Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 167

#167.

“Huh?”

From Woochul’s perspective, surprise was his only reaction.

The person appearing on TV was someone he truly didn’t expect.

-The idol group YOU create!

-Once again!

– Season 2!

-Want to be a singer? Then get chosen by the national ‘makers’ [referring to the audience who vote]!

-Countless youths’ laughter, sweat, tears, passion, dreams!

-But only 9 will be chosen!

-“I want to be on stage.”

-“I’ve been practicing for 5 years to become an idol…….”

-“I’m really desperate.”

-“I came from America.”

-For the sake of one dream!!!

-To be chosen by you!!!

-Shining boys gathered from all over Korea and around the world!!!

– Season 2! July 15th! The journey will be revealed!

What was playing on TV was the teaser for Season 2.

Along with flashy subtitles, footage from Season 1 and interview clips of Season 2 contestants were pieced together.

, as the title suggests, was a survival program to select members for an idol group.

From trainees from various agencies to individual trainees who flocked from all over the world riding the K-POP wave.

In Season 1 alone, hundreds of trainees flocked to the preliminaries, and only 99 of them appeared on the show.

Even among those 99, only about 60 or 70 trainees who had some kind of selling point on the show actually got their faces shown properly.

And among them, many struggled to be in the top 9.

The broadcast showed that harsh process without filtering, in a slightly more stimulating way, and thanks to that, Season 1 gained more popularity than expected.

The fact that the team that debuted through Season 1 won the Rookie of the Year award at the N TV FESTIVAL that year showed just how popular it was.

Of course, there was controversy over favoring their own program, but in fact, there was no rookie with more buzz that year than the boy idol group ‘NO.1,’ which debuted through Idol Maker Season 1.

They easily surpassed most small and medium-sized idols and gained popularity, to the point where people said it was disrupting the ecosystem.

That was three years ago, the year before MOST debuted.

NO.1 only promoted for a year, so the MOST members never actually saw NO.1.

‘NO.1 members are active in other groups, but…….’

They weren’t as popular as when they were doing group activities.

“Wow. They’re doing this now,” Woochul murmured blankly.

Even after the teaser ended, the afterimage of its intense content remained.

In fact, there were rumors that Season 2 would be made last year, but the broadcast was postponed indefinitely due to coordination with various agencies and other broadcasting companies.

Many people predicted that the Season 2 group would appear on other broadcasting companies besides N TV, which the Season 1 group couldn’t do due to the checks of other broadcasting companies.

“Since Season 1 was quite successful, there will probably be more participants this time…….”

The viewers’ interest and buzz would be much higher.

“July 15th…….”

That meant the broadcast would air about two weeks earlier than MOST’s comeback in late July.

Gulp. Woochul swallowed nervously.

MOST wasn’t a small group that would lose all their fans now, but he was still nervous.

Fortunately, due to the nature of the program, MOST’s comeback wouldn’t be in August, when the heat would be at its peak.

‘The company probably thought about everything and made a plan.’

Woochul thought and muttered.

“Get a grip…. No, no. That’s not the problem.”

Woochul, who was thinking that he needed to get a grip, remembered something he had temporarily forgotten when he heard that Season 2 would premiere on July 15th.

The blonde hair of the person who introduced himself as coming from America in the teaser video!

“It’s Heemin!”

He had no idea why Heemin, who had left the dorm to draw, was appearing as a contestant in the Season 2 teaser.

He had only seen it in passing, so with a doubtful heart, Woochul went to the MyTube [‘s official] account.

Perhaps because the first broadcast was about a month away, the account had uploaded all 99 short introduction videos along with the teaser.

“It’s starting already.”

Woochul muttered and quickly searched for Heemin’s name.

“Huh.”

And he was able to find Heemin’s name right away.

[NO.32 Lee Heemin]

“What…. Lee Heemin…. He said he didn’t want to be a singer…….”

Woochul frowned and looked at the title of Heemin’s video.

‘Flew in from America?! Former MOST member?!’

Keywords that would be points to attract the most attention were attached to each video title, and MOST was included in Heemin’s video title.

“That bastard…….”

Woochul felt a slight anger.

In fact, Woochul was quite close to Heemin until Heemin quit everything and left the dorm.

He also liked Heemin, who was the youngest, and to be honest, their mental levels matched well.

They were the only two high school students among the adult brothers, so it was perhaps natural.

Tired of the tight practice, they complained together to the trainer teachers or brothers and racked their brains to somehow skip practice.

Woochul knew that it was immature behavior, but it was the only way to relieve the difficult trainee life.

In fact, Woochul never actually skipped practice or showed it in action.

That’s because he was caught by Heungmin even when he ran away from practice……. [Heungmin is likely a senior member who keeps the others in line]

Anyway, that’s why he was more upset than anyone else when Heemin said he was leaving, but that’s why he understood Heemin more than anyone else.

‘At that time…. It was really hard.’

Waiting for the last member who might not come, practicing day and night.

The uncertain future was also quite depressing for Woochul, who spent his high school years in the Kingdom [likely the name of their agency] practice room.

