NOVEL NEXT Ch. 55
Chapter 55: You’re Really Going for It (1)
[[Summary] Star Live Real‑Time Top 7]
Rank 1 Ha Junseo
Rank 2 Cha Seongbin
Rank 3 Jin Sehyun
Rank 4 Seo Haim
Rank 5 Do Seohan
Rank 6 Lee Dokyung
Rank 7 Seo Ian
So, these are the seven debut team members.
‑ Seohan…?
└ Do Seohan is ranked 5th?
└ Ranked 5th???????
└ LOL what am I even looking at?
└ Does it really make sense that Seohan is 5th? How could the rankings flip like this, especially right before finals?
└ So this is survival.
‑ Wow wow wow… Cha Seongbin is 2nd…. Do Seohan is 5th…. Lee Dokyung is 6th…. What is even happening here?
└ As soon as I saw this I had a brain freeze.
└ I think I’m about to get a breakdown. Why didn’t Choi Han make the debut team?
└ Well, he was always Mess‑King but T_T
└ Please, please….
└ Lee Dokyung’s rank went up again—it seems fans let their guard down and he slipped.
‑ This might be the true ranking after benefits are removed, LOL, the benefit power‑ups are all gone.
└ “Benefit power‑ups” haha you’re so rude.
└ Instead of talking trash, use your pick votes.
└ Forget about benefits, that ranking makes no sense. Fans got careless.
‑ My pick has no chance… LOL there’s no sign of rank rising, that PD bastard isn’t giving screen time.
└ Who is that?
└ Kang Siwoo….
└ Ranked 11th… ah….
└ Young‑chae, give Siwoo some screentime ^^
└ Maybe I should let go, I’m so exhausted.
At the last ranking announcement, there had been massive changes.
Fans of trainees whose ranking surged were enjoying a festival‑like atmosphere, but there were also people who couldn’t laugh.
Namely.
Do Seohan’s fans.
[Did anyone expect Do Seohan’s ranking would drop?]
Probably because everyone thought he'd obviously debut, the shock wouldn’t go away….
This is a program that only debuts seven people, after all.
Rank 5… being 5th is really unstable….
We’ll know things once we see the final.
‑ Everyone’s going crazy on X right now LOL as if they’ve lost their minds.
└ Fans who picked him as their cha‑ae thought he’d for sure debut LOL such people exist around me so I quietly unfollowed.
└ F‑ no, save our Hamjji.
└ Ah ah ah can’t you see how desperately he wants to debut right now?
└ You picked cha‑ae and now your fav isn’t debuting so wake up.
‑ Maybe overseas picks spread the votes, or Maybe Byoseohan fans collectively let their guard down.
Or maybe with the One‑Pick system, his votes dropped dramatically….
Either way, get ready.
└ It seems he fell after switching to one‑pick LOL charming to all but core is weak?
└ Look at how they’re trying to suppress him LOL.
└ Ranking LOL dropped four steps LOL big fall LOL.
└ Do Seohan haters are pumped and throwing tantrums.
└ Are they insane treating an 18‑year‑old like that;;;;
└ Do they want to act like this to someone who’s only eighteen?
‑ Boy‑idol survival is weird; you don’t know until you open it.
└ That’s true. No matter how much you guessed the debut team, LOL you’d never know. Everything flips at the end.
└ I just hope my landmine doesn’t debut lol.
‑ Seohan, don’t worry. Noona will get you debuted T_T
└ I’ll get you debuted no matter what Hamjji you. If you don’t do idol, who else?
└ Maybe it’s better that ranking is now public. At least it energizes fans more than being blindsided at finals….
└ Facts. X users are sharpening their teeth and preparing to vote for Byoseohan.
Half the fans said it was due to their carelessness; half said ranking dropped massively after the vote format changed to one‑pick.
In fact, either way, it meant one thing to the person in question.
‘My ranking is in danger.’
Fans knew it. Seohan knew it too.
He had won 1st place at the previous ranking announcement.
That felt like a distant past now; the survival was fierce.
Immediately after the real‑time ranking was revealed,
Seohan bit his lower lip so hard it bled.
“Sigh…”
5th place.
It was still within debut range.
But considering his previous rank, it had dropped by four spots.
Old life memories kept overlapping and made Seohan anxious.
Because of just one rank, memories of losing debut at the last moment weren’t just speculation.
He couldn’t not think of the horror that he hoped never to imagine.
‘If I end up eighth….’
He couldn't allow himself to waste this incredible chance again.
Although his heart plummeted in anxiety, he tried to remain calm.
“…….”
Seohan slowly raised his head and stared into the mirror.
A gaze filled with lethal determination faced him.
After standing blankly for a long while,
His thoughts had cleared somewhat.
“Where should I start?”
Practice.
Practice, Do Seohan.
Now that it's come to this, I’ve got to tear up the final stage.
Over the past few months, thirty‑four trainees had run tirelessly toward their dream.
There were moments they laughed, and there were moments they cried.
But it was undeniable that everyone ran hoping for a single finish line.
The final, and debut.
Since the last episode aired live, the trainers were on edge.
If they were going to debut these kids, they had to pull out the best performance.
Choi Myunghwan, the choreographer, asked the trainees with a serious face.
“So what we must prepare for finals is one ballad song and one dance song, right?”
“Yes, that's right!”
“Time is short, but we have a lot to prepare.”
The ballad song would be sung in parts by the whole group, so that was excluded.
For the dance song, there were two produced tracks.
One was a bright yet addictive EDM dance track
In some ways they were opposite concepts.
Choi Myunghwan surveyed the trainees standing in front of him.
“So this is the odd‑rank team.”
The team division had been carried out in a very simple way.
Based on the results of the third ranking selection, odd‑ranked and even‑ranked were separated, and this group was the former.
