“ㅡDohee told me to stall for time...!”
Kim Seoyun turned her head and looked at me.
“That’s seriously that Do Rahee bitch, isn’t it?”
***
In the end, Sera was dragged out of the bathroom after Seoyun’s tirade.
While Seoyun went to wash up, the preview and opening came to an end.
‘Nothing much so far.’
Baekhwi had merely flashed by in the preview.
The only thing of note was how they kept mentioning Seven, emphasizing just how amazing this program was.
‘Still, there’s no need to worry over this much.’
Perhaps because the tension had eased, I began to yawn.
‘Should I just go to sleep...?’
Then a delicate voice came from beside me.
“Dohee, are you sleepy...?”
I turned toward the source of the sound and saw Sera poking her head out of the room.
“Should we sleep together...?”
“No, it’s okay. You go to sleep first.”
At my firm answer, Sera’s expression immediately fell, and she trudged back into the room.
Meanwhile, the background music on the TV changed, and Episode One began in earnest alongside a familiar caption.
A ranking platform lavishly decorated in shades of blue.
[Huh? Are we first?]
[Kinda feels good, being first. Should we just plop ourselves down in first place?]
The format was familiar and dull.
I kept yawning.
“Yaaawn...”
Once again, that delicate voice reached me.
“Dohee, are you sleepy...?”
“A little.”
Sera trudged back into the room again, her expression falling.
This time, Seoyun emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head, grumbling.
“Wow, even more hair fell out. Am I going bald at this rate?”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Wow, I’m telling you, you really have to bleach your hair to understand! It’s not just the hair loss—no matter how much I dry it, it just won’t dry. Ahh...”
I ignored her, having heard the same complaints endlessly since she bleached her hair. Seoyun continued to mutter.
—Rahee doesn’t even worry about her big sister... Sigh... I raised her wrong...
Then she dropped heavily onto the sofa.
“Rahee. So, has Kang Sihwan appeared yet?”
“He will eventually.”
Kang Sihwan was a trainee under Top East who had joined this season, a contestant the same age as Seoyun.
Naturally, since he had spent his trainee years practicing alongside us, he was someone we had become acquainted with over time.
“I hope he does well. He really worked hard, too.”
“Well, everyone worked hard.”
It was good when someone from the company did well.
“Rahee, have you caught the cool-girl disease?”
“As if you’re one to talk.”
As Seoyun and I chatted alone for the first time in a while while watching the broadcast, most of the contestants had already taken their places.
[Where do you think they’ll be from this time?]
[They’ll be from there, right? There.]
The logo of our company, Top East, appeared on the electronic display.
“Kang Sihwan’s coming out.”
The scene changed, and captions introducing our company appeared.
First, images of our seniors passed by.
Then the focus shifted to a cutscene of the trainees talking.
[Two people from Top East debuted in Season Three.]
[Ah, Senior Seoyun and Senior Dohee, right?]
A two-shot of the two of us appeared, along with Seven’s concept photo.
“But, unni.”
“Hmm?”
“Even you admit I’m really pretty, right? Honestly, even I think I’m insane.”
“You are insane.”
“You too, unni.”
“As if you’re anywhere near my level.”
As we continued our childish argument, it was soon time for the Top East trainees to take their seats on the ranking platform.
“So who’s that next to Kang Sihwan? Kim Ijun?”
“No idea. Maybe a trainee who joined the company last year.”
Only one seat remained.
When the final turn arrived, the contestants began to murmur.
[Who do you think it’ll be?]
[Probably one of the Big Four agencies. Last time, three of them—JS, ZY, and Haru—participated.]
[No way. If those people show up, that’s totally unfair.]
‘They’re coming.’
Boom—
Along with a sound effect, the ZY logo appeared on the electronic display.
An introduction to the many artists under ZY began, including Chaerin, a member of Seven who had come from ZY.
And when the introduction to ZY ended, Baekhwi appeared on screen, having a pre-interview with the production staff.
[Hello. I’m Baekhwi, a first-year trainee.]
[Q: As a trainee from a major agency, what do you think your strengths are?]
[Ah, I...]
They were laying the groundwork with a fairly ordinary conversation.
The production staff flipped through his documents, then spoke in an exaggeratedly surprised tone.
[Q: Baekhwi, is it true that you’re (bleep—) and (bleep—) with a member of Seven?]
[Ah, yes.]
The scene was skipped, and Baekhwi was shown entering the set to the reactions of the other contestants.
