Chapter 44
Chapter 44
[Strong Boy ㄷㄷ]
Just legendary
Wow seriously lol
Comments
―For real
―Ha
―ㅠㅠㅠ
―How good was it that everyone's vocabulary regressed
└Insane
└Heaven is here
[Strong Boy team encore came out]
There was a lyrics mistake in the middle but Seo Cha-gyeom and Lee Jae-young grabbed it by the collar and sprinted at light speed lol lol if they're your ults just trust them and sleep tight
If I give just one keyword hint... it's "rock" no joke
Comments
―A rockstar who strode up to me when I wasn't ready Seo Cha-gyeom...?
―Encore or whatever, the fact that Strong Boy was legit is way more shocking
―These days if it's a top-tier team the fans just scream for an encore anyway. They made such a fuss I figured I'd be a hundred percent let down watching the broadcast...
└No this encore wasn't like that it was the real deal ㅠㅠ I'm a fan of someone else but I ended up shouting like I was possessed please let me see it just one more time...
―Who made the mistake though...?
└Hehe
└Please tell me I can't even eat because I'm scared it was my ult...ㅜ
[What's up with the people who were worrying about Seo Cha-gyeom?]
Unbelievable
Worry about global warming instead
Comments
―Seriously this kid has a voice that saves any song no matter what
―The jerks who kept subtly trashing Gyeom-i's skills saying he was just a visual pick are probably all gonna vanish now
└Lolol just seeing those fans who were keeping the main vocal in check suddenly go quiet after today's audience reviews...^^
[But this is no time for the Strong Boy team to be celebrating...]
(Strong Boy original artist Jesse quote collection.jpg)
Just one scene of them looking happy they got Strong Boy on the show or a scene where they go all "I respect Jesse" and their image is expected to plummet
Especially Kim Han-ul is probably gonna get hit harder with the backlash from trying to sell his leader personality
Comments
―I mean original artist controversy aside, the fact they chose a song that kids mock as the Armstrong arm-bar because he hit on a girl is already creepy as hell
―Honestly lol you can kinda guess their taste lol
―How do you know if the kids picked it themselves or if the production team made them do it to already be like this? It's not too late to judge after the broadcast airs, let's wait a bit
―I've been giving it a chance and now I'm just floored. I'm a Jesse fan and this ticks me off. ;; I was voting for them because I liked the kids but I gotta pull all my votes from this team
└Yes go ahead and pull them~
[But audience members from Chaegyeom's fanbase, did you guys vote for Gyeom-i?]
└I didn't
└Yeah
└Yes
└Abstained
└Used a strategic vote
* * *
"The MVP trainee of the team is trainee Choi Jun-bin. Congratulations."
It was the moment to announce the results of the live audience vote for the 2nd competition. At the MC's words, every trainee turned their heads toward us.
"Trainee Choi Jun-bin, please give us a short speech."
Choi Jun-bin glanced at me and then took the mic.
Choi Jun-bin, who had been mechanically reciting typical words of thanks, lowered the mic slightly and added one last remark at a volume that was ambiguous—whether it was meant as a shoutout or a guilty confession.
"......I learned a lot from trainee Seo Cha-gyeom this time."
I smiled back as if to say thanks and thought.
'Editing bait.'
Anyway, I had no idea how this competition round would end up being edited. I'd been so busy worrying about so many things that I'd barely been able to pay attention to the cameras.
Well, it didn't really matter anyway.
It was only in the beginning that I bothered to try and secure a place. At this point in the timeline, a devil's edit or being edited out entirely would all cycle back as martyr material once the show ended.
'But I still wanted to avoid a devil's edit.'
It nagged at me that I'd joined a program that would never debut anyone, only to end up giving fans nothing but emotional exhaustion.
That didn't mean I regretted it though.......
Anyway, the filming wrapped with the MC's warm words telling everyone to get plenty of rest until the next ranking announcement, followed by applause from everyone.
The individual interviews, of course, started right after.
As I waited for my interview amid the silent team members where not a single word of "good job" was exchanged, I eventually pulled out my phone.
A message had come from Kim Sanho.
[Wabul: Hyung I found a decent person too]
[Wabul: I'll try my hardest to persuade them]
(10 minutes later)
[Wabul: They ran away]
What on earth was that kid up to now.
[Me: Go catch them again]
It was right when I'd sent the message without much thought.
The interview writer came into the waiting room, and we all headed toward our respective interview spots at once.
Maybe they'd decided to boldly skip questions that won't air, because a sensitive question flew at me the moment I sat down.
"What was going through your mind when trainee Kim Han-ul made a mistake?"
I knew by now that whatever I answered here would be reborn as a completely new sentence.
So I just gave a vague answer.
"It was a real shame."
The writer nodded without a change in expression and immediately fired off a second question.
"The song's concept completely changed after the mid-term evaluation. Whose idea was that?"
.......
Ah, what to do. I already had a feeling. About how this edit would go.
"It was my idea."
But it wasn't bad.
Because if things went according to the edit I expected, starting from this broadcast I'd be able to stand completely opposite to the PD pick.
If so, then there was only one thing left to hope for: avoiding the song selection controversy.
As for that part, seeing how the production team seemed completely clueless about the related issues, it didn't look like I needed to worry.
'Finally, the insufferable training camp is over.......'
When the interview ended, I rubbed my eyes which grew heavy as if by clockwork and headed to the waiting room where my suitcase was.
Clunk.
My hand stopped on the doorknob.
—I wouldn't have come on the show if it was gonna be like this!
Because I could hear the sound of bickering beyond the door.
—I figured you could handle at least that much. If we'd stuck to what we pre-planned, do you think we would've gotten the good reactions we're getting now?
—You, ugh, I can't get through to you. Even half-assing that stuff, anyway.......
