Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 13

13.

She felt relieved that Nietzsche Entertainment was handling things well. Surprisingly, the faster numbers were placed closer to the middle of the front row. If number 1 had been on the far left, she would have been furious with the planning team.

Once the 150-person audience was seated, MC Lee Dong-seok came on to introduce the judges, and both Team A and Team B came onto the stage.

“This is insane……”

She forgot to cheer and murmured, staring at Ji Dong-hwa.

She didn’t know what the concept of the outfit was, but Ji Dong-hwa had slightly darker eye makeup, black leather pants, a white shirt, and a choker around his neck.

She took a deep breath.

Ji Dong-hwa, lifting his hand and fidgeting with the choker as if it was a little uncomfortable, was stirring something inside her.

‘No, just a taste, just a taste. I will never stan [become a dedicated fan of] Ji Dong-hwa, or anyone else.’

“Now, before we watch the video of Team A’s stage preparation process, we can’t miss hearing a word from the team members, right? First, our trainee Ryu Iden, who was selected as the leader.”

Ryu Iden was also wearing a similar outfit to Ji Dong-hwa, but while Ji Dong-hwa emphasized the choker, Ryu Iden emphasized the chain tied around his waist diagonally over his shoulder. His already broad shoulders looked even more prominent.

‘The Next Ni’s physical king, they say…….’

“First of all, thank you to the audience who came all the way here to see our lacking performance! Our team members all worked hard to prepare this stage, so I hope you enjoy it!”

“Next is trainee Ji Dong-hwa!”

She involuntarily started to focus.

“…Um, I put a lot of effort into changing the song to a new atmosphere. I would appreciate it if you would focus on that part and watch the stage.”

‘Living, breathing Ji Dong-hwa… Ji Dong-hwa speaking in front of my eyes… Is that voice for real……? Is that cold expression and choker for real……? How can he not have debuted yet…….’

She only muttered to herself and couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

“I heard that trainee Ji Dong-hwa participated in the arrangement, is that correct?”

“…That’s right. But the ideas were all decided through meetings together. It’s thanks to the hard work of the other team members as well.”

‘How can his personality be so good too? He could have taken all the spotlight, but he’s bothering to mention the other kids, is he crazy? Dong-hwa, you need to debut first, why are you taking care of the other kids.’

Once again, she only muttered words she couldn’t say out loud to herself.

After the member interviews, a video editing the stage preparation process followed.

Every time a scene of Ji Dong-hwa sleeping only two or three hours a day and continuing to spend time on arrangement and practice appeared, she looked at Ji Dong-hwa with a choked-up heart.

In particular, she realized that she was subtly being comforted by Ji Dong-hwa listening to Lee Hyun-jae’s concerns and answering them seriously.

She didn’t know why the common saying that the most precious thing in the world is oneself resonated so deeply with her.

* * *

When the introduction video ended and the lights went out, she could feel Team A preparing on the stage in the darkness. She took a short, deep breath in excitement that it would start soon and focused her eyes.

A purple light turned on, and under it, someone was hugging their knees and bowing their head. The sound of crying was laid as a sound effect, and then the sound of a melancholy piano performance echoed.

Then, Ji Dong-hwa walks out with the sound of footsteps. When someone raised their head at the sound, they could see that the man bowing his head was Lee Hyun-jae.

‘…Is he comforting him?’

Ji Dong-hwa took a seat behind Lee Hyun-jae and slowly stroked his hair. When Lee Hyun-jae accepted the soft touch and bowed his head again, Ji Dong-hwa’s expression came into clear view. He was smiling. As if it was very amusing.

‘Apartment, explode [a phrase expressing extreme excitement or shock]…….’

Then, the tone of the crying sound increased and naturally transformed into laughter, and the melancholy piano sound was overlaid with electronic sounds, creating a dangerous atmosphere. And then Ji Dong-hwa’s voice flows out.

When you’re tired and exhausted and want to run away

When you want to ask someone for help

Come find me, your genie

The moment the note ‘Genie’ ends, the bass sound echoes and the other team members enter.

