Chapter 57
Chapter 57
And so, Homma arrived at the day of the competition.
The same MC, the same explanations, the same waiting period came to an end, and finally, the first stage began.
"The first performance is the team that will complete Allure composer's <incomplete> to 100%."
Six trainees walked up onto the stage, led by Lee Jae-young.
It was a team without a single trainee she was interested in, but Homma adjusted her camera anyway. She figured she'd warm up her hands in advance for Han Neuti, who would be coming out soon.
Of course, there was another reason too.
'Plenty of money-makers here.'
Around this time, data of popular trainees went for tens of thousands of won per photo. That meant it had an absolutely massive impact on the rankings.
There was a clear reason for this.
The third round of voting had started last Friday and would end next Saturday morning.
So the episode airing next Friday wouldn't really affect the vote. Instead, the photos Homma was taking right now, dodging the security guards' eyes, would have to serve as the marketing material for the whole week.
She'd heard that the truly devoted would sometimes buy up all the data on a rival trainee just to scrap it, but Homma preferred money.......
The stage darkened, and the <incomplete> team trainees, including Lee Jae-young, got into formation.
White shirts and harnesses. The screams erupted around her, as they always did for that cliché but reliably effective styling.
As the song approached its latter half, the trainees all flipped up their shirts as a group to expose their abs.
A scream reflexively burst from Homma's mouth.
"Kyaaaaack!"
'G-gross!'
A skin-baring performance from guys she had zero interest in. All she could think about was how the hell they managed to hike up their clothes while wearing harnesses.
Homma prayed with cold, dead eyes.
'Please let this end quickly....'
Just as Homma wished, the stage concluded before long.
The MC came up and announced the next act.
"The next team ready to show you their stage... is prepared to perform producer Kim Ik-hyeon's <no matter what> not at 100%, no, but at 200%, I'm told."
"Whoaaa!!!!"
"Please... please let it be Cha-gyeom......."
"Please come on up!"
At the MC's call, the trainees, dressed in vintage denim styling, rushed onto the stage.
'No way, insane!'
Han Neuti was among them.
Whether Seo Cha-gyeom fans fainted from the premonition that he was really on the <bone say> team after the 'Believe It or Not' spoiler hit two in a row, Homma frantically adjusted her camera.
'Our filial son, rolling a natural 6 at every competition....'
Dice was a metaphor for a trainee's face condition.
Her previous ultimate bias, who fluctuated wildly from 1 to 6, had been a complete ordeal from Homma's perspective. It made her clutch her head every time trying to decide which version of his face to use as the baseline for editing.
But Han Neuti was always a consistently stable visual. You could truly call him the best kind of idol for a fansite photographer.
And on top of school uniforms and suits, this time it was a denim jacket.
'At this level, Neuti's basically done everything he could for us.'
Homma renewed her resolve to have the PD executed by hanging and to get Han Neuti into the debut lineup no matter what.
The stage began, and Homma shouted one more time internally.
'Yes!!!'
It was a new-school style that set aside knife-like group choreography and let each person's individual vibe shine through, and it suited Han Neuti so perfectly it practically triggered the delusion that Kim Ik-hyeon was so in love with Han Neuti that he made a song solely for him.
For Homma, it was no exaggeration to say that she truly only saw Han Neuti.
And honestly, that was true not just for Homma, but for the eyes of the other audience members too.
"Whoa, Han Neuti's insane right now...."
"He's so fucking good."
Being the only low-tone voice on the team, his impact was huge even with a comparatively smaller part, which played a big role.
Homma grinned, drunk on happiness.
'He's really... gonna debut, isn't he? He's gonna hit a hundred percent on the algorithm, isn't he?'
That was when it happened.
"Cup."
Someone grabbed Homma by the back of the neck and started shoving her down into the crowd.
'Wh-what the!'
In the span of that startled silence where she couldn't even speak, a calm, low woman's voice came from above.
"Security."
'Ah.'
Well, thanks then.
Just as Homma was quietly crouching down, she heard murmuring from around her.
"Whose fansite got caught?"
"Seo Cha-gyeom, Seo Cha-gyeom."
"Wow... She has to leave without even getting to shoot her bias?"
"Someone snitched. Someone nearby."
"Seriously?"
"The snitch is holding a Lee Jae-young slogan."
