Chapter 158
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 158
"The Dawn!"
As soon as we arrived at the tvK broadcasting station, the production staff rushed out to greet us as enthusiastically as ever.
"The ratings for the first episode were insane! Absolutely massive!!"
Kang Yi-chae’s scene during the face-to-face ceremony had surpassed High Five’s to record the highest peak viewership.
The staff looked ready to roll out a red carpet for Kang Yi-chae right then and there. When the assistant director offered to lie down and serve as a human carpet if necessary, I felt like I was witnessing true madness firsthand.
"Wow, you guys were seriously incredible again!!"
In other words, their attitude was exactly the same as it had been after we were offered up as sacrificial lambs for the broadcast.
The assistant director continued to chatter away as he led us to the meeting room.
"Ah, yes..."
"Wow~ I knew Kang Yi-chae was something else, but this time was truly amazing. Even the Nutube video views from the other day have skyrocketed! So, on that note, could we get just one more interview... Gack!"
"Quit while you're ahead."
Even after we reached the meeting room, the chatter didn't stop. Everyone was giving the assistant director awkward smiles and polite nods when Kim Hee-yeong arrived late. She shoved the assistant director out of the doorway and held up a proposal.
"Producer Kim!"
"Stop sucking up and get to work! Stop bothering the cast!"
"Overdoing it is our job! Especially when we're making a second season of this crappy competition!"
"Damn! You've got a point there!"
At least she knows it’s crappy.
Thanks to Kim Hee-yeong drawing the staff's attention, the matter of Kang Yi-chae’s interview was swept under the rug.
Still looking busy, Kim Hee-yeong blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and fluttered the proposal.
"First of all, The Dawn, congratulations on taking second place in the first competition. Thanks to the face-to-face ceremony, the ratings for Shining Star came out great."
Kim Seong-hyeon and Seong Ji-won exchanged proud smiles, but then Kim Hee-yeong’s lips curled into a smirk.
I smelled something fishy.
"But we can't just rest, can we? The upcoming schedule is packed."
"Yes!"
"Good answer. Alright, I'll walk you through the preparations for the second competition immediately."
"Yessir!"
The members, excluding me, answered energetically.
Kim Hee-yeong shifted only her eyes to look down at the proposal in her hand.
"I will now announce the theme for the second competition."
Then, she tossed the proposal she had been skimming over her shoulder.
"???"
She flashed a bright smile.
"Do whatever you want."
"...Pardon?"
"Whether it's a self-composed song, K-pop, or a foreign song. Do whatever the hell you feel like. However! It must be within the genre and concept we assign to you. Yoo Hyeong-seon, bring it in."
The assistant director, who had been waiting behind her, scurried out the door and soon returned pushing a spinning wheel.
"..."
I knew it.
There was no way Kim Hee-yeong would make things easy.
"Spin, spin, spin! The wheel of fortune!!"
"..."
There were two wheels in total: one for the genre and one for the concept.
"We've heard so much since Season 1. People asking how it can be fair when every group and every company has different songs to work with."
The prepared script flowed smoothly from Kim Hee-yeong’s mouth.
Her eyes were terrifying, but she even made fake sobbing sounds as if she were the victim. Watching her, Jeong Da-jun let out a small shiver.
"So this time! We thought we'd make things interesting!"
'...She's being spiteful.'
Pressed by her superiors and squeezed by fans over issues of bias. It seemed she had finally snapped.
On the paper labeled '2nd Competition Concepts' that had been tossed onto the floor, I could see 'IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, PLAN IT YOURSELVES, DAMMIT!!!!!' written in elegant calligraphy.
Below that was a list of concepts with red lines slashed through them.
Ding!
[It seems the agencies for TEW, Try, and High Five took turns giving the production team a hard time.]
I figured. The higher-ups at the station probably had a word with her, too.
Kim Hee-yeong laughed like a madwoman as she looked at each of us, one by one.
"Now, whoever's good at darts, come forward."
"..."
"..."
"Hurry up, let's put some strength into it and spin, spin, spin!"
