Chapter 49
Chapter 49
The studio was in the middle of the 2nd ranking announcement ceremony.
As the ceremony was wrapping up, mentors began filing into the waiting room one by one to prepare for the 3rd competition that would follow immediately.
Producing mentor Kim Ik-hyeon was also shuffling into the waiting room with the expression of a typical office worker.
He spotted Joo Yeonhee reading her script alone in a corner.
"What, Cheon-seon didn't come after all?"
Kim Ik-hyeon asked as he settled into an empty seat. Joo Yeonhee answered without taking her eyes off the script.
"No. I'm the substitute."
"Yaaah, that hikikomori—when is he ever going to show up if not for something like this, and you just went and took his spot? I was hoping to see his face for once......."
"I didn't take the substitute slot for his sake."
"Huh?"
Joo Yeonhee gestured toward Kim Ik-hyeon's script.
"You looked over today's script, right?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah, I did."
"This season. Isn't it way over the top, even by this show's standards?"
Despite the question being vague in many ways, Kim Ik-hyeon responded nonchalantly.
"It's not about being particularly over the top or not. If anything, that just makes it sound like it was fine before now."
Joo Yeonhee let out a short, derisive snort.
"I'm not trying to argue about fairness here. Since when do I have such a righteous personality?"
"I know....... So what are you getting at?"
"Look."
Without further explanation, Joo Yeonhee held out her phone.
On the screen was a community post about her.
[Joo Yeonhee's really fallen off hard...]
When she first came on as a mentor for Me Season 4, she'd constantly soak the Kes with refreshing remarks and had a great image as 'Teacher Yeonhee' in the idol scene, wtf happened lmao
Comments
—Tbh I sighed when she praised ○○○ to high heaven
—It's not that she lost her touch, she just has no pride anymore... it's so obvious she's soullessly reading off the script...
—Back in her 'refreshing' era you guys called her vicious and made screenshot compilations to trash her, now you're trashing her for losing her edge, you guys are seriously relentless
—Joo Yeonhee never had a great eye to begin with, she just ran her mouth well
"Hmm......."
Kim Ik-hyeon murmured to himself before speaking.
"It does feel unjust. Things we never even said come out looking like we said them on broadcast, but what can you do? Even I watch the show and get genuinely shocked thinking, 'I said something like that?'"
Devil's editing wasn't limited to the trainees.
Here, the mentors' words were frequently borrowed to make the trainees the production was pushing stand out even more.
'That doesn't really matter to me. Pre-selected or paid off, in the end they're all my students. Even if it's just a one-time thing for broadcast.'
Kim Ik-hyeon continued thinking.
'The real worst part is when a trainee I sincerely praised comes off looking like a failure on broadcast. It's so embarrassing I can't even look them in the eye.'
But then again, what could he do about it? He was the one who kept accepting the mentor position for the sake of his own career.
'We're practically bystanders anyway... wait.'
An ominous premonition flashed through his mind.
"Yeonhee, don't tell me."
"I'm going to clear my name."
Kim Ik-hyeon asked, feigning ignorance.
"......Clear what?"
Joo Yeonhee answered.
"That my judgment isn't trash."
Kim Ik-hyeon's pupils shook violently.
* * *
"5th place. Trainee Baek Gyeonwoo."
Baek Gyeonwoo's face appeared in a massive close-up on the electronic display.
In the studio where the atmosphere had frozen over, Baek Gyeonwoo, who had paused for a fleeting moment, rose from his seat and headed toward the podium.
"Thank you for the high rank. I will work even harder."
Baek Gyeonwoo gave a brief, composed acceptance speech and bowed his head.
Whispers could be heard from right behind him.
"He dropped? Thought he'd go up. He did insanely well this time."
"Right? He even got a fifty-thousand vote benefit."
"Was he originally 4th?"
The result was actually to be expected.
