NOVEL NEXT Chapter 63
” Thank you! ”
” Please vote for us a lot! ”
” I love you~~~ ”
After Group 1’s stage ended, the members of Group 1 greeted the audience, making eye contact with them.
But Ryu Ho-beom stared blankly into the void.
What he could only think of was Do-hee waiting below the stage.
‘ Have I really lost my mind. ‘
The MC shouted after tidying up the stage.
” Now, let’s welcome Group 2’s stage! Group 2, please come up! ”
Finally, Group 2 came up to grace the last stage.
Six trainees dressed in pure and bright outfits.
Though Ryu Ho-beom was not well-versed in women’s fashion, he could tell they were wearing simple short-sleeved tees paired with pink tennis skirts and white sneakers.
It wasn’t anything special, but that enhanced the trainees’ innocent charm even more.
In a bid to gather his thoughts, Ryu Ho-beom found himself absentmindedly gazing at the stage when he suddenly lost his breath.
He had made eye contact with Do-hee for a brief moment.
‘ Did she just make eye contact with me…? It felt like she smiled at me. ‘
Ryu Ho-beom knew it was just a fleeting moment.
However, he wished Do-hee would stop smiling.
His heart was pounding too hard.
It felt like it was about to burst.
” Now, before the stage, I’d like to ask for an introduction! ”
At the MC’s prompt, Do-hee grabbed the microphone.
” One, two, three! ”
“”” Hello~ We are “””
” Lookies! ”
” Lookies! ”
The members of Group 2 took turns striking cute poses and shouted.
” Lookies! ”
When Do-hee, paired with Park Ye-eun, made a heart…
‘ Oh damn, why is this happening? I’m going crazy. ‘
“”” We are ‘Lookies,’ and we want to see you again!~ “””
” Chae-rin, fighting!! ”
” Ye-eun, look over here~ ”
” Do-hee, I love you!!! ”
The audience shouted, calling out the trainees they were supporting.
Even while Ryu Ho-beom thought to himself not to react like that… he could somewhat understand the audience’s enthusiasm.
Following along with the MC, the ‘LOOKIES’ trainees introduced themselves, shared their aspirations, and talked about the struggles they faced while training.
However, Ryu Ho-beom’s heart was racing, and his head was spinning, so he couldn’t even comprehend what they were saying.
It felt like a low hum.
Ryu Ho-beom squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head vigorously.
‘ Get it together, what am I doing at this age. ‘
‘ It’s just that I’ve been exhausted from work. ‘
‘ I just got a bit flustered because they’re pretty. ‘
‘ Ultimately, what matters for a singer is the stage. ‘
By the time Ryu Ho-beom gathered his thoughts, the stage had already begun.
He found himself amused at how he had lost his composure.
So, he made a cynical expression and tried to watch the stage with a cool head again.
– Don’t be curious about me –
– I want to hide my feelings so badly –
‘ They’re pretty. ‘
The stage was innocent and refreshing, yet no different from the previous trainees.
The audience members who liked idols seemed to be enjoying themselves, but to him, who still couldn’t feel the charm of idols, that was all he could appreciate.
Of course, his eyes were constantly drawn to Do-hee dancing beside him…
He forced himself to look at the other trainees and evaluate them.
– I follow you around playfully –
Following you playfully –
– I can’t hide my racing heart –
Even while dancing, my voice remains stable.
Now I’ve realized that if Ryu Ho-beom has come this far, he’s doing just fine.
Though the first two stages were truly the worst.
Honestly, I don’t know about Ryu Ho-beom, but all the other audience members had pretty high standards as well.
The reason was simple: the songs the trainees covered were all hits that had captivated the year.
In other words, these were songs familiar to the audience, and they’d even heard the toned-up versions.
Unless you were an exceptional singer, it was hard to sound better than those corrected tracks live.
Yet, if the trainees’ stage felt good, it truly meant they had skill.
After Mei-rin and Gong Chae-rin’s part ended, Do-hee stepped forward to sing.
Now, it was impossible to not look.
I raised my head and gazed at Do-hee in front of me.
