Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 3

[January 20th, chilly weather, but clear.

Today, we terminated our contract with the company. Thanks to my uncle’s help, we were able to terminate the contract smoothly. Moreover! Lee Ji-hyun said she would monitor Dong-hwa to prevent her from being harmed further.

I thought she was a strong kid, enduring the bullying silently while being alone at the company without any friends, but she had a more delicate side than I thought. Is that why she collapsed?

I wanted to get close to her during our trainee days, but I hesitated because of her unique cold atmosphere. But after talking to her, she doesn’t seem like a cold kid.

We ate together for the second time today! I’m glad Dong-hwa and I have similar tastes. Well, there’s no one in the world who dislikes pork cutlets and mushrooms. Though she doesn’t seem to eat much. By the way, what was that Wiener Schnitzel she mentioned before? I should look it up later.

(Omitted)

Wouldn’t we be able to get closer if we keep spending time like this? If possible, I hope we both survive the survival show and debut together.

I entered Gat Entertainment because my uncle recommended it, but frankly, it wasn’t a good company to debut from. I stayed because of my uncle, but an idol like Dong-hwa would be better off debuting in a bigger place.

But why was Dong-hwa in our company?]

Having written that far in his diary, Chae Ha-min briefly recalled Ji Dong-hwa, whom he had seen in the practice room.

First, her dancing. Although she is shorter than him, her overall body balance is good, and her body lines are graceful, making her seem elegant.

Next, her singing. Her natural tone is clean, and her resonance is good, making you want to close your eyes and listen. She might not be good enough to be a successful solo singer, but she is skilled enough to be a lead vocalist. Her vocal range is a bit narrow, but her strength is that she has a voice that makes you want to listen.

Lastly, her appearance. She has the kind of face that fans would like, calling her a haughty cat. She may look a bit sharp when she has no expression, but some fans will like that in its own way. Basically, she’s good-looking, so it’s just a matter of taste.

On top of that, if her memories come back properly, she can also compose and arrange music. From what he heard from the kids learning composition in the practice room, her skills seem to be among the best.

Looking at it this way, she’s almost a complete trainee, so why did she endure all that bullying to debut at our company?

Perhaps… was it because her desire to debut was so great?

Having thought that far, he couldn’t help but try to suppress his anger as he thought about the former company’s trainees who made Dong-hwa quit.

* * *

“Idol, my ass, ha, really.”

I couldn’t help but suppress my anger as I got dressed.

After repeating the process of falling asleep and waking up for 15 days, I finally admitted that this wasn’t a dream. It was the end of a long and drawn-out period of doubt.

Yes, this is reality. A reality where everything I had achieved by the age of twenty-nine had disappeared. My novels, which I had been writing since college, and the books I had bought one by one, filling two walls of my room, were all gone.

‘…Okay, let’s calm down.’

To be honest, I considered turning off my phone and going into hiding immediately after terminating my contract with the former company.

I didn’t want to do it, and I was also wondering if participating in the survival show was really a good idea.

Me going on the survival show is like taking away an opportunity that someone else might only have once in their life.

So, five days ago, while seriously considering running away, this damn intelligent life form stopped me.

‘Quest confirmed.’

[Emergency Quest ‘You Can’t Run Away Anymore!’

You are currently six months behind on your rent. Your current balance is not even enough to pay a quarter of it.

The landlord is planning to kick you out and sue you.

Complete this quest and receive a reward.

Completion condition: Participate in the survival show following Chae Ha-min.

Reward: Six months of overdue rent and an additional two months of rent, totaling 5 million won [approximately $3,700 USD].

Warning! If you only acquire the reward and drop out halfway or intentionally ruin the stage to get eliminated, the reward will be revoked!]

A quest window that makes me sigh every time I see it. From the moment that quest appeared, my phone started receiving a barrage of angry messages from the landlord.

‘…5 million won overdue, there’s no way I would have lived so irresponsibly.’

Where and how did ‘I’ spend all the money I had saved up from working part-time since middle school, that I’m six months behind on rent, and why did the landlord even let it slide?

