Episode 116. Round 1: Competitive PT (1)
Healthy sportsmanship, a confrontation that warms the heart.
The beautiful narrative of friendship blooming within was meant to be the selling point of this stage.
“Iwol hyung.”
“Why.”
“I’m not sure how to put this, but…….”
Kang Giyeon, who had stopped me, picked his words carefully.
“It’s fine, so say it.”
“Hyung, there’s zero motivation on your face.”
I’d said it was fine, but it wasn’t fine anymore. My heart ached.
“Back during ‘With List,’ your smiling expression was really natural, you know? So why can’t you pull off a motivated look?”
At Hanpyeong Industries, I’d plastered on plenty of fake smiles, but I’d never once shown motivation.
During ‘Flowering,’ I’d immersed myself in the mindset of an office worker leaving work on Friday night; during ‘With List,’ an office worker going on vacation. But this time, I had no suitable memory to call upon.
Anyway, this Kang Giyeon kid—his ability to see right through people is no joke.
“Is the difference that noticeable?”
“Yes. We’re all running league matches, but hyung, it’s like you’re the only one playing a friendly match.”
“That won’t do.”
The analogy hit so close to home that I got chills. Meanwhile, Lee Cheonghyeon chimed in from the side.
“That’s strange, coming from someone so proactive about work.”
Let me be clear: since I started as an idol, I have never once been motivated. I’m just being chased by work.
“……Could it be because he doesn’t have much of a competitive spirit?”
Even Park Juwoo cautiously added his two cents.
“No, why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?”
“It’s a very serious problem. Hyung, you don’t even have dance lines, so you have to cover with your expressions at the very least.”
“Giyeon-ah, I too possess something called tears.”
Despite my protests, they turned off the music and sat me down on the practice room floor.
“Was my expression really that bad?”
“It was bad, but, hmm.”
And yet Kang Giyeon showed no sign of letting it go. These bastards—if they’re just doing this because they’re tired of practicing, I won’t let them off.
“No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Hyung, you exercise and help out at the company and everything. You don’t seem to hate people, and you’re not the type to find things bothersome, but saying you have no motivation…… Should I say it feels inconsistent?”
It’s because I don’t work because I want to.
I’m suffocating. But if I said the system is rushing me so I have no choice, it’d penalize me for leaking heavenly secrets. I’m already pissed because of my financial difficulties.
“Right. This hyung doesn’t have much competitive spirit either. Whenever we bet on who goes to the convenience store, he always says he’ll go.”
“Do you guys observe me for a living?”
“Not that I wanted to hear that from you, hyung.”
Lee Cheonghyeon snickered.
“How can a person live their life competing every single time? It’s exhausting. Anyway, let’s get back to practicing.”
“How am I supposed to do a motivated expression?”
“I’ll just watch Choi Jeho and copy him.”
Isn’t that guy the best in Spark when it comes to facial acting?
I asked Choi Jeho to at least earn his keep and learned facial expressions befitting a center from him. Fortunately, copying expressions was a million times easier than copying choreography.
* * *
After a period plagued by issues like budget shortages, Kkageul’s appearance, and lacking facial expressions, the day of Round 1 arrived.
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[SYSTEM] A work order from ‘The Person in Charge’ has arrived.
▶ Deputy Kim is making work difficult. Why does he keep doing things he was told not to?
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And the system had been in an uproar since morning. It even showed me the internal regulation violation notice from last time again.
But I don’t care anymore. It took away money, everything to an office worker, and now what else does it want to hold hostage? You’re the one who told me to make this team number one.
I’ve already dug into my personal funds; there’s nothing left to save now. Let’s fight.
I stepped out of the car with grim determination. At the same time, an atmosphere more overheated than before prickled against my skin.
As usual, I bowed at the waist to greet the fans who had come all the way to my commute, but as I raised my head, I heard someone say my performative acting was cringe.
There had never been a time when I didn’t bow at 90 degrees to our fans. It was probably a fan from another group, but I couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.
“Don’t let my babies get discouraged!”
Fortunately, the unpleasant feeling was shaken off thanks to the fans’ cheering.
Song Minil must have fed his fans a load of grievances, making them think he’d be cherished like this.
I can’t understand it, nor do I have any intention of understanding it. I only hope that those who hurt others’ hearts will surely face punishment someday.
And so Spark—my babies—entered the studio with their spirits sky-high.
The stage order for Round 1 was decided by drawing balls.
Since the program name is Idol Dynasty Chronicles anyway, couldn’t they have made it more unique? They could’ve at least done a game of tuho or something; that would’ve been fun.
And given that it’s nominally a song-switch cover battle, why make the order random?
Don’t they usually pair up the groups covering each other? Anyway, it was a format with a lot of regrettable points.
“Does anyone want to go out and draw the ball?”
“Something like that should be done by the household elder.”
So I over-immersed myself in the program alone. I even bestowed upon our esteemed leader the honorific title of elder.
Thus it came to pass that Jeong Seongbin, suddenly made an elder, went out alone to draw a ball and returned. Our turn was number five.
“But everyone looks so cool. The outfits are incredibly sophisticated too.”
Lee Cheonghyeon exclaimed from beside me. I played along as I looked at him.
“Should we do a flashy concept next time too?”
“Like what?”
“You know madangnori? I’ll wear a lion mask for you.”
“No, hyung. I like how we are now.”
Then Lee Cheonghyeon averted his gaze. Why say something you won’t even get your principal back on, you punk.
* * *
Unlike the Self PR stage, starting from Round 1, all teams could watch the other groups’ performances from their respective waiting rooms.
I was glad to avoid the business of watching others’ moods on top of watching the performances.
The first order was taken by Verryon, who had shown a good stage last time.
