Repeated mistakes.
The formation kept distorting.
"Eunhui, please focus a little. Our paths keep overlapping."
Yeonha unni pointed it out, but.
"Yes."
Gu Eunhui only responded, deflated.
It wasn't just a day or two.
Yeonha unni spoke as if trying to change the atmosphere.
"Right, Eunhui must be really tired. Let's take a short break. Everyone go get some water and visit the bathroom."
Haa...
"Yeeun unni, let's go to the bathroom."
"Huh...? Me? Why? I've been doing well..."
Yeeun unni flustered, pointed at herself with a frightened expression.
"No, I just said let's go."
I really just meant let's go to the bathroom.
"I'm going alone...!"
Yeeun unni ran outside the practice room to avoid me.
"I said let's just go."
Yeeun unni had improved remarkably in detail and skill compared to when she'd been intimidated, so I no longer had any intention of picking on her.
If anyone saw this, they'd think I bullied her every day.
When I entered the bathroom alone out of necessity, Gim Seoyun, who had dashed out the moment the break started, was repeatedly splashing water on her face.
"Seoyun, what are you doing."
Gim Seoyun raised her head.
Her eyes were red.
"What, did you cry, unni?"
"What are you talking about, I didn't cry."
Gim Seoyun spat out words in a casual tone, as if trying to hide it.
But her voice was choked, no matter who heard it.
"Geez, why is Gim Seoyun crying."
When I pressed her steamed-bun-like cheeks, snot came flowing out.
"Hic, I said I'm not crying..."
She could talk while sniffling all she wanted, but it changed nothing.
It seemed her frustration and sorrow had exploded, probably because the stage felt like it would fall apart because of Gu Eunhui.
"It's okay, we're going to debut, right?"
"I said I'm not crying."
"Yeah, yeah."
Still, it didn't seem like we could go on like this.
I had to try to persuade Gu Eunhui somehow.
***
After dinner.
I went out to the empty back lot, devoid of people and cameras.
"So why."
Gu Eunhui, who had followed me out, leaned against a post with a dissatisfied look.
She was already displeasing, but that didn't mean I wanted to become the same kind of person.
"Unni, couldn't you please work hard for our sake? I'm asking you."
I thought she'd say she understood if I said this much, but contrary to my expectations, Gu Eunhui answered sharply.
"Sorry, I don't want to."
Is she really crazy?
"Do you know why I applied for center? To stand out even a little. Debut group of seven?"
Gu Eunhui snorted and continued.
"You or the kids from the Big Four agencies will debut. Could I get into that seven? Probably not."
As she said, the possibility of Gu Eunhui debuting was extremely low.
Still, there was a reason why the majority of trainees did their best every practice.
Not some dreamy story like "doing your best is beautiful" or "I want to enjoy the stage with all my might."
Of course, there might have been participants who found meaning in that aspect, but most participants' goal was recognition.
Even if they couldn't debut in the Jeodol 3 Project girl group, it was about increasing the possibility of debuting when they returned to their original agency after elimination.
Practical reasons were the biggest factor.
"Unni, you can just debut after returning to your agency. You're within the final top twenty-four, so it should work out."
Gu Eunhui spoke as if mocking me.
"Dohui, you must feel comfortable. If you go back to your agency, you'll debut anyway, right? But if I don't debut here, I'm scheduled to be cut from my agency, got it?"
Come to think of it, according to a participant from the same agency as Gu Eunhui, Gu Eunhui was a trainee who had been ostracized even at the company due to personality flaws.
In other words, switching agencies after being cut to debut was an option, but word would probably get out about her personality flaw, making that difficult too.
"But you want me to break through to the final seven out of ninety-nine participants? The only way I had was to take center and prove myself."
To summarize Gu Eunhui's words, it ultimately came down to one thing.
Since she couldn't take the center position anyway, she couldn't debut, so she was going to coast through.
There was no way or meaning to persuade someone who had already given up on debuting as an idol, even if I told her to work hard.
'There is one way.'
Yielding the center.
But yielding the center to Gu Eunhui?
There were only four days left until the main stage.
The possibility of Gu Eunhui, who already lacked skill, improving by leaps and bounds in that short time converged to zero.
In the end, the stage would be ruined either way.
"I understand. But you probably don't want to be cursed at either, so at least match the form in front of the cameras."
I gave up on her and turned away.
But at my words, Gu Eunhui began to lash out as if possessed.
"Do you know this? The cameras only film the ones they film anyway. The production team probably doesn't care about anyone except a few trainees. This is rigged; if the voting alone is proper, it's not rigged!? Screen time goes however they want all the time too!"
I know.
A few trainees clearly got a lot of screen time.
I was one of them.
But that was natural.
I had built up so much effort since I was young, and my visuals were superior, though it sounds strange to say so.
"Fine, whatever, screen time and all that doesn't matter. If an interview happens occasionally, do you know what they ask? They only ask about kids who have nothing to do with me. You know? That you got those privileges too. Yeah, I'm not blaming you. If you're capable, exceptionally slender, and pretty like you, of course they'll push you. But don't you come at me saying I don't practice while receiving those benefits. Got it?"
