“You’re going to team up with me, right? Please say yes. Don’t leave me behind in this heartless world. We started at the same agency, remember how many years we have spent together.”
“Don’t dwell on the years, wait your turn. You’ve spent so much time together, you should have a compromising heart. Greedy snipe.”
1
“Who are you calling a greedy snipe? Are you done talking? You should be really grateful that you’re a foreigner! If you weren’t, you wouldn’t even get a broth!”
2
“Where is the broth here?”
“Ah! It’s so frustrating how you don’t understand only at times like this! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”
The same-age kids who had grabbed my arms started to bicker. It wasn’t a serious fight, just playful pushing and shoving, so there wasn’t much need to intervene. The problem, however, was that they happened to be fighting with me right in the middle, tugging and pulling on me.
‘Save me.’
As they pulled me back and forth like they were splitting open the gourd in the Heungbu’s tale
3
, I was flailing around helplessly and eventually started feeling dizzy.
If there hadn’t been any cameras, I would have scolded them right away and restored my peace. But since there were cameras around and I was even wearing a microphone, I couldn’t really reprimand them.
But who am I?
“Tsk.”
“Eek.”
“Ah.”
I didn’t have to get angry with words to calm down Nagi Zen and Do Yuda. It was a piece of cake. I turned my head slightly to stay out of the camera’s view and shot them a piercing glare. The two instantly quieted down, as if they had been injected with a tranquilizer.
“We need to listen to the song first before deciding on the team.”
“Yes…..”
“I was wrong.”
“Okay.”
After calming down the extremely distracted kids once and for all, I turned to face the stage. Yang Hajun, who was smiling foolishly while watching us as if he was watching a variety show at home, slowly picked up the microphone. It seemed like he had temporarily forgotten his role as the MC.
“That’s right, trainees! The song introduction is still coming up! It’s too early to decide on the team plans! Now, let’s meet the team who composed the first song, Team Randy!”
With Yang Hajun’s urgent comment, a video appeared on the screen near the stage. Then, with all kinds of flashy effects, the video message from the composers began to play.
[“Hello, we are Randy! We’re really happy to be able to work with the trainees of Survive IDOL, who are at the center of spotlight right now. To all the trainees who are about to do their last live broadcast, we’d like to say that you did a really great job. Now, to introduce the song we’ve prepared, its title is
Last Call
, a sexy concept song that features a powerful bass line. We really hope you all like it!”]
I looked at the team on the screen and exclaimed silently. I really didn’t expect the name
Randy
to appear here.
If I remembered correctly, they were the team that almost exclusively made songs for RAIZE, the first-tier idol group with several mega-hits and currently at the peak of their fame.
‘The group we, who are going to debut, have to work hard to surpass is actually not Prism, but Raize.’
Prism, which had already been active for a long time, had moved from a top-tier group to a legendary group status, while the group that was leading the popularity in the current generation was Raize.
This team were practically in charge of making the top group’s songs, so their composing skills were clearly proven.
‘Having a lot of hit songs doesn’t mean every song will be a success, but it’s obvious they know how to make music that the public love.’
Listening to the song along with the dancers’ choreography, it felt slightly less intense compared to the usual songs they write for Raize, but it was still a good song. It was almost too good to be wasted on such a short performance of the final live broadcast.
‘This is exactly the kind of song that someone like Woo Kangwon or Lee Hwayoung would do well with. Zen won’t be bad either. As expected, they really went all out for the final broadcast.’
It was a fairly intense song, so I figured it would be perfect for trainees with strong physiques. Of course, since I had already handled various concepts in the past, there was no reason I couldn’t take part in it.
‘But the problem is…….’
The song, with its high quality, stylish outfits, and catchy lyrics, was nearly perfect, but if I had to point out one issue, it was that the choreography was lacking.
‘He’s usually a great choreographer … I guess even monkeys fall from trees sometimes.’
