Putting them in the middle of a survival game and singling them out to face the best contestant in a death match?
I would be honest.
'That's a good idea.'
If you were trying to remove a stone that had rolled over and were confident in your skills, this was a very good strategy.
In any case, it was not the survival of the public vote, but the survival of the agency. This meant that the public knew that the boss could do whatever he wanted, and tolerated it to some extent.
This meant that if someone who was really good came out, they preferred to change the rules and let them pass even if they lost.
But that was it.
'So he's singling out Cheongryeo?'
Cha Eugene, you bastard, you were supposed to compete with me!
-I think it would be best so that our positions don't overlap and it doesn't feel awkward even if we appear friendly in the future.
-Okay. I'm performing on stage with Moondae hyung!
That was exactly what we said last night.
'I planned the scenario, but this guy escaped at will?'
I looked at Cha Eugene and controlled the area around my eyes that was about to twitch.
If this gets shown on camera, I would appear as a bastard.
"Great. Those standing in front of you now become your rivals and competitors."
The president read the script pretending to be meaningful, but I was so angry that I didn't react well.
I pretended to be nervous and took a deep breath.
"Of course, competition must have its rewards. Those who win in the 'Supplementary Class' will definitely be in the 'Honor Class' in the next evaluation."
"… !!"
The faces of the trainees, who were agitated, felt better just because of that piece of bait. They were easy guys.
"And trainees who are not nominated will also be given evaluation tasks. It is the 'perfection of teamwork'. "Try to lead two people who keep each other in check and complete the three-person stage."
I nodded.
In short, it meant that each of them would stand on the stage in a one-on-one death match and carry out the group tasks. He was good at putting words together.
By the way, there was an interesting person in my group.
VTIC's Shin-Oh.
"…"
The draw luck was amazing.
"I look forward to working with you!"
"I will do my best."
I was assigned a vocal practice room with the two guys. Then I went in and looked at the randomly assigned songs.
'There's no such thing as stealing a song.'
It was a song that the company had designated for the reason that it would suit the three of us.
-Blue Jack's 〈Icy Eyes〉
It was an exciting EDM debut song by a male idol group that took the autotune-dominated music industry by storm in the late 2000s.
To put it roughly, there were cliché lyrics that said "I have courage even though my crush's eyes are so cold."
If I listened to it now, my hands and feet would start to tremble.
[Oh ohoh Icy Eyes are cold~]
A typical hook song with short bars repeated as a refrain. The only part that showed off vocal capabilities was the ad-lib high note in the second half.
"…"
Hmm.
"Oh, I like this song!"
The person in the supplementary team who was also a future VTIC member was working hard to react.
'… Chaeyul.'
I stopped analyzing the song for a moment and remembered my conversation with Cheongryeo.
It was during the time when we came off the stage and briefly changed the tape and microphone.
-Hoobaenim. I have never contacted Chaeyul here separately. I never brought him with me.
-It doesn't seem like a coincidence.
-Rather than a coincidence… Of course, it was going to happen.
The guy grinned.
-When the survival program progresses, Chaeyul always participates in the supplementary class.
-… !
I understood what he meant.
-… Always.
-That's right. Chaeyul was in the group from the beginning. I didn't choose him.
I remembered Chaeyul's status window.
[Jin Chaeyul]
Singing: C+ (B+)
Dance: B (A)
Appearance: A- (A+)
Talent: S- (S+)
Characteristic: Circus (A)
He had top-notch all-rounder potential.
As expected of a guy who had become a first-tier idol, for now, his skills as a lead dancer were just okay.
However, his talent changed.
'He's almost Cha Eugene's level during Idol Inc.'
Moreover, the characteristics also assisted with it.
[Circus (A)]
: Because acrobatics should be fun.
-Stage adaptability +150%
-There are no personal deviations, and there has never been a problem with compatibility with other members. The public always likes him.
What if a guy like this stood out in a survival show?
'Even if I was the boss, I'd pick him first.'
It was an understandable explanation.
The problem began after that.
-And it's interesting, but every time he appears in the survival program, he always points out the same position.
-Main vocalist.
And this time, the main vocalist was me.
Cheongryeo explained, "I didn't know he would choose you because the person he originally pointed out was still there," but I couldn't believe that.
