Chapter 47
Chapter 47
The stage darkened.
The camera that had been lighting up each trainee standing before their standing mics in turn zoomed in on center Choi Jun-bin last.
Choi Jun-bin, clutching his mic, took a deep breath.
A moment later, the scrap-metal sound effect from the intro—inserted to evoke the spatial feel of a spaceship—rang out a couple of times.
And finally, the song began...
[Stay tuned for the next episode!]
"......."
Ah, right. Of course they'd pull that.
The same old bait people keep begrudgingly swallowing even though a truckload of viewers find it boring and annoying.
I was probably the only viewer who had fallen for it.
"Didn't they say they'd show the stage?"
That made two of us now.
Kim Sanho, who'd bravely propped himself halfway up to see the performance, realized it was bait and instantly curled back into a cocoon-like position.
Meanwhile, I had been checking community reactions.
―They took this perfect combination and handed it to the editing team to butcher ㅠㅠ
―Are we 100% sure it was a legendary stage? Encore my ass, the team vibe looks utterly fucked.
└Flowers bloom even on a battlefield.
―When only the concept got leaked, I thought the controversy-evasion masters had pulled off the group project hope edition, but nah, it was just one poor bastard running around doing all the work.
└lol
└Tears.
└Poor 'errand-gyeom' literally scattered flower petals on the path and went "this way, please," but these crazy straight-line guys just stomped right down the path with the booby trap warning sign. Gotta respect that hip-hop spirit.
I scrolled a bit further, then looked at Kim Sanho, who had gone dead quiet.
"Go inside and sleep."
"Okay......."
* * *
On Friday morning, Han Neuti had already messaged me.
[I'm back in Seoul]
[You coming home? When we watch ep 6]
As I popped a piece of gimbap Kim Sanho had diligently reheated into my mouth, I draped an arm over the back of my chair.
I thought it over, then sent a reply.
That evening, Han Neuti showed up at the front gate with snacks in hand.
"Oh, daebak. Living alone in a place with this many rooms—doesn't it get scary?"
"I don't live alone, though?"
"......Huh?"
The Han Neuti I'd observed so far was someone who didn't take long to warm up, but had severe stranger anxiety.
So I'd deliberately kept Kim Sanho's existence a secret when I invited him. I figured he wouldn't come if I told him.
Just as I'd expected, Han Neuti's face filled with tension as he said,
"Hey, I was just gonna prepare a greeting before coming in...."
He said that, but he looked like he'd stay outside all day, so I just dragged him in.
"Hello."
"Yes, hello......."
Kim Sanho, having politely greeted him with both hands clasped, went and sat in front of the TV first. Still, in front of a guest, he looked like he intended to watch while sitting properly today.
Han Neuti, eyeing the situation nervously, slowly took off his shoes and then knelt beside Kim Sanho like someone who'd come to negotiate loan shark debts.
'......It'll be fine, right?'
I watched the two of them with the complicated feelings of introducing territorial animals to each other, then asked,
"Hyung, did you eat before you came?"
"Huh? Uh......."
"Why?"
"Was that not allowed?"
I pulled the card out of my pocket.
"I use our President card, you know. I was going to treat you."
Time to show off the company perks I'd been saving.
From Heme to the dorm and meal expenses. Before I knew it, they'd been feeding me to the point where I'd feel guilty not signing with this company...
"Oh, that's dope. But I don't really feel like anything right now?"
"Tell me if you do."
...was what I'd meant to say, but I forgot to tell him to come hungry.
Meanwhile, the <MAKE100%> logo fixed itself on the top right of the TV screen.
"Hyung, I'm gonna have some of those snacks."
"Oh, sure, go ahead."
Han Neuti, who'd been handing the snacks to Kim Sanho, stopped his hand in midair as if realizing something.
"H-here, have some."
"Thank you."
Kim Sanho casually accepted the snack with both hands and ate it.
'I seriously need to get that kid's adaptability analyzed somewhere.'
And then episode 6 began.
After showing only dull scenes for about forty minutes, the TV finally started showing Han Neuti's team's practice process.
'It's inoffensive.'
Unremarkable, just like the scenes from the previous episode. That meant it would quickly fade from non-fans' memories.
Still, the stage performance had been edited with care. They'd captured the 3:3 battle formation centered on Han Neuti and Baek Gyeonwoo from multiple angles three times.
I asked Han Neuti,
"Whose idea was that?"
"Huh? Ah, that? Um... Me and Jae-hyun."
"Jae-hyun?"
Jae-hyun?
How did Jae-hyun...?
"Jae-hyun told me to quit fighting with Gyeon-woo so much. But the moment I heard that, I thought, 'This is it!' and made it, so you could say Jae-hyun provided the idea, couldn't you?"
"Hyung, Jae-hyun is seventeen."
At my words, twenty-two-year-old Han Neuti looked meek.
When I asked why they'd even fought in the first place, he answered with a wistful expression.
"I wanted to rap."
"......?"