The good parts were definitely good, but it was a shame that the occasional overly ambitious moves disrupted the immersion of the stage. Usually, agencies prevented this kind of situation by gathering drafts from multiple choreographers, keeping the good parts and improving the weaker ones. However, it was impossible to do that for a competition performance.
“Wow! I want to be assigned this song!”
“This is the perfect song. My gut tells me so.”
The trainees were clapping with excitement, having no idea what was about to happen. They seemed to think that if they were assigned this song, they would be able to put on an amazing performance, because it was collaboration between a hit-making composer and a choreographer with insane dance skills.
But I could guarantee, it was only because the dancers had excellent skills that those moves looked so effortless. If someone with relatively poor dance skills tried it, they would look like a praying mantis.
So, was there any workaround?
No, there was nothing like that. We weren’t supposed to add any choreography to the empty parts, and we definitely shouldn’t have arbitrarily modified the choreography based on our personal preferences.
‘If a trainee is caught on camera criticizing a choreography made by a professional dancer, they’ll get a ton of backlash.’
That was something the company, not us, as a client, should have handled behind the scenes. In that case, we would end up having to do the exact same choreography, but I had no confidence that the trainees would be able to perform it as well as the original.
‘No matter how hard I try to teach it, it just won’t work. It’s not going to completely ruin the performance, but let’s put it on hold for now.’
“Wouldn’t a song with a brighter atmosphere suit you better than this one?”
“Haha, don’t worry about me.”
I watched the trainees, who were already engaged in a battle of nerves to be assigned to this song, with a cold gaze. Foolish little lambs….
As soon as the first song ended, Yang Hajun immediately continued with the introduction of the second song.
“Next, I’ll introduce the second song. Let’s all watch the video message from composer Kim Sungjong-nim!”
[“Ah, hello! I’m composer Kim Sungjong … This is my first time revealing my face in front of a camera and greeting everyone. The song I worked on is called
School Bell
. I tried to capture the joyful feeling as best as I could, and I hope it came across well. Uh … Trainees, I kindly ask for your cooperation! Thank you!”]
The composer of the second song seemed to be a rookie, judging by his slightly young appearance and obvious nervousness, apparently it was his first time standing in front of the camera.
“Whoa.”
“The composer looks really young. He almost seems like he’s my age. Is he just young-looking?”
The trainees seemed a little disappointed to have someone who looked somewhat inexperienced as the composer, unlike Randy team, who radiated experience. Of course, they didn’t show it because of the camera, but the cheers were definitely less enthusiastic.
‘The title of the song must have played a part too. When you compare Last Call and School Bell side by side, School Bell sounds relatively lighter.’
The prejudice and the familiar school-like atmosphere seemed to dampen the trainees’ expectations, but I had no intention of being disappointed from the start.
‘It doesn’t really matter what kind of person the composer is. Even if they seem clumsy, as long as they can create good songs, that’s all that matters. Why are you all already having prejudices?’
I was always open-minded when it came to music.
It’s definitely not because the first song was vague that I became desperate. Hmm.
“
Ring ring
, the sound of the bell rings.
Yawn once,
yawn
, and then run!”
.
.
.
As I quietly listened to the second song, I barely held back the urge to shout as soon as the song ended.
‘This is why you shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance.’
I recalled the composer’s awkward speech and subtly wiped my nose with my finger.
Kim Sungjong-ssi, you … you’re really good.
‘How does a newcomer write a song this amazing? Honestly, his naming sense is a bit questionable, though…..’
The second song was an upbeat track that people could listen to over and over without getting bored, perfect for everyday listening. It didn’t feel like they were trying too hard to be cool, and while the choreography wasn’t overly intense, the concept was expressed well without being overwhelming.
And what I liked the most was that there were parts that could be filled in little by little according to the trainees’ discretion.
‘He trusts the trainees’ skills. It shows in the overall part of the song.’
When a composer put this much trust in you, it was only right to repay them with a good performance. I clenched my fist and started to mentally organize the choreography I had just seen.
