Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Three hours later.
The first thought I had when I opened my eyes was this:
'I don't have time.'
First, since the parts had been newly assigned, I had to completely revise all the formations in the choreography draft.
During the last mission, it had been possible to repeat adjustments during practice and find a compromise, but this time it wasn't.
Because we had to go record the song the day after tomorrow. Once that passed, it meant there would be no more chance to change parts.
Luckily, I wasn't the only one in a rush, and without needing to knock on every door and go around, everyone gathered on time.
Especially the touched expression on Mun Jeong-jin's face as he entered the practice room was striking; even without him saying a word, I could vividly feel what his previous teammates had been like.
The formation revision I'd worried about also finished far earlier than expected.
"I only looked over it as much as I could."
As he said that, Baek Gyeonwoo put down the tablet, and a formation organizing app was open on it.
When I looked, all the formations except the third verse had been organized.
"Ah, awesome. I'm gonna vote for Baek Gyeonwoo from today."
Mun Jeong-jin was moved again, and thanks to that, we were able to start practice much earlier.
That didn't mean practice went smoothly, though. I thought it couldn't be helped since it was the first day, but it was hard to prevent the mood from sinking.
"......Sorry."
The sound of shoulders bumping was heard, followed by Jo Woo-jin's apology.
Silence filled the practice room. Because it was already the third time a mistake had occurred in the same part.
"Hey, it's okay! Should we drink some water and then continue?"
Mun Jeong-jin clapped, trying to encourage him.
While opinions gathered in the direction of taking a short break, I looked into the mirror and reviewed the mistake from just moments ago.
"This isn't working."
And I moved my feet to the corner of the practice room. It was where six water bottles were placed according to the choreography formation.
"Woo-jin hyung."
Jo Woo-jin flinched and turned around.
I swapped the water bottle with my name on it with Jo Woo-jin's water bottle.
"How about if we switch like this for the move?"
"......You want to switch with me?"
"Yes."
Jo Woo-jin said, blank-faced.
"Are you sure?"
Mm.......
I knew the reason he asked back.
This part was a choreography where you marched following Hyun-i hyung, the owner of the part.
It was a formation divided into three in the front row and three in the back, and my position was right next to Hyun-i hyung.
Simply put, it meant a position where I could get extra camera shots without the burden of a part.
'Now that I think about it, it's a shame.'
But thinking coldly, it wasn't a shame at all.
Because the mistake occurred as Jo Woo-jin tried to avoid me when I moved to the back in the next formation. It had been right for me to be in the back from the beginning.
Without a long explanation, I just nodded.
"Ah, mm...... thanks."
A subtle glow of pleasure appeared on Jo Woo-jin's face.
If he was going to get that excited about receiving a part, why had he acted like that during the last competition?
Jo Woo-jin's conduct during kept coming to mind, and it was a moment when I was trying hard to manage my expression that was gradually clouding over.
"Ah, seriously."
Mun Jeong-jin, who had been leaning against the mirror wall resting, said.
"I'm touched. It's my first time in such a peaceful team."
"Yeah......"
Hyun-i hyung, who had been about to chime in normally, shut his mouth. He seemed to have belatedly realized that Mun Jeong-jin was badmouthing his previous team.
Conscious of the running camera, I pretended not to hear and unscrewed my water bottle cap.
'What was that hyung's previous team again?'
It had seemed to come across peacefully on broadcast.
Of course, I didn't think that team had actually been peaceful. One thing I'd felt while participating in this program was that there were as many angel edits as there were evil edits.
The cases where angel edits were bestowed were largely divided into two.
When things had broken down so seriously that they couldn't be aired. Or when something didn't fit the picture the production team had envisioned, or needed to be made to fit.
Naturally, the latter was mostly applied to PD picks.
More accurately, it wasn't PD picks but pre-selected members, right? Because the two were strictly different.
'......Maybe?'
I secretly observed Mun Jeong-jin and began to mentally go through the list of pre-selected member candidates I had compiled at some point.
I couldn't do it for long. Because there was no time.
* * *
It was after returning to the dorm that day, having finished practice, that I thought of Baek Gyeonwoo again.
While Baek Gyeonwoo was washing up, I sat at the desk and was looking up stages with similar concepts on the tablet.
For reference, the production team collecting phones during training camp wasn't to protect trainees from raw public opinion... no. It was just to block contact with the outside.
So, the reference search I was doing right now wasn't a violation of the rules, and moreover, it was something I'd always done.
Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to recall. Because the 'refreshing playlist' list I was searching included Giddeun.
The rookie boy group from Youth, that is.
'Right. Baek Gyeonwoo.'
Afraid I'd forget again, I quickly started searching Baek Gyeonwoo.
You might wonder if I really needed to pay this much attention to Baek Gyeonwoo's controversy... but the reason was obvious.
I was curious.
As a result of diligently browsing portal sites, I was finally able to find the source of Baek Gyeonwoo's pathological lying controversy.
It was a Wit user named 'DontVoteBaekGyeonu'.
―I went to high school with Baek Gyeonwoo
Baek Gyeonwoo's family isn't rich
There's a rumor going around about Baek Gyeonwoo but that's not true
No, that's not it
Baek Gyeonwoo had pathological lying
He dropped out as soon as he got caught..
He didn't drop out because he joined a company
He dropped out because his pathological lying was exposed
Not many people know
I was close to him so I know
When I looked up what the 'Baek Gyeonwoo rumor' mentioned by this 'DontVoteBaekGyeonu' was, this came up.
―They say Baek Gyeonwoo is a gold spoon (according to a friend's acquaintance) He was famous at school because he was handsome and from a rich family yeah They thought he suddenly dropped out to study abroad so they were surprised when he suddenly appeared on TV lol They said he was never the type to become an idol, they wondered how he ended up a trainee
'Hmm.......'
