Chapter 30
Chapter 30
A week later, two hours until Episode 2 aired.
After soothing Kim Sanho and safely making it out of Sorasum, I climbed into Han Neuti's car, who had come to pick me up.
"Hyung, let's stop by the supermarket."
"Why? Need to buy something?"
"Just... snacks to eat while watching, you know? Chips or..."
"Snacks? Already got them. Got plenty."
"I like grocery shopping."
"Huh, didn't expect that."
Of course, it was a lie.
I felt bad for the hyung who immediately changed direction, but how could I say it honestly?
That my objective was a sighting photo of the two of us.
'....'
I tried hard to ignore the creeping sense of pointlessness and steeled my resolve.
As anyone in the know would understand, the idol scene has these pairings mostly called 'XX-zz' pairings.
Except for special cases like Airplane-zz, they usually try to group together people who seem genuinely close.
It didn't matter if it was acting or real. The one certain thing was that the more often you're seen together, the easier you get linked.
Thanks to the First Competition, there seemed to be a fair number of people who already liked pairing up Han Neuti and me. So I intended to seal the deal during this opportunity.
Even though there still wasn't the faintest sign that this hyung would actually join our company... the earlier I laid the groundwork, the better.
'A place crowded like a supermarket is bound to get a sighting photo taken.'
As I was gazing out the window and pondering how we could get photographed looking chummy, I blinked moments later.
Didn't we just pass the supermarket?
"Hyung, where are we going right now?"
"Wholesale market, why? You know, the one in XX-dong."
"Why on earth would we go all the way there?"
"You said you liked it. Might as well take you to a big one if we're going."
A wholesale market... wasn't that the type of mart targeting business owners looking for commercial bulk products?
Not exactly a place frequented by the show's main viewers, who were mostly teens to early twenties.
'So much for a sighting photo.'
I stared bleakly at the store sign upon arrival shortly after.
Han Neuti, who had already bought some fish-shaped bread, abruptly stuffed one pastry into my mouth and yanked my arm.
"Alright, let's go. I'll buy you everything except the store."
...Fine.
I had to pick up the lies I'd already spilled.
I forced a glint into my eyes and pointed at the first random thing I saw.
"Then buy me that."
"Where are you gonna use 10 kilograms of corn kernels?"
* * *
[Wabul: Hyung hyung, can I watch the show with my friend?]
After finishing a grocery trip that took a full hour, I finally set foot in Han Neuti's studio apartment.
After dinner, as I sat on the bed that doubled as a sofa, typical of an ordinary bachelor pad, I spotted Kim Sanho's message while trying to pull up the Wit app in advance.
'He had a friend?'
But asking that would probably be rude to someone with no real friends. Without digging further, I sent a reply.
[Me: Do whatever you want]
After sending the message, I glanced at the TV screen and shouted toward the kitchen.
"Hyung, it's starting soon."
"Yeah, yeah, hold on."
Han Neuti wiped his hands on a towel and flopped onto the bed, and Episode 2 began.
Even though Episode 1 had ended with the scene of Baek Gyeonwoo coming up on stage, Baek Gyeonwoo didn't actually appear right away. He only resurfaced right before the whole grade evaluation sequence finished.
Not that I was waiting, but with all that dragging out, I did end up wondering when the hell he'd finally show.
"Oh, that guy."
Han Neuti, who had sprawled onto his side by then, reacted.
"You've been eyeing him since last time, hyung."
"Huh? Me? ...Was I?"
Scratching his head as if that might have been the case, Han Neuti added,
"No. It's just, I wondered if I could ever reach that level if I practiced more... What do you call that?"
"A rival?"
"Rival is a bit much. Ah, I don't know, I didn't overthink it."
'He must've searched up some review of the competition.'
Their positions could seem like they overlap.
But strictly speaking, that guy was an all-rounder while this guy here was a specialized position.
