Chapter 50 |
“Trainees, please be seated in your chairs, as the second ranking announcement ceremony is about to begin.”
The voice of the main PD echoed throughout the studio through the speakers. Following the main PD’s instructions, the trainees sat down, and soon after, Yang Hajun appeared on stage.
“Hello, trainees! I’m MC Yang Hajun. Did you all do well in the mini mission?”
“Yes!”
‘No.’
While the trainees of the other room responded energetically, Woo Kangwon, Do Yuda, and I sat side by side, keeping our mouths shut with dull expressions on our faces.
“We’re confirmed for last place, right?”
“Yeah.”
“When I went to the other rooms to ask, I think our team took the fewest. Everyone else took at least two.”
“What about Lee Hwayoung’s team?”
“I heard they took one shot. They’re in second place from the back.”
‘Pretty much the same.’
“The fate of the 1st and 2nd place trainees is always like this. Wherever they go, they attract a lot of attention. So much so that they can’t walk outside for even 3 minutes. You don’t know how proud I am that my hyung was spotted before Nicholas-hyung.”
“Be quiet.” I cut off Do Yuda’s nonsense.
Come to think of it, it was probably for the better.
See. If I can’t be first, at least I’ll have the determination to be number one from behind.
“Then, let’s start the second ranking announcement ceremony now.”
Before Do Yuda’s chatter continued, the second ranking announcement ceremony began at the perfect timing.
***
“Huhu, I really want to thank Trainee Han Seungbeom … Mom, Dad, I love you!”
“Yes, the gratitude towards your parents and trainee Han Seungbeom was very nice. Next trainee, please tell us your feelings.”
The members of the Motorcycle team, who were at risk of elimination until the second mission, shed tears and expressed their gratitude towards me. Perhaps due to the miraculous rise in rankings, they seemed stunned and out of their minds, repeating “Han Seungbeom” name like a parrot.
“Mom, Dad, and Han Seungbeom. He didn’t even mention the CEO of his agency, but he’s talking about Han Seungbeom first.”
“Isn’t Han Seungbeom almost a religion?”
“The unofficial fan club name for Han Seungbeom is Seunggyodo. It really sounds like a religion.”1
As soon as I glanced at the guys whispering behind me, the noise stopped. Those guys barely had any screentime, so when they did get it, they had to be filmed properly.
“I also want to say thank you to Trainee Han Seungbeom. Honestly, I was filled with anxiety until the moment Trainee Han Seungbeom collapsed. But while I was packing up his belongings, I was able to correct my mindset.”
‘What is he saying?’
I had no idea. I didn’t even know that they had packed my belongings.
“In Trainee Han Seungbeom’s belongings, there was a notebook in which he had analyzed the strengths and areas for improvement of each member, written across several pages. As I read the words written inside, I thought to myself that this person was someone I wanted to follow.”
‘Oh, so that’s why.’
One of the factors that contributed to my success in training Zen was that the other members’ level of completion was already high. It seemed that while I had fainted, the members continued their practice by looking at that notebook. Since they said the notes were somewhat helpful, it explained why they had a friendly attitude towards me even though I had been absent from practice.
“If it weren’t for Trainee Han Seungbeom, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet the fans who came to see me through this second mission. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I will work hard to become Kim Yeoyoung, who can show a great side through my own efforts, not with the help of others. Thank you!”
“Heuk, Han Seungbeom! You are the best leader ever!”
“I’ll never forget you, Seungbeom-ah!”
At Kim Yeoyoung’s words, the members of the Motorcycle team hugged each other and cried once again. I felt like I was being treated like a dead person, even though I was still alive and well.
“Yes, we’ve heard the heartfelt feelings from the Motorcycle team. Trainee Han Seungbeom, who received expressions of gratitude from everyone, how are you feeling right now?”
“….I didn’t know the members had such feelings, so I’m a bit embarrassed.”
Following Yang Hajun’s question, the microphone was handed to me. I couldn’t respond with ‘That’s right. It’s all thanks to me, be grateful for the rest of your life‘, so I opened my mouth in the most humble manner possible.
“Even if they were helped by that notebook, it was their own choice and actions to use it as a reference for their practice, so I think they should be proud of themselves rather than me. Thank you so much for your hard work on the second mission. I’m grateful as well.”
If the members kept humbling themselves like that, I was worried that the fans who came to watch them would feel upset. Even if they weren’t my fans, I wanted to cherish the hearts of those who valued someone, so I decided to give the credit to the members.
“Yes, thank you for the great answer! Trainee Seungbeom really seems to have a charisma that draws people in.”
Yang Hajun looked at me, his eyes sparkling brightly as he clenched his fist. There was a strange longing in his eyes, so I bowed my head and handed him the microphone.
“Now, I will announce the top ten trainees who are close to earning the debut spot.”
It felt like a long time had already passed since the ranking ceremony started, but my turn still hadn’t come. I was feeling dizzy from this huge waste of time.
I rarely appeared on broadcasts before I died, so I wasn’t accustomed to this kind of waiting time.
“…And in 12th place is trainee Nagi Zen!”
Yang Hajun’s voice sounded like it was playing at 0.5x speed, rumbling in the background. But as soon as something I was interested in reached my ears, I snapped back to attention.
‘What? 12th place?’
Even considering the benefits received, the ranking went up too much. It seemed he gained a lot of fans thanks to the second mission.
“Oh.”