Getting caught for cameras and getting kicked out was a frequent occurrence, so Homma calmly swapped out her memory card while squatting down.
'At least it's Seo Cha-gyeom, so that's a relief. If it were a Jeong Byeong-jon event, I might've lost my mind with rage.'
The situation was settled, and Homma was finally able to straighten her back.
"Thank you......."
She saw a Baek Gyeonwoo slogan right in front of her eyes.
'Ah, her bias is Baek Gyeonwoo.'
Baek Gyeonwoo and Han Neuti. The duo affectionately named Tibaekz shared the pitiful commonality of having less than ten minutes of combined screen time.
Without screen time, there was no on-screen relationship between them either.
In other words, this was a pairing formed less from the actual trainees' relationship and more from the fans' sense of kinship with each other.
Since internal closeness naturally follows a sense of kinship, Homma accepted the Baek Gyeonwoo fan's goodwill as a natural thing.
Homma, having popped her neck back into place facing forward, thought to herself.
'A pairing? It's good, but....'
He was the lowest-ranked out of the Chateebaek trio, so honestly, the one benefiting the most from the pairing right now was Han Neuti.
That was also why Homma liked the Chateebaek pairing. Because she benefited from it.
But let's take a look at the Hyeon situation for a second.
'For Neuti to debut, he's gotta push Baek Gyeonwoo out of his spot.'
Even if Han Neuti were to rise meteorically late-game, getting into the top four was impossible.
Which meant he had to aim for the remaining three lower spots, and hadn't Baek Gyeonwoo conveniently just dropped to fifth place recently?
To put it more bluntly, Baek Gyeonwoo was no longer someone to pick up crumbs from, but simply a rival.
"The next performance... Ah, yes. A song that pairs especially well with today's weather. It seems guaranteed to recharge our K-Specialists to 100% warmth. It's composer Im Cheon-seon's !"
Homma toyed with her camera before refocusing on the stage. The MC's introduction finished, and the team for the next performance was just coming up.
"Huh?"
Homma let out a short gasp.
And then, as if that had been the lead-in to a chorus, a massive roar erupted behind her.
"Huh?!"
"Aaagh, what the! Cha-gyeom!!!!!"
"Gyeon-woo!! Cha-gyeom!!!!!"
"Why are you coming out here!!!"
'Wow, I think almost the entire audience is screaming?'
A moment later, Homma realized. Baek Gyeonwoo and Seo Cha-gyeom fans had been clustered all around her.
Overwhelmed that it wasn't <bone say>, the Seo Cha-gyeom fans kept howling. The decibel level was like someone had been resurrected.
'That's fair.'
Homma recalled the Woomjjalgye unnie who had said she absolutely couldn't stomach seeing Seo Cha-gyeom perform Bone Say and had chosen to study for exams instead of coming to this recording.
Then she glanced to the side. The Baek Gyeonwoo fan who had hidden her earlier was looking up at the stage.
Her eyes, full of anticipation, excitement, and worry, sparkled brightly.
'.......'
Homma cautiously spoke to her.
"......Um, would you mind helping me shield the camera a bit?"
"H-huh? ......Yes!"
The Baek Gyeonwoo fan, catching Homma's meaning, lit up and fluttered her slogan in the air to help block the view.
Homma secretly quashed the regret that rushed in the moment the words left her mouth.
'Fine, let's shoot him. If worse comes to worst, I can just sell the photos.'
Homma diligently adjusted her camera, then belatedly examined the stage.
'School uniforms again?'
Homma, who preferred a variety of styling, felt a pang of disappointment, but groans of agony were already pouring out from all around her.
"Ah, insane. School uniforms... fucking amazing."
"School uniforms, school uniforms."
"I have to immortalize the uniforms, please...."
'......Well, if the fans like it, that's all that matters.'
This time it was a classic blazer-style school uniform, so it felt different from the previous school uniform looks.
The <MAKE100%> uniform, perhaps out of consideration for the older trainees, looked more mature than a standard school uniform, and the Nice Zombie stage had been completely retro, so.
Meanwhile, the stage had finished preparing to begin.
Homma gripped her camera tight.
♪―
The clear sound of an acoustic guitar gently filled the concert hall. It was a delicate and tender intro, befitting the lyrical title.