They were voices I'd heard to the point of exhaustion during practice, so I didn't even need to guess who they were.
Was it okay for me to eavesdrop on this.
There was no need to agonize. The conversation on the other side had already stopped ages ago because I'd turned the doorknob.
I opened the door and walked right in.
"......."
"......."
Lee Jae-young and Kim Han-ul looked at me with flustered eyes.
'Why are they suddenly walking on eggshells around me... Ah.'
Come to think of it, that must have been a secret conversation between the pre-selected members.
Since I already knew everything, I'd momentarily forgotten it was supposed to be confidential. I greeted them, pretending with all my might not to have heard, and walked to the corner where my suitcase sat.
"Cha-gyeom."
"Yes?
The moment I grabbed my suitcase handle, Lee Jae-young called my name.
"You know that?"
"Know what?"
"The rescue vote. One was me."
The rescue vote?
"You mean during the signal song mission?"
"Yeah."
I'd received four votes total back then.
I'd guessed that I got one each from O Yun-hwan, Hyun-i hyung, and Ahn Jiwon, and I'd left the last vote as an unsolved mystery and forgotten about it.
......That final vote was Lee Jae-young's?
"You don't believe me, huh? Your face says so."
"No, um, I believe you."
My brain rejected expressing thanks, and instead a different question popped out.
"......Why?"
Lee Jae-young shrugged his shoulders.
And then he gave an answer that didn't quite match my question.
"It was nice sharing the stage with you."
Only one thought crossed my mind at his meaningful words.
'What's with him.'
On stage aside, in everyday life he was just a grade-A confirmed pre-selected member whom I absolutely shouldn't get close to.
Maybe he hadn't said it just to see my reaction, because Lee Jae-young pulled his suitcase and walked right out of the waiting room.
Once the door closed, the other person's voice rang out.
"Wow, must be nice, so nice."
Kim Han-ul shoved his hands in his pockets and sneered.
"When'd you get connections already? Lee Jae-young of all people groveling. Wow, I guess those skills you used to pick sides while kissing up to the lady are still there."
"......?"
"Stop pretending you don't know. That bastard spilled everything. Ah, hilarious. And after all that, what, 'it was nice sharing the stage with you'? Bull."
'The lady?'
A figure that matched the story Kim Han-ul was telling didn't exist anywhere in my vicinity.
But if I guessed the identity by piecing together the rumors I'd heard bits and pieces of, there was one person who came to mind.
"Don't tell me you're talking about Director Mary?"
Kim Han-ul arched an eyebrow.
Meaning yes.
"No way......."
A reflexive scoff slipped out before I could even control it.
After coughing out a few more laughs, I lowered my head. Then I pressed my open palm over my eyes.
"Ah, so that's how the rumors spread. Among the general class kids."
Sure, since the debut class had all been sworn to secrecy, the excluded ones had no choice but to spread the wings of their imagination.
'Still, I didn't think the end result would be this.'
The original version of the story went like this.
A few months before I quit being a trainee, a large-scale staff reshuffle happened at Mary.
A department head who had been reported for physically abusing trainees for years under the guise of venting stress, and the staff in his line, were all fired one after another.
As a company that lives and dies by its image, Mary thoroughly gagged everyone involved, and any truths that accidentally leaked out were dismissed as laughable ghost stories too absurd to believe.
Among the general class who didn't know the inside story, a rumor spread that the trainee in question—meaning me—had gotten all those staff members forcibly fired under the director's protection just because they'd bruised my ego.
'I knew up to that point.'
Just how many times had it been upgraded by now.
It was a monumental moment of facing a rumor I'd only ever heard from behind my back, but unfortunately the nondisclosure agreement I'd signed when I left Mary covered this story too.
Which meant I was in a situation where even the opening line for an accurate explanation was plugged up.
'Me being in such a rush to leave that I signed carelessly has come back to bite me by surprise.'
I lifted the hand covering my eyes and swept back my bangs. Kim Han-ul, standing with his hands in his pockets, entered my field of vision.
"Spend that time you use believing that nonsense on practicing instead. Really bold of you after messing up the stage."
And with that I pulled my suitcase handle and moved my feet. Rrrrk, the sound of the wheels dragging noisily followed behind me.
A moment later, a rustling sound mixed in.
"Hey."
Kim Han-ul called out to me.
Curious what more he had to say, I obediently turned around and faced him.
"You're not debuting."
"......."
"You don't know, do you? That this whole thing is a scripted game."
I was going to say I knew, but Kim Han-ul's words continued relentlessly.
"When you were at Mary, I'm sure everyone around you sucked up to you even if you looked down on people. Some rando company trainee like you is nothing now, so do yourself a favor and know your place ahead of time."
"......."
"While the guys you used to look down on are busy performing at year-end shows, you'll be stuck at home just staring at the TV."
I caught on that his words weren't entirely directed at me.
It was just that the inferiority complex that had built up until now was about to blow, and I happened to be the outlet.
"Ha."
I squeezed my eyes shut, opened them, and stared at the ceiling.
This situation should have been funny, but I must have been tired. Because something else came out instead of laughter.
"Why do you all think I looked down on you."
Maybe, I thought that might have been the case.
The trainee who first told me where the lockers were got cut the next month and I lost contact with them.
The hyung who secretly bought me a cake when I first got into the debut class left the company, and disappeared after getting eliminated on the survival show he went on later.
Someone who'd forced a smile and told me not to worry because they'd definitely debut even after leaving the company ended up disbanding two years after debuting under a small agency.
After going through that for a few years, you got a sense for it.
Who would get cut.
Who would disappear.
Who would leave and who would stay.
I know. This is all just an excuse.
But, I just.
"I just wasn't interested. In people like you, hyung......."
Bang!
The door swung open right behind me.