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I said it over and over again.
The first of the three rules I said!
Let’s not trust all the people in the broadcasting station.
“Hyung, I think Nightmare’s vocalist is really nice.”
“Why?”
“As soon as I saw him, he said I am the most handsome here. Awesome. They gave us sandwiches. Do you want some?”
“Hey, did you eat something that a stranger gave you? I told you not to.”
“It’s delicious!”
Jung Dajoon, who was fascinated by food as soon as he arrived at the recording site, was out.
The second one!
Let’s be careful what we say.
“Oh, that Refiind guy.”
“What about him?”
“At the end of the year, I encountered him in the waiting room, and his specialty was to speak without his brain… Sunghyun hyung was really annoyed.”
“…I told you to watch what you say, didn’t I?”
“Oh my~”
The negative scoundrel Kang Yichae, regardless of the situation, was out.
Third!
Trust Seo Hoyoon no matter what!
“Seo Hoyoon.”
“What.”
“That… Can we really react like that? Wouldn’t we get bad reactions? If I think about it now…”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“If you ask me like that, I have nothing else to say…”
Kim Sunghyun, who was overly anxious, was out.
…I thought I would do a great job, but when I saw these kinds of things, I was worried.
Knock, knock.
Then, a staff member came into the waiting room.
“You can enter now. The camera will follow you.”
I nodded and looked around.
There was still a little more time left until the stage. What we were going to do now was to shoot our entrance.
When I entered the studio, the idol group Nightmare, who was on their first year since their debut, had already arrived and sat down. The seat placement was probably in the order of debut.
“Hello, we are The Dawn.”
Perhaps they were working hard to get caught on camera at least once more, Nightmare’s response was very great.
As the members bowed and sat down, idols came in one by one.
Raffind, Mars, and lastly… Today.
I smiled and looked back at Today as they greeted us.
“Hello, we’re Today!”
“Nice to meet you!”
“Oh!”
“It’s Today sunbae-nim.”
“They won first place last time… Four crowns.”
Idols around me started whispering.
I glanced back at the members.
Expressionless.
No comment.
Ignore.
‘Good.’
I told them to do this when Today came out. Even Kim Sunghyun, who was anxious earlier, looked at Today with a stony face.
Yeah, I told you to trust me, you punk.
I smiled brightly, and my eyes met Yoohyuk’s. A small sneer crept across his lips, then disappeared.
As Today quickly approached the seat where The Dawn was sitting, the rookies and people who listened around them made a fuss.
Then he lowered his voice and sneakily greeted.
“Hello.”
It seemed this bastard wanted to imitate Joo Woosung.
“Guys, this is… Hoyoon, right? How have you been? We couldn’t even sleep~ We were so busy we couldn’t help it.”
“Yes.”
I answered with my chin on my hands. The Dawn members already knew my personality and didn’t pay much attention to it, but the eyes of Nightmare guys, who were younger than me, had a pupil earthquake.
‘C-Can you do that to your senior?’
You couldn’t.
However, you could stretch your feet while looking for a place to lie down.
“…?”
Yoohyuk was very flustered.
“Seo-Seo Hoyoon, you’re nervous, aren’t you?”
“No.”
Yoohyuk’s smile cracked.
“…Oho.”
PD Kim Heeyoung, who was standing far away, gestured to the VJ as if she was interested. The camera followed closely. We were probably getting a close-up.
I wonder how it would look on air. I probably would go out unscathed. They couldn’t make me look like a nervous person.
So what would be the public’s reaction?
– What’s with Seo Hoyoon’s cheekiness
– I hate the way he treats his seniors. Young people these days have no manners!
– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIdol fighting is so hilariousㅋㅋㅋ
Yoohyuk and Today’s members raised their eyebrows.
I looked at each of them one by one and turned my head, then I met PD Kim Heeyoung’s eyes and smiled.
“Sunbae-nim.”
“What?”
“Do you need a receipt? Why are you talking to me?”
Yoohyuk’s face was worth seeing. His hair was blond, but his face turned red, so he looked like some kind of fresh vegetable.
His trembling hands wanted to snatch me by the collar right away, but it seemed he couldn’t do it because he was in front of the camera.
‘Should I mess around with him or not…’
Ring!
[Your personality is really…]
The world made me this way.
“…Seo Hoyoon.”
“What?”
In the end, seeing Yoohyuk furiously walking away, Kim Sunghyun tapped me, sighed in response to my nonchalant reply, and then turned his gaze forward.
He followed my instructions for now, but it seemed he was breaking out in a cold sweat from the anxiety.
[The cheekiness of a junior idol who ignores seniors in the entertainment industry], it was a good thing to get popular on NewTube.
‘Wait, isn’t that really fine?’
