The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 192

“F*ck……”

Baek Joo-won crushed the beer can and spat out a curse.

The cold night air seemed to seep even into the dorm living room.

Even after cursing, his insides still weren’t settled, so he shook his hair vigorously and chugged the alcohol.

‘The more I think about it, the more annoying it gets.’

He thought the preparation and planning had been fine.

He’d utilized connections within his reach to subtly suggest ideas.

He’d succeeded in creating the optimal environment.

A very good environment for stimulating Seong-hwi’s trauma and then creating a stage that would become his grave.

When Seong-hwi had actually brought that choreography during his dropout from the debut team back then, he’d seen his expression change drastically.

So he’d felt certain it would definitely succeed.

‘……No. It didn’t completely work.’

No matter how much beer Baek Joo-won drank, he couldn’t wash away this sticky aftertaste.

Well, because variables he hadn’t anticipated kept appearing one after another.

The reason he’d divided the 2nd competition into position battles from the start was for this.

He’d expected that Ryu Si-hwan, who was obviously going to be a thorn in his side, would definitely go to vocals.

If Ryu Si-hwan went to vocals, then Seong-hwi would naturally come to the dance position.

Then he could have smoothly brought down that obnoxious bastard however he wanted.

But contrary to Baek Joo-won’s expectations, Ryu Si-hwan abandoned vocals and came to dance.

He’d even volunteered to do the dance break that required high-difficulty choreography.

Yeah, it could be okay that he came to the same position.

But to say he’d do that choreography together, the very medium that could mentally attack Seong-hwi.

That uneasy and uncomfortable feeling kept persisting.

‘Well, how good could he possibly be anyway?’

Right, the uncomfortable feeling was unavoidable.

But looking at reality alone, it didn’t matter much.

He’d thoroughly grasped Ryu Si-hwan’s skills during the KIMA collaboration stage.

His vocal ability was undeniably impressive.

But in dancing, he’d been somewhat behind Joo Han-ul and Baek Joo-won himself.

‘His skills are good enough to know. Well, even if Seong-hwi’s mentality doesn’t crumble during practice. In the end, he’ll just tremble on the actual stage anyway.’

Trembling and making mistakes in front of ten thousand audience members, and on a stage that would all be broadcast later.

His presence would be completely buried by the members performing alongside him.

If that happened, he’d naturally become good prey for reporters.

Even before becoming prey, he might receive disappointing looks and criticism from fans.

Baek Joo-won grinned as he threw the thoroughly crushed beer can into the trash.

There would be many variables, but the result wouldn’t change.

This was more than enough of a situation to kill off that annoying junior’s potential.

‘Anyway, it’ll all be exposed in a few days. I don’t need to worry about it now.’

With that thought, Baek Joo-won pushed the uncomfortable feeling deep into his heart and waited for the interim check day to arrive.

He was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of pathetic display would be shown.

But when everyone gathered for the long-awaited interim check.

Baek Joo-won’s smile lost its place to go.

“Hey, everyone’s practiced a lot!”

“Huff, huff. Thank you, Senior!”

“Si-hwan’s dancing much better than I thought too, and Hwi goes without saying, right? Joo-won, don’t you think so?”

“Th-that’s right.”

Seok Jae-han, who had no way of knowing Baek Joo-won’s dark intentions, praised the CENTIX members’ dancing with a purely excited tone.

Though he answered reflexively because it would look bad to stay quiet at such a question.

His head was starting to feel quite dizzy.

‘Why, why exactly. Why are they dancing so well.’

Calculations? Expectations?

All of those things had become useless.

The picture he’d thought he’d carefully constructed. The opportunity to bring down that high nose again.

Was being thoroughly ruined because of just one person.

* * *

‘I’m really at a loss for words!’

On the day of 〈All Star〉’s second competition.

A woman who had come to KNet’s building to see that beautiful constellation of stars clicked her tongue.

Thinking about it again, the review her friend had sent really didn’t make sense.

