Chapter 380
Chapter 380
“……”
I immediately confirmed the addition of the colleague. Then, after a quick swallow, I checked the list.
The current status of the colleagues I had pulled so far was displayed.
[Colleague List]
[Shin Jae-hyun: Out to find a colleague (//-^├)]
[Cha Yu-jin: Having a calm conversation with the production crew (ㅇㅅㅇ)]
Normally, it should have ended there, but one more line had been added.
The guy I just pulled.
[Lee Se-jin: Reading the scenario intently (｀ㅅ ´9)]
A scenario.
Anyone could see this description pointed to an actor. So… it really was Bae Se-jin.
“Phew.”
A pop-up appeared, looking as if Keun-dal had scribbled it in haste.
[H-Heok! D-Do the Awakening right now, Hyung!]
Right.
[Would you like to Awaken Colleague: Lee Se-jin?]
-Use 1,000 Exp
I reached out to press the accept button… but then I stopped.
[?? Hyung?]
No, not now.
My head, finally clearing as the blood rushed back, began to turn.
‘We’re in the middle of filming.’
I had already turned in my smartphone. Even if I awakened this guy now, he’d be unreachable for at least four days.
I couldn't just leave him in a state of confusion after regaining his memories all by himself during that time.
[Ah… I see.]
Let’s finish the stage first, then proceed with the Awakening.
[Yes! Good luck!]
I dismissed the Colleague List pop-up. However, I wasn't as anxious as before.
On the contrary, I felt a bit… motivated.
‘I should contact him immediately after the Awakening once this is over. I’ll have to let Cha Yu-jin know, too.’
Of course, persuading this guy wouldn't be an easy task… but just the thought of it made me feel pretty good.
My head felt clear.
[Lee Se-jin: Reflecting on the scenario (｀ㅅ//)]
…I didn't know why the emoticon suddenly had blush marks, but for now, this was enough.
I chuckled and closed the Colleague List, preparing to return to the practice room.
It was then.
“Excuse me…”
“…!”
It was a familiar voice. But…
‘Why am I hearing this here?’
I turned my head immediately and saw exactly who I expected.
It was Lee Se-jin, looking a bit awkward.
“Do you happen to know where the sinks are?”
“……”
Right. It was break time, so this guy could wander around as he pleased.
I pointed.
“That way.”
“Ah~”
Hurry up and go.
But instead of leaving, he started to linger.
“Thank you. Oh, Gun-woo-ssi, is it okay if I call you that?”
“Yes.”
“Oh~ You’re very straightforward!”
Then he grinned.
“Your performance today was so good that I really enjoyed myself thanks to you. Thank you~”
“Likewise,”
I chose my words carefully.
“Thank you for the kind words.”
“Hey, it’s not just empty talk. I saw your first stage too, and everything was really great. I think you’re definitely going to debut, seriously!”
Is this bastard testing me because he has his memories?
‘No way.’
He probably just sees potential and wants to build a connection for networking purposes. Isn't it obvious?
‘That part of him hasn't changed.’
I relaxed my arms.
Fine, I’m going to pull you and awaken you anyway once the fame grind is over, so do whatever you want.
I might as well return the favor with some praise.
Well, it wasn't like I was lying.
“Thank you. I also learned a lot watching your performance, Sunbae-nim. I was inspired by how you perfectly realized every movement and expression to fit the song.”
“Ah.”
He suddenly fell silent.
‘Did he not expect that?’
But he soon spoke up as if nothing had happened.
“Thank you. That gives me a boost~ Well, since we’ve met like this, shall we exchange contact information?”
It was exactly the same as during Idol Inc.
Rather than bitterness, a strange sense of nostalgia welled up. I shrugged.
“I don't have my phone on me right now… If it’s okay, I’ll give you my number.”
“Yes, yes, that’s great!”
I entered my number into his smartphone. It felt strange.
“I’ll send you a text, so let’s say hi again later. See ya~”
“Yes. Then I’ll head back in to prepare. Thank you.”
“Um, yeah.”
I turned away as if I hadn't noticed that he seemed to want to talk more.
‘I need to organize my thoughts.’
He was someone who usually did all sorts of things. I felt like if I kept talking now, I might make a mistake the moment my tension relaxed.
Anyway, it was a polite response, so he wouldn't have been offended…
‘Things are ending up developing similarly here, too.’
A relationship based on networking—that is, mutual benefit.
I let out a small laugh and quickened my pace as I turned the corner of the hallway.
And just before I could collide with the person on the other side of the corner, I stopped in my tracks. It was Cheong-ryeo.
“So this is where you were. You came quite far.”
“It just happened.”
“I don't think it ‘just happened’… Ah. As expected.”
He glanced past the corner and confirmed Lee Se-jin’s retreating back. Then he muttered with an indifferent face.
“I wondered why you weren't in your seat. I’m telling you in advance, that one will be hard to bring along. He’s a member of an established group in his third year.”
Do you think I don't know that?
“I just opened up a line of contact for networking.”
“Hmm, are you thinking of explaining the situation and trying to persuade him?”
“……”
“You did that to the other side before.”
Just like that, out of the blue?
