Chaerin unnie brightened at the way Yeeun unnie handled the high note.
"Yeeun! That's so good?"
"Hehe... Thank you."
Yeeun unnie smiled happily at Chaerin unnie's praise.
Just earlier, when she came out of the bathroom, she had been sniffling on the verge of tears.
Whether she was simple-minded or just positive.
Still, it was a relief that she had clearly improved...
For now, I had to keep trying.
"Then let's try again~"
Sure enough, after repeating the practice a few times, the effect seemed to have worn off already, and Yeeun unnie started going off-key again.
- I'm charming like an It girl
- Hold me tight~↗oh↘ -
The problem was that the team members praised her too much.
That's why the effect wore off.
"Again..."
I was about to shout for Yeeun unnie to try again, pushing her harder, when I saw the unnies collapsed from exhaustion.
Their faces looked completely drained.
'Did I push the practice too much at my own pace?'
It seemed they were exhausted from repeating the live stage practice without rest.
Well, even in the tier 1 class, the only one who could keep up with my tempo was Hana unnie, who had been a pro.
"Shall we rest a bit?"
Color returned to the unnies' faces.
On the other hand, Yeeun unnie's face turned pale.
"I can do it well!"
So what.
"Everyone looks tired, so I think it's better to rest for a bit. Yeeun unnie, let's go to the bathroom together~"
Yeeun unnie's body trembled.
How much could I have possibly hounded her for her to make such a fuss?
I just said a word or two to get her to work hard.
"Hurry up~"
Yeeun unnie, standing still as if turned to stone, was grabbed by the hand and dragged along by me.
.
.
.
- Hold me tight~↗oh↗ -
A clean, clear, beautiful voice.
Her volume was good, too.
After repeating it several times, I realized.
To draw out unnie's ability, what was needed was to push Yeeun unnie to her limit, whether by external pressure or her own will.
If I kept encouraging her without hounding her, unnie, brimming with confidence, could show her ability of her own accord.
Still, hounding her was easier.
Encouraging her took forever.
So I decided to use encouragement for broadcast in front of cameras, and hounding for off-camera.
It was a relief that main vocal Yeeun unnie was a 16-year-old middle schooler only a year apart from me.
If the age gap had been much bigger, it would have been uncomfortable to care for her while worrying about society's gaze.
"Our Yeeun is doing so well~"
The unnies were showering Yeeun unnie with praise.
They shouldn't do that.
You have to praise her occasionally; if you keep doing it, the effect wears off...
It can't be helped.
Until she can do well on her own, my care will be needed, won't it?
Without knowing I was thinking this, Yeeun unnie giggled at the unnies' praise.
She'll start getting cocky again soon.
But why do the corners of my lips keep going up?
***
[Web Sent]
☆Mwave Live Audience Taping Notice☆
Congratulations on being selected for the live studio audience.
※Taping Details
- Date: 2022.06.18 (Sat)
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Since you were selected as a voting attendee, please reply to the number below only if you cannot attend.
- Staff 010-xxxx-xxxx
'So I actually won.'
Ryu Hobom was bewildered.
This was how it started.
A salaryman in his thirties, he had finished work as usual and sat at his desk, eating the snacks and drinking the beer he'd bought on his way home while watching YouTube.
"Nothing to watch."
He habitually clicked on YouTube's trending videos and was browsing when his eyes caught a thumbnail of several girls smiling brightly.
'Ah, this is it.'
It was the topic of conversation that had been mentioned at the company for the past few days.
Out of curiosity, he clicked the video.
'Oh... They're pretty. They're all cute.'
But that was it.
After turning thirty, he didn't really feel any charm from idols.
They were from a different world anyway.
But encountering Just Dol 3 didn't end with just that one time.
Perhaps because of the video he clicked that day, Just Dol 3 videos began appearing occasionally in his YouTube Shorts, and he liked the bright atmosphere enough to watch them to the end.
Also, while surfing internet communities, he came across Just Dol posts fairly often.
As he continued to be exposed to related videos and posts.
Before he knew it, his eyes went to one girl.
A girl showing off her charisma at the center.
'So that's why she's the center.'
Having learned her name through community posts, he became curious about what Lee Dohee did and looked her up on Tree Wiki.
He also entered the Just Dol 3 community and searched for posts about Lee Dohee.
[Profile dropped) Topist Lee Dohee]
[Profile]
Lee Dohee #IonSweatAdvertisingModel
Date of Birth- 2008.02.04
MBTI- ESTP
Height- 167.5
Trainee period- 3 years 7 months
Hobby- Sleeping
Specialty- Piano
(Profile photo1).....(Profile photo13)
└ Dope
└ Wow fucking pretty, damn
└ Fucking pretty lol
└ Just debut already
└ What is this season's Topist damn
└ Perfection itself... Perfect
└ ESTP? Must have no manners
└ What's with the trainee period? 3 years 7 months at age 15 damn, so she started at 11?
