Chapter 32
“Receiving the benefit of 50,000 votes is a truly grateful event. However, it’s not something I achieved alone, but something that Geum, Juseon, and Juhong, our team Four Seasons, worked together to achieve.”
I quietly sent a heart to our team members.
Then, Juhong responded with a loud cheer.
“Also, knowing how hard Ryeo-yu has worked, I want to congratulate Ryeo-yu more than anyone else today.”
I clapped for Kim Ryeo-yu.
“And, I want to extend my congratulations and the title of 1st place to all the trainees participating in this competition. I believe everyone here is the true 1st place.”
I looked at all the trainees from 12th place to 2nd place one by one.
“I am simply very grateful for the votes I received. I am also happy just by the sincere congratulations from other trainees.”
I took a deep breath.
The moment I first wanted to become an idol.
And the moment Yoon Cheong first desired to become an idol.
All those moments overlapped.
Were the complicated world of adults and things like rankings that important at those moments?
No, they weren’t.
What was really important was-
“What’s really important is not the title, but that we are all sincere, and all the people who support us are sincere. I want to respond sincerely to that sincerity. Thank you!”
Those were the sincere feelings.
I hoped that those sincere feelings wouldn’t be forgotten just because of this competition.
***
Let’s stop fighting just for today, guys.
Don’t you feel anything when you see kids half your age talking?
I reflected a bit after hearing Yoon Cheong’s speech today.
Honestly, I thought this was going to be a mess again when I saw the benefit, but I reflected after hearing Yoon Cheong’s speech.
Yoon Cheong is not a baby beast, she was a real sister beast todayㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Cheong unnie, can I call you unnie even though I’m 29? Everyone who’s cool is an unnie.
Ah, I’m really going to be stuck with Yoon Cheong now. Cheong Cheong, take responsibility for me.
I’m going crazy, how was our god Yoon Cheong, we just need to be sincere, how was our god.
Could it be that Yoon Blue, this is not your second life?
That’s right, this is all Mnet’s fault. Burn Mnet.
└Burn Colors too.
Just let all 12 of them debut, our queen Cheong said to just debut them all.
Again, an 8-pyeong studio room.
Colors All Fan nodded her head as she saw the timeline burning up.
In fact, she was very worried today.
Because there was a ranking announcement.
Her favorite was Yoon Cheong, and her second favorite was Kim Geum.
Since both of them were expected to rank high, she wasn’t worried about the rankings themselves.
But the problem was the benefit.
When she heard that Yoon Cheong and Kim Geum were both receiving a benefit of 50,000 votes, she was very worried.
If they both ranked 1st and 2nd in the vote and added 50,000 votes to remain 1st and 2nd, then…
If the rankings change because of the benefit, of course the fans of the original ranking trainees would be upset.
Of course, this ranking doesn’t affect the final debut, but how can people’s hearts be like that?
The fans who were trying to make our kid 1st place were doing events by putting up prizes on SNS as a basic business around them.
Just to see the smile on our kid’s face.
But if the order is reversed because of the judge’s pick, it’s natural to be upset.
All Fan even prayed that Yoon Cheong wouldn’t become the MVP.
But no matter who saw it, Yoon Cheong’s skills were outstanding.
If the judge’s eyes weren’t crooked, of course Cheong should have been the MVP… The judge is not guilty.
The crime is that our Cheong is too shiny!
…She thought something that didn’t make sense while she was thinking that.
Yoon Cheong really became 1st because of the benefit.
The original 1st place was Kim Ryeo-yu.
“Ah, shit. Of all things….”
All Fan tapped her forehead.
Kim Ryeo-yu was the trainee with the most haters and fans in Make a New Color.
Because of the thing called blood pick, and because of a few strangely strong interviews, she had a lot of haters.
It was rare for a trainee who hadn’t even debuted yet to have this much hate.
The problem is.
Those haters actually set the fans on fire.
The fans were more desperate to vote because they were afraid that Kim Ryeo-yu would get hurt from the haters.
★
#KimRyeoYu_ProtectAtAllCosts_ShowThemTheSpicyTasteWithVotes
How much would their hashtags be like this?
Colors fans generally had a lot of firepower… but Kim Ryeo-yu’s fans went one spoon further.
The voting certification SNS events were actually the most opened by Kim Ryeo-yu’s fans.
So it was inevitable that she was worried.
But?
Yoon Cheong nailed it in her speech that the 1st place was Kim Ryeo-yu.
Along with that, she also made sure to take care of the fans so they wouldn’t be upset.
