Chapter 24
Chapter 24
[K7 1st Competition Audience Review]
It was debut song vs. hit song covers
Collab with Dayday Coffee, so all the team names are drink menu items
This is in order of singer/song/team name, random order
1. Deplote/The Place Where My Anchor Rests/Hot Chocolate
Writing about my ults first since they're my ults. This song is a masterpiece, definitely give it a listen.
No but it's not just because they're my ults... Like, being honest, I always thought this was a song no one else could pull off lol
And as expected, they really couldn't pull it off...
Still, in this team, Jeong Hyeon was cute. His name is "Jeong Hyeon-i" and he's the chalkboard guy from the MV! The mood had been straight-up garbage before this because there wasn't a single watchable stage, but the vibe got all warm and fuzzy when he came out. He's apparently with Gaptown. He did well.
2. Deplote/INSERT COIN/Shine Muscat Ade
I seriously thought it was a funeral.
I heard they're all low-rank trainees thrown together and they struggled, but from what I saw, they didn't struggle at all lol. The problem isn't even that they're bad, they didn't memorize the lyrics, called themselves idols while staring at the floor the whole time... If you're gonna be like this, why did you even come on an idol audition program...???
This team was disappointing in so many ways ㅠ
(skipping)
11. Wonseokit/Nice Zombie/Cucumber Sparkling
That famous Shin-cae-nam and Kkamnyang-i's team!!
You all probably know about Seo Cha-gyeom, and apparently Kkamnyang-i's name is Han Neuti.
They're some of the few kids whose names I actually remember.
Because... they're good-looking.
Even those people who were asking why anyone would use a nickname that dunks on other trainees... if you look at these two, the rest of the world starts looking like a Roblox character...
No but
(shock warning)
Seo Cha-gyeom is the main vocal.
Han Neuti is the main dancer.
I'm not gonna say anything else.
If you love K-pop, you absolutely have to vote for these two...
Oh and the other kids here didn't get on my nerves either.
The rap was more like angry yelling and reading a textbook at a public speaking contest than actual rap, but still, it was nice to see them working hard. Or maybe the song just sounded okay to me because I didn't know the original...
But this was my first time hearing this song and it was fine? The Oilers act so ashamed of it that I'd never listened to it before, but it was oke. Especially the vocal parts!!! After I finish this post, I've gotta go listen to the original too lol.
(*Oiler: Wonseokit fandom name)
12. Wonseokit/SHOT/Iced Americano
That Yoos guy, the opening guy, the beret, the wallet chain guy—all on this team.
Since the act right before was Nice Zombie, which was like spicy-sweet-spicy junk food flavors, I just remember going "wow, they're good~" and that was it. Obviously these guys were better, but it was way too healthy a meal vibe lol.
Overall balance was good here, so I'll write member-by-member reviews.
That Yoos guy: You all probably know, but his name is Baek Gyeonwoo and he seemed to be on rap.
But assuming there are two rapper spots in the seven-member debut team, competing for debut at the same time as Han Neuti might be tough? They both do low-tone rap so they sounded similar. Subtle differences, of course, but...
Their visuals are total polar opposites so they actually look good together.
Han Neuti <- Seo Cha-gyeom -> Baek Gyeonwoo, that kind of vibe lol.
I feel like he would've suited Giddeun's oriental painting concept really well, why didn't he get in?
The opening guy: Name's Ahn Jiwon, from Deuz Planning.
He's admirably good. The moment you see him, you'll know exactly what I mean by "admirably good."
His dancing is admirable, his vocals are admirable, even his face is admirably handsome (in a good way!!). The only downside is a slight lisp? But even that was cute.
Main vocal: Name is Choi Jun-bin? Choi Ju-bin?
In any other season, this guy would've locked down the main vocal role for sure.
He's the textbook rulebook tofu-face main vocal of the idol world.
But Seo Cha-gyeom was so intense that this guy just... fell flat. Bland.
Plus SHOT isn't even that difficult of a song.
He's good, though.
(skipping)
Finally done writing all of it.
Overall verdict: for a season that people call jumping the shark, there are a lot of solid kids.
Anyway, bye-b~~ Ask if you've got questions.
