Reaching 13 percent viewership on a variety show was something worth celebrating at the station, especially during a time when the average TV ratings were low.

The variety show director and the station manager were talking with proud smiles as they walked into the venue together, and the production crew looked like they were ready to party until they dropped tonight.

The two of them looked around as if they were searching for someone. Their eyes met mine. It seemed like they were looking for me. They smiled and nodded slightly. I smiled back and bowed my head.

It felt like a positive sign from SBC, and if I ever needed help from a TV station later, I would go to SBC.

The production crew’s faces were flushed with excitement, and the audience’s faces were even more so. They were caught up in the show’s energy and their favorite idols’ amazing performances. It was worth getting emotional about.

After all, these idols weren’t just any idols. They were all world stars. It made me proud that Jin-ah was standing next to those world stars.

After their solo performances ended, videos from each team were showcased to the audience. 

First was Kid. A practice room that looked very familiar filled the screen. It was HS Entertainment’s practice room. Kid and the trainee sat in front of a computer, looking at the screen together.

“Okay, there should be some kind of issue with the performance we just did. Let’s try to finding that. I haven’t found it yet either.”

“…Sorry?”

Kid didn’t say there WAS an issue, but that there WOULD be an issue. He said he couldn’t find it either, so the trainee had every reason to be confused. 

Kid wore a serious expression.

“Manager Kang, wait I mean, when President Kang isn’t around, I keep calling him manager. Anyway, after our performance ended, President Kang’s face looked disappointed. That means there’s room to get better.”

“…Oh! Okay!” The trainee nodded.

Everyone had learned during ‘Tomorrow’s Idol’ just how sharp Hyuk Kang’s judgment was. They heard about the detailed stage planning, the clever strategies, and the legendary stories.

“Hmm. Was it this part, here?”

“Where?”

“This part.”

“Oh… I did hold back a little there. Could that be it?”

“You did?”

All the video clips had been focused on me from the start. 

‘This is driving me crazy.’ 

Not only were people staring at me, but two cameras were pointed at me now. Good thing I went to the salon today. What would have happened if I hadn’t? The ratings were at 13 percent!

The video continued. After showing clips of them practicing and getting ready, it moved on to the next part. Min-seok’s video. 

Min-seok and the trainee had their heads together as they watched a performance on their tablet.

‘Isn’t that Jin-ah’s team’s performance?’

They fast-forwarded through it to some scenes of me giving directions. Then, they went back to the performance scenes.

‘Is this a special segment about me or something?’

Why were they all so obsessed with me? I could almost see the real-time search rankings and the flood of the article headlines already.

“Based on these clips, I’d say we should start brainstorming. About how we can create a better performance,” Min-seok said in his deep voice.

His cold eyes turned toward the trainee. It looked like the trainee had somehow been influenced by Min-seok since he only nodded with a sharp glint in his eyes.

After their video ended, it was Jin-ah’s team’s turn. The mood was completely different from the previous two teams. The first two teams had tense background music, but this one had bouncy, kid-like music.

The scene was different, too. Jin-ah and Hyun-hee were were covered in sweat and lying on the practice room floor. Both were looking at the ceiling with small smiles.

Jin-ah asked a question as she caught her breath.

“Hyun-hee, want some chicken?” 

Hyun-hee answered, also breathing hard.

“No. I want tteokbokki.”

“But we had tteokbokki last time.”

“And we had chicken yesterday.”

“There’s chicken that comes with tteok. Let’s go with that.”

“That’s completely different from tteokbokki.”

At this point, I looked away from the video and turned toward the production crew. However, I couldn’t see the producer. He had run away.

The rest of the video was similar. Instead of showing practice scenes, it only showed everyday moments after practice or before practice. They looked really serious and cool when practicing, so I couldn’t understand why they only showed stuff like this.

“Hahahaha!”

If it weren’t for the audience laughing and watching happily, I would have run over to that variety show director and ripped him a new one.

Then, it went dark again. The audience knew what was coming. It was about to start. The highlight they had been waiting for, the team performances with the trainees and idols.

Click! Purple lights and a purple screen lit up the venue, and two girls were posed on stage. Jin-ah and Hyun-hee had their hands spread wide, reaching their arms toward the sky.

“Wooooooooh!”

“Jin-ahhhhhhh!”

“Hyun-hee, you can do it!”

Both Jin-ah and Hyun-hee had the faces of true pros.

“They’ll do well.”

I knew how much they had practiced, and I knew how they had practiced. Just by looking at their faces, it was easy to guess what kind of performance this would be.

Sure enough.

[Hyun-hee Lee, Jin-ah Choi. The best performance in 〈 Tomorrow’s Idol 〉 history!]

[Team Jin-ah is likely to win! Victory of friendship? Hyuk Kang’s victory? Perfect teamwork.]

[HS Entertainment’s new girl group to be built around Hyun-hee Lee?]

[Expected result? Jin-ah Choi’s team never loses first place!]

As I looked at my phone, I saw articles and speculations pouring out.

