Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: 1st Group Evaluation
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Before long, the day of My Producer episode 2 had arrived.
Episode 1 was content I'd watched live at the recording site, so I already knew it all. But starting from episode 2, they were doing group training and tier-based sessions in the My Producer dorms and practice rooms. Aside from the occasional monitoring room footage I'd glimpsed, I didn't know much.
In other words, I was now fully in viewer mode, parked in the director's office for a live watch party.
"One, two, three, four, five, six. Like this. When you turn from left to right, put on a cute face and point your toes..."
The screen showed a massive practice room with one entire wall as a mirror.
There, the Tier 6 trainees—the lowest rung—were getting lessons. The trainer was breaking down each dance move, hitting the key points one by one.
"Alright, now let's connect it all and try dancing. One, two, three, four. Be-gin!"
With that, the MR track kicked in, and the trainees started performing the choreography they'd learned, nailing the points as best they could.
The camera pulled back to capture all the Tier 6 trainees at once.
They moved in perfect unison, but one stood out. Unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons.
"Hmm... Ayul! Come here for a sec?"
"...?"
Ayul emerged, pretty as ever but still radiating that super dark vibe.
She was a total civilian who'd never gone through any idol training at her agency. And since she'd only ever focused on singing, her dance skills and emotional expression were seriously lacking.
Well, I'd scouted her purely off her singing talent, so I'd expected this much.
"Try that last part again on your own, singing along while you dance?"
"Yes."
"One, two, three, four."
"One beat—♪ Two beats—♪ Approaching..."
Ayul sang from her mouth while her body followed the rhythm.
She gave it her all with clumsy movements, even trying to make her face look cute... but it came off awkward.
This song was all about showing your true feelings to the guy you like and blooming into fresh first love. Yet Ayul's facial acting screamed "forced"—no sincerity in sight.
But man, her singing was killer as always.
The vocal power that had choked under pressure in the initial ranking eval was back in full force.
"Ayul, the singing was great, but the dancing... no, first off, make your expression cuter. Like the kind of smile you'd want to see directed at you! Try it again?"
"Yeah... L-like this...?"
Ayul attempted what she thought was a cute face.
One eye squinted at an angle, half-winking, lips curved in a smile.
It was the exact same expression the other trainees had pulled off, but on her, it looked like her eyes and mouth were playing separate games—total mismatch.
"Ha... this is bad. With vocals like yours, fix this one thing and you'd shoot straight to Tier 1."
"Thank you."
"That's not praise!"
"Sorry."
"Sigh."
The trainer let out a sigh at Ayul's robotic response.
As an instructor, she was clearly stressing over Ayul's innate bluntness.
But this kind of stuff would all turn into compelling storylines, winning over viewers big time.
That's why I'd made sure she got plenty of screen time in the first place.
Still, how do you fix that smirk-like thing? Dance can improve fast with brutal practice, even short-term. But that stiff face? No clue.
The trainer was probably thinking the same, judging by her sigh.
Curious about community reactions, I checked them out.
The comments filled the screen right away.
A smattering of praise mixed in, but overall, harsh criticism.
"Hmm..."
Suddenly, an image flashed of Ayul climaxing on the bed.
Her expressions had been delicious back then.
That dark, shy girl blushing hard and moaning desperately.
If she could channel that feeling into her face...
"She'd definitely crack the rankings."
"Muttering to yourself about something?"
Minseo chimed in from beside me as I mumbled to myself.
She was leaning her head on my shoulder, watching together, so she knew exactly what I was seeing and saying.
"You like Ayul that much?"
"Yeah. You've heard her sing too, right?"
"Singing... isn't the only thing, is it? Hehe."
With that, she stroked the inside of my thigh.
A soft rustling from her hand against my pants fabric echoed faintly from down there, with occasional kneads mixed in.
Pure affection in every touch.
I shot Minseo a look at her cheeky handiwork, and she was already half-lidded, eyeing me like she wanted to devour me.
At the same time, her soft, warm hand crept from my thigh to what we'd now call the crotch zone.
Lately, Minseo was in heat like a cat in mating season, constantly craving my love.
She'd even barge into the director's office at the station whenever she got a chance, plop on my lap, and work her magic.
Of course, I loved it at first. But she'd crossed into major overkill territory.
Lick lick—♡
Stuff like licking my nape or slipping her hand into my zipper at work? Yeah, that made things... complicated.
"Minseo... cut it out. I'm watching My Producer."
"Hehe♡ You leave me here and watch a parade of girls on TV, so I'm feeling naughty... that's why."
Minseo nestled her head back on my shoulder and behaved.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders—or so it seemed—then grabbed her breast and squeezed.
Squish♡!
"Eek?! Hnng...♡!"
Caught like that, Minseo arched her back in delight.
I held her close and refocused on My Producer.
"Sua's aegyo while dancing looks so natural! Idol is her calling."
"Hehe. Thank you."
Sua, with her high ranking and well-balanced skills across the board.
Her screen time was pure praise.
"Sihyeon's body bounces are so dynamic—such a visual treat."
Sihyeon, wielding her big chest as a weapon. Not quite Sua-level, but solidly skilled.
"A-yeon's grinding so hard. Even someone who's topped once before is this dedicated—everyone learn from her~"
A-yeon, who'd devoted everything womanly to me. She was all-in on My Producer, as expected.
"Check Dahyeon's wave. That's how you do sexy dance."
Dahyeon flaunting her sex... no, sexiness without restraint.
Dance technique and bedroom technique definitely overlapped.
Yukika had almost zero footage, per my orders to cut her out like dust.
She barely appeared on screen.
Her ranking would probably tank hard...
Anyway, all the girls I was backing—except Ayul—seemed to be handling things solo just fine.
Ayul's rank wasn't low, but it felt lacking compared to her potential.
And with that awkward expression and stiff dance lines on stage? Her rank could drop big time.
Fixing that chronic issue wouldn't come from a trainer...
"Inside this box are several concept keywords."
"You'll draw a ball by lottery, open it, and use the keyword inside as the theme for your group evaluation."
"That keyword will also become part of the concept for Ceras, the group that debuts—so the longer you survive, the better you fit Ceras, right?"
Lost in thought, I'd hit the episode's final segment.
MC Shin Jae-hyun was explaining how group eval concepts were decided.
Cut to trainees' faces with each of his words.
Wide-eyed reactions all around.
Rattle rattle rattle—!
The lottery machine whirred to life.
About ten balls inside a lotto-style drum.
Each held a concept keyword. Balls bounced wildly, Brownian motion-style, mixing inside.
Pong!
One shot up from the frenzy, and Shin Jae-hyun opened it with bated breath.
"This is your first official stage for the My Producers, right? What concept will the 1st group eval bring..."
His hands flew, finally revealing the paper with the keyword for the cameras.
'Sexy'
A word so blatant and lewd.
Like divine instruction to bare your female instincts in performance.
Especially key for expressions and gestures in sexy concepts.
Hearts were gonna race.
"Sexy, got it."
"Ah~!"
Trainees' gasps, sighs, cheers all mixed in chaos.
Some confident in sexy, some not—varied reactions natural.
"Teams of 9 each, total ten teams. They'll battle opposing teams. Matchups random by draw."
"Winners get a 1500-vote benefit! Only half the teams snag it—winners and losers split clean."
"Team formation details... next week."
Shin Jae-hyun rattled off rules as close-ups rolled on trainees.
Dahyeon and Sihyeon beaming openly. Sua and A-yeon chill.
And Ayul...
She looked utterly deflated and gloomy.