Chapter 121
Chapter 121
After getting up in the morning and going easy on practicing, I went out to eat breakfast with my members. Since it was the day of the finals, we didn’t go overboard on our eating. After all, eating too much sodium could bloat our faces, and eating too many oily foods could upset our stomachs. Yet, since we wouldn’t have enough energy to perform on an empty stomach, we controlled our diet.
“Park Dong-Jun, move away from the fried rice this instance.”
“…Haaa.”
…Except Dong-Jun, who almost failed. But because Do-Seung stuck closely to his side and checked up on him, Dong-Jun also filled his plate with only light breakfast food, such as a bit of salad, fried egg, and Greek yogurt filled with nuts.
‘I feel like I’m taking a Utube V-log.’ While looking at my food, I thought I should take an aesthetic food shot or something.
“The view here is really good. Let’s all take a picture!” But unlike me, who just thought these things, Yeon-Hoon moved them to action. “Everyone come here!”
We all gathered in a circle around Yeon-Hoon, and with the city view behind us, we all took a selfie.
‘If we have to make self-produced content later on, he will do splendidly,’ I noted. For Yeon-Hoon alone, I thought I should ask the producers to do more self-produced, informal shootings. After we finished our breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, and when we went down to the first floor, we saw Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna waiting for us.
“We just have to head to the concert hall now! All of you will get your outfits there, and since the place has a spacious waiting room, I called all the make-up artists and hairdressers to join us there.”
“Wow.”
“It really feels like we are doing a concert now.”
“Hope we don’t make any mistakes on live broadcast.”
“…I’m so nervous.”
My members, who had been able to keep their cool until now, appeared very nervous.
‘It’s only natural.’ This wasn’t just any performance but one that placed our future on the line. It was the day when we could be rewarded for the fruits of our efforts. It would’ve been stranger if we were calm.
‘I have to definitely succeed in this mission…’ And this day was especially nerve-wracking for me since I also had to fulfill a mission with Do-Seung’s life on the line.
‘I shouldn’t make any mistakes.’ I couldn’t allow for the smallest mishap. Since all this nervousness could lead to mistakes, I calmed my heart and told myself, ‘I can do well. I shouldn’t get too nervous.’ I pressed my palms and went inside the car. When we all got inside, Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna also got into the driver and front passenger seat.
“Then, we will head there!”
“Yes!”
“Let’s go!”
“Haaa.”
That was how we headed towards the concert hall, where our final performance would take place.
***
On the day of The Showcase 2’s final performance, people were gathering in front of a stadium that was famous for holding idol shows. The live broadcast would start at 6 p.m. but the current time was 12 p.m. Since the audience could only enter starting from 4p.m., the people waiting here had come to the place much earlier than the scheduled time.
“Huh? They are sharing goods over there!”
“Ah, really?”
“Why is the line here so long?”
“What kind of line is this one?”
“I don’t know. I just saw other people standing here…”
“Ah…”
They had all gathered early to participate in the idol culture of people sharing fan goods before the concert. People who only talked on Bluebird also met each other offline, and friends who started stanning the same idols together came out to play. There were also others who just purely wished for their singers to do well and shared all sorts of goods for free, and of course, some just came out early to decrease their wait time.
All in all, people were already in front of the concert hall for various reasons and greeting each other. Among them, there was one Siren fan who was taking pictures with a bunch of goods inside her hand.
‘This Wolf Tae-Yoon sticker is so cute…’ she thought. Because she had come early in the morning, her arms were already heavy with goods. Though she felt bad to only receive things, she was still happy.
‘Maybe I should also make something simple and share them next time,’ she thought and took a picture of each of the goods and showed them off to her friends.
–What kind of master artist made that Wolf Tae-Yoon sticker?
–What! Haha The quality of Princess Woon’s sticker card is so good!
–Do you have unofficial photo cards for each member?
–Puppy Dong-Jun sticker sooo cute!!
–Why is Yeon-Hoon’s elementary school picture included in the mix? Hahaha
These were online friends she befriended on Bluebird, but recently, she met them offline a couple of times and got much closer. Though they all stanned Siren, unfortunately, she was the only one who won the lottery to watch the final performance. But because of how competitive the spots for this live broadcast were, it was simply a miracle that she even got chosen.
–You’re so lucky!
–Even if I didn’t get chosen, I should’ve just gone
–But Mokpo to Seoul is a bit too far
–Yeah that’s true haha
And as all her friends expressed how envious they were of her, she searched through Bluebird. She wanted to check if there was another sharing event and if possible, share some of these goods with her friends who were outside Seoul.
“They are giving out Only One goods there.”
“Ah, seriously?”
“Wow, the four comic strip of Hyun-Sung is so cute.”
“Did you make a church weekly with a print of Young-Ho’s face?”
“Ah, as expected of a holy Christian.”
While looking for Siren’s goods, Siren’s fan glanced at Only One’s section. Their lines were as long as Siren’s booths. This was only natural as although Siren had quickly grown their fandom from the show, Only One had their cheat card, Kang Hyun-Sung.
It really was impressive that Siren managed to increase their fan count in just a couple of months of broadcast. Thus, Siren’s fan had been sure that Siren would win, seeing how many stations were sharing Siren’s goods and how long the lines for them were. However, after she calmly scanned her surroundings once more, she realized she was sorely mistaken.
‘Only One is also no joke.’ The size of Siren and Only One’s fandoms were almost equal. Though people always said it was unnecessary to worry about celebrities, Siren was a group to worry about. It was already well-known among Siren fans how terrible WD Entertainment was, and the Siren members were too capable to stay in a company like that. If their company just had the basics and more resources and capital, Siren would’ve been a group that would’ve succeeded even without The Showcase program.
