Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The First Mission
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The narrative that the producers of ‘RED CUBE’ were favoring a contestant named Seo Yoon-seul had taken hold even before the show began, so many viewers were on edge throughout the broadcast, trying to confirm the truth.
[Didn't everyone say they were pushing Seo Yoon-seul?]
↳ lol he didn't even appear in the first episode.
↳ But he was in the preview. Out of all the contestants who weren't in episode 1, he had the most screen time, didn't he?
However, when Seo Yoon-seul didn't appear at all in the first episode, many seemed confused.
[To all of you saying the producers aren't favoring Seo Yoon-seul just because he wasn't in episode 1, listen up. He's going to be in episode 2, and he's in the preview again. This isn't a situation you can be so sure about yet. By your logic, does that mean the producers are pushing every single person who appeared in episode 1? Hahahaha.]
↳ It's funny seeing people stubbornly insist they aren't promoting him. Posts like this just make Seo Yoon-seul's image worse. Let's just be honest. It looks like they are favoring him. Things would probably quiet down more if we just admitted it.
↳ But calling it 'favoring' is a bit vague. The producers aren't stupid... Isn't it natural for them to edit the show around whoever is most likely to create buzz? If his image gets solidified as the producers' pick, it's obvious there will be a huge backlash when eliminations start. People will complain, "My favorite got eliminated because he wasn't the producers' pick, but Seo Yoon-seul succeeded because he was." It's so predictable. What fan would ever accept that?
↳ I think so too. It's just that Seo Yoon-seul is the most buzzworthy contestant right now. They're not favoring him, they're using him. If people start admitting that he's being favored, Seo Yoon-seul won't last long.
↳ Anyway, you can't deny that Seo Yoon-seul is benefiting from the producers' editing.
Those who had become fans of Seo Yoon-seul argued that it wasn't a case of favoritism, but a win-win situation for both him and the producers. Those on the opposing side insisted that this was, in fact, favoritism, and the debate raged on.
It seemed like it would only die down once the broadcast ended.
[I just think the producers are making full use of Seo Yoon-seul. During the meeting, they said they didn't have anyone to push as the main vocalist. But that doesn't really make sense. Why? Because it's a second-chance survival show, there are plenty of guys who could be the main vocalist. They might not have been the main vocalist in their original groups, but that's often because the actual main vocalist was on another level. If they had debuted in a different team, many of them are more than capable of taking the main vocal position. Honestly, unlike other idol survival shows, the skill level here is solid. The "mistake compilations" are just because they're all so desperate and nervous that they can't perform at their best. You can tell just by looking up a few of their past performance videos. The producers wouldn't have brought in contestants with no talent. They just lacked someone to stir the pot. And in the middle of that, they saw Seo Yoon-seul's live performance and thought, 'This is it.']
↳ This is it.
↳ fr, this seems right. There are plenty of guys they could make the main vocalist. They couldn't just tell Seo Yoon-seul, "Hey, we're short on people to use for clickbait~" lol. He's already been through a lot, would he even want to be on the show if they said that? So they just talked around it.
↳ Hahahaha, yeah. It's not favoritism, it's for the drama. Seo Yoon-seul will probably burn bright as a drama-magnet and then fade away... The ones who get all the attention at the beginning are always like fireflies. They sparkle for a moment and then they're gone.
↳ When you put it like that, it does sound a little pitiful.
* * *
A writer handed out red envelopes.
A red cube-shaped sticker was affixed to the front of each one.
“The details of the song you’ll be covering are written on the card inside, so please check it.”
The writer gave a brief explanation and left without a second glance.
I looked at my team members, holding the envelope.
“Let’s check it right away.”
“Okay.”
I tore open the envelope without hesitation and read the card.
[Cover each other’s songs.
However, you are limited to songs by other contestants participating in RED CUBE, excluding your own team members.]
So this was the first mission.
I had assumed it would come later in the show, since it was one of the most difficult missions ‘RED CUBE’ gave its contestants.
But I was wrong.
First of all, there were too many possibilities.
Excluding my team and myself, there were at least forty-five different options.
It was rare for any of them to have released only a single song.
‘Of course, if we only pick from the decent songs, there won’t be many choices left.’
There were many reasons why the contestants here had experienced failure.
Lack of promotion from their agencies, ridiculously conceptual outfits, and a variety of other problems.
But the biggest problem among them was, by far, the songs.
There were many ways for an idol to get noticed, but the most standard method was a good song.
‘How was the quality of those performances back then?’
[Did RED CUBE turn into a comedy show? I was so confused. Of course, they're all good. They're very good, but... what is this... The songs are seriously cringe.]
↳ If you listen without the lyrics, it's sweeter than anything. That's why I turned the volume off and just watched the video. Of course, the lyrics at the bottom of the screen kept breaking my immersion.
↳ I was surprised by how professional they are. They've been singing stuff like this all the time, right? Not just anyone can be an idol. I don't think I could sing lyrics like that with a straight face and a bright expression. The most shocking one was, "Bubble gum! I want to stick to the bottom of your shoe and go with you." I thought my ears were broken when I heard that.
