Damn Idol Chapter 63
Still, it wasn’t as if I truly hated Eddie.
Up until just a few days ago, I’d been suffering from severe regression depression, but hearing that Eddie was coming as a judge had actually helped change my mood.
His insane behavior was so absurd that it left me dumbfounded.
“Edward!”
Just then, Producer Go—no, Producer Kim Dalin—approached and whispered something to Eddie.
Eddie shrugged, said goodbye to me, and disappeared. This time, Producer Kim spoke to me.
“Contestant Han Sion.”
“Yes.”
“If you chat too much with a judge in private, it could make the other teams anxious about biased judging.”
No, why was he saying that to me?
Eddie was the one who came over and started talking.
“I’ll be careful.”
“And Way From Flower says they’d like to film some content with you. What do you think?”
“Something like a talk show?”
“No. It’s called
That sounded good.
It would be a path that brought me at least one step closer to debuting.
And I could also show a proper live performance to the people saying my singing ability was all correction.
“I’ll appear.”
“Good. For reference, our filming crew will be going along too.”
“Understood.”
It was rare for audition contestants to appear on other variety programs, but if the situation was right, it wasn’t impossible.
Besides, it was YouTube content.
As I was thinking that, Producer Kim Dalin kept loitering around me even though the conversation was over.
I looked at him, wondering if he had something else to say, and he suddenly held out a piece of paper.
“Just one autograph……”
Where did the person who’d just been talking about biased judging go?
No wonder Producer Kang Seokwoo called him a walking headache.
I was giving him a stylish signature when a staff member gestured for us to hurry and get on the bus.
Today was the day the Coming Up Next contestants were doing a pictorial shoot.
They couldn’t exactly shoot a pictorial in Pocheon, so apparently we were going to a studio somewhere in Apgujeong.
“Everyone’s aboard!”
At the staff member’s shout, I got on the bus, and all the contestants except me were already seated.
Maybe because I’d arrived late, there weren’t many seats left.
The only ones remaining were next to Choi Jaeseong and Fade.
“Hyung.”
Choi Jaeseong called me and patted the seat beside him, as if he’d saved it for me.
Hmm.
I knew people called me Hipsion.
I didn’t know exactly what “hip” meant, but it seemed to mean enjoying choices other people didn’t make.
Then I should live up to their expectations, right?
“Hi?”
“……!”
When I sat down next to Fade, I felt everyone’s heads whip around.
It had only been a little while since the two of us had fought while cursing each other out.
“You, why……”
Fade also stammered, apparently at a loss for what to say.
Or not?
Maybe he wanted to curse me out, but there were too many eyes watching, so he malfunctioned while holding it in?
In any case, Fade seemed unable to understand why I had sat next to him.
It wasn’t something I’d planned either.
But I did have a reason.
I wanted to remind Fade what kind of relationship he and I had.
Fade had picked a fight based on his influence over the program, and I had accepted it nice and clean.
It had become a situation where either Fade apologized or I left the show.
Everyone must have thought it was an absurd fight, but the one who apologized was Fade.
After that, the fact that we’d acted like we didn’t see each other wasn’t because I had avoided Fade.
Fade had avoided me.
After all, I still had Fade’s apology video on my phone, and the program’s buzz was stemming from me.
But lately, I’d noticed Fade prodding the members of Sedalbaegil.
Not openly, but in a subtly unpleasant way.
It was obvious what kind of thoughts were inside the heads of guys like this.
A sense of superiority, wanting to prove that even if he was being pushed back by Han Sion, he wasn’t being pushed back by the rest of them.
An inferiority complex, wanting to vent on the members of Sedalbaegil the humiliation he’d suffered from me.
Really, he was consistent.
Strangely enough, I couldn’t remember the details of my activities during my For The Youth days, but I did remember what kind of guys the members had been back then.
Especially Fade, who had been the worst.
The bus started moving, and the people who had been staring at Fade and me turned their heads away.
Since Fade and I were sitting in the very back row of the bus, their gazes disappeared fairly quickly too.
Then Fade took out his phone, typed a message, and showed it to me.
[Move over while I’m asking nicely.]
Seeing that he wrote the message but didn’t send it, he must have thought I had some meticulous plan.
I didn’t have anything like that.
Ah, maybe I’d been influenced by Eddie.
Because I’d lived for too long, with too many personalities, through too many different lives, there were times when I unknowingly imitated the behavior of people around me.
When I talked with Eddie, the personality from a round where I’d lived recklessly like Eddie came out. When I faced Fade, the shady personality that manipulated others from behind the scenes came out.
At any rate, all regressors were sensitive bastards with temperaments that boiled over like porridge.
Ah, of course, I’m talking about myself.
I’d never seen any other regressor besides me.
[Let’s get along ^^b]
When I sent Fade a message in cringe old-man texting style, his face began to rot.
Well, I wasn’t going to provoke him any further than this.
Fade was the kind of guy who was sensitive to implicit hierarchies and influence within a group.
This much should be enough for him to understand the message that he should stop acting up and live quietly from now on.
* * *
Dance, singing, face, body, patience, mentality, stamina……
There were many standards by which an idol was evaluated, and many methods for improving those standards.
Dance and singing skills could be improved through steady training, and appearance could be improved through surgery or procedures.
A capable manager could be assigned to manage patience, and a psychological counseling expert could be assigned to manage mental health.
But there was just one thing.
It was an extremely important criterion for an idol, yet an element that was difficult to improve after birth.
Talent for performance—“kki.”
