Chapter 29
Chapter 29
"I'll lower the seat. Sleep on the way."
"Fine... ack."
"Shit, ah, no, sorry! I've never had anyone in the passenger seat before, so I didn't know it reclined this far."
Han Neuti, who had entered Sorasum's address into the GPS, smoothly turned the steering wheel.
Lying there like someone strapped to a stretcher, I took in the car's interior and then remembered something that had become familiar by now.
'System.'
<Yeah AWAKE!> achievement unlocked!
―Achieved first place in 'MAKE100%'.......
[The Save Point (Manual) function has been activated to commemorate your first achievement.]
I might as well say it now, but this had actually popped up ages ago. To be exact, the very moment I hit first place.
'Was it some kind of hidden mission?'
I understood what a save point was, but something new had been tacked on at the end.
Manual, it said.
After frowning in thought for a moment, I made up my mind.
What other way was there besides figuring it out by charging headfirst? I'd use it right now.
'Use manual save point.'
[There are no empty save point slots.]
[Save failed.]
"......."
What the hell was a slot?
I was just shuddering at the System's exploitative cash-grab logic.
"Hey, Cha-gyeom."
"Yes?"
"Is your mother well?"
"Huh?"
The question was so random it threw me off.
"Our moms?"
"Yeah."
Why was he asking me about our mothers?
After a brief moment of genuine confusion, I recalled that people normally ask family members about family well-being, and I answered a little sullenly.
"I'm sure she's fine? It's been a while since we checked in."
"Ah... I see."
A long silence stretched out.
I even straightened my seat in an attempt to salvage the mood, but the person next to me was quicker to speak.
He seemed to think I'd been offended. His voice and expression had an explanatory tone.
"Well, um. I didn't know either."
"......."
"Apparently our moms were college classmates."
So that meant... they'd been each other's perfect sons.
There's a saying that everyone in the world is connected within six degrees of separation anyway, so it wasn't all that surprising.
"Wow, really? That's amazing."
"Yeah. Give her my regards."
"Alright."
I answered just to be polite, though I probably never would.
Right up until we reached the main gate of Sorasum, I wasted time on empty chatter and then thunked my head against the window.
'In the end, I couldn't bring it up.'
The car jolted to a stop. Han Neuti raised a hand to see me off as I inevitably climbed out.
"Get home safe."
"You too, hyung."
"And... I'm sorry. I'll make sure there's no more noise because of Park Hyeong-tae going forward."
So that was why he'd felt heavier than usual today. He'd been holding it in all this time.
I almost wished he'd keep feeling sorry enough to join our agency.
Shaking off the shameless thought, I gave a polite bow and shut the car door.
When I turned around right in front of the building, the car was still parked there.
I turned back and walked up to the car. Then I tapped on the window.
As if he'd been waiting, the window rolled smoothly down.
"What?"
"Hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Let's watch Episode 2 together at your place."
"My place?"
It was almost embarrassing how stiff I'd been with nerves; he just nodded casually.
"Sure. I'll come pick you up then."
* * *
[A Guy's Take on MAKEBACK Season 7 Trainee Faces lmao]
Seo Cha-gyeom ― Seemed nice and always returned greetings at school, so when I saw him outside and mustered the courage to say hi, he made a face like 'who the hell are you?'
Baek Gyeonwoo ― He's the class president, but whenever he collects homework he always skips mine. I thought it was a mistake and told him, and he went full asshole on me. I told the teacher, but they were all 'Gyeon-woo probably just made a mistake' and basically made me look delusional.
An Jiwon ― Always sits in my seat giggling and flirting with the girls, and when I ask him to move, he makes the whole vibe hella awkward.
+Added Han Neuti because someone asked
He wasn't on the broadcast, so I looked up his photo and instantly fell to my knees
I almost walked into a convenience store and paid for a banana milk without thinking, but I just snapped out of it and am writing this... losers, please be careful out there
Comments
―What the hell kind of school life did you have
―Why do dudes always have to butt into girls' spaces and be such insufferable pricks
"All kinds of posts go up, huh."
Woomjjalgye read a community screenshot and pressed the power button on his desktop.
While his friends were happily buzzing about the live broadcast of <MAKE100%>, he'd been stuck at a bar frying pork cutlets. He had finally finished getting ready to watch the Episode 1 rerun and sank his back into his beanbag.
'Ah, nervous.'
For the full experience, he was even ignoring DMs from his fellow Flowers. For some reason they seemed several times noisier than usual, but he figured it was only natural since the biggest event in idol land was underway.
