Damn Idol Episode 148
* * *
The fact that Sedalbaegil appeared in the programming ad for Stage Number Zero stirred up quite a big issue.
People speculated that Sedalbaegil would be appearing on SNZ, and thought that was how they had been able to get on SBN’s music show.
But as some time passed, that opinion began to change.
The more they thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
Was Sedalbaegil really at the level where they would go on an audition program?
Of course, when the programming ad first came out, Sedalbaegil’s only external activity had been Color Show.
But what about now?
Even without mentioning music shows, their music video views were insane.
Above all else, their album was coming out soon.
No one knew how they would handle their album promotions, but releasing an album while appearing on SNZ was a little strange.
In the end, the public began to think of the teaser featuring Sedalbaegil as a message of “support.”
-The ratings-crazed production crew probably used them for clout
-If Sedalbaegil comes out on SNZ, that’s cheating lololol
-Maybe someone they know is on it.
In fact, Sedalbaegil’s lines in the programming ad had that kind of feel.
[I hope they do their best.]
[And if possible, I hope they win.]
Time passed like that, and the day of Stage Number Zero’s first broadcast arrived.
Since nationwide audition programs had a hardcore viewer base, SNZ began amid fairly decent interest.
-Huh, isn’t that the guy from just now? The one who busks in Hongdae?
-Yeah? Who’s that?
-There was someone who played guitar with Han Sion when Sedalbaegil busked in Hongdae.
-Aaaaah, I saw that video.
-Ah, Nod’s Love on me?
-Yeah yeah yeah
-Oh, I think that’s right.
-He sings well. He’s got a vibe?
But in the end, the rise and fall of an audition program depended on the characters of its contestants.
So the production crew anxiously monitored the public image of the people they had decided to push on the broadcast—or were already pushing.
But at the same time.
“Something big is coming……”
“Just you wait……”
They were anticipating the reaction to Choe Jaeseong’s appearance.
It was true of any program, but for audition programs in particular, Episode 1 was the most important.
So the production crew boldly moved up the timing of Choe Jaeseong’s appearance.
At around the thirty-minute mark, before even half of the seventy-minute broadcast had passed.
[Hello! I’m Choe Jaeseong.]
Choe Jaeseong appeared.
-?!?
-What the hell, why is Jaeseong coming out there?
-Who is he?
-He’s a Sedalbaegil member lololol
-Hul, for real?
-Nah lol He’s probably there to support a friend or something.
But that wasn’t it.
[I don’t know if you know this, but I’m part of a team called Sedalbaegil.]
-Why is he saying it like he’s talking about some famous neighborhood club lolol
-He’s not wrong. They’re just a club famous in Korea.
-Lololol they’re still No. 1 on the charts, though.
-Hul, still?
-Yeah. They dipped for a bit, then rose after the music show, and rose again after Masked Singer
[But the hyungs in our team are good. They’re too good.]
-Agreed. Intro genius, face genius, singing genius.
-Gu Taehwan, I Ion, Han Sion?
-No no. Gu Taehwan, I Ion, On Saemiro.
-Then what about Han Sion?
-Han Sion isn’t on a level where he can be mentioned with them.
-You crazy bastard, they’re on the same team
-It sounds plausible.
-Lololol wtf
[So I came out because I wanted to prove myself solo for once.]
After that, the writer, whose voice was the only thing heard, asked if it was okay for him to come out like this when he belonged to Sedalbaegil.
[The hyungs were the ones who told me to try going on first.]
Choe Jaeseong answered coolly.
-Lolololol no seriously, he really feels like he came from some club lololol
-But is Choe Jaeseong good?
-I don’t know? He seems like he can dance a bit.
-Isn’t he the guy who played the zombie in State Of Mind?
-Yeah yeah yeah that’s right
-His singing just seemed so-so.
-That’s how idols are. Han Sion and On Saemiro are the special ones.
