Chapter 76
The announcements continued.
“11th place, Choi Musin.”
“What.”
“Wow…”
Choi Musin stared blankly at the screen with his name on it. Choi Musin’s ranking was the most encouraging among “My Idol” contestants. His first ranking was 57th, but he’d already chased up close to the top 10.
“9th place, Jang Chaemyeong.”
“Huh!”
Chaemyeong doubted his ears when he heard his name. As if he were really some kind of theme stock, Chaemyeong had jumped from 32nd to 9th place in an instant.
“8th place, Jo Munseok.”
Munseok smiled awkwardly at the camera while hiding his disappointed expression.
This was Munseok’s problem. First ranking 10th place, second competition ranking 8th place. He hadn’t fallen, but he couldn’t rise to the very top either. No matter how difficult it was to climb the upper rankings, it was definitely noteworthy that Munseok, who had been in the upper ranks from the beginning, was only one step away from Chaemyeong, who had climbed all the way here from around 50th place in the first ranking.
“7th place, Nam Suchang.”
“6th place, Kim Namhong.”
Nam Suchang was the leader of Team 6 and a used trainee who had debuted once before. Though his ranking dropped by one, 7th place was still maintaining face.
But it was unexpected that Kim Namhong, who was 2nd place last time, had fallen to 6th place. As expected, Kim Namhong, who had been high-ranking every time, had weak core fans compared to his ranking, so he probably benefited from the strategic voting last time and his ranking shot up remarkably, but this time it dropped a bit due to the clean voting movement.
‘Now the top 5.’
The people whose names hadn’t been called were only Seo Eunwon, Yoo Youngin, Na Junho, Choi Taeri, and Lee Juha.
The remaining trainees looked at each other. They were all close to Juha, and except for Taeri, the four were from the same team. Even the usually innocent and cheerful Seo Eunwon had a tense face at this moment.
Light beads of sweat began forming on Juha’s hands. Now his name could be called at any time. Though the exact ranking hadn’t come out yet, just making it into the top 5 would make the “Juha’s Place” members happy. Juha tried to suppress his floating heart from the overwhelming feeling of being one step closer to debut and feeling like he’d lived up to his fans’ support.
“5th place, Seo Eunwon.”
“Uhhng…”
Eunwon crouched down on the spot and burst into tears.
Objectively speaking in terms of skill, Eunwon’s ranking should have been lower. But for fans, charm was more important than skill.
A face full of boyish beauty with polite attitude, still pure and bright personality, and an appearance of doing his best – it was enough to capture not only the hearts of the fellow trainee hyungs who appeared with him, but also the fans.
As Eunwon stepped back, Juha’s vision became clearer and clearer.
‘Now 4th place.’
“4th place, Yoo Youngin.”
The moment Youngin’s name was called, Juha’s heart sank. Yoo Youngin’s name was called before his own. Juha even had the illusion that his name might have already been called and passed.
Everyone seemed surprised, but Youngin himself looked like he’d expected it. He smiled and greeted calmly. For someone who had fallen from 1st to 4th place, his expression was gentle.
It was probably the result of his vote count noticeably decreasing due to other fans who had voted for him without knowing better and muggles who left after the last incident.
Suddenly Juha’s heart rate began racing wildly. Juha couldn’t believe his name still hadn’t been called.
Top 3. Truly the very top tier. He had hoped to reach a high ranking for his fans, but now that the position he’d imagined was right in front of him, Juha was suddenly scared. He felt like he was hanging precariously on an endlessly high, needle-sharp mountain peak, holding onto just one rope. It was a precarious position where he felt like he’d roll and fall with just one wrong step.
He was only halfway there, but he wished he hadn’t climbed this high already. He could endure climbing slowly, but he didn’t think he could bear falling from the difficult path he’d climbed.
Having already risen to the debut group once and been thrown to the bottom, this time he wanted to be sure.
“3rd place, Lee Juha.”
“Hah…”
When his name came out, Juha’s breath burst out like a dam breaking. As the tension suddenly released, Juha covered his face with both hands. The hands covering his face trembled.
Lee Juha, who was only 15th place, had gotten 3rd place. The other participants also looked like they acknowledged it this time, and 3rd place was reassuring for Juha too. It was a ranking he could be proud of to his fans and that Juha could be satisfied with.
While Juha was coming to terms with his ranking and composing himself, the next ranking was called.
“2nd place, Na Junho.”
“Wow!”
Na Junho got 2nd place. Na Junho, who was 3rd in the first ranking, had plummeted when his stage failed during the death match, then found his place again with the “Butterfly Dream” stage. He was a participant who suited 2nd place with no scandals, good skills and looks, plus charm.
Then 1st place was.
“1st place, Choi Taeri.”
Taeri smiled modestly and bowed deeply in greeting. But there was secret confidence in his face. It was his return to 1st place after writing an apology letter over an absurd incident during the first competition and getting 3rd place.
Juha and the other trainees clapped for him. With everyone calling out “Eoltae” from all directions, they all seemed addicted to “Eoltae.” Though they were fellow trainees, Choi Taeri was already an unreachable tree to them. If you floundered after falling for his handsome looks and Taeri’s unique reverse charm, he’d drive a stake through your heart with his skills. Not only Taeri’s hardcore obsessive fans, but even other fans called him “Choi-choi Tae-tae (My bias is my bias, but Taeri is Taeri)” and “Tae-gang-cha (Taeri is a forced second bias).”
For the beautiful friendship of 1st and 2nd place, Na Junho hugged Taeri.