"Is it that weird? You're making the exact same face Baek Gyeonwoo did."
"Why did you suddenly get greedy for rap?"
Don't tell me he was planning to jump to Licks Hour's agency?
"I just felt like dance alone wasn't going to cut it."
"For what?"
"Dance—you're good at it too. It just didn't feel like a competitive edge."
"Ah."
"And the whole idol thing—even if you dance well, if you can't do other things, you just look... useless. I mean, anyway. That's how it felt to me."
'That's a fair way to think.'
The highest-viewed individual fancam is usually the main dancer's, but the public values vocals far more than dance. You can see it in the comments: for members who sing well but lack dance, people say, "They sing well, so it's okay," but the opposite gets comments like "Use that time to practice singing."
For an aspiring idol, it was a good mindset.
'How admirable.'
Now, if he actually said he was going to another agency, I might be so disappointed I'd tattle to the System.
"Hyung, you're on."
At that moment, Kim Sanho spoke.
Both my head and Han Neuti's turned simultaneously.
[ Team Crisis Midterm Check!]
[Joo Yeonhee: Han-ul, why are your lyrics the only ones off doing their own thing?]
[Kim Han-ul: (lowers head)]
It was the scene where Joo Yeonhee critiqued Kim Han-ul's lyrics.
'......That's strange.'
It was a scene where Kim Han-ul was getting scolded—so why did I feel uneasy?
I quickly realized why.
All the scenes where the team had been praised as a unit had been deleted.
I wouldn't bother checking, but reactions like this were probably popping up on social media right about now. "They indulged Seo Cha-gyeom's stubbornness and tanked," or, "Thought it was some amazing idea but it's nothing special."
Kim Han-ul's rebuttal to Joo Yeonhee was cut, and right after the shot of him nodding in forced agreement, the interview continued.
[(Interview)]
[Kim Han-ul: The concept changed midway. I already had lyrics written, so changing them was a little....]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: It was tough, but it was fun.]
Hm.
[(After the midterm evaluation)]
[Kim Han-ul: You want to change the arrangement again?]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: I felt it was lacking. If we do well, that's a good thing, isn't it?]
Hmm.......
[(D-1 until the competition)]
[Licks Hour: Han-ul, let's just try to do a bit better, okay?]
[Kim Ik-hyeon: Whoa, Chaegyeom's totally in his element. Never die, for real!]
"Hyung, you're getting a ton of screen time today."
Kim Sanho was right.
I was appearing in nearly every single scene—as a direct contrast to Kim Han-ul.
[Kim Han-ul: Still, I have to push through.]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: Obviously I have to do well.]
The stage began after this interview concluded.
And at the scene where Kim Han-ul messed up his lyrics, the mentor panel's regretful reactions were inserted.
And then.
[What?]
[What, why... (Is Chaegyeom grabbing the mic?)]
I appeared on screen.
It was the exact moment I'd grabbed the mic to cover for Kim Han-ul's mistake.
[Joo Yeonhee: That's not originally his part.]
[Kim Ik-hyeon: Yeah, not until rehearsal. (It wasn't)]
The program's signature ominous editing was layered on.
Strung together from the practice process to this scene, it didn't look like I was covering Kim Han-ul's mistake...
'It looked like I stole his part.'
[Q. Trainee Kim Han-ul made a mistake on stage?]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: It was very regrettable.]
My post-stage interview was edited to make me seem like a psychopath who'd significantly contributed to Kim Han-ul's mistake and didn't care in the slightest.
[MC: The MVP trainee of the group is trainee Choi Jun-bin.]
After that, the editing continued with Choi Jun-bin taking 1st on the team and branding me as the loser in the main vocal race.
"Wow......."
Since a hush had fallen over the room, my exclamation rang out quite loudly.
I immediately stuffed a snack in my mouth to shut myself up.
'Impressive.'
The evil editing was fine. Shifting the blame for Kim Han-ul's mistake onto me, editing Choi Jun-bin as the victor—I'd predicted all of it.
Still, that was one thing.
'But I didn't expect them to butcher the stage performance itself like this.'
No matter how awful my memories with the team were, this was my first stage that got a big reaction, so of course I'd grown attached.
And besides, wasn't that a one-time stage we'd never get to do again anywhere else?
'I feel absolutely shitty.'
My insides were churning.
This was even unfair to the audience who'd cheered for us at Hyeonjang. Could a channel made under the guise of a music broadcast really do this...?
"Hey, Chaegyeom."
"Yeah?"
I turned my head to see Han Neuti looking at me.
"I want something to eat. Let's go out and get something."
"What are you suddenly in the mood for?"
"What... I-I don't know, just buy me anything. You told me to tell you, didn't you?"
Sounding almost stubborn, Han Neuti moved straight to the hallway and started putting on his shoes.
It didn't take long to figure out his intention.
'Did I look like I was upset about the broadcast?'
No, it wasn't that I looked like it. I was.
I glanced at the snacks right in front of me—so many left that even Kim Sanho hadn't finished them—and got up from my seat.