This vote tally started fresh from Episode 4. It would've been more unnatural for Baek Gyeonwoo, who hadn't had screen time for quite a while, to rise in the rankings.
If Baek Gyeonwoo had any fault in this... it was that he picked the wrong teammates?
'The benefit became poison.'
On competition day, from the moment the team compositions were revealed through live reviews, Baek Gyeonwoo's fans would have sensed he was going to receive the benefit.
And at that time, the communities were fiercely divided over whether or not it was right to deliberately tank rankings in preparation for the blind rule.
At that exact moment, with Baek Gyeonwoo practically guaranteed to receive the benefit, the former side temporarily gained the upper hand.
Well, this was all just speculation anyway.
'Now that the rankings are hidden, I can't even make any proper analysis.'
I'd seen posts claiming this blind rule was meant to keep the high-ranking trainees in check....... Well, I thought differently.
They probably just laid the groundwork. So that if they manipulated things later, it wouldn't be as noticeable.
"Let's get ready to head out soon, Cha-gyeom."
Lee Jae-young, who was sitting next to me, suddenly whispered affectionately.
Wow, I got instantly pissed off.
Fortunately, at that moment the MC announced the trainees in the 4th-place range. The timing was right before I couldn't hold back anymore and shoved Lee Jae-young.
Ahn Jiwon and I held onto the 4th-place range, and the empty seats left by the two trainees who went up were filled by Choi Jun-bin and Lee Jae-young.
Oh, and Kim Han-ul's rank—which had set the community ablaze after yesterday's broadcast—had slightly dropped.
Kim Han-ul's fanbase was originally weaker compared to Choi Jun-bin and Lee Jae-young, and it seemed the 'role model' comment controversy had hit him directly.
'It was a gain for me.'
Thanks to that, I was able to gain the upper hand in the 'Kim Han-ul vs. Seo Cha-gyeom' debate the production team had set up. I could guarantee one hundred percent it didn't go the way the production intended.
Hm, actually, on non-fan general public communities, the sentiment sympathizing with Kim Han-ul was fairly strong too.
Even so, the fact that Kim Han-ul's rank dropped was a result that roughly indicated the respective shares of general public versus hardcore fans among this program's viewership.
'......I'd like to see my own graph in detail, too.'
Even if my side was dominant in fan communities, it probably didn't have only a positive effect on me.
Anyway, having said my prepared speech, I climbed the stairs.
"Congrats."
On the way up, Han Neuti, already seated, tossed out the word.
I looked at the number '88%' attached to the front of his seat and thought.
'It'll be soon.'
Since survivors for the next ranking announcement only went up to 14th, 12th place was a rank that left both fans and the trainee with very complicated feelings.
The votes had reset while he was on a downward trend, and in the newly opened vote he'd maintained 12th without screen time, so it was actually an impressive record.
But if you didn't debut, all of it was just meaningless numbers in the end.
Han Neuti, who had flashed me a grin, turned his head back. His expression looked dark from where I could see it at an angle above him.
'Come to think of it, I think I was the only one who received consolation.'
I could afford not to be hung up on rankings, but this hyung probably couldn't, and yet I was the one who got consoled. It was ironic.
I would definitely repay him. Even if the method was a little contrived.
I moved my feet again.
The debut-rank seats, from 1st to 7th, were lined up on the highest tier. I'd been a bit delayed chatting with Han Neuti, and seats 1 through 3 were already taken.
I had no choice but to go sit in the seat next to Baek Gyeonwoo's.
"......."
"......."
There was no conversation.
"Now then, I will announce the final survivor."
As soon as the MC finished speaking, the faces of the four survival candidates appeared on the display.
I quickly scanned the list.
'Not there.'
Before I could even register the thought, my head dropped.
Right after, the survivor was announced. The sounds of relief, congratulations, and weak applause tangled together and filled the studio.
As I cautiously lifted my gaze, mindful of the cameras, I saw the 18 eliminated trainees looking down from above.
