- Waaah!!!!
- Kyaaaah!!!!
I came down from the stage to the cheers of the audience.
Normally, I would have been basking in the afterglow of the performance, but today, worry came first.
Gu Eun-hee’s mistake.
I had covered for it as naturally as I could, but it must have been obvious enough.
‘Looking at the audience’s reactions, maybe it wasn’t that noticeable...’
Even so, I couldn’t feel reassured.
I wanted to make the stage perfect, at the very least...
I was so frustrated and wronged that tears threatened to burst from my eyes.
Gu Eun-hee, who had made the mistake, also seemed uncomfortable, as if she felt sorry for what she had done.
“We’re going back to the group waiting room!”
I had no time to get lost in my emotions.
I had to go film reaction shots for the stages that followed.
Since the live audience vote for the third competition today would be calculated only after all the stages had ended, our group returned to the group waiting room after finishing our performance.
The group waiting room had a huge monitor installed so we could watch the live stages.
“That was completely awesome!”
“For real, that was so good!”
“That stage was incredible!?!”
The other contestants had been watching our performance.
Even though they probably knew there had been a mistake onstage, they praised us so enthusiastically that it was almost excessive.
“Dohee is so cute...”
Though Sera unnie, who had come over to me, was muttering beside me like a prerecorded loop again today.
In any case, even though we were all competitors, everyone knew how hard the others had worked, so the atmosphere was full of exaggerated praise and compliments.
Thanks to them, I calmed down a little.
‘Phew... Well, it couldn’t be helped. I dealt with it, and that’s what matters.’
Now it was time to watch the other teams’ stages and film reaction shots.
The next stage was “gosipp,” a song with a sexy theme.
The group was made up mostly of contestants with striking or intense facial features and clearly seductive images.
Since it had a sexy concept, it was the group I was personally looking forward to the most.
I repeatedly cheered whenever the killing-part choreography or an important vocal line came up.
“Wow!”
After doing reaction shots for four months, I must have gotten used to it, because by now they came out naturally without me even having to think about them.
- Tell me about you, gosipp gosipp
Just then, the monitor showed the performers dancing sensually.
“Shiiiet!!!”
Hmm, maybe that wasn’t quite right.
***
This vote was divided into two categories.
Vote for the best team.
Vote for the best trainee.
The team vote was the important one.
That was because all the first-place rewards went to the best team to divide among themselves.
The reason for choosing the best trainee was to determine which first-place trainee would receive the additional reward from the winning team.
In other words, even if you came in first in the individual trainee vote, it meant nothing if your team lost the team vote.
“The results of the live audience vote are in. Here is the fourth-place team. Please reveal it now!”
At the MC’s shout, the fourth-place team appeared on the screen in front of us.
It was the group with the song featuring a pure and innocent theme.
The group that included Na-eun unnie and Sera unnie.
‘It’s not easy to lose with those two on your team...’
In truth, the problem had less to do with the team members than with the song they had been given.
The structure of the competition meant that if the song wasn’t good, the stage couldn’t help but be buried.
The song with the pure concept was difficult in that respect.
The individual vote totals for the fourth-place team were announced, proving it.
The contestants around me let out gasps.
-Eun Sera: 102 votes
-Kim Na-eun: 65 votes
.
.
-Ju Ha-yeong: 8 votes
Considering that the highest vote totals in Seasons 1 and 2 had been close to 100, 102 was an extremely high number.
Of course, as the fourth-place team, they wouldn’t receive the first-place reward.
‘Sera unnie probably benefits from her popularity, but... she must have received that many votes because she did well, too.’
The third-place team followed.
Unexpectedly, it was “gossip,” the song with the sexy theme.
It was the team I had expected to come in first, since it was the song most suited to my taste.
Then all that remained was...
“Now, only two teams remain as candidates for first place! Team and Team! Which team will take home the first-place reward?”
It was our team and the team with the girl-crush theme.
“Zy Gong Chae-rin, do you think you can come in first place?”
Chae-rin unnie answered the MC’s question.
“Team 은근슬쩍 showed us a great stage as well, so we can’t be certain, but we worked hard too, so I hope we can take first place!”
“Wonderful. Now, let’s reveal the first-place team that will bask in glory!”
I had wondered if it might happen, but it turned out exactly as expected.
The first-place team was Team.
The team with three debut-range members: Jeon Ha-rang, Gong Chae-rin, and Gwon Ha-na.
They had a charm that naturally drew you into the stage.
Even so, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
If only our teamwork had been a little better, couldn’t we have won?
I felt sorry to the composer who had given us such a good song.
“Now, let’s reveal the individual vote totals for Team!”
-Gong Chae-rin: 99 votes
-Gwon Ha-na: 57 votes
-Jeon Ha-rang: 55 votes
.
.
-An Eun-seo: 10 votes
And so, Chae-rin unnie, the individual vote leader of the first-place team, took home the first-place reward.
Sigh, fuck...
First place really did slip through my fingers every time.
While I was lost in those pointless thoughts, the individual vote totals for our second-place team appeared on the screen.
-Lee Dohee: 114 votes
-Kim Seo-yun: 81 votes
-Park Ye-eun: 43 votes
.
.
