Chapter 22
"No, I said I'm sorry?"
Despite my apology, my sister had been glaring at me with her mouth tightly shut for almost 30 minutes.
"I really didn't see anything. I told you my eyes have been blurry lately and I can't read the text well?"
Hmm, far from softening, her expression seemed to grow even more murderous.
In the end, I had no choice but to use my final method.
"Isn't there anything you want to eat? Chicken? Pizza? I'll buy you whatever you want, just say the word."
"Do you think I'm a pig?"
'Good, she's slowly coming around.'
Finally, my sister opened her mouth. Not missing this opportunity, I quickly pressed my advantage.
"Ah, then if Min doesn't eat, I'll just have to order some piping hot and hearty Gukbap for myself. I was planning to buy whatever Min wanted today, but if you're not eating, I guess it can't be helped."
At my words, the glare directed at me became even more venomous.
But I deliberately pretended not to care and took out my phone.
"Yes, is this the hearty Gukbap place? Please quickly deliver one bowl of Gukbap, so hot it'll peel the roof of your mouth..."
Then, a low voice came from beside me.
"Tteokbokki."
At my sister's declaration of surrender, I desperately fought to keep the corners of my mouth from curling up and said,
"Spicy tteokbokki with extra cheese?"
"And fried snacks too. Three gimmari, no, four."
"Okey, ordering now?"
"And buy some ice cream too."
"Got it, keuk... Then me entering your room without permission today, keuk. Is all forgiven, right? Keuh."
"Don't laugh! I haven't forgiven you yet!"
"Hmm, hmm. Who said I was laughing?"
To avoid offending my sister's barely softened mood, I desperately held back my laughter.
"It's a bit weird to ask now, but have you been doing well?"
"I don't know. Is it okay for you to be out here like this?"
"It's fine, though I do have to go back in a few days. Anyway, the broadcast... did you watch it?"
"Yeah, Grandma asked me to watch it with her, so I did."
"Really?"
My sister answered my question casually, but I could see her eyes trembling slightly.
"Was it fun?"
"I don't really know about that kind of stuff."
"Didn't you like idols before?"
"That was in middle school, and I'm not interested now. If Grandma hadn't asked me to watch with her, I wouldn't have watched. Stop talking nonsense and go buy the ice cream quickly."
"Alright then."
Looking at my sister rapidly spitting out words like someone feeling defensive, I gladly got up to become her errand boy.
"What kind of ice cream should I buy?"
"Go to the convenience store and buy Natuur green tea and strawberry flavors!"
"Are you trying to drain me dry?"
"Hmph."
Looking at my sister's face, which still seemed a bit sullen.
I debated whether I should hold back, but the little devil inside me finally woke me up.
"Min."
"What?"
"When you write shielding comments, it's better to praise their skills rather than their personality if possible. If you push the personality image, there'll be a backlash later..."
"Get outttttt!"
I easily caught the flying tissue and spoke to my sister again.
"Anyway, thanks for writing comments for me, sis. Though for the record, I'd prefer it if you studied hard rather than writing comments..."
"Sunwoo Rin!!!!"
Seeing my sister finally get up from her seat, I quickly ran out of the house.
'Should I go back in about 10 minutes?'
Having created a dark anti-fan, I was walking to the convenience store in front of my house when.
Bzzzzt-
At the sudden vibration, thinking it might be my sister, I checked my phone.
'What? Why Eugene Kim?'
***
Kim So-young, who had become a fan of Sunwoo Rin after watching the Team Battle, entered the open chatroom with a pounding heart before watching Episode 2 of "National Idol Season 2" today.
-Hello!
-Oh, welcome~ This is the Sunwoo Rin trainee support room!
Entering the room, she saw a few people actively talking.
-Newcomers are always welcome!
-By the way, why did 'Mini' leave? They were the most active person.
-Well...
-I hope Rin gets a lot of screen time today!
Occasionally joining the conversations of the people chatting away, Kim So-young waited for Episode 2 to begin.
-It's finally starting!
-Everyone's watching it live, right?