For a moment, the thought that it might not be impossible crossed my mind, but…
“No, the stage comes first.”
It’s not a crazy thing to do because it’s impossible. It’s a crazy thing to do because you’re doing something everyone else could do but chooses not to.
I had no intention of saying anything useless to that guy until the Awakening.
“Right. Good thinking.”
He was stating the obvious.
I returned to the practice room. To perfect the stage.
And a few days later.
The filming for the stage where an audience would be present for the first time in this program finally began.
“Please take good care of me~”
Lee Se-jin of Zairop, who had returned as a special judge, greeted everyone brightly and took his seat.
They had called back the idols who had attended the mid-term evaluation and were relatively less busy, and it didn't feel particularly great to have proudly taken one of those spots.
Nevertheless, he was interested in the performances.
Monitoring those who were likely to become competitors could only be beneficial. Besides, there was someone he had just become acquainted with.
Ryu Gun-woo.
The trainee who had performed that jazz stage.
Lee Se-jin scrunched his nose slightly, frowning.
‘It was a bit strange.’
He had already thought the guy was exceptionally good and the type to draw attention. So he figured it wouldn't hurt to get to know him.
But when he actually talked to him…
‘How should I put it? I just felt like I wanted to become friends with him.’
You know that feeling, like wanting to become close again with a friend you haven't seen in a while and have grown distant from.
‘Could we have known each other before?’
Like, a childhood friend he used to play with in the neighborhood or something.
No, since he was older, maybe a neighborhood Hyung he knew?
‘Ah, I don't know.’
Lee Se-jin dropped the question that had no answer.
‘Anyway, there’s no reply yet.’
He could dig a little deeper while contacting him slowly after this stage was over.
Even though the guy seemed a bit blunt, he seemed like a real talent, so he didn't regret reaching out. Lee Se-jin straightened his posture.
Filming was about to start.
“The third stage of <Wise> begins now.”
At the CEO’s cool announcement, the sets were prepared in an orderly fashion.
And what unfolded were stages worthy of a major agency’s debut group.
‘…It’s annoying.’
Lee Se-jin suppressed his surging emotions.
Competitiveness, a sense of crisis.
And he began to rank them.
This group is worse than Zairop, that group is about the same level as Zairop…
‘Well, being good on stage doesn't necessarily mean you’ll make it big.’
Just look at Malang Dalkom, the previous girl group from this agency; didn't they pivot to a bizarre concept because they couldn't blow up despite their decent skills?
But considering that half of these people would be filtered out again to debut…
‘Ah… damn it.’
Lee Se-jin decided he had to think of a way to whip his group into shape.
Managing people was the area he was most confident in. It felt a bit draining that an idol had to worry about such things more often than the stage itself, but…
His eyes darkened, but the light from the stage lamps offset it appropriately.
“Revealing the keyword for the next match.”
Time passed, and the match he had been waiting for the most finally arrived.
The keyword appeared on the electronic display.
[Sexy]
“Kyaaaak!”
Among the audience, groans and cheers—it was hard to tell if they were from disappointment or anticipation—erupted.
‘Ah~ I knew they were planning something the moment I saw this.’
Lee Se-jin suppressed a bitter smile and, on the outside, showed an appropriately pleasant reaction like a junior idol. Then, the first team’s stage began.
—Kneel down, woo!
It was a stage that felt like it was screaming that its sharp angles, autotune, and body waves were fatal.
‘Hmm.’
Well, there would be… a demand for it.
Lee Se-jin prepared some feedback in case the microphone came his way and took some notes on refined keywords, mostly for show.
And he roughly anticipated the reaction to the next and final stage.
‘…That team.’
He had already been briefed since the mid-term evaluation. The team that included many of the participants with the best output in this survival program right now.
The team that included Ryu Gun-woo, the one he had exchanged numbers with.
‘They wouldn't have given them the final slot for no reason.’
When he looked it up, spoilers were already circulating on the internet, and everyone was looking forward to it.
Most of the audience sitting there right now would be busy thinking about the participants who ‘hadn't come out yet’ on SNS or KakaoTalk, guessing the members of this team.
And the moment they appeared on the screen.
[Shin Jae-hyun, Kim Rae-bin, Jung Woo-dan, Cha Yu-jin]
[+Ryu Gun-woo (Outlier)]
“Waaaaaaah! Kyaaaaaah!”
Tremendous cheers mixed with indescribable screams and groans echoed.
It was a phenomenon where fans, seeing for the first time with their own eyes that Ryu Gun-woo had been designated as an ‘Outlier,’ were flustered but still held expectations for the team itself.
‘Everyone’s going to go crazy in the end.’
The formula for success was already visible. It felt like he could see the program’s success right before his eyes, so Lee Se-jin suppressed a bitter smile. Their song choice was a track from a top-tier boy group that came out just the year before last.
Wild and masculine sexy.
It was a similar direction to the previous team.
‘They’re going to win.’
If the texture was similar, wouldn't the one who did it better win? It was a question that already had an answer the moment he saw the mid-term evaluation.
‘…Because they were good.’
He could already tell from the first verse alone, but he focused his eyes seriously on the stage.
