The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 

“Wow!”

“I have something to take care of, so I’ll be going first.”

“Siwoo dongsaeng, I like you even more because you speak so refreshingly!”

“…”

“Siwoo dongsaeng, let’s go together~”

‘He’s even dropped my surname now.’

Ignoring Rua as he followed behind me, I quickened my pace as much as possible.

‘Strange people keep attaching themselves to me here.’

Maybe it really did take an unusual mentality to prepare for becoming an idol.

‘This place isn’t easy.’

Turning the corner and reaching the end of the hallway, I finally spotted the familiar practice room door.

I boldly pushed open the worn-out door. Inside the dark room, where not a single ray of light entered, stale air lingered at the tip of my nose.

The sight of the practice room where I had spent more time than anywhere else over the past ten days, day and night, made my chest tighten.

‘I really did practice like crazy.’

Knowing my dance stat was far below everyone else’s, I devoted myself solely to practice without taking breaks.

Once I started something, I had to see it through to the end, so I danced with everything I had.

There was a reason the staff had nicknamed me the Practice Machine.

Remembering the times I had shared Heartping Bread with Seo Hayul while grinding through dance practice made me let out a hollow laugh.

‘You were the one who carefully taught me that my dancing wasn’t supposed to be done like that.’

The image of Seo Hayul standing motionless on stage flashed through my mind.

Whatever the exact cause was, I needed to get past this uncomfortable situation.

Fortunately, today’s evaluation wouldn’t lead directly to elimination.

‘There’s still a chance. There has to be a reason.’

I didn’t want to see someone as passionate about music as Seo Hayul end up unable to do anything on stage.

‘Before he’s a competitor, he’s still a teammate who went through this with me.’

Creeeak.

A metallic screech scratched at my ears.

The old practice room door slowly opened, revealing a familiar silhouette.

Since it was a filming day, Seo Hayul wasn’t wearing his usual cap. Instead, his pomaded hair gave him a clean yet slightly rebellious appearance.

“You came?”

“Yes.”

A sigh escaped me as I looked at him, entering with a shadowy, expressionless face and his head slightly lowered.

‘Whatever happened, it looks like someone hit Hayul right in his sore spot.’

“What happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not the type to just stand there on stage.”

“…”

“You like dancing and rapping.”

“What do you know about me, hyung?!”

‘This brat! Is he going through puberty?’

Our eyes met.

I almost flicked him on the forehead, but stopped myself.

His eyes were still bloodshot, with visible veins.

Seeing his reddened eyes made something hot rise inside me.

“Yeah, I only know about Heartping Bread.”

“Why are you bringing up Heartping…?”

“You were the one who first gave me Heartping Bread. You were also the one who gave me feedback when I was stumbling around during dance practice.”

“…”

“Seo Hayul.”

“Yes.”

“You might think I’m being nosy, but you helped me with dancing. That means I can help you this much too. What happened?”

The bloodshot eyes grew even redder.

“Hyung…”

“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to. I understand.”

“You understand?”

“Yeah. Everyone goes through a crisis at least once in life. You were just nervous before going on stage, and the timing happened to be bad.”

“…Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t be embarrassed, kid! Everyone experiences the crisis of an urgent signal at some point.”

“Ah… Hyung! What are you thinking?! It’s not that!”

“It’s okay. I understand everything. There’s a saying that humanity forgives bathroom emergencies.”

“It’s seriously not that! Why are you turning me into some poop freak?!”

“Then what is it?”

“…”

“An urgent po–”

“Ah…! I’ll tell you.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Seo Hayul fidgeted with his fingers.

“Do you think I deserve to become an idol?”

‘What kind of nonsense is this now?’

“Huh?”

“I knew it…”

“What are you talking about? Weren’t you training because your dream was to become an idol? There had to be a reason you came here.”

“That’s true, but…”

After hesitating, Seo Hayul’s eyes visibly trembled.

“I had a really close friend.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I was shy as a kid, and because of trainee life, I didn’t have any friends. He was the only friend who ever approached me.”

“I see.”

“Actually… that friend was talented enough to be in a debut team.”

‘Something that happened at his agency?’

“Then he got injured and couldn’t continue as a trainee. In the end, he quit.”

‘Hmm.’

“After that, I thought I should work even harder and debut for his sake. But maybe that was just my own selfishness.”

“Why would that be selfish?”

“…”

Even without knowing the full story, I could roughly guess what had happened.

There were jealous people everywhere.

‘Soft-hearted kid.’

“Seo Hayul.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know exactly what happened to you.”

“…Yeah.”

His voice trembled faintly.

“But there’s one thing I do know as a third party.”

“What?”

“If he’s a real friend, he’ll support your dream more than anyone.”

“…Really?”

“Friends are like that. They support your dreams no matter what and want you to succeed.”

“…”

Seo Hayul bit his lip hard, and his shoulders trembled slightly.

The way he stood there with his fists clenched looked like he was desperately trying not to fall apart.

‘That feeling looks familiar somehow.’

My hand moved before my words did.

Slowly, I placed my hand on top of his head.

“If that friend says, ‘I can’t become an idol, so I don’t want you becoming one either,’ or tries to stop you, then that’s not a friend.”

“Then what is he?”

“A bastard. That’s not a friend.”

“Hyung…”

Lowering his head hurriedly, Seo Hayul trailed off.

“Then… I don’t have any friends anymore.”

“Why not?”

I grabbed his chin and lifted his head.

Clear tears gathered in his bloodshot red eyes.

‘This brat. Looks tough, but his heart is tofu-soft.’

