Episode 125. Temporary Assignment (1)
Last night, I went live in the company conference room and did a clarification broadcast.
I know it wasn't the typical way to respond. But after considering various circumstances, I judged this method to be the best.
If I had left it to UA, I had the feeling they'd simply repeat the past—where they couldn't properly explain a single one of Spark's countless controversies and only inflamed them further.
Besides, due to the nature of the entertainment industry seizing on one pretext after another to manipulate public opinion, I didn't think one clarification post would settle the situation.
Dragging out an unsavory affair for too long would be discourteous even to Awangsil, which we are currently appearing on.
So after thorough preparation, I spent a full hour proving my innocence, and…….
"Wouldn't it be better for you to try university again?"
"Are you telling me to withdraw now and take the CSAT?"
"That's not what I mean. Isn't it a waste?"
……I was being pressured by Choe Jeho and some other guys, as well as company staff, with "It's not too late even now, try for college entrance again."
Everyone's pretending to care about me while pushing me out, aren't they. And here they said they'd let me stay in the team for a good while.
I had expected public opinion to flock to provocative keywords, but I never imagined the people around me would get swept up too. Why are you guys taking the bait I threw to reel others in.
And do you think it's not a waste? I'm the one who finds it the most wasteful. I'm shedding tears of blood, you know?
≫ Iwol-ah, I knew you were smart but
S University…… through regular admissions……
No but, and it was because I didn't have money…… sigh
└ The chat freezing the moment this came up is no joke
≫ Losing S University was too great a price to be happy about the fact that our kid wasn't given special treatment
≫ XX I'm going crazy with how unfair this all is
He got undeservedly screwed over for a self-study room pass earned through grades
What the hell was that even about
≫ But if your family is struggling, you get the national scholarship
└ For freshmen, the national scholarship comes out after you pay tuition. So you have to pay tuition first, and he couldn't pay that.
└ But both parents work, so why couldn't they pay?
└ 1. Not all workers earn 4-5 million won a month 2. He said he had zero support from home and became independent the moment he turned twenty. The end.
≫ Common_Idol_CSAT_Scorecard.jpg
└ No room for argument, 111111
└ Absorbing the energy and heading out
└ Absorbing the energy and heading out 22
……No. I take back what I said about me finding it the most wasteful.
I had resigned myself to fate early on, but the fans were distraught over my situation as if it were their own.
The Republic of Korea, united through college entrance exams. I'm moved.
"Retaking it would be meaningless. That day was the day my luck in blind guessing rode a seesaw."
"When you say it like that, hyung-nim, it doesn't sound like a joke……."
"Because it isn't a joke."
All the luck in my life had been dumped into the CSAT day. Hoping for such a miracle again would be shameless.
Besides, even if I went back to college, I'd just get another 2-point-something GPA, so what's the point.
Juggling part-time jobs and academics, I'd lose both rabbits—specs and grades—and end up applying to Hanpyeong Industries, which offers a liberal arts starting salary of 35 million won, completely ruining my life.
It's not that I have no lingering attachment.
No, saying I'm merely not without lingering attachment is an understatement.
College entrance was the first achievement I had gained in my life. It was also the first experience that gave me hope that I could do it.
How could I be okay after losing that? I'm just accepting reality because it's become something irreversible.
"You graduated from S University, right? Then Deputy Gim should be able to handle this much alone, shouldn't he?"
"Deputy Gim is faux-smart, huh. Guess he needs to go back to school."
……I'm sick of hearing that kind of talk too. Fuck, that guy didn't contribute a single thing to me getting into college, so why did he nitpick every single thing?
As expected, I should have gotten an investment manager license and gone to a securities firm even if it meant going into debt.
But considering most Hanpyeong Industries employees were highly educated, I wonder if it would have been the same at another company.
Anyway. The atmosphere with the Parthe side hadn't been fully settled either, but at least no one was openly cursing at Spark and me right now. That alone was enough.
"But there's something more important right now."
Today was the deadline to submit the Position Battle participation roster to the Awangsil side.
Awangsil's third round competition proceeds as a Position Battle.
Each group selects and sends representative members based on the three positions—vocal, dance, and rap—and then two group representatives are randomly assigned to a team to form a unit.
They compete in a 2:2:2 format, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are determined by audience votes, with the rankings earned here giving bonus points in the final fourth round.
The reason we did our best in the competitions so far was to secure the production budget for the third round.
Now that we won first place in the second round and secured the budget, I didn't want to waste energy unnecessarily in the third round.
Spark was unlikely to win anyway, and my priority was the safe and healthy growth of the Spark guys.
Survival programs demand an enormous amount of stamina. You have to prepare everything from A to Z for the stage in a short period, and with such a short preparation period, you have to squeeze out as much practice time as possible.
If we could receive support in various areas like planning, arrangement, and choreography creation, it would have been much less laborious, but UA didn't have the means for that.
Thanks to that, we six had quite literally ground our bones to get here.
At this point, it wouldn't be strange if any one of us collapsed. Before that happened, Spark needed to take time to regroup.
"Giyeon, you haven't been to the orthopedic clinic once last month or this month, right? Hand the dance position over to Choe Jeho and go get manual therapy this round."
"I'm fine. It doesn't really hurt."
"If Random Play Dance comes out, you're going to blow up anyway. Don't worry and go."
"Who's worried about that?"
I went out of my way to secure screen time for him in advance and he complains. I had no intention of listening, so I just let it go in one ear and out the other.
"Then for the vocal position……?"
Bak Juu asked.
