Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 214

“Are you absolutely sure this is your own original work?”

“……”

“Um, I understand. I declare this ‘worthless.’ I trust you know the reason, given how much composing you’ve done.”

A silence descended on the set. I set down the microphone I was holding and turned my gaze to the documents with a blank expression. They were so substandard I didn’t even want to look at them. The trainee standing before me bit their lip a few times and simply uttered a short, ‘Thank you.’

“Wow, our junior is really exuding a cold aura.”

“Still, we need a character like that. Someone who knows a lot but is cold and sharp.”

Lukács-sunbaenim [Sunbaenim is a Korean term for a senior colleague or mentor], sitting next to me, chuckled and met my eyes. He looked at me as if he’d never seen anyone like me before.

“You don’t have to stick to the concept, junior?”

I read the note attached to the documents.

—Please have Dong-hwa show a warmer, more supportive image! – PD [PD stands for Production Director]!

“Being cold is originally my concept, want to switch with me?”

“…I’m trying my best in my own way right now.”

“If you say you’re doing your best, then you’re exaggerating a bit too much, junior.”

How did I end up like this…….

* * *

Idol Production Workshop. I didn’t like the concept from the start. Although not explicitly defined, the participants are parts, the group to debut is a finished product, and we who coach them are tentatively called artisans.

It would be a lie to say I didn’t feel a sense of resistance to the idea of treating humans ‘how,’ but thanks to Ryu Iden, I’ve developed enough social skills to just brush it off.

On the first day of the interview with the PD, it was inevitable that I felt uncomfortable seeing his face.

“…PD Jung Kyung-woo, nice to meet you.”

He was the one who produced ‘The Next Nietzsche.’

“It’s been a while, I felt sorry and all.”

Indeed, I’m confused whether I should thank this person or show my dislike as soon as I see his face. I don’t know what to value more, the intention or the result. But since there is an overwhelmingly positive result, I should be grateful this time.

“It’s nothing.”

Team Leader Jang Hae-jin said that one of the main reasons they included me instead of Jun-sung this time was the director’s strong opinion.

No matter how I think about it, I don’t know why HBS is suddenly taking a conciliatory stance—perhaps Hwa-yang-ssi had some involvement—but anyway, it’s a good opportunity.

The PD and the main writer continued to explain my role for a long time.

“So, we’re trying to highlight the image of Dong-hwa-ssi as the person closest to the trainees. Your activity period is shorter compared to others, and that’s better for your image.”

Um, good. It’s not bad to take care of my own interests.

“We’ll edit you as positively as possible. As a form of atonement.”

“I understand.”

Since I’m appearing on a program where all the attention of the idol scene is focused, representing the group Blossence, let’s make my image as positive as possible.

Frankly, with the PD taking the initiative to help, there’s nothing to hold back. Um, like a ship with the wind in its sails, let’s just go with the flow, do as I’m told, and come back without tarnishing the group’s image.

At that time, I was sure I had made that resolution.

* * *

‘Cherry Blossom, Falling’ topped the charts consecutively, fulfilling numerous promises, running events, and days that were terribly hectic. Summer was near, so I couldn’t knit and started cross-stitching.

“…Sometimes, I wonder if you’re really from the same generation as me, Dong-hwa.”

Ignoring Ryu Iden’s voice trying to mess with my mind, the feeling of completing a cross-stitch of a rabbit and a fox sleeping peacefully together wasn’t bad. It teaches me what a clear mirror is. When Ryu Iden first recommended it, I didn’t know I’d get so into it; life is truly unpredictable.

“Tomorrow is the first filming of Idol Production Workshop?”

I rummaged through my sewing box to change the thread and nodded.

“Ugh, I’m a little nervous.”

“Why are you?”

“Originally, a younger sibling’s business is also a concern for the older sibling. I’m the dog guarding the house, you know. Thinking about whether the family going out every day is safe.”

I found the right color thread, threaded three strands through the needle, and laughed. If it’s a mad dog guarding the house, it seems like it would be safe.

“Hyung [Hyung is a Korean term used by males to address an older brother or close older male friend], you have quite a few personal activities lined up too, right?”

When I think about it, he’s the dog leaving the house himself, but he worries so much about his family.

“Hey, would hyung be upset if you said that now?”

I thought about the first ‘Raw Stone Evaluation’ that would take place tomorrow. It’s just a place to show first impressions, but the name is grand.

“I plan to be kind.”

“You?”

Ryu Iden was in disbelief.

“No, you, who normally has no kindness to others except for us?”

“Yeah.”

Look at me now, if I just had a rocking chair, I’d be no different from a kind old woman living in a rural village. I intend to say only good things with the heart of taking care of my grandchildren.

At that time, I was sure I was smiling like that.

* * *

And I didn’t know. That the quiet old woman would be someone who, once she opened her mouth, would hit people’s sore spots.

When I first entered the set, I was almost overwhelmed by the hundred trainees sitting huddled on one side. Only then did the structure of the set come into view. I didn’t like the structure of the judges’ seats looking down from above, and I didn’t like that the already set-up trainees were predicting their level and wearing necklaces around their necks.

The only thing I liked was that the stage design was an antique design reminiscent of a 19th-century English factory.

It’s too stimulating. I’m a person who likes cross-stitch and knitting, so I’m not used to this kind of stimulation. If we film like this, I wonder if the factory workers will start a proletarian revolution.

Before the filming started, I was chatting with my senior next to me, the leader of Blue Jack, Lukács-sunbaenim, and doing cross-stitch. I felt gazes fixed on me from the trainee seats, but I ignored them and changed the thread while recalling the design I had memorized on how to express fur.

