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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Chapter 12
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The trainees all moved to the practice room next door.
Practically, they were ushered out.
Once they had all left, a few key staff members and the judges began an emergency meeting.
“Seriously, what was that?”
Director Kim was the first to speak.
“Won-ho. Was she always that good?”
Director Kim asked Jo Won-ho, the dance trainer, with a slightly displeased expression.
“Her dancing used to be seriously bad, no joke.”
“I was completely shocked.”
Do Hui-yeong looked just as surprised.
“She was better than me, wasn't she?”
“…She might even be better than the CEO…”
Kang Sun-hwa, the vocal trainer, mumbled, still dazed.
Everyone present was in shock.
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that good. She was so bad before that now she just looks better by comparison.”
When expectations are low, even a slight improvement can seem like a huge leap.
Everyone nodded at Jo Won-ho’s words.
Even so, it was an incredibly massive improvement.
“True… She wasn’t even part of the debut lineup originally.”
“She was in the debut lineup, actually. We were planning to slot her in as the final judge's pick because we didn't have a main vocal.”
“No, that was *our* pick. Originally, we were just going to throw her in as a scapegoat to bury the controversies of the other kids.”
Director Kim nonchalantly uttered words that would have made Yun Cheong collapse if she heard them.
“If she keeps going like that, she’ll probably be a smooth pick for the debut lineup.”
The public’s eyes are sharper than anyone’s.
If her skills are that overwhelmingly superior—naturally—
“…She might even be chosen as number one?”
She’d have no choice but to debut.
Yun Cheong’s performance just now was truly head and shoulders above the rest.
It was only natural, considering they'd essentially placed a 10-year veteran top idol among the trainees.
‘Baek Nok-ha’ was renowned for her skill even among those 10-year veteran idols.
But there was no way they could know that.
“Seriously, I thought she was on something. She wasn’t nervous at all.”
“…Did she have a little soju before coming?”
Do Hui-yeong mumbled from beside her.
It was a trick she sometimes used in her early debut days.
Director Kim glared at Do Hui-yeong. It was her way of telling her to stop with the useless talk.
“If this continues, it’s going to be a problem.”
Director Kim was very displeased.
She couldn’t help but be.
Director Kim’s plan was this: put Yun Cheong, who was sure to be the least popular, into the debut lineup.
What did the public love to tear apart the most?
Choosing someone they hadn’t chosen themselves.
Sometimes, they would tear into it more fiercely than even personality controversies or other scandals.
Director Kim was confident that Kim Ryeo-yu would debut.
If the PD gave her good editing cuts and built up her narrative, it would naturally be a huge advantage.
On top of that, Kim Ryeo-yu wasn’t particularly bad; in fact, she was quite talented among the trainees.
However, Kim Ryeo-yu had one crucial flaw.
Her past.
She had been a perpetrator of school violence.
No matter how much they tried to bury it, Director Kim knew.
Some things could never be buried by ordinary means.
So, Director Kim had planned to use another scapegoat to bury Kim Ryeo-yu’s past instead.
And Yun Cheong was chosen as that scapegoat.
A faint-hearted trainee who trembled on stage, who had been part of the debut lineup a few times but always dropped out.
Desperate and earnest, but just a little lacking.
She was the perfect trainee to exploit.
But then.
‘She admitted it right away?’
‘Yes, because it’s true.’
Her audacious reply from earlier.
Her near-perfect performance.
There was nothing that wasn’t surprising.
She looked even more like an ace than Seo Baek-yeong, the actual ace.
It made them wonder why they hadn’t known about her before.
“…What should we do?”
PD O Baek-gyeong cautiously asked.
“The debut lineup has to stay the same. Kim Ryeo-yu, Seo Baek-yeong, Kim Geum, Jo Hui-on, and Yun Cheong.”
Director Kim stated firmly.
“First, let’s reduce Yun Cheong’s screen time. Please completely edit out that performance.”
“Excuse me?”
PD O Baek-gyeong’s eyebrows began to rise significantly.
The performance just now was legendary, even to him, a PD who had directed music shows for three years.
It was an unbelievable level for a mere trainee who had only prepared for three days.
It was a performance that would absolutely become a hot topic if it aired.
A hot topic? PD O Baek-gyeong was confident he could even make Yun Cheong number one if he put his mind to it.
With talent like that, ratings would surely go up.
Broadcasts are usually pulled up by one outstanding star taking them by the collar.
Especially with audition programs like this.
But to completely edit out such a performance?
“That’s a bit unreasonable. Even if we completely edit out the interim evaluation, we can’t completely edit out the performance during the main evaluation. All main performances will be uploaded to O-Tube anyway.”
On O-Tube, all performances are uploaded raw, without any editing.
At that point, it would be impossible to hide.
Instead, we’d surely get criticized, with people asking why such a performance was completely edited out and saying that the broadcasting station staff must be crazy.
In the worst-case scenario, suspicions of manipulation would follow.
There have been plenty of people who lost their careers trying to manipulate things.
PD O Baek-gyeong had no intention of doing such obvious manipulation, though a little bit might be acceptable.
Especially not at someone else’s behest, rather than his own.
