Episode 40
[The trainees' rankings will be revealed shortly]
Kim So-young stared intently at the text at the top of the screen, waiting for the commercial to end.
The commercial break, which felt three times longer than usual, finally ended.
At last.
[We will now begin the 2nd Rank Announcement Ceremony of 'National Idol Season 2'.]
The rank announcement ceremony had begun.
-It's starting!!!
-'Breaking News' Rank announcement starting. 14th place Seonwoo Rin
└Stop lying it just started kekekekekeke
-Did it really start? You're not lying, right?
-Look at the kids' expressions all frozen... I'm nervous too daengdaeng
└Looks like it's real this time? Going to watch right now!!
"Rin, this time you definitely have to be 1st... Ah, never mind."
Kim So-young wrote a comment but couldn't bring herself to press the submit button and closed the window.
Kim So-young recalled her mother, who used to avoid watching national matches like the Olympics or the World Cup, claiming that if she watched, our country would lose.
At the time, she couldn't understand her mother's feelings, but...
"Somehow, I think I understand how Mom felt."
For some reason, she felt that if she desperately prayed for Seonwoo Rin to become 1st, she wouldn't be able to make it.
That said, she wasn't going to completely not watch like her mother did.
[First, before the rank announcement, let's give a round of applause to all the trainees who have safely completed the 2nd and 3rd performances.]
At Ria's words, the expressions of the trainees, who were trembling with nervousness, relaxed slightly.
The screen captured Shim Seong-ha and Baek Si-hyun clapping with faces lost in thought, and also showed Park Han-hwi and Woo Jung-woo playfully joking with each other.
"Where is Rin?"
The moment Kim So-young looked at the other trainees to find Seonwoo Rin, Seonwoo Rin appeared on the screen.
"Keuk, it's the members from the first stage."
Seonwoo Rin was sitting in the very front row with the Bu Ji-seok and Bu Ji-hoon brothers, and Kang A-jin.
The screen showed a close-up of Seonwoo Rin's visibly exhausted face, along with Bu Ji-seok and Bu Ji-hoon excitedly shaking her shoulders.
[However, the number of people who can advance to the Final Round is... only 15. Out of the 40 trainees here, 25 will not be able to stand on the Final Round stage.]
At Ria's immediately following words, the smiles disappeared from the trainees' faces.
Over half of the people here would be eliminated.
The camera zoomed in on the stage where the chairs for the top 15 were placed, noticeably fewer than when there were 77 chairs at the beginning.
And the 1st place chair, which Eugene Kim had sat in during the 1st Rank Announcement Ceremony, placed at the very top of all the chairs, was shown on the screen.
[We will reveal the results of the benefits you received based on the results of the 2nd and 3rd performances. The members of the 1st place team of the 2nd performance,
[And the 1st place trainee overall in the 2nd and 3rd performances, determined by the individual trainee voting results, will receive a benefit of 100,000 votes. The 2nd place trainee will receive a benefit of 20,000 votes.]
"The 1st place individual carries much more weight than the 1st place team. Rin was 1st in the 3rd performance, but who was 1st in the 2nd performance? Wasn't it Eugene Kim?"
At that moment, the screen on the stage revealed the names of the trainees who received benefits along with the number of votes they received.
The trainee who received the most benefits among the trainees was... none other than Woo Jung-woo.
A whopping 160,000 votes in benefits. Seonwoo Rin was next after Woo Jung-woo with 130,000 votes in benefits.
[Woo Jung-woo was a member of the 1st place team in both the 2nd and 3rd performances. And by achieving 1st place in the individual trainee vote in the 2nd performance, he received a total of 160,000 votes in benefits.]
The screen captured Woo Jung-woo trembling, unlike his usual self.
And.
"So Woo Jung-woo was 1st in the 2nd performance. Eugene Kim got 50,000 votes. For now, Rin won in terms of benefits..."
It wasn't a bad start.
The difference in benefits between Seonwoo Rin and Eugene Kim was 80,000 votes. It was by no means a small difference.
[We will now announce the name of the 14th place trainee.]
For the lower-ranking trainees, this rank was practically their last hope.
The trainees were seen praying with desperate faces.
[The 14th place trainee is Bu Ji-seok!]
[Huh?? Waaaaaah!]
As his name was called, Bu Ji-seok let out a cheer and stood up from his seat.
Bu Ji-seok shared a hug with Bu Ji-hoon first, then exchanged joyful greetings with all the trainees around him for a long time before coming up to the stage.
"Bu Ji-seok is fine. He's close with Rin, too."
