Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 191 Each One’s Way (1)

The only thing that was fortunate was that even if I made a mistake here, it wasn’t real.

But even so, my guilt was only slightly reduced, and I didn’t feel very light.

I paused for a moment and brought up the status window.

‘Status window.’

I’ll use all the cards I can use for now.

[Choose the target to check the Hidden Feelings card]

[>Kang Yu-geon]

[>Lee Hwijin]

[>An Juhyeon]

It seems that I can only read the targets that are in the same space as me right now. Anyway, the target I wanted to see was already decided, so it didn’t matter.

‘Kang Yu-geon.’

I’m doing this to find out what happened to the guys who will become Floss later, so I didn’t mind using it twice a day on Kang Yu-geon.

[>Kang Yu-geon]

[- I hoped I could be in the same group. I never imagined that I would get an F grade, so it was a big setback. Was I naive to think that there would be no disadvantage? What do I do now?]

‘Hmm…’

It looked certain that there was a friction with the production team. Based on the situation so far and the question Yu-geon asked me, I guessed a possible situation.

“It depends on what kind of opportunity it is.”

Like the other participants who signed the pre-contract, I would have been reluctant to accept the opportunity if it had a privilege attached to it.

That was honestly because, unlike other trainees, I wasn’t so desperate to debut.

If it was a situation where revenge was at stake, I would have been more likely to accept the production team’s sweet offer.

‘It’s not easy to refuse.’

Debuting doesn’t guarantee success, but this is My Idol Stage. For most of the participants here, it was the last chance for success, or at least a chance that wouldn’t come again.

Most of the participants who appeared here were not the trainees who were managed by the agencies as a top priority.

The agencies were not fools either. They would never let go of the trainees they had decided to debut from the beginning, and they would not risk sending them to a broadcast where they could only consume their image and possibly get a negative impression from unfavorable editing.

‘I guess that’s a benefit for me if I were the representative.’

The responsibility of appearing was solely on the trainee, and the return when the result was good was shared by everyone.

The adults make money, and the kids achieve their dreams.

It seemed like a win-win situation for both sides, but it was not a fact that the people outside the system needed to know how much risk it pushed to one side.

That’s not fun. It’s unacceptable to show the backstage of the show business world.

If I were a trainee who was staking my life on this debut right now? Not doing it would be stupid, not grabbing the opportunity would be foolish.

“For example?”

Yu-geon asked again after a brief silence.

This was a survival. My opportunity meant the deprivation of another participant, and accepting the opportunity meant becoming an accomplice.

Yu-geon must have shouted the wrong answer in a game where everyone had to answer the same answer.

“I think it would be better to refuse if I think I might regret why I accepted that offer later.”

It’s hypocritical to say the right thing when I haven’t been in that situation. But what Yu-geon needed right now was comfort that his choice wasn’t wrong.

There was no reason not to grant his wish.

“What if I become a fool in front of everyone?”

Yu-geon snorted, sneering. I could answer him without hesitation this time.

“Life is long, and it’s not like you’ll disappear after singing for a year or two.”

He had already made his choice, and it was in accordance with his conscience. It was meaningless to regret it any further.

Rather than being tied to the past that wouldn’t change, it was my job to see what I could do right now.

“Haha…”

Yu-geon laughed quietly, shaking his shoulders in the dark.

“That’s right, that’s the answer. It’s not like you’ll disappear after singing for a year or two.”

I couldn’t see his expression clearly because the sun hadn’t risen yet, but it seemed like he had recovered a bit from his gloomy face during the day.

“Are you feeling better?”

I asked cautiously, and Yu-geon answered with a lighter voice.

“Yeah. I’m trying to think of a way to get back at them.”

He had regained his energy, but what was he planning to do against the broadcasting company’s direct large-scale production company?

I felt a chill run down my spine.

“Sorry for waking you up. Go back to sleep. You’ll be super busy tomorrow.”

It wasn’t a lie. The plan was to have a vocal test by grade in the morning, and then record the opening song in the afternoon.

And there would be a group dance practice for the opening song in the evening.

I didn’t even want to imagine how much they would torture us, since we had less than a week left until the stage filming.

‘The reason is that the choreography is too hard for the lower-grade trainees to follow.’

Why did they have to be so greedy about the choreography quality? The B-grade trainees did well enough, and the C-grade ones were a bit shaky. The D-grade ones were miserable.

Sadly, most of the F-grade trainees, except for Kang Yu-geon, barely followed the flow of the movements.

‘We can’t go on stage like this!’

It was only when the choreographer raised his voice at the trainees who fell behind that things started to improve a little.

‘Is this okay?’

Even after Yu-geon fell asleep again with a refreshed mood, I couldn’t close my eyes.