Ahㅋㅋ She’s really laying the groundwork to avoid getting hate, she knows her place;
└Ryeo-yu is also too niceㅠ Why is she sitting there congratulating Cheong San-gari, she’s really fastㅋㅋ
└└She’s really evilㅋㅋㅋ Of course our Ryeo-yu is 1st place, why are you mentioning it and making a fuss
└└└Ryeo-yu, think about the hearts of the fans who are spending money to make you 1st placeㅎ Not just Cheong San-gari’s heartㅠ
Ah, I agree, I wish she would stop pretending to be nice ㅎㅎ
Fucking hell, of course ㄹㅇ is 1st place, why is she giving it up, what is she talking about? ㅎㅎ
She’s really laying the groundwork to avoid getting hate ㅎㅎ
Ew, she must have thought she was going to get hate^^
No, the kids are on good terms, why are you meddling; individual fans, please go away.
└She hasn’t even debuted yet, what’s an individual fanㅋ Isn’t it natural for individual fans to be born in a system where only one person votes?
Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone had a favorable reaction.
Of course, a minority of people cursed at Yoon Cheong’s speech, saying it was evil, and that she could see her brain working.
It wasn’t just Kim Ryeo-yu’s fans.
People who just didn’t like Yoon Cheong in the first place were the same.
“…But what is Cheong San-gari to a person, Cheong San-gari?”
They’re really creative trash.
All Fan was filled with anger and took a pdf.
With the intention of reporting it to Colors someday.
Of course, Colors guys are famous for not suing… but if she didn’t do something like this, she felt like she was going to die of frustration.
“Anyway, congratulations on 1st place. Cheong.”
No matter how much the benefit influenced it.
That benefit is also something you’ve worked hard to earn.
You are our number one.
***
After the ranking announcement.
We moved to another studio under the guidance of the staff.
I thought they would finish filming early today, but the schedule seemed to be very tight.
As a result, the trainees had to move on without any time to compose themselves.
“Everyone must be very tired today. I have some good news for you.”
Even though Do Hee-young must have been tired, she showed no signs of fatigue.
She’s a professional, after all.
We’re all getting worn out.
“Until now, you’ve all been commuting from your own homes.”
We each nodded our heads.
I, for one, commuted from a goshiwon (a type of Korean boarding house).
Half of us commuted from our own apartments, and the other half from our parents’ homes.
I heard that Seo Baek-young commutes a distance of three hours round trip.
And she stays in the practice room until dawn.
How does she get home at dawn? She takes the bus that runs at dawn.
That’s impressive.
“It must have been very hard. Starting tomorrow! We will start living together!”
We just rolled our eyes.
I thought I would hear about living together someday, but I didn’t expect it to be today.
Why does it have to be today, when the atmosphere is at its worst?
“Today, go home and pack your things, and tomorrow, meet at the new accommodation with your luggage.”
Then, Yeon Juhong raised her hand.
“Do all twelve of us live in one house?”
“Yes, that’s right. There are a total of four rooms, so three people can use one room.”
Three people in one room….
I already felt a chill down my spine.
I’ve never experienced living together before.
I was a solo singer.
Even though the company provided me with accommodation, I used it alone.
But can I endure a place where twelve people live in one house and three people live in one room?
“We’ll decide on roommates tomorrow. So, see you here tomorrow!”
***
The next day.
Thanks to leaving work at exactly midnight last night, we had to pack our luggage at dawn.
The start time for filming today was 6 o’clock.
So we arrived at work in the morning without even being able to do our makeup.
Dark circles began to appear under our eyes.
You broadcasting station guys….
Even though we’re budding sprouts, let us sleep a little.
It hasn’t been long since the second mission ended, and everyone was desperately lacking sleep.
So most of us took a nap on the bus.
A nerve-wracking game with Kim Ryeo-yu?
There was no way that could happen.
There wasn’t enough time to sleep. There was no energy to fight.
That’s how we arrived at an apartment complex by bus.
We got off the bus without being able to shake off our sleepiness.
Twelve trainees, with sullen faces, dragging suitcases as big as their bodies.
Anyone who saw us would think we were going on a school trip.
In fact, it felt like we were really going on a school trip.
“The company isn’t that far away.”
“Yeah. It’s about one or two bus stops.”
“Why didn’t they get us a place right next to the company! There’s an apartment right next door!”
Yeon Juhong grumbled quietly.
Juhong, that place would be too expensive….
This place is also going to be very expensive.
“Let’s live there when we debut.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”
At Kim Geum’s ambitious words, Yeon Juhong hummed in agreement.
That’s how we arrived at the top floor of an apartment building, following the staff.
There were four rooms, but the house was quite spacious.
One room was two to three times the size of a regular household room.
…Well, it would have to be if three people were going to live in it.
“Wow, the house is amazing.”
“It seems to be ten times bigger than my house?”
“The house is so pretty. I want to live here forever….”
“Colors is the best! They don’t skimp on money!”
…Are they losing in other things?
Well. It seems like they might be losing in character.
As soon as I entered the house, I started counting the number of bathrooms.
Damn.
There are only three.
Three bathrooms for twelve girls?
This means we’re not supposed to wash.
“Have you all looked around the house?”
“Yes!”
Do Hee-young called us with a meaningful voice.
“Then, now we need to decide on rooms and roommates?”