Chapter 410
Chapter 410
The competition program Wishes was appearing on, True Competition, didn't spend much time on the narrative of preparing for the stage, even if it meant cutting down on talk segments.
This was to maintain the concept of a "battle of the skilled," where "everything is said through the performance."
For Ryu Gun-woo, this was actually a welcome development.
‘If you show too much of the preparation process, the impact drops.’
Since they were all experienced professionals, the footage would inevitably show them progressing through everything with an un-rookie-like efficiency.
That wasn't the character he wanted to portray.
‘I have to give them the satisfaction of having their expectations betrayed.’
Thanks to that, Wishes received a typical edit for a "hit rookie with one big song," with almost no preparation footage.
[<Who is the fifth team?>]
[The idols you wish for~ Hello, we are Wishes!]
They looked bright and polite. The screen time they did get was mostly spent introducing their current hit, "Timer," as if they were filming a commercial.
Normally, they would have received more screen time. Each member was a hot topic, making them an impossibly monstrous rookie group.
However, the early screen time was taken by a team whose position and image were considered a "superior version" of theirs.
That team was T-Holic.
[Ah~ Welcome!]
[<They’re here, the National Idols!>]
Since they were a group with higher public recognition and more hit songs, the viewers' reactions—for better or worse—were focused on them.
However, a few people who enjoyed showing off their sharp analysis left comments like these:
Individual members who were active in solo activities had high recognition, and the group had hit songs suited for the general public.
Listing only those facts, Wishes looked like a latecomer following in T-Holic's footsteps.
Furthermore, even the theme for this 101st episode performance didn't seem to help Wishes.
[Theme: Original Intent]
[A theme for the singers who have thrown down the gauntlet for True Competition as it moves past episode 100 to face a new episode 1.]
"Original intent" for a rookie?
Moreover, compared to the festival-like 100th-episode special that featured flashy stage sets and masterpieces by famous composers, this theme felt inevitably plain.
Even when the leader, Shin Jae-hyun, was asked for a final word of "determination" before the stage, people reacted lukewarmly.
[We’ve gratefully made our names known through various individual activities, but the truth is, we are people who perform as a group.]
[I want to show you that.]
As viewers reacted with a hint of exasperation at the promising rookie's statement—considering they already had a hit song—a fan who had been leaving supportive comments couldn't hold back and started typing.
The post was quickly buried and disappeared, but at that moment, the broadcast screen changed.
[LIVE]
The moment the "Live" tag appeared in the top corner and the texture of the screen shifted, the camera moved to capture the stage.
The opening stage was ready.
A giant script font appeared brightly on the overhead electronic display.
[Yesterday]
Yellow lighting, like sunlight, fell onto the stage.
In front of the display showing a blue sky, the stage set was a grand entrance of a brick school.
And from between those panel structures, the performers appeared.
The members of Wishes were dressed in neat private school uniforms.
They gathered along their paths to form a formation, and in the center, the blonde Chae-yul smiled.
[Shall we turn the timer and go to the past?]
It was the appearance of the song everyone knew.
The stage, with its choreography and vocal style changed to be somewhat musical-like and accompanied by brass instruments, felt retro and cheerful.
It was a heart-pounding, joyful feeling.
Furthermore, during each of their parts, they subtly and humorously incorporated the characters they had built on variety shows.
Ryu Cheong-woo wearing glasses and reading a book. Ju-dan performing a magic trick by lighting a newspaper on fire. Cha Yu-jin winking while ending his rap lines with formal speech.
They mixed in catchphrases or reenacted situations.
And Ryu Gun-woo, who had been holding a campaign sign as if protesting, hugged the sign tightly and sang the chorus with a smile.
[You were in my racing heart
The meteor that fell above us
I still remember it today]
The members performed the choreography while waving their hands.
Every moment... felt incredibly natural yet gave off a pleasant feeling of encouragement. From the successful arrangement to the relaxed appearance of the members who didn't even look nervous.
It could have been a bit plain, but it was a pleasant stage that served well as an opening. The vocals were flawless.
Just as people thought it was a performance they could let pass without criticism—
Before anyone noticed through the complex formations and distorted camera work, a figure had climbed up the railing behind the stage set.
The camera, catching up late, showed a white-haired Kim Rae-bin placing his hand on top of the school clock.
The moment his downward-looking eyes met the camera—
[D-------ing-----]
The camera work suddenly pulled back.
The blue sky on the display writhed, and a new sound cut in, swallowing the sound of the bell.
A recorder in a minor key.
And the tempo of the accompaniment changed.