“I’m right here.”

“…Hyung!”

Finally, Seo Hayul burst into tears.

‘Still young and fragile. It’s an age where friendships feel like the whole world.’

“But… sniff… how can I be friends with you, hyung…?”

I put him in a headlock.

He was surprisingly satisfying to grab onto.

“Ah… agh!”

Using his yelps as a rhythm, I ruthlessly ruffled his gray hair.

“Stop…! Stop it!”

“If I stop, that means you’re friends with Hyung now. Got it?”

“I got it, so stop! It seriously hurts!”

“Wahahahaha. That’s right, kid. I’m your friend now.”

When I finally released him, his gray hair was sticking up in every direction like a cactus.

“Wow… I look terrible right now, don’t I?”

“Yeah. You’ll probably need to avoid cameras today.”

“What am I supposed to do about my image now?”

“You had an image to begin with?”

As if he had never cried, Seo Hayul stuck out his lower lip and grumbled.

‘Now this is more like it.’

“Are you sulking?”

“No.”

‘His lips are sticking out in a perfect ‘3’ shape, though.’

That pout looked remarkably similar to the expression Cha Sihyun often made whenever she was upset.

“Seo Hayul. Hyung will buy you every kind of Heartping Bread from the snack shop.”

“Hyung, you’re broke.”

‘…How did he know that?’

“I may be broke, but do I have no pride?”

“Don’t push yourself.”

“Kid, I’ve got enough money to buy you bread. I’ll even give you all the Pputti-Pputti stickers. Let’s go!”

Looking noticeably brighter, Seo Hayul took the lead toward the snack shop.

I followed behind him as we left the practice room.

‘Whoever it was, they deliberately provoked Seo Hayul right before the theme-song evaluation?’

The timing was malicious, no matter how anyone looked at it.

‘I’ll have to keep an eye on this for a while.’

 

☆☆☆

 

At midnight, a pre-release promotional video for ‘Star Picking 5’ was uploaded to GyuTube.

‘They said the promo would also air as a TV commercial.’

The roughly thirty-second video was packed with provocative scenes designed to grab attention.

Since a promotional video had to make an impact in a short amount of time, it focused heavily on high-profile trainees like Yoo Hoseung and Kim Sunyu.

‘Using people with name recognition to attract attention first is a safe strategy.’

Scenes of trainees receiving brutal criticism from the judges were also sprinkled throughout.

The clip of me placing my hand over my chest and singing the national anthem appeared for about three seconds, mosaicked, with the caption:

“A trainee overflowing with patriotism.”

‘My face didn’t appear, but at least they didn’t cut it entirely.’

The video ended with a close-up of Yoo Haein and the caption:

“Help your One Pick from the National Directors’ debut as an idol!”

Just one hour after the promo was uploaded, it had already reached 50,000 views.

The bait had worked better than expected.

To check the reactions, I opened the comments section.

‘As expected.’

The comments on the ‘Star Picking 5’ promotional video were merciless.

 

> Are they really doing another idol survival show?

– They’ve already milked it through Season 4. How much more are they gonna squeeze out of this?

> I’m only watching because Yoo Haein is ridiculously handsome.

– The MC is so good-looking I can’t even see the trainees lol.

> Yoo Hoseung? When did he grow up this much? LOL

 

The fact that first-tier idol Yoo Haein was the MC and influencer Yoo Hoseung appeared in the promo attracted plenty of attention.

‘GyuTube moderates comments, so there are fewer hateful ones here.’

To see more honest reactions, I moved to a popular idol community site I used to visit frequently during my paparazzi days.

There, ‘Star Picking 5’ was the hottest topic around.

 

> Haven’t they gone way too far milking this?

> Didn’t Star Picking 4 crash and burn because of manipulation?

– Yep.

– This season will probably crash because of manipulation too.

> Doing another season after the rigging scandal? TX Network has some nerve.

– TX Network being TX Network.

– At this point, I’m not even surprised.

> Aren’t those the same school uniforms from last season?

– I compared them. They’re literally identical.

– Did these bastards embezzle the production budget or what?

– LOL, there were some handsome trainees too. Poor guys.

– Recycled idols LOL.

> Why is Kim Sunyoo, who’s basically experienced, competing in a rookie show? Isn’t that unfair?

– It’s fine. He was in a flop idol group, so his recognition is probably toe-level compared to Yoo Hoseung.

ㄴ Toe-level LOL.

ㄴ Facts. Yoo Hoseung has a thousand times more followers, literally.

– Honestly, Kim Sunyoo got screwed over.

– Never heard of him because his group flopped, but debuting already and then coming back as a trainee is kinda ridiculous.

 

Like hyenas finding prey, they were busy tearing into ‘Star Picking’ and its trainees.

Still, there were more positive reactions than I expected.

 

> I always see Yoo Hoseung on Dalstagram, but wow, he’s insanely handsome in the video too.

– Agreed. He’s my husband.

– I’m the mistress.

ㄴ Same.

ㄴ 333.

> This season’s trainees are good-looking. As a face-lover, I’m definitely watching the broadcast.

 

‘Being handsome really is the best.’

 

> Feels like this season has trainees worth raising as your favorites.

 

Of course, there were comments about me too.

 

> By the way, what was up with the guy singing the national anthem?

– He’s operating on a completely different level.

– I seriously never expected that LOL.

– The fact they mosaicked him means he’s probably an attention-seeking weirdo.

 

Well…

It was still better than being ignored.

After all, in a survival show like this, getting attention meant getting votes.

 

☆☆☆