-Gu Eun-hee: 6 votes
Huh...?
114 votes.
Until now, Sera unnie had held first place in individual votes with 102, but the votes just revealed had changed that.
Although we had come in second in the team battle and received no first-place reward.
Although it was nothing more than a pretty shell with nothing inside.
It still felt as though my efforts, practicing day and night without rest, had been acknowledged a little.
My heart grew thick with emotion.
“Ah, Top East trainee Lee Dohee really pulled off the cute theme adorably!”
My emotional heart crumpled.
Why did the MC always have to ruin my mood whenever I was about to feel good?
***
On the way home.
The moment I got into Manager Yeongho’s van, I fell sound asleep.
Manager Yeongho’s voice reached me through my drowsiness.
“Guys... happy... check... look!”
Not long afterward, a hand began shaking me vigorously.
“Dohee, wake up quickly!”
I felt a sharp burst of irritation toward Seo-yun unnie, but I opened my eyes with difficulty, figuring it was probably nothing important.
“What is it...?”
Seo-yun unnie and Na-eun unnie were staring intently at a phone screen.
“This is amazing. Look at this!”
On the screen Na-eun unnie showed me was a post.
//
[We finally put up the subway advertisements!]
(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)
It took a little while since we put up Na-eun, Seo-yun, and Dohee all together at the same station!
Everyone, please go take a look! ^^
It’s Konkuk University Station!
//
It was support from fans who had put up advertisements in the subway, a public facility.
An advertisement encouraging votes to promote the three of us from Team First, Second, and Third.
“Oh... wow...”
It felt like I had received a completely unexpected present after waking up.
I was finally getting an advertisement, too.
The unnies from the Big Three agencies had already had theirs put up long ago, so I had secretly been jealous.
“Let’s go see it tomorrow!”
Excited, Na-eun unnie began planning our schedule.
We did have to go see it.
“Good, good!”
“Wait, should we go see it right now?”
“Good, good!”
The unnies looked ready to head over immediately.
“Guys, I know you’re excited, but calm down. We’re going with Manager So-yeong the day after tomorrow, and we’ll bring a camera, so let’s go then.”
Thankfully, Manager Yeongho stopped them. Otherwise, I might have had to stay up all night again today.
***
Two days later, we gathered in front of the agency building and headed to Konkuk University Station in the van.
During the two days off, I suddenly became curious about how much subway advertisements cost.
According to what I found, locations like Konkuk University Station—with its young demographic and heavy foot traffic—were considered prime areas and cost nearly five million won a month.
I was grateful, but also sorry, thinking about how much trouble the fans must have gone through to put up advertisements for all three of us in succession at such a place.
Na-eun unnie and Seo-yun unnie were visibly excited.
“Let’s decide on our poses!”
Seo-yun unnie suddenly said something ridiculous.
“Like, ‘Candidate number one, Lee Dohee,’ or something?”
“What are you talking about?”
You just took the pictures as they came. Why did we need poses?
We chatted idly like that until we arrived at Konkuk University Station.
Even before we reached the advertising panel, people began recognizing us.
“Oh! It’s Lee Dohee!”
“Whoa, they’re the Top East girls.”
“Oh my gosh, this is amazing!!!”
The crowd gradually began to gather.
It started with a few people recognizing us, and, as befitted a bustling downtown area, one crowd called over another.
Fortunately, two security guards assigned by the agency took care of us, so we didn’t have to worry about being crushed.
Even so, for safety’s sake, we moved quickly.
When we arrived, there was a large advertising panel with enormous lettering and my face plastered across it.
[Chuseo-nims! Please remember Lee Dohee★!]
I hadn’t realized it from the photographs, but once I arrived, the advertising panel was so huge it felt imposing.
Below it were QR codes linking to my fancams and PR videos.
There were even little phrases expressing who I was.
#Refreshing_Energy_Ion_Sweat_Ad_Girl
#Genius_Piano_Girl!
#Let_Our_Youngest_Dohae_Debut!
They were traces of the fans’ efforts to promote me.
And the countless Post-it notes beside it, filled with messages addressed to me...
“Haak, haak, what is this ‘Lee Dohee cheek poke’?”
If it hadn’t been for Seo-yun unnie’s teasing voice, I might have been moved to tears.
Just as Seo-yun unnie said, the picture on the advertising panel showed me doing the cheek-poke pose during the center selection.
‘Still, they put it up because they liked it...’
It was a little embarrassing, but it was still a pretty picture of me.
Well, as long as it was pretty, right?
Right?
“Seo-yun, Dohee’s just cute. Stop teasing her.”
Na-eun unnie.
That only made me feel twice as embarrassed.
“Dohee! Why don’t we take a picture in the same pose as the one on the advertisement?”
Manager So-yeong went a step further, holding out a DSLR camera and asking me to pose.
I wanted to say, ‘I don’t want to’ or ‘No.’
But—
“Dohee, you’re so cute!”
“Do the pose for us~!”
“Guys, we’re voting!!!”
The fans had formed a wide circle around us, keeping their distance out of consideration for the photo shoot, and were shouting while filming with their smartphones.
So, through the violence of the majority, I had no choice but to strike a cute pose and take pictures...