– You know, I might like you –
‘Wow…’
It only dawned on me after 32 years.
I actually have a clear ideal type.
It felt like the vague image of my ideal type was finally taking shape.
– It keeps spilling out of my mouth –
Even her voice could be my ideal type.
– My heart now wants you –
The clean tone and the stable volume reaching my ears.
Considering that only a quarter of the trainees had volume that couldn’t be properly heard, she definitely ranked high among the participants.
– Will you accept my heart? –
Ryu Ho-beom decided to just admit it.
He had become a fan of Do-hee.
*
As I finished the ending pose while looking at the camera, cheers erupted from below the stage.
There were people shaking panels with my name and face on them.
Amid the loud cheers, I could clearly hear my name being shouted in the crowd.
This is fun.
It was only a 3-minute stage, but my breath was getting heavy, my chest rising and falling, and I could feel my heart pounding wildly.
The stage was filled with vibrant, non-static energy.
Yeah.
This was the kind of stage I wanted to pursue as an idol.
If I’m going crazy with the cheers of 500 people,
I wonder what a larger stage would feel like.
Still in my ending pose, I looked down at the stage, savoring the afterglow when Chae-rin unni took my hand and led me away.
“Thank you!”
“Please vote for us a lot~”
Ah.
I hadn’t even said goodbye.
.
.
.
After finishing our stage greeting, I came down from the stage.
I should feel tired, but instead of feeling down, I didn’t feel drained at all.
What I felt now was a pleasant excitement or high.
Even if I combined all the dopamine I’d released over the past few months, I don’t think I could match what I poured out on stage today.
“Do-hee…”
Amidst everyone smiling, Kim Ye-eun unni hugged me tightly with tears in her eyes.
What’s this?
Why are you crying on such a good day?
She buried her face in my chest and let the tears flow.
Thanks to her, my shirt was soaked.
“Come on, get it together.”
In between her sobs, Ye-eun unni said in a muffled voice.
“Keep scolding me a lot from now on…”
“Please scold me more…”
Kim Ye-eun Unni ultimately showed a main vocal performance worthy of the stage.
It seemed she was touched as memories of her past as a tier 5 flashed back.
But honestly, she didn’t scold me that much…
How could she not understand my feelings…
There’s still a long way to go.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah…”
“Is that what Unni said?”
As for me, I’m happy.
Sweet deal.
At the sound of my lively voice, Unni lifted her head and looked at me.
Her face was a complete mess with tears and snot.
“…”
“Why?”
Kim Ye-eun Unni stopped crying.
“I want to cancel…”
As if that’s going to happen.
Anyway, everyone in Team 2 was satisfied with their performance.
For two weeks, our team members all sacrificed sleep to practice their best.
And everyone was happy to have shown their utmost on stage without any mistakes.
Looking at how there were other trainees in different teams who slacked off during practice and disrupted the proceedings, it was clear we had good team members.
As we all cuddled and got emotional, breaking the sentimentality, the staff spoke up.
“Team 2 participants, please move to the voting monitoring room now.”
As we headed to the monitoring room, we encountered Team 1, who had finished their performance earlier.
With the somber atmosphere of Team 1, it felt awkward to celebrate.
The result announcement room was filled with silence.
But sitting still felt weird.
Gotta get that camera time!
Through the monitor, I could see the MC on stage.
The MC pointed behind them.
Probably the screen behind the MC showed the trainees’ numbers, faces, and names.
“Now! With all performances done, only the final vote remains! Dear audience! Please vote for the trainee you think performed the best across the two teams!”
We unnecessarily squeezed each other’s hands, encouraged, praised, and patted each other, all while paying attention to the camera.
The production staff encouraged us to do so too.
Once the vote counting was concluded, a countdown appeared on the monitor in the results announcement room.
“Ah…!”
“Guess it’s done.”
After the countdown, the votes were revealed in order by each team’s positions.
The last was my part, Sub Vocal 2.
I received 129 votes, and when combining the team votes, we scored 384 out of 500—winning the team battle.
