[⎿Honestly, if they filmed dramas like this these days, they'd get cursed out like hell and cancelled after episode 3, tsk tsk][I fell in love with a Chinese man… @alwaysliuuway (photo) (photo)
Liu Liu's
To think that the audience's attention was drawn more to the person leaving than to the trainees who had to perform the next stage right away?
"Seriously, this damn Chinese bastard… What am I supposed to do about the ratings for the rest of the broadcast after he pulled a stunt like that. No, if anything, he should've at least finished the stage before leaving! That fu—. Where's the staff that Director Shin assigned? Director Shin, you son of a—."
"Shh, shh! PD-nim, they can hear you!"
Thus, at the very moment when Producer Ju Cheol-yeong, the devil of ratings, was grabbing the back of his neck and about to collapse.
Fortunately, the explosive reaction to the following stage saved him.
"—Thank you! Until now, the trainees' second group stage. It was 'Loop&Repeat'!"
Uwaaaah!
In other words, it was the song that Jeong Yeon-u had gifted to the trainees.
- On a night like tonight, I just want to ask you Are you sleeping well, or what are you thinking about Plz sing for me No choreography, nothing intense.
Under a calm accompaniment, how could 'Loop&Repeat'—where the trainees simply stood in place and sang into stand mics—elicit such a reaction?
It was thanks to the daily life in the cramped trainee quarters shown on the LED screen behind the song.
- Everyday, Every time Whether it rains or snows I had so much fun because I was with you The sight of boys their age draped in blankets, giggling; the sight of them screaming innocently while playing card games.
The sight of them banging their foreheads in worry to memorize all the choreography in a short time, and the sight of someone crying.
And even the sight of them endlessly watching their own fan who appeared on broadcast.
- All the time until now Is not enough for me Loop, Repeat, Again&Again From the very beginning, once more I want to know you Those elements, together with the direction that felt like peeking at an old camcorder memory….
- Loop, Repeat, Again&Again I want to ask even things I already knew How was it Were we good enough Along with lyrics that seemed slightly uncertain, it had properly dug into and ripped out the fans' feelings.[Please release this as a song? It could be an original song with Aiming ㅠㅠ They're saying they'll turn back time to meet you again, this is literally the Tata kids' narrative][⎿Honestly it fits Aiming more conceptually for Tata ;; What do you mean making a song from another group's leader your original song lol][When did I say Aiming was bad? The literacy rate of kids these days is really so low it's driving me crazy][⎿Reporting]
Such a stage for 'Loop&Repeat' drew the attention that had been focused on Liu Wei back to the trainees.
Thanks to that, Kim Chun-yong didn't have to escape the stage to plant a fist in Liu Wei's face. 'When Brother Yeon-u said we'd need more time to vote, I was half-doubting. But this is really….'
Whether he should admire the exceptional foresight, or be scared at how he could even predict a situation like this.
While clicking his tongue at Jeong Yeon-u's judgment, Kim Chun-yong didn't forget to spread out eight fingers and wave them at the camera.
Vote number 8, Kim Chun-yong.
Asking them to please vote so he could debut.
As Kim Chun-yong took the lead in that action, the other trainees followed one after another, beginning to promote themselves with splendid and cute expressions.
Only now did it start to feel like they were properly doing a live broadcast of an idol survival program. 'Huh, Trainee Kim Chun-yong. As good a choice as Mr. Jeong Yeon-u's song. Now then….'
As the trainees' atmosphere and the on-site reactions stabilized, Lee Hyeon-jeong nodded and gestured with her sketchbook for Choi Ga-on to proceed quickly.
There was an important matter that had to be done while the atmosphere was set like this.
"Now, everyone! Having just seen the trainees' second stage earlier, next up is one of the biggest highlights of a survival program aiming for 'debut'!"
Choi Ga-on took a deep breath before shouting in a very loud voice.
"It's time to meet the debut group name!"
"…
Haha."
At the moment that had finally arrived, Kim Chun-yong let out a grunt, smiling a smile that was both welcome and bitter.
An idol's group name.
What that meant.
If it was tacky, they'd be ridiculed; if it was too long, complaints would arise that it was hard to say; if it held too grand a meaning, they'd hear things like "who do they think they are?".
Finding the best name amid such reactions was quite a difficult task. 'Our team name was… among those, the kind that got ridiculed.' Although Kim Chun-yong now habitually said "our Arrows," he had been truly bewildered when he first encountered the group name.
How on earth did the group name become Arrows, of all things.
Later he learned that hidden behind it was the involvement of other groups' fans in the group name vote.[They're saying they'll take public suggestions for the trainees' group name and vote? How many times can one person vote?][⎿I looked it up and it seems you can just press recommend infinitely?][⎿Shit, let's go vote for the funniest one right now, we have to go immediately][Flight / Barrel / Arrows < vote for one of these, honestly the last one is the funniest][⎿An idol group name… Arrows!?][⎿But looking at it now, it seems like it's actually going to happen…?]
Thus, for fun, or because those fans hated it and found it embarrassing.
The group name Arrows was decided that way.
In Kim Chun-yong's mind, if nothing major changed, the group name was scheduled to be Arrows this time as well.[1. Arrows (830,405 votes)
2. TFY (437,983 votes)
3. Ifou (794,282 votes)
4. Koneta (273,803 votes)]
In the voting window he had checked last, Arrows was receiving a sufficiently high number of votes.
"The group name directly chosen by the fans who submitted suggestions and voted diligently! We will reveal it on screen right now!"
'I just have to not be embarrassed. My name is an idol trainee name, Kim Chun-yong, so what. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to debut in the first place.' Kim Chun-yong clenched his fist and nodded vigorously at Choi Ga-on's words.
Swoosh—As if to meet that expectation, a pictogram of an arrow being shot appeared on the screen along with a sound effect.
It was definitely the pictogram Kim Chun-yong had seen even before accepting "Arrows" as the group name.
And countless letters swirled around it chaotically.
Barrel, Flight, the other group name candidates.
Beyond those, Tango-Down, Koneta.
After the effect of those letters combining wildly and being slowly sucked into the arrow appeared.
"…The group name for the trainees who will debut through
The screen turned black, and Choi Ga-on slowly opened his mouth.
"ToZ, Xenon!"
"…
Huh?"
And at those words, it was only natural that the mouth of Kim Chun-yong, who had been thinking of receiving the name Arrows once more, fell open.