Kim Hee-yeong had certainly gone mad for variety, but considering my own past as a PD, I wasn't really in a position to judge.
Kim Seong-hyeon, who had excellent reflexes, stepped forward and asked Kang Yi-chae, our team's dedicated arranger.
"What do you want to do?"
"Hiphop! Hiphop! Hiphop, baby!!"
Ever since the face-to-face ceremony, he seemed completely hooked on it, raising his hand and shouting for hiphop.
Kim Seong-hyeon frowned but nodded.
'But is that even possible? It's a 1-in-15 chance.'
"Are you ready~?"
"Yes."
The assistant director smiled brightly and gave the wheel a vigorous spin.
Kim Seong-hyeon stared at it intensely, then suddenly—flick!—he threw the dart.
Thwack!
It embedded itself with a satisfying sound. When the assistant director caught the wheel to stop it, the members' eyes widened.
[Hiphop]
"Woooooooah!!!"
"No way!!! Hyung!!!"
"Wow, Seong-hyeon, that's insane!"
'Is he for real?'
Having defied the 1-in-15 odds to hit their first choice, Kim Seong-hyeon turned back with a slightly proud expression.
"God Seong-hyeon! God Seong-hyeon!"
"Cool, right?"
"Gack~! You're so cool~!!"
They were making a huge fuss. Especially Kang Yi-chae.
At Kim Hee-yeong’s signal, the assistant director removed the genre wheel and brought the concept wheel, which had been pushed to the side, to the center.
"Now, next is the concept. Someone else do it this time."
"Concept? Anything is fine now~!"
Kang Yi-chae, whose mood had soared after getting the genre he wanted, scanned the concept wheel and said with a relaxed face.
"Just as long as it's not 'Oriental.' That's a bit tough to mix with hiphop~."
"Ho-yun, do you want to do it?"
"Sure, why not."
They said anything but Oriental was fine.
I stepped forward casually, but then I heard Jeong Da-jun giggling behind me.
"Ho-yun hyung! I bet you could throw it with your eyes closed!!"
"Throw it with your foot~!"
"Ahaha, true. Since anything but Oriental is fine."
"Hey, what if it actually lands on that?"
"Oh, come on, Seong-hyeon hyung. No way~."
The members were already busy spinning their happy fantasies.
As I stood there with the dart in hand, the assistant director gave the wheel a moderate spin.
In that moment, a sudden chill ran down my spine.
'Wait, I feel like I've forgotten something...'
"Here goes."
"Okay~!"
I racked my brain to remember while letting the dart fly.
Whish—!
Thwack!
"Oh, that sounded good!"
"Nice and clean~!"
Spin, spin, spin...
"Uh...?"
Spin, spin...
Spin...
[Oriental]
"Uh..."
"..."
Total silence fell over the room.
"...Hmm."
I stood frozen in my throwing posture, a cold sweat trickling down my neck.
'I remember now.'
It was such a dark, distant memory that I had buried it and forgotten, but back when I was a rookie PD, my seniors would bring out a dartboard whenever something needed to be decided.
And 100% of the time, the most annoying tasks fell to me.
Because I was a legendary, born-with-it "cursed touch" with zero luck.
I was decent at archery, so it wasn't that my motor skills were bad, it was just... well, my innate luck was...
"Ho-yun."
Before I could continue my escapist thoughts, Seong Ji-won approached and looked at me with gentle eyes.
"Why didn't you just throw it with your foot?"
"I said I'm sorry..."
*
"Impressive odds, hyung."
"I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket."
"Sigh..."
I ignored Kang Yi-chae’s sarcasm about how the probability of hitting a 1-in-15 chance twice in a row was 0.36%.
Even after filming ended and Kim Hee-yeong left, we couldn't bring ourselves to leave the station's meeting room.
"...But still."
The situation was funny, so it would probably make for good footage, but trying to match hiphop with an Oriental concept left us completely stumped.
"What are we going to do about this?"
"Oriental is fine, but won't it overlap too much with the previous Shining Star competition?"