Lee Hyun-jae is startled and tries to run away, but Ji Dong-hwa smiles and grabs him with a gentle touch, caressing his cheeks and stroking his hair to calm him down.

Meanwhile, the other team members take the formation with Kim Hyun-jin in the center, then cover Ji Dong-hwa and Lee Hyun-jae and begin to dance to the electronic sound. The way they smiled, giving a reaction to their whole body with smoothly connected lines, was subtly sexy.

When the three-person group dance ends and the song regains stability for a moment, Ji Dong-hwa pulls the anxious Lee Hyun-jae out from the center of the formation. The gentle smile he had when looking at Lee Hyun-jae quickly turned into a cold sneer when he turned his head forward.

‘Ji Dong-hwa, expression change, what.’

She did her best to catch her breath, as if she had been punched in the solar plexus by Ji Dong-hwa’s expression.

The stage starts properly with Lee Hyun-jae in the center. Whether the previous stage was a prologue, the beat flows out again.

Unlike Reminia’s song, which was in a major key, it was changed to a minor key, and the instruments supporting the back heighten the precarious atmosphere to the fullest.

The other members sang and expressed sexiness through expressions and gestures that seemed to seduce those who watched whenever attention was focused on them, but the atmosphere of the song felt like a warning not to fall for that seduction.

And then the timing for the following chorus to come out. Several instruments are removed from the song, and it becomes closer to calmness. Lee Hyun-jae opens his mouth and sings the chorus.

Tell me your wish, wish, wish

I’ll make it come true―ooh―ooh―ooh

The singing voice contained a will to shake something off.

And then Ji Dong-hwa’s whispering voice echoes.

Whatever you want

I’ll make it come true

The part that was sung by the group with bright smiles in the original song was now a whisper of seduction.

Then, Lee Hyun-jae raises his voice again and sings the chorus.

Tell me your wish, wish, wish

I’ll make it come true― ooh― ooh― ooh

And once again, Ji Dong-hwa sings as if humming.

Everything of yours

Will you give it to me?

Then Ji Dong-hwa reaches out with a soft smile. Lee Hyun-jae hesitates as if he is about to take Ji Dong-hwa’s hand, but stops. The other team members looked at him as if they were expecting it, then turned their heads with disappointed expressions.

However, only Ji Dong-hwa nods as if he had expected it, turns his head with an amused expression, and joins the formation.

‘Devil… He’s a devil.’

She perfectly understood the concept in the chorus part and felt as if she had been hit in the head for a moment. Who on earth would have thought of interpreting a song like Reminia’s ‘Genie’ as a devil?

She fully understood why Ji Dong-hwa had asked her to pay attention to the changed parts before the stage.

The latter half of the song flowed in a similar atmosphere to the first half, but the dangerous atmosphere gradually decreased and the seductive atmosphere became stronger. The dance lines of the other members except for Lee Hyun-jae also became more alluring. If they went any further, they could have given the impression of being explicit, but they succeeded in walking a fine line.

‘Ji Dong-hwa, dance line, amazing, really.’

And then the chorus came again. The calm atmosphere was the same, but the synthesizer sound was added to create a strange atmosphere.

Tell me your wish, wish, wish

I’ll make it come true― ooh― ooh― ooh

The lyrics were the same as before, but Lee Hyun-jae’s voice contained resignation that he wanted to give up rather than the will to shake it off.

Then Ji Dong-hwa’s whisper continued, and when Lee Hyun-jae opened his mouth for the second time, he was looking at Ji Dong-hwa with a fascinated expression.

Everything of yours

Will you give it to me?

Then, when Ji Dong-hwa reached out again, Lee Hyun-jae slowly approached Ji Dong-hwa.

‘Don’t grab it, you idiot!’

She was already so immersed that she felt like she was watching the protagonist of a horror movie walking into a dangerous place, and she held the panel tightly, stopped breathing, and watched Lee Hyun-jae.

When the song stopped for a moment and all sounds were silent, and when all eyes were focused on Lee Hyun-jae’s fingertips, the hand that slowly went up grabbed Ji Dong-hwa’s hand tightly.

