Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The filming that started during the day didn't end until the next morning.
We moved to the training camp dorms on buses arranged by grade. Everyone must have been on the verge of death because they all passed out the moment they sat down.
Of course, there were exceptions.
"Whoa, hyung, you're seriously amazing. How are you not even a little sleepy? They just copy-paste the first reaction you did later anyway."
"Can't you sleep?"
"Ah, I can't really sleep in cars like this."
'Once you debut, just traveling will take half a day.'
Ahn Jiwon, the only one from Deuz Planning who made Tier 1, must have been feeling pretty lonely being on his own, because he deliberately took the seat next to me.
I'd assumed he was just acting friendly for broadcast, but that overly jaded assumption turned out to be my own misunderstanding. Or maybe everyone born in that era just has sky-high social skills like that.
'I wonder if Kim Sanho's doing what I told him to do properly.'
I picked up my phone, which the production team hadn't collected yet, and went into my messages.
I intended to check up on his homework and say hello.
[hyung I sa2 it]
[ther are so man7 legs]
[(Photo)]
[trapped them so come back and catch them please...]
"......."
[Just raise them.]
I needed to sleep a bit now.
After unpacking at our assigned dorms and catching a little sleep, we changed into practice clothes and gathered back in the auditorium.
What everyone anticipated this evaluation to be was.
"Then, right now, we will reveal the <MAKE100%> Season 7 signal song."
Along with the MC's words, a white light burst out from the roll screen that dramatically fluttered down.
Soon after, the song's title appeared.
[AWAKE]
The concept of unifying the title endings with 'ke' was the same this time around.
We'd already had take, strike, shake—I thought for sure it would be cake's turn now, but to think they still had a decent one like this left.
Yeah, right this moment AWAKE!
Look at right now, shining brighter than a dream
Don't miss it, every minute, every second
There's never going to be a cliché scene
The first impression I'd always had of Makeback signal songs up until now was 'wow, they made another weird song,' but unexpectedly, this one wasn't bad.
"The song... is good......?"
"No, seriously, it's actually, really good?"
Reactions of surprise poured out from all around. They had probably just intended to do some broadcast-appropriate reactions, and then got flustered when it turned into genuine sincerity.
Considering the program's ending, this song's future would be bleak too....... Feigning ignorance, I clasped my hands together and appreciated it seriously.
No need to wait, wake up
Catch up every single moment of mine
"Ah, here......."
"I think I'd need like four more brains for this."
The dance break, which had become utterly convoluted by cramming in every possible move to show discernment. Straight into the high-note part right after.
Out of all the seasons combined, this was the highest level of difficulty. If this were the college entrance exam, the evaluation institute would've been set on fire already.
I'd thought that ever since it was proven that the contestants' skill was the most crucial factor for an audition show to succeed, the pattern had been set to just lower the evaluation song's difficulty as a sleight of hand.
'Something's different this season.'
I tried to think deeper on it, but without even time to share more impressions, the MC explained the evaluation rules.
"The total time you have to master the signal song is 3 days."
"3 days?"
"In just 3 days?"
The MC continued speaking.
"Naturally, your final grade will be determined by how well you have learned the signal song."
"......."
"However, before that."
The MC, who had glanced down at the script in his hand, belatedly put on a strict expression. It seemed to be the expression written in the script.
"Trainee O Yun-hwan."
"Yes!"
"What is your current tier?"
"I'm Tier 1!"
The participant called O Yun-hwan answered confidently, fluttering his orange training jersey that symbolized Tier 1.
Envious gazes from around turned toward him, but the MC alone maintained a solemn expression as he asked again in a low voice.
"Do you think that grade suits you?"
"Huh? Uh, um."
"Trainee Kim Jin-seok."
"Y-yes!"
"You're Tier 2. Will you be able to keep that grade until the end, I wonder?"
The MC, who had been picking them out one by one per tier to needle them, stretched his left arm straight out.
"In this signal song evaluation, a new grade will be introduced."
Rumble!
Along with a thunderous sound effect, new letters appeared on the screen.
Simultaneously, sighs flowed from the trainees' mouths.
"Failing Grade. In other words, the bottom-most class."
Adding to the explanation, there would be 6 final grades in total this time, with the quotas predetermined in advance.
Tier 1: 4 people
Tier 2: 7 people
Tier 3: 12 people
Tier 4: 17 people
Tier 5: 20 people
(—): 12 people
"No matter what results you achieve through your efforts, the quotas will not change. Meaning, the number that overshoots each grade's quota will inevitably be demoted."
The faces of the Tier 5 trainees, shocked by the fact that there was an even lower bottom, grew increasingly pale.
Calling them Tier 6 would've been more convenient for the production team themselves, but they went out of their way to attach a label like Failing. I really couldn't think of it as anything but elaborately crafted posturing.
"And, any trainee whose grade drops in this evaluation."
The MC paused again for dramatic effect, then spoke.
"Will be excluded from filming the 'AWAKE Group Music Video,' which will be shown for the first time to our K-Specialists."
"......!"
"Can a trainee who couldn't even satisfy the mentors' expectations truly satisfy the expectations of our K-Specialists?"
For reference, that term 'K-Specialist' meant K-pop expert, and was the term this program used to refer to the viewers.
On broadcast, they just read out all nine syllables. Usually, it was simply shortened to 'Kes.'
"Whoa, we can only go down from here. Isn't this a disadvantage?"
"Why can you only go down? You can just maintain your tier."
The current number of Tier 1 trainees was 7.
And the quota was 4.
Considering there could be cases rising up from below, that meant at least three of these guys definitely wouldn't be appearing in the music video.
"Hyeoong......."
