The First Succession Ceremony

From "Beom Se-hyuk rode the bus" to "If that's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A-Grade then I'm A-Grade too" to "Poor Kim Su-young"… Quite the variety.

After morning practice, Ye-chan checked the sites he usually monitored and found that virtually every corner of the internet was chanting in perfect unison for Jeong Ui-tak's elimination. There was hardly a place that wasn't tearing into him.

Ye-chan skimmed the long strings of comments below without expression and clicked through to the next post.

Posts that seized the moment to lump the two of them together just to trash Ye-chan were hardly rare either.

He didn't particularly care. Once episode four of Chumaf aired next week, all of this public opinion would vanish like foam on the water.

No matter what I do, there will always be people who hate me.

Across his many resets, Ye-chan had tried packaging himself every which way to suit the tastes of the comment sections. But no matter what face he showed them, the hate never disappeared.

As the years of living as a celebrity stacked up, Ye-chan came to understand that it was simply inevitable.

Once I realized there are weird people who just enjoy writing hate comments for the sake of it… that's when I stopped holding back on suing the antis.

There were still times when genuine feedback was useful, so he kept monitoring online reactions after that. But the obviously malicious, emotion-soaked hate comments no longer held his attention.

Better to ignore the empty hate and look at my fans one more time instead.

Ye-chan nodded, freshly satisfied with the conclusion he'd reached.

And then, one week later.

Just like the week before, Ye-chan and the three trainees gathered at Shim Sang-rok's place to watch episode four of Chumaf.

"Haah, feels like a ten-year stomachache just cleared out."

The moment the broadcast ended, Jeong Ui-tak searched his own name on social media and thumped his chest in relief.

Just as Ye-chan had predicted, online opinion had flipped a full one-eighty.

Ye-chan narrowed his eyes and studied Ui-tak.

I kind of figured, but…

"Have you been searching yourself online this whole time?"

"Am I crazy?"

Ui-tak startled so hard he nearly launched out of his seat, whipping around to stare at Ye-chan with a dead-serious face.

"I didn't even have to look. People around me were freaking out and sending me stuff left and right. Just the links from the hyungs I practice with made a whole pile."

"For real? How come I didn't know?"

Beom Se-hyuk's eyes went round, and Ui-tak shook his head hard.

"They only did it when you weren't around, that's why. Seriously. They spent this whole time scraping at my insides under the excuse of 'worrying about me,' and now they've gone quiet like it never happened."

Watching Ui-tak set down his phone with a look of pure exhaustion, Ye-chan could more or less piece it together.

Whether it was thanks to Ye-chan joining or not, Chumaf was climbing faster than it had in his memories. Shim Sang-rok, Beom Se-hyuk, and Ye-chan in particular were battling for first, second, and third in the online vote, so their names came up constantly.

So they couldn't touch Beom Se-hyuk, who was obviously about to explode into stardom the second the show aired, and picked a fight with Jeong Ui-tak instead — the one who looked like he was going to crash and burn.

"Hey, Ui-tak. Don't take it too hard."

Shim Sang-rok, who'd been a trainee long enough to roughly guess the situation, offered a word of comfort.

"Take it hard? I didn't at all! I'm totally fine! It actually worked out great! This is how you filter people, right?"

The way he was thrashing about made it very clear he was not fine at all.

"Ugh, I seriously can't believe it. Even when I first said I was going on Chumaf, things were already kind of cold, you know? They'd talk like they were worried about me and Se-hyuk hyung, but listening to them felt like they were holding a ritual to make the show fail. And then if I so much as looked uncomfortable, they'd turn it around and ask why I was being so sensitive!"

Apparently he'd been storing up more than one or two grievances, because Ui-tak spent a long while pouring out every unfair treatment and collective bullying he'd endured.

It seemed that for the first time in his eighteen years of life, he'd gotten a proper look at the bottom of the people around him, and the hurt had finally exploded. His usual prim, reserved demeanor had completely evaporated.

Ye-chan nodded along in silence. It was a little mean of him, but he found himself looking forward to how mortified Ui-tak would be once the excitement wore off.

"…Talking about it like this is just spitting in my own face. It's not like I'm bragging about having a bunch of people like that around me."

After ranting for a while, Ui-tak seemed to suddenly sink into self-doubt, muttering in a drained voice.

Shim Sang-rok, who had surely seen every kind of ugliness imaginable during his long trainee years at a major agency, patted Ui-tak's shoulder with a look of genuine empathy.

Ye-chan could have held his own in any competition for "most garbage people in my orbit," but he kept that to himself.

Someday I'd love to freely trash those Lee:Spirit bastards.

Once he'd calmed down a little, Ui-tak seemed to decide he'd ruined the mood. Looking awkward, he checked his watch for no particular reason.

"There's less than a day left until voting closes."

"Yeah. The day after tomorrow is the first ranking announcement."

At Sang-rok's words, a slightly heavy silence settled over the four of them. Ui-tak carefully opened his mouth.

"Do you think about half will get cut this time?"

"Well…"

Whether the fans had kicked into a final sprint or not, the rankings of Ye-chan, Beom Se-hyuk, and Shim Sang-rok had been flipping back and forth nonstop for the past few days. The communities were buzzing day after day with speculation over who would take first place at the first ranking announcement.

Ye-chan's mind wasn't much different.

Coldly speaking, even if more than half got eliminated, it had nothing to do with Ye-chan or the three trainees sitting here.

