Chapter 60
"How many more times should we try?"
"I am having such a hard time!"
"I want to drink water."
The sound of singing echoed through the practice room.
At his younger brothers' earnest request to take a short break, Song Hyeong-bin smiled and turned off the accompaniment.
"Okay, then let's take a five-minute break and then do one more lap."
"Yeah!"
Because they had been marching so hard, they were cheering even for a short period of 5 minutes.
As I was wiping away the sweat that was falling like rain and drinking water, Song Hyeong-bin quietly handed me a towel.
"Do you want to wipe it?"
"Oh, thank you."
Even as I was tapping my forehead, Song Hyeong-bin continued to look at me meaningfully.
It seems like you have something to say.
Even when the status abnormality 'Indecisive' is not activated, it seems like he is the type of person who is very concerned about what others think.
So I decided to just ask in return.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"Oh, oh! It's nothing special; I'm just secretly grateful."
It was quite new to see Song Hyeong-bin, who always showed a cool appearance, scratching his head awkwardly.
"I felt it again while watching episode 7. If you hadn't helped me then, I might have struggled on my own and made the wrong choice. So I just.... I owe you a lot."
"No. I just told you because I thought it was something I had to do."
"Hahaha, there's no need to be so humble. Thanks to you, I gained the strength to go on a music show like this."
Song Hyeong-bin tapped the water bottle with an extremely excited expression.
Looking at him like that, I also chuckled.
"I was glad that the viewers' response was good."
"Oh, really? I feel relieved to hear that it had a good response."
"Didn't you know?"
"Yeah. I try not to look at communities or SNS as much as possible. I'm afraid it might influence me, whether it's good or bad."
It was unexpected.
When I participated in
But as I lived as Karis and we became closer, I realized that wasn't the case.
A laugh came out of my mouth without me realizing it.
"If you hadn't checked the reaction, you wouldn't even know what they call the two of us."
"Do we have a new word to call us?"
"I won't tell you. If you're curious, look it up yourself."
"That's vicious."
Even while we were joking around like this, it still didn't feel real.
I'm doing this with someone I feel like I'll never become close with.
I thought that since I was teasing him, I might as well tease him a little more.
"Then you probably don't know what our stage video and the reactions were like."
"Oh, I still try to check out YouTube from time to time."
"It's disappointing. Did you train so passionately for music shows without even knowing that?"
"That, that's obvious!"
Song Hyeong-bin waved his hands vigorously, even stammering his words.
It's a material that feels good when played with, unlike its appearance.
I could have teased them more, but the other three all rushed towards us in a panic, and I missed my chance.
"Did you all see this? The fancam we uploaded this time?"
"The views are crazy!"
"Our group is so high! It's amazing! It's awesome!"
Park Jae-hoon thrusts his cell phone into the air.
Looking at the screen, the fancams of
I had already checked the number of views at dawn, so I just nodded silently.
"Hey, wait a minute. Our stage video has already reached 500,000?"
"The individual fancams are also crazy! Hyeong-bin hyung and Karis hyung-nim are surpassing 200,000 views!"
I thought Song Hyeong-bin, who took first place in the first ranking announcement ceremony, would take such trivial data for granted.
But now, Song Hyeong-bin's eyes were shaking violently, and he couldn't hide his joy.
Finally, a sigh of relief escaped his lips.
"That's good. I'm glad that everyone seems to think positively of me."
I stared blankly at Song Hyeong-bin.
And then I remembered what he had said to me before.
'I'm sorry, I have to show you this side of me as your hyung.'
'Even though you took first place, you must have had your own set of struggles. For example, the burden of having to maintain that position.'
It's definitely a good feeling to be first from the start.
This is proof that fans have been following him at a rapid pace, and that he can secure a spot in the debut group early on.
However, if the pace drops compared to the beginning and the ranking drops, the aftereffects will be quite large.
It's more surprising to see something fall from above than to come up from below.
'He must have also felt a sense of arrogance because he didn't want to let someone take away the throne he had once sat on. In order to do his best, he couldn't let his determination waver, so maybe that's why he tried to ignore public opinion.'
Now that I have some understanding of the situation, I feel sorry for Song Hyeong-bin.
The kid is kind, but he might get cursed in return because of extreme fans.
I think it would be better to just keep telling him not to look at the community, so he doesn't know about that fact.
"Ah, I found it."
Park Jae-hoon, who was fiddling with his cell phone more, muttered quietly.
Then he played a video on full screen.
"This is a video taken by the trainees who received benefits during
A place where they only focus on the members' dance lines and visuals, with much better picture quality and beautiful camera movements than music show stage videos.
This channel, which stands out for its gorgeous visual beauty, has a huge impact, with each video garnering an average of over 1 million views.
"Wow...."
"It was taken really well."
"There's no need to be so impressed. We'll be filming this video soon."
Let me get straight to the point: Heo Yu-bin immediately had a breakdown.
"I, I, I absolutely can't do this! It would be so awkward for the camera to come this close! Look, I practiced so hard to even smile naturally."
"It's okay. Aren't you already doing well enough on stage?"