Woomjjalgye quickly skipped over the initial emotional manipulation segments and finally let out an exclamation at the scene where Seo Cha-gyeom appeared.
"Wow, holy shit. This is legendary!"
There was literally no way to stop himself from fanboying.
Completely unfazed by his own past character policing where he'd snapped at his Teuchin not to spoil anything, Woomjjalgye unconsciously opened Wit.
And immediately witnessed the real-time trends.
Seo Cha-gyeom face
Our Gyeon-woo
Airplane-z
Park Hyeong-tae
When Han Neuti
Flyde
"Huh? Flyde?"
Our Flyde, who could barely crack the real-time trends even during comebacks.......
Why?
'Did they cause a scandal? At a crucial time like this?'
Feeling a chill in one corner of his chest, Woomjjalgye didn't even pause the excitedly playing Episode 1 and immediately clicked on the real-time trends.
―Wow, I seriously never imagined Eohyu would come up here lol Seo Cha-gyeom is a genuine K-pop connoisseur, super likable
―The song that new character guy Seo Cha-gyeom sang is Flyde's―Eohyu!!! Go check out the original artist's legendary stage video too....♥♥
―I always heard Flyde had a good song, but this is my first time hearing the full track, it's nice
└Thank you!! I voted for Cha-gyeom!!! ―A Flower
└Flyde fighting lol I'll press the heart
―But how are wannabe idols not knowing Eohyu? I get not knowing Flyde, but not knowing Eohyu? It just makes them look like they have zero interest in the idol scene.
└Making a fuss over nothing lol muggles barely know that song
└So are they muggles then? If a nugu group's song gets 80k hearts purely off fangirl recognition, anyone into the idol scene would know it. If wannabe idols don't know it, that's fair game to drag them.
―Let me explain. If you ask some guy who says 'I'm an otaku' what anime he watches, and one dude says One Piexx while the other says Clash!! 1000% Doki Doki School Boys & Youth Band Party, do those two look like the same depth to you? It's worlds apart.
└So are you saying Cha-gyeom is a weeb?
"Cha-gyeom sang Eohyu?"
Was this fate?
He hurriedly logged into his Flyde fan account and was greeted by Wits celebrating that 'Eohyu' had made the popular search rankings on music sites.
Normally in these cases, people would compare the trainee's skill to the original and say things like 'Can't beat the original,' but.......
Flyde was at a level where they were grateful even if someone gave them a crappy cover. Meaning they weren't in any position to be picky.
Flyde had gotten free song promo on the idol scene's most buzzworthy program, and Seo Cha-gyeom had been recognized as an idol industry veteran.
Woomjjalgye was satisfied with this situation and waited leisurely for the performance.
Soon, Seo Cha-gyeom's stage began.
"Wow, he's good."
.......
"Really good."
.......
"Better than our guys, insane."
No wonder not a single Seo Cha-gyeom clip had been going up among the Flyde fan accounts!
'So it was because they were afraid of comparisons?'
At the revealed truth, Woomjjalgye resumed watching in an ambiguous mood, not sure whether to be happy or torn.
[Park Hyeong-tae: It's so painfully obvious you're trying too hard.]
'The hell?'
At the ridiculous nitpicking, Woomjjalgye's expression slackened like a stretched rubber band.
It sounded plausible at first, but people who'd devoted half their lives to idol stanning developed observation skills that rivaled the experts.
For example, the ability to catch a truly skilled person's fundamentals that can never be hidden, no matter how easy the song.
And some guy calling himself a professional dancer couldn't spot that?
―So that bastard Park Hyeong-tae is the choreographer who gave our kids that shitty acrobatic routine
└But rumor has it he made the Nice Zombie dance break, insane, right??
└For real? Did he just throw in anything because we're a small agency? Ugh, even more annoying
―Anyone have Park Hyeong-tae's number? I need it urgently, just asking
―You guys are cursing the choreographer too much, what he said seemed spot on... lol Just like when Joo Yeonhee said something to the first place guy and you all mobbed her with curses, nothing's changed, eohyu
└Cut the crap, Joo Yeonhee was spitting straight facts, but this asshole is obviously doing malicious nitpicking lol don't use our unnie to shield some guy
―A post about Park Hyeong-tae is up, everyone (link)
"Huh? A post?"
Woomjjalgye hurriedly paused and clicked the link.
