Chapter 40

I was a little bewildered.

Due to Seon Ahyeon's personality, I thought he would be stuck in a corner crying, but his face showed more composure than I thought.

How should I say this? Rather, it felt like he'd entered a military regulation.

He wasn't even holding a smartphone.

On the contrary, it was only when I called him and didn't say anything that he started looking frightened.

"W-What is it…?"

"No, um…"

There was no need to scratch the wound. I glossed over my words, and instead took a chocolate bar out of my bag.

It was an action I learned through the Cha Eugene incident.

"Do you want some?"

"H-Hn! Thank you…"

Seon Ahyeon accepted the chocolate bar with both hands as if he was accepting an offering and put it in his bag.

"…?"

Aren't you going to eat it?

As if conscious of my question, Seon Ahyeon hesitated.

"I-I have to take care of my weight… W-When my body gets heavy, my dance becomes weird. I-I shouldn't get used to late-night snacks."

"Is that so?"

He used to be a dance major. I was going to accept it and move on, but then I suddenly found a contradiction.

"Didn't you give me a chocolate bar past midnight during the evaluation?"

"M-Moondae is fine! You were so skinny back then…"

"…"

There was a story like this?

To my surprise, I heard a laugh from the bed next to me.

"That's right, Park Moondae was really thin back then, so I thought you were over-managing yourself."

"But your body? When I see you eat… You don't gain weight compared to what goes in your mouth. If it were me, I would have turned into a pig."

Keun Sejin and Gold 1 each chipped in. Oh, dear.

'I ate a lot on purpose because of my stamina, but it seems I have been misunderstood.'

It was unpleasant, but thanks to this nonsense, the atmosphere in the room seemed to have loosened up a bit.

Seon Ahyeon also laughed a little below me, and when my cold eyes met his, he was startled and started coughing.

"…"

Really… He's an unusual guy.

I silently threw the bottle of water by the bedside.

Seon Ahyeon took the bottle after struggling a few times and drank it.

And murmured softly.

"I-I want to do well. Better."

"…Right."

Judging from his remarks, it seemed that Seon Ahyeon had checked public opinion on the Internet. But I didn't look too closely so I wondered if he was just maintaining his composure.

After pondering about it, I quietly tried my luck.

"…Let's not look for anything else on the Internet and just research the data because it might get you concerned for no reason."

"Ah…"

Seon Ahyeon exclaimed with a mysterious face and suddenly answered with a shout.

"I-I already knew, so it's okay. I-I'm ready."

"What?"

'What are you talking about?'

Seon Ahyeon muttered with an embarrassed expression.

"I-I already saw all those posts before the filming. A-As I kept looking, it kept coming out…"

"…"

That's why he looked so gloomy when I met him on the day of the shoot.

At that time, public opinion was not as bad as it is now,  so isn't that kind of comment normally kept out of the surface of the Internet?

Perhaps Seon Ahyeon, who wasn't very familiar with the Internet, had looked into everything without knowing the extent.

'How far did you search?'

I felt like he'd been looking at the ridiculous bullshitting posts where there were only abusive comments about idols all day long.

Seon Ahyeon continued to speak as if he was making excuses.

"I-I knew this would happen someday. I-I'm ready. I-It's okay. I-I'm used to it."

"Is that so?"

"Y-Yes!"

Seon Ahyeon nodded quickly, but I was secretly disturbed.

'When he said he was used to it, it seemed he was talking about being criticized for his stuttering.'

I had thought about it for a long time, but it was clear that he had tasted hell in peer relationships. Teenagers these days are scary.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

"Don't worry, it won't last long. If we do well on stage, it will disappear again."

"I-Is that so?"

"Yes, it's a survival program."

It was always like that with those cheap bastards. The reality is sh*tty, so it's fun to curse at someone you can bite on the Internet.

If another celebrity became a hot topic, they would move on.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I might get cursed at from tomorrow onwards."

"Huh? N-No…! Y-You didn't do anything wrong…"

"You didn't do anything wrong either."

"…"

When Seon Ahyeon got flustered and closed his mouth, Keun Sejin answered instead.

"So what you want to say to Ahyeon is 'Don't take insults for granted', right? Kya~ Isn't Moondae too cool? If I were a viewer, I'd already bought stocks."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Wow, this doesn't work anymore?."

Keun Sejin laughed and rolled around the bed. Gold 1, who was using the lower bed, was terrified but gave words of encouragement to the team members.

"Stop it, you crazy punk! The bed is going to collapse! …Yes, let's just work hard. Let's do our best for this performance!"

"Let's do it!"

The constant effort to somehow sublimate the situation into motivation raised the mood of the bedroom. A friendly atmosphere was vigorously incited.

And Kim Raebin, who had been keeping his mouth closed, muttered in a small voice.

"Yes. In that sense, I found and organized the example materials for costumes and patterns for props, is it okay to post them in the group chat room now…"

"…Ah."

"Oh."

Right. That's the purpose of holding the smartphone.

He must have found it earlier, but it seemed that he couldn't speak because of the atmosphere.

From Kim Raebin's perspective, he had received all kinds of curses during the first team match, so the internet for him right now must be like a fairy. He would have no problem exploring around.