“Oh, Dong-hwa-ssi has changed your hobby to cross-stitch?”

“Yes, the knitting season has passed.”

“Jun-sung was making such a fuss that his junior is scary, but looking at this, there’s nothing scary about you.”

Ah, my karma is deep.

“I think it’s because I’m working with sunbaenim.”

“Ah, I heard you’re working on this title with Jun-sung too. Really, you don’t sleep. Jun-sung was saying he’s fed up. He’s known for his effort.”

Then Lukács-sunbaenim rummaged through the paper in front of him.

“Ah, when will I read all of this again? Did Dong-hwa-ssi read it?”

“Fortunately, I memorized it all.”

“Really… a strange person……”

If you spend just one day with our members, you’ll feel that I’m normal, sunbaenim.

“We’re going into filming!”

I put the cross-stitch under the seat and sat closer to the inside, holding the oak barrel-shaped but fluffy chair.

To be honest, it would be a lie if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it. It’s a survival program, so what kind of stage will they show, and what kind of impressions will I feel?

Even if I say I hate the stimulation of survival, it’s also a place where people who are doing their best to achieve their dreams announce the results of their efforts. If it’s a little gentler and the intervention of editing is excluded, wouldn’t it be a really valuable place?

MC Ye-sung, who is also the MC of Idol Workshop, walked to the center of the stage, looked at me, and smiled.

“Hello, sponsors.”

A subtle smile rose at the words that regarded the viewers as art patrons, as if it were the Renaissance. Just as the Medici family sponsored art, it was a nuance to ask for support for Idol Production Workshop. It’s okay to compare the production process of idols to art.

“Today is the time for Raw Stone Evaluation. The judges in front of you will watch the participants’ performances and evaluate their level. The total grades are in the order of R, S, A, B, C, but there is also a ‘worthless’ grade. If one of the judges declares ‘worthless,’ the opinions of the other judges disappear, and the lowest score is given.”

Ye-sung-ssi gave various greetings and then began the judging time in earnest.

I have to evaluate the performances of a hundred people today, I wonder if I’ll lack stamina. I was having such trivial worries. A person like me doesn’t have the guts to declare worthless, so I was just planning to let it flow.

Until my expression soured after seeing the first performance.

* * *

Park Eun-gu, a trainee from God A, among the participants of Idol Production Workshop, sparkled as he watched Ji Dong-hwa, who was shining in the judges’ seats.

‘Cool, really.’

A crazy person who reached that position in his third year of debut. Tremendous composing skills, top-tier singing skills, and solid basic dancing skills. To the idol trainees here, Ji Dong-hwa is a figure symbolizing ‘current success.’

Moreover, the diligence that can be seen even just from the articles. Even though he’s reached such a position, he’s someone whose sightings, excluding the practice room and studio, are as rare as beans in a drought.

‘He’s been cool since he was a trainee.’

Even if other people grumbled about him being annoying or whatever, Park Eun-gu was a voluntary outsider, so he didn’t care. He remembered everything, always in the top ranks of evaluations, always first in composing, and even the words of the lesson teacher who complained that there was almost nothing to teach.

‘Cross-stitch, so cool…….’

He is currently seventeen years old. An age where everything about his idol looks cool.

Thinking that he had to be evaluated in front of that person made him so nervous that he couldn’t even properly watch the first evaluation stage. He just repeated ‘Let’s stay calm, it’s almost my turn’ in his mind.

As he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, words of various evaluations passed through his ears.

“Oh, the stage is really good?”

“Is this a self-composed song?”

“Yes. It’s a self-composed song.”

“Not even arranged, completely raw?”

“Yes!”

He opened his eyes and looked at Ji Dong-hwa. Unlike the other judges who were watching the stage favorably, he was slightly frowning and had an unpleasant expression.

When all the judging comments were somewhat finished, Ji Dong-hwa picked up the microphone.

Gulp, Park Eun-gu swallowed his saliva at the quiet momentum. He felt like he was being stared at by a fierce tiger. Had that hyung ever had such fierce eyes? Shock lingered in his mind.

“By any chance, do you compose a lot, usually?”

“Yes!”

The participant, wearing a ‘R grade’ prediction necklace on stage, smiled brightly. He must be confident in his skills.

“…This song, is it a song that you made entirely with your own skills from beginning to end?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a purely original work?”

“That’s right!”

Ji Dong-hwa paused the microphone for a moment, looked down blankly, and blinked once.

“Then I ask, do you know a song called Dice’s ‘City Bang’ that was released 29 years ago?”

Then the trainee’s mouth opened automatically. He clearly knew. It was an eye that no one else here knew, but something was going on that only the two of them knew.

“Illegal sampling is usually not a problem at the amateur level. If you don’t intend to remain an amateur, please answer the following question sincerely.”

If you don’t intend to remain an amateur.

In this place where everyone gathered for their debut, it was a judging comment that felt like it was piercing his heart.

“Are you absolutely sure this is your own original work?”

The trainee couldn’t even bring himself to say anything, just moving his lips. Saying that he made all of the sampled song himself was clearly wrong.

“Um, I understand. I declare this ‘worthless.’ I trust you know the reason, given how much composing you’ve done.”

Ji Dong-hwa, who had returned to his blank expression. The same peaceful impression as when he was doing cross-stitch. ‘Worthless’ was declared from the first trainee’s stage. The production team had no choice but to be shocked, thinking about the merits given by grade in the first mission that would take place later.

They were even thinking of pushing him because he had decent skills and a good pace, but Ji Dong-hwa destroyed it from the start.

Park Eun-gu trembled and couldn’t help but worry about whether he would make a mistake in front of him.