The broadcast started, and the ranking evaluation story that didn't finish last week came up first.
'By the way, why aren't they telling us Rin's rank?'
Trainees like Wi Cheon-woo, Sunwoo Rin, and Sim Seong-ha had already been evaluated, but their ranks hadn't been announced yet.
While watching the broadcast, waiting for Sunwoo Rin's rank announcement.
Eugene Kim's ranking evaluation, which didn't appear last week, began.
-For singing, Eugene Kim is definitely in a league of her own.
-I don't know why she's trying to be an idol.
-But it looks like she didn't prepare for the dance at all?
Eugene Kim appeared, receiving harsh criticism from Kim Na-hee for not preparing a dance.
Again, without revealing Eugene Kim's evaluation results, the screen transitioned to the entrance ceremony.
The trainees were shown riding in cars assigned according to their ranks, but.
'They're not showing Rin.'
Sunwoo Rin could not be found anywhere.
At that moment. The trainees gathered in the auditorium appeared.
-Huh? I see Rin over there!
-Why are only those five standing separately?
That curiosity was resolved before long.
[The X-rank are trainees whose potential could not be properly grasped.]
Along with Lia's words, the scene of the five trainees, including Sunwoo Rin, receiving the X rank passed by.
-What? I thought you could only go to A or D?
-Wow, Musicnet made another weird thing.
'No, no matter how I think about it, that seems like an opportunity?'
In Kim So-young's mind, the X-rank was precisely the chance to become the main character of this episode.
And the broadcast began to flow just as Kim So-young had predicted.
[The X-rank can freely choose which trainer they receive training from, and which rank's classes they attend.]
Sunwoo Rin's face, pondering with a serious expression after hearing the writer's words, was captured on screen.
And.
[Sunwoo Rin trainee, you know that having no trainee experience is nothing more than an excuse since you participated here, right?]
Like footage edited from the ranking evaluation, Trainer Kim Na-hee's face glaring at Sunwoo Rin as she spoke, contrasted with Sunwoo Rin's tense expression standing there, was captured on screen.
'What, don't tell me the main character of this episode is...'
After that, just as Kim So-young had suspected, Sunwoo Rin's growth story was depicted on the broadcast.
-Wow, he took all the classes? That's seriously amazing.
-At this rate, isn't he literally Captain Korea, no joke?
-Ahem, that nickname...
-Ah. I'm sorry. ㅠㅠ
Building the narrative through the sight of Sunwoo Rin working hard, balancing training and personal practice, the broadcast gradually raised expectations until.
[Sunwoo Rin, you did well.]
It reached its climax along with Kim Na-hee's praise.
-Wow! He got praised by Trainer Kim Na-heeㅅ!
-I'm seriously crying ㅠㅠ
-The growth story this episode is seriously daebak. It feels like the coolest one so far!
-Guys! Sunwoo Rin's name is trending in real-time on SNS right now! Daebak!!!
Kim So-young saw the message in the chatroom and hurriedly went to SNS to check the real-time trends list.
'It's actually there!'
Worried that maybe it only looked cool to her, Kim So-young searched for posts about Sunwoo Rin.
'The reaction is huge!'
Except for a few reactions grumbling about the focus on screen time, seemingly from fans of other trainees.
Posts praising Sunwoo Rin and wanting to rewatch it made up the majority of the opinions.
'The main character of Episode 2 is Sunwoo Rin. It's confirmed.'
If this atmosphere continued, he might rise to the debut group rankings in an instant.
The mood was that good right now.
'Although there's still some anxiety about his skills. That will also be resolved to some extent once the Team Battle stage video is released.'
First and foremost, gaining the image of a hardworking trainee was the biggest gain.
With this, the light gag character image from the beginning would also be offset.
'But, the scene from the Episode 1 preview...'
Kim So-young recalled one remaining anxiety.
The preview that came out after Episode 1 ended.
What exactly the story of the two trainees, revealed by netizens to be Sunwoo Rin and Eugene Kim, would be.
