Chapter 68
Chapter 68
It was late evening after we ate the barbecue.
We had blown our entire budget on the meat and were flat broke, so the production team came to us with a deal: if we scored points in mini games, they would give us that much additional budget.
The budget had been set tight from the very beginning for exactly this reason, no doubt.
There was no reason to refuse, and through the various mini games the production team had prepared, we successfully received the extra budget.
And we decided to use that money to buy what they called camping essentials: marshmallows and sparkler fireworks.
Who would go buy them?
The two who lost at rock-paper-scissors.
"Then Hyun-i hyung, Cha-gyeom hyung! Have a safe trip!"
I raised my fist and looked at Hyun-i hyung.
Hyun-i hyung, who had also raised his fist, looked at me and smiled sheepishly. Even in that small act of lifting the corners of his mouth, I could sense exhaustion.
The four who had earned a brief rest immediately went into the campsite and crashed, while the two of us took the allowance and the hand camera provided by the production team and headed to a nearby supermarket.
'Still, going with this hyung isn't so bad.'
The staff didn't accompany us, saying they had to check equipment. If it had been someone else, the awkwardness would have been twice as tiring.
In an alley a little ways from the campsite, I was just thinking that I should slowly check the map.
"Cha-gyeom."
"Yes?"
I answered while pointing the hand camera at Hyun-i hyung.
Then Hyun-i hyung flinched in surprise, and even waved his hands frantically, utterly flustered.
'You called me over and you're acting like that?'
Was the camera the problem?
I asked.
"Should I turn off the camera for a moment?"
"No, you don't have to... um, yeah, let's turn it off for a second."
I turned off the camera as he said.
Even after that, his mouth stayed shut for a few seconds, so I broke the silence first.
"Do you have something to say?"
"......It's nothing much."
Hyun-i hyung came to a sudden halt.
"I just... wanted to say thank you for everything, you know."
"Huh?"
"Just because... you talked with me so well."
The thing he was grateful for was just that I 'talked with him'...?
While I was stunned, he said that coming on the trip had made him more sentimental than usual, and he pressed both fists to his cheeks as if to cool them down.
Then he rambled on some more.
"It made me think, if it weren't for this show, would we have ever been able to talk this much? You felt like someone from a completely different world than me..."
"......."
"You're going to debut now. And I... I feel like I have no chance. So I thought today might be my only chance to talk like this... Ah, sorry, this must be uncomfortable for you... no! Let's stop talking... sorry."
Coldly analyzed, his rank of 12th indeed meant he had no chance.
But... the rank shouldn't have been the problem.
After all, even that rank wasn't an objective number in the current situation.
'What should I say?'
If I didn't know the ending, I would have at least thrown out some empty words about how he could debut by hoping for a miracle.
But...
I hesitated, then opened my mouth.
"Even if you don't debut here, you'll debut elsewhere, won't you?"
"That! That's a given..."
Hyun-i hyung flinched in surprise, then said firmly.
"With fans cheering for me like that, it would be wrong not to debut..."
That settled it, then.
Even though the debut his fans were cheering for was surely a glamorous one from a guaranteed-success program.
'It's the same for me too.'
It made me re-steel my resolve.
Since I had joined this place knowing that their support would turn to bubbles, I had to debut even more perfectly.
'Not for myself, but to repay them.'
'Let's give it a try' should be let's succeed.
With my thoughts now in order, I finally felt like I'd come on a trip.
I belatedly gulped down the early summer beach air and said,
"Let's see each other often after we debut."
"......Yeah, let's do that."
The awkwardness that inevitably follows a warm moment was dispelled by turning the camera back on.
After arriving at the supermarket a little while later, we bought sparklers and marshmallows, plus unauthorized ice cream, then returned to the campsite.
The production team still looked busy, Song Se-ho had fallen asleep by then, and Baek Gyeonwoo was scrolling through today's photos.
I set the items on the table and asked.
"Where are the other two?"
"They just went out."
"Where to?"
Baek Gyeonwoo shrugged as if he didn't know.
'They'll come back on their own.'
And I had planned to use what little time was left to rest a bit, but I failed.
Because the production team's orders came down right away.
"We're going to resume filming soon, could you go call the two of them?"
"Ah, yes."
I had come outside alone to look at the still-burning embers, but I immediately got up at the staff's words.
Worried that going empty-handed might lead to an awkward conversation with them, I even took along the steadily melting ice cream in my hand.
'If there's a place to avoid staff and tourists...'
I turned my back to the sea and headed for the forest behind the campsite.
My guess turned out to be correct before long, because I saw the silhouettes of two people in the distance.
—No, seriously.
It was when I finally stretched out a confident step in the formerly ambiguous direction.
—Why should I be taking care of you, hyung? What do we have besides being from the same company? Are we close?
—...
—The president told me to... so I just... gave you some help.
"..."
It seemed the surrounding noise had erased my presence.
I swear I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. I really wasn't.
'Still, now that I've heard this much... should I keep listening?'
Everything I'd heard so far was Ahn Jiwon's voice. Lee Hyo-woon hadn't said anything, but what they had been talking about before was easy enough to deduce.
'What else would "taking care of him" mean in this situation but screen time?'
Thinking back on today's events, Lee Hyo-woon had been especially silent. There had been plenty of chances to speak—he just hadn't.
I moved a little closer.
—Even after I gave you the choreography in advance, you messed it up. If I hadn't given you a rescue vote, you'd be buried...