As I was seriously thinking about it, exclamations broke out when the MC came in.
Her long straight hair that swayed every time she walked, and her gorgeous face that made you think she was really a celebrity.
“Hello, everyone.”
Yoo Jiah, the national younger sister.
“I am actress Yoo Jiah, who has been assigned to be the MC of Shining Star.”
“Wow!”
“Heol, crazy, it’s crazy. That’s Yoo Jiah sunbae-nim!”
She rose to the ranks of the national younger sister with a friendly and cute song, and later she turned into an actor and was steadily building her career as the next romance comedy queen.
It was also my first time seeing Yoo Jiah because I usually didn’t see her.
Refind, who was sitting next to me, murmured.
“Wow, she’s so pretty…”
“But she looks a little cold.”
‘I’m glad there’s no one in The Dawn who talks like that, at least.’
Comments like that were a good way to get cursed at when it went on air right away. Good for making noise.
The members silently clapped with calm smiles. Hmm, it was a good attitude.
Yoo Jiah smiled slightly after looking around the hall.
“Welcome to Shining Star. With countless idol groups pouring in every year, which group will survive? To determine which one was the best, we organized this program.”
Yoo Jiah sternly gave the opening remark. Some of the idols were nervous and swallowed their saliva, as if the carefully selected words had an effect on them.
“I’ll show you how to proceed with Shining Star. Among the six episodes of the program, there will be three competitions excluding the performance in the first appearance.”
Meanwhile, Today couldn’t hide their bored expressions, as if they already knew about the content.
I clicked my tongue and turned my eyes away.
“The first and second competitions will be held by on-site voting with a small number of spectators, but the final competition will be broadcasted live and is left to the people’s voting.”
After the brief explanation, Yoo Jiah smiled brightly after deliberately keeping quiet for a moment.
“But if I talk about competitions from the beginning, you won’t like it, right?”
“…”
“There are people I’ve met for the first time today, and there are people that I’ve not. Are you nervous?”
“Yes~!”
“I knew you would say that, so I prepared a simple icebreaker to ease the atmosphere a little.”
“Icebreaker…?”
By the way, speaking of living points, it was better to be suspicious when people at broadcasting stations said they would do something as if they were being kind.
Sure enough, Yoo Jiah read the script carefully.
“Before, each group was asked to write down their ranking… Nightmare’s Lee Hansung-ssi, do you remember?”
“…Uh, y-yes!”
“Can you please tell me?”
“…”
Nightmare’s maknae, Lee Hansung hesitated. Saying it once would be enough, but it seemed he was worried that it would be irreversible if it got broadcasted.
Being silent was, frankly, an excellent response.
“It’s difficult, very difficult… It must be so difficult for you to say.”
If only the other side wasn’t the production team of the idol competition program.
“So I’ll announce it for you! Among them, let’s see the ranking that each group wrote right now! I’ll reveal it.”
A large text appeared on the back monitor that Yoo Jiah pointed at with a smile.
[Expected final ranking for each group]
“…Gasp.”
Now, you’re going to solve it like this?
I burst out laughing. Everyone was agitated because it was a question that they answered without thinking.
It was clear that they were trying to aggravate the tension, not to ease it.
Kim Heeyoung-ssi, you made the program very spicy.
[WowㅋㅋㅋThe expected final rankingㅋㅋ No conscience]
>[Does anyone want to be a number one enemy?? In that place?? What is the staff thinking?]
I could see the Internet went on fire under this title.
Especially among idols who weren’t trainees, doing this was just like starting a fight.
“Hoyoon-ah.”
Sung Jiwon’s complexion turned pale. I glanced at him, then turned my eyes back.
A total of five groups gathered here.
“Then, shall we begin? First of all, Nightmare’s final ranking prediction.”
[Nightmare – 3rd place]
“Whoa, no, no!”
“I should’ve thought about it before writing it down!”
The members of Nightmare made a fuss. They looked a little embarrassed. Hmm, Nightmare was in third place…
I was lost in thought for a moment, and soon the rankings of the other groups followed.
“Next is Refind.”
[Refind – 2nd place]
[Mars – 2nd place]
It was a tie.
“Did I write it too low?”
Among the noisy members, only The Dawn was quiet.
I silently looked ahead. I felt like I knew the picture the production team was drawing. I could see Yoo Jiah glancing toward Today.
Yoo Jiah also knew that this program was a fabrication.
“Next, Today. Compared to their popularity, this is quite an unexpected result, isn’t it?”
[Today – 5th place]
“Ah! That’s too much.”
“What should I do if you reveal it like this now~!”
Kim Sunghyun’s expression hardened at the whining of today’s members. Today’s members already knew that they would win first place.