She’d wanted to see the 1st competition too but couldn’t go because of work, so she’d asked for a viewing review instead.

Her friend had supported CENTIX’s side as if it were the most natural thing.

What had she said again.

Had she said she had no eye for these things.

‘Zefa’s brothers are so good on stage. It was really nonsense.’

She wasn’t extremely hardcore in her fangirling.

With her real life being busy, she couldn’t be 100% serious about idols.

Still, among recently debuted idols, Zefa matched her taste the best and seemed to have outstanding skills too.

She couldn’t go to fan signings since she hadn’t bought enough albums, but she’d been faithfully collecting albums.

She’d been nurturing her fan heart while carefully collecting photo cards in her collection.

She’d wanted to say something to her friend who left a review saying her eyes were wrong, that CENTIX was actually better.

But since perspective on idols inevitably involves personal taste, she held back.

‘I’ll just see and feel for myself today! Whether CENTIX really is better or not.’

The woman was armed half with stubbornness to prove her friend’s words wrong, half with the desire to see Zefa.

Not long after receiving her number and entering the filming studio, MC Min Yonghan walked out to center stage.

“I’d like to start by thanking everyone who came to the venue today! Hello, I’m 〈All Star〉 master Min Yonghan. Everyone who came for today’s 2nd competition stage, welcome!”

Everyone sent enthusiastic applause.

Someone even shouted “Master, you’re handsome!” from somewhere, causing gentle laughter to ripple through the studio.

“There are so many handsome people in the waiting rooms right now, if you say things like that I’ll get hit with stones. Haha, then I’ll give guidance about the 2nd competition concept and on-site voting procedure.”

Behind the stage, large letters reading [POSITION BATTLE] appeared.

“As you can see, the 2nd competition is a battle between groups, but that’s not everything. Dance, rap, vocals. After choosing your desired position among the 3, you’ll be divided by individual voting rankings within that group. In other words, this 2nd competition can be called both a team battle and an individual battle. After each team’s stage ends, please press the numbers of the two members you think did the best on the remote control next to your seat. After pressing, once all stages are finished, please choose the name of the one team you think did the best overall across all positions today.”

If voting worked this way, the overall score of the group with members who received the most votes would increase.

If you wanted to record high rankings in this competition, in short, you had to be active in all positions.

“Then let’s meet the first stage! The vocal position team is preparing……”

When the word vocals came out, people around started murmuring.

Listening carefully, there was one name that kept being repeated.

“Is Si-hwan coming out?”

“It has to be, right? Looking forward to the song.”

The woman unconsciously nodded upon hearing Ryu Si-hwan’s name.

Well, for a vocalist of Ryu Si-hwan’s level, it was understandable.

He sang so well it was hard to easily believe he was an idol.

However, when the vocal position members came up on stage.

The audience murmured with a different atmosphere than before.

“Ryu Si-hwan isn’t there? I’m not the only one who can’t see him, right?”

“You’re right. He’s not there. Not there at all.”

“Really? Ryu Si-hwan isn’t in the vocal position?”

The woman was also somewhat shocked.

When it came to CENTIX, people said Ryu Si-hwan, when it came to vocals, people said Ryu Si-hwan.

She couldn’t understand what reason he had for not appearing here.

‘Did he yield to another member?’

That thought crossed her mind, and she carefully examined the faces, but not a single CENTIX member was there.

It was a confusing situation from the start.

‘The stage itself seems to be going well.’

The competition song was good too, and the idols’ skills were decent.

But somehow Ryu Si-hwan’s absence kept bothering her, so she couldn’t completely immerse herself.

Still, she relaxed a little and enjoyed watching because a Zefa member was in the next vocal team.

‘As expected, they’re good!’

The woman still judged her friend’s words to be absurd.

In the middle of the competition when the atmosphere was really getting heated.

MC Min Yonghan introduced the next team with an ominous tone.