Thus, she thought, ‘Our guys really have to win.’ They couldn’t lose this chance, and she wanted to see Siren for a long time. But if Siren stayed in WD Entertainment, she wondered if they would even be able to debut, much less work for a long time. Siren’s fan scrolled through her phone and went through all her contacts. She contacted friends besides the ones she made on Bluebird but friends from middle and high school and friends from college; furthermore, she contacted her mom, dad, and brother.
—Heyheyheyhey don’t forget to vote for Siren on live
—Can you do a message vote for me please??
—Dad! Siren! Not Saren but Siren! You can’t get it wrong, okay!
She didn’t know how much influence each vote could make, but she didn’t want to give up like this and looked towards the concert hall desperately. She prayed to God, Buddha, and Allah that Siren would have good results.
***
After we arrived at the concert hall, time seemed to pass several times faster. We were at first surprised by the size of the concert hall, but we didn’t even have the time to process everything as we needed to do numerous rehearsals, especially for a live broadcast. First, we did the basic rehearsal to get used to the size of the stage.
Afterward, we rehearsed with our costumes hanging lightly over our bodies. Then, we did another rehearsal in alignment with the camera movements. Then, another one to check if the mike, LED, and stage devices all operated properly. Finally, we stood still, standing on stage so that camera directors could organize their basic settings. It was a very hectic schedule.
It felt even busier because we weren’t the only ones who did our rehearsals, and the other four teams did the same thing as us. That was how our busy rehearsal that started before noon ended. Then, we were given time to rest a bit after returning to our waiting rooms. Other teams were probably getting on stage and doing their rehearsals right now.
And as expected, I heard the staff call, “Please get the next team on stage! Don’t come out to the hallways!”
Like all other times, what the other groups prepared was a secret to us.
“Are the rehearsals all over?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Let’s finish your makeup and hair.”
Then, we sat in front of the mirrors and left the make-up artists and hairdressers to do their magic.
“Did everyone prepare well for the performance?”
“We did but…it still makes me nervous.”
“We practiced hard though.”
“Do you think we will be able to do a good job…?” one of my members asked his makeup artist.
On the other hand, I didn’t say anything and just stared at the mirror. We worked so hard for this performance that we even vomited at times. If someone told us we had to prepare for a performance like this again, I would want to run away, but I was confident in the quality of our performance. The only point that I was worried about was the only group that was considered our competition.
‘I wonder how Only One prepared their performance.’ Only one winner could be chosen for this program. We didn’t need to simply do well but better than other teams.
‘We need to do better than Only One.’ I worried.
‘…But why do I feel this?’ Though I hoped that Only One would perform worse than us, I also didn’t want them to bomb their performance. I wanted to win but also cheer on them at the same time.
“Haaa.” I signed and tried to organize my feelings.
“Are you worried about something?” my makeup artist asked me.
“No, it’s nothing,” I replied and waited for my makeup to be over.
“Okay! It’s all done!”
Ten minutes later, all the work was done. I looked at the mirror and thought, ‘Not bad.’ With this, I wouldn’t feel bad about standing on stage live in front of the cameras.
“The makeup looks really good today.”
“Mr. Tae-Yoon, you look really handsome.”
I felt a bit embarrassed as my makeup artist and hairdresser kept hyping me up.
“Wow, Tae-Yoon…?”
“What happened today…?”
“Did you lose weight?”
“Are you doing more cardio by yourself?”
My group members also commented when they saw me.
‘…What? Do I really look different today?’ I wondered and looked at the mirror. I thought I didn’t look extraordinarily better than usual and thought everyone was just complimenting me to make me feel better. Perhaps, it was because I stayed the most quiet but I was the first one to get my makeup and hair done. I waited until my group members finished and sat on the sofa in the back. I planned to surf the internet with my phone when I heard a zing.
‘…Hm?’ My ability that had been quiet the past few days suddenly became activated.
‘Haa. Seriously, what is with this?’ I didn’t know why my ability always activated at important moments like this. I repressed my rising annoyance and tried to maintain my calm. Since Insight was within my control now, the only ability that activated on its own was Precognitive Vision.
‘I am going to see the future again.’ I prepared myself so that I wouldn’t break down just before a performance. After inhaling deeply, I looked forward again. 𝑙𝘪𝑏𝓇𝑒𝑎𝒹.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Whoosh!
Time stopped, and a semi-transparent haze rose. I wondered what kind of future I would see when I heard a voice.
—I’m well aware that Jaeil Group’s people in charge of the entertainment business are coming here today. If our guys win, we could all be working together…so, would you be able to prepare a meeting for all of us to meet?
‘This is crazy.’ In my Precognitive Vision, WD Entertainment’s greatest villain, Yoon Tae-Hyun, appeared.
—Did you come here to request that?
—Of course not. I also thought I should greet the main producer! Hahaha!
—It’s my first time seeing you though the show started months ago.
—I know I should’ve come more frequently, but I was swamped with work.
—Oh, do you have a lot of work to do?
—Haha, yes well, I’m a busy man!
Yoon Tae-Hyun was talking to The Showcase 2’s main producer, Park Soo-Chul.
—Well, I will set up something if Siren wins the show. If you give us your card, we will contact you.
—Thank you!
I stared intently at Yoon Tae-Hyung. Yoon Tae-Hyun didn’t work, was bad at his job, and was a selfish and lazy person, and now, he was already setting up the foundation to mooch off of us in the future.
‘…This sly bastard.’ 𝙡𝒊𝒃𝓻𝒆𝒂𝓭.𝙘𝓸𝓶
Whoosh! I felt a deep, boiling rage from my insides when the vision ended.
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