After Hana unnie was chosen as the leader, the reality show began filming in earnest.
- Everyone, it’s time to eat dinner!
The PD, who had seemed as though he would order whatever food we wanted, handed us cash and the cooking utensils in the kitchen.
We had to make dinner ourselves.
Still, there was no need to worry.
“So, what do my babies want to eat! Unnie will make everything for you!”
Hana unnie, who had been cooking from a young age because she came from a single-parent household, rolled up her sleeves and spoke proudly.
After hearing Hana unnie’s boast, the members each shouted out the dishes they wanted.
-Really? Then I want rosé tteokbokki!
-Whoa, I love rosé tteokbokki.
-I want galbijjim...
-Um... I...
-Ye-eun unnie is going with the same menu as me. Jeyuk-bokkeum.
-Huh...? Why...? I want beef...
-Jeyuk-bokkeum sounds good~
-I’ll eat anything happily!
But Hana unnie, who had just declared that she would prepare every dish, was glaring at the members.
-Um... Should we all just agree on one dish?
In the end, the menu was decided through rock-paper-scissors.
-Ah, Lee Dohee always wins things like this.
-Dohee, let’s have rosé tteokbokki... Okay?
-Dohee... Galbijjim...
-Let’s go with jeyuk-bokkeum~
After choosing the menu, the members split into those who would go grocery shopping and those who would cook.
I stayed behind at the dorm, saying that I was confident in my cooking.
Because going out was a hassle.
That didn’t mean I was actually good at cooking.
“Dohee, you said you were good at cooking! You said you’d cooked before!”
The vegetables I had been told to slice thinly were rolling around on the cutting board, thoroughly mangled.
“Oh, right. I forgot to mention it. Dohee is terrible at cooking. That’s why, even back when we were trainees, she always did nothing but set out the dishes at the dorm.”
Seoyun unnie, who had returned from grocery shopping, added her two cents beside Hana unnie.
“Eung...”
Of course, I was only pretending not to be able to cook.
It would have been strange if I couldn’t, considering I had lived alone for nearly nine years in my previous life.
I just didn’t feel like cooking~
“Mom used to praise me when I did it like this...”
Hana unnie looked flustered when she saw me speaking with trembling lips.
“...It’s okay~ That can happen. Unnie will cook something delicious. Our youngest, why don’t you go set out the bowls, spoons, and chopsticks?”
Hana unnie smiled kindly as she spoke.
The corners of her mouth were trembling ever so slightly, though.
“Okay...”
Come to think of it, wasn’t it all right for me to make a social media account now?
I should lie down on the sofa and make an Instagram account.
Hehe.
***
“Good work, everyone~ Sleep well~”
“””Thank you for your hard work!”””
The first day of filming ended after cooking and dinner.
Of course, the cameras the film crew had left behind were still recording, but they said we didn’t need to pay any attention to them.
Now it was time to sleep.
There were three bathrooms, so washing up wasn’t inconvenient.
The moment I came out of the bathroom, I saw—
“Dohee, look at this. Hey, it doesn’t follow me?”
In the living room, Harang unnie was standing in front of the camera, swiveling her body from side to side.
“That’s not a sensor...”
The camera moved according to the subject’s movements.
It looked as if it were following us through a sensor, but in reality, it was a pan-tilt camera operated by the production staff with a remote control. Naturally, it wouldn’t move once the film crew had left.
“Whoa, really? I thought the camera was kind of cute earlier! Was I calling the staff cute? Ah!!”
Leaving Harang unnie behind as she clutched her head and made a huge fuss out of embarrassment, I went into the room to get a good night’s sleep.
When I entered, Chaerin unnie was already asleep with an eye mask on.
She must have been very tired.
Well, the dorm was pretty noisy.
I should hurry up and sleep too.
Starting tomorrow, we were supposed to visit Shock Entertainment in earnest and begin meetings to prepare for our activities.
