Once the production team had regained their composure, the fourth mission began in earnest. First, we were told which song each of us had been assigned, and then it was time for position assignment.
We gathered around the camera in a circle, placed the position assignment paper in front of us, and started filming.
“…….”
Sure enough, Lee Hwayoung was sitting right next to me. And the remaining seat on the other side was taken by Lee Danbi. These Lees were just making a fuss in pairs.
Shaking my head, I grabbed the single pen provided and naturally began to take the lead in assigning positions.
“So, let’s start by deciding on our leader. Who wants to do it?”
“What’s there to decide? It’s you. Don’t you know that?”
It was Lee Hwayoung who rudely interrupted my very considerate progress. He looked at me with a suspicious expression, as if wondering whether I had eaten something wrong.
This damned brat, I couldn’t just say “
Oh, I’m going to be the leader anyway, so shut up and give me the position
”, could I? The camera was recording everything.
“We should also listen to the opinions of the other members. We can’t decide it all at once like that.”
I calmly gritted my teeth and lifted the corners of my mouth as I spoke. Lee Hwayoung tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.
‘It’s not like I’m dealing with a four-year-old.’
“I’m also in favor of having Seungbeom-hyung as our leader. He did a great job last time. I don’t think there’s anyone else in our team who can be a leader except for Seungbeom-hyung, right?”
Just as I was about to groan at Lee Hwayoung’s hopeless social skills, a young voice broke in.
“I believe in you, hyung!”
It was Lee Danbi, who had participated in the first mission with me.
Lee Hwayoung, who had been silently watching Lee Danbi give me support, let out a scoff and glanced down at Lee Danbi. It seemed like they had formed some kind of strange alliance.
I didn’t know what on earth I had done for these guys to make them trust me so blindly. At best, all I had really done was teach them a little something.
As I quietly watched the two of them, Lee Danbi looked around at the other members and opened his mouth, “…Anyone else with a different opinion? Is there anyone else who wants to be the leader?”
He seemed to realize that I didn’t like to say things twice or thrice and wanted to help.
The members glanced over at Lee Hwayoung and Lee Danbi, then lowered their heads and dropped their gazes. No one seemed to object.
“If there are no objections, I’ll take the leader position.”
I scribbled my name in the blank space on the position sheet and looked at the next one.
“Next up is the main vocalist…….”
“I’ll do it.”
‘I knew this would happen.’
Before I could finish my sentence, Lee Hwayoung announced. I had already anticipated that Lee Hwayoung would act like this, and since I had been thinking about placing him in the main vocal position, there was no real issue.
“Anyone else?”
I looked at the members again and no one stepped forward.
‘Well, if Lee Hwayoung says he’ll do it, there’s probably no one who would dare to object.’
Since his skills were good enough and he was stubborn, everyone knew that even if they tried to compete, the main vocal position would end up in Lee Hwayoung’s hands anyway.
“Okay, then Lee Hwayoung…..”
“Wait a moment.”
The members sitting quietly watched me as I was about to write Lee Hwa-young’s name on the position sheet. However, a delicate hand grabbed mine and stopped me.
“Kiryang-hyung, why aren’t you applying? Raise your hand boldly. There’s no need to compromise.”
Oh, there was one.
There was exactly one guy who could argue against Lee Hwayoung’s stubbornness.
And a very young one at that.
At Lee Danbi’s bold shout, Baek Kiryang looked around with a startled expression, then quickly pointed a finger at his own face, “…Me? Suddenly?”
“Yes. Hyung, you sing just as well as Nicholas-hyung. It’d be a waste to leave you as just a sub-vocal.”
“Uhhh … Thank you. But…..”
“Hyung, you really sing well. So, be confident.”
Lee Danbi was the one who took Baek Kiryang’s place after he was demoted from S-Class. I had no idea how Baek Kiryang felt hearing that from Lee Danbi, but Lee Danbi didn’t mind at all and actively recommended him.
Lee Hwayoung frowned at him and said in a sharp tone, “Why don’t you leave him alone and stop encouraging someone who lacks confidence? If he barges in on something he’s not passionate about, he’ll only be a hindrance.”
At those words, the atmosphere turned cold, and everyone began to watch Lee Hwayoung’s reaction. However, Lee Danbi didn’t back down and said everything he wanted to.
“You’re saying that to make it difficult for other trainees to apply because you were worried about losing your position, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“You know, hyung, if you say you’re going to do it so confidently like that, it makes it hard for the others to step forward.”
“No, I don’t know. If you’re going to act that weak, then what’s the point of being here?”
“I’m here to debut. No one has the right to mock someone’s dreams. People who have made it this far wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have strong determination. Don’t speak carelessly.”
“Even if I don’t have the right to mock them, I do have the right to judge whether someone is worthy to stand together with. You, of all people, don’t have the right to interfere in other people’s lives like this. So, mind your own business and step back.”
As the harsh words were exchanged several times, Baek Kiryang looked like he was about to cry.
“Guys, don’t fight … I’m fine.”
His situation was truly a case of the shrimp getting caught in the fight between the whales.