“They might not get first place individually, but as a team, first place is theirs.”

The audience was amazed. Kid’s fans and Min-seok’s fans had worried looks on their faces. They knew deep down that beating this performance wouldn’t be easy.

“Now, I can watch without worrying.”

However.

When Kid and Min-seok’s performances came next, my confidence was completely shattered.

“…They really worked their butts off for this one.”

Maybe because they couldn’t keep losing, they put on performances that even impressed me. They squeezed out every bit of their trainees’ abilities. They hid weaknesses, showed off strengths, and poured out everything they had.

Putting that aside, what I truly admired was something else.

“Those guys are going to get even better.”

Golden Tree and Kid. Compared to the first recording, they had grown a great deal. Their experience and stage planning improved noticeably, but their energy far surpassed those. It was as if they had gone back to their rookie days with their passion on full display.

It seemed like they became this way because of me. I felt sorry for the male idol market that would become even more fierce and competitive.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

“Kid! Kid! I love you!”

“Min-seok! Look over here! Min-seok!”

The fans went crazy, as if they were saying they were never worried. Even the fans could feel that their performances were better and more passionate than usual.

I scratched the back of my head. Maybe Jin-ah and Hyun-hee Lee weren’t the only ones who got a lot out of this program. The kids who were already amazing had started reaching for more, too.

“The male idol competition is really going to be brutal.”

At this point, I didn’t know what the results would be. Who would get first place?

“…It would be hard to judge even if they asked my opinion on their performances.”

I looked at the judges, and they were holding their heads looking like they were about to cry. No matter what decision they made, it was obvious that people would argue about it.

***

“Waaaaaaah!” 

“Woooooooh!”

Two women hugged each other and burst into tears as if something very sad had happened. 

“Congratulationnnnsss!” 

“I knowww! Thank yoooooou.” 

Watching them cry and talk in some weird language made me burst out laughing.

“…President Kang.” 

I turned my head with a smiling face. What I saw was Min-seok’s grinning face. That guy got third place, so what was he so happy about? Oh! I forgot I fired him up.

“Thank you. I learned a lot. Manager Kang, Manager Kang. I’ve only heard the name, but I never thought things would change this much.” 

He bowed his head and then grinned again. If I only went by his behavior, this would be cringey, but it strangely felt like watching a scene straight from a movie. Maybe it was because he was handsome.

For other male idol fans, though, this scene might be more like a scary movie. Why? Because they might be thinking that Golden Tree would get even better than they already were.

I watched him turn and walk away. Despite landing in third place, I had to admit that he looked cool.

“President Kang.” 

“…Yeah.” 

Even before turning my head, I knew he would come looking for me. He always came looking for me, so why wouldn’t he come on the last day? When the recording ended and he came looking for me, the performance from earlier came to mind.

“Oh! You look happy. I guess I did well this time.” 

For some reason, I felt like I’d been Pavlov’d. Since he always asked how his performance was after recording finished, just calling for me made me think of the performance.

“Yeah. You did well, man. First place isn’t first place for nothing.” I laughed and patted his shoulder, and Kid’s eyes curved into a smile. 

First place ended up going to Kid’s team. I thought that maybe this was for the best. 

‘If we had won… Yikes. Just thinking about it is terrible.’ 

How scary people’s reactions would have been. Second place was the most advantageous since we wouldn’t receive much backlash.

All three teams had shown excellent performances that were impossible to rank. Plus, even with second place, Hyun-hee’s future would be bright. 

Her company was none other than HS Entertainment. She would likely get much stronger support than the winner.

I sent Kid off and walked over to the girls. The two who were holding hands tightly and talking with messy faces.

“Congratulations on second place. You really did well.” 

They turned their heads toward me.

“Hic…sob.”

 “…Sniff!” 

As soon as they looked at me, they started to tear up. Why were they suddenly crying again? They just stopped crying.

“Pres… President Kaaang!” 

“Pres… Opppaaaaa!”

Not a chance. I immediately turned around and ran as fast as I could. These clothes were expensive.

“W-wait. President Kang! Stop!” 

I turned around to see Jin-ah glaring at me with heavy breaths. Hyun-hee was standing behind her, staring at us with wide eyes. I guess she didn’t think I would actually run away?

“Who runs away in a situation like this! I can’t believe you!” 

“Sorry, but these are expensive. I can’t throw them away after only wearing them a few times.”

Jin-ah’s glare was getting more and more scary. I thought that running away was maybe too much, so I smiled awkwardly and walked over.

“We did well, right?” 

“…Yeah. You did well.” 

Jin-ah looked up at me. I looked down at her, too.

“What do you want me to do? Should I get on my knees?”

“No! Is that all the compliments you’re giving us?!” 

“…Oh. Compliments.”

I moved to pat her head but stopped. 

“What! I washed my hair.” 

“It’s covered in hairspray.”

I moved my hand away from her head and gave her a thumbs up.

With both hands! Double thumbs up! 

“You did really well!”

The look I got back was ice cold. 

Why? What? I would say this was some high praise.

—

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