Kim So-young said as she watched Bu Ji-seok hugging Seonwoo Rin.
14th place, honestly, looked like a difficult rank to debut with. But just making it to the Final Round as an individual trainee was a great achievement.
'Come to think of it, Rin is an individual trainee too...'
[Bu Ji-seok, along with Bu Ji-hoon, is the owner of such bright energy that he could be called the energizer of our National Idol. He ranked 14th with 673,422 votes. Please say a few words.]
[Uh, first of all, I'm really grateful to the national judges who gave me so much love. Thank you to the fans who supported me, and to the trainee friends, younger ones, and older ones. And lastly... Ji-hoon, have fun watching the Final Round from home, I'll do my best!]
At Bu Ji-seok's words, Bu Ji-hoon, who was below the stage, jumped around wildly, and Seonwoo Rin barely managed to hold him down.
Laughter spread through the heavy atmosphere of the rank announcement ceremony at Bu Ji-seok's words.
-Told him to watch from home and have fun kekekekekekeke
-kekekekekekekeke No one can beat the real brother chemistry of Bu Ji-seok and Bu Ji-hoon
-Look at Seonwoo Rin struggling to hold him back, so funny kekeke
-Next to Seonwoo Rin, Kang A-jin looking terrified is even funnier kekekekekekeke
-Ah please let Bu Ji-hoon rank higher so Bu Ji-seok gets reverse-trolled.
└Ah keke That would be so funny kekekeke
While Kim So-young was checking the real-time reactions on SNS.
The trainees' rankings began to be announced one after another.
[The 13th place trainee is Jeong Won-woo.]
[The 12th place trainee is Kim Tae-ha.]
[The 11th place trainee is...]
The rank announcement progressed up to 11th place, but there were no particularly special upsets.
The trainees who were previously in the upper ranks took the spots.
Trainees whose ranks rose gave short interviews with happy faces, while those whose ranks dropped showed signs of disappointment.
Just as Kim So-young was waiting, thinking that the rankings for the trainees in the debut zone would come out soon.
A name she hadn't thought of at all was called for the 10th place trainee.
[The 10th place trainee is Wi Cheon-woo.]
"Wi Cheon-woo is 10th place?"
Just as Kim So-young was surprised, the reactions on SNS also appeared quickly.
-Did I hear that wrong?? They said Wi Cheon-woo is 10th? Really?? Someone watching the broadcast right now answer me...!
└Yeah Wi Cheon-woo is 10th. Seems like the last incident hit him pretty hard...
-Heol, daebak! Wasn't he 4th last time?
-Wi Cheon-woo dropped to 10th, with this his debut is on thin ice, isn't it?
-No guys ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Cheon-woo can't drop out... ㅠㅠㅠㅠ If Wi Cheon-woo drops out, there's no visual!!!
└Yeah even without the Chinese visual, seems like they'll do well enough. And Kang A-jin and Seonwoo Rin's visuals are good enough too.
└Don't pick a fight and just get out.
Unlike the fans' surprised reactions, Wi Cheon-woo's appearance on the screen was calm.
[Wi Cheon-woo, your rank has dropped compared to the 1st Rank Announcement Ceremony. What do you think about that?]
At Ria's direct question, Wi Cheon-woo looked at the camera and answered.
[Regardless of the rank. Thank you. For voting for me! I'll work hard!]
"Not bad."
It's easy to show a sensitive reaction when your rank drops, but Wi Cheon-woo seemed to be managing his mentality relatively well.
"It might actually be better that his rank dropped now."
With only the live broadcast ahead, there was still plenty of room to bounce back regardless of this ranking.
Rather, the drop in rank now could instill a sense of crisis in the fans, creating an effect that would make them rally together even more.
The somewhat shocking announcement of Wi Cheon-woo's rank ended like that.
[Now we will finally announce the rankings of the trainees in the debut zone.]
Despite Ria's solemn words, since the trainees who would come out were already set, Kim So-young watched the rank announcement ceremony without much tension.
"Hurry up and show 1st place! Show me who's 1st!"
If there was anything that could be called an upset, Park Han-hwi was called in 4th place, lower than the previous rank announcement ceremony.
[We will announce the 3rd place trainee.]
Unlike the previous rank announcement ceremony, the 3rd place rank was announced immediately this time.
[3rd place is Woo Jung-woo, with 1,237,892 votes.]
Woo Jung-woo, who received 160,000 votes in benefits alone, beat Park Han-hwi and took the 3rd place spot.
[Because I've debuted once before, this audition is even more desperate for me. To not betray the expectations of everyone who supports me, I will show you a great performance in the Final Round as well.]