Watching that scene, Juha felt embarrassed about having been scared that his ranking might be higher. Right now, even 3rd place was more than enough for him, yet he had coveted something higher while watching these two who suited 1st and 2nd place so well. Eoltae was Eoltae, and Na Junho had been famous since his “golden kick” days.
‘3rd place is grateful too.’
Juha clapped while looking warmly at Junho and Taeri.
“Alright, let’s take a break. There are individual interviews, so wait in front of the interview booth in the order your names are called.”
When break time started, Taeri and Junho simultaneously approached Juha.
“Congratulations. Congratulations, hyung.”
Juha greeted both Taeri and Junho fairly.
“I’m glad we came up together.”
Na Junho tapped Juha’s shoulder as he spoke. Next to him, Taeri looking at Juha had somehow affectionate eyes. Like a feeling of ‘I got 1st place for you, so praise me’?
He wanted to hug him tight and even give him a kiss saying he did well, but Juha could only leave a bright smile.
Soon the scattered team members gathered to say their final goodbyes. Now the second mission was really over, and it was time to scatter into different teams. Though they missed individual 1st place, Team 1’s atmosphere was brighter than any other team with all members passing and a whopping four people in the top 5. Eunwon and Chaemyeong, who had trembled at the sharp relationship between the hyungs when the team was first formed, now acted cute saying they didn’t want to part with Youngin and Munseok either.
“Participants from 1st to 5th place, please come to the front of the interview booth.”
Following the production staff’s guidance, Juha headed to the interview booth with Eunwon. Taeri, who was 1st place, was already inside the interview booth.
* * *
It was an interview done every filming, but Juha, who wasn’t good with words, got nervous every time. When Juha was a Serona trainee practicing interviews, whenever Juha trailed off his sentences, the interview coaching staff would press him to end sentences clearly. Thanks to that, once he had the pressure to speak coherently, interviews became completely uninteresting.
Even if he couldn’t crack jokes, let’s convey sincerity. Juha resolved and entered the interview booth.
“How do you feel about rising to 3rd place?”
“Um… First, thank you. I never imagined my ranking would rise this much, but it’s all thanks to the fans.”
‘That was too contrived an answer…’
Juha regretted it as soon as he gave his first answer. Though he himself was sincere, it came out sounding too much like empty words.
He had definitely practiced his thoughts inside, but when he came to the interview booth, his mind went blank. Until he fell asleep yesterday, he had resolved to become a trainee his fans could be proud of, but the words didn’t come out as he thought.
“Alright, let’s go into the common questions. Excluding yourself, please choose the trainee you most want to debut with and the trainee you least want to debut with.”
Why didn’t this come up?
Juha snorted cynically inside. The production staff’s trick of stirring up conflict was too obvious. Now that a new competition had started, it was a question where he could desperately feel the production staff’s heart seeking new bait.
“The trainee I most want to debut with is trainee Choi Taeri.”
Juha answered confidently.
“What’s the reason?”
“We worked well together during the first competition, so I thought I’d like to keep forming teams together. We’re also close.”
“You’ve been close with trainee Choi Taeri from the beginning. Is there a reason?”
“Um… We have a lot to learn from each other, and Taeri has a good personality.”
Juha roughly made up reasons. If he were to list reasons why he liked Taeri, there would be over a hundred, but finding official reasons he could say on broadcast was rather difficult.
“What about the trainee you least want to debut with?”
Juha thought for a moment. He couldn’t just pick anyone since saying the wrong thing could cause personality controversies.
“Um…”
Juha chose his words with a troubled expression. He couldn’t just throw any bait to the production staff. Juha tried hard to find the most safe answer, but an answer didn’t readily come to mind.
“You can speak honestly. No one here can avoid this question.”
The staff comforted him as if understanding Juha’s feelings.
Honestly. Since there was no alternative to answer artificially anyway, Juha made up his mind and opened his mouth.
“The trainee I least want to debut with is trainee Yoo Youngin.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Youngin hyung is too pretty. It’s the first time I’ve been envious of someone’s looks…”
Juha finished his answer giving a reasonable reason.
Choosing Youngin was honest feelings, but it didn’t seem necessary to be nakedly honest about even the reason. And though he hated to admit it, it was also true that Yoo Youngin’s looks were outstanding.
“Hahaha, you’re honest. Last time I think you said you wanted to go with trainee Yoo Youngin.”
Juha suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Yoo Youngin in the dressing room before the last stage. Though that scene wasn’t broadcast, the production staff seemed to know about it.
“I think it would be good to team up together, but he’s somewhat of a fearsome existence?”
Juha said while ducking his head awkwardly.
“Haha. I understand. We’ll end the interview here.”
Huh? The interview ended faster than expected, making Juha anxious. No matter how poor he was with words, he absolutely had to convey thanks to the fans who had even sparked the clean voting movement.
“Um, um, could I possibly say just one more thing? I have something I absolutely must say…”
Juha urgently called the staff member who was turning the interview pages for the next interview subject.
“Yes, please go ahead.”
The production staff readily allowed it.
Perhaps because he was nervous about the suddenly given time, Juha rubbed his thighs with his palms several times. After composing his breathing, Juha opened his stiff lips.
“Juha’s Place everyone, thank you sincerely for believing in me. Since you’ve made my flower path, I’ll make your flower path. Let’s, let’s love each other.”
Juha left his final words while awkwardly making a finger heart with both hands. He was too embarrassed to face the camera directly.
After speaking, Juha thought ‘Oh no.’
‘Let’s love each other.’
He should have said “I love you,” but he was so nervous his pronunciation slipped.
The production staff member conducting the interview burst out laughing “Puhup” right in front of him. Well, it was remarkable progress for a trainee who used to say “Thank you for sparing my life” to reach “Let’s love each other.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
