit.
Cheon Sa-yoon was fine, at least…… He seemed to be standing at the center of the conversation there, leading the mood with that endlessly gentle expression on his face, as usual.
The whole group looked harmonious, and nobody nearby seemed to be making a rotten face, so… that was a relief, at least. The problem was…….
It was the guy standing alone in a corner, not joining that cheerful atmosphere of his own free will.
Pyo Jae-ho…….
No, Cheon Sa-yoon, you damn psycho. You said you’d take care of him. That isn’t taking care of him; that’s neglect. This was driving him crazy.
Wasn’t this going to look weird on camera? Pyo Jae-ho, please, couldn’t you at least pretend to join in?
Wait. What if they’re the ones not letting him join in?
Just as Go Young-in’s expression began to darken, one of the people in the group walked over to Pyo Jae-ho and started talking to him. They seemed to be a pretty sociable bunch overall.
So that’s not it.
Pyo Jae-ho was handling it in his own way, not ignoring them just because it was filming. Judging by the other person’s normal expression, he probably wasn’t saying anything strange either.
Only after seeing them talk for quite a while did Go Young-in finally let the tension leave his body. It was a relief just to see that bizarre situation—one he’d been worrying might be read all kinds of wrong—finally broken. Wow, fuck…….
“Thank God…….”
He’d said it quietly, but Kyeon In-woo still managed to catch the sound and raised his brows.
“For what?”
“Hm? Jae-ho. I was worried because he was off by himself.”
It was already a mess, and now he was worried they might get dragged into rumors of discord on top of it. So he wasn’t completely ignoring what he said. But why did he so thoroughly ignore what the members said? Whether it was because they were on camera or not, it was still a problem, and that made him feel strangely heavy-hearted.
“Why don’t you just smash your face through the glass while you’re at it?”
Ah.
He must have been pressed right up against the door without realizing it. No, but when you got into a situation like this, it was hard not to obsess over it.
Separately from that, he admitted that he was also getting more worked up over the situation than he needed to. It was just… how should he put it?
Even if Pyo Jae-ho had chosen to stand apart on his own, seeing him isolated like an island while everyone else talked and laughed together made it look like he was being left out for no reason…… It didn’t look good. Strangely enough, it put him in a bad mood.
“He’s the youngest. Of course I’d worry.”
What he was really worried about was his own peace and quiet.
Kyeon In-woo watched him with a look that said he wanted to see what sort of nonsense this was, then slapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head. It was the kind of gesture that said he was frustrated beyond words.
Then, looking like he was holding back the urge to say this was the most pathetic kind of worry in the world, he went on to sneer that if they’d debuted two years ago and he still couldn’t do this, that was stranger than strange, and so on.
But it wasn’t a matter of whether Pyo Jae-ho could do it or not. The problem was more fundamental than that.
And what did he mean, “debuted two years ago”? That bastard had been unusual for three years, four years, five years… and well beyond that too. In a bad way. If anything, because he was still young in the early days of debut, people had sometimes just let it slide.
Before he knew it, he’d ended up having a worthless conversation with Kyeon In-woo and wasted too much time standing at the door. In the end, the other side noticed them first and opened the door for them.
He went in, greeted the others, forced himself to approach the blatantly indifferent Pyo Jae-ho a few times and talk to him, biting back the urge to scratch words into the air with a knife, and after finishing even a businesslike conversation with Cheon Sa-yoon, he headed to DTD’s Park Ha-un to offer a light greeting and his thanks.
Thanks to Park Ha-un, he learned the vocal team’s atmosphere wasn’t bad, which helped ease some of his anxiety on the way over.
As for Lim Se-bin—well, the moment he arrived, he was told in a benevolent-looking face that he could stop coming, while eyes colder than ice hid behind it, and he was driven out before he could stay long.
Still, at least he hadn’t been cursed at in front of the camera.
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