Deplote-White Night, give it a listen. Byeong~
Comments
—Seo Cha-gyeom and Kkamnyang-i on the same team? This is insane, my stocks are skyrocketing ㄷㄷ
—Nice Zombie as a competition song? No f***ing way stop the cap. I'm certain I regressed and reset this to a timeline with no f***-f***-f***ing Zombie.
—Our precious Kitteuls are repenting and living good lives now, who does QTen think they are dragging up our dark history like this...? That song was nailed into a coffin, wrapped in chains, and dumped in the Han River, why the hell are you digging it back up!!!
└According to the review, it was all pretty decent, and that scares me even more ㅠ
└What if muggles hear about it and actually come listen to it thinking it's good, what do we do then.
└Go away, we'll keep it for ourselves only. Muggle noonims, please stick to the carefully curated masterpieces, thank you very much.
—Wow so tq trainees, these bastards actually dared to cast a wide-area "Up Yours Show It All" right in front of the Kes?
└It's not Up Yours Show It All, it's Thorns of Hell, Walk Through It.
—Airplane-z torn apart? After all that talk about connecting and whatever, and now they're split up already lol.
—I also went to the audience screening. Cha-gyeom stans, just start collecting debut tribute funds from now on. That kid is debuting as long as he doesn't commit murder.
└fr school violence shield complete w/ full defense easily possible.
└With someone like him, I feel like he'd debut even if he did drugs lol.
└You're slapping weird images on a kid who's done literally nothing, take it down a notch.
└I mean, it's not like he actually did it, why are you getting so serious and offended;;
—Guys stop fighting and let's talk about Nice Zombie's dance break instead. I'm saying I've never seen a guy who dances that deliciously before...
└Who? Kkamnyang-i? Seo Cha-gyeom?
└I meant Kkam, but Gyeom dances well too lol. Kkam was dynamic and Gyeom was like... well-structured balance? That kind of feel? ㅠ You know what I mean? It was the flavor of top-tier double-wing main dancer I haven't tasted in forever... ugh I hope the fancams drop soon...
—Seo Cha-gyeom is the main vocal? With that face? No what on earth. How insanely stacked was Chagi back then for them to just toss aside a visual main vocal like that???
└They said Cha-gyeom walked out on his own two feet.
└Oh well then.
—So where is Shin-cae-nam's current agency?
└I think they said Sora Seom?
└Where is that.
—(Sora Seom corporate info link)
└KYAAA
└Is this real life
└This is more shocking than my GPA.
└We're just calling something like that a company now? The zenith of Korean generosity is right here, I guess.
—So to sum up, Seo Cha-gyeom personally dumped Chagi himself and transferred to some random shithole called Sora Seom or Sora Island or whatever, right? Isn't this a massive red flag?
└It's a red flag for sure. Means rational judgment is out the window.
└Maybe they've got blackmail on him. Let's save him... with votes...
└He seems cold on the outside so it's cute. Unnie will protect you!!
—Guys, please pay some attention to my pick too (˘̩̩̩ε˘̩ƪ)
—No but the competition ended two days ago and you're still only talking about Seo Cha-gyeom? The viral marketing stinks so bad
└Look at the state of his company, do you think they could even afford to run viral marketing?
└Viral marketing barely costs anything lol. You can do it as long as you've got some uncle with working fingers, what are you on about, clueless moron, stop spouting nonsense.
└Go hit the real viral marketing you exposed over at Indeowol instead. Once again picking fights with a small shithole while not daring to touch the big ones. Get lost.
* * *
[Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara Statue: Is there anything you want to eat?]
[Me: Ham, please]
[Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara Statue: Why ham?]
[Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara Statue: You mean Spam? Something like that?]
[Me: Yes...]
[Me: If you don't want to hyung, it's okay...]
[Me: I'll just eat rice in water]
[Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara Statue: No, I'm already out buying it]
(2 minutes later)
[Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara Statue: Stop pretending to be pitiful]
After checking Seo Cha-gyeom's last message, Kim Sanho put his phone into his pocket.
The alleyway back, walked on legs trembling after finishing boxing, felt twice as long as usual. With each step he took, a heaviness that felt like it would bury him deep into the ground pressed down on his whole body.