‘That crazy bastard, he grabbed it!’

And at that moment, the beat bursts out, Lee Hyun-jae screams in a high pitch, and the other members laugh cheerfully and start dancing in sync.

The choreography of turning their arms wide and kicking their sides with their feet reminded them of cheerful fairies in the original song, but now it looked like demons cheering at a banquet.

The dance stops, and the stage ends with Lee Hyun-jae looking forward and singing the last chorus with pitiful eyes.

She took a breath that had been stopped at some point and muttered to herself.

‘…I need to install Twitter as soon as I get home.’

* * *

‘Ha, why do I have to wear a choker anyway.’

After the stage was over and I had listened to all the judges’ comments, I grabbed Lee Hyun-jae, who was standing next to me, and asked him to take off the choker as soon as possible as I walked out to the backstage.

I wore it because of the stylist’s strong insistence, but I couldn’t handle this suffocating neck anymore.

‘The choker was made to commemorate the people who were beheaded during the French Revolution. Why am I, born in Korea in the 21st century, wearing this…….’

Lee Hyun-jae, who was listening to me, shook his head firmly.

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], you can’t take this off.”

“…Why?”

“The stylist asked us to keep wearing the stage costumes until the winning team is decided.”

“…Oh, man.”

“By the way, hyung, I think our stage went well, right?”

“Well, it’s become clear that you didn’t need to worry about my expectations or whatever.”

“That’s right! Our Hyun-jae’s singing skills have improved again in the meantime. How can you improve every time?”

After that, as we continued to praise Lee Hyun-jae, Lee Hyun-jae became even more energetic and started running around.

“By the way, Dong-hwa, I think you did a good job with the concept. The judges praised you a lot too.”

I almost blew my mind trying to arrange the song to match the absurd concept of ‘sexiness that you can’t help but approach even though you know it’s dangerous’ that Ryu Iden and the others had requested, but it’s okay because the result was good.

“…Hyung, you worked hard too.”

“But Dong-hwa, how long are you going to talk to me in that super honorific way?”

“…Are you uncomfortable?”

As I stared blankly, Ryu Iden shook his head and said.

“It feels distant. We’ve gotten pretty close, though.”

…Gotten close?

“That’s right, hyung! When I first saw you, you used super honorifics, so I was really intimidated!”

You be quiet, dropout 2. Have you already forgotten what your group did when we first met?

Anyway, have we gotten close?

I was momentarily dazed by the awkward feeling, then nodded and said.

“…Okay, Iden hyung.”

Then Ryu Iden patted me on the shoulder and walked away as if that was enough.

It’s embarrassing. I scratched my cheek slightly and followed him to the waiting room.

Anyway… the stage is quite a mysterious space.

Showing the results of hard work to people who cheer for me… It’s similar to a novel, but also different. …Yes, it’s much more exciting.

* * *

After finishing Team B’s stage, Lee Dong-seok and I were the only ones left on the empty stage where the audience had disappeared, and we proceeded with the winner announcement.

“The winning team is…….”

That’s how the crazy time-wasting continued…….

“Team A!”

The winner was announced. Team B did well too, but he mentioned the judges’ comments that it was a disappointing stage because it was predictable from the original song, and explained why they won.

“Dong-hwa, congratulations! You did so well on stage. I watched your stage from backstage and thought, ‘We worked hard too, but there’s nothing we can do about this.’”

Chae Ha-min came over to me and started clapping as if he was so happy even though he lost. I was thanking him when…….

Ding―!

A notification sound rang.

[Quest ‘Splendid Lighting’ completed!

You have completed the stage by making a decisive contribution to your team’s victory! The following rewards are provided.

Reward: Main Quest ‘Progress’, 1 ‘Fragment of Possibility’]

‘Fragment of Possibility……?’

I tilted my head and read the panel.

“Dong-hwa, what’s wrong?”

Chae Ha-min asked, worried that I was blank for a moment.

First of all, that’s for later.

“…It’s nothing.”