‘But…….’

It was a situation where one person dropped their paddle while rowing together [a metaphor for abandoning a shared goal].

After Heemin left, the increased burden caused Gijun to collapse…….

Woochul could no longer be on Heemin’s side.

Gijun, who was with him, had to be more precious.

After that, Dojae and Louis came in, and he couldn’t help but think that this was a blessing in disguise, but about Heemin, he just hoped that he would leave and live well while drawing.

‘But to come back and say he’s going to be an idol again, using our name!’

Even Woochul, who only gets angry when he can’t eat on time or get enough sleep, felt anger without realizing it.

And this anger was not entirely his own.

The anger of the brothers who had to suffer because of Heemin was also mixed in.

“If the brothers find out about this…….”

Gijun, Heungmin, and Gyuseong would definitely be hurt more than him.

Because they were the three who had a really hard time after Heemin left.

Without even saying they were having a hard time.

“Ugh!”

Woochul swallowed his anger and ruffled his hair wildly.

He wasn’t sure what to do.

Woochul took some time to sort out his thoughts.

In the end, there was only one conclusion.

It was clear that it would be less upsetting for Woochul to tell them first than to see Heemin on TV.

“Ah…. Why did I watch TV.”

Woochul murmured tearfully, then accessed the fan community on his phone.

As expected.

Some fans who had seen Heemin’s introduction video were talking about Heemin, who was from Kingdom trainees.

While Woochul was wondering when to tell the members about this.

The members’ group message room rang.

It was news that the guide version [a preliminary version] of the title song was completed.

***

Woochul finished the dinner he had ordered and headed to Gijun’s studio in the company building.

Heemin’s matter was Heemin’s matter, and right now, the title song news was more important.

“I’m curious!”

Woochul shouted, bursting open the studio door.

He could have received the file and listened to it, but it was best to gather together in the studio when the song was first released.

“Oh, you’re here?!”

“I heard you were at the dorm. Why are you here now? I couldn’t listen because I was waiting for you!”

But it wasn’t just Dojae and Gijun who welcomed Woochul.

Gyuseong and Heungmin were there together.

“Huh. The brothers came faster than me? I came after eating dinner…….”

Woochul looked around at the four brothers and sat down in the sofa seat that had become like a designated seat.

Then he asked Heungmin, who was giving him unnecessary nagging.

“Brother. Did the meeting go well?”

Everyone’s attention was focused because they were wondering about that.

“Of course. Ah…. But I was really nervous. There were so many senior entertainers…….”

“Wow. Are you an entertainer already? Senior entertainers!”

“I don’t know…. But I’m glad I knew Hong PD [Producer] and the writers.”

Heungmin, who was talking about his impressions of the meeting, quickly looked at Gijun and said.

“The filming is in the first week of July, as I said before. The song is out, so let’s practice hard before that…. I’ll do my best not to interfere with the album preparation.”

“Okay. You can do it.”

Gijun nodded and said.

“Okay.” Heungmin, who thought “Work harder.” would be added at the end, looked at Gijun with a puzzled look.

“Why.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

A smile hung on Heungmin’s lips.

Gijun, who used to treat his younger brothers mainly with a whip, was becoming a softer leader who could mix in carrots these days [a metaphor for rewarding good behavior].

It was ambiguous whether Gijun had changed or whether everyone was really doing well now without Gijun whipping them.

Anyway, Heungmin shrugged his shoulders at the fact that Gijun, the leader, believed in him.

“Let’s listen to the song quickly! I’m so curious! Ah, didn’t Louis come?”

“Brothers!”

As soon as Woochul said that.

Bang, the studio door opened and Louis came in.

He hadn’t even taken off his makeup because he came straight after finishing the MC [Master of Ceremonies] gig.

“You haven’t listened yet, have you? I ran here so fast to listen with you!”

“You can’t be a nobleman, Kim Louis! I thought you were from the imperial family [a playful jab at Louis’s refined image]. I haven’t listened yet.”

“Yes!”

Louis shouted excitedly at Woochul’s words.

“Then I’ll play it now.”

“Yeah.”

Gyuseong quickly nodded and answered at Dojae’s words.

Click. When Dojae double-clicked the mouse, music began to flow from the speakers installed in the studio.

The members, who had only heard the pre-edited version, admired the new title song with shining eyes.

Thump, thud, thump, thud!

Everyone’s mouths were open at the part where the offbeat was exquisitely connected.

―La, la la, la la la hmm!

It was a guide sound source sung by a vocalist hired directly by Periot [likely the name of their music production team].

Everyone listened to the song, imagining what it would be like if they sang this song.

“It’s so good?!”

Louis shouted, unable to hide his excitement.

“I want to complete the lyrics quickly and sing it!”

“That’s right.”

Heungmin and Gyuseong also said with shining eyes.

“Dojae brother is going to write the lyrics for this, right?! When will it come out, brother?!”

Woochul asked quickly, excited.

He wanted to add Korean lyrics and sing it quickly.

Dojae smiled and answered.

“Today.”