Verryon covered the title track of Sticky, a group with the concept of a sweet, tender, ambiguously romantic boyfriend.
However, the quality wasn’t very good this time.
It was impossible to know the cause. There were many differences between the last filming and today’s.
Unlike the Self PR stage, which was an internal evaluation, this time there was a large audience, and trying to infuse their own color into a song not prepared for them may have caused issues.
‘Did I misjudge the one to watch?’
I was a bit disappointed. Anyway, a career in Hanpyeong Industries’ HR team really is useless.
Sticky, who came out in the third slot, actually did quite well. Sticky brought a romantic concept of confessing love to match Verryon’s song, which had freshness as its main weapon.
Watching the stages one after another, something stood out.
“The sunbaenims prepared a lot?”
“Hyung felt that too?”
Kang Giyeon asked back. Sticky’s main vocalist was now pulling out a bouquet of flowers from his hand with magic.
The same went for Verryon. Though it fell short of their previous idea, you could see traces of effort in small gestures and face stickers and other minor details.
‘So they did monitor it after all.’
Well, they couldn’t not have. There probably isn’t a single agency among the groups here with as little manpower as UA.
Apart from the fandom war of nerves, there were several reactions toward Ahwangsil.
Among them, the most notable was one evaluating all six groups and the program as a whole.
≫ Ahwangsil Quick Review
What can I say…… it’s not super fun
First of all, all the kids who came out seem to be watching others’ moods way too much
I get that they don’t want to get a bad edit
But because of that, it feels like they became too fake?
I think it’s wrong to expect group dynamics and friendship
Guess we have to see the stages
≫ Is Ahwangsil live?
The sound seemed live
└ Seems live
└ They promoted it as taking off rank badges to fight, so if they lip-sync it’ll be hilarious
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ legendary zero shame
Amidst everyone saying, “We get along well!”, “We want to make good memories!” the fact that Spark, the lowest-ranked group, deducted points from all groups except Verryon must be bewildering too.
Since even the reviews took this tone, everyone must have intuited it.
That they have to put on proper stages to survive.
If the result is an overall rise in stage quality, that’s welcome on our end. They’re putting on a show to try to stand out, but if you’re going to stand out anyway, it’s better to stand out in a flower garden, isn’t it?
“Yeah. The idea really is fresh. I want to see the other sunbaenims’ stages quickly too.”
I smiled and answered Kang Giyeon.
And after Sticky on the screen finished their interview and exited.
『Are you enjoying yourselves, everyone? Riding on your passionate support, Round 1 of Idol Dynasty Chronicles is now racing toward its latter half. The next order is…… the eldest hyung of Idol Dynasty Chronicles! Parte, please come out!』
Parte, who were covering Spark’s song, appeared draped in something like black capes and striking poses.
At the same time, the guys who had been getting makeup touch-ups or checking their clothes hurriedly gathered in front of the monitor.
『As the rivals were revealed in the previous group, Parte’s rival group has automatically been confirmed as well. Parte, what song have you prepared for today’s Round 1?』
『We have…….』
It’ll be ‘With List.’ They can’t pull off any other Spark song.
To begin with, Spark only has four songs, and we already did the debut song at our Self PR stage.
Two are b-sides, but these are songs that can’t be promoted on stage, so all their power was poured into the audio. Meaning the vocal difficulty is hellish.
Jeong Seongbin’s vocal range is as wide as the Pacific, and Park Juwoo’s high notes pierce the sky, so the vocal range of the b-sides seesaws like Manager Nam’s moods.
Lower the key and you enter a cave in the intro; sing it as is and you’ll need waterfall ascetic training, so a performance-specialized group like Parte would have had no other choice.
『We’ve prepared Spark’s With List!』
See? I was exactly right.
The moment Parte announced their song, I sent a meaningful look toward Kang Giyeon.
Before leaving for work today, I’d declared to Kang Giyeon, “This is just my gut feeling, but if the Parte sunbaenims choose ‘With List,’ you won’t make a single mistake today.” The expression of the guy turning to look at me brightened.
As Yure’s ment announced the beginning of Parte’s stage, the screen went dark.
Soon after, the lights came up to a hauntingly arranged amusement park background music that could have fit in a horror game.
『When I open my eyes and the morning sun, too, is perfect…… such a today』
A whispered remark along with the intro rap transformed into a narration signaled the prologue.
『Yes, the day we’ve been waiting for』
“They seem to have changed all the lyrics to fit the concept, right?”
“Really. It must have taken an enormous amount of work…… incredible.”
Jeong Seongbin reacted to Kang Giyeon’s words. Having rewritten all the lyrics himself during the Self PR stage, he seemed able to visibly imagine how hard it must have been.
But Seongbin-ah, when the song is introduced, these people will have the name of a MYTH-affiliated lyricist credited for the rewrites. Ours will have our real names put in wholesale.
In other words, Jeong Seongbin’s remark right now has a high chance of being broadcast as a high-level indirect diss. This is going to add some fuel to the fire again.
Parte’s narrative crafting was in full swing.
The yearning to play in the original ‘With List’ had transformed into an earnest prayer to save the world from evil.
With a large number of members plus backup dancers, there was much they could express through choreography.
『I pray to Thee, O God
Please bestow
A single miracle upon this land……』
An enormous effect underscored the song.
It would take at least this much to erase Lee Cheonghyeon’s top line. Having cut away all the highlights, it’s still bland, but it wasn’t a bad choice.
A glance at the Spark guys showed them completely absorbed in the screen.
It’s no wonder they’re overwhelmed by the scale. We have to stand on stage with just six members today.
But is there really anything to worry about?
Watching Parte’s stage, I became certain.
We might lose the internet vote, but we would win the audience vote.