translation by mourningmoor
<Kim Wooyoung (21), Former MuteSeven Member. Independent Trainee.>
A large introduction text appeared on the screen alongside a picture of the participant.
It had been a while since I last saw his face.
The last time I saw this guy was around last summer, I think? He had briefly returned to Korea and kept whining about wanting me to buy him a meal, so we ended up eating together.
The last thing he said to me back then was this:
[“I’m going to be an idol again. I swore I wouldn’t do it again, but after seeing you, I wanted to. One day, I’ll show up with a ‘tada!’ so be prepared.”]
And then, for about six months, he completely disappeared.
He only contacted me again last month during our Seoul concert.
He lost a lot of weight in the meantime.
“He looks completely different.”
Siu whispered quietly.
“Maybe because he lost weight, he looks really sharp.”
Roa then added his own comment.
“Yes, now that his features are more defined, his eyes look really big. He looks like a deer.”
“A deer, my ass. He’s a roe deer.”
To be a deer, he’d have to be bright and pretty like Yoon Siu. This punk is still just a roe deer. The only difference is that he went from being a giant roe deer to a lean one.
Still, as an idol, he had quite a decent appearance.
Back when he was active in MuteSeven, he was pretty popular, too.
At that moment, Register, the leader of HS’s Master panel, picked up his microphone.
“It’s been a while, Kim Wooyoung-gun.”
He threw out a power move as soon as Wooyoung finished his greeting.
“You lost a lot of weight, huh? You barely look like your old self.”
“Yes. Back when I was promoting with MuteSeven, the company pushed a ‘muscular idol’ concept, so I had no choice but to bulk up. But now, I’ve lost a lot.”
It was a slightly sarcastic remark, but Wooyoung responded rather calmly.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, the PD quickly instructed the host, Kim Hyunsoo, to move things along.
“Now that I think about it, participant number 17, Kim Wooyoung-gun, used to be with HS, right? What do you think, Master-nim? Do you have any thoughts about recruiting Kim Wooyoung-gun again?”
At Kim Hyunsoo’s question, Register’s leader gave a chilly smile.
“Well. We’ll have to see the stage first, won’t we?”
“Alright then, let’s talk about the performance.”
Wooyoung answered calmly, his gaze briefly landing on me before moving away.
‘Talk with the performance,’ huh? Looks like he’s seen Survival, Music Genius.
Without any further interviews, the stage began immediately.
Since they only had 30 short seconds to showcase everything, the participants so far had been putting all their energy into their performances.
But Wooyoung was a little different.
He let his husky voice settle in a lazy yet controlled manner and covered ACT:ea’s song quite skillfully.
“He’s improved.”
“He has.”
Roa and Siu nodded as they watched Wooyoung’s performance.
Just like that, 30 seconds passed, and the instrumental faded out.
“Yes, that was Kim Wooyoung-gun’s stage. Act:ea’s song, well done. Now, Wooyoung-gun, please select the Master you want.”
It seemed like quite a few Masters were interested in him, given that his stage was decent.
After Kim Wooyoung made his selection, it was now time for the Masters to choose.
At my signal, Roa firmly pressed the button.
For now, the results weren’t displayed.
Then, Kim Hyunsoo picked up the microphone.
“The results are in. First, let’s check if Kim Wooyoung-gun has passed. If the Master he chose did not select him, he will be placed as an elimination candidate and will have to wait for the final results.”
After briefly reviewing the rules, Kim Hyunsoo turned around and spoke in a tense voice.
“And now, Kim Wooyoung-gun’s result is…?”
On the LED screen behind the stage, the words YES and NO flashed chaotically.
Then, it appeared largely on the screen.
“Yes, you have passed.”
Kim Hyunsoo, excitedly announcing the passing result, asked Kim Wooyoung.
“The Master you chose has chosen you back. How do you feel?”
“I’m happy.”
His demeanor was completely different from the past.
In the past, he would have been playful and bragging, but now, he simply accepted the fact of passing with a calm expression.
“Yes, calmly accepting the result of passing. That’s nice. Now, let’s reveal the Master that Kim Wooyoung chose. Please show it.”
At Kim Hyunsoo’s cue, The Music Enter’s logo appeared on the large screen.
Immediately, Roa let out a long sigh and said,
“Kim Wooyoung hyungnim didn’t choose us, how could this be.”
This guy must have thought it was a given that Wooyoung would choose us. But from Kim Wooyoung’s perspective, choosing us wasn’t an easy decision.
The pressure was no joke. After all, we were once fellow idols who promoted together.
“Yes, Kim Wooyoung-gun has chosen The Music Enter. If he wasn’t chosen by any other Master, he will now move to The Music’s seat. Now, the results?”
The selection results appeared largely on the screen.
It was quite a satisfactory outcome. Except for HS, every other Master chose Kim Wooyoung. For a first step in making a comeback, it was quite flashy.
“Wow. Among all participants so far, you received the highest number of selections. Does this mean the knife handle is now in Kim Wooyoung-gun’s hands?”
Literally, the final choice was now left to Kim Wooyoung.
“Now, the Masters need to appeal to be chosen by Kim Wooyoung-gun. Shall we start with Melody Enter?”