But people’s expectations were not high.
Originally, Choe Jaeseong, along with On Saemiro, had been one of the members in charge of being “that guy from Sedalbaegil.”
In terms of name recognition alone, Gu Taehwan was similar, but Gu Taehwan had an enthusiastic core fandom that liked his distinctive looks.
So Choe Jaeseong’s position had been somewhat ambiguous.
Lower tier in singing, lower tier in looks.
But that was only because the other members shone too brightly. If Choe Jaeseong had belonged to another idol group, he would have been the ace.
Han Sion knew that, which was why he had put Choe Jaeseong on SNZ.
If they were going to use a program like SNZ to create buzz anyway, it could become an opportunity for Choe Jaeseong.
But Choe Jaeseong had once asked the members about it.
“Wouldn’t it be better for Saemiro hyung or Ion hyung to appear instead?”
But unexpectedly, Han Sion was firm.
“If our members competed fairly on SNZ, you’d climb the highest.”
“Me? Even beating Sion hyung?”
“Uh, no. Excluding me.”
Choe Jaeseong knew that Han Sion almost never said empty words.
So that statement must have been sincere, but honestly, it didn’t quite hit home.
But unlike On Saemiro, Choe Jaeseong was not the type to constantly doubt something and dig into it.
If there was a problem that was hard to reach a conclusion on, he was the type to jump into it instead.
That was why he had run away from home and become an idol in the first place.
Choe Jaeseong simply sang.
In front of the production crew, who thought of him merely as kindling for ratings.
In front of the judges, who looked at him with strange gazes that could not be called either negative or positive.
And in front of the public watching on TV, who had no particular expectations of Choe Jaeseong.
And then.
-????
-What the hell, he sings freaking well;
-Whoa, what is this? Isn’t he about Oh Jehyeong or I Hyeonuk level?
-That’s a bit much after one stage;
-But if you think about On Saemiro, it’s not completely impossible lololol
-If it weren’t for Masked Singer, you would’ve been cursed to hell for saying On Saemiro > I Hyeonuk
-Agreed lololol
-Wow, he’s seriously good.
-Hip Sion, that bastard. His eye for people is definitely solid lololol
-Wasn’t Han Sion not the one who put the team together?
-Han Sion is the kind of guy who’d ruthlessly cut a member if they weren’t good lololol
The public cheered.
After that, Sedalbaegil also appeared on the program.
It was them cheering for Choe Jaeseong, and it was the same scene that had appeared in the teaser.
[Sedalbaegil, appearing on Stage Number Zero?]
[Sedalbaegil member throws down the gauntlet at Stage Number Zero.]
Real-time articles poured out with clickbait headlines that neatly omitted the subject.
It was something only Han Sion knew, but Stage Number Zero had originally been a program that would do well.
But the media always liked making a fuss.
Once the program ended, another flood of articles poured in.
But at the center of it was Choe Jaeseong.
[Stage Number Zero off to a positive start at 4.2%.]
[Peak minute-by-minute rating of 5.1% at Sedalbaegil’s shocking appearance!]
[Sedalbaegil’s Choe Jaeseong, the key man of Stage Number Zero?]
-No, but what the hell are Sedalbaegil, really? Why is this guy so good too?
-Now that I see it, Han Sion was the freaking axis of evil.
-Out of nowhere?
-On Saemiro and Choe Jaeseong both sing that well, but because of Han Sion, they don’t stand out.
-Ah, I’m a Hip Sion fan, but that logic is impossible to deny.
-Now that I think about it, yeah lol Aside from Gu Taehwan, who always gets the intros, everyone gets compared to Han Sion lol
-My mom watched the broadcast and said she wanted Choe Jaeseong as her son-in-law lololol
-We have to hear Choe Jaeseong’s side too.
-Amazingly, my mom only has three sons.
-;; Then I guess we need to hear his side in more detail?