[A Summary of Exposing Underlion's Park Hyeong-tae, Who Appeared as a Make7 Mentor]
1. Goes around beating up kids
2. Badmouths idols he's worked with (Wonseokit, Nible, Makerpiece, etc.)
3. Sexually harasses girls lol it's fucking disgusting for real
Comments
―Huh? He was a pretty decent hyung to me
―Park Hyeong-tae picks on the good-looking kids; he's even brought scissors and destroyed a decent-looking kid's hair before, scratched up his face
―Rei went through hell because of it, then got put in his place and beaten, so while Rei was there Park Hyeong-tae was at least kind of meek, but after that guy left it was the real deal, just thinking about it again makes me sick
└Wow Rei, it's been so long, what's he up to these days?
└He went to the military, right? He's probably been out for a while. I quit around the same time, so I don't really know what happened after, no contact.
―That Rei guy mentioned above, the fact that he made a group chat for Park Hyeong-tae's girlfriends and then just fucked off is genuinely hilarious. It was a total mess back then
└I'm a Nible fan just lurking here, but how is he still unscathed after all that? ㅠㅠ
└That's just how this industry works. As long as you're good at clique networking, you're set. That's why a lot of people never join any crews.
[I'm also verifying that I got an apology DM from Park Hyeong-tae]
About two weeks before the broadcast, he suddenly reached out and said sorry. Something felt off, so I saved a screenshot, so yeah... here it is, judge for yourselves (picture)
Comments
―'Sorry for taking your choreography and using it too, I'll make you an even better one..' What the hell is this part?
―Lol is he stupid? If he'd kept quiet it never would've been confirmed as plagiarism, but he admitted it with his own mouth lol
―Add to list: 4. Steals choreography
―Is Park Hyeong-tae being mind-controlled or something right now? Why is he so dumb?
What the hell.
"Not even a trainee, but a mentor causing a fucking disaster like this?"
Still, he had zero interest in whether some ugly bastard fell into the abyss or not.
Woomjjalgye pressed play again.
[Joo Yeonhee: Trainee Seo Cha-gyeom, First Group.]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: Thank you.]
'Still, he snagged First Group.'
So they had a conscience after all.
Woomjjalgye breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been thinking there should be a 0.5 Group instead of just First Group, and was just settling in to watch peacefully when the following scene made him freeze solid.
[Park Hyeong-tae: Trainee An Jiwon.]
[An Jiwon: Yes!]
[Park Hyeong-tae: If I ask for a freestyle here, would you be able to do it?]
[(Cut to Seo Cha-gyeom's stiff expression)]
[An Jiwon: Yes, I'll give it a go!]
"What the hell is this editing? It's shady as fuck?"
He went back into Wit.
―Challenge spirit challenge spirit, that damn challenge spirit is so fucking corny, for real
―Make Cha-gyeom do it too lol why only make one do it and then claim this one has no challenge spirit while that one does? lol
└Jiwon probably got asked because he showed potential, getting opportunities is a skill too
└The first competition reviews say Neuti wiped the floor with him, if you couldn't see that potential then you should hand in your judge badge ㅠㅠ
―But why does Cha-gyeom have zero interview lines? I get it, he's handsome, so enough with the face shots... I want to see our boy talking too
└There are trainees who got no screen time at all, you're acting so entitled
└What, it's not like we asked you to show him for a full hour, stop bitching
―Whatever, just let both debut, don't fight, they're both my two-pick
'Hmm.'
There were still a lot of positive reactions towards Seo Cha-gyeom, but that was probably because few trainees had really risen up yet.
Once the Jeong Byeong-jon (a term for the ambiguous upper ranks hovering around the debut cutoff line) truly formed and the intense check on top ranks began, this kind of editing could easily snowball.
'This feels shady.'
No wonder it was weird that I, someone who only ever latched onto failed groups, had picked a guy who seemed debut-bound to anyone with eyes!
Just as he was seriously debating, choking back tears, whether he should unstan for Cha-gyeom's sake, the real-time rankings at the broadcast's end were revealed.
99% Seo Cha-gyeom
98% Baek Gyeonwoo
97% An Jiwon
"Oh."
He was first.
It was a result that made the past two hours of worry over the shady editing feel pointless.
But the chill still didn't go away.
'Why does it feel this shady? For real?'
Why did he keep having this feeling that Cha-gyeom wouldn't end up debuting?
Was this how his little brother felt every World Cup, when he'd say, 'If I watch, they'll definitely lose,' and force himself to go to sleep?
To ward off the ominous energy, he sent a DM to the Home Master, who he now talked about Makeback with more than Flyde.
[Juha, doesn't it seem like Cha-gyeom isn't the PD's pick]
[Why is the editing like thatㅠ]
[Unnie]
[Neuti didn't even appear today]
[More mentions of Rei than Neuti? It seems like it, ㅅㅂ]
[Sorry]