But the reason why they whined like that was probably because they wanted to be seen as humble on camera.
Today’s fans would praise Today, which was made up of adults with trash personalities, as if they were babies, saying, ‘They’re kind enough to put someone else in higher rank’ and ‘They’re humble as expected’.
Is she really a pro? Yoo Jiah followed the script’s instructions without showing any expression.
“It’s very unfortunate. I have high expectations for Today. I hope you get a higher rank than fifth place.”
Proceeding neatly, Yoo Jiah drew the corners of her mouth toward Today. It was an act that could be mistaken as sincere, even by Today, who would have been familiar with the progress to some extent.
‘Is that what you call a pro…’
As I slightly admired her, the next group’s ranking came up.
[The Dawn]
So, um.
[1st place]
It was a score that had its own meaning. I silently looked at the monitor, which said No. 1 with the crown on it, but I was out of breath.
“Heol.”
“What’s with their guts…?”
The reactions were understandable. We were a bit popular these days, but compared to other idol groups, we weren’t going to be number one.
The ridicule and silence that hovered around the filming set stuck to my skin.
Well.
Whatever.
“Wow, that’s great momentum. The only group that got first place, The Dawn. Can I ask you to say something?”
Only Sung Jiwon nodded frantically to Yoo Jiah’s fresh smile. I was the one who actually got the microphone from the staff.
I looked around the hall slowly.
The Dawn members, who were visibly nervous, and Today, who were teasing us with ridicule.
At the end of my gaze, I encountered Kim Heeyoung, who didn’t know what I was thinking. I opened my mouth.
“I want to win first place, so I wrote down first place.”
“Full of confidence, aren’t you? Do you have any hidden strategy?”
“That’s…”
I took my eyes off Kim Heeyoung and smiled slightly at the camera.
“I’ll show it to you on the stage.”
“Wooow!”
When I said that, I heard cheers from other groups except for Today. Ppuppuppu, I didn’t what kind of loud noises it was, but I sat down again after seeing them imitate it.
Maybe the members were fed up, but they laughed and shook their heads.
“I love this kind of spirit. I’ll look forward to it.”
When I bowed my head toward Yoo Jiah, Kang Yichae giggled and patted me on the shoulder.
As the studio calmed down to a certain extent, Yoo Jiah made a mischievous expression and raised her lips.
“Then we will carry out the talent show in this order!”
“…?”
“I asked you to prepare a talent show in advance. We’ll do a talent show one by one from each group. The Dawn, who got first place, is given two special opportunities for the talent show. The team that wins the most votes in the talent show will get a reward.”
“Reward?”
Everyone was in a daze. Yoo Jiah controlled her breathing.
“Exclusive special footage. You will be broadcasted exclusively for about 15 minutes.”
“Yes!?”
Are you kidding me.
If I were a fan watching Shining Star right now, I would have thrown the remote control by this time.
I couldn’t believe this talent show just made that decision.
When I glanced at Today’s members, they were astonished. It seemed they hadn’t heard of anything like this.
“Hahaha!”
Kim Heeyoung was giggling behind the camera. She couldn’t be beaten like this, so she must have wanted to shit on them at least once.
‘You’re really still the same.’
“I told you to prepare it, didn’t I? What you’re going to show us.”
“Oh, y-yes.”
“However… I will exclude dancing and singing. You can show that on the stage later.”
“Yes?! What’s left besides dancing and singing?”
“Idols are full of talent. Aside from good singing and dancing skills, you should be remembered by viewers for your special charm. That’s what we decided.”
Yoo Jiah cut us off with a single knife.
… If this is the case, complain to the fans.
It seemed Kim Heeyoung was causing controversy even if she had to burn the Internet by sacrificing anyone who made it to the fabrication.
Well, I had expected it somewhat.
At any rate, in order to get a softer image after getting first place, The Dawn prepared a talent show accordingly.
‘I-I’ll do it like this…’
‘I’m going to cook.’
‘…At a talent show?’
‘What do you want to eat?’
I wanted to build a soft image, but Jung Dajoon looked at me as if I was a strange person.
Jung Dajoon was nervous next to me and fiddling with his guitar case, but I thought of the ingredients I had brought.
Should I make a big one and give it to the cast and staff….
“We’ll do a 3-minute time attack on the talent show.”
“…!”
“H-Hyung.”
Ring!
[Aren’t they saying they don’t want to make food made by Hoyoon-ssi?]
You guys will regret it.
The food I made tasted good.
As I ignored the system window, Yoo Jiah gestured to The Dawn. The game was already on, and the talent show had begun. I broke out in a cold sweat.
“Then, come out first, The Dawn.”
‘Damn it, what talent show can finish do in 3 minutes?’
I nodded to Jung Dajoon, who was spacing out.