"Exactly. That's the problem."
Even with all the members putting their heads together, no ideas emerged on how to blend an Oriental vibe into hiphop without repeating what had been done in previous seasons.
"It's hard..."
Kang Yi-chae, looking slightly irritated, just kept tapping away at his laptop.
'Is it really that hard?'
"Can't we just throw some kkwaenggwari and janggu into the chorus?"
"Hyung, are you trying to piss me off right now?"
"..."
I retreated from the sensitive Kang Yi-chae and took refuge next to Jeong Da-jun.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"He's sensitive. He's scary."
"I'm scared of you when you're like this, Ho-yun hyung..."
While everyone sat in a gloomy silence for a while, the meeting room door suddenly rattled open.
"Hi~."
"Oh, hello."
It was Ju Woo-seong. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he popped out of my dorm while I was sleeping.
I gave him a half-hearted wave, but then—
"Hello~!"
Behind him, Black Call’s main vocal, Chae Jeong-woo, poked his head in.
"...???"
"???"
"What brings you to such a humble place..."
Everyone scrambled to their feet in surprise.
At that, a vein popped on Ju Woo-seong’s forehead.
"Hey, am I allowed to come to 'humble places' too??"
"I should go anywhere precious people are gathered."
Chae Jeong-woo replied cheekily, patting Ju Woo-seong on the back as he pushed his way inside.
After settling the grumbling Ju Woo-seong into a chair, Chae Jeong-woo brushed back his smooth, flowing black hair and took a seat next to Seong Ji-won.
'...Hmm?'
"Seo Ho-yun, it's been a while, hasn't it?"
Chae Jeong-woo, who had been looking at me since he entered the room, struck up a conversation.
"Ah, yes. I believe it's the first time since Victory is Mine."
"Have you been healthy? I've heard so much about you that I felt like we were seeing each other every day, but it's definitely better to see you in person."
"...Ahaha?"
"I told you not to say useless things..."
"Woo-seong, who said I heard it from you?"
I listened to the exchange between Chae Jeong-woo and Ju Woo-seong.
Ju Woo-seong, who usually put up walls with everyone and just stayed on his phone, seemed close with Chae Jeong-woo. Even though he was grumbling, his expression looked relaxed.
'So he does have friends.'
Seong Ji-won tilted his head and asked.
"Seniors, what brings you here?"
"Just bored."
"Good grief..."
Chae Jeong-woo looked at the slacking Ju Woo-seong and let out a deep sigh that clearly meant, 'What am I going to do with this guy?'
"Yeah, well, he's like that... I came to see Seong Ji-won."
"...Me?"
Seeing Seong Ji-won’s bewildered face, Chae Jeong-woo rested his chin on his hand and smirked.
"Well, they say you're the next 'God of K-Pop' following in my footsteps, so of course I had to come see you."
"..."
Even though Chae Jeong-woo said it as a joke, Seong Ji-won couldn't find any words and just blinked his mouth open and shut.
'He really is a member of Ju Woo-seong’s group...'
The sheer audacity.
Normally, if someone else had called him the 'Next Generation God of K-Pop' to his face, Seong Ji-won wouldn't have batted an eye. However, hearing it from Chae Jeong-woo seemed to be incredibly embarrassing, as Seong Ji-won’s ears turned bright red for the first time in a long while.
"Hey, Chae Jeong-woo."
Beside him, Ju Woo-seong clicked his tongue and draped an arm over Chae Jeong-woo’s shoulder.
"Aren't you seriously embarrassed?"
"Why? I like this nickname."
"Ji-won, ignore him. He just stopped by to say hello before he starts as a special mentor."
"Ah, yes..."
What's this about a special mentor now?
Regardless, the claim that he came to see Seong Ji-won didn't seem to be a lie, as Chae Jeong-woo naturally led the conversation into various vocal-related topics.
'At least he seems to have a good personality.'
Since the picky Ju Woo-seong was comfortable enough to mess around with him and I didn't sense any ill intent, I just let them be.