“It’s not even a live broadcast yet, so is there really a need to upload the evaluation performance to O-Tube?”
However, Director Kim was just as stubborn.
“This matter has already been approved in the planning meeting. These days, it’s hard to generate buzz without O-Tube.”
Who watches the live broadcast anymore? Everyone watches on OTT and O-Tube these days.
PD O Baek-gyeong clicked his tongue inwardly. How could an entertainment director be so out of touch?
PD O Baek-gyeong actually had a lot of complaints. He didn’t know what Director Kim had fed the higher-ups, but it was clear she’d fed them something substantial.
Hadn’t the director openly told him to go along with Director Kim’s words if possible?
But that was within the bounds of not crossing a 'line'.
This definitely crossed the line, and by a long shot. PD O Baek-gyeong had no intention of ruining his career because of some old-timer who was out of touch with reality.
“Even so—”
“Director Kim.”
PD O Baek-gyeong raised a hand, cutting off Director Kim’s words.
“If the ratings don’t come out, or if a manipulation controversy breaks out, will you take responsibility instead of me?”
“…”
“Will you at least say that Director Kim instructed everything? No, you won’t, will you?”
PD O Baek-gyeong stood up, as if there was nothing more to say.
“However you decide to do the evaluation, that’s at the discretion of the judges.”
“!”
“If Director Kim wants to suppress trainee Yun Cheong, try to suppress her with the evaluation. You can say it was mediocre, or whatever. You can even criticize her harshly. I will definitely put that on broadcast for you.”
That would be a huge gain for me.
The comments would be flooded with insults for Director Kim.
Even insults generate buzz in this world.
PD O Baek-gyeong grinned.
“But I will include trainee Yun Cheong’s performance from just now, making sure it’s the longest segment. I’ll put it in the preview too.”
Anyone with eyes would know she’s going to be a star.
And while PD O Baek-gyeong might lack integrity, he wasn’t blind.
***
Filming resumed, and the trainees returned to the practice room.
A palpable tension hung not only among the judges but also among the trainees.
Most of them were either quite exhausted or feeling down.
Because few had received good evaluations.
And,
“…”
Because Yun Cheong had performed too overwhelmingly well.
Actually, from their perspective, it was much better if everyone performed poorly together.
It was more comforting to their hearts if everyone was bad, rather than just them.
Of course, that was an impossible scenario.
In that case, it was better for someone who was already good to perform well.
Kim Ryeo-yu, Kim Geum, and Ryu Bo-ra were already strong candidates for debut.
Kim Geum was the only Rapper, Kim Ryeo-yu was Director Kim’s relative, and Ryu Bo-ra’s recognition was exceptional from the start.
But.
Yun Cheong wasn’t.
Everyone looked a bit bewildered.
Let’s say her handling of the intro choreography before was understandable.
It was unexpected, but let's assume she got lucky by relentlessly focusing on just one thing.
But the performance just now wasn’t luck.
The trainees who had personally experienced it knew that best.
Everyone was completely overwhelmed by Yun Cheong.
In an instant, Yun Cheong rose from a last-place candidate to a top-place candidate.
That held a lot of meaning.
“…We will now begin trainee Yun Cheong’s evaluation.”
Firstly, people generally find it hard to accept that someone they thought was inferior to them is actually superior.
It’s fine if those who were already good perform well. That’s unavoidable.
But what about someone they thought was worse than them performing better?
It was utterly unacceptable. Infuriating.
“Trainee Yun Cheong. Please step forward.”
“Yes.”
Secondly, this was another opportunity.
The trainees had, to some extent, already caught on.
That the agency was going to debut Yun Cheong as a judge’s pick.
Since she likely wouldn’t be very popular anyway, they’d just put her in as a judge’s pick and debut her as a Main Vocal.
“…It was excellent. Honestly, there was nothing to criticize. It was good enough for an immediate debut.”
But what if that Yun Cheong performed better than anyone else?
It would mean the judge’s pick spot would open up instead.
“Thank you. I will work even harder.”
“I hope you’ll display this level of skill again for the main evaluation.”
After a few more words of praise, the interim evaluation concluded.
As expected, Director Kim didn’t say a single word.
Only the trainers and Do Hui-yeong had offered praise.
Then, it was time to meet the mentors.
But at that moment,
“We were originally scheduled to meet the mentors today.”
Director Kim took the microphone again.
“However, there’s been a slight change in our schedule, so we’ll postpone it to next time instead of today. Thank you all for your understanding.”
The trainees exchanged quick glances.
Everyone expected that the ‘change’ Director Kim mentioned was due to Yun Cheong.
Even Yun Cheong herself.
“I’ll just announce the interim evaluation rankings.”
Do Hui-yeong announced the trainees’ rankings one by one.
“First, the 12th and 1st places will be announced at the very end. 11th place goes to trainee Park Ha-eun.”
As Do Hui-yeong continued, the trainees’ rankings appeared on screen one by one.
The trainees stepped forward whenever their names were called.
11th Place, Park Ha-eun
10th Place, Lee Ju-seon
“And… 9th place, trainee Yeon Ju-hong.”
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