Zen, who was sitting next to me, let out a short exclamation as if it were someone else’s business. Then, with a flushed face, he looked at the stage. It seemed like he had forgotten that he needed to stand up and go there.
“You have to go there.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
When I patted his shoulder and reminded him, Zen moved stiffly and made his way up to the stage. While Zen was walking, Yang Hajun smoothly read out the introduction for him.
“Trainee Zen has experienced the most dramatic rank change among the members of the Motorcycle team, which has achieved a rapid rise in rankings. With his unique husky voice, eccentric personality, and a style transformation that highlighted his good looks, he has captivated the heart of many viewers. Now, Trainee Zen, shall we hear your thoughts?”
Zen flinched like a malfunctioning robot, then raised his hands in the air and shouted.
“Victory! Thank you!”
“Uh … is that all?”
“That’s all.”
“Is there anything else you want to say?”
“There is none!”
“…….”
I sighed, sweeping my face down.
It’s hopeless. It was hard to tell because that guy’s face was always so expressionless, but he must have been flustered and had nothing in his head.
Luckily, his head was lowered so low that it was almost touching the floor, so he didn’t give off the impression that he wasn’t being sincere, and I thought it could be passed off as a funny moment.
“I understand. It’s loud and good. You can go and take your seat now.”
“Thank you.”
The guy who bowed his head again towards Yang Hajun walked towards me, moving his same foot and same arm at the same time.
“…This is driving me crazy.”
The trainee whose name was called had to sit not in the waiting area where the other trainees were, but in the pyramid-shaped ranking seats. His face looked so intimidating that no one pointed it out.
“You have to go to the ranking seats, not here.”
“I see. I made a mistake.”
After hearing my words, Zen bowed his head and then walked toward the ranking seats with the same broken gait as before.
“…….”
Whether or not I fully took on Zen’s embarrassment, the ranking announcement ceremony continued without pause.
***
The highlight of Survive IDOL season 4 was the battle for 1st place between Lee Hwayoung and me.
Lee Hwayoung strangely seemed to have little desire for the 1st place spot, but people still considered it a spectacle. So, because the order of events was strange, with the announcement of the eliminated contestants and their departure happening before the announcement of first place, by the time my name was called as the first-place winner, all my energy had been drained.
I am the type of person who lacks patience.
‘Even if you don’t drag it out like that, I’m going to be first place anyway.’
I knew people would endlessly curse me if they heard this, but it was the truth.
The gap between Lee Hwayoung and I, which previously felt like a tight race, started to widen, and I no longer felt the same tension as I did in the beginning. This was partly due to the benefits, and partly because there was no way I would be portrayed negatively on the broadcast. So, it was a given result.
I skillfully grabbed the microphone and began to speak my thoughts.
“Thank you so much. It makes me so happy to have ranked this high in the second ranking ceremony. I’ve been so busy preparing for the second competition, and I’m always filled with gratitude for the fans and trainees who have been with me throughout this process.”
I didn’t feel the need to include any words about how hard things were in my speech. My belief was that it was enough to simply convey my gratitude to the fans and those who helped me with my activities.
“I will always do my best to show a good performance that is worthy of the love that fans have sent me. Thank you.”
After finishing my speech, which was mostly a message of gratitude, I bowed deeply toward the camera. Lee Hwayoung, who had already finished his 2nd place speech and was standing beside me, simply watched me quietly.
Finally, when both I and Lee Hwayoung sat on our ranking chairs, and all the waiting seats were empty, the main PD signaled Yang Hajun to proceed with the next part. It seemed that they were going to make announcements other than the ranking announcement ceremony at once.
“Next, I’ll talk about the rewards for the mini mission. As you know, you were divided into teams based on your dorm rooms and completed the mission. And you were ranked according to the authentication shots you took. The rankings are as shown on the screen now.”
With the sound of the roulette spinning, the screen displayed the number of authentication shots and the rankings one by one. Our team’s name appeared at the very bottom of the screen, highlighted in red.
‘It’s going to be all over the neighborhood that our team is in last place.’
“In the third mission, each team will include a trainee from the team that achieved the highest ranking in the mini-mission, in other words, the team that took the most authentication shots.”
I thought they might give benefits for team selection, like in a mini sports day, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Something about this made me uneasy.
“The designated trainee will automatically take on the role of team leader and hold absolute authority in distributing parts and positions.”
“….Woah.”
“Then what if that person creates a stage that focuses only on himself?”
“Or they could distribute the parts based on friendships.”
The bombshell of the mini mission’s reward dropped, and in an instant, the studio became noisy.
“….Ha.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
I felt like my patience was at its breaking point.
‘It’s ruined. It’s totally ruined.’
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Translator’s Corner:
- Seunggyodo (승교도), this is what Han Seungbeom’s fan call themselves. You know sometimes when solo fandom picked an unofficial name for themselves, they will find a word that goes along with their idol name right? For example, there’s BLACKPINK Jennie with “Jensetters”, RED VELVET Joy with “Joyfuls, AESPA Giselle “Aerishines” (because her real name is Aeri Uchinaga), etc. When you spell “Seunggyodo” in Korean, the “gyodo” is blending nicely with the “Seung”. And Gyodo (교도) itself means “a person or group that believes in a religion” and the word itself was used a lot by religions so that’s why the trainees were agreeing Seungbeom is like a religion. ↩︎
I guess I’m really not on the right mind because why this is on chapter 50 already … I hope I can wake up early tomorrow and have motivation to see the sun then ….