"I can sing on stage, so I feel less nervous and my expression becomes more relaxed. But here, all I have to do is dance―"
"I just had a good idea."
Song Hyeong-bin, who had been silently listening to Heo Yu-bin, snapped his fingers.
"This is a great opportunity, isn't it? We might never get another chance to appear on this program again."
"Okay?"
"If you think about the fact that we're not the only ones appearing from
It gives differentiation.
I squinted my eyes.
If it's a reasonable idea, it's probably fine.
"How do you mean?"
"The
"Yes."
"We can perform live while dancing."
I felt my pupils dilate dramatically for a moment.
One of the hot issues that has emerged in the idol market recently is live performance skills.
Many idols were criticized for giving disappointing performances not only in the recording booth but also during encore live performances.
In that situation, we're doing a live
It is a way to ensure that one's attention is secured unconditionally.
"I know how hard it is to dance and sing at the same time. But we already did a great job during the competition. Plus, our Yubin said it was too awkward to just dance. Should we take special measures?"
"I, I didn't mean for it to end up like this."
When Song Hyeong-bin looked at him with a sly look, Heo Yu-bin lowered his head and glanced around.
Then he nodded, clearing his throat.
"I think it'll be okay. Live."
"Me too! I've practiced a lot, so I'm confident!"
"I agree with Hyeong-bin; I think differentiation is really important. I feel a bit awkward saying this, but when you compare yourself to other trainees, you need to have at least one advantage to survive...."
"With the second ranking announcement ceremony just around the corner, it seems like a pretty good strategy."
I finished the calculation in my head.
'There are about 4 days left until the second round of voting, and we will go on the Music K Showdown tomorrow and then film
In short, it is the perfect time to increase our firepower before the fever time voting ends.
"But is it okay for us to be different like this? You won't say anything?"
Song Hyeong-bin, who first brought up this topic, suddenly rested his chin on his hand and spoke.
His usual restlessness seems to be creeping in again.
First of all, I need to apply the brakes.
"I think it'll be okay because it'll feel like special content. If it doesn't work out, we can think about it later, but for now, we can just focus on practicing like we've been doing so far."
"Are you sure about that?"
As I nodded briefly and thickly, a phrase appeared indicating that the skill had been activated.
[Skill, 'Genius of Speech' (C) is activated.]
Moments when I need to convince someone logically don't come very often, but it's still useful in these situations.
Song Hyeong-bin, who returned to his passionate appearance, stood up and clapped his hands.
"Okay, then let's practice and add a live performance before dinner tonight! We're going to do it like we did when we were preparing for the competition, so everyone, get your heads together. Okay?"
"Yes!"
"Thank you for letting me eat!"
* * *
"Yes, today's special stage was so cool, wasn't it?"
"After watching the performance, I thought I should watch the main broadcast of
We came down to the backstage while listening to the MCs of the Music K Showdown.
"Oh my, my heart feels like it's going to burst."
"I was so nervous, but I still didn't make any mistakes...."
"Everyone worked hard."
Everyone returned to the waiting room, clutching their chests.
I wasn't nervous at all, thanks to the 'Demon King Slayer' skill that allowed me to maintain my composure.
It seems like the fact that this was our first time appearing on a music show was a huge pressure for the team members.
Song Hyeong-bin smiled brightly while handing out water.
"Now that we're done, let's just watch what the other team does."
"Watching other people is the most fun!"
"Haha, don't expect too much."
As the waiting room door opened, familiar laughter was heard.
Chae Eun-gyu, who had finished all of his stage makeup, came inside waving his hand.
"I was told to get ready, so I came out early. I came to see your faces and relieve some tension."
"I can't imagine you being nervous, hyung?"
"I had a hard time going on stage before. I was so nervous from the moment I put on my transmitter pack."
Song Hyung-bin, who was close with all the other trainees, spoke to Chae Eun-gyu without hesitation.
I was just drinking water and listening to their conversation.
"Karis, your outfit suits you so well. It suits you well."
"Yes? Oh, thank you."
"Haha, why are you answering so dryly? I thought we were becoming close."
We became close?
Me and Chae Eun-gyu?
What does this mean?
"Haven't you been talking to me since sports day?"
"Yes?"
"You were comfortable when we were arm wrestling or when we were dressing up as a princess."
The moment you mentioned sports day, my brain started hurting.
Yes, when I was caught up in an abnormal state and couldn't tell the difference between public and private life, I definitely spoke informally to Chae Eun-gyu.
I smiled, trying to look as awkward as possible.
"Ha, haha.... I was so excited back then that I made a mistake."
"No, I'd rather you guys talk comfortably. Make me forget my age―"
The moment when Chae Eun-gyu laughs heartily again.
"Huh? Isn't that Eun-gyu?"
We heard someone's voice in the hallway.
Chae Eun-gyu's expression suddenly hardened.
An idol with bleached yellow hair poked his face into our waiting room.
"Hey, it's Eun-gyu! How have you been? Why haven't you contacted me for so long?"
"... I didn't really have time to do so."
"There's no time, bro! You're good at joking!"
I suddenly felt a strange atmosphere and looked at Cha Eun-gyu with interest.
It's the arrival of new content.
-