↳ lol The arrangement managed to cover up the original song's crappiness, but they couldn't change the lyrics... I realized the importance of songwriting. It's a really big deal. You know those songs we used to make fun of, calling them cringe with sweet melodies but ridiculous lyrics? Those were tame in comparison. They were on a level you could just take as a joke. But the other songs here... I have nothing more to say.
Thanks to the new arrangements, they had somehow managed to elevate the quality of the songs, but since they couldn't touch the lyrics, the reactions to several performances had been lukewarm.
“A cover song. This is a mission I never expected, so I’m a bit flustered.”
Everyone nodded up and down as if they agreed with Choi Seon-il’s words.
‘Whose song should we do?’
I had looked through all the contestants’ profiles and videos once, but I didn’t know their songs.
It was too much to check the songs of all forty-five people individually.
We didn’t have much time.
‘Choosing the song is going to be the hardest part.’
I turned my head and glanced at the other teams to see how they were doing.
They looked surprisingly cheerful.
‘What’s this? This is the time when everyone should be racking their brains.’
At that moment, I felt gazes on me.
Not from one place, but from quite a few.
Only then did I realize why the others looked so bright.
‘They’re planning to sing my song.’
There was no rule against duplicates, and among everyone here, I was the only one who had ever seen the light of day with a song.
‘It won’t be easy, though.’
“Yoon-seul.”
“Yes.”
Kang Ju-hyeok called me in a low voice.
“I have a song I’d like to suggest. Want to hear it?”
“Yes.”
Kang Ju-hyeok, who had been busy tapping on his phone, turned up the volume, having found the song.
It was a house-style track blended with a piano sample.
—Don’t leave
Like my sorrowful heart
The team members’ faces brightened, as if they liked Kang Ju-hyeok’s choice.
I felt the same way.
The lyrics weren’t weird, and the song was good.
It seemed difficult to find a better choice than this.
“Whose song is this?”
The chorus hadn’t even started yet, but Choi Seon-il couldn’t hide his excitement as he asked Kang Ju-hyeok.
“Baby Boom’s ‘Goodbye’.”
Baby Boom was the group that ‘Kim Hyun-je’ from F-rank had been in.
“Wow. The song is so good, isn’t it?”
At Lee Seok-kyung’s exclamation, I could see Kang Ju-hyeok’s shoulders subtly puff up with pride.
“Yoon-seul, what do you think?”
Kang Ju-hyeok asked for my opinion.
I’d have to check the choreography, but the song itself was great.
Honestly, I doubted there was a better option.
“The dance for this is good too. It’s not too easy, but the chorus is pretty addictive.”
As if reading my thoughts, Kang Ju-hyeok added.
“I like it too. Let’s go with this.”
* * *
Under Kang Ju-hyeok’s lead, dance and vocal practices continued.
To a third party, it looked like Kang Ju-hyeok was the leader, not me.
“Seo Yoon-seul is so lucky. Ju-hyeok is right there next to him, helping with everything.”
Because of that, I was the object of envy for the other leaders.
‘In the long run, this isn’t something to be envious of.’
In a survival show like this, the most important thing is to properly fulfill your assigned role.
There’s a reason the term “group project freeloader” exists.
It’s because there are many people in this world who don’t do their fair share and pass the work onto others.
‘At this rate, I’m going to get a flood of hate for being a leader who does nothing.’
“Then how about we distribute the parts like this?”
It was a perfect distribution, not overly biased towards one person, and perfectly suited to each person’s vocal color and skill.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“This is great. Thank you. I would have been completely lost without you.”
I expressed my gratitude to Kang Ju-hyeok.
If you get a reputation for having a bad personality, it's game over.
‘There’s no coming back from that.’
Just from the fact that all my former group members had caused social scandals, countless speculations about my own character were already circulating.
[Is Seo Yoon-seul really a victim, or is he just pretending he isn't? It's an unsolvable mystery.]
↳ The kid said it while crying his eyes out, just believe him. Why can't you people trust anyone?
↳ Who knows if that was just an act? Haven't you seen the news about the actor who claimed he couldn't even drink a single glass of alcohol with his innocent face, but then it turned out he assaulted his girlfriend whenever he drank?
↳ First of all, the other GANGSTER-M members were like that. Didn't you hear the story about Park Su-hyeol? Seo Yoon-seul said it himself. He bought him a cake to congratulate him on his debut, even though he couldn't afford it.
↳ Guys like that are just good to their own people. You know the type. The ones who are only kind to people within their own circle.
If another controversy about my personality were to arise amidst all this, it would truly be hopeless.
“In that case, I’ll find and organize our outfits and upload them to the group chat.”
“Would you do that?”
“Yes. I’m the leader, but I feel bad for constantly pushing everything onto you. I should at least do this much.”
Kang Ju-hyeok patted my shoulder as if to say it was fine.
‘This should be enough to avoid any personality controversies.’
The team members were smiling, seemingly satisfied with the harmonious team atmosphere.
The camera director was capturing our heartwarming mood.
It was clear that no one knew Kang Ju-hyeok and I were just exchanging pleasantries while hiding our true intentions.