And this was me talking objectively, not favoritism—Han Neuti's dance was an overwhelmingly superior trade-up. It was just that they happened to face off in the rap position during the First Competition, creating a bit of comparative public chatter.
What I mean is, Han Neuti was absolutely not inferior to Baek Gyeonwoo.
...No, what's the point of this comparison when they aren't even going to debut together in the first place? Let's drop it.
[Ju Yeonhee: Trainee Baek Gyeonwoo, Tier 2.]
[Baek Gyeonwoo: I will work hard.]
"I still don't get how that performance was Tier 2."
"I know, right."
I agreed calmly, but I had a rough guess.
They might've deliberately assigned a low initial grade to emphasize a dramatic growth narrative.
'In reality, he was the only one who actually rose to Tier 1.'
While my suspicions toward Baek Gyeonwoo deepened, the broadcast moved on to the next sequence.
[Signal Song Mission, Day 1]
This was the highlight of Episode 2.
Now, how my grade evaluation came out here was the key point.
'Given the direction so far, it doesn't seem like it'll be favorable.'
If they really wanted to send me packing, it would be easy to pile fabricated editing on top of the fact that I'd dropped to Tier 2.
Or they could block even the sympathy public opinion with a complete edit cut.
That was within the range I'd already prepared for ever since I made a mistake. Which meant I didn't care either way.
But the production team's revealed choice was none of those.
[Jeong Hyeoni: Cha-gyeom, this part is....]
[Na Hyunwoo: Can you teach me too?]
[Trainee Seo Cha-gyeom leading the choreography among Tier 1 trainees]
They had bestowed upon me none other than the mentor role, which among all possible narratives was considered the most auspicious.
'All of a sudden?'
It was more frightening than pleasing.
Where did all that malice I'd sensed in Episode 1 go?
'This messes with my plans, too.'
If debut falls through via early termination of the show, the list of pre-selected members would likely not be publicly released on the grounds that the finale itself was cancelled.
And if that really happened, all trainees who benefited from the editing would be placed on the suspect list for being a pre-selected.
That was exactly why I could remain unfazed even after watching Episode 1.
Whether I got devil's edited or whatever. Because right now, my top priority was avoiding anything that looked like a PD pick.
'I was definitely unworried about this part, so why did it suddenly change? Did one of the colluding companies pull out or something?'
But as if to say this worry was also needless, I could only catch onto the production team's intent after the scene that immediately followed.
[Kim Ikhyeon: Who led the practice here?]
[Trainees with no answer]
[Kim Ikhyeon: No one?]
[O Yunhwan: We just... each on our own....]
After that, the scene where I had been teaching choreography to the Tier 1 trainees was replayed.
Accompanied by a gloomy BGM, Hyun-i hyung's and Na Hyunwoo's silent faces, mouths firmly shut, and my own image were shown in sequence.
And then.
A cut of Ahn Jiwon glancing at me was inserted.
"...Hah."
Right as I let out a hollow laugh, on-screen Ahn Jiwon raised his hand abruptly and spoke.
[Ahn Jiwon: It was Cha-gyeom hyung!]
Then Hyun-i hyung's and Na Hyunwoo's icy expressions were zoomed in on with whoosh sounds.
I kept bursting into bitter chuckles as I thumped the back of my head against the wall.
'They weren't trying to boost me.'
They were trying to push Ahn Jiwon as the loyal, conscientious character.
The power of editing was indeed immense. Even Han Neuti, who had been comfortably watching it like someone else's movie, had this to say.
"Wow, did it really go down like that? That's harsh."
"No, it's splice editing. The atmosphere was never like that."
"R-Really? I just took what they showed at face value...."
Thinking I should someday block NeoTube on Han Neuti's phone, I folded my arms.
'Still, the questionable part remains....'
Isn't the main victim of this edit Hyun-i hyung? This way, there should definitely be some benefit for me too.
According to the rankings revealed in Episode 1, Hyun-i hyung was rank 15. Not a low rank by any means, but also too early in the results to deliberately target him.
