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“Guys, I love you!”
“Pfft!”
There was a beep in the middle. Seong Jiwon laughed even though the microphone was on. The staff hurriedly adjusted the mic’s volume, but the fans had already heard everything.
The stage brightened up again, and Kang Ichae playfully hit Seong Jiwon. As all the members greeted the fans, cheers erupted.
Yu Jia smiled at us.
“There’s a lot to say, but…”
“…”
“First of all, I’d like to say that we want to see you again.”
The members relaxed at Yu Jia’s words.
“How did you prepare all this in just a week? From the musical format to the unexpected werewolf concept. Who arranged the music?”
“Ichae arranged it, Dajun came up with the concept, Seonghyeon choreographed, and Jiwon supervised the vocals.”
“A perfect distribution… What about Hoyun?”
“I just tagged along.”
I was sincere, but everyone burst out laughing.
Kim Seonghyeon then picked up the microphone.
“Seo Hoyun looked after the overall direction. He did a great job conveying the plan to the production team and setting up the stage.”
“Yes, we really enjoyed the amazing stage. Lastly, please say a word to our audience.”
Hmm, it’s nice to show a heartwarming side in front of the camera. Seong Jiwon picked up the mic with a determined expression.
“We’ve been preparing a lot for a week.”
“…”
“If the effort, as Hoyun said, was reflected in our performance, there’s nothing more we could ask for. Thank you for today.”
Seong Jiwon spoke well today. As he spoke, the members’ expressions were filled with determination.
Was I the only one who couldn’t read the atmosphere here? The audience all had moved expressions for some reason.
Anyway, after the group greeting, we exited the stage when suddenly, Jeong Dajun hung on my left shoulder. Everyone patted my shoulder or head as they passed by.
What is it?
“Today’s team, coming up!”
As we exited, the last team, Today, caught our eyes. They had bitter faces, as if they watched our performance. However, they passed by without saying anything, perhaps conscious of the egg incident.
Cheers for Today were not as loud as ours.
“It seems like we did well. Better than we thought.”
Jeong Dajun laughed heartily.
The camera that followed us seemed to be trying to give us exclusive coverage as it continued to capture a close-up.
As we headed to the waiting room, contestants and staff greeted us every step of the way. Eventually, we couldn’t even return to the waiting room and had to go back on stage.
We quickly greeted Today, Refined, Maze, and Nightmare, who were all standing on stage. Their gazes were heavily fixed on us.
“Don’t just stand there, guys!”
No, I was sorry, guys… I can still stand. Yu Jia pretended not to hear and held up a card.
“All five teams worked hard. Now it’s time to announce the glorious rankings.”
Yu Jia spoke slowly. She deliberately announced the rankings from the bottom up.
5th place: Nightmare, 4th place: Refined, 3rd place: Maze.
The only teams left were Today and The Dawn.
Jeong Dajun narrowed his eyes.
Hyung, are we going to lose?’
…
It was possible.
“Now, it’s time to announce the glorious first place.”
In fact, I did not expect much. I didn’t think we’d win first place in the first round.
I had different plans.
We purposely didn’t look at Today’s side and only faced forward. Jeong Dajun, oblivious to the situation, fidgeted.
“The winner of Shining Star‘s first round is…”
An exciting song reverberated throughout the competition hall. Today’s Yu Hyeok glared at us too much.
Hey, control your expression!
That’s when it happened. Yu Jia took a deep breath and raised the microphone.
“Congratulations to The Dawn for winning first place with 4,700 points!”
Uh, what?
“Ahhhh!”
“The Dawn! The Dawn!”
The Dawn won first place?
With audience scores at 90%?
This didn’t make sense.
I frowned slightly and caught a glimpse of PD Kim Heeyeon. She was looking at us with a distorted expression.
What’s going on?
My head was spinning.
I couldn’t hear what Yu Jia was saying.
“Congratulations, The Dawn. You successfully captivated the audience’s hearts with incredibly stable vocals and a surprising concept.”
Audience…
Ah, now I understand.
Initially, they planned to manipulate the results if Today didn’t get first place, but the agency backed down after seeing the atmosphere. Now that I’ve been hit with an egg, it wouldn’t be a good look if Today ranked first. Anyway, it wasn’t essential to be first in the preliminary round.
So, did that mean we just have to get first place later?
“Hyung!”
“We got first place!”
