Chapter 117
After finishing the competition, the WeUs waiting room was relaxed, but the moment Joshua's voice echoed into the room, we had no choice but to stare at the monitor screen with shocked faces.
"Is that really the vocal tone of an elementary school kid?"
"No way."
A clear and beautiful voice. No, those words alone couldn't explain everything.
Joshua's vocal tone had a magic that focused everyone's attention around it just by its existence.
As if... he possessed a special ability.
"It's not just his vocal tone."
Woo Jung-woo said with an unusually serious face.
"How can he have such emotion at that age, this is really..."
He couldn't finish his sentence, but we seemed to know what Woo Jung-woo was trying to say.
"He's a genius."
"A genius..."
The song hadn't even finished yet, but we had no choice but to acknowledge it.
That the child standing on stage right now possessed a genius talent we had never seen before.
I thought that maybe we were witnessing the beginning of a singer who would remain a legend in the future, right here on the spot.
'But of all things, he had to become our competitor.'
That was the reason we couldn't comfortably appreciate Joshua's stage right now.
While we were watching Joshua's stage with such complicated eyes.
"It's over."
"He's really too good..."
"Look at the audience cheering."
Finally, Joshua's stage ended.
The sound of the audience's cheers reverberated all the way to this waiting room.
Even after Joshua came down from the stage, the cheers continued endlessly.
The faces of the members listening to that sound revealed a tension that was hard to hide.
***
After all the stages of Round 1 ended, the participants gathered in one place again.
'Everyone has complicated expressions.'
The amazing skill shown by a participant they hadn't kept in check at all on the final stage.
Having seen that skill with their own eyes, everyone now had no choice but to pay attention to this tiny child.
While all the participants were looking at the child without a word, a cheerful voice that didn't match the atmosphere was heard.
[Alright! All the stages of Round 1 are over. Clap!! Hmm... Joshua. Thank you for clapping alone. But it seems like everyone else has no interest in me.]
Conan looked around once, then moved to where everyone's gazes were directed.
[Joshua.]
[Yes?]
[You showed such an amazing stage today that surprised everyone else, how do you feel right now?]
At Conan's words, Joshua pondered for a moment, then tilted his head and answered.
[Did I do well? I'm not really sure.]
As soon as Joshua's words ended, the appalled voices of the members behind me could be heard.
"Is... is this the composure of a genius?"
"No, this is a mockery! A mockery! It means your stages were so lackluster I wanted to die! That's what it means."
"...Don't overinterpret it strangely."
Not only our members, but other participants and even the MC, Conan, seemed flustered after hearing Joshua's words.
To show such incredible talent and yet not even know himself that it was amazing.
It was an even more absurd statement than the shock we felt listening to Joshua's stage.
'Where on earth did this child appear from?'
It was strange in the first place that a child with such genius talent had remained unknown until now.
'It's like a child who just dropped from the sky.'
It felt a bit strange, but since we were participating in this competition anyway, whether it was Joshua or Eric Foster, they were just competitors we had to defeat.
However.
[...]
When he looks at me with an expression like he doesn't know anything, it's a problem that I just can't feel like he's a competitor.
[Joshua! You must have expected this level of reaction, right? Truly amazing.]
[Yees...?]
At Conan's words, Joshua made a bewildered expression as if asking what he was talking about, but Conan continued speaking, ignoring Joshua's reaction.
[Round 1 was truly fierce and spectacular, befitting a stage to prove that everyone gathered here has the qualifications to walk the path of a new king.]
Conan, whose playful demeanor from just now had disappeared and quickly changed to a serious one, walked to the center of the set and said.
[However, only one team can reach the path of the king. And the results of Round 1 will be one of the proofs showing who is closest to the path of the king.]
Having said that, Conan looked around at the participants with tense expressions once.
[I will now announce the rankings of today's fierce competition. Please look behind me.]
A screen with the numbers 1 to 6 written on it appeared where Conan's hand pointed.
Then, in an instant, the noise in the set disappeared, and a sense of silence lingered.
At this moment, everyone in the set was waiting only for Conan's mouth to open.
[First, I will announce 6th place. 6th place is... Neon Punch. Neon Punch is in 6th place in today's competition.]
The members of Neon Punch, who took 6th place, muttered as if they couldn't believe it.
[We're... 6th?]
[No way...]
Leaving the sullen Neon Punch behind, the lower rankings were announced, with Lil X in 5th place and Ashley Graham in 4th place.
[...]
As the rankings were revealed, the atmosphere in the set grew increasingly heavy.
The gazes of the three teams of participants moved toward the participants whose names had not yet been called.
Especially toward the K-pop idol group they had ignored at their first meeting. Namely, WeUs.
'They must feel a lot of unfairness.'
It didn't seem easy for them, with their strong pride who had never experienced failure, to accept the fact that they were pushed back by a nameless idol group.
Even now, I could feel it in the way they looked at us. Why are we below those guys? Is my stage worse than those kinds of people? Those kinds of gazes.
'But results don't lie.'
Today, WeUs's stage was fully qualified to take 1st place. And in the next round, and the round after that too.
As we move forward proving it.
'They won't be able to ignore us again.'
Once again, I thought that coming out on this program was a good choice.
And meanwhile.
[3rd place is... Eric Foster.]
Eric Foster, who came in 3rd, nodded silently, but the other participants rather talked as if they were shocked.
[Eric Foster is 3rd?]
[He was a strong candidate for the win...]
[It's still Round 1, but. Still, I didn't expect Eric Foster to place 3rd...]
When the set became noisy at the unpredictable results of Round 1.
[Now only 1st and 2nd places remain. And the difference in votes between 1st and 2nd place is... merely 3 votes.]
Conan's gaze briefly grazed past us and Joshua.
"Uwah... only 3 votes?"