However, amidst that, a faint sound that irritated my nerves caught my attention.
“Hmm, still, I think I prefer the first song over the second one.”
“Since it’s a competition, wouldn’t something more impactful be better?”
Those were the words of trainees who had already fallen for the first song’s trap.
No. Kim Sungjong-ssi, don’t listen to them. Don’t feel discouraged.
Those guys said things like that because they had no idea how difficult it was to write a create like this.
I wanted to refute them, but it would have been troublesome if my words caused the trainees to flock over to this song. So, I desperately kept my mouth shut and waited for the group selection to proceed.
‘The first song is clearly the favorite among the trainees, so I won’t have to worry about being separated from Lee Danbi. I should consider it a good thing.’
With that thought in mind, I called Lee Danbi and whispered which song to choose, and was about to return to my spot. But the moment I turned my head, I was so terrified by something approaching in front of my eyes that I could not help but hold my breath.
“What, what is it?”
Nagi Zen was staring at my face from a distance so close that our noses were almost touching. With his already intimidating face, it really felt like a scene from a horror movie.
“…….”
Zen, who had been staring at me without blinking, blurted out.
“Number two.”
“What?”
“I think Leada will choose number two. I was watching everything.”
My head went numb when I heard his statement.
‘This rascal…..’
While it seemed like everyone around me was insisting on being in the same team as me, but there was a bit of exaggeration and playfulness mixed in. Most of them were actually carefully considering which song suited them best.
But this guy was different.
‘Somehow, the back of my head felt hot.’
Zen was observing all my actions while I was listening to the songs and exchanging signals with Lee Danbi, in order to guess which song I wanted.
It was only natural to be distracted by the excitement for the new songs, but this guy, without paying any attention to that, was only watching my reactions.
Goosebumps came up all over my skin.
I forcefully lifted the corners of my mouth, pretending not to be disturbed at all, and recited a rational argument.
“…It doesn’t matter what I choose. You should choose the one you like.”
However, Zen didn’t give up and continued to stare at me with his dark eyes. Then, he folded his eyes into a long horizontal line and continued.
“Life should be lived wisely. If you just keep chasing after the person who always gets first place, you will unintentionally end up in second place. This is great advice.”
“…….”
Zen … was an idiot, but he knew how to live life wisely.
You can support this translation through Buy Me a Coffee!
Translator’s Corner:
Snipe is a bird of Scolopacidae family. Scolopacidae family in Kr is 도요새 (Doyusae), and Do Yuda name is 도유다. So you get the joke. ↩︎
the broth(국물) here taken from the sentence 국물도 없어 (lit: there is no broth). It means that there is
no share or benefit that
will be given to you (you will gain nothing). But in this sentence, the meaning is more like “
there’s no mercy
“.
This idiom is because when Koreans eat, soup is almost essential, just like kimchi. In other words, even a small amount of soup should be served when eating. In this case, a small amount of soup (국) is the soup water (
국물)
(in here we translated to “broth”). If you only get
국물
(the broth) that means you only get the soup water, no vegetables meat etc. So it’s like saying you won’t be given even the least part of the meal.
Zen didn’t understand it’s an idiom so he took it as he wouldnt get soup literally. ↩︎
This is a Korean folktale called “Heungbu and Nolbu”. Basically Heungbu is the good brother, he took care of an injured swallow, and as a reward, the swallow brought him a magical gourd seed. When this gourd was splited, it was filled with treasures, bringing wealth and prosperity to Heungbu and his family. ↩︎
Ugh sorry if theres any typo I’m sleepy because I’m currently trying to get back to normal human sleeping schedule. The food store right in my place is closed because the owner went back to their hometown for new year holiday, so I can’t pull off waking up at night again because I need to walk during the day to buy food if I dont want to starve fkjkfflkfdlkjffv I really slept a lot much more if I need to be active on the day … fighting my sunfish body ….
Anyway next chapter is officially entering the live broadcast (I think?), whos excited for debut