“No, I’m not fine.”
“No, I’m not fine.”
In response to Baek Kiryang’s words, Lee Hwayoung and Lee Danbi answered almost simultaneously. Then, they started arguing again.
‘They were getting along just a moment ago, so why are they fighting and making a fuss again, is this a riot?’
I watched the two of them fighting with cold, indifferent eyes. It wasn’t that surprising to me when the members were fighting among themselves. I had seen Jay and Cha Woon fight so many times that unless it reached the level of them grabbing each other by the collar and beating each other up, it couldn’t faze me.
As I sat there with a calm face, Baek Kiryang looked at me with tears welling up in his eyes.
He looked like he was asking for help.
I looked around one by one at the faces of Baek Kiryang, Lee Hwayoung, Lee Danbi, and the other members who couldn’t even fit in between them. Two of them were really opinionated, the older guy was kind of a pushover, and the rest were just going with the flow.
‘Ugh.’
See. This is what happens when you pick members based on skill and popularity.
‘If there had been someone like Do Yuda or Woo Kangwon in this group, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.’
Of course, I didn’t choose these guys just to do well in this mission alone, there was another reason behind my decision to select the members this way. However, if this situation continued, it would have been a problem for me.
The production team, who were eager to create the perfect broadcast conflict, had their eyes sparkling. I couldn’t just hand over these guys I had raised with great difficulty for them to consume.
“Stop it.”
“…….”
“…….”
At my casually thrown words, the two dogs that had been barking at each other fiercely suddenly stopped. Both of them knew my personality and realized they shouldn’t fight anymore.
I called Baek Kiryang in the practice room that had suddenly become quiet, “Hyung.”
“Ye-yes!”
At my call, Baek Kiryang shuddered in fright, as if he had seen a ghost. He asked for my help, so why was he acting so terrified?
It seemed he had forgotten that he was older than Han Seungbeom.
“Like Lee Danbi said, it’s true that there wasn’t a proper chance to speak, so I’ll ask one more time. Do you want to do it, or do you not?”
When I gave Baek Kiryang another chance, Lee Danbi smiled widely, as if he’d expected me to take his side,, while Lee Hwayoung looked down at Baek Kiryang with a face full of dissatisfaction.
Baek Kiryang cowered away from Lee Hwayoung’s stare and finally managed to reply, “I’m fine.”
“If you don’t intend to do it, there’s no need to give you a burdensome position. Okay.”
As soon as I saw the nuances of rejection in Baek Kiryang’s tone, I immediately wrote Lee Hwayoung’s name in the main vocal position. This time, Lee Danbi’s face darkened, and Lee Hwayoung smiled triumphantly.
Let me tell you, this wasn’t about taking someone’s side as they thought.
It was a decision I made because I understood both Lee Danbi’s argument that Baek Kiryang hadn’t been given a proper opportunity, and Lee Hwayoung’s argument that there’s no need to take away someone else’s position and give it to someone who’s lacking the will.
‘I feel like a dad.’
Whether both of these brats were convinced by my decision or not, there was no one who opposed it. If there was something a bit concerning, it was that Baek Kiryang’s expression seemed a little dark.
But I wasn’t going to pry unless he spoke up first.
I put my uneasy feelings aside and decided to move on to the next position.
“Next is the main rapper position.”
“Rap position?”
“Huh.”
The members’ reactions were somehow strange. I raised my head, questioning their reactions.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“….Hyung, no one in our team knows how to rap.”
‘Oh.’
I forgot. There wasn’t a single guy on our team who could rap. It was not the time to celebrate having a solid lineup of vocalists and dancers.
This was exactly why I wanted to finalize the song first before choosing the members. They were acting like it’s none of their business and just pushing forward without any consideration.
The song we were assigned for this mission had a rap part in the middle. It was also a part for someone who was known for being talented in rapping among idols, so the difficulty level was quite high. This meant that the members who had never rapped before couldn’t easily take on this challenge.
‘F**k, either let us choose the song freely, or let us decide on the song first and then pick the members.’
All of this was caused by the production team who completely lacked an understanding of the stage. Or perhaps they intentionally created this situation to cause a crisis.
Since the song for the fourth mission wasn’t chosen by lottery or by the trainees’ choice, I thought the latter was more likely.
But either way, as mere trainees, we had no choice but to go along with it.
“…What should we do?” Lee Danbi, realizing the seriousness of the situation, muttered.
I answered Lee Danbi’s question calmly, “If necessary, I could have done it. There was no reason to panic.”
‘Drumbeating, headbutting, boomboom.’
As I mentally rehearsed my rap, Lee Danbi grabbed my face with both hands, stared at me closely, and then shouted, looking pale.
“Hyung, your eyes are spinning!”
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Translator’s Corner:
Lets leave the tears on the last chap and enter this
happy
arc : ))))
and omg I really need to be careful of what I wrote, I completely missed to go to my university because I really asleep for 24 hours djkhfkdjfhkjdhvkjvfdxh It’s really only between lacking sleep or too much sleep for me