The participants who had entered were standing in a bud-like formation. Monochromatic lights flickered on the stage.
—Cut off
And the moment an elegant accompaniment played along with a low voice.
“…!”
The lighting changed to purple, and the members moved their bodies smoothly.
A formation connected with body waves that made great use of the upper body.
Lee Se-jin realized it immediately.
‘They changed the arrangement slightly.’
Several instrumental elements were removed. The electronic sound was gone, and the bass and string sounds were amplified.
And the movements.
Instead of powerful energy, they were sluggish and relaxed. Velvet shirts and black pants followed their movements.
—Cut it and just leave
That’s your way
(So sick)
As Kim Rae-bin, who had swept his hair back, finished the intro, Shin Jae-hyun took over smoothly, performing his part with gestures.
Without even a synchronized dance. Just with facial expressions and movements.
And yet, the audience was staring at it intently.
‘That’s a hard thing to do.’
A stage with gaps and no fixed choreography. Making a stage look full while doing something like that is difficult even on a professional stage.
Moreover, that wasn't all they filled it with.
—Don't look back
Because it’s only painful, because it’s meaningless
You lost your game, stop it
Just leave
As the interlude began, a synchronized dance unfolded. The high-difficulty choreography they showcased meshed together like gears, creating synergy.
Swish.
In sync with the person standing in the center, the surrounding arms and legs moved like effects, becoming poles or supports.
In that way, the members interacted like props, highlighting the center.
By flexibly moving between such tight choreography parts and loose parts, they maximized each type of satisfaction.
—A story that’s already over
By the time the second verse was well underway, Lee Se-jin had reached a conclusion.
‘Smart.’
It was a choice that could only be made if one had the skills to back up such ridiculous quality, but he would have gladly accepted this choice if he were in this team’s position.
“……”
The stage was alive.
He shook off his thoughts and focused again on the stage, which had a completely different feel from the mid-term evaluation.
Then, another question arose.
Was the arrangement really the only reason?
“…!”
And then he realized.
Cha Yu-jin.
Up until the mid-term evaluation, he was the main factor that made that stage look more wild, like the original song. Rushing energy and explosive thrills.
But here, it felt like he had suppressed that flashing saturation and brightness himself.
‘It’s not that he doesn't stand out.’
For example, the end of the second verse chorus playing now.
—Love is a kind of disease
A late realization comes
So—
Cha Yu-jin’s gaze, as he looked at the camera while holding his neck, was half-unfocused.
He killed the glint in his eyes and brought the atmosphere to life.
A shadowed charm.
He blended in so convincingly that one would believe it even if told he was an original trainee of this agency.
The fact that he could control that was surprising, and at the same time, it was a very strategic choice.
To the viewers, that would surely have looked charming in a different way. It was obvious that the decision-maker, the LeTi CEO, was also re-evaluating him.
Furthermore, there was a solid support for the structure of this stage.
—So, oh, oh, oh
It was Ryu Gun-woo.
He was adding difficult, ultra-high-pitched parts live at the right moments.
‘I can feel the audience getting surprised occasionally.’
But if it had ended there, he might have thought it was unproductive, as he would have ended up being used like a part on the stage.
However, he struck out in exactly one cut.
‘There.’
The so-called Saint part.
That part where he stands and sings, suddenly capturing the atmosphere with a static vibe to draw focus.
It wasn't an ultra-high note. A moderately high range.
To put it another way, that section that is incredibly tricky for anyone to sing stably.
—It's done
It's over
Cut it off
Ryu Gun-woo handled it dreamily, in a tone mixed with breath as if he were murmuring.
A clean breath that was hard to believe coming from the person who had been adding ad-libs and harmonies with crazy high notes until then.
It would have been easier to just belt out a high note.
To be able to sing that long breath smoothly without swallowing a single breath in between? Without even AR?
—Cut it and just leave
That’s your way
(So sick)
Ryu Gun-woo made excellent use of that single killing point.
And an agent who raised the quality of the stage by several levels with those vocals.
A presence that seemed to scream that a group doesn't need a main vocal for no reason.
“……”
A strange sense of déjà vu was felt.
‘Why?’
But the stage only rushed toward the end after the bridge.
Every member perfectly performed their assigned role in their respective positions. And they appealed to the audience as much as possible.
And the ending.
—Cut off
“Aaaaaaaaah!!”
Tremendous cheers and applause that felt like they would burst his ears, and the shaking of glowing lightsticks.
Lee Se-jin didn't take his eyes off until the very end and sincerely appreciated the stage.
What was still boiling inside was competitiveness, but there was no longer a sense of crisis.
What took its place was…
‘…Ah.’
A sense of loss that even he hadn't noticed.
That strange feeling, as if the place that belonged to him had been helplessly swapped out…
‘What am I saying?’
Did I eat something wrong today? Lee Se-jin bit the inside of his mouth and managed his expression.
And when it was time for the judges' comments, he opened his mouth with a smile.
“It was really good, seriously!”
That very day, the third episode of <Wise> was aired. Even without the audience members spoiling the Outlier who lost to the <Supplementary Class>.
And finally, the viewer voting opened.