It was really a pain to be so nosy and worried.

I stayed up all night, tossing and turning, and only fell asleep again when I heard the first rooster crowing in the distance.

“Good job today, everyone!”

That evening. As expected, we finished the part distribution in the morning, the solo part and back vocal recording for three seconds in the afternoon, and the dance practice in the evening. Everyone was exhausted.

‘I can’t help but feel like I stole someone else’s part.’

As if the choreographer had given me a super pass at the beginning, only nine A-grade trainees were given a very short solo one-shot part.

The part assigned to me was the half-line [Look at me, shining me] at the beginning of the second chorus.

It was a huge privilege, considering that the other trainees only participated in chorus 1 for the group part.

This was the first time we met the viewers with this five-minute stage, and there was no better opportunity than this.

It was a relief that the first re-evaluation would take place before the official broadcast started.

‘I don’t want to see the aftermath of the broadcast with my own eyes. It’s not like it’s real anyway.’

I shook my head and looked at the trainees who were sitting around the auditorium.

“What are you doing? Let’s go in.”

As I was spacing out and looking around, Juhyeon came over and dragged me. Juhyeon and I were close in age, so we naturally became friendly while washing up in the morning.

“Uh, okay.”

He must have thought we were buddies after sharing a room for a day. He hooked his arm around mine and pulled me along.

“Come on, Hwijin hyung and Yu-geon hyung are already waiting over there.”

I looked down at Juhyeon with a bit of nervousness as his arm strength dragged me along.

Why is he acting like this? I was startled for a moment, but then I saw the camera that was filming the trainees from the front and guessed his intention.

‘Is he trying to act friendly for the camera?’

As soon as he got out of the camera angle, he let go of his arm as if he was relieved. His obvious motive made him look like a fool.

“Why?”

I stiffened my expression for a moment and Juhyeon asked me casually.

“No, nothing.”

It wasn’t like I didn’t have any guard up.

Yu-geon also pretended to know me at first because he wanted to team up with the individual trainees and gain some benefits.

The top-ranked trainees were forming their own cliques and excluding the lower-ranked ones.

‘Well, it’s a card that’s too good to miss.’

The trainees in the top ranks were bound to get more attention, and I was also getting noticed for getting the choreographer’s super pass.

If my final goal was not to debut but to get on the screen for even one scene, then it was a position worth hoping for.

I was lost in thought for a while and then shook my head again.

I followed Juhyeon to the stairs and Hwijin greeted me with a slightly awkward expression.

“Let’s go up and rest.”

If this was the real situation where we shared the same dorm, Hwijin would have been much more excited and happy to see me.

I felt a pang of regret as I realized his changed reaction and my face flushed.

“Uh, yeah.”

When we returned to the dorm, I finally felt like the day was over…not really.

I sighed inwardly as I saw the camera that was making a faint mechanical sound.

What should I talk about today?

I was tired but it wasn’t time to sleep yet. We gathered after washing up in the communal shower and drying our hair, and Juhyeon immediately brought up a topic.

“Right. What are your MBTI types?”

Juhyeon, who spoke informally to Hwijin who was much older than him, asked with a gleam in his eye.

Was this his character? He was so quiet and awkward yesterday, leaning against the wall by himself.

“I’m ISFJ…”

Hwijin opened his mouth cautiously and Yu-geon burst out laughing.

He was not as gloomy as yesterday, which was a relief, but I couldn’t figure out why he was laughing. We all had question marks over our heads.

“It’s because you’re the opposite of me in everything.”

“Oh, are you ENTP, hyung?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m an ESTJ, by the way.”

As everyone was chatting about some cryptic codes like how Ns are like this or Js are like that, the topic suddenly shifted to me.

“What about you?”

I tilted my head in confusion at the unexpected question.

What is that? I knew it was some kind of personality test, but I had no idea what type I was or how many types there were.

“I don’t know, I’ve never taken it before.”

“You really don’t know what MBTI is? Come on, be cool. Just say you don’t care.”

Juhyun sneered at me, not sure if he was mocking me or joking with me.

“No, I really don’t know.”

I had seen INTP a lot when I made my SNS account, so I just used it casually.

“Wow, you really don’t know? Look, the difference between E and I is…”

He kept on lecturing me for a long time until it was time to turn off the lights.

Should I be grateful for this? In the end, I found out that I was an ISTJ, but it wasn’t that important to me.

Some kind of honest logician or something like that. It wasn’t something to deny or to be proud of.

As one by one fell asleep and I was left alone staring at the ceiling, I thought of the five inner thoughts cards that I had read today.

‘…’

The contents of yesterday seemed mild compared to them. The bitterness that had settled in my stomach started to rise again.

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