Damn Idol Episode 35
* * *
The cameras shut off, and the audience was given time to take pictures and talk with the Coming Up Next contestants.
“You’re so handsome!”
“Th-thank you!”
“I’ll definitely watch when it airs!”
Choe Sehui, a longtime idol fan, reminisced as she watched the Take Scene and Sedalbaekil members.
Even her eternal idol, Drop Out, had days like that.
A time when they were surprised and moved by the unfamiliar existence called fans, possessing a clumsy, awkward freshness.
Of course, they too would grow accustomed to these things as time passed.
Some might repeat “Ah, really?” with dead fish eyes at a fansign event.
But still, isn’t it nice to see them now?
However, if there was one person who felt different….
“How did you end up applying for the audience?”
“I was looking around here and there to plan a date in Myeongdong and found it by chance!”
“Huh? You two were a couple?”
“Don’t we look like it?”
“They say lovers start to resemble each other; I thought you were siblings. Fraternal twins.”
“Twins?”
“I can’t exactly say with my own mouth that one of you looks older, can I?”
“Ah, seriously. What kind of talk is that!”
It was Han Sion of Sedalbaekil.
‘What the hell is with him?’
It felt like watching a ten-year veteran idol’s fan service.
When a couple in the audience came to get an autograph, the way he naturally led the conversation wasn’t the skill of someone who had only done it once or twice.
Next, when two male students asked for a picture, he slipped between them, threw his arms around their shoulders, and chatted away with them, laughing.
Just looking at his actions, he was the very definition of a social butterfly, but….
‘The feeling he gives off isn’t human at all.’
Han Sion’s appearance was far from that of a cheerful social butterfly, and the vibe he gave off was even further.
She knew it was a total fangirl thought, but he felt like a classmate who held some kind of secret, was hard to talk to because he was quiet, but was insanely handsome.
But that classmate, who was normally indifferent to everything….
‘If I just talk to him, he smiles brightly and treats me so well!’
Imagining her inner fangirl meter exploding, Choe Sehui cautiously observed Han Sion.
Indeed, the way he looked at the audience members was somewhat different from the others.
She didn’t know if she could use this expression, but it felt like looking at a longtime lover.
Should she say it was a feeling that no longer had butterflies, but held gratitude?
‘Am I crazy?’
While she was thinking that, Han Sion looked toward Choe Sehui and smiled.
As if asking why she was just staring.
At the smile that seemed to beckon her over, Choe Sehui unknowingly shuffled forward.
“You’re a fan of another group, right?”
“…?! How did you know?”
“Because you came alone.”
Only then did Choe Sehui realize that among the fifty audience members, people like her were all alone.
Come to think of it, that made sense.
They had probably been browsing idol-related content and stumbled upon the Coming Up Next audience application by chance.
Since it wasn’t even their main group, they wouldn’t bother asking friends to come along; they had simply come to check out the new groups.
Han Sion had caught onto those people’s characteristics.
‘Wow, he’s incredibly perceptive.’
Even so, it was amazing.
How did he know she came alone?
Had he been observing her?
Or was it just because she was standing alone?
Her friend could have gone to the bathroom or to get autographs from others, couldn’t she?
With those thoughts, Choe Sehui received an autograph from Han Sion and had a brief conversation.
“So you’re a Drop Out fan?”
“Yes. I’m Dreaming.”
“I heard a rumor that Drop Out is making a comeback?”
“Huh? How did you know? It’s been quietly circulating among Dreaming.”
“I heard it by chance. But don’t you think this Drop Out comeback song will be amazing? Like Billboard #1 level.”
“…Billboard #1?”
“Yes. Um, I think a song with the feeling of a man who lived selfishly desperately clinging to one woman would be good.”
Han Sion laughed, haha, having said that.
But hearing it, it really did seem like a concept tailor-made for Drop Out.
Because Drop Out was the best at pulling off such things in the idol industry.
‘But really, he’s unbelievably skilled.’
She had felt it from afar, but after talking directly, his ability to lead the conversation was no joke.
The eye contact he made from time to time was also masterful.
If he held a fansign with this exact feeling, all sorts of reviews would pour onto social media.
At that moment, Han Sion returned the signed paper, smiled brightly, and said,
“I’ll look forward to you answering that you’re a fan of Drop Out and me next time we meet.”
A fox.
He was definitely a fox.
And so the audience time ended, and the staff dismissed the audience members.
As Choe Sehui left the filming set, several thoughts came to mind.
First, there had been no talk whatsoever about information control.
Usually, after such recordings, warnings were given not to leak personal photos or program results.
But Coming Up Next had none.
‘It means they’re starved for attention.’
It wasn’t a program backed by major capital, nor was it a public audition targeting the masses.
An in-house idol survival show inevitably had a clearly defined viewer demographic, so it seemed they were hoping for even noise marketing.
The next interesting thing was the competitive structure between Take Scene and Sedalbaekil.
She had only seen individual stages, and only songs sung in a karaoke room at that, so she couldn’t fully gauge them.
But overall, Take Scene felt well-trained, while Sedalbaekil had a bubbly, popping feel.
Finally….
Han Sion.
If you only looked at appearances, Iion was unmatched.