"I'll be back. Sanho, you guard the house. ...You want to go out too?"
"I just felt like I should...."
I couldn't hide my shock watching Kim Sanho awkwardly start to rise.
Wouldn't that guy melt if he went out late at night?
"No, you don't have to push yourself. I'm fine."
"Then I won't go out."
I grabbed the nape of Kim Sanho, who was about to lie back down, and pulled him up.
Then I dragged him by the scruff all the way to the hallway and forced his shoes onto him.
"But you said you were fine......."
"I'm not fine anymore."
On the dark alley stretching toward the convenience store, I watched the backs of the two walking ahead of me and thought,
'Yeah, I'll be able to create even better stages from now on.'
Stages that won't just be one-offs anymore.
* * *
[Interpretation of the lyrics Kim Han-ul wrote seems like this]
K, REE, P
: It's a lunar rock component.
Ten attempts
: Apollo 11 challenged ten times and succeeded on the eleventh.
Even if it is swallowed by silence
: The dark part of the moon is called the Sea of Tranquility.
Comments
―If only he hadn't made the mistake ㅠ I seriously never imagined Kim Han-ul would have this kind of sensibility... Personal taste, but his rap lyrics are my favorite of the three.
―So what, his role model is Jesse.
―Apollo 11 was the 9th, by the way.
└The 8th is ambiguous, just let it go.
[Summary of the Seo Cha-gyeom controversy from today's Mebaek-Chil broadcast]
1. Completely ignored all of Kim Han-ul's opinions and steamrolled with his own.
2. Suggested changing the arrangement yet again, shattering Kim Han-ul's mental.
3. Ultimately took over Kim Han-ul's part on stage.
4. But? He absolutely fucking killed it.
5. Completed an all-time legendary stage.
Comments
―So... creating a legendary stage is a controversy now?
―ㅋㅋㅋㅋ alright alright, you gotta be considerate of the trainees who can't keep up. What's everyone supposed to do if you're the only one good? ㅠㅠ
―Honestly, up to 2 even I frowned, but from 3 I was just like, yeah yeah, do whatever the hell you want.
―If they'd gone with Kim Han-ul's opinion, this would've just been Strong Boys right now.
―Fact: The other trainees did just fine.
―Literally the only thought in my head is that Seo Cha-gyeom has a damn good sense ㅋㅋㅋ
―Did the Seo Cha-gyeom fans invade in here? Hm...
└Seems like it. Outside, the opinion that Kim Han-ul is pitiful is dominant.
[But why was Seo Cha-gyeom memorizing Kim Han-ul's lyrics in the first place?]
Normally, only the member in charge memorizes the rap part.
What's with this guy memorizing everything?
Did Kim Han-ul write the lyrics and get them proofread by Gyeom?
Comments
―This is insane, don't tell me he planned to steal it from the start ㄷㄷ
└A scheming mastermind ㄷㄷ
―But is it confirmed that Kim Han-ul wrote the lyrics? That scene didn't air, so why is everyone so sure? What if he didn't?
└Common sense says a rapper writes his own rap lyrics;
[Choi Jun-bin did well vs Seo Cha-gyeom did well]
A screenshot of Seo Cha-gyeom dominating the communities after the broadcast (photo).
Many are saying how can Choi Jun-bin be 1st with this much of a difference in mentions.
Some speculate that because of the new rule, Seo Cha-gyeom's fans strategically voted (to avoid getting the benefit).
Comments
―The live and the broadcast are really different from Hyeonjang, so that's probably why.
└If you were at Hyeonjang, it makes even less sense. Seo Cha-gyeom's volume was overwhelming, the others got a massive boost from post-processing ㅋㅋ
―Why even post something like this? Both did well, just.
―I'm a Jun-bin fan, but I think Chaegyeom did better... Jun-bin is already getting so much hate because of the vote results, please take this down ㅠ
[I'm watching Seoba for the first time this season, is it always like this? ㅋㅋㅋ]
Started watching last week because of Seo Cha-gyeom, but the push is way too blatant, so it's boring...
Comments
―Yeah ㅋㅋㅋ with these faces, they only got this much buzz? ㅜㅜ The production team's completely lost their touch.
―Ratings just keep dropping..
―Seo Cha-gyeom's basically guaranteed to debut anyway, so I'm just gonna binge when he debuts. Right now it's really boring as hell ㅋㅋㅋ ㅠ I'm just holding out for the real content.
* * *
The morning of the ranking announcement ceremony.
I was snacking on the almonds I'd bought in bulk the day before when I received a call from the card's owner, right on time.
"An audition?"
―Yeah, just stop by once before you head out to film.
Someone actually saw that pathetic notice and came?
'No, more importantly, why is he telling me to come witness an audition?'
Did he have no awareness that I was just a trainee?
Still, it was good for me since I could scope things out beforehand. I lowered the phone from my ear and checked the time.
I was about to tell him when I'd be there, but in the meantime, President added one more thing.
―They said they came to see you.