Kki was difficult to define, but it was generally described as immersion.
How deeply one could immerse oneself in the situation onstage, and how well one could deliver that immersion to the audience.
That was why, every so often, a great actor was born from among idols.
Acting could be learned, but immersing oneself in a character was an innate talent.
“And so, that is why today’s pictorial shoot is taking place.”
They’d seen singing, dancing, and the stage.
Then, among the ten contestants, who had the most kki?
Who would become the most charming subject in front of the camera?
It was time to determine that.
“Um, Producer. Didn’t you say this would be a light pictorial shoot?”
“Where would you find a light shoot on a survival program?”
“Then are you evaluating us too, by any chance?”
“Of course.”
The three photographers in charge of today’s shoot would be evaluating Take Scene and Sedalbaegil.
On top of that, in order of their rankings, they would be able to choose the stage devices for the next mission.
Once Producer Kang Seokwoo finished explaining, groans rose from among the contestants.
They’d arrived at the studio with a light heart, only for it to suddenly become an important mission.
But soon, Take Scene and Sedalbaegil accepted reality and began putting their heads together to think about their outfit concepts.
Today’s pictorial would be shot in two versions, and the first would be self-styled outfits the members chose themselves.
In other words, they had to decide on the concept of “the team as we see ourselves.”
As for the second version, needless to say, it was a concept that smelled like money.
Because a pictorial book would be released in collaboration with a famous magazine.
‘Take Scene has the advantage for self-styled outfits. They must have held this kind of concept meeting several times.’
Just as Producer Kang Seokwoo thought, Take Scene began pouring out ideas in an instant.
They simply hadn’t debuted yet; they were a group that already had everything prepared.
However, surprisingly, Sedalbaegil also presented some fairly good ideas.
“We should bring time travel into it, right?”
“Shouldn’t we? It’s not like we can suddenly think up a different concept here……”
“But I don’t think time travel really has any symbolic items.”
“How about pocket watches?”
“Oh, that’s good. Anything else?”
“Umbrellas!”
“Ah, because time travel is still travel, first of all?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm…… Okay. Let’s write it down for now. If it’s travel, would things like a compass or a map work too?”
“I think that’d be strange. Umbrellas can be used in any era, but maps only show specific places, right? As for a compass…… I’m not sure.”
“If it’s ambiguous, we should leave it out.”
As Producer Kang Seokwoo watched Sedalbaegil’s idea meeting, he couldn’t help but recall Seoul Town Funk, the song from the previous mission.
In truth, he had thought Sedalbaegil would stumble during the
Why?
‘Because of Han Sion.’
Han Sion was a genius.
And ordinary geniuses usually could not understand why ordinary people couldn’t do things like they could.
It also didn’t seem likely that the members of Sedalbaegil would obediently follow Han Sion’s orders.
But what had actually happened?
Han Sion had shown none of the eccentricity of a genius and had respected the members’ opinions.
He had even, at times, been scolded by the members.
At the same time, the members of Sedalbaegil entrusted every musical aspect, aside from song selection, to Han Sion.
As a result, an incredible stage called Seoul Town Funk had been born.
It had yet to air, but Producer Kang Seokwoo was certain Seoul Town Funk would become a turning point for the program.
Until now, more than ninety percent of the program’s buzz had been concentrated on Han Sion.
In fact, the buzz Han Sion held was so massive that Coming Up Next sometimes didn’t even feel like a survival program.
But the moment Seoul Town Funk was released, it would start to feel like a survival between the two teams.
It would be impossible to erase the feeling of
‘It really is fascinating. How can someone with that kind of talent be so skilled at this?’
To Kang Seokwoo’s eyes, Han Sion was not an eccentric genius, but a genius who knew how to embrace everyone.
Watching him set up a solo stage, one would never think so, but when he set up a team stage, he knew how to harmonize.
Even now, Lee Ion was leading the meeting, but Han Sion was supporting him appropriately.
Then, all of a sudden, Han Sion began putting forward a strange opinion.
“I’d like it if only Ion hyung’s pocket watch was a different color. Ours silver, and hyung’s about purple? Gray instead of purple would be fine too.”
“Huh? Why?”
“It’s too long to explain the reason here.”
“Even briefly.”
“On the bus ride here earlier, I finished arranging Eddie…… Ward’s song.”
“Oh, really? Can you let us hear it?”
“I only finished it in my head. Anyway, after finishing the arrangement, I thought it would be nice to use pocket watches as stage props.”
“Ah, so that’s why you mentioned pocket watches right away?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…… Then let me ask just one thing.”
Lee Ion looked at Han Sion and asked.
“Is this Hipsion, or Godsion?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking whether wanting to make the pocket watch a different color is Hipsion or Godsion.”
“……
It feels a little weird to say with my own mouth.”
“So it’s Godsion. Okay. Then I’ll accept it.”
Sedalbaegil, having finished coordinating opinions in an instant, immediately began deciding on their outfits.
Listening quietly, it seemed they intended to make every member’s outfit different.
Lee Ion would wear a British suit from the Industrial Revolution era.
Gu Taehwan would wear hanbok from the Joseon Dynasty.
Choi Jaeseong would wear a South Korean high school uniform.
On Saemiro would wear a racing suit with a near-future feel.
Han Sion would wear American retro fashion from the seventies and eighties.
They were truly all over the place.
But because the designs were so different, the colors used in the outfits would be perfectly unified.
On top of that, they would all wear identical pocket watches to add a sense of unity.
Because it was a time travel concept, they were trying not to specify any single era.