The Important thing was that Chaeyul stuck with me anyway.
'Besides, check out the song selection.'
I laughed inwardly while listening to the song.
Was he pushing an EDM hook song where the only part to show off your vocal skills was a 5-second ad-lib?
Regardless of who picked the song, I think they wanted to make this match unfavorable by blocking my advantage.
'It's good.'
I'd welcome the challenge.
[No~ Nonono…]
The song had just ended. I was conscious of the camera coming in to get a reaction, so I clapped appropriately.
And a slightly excited voice asked me a question.
"Well, what kind of arrangement would you like to do?"
It was Chaeyul. First, I took a step back.
I smiled faintly.
"Any genre is good as long as we can perform it."
"Wow…"
I meant to tell him that we should look at our options first, so where was this admiration coming from?
The following was even more spectacular.
"Me too!"
"Me too… Well, I will think of it as an experience and work hard."
"…"
I realized.
These guys… They were yes-men who had no self-assertion.
It was a selection that made it easy to understand why Cheongryeo picked them up and chose them as members. I spoke as calmly as I could.
"Then since it's a contest, why not make it intense?"
There was no rebuttal.
"Intense things are really cool and good!"
"Yes, then… Our team, fighting!"
So suddenly?
Anyone watching would think it was a team match. All of a sudden, we became like a high school class doing group work with two new students.
'Ryu Gunwoo was also a trainee for only 3 months, so what the hell?'
If I took this part, I would look like the greedy one, but if I couldn't pull it off and gave the part to him, I would get criticized for doing it on purpose,
'I have to prevent it.'
I'd have to appeal this absurdity in a way that wouldn't be edited out in an interview later. I nodded.
We needed to change our communication method as well.
"Then tell me which parts look cool to you."
These were the people who would give me a specific answer if I used more objective words instead of expressions like 'want' or 'hope'.
Sure enough, some useful answers were finally coming out.
"I think the intro part looks cool!"
"Um, here on the bridge."
"Then, I think it would be a good idea to arrange it in a way that can best utilize those two feelings."
"Yes!"
I completed the direction of the arrangement by adding words and modifiers as if I were taking their opinions into consideration.
The parts were appropriately distributed to what they thought was 'cool',
"…"
Doing this while being conscious of the camera was quite a tedious task.
Thanks to this, I remembered the guy who always did things like this with me…
-Moondaemoondae!
'Stop.'
What was the point of feeling regret over a person who wasn't here right now? I just had to do my job properly.
I quickly outlined the next stage. The only thing better than Idol Inc. was that the other two were unconditionally cooperative.
Finally, there was a short break that came late at night.
'I guess I'll have to keep going like this.'
I walked down the corner hallway holding a notebook with the arrangement directions and part distribution. It was to beat the wind and get away for a bit.
Perhaps because it was getting closer to dawn, I could barely see the others.
"Has everyone gone back to their dorms?"
It was then.
A man walking with great strides appeared around the corner on the other side of the hallway.
Cha Eugene!
The guy raised his hand and quickly got closer.
"Hyung! Aahhh!"
It was just the two of us. Great. Don't say another word, just follow me.
I took him with me to a blind spot where there were no cameras.
"I…"
Cha Eugene, who was about to open his mouth, recognized my gesture of putting my hand over my own mouth, and he closed his. Yes, the audio recordings were still on.
Instead, I held out the notebook and pen I was holding.
-Why did you choose Cheongryeo?
By using this.
-Now is not the time to move impulsively. Is it because you want to stay in this multiverse?
I crossed my arms and looked at him.
Cha Eugene closed his mouth tightly, picked up the pen, and wrote strongly.
-I'm not being impulsive. I received a call right before filming. [That person said I should compete with him. He said viewers would enjoy it, and it sounded quite plausible.]
(TN: The person Cha Eugene is referring to isn't Cheongryeo, but someone else—most likely a staff member.)
The guy's words, which he scribbled in English out of frustration, had quite a logical structure. I read his notes slowly without hesitation.
-And someone else chose you first -〉 Another VTIC sunbaenim!
"… … !"
'Right.'
Of course, in order to avoid overlap in who to select, the supplementary team would have been coordinated with the production team in advance.
