Damn Idol Episode 82
* * *
Ten contestants came up onto the empty stage.
The audience that would have screamed for them had long since vanished, but somehow, it still felt as though their heat lingered.
Coming Up Next was over, but somehow, it felt as though they would have to put their heads together once more and prepare for the next mission.
While the contestants wore strange expressions amid those thoughts, CEO Choi Daeho opened his mouth.
“You’ve all worked so hard. This long journey has finally come to an end. But before we announce the results……”
Choi Daeho bowed politely to the contestants.
“In my nearly twenty years as a producer, I don’t think I’ve ever learned as much from singers as I have this time. Thank you, all of you. You were incredible.”
The ten contestants hurried to bow in return.
In the warmer atmosphere that followed, Blue, trainer Yu Seonhwa, and composer Lee Changjun also offered the contestants kind words.
At last, the scores were revealed.
Take Scene, 9,552 points.
Sedalbaegil, 9,490 points.
A difference of 62 points. Take Scene’s victory.
Fireworks burst, and the four judges applauded.
Take Scene, who had been standing there in a daze for a moment, embraced one another and began sharing the joy of victory.
Their joy was not a lie.
Of course, they had known the result from the very beginning of the program.
But the process had been brutal.
An out-of-standard monster named Han Sion had appeared, and among the remaining Sedalbaegil members, there had always been one who broke through at just the right moment.
First it had been Gu Taehwan, then On Saemiro, and this time, Lee Ion.
Because of that, even though the result had been decided, the joy struck them deeply.
In any case, they had won.
There might have been a bit of biased judging, but it was only possible because their own stage had been excellent as well.
Of course, if Han Sion had known they were thinking this, he would have been dumbfounded, but aside from Fade, the Take Scene members did not dislike Han Sion.
Not long ago, when CEO Choi Daeho had said he would recruit Han Sion, they had been a little flustered.
But once they thought of it as something already decided, anticipation began to bloom too.
They had witnessed Han Sion bring out the potential of the Sedalbaegil members several times.
On top of that, his composition skills were incredible.
And so, once the protagonists of Coming Up Next were decided to be Take Scene, the contestants began sharing their thoughts one by one.
The microphone was given to Take Scene first.
Next was Sedalbaegil’s turn.
“Contestant Han Sion?”
“Yes.”
“How do you feel?”
“It doesn’t feel real that it’s completely over. I do wonder what it would’ve been like if I’d done a little better, but…… I gave it my all, so I’m satisfied. I’d like to tell the Sedalbaegil members who worked so hard with me all this time, and Take Scene, who won with a wonderful stage, that they all did a great job.”
After saying that, Han Sion gave a small bow.
His tone was dry, but the contents of his answer were textbook.
After all, that dry atmosphere would be transformed through the magic of editing into the feeling of “holding back his disappointment.”
At that moment, CEO Choi Daeho opened his mouth.
“Actually, the Sedalbaegil members, excluding Han Sion, came to see the production team not long ago.”
Han Sion raised his head.
Then, as if hearing it for the first time, he looked at the Sedalbaegil members with a surprised expression.
But the Sedalbaegil members were calm.
They merely shrugged.
Watching them, CEO Choi Daeho continued.
“I think it would be better to show you the details through a VCR.”
And so, the VCR began to play.
It began with the Sedalbaegil members, excluding Han Sion, taking down the 8mm camera installed in the practice room.
[Is this thing working?]
[It is. It’s blinking.]
Lee Ion’s face, staring into the camera lens, filled the screen in a full shot, and then the scene changed.
In the distinctive view of a self-camera, the Sedalbaegil members were moving somewhere when Producer Kang Seoku appeared in front of them.
[Producer Kang. We have something to tell you.]
[Yes? What is it?]
[It’s a little hard to say here. Would it be possible for us to meet the judges?]
[Hmm……]
The screen, which had been focused on Producer Kang Seoku’s face, changed again.
Four judges.
Four members of Sedalbaegil.
In a wide shot of a table where eight people were seated in total, CEO Choi Daeho opened his mouth.
[I heard you had something to say.]
[Yes. We know this is rude, but there’s something we really want to say.]
[I’m not sure what it is, but…… please, speak freely.]
Lee Ion nodded and opened his mouth with a composed expression.
The words that followed flustered CEO Choi Daeho on the screen.
Because they were requesting whether, if Sedalbaegil lost, Han Sion alone could debut at least.
[Before I answer, I’m curious. Why exactly did you come to think that?]
[Because he’s too good.]
[Is that all?]
[I thought it was unreasonable. If a singer named Han Sion had stood on stage alone, what kind of result would he have created? But…… we’d already seen the answer. With “Under the Streetlamp,” “Falling Blossoms,” and “The End of Dawn.”]
[…….]
[If you remove the concept of a competition between Take Scene and Sedalbaegil, an audition program is ultimately a program that discovers stars, isn’t it?]
[I can’t deny that.]
[That’s why. If Sion could debut alone, I think we’d be truly happy, so we wanted to say this. Of course, we haven’t lost yet.]
This time, Blue, who had been sitting beside Choi Daeho, opened his mouth.
[Assuming that Sedalbaegil really is eliminated, have you never imagined all of Sedalbaegil becoming trainees so that you could debut together?]
[We have, but we don’t know how long that would take. And we don’t know what might happen during that process.]