No, that’s not it. There’s something more.
While I was racking my brain, the members were smiling brightly with their faces full of emotion. Well, it’s true that we’ve proven ourselves with our skills and captured the hearts of the audience. I patted them on the back and picked up the microphone.
“I’m Seo Hoyun from The Dawn. Thank you so much for voting for us despite our shortcomings.”
“Yes, congratulations! What are your thoughts on this?”
I shifted my gaze to Yu Jia, who was smiling as if she was wearing a mask, and continued.
“First of all, I want to thank our fans who always support us, as well as all my team members. Also, I’d like to thank all the staff who prepared hard with us and the opposing teams who always impress us with their amazing skills.”
I was genuinely grateful to the opposing teams.
Thanks to Today’s provocation, our team’s morale was soaring.
Yu Jia, slightly disappointed by my typical response, tilted her head. However, she professionally continued without showing any discomfort.
“Then, shall we check the privilege of being first?”
I wish it were money… but it probably won’t be.
“What’s the prize?”
“Is it something like Korean beef?”
Jeong Dajun asked innocently. Yu Jia looked apologetic for a moment, not knowing what to do.
PD Kim Heeyeon still looked at me with her lips tightly sealed.
“What should I do? It’s not something like that… it’s a bit more special.”
Yu Jia slowly flipped over a card and awkwardly smiled at the audience.
“The first-place group can choose another group and change their score to a negative value!”
“…”
Everyone was silent. Their faces showed shock.
“In other words, if a team gets 3,000 points, their score will become minus 3,000 points, and it’ll be reflected in the final total. It’s an important opportunity to bring down a group you’ve been keeping in check.”
Wow…
I asked for some sort of adversarial concept, but…
This was harsh.
Really harsh.
Is it Kim Heeyeon’s work? Or is it Today’s agency’s work?
It could be. Kim Heeyeon was wishy-washy because she wasn’t me. She created the concept but never cornered the participants like this.
So that’s why Kim Heeyeon asked me if I was curious about the first-place privilege.
The Dawn members were too shocked to even speak. To be precise, they couldn’t talk. If they said anything here, they would be pelted with stones, not eggs.
Only then did jeers erupt as the audience regained their senses.
“Are the producers crazy?!”
“Do you want to get sued?!”
It was something along those lines.
On top of that, everyone looked like they wanted to tear me to pieces, except for The Dawn fans.
I was used to malicious gazes, but this murderous intent made cold sweat trickle down my back.
“Please make your decision now.”
What should we do in this situation?
“So, The Dawn, which team will you choose?”
No matter who I picked now, it was certain that I would be torn to shreds. Maybe I’d even be burned to ashes on social media or online communities.
Now I understand why Today didn’t rank first.
In the first preliminary round, the losing side was the one that ranked first.
I’ve been had.
I looked back at the members before grabbing the microphone. They all had faces that didn’t know what to do.
“Hoyun.”
“…”
“I’ll give the answer.”
Suddenly, Seong Jiwon whispered to me, holding my shoulder. No matter what happened, the person who answered would be torn to shreds.
Fear was evident in Seong Jiwon’s eyes, but he pretended to be nonchalant and spoke to me. It was his sincerity.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
“…”
“Guys.”
I faced their shaking eyes, feeling like I would crumble under their piercing gazes.
I looked straight at them.
I didn’t know it would be used so soon, but—
“Do you trust me?”
Just in case, I prepared a landmine.
The third landmine was to trust me unconditionally even if I made a mistake.
Kang Ichae chuckled and then nodded her head. I stopped Seong Jiwon from answering and slowly turned my body towards the audience, facing Yu Jia. She gave a pitiful smile.
“Have you made a decision?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then, please tell us the name of the group.”
I looked towards the side where the other groups were. They all seemed surprised. Amid that, Today let out a sneer. Everyone seemed happy with the situation I had gotten myself into.
Since I was already set to face Today, choosing them here would only break the sympathy I had gained.
[There was no need for sympathy]
[I told you over and over that I’m strong ㅋ]
Titles like these would fill the online communities.
That’s why they thought I would choose Nightmare, the group with the smallest fandom, or at most, Refined. Today just seemed to enjoy watching me struggle. But… guys, what should I do?
“I choose….”
I picked up the microphone with a smile.
“Today, I choose you.”
I decided. Screw it. I will just have to defeat them.