Damn Idol Episode 24
Album 3. With the Three-Month Hundred-Day Stage Over, I Felt Quite Satisfied
It wasn't because it was the best stage, but because I had achieved the goal I had set from the beginning.
What I had sought to gain through this second mission was clear.
A stage that was excellent in itself, but where the focus didn't fall on me.
Hearing that while Han Sion's individual skills are sufficient, he doesn't stand out in team rounds.
This level was just right.
I did provide some impact with the rap verse, but if even that had been missing, I probably would have received harsh criticism.
Expectations for me are high, yet the original song's rap was a bit bland.
Still, it wasn't something grandiose like the pre-mission or the first mission.
The grime wasn't anything amazing either; I merely changed the expression method to add a little listening pleasure.
As I was thinking that, the judges' evaluations began.
They spoke about the overall stage first.
"The direction was good. I thought it was an ideal stage that could be put together in just one day."
"I feel the same. I thought it was quite clever how you showed individual personality while pursuing a minimum of unity."
Talk about the detailed aspects of the participants followed.
Onsaemiro and Choi Jaeseong seemed to be receiving praise, while Kim Seongu and Sim Juwan seemed to be receiving positive feedback.
I thought much the same.
Choi Jaeseong did quite well. There aren't many people who can show a 70-level stage with 70-level skill.
Most people have 100 but are questionable about whether they can even show 70.
But Choi Jaeseong did the best he could do.
However, the more I watched him, the stronger the feeling became that I had seen Choi Jaeseong's stage in a past life.
I had no idea where I had seen it, though.
"Regarding Han Sion's rap……"
The evaluation of my rap that followed was split exactly in half.
Choi Daeho and Blue gave tremendous praise.
They said I showed tremendous expressiveness and maximized listening pleasure in an unimaginable way.
In contrast, Yu Seonhwa and Lee Changjun expressed disappointment.
"The rap itself was excellent, but it seemed somewhat distant from the concept of the song 'Boy Scout.' Why did you choose the grime style?"
"This was the only way I knew how to rap. It wasn't a selective choice."
As if I could say something like, "I thought the grime style would suit it better than the NOP version."
And so, the score given to
Considering the previous stage had been 72 points, the difference was quite large.
When the two stages ended, I could feel tension lingering among the participants.
All missions and evaluations that had begun with the pre-mission were now over.
This meant the time had come to select the final five members.
Blue, who had been talking with the judges for quite a while, came back up on stage.
And after creating a broadcast-worthy opening with this and that talk, he drew out the conclusion.
"The participants who have passed by receiving four approvals up to now are……"
Names appeared on the screen.
"Four people."
Sighs burst out from all around.
Lee Ion and Onsaemiro were obvious results, and needless to say, me too.
The unexpected one was Choi Jaeseong.
Personally, I thought Gu Taehwan was a more attractive vocalist than Choi Jaeseong.
If we had to handle a whole song on his own, Choi Jaeseong would be better, but in team activities, parts are distributed.
On top of that, he listens well.
Even so, it wasn't an incomprehensible result.
Because Choi Jaeseong did well on this stage too.
As I thought that, I glanced at Choi Jaeseong, and before I knew it, his eyes were brimming with tears.
Wait, he's tearing up just because he passed this one thing?
Then Choi Jaeseong looked at me with a bright smile and bowed his head deeply.
"……?"
He doesn't actually think of me as his homeroom teacher, does he?
Anyway, with things as they are, there is only one spot left.
"And there are three participants who received three approvals."
Gu Taehwan, Kim Haeun, Nam Seongil.
"After competition among those with three approvals, the final member will be selected."
Those who had been completely stripped of opportunity hung their heads low, and I could see the camera zooming in on them.
Someone's despair sometimes becomes sweet broadcast fodder.
And I'm also someone too jaded to feel sorry at scenes like that.
Hmm……
I should at least pretend to be sorry.
"You worked hard. I'm sure there will be better opportunities."
I casually patted Kim Seongu's back while gauging the judges' intentions.
The four passers selected so far are all vocalists.
Although I showed rap, there's no way they'd place me in a rap position.
I don't know the reason, but Korea has a culture that regards skilled vocalists more highly than skilled rappers.
Meanwhile, among the three-approval participants, Kim Haeun and Nam Seongil are rappers, and Gu Taehwan showcased rap in the second mission stage too.
I get the feeling the judges want a rapper for the final member.
To the point where I don't even remember what kind of rap Kim Haeun and Nam Seongil did.
What if one of them gets picked?
At that moment, while everyone was listening, Blue threw out some welcome news.
"But the three-approval participants' stage won't be evaluated by the judges. The four of you who passed will evaluate them."
"Yes? Us?"
"Because you must pick the final teammate you'll be with going forward."
The passers' faces turned pale at Blue's words, feeling the burden, but……
All the better.
* * *
Finally, all filming for Coming Up Next, which had proceeded for three days and two nights, was over.
The cast left for home first, and then the filming crew began packing up, but not me.
Because there was some signing to do regarding the contract for the music release of
"Here's your phone."
"Thank you."
"If you sit in that chair for a bit, the PD will come."
"May I use the restroom?"