Hwang Jae-hyeon, in charge of rap, walked out from the edge and sang the first verse.
I have more to say than those flowers
What if I make another mistake
I agonized all night plan abcz
It was a youthful freshness fitting for a trainee who had climbed to 19th place on his fresh-faced visuals alone.
To put it bluntly, his rap was extremely precarious and shaky.
But because that oddly suited the lyrics, it fortunately didn't completely shatter the audience's immersion.
Hwang Jae-hyeon, who had been moving toward center stage while rapping, made a gesture toward Baek Gyeonwoo as though passing him a baton.
Baek Gyeonwoo naturally took over the part and continued the rap.
My heart is spring
This confession is a flower
So watch carefully
Hold tight to the petal
As I hand it to your hand
From behind Baek Gyeonwoo, Seo Cha-gyeom, who had his hand on his shoulder, popped out and sang.
I want to give all this spring to you!
"......Ha."
Homma let out a cynical laugh.
It was a desperate effort to suppress the satisfied smile creeping up from the corners of her mouth.
'He's so damn good.'
Homma pushed down the word 'cute' that was flooding her mind and instead brainwashed herself with a compliment on his skill.
The song's image that Hwang Jae-hyeon and Baek Gyeonwoo had built up was completely overwritten with Seo Cha-gyeom's image the moment he appeared.
Even when another trainee's verse started and Seo Cha-gyeom moved to the very back corner, that was still the case.
Even if I tune my ear to my restless heart
No words come out of my mouth
'Seo Cha-gyeom will obviously get the chorus,' Homma predicted, and as expected, Seo Cha-gyeom took the chorus.
This chorus had been included in the 30-second preview.
She'd listened to that brief 30 seconds on repeat dozens of times, so honestly, hearing the full version could have felt jarring at first.
Your neatly placed sneakers
Only petals pile up on top
One two three
Spring is already leaving
But it wasn't jarring at all.
It was all thanks to Seo Cha-gyeom's vocals, which made her completely forget the guide track.
'Are you seriously this good....'
(One two three)
Like back when I wondered whether to say hello or not
(One two three)
Like back when I tried to predict if you'd accept me or not
(One two three)
When will I be able to tell you
Will I find courage only after counting every flower here
(When there's this many?)
Even while Jeong Hyeon-i and Moon Jeong-jin came to the front and exchanged parts, the afterimage Seo Cha-gyeom left behind didn't fade.
'At this level, it's actually a negative.'
Easy listening was a genre characterized by smooth, uneventful progression, so the killing part truly depended on the singer's own capabilities.
That was why the spotlight gathered even more intensely on those who were good. Conversely, those who weren't as good got buried even more easily.
But the problem was... the teammates here were all performing at or above average, yet they were still getting buried.
Because Seo Cha-gyeom was just too good.
'Our Neuti didn't get buried though!'
This was absolutely not just coping. Han Neuti had aspects where he was clearly superior to Seo Cha-gyeom.
So, just as Homma was about to drift off into cheering for Han Neuti again, chanting that the two of them absolutely had to debut together, the song had already passed the second chorus and was entering D' part.
Seo Cha-gyeom came forward.
We're almost there
I've imagined it every night
I've memorized it countless times
With each syllable that ended, the pounding drum beat flowed directly into Homma's heart.
A high-register piano melody reminiscent of a spring breeze layered over the minimalist instrumental, and the trainees gathered in the center.
(Three!)
gonna make my heart known
Before all the flowers fall
(Two!)
If we can't stop spring from leaving
no other way
All six sang the count in unison, then paired off to deliver their parts.
The remaining two were Seo Cha-gyeom and Baek Gyeonwoo.
'The Airplane duo fans are gonna go wild.'
Homma thought.
But only Seo Cha-gyeom appeared alone.
(One!)
I'll squeeze my eyes shut and say it
And then.
"......."
"......Whoa."
"Unbelievable......."
When it was Baek Gyeonwoo's turn, no sound was heard.
Baek Gyeonwoo was simply standing still with his eyes closed, and then slowly, he opened them.
That was all.
A single paper flower that had begun fluttering down at some point landed on Baek Gyeonwoo's eyelid. Then it fell away.
Looking at Baek Gyeonwoo's face that appeared on the display screen, Homma recalled.
'Right.'
This was a confession song.