—Hey!
—It's just that this is as far as you go, hyung. That's all.
'Rescue vote?'
Ahn Jiwon had voted for Lee Hyo-woon in the rescue vote?
'Not me?'
...I didn't feel betrayed. Now that I thought about it, Ahn Jiwon had never once said he voted for me.
It had all been just my assumption.
'Then who gave me that last vote?'
I was curious, but that was about it.
It was a matter where knowing or not knowing didn't change anything, so I set it aside and decided to carry out the staff's order first.
I deliberately rustled the bag with the ice cream in it.
"...!"
Ahn Jiwon noticed my presence first and whipped his head around.
When his eyes met mine, Ahn Jiwon's eyes widened for a moment, then twisted.
"Ha, shit."
Then he nudged Lee Hyo-woon.
When Ahn Jiwon jerked his thumb in my direction, Lee Hyo-woon followed his gesture, turned his head, and spotted me.
"...Ah, Cha-gyeom."
"They said filming is resuming. Let's gather."
"Uh, yeah!"
Since I deliberately spoke even more casually than usual, Lee Hyo-woon must have thought I hadn't heard anything, because his face quickly relaxed.
Lee Hyo-woon hesitated briefly, then dashed past me toward the campsite.
Even while he was disappearing, Ahn Jiwon remained standing still where he was.
"You come quickly too."
When I walked up and said that, Ahn Jiwon spoke.
"You heard."
"I didn't hear much."
"Not much?"
Ahn Jiwon let out a hollow laugh. Then he passed me and started walking ahead.
We headed to the campsite keeping a set distance between us.
...It was an awkwardness that even ice cream couldn't fix.
* * *
As soon as we arrived, filming resumed. Along with the thick awkwardness that only the three of us knew.
Of all times, such a happening right before the campfire where we had to showcase warm friendship.
I just focused on roasting marshmallows.
"Seo Cha-gyeom, you..."
Baek Gyeonwoo looked at me and marveled.
"Do you have a grudge against that marshmallow?"
"He's an alchemist."
"No way. He's clearly a pyromancer!"
Those were from Baek Gyeonwoo, Ahn Jiwon, and Song Se-ho in turn.
Even Hyun-i hyung, who had been quiet ever since our conversation during the errand, added his two cents.
"Cha-gyeom, have you never roasted a marshmallow before?"
"...No."
"Ah, seriously...?"
I courteously wrapped the burnt-to-black marshmallow in a tissue and sent it away.
Then I took out a new marshmallow.
"Don't."
"I was just going to eat it plain."
I had no choice but to shove the raw marshmallow into my mouth...
"Wow, pretty."
"Let's write letters with these!"
After finishing the typical travel variety show procedures, like drawing "100%" with sparkler fireworks, we watched a video prepared by the production team.
It was a slideshow made of the photos taken today.
And just when it seemed we'd run out of photos from today's filming date, the show flowed a bit further into the past.
From the pre-meeting to the 3rd competition training camp, it was traces of our time on <MAKE100%> so far.
From then on, even a sweet piano song began to play.
'They're really trying to make us cry.'
Looking around, Hyun-i hyung was already teary-eyed.
A little later, Song Se-ho also hung his head and his shoulders began to shake.
Lee Hyo-woon... was awkwardly acting moved, and Ahn Jiwon was nonchalantly focusing on the slideshow.
Unexpectedly, even Baek Gyeonwoo's eyes were reddening.
"..."
What should I do?
After agonizing, I dabbed at my dry eyes with a handkerchief. Because it was hard to ignore the staff's expectant gazes...
Even after the slideshow ended, the tear-filled silence stretched on, and I cleared my throat and broke the ice first.
"I think we should talk about the song now."
The question of whether this song could be released or not kept lingering in my head, but what could I do? Filming was still going on.
And... even if it wasn't to be released to the public, I wanted to finish the song. I admit it was my own selfishness.
"I have an idea I'd like to share!"
Song Se-ho, with his reddened eyes, raised his hand high.
"You know that lock decoration at the café we went to earlier?"
"Ah, that."
"They said you write a note to a lover, a friend, or a wish for yourself, then lock it away with a padlock. I thought it fit our situation well too. It's like, um, making a promise to our fans!"
So that's what they had talked about back then.
I had been thinking about other things...
"What about you, hyung?"
"Me?"
I was momentarily flustered by Ahn Jiwon's sudden interjection, but quickly collected myself.
Because there was something I had been thinking about since my conversation with Hyun-i hyung.
"Rather than a promise..."
Normally, this song should be a gift to the fans, but not this time.
If the song wasn't revealed, it would just be a monologue.
So, this time—
"I want to make a resolution."
* * *
Meanwhile, on the internet...
[Survival announcement ceremony spoiler posted on another community]
4th place: Baek Cha-won-jaeng
5th: Choi J-B
6th: SSH
Kim Han-ul eliminated
Rei barely survived at 14th and cried her eyes out
[A new rule was introduced at this 3rd survival announcement]
It's a system that gives a second chance to one of the eliminated trainees who got '0%'. The mentors discuss and save a trainee who's too good to let go.
Simply put, it's a Super Pass
Around the time when ridiculous spoilers were flying around as usual.
A major bombshell dropped.
[Han Neuti eliminated confirmed]
(photo)
On Wit, someone posted that they saw Han Neuti at a café in △△-dong yesterday