While Kim Rae-bin leisurely descended the railing step by step, the remaining seven members gathered and showcased their choreography.
It looked like a dance break interlude, but the choreography was off-beat and somewhat slow, creating a slightly strange feeling.
And by the time Kim Rae-bin reached the bottom and joined them, the bell and the original accompaniment had already faded.
Amidst white noise.
Kim Rae-bin, standing in the center, tilted his head.
Then, a low, husky voice came out.
[Move the timer]
[Grant my wish]
A strange rap latched onto the mismatched melody, and the song began to unfold again.
A sharp, plunging riff melody.
[A spell you’ll never forget
Chant it and teach me
Your world]
The display had already passed through a blood-red time and turned dark, with a crescent moon rising.
The time of night.
[Yesterday]
The moment even the letters at the top changed, the real choreography began.
And every time a member came forward to find their part from "Timer"—
[Turn the timer]
[I’m here, I won’t change]
They were blocked.
A new minor-key melody bit into the melody of "Timer."
Modern MIDI sounds naturally took over, pushing out the classical arrangement.
At this point, it was impossible not to notice, and the viewers were bewildered.
It wasn't.
Their debut song, which had been perfectly tailored to the tastes of the K-POP fandom while discarding domestic digital chart appeal, was something else.
[Even if I memorize it forever
I won't get tired, hold onto me
Leave me here]
"Wish."
The ghost story of being eternally trapped in a school at midnight began to consume "Timer."
As if devouring it.
Every time the riff melody of "Timer" appeared, the beat of "Wish" pressed down on it as if tearing it apart.
And the choreography changed as if to block it.
[The camera flashes]
[The night of the hunt, the breath of the prey
I am the one who grants the wish]
As if pushing back and blocking Jin Chae-yul's path in the "Timer" chorus, Cha Yu-jin took the dance center with glowing eyes.
The members who intentionally had fewer parts in the "Timer" segment came to the forefront.
The beat grew faster and more intense, and the dance moves became rougher, with the formations becoming aggressive as if pushing others out.
The night of the hunt.
Eerie high notes stormed in.
[Ohohohoh-]
And the dark, powerful voice supporting it from below.
[Make me enhanced
Make me better
Come- in]
The moment the hands that had been reaching out and the frozen poses were pulled back.
The song ended.
Lowering the hand he had raised toward the air, a figure stepped forward from the center.
[One
Two
Three
Now, grant my wish]
A neat appearance.
After straightening his clothes with his fingers, Shin Jae-hyun turned around with a smile, and the formation solidified into a pyramid shape.
However, the members behind him, who had turned their backs, were still facing forward. And they opened their mouths.
[Woo... woo...]
An acapella sound echoed like a booing crowd.
A bell rang in the school at red midnight.
[Ding-]
Their upper bodies swayed to the rhythm.
[Dong-]
The lights went out.
[……g]
On the dark stage, only the lingering sound of the bell remained as the opening stage ended.
Soon, the MC's voice rang out through a VCR for the next stage, but...
The viewers' reactions couldn't keep up with the flow and were steeped in shock.
After all the live stages ended that day, during the 10-minute voting period—split between the audience and viewers—Wishes pulled off the astonishing feat of finishing in 2nd place, starting from the very bottom.
Before leaving work, I checked my smartphone screen in the hallway while returning from the bathroom.
Every time I flipped a page, stories about this group popped up.
The main keyword was "bewilderment."
The stage for "Timer," which aimed for digital charts, was intentionally designed to be easy to follow and comfortable to watch.
It meant that shocking people with insane difficulty, or having an open-mouthed powerful aura and a distracting level of intensity, wasn't the main focus.
It was just a pleasant stage that showed off their talent.
Because of that, the public perceived Wishes' specialty and direction as the "public-friendly T-Holic line."
But they realized it through this stage.
This group's true ambition.
Surprisingly, it was the truth. I nodded as I looked at the top comments.
While entertainment communities interested in idols were pouring out these reactions, the general viewers were even more intense.
The dominant reaction was a rapid-fire series of comments saying it was so unexpected it almost felt off-putting because they were too good.
Moreover, this wasn't just any program.
A long-running competition program.
The viewers, who had already become veterans, were craving more intense and stimulating competition stages.
To these people, who had seen over 100 episodes and viewed almost everything as a cliché, this level of stimulation seemed to be just right.
Both in terms of the stage and the narrative.
‘So, the one who’s good is the good guy.’
Thanks to that, it was nice to see the vast majority of them changing their tune.
‘Good.’
