Damn Idol Episode 36
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Gu Taehwan knew that he was exceptionally quick-witted.
He could quickly pick up on the secrets and weaknesses others wanted to hide, and he could also quickly catch what someone wanted from him.
There had been times when he was young where being too quick-witted caused problems.
In elementary school, he noticed that his homeroom teacher was scolding a friend not because the friend had done something wrong, but because the teacher was in a bad mood.
So he had asked the homeroom teacher why she was taking her anger out on his friend, and...
"Y-you insolent little bastard!"
He had been cursed at until her face turned beet red.
And that wasn't all.
He had asked a group of friends who hung out together, "You guys all hate each other, so why are you pretending to like each other?" and been ostracized.
After such incidents kept repeating, his father taught him to reduce his words and to think three times before speaking.
Thanks to that, he had lived without issue ever since.
He had also learned that picking up on something and voicing it were entirely different matters.
So Gu Taehwan was confident when it came to reading people.
But...
"I really don't know."
Han Sion was someone he couldn't figure out.
He had never met someone so impossible to read.
Even now was the same.
After clashing with Fade, Han Sion sat in the cafe without showing much change in expression, but...
"...Is it just my imagination that he looks like he's in a good mood?"
It was absolutely not a situation where he should be in a good mood.
Bzzzt
—Just then, the buzzer signaling their drinks were ready rang, and as Gu Taehwan stood up from his seat, Choi Jaeseong hurriedly stood up as well.
"Hyung, I'll go."
"Let's go together."
The members of Sedalbaegil were currently at a cafe not far from the filming location.
No cameras, no staff—a visit just among themselves.
Originally, there was more filming after the karaoke mission, but it had been halted when Han Sion and Fade fought.
'But was it even a fight?'
Han Sion had responded as if he had been waiting for Fade to pick a fight.
And then he had thoroughly trampled and mocked Fade.
'He looked far too used to it.'
Gu Taehwan had been bewildered to see Han Sion look so accustomed to crushing someone underfoot.
He definitely didn't seem like that kind of person...
Fade, who had initiated the intimidation, had poured out curses to hide his surprise, but—
In the end, Han Sion had one-sidedly mocked him, and the fight ended just like that.
The problem was that logically, the situation didn't make sense.
There was no doubt that Han Sion was a very capable participant.
But if Coming Up Next had to choose one between a member of Take Scene and Han Sion?
Naturally, Han Sion would be the one to get eliminated.
Then what on earth was he counting on to act like that?
'Does he have backing at the broadcasting station?'
But if that were the case, shouldn't he have made a call or sent a message to someone after the situation ended?
Han Sion merely sat still, observing Fade as he fumed.
As if evaluating just how angry he was.
It was really strange.
And Gu Taehwan had felt this strangeness from the very beginning.
During the filming of the Team B selection.
The other participants hadn't seemed to notice, but Han Sion had been listless from start to finish.
He seemed to feel bored by everything and regard it all as trivial.
Yet the moment he stepped onto the stage for the preliminary mission, the vibe he gave off completely changed.
He sang "Under the Streetlight," and it sounded like a completely different person was singing.
But the moment the stage ended, he became a different person yet again.
He exuded an arrogance that seemed to be evaluating the judges' comments, then showed a polite, grateful demeanor.
Gu Taehwan had never seen someone whose vibe shifted so drastically in an instant.
So he had kept observing Han Sion.
Since Han Sion was obviously going to pass, Gu Taehwan had thought that if he passed too, they might end up on the same team.
But even after observing him all this time, he still couldn't figure him out.
It had been the same when Han Sion helped with the first mission.
Han Sion had definitely helped him to the best of his ability, but he didn't seem very interested in the result the stage produced.
He would suddenly become depressed, get angry at the team members, then prepare for the second mission with burning passion again.
Then when Gu Taehwan was competing for the last spot on Team B, Han Sion had subtly helped Gu Taehwan so that he could pass.
Gu Taehwan really couldn't understand.
He wondered if it was because Han Sion was a genius, but it also seemed separate from musical talent...
'Ah!'
There was exactly one consistent attitude.
He didn't know why, but Han Sion really loved it when Gu Taehwan said, "I will do my best."
Gu Taehwan had even said it a few times on purpose.
It was still too soon to call them friends, but he was a truly strange friend.
"Taehwan-hyung? Shall I carry them?"
"Uh, no. I'll carry this. Can you carry that?"
"Yes."
As they returned to their seats with the coffee, I Ion held out his smartphone.
"Taehwan and Jaeseong, give me your numbers too. I'll make a group chat and post them as an announcement."
"Yes."
"Yes!"
After saving every member's number, I Ion made a group chat, then broke the ice with some light conversation.
"What did you all do after the team selection? We had a few days of free time."
"I practiced because I felt anxious."
"Me too."
To Gu Taehwan, I Ion didn't seem like the type to step forward and take charge of a situation.
But it seemed he had taken the members to the cafe out of a sense of responsibility as the eldest.
After the light conversation had made its rounds, I Ion got to the main point.
"Well, you all know why we're here today, right? I'm not used to this kind of thing, so I beat around the bush too much?"
"It's because of what happened with Fade earlier, right? But I'm really fine."
Everyone's eyes turned to Han Sion.
"What's fine?"
"Fade will come apologize tomorrow, so it's fine. I won't be eliminated."
"Are you sure? You told the PD you were going to leave earlier."