Do Seohan, Seo Haim, Cha Seongbin, Choi Han, Kang Siwoo, Lee Dokyung.
Except for Kang Siwoo, overall it was a youthful, fresh‑faced group….
He frowned and asked.
“This team is for ‘Tied to you’?”
“Yes!”
“…Why?”
Are they going with such a tough concept?
And in this lineup?
At that moment, Seo Haim hesitantly raised a hand.
“We lost… at rock‑paper‑scissors.”
“Ah, did you make a bet with that team?”
“Yes….”
“Sigh… there’s no helping it.”
Even Do Seohan, who constantly chanted ‘sexy’ like a mantra, lowered his head this time.
‘Even I think this isn’t it.’
It had to be an extremely tough song.
Since it was a song hard to polish in a short amount of time, the other team hadn’t preferred it either.
Maybe it was bad luck—Seohan had been assigned this song in his previous life too.
Thinking about how he ended up eliminated in the final made it feel like a distant nightmare was resurfacing.
And Seohan wasn’t the only one worried about this situation.
‘I can already see the path of suffering….’
Trying to pull off this brutal song with this lineup already felt overwhelming.
Choreographer Choi Myunghwan clutched his throbbing head and spoke.
“Let’s take a look first.”
.
.
.
.
.
Drawn to your gravity like a satellite in orbit
I circle around you
You know it’s too late to get out
Tied to you
I can’t break these chains
Prepare for a day when I shine
I’ll struggle to break away from you
From start to finish, it was a song that demanded an intense whirlwind of performance.
After the first verse of “Tied to you” with its pounding beat ended, Choi Myunghwan dragged out his words.
“Hmmm….”
Choreographer Choi Myunghwan tilted his head, twirling a poor pen in circles.
Since they were in the final stretch of the program, there were no trainees lacking in skills.
Naturally, everyone was good.
If he judged only based on the dancing… it was clearly clean.
But.
“Something… feels lacking.”
Choi Myunghwan sighed and bit his lower lip.
With little time left before the final stage, it was uncertain whether they could redo everything, but overall his evaluation was this.
“It lacks impact.”
Though the choreography was difficult and the performance visually flashy, when looking at the full picture, it lacked the punch that would leave people in awe.
Choi Myunghwan checked the name list of the odd-numbered team and asked again.
“Dokyung is the center here, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“…A bit weak, isn’t it?”
Gulp.
Lee Dokyung swallowed nervously and read Choi Myunghwan’s expression.
Lee Dokyung had never challenged a song with such an intense concept either, but now wasn’t the time to be picky.
If he wanted to prove his value on Stardust Project, he had to take the center spot in the final.
It was a position he’d earned fair and square through team votes.
But it simply didn’t satisfy Choi Myunghwan’s standards.
Lee Dokyung hung his head low and couldn’t say anything.
“…….”
Choi Myunghwan frowned and turned his gaze to the other side.
“Cha Seongbin. Want to come up and try it again?”
“Huh? Ah, yes, sir.”
The next to be pointed out was Cha Seongbin, currently ranked 5th.
Originally, he was someone who made dancing look easy with his long limbs.
Cha Seongbin stood in the center and gritted his teeth, performing the choreography.
Perhaps worried about being criticized, his moves were overly forceful.
Tied to you
I can’t break these chains
Prepare for a day when I shine
I’ll struggle to break away from you
“Hold on.”
Choi Myunghwan quickly shook his head and waved his hand.
Since he was the one who created the choreography for this, he had a specific vision in mind—but the kids weren’t following that vision at all.
“No, no. It’s weak. Weak. What are we going to do with you?”
Since it was a live performance, once the stage began, there was no turning back.
This was the final.
An important battle right before debut.
Choi Myunghwan spoke with visible frustration.
“You’re going to perform right alongside the ‘Attraction’ team, right?”
“Yes.”
“You guys go first, and then they come out. But what if no one remembers your stage? Then what? You’ll all just be forgotten.”
It wasn’t just about putting on a disappointing stage—this performance could decide who debuts.
The trainees, who understood perfectly what Choi Myunghwan meant, darkened in expression.
“I don’t think you can go on stage like this.”
Choi Myunghwan sighed and cautiously continued.
“I… think I need to rethink the center part a bit more.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dokyung, I’m not saying you need to change the center right now. But if you’re going to do this song, you have to think about how you’ll stay in people’s memory.”
“Yes, understood.”
Personally, Choi Myunghwan’s opinion was that they should change the center of “Tied to you.”
It’s not that Lee Dokyung lacked skills, but he didn’t fit the type to anchor a song like this.
Then again, if you asked whether the whole group was bad….
That wasn’t the case.
Even in the disappointing group dance, there were two trainees who caught Choi Myunghwan’s eye.
“Kang Siwoo.”
“Yes, sir.”
Until now, all his comments had been criticisms.
Kang Siwoo watched Choi Myunghwan anxiously with a tense face.
But the words that came from Choi Myunghwan were refreshing praise.
“I didn’t know, but Siwoo—you dance really well.”
“Th-Thank you.”
“Why didn’t you stand out during ‘Geundeure’? You’ve improved so much more than I thought.”
Finally, it felt like Kang Siwoo had found a performance that matched his style.
His dance lines were powerful yet refined—comfortable to watch.
Compared to when he first appeared on Stardust Project, his improvement was remarkable.
He must’ve worked himself to death for this.
Choi Myunghwan couldn’t stop praising him, nodding in satisfaction.
And then.
“Do Seohan?”
Choi Myunghwan’s smile turned toward one person.
Was it just a feeling?
‘He seems a little more intense than before.’
His gaze had changed—like he’d made some firm resolution.
Choi Myunghwan murmured in disbelief.
“When did you grow up like this?”