Once the final survivor gave his speech and took his seat, a heavy silence that had been submerged beneath the noise floated up to the surface.
"Everyone."
In the midst of the somber atmosphere, the MC lifted his mic.
"Please don't think things like 'if only I'd tried harder' or 'if only I'd done a bit better.' Even if you do someday, now is not that time."
It was hard to tell if it was scripted or ad-libbed.
I hoped it was an ad-lib. If the production team said it, it would just seem laughable.
"It's important to tie up your loose ends well. Go back, get plenty of rest, and enjoy the lingering impression of this Rei's journey. And I hope you'll brag to many people. Because your challenges were admirable."
With those words, the MC closed his mouth.
And after a moment, he picked up the script.
"Then I'll give you all time to say your final goodbyes."
The sound of people rising in a rush could be heard. I, too, mingled into their midst and hurried down the stairs.
Han Neuti naturally followed behind me. Jae-hyun, who had been sitting in the 19th place seat, joined us right away as if he'd been waiting.
"Hyung!"
"Look at you, not crying for once."
Gyu-min, who had already been running over, stopped in front of me.
Gyu-min jerked his chin toward the back and gave an awkward laugh. There was no way I wouldn't know he meant for me to comfort his crying friend.
I glanced once at Han Neuti, Jae-hyun, and Yuma, who were hugging as if they were the only three people left in the world, then moved my feet.
"Seongjun."
Seongjun hadn't even gotten up and was sobbing in his seat. I bent my knees and crouched down in front of him.
I was mulling over what to say when I heard his voice first.
"I'll work harder, definitely debut, and we'll meet again. On stage."
"......Yeah."
It was a voice interspersed with trembling sobs here and there, but it was unmistakably resolute.
I patted Seongjun on the shoulder and then got to my feet.
The sound of the production team telling everyone to wrap it up could be heard.
* * *
"Alright, four composers representing K-pop have personally written songs for this mission, I'm told. Before we get into the detailed explanations, we should introduce them first, shouldn't we? Please come in!"
The moment the MC finished speaking, the four composers entered with bashful expressions.
'I know three of them.'
First, one was Kim Ik-hyeon, one of the mentors.
He had been in charge of producing during the prime years of 'Deplote', the group called the peak of the current boy group scene.
The second one standing there, Allure, was also a famous composer. Even if you didn't know the song titles, hearing the choruses would make you go, 'Oh, that one!'—he had churned out plenty of those.
And the third was Joo Yeonhee.
"Hello. You probably know me well as Joo Yeonhee, but I've come to this spot today as a substitute for someone else."
As soon as Joo Yeonhee's greeting ended, a video popped on the roll screen.
—Hello. This is Im Cheon-seon.
'Oh.'
He was a composer I couldn't not know. I'd already performed on stage with one of his songs, after all.
—Unfortunately I couldn't attend in person, but I'll be looking forward to the wonderful stages you'll all showcase here. Thank you.
Im Cheon-seon: the composer of 'a hue', the song I had chosen for my first evaluation.
He was less famous compared to Kim Ik-hyeon, but among idol fans he was known as a composer whose work you could trust and listen to without question.
To the extent that when the composer list was pre-released and his name was on it, even fans of other idols would get their hopes up.
And... from what I knew, he didn't release that many songs.
'They managed to cast him somehow.'
"Then before we listen to the songs!"
The MC shouted boldly.
"The trainees whose names I call, please come right to the front now."
Four trainees were called.
Ahn Jiwon, Lee Jae-young, Choi Jun-bin, and me.
As we walked to the front and lined up, the MC raised his mic.
"I haven't announced the theme of this competition yet, have I."
I listened to the MC's explanation and repeated to myself.
'Let's definitely get 1st place this time.'
Because it might be the last mission on this program.
Why the last?
......Because I was going to make sure the votes got rigged somehow.