This rumor had been posted a month ago from now.
And 'DontVoteBaekGyeonu' had made their first post just three days ago, the day Episode 6 aired.
Episode 6 included the results of the second competition and the fact that Baek Gyeonwoo had received a benefit.
Most viewers who saw that would have predicted a rise in Baek Gyeonwoo's ranking rather than a drop.
In other words, anyone could see this was a post made for the purpose of checking his rise.
I looked into the account a bit more.
―This is proof that Baek Gyeonwoo went around lying
What the poster attached with this post was a capture of a Q&A-style SNS that Baek Gyeonwoo had supposedly used in the past.
Question: You probably don't lick the yogurt lid, I'm jealous
Answer: Why wouldn't I
'......This is supposed to be proof?'
When it was first posted, everyone had a similar reaction to mine.
But due to the check and maneuvering of other trainees' fans, the opinion that 'this is just supporting evidence, and it must have been much worse in reality' was gradually gaining force.
That battle was still continuing.
'Hmm.'
Even if it wasn't a crime, it was the kind of content that could earn a 'turn-off' reaction. For something like this, even having the company issue a statement would look kind of bad.
In times like these, the best thing was to skip the middle steps, find the poster, and contact them directly.
Just then, a new post went up on the account.
―Really don't vote for Baek Gyeonwoo..ㅠ
I still see people who don't believe me
It's true I was friends with him
If you send a DM, I'll send proof;
It's a photo only I have
When you receive it, please keep it to yourself
Voting must have closed by now, but that passion is truly impressive.......
Even as I scoffed, the reactions were ballooning at a terrifying speed.
―Oh guys the repost is starting gogo
―Seriously, learn to pick your friends. When someone's about to succeed, you come scrambling to make an account and mumble shit, it looks fucking pathetic, motherfucker
―You think if you say keep it to yourself, people will be like 'okay I will'? In my eyes, this bastard ain't too bright either
―Surely nobody's stupid enough to actually send a DM, right?
When I saw the last reaction, I felt a slight prick of guilt.
Because I was in the process of doing that stupid thing.
[I'd like to see the proof.]
'Is this right?'
I'd been using Wit for years, but it was my first time using the direct message feature, so I was a bit nervous.
I waited for the 'Sending...' text to change to 'Sent,' then unconsciously turned off the tablet's power.
On the pitch-black screen, Baek Gyeonwoo's face and mine were reflected.
'Huh?'
Whose face was reflected?
"What are you doing."
I almost screamed for real.
At some point, Baek Gyeonwoo had been standing behind me.
At that moment when I was too surprised to say anything, Baek Gyeonwoo reached his arm over my shoulder and started manipulating the tablet himself.
Having grasped the entire situation, Baek Gyeonwoo spoke.
"What are you doing, seriously."
His voice was filled only with pity and disbelief.
Relieved for now that it wasn't anger, I calmly explained.
"You should check it out too."
"What."
"If it's a photo they're so sure only they have, then you'd be able to identify who it is too, wouldn't you."
It wasn't an excuse, it was the truth.
If I'd really been planning to sneak a look, I would have gone outside and looked on my own ages ago. I knew full well Baek Gyeonwoo was here.
"And then?"
"I'd tell your company. For spreading false information."
"Hm."
Baek Gyeonwoo flopped down onto the bed.
"Too bad."
"What is?"
"Because it's not false information."
And he continued.
"It's true I hid it. Because I was embarrassed about living with just my grandmother."
For some reason, emphasis was placed on the word 'embarrassed'.
I turned the tablet off and on again for no reason.
'.......'
Now what was I going to do?
Was I supposed to solve this, or cover it up? As I pondered, I decided to test the waters first.
"If you just hid it, you didn't lie."
"Same difference."
I didn't know how that was 'same difference,' but it meant he hadn't gone around deliberately lying.
"So the reason for dropping out was actually that?"
"......."
"If you don't want to talk about it, at least tell me you don't want to."
"Half of it is true."
My judgment was made.
This was clearly an unfavorable situation.
Because when someone says A, B, and C, even if only A is revealed as true, it's common for everything to be treated as true.
I sighed.
"So why didn't you just live licking the yogurt lid?"
"What kind of bullshit is that......."
Even if it wasn't a crash, a drop was sufficiently possible.
Baek Gyeonwoo had no screen time, so the image generated on the internet was exactly his image.
'If Baek Gyeonwoo's ranking drops like this, the possibility of the rigging being exposed decreases along with it.'
Something that could recover his image.......
"Ah."
'The family meeting event!'
Couldn't I make good use of that?
In this place, Baek Gyeonwoo's position was unique.
As a participant who must not debut, but whose image must also not be damaged.
This was a guess based on the last broadcast. I didn't know how much he had fought with Han Neuti, but the fact that the PD didn't show a hint of their conflict had no reason other than a deal with Youth.
'The event was likely to be held after the mid-term evaluation. If I contacted the company in the meantime and asked them to make a deal with the production team.......'
The company was already involved in rigging, so one more speck of dust wouldn't matter.
I was about to mention the existence of the event, recalling the production staff who had repeatedly urged me not to say a word, when—
A Wit notification sound rang from the tablet.
"Give it."
It was somewhat of a commanding tone, but without a word, I handed over the tablet.
The tablet's light shone onto Baek Gyeonwoo's face, which was in shadow because of the bunk bed right above.
After checking the content, Baek Gyeonwoo's expression hardened.
"What's wrong?"
Baek Gyeonwoo laughed like someone who had lost all energy.
"I know who it is."
"Who?"
It took a moment for the answer to come.
"......The company."
"Huh?"
"The company, I said."