Furthermore, I’ve been living in a house that I got after establishing myself as a novelist, since high school, which is beyond my means?

I quickly found my bankbook and checked the balance. …500,000 won [approximately $370 USD], it should have been much more than this, definitely.

There’s no way I would ever live like this.

…Could this strange intelligent life form have manipulated it?

I suppressed my rising suspicion and asked the guy who was watching me.

‘…Question, if I just lack the skills and get eliminated in the middle, will the reward be revoked?’

[It will not.]

…Ha, okay, I’ll participate.

I have nowhere else to get 5 million won right now, and it’s better to participate in the survival show, get the rent money, and get eliminated than to be in debt. It’s the most rational choice I can make right now.

Since there’s no way I, who don’t have the talent to become an idol, won’t get eliminated, it’ll probably be okay.

Today is the day I go to Nietzsche Entertainment with Chae Ha-min, the day I receive my report card after practicing for the audition for the past four days.

If I prepare carelessly, I might get caught and not receive the rent money, so I prepared as best as I could.

…I worked pretty hard, so I think I’ll be a little sad if I fail.

I wore a gray knit, a black jacket, and black slacks.

I don’t know if I dressed well, but I hope I look neat.

‘Seeing how much it’s forcing me to participate in the survival show… is the main quest resolved in the survival show?’

I left the house suspiciously.

* * *

25 minutes before the audition, where I promised to meet Chae Ha-min.

When I got to Nietzsche Entertainment, Chae Ha-min waved his hand. I wonder what he’s so happy about that he keeps grinning.

“Dong-hwa! It’s the first time I’ve seen you wearing casual clothes instead of training clothes, you’re dressed neatly.”

Even as a trainee, I lived like that.

Chae Ha-min wore a hoodie, a layered shirt, leather jeans, anyway, he dressed in a slightly flashy street fashion. So… he looks like a delinquent.

But his face is anything but a delinquent, just a gentle rabbit, creating a subtle imbalance. It’s like a child making a scary face and threatening to ask for candy.

I have to do… social life, since he praised me first.

“…You’re dressed well too.”

Chae Ha-min smiled brightly and grabbed me, saying let’s go in quickly. I think this is a habit.

With one arm grabbed by Chae Ha-min, I followed him into the Nietzsche Entertainment building.

“Hello, I’m here for the audition.”

Chae Ha-min greeted cheerfully, and the receptionist told us to wait a moment and made a phone call.

Soon, a man came to greet us.

“Hello. I’m Kang Seung-won from the management team.”

He looks like a polite salaryman. He looks to be in his early 30s.

“As you both heard, this audition is being held to select trainees to fill the vacant spots in the debut survival show. A total of 10 people auditioned last week, and you two are the last applicants. Only 2 out of 12 people can participate in the survival show.”

Chae Ha-min and I nodded slightly at the mechanical manual explanation.

“Then, since there are more than 20 minutes left until the audition time, you can warm up in the practice room next to the audition room while waiting. I’ll guide you.”

Following Kang Seung-won’s guidance, Chae Ha-min and I entered the practice room and started to warm up.

Chae Ha-min saw me taking out my earphones while warming up my voice and asked.

“Dong-hwa, what vocal song did you bring today?”

“…A self-composed song.”

“Oh, why?”

“Because it’s good.”

It’s true.

Having decided to participate in the survival show to the best of my ability, I started to find out what I could do well as part of that effort.

In the process, knowledge about harmony and instruments, which I had never learned before, was filling my head as if it were natural.

Being able to compose or arrange music as a trainee would be a considerable merit, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring a self-composed song to the survival show audition to appeal to that.

So, I picked one of the songs that the previous ‘me’ had made, and I felt guilty about using it as it was, even though it was ‘my’ work, so I arranged it appropriately. And the song that was created in that way was quite good.

Chae Ha-min widened his eyes slightly at my confident answer and pointed to the earphones I was wearing, asking if he could listen to it. Why not?