A brief silence passed, and CEO Choi Daeho spoke again.
[I understand why you’re saying this, and I understand how warmhearted it is. But that would be difficult.]
[…….]
[Coming Up Next is, strictly speaking, a program where Take Scene and Sedalbaegil compete. Having only one of the two teams debut is our promise to the viewers.]
At that point, the VCR ended rather carelessly.
But even if the VCR had ended, the show had not.
Because CEO Choi Daeho, there on the set, opened his mouth as though continuing his own words from the VCR.
“But then a thought suddenly occurred to me. What if contestant Han Sion could debut as a member of Take Scene?”
* * *
Choi Daeho is saying something, but I can’t hear it clearly.
My thoughts are still caught on the VCR.
When did they film that?
Did they go to the production team after I told them I would be debuting as Take Scene?
To create a plausible reason and lessen the level of criticism that would pour down on me?
Or did the production team ask them to do it?
If the reason Han Sion came to debut as Take Scene was Sedalbaegil’s request, the picture would be beautiful.
Yes, that seems right.
In the actual broadcast, that VCR will probably be edited as something filmed after the final performance.
That timeline looks prettier.
Besides, it would be dangerous for Sedalbaegil to make the assumption “if we’re eliminated” before the final performance.
Sedalbaegil approached it that way because they knew Take Scene would debut, but it must not look that way to the viewers.
But in that instant, a conversation I had shared with the members surfaced in my head.
“I was sure the production team was pushing Take Scene…… but that’s not how I noticed.”
“You were a little strange. You acted like usual, but somehow you felt stiff? Not hostile, but like a turtle hiding under its shell.”
“Around then, Taehwan figured it out.”
“You’re the only one from Sedalbaegil who’s going to debut, right?”
After that, On Saemiro had definitely said this.
“Don’t worry too much about it. Us, or the viewers.”
“The viewers?”
“I’m saying you won’t be criticized by the viewers.”
“No way. The people who supported Sedalbaegil will curse me out.”
“We don’t think so.”
At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it, but it was definitely a strange choice of words.
Perhaps because On Saemiro had lived a poor life, he used defensive phrasing.
I don’t know about other people, and maybe I’m the only one who thinks this, but from my standards.
He often began by laying down that kind of premise.
But he had clearly said, “We don’t think so.”
That meant On Saemiro knew the opinion of all the members, and that it was not in the realm of guesswork.
In other words, that VCR had been filmed far earlier than I thought.
Before we had even begun preparing for the final performance in earnest.
Then their intention was……
Pure.
They really thought that way.
That Han Sion would have done far better than now if he had been alone, and they were sorry they had become a burden to him.
And.
“Sion. Did you come on this show so your parents could hear your songs from the hospital?”
“Something like that. That’s why I’d like to debut as quickly as possible, if I can.”
Because Han Sion needed to debut, they asked if I could be allowed to debut alone at least.
For a moment, my breath caught in my throat.
Not long ago, I had thought this.
The reason I felt especially comfortable with Sedalbaegil, the reason I could keep them as a good memory, was because I bore no responsibility.
Because they were not people I had chosen, I felt light.
But on the contrary, the Sedalbaegil members had felt a sense of responsibility toward me.
And they had wished for me to do well.
Of course, over the long years I had lived, many people had shown me goodwill.
There had also been many people who showed me affection I could not understand.
But almost never had that been unrelated to their own circumstances.
Unlike Sedalbaegil, who cared about my debut regardless of their own elimination.
Unlike when they visited my parents’ hospital room the day before the performance.
I felt ashamed.
I had thought Lee Ion’s tone was trash, and that Choi Jaeseong was a vocalist without distinction.
I had branded On Saemiro as a pointlessly sensitive bastard, and I had thought Gu Taehwan would have been eliminated from Coming Up Next if I had not found his key point for him.
As time passed, those thoughts had softened, but the fact that I had treated them that way did not change.
Then CEO Choi Daeho presented the choice.
He said he had asked the Take Scene members for their opinions, and that they had agreed as well.
So now, only my decision remained.
“Will you accept Sedalbaegil’s elimination? Or will you follow the members’ wishes and join Take Scene?”
Sedalbaegil’s elimination.
If I chose that, it would feel as though everything we had achieved as Sedalbaegil turned to nothing.
Following the members’ wishes and joining Take Scene.
If I chose that, it would feel as though, thanks to Sedalbaegil’s excellent stage, I had seized a small measure of success.
CEO Choi Daeho had chosen those words deliberately.
So it would look good to the viewers, so the production team would not be cursed at, so there would be no noise around Take Scene’s activities.
He had calculated it that way, presenting my options with political rhetoric.
But to me, heavier than any of those options is the hand now resting on my shoulder.
I know without turning my head.
Lee Ion, standing on my right, has placed his hand on my shoulder, and Gu Taehwan, standing on my left, is patting my back.
They are telling me not to hesitate.
They are telling me to move forward.
But……
I am someone who cannot move forward.
Someone trapped in nonlinear time, walking in place forever.
So.
“Just go for it. The public may seem indifferent at a glance, but they absolutely aren’t.”
“There will be so many people in the world who recognize the essence contained in your music. Just like I did.”
Once should be all right.
“I will accept elimination.”
I did not choose one of the options CEO Choi Daeho offered me.
I chose a new option.
That no matter what difficulties there may be, we will all debut together as Sedalbaegil.