Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 302

302. Ready, Aim, Fire (1)

August 29, 2022

“He didn’t miss a single time.”

“He’s like a complete magnet.”

It was as if someone had deliberately stuck it there; his gaze followed the camera every time it switched.

The person who turned his head and stared directly at the camera.

That person was none other than Yeonwoo.

“He hasn’t missed once from the beginning. Seungmin *hyung* [older brother/male friend] missed 7 times, Chan missed 14 times, Daniel missed 5 times, and Raon missed 4 times, but Yeonwoo missed 0 times.”

Because Doyul was taciturn, he didn’t say anything unless it was absolutely necessary, which made him highly trusted among the members.

If Doyul said so, then it was so.

Besides, wasn’t Doyul a master of all kinds of embroidery and needlework, including cross-stitch?

Since he was freely able to wrestle with stitches less than 1mm, his eye for detail was extremely sharp.

“Wow, amazing.”

Raon’s mouth dropped open.

“I shouldn’t have made excuses about having little stage experience. Wow…….”

With so many cameras, there were more than one or two that came in unpredictably.

In particular, there were more than one or two sub-cameras, so the timing of when they came in was quite complicated.

It wasn’t at a level where you could memorize it right away with just one camera rehearsal.

Of course,

“Is that such a difficult thing to do?”

There was no way Yeonwoo would know that fact.

‘What’s so difficult about it……?’

Sometimes this happens.

It’s a case of overlooking the fact that something that is so obvious to the person involved may not be obvious to others.

To explain it, it’s like this.

-It’s easy, right?

Like that painter with the impressive brown curly hair who smiles brightly as he moves the knife a few times on the canvas and a realistic landscape appears before you know it?

The point is that it doesn’t seem easy at all to ordinary people, but it really seems easy to him.

Yeonwoo was exactly like that.

“You just have to look at the camera that’s catching you.”

Why are you making mistakes with something so obvious?

But that obvious thing didn’t seem to be so obvious.

“Of course it’s difficult!”

“That’s right. It’s not for nothing that we missed 7 times, 14 times, 5 times, and 4 times.”

“Ah. That’s true, but why does my *myeongchi* [solar plexus/sternum] hurt so much? Did someone hit my *myeongchi* [solar plexus/sternum]?”

‘I should have practiced this too.’

If I had known in advance, I would have trained them.

Once you throw them into a crowd of gazes, they’ll become sensitive to the gazes on their own.

Without even knowing that a nightmare, not a nightmare, was booked for the night.

The UTT members were busy marveling at Yeonwoo.

“The actors *hyung* [older brother/male friend] I know really struggled to find the camera. I heard that you shouldn’t be conscious of the camera when filming.”

Yeonwoo shrugged his shoulders at the almost worshipful look in their eyes.

“You just have to not make mistakes next time. You can train so you don’t make mistakes.”

“Yeonwoo *hyung* [older brother/male friend]……!”

Raon was moved, not knowing what kind of training awaited him.

It wasn’t just Raon who was moved.

“The more I see you, Yeonwoo……. You’re so amazing that I don’t know how we caught such incredible luck.”

Leader Lee Seungmin muttered like that,

“Please give me your teachings, Master.”

Daniel was already kneeling.

“……?”

Yeonwoo looked back at the members at the absurd words spoken in a solemn tone, and Minchan shrugged his shoulders.

“He’s a huge StarWz fan.”

An explanation followed that he was crazy, but not a bad guy, so just ignore him.

[Ahhh! I’m so nervous!]

[The UTT members’ stage before us was so amazing…… I’m nervous.]

The screen had already moved on to the next order.

There was a brief interview with the group, which was the second item on the cue sheet.

As I turned my gaze to that side and thought about pushing them harder, a low voice called out to Yeonwoo.

“Yeonwoo-ya.”

“?”

When I turned around, leader Lee Seungmin was looking at Yeonwoo with a very nervous expression.

“Thank you so much.”

“Suddenly?”

While Yeonwoo hesitated at the sudden words of gratitude.

The leader slowly continued.

“Actually, this stage would have been impossible without you, Yeonwoo. We wouldn’t have even been able to get on the stage in the first place.”

“…….”

While Yeonwoo was hesitating at the sudden expression of gratitude.

The leader continued slowly.

“Actually, we didn’t even believe in ourselves. But only you believed in us, and we were together, and we came all the way here together. If it weren’t for you, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do the first competition properly and would have disappeared in defeatism, as we always have.”

A confession-like statement that started quietly.

It was a sincere heart without a single lie.

“So I always wanted to say it. But we were so pathetic that we wanted to create some visible results and prove that you had raised us so much. To say that your choice was not wrong. Actually……. We were in a very tight spot. We applied for this program thinking that this was our last chance. We wanted to succeed again with this program no matter what. But…….”