After a long wait, the content about Eugene Kim finally appeared as the broadcast was nearing its end.
Eugene Kim appeared, suffering from poor condition since the first day of entering the dorm.
Dragging her sick body, she tried to practice as best she could, but.
Perhaps due to overexertion, Eugene Kim was seen suffering severely that night.
The other trainees didn't notice Eugene Kim's situation as she groaned softly alone.
Next was the sight of Sunwoo Rin returning to the dorm room and going to bed after practicing until dawn.
At that moment, Sunwoo Rin, who was thought to be asleep, suddenly got up and headed toward Eugene Kim's bed.
And soon, Sunwoo Rin carried Eugene Kim on his back and headed outside.
The scene from the preview appeared, showing the two entering the infirmary.
After that, the inside of the infirmary was shown through CCTV, but no sound could be heard.
The screen changed, and instead of CCTV footage, a filmed screen appeared, and the sound of their conversation began to be heard.
[Trainee, please return to the dorm now.]
[Since I brought her, I'll stay by her side until the ambulance arrives.]
Refusing the production team's words, Sunwoo Rin sat down next to Eugene Kim.
And Eugene Kim spoke weakly to such a Sunwoo Rin.
[Thank you, hyung.]
"Crazy! This is daebak! Huff!"
Unable to contain her excitement, Kim So-young screamed, then quickly covered her mouth.
Bang bang bang-
She ended up offending the examinee living in the next room.
'Still, I'm so happy!'
***
[Thank you, hyung.]
After looking once at Eugene Kim in the screen speaking to me.
I gazed at the face of Eugene Kim, who was sitting next to me right now, staring intently at her phone.
"Why?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
This meeting took place so abruptly that even I wasn't sure why I was here.
'Hyung, could you watch Episode 2 with me?'
'Uh... huh? Why?'
'I have something I need to do.'
Unable to refuse, I ended up coming to Eugene Kim's house.
-Sunwoo Rin trainee, exhausted from practicing all night, stayed by Eugene Kim trainee's side until the ambulance arrived.
'I wasn't tired at all back then.'
"Hmm."
While I was agonizing over the cringy subtitles on the broadcast, Eugene Kim made an ambiguous expression again and started looking at something intently on her phone.
I thought the video about me and Eugene Kim had ended like that.
But soon, Eugene Kim's interview scene began to air.
-You say there's a trainee you're most grateful to?
[I want to say I'm thankful to Sunwoo Rin hyung.]
-Because of that night?
[I'm grateful for that, of course, but more than that, when I got sick and returned to the dorm, I was struggling because I had fallen far behind in the dance choreography. Sunwoo Rin hyung readily approached me first and used his own personal practice time to review my choreography. I truly want to say thank you for that once again.]
"Uh...?? Eugene, you came to me first and asked for help with the dance, didn't you?? Why did you say that in the interview...?"
"I thought it would be better to say it like that. Anyway, the reactions toward you are good."
"Were you checking the broadcast reactions since a while ago?"
"Yes."
It was an unexpected side of her, as she didn't seem like someone who would care about other people's opinions.
"I need to figure out what the fans will like in the future."
Answering like that, Eugene Kim, who had been staring at her phone for a while longer, suddenly switched her phone to camera mode.
"Hyung, come here. Let's take a live-watching proof shot together."
"Proof shot?"
It felt a little weird, but I took the picture with her anyway.
After taking the picture, Eugene Kim fiddled with her phone again.
"What are you going to do with that?"
"I have to post it on SNS."
"What? Is that allowed?"
"I got permission from the production team. They actually liked it."
Eugene Kim posted the text and showed me her phone screen.
-With the always thankful Rin-hyung, live-watching proof shot!
#NationalIdolSeason2 #Episode2 #LiveWatching #SunwooRin&EugeneKim
"What's good about posting it like this?"
"The fans will like it."
"No, not that. What's the benefit for you? Even if you don't do this, you're likely to be 1st place anyway. Why does it seem like you keep doing things that only help me? It can't simply be because you're thankful to me. Am I being too sensitive?"
"That's..."