Chapter 28

I'll be honest with you.

If someone asks me whether <Burning Like the Sun> is a good song, I could say that it is.

However, if they ask me whether it's a good song for an idol performance, I would tell them to quickly give up on the idea.

Because this song has the lyrics and sound of a typical 2000s rock band…

Trust me. I listened to this song whenever I went to shoot idols throwing the first pitch.

It's just an upbeat band song that doesn't even fit the cheerleaders' choreography. The coolness of the high-pitched sound is also an advantage.

In conclusion, the difficulty of arranging it is ridiculously high.

Can't I pick a characteristic related to composing? I need it right now.

Regardless of my feelings that went unanswered, the conversation between the original singer and the participants was hopeful.

The other team members only knew one or two lines of the song's addictive chorus.

"We haven't been active for a long time, so we couldn't sing this song that much. I hope you guys do a great job this time."

"We'll do our best to make a great performance!"

How?

…No, let's stop being stressed out over unnecessary things, If I don't get hit by the editing in this team match, I can think of it as a save.

Even if it goes like this, I can make a quick debut by catching a small and medium-sized agency.

'Still, the stage… I thought I'd be able to pull it off to some degree.'

I was strangely disappointed. I didn't know why I was so concerned about the stage when I didn't start this out of my own will in the first place.

'I have nothing to say if someone teases me for being too immersed.'

…But, it's fun.

All right, let's talk a little bit more carefully when discussing. Maybe another participant will come up with a good idea.

The original singer soon left the set. A few days later, he said he would watch our practice with the trainer during the mid-term evaluation.

And as the team members sat around, the story of the stage composition finally came out.

* * *

First of all, Ryu Chungwoo came up with a standard answer for the concept.

"Wouldn't it be best to go with a cheering squad concept? I think it'll go well with the song, and it's good to add a difficult choreography."

"Cheering squad? Hmm… Experience is a good thing."

"I think it's okay."

"It will be fun."

Several people, including Cha Eugene, responded positively. The response was okay.

"What do you think? Raebin, Moondae, Sejin."

Ryu Chungwoo quickly scanned the reactions of the team members and took notes of the three silent participants. Including me.

Rather than saying it now, It would work better if I said this after taking a look at the situation.

So let's naturally look in the direction where the other two are sitting.

"Shall we hear Sejin's opinion first?"

"…I think the cheering squad concept looks tacky."

You're hitting us with facts.

So far, there had been no malicious edits, so Lee Sejin's uncooperative attitude had rarely been highlighted on TV.

Just by looking at a glimpse of it while searching for Park Moondae, Lee Sejin's fans believed him to be a 'sensitive and shy hard worker.'

However, since Ryu Chungwoo was edited well, Lee Sejin might be crushed by editing this time.

In any case, Ryu Chungwoo was not very agitated. He just asked back calmly.

"Do you have any other suggestions?"

"Because I don't have any… I wasn't going to tell you."

"Hmm, all right. I got it."

Ryu Chungwoo immediately asked Kim Raebin again.

"What do you think, Raebin?"

"I'm not familiar with this song, so I think I should listen to it first."

"Okay. Let's play it for now."

When the smart pad provided to us was activated, a chorus melody played with an electric guitar came out, starting with the classical drum intro.

After everyone listened to the song with their mouths closed, Kim Raebin muttered first with a pale face.

"This is…"

Finally, there's someone else who noticed this disastrous selected song.

First of all, the lyrics were a youthful love hymn that was popular in our childhood. In a good way, it was retro, and in a bad way, it was old-fashioned.

Naturally, there was no characteristic concept like a flower fairy or a vampire, and it was difficult to attach one to the song.

And since it was built on the basis of a good singer standing alone, the chorus octave was high enough to tear the throat.

What if I adjust the octave? The charm of the song would disappear.

This is because the song's appeal was the exhilaration of the high notes that pierce the vocal cords.

"Hmm, the note is very high. Do you find any other difficulties?"

Kim Raebin inhaled as if he were going to pour out words, then he glanced at the camera and closed his mouth.

It seemed he was paying attention because he was beaten up over a personality controversy in the last team match that aired.

"So… Yes. The song is good, but I think it's hard to arrange it."

"Really? If you say that, it must be really difficult."

Ryu Chungwoo readily agreed. It seemed that even though Kim Raebin's broadcast was ruined in the first team match, he had taked the lead in the arrangement and selected the right song.

'He changed a mass-produced EDM song from the late 2000s to a well-loved EDM trap, leaving only the sample bits.'

"Then what about Moondae?"

Finally, it's my turn.

"I think we should decide on something before arranging it."

"Like what?"

"Part distribution."

You can't see the answer in the selected song? Then we shouldn't be focusing on this.

We have to focus on somewhere that doesn't fail.

I assure you, I'm the only one in the team who can sing the chorus of this song properly right now.

To digest this right away, you'll need an A stat vocal or higher, and I am the only one who has that on this team.

'But I can't sing the entire chorus by myself.'

So I had to start by cutting the parts and practicing so that my voice wouldn't crack right away.

As for the arrangement, it doesn't seem like a reward will come out no matter what we bring in, so let's put it off for a while.

This is not the time to look at the big picture. It's a state of emergency.

If you convey this explanation as mildly as possible, it will be like this.

"It's a difficult song to sing, so I think we should practice first."

"Part distribution… Of course, it's important."

Ryu Chungwoo looked surprised.

"But that's unexpected. In your last team match, I heard that you decided to arrange the song first."

"Yes?"

It wasn't even shown on the broadcast, I didn't know how he knew that.