The Masters began speaking one by one, promoting their strengths to recruit Kim Wooyoung.
They said things like, “We want to form a certain kind of team, and we need you for it,” or, “Your voice blends perfectly with the people we’ve already chosen,” or, “We’ve been watching you for a long time.”
It was clear they were determined to win him over.
And finally, it was our turn.
I lifted the microphone.
“Wooyoung-ah.”
As soon as I called his name, for the first time, he let out a small smile.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I didn’t make a long speech about aspirations.
I simply stated the reason I decided to appear here.
“I came to pick you up. If you go somewhere else, what am I supposed to do? You should come to me.”
Then, I smiled back at him with the same texture as his own smile.
“I’ll make you dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken dish).”
With that, I lowered the microphone.
The studio buzzed with murmurs.
LIT and MuteSeven, Kang Ichan and Kim Wooyoung. Considering the widely known relationship between these two, this kind of scene shouldn’t even exist.
The culprit and the victim of the lighting accident. The alleged bully and the alleged victim during HS trainee days. Everyone focused only on that incident, never bothering to look beyond it.
I had shouted plenty of times that I wasn’t on bad terms with Kim Wooyoung, but no one listened. So now, I was going to show it blatantly.
That this guy wasn’t the culprit.
And finally, the moment of choice arrived.
Standing on stage, Wooyoung looked deep in thought. I kept sending him signals.
If you go somewhere else, you’re dead. Don’t mess around, come to me.
Kim Hyunsoo seemed amused, watching all this unfold.
“Alright, it’s time to choose. Kim Wooyoung-gun, your decision?”
Scratching his head, Kim Wooyoung looked at The Music’s Yeom Byeongwoo.
Then, he performed a deep idol-style bow.
“I’m sorry, sunbaenim.”
With a slightly flushed face, he lifted his head and grabbed the microphone again.
“You selected me, but this time, I don’t think I can. If I pick a different Master, I think I might get scolded.”
Kim Wooyoung’s gaze slowly shifted toward us.
“For now, I’ll go to Blade Enter to survive.”
Kim Hyunsoo clapped his hands as if he expected that outcome.
“Even I would go to Blade. If Kang Ichan Master came to pick you up, how could you not go?”
Then, he suddenly threw out a question.
“Were you two originally close? I thought you weren’t.”
Kim Hyunsoo deliberately touched on a sensitive issue.
Naturally, the expressions of the HS Masters darkened.
I quietly observed them before lifting my microphone.
“We were close before, and we’re still close now.”
Kim Hyunsoo kept giving me a look as if urging me to say more.
“If I were to explain in detail, even three nights and four days wouldn’t be enough. So, I’ll leave it at that.”
Hearing my answer, Kim Hyunsoo let out a small laugh and sent Kim Wooyoung over to us.
“Alright, Kim Wooyoung-gun is now part of Blade Enter. Please move to the seat prepared behind the Master.”
Grinning, Kim Wooyoung walked over to our side. As he did, Roa immediately stood up and bowed deeply. Wooyoung patted Roa’s shoulder and greeted Siu warmly as well.
Then, he couldn’t resist throwing a comment at me.
“Were you surprised?”
“Surprised? With how long you rested, this much should be a given. You still have a long way to go.”
I teased, and Wooyoung burst into laughter.
And that scene was captured perfectly by the cameras.
* * *
The preliminaries continued.
Jung Yoobin was, of course, picked up by HS.
Seo Hanul, who appeared wearing number 73, was picked up by me.
From the start, I had planned around Kim Wooyoung and Seo Hanul.
Rapper Kim Wooyoung, vocalist Seo Hanul.
Both had top-tier rap and vocal skills, but their dancing was average.
So, I carefully selected participants who could compensate for their weaknesses. With that, I completed a team of seven and added another seven as backups, making a total of fourteen.
The preliminaries ended, and the filming for preparing for Round 1 followed.
Each of the five masters was given a separate filming location, where they had to prepare their selected fourteen participants for Round 1.
A short break was given while the filming set was being prepared.
Since I had been feeling a sharp gaze on my back for a while, I left the studio, saying I was going to the restroom.
As expected, Jung Yoobin followed me.
"Ichan-ah."
His voice didn’t have that theatrical tone.
This bastard always pretends to be weak and whimpers when he’s acting.
When I turned around, his eyes were burning with hostility as he spoke.
"You're making a mistake right now. You shouldn’t have brought Wooyoung back in."
I scoffed.
"The mistake is yours."
I turned around and slowly approached him.
"You’re the one who should’ve stayed buried. I have my sights set on you, and yet you dared to crawl back up without fear."
I was willing to let it go if he just stayed quiet and out of sight. But this bastard had the audacity to climb back up.
At my words, his pupils trembled as if he were shaken.
But I knew it was just an act. This bastard was practically a psychopath.
"What? You gonna go tattle to your daddy?"
A disgusting bastard like him had Jang Myungwoo in his grasp, not to mention Jung Euicheol. For all I knew, he might have received the ability to manipulate people as a price for getting the magic circle.
But even a bastard like him had weaknesses.
"Or… are you going to beg your master?"
In an instant, his carefully constructed façade crumbled.
"Go ahead. Tell your master. Beg them to save you."