Suddenly, I felt a force tugging at my cheek.
Kim Seoyun was pulling on it.
“Relax your face. Don’t worry. Your big sister will take care of everything! Huh!?”
Apparently, I had unknowingly been frowning.
“What are you talking about? And I’m not worried. What can I do when being born pretty is my fault?”
Seoyun made an exasperated face, but she would never know that I acted this way because I didn’t want to make the people around me worry.
‘If I were even nice on top of having this personality... Sigh.’
Anyway, all the contestants had now entered the set.
All that remained was the MC’s hosting and the grade evaluations.
As expected, MC Jin Taeseop appeared to applause and gave a speech about how incredible this program was, raising the contestants’ spirits.
And finally, it was our turn to appear.
[Now, let’s meet the people who have come out today as representatives of the Chuseo-nims!]
The Season Three title track, “I’m Falling for You,” rang out across the stage, and a caption appeared.
[Waaaaaah—!]
The members’ entrance scene was replayed several times, highlighted for emphasis.
Then came the contestants’ interviews.
[Waha... I was so happy. Seriously!]
[When they came here and stood right in front of us, I’m not even joking—I saw them and my legs started shaking so badly.]
I had tried to remain composed in front of Seoyun, but I couldn’t help frowning for a moment.
[My mouth was stretched all the way up to here. Ah, they were so beautiful.]
[They’re really something in person... Can I say this? They’re all seriously insane.]
Because of Baekhwi’s interview, which was completely out of place and had appeared at an obviously random moment.
[I was really happy to see her again after so long.]
The scene returned to the set, split into two: Baekhwi cheering excitedly and me entering the set at the same time.
‘I thought they’d just call us childhood friends and leave it at that.’
Still, this much was fine.
It was tame enough that the fans would probably just assume we had been friends.
But the editing grew more and more excessive.
This time, they inserted the pre-interview with Baekhwi that had earlier been bleeped out.
The female writer’s voice could be heard.
[Baekhwi, a member of Seven...]
One by one, images of the Seven members passed across the screen. At last, it stopped on me.
[Is it true that you’re childhood friends with Lee Dohee?]
And then, immediately afterward, came a scene from my interview.
“This is that interview, right? The encouragement interview for the new-season contestants.”
“Yeah.”
Even the room’s interior was the same.
The chair I had been sitting in was the same, too.
There was no doubt.
“But why are they suddenly showing that?”
The encouragement I had offered the contestants was something along the lines of:
‘Even things you would normally accomplish easily might not go smoothly, and you may feel like your body isn’t keeping up with your mind. Still, I hope you won’t give up on this precious opportunity and will see it through to the end.’
I had tried to phrase it appropriately so that I wouldn’t sound arrogant.
But just as Seoyun asked in puzzlement, what was being broadcast from that interview scene now was a question the production staff had suddenly asked in the middle of it.
[Q: I heard you’re childhood friends with this season’s contestant, Baekhwi.]
Naturally, I had answered while maintaining an appropriate distance.
[Ah, yes. Our mothers were friends in school, so we naturally came to know each other.]
A perfectly plain answer.
But when the screen returned to the set, it showed a close-up of me stepping onto the stage.
The scene of me standing onstage and looking at the contestants.
At the same time, the footage kept cutting back and forth between Baekhwi and me, edited to make it seem as though we were looking into each other’s eyes.
Finally, it returned to a close-up of me, smiling faintly.
Then a low narration played.
[Precious.]
“......”
Seoyun cautiously opened her mouth.
“Did you really answer like that...?”
It was obviously malicious editing.
Especially the word “precious” in the final “She’s my friend. Precious.” It was clearly taken from and edited together with the encouragement interview.
“Are you okay...?”
As a result, the relationship between Baekhwi and me as portrayed on the broadcast had been made to seem special.
I calmly took out my phone and searched my name.
Then I opened the news tab.
[JUSTDOL’s former Season One winner Lee Dohee, “A Special Relationship with a Season Four Contestant”] — 1 minute ago
[What is the story behind Seven’s popular girl-group member Lee Dohee facing and smiling at a contestant on the new season of JUSTDOL?] — 1 minute ago
[The Contestant Who Claims to Have Been Childhood Friends with Lee Dohee] — 1 minute ago
Articles had already gone up almost instantly, as though they had been prepared in advance.
“Yeah. I’m really okay.”
What a fucking mess.