“Wow, am I going there?”
“Go.”
“Are we really going to do this? H-Hyung, what should I do…”
“…I’m sorry, but I’m begging you. I believe in you.”
Actually, he wasn’t very reliable, but I needed some time to come up with a method, so I deliberately lowered the ends of my eyebrows.
“J-Just trust me!!”
Ring!
[Trash!]
Yeah, I am trash…
Jung Dajoon hesitated for a while, but as if he had made a firm decision, he closed his eyes tightly and nodded once.
When Jung Dajoon made his decision, he swallowed dry saliva loud enough that I could hear him being nervous this time.
“Oh… You must know how to play the guitar.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“They said we shouldn’t sing, right?”
“If it’s just a guitar, it could be a little boring… Oh, I really want to get the 15-minute broadcast.”
Comments came from around me.
The broadcast build-up was building up on its own.
Going forward with trembling steps, Jung Dajoon stood on the stage. He gripped the microphone with shaking hands.
“Oh, hello. I’m The Dawn’s sub-dancer Jung Dajoon.”
“Yes, Jung Dajoon-ssi. Looking at your back, it looks like you’ve prepared a lot.”
“Y-Yes.”
Jung Dajoon nodded cautiously. Yoo Jiah let him go with a smile as if telling him not to be nervous.
“Then let’s look at it.”
Jeong Dajoon repeatedly unfolded the zipper of the guitar case several times as if his hands were sweaty.
“…?”
The inside of the guitar case was empty.
No, actually… it had one thing.
“Hn?”
He took out the recorder lying on the empty case. Holding it firmly with both hands, Jung Dajoon spoke confidently.
“I’ll play baduk [1] .”
That’s right.
We took the entertainment route.
‘Entertainment comes first no matter what.’
‘Yes?’
‘Even if you have good skills, it’s pointless if you don’t get caught on air. So entertainment comes first no matter what.’
The members, who had all dismissed it as nonsense, were gradually convinced by my words. Even Kim Sunghyun, who was most reluctant, later said nonsense, saying, ‘Should I put seaweed on it?’ It was absolute nonsense.
“Kuh, hahaha!”
Was Yoo Jiah’s gag code originally like this or did she burst into laughter while being careless? It was a genuine laugh.
Jung Dajoon brought the recorder into his mouth.
[Domi Mimi Mi Re Papa Papa Papa Papa]
It was a beautiful melody.
[Miss Sol Sol Me Repa Miredo~]
“Is that a contest?”
“What’s with his expression?”
Regardless of the reaction,
Jung Dajoon was extremely serious.
After finishing the baduk until the end, he made a proud face as if he was on a billboard stage. Even the meticulous wiping of a single drop of sweat on his forehead was a perfect end.
“Thank you. It’s an honor.”
“Haha, that’s cute, really.”
Yoo Jiah clenched her teeth to hold back her laughter.
Jung Dajoon was satisfied with his stage, so he left the stage neatly without any regrets.
It was my turn next.
‘Okay, I’m done thinking.’
I snatched Jung Dajoon, who was excitedly trying to give me a high-five, grabbed a chair and went up to the stage. Jung Dajoon looked puzzled.
“Hyung, what is it?”
“Let me borrow you for a moment, Jung Dajoon.”
“You never said anything like that!”
“Life is fun when you can’t predict what’s ahead.”
“Eh??”
Jung Dajoon urgently grabbed me, but I ignored him.
While Jung Dajoon was doing the talent show, I was rolling my brain. Something that I could show in 3 minutes. Something that had the most impact other than singing or dancing.
Skit? I didn’t have a sense of humor.
Raw power? I was worn out and tired, I had no strength.
Drinking skill? Honestly, it was a great idea but it was not for broadcast.
“Seo Hoyoon-ssi, are you ready? What are you going to show?”
Looking at the noisy audience, I slowly picked up the microphone.
Then there was only one left.
The entertainment producers practiced this skill to death in order to fulfill their duty and to survive in a highly competitive society. It was one of the skills that I had tried in order to create my place in dinner parties.
“I’ll do an impersonation.”
“Yes?”
It was the classic impersonation.
“I’m a fan of the previous seasons of Super Singer. I always appreciate and respect them…”
I watched it a lot even during my student and military days, and in season 3, I participated as the youngest producer and edited the Super Singer program day and night.
In that show, of course, there was ‘that judge’ who was known to everyone and had already been impersonated by comedians and celebrities.
I listened to her hundreds of times while editing…
“I’ll impersonate the Blue Tiger’s, composer Lim Hyunsoo’s voice.”
Our composer.
1. It’s a Korean game. But honestly, I have no idea what kind of game it is. When I look up the rules, it doesn’t fit the context. I am sorry