Ju Woo-seong, who had been half-hanging off Chae Jeong-woo, soon got bored and started nudging me with his leg.
"So, what are you guys doing right now?"
"We were having a meeting for the second competition."
"What's the theme?"
"Oriental Hiphop."
"...Why on earth?"
"Senior! Let me tell you about that!"
Kim Seong-hyeon jumped at the chance to explain the whole situation to the questioning Ju Woo-seong.
"Oh..."
As he listened, Ju Woo-seong’s face gradually shifted into an expression of disbelief.
This brat Kim Seong-hyeon—instead of protecting his own group member, he’s tattling on me to a playboy from another group.
"Seo Ho-yun, you couldn't even manage to hit one of the other 14 spots?"
"I know, right..."
"Wow..."
"I'm well aware, so let's just be quiet."
Just then, Chae Jeong-woo, who had been talking to Seong Ji-won, widened his eyes and raised his voice.
"That sounds great, though? It's fresh."
"...Wait, do you have an idea?"
Kang Yi-chae, who had been slumped over the whole time, snapped his eyes open.
"I do. Kang Yi-chae, you're the one producing, right? You want to put in powerful hiphop, but you're struggling because there aren't any suitable Oriental beats. And you hate forcing it because it makes the song progression feel clunky."
"Whoa! Yes, exactly!"
"If you're okay with it, should I show you some songs you can use as a reference?"
"...!!"
Finally!
Not someone who just says, "Can't you just do it?" but a proper mentor-like figure who gives specific directions!
"Wow, now this is a mentor."
"Seo Ho-yun, are you seriously fucking kidding me??"
When I muttered in admiration, Ju Woo-seong started barking at me, asking how I could treat him like this after all the help he'd given.
I stood up, pressing down on the chair of the noisily protesting Ju Woo-seong.
"Ha, whatever. Do you guys want something to drink?"
"I'm not drinking anything."
"Suit yourself."
"...Green tea latte."
The other members seemed too preoccupied listening to Chae Jeong-woo to care, and Ju Woo-seong was properly sulking and didn't look like he wanted to come along.
Since it didn't look like the meeting would end anytime soon, I figured the sinner who botched the wheel spin should at least go buy some coffee, so I quietly slipped out of the meeting room.
"Oh?"
Unfortunately, I ran into someone I wasn't particularly keen on seeing.
In the cafe on the first floor of the station, I bumped into High Five’s leader, Kang Yeon-hu.
He flashed a smile and greeted me first.
"Looks like you lost a bet for coffee."
"Hello, senior. ...Well, something like that."
It's because I'm absolutely terrible at spinning wheels...
"Takeout, please."
The place was unusually crowded today.
Looking around, even the station staff, who were used to seeing celebrities, were stealing glances at Kang Yeon-hu with favorable eyes as they passed by.
High Five must be really popular, dammit.
"Are you staying late for a meeting?"
"Yes."
I placed my order while maintaining a polite distance, but Kang Yeon-hu kept lingering.
"You must be very busy this time."
"Probably not as busy as you, senior."
"I suppose. Everyone's in a state of emergency because the missions are so unusual this time."
When I intentionally gave short answers that were hard to follow up on, Kang Yeon-hu smiled slightly and soon stepped away.
After picking up the drinks, I was about to head back up to the meeting room when I saw Kang Yeon-hu leaning against the wall near the cafe entrance.
"...?"
"We're heading in the same direction."
When our eyes met, Kang Yeon-hu smiled brightly.
'No, I know that.'
But why were you waiting for me?
"Right..."
As we waited for the elevator alone, Kang Yeon-hu began to speak in earnest.
"I watched Shining Star Season 1 with great interest. It was impressive. The member balance is good, and everyone has a good personality."
"The kids are kind."
"That's really important. It's often overlooked, but in reality, those things play a decisive role."
When the elevator doors opened, Kang Yeon-hu let me in first and followed.
Then, he said almost as if he were humming to himself.
"Is that why the Black Call seniors like you guys so much?"