Revealing slight tears, Woo Jung-woo calmly finished his speech, walked up to his seat, and shared a hug with Park Han-hwi, who was sitting in the 4th place seat.
The screen briefly showed Woo Jung-woo sitting in the 3rd place seat, then captured the faces of two people on the screen.
-Crazy... Only 1st and 2nd are left...
-So who's 1st? Tell me quickly!!!
-Aaagh I'm so nervous I can't watch.
"I'm too nervous to watch either."
Eugene Kim's face and Seonwoo Rin's face were shown side by side on the two screens on the stage.
As Kim So-young waited for the result with her pounding heart in her hands.
[We are about to announce 1st and 2nd place. For your reference, the difference in votes between 1st and 2nd place is a mere 30,000 votes. The same number as the 1st place team benefit.]
"Wow, a 30,000 vote difference...!"
30,000 votes. It was an insignificant difference compared to the enormous number of votes, which had already exceeded 1 million from 5th place.
[Then, let's call forward the two trainees who have the chance to become the main character of 1st place this time as well. Come forward, please.]
At Ria's words, Seonwoo Rin and Eugene Kim stepped up onto the round podiums placed in the center of the stage.
"They're going to drag this out for about 5 minutes like this. I'm not falling for it anymore."
When Kim So-young spoke, trying hard to calm her trembling heart.
[We will now announce it. The 1st place trainee, with a total of 1,530,000 votes, is...]
"No, they're announcing this right away??? Is this real???"
[We will reveal it in 60 seconds.]
"Kuaaaaaaaagh!!!!!"
***
"We will reveal it in 60 seconds."
Uwaaaah!
No!!
Along with Ria's words, the trainees sitting in their seats let out groans.
'It's not like this is the first or second time, why do they do this every time...'
Thinking that, I looked at Eugene Kim, and Eugene Kim was looking at me too.
-Hey, who do you think will be 1st?
-Me.
-Confident...
For some reason, it feels like we're communicating well with our eyes today, is it my imagination?
Maybe there's another ability in the rival trait, I was pondering when.
"Everyone please be quiet! Filming resumes!!"
The noisy filming set quickly quieted down.
Ria grabbed the microphone again and spoke according to the signal.
"The second rank announcement ceremony... The glorious 1st place is..."
While Ria dragged out the announcement as much as possible to build tension, the cameras were moving busily to capture the reaction cuts of the trainees.
Countless thoughts crossed my mind.
'30,000 votes. Can I win?'
Last time, honestly, I didn't even think I could win, but this time, the thought of 'what if?' kept clouding my mind.
At that time. The director, who had been capturing the nervous faces of the trainees on camera for a long time to get reaction cuts, finally sent a signal to Ria that it was done.
And. Finally, Ria's mouth opened.
"The 1st place trainee is... Eugene Kim."
Waaaaah!-
'I lost.'
Feeling my body go completely limp, I clenched my legs tight and held on.
Second time 2nd place.
I narrowed the vote count a lot compared to the first time, but 2nd place is still 2nd place.
'It's okay. There's still a chance left.'
Filming wasn't over yet. I tried hard to pull myself together and sent congratulatory applause to Eugene Kim.
Listening to Eugene Kim's 1st place speech and waiting, my turn soon came, and I barely managed to finish my speech by painfully forcing my brain, which wasn't working, to turn.
Like that, the 1st place announcement ended, and after Eugene Kim and I sat in the 1st and 2nd place seats.
"We will now announce the 15th place trainee."
The 1st place announcement was over, but the rank announcement ceremony wasn't completely over yet.
"We will reveal the two candidates for the 15th place trainee."
On the screen that had shown the appearances of 1st and 2nd place just a moment ago, the appearances of the two 15th place candidates appeared.
"The candidates for the 15th place trainee are Bu Ji-hoon and Kim Seon-woo."
Seeing Bu Ji-hoon trembling like that was truly after a long time. Was it during the 1st evaluation...
Come to think of it, quite a lot of time had passed since the first stage we prepared together with the Bu brothers and Kang A-jin.
'I hope Bu Ji-hoon makes it.'
They were always playful, but they were also more passionate than anyone else.
They also treated me without prejudice when I was preparing for the stage knowing nothing at first.
Looking down, I saw Bu Ji-seok, sitting in the 14th place seat, watching desperately with his hands clasped together.
At that moment, Ria's voice echoed through the set.
"The 15th place trainee, with 652,453 votes, is Kim Seon-woo."
'Nothing is going my way today.'
Looking at Bu Ji-hoon, who was trying hard to smile, I let out a sigh inwardly.