Damn Idol Episode 59
* * *
The issue regarding Han Sion and Wave From Flower was so shocking that it overshadowed everything else, but putting that aside, the content of Coming Up Next Episode 2 was quite substantial.
The busking content of Take Scene held in Hongdae was entertaining, and Gu Taehwan's stage was interesting as well.
Gu Taehwan sang “Iran,” a song by the American R&B superstar LAZY BOY.
—Like mentor, like disciple lololol
—Like NPC, like user lol
—I can smell Han Sion in that song choice.
The viewers didn’t react positively to the song choice at first, but once the stage actually started, it was a different story.
Gu Taehwan’s stage, where he had increased the song speed by 1.8x, was outstanding.
[At first the sped-up version was awkward, but at some point I got completely immersed.]
[Apart from the regretful overall note handling, it was full of charm.]
Along with the positive reviews, the story of Han Sion’s help was highlighted plenty.
After all, it was Han Sion who had advised him to increase the song speed.
—Wow, I admit it. Han Sion has an eye for this.
—Did he say Gu Taehwan was the best participant after seeing this in advance?
—At this level, isn’t he better than the judges?
—No, Gu Taehwan’s intro is insane. What??
In fact, by this point, some offended fans of Wave From Flower were watching Coming Up Next trying to find fault with Han Sion.
And so the second mission began.
[Winning Team.]
Han Sion, Onsaemiro, Choi Jaeseong, Kim Seongu, Sim Juwan.
[Losing Team.]
Gu Taehwan, Iion, Kim Haeun, Nam Seongil, Bak Seongju.
—lolol the Winning Team’s teamwork is already shattered.
—?? Why?
—Can’t you picture Han Sion and Onsaemiro grabbing each other by the collar fighting over main vocal?
—Agreed. Han Sion’s got an artsy superiority complex; he probably won’t show an ounce of consideration.
—You can tell just by looking that they’re going to have a crazy power struggle with Onsaemiro. Fighting to take main vocal and the important parts.
The fans of Wave From Flower drove public opinion that way, but:
[Is anyone here confident in rap?]
[I’ll do it.]
On screen, Han Sion was volunteering to be the rapper.
—lolol does that mean he’s going to take both main vocal and main rap?
—Maybe lol. Since no one wanted to do main rap, he snatched it right up.
They were baited into thinking that once again, but it was nothing of the sort.
[I’m only going to rap. Onsaemiro can take main vocal.]
[Why?]
[Because you’re…… better at it.]
[Who says that? It’s not like we’ve even sung the same song.]
Even his remark yielding the main vocal position to Onsaemiro was refreshing.
There was simply nowhere to find fault.
—What the. The NPC is nice?
—Is the Poké Ball that caught the delinquent monster now heading for Onsaemiro?
The general viewers’ reaction to Han Sion’s concession was quite favorable.
Even the reaction to the song selection, “Boy Scout,” revealed all at once, wasn’t bad.
Of course, the fans of Wave From Flower didn’t give up, but:
—lolol He’s definitely going to rearrange it however he wants and sing it again.
—Isn’t it obvious lolol?
This was all PD Gang Seokwoo’s design.
Since the Winning Team’s stage carried over into Episode 3’s runtime.
In other words, to find fault with Han Sion, they would have to watch Episode 3 with fire in their eyes too.
After that, Take Scene’s story came up once, and Kim Seongu’s interview asking if releasing a song under a streetlight wasn’t a bit much made it on air.
Along with the scene of Han Sion refusing the music release several times.
—Blatantly shameless ddd
—Those shameless bastards are forcing the edit to leech off Han Sion.
However, since general viewers still had the impression of Han Sion helping Gu Taehwan and Onsaemiro, the opinion manipulation didn’t stick.
The Episode 3 preview highlighted the B-team selection match and the competition over the last spot, and even the scene where Take Scene and the B-team encountered each other was aired.
Of course, it was a perfect angle where faces couldn’t be seen, so it was impossible to tell who the final B-team members were.
And so Episode 2 came to an end.
* * *
I think I’m going to hate filming broadcast-viewing reactions from now on.
I had to do that thing from Episode 1 again.
“Don’t swallow it, you guys.”
Right, it’s eat-and-spit.
“Hyung, the professional term for this is eat-and-spit.”
“You told me last time.”
“Ah, did you?”
After the Seoul Town Punk stage, he practiced while cutting back on sleep, so he seems a bit off.
From what I heard, Choi Jaeseong thought he was the most disappointed in himself at the Seoul Town Punk stage.
So these past few days he’s been waking up at the same time as me and practicing.
He tried to copy me tuning my vocal tone, so I told him he didn’t need to.
While I was thinking that, Episode 2 ended.
I was fairly satisfied with Episode 2’s content.
Except for the fact that I didn’t expect the content about helping Gu Taehwan to go in that long and in such detail, overall the broadcast was edited into the picture I wanted.
Of course, there were parts where they cut the context of what I said and edited it provocatively.
So there was room for me to appear as though I think poorly of Flower’s Bloom.
But whatever, it doesn’t matter.
From PD Gang Seokwoo’s perspective, it must have been an issue he couldn’t bear to miss and let pass, and he found the composer of Flower’s Bloom as well.
While I was thinking that, PD Gang Seokwoo suddenly called me and headed outside the camera’s view.