Still, it was much more bearable compared to the first day he started. He recalled the past, when his arms would not swing the way he wanted, and steeled his resolve once more.
'Once I'm back at the practice room, I won't just lie down right away. I'll stay on my feet.'
For such a determined resolve, it was a remarkably trivial vow, but he was originally the type of person who placed great significance on the first step.
Having barely made it to the front of the company, Kim Sanho stopped abruptly in his tracks.
"......?"
'Who's that?'
A man he had never seen before, wearing a cap pulled down low, was standing in front of the company.
A quiet street corner, with nothing around but an unknown company from the outskirts. No matter where you looked, it was not the kind of place anyone would come looking for.
Head tilted as he assessed the situation, Kim Sanho moved his trembling legs and approached him.
"Who are you?"
"......Ah."
The man, who clearly should have sensed someone approaching, turned his head as if he had not noticed at all and looked Kim Sanho up and down.
"This is Cha-gyeom's company, right?"
At that moment, a memory from some time ago surfaced in Kim Sanho's mind.
—And if people from other companies come asking to sign a contract, absolutely do not open the door for them.
That was what Seo Cha-gyeom had earnestly implored of him back when he got left behind, heading off to MAKE100% alone.
'No way, is this guy... trying to scout Cha-gyeom hyung?'
That can't happen?
However, Kim Sanho, incapable of lying, just nodded obediently.
"Are you a trainee here too? Same as Cha-gyeom?"
"Yes."
Hearing the clear-cut answer, the man arched an eyebrow once and let out a short, dry laugh.
His face was the kind that seemed to be smiling even when still because of his upturned lip corners, but despite that, he exuded a distinctly chilly aura.
"Why on earth......."
The man, glancing back and forth between the company and Kim Sanho, broached the subject.
He kept silent for a long while after that, then finally, with a frown, finished the trailing thought.
"Why on earth would he pick a shabby company like this? Cha-gyeom, I mean."
Kim Sanho, who had been seriously mulling over the man's words, answered.
"I was curious about that too and asked him, but he said he just got a business card."
"......."
An awkward silence began to fill the air around the man, now speechless, and Kim Sanho.
Whish— A cold gust of wind blew. Longing for the warm air indoors, Kim Sanho broke the silence first.
"So... um, who are you?"
"Who do I look like."
"An entertainment company employee?"
The man let out a deflated sound, as if in disbelief.
"Ah, did I get underestimated? If there's one thing I know best, it's that I can't possibly be mistaken for an agency employee."
"Pardon?"
"If you're a trainee here too, we'll end up meeting as senior and junior someday. It'd do you well not to be so prickly with me."
"Pardon? Uhh......."
"......."
"......So what I'm asking is, who are you?"
A cold wind blew once more.
'......Should I just ignore him and go inside?'
Or should I call Cha-gyeom hyung right now?
Should I just report him?
What rescued Kim Sanho, caught dithering between those three options, was the voice that sounded from behind him—always polite yet somehow cynical.
"What are you doing? Not going inside."
Despite it being mid-March, Seo Cha-gyeom, wrapped in a long padding coat with his hands shoved in his pockets, shuffled over casually and stood in front of him.
The expression on Kim Sanho's face brightened instantly, and he promptly erased the uninvited guest from his mind as he called out to him brightly.
"Hyung—."
"Cha-gyeom-ah!"
At the voice that shattered the touching reunion mere hours in the making, Kim Sanho shut his mouth tightly.
'Didn't he not have that kind of voice earlier?'
Did he switch personalities in the meantime?
But the figure who had darted swiftly across his line of sight was, without a doubt, the same man from earlier.
The man, who had dashed fast enough to let the wind whip past, stood tall right in front of Seo Cha-gyeom.
Seo Cha-gyeom's eyes, which had been wide open as if startled by the sudden appearance, quickly returned to normal.
Soon, he glanced at the blond hair peeking through the gaps of the cap and spoke the name with familiarity.
"Yoon Haejun?"
The man nodded.
Just then, as Kim Sanho was diligently processing the situation while deftly erasing his presence as if he were not even there, Seo Cha-gyeom, still with his hands in his pockets, turned his head.
"San-ho, would you mind heading inside?"