Lee Seungmin, who had been glancing away, looked straight at Yeonwoo.

His face was flushed as if he had mustered courage beyond his limits.

“At some point, while practicing, we started to think that our goal was not success, but to be recognized by you, to live up to your faith, and to avoid the ending where your choice was wrong because of us.”

At first, it was definitely because they wanted to succeed.

They couldn’t even show off what they had worked so hard on, and they were forced to sit down because of the surrounding environment.

The desire for success was bound to grow.

But.

[You’re going to succeed anyway. I can see it. I’m talking about you guys winning.]

Mangdol [failed idol].

The modifier ‘failed idol’ had become a word that modified themselves.

‘Let’s find meaning in participating.’

‘Yeah……. Winning is out of the question…….’

‘Let’s try to let people know that we exist by breaking through our limits. We can start over slowly from the beginning. That’s what we have to do.’

They wanted to win, but they knew better than anyone that winning was impossible.

But ironically, knowing that this was really their last chance, it felt like a fire was lit in their dying hearts.

So when Yeonwoo was first assigned, they were surprised, shocked, and frustrated.

“No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like he’s a skilled producer who can make us win.”

Thinking about it now, it was a very arrogant, obnoxious, and rude……. Anyway, it was a very rude and mistake-like question.

But at that time, they were desperate.

It was also a time when they were very sensitive because they had suffered a lot.

‘We barely made it this far……. Is it going to be like this again……?’

Leader Lee Seungmin even knelt down to the PD [Producer Director] and begged.

If there was an amount of money needed for the casting, they would somehow come up with it, so please attach a skilled producer.

They, who had been neglected until now, needed a guide.

Minchan and Daniel started choreographing themselves because they didn’t have the money to pay for the design fee.

Lee Seungmin started composing himself because there was no support to receive songs.

‘I don’t hate composing. But……. It wasn’t something I started because I wanted to.’

It was nothing more than a cottage industry in a makeshift way to be called an idol.

UTT wanted to get out of that situation.

They wanted to succeed like other idols.

“Yeonwoo-ssi! This is UTT! This is Kang Yeonwoo-ssi. You’ve heard each other’s names a lot, right?”

So at first, they were frustrated.

They thought that even the PD [Producer Director] regarded his promise to them as less than dirt.

But that wasn’t it.

The memories of being hurt for a long time had clouded their eyes.

“You guys are going to win. If I’m wrong, I’ll do it for you.”

Rather, Yeonwoo believed in them.

Despite their resistance.

‘Why does he believe in us so much……?’

Even the president who raised them only saw them as objects to extort money from.

No one showed such unconditional favor to them, who had nothing.

But at some point.

“Wouldn’t it be okay to just capture the UTT’s style?”

The traces of their footsteps, which they thought were shabby and clumsy, were revived as their own unique characteristics through Yeonwoo.

Success.

What is success?

This word, which means to achieve what you aim for, simply means this.

‘I want someone to recognize my achievements.’

It is to hope that others will recognize the results that have been achieved with difficulty.

So UTT wanted to succeed.

They wanted to be recognized that their efforts were not wrong and to confirm that their efforts were worth it.

But at some point, they felt that such a desire for recognition was disappearing.

Why?

The reason was not far away.

“You’re doing well? What’s wrong? It sounds great to me.”

“Why are you digging? What’s the problem? You did it, so how can you not believe in yourself?”

“If I, the closest person to me, don’t like me, who in the world will like me?”

It’s not just because he pulled them out of a long darkness that they think that way.

Yeonwoo watched them stand properly one step behind and made them self-reliant.

Confidence.

Faith.

Yeonwoo made them regain something precious that they had lost at some point.

“It’s not that I did well, it’s that you guys did well.”

Despite saving someone, the person in question didn’t even show any expression and just shrugged his shoulders.

As if he didn’t want to show off his achievements.

There was consideration for them in that.

In fact,

‘Ah……. Something……. I think it’s a misunderstanding, but it’s a bit ambiguous to resolve…….’

The person in question is just keeping his mouth shut because of the ambiguity, but, well.

The misinterpretation of the UTT members who don’t know that is only getting deeper and deeper.

The truth is always beyond that.

‘I’m not thirsty anymore.’

They have already been recognized.

To someone with sharper and more cold-hearted eyes than anyone else.

‘Can we gain someone’s perfect trust this much?’

The answer came easily.

‘I wouldn’t.’

The bluebird they had been searching for so much was actually already in their hands.

It’s just that there were no eyes to recognize it.

It’s like complaining without even knowing that you’re holding it.

Why doesn’t anyone teach us where the bluebird is and how to find it?

“No one believed in us, and no one recognized our potential. But you are the only one who recognized us, Yeonwoo. Even though we didn’t believe in you and doubted you at first, you believed in us. I always wanted to tell you that I’m grateful for that.”