While On Saemiro and Choe Jaeseong were driving the buzz like that, Sedalbaegil also uploaded content to their YouTube channel for the first time in a while.
[State Of Mind MV ┃ Sedalbaegil’s Complete Interpretation!]
It hadn’t gained momentum because of the issue with Han Sion’s parents, but the music video for State Of Mind was still a well-made piece of content that continued to steadily rack up views.
Naturally, there had been a lot of discussion about the meaning contained in the MV.
[What the masks signify is a device that hides one’s true feelings, such as pretense or anonymity.]
[Because the moment anyone lives by one hundred percent instinct, they are bound to be erased from their social position.]
[That’s why the moment people with different ideologies see one another’s bare faces, they die.]
[Or, like Choe Jaeseong’s faction, they lose their reason.]
The direction of the interpretation Han Sion mentioned was not very different from the mainstream interpretation.
What surprised people, however, were the detailed points built into the music video to convey that meaning.
[If you look at the arrowheads of the people hunting here, you can see that they’re coated with green poison. Green. A slang term commonly meaning money.]
[These people symbolize vulgar capitalism. That’s why, if you look closely at the space where they’re gathered……]
-Don’t MVs usually feel lame when singers plan them themselves? lololol
-Right lololol It’s the unwritten rule that they get roasted to hell and then leave the next MV to professionals.
-You’re saying Han Sion wrote all the storyboards and script for this?
[And there also seemed to be a lot of people curious about Ion hyung’s setting……]
In addition, the clue about the intro, which Titi had been most curious about, was also revealed.
If one looked at the starting point of the music video, it was depicted as though I Ion had deliberately caused the incident while enjoying the festival.
But soon afterward, he came to his senses and left the members with the advice to focus on the state of their minds.
Even in the empty lot where they gathered at the end, I Ion was the first to remove his mask despite the danger.
Titi had been guessing that this was a setting that continued from Coming Up Next.
In Coming Up Next, I Ion’s pocket watch had been a different color.
That was because he was a villain who hid his inner desire to monopolize time travel.
In truth, that setting had been included because I Ion’s vocal tone did not blend with the other members.
But now it was different.
Through painstaking effort, I Ion had become one of Han Sion’s instruments, and although he did not have many parts, he was being used at important points.
So the newly added setting was……
[He has two personalities.]
However, Sedalbaegil did not explain that part in detail.
They said there would be a day when they would reveal it through other content someday.
After the content ended, Titi was satisfied.
She was satisfied with the quality of the content, but more than that, the public’s reaction was even more satisfying.
There were not many people talking about Han Sion’s parents.
If anything, there seemed to be more real-time chats about On Saemiro’s Masked Singer or Choe Jaeseong’s SNZ.
Now what remained was……
“The album release.”
“If this alone hits big, their recognition and value will seriously, seriously skyrocket!”
Today was Saturday.
Tomorrow was Sunday.
Because at midnight as Sunday turned to Monday, Sedalbaegil’s first full-length album would be released through music sites.
-I wonder what our boys are doing
-Normally, they’d be doing interviews, shooting pictorials, and filming promotional variety shows....
-For some reason, I feel like Sedalbaegil are just hanging out by themselves lololol Making music and stuff.
-Right lololol But maybe because I’m used to it now, it doesn’t feel bad.
-It feels kind of differentiated.
Fans were curious about how Sedalbaegil was spending their time with only one day left until the album release.
Then they chatted about this and that on the official site, and after seeing it, Choe Jaeseong even took and uploaded photos of the dorm.
-But where did Sion go? He’s not in the picture!
[Sion hyung went out for a quick errand! He’ll be back soon!]
Choe Jaeseong said that, but……
In truth, Han Sion had not gone out for something trivial.
“It’s been a while.”
“……
Sit.”
Han Sion was in the CEO’s office of Lion Entertainment.
Alone with Choe Daeho.
And the one who had arranged this meeting was Choe Daeho.