└ Then she must be good?
└ Dunno. Season 1 had plenty of kids with 5+ years but lots who were bad
└ Perfect, just make her the center
└ But specialty piano??? Didn't a so-called classmate of Dohee's on Twitter say she won a bunch of piano competitions?
└ No, you're mistaken. There are shitloads of competitions, so they're easy to win. The hard ones you're thinking of are major contests
└ Ah, really? Didn't know. Still, a trainee who's good at piano is nice, good good!
└ At that height already, she'll have a model figure later
└ Dohee, is it okay if oppa loves you...?
└ So what if she's pretty, gotta look at skill
└ My 1-pick Dohee confirmed
[Upvote request) Dohee PR video gifs]
(Gif1)...(Gif5)
└ Heart attack +1
└ So pretty...
└ This is the shit
└ This season is just her
└ But she can't do aegyo well lololol
└ Her being shy with that face makes her cuter lololol
Ryu Hobom, who searched for Dohee's posts and videos every day like that.
His YouTube was filled with Lee Dohee's algorithm, but.
'A grown salaryman in his thirties liking an idol? I'm just watching because she's cute, that's all.'
He was denying his entry into the fandom.
The last time he'd been interested in and liked idols was during his two years of military service in his twenties.
Then, a post went up in the community.
[1st round competition applications are out]
(First on-site evaluation application promo poster)
Application link - https://twitter.com/justdol3official
└ Ooh
└ Already? That's fast
└ The 1st round is popularity voting anyway, does the on-site vote even matter?
└ Let's go to the competition~
He had applied half-thoughtlessly, never expecting to win the live audience lottery for the 1st round competition.
[Anyone transferring a competition ticket... ㅠ.ㅠ]
[Scalped competition prices are insane right now]
[Anyone selling for a bit cheaper]
The Just Dol 3 community was filled with posts asking for tickets, but he had no intention of transferring.
Scalping is bad.
And when would he ever get to attend a live taping like this? This is culture, too.
Ryu Hobom rationalized it to himself.
Before long, it was the day of the taping.
The location was the Ilsan Studio owned by LE, Mwave's parent company.
Ticket exchange time was 3 o'clock.
Even though Ryu Hobom had arrived comfortably by 2, the line in front of the studio was packed with earlier arrivals.
Moreover, the weather was early June summer.
In the queue with not a single patch of shade, he had to sweat for quite a while.
Fortunately, people who appeared to be fans of each trainee began handing out fan goods.
"Would you like one?"
"Ah, I'm okay."
Ryu Hobom refused another trainee's fan goods and deliberately waited until a Dohee fan passed by before accepting one.
He fanned himself and thought.
'The fan is pretty.'
Then 3 o'clock came, and gradually the audience began to enter.
"Everyone! Please sign this first!"
A staff member shouted from the front.
What the staff was holding was a pledge.
He had to write a pledge that he wouldn't spoil or film before he could receive his ticket.
But that wasn't the end.
To prevent spoilers, the production team asked them to check their bags and phones, and even made them go through metal detectors in case any viewers had hidden cameras.
'Ha... I'm already exhausted. Is it always like this?'
Even after entering the set, the ordeal wasn't over.
He hadn't particularly expected seats, but the studio was all standing, and the audience had to wait on their feet until the performance began.
Already drained, Ryu Hobom considered just leaving, but it felt like a waste to wait all this time, so he stayed.
After waiting like that for 3 hours, the MC finally came on stage and conducted a talk show to relieve the audience's fatigue.
After the talk show ended.
"This mission is a year-by-year girl group hit song battle! Two teams covering each year's girl group hit songs will compete!"
The MC only explained the most basic rules and voting methods.
It was to prevent spoilers, since they knew the viewers would post reviews online when they got out.
"Then now! Let me introduce your first girls! 2014 hit song! The two teams that covered T-Party's 'One Sip,' please come up!"
At the conclusion of the MC's words, two teams came up on stage.
Ryu Hobom wasn't particularly interested in either team.
Still, since they were trainees, they all had generally pretty faces, so watching wasn't boring.
'Ah, so Kim Naeun is from the same agency as Dohee.'
Ryu Hobom was already associating everything with Dohee before he even realized it.
To evaluate the two teams' stages covering 'One Sip.'
Talent show level.
Even to him, who had no interest in idols, it was just that.