"Oh, I heard it from Keun Sejin."

'When did he talk to Ryu Chungwoo?'

That guy is not ordinary, either.

"Raebin-ah, I'm asking because you're the best at arranging the song. What do you think about Moondae's opinion?"

"…Yes, that's fine. As we practice, we have a lot of options… Let's think about it."

Kim Raebin readily agreed. Although he looked like he was observing a meteorite that would fall on Earth tomorrow.

"Well, then, I've heard all your opinions, so until we come up with a better idea, let's raise our hands."

Ryu Chungwoo didn't waste time and immediately organized the situation.

"First of all, raise your hand if you agree to proceed with the practice with the concept of a cheering squad."

The majority raised their hands. I obeyed for once.

Ryu Chungwoo didn't pay extra attention to Lee Sejin, who didn't raise his hand, and immediately moved on to the next agenda.

"Then, raise your hand if you don't mind distributing parts first."

Fortunately, this gained a majority vote too. Seeing that Lee Sejin raised his hand, I guess my explanation made sense.

Just before our eyes met, Lee Sejin quickly lowered his hand and averted his eyes.

Do you want to show that you agreed with the opinion but not with me? Why?

"Okay, then let's divide the parts first."

The part distribution progressed step by step and soon faced an expected difficulty.

"I don't think I can do it here."

"Oh, me too…"

"This is too high."

The high-pitched melody in the chorus appeared four times and occupied about half of the song.

However, except for Park Moondae, all the team members either failed or grabbed the back of their necks and became embarrassed.

A member of the team, who had very good singing skills with a B+ vocal, was anxious about his voice cracking, and eventually gave his opinion about 'that'.

"I think it would be better to arrange it and lower the key before doing it. Since we have two rappers, why don't we add some rapping?"

In other words, let's arrange the song first. Damn it.

"Lowering the key…"

Kim Rae-bin's expression darkened. The bad impression got worse.

But the tide had already turned.

"I think it's right to lower it."

"I agree."

"Hmm, first of all, the team members should be able to digest it. Why don't we lower the key and rearrange it to match that?"

Kim Raebin glanced around and eventually nodded.

"Yes… Then I'll try."

It seemed he was afraid that If he said he wouldn't do it here, he would lose it all and get crushed by the editing again.

In the end, the arrangement was carried out, reflecting all the inconsistent opinions about 'lowering the key,' 'adding a rap part,' and 'accompaniment suitable for the cheering squad concept'.

I guess those guys want to appear smooth with their loud voices when in reality, they're failing.

The stage is already ruined.

I didn't bother to object to the whole process. No matter what I said, I was outnumbered anyway.

Even if I was lucky enough to trigger <I heard it's true>, without a proper alternative, I would only seem like a dissatisfied person.

In addition, I had no answers if a talk like, 'You can sing it, so why not sing it as it is?' began to come out.

I would be in trouble if I  looked selfish and appeared on the show as a person with no social skills.

So, I needed an outsider to tell us frankly that this was terribly horrendous.

'In the end, staying still and doing nothing is the answer.'

The midterm evaluation, which only judged the first verse, was three days later, and if the judges had ears, at least one of them would tell how bad it was.

Until then, I'll have to think of an alternative.

"Let's make the choreography now!"

However, the choreography Cha Yujin made that day along with that shout, was the move from <It's me> with sudden extreme difficulty.

Thanks to this, I had to resist the urge to put the remaining stat points into the dance, regardless of the alternative.

As my stamina slowly melted, three days passed.

And, finally, we've entered the midterm evaluation.

* * *

"This team's ranking is so fancy~"

"Raebin has sharpened his knife!"

"Everyone had good results at the ranking ceremony."

The judges talked about our rankings first.

The production team might have told them to mention it in advance, but it was the truth anyways, so it would serve as a way to set up expectations.

"Oh, the demo song is already out?"

"Yes!"

It was thanks to Kim Raebin's direct conversation with the arranger.

"It's great∼"

"Right. This team is the only one! Instead of the original song, they've already made their own arrangement."

"As expected of the team made up of talented people!"

The judges were already satisfied.

But.

"Hm…"

After the stage, the reaction was lukewarm.

The judges, who were shrugging their shoulders and exchanging eyes, eventually grabbed the microphones one by one.

"Actually, your stage itself doesn't feel that bad, right? But it is not attractive."

"That's right. You made the choreography well, too. I can see your wit. Um, the cheering squad concept… I think it's supposed to go well with the song, but why does it feel so gloomy?"

"It's a shame that the rap feels come out of nowhere. You touched the original song a lot, but it feels worse than the original song."

As the reviews piled up, the problems began to materialize.

Finally, judge Youngrin asked as soon as she grabbed the microphone.

"Who rearranged it?"

I didn't look at Raebin on purpose. Because instead of him, it was the people who brought it up who were the problem.

But when I looked around, everyone else was looking at Kim Raebin, so it didn't mean much.

"We all discussed it together."

Ryu Chungwoo quickly grasped the situation and turned it into a team responsibility. He also tried to neutralize the situation by saying he misled the team as the leader.

That's a good decision.

But there are trolls everywhere.

"Yes, and… Raebin did the arrangement."

You're going to cut your tail off like this?

'Are you crazy?'

You're doing this something stupid like this when the camera is on?

Looking at his embarrassed face, it seemed he was afraid of being criticized so he reflexively named someone else.

'Fu*k…'

If something went wrong, it would be edited out as bullying.

I also opened my mouth just in case they treated it like a wholesale price.

(Author Note: wholesale price = a metaphor for a situation where several people in the same group are treated the same despite their differences.)