Chapter 19
Is it high, is it low? The trainees were all busy calculating in their heads.
But since I had roughly calculated before I came, I knew what kind of score that was.
If it’s like this… there seems to be a considerable difference in scores with the 1st place.
It wasn’t a good sign.
“Trainee Lee Kyunga, please come forward.”
Suddenly, the sound of crying was heard.
Of course, it was Lee Kyunga’s crying.
However, it wasn’t just a sad cry.
Rather, it was a cry mixed with relief.
The relief of having escaped the 12th place.
…Well, she was 12th in the last mid-evaluation.
On the big screen behind the set, Lee Kyung-ah’s face and mid-evaluation rank appeared together.
Lee Kyung-ah (11th ▲1), 1,250 votes
On the other hand, the faces of the other lower-ranked trainees began to cloud over.
Do Hee-young continued to announce the ranks of the other trainees.
Bang Su-in (10th ▼2), 1,307 votes
Park Ha-eun (9th ▲2), 1,505 votes
Shin Yu-hyun (8th ▼1), 1,629 votes
Jo Hee-on (7th ▼1), 1,731 votes
With this, all the lower ranks were announced.
Neither those who rose in rank nor those who fell in rank looked happy.
What stood out was, of course, Yeon Juhong’s expression.
Yeon Juhong was 9th in the mid-evaluation, but her name hasn’t been called yet.
Then she thought she might be 12th, and her eyes were already full of tears.
The same was true for Lee Juseon, who was 10th in the last mid-evaluation.
One of the two is at least in the middle-upper ranks, but the other is almost certainly at the bottom.
Now, the only remaining trainees are the most likely to debut.
It was a cruel system.
“Next, we will announce the 6th place. This trainee received 1,950 votes.”
Do Hee-young briefly looked at each trainee and then spoke.
“Trainee Yeon Juhong, please come forward.”
Damn.
A silent scream echoed.
Yeon Juhong, as if she were stunned, couldn’t think of moving with her mouth open.
Then she burst into tears.
The other trainees, especially Seo Baek-young and Kim Geum, hugged Yeon Juhong and comforted her.
I also stood behind Yeon Juhong and patted her on the shoulder.
“Trainee Yeon Juhong. Now come up to the podium and tell us how you feel.”
Only then did Yeon Juhong wipe her tears and climb onto the podium.
Of course, even if she wiped her tears, they kept coming.
“I, I…”
Yeon Juhong kept sobbing.
“I don’t know if I… if I should be here.”
She was crying so much that both sleeves were wet and it was meaningless to wipe them.
“Uh, the sisters… the sisters did so well. I, the one who is the worst… I feel like I shouldn’t be here.”
Yeon Juhong continued to sob, but she spoke resolutely.
She’s a born entertainer.
Yes, you have to hit the broadcast.
“I, really… I really, really wanted to go home. But now I don’t want to, sob, go. Today’s 6th place…. To me, it’s more precious, sob, and valuable than 1st place. From now on… I’ll work hard following the sisters… sob.”
In the end, Yeon Juhong gave up holding back her tears and started to sob.
Oh dear.
All the other trainees also had a lump in their throats.
17 years old, the youngest of our young ones.
Everyone knew that she was practicing every day, blaming herself.
And no one didn’t understand her feelings.
In the end, Do Hee-young hugged Yeon Juhong and took her to the 6th place and sat her down.
Even when she was sitting in the chair and sobbing, she comforted her by giving her a handkerchief.
“Now, let’s announce the 5th place.”
As Yeon Juhong seemed to calm down a bit, PD Oh proceeded with the recording without mercy.
We’ve picked as much as we can, so let’s move on.
A human without blood or tears….
“From now on, it’s the debut ranking. Congratulations to all the trainees who have come this far.”
Do Hee-young smiled warmly at us.
“This trainee covered White Noise and received a total of 2,017 votes.”
There were three people left who covered White Noise.
Kim Ryeo-yu, Ryu Bo-ra, Lee Juseon.
Maybe it’s hard for Lee Juseon to come up to 5th place… It was practically a fight between Kim Ryeo-yu and Ryu Bo-ra.
Unlike Ryu Bo-ra, who had no noticeable change in expression, Kim Ryeo-yu’s expression was shadowed.
She must think that she shouldn’t come out here.
She must be aiming for at least the top 3.
But on the contrary, Ryu Bo-ra had a super calm attitude from the beginning as if the rank didn’t matter.
Whether it really doesn’t matter, or it’s acting, even I, watching from the side, was confused.
Kim Ryeo-yu, who clenched her skirt tightly, and Ryu Bo-ra, who squinted her big eyes.
The two of them were caught on the screen together-
“The first mission, the first debut trainee is-”
Caption: Check in 1 minute!