Of course, the choreography itself was clean and precise, much more practiced than ordinary people.
But the problem was the vocals.
Several times during the stage, singing could be heard that was difficult to listen to.
Maybe because they were dancing while singing, but the pronunciation was inaccurate and muddled, and everything from rhythm to vocalization was amateurish.
Well, they were trainees, so it was true they were close to amateurs.
He hadn't expected a pro-level performance from trainees.
'Still, this is too much.'
Still, Kim Naeun, who took the main vocal position, lowered the key a bit but pulled out the high notes in the latter half smoothly.
'I hope the next kids can at least do as well as Kim Naeun.'
But contrary to his hopes, the 2015 stage also failed to meet his expectations.
So it continued for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 stages.
Of course, there were a few standout trainees here and there in between, but his anticipation for the upcoming stages had long since vanished.
"My legs hurt, wanna go home?"
"The kids' singing is serious."
"Seriously, it's so over the top."
"Everything that aired on Just Dol seasons 1 and 2 was all edited..."
The surrounding audience also seemed disappointed, and except for the hardcore loyal fanbases, the atmosphere was restless.
But if there was one thing holding them back, it was the popular members who hadn't appeared yet.
Whether it was the production team's intention or random, most of the popular members seemed to be clustered in the latter half.
But with the previous stages this disappointing, would the next ones be any better?
Even the mediocre stages gave the impression that the vocals lacked volume.
If the next stage was disappointing in the same way, Ryu Hobom had decided to just go home, Dohee or not.
The 2019 stage.
Finally, the popular members most frequently mentioned in the community came up.
Team 1 had Kim Seoyun and Jeon Harang, and Team 2 had Eun Sera.
'Wow... Damn... Fucking pretty...'
Even among the popular members, Eun Sera's beauty was in a different league.
A palm-sized face with features packed into it.
She was even more stunning in person than in photos.
He hadn't expected to feel this way about an idol again.
Since his military days.
It was the first time he'd felt this way since those days when he'd been crazy about women.
With the appearance of the popular members, the set regained its vigor.
The cheers at their entrance were on a different dimension from before.
And above all, the stage quality changed.
First, Team 1 with Kim Seoyun and Jeon Harang.
Kim Seoyun's high notes as she seemed to take the main vocal position, and Jeon Harang's center performance that captivated the eyes.
'Now I know why trainees are proud of going to big agencies. Kim Seoyun and Jeon Harang, those two are different from the trainees around them.'
Perhaps because expectations had been lowered until now, but he certainly felt like this was the level you needed to be an idol.
And finally, Team 2's stage with 1st place candidate Eun Sera began.
Perhaps because the previous Jeon Harang and Kim Seoyun had been so good.
Team 2's stage with Eun Sera was unexpectedly bland and boring.
Eun Sera, whom he had expected from, had just okay dancing, and her vocal skills weren't particularly outstanding compared to Kim Seoyun.
The moment he decided in his mind that Team 1 had won, Eun Sera's high note burst out in the chorus.
In that instant, his chest reverberated.
Not emotionally, but truly physically.
The refreshing high note and the bursting volume made his ears ring.
"Wow..."
"Crazy..."
It was a volume that echoed through the set.
'So that's why she's the 1st place candidate...'
He pressed the button for Eun Sera hard on the remote given by the production team.
He felt sorry for Kim Seoyun from the same agency as Dohee, but he felt like he had become a fan of Eun Sera.
'But can Dohee do better than this?'
He didn't think so at all.
Eun Sera's volume had the feel of a pro singer.
He should just become an Eun Sera fan.
'Still, since I came, I should watch Dohee's stage too...?'
But Dohee didn't come up even for the 2020 stage.
He wanted to go home quickly, but Dohee's stage was unfortunately the very last, so Ryu Hobom was annoyed.
After the 2020 stage ended, the last remaining 2021 stage.
"Just Dol Season 3 Team Battle! Finally, only the last stage remains."
"This song is the 2021 mega-hit, 3M's IT G."
"Let's meet the two teams in charge of the splendid finale!"
Twelve trainees came up on stage.
But his gaze was fixed on one person.
Probably the other audience members were no different.
She was even prettier in person.
That was far too obvious an impression.
It wasn't going to end with just that kind of feeling.
Dohee, with flashy makeup and a cute stage outfit.
Dohee, who came up on stage, showed no sign of nerves and smiled a mischievous smile.
'Is she flirting with me right now...?'
Dohee had a unique aura, or atmosphere.
'If my heart fluttered for Eun Sera earlier.'
The Just Dol Season 3 title song.
'I've fallen for a kid 17 years younger than me. I'm fucked.'