NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76
After finishing the filming of the second competition, I finally got home at dawn and was able to fall asleep.
What woke me up was the sound of the piano ringing in my room.
Do-ah was banging away on the piano, seemingly trying to wake me up.
The sound wasn’t perfect, but since it was Do-ah, it was just cute.
She’d only started learning recently, but at this level, she seemed like a genius.
Seeing Do-ah brought a little energy to my tired body.
Perhaps my stamina has increased.
It seems Hana Unni’s training is actually paying off.
Though, I still don’t feel like doing it again.
I rose from my bed, feeling all sluggish, and sat next to the piano bench where Do-ah was playing.
It was obvious she was playing the piano to wake me up and ask me to play with her, but Do-ah pretended to focus on the piano instead.
“Do-ah, I’m awake now.”
“Unni, teach me piano.”
Her insistence on pretending not to want my help was just too adorable.
“Should I? But Do-ah, you’re wearing glasses? Did you get them recently?”
“Yeah, they said my eyesight is bad…”
Looks like all that gaming has taken a toll on her eyes. Do-ah even looks cute wearing glasses.
“Daughter! Time to eat!”
Hearing my voice, Mom came into the room.
“Uh-huh.”
With Mom smiling at me, my lips automatically curled up in a smile.
Humans are said to be connected in such a way that we tend to mimic others’ actions and expressions.
“Go wash your face first; you’ve got a ton of sleep dust in your eyes.”
“Ugh, so annoying.”
I want to be lazy as soon as I get home.
“Hurry up.”
“Okay~”
After washing up, while we were all eating and chatting, my phone started buzzing like crazy.
Since I didn’t have many rooms with alarms set, it was easy to guess where it was coming from.
[Woo-ah Unni: Where are we meeting the day after tomorrow?]
After the second competition ended, the Unnis had been nagging me to hang out, so I had reluctantly made plans to meet and have fun from lunchtime on the day of the 6th broadcast.
‘Ugh, so annoying… Should I say I’m going to school instead?’
[Kim Seo-yoon: Let’s meet at the dorm first, let’s go.]
[Me: I have to go to school…]
[Woo-ah Unni: It’s summer vacation for Do-hee. ㅡ.ㅡ]
[Chiyo Unni: Are you crazy? Youngest? Do you want to get scolded?]
…Ah.
[Na-eun Unni: Just come, lol. When else are we going to hang out?]
[Me: Okaaaay…]
Sigh…
I just want to relax at home…
“Do-hee, did you vote?”
“Ah, right.”
Now that I think about it, I haven’t voted yet.
I turned on Netflix and entered the “Dojol 3” section.
A new button had appeared in the voting UI.
First, I finished the existing vote.
[Please choose an image for your girl!]
As I clicked on the newly created button, names of the trainees appeared.
[Lee Do-hee]
[Pure] [Cute] [Sexy] [Girl Crush]
The rules for the third competition had already been established.
It was getting dark.
Through Chuseo’s vote, the participants’ songs were chosen.
They only had to pick one from among four concept songs.
If I had to choose an image for myself among these, it would obviously be girl crush.
Hana Unni also has a slightly sexy or girl crush image…
I’m worried we might end up on the same team and flop like dogs.
“Mom, what did you pick?”
“What do you mean? The image vote?”
“Yeah.”
“Mom picked the one that suits Do-hee perfectly~!”
“So what is it?”
“Cute~”
“Ah.”
I snatched Mom’s phone and corrected my vote to girl crush.
“Ah, why did you change it~ Our Do-hee is totally! A cute image~ right?”
Mom whined, sounding a bit disappointed.
“Only you think that, others don’t.”
“I don’t think so! Where else would you find such a cutie like our daughter~”
“Ah, come on.”
There is a public opinion like that.
That it’s cute.
But I think the girl crush image will bounce back after the second competition airs.
The trend has already been set.
‘Should I pick one for the Unnis too while I’m at it?’
Kim Seo-yoon.
I voted for the sexy image that seemed the least suited for her.
Na-eun Unni picked the pure image she wanted.
Now it’s time to watch the long-delayed episode 5.
Since it was being filmed during the airing of episode 5, I had no idea how it might have been edited.
Mom suggested we watch it together on TV.
I ignored her and went to my room to lie on the bed and watch it.
There was nothing particularly special.
Me working hard in the behind-the-scenes.
Me reacting.
And finally the speech for 2nd place…
[Chuseo friends! Do-hee will work really hard, so please vote for me a lot! Love you~]
Gyaaaarrrr…
I tried to look up reactions online, but after watching episode 5, I really didn’t have the heart to do it.
‘Still… maybe just search for YouTube…’
I’m so curious about the comments.
‘They uploaded it fast…’
When I searched my name on YouTube, there was a new PR video on the first page.
In the thumbnail, I was wearing a rabbit costume.
<[ENG sub] justdol3 Topist (Lee Do-hee) #Cute Youngest Rabbit! Youngest Do-hee! @Chuseo’sSelection_1min PR>
(Video)
– You can tell she memorized her lines, which makes her even cuter and more innocent ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Let’s walk the road to debut, Do-hee.
– Ah, she’s like a total baby rabbit ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅈㄴ cute, seriously ㅠㅠ
– Baby rabbit ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Just watching her work hard is so cute ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Do-hee is so cute, pretty, and lovable ㅜㅜ She did everything by herself, for sure, let’s debut!!♡♡♡
– ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Congrats on the 2nd place, rabbit~~~
– Do-hee, you are the future of K-pop…
– It’s sheer madness how cute you are ㅠㅠ
Gyaaaaaaaarrr…
I have a bad feeling that the next evaluation will be cute…
Two days later, I arrived at the debut team’s dorm.