Additionally, I ranked first in the group with the most individual rewards.
That’s right, me with 129 votes in first place.
Next was Kim Ye-eun Unni with 93 votes, and Gong Chae-rin Unni with 78 votes.
Honestly, I don’t believe the vote difference is due to me being particularly better.
As the title song center, I likely had an appeal.
It doesn’t make sense that Kim Ye-eun Unni, who perfectly showcased the high notes as the main vocal, had fewer votes than me.
Yet still, Kim Ye-eun Unni seemed happy and was grinning.
The overall atmosphere of our team was cheerful.
But we couldn’t celebrate too outright.
Some from Team 1 started crying.
*
At 2 AM.
After all the shooting was done, the Producer’s monologue began again.
“Alright everyone, you’ve all worked really hard, and the sweat you’ve shed over the past two weeks…”
” You know the first broadcast is on July 8th, right? There’s going to be a production presentation on July 4th, so all participants must attend. ”
” The detailed schedule will be provided through the agency… ”
.
.
” You all really worked hard. Let’s practice hard while resting for a while and see you on the day of the production presentation. ”
Thunderous applause.
It seems like the production staff had just as tough a time as the participants.
Phew… finally, it’s over~
Time to go home~
*
On the way home in Young-ho Manager’s van that came to pick us up.
Young-ho Manager asked us.
” Did you all do well? ”
Did we do well?
” Ah~ this is sponsored. Can I say it? Hehe. ”
Seo-yoon Unni rolled her eyes at my exaggerated action.
” Ah, I seriously can’t stand Do-hee. ”
Just jealous again, huh?
” You’re next, loser. ”
Honestly, Seo-yoon Unni did well for sure.
She showcased a great performance with Ha-rang Unni.
But the result was a loss.
It was all on Sara Unni’s hard carry.
Seo-yoon Unni trembled with rage.
Seeing her like that, Na-eun Unni smiled uncontrollably and said.
” Stop fighting, you guys. ”
In fact, Na-eun Unni was the biggest beneficiary of this match.
With both groups messing up their cover of T-Party’s song, Na-eun Unni performed flawlessly, so of course, the votes went to her.
” If Na-eun Unni, who received a whopping 200 votes, said so, we should listen. ”
Seo-yoon Unni kept getting angrier on the side.
” Wow, does Do-hee actually die? ”
” Since Na-eun Unni told us not to fight, I’ll stop! ”
I guess the kind me has to hold back.
By the way, my phone has been buzzing nonstop since earlier.
I took it out to check.
[Chat 999+]
What’s up?
< Lookies 6 >
[ I had so much fun with you today ㅋㅋㅎㅋㅋ♡ ] 300+
< Park Ye-eun >
[ ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ ] 43
Looking into the chat, there was a group chat made for ‘Lookies’ members.
But what is this?
There were a bunch of individual texts from Ye-eun Unni.
I tapped on it to see.
[Park Ye-eun: Do-hee, thank you so much! My skills have improved a lot thanks to you.]
[Park Ye-eun: Let’s stay close from now on!!! ]
[Park Ye-eun: If it weren’t for you, I think I wouldn’t have made it. ]
[Park Ye-eun: I’m really happy today ㅎㅎ… ]
[Park Ye-eun: But… about what I mentioned today… ]
[Park Ye-eun: Please cancel it… ]
[Park Ye-eun: I’ll work hard on my own… I’m sorry…].
.
.
[Park Ye-eun: Please ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Park Ye-eun: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ ]
Seeing Ye-eun Unni whining even in chat made me burst into laughter.
Seo-yoon Unni, getting angrier while watching me laugh, got even more mad, but whatever.
[Me: Oops, let’s stay close.]
[Me: No canceling, hehe.]
[Park Ye-eun: Please ㅠㅠㅠㅠ (begging duck emoji) ]
[Park Ye-eun: (begging duck emoji) ]
[Park Ye-eun: (begging duck emoji) ]
[Park Ye-eun: (begging duck emoji) ]
[Park Ye-eun: (begging duck emoji) ]
[Me: No no, hehe.]