There was a high chance things would get busy again.
I should get plenty of sleep in advance.
That aside—
“Why are you lying in my bed, unnie?”
Sera unnie, dressed in teddy-bear pajamas, was hiding beneath the covers of my bed while hugging the stuffed toy she had clung to even during Jeodol 3.
“Hehe... Dohee~ Should we sleep together?”
I pulled Sera unnie out and moved her to the side before lying down on the bed.
***
The following day.
The Shock Entertainment building, not far from the dorm.
Shock Entertainment.
A subsidiary of LE, established following the success of the project group ‘Mono Rush.’
Like any subsidiary of a major corporation, it was well supplied with capital.
And since ‘Mono Rush’ had even won the grand prize, the employees at Shock Entertainment were highly experienced as well.
Thanks to that, it seemed our group activities would not lack support.
With high expectations, we began the meeting.
The first people we met were the management team in charge of us.
From Manager Oh Hyeonsu, who was at the team-leader level, to Manager Ju Dahong, who would provide close care as a female manager coming and going from our dorm—
“If anything is ever uncomfortable, tell me.”
Manager Oh Hyeonsu, in particular, was said to have been Mono Rush’s manager. That meant he was a veteran.
After exchanging the obligatory words with the company directors and division heads, we held a full-fledged meeting about our activities.
It was with the A&R team, music-planning team, and content-production team under the music-business division, commonly called the Producing Department.
“Oh...”
“I like it!”
To be honest, all we did during the meeting was nod and react.
And understandably so—the debut song and concept had already been finalized.
They said the songs had been prepared from the very beginning.
The quality of the songs made their level of completion immediately apparent.
That didn’t mean we could afford to be completely relaxed, though.
We were scheduled to debut on Monday, October 31, with not even a month remaining.
The reason was simple.
If we debuted in November, the Rookie of the Year award would usually be postponed until the following year.
- We’ll win Rookie of the Year this year, then aim for the grand prize next year too, right!?
Since we were starting out with name recognition and buzz, Rookie of the Year was practically guaranteed. They were saying we should aim for the grand prize next year.
The grand prize was easier said than done.
Competition had been fierce lately...
Still, considering that I had won the overall grand prize at nineteen piano competitions, there might be a chance. Heheh.
Was there some piano variety show I could go on?
In any case, although the schedule was tight, it was nice that we didn’t have to rack our brains over things like assigning parts, arranging the songs, organizing formations, and creating choreography as we had back then.
There was just one thing we needed to discuss.
“Where do you all want to go?”
We had to choose a location for the reality-show trip, our MT.
“An amusement park!”
“I want to go to the beach~”
To think playing around was our job.
Being a celebrity was freaking sweet.
“What about you, Dohee? Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”
In truth, the reality show could only consist of us having fun.
We had to show off each member’s character and human appeal, as well as the chemistry between the members.
But did we really have to play around...?
“Then... my house...?”
Let’s just rest.
“Oh, Dohee, your house? That sounds nice~ It would be great for all the group members to meet Dohee’s family together!”
No, not my house... The dorm...
I wanted to lie down on a bed...
***
After Jeodol 3 ended.
[Naeun noona’s handwritten letter is out ㅠㅠㅠ]
[Yeon-ha, even if it’s solo, let’s debut! I’ll be cheering for you!]
[Analysis of the final debut-member rankings]
[Someone on the Korea University board got the entire debut lineup right ㄷㄷ]
[Why Seoyun is the light]
[Request) Top East’s official Twitter]
[SAVEN’s 1 year and 6 months of activities (article)]
[Justice has prevailed]
[Overseas reactions at this hour]
[???: You bastards, who carried whom? (PD face meme)]
[SAVEN age order]
[Dohee and Sera in episode 12 .gif]
[Seowon’s Instagram today ㅠㅠ]
[Hana and Dohee are six years apart, isn’t that seriously adorable?]