"To be exact, I said I'd leave if Fade didn't apologize. An apology is easy, isn't it?"
At Han Sion's answer, I Ion voiced the thought everyone had been thinking.
"It's a sensitive question, so you don't have to answer, but... do you have some connection at the broadcasting station?"
"No? Of course not."
"Then how are you so sure? Because of the 'Under the Streetlight' track distribution?"
"That plays a small part too. But more than that, I just have a feeling."
Han Sion seemed to have some thoughts in mind, but he didn't look like he planned to share them with the members.
It could be a complicated and difficult reason to explain.
A brief silence fell, and surprisingly, it was Onsaemiro who broke it.
"Do you think it wouldn't matter even if you got eliminated?"
"Not really? Why?"
"You never know what will happen in life. It's not like the probability is 100%, but you don't seem to care much."
"I believe it's 100%."
"...That's a relief, then."
The atmosphere warmed up slightly at Onsaemiro's last words.
Because Onsaemiro had appeared to be worried about Han Sion.
But to Gu Taehwan, the emotional undercurrent seemed too ambiguous to call worry, and the conversation had been subtly precarious.
If just a few words had been chosen differently, the tone would have changed completely.
'Does Onsaemiro want to compete with Han Sion?'
It seemed possible.
Gu Taehwan had never sung as well as those two, so he wouldn't know, but they were both skilled.
"Right. Sion probably has his own thoughts, and there might be something difficult to explain to us. Shall we stop talking about this?"
At I Ion's attempt to change the atmosphere, Choi Jaeseong tactfully cut in.
"But Hyung, I Ion. I've always been curious about something."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Have you ever met someone better looking than you, even once in your life?"
"Of course."
"When? Where?"
"At a movie premiere."
"...No way, the actors' stage greeting?"
"Yeah."
"..."
"Why?"
"No. It's nothing."
Gu Taehwan, who had been listening, added a comment.
"You really are handsome."
"Oh, thanks. Taehwan, you too."
The finishing touch was Han Sion's barely audible whisper.
"By the way, everyone."
"Hmm?"
"You know the people at the other tables are listening to our conversation, right?"
It was only natural.
If even just I Ion walked in, everyone would stare, and now there were four quite handsome men on top of that.
The members made slightly embarrassed expressions and changed the subject.
After that, the members of Sedalbaegil chatted away far longer than expected.
The biggest contributor was undoubtedly Choi Jaeseong.
Unlike the typical youngest member who would act cute and cling to his hyungs, Choi Jaeseong was not that type.
Instead, he had a talent for bringing up conversation topics that were difficult for the hyungs to broach first, as if it were no big deal.
It seemed somewhat intentional, yet at the same time, it didn't seem to fall under the realm of calculation.
It was instinctive.
He had a high social intelligence for reading the room.
"Ah, right. Hyungs. I saw this while on my phone in the bathroom earlier."
"What is it?"
"I'll just post the link in the group chat."
The link Choi Jaeseong posted appeared to be a filming review posted by one of today's audience members on an idol community.
There were quite a few comments, and surprisingly, Han Sion was the one who reacted with the most interest to the fans' responses.
"Lion's Den...? Ah, is this what people call Lion Entertainment?"
"Yeah. That's what people call it."
"Why is M Show called Ssaeng Show?"
"Ah, because in the early days, the music show was famous for Balka. They don't do that now, though."
"Balka...?"
"...Hyung. Do you not monitor communities at all?"
"Yeah. I've never done it."
Still, it felt a bit like talking to an elderly person.
Anyway, what mattered wasn't the title but the content.
In particular, the author had evaluations for both Take Scene and Sedalbaegil, and the evaluation categories themselves were simple.
Skipping Take Scene and looking only at Sedalbaegil...
-[Gu Taehwan]
Visuals: Seems like a style that depends on taste because of the jawline, probably fluctuates between 6 or 9 points.
Skill: Seemed a bit unstable when the notes went up? The feel was good so 7.5?
Vibe: Unlike his looks, the vibe seemed kinda docile. Might appeal to people who like imbalance, but for me, 6.
-[Onsaemiro]
Visuals: Seems like he got a clumsy tan because he doesn't care, but if he gets some camera massage and takes care of himself, he'd shoot right up. Right now, 7.5.
Skill: It's because he's next to Juyeon, who gave a 10, but seems like he's a 9.
Vibe: No particularly striking feel. 7.
-[I Ion]
Visuals: 100 out of 10. The supreme among real-life visuals I've seen while stanning on Dolpan.
Skill: 7-8? Sang decently.
Vibe: Couldn't read the vibe. Just fucking dazzling. Can't give a score.
-[Han Sion]
Visuals: This one too, if you look purely at visuals, seems like he'd depend on taste. 8.5?
Skill: Sang a pretty easy old song so his skill didn't show, but it was really nice to listen to. Ah, it's hard to give a score. 8-8.5?
Vibe: The vibe the person gave off was fucking incredible. The way he treated the audience gave me major fan tingles. 10.
-[Choi Jaeseong]
Visuals: Looked a bit young. Around 7.5?
Skill: As a listener I felt like I was out of breath, but he sang comfortably. 8?
Vibe: Didn't feel anything special. 7.
I was going to write in more detail, but I shortened it because I'm writing on my phone on the subway.
Anyway, this looks pretty fun, so if you watch the broadcast...
—The comments below the post were more negative than positive.