If he succeeded, it felt like he would sweep up every ion drink commercial in the world.
But Han Sion remained the most impressive.
He felt different from the other participants.
As for singing, she didn’t yet know if his vocal ability itself was outstanding, but the feeling was so good.
Even if Sedalbaekil failed, she felt like Han Sion would somehow succeed.
“Hmmm.”
After briefly being lost in thought, Choe Sehui took out her smartphone and began writing a post on a community where idol fans gathered.
Since she had spent quite a pleasant time, she intended to pull aggro as the production team wanted.
Deliberately provocative.
‘The idol scene has been boring lately, so maybe this’ll become an issue?’
Sure enough, not even a few minutes after posting, comments began pouring in.
* * *
After the karaoke room filming ended, we had coffee and bread with Take Scene at the first-floor cafe and exchanged brief words.
Of course, it wasn’t a real conversation; just appropriate greetings you could make in front of a camera.
Even that fell apart quickly, and it seemed people were only talking amongst their own team members.
“Sion-hyung, have you debuted before?”
“Why would I have? Why?”
“The way you handled fans was so professional.”
“I just tried it.”
What’s a bit funny about this format is that we were in a state where we didn’t know if the other was singing.
During that time, the audience’s evaluations had ended, and the moment we faced each other, we were met with the results.
It meant that winners and losers were decided from the very first meeting.
Praise like “I was just lucky, you sing so well” here was nothing but lip service.
Because we hadn’t even heard each other’s songs.
Rather than having us sit here blankly like this, they should have shown us the footage we just filmed together and taken reaction shots.
Hmm, am I entering a state of emotional overload again?
Frustration is bubbling up for no reason.
Maybe it’s because of Fade.
Should I poke Fade to blow off some steam?
As a brief silence lingered in the awkward atmosphere, as if forcing myself to break it, I spoke to Fade.
“Hey, do you like With’s songs?”
However, Fade’s reaction to my question was beyond imagination.
“So what? You happy you won?”
For a moment, the flustered Take Scene members tried to stop Fade, and the Sedalbaekil members were at a loss, surprised.
The staff members also stirred and looked at me.
But….
I wasn’t upset at all.
Rather, I felt delighted.
Fade was a smart guy.
To be more precise, he was the type whose brain spun and calculated incredibly fast only in matters related to his own gain.
So this wasn’t a mistake or an impulsive act.
He had already finished judging.
That no matter what he said here, it wouldn’t air.
Since it was a program made to push Take Scene, they wouldn’t broadcast him acting like a lunatic from the very first meeting.
Wouldn’t a writer or PD come soon to smooth things over?
Moreover, if Fade had really blurted it out because he couldn’t contain his anger, there would have been curses mixed in.
In other words, Fade had deliberately said that to dampen Sedalbaekil’s spirits.
Telling us to realize that no matter what results we produced, they would be the ones debuting through the broadcast.
Killing two birds with one stone, blowing off his own steam too.
Really… consistent through and through.
A guy whose brain only works fast when tormenting others.
“Haha.”
With that thought, a laugh burst out.
My reaction was so unexpected that I could feel Fade flinch in surprise.
But what could I do when I felt delighted?
Fade had thought wrong.
Right now, Han Sion’s sunk cost was far greater than Fade’s.
Ryan Entertainment would have to indulge Fade no matter what, but Coming Up Next was a bit different.
PD Gang Seok-u had already planned to release
Plus, something even I hadn’t predicted: the composer of Flowers Bloom was Chris Edward.
A Billboard top-class composer who was attempting appearance negotiations by attaching conditions related to me.
Would they give me up in this situation?
The sunk cost was too high.
Hmm, no.
In this case, the expression opportunity cost of me and Fade leaving would be more appropriate than sunk cost.
Anyway, that’s not important.
Fade, surprised by my unexpected reaction, glared again.
“What’s so funny?”
“Are you a fucking moron?”
“…!”
“Isn’t it natural to be happy when you win? Should I be sad that I won?”
“Fucking hell…!”
Such behavior was quite rare these days.
Until now, I had lived considering everything while seriously challenging 200 million album sales with GOTM.
But this life is just a passing round anyway?
Since I have things to gain, I won’t see it through to the end, but it should be okay to torment him to some extent.
“Sion-ah!”
Waving a hand at Iion, who approached fearing a fight might break out, to say it was okay, I opened my mouth toward Fade.
“Apologize. Then I’ll let it go.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll leave.”
“Are you crazy? You think you can make me leave?”
He snorted, but I could see he was uneasy.
Because my attitude was so confident, he was probably letting his imagination run wild.
Wondering if I was the son of the M-Show CEO or something.
Ah, this is too fun.
Interesting.
“No, not you. Me.”
“…Are you threatening to leave right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Crazy. You think you’re the main character? You got a mental illness?”
I do have a mental illness.
Something like regression depression.
But at this point, I might not be unable to be the protagonist, you know?
“I live in Yeoksam-dong.”
“So what?”
“You’ll have to come apologize tomorrow. I’m telling you in advance.”
Though Fade made a fuss saying this and that, I was in a good mood, so I gave him a tip too.
“Take the subway when you come. Traffic is bad.”