No matter how much Gu Eunhui argued, being an idol was that kind of job from the start.
Only those who were outstanding or had individuality received the spotlight.
How was that any different from saying you'd become a doctor even though you couldn't study?
After arguing fiercely like that for a while, tears welled up in Gu Eunhui's eyes, and she eventually burst into crying.
"I know it's a survival show too! But do you think I never tried?! I tried too! But what can I do if my skills don't improve!"
At this point, I only felt pity.
Haa...
"I understand, unni. Come back in when you've calmed down. I won't say anything anymore."
Gu Eunhui cried as if she were the tragic heroine.
Not wanting to hear that voice, I turned my back on Gu Eunhui and headed toward the main building where the choreography practice room was.
It hadn't been long since we ate dinner.
Inside the main building, all the trainees were continuing their respective practices.
Among them, there was no one who put in less effort than Gu Eunhui.
Probably not even including those who were eliminated early on.
***
In the early dawn, after all practice had ended.
The time when everyone was asleep.
After showering, I returned to the practice room with the production staff's permission.
And for someone like me, a staff member was sitting on the sofa outside the practice room beyond the glass wall.
The staff member on night duty had extremely tired eyes, but it couldn't be helped.
I needed the practice.
I felt that the details of the center part I'd taken on were still lacking.
I had to try to be perfect, even if I couldn't achieve perfection.
I was comparing my dance video with the choreographer's video on my tablet.
A person's silhouette caught in the light in the dark.
And the sound of footsteps trudging closer.
My body flinched at the sudden sound in the middle of the night.
As luck would have it, the staff member on duty had also fallen asleep lying on the sofa.
I poked my head out and looked outside to see Gim Seoyun standing there.
'Ah, why is she walking around at this hour causing a fuss.'
Gim Seoyun, having spotted me, put on a sly smile and hugged me.
"Our maknae~ Were you lonely all by yourself? Unni will give you a hug~"
Why is she like this all of a sudden.
For now, I pushed Gim Seoyun away.
"Hnng... Our maknae rejected her unni, so unni is sad..."
Gim Seoyun pretended to sob, but it was just cringeworthy.
Why is she really like this.
"Did you bite your tongue? Why are you here?"
"Why else. I came to practice."
"It's not like your part changed, do you really need to?"
"Not really...! It's not that I came because I was worried about you...! I just came because I wanted to practice...!"
"Ah, why are you really like this."
"Hmph...! You don't even know my heart, I hate you!"
Is she crazy?
I figured she had probably come because she was worried about me practicing alone until late.
Still, she was really embarrassing to watch.
Really.
***
A gymnasium in Incheon.
Early morning, 6:30.
"Opening!"
At the same time as the security guard's shout, the guard opened the iron gate.
And what looked like over two hundred people pushed and ran against each other, not wanting to fall behind, and stood behind the gates the security guards had set up in advance.
And this woman was one of them.
As if she had always done this, she naturally set up a ladder, climbed on it, and framed her shot.
What she held in her hand was a high-end camera with a lens jutting out long in front.
'Phew... Nice, I got a good spot. I didn't know it'd be this intense even though it's not a music show. Jeodol 3 really is the trend.'
She was what's called a "jjikdeok."
It referred to fans who took photos or videos of celebrities and uploaded them online.
Or they were called this.
"Homma," a portmanteau of homepage and master. On their own sites—for example, sites like Twitter—they took various unique photos of celebrities' commutes, airports, schedules, and so on, and sold the photos themselves or made them into goods or photocards to sell to that celebrity's fans.
Also, each "homma" usually had a "bonjin"—the celebrity they supported.
And the bonjin of this woman, a "homma" or "jjikdeok," was I Dohui.
She hadn't been a fan of I Dohui from the beginning.
She had originally been a fan of a girl group called "Minty."
In the midst of that, when "Minty" caused a school bullying scandal and it was revealed to be true, her affection cooled. Hearing the news that the Big Four agencies were participating in Jeodol 3, a large-scale event in the music industry, she hurriedly attended the production presentation.
She planned to take photos of popular members first and make goods to sell.
In other words, that day she had intended to shoot not only I Dohui, the center of the theme song "I Fell for You," but all the trainees from the Big Four agencies.
However, struck by I Dohui's appearance that fit her taste perfectly, she had taken photo after photo of only I Dohui that day.
The photos she uploaded to her Twitter received countless retweets, and she naturally settled in as I Dohui's homma.
And today was the day of the third competition.
She had fortunately won the audience lottery, but that wasn't the only reason she came.
The third competition commute.
For the first and second rounds, the trainees had entered in advance backstage with no commute, but the third was different.
It was the first opportunity to see the trainees' individual fashion styles that could reveal their personalities.
'What will Dohui wear...! A white tennis skirt? A one-piece? No, maybe something like overalls!?'
As the vans from each agency entered one by one, the commute of the Jeodol 3 third-round participants began.