Chapter 32
Chapter 32
The editing room was filled with zombie-like groans.
Through the noise, one staff member's voice cut through with sharp presence.
"That rat bastard......."
It was a curse directed at no one in particular, yet the same face likely surfaced in everyone's mind.
Park Hyeong-tae.
There wasn't a single person on the production team who didn't know about his controversies.
The scandal with the lengthy label 'Park Hyeong-tae Junior Assault, Idol Backbiting, and Choreography Extortion Incident' had been steadily spreading not just among the street scene and idol fans who already knew him, but even to the general public.
Netizens sometimes exacted a heavier price for sheer gall than for genuine wrongdoing. His insincere apology, issued solely to break into broadcasting, fell squarely in the strike zone of gall-worthy offenses.
Despite the controversy ballooning to the point where stepping down immediately would have been warranted, Park Hyeong-tae had managed to show his face all the way through Episode 2 thanks to his personal connections with the PD.
They must have calculated that his role as a mentor, not a trainee, would mitigate the impact.
But during the airing of Episode 2.......
QTen's proprietary app went down.
Since the app also served as the voting platform, it was common for it to lag during broadcast hours whenever voting participation surged.
But the phenomenon of the server crashing entirely hadn't been common in past seasons, and the cause was quickly identified.
Fans of the idol whom Park Hyeong-tae had trash-talked.
Fans of the idol who'd been insulted after receiving choreography from Park Hyeong-tae.
Fans of other idols who simply wanted to suppress the survival program itself, and so on.
They had all united and spammed the message boards—any board where comments could be left—with messages like 'Don't want to see Park Hyeong-tae', 'Park Hyeong-tae step down', 'Park Hyeong-tae is ugly', and more.
For a program built around voting, rendering voting impossible was a devastating blow. The production team ultimately raised the white flag.
Yet the problem still remained.
"Ah, I miss my Mom."
The truth was, there were production-side circumstances behind Episode 2 airing as originally edited.
Episodes 1 through 3, which demanded the most labor, required an extended production timeline and had to be edited in advance, more so than other installments.
Episode 3 in particular boasted twice the runtime of a standard episode. Starting the previous year, all competition stages had been reformatted to fit into a single episode for fairness reasons.
The production team, who had forfeited sleep and worked around the clock to safely complete the Episode 3 edit, were leisurely working on the VCR content interspersed throughout the Episode 4 ranking announcement ceremony when, suddenly, lightning struck.
Park Hyeong-tae's departure.
In plain terms, this meant they had to carve out every single trace of Park Hyeong-tae's face from roughly 200 minutes of broadcast footage.
And within one week, no less.
"Aaaahhh!"
One of the writers tore at her hair and slammed her head onto the desk.
Of all things, Park Hyeong-tae's screen time was excessively high due to the main PD's direction. He was clearly allotted the most material from the script stage.
What did this mean?
The teams for whom Park Hyeong-tae had been part of the storyline would have to be re-conceptualized right from the storyboard phase.......
But the production team's expertise was nothing to scoff at. Over the past several years, survival programs had developed their own clichés, and by picking any one of them and roughly slotting it in, most teams could be resolved in a snap.
The problem was right here.
"And why did these guys have to be matched against the Ace Team!"
The Cucumber Sparkling Team, which included a trainee of special interest—it was no exaggeration to say they were single-handedly dragging the program's buzz factor by the scruff of its neck.
In the discarded original edit, this team's story went as follows.
Unlike the Americano Team where everyone was enthusiastically supportive, the Cucumber Team, pitted against the strongest opponent, was demoralized from the start and failed to muster any drive.
In the end, they didn't even follow Park Hyeong-tae's sincere advice to take on the challenge, choosing the safe path instead.......
As a result, they suffered a bitter defeat despite delivering a reasonably decent stage performance.
It concluded by contrasting them with the Americano Team, who showed perfect harmony without any conflict and seized victory.
It was a classic supporting character narrative designed to make the protagonists shine. While highlighting the opposing team's teamwork, it also reinforced the 'motivation deficit' image of Seo Cha-gyeom that had been built up thus far.
But here, once you cut out all of Park Hyeong-tae?
"There's no story left......."
Whatever had happened off-camera, by the second day even those formerly listless Failed Class trainees had snapped into alertness, and there had been zero internal conflict to be found.
Meaning they hadn't spotted a single hook to create screen time from.
On top of that, this team happened to be one that would headline Episode 3's highlight segment.
With people already saying the show was jumping the shark, kicking off the first highlight with a story riddled with holes was practically a direct ticket to 'Failed Program' status.
The situation had arrived where they'd have to create something from nothing.
"And at a time like this, the main PD bastard's gone and done a runner."
Not a literal runner, just temporarily absent, but it was true he'd tossed this massive landmine at them and sloughed direction duties onto the writers.
The writer leaned back so hard the chair almost broke, kicking both legs irritably before finally grabbing hold of her senses.
'This isn't working. I need some coffee.'
Just as the writer rose from her seat, the phone placed on the desk flashed to life.
[Message received from Sora Seom (Seo Cha-gyeom).]
"......What's this?"
If the agency name was first, it indicated an agency contact; trainee name first, a trainee contact.
So this would be a message from a Sora Seom employee.
It was common to receive messages from participants and their agencies. The writer thought nothing of it and checked the message.
[Sora Seom (Seo Cha-gyeom): Sorry for the late-night contact ^^ We've sent materials regarding our trainee via email ^^]
"Materials?"
This, too, was a common occurrence.
Because they had notified people beforehand that, if there were materials they wanted featured on the broadcast, they should feel free to send them to the production team's email.