I was already worried about that. I was originally planning to go out for it.
I wanted to let the main vocalists rest a bit, but with the timing so bad because of the controversy, the situation had gotten ambiguous.
"Didn't you say last time that you were thinking of going out for it, hyung?"
"I did, but the situation is a bit…… right now. I'm wondering if it's good for me to go out."
As I brooded, Jeong Seongbin thought for a moment and spoke.
"How about you going out as planned, hyung?"
"Me?"
"Yes. Because you must have had a picture in mind from the start."
It wasn't such a grand picture; I was just trying to let you guys rest.
"You'll do well, hyung. I believe in you!"
I don't know about that.
No matter how I look at it…….
≫ That bastard definitely has broadcasting greed, I tell you
He clearly has vibranium plywood on his face
≫ ???: Ah, I can't resist the hype lolololol
……I feel like I'll hear that kind of talk.
Still, since I'm in a position where I'm tagging along, I'll make this much of a sacrifice play. Time to show off the steel vocal cords I've been honing.
"Then what's left is rap."
Jeong Seongbin said.
This team's official rapper is only I Cheonghyeon. I know Choe Jeho and Gang Giyeon have received separate rap training, but they've never shown it in official settings.
But asking I Cheonghyeon—who burned himself white-hot and utterly destroyed himself until the second round—to go out and rap this time was a bit…….
"If it's rap, of course I should go out!"
I Cheonghyeon shouted, eyes shining. He was even clenching his fist tight.
"You have to think about the final round song in advance too. Considering you'll be working on the song, wouldn't it be better to rest this round?"
The preparation for the final round was a new song. Since it was a stage requiring preparation time, it had been announced along with the third round format.
I reminded him of the final round's existence in case he had forgotten.
However, I Cheonghyeon's attitude was firm.
"Hyung, do you remember how they cut all the rap parts in the second round?"
"Yeah."
"So I had a hell of a time singing after so long, right? I got scolded a ton by Juu hyung and cried buckets, right?"
"I did……?"
Bak Juu looked extremely wronged beside him, but I Cheonghyeon paid him no mind.
"You must have been totally disappointed since I'm so good at rap, right? You must have sighed, right? The desire to rap must have remained as a grudge, right?"
"……."
"And if you don't send me out even though it's a rap battle, I'll be upset, right? I'll cry, right? My eyes will be so swollen that I'll have to hold ice packs until the final round rehearsals, right?"
"Stop. I'll send you out."
"A most excellent choice!"
I Cheonghyeon gave a thumbs up. We had only just decided the participants, yet I was utterly exhausted.
And a few days later, the partners for the participants we had painstakingly chosen were delivered.
* * *
My luck with team members was rather poor.
In high school, guys who barely participated at all would claim they contributed too when it was time to review the school records. In college, I spent my time realizing how worthless human conscience was.
Because I had to focus my efforts due to excessive part-time jobs, I chose group assignments with the thought that no one should suffer because of me, but never once in four years did my group members choose to do the work.
And the military?
Even in that place where everyone went through the grind together, there existed unobtrusive buck-passing.
Just when I thought I'd finally escaped group life, the place I arrived at was Hanpyeong Industries.
A team leader who stole my achievements and got promoted, an organization going completely to shit, and Manager Nam who, while I'm bailing water from a sinking ship with a scoop, tells me sailors these days have it so easy and hands me a paper cup…….
And today, to someone like me, a new team member is born.
I gulped and headed toward the third room I was guided to.
Steel your heart, Gim Iwol. You're used to fucking group assignments, aren't you.
Don't start thinking you're capable of actual human cooperation!
Tears flowed from deep inside my heart.
Behind the door…….
"Huh?"
"Gasp, it's Iwol nim!"
"Hello!"
Berion was there. Three of them, at that.
* * *
After exchanging friendly greetings, the Berion members awkwardly stiffened.
Damn, am I the socially fulfilling MC again? This will surely add fuel to the suspicion that I'm thirsty for screen time.
It can't be helped. They're much younger than me, so I'll endure it.
"Seniors, is it possible you had a different group you were hoping for, but I ended up here?"
"No!"
"I've always wanted to perform on stage with the Spark members!"
Whether this answer is sincere or not isn't important. What's important is that nothing seems to have gone wrong.
"And Iwol nim, you don't have to speak so formally!"
Even Yeoseongchan—who was one of Berion's vocal lines and also served as center—was suggesting I speak comfortably.
When I asked how they could say that to a senior, Berion retorted that Korea values age order. Having no choice, we decided to drop honorifics mutually.
"I really wanted to perform on stage with hyung. How could such a coincidence happen?"
"With me?"
When I asked back, Yeoseongchan nodded vigorously.
"Yeah! I heard it was the vocal position, so I thought Seongbin nim or Juu nim would come out and was thinking it'd be tough but……"
"Seongchan-ah, your mouth!"
Another Berion member desperately stopped the runaway Yeoseongchan. It seemed Berion hadn't been fully trained to watch their mouths yet.
I smiled looking at Berion, who were already watching my cues.
"Seongbin and Juu are hidden trump cards."
"Wow…… hyung has everything planned out!"
Even if there are plans, having them overturned is the fate of this damned company, but whatever.
There wasn't anything special to do after that. Today's filming was just about breaking the ice and exchanging pleasantries among the assigned units.
'I wonder which group Choe Jeho and I Cheonghyeon were matched with.'
Listening to Berion's praise of "This part of Spark's stage was cool!", I worried about those two members' luck with group assignments.