***
“….”
“….”
A living room of a family home.
A lively family was eagerly watching ‘Make a New Color’, then threw the remote control.
“Are you crazy, Mnet?”
***
After the short but furious commercial break.
The trainees’ faces appeared on the screen again.
“You’ve waited a long time. We will announce it right away. ‘Make a New Color’ first mission, the first debut trainee is-”
Do Hee-young paused for a moment, then announced right away.
“It’s Ryu Bo-ra.”
…Lower rank than I thought.
I thought the fandom would be solid because she was a very successful child actress.
It was unexpected.
But Ryu Bo-ra didn’t seem to think so, she calmly went up to the podium.
“I am grateful to the colorists who have brought me this far. As you have given me such an excessive rank, I will become Ryu Bo-ra who can show a good image.”
With a bright, cheerful smile, a standard impression flowed out.
There wasn’t a single flaw. However, that itself was a flaw.
The soulless – the strange impression, rather made others flustered.
That wasn’t because the rank was lower than expected and she was angry or sad.
Rather, that was….
“…Does she not want to debut…?”
A murmur from one of the staff was heard.
Yes, she was truly a trainee who didn’t want to debut.
It’s strange. If she doesn’t want to debut, why does she practice so hard?
Why is she still a trainee?
Ignoring everyone’s subtle questions, Ryu Bo-ra sat in the 5th place.
Do Hee-young managed her expression and called the next rank.
“Next, we will announce the next rank. This trainee attracted the attention of the colorists with a radical concept.”
A radical concept.
I recalled the stages of the remaining trainees.
First, Kim Geum, who covered a male idol and set a strong street concept.
Kim Ryeo-yu, who chose a bold sexy concept different from the original song.
…And me, who started with a blindfold.
I had a hunch.
The one who will be called this time-
“Congratulations, Yoon Cheong. Please come up.”
It’s me.
***
??? What, what happened
? Yoon Cheong 4th place?
????
Ah Evan, reallyㅋㅋ Mnet is crazy?
No, if you look at the skills, it’s just 1st place without anything else, but this is 4th place?
The check has already startedㅋㅋ
That’s why if you stand out at first, it’s a disaster ㅠ Cheong, let’s just debut, it’s okay
ㄱㄹㅇ Fans seem to be a little nervousㅋㅋ From the song selection, ㄱㄹㅇ the fight was serious
└What are you talking about; The positions don’t overlap, so why are you messing with the poor kid?
└└ Yes, next is the blood pick
The announcement of the first mission rank was all over.
My final rank is 4th.
It was a debut rank, so it wasn’t a bad rank, but it wasn’t a rank that could be completely relieved.
Fortunately, the viewers’ reactions were quite divided.
So-called ‘muggles’, people who are closer to simple viewers than idol fans, had a lot of doubts about my rank.
If you only look at the skills, I should have been the overwhelming 1st place.
But I know.
The trainee with the best skills is not necessarily the one who debuts.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that an idol is not all about skills, but all about charm.
Skills are also one of the elements of charm, but they can’t take up all parts of charm.
And this time, I lost in charm.
Of course, I can’t say I completely lost.
As the reactions on SNS say, so-called ‘check picks’ were included.
Fans of other trainees deliberately gave me a low score because I seemed likely to debut.
Because of this situation, fans who support me were very angry.
★
No, I’m really angry. Baby Beast Squad, promise not to let your guard down from now on
Everyone, wake up and apply for the audience diligently. How important is the preemption?
We must. Absolutely. Protect. Our baby beast Cheong Cheong.
Everything is good… I’m so grateful….
…Why… Why did I become a baby beast…?
The rather unfamiliar nickname ‘baby’ was something I couldn’t adapt to at all.
It tickles my body to hear the word ‘baby’ in my 30s.
Of course, Yoon Cheong is now 20 years old, so it’s not strange… but.
In my previous life, I was a solo idol, so I didn’t really have a nickname like ‘baby’.
There were a lot of cute nicknames… but ‘baby’ was a bit hard to adapt to.
But since the people who like me gave it to me, I’ll just accept it.
Anyway, for me, being 4th wasn’t that bad.
It was better to announce that I was definitely the target of a check this time.
It’s better to keep the rank from the beginning than to lose the rank in the second half because you’re off guard.
I turned on Yoon Cheong’s phone.
Every time I unlock it, I see Yoon Cheong’s first wish.
[Please debut in 1st place in the debut survival program ‘Make a New Color’ of the affiliated company]
If you aim for the final 1st place, it is better to be 4th now.
I turned on the screen to see the ranks of the remaining trainees.
The ranks that had changed, the ranks of the remaining trainees.
Yoon Cheong (4th ▼3), 2,201 votes
…