'Exactly what was the reason that they absolutely had to push him down, even at the cost of propping me up?'
Thinking about it alone would be pointless. I logged into the Wit account that had reached 1000 followers the other day.
Thanks to randomly following every viewer I came across, my timeline main was already flooded with related content.
—So damn underhanded, taking all the help he could get and then acting like it never happened, gives me the creeps
└What's even more ridiculous is that meanwhile, he wanted to ride the screen time bus, so outside of the broadcast he was saying that Gyeom-i had helped him lol...
—That's why I'm saying that relationship selling crap is all an illusion? No matter who looks, it's obvious who's benefiting, what kind of alliance is this ㅠㅠㅠ Please, let's just focus on our ultimate bias, there's no safe spot until debut!
—There were already loads of bastards saying Cha-gyeom would 100% debut and that they'd pick their second bias for the final, hope they've come to their senses now
—Please don't pick anyone with an attention whore family, if they debut they'll 100% bring their own people to concerts and act as matchmakers ㅇㅇ Yeah that's about that guy's sister
└Quit being so nasty to regular people ㅋㅋ Do you think everyone in the world is like you?
'Family? Sister?'
Just as I was about to search deeper based on the keywords I'd found, the phone rang.
[Jeong Hyeoni]
"...."
Ah, now's a little... awkward.
"You not gonna answer? Who is it?"
"No... I'm gonna take it."
After a short deep breath, I pressed the call button.
"Hello."
—Cha-gyeom.
Hearing Hyun-i hyung's heavily sunken voice, I clenched my fist tight.
—I'm sorry.
"...What?"
—It's, my sister.... (Hyung, why is he—!! Ah, I'm so pissed! Let me switch!)
"Wait, who's next to you?"
—Ah, it's Yoonhwan. We're watching together. (Hey, —gyeom! Switch!!) Yoonhwan-ah, quiet down before I really get angry.
Upon hearing that, it got startlingly quiet.
Were those two close...?
As if something was going down on the other end, there were sounds of scuffling back and forth for a moment before his voice returned.
—I'm sorry. My sister doesn't really know about this stuff, so it seems she talked a bit about you on her personal blog.
"About me?"
—Yeah... I had told my sister some stories about you before... and she sort of... used those stories....
I pulled down the call screen and searched "Jeong Hyeoni Seo Cha-gyeom" on Wit, and immediately a related screenshot popped up.
A post that went up a few weeks ago, around when the preview had dropped.
Excerpt from Jeong Hyeoni's sister's blog!! She said Cha-gyeom really helped Hyeon-i a lot, his personality is super nice and he's dependable unlike a younger brother, so Hyeon-i reeeally reeeally relied on him a lot...♥♥ The sister wrote that she really hopes the two of them debut together ㅜㅜ Thank you for talking about Cha-gyeom Gyeom-Hyeon Hyeon-Gyeom, please debut (Photo)
—I was worried that you might suffer some disadvantage because of that... I'm sorry. I know it's late.
"...."
—Cha-gyeom?
"You don't need to apologize. It's fine."
—Okay.... And are you watching the show right now, by any chance?
"Yes, I'm watching it."
—I'm sorry about that, too. I should've been the one to step up back then and say you'd helped us. (Why is hyung apologiz—, Answ—er! Give me the phone—!)
This hyung was really foolishly kind.
With complicated emotions, I closed the Wit app and replied.
"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault, hyung."
—Thanks. ...I'll hang up then.
Setting down the abruptly disconnected call, I thought.
Ahn Jiwon and me.
Hyun-i hyung, who was starting to get tangled up with me.
No matter who looked at it, the intent behind this edit surrounding the three of us was...
'To drive a wedge between me and Jeong Hyeoni hyung, while solidifying the relationship with Ahn Jiwon even further.'
And that meant this.
"Hah, honestly."
They were going to use me as a designated driver on the screen time bus?