Doubt Everything Given by NAA

I wasn't the only one left staring blankly at Lee Hyejeong's transformed appearance.

"Hyejeong unnie, what on earth…."

Even the usually bright and cheerful Park Yujeong had lost her smile, her eyes filled with pure disbelief.

And for good reason….

"What happened over the past ten days…?"

"Unnie…, your body…."

Lee Hyejeong, who had always been on the plump side, was now literally half the size she used to be.

"Hey…, look over there."

"Holy…, why did that unnie suddenly lose so much weight?"

The change was so dramatic that even contestants who barely knew her were gasping as they walked past.

Seeming burdened by all the stares, Hyejeong grew shy and asked Yujeong and me,

"Why…, do I…, look weird?"

"No, no. Not at all!"

"You're completely gorgeous, unnie."

What I said wasn't empty flattery—it was the absolute truth.

Hyejeong had always been a beauty. But with the weight gone, her looks had bloomed even further.

And besides….

…How did only her chest not shrink? That's amazing.

Even after losing all that weight, her best features hadn't faded in the slightest.

With her original baby face still intact, she had become the perfect specimen of a bagel girl—no exaggeration.

I was still marveling at her sudden transformation when something clicked, and I asked her,

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"…But unnie. How did you lose this much weight in just ten days?"

"……."

Hyejeong hesitated for a moment before answering.

"…Um, I exercised a lot. I cut back a little on food and doubled my workouts, and the weight just melted off day by day."

"……."

"……."

Yujeong and I fell silent at her words.

As fellow idol trainees, we both knew weight didn't come off that easily.

If simply eating less and working out more could produce results like that, there wouldn't be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a single overweight person left in the world.

Maybe….

"That unnie…, could she be…."

"…Hm?"

"……."

I started to ask her something, then shook my head.

"…Never mind."

"…What, that's it? Lame."

I already knew exactly why she had lost the weight.

'I guess they didn't like that the kid was a bit chubby.'

'Chubby? Her?'

'Dude, put her next to the other four A-rankers. She looks completely bloated and kills the whole visual. Don't you know viewers are hypersensitive about that stuff? What if she makes the rest of the A-rank contestants look lower quality?'

Hyejeong had been demoted from A-rank to B-rank for no reason other than looking "fat," and she had fallen out of the production staff's favor.

There was no need to press her on exactly how she had lost the weight…, or so I thought at the time.

"Let's hurry inside. And…, let's give it our all again this week."

"Yeah…!"

And so, together with Hyejeong—who was forcing a smile—and Park Yujeong, I walked into the dorms side by side.

After unpacking at the dorms and changing into our matching training outfits, we headed straight for the set.

And waiting for us there was….

"…Huh?"

The countless cameras that had already started to feel familiar…, and a bunch of random kiosks.

Whirr-.

Not even all the contestants had arrived yet, but the cameras were already rolling.

A little tense, we followed the staff's directions and approached the kiosks.

They turned out to be sandwich kiosks.

There were well over ten different kinds of sandwiches listed.

"…Sandwiches?"

I couldn't help but feel thrown off.

I mean, sandwiches? Out of nowhere…?

While I stood frozen in front of the kiosk, unsure what to do with this sudden sandwich invasion, one of the staff members smiled and explained,

"We're giving these out as a breakfast substitute for the contestants, so pick whatever you like!"

Whirr-.

…No, you tell us to pick freely, so why are the cameras rolling?

That was when Park Yujeong seemed to catch on. She nudged my side and whispered,

"Unnie! This is it! PPL! Product placement!"

"Ads…? Ah…."

Come to think of it….

Even during filming, the sandwich company's logo was plastered on way too obviously.

'So this company is one of NAA's sponsors.'

That was why the cameras were rolling for the PPL.

Only then did I relax and start browsing the sandwich menu on the kiosk with peace of mind.

I hadn't eaten breakfast anyway, so I was looking forward to filling up happily on free PPL sandwiches.

"Unnie! What are you getting? Wow! They all look delicious!"

The second she realized the sandwiches were PPL, Park Yujeong started overacting at the top of her lungs.

She was clearly fishing for even one extra camera cut with her exaggerated reactions.

"I have decision paralysis! I'll just eat whatever unnie picks!"

"Hmm…, then…."

I seriously considered which sandwich to choose.

And then, right in front of my eyes….

"…Huh? This one…."

One extremely unique sandwich caught my attention.

"Yujeong-ah, how about this?"

"……Excuse me?"

"The mackerel sandwich. I'm curious what it tastes like?"

"……."

At my choice, Park Yujeong went blank for a second, then glanced at the cameras and whispered,

"…Unnie! Even if it's for the broadcast…."

"…Huh? It's not for the broadcast."

"…What? Then…."

"I genuinely think the mackerel sandwich looks delicious…."

"………?"

In that moment, the way Park Yujeong looked at me was exactly how someone would stare at an alien.

"…Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

Wasn't she curious?

What kind of synergy the salty mackerel would create when it met the savory bread and fresh vegetables.

'Mmm…, just thinking about it is making my mouth water. Sounds amazing.'

But Park Yujeong clearly didn't share the sentiment, because she immediately launched into an ideological interrogation.

"…Unnie, do you like mint chocolate?"

"I eat that ice cream every single day."

"…What about pineapple on pizza…."

"Love it completely."

"…Your favorite ramen is…."

"The mild version of Mild & Gentle Ramen."

"Uuuugh…."

Apparently I had failed Park Yujeong's ideological purity test.

She looked at me with open contempt for the first time and muttered,

"…As expected, a mere commoner like me could never keep up with a genius's palate."

"Hmm…, is it that bad?"

"It is that bad!"