There's no chance of us falling. The only question is…

Whether he could take first place or not.

That was the only thing Ye-chan cared about.

"Hello…"

A few days later, inside the N-net studio, Jeong Ui-tak greeted him in a voice that barely made it out of his throat.

He must not have slept well — even makeup couldn't hide the dark circles, and his face was thick with exhaustion. The pressure of the first ranking announcement must have been enormous.

Ye-chan took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fresh look at his own outfit.

He'd finally shed the practice tees he'd worn day and night during the dorm stay and dressed up in the signature Choose My Prince costume for the first time in a while. It felt a little unfamiliar.

As he idly fingered the S-Grade-exclusive brooch pinned to his cape ahead of the main shoot, the trainees began filling their seats one by one.

"Ye-chan, long time no see. You been well?"

"Hello."

From Park Na-gil with his aggressively bleached hair to Seonwoo I-gyeong, who somehow managed to give off the vibe of a slippery snake even when just saying hello — as the S-Grade trainees settled in around him, Ye-chan felt himself relax.

"Hwi-gyum!"

Beom Se-hyuk waved his arm the moment he spotted Woo Hwi-gyum coming through the entrance.

At least this time I won't get caught in a two-shot with that guy during the waiting period.

Ye-chan snuck a sidelong glance at Hwi-gyum taking a seat all the way at the far end, then turned his head forward again just as the lights on the center stage came up right on cue.

The MC's fluent voice rolled through the studio over the microphone.

At last, the moment of the first eliminations had arrived.

The news that more than half would be eliminated sent a ripple of unrest through the trainees.

The moment the MC finished speaking, the faces of two mid-tier trainees appeared on the giant screen.

Watching both of them go white in an instant, Ye-chan clicked his tongue inwardly.

Still just as vicious as ever.

Saving the actual announcement for the end while deliberately showing who was on the chopping block from the very start — that was pure Chumaf production right there.

The tension-building didn't last long. After that, the ceremony moved quickly.

Cameras could be seen cherry-picking every crying trainee's face along the way.

The eliminations raced through to fiftieth place, and all that remained was the ranking announcement for the survivors.

The solemn atmosphere in the hall brightened considerably. Ye-chan clapped mechanically while coldly reviewing the results of the previous stage performances in his head.

Bae Sae-byeok rose from the A-Grade section and bowed at the waist as MC Andrew continued.

Now that the rankings had clearly entered the upper tier, it seemed he intended to add a personal remark about each trainee.

Nine-tenths of the reason Sae-byeok's ranking had climbed so steeply was because he'd taken off those damned glasses during the performance, Ye-chan thought, eyeing the spectacles that had since returned to his face.

On top of that, he was the type with no foundation but real talent — sticking close to Beom Se-hyuk throughout the dorm stay had visibly boosted his skills.

If we just ditch the bombed-out hair and the glasses, we won't have to hand that fine talent over to the film industry.

Ye-chan renewed his resolve to add Bae Sae-byeok to the party.

Eleventh… that's a big jump.

Apparently the flood of hate comments online had only made the fans dig in harder — the result was even better than expected.

Tears welling in his eyes, Jeong Ui-tak clamped a hand over his mouth and stood.

Once the announcements through tenth place were finished, the MC made an exaggerated flourish and picked up an elaborately decorated envelope.

From within the blue leather envelope embroidered with gold thread, the MC carefully drew out a sheet of paper and lifted the microphone.

The announcements continued.

Chae Eun-seong, who had majored in modern dance before switching career paths to idol work not long ago, accepted the microphone.

With his young-master looks and eye-catching dance lines, he'd clearly secured a spot in the upper ranks.

After Chae Eun-seong's remarks, the MC announced the next rank.

Thunderous applause poured out from every direction. Tears shimmered in Nam Ji-yu's eyes as well.

Accepting the microphone from a staff member, Ji-yu spoke.

He'd never dropped outside the top five throughout the entire online voting period, so seventh might have felt disappointing — but Nam Ji-yu didn't show a trace of regret.

On the screen, Nam Ji-yu smiled shyly at the MC's words.

He'd been in a failed group, but the experience of actually living as an idol showed in his seasoned demeanor. Ye-chan raised his evaluation of Nam Ji-yu a notch.

This time Woo Hwi-gyum rose from his seat.

His dry voice carried over the microphone.

A high ranking, huh…

It was the lowest he'd ever placed across the seven runs of Chumaf that Ye-chan remembered — but Ye-chan was the only one here who knew the futures that had already passed.

Sharing the same vocal position, plus the overlapping external factor of a cold impression, meant Hwi-gyum had been overshadowed by Ye-chan in the same team and dropped lower than before.

The moment we're split into different teams, he'll shoot right back up.

Being stuck in the same group had been irritating, as if the gods were messing with him — but as the saying went, every cloud had a silver lining. It wasn't all bad.

Seonwoo I-gyeong accepted the microphone with a bright face.

Despite his cool features, Seonwoo I-gyeong bantered in a warm, easygoing tone.

Answering the MC's intrigued question, Seonwoo I-gyeong seized the opening to make a campaign promise.

That one's definitely making it into the final cut unedited.

A clever move. Ye-chan could already picture the fans throwing themselves into voting even harder just to see Seonwoo I-gyeong's new look.

At last, only the very top of the debut zone remained.