“It’s just the MR [music recorded without vocals], is that okay?”

“Um, then I’ll just have to listen to it during the audition.”

Chae Ha-min replied with a slightly disappointed expression.

If he had asked me to sing it, it would be different, but with this flow of conversation, it’s a bit awkward to sing it now.

I nodded shallowly and played the MR, reciting the lyrics only in my head.

* * *

‘Please, please, please let this audition be good! It didn’t look bad on paper. So please… God!’

Jang Hae-jin, the team leader of Nietzsche Entertainment’s Planning 2 Team, prayed to God with a sincere heart. Up until two months ago, it wasn’t bad.

The negotiations with the broadcasting station went relatively well, and they had selected the 10 most talented people, so she thought that if the survival show started properly, it would go smoothly.

But no one knew that two of the ten oars in the boat would be rotten. This boat can only move forward if 10 people row!

With only about a week left until the filming of the training process, the higher-ups even said to just put anyone in, even if they lack skills.

‘How many days did I work overtime to plan this? There’s no way I can let that happen.’

But she also knew. If it continued like this, she would have to put anyone in, no matter how much overtime she worked.

That’s why the participants in this audition must be talented.

‘God is not dead, God is not dead, God is definitely not dead, Nietzsche was wrong. So, please…….’

The vocal trainer looked at her, who was holding her hands together and bowing her head, as if she was fed up.

“It’s time, let’s start the audition.”

At the words of the head of the new talent discovery team, Jang Hae-jin raised her head. She carefully scanned the two people who opened the door and came in.

‘First of all, they pass in terms of visuals.’

A rabbit-like face and a cat-like face, both of which are faces that idol fandoms would like. The two stopped at a suitable distance in the middle of the audition room and greeted.

She quickly turned her eyes to the camera screen.

‘The camera passes too……!’

For now, their faces are good. In this industry, faces are also a skill. She smiled and asked.

“You’re both from the same company, right?”

“Yes! Gat Entertainment, I don’t know if you know it.”

The gentle-looking man among the two said.

His name was Chae Ha-min, right? Ji Dong-hwa was next to him.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, as long as you have the skills to pass. I’ll see Chae Ha-min first. Let’s start with the song.”

As Chae Ha-min stepped forward, Ji Dong-hwa came out to the side and sat in the prepared seat.

“Are you ready?”

Jang Hae-jin saw Chae Ha-min nodding and gave a signal to play the song.

A fairly familiar piano prelude was heard.

‘He must be weak in high notes.’

How many years has he been rotting in this company? His intentions can be easily understood just by looking at the song selection.

He avoided the high notes, which are his weakness, and chose a song that can appeal to his basics, so at least he knows his skills.

She listened to only the first verse and stopped the song. It’s mediocre, but that’s about it.

“Next, let’s see the dance. Do you need time to warm up?”

“No, I’ll do it right away!”

And the following song is our company’s TOT’s debut song.

It’s a hip-hop song famous for its intense dance, and it gained some popularity with the obvious school senior concept. Looking at it, it seems like they matched their clothes.

Chae Ha-min starts to move as if warming up to the beat. He basically took the main dancer line and the center part’s dance in between, and it was connected naturally.

Very skillful isolation, and he pays attention to the tips of his fingers when extending his hands, attracting attention.

At the same time, his relaxed expression and stable gaze make you feel comfortable. At the point where the song explodes, she couldn’t help but admire the movement of bending down and waving back with her hands.

‘It’s not just his skills, it’s his expression…….’

When waving, Chae Ha-min smiled playfully and tilted his gaze and head slightly to the right, accurately expressing the concept of the song.

The part where he returns to a serious expression in the subsequent movements was perfect. Solid basics, eye-catching dance lines, and overflowing talent.

She couldn’t help but think that this kid should be the main dancer.

Towards the end of the song, Chae Ha-min continued the movements in accordance with the finely divided beats, showed his back, stretched out nonchalantly, and slowly turned his head this way.

And Jang Hae-jin quietly muttered.

‘God… is not dead…….’