"Of course."
When I got back the phone I had entrusted during filming, quite a few missed calls were logged.
Well, most of them were from my great-uncle, so I ignored those.
The rest were from CEO Lee Hyeonseok of LB Studio, Team Leader Seo Seunghyeon of BVB Entertainment, and Uncle Hyeonsu.
There were also trivial contacts from people who seemed to be high school friends, but honestly, I can't even remember their names well.
Because I've forgotten so much about what kind of person I was before the infinite regression began.
As I walked to the restroom thinking that, there was someone waiting for me among the packing-up filming crew.
It was Gu Taehwan.
"Is something the matter?"
"I, um, thank you."
"There's no need to thank me. You worked hard yourself."
"That's not true. If it weren't for Han Sion, I wouldn't have made it."
So it was.
The last remaining spot on Coming Up Next Team B had been secured by Gu Taehwan.
Honestly, Gu Taehwan ought to be grateful to me. During the first mission, I only lightly helped out, but during the additional mission, I practically ensured he would pass.
Of course, to others' eyes, it won't show that I was dead set on getting Gu Taehwan through.
Because secretly inciting people is something I'm used to.
"Do well going forward. We'll be on the same team for a while."
"I'll do my best."
Hmm, it really is addictive.
"If you haven't eaten, perhaps we could get a meal together……?"
"We're going to see each other to the point of boredom anyway, so let's eat next time. I stayed behind because I have something to discuss with the PD."
"Ah, yes."
"But I have something I'm curious about."
"Please go ahead."
Seeing him stand rigidly at attention, I suspected he somehow knew my age.
Choi Jaeseong did the same thing……
Am I really showing my age?
Well, I have lived a long time.
"What about me made you work so hard? We're fellow participants."
What I had accomplished in my previous life, what records I had achieved, do not remain in this world.
So to others, I'm just one of countless idol hopefuls.
I might seem talented, but cases like Gu Taehwan who throw away the way they've been doing things to follow advice completely are rare.
So I was curious what he was thinking.
"Ever since I was young, my father told me. He said that as you live, you'll meet a genius at least once, and not to let your pride get in the way but to humbly ask for help."
"Is there a guarantee that a genius will help you unconditionally?"
"They say a real genius will help."
"Hmm……"
Thinking about it, he might be right?
Of the geniuses I've met so far, unless their personalities were twisted, they didn't hesitate to share what they had.
Whether out of confidence that others couldn't follow even if taught, or pride that they already had an overflowing amount of their own.
"Does your father do music too?"
"He runs a mushroom farm."
Hmm, there can be geniuses in mushrooms too, I suppose.
"What are you two doing here?"
Then PD Kang Seoku appeared, turning the hallway corner and addressing us.
"We were talking for a moment after running into each other on the way to the restroom."
"We'll be seeing each other continuously from now on, so it's good to get close. Han Sion, you've heard about the contract talk, right?"
"Yes."
"Let's wrap it up now. You must be tired; you should head home quickly."
After exchanging goodbyes with Gu Taehwan, saying we'd meet again, I followed PD Kang Seoku.
Ah, but I never made it to the restroom.
"Han Sion."
"Yes."
"You seemed to want Gu Taehwan to make it at the end. Am I right?"
"That's not it, but I thought he was the best among the remaining three."
"Hmm. You know what Coming Up Next is, right?"
"I do."
I hadn't known PD Kang Seoku for long, but I more or less had his character figured out.
This man is someone who respects you if your intellectual level is similar to his.
To verify that, he has a habit of subtly dropping subjects or predicates.
"A program made to boost Take Scene."
"Then why did you appear on it?"
"Because I wanted to choose."
"Choose?"
"Not blindly waiting to be asked to debut, but a situation where I can choose the hand that offers to debut me."
"Haha, interesting. You really want to debut, don't you?"
"I think of it as something I must do."
Kang Seoku snickered and tapped my back.
"Sure. Let's button up the first button properly too."
And so, I wrote up a contract with PD Kang Seoku regarding the music release of
True to broadcast station folks, the distribution channels and profit-sharing terms were very unfavorable, but I didn't make an issue of it.
It's nothing I'd bring up, but the two of us made a tacit agreement.
"Han Sion. You said you'd grant me one favor earlier, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did."
"Does what you just did really seem like just one favor?"
"Wouldn't it be about three?"
"……Interesting. Let's do well going forward."
PD Kang Seoku would reflect my intentions into the program, and I would run toward where PD Kang Seoku pointed.
This implicit contract is maintained unless I am pushed from the center of the program or PD Kang Seoku attacks my image.
So it's right to smoothly pass over something like a music source contract.
"We'll adjust the music recording schedule to your condition, Sion. When is good for you?"
"Any day but today is fine. Even tomorrow is possible right away."
"As expected, youth sure is nice."
The recording schedule was set for three days later.
"By the way, do you know who the composer of Flowers Bloom is?"
"I saw it, but it was a name I didn't know."
"Then how much do you believe in what you said on stage?"
That the original song was a male version?
"I believe it one hundred percent."
"Hmm."
PD Kang Seoku made a strange expression and then slowly nodded his head.
"It'll be interesting if that's true."