“Ah, finally it’s this team’s turn. This is a song where even fierce competition unfolded. The member name value alone is truly incredible, so I really wanted to see it too! Please welcome the 〈OBEY〉 team with big applause!”

At the words about incredible name value, the woman immediately reacted.

‘There’s no team with name value as high as Zefa!’

Tall, handsome men came up on stage one by one.

The first face to appear was Zefa’s Seok Jae-han, so the on-site reaction was incredible.

“Oh, oh oh—!”

“Hey, is that right? Is it really?”

“Insane, insane!”

People who witnessed the members who appeared afterward couldn’t help but let out natural exclamations.

Well, it made sense.

Ryu Si-hwan, whom everyone had expected to go to vocals, stepped onto the stage with a calm expression.

‘……This is unbelievable.’

The woman just blinked and stared blankly ahead.

Not only Seok Jae-han, but Zefa’s leader Baek Joo-won was also part of this group.

And the person standing with Ryu Si-hwan was none other than Seong-hwi.

She could see why MC Min Yonghan had emphasized name value from the start.

Setting everything else aside, the members were truly formidable.

The Zefa members went without saying. She remembered Lunatic was also famous for dancing well even before debut.

Of course, she judged that CENTIX wouldn’t fall behind in group choreography skills either……

‘Is it because of the image?’

No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t have imagined Ryu Si-hwan would fit in here.

Even seeing it with her own two eyes like this, she couldn’t believe it.

The moment tremendous bass grooves of power started flowing through the speakers, her mind snapped to attention.

Following 〈OBEY〉’s intense music, the 6 idols flew across the stage as if they had wings.

Originally, this kind of competition was commonly seen in so-called survival programs.

Competitions that trainees held while taking steps toward debut.

So seeing already-debuted idols matching up with members from other groups like this was very refreshing.

All the group choreography unfolded with perfect angles and timing that made your jaw drop.

‘Wow……’

The woman was once again staring at the stage in a daze.

Naturally, her eyes unconsciously followed Seok Jae-han and Baek Joo-won.

Their refreshing, expansive movements felt like they even carried a sense of exhilaration.

‘Right, this is natural. But why is that guy—.’

However, this sensation didn’t last long.

Around where the same verse was repeated.

The members changed formation and brought the idols who had been in back to the front.

Then they showed the same choreography again.

‘……No. It’s just my imagination.’

The scene shown by Ryu Si-hwan who came to center and Seong-hwi standing beside him felt unrealistically impressive.

Certainly the Zefa members had also danced powerfully.

There were no parts where the angles were off. The harmony between the two members was the same as usual.

But looking at the CENTIX members now…… there was something visible that transcended simple group choreography.

「YOU MUST OBEY ME」

Matching the lyrics encouraging submission, Ryu Si-hwan sharply twisted his hand downward.

How could his expression change so quickly – extreme opposites were revealed in just 5 short seconds.

The woman was so captivated by that acting and dance line that it would be too painful to try to deny it.

‘No. It really isn’t.’

The 〈OBEY〉 song that passed in an instant was approaching the highlight.

The beat became more chopped up, the tempo increased, and the dance break arrived.

The six members immediately scattered into a 3-3 formation.

Baek Joo-won, Ryu Si-hwan, and Seong-hwi came to the very front while the rest stepped back slightly.

The 3 people in front began executing choreography never seen before in the 〈OBEY〉 stage, taking on irregular movements.

“Waaaaah—!”

Footwork was performed at such tremendous speed that it might make the viewer’s ankles hurt in sympathy.

On top of that, they twisted their bodies while jumping as if they really had wings attached to their backs.

It was truly incredible skill and concentration.

The woman who had been concentrating on the stage for a while got slight goosebumps.

Even while performing this bizarre choreography, Ryu Si-hwan and Seong-hwi were smiling.

As if all these moments were fun.

They finished the dance break from start to finish with smiles, without a single mistake.

It was truly an incredible presence.

And words she didn’t want to acknowledge kept floating in the mind of the woman who had continued thinking her friend’s reaction was wrong.