Of course, most of the time they just clicked 'Mark All as Read' and never glanced at the contents, but the current situation was what it was.
'Anything will do. If there's something to fill screen time!'
And so the writer opened the inbox.
* * *
"Hey, hold on."
A paper bag was thrust into my arms.
Upon checking its contents, I spotted an array of snacks packed tightly inside.
"What's this?"
"Take it. I bought it for you to eat, but somehow you didn't touch a single bite."
"All of this?"
Had he somehow gotten the wrong idea because of that snack pack Kim Sanho gave me?
After letting out a hollow laugh at the mountain of snacks, I handed the bag back to my companion.
"Keep it at your place, hyung. I'll be coming over every week now."
"Huh? Every week?"
"Is that not okay?"
"No, no, no... Of course it's okay! It's just, I was a little flustered."
Han Neuti dropped his head against the hand gripping the steering wheel and muttered.
"Cleaning... ha, I guess I'll have to clean every week now......."
I'd assumed he had a naturally tidy personality since I hadn't seen a speck of dust. I see now.
I felt like a thoroughly shameless person. Which was probably accurate.
I'd figured out that acting brazenly worked best with this hyung. I planned to stick with this approach going forward, so I decided to get used to it starting now.
"Yah, just take it anyway. I can just buy more."
Refusing twice would be bad manners, so I took the returned bag in hand and got out of his car.
"Get in safely."
"The one who needs to get back safely is you, hyung."
"Ah, right."
Han Neuti then rolled up his window, saying he'd head back safely, and only left the spot after I had entered the company building.
I cracked my neck from side to side as I walked.
The moment I arrived in front of the practice room door, a phone alert chimed again.
[Wabul: Hyung hyung, hyung's friend is waiting for hyung]
'Why is his friend waiting for me?'
Puzzlement came first, but then I realized—I was now a cast member of a famous program. Maybe they just wanted to see me.
Not thinking much of it, I opened the practice room door.
"Oh!"
"Oh."
Kim Sanho and the person said to be Kim Sanho's friend were sprawled out side-by-side in the middle of the practice room floor.
"......."
After identifying the two, I strode purposefully towards Kim Sanho.
Then I dragged him into a corner and began my interrogation.
"Sanho."
"Yes."
"Why is Baek Gyeonwoo here?"
"You said it was okay to watch together, hyung......."
"What are you talking about? You said you'd watch with your friend. Don't tell me."
That message I'd received at Han Neuti's place.
It was not, [Hyung, hyung, can I watch it with a friend?]
But rather, [Hyung, can I watch it with hyung's friend?]
Wasn't the repetition meant to sound cute?
"......Are you incapable of using commas properly?"
"Huh?"
"No, never mind."
It was my own fault for never having considered that meaning, since I didn't have anyone I could call a friend.
Because of the staggering plot twist that greeted me at the end of a long day, I couldn't help but press my palm against my forehead.
The fact that Baek Gyeonwoo was my friend was surprising, and the sight of the two of them together was shocking as well. But, just a moment before that.
"How did you two even get in contact?"
"Gyeonwoo hyung came to find me first."
"Ha......."
'Already calling him Gyeonwoo hyung.'
Whether it was the guy who'd abruptly raided a not-even-close friend's company, or the guy who'd met him practically in passing and happily let him in, I honestly couldn't tell which one was weirder.
Still, it was an undeniable fact that I, as the catalyst, was the original reason Baek Gyeonwoo's entry into the practice room had been permitted.
It would be rude to let someone in and then whisper among ourselves in the corner anyway. Having reached a conclusion, I broke off the comedy routine with Kim Sanho and turned my back.
"......Gyeonwoo, how have you been?"
"Fine."
"Ah....... I see."
Just what on earth had Kim Sanho been doing with a guy like that?
It was obvious even without seeing. They'd probably just pulled the broadcast up on a tablet and exchanged awkward silences.
After our mutual curt responses, an awkward silence stretched on until Baek Gyeonwoo rose from his spot first.
"I've seen your face now, so I should get going."
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah. Today was fun."
"Me too."
.......
"Let's see each other again."
"Okaaay."
Again?
"I'll contact you."
"Okay."
Contact?
Baek Gyeonwoo waved his hand twice in front of my dumbfounded face and exited the practice room without any lingering.
Even after Baek Gyeonwoo had left, I grabbed the back of Kim Sanho's neck as he continued waving his hand. Staring down his bewildered gaze, I interrogated him, feigning nonchalance as much as possible.
"Sanho."
"Yes?"
"You seem to have gotten... a bit too close with Baek Gyeonwoo."
"Not that close."
No, it was definitely too close.
If it got out that the suspected pre-selected trainee had been casually hanging around our agency, we would be in big trouble later too.
'Sasaengs will be swarming around the company building soon enough.'
I couldn't immaturely tell him not to hang out with the guy like some brat who hadn't grown up, nor was it easy to be honest about why it was a problem.
Ah, damn it. I should have just let him freeze to death outside back then.
Beside me, as I agonized, Kim Sanho blinked his eyes and spoke appeasingly.
"Hyung, I'm closer with you, hyung."
"......That's not what I mean."
Should I just hope Baek Gyeonwoo isn't the pre-selected member? The evidence so far leaned more towards the pre-selected side, but.
Getting a lot of screen time wasn't the issue. A major agency of his caliber agreeing to appear on the show—they'd be fools not to attract some aggro.
Rather, it was the other thing. It was suspect that he had such well-rounded skills but received a Tier 2 placement in the initial grade.......
'Wait.'
Come to think of it, had there been any scene of Baek Gyeonwoo during the final grade evaluation?