I nodded and put my phone away. I thought that if I distributed articles tomorrow, I could boost the group's image without any problems.
Now, if I could just go in and stretch my legs and sleep for more than six hours for the first time in a while...
"Uh, excuse me."
"Yes?"
When I turned my head, I saw a familiar face...
‘Hmm.’
This bastard... who was he again?
‘Ah, T-Holic.’
But the reason I didn't recognize him was that he was a former member.
Sorry, but in reality, it's been a long time since you left. It's not like we had any reason to see each other.
I quickly bowed and greeted him like a rookie. The guy nodded.
"I saw the stage. You prepared very hard. 2nd place is well-deserved, well-deserved!"
"Thank you."
I politely took the hand he offered. Then, a look somewhere between disregard and wariness passed through his eyes.
"I think it would be cool to release your next comeback song with that kind of stage feeling. It seems like that's what Wishes is best at."
You want us to tank our public appeal?
Well, he probably knows that a rookie doesn't have the authority to decide that.
He must have been wandering around our waiting room on purpose to be treated like a senior because he felt shitty about losing.
‘Oh.’
Is he someone who knows how to throw his weight around?
Whatever. He's someone who'll be out of the industry in a few years anyway.
I inwardly smirked and nodded.
"Ah, thank you."
"Right, right. I hope we can see your faces again by having you follow us onto the variety shows we appear on next time."
"Ah, yes."
Should I take him down a notch?
My waiting room door was right in front of me, and I wasn't in a great mood because I couldn't go home. Don't you have any intention of shutting up and getting lost?
But suddenly, that door opened.
Click.
And a guy who had changed into civilian clothes came out.
Cheong-ryeo.
"Hello, sunbaenim."
"Ah, Jae-hyun. Good to see you. Right."
He seemed to know him, perhaps because he had been going around giving greetings more than the others as the leader.
‘Should I just leave it to him and go in?’
I looked at the guy walking toward us with rare welcome.
The T-Holic dropout spoke with a greasy tone.
"Your attitude is always good. Uh, you have to keep that up if you want to last long."
"I always respect you."
"Right, right."
It was a sign of his certainty and conviction that he would never leave this position. And his arrogance.
‘Should I mess with him a bit?’
It was the moment I was about to open my mouth.
Cheong-ryeo spoke up first, slowly.
"Still, one can't be in their prime forever. Whether it's a group or a person."
"...!"
Shin Jae-hyun soon gave a beaming smile and looked at the T-Holic guy.
It meant "you won't last longer than me."
‘...That guy.’
He got him.
But I didn't expect to see him... say something like that so openly.
—A prime is a prime because it ends.
I recalled what I had said to him before.
The dropout's face gradually turned red, and he began to look serious.
"You, right now..."
"Oh, hyung, you were here!"
At that moment, another bright voice intervened.
The person who came running from around the corner was another member of T-Holic.
"The manager hyung was looking for you. Ah, Wishes members."
The youngest of T-Holic, the owner of "Party in Me" which I had performed for the first evaluation of Idol Inc., winked.
"I really enjoyed the stage. Let's have a friendly competition so we can see each other at the broadcast stations for a long time!"
"No, we wouldn't dare compete..."
"You're even humble."
No, it means we can't compete because of the generation gap when we return to reality. At that point, it's elder abuse.
Anyway, the guy seemed to smile as if he were somewhat proud, but he soon fixed his expression.
"Thank you~ Now, hyung, let's go!"
The T-Holic maknae dragged the guy who would soon leave and disappeared.
"..."
I looked at Cheong-ryeo. He shrugged and gave a thin smile.
"Well, any thoughts on hearing your own words quoted?"
"As long as you got the point."
"Haha!"
I left the chuckling guy behind and opened the waiting room door.
With that, all the conditions were met.
Now, the Grand Prize season was coming.
"Hello, viewers~"
At the awards ceremony, Lee Se-jin of the group Zairop, who was holding a microphone at the side of the MC desk, greeted with a smile.
Having received great reviews for his black-dyed hair, he was standing in this position thanks to his steady group activities and outstanding individual performances throughout the year.
Of course, one of the reasons was that he was one of the few people capable of skillfully hosting a live broadcast, but there was a circumstance the company didn't know.
‘...I think it'll go well, but.’
Lee Se-jin was in this position in case of an unexpected situation.
For the sake of the plan and the operation.
‘Ah, I’m even doing things like this.’
While secretly swallowing his nervousness, he smiled as if nothing were wrong and raised his head.
"The Lemon Music Awards begins now!"
The year-end awards ceremony had started.