I suddenly got curious.
When will the company terminate the lease for the dorm?
Apparently, it’s under a global contract until early next year.
“Do-hee~”
Woo-ah Unni came out of the front door and embraced me as if she was glad to see me.
This Unni hasn’t changed at all since elementary school, even after becoming a high school student.
And another person came out to greet us at the entrance.
Chiyo Unni was wearing a red hat and sunglasses, with her hands behind her back.
What the heck is this?
“You, the youngest, are getting scolded.”
Chiyo Unni said with a mock serious tone.
“What are you doing?”
“Hey! You’re getting scolded!”
Every time I see this Unni, I wonder where she’s learning all these weird things.
“What’s up with Chiyo Unni this time?”
“Oh, I’ve been watching military variety shows since last week.”
Sigh…
“Let’s just go in.”
“You can’t enter! Why are you late!”
Ignoring Chiyo Unni, I walked to the living room where Seo-yoon Unni and Na-eun Unni were sitting on the sofa watching my ranking announcement remarks.
[Dear fans! I, Do-hee, will work hard, so please vote for me lots! I love you~]
Sigh…
Kim Seo-yoon was definitely trying to tease me again.
So annoying, really.
Na-eun Unni turned her head to greet me.
“Do-hee, you’re here? You’re a bit late, huh?”
I was about an hour late.
“Yeah! Why was I late! You’re scolding me!”
Chiyo Unni should have given up by now, but she kept up the trainee concept.
“I ran into some fans on the way, took a few pictures, and signed some autographs, so I got a bit delayed, sorry.”
Thanks to that, I felt a little lifted.
I was proud too.
Though my mood dipped a bit when someone asked me to draw a rabbit on my autograph.
“I was wearing a hat too on the way, and some people recognized me, so I signed some too!”
Seo-yoon Unni excitedly chimed in about the signing.
“I didn’t ask you.”
“That one really needs some discipline.”
You were really well-behaved in your past life, huh?
“So, are we going out?”
I just want to lie in bed until episode 6 starts.
Since I usually drain my energy, when I get vacation, I just want to relax without plans.
“Then let’s simply go to the restaurant nearby for lunch? After that, let’s just hit a cafe and then watch a movie, and finally go to karaoke!”
Woo-ah Unni seemed to suggest a compromise, but really, she just wanted to have fun.
Sigh… I guess since it’s Woo-ah Unni, I should let it slide.
We must’ve been bored being on air.
“Then hurry up and get out. Chiyo Unni, put away that hat and sunglasses.”
“I don’t understand Korean. Watashi wa nihonjin desu.”
Ugh.
Thinking about it again, it wouldn’t be boring being alone with Chiyo Unni.
Thinking about it again, I wouldn’t be bored if I were with Chiyo Unni.
We returned to the lodging to watch episode 6, collapsing onto the sofa like a pile of tired potatoes.
After finally hanging out together for the first time in ages, everyone was so pumped up that we ended up wandering around.
“Let’s get matching friendship rings!”
“But Unni, you already have one from before.”
“That was one I got with Do-hee, we want one for the five of us!”
“Sounds great!”
“Should we?”
“Chiyo, I’m proud of you all.”
Even on our way to see the rings…
“This outfit is so cute! How about it? Do-hee, try it on!”
“Haha, Do-hee looks perfect for the cutie concept!”
“You’re so chatty for someone with a flat chest.”
“Do you want to die?”
Even while shopping…
“Excuse me, are you the contestants from the idol competition…?”
“Ah, yes, that’s us!”
We might have lost a bit of our spirit, but it was still fun.
Now it was time to watch episode 6.
Having changed into our pajamas, we spread out the snacks we bought outside on the table and started watching comfortably.
Ah, Seo-yoon Unni and Kim Na-eun Unni didn’t look too comfortable, though.
The scenes of my Femme Fatale team will probably air in episode 7, while the Apa three sisters’ scenes are airing in this episode 6.
But I still had some screen time.
The reactions from the double position mission reveal and the process of forming a super team with song selections were included.
It was a bit disappointing, but it made me even more excited for episode 7.
Online, people would probably be buzzing about teams forming with episodes 1, 2, 3, and 7 characters.
Meanwhile, the screen showed the sisters practicing.
They seemed to be practicing cheerfully, like there were no issues at all.
“Oh, just thinking about her stresses me out again,” Seo-yoon Unni frowned.
“But it went well, so you just have to bear with it,” Kim Na-eun Unni said, patting Seo-yoon Unni.
The person Seo-yoon was mentioning was Gu Eun-hee.
Gu Eun-hee ranked 58th.
Basically, she was set to be eliminated in the next ranking announcement, and she said she would give up on being an idol, so she didn’t practice properly.
“Thank goodness she was hidden on stage; I thought I was gonna die from irritation during practice!”
It seems cases like this happen often on audition programs.
Last season, there were participants who didn’t take it seriously, talking among themselves, “It’s all rigged anyway.”
In season 2’s boy group audition, there were even those who ended up throwing punches during fights.
But thank goodness everyone at least pretended to work hard when the camera was on; otherwise, Kim Na-eun Unni and Seo-yoon Unni’s team might not have practiced at all.
“Did you not find it tough, Do-hee?”
Woo-ah Unni asked with a worried look.
“Would I? With my personality?”
Actually, I did.
Hana Unni’s practice was too much.
“If you find it tough, just say so.”
“Okay, stop worrying about pointless things and just watch the TV.”
Woo-ah Unni, with the softest personality, tends to worry too much about others.