"But don't you think the mackerel sandwich would actually taste good? Think about it—would a company make a bad product and then advertise it?"

"Hmm…."

Park Yujeong rested her chin on her hand as if considering my point, then answered with determined eyes.

"That… actually makes sense. Okay, I'll try the mackerel sandwich too."

"Great."

Converting someone new to my taste buds turned out to be surprisingly satisfying.

Feeling good, I turned toward Hyejeong as well….

"Unnie, what sandwich are you…, ah."

I had to stop short when I looked at her.

Originally, out of all of us—no, out of everyone in NAA—Hyejeong was the one who loved eating the most.

And yet here she was, standing in front of countless sandwich options without saying a single word.

Normally she would have been excitedly chattering about which one to pick.

Seeming to notice my thoughts, Hyejeong put on an awkward smile and stepped up to the kiosk.

"I'll have the same as you guys. Mackerel sandwich? I'm curious what it tastes like too."

"…Okay."

And so the three of us selected three mackerel sandwiches from the PPL offerings and headed inside.

While we waited on set eating our sandwiches, the other contestants began arriving one after another.

And the mackerel sandwich was….

"…This is actually pretty good?"

"Right? Glad we got it, huh?"

Even better than expected.

Park Yujeong, who had been skeptical at first, ended up finishing the whole thing.

Of course I finished mine too.

And Hyejeong….

"…Unnie. You haven't taken a single bite of your sandwich?"

"…Yeah, my stomach's a little off right now."

She hadn't taken even one bite of the mackerel sandwich.

As expected, she was clearly restricting her food intake to an extreme degree.

There was no other way she could have lost that much weight in such a short time.

'I just hope she doesn't overdo it….'

Even if she cut her meals outside to lose weight, she couldn't do that inside NAA.

The brutal schedule here burned an insane amount of calories.

I couldn't help but look at Hyejeong with worry.

That was when it happened.

Murmur murmur-.

A sudden commotion rose near the entrance. I looked over and….

"Hello, everyone!"

Yu Seol had arrived.

"Unnie!"

"Unnie, I loved your broadcast. Back then you went in so well…."

The moment Yu Seol showed up, a crowd of contestants rushed over to greet her.

They were probably trying to get on the good side of someone whose debut was practically guaranteed, hoping for some leftover scraps of glory.

Of course….

"Yerin unnie. What sandwich are you eating?"

"Yerin unnie, you looked so pretty on yesterday's broadcast."

…There were plenty of people hoping for scraps around me too.

Contestants other than Park Yujeong and Lee Hyejeong—whom I'd gotten close to in week one—were suddenly acting friendly and approaching me.

Their intentions were so transparent that I drew a clear line with every single one of them.

And right then….

"……."

My eyes met Yu Seol's as she walked past with her sandwich.

The moment our gazes locked, the surroundings went quiet. It seemed our rival relationship had been officially established starting from the first broadcast.

"Hey, Yerin?"

"…Yes, hello."

Yu Seol greeted me first as if nothing was wrong, so I returned the greeting.

"I watched the broadcast. Let's both work hard this week too."

"…Yes."

She might be smiling so purely right now, but the second the cameras turned off she would turn into midwinter frost like nothing had happened.

Whirr-.

After confirming out of the corner of her eye that the cameras were rolling properly, Yu Seol gave my shoulder a light pat and returned to her seat.

"See you later."

Watching her retreating back, I suddenly wondered what sandwich she had chosen.

But I never got the chance to check.

The moment she sat down…, as if he had been waiting for exactly that, Han Siwoo appeared on stage.

Apparently Yu Seol had been the last to arrive.

"Hello, everyone! It's wonderful to see you again after ten days!"

"…Waaaaah-!"

The cheers welcoming Han Siwoo were somehow quieter than they had been in week one.

By now, no one was unaware that he was a cold-blooded tyrant.

"Starting this second week, you will divide into teams for performances…, and present them to a live audience through stage shows."

"……."

Everyone swallowed hard, tension rising at his words.

In truth, the real game of NAA began with the team performances.

Viewers knew that too, so interest would focus even more intensely, and our individual stage fancams would start flooding YouTube endlessly from now on.

'So we really need good team draws….'

"I'm sure you're all thinking that the teams need to be drawn well."

Han Siwoo read our minds and smiled as if he already knew everything.

And then….

"…Do you know what is most necessary to become an idol?"

…He began saying something rather meaningful.

What was most necessary to become an idol?

Plenty of things came to mind.

Looks, vocal ability, dance, and so on.

But what came out of Han Siwoo's mouth was quite unexpected.

"It is luck. Luck."

"…Luck?"

For someone who had reached the absolute top of idols through pure skill to say that luck was the most important thing….

"Without luck, no matter how skilled you are, you cannot ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠debut. With good luck, no matter how unskilled you are, you can debut. In that sense, this first team performance will let you know exactly what kind of luck you have."

Han Siwoo smiled brightly and continued.

"Every element of the first team performance—that is, team members, song selection, and stage order—will all be decided by your luck."

"……What?!"

The atmosphere grew noisy at his words.

But something even bigger was still coming.

"And…, your teams have already been decided. You all already know what they are."

"……What?"

"No, what does that even mean…."

The teams were already decided?

Every contestant began murmuring in confusion.

"…The teams ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are already decided?"

I was just as flustered.

We had only just arrived on set, and the teams were already set?

Had the production staff done a lottery draw in advance or something?

No, but Han Siwoo had clearly said that we already knew our teams.

I tilted my head at his sudden riddle-like statement.

And right then….

"……Oh."

In my hand…, the trash I still hadn't thrown away because I couldn't find a bin caught my eye.

It was….

The mackerel sandwich wrapper.