"Please, 1st place!"
"Why is he dragging it out so much?"
When the tense voices of the members were heard.
The identities of 1st and 2nd place were revealed on the screen.
"Agh!"
"We lost..."
"Argh! 2nd place by a 3-vote difference! We're 2nd!"
"It's okay! 2nd place is still good!"
The result was WeUs in 2nd place. Then naturally, 1st place was...
[Joshua! What an amazing result. Congratulations on 1st place!]
[Thank you.]
Conan was seen approaching Joshua, who took 1st place, and offering his congratulations.
But even though he took 1st place, no sign of joy could be found on Joshua.
[You took 1st place in the first competition. How do you feel?]
[Uh... I'm not really sure.]
[Hahaha! You don't know. You seem to be out of your mind with joy.]
[Yees...??]
'That doesn't seem to be the case at all...'
Conan was seen falling into an internal dilemma for a moment about whether he should continue the interview with Joshua.
[Ahem...! With this, the results of Round 1 from 1st to 6th place have all been announced. The votes received today will be summed up and calculated in the final round. The rankings can change at any time in the future. So no one can let their guard down until the final results are announced.]
Conan quickly escaped from Joshua and continued speaking rapidly.
And then, perhaps having regained his stability, he spoke again with a confident tone.
[Then I will now explain the rules of Round 2.]
Conan pointed to the back where the screen was once again.
Then, the screen showing the rankings from 1st to 6th place disappeared, and the words 'Cover Song Battle' appeared.
[Round 2 is the Cover Song Battle. Participants will compete on the Round 2 stage by covering other singers' songs.]
'Cover songs... this might be advantageous for us.'
It would depend on what song we chose, but for me and the members who had already been through an audition, it wasn't a very difficult mission.
[Then is the song selection free?]
[Of course not. The songs you will be covering are. The songs of 6 legendary musicians.]
The moment Conan spoke, six names appeared on the screen in the back.
[The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder, and lastly, Madonna. Participants will choose one of these legendary singers and cover their song.]
The faces of the participants who saw the lineup of singers lit up with admiration.
Just by their names alone, all six names were truly worthy of being called legends, enough to make the participants marvel.
"In this case... who should we choose?"
"I think a dance song would be good anyway."
"Then Michael Jackson?"
"Hmm... I think Michael Jackson would be good too."
As soon as the names were revealed, the members seemed to have already settled on Michael Jackson.
The most suitable cover to show off WeUs's performance was, as expected at a glance, Michael Jackson.
"But what if another team snatches it first?"
"Then let's think about it a little more first..."
While the members were putting their heads together and worrying. The leader of Neon Punch asked with an anxious face.
[Then how do we choose the singer? Don't tell me...]
[You will choose in order from 1st place according to the results of Round 1.]
At Conan's words, the members' expressions brightened.
"Yes!"
"Then we get to choose second."
"We just need Joshua to not choose Michael Jackson."
Sim Seong-ha said that and glared at where Joshua was.
"Surely... he wouldn't choose it first, right?"
"Well..."
All the members looked at Joshua, but Joshua's expression was only calm.
"I can't read his thoughts at all!"
"Rin hyung! You looked close with that kid earlier, hyung go ask him who he's going to choose."
"That's right! I thought they were completely like father and son."
"What are you..."
In an instant, the members' gazes focused on me.
"No, just because I sat him in a chair once, why do I have to..."
"Not once, but multiple times. And that little kid has been constantly looking at you since earlier."
"Looking at me?"
Turning my head at Sim Seong-ha's words, my eyes widened as I met Joshua's gaze.
'Why is he constantly...?'
It had felt a bit strange since we first met.
Why that peculiar child was only showing interest in me.
'Have I perhaps seen him somewhere before?'
No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed unlikely that I would have met a child that young in the past.
When my head was getting complicated.
[Now then, starting with Joshua, who took 1st place in Round 1. Please choose one of the legends.]
As Conan spoke, Joshua moved his mouth as if pondering.
However.
[Joshua...! Joshua...!!]
Outside the set where the cameras and staff were.
A faint voice was heard from there.
'Who is it?'
Looking out of curiosity, a middle-aged man was waving his arms toward Joshua as if begging him to look this way.
'Is that Joshua's parent...? But to say that, there's no resemblance at all.'
While I was observing the two, perhaps the man's efforts finally reached Joshua, as Joshua discovered the man waving his hand at him.
And the man repeatedly conveyed something to Joshua with the shape of his mouth.
[Michael Jackson... Michael...]
The middle-aged man urging Joshua to choose Michael Jackson.
And Joshua nodded to him as if understanding.
"Hyung! It looks like he's going to choose Michael Jackson!"
"Ugh... then we have to decide quickly. Who do we choose?"
"Why does the 1st place have to make the same choice as us..."
The other members must have been watching that too, as they spoke quickly, already thinking Michael Jackson had been taken.
[Now then, Joshua. Have you finished pondering?]
[Yes.]
[Then who will you choose?]
At that time, Conan spoke to Joshua again. And Joshua nodded and answered.
[I will choose Stevie Wonder.]
"Uh.... Uhhh?"
"Stevie Wonder?"
While the members were bewildered by Joshua's choice.
[Stevie Wonder. Are you sure?]
[Yes, I'm sure.]
Conan must have also seen the man speaking to Joshua from outside, as he asked Joshua again to confirm, but Joshua's choice remained unchanged.
[Yes. Then Joshua's choice was Stevie Wonder. Next is WeUs, who took 2nd place. Who will WeUs choose?]
[We...]
I didn't know the reason, but anyway, it went according to plan.
[We will choose Michael Jackson.]
Isn't that fine?
But seeing Joshua's face behind the rejoicing members made me feel a bit unsettled.
'Did he perhaps yield to us?'