Chapter 15
“I’m sorry!”
“!”
Seo Dowon bowed with a bright smile on his pale face.
His hand trembled as he gripped the microphone. Sweat poured down his body after the intense stage. His skin was already fair, but now that he had gone pale, his face looked even whiter.
“Even in my own eyes, it was a truly… embarrassing stage. I’m sorry for disappointing you!”
However, his eyes had not died at all. If anything, they were shining even brighter.
“…Is there a reason you chose this song?” At that moment, Se-rang’s mind changed.
“Ah! Um… before I became a trainee, I once saw the original singers, senior group Very Sweet, perform it in person back in my hometown. I remembered how cool and sparkling the seniors looked back then. So I chose it because I wanted to shine like that too….”
“I see. Thank you.”
Se-rang gave no particular response and glanced at the other judges to ask if they had anything more to say. However, none of them seemed to have anything to add, and they only shook their heads slightly.
They probably all thought this kid would be completely edited out, so they weren’t adding anything more.
“Yes, then—now the three judges will choose whether to ‘cast’ Trainee Seo Dowon. As long as even one of you casts him, Trainee Seo Dowon can advance to the next stage. If two or more of you cast him, Trainee Seo Dowon can personally choose one of you. Just as producers choose trainees, trainees can also choose judges. That is the unique charm of our <Cast the Future>.” The MC skillfully led the flow.
Of course, even while explaining the program’s rules, the MC did not seem to think Dowon could be cast at all.
“Yes, then we’ll start with Producer Seungha. Will you cast Trainee Seo Dowon?”
“I will not cast him.”
“Yes, next, Producer Eden.”
“I will not cast him either.”
Both judges ahead of her refused to cast him without even adding comments.
Even to Se-rang, that was natural. Seo Dowon currently looked far too unlikely to rise.
However, “I will cast him.”
To win a game she was destined to lose, she had to see what others could not.
Se-rang saw it.
Seo Dowon’s talent, thin as a thread, but definitely shining.
And Se-rang did not trust Dowon, but she firmly trusted her own eye for talent.
“Yes, Producer Yeon Se-rang has cast Trainee Seo Dowon. Now Trainee Seo Dowon’s casting remains. Trainee Seo Dowon also has the right to refuse. Trainee Seo Dowon, will you—”
“I’ll definitely do it! De-definitely!”
Pfft.
Laughter burst out here and there. Dowon, frozen stiff as he raised his hand high and nodded, looked exactly like a large dog.
“Yes. Trainee Seo Dowon has cast Producer Yeon Se-rang. Please take a seat in Producer Yeon Se-rang’s Basket Seat.”
Basket Seat? That naming sense is seriously terrible. Se-rang clicked her tongue inwardly.
It was called Basket Seat because they were being slipped into the producer’s basket, was that it?
“Yes! Yes…!” Seo Dowon hurried down from the stage, then stopped and bowed ninety degrees toward Se-rang. “Th-thank you! Producer! From now on… I will absolutely never disappoint you!”
Everyone laughed once again, but Se-rang alone did not laugh at all.
Because you really can’t disappoint me now. If you disappoint me, you’ll be in serious trouble. Because—
“Yes, with this, Producer Yeon Se-rang has used one of her five casting tickets. You have raised your casting ticket four times so far, but this is your first success, right?”
I used a truly precious chance on you too.
Se-rang smiled faintly. “Yes. Until now, the trainees chose other producers instead of me.”
That was right.
In truth, Se-rang had tried to cast trainees four times already.
But aside from Seo Dowon, she had failed every time. The trainees Se-rang chose until now were all aces among aces, flawless in visuals, skill, and charm no matter who looked at them.
Se-rang was not the only one with eyes, so Seungha and Eden, who were sitting beside her, naturally raised their casting tickets along with her. And those trainees all chose Eden or Seungha, the more reliable producers.
It was only natural. With Seungha, the top idol doing the best right now, and Eden, the hottest rapper and producer these days, there was no reason to specifically choose Se-rang.
It was not because Se-rang was unknown.
No, if anything, Se-rang was excessively famous. The problem was that she was not famous for her ability.
The Se-rang known to the world was merely a third-generation chaebol, Imperial’s only granddaughter, and an influencer who dressed well. Or perhaps someone with a notably pretty face for a chaebol.
Fortunately, Imperial had spent plenty of money to keep her from building up actual “infamy”… but that did not mean they could stop the rumors spreading inside the industry.
Ordinary members of the public simply saw Se-rang as a rich and pretty third-generation chaebol with no ability, but anyone with even one foot in the entertainment industry knew exactly how much of a rotten troublemaker she was.
Naturally, the trainees were no exception.
“Haha. Please don’t feel too hurt, Producer. Still, you managed to cast the cute Trainee Seo Dowon.”
That MC bastard. I can’t tell if he’s comforting me or mocking me.
But the more it was like this, the more confidently she had to act.
Se-rang shrugged. “I’m not hurt at all.”
“Pardon?”
“Among all the trainees I raised a casting ticket for so far, I liked Trainee Seo Dowon the most.”
“!”
At Se-rang’s statement, everyone widened their eyes in surprise, then soon wore subtle sneers as if they understood.
They all thought Se-rang had no ability and no eye for talent, so she was saying that after only looking at Dowon’s face.
But Se-rang had not chosen Dowon because of his visuals. No, of course, it was not as if she had not looked at his visuals at all.
What Se-rang saw was Dowon’s perfect “underdog” narrative, and those pure, upright eyes that made any human being feel sorry for him at least once, eyes that seemed to know nothing.
Se-rang could tell. Dowon’s honest, fresh, and hardworking appearance was not fake.
And if Se-rang could notice it, the public watching through the camera would probably feel it even more.
“Th-thank you! Producer!”
“I’m thankful too, Trainee Seo Dowon.”
The public recognizes a person’s true “character” at a glance more often than you would think.
“We’ll take a short break!”
In the middle of recording, they were given a brief break.
Se-rang sprawled in her chair, utterly exhausted. She had sent her idols onto broadcasts before, but this was her first time personally appearing on one.
If I’d known it was this exhausting, I would have treated the kids better.
She knew in her head that it was hard, but experiencing it directly was worlds apart. They had already been filming for eleven hours. There were that many trainees, and many things had been delayed here and there, so even after more than eleven hours, recording had still not finished.
“Yeon Se-rang.” Just then, someone approached Se-rang as she lay sprawled out.
“…Wow, I’m sick of this.” Se-rang accidentally let her true feelings slip.
“Aren’t you the CEO of an entertainment company? Why are you so free? Why do you keep sticking your face into places that have nothing to do with you?”
“Why would this have nothing to do with me? The ace trainees from my company are appearing, and my fiancée is a judge on the broadcast.”
As always, Baek Do-gyeong appeared perfectly dressed, though today he looked even more flawless.
When Baek Do-gyeong appeared, the broadcast staff also stole glances in this direction.
Fine, it wasn’t completely incomprehensible. Baek Do-gyeong was more handsome than even the trainees from his own company.
She didn’t know why he hadn’t become a celebrity himself, but judging by that personality of his, he probably didn’t debut because an attitude controversy would have erupted as soon as he did. Se-rang thought that inwardly and laughed.
“Now you laugh just from seeing my face?”
“Yes. I’m going crazy because I like it so much.” Se-rang gave him a half-hearted response and turned her head away, signaling that she did not want to continue the conversation.
At that moment, Do-gyeong approached Se-rang and turned off her microphone.