“The mic is off, right?”
“Uh, yes. It’s off.”
“You know why I edited it like that? I’m not trying to damage Mr. Han Sion’s marketability.”
What, is he making excuses with something like this?
Haven’t we already had time to figure out each other’s tendencies?
“Of course. I fully understand what you were thinking editing it this way.”
“Just bear with it for a few days. We’ll be dropping the Flower’s Bloom story together with the article that Chris Edward has joined our program.”
“Understood.”
“You’re really okay, right?”
What? Am I missing something?
“To be honest, I don’t know what you’re so worried about.”
PD Gang Seokwoo’s following words were unexpected.
It was because I would be attacked by Wave From Flower’s fans.
I know what he means, and it was something I’d kept in mind from the start.
I don’t know much about idol industry culture, but I can guess at fans’ psychology.
Wave From Flower is a group that has consistently achieved success, but they failed with their debut song.
So the debut song is fans’ only blot of failure and a past they want to erase.
I’m the one who dragged it out into the world.
Along with the nuance that if they had done a bit better, it might not have failed.
So the blame that came with it was something I could fully accept.
That’s what fan devotion toward one’s idol is, and I’ve always respected the existence that is fans.
Of course, I love the fans who buy my albums the most.
“……Mr. Han Sion. That’s not it.”
“Yes?”
“There might be fans who think that way. But that’s not the important point.”
“Then what is?”
“Ah, how should I explain this.”
“I’ll listen.”
“It’s arrogant.”
“……?”
“You dared to take our group’s song and change it however you pleased. And since anyone can see it’s the better version, it pisses them off even more.”
“……?”
“Ah, this expression is more accurate. You gave them cause to grab our kids by the hair.”
“……?”
“You don’t get it?”
“No, I understand, but…… that’s the most important thing? More than the fact that the original is a male version?”
“The general public will take interest in that. They’ll fuss over whether Han Sion’s words are true, over whether the original of Flower’s Bloom exists. But……”
PD Gang Seokwoo shrugged.
“They won’t be Wave From Flower fans, will they? Rather, the more that attention grows, the more they might hate Mr. Han Sion.”
……?
They can stand by the singer’s side and cheer to that extent?
At that level, isn’t it the realm of instinct that only the person involved could feel?
Then……
What happens if those people take my side?
While I was thinking that, PD Gang Seokwoo patted my shoulder.
“Let’s stay away from the internet for a while.”
Of course, PD Gang Seokwoo’s worry itself is useless.
I don’t get hurt by hate comments or become emotionally agitated.
But it’s truly unexpected.
Returning to the filming set slightly shaken, the Sedalbaegil members swarmed me.
I could even see Fade mocking me from afar.
“Sion. What did you talk about?”
“Ah, yes. I just talked about the reaction of Wave From Flower’s fans.”
“……Let’s stay away from the internet for a while. Tell us if you need to search for anything.”
Judging by their reactions, everyone except me seemed to have already guessed.
Shortly after, the reaction filming wrapped up and we returned to the dorm.
Sitting stiffly watching video for one hundred minutes is quite a difficult task in its own way, so break time was given.
I tried to go into my room to rest, but suddenly the door opened and the members flooded in.
“Why? Did they tell us to come out again?”
“No. It’s not that; we have something we’re curious about.”
What is there for all four of them to come ask together?
Iion seemed to be the representative, glancing at me for a moment before opening his mouth.
“Honestly, we’ve been running nonstop until now, so we haven’t looked back. The B-team selection was a one-night, three-day thing, so we were really sleepy too.”
“Yes. That was the case.”
“But watching the broadcast, I kept thinking about that time. I thought it would be a good time to share honest thoughts.”
I pride myself on being quick on the uptake, but I had no idea what the members wanted to ask.
Did I make a mistake toward these people?
I might have messed up while weighing them in my mind, but I never said any of it out loud.
While I was thinking that, Gu Taehwan picked up where Iion left off.
“Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Wave From Flower. At first I thought you were someone who craved popularity……”
“Attention seeker, attention seeker. You even asked why Ryan.”
Choi Jaeseong added with a laugh.
“Um, yeah. I thought you were an attention seeker, but after spending time with you, you’re not at all. You knew it would become an issue, right?”
“I did know.”
I was surprised by the unexpected logic of Wave From Flower fans attacking me, not that I couldn’t predict I’d be attacked.
“Then why did you do it?”
I stopped mid-answer.
No, but why do they think we’re close enough to share inner thoughts?
We’ve gotten past the awkward stage, but aren’t we not yet close enough for that?
I’m still awkward with Onsaemiro too.
Did sharing secrets after hearing about parents create an inner sense of intimacy?
“To bring the program’s center of gravity.”
“Center of gravity?”
“You know this program is one to debut Take Scene, right?”
“I know.”
“That’s why this program’s weight is tilted toward Take Scene, and it has to be tilted that way.”
“But……”
Onsaemiro, who was about to cut in with a question, hesitated.
He was probably going to say something like, “But right now the weight is tilted toward you.”
“Yeah. I brought it.”
Did I choose the top-tier girl group Wave From Flower and pick their biggest failure of a song for no reason?
I guarantee it—until this issue ends, Coming Up Next’s center of gravity is me.