Ahn Jiwon, who had latched onto the wrist part of my jersey, threw another broadcast-appropriate reaction at me.
I looked at him and smiled as if to tell him not to worry.
"Let's work hard."
It wasn't like there was another way, anyway.
In Mary's debut class, there was something called the weekend evaluation.
It wasn't as important as the month-end evaluation where you were cut immediately if you fell below a certain score, but it was that kind of evaluation where if you kept getting poor results, you'd get called in by the department head one day, and the next day your locker would smoothly disappear...
Thanks to that, more than half the trainees in the debut class dropped out of school to focus solely on training. Frankly, they just didn't say it out loud, but the schedule was tantamount to coercing dropout anyway.
I had managed to prepare for those weekend evaluations while still attending school, so I figured that with a full 3 days, it would be less grueling than back then.
"Um, Chaegyeom, can you watch me just once?"
"Only up to the first verse. I haven't even looked at anything beyond that myself yet."
'Mary ran on every person for themselves, really.'
The first practice began with everyone learning the choreography on their own without mentors.
Learning choreography was a different field from just dancing itself, so no matter how Tier 1 someone was, there were quite a few trainees struggling with it.
Thanks to that, I hadn't even gotten to the dance break yet and was stuck on just the first verse. Because I was busy teaching others.
I'd be watching one person, and before I knew it, another person would be waiting. They seemed too embarrassed to even say anything, just tugging at their clothes, so it was hard to pretend I didn't notice.
"You must be busy too, sorry......."
"It's fine. I'm just practicing too, you know."
Shouldn't they actually be wary that my screen time might come out looking good? That's what I'd do if it were me.
Of course, since I knew the inside story of this program, I was well aware that I'd never become the protagonist of a teacher role arc.
Nevertheless, the reason I was helping these guys was.......
If the program ends early due to the production team's fault, there was a high probability that the nondisclosure agreements the trainees had signed would also fizzle out.
Then the unrestrained behind-the-scenes stories from the participants would heavily sweep across the internet, and it would only be a matter of time before flesh gets added on flesh, completing the rumor generation process.
So image management was essential. If carelessly some word like 'that Seo Cha-gyeom guy was weird too' or 'he was suspicious' started floating around, that would be an absolute disaster, a disaster.
And... um, my conscience pricked me a little because I was the only one who knew how this show would end.
"Hyung, can't you teach me too?"
"Huh?"
Ahn Jiwon, who had suddenly popped out, tugged at my top as he asked.
Startled, I evaluated Ahn Jiwon's intentions while pretending to massage my shoulder for a moment.
'......Did he not get the choreography delivered to him?'
As I'd once said, Makeback was originally a program teeming with rumors.
If I had to pick one of the most famous, it was the rumor that 'companies that paid under-the-table money to the broadcasting station received the signal song information in advance before filming.'
Since it had existed since Season 1, it was a rumor the public had practically accepted as an established fact. Anonymous exposés kept popping up periodically, too.
Well, naturally, because it was anonymous, it never became a major controversy.
Back then, the public opinion was already firmly controlled by the debut group's fans, so it just got dismissed as the raging inferiority complex of an eliminated trainee or treated as an unavoidable production element of a variety show.
But.......
"You don't know the choreography either?"
"No."
'Was it a misunderstanding?'
I immediately threw away my doubts and nodded.
Nothing was certain yet. Whether special favors really existed, whether Deuz Planning was a collusive company, whether Ahn Jiwon was a pre-selected member or not.
From the start, the hints could be lies for all I knew. I had to keep even the slightest possibilities in mind.
"Alright. Which part's difficult?"
"But let's move spots a little."
"Why?"
"It's hard to hear voices over here... let's go to that corner."
It sounded a bit like a line from someone about to extort money out of me, but I agreed for now.
"Hyung, I'll go help Jiwon a bit and come back. Keep practicing."
"Ah, no. I'll try it on my own. Thanks......."
"Hyeoong, hurry up."
Because of Ahn Jiwon, who had now joined both hands to pull me, I was dragged off to the corner as if I was being hauled away.
To the corner, and further into the corner.
Right when I was starting to wonder if he'd brought me someplace with no cameras just to beat me up, Ahn Jiwon let go of my hand and stared at me blankly.
"......."
"......."
In the end, I was the one who spoke first.
"So? Which part was so difficult."
"Huh?"
"......What?"
"You helped me just now. To get those guys off your back."
"What's that... ah."
Setting aside the fact he referred to people older than me as 'those guys.'
I kind of felt like just the two of us being alone right now was more dangerous?
"Ah, sure....... I appreciate the intention, but I'm fine."
"There's no cameras here."
There were no cameras, but there were hundreds of eyes.
Did this sight of just the two of us isolated over here, while a bunch of people were clustered over there, not look suspicious to your eyes?
The whole atmosphere felt like some non-existent shady deal could pop up. I turned around and let out a sigh, then tried to speak more kindly.
"I'm really fine. This level won't affect my results."
"Hyung, you've only memorized up to the first verse so far."
"I don't think enough time has passed to call it 'only the first verse so far'."
Ahn Jiwon, who had pressed his lips tightly shut, slowly furrowed his brows.
It was less a look of him disliking something, and more an expression that showed he genuinely couldn't understand my behavior.
Ah, I really have no idea. Just why is this kid acting like this toward me?
"So you don't need help, right? I'm leaving."
I left Ahn Jiwon, whose face was still crumpled up, and moved spots.
For some reason feeling a chill down the back of my neck, I briefly glanced behind me on the way, and Ahn Jiwon was still staring at me.
'I'll need to have a talk with him sometime when it's just the two of us.'
One fact I had come to know today.
Kim Sanho truly was a gentle nineteen-year-old.......