But Chaeyul, who was in line before him, chose me first.
'So, since it reminded him of Cheongryeo, he chose him instead.'
Since that bastard Chaeyul chose me, Cha Eugene thought it would only be right to choose Cheongryeo. I furrowed my eyebrows.
Cha Eugene did not stop writing.
-And I am confident that I will win. 100%
-Moondae hyung, do you think I will lose?
I was immediately handed a pen and wrote down the answer.
-No.
Honestly, looking at the stage alone, I couldn't really imagine Cha Eugene losing.
-But that's only when you're limited to seeing the stage.
-This is his company.
He may not know this, but this guy was a person who had gone through this process dozens, maybe even hundreds of times.
I could hear Cha Eugene snorting. This guy…?
-It's okay. ☺
-Do you feel like we're going to lose? Can't beat VTIC people? U_U
Wow.
I moved the pen.
-You too, remember this. Winning or losing is not important right now. What is important is the amount of buzz.
We had to debut together anyway.
-lol OK!
Cha Eugene cheerfully wrote letters three times larger and then shrugged his shoulders.
"We'll do well. I'm looking forward to it!"
"Okay."
Since it was like this now, all he had to do was gain popularity.
'I will do the same as well.'
After parting ways with Cha Eugene in the hallway, I immediately returned to the practice room.
Shin-Oh curled up in a corner and listened to his part over and over again before seemingly falling asleep, and Chaeyul reacted.
"You're here!"
"Yes."
Then, he said this.
"Now, hyung, please speak comfortably. I'm nineteen!"
"… Mhm, okay."
Anyway, I was trying to use informal language to a guy who was actually a sunbaenim with a lot of years of experience. I nodded.
"If you want to talk comfortably too, that's okay as well."
"Yes!"
Seeing as he didn't even hesitate, it seemed like he just had a brighter brain.
I sat down. Still watching. I just needed to ask him something.
"Now that I think about it… May I ask why you chose me?"
"Ah, ah, that's it."
He could have said that I looked like the worst person out of all of them, but this guy probably couldn't figure it out so he just touched the back of his head.
"Actually, I'm not actually a LeTi trainee… So, I think it would be difficult to become a participant in this program."
A surprisingly realistic answer emerged.
"That's why I wanted to perform on stage with the most talented person! Then I think I can gain something."
He muttered with a flushed face that had seen my first solo performance.
"Even if I fail, it'll still be good."
Hmm. A guy who had never failed before was saying something like this. Since he was a trainee, he must have been deceived quite a few times.
I chuckled.
"I don't think you'll fail."
"Really??"
"Yes."
"Thank you!"
The guy who bowed his head had a face full of anticipation and excitement.
'… No.'
I tried to make a moderately heartwarming picture by saying that we were both good at it, so we could both grow somehow…
I guess I forgot that if I won, there was a chance he would be eliminated.
I was silent for a moment while thinking about it.
What the hell…
'… Shin Jaehyun will take care of it.'
I didn't know. There had been no problems for 10 years, so there must be a way to control it. I just needed to take care of my group.
"Let's practice a little more and then go to the dorm."
"Yes!"
A week passed, and the day of the first deathmatch dawned.
• * *
[〈Supplementary Class] Kim Raebin – Win!]
[Participants confirmed!]
Third stage.
Kim Raebin challenged another person who was a rapper and had a similar impression to him and crushed him.
'That's great.'
[Park Jeongwoong – Expulsion from honors class]
[At risk of elimination!]
If that other guy had known that Kim Raebin was a producer, he would have been the one dancing, so why did he take center stage in rapping? What an idiot.
I clicked my tongue when I saw the fallen one.
Kim Raebin bowed his head, then stepped back in a very polite manner and returned to his seat.
His teammate who performed with them seemed a little embarrassed, but whatever. There was no place to complain.
-Raebin, just think of everyone you meet from the moment you're on this program as being around the same age as your grandparents.
I thought it was good advice for evil editing. I nodded.
"Now, the next stage is…"
And then the stage continued, which I thought would probably be edited in the final order in the broadcast.
"Shin Jaehyun, honors class."
It was the death match between Cheongryeo and Cha Eugene.