The viewers were writing all kinds of posts: columns, jokes, ranking analyses, laments over eliminated contestants, congratulations for the debut lineup, and more.
Naturally, there were also inflammatory posts written by the malicious fans of eliminated contestants and the antis of the debut members.
[The possibility of final-vote manipulation examined through data analysis]
[Anyone who thinks Gong Chaerin is pretty should look at her pre-surgery photos]
[Isn’t Sera completely devoid of charm?]
[The Big Four agencies are just rotten to the core lol]
[It’s a fact that Park Ye-eun debuted based on her storyline alone, even though her skills are lacking]
[How did two people from Top East debut? They’re the truly rotten ones lol]
[Jeon Harang isn’t pretty, she’s just handsome lol. Such a masculine face]
[It’s not that I dislike Kwon Hana herself, but]
Of course, several inflammatory posts were made about Dohee as well, the final number-one contestant.
[Dohee’s expression when she looked at Ye-eun here was seriously scary]
[There’s no way Dohee won’t become ugly as she ages]
[Lee Dohee, the worst center in history]
[The funny thing about Dohee is, she’s so utterly charm-less lol]
[Just play the piano lol]
All of them could be summed up in one phrase.
=======================
[Explaining why Dohee is being targeted with pictures]
(Picture of her getting makeup done)
(Picture of her winking onstage)
(Picture of her flawless beauty that became a hot topic on social media)
She was pretty.
She was young.
‘Because she was doing well.’
=======================
Since it was obvious that they would grow tired and disappear of their own accord as time passed, I was ignoring the situation.
The fans each speculated about our future activities and waited for an official announcement.
And finally, the first official announcement appeared.
[SAVEN, born from , signs with Shock Entertainment. Debuting at the end of October... Debut song already complete]
‘SAVEN’ has completed a contract with Shock Entertainment, the former agency of disbanded ‘Mono Rush.’ According to a Shock Entertainment representative, ‘SAVEN’ will release its debut album at the end of this month and begin promotions. Their debut song is also reportedly already complete. SAVEN is a girl group produced through the hugely popular audition program . As a group selected by public vote, they are expected to become a popular girl group following in the footsteps of ‘In Crush’ and ‘Mono Rush.’
-Whoa, they’re debuting already? I love it ㅠㅠ
-How much of a masterpiece did they prepare for them to debut so soon?
-They’re probably debuting in October because they’re conscious of the Rookie of the Year award
-I’m worried the girls will be overworked ㅠ
-Shock Entertainment?
With only one short month to prepare, the fans worried that the members might be overworked.
Of course, in reality, the members were cutting back on sleep to complete all kinds of shoots.
But as new content continued to be uploaded, the topic soon shifted.
=======================
SAVEN OFFICIAL (@SAVENShock)
[SAVEN here!]
(Photo)
Hello~ We’re rookie idols SAVEN!
Chuser-nim, please take good care of us! ( ღ'ᴗ'ღ )
=======================
The official social-media account had finally been created.
A picture of the seven members smiling brightly at the dorm was uploaded.
-The girls have already started living together at the dorm
-Their faces are already working overtime ㅠㅠ
-Dohee looks like a total princess even in just a white T-shirt 큐ㅠㅠㅠ
-Harang already thinks it’s her houseㅋㅋㅋ Look at her lying there with her legs stretched out
-But why is Sera always hugging Dohee? What’s going on, what’s going on~
└Looks like Sera’s attached to Dohee like glue lol Their faces look insanely good together
Then, at a completely unexpected time, Dohee’s Instagram was created as well.
=======================
@icandohee
Hello~
(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)(Photo)
#SAVEN #SAVEN #LeeDohee #Jeodol3
=======================
The post was filled to the limit with ten Instagram photos.
The fans rushed in happily at the unexpected photo bomb.
But there was something even the fans hadn’t anticipated.
Until the agency began managing Dohee’s account, she uploaded ten selfies every single day without fail.