"…Um, of course."

"Yes, I will send them."

The sound of Gold 1's dry cough echoed through the bedroom along with the sound of smartphones vibrating here and there.

I checked the data posted by Kim Raebin.

[Color_material_arrangement of pattern_clothes_base.xlsx]

[Prop pattern_Detailed list_No base.xlsx]

When I clicked on it, it was not an ordinary skill to sort them by category. The production team probably didn't expect this much either.

'You have good skills.'

As if everyone had similar thoughts, exclamations and simple compliments came and went. Keun Sejin even whistled.

"…Thank you."

After Kim Raebin's awkward thanks, the team members continued to discuss the costumes and stage props until 3 a.m.

It seemed that the determination to make a good stage was somehow expressed through the act of 'Sleeping only after you die'.

I had a status window, but these guys were really great.

* * *

After two more days of labor and practice from dawn to dawn, It was time for the damn midterm evaluation again.

This time, the stage director, the music director, and the costume team also sat down and evaluated us along with the trainers.

First of all, if I had to evaluate myself, even if I thought about it as objectively as possible, the current direction of this team was good.

Still, I wasn't expecting much. Because I had never received good reviews in the evaluation so far.

But this time the result… It was honestly good.

"I love it."

"Let's just go like this!"

For once, the feedback started with these sentences.

Looking at the smiling trainers and the admiring judges, the team members gradually realized the situation.

First, the choreographer.

"Who made the choreography? You did it all together? No, there must be someone who planned it. …Wow, you guys got it right, right? You really did it together? …Yeah, whoever did it will show up on the broadcast. Anyway, I have nothing to say because you did well."

Next up was vocal trainer Muddy.

"First of all, I'm so proud that everyone moves like that and the pitch doesn't change! Also, it's attractive how you changed the way the original song is sung, and the way you sing according to the newly interpreted parts. Let's sing the whole song with this feeling!"

Even Youngrin who rarely complimented openly.

"I know it's a stage with a lot of thought and practice, but the best thing is that it doesn't feel like the work of an amateur. Even though it's a mid-term evaluation, your stage is already complete. I can't wait to see you on stage."

Up to this point, the team members had become 'thank you' bots and only expressed gratitude.

Amid a series of favorable reviews that would have made anyone shed tears, even the director and the costume team gave praise.

"Looking at the draft you wrote here, we immediately felt that you paid a lot of attention to detail. From what you've prepared, I think it'll look good on stage."

"It's a team that arranged the song very easily. I have a lot of friends, and it was fun for us to pick the sound without talking about anything else. Seeing it today, the stage is just as cool as we expected."

"The team's outfit entered the production stage very quickly. The concept was clear and there weren't many ambiguous parts. I can't wait to see you perform on stage wearing the clothes we made~"

After this whirlwind of praise, the faces of the team members were really worth seeing.

Perhaps because they were so happy, they didn't realize that they were nodding their heads with stupid expressions.

Even Keun Sejin couldn't finish his words properly.

"Team, no, uh… Thank you. We'll work harder!"

"Don't get hurt by working too hard!"

Clap clap clap. Then, with the sound of applause from the judges, the group bid farewell and returned to their seats.

The team members, who were completely blown away, watched the rest of the other teams' performances and only showed reflexive reactions that followed the trend. There was no other audience.

I was stunned, too.

'It's going so well?'

I couldn't sleep well for a few days and I was just focused on completing this so I wasn't sure how good this would look.

At best, it would end with 'it's fine'.

'…Anyway, I feel good.'

The sense of accomplishment was somewhat uplifting.

I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment for a while as I stared at the performances of other team participants.

It was close to midnight when the midterm evaluation was completely over.

"It was so good."

"I think so, too."

"Same."

The team members murmured in their beds. It was only after it was over that I could feel it properly, and a sense of happiness that had never felt before flowed through my voice.

"I think we can do really well."

"T-That's right."

This conversation pattern repeated several more times.

'Are we going to bed just like this today?'

It had been a while since I'd slept for more than four hours.

I quickly closed my eyes. But at that moment, talk about work came out again.

"Oh, I haven't decided on the color of the sleeves."

"Oh, right."

These guys were really tough. I forced myself to open my eyes. Damn it.

"I have a few things to look at too, wait a minute."

The sound of Keun Sejin's tapping on the smartphone screen rang out.

"I saw it here…"

But the next words did not come. Keun Sejin stood still holding his smartphone.

"What is it?"

"Why are you like this?"

Keun Sejin, whose face was white, was looking at the screen.

The colors of the smartphone screen shining in the dark bedroom were clearly visible even though the distance was quite far away.

'It's a gossip board.'

Linked to a portal site, it was a bulletin board famous for all kinds of conflict materials, rumors, and controversial articles.

Without saying anything more to Keun Sejin, I accessed the bulletin board with my smartphone.

And I saw a post that had already entered the rankings even though it just appeared 30 minutes ago.

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[3rd place! Idol Inc. Keun Sejin is accused